{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_12605/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_12605","id":"gutenberg_12605","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12605","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Christianity","Church history -- 19th century"],"text":"PARISH PAPERS\n\nBY\n\nNORMAN MACLEOD, D.D.,\n\nOne of Her Majesty's Chaplains for Scotland;\n\nAUTHOR OF \"WEE DAVIE,\" \"THE GOLD THREAD,\" ETC.\n\n1863\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDEDICATED,\n\nWITH MUCH AFFECTION,\n\nTO THE PARISHIONERS OF LOUDOUN, DALKEITH AND THE BARONY,\n\nTO WHOM I HAVE MINISTERED\n\nAs Their Pastor.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\nTHOUGHTS ON CHRISTIANITY\n\n1. What is Christianity?\n2. Who was Jesus Christ?\n3. What can we Believe if we do not thus Believe in Jesus?\n4. What if Christianity is not True?\n\nTHOUGHTS UPON THE FINAL JUDGMENT\n1. The Judge\n2. Who are to be Judged?\n3. \"The Books shall be Opened,\"\n4. Results of Judgment\n\nTHOUGHTS UPON FUTURE LIFE\n1. Our Physical Life in Heaven\n2. Our Intellectual Life\n3. Our Devotional Life\n4. Our Social Life\n6. Our Active Life\n\nFUTURE PUNISHMENT\n\nWHAT AFTER DEATH?\n\nMOMENTS IN LIFE\n\n\"LABOURERS TOGETHER WITH GOD,\"\n\nREVIVALS--\n1. Their Need\n2. Objections to Revivals\n\nTHE CHRISTIAN CONGREGATION\n\nTHE CURE FOR SCHISM\n\nTHE UNION OF MAN WITH MAN\n\nPROGRESS OF MISSIONS\n\nTHE MYSTERY OF SORROW\n\nTHE BEGINNING OF A YEAR\n  Advices on Entering a New Year\n\nTHE CLOSE OF A YEAR\n\n\n\n\nTHOUGHTS ON CHRISTIANITY.\n\n\nI.\n\nWHAT IS CHRISTIANITY?\n\n\nThis question refers to a matter of fact. I do not ask whether the\nChristian religion is true, but only, What is the Christian religion?\nWhat is that religion which has existed for eighteen centuries; which\nis professed by Christendom; and which has been more precious than\nlife itself to millions who have died in its faith, and is so still to\nmillions who possess it as their peace and joy?\n\nBut how are we to obtain a satisfactory reply to this question? Are\nwe to examine the opinions of all the various \"churches,\" \"sects,\" or\n\"bodies,\" professing Christianity, in order to determine what it is\nthey profess? If we adopted such a process of investigation as this,\nI believe we would reach, by a longer road, the very same point which\nmay be reached by a shorter and more satisfactory process.\n\nFor I suppose it will be admitted that the Christian religion is what\nJesus Christ and His apostles taught, and that we may rely upon the\ninformation conveyed to us in the New Testament as to the sum and\nsubstance of that teaching.\n\nI do not even insist, as essential to my argument, upon the\ninspiration of Scripture, according to any theory whatever of that\ndoctrine; but assume only that we have in the New Testament a true\naccount of the teaching of Jesus Christ and His apostles, and that\nwe are able, therefore, to ascertain from its pages what their\nChristianity was _as an historical fact_, with as much certainty,\nsurely, as we can learn from the Koran what Mohammedanism was as\ntaught by Mohammed, or from any work of philosophy what were the\nopinions of its author.\n\nNow, if we read the New Testament with ordinary attention, we must,\nI think, be struck by one feature which is repeated in almost every\npage, and is manifestly the all-pervading spirit and life of its\nteaching,--that is, the peculiar place which Christ occupies in\nrelation to all other persons mentioned there. This person, Jesus\nChrist, whoever He was, stands out prominently before every other\n_teacher_ of Christian truth. The apostles speak of _Him_, point to\nHim, plead for Him, labour for Him. He is not the greatest Teacher\nmerely among themselves, but the _only_ Teacher, and they but His\nscholars, who glory in having nothing of their own to impart, and in\nbeing ministers, \"stewards,\" only of what they have received from Him\ntheir Master. The subject of all their preaching is this Person--not a\nsystem of morality, or doctrines, or truths, apart from, but embodied\nin Him who was _the_ Truth and _the_ Life--Jesus Christ. The text of\nall their teaching is, \"God forbid that we should know anything among\nyou save Jesus Christ.\" In order to see this, take up any epistle, and\nmark how often the name of Jesus Christ appears as the ever-present\nthought, the centre of every idea.\n\nAgain, consider how this Person is inseparably connected with every\nmotive, every duty, every joy and hope of the Christian as he is\ndescribed in the New Testament. Christian love is there, not love\nmerely in the abstract, (if such is in any case possible,) but love to\nJesus Christ, and to all men because \"in Christ\" The grand question\nproposed is, \"Lovest thou ME?\" Christian obedience is not obedience\nmerely to a code of moral precepts, but to Jesus Christ and \"_His_\ncommandments.\" Christian faith is not faith in \"mysteries,\" or things\nunseen, or truths revealed, though such faith may be Christian, but\nits essence is faith in Jesus Christ the living Person; the supreme\ncommand being, \"Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.\" The Christian's\nhope is \"hope in Christ;\" his joy, \"joy in Christ;\" his peace, \"peace\nin Christ;\" his labour, \"labour in Christ;\" his strength, \"strength in\nChrist;\" his life, \"life in Christ;\" his death, \"death in Christ;\" his\nimmortality, \"rising in Christ;\" his salvation, \"salvation through\nChrist;\" and his heaven, \"to be with Christ!\" On the other hand, all\nthat is evil and disastrous to the soul is summed up in being \"without\nChrist.\" To reject Christ, not to believe in Christ, to be enemies of\nChrist, to despise Christ, to be ignorant of Christ, to lose Christ,\nto be commanded at the last to depart from Christ--these are the\ncharacteristics of the wicked and lost: for \"there is no other name\ngiven among men whereby man can be saved than the name of Jesus\nChrist.\"\n\nYou will observe that I am not at present discussing what Christ has\ndone for us, but what, as a matter of fact, Jesus Christ claimed from\nus and from all men, and recognised to be the religion which He came\nto establish upon earth. I repeat it, therefore, that whether these\nclaims were founded on fact or fiction, whether the religion which He\ntaught was true or false, in accordance with, or opposed to, the will\nof God, that nevertheless its sum and substance is _supreme love to\nJesus Christ_.\n\nNow, if this, or anything even approaching to this, is true, my reader\nwill, I am sure, acknowledge that it is not possible to separate\nChrist from the Christianity of the New Testament. The person and the\n\"religion\" become, in fact, identical--so far at least that both must\nbe received or rejected. That a code of morals may be extracted from\nthe New Testament, and Jesus himself, as its centre, be put aside, is\nquite possible; or that the character of Jesus may be recognised as\na perfect example of what He taught, a living embodiment of His\n\"beautiful precepts,\" is also possible, without recognising His claim\nto the supreme love and unlimited obedience of every human being; but\nthe question still remains, whether this \"philosophic\" or \"rational\"\nsystem--_this_ Christianity is really the Christianity taught by\nChrist, or by Peter, Paul, and John? I do not argue as to which\n\"religion,\" \"system,\" or \"Christianity\" is the best, but ask only a\nquestion of fact, Which do you candidly believe to be the Christianity\nof the New Testament? If you hesitate ere you reply to this question\nof historical fact, open again the New Testament, with a manly\nresolution to examine it, and obtain information, and ask its\npages, _What is Christianity?_ Read even such passages as the\nfollowing:--John x., xiv., and xv.; Acts. first four chapters; the\nEpistles to the Ephesians and Philippians--portions of Scripture which\nmay be read almost in an hour or two. You do not require to master the\nwhole world of truth which is there revealed, but only to notice the\n_Sun_ of that world; and say, is it not faith in Jesus, love to Jesus,\nobedience to Jesus as to no one else in the universe except to God\nAlmighty?\n\nI at once frankly express my earnest conviction that this, if true,\ninvolves the truth of what are recognised to be the other \"peculiar\"\ndoctrines or facts of Christianity--such as the divine, as well as\nholy and perfect character of the Person so loved;--His atoning work,\nas the grandest expression of His love to us, and that which most\nof all kindles love in us to Him;--the teaching of the Holy Spirit,\nthrough whom alone we, who are spiritually blind, can so perceive the\nspiritual character and glory of Jesus as to admire and love Him;--and\nprayer, by which we can hold actual, personal intercourse with, and\nthus come to know and love Jesus more and more from experience: these,\nI say, and other doctrines appear to me to be involved in the very\nidea that Christianity is supreme love to Jesus Christ. But I shall\nnot consider any of them except one, the first and all-important, the\nvery pillar and ground of the truth--viz., the divinity of Christ's\nPerson. Let us therefore inquire--\n\n\nII.\n\nWHO WAS JESUS CHRIST?\n\n\nA more important question cannot be proposed for our consideration!\nWho is this, I ask with absorbing interest, whom I am commanded\nto honour as I honour the living God? Who is this who claims my\nunreserved faith, my unlimited obedience, my devoted love? Who is this\nwho promises to pardon my sins through faith in His blood; to purify\nand perfect my nature through faith in His power? Who is this in whom\nI am to abide in life; into whose hands I am to commit my spirit, and\nthe spirits of all who are dear to me, in the hour of death; whose\nvoice is to call me forth from the grave when He comes again, and who\nis finally to judge me, and to determine my eternal condition?\n\nThat Jesus Christ _does_ make those claims upon us, and those promises\nto us, is certain; and it is equally certain that they have been, and\nare, joyfully acquiesced in by the Christian Church. The question,\nthen, which I have proposed for your consideration, is confessedly one\nof equal importance with the truth of Christianity. We cannot, with\nsincerity and intelligence, profess a willingness to examine into the\nnature of the Christian religion, much less profess faith in it, and\nyet reject the consideration of the question regarding the Person of\nJesus Christ as being unimportant or unnecessary.\n\nBut before proceeding further in this inquiry, let me remind you, and\nbe myself reminded, of the moral importance of _truthfulness_. I do\nnot allude to the truthfulness which despises all hypocrisy in _word_,\nand seeks to maintain with sacred care an exact harmony between what\nis believed in the heart, and confessed with the lip; or which boasts,\nperhaps, of the honesty that never conceals a creed, however offensive\nits doctrines may be to others. Let us not undervalue this kind of\nhonesty when real. But, alas! how often is it only apparent, while\nthe real feeling is selfish vanity craving notoriety, or moral\nindifference which is insensible to the pain of either the existence\nor confession of unbelief. And thus where that truthfulness of\ncharacter exists, which cannot give to others a false impression\nof what is really believed, how often is there wanting the kind of\ntruthfulness, so much rarer and more difficult to attain, so much\nnobler and more important to possess, which seeks to harmonise not\nonly profession with belief, but belief with truth itself. For it is\nin the innermost sanctuary of the spirit, into which no human eye\ncan penetrate, and where truth, as a holy messenger sent from God,\npresents herself, seeking for admission to dwell there, and take\npossession of the soul's temple for ever,--it is _there_ that the\nreality of a man's truthfulness, sincerity, and honesty must be tried\nand decided upon by the all-seeing Judge, who can alone search the\nheart. How do we deal there with what claims to be truth? With what\nspirit do we listen to her voice? With what care do we examine her\ncredentials? These are questions settled in the secret of our own\npersonal experience; and just as the process of investigation is\nconducted before the eye of conscience, can it be determined whether\nor not we are really honest. But as sure as there is in us a genuine\ntruthfulness of spirit, it will, by a divine instinct, recognise truth\nwhen revealed. Like a string rightly tuned by God, the truthful soul\nwill strike an harmonious chord with the note of truth wherever it\nsounds. The \"single\" eye will perceive the light from whatever quarter\nit shines. When, therefore, I ask my readers to consider, with\nsincerity and honesty, the teaching of the Scriptures regarding the\nPerson of Jesus Christ, I crave from them that _kind_ of honesty which\nis evidenced by the whole tone and spirit with which they deal with\nwhat _professes_ to come from God, and what, therefore, claims their\nfaith because it is true, and their love because it is good.\n\nI. _Consider this question in the light of His own teaching._ By this\nI mean, read the Gospels, and from all Jesus said regarding Himself,\nsay what impression did He intend to convey as to His own person.\nRemember I am not asserting the _truth_ of His claims, but proposing\nmerely to inquire into what His claims as a matter of fact were, in so\nfar as we may fairly gather these from His own words. Nor do I dispute\nthe possibility of giving a different meaning to His words, for I\nknow, and most gladly acquiesce in the righteousness of the fact, that\nrevelation is not demonstration, which necessarily overcomes even\nthe truth-hater, but such evidence as by its nature may satisfy the\ntruth-seeker. The criticism which is essential for our inquiry is that\nwhich will _receive_, and not _give_ a meaning. With such a principle,\nlet the readers peruse any one Gospel--especially the Gospel of St\nJohn--and in the presence of God say, Was it the intention of Jesus\nhimself to teach that He was human only, or that He was divine also?\n\nNow, to illustrate what I mean, and to aid the reader to follow out\nthis first branch of Scripture evidence for himself, let us look, for\nexample, at the Sermon on the Mount. This wonderful portion of our\nLord's teaching is most frequently referred to by those who profess\nto admire the precepts of the gospel, but not its \"doctrines,\" and to\naccept of Jesus as a teacher of morality, though rejecting Himself as\ndivine. Yet is it possible to hear that sermon even without perceiving\na consciousness on the part of the speaker of an authority, a power,\na dignity, which, belonged to no mere creature? This is not so much\nbrought forward in distinct doctrinal statements, but is _assumed_\nby Him, as that which gave to fact and doctrine all the additional\nauthority which could be afforded by the lips of one who had come from\nGod. Consider such words, for instance, as the following:--\"Not every\none that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of\nheaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.\nMany will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in\nthy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done\nmany wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew\nyou: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.\" Marvellous words indeed!\nWho is this, we naturally ask after hearing them, who at the general\njudgment is to be addressed by \"many?\" How should _He_ be thought of\nat all amidst the awful solemnities of that day, and be singled out\nand appealed to as one of such authority and power? Who is this that\nis addressed as \"Lord, Lord?\" What \"name\" is this in which many\nprophesied, and by which many were able to cast out devils, and to do\nmarvellous works? Who is this that utters the sentence, \"Depart from\n_me_?\" and who is He that such a sentence should be an object of\ndread, yea, the very climax of human woe? He who uttered these words\nwas a poor man indeed, a Jewish artisan, at that moment seated on a\ngrassy hill surrounded by many as poor and unknown as Himself! But did\nHe wish to give the impression that He was nothing more? \"The\npeople were astonished at His doctrine, for He taught as one having\nauthority, and not as the scribes.\" No wonder! For what scribe--what\nteacher--what apostle--what mere man who ever lived had authority to\nutter such words as those we have just read! (Read also in connexion\nwith this, Matt. xxv. 31-46.)\n\nAlmost every chapter in the Gospels contains similar assumptions,\non the part of Jesus, of a dignity which was divine. Think of the\nfollowing assertions from the Gospel of John, every portion of which\nis irradiated by the glory of His person:--\"The Father loveth the Son,\nand hath _given all things into his hand_. He that believeth on the\nSon hath everlasting life: and _he that believeth not the Son shall\nnot see life_; but the wrath of God abideth on him.\" \"For as the\nFather raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so _the Son\nquickeneth whom he will_. For the Father judgeth no man, but hath\ncommitted all judgment unto the Son: _that all men should honour the\nSon, even as they honour the Father_. He that honoureth not the Son\nhonoureth not the Father which hath sent him. Verily, verily, I say\nunto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me,\nhath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is\npassed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour\nis coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the _voice of the Son\nof God; and they that hear shall live_.\" \"Philip saith unto him, Lord,\nshew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I\nbeen so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he\n_that hath seen me hath seen the Father_; and how sayest thou then,\nShew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and\nthe Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of\nmyself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.\"\n\"Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you\ninto all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he\nshall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.\n_He shall glorify me_; for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it\nunto you. _All things that the Father hath are mine_; therefore said\nI, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.\" \"These\nwords spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father,\nthe hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:\nas thou hast _given him power over all flesh, that he should give\neternal life to as many as thou hast given him._ And this is life\neternal, that they might know thee the only true God, _and Jesus\nChrist_, whom thou hast sent.\"\n\nAgain I ask, What impression regarding His own dignity were such words\nas these intended to convey Consider them, and give an answer to God.\n\n2. _Consider Christ's Person as it was seen by His enemies and\nfriends._ Now, I bid you observe how both received from His words the\nvery impression which I assume He intended to convey by them.\n\nHis _enemies_ did so, and alleged that He claimed to be Divine in the\nstrictest sense of that word; accordingly they attempted to stone\nHim, and in the end put Him to death on the very ground that He was\na _blasphemer_. \"Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty\nyears old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily,\nverily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I AM.\" \"I and my Father\nare one. Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus\nanswered them. Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for\nwhich of those works do ye stone me? The Jews answered him, saying,\nFor a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy; and _because\nthat thou, being a man, makest thyself God_.\" \"If I do not the works\nof my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe not me,\nbelieve the works; that ye may know and believe that the Father is\nin me, and I in him. Therefore they sought again to take him: but he\nescaped out of their hand.\" \"The Jews answered him, We have a law,\nand by our law he ought to die,[A] because he made himself the Son of\nGod.\" \"And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou\nnothing? what is it which these witness against thee? But Jesus held\nhis peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure\nthee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ,\nthe Son of God. Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless,\nI say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the\nright hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high\npriest rent his clothes, saying. _He hath spoken blasphemy_; what\nfurther need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his\nblasphemy. What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of\ndeath. Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others\nsmote him with the palms of their hands.\"\n\n[Footnote A: \"And he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, he shall\nsurely be put, to death, and all the congregation shall certainly\nstone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when\nhe blasphemeth the name of the Lord, shall be put to death.\"--LEV.\nxxiv. 16.]\n\nNor did the _friends_ of Jesus endeavour to undeceive His accusers.\nThey did not say, \"You have misunderstood His meaning! He is not\nguilty of such blasphemy! He is a man like us, and does not claim to\nbe one with God, as you understand Him to do.\" Instead of this, they\ntoo recognised His claims as divine, and worshipped, loved, served,\nand preached Him accordingly. I will return to this part of the\nsubject afterwards. I remind only the reader of it in passing.\n\nBut before the force of such teaching as this of our Lord's can in any\ndegree be appreciated, two things should be borne in mind: one is, the\nprevious training of the Jewish nation with reference to the being and\ncharacter of God; and the other is, the moral character of Jesus.\n\nAs to the first of those points, remember only how, from the very\nbeginning, God had revealed _Himself_--that men might know the One\nliving and true God; and worship and serve Him alone with heart, soul,\nand strength. This was the lesson of all lessons. This was the mighty\ntheme of all God's teaching and training of His people, from Adam to\nChrist, by patriarchs, kings, and prophets; by national blessings and\nnational judgments; by captivities and restorations. On the other\nhand, the sin of all sins was idolatry; rot the bowing down to stocks\nor stones merely, but the giving, in any degree, that glory to another\nwhich belonged exclusively to the One living and true God. Had not\ntheir whole history been determined by their adherence to God, or\ntheir falling away to idolatry? Enter, then, into the Jewish mind with\nreference to this training, think how hallowed God's name was above\nevery other name--how enshrined it was in the very holy of holies of\nthe national faith, and how it had become so only after a discipline\nof much suffering, prolonged through many centuries, until at last\nidolatry had been banished on the return from Babylon;--think! of this\nwhile you read those utterances I have quoted of a Jew to Jews. Do you\nwonder that they called Him a blasphemer? for so, indeed, He certainly\nwas unless He was Divine.\n\nBut could such a one have been a blasphemer? Was it morally possible\nthat He could have uttered what He did about Himself, unless it was\ntrue? To establish His high claims, it might be sufficient to appeal\nto His miracles, and assert that no such works of power and love could\nhave been done but by one who verily had God with him; as He himself\nsaid,--\"Believe me for the very works' sake. If I do not the works of\nmy Father, believe me not.\" Or I might appeal to the witness God gave\nto His Son at His baptism, on the Mount of Transfiguration, and, above\nall, when He raised Him from the dead, and thereby declared \"Him to be\nthe Son of God with power.\" But, putting aside all this evidence, I\nask you to contemplate _the moral character of Jesus_, and say, Is\nit not as impossible that such a person could have spoken untruly or\nblasphemously regarding God, as that God himself can be aught else\nthan true and holy? Do not let us evade this awful question of\nChrist's character--He was an impostor unless he was Divine! Either\nChrist never uttered those things regarding Himself which are here\nrecorded, and so the history which we have assumed as true is false\nin fact; or, having uttered them, He spoke falsehood, and was a\nblasphemer, or spoke the truth, and was Divine. To deny the Divinity\nof His Person is to deny the truth of His character.\n\nIf any man replies that those sayings of Christ _may_ be interpreted\ndifferently, then I ask, What impression did Christ _intend_ to give?\nIf He was a mere creature, how could He have used language to which it\nwas _possible_ to give such an interpretation as would imply Divinity?\nOnly imagine any other man on earth daring so to speak that his\nlanguage could, with difficulty be interpreted as not necessarily\nimplying his assumption of Divine attributes! But Jesus certainly did\nso speak, and did give this impression to friend and foe; and He\nhas left the same impression, in the form of a living faith, more\nindelibly on the mind of the Church than if it were engraven with a\npen of iron on the rock for ever. If this impression is blasphemy. He\nhimself, and none else, is to blame for having given it to the world.\n\n3. Consider Christ's Person as it was seen _by the apostles_. What did\n_they_ believe regarding Him? Yea or nay, did they recognise Him as\nDivine?\n\nWhile quoting from their writings, I beg my readers to keep in mind\nthe previous education of these remarkable men, in what may be termed\nthe grand fundamental principle of the Mosaic legislation,--viz., the\nworship of the one living and true God.\n\nBut, remembering this, let us hear some of the things said by the\napostles about Jesus of Nazareth.\n\nWe shall begin with _Paul_. His education was, if I may so speak,\nintensely Jewish. He was \"a Hebrew of the Hebrews.\" \"After the\nstrictest sect of his religion, he lived a Pharisee.\" So devoted was\nhe to \"the religion of his fathers,\" so entirely one in his views of\nChristianity with the priesthood and men of authority, both civil and\necclesiastical, in Judea, that he thus describes his feelings with\nreference to Jesus:--\n\n\"I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary\nto the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Which thing I also did in Jerusalem:\nand many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received\nauthority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death,\nI gave my voice against them. And I punished them oft in every\nsynagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and, being exceedingly mad\nagainst them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities,\" (Acts xxvi.\n9-11.)\n\nPaul had never seen Jesus while He lived on earth; yet suddenly, and\nto the utter astonishment of friends and foes, he becomes a believer\nin His name, and ever after, for thirty years, until his death,\npreaches that name as the only one given whereby men can be saved.\nNow, what did Paul say of the dignity of this Person? A full reply to\nthis question can be given only by reading his epistles, and there\nseeing how saturated they are with the Divine Presence of Jesus in\nevery thought, every doctrine, every command, and every hope; and how\nHis name occupies a place which that of no mere creature could occupy\nwithout manifest blasphemy; and how his own past, present, and future\nwere seen by him in the light of Christ, without whom he would have\nbeen most miserable. But a very few passages, out of many, may be\nselected from two or three of his shortest letters, to illustrate his\nteaching. In writing to the Philippians, he says:--\n\n\"Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal\nwith God; but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the\nform of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being\nfound in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient\nunto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath\nhighly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:\nthat at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven,\nand things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue\nshould confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the\nFather,\" (Phil. ii. 6-11.)\n\nTo the Colossians he writes:--\n\n\"Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be\npartakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: who hath,\ndelivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into\nthe kingdom of his dear Son; in whom we have redemption through his\nblood, even the forgiveness of sins: who is the image of the invisible\nGod, the first-born of every creature: _for by him were all things\ncreated_ that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and\ninvisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities,\nor powers; _all things were created by him, and for him_: and he is\nbefore all things, and _by him all things consist_: and he is the head\nof the body, the church; who is the beginning, the first-born from\nthe dead; that in all things he might have the pre-eminence: for it\npleased the Father, that in him should all fulness dwell: and (having\nmade peace through the blood of his cross) by him to reconcile all\nthings unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth,\nor things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated, and\nenemies in your minds by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled\nin the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy, and\nunblameable, and unreproveable in his sight,\" (Col. i. 12-22.)\n\nOnce more, when addressing _Hebrews_, he says:--\n\n\"God, who at sundry times, and in divers manners, spake in time past\nunto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto\nus by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, _by whom\nalso he made the worlds_; who, being the brightness of his glory, and\nthe express image of his person, and _upholding all things by the word\nof his power_, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the\nright hand of the Majesty on high; being made so much better than the\nangels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than\nthey,\" (Heb. i. 1-4.)\n\nCould Paul, I ask, have written in such language as this, or anything\napproaching to this, unless he _believed_ Christ to have been divine,\nin the fullest sense of that word? But believing this with all his\nheart, his whole life and preaching were consistent with such a\nbelief. He preached Jesus as the Person whom all men were to love and\nobey as God, confide and rejoice in as in God, and to whom they were\nto commit themselves, both soul and body, for time and for eternity,\nas to God. What he wished others to do, he himself did. For what was\nthe source and strength of his life? \"The life I live in the flesh, I\nlive by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for\nme.\" \"I live; yet not I, Christ lives in me.\" \"I can do all things\nthrough Christ that strengtheneth me.\" What was the one object of his\nholy ambition? \"That I may win Christ.\" What was his heaven? \"To be\nwith Christ.\" And after thirty years passed in His service, and after\nhaving endured such sufferings as never fell to the lot of one man, so\nfar from uttering the language of disappointment or regret, as of one\nwhose early convictions had not stood the test of experience, but had\nfailed to sustain him when most needed, he thus writes, with calm\nconfidence and perfect peace, in his old age, and from a prison, to\nhis dear friend and follower Timothy:--\n\n\"For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not\nashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is\nable to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.\"\n\"Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ\nJesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses,\nthe same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach\nothers also. Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of\nJesus Christ.\" \"But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do\nthe work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. For I am\nnow ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I\nhave fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the\nfaith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness,\nwhich the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day; and\nnot to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.\" \"At\nmy first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray\nGod that it may not be laid to their charge. Notwithstanding the Lord\nstood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be\nfully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered\nout of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord shall deliver me from every\nevil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom\nbe glory for ever and ever. Amen,\" (2 Tim. i. 12, ii. 1-3, iv. 5-8,\n16-18.)\n\nWas that man an idolater and blasphemer,--the dupe of his own\nfancy,--deceived in his faith and hopes,--or was he the ignorant\ndeceiver of others?\n\nMoreover, let it be remembered that with this mighty truth, as with a\nhammer, Paul went forth to destroy the idolatries of the world, and\ngave them such blows, that in Europe they finally tottered and fell.\nBut did he then only substitute one idolatry for another?--did he\npreach to Greece and Rome love and obedience to a man, a better man,\npossibly, than any of the persons whom they worshipped, but still a\nmere creature like themselves? Hear Paul's memorable and glorious\nwords to the Athenians, and believe this if you can;--\n\n\"Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars-hill, and said, Ye men of\nAthens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For\nas I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this\ninscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship,\nhim declare I unto you. God, that made the world, and all things\ntherein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in\ntemples made with hands; neither is worshipped with men's hands, as\nthough he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath,\nand all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to\ndwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times\nbefore appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that they should\nseek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him,\nthough he be not far from every one of us: for in him we live, and\nmove, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said,\nFor we are also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring\nof God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or\nsilver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. And the times of\nthis ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to\nrepent: because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge\nthe world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof\nhe hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from\nthe dead,\" (Acts xvii. 22-31.)\n\nIf from Paul we turn to the other apostles, we shall recognise in them\nthe same convictions regarding the person of Jesus. Let us hear, for\nexample, some of the declarations of the apostle John:--\n\n\"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the\n_Word was God_. The same was in the beginning with God. _All things\nwere made by him_; and without him was not anything made that was\nmade. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the\nlight shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There\nwas a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a\nwitness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might\nbelieve. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that\nLight. That was the true Light, _which lighteth every man that cometh\ninto the world_. He was in the world, _and the world was made by\nhim_, and the world knew him not. _He came unto his own_, and his own\nreceived him not. But as many as received him, to them _gave he power\nto become the sons of God_, even to them that believe on his name:\nwhich were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of\nthe will of man, but of God. And _the Word was made flesh_, and dwelt\namong us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten\nof the Father,) full of grace and truth,\" (John i. 1-14.)\n\n\"But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the\nChrist, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through\nhis name,\" (John xx. 31.)\n\n\"And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an\nunderstanding, that we may know him that is true; and we are in him\nthat is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and\neternal life,\" (1 John v. 20.)\n\n\"Jesus Christ, who is the faithful Witness, and the first-begotten\nof the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that\nloved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made\nus kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and\ndominion for ever and ever. Amen. Behold, he cometh with clouds; and\nevery eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all\nkindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. I am\nAlpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which\nis, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.\" \"I was in the\nSpirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a\ntrumpet, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last.\" \"And I\nturned to see the voice that spake with me. And, being turned, I saw\nseven golden candlesticks; and in the midst of the seven candlesticks\none like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot,\nand girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs\nwere white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame\nof fire; and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a\nfurnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his\nright hand seven stars; and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged\nsword; and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And\nwhen I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand\nupon me, saying unto me, Fear not; _I am the first and the last_: I am\nhe that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore,\nAmen; and _have the keys of hell and of death_,\" (Rev. i. 5-8, 10,\n12-18.)\n\nCould John have written such things of a mere man? Could a pious Jew\nhave done so without conscious blasphemy? It is in vain to reply that\nI have quoted much of this from a vision. But would he have dared to\nrecord such a vision, unless he believed Jesus to have been Divine?\n\nI am compelled, therefore, to admit that the apostles _believed_ Jesus\nof Nazareth to have been a Divine Person. I am not asserting, at\npresent, that what they believed was true in fact, but only that they\nin fact believed this to be true.\n\nAnd here I might inquire, whether there was anything in their personal\nknowledge of Christ which could have suggested such a thought to those\nmen. We have seen that the grand lesson of their education as Jews\nwas, \"Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord; and thou shalt\nlove the Lord thy God with _all_ thine heart, with all thy soul, and\nwith all thy might.\" Whatever other faith or worship did not harmonise\nwith this was deadly idolatry. It is true that, with the exception of\nPaul, all the apostles had seen Jesus in the flesh, and John specially\npleads for His humanity, and presses it home with every form of\nexpression. \"That,\" says he, \"which we have heard, which we have seen\nwith our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled,\nof the Word of life.\" But if we lay aside all supernatural and\nmiraculous evidences of our Lord's person, what was there in His life\nwhich could have produced this impression, or awakened this strange\nconviction of His divinity? Not surely His lowly birth, nor the long\nyears in which He was known only as the carpenter's son; not the\nsorrow and grief with which He was familiar, or the real though\nsinless infirmities to which He was subject; not the reception He met\nwith from His countrymen, or the death by which His short earthly\ncareer was ended! What was there in an earthly life so intensely\nhuman, to convince such true, thoughtful, godly men as the apostles\nthat this man was one with the Holy One of Israel, the Almighty\nCreator of the heavens and the earth? Yet such _was_ the conviction\nof John, who leant upon His bosom at the Last Supper, watched Him in\nGethsemane, beheld Him in the judgment-hall, and stood by Him at the\ncross! Such _was_ the faith of Paul also who never saw Him in the\nflesh, or ever heard His voice while He tabernacled among men.\nIf, however, the alleged supernatural facts in the Bible are\ntrue,--including the gift of the Spirit who was to \"glorify\"\nJesus,--we can easily account for those convictions, but not\notherwise.\n\nAnd let me here notice in passing, how beautifully harmonious the\nfacts of this Person's life were as a man, yet also as \"Emmanuel, God\nwith us!\" These, when \"called to remembrance,\" were such as must have\nconfirmed and established the faith of the apostles. If there were\nevidences of a humility belonging to Him as the Son of man, there were\nequal evidences of a dignity which belonged to Him as the Son of God.\nHe was born of the Virgin Mary, yet by Divine power. \"The Holy Ghost,\"\nsaid the angel Gabriel to His mother, \"shall come upon thee, and the\npower of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy\nthing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.\" He\nwas brought forth in a stable, and laid in a manger, but wise men from\nthe East, guided by a star, came to worship Him, and to present Him\nwith kingly offerings, while the hosts of heaven announced His birth\nwith songs of rejoicing. He was baptized of John, yet a voice from\nheaven said, \"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.\"\nDuring His life, while He submitted to every trial and temptation to\nwhich, humanity was liable, \"that in all things He might be like His\nbrethren,\" yet never was evidence wanting of a dignity and glory which\nwere divine. He was hungry, but fed thousands; wearied and asleep\namidst the storm, but He rebuked the winds and waves, so that there\nwas a great calm; He was tempted of the devil for forty days, but\nSatan did homage to His dignity, by offering Him as a bribe the\nkingdoms of the world, while His grandeur was revealed in the\ncommand, \"Get thee behind me, Satan.\" He was so poor that pious women\nministered to Him of their substance, and so sorrowful that He often\nwept; yet He dried the tears of thousands, healed all who came to Him\nof every disease, and by a word of power raised the dead, from their\nbed, from their bier, and even when corruption had begun to do its\nloathsome work. He had His days of darkness, when He could say, \"Now\nis my soul troubled;\" yet a voice from heaven even then witnessed to\nHis glory. He washed the feet of His disciples, yet it was at the very\nmoment when, \"knowing that God had given all things into his hands,\nthat he came from God, and went to God.\" He died and was buried,\nbut though, during all the hours which marked that saddest of all\ntragedies, there were signs of human woe and weakness, as if \"Himself\nHe could not save,\" yet what signs of dignity and superhuman majesty!\nFor He was addressed on the cross as a King by a dying criminal, and\nas a King He promised to save him; while the darkened sky, the\nrending rocks, and all the august circumstances which attended His\nhumiliation, proclaimed, with the centurion, \"Truly this was the Son\nof God!\" He lay in the grave, and His body received the tears and\naffectionate ministrations of attached friends; but an angel descended\nand rolled away the stone; the Roman guard became as dead men; \"the\nLord was risen indeed!\" and He appeared to His disciples, and so\novercame the unbelief of Thomas by His very presence, bearing the\nmarks of His human sufferings, that the doubter fell down and\n\"worshipped Him,\" saying, \"My Lord, and my God!\" Jesus remained on\nearth for forty days, and we still \"behold _the man_.\" He conversed\nfamiliarly with His apostles, ate and drank with them, and instructed\nthem in the things pertaining to His kingdom: but He ascended to\nheaven before their eyes, while angels announced His second coming;\nand soon the descent of the Holy Ghost, with the great ingathering to\nthe Church which followed, testified to the truth of the apostolic\npreaching, that Jesus was the _Son of God_, and that all power was\ngiven to Him in heaven and on earth!\n\nNow, in all this eventful history, there was that very combination\nof earth and heaven, of the human and superhuman, which received an\ninterpretation from the fact only of Christ's divine and human nature,\nand which, along with Christ's own words, and the teaching of His\nSpirit, made the apostles accept the doctrine with profound conviction\nand deep joy; although, without some such overwhelming evidence, the\nvery thought must have been to them a blasphemous idolatry. They\nbelieved, because they had sufficient grounds, from facts, for their\nbelief. We cannot, therefore, think that those who rejected the claims\nof Jesus, and executed Him as a blasphemer, were right, and that the\napostles, who acknowledged Him as one with God, were wrong, or that\ntheir faith will ever be put to shame!\n\nWe have thus considered the Person of Jesus in the light of His own\nteaching, as that too was understood at the time, both by enemies\nand friends, and also in the light of the faith and teaching of His\napostles.\n\n4. But there is yet another aspect in which we may view this\nquestion--viz., _the faith and views of the Christian Church_.\n\nAs to the _faith_ of the Church, using that word as expressing its\n_creed_, it is historically certain that since the days of the\napostles till the present time, this doctrine has formed a _sine\nqua non_ of the creed of the whole Church, whether called Popish,\nProtestant, Greek, Armenian, Nestorian, &c.--of every branch, in\nshort, with the exception of the Unitarians. Amidst all differences,\nthe millions of professing Christians have agreed from age to age in\nthis article. No theological strifes or angry passions, no dissents or\nreformations, have disturbed this truth as the foundation-stone of the\nTemple. Now, if Christ is _not_ a divine person, it follows that the\nChristian Church is one huge institution of idolatry. We do not,\nobserve, attempt as Christians to conceal our faith in Christ's\ndivinity, or to modify it so as to escape, if possible, such an\nimputation. We necessarily accept this conclusion, unless our faith\nis grounded on _fact_. We boldly declare that we believe in Jesus of\nNazareth; love Him, trust Him, obey Him, _as we do God Almighty_, and\nwith the same degree of faith and reverence. In the one name of the\nFather, Son, and Spirit, we have been baptized, and that name we\nhonour as One, ascribing equal glory to each Person in the Godhead.\nSuch a creed as this may startle some and offend others, but it is\nnevertheless the creed which is and has been the faith of universal\nChristendom, which millions with ourselves believe unhesitatingly, and\nconfess as boldly as they do their faith in the being of God. Now what\nwe assert is, that if Jesus was a mere man, or was not \"God manifest\nin the flesh,\" we and all Christians so believing are _idolaters_ in\nthe strictest sense of that word. Our churches are idol temples where\na dead man is worshipped; our ministers idol priests, who ever preach\nand commemorate this man, pray to him, sing praises to him, and\nconsecrate generation after generation to his service; our people\ncommit their souls and bodies to the keeping of this man for time and\neternity, and all their hopes are inseparably connected with him as\ntheir Lord;--while amidst this universal defection of the human race,\nthis wide-spread idolatry which has taken possession of the most\ncultivated and intellectual nations, and threatens to overrun the\nworld and absorb all other idolatries into itself, there appears but\na trifling number who maintain the pure light of theism, and preserve\nthe truth of God unsullied for the coming, and it is to be hoped,\ntherefore, for better, ages of the world. And who are these? Jews,\nDeists, and Unitarians. On these depend the world's hopes of its ever\nbecoming regenerated by a theology of truth regarding God. Now, does\nit seem probable, we ask, under the government of God, that these have\ndiscovered the truth on such a fundamental fact in religion, while\nuniversal Christendom for eighteen centuries has believed a lie?--and\nsuch a lie! As a question of probability, what weight can we attach to\nthis testimony, balanced not against numbers merely, but numbers along\nwith the intellect, culture, and character of those who have believed\nin, derived their soul's good from, and perilled their soul's\nexistence upon, Christ's divinity?[A]\n\n[Footnote A: Mr Greg in his Essays, which at first appeared in the\n_Edinburgh Review_, admits this alternative. His language is, \"To\na philosophic inquirer there will appeal little doubt that\nTrinitarianism and idolatry--the _worship of Christ as God_, the\nworship of saints, the worship of the golden calf, have one common\norigin, the weakness of human imagination and the unspirituality of\nhuman intellect.\"--Vol. i., p. 61. Mr Greg also says, in a note to\nthe above--\"To accept the orthodox view of the Christian Revelation,\"\n(i.e., Christ's divinity,) \"is to our apprehension to deny the divine\norigin of the Jewish religion.\" But was not \"the view\" of Jesus\nhimself and His apostles the \"orthodox\" one? And did _they_ deny the\ndivine origin of the Jewish religion? Who is right--Mr Greg or----?]\n\nConsider also, as I have suggested, the _effect_ produced by such a\nfaith when real upon the religious ideas _regarding God_ of all who\nreally hold it. On the supposition, for example, that the Christian's\nfaith in Jesus is vain--that he is worshipping, loving, serving a\ncreature, or a mere creation of his own mind, instead of the _only_\nliving and _true God_,--how can we account for the actual results of a\nfaith so false and blasphemous upon his ideas regarding God?\n\nIt is not denied that a vast body of men and women in every age have\nhad sincere faith in Jesus as God, and loved Him with their whole\nsoul. Now, what effect has such faith upon their views of God, and\ntheir feelings towards the Supreme Creator and Upholder of all things\nwhom \"pure Theists\" profess alone to worship? Has this faith in Jesus\nas divine had the effect of producing false impressions of God on the\nChristian's heart; of exciting low and degrading views of His being\nand attributes, lowering as it were the Majesty of the heavens from\nHis throne, bringing Him to the level of our every-day humanity, and\npresenting Him to the mind and imagination in an aspect which inspires\nno reverence? Or has it not had the very opposite effect, and that,\ntoo, just in proportion as the worshipper has apprehended the oneness,\nin His divine nature, of the Son with the Father? Has not God, then,\nappeared more glorious and majestic than ever; His throne more\nelevated above every other throne; His glory more visible in heaven\nand earth? Can any Jew, we ask, however devout, appreciate more fully\nthan a Christian the Old Testament descriptions of the unity and\nperfections of Jehovah, or prostrate himself with a more simple,\nundivided, and confiding heart before the God of Abraham, Isaac, and\nJacob? Can the synagogue sing David's psalms with more truth than the\nchurch? or does Unitarianism withdraw any veil which conceals the\nperfections of God as Creator, Ruler, or Father, from the eyes of him\nwho has intense and undying faith in Jesus as the Eternal Son? Oh!\nwhere on earth can we find more exalted and pure thoughts of the one\nliving and true God, as revealed in nature and in the Old Testament,\nprofounder admiration of His character, or deeper reverence for His\nwill, than among Christians who love and honour the Son even as they\nlove and honour the Father? But how is this to be accounted for if\nthey believe a lie? How has an idolatry, a baseless and profane\nhero-worship, had this remarkable moral power of producing such true\nand spiritual views of God, as all men must admit to be most worthy?\nand producing, too, we dare to add, such strong faith and affectionate\nreverence towards this God, as exist in no other human bosoms? Is it\npossible that the true God can be thus apprehended and loved through\na medium so false as idolatry? On the supposition, however, but on no\nother, that Jesus is really one with God, the knowledge and love of\nthe Son must necessarily lead to this very knowledge and love of the\nFather. \"He that seeth me, seeth the Father also.\" \"If ye had known\nme, ye should have known my Father also.\" \"Ye believe in God, believe\nalso in me.\"\n\n5. Consider, again, the Person of Christ, not only in the light of\nChristian character generally, but with the addition of _Christian\nknowledge as to its cause_. It will surely be admitted that, to\nwhatever extent the term Christian has been misapplied as indicating\ncharacter, and in however many cases it has been unworthily or only\nformally assumed, yet it includes within its widest embrace the best\nmen and women this earth possesses, or has ever possessed. There is\na certain _kind_ of character which all men whose moral sense is not\nblunted recognise as the culminating point and perfection of humanity.\nThey may not themselves attempt to realise it, or they may deem it\nunattainable, but nevertheless the idea of what constitutes a good\nor perfect man is no sooner presented to their minds than conscience\naccepts it as that which _ought_ to be. Now, it is admitted even by\nthe atheist that such an idea is embodied in the historical character\nof Jesus Christ, and in the life, consequently, of every man just in\nproportion as he possesses His Spirit, obeys His precepts, and walks\nin His steps. But there are, and have been in every age, persons who\nhave done this, if not in a perfect, yet in a more perfect degree than\nby any others among mankind. Or supposing it were admitted, for the\nsake of argument, that, so far as we had the means of judging, there\nhas occasionally appeared, without faith in Christ, a certain product\nof character, apparently as pure, lofty, self-denying, loving, and\ndevoted to God as any which ever professed to owe its origin to Jesus\nChrist; yet, where has there been on earth such a _body_ of living\npersons as those Christians who, within the bosom of the universal\nChurch, during eighteen centuries, have manifested that kind of\ncharacter which all men profess to admire and reverence? In vain one\ntries to conceive the flowers of moral beauty and glory that have\nsprung up within the garden of Christendom! Being rooted in the earth,\nthey may have been soiled, indeed, by its dust, but they yet expanded\nin loveliness to the sky, and sent forth a fragrance to the air,\npeculiar to the plants raised by the Great Husbandman. Number, if you\ncan, the saints of the Christian Church; the young and old, the poor\nand rich, who in every age and clime have been truthful, simple,\nsincere, patient, forgiving, and compassionate; who have enjoyed an\ninward life of peace with God, maintained an outward conduct, and\npossessed a reality of abiding love to their Father in heaven and to\ntheir brethren on earth peculiar to themselves. Their lives have been\na blessing to the world, and a happiness to their own hearts;\ntheir deathbed has been freed from the fears of a dark future, and\nbrightened by the pure prospect of continued life and joy. The\nChristian Church, and the Christian Church _alone_, contains such\ncharacters; and these are the lights of our homes, the salt of the\nearth, and the only security of the world's progress.\n\nNow, to what is this great result owing? How is this product of\ncharacter, which is affecting the world's history, and gradually\nleavening the whole lump of humanity, to be accounted for? What power\nhas originated it, or by what has it been sustained? Who are more\nentitled to give a reply to such questions than Christians themselves?\nThey alone can know by what motives, they have been actuated, by what\nstrength supported, and by what hopes animated. Ask them, then, and\nwhat will be their reply? Each and all will but echo the words of\nPaul, as expressing the secret of their life: \"I live, yet not I,\nbut _Christ liveth in me_; and the life I live in the flesh I live\n_through faith in the Son of God_, who loved me, and gave himself for\nme.\" \"The _love of Christ_ constraineth us,\" \"I thank _Christ Jesus,\nour Lord_, who hath enabled me.\" \"The _Lord_ stood with me, and\nstrengthened me.\" \"_The Lord_ shall deliver me from every evil work,\nand preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom, _to whom be glory_ for ever\nand ever!\" \"I can do all things _through Christ_, which strengtheneth\nme.\" This is the experience of the living Church of Christ, of all\nlands, and of all time,--the creed of each genuine believer; of the\nearly martyr and mediaeval saint; of the pious Protestant and Papist;\nof the cultivated Christian philosopher and the half-taught Christian\nnegro; of the young man who has overcome the wicked one, and of\nthe old patriarch who departs in peace, because his eyes have seen\nsalvation; of the Christian Greenlander who died yesterday, and of the\nsweet Christian girl who died to-day, leaving the bosom of her mother\nfor the bosom of her God; of each and all the ten thousand times ten\nthousand who have so lived and died, with one conviction of truth the\nstrongest in their minds; that whatever strength, peace, or good they\npossess as true _life_, they owe all to the One source of life,--_the\nLord Jesus Christ_! What are we to conclude from these unparalleled\nfacts, which can no more be denied than the realities of human history\nor of human experience? Have all Christians been deceived? Have they\nbeen believing a lie, and has this great life of life in them been\nsustained by a delusion? Is there no such person as Jesus Christ, the\nLord of life, the living Saviour of sinners? Is this not a fact but a\nfiction? Can it be that the moral government of God exists, and yet\nthat it admits of such a moral anomaly as this,--the regeneration of\nhuman character by a falsehood! Impossible! I say it with deepest\nreverence,--as sure as there is a God of truth, _impossible!_ The\nChristian Church has _not_ been deceived. Unbelievers in Jesus have\n_not_ had the light of truth given them, while those who have loved\nand served Him have been permitted to walk in the darkness of\nintellectual untruth and in the vain belief of an idol! Jesus is\nDivine as well as human. \"He was, and is, and liveth for evermore!\"\n\n\nIII.\n\nWHAT CAN WE BELIEVE IF WE DO NOT THUS BELIEVE IN JESUS?\n\n\nIf all this evidence is insufficient to prove the Divine nature of\nJesus Christ, it may be well to consider on what religious fact or\ntruth we can fall back, as being based upon surer evidence, and\naffording, therefore, a surer ground of faith and hope.\n\n1. On what part of Christ's \"work\" on earth can we fall back? We can\nno more recognise God the Father as truly revealing Himself in\nJesus as his co-eternal Son; and the whole light and life of such a\nrevelation in Christ, as hitherto seen and received by the apostles\nand the Christian Church, is for ever extinguished and destroyed. We\ncan no more believe Jesus as our _Prophet_, when we do not accept the\nvery truths to which He gave most prominence: nor can we trust Him\nas our _King_, when we believe Him to have been a mere man only, who\nneither possesses nor could wield power adequate to govern the\nworld: nor can we trust Him as our _Priest_, for in Him is no longer\nmanifested the love of God in sending His own Son to be a propitiation\nfor the sins of the world. And who, we may add, will believe in a Holy\nSpirit as a Divine Person, whose very work is represented by Jesus to\nbe that of convincing the world of sin \"_because_ it believes not in\nHim,\" as \"glorifying Him,\" and taking of _His_ things to shew them to\nthe spirits of men?\n\n2. Can we, then, accept of Christ as a perfect example? How is this\npossible? For remember, it was the example of one who is assumed to\nbe a man like ourselves, but yet a man who never, by one act of\ncontrition or confession, acknowledged the existence of personal sin\nor defect of any kind; a man rarely endowed, and yet who never once\nexpressed gratitude to God for His rich and varied gifts; a man who\nprayed indeed to God, yet as one who was His equal, and who in His\nlast hours uttered such words as these--\"All mine are thine, and thine\nare mine! Father, _I will_ that they also whom thou hast given me, may\nbe with me _where I am_, that _they may behold my glory!_\" Can\n_we_, sinners, follow this example, as that of \"our model man, _in\neverything?\" Dare_ we closely follow a life like this, and then end it\nby voluntarily giving ourselves up as a ransom \"for the remission of\nthe sins of many?\"\n\n3. Can we even retain _the character of Jesus?_ The atheist admits\nthat Jesus was the greatest man who ever lived on earth. A worshipper\nof heroes says of Him in his _Hero Worship_,--\"The greatest of\nall heroes is one whom I do not name here.\" The character of this\nwonderful Being has indeed been generally recognised as a bright spot\namidst the world's darkness; as the only perfect model of goodness\never seen on earth--yea, as moral beauty itself! But unless the\nhistory we possess of Jesus is untrue, and He was, therefore, no\nhistorical but a mere ideal person,--or if He was a real person, as\nrepresented in the gospel, yet not divine,--we cannot defend His\ncharacter without losing our own. For we have seen how He certainly\nrepresented Himself as one with God,--as one who alone knew God and\ntruly revealed Him,--as one who demanded the same honour and love from\nman as were due to God,--who required men to be willing to part with\ntheir dearest friends, even life itself, rather than with Him,--who\nasserted His right to assign to mankind their eternal destinies\naccording to the relationship in which each man stood to Him,--who,\nwhen standing before an earthly judge, crowned with thorns, insulted\nby the rabble, with every sign of weakness, and as if literally\nforsaken by God and man, did not abate one jot or tittle of His\nclaims, but asserted them in all their magnitude, announcing His\nreturn to the world in glory as its mighty Judge; and much more to the\nsame effect. Now, can any man, we ask, of common honesty defend such\na character as this from the charge of wilful imposition and daring\nblasphemy, unless what He asserted was true? With reference to all the\ngood words or deeds which His professed friends may claim for Him,\nyet so long as He falsely claims to be divine, we are constrained to\nreject Him, as the Jews did, and to say with them, \"For a good work we\nstone thee not, but _because thou, being a man, makest thyself God!_\"\nIt is not possible, therefore, to fall back on Christ's character, if\nwe reject Christ's divinity; for His character was manifest untruth,\nand His claims an unprincipled deception!\n\n4. Can we preserve _the character of the apostles?_ That, too, has\nhitherto been considered worthy of our respect and regard. Never did\nmen leave such a record of moral teaching, and such an impress of a\nholy life behind them, a life so pure, wise, loving, so suited,\nin every respect, to bless mankind, and to make a heaven below in\nproportion as it is received. In these men we can detect no trace of\navarice, ambition, or selfish aims of any kind. They lived, laboured,\nand died, that the world should become better and happier, and they\nhave so far succeeded that civilisation can never more be separated\nfrom their names. But what was the substance of their teaching, and\nthe one grand object of their existence? I again reply, without fear\nof contradiction, it was to persuade mankind to trust and love Jesus\nChrist as God! The first Christian teacher who died a martyr's death\nresigned his spirit into the hands of this Jesus, as his Lord in\nglory; and the last and oldest apostle who first knew Him as his\nfriend, represented Him as the Alpha and the Omega, the King of kings\nand Lord of lords. But if He was not this, how can the character of\nthose teachers be defended? As Jews they could not be ignorant of\nthe being and attributes of God, nor as men of the earthly life and\nhistory of Jesus; yet they professed to preach Jesus as divine, and\n_to work miracles in His name!_ They could not possibly have been\nthemselves deceived, and must therefore, if their faith was vain,\nhave attempted to deceive others. Common sense rejects every other\nexplanation. Anyhow, they were the successful heralds of an idolatry\nwhich, we may boldly affirm, will never leave the world, and of a\nblasphemy whose praises will never be silent on earth. Their character\nmust perish with that of their Master!\n\n5. What, then, have we left us? The _morality of the New Testament?_\nNo! for all that is _peculiar_ to its morality are the duties which\nspring out of the assumed relationship of Jesus to mankind. The gospel\nmorality of supreme love to Jesus becomes _im_morality, if Jesus is\nnot one with God. Prayer to Christ, personal communion with Christ,\npersonal attachment to Christ, hymns of praise to Christ, abiding\nthrough faith in Christ, advancing the kingdom of Christ, labouring\nfor Christ and keeping _His_ commandments--in one word, that whole\nlife of the Christian towards God and man, every portion of which is\npermeated by Christ as the sunlight fills the atmosphere, can never be\nseparated from the morality of the New Testament.\n\nNor can we any longer rely upon Old Testament facts, or on anything\nthere revealed regarding God, as distinct from what could have been\ndiscovered without such a revelation, if our faith has been shaken in\nthe facts and the characters of the New Testament. He who can reject\nthe Christ of the New Testament, must necessarily reject the God of\nthe Old; and he who cannot rely on the apostles, cannot possibly rely\nupon the prophets. All must be given up, and the Bible become a mere\ncurious record of falsehood.\n\n6. Is this all? Enough one would think! But can we even fall _back on\nGod?_ What evidence has any man of the existence of a living personal\nGod, stronger than what he possesses of a living personal Saviour? Can\n_any_ revelation of God during _the past_, and recorded in history, be\nreceived as worthy of credit, if _this_ alleged history of Jesus is\nrejected as unworthy? If the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ\nis not the only living and true God, where is the true God to be\nfound? If Jesus neither knew Him truly, nor truly revealed Him, who\ncan do either? And when, moreover, we have thus lost faith in the\ncharacter of Jesus and of His apostles, from what better evidence of\nmoral character or moral design on earth can we henceforth reason\nupwards as to the moral character of a Divine Being?\n\nIn what position do we thus find ourselves? The Church of Christ must\nbe given up as a great falsehood, a huge idolatry, a society of weak,\ndeluded, or bad men. The character of its early founders, and the\nPerson to whom it owes its name, must, for the same reason, be\nabandoned. The Old Testament can form but a feeble barrier to the\nflood which has thus swept away the New, with all which has arisen out\nof the assumed truth of its history. And thus each man, cut off from\nthe past, is left to discover a God for himself, from evidence which,\nto satisfy him, must necessarily be more overwhelming than that which\nhe rejects, and on which the faith of the Christian Church has rested\nfor eighteen centuries. Can any man be satisfied with such a basis of\nreligion as this? Having rejected God as revealed in Jesus, _can_ he\nperil his soul in peace on the God discovered by himself? Having fled\nfrom Christianity as a religion whose foundations are insecure, can he\nrepose with confidence in the building which he himself has reared?\nOr, if he moves at all, must he not gradually slide into universal\nscepticism, and conclude that, since he cannot believe in Jesus,\nhe can believe in no one else,--that if deceived by Him he may be\ndeceived by all,--that if there is no such Person as the Divine Son,\nthere is no such Person as the Divine Father,--that if he must be\nwithout Christ, he must necessarily be without God!\n\nHe may, indeed, in such a case, profess to believe in _a_ God; but is\nHe the living and true God, or one who is but the product of his own\nmind, the shadow cast by his own human spirit? Oh! hear the words of\nHim who is truth itself: \"Ye believe in God, believe also in me;\" \"All\nthings are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son\nbut the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son, and\nhe to whom the Son will reveal him;\" \"Come unto me, all ye that labour\nand are heavy laden, and I will give you rest!\" May the Lord's last\nprayer be answered in us: \"Father, glorify thy Son, that thy Son also\nmay glorify thee: as thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he\nmay give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is\nlife eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus\nChrist, whom thou hast sent.\"\n\n\nIV.\n\nWHAT IF CHRISTIANITY IS NOT TRUE?\n\n\nNow to prove the Christian religion untrue, or to prove that the\nevidences on which it rests are insufficient, is a more difficult task\nthan some of its opponents appear to imagine, if we may judge from the\nboastful language in which they record their supposed achievements.\n\nLet it never be forgotten, that the Christian religion is founded upon\ncertain alleged _historical facts_ that must be disposed of before it\nfalls.[A] The holy temple of a loving soul filled with the glory of\nChrist is spiritual, but it is nevertheless based upon facts as on\nfoundation-stones, the chief corner-stone being Jesus Christ the\npersonal Saviour, \"who was dead and is alive, and liveth for\nevermore!\" Without these facts Christianity could not exist. The duty,\nfor example, of supremely loving and devotedly serving Jesus\nChrist, implies the truth of other facts, such as the fulfilment of\nprophecies, miracles, the life and character of Jesus, His atoning\ndeath, resurrection, &c., all of which establish His claims to our\nfaith. But in addition to these, and as their evidence also and\nresult, there is the experience of the whole living Church, derived\nfrom faith in Jesus as the resurrection and the life.\n\n[Footnote A: Neander, in his preface to his \"Life of Christ,\" quotes\nfrom Niebuhr what he calls \"the golden words of one of the greatest\nminds of modern times.\" \"The man,\" says Niebuhr, \"who does not hold\nChrist's earthly life, with all its miracles, to be as properly and\nreally historical as any event in the sphere of history, and who\ndoes not receive all points in the Apostles' Creed with the fullest\nconviction, I do not conceive to be a Protestant Christian. As for\nthat Christianity which is such according to the fashion of the\nmodern philosophers and pantheists,--without a personal God, without\nimmortality, without an individuality of man, without historical\nfaith,--it may be a very subtle _philosophy_, but it is no\nChristianity at all. Again and again have I said that I know not what\nto do with a metaphysical God, and that I will have no other but the\nGod of the Bible, who is _heart to heart_.\"]\n\nBut before Christianity can be destroyed, it is absolutely necessary\nto destroy the evidences of those historical facts on which it rests.\nThis, as I have said, is no easy task. There are many high walls, many\nencircling lines of defence around the old fortress, each and all of\nwhich must be taken, ere the citadel itself can be reached and laid\nin ruins. _Now this has never yet been done_. The enemy has made many\nattacks during the last eighteen centuries, and on several occasions\nthe last grand assault which was to decide the long campaign has been\nthreatened. Every method has been adopted which critical skill could\napply, which the most subtle genius could invent, and the most\nuntiring perseverance execute; but, in spite of all, \"the strong\ncity,\" with \"salvation for walls and bulwarks,\" still remains strong\nas ever. For, to drop all metaphor, in whatever way we may account for\nit, the fact is undeniable, that Christianity, in the form of supreme\nlove to Jesus Christ as the Son of God, not only survives, but in no\nage of the world's past history has it been so strongly rooted in the\nconvictions and affections of so many men, nor has it ever been given\nsuch promise of filling the whole earth.\n\nLet us suppose, however, for the sake of argument, that by some\nprocess hitherto undiscovered, Christianity, as the religion of\nsupreme love to this living Person, Jesus Christ, is at last proved to\nbe a fiction; that the millennium of infidelity has arrived; that the\nreligion taught by Christ and His apostles has become as dead to the\nworld as that of Buddh or Confucius is now to the mind of Europe; that\nour Christian churches, like the heathen temples of Greece or Rome,\nremain but as monuments of a superstition long ago exploded by the\nlight of science and philosophy; that all those supernatural Christian\nfacts and truths, which like a mighty firmament of stars, now cluster\naround the name of Jesus, have departed as lights from the visible\nuniverse; that Christian truth is as silent before the world as Christ\nhimself was when He stood before Herod, and answered him nothing;\nuntil even the wailing cry has ceased of the last desponding and\ndisconsolate believer on earth, \"They have taken away my Lord, and\nI know not where to find him!\" Well, then, the work is done! The\nenergetic teachers of the propaganda of unbelief have accomplished\ntheir long-cherished purpose, and the professors of an earnest and\ndevoted faith in Christ have perished, leaving no memorial behind them\nexcept their \"curious books,\" or their hoary tombstones, which record\ntheir old faith in Him as the resurrection and the life.\n\nWhen such a crisis as this has at last arrived, the world will surely\npause, and count the fruits of victory. Wise men will then doubtless\nconsider with an earnest spirit what has been gained to humanity by\nthis tremendous revolution in all those opinions and ideas cherished\nduring so many ages; and the well-wishers of mankind will examine the\nspoils which the conquerors have ready for enriching the poor and\nneedy as the result of this triumph over a religion that was clung to\nby the best and noblest men with a tenacity overcome only when earth\nwas old, and time was well-nigh ending. But may we not now anticipate\nsuch a solemn review, by asking those who are wishful to destroy\nChristianity, what they intend to put in its place when their object\nis accomplished. If they have anything else to give us, let us know\nwhat it is, that we may see and judge if it is better than the old\nreligion; if it is better suited to meet the wants of man in every\nperiod and condition of his varied life; if it is likely to do better\nwork on earth, and produce better fruit; if its truth rests on better\nevidence, and if, in short, it is such a gift from heaven that angels\nwith songs of joy might announce this new gospel of peace on earth,\nand this new message of good-will to man. Strange to say, such\nquestions, though often asked, have hitherto remained unanswered. If\nthere be a something better in store for us than what we profess, the\nblissful secret has not yet been revealed. Infidelity, often so loud\nin attacking Christianity, is silent as a god of iron or brass when we\nask at its shrine. If I give up faith in Christ, what wouldest thou\nhave me be and do, and how live and rejoice as an immortal being?\n\nWhat, then, I again ask, would be lost and gained on both sides after\nthe war, in the event of Christianity being destroyed? We Christians\nknow full well what we would gain and lose;--we know that we would\ngain nothing, and lose everything! We would lose all which we\nmost love in the universe of God,--all which makes us rejoice in\nexistence,--all which enables us to look at the past, present, and\nfuture with perfect peace; and of all men we would be most miserable!\nIt is true that in regard to many an object of affection, it may be\nsaid--\n\n    \"Better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all!\"\n\nBut not so in regard to our love of Jesus Christ. Better never to\nhave seen that glory filling the heavens and earth, and making life a\nconstant thanksgiving and praise, than, after having seen it, to be\npersuaded by any witchery that it was all a dream--a fiction of the\nimagination--a ghostly superstition--which it is wisdom to banish from\nthe memory. For once we have lost Jesus Christ as our ever-living,\never-present, all-sufficient Friend and Saviour, what are we to do?\nCan we contentedly fall back upon our own being, or upon any other\nperson, and live on \"without Christ in the world!\" Or are we in those\ncircumstances to be told that we may still have comfort in \"religion\nwithout the supernatural,\" and rejoice in \"the eternal and essential\nverities of morality!\" Only think of it, Christians! The living man,\nthe light and hope of the family, is murdered; but a disciple of pure\nscience and calm philosophy enters it, and tells its agonised members\nthat it is folly and ignorance to indulge in such grief, for science\nhas analysed their friend, and preserved in a series of neat phials,\nwhich they may easily carry about with them, all his constituent\nelements, his \"essentials,\" his carbon, his silica, this and that\ngas--everything, in short, which made up the substance of him whom\nthey were accustomed to call their beloved; therefore they may\n\"comfort one another with these words!\" And thus would the enemy of\nChristianity presume to comfort us with his \"essentials,\" when our\nliving Lord is gone! Comfort indeed!\n\n  \"Comfort? comfort scorn'd by devils! this is truth the poet sings,\n  That a sorrow's crown of sorrow is remembering happier things!\"\n\nBut what can the unbeliever himself expect to gain by its destruction?\n\"I have nothing to do with consequences,\" may be his reply, \"but with\ntruth only; let every lie be tested and exposed, whatever may be the\nreal or imaginary gain or loss to myself or others.\" Brave words! with\nwhich we have the deepest sympathy; for if they are the utterance of\na truly sincere heart, they evidence belief, and not unbelief; they\nassume that there is an order and government in the universe, which\nis on the side of truth, and that we may therefore, at all hazards,\ndiscover what is true, and cling to it in the full assurance of\nfaith,--that ultimately the right and true are in harmony with all\nthat is worth loving and worth living for. Amen! we say from\nour heart. At the same time, it is well to look at some of the\nconsequences which the destruction of Christianity would involve even\nto him who destroys it.\n\nIt is obvious, for example, that should it cease to exist to us as\na reality, other realities would remain irrespective of our belief.\nExistence would remain, and it _may_ be one as eternal as the life of\nGod; sorrow and suffering would remain, to gnaw the heart, darken the\nworld, and cast deep shadows over a life which must end with that\ndread event, death, and the passing away of ourselves and of all we\nhave from the memories of mankind as if we had never been--and whither\nI Worst of all, _sin_ would remain--dark, mysterious, and terrible\nsin! And \"obstinate questionings\" would remain to disturb and perplex\nthe mind in moments of earnest and silent thought. Men would still\nask, What if we are responsible to God for this whole inner and outer\nlife of ours, with its beliefs, purposes, and actions? What if sin\nand its consequences continue beyond the grave, with no remedy there\nunless found here? What if there is no possible happiness but in\nfellowship of spirit and character with God; and what if this is\nmorally impossible for us to attain without a Saviour and Sanctifier\nWhat, in short, if all the evils which Christianity professes to\ndeliver us from remain as facts in our history, just as diseases\nremain though the aid of the physician, who reveals their nature, and\nwho offers to cure them, is rejected? or, as a vessel remains a wreck\nin the midst of the breakers after the life-boat which comes to save\nthe crew is dismissed? or, as the lion remains after the telescope\nis flung aside which revealed his coming, and revealed also the only\nplace of safety from his attack? For it is obvious that Christianity\ndoes not create the evils and dangers from which it offers to deliver\nus, and that these must remain as facts should it be proved a fiction.\nSo far, then, the infidel has gained nothing by the overthrow of our\nreligion. \"Except truth!\" does he exclaim? Yet, I again repeat it,\ntruth in its negative form only, as destroying supposed falsehoods,\nbut not in its positive form as establishing something to rest upon.\n\nIs there any other conceivable gain, then, which would accrue to the\nunbeliever by his supposed success? Does he wish, for example, to\nrelieve oppressed souls of some great burden which crushes them?\nBut what alleged truths or doctrine of Christianity, if blotted out\nto-morrow from the circle of belief, would ease a single soul, while\nit would unquestionably be an irreparable loss to millions? Would a\nGod be more acceptable, and appear with greater moral beauty, who was\ndifferent from the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ? Would He\nbe more attractive to our hearts if He did not forgive our sins fully\nand freely, or if forgiveness was not offered through such Divine\nself-sacrifice? Would it be a relief to our moral being to be freed\nfrom the privilege or duty of supremely loving Jesus Christ? Would it\nlighten our hearts to be freed from the burden of having communion\nwith Him in prayer? Would we have more security for light, life,\nstrength, holiness, peace, or comfort, if there was no such Person\nrevealed as the Spirit of God, who freely imparts His aid to all?\nWould it be glad tidings to hear that men were not to be born again,\nnor to repent, nor to deny themselves, nor to do God's will, but their\nown? What is there which a good man would gain by the destruction of\nthe Christian religion!\n\nI have one question more to suggest with reference to the duty of an\nunbeliever towards us as Christians, and it is this, Why should he\ndisturb our faith, or, as he might term it, our superstition? If he\nretorts by asking why we should disturb his unbelief, our answer is\nready--because we wish with our whole soul to share with him the\nblessings which God our common Father has for him as well as for\nus; because we truly lament the loss to our brother who refuses the\neternal good which he may now enjoy with the whole family of God;\nbecause we love our God, and his God and Saviour, and desire our\nbrother to know and to love them too; because it is so unjust, so\nselfish, so hateful, not to love and obey such a glorious Person as\nJesus Christ, who knows us, loves us, and has died to gain our hearts!\nThese are some of the reasons, rudely and roughly stated, why we\ndesire, with all our heart, that every man should believe in Jesus\nChrist. But if any man, for any reason which may be beyond our\nunderstanding or sympathy, desires to destroy this faith in all that\nis most precious to us, then I ask, not in Christ's name,--for it is\nunnecessary to appeal to Him,--but in the name of common sense and\ncommon philanthropy, why he should not only labour to do this, but to\ndo it without apparently any apprehension of the untold misery which\nhe must occasion if he succeeds in his attempt? Do not tell us, with a\nboast, that \"the truth must be spoken, come what may!\" Be it so; but\nsurely the _kind of_ truth which must be spoken must ever regulate the\nmanner in which it is spoken? Again, I bid you picture to yourselves a\nperson entering a family whose members were rejoicing in the thought\nof a father's return, and announcing the intelligence of that father's\ndeath, with a smile of pity or a sneer of contempt at their ignorant\nhappiness! Imagine such a one professing to be actuated by a mere love\nof truth! Oh! if the terrible duty has been laid upon any one with a\nhuman heart, of announcing to others intelligence which, if true, must\nleave a blank to them in the world that can never be filled up, what\ntender sympathy, what genuine sorrow becomes him who breaks the heavy\ntidings! And such _ought_ to be the feelings of every man who, from\nwhatever cause, feels called upon to announce that the Christian\nreligion is false. If he _must_ make known that terrible fact to\nbelievers in Jesus; if he _must_ tell them that the supposed Source of\nall their life and joy has no existence, and that their faith in Him\nis vain, let this be done with the solemnity and the sorrow which a\ntrue brotherly sympathy would necessarily dictate. If the missionaries\nof Christianity are warranted in preaching their gospel with joy, the\nmissionaries of an infidelity which professes only to destroy and\nnot to build up, should go forth on their dreadful vocation with the\nfeeling of martyrs, and with no other notes of triumph than sounds of\nlamentation and woe! For if Christianity is false, we are \"yet in our\nsins, all who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished, and we are\nof all men most miserable!\"\n\n\n\n\nTHOUGHTS UPON THE FINAL JUDGMENT.\n\n\nThere is no \"fact of the future\" more clearly revealed in Scripture,\nor more certainly believed in by the Christian Church, than that \"God\nhath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness\nby that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance\nunto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead.\"\n\nNo doubt this fact is denied or explained away by many modern critics.\nBut it would be difficult to say what revealed fact, from Genesis to\nRevelation, is admitted by them, or what things may now be \"_most\nsurely_ believed among us.\" We retain our first faith in the future\njudgment, and shall endeavour to look at it in a practical rather than\nin a speculative light.\n\nThere is, indeed, among mankind a general anticipation of a coming\ntime when the mystery of God's providence will be cleared up, and His\nrighteousness displayed in the final judgment to be then passed on the\nevil and on the good. What the human race are led to anticipate, as\nlikely to occur hereafter, from the many unsettled questions here\nbetween man and his brother, and between man and his God, Scripture\nreveals to us as certain.\n\nWhile, however, every Christian believes in the coming of Jesus to\njudge the world as firmly as he does in the fact of His having risen\nfrom the dead, there seems to us to be very inadequate conceptions in\nthe minds of many as to the designs of this day, or the ends which it\nis fitted to accomplish in the kingdom of God.\n\nIt is hastily assumed, for example, that the _day_ of judgment will be\nshort as the period included between an earthly sunrise and sunset;\nand that, during this brief interval, the dead shall rise, and be\njudged before the throne of Jesus Christ, along with fallen angels. It\nis accordingly asked, with doubt and wonder, what good can be gained,\nor what purpose served, by this summoning those whose doom has long\nbeen sealed to appear at the bar of Jesus, and there to receive a\nformal sentence? If Judas goes to his own place, and Stephen to the\narms of his Redeemer; if the wicked rich man departs to the burning\nflame, and Lazarus to the bosom of Abraham; if Satan and his angels\nhave long ago experienced the horrors of a state which they know to be\nunchangeable, because they are themselves unchanged; what conceivable\nreason can there be for appointing a day in which all the wicked and\nthe righteous are to be assembled, only to receive their respective\nsentences of condemnation or acquittal?\n\nI know not how such questions can be answered by those who suppose the\nday of judgment to be nothing more than one on which Jesus Christ will\n_publicly_ declare what the eternal fate of His creatures is to be for\never; without any trial beyond that which has already taken place in\nthe court of each man's conscience, and in the presence of the living\nGod.\n\nWe at once admit that the difficulty, or impossibility even, of\nanswering such questions, is no adequate reason for our denying any\nfact clearly revealed in Scripture which may suggest them. But if\nthese belong, not to the fact itself, but to what appears to us to be\na wrong interpretation of it; if a different view is freed from\nsuch difficulties, without others, more numerous and serious, being\nevolved; if the information afforded by Scripture is to be received as\nauthentic; and if, moreover, while keeping strictly to the letter\nof Scripture, it is more in harmony with the grand ends to be\naccomplished by the kingdom of Christ, and discloses more of the glory\nof the great King, surely a presumption is thereby afforded in favour\nof its truth, though, perhaps, at first sight it may interfere with\npreconceived opinions.\n\nInstead, then, of the day of judgment being a day of twenty-four hours\nmerely for the passing of a righteous sentence upon the good or bad,\nit seems to us to be clearly revealed in Scripture that it will be a\nperiod of time long enough for the peaceful and orderly ongoing of\nall its august proceedings;--when Jesus Christ will summon to His\nimmediate presence all who have been the subjects of His mediatorial\nkingdom, or have been placed under His authority for accomplishing the\npurposes of His reign;--when each person will be tried in the presence\nof the assembled universe, and his true relationship to his King must\nbe proved upon evidence minute, sifting, and unquestionable;--in one\nword, when the whole government of the Mediator, from the beginning\ntill the end of time, over men, angels, and devils, shall be fully\ndisclosed, and its excellence manifested to the confusion of the\nwicked, the joy of the righteous, and the glory of the Triune God!\n\nDifficulties will, no doubt, be suggested by the view we have thus\nso briefly stated, as well as by the others I have been obliged to\ndiscard. But instead of attempting to remove these, I shall at present\npass them by, leaving them to be tacitly and satisfactorily answered\nby the positive truth regarding the judgment, which I shall now\nendeavour to establish.\n\n\nTHE JUDGE.\n\n\nThe Judge will be _Jesus Christ_:--\n\n\"We must all appear before the judgment-seat of _Christ_.\"\n\n\"_Jesus Christ_, who shall judge the living and the dead, at his\nappearing and kingdom.\"\n\n\"The day when God will judge the secrets of men _by Jesus Christ_.\"\n\n\"The Father judgeth no man, but hath _committed all judgment unto the\nSon_.\"\n\nNow, there are several reasons discernible by us why Jesus Christ\nshould thus be \"appointed to judge the world.\"\n\n1. From the constitution of His _person_. As God, He is possessed of\nomniscience to discern every thought and intent of the heart; unerring\nwisdom and unsullied righteousness to try every case; with omnipotent\npower and sovereign authority to execute every sentence. On the other\nhand, as \"the Son of man,\" He will appear in His human nature, for\n\"every eye shall see Him.\" This \"_same Jesus_\" said the angels at His\nascension, \"who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in\nlike manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven.\" Men will be judged by\none who is their Brother, \"who, in all points, was tried like one of\nus;\" \"who in all things was made like His brethren.\"\n\n2. Another reason why Jesus Christ will direct all the proceedings of\nthe day of judgment, arises from the peculiar relationship in which,\nas the only Mediator between God and man, He stands to the human race.\nLet us dwell for a moment upon this point.\n\nWe are informed in Scripture, that _Jesus Christ is the Creator of\nthis world_:--\n\n\"All things were made by him.\" \"He was in the world, and the world\nwas made by him.\" \"God who created all things by Jesus Christ.\" \"All\nthings were created by him and for him.\"\n\nHe is also _Governor of the world_:--\n\n\"God raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in\nthe heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might,\nand dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world,\nbut also in that which is to come; and hath put all things under his\nfeet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church which\nis his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.\"\n\nTo accomplish the various ends of this glorious government, He is\n_King of nature_; all the elements of nature which can in any way\naffect the history or destiny of the human race being directed and\ncontrolled by Him. \"The winds and the seas obey Him;\" pestilence and\nfamine, the volcano and the hurricane, are ministers of His, that\ndo His pleasure. _He is the King of providence_; armies and fleets,\nconquests and invasions, discoveries and inventions, migrations and\nsettlements,--all are under the government of His wise and omnipotent\nsceptre. _He is the King of grace_; the gifts and graces of the Holy\nSpirit are dispensed to the persons and in the measure which seem best\nto Him. _Finally_, He is the _King of angels and devils_; so that\ntheir power and agency, in relation to the human family, are either\ncontrolled or guided by Him.\n\nNow, this kingdom of Jesus Christ, which began with the history of the\nworld at least, will one day be resigned into the hands of God. \"Then\ncometh the end,\" says the apostle, \"when he shall have delivered up\nthe kingdom to God the Father, that God may be all in all.\" But ere\nthat end comes, the Mediator himself will, as we suppose; disclose the\nhistory of His kingdom to the assembled universe. He will make known\n\"His ways and acts\" towards the children of men. He will meet friend\nand foe, and disclose the real history of each person who ever lived,\nfrom the first moment of his birth to the moment of his trial; and of\neach family, and city, and kingdom, from their rise till their final\nextinction in the dust; and thus the universe shall know how His\ngovernment over human affairs, in all ages and climes, has been\nconducted; and in what manner His authority and power over all things\nfor His Church has been exercised; that it may be known on evidence,\nwhether He is indeed worthy to have received such honour and power in\nthe great and universal kingdom of Jehovah!\n\n3. But there seems also a fitness in Jesus being the Judge, from _His\npeculiar relationship to the Church._ \"He created all things, that\nunto principalities and powers might be known by the Church the\nmanifold wisdom of God.\" And He is now, in virtue of what He has\ndone as a Priest, the Head over all things for the Church as a King.\n\"Because he humbled himself, God hath highly exalted him.\" The grand\nend of His whole mediatorial reign is, \"that unto God might be glory\nin the Church by Christ Jesus.\" But the work of Jesus Christ as\nMediator will not have terminated, nor will He have received His full\njoy and reward, until He raises His people from their graves, and\ngathers His elect from the four winds of heaven; and opens the Book\nof Life, and from this biographical record adduces evidence of the\nreality of their loyalty, and of their love to the King; and reveals\nthe glory of all His dealings towards them in every age:--until, in\none word, the living Church, of which He is the Head, which \"He loved\"\nand \"purchased with His own blood,\" and \"sanctified and cleansed with\nthe washing of the water of His word,\" shall be presented to Himself,\nnot having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, but holy and without\nblemish. His judgment of the Church will be the consummation of His\nmediatorial glory, and the fulness of His reward.\n\nAs to the time _when_ Jesus Christ shall judge the world, we are\nignorant. \"Of that day knoweth no man, not even the angels.\" We know\nonly that it will come suddenly--\"as a thief in the night\"--upon the\nwhole world; and that \"we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be\nchanged, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last\ntrump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised\nincorruptible, and we shall be changed.\"\n\nNo words of man can venture upon any description of the appearance of\nthe Judge, or the accompaniments of that great and terrible day of\nthe Lord. But here are a few Scripture statements descriptive of this\nsolemn scene:--\n\n\"For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his\nangels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works,\"\n(Matt. xvi. 27.)\n\n\"And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then\nshall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of\nman coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he\nshall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall\ngather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven\nto the other,\" (Matt. xxiv. 30, 31.)\n\n\"For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are\nalive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them\nwhich are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with\na shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God:\nand the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and\nremain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet\nthe Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord,\" (1 Thess.\niv. 15-17.)\n\n\"And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall\nbe revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking\nvengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of\nour Lord Jesus Christ,\" (2 Thess. i. 7, 8.)\n\n\"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the\nwhich the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements\nshall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are\ntherein shall be burned up,\" (2 Pet. iii. 10.)\n\n\"And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose\nface the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place\nfor them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and\nthe books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book\nof life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were\nwritten in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up\nthe dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead\nwhich were in them: and they were judged every man according to their\nworks,\" (Rev. xx. 11-13.)\n\n\nWHO ARE TO BE JUDGED?\n\n\nWe reply, _men_ and _fallen angels_.\n\n\"We must all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ.\" If the\ngovernment of Jesus Christ over men is to be revealed on that day, it\nis clear that all men, without exception, must be judged. So linked,\nindeed, is the history of each man with that of others,--as, for\ninstance, the tempter with the tempted, the oppressed with the\noppressor, the teacher with the taught, the child with the parent;--so\nnecessarily is each man's condition and character affected by that of\nall who have gone before him, up to his first parents;--so truly do\nall human beings make up _one_ race, _one_ family, from the life of\neach being more or less connected with that of all, that the knowledge\nof the real history of even one man, almost implies an examination\ninto the real history of the whole human race. And we shall possess,\nfor the first time, a true history of the whole world, when we truly\nunderstand the history of each person, family, and kingdom in it; and\nso also shall we possess the true history of each individual part,\nonly when we know its relationship to the great whole; and the history\nof events, when we perceive what bearing they have had on the kingdom\nof Jesus Christ, whose history is that of the world.\n\nIt has been questioned how far the sins of the people of God, which\nhave been for ever pardoned, are to be revealed at judgment. But we\nsee no reason whatever why this should not be the case, and every\nreason why it should. We might, beforehand, have thought it more\nlikely that God would not have recorded in the Bible, and exposed in\nthe light of all coming ages, the sins of His most eminent servants,\nas those of Abraham, Moses, David, of Peter, or of Paul. But He has\ntold the _whole_ truth regarding them for our warning and instruction;\nand so will the whole truth be told regarding every saint at judgment,\n\"that no flesh may glory in His presence;\" and that the reality of the\nwickedness of the old man may be proven, as well as the reality of the\nholiness of the \"new man created in Christ Jesus unto good works.\" And\nwhat saint can be unwilling to have revealed what he was, that so the\nglorious love of God's Spirit may be made the more manifest, as the\nsole cause of what he has become, and will continue to be for ever and\never?\n\nFallen angels shall also be judged upon that day: \"For God spared not\nthe angels that sinned, but cast them, down to hell, and delivered\nthem into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment,\" \"And\nthe angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own\nhabitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains, under darkness,\nunto the judgment of the great day.\" Under what dispensation those\nbeings first sinned against God, we cannot tell. All we know from\nthe information given us by God is, that they have been permitted to\nexercise their power in this world, on the side of evil, ever since\nthe creation of man. Satan, the adversary, the tempter, the enemy, who\nis the head of these principalities and powers, has been a \"liar and\nmurderer from the beginning;\" and in every age and clime, he and his\nwicked spirits have advanced the kingdom of darkness with indomitable\nperseverance, untiring energy, ceaseless hate, and \"all deceivableness\nand unrighteousness in them that perish.\" Fallen angels having thus\ntaken so dreadful a part in the history of Christ's kingdom, and being\nresponsible for all they do, shall be tried at judgment; and what a\nrevelation must their trial be of the character, the hellish plots and\nmachinations of those enemies of Jesus Christ and His Church!\n\nWe have already alluded to the _individuality_ of the examination at\nthe last day,--how \"every one of us must give an account of _himself_\nto God;\" and \"receive the things done in _his_ body, according to what\n_he_ hath done, whether good or evil;\" and also, how each fact must\nbe brought to light upon _evidence_ whose truth cannot be questioned.\nUpon that day, mere assertions will not be sufficient to establish the\nright or the wrong condition of any one before the judgment-seat. The\nuniverse must know the truth! Evidence must, therefore, be adduced\nwhich will \"convince all;\" and that evidence, too, will be sifted.\nBefore sentence is passed, overwhelming proof will demonstrate the\nrighteous ground on which each individual must take his place among\nthose on the left hand or on the right. Let us see if we can discover\nany sources of evidence for the detection and discrimination of\ncharacter.\n\n\n\"THE BOOKS SHALL BE OPENED.\"\n\n\n1. _The Book of Providence will be opened_.--In this book has been\nrecorded, and from its pages can be shewn, by Jesus Christ, everything\nwhich has been done to us, and for us, by Himself, since the hour of\nour birth till that of our death. Every temporal mercy or\nspiritual blessing--every advice given by ministers, relations,\nor friends--every Sabbath which dawned upon us--every stirring of\nconscience within us--every visitation of sickness or domestic\naffliction--every item, in short, of that immense sum of things which,\nin His providence or by His grace, was given us each successive hour\nof life, and which was intended to mould our characters according to\nthe will of God;--all shall be revealed at judgment, that the universe\nmay know what Jesus Christ, the King, has really done for each one of\nHis subjects, and what each subject has been, and done, in relation to\nHim.\n\n2. _The Book of Memory shall be opened_.--An awful volume! It seems\nalmost certain that anything once known to us must for ever abide in\nmemory, and can never be absolutely and for ever lost. Out of sight it\nmay be, but never really out of mind. It may appear to be dead, though\nit only sleeps, ready to start into vigorous life when touched by some\nhand which can reach it in the dim mysterious recess where it lies\nconcealed. It is thus, before returning, after a long absence, to the\nhome of our early life, we are unable to discover any page in the\nvolume of our memory inscribed with more than a few incidents which\nfilled up those early years of gladness. Every page seems a blank, or\nits records, if not obliterated, can hardly be traced. But when we\n_do_ return, what a magic influence is exercised by every tree, rock,\nand stream, and by the old home itself with which these were once\ninseparably associated! The history of days and years now glow with\nthe vividness of first impressions, where, until now, all was so\nindistinct and illegible. Old familiar voices ring in our ears,\nbeloved faces of the old dead gaze upon us as of yore, and their forms\nflit before our moist eyes. But were not these things all the while\nin our memory, although unnoticed by us until called forth by fitting\ncircumstances? And have we not seen evidence of the same mysterious\nlife of the past within us, when in extreme old age a second childhood\nawakens all the incidents of the first; when memory, like a flash of\nlightning, irradiates the sky, otherwise dark and wintry, revealing\nthe scenes of early days, which were before quite forgotten? More\nwonderful still--it is certain that things once known, which in\nhealth were as lost to memory as if they had never been, are suddenly\nrecalled, and appear in all their former life and freshness, when\nfever touches the brain with her delirious hand. The sick man, in his\nravings, speaks perhaps a language known only in his infancy, and\nrecalls incidents belonging to a period which was a total blank in his\nrecollections during days of robust health. And what does all\nthis prove but the momentous truth, that anything which once was\ndone,--anything which we have ever thought, uttered, or known, or\nwas ever inscribed in the book of memory,--remains there engraven in\ncharacters more permanent than those which, cut deep in the hoary\nmonuments of Egypt, have outlived teeming centuries of human history?\nDarkness may cover the page, but by a vivid and mysterious flash every\nletter is illuminated. That flash may be only some trifle, such as a\nnote of music--the tone of some voice--\n\n  \"The subtle smell which spring unbends,\n  Dread pause abrupt of midnight winds,--\n  An echo or a dream!\"\n\nAnd thus may it be at judgment; by the extension of the same _kind_ of\npower, may our _whole_ life, in its minutest details, pass before our\neyes,--each minute of it delivering its own history of word or deed,\nof things done or things received,--and each recognised as true by the\npossessor of them all. Accordingly, every man is now, whether he\nwills it or not, unconsciously writing or _daguerreotyping_ his own\nbiography;--his whole life forming a work of more importance, to\nhimself at least, than any other in the universe,--each volume a year,\neach chapter a month, each day or hour a page. At judgment memory will\nread the whole, and be compelled to feel that every word is true. It\nis strange, too, how rapid--reasoning from analogy--such a review may\nbe, without diminishing from its distinctness. States of being, or\nsuccessive acts, which occupied long periods of time, may very rapidly\nbe recalled in all their minute features. In moments of sudden peril,\nwhen death seemed approaching, how frequently have men told us that\nthey beheld, in a twinkling of an eye, the great features of their\nwhole life like a panorama passing before their mind's eye! And thus\nat judgment, clear, yet rapid--intensely real and vivid, yet sudden as\nlight--may the life of the boy, and the man, and the patriarch, from,\nthe first till the last moment of conscious and responsible existence\nupon earth, be presented to the mind with a self-evidencing power of\ntruth, which cannot, which dare not, be denied or resisted! Jesus\nChrist will speak _to_ the man from _within_ the man, and, with\nirresistible power, say to him, \"_Son, remember!_\"\n\n3. _The Book of Conscience shall be opened_.--This will afford\nabundant evidence, when read along with the books of memory and\nprovidence, of the witness in every man's soul for the moral\ngovernment of God, and that ever accused or excused his life. That\ntremendous power which has dogged the murderer in his flight,\nfollowing him across the seas, tracking him to his refuge in some\nsolitary island or savage wilderness,--that presence which, like an\nevil spirit from another world, has disturbed the guilty in the midst\nof his festivities, or sat heavily on his soul, brooding over him in\nhis slumbers as a horrible nightmare, until he has started up in the\nagony of despair,--that judge which has made kings tremble on their\nthrones, and ruffians shiver in their silent cells,--that awful voice\nwill be allowed then to speak out with the power, as well as with the\nauthority, that belong to it. It will pass judgment upon all the facts\nin each man's life, which shall then, for the first time, be fully and\nfairly submitted to its inspection; and each page in memory's book\nwill find a corresponding page in the book of conscience, on that \"day\nwhen God shall judge _the secrets_ of men by Jesus Christ,\" A thousand\nexcuses will be silenced by it, and false hopes crushed, and a fiery\nlaw go forth to destroy all the coverings which the deceitful heart\nnow draws over its own wilful and desperate wickedness.\n\n4. \"Another book will be opened, which is _the Book of Life_\"--In\nthat book are inscribed the characters of all God's people, and the\nevidence of the reality of their faith in Christ and obedience to Him.\n\"Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord: Yea, saith the Spirit, that\nthey may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them!\"\nThese works, which are the evidence, results, and rewards of faith,\nare recorded by that same Spirit through whose power alone the soul\nhas lived, believed, and been enabled to bring forth such fruit to the\npraise of the glory of God by Jesus Christ. In the book of life will\nbe found recorded by the omniscient Holy Spirit of Truth, that secret\nlife of every saint which was \"hid with Christ in God.\" Then shall be\nrevealed the reality of their repentance and inward renewal of soul;\nthe sincerity of their love to God and to His people; their secret\nprayers, thanksgivings, confessions, intercessions, and holy communion\nwith God; their plans, longings, and sacrifices for the spread of the\ngospel, and for the glory of God upon earth; their deeds of charity\nfor Christ,--every prison they entered, every naked one they clothed;\nthe hungry they fed, or the offences forgiven by them from love to\nHim who forgave them;--that whole _character_, in short, which is the\nresult of union with Christ, will be evidenced to the universe from\nwhat is recorded of it in the Lamb's Book of Life.\n\nAnd is there not another book, even \"_the_ Book,\" which may also be\nopened at judgment as a witness for the Triune God in His dealings\nwith mankind? How many millions of men have possessed the Bible, and\nacknowledged it as the word of God! Who, therefore, among them, will\nbe able to plead ignorance of any truth--any duty--any danger--any\npromise--the knowledge of which could essentially affect their eternal\nsalvation? True, they may never have opened the Bible, or have refused\nto believe it, or have despised and rejected its warnings, counsels,\nand reproofs; but the Bible was nevertheless given them, and their\nvery ignorance may be their crime. Or, if not ignorant, but only\n\"hating knowledge,\" and \"not choosing the fear of the Lord,\"--their\ncondemnation is, that they preferred the darkness to the light,\nbecause their deeds were evil? Oh, what a witness will that Book be\nagainst the slothful, the wilfully ignorant and unbelieving!\n\nAre these sources of evidence not sufficient wherewith to determine,\nto the conviction of the universe, each man's character at the\njudgment of the great day? Should more be required, many other\nwitnesses may be summoned, if necessary, before the white throne.\nSatan and wicked spirits are ready to accuse the sinner, and to prove\nhow he yielded to temptation, became habit and repute in sin, and a\nwilling and active instrument for destroying others. True, Satan is a\nliar; but is _this_ testimony a lie? Can these accusations, if false,\nbe disproved? Can Christ be appealed to either as to their falsehood,\nor for exculpatory evidences of genuine repentance or new life? And\nholy angels, too, are there, who will be able to testify as to whether\nthis man ever gave them joy as a true penitent, was the object of\ntheir ministrations as an heir of salvation, or known to them as a\nfellow-worker in Christ's kingdom upon earth. Relations, friends,\nneighbours, church-members, are also there to tell, at Christ's\nbidding, what was the manner of his life in the family, in society, or\nin the \"household of God.\" What has this man as a father, husband, or\nchild, done? What example did he set? What temper and conduct did he\nmanifest at home? What was his influence as a companion? Did he\nlead to hell or heaven? What did Christians find him to be as a\nfellow-Christian? Was he cruel and covetous, slothful and indifferent,\nuncharitable and censorious; or loving, zealous, and self-denying,\nthe author of peace and lover of concord, a friend and brother? Oh!\nsurely, even now we can easily see how there can be no want of means\nat the great day of judgment, by which, without any revelation from\nthe unerring and all-seeing Judge himself, each man's character may be\nsearched and known to its inmost depths, and in all its minute details\nbe revealed.\n\nAnd now, reader, before we proceed, let us here entreat of you to\nexamine your present life. We ask, whether you think it possible that\nit can afford any evidence upon that day of sincere love to Jesus\nChrist?--anything which can warrant the Judge to say to _you_, \"Well\ndone, good and faithful servant?\"--anything in your aims, wishes,\npurposes, pursuits, endeavours, which evidence the existence in the\nleast degree of that _kind_ of life which is the result of being born\nand sanctified by God's Spirit, and cannot otherwise be accounted for?\n\nHow many shrink from that examination _now_, which must take place\n_then!_ But is it not wiser to know your sins, and see your danger\nnow, when the one can be pardoned, and the other averted, than, for\nthe first time, to awake to a sense of both, when your sins can never\nmore, as far as man can discover, be removed, and your danger, if\nreal, must end in ruin? We have many foreshadowings of judgment\nrevealed to us by Christ; and we have the unavailing pleadings of\nthose who desire to be recognised as among His friends. \"Lord,\nLord!\" cry some, \"open to us!\" These are not infidels, but professed\nbelievers in Christ's supreme authority. \"Lord, hast thou not taught\nin our streets?--open to us!\" is the plea of those who heard the truth\nspoken, it may be by Jesus personally; of those, at least, who had\nthe privilege, and did not neglect it, of hearing the word preached.\n\"Lord, have we not eaten and drunk in thy presence?--open to us!\"\nappears to others sufficient evidence of friendship for the Redeemer,\nand such as might be urged by those who followed Him in Judea, and\nsaw His person, heard His words, yea, sat at meat with Him as \"His\nfamiliar friends.\" \"Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in\nthy name cast out devils, and done many wonderful works?--open to us!\"\nThus could Judas have pleaded; and many a man, perhaps, who had the\ngift of miracles without the grace of God; or many more who have had\nrare gifts of talent, genius, eloquence, which have done good to\nothers, in spite of their own selfish motives; and who, by many\nwonderful works, have cast out \"evil possessions\" of wicked principles\nand practices from others, while evil, nevertheless, possessed\nthemselves. And with as imposing claims many too may seek admittance\nto God's kingdom, because they \"gave their goods to feed the poor, or\ntheir bodies to be burned.\" Yet, to each and all such pleadings, Jesus\nrepresents himself as saying, \"I know you not! Depart from me, all ye\nworkers of iniquity!\" But if so, we ask you, reader, what evidence of\nChristian life can you adduce better or more satisfactory than all\nthis? Nothing, be assured, will be accepted which does not prove a\nright spirit, or, in other words, the existence in the soul of _love\nto Jesus Christ_ in some form or other. \"LOVEST THOU ME?\" will be the\ngrand question, the truthful reply to which will determine our real\nstate on that great day. Hence, while the evidence of doing wonderful\nworks, or of giving our body to be burned, is rejected as worthless,\ninasmuch as the one proves only the existence of power, and the other\nof what may be but a sacrifice to self, and not to the Saviour,--yet\nthe gift of a cup of cold water to a disciple for the sake of the\nMaster, will suffice to open the doors of heaven, because affording\nevidence of the heart which loves Jesus, and for which heaven has been\nprepared. \"Come, ye blessed of my Father! Inasmuch as ye have done it\nunto the least of my disciples, ye have done it unto me!\" \"If any man\nlove not the Lord Jesus Christ; let him be accursed!\"\n\nWe need not add that we have assumed that the persons thus judged have\nhad full opportunities of knowing and serving Jesus as their Lord.\n\n\nRESULTS OF JUDGMENT.\n\n\nWhat shall the results be of such a searching, impartial, and\nconclusive investigation into the history of mankind? Some of these we\nmay, perhaps, be permitted to anticipate.\n\n_The proceedings of the day of judgment will answer all the\naccusations of Christ's enemies_.\n\nThe government of Jesus Christ is hated and opposed here. This fact,\nalas! in human history, cannot be denied. We do not speak of Satan and\nhis angels, who war against the Lord, nor even of His unconscious foes\namong the heathen; but only of those men who possess the Bible, and\nall the means of knowing the will of their Divine King. Yet how many\namong them are His open and avowed enemies. There is not one feature\nof His character which men do not blaspheme,--not one act of His\ngovernment at which they do not cavil. He is alleged to be unrighteous\nin His commands; unfair in His treatment of mankind; unwise in\nHis arrangements; unfaithful in His words; and even vindictive,\nunmerciful, implacable in His judgments, and in no respect worthy\nof man's love and obedience. Jesus of Nazareth--believed in by the\nChurch, known and loved by all its living members--is still \"despised\nand rejected of men.\" Nor are His enemies ashamed to speak out their\nthoughts, and openly to scorn and ridicule Him; asserting that He has\nno right to govern them or the world,--and thus \"denying the Lord that\nbought them.\" Now, as on the day of His crucifixion, a rabble of all\nranks, talents, and professions, cry, \"Away with this fellow;\" while\nthey demand in His stead some Barabbas \"hero\" of their own to worship.\nThere is often manifested an opposition to Christianity which assumes\nthe aspect of personal hatred. We do not at all allude in these pages\nto the sincere, reverential man, who doubts, questions, argues,\nopposes, sifts, denies, rejects, while endeavouring, with an honest\nmind, to discover and believe _the truth_, whatever that may be; nor\nto the sadness of spirit of one who _wishes_ \"the glad tidings\" to be\ntrue, but cannot arrive at a conclusion so desirable for his own good\nand peace, as well as for that of society; nor to the effects of a\npeculiar constitutional temperament which has a tendency first to\ndoubt and invest everything with darkness, and then endeavours in\nvain to dispel what itself creates. But when we speak of infidels and\nunbelievers, we speak of _ungodly_ men who dislike the truth of God,\nand who manifest this dislike in their triumph when any supposed error\nin the life or the doctrines of Jesus Christ is detected, or any evil\n(for which He is held responsible) is exposed in His followers, and\nwho keep an ample mantle of charity for those who disbelieve, but none\nfor those who believe in Jesus Christ as their only Saviour.\n\nThis opposition to the government of God through Jesus Christ has not\nbeen a temporary outburst by a few only. The kingdom of Satan has\nexisted here since the fall of man, side by side with Christ's\nkingdom, and opposed it in every age and clime. The kingdom of\nholiness and peace has never entered the soul of any living man,\nwithout first meeting, and then overcoming, enmity and ill-will by the\npower of truth and love. It has never entered a single country on the\nsurface of the globe without terrible combats being fought again and\nagain, in which the best soldiers and noblest subjects of the Great\nKing have \"had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover,\nof bonds and imprisonments.\" \"We will not have the Lord to reign over\nus!\" has been everywhere the awful battle-cry; and the conflict rages\nnow as fiercely as it did in any age of the world! Nor, moreover,\nhas this opposition been given by uncivilised savages; but men of\nknowledge and of genius have dedicated all the powers of their mind to\nthe dread task of ridding the world of the Redeemer's sceptre. What\nthey have thought, they have spoken; what they have spoken, they have\nwritten and recorded in books, that their influence might extend\nbeyond their own immediate circle and their own time, and that other\nnations and other generations might know what _they_ thought of the\nSaviour,--how sincerely they themselves despised and rejected Him, and\ndesired all others to do the same. What is every infidel publication\nbut an accusation against Jesus Christ, a protest against His\ngovernment, and an attempt to rouse the world to join in the\nrebellion? \"They take counsel together against the Lord and his\nAnointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away\ntheir cords from us!\"\n\nAnd this hatred to Christ will continue till the end of the world: for\nwe read, that \"in _the last days_ will come _scoffers_.\" Nay, it\nis quite possible that accusations against Him are, and shall be,\nmaintained by the wicked up till the very hour of judgment. For, even\nas the criminal before his trial will feed his pride, and soothe his\nconscience, by denying every charge alleged against him, or by blaming\nevery one but himself; so it may be that the wicked, after death, will\ncontinue to cast the blame upon the Saviour, for all they are and have\nbeen, even when they can no longer doubt the reality of His existence\nor government.\n\nAnd will Jesus ever answer those accusations? Why should He? you\nperhaps exclaim. His character, you say, cannot be affected in\nthe estimation of the good by anything which the enemies of all\nrighteousness can urge against it. His throne can no more be shaken by\nthe puny attacks of men or devils than the everlasting mountains can\nbe disturbed by the storm-blasts which howl around them. What more,\nthen, is needed, than to shut up the wicked in a prison-house, through\nwhose adamantine walls the accusing cry can never pierce, and whose\ndoors are for ever barred by the holy decree of the Almighty? Ah! were\nit so, even this thought might possibly gratify pride and enmity,\ncould a _condemned_, though not _judged_ spirit for ever carry with\nit a conviction of having waged a war in which _power_ alone had\nconquered weakness, and _might_ trampled upon right; and that all its\ncharges remained unanswered and unanswerable! But let no one presume\nupon this. It is true that Jesus Christ now, as when on earth He stood\nbefore His enemies, \"answers nothing.\" Do not misunderstand this awful\nsilence! You \"marvel greatly\" that He works no miracle to satisfy your\ndoubts, or you deny His power of doing so, and therefore you imagine,\nthat because He replies not to your accusations, He either hears them\nnot, cares not for them, or cannot meet them. But be assured, a day is\nappointed when the question between you and Him will be fairly tried.\nUnbelievers of all ranks, and whatever be their ability, will have\nan opportunity of re-stating their case, and of proving the truth\nof their accusations--if they can. Let none suppose that Jesus will\nshrink from such an investigation. Every utterance is reported for\nreview at judgment; every book is kept for that day. It is not the\nmethod of the divine government to put down its enemies by mere\nphysical power, as if the question between God and man was indeed one\nof strength and weakness, and not rather of right and wrong. The Lord\nwill indeed answer his enemies; but He will do so by the irresistible\npower of truth, and the omnipotent force of righteousness. He will\ncrush and overwhelm them; but it will be in their own conscience, and\nin their own estimation. He will expel them from whatever refuge of\nlies they may vainly attempt to seek for shelter, and expose them to\nthe full blaze of _principle_, until their inmost souls echo the dread\nsentence of \"GUILTY,\" which must be pronounced upon them, while they\nstand \"speechless\" amidst the assembled universe, and before the\nomniscient and holy Judge of all the earth. \"He is coming with ten\nthousand of His saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to CONVINCE\nall that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they\nhave ungodly committed, and of all their HARD SPEECHES which ungodly\nsinners have spoken against Him!\"\n\nDo we address one who is a professed unbeliever in the truth, or\nrather, who \"believes a lie,\"--that there _is_ no Saviour? We ask such\na one to consider what the certain, or even _probable_ consequences\nwill be to him, if all we have said is nevertheless true? What if you\nshall see Jesus Christ face to face, and have your whole outer and\ninner history, as it _is known to God_, minutely revealed to your own\nmind, and to the assembled jury of the universe? Will your thinking,\nor saying, that the whole is a fiction, make it so? Will your scoff at\nGod's revelation of the future prevent the dead from rising, or the\nJudge from appearing? Will a foolish jest, or a proud callousness, or\na subtle argument, or a brave indifference to what others fear, enable\nyou, on the resurrection morning, to shut your ears against the sound\nof the last trump, or to disobey the summons of the Son of God to rise\nfrom the tomb, and to appear before Him? And if no unbelief can change\nthe will of God, or make that false which He proclaims to be true, nor\nalter His prescribed order in things to come, no more than it can do\nHis present order in the starry heavens,--what can you say to Jesus\nChrist in your own defence? How can you, in consistency with His Word,\nso justify your own opinions and conduct, as to make it _possible_ for\nHim to say to you, \"Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into\nthe joy of _thy_ Lord?\" But, blessed be God! the same Word of truth\nwhich condemns the sinner, and shuts out all hope of safety to him,\n_while in his state of unbelief and ungodliness_, invites him, and\ncommands him, to come out of that state, and to share the life which\nis in Christ for every man. We cannot repeat it too often that Jesus\noffers immediate pardon and life through faith in His blood, to the\nchief of sinners--to the oldest and most bitter enemy which He has\nupon earth! Jesus offers His Spirit to every man, to enlighten\nhis understanding, renew his will, and spiritualise his taste and\naffections, and shed abroad the love of God in his heart; so that even\nthou, whoever thou art, mayest yet love, and be loved by, Jesus Christ\nand His saints for ever and ever! \"_Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,\nand_ THOU _shalt be saved_!\" But should His long-suffering patience,\nand abundant mercy, and rich love, fail to gain your heart,--should\nyou \"_prefer_ darkness to light,\" and \"remain in unbelief,\" and live\nand die without Him,--how can you escape? Is it not righteous that you\nshould walk in the darkness which you love, and be separated from your\nSaviour and His people, whom you dislike, and be permitted \"to eat of\nthe fruit of your _own_ way, and be filled with your own devices?\"\nOn \"the great and terrible day of the Lord,\" you will, alas! be\n\"_convinced_\" that the sentence pronounced upon you by the Saviour, of\n\"Depart from me!\" is but an echo of what your own heart is now saying\nto Him! Hear, I beseech you, the words of warning which God now\naddresses to you, in order that you may, in time, \"flee from the wrath\nto come!\" \"For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the\nknowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,\nbut a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation,\nwhich shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law\ndied without mercy under two or three witnesses: of how much sorer\npunishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden\nunder foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant,\nwherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite\nunto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, Vengeance\nbelongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The\nLord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the\nhands of the living God,\" (Heb. x. 26-31.)\n\nBut let us further inquire, What shall be its results with reference\nto the righteous?\n\n1. The righteous will then fully understand the excellence of Christ's\ngovernment over themselves.\n\nHow profoundly mysterious, as yet, to ourselves, is our own individual\nhistory! If we attempt to gather up the past, and to trace the whole\nway along which we have journeyed, with the innumerable windings of\nthe path, and all the dark valleys through which it has led, the\nrugged places it has passed over, or the many lofty hills up which it\nhas ascended,--how endless, how perplexing does it appear! If, again,\nwe try to measure the various powers which have helped to make us what\nwe are, or to weigh the number and relative importance of all the\nthings which have combined to produce the present result of character\nwithin, and of circumstances without us,--how soon are we lost amidst\nthe mass of the infinite items which make up the sum of even our\nlittle history. How inadequate are all our attempts to solve the\nproblems without number which every year suggests. _Why_, for example,\nhas this or that happened? Wherefore this sorrow or that joy?--why\nsuch changes of place or of fortune?--why the loss of old friends or\nthe gift of new ones?--why--But the questions are endless, and\nnever can be answered till judgment. It is true, that we are often\nprivileged to _see_ very clearly the reason of many of Christ's\ndealings with us here. He shews us His _ways_ as well as His\n_acts_--treating us as \"friends\" who \"know what their Lord doeth.\" The\nwheel of Providence often makes its revolutions in so short a period\nthat we see the whole movement. It was thus in the case of Abraham.\nThe mystery of God's command was resolved after three days on Mount\nMoriah. Thus, too, the darkness of family grief and of a distant\nSaviour, which brooded over the household of Bethany, was dispelled,\nand vanished before bright sunshine, at the cry, \"Lazarus, come\nforth!\" But it is not always thus; and though it would be so more\nfrequently if we waited more patiently upon God and considered His\nways, yet, at best, but a small fraction of our life is understood\nhere. Moreover, our own history is so interlaced with the history of\nothers, that what is more properly theirs, in some degree is ours\nalso. Can Moses, for instance, yet fully comprehend his own life in\nits relation to the Jewish nation, whose fate is still involved in\ndarkness? Can any one of the saints of old, whose deeds and words are\nrecorded in God's Book, and are telling every day and hour upon the\nhistory of mankind, and must continue to do so till time shall be no\nmore, comprehend what they really have done on earth? Must not the end\nof all things come before they understand the place and the work their\nLord assigned to them? And so is it with the humblest believer. He\nis a part of a great whole; and to understand how Jesus has governed\nHimself as a part, he must be able to see his own life in relation to\nthe great whole. But each Christian who has walked by faith, and held\nfast his confidence in Christ, will then also have revealed how the\nLord has governed him, and all that He has done to him and for him,\nand what He has enabled him to be and to do on earth. The sackcloth\nand ashes of every patient Job will be turned into garments of\npraise; and the lamentations of every mourning Jeremiah into songs of\ngladness: and in adoring wonder and unutterable joy, every head will\nbe bowed down, every crown cast at Christ's feet, and every heart\nwill feel, and mouth confess, \"He hath done all things well!\" What an\namazing disclosure will this be of the wisdom and love with which our\ngracious Lord has assigned to each servant his lot,--given to each\n\"_his_ work,\" and so prepared all things for him in the world, and so\nmade all things work together for his good, that \"the fruit has been\nholiness, and the end everlasting life!\"\n\n2. But the Christian will also behold at judgment the excellence of\nChrist's government over others, and over the whole world.\n\nIf we are such mysteries to ourselves, and if we cannot as yet truly\nwrite our own biographies, how much more perplexing to us is the\npersonal history of any other in his relation to the Redeemer! How\nimpossible to discover the reasons of all, or of any, of Christ's\nprovidential dealings with him, or to read aright any one day in his\nlife! Was it possible for Job's friends to interpret, _at the time_,\nJob's sufferings? God alone could have corrected Jacob when, in the\ndark night of his sorrow, yet just before the daybreak of his joy\nin Egypt, he cried, \"Joseph is not, Simeon is not, and will ye take\nBenjamin away?--_all these things are against me!_\" Daniel in the\nlions' den, or the three young men in the furnace, with a wicked king\nin peace upon the throne; John the Baptist in the dungeon, with Herod\nin the banquet hall; Stephen falling asleep beneath the shower of\ncruel stones, and Saul gazing complacently at the murderers' clothes\nlaid at his feet:--these, and a thousand other such incidents in human\nhistory, are, to beholders, involved in a portion of that darkness\nwhich hung over the cross of Christ itself, at the time, a mystery of\nmysteries to all who witnessed its agonies! But when, from the history\nof persons, we rise to the contemplation of the history of cities,\ncountries, and nations; or ascend to a still higher region in order to\ntake in, if possible, the history of the human race from age to age;\nand to comprehend what Jesus Christ has done for it, and how He\nhas governed it,--how much more profound is the darkness! If, for\ninstance, we endeavour to form any estimate of the effect which has\nbeen produced upon the character and destiny of mankind by the present\nstructure of the physical earth, with its mountains, seas, rivers,\nwinds, and climate--the house which Jesus Christ has built and\nfurnished for His creatures; by the famines and pestilences, wars and\nconquests, migrations and settlements, arising out of circumstances\nmore or less controlling man, and beyond his will; as well as by all\nthat has come, as it were, directly from Jesus, through His Church,\nfrom Eden till this present hour;--how infinite to us is the field\nof observation! \"O the depth of the riches both of the knowledge and\nwisdom of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past\nfinding out!\" We gaze upon those majestic wheels of His providence,\nsome of which take whole cycles to revolve, and \"their wings are so\nhigh, that they are dreadful!\" It is so, for example, with the history\nof Israel, which, commencing with Abraham, when earth was young, four\nthousand years ago, is still moving on as a distinct stream flowing\namidst the waters of the great ocean, yet never mingling with them,\nthough nearing the unfathomable gulf where all is still.\n\nBut \"what we know not now, we shall know hereafter,\" upon the great\n\"day of the _revelation_ of Jesus Christ,\" when, in the light of\nunerring truth, the history of each man, and of the whole race, will\nbe seen, and for the first time understood. \"Now we know in part, but\nthen we shall know even as we are known.\" Every question which here\nperplexes or pains the thoughtful and conscientious inquirer, will be\nfully answered. The secret and hitherto hidden springs of actions will\nbe laid bare, and their remotest results disclosed. We shall apprehend\nthe real life--the true philosophy--of history. Then will the\ngovernment of Jesus Christ over the whole family of man, and every\nindividual member of it, be seen--what it has always by His Church\nbelieved--to have been one of righteousness, wisdom, and love.\n\n3. Need I add, as the last grand result of judgment, that the Triune\nGod will be glorified?\n\n_God the Father_ will be glorified! The prayer of Christ shall then\nbe fulfilled: \"Father, glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify\nthee!\" The doxology of the apostle will be realised: \"To him be glory\nby the Church through Christ Jesus throughout all ages!\" That glory\nwill be seen in His having committed the government of the world to\nJesus Christ. Then will be understood, as it never was before, how\n\"God _so_ loved the world in giving His only-begotten Son\" to be its\nCreator and Governor, and the Prophet, Priest, and King of His Church.\n\n_God the Son_ will be glorified! Every event and act in His great\nmediatorial kingdom will shew the grandeur of His character. The whole\nworld's history will be as a mirror, full of the light of this Sun of\nRighteousness,--reflecting the greatness of His power, the depths of\nHis wisdom, the beauty of His holiness, and the riches of His grace.\nHe will \"be glorified, too, _in_ His saints.\" Each believer will not\nonly be a living monument of what Christ has done, but, as a child\nof God, will also be in his character an image of what Christ the\nfirst-born _is_!\n\n_God the Spirit_ will be glorified when the results are made manifest\nof all He has done for and in the Church, and of all which men have\nreceived from this Teacher, Sanctifier, and Comforter! If many will\nhave cause to mourn upon that day because they have resisted and\ngrieved Him by their wilful impenitency and wickedness, what a\nmultitude, greater than any man can number, will adore Him for the\nspiritual ignorance in the ways of God which He dispelled,--the\nall-sufficient strength for duty and trial, for life and death,\nwhich He imparted,--the holy love which He shed abroad upon their\nhearts,--the good fruit which by His aid they produced in their\nlives,--the calm peace which He gave to their consciences,--the\nprayers heard and answered by God which He prompted,--and the joy\nunspeakable to which He often raised their souls!\n\nThus will the proceedings of the great day of judgment, without one\nsingle exception, reveal to the intelligent universe the glory of\nGod,--Father, Son, and Spirit,--as displayed in the government of the\nworld through Jesus Christ.\n\nOh, how can we form an adequate conception of the overpowering effect\nwhich the revelations of this eventful period in the history of the\nuniverse must necessarily produce upon the saints and just men made\nperfect, and upon the innumerable company of angels, who, with intense\ninterest and profound intelligence, watch the proceedings before the\nimmaculate throne of the Son of man! As age after age passes in\nsolemn review, and as each succeeding era, beneath the light of\ninvestigation, emerges out of the darkness in which it had hitherto\nbeen wrapped,--as city after city, and kingdom after kingdom, from\ntheir early beginnings, onwards through centuries of advancement in\npower and influence, till their final silence in the dust, are all\nreproduced in their living reality,--we may conceive how the awful\ninterest in the world's trial must deepen itself in every bosom, and\nintelligent eyes must gleam with a brighter intelligence, and admiring\nsouls burn with a profounder and holier admiration, as they are\nenabled to perceive how, over all this earth, to them hitherto so dark\nand cloudy, Jesus had ever reigned with unclouded splendour, as the\nsun reigns in the calm heavens, and pours down his beams of light from\na region far above the tempestuous sky. And we can, in some degree,\nconceive how their lips should ever and anon give birth to accents of\nheartfelt praise, as a deep moral order and beauty are seen growing\nup, evolving out of the chaos of history, even as a holy temple might\nrear itself from what seemed to the eye of sense to be the very \"lines\nof confusion, and stones of emptiness.\" We can imagine, too, when this\nlong day of wondrous disclosures is about to terminate, and its sun to\nset for ever over the old order of things, how the joy of this great\nassemblage should reach at last its climax, and have a fulness of\nglory in it never before experienced; until, as judgment ended, and\nthe whole government of their blessed Lord was disclosed, their sense\nof the grandeur and infinite majesty of His character and ways should\nbe such as to call forth from ten thousand times ten thousand ecstatic\nsouls, as the grand verdict of the universe, those bursts of praise:\n\"_Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and\nwisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.\" \"Great and\nmarvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy\nways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and\nglorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come\nand worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest_.\"\n\nSuch are a few of the more obvious results of a day of judgment. But\nwho will dare to deny that these may possibly be extended to other\nworlds and other orders of beings, and be made influential for the\ngood and happiness of the universe throughout limitless ages, and be\nthe means of impressing unfallen yet peaceable creatures, with a more\nprofound sense of the glory of God and the unchangeableness of His\ngovernment? We ourselves possess an experience somewhat analogous to\nthis, in the fact of God's righteous dealings with another order\nof beings--the fallen angels--having been revealed to us for our\ninstruction and warning; and thus, for aught we know, the transactions\nof the coming day of judgment may, in whole or in part, form such a\nliving record of God's government by Jesus Christ, as may be revealed\nto millions, of whose existence and circumstances we are as yet\nignorant, and be to them for ever as a great Bible, for their warning,\ncomfort, and instruction in righteousness.\n\nWe have now brought our thoughts upon \"judgment\" to a conclusion. May\nthey suggest others more worthy of the theme to all who may peruse\nthem! We have tried to view it in the light of Scripture statement;\nyet feeling deeply conscious of how dimly and inadequately we perceive\nand judge of the awful future; of God's relationship to the human\nfamily; and of the manner in which the only wise and merciful God will\napply the eternal principles of justice (which is but love dealing\nwith sin) to the infinite varieties of human character, or to the\ncircumstances of each human being. Questions innumerable suggest\nthemselves, which we cannot answer now, but which will be answered\nthen, regarding the heathen, and regarding millions who have lived and\ndied without knowing or loving Jesus Christ; doubtless we shall all\nthen be amazed at our own ignorance and sin, and overwhelmed by the\nmajestic glory and excellence of God in Christ. But whatever the\nresults of that day may be, one thing is certain, that they will\nafford satisfaction and joy unutterable to just and good men, yea, to\nevery human being who has any real sympathy with Him whose \"name is\nLove!\"\n\nBut let us never forget that every day of our lives is a day of\njudgment, in which Christ is searching our hearts and judging our\nlives, condemning the evil and blessing the good, and seeking to\nseparate the one from the other. If we are able to welcome Him as our\njudge and deliverer in our present day, we shall be able to do so also\non \"the last day.\"\n\nI conclude with these words:--\n\n\"For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ; that every\none may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath\ndone, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the\nLord, we persuade men.\"\n\n\"And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be\nthe Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the\nSon of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known\nand believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that\ndwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love\nmade perfect, that we may have _boldness in the day of judgment_:\nbecause as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love;\nbut perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that\nfeareth is not made perfect in love. We love him because he first\nloved us.\"\n\n\"But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake\nyou as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of\nthe day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us\nnot sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that\nsleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in\nthe night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on\nthe breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of\nsalvation. _For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain\nsalvation by our Lord Jesus Christ_, who died for us, that, whether\nwe wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Wherefore comfort\nyourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.\"\n\n\"_Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep\nhis commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall\nbring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be\ngood, or whether it be evil_.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHOUGHTS UPON FUTURE LIFE.\n\n\nIt is obviously impossible to treat a subject so vast and so\nprofoundly interesting as this within the limits of a _Parish Paper_,\nexcept in the most cursory and superficial manner. Yet I am induced to\nmake the attempt, in order, if possible, to impress my readers with\nsuch ideas of our life in heaven as are more in accordance with the\nnature of man and the Word of God, than, I am inclined to think,\nobtain among many sincere Christians, who accordingly are deprived of\nencouragements in duty, comforts in sorrow, and bright hopes to cheer\nthem amid the world's darkness, which they might otherwise possess.\n\nLet us inquire, then, in what shall consist the believer's happiness\nin God's presence.\n\nNow, it will greatly aid us in answering this question regarding our\ntrue life in eternity, if we first consider what constitutes our true\nlife in time, or what would constitute our perfect happiness now, if\nin the full enjoyment of all our mental and bodily powers, and if, in\nthe best possible circumstances, we perfectly fulfilled upon earth\nGod's purpose in our creation.\n\nIn endeavouring to solve this question, I remark that our perfection\nconsists in the gratification of every part of our many-sided nature.\nThus, for instance, enjoyment might be derived through our senses,\nthough the intellect was comparatively weak, and our moral being\ndepraved; or from the exercise of our intellectual or spiritual\nnature, while the body suffered from pain: or delight might be poured\nthrough all those channels, but yet if we were doomed to be solitary\nbeings, without any companion or friend with whom to communicate or\nshare our gladness, or were prevented from expressing our thoughts and\ndesires by action, the result in either of these supposed cases would\nnot be perfect happiness. But, on the other hand, if we can imagine a\nman with his whole nature in a state of perfect health, each portion\ndemanding and obtaining its appropriate nourishment, and with all his\npowers beautifully balanced and in perfect harmony with the plan of\nGod, \"according to the effectual working of the measure in every\npart,\"--the senses ministering to the most refined tastes,--the\nintellect full of light in the apprehension of truth, and strong\nin its discovery,--the moral being possessing perfect holiness and\nunerring subjection to the will of God,--the love of society able\nto rest upon fitting objects, and to find a fall return for its\nsympathies in suitable companionships, while ample scope was afforded\nfor activity by congenial labour;--then would such a state be\nperfection or fulness of joy in God's presence here below. I do not,\nof course, allege that every part of our being has the same capacity\nto afford us joy, or that the flood can pour itself into the soul with\nthe same fulness through each of these channels, as if, for instance,\nwe depended in the same degree for enjoyment upon our sentient as we\ndo upon our intellectual or moral nature. All I mean to assert is,\nthat whatever proportion may come through each, God has so made us,\nthat perfect joy is derived only through all. Such is man's actual\nconstitution as he came from the hands of his Maker; and such would\nhave been his happiness had he remained unfallen. Placed, as Adam was,\nin a material world so rich in sources of physical happiness, with\nan intellect capable of unlocking the countless treasures of\nscience,--with a nature pure and spotless, delighting in the excellent\nGod,--with society begun with woman as a helpmeet for him, and\nwith the active labour required \"to dress and keep\" his earthly\nparadise,--he possessed, in such perfect adaptations, a heaven upon\nearth. And had perfect man been translated to another region, we\ncannot conceive his joy thereby to become essentially different in\nkind, though different in degree, supposing him to remain the same\nbeing, and to possess the same human nature. Now, man's fall has not\naltered this principle. Sin is a perversion of human nature, not its\nannihilation; a disorder of its powers, not their destruction. Nor is\nrestoration by Jesus Christ the gift of a different constitution, as\nif He made us something else than human beings, but the renovation of\nthe old constitution after its original type. It is making the \"old\nman,\" diseased, bent down, paralysed, deaf, blind, the \"new man,\" with\nframe erect, limbs strong, eyes and ears open, and all his powers\nfresh and vigorous for immortality; and, therefore, that which would\nconstitute the happiness of man were he perfect on earth, will be\nhis happiness, though in a higher degree, when he is made perfect in\nheaven. This supposition, I repeat, only assumes the fact that we\nshall be the same persons for ever; that human nature will never\ncease to be human nature, or be changed into a different species of\nexistence, no more than Jesus Christ, the Head of His Church, will\never cease to be what He is--\"_the man_ Christ Jesus,\" with a human\nbody and a human soul, \"the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.\"\n\nThere is another way in which I might describe the nature of our\nfuture life, although I shall base my remarks on the principles now\nstated. We must admit that the perfection of our being is fellowship\nwith God the Father in the possession of that spirit of son-ship which\nwas revealed in Jesus Christ the Son of God and the Son of man. This,\nand this alone, must insure fellowship with Him in His character and\njoy. We shall consequently rejoice in all that He rejoices in--_as far\nas this is possible for creatures_. Thus, if He rejoices in the glory\nof His own Being, as Father, Son, and Spirit, so shall we; if He\nrejoices in all His works, so shall we; if He rejoices in what He\ndoes, in what He knows, in what He purposes, so shall we; if He\nrejoices in the communion of holy and happy men and angels, so shall\nwe. In one word, if \"our chief end is to glorify God,\" when that\nend is fulfilled, we shall \"enjoy Him for ever.\" And this was our\nSaviour's prayer when He said, \"The glory Thou hast given me I have\ngiven them, that we may be one!\"\n\nBut as those two lines of thought would lead practically to the same\nconclusion, it seems to me that the nature of our future life will be\nbest understood by most of my readers if I endeavour to shew \"what we\nshall be,\" according to the arrangement already proposed.\n\nLet us, then, meditate on the glorious supply which God has provided\nfor filling up every part of this our complex nature in heaven.\n\n\nI.\n\nOUR PHYSICAL LIFE IN HEAVEN.\n\n\nSpeaking of the materialism of heaven, Dr Chalmers truly says:--\"The\ncommon imagination that many have of paradise on the other side of\ndeath, is that of a lofty, aerial region where the inmates float on\nether, or are mysteriously suspended upon nothing; where all the warm\nand felt accompaniments which give such an expression of strength, and\nlife, and colour to our present habitation, are attenuated into a sort\nof spiritual element, that is meagre, and imperceptible, and wholly\nuninviting to the eye of mortals here below; where every vestige of\nmaterialism is done away with, and nothing left but certain unearthly\nscenes that have no power of allurement, and certain unearthly\necstasies with which it is impossible to sympathise,\" The\nsensitiveness with which many thus shrink from almost alluding to the\nphysical element of enjoyment in heaven, because it is unworthy to be\ncompared with the spiritual glory that is to be revealed, arises, no\ndoubt, from the half suspicion that there is some necessary connexion\nbetween materialism and sin; thus forgetting that the body, and the\noutward world which ministers to it, are God's handiworks as well as\nthe soul; and that it is He himself who has adjusted their relative\nworkings. And surely it is quite unnecessary to remind you at any\nlength how exquisitely God has fashioned our physical frame, as the\nmedium of communication with the outer material world. The nostrils\ninhale the sweet perfumes which scent the breezy air, and rise as\nincense from the flowers that cover the earth. By the eye the soul\nperceives the glories of the summer sky, and searches for its midnight\nstars; recognises splendour of colour, and beauty of form; gazes\non the outspread landscape of fertile field and hoary mountain, of\nstream, forest, ocean, and island; and contemplates that world of\nprofounder interest still, the human countenance, of beloved parent,\nchild, or friend, strong with the power of elevated thought, sublime\nwith the grandeur of moral character, or bright with all the sunshine\nof winning emotion. The ear, too, is the magic instrument which\nconveys to the soul all the varied harmonies of sound, from the choirs\nof spring, and the other innumerable minstrelsies of nature, as well\nas from the higher art of man, that soothe, elevate, and solemnise. It\nis true, indeed, that there are grosser appetites of the body which\nmany pervert so as to enslave the spirit; thus abusing by gluttony,\ndrunkenness, and every form of sensuality, what God the merciful and\nwise has intrusted to man to be used for wise and merciful ends. But\neven here there is already perceptible a marked difference between\nthose appetites and the more refined tastes alluded to; inasmuch\nas the former are found in their abuse to be, strictly speaking,\nunnatural, and destructive of man's happiness; and even in their\nlegitimate use they decay with advancing years, thus proving that\nthe stamp of time is upon them as on things belonging to a temporary\neconomy; whereas such tastes as those that enjoy the beautiful in\nnature or in art, for example, abide in old age with a youthful\nfreshness, and more than a youthful niceness of discernment; and so\nafford a presumption that they are destined for immortality. To the\naged saint \"the trees clap their hands, the little hills rejoice, and\nthe mountains break forth into singing;\" and when the earth is empty\nof every other sentient pleasure, it is in the beauty of its sights\nand sounds, still full to him of the glory of his God.\n\nAnd so must it be for ever! The glorified saint is not \"unclothed,\"\nbut \"clothed upon.\" He inhabits \"a house not made with hands, eternal\nin the heavens.\" The future body is called a \"spiritual body\" to\nexpress, I presume, its pure and immortal essence; for though it will\nbe somehow related to the present body,--as the risen is related to\nthe sown grain which has perished through corruption,--it must be\nchanged into a new and higher form. \"Flesh and blood cannot inherit\nthe kingdom of God.\" \"We shall all be changed.\" \"He shall change our\nvile bodies, and fashion them like to His own glorious body.\" It is in\nthis new body, once sown in weakness, corruption, and mortality, but\nraised at length in power, incorruption, and immortality, no more to\nsuffer, and no more to die, that we shall tread upon the new earth,\ngaze on the new heavens, and walk in the paradise of our God.\n\nAnd who can tell what sources of refined enjoyment, through the medium\nof the spiritual body, are in store for us in God's great palace of\nart, with its endless mansions and endless displays of glory! Well may\nwe say of such anticipated pleasures what good Izaak Walton says of\nthe singing of birds: \"Lord, if Thou hast provided such music for\nsinners on earth, what hast Thou in store for Thy saints in heaven!\"\nFor if this little spot of earth is full of scenes of loveliness to us\ninexhaustible; if, contemplating these in a body buoyant with health\nand strength, we feel it is joy even to live and breathe; and if when,\nseeing God in them all, the expression of praise rises to the lips,\n\"Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast Thou made them all:\nthe earth is full of Thy riches!\"--oh, what visions of glory may be\nspread before the wondering eye throughout the vast extent of the\nmaterial universe, comprehending those immense worlds which twinkle\nonly in the field of the largest telescope, and vanish into the far\ndistance in endless succession; and what sounds may greet the ear from\nthe as yet unheard music of those spheres; while, for aught we know,\nother means of communication may be opened up to us, with objects\nministering delight to new tastes; and sources of sentient enjoyment\ndiscovered which do not exist here, or elude the perception of our\npresent senses. Add to all this our deliverance from those physical\nevils and defects which are now the causes of so much pain, and\nclog so terribly the aspiring soul. For how affected are we by the\nslightest disorganisation of our bodily frame! A disturbance in some\nof the finer parts of its machinery, which no science can discover or\nrectify; a delicate fibre shadowed by a cloud passing over the sun; or\na nerve chilled by a lowering of the temperature of the atmosphere,\nwill tell on the most genial temper, relax the strongest intellect,\nand dim the brightest imagination; while other physical causes, quite\nas mysterious, can make reason reel and lunacy become ascendant. The\nvery infirmities of old age; the constant toil required to satisfy\nour cravings for food and raiment; the wounds and bruises the body\nreceives, and which agonise it, and the deformity which so often\ndisfigures it, cramping the spirit within a narrow and iron\nprison-house--these form a terrible deduction from that joy which we\nare capable of deriving even now through the medium of our physical\norganisation. Such evils cannot here be rectified. They are the\nimmediate, or more remote consequences of man's iniquity; and under\nChrist belong to that education by which bodily suffering is made the\nmeans of disciplining the soul for immortality. But in the new heavens\nand the new earth the body will no longer experience fatigue in\nlabour, or be subject to hurtful influences from the elements, nor\never grow old; but be glorious and beautiful as the risen body of\nJesus Christ! \"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and\nthere shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither\nshall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.\"\nI wonder not, indeed, that Paul should exclaim along with those who\nhad the first-fruits of the Spirit, \"Even we ourselves groan within\nourselves, waiting for the adoption, that is, the _redemption of our\nbody_.\"\n\nWith these bright hopes let us who are now alive seek to glorify God\nin the body which is to be glorified together with Christ. \"The body\nis for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.\" \"Know ye not that your\nbodies are the members of Christ?\" \"Know ye not that your bodies are\ntemples of the Holy Ghost? If any man defile that temple, him will God\ndestroy.\" \"When Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall ye\nalso appear with him in glory. Mortify therefore your members which\nare upon the earth.\" Let us honour the body as a holy thing; and\nbeware how we put the chains of slavery upon it, or from our\nselfishness expose it to hunger and nakedness. Let us endeavour even\nto make art, that ministers to our sense of the beautiful, minister\nalso to our sense of the true and good; and ever speak to us of God\nas seen in His works; or in \"His ways among the children of men.\" And\nfinally, as we contemplate the body of a departed saint, let us behold\nit in the light of this revelation. Let the grave in which it lies\nno longer be associated in our thoughts with the worm and corruption\nonly, and with all the sad memorials and revolting symbols of\nmortality. Let the voice of Him who is the resurrection and the life\nbe heard in the breeze that bends the grass which waves over it, and\nHis quickening energy be seen in the beauteous sun which shines upon\nit; and while we hear the cry, \"Dust to dust,\" let us remember that\nthe \"very dust to Him is dear;\" and that when He appears in His glory,\nHe will repair and rebuild that ruined temple, and fashion it in glory\nand in beauty like His own!\n\n\nII.\n\nOUR INTELLECTUAL LIFE.\n\n\nLet us consider the joy which God has provided for our _intellects_\nduring our immortal life in heaven.\n\nThere are many dear saints of God who have little sympathy with those\nwho associate happiness with the pursuit or possession of intellectual\ntruth. These persons, perhaps, have had themselves such weak\nintellectual capacities, as made the acquisition of knowledge\nimpossible for them beyond its simplest elements; or their minds\nhave been stunted in early years from want of education; or in the\nprovidence of God they have been made \"hewers of wood and drawers of\nwater,\" rather than intellectual princes among the people. Yet let\nnone of us who are so ignorant, and who as yet think and speak like\nchildren, be discouraged by a conscious sense of our weak intellectual\ngrasp and scanty information; but rather rejoice with Christ in\nthe dispensation by which God reveals Himself not to talent but to\ngoodness; not to the giant intellect but to the babe-like spirit: \"I\nthank thee, O Father, that thou hast hid these things from the wise\nand prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes!\"\n\nGod has, nevertheless, made the acquisition of truth by the intellect\na source of supreme delight. You well know how every field in nature\nhas been searched, and every quarter of the globe ransacked, and many\ndays and nights of patient intellectual toil consumed by men who have\nendured incredible labour, supported by no other motive than their\nlove of knowledge. The immediate joy which is experienced by a great\ndiscoverer when a new fact or truth flashes on his mind is to others\nalmost inconceivable. We read that when Newton, after years of\ndifficulty, was just about to step on the summit of that mountain from\nwhich he knew he was to hear such intellectual music as never before\nhad sounded in the mind of man, and to catch a glimpse of the\nhitherto unseen glory of that new ocean of truth which he alone had\nreached,--for\n\n  \"He was the first that ever burst\n    Into that silent sea!\"--\n\nhis joy was so great that he was overcome by his emotions, and wept!\nThis passion of acquiring knowledge is not the least remarkable fact\nrecorded of Solomon. We are told that \"he spake of trees, and of\nbeasts, and of creeping things.\" He himself says of God, \"He hath made\nthings beautiful in time: also He hath put it into man's heart to\nsurvey the world, and to find out the work that God maketh from the\nbeginning to the end.\" \"When I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and\nto see the business that is done upon the earth: (for also there is\nthat neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes:) then I beheld\nall the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done\nunder the sun; because though a man labour to seek it out, yet he\nshall not find it; yea, though a wise man think to know it, yet shall\nhe not be able to find it.\" There was in all this no doubt \"vanity and\nvexation of spirit,\" for the attempt was vain to find satisfaction\nfor the soul in the knowledge of things themselves apart from the\nknowledge of a personal God, or in any truth rather than in Him who is\ntrue. And therefore many, perceiving how intellect is often allied\nto ungodliness, and fails of itself to insure either goodness or\nhappiness, are disposed to refuse to it the high place which God has\nassigned to it in the soul, and to suspect the reality of the exalted\ndelight which He has designed His saints and angels to enjoy in its\nexercise. But while the deifiers of mere intellect are ever reminded\nthat it alone cannot deify, but may be abused so as to demonise man,\nyet let those who slight it remember also that it is the head without\nwhose inventive genius or directing skill the strong arms of labour\nwould be idle. Let the man of material wealth or material power\nrecollect that it is the wealth of science and the power of mind,\npossessed perhaps by unknown and lonely students who have all their\nlifetime been struggling to obtain their daily bread, and to snatch\n\"the crumbs that fall from the rich man's table,\" which have created\nour manufactures, filled our warehouses, crossed our oceans, healed\nour diseases, and reared the fabric of law and government.\n\nAnd God, who has made the intellect the source of delight to the\nindividual, and of good to society here, will surely perfect it\nhereafter. Whatever its capacity may be, it shall then be filled to\nits utmost limit; and be characterised by a clearness, vigour, and\nprecision, unknown here to the greatest thinkers. All barriers to its\nprogress shall be removed, which were occasioned here by the mortal\nbody, the poor culture, the little time, the few opportunities, the\nweak or sinful prejudices; so that the poorest saint will shine there\nas the sun in its strength! And with this increased power of knowing,\nhow inconceivably increased must be our sources of knowledge; how\nboundless is the field which supplies them; how inexhaustible the\ntreasures it contains; how unlimited the time for gathering them;\nhow helpful the society that will sympathise with and join in our\npursuits! No one surely imagines that on entering heaven we can at\nonce obtain perfect knowledge--perfect, I mean, not in the sense of\naccuracy, but of fully possessing all that can be known. This is\npossible for Deity only. For it may be asserted with confidence that\nGabriel knows more to-day than he knew yesterday. Nor is it difficult\nfor us to conceive how, throughout eternity, and revelling with\nfreedom throughout God's universe, we may be occupied by the\ncontemplation of new and endless displays of the inexhaustible wisdom\nand power of God in His works; and see more and more into the life of\nall things; and continually read new volumes of that great book of\nnature and of truth, whose first letters we are now learning with\ndifficulty to spell. And could we ever succeed in gathering together\nthe present treasures of all worlds, why may not new and varied\ncreations for ever renew the universe, and grander displays be made of\nthe glory and majesty of the Creator? Besides all this, must not the\n_ways_ of God, as well as His works, and the wonders of His moral\ngovernment, extending over all His creatures, and over all worlds,\nand throughout all ages, afford inexhaustible subjects wherewith to\nexercise the intellect of man? Is not every truth, too, with which we\nare already acquainted linked to another and a higher truth? And if\nso, when shall we reach the end of that awful chain which is in the\nhand of God? But though for ever we shall thus dive deeper and deeper\ninto the divine mind, never, never can we sound its unfathomable\ndepths. Though we shall ascend for ever from one intellectual height\nto another in the eternal range of thought, we shall approach, yet\nnever reach, that unseen throne on which is seated the _I Am_, the\nComprehender of all truth, the Solver of all mysteries, but who\nHimself, though known, because revealed to us in His eternal Son and\nloved as our Father, must ever, as the absolute One, be the mystery\nincomprehensible!\n\nFrom the few glimpses which we obtain in Scripture of angelic life, we\nmay infer that the understanding of the works and ways of God forms no\nsmall part of its joy. We read of the sons of God crowding round the\nearth, and we hear those morning stars singing for joy, as they behold\nthe commencement of this new theatre of wonders added to those with\nwhich they were already acquainted. I doubt not that these high\nintelligences watched with intensest interest the progress of the\nworld's formation, and beheld order and beauty growing out of chaotic\ndarkness and confusion, and during the incalculable ages of the past,\nbefore man himself appeared upon the scene, gazed with wonder on the\nsuccessive creations of animal and vegetable life, whose remains we\nnow see buried in their rocky sepulchres. We know, too, the deeper\ninterest which the angelic host have taken in this world since it\nbecame the abode of man. They are acquainted with all its inhabitants,\nand have seen the mystery of God's providence here unfolding itself\nfrom age to age. A great multitude of them hovered over the hills of\nBethlehem at that great era when \"unto us a Child was born, and unto\nus a Saviour was given, who was Christ the Lord;\" and in sympathy with\nGod and man they ascribed \"glory to God in the highest,\" because of\nthe \"peace\" which was proclaimed to earth, and of the \"good-will\"\nwhich was expressed towards man. We know also how they have taken an\nactive share under Jesus the King, in advancing the affairs of His\nkingdom, both by punishing the wicked, and ministering to the heirs of\nsalvation. And to put it beyond a doubt that scope is given even here\nfor the exercise of the intellect of the angels, we are distinctly\ninformed that all the marvellous history now proceeding in this world\nhad a direct reference in its original design to their progressive\neducation: \"For God created all things by Jesus Christ, to the intent\nthat now _unto principalities and powers_ might be known by the church\nthe manifold wisdom of God.\" There are indeed things even here \"which\nangels desire to look into!\"\n\nAnd though the redeemed from earth are not yet revealed to us as\nbeing engaged in intellectual pursuits, nevertheless two of them have\nrevisited the earth and appeared in the old land of their sojourning\nin visible form, and bearing the names of Moses and Elias, so familiar\nto the Church of God, and have spoken in language intelligible to the\nchildren of men, and upon a subject of all the most absorbing in its\ninterest to the Church above and below--the decease which Christ was\nto accomplish at Jerusalem!\n\nBut I dare not enlarge on this part of my subject, however inviting it\nmay be. Let me only implore of you to consecrate your intellects to\nGod's service; and glorify Him in \"soul and spirit\" as well as in\n\"body.\" Reverence _Truth_ in every department, as it is the expression\nof the mind and will of God, and seek it in humility, and with a deep\nsense of your responsibility as to _how_ you search and _what_ you\nbelieve. And surely it is an elevating and comforting thing to know,\nwith reference to those who on earth were adorned by God with high\nintellects, cultivated with care, and sanctified for their Master's\nservice; who thirsted for truth, and relished its acquisition with\npeculiar delight, and the more so when it led them directly to Him who\nis Truth itself, and enabled them the better to behold His glory, that\ntheir powers are now finding ample field for their exercise, and can\norb themselves around without a limit. Not therefore with sadness but\nwith joy we can turn from beholding the dead unmeaning eye of the\nlifeless body, through which the noble mind once shone with mild\nintellectual lustre, and contemplate the same mind rising over the\neverlasting hills, amidst the fresh unsullied brightness of a new-born\nday, and advancing for ever without a cloud amidst the endless glories\nof the upper sky.\n\nOne other suggestion as to duty in connexion with this part of our\nsubject: take a peculiarly tender, sympathising, and thoughtful care\nof those who are deprived of the noble gift of intellect, and who in\nGod's providence may be cast on your mercy. Walk by faith towards\nthem. See them not as they are, but as they shall be. Act as you would\nwish to have done when you meet them in that world of light where we\nshall no longer see through a glass darkly, and where even he who\nseems exceeding fierce shall sit at the feet of Jesus, meek as a\nchild, and in his right mind. Thank God, \"there shall be no night\n_there!_\"\n\n\nIII.\n\nOUR DEVOTIONAL LIFE.\n\n\nOur joy in heaven will, above all, be derived from the perfection of\nour moral being. We shall be \"without fault before the throne of God.\"\n\"He shall present us to Himself without spot, or blemish, or wrinkle,\nor any such thing.\"\n\nTruly and beautifully has Sir Thomas Browne said,--\"There is no\nfelicity in what the world adores: that wherein God himself is\nhappy, the holy angels are happy, and in whose defect the devils are\nunhappy--that dare I call happiness; whatsoever else the world terms\nhappiness, is to me an apparition or neat delusion, wherein there is\nno more of happiness than the name.\" Following out this thought, let\nus reverently inquire in what chiefly consists the joy of God, or what\nespecially constitutes His glory. Now, He is glorious in that creative\nmind by which things are made so wisely with reference to the end\nwhich each has to serve; and made so beautiful and grand in their\nsculptured forms and harmonious colours. He surveys all His works, and\nrejoices in them as \"very good.\" He is glorious also in that miracle\nof a wondrous providence by which without a miracle the wants of\nall the endless worlds of His creatures are supplied; and by which\nresponsible persons also are created and trained to glorify and enjoy\nHimself for ever. But while perfection beams in every feature of the\nDivine mind, His glory, His joy, is in His _character_. Not His power,\nbut the character which wields the power; not His wisdom, but that\nwhich His character accomplishes by it; not His majestic sovereignty,\nbut that majestic character which stamps His reign as one of right and\ntherefore of might, commanding, irresistible. This is the glory which\nHe made to pass before the eyes of Moses when upon the mount; which\nshone in the face of Jesus Christ the Holy One of God; and which fills\nthe souls of the rapt seraphim when they cry, \"Holy, holy, holy, is\nthe Lord God of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory!\" Thus God\nis happy and most blessed because He is \"glorious in holiness,\" or, in\none word, because \"His name is _Love_.\"\n\nAnd in what, moreover, does the happiness of the angels consist, but\nin sharing this life of God? These bright ones, indeed, experience joy\nin contemplating His works of creation and redemption, and have been\nglad in acquiring truth throughout many ages; but the atmosphere which\nthey breathe, the light in which they dwell, is love. They are happy\nnot merely in what they hear, or see, or know of the things of God,\nbut chiefly in what they are towards God himself. They know Him, and\nthis is life eternal.\n\nAnd, finally, it is in the defect of this in which devils are unhappy.\nFor Satan, as he \"goes to and fro in the earth, and in walking up and\ndown in it,\" may hear those sounds of loveliness which delight our\nears, but they are no music to his jarring and discordant spirit; and\nhe may behold those sights of loveliness which delight our eye, but he\ndoes so as the prowling lion who perceives no grandeur in the glorious\nmountains which echo to his savage roar. Nor does the exercise of his\nsubtle intellect afford him joy, because it is not in harmony with\ntruth, nor with the God of truth; but is as a \"wandering star, to\nwhich is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.\" And therefore,\nthough he is a king, he is king of darkness, and carries hell in his\nown bosom, whether he moves among the beauteous bowers of Eden, or\ndwells for days upon earth, in the wilderness, in the holy temple, or\non the high mountain, with even God manifest in the flesh beside him.\nHe has no holiness, no love, and therefore no peace or joy.\n\nAnd thus does our joy depend on our fellowship with God in character.\nOther things _may_ be, this _must_ be, if we are to be happy. Other\nthings are required to give our joy fulness; this is essential to\ngive it existence. For the body may be deprived of all pleasurable\nsensation, and the intellect unable to grapple with the simplest\nproblem, \"in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and those\nthat look out at the windows are darkened, and the daughters of music\nare brought low,\"--yet the light of joy may still shine in the soul,\nso long as the mind can discern that \"God is,\" and the heart feel that\n\"God is love.\" Not, therefore, in the gratification of his sentient\ntastes; nor in the certainties of pure intellect; nor in science,\nwhich \"can put forth its hand and feel from star to star;\" nor even in\nthe exercise of that genius--so like His own creative power!--whose\ncontrivances change the aspect of the world, and whose glorious\nflights can speed to airy regions \"which no fowl knoweth nor the\nvulture's eye hath seen:\" not in those outer courts of God's great\ntemple has the Father willed that His immortal children shall find\ntheir true life, but in the holy of holies only of His own immediate\npresence, and in the possession of the spirit of life and of love\nwhich is in His first-born Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. And this was\nthe glory and joy which Jesus himself manifested on earth, when \"He\nhad no place to lay his head;\" and was \"despised and rejected of men;\"\nand His \"countenance was marred like no man's;\" when He carried His\ncross; and revealed to us that true life which He died to obtain, and\nrose from the dead to impart to us by His Spirit. He did not come\nto teach us to become artists, orators, or men of mere intellectual\ncultivation, capable of creating a hero-worship. The race who\nbuilt Nineveh and Thebes, or produced the artists, orators, poets,\nhistorians, or the world--conquerors of Greece and Rome, needed no\nsuch teaching as this. But He came to reveal to men--who, whatever\nelse they knew, did not know their Maker, but \"changed the truth of\nGod into a lie\"--that eternal life of love which was with the Father,\nso that in its possession they might have fellowship with the Father,\nwith the Son, and with one another, and in this way only have His own\njoy fulfilled in themselves. He taught us to follow Him, \"with all\nlowliness and meekness,\" and thus \"to walk worthy of God who hath\ncalled us to His kingdom and glory!\"\n\nI have dwelt, perhaps, at unnecessary length upon this part of my\nsubject, yet I am anxious to quicken in you the conviction of what you\ncannot doubt, that our moral nature can be satisfied only with God's\nlikeness. So is it now; so will it be for ever. The sweet peace which\nthe believer enjoys in God here; the elevating delight he experiences\nfrom contemplating His character, and saying, \"My Father, let Thy name\nbe hallowed! let Thy kingdom come! let Thy will be done!\"--his joy in\nthe possession of the graces of the Christian life, are not foretastes\nonly, but earnests also, and pledges of the coming fulness, the\nfirst-fruits of the approaching harvest. \"We shall be like Him!\"\nOh blessed consummation, before which everything else vanishes in\ncomparison! Our souls cleansed from every stain of guilt, and made\nwhite in the blood of the Lamb; and washed, too, from all the\npollution of sin with the waters of regeneration and the renewing of\nthe Holy Ghost, shall be \"faultless,\" \"not having spot, or wrinkle, or\nany such thing.\" The pure and holy God resting on us as His own work\nthrough His Son and Spirit, shall rejoice in that work as _perfect_;\nand every redeemed soul will be as a mirror in whose transparent\ndepths the Divine glory is seen reflected. Oh comforting and exalting\nthought! that the weakest and most imperfect, yet true child of God,\nwho possessed any real faith or real love, is thus at last \"glorified\ntogether with Christ\"--their confessions of sin for ever over; their\nsense of their own emptiness lost in a sense of Christ's fulness;\ntheir ardent longings for unsullied holiness gratified as no faith or\nforetaste here realised, even feebly, in their hours of most pious\nfervour! Should it not delight us to think of even one whom we have\nknown and loved really possessing such joy as this; and ought we not\nto give united thanks to God for their happiness with God, even while\nwe sorrow for their loss to ourselves during our earthly pilgrimage?\n\n\nIV.\n\nOUR SOCIAL LIFE.\n\n\nMan is a _social_ as well as a sentient, intellectual, and moral\nbeing; and as such he will have joy in the presence of God in heaven.\nWe are made for brotherhood. It was in reference to this original\ncraving of the heart for society that God said of man when he came\nperfect from His hands, \"It is not good for him to be alone.\" The fact\nof solitariness is, indeed, unknown in God's intelligent and moral\nuniverse. With reverence, I remark, that God has existed as Father,\nSon, and Spirit, three Persons in the unity of the Godhead. We cannot,\nindeed, conceive of God, whose name is love, existing from eternity\nwithout a person like Himself as an object of His love. Certain it\nis, however, that for the creature to have joy in himself alone, is\nimpossible. Isolation would, in time, produce insanity. The heart will\nlavish its affection upon the lowest forms of animal creation, or\nupon ideal beings, rather than feed upon itself. But there can be\nno solitude to him who knows there is a God, nor who possesses any\nreligion; for religion is love to God. And even where the society of\nmen is shunned, and solitude fled to by the weary, this is often,\nafter all, but an unconscious protest in favour of brotherhood; the\nbitterness of one who, having sought it from men in vain, feels as if\nrobbed of his brother's affections, which he had a right to possess as\na portion of his inheritance.\n\nBut while God has planted in every breast this passion for congenial\nsociety, and has supplied to so great an extent its want by the family\ninstitution into which we are born in our early years, and by the\n\"troops of friends\" who accompany us during our pilgrimage, and by the\nfellowship of the Christian Church, in proportion as that fellowship\nis not a mere name, but expresses the intention of Christ in gathering\nHis people into a society,--there are, nevertheless, innumerable\ndrawbacks here to anything like its full gratification. Take away the\ntime consumed in the necessary and often absorbing labour of life, and\nduring the unavoidable separations and partings from those we know\nand love, how little is left for the cultivation here of the truest\nfriendships. We are, moreover, severed as yet by death from all\ncongenial minds among past generations, and from those who are yet to\ncome. Of the many now alive whose hearts would beat to ours, could we\nonly meet and know them, how few can stand together on the small space\nallotted to us on the earth's surface. Then, again, of those whom we\nknow best and love best on earth, and who know and love us best too,\noh, what mutual ignorance must necessarily exist of innumerable\nthoughts and feelings lying deep clown in our inner man, half hidden,\nhalf revealed, even to ourselves, but altogether incommunicable and\nunutterable by word or sign to others! We may at times be conscious\nthat we stand with them on the same lofty summit, and gaze on the\nsame prospect, but the atmosphere is too rare to permit of any heard\ncommunication between us. And thus in no case can there be, not the\nmeeting, but that blending of soul with soul by which one being,\nwithout losing his individuality, seems completed in the being of\nanother. Add to all this the granite walls that rise up between us\nduring our wanderings in this desert--the differences, not only from\nintellect, pursuits, rank, education, but also from character, and\nthose sins and infirmities of which all more or less partake, such as\npride, vanity, prejudice, envy,--one and all making sad drawbacks from\nthe fulness of joy which we are capable of deriving even now from\nintelligent and holy society. We are made to realise this fact in\nreading the history of the holiest society that ever was on earth,\nthat of Jesus Christ and His apostles. Only three years together,\noften separated during this brief period by dark nights, stormy seas,\nlong journeys, and the sin and ignorance OR their part which made Him\nexclaim, \"Nevertheless I am not alone, for the Father is with me,\"\nintimating that, without this Divine sympathy, He was indeed alone in\nHis joys and in His sorrows amidst His brethren. After His departure,\nhow soon were the apostles scattered, and how seldom did they meet!\nFor years Paul was not acquainted with any of them, and possibly never\nmet them all, while he was quite unknown by face to many of those\nChristian churches who read his letters, and revered his name. The\napostle John complains that he could not communicate to his friends\nthe many things he had to say by pen and ink, and longs for personal\nintercourse. \"I trust,\" he says, \"to come unto you and speak face to\nface, that _our joy might be full_.\" Ah, there is no tabernacling here\nwith Jesus, nor yet with Moses or Elias! But such a dispensation is\nno doubt wise. It marks the condition of those who have no continuing\ncity here, but who look for one to come. It also greatly helps to\nweaken, on the one hand, our tendency to idolise the creature, and to\nstrengthen, on the other, our faith in God, who abideth for ever, and\nthus to unite us to one another, both now and in the end, more truly\nthan we ourselves as yet understand. But, nevertheless, the joy from\nChristian intercourse experienced here is among the most precious\ngifts of God, and its value is enhanced by the prophecy which it\ncontains of the glorious future. Union is the gospel watchword; it\nis the grand result of redemption; for holy union is holy love, the\ndrawing of heart to heart, because all are drawn by one Spirit,\nthrough one Saviour, to one God, a union which is to be perfectly\nrealised in our future social state, when we shall be fellow-citizens\nwith the saints in the heavenly Jerusalem.\n\nNow, consider what ample resources heaven affords for the cultivation\nof the social affections among those of the highest intellect, taste,\nand moral worth in God's universe, \"But ye are come unto Mount Sion,\nand unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an\ninnumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of\nthe first-born, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of\nall, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the\nmediator of the new covenant.\" Here we have summed up the society in\nour future home.\n\nWe shall there enjoy the society of the _angels_. We know about those\nholy beings, but we do not know themselves as yet. But how often does\nit happen to us in regard to our earthly friends, that those who are\nunknown to us in our early years even by name, become in our latter\nyears indissolubly bound up with our history and our joy? And thus the\nangels, whom on earth we have never seen, will, nevertheless, when the\nmanhood of our being is reached, become our intimate friends and dear\ncompanions for ever. Let us not forget, however, that the angels know\neach saint on earth more intimately than the saints themselves are\nknown by their nearest friends. \"For are they not all ministering\nspirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of\nsalvation?\" But this fact suggests another analogy between our social\nrelationships with men and angels,--viz., that as earthly friends who\nhave been acquainted with ourselves and our family history during\nthe forgotten days of infancy, are met by us, in after-years, not as\nstrangers, but with feelings of sympathy and intimacy akin to those\nawakened by old kindred; even so will the saint, on reaching heaven,\nfind God's angels to be, not strangers, but old friends who have known\nall about him from the day of his birth until the hour of his death.\nIt is true that these high and holy ones belong to a different order\nof beings from ourselves, and this, we might be disposed to think,\nmust prevent the possibility of their sympathising with us. But let us\nremember, that while in material forms there is no one common abiding\ntype, by which, for example, the vegetable, beast, bird, or fish are\nformed; yet that it is quite otherwise with intellectual and moral\nbeings, who are all necessarily made like God, and therefore like\none another. And, finally, though we might conjecture that beings\npossessed of such vast stores of knowledge, the accumulated wealth\nof ages, and of such high and glorious intellects, would necessarily\nrepel our approaches by the awe they would inspire in a child of earth\nwhen with all his ignorance he enters heaven, yet let our confidence\nbe restored by remembering the fact, that in them, as in the great\nJehovah, all majesty and wisdom become attractive when combined with,\nand directed by love. The love which enables us to cling to the\nAlmighty and love Him as a Father, will enable us to meet the angels\nin peace, and to love them as brethren. And thus I am persuaded that\na saint on earth, compassed about as he is with his many infirmities,\nwould even now feel more \"at home,\" so to speak, with angels, because\nof their perfect sympathising love, than with most of his fellow-men,\nbecause of their remaining pride and selfishness.\n\nBut \"just men made perfect\" also form apart of the society above.\nTheir number is daily increasing. Day by day unbroken columns are\npassing through the golden gates of the city, and God's elect are\ngathering from the four winds of heaven. There are no dead saints; all\nare alive unto God, and \"we live together with them.\"\n\nBut I further remark in reference to all this glorious society, that\nthere shall be _perfect union_ among its members. That union will not\nbe one of sameness; for there can be no sameness either in the past\nhistory, or in the intellectual capacity of any of its members. How\nvast must be the difference for ever between the history of Gabriel,\nthe thief on the cross, the apostle Paul, and the child who died on\nits first birthday! There is, moreover, every reason to believe that\neach person must retain his own individual features of mind and\npeculiarities of character, there as well as here. All the stars will\nshine in brilliancy, and sweep in orbits more or less wide around the\ngreat centre, but \"each star differeth from another star in glory.\"\nYet this want of sameness is what will produce the deepest harmony,\nsuch as one sees in the blending of different colours, or hears in\nthe mingling of different notes. And I repeat it, the bond of this\nperfectness must be the same in heaven as on earth--love. For it is\nlove which unites exalted rank to lowly place, knowledge to ignorance,\nand strength to weakness; thus bringing things opposite into an\nharmonious whole. See accordingly how the love which dwelt in \"God\nmanifest in the flesh,\" poured itself into the lowest depths of\nhumanity, and met men far down to lift them high up; so that at the\nvery moment, for instance, when Jesus was intensely conscious of His\ndignity, \"knowing that he came from God and went to God,\" He even then\nshewed how inseparable was true love from true grandeur, for we read\nthat \"knowing\" this, \"He rose from supper and girded Himself with a\ntowel, and washed His disciples' feet!\" And as Jesus in the might of\nthe same Divine affection bridged over the gulf which separated man\nfrom Himself and His Father, drawing the impure to Him the Holy One,\nthat they might become holy; and the ignorant to Him the All-knowing,\nthat they might become truly wise;--so shall the same Divine love\ninclude within its vast embrace all in heaven, from God seated on the\nthrone down through the burning ranks of cherubim and seraphim till\nit reaches the once weeping Magdalene, and the once sore-stricken\nLazarus, and the infant who has but the hour before left the bosom\nof its weeping mother! HOW glorious, again, is the thought that the\npoorest saint here--the most ignorant, the most despised, the most\nsolitary and unknown--shall not only admire and love, but be himself\nthe object of admiration and of love on the part of the highest spirit\nthere. For the King who is not ashamed to call the poorest \"brethren,\"\nwill, in His adornments of their mind and heart, as well as of outward\nform, bestowed \"according to His riches,\" make them in all things like\nHimself, and fit to move in regal grandeur with all saints and angels\nin the royal palace of his God. \"Fear not, little flock; it is your\nFather's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.\"\n\nAfter what has been said, it is unnecessary to prove what I have\nassumed as so evidently true; I mean the future recognition of our\nChristian friends. It is almost as unreasonable to ask for proofs of\nthis as for the probable recognition of friends in a different part\nof the country after having been separated from one another during a\nbrief interval of time. What! shall memory be obliterated, and shall\nwe forget our own past histories, and therefore lose the sense of our\npersonal identity, and be ignorant of all we have been and done as\nsinners, and of all we have received and done as redeemed men? or,\nknowing all this, shall we be prevented from communicating our\nhistories to others? Shall beloved friends be there whom we have known\nand loved in Christ here; with whom we have held holy communion; with\nwhom we have laboured and prayed for the advancement of Christ's\nkingdom; and with whom we have eagerly watched for His second\ncoming,--and shall we be unable throughout eternity, either to\ndiscover their existence or associate with them in the New Jerusalem?\nAre the apostles now ignorant of each other? Did Moses and Elias\nissue out of a darkness which mutually concealed them in heaven, and\nrecognising one another for the first time amidst the light on Tabor's\nhill, did they then return into darkness again? Oh, what is there in\nthe whole Word of God,--what argument derived from, our experience of\nthe blessings of Christian fellowship,--what in the character of God\nor His dealings with man,--what in His promises of things to come laid\nup for those who love Him, that could have suggested such strange,\nunworthy, false, and dreary thoughts of the union, or rather disunion,\nof friends in their Father's home! Tell me not that special affection\nto Christian brethren, from whatever causes it may arise, is\ninconsistent with unfeigned love to all, and with absorbing love to\nJesus. It is not so here, and never can be so from the nature of holy\nlove, and was not so in Christ's own case when He the Perfect One\nlived amongst us. With supreme love to God, \"He loved His church\nand gave Himself for it;\" with love to His church He yet loved the\ndisciples as \"His own;\" while again within this circle one of these\nwas specially _the_ loved one; and beyond it \"He loved Martha and Mary\nand Lazarus!\" Tell me not that it is enough to know that our friends\nare in glory. I know this now in regard to some of them, as surely as\nI know anything beyond the grave; yet my heart yearns to meet them\n\"with the Lord,\" and I bless Him that He permits me to comfort myself\nwith the hope of doing so. Nor let it be alleged as an insuperable\nobjection to all this anticipated happiness, that knowledge of the\nsaved would imply knowledge of the lost, and that this would balance\nthe pleasure we hope for, by the great pain by which we, it is\nassumed, must thus be compelled to endure. For even admitting that\nsuch knowledge would be possessed at all, which is very doubtful; yet\nsurely, at the worst, this is a strange way of escaping pain from the\nknowledge that some are lost, by taking refuge in the ignorance of any\nbeing saved! I shall not prove this further, but express my joy in\nheartily believing that we shall resume our intercourse with every\nChristian friend; that remembering all the past, and reading it for\nthe first time aright, because reading in the full light of revealed\ntruth, we shall know and love as we never knew and loved here; and\nshall sit down at that glorious intellectual, moral, and social feast,\nnot with ideal persons and strangers, but with Abraham, Isaac, and\nJacob, with Peter, Paul, and John, and with every saint of God!\n\nBut I have not as yet spoken of one friend there who will be the\ncentre of that bright society--\"Jesus the Mediator of the new\ncovenant!\" \"I will take you to _Myself_,\" is the blessed promise. \"We\nshall see Him as He is,\" is the longed-for-vision. \"We shall be like\nHim,\" is the hoped-for perfection. To know, to love, to be in all\nthings like Jesus, and to hold communion with Him for ever--what \"an\nexceeding weight of glory!\" Jesus will never be separated personally\nfrom His people; nor can they ever possibly separate their character,\ntheir joy, or their safety from His atoning death for them on earth,\nor from His constant life for them in heaven. It is the Lamb who shall\nlead them to living fountains of waters; and the Lamb upon the throne\nwho shall still preside over them. The Lamb shall be the everlasting\nlight of the New Jerusalem; and \"Worthy is the Lamb!\" will be its\nceaseless song of praise. Beyond this I cannot go. In vain I endeavour\nto ascend in thought higher than \"God manifest in the flesh,\" even to\nthe Triune Jehovah who dwelleth in the unapproachable light of His own\nunchangeable perfections; and seek to catch a glimpse of that beatific\nvision which, though begun here in communion with God, is there\nenjoyed by \"the spirits of just men made perfect,\" \"according to\nHis fulness,\" and therefore in a measure which to us passeth all\nunderstanding. But if any real spiritual intercourse with Jehovah is\nnow \"joy unspeakable;\" if the hunger of the soul to possess more,\nfails often from its intensity to find utterance for its wants in\nwords, what must it be to dwell in His presence in the full enjoyment\nof Himself for ever! There are saints who have experienced this\nblessedness upon earth to a degree which was almost too much for them\nto bear; and there are some who have had glories flashed upon them as\nif snatched from the light beyond, just as the soul was loosening from\nthe ligaments of the body, and preparing itself for flight from the\nprison-house to its own home--strange moments when things beyond were\nseen by the eye closing on the weary world, and overpowering bliss was\nexperienced by the chilling heart. And if men, sinful men, yea, dying\nmen, can behold such visions of joy even while dwelling in tabernacles\nof clay that are crumbling around them, what is the measure of that\nbliss which fills the souls of those redeemed ones at this moment in\nthe temple above, in perfectly knowing and enjoying God, Father, Son,\nand Holy Ghost! May the Lord give us all grace to love on earth such\nas we may hope to meet in heaven; and if we cannot as yet enjoy the\ncommunion of angels, may we seek for, and enjoy, the communion of\nsaints!\n\n\nV.\n\nOUR ACTIVE LIFE.\n\n\nIt is unnecessary to do more than remind you how labour is essential\nhere to our happiness. Rest from fatigue is indeed enjoyment; but\nidleness from want of occupation is punishment. Nor is this fact a\npart of our inheritance as sinners. Fatigue and pain of body from\nexertion may be so, but not exertion itself. Perfect and unfallen man,\nas I have already reminded you, was placed in the garden of Eden \"to\ndress and to keep it.\" And this is what we would expect as the very\nappointment for a creature made after the image of Him who is ever\nworking, and who has imbued every portion of the universe with the\nspirit of activity. For nothing in the world of nature lives for\nitself alone, but contributes its portion of good to the welfare of\nthe whole. And man, as he becomes more godlike, rejoices more and more\nin the dispensation by which he is enabled to be a fellow-worker with\nhis Father, and is glad in being able to give expression by word or\ndeed to what he knows and admires.\n\nAnd if all this holds true of man now, what reason have we for\ndoubting that it shall hold true of man for ever? Why should this\ninherent love of action, and delightful source of enjoyment, so\nrefined and elevated, be annihilated? and what shadow even of\nprobability have we for supposing that the heaven revealed in\nScripture is a world the occupations of whose inhabitants must for\never be confined to mere ecstatic contemplation?\n\nThis cannot be! Such a heaven has not been prepared for man. Arguing\nfrom analogy, the presumption is that those mental and moral habits\nwhich have been acquired with so much difficulty, and at so much\nexpense in this present world, will not be cast away as useless in the\nnext, but find there such scope for their exercise as cannot possibly\nbe afforded to them within their present limited sphere of action. But\nthis presumption is immensely strengthened by what we know of the life\nof the angels, to which I have more than once alluded, as it bears so\nmuch upon the several topics discussed by us. These angels \"excel in\nstrength;\" and they \"do His commandments, and hearken to the voice of\nHis word.\" As \"ministers of His,\" they \"do His pleasure.\" They are\nrepresented to us as ever actively employed as messengers of peace or\nof woe. They have destroyed armies and cities; delivered captives;\ncomforted the disconsolate; and are represented as the future reapers\nof the earth's harvest. All this proves, at least, that the sinless\nperfection and happiness of heaven are not inconsistent with a life\nof busy labour; and that though God can dispense with the services of\neither men or angels, yet, as they cannot be happy without rendering\nsuch services to Him, He, in accordance with His untiring, ungrudging\nbenevolence, satisfies this desire of their nature as created by\nHimself. Let it be remembered also, that men have acquired a wider\nexperience than even angels, by reason of that very sin which might be\nsupposed to render them less fit for the exalted services of heaven.\nFor the very storms and vicissitudes of earth have given a form and a\nstrength to those \"trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord,\"\nthat could not have been acquired amidst the sunny skies and balmy air\nof the heavenly paradise. The saints of God have learned lessons here\nof patience, endurance, self-denial, and faith, that could not have\nbeen learned there. Like old soldiers, they have been trained by long\ncampaigns and terrible combats with the enemy. On earth and not in\nheaven are Marthas and Maries with whom we can weep; and prodigals\nwhom we can receive back; and saints in sickness, in prison, or in\nnakedness, whom we can visit, soothe, and clothe. And therefore is\nearth a noble school by reason of its very sins and sorrows. It is\nasked, indeed, in triumph, What employments can there be in heaven\nfor saints? This question I cannot answer. The _how_ employed, and\n_where_, must be as yet mere conjecture. But who will be so bold as\nto deny, that in the new heavens and in the new earth, there may be\nemployment for even those powers--such as inventive genius--which\nmight seem to be necessarily confined to this our temporary scene? If\nwe are through a bodily organisation to be for ever united to matter,\nwhy may not science and art be called into exercise then as well as\nnow, in order to make it minister to our wants or desires? And even\nas regards the noble creations of artistic genius, why should the\nsupposition be deemed as unworthy of the most exalted and spiritual\nviews of heaven, that man may for ever be a fellow-worker with the\nDivine Artist who fills the universe with His own endless creations\nof beauty and magnificence? And can it be that our moral habits and\nChristian graces shall never be called into exercise in works and\nlabours of love among orders of beings of whom as yet we know nothing?\nCountless worlds may be teeming with immense populations, and who\nknows but such worlds may be continually added to the great family\nof God. And if throughout the endless ages of eternity, or in any\nprovince of God's boundless empire, there should ever be found\nsome responsible beings who are tempted to depart from God by the\nmachinations of wicked men or evil spirits,--permitted, then, it may\nbe, as well as now, to use all their powers in the service of sin and\nagainst the kingdom of God,--and who being thus tempted shall require\nwarning or support to retain them in their allegiance;--or if there\nbe found others who are struggling in an existence, which, however\nglorious, demands patience, fortitude, and faith in Jehovah; if there\nare now in other worlds, or ever shall appear any persons who need\nsuch ministrations as can be afforded only by those educated in the\nwonderful school of Christ's Church;--then can I imagine how God's\nsaints from earth may have glorious labours given them throughout\neternity, which they alone, of all the creatures of God, will be able\nto accomplish, when every holy habit acquired here can be put to noble\nuses there. I can conceive patience needed to overcome difficulties;\nand faith to trust the living God amidst evolutions of His providence\nthat baffle the understanding; and indomitable courage, untiring zeal,\ngentle love, heavenly serenity and intense sympathy, yea, even the\npeculiar gifts and characteristics of each individual;--all having\ntheir appropriate and fitting work given them. \"Now _abideth_ faith,\nhope, and charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.\"\nAnd what immense joy will be experienced in each saint thus finding an\noutlet for his love, and exercise for his knowledge, and full play for\nhis every faculty, in that \"house of many mansions,\" with all God's\nuniverse around and eternity before him! I borrow the language of\nthe great and good Isaac Taylor, who has written so eloquently and\nconvincingly on this subject:--\"There labour shall be without fatigue,\nceaseless activity without the necessity of repose, high enterprise\nwithout disappointment, and mighty achievements which leave behind no\nweariness or decay;--where 'they that wait upon the Lord shall renew\ntheir strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall\nrun, and not be weary; shall walk, and not faint.'\"\n\nLet this thought teach us to labour in harmony with the will of God;\nso that we may never run counter to His wishes or His laws, but, both\nin the material and spiritual world, ever seek to be \"fellow-workers\"\nwith Himself.\n\nLet it also comfort us when we see \"such a one as Paul the aged\" fall\nasleep after his day of toil: and strengthen us to bow our heads\nin meekness when we hear of the young man full of zeal and ardour,\napparently fully equipped for God's service, suddenly cut down; or the\nself-sacrificing missionary, who seems to have spent his strength in\nvain, perish with no one in the wilderness to give him burial. Oh,\nthink not that the work of the old saint who loved it so well, till\nthe last hour of his existence, is ended for ever; or that the labours\nof younger brethren so unfinished here, shall never be resumed\nhereafter, and that all this preparation of years has been a\nmere abortion, a mockery and delusion! Believe it not! No day of\nconscientious study for Christ's sake has been spent in vain; no\nhabit of industry or self-denial acquired for Christ's sake has been\nacquired in vain; nor will the burning zeal to do something for Him\nwho died for them be ever lost in darkness or put to shame. Soul,\nspirit, and body, will yet do their work for which they have been\nso exquisitely adapted, and so carefully trained. He who has been\n\"faithful over a few things will be made ruler over many things;\" and\n\"he who has been faithful in _a very little_, shall have authority\nover ten cities!\"\n\nFinally, this future life in heaven will be expressed in _praise_.\nWhat are the ordinary ideas entertained by many excellent Christians\nof this heavenly work, or the manner in which it is to be performed,\nwould be painful to describe. But perhaps it is not too much to say\nthat the heaven of many is little more than a grand, eternal act of\nworship by singing psalms of praise. No doubt the chief work of\nheaven is praise; for praise is but the necessary expression of love,\nadmiration, joy. In what way this praise is to be expressed I know\nnot: whether in the spontaneous exercise of individual souls, \"singing\nas they shine\" with hymned voice, and fashioned instrument of golden\nharp or angelic trump; or only by the rapt gaze of a spirit absorbed\nin \"still communion;\"--and whether in heaven as on earth there may be\ngreat days of the Lord on which the sons of God, gathered from afar,\nwill come specially before the exalted Redeemer, when their joy,\nuttered by outbursts of harmony, shall wake the amphitheatre of the\nskies with impassioned hallelujahs,--who can as yet tell! But it\n_must_ be that each soul in heaven being for ever full of love, will\nfor ever be full of praise. Every new sight of grandeur or of beauty,\nand every new contrivance of the Creator's wisdom or power, will but\nprompt the beholder to praise the wondrous Creator. Every intellectual\nheight reached in the infinite progress of the soul, onward and\nupward, must awe it into a profounder sense of the glory of the great\nIntelligence. Every active pursuit will swell the tide of gratitude\nand praise to Him the ceaseless worker, in whom all persons and things\n\"live, move, and have their being;\"--while the loving and holy soul,\never consciously dwelling in Him who is everywhere present, must\nderive from increasing knowledge of, and communion with the infinite\nand glorious One, a source of exulting, endless praise--praise which\nwill be intensified by the sympathy and song of the great minds and\ngreat hearts of the \"innumerable company of angels,\" and of \"just men\nmade perfect!\" But if in that voiceful temple any one song of praise\nwill, more than any other, issue from a deeper love, or express a\ndeeper joy, that must be the song of the redeemed! For that is a \"new\nsong\" never heard before by the angels in the amplitudes of creation,\nand which the strange race of mankind alone can sing; for there are\npeculiar notes of joy in that song which they alone can utter; and in\ntheir memories alone can echo old notes of sadness that have died away\nin the far distance. And what shall be their feelings, what their\nsong, as they gaze backwards on the horrible kingdom of darkness, from\nwhose chains and dungeons they have been delivered; and trace all the\nmysterious steps by which their merciful and wise Saviour led them\nsafely through danger, temptation, and trial, and through the valley\nof death, until He bid them welcome with exceeding joy! What their\nfeelings, what their song, as they look around and contemplate the new\nscene and the exalted society into which He has brought them, and meet\nthe responsive gaze of radiant saints and of old familiar friends!\nWhat their feelings, and what their song, as they gaze forward, and\nwith \"far-stretching views into eternity\" see no limit to their\n\"fulness of joy;\" knowing that nothing can lessen it, but that\neverything must increase it through eternal ages;--that the body can\nnever more suffer pain, or be weakened by decay;--that the intellect\ncan never more be dimmed by age, nor marred by ignorance;--that the\nspirit can never more be darkened by even a passing shadow from the\nbody of sin;--that the will can never for a moment be mastered, nor\neven biased by temptation;--that the heart can never be chilled by\nunreturned kindness;--that the blessed society can never be diminished\nby death, nor divided in spirit, but that, along with saints and\nangels, all God's works shall be seen, all His ways known, all His\nplans and purposes fulfilled, all His commands perfectly obeyed, and\nHimself perfectly enjoyed for ever and ever! And then, at what might\nseem to be the very climax of their joy, to behold Jesus! And, seeing\nHim, to remember the lowly home in Bethlehem; the once humble artisan\nof Nazareth; and the sufferer, \"who was despised and rejected of men,\"\n\"the man of sorrows, who was acquainted with grief;\" and the tempted\none, who for forty days was with the devil in the wilderness;--seeing\nHim, to remember Gethsemane with its trembling hand and cup of\nagony; the judgment-hall and Calvary with their horrors of blood, of\nblasphemy, and mystery of woe;--seeing Him, to see all this history of\nimmeasurable love not only recorded in the glory of every saint above,\nbut embodied in the very person of that Saviour, and in that human\nform which was \"wounded and bruised for our iniquities,\" and in that\nhuman soul that was sorrowful unto death, in order that He might be\nable to pour into the hearts of lost and ruined men all the fulness of\nHis own blessedness and joy! What shall be the feelings, what the song\nof the redeemed, as all this bursts on their enraptured gaze! Oh,\nblind discoursers are we of such ineffable glory! Children-dreamers\nare we about this as yet unrevealed vision! What are all our thoughts\nbut \"fallings from us, vanishings\" from \"creatures walking among\nworlds not realised!\" But let us pray more and more that the \"God\nof our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto us the\nspirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him; the eyes of\nour understanding being enlightened; that we may _know_ what is\nthe hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His\ninheritance in the saints;\" for though \"eye hath not seen, nor ear\nheard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, the things which\nGod hath prepared for them that love Him,\" yet \"_God hath revealed\nthem unto us by His Spirit!_\"\n\n\n\n\nFUTURE PUNISHMENT.\n\n\nThe subject of future punishment is one the consideration of which\ngives mental pain. We naturally shrink from it, would prefer to leave\nit alone, and to think, as we say, of something else.\n\nBut the question won't leave us alone, and we must think about it. It\nforces itself on our notice, and that, too, in our most thoughtful and\nsober moments. We cannot read the Scriptures without the dark vision\npassing before our eyes with more or less gloom. Conscience whispers\nto us about it. It recurs to our thoughts amidst the penitential\nconfessions and earnest prayers of public worship. The theme is\nconstantly discussed in works and periodicals widely read, and not\neven professedly theological.\n\nThere are few, we presume, who will assert that every man, whatever\nhis character may be when he leaves the world, shall after death\nimmediately pass into glory, and be received into fellowship with God\nand His saints. With such a belief earnestly entertained, suicide\nwould cease to be an evidence of insanity, and murder would become\nphilanthropy.\n\nMost men are prepared rather to believe, apart altogether from any\nScripture statements on this momentous subject, that punishment of\nsome kind or other must be awarded to crime at last, and in some\ndegree proportionate to the character of the criminal,--that somewhere\nor other, by some means or other, not yet discovered or revealed,\nreformation if at all possible must necessarily be effected in order\nthat peace and happiness may be secured. Man's undying sense of\nrighteousness, and what _ought_ to be, is not satisfied by the\nprosperity which, in spite of every drawback, so frequently attends\nthe most selfish and unprincipled villain to his grave. Like the\nPsalmist, we all are disposed to exclaim when contemplating such\nhistories, \"As for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had\nwell-nigh slipped. For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the\nprosperity of the wicked. For there are no bands in their death, and\ntheir strength is firm; neither are they plagued like other men....\nTheir eyes stand out with fatness; they have more than their heart can\nwish.... And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge with\nthe Most High?\"\n\nBut when we open the Word of God, it is impossible for any honest\nman to deny, that whether its teaching be true or false, the fact of\nfuture punishment is an essential portion of what is taught. By no\nconceivable perversion of the words of Christ, so often repeated on\nthis subject, and by no interpretation of His parables, can it be\ndenied that it was His intention to give the very impression which the\nuniversal Church has received, that there is a \"wrath to come,\" and a\nstate of being which to some is \"cursed,\" and so very dreadful that,\nwith reference to one of His own disciples, who is called \"the son of\nperdition,\" the Saviour said that it would have \"been good for that\nman had he never been born.\"\n\nI must presume that this general statement regarding the teaching of\nChrist himself, not to speak of that of His apostles, requires no\nproof to any one who has ever read the Gospels. Punishment of some\nkind awaits the wicked after death. Yet if this much is admitted, we\nhave surely already reached a conclusion which ought to fill with the\nmost solemn awe the mind of every man who has any reverence for the\nDivine authority of Jesus Christ; or who even believes that He who\nrepresented Himself as saying, \"Depart from me, ye cursed, into\neverlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels,\"--\"Depart from\nme, I know you not, all ye workers of iniquity,\" and who narrated such\na parable as that of the rich man and Lazarus, was one incapable of\nall exaggeration or evil passion, and one who possessed the only\nperfect love which was ever manifested in humanity. The apostles, who\nexpress in language as strong and unhesitating the certainty and dread\nnature of future punishment, were men also who, more than any who have\never lived, loved their fellow-men, wept like their Divine Master for\ntheir sins, and devoted their lives, with untiring unselfishness, to\nrescue them from present evil and future woe. Now, if this be so far a\ntrue, if not a full, representation of the teaching of Christ and\nHis apostles on this momentous theme, I may be permitted to put\ntwo questions of a practical and personal kind to my reader. One\nis,--Whether the knowledge of the character, apart from the authority,\nof Jesus and His apostles, who spoke in such language of the future\nhistory of some men in another world, ought not to make us pause with\nbecoming self-distrust and reverence, if disposed to exclaim against\nthe possibility of so terrible an ending as a thing \"unjust,\"\n\"revengeful,\" and \"revolting to benevolence?\" Who are we, what have\nwe been, or what have we done for our fellow-men, that we should thus\npresume to have a more tender regard for their well-being than\nthe Lord Jesus Christ or His apostles had, and to be incapable of\nentertaining or of uttering such \"harsh thoughts\" as they did about\ntheir future state?\n\nThe other question which I would humbly suggest for consideration is\nthis:--What is your real belief in reference to man's future state?\nHave you any faith in our Lord's teaching? Any firm practical\nconviction in the fact of future punishment? After you have made\nevery possible deduction from the weight of Scripture testimony, and\nexplained away every metaphor, parable, and dogmatic statement to the\nlowest possible point short of absolute denial of their truth in any\nfair sense of their meaning,--may I beg of you to consider what, or\nhow much, remains to be firmly believed as the truth of God? For it\ndoes appear to me that there exists a wide-spread callousness and\nindifference, an ease of mind, with reference to the fate hereafter of\nungodly men, which cannot be accounted for except on the supposition\nthat all earnest faith is lost in either the dread possibilities of\nfuture sin or of its future punishment. Men seem to have made up their\nminds that they have nothing to fear in the next world, whatever they\nbelieve, whatever they are, or whatever they do in this. We are,\nverily, not incapable of experiencing fear, but in a vast number of\ncases we are great cowards, in spite of all our bravery,--cowards when\nthere is nothing actually present to alarm us; and each one of us\nseeks to his very utmost to keep danger or suffering far away from\nhimself or from those he loves. Accordingly, the possible or\nnear approach of mere bodily pain, or of domestic sorrow, or the\nanticipated loss of money--not to speak of such horrors as public\ndisgrace from loss of character, imprisonment, transportation as\na felon, or execution as a criminal--would induce thoughtfulness,\nanxiety, wretchedness. Yet, strange to say, the very same persons who\nwould tremble for such calamities as these, treat with indifference a\ncoming punishment, which cannot, even in their own estimation, be less\nterrible, and which, as sure as Christ's words are true, they may\nthemselves, because of their present character, be liable at any hour\nto enter upon and endure.\n\nBut many of those readers, who, up to this point, may heartily\nsympathise with me in my feeble efforts to quicken a more earnest\nthoughtfulness on this subject, will be disposed to avoid its further\nconsideration. I would not blame them for so feeling. God knoweth I\nhave no wish to \"dogmatise\" on this subject, but to approach it with\nreal sympathy for the difficulties, the pains, the perplexities, which\nthe noblest, the truest, and the most reverential have experienced\nwhen they have attempted really to believe in it What chiefly induces\nme to submit a few thoughts upon a theme so solemn, is the \"dogmatism\"\nand unworthy views of God which are attributed to all of us who cannot\ndiscover sunrise beyond the gloom; and the conviction also that a\nmore thorough belief in the clanger of sin, as well as its inherent\nvileness, and a wholesome \"terror of the Lord,\" would tend to\n\"persuade men\" to entertain with more earnestness the deliverance\npromised in the gospel.\n\nThe idea which many have formed of punishment is that of a mere\narbitrary annexation of a certain amount of suffering in the next\nworld to a certain amount of crime committed in this--so many stripes\nfor so many sins; and, as if obvious injustice were inflicted on men,\nby threatening them with coming woe for present wickedness, they\nexclaim, \"Surely such sins as these do not deserve such punishment as\nthat!\" But if sin itself, by an eternal moral necessity, carries with\nit its own punishment, even as the shadow accompanies the substance,\nthen the real question in regard to the possible ending of future\nsuffering is merged in the deeper one of the possible ending of future\nsin. And if so, what evidence have we from any one source to inspire\nthe hope, that the man who enters the next world loving sin, and\ntherefore suffering punishment as its necessary result, will ever\ncease to sin, and thereby cease to suffer? It must, remember, be\nadmitted as an indisputable fact, that life eternal can only co-exist\nwith a right state of the soul. \"This _is_ life eternal, to know thee\nand Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.\" Up to the moment in which the\nspirit turns with filial confidence and obedience to God, there cannot\nbe a cessation either in the curse that must rest upon enmity and\ndisobedience, or in the pain which must be produced by so terrible a\nmalady. Some time or other, be it near or remote, in one year or in a\nmillion, there must be repentance in the sinner, a turning away _from_\nsin and _to_ God, as the only possible means of bridging over the\notherwise impassable gulf that separates the bad from the good, or\nhell from heaven. There is no salvation for man but from sin; there is\nno restoration for him but to love.\n\nBut if this change in the sinner is not accomplished in this world,\nwhat evidence have we that it can be accomplished in any place of even\nlimited punishment? In what conceivable way, we ask with deepest\nawe, is a moral and responsible being, who ends this life and begins\nanother at enmity to God, rejecting Christ, disbelieving the gospel,\ndead in trespasses and in sins, hateful and hating, selfish and\nvile,--in what way is he to be made holy after death, and before\nentering heaven, by a temporary discipline of mere suffering?\n\nWe are here considering the possible future of one only who knows the\ngospel of the grace of God, and we ask, what advantages will such an\none possess elsewhere for the attainment of piety that are denied him\nhere? If all that God has done to gain his heart has so far failed up\ntill the hour of his death, that he is morally unfit by his habits or\neven desires for the society of God and His people, what appliances\ncan we conceive of more likely to influence the will and gain the\naffections in a prison-house set apart for the reformation of the\nimpenitent? Can the sinner expect to meet, in this supposed place of\npunishment and consequent reformation, more loving friends to win him\nby such solemn counsels and tender ministrations as earth did not\nafford? Does he anticipate daily returning mercies and sources of\nenjoyment more rich and varied than those possessed here, in order to\nbring him back to God? Will he possess a healthier body, a happier\nhome, holier society, a more beauteous world with fairer skies and\nbrighter landscapes, or any of those innumerable blessings which have\nsuch a tendency to tame and soften the rudest nature? Shall means of\ngrace be afforded more powerfully calculated to enlighten the mind,\nconvince the understanding, influence the will, or draw the affections\nof the heart towards God? Shall Sabbaths of more peaceful rest dawn\nupon the troubled heart, or sacraments of more healing virtue be\nadministered? Can retreats be secured where God's Word may be read\nand prayer enjoyed with more undisturbed repose? Will the gospel be\npreached more faithfully, and a people be found more loving and pious\nto assemble for public or private worship? Can a Saviour be offered\nmore able or willing to save, and the Spirit of God be poured down\nupon the burning soil in more plenteous or life-giving pentecostal\nshowers? Is this how men picture to themselves the place in which they\nexpect to atone for past sins by limited suffering? Impossible!\nThey are thinking of a world better and more glorious than the\npresent;--not of a hell, but of a heaven!\n\nEven if such a place were prepared for the impenitent and wicked, what\nconceivable security is there that a new mind and spirit would be\nthe necessary result of those new and enlarged benefactions? We\nmust assume that the power of sinning remains, otherwise man's\nresponsibility would cease, and punishment thereby become mere\ncruelty. If sin is thus possible, then why may not the sinner indulge\nthere in the same selfishness, disobedience, and rebellion which\ncharacterised him here? Why may it not be with him as with many a man\nwho loves sin in the low haunts of profligacy and crime, but loves it\nnot the less when brought into circumstances of greater comfort and\namong society of greater godliness? But should it be otherwise,\nand the supposed place of future punishment have none of those\nadvantages,--and we are forced by the necessity of the case to assume\ntheir absence, at least for a limited period, and to admit, in some\nform or other, the presence of a dread and mysterious sorrow,--we\nask again, on what grounds is it concluded that this anticipated\npunishment shall itself possess a healing virtue to produce, some time\nor other, that love to God which, up till the hour of death, has never\nbeen produced in the sinner? Men attach, perhaps, some omnipotent\npower to mere suffering, and imagine that if hatred to sin and love to\nGod are all that is needed, then a short experience of the terrific\nconsequences of a godless past must insure a godly future. Why do\nthey think so? This is not the effect which mere punishment generally\nproduces on human character. Its tendency is not to soften, but to\nharden the heart,--to fill it not with love, but with enmity. It\ncannot fail, indeed, to make the sufferer long for deliverance from\nthe pain; but it does not follow that he thereby longs for deliverance\nfrom the sin which causes the pain, and for the possession of the good\nwhich alone can remove it. It is certainly not the case in this\nworld, that bad men are always disposed to repent and turn to God in\nproportion as they suffer from their own wilfulness, and become poor\nfrom idleness, broken in health from dissipation, alienated from human\nhearts by their selfishness, or pass, with a constantly increasing\nanguish, through all the stages of outcasts from the family; dwellers\namong the profligate; companions in crime; occupiers of prisons;\nmembers of convict gangs, till the scaffold with its beam and drop\nends the dreadful history. Such punishment as this, constantly dogging\nthe crime which at first created it and ever preserves it, only makes\nthe heart harder, fans the passions into a more volcanic fire,\nand possesses the soul with a more daring recklessness and wilder\ndesperation. And arguing from this experience, to which men appeal, as\nif it was truer than the Word of God, what more special virtue will\npunishment have in the next world than in this? What tendency will\nthere be in that long night of misery to inspire a man with the love\nof God, whose very character, and whose holy and righteous will, have\nannexed the suffering to the sin? If the sinner's character is not\nthereby reformed, and all the while he retains his responsibility,--as\nhe must do on the assumption that reformation is possible,--and if he\ncontinues to choose sin with more diabolical hatred to the good, is it\nimagined that such a process as this, of continued sin accompanied by\ncontinued mental suffering, will at any period render him mere meet\nto enjoy the holiness of heaven than when he first departed from the\nworld to enter upon his new and strange probation? Oh, the more we\nthink of it, the darker does the history grow,--the faster does the\ndescent of the evil spirit become, clown that pit which, from its very\nnature, seems to be bottomless! If means are discoverable there more\nsuited to gain the end of moral regeneration than any which exist\nhere, let them be pointed out. We have searched in vain to find them\nin the Word of God, or in the mind and history of man.\n\nMaking every allowance for the real difficulties which beset this\nquestion, and for the peculiar feelings, partly allowable, and largely\nthe reverse, with which it is entertained, we have no doubt that many\nhave been driven to the extreme of utter disbelief in the existence of\nany punishment by the bold and presumptuous manner in which they may\nhave heard men consign all the heathen, and all Christendom, with the\nexception of a very few, to this awful doom. Infants even have not\nescaped the condemnation of some who, professing to have more orthodox\nfaith than their neighbours, have really little or any faith at all\nin God, but utter mere words to which--in this case, fortunately for\nthemselves--they attach no meaning. For if they did, what would life\nbe to them, believing that it was possible for their babe, because of\nAdam's sin, to be cast for all eternity into literal fire? But while\nwe have perfect confidence in the salvation of infants, and of many\nmore, we dare not condemn any. The living God, who alone knows each\nman, may be dealing in ways beyond our comprehension with the most\nlonely savage, whose inmost spirit He ever sees, and who is of more\nawful value in His sight than all the stars of the sky. _How_ the\nliving and omniscient Spirit of God has access to the inner spirit of\nman, I neither know nor could perhaps understand if it were revealed;\nnor how He can teach that spirit without the gospel or the ordinary\nmeans of grace, so as to bring it under law to God. But when I saw\na child (Laura Bridgman) who was born deaf, dumb, and blind,\nmarvellously educated by the genius and wisdom of her remarkable\ninstructor, I could not but feel how grand ends might be accomplished\nin the human soul by means which before this experience I would have\npronounced as impossible;--and it suggested also to me how a poor\nheathen even, like that blind girl, might be really taught by another\nperson, and be receiving light within, though for a time utterly\nignorant of either the name, the character, or the purposes of the\nunseen and unheard teacher, who yet in his own way gradually was\ntraining his scholar for fellowship with God and man.[A] We ignorant\nand sinful men must confine our judgments as regards others to what is\nright or wrong in their actions, and that solely to guide ourselves in\nour personal duties towards God and one another. But as to deciding\nthe eternal fate of any man, that, thank God! can be done only by Him\nto whom all men belong. When disposed to occupy the throne of the\njudge, and to scrutinise human character with a jealous regard for the\nrighteousness of God, let us at once do so by summoning ourselves to\nthe bar!\n\n[Footnote A: As an illustration of this, see a remarkable account of\na North American Indian, narrated by Brainerd in his Diary, date\nSeptember 21, 1745.]\n\nThis, however, amidst all perplexities we may certainly rely upon with\nperfect confidence, that whatever is finally decided, and whatever\npunishment is finally awarded to any, will be in accordance with the\nperfect will of \"God, whose name is love;\" so that all the true and\njust, the good and loving in the universe, will, when they know all\nthe grounds of His judgment, sympathise with their whole soul in His\ndecisions, and see His glory revealed in them. We also know that there\nwill be \"a multitude greater than any man can number\" in God's family;\nthat they will be gathered \"out of every nation, kindred, and tongue;\"\nand this we may hope for, that the number of the lost may be to those\nwho are saved fewer far than the number of those in penal settlements\nand prisons are to the inhabitants of a well-ordered and Christian\nkingdom.\n\nBut not only are our thoughts of future punishment naturally darkened\ninto deepest gloom by the assumed multitudes of those who will suffer,\nbut also by the nature of those sufferings which we also assume are\nto be assigned to them. We literally interpret all those images of\nunquenchable fire and the undying worm, borrowed from the constant\nconflagrations and corruptions of the offal and carcases of dead\nanimals in the valley of Hinnom, (or Gaienna,) near Jerusalem, and\nalso the obviously metaphorical language used in the parable of the\nrich man and Lazarus, as if necessarily teaching that worms or fire\nwould be employed to torture for all eternity the immortal bodies\nof the lost. But what if there is to be no such bodily pain? though\npossibly there may be some kind of physical suffering immediately\nproduced by sin there as well as here. What if the wicked shall be\npunished only by permitting them to \"eat the fruit of their own way,\nand to be filled with their own devices?\" What if, instead of the\nwrath of God being poured upon them to the utmost, it will be\ninflicted in the least _possible_ measure, and only in the way of\nnatural consequence? What if the sin which makes the hell hereafter,\nis, in spite of all its suffering, loved, clung to, even as the sin is\nwhich makes the hell now? Nay, what if every gift of God, and every\ncapacity for perverting His gifts, are retained; and if the sinner\nshall suffer only from that which he himself _chooses_ for ever, and\nfor ever determines to possess? I do not say that it must be so;\nbut if it is so, then might a hell of unbridled self-indulgence be\npreferred then, as it is by many now, to a heaven whose blessedness\nconsisted in perfect holiness, and the possession of the love of God\nin Christ, for ever and ever. Let, then, the fairest star be selected,\nlike a beauteous island in the vast and shoreless sea of the azure\nheavens, as the future home of the criminals from the earth; and let\nthem possess in this material paradise whatever they most love, and\nall that it is _possible_ for God to bestow; let them be endowed with\nundying bodies, and with minds which shall for ever retain their\nintellectual powers; let them no more be \"plagued with religion;\" let\nno Saviour ever intrude His claims upon them, no Holy Spirit disturb\nthem, no God reveal Himself supernaturally to them; let no Sabbath\never dawn upon them, no saint ever live among them, no prayer ever be\nheard within their borders; but let human beings exist there for\never, smitten only by the leprosy of hatred to God, and with utter\nselfishness as its all-prevailing and eternal purpose; then, as sure\nas the law of righteousness exists, on which rests the throne of God\nand the government of the universe, a society so constituted must work\nout for itself a hell of solitary and bitter suffering, to which no\nlimit can be assigned except the capacity of a finite nature. Alas!\nthe spirit that is without love to its God or to its neighbour is\nalready possessed by a power which must at last create for its own\nself-torment a worm, that will never die, and a flame that can never\nmore be quenched!\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAnd yet, when forced to come to this conclusion, especially after\nreading the Scriptures, which in our judgment but confirm it, and give\nit the sanction of Divine authority, who can, even then, with his\nhuman heart silence a \"timid voice which asks in whispers\" many\nquestions suggestive of what would appear to be the brighter hope?\n\"Who can limit\" (in some such form might those questionings be put)\n\"the resources of God's infinite love and wisdom? May there not be\nfound means, though yet to us unknown, and as yet unrevealed, by which\nthe good shall ultimately triumph over the evil,--when every being\nwhom God has originally made capable of love and joy will at last\nfulfil His glorious purpose,--when every sheep lost to the Shepherd\nwill be found, and brought with rejoicing back to the fold,--when\nevery lost piece of money with the King's image, defaced, yet not\ndestroyed, will be recovered from the dust and restored to the King's\ntreasury,--and when every prodigal, weary of his wanderings, convinced\nat last, through self-inflicted misery, of his folly, and remembering\na Father, will return to that bosom which never can reject a child\nseeking there his rest and refuge,--until, finally, there shall not be\nthroughout creation even one sinner, but a mighty family of immortal\nbeings, who, after their terrible experience of the reign of self,\nshall freely and joyfully accept of the reign of the blessed and\nloving God? If it is _possible_, must it not be so? May we not, in\nour darkness and difficulty, rely upon One who, knowing man's fallen\ncondition, yet said, Increase, and multiply, and replenish the earth?\nupon One who declared it to be a legitimate source of joy to every\nmother that a child was born to the world? upon One whose love to all\nwhom He has made is to our love as the light of the mighty sun to a\nfire-fly's spark wandering in darkness?\"\n\n  \"Oh, yet we trust that somehow good\n    Will be the final goal of ill,\n    To pangs of nature, sins of will,\n  Defects of doubt, and taints of blood\n\n  \"That nothing walks with aimless feet;\n    That not one life shall be destroy'd,\n    Or cast as rubbish to the void,\n  When God hath made the pile complete:\n\n  \"That not a worm is chosen in vain;\n    That not a moth with vain desire\n    Is shrivell'd in a pent-up fire,\n  Or but subserves another's gain.\n\n         *       *       *       *       *\n\n  \"So runs my dream: but what am I?\n    An infant crying in the night:\n    An infant crying for the light:\n  And with no language but a cry.\n\n         *       *       *       *       *\n\n  \"I falter where I firmly trod;\n    And falling with my weight of cares\n    Upon the great world's altar stairs,\n  That slope through darkness up to God,\n\n  \"I stretch lame hands of faith, and grope\n    And gather dust and chaff, and call\n    To what I feel is Lord of all,\n  And faintly trust the larger hope.\"\n\nWith deep sympathy for all who thus feel the weight and pain of the\nsubject, and who hope against hope, we ourselves are compelled to\nabide in our first faith. We cannot forget that Jesus Christ, the Son\nof God and the Son of man, who was perfect love, truth, and life, has\nneither Himself, nor through His apostles, given us by one word the\nslightest ground for hoping that any man who leaves this world an\nenemy to God will ever repent and become a friend of God in the\nnext. The whole teaching of Scripture is one with what prudence and\nprinciple would dictate:--Believe in Jesus; _now or never!_\n\nHear, in conclusion, God's Word:--\"For God so loved the world, that he\ngave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not\nperish, but have everlasting life.... He that believeth on him is not\ncondemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he\nhath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And\nthis is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men\nloved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.... He\nthat believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth\nnot the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.\"\n\nHebrews ii. 1, 3:--\"Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed\nto the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them\nslip.... How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which\nat the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us\nby them that heard him.\"\n\n\n\n\nWHAT AFTER DEATH?\n\n\nIt would be very difficult, I think, to put a more serious question to\nourselves than this, _What is to become of its after death_?\n\nAll of us, I daresay, know from experience what is meant by\nthoughtlessness or indifference about our state for ever. There are,\nno doubt, some who, from having had a godly upbringing in their youth,\nor at least religious instruction, have always thought more or less\nabout what would become of their souls. Perhaps these thoughts made\nthem uneasy, afraid, or anxious; but still they were often in their\nmind, especially in times of sickness, or when death came near their\ndoors, or any event occurred which obliged them to think of eternity,\nand of what might happen to themselves if they were to die suddenly,\nand appear before God. But there are others, again, who seem never at\nany time to have had a serious thought about their life after death.\nThey have, perhaps, not had the same advantage with those I have been\nspeaking of, but from infancy have lived among worldly-minded people,\nwho gave the impression, by their conversation and general conduct, on\nweek-days and Sundays, that this world was everything, and the next\nworld nothing; that this world alone was real; and that man's chief\nend was to labour in it, and for it alone, to make money in it, be\nhappy in it, get everything for self out of it, and, as a matter of\nhard necessity, at last die in it, and go from it--Whither? Ah! who\ncould tell _that?_--who ever thought of _that?_ To them it seemed that\ndeath ended all that was reality, and began all that was visionary.\nBut whether early education is to blame, certain it is that many\npeople do come to this state. They seem stoneblind to the future. Not\none ray of light gets an entrance into their spirits from the great\nand eternal world, on whose confines they every moment live. They\nthink, fear, hope, rejoice, plan, and purpose; but always about this\nworld,--never about the other! To rise in the morning; to be occupied\nduring the day; to buy and sell, and get gain; to talk on politics or\ntrade; to gossip about people, and all they speak or do; to marry or\ngive in marriage; to have this meeting or that parting; to give a\nfeast or partake of one; to fear sickness, and to keep it off; or to\nbe sick, and to try and get better:--all this sort of life, down to\nits veriest trifles, they understand and sympathise with, and busy\nthemselves about. But what of God and Christ?--of eternal joy or\nsorrow?--of how a man should live to God, please Him, enjoy Him, love\nHim, and walk daily in fellowship with Him? What of such questions\nas,--What shall become of us in eternity? What shall we do to be\nsaved? How shall we obtain life eternal? How shall we fulfil the end\nof our being? All this--oh, strange mystery!--has no interest to them.\nThese thoughts, or any like these, never cross their mind, perhaps,\nfrom morning till night, or from the first till the last day of the\nyear. They may, perhaps, have heard these words, read them in books,\nor heard ministers speak them from the pulpit on Sunday, and they know\nthat the words have to do with what they call \"religion,\" but never\nthink they have to do with what awfully concerns themselves! They are\nwords, but not about realities; or if they express realities, yet\nrealities which belong to some world of mist, and cloud, and darkness,\nfar, far away--one not nearly so real as this world of their own, made\nup of fields and barns, streets and shops, sea and ships, friends and\naction! But what, let me ask, separates us from that world which we\nthink to be so very far off--so very unreal? The thin coat of an\nartery! No more! Let the thin pipe burst through which our life-blood\nis now coursing in the full play of health, and where then will our\npresent world, now so very real, be to us? In a single second it will\nhave vanished for ever from our grasp, like something we clutch at\nin the visions of the night. And where then will that other world be\nwhich to many is now so dim and unreal as not to be worth thinking\nabout? We, the same living persons, will be in it--in the midst of\nall its realities; and with these we shall have to do, and with these\nonly, for ever and ever.\n\nBut many people do not _wish_ to think about the unseen future. It is\nnot so much that _no_ thoughts about it intrude themselves upon their\nminds, as that all such thoughts are deliberately banished. It is with\nthe eternal future as with anything which here gives them pain,--they\n\"hate to think about it.\" This, of course, arises from the suspicion,\nor rather the conviction, that it cannot be a good future to them.\nThey have read enough about it from the Bible to make it alarming. At\nall events, they have no security for its being to them as happy as\nthe present; and so, whether from a fearful looking for of judgment,\nbecause of their sins, or from ignorance of the means of salvation,\nor from unbelief in the good-will of God as ready to save them, the\nresult is, that they voluntarily shut their eyes to, and banish all\nthought of, eternity. It pains them--it agonises them--to put the\nquestion, \"What is to become of me when I die?\" And the more pain the\nquestion gives them, the more they fly to the world, and occupy their\nminds with its society, its amusements, and even its dissipation and\ndebaucheries, in order to banish care and snatch a fleeting joy. O my\nbrother, if you so act, from my soul I feel for you and pity you! For\nthe sick-bed is coming, and you may be compelled to think there; and\nif so, you are treasuring up tenfold agony for yourself, by your\npresent off-putting apathy and wilful thoughtlessness. And should\nyou manage, even in the time of sickness, and up to the very hour\nof death, to shut out the future from your mind; should long and\ninveterate habit enable you to succeed in the terrible, suicidal\nexperiment, so that you shall die as you have lived--fearing nothing,\nbecause believing nothing,--can you avoid entering the other world?\nCan you prevent a meeting between yourself and your God; or silence an\naccusing conscience for ever; or hinder Christ from coming to judge\nthe world; or fly from the judgment-seat, and by any possibility delay\nor prevent a minute examination of your life; or stay the sentence\nwhich the omniscient and holy Judge shall pronounce upon you? And if\nyou cannot do this,--and if, rather, every power, faculty, and emotion\nof your heart and soul must one day be roused to the intensest pitch\nof earnestness about your eternal destiny,--do you not think it wise,\nmy brother, to think about all this now?--_now_, when there is a\nremedy, rather than _then_, when there is none?\n\nThis suggests another reason why possibly you hate to think about the\nfuture. Not only are you conscious of want of any preparedness for it,\nbut you do not see how it can be much better with you. You have, in a\nword, lost confidence in God--have no faith in His good-will to _you_.\nYou think of Him--if you think of Him at all--as one who watches you\nwith a jealous or angry eye; who has no wish that you should be better\nor happier than you are; or who, if He can save you, will not; or who,\nif He will, offers to do so only on such hard and impossible terms\nas to make it practically the same as if there was no salvation\nfor _you_. In one word, you suspect God hates you, or at least is\nindifferent to you--if, indeed, He knows anything at all about you,\nwhich you are not quite sure of! It is very shocking to write such\nthings: but it is much more shocking that any one should think or\nbelieve such things; for he who so thinks and believes is as yet\nprofoundly ignorant of God. What is called God, is as unlike Him who\nis the living and true God as is any hideous idol in a heathen temple.\nBut this ignorance breeds fear--and fear, hate--and hate increases the\nfear, until the future, in which this God must be met, is put away as\na horrible thing, or never thought of at all.\n\nBut, my brother, why should you thus think of God, and so fear to\nthink of the future? Read only what the Bible says of Him, and learn\nwhat true Christians know of Him, and listen honestly to how your\nown conscience responds to all you hear about Him, and then consider\nwhether you can conceive of one more glorious in his character, or\nmore worthy of your love. Peruse the history of Jesus Christ, and tell\nme anything He ever said or did calculated to fill your heart with\nfear or hate towards Him,--and remember, that he who sees Him sees the\nFather. Think of all Jesus suffered as our atoning Saviour, and all\n\"to bring us to God.\" Think of all God has promised to those who will\nonly trust Him through Jesus,--the pardon of all sin, and the gift\nof a new heart; with everything which can do them good, or make them\nhappy; and say, How can this make you dislike God? Think of all He has\ngiven you since you were born,--friends and relations, health of body,\npowers of mind, much time, many happy days, innumerable mercies and\nsources of enjoyment; think how liberally, ungrudgingly, He has opened\nHis hand; think what patience, forbearance, kindness, He has shewn,\nand what the eternal future has in store for all who love Him; and\ntell me, What has _He_ done to make you dislike Him? Reflect on what\nHe _could_ have done and could do, if He disliked you as you dislike\nHim, and say, How can you continue in your enmity? O my brother, \"Only\nbelieve!\" Believe that \"God _is_ love.\" Believe that \"in this is\nmanifested the love of God, that He gave His Son to be a propitiation\nfor our sins.\" Believe that He willeth not that any should\nperish,--that He has no pleasure in the death of sinners,--that He\nis ready to forgive,--that this is the record, that \"God hath given\neternal life.\" Believe--trust in God for the good, the whole good, the\nmost perfect good, that of a child's heart and sincere love towards\nHim, which He seeks in you--trust God for this through faith in\nChrist, and in the mighty power of that Spirit who is love; and\ndepend upon it, when you _know God_, and see how excellent He is, and\nunderstand His love to you, and what He is willing to make you, and to\ngive you, and, above all, when you know what _He himself will be to\nyou_ for ever, you surely cannot choose but Him! and \"_there is no\nfear in love; because fear hath torment!_\"\n\n\n\n\nMOMENTS IN LIFE.\n\n\nBy moments in life, I mean certain periods which occur more or less\nfrequently in our history,--when the spirit in which we then live, the\nstep we then take, the word we then utter, or what we at that moment\nthink, resolve, accept, reject, do, or do not, may give a complexion\nto our whole future being both here and hereafter.\n\nLet me notice one or two features which characterise those moments.\n\nThey may, for example, be very brief. Napoleon once remarked, that\nthere was a crisis in every battle, when ten minutes generally\ndetermined the victory on one side or other. Yet on the transactions\nof those few minutes the fate of empires may hang, and on the single\nword of command, rapidly spoken amidst the roar of cannon and the\ncrash of arms, the destinies of the human race be affected. Men in\npublic life, who are compelled every day to decide on matters of\nimportance, appreciate the value of minutes, and estimate the\nnecessity of snatching them as they pass with promptness and\ndecision;--of \"taking advantage of the chance,\" as they say, knowing\nwell that if that moment is allowed to pass, \"the chance\" it brings\nis gone for ever; that whatever their hand \"finds to do\" must be done\nthen or never. The results to them of what they decide at that moment\nmay be incalculable. What is then done may never be undone; yet not\nanother second is added to the time given them for action. Within the\ngerm of that brief moment of life is contained the future tree of many\nbranches and of much fruit.\n\nWhat a brief moment, indeed, in our endless life is the whole period\neven of the longest life on earth! It is compared to a vapour, which\nappeareth for a short time, and then vanisheth away; to \"a watch in\nthe night,\"--\"a tale that is told.\" And if we but consider how nearly\na third portion of our threescore years and ten is necessarily spent\nin sleep; and add to this the years spent during infancy while\npreparing for labour; during old age, when our labours are well-nigh\npast; and many more consumed in adorning and supporting or giving rest\nto the body; and then if, after summing up those years, we deduct what\nremains of time at the disposal of the oldest man for the formation\nof active thought and the improvement of his spiritual being, oh! how\nbrief is the whole period of our mortal life, when longest, though its\ntransactions are to us fraught with endless and awful consequences!\n\nAnother characteristic of those moments in life is the silence with\nwhich they may come and pass away. No \"sign\" may be given to indicate\ntheir importance to us. They do not announce their approach with the\nsound of a trumpet, nor demand with a voice of thunder our immediate\nand solemn attention to their interests; but stealthily, quietly, with\nnoiseless tread like spirits from another world, they come to us, put\ntheir question, speak the word, and vanish to heaven with our reply.\nIn after years, possibly, with \"the long results of time\" to guide us\nupward as by a stream to the tiny threads of this fountain of life\nand action, we may be able in a greater degree to realise of what\ntremendous importance they were to us. \"Had we only known this at the\ntime!\" we exclaim, as we revolve those memories, and think of all we\nwould have said or done;--\"had we only known!\" But it is not God's\nwill that we should know how much of the future is involved in the\npresent, or how all we shall be is determined by what we may resolve\nto be or do at any particular moment. Such a revelation would paralyse\nall effort, and destroy the mainspring of all right action. Sight\nwould thus be substituted for faith; the fear of evil consequences\nfor the fear of evil; and the love of future benefits for the love of\npresent duty. God will have us rather cultivate habitually a right\nspirit at each moment, so as to be able to act rightly when the\nall-important moment comes, whether we then discover its importance\nor not. Let us not be surprised, then, if God comes to us, not in the\nstrong wind, the earthquake, or the fire, but only in the still small\nvoice which speaks to the heart or to the conscience, demanding\nthe conduct which becomes us as responsible beings and as obedient\nchildren.\n\nBut let me illustrate these remarks by a few examples of \"moments in\nlife,\" and such as must come to us all.\n\nIt is a solemn \"moment in life\" when the glad tidings of the love of\nGod in Christ Jesus are heard and understood. Remember that we are\nsaved by \"the truth;\" born again \"of the Word;\" sanctified \"by the\ntruth.\" To receive the truth of God, then, as a living power into the\nmind and conscience, is of infinite importance to us. Now, while God's\ntruth comes to us \"at various times and in diverse manners,\" there are\nmoments in life when we cannot choose but feel as if it was addressing\nour inner spirit as it never did before, and earnestly knocking for\nadmission. The circumstances in which this appeal is made may be what\nare called commonplace; such as when hearing a sermon preached from\nthe pulpit, when reading a book by the fireside, or when conversing\nfor a few minutes with an acquaintance; yet at such times truth\nexpressed in a single sentence, or in a few words, may search our\nspirits, and gaze on us with a solemn look, saying, \"Thou art the man\nI am in search of!\" But, as it sometimes happens, the circumstances in\nwhich we are thus arrested by the truth, and are compelled to listen\nto it for weal or woe, may be peculiarly impressive; as when we are\nourselves in sickness or danger, or when addressed by a parent or dear\nfriend on their dying bed, or when in deep family distress, or when\nstanding beside the grave that conceals our best earthly treasure from\nour sight. At such moments the voice of God's Spirit is awfully solemn\nas He cries, \"Now is the day of salvation;\" \"To-day, if ye will hear\nHis voice, harden not your hearts;\" \"Believe and live.\"\n\nThese moments may be very brief. The crisis of the battle between God\nand self, right and wrong, truth and falsehood, may be concentrated\ninto a few minutes. But time sufficient is, nevertheless, given\nwherein to test our _truthfulness_, the soil in which truth grows, the\nmirror that reflects its beams; time sufficient is given to say Yes\nor No to that God who claims our faith and love. Truth comes with\nauthority and majesty as an ambassador from the living God, and with\nclear voice, pure eye, and an arm omnipotent to save, offers to give\nlight, life, and liberty to the captive spirit. But we may evade his\nbright glance, and close our ears to his voice, and refuse to consider\nhis claims, and deal falsely with his arguments; we may reject his\noffers, and, shrinking back from his touch and his helping hand,\nretire into the gloom of self-satisfied pride, preferring the darkness\nto the light; or we may make merry with Heaven's ambassador, and mock\nhim as they did the prophet of old; or cry out, \"Away with him!\" as\nthe world cried to the Lord of light and life. And what if the second\nambassador never comes again with such pressing earnestness, but\npasses by the door once so rudely closed against him, and will knock\nno more? Or, though he may in mercy return again and again, what if\nthe eye gets blinded by the very light which it rejects? and the ear\nbecomes so familiar with the voice, that it attracts attention no\nmore than the winds that beat upon the wall; and the heart becomes so\nhardened as to be unimpressible, until the dread sentence is at last\npassed,--\"Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched\nout my hand, and no man regarded; but ye have set at nought all my\ncounsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your\ncalamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; when your fear cometh as\ndesolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress\nand anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will\nnot answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: for\nthat they _hated_ knowledge, and _did not choose_ the fear of the\nLord: they would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.\nTherefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled\nwith their own devices.\"\n\nA young man came to Jesus seeking eternal life. \"Jesus, looking on\nhim, loved him,\" and answered his prayers by teaching him how eternal\nlife could alone be attained. But the young man went away sorrowful,\nbecause he had much riches. What a history was contained in that brief\nmoment of his life!\n\nAgain, young King Agrippa, along with the young Bernice, hear a sermon\nfrom Paul the prisoner. The outward picture presented to the eye on\nthat day had nothing more remarkable or peculiar about it than\nhas been witnessed a thousand times before and since. Those royal\npersonages entered \"the place of hearing\" with \"great pomp,\"\naccompanied by \"the chief captains and principal men of the city.\" And\nbefore them appeared an almost unknown prisoner, upon whom his own\nnation, including \"the chief priests and elders from Jerusalem,\"\ndemanded the judgment of death to be passed. That prisoner, \"in bodily\npresence weak and contemptible,\" was however \"permitted to speak for\nhimself;\" and verily he did speak! He spoke of God and Christ; of\nrepentance and the new life; and of his own glorious commission to\n\"open the eyes\" of men, \"to turn them from darkness to light, from the\npower of Satan unto God, that they might receive the forgiveness of\nsins, and inheritance among them that are sanctified through faith in\nJesus.\" What a revelation was this from God to man! The voice which\nspoke from Sinai and through the prophets, the voice of Him who is\ntruth and love, spoke at that moment of life through Paul to those\nroyal hearers, and to the captains and principal men. But Agrippa,\nwith a sneer or with some conviction of the truth, replied, \"Almost\nthou persuadest me to be a Christian.\" Unlike St Paul himself, when\nthe Lord spoke to him on his way to Damascus, Agrippa was disobedient\nto the heavenly vision. And so the sermon ended; the gay multitude\ndispersed; the place of hearing was left in silence, and echoed only\nthe midnight winds or the beat of the sea-wave on the neighbouring\nshore. St Paul retired to his cell; Agrippa, Festus, and Bernice, to\ntheir chambers of rest, to sleep and dream by night, as they slept and\ndreamt by day. But they never heard the apostle preach again! It\nwas their first and last sermon; that moment in their life came and\npassed, but never returned. Like two ships which meet at midnight on a\nmoonlit sea, those two persons, the prisoner and the king, spoke, then\neach passed into the darkness, and onward on their voyage to their\nseveral ports, but never met again! Oh, how awful are such moments\nwhen truth reveals herself to the responsible spirit of man! And so,\nmy reader, does it ofttimes happen between thee and God's Spirit. Let\nme beseech of thee to \"redeem the time,\" to know this \"the day of\n_thy_ visitation,\" and to hear and believe \"the word of the Lord.\"\n\nAnother \"moment in life\" which may be specially noticed, is that in\nwhich we are tempted to evil. Temptations are no doubt \"common to\nman.\" Our whole life in a sense is a temptation, for whatever makes a\ndemand upon our choice as moral beings, involves a trial of character,\nand tests the \"spirit we are of.\" But nevertheless there do occur\nperiods in our lives when such trials are peculiarly testing; when\nlarge bribes are offered to the sin that doth so easily beset us,\ntempting us to betray conscience, give up principle, lose faith in the\nright and in God, and to serve the devil, the world, or the flesh.\nSuch moments may be very brief, yet decisive of our future life. They\nmay come suddenly upon us, though possibly many notes of warning have\nannounced their approach. For they are often but the apex of the\npyramid to which many previous steps have gradually and almost\nimperceptibly led; the beginning of a battle, which must at last be\nfought, and very shortly decided, but yet the ending of many previous\nskirmishings. Be this as it may, that moment of life does come to us\nall, when evil like the enemy appears to concentrate against us its\nwhole force, and when we must fight, conquer, or die; when like a\nthief it resolves to break into our home and take possession; when as\na deceiver it promises happiness, and demands immediate acceptance or\nrejection of the splendid offer,--\"All these will I give thee, if thou\nwilt fall down and worship me!\"\n\nWhat a moment is this in the life of many a young person. How\nunutterably solemn is the first deliberate act which opposes\nconscience, rebels against the authority of God and of His law, shuts\nout the light, and prefers darkness. Future character, and the life\nand happiness of years, may be determined by it. The step taken in\nthat brief moment, the lie uttered, the dishonesty perpetrated, the\ndrunkenness or debauchery indulged in, the prayers for the first time\ngiven up, and the father's home left for the far country. Who can\nrealise the consequences of those first acts, or estimate the many\nlinks of evil, and the endless chain itself, that may connect\nthemselves with the one link of sin fashioned in that moment of life!\nWho can foresee the streams ever increasing in breadth and depth which\nmay flow from this letting in of water! Would God that my readers,\nyoung men especially, would but believe in the possibility even of the\nchoice they make at such a time determining their future destiny. The\nthought of this might at least make them pause and consider.\n\nThere is no exaggeration in this language. To realise the danger, all\nwe need assume is the law of habit; for, according to that law, we\nknow that any act of the will, good or bad, has a tendency to repeat\nitself with increasing ease and decreasing consciousness, until it\nbecomes a \"second nature.\" Hence the first resistance of evil is much\nless difficult than any subsequent attempt; and he who in one moment\nof life could by a manly effort become a conqueror, and enter on a\nlife of principle and peace, may, by yielding, very soon sink down\ninto a degraded slave, who is held fast by the iron chain of habit,\neach link of which he has himself forged by his own self-will.\n\nWhat a moment was that in the life of Herod when he permitted evil\ndesire for Herodias to enter his soul. That desire conceived sin, and\nsin when finished brought forth death. Acts passed into habits,\nand habits into a life of abandoned passion. Then came the festive\nbirthday, and the dancing before him of the daughter of his paramour;\nand then the foul murder, with the spectacle of the bloody head,\nclosed eyes, and sealed lips of the greatest and noblest man of his\ntime; and then followed the hour when Jesus Himself was brought before\nthe murderer, when the Lord spoke not one word of warning, rebuke,\nor mercy to him, but smote the wretch with the terrible wrath and\nrighteous judgment of silence!\n\nWhat a moment in life was that, too, when Judas welcomed covetousness\ninto his heart as a most profitable guest. Then one day Covetousness\noffered him thirty pieces of silver if he would betray his Lord; and\nJudas agreed to the proposal. A whole eternity of misery was involved\nin that moment of his life: for the night soon arrived when the\nbargain was to be kept. A few moments more, and the history will end\nhere to begin elsewhere. Yet there is not a sign on earth or heaven\nto indicate the importance of that brief hour to Judas! He forms one\namong the most distinguished company that ever sat at the same table\nsince the earth began; and never did mortal ears listen to such words\nuttered by human lips, nor did mortal eyes ever contemplate such\na scene of peace and love as was witnessed in that upper room in\nJerusalem. But the hour has struck, and Judas rises to depart. The\ndeed of darkness must now be done. It is late, and he has made a most\nimportant appointment; unless he keeps it, he may lose his money; and\nwhat a loss to the poor follower of a man who had nowhere to lay His\nhead! Judas leaves that company; and what was there in things visible\nto make him suspect even that an awful moment of life--his last--had\ncome? All was calm within that upper room,--all was peace in the world\nwithout. The naked heavens shone in the calm brilliancy of an Eastern\nnight The streets of Jerusalem, along which the traitor passed on his\ndreadful errand, echoed his footsteps in their silence. Yet Judas,\n\"the son of perdition,\" was at that moment on his way \"to his own\nplace!\"\n\nAnd thus it is with many a man in the hour of temptation. The voice of\nsin speaks not loudly, but whispers to his inner spirit. He pursues\nhis path of evil without alarm being given by sight or sound from\nheaven or earth. There is nothing in the world without to disturb the\nthoughts and purposes of the world within his false and unprincipled\nsoul. The moment of his life brings the temptation, and he yields his\nsoul to its power, and the moment passes with as noiseless a step;\nand soon the last moment comes, and passes away; but he too has\nnoiselessly passed away with it \"to his own place!\"\n\nThe \"moment in life\" when we are called upon to perform some positive\nduty, is one which is often very critical and full of solemn\nconsequences to us. The duty may _appear_ to be a very trifling\none,--such as writing a letter, visiting a friend, warning some\nbrother against evil, aiding another, or sympathising with a sufferer\nin his sorrow. But whatever the work may be, and in whatever way it is\nto be performed, whether by word or deed, by silence or by speech,\nyet there is a time given us for doing it, very brief perhaps,\nand unaccompanied by any sign to mark its significance,--a time,\nnevertheless, when whatever has to be done must be done quickly, \"now\nor never.\"\n\nSuch a moment in life was that in the history of the three apostles\nwho accompanied our Lord, at His own request, in order to watch\nwith Him in His last agony. As a man, He deserved their thoughtful\npresence, their watchful sympathy, when enduring the dread sorrow\nwhich filled His cup, from realising by anticipation all that was\nbefore Him. Thrice He came to them from the spot, not far off, where\nHe wrestled in prayer with His terrible agony.\n\nThrice He found them asleep. \"What!\" he asked, \"could ye not watch\nwith me one hour?\" Ah! they knew not what an hour that was!--what it\nwas to Him--what it was and might have been to them! They might have\nhad the joy, the exalted privilege, which for ever would have been as\na very heaven of glory in their memory, of sharing, through the power\nof sympathising love, the burden of their Lord's anguish. But they\nyielded to the flesh, and permitted that moment of time to pass; and\nwhen they at last roused themselves from their slumber, it was too\nlate. That moment in life had come and gone, and could return no more.\n\"Sleep on, and take your rest; behold, he who betrayeth me is at\nhand!\"\n\nAnd thus it often happens in the life of us all. An hour is given us\nwhen something may be done for our Lord or our brethren, which cannot\npossibly be done if that hour is permitted to pass away unimproved.\nThen we may teach an ignorant soul, or rouse a slothful one to action;\nwe may alarm one who is lethargic, worldly, sensual, \"without God or\nChrist in the world,\" so as to win him to both; or we may comfort the\nfeeble-minded, and support the weak. Circumstances may give us the\nopportunity, and the \"moment in life,\" when such works may be done.\nThe persons to be helped are perhaps inmates of our dwelling; they are\nour relations: they are sick or dying; or they have cast themselves\nupon our aid. But we let the moment pass. The work given us is\nnot done. We have neglected it from sloth, procrastination,\nthoughtlessness, or selfishness. And we may become awake to our\nculpable negligence, and rouse ourselves to duty. But, alas! those\nwhom we could have aided are past help. They are dead, or are removed\nfrom our influence, or in some way \"past remedy.\" And so the moment\nin life given us is gone, and gone for ever, except to meet us and to\naccuse us before the bar of God. And thus it is with duty in countless\nforms. What our hands find to do must be done quickly, if done at all,\nand in the time given us. If not, a night comes, and may come soon and\ncome suddenly, in which either we ourselves cannot work, or in which,\nthough at last willing to do it, it is no longer given us to do.\n\nBut there is one moment in life--and I conclude by suggesting it to\nyour thoughts--which must come to every man, and which generally comes\nwith signs sufficiently significant of its importance,--I mean the\nlast moment which closes our life on earth. Come it must. And, as an\nold writer remarks, \"the day we die, though of no importance to the\nworld, is to ourselves of more importance than is all the world.\" That\nmoment in life ends time to us, and begins eternity; it ends our day\nof grace and begins the day of judgment; it separates us from the\nworld in which we have lived since we were born, and introduces us to\nthe unseen, unknown world of things and persons in which we must live\nfor ever during the life of God. What a moment is this! It may come in\nthe quiet of our own chamber, or amidst the confusion and excitement\nof some dread accident by land or sea; it may be heralded by long\nsickness or old age, and accompanied by much weakness and bodily\nsuffering. But if that moment, when it comes, is to bring us\npeace, let our present moments, as they come, find us watchful,\nconscientious, believing, and prayerful. And should these words of\nmine be read by chance by one who has begun his last moment without\nhaving begun the work for which he was created, preserved, and\nredeemed, let me beseech of him to improve it by repentance towards\nGod, and faith in Jesus Christ, who will pardon his sins, give him a\nnew heart, and save him as he did the thief on the cross. If every\nhour of his day of grace has been misimproved, let not this last be\nadded to the number. If he has stood all the day idle, let him in the\neleventh hour accept his Master's work of faith alone in his own soul,\nand do what he can for the good of others. But let this moment in\nlife pass, then shall the next moment after death bring only fear\nand anguish; for, be warned and also encouraged by the words of\nthe truthful and loving Jesus, uttered with many tears, over lost\nsouls,--\"If thou hadst known, even thou, at least _in this thy day_,\nthe things that belong unto thy peace; but now they are for ever hid\nfrom thine eyes!\"\n\n\n\n\n\"LABOURERS TOGETHER WITH GOD.\"\n\n\nThese words seem to me to express the idea of true labour, such as God\ncalls us to, and _in_ the doing of which there is a great reward. They\nimply that the living God has a work to do on earth, in men and by\nmen; that in this work He has--if I may so express it--a deep personal\ninterest, because it is one worthy of Himself, and for the advancement\nof His own glory, and the good and happiness of man.\n\nNow, God wishes us to know this work, and to sympathise with Him\nin it. He does not conceal from us what He wishes done, or what He\nhimself is doing; nor obliges us to remain for ever blind as to His\nwill and purposes regarding ourselves or others; so that, if we work\nat all, we must work according to our own wills only, and for our own\npurposes. Instead of this, He reveals in His Word, by His Son, through\nHis Spirit, and in the conscience, what His will is--what He wishes\nus to be and do. Nor does He say to us, \"Learn my commands, and\nobey them; but seek not to know why I have so commanded.\" Were it\nimpossible, indeed, to know _why_ any command was given, the mere fact\nof its injunction would itself demand instant compliance; \"but,\"\nsays our Lord, \"I have not called you servants, but friends, for the\nservant knoweth not what his lord doeth.\" The servant or slave does\nnot occupy the place which the friend does. The one hears only what\nis commanded; but the other, through personal acquaintance with the\nmaster, is enabled to sympathise with the righteousness and love in\nthe command. The friend not only knows what, as a servant, he _must_\ndo, but sees how right and beautiful it is that he should be commanded\nso to do. In like manner, we read that God made known His \"ways\" to\nMoses, but only His \"acts\" to the children of Israel. This revelation,\nof principle and plan to His servant was indeed a speaking with him\n\"face to face;\" and thus does God speak to us now in these latter days\nby the grace and truth revealed in His Son. And it is only when we\nthus know God's work on earth, and when, from a will and character\nbrought into harmony with His, we see how excellent the work is, that\nwe can be, not labourers only, but \"_fellow_-labourers\" with God;--not\nworkers only, but \"workers _together_ with Him.\"\n\nConsider, for instance, _the work of God in our own souls_. This is,\nas far as we ourselves are concerned, the most important work in the\nuniverse. Upon it depends whether the universe shall be to us a heaven\nor a hell. \"What will a man give in exchange for his soul?\" is a\nquestion which assumes that to the man himself nothing can be so\nvaluable. But has God any work to do in our souls? Has He ever\nexpressed any wish as to what He would have us believe, become, or\nenjoy, or revealed for what end or purpose He made our spirits? Is\nthere no wrong state or condition in us with which He is \"angry\" and\n\"grieved,\" and no right state with which He is \"delighted,\" and over\nwhich He \"rejoices?\" Has He laid no command upon us to \"work out our\nown salvation with fear and trembling?\" and has He given no intimation\nof His \"working in us to will and do?\" Or is it to Him the same\nwhether we are wrong or right? Surely we can have no difficulty in\nreplying to such all-important questions! If a man loses faith in the\nreality and sincerity of God's wish, that he personally should have\nhis guilty soul freely pardoned, and his unholy soul sanctified, and\nhis whole being renewed after God's own image,--that he himself should\nbe a good, a great, a happy man, by knowing and loving his God; and if\na man brings himself to such a state of practical atheism as to doubt\nwhether God knows or cares anything about him;--then it is impossible\nfor such a man to be \"a fellow-labourer,\" a \"worker together\" with God\nin his own soul; for he does not know and has never heard of any work\nof God required _there_. But if he believes that God is indeed his\n\"Father in heaven;\"--that He has goodwill to him, and therefore\ndesires his good by desiring him to _be_ good;--that, for the\naccomplishment of this end, all has been done which is recorded in the\nBible, from Genesis to Revelation;--that God has been working in him,\nthrough agencies innumerable, since his childhood, by parents and\nfriends, by tender mercies and bitter chastisements, by Sabbath\nordinances and pulpit ministrations, by the constant witness of\nconscience and the Word of God, in order that he should know and love\nGod his Father,--then, seeing this, will he see also how he may be\na \"fellow-labourer with God.\" _And have not you, my reader, been\nconscious of this work?_ You cannot get quit of the conviction that\nthere is One higher than yourself with whom you have to do,--One who\nis ever with you, seeking to deliver you from evil, from your own evil\nself,--One whose voice is never silent, and who is righteously judging\nyour daily life. And have you never been conscious, too, of fighting\nagainst what you certainly knew was not self, but a holy, winning,\nmysterious power or Person, who opposed self, and for that very\nreason was resisted by self? And therefore your sin has not been the\nignorance of good, but opposing the good,--not the absence, but the\nresisting of a good work in you. It is on this very principle men will\nbe condemned, for \"This _is_ the condemnation, that light hath come\ninto the world, and men _prefer_ darkness to light, because their\ndeeds are evil.\" And if this has been your sin, so has it been your\nmisery. In exact proportion as you thus \"hated knowledge, and did not\nchoose the fear of the Lord,\" you become wretched and unsatisfied. No\nwonder! for with whom does the man work when he works in opposition\nto the will of God? In refusing to serve God, he serves Satan, and\nbecomes a \"worker together\" with \"the spirit who now worketh in the\nchildren of disobedience!\"\n\nWell, then, what are you to do? I reply: \"Yield yourselves to God;\"\n\"be subject to the Father of your spirit, and live.\" \"Wherefore do\nyou spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that\nwhich satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that\nwhich is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline\nyour ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live.\" Instead\nof being workers against, seek to be \"workers _together_\" with God in\nyour own souls; to have His \"work of faith and love,\" and everything\nbeautiful and holy, perfected in you. Believe in Jesus Christ as the\nliving Person who alone can and will save you, by pardoning your sins,\nand giving you His Spirit to make you like Himself. Begin your work by\nassuming that God _is_ working in you to will and do; and _because_\nyou have Him, through His omnipotent Spirit, working in you, do not be\nas one who beats the air in aimless and profitless warfare, nor strive\nagainst nor grieve that Spirit, but through Him \"work out your own\nsalvation.\" In thus pleading with you, I feel that I myself am but\nworking with God; for I can say with the apostle, \"Now then we are\nambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray\nyou in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For He hath made\nHim to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the\nrighteousness of God in Him. We then, as _workers together with Him_,\nbeseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.\"\n\nPut this question in another way: Suppose you had met Jesus Christ\nwhen He was on earth; that you had listened to one of His appeals when\nHe preached the gospel from city to city, and felt His eye looking\nat you as He spoke in His own name, and in the name of His Father,\nsaying, \"Come unto me, all ye who are weary and heavy laden, and I\nwill give you rest\"--\"The Son of man hath come to seek that which is\nlost,\" and the like; that you had witnessed the delight it gave Him to\ndo good, and to find any one willing to receive His overflowing love,\nand the sorrow He endured when men would not believe in Him or trust\nHim, but preferred remaining without the blessing; and that you\nhad accompanied Him during His ministry on earth, and studied His\ncharacter from all you saw and heard,--could the impression made upon\nyou in such circumstances be thus expressed, \"I believe that Thou\ncarest not for me; that my well-doing or ill-doing are equally matters\nof indifference to Thee; and that there is no faith or love that Thou\ndesirest to see accomplished in my soul?\" Would you have _dared_ to\nspeak in anything like this strain of blasphemy to the holy Saviour\nhad you met Him? Or would you not have been overwhelmed by the\nconviction, that whether you yielded to His wishes or not, these\nwishes were clear and unquestionable--that from His character as a man\nhaving fellowship with God, His work as the Saviour of sinners, His\nrevealed will as Lord, nothing could be more certain than that He\nwished you _personally_ to be holy and happy through faith in His\nname; and accordingly, that if you accepted His call, and His offer\nof power to be so, you were but working _with_ Him; and that if you\nneglected both, you were certainly working _against_ Him?\n\nBut with this personal Saviour you have to do just as really and truly\nnow as any of His disciples who had followed Him when on earth; and\nso I beseech you to be fellow-labourers with Him in His own holy and\nliving work within your own soul. Let your prayer then be: \"Thy will\nbe done! Let Thy holy and loving will, my Father, be done in me! I\nbelieve in Thy forgiveness, and am at peace with Thee, according to\nthat will, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. And as this\nis also Thy will, even my sanctification, and Thy revealed purpose,\nthat I should be made conformable to the image of Thy Son, so let Thy\ngrace, which is sufficient for the chief of sinners, daily bring this\nsalvation into me, by teaching me to deny ungodliness and worldly\nlusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present\nworld; that so learning Christ, taking up His cross daily, following\nHim and being disciplined by Him, I may be taught to put off the old\nman, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and to be\nrenewed in the spirit of my mind; and, as Thine own workmanship, be\ncreated anew in Christ Jesus unto good works. Amen!\"\n\nLet us consider for a little longer God's work in us, by His\nprovidential dealings towards us. A moment's reflection will suffice\nto remind you that God, in His providence, is constantly working with\nyou. He is, for instance, a wonderful Giver. \"He gives us all things\nrichly to enjoy.\" \"He openeth His hand liberally.\" His mercies are\nmore than can be numbered; though as a father He also chastises His\nchildren. \"The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away.\" Now, in whatever\nway God deals with us, whether He gives or takes, there is a purpose\nwhich He wishes accomplished. He has a work to do in us by every joy\nand every sorrow. There is a voice for us in the rod of darkness, and\nin the ray of sunshine; and it is our duty, our strength, our peace,\nto hear that voice, and to know that work of providence so as to be\nfellow-labourers with God in it. Perhaps you are disposed to excuse\nyourselves for want of sober inquiry into God's dealings with you,\nby saying, that it is very hard to know, and often impossible to\ndiscover, what object or purpose He has in view when sending to us\nthis gift or that grief. In some cases it may be so; but it is much\nto know and to remember what God's purpose is _not_, and what He can\nnever wish to have accomplished, either by what He gives to us or\ntakes from us. Never can it be the purpose of God, in any case, to\nadvance the work of Satan in our souls, or to retard within us the\ncoming of His own glorious kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in\nthe Holy Ghost. Never can He send us a gift to make us proud, vain,\nindolent, covetous, earthly-minded, sensual, devilish, or in any\ndegree to alienate us from Himself as our chief good. For whatever\npurpose He fashioned our body with such exquisite care, providing\nso rich a supply for all its senses, it was not, assuredly, that we\nshould make that body the instrument of degrading and ruining the\nimmortal soul, and of sinking our whole being down to a level with the\nbeasts that perish! He never gave beauty of form to make us vain\nor sensuous; nor poured wine into our cup that we should become\ndrunkards; nor spread food on our table merely to pamper our\nself-indulgence and feed our passions. He never gave us dominion\nover the earth that we should be Satan's slaves. He never awoke from\nsilence the glorious harmonies of music for our ear, nor revealed to\nour eye the beauties of nature and of art, nor fired our soul with the\nmagnificent creations of poetry, that we might be so enraptured by\nthese as to forget and despise Himself. He never gifted us with a\nhigh intellect, refined taste, or brilliant wit, to nourish ambition,\nworship genius, and to become profane, irreverent, and devil-like, by\nturning those godlike powers against their Maker and Sustainer. We\ncannot think, that if money has been poured at our feet, He thereby\nintended to infect us with the curse of selfishness, or to tempt us to\nbecome cruel or covetous men, who would let the beggar stand at our\ngate, and ourselves remain so poor as to have no inheritance in the\nkingdom of God; or to make us such \"fools\" as to survey our broad\nacres and teeming barns with self-love and worldliness, exclaiming,\n\"Soul, take thine ease; thou hast much goods laid up for many years;\neat, drink, and be merry;\" or to tempt us to refuse the cross, and to\ndepart sorrowful from Christ, because we had great possessions; or to\nchoke the seed of the Word as with thorns, so that it should bring\nforth no fruit to perfection! Can it be possible that He has spared\nour family, and enriched us with so many friends, in order that, being\n\"so happy\" with them, we should never wish to know God as our Father,\nChrist as our Brother, or have any desire to become members of the\nfamily of God? Has He given us so much pleasant, useful, or necessary\nlabour in the world, that we should forget the one thing needful, and\nleave undone _the_ work for which we were created? Has He given us the\nChurch, the ministry, the Sabbath, the sacrament, that we should make\nthese ends instead of means--instruments for concealing, rather than\nrevealing our God and Saviour? And if the Lord has taken away, and\nvisited us with sharp sorrows and sore bereavements, was this \"strange\nwork\" done by Him who does not \"willingly afflict\" His children, in\norder that we should have the pain without the \"profit,\" \"faint under\"\nor \"despise\" the chastisement, or become more set upon the world and\nthe creature, more shut up in heart against our Father, more dead to\neternal things, or fall into despair, and curse God and die?\n\nWithout prolonging such inquiries, enough has been said, I hope, to\nenable you to apprehend what I mean by our being fellow-workers with\nGod in all His works of providence that concern ourselves. We believe\nthat these things, whether of joy or sorrow, do not come by chance,\nnor through the agency of dead mechanical laws, but that a living\nPerson is dealing with us wisely, lovingly, righteously,--that, in\ntruth, \"_the Lord_ giveth, and the _Lord_ taketh away,\" and that,\naccordingly, there must be a design or purpose to serve in what He\ngives or withholds,--that this never can be an evil purpose, but must,\nin every case, be good, and that we may derive good and a blessing\nfrom it. Let us, then, be fellow-workers with Him in seeking, through\nfaith and love, to have this purpose realised, and to have the end\ndesigned by God fulfilled in us or by us, so that every joy and sorrow\nmay bring us nearer the glorious God, and make us know Him better, and\nlove Him more, and thus possess \"life more abundantly,\" even \"life\neternal!\"\n\nBut not only is there a work to be done _in_ us, but also _by_ us, in\nthe doing of which we are to be \"labourers together with God.\"\n\nThis kind of labouring with others is illustrated by Saint Paul when\nhe says, what I have already quoted, \"Now then we are ambassadors for\nChrist, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's\nstead, be ye reconciled to God. For He hath made Him to be sin for us,\nwho knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in\nHim. We then, as _workers together with Him_, beseech you also that\nye receive not the grace of God in vain.\" He is here, you perceive,\naddressing those who were enemies to God, and beseeching such to be\n\"reconciled.\" But in what spirit does he plead with them? In labouring\nto bring them into reconciliation with their Father, and to save their\nsouls, he does not feel himself alone and solitary in his work and\nlabour of love; as one prompted by his own goodwill to lost sinners,\nand his own wishes to redeem them from evil, yet in doubt or in\nignorance as to what God's wishes or feelings were in regard to them.\nHe does not proclaim the gospel to one or to many sinners with such\nthoughts as these: \"It is no doubt my duty to preach to them, and to\nplead with them, and from my heart I pity them, love them, and could\ndie to save them; but whether God pities them or not, or truly wishes\nto save them, I do not know, for I am totally ignorant of His will or\npurpose.\" Surely such were not the apostle's convictions! Did he not\nrather engage in this work of seeking to save souls with intense\nearnestness, because he knew that however great his love, it was but a\nreflection, however dim, of the infinite love of God to them, and his\ndesire to save them but a feeble expression of the desire of God? Was\nhe not persuaded, that in \"beseeching\" them to be reconciled, he could\nspeak \"as though God did beseech\" them by him, as one \"in Christ's\nstead;\" and that \"in beseeching\" them \"not to receive the grace of God\nin vain,\" he was but \"a worker together with God?\"\n\nIn this same spirit may we, and must we seek to do good to others.\nWe dare not look upon our brother as one belonging exclusively to\nourselves, or one dear to ourselves only, but as one belonging to God\nhis Creator, and dear to God his Father. We must ever keep before us\nthe fact, that there is a work which God wishes to have accomplished\nin his soul, as well as in our own; and that our brother is given to\nus in order that we should be workers _together_ with God in helping\non that good work. And if so, this will very clearly teach us at least\nwhat we ought _not_ to do to our brother. We should never, by word or\nby example, by silence or by speech, strengthen in his spirit the work\nof evil: for that is not God's work. For when we flatter his vanity,\nfeed his pride, shake his convictions of the truth, or when, in any\nway whatever, we lay stumbling blocks in his path, or tempt him to\nevil, we are surely not workers together with God. In our conduct to\nour brother, let us ask ourselves, Is this how Christ would have acted\nto any one with whom He came in contact when on earth? Is this helping\non His work now? But, on the other hand, when our brother's soul is\ndear to us,--when, at all hazards, we seek first, and above all,\nhis _good_,--when our love is such that we are willing to have its\nexistence suspected, and ourselves despised and rejected by him, even\nas our loving Lord was by His \"own whom He loved,\" rather than that we\nshould selfishly save ourselves, and lose our brother; then indeed we\nare labourers together with God, and possess the spirit of Jesus! Oh,\nlittle does the world understand the deep working of this kind of\nlove, which, however imperfect it may be, yet burns in the heart of\nChristians only, because they only partake of that love which is\npossessed in perfection by Him who loved us, and gave Himself for us!\n\nLet us, then, remember that we are not to concern ourselves about\nanother's good as if we were alone in our labours, our wishes, and\nour sympathies; as if we really cared more than God does about the\nwell-being of this relation or of that friend. Let our love flow out\nwith all its force, and express itself with holiest longings and\ntenderest sympathies; yet infinitely above all this love is the love\nof our God and their God! In our truest and holiest working be assured\nthat we are but a worker _together_ with Him, the true and holy One,\notherwise our labours could not be _right_; for they would not be in\nharmony with God's will, or such as He could command or bless.\n\nThe same principle applies to our more extensive labours for the good\nof the whole world, and is the very life and soul of home and foreign\nmissions. We can enter the abodes of ignorance and crime at home, and\nply with offers of mercy the inhabitants of the foulest den, and plead\nwith every prodigal to return to his Father, because we believe that\nin all this we are in Christ's stead, and are warranted to beseech in\nGod's name, and with the full assurance that we are not working alone,\nbut \"together with God.\" We can visit any spot in heathendom,\ncheered and borne up by the same assurance amidst every difficulty,\ndiscouragement, and danger. Whatever else is doubtful, this, at least,\nis certain, that in every endeavour to save sinners, we are but\nexpressing our sympathy with Jesus in His love to them, in His longing\nto see of the travail of His soul, and to be satisfied in their\nsalvation; and that when experiencing the deepest sorrow because\nmen will not believe, we are only sharing the sufferings of Him who\nmourned on account of unbelief, and wept over lost Jerusalem because\nit would not know the things of its peace. All this is as certain\nas that there is such a living person as the Saviour, unchanged in\ncharacter, everywhere present, seeing the evil and the good, hating\nthe one and loving the other, whose labour and whose joy is that God's\nname should be hallowed, His kingdom come, and His will be done on\nearth as it is done in heaven.\n\nOh, how depressing, how deadening, to have any doubts as to this\nreality of the interest which our God and Saviour takes in the good of\nhuman souls! How must the dread thought silence the tongue, wither the\nheart, and paralyse the hand, that however ardent the wish influencing\nus to be good ourselves, or to do good to others, God is indifferent\nto both, and has no real interest in either--as if we had more love,\nmore holiness, and more desire that the kingdom of righteousness\nshould advance, than the loving and holy God! Nay, how is it possible\nfor us to have any true love at all to human friends unless it is\nfirst kindled by Him, and is in sympathy with Him, who loved His\nneighbour as Himself?\n\nLet me here remind you of the only other alternative set before\nyou,--it is the awful one of being a \"labourer together\" with Satan.\nOur Lord rejects neutrality; for such is really impossible. He\nrecognises the _no_ real friend as a positive enemy. \"He that is not\nwith me is against me;\" \"He who gathereth not scattereth;\" \"Ye cannot\nserve God and mammon,\" but must serve either. Now, Satan has a work\non earth. It is this spirit which \"worketh in the children of\ndisobedience.\" Will we, then, work with him in his desire to destroy\nour own souls? Will we have \"fellowship with the unfruitful works of\ndarkness,\" and take part with that wicked one in his dread work of\nopposing the kingdom of light, and advancing the kingdom of darkness\nin the world? Will we assist him in tempting others to evil,--in\nentangling souls more and more in the meshes of sin,--in propagating\nerror and opposing truth? And will we, by our words and example,\nby our coldness or open opposition, help to keep any man back from\nChrist, or to drag down to hell a neighbour or friend, a brother,\nsister, or child? A labourer together with Satan! Oh, consider the\npossibility of this being the record at judgment of our history, that\nwe may start, as from a nightmare, from so hideous an imputation!\nInstead of anything so inconceivably dreadful being true of us, may we\nknow and love the Father, through the Son, and by His Spirit, and thus\nrealise more and more in all our labours the strength and blessedness\nof being \"labourers together with God!\"\n\nThe more we reflect upon this principle which I have been\nillustrating, the more we shall see that it is the life of all true\nwork, and can be applied to any work in which a Christian can engage.\nThe true artist, for example, ought to occupy the elevated position\nof being a labourer with God in faithfully, industriously, and\nconscientiously working in harmony with Nature, which is \"the Art of\nGod.\" He ought to study, therefore, the sculpture, the paintings, the\nmusic, of the Great Artist, and understand the principles on which He\nproduces the beautiful in form, in colour, or in sound. The humblest\nmason who plies his chisel on the highest pinnacle of a great\nbuilding, or who fashions the lowliest hut, should have an eye to Him\nwho makes all things very good, and for conscience' sake, ay, for\nGod's sake, he should, to the very best of his ability, work in the\nspirit of the Great Architect, who bestows the same care in building\nup the mountains, moulding the valleys, fashioning the crystal, making\na home to shelter the tiny insect, or a nest where the bird may rear\nher young. Without loving our work, and doing it to the best of our\nability, as in the sight of God, we cannot be fellow-workers with Him\nwho hath made our bodies so wonderfully, and cultivated our souls so\ncarefully; for \"ye are God's building\"--\"ye are God's husbandry.\"\n\n\n\n\nREVIVALS.\n\nI.\n\nTHEIR NEED.\n\n\n\"An awakening\" expresses better than the stereotyped phrase \"revival,\"\nthe idea of a wide-spread interest in religious truth. This is the\nresponse to the righteous demand, \"Awake, thou that sleepest, and\narise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light,\" for at such a\ntime men but awake to the reality of truth, which was previously dim\nand shadowy to them as things seen in dreams; or formerly the awful\nfacts of God's revelation had been as pictures hung up on the wall,\nwhich now suddenly become alive.\n\nBefore entering on the discussion of this rather delicate subject, there\nis one question which we would respectfully press upon the attention of\nthe reader, and that is, Whether he would like a revival of genuine\nreligion? We do not question him regarding his sympathy with any\nparticular form in which the supposed revival might come, far less with\nany of those peculiarities which are supposed by some to be necessarily\ncharacteristic of a revival; but supposing that such an awakening or\nrevival occurred by means of any agency, or any process, that it was\naccompanied by such outward signs of calm and peace as he himself would\nselect, and that its results were unquestionable;--supposing that\nsociety was unusually pervaded by a spirit of truth and holiness, that\nno countenance could be given to evil by word, look, or sentiment, but\nonly to all that was pure, lovely, and of good report,--would such a\nheaven upon earth be readily rejoiced in by him? If this question is\nfairly and honestly put to the heart and conscience, the manner in which\nwe entertain the thought of the mere possibility of a revival becomes a\ntrial of our own spirit, a test of our sincerity when we pray, \"Thy\nkingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.\"\n\nThe weakest Christian has but one answer to give to such a question.\nHe may be pained by anticipating the contrast which he thinks is not\nunlikely to be presented between himself and others more holy; or he\nmay fear that what is false and fleeting, but more attractive, may, in\na time of excitement, usurp the place of what is real and permanent,\nthough less obtrusive; but he cannot but desire with his whole heart\nthat he himself and all men may become more and more awake to the\nrealities of truth, and be revived as by the breath of a new spring,\nso as to grow more in grace, and bring forth more fruit to the glory\nof God.\n\nFor, given that a revival is possible,--that a wide-spread interest in\nthe will of God towards men, with a corresponding power vouchsafed to\nknow it and do it, may be suddenly produced and permanently sustained\nin the minds of men,--we ask, Is not this _the_ one grand blessing\nfrom God which we require? To the question, \"What wilt thou that I\nshould do unto thee?\" which we may conceive our loving Lord putting\nto His blind, deaf, lame, even dead brethren of mankind, does not\nthe response come from individuals and congregations, from solitary\nmourners, and from unhappy hearts, from the weary, the hopeless, the\ndespairing, the labourers at home and abroad--\"_Life_, Lord! We need\nlife in our souls, life in our duties, life in our minds, life in\nour families, life in our teaching and hearing, in our working and\npraying, life in all and for all!\"\n\nAll our clergy constantly need a revival of genuine life,--life which\nno parishioner might be able to define, but which, if there, every one\nwould soon perceive. It would be felt in every home like the breath of\nspring, experienced beside every sick-bed like a touch of healing, and\nbe heard in every sermon like a voice from heaven. Oh, what a\nheavenly gift to himself and others would this be, and what a time of\nrefreshing from the Lord! And how many would share the blessing,\nnow hindered, perhaps, by his own unbelief and satisfaction with\nindifference. For though \"dead\" ministers may in some rare cases have\nsucceeded in saving souls, we never heard of living ones who had\nin every case failed. God has ordained that a living ministry--the\npreaching of those who utter what they themselves _know_ from personal\nexperience to be true--shall be His most powerful instrumentality for\nconverting the world. We believe, accordingly, that every minister,\nwhose own soul became alive, would soon find that his life was\n_contagious_, and that his living spirit would tell upon other spirits\nin a way never before realised by him. That indescribable impression\nmade by a genuine Christian character, which never can be successfully\nimitated, would exercise a marvellous influence upon all with whom he\ncame in contact; and if he had one sorrow for life, it would be\nthe remembrance of the dark and horrible time when he was a mere\nformalist, dead to the eternal interests of his own soul and the souls\nof others.\n\nAgain, What _parish_ does not stand in need of such a quickening? Few\nministers are encouraged and stimulated to aim at and attain higher\nmeasures of good, from the abounding evidences of Christian life among\ntheir parishioners. Many more are tempted, by all they see around\nthem, to wax cold in love, and to lower their standard of personal\nand ministerial life,--to become quite satisfied with the every-day,\nstereotyped formalism of things around them, or to submit to it as if\nit were a doom. The very smile of incredulity with which the account\nof alleged revivals is received,--the wonder which good men express,\nif told of many being awakened by the mere preaching of the Word\nin some congregation or district,--only indicates how all hope has\nperished of our people over becoming what the preacher _in words_\nurges them to become, or of their ever being delivered from the\ntorpor, the indifference, the death, which _in words_ he tells them\nare the preludes of coming death eternal. Is not our hope well-nigh\nlost regarding many a parish; and what but the quickening and reviving\npower of God's Spirit can restore it?\n\nAnd is there no revival needed in _our most living congregations?_ We\nmay, indeed, have cause to thank God for many signs of genuine life\nwithin them, and for such good works as indicate a living spirit in\nthe body. But in the most encouraging cases we have more cause to\ndeplore the vast extent of the ground where the seed sown has been\ncarried away, withered, or choked with thorns, rather than to rejoice\nin the small patches which may be bringing forth fruit. Let any\nminister, as he surveys his congregation, and as he visits them from\nhouse to house, ask himself the question, How many of these really\ncare about Christ, and ever pray to Him, or try to serve Him? and\nmaking every allowance for our ignorance of other men's condition,\nfor the life that may be hidden from the eye, yet will there not be\ninnumerable evidences, _forcing_ upon him the conviction, that if the\ndoctrines he preaches are true, death reigns to a very awful extent\neven among members of the Church? We do not wish to exaggerate, or\nmake out a case against pastors or their flocks, but we leave it to\nevery candid man who will dare to look the truth in the face, to deny\nthe existence among us of a, mighty want--the want of a revival of\nspiritual religion among both.\n\nOnce more, let us look at our _missions_, and consider whether there\nis any need of a revival in this department of Church life. We confess\nthat a mingled feeling of shame and sorrow swells our hearts as we\nthink of the contributions, whether of men or of money, furnished\nby all Christendom for the conversion of heathendom. It is not\nthat Protestantism is behind Romanism even in the number of its\nmissionaries, while in _quality_, and even permanent and holy results,\nwe never will compare these two sections of the Christian Church. But\nhow can we hope to possess such missions as shall be worthy of the\nProtestant Church, without a revival of spiritual religion throughout\nthe parishes, families, theological halls, and congregations of Europe\nand America? Is it too much to expect, for example, that Christian\n_parents_, who would now rejoice if their sons received \"an excellent\ncivil appointment in India,\" or \"a commission without purchase,\" or \"a\npartnership in a first-rate house,\" shall also rejoice in the prospect\nof one of their children becoming a missionary of the Cross? Is it too\nmuch to expect that those _licensed to preach the gospel_ shall love\nthe work for the work's sake, and that some years at least of health\nand strength may be given to the foreign field? What is needed more\nthan a revival among our _preachers_, before we can look with hope for\na revival in our missions?\n\nAnd, finally, is not a revival much required to banish the\nestrangement, coldness, envy, which exist between _the clergy of\ndifferent Churches?_ There are delightful exceptions, where genuine\nChristian goodwill and love exist. But, alas! we sadly miss the want\nof that manly, truthful maintenance of what appears to us to warrant\nour own church organisation, with that just appreciation of the sense,\nprinciple, and judgment of those who have no sympathy with our views.\nSurely every great branch of the Church has at this time of day proved\nto every honest and fair man, that enough can be said in its favour\nto justify a man in belonging to it without his belying his Christian\nprofession, or being either a fool or a hypocrite. Yet, what an inward\n_chuckling_ is often manifested at each other's blunders, failures,\nor even sins,--what a straining for the masteries between the rival\nsects,--what an utter absence, in innumerable cases, of the slightest\nsign or symptom of that Christian love and forbearance which is the\nvery proof of being children of God--nay, how little of the good\nbreeding and kindness which are universal among gentlemen! And all\nthis evil, and more than we have described, is often glossed over with\nsuch an evangelical phraseology, that what is of the earth earthy is\nmade to appear as if it were heavenly; and the coarsest product of the\ncoarsest and most vulgar vanity, self-seeking, and pride is so painted\nand misrepresented as to look like love of principle or love of truth.\nWhat will put an end to the proud antagonism, the Popery, the Church\nidolatry of Protestantism? Can it ever be that we shall carry one\nanother's burdens, and _so_ fulfil the law of Christ, and so love\n_the_ Church and its Head as to love ourselves and our sections of the\nChurch less,--that we shall so love our brethren of every name,\nthat their sins shall be our grief, and their well being our\nblessing,--that we shall be willing to decrease, if Christ only\nincreases, by whatever means He may in His sovereign wisdom select?\nIn one word, can it be that Christian ministers and people of every\nchurch shall, in any town or district, come to love one another with a\npure heart fervently, because loving the Lord? Who would not long for\nsuch a blessed consummation! \"But, behold, if the Lord could make\nwindows in heaven, might this thing be!\" So we exclaim in our\nunbelief. But, unless we have lost all faith in the power of God's\nSpirit, why should we not believe that God _can_ open the windows of\nheaven, and pour forth such showers of His grace that ministers shall\nbelieve what they know, and act as they teach, and be what they\nprofess, and that thus the parched places shall rejoice and blossom as\nthe rose. Then, indeed, would be fulfilled the gracious promise made\nto a renewed Church:--\"For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth\nwith peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you\ninto singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.\nInstead of the thorn shall come up the fir-tree, and instead of the\nbrier shall come up the myrtle-tree: and it shall be to the Lord for a\nname, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.\"\n\n\nII.\n\nOBJECTIONS TO REVIVALS.\n\n\nIt cannot be denied that very strong prejudices are entertained by\nmany of our most intelligent, sober-minded, and sincere Christians\nagainst revivals. It is both unjust and untruthful to allege that\ntheir real objection is against all vital godliness and genuine\nChristianity. Such persons as those we allude to love both, and desire\nthe advance of truth as truly and sincerely as any \"revivalist\" in the\nland, and much more so than many who bear the name. But from their\neducation, their temperament, their views of truth, and from what they\nhave seen or heard regarding the \"revival movements,\" they have been\nled to question the reality of sudden conversions, the evidence of the\ninstrumentalities and means ordinarily employed to effect them, and\nthe correctness of the teaching imparted, either to awaken or build\nup; while other things which appeared always to accompany \"a revival,\"\nas if essential to it,--such as the extravagant and exaggerated coarse\naddresses of some, the impudence, conceit, and spiritual pride of\nothers, the thrusting aside, as if of no value, all that was quiet,\nsober, and truthful, and the bringing forward all that was noisy,\ndemonstrative, talkative, and excited,--has had such an effect on\ntheir minds that the very name of \"a revival meeting\" produces a\nfeeling of repulsion and aversion as against a falsehood.\n\nNow, we do not profess by any means to defend whatever has presented\nitself to public notice in any village or district as \"a revival.\" A\ngood name, whether assumed by men, meetings, or movements, does not\nnecessarily make either of them good or worthy of their name.[A]\n\n[Footnote A: It is very unfair to represent those clergy as opposed to\nrevivals who may not have attended \"revival meetings.\" These meetings\nwere often summoned and managed by self-appointed committees of\nlaymen, whose names were unknown to the clergy, and no guarantee\nwhatever was afforded as to who would address them, or how they would\nbe conducted. Clergymen, therefore, were unwilling either to attend\nas mere spectators, or to appear on the platform, where they might be\nplaced in the unpleasant position of either opposing or acquiescing\nin what was said or done. They, therefore, confined their labours to\ntheir own flock, thankfully acknowledging the good which may have\nbeen done by others in the way which seemed best to _them_; and also\nthemselves finding, when sought, a portion of the blessing for their\npeople.]\n\nOn the other hand, whatever form revivals may take, or have taken, in\nany country or district, whatever mistakes have been made, or whatever\nevils have accompanied them or been occasioned by them, yet we cannot\nadmit that any objections can be valid which would hinder us from\nhoping for such wide-spread and rapid extension of the gospel as we\nhave never yet seen, nor from believing that a very real and genuine\nrevival has to a remarkable extent taken place, and is yet going on,\nthroughout our country and the world.\n\nBut let us briefly state the ordinary objections against revivals:--\n\n1. \"We have no great faith in _sudden_ conversions,\" is a form of\nexpression in which we hear revivals objected to, when the subject\nhappens to be the topic of conversation in ordinary society.\n\nAlas! how many have little faith in the necessity of _any_ conversion!\nA want of hearty conviction regarding human sinfulness and guilt, and\na tendency rather to flatter man's character, worship his genius, and\nalmost deify his powers, lies too much at the root of many of the\nviews and feelings of our day about religion; and hence there is a\ncorresponding want of faith in the necessity of that \"new life\" which\nsome time or other every one must possess, or in the \"supernatural\"\nmeans required either for the removal of man's guilt and his\nrestoration to the Divine favour, or for the renewal of man's nature\nand his restoration to the Divine image. There are, in short\nvery inadequate convictions--if these are brought to a Scripture\ntest--either as to the state _out_ of which or _into_ which every man\nmust be brought before he can be saved. But, nevertheless, there are\nmoral necessities grounded on the character of God as it is, and the\ncharacter of man as it is and ought to be, which remain the same in\nevery age and clime. Some of these necessities are expressed by such\ndeclarations as--\"Ye must be born again.\" \"Except ye be converted,\nand become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of\nheaven.\" \"If any man is in Christ Jesus, he is a new creature.\"\n\nYet while conversion is absolutely necessary for every man, we by no\nmeans assert that its inner history must, in each step, be necessarily\nthe same, though the results must be essentially the same in every\ncase. The Spirit of God, who works when and how He pleases, may, in\nsome cases, so work in the soul from its earliest years, that the time\nwhen the seed of a new life entered it, and the process by which it\nhas gradually increased there, until it now brings forth fruit, are\nboth unknown. Not unknown is _the fact_ that life is there, for it\nis recognised and evidenced by its fruit, but _when_ it began may be\nunknown; and the rate or successive stages of its increase may be\nequally unknown, or at least unmarked.\n\nThis is true in some cases--or, let it be admitted, in many cases,\nchiefly among those favoured ones who have been reared from childhood\nwithin the paradise of a truly Christian home,--still, why should\nwe deny the reality of many conversions on the mere ground of their\nsuddenness?\n\nWe shall not appeal to authentic historical facts to refute the\nobjection, but simply remind our readers of such sudden conversions as\nthose of Paul the apostle, the jailer at Philippi, or the thousands on\nthe day of Pentecost at Jerusalem. Would we be warranted in rejecting\nthose, because a few days or hours only marked a transition from death\nto life, from darkness to light, from their serving Satan to serving\nGod, from being enemies to their being friends of Jesus?\n\nBut apart from this evidence, what, we would ask, is there in the\nnature of conversion inconsistent with its alleged suddenness? There\nmay indeed be a _preparedness_ for it that may occupy much time, as\ndawn ushers in the sunrise, or as months of travail precede the \"child\nborn into the world;\" and there maybe _results_ whose character may\nrequire time to determine. Nevertheless, why should not conversion\nitself, apart from its antecedents or consequents, be sudden? Let us\nconsider briefly what conversion is.\n\nIt is not, for example, the attainment of _good habits_ nor even the\ndoing of good works, though it leads to and must end in this, if\ngenuine. These are the _results_ of conversion. Nor, again, does it\nimply anything like a full or accurate _knowledge_ of the Christian\nscheme, far less of its \"evidences;\" for how little could have been\nthus known by the converted jailer of Philippi, who was one day a\nheathen, and the next day a baptized Christian--or by the converted\nthief on the cross--or by the three thousand converts on the day of\nPentecost!\n\nBut in conversions there must be _thorough earnestness_ about the\nsalvation of the soul, or of our relationship to God. And why should\nnot this feeling be suddenly kindled? Men can be easily roused to\n_sudden_ earnestness, in order to save their bodies, when they realise\npresent danger; and why not to save their souls? _If_, indeed, the\nsoul can never be in such danger, or if a man can never be ignorant or\nforgetful of the fact, or if in no circumstances or by any means\nhe can be roused to a sense of his danger, then may such sudden\nearnestness be impossible; but if his danger is real, and deliverance\nnear, surely all this is possible, and even probable, and of infinite\nimportance, seeing that the day of grace ends with life, and life may\nend in any moment. If this night a man's soul may be required to give\nits account, surely on this day conversion is required to make that\naccount one of joy, and not of sorrow.\n\nConversion implies also _faith in what God has revealed to us_. And\nwhy should we not _at once_ believe God? Do we think it necessary\nto hesitate for months and years ere we believe the word of an\nhonourable, truthful man, in matters of fact about which he cannot\npossibly be mistaken? And shall we think it strange to believe God's\nWord the moment we hear it? Now, that Word tells us many things which,\nif true, cannot be believed without producing immediate results. It\ntells us that we are lost sinners \"condemned _already_;\" that God, in\nlove, has had pity on us, and sent His Son to save us; that He died on\nthe cross for sinners, so that \"whosoever believeth in Him shall never\nperish;\" that He lives to quicken and sanctify through His Spirit all\nwho will receive Him; that there is \"no other name given under heaven\nwhereby a man can be saved;\" and that \"he who believeth not shall be\ndamned.\" Now, is it really impossible for a man at once to believe\nall this, or even thus far to understand his danger, and believe the\ngospel as the only deliverance? Does it seem strange that men should\nhave at once believed Christ, or any of His apostles, when _they_\npreached? Or, does it not seem more strange that some were \"fools, and\nslow of heart to believe?\" And why should it seem incredible that a\nsincere and earnest man should now believe the moment he hears the\nsame gospel, and say, \"I have been a great sinner in hitherto treating\nthis message with so much neglect! By my disbelief I have made God a\nliar; I shall do so no more: Thy Word is truth. Lord, I believe; help\nmine unbelief!\"\n\nConversion implies a \"yielding ourselves to God,\" because thus\nbelieving in His love manifested through Jesus Christ and Him\ncrucified. Such a state of mind might be thus expressed: \"Lord, I\nshall fight against Thee no more! I believe in Thee, and yield myself\nto Thee for time and eternity, to have the good pleasure of Thy\nrighteous will done in me and by me; to be pardoned, sanctified, and\ngoverned wholly by Thyself, and in Thine own way. I am Thine--save\nme!\" Surely this attitude of soul may be assumed _at once_ towards God\nthe very moment the gospel of His goodwill to us, and of His desire to\npossess our hearts, is heard.\n\nConversion implies some degree at least of _peace_ with God. Many\nseem to think it almost presumptuous to look for peace or to expect\njoy in God. \"It betokens,\" they say, \"a want of humility.\" Love and\nhumility are one. Both are a going out of ourselves, and finding our\ngood, strength, peace--_all_ in God. It is surely a poor compliment to\npay a friend, if we rebuke those who dare to be happy in his presence\nor to find peace in his society. What hard thoughts have men of God\nwhen they do not see how He must ever rejoice in the good and peace of\nHis children! Oh, shame upon us that we do not \"rejoice in the Lord\n_always_,\" and possess the \"love which casteth out fear, for fear\nhath torment.\" Why, then, should it seem impossible for a man to have\npeace, the moment he can say with the apostle John, \"We have known and\n_believed_ the love that God hath to us?\" Cannot that love be seen in\nits own light when revealed? And if so, why should the possession of\n_immediate_ peace, in a degree corresponding to faith in God, seem to\nbe so wonderful? Would not its absence be more so? The very _hope_,\nmethinks, of pardon, when first entertained by the condemned\ncriminal--or of deliverance and return to home, when first realised\nby the shipwrecked sailor--or of life and health, when first deemed\nprobable even, by the hitherto despairing invalid--or of meeting his\nlong-injured, but still patient and loving father, by the miserable\nprodigal--may well kindle sudden joy and peace. Much, no doubt, may\nhave been done before any hope could dawn to the captive, to the\nshipwrecked, to the invalid, or the prodigal; yet the hope itself may\n_suddenly_ flash on each, as the message enters the cell to assure the\ncriminal of his safety, or the signal is seen on the distant horizon\nthat promises succour to the mariner, or the smile plays on the\ncountenance of the physician, telling that the dread crisis is over\nand that progress towards recovery has begun, or the remembrance of a\nfather's love is rekindled in the heart of the wanderer. And thus\na man who has been roused to see his moral guilt, as well as moral\ndepravity--to see his dread and terrible danger--may well find\nunutterable peace _the very moment_ he believes that there is for him\ndeliverance from the evil, and forgiveness with God, \"that He may be\nfeared\"--or even when the _maybe_ dawns upon him that he, the hitherto\ndead, careless, presumptuous sinner, has not been so shut out of his\nFather's heart and home, but that there is yet grace omnipotent to\nsave _him_, to take away his sins, renew his whole being, and make him\nand _keep_ him a child of God. When the prodigal in the far country\nwas planning only his return, he resolved to say to his father, \"Make\nme one of thy hired servants!\" To be for a time a very slave in his\nfather's house, seemed in prospect as a very paradise when compared\nwith his present wretchedness; but to be received at once as a\nson--_that_ he would not be so presumptuous as to dream of. Ah! he had\nforgot his father's character in the far country. Unbelief had done\nits work, and \"cut off his hope.\" But however dark and dim his views\nwere, he nevertheless returned, was met afar off, and was at last\nreceived in his father's arms. There he poured forth the confession\nwhich relieved his choking heart, \"I am no more worthy to be called\nthy son!\" True. But did he add, \"Make me a hired servant?\" No, he\ncould not, for he had already been received _as a son_.\n\nOur Lord tells us how some hearers may receive the Word immediately\nwith joy, and yet give up when it is the occasion of their being\nbrought into outward perils or difficulties. Paul complained that\nDemas had forsaken him, and John of many who, he says, \"went out from\nus.\" We must not think it strange, moreover, if the _visible_ Church\nshould ever and anon disclose to us how much evil as well as good\nit contains. Our Lord never contemplated a Church on earth as\npossible--owing to the sinful offences which must needs come--which\nshould be otherwise than a mixture of good and bad. There was one in\ntwelve of His own pure apostolic Church a traitor. Among the members\nof the pentecostal Church, two were struck down dead for falsehood of\nthe blackest kind. Among the earliest professed converts in Samaria\nwas Simon Magus, in the bonds of iniquity. And so it will ever be. The\nfield will contain tares as well as wheat, and both must grow together\ntill the harvest; the net must gather into it bad fish as well as\ngood, until the great day of final separation comes at the end of the\nworld. But, nevertheless, the field may _now_ contain a glorious crop\nof wheat, and the net, after a night of toil, be sometimes full of\ngood fish, so as to excite the wonder and praise of the \"fishers of\nmen.\" Those converts who fall away have probably misunderstood the\ntrue idea of the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. They looked for\nsafety from punishment apart from salvation from sin; upon Jesus as a\ndeliverer from guilt and hell only, and not also a deliverer from\nsin, by giving that life which is heaven; they looked for that life\nhereafter, and not now; or they imagined faith as an _act_ done once\nfor all--a coming to Christ once only for what was required, instead\nof as _a state_ which receives at once pardon and acceptance through\nthe merits of Christ, and _abides_ in Christ for ever as the only\nsource of life.\n\nWe have dwelt upon this point longer than we had at first intended;\nfor the doubt so often expressed, of the possibility of one who is\nlost finding _immediate_ peace when he finds his God--and so has\nfound himself--betrays great unbelief or great ignorance of God. Pride\nis at its root;--a desire to find something wherewith to commend\nourselves to God--some evidence of a good character first--some work\ndone as a hired servant, in order to entitle us with any hope to call\nGod father and be at peace with Him; instead of our _beginning_ all\nwork by _first_ being at peace--by our being reconciled at once to God\nthrough faith in His love to us, revealed in the atonement of Jesus\nChrist. We may just add, what every true man knows, and rejoices to\nknow, that the hour which begins his peace with God necessarily begins\nalso war with all sin in his own heart. His friendship with God\nimplies enmity to all in himself which is opposed to God.\n\n2. \"But the whole tendency of revivals, and of this theory of sudden\nconversions by means of any man's preaching, is to disparage God's\nappointments of the Church and the family for accomplishing genuine\nconversion.\"\n\nIf by this is meant that God ordinarily blesses for the saving of\nsouls what are termed \"the means of grace,\" or \"_the truth_ as it\nis in Jesus,\" whether inculcated by the parent, the teacher, or the\nminister, and presented to the mind, and impressed upon it patiently\nand laboriously during a course of years,--then we also believe this,\nand cordially admit it. Nay, we would have all \"friends of revivals\"\nkeenly alive to the danger of so expressing themselves as to seem even\nto disparage such earnest painstaking, and we would have them to\navoid seeking to attain by a summary process what thousands strive to\nattain, and actually do attain, only by a prayerful diligence, which\nbegins with sowing the seed in childhood, and never ceases until there\nis the blade and the full ear ending in the golden harvest. We feel\nassured that the faithful minister who has seen many souls born to God\nunder his teaching, will acknowledge that these results were connected\nnot so much, or probably not at all, with any sudden change, from some\nstriking sermon he had preached, but from a series of impressions\nmade by pious parents in their home-training, or by himself in his\ncongregational class, or by the whole tone and tenor of his public\nministrations, &c. How often has it thus happened that others have\nlaboured, and that he has but entered into their labours! The\nconversion of his hearers has been the culminating point of a thousand\nappliances, and, in the vast majority of cases, it has been reached by\ndegrees. The glorious summit has been attained, not by a leap from the\nvalley, but after many preparatory steps. The light of life has not\nflashed out of darkness, but has dawned by imperceptible degrees,\nuntil the glory of God was seen in the face of Christ Jesus. If the\nnew life itself has been suddenly experienced, yet let us not overlook\nthe preparatory work of the shaking of the dry bones, then of the bone\ncoming to its bone, and, finally, the flesh and skin covering the\nskeleton, and so preparing a home in which the living spirit could\ndwell and act. We cannot use language strong enough to express our\nconviction of the blessing which, as an ordinary rule, is sure to\nfollow from the Lord on the faithful and prayerful labour of a pious\nparent, Sabbath-school teacher, or pastor. Let nothing be said in\nfavour of wide-spread and sudden revivals to discourage these hopes! A\ntrue revival, we believe, shall ever, in God's own time, attend such\nlabours. This is emphatically true regarding the work of the ministry.\nWe believe that the ministry is of God as much as the Bible is--one of\nthe most precious gifts obtained for the Church by the risen Saviour;\nand that now, as ever, the preaching of the Word by ministers duly\nprepared and regularly called and ordained by the Christian Church, is\nthe grand means for converting sinners; that this power never grows\nold or loses its adaptation to the wants of man amidst the constant\nchanges of society, any more than a lens does in transmitting the rays\nof the sun from age to age.\n\nYet, with all these admissions, and with profound veneration for the\nordinary calm and methodical means of grace, we can nevertheless\nbelieve in wide-spread sudden \"conversions,\" and that too through\nother instrumentalities, and in circumstances which leave no doubt of\ntheir being caused by what has been termed an extraordinary outpouring\nof God's Spirit. For let us beware of dogmatising irreverently as to\nwhen and how that living Spirit shall operate on the souls of men,\nwho worketh according to His own counsel of unerring and inscrutable\nwisdom. \"Who hath known the mind of the Lord, and who hath been his\ncounsellor, that he should instruct _him_?\" As a Person, He acts as\n\"He wills,\" and in every case with perfect wisdom and perfect\nlove. And it is in keeping with this truth, or rather a necessary\nconsequence from it, that God's Spirit should teach and educate\nindividuals and churches differently, or at least in accordance with\ntheir respective and specific wants. If His outward dispensations\ntowards the same person constantly vary, yet all work towards one end,\nthe soul's good,--even as the combinations of the elements vary day by\nday, yet all help on the earth's fruitfulness,--we might expect that\nHis dealings with the _inner_ life of persons should also vary, while\none glorious scheme of education for heaven is carried on in all and\nby all. And if so, why do we think it strange that an individual\nshould have his times of comparative spiritual darkness and light,\nstrength and weakness? or that churches should also experience\ndifferent kinds of treatment, so to speak, from the same wise Spirit,\nyet all suited to advance more and more in the end, both in us and by\nus, that kingdom which is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy\nGhost?\n\nThen, again, as to the instrumentalities which God's Spirit employs,\nthese may be often exceptional to His general rule. For it is surely a\ngreat mercy when the regular ministry, or any other ordinance of His,\nbecomes inefficient through sinful indifference or unbelief, that\nHe should raise up in such an emergency, and that too from the most\nunexpected quarters, those who will do the work which others ought to\nhave done. The grand end of saving lost souls, and bringing many sons\nand daughters unto God, cannot be sacrificed to any organisation\nordained for that purpose when it fails either to seek it or\naccomplish it. Thus\n\n  \"God fulfils Himself in many ways,\n  Lest one _good custom_ should corrupt the world.\"\n\nIf, therefore, we find, as a matter of fact, that some one who follows\nnot us--_why_ he does not follow with us we may not be able to\nunderstand--is yet confessing Christ's name, and so doing Christ's\nwork that devils are cast out by him, we dare not say, \"Forbid him.\"\nOur Lord does not command us to forbid him, any more than He commands\nhim to follow us. He says only, \"Forbid him not. He who is not against\nus is for us.\" We all need humbly to act on such a principle. But\nshould we in our pride and ignorance condemn a sincere and faithful\nlabourer _for_ Christ, our Lord will not confirm our judgment. On the\nother hand, he who does not \"follow\" the ministers of Christ's Church,\nwhom he finds already engaged in the Master's work, must answer to the\nLord for incurring so solemn and serious a responsibility.\n\nBut we must pass rapidly and more briefly to the consideration of one\nother objection to revivals.\n\n3. \"We object entirely to revivals because of the great excitement\nwhich attends them.\"\n\nTo this we reply--\n\nWe admit the possibility of great excitement connected with religious\ntruth, in spite of the total absence of religious character. There is\nno more interesting or remarkable chapter in history than that which\nrecords the _manias_ that have spread like epidemics at different\nperiods (especially during the middle ages) over Europe. They are\ncases of _hysteria_ upon a great scale; and that these should take\na religious form as well as any other is no way impossible. It has\nhappened a hundred times before, and will happen often again. We\nhave seen cases of \"revival\" which were purely physical, with little\nreligious knowledge and no religious character, in those who were most\nunder the influence of the preacher, but with much ignorance and great\nnervous susceptibility. Preachers as ignorant as these people have\nbeen deceived by such appearances, which, not being able to account\nfor by any natural cause, they at once attribute to supernatural\nagency. But, putting aside those illustrations of very common physical\nphenomena, we admit--\n\nThat excitement is by no means to be desired. Its _tendency_ is to\nproduce reaction, and, when the fire passes, to leave nothing but\nashes behind. We may receive the Word with joy, and yet it may soon\nwither; and also give our bodies to be burned, and yet be nothing.\n_Mere_ excitement is next door to grossness and licentiousness. Both\nhave the same sensuous elements in them. Had we our choice, we would\nprefer a revival without any excitement.\n\nIt is, therefore, not only possible, but it has frequently happened,\nthat hundreds have been powerfully moved by a revival, have professed\nfaith in Christ, found peace with God, and been assured by enthusiasts\nand fanatics that they were now actually \"saved,\" who soon gave token\nthat they never had been saved from either gross ignorance or gross\nsin, but destroyed rather by want of sense in themselves, and in those\nwho, from ignorance or vanity, excited their feelings, and worked on\ntheir mere animal sensibilities.\n\nBut we have not our choice in such matters. We cannot change the laws\nof the human mind, and as long as these remain, it may not in every\ncase be possible to prevent some degree of excitement by what so\npowerfully appeals to every feeling and affection in the soul of man.\nGiven only that the facts of Christianity are true regarding man's\ncondition without a Saviour, and all that has been done for him, and\nmust be done in him, before salvation is possible, with the tremendous\nconsequences throughout eternity attached to his faith and repentance\nin time,--and excitement is very natural, and not altogether\nunbecoming, in him who sees and believes, and, as it generally happens\nwhere excitement exists, who _hears_, these truths for the first time\nin his life. Would not calm self-possession, in such circumstances,\nif more _reasonable_, be more wonderful than excitement among those,\nespecially without culture? It is quite true also that excitement will\nmuch less frequently occur among strongminded educated people, who are\naccustomed to keep their emotions under control; while many, with a,\ncomparatively speaking, weak emotional nature, but with sound head and\nsound sense, and wakeful conscience, seldom, in any case whatever,\nbetray much feeling. Violent excitements, as a rule, are found only\namong northern nations, among the ignorant masses, or those who have\nmore feeling than judgment.\n\nBut why may not a wide-spread excitement _about_ religious truths,\nthough in some persons a mere physical condition of the nervous\nsystem, be the very means, under God, of arresting their mind or the\nminds of others, and disposing them to consider and receive the truth\nitself? What is it which we have most to complain of as an obstacle to\nthe gospel? Not infidelity, nor active opposition, nor ignorance, but\n_indifference_,--cold, heartless indifference in those who may go to\nchurch, stand up at prayer, hear or sleep, read or dream, agree with\neverything the minister says, yet verily believe nothing, and are\ntherefore neither roused by fear nor gladdened by hope, but live on,\nday by day, buying and selling, eating and drinking, respectable,\nit may be, and respected, as good farmers, decent tradesmen, honest\nshopkeepers, but to spiritual things in their living reality and\nmomentous importance--_indifferent!_ Could any one but read the\nthoughts, hear the conversation, or watch the effects on the great\nmass of the hearers, one day or one hour, after hearing the most\nimpressive and earnest sermon, in which the minister before God\nsought to save their souls, what a fearful vision of the mystery of\nindifference would be revealed!\n\nWhatever, then, breaks this up is a blessing. No excitement can be so\ndangerous, so deadly, as this indifference. Better a thousand times\nthe wild hurricane than the calm miasma. Better the stream which\nrushes impetuously over its banks, carrying with it devastation for a\ntime, than the dead and foetid marsh. The one may be turned into a new\nchannel, and made available as a power for advancing the interests of\nman, but the other is \"evil, and only evil continually,\" Whatever,\ntherefore, we repeat it, tends in providence to destroy indifference,\nand induces people to _listen_ with earnestness and attention to the\ntruth,--be it the excitement of a storm or earthquake, of a great\nreligious revival, or of domestic bereavement and sorrow,--whatever it\nbe, yet is it a blessing if it prepares the soul to receive the seed\nof the gospel, by inducing men even to _think_ seriously, as the first\ncondition for their ultimately believing seriously.\n\nBut this excitement which alarms so many sober-minded people was not,\nafter all, an element which vitiated the religious \"movements\" in the\nearly ages of Christianity. There were rational Sadducees, learned\nscribes, and formal Pharisees, who were much displeased at the\nexcitement of the multitude when Jesus made His triumphant entry into\nJerusalem. But when our Lord was asked to rebuke them, He replied\nthat the very stones would cry out if these were silent. Was there no\nexcitement on the day of Pentecost when thousands were crying out,\n\"What shall we do to be saved?\" The preaching of the gospel was\neverywhere accompanied by such awakenings as arrested the attention of\ncities and nations. Would God it were so now!\n\nBut, in once more meeting this objection, we cannot help noticing the\ncharacter of the persons who most generally urge it. How often does\none hear from the lips of the intensely worldly-minded fears expressed\nat the danger of religious excitement! And if the symptoms of such a\nterrible state of mind manifest themselves in son or daughter, even in\nthe form of thoughtfulness in regard to their duty to God, or of fear\nabout their state, or doubts with reference to the manner in which\nthey have been accustomed to spend their time and talents, how often\ndoes the very mother who bore them become herself thoughtful and\nconcerned about her child! \"She so much dislikes religious excitement.\nShe likes cheerful Christians,--religious people now-a-days are so sad\nand gloomy,--she is really anxious about her poor daughter,\" &c. And\nall this from persons who live in a constant whirl of excitement, to\nwhose daily life excitement is essential, not as a means of temporary\nrelief from severe thought and action, but as the very end of\nexistence. And whence is their excitement derived? From the most\ncontemptible and silly frivolities, from balls, parties, visits, and\ngossip without end--excitements utterly selfish, which materialise the\nsoul, debase its tastes, enervate its powers, rendering it incapable\nof all earnest labours or self-denial, and which incapacitate it from\napprehending the purity, the majesty, and the surpassing wonder of\nspiritual realities. These are the persons who, forsooth! are so much\nalarmed lest their dear children should become excited about the\nthings which arrest the attention and engage the thoughts of the\nmighty angels, yea, of Jesus Christ himself. Believe it, that whatever\nexcitement may possibly accompany the commencement of the Christian\nlife in one who has never been trained to think seriously or act\nconscientiously, the only persons in the world who are habitually\nfree from all excitement, or violent emotions of any kind, are true\nChristians, because they have the \"love which casteth out fear,\" and\nenjoy \"the peace of God which passeth all understanding.\"\n\nWe must here conclude these brief and very imperfect remarks upon\na great subject. We end, as we began, by expressing our profound\nconviction that _the_ want of all our wants is this, and this only, a\n_Revival of Spiritual Religion_; or, in other words, genuine, simple,\ntruthful, honest love to Jesus Christ, to His people, to His cause,\nand to the whole world! This, and this alone, will fulfil the longing\nof many a weary, thirsty soul for better things than at present seem\nprobable or possible.\n\n\"Who will shew us any good?\" is the despairing cry of many a\nthoughtful man, as he passes in review before his anxious eye the dark\nside of things, such as careless living students of divinity, who\nare to be the future teachers of this great nation; ministers and\ncongregations apparently dead as stones; churches becoming idols,\nclaiming the reverence and love of their members, and jealous of\nany other idol usurping their throne; scoffing infidelity among the\nignorant; philosophic scepticism among the intelligent; indifference\namong thousands; while abroad heathen nations, with countless\nmillions, are opened up to the Protestant Church, which can only send\ndriblets of two or three missionaries here and there, many of whom go\nin tears to live in comfort as well-paid gentlemen, while thousands of\ncommon soldiers pour out their life's blood for their country. \"Who\nwill shew us any good?\" Our hope, O Lord, is in Thee! \"Lord, lift Thou\nup the light of Thy countenance upon us!\" Pour Thy Spirit upon the\nthirsty ground! Our strength is gone; arise, O Lord, and revive Thy\nwork among us all. Come Thou and help us, for Thy great name's sake.\nThe cause of righteousness is Thine own. Do Thou hear and help us,\nthen shall death be changed to life, and truth shall banish error, and\ndisunion be lost in love, and out of this valley of dry bones, and\nfrom all sects and parties, a great army will arise, strong and united\nthrough the power of the Spirit who will dwell in each and all, and be\nmighty to pull down all the strongholds of Satan, and to advance the\nkingdom of our blessed Lord at home and abroad, to the joy of men and\nangels!\n\n\n\n\nTHE CHRISTIAN CONGREGATION.\n\n\nA Christian congregation professes to be a congregation of Christians,\nand to represent the same kind of body which, in the apostolic\nepistles, is termed a \"church\"--\"saints and faithful brethren\"--\n\"faithful in Christ Jesus\"--\"holy brethren.\"\n\nIt is not, therefore, a number of people meeting only to hear a\nsermon, or even to unite in public worship, but without any visible\ncoherence, social life, or united action, but _a body_, an _organised_\nwhole; the Lord's Supper being the grand symbol of the unity of its\nmembers with one another, and with the whole society of the Christian\nChurch on earth and in heaven.[A]\n\n[Footnote A: The social character of the Lord's Supper, and its being\na constant witness to the oneness of the whole body of Christ and the\n_communion_ of saints, has been often so perverted as to have become\nin the minds of many the grand test and evidence of sectarian\ndivision, while \"hearing a sermon\" is the utmost latitude which is\ngiven to the believer who wishes to testify his love to all who love\nthe Lord Jesus in sincerity. \"I would hear him preach, but I would not\n_join_ with him,\" _(i.e._, I would not remember Christ with him,)\nis the strange view of many a professing Christian, in Scotland at\nleast.]\n\nNow, the congregation, as an organised Christian society, has a\ntwofold work to perform. The first is _within_ itself, and includes\nwhatever is done by the members of the congregation for their mutual\ngood; the second is _beyond_ itself, and includes the good done by the\nwhole body to the world \"_without_.\"\n\nIt is thus with the living body of the Church as with the dead\nmachinery of a steam-engine, which _first_ feeds itself with coals and\nwater, and _then_ turns the wheels of the whole factory.\n\nThe inner and outer work of the congregation as a body may be briefly\nindicated in a few sentences, though volumes might be profitably\nfilled with its details.\n\n1. The inner work is accomplished within the soul of each member\nthrough the preaching and reading of the Word of God, public prayer,\nand partaking of the sacrament. By these means chiefly comes that\n\"kingdom of God which is within us,\" and is \"righteousness, peace, and\njoy in the Holy Ghost,\" Every other work will be done efficiently by\nthe whole body just as this inner work begins and progresses among its\nindividual members. But the fellowship and mutual aid of the members\nof the Church in \"considering one another, and provoking to love and\ngood works,\" and in contributing their share of God's gifts and grace\nbestowed upon themselves for the comfort and edification of their\nbrethren, also belongs to the inner work of the Church. This will\nexpress itself and be strengthened by meetings for social prayer and\nChristian intercourse, and by those works and labours of love for\nwhich the congregation itself has the first claim. These labours\nof love include the religious instruction of its young members the\nbaptized children; the visitation of sick; its support of the poor\nand destitute brethren. In these and other forms of well-being and\nwell-doing which will suggest themselves, abundant scope will, in most\ncases, be afforded for exercising the energies, and calling forth the\nlove of the members of the congregation within the limits of their own\nsociety.\n\n2. The work _external_ to itself to be performed by the congregation,\nas a body, consists generally in its \"doing good unto all as God\ngiveth it an opportunity.\" The home mission within the district or\ncity in which it is placed will engage its first efforts; and after\nthat, or along with that, the aiding by its contributions and prayers\nto evangelise the world.\n\nBut the point which I would specially insist upon in this paper is,\nthe vast importance of developing, combining, and directing the gifts\nof _all the members_ of the congregation for accomplishing both its\ninner and outer work.\n\nIf we read the apostolic epistles, (see I Cor. xii. 14-27,) the\nimpression which, as I have already said, they give us of a Christian\ncongregation is that of a body so organised as that each and every\nmember is made useful to the whole body, and the particular gift which\nGod bestows upon the weakest and most insignificant (for \"_He_\nhath set the members in the body as it hath pleased _Him_\") is so\nappreciated and applied, that \"the head\" or \"the eye\"--the most\nintelligent or most discerning--cannot say to that weak member, \"I\nhave no need of _thee_\".\n\nIt may be alleged that the congregations of the primitive Church are\nnot intended to be models in their peculiar organisation for modern\ntimes. But is not the primitive Church system of union and mutual\nco-operation essential to the very idea of a Christian _society_? And\nwhat authority is there for its assembling together to hear sermons,\nto pray, or to partake of the sacraments, which is not equally binding\nfor its performing of all the other duties and enjoying all the other\nprivileges described by the apostles as pertaining to church-members?\n\nNow, in most cases, everything is left to the minister or his official\nassistants. The calculation is never soberly made as to his bodily or\nmental powers to do all which is expected of him. There is an immense\nfaith in both. It is assumed that he, and not the congregation, is the\nbody; that he alone, therefore, possesses the eye, the tongue, the\near, and the hand;--and some ministers seem so pleased with their\nelevated position as to be unwilling that any should share it with\nthem. But when the minister is alive to the responsibility of his\nposition, and when he is so fortunate as to have in his congregation\nmen and women who share his convictions, and are willing to share the\nlabour which these entail, even then there is still the tendency on\nthe part of the great bulk of the members to have their work done by\nproxy. They have no objection that visiting, teaching, almsgiving, and\nthe like, should be done by \"the committee,\"--while the committee,\nperhaps, are inclined, in their turn, to leave it to Mr A., or Miss\nB., who are active members of it. It is true we must labour, in the\nmeantime, with whatever instrumentality God furnishes, and make the\nmost of it, but we must not cease to aim at realising the noble end of\nmaking _each_ member, according to his gifts and abilities, manifest\nthe spirit of Him whose saying it was,--\"It is more blessed to give\nthan to receive!\" No doubt, much wisdom is required upon the part\nof office-bearers to whom the government of the congregation is\nintrusted, to discern gifts, and to apply them. But the \"one thing\"\nchiefly needed is \"_love in the Spirit!_\" It is for this we should\nchiefly labour; for, let love to Jesus be once kindled by the Spirit\nof God through faith in His love to us, and love, which unites us to\nHim, will unite us to one another.\n\nBut admitting all we have said to be true regarding the congregations\nof the primitive Church, and acknowledging, moreover, that it would be\nhighly desirable could such Christian congregations reappear in our\nday, it may be reasonably questioned whether this is possible in the\npresent state of society, or whether any attempt to realise it is not\na pious imagination, which would lead to extravagances and fanatical\ndisorders such as have often characterised minor sects, who, in\nseeking to rise up as perfect churches, have sunk down into perfect\nnuisances? It may be said, \"Only look at the elements you have to\nwork upon! Deal with the actual flesh-and-blood men and women who\nnecessarily form the bulk of our congregations, and not with ideal\npersons. Look at this farmer or shopkeeper--that servant or master;\nenter the houses of those hearers or parishioners in town or country,\nfrom the labourer to the proprietor;--is there the intelligence, the\nheart, the principle, the common sense--any one element which could\nunite those members into a body for any high or noble end? _They_\nprovoke each other to love and good works, or help to convert the\nworld! Would it were so! but it is _impracticable_.\"\n\nSuch thoughts we have ourselves experienced with feelings of despair.\nBut there are others that make us hope that Christian congregations\nthroughout our land may yet rise out of their ashes, living bodies\nimbued with life and love from their living and loving Head.\n\nAre not all the difficulties, for example, connected with the proper\norganisation of the congregation those only that pertain to the\nexistence of a living Christianity among its members? Given,\nthat church-members individually were what they profess to\nbe--\"believers\"--\"disciples\"--\"brethren\"--would they not, as a\nnecessary result of this character, act collectively, as we suppose a\nChristian congregation ought to act? And, therefore, when we assume\nthat it is vain to think of congregations becoming, as a whole, and in\nspite of many exceptions, living bodies of Christians--men united for\nmutual good and for the good of the world--do we not thereby assume\nthat it is vain to expect professing Christians to become \"constrained\nby the love of Christ not to live to themselves, but to Him who died\nfor them and rose again?\" Must we confess it to be utterly hopeless to\nlook for such manifestations now of the power of the Spirit as will\nproduce, in our cities and parishes, such congregations, ay, and far\nbetter ones, as once existed in Jerusalem, Ephesus, or Philippi?\n\nThere is another thought which encourages us, and makes us hope that\nthese same \"elements we have to work upon,\" and which appear to\nmake our congregations incapable of accomplishing the high and holy\ndestinies in the world to which we think they are called. It is\nthis: that just as there are in nature hidden forces--in a quiet\nand apparently harmless cask of gunpowder, or electric battery, for\ninstance--which lie concealed until the right spark calls forth their\nlatent power into action, so there are, in many more individuals than\nwe suspect, hidden forces of some kind or other capable of doing\ngreater things than we could ever have anticipated, and which require\nonly the right spark of spiritual life and energy to excite them also\ninto vigorous action. It is thus that heroic bravery and sublime\nself-sacrifice have been manifested in the hour of sudden and\nappalling danger, or during seasons of long and dreadful suffering,\nby those who were never until then suspected of possessing so great\na spirit, and who, but for such an occasion occurring for its\nmanifestation, might have been doomed for ever to remain helplessly\namong the most commonplace incapables. Had a Grace Darling or a\nFlorence Nightingale been known only as a sitter or pewholder in a\ncongregation, they might have been deemed unfit for any work requiring\ncourage, self-sacrifice, or perseverance. But these noble qualities\nwere all the while in them. In like manner, have we never seen among\nour working classes a man excited by some religious enthusiast or\nfanatical Mormonite, who all at once seemed inspired with new powers,\nbraved the sneers of companions, consented to be dipped in the next\nriver, turned his small stock of supposed knowledge into immediate\nuse, exhorted, warned, proselytised among his neighbours, spoke in the\nlanes and streets unabashed, and gathered his knot of disciples from\namong the crowd of his old comrades, thus giving token of a force\nhaving been lying hid in one who seemed capable only of work on\nweek-days and of sleep on Sundays. There is not a Hindu fakir, who\nswings from a hook in the muscles of his back, or measures with his\nbody a long pilgrimage to Juggernaut; not a Popish devotee, who\nbraves the opinion of society with naked feet, comical garment, and\nself-imposed \"bodily exercise,\" but demonstrates what a man can and\nwill do, if the mainspring of his being is touched. There is not a\nsailor or soldier who does not, at sea or in battle, shew a greatness\nwhich he seems incapable of when seen in ordinary circumstances. It\nis thus, we repeat it, that most undoubtedly there are, in every\ncongregation, men and women who have in them great powers of some\nkind, which have been given them by God, and which, though lying\ndormant, are capable of being brought out, in a greater or less\ndegree, by fitting causes. Nay, every man is enriched with some talent\nor gift--if we would only discover it and bring it into action--which,\nif educated and properly directed, is capable of enriching others to\na far greater extent than he himself is the least aware of. But what\npower will develop this force? What power, we reply, in the universe\nis so fitted to do so, and to bring out of a man all that is in him,\nand to direct all the force of his being to worthy and ennobling\nobjects, as the power of a living Christianity? If the love of Jesus\nChrist and Him crucified, understood, believed, felt, does not kindle\nall the love in a man's heart, and fire it with all the enthusiasm,\nand inspire it with all the bravery of self-sacrifice, and nerve it\nwith all the indomitable perseverance of which it is capable, then\nwe know nothing else which can do this, or anything like this.\nChristianity has not become effete! It is still the \"power of God and\nthe wisdom of God.\" It is still mighty in pulling down strongholds. It\ncan still convert \"the elements we have to work upon\" into instruments\nof righteousness, and \"make the foolish things of the world to\nconfound the wise;\" and \"the weak things of the world to confound the\nthings that are mighty; and the base things of the world, and things\nthat are despised, and things that are not, to bring to nought the\nthings that are.\" But we must have real, living, and undying faith in\nChrist's life and power to do this, and be earnest in personal and\nsocial prayer; and then only will we be able to judge as to the\ncapabilities of \"the elements we have to work upon.\"\n\nThere is no department of congregational work in which the personal\nministration of the individual members is more required than in its\n_Home Mission_. The sphere of this mission must necessarily be a\ndistrict in which the members of the congregation can labour. We may\nassume that there is no district even in this Christian land in which\nare not to be found a number who require to be instructed in the\ngospel, and brought into the fellowship of the Christian Church, as\nwell as a number who require to be ministered to in private owing to\nthe infirmities of their bodies, the bereavements in their households,\nor other necessity of supplying their temporal or spiritual wants.\nIn large cities not only does each district inhabited by the poorer\nclasses abound in what has been termed a \"home heathenism;\" but this\npopulation is so fluctuating from month to month, that a more extended\nand vigorous agency is required to make use of the brief opportunity\ngiven us for doing it any good.\n\nNow, one thing we hold as settled by the whole design of Christianity,\nand amply confirmed by daily experience and observation of human\nnature, and that is, that to seek and save the lost, a _living_ agency\nis absolutely necessary. Religious tracts alone won't do. Far be it\nfrom us to write in an apparently slighting manner of what we so\ngreatly value as good tracts, when we can find them. But, on the other\nhand, let us beware of exaggerating the power of such an agency, or\ndemanding impossibilities from it. A great number in our large cities\nand manufacturing districts who require to be reclaimed from\nignorance and vice cannot read at all. Those who can do so are yet\nso imperfectly instructed in the art as to be utterly unable to\ncomprehend a continuous narrative of facts, far less any exposition of\ndoctrine or duty; while those best able are not always willing to read\nanything of a religious character. The most efficient method, in our\nopinion, of making use of tracts in all such cases, is to read them,\nwhen possible, to others, and, if necessary, explain them, and _then_\ndistribute them. But what is a dead tract to a living person?--what is\nany description of Christianity on paper, as compared to the living\nepistle, which all men can read?\n\n_We want Christian men and women_; not their books or their money\nonly, but _themselves_. The poor and needy ones who, in this great\nturmoil of life, have found no helper among their fellows; the wicked\nand outcast, whose hand is against every man's, because they have\nfound, by dire experience of the world's selfishness, how every man's\nhand is against them; the prodigal and broken-hearted children of the\nhuman family, who have the bitterest thoughts of God and man, if they\nhave any thoughts at all beyond their own busy contrivances how\nto live and to indulge their craving passions,--all these, by\nthe mesmerism of the heart, and by means of that great witness,\nconscience, which God, in mercy, leaves as a light from heaven in the\nmost abject dwelling on earth, can, to some extent, read the living\nepistle of a renewed soul, written in the divine characters of the\nHoly Spirit. They can see and feel, as they never did anything else\nin this world, the love which calmly shines in that eye, telling of\ninward light and peace possessed, and of a place of rest found and\nenjoyed by the weary heart! They can understand and appreciate the\nunselfishness--to them a thing hitherto hardly dreamt of--which\nprompted this visit from a home of comfort or refinement, to an\nunknown abode of squalor or disease, and which expresses itself in\nthose kind words and looks that accompany the visit. They can perceive\nthe reality of the piety, which also reads to them, in touching tones,\nthe glory of Him who came to seek and save the lost; and their souls\ncannot refuse some amen, however faint, echoed by their very misery,\nand from their yearnings for a good they have never known, to that\nearnest prayer of faith uttered, in the bonds of a common brotherhood,\nto one who is addressed as a common Father, through a common Lord.\nIf ever society is to be regenerated, it is by the agency of living\nbrothers and sisters in the Lord; and every plan, however apparently\nwise, for recovering mankind from their degradation, and which does\nnot make the _personal_ ministrations of Christian men and women an\nessential part of it, its very _life_, is doomed, we think, to perish.\n\nIt is thus that our Father has ever dealt with His lost children. He\nhas in every age of the world spoken to men by living men; and \"God,\nwho at sundry times, and in divers manners, spake unto our fathers by\nthe prophets, has in these latter days spoken to us by his Son!\"\n\nBut are there any willing to labour? Yes; many are labouring, and\nthousands in this land are prepared in spirit to join them; for every\nChristian has a longing to do something for God's kingdom on earth,\nand to employ usefully time and talents which he feels are running to\nwaste. Why, then, with so much to do through a living agency, and with\na great army of living agents yet unemployed, is there so little\ndone? We reply again, from want of congregational organisation. Our\ncongregations want order, method, arrangement. There is not yet a\nsufficiently clear apprehension of what their calling is in the world,\nor of the work given them to do; nor is there found that wise and\nauthoritative congregational or church direction and government, which\ncould at least suggest, if not assign, fitting work for each member,\nand a fitting member for each work. Hence little, comparatively, is\naccomplished. The most willing church-member gazes over a great city,\nand asks in despair, \"What am I to do here?\" And what would the\nbravest soldiers accomplish in the day of battle, if they asked the\nsame question in vain? What would a thousand of our best workmen do in\na large factory, if they entered it with willing hands, yet having\nno place or work assigned to them? And thus it is with many really\nself-denying Christians; because a practicable and definite field of\nlabour is not pointed out, the necessary result is idleness--unwilling\nidleness; or self-organised and self-governed \"associations,\"\n\"committees,\" \"societies,\" spring up to accomplish what the Christian\nsociety itself was designed to, and could accomplish in a much more\nefficient and orderly manner; or, as it more frequently happens, those\nenergies and ardent feelings, and love of excitement even, which could\nhave found sufficient scope for healthy exercise in such practical\nlabours of faith and love as we have alluded to, are soon engrossed by\nmerely speculative questions about \"the church,\" or about \"religion,\"\nand the stream which, had it been directed into a right channel, and\nto a right point, would have been made a power for immense good, soon\nrushes over the land a wide-spread, muddy, devastating flood, oozes\nout into stagnant marshes, full of miasma and fever, or evaporates\ninto thin air!\n\n\n\n\nTHE CURE FOR SCHISM.\n\n\n\"Schisms\" are not peculiar to the Church of the present day, nor\nare they \"the result of Protestantism,\" as some allege, unless\nProtestantism is understood to represent that doctrine which is termed\n\"the right of private judgment,\" but which might be described rather\nas the absolute necessity for each man to believe the truth for\nhimself, and not to be satisfied that another man should see and\nbelieve it for him. This \"doctrine,\" which is essential to the\nreception of any truth whatever, must necessarily open the way to\nerror; just as the possession of reason, which is essential to a man's\nthinking at all, must, in every case, involve the risk of his thinking\nwrong.\n\nBut we know something of a Church founded by an apostle, presided over\nfor a time by an apostle, which was full of schisms. This was the\nChurch of Corinth. (See First Epistle to the Corinthians, first three\nchapters.)\n\nThese schisms were marked by differences of mind and judgment; and by\n\"envying, strife, and divisions.\" Its \"Protestantism\" may, no doubt,\nhave occasioned this.\n\nBut along with these divisions, and partly their cause, partly their\neffect, there was not only a warm attachment to particular ministers,\nbut positive antagonism to others professing the same faith, and doing\nthe same work. From the sameness of human nature in every age, we can\nquite understand how each party would defend their sectarianism. \"We\nare of Apollos,\" some might have thus said. \"We do not admire Peter.\nHe is too much of a Jew for us; besides, he denied his Lord, and\ndissembled along with Barnabas at Antioch. We prefer our own minister\neven to Paul. He is a much more eloquent man; of a much more\ncommanding figure and appearance; and how profound he is in his\nknowledge of the Scriptures!\" \"We are of Paul,\" others might have\ncried; \"for he was chosen specially by Christ; and he has been\nhonoured by Him more than all; and does not the Church of Corinth,\nmoreover, owe its very existence to his preaching and labours? It is\na shame to belong to any other!\" \"We cling to Peter,\" a third party\nmight have said; \"he lived with Christ when He was on earth, saw His\nmiracles, heard His words, was treated after the resurrection with\nspecial love, and received from Him a special commission to feed His\nsheep. Apollos is no _apostle_; and as for Paul, he persecuted the\nChurch, and confesses himself that he is not meet to be called an\napostle. Apollos is good, Paul better, but Peter is best!\" \"We belong\nto neither,\" others could have boasted: \"your divisions are so many,\nyour differences so great, that we have retired from all your meetings\nin weariness; and each of us are of Christ only, and call no man\nmaster but Him; you should all join us, the _Christians_:\"--thus\nmaking use of the very name of Christ to characterise a sect. Such\nwere some of the schisms; and to the schismatics St Paul said, \"Ye are\nyet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and\ndivisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I\nam of Paul; and another, I of Apollos; are ye not carnal?\"\n\nThe apostle desired to heal those schisms, and to bring the members of\nthe Church into one mind. How did he endeavour to effect this?\n\nHad he been a Papist, he might have said--\"Why thus divided? Because\nyou are not building on the one true foundation, which is Peter! Do\nyou not understand the meaning of the name, _Cephas_, or the Rock,\ngiven to him, and intended to teach all Christians that the temple of\nthe Church was to be built upon _this_ rock, and this only; against\nwhich the gates of hell cannot prevail? Therefore, you who say, 'I am\nof Cephas,' are right; all others are schismatics.\" Never, apparently,\nhad a man a better opportunity of revealing to the world this great\nsecret of unity than St. Paul had, if such was his faith, especially\nwhen he compares the Church to a building, and speaks of a\nfoundation-stone. \"As a wise master-builder,\" he says, \"I have laid\nthe foundation, and another buildeth thereon.... For other foundation\ncan no man lay than that is laid, which is\"--Cephas, or the rock? No!\nbut \"_Jesus Christ_.\" Not one word of Cephas as the centre of unity.\nStrange silence for a \"Roman Catholic!\"\n\nHad Paul been a \"High Churchman,\" viewing with deep awe the mystery of\nsacramental grace, we can understand how he would have spoken to the\nschismatic Corinthians of the vast importance of their submitting to\nabsolute apostolic authority, and of \"the awful powers with which\nGod's ministers had been vested, of regenerating souls by the waters\nof baptism;\" and how \"such a clergy should command unqualified\nobedience.\" If these, or anything like these, were Paul's sentiments,\nand such as we are every day familiar with, it is not easy, to say the\nleast of it, to account for his language to the Corinthians. What does\n_he_ say of the exalted privilege of being able to baptize? \"I thank\nGod I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius:\" strange words\nfrom a \"High Churchman!\" or a \"High\" Baptist! \"I baptized also the\nhousehold of Stephanas: besides, _I know not_ whether I baptized any\nother:\" strange forgetfulness on such a supposed centre point of\nChurch unity! \"For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the\ngospel:\" strange idea of the relative importance of preaching and\nbaptizing for a \"High Churchman\" to hold! And as to the \"commanding\nauthority\" of the apostles, merely because they were apostles, apart\nfrom, the commanding authority of the eternal truth which they\n\"commended\" to the conscience and judgment of their hearers, Paul\nasks, \"Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos?\" Methinks we hear some\nexclaim: \"Oh, these men were the greatest, the most remarkable, the\"--We\nwill not, however, take up space by repeating the laudations\nwith which some would exalt their authority, with the view of\nmagnifying the mere official authority of the clergy. But what says\nthe apostle himself? He says they were only \"ministers by whom ye\nbelieved.\" It was not the minister who did good, but the truth which\nhe ministered, and which he had received from another. It was not the\nman who sowed the seed, or the basket which held it, that gave the\ncrop; but the living seed itself. Hence he adds: \"So then neither is\nhe that planteth _anything_, nor he that watereth!\" What? Neither\npresbyter nor bishop, neither Paul nor Apollos, _anything_? Strange\nwords, again we say, from a \"High Churchman,\" whether Episcopalian,\nPresbyterian, or any other denomination; _for \"High Churchmen\" are\ncommon to all Churches_. Yet not strange from St Paul, who knew how\ntrue his words were, and that not man, but God, who gave the increase,\nwas \"everything.\"\n\nWhat, then, was the apostle's method of curing schism, and of making\nmen truly one who had been \"divided?\"\n\nHe directed every eye, and every heart, and every spirit, to one\nobject--JESUS CHRIST, the personal Saviour, the centre and source of\nunity; in fellowship with whom all men would find their fellowship\nwith each other.\n\n\"We preach Christ crucified.\" \"I determined not to know anything among\nyou, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.\" \"For other foundation can\nno man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.\" These are his\ndeclarations. And his conclusion from this great and blessed principle\nis just what we might expect: \"He that glorieth, let him glory in the\nLord.\" \"Let no man glory in men: for all things are yours; whether\nPaul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or\nthings present, or things to come: all are yours; and ye are Christ's,\nand Christ is God's.\"\n\nProfessing Christians would do well to weigh the apostle's cure of\nschism. Our divisions of heart and alienation of spirit are unworthy\nof educated men, and of the citizens of a free state, while they are\nin spirit utterly subversive of the whole principles of Protestantism.\nWhat! not able to hear the gospel preached from the lips of a minister\nof another church, nor to remember Jesus with him or his people?\nNot willing even to be on kind, or perhaps on speaking terms with\na brother minister? Such things not only have been, but _are_; and\nwhile, thank God, they are repudiated and detested by men of all\nChurches, they are common, we fear, among too many. No wonder Roman\nCatholics point at our frequent boasting of Protestant \"oneness in all\nessentials,\" and ask with triumph, how it happens, then, that we are\nsuch enemies on mere non-essentials? How it is that we pretend to be\none when attacking Papists, and then turn our backs on each other\nwhen left alone? No wonder the High Churchman of England asks the\nPresbyterians in Scotland to forgive _him_ if he never enters our\nPresbyterian churches, hears our clergy, partakes of our sacraments,\nwhen so very many among ourselves practically excommunicate each\nother. No wonder the infidel lecturer describes to crowds of\nintelligent mechanics, in vivid and powerful language, the spectacle\npresented by many among our Christian clergy and people, and asks,\nwith a smile of derision, If _ithis_ is a religion of love which they\nsee around them--if these men believe the gospel--and if Christians\nhave really more kindness and courtesy than \"publicans and sinners?\"\nWorse than all, no wonder our churches languish, and men are asking\nwith pain, why the ministry is not producing more true spiritual\nfruit, which is love to God and man? The Churches are, no doubt,\n_doing_ much. We have meetings, associations, and organisations, with\nno end of committees, resolutions, and motions; we raise large sums of\nmoney; we have large congregations;--yet all this, and much more, we\ncan do from pride, vanity, love of party, love of power, the spirit\nof proselytism, and the like. We may possess many gifts, understand\nmysteries and all knowledge; we may bestow our goods to feed the poor,\nin zeal for Church or party we may be willing to give our bodies to\nbe burned; but before God it profiteth us nothing, unless we have\nthe \"love that suffereth long, and is kind, that envieth not, that\nvaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself\nunseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no\nevil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth\nall things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all\nthings,\"\n\nSurely our schisms may be healed if there be a Saviour thus to heal\nthem!\n\nOne word in conclusion. Neither the letter nor the spirit of the\napostle's teaching condemn a warm and firm attachment to \"our own\nChurch,\" but antagonism only to other Churches. A soldier may love,\nand ought to love his own regiment with peculiar affection, more\nespecially if he has been born in it, and brought up from childhood,\nas it were, in its ranks. And it should be his honest pride to see\nthat it is one of the best drilled, most orderly, most efficient, and\nbravest in the whole army. But that is no reason why he should\ngo about with a drum to recruit from, weaken, or break up other\nregiments; or why he should deny that there _are_ other regiments\nwhich equally belong to the grand army, and may be even more efficient\nthan his own, though they do not wear the exact pattern of uniform, or\nmay charge on horseback while his marches on foot, or possess cannon\nwhile his own have but small arms. Why should he be jealous of their\nachievements? Why should he be disposed to fight against them instead\nof against the common enemy? And, worse than all, why assert and boast\nthat this one regiment of his is _the_ army, while all others are mere\nunauthorised volunteers, or enemies in disguise? It is full time for\nsensible men to give up this vain boasting, proud antagonism, and\nirritating ambitious proselytism.\n\nInstead, therefore, of any man attempting, what is impossible during a\nlifetime, to understand the distinctive principles of each of the many\nsections of the Christian Church, so as to \"join\" that one which seems\nmost \"pure\" and \"scriptural,\" he is much better, as a rule, to remain,\nif it is at all possible for him, in the Church of his fathers, in\nwhich he was baptized and reared, and to do all in his power, by his\nexample, his prayers, and his steady, manly, firm attachment, to\nmake \"his own Church\" more efficient, and to permit others, without\ninterference, to do the same. Thus may a man be a good Presbyterian\nin Scotland, and also a good Episcopalian in England, or possibly a\nNonconformist in both, unless he believes in the Divine origin and\nauthority of some one ecclesiastical system, and the mundane origin of\nall others. With perfect consistency and sincerity he may dearly love\nhis Church, but yet love Christians more, because he loves Christ best\nof all.\n\nThese sentiments may be considered by many good Christians as sinfully\n\"latitudinarian;\" but to all who think so we would suggest the\nfollowing simple experiment. When they have perused with care and\nreflection those portions of the Epistles of St Paul, and those\nincidents in his missionary journeys, which reveal most clearly what\nwe might term his \"church views,\" let them conceive of this same holy\napostle suddenly awaking from his grave and visiting the different\nchurches in our country, and then honestly say, from what they know\nof his character and teaching, whether they think it improbable or\nimpossible that he would countenance all our churches in so far as\nthey sincerely desired to do God's will and advance His kingdom. Would\nhe not as of old say, \"Grace be with all who love the Lord Jesus\nChrist in sincerity!\"\n\n\"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.\nFor my brethren and companions' sakes, I will now say, Peace be\nwithin thee. Because of the house of the Lord our God I will seek thy\n_good_.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE UNION OF MAN WITH MAN.\n\n\nThe mutual dependence of material things is perceived on a moment's\nreflection. Not one atom in creation, for example, exists by itself\nor for itself alone, but, directly or indirectly, influences and is\ninfluenced by every other atom. The movements of the tiniest wave\nwhich rises slowly over the dry pebble on the beach, marking the\nprogress of the advancing tide in the inland bay, is determined by the\nmajestic movements of the great ocean, with all its tides which sweep\nand circulate from pole to pole. The rain-drop which falls into the\nheart of a wild-flower, and rests there with its pure and sparkling\ndiamond-lustre, owes its birth to the giant mountains of the old\nearth, to the great sea, to the all-encompassing atmosphere, to\nthe mighty sun; and is thus, by a chain of forces, united in its\nexistence, its figure, its motion, and its rest, to the most distant\nplanet, which, beyond the ken of the telescope, whirls along its path\non the mysterious outskirts of space. Thus, too, the needle of the\nelectric telegraph trembles beneath the influence of hidden powers\nwhich pervade the earth, which flash in the thunder-storm, awaken the\nhurricane, or burst in those bright and brilliant coruscations that\nshoot across the midnight of our northern sky. And so\n\n             \"The whole round earth is every way\n  Bound by gold chains about the feet of God.\"\n\nBut the unity which exists among intelligent and responsible\n_persons_, their mutual dependence and relationship, is just as\nreal as that which obtains among material _things_, and is far more\nwonderful, more solemn and important in its nature, causes, and\nconsequences.\n\nThe human race is an organic whole. The individual man is more\nintimately united to every other man, and to all past and coming\ngenerations, than the leaf which flutters on the twig of a great tree\nis connected with the tree itself, and with every other leaf that\nswells its foliage, or with the seed which was ages ago planted in the\nsoil, and from which the noble plant has issued. That organic unity\nof the Church, springing chiefly out of a common life, derived from\nChrist and maintained by His indwelling Spirit, and which the apostle\nPaul so fully illustrates by the union of the members of the human\nframe, holds equally true of the whole family of man.\n\nAnd what is true in this respect of the human race, is as true of all\nspiritual intelligences in the universe of God. \"We are all members\none of another.\" We form a part of a mighty whole that finds its unity\nin God. Subtle links from within and from without in God's infinite\nnetwork, bind us for good or evil, for weal or woe, to spirits of\nlight and of darkness; to principalities and powers in other spheres\nand systems of being, from the lowest outcast in the unseen world of\ncriminals, up to Gabriel before the throne of God; while over all,\ncomprehending all, sustaining and harmonising all, is the great I\nAM--Father, Son, and Spirit.\n\nConsider, for example, how, according to the arrangements of the\nDivine government, man is linked to man from the mere necessities of\nhis physical and social being.\n\nIn this aspect of our life it is evident that its whole history is one\nof mutual dependence, and one in which we are compelled to receive\nand to give, to partake and to share. We enter upon life as weak,\nunconscious infants, depending every moment on other eyes to watch for\nus, and other hands to minister to us, while we kindle in their hearts\nthe most powerful emotions, and unconsciously react upon them for joy\nor sorrow. But we are not less dependent on our fellow-creatures for\nour continuance in life from the cradle to the grave. There is not a\nthread of clothing which covers our body, not a luxury which is placed\non our table, not an article which supplies the means of labour, not\none thing which is required by us as civilised beings, but involves\nthe labours and the sacrifices of others in our behalf; while by the\nsame law we cannot choose but contribute to their well-being. The\ncotton which the artisan weaves or wears has been cultivated by\nbrothers beneath a tropical sun, and possibly beneath a tyrant's lash.\nThe tea he drinks has been gathered for him by brothers on the unknown\nhill-sides of distant China. The oil which lights his lamp has been\nfetched for him out of the depths of the Arctic seas by his sailor\nbrothers; and the coal that feeds his fire has been dug out by swarthy\nbrethren who have been picking and heaving for him amidst the darkness\nand dangers of the mine. If the poorest mother writes a letter to her\nson in some distant spot in India and puts it into the window-slit of\na village post-office, without a word being spoken, how much is done\nfor her before that letter reaches its destination! The hands of\nunknown brethren will receive it, and transmit it; rapid trains will\nhurry it over leagues of railways; splendid steamships will sail with\nit, and hundreds of busy hands will pass it from port to port, from\nland to land. It is watched day and night, through calm and hurricane,\nand precious lives are risked to keep it in security, until in silence\nand in safety, after months of travel, it is delivered from the\nmother's hand into the hand of her child.\n\nAnd thus it is that, whether we choose it or not, we are placed by God\nas \"members one of another,\" so that we cannot, if we would, separate\nourselves from our brother. For good or evil, prosperity or adversity,\nwe are bound up with him in the bundle of this all-pervading and\nmysterious life. If one member suffers or rejoices, all are compelled\nin some degree to share his burden of joy or sorrow. Let disease, for\nexample, break out in one district or kingdom, and, like a fire, it\nwill rush onward, passing away from the original spot of outbreak, and\ninvolving families and cities far away in its desolating ruin. Let war\narise in one portion of the globe, it smites another. The passion or\nthe pride of some rude chief of a barbarous tribe in Africa or New\nZealand, or the covetousness and selfish policy of some party in\nAmerica, tell upon a poor widow in her lonely garret in the darkest\ncorner of a great city; and she may thus be deprived of her labour\nthrough the state of commerce, as really as if the hand of the\nforeigner directly took her only handful of meal out of the barrel, or\nextinguished the cruise of oil, leaving her in poverty and darkness to\nwatch over her dying child.\n\nNow all this system of dependence, as we have said, is beyond our\nwill. We do not choose it, but are compelled to accept of it. It is a\nfact or power, like birth or death, with which we have to do in spite\nof us. No questions are asked by the great King as to whether we will\nhave it so or not; yet of what infinite importance to us for good or\nevil is this great law of God's government. We are thus made to feel\nthat a will higher than ours reigns, and that by that supreme will we\nare so united to one another, that no man can live for himself or die\nfor himself alone; that we _are_ our brothers keeper, and he ours;\nthat we cannot be indifferent to his social well-being without\nsuffering in our own; that our selfishness, which would injure him,\nmust return in some form to punish ourselves; and that such is the\nordained constitution of humanity, that though love and a consistent\nselfishness start from different points, they necessarily lead to the\nsame point, and make it our interest, as it is our duty, to love our\nneighbour as ourselves.\n\nBut here we may just notice, that some of those evils which afflict\none portion of the human family are nevertheless the occasion of good,\nwhen they remind us of our common humanity. Such painful events, for\nexample, as the famine in the Highlands of Scotland, which called\nforth the sympathies of kindreds and tongues, unknown by name, to\nthe sufferers, and was relieved by the inhabitants of China, and\nHindostan; or the like famine in Ireland, which the Mohammedan sultan\nwas among the first to help to alleviate; or the Syrian massacres, or\nIndian famine, that united Jew and Gentile, Protestant and Catholic,\nin the bonds of pity;--these wounds of humanity are surely not without\ntheir good; when they afford an opportunity to the Samaritan of\nshewing mercy to the Jew, and cause the things which separate and the\ndifferences that alienate man from man, to be for a time forgotten in\nthe presence of their common brotherhood. And thus, too, the shutting\nof the Southern ports of America, which entails temporary distress\nupon many in our manufacturing districts, reminds us how the\nsufferings of others must be shared by ourselves, calls forth the\nbenevolent sympathies of the rich to alleviate the wants of the needy,\nand bridges over with love and gratitude the gulf which too often\nseparates classes; while, on the other hand, it may form the indirect\nmeans of developing the growth of cotton, and the consequent industry\nof thousands in Africa and India, who will thus be brought into closer\nand more fraternal relationships with civilised nations.\n\nBut there is another link, and one more spiritual, which binds man to\nman for good or evil, and that is _moral character_. This influence is\npartly beyond and partly within the region of our will. That which is\nbeyond the will is the fact of the necessary influence of character;\nwhile within the will is the character, good or bad, which we may\nchoose to possess. Now, it cannot be questioned that character tells\nfor good or evil beyond its possessor. That which a man _is_--that\nsum total made up of the items of his beliefs, purposes, affections,\ntastes, and habits, manifested in all he does and does _not_--is\ncontagious in its tendency, and is ever _photographing_ itself on\nother spirits. He himself may be as unconscious of this emanation of\ngood or evil from his spirit, as he is of the contagion of disease\nfrom his body, or--if that were equally possible--of the contagion of\ngood health. But the fact, nevertheless, is certain. If the light is\nin him, it must shine; if darkness reigns, it must shade. If he glows\nwith love, its warmth will radiate; if he is frozen with selfishness,\nthe cold will chill the atmosphere around him; and if he is corrupt\nand vile, he will poison it. Nor is it possible for any one to occupy\na neutral or indifferent position. In some form or other he _must_\naffect others. Were he to banish himself to a distant island, or even\nenter the gates of death, he still exercises a positive influence, for\nhe is _a loss_ to his brothers; the loss of that most blessed gift of\nGod, even that of a living man to living men--of a being who ought to\nhave loved and to have been beloved. \"No man liveth to himself, or\ndieth to himself;\"--he must in some form, for their good or evil,\ntheir gladness or sadness, influence others.\n\nThe influence of individual character extends from one generation to\nanother. The world is moulded by it. Does not history turn on the\ninfluence exercised by the first and second Adam?\n\nNo one questions the reality of the influence of a bad character upon\nothers. The existence of evil persons here or elsewhere, and their\npower to infect other persons through the foul malaria of the evil\nin which they live, may be unaccountably mysterious when seen in the\nlight of God's infinite love; but they are, nevertheless, the most\ncertain facts within the field of our own observation and experience.\n\nThis malign influence is of every degree--from the undesigned yet real\ninjury which is done to others by the merely slothful or indifferent\nman, who never, as he says, \"intended to injure any one,\" and \"never\nthought\" he was doing so, but who, nevertheless, injures many a cause,\nand freezes and discourages many a heart, by his selfishness in _not_\nthinking and _not_ doing;--up to the injury which is done by the cool,\ndesigning villain, who, in his plots and plans to sacrifice others to\nhimself, has reached the utmost limit which distinguishes the bad man\nfrom the demon.\n\nThe evil influence exercised by wicked parents on their families;\nby wicked companions upon their fellows; by wicked books upon their\nreaders; by wicked persecutors and tyrants upon the world--needs\nneither proof nor illustration. Yet let us remember, for our strength\nand comfort, that because we are not things but persons, it is\nimpossible to compel any man, from whatever influence, to prefer the\ndarkness to light, or to choose the evil instead of the good. Hence\nthe power which was designed to lead us into evil may be converted\nby ourselves into a power for good, while it strengthens our moral\nprinciples, demands a firmer faith in God, and prompts more earnest\ndesires and efforts to overcome the evil by the good. It is thus too,\nin the wonderful providence of God, that while evil remains evil, it\nhas nevertheless been the indirect means of calling forth the noblest\nefforts on the part of man, and on God's part the most glorious\nrevelations of His character in conquering it, and such as, without\nevil in the universe, could not, as far as we can see, have been\npossible.\n\nBut no less real is the influence upon others of a _holy_ character.\n\"The evil men do lives after them;\" but we do not believe that \"the\ngood is oft interred with their bones.\" No, it is as immortal as the\nDivine Being in whom it originates. The good must ever live, and \"walk\nup and down the earth,\" like a living spirit guided by the living God,\nto convey blessings to the children of men, and is more powerful,\ndiffusive, and eternal than the power of evil. It lives in humanity,\nin some form or other, like the subtile substance of material things,\nwhich though ever changing never perishes, but adds to the stability,\nthe beauty, and the grandeur of the universe. The influence of the\nholy character passes even beyond the stars, giving joy to our angel\nbrothers, and to our elder brother Jesus Christ, who, in seeing\nreflected in His people His own love to His God and our God, to His\nneighbour and ours, beholds the grand result of the travail of His\nsoul, and is \"satisfied.\"\n\nThe grand practical lesson, therefore, which is impressed upon us by\nthis fact of the union of man with man, is for each of us to be right,\nand to do light. Each man is responsible for himself, and for himself\nonly, for what he himself _is_ and _does_. The secret, then, is a very\nsimple one, by which we can at once receive all the good that can\npossibly be derived from whatever influences are brought to bear upon\nourselves, and do all the good which can possibly be conferred by\nwhatever influence we can exercise upon others; and it is this--to\n_be_ good ourselves! This is the one centre point of light in the\nsoul, its one germ of immortal life, which must be possessed in order\nthat all light and life may come to us, and emanate from us. Let us\nonly possess the right state of spirit to God and man, and we have the\ndivine chemistry which will convert all we receive and all we give\ninto what will surely bless ourselves and others.\n\nAnd if it is asked how this secret can be ours, we have but one reply,\nand it is the old one--Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, live, and\nlove! Jesus Christ is the living Head of the human family. \"The Head\nof every man is Christ.\" As the eternal Son, He dwelt among us, and\nrevealed to us the Father and Himself, the elder brother. \"He is the\npropitiation for our sins; and not for our sins only, but also for the\nsins of the whole world.\" He has ascended up on high, and ever liveth\nfor us as Mediator, \"to bring many sons and daughters unto God.\" He\nhas sent His Holy Spirit to be with us, and to abide in us for ever.\nThat Spirit reveals to all who will receive His teaching, the glory of\nGod our Father in Christ Jesus the Son, our Brother.\n\nJust in proportion as men know God as their Father in Christ, and\nbecome true sons to Him, will they become united to each other as true\nbrethren; and thus the real and highest unity of man with man will be\nrealised as the Church of Christ possesses the earth, and her prayer\nis answered, \"Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is\ndone in heaven!\"\n\n\n\n\nPROGRESS OF MISSIONS.\n\n\nThe beginning of the nineteenth century marks an epoch of revival in\nthe Protestant Church. It would be going beyond the limits prescribed\nby our subject to consider the causes of that remarkable reaction into\nindifference of life, or of positive error in doctrine, which followed\nmore or less rapidly the stirring period of the Reformation. Such\ntides, indeed, in the affairs of men,--now rushing with irresistible\nwaves to the utmost limit of the land; then receding and leaving\nbehind but a few pools to mark where the waters once had been; and\nagain, after a longer or a shorter interval, advancing with a deep\nflood over the old ground,--are among the most striking phenomena in\nhistory.\n\nThe last century witnessed the Protestant Church at its lowest ebb. We\nthankfully acknowledge that God did not leave Himself without holy men\nas living witnesses in every branch of that Church. And we record,\nwith deepest gratitude, how, more than in any other country, He\npreserved in our own country both individual and congregational\nlife, with orthodox standards of faith. Still, taken as a whole, the\nProtestant Church was in a dead state throughout the world; while,\nduring the same period, infidelity was never more rampant, and never\nmore allied with philosophy, politics, science, and literature. It was\nthe age of the acute Hume and learned Gibbon; of the ribald Paine, and\nof the master of Europe, Voltaire; with a host of _literati_ who were\nbeginning to make merry, in the hope that God's prophets were at last\nto be destroyed from the earth. Rationalism triumphed in all the\nContinental Churches. Puritanism in England became deeply tainted with\nUnitarianism. The descendants of the Pilgrim Fathers had, to a large\nextent, embraced the same creed in America. The Established Churches\nin England and Scotland, though preserving their Confessions, and\nhaving very many living men in the ministry, suffered, nevertheless,\nfrom that wintry cold which had frozen the waves of the great\nReformation sea, and which was adding chill to chill. The French\nRevolution marked the darkest hour of this time; yet it was the\nhour which preceded the dawn. It was the culminating point of the\ninfidelity of kings, priests, and people; the visible expression\nand embodiment of the mind of France, long tutored by falsehood and\nimpiety; the letting loose of Satan on earth, that all might see and\nwonder at the Beast! That Revolution inscribed lessons in letters\nof blood for the Church and for the nations of the world to learn.\nChristians accordingly clung nearer to their Saviour amidst the\ndreadful storm which shook and destroyed every other resting-place,\nand were drawn to the throne of mercy and grace, thereby becoming\nstronger in faith and more zealous in life. The indifferent were\nroused to earnest thought by the solemn events which were taking\nplace around them. Speculative infidels even, became alarmed at the\npractical results of their theories. Mere worldly politicians trembled\nat the spectacle of unprincipled millions wielding power that affected\nthe destinies of Europe, and recognised the necessity of religion to\nsave the State at least, if not to save the soul. Men of property,\nfrom the owner of a few acres to the merchant prince, and from no\nhigher motive than the love of their possessions, acknowledged that\nreligion was the best guarantee for their preservation. In countless\nways did this upheaving of society operate in the same direction with\nthose deeper forces which were beginning to stir the Churches of\nBritain, and to quicken them into new life.\n\nThe history of Europe during the first part of the present century,\nis a history written in blood. It is one of war in all its desolating\nhorrors, and also in all its glorious achievements and victories in\nthe cause of European liberty and national independence. Never was\nwar so universal. It raged in every part of the earth. For years, the\nPeninsula was a great battlefield. Belgium and the plains of Germany\nwere saturated with blood. Allied hosts conquered France. Armies\ncrossed the Alps and ravaged Italy, and were buried beneath the snows\nof Russia. The contest was waged from the Baltic to the Bosphorus. The\nold battle-fields of Greece, Egypt, Palestine, Asia Minor, Persia, and\nthe Crimea, were again disturbed. War swept the peninsula of India to\nthe confines of Cashmere. It penetrated beyond the walls of China, and\nvisited the islands of the Eastern Archipelago; touched the coasts of\nArabia, and swept round Africa, from the Cape to Algiers. It marched\nthrough the length and breadth of the great Western Continent, from\nthe St Lawrence to the Mississippi, and from Central to Southern\nAmerica. Every kingdom experienced its horrors _but our own_; every\ncapital was entered by the enemy _but our own!_ During all this\nterrible period, our Sabbath services were never broken by the cry of\nbattle. The dreadful hurricane raged without, but never for a single\nhour disturbed the peace of our beloved island-home. No revolution\nfrom within destroyed our institutions, and no power from without\nprevented us from improving them. The builders of our spiritual\ntemples did not require to hold the sword. Our victories, with their\ndays of national thanksgiving, and our anxieties, with their days of\nnational fasting, tended to deepen a sense of religion in every heart.\nMen of God, in rapid succession, rose in all the Churches. A pious\nlaity began to take the lead in advancing the cause of evangelism. In\nParliament there was one man, who, by the purity of his private\nlife, the noble consistency, uncompromising honesty, and unwearied\nphilanthropy of his public career, along with his faithful published\ntestimony for the truth as it is in Christ, did more, directly\nand indirectly, than any other of his day for the revival of true\nreligion, especially among the influential classes of our land: that\nman was William Wilberforce.\n\nBut without dwelling upon the fact of the great revival which has\noccurred in the Protestant Church during the present century, let\nus notice one of its more prominent results. We mean the increased\nactivity manifested by all its branches in advancing the Redeemer's\nkingdom.\n\nAt the commencement of this century, the whole Protestant missionary\nstaff throughout the world amounted to ten societies only. Of these,\nhowever, two only had really entered the mission-field with any degree\nof vigour--viz., the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in\nForeign Parts; and, above all, the Society of the Moravian Brethren.\nThe Wesleyan, Baptist, London, and Church Missionary Societies, though\nnominally in existence, had hardly commenced their operations. There\nwere, besides the above, two small societies on the Continent; two in\nScotland; and not one in all America! How stands the case now? The\nProtestant Church, instead of ten, has fifty-one societies; the great\nmajority of which have each more labourers, and a greater income, than\nall the societies together of the Protestant Church previous to 1800!\n\nIf the last sixty years be divided into three equal periods, nine\nsocieties belong to the first, fifteen to the second, and twenty-four\nto the third.\n\nThe following facts, collected from statistics of the great missionary\nsocieties up to 1861, will afford--as far as mere dry figures can\ndo--a general idea of the present strength of the mission army of the\nProtestant Church, with some of its results:--\n\nThere are now 22 missionary societies in Great Britain, 14 in North\nAmerica, and 15 on the Continent of Europe; in all, 51. These employ,\nin round numbers, 12,000 agents, including ordained missionaries,\n(probably 2000,) teachers, catechists, &c.; occupy 1200 stations; have\n335,000 communicants from heathendom; 252,000 scholars; 460 students\ntraining for the ministry; and are supported by an income of \u00a3860,000\nper annum.\n\nThe greatest results have been attained by England. Connected with her\ngreat societies, there are nearly 7000 agents, 630 stations, 210,000\ncommunicants, 208,000 scholars, with an annual income of \u00a3510,000.[A]\n\n[Footnote A: One or two facts in connexion with missionary effort may\ninterest our readers:--\n\nMr M\u00fcller of Bristol supports, in connexion with his famous Orphanage,\n22 foreign and 80 home missionaries.\n\nThe Moravian Missionary Society has sent, since 1732, 2000\nmissionaries, of whom 643 have died in mission service; 9 on mission\njourneys; 13 on the voyage out or home; 22 by shipwreck; and 12 were\nmurdered.\n\nGossner of Berlin alone originated and conducted a mission which has\nsent out 141 missionaries. Pastor Harms of Hermannsburg has also,\nby his own efforts, built a mission ship, and has sent out 150\nmissionaries, of whom 100 are colonists, and proposes to send 24 every\ntwo years.\n\nTen years ago there was little or no fruit among the _Kohls_ of India.\nThere are now 30,000 receiving Christ.\n\nIn India there are 500 missionaries; in Tinnevelly, above 70,000\nChristians.\n\nThe American Board alone has sent out in fifty years 900 missionaries\n(500 being native) and 400 teachers; 55,000 have been received into\nchurch--membership, and 175,000 children passed through their schools.\n\nAmerica contributes \u00a3180,000 to foreign missions, and 2000 agents.\n\nThe Presbyterian Churches of the world have come late into the field,\nbut they contribute about 900 agents, and 230 ordained missionaries,\nwith an income of about \u00a3110,000.\n\nOne of the oldest Protestant missionary societies in existence (though\nnow confined to home operations) is the Society in connexion with the\nChurch of Scotland \"for Promoting Christian Knowledge.\" It supported\nBrainerd and the Elliots more than a century ago.]\n\nBut in order to enable our readers still more clearly to realise the\nadvance which the Church has made during the last half century, let\nus consider the progress of one of those societies, and take as an\nillustration the Church Missionary Society. It was founded a few\nmonths before 1800. Its income in 1802 was \u00a3356. It now amounts to\n\u00a3104,273. In 1804, it had one station abroad, two ordained European\nmissionaries, but no native assistants. It has now 148 stations,\n258 ordained clergymen, (many of whom have studied in the English\nUniversities,) a large staff of native clergy, with 2034 other agents,\nmost of whom are natives. In 1810, it had 35 male and 13 female\nscholars in its schools; it has now 31,000 scholars. In 1816, the good\nMr Bickersteth had the privilege of receiving its first converts,\namounting to six only, into the communion of the Church. Its\ncommunicants now number about 21,000.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nLet us, however, examine the missionary labours of the Protestant\nChurch during this century from another point of view. Take the map of\nthe world, look over its continents and islands, and contrast their\ncondition, as to the means of grace, in 1800 and 1862.\n\nIn 1800; the only missions east of the Cape of Good Hope were in\nIndia. These were confined to the Baptist Mission, protected in the\nDanish settlement of Serampore; and the missions in Tanjore, in\nSouthern India. The former was begun by Carey and Thomas, (in 1793,)\nwho were joined by a few brethren in 1799. The first convert they made\nwas in 1800. The latter mission had existed since 1705, and numbered\nabout nine labourers at the commencement of the century.[A]\n\n[Footnote A: The first Protestant missionary who visited India was\nZiegenbalg, who was sent out by the Halle-Danish Missionary Society in\n1705, to Tranquebar. He was joined by Plutschow in 1719. The mission\nwas then adopted by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel.\nGrundler followed in 1720, and Schultze in 1727. The mission, in 1736,\nhad four stations, one being in Madras; 24 native assistants; and 3517\nbaptized members! The great Schwartz laboured in, and extended the\nmission from 1749 till 1798. According to Dr Carey, 40,000 had been\nconverted to Christianity during the last century through this\nmission. Dr Claudius Buchanan reckons the number as high as 80,000!]\n\nOf the East India Company's chaplains, Claudius Buchanan alone had\nthe courage to advocate in India the missionary cause; and his sermon\npreached upon the subject in 1800, in Calcutta, was then generally\ndeemed a bold and daring step. Hindustan was closed by the East India\nCompany against the missionaries of the Christian Church. China, too,\nseemed hermetically sealed against the gospel. The Jesuit mission had\nfailed. Christianity was proscribed by an imperial edict. Protestant\nmissions had not commenced. The language of the nation, like its\nwalls, seemed to forbid all access to the missionary. In Africa\nthere were but few missionaries, and these had lately arrived at the\nCape.[A] In the black midnight which brooded over that miserable land,\nthe cry of tortured slaves alone was heard. New Zealand, Australia,\nand the scattered islands of the Southern Seas had not yet been\nvisited by one herald of the gospel. A solitary beacon gleaming on the\nocean from the missionary ship _Duff_ had indeed been seen, but not\nyet welcomed by the savages of Tahiti. The mission was abandoned in\n1809, and not a convert left behind! No Protestant missionary had\npreached to those Indian tribes beyond the Colonies, who wandered over\nthe interminable plains which stretch from Behring's Straits to Cape\nHorn. Mohammedan States were all shut up against the gospel; and to\nforsake the Crescent for the Cross, was to die. In this thick darkness\nwhich covered heathendom, the only light to be seen--except in\nIndia--was in the far north, shed by the self-denying Moravians,--a\nlight which streamed like a beautiful aurora over the wintry snow and\nice-bound coasts of Greenland. To this gloomy picture we must add the\nindifference of the Protestant Church to God's ancient people. No\nsociety then existed for their conversion; and of them it might indeed\nbe said, \"This is Israel, whom no man seeketh after!\"\n\n[Footnote A: The first missionary to South Africa was George Schmidt,\nsent by the Moravian Brethren in 1736. He laboured alone with some\nsuccess till 1743, when he was compelled by the Dutch East India\nCompany to return to Europe. The mission was resumed in 1792, when\nthree additional missionaries sailed for the Cape. A few others joined\nthem in 1798. At the beginning of the century, the converts amounted\nto 304. The illustrious Dr Vanderkemp, along with three other\nmissionaries, were sent to South Africa by the London Missionary\nSociety in 1799. The only attempts made to Christianise Western Africa\nprevious to 1800 were by the Moravians in Guinea, in 1737; but all the\nmissionaries, eleven in number, dying, the attempt was abandoned; and\nby the Scottish Missionary Society, in 1797, who sent thither six\nmissionaries. One (Greig) was murdered, another (Brunton) returned,\nand went to Tartary; the rest, we believe, went to oilier spheres\nof labour. The Church Missionary Society entered upon this field in\n1801.]\n\nHow changed is the aspect of the world now! There is hardly a\nspot upon earth (if we except those enslaved by Popery) where the\nProtestant missionary may not preach the gospel without the fear of\npersecution. The door of the world has been thrown open, and the\nworld's Lord and Master commands and invites His servants to enter,\nand, in His name, to take possession of the nations. Since 1812,\nIndia, chiefly through the exertions of Mr Wilberforce,[A] has been\nmade accessible to the missionaries of every Church. Christian schools\nand chapels have been multiplied; colleges have been instituted;\nthousands have been converted to Christ; and tens of thousands\ninstructed in Christianity. The cruelties of heathenism have been\nimmensely lessened; infanticide prohibited; Sutteeism abolished; all\nGovernment support withdrawn from idolatry; and the Hindu law of\ninheritance has been altered to protect the native converts; while a\nnew era seems to be heralded by the fact that a native Christian rajah\nhas himself established a mission among his people.\n\n[Footnote A: In 1812, we find from Mr Wilberforce's _Life_ (vol. iv.,\np. 10) how he was \"busily engaged in reading, thinking, consulting,\nand persuading,\" on the renewal of the East India Company's charter.\nHe was fully alive to the importance of the crisis with reference\nto the interests of Christianity. He thus writes to his friend Mr\nButterworth:--\"I have been long looking forward to the period of the\nrenewal of the East India Company's charter as to a great era, when I\nhoped that it would please God to enable the friends of Christianity\nto be the instruments of wiping away what I have long thought, next\nto the slave-trade, the foulest blot on the moral character of our\ncountrymen--the suffering our fellow-subjects (nay, they even stand\ntoward us in the closer relation of our tenants) in the East Indies to\nremain, without any effort on our part to enlighten and inform\nthem, under the grossest, the darkest, and most depraving system\nof idolatrous superstition that almost ever existed on earth.\" The\ndeepest anxiety was felt by all Christians for the issue of the\ndebate. \"I heard afterwards,\" he writes, \"that many good men were\npraying for us all night.\" These prayers and efforts were crowned with\nsuccess; and Mr Wilberforce, when communicating the joyful news to his\nwife, writes--\"Blessed be God! we carried our question triumphantly,\nabout three, or later, this morning!\"]\n\nAll the islands in the Eastern Archipelago are now accessible to the\nmissionary; most of them have been visited. Ceylon has flourishing\ncongregations and schools; Madagascar has had her martyrs, and has\nstill her indomitable confessors.\n\nChina, with its teeming millions, has also been opened to the gospel.\nThe way had been marvellously prepared by Dr Morrison, who as early as\n1807 had commenced the study of the language which he lived to master.\nAccordingly, when the conquests of Britain had obtained admission for,\nand secured protection to the missionaries as well as to the merchants\nof all nations, the previous indefatigable labours of Morrison had\nprovided, for the immediate use of the Church of Christ, a dictionary\nof the language, and a translation of the Word of God. The Christian\nreligion is tolerated by law since 1844, and may be professed freely\nby the natives. The gospel is now advancing in that thickly-peopled\nland of patience and industry, and native preachers are already\nproclaiming to their countrymen the tidings of salvation.\n\nAfrica has witnessed changes still more wonderful. The abolition\nof the British slave-trade in 1807, and of slavery in the British\ndominions in 1834, has removed immense barriers in the way of the\ngospel. The whole coasts of Africa are being girdled with the light of\ntruth. It has penetrated throughout the south, where the French[A] and\nGerman Protestant Churches labour side by side with those of Britain\nto civilise the degraded Bushman, the low Hottentot, and warlike\nKaffir. The chapel in Sierra Leone, built from the planks of condemned\nslavers, and containing 1000 worshippers, is a type of the blessings\nbrought through Christianity to injured Africa.\n\n[Footnote A: The missions of the French Protestant Church are situated\ninland from Port Natal, and along the river Caledon from its junction\nwith the Orange River. It has gathered upwards of 2000 Bechuanas into\nregular church-fellowship.]\n\nAbyssinia has also been visited with every prospect of success.\n\nAnd how glorious has been the triumph of the gospel throughout the\nwhole Pacific! In 1837, Williams was able to address royalty in these\nnoble words--\"It must impart joy to every benevolent mind to know,\nthat by the efforts of British Christians upwards of _three hundred\nthousand_ of deplorably ignorant and savage barbarians, inhabiting the\nbeautiful islands of the Pacific, have been delivered from a dark,\ndebasing, and sanguinary idolatry, and are now enjoying the civilising\ninfluence, the domestic happiness, and the spiritual blessings which\nChristianity imparts. In the island of Raratonga, which I _discovered_\nin 1823, there are upwards of 3000 children under Christian\ninstruction daily; not a vestige of idolatry remains;[A] their\nlanguage has been reduced to a system, and the Scriptures, with other\nbooks, have been translated. But this is only one of nearly a hundred\nislands to which similar blessings have been conveyed.\" Tens of\nthousands of souls more have been added to this number since these\nwords were written! In no part of heathendom has the gospel produced,\nin so short a time, such wonderful fruit as in Polynesia. The labours\nand sacrifices of the converted natives are more striking than in any\nother missions. Many islands have been converted solely by means of a\nnative agency, and are superintended by native preachers only. Let us\ntake the Sandwich Islands as illustrating what has been accomplished\n_for_ the natives, and _by_ them. The American Mission was commenced\nin 1824. These islands have been converted long ago to Christianity,\nso that not a vestige of idolatry remains, and not only do they\nsupport their own clergy and schools, but have their own Bible and\nForeign Missionary Society. They raise for these objects about \u00a34000\nper annum, and support six missionaries to the heathen islands around\nthem. The communicants in the islands amount to upwards of 25,000, and\nthe children who attend the common schools to a still greater number.\n\n[Footnote A: The first idol which, a catechist from Raratonga, who\nvisited London in 1848, ever beheld, was in the Museum of the London\nMissionary Society.]\n\nIf we turn our eye to the great Western Continent, we see the gospel\npreached to its wandering Indian tribes; while the condition of Mexico\nand of California affords every prospect of the rapid extension of\ntruth through kingdoms long benighted.\n\nMohammedan countries have also been opened to the missionary. Through\nthe influence of Lord Aberdeen and Sir Stratford Canning, the Sultan\nwas induced in 1844 to give religious toleration to his subjects; so\nthat now, for the first time, a Mussulman may change his faith without\nincurring punishment. Several societies labour in Algiers, Egypt,\nPalestine, Asia Minor, Greece, and Constantinople. The Euphrates is\nbeing dried up. The Mohammedan power is tottering, and ready to fall!\nWhen it dies and is buried, who will wear mourning at its funeral?\n\nAnd how strange is the meeting between the distant East and West,\nthe distant past and near present, visible in the fact, that it is\nmissionaries from America who now unveil to the dwellers in the land\nof the Chaldees, and to the wanderers among the mountains which shadow\nthe birth-place of the human race, that blessed faith and hope which\ndwelt in Abram, as he journeyed at the dawn of history from that old\nland, and which has returned thither again in Christian men embued\nwith Abram's faith, after having accompanied civilisation around the\nglobe? God's blessing has signally attended the American mission among\nthe Nestorians. The revival of religion in their schools and churches\nhas been great and glorious.\n\nMay we not exclaim, What hath God wrought! Yet how can any statistics\ncarry to our hearts a sense of what has been done for immortal souls\nby the gospel during this eventful period? What homes have been made\nhappy by it; what families united in the bonds of love; what sick-beds\nsoothed; what dying beds cheered; what minds illumined, and what\nhearts filled with joy unspeakable, and full of glory!\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIn close connexion with mission work, we may state the progress made\nduring the present century in leavening the world with the Word of\nGod. Previous to the formation of the British and Foreign Bible\nSociety in 1804, there was not one society in existence whose sole\nobject was the distribution of the Bible in all lands. There are now\nupwards of 50 principal, and 9000 auxiliary Bible societies. In 1804,\nthe Bible was accessible to only 200 millions of men. Now it exists in\ntongues spoken by 600 millions. The London Bible Society alone sends\nforth annually upwards of 1,787,000 copies. During the last sixty\nyears it has issued 39,315,226 Bibles, in 163 different languages, and\nin 143 translations never before printed. Its receipts for 1862 amount\nto \u00a3168,443.[A]\n\n[Footnote A: The American Bible Society circulates upwards of 600,000\ncopies of the Word of God annually, at home and abroad. Besides\nassisting in publishing translations issued by other societies, it has\nbeen at the sole expense of publishing the Armeno-Turkish, and Modern\nSyriac New Testament; the entire Bible for the Burmese, and also for\nthe Sandwich Islands; the Ojibbeway New Testament; the Gospels, or\nsome portion of the Bible, into the languages of the Sioux, Mohawks,\nSeneca, and Cherokee Indians.]\n\nIt surely cannot fail to fill the heart of every Christian with\ndeepest thankfulness, to contemplate these glorious achievements. The\nChurch, like the angel seen in prophetic vision, has been flying with\nthe everlasting gospel to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and\npeople. It has given the Bible to the inhabitants of the old lands of\nEgypt, Ethiopia, Arabia, Palestine, Asia Minor, and Persia; to the\nindomitable Circassian; to the mountaineers of Affghanistan; to tribes\nof India speaking thirty-two different languages or dialects; to the\ninhabitants of Burmah, Assam, and Siam; to the islanders of Madagascar\nand Ceylon; to the Malays and Javanese of the Eastern seas; to the\nmillions of China, and the wandering Kalmuck beyond her great wall;\nto the brave New Zealander; to the teeming inhabitants of the island\ngroups which are scattered over the Southern Pacific; to the\nAfrican races, from the Cape to Sierra Leone; to the Esquimaux and\nGreenlander, within the Arctic circle; and to the Indian tribes of\nNorth America. All are now furnished with a translation of that\nwonderful volume, which, with the light of the universal living Spirit\nof God, at once reveals to man, in every age and clime, his lost and\nmiserable condition, and tells him of a remedy that is adapted to meet\nevery want of his being--to redeem him, by a moral power it alone can\nafford, from all sin and misery, and to bring him into the glorious\nfellowship of the holiness, the blessedness, and joy of Jesus Christ,\nand all the family of God in earth and heaven![A]\n\n[Footnote A: The following facts regarding tract societies may be here\nstated:--The Religious Tract Society of London was formed in 1799.\nDuring the first year of its operations, ending in May 1800, it had\nissued 200,000 tracts. What is its present working power? Its annual\nincome from sales and benevolent contributions (\u00a312,500) is \u00a395,000.\nIts annual distribution of tracts, including handbills, from the\nLondon Depository is--in English, 20,870,074, and in foreign\nlanguages, 537,729, making an annual total of 21,407,803. It publishes\ntracts in 117 different languages. Taking into account the number of\naffiliated societies, the total probable _annual_ distribution of\ntracts, British and foreign, in connexion with the London Tract\nSociety, amounts to 28,500,000. Several religious bodies in the United\nStates maintain Tract or \"Publication\" Societies. But the \"American\nTract Society\" (founded 1825) is the largest and most influential in\nthe United States, and has a catholic constitution similar to our\nown Tract Society. It is supported by more than 700 auxiliary\nsocieties--those in Boston, Philadelphia, and New York being large\nand efficient. We may add that its circulation is not confined to the\nUnited States, but extends to Mexico, Central and South America, and\nto those districts in the East and Asia Minor where the American\nmissionaries are labouring. It has issued upwards of 200,000,000 of\npublications since its commencement.]\n\nAnd now let us ask, What shall be the history of the Church during the\nrest of this century? Without attempting with a vain or profane hand\nto uncover what God has concealed, it is surely a comfort to be able\nto take our stand on the immovable rock of His promises to Christ, and\nto rejoice in the assurance, that, sooner or later, His name must be\nglorious in all the earth!\n\nBut when? Is it too much to assert, that before the end of the present\ncentury, the gospel shall have been preached to all nations, the Bible\ntranslated into all tongues, and the last visible idol on earth cast\ndown amidst the triumphant songs of the Church of Christ? We\nmight expect this blessing judging only from the past, and the\nconstantly-increasing ratio with which society advances. Yet, as\nrevolutions in the physical world anticipate in a single night the\nslow progress of ordinary causes, so, for aught we know, may God, by\nsome evolution of His providence, make one year do the work of many.\n\nBut while we do anticipate the most glorious results ever attained\nby the human race during this century, we anticipate, also, from the\nsigns of the time, a desperate conflict of opposing _systems_, both of\ntruth and error. It is not a little remarkable, that never before was\nthere such a life and strength in every system as at this moment.\nProtestantism, Popery, Infidelity, and even Judaism,[A] were never so\nalive; _and never were alive together_ before. Does this not look like\na coming struggle?[B] But what may _appear_ suddenly and unexpectedly,\nmay nevertheless be the necessary results of long preparation; like\nthe water or the gas, which suddenly enter a thousand city houses to\nrefresh and illuminate them, but which are the results of years of\nlabour in digging trenches, laying pipes, and erecting reservoirs,\nduring all which time no streams of water or of gas were ever present\nto the senses.\n\n[Footnote A: It is only within twenty-five years that _preaching_ has\nbecome common in all their synagogues, while, during the same period,\nten periodicals have been started by the Jews, in different parts of\nthe world, in defence of Judaism, in some form or other.]\n\n[Footnote B: In a conversation which we had with Neander in 1848,\n(immediately before the continental revolutions,) he said, \"I believe\nwe are entering a period of unprecedented warfare, which will issue in\nthe increased glory and purity of the Church. The light and darkness\nwill every year be more and more separated; the one becoming more\nbright the other more densely dark.\"]\n\nBut we know from the testimony of God's Word, strengthened by the\nexperience of past ages, how certain victory is in the end, however\nlong and apparently doubtful the campaign may be between His kingdom\nand every form of evil. The day has been when \"the Church\" was \"in the\nwilderness,\" and when within that Church four men only held fast their\nconfidence in God, believed His word, and exhorted that Church to take\npossession of the land of promise, saying, \"Rebel not ye against\nthe Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land: their defence is\ndeparted from them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not.\" And how\nwas that missionary sermon received? \"All the congregation bade stone\nthem with stones!\" And had they done so, the world's only true lights\nwere extinguished and lost in universal unbelief and heathenism. It\nwas in such desperate circumstances as these that the Lord himself\ncame to the rescue of the world, and it was then these marvellous\nwords of promise were littered, \"As truly as I live my glory will fill\nthe earth!\" The day has been, too, when \"the Church\" met in an upper\nroom with shut doors, for fear of the Jews; but it was even then that\nits Lord said, \"All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth: go\nye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the\nFather, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: and, lo, I am with you\nalway, even to the end of the world.\" Never more can the glory of God\nappear to the eyes of the weakest faith to be so dim, or the cause of\nChrist to be so hopeless, as it hath been in those days of old! The\nglory of God _is_ filling the earth, and the gospel is being preached\nto all nations. Mere rays of light, which we see breaking over the\nmountain tops in heathen lands, are beautiful in themselves; but far\nmore beautiful to the eye of faith are the first beams of that sun\nwhich is yet to stream into every valley now lying in darkness, and\nsteep in its glory all the habitations of men. Those notes of joy and\nthanksgiving, too, are beautiful which ascend from many a heart in\n\"Kedar's wilderness afar;\" but they are still more beautiful to the\near of faith as echoes from the Rock of ages, and the prophetic song\nuttered by \"great voices in heaven,\" saying, \"The kingdoms of this\nworld have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He\nshall reign for ever and ever!\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE MYSTERY OF SORROW.\n\n\nThe patriarch Job experienced the darkness and mystery of sorrow\nwhen he thus spoke:--\"Know now that God hath overthrown me, and hath\ncompassed me with his net. Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not\nheard: I cry aloud, but there is no judgment. He hath fenced up my\nway that I cannot pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths. He hath\nstripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head. He hath\ndestroyed me on every side, and I am gone; and mine hope hath he\nremoved like a tree.\" \"Even to-day is my complaint bitter; my stroke\nis heavier than my groaning. O that I knew where I might find him!\nthat I might come even to his seat!\" \"Behold, I go forward, but he is\nnot there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him: on the left hand,\nwhere he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the\nright hand, that I cannot see him. But he knoweth the way that I take:\nwhen he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.\"\n\nThe sweet singer of Israel sung in darkness when he said:--\"My heart\nis sore pained within me; and the terrors of death are fallen upon\nme. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath\noverwhelmed me. And I said, O that I had wings like a dove! for then\nwould I fly away, and be at rest.\" \"Thou hast laid me in the lowest\npit, in darkness, in the deeps. Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and\nthou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Thou hast put away mine\nacquaintance far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto them:\nI am shut up, and I cannot come forth.\"\n\nThe prophet Jeremiah cried out of the depths of mysterious sorrow when\nhe poured forth these lamentations:--\"I am the man that hath seen\naffliction by the rod of his wrath. He hath led me, and brought me\ninto darkness, but not into light. Surely against me is he turned;\nhe turneth his hand against me all the day.\" \"He hath set me in dark\nplaces, as they that be dead of old. He hath hedged me about, that I\ncannot get out; he hath made my chain heavy.\" \"And thou hast removed\nmy soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity. And I said, My\nstrength and my hope is perished from the Lord: remembering mine\naffliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. My soul hath them\nstill in remembrance, and is humbled in me.\"\n\nAnd did not our blessed Lord himself experience, as a man, the mystery\nof sorrow when he cried in Gethsemane, \"If it be possible, let this\ncup pass from me;\" and when, during that \"hour and power of darkness\"\non the cross, He exclaimed, \"My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken\nme?\"\n\nIf, then, our Father visits us with any sorrow which is to us dark and\nmysterious, let us \"not think it strange concerning the fiery trial\nwhich is to try us, as if some strange thing happened to us.\" Let us\nrather gratefully remember, that ever since our Lord has ascended up\non high, and given us His Spirit to teach us and to abide with us for\never, and for our profit has recorded in His holy Word not only His\nacts, but also His _ways_ towards the children of men, we are enabled\nto see much, light piercing our greatest darkness and sorrow, and so\nto know God as to strengthen our faith in His wisdom and love.\n\nI do not know any narrative in the whole Word of God which at once\nreveals so much of this darkness and light--of the mystery of sorrow\nfor a time, and the solution of the mystery afterwards--as that of the\nsickness, death, and resurrection of Lazarus.\n\nThat family in Bethany, we know, consisted of Lazarus and his sisters,\nMartha and Mary. They were poor, and unknown to the great and busy\nworld; but their riches and rank in the sight of the ministering\nangels were great indeed, for Jesus \"loved them.\" This was the charter\nof the grandest inheritance. But though loved by Jesus, that love did\nnot hinder them from being visited by a sudden affliction, and plunged\nfor a while into deepest gloom. We are able in spirit to cross their\nlowly threshold, and to understand all that took place in that humble\nhome: for human hearts and human sorrows are the same in every age.\nLazarus, the head of the house, is laid on a bed of sickness. We need\nno details to enable all who have watched the progress of disease in\nthe beloved member of a family--and who has been exempted from this\nanxiety?--to realise how the symptoms of illness, treated at first\nperhaps lightly, would become more serious, then alarming, until\nforeboding thoughts of death pained every tender affection; and we can\nunderstand how advice would be asked from kind neighbours, and every\npossible remedy applied. But in vain! The sufferer gets worse, and\nthe signs of approaching dissolution rapidly succeed in delirium,\nprostration of strength, or altered features, until the chill of\nhopelessness creeps over the hearts of the sisters, and hot tears fill\ntheir watching eyes, and prayers tremble upon their pale lips, as in\nsilence they wait for the dread hour of death to their dear one! We\nsee it all!\n\nBut ere this last moment was reached by Martha and Mary, they are\nfull of hope that it may be averted, for they have a secret source of\nrelief in a Physician of body and soul. So long as they have Jesus\nwith them, they cannot despair. He is not, however, in Bethany, but at\nBethabara beyond the Jordan, a day's journey off. Yet they can send\nfor Him; and they accordingly do so, with this simple message,\n\"Lazarus, whom thou lovest, is sick.\" It is enough. There is not a\nword of their love, or of the love of Lazarus to Him. The appeal is to\nHis own heart. No request is proffered. Everything is left to Himself.\n\nDid they not, however, feel assured that Jesus would manifest His love\nto them in the way which seemed to _them_ the best way,--nay, the one\nway only by which they could receive comfort, and be relieved from\ntheir anxiety and sorrow,--and that was by delivering Lazarus from\nsickness and death? For they could not but recall at that moment the\nmany instances in which Jesus had displayed His power and love during\nthe three years He had lived amidst the sorrowing and suffering in\nJudea; how unwearied His goodness had ever been; how \"multitudes\" had\ncome to Him, and \"He healed them all;\" how health had flowed from His\nhands and His lips, and from His _very_ garments; how He had showered\ndown His blessings upon Gentile as well as Jew, upon those who were\naliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and were accounted as \"dogs;\"\nhow He had healed by merely speaking a word at a distance, and even\nanticipated prayer, by restoring a dead son to his widowed mother, who\nhad never asked or expected such a blessing. And now! will He refuse\nto help His own beloved friend? Shall strangers, heathen, publicans\nand sinners, be promptly heard and answered, and Lazarus whom He loved\nforgotten? Impossible! The healing word must be spoken, or Jesus\nhimself will come and manifest Himself as mighty to save!\n\nWho can doubt but that such were the anticipations of Martha and\nMary, when they sent in their distress the message to their Lord and\nFriend--\"Lazarus, whom thou lovest, is sick?\"\n\nThe messenger has departed. With what anxiety must they have measured\nout the time within which it was possible for Jesus to receive the\nintelligence. They who have sent far away for a physician in a\ncritical case, when every minute was precious, can sympathise with\ntheir anxiety. Time passes: has the Saviour yet received the tidings\nof their grief? Probably not, for there is no improvement in Lazarus.\nThe healing word has not been spoken. Time passes: now He must have\nheard! Yet Lazarus is no better. Time passes: and the messenger has\nreturned, but without Jesus! Yet surely not without some message of\nconsolation? some hope held out of relief? He brings neither! Jesus\nhad said, indeed, that this sickness was not unto death, or rather,\nwas \"unto death only for the glory of God, that the Son of God might\nbe glorified thereby.\" But what means this? Does it mean that Lazarus\nwas to die? Has Jesus, then, actually refused to aid them? Though He\ndid not promise to come, or had not spoken the word of healing, He\nmust surely do either I It cannot be, no it _cannot_ be, that He will\ndesert them, or leave them alone in this trial! \"Jesus, tarry not!\"\nmight have been their wailing cry: \"Lazarus whom thou lovedst is\nsinking fast, and soon all will be over with him. Friends, neighbours,\nlook along the road, watch the brow of that distant hill, look along\nthat valley, and see if there are any signs of His coming?\"\n\nAlas! 'tis all in vain Lazarus is dead! And beside that silent body\nthe two sisters are breaking their hearts. Life and death, faith\nand unbelief, are struggling terribly for the mastery, and strange\nthoughts of Christ flit across their minds like storm-clouds athwart\nthe sun. One brother is gone, the other has not come. The one dearly\nloved them; the other!--they had believed in Jesus as the Messiah:\nthey had loved Him with reverent and deep affection, they had\nworshipped--and now!--God of Abraham, forsake us not utterly! Our\nfathers trusted Thee, and were not put to shame! Oh, deliver our feet\nfrom falling, and our souls from going down to the pit! Lord, help our\nunbelief!\n\nIn some such form as this the storm of doubt and anguish must have\ntorn the minds of those mourners. But the storm is not yet over; the\ndeepest darkness has not yet come. Their brother is dead. Death\nwith his marks, which once seen can never be mistaken, stamps every\nlineament of that well-known countenance. It is death's colour on the\ncheek; death's cold stiffness in the limbs; and no hand but his could\nso close those eyes and make rigid those lips. There is no swoon here!\nSwathe him then in the garments of the grave; make ready for the\nfuneral; let him be buried for ever out of sight; follow him to the\nancestral tomb, and let the other household dead be remembered, and\nthe other sad processions from the home of the living to the home of\nthe lost and gone be recalled, and think that as they never returned,\nso never can he. Lay the body gently down beside those who have been\nlong sleeping there; look at it; remember the past since childhood;\nweep and say farewell; return, Martha and Mary, with wrung hearts to\nyour home, and see the empty room and listen for a voice that is no\nmore, and experience a second death in the emptiness, the silence of\nthis changed abode, and let the heaviest burden of all be borne, the\ndeepest sorrow of all be endured--_the doubt of a Saviour's love!_\n\nYes, that terrible agony of doubt was there. Other friends came to\nsympathise with them, and to be present with them at the funeral; but\nthis Friend was absent, and did not send even one comforting message!\nOf what avail is His coming now? for Lazarus has been dead four days,\nand corruption is already doing its foul work on his body. Here is\n\"darkness that might be felt!\"\n\nWould that we could feel how real all this mysterious sorrow must have\nbeen to those sisters--_our_ sisters, with our hearts, affections, and\nsympathies--that so we may be the more prepared to receive the blessed\nteaching which this narrative is designed to afford, and have our\nfaith strengthened by seeing how the darkness and perplexity which\nbelong so often to God's providential dealings towards us, may be\ncaused by the deepest workings of that very love which we do not for a\ntime see, and therefore may in our blindness and weakness for a time\ndoubt.\n\nBut we must now look at the other portion of this history, which\ninterprets the one we have been considering, and reveals the mind and\nways of Jesus, now, as then, to His sorrowing friends.\n\nWe read that \"_when_ Jesus heard that Lazarus was sick,\" \"he abode two\ndays still in the same place where he then was.\" But His thoughts and\nHis heart were all the while in Bethany. He saw all that was taking\nplace there. He was cognisant of every groan and tear; yet He did\nnothing to prevent the progress of the disease, or to lessen the\nintensity of the sorrow. At the very moment when the sisters watch\ntheir brother's last breath, Jesus \"said unto them plainly, Lazarus is\ndead,\"\n\nLet us inquire, then, whether we can discover any reasons which could\nhave induced our Lord thus to prolong His stay at Bethabara, and to\nabsent Himself from Bethany. What means this deep calm and quiet at\nsuch a time beside the troubled waters of the Jordan?\n\nNow, we must ever remember that the grand end of all our Lord did,\nwas that \"God might be glorified thereby,\"--that the character of the\nFather might be revealed in the fullest possible manner in and by\nJesus the Son. But in order that this, in the circumstances in which\nHe was then placed, might be accomplished, He had many things to\nconsider; many complex interests pertaining to the kingdom of God to\nweigh and to reconcile, so as to bring out of them all glory to God in\nthe highest, with good-will to man.\n\n(_a._) Jesus had in the first place to consider the _good_ of His\nbeloved _friends in Bethany_. _They_ were thinking probably of their\nown _comfort only_, and of that too as coming but in one way, by the\ndeliverance of Lazarus from sickness or death. But there is something\nof more importance to immortal beings than mere comfort. Love to souls\nis a very different sentiment, and manifested in a very different\nmanner, than love to mere animals. To get quit of grief; to have tears\ndried up and smiles restored; to be delivered from all anxiety, and\nrelieved from the heavy burden of sorrow, never mind _how_,--this is\nsurely not the highest end which one who, wisely and truly loved,\nwould seek for his brother in adversity? The highest, the best,\nthe enduring and eternal interests of the sufferer must _first_ be\nconsidered. His comfort, doubtless, cannot be overlooked, but then\nit must be such comfort as God can sympathise with and rejoice in; a\ncomfort, therefore, which is in harmony with true spiritual life, and\nwhich will strengthen that life unto life eternal. Every other comfort\nis a delusion, a cheating of the soul, a laughter that must end at\nlast in the experience of a deeper sorrow than before. He who bids\nus seek _first_ the kingdom of God and His righteousness, cannot\ndiscipline us or aid us to seek any lower good first, because He loves\nour true and highest good most. Jesus had therefore to consider how He\ncould bring true _good_, and therefore true comfort in the end, out\nof this sickness and death, to Martha, Mary, and also to Lazarus. To\nrestore the brother to his sisters--was this best for _them_, taking\ninto account every circumstance of their history within and without?\nTo restore Lazarus to life--to a world of sin and temptation, again to\ndie--was this the best for _him_? These were solemn questions, which\nDivine love and wisdom alone could answer.\n\n(_b._) But Jesus had to consider the good of _His disciples._ For\nyears these simple-minded men had followed Him, and had been educating\nby Him to become the teachers of the world. HOW then shall this event\nbe best turned to account for the strengthening of their faith, for\nthe enlarging of their spiritual vision of God's glory, as revealed by\nHis Son? But Jesus remembered them also: \"I am glad,\" He said, \"for\n_your_ sakes that I was not there, to the intent that ye may believe.\"\n\n(_c._) Beyond the inner circle of His friends in Bethany and His\nmore immediate followers, there was the multitude of poor, ignorant,\nfanatical, and _unbelieving Jews_--the wandering sheep, many of whom,\nhad to be gathered into the fold of this the Good Shepherd. Jesus\nhad their interests also at heart, as is evident from His prayer\nsubsequently at the tomb of Lazarus: \"_Because of the people_ which\nstand by I said it, that _they_ may believe that thou hast sent me.\"\n\n(_d._) Nor must we, in contemplating the many objects of love which\noccupied the thoughts of the Saviour, forget how _intimately connected\nthe raising of Lazarus was with His own death_. That last great\nmiracle of Divine power and love--almost, if not His last on\nearth--was to mark the beginning of His own deepest humiliation and\nsorrow. The hatred of the Jews was at this time so intense, that\nThomas was amazed that He should hazard a journey to a place so near\nJerusalem as was Bethany. \"The Jews of late sought to stone thee; and\ngoest thou thither again?\" And so dangerous did this journey seem,\nthat while bravely resolving to accompany Him, Thomas said, \"Let\nus also go, that we may die with him.\" But this hatred was to be\nintensified by the display of Christ's glory at the tomb of Lazarus;\nfor we read that \"from _that_ day forth they took counsel to put Him\nto death.\" The opening of the tomb to bring Lazarus forth was thus\nthe opening of His own to descend thither as \"crucified, dead, and\nburied.\" The gratitude of Mary for having her brother restored was\nsoon to be unconsciously expressed by her anointing his mighty\nRestorer for His own burial. No wonder that Jesus paused ere He took\nthis last step which intervened between Himself and the death which\nshould end His work and mission upon earth.\n\n(_e._) And, as including all these considerations and many more, _His\nown glory_ as the Divine Son of God was involved in what was to take\nplace at Bethany. And this, again, involved the destinies of the human\nrace, and the good and comfort of the Church throughout coming ages.\nWhatever became of Martha or Mary or Lazarus,--though the sisters\nshould weep out their little day of life, and though their brother's\nsleep should be unbroken till the resurrection morning,--what was\nall this to the revealing of Jesus as the Saviour of men, and as\nthe \"resurrection and the life\" of human bodies and of human souls?\nInconceivably less in proportion than are the interests of one person\nto those of the whole universe! And thus you see that while those\nhumble mourners, in the weakness of the flesh, and in their earthly\nshort-sightedness, were thinking only of themselves, Jesus the Saviour\nof mankind had to think of many persons and of many things, so that\nevery interest might be attended to, and the good of the whole kingdom\nof God be remembered, while not a hair on the head of Martha, Mary, or\nLazarus was forgotten. Oh, blessed Saviour and glorious King! who can\nthus govern worlds and mould the ages of human history, while His ear\nis open to the prayers, and His thoughts occupied with the concerns,\nof the humblest mourners, as if they alone existed in the mighty\nuniverse of God!\n\nBefore shewing the blessed teaching which sufferers may gather from\nthis twofold picture of mysterious sorrow and of thoughtful love, let\nus study for a moment the circumstances attending the meeting of Jesus\nwith Martha and Mary. Many of these are deeply interesting and full\nof instruction; but I confine myself to one point only, the evidence\nwhich I cannot but think they afford of the shaken faith of the\nsisters for a time in the love of Jesus.\n\nMartha was the first to meet Him outside of the town, where in quiet,\nand undisturbed by the noisy mourners from Jerusalem, and by their\nsympathising friends, Jesus desired, with His considerate kindness,\nto probe and heal those sorely wounded hearts. And what was her\nsalutation? \"Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died!\"\nWhat means this? Is it an expression of confidence only in His power?\nIs it a confession of faith? Or does it not rather evidence unbelief?\nDoes it not imply a sorrowing complaint, uttered, indeed, with\nreverence, and in such gentle language as was compatible with sincere\nfaith, but still a complaint from a wondering and disappointed because\nwrung spirit, expressed in language which suggested the additional\nquestion asked only in the heart, \"_And why wert Thou not here_?\"\nJesus reasoned with her. She believes, yet still doubts and questions\nwhy He had not come; she trusts Him, yet sees no light with reference\nto His dealings towards themselves. One thing she will do, however,\namidst the darkness--she will cling to Christ as her only hope and\nrefuge! Mary remains in the house. Why? Was it that she had not heard\nof the arrival of Jesus, or of Martha having gone to meet Him? Or is\nher heart so torn by distracting thoughts, that for a moment she knows\nnot what to do? She dare not say to Him all she feels. Her keen and\nsensitive heart is agonised by entertaining for a moment even the bare\nsuspicion of unkindness on His part. She fights against the horrid\nthought, which, like a demon, torments her, yet she cannot yet quite\nbanish it, and meet Him with the full, unreserved, gushing love which\nsomething tells her is His due. But however this may have been, a\nmessage from Himself rouses her: \"The Master is come, and calleth for\nthee; and as soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came unto\nhim.\" But how did she meet Him! Ah! Martha and she have surely been\ntogether pondering over the mystery of His absence, and they have\ninwardly come to the same conclusion; and so she too fell at the\nMaster's feet, with the same wailing cry from her full heart, \"Lord,\nif thou hadst been here, my brother had not died!\" As she uttered\nthese words, \"Jesus wept!\" There are expressions and single words in\nScripture which reveal a whole heaven of glory--like the opening in\nthe telescope, which, though but as a pin-point of light, reveals\nthe glory of sun, moon, and stars. What a revelation of love is\nthis--\"Jesus wept!\" But what mean these tears? They are visibly\nsignificant of much sorrow. The cup of the \"Man of sorrows\" was always\nfull; what caused it thus to run over? Only twice in His life do we\nread of the Saviour's weeping,--now, when at Bethany, and in a few\ndays afterwards, when entering Jerusalem during the week of His\ncrucifixion. Did Jesus now weep from mere human sympathy with sisters\nmourning for a dead brother? or did He weep because He mourned their\nown lost faith in His love to them? We are well aware of the tenacity\nwith which most people cling to the former method of accounting for\nthe Saviour's tears, and what pain it seems to give when the latter\nview is pressed upon them, as if they were thereby robbed of some\nspecial source of comfort in affliction, and left without any other\ndeclaration in the Word of God--at all events, without any other\nincident in the life of Jesus--fitted to inspire confidence in His\nsympathy. It is not difficult to account for this feeling on our\npart. For it is much easier to understand tears shed for mere human\nsuffering, than tears shed for human sin. The one kind of sorrow\nis common, the other is rare. The one is almost instinctive, and\nnecessarily springs from that benevolence which belongs to us as men,\nbut the other can only spring from that love of souls which belongs to\nus as \"partakers of the sufferings of Christ,\" and from possessing,\ntherefore, a realising sense of the infinite importance of a right or\nwrong state of being towards God, and from beholding the darkness of\nevil casting its dread shadows over a dear one's spirit. Hence an\natheist can mourn over our loss of friends by death, while the man of\nGod alone can mourn over our loss of God himself by unbelief. Then,\nagain, every person welcomes the sympathy of another in his sorrows;\nwhile he might at the same time have no sympathy with the grief\nexperienced by another for his sins. The one might be gladly welcomed\nas most loving, but the other be proudly rejected as most offensive.\n\nWhy therefore should true Christians cling with such fondness to the\nidea of Christ weeping with Martha and Mary, because they lost their\nbrother, and not rather see a far deeper love and a source of far\ndeeper comfort in his tears, because they had, for a moment even, lost\ntheir faith? Surely those who know Christ do not depend solely on such\na proof as this of the reality of His humanity, and of His sympathy\nwith the affliction of His brethren; nor can that kind of sympathy\nbe the highest which can be afforded by all men whose hearts are\nnot utterly steeled by selfish indifference. Besides, however real\nChrist's sympathy was with sorrow of every kind, why did He express it\non this occasion more than on any other? Nay, why did He weep at the\nvery moment when He purposed, by a miracle of power, to restore the\ndead brother to his sisters, and in a few minutes to turn their sorrow\ninto joy? Why weep with those whose tears were shed in ignorance only\nof the coming event which was so soon to dry them? But the Saviour's\ntears came from a different and a profounder source! They welled out\nof a heart whose deep and tender love was not trusted in, but doubted\neven by those whom He loved most deeply and tenderly, and at the very\nmoment too when He was about to pour forth upon them the richest\ntreasure of His love, and to do exceeding abundantly above all they\ncould ask or think. Remember only how He of all men loved; how as a\nman He longed for His brother's sympathy, and how as a holy Saviour He\nlonged for His brother's good. Remember how earnestly He sought for\nthe one grand result, that of hearty confidence in His goodwill, as\nthe only restorative of humanity fallen and in ruins through the curse\nof unbelief. Remember, too, how lonely He was in the world; how\nfew understood Him in any degree, or responded even feebly to the\nconstant, boundless outpouring of His affection; and how many returned\nHis good with evil, His love with bitterest hate;--remember all\nthis, and conceive if you can what His feelings must have been when\nreturning to this home of His heart, to this green spot amidst the\nwilderness of hateful distrust, with His whole soul full of such\nglorious purposes of love and self-sacrifice, and then at such a\ntime to find his best and dearest friends smitten with the universal\nblight, fallen to the earth and prostrate in the dust under the\ncrushing burden of unbelief! He does not weep, at first, when Martha\naddresses him; but when Mary, the loving and confiding--she of all on\nearth--complains; when faith has failed in even her!--oh, it is too\nmuch for His heart! \"And thou too!\"--\"Jesus wept!\" Ah! that shadow of\ndeath in such a soul as this was infinitely sadder to Him than the\ndead body of her brother, nay, than the contents of all the festering\ngraveyards of the world! For what is death to sin? and what is the\npower which can restore by a word the dead body to life, in comparison\nwith that which is required to restore an unbelieving soul to God? It\nwas this unbelief, the most terrible spectacle which earth presents to\nthe eye of a holy and loving Saviour, that made Him weep as He beheld\nit for a moment, like a demon-power taking possession of His own best\nbeloved. And it was this same essential evil, and this alone, which\nmade Him weep once again as He entered Jerusalem, when He cried, \"How\noften would I have gathered you, but ye would not!\"\n\nIn perfect accordance with this view, we read that when some of the\nJews said, as He walked towards the tomb of Lazarus, \"Could not this\nman, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this\nman had not died?\" \"Jesus _therefore again_ groaning in himself,\ncometh to the grave.\" For again the words expressed lost faith in His\npower, or in His love to \"this man.\" In like manner, when Martha, as\nif to persuade Him not to attempt impossibilities, reminded Him of the\nlong time in which Lazarus had lain in the grave, saying, \"Lord, by\nthis time he stinketh,\" Jesus sternly rebukes her, \"Said I not unto\nthee, _that if thou wouldest believe_, thou shouldest see the glory\nof God?\" And tell me, is there not inexpressible comfort in this love\nwhich mourns over sin as the greatest loss and the greatest sorrow? I\ncan get many, as I have said, in the world to understand and to feel\nwith me in all my sufferings from loss of wealth, of health, of\nfriends, or of any earthly blessing. Relations, acquaintances,\nstrangers, even enemies, could be found who would do so. But who\nwill so love me as to carry my crushing burden of sin? Who can fully\nunderstand its exceeding sinfulness I Who can fathom the depths into\nwhich I have fallen, or enter the body of death which imprisons my\nspirit. One only, the truest, the best, the most loving of all, my\nSaviour! And His hatred of my sin, and His sorrow for it, is just the\nmeasure of His love to me, and of His desire to deliver me, and to\nmake me a partaker of His own blessed rest and peace, through faith\nand love in His Father and my Father, in His God and my God!\n\nI shall pass by the remaining facts in this narrative, the raising of\nLazarus, and the memorable scene when Jesus sat as a guest with the\nfamily of Bethany, again restored to one another, and to Himself in\nlove; and when Mary with unutterable thoughts anointed His feet with\nointment, and wiped them with the hair of her head. I would rather\noccupy the space which remains, in gathering from what has been said a\nfew general lessons of importance chiefly to mourners.\n\nMy suffering brother or sister! permit me to address you as if\npersonally present with you, seeing your distress, and sharing it\nas those cannot choose but do who have themselves experienced the\ndarkness of sorrow. Such darkness and perplexity I have known, and I\nso remember with deepest gratitude the strength and comfort which were\nthen afforded by the revelation of the ways of Christ, as illustrated\nby this narrative, that I desire to help others as I have been myself\nhelped.\n\nThe one grand lesson which it teaches us is, _never, in our darkest\nhour, to lose confidence in the love of Christ towards us_, as if He\nhad forgotten to be gracious, and either could not or would not help\nus. Banish the sinful thought! \"Beware lest there should be in any of\nyou _the evil heart_ of unbelief.\" For such unbelief is the greatest\ncalamity which can befall us. It is, verily, \"sorrow's crown of\nsorrow,\" Let us rather \"hold fast our confidence, which hath a great\nreward.\"\n\nLike the family in Bethany, you too, I shall suppose, are visited\nwith a sudden and \"mysterious\" bereavement. Like them you may pray to\nChrist, and ask a specific blessing; and like them you may think He\nhas not heard your prayer, nor ever will answer it, because He does\nnot do this at the time or in the manner you wished or anticipated.\nHis thoughts and ways with reference to you may thus be utterly\ndark--darker than blackest night. Yet the servant of the Lord, \"though\nhe walks in darkness, and has no light,\" must \"trust in the Lord, and\nstay himself upon his God.\" For the ways of Christ to His suffering\nfriends in Bethany, when absent from them beyond the Jordan, are a\nrevelation of His ways to us now, when He is in glory beyond the\ntomb. Now, as then, He never forgets us, never overlooks the least\ncircumstance in our history, and never ceases for one moment to have\nthat interest in us which is possible only for such a Brother or\nSaviour to possess. But now, as then, He has _manifold interests\nto consider_; ten thousand times ten thousand complex and crossing\nconsequences to weigh. While we, perhaps, have our thoughts wholly\noccupied with but one desire, our own individual comfort, our own\ndeliverance from this or that trial, the wise and all-loving Jesus\nhas to provide for much more than this. Our own good and growth in\ngrace--the good of those in sickness--the good of children, relations,\nfriends, yea, it may be of generations yet unborn, who may be affected\nat this crisis in our family history by what Jesus does or does\nnot,--all this must be considered by Him who loves all, and seeks the\ngood of all, and who alone can trace out the marvellous and endless\nnetwork of influence by which man is bound to man from place to place\nand from age to age. No one, therefore, but the Lord of all can decide\nwhat is best to be done in the circumstances of each case, in order\nthat most good may be done, and that God may be glorified thereby. He\nalone knows how this link of \"sickness unto death\" is connected with\nother links in the mysterious chain of human history. And if so, then\nsurely it becomes us, poor, ignorant, blind, selfish creatures, to bow\nbefore His throne with holy reverence; to yield ourselves and all our\nconcerns meekly and lovingly into His hands, in the full assurance of\nfaith that our interests are there in best and safest keeping; to feel\nthat it is our first duty and noblest privilege to trust Him when we\ncannot trace Him, being persuaded that He does all things well, and\n_that what we know not now we shall know hereafter_.\n\nAmidst all darkness, perplexity, and apparent confusion, remember the\ncertainties which abide unmoved, and \"shine aloft as stars.\" It is\n_certain_ that \"all things work together for the _good_ of those who\nlove God;\" that \"thou wilt keep him in perfect _peace_, whose soul is\nstayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee;\" and that \"nothing\ncan separate us from the love of Christ,\" (His love to us.) It is\n_certain_ that our Christian dead are in His presence; and that no one\nknows them or loves them as that Saviour does, who made them with His\nown hands, and redeemed them with His own blood. It is _certain_ that\nif we are believers in Christ, we are still united to those departed\nones, in labour, in worship, in love, in hope, and in joy; for,\n\"whether we wake or sleep, we live _together_ with Him.\" It is\n_certain_, that if \"we are Christ's,\" \"all things are ours, whether\nlife or death, things present or things to come!\"\n\nHold fast, then, O mourner, thy confidence in thy Lord! Have patience,\nfret not, despair not, and a day shall come to thee like that which\ncame at last to the mourners in Bethany--it may be here, it may not be\nuntil we meet Him beyond the bounds of time, yet come it must--when\nall this earthly history, and all His doings towards us, shall be read\nin the clear and full light of perfect knowledge; when out of this\nseeming chaos and confusion the most perfect order will be evolved\nbefore our wondering eyes; and when we shall joyfully acknowledge\nwith what majestic grandeur the world has ever been governed by its\nglorious King! Then, when we hear how He has governed ourselves,\nand trace the path along which He has led us since childhood, and\nunderstand the reasons which induced Him at such a time and in such a\nway to afflict us;--then, when the ways and thoughts of that mind and\nheart are laid bare;--and then, too, when we recall our fears, our\ndoubts, our rebellions, our want of confidence in Him, what shall our\nthoughts and feelings be? When His love and ours, His wisdom and ours,\nHis plans and ours, are thus contrasted, as we sit down at the great\nsupper with our own Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, and every one worthy of\nour love restored to us for ever, beholding the unveiled face of our\nLord in glory; oh, then, it might seem almost essential to our peace\nto be able to weep bitterly, and repent heartily, for our unworthy\nsuspicions and ungenerous treatment of such a Friend and Saviour! But,\nblessed be His name! we shall then be able to give Him all He asks,\n_our whole hearts_, and, like Mary, kneel at His feet, and there pour\nforth the sweet fragrance of our gratitude, love, and joy, as we too\nhear from His lips such words as these uttered amidst the light and\nglory of the upper sanctuary: \"Said I not unto thee, that if thou\nwouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God!\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE BEGINNING OF A YEAR.\n\n\nWhat will happen during this year to ourselves and to those whom we\nlove? Life or death--health or sickness--joy or sorrow--good or evil?\nWhat will the coming twelve months bring to me and mine? What _may_\nbe--what _must_ be--what _ought_ to be? Such questions, multiplied a\nhundredfold, or broken up into every variety of anxious inquiry, often\nfill the heart and mind on the first day of a new year.\n\nNow, is it possible for us to find rest and peace for our spirits as\nwe steadily contemplate the future, with its darkness and light, with\nall the duties and trials which it contains, and with all that it may\nand must bring forth? Is there any secret of strength and comfort by\nwhich we can with courage and hope encounter all the possibilities of\nthe future? There is. Let us only _trust God_, and we need not fear\nanything, but welcome everything!\n\nLet us consider this; and, first of all, understand what is meant by\ntrusting God.\n\nTo trust God, remember, is to trust _Himself_--a living, personal God.\nIt is not to trust to any means whatever whereby He makes Himself\nknown; but to look through them, all, or to go by them all, to the\nliving God himself. This is more than trusting to any truth even\nrevealed in the Bible, for it is trusting the Person who spoke the\ntruth, or of whom the truth is spoken.\n\nTo trust God is to trust Him as He is revealed in all the fulness of\nHis glorious character. It is to trust Him as true, and therefore as\nfaithful in keeping every promise, and in fulfilling every threat; as\nwise, and therefore as never erring in any arrangement made for the\nwell-being of His creatures; as righteous, and therefore as doing\nright to each and all; as holy, and therefore as hating evil, and\nloving good; as merciful and therefore as pardoning the guilty\nthrough a Redeemer;--it is, in one word, to trust Him \"whose name is\nLove!\"--love which shines in every attribute, and is the security for\nevery blessing! Trust and obedience are therefore, from their nature,\ninseparable.\n\nThis trust in God is not common. Nothing, indeed, so common in men's\nmouths as the phrases, \"I trust in God,\" \"I have all my dependence on\nGod,\" \"We have none else to look to but Him,\" and the like. But, alas!\nhow meaningless often to men's hearts are those sayings in men's\nmouths! They frequently express confidence only in God's doing what He\nhas never promised to do;--as when a slothful, idle, dissipated man\ncontinues in his wickedness, yet \"trusts God\" will ward off poverty\nfrom him, or provide for his family whom he is all the while robbing.\nOr the words express confidence in what God has positively declared He\nnever will nor can do;--as when an impenitent man, who has no faith\nin Christ or love to Him, \"trusts God will forgive him,\" or make him\nhappy, or not punish him, should he die as he is. All this, and such\nlike trust, is \"vain confidence,\" trusting a lie, and believing a\ndelusion. Others, again, professing to trust God's word, manifest a\ntotal want of trust in His ways, and do not walk in His commandments,\nnor submit to His corrections, believing neither to be the will of a\nholy and loving Father. And thus, men who in theory _say_ they trust\nGod, practically have no trust in Him, whatever they may have in\nthemselves, in the world, or in things seen and temporal. But oh the\nblessedness and the peace of him whose trust is in the Lord!\n\nRead a few declarations from God's Word upon the crime of want of\ntrust, and the peace enjoyed when possessing it:--\n\n\"Thus saith the Lord, Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and\nmaketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord: for he\nshall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good\ncometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a\nsalt land and not inhabited.\" \"The Lord also will be a refuge for the\noppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. And they that know thy name\nwill put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them\nthat seek thee.\" \"Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that\ntrusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about. Be glad in the\nLord, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are\nupright in heart.\" \"What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. In\nGod I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not\nfear what flesh can do unto me....In God have I put my trust: I will\nnot be afraid what man can do unto me.\" \"Trust in the Lord with all\nthine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy\nways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.\" \"Thou wilt\nkeep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he\ntrusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord\nJehovah is everlasting strength.\"\n\nNow, this trust in God has been the character of all God's people in\nevery age, and under every dispensation. We who live in these latter\ndays may say of all our spiritual ancestry, \"Our fathers trusted\nthee.\" They all had faith in the living God, and believed His word to\nbe true, and His ways to be excellent. Abraham did so, when he went\nforth into the wide world, not knowing whither he went, having but\nGod's word as a staff to lean on; and when he offered up his only son,\nbelieving that God was able even to raise him from the dead. Moses did\nso, when \"by faith he forsook Egypt,\" and preferred \"the reproach of\nChrist,\" and \"endured, as seeing Him who is invisible,\" Job did so,\nwhen deprived of everything but God himself; when he sat in sackcloth\nand ashes, and bore the glorious testimony in the presence of men and\ndevils, \"Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him,\" David did so\nduring his whole life, and his sacred songs are anthems of joyful\ntrust, which the Church of God can never cease to sing till faith is\nlost in sight. And Jehoshaphat did so, when in the presence of the\ngreat invading army he addressed his small band with the noble words,\n\"Trust in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established.\" And Daniel\ndid so, when he entered the den of lions, and came out unscathed,\n\"because he believed in the Lord his God.\" And Paul did so, when he\nended his triumphant life, which he \"lived by faith in the Son of\nGod,\" with the shout of victory, saying, \"I know whom I have trusted,\nand I am persuaded He can keep what I have committed to Him until that\nday.\" All the children of God have known, loved, and trusted their\nFather, and have reflected that holy light which shone with unclouded\nand faultless lustre in the Firstborn of all the brethren; for Jesus\never held fast His confidence in God until His last cry of faith,\n\"_Father_, into Thy hands I commit my spirit!\"\n\nBegin the year and spend it in this frame of mind. Know God, trust\nHim, and go on thy way rejoicing, whatever that way may be. Heaven and\nearth may pass away, but thou art safe, because right.\n\nDo you, for example, fear the future because it is unknown? Trust God,\nand fear not! This ignorance of coming events which are to affect our\nown happiness for time or for eternity is very remarkable, especially\nwhen contrasted with our minute and accurate knowledge of other\nthings; such as the future movements of the moon and stars,--events\nwhich, though revealing the history of immense worlds, are yet to\nus of far less importance than the malady which may enter our home\nto-morrow, and close for ever the eyelids of a babe! In proportion,\nindeed, as the things of each day are to affect us, God has so\nconcealed them, that we know not what one day is to bring forth. And\nthis ignorance is surely intended to accomplish at least one blessed\nend--that of making us fly to God himself, and look up to Himself for\nguidance, for protection, and for peace. The feeblest child thereby\nbecomes filled with such assurance of faith, that, whatever is before\nhim, he can say, \"Nevertheless I am _continually_ with thee: thou hast\nholden me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and\nafterward receive me into glory,\" How grand, then, is this thought,\nthat whatever may come to the believer out of the mysterious womb of\ntime, or out of the vast recesses of an unknown and immense eternity,\nnothing can possibly destroy his soul's peace; for nothing can\nseparate him from the love of the ever-present, unchangeable,\nomnipotent God. The stars of heaven may fall, and the heavens depart\nas a scroll, and every mountain and island be moved out of its place;\nbut the meekest child of God will be kept in perfect peace on the\nbosom of his Father, and there rest, untouched by the revolutions of\ncoming ages, as the rainbow reposes on the bosom of the sky, unmoved\nby \"the strong wind which rends the mountains, and breaks in pieces\nthe rocks before the Lord.\"\n\nWhether, therefore, the year is to bring life or death, poverty or\nriches, health or sickness to us or to our friends,--all is beyond our\nknowledge or our will. But, thank God, it is nevertheless within the\nprovince of our will to secure to ourselves perfect peace and rest.\nThis sure hope is based on the glorious fact that there is a God--a\nliving God who verily governs the universe; whose kingdom is one\nof righteousness; whose omnipotence is directed by love; and who,\nconsequently, so administers the affairs of His blessed kingdom, as\nthat all its complex machinery of events move in harmony with the\nsafety and peace of every true child.\n\nAgain, Do you fear because of coming duties or trials which you cannot\nbut anticipate? Trust God, and fear not! \"Cast thy burden\"--however\ngreat--\"the Lord, and _He_ will sustain thee.\" Experience tells us\nthat the evils which we once most feared never came, but were purely\nimaginary, while the things really appointed to us were never\nanticipated. Let this help us to appreciate God's goodness and wisdom\nmore in commanding us to \"take no anxious thought about the morrow,\"\nbecause \"sufficient for _the day_ is the evil thereof.\"\n\nStill you are certain of some duties or trials before you. This\nsickness, you say, must end in death; or this journey must, if you are\nin life, be taken to a foreign shore, and last farewells be spoken; or\nthis year you must enter upon this new profession so arduous and\nso full of risks. And thus each one, with more or less degree of\ncertainty, chalks an imaginary outline of his future course. But\nsupposing all your anticipations to be well-founded, yet, oh! believe\nthat when your day of trial or of duty comes, a Father, if you know\nHim and trust Him, will come with it. You will have on that dark day\na Father's unerring wisdom to guide you, a Father's omnipotent arm to\nuphold you, a Father's infinite love to soothe you, comfort you, and\nfully satisfy you. Hear these precious commands and promises:--\"fast\nyour confidence, which hath a great reward!\" \"Be careful for nothing,\nbut in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving,\nlet your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which\npasseth understanding, will keep your mind and heart through Christ\nJesus!\"\n\nOnce more, Do you fear the future, lest you should sin and depart from\nGod as you have done in the past? Trust God, and fear not! For how did\nyou depart from God before? From _want of trust_. You lost confidence\nin your Father's teaching, and leant on your own understanding, or\nlistened to the voice of strangers; you first lost confidence in your\nFather's love and goodwill to you, and in His power to satisfy all\nyour wants, and to give whatever was best for you out of His rich and\ninexhaustible treasures, and then you demanded the portion of your\ngoods, and departed from Him, and ceased to pray to Him or to think of\nHim at all, but gave your heart, soul, and strength to the creature.\nBut you had no _peace_. You left the cistern of living waters; but the\ncisterns hewn out by yourselves held no water to assuage your soul's\nthirst. You found it to be \"an evil and a bitter thing\" to forsake\nGod. Hear, then, His invitation on the first day of a new year:\n\"Return to the Lord thy God!\" Arise, and go to thy Father; \"abide\"\nwith Him; and never more lose thy confidence in Him as thy strength,\nthy peace, thy life! Trust His mercy to pardon the past; His grace to\nhelp in the present; and His love to fill up thy being at all times.\n\"Fear not: I am with thee: I will uphold thee with the right hand of\nmy righteousness!\" Your only strength and safety are in God. Daily\nseek Him, daily trust Him, and you will daily serve Him.\n\nBut perhaps you fear the future lest you should not \"redeem the time\"\nas you ought to do to the glory of God? Trust God, and fear not! Lost\ntime is a sad and oppressive thought to the child of God. What might\nhe have done! What might he have been! How might he have improved\nhis talents, and cultivated his spirit, and done good to relations,\nfriends, neighbours, and to the world, had he only redeemed days,\nhours, minutes, which have been spent in sloth or folly! And not one\nsecond can be restored. Shall the future be a similar record to the\npast? You fear to think of it! But be assured that till the last hour\nof the best spent life, you will need the atoning blood of Jesus for\nyour innumerable shortcomings as a miserable sinner. The very \"light\nof life\" which enables you to know and rejoice in Jesus, will enable\nyou also, in proportion as it burns brightly, to know and to mourn\nover yourselves. But while there is cause for earnest thoughtfulness\nabout coming time, as a talent to be improved for your own good and\nGod's glory, there is no cause for unbelieving fear, for such \"fear\nhath torment.\" God does not give you a _year_ to spend; He gives you\nbut a day; nay, not even that, but only the present moment. He divides\nthe talent of time into minutes, fractions, and says to you, \"Employ\nthis one for me.\" Therefore do not concern yourself with what is not\nyours; but as each day or hour comes, trust God! He is not a hard\nmaster, reaping where He does not sow; but is a Father sowing in you,\nand by you, in order that you, as well as Himself, might reap so that\n\"both sower and reaper might rejoice together.\" Trust Him for always\npointing out to you the path of duty, so that, as a wayfarer, you will\nnever err. Be assured, that when the moment comes in which you must\ntake any step, He will, by some voice in His Word or providence, say\nto you, \"This is the way, walk ye in it!\" Be assured, also, that\namidst many things undone, or ill done by you, He will still _so_ help\nyou, if sincere, to labour in His cause here, and to improve your time\nand talents, as to be able hereafter to say, even to you, \"Well done,\ngood and faithful servant! enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.\" \"In\nthe name of the Lord, then, let us lift up our banners!\" Enter upon\nthe labours and duties of the year with joy I Art thou not a fellow\nlabourer with thy brother saints and angels, yea, even with thy God?\nDoth not that omnipotent Spirit of light and love, who uniteth all in\none, and who hath led the Church of Christ from grace to glory, dwell\nin thee? Wherefore, then, dost thou dishonour God and His word by\nunbelieving fear?\n\nFinally, the experience of the past may strengthen your faith in God\nfor the future. You have never trusted Him in vain. He has never\nfailed you in time of need. You have always found His _strength_\nsufficient to uphold you, and His _wisdom_ able to arrange for you,\nand His _love_ inexhaustible in supplying your manifold wants. Ah!\nhad you foreseen, years ago, all the past journey, so often dark and\nperplexing, which you have since pursued; and also all the duties\nwhich have successively claimed your energies for their performance;\nand all the trials, so many, so varied, which you have had to endure;\nwould you not have sunk down in despair before the spectacle? But you\ndid _not_ foresee what is now past. God in mercy concealed it from\nyou, as He does what is now future. And therefore you did not then, as\nyou cannot now, despair. The Lord _has_ hitherto helped you, and\nled you through the wilderness, and held you up, and kept you from\nfalling; and so it is that both in your inward and outward state, you\n_are_ this day a monument of His power, mercy, patience, grace!\n\nAnd now, in peace of heart, say with Paul, \"I am persuaded that\nneither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,\nnor things present, nor things to come, shall be able to separate us\nfrom the love of God, _which_ is in Christ Jesus our Lord!\" Lord,\nit is enough! Never separated from Thyself for one moment in our\nexistence, here or anywhere, we can never be separated from the chief\nobject of our affections, from Him who is the fulness of our whole\nbeing, the never-failing source of our blessedness and joy. Believing\nin Thee our Father, we enter another year, and advance along our\nendless journey, not knowing what a day or an hour may bring forth;\nbut knowing this, as all we care to know, that during every day and\nhour we are \"continually with Thee.\" A long life on earth may be ours,\nbut neither its labours nor its cares, its temptations nor its trials,\nshall be able to destroy our peace, because unable to separate us from\nThy love. Thy love will give life to every duty, deliverance from\nevery temptation, guidance in every perplexity, and comfort in every\ntrial. Death may come, in what form or in what circumstances, how soon\nor how late, we cannot tell; but we fear no evil, however dark its\nshadow, for \"_Thou_ art with us.\" Eternity must come, and may come to\nus ere the year ends. But whatever things beyond the grave are hidden\nfrom us, Thou Thyself, our Father, art revealed! We know Thee, and\nthis is life eternal!\n\n\n\n\nADVICES ON ENTERING A NEW YEAR.\n\n\n1. Let a short portion of time be spent each day this year in private\nprayer, in reading God's Word, and, if possible, some devotional book.\n\n2. Let it be the great work of the year to become better acquainted\npersonally with Jesus Christ as the living and ever-present Friend,\nBrother, and Saviour.\n\n3. Endeavour to concentrate your efforts to do good upon some definite\nunselfish work in your family or out of it, which may help others, as\nit certainly must help yourself.\n\n4. In all things try to live more towards God, seeking His approval of\nyour inner and outer life. The less you talk about yourself or your\ndoings before men, the better for yourself and for them.\n\n5. Aim this year at being a peacemaker between professing Christians;\nto allay disputes, and to heal breaches among friends and relations;\nand to make men respect and esteem each other more.\n\n6. Do not leave behind you in the old year guilt unpardoned, but\nbelieve in Jesus for the remission of sins; nor enter a new year with\nsin loved and cherished, but accept of and rely upon His Spirit to\nsanctify you. Begin the year without enmity to any man on earth,\n\"forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as\nChrist forgave you, even so do ye.\"\n\n7. If you are the head of the house, resolve to read a portion of\nGod's Word once a-day at least to the family; and either read or offer\nup, always with them, a short but hearty prayer.\n\n8. Endeavour to keep an account of your income and expenditure, that\nyou may be able to live justly and generously. Give what you can to\nassist poor relatives, and poor Christians, and the Church of Christ.\nTry this one year to tax yourself ten per cent, on your free income\nfor such purposes.\n\nLearn to do these things, and many more will the Lord teach thee to\nknow and do; and may the God of love and peace be with thee!\n\n\n\n\nTHE CLOSE OF A YEAR.\n\n\n\"Remember all the way the Lord hath led thee\" during the past year.\n\nREMEMBER HIS MERCIES.--Calmly review, as far as you can, what God has\ngiven you these bygone months.\n\nHave you been blessed with _bodily_ health? If so, consider what\na gift it is to be spared the tortures some endure: the restless,\nfeverish nights; the long weary days; the unceasing pain; the no-hope\nof relief in this world.\n\nHave you been blessed with _mental_ health? If so, think of the mercy\nof not having been visited with insanity, or of having been freed from\nthe suffering of even mental depression, so touchingly described by\nthe poet as\n\n  \"A grief without a sigh, void, dark, and drear,\n  A stifled, drowsy, unimpassion'd grief,\n  That finds no natural outlet, no relief,\n  To word, or sigh, or tear;\"\n\nThink of the mercy of having been able to _enjoy_ God's beautiful\nworld, and to feel the life in its scenery, its music, and its blue\nsky, during the summer that has passed, as you walked along the\nsea-shore, among the woods, across the green fields, up the glen,\nover the moorlands, or gazed on the glorious landscape from the windy\nsummits of the old hills. Health of body and of mind!--Oh, common,\nmost blessed, yet, alas! how often unnoticed, gifts of God!\n\nHave you received other mercies connected with your _temporal_\nwell-being? Perhaps at the beginning of the year (as at the beginning,\nmaybe, of many a year before) things looked very dark for you and\nyours. Yet \"hitherto\" God has helped you. You may never have had more\nlight on your path than what enabled you to take the next step with\nsafety, but that light has never failed you. God has been pleased thus\nto discipline many of His people. You may, possibly, remember also\npeculiar deliverances:--from sickness; from money difficulties; from\nbodily dangers; with unexpected additions to your means of comfort and\nof usefulness.\n\nAgain, call to remembrance your _social_ mercies, which have come more\nindirectly through others. Think of the relations and friends who have\nbeen spared to you! Begin with your dearest, and pass on from those\nto others less closely allied, but still most valued, and number them\nall, _if you can_. Do any remain whom death threatened to remove\nduring the past year? Have any, have many, been a comfort to you?\nHave your anxieties regarding the temporal or spiritual well-being of\nothers been lessened? Have beloved ones been given to you during the\nyear--such as a wife, a husband, or a child? If God hath led you in\nthis way during the past year, it ought indeed to be remembered!\n\nAnd if any of those Christian friends have fallen asleep in Jesus,\nthen it is a great mercy to know most certainly that they are your\nfriends still, and your _best_ friends too; and you should thank God\nfor the happiness which they now enjoy, and which you hope to share\nwith them.\n\nBut you have other mercies to remember besides these. Surely much has\nbeen done for your spiritual good by your Father in heaven. He has\nshewn patience, forbearance, and long-suffering towards you; and has\nbeen teaching you during these past months by faithful ministers or\nfaithful friends; and has been striving within you to bring you\nto Himself, and to keep you there. Have you enjoyed no peace in\nbelieving, nor gained any victories over self and sin? Have you\npossessed no more calm and habitual fellowship with God? Have you done\nno good? Has prayer neither been offered in truth, nor answered in\nlove? Has all been fruitless and dead? Oh, let us beware of the\nfalsehood of denying spiritual mercies bestowed on us by God! \"If I\nshould say I know Him _not_, I should be a liar like unto you,\"\nsaid our Lord. The graces of the Spirit, the least of them, are the\nearnests of eternal good, the assurances of enjoying the whole fulness\nof God.\n\nBUT YOU HAVE SORROWS TO REMEMBER. Alas! we are in little danger of\nforgetting these. The sunny days may come and go unheeded, but the\ndark ones are all registered. We cannot forget that \"the Lord taketh\naway;\" but why do we not as vividly remember that the same Lord\n\"_giveth_\" and that in both cases we have equal cause, did we only\nsee it, to exclaim, \"Blessed be the name of the Lord!\" I ask not what\nthese sorrows have been. Enough that they are very real to you, or to\nthose who are bound up with you in the bundle of life. It was a weary\ntime to you in the wilderness, and it is well to remember that portion\nof the way in which you have been led, which was as a dark valley and\nshadow of death.\n\nAND WHAT OF SIN? That is what makes it so hard for us to remember the\npast journey. The backslidings and falls in the way; the careless\nstraggling behind; the lazy resting-places; the slow progress; the\ncareless devotions; the misspent days of the Lord; the opportunities\nlost of doing good to others, or of receiving good ourselves, through\nprocrastination, sloth, and indifference; the manifestation of our\nunloving and selfish spirit towards our brother, in envy, bad temper,\nbackbiting, jealousy, or unguarded speech; the little done or given\nfor God's work on earth, in charity to the poor, or to \"our own flesh\"\nwho required assistance;--the everything, in short, which deters\nmemory from looking steadily at what it would if it could blot out for\never from its records! Yet it is of great importance that this portion\nof the journey should be remembered; although it is not the way in\nwhich God led us, but which we chose for ourselves in our ignorance\nand self-will. Ponder it well! Recall what your conduct has been in\navoiding temptation; how you have made use of the means of grace; the\ndays in which you may have lived without God, or if you prayed to Him,\nwhen you did so as a form, without any real faith or love; the days in\nwhich you have been so presumptuous as to live without \"faith in the\nSon of God,\" and to meet trials, temptations, and duties, without\nseeking strength from the Holy Spirit; the Sundays that have come and\ngone without having been improved, and sermons heard in vain, and\npublic worship joined in outwardly only, without reality; the little\nhelp, or possibly great discouragement given to Christian ministers\nand Christian members by your very coldness; the time lost never to be\nrecalled, and of all that could have been done for the ignorant, the\nafflicted, the wicked, the sick and dying, for friends and relations,\nwhich has been left undone, and never can be done in the other world.\nThink of what your Master has said, who is to judge you--that \"herein\nis my Father glorified, that ye bring forth much fruit\"--that \"if any\nman will be my disciple, let him take up his cross _daily_, and follow\nme\"--that \"many will say in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not eaten\nand drunk in thy presence? hast thou not taught in our streets? have\nwe not done many wonderful works in thy name? and I will say\nunto them, I know you not; depart from me, all ye workers of\niniquity:\"--think of this _now_, for think of it one day you must: and\nif you do so with any degree of truthfulness, I am sure you cannot\nenter another year without pouring out your heart in humble\nconfession, and laying down your burthen at the foot of the cross,\ncrying out, \"God be merciful to me a sinner!\" \"Have mercy upon me, O\nGod, according to thy loving-kindness, and according to thy tender\nmercies blot out all my transgressions!\"\n\nAllow me now to put what I have to say in a practical form:--\n\n1. When you review your _mercies_, consider how you are affected by\nthem. It is easy, I know, to say, and to say so far truly, \"Thank God\nfor them!\" Yet the whole spirit in which they are possessed may be\nintensely selfish. We may have been seeking our life in them to the\nvery exclusion of God from our hearts, forgetting that \"a man's life,\"\nsays our Lord, \"consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he\npossesseth.\" What things? Any creature things whatever! To make these\nour _life_, that is, our happiness, or to esteem them as essential to\nour happiness, is, as our Lord adds, for a man \"to lay up treasures\nfor himself, and not to be rich towards God.\" This is that\n\"covetousness which is idolatry,\"--the worship of _Self_, through what\nministers to Self.\n\n2. As you remember your _sorrows_, remember not only how you were\nsustained and comforted under them, but, what is of incomparably more\nimportance, consider how far you have been realising God's purpose in\nsending them. That purpose may have been to perfect you by trial; or\nto prove your loyalty to Him; or to _prevent_ evil in yourselves and\nothers. But never forget that the lesson of all lessons is, that we or\nothers should find _life_, and life eternal--that is, as I have said,\nlife in the knowledge and in the love of God, which will satisfy and\nendure for ever; or, if this is already found by us, that we should\npossess it \"more abundantly.\" Now, whatever tends to make us realise\nthat what we often call and think to be \"our life\" is yet no\nlife--that money, friends, or earthly enjoyments cannot fill the\nimmortal soul, or be its portion for ever;--whatever awakes us from\nthis dream and dispels the delusion, and makes us know the excellence\nand reality of true life in God, must be a blessing of the highest and\nrichest kind. Yet what has such a tendency to do all this as sorrow,\nand the very trials which we so much deplore? The pain is no doubt\ngreat--often agony--a very cutting off a right hand, or plucking out a\nright eye; but the gain intended by the operation is incalculable and\nendless. Yet, what if all the good is lost through our blindness,\nignorance, hardness of heart, pride, self-will, and unbelief? Alas!\nalas! if we too \"go away sorrowful\" from Christ when He threatens to\ntake away our \"much riches,\" though He does so in order only through\nthis very discipline to induce us to follow Himself, and by the cross\nto gain life eternal! Alas! when it can be said of us, \"Yet the Lord\nhath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to\nhear, unto this day; that ye might know that I am the Lord your God.\"\nAnd what is their punishment? \"They have forsaken the Lord, they have\nprovoked the Holy One of Israel to anger, they are gone away backward.\n_Why should ye be stricken any more?_ Ye will revolt more and more!\"\nWhat a real loss of friends would this be! For by separating ourselves\nthrough unbelief from Christ, we thereby for ever separate ourselves\nfrom our friends in Christ, if they are with Him!\n\nYe who have experienced comfort from good in affliction, bless God!\n\"O Lord, my strength, my fortress, and my refuge in the day of\naffliction!\" \"Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me,\nbless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all\nHis benefits.\" Let the remembrance of the past, also, strengthen your\nfaith for the future. As you \"let your requests be made known to God\nwith prayers and supplication,\" do not forget the \"_thanksgiving_\" for\nthis will help you henceforth to \"be careful for nothing.\" He who has\nled you out of Egypt, through \"the depths,\" and across the desert,\nwill never leave you nor forsake you.\n\n3. As you remember your _sins_, consider how very ignorant you are of\ntheir number or their heinousness. But if you could enumerate each\nsinful thought, word, and action committed during the past year and\nduring your past life, there is something in you _worse than sins_,\nand that is _sin itself_, _the evil heart_, the wrong mind, out of\nwhich sins proceed; for the corrupt tree is worse than any definite\nquantity of fruit which it has produced; the ever-flowing bitter\nfountain is worse than any definite quantity of water which has come\nfrom it. But whatever you have been or done in time past, what do you\nintend to be and to do _now_? Is it your intention to continue in\nsin? However dreadful the thought is, yet many, if such is your real\nintention, will sympathise with you. For many _do_ continue in sin,\nand resolve to do so, for the present at least. Will you, then, permit\nthe year to close, and with an unconcerned eye behold all its sin and\nsins added to those of other impenitent years, finally sealed up for\njudgment? How will you then stand the reading of your autobiography?\nRead over any page now, peruse the life of any day, and ask, Has\nthis been the life of one who believes there is a God to whom he is\nresponsible? Point out one solitary proof, and such as you think\nChrist will accept, in all these twelve chapters of the past year,\nof a heart which loved God, or had one mark of a sincere though an\nimperfect follower of Jesus Christ. And if you cannot do so, will you\npermit the volume to close for ever without a cry for mercy, without\nimploring God to wipe out or destroy in the atoning blood of Jesus\nthese pages, which cry \"Guilty\" in every line? Will you not resolve\nrather, through the grace given to every honest man who wishes it, to\nbegin and write a new volume, which shall witness to a changed life,\nand be inscribed no longer with all that is selfish, and of the earth\nearthy--\"without God or Christ in the world.\" Let it be so, I beseech\nof you, my reader. Have done, now and for ever, with this shocking\n_mutiny_ against your God. End the weary, shameful strife. Be, then,\nat peace with God, and remember that for _you_, if you believe in\nJesus, there is free pardon, restoration to favour, a new heart, a new\nlife, which is now life eternal.\n\nAnd for you who have long given up sin as a master--who know that\nwhile the \"flesh wars against the spirit, the spirit wars against the\nflesh,\" thank God and take courage! \"Sin shall not have dominion over\nyou; for ye are not under the law, but under grace.\" Hear the words of\nour invincible Leader, \"Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world;\"\n\"Greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world.\"\n\nThis year we may die. Let this mere possibility lead us to redeem with\ngreater earnestness what remains of life to the service of our God; so\nthat when the next year dawns upon this world it will find us, if we\nare in the other world, remembering our mercies before God's throne,\nour sorrows for ever vanished, and our sins for ever blotted out; but\nthat if we are still here, it will see us living more worthy of our\nmercies, finding true good in our sorrows, and obtaining the victory\nover our sins!","title":"Parish Papers","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":89094}