{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_44644/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_44644","id":"gutenberg_44644","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44644","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Salvation"],"text":"Transcriber's Note\n\nThere is a small amount of Hebrew, e.g. \u05e7\u05d3\u05e9 and Greek, e.g. \u1f05\u03b3\u03b9\u03bf\u03c2 in\nthis book. If this text does not display correctly, you may wish to\nadjust your font or browser settings.\n\n\n\n\n            PHILOSOPHY\n              OF THE\n        PLAN OF SALVATION.\n\n       A Book for the Times.\n\n\n      BY AN AMERICAN CITIZEN.\n\n\n     _A NEW EDITION REVISED._\n\n\n   THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY,\n       56, Paternoster Row;\n  65, St. Paul's Churchyard, and\n         164, Piccadilly.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nI. OCCASION OF THE WORK.\n\nDuring some of the first years of the writer's active life he was a\nsceptic; he had a friend who has since become well known as a lawyer\nand legislator, who was also sceptical in his opinions. We were both\nconversant with the common evidences of Christianity. None of them\nconvinced our minds of the Divine origin of the Christian religion,\nalthough we both thought ourselves willing to be convinced by\nsufficient evidence. Circumstances, which need not be named, led the\nwriter to examine the Bible, and to search for other evidence than\nthat which had been commended to his attention by a much-esteemed\nclerical friend, who presided in one of our colleges. The result of\nthe examination was a thorough conviction in the author's mind of the\ntruth and Divine authority of Christianity. He supposed at that time\nthat, in his inquiries, he had adopted the only true method to settle\nthe question, in the minds of all intelligent inquirers, in relation\nto the Divine origin of the Christian religion. Subsequent reflection\nhas confirmed this opinion.\n\nConvinced himself of the Divine origin of the religion of the Bible,\nthe author commenced a series of letters to convey to his friend the\nevidence which had satisfied his own mind beyond the possibility of\ndoubt. The correspondence was, by the pressure of business\nengagements, interrupted. The investigation was continued, however,\nwhen leisure would permit, for a number of years. The results of this\ninvestigation are contained in the following chapters. The epistolary\nform in which a portion of the book was first written will account for\nsome repetitions, and some varieties in the style, which otherwise\nmight not have been introduced.\n\n\nII. REASONS FOR PRESENTING THE WORK TO THE PUBLIC.\n\nBook-making is not the author's profession. But after examining his\nown private library, and one of the best public libraries in the\ncountry, he could find no treatise in which the course of reasoning\nwas pursued which will be found in the following pages. Dr. Chalmers,\nin closing his Bridgewater Treatise, seems to have had an apprehension\nof the plan and importance of such an argument; and had he devoted\nhimself to the development of the argument suggested, the effort would\nhave been worth more to the world than all the Bridgewater Treatises\nput together, including his own work.\n\nColeridge has somewhere said that the Levitical economy is an enigma\nyet to be solved. To thousands of intelligent minds it is not only an\nenigma, but it is an absolute barrier to their belief in the Divine\norigin of the Bible. The solution of the enigma was the clue which\naided the writer to escape from the labyrinth of doubt; and now,\nstanding upon the rock of unshaken faith, he offers the clue that\nguided him to others.\n\nA work of this kind is called for by the spirit of the age. Although\nthe signs of the times are said to be propitious, yet there are\nconstant developments of undisciplined and unsanctified mind both in\nEurope and America, which furnishes matter of regret to the\nphilanthropist and the Christian. A struggle has commenced--is going\non at present; and the heat of the contest is constantly increasing,\nin which the vital interests of man, temporal and spiritual, are\ninvolved. In relation to man's spiritual interests, the central point\nof controversy is the 'cross of Christ.' In New England, some of those\nwho have diverged from the doctrine of the fathers have wandered into\na wilderness of speculation which, were it not for the evil\nexperienced by themselves and others, ought, perhaps, to be pitied as\nthe erratic aberrations of an unsettled reason, rather than blamed as\nthe manifestations of minds determinately wicked. The most painful\nindication connected with this subject is, that these guilty dreamers\nare not waked from their reveries by the rebuke of men whose position\nand relations in society demand it at their hands.\n\nThe west, likewise, is overrun by sects whose teachers, under the\nname of Reformers, or some other inviting appellation, are using every\neffort to seduce men from the spiritual doctrines and duties of the\ngospel, or to organize them into absolute hostility against Christ.\nThese men are not wanting in intellect, or in acquired knowledge, and\ntheir labours have prejudiced the minds of great numbers against the\nspiritual truths of the gospel, and rendered their hearts callous to\nreligious influence. These facts, in the author's opinion, render such\na volume as he has endeavoured to write necessary, in order to meet\nthe exigencies of the times.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n*** The present edition has been carefully revised; and has been\nslightly modified on one or two minor points, to which exception had\nbeen taken, or which appeared obscure in expression.--1881.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n  CHAPTER                                                     PAGE\n      I. Man will worship--he will become assimilated to\n          the character of the object that he worships--\n          Character of heathen deities defective and\n          unholy--From this corrupting worship man has\n          no power to extricate himself                          9\n\n     II. The design and necessity of the bondage in Egypt       21\n\n    III. Miracles--particularly the miracles which\n          accompanied the deliverance of the Israelites\n          from bondage in Egypt                                 25\n\n     IV. What was necessary as the first step in the\n          process of revelation                                 34\n\n      V. The necessity of affectionate obedience to God;\n          and the manner of producing that obedience in\n          the hearts of the Israelites                          36\n\n     VI. The design and necessity of the Moral Law              41\n\n    VII. The development of the idea of holiness, and its\n          transfer to Jehovah as an attribute                   45\n\n   VIII. The origin of the ideas of justice and mercy, and\n          their transfer to the character of Jehovah            53\n\n     IX. The transition from the material system, by which\n          religious ideas were conveyed through the senses,\n          to the spiritual system, in which abstract ideas\n          were conveyed by words and parables                   61\n\n      X. The medium of conveying to men perfect instruction\n          in doctrine and duty                                  66\n\n     XI. Some of the peculiar proofs of the Messiahship of\n          Christ                                                70\n\n    XII. The condition in life which it was necessary the\n          Messiah should assume in order to benefit the\n          human family in the greatest degree, by his\n          example and instructions                              75\n\n   XIII. The essential principles which must, according to\n          the nature of things, lie at the foundation of\n          the instruction of Christ                             81\n\n    XIV. Faith, the exercise through which truth reaches\n          and affects the soul                                  82\n\n     XV. The manifestations of God which would be necessary,\n          under the new and spiritual dispensation, to\n          produce in the soul of man affectionate obedience     89\n\n    XVI. The influence of faith in Christ upon the moral\n          disposition and moral powers of the soul             117\n\n   XVII. The design and the importance of the means of\n          grace--prayer--praise--preaching                     133\n\n  XVIII. The agency of God in carrying on the work of\n          redemption, and the manner in which that agency\n          is exerted                                           146\n\n    XIX. The practical effects of the system as exemplified\n          in individual cases                                  150\n\n\n\n\nPHILOSOPHY OF THE PLAN OF SALVATION.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nINTRODUCTORY.\n\n\nMAN WILL WORSHIP--HE WILL BECOME ASSIMILATED TO THE CHARACTER OF THE\nOBJECT THAT HE WORSHIPS--CHARACTER OF HEATHEN DEITIES DEFECTIVE AND\nUNHOLY--FROM THIS CORRUPTING WORSHIP MAN HAS NO POWER TO EXTRICATE\nHIMSELF.\n\nThere are three facts, each of them fully developed in the experience\nof the human family, a consideration of which will prepare the mind\nfor the investigation which follows. When considered in their relation\nto each other, and in their bearing upon the moral interests of\nmankind, they will be seen to be of exceeding importance. We will\nadduce these facts, in connection with the statements and principles\nupon which they rest, and show how vital are the interests which\ndepend upon them.\n\n\nTHE FIRST FACT STATED.\n\nThere is in the nature of man, or in the circumstances in which he is\nconditioned, something which leads him to recognise and worship a\nsuperior being. What that _something_ is, is not important in our\npresent inquiry:--whether it be a constitutional instinct inwrought by\nthe Maker--whether it be a deduction of universal reason, inferring a\nfirst cause from the things that are made--whether it be the effect of\ntradition, descending from the first worshippers, through all the\ntribes of the human family--whether any or all of these be the cause,\nthe fact is the same--_Man is a religious being: HE WILL WORSHIP._\n\nIn view of this propension of human nature, philosophers, in seeking a\ngeneric appellation for man, have denominated him a \"religious\nanimal.\" The characteristic is true of him in whatever part of the\nworld he may be found, and in whatever condition; and it has been true\nof him in all ages of which we have any record, either fabulous or\nauthentic.\n\nNavigators have, in a few instances, reported that isolated tribes of\nmen, whom they visited, recognised the existence of no superior being:\nsubsequent researches, however, have generally corrected the error;\nand, in all cases, when it has been supposed that a tribe of men was\nfound believing in no god, the fact has been stated as an evidence of\ntheir degradation below the mass of their species, and of their\napproximation to the confines of brute nature. Of the whole family of\nman, existing in all ages, and scattered over the four quarters of the\nglobe, and in the isles of the sea, there is scarcely one\nwell-authenticated exception to the fact, that, moved by an impulse of\nnature, or the force of circumstances, man worships something which he\nbelieves to be endowed with the attributes of a superior being.\n\n\nTHE SECOND FACT STATED.\n\nThe second fact, connected as it is, by the nature of things, with the\npreceding, assumes the highest degree of importance. It may be stated\nin the following terms:--_Man_, by worshipping, _becomes assimilated\nto the moral character of the object which he worships_. This is an\ninvariable principle, operating with the certainty of cause and\neffect. The worshipper looks upon the character of the object which he\nworships as the standard of perfection. He therefore condemns\neverything in himself which is unlike, and approves of everything\nwhich is like that character. The tendency of this is to lead him to\nabandon everything in himself, and in his course of life, which is\ncondemned by the character and precepts of his god, and to conform\nhimself to that standard which is approved by the same criterion. The\nworshipper desires the favour of the object worshipped, and this,\nreason dictates, can be obtained only by conformity to the will and\nthe character of that object. To become assimilated to the image of\nthe object worshipped must be the end of desire with the worshipper.\nHis aspirations, therefore, every time he worships, do, from the\nnature of the case, assimilate his character more and more to the\nmodel of the object that receives his homage.\n\nTo this fact the whole history of the idolatrous world bears\ntestimony. Without an exception, the character of every nation and\ntribe of the human family has been formed and modified, in a great\ndegree, by the character attributed to their gods.\n\nFrom the history of idolatrous nations we will cite a number of\nfamiliar cases, confirmatory of the foregoing statement, that man\nbecomes like the object of his worship.\n\nA most striking instance is that of the Scythians, and other tribes of\nthe Northmen, who subdued and finally annihilated the Roman power.\nOdin, Thor, and others of their supposed deities, were ideas of\nhero-kings, bloodthirsty and cruel, clothed with the attributes of\ndeity, and worshipped. Their worship turned the milk of human kindness\ninto gall in the bosoms of their votaries, and they seemed, like\nbloodhounds, to be possessed of a horrid delight when they were\nrevelling in scenes of blood and slaughter. It being believed that one\nof their hero-gods, after destroying great numbers of the human race,\ndestroyed himself, it hence became disreputable to die in bed, and\nthose who did not meet death in battle frequently committed suicide,\nsupposing that to die a natural death might exclude them from favour\nin the hall of Valhalla.\n\nAmong the gods of the Greeks and Romans there were some names, in the\nearly ages of their history, to which some virtuous attributes were\nattached; but the conduct and character generally attributed to their\ngods were marked deeply with such traits as heroism, vengeance,\ncaprice, and lust. In the later history of these nations, their\nidolatry degenerated in character, and became a system of most\ndebasing tendency.\n\nThe heroism fostered by idolatry was its least injurious influence.\nPope's couplet, had he thrown a ray or two of light across the\nbackground of the dark picture, would have been a correct delineation\nof the character of pagan idols--\n\n    'Gods partial, changeful, passionate, unjust;\n    Whose attributes were rage, revenge, and lust.'\n\nIn some cases the most corrupt attributes of human nature, and even of\nbrute nature, were attributed to objects of worship, and while men\nbowed down to them, they sank themselves to the lowest depths of vice.\nThe Egyptians might be named as an instance. The first patrons of the\narts and sciences were brute-worshippers; and it is testified of them\nthat bestiality, the lowest vice to which human nature can descend,\nwas common amongst them. The paintings and sculpture of their\ndivinities, in the mummy catacombs, are for the most part clusters of\nbeasts, birds, reptiles, and flies, grouped together in the most\ndisgusting and unnatural relations; a true indication that the minds\nof the worshippers were filled with ideas the most vile and unnatural.\n\nThe ancient Venus, as worshipped by almost all the elder nations of\nantiquity, was a personification of lust. The deeds required to be\ndone at her polluting fane, as acts of homage, ought not to be named.\n\nIn the best days of Corinth--'Corinth, the eye of Greece'--the most\nsacred persons in the city were prostitutes, consecrated to the\nworship of Venus. From this source she derived a large portion of her\nrevenues. The consequence was, that her inhabitants became proverbial\nfor dissoluteness and treachery.\n\nTo the heathen divinities, especially those placed at the head of the\ncatalogue as the superior gods, what theologians have called the\nphysical attributes of deity--omnipotent and omnipresent power--were\ngenerally ascribed; but their moral character was always defective,\nand generally criminal. As one of the best instances in the whole\nmythology of the ancients, the Roman Jupiter might be cited. Had a\nmedal been struck delineating the character of this best of the gods,\non one side might have been engraved _Almightiness_, _Omnipresence_,\n_Justice_; and on the reverse, _Caprice_, _Vengeance_, _Lust_. Thus\nmen clothed depraved or bestial deities with almighty power, and they\nbecame cruel, or corrupt, or bestial in their affections, by the\nreaction of the character worshipped upon the character of the\nworshipper. In the strong language of a recent writer, 'They clothed\nbeasts and depraved beings with the attribute of almightiness, and in\neffect they worshipped almighty beasts and devils.' And the more they\nworshipped, the more they resembled them.\n\nThese testimonies concerning the influence of idolatrous worship, and\nthe character of the idols worshipped, are maintained by authorities\nwhich render doubt in relation to their credibility impossible. Upon\nthis subject the wiser men among the Greeks and Romans have borne\nunequivocal testimony. Plato, in the second book of the Republic,\nspeaks of the pernicious influence of the conduct attributed to the\ngods, and suggests that such histories should not be rehearsed in\npublic, lest they should influence the youth to the commission of\ncrimes. Aristotle advises that statues and paintings of the gods\nshould exhibit no indecent scenes, except in the temples of such\ndivinities as, according to common opinion, preside over\nsensuality.[1] What an affecting testimony of the most discriminating\nmind among the heathen, asserting not only the turpitude of the\nprevailing idolatry, but sanctioning the sensuality of their debauched\nworship!\n\n    [1] Aristot. Politica, vii. 18, ed. Schneider.\n\nAs Rome and Greece grew older, the infection of idolatry festered,\nuntil the body politic became one mass of moral disease. The state of\nthings, in the later ages of these nations, is well stated by a late\nwriter of the first authority.[2] 'We should naturally suppose,' says\nthis writer, 'that among so great a variety of gods, of religious\nactions, of sacred vows, at least some better feeling of the heart\nmust have been excited; that at least some truly pious sentiment would\nhave been awakened. But when we consider the character of this\nsuperstition, and the testimony of contemporaneous writers, such does\nnot appear to have been the fact. Petronius' history of that period\nfurnishes evidence that temples were frequented, altars crowned, and\nprayers offered to the gods, in order that they might render nights of\nunnatural lust agreeable; that they might favour acts of poisoning;\nthat they might cause robberies and other crimes to prosper.' In view\nof the abominations prevailing at this period, the moral Seneca\nexclaimed--'How great now is the madness of men! they lisp the most\nabominable prayers; and if a man is found listening they are silent.\nWhat a man ought not to hear, they do not blush to relate to the\ngods.' Again, says he, 'If any one considers what things they do, and\nto what things they subject themselves, instead of decency he will\nfind indecency; instead of the honourable, the unworthy; instead of\nthe rational, the insane.' Such was heathenism and its influence in\nthe most enlightened ages, according to the testimony of the best men\nof those times.\n\n    [2] Tholuck on the Influence of Heathenism.\n\nIn relation to modern idolatry, the world is full of living witnesses\nof its corrupting tendency. We will cite, in illustration, a single\ncase or two. The following is extracted from a public document, laid\nbefore Parliament by H. Oakley, Esq., a magistrate in Lower Bengal.\nSpeaking of the influence of idolatry in India, he says of the worship\nof Kal\u00e9, one of the most popular idols, 'The murderer, the robber, and\nthe prostitute, all aim to propitiate a being whose worship is\nobscenity, and who delights in the blood of man and beast; and without\nimploring whose aid no act of wickedness is committed. The worship of\nKal\u00e9 must harden the hearts of her followers; and to them scenes of\nblood and crime must become familiar.'\n\nIn China, according to Medhurst, the priests of Buddha understand and\nteach the doctrine of the assimilation of the worshipper to the object\nworshipped. They say--'Think of Buddha and you will be transformed\ninto Buddha. If men pray to Buddha and do not become Buddha, it is\nbecause the mouth prays, and not the mind.'[3]\n\n    [3] For a succinct statement of the universal prevalence of false\n    religions, and their corrupting influence, see Ryan on the Effect\n    of Religion upon Mankind, _passim_.\n\nTwo facts, then, are philosophically and historically true: First--Man\nis a religious animal, and will worship something as a superior being.\nSecond--By worshipping he becomes assimilated to the moral character\nof the object which he worships. And (the God of the Bible out of view\nfor the present) those objects have always had a defective and unholy\ncharacter.\n\nHere, then, is one great source which has developed the corruption of\nthe family of man. We inquire not in this place concerning the origin\nof idolatry; whatever or wherever was its origin, its influence has\nbeen uniformly the same. As no object of idolatrous worship was ever\nconceived to be perfectly just and benevolent, but most of them no\nbetter than the apotheosis of heroes, or the deification of the\nimperfect faculties and impure passions of human or brute nature, the\nresult followed, with a certainty as unerring as cause and effect,\nthat man, by following his instinct to worship, would becloud his\nintellect and corrupt his heart. Notice how inevitable, from the\ncircumstances of the case, was the corruption of man's powers:--He was\nled to worship by an instinct over which he had no control:--The\nobjects of his worship were, whether he originated them or not, all\nof them of a character that corrupted his heart; thus the\ngratification of his instinctive propensities inevitably strengthened\nthe corruption of his nature.\n\nNow it is not our design to inquire whether, or how far, man was\nguilty in producing this evil condition of things. In considering the\nfacts in the case, the inquiry which forces itself upon the mind\nis--Were there any resources in human nature, or any means of any\nkind, of which man could avail himself, by which he might save himself\nfrom the debasing influence of idolatrous worship? In reply,\n\n\nTHE THIRD FACT IS STATED.\n\n_There were no means within the reach of human power or wisdom, by\nwhich man could extricate himself from the evil of idolatry, either by\nan immediate or by a progressive series of efforts._\n\nThis fact is maintained from the history of idolatry, the testimony of\nthe heathen philosophers, and the nature of man.\n\n1. Instead of man acquiring the power or the disposition, as the race\nbecame older, to destroy idolatry--idolatry, from its first entrance\ninto the world, gained power to destroy him. Amid all the mutations of\nsociety, from barbarous to civilised, and amid all the conflicts of\nnations, and the changes of dynasties and forms of government, from\nthe first historic notices which we have of the human family down to\nthe era of Christ, idolatry constantly became more evil in its\ncharacter and more extended in its influence. It is well ascertained\nthat the first objects of idolatrous homage were few and simple, and\nthe worship of the earliest ages comparatively pure. Man fell into\nthis moral debasement but one step at a time. The sun, moon, stars,\nand other conspicuous objects of creative power and wisdom received\nthe first idolatrous homage. Afterwards a divinity was supposed to\nreside in other objects, especially in those men, and beasts, and\nthings which were instrumental in conferring particular benefits on\ntribes or nations of men. And finally, images of those objects were\nformed and worshipped. Images, which subsequently became innumerable,\nwere not so in the earliest historic ages. In some nations, they were\nnot allowed until after the era of the foundation of Rome.[4] As the\nnations grew older, images, which were at the first but few and\nclothed with drapery, became more numerous, and were presented before\nthe worshippers in a state of nudity, and in most obscene attitudes.\nAnd, as has been before stated, their character, from being\ncomparatively innoxious, became, without exception, demoralising in\nthe extreme.\n\n    [4] Plutarch says that Numa forbade the Romans to make statues of\n    their gods.\n\n2. During the Augustan age of Rome, and the age of Pericles and\nAlcibiades in Greece--those periods when the mind had attained the\nhighest elevation ever known among heathen nations--the mass of the\npeople were more idolatrous in their habits, and consequently more\ncorrupt in their hearts, than ever before. The abominations of\nidol-worship, of the mysteries, and of lewdness, in forms too vile to\nname, were rife throughout the country and the villages, and had their\nfoci in the capitals of Greece and Rome. Jahn says, in relation to\nthis period, 'Deities increased in number, and the apotheosis of\nvicious emperors was not unfrequent. Their philosophers, indeed,\ndisputed with much subtlety respecting the architect of the universe,\nbut they knew nothing about the Creator, the holy and almighty Judge\nof men.'\n\nSome of the more intelligent of the philosophers, perceiving the evil\nof the prevailing idolatry, desired to refine the grossness of the\npopular faith. They taught that the facts believed concerning the gods\nwere allegories. Some endeavoured to identify the character of some of\ntheir deities with the natural virtues; while many of them became\nsceptical concerning the existence of the gods and of a future state.\nThose were, however, but isolated exceptions to the mass of mankind;\nand had their views been adopted by others, they would only have\nmodified, not remedied the evil. But a contemporary writer shows how\nentirely unavailing, even to modify the evil, was the teaching of the\nphilosophers. Dionysius of Halicarnassus says, 'There are only a few\nwho have become masters of this philosophy. On the other hand, the\ngreat and unphilosophic mass are accustomed to receive these\nnarratives rather in their worst sense, and to learn one of these two\nthings, either to despise the gods as beings who wallow in the\ngrossest licentiousness, or not to restrain themselves even from what\nis most abominable and abandoned, when they see that the gods do the\nsame.' Cicero, in one sentence, as given by Tholuck, notices both the\nevil and its cause; confirming, in direct language, the preceding\nviews. 'Instead,' says he, 'of the transfer to man of that which is\ndivine, they transferred human sins to the gods, and then experienced\nagain the necessary reaction.' Such, then, is the testimony of the\nphilosophers in relation to the idolatry of their times. A few gifted\nindividuals obtained sufficient light to see the moral evil in which\nmen were involved, but they had neither wisdom to devise a remedy, nor\npower to arrest the progress of the moral pestilence that was\ncorrupting the noble faculties of the human soul.\n\n3. It was impossible, from the nature of man, that he should extricate\nhimself from the corrupting influence of idolatry. In this place we\nwish to state a principle which should be kept in view throughout the\nfollowing discussion: _If man were ever redeemed from idolatrous\nworship, his redemption would have to be accomplished by means and\ninstrumentalities adapted to his nature and the circumstances in which\nhe existed._ If the faculties of his nature were changed, he would not\nbe man. If his temporal condition were changed, different means would\nbe necessary; if, therefore, man, as man, in his present condition,\nwere to be recovered, the means of recovery, whether instituted by God\nor man, must be adapted to his nature and his circumstances.\n\nThe only way, then, in which relief was possible for man was, that an\nobject of worship should be placed before the mind directly opposite\nin moral character to those he had before adored. If his heart was\never purified, it must be by tearing his affections from his gods, and\nfixing them upon a righteous and holy being as the proper object of\nhis homage. But for man to form such an object was plainly impossible.\nHe could not transfer a better character to his gods than he himself\npossessed. Man could not 'bring a pure thing out of an impure.' The\neffect could not rise higher in moral purity than the cause. Human\nnature, in the maturity of its faculties, all agree, is imperfect and\nselfish; and, for an imperfect and selfish being to originate a\nperfect and holy character, deify it, and worship it, is to suppose\nwhat is contrary to the nature of things. The thought of the eloquent\nand philosophic Cicero expresses all that man could do. He could\ntransfer his own imperfect attributes to the gods, and, by worshipping\na being characterized by these imperfections, he would receive in\nhimself the reaction of his own depravity.\n\nBut if some men had had the power and the disposition to form for the\nworld a perfectly holy object of worship, still the great difficulty,\nas we have seen in the case of the philosophers, would have remained,\nthat is, a want of the necessary power to arrest the progress of\nidolatry and substitute the better worship. To doubt the truth of the\nprevailing idolatry was all that men, at the highest intellectual\nattainment ever acquired in heathen countries, could do. And if they\nhad had power to convey their doubts to all minds in all the world, it\nwould only have been to place mankind in the chaotic darkness of\natheism, and leave them to be led again by their instincts into the\nabominations of imperfect and impure worship.\n\nThe testimony, then, is conclusive, from the history of idolatry, that\nthe evil became greater every age--from the statement of the wisest of\nthe heathen, that they had no power to arrest its progress--and from\nthe nature of man, that it was not possible for him to relieve\nhimself from the corrupting influence of idolatry, in which he had\nbecome involved.\n\nFrom the foregoing facts and reasonings it is plain that the high-born\nfaculties of the human soul must have been blighted for ever, by a\ncorrupting worship, unless two things were accomplished, neither of\nwhich it was in the power of human nature to effect; and yet both of\nwhich were essentially necessary to accomplish the elevation of man\nfrom the pit into which he had fallen.\n\nThe first thing necessary to be accomplished was, that _a pure object\nof worship should be placed before the eye of the soul_. Purity of\nheart and conscience would be necessary in the object of worship,\notherwise the heart and conscience of the worshipper would not be\npurified. But if an object were presented, whose nature was infinitely\nopposed to sin--to all defilement, both physical and spiritual--and\nwho revealed, in his example, and by his precepts, a perfect standard\nto govern the life of man under the circumstances in which he was\nplaced, then man's mind would be enlightened, his conscience\nrectified, and the hard and corrupt feelings of his heart softened and\npurified, by assimilation to the object of his worship.--As, according\nto the nature of things, an unholy object of worship would necessarily\ndegrade and corrupt the human soul; so, on the contrary, a holy object\nworshipped would necessarily elevate and purify the nature of man.\n\nThe second necessary thing in order to man's redemption was, _that\nwhen a holy object of worship was revealed, the revelation should be\naccompanied with sufficient power to influence men to forsake their\nformer worship, and to worship the holy object made known to them_.\nThe presentation of a new and pure object would not cause men to turn\nfrom their former opinions and practices, and become directly opposed\nin heart to what they had formerly loved. A display of power would be\nnecessary, sufficient to overcome their former faith and their present\nfears, and to detach their affections from idols, and fix them upon\nthe proper object of human homage.\n\nIt follows, then, that man must remain a corrupt idolater for ever,\nunless God interpose in his behalf. The question whether he would thus\ninterpose, in the only way possible, to save the race from moral\ndeath, depends entirely upon the benevolence of his nature. The\nquestion whether he has done so may be answered by inquiring whether\nany system of means has been instituted in this world, characterized\nby sufficient power to destroy idolatry--revealing at the same time a\nholy object of worship--and this revelation being accompanied by means\nand influences so adapted to man's nature as to secure the result.\n\nTo this inquiry the future pages of this volume will be devoted. The\ninquiry is not primarily concerning the truth of the Bible; but\nconcerning the only religion possible for mankind, and the only means\nby which such religion could be given consistently with man's nature\nand circumstances.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nTHE DESIGN AND NECESSITY OF THE BONDAGE IN EGYPT.\n\n\nThere are certain bonds of union, and sources of sympathy, by which\nthe minds of a whole people may be united into one common mind: so\nmuch so, that all hearts in the nation will be affected by the same\nsubjects, and all minds moved by the same motives. Any cause which\ncreates a common interest and a common feeling, common biases and\ncommon hopes, in the individual minds which compose a nation, has a\ntendency to unite them in this manner.\n\nSome of the causes which have more power than any others to bind men,\nas it were, into a common being, are the following:--The natural tie\nof consanguinity, or a common parentage, is a strong bond of\naffiliation among men. And there are others, which, in some cases,\nseem to be even stronger than this; among these may be named a common\ninterest; a common religion; and a common fellowship in suffering and\ndeliverance. Any circumstance which educes the susceptibilities of the\nmind and twines them together, or around a common object--any event in\nwhich the interest, the feelings, the safety, or the reputation of any\npeople is involved, causes them to be more closely allied to each\nother in social and civil compact.\n\nThe more firmly a people are bound together by these ties of union,\nthe more strength they will possess to resist opposing interests and\nopinions from without; while, at the same time, everything national,\nor peculiar to them as a people, will be cherished with warmer and\nmore tenacious attachment.\n\nFrom the operation of this principle originates the maxim 'Union is\nstrength;' and whether the conflict be mental or physical, the people\nwho are united together by the most numerous and powerful sympathies\nwill oppose the strongest and the longest resistance to the\ninnovations of external forces. On the contrary, if the bonds of moral\nunion are few, and easily sundered, the strength of the nation is soon\nbroken, and the fragments easily repelled from each other.\n\nAccording to this principle, in all cases in which a whole nation is\nto be instructed, or prepared for offence and defence, or in any wise\nfitted to be acted upon, or to act as a nation, it would be necessary\nthat the bonds of national union should be numerous and strong; and\nthat, as far as possible, a perfect oneness of interest and feeling\nshould pervade the nation.\n\nSo long as the human mind and human circumstances continue what they\nare, no power in heaven or on earth could unite a people together,\nexcept by the same or similar means as have been stated. If,\ntherefore, God designed to form a nation, either to be acted upon or\nto act as a nation, he would put in operation those agencies which\nwould bind them firmly and permanently into one mass.\n\nNow, mark the application of these deductions to the case of the\nIsraelites. About the period when the corruptions of idolatry were\nbecoming generally prevalent, Abraham, the Bible record states, was\nextricated by Divine interposition. He was assured that his\ndescendants should suffer a long bondage, and afterwards become a\nnumerous nation. Abraham was their common ancestor, one whom they\nremembered with reverence and pride; and each individual felt himself\nhonoured by the fact that the blood of the \"father of the faithful\"\ncircled in his veins. The tie of consanguinity in their case was bound\nin the strongest manner, and encircled the whole nation. In Egypt\ntheir circumstances and employments were the same; and, in the\nendurance of a protracted and most galling bondage, they had a common\nlot. Their liberation was likewise a national deliverance, which\naffected alike the whole people, the anniversary of which was\ncelebrated by distant posterity with strong and peculiar national\nenthusiasm.\n\nNow, it has been said that the events of our colonial servitude, and\nthe achievement of American independence, are points in our history\nwhich will ever operate upon our national character, impressing clear\nviews of the great principles of republicanism, and uniting all hearts\nin support of those principles: how much more affecting and indelible,\nthen, was the impress made upon the national heart of the Israelites\nby their bondage and deliverance! They were bound by blood, by\ninterest, feeling, hopes, fears, by bondage, and by faith.\n\nAnd how firmly did these providences weave into one web the sympathies\nand views of the Jewish people! It is a fact which is the miracle of\nhistory, and the wonder of the world, that the ties which unite this\npeople seem to be indissoluble. While other nations have risen and\nreigned and fallen; while the ties which united them have been\nsundered, and their fragments lost amid earth's teeming population,\nthe stock of Abraham endures, like an incorruptible monument of gold,\nundestroyed by the attrition of the waves of time, which have dashed\nin pieces and washed away other nations, whose origin was but\nyesterday, compared with this ancient and wonderful people.\n\nIn this manner was this nation prepared for peculiar duties, and to\ndischarge those duties under peculiar circumstances. Many of the\nnations by which they were surrounded were more powerful than\nthemselves; all were warlike, and each had its peculiar system of\nidolatry, which corrupted all hearts that came within its influence.\nHence the necessity that this people should be so united as to resist\nthe power and contagious example of surrounding nations, while they\nwere fitted to receive and preserve a peculiar national character,\ncivil polity, and religious doctrines; of all which they were to be\nthe conservators, amid surrounding and opposing heathenism, for many\nages.\n\nOther facts might be added to the induction, which would make the\ndesign, if possible, more apparent. If the Jews were to be the\nrecipients of new instruction--to obey new laws, and to sustain new\ninstitutions, it would be desirable that their minds, so far as\npossible, should be in the condition of new material, occupied by\nlittle previous knowledge, and by no national prejudices against or in\nfavour of governmental forms and systems. Now, in the case of the\nJews, the habit of obedience had been acquired. They had no national\npredilections or prejudices arising from past experience. In relation\nto knowledge of any kind, their mind was almost a _tabula rasa_. They\nwere as new material prepared to receive the moulding of a master\nhand, and the impress of a governing mind.\n\nNow, as this discipline of the descendants of Abraham was the result\nof a long concatenation of events, and could not have been designed by\nthemselves to accomplish the necessary end; and as the whole chain of\nevents was connected together and perfectly adapted, in accordance\nwith the nature of things, to produce the specific purpose which was\naccomplished by them, it follows, as the only rational conclusion,\nfirst that the overruling intelligence of God was employed in thus\npreparing material for a purer religious worship than the world then\nenjoyed; and, second, that a nation could have been so prepared by no\nother agent, and in no other way.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nCONCERNING MIRACLES--PARTICULARLY THE MIRACLES WHICH ACCOMPANIED THE\nDELIVERANCE OF THE ISRAELITES FROM BONDAGE IN EGYPT.\n\n\nThere has been so much false philosophy written concerning the subject\nof miracles, that it is difficult for those conversant with the\nspeculations of writers upon this subject, to divest their minds\nsufficiently of preformed biases, to examine candidly the simple and\nnatural principles upon which are based the evidence and necessity of\nmiraculous interposition.\n\nThe following statement is true beyond controversy: _Man cannot, in\nthe present constitution of his mind, have sufficient reason for\nbelieving that religion has a Divine origin, unless it be accompanied\nwith miracles._ The natural inference of the mind is that, if an\nInfinite Being act, his acts will be superhuman in their character;\nbecause the effect, reason dictates, will be characterized by the\nnature of its cause. Man has the same reason to expect that God will\nperform acts above human power and knowledge, that he has to suppose\nthe inferior orders of animals will, in their actions, sink below the\npower and wisdom which characterize human nature. For, as it is\nnatural for man to perform acts superior to the power and knowledge of\nthe animals beneath him, so reason affirms that it is natural for God\nto develop his power by means, and in ways, above the skill and\nability of mortals. Hence, if God manifest himself at all--unless, in\naccommodation to the capacities of men, he should constrain his\nmanifestations within the compass of human ability--every act of God's\nimmediate power would, to human capacity, be a miracle. But, if God\nwere to constrain all his acts within the limits of human means and\nagencies, it would be impossible for man to discriminate between the\nacts of the Godhead and the acts of the manhood. And man, if he\nconsidered acts to be of a Divine origin, which were plainly within\nthe compass of human ability, would violate his own reason.\n\nSuppose, for illustration, that God desired to reveal a religion to\nmen, and wished them to recognise his character and his benevolence in\ngiving that revelation. Suppose, further, that God should give such a\nrevelation, and that every appearance and every act connected with its\nintroduction were characterized by nothing superior to human power;\ncould any rational mind on earth believe that such a system of\nreligion came from God? Impossible! A man could as easily be made to\nbelieve that his own child, who possessed his own lineaments, and his\nown nature, belonged to some other world, and some other order of the\ncreation. It would not be possible for God to convince men that a\nreligion was from heaven unless it was accompanied with the marks of\nDivine Power.\n\nSuppose, again, that some individual were to appear either in the\nheathen or Christian world--he claimed to be a teacher sent from God,\nyet aspired to the performance of no miracles. He assumed to do\nnothing superior to the wisdom and ability of other men. Such an\nindividual, although he might in gaining proselytes to some particular\nview of a religion already believed, yet could never make men believe\nthat he had a special commission from God to establish a new religion,\nfor the simple reason that he had no grounds more than his fellows to\nsupport his claims as an agent of the Almighty. But if he could\nconvince a single individual that he had wrought a miracle, or that he\nhad power to do so, that moment his claims would be established, in\nthat mind, as a commissioned agent from heaven: so certainly, and so\nintuitively, do the minds of men revere and expect miracles as the\ncredentials of the Divine presence.\n\nThis demand of the mind for miracles, as testimony of the Divine\npresence and power, is intuitive with all men; and those very\nindividuals who have doubted the existence or necessity of miracles,\nshould they examine their own convictions on this subject, would see\nthat, by an absolute necessity, if they desired to give the world a\nsystem of religion, whether truth or imposture, in order to make men\nreceive it as of Divine authority, they must work miracles to attest\nits truth, or make men believe that they did so. Men can produce doubt\nof a revelation in no way until they have destroyed the evidence of\nits miracles; nor can faith be produced in the Divine origin of a\nreligion until the evidence of miracles is supplied.\n\nThe conviction that miracles are the true attestation of immediate\nDivine agency, is so constitutional (allow the expression) with the\nreason, that so soon as men persuade themselves they are the special\nagents of God, in propagating some particular truth in the world, they\nadopt likewise the belief that they have ability to work miracles.\nThere have been many sincere enthusiasts, who believed that they were\nspecial agents of Heaven, and, in such cases, the conviction of their\nown miraculous powers arises as a necessary concomitant of the other\nopinion. Among such, in modern times, may be instanced Emanuel\nSwedenborg. Impostors also, perceiving that miracles were necessary in\norder that the human mind should receive a religion as Divine, have\ninvariably claimed miraculous powers. Such instances recur constantly,\nfrom the days of Elymas down to the Mormon, Joseph Smith.\n\nAll the multitude of false religions that have been believed since the\nworld began have been introduced by the power of this principle.\n_Miracles believed_, lie at the foundation of all religions which men\nhave ever received as of Divine origin. No matter how degrading or\nrepulsive to reason in other respects, the fact of its establishment\nand propagation grows out of the belief of men that supernatural\nagency lies at the bottom.[5] This belief will give currency to any\nsystem, however absurd: and without it, no system can be established\nin the minds of men, however high and holy may be its origin and its\ndesign.\n\n    [5] Mohammedanism is no exception: as the wonders reported by the\n    false prophet, though unseen, were _believed_. 'The Koran,' he\n    said, 'is itself a miracle!'\n\nSuch, then, is the constitution which the Maker has given to the\nmind. Whether the conviction be an intuition or an induction of the\nreason, God is the primary cause of its existence; and its existence\nputs it out of the power of man to accept a revelation from God\nhimself, unless accompanied by miracle. If, therefore, God ever gave a\nrevelation to man, it was necessarily accompanied with miracles, and\nwith miracles of such a nature as would clearly distinguish the Divine\ncharacter and the Divine authority of the dispensation.\n\nThe whole fulness and force of these deductions apply to the case of\nthe Israelites. The laws of their mind not only demanded miracles as\nan attestation of Divine interposition; but at that time, the belief\nexisted in their minds that miracles were constantly performed.\nAlthough they remembered the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, yet\nthey likewise, as subsequent facts clearly attested, believed that the\nidols of Egypt possessed the attributes of Divinity. The belief in a\nplurality of gods was then common to all nations. And although this\nerror was corrected, and perhaps entirely removed, by succeeding\nprovidences and instructions, from the minds of the Jews; yet, before\nthe miracles in Egypt, while the God of Abraham was, perhaps, in most\ncases acknowledged as their God, the idols of Egypt were acknowledged\nas the gods of the Egyptians, and probably worshipped as the\ndivinities who had power to dispense good and evil to all the\ninhabitants of that land. And in common with all Egypt, they, no\ndoubt, believed that the acts of jugglery, in which the magicians, or\npriests of Egypt, had made astonishing proficiency, were actual\nmiracles, exhibiting the power of their idols, and the authority of\nthe priests to act in their name.\n\nIn view, therefore, of existing circumstances, two things were\nnecessary, on the part of God,[6] in order to establish belief in any\nrevelation to the Israelites:--First, that he should manifest himself\nby miracles; and, Secondly, that those miracles should be of such a\ncharacter, as evidently to distinguish them from the jugglery of the\nmagicians, and to convince all observers of the existence and\nomnipotence of the true God, in contradistinction from the objects of\nidolatrous worship. Unless these two things were done, it would have\nbeen impossible for the Israelites to have recognised JEHOVAH as the\n_only living_ and _true GOD_.\n\n    [6] When we speak of a thing as necessary on the part of God, it\n    is said, not in reference to God's attributes, but to man's nature\n    and circumstances.\n\nIt follows, then, that by the miracles which God wrought by the hand\nof Moses, he pursued the only way that was possible to authenticate a\nrevelation in which his presence and power would be recognised. The\nonly point of inquiry remaining is, Were the miracles of such a\ncharacter, and performed in such a manner, as to remove false views\nfrom the minds of the Israelites, and introduce right views concerning\nthe true God, and the non-existence of factitious objects of worship?\n\nWith this point in view, the design in the management and character of\nthe miracles in Egypt is interesting and obvious. Notice, first, the\nwhole strength of the magicians' skill was brought out and measured\nwith that of the miraculous power exerted through Moses. If this had\nnot been done, the idea would have remained in the minds of the people\nthat, although Moses wielded a mighty miraculous power, it might be\nderived from the Egyptian gods, or if it were not thus derived, they\nmight have supposed that if the priests of those idols were summoned,\nthey would contravene or arrest the power vested in Moses by Jehovah.\nBut now, the magicians appearing in the name of their gods, the power\nof Moses was seen to be not only superior to their sorceries, but\nhostile to them and their idolatrous worship.\n\nNotice, secondly, the design and adaptedness of the miracles, not only\nto distinguish the power of the true God, but to destroy the\nconfidence placed in the protection and power of the idols.\n\nThe first miracle, while it authenticated the mission of Moses,\ndestroyed the serpents which, among the Egyptians, were objects of\nworship; thus evincing, in the outset, that their gods could neither\nhelp the people nor save themselves.\n\nThe second miracle was directed against the river Nile, another object\nwhich they regarded with religious reverence. This river they held\nsacred, as the Hindoos do the Ganges; and even the fish in its waters\nthey revered as objects of worship. They drank the water with\nreverence and delight; and supposed that a Divine efficacy dwelt in\nits waves to heal diseases of the body. The water of this, their\ncherished object of idolatrous homage, was transmuted to blood; and\nits finny idols became a mass of putridity.\n\nThe third miracle was directed to the accomplishment of the same\nend--the destruction of faith in the river as an object of worship.\nThe waters of the Nile were caused to send forth legions of frogs,\nwhich infested the whole land, and became a nuisance and a torment to\nthe people. Thus their idol, by the power of the true God, was\npolluted, and turned into a source of pollution to its worshippers.\n\nBy the fourth miracle of a series constantly increasing in power and\nseverity, lice came upon man and beast throughout the land. 'Now, if\nit be remembered,' says Gleig, 'that no one could approach the altars\nof Egypt upon whom so impure an insect harboured, and that the\npriests, to guard against the slightest risk of contamination, wore\nonly linen garments, and shaved their heads and bodies every day,[7]\nthe severity of this miracle as a judgment upon Egyptian idolatry may\nbe imagined. Whilst it lasted no act of worship could be performed;\nand so keenly was this felt, that the very magicians exclaimed--\"This\nis the finger of God!\"'\n\n    [7] Every third day, according to Herodotus.\n\nThe fifth miracle was designed to destroy the trust of the people in\nBeelzebub, or the Fly-god, who was reverenced as their protector from\nvisitations of swarms of ravenous flies which infested the land,\ngenerally about the time of the dog-days, and removed only, as they\nsupposed, at the will of this idol. The miracle now wrought by Moses\nevinced the impotence of Beelzebub, and caused the people to look\nelsewhere for relief from the fearful visitation under which they were\nsuffering.\n\nThe sixth miracle, which destroyed the cattle, excepting those of the\nIsraelites, was aimed at the destruction of the entire system of brute\nworship. This system, degrading and bestial as it was, had become a\nmonster of many heads in Egypt. They had their sacred bull, and ram,\nand heifer, and goat, and many others, all of which were destroyed by\nthe agency of the God of Moses. Thus by one act of power Jehovah\nmanifested his own supremacy, and destroyed the very existence of\ntheir brute idols.\n\nOf the peculiar fitness of the sixth plague (the seventh miracle),\nsays the writer before quoted, the reader will receive a better\nimpression, when he is reminded that in Egypt there were several\naltars upon which human sacrifices were occasionally offered when they\ndesired to propitiate Typhon, or the Evil Principle. These victims\nbeing burned alive, their ashes were gathered together by the\nofficiating priests, and thrown up into the air, in order that evil\nmight be averted from every place to which an atom of the ashes was\nwafted. By the direction of Jehovah, Moses took a handful of ashes\nfrom the furnace (which, very probably, the Egyptians at this time had\nfrequently used to turn aside the plagues with which they were\nsmitten), and he cast it into the air, as they were accustomed to do;\nand instead of averting evil, boils and blains fell upon all the\npeople of the land. Neither king, nor priest, nor people escaped. Thus\nthe bloody rites of Typhon became a curse to the idolaters; the\nsupremacy of Jehovah was affirmed, and the deliverance of the\nIsraelites insisted upon.\n\nThe ninth miracle was directed against the worship of Serapis, whose\npeculiar office was supposed to be to protect the country from\nlocusts. At periods these destructive insects came in clouds upon the\nland, and, like an overshadowing curse, they blighted the fruits of\nthe field and the verdure of the forest. At the command of Moses\nthese terrible insects came--and they retired only at his bidding.\nThus was the impotence of Serapis made manifest, and the idolaters\ntaught the folly of trusting in any other protection than that of\nJehovah the God of Israel.\n\nThe eighth and tenth miracles were directed against the worship of\nIsis and Osiris, to whom and the river Nile they awarded the first\nplace[8] in the long catalogue of their idolatry. These idols were\noriginally the representatives of the sun and moon; they were believed\nto control the light and the elements, and their worship prevailed in\nsome form among all the early nations. The miracles directed against\nthe worship of Isis and Osiris must have made a deep impression on the\nminds both of the Israelites and the Egyptians. In a country where\nrain seldom falls--where the atmosphere is always calm, and the light\nof the heavenly bodies always continued, what was the horror pervading\nall minds during the elemental war described in the Hebrew\nrecord--during the long period of three days and three nights, while\nthe gloom of thick darkness settled, like the out-spread pall of\ndeath, over the whole land! Jehovah of hosts summoned Nature to\nproclaim him the true God--the God of Israel asserted his supremacy,\nand exerted his power to degrade the idols, destroy idolatry, and\nliberate the descendants of Abraham from the land of their bondage.\n\n    [8] Against the worship of the Nile, two miracles were directed,\n    and two likewise against Isis and Osiris, because they were\n    supposed to be the supreme gods. Many placed the Nile first, as\n    they said it had power to water Egypt independently of the action\n    of the elements.\n\nThe Almighty having thus revealed himself as the true God, by\nmiraculous agency, and pursued those measures, in the exercise of his\npower, which were directly adapted to destroy the various forms of\nidolatry which existed in Egypt, the eleventh and last miracle was a\njudgment, in order to manifest to all minds that Jehovah was the God\nwho executed judgment in the earth.\n\nThe Egyptians had, for a long time, cruelly oppressed the Israelites,\nand to put the finishing horror to their atrocities, they had finally\nslain, at their birth, the offspring of their victims; and now God, in\nthe exercise of infinite justice, visited them with righteous\nretribution. In the mid-watches of the night, the 'angel of the\npestilence' was sent to the dwellings of Egypt, and he 'breathed in\nthe face' of all the first-born in the land. In the morning, the hope\nof every family, from the palace to the cottage, was a corpse. What\nmind can imagine the awful consternation of that scene, when an\nagonizing wail rose from the stricken hearts of all the parents in the\nnation? The cruel task-masters were taught, by means which entered\ntheir souls, that the true God was a God not only of power but of\njudgment, and as such, to be feared by evil-doers, and reverenced by\nthose that do well.\n\nThe demonstration, therefore, is conclusive, that in view of the\nidolatrous state of the world, and especially of the character and\ncircumstances of the Israelites, the true God could have made a\nrevelation of himself in no other way than by the means, and in the\nmanner, of the miracles of Egypt; and none but the true God could have\nrevealed himself in this way.[9]\n\n    [9] In accordance with the foregoing are the intimations given in\n    the Bible of the design of the miracles of Egypt. By these\n    exhibitions of Divine power God said--'Ye,' the Israelites, 'and\n    Pharaoh shall know that I am Jehovah.'\n\n    Miracles, moreover, were the evidence that Pharaoh required.--Ex.\n    vii. 9, God said to Moses, that when he should present himself as\n    the Divine legate, and Pharaoh should require a miracle, he should\n    perform it accordingly.\n\n    In relation to the destruction of idolatry, the design of Jehovah\n    is expressly announced (Ex. xii. 12), 'Against all the Gods of\n    Egypt I will execute judgment: I am Jehovah.'\n\n    See also Ex. xviii. 11.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nWHAT WAS NECESSARY AS THE FIRST STEP IN THE PROCESS OF REVELATION.\n\n\nBy the miracles of Egypt, the false views and corrupt habits of the\nIsraelites were, for the time being, in a great measure removed.\nPreviously they had believed in a plurality of gods; and although they\nremembered the God of Abraham, yet they had, as is evident from\nnotices in the Bible, associated with his attribute of almighty power\n(the only attribute well understood by the patriarchs) many of the\ncorrupt attributes of the Egyptian idols. Thus the idea of God was\ndebased by having grovelling and corrupt attributes superinduced upon\nit. By miraculous agency these dishonourable views of the Divine\ncharacter were removed; their minds were emptied of false impressions\nin order that they might be furnished with the true idea and the true\nattributes of the Supreme Being.\n\nBut how, to minds in the infancy of knowledge respecting God and human\nduty--having all they had previously learned removed, and being now\nabout to take the first step in their progress--how could the first\nprinciples of Divine knowledge be conveyed to such minds?\n\nOne thing, in the outset, would evidently be necessary. Knowledge, as\nthe mind is constituted, can be communicated in no other way than\nprogressively; it would be necessary, therefore, that they should\nbegin with the elementary principles, and proceed through all the\nstages of their education. The mind cannot receive at once all the\nparts of a system in religion, science, or any other department of\nhuman knowledge. One fact or idea must be predicated upon another,\njust as one stone rests upon another, from the foundation to the top\nof the building. There are successive steps in the acquisition of\nknowledge, and every step in the mind's progress must be taken from\nadvances already made. God has inwrought the law of progression into\nthe nature of things, and observes it in his own works. From the\nspringing of a blade to the formation of the mind, or of a world,\nevery thing goes forward by consecutive steps.\n\nIt was necessary, therefore, in view of the established laws of the\nmind, that the knowledge of God and human duty should be imparted to\nthe Israelites by successive communications--necessary that there\nshould be a first step, or primary principle, for a starting point,\nand then a progression onward and upward to perfection.\n\nIn accordance with these principles, God, in the introduction of the\nMosaic dispensation, revealed only his essential existence to the\nIsraelites. In Exodus iii. 13, 14, it is stated that Moses inquired of\nGod, 'Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say\nunto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they\nshall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God\nsaid, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the\nchildren of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.' In the Hebrew text,\nthe simple form of the verb is used, corresponding with the first\nperson present, indicative, of the English verb _to be_. Simply, 'I\nam,' conveying no idea but that of personality and existence. WHAT HE\nwas, besides his existence thus revealed, was afterwards to be\nlearned. This was a revelation of Divine BEING--a nucleus of essential\nDeity, as a foundation fact of the then new dispensation, upon which\nGod, by future manifestations, might engraft the attributes of his\nnature.\n\nThus, at the outset of the dispensation, there was thrown into their\nminds a first truth. God revealed his Divine existence; and the idea\nof God, thus revealed, was in their minds, without any other attribute\nbeing connected with it than that of infinite power--an attribute of\nthe Godhead which all men derive from the works of nature--which was\nknown to the patriarchs as belonging to the true God, and which was\nnow, by the miracles manifesting supreme power, appropriated to I\nAM--Jehovah--the God of the Israelites.\n\nThus were this peculiar people carried back to the first principles of\nnatural religion--their mind disembarrassed from false notions\npreviously entertained, and the true idea of the supreme God and Judge\nof men revealed. By these providences, they were prepared, in a manner\nconsistent with the nature of things and the nature of mind, to\nreceive a further revelation of the moral attributes of Jehovah, whom\nthey now recognised as the Supreme God.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nTHE NECESSITY OF AFFECTIONATE OBEDIENCE TO GOD; AND THE MANNER OF\nPRODUCING THAT OBEDIENCE IN THE HEARTS OF THE ISRAELITES.\n\n\nThe following principles in relation to the affections will be\nrecognised by consciousness as true in the experience of every man. As\nthey lie at the foundation of the moral exercises of the soul, and as\nthey relate to the sources and central principles of all true\nreligion, it will be necessary for the reader to notice them, in order\nthat he may see their application in subsequent pages.\n\n1. The affections of the soul move in view of certain objects, or in\nview of certain qualities believed to exist in those objects. The\naffections never move--in familiar words, the heart never loves,\nunless love be produced by seeing, or by believing that we see, some\nlovely and excellent qualities in the object. When the soul believes\nthose good qualities to be possessed by another, and especially when\nthey are exercised towards us, the affections, like a magnetised\nneedle, tremble with life, and turn towards their object.\n\n2. The affections are not subject to the will;[10] neither our own\nwill nor any other will can directly control them. I cannot will to\nlove a being who does not appear to me lovely, and who does not\nexhibit the qualities adapted to move the affections; nor can I, by\ncommand, or by any other effort of will, cause another being to love\nme. The affections are not subject to command. You cannot force\nanother to love, or respect, or even, from the heart, to obey. Such an\nattitude assumed to produce love would invariably produce disaffection\nrather than affection. No one (as a matter of fact) thinks the\naffections subject to the will, and, therefore, men never endeavour to\nobtain the affections of others solely by command, but by exhibiting\nsuch a character and conferring such favours as they know are adapted\nto move the heart. An effect could as easily exist without a cause as\naffection in the bosom of any human being which was not produced by\ngoodness or excellencies seen, or believed to exist, in some other\nbeing.\n\n    [10] We state the facts in the case, of which every man is\n    conscious in his own experience, without regard to the theories of\n    sects in religion or philosophy.\n\n3. The affections, although not governed by the will, do themselves\ngreatly influence the will. All acts of will produced entirely by pure\naffection for another are disinterested. Cases of the affections\ninfluencing the will are common in the experience of every one. There\nis probably no one living who has not, at some period of his life, had\naffection for another, so that it gave more pleasure to please the\nobject of his love than to please himself. Love for another always\ninfluences the will to act in such a way as will please the object\nloved. The individual loving acts in view of the desires of the loved\nobject, and such acts are disinterested, not being done with any\nselfish end in view, but for the sake of another. So soon as the\naffections move towards an object, the will is proportionably\ninfluenced to please and benefit that object; or, if a superior being,\nto obey his will and secure his favour.\n\n4. All happy obedience must arise from affection. Affectionate\nobedience blesses the spirit which yields it, if the conscience\napprove the object loved and obeyed, while, on the contrary, no\nhappiness can be experienced from obedience to any being that we do\nnot love. To obey externally either God or a parent, from no other\nthan interested motives, would be sin. The devil might be obeyed for\nthe same reasons. Love must, therefore, constitute an essential\nelement in all proper obedience to God.\n\n5. When the affections of two are reciprocally fixed upon each other,\nthey constitute a bond of union and sympathy peculiarly strong and\ntender:--those things that affect the one affecting the other, in\nproportion to the strength of affection existing between them. One\nconforms to the will of the other, not from a sense of obligation\nmerely, but from choice; and the constitution of the soul is such that\nthe sweetest enjoyment of which it is capable arises from the exercise\nof reciprocal affection.\n\n6. When the circumstances of an individual are such that he is exposed\nto constant suffering and great danger, the more afflictive his\nsituation the more grateful love will he feel for affection and\nbenefits received under such circumstances. If his circumstances were\nsuch that he could not relieve himself, and such that he must suffer\ngreatly or perish; and, while, in this condition, if another, moved by\nbenevolent regard for him, should come to aid and save him, his\naffection for his deliverer would be increased by a sense of the\ndanger from which he was rescued.\n\n7. It is an admitted principle that protracted and close attention\nalways fixes the fact attended to deeply in the memory; and the longer\nand more intensely the mind attends to any subject, other subjects\nproportionably lose their power to interest. The same is true in\nrelation to the affections. The longer and more intensely we\ncontemplate an object in that relation which is adapted to draw out\nthe affections, the more deeply will the impression be made upon the\nheart, as well as upon the memory. The most favourable circumstances\npossible to fix an impression deeply upon the heart and memory\nare--First, that there should be protracted and earnest attention;\nand--Second, that at the same time that the impression is made, the\nemotions of the soul should be alive with excitement. Without these,\nan impression made upon the heart and the memory would be slight and\neasily effaced; while, on the contrary, an impression made during\nintense attention and excited feeling will be engraved, as with a pen\nof steel, upon the tablets of the soul.\n\nNow, with these principles in mind, mark the means used to fix the\nattention and to excite the susceptibilities of the Israelites, and,\nwhile in that state of attention and excitement, to draw their\naffections to God.\n\nThe children of Israel were suffering the most grievous bondage, which\nhad arrived at almost an intolerable degree of cruelty and injustice.\nJust at this crisis the God of their fathers appears as their\nDeliverer, and Moses is commissioned as his prophet. When the people\nare convened and their minds aroused by the hopes of deliverance,\ntheir attention is turned to two parties: one, Pharaoh, their\noppressor and the slayer of their first-born; and the other the God of\nAbraham, who now appeared as their Deliverer, espousing their cause\nand condescending personally to oppose Himself to their oppressor.\nThen a scene ensues adapted in all its circumstances to make a deep\nand enduring impression upon their memory and their hearts.--The God\nof Abraham seems, by his judgments, to have forced the oppressor to\nrelent, and to let the people go. At this point hope and encouragement\npredominate in their minds. Now their oppressor's heart is hardened,\nand he renews his cruelty; but while their hopes are sinking, they are\nagain revived and strengthened, by finding that God continues to use\nmeans to induce Pharaoh to release the captives. Thus, for a\nconsiderable length of time, all the powers of excitability in their\nnature are aroused to activity. Towards that being who had so\ngraciously interposed in their behalf they felt emotions of hope,\ngratitude, love, and admiration. Towards their oppressor feelings of\nan opposite character must have been engendered; and this state of\nexciting suspense--the emotions vacillating between love and hatred,\nhope and fear--was continued until the impression became fixed deep in\ntheir souls.\n\nKeeping in mind the fact, that the more we need a benefactor and feel\nthat need, the stronger will be our feelings of gratitude and love for\nthe being who interposes in our behalf--notice further: When, through\nthe interposition of the Almighty, the Israelites were delivered, and\nhad advanced as far as the Red Sea, another appeal was made to their\naffections which was most thrilling, and adapted to call by one grand\ninterposition all their powers of gratitude and love into immediate\nand full exercise.\n\nThe army of the Israelites lay encamped on the margin of the Red Sea,\nwhen, suddenly, they were surprised by the approaching host of\nPharaoh;--before them was the sea, and behind them an advancing\nhostile army. If they went forward, they would find death in the\nwaves; if they returned backward, it would be to meet the swords of\ntheir pursuers. A rescue, by earthly means, from death or bondage more\nsevere than they had ever borne, was impossible. Just at this crisis\nof extremity, Jehovah appears as their Deliverer. The bosom of the\npathless sea is cleft by the power of God. The stricken waters recoil\nupon themselves on either side. The Israelites pass over in safety.\nThe Egyptian host enter, and are overwhelmed in the waters.\n\nNow, it may be affirmed, without qualification, that, in view of the\nnature and circumstances of the Israelites, no combination of means,\nnot including the self-sacrifice of the benefactor himself, could be\nso well adapted to elicit and absorb all the affections of the soul,\nas this wonderful series of events. That this result was accomplished\nby these means, is authenticated by the history given in the Bible.\nWhen the people were thus delivered, they stood upon the other side of\nthe sea, and their affections, in answer to the call which God had\nmade upon them, gushed forth in thanksgiving and praise. Hear the\nresponse of their hearts, and their allusion to the cause which\nproduced that response:\n\n'I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the\nhorse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. The Lord is my\nstrength and song, and he is become my SALVATION. He is my God, and I\nwill prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt\nhim.'--Ex. xv. 1, 2, etc.\n\nThus was the attention of the whole nation turned to the true God. An\nimpression of his goodness was fixed deeply in their memory, and their\naffections drawn out and fastened upon the true object of worship. Now\nthis, as was shown in the commencement of the chapter, was necessary,\nbefore they could offer worship either honourable or acceptable to\nGod. The end was accomplished by means adapted to the nature of the\nhuman soul and to the circumstances of the Israelites; and by means\nwhich no being in the universe but the Maker of the soul could use.\nThe demonstration is therefore perfect, that the Scripture narrative\nis true, and that no other narrative, differing materially from this\nin its principles, could be true.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nTHE DESIGN AND NECESSITY OF THE MORAL LAW.\n\n\nAt this stage of our progress it will be useful to recapitulate the\nconclusions at which we have arrived, and thus make a point of rest\nfrom which to extend our observations further into the plan of God for\nredeeming the world. This review is the more appropriate as we have\narrived at a period in the history of God's providence with Israel,\nwhich presents them as a people prepared (so far as imperfect material\ncould be prepared) to receive that model which God might desire to\nimpress upon the nation.\n\n1. They were bound to each other by all the ties of which human nature\nis susceptible, and thus rendered compact and united, so that\neverything national, whether in sentiment or practice, would be\nreceived and cherished with unanimous, and fervent, and lasting\nattachment: and, furthermore, by a long and rigorous bondage, they had\nbeen rendered, for the time being at least, humble and dependent.\nThus, they were disciplined by a course of providences, adapted to fit\nthem to receive instruction from their Benefactor with a teachable and\ngrateful spirit.\n\n2. Their minds were shaken off from idols; and Jehovah, by a\nrevelation made to them, setting forth his name and nature, had\nrevealed himself as a DIVINE BEING, and by his works had manifested\nhis almighty power: so that when their minds were disabused of wrong\nviews of the Godhead, an idea of the first, true, and essential nature\nof God was revealed to them; and they were thus prepared to receive a\nknowledge of the attributes of that Divine essence.\n\n3. They had been brought to contemplate God as their Protector and\nSaviour. Appeals the most affecting and thrilling had been addressed\nto their affections; and they were thus attached to God as their\nalmighty temporal Saviour, by the ties of gratitude and love for the\nfavour which he had manifested to them.\n\n4. When they had arrived on the further shore of the Red Sea, thus\nprepared to obey God and worship him with the heart, they were without\nlaws either civil or moral. As yet, they had never possessed any\nnational or social organization. They were therefore prepared to\nreceive, without predilection or prejudice, that system of moral\ninstruction and civil polity which God might reveal, as best adapted\nto promote the moral interests of the nation.\n\nFrom these conclusions we may extend our vision forward into the\nsystem of revelation. This series of preparations would certainly lead\nthe mind to the expectation that what was still wanting, and what they\nhad been thus miraculously prepared to receive, would be\ngranted--which was a knowledge of the moral character of God, and a\nmoral law prescribing their duty to God and to men. Without this, the\nplan that had been maturing for generations, and had been carried\nforward thus far by wonderful exhibitions of Divine wisdom and power,\nwould be left unfinished, just at the point where the finishing\nprocess was necessary.\n\nBut besides the strong probability which the previous preparation\nwould produce, that there would be a revelation of moral law, there\nare distinct and conclusive reasons, evincing its necessity.\n\nThe whole experience of the world has confirmed the fact, beyond the\npossibility of scepticism, that man cannot discover and establish a\nperfect rule of human duty. Whatever may be said of the many excellent\nmaxims expressed by different individuals in different ages and\nnations, yet it is true that no system of duty to God and man, in\nanywise consistent with enlightened reason, has ever been established\nby human wisdom, and sustained by human sanctions; and for reasons\nalready stated,[11] such a fact never can occur.\n\n    [11] See chap. i. p. 9, _et seq._\n\nBut, it may be supposed that each man has, within himself, sufficient\nlight from reason, and sufficient admonition from conscience, to guide\nhimself, as an individual, in the path of truth and happiness. A\nsingle fact will correct such a supposition. Conscience, the great\narbiter of the merit and demerit of human conduct, has little\nintuitive sense of right, and is not guided entirely by reason, but is\ngoverned in a great measure by what men believe. Indeed, faith is the\nlegitimate regulator of the conscience. If a man has correct views of\nduty to God and men, he will have a correct conscience; but if he can,\nby a wrong view of morals and of the character of God, be induced to\nbelieve that theft, or murder, or any vice, is right, his conscience\nwill be corrupted by his faith. When men are brought to believe--as\nthey frequently do believe in heathen countries--that it is right to\ncommit suicide, or infanticide, as a religious duty, their conscience\ncondemns them if they do not perform the act. Thus, that power in the\nsoul which pronounces upon the moral character of human conduct, is\nitself dependent upon and regulated by the faith of the individual.\nIt is apparent, therefore, that the reception and belief of a true\nrule of duty, accompanied with proper sanctions, will alone form in\nman a proper conscience. God has so constituted the soul that it is\nnecessary, in order to the regulation of its moral powers, that it\nshould have a rule of duty, revealed under the sanction of its Maker's\nauthority; otherwise its high moral powers would lie in dark and\nperpetual disorder.\n\nFurther, unless the human soul be an exception, God governs all things\nby laws adapted to their proper nature. The laws which govern the\nmaterial world are sketched in the books on natural science; such are\ngravitation, affinity, mathematical motion. Those laws by which the\nirrational animal creation is controlled are usually called instincts.\nTheir operation and design are sketched, to some extent, in treatises\nupon the instincts of animals. Such is the law which leads the beaver\nto build its dam, and all other animals to pursue some particular\nhabits instead of others. All beavers, from the first one created to\nthe present time, have been instinctively led to build a dam in the\nsame manner, and so their instinct will lead them to build till the\nend of time. The law which drives them to the act is as necessitating\nas the law which causes the smoke to rise upwards. Nothing in the\nuniverse of God, animate or inanimate, is left without the government\nof appropriate law, unless that thing be the noblest creature of\nGod--the human spirit. To suppose, therefore, that the human soul is\nthus left unguided by a revealed rule of conduct, is to suppose that\nGod cares for the less and not for the greater--to suppose that he\nwould constitute the moral powers of the soul so that a law was\nnecessary for their guidance, and then reveal none--to suppose,\nespecially in the case of the Israelites, that he would prepare a\npeople to receive, and obey with a proper spirit, this necessary rule\nof duty, and yet give no rule. But to suppose these things would be\nabsurd; it follows, therefore, that God would reveal to the Israelites\na law for the regulation of their conduct in morals and religion.\n\nBut physical law or necessitating instinct would not be adapted in\nits nature to the government of a rational and moral being. The\napplication of either to the soul would destroy its free agency. God\nhas made man intelligent, and thereby adapted his nature to a rule\nwhich he understands. Man has a will and a conscience: but he must\nunderstand the rule in order to will obedience, and he must believe\nthe sanction by which the law is maintained before he can feel the\nobligation upon his conscience. A law, therefore, adapted to man's\nnature, must be addressed to the understanding, sanctioned by suitable\nauthority and enforced by adequate penalties.\n\nIn accordance with these legitimate deductions, God gave the\nIsraelites a rule of life--the Moral Law--succinctly comprehended in\nthe Ten Commandments. And as affectionate obedience is the only proper\nobedience, he coupled the facts which were fitted to produce affection\nwith the command to obey; saying, 'I am the Lord thy God, which\nbrought thee out of the land of Egypt, and from the house of\nbondage'--therefore, love me and keep my commandments.[12]\n\n    [12] Deut. v. 6, _passim_.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nTHE DEVELOPMENT OF THE IDEA OF HOLINESS AND ITS TRANSFER TO JEHOVAH AS\nAN ATTRIBUTE.\n\n\nAs yet the Israelites were little acquainted with any attribute of the\nI AM--Jehovah--except his infinite power and goodness; and his\ngoodness was known to them only as manifested in kindness and mercy\ntowards themselves, as a peculiar people, distinguished from other\nnations, as the special objects of the Divine favour. They had a\ndisposition to worship Jehovah, and to regard the rights of each other\naccording to his commandments; but they knew as yet little of his\nmoral attributes. Of the attribute of holiness--purity from sin, and\nopposition of nature to all moral and physical defilement--they knew\ncomparatively nothing. After the law had been given, they knew that\nGod required worship and obedience for himself and just conduct\ntowards others, but they did not know that his nature was hostile to\nall moral defilement of heart and life. And to this knowledge, as we\nhave seen in the introduction, they could not of themselves attain.\n\nAt the period of the deliverance from Egypt, every nation by which\nthey were surrounded worshipped unholy beings. Now, how were the Jews\nto be extricated from this difficulty, and made to understand and feel\nthe influence of the holy character of God? The Egyptian idolatry in\nwhich they had mingled was beastly and lustful; and one of their first\nacts of disobedience after their deliverance showed that their minds\nwere still dark, and their propensities corrupt. The golden calf which\nthey desired should be erected for them, was not designed as an act of\napostasy from Jehovah, who had delivered them from Egyptian servitude.\nWhen the image was made, it was proclaimed to be that God which\nbrought them up out of the land of Egypt: and when the proclamation of\na feast, or idolatrous debauch, was issued by Aaron, it was\ndenominated a feast, not to Isis or Osiris, but a feast to Jehovah;\nand as such they held it.[13] But they offered to the holy Jehovah the\nunholy worship of the idols of Egypt. Thus they manifested their\nignorance of the holiness of his nature, as well as the corruption of\ntheir own hearts.\n\n    [13] Ex. xxxii. 4, 5.\n\nIt was necessary, therefore, in order to promote right exercises of\nheart in religious worship, that the Israelites should be made\nacquainted with the holiness of God. The precise question, then, for\nsolution is, How could the idea of God's holiness be conveyed to the\nminds of the Israelites? If it should be found that there is but one\nway in which it could be originated, according to the nature of mind,\nthen it would follow, necessarily, that God would pursue that way, or\nhe would have to alter the human constitution, in order to communicate\na knowledge of his attribute of holiness. But, as it is matter of\nfact that the constitution of the mind has not been altered, it\nfollows that that method would be pursued which is in accordance with\nthe nature of mind, to convey the necessary knowledge. Now all\npractical knowledge is conveyed to the understanding through the\nmedium of the senses. Whatever may be said about innate ideas by\nspeculative philosophers, still all agree that all acquired knowledge\nmust reach the mind through the medium of one of the five senses, or\nupon the occasion of their exercise. Through the senses the knowledge\nof external objects is conveyed to the mind, and these simple ideas\nserve as a material for reflection, comparison, and abstraction.\n\nThe etymology of the Hebrew language, as written by Moses, and spoken\nby the Israelites, furnishes an interesting illustration of the origin\nof the few abstract terms with which their minds were familiar. The\nabstract ideas of the Hebrew tongue may even now, in most instances,\nbe traced to the object or circumstance whence they originated. Thus\nthe idea of power, among the Hebrews, was derived from the horn of an\nanimal; and the same word, in Hebrew, which signifies horn, likewise\nsignifies power, and may be translated in either way to suit the\nsense. The idea was originally conveyed through the eye, by noticing\nthat the strength of the animal was exerted through its horn. The\nforce thus exerted, especially when the animal was enraged, was the\ngreatest which fell under their observation; and sometimes, in its\neffects, it was disastrous and overwhelming. Hence, the horn soon\nbecame a figure to denote power, and when the idea was once originated\nand defined in their minds, they could apply it to any object which\nproduced a strong effect either upon the bodies or the minds of men.\nAn idea of power likewise originated from the human hand, because\nthrough it man exerted his strength. The same word in Hebrew still\nexpresses both the object and the idea derived from it--'Life and\ndeath are in the power of the tongue,' reads literally--'Life and\ndeath are in the _hand_ of the tongue.' Sunshine, in Hebrew, is\nsynonymous with happiness, the idea being originated by experiencing\nthe pleasant feelings produced by the effects of a sunny day; and when\nthus originated, it was applied to the same and similar feelings\nproduced by other causes. The abstract idea of judgment or justice is\nderived from a word which signifies to _cut_ or _divide_; it being\noriginated by the circumstance that when the primitive hunters had\nkilled a stag, or other prey, one divided the flesh with a knife,\namong those who assisted in the pursuit, distributing a just portion\nto each. Thus, the act of cutting and dividing their prey, which was\nthe first circumstance that called into exercise and placed before\ntheir senses the principle of justice, was the circumstance from which\nthey derived this most important abstract idea.\n\nOther instances might be mentioned. These are sufficient to show the\nmanner in which the abstract ideas of the Hebrews were originated. And\nso, every new idea which found a place in their understanding had to\nbe originated, primarily, by an impression made by external objects\nupon the senses.\n\nFurther, all ideas which admit of the signification of more or most\nperfect, can be originated only by a comparison of one object with\nanother. More lovely, or more pure, can only be predicated of one\nthing by comparison with another which it excels in one of these\nrespects. By a series of comparisons, each one exceeding the last in\nbeauty or purity, an idea of the highest degree of perfection may be\nproduced. Thus one flower may be called lovely, another more lovely,\nand the rose the most lovely; and the idea of the _superior_ beauty of\nthe rose would be originated by the comparison or contrast between it\nand other flowers of less beauty. It is not said that the rose would\nnot appear lovely without comparison, but the idea of its _superior_\nloveliness is originated by comparison, and it could be derived in no\nother way.\n\nWith these principles in mind, we return to the inquiry, _How could\nthe idea of God's holiness, or moral purity, be conveyed to the minds\nof the Jews?_\n\nFirst, mark the principles--(1.) There was not an object in the\nmaterial world which would convey to the mind the idea of God's\nholiness.--(2). The idea, therefore, would have to be originated, and\nthrown into their mind, through the senses, by a process instituted\nfor that express purpose.--(3.) The plan to originate the idea, in\norder to meet the constitution of the mind, must consist of a series\nof comparisons.\n\nNow mark the correspondency between these principles, founded upon the\nlaws of the mind, and that system devised to instruct the Israelites\nin the knowledge of God.\n\nIn the outset, the animals common to Palestine were divided, by\ncommand of Jehovah, into clean and unclean; in this way a distinction\nwas made, and the one class in comparison with the other was deemed to\nbe of a purer and better kind. From the class thus distinguished, as\nmore pure than the other, one was selected to offer as a sacrifice. It\nwas not only to be chosen from the clean beasts, but, as an\nindividual, it was to be without spot or blemish. Thus it was, in\ntheir eyes, purer than the other class, and purer than other\nindividuals of its own class. This sacrifice the people were not\ndeemed worthy, in their own persons, to offer unto Jehovah; but it was\nto be offered by a class of men who were distinguished from their\nbrethren, purified, and set apart for the service of the priest's\noffice. Thus the idea of purity originated from two sources; the\npurified priest and the pure animal _purified_, were united in the\noffering of the sacrifice. But before the sacrifice could be offered\nit was washed with clean water--and the priest had, in some cases, to\nwash himself, and officiate without his sandals. Thus, when one\nprocess of comparison after another had attached the idea of\nsuperlative purity to the sacrifice--in offering it to Jehovah in\norder that the contrast between the purity of God and the highest\ndegrees of earthly purity might be seen, neither priest, people, nor\nsacrifice was deemed sufficiently pure to come into his presence; but\nthe offering was made in the court without the holy of holies. In\nthis manner, by a process of comparison, the character of God, in\npoint of purity, was placed indefinitely above themselves and their\nsacrifices.[14]\n\n    [14] It is not argued that no other end was designed and\n    accomplished by the arbitrary separation of animals into classes\n    of clean and unclean. By this means the Jews were undoubtedly\n    excluded from partaking in the feasts of the heathen around, who\n    ate those animals which were forbidden to them. An excellent\n    writer observes that it is characteristic of the wisdom of God to\n    accomplish many ends by a single act of providence.\n\nAnd not only in the sacrifices, but throughout the whole Levitical\neconomy, the idea of purity pervaded all its ceremonies and observances.\nThe camp was purified--the people were purified--everything was purified\nand re-purified; and each process of the ordinances was designed to\nreflect purity upon the others; until finally that idea of purity formed\nin the mind and rendered intense by the convergence of so many rays,\nwas, by comparison, referred to the idea of God; and the idea of God in\ntheir minds being that of an infinitely powerful and good Spirit, hence\npurity, as a characteristic or attribute of such a nature, would\nnecessarily assume a moral aspect, because it appertained to a moral\nbeing--it would become _moral purity_, or _holiness_. Thus they learned,\nin the sentiment of Scripture, that God was of too _pure_ eyes to look\nupon iniquity.\n\nThat the idea of moral purity in the minds of the Israelites was thus\noriginated by the machinery of the Levitical dispensation, is\nsupported, not only by the philosophy of the thing, but by many\nallusions in the Scriptures. Such allusions are frequent, both in the\nwriters of the old and of the new dispensations; evidencing that, in\ntheir minds, the idea of moral purity was still symbolized by physical\npurity. The rite of baptism is founded upon this symbolical analogy:\nthe external washing with water being significant of the purifying\ninfluence of the Holy Spirit. St. John saw in vision the undefiled in\nheart clothed with linen pure and white; evincing that, to the mind of\nthe Jew, such vestments as the high priest wore when he entered the\nholy of holies, were still emblematical of moral purity. In the\nEpistle to the Hebrews, which is an apostolic exposition of the\nspiritual import of the Levitical institution, so far as that\ninstitution particularly concerns believers under the New Testament\ndispensation, we have the foregoing view of the design of ceremonial\npurification expressly confirmed. 'It was, therefore, necessary,' says\nPaul to the Hebrews, 'that the patterns of things in the heavens\nshould be purified with these (that is, with these purifying processes\naddressed to the senses), but the heavenly things themselves with\nbetter sacrifices than these.' The plain instruction of which is, that\nthe parts and processes of the Levitical economy were patterns\naddressed to the senses of unseen things in heaven, and that the\npurifying of those patterns indicated the spiritual purity of the\nspiritual things which they represented.\n\nThere is, finally, demonstrative evidence of the fact that the idea of\nperfect moral purity, as connected with the idea of God, is now, and\nalways has been, the same which was originated and conveyed to the\nminds of the Jews by the machinery of the Levitical dispensation. The\nHebrew word \u05e7\u05d3\u05e9 _quadhosh_, was used to express the idea of purity as\noriginated by the tabernacle service. The literal definition is,\n_pure_, _to be pure_, _to be purified for sacred uses_. The word thus\noriginated, and conveying this meaning, is employed in the Scriptures\nto express the moral purity or holiness of God.[15] In the New\nTestament this word is translated by the Greek term \u1f05\u03b3\u03b9\u03bf\u03c2, _hagios_,\nbut the Hebrew idea is connected with the Greek word. In King James's\nversion this Greek word is rendered by the Saxon term _holy_--the\nSaxon word losing its original import (_whole_, _wholly_), and taking\nthat of the Hebrew derived through the Greek. So that our idea of the\nholiness of God is the same which was originated by the Levitical\nceremonies; and there is no other word, so far as I have been able to\nexamine, in any language which conveys this idea. Nor is there any\nidea among any people that approximates closely to the Scripture idea\nof holiness, unless the word received some shades of its signification\nfrom the Bible.[16]\n\n    [15] \u05e7\u05d3\u05e9\u05d9 \u05e9\u05dd 'my holy name.'--Lev. xx. 3.\n\n    [16] One of the principal difficulties which the missionary meets\n    with, according to letters in the missionary reports, is, that of\n    conveying to the mind of the heathen the idea of the holiness of\n    God. They find no such idea in their minds, and they can use no\n    words in their language by which to convey the full and true force\n    of the thought. The true idea, therefore, if communicated at all,\n    must be conveyed by a periphrasis, and by laboured illustration.\n    This obstacle will be one of the most difficult to surmount in all\n    languages; and it cannot be perfectly overcome, till the Christian\n    teacher becomes perfectly familiar with the language of those whom\n    he wishes to instruct.\n\nHere, then, the idea of God's moral purity was conveyed by the Mosaic\neconomy in a manner in accordance with the constitution and the\ncondition of the Jewish mind. This same idea has descended from the\nHebrew, through the Greek, to our own language; and there is, so far\nas known, no other word in the world which conveys to the mind the\ntrue idea of God's moral purity, but that originated by the\ninstitution which God prescribed to Moses upon the Mount.[17]\n\n    [17] Ex. xxv. 9.\n\nThe demonstration, then, is conclusive, both from philosophy and fact,\nthat the true and necessary idea of God's attribute of holiness was\noriginated by the 'patterns' of the Levitical economy, and that it\ncould have been communicated to mankind, at the first, in no other\nway.[18]\n\n    [18] The foundation principle of that school of scepticism, at the\n    head of which are the atheistical materialists, is, that all\n    knowledge is derived through the medium of the senses, and that as\n    God is not an object of sense, men can have no knowledge of his\n    being or attributes. Now these deductions show that the truth of\n    revealed religion may be firmly established upon their own\n    proposition.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\nTHE ORIGIN OF THE IDEAS OF JUSTICE AND MERCY, AND THEIR TRANSFER TO\nTHE CHARACTER OF JEHOVAH.\n\n\nAlthough holiness and justice convey to the mind ideas somewhat\ndistinct from each other, yet the import of the one is shaded into\nthat of the other. Holiness signifies the purity of the Divine nature\nfrom moral defilement; while justice signifies the relation which\nholiness causes God to sustain to men, as the subjects of the Divine\ngovernment. In relation to God, one is subjective, declaring his\nfreedom from sin; the other objective, declaring his opposition to\nsin, as the transgression of the Divine law. The Israelites might know\nthat God was holy, and that he required of them clean hands and a\nclean heart in worship, and yet not understand the full demerit of\ntransgressing the will of God, or the intensity of the Divine\nopposition to sin. God had given them the moral law, and they knew\nthat he required them to obey it; but what, in the mind of God, was\nthe proper desert of disobeying it, they did not know. They had been\naccustomed, like all idolaters, to consider the desert of moral\ntransgression uncertain and unequal. Now they had to learn the\nimmutable justice of the Supreme Being--that his holiness was not a\npassive quality, but an active attribute of his nature, and not only\nthe opposite, but the antagonist principle to sin.\n\n_In what manner, then, could a knowledge of the Divine justice, or of\nthe demerit of sin in the sight of God, be conveyed to the minds of\nthe Jews?_\n\nThere is but one way in which any being can manifest to other minds\nthe opposition of his nature to sin. A lawgiver can manifest his views\nof the demerit of transgression in no other way than by the _penalty_\nwhich he inflicts upon the transgressor. In all beings who have\nauthority to make law for the obedience of others, the conscience is\nthe standard which regulates the amount of punishment that should be\ninflicted upon the disobedient; and the measure of punishment which\nconscience dictates, is just in proportion to the opposition which the\nlawgiver feels to the transgression of his law; that is, the amount of\nregard which he has for his own law, will graduate the amount of\nopposition which he will feel to its transgression. The amount of\nopposition which any being feels to sin is in proportion to the\nholiness of that being, and conscience will sanction penalty up to the\namount of opposition which he feels to crime.\n\nIf the father of a family felt no regard for the law of the sabbath,\nhis conscience would not allow him to punish his children for\nviolating, by folly or labour, a law which he did not himself respect.\nBut a father who felt a sacred regard for the Divine law, would be\nrequired by his conscience to cause his children to respect the\nsabbath, and to punish them if they disobeyed. The penalty which one\nfelt to be wrong, the other would feel to be right, because the\ndisposition of the one towards the law was different from that of the\nother.\n\nThe principle, then, is manifest, that the more holy and just any\nbeing is, the more opposed he is to sin, and the higher penalty will\nhis conscience sanction as the desert of transgressing the Divine law.\nNow God being infinitely holy, he is, therefore, infinitely opposed to\nsin; and the Divine conscience will enforce penalty accordingly.\n\nThis is the foundation of penalty in the Divine mind. The particular\npoint of inquiry is, _How could the desert of sin, as it existed in\nthe mind of God, be revealed to the Israelites?_\n\nIf the penalty inflicted is sanctioned by the conscience of the\nlawgiver, it follows, as has been shown, that the opposition of his\nnature to the crime is in exact proportion to the penalty which he\ninflicts upon the criminal. Penalty, therefore, inflicted upon the\ntransgressor, is the only way by which the standard of justice, as it\nexists in the mind of God, could be revealed to men.\n\nThe truth of this principle may be made apparent by illustration.\nSuppose a father were to express his will in relation to the\ngovernment of his family, and the regulations were no sooner made than\nsome of his children should resist his authority and disobey his\ncommands. Now, suppose the father should not punish the offenders, but\ntreat them as he did his obedient children. By so doing he would\nencourage the disobedient, discourage the obedient, destroy his own\nauthority, and make the impression upon the minds of all his children\nthat he had no regard for the regulations which he had himself made.\nAnd further, if these regulations were for the general good of the\nfamily, by not maintaining them he would convince the obedient that he\ndid not regard their best interests, but was the friend of the\nrebellious. And if he were to punish for the transgression but\nlightly, they would suppose that he estimated but lightly a breach of\nhis commands, and they could not, from the constitution of their\nminds, suppose otherwise. But if the father, when one of the children\ntransgressed, should punish him and exclude him from favour till he\nsubmitted to his authority, and acknowledged with a penitent spirit\nhis offence, then the household would be convinced that the father's\nwill was imperative, and that the only alternative presented to them\nwas affectionate submission, or exclusion from the society of their\nfather and his obedient children. Thus the amount of the father's\nregard for the law, his interest in the well-being of his obedient\nchildren, and the opposition of his nature to disobedience, would be\ngraduated in every child's mind by the penalty which he inflicted for\nthe transgression of his commands.\n\nSo in the case of an absolute lawgiver: his hostility to crime could\nbe known only by the penalty which he inflicted upon the criminal. If,\nfor the crime of theft, he were to punish the offender only by the\nimposition of a trifling fine, the impression would be made upon every\nmind that he did not, at heart, feel much hostility to the crime of\nlarceny. If he had the power, and did not punish crime at all, he\nwould thus reveal to the whole nation that he was in league with\ncriminals, and himself a criminal at heart.\n\nSo in relation to murder, if he were to let the culprit go free, or\ninflict upon him but a slight penalty, he would thus show that his\nheart was tainted with guilt, and that there was no safety for good\nmen under his government. But should he fix a penalty to\ntransgression, declare it to all his subjects, and visit every\ncriminal with punishment in proportion to his guilt, he would show to\nthe world that he regarded the law, and was opposed directly and for\never to its transgression.\n\nIn like manner, and in no other way, could God manifest to men his\ninfinite justice and his regard for the laws of his kingdom. Did he\npunish for sin with but a slight penalty, the whole universe of mind\nwould have good reason to believe that the God of heaven was but\nlittle opposed to sin. Did he punish it with the highest degree of\npenalty, it would be evidence to the universe that his nature was in\nthe highest degree opposed to sin and attached to holiness.\n\nNow, whatever may be said in relation to the application of these\nprinciples to future rewards and punishments, one thing will be\napparent to all, which is all that the present argument requires to be\nadmitted, that is--the mind of man would receive an idea of the amount\nof God's opposition to sin, only by the amount of penalty which he\ninflicted upon the sinner.\n\nHaving ascertained these premises, we return to the inquiry, _How\ncould the demerit of sin in the sight of God, or the idea of God's\nattribute of justice, be conveyed to the minds of the Jews?_\n\nThe people had now, in a good degree, a knowledge of what sin is. In\naddition to the light of natural conscience, which might guide them to\nsome extent in relation to their duties to each other, they had the\nmoral law, with the commentary of Moses, defining its precepts, and\napplying them to the conduct of life. Their minds were thus\nenlightened in relation to sin in the following particulars. First,\nthose acts which were a transgression of the positive precepts of the\nlaw; Second, omissions of duties enjoined in the law; and, Third, many\nacts which the spirit of the law would condemn, but which might not\nbe defined in any particular precept, would now be noticed by\nenlightened conscience, as sin against Jehovah, their holy benefactor,\nand the giver of the law.\n\nHaving thus been taught what was sin of commission and omission, one\nobvious design of the institution of sacrifices,[19] and one which has\nbeen perceived and understood, both by the Jews and Gentiles, was to\nconvey to the mind the just demerit and proper penalty of sin.\n\n    [19] The question whether the sacrifices, and the particular\n    regulations concerning them, were of Divine origin, does not\n    affect the argument. Whether they were originally instituted by\n    Divine command, or whether Moses, acting under Divine guidance,\n    modified an existing institution and adapted it to the Divine\n    purposes, both the design, and the end accomplished, would be the\n    same. There are good reasons, however, for the opinion, that\n    sacrifices for sin were of Divine appointment.\n\nThere were three classes of sacrifices in the old dispensation in\nwhich death was inflicted. The first, which Gentiles as well as Jews\nwere permitted to offer, was the holocaust, or whole burnt-offering,\nwhich was entirely consumed by fire. Sacrifices of this description\nseem to have been offered from the earliest ages. They were offered,\nas the best informed think, as an acknowledgment of, and atonement\nfor, general sinfulness of life. They seem to have had reference to\nthe fact that men constantly violate known duty, and do many things\nwhich the light of nature and conscience teaches them not to do.\n\nAfter the whole burnt-offering, was the sin-offering, sacrificed for\nan atonement, when the individual had transgressed any specific\nprecept of the moral law.\n\nThe trespass-offering differed only from the sin-offering, as the\nlearned suppose, in this, that it was a sacrifice for sins of\nomission, or for the non-performance of duty, while the sin-offering\nwas made for a violation of the specific precepts of the moral law.\nWhether the design of the different classes of sacrifices was as above\nspecified or not, is not material, further than it shows how nicely\nthe forms of the Levitical economy were adjusted to meet that varied\nconsciousness of sin which the precepts of the law and an enlightened\nconscience would produce in the human soul. The material point to\nwhich attention is necessary, with reference to the present\ndiscussion, is that by which the death and destruction of the animal\noffered in sacrifice were made to represent the desert of the sinner.\n\nWhen an individual brought a sacrifice, he delivered it to the priest\nto be slain. He then laid his hands upon its head, thereby, in a form\nwell understood among the Jews, transferring to it his sins; and then\nthe life of the sacrifice was taken as a substitute for his own life.\nHe was thus taught that the transgression of the law, or any act of\nsin against God, was worthy of death; and that the sacrifice suffered\nthat penalty in his stead.\n\nFurther: the Jews had been taught that the blood of the sacrifice was\nits life; or rather the principle upon which the life of the body\ndepended. Upon this subject they had the following express\ninstruction--'For the life of the flesh is the blood: and I have given\nit to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls; for it\nis the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.'[20] Now, this\nblood, which the Jews were thus taught to believe was the life of the\nsacrifice, was repeatedly sprinkled by the priest upon the mercy-seat\nand towards the holy place; thus presenting the life of the sacrifice\nimmediately in the presence of God (the ineffable light, or symbol of\nGod's presence, rested over the mercy-seat between the cherubim);\nsignifying--as plainly as forms, and shadows, and external types could\nsignify, that life had been rendered up to God to make atonement for\ntheir souls.\n\n    [20] Lev. xvii. 11.\n\nThus the idea was conveyed to their minds through the senses, that the\ndesert of sin in the sight of God was the death of the soul. And while\nthey stood praying in the outer court of the tabernacle, and beheld\nthe dark volume of smoke ascending from the fire that consumed the\nsacrifice which was _burning in their stead_, how awful must have been\nthe impression of the desert of sin, made by that dark volume of\nascending smoke! The idea was distinct and deeply impressed, that\nGod's justice was a consuming fire to sinners, and that their souls\nescaped only through a vicarious atonement.\n\nAs a picture in a child's primer will convey an idea to the infant\nmind, long before it can be taught by abstract signs, so the Jews, in\nthe infancy of their knowledge of God, and before there were any\nabstract signs to convey that knowledge, had thrown into their minds,\nthrough the senses, the two essential ideas of God's justice and\nmercy: His justice, in that the wages of sin is the death of the soul;\nand His mercy, in that God would pardon the sinner, if he confessed\nhis sin, acknowledged the life of his soul forfeited, and offered the\nlife of the sacrifice as his substitute.\n\nIn this manner an idea of the desert of sin was conveyed to the minds\nof the Jews; God's law honoured, and the utter hostility of the\nLawgiver to sin clearly manifested; and God's mercy was likewise\nrevealed as stated in the preceding paragraph. Thus, in a manner\naccordant with the circumstances of the Jews, and by means adapted in\ntheir operation to the constitution of nature, was the knowledge of\nGod's attribute of justice, and the relation which mercy sustains to\nthat attribute, fully revealed in the world; and in view of the nature\nof things, it could have been revealed in no other way.[21]\n\n    [21] Inquiring readers of the Old Testament often find many things\n    announced in the name of God, which must seem to them inconsistent\n    with the majesty of the Divine nature, unless they view those\n    requirements in the light of the inquiry, 'What impressions were\n    they adapted to make upon the Jewish mind?' There are but few\n    readers of the Old Testament who read on this subject\n    intelligently. In this remark we do not refer to the historical or\n    preceptive portions of these writings, but to the elements of the\n    Mosaic institution. In order to see the design of many items of\n    the system, we must consider those items as exhibitions to the\n    senses, designed chiefly, perhaps only, to produce right ideas, or\n    to correct erroneous ones then existing, in the minds of the Jews.\n    The inquiry ought not to be, What impressions are they adapted to\n    produce upon our minds concerning God? but, What impression would\n    the particular revelation make upon _their_ minds? An instance or\n    two will illustrate these remarks.\n\n    The adaptation to accomplish a necessary end is apparent in the\n    scene at Sinai. The Israelites had been accustomed to an idolatry\n    where the most common familiarities were practised with the idol\n    gods. The idea of reverence and majesty which belongs to the\n    character of God had been lost, by attaching the idea of divinity\n    to the objects of sense. It was necessary, therefore, that the\n    idea of God should now be clothed, in their minds, with that\n    reverence and majesty which properly belong to it. The scene at\n    Sinai was adapted to produce, and did produce for the time being,\n    the right impression. The mountain was made to tremble to its\n    base. A cloud of darkness covered its summit, from which the\n    lightnings leaped out and thunders uttered their voices. In the\n    words of a New Testament writer, there was 'blackness, and\n    darkness, and tempest.' It was ordered that neither man nor beast\n    should touch the mountain, lest they should be visited with death.\n    The exhibition in all its forms was adapted to produce that sense\n    of majesty and awe in view of the Divine character which the\n    Israelites needed to feel. To minds subjected to the influence of\n    other circumstances than those which affected the character of the\n    Israelites in Egypt, such manifestations might not be necessary;\n    but in the case of the Jews, accustomed as they had been to\n    witness a besotting familiarity with idols, these manifestations\n    were directly adapted to counteract low views of the Divine\n    character, and to inspire the soul with suitable reverence in view\n    of the infinite majesty and eternal power of the Being with whom\n    they had to do.\n\n    The testimony of the Bible in relation to the design of the\n    exhibition at Sinai corroborates the views that have been given.\n    'When the people saw it, they removed and stood afar off. And they\n    said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not\n    God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said unto the people,\n    Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be\n    before your faces, that ye sin not.'--Ex. xx. 18-20.\n\n    The scene which occurred afterwards, evinced the necessity of this\n    exhibition, and developed the result of the proof [trial] that was\n    made of their character. In the absence of Moses, they required an\n    image of Jehovah to be made, and they feasted and 'played' (this\n    last word having a licentious import) in its presence. Thus, after\n    trial of the strongest exhibitions upon their mind, some of them\n    proved themselves so incorrigibly attached to licentious idolatry,\n    that they desired to worship Jehovah under the character of the\n    Egyptian calf. They thus proved themselves unfit material, too\n    corrupt for the end in view; and they were, in accordance with the\n    reason of the case, destroyed.\n\n    Another conviction necessary to be lodged in the minds of the\n    Israelites, and impressed deeply and frequently upon their hearts,\n    was faith in the present and overruling God. This was the more\n    necessary, as no visible image of Jehovah was allowed in the camp.\n    There were but two methods possible by which their minds could be\n    convinced of the immediate presence and power of God controlling\n    all the events of their history. Either such exhibitions must be\n    made that they would see certain ends accomplished without human\n    instrumentality; or they must see human instrumentality clothed\n    with a power which it is not possible in the nature of things it\n    should in itself possess. The circumstances connected with the\n    fall of Jericho will illustrate the case. The people were required\n    to surround the city, by a silent procession during seven days,\n    bearing the sacred ark, and blowing with rude instruments which\n    they used for trumpets. On the seventh day, the people were to\n    shout after they had compassed the city seven times; and when they\n    shouted, according to a Divine promise, the walls of the city fell\n    to the ground. Now, here was a process of means in which there was\n    no adaptation to produce the external effect, in order that the\n    INTERNAL effect, the great end of all revelation, might be\n    produced--that they might be taught to recognise Jehovah as the\n    present God of nature and providence, and rest their faith on him.\n\n    If the Israelites had, in this case, used the common\n    instrumentalities to secure success--if they had destroyed the\n    wall with instruments of war, or scaled its height with ladders,\n    and thus overcome by the strength of their own arm, or the aid of\n    their own devices, instead of being led to humble reliance upon\n    God, and to recognise his agency in their behalf, they would have\n    seen in the means which they had used a cause adequate to produce\n    the effect, and they would have forgotten the First Cause, upon\n    whose power they were dependent. Second causes were avoided in\n    order that they might see the connection between the First Cause\n    and the effect produced--human instrumentality stood in abeyance,\n    in order that the Divine agency might be recognised. Thus they\n    were taught to have faith in God, and to rely upon the presence\n    and the power of the Invisible Jehovah.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\nTHE TRANSITION FROM THE MATERIAL SYSTEM, BY WHICH RELIGIOUS IDEAS WERE\nCONVEYED THROUGH THE SENSES, TO THE SPIRITUAL SYSTEM, IN WHICH\nABSTRACT IDEAS WERE CONVEYED BY WORDS AND PARABLES.\n\n\nHuman language has always advanced from its first stage, in which\nideas are acquired directly through the medium of the senses, to the\nhigher state, in which abstract ideas are conveyed by appropriate\nwords and signs. When an idea is once formed by outward objects, and a\nword formed representing that idea, it is then no longer necessary or\ndesirable that the object which first originated the idea should\nlonger be associated in the mind with the idea itself. It is even\ntrue that the import of abstract ideas suffers from a co-existence, in\nthe mind, of the abstract thought with the idea of the object which\noriginated it. Thus the word spirit now conveys a distinct idea to the\nmind of pure spiritual existence; but the distinctness and power of\nthe idea are impaired, by remembering that the word from which it was\nderived originally signified wind, and that the word itself was\noriginated in the first place by the wind. So in other cases, although\nthe ideas of abstract and spiritual things can be originated,\nprimarily, only from outward objects, yet when they have been\noriginated, and the spiritual idea has been connected with the sign or\nword conveying its proper sense, it is desirable, in order to their\ngreater force and perspicuity, that their connection with materiality\nshould be broken off in the mind.\n\nIn all written languages this advancement from one stage of perfection\nto another, by the addition of abstract ideas, can be traced; and\nexperience teaches, incontrovertibly, that the advancement of human\nlanguage, as above described, and the advancement of human society,\nare dependent upon each other.\n\nThe preceding principles being applied to the subject under\nconsideration, it would follow that the Mosaic machinery, which formed\nthe abstract ideas, conveying the knowledge of God's true character,\nwould no longer be useful after those ideas were originated, defined,\nand connected with the words which expressed their abstract or\nspiritual import. It would follow, therefore, that the machinery would\nbe entirely dispensed with whenever it had answered the entire design\nfor which it was put into operation. Whenever the Jews were cured of\nidolatry, and had obtained true ideas of the attributes of the true\nGod, then the dispensation of shadows and ceremonies, which 'could not\nmake the comers thereunto perfect,' would, according to the reason of\nthings, pass away, and give place to a more perfect and more spiritual\ndispensation.\n\nWe find, accordingly, that the machinery of the tabernacle was\ngradually removed, it never having existed in perfection after the\nlocation of the tribes in Palestine. They sojourned in the wilderness\nuntil those who had come out of Egypt died. The generation who\nsucceeded them had the advantage of having received their entire\neducation through the medium of the Mosaic institution, and thus of\nbeing freed from vicious habits and remembrances contracted in\nidolatrous society.\n\nAfterwards the Prophets held an intermediate place between the\nmaterial dispensation of Moses and the pure spirituality of that of\nChrist. In the prophetic books, especially the later ones, there is an\nevident departure from a reliance upon the external forms, and an\napplication of the ideas connected with those forms to internal states\nof mind. Their views of the old dispensation were more spiritual than\nthe views of those who lived near the origin of the institution. And\nin the dispensation of the Messiah, the Prophets evidently expected\nclearer light and purer spirituality.\n\nThe state of the case, then, is this: The old dispensation was\nnecessary and indispensable in itself, and in its place; but it was\nneither designed nor adapted to continue. The knowledge of Divine\nthings which it generated was necessary for all men, but as yet it was\ncircumscribed to a small portion of the human family. The point of\ninquiry now presents itself: _How could this essential knowledge\nconcerning the Divine Nature and attributes be extended throughout the\nworld?_\n\nThere would be but two methods possible--either the same processes,\nand the same cumbrous machinery (which were a 'burden' that an apostle\naffirmed neither he nor his fathers were able to bear) must be\nestablished in every nation, and kindred, and tribe of the human\nfamily, and thus each nation be disciplined and educated by itself, or\none nation must be prepared and disciplined, their propensity to\nidolatry destroyed, the ideas coined in the die prepared by Jehovah\nthrown into their minds, and then, being thus prepared, they might be\nmade the instruments of transferring those ideas into the languages of\nother nations.[22] If the Almighty were to adopt the first method, it\nwould exclude men from benevolent labour for the spiritual good of\neach other; and besides, the history of the process with the Jews, as\nwell as the reason of the thing, would indicate that the latter method\nwould be the one which the Maker would adopt.\n\n    [22] There is a common, and to some minds, a weighty objection\n    against the truth of revealed religion, stated as follows:--If God\n    ever gave a religion to the world, why did he not reveal it to all\n    men, and reveal it at once and perfectly, so that no one could\n    doubt? If this had been possible, it might not have been\n    expedient; but the nature of things, as we have seen, rendered it\n    impossible to give man a revelation in such a manner.\n\nBut, in order to the diffusion of the knowledge of God by the latter\nmethod, some things would be necessary as pre-requisites, among which\nare the following:\n\n1. That the Jews, who possessed these ideas, should be scattered\nthroughout the world, and that they should be thus scattered long\nenough before the time of the general diffusion of Divine knowledge to\nhave become familiar with the languages of the different nations where\nthey sojourned. This would be necessary, in order that, by speaking in\nother tongues, they might transfer into them their own ideas of Divine\nthings, by attaching those ideas to words in the respective languages\nwhich they spoke, or by introducing into those languages words and\nphrases of Hebrew origin conveying the revealed ideas. Whether the\ndifferent languages were acquired by miraculous or by human\ninstrumentality, there would be no other way possible of transferring\nideas from one language to another, but by the methods above\nmentioned.\n\n2. It would be necessary, before the Jews were thus scattered, that\ntheir propensity to idolatry should be entirely subdued, otherwise\nthey would, as they had frequently done before, fall into the\nabominable habits of the nations among whom they were dispersed.[23]\n\n    [23] Idolatry is one of the most unconquerable of all the corrupt\n    propensities of the human soul. Miracles under the new\n    dispensation had scarcely ceased--the apostolic fathers were\n    scarcely cold in their graves, before idolatrous forms were again\n    superinduced upon the pure spirituality of the holy gospel; and in\n    the papal church the curse continues till this hour.\n\n3. The new and spiritual system should be first propagated among\nthose who understood both the spiritual import of the Hebrew language,\nand likewise the language of the other nations to whom the gospel was\nto be preached. It was necessary that the new dispensation should be\ncommitted, first to the Jews, who were scattered in the surrounding\nnations, because, as we have seen, they were the only individuals\nimmediately prepared to communicate it to others.\n\nNow the following facts are matters of authentic history.\n\n1. By instruction and discipline the Jews were entirely cured of the\npropensity to idolatry--so much so that their souls abhorred idols.\n\n2. They were, and had been for many generations, dispersed among all\nnations of the Roman world; but still, in their dispersion they\nretained their peculiar ideas, and multitudes of this peculiar people\nassembled out of all countries, at least once a year, at the city of\nJerusalem, to worship Jehovah; and it was while the multitudes were\nthus assembled that the gospel was first preached to them; and\npreached, as was proper it should be, by power and miracle, in order\nthat those present might know assuredly that the dispensation was from\nheaven.\n\n3. The new dispensation was likewise introduced, in the first place,\namong the Jews who continued to reside in Palestine, and when a\nsufficient number of them were fully initiated persecutions were\ncaused to arise which scattered them abroad among the nations; and the\nGentile languages not being known to them, they were miraculously\nendowed with the gift of tongues, that they might communicate to\nothers the treasures of Divine knowledge committed to them.\n\nThus, when the old dispensation had fulfilled its design in\ndisciplining the Jews, in imparting first ideas, and thus, as a\n'schoolmaster,' preparing the people for the higher instruction of\nChrist; and when the fulness of the times had come that the means and\nthe material were prepared to propagate the spiritual truth of the new\ndispensation, then the Mosaic cycle would appropriately close--it\nwould not be consistent that it should remain longer, for the plain\nreason given by Jesus himself, that new wine should not be put into\nold bottles, nor the old and imperfect forms be incorporated with the\nnew and spiritual system.\n\nTherefore it was that so soon as the new dispensation had been\nintroduced, and its foundations firmly laid, Jerusalem, the centre of\nthe old economy, with the temple, and all things pertaining to the\nritual service, was at once and completely destroyed, and the old\nsystem vanished away for ever. It would not have been expedient for\nGod to destroy the old system sooner, because it was necessary to\nengraft the new system upon the old; and it ought not to have remained\nlonger, for the reasons above stated.[24]\n\n    [24] It was necessary that the old system should be destroyed at\n    this time in order to throw the Jews upon Christ as the sacrifice\n    for their sins. Under the old dispensation the sacrifices for sin\n    were allowed to continue to the end. From this sacrifice they were\n    taught to hope for pardon. An idea had been, by the process which\n    God himself instituted, originated in their mind, that death must\n    ensue for sin; but by transferring their sins to the head of the\n    sacrifice, it died as a vicarious expiation, and they lived. It\n    had become a part almost of the Jewish mind, that they could not\n    hope for pardon, unless the sacrifice was offered. They felt that\n    their life was forfeited by sin, and they were unpardoned until\n    the sacrifice was made, and it could be made nowhere else but at\n    Jerusalem. Now God destroyed Jerusalem, and caused the offering\n    for sin to cease, and entirely annihilated the possibility of\n    their ever again expiating their sins by the bloody sacrifices;\n    they were therefore shut up to the doctrine of Christ's sacrifice\n    for sin. By the destruction of Jerusalem the alternative was\n    presented to the Jews--Accept of Christ's sacrifice, or you have\n    no propitiation for your sins.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\nTHE MEDIUM OF CONVEYING TO MEN PERFECT INSTRUCTION IN DOCTRINE AND\nDUTY.\n\n\nThe knowledge which the old dispensation was designed to generate had\nbeen transmitted into the minds of the Jews; and the Jews had been\nprepared to transmit the abstract import of those spiritual ideas into\nother languages. The Mosaic institution, having accomplished its\ndesign, was about to 'vanish away,' and give place to the new\ndispensation, which would end the series of God's revealed\ninstructions, by giving men a perfect system of religion, accompanied\nby those aids and influences which would be adapted to develop and\nperfect man's moral powers, and render him, in his present condition,\nas perfect as his nature and his circumstances would allow.\n\nAt this point of our progress the inquiry presents itself--_What can\nwe learn, from the present constitution of things, concerning the\nmedium or instrumentality that God would adopt in giving mankind a\nperfect system of religion?_\n\nWhen the ideas that conveyed the knowledge of God were understood by\nthe people, human language would then become the proper medium of\ncommunication. The very fact that the ideas were generated and thrown\ninto language, evinces that language was designed eventually to be the\nmedium through which they should be transmitted to the world. When the\nideas were prepared, as has been stated, then all that would be\nnecessary, in order to the further and more perfect communication of\nknowledge, would be, that men should have a teacher to use this\nlanguage--to expand, illustrate, and apply these ideas; and by these,\ngive definitions, and illustrate and spiritualize other ideas when\nnecessary.\n\nFurther: man's senses are constituted with an adaptation to the\nexternal world; and his intellectual constitution is adapted to\nintercourse with his fellow man. The delicate bony structure of the\near, which conveys sounds from the tympanum to the sensorium, is\nnicely adjusted by the Maker to appreciate and convey the tones and\nmodulations of the human voice. Human gesture, likewise, and the\nexpression of the countenance and the eye, are auxiliary to human\nlanguage in conveying instruction. The nature of man, therefore, is\nadapted, both physically and intellectually, to receive knowledge by\ncommunications from one of his own species. If God designed that an\nangel should instruct the human family, one of two things would have\nto be done--either the human constitution would have to be elevated\nand adapted to intercourse with a being of a higher order in the scale\nof creation, or that being would have to let down his nature to human\ncapacity, and thus adapt himself to intercourse with human natures.\nAnd it would even be requisite that the teacher should not assume the\nhighest condition of humanity in order that his instructions should\naccomplish the greatest general good; nor should his communications be\nmade in the most cultivated and elevated style of language. If he\nwould instruct the common mind in the best manner, he must use common\nlanguage and common illustrations; and if God (blessed be his name)\nwere himself to instruct human nature, _as it is_, the same means\nwould be necessary.\n\nAnother step--Man is so constituted that he learns by example better\nthan precept. Theory without practice, or precept without example,\ndoes not constitute a perfect system of instruction. The theory of\nsurveying, however perfect it may be taught in college, never makes a\npractical surveyor. An artist may give a most perfect theory of his\nart to his apprentices or those whom he wishes to instruct in a\nknowledge of his business; but if he would have them become practical\nartists themselves, he must, with tools in hand, practise his own\ninstructions before the eyes of the learner. In the language of the\ntrades, he must 'show how it's done.' Such, then, is the nature of\nman, that in order to a perfect system of instruction there must be\nboth precept and example.\n\nNow there can be but one perfect model of human nature. And man could\nnot be removed to some other planet, nor out of his present\ncircumstances, to be instructed. If the Almighty, therefore, designed\never to give a perfect and final system of instruction to mankind, it\ncould be done only by placing in this world a perfect human nature--a\nbeing who would not only give perfect precepts, but who would practise\nthose precepts before the eyes of men. If such a being were placed\namong men, who, amid all the perplexities, difficulties, and trials\nwhich affect men in their present condition, would exhibit perfect\naction of body, heart, and mind in all his relations of life, and in\nall his duties to God and man--that would be a model character,\npractising the precepts of the Divine law in man's present\ncircumstances. The example of an angel, or of any being of a different\norder from man, would be of no benefit to the human family. Man must\nsee his duties, as man exemplified in his own nature. Human nature\ncould be perfected only by following a perfect model of human nature.\nBut, with the rule of duty in his hand, and a model character before\nhim, man would have a system of instruction perfectly adapted to his\nnature, and adapted to perfect his nature. If God, therefore, designed\nto give man a final and perfect system of instruction, he would adopt\nthe method thus adapted to the constitution which he has given his\ncreatures.--Now, Jesus Christ is that model character. He assumed\nhuman nature--came to the earth, man's residence--expounded and\nillustrated the law in human language; gave it its spiritual import,\nand applied it to the different circumstances and conditions of human\nlife. He removed the false glosses which the ignorance and the\nprejudices of men had attached to it; he modified or rescinded those\npermissions or clauses which were accommodated to the darkness of\nformer times, and the imperfections of the Jewish system: and then, by\napplications the most striking and definite, he showed the bearing of\nthe rule of duty upon all varieties of human action.\n\nAnd further: the law being thus defined and applied, in order that the\nworld might have a model character, he conformed himself to all its\nrequirements. And in order that that model might be a guide in all the\nvaried circumstances in which some of the family of man might be\nplaced, Jesus placed himself in all those circumstances, and _acted_\nin them. Is man surrounded by a sinful and suffering world? So was\nJesus. Does he desire to know how to act in such circumstances? Jesus\nministered occasionally to the temporal wants of men, and laboured\ncontinually to promote their spiritual good. Is man popular? So was\nJesus; and he used his influence to purify his Father's house. Is man\nforsaken by his last friend? So was Jesus; and he upbraided and\nmurmured not, but sought consolation in communion with the Father.\nDoes man visit and dine with the learned and the religious formalists\nof the age? So did Jesus; and in his conversation he maintained the\nclaims of spiritual religion, and reproved man's hypocrisy and\nformality. Does man sit down in the cottage of the poor? So did Jesus;\nand he encouraged and comforted the inmates with spiritual\ninstruction. Is man present when a group of friends are assembled on\nan occasion which warrants innocent enjoyment? So was Jesus; and he\napproved their social pleasures. Is man called to sympathize with\nthose in affliction? So was Jesus; and '_Jesus wept_.' Thus by land\nand by sea, in all places and under all circumstances, wherever any of\nearth's children are called to act, Jesus--the model Man--is seen\nliving and moving before them: and his voice falls upon their ear with\nthe mingled cadence of authority and encouragement, 'FOLLOW ME.'\n\nThe demonstration, then, is manifest, that, through the medium of\nJesus Christ, man has received a perfect system of instruction; and a\nfinal and perfect revelation of duty to God and man could be given in\nno other way.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\nSOME OF THE PECULIAR PROOFS OF THE MESSIAHSHIP OF CHRIST.\n\n\nWe have now arrived at a point in our subject where the light of\nhistory will aid in our investigations. The facts which history\nfurnishes, and which will elucidate the present point of inquiry, are\nthe following: First, the Jewish prophets lived and wrote centuries\nbefore the period in which Jesus appeared in Jud\u00e6a. This fact is as\ncertain as any other item of human knowledge.\n\nA second fact is--The Jews, about the time of Christ's appearance,\nexpected with more earnestness and desire than usual the appearance of\ntheir Messiah, who, they supposed, would deliver them from subjection\nto Gentile nations, and place the Jewish power in the ascendant among\nthe nations of the earth. They generally supposed that as a king he\nwould reign with great dignity and power, and, as a priest, preside\nover, not abrogate, the ceremonial law. Although some of the common\npeople may have had some understanding of the true nature of the\nMessiah's kingdom, yet the prominent men of the nation, and the great\nbody of the people of all classes, were not expecting that the kingdom\nof Christ would be purely spiritual, but that it would be mainly\ntemporal. And, indeed, it was necessary that they should not have a\nclear conception of the worth and spirituality of the Messiah's\ndispensation previously to his coming; because if they had had such a\nconception, the imperfections and darkness of their own dispensation\nwould not have been borne. It is contrary to the nature of mind when\nit is enlightened, to delight in, and employ itself longer about, the\npreparatory steps that lead it to the light.\n\nThe facts in the case, then, were, first, The prophets lived and wrote\ncenturies before the era of Christ; and, second, On account of\nintimations, or supposed intimations, in their prophecies, the Jews\nwere expecting the Messiah about the time that Jesus appeared in\nJud\u00e6a. With the question concerning the inspiration of the prophets,\nwe have just now nothing to do. Whether they were inspired or not,\ntheir books contained the matter upon which the Jews founded their\nexpectations of the appearance of the Messiah. With the question how\nthe Jews could mistake the character of the Messiah, we have also now\nnothing to do; although the solution of the question would not be\ndifficult. The simple facts which require attention are--The\nprophecies existed; and in those prophecies a Ruler was spoken of, of\nmost exalted character, whose dominion would be triumphant, universal,\nand endless--whose doctrines would be pure and spiritual; and whose\nadministration would be a blessing, not only to the Jews, but also to\nthe Gentiles--and yet, his life would be humble and not suited to the\nfeeling of the Jews--his sufferings extreme; and that he would\nterminate the old dispensation, and die for the sins of the\npeople.[25]\n\n    [25] Isaiah liii. Dan. ix. 24-27. Micah v. 1, 2. Mal. iii. 1-3.\n    Zech. ix. 9, 10. Isa. ix. 1-7.\n\nNow, in view of these facts, _In what character would the true Messiah\nappear, when he assumed his duties as the Instructor of mankind?_\n\nIf he had appeared and conformed to the views which the Jews\nentertained of a temporal Messiah, it would have been direct evidence\nthat he was an impostor; because the Jewish views of his character and\nreign, as all can now see, were selfish, ambitious, imperfect, and\npartial. Now, a teacher sent from God to give the world a perfect\nreligion could not conform to such views; but an impostor, from the\nnature of the case, could have conformed to no other standard than the\nviews of the people. If an impostor wished to pass himself upon the\nJews as their Messiah, he must assume that character and conform to\nthat conduct which he knew they expected in their Messiah. For an\nimpostor to assume a different character from that which he knew the\nnation expected their Messiah would bear, would have been to use means\nto frustrate his own plans, which would be impossible; because man\ncannot have a governing desire for attainment of an end, and at the\nsame time use means which he knows will frustrate the accomplishment\nof his own object. An impostor, therefore, in the state of expectancy\nwhich existed at that time in Jud\u00e6a, could not do otherwise than\nconform himself to the character which the nation were expecting\ntheir Messiah would possess.\n\nMark the two points. The prophets gave a delineation of the character,\nlife, and death of the Messiah. This delineation the Jews\nmisinterpreted, or applied to several individuals; so that they were\nexpecting in their Messiah a character entirely different from that\ndescribed by the prophets.\n\nNow mark the application of these points. If Christ had conformed to\nthe views of the Jews there would have been three direct testimonies\nthat he was not from God. (1.) Because their views were partial,\nprejudiced, wicked. (2.) He could not have conformed to their views,\nand sustained at the same time the character of a perfect\ninstructor.[26] (3.) He would not have fulfilled the predictions of\nthe prophets concerning him. But, on the other hand, if he conformed\nto the prophets, and assumed the character of a perfect teacher, his\nrejection by the Jews was absolutely certain.[27] It follows,\ntherefore, legitimately and conclusively, that Jesus Christ was the\nMessiah of God, because he pursued that course which would, from the\nnature of the case, result in his rejection by the nation; which\nconduct, in an impostor, would be impossible--but in the true Messiah\nit was the necessary course.\n\n    [26] See chap. x.\n\n    [27] The fact that Jesus conformed to the prophets, established\n    the truth of the prophecies; because, by conforming to them, he\n    suffered death; while by his death, in accordance with the\n    prophets, the world gained the evidence that he was the true\n    Messiah. To give life as a testimony to falsehood, is impossible,\n    either in a good or in an evil being.\n\nBut further: it was necessary that Jesus should establish his claim as\nthe Messiah by miraculous agency.[28] But owing to the peculiar state\nof the Jewish nation at that time, there would be great difficulty in\ndoing this, for the following reasons.--If he, as Moses did, had come\npublicly before the nation at Jerusalem, and by miracles of great\npower, frequently repeated, and extending their influence throughout\nall the land, had forced conviction upon the minds of all the Jews\nthat he was the true Messiah, the immediate and inevitable result\nwould have been, that they would have raised one universal revolt\nagainst the Roman power, and would have hurried the Saviour of sinners\ninto the office of the King of the Jews; and then bowed down to him as\nthe temporal sovereign of the Jewish nation. But, notwithstanding this\nerror of the Jews, and the results to which it would directly tend,\nstill it would be necessary in order to meet the constitution of\nthings, that Christ should manifest, by exhibitions of miraculous\npower, the credentials attesting the Divinity of his mission. The\ninquiry then arises, _How could Jesus perform miracles, and at the\nsame time prevent revolt in the nation?_\n\n    [28] See chap. iii. On Miracles.\n\nThe circumstances of the case would render it necessary that his\nmiracles should not be attended by that publicity and power which\nwould lead those who had the influence of the nation in their hands,\nand who were blind to the true design of his mission, into revolt and\ndestruction. It was likewise necessary, on the other hand, that they\nshould be sufficiently frequent, and of sufficient power, to convince\nthe candid who witnessed them that they were the seal of heaven to the\nmission of Jesus. When Christ wrought miracles, therefore, he would\nhave to aim at one end, and endeavour to prevent another--the end\naimed at, that the impression might be made on honest minds, that he\nwas the true Messiah; the end avoided, that the rulers of the nation\nmight not, on account of his mighty miracles, rally round him as their\ntemporal king, and thus hurry themselves and their nation to premature\ndestruction.\n\nNow, the character and conduct of Jesus accord entirely with the\nforegoing deductions, made out from undoubted historical facts. That\nhe performed many miracles, and yet suppressed their extensive\npublicity, is frequently noticed in the New Testament. Jesus,\ntherefore, had the peculiar marks of the true Messiah; and, in view of\nthe peculiar condition of the Jewish nation at that time, the true\nMessiah could have assumed no other character, and pursued no other\ncourse of conduct, than that exhibited in the life of Christ.[29]\n\n    [29] Another item might be added to this demonstration, showing\n    that in order to the ultimation of the plan of salvation, it was\n    necessary that Jesus should so manifest himself and manage his\n    ministry, that a part of the Jews should receive him as the\n    Messiah, and a part reject him.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\nTHE CONDITION IN LIFE WHICH IT WAS NECESSARY THE MESSIAH SHOULD ASSUME\nIN ORDER TO BENEFIT THE HUMAN FAMILY IN THE GREATEST DEGREE, BY HIS\nEXAMPLE AND INSTRUCTIONS.\n\n\nSelfishness is a fundamental evil of human nature, the existence of\nwhich is acknowledged by all men. It is not an evil which belongs to\nany one class of human society. It is generic; and moves all ranks;\neach individual looks upon those who stand next or near him in\nsociety, and desires equality with, or superiority over them in\nwealth, or popularity, or power. The law of reason and of God requires\nthat men should endeavour to elevate those below them up to their own\ncondition; selfishness is the opposite principle, which urges men to\nelevate themselves over others. If the militia captain could follow\nthe desires of his nature, and ascend from one condition to another\nuntil he stood upon the floor of the senate chamber, he would find\nthat the desire which led him to take the first step, had only\nincreased its power by gratification, and was still goading him on to\nrise higher; and he would stop nowhere while life lasted, until he\nperceived further efforts useless or dangerous. This selfish pride and\ndesire for self-aggrandizement is detrimental both to the individual\nand to the social interests of men. Wherever selfish ambition exists\nin any degree of strength, it generates misery to the individual and\nto others about him. There are not, perhaps, more miserable men in the\nworld than are some of those who have gained to some extent the\nobject of their ambition, and are seated in the halls of legislation.\nTheir minds are constantly anxious in making some effort, or devising\nsome plan, by which they may promote the schemes in which they are\nengaged. And every time the hopes of one are realised, the stings of\nenvy, and jealousy, and concealed hate, rankle in the bosoms of some\nothers. In the humbler walks of life, the evil exists, perhaps in a\nless degree, but still it exists; and its existence is the bane of\nhuman happiness, and the cause of human guilt.\n\nNow, this wicked desire of human nature to aspire after elevated\nworldly condition, rather than after usefulness of life and goodness\nof heart, would be either fostered or checked by the condition in life\nwhich the Messiah assumed among men. In proportion as his condition\nwas elevated, pride and the desire of elevation would be fostered in\nthe hearts of his followers. In proportion as his condition was humble\nand depressed, pride of heart would be checked in all those who\nreceived and honoured him as their Master and Teacher.[30]\n\n    [30] See chap. v.\n\nSuppose that the Messiah had presented himself in the condition\nanticipated by the Jews; surrounded by the pomp and parade of a\npowerful temporal prince; sustaining the earthly dignity and splendour\nof the ancient monarchs of the dynasty of David. Now, had such a\nMessiah appeared in Jud\u00e6a, it is perfectly certain, from the character\nof human nature, that his earthly circumstances would have a tendency\nto cherish in the people, as a nation, and as individuals, the bad\nprinciples of pride and ambition. Worldly pomp and circumstances would\nhave had the sanction of the highest authority in the person of their\nMessiah; and it would have induced the desire in all hearts to elevate\nthemselves as nearly as possible to his temporal condition. The pride\nof the human heart would have been fostered and not humbled. Instead\nof causing the middle walks of life to be grateful and contented in\ntheir condition, it would have produced in them an anxiety to stretch\nthemselves upwards. And instead of causing those already elevated to\nbenefit the worthy poor, it would have caused them to have no sympathy\nfor any of the human family in low estate; because theirs was a\ncondition the opposite of that assumed by the great model which they\nloved and admired. And instead of causing the poor to feel a greater\ndegree of contentment, and to avoid repining at their lot, the\ncircumstances of the Messiah would have deepened their dejection, and\nrendered them less happy in their depressed condition; because their\ncondition would hinder them from approach to, or fellowship with, the\nHeaven-sent Instructor. A teacher, therefore, believed to be from\nheaven, who should assume an elevated condition in the world, instead\nof being a spiritual blessing to the whole family of man, by promoting\nin their bosoms humility and sympathy for each other, would have been\na spiritual curse, by producing haughtiness and hardness of heart in\nthe rich, ambition in the middle classes, and hopeless dejection in\nthe poor.\n\nSuppose the Messiah had come in the character which the Greeks\nadmired; that, assuming the seat of the philosophers, he had startled\nthe learned world by disclosing to them new and sublime truths.\nSuppose he had, by the power of far-reaching intellect, answered all\nthe questions and solved all the difficulties which perplexed the\nminds of the disciples of the Porch and the Academy. In such a case\nhis instructions would have been adapted to satisfy the minds of a few\ngifted individuals, but they would not have been adapted to benefit\nthe minds of many, nor the heart of any of the great mass of mankind.\nVain of their wisdom already, the character of the Messiah would have\nbeen adapted to make the philosophers more so; and instead of blessing\nthem, by humbling their pride, and giving them a sympathy with their\nfellow men, it would have led them and their admirers to look upon\nthose who were not endowed with superior mental qualities, as an\ninferior class of men.\n\nBut, if the Messiah could not have appeared in the condition desired\nby the Jews, nor in that admired by the Gentiles, the inquiry\narises--What condition in life would it be necessary that the Messiah\nshould assume, in order to benefit the human family in the highest\ndegree by the influence of that condition? In view of the foregoing\ndeductions, the solution is obvious: _In that condition which would\nhave the most direct influence to destroy selfishness and pride in the\nhuman heart, and to foster, in their stead, humility, contentment, and\nbenevolence._\n\nNow, in view of this result, deduced directly from the acknowledged\ncharacter of human nature, turn your attention to the earthly\ncircumstances of Jesus, and see how he brought the whole weight of his\ncondition in life to bear against selfishness and pride of heart.--He\nwas born in the lowest possible circumstances. His life was the\nconstant rebuke to every ambitious and proud feeling of the human\nheart; and his death was one esteemed by men the most ignominious. No\none who openly acknowledged and had fellowship with Jesus of Nazareth,\nas his Teacher and Master, could do so until the natural pride of his\nnature was subdued. It was impossible for a man to find fellowship\nwith Jesus unless he humbled himself, because in no other state could\nhis feelings meet those of Christ. 'Take my yoke upon you,' said\nJesus, 'and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye\nshall find rest unto your souls.'\n\nThus did Jesus place himself in a condition which rendered humility\nabsolutely necessary in order to sympathy with him--in the condition\ndirectly opposed to pride of heart, one of the most insidious enemies\nof man's happiness and usefulness. And as it is an acknowledged and\nexperimental fact that the soul finds rest only in meekness, and never\nin selfishness and pride of mind, therefore, the demonstration is\nperfect, that Christ assumed the only condition which it was possible\nfor him to assume, and thereby destroy pride and misery, and produce\nhumility and peace, in human bosoms.\n\nProfane history and the New Testament Scriptures confirm the foregoing\nviews. Tacitus, speaking of the primitive Christians, alludes to them\nwith marked contempt, as the followers of one who had been crucified.\nHis manner evinces clearly not only his own feelings, but it is a good\nindex to the feelings of a majority of the people of that proud and\nidolatrous age; and it establishes, beyond all controversy, the fact,\nthat no one could declare himself a follower of Christ until, for\ntruth and for Christ's sake, he was willing to be considered base in\nthe estimation of the world. The elegant Pliny likewise bears direct\ntestimony to the humility and integrity of life which characterized\nthe early disciples of Christ.\n\nA great number of passages in the New Testament confirm the preceding\nviews. It is only necessary to say that the apostles understood not\nonly the effect of their Lord's circumstances, in life and death, upon\nthe minds of men, but they understood likewise the philosophy and the\nnecessity of the case. Says Paul--'It became (or was expedient for)\nHim, from whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing\nmany sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect\nthrough sufferings. For both he that sanctifieth and they who are\nsanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call\nthem brethren.'--That is, the humble and self-denying life and death\nof Jesus was necessary, because it would have a sanctifying effect in\ncounteracting the evils in the hearts of men. It was necessary for him\nto become their brother man, and assume a certain character and\ncondition, in order that, by their becoming one with him, they might\nbe sanctified and made happy and useful.\n\nThus, while the Jews required a sign, and the Greeks sought after\nwisdom, the apostles preached Christ crucified; understanding the\nphilosophy, the efficiency, and the necessity of their doctrine. And\nso long as the world lasts, every man who reads the New Testament,\nwhether saint or sinner, will be penetrated with the conviction that a\nvain, aspiring, selfish spirit is incompatible with the religion of\nJesus.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\nTHE ESSENTIAL PRINCIPLES WHICH MUST, ACCORDING TO THE NATURE OF\nTHINGS, LIE AT THE FOUNDATION OF THE INSTRUCTION OF CHRIST.\n\n\nThe Messiah having come in the proper character, displayed the proper\ncredentials, and assumed the necessary condition, the question arises,\nWhat may we learn from the character of God and the nature of man\nconcerning the fundamental principles which would govern the teaching\nof Jesus?\n\nGod is righteous and benevolent; it therefore follows that he would\nconnect happiness with righteousness and goodness in his creatures.\nWere he to do otherwise, it would be causing the happiness of man to\narise from a character different from its own, which, as God is good,\nwould be impossible, because it would be wicked.\n\nFurther, man is so constituted that, as a matter of fact, his true\nhappiness depends upon righteousness of life and benevolence of heart.\nWhen his will accords with his knowledge of duty, or when he acts as\nhe knows is right towards God and his fellow men, there is peace and\neven complacency of conscience. Peace and complacency of conscience is\nthe happiness which, according to man's moral constitution, arises\nfrom righteousness, or right acting, in life. And when man exercises\nbenevolent feeling--has love in his heart to God and men, this\nexercise of benevolent affection produces happiness. Now there can be\nno such thing as happiness of spirit except it arise from these\nsources. And when these sources are full and flowing, and thus unite\ntogether--when there is perfect love and a perfect life, the soul is\nrendered happy. A single unrighteous act of will or malevolent feeling\nof heart will destroy this happiness; a single emotion of hatred or\nill-will, or a single evil act, known to be such, towards any of God's\ncreatures, will destroy the peace of the soul. Even hatred to an\nenemy, or the desire of revenge, or any emotion but good-will, injures\nthe soul's happiness.\n\nThus, in constituting the human soul, God, in accordance with his own\ncharacter, has caused its happiness to depend upon righteousness and\ngoodness.\n\nNow, then, a teacher sent from God must recognise these fundamental\nprinciples, and give him instruction in view of them. The happiness of\nthe human soul, which is its _life_--its first, and best, and only\ngood, could be produced in no other way. The whole force, therefore,\nof Divine instruction would be designed and adapted to accomplish this\nnecessary end. The legitimate development of God's nature, exercised\ntowards man, would produce such instructions and such an example; and\nthe best good of the human soul rendered it necessary that they should\nbe given.\n\nIt is not said that, as in the schools of philosophy, the constant\ninquiry and search should be for the 'greatest good.' The very effort\nto obtain happiness in this way would destroy its existence. Happiness\nis not objective but subjective; no direct effort could gain it; it is\nthe result of the right action of the moral powers. It would not be\nnecessary, therefore, that those instructed should even understand the\nprinciples which governed their instructor. It would be sufficient if\nthe instruction were designed and adapted to promote righteousness and\ngoodness: the happiness of the soul would follow as a result, whether\nor not the recipient of the instruction understood the principles\nwhich governed his teacher.\n\nNow the whole power of Christ's instruction was directed to this\npoint. It was distinguished in this respect from all other instruction\never given to mankind. I say unto you, Love your enemies. Do good to\nthem that despitefully use you. Be anxious about no worldly good. The\nweightier matters of the law are righteousness and the love of God.\nLove and obey God, and love and do good to your neighbour: this is the\nlaw and the prophets. Seek first the kingdom of heaven and its\nrighteousness, and all other things will be added to you. That is,\nseek first righteousness and the love of God, and the necessary result\nwill grow out of these exercises--happiness, or life, will be added as\na consequence.\n\nThus was the whole force of the Saviour's teaching and example\ndesigned and adapted to produce righteousness and benevolence; and as\nthese are the only exercises from which man's true happiness can\narise, it follows that the principles involved in the instruction of\nChrist, connecting happiness with holiness, are the only principles\nwhich can, in accordance with the character of God and the\nconstitution of man, produce the greatest good of the human soul.\nJesus, therefore, was the Christ of God; because the Christ of God\ncould found his instructions on no other principles,--the principles\nwhich are fundamental in his teaching being those which alone can\nproduce the happiness of the soul in accordance with its own moral\nnature, and in accordance with the moral character of God.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\nFAITH, THE EXERCISE THROUGH WHICH TRUTH REACHES AND AFFECTS THE SOUL.\n\n\nWhen Christ, man's perfect and spiritual Instructor, had come, and\nintroduced the great doctrines of the spiritual dispensation, the next\nnecessary step in the process was, that those truths should be brought\nto impress the soul, and influence the life, and so produce their\nproper effects upon human nature. The inquiry then presents itself:\n_In what way could the truths of the gospel be brought into efficient\ncontact with the soul of man?_\n\nThere are but two ways in which truth can be brought into contact with\nthe mind. The one is sometimes called knowledge; the other, faith, or\nbelief of testimony. In the earlier and ruder ages, men were\nnecessarily moved more by knowledge, derived from their own\nobservation and experience, through the medium of their senses; but\nas mankind increased in number, important truth was conveyed by one\nman or one generation communicating their experience, and another man\nor another generation receiving it by belief in their testimony.\nPerception and faith are the only modes by which truth can be brought\ninto contact with the soul; and their effects are nearly the same upon\nman's conduct and feelings, with the following remarkable exception:\nOf facts which are the subjects of personal observation, every time\nthey are experienced, the effect upon the soul grows less; while, on\nthe contrary, those facts which are received by faith, produce, every\ntime they are realised, a greater effect upon the soul. By constant\nsight, the effect of objects seen grows less; by constant faith, the\neffect of objects believed in grows greater. The probable reason of\nthis is, that personal observation does not admit of the influence of\nthe imagination in impressing the fact; while unseen objects, realised\nby faith, have the auxiliary aid of the imagination, not to exaggerate\nthem, but to clothe them with living colours, and impress them upon\nthe heart. Whether this be the reason or not, the fact is true, that\nthe more frequently we see, the less we feel the power of an object;\nwhile the more frequently we dwell upon an object by faith, the more\nwe feel its power. This being true, it follows that faith would be the\nmethod best adapted to bring the sublime truths of the new\ndispensation to bear upon the souls of men. And further, as the\ndispensation is spiritual, and has relation to unseen and eternal\nthings, faith becomes the only medium through which they can be\nconveyed to the soul.\n\nFurthermore, man is so constituted that his faith, or belief, has an\ninfluence not only over his conduct in life, but, likewise, over the\ncharacter and action of the moral powers of the soul.\n\nFaith governs the _conscience_.\n\nWe have said, in another place, that a true conscience depends upon a\ntrue faith. No proposition in morals is more plain. It is not our\ndesign to inquire what leads, or has led, men to a wrong faith.\nWhatever may be the cause of any particular belief, it is\nincontrovertible that, if a man believes a thing to be right,\nconscience cannot condemn an act performed in view of that belief.\nConscience is so modified and guided by a man's faith, that it will\nsanction and command an act in one man which it will forbid and\ncondemn in another. A Roman Catholic believes that he ought to pray to\nthe Virgin Mary to intercede for him with God; and if a good Roman\nCatholic were to neglect his worship to the saints, his conscience\nwould smite him, until, in some instances, he confessed his sin with\ntears. Now, if a good Protestant were to pray to saints, or to any\nother being but God, his conscience would smite him for doing that\nwhich the conscience of the Roman Catholic smote him for not doing. So\nthe heathen mother will conscientiously throw her infant into the\nGanges, or under the wheels of Juggernaut, while the conscience of a\nChristian mother would convict her of murder were she to do the same\nact. Conscience seldom convicts those whom Christians call impenitent\npersons for neglecting to pray, while the moment a man becomes a true\nbeliever, he will be convicted of guilt if he neglects the duty. So\ncertainly and so clearly is it true, that a man's conscience is\ngoverned by his faith.\n\nFaith governs the _affections_.\n\nAs man is constituted, no power in the universe can move his\naffections to an object until he believes that the object possesses\nsome loveliness or excellency of character. The heart is affected just\nas much by the goodness of another, if we _believe_ that goodness to\nexist, as it would be if we _knew_ that it existed. No matter, in the\ncase of the affections, whether the object in reality possesses the\ngood qualities or not, if they are fully believed to exist, the\naffections will act just as certainly as though they really did exist.\nThe affections are constituted to be governed by faith. And they act\nmost powerfully, as was demonstrated in a previous chapter, in view of\ngood qualities existing in another, who, under certain circumstances,\nexercises those qualities towards us. The fact, then, is apparent,\nthat the conduct of man's life is influenced by what he believes; and\nespecially that the character and action of the moral powers of his\nnature are governed by the principle of faith.\n\nAnother most important fact in connection with this subject is, that a\nman's interests, temporal and spiritual, depend upon what he believes.\nThe nature of man and the nature of things are so constituted, that\nthe belief of falsehood always destroys man's interests, temporal or\nspiritual, and the belief of truth invariably guides man right, and\nsecures his best and highest good.\n\nPerhaps the most absurd and injurious adage that has ever gained\ncurrency among mankind, is 'that it is no difference what a man\nbelieves, if only he be sincere.' Now, the truth is, that the more\nsincerely a man believes falsehood, the more destructive it is to all\nhis interests, for time and eternity. This statement can be confirmed\nin every mind beyond the reach of doubt.\n\nFirst, _The influence of believing falsehood on temporal and social\ninterests_.\n\nWe will state some cases of common and constant occurrence, in order\nthat the principle may be made obvious.\n\nA gentleman of property and the highest respectability, in the course\nof his business transactions, became acquainted with an individual,\nwho, as the event showed, was a man destitute, in a great degree, of a\nconscientious regard for truth. The persuasions and false\nrepresentations of this man led the gentleman referred to, to embark\nalmost his entire fortune with him in speculations in which he was at\nthat time engaged. While this matter was in progress, the friends of\nthe gentleman called upon him, and stated their doubts of the\nindividual's integrity who solicited his confidence, and likewise of\nthe success of the enterprises in which he was asked to engage. The\nadvice of his friends was rejected--he placed confidence in the false\nstatements of the individual referred to--he acted upon those\nstatements, and was, consequently, involved in pecuniary distress. In\nthis case, the gentleman not only sincerely believed the falsehood to\nbe the truth, but he had good motives in relation to the object which\nhe desired to accomplish. He was a benevolent man. He had expended\nconsiderable sums for charitable and religious uses, and his desire\nwas, by the increase of his property, to be enabled to accomplish\ngreater good. In this case he was injured likewise by believing what\nothers did not believe. The individual who seduced him into the\nspeculation, had endeavoured to lead others to take the same views and\nto act in the same way; they did not believe the falsehood, and were,\nconsequently, saved; he believed, and was, consequently, ruined.\n\nWhen the English army under Harold, and the Norman under William the\nConqueror, were set in array for that fearful conflict which decided\nthe fate of the two armies, and the political destinies of Great\nBritain, William, perceiving that he could not, by a fair attack, move\nthe solid columns of the English ranks, had recourse to a false\nmovement, in order to gain the victory. He gave orders that one flank\nof his army should feign to be flying from the field in disorder. The\nofficers of the English army believed the falsehood, pursued them, and\nwere cut off. A second time, a false movement was made in another part\nof the field. The English again believed, pursued, and were cut off.\nBy these movements the fortunes of the day were determined. Although\nthe English had the evidence of their senses, yet they were led to\nbelieve a falsehood--they acted in view of it; the consequence was,\nthe destruction of a great part of their army, and the establishment\nof the Norman power in England.\n\nHow often does it occur that the young female, possessing warm\naffections and being inexperienced in the wiles of villains, is led to\nbelieve falsehood which destroys her prospects and her happiness while\nlife lasts! Under other circumstances she might have been virtuous,\nuseful, happy. By false indications of affection her heart is won--by\nfalse promises of faithfulness and future good her assent to marry is\ngained; and then, when too late, she discovers that her husband is a\nvillain, and she is forsaken, with a broken heart, to the cold\nsympathies of a selfish world. No matter how many hearts, besides her\nown, are broken by her error; no matter how sincere, or how guileless,\nor how young; she sincerely believed the falsehood, and is thereby\nruined. Nothing in heaven or on earth will avert the consequences. If\nshe had doubted, she would have been saved. She believed, and is\nconsigned to sorrow till she sinks into her grave.\n\nSecondly, _The belief of falsehood in relation to spiritual things\ndestroys man's spiritual interests_.\n\nIt is an incontrovertible fact that the whole heathen world, ancient\nand modern, have believed in and worshipped unholy beings as gods.\nNow, from the necessities of the case, as demonstrated in the\nintroductory chapter, the worshipper becomes assimilated to the\ncharacter of the object worshipped. In consequence of believing\nfalsehood concerning the character of God, all heathendom, at the\npresent hour, is filled with ignorance, impurity, and crime. As a mass\nof corruption spreads contagion and death among all those who approach\nit, so certainly does the worship of unholy beings taint the soul, and\nspread moral corruption through the world. 'Can a man take coals into\nhis bosom, and not be burned?'--Neither can the soul hold communion\nwith beings believed to be unholy, and not itself become corrupt. The\nfact is so plain that it is not necessary to detail again the\nimpurities, the vices, the tortures, the self-murders, and the\nunnatural affections of the heathen world, in order to show the deadly\nevils, both to the body and soul, which arise from the belief of\nfalsehood in relation to spiritual things. It must be obvious to\neveryone that, if the heathen believed in one holy and benevolent God,\ntheir abominable and cruel rites would cease. It follows, therefore,\nthat it is the belief of falsehood that causes their ignorance and\ncorruption.\n\nThus it is invariably and eternally true that the belief of truth will\nlead a man right, and secure his temporal, spiritual, and eternal\ninterests; and on the contrary, the belief of falsehood will lead a\nman wrong, and destroy his interests in relation to whatever the\nfalsehood pertains, whether it be temporal or eternal.\n\nThe preceding premises being established, the following conclusions\nresult:\n\n1. The entire man, in his body and soul, his actions and moral\nfeelings, is governed by what he believes; and that, in relation to\nthings that should have a constantly increasing influence over the\nspirit, faith is a more powerful actuating cause than sight, because\nthe one gains while the other loses power by repetition.\n\n2. That the belief of falsehood, concerning any human interest, is\nfatally injurious; while the belief of truth is eternally beneficial.\nAnd that the more sincerely any one believes error, the more certainly\nhe destroys his interests, whether temporal or spiritual: while, on\nthe contrary, the more sincerely a man believes truth, the more\ncertainly and powerfully are his interests advanced. The living God\nhas connected evil with the belief of falsehood, and good with the\nbelief of truth; it is a part of the constitutional law of the moral\nuniverse; and there is no power in existence that will stop the\nconsequence from following the antecedent.\n\nMark it--That doctrine which rectifies the conscience, purifies the\nheart, and produces love to God and men, is necessarily true; because,\nas it has been demonstrated that righteousness and benevolence are the\ngreatest good of the soul, and likewise that the greatest good must\ndepend on the belief of truth, therefore the conclusion is inevitable\nthat that doctrine which, being believed, destroys sin in the heart\nand life of man, and produces righteousness and benevolence, is the\ntruth of God. No matter whether men can comprehend all its depths and\nrelations or not, if it destroys sin wherever it takes effect by\nfaith, and makes happiness grow out of right living and right loving,\nfrom the constitution of things--from the character of God--from the\nnature of man--that doctrine is the TRUTH OF GOD. And that doctrine\nwhich hinders this result, or produces a contrary result, is the\nfalsehood of the devil.[31]\n\n    [31] John viii. 44.\n\n4. Therefore Christ laid at the foundation of the Christian system\nthis vital and necessary principle, 'He that believeth and is baptized\nshall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned,'--saved in\naccordance with the moral constitution of the universe, and damned\nfrom the absolute necessities existing in the nature of things.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\nTHE MANIFESTATIONS OF GOD WHICH WOULD BE NECESSARY, UNDER THE NEW AND\nSPIRITUAL DISPENSATION, TO PRODUCE IN THE SOUL OF MAN AFFECTIONATE\nOBEDIENCE.\n\n\nMan's mental and moral constitution was the same under the New as\nunder the Old Testament dispensation. The same methods, therefore,\nwhich were adapted to move man's nature under the one, would be\nadapted to do so under the other. The difference between the two\ndispensations was, the first was a preparatory dispensation, its\nmanifestations, for the most part, being seen and temporal; the\nsecond, a perfect system of truth, spiritual in its character, and in\nthe method of its communication. But whether the truths were temporal\nor spiritual, and, whether they were brought to view by faith or\nsight, in order to produce a given effect upon the soul, or any of its\npowers, the same methods under all dispensations would be necessary,\nvaried only to suit the advancement of the mind in knowledge, the\ndifferences existing in the habits and circumstances of men, and the\ncharacter of the dispensation to be introduced. For instance: under\none dispensation--it being in a great measure temporal, preparatory,\nand imperfect--love might be produced by making men feel temporal\nwant, and by God granting temporal benefits: while under a spiritual\nand universal system, men must likewise feel the want, and receive the\nbenefit, in order to love; but the want felt and the benefit conferred\nmust be of a spiritual character.\n\nUnder all dispensations, an essential requisite, after the way for its\nintroduction was prepared, would be such manifestations of God to men\nas would produce love in the human heart for the object of worship and\nobedience. 'Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,' is the first\ngreat law of the universe; and God cannot be honoured, nor man made\nhappy, unless his obedience be actuated by love to the object of\nobedience.[32] Now the manifestations of mercy, under the old\ndispensation, were mainly temporal in their character, and limited in\ntheir application to the Jews. But God's special goodness to them\ncould not produce love in the hearts of the Gentiles. The\nmanifestations in Egypt were, therefore, neither adapted in their\ncharacter, nor in the extent of their design, to the spiritual and\nuniversal religion of Jesus Christ. But one part of the Mosaic economy\nwas universal and immutable in its character. The moral law is the\nsame for ever in its application to all intelligent beings in the\nuniverse. It is plain to reason that, whatever means may be adopted to\nbring men to rectitude of conduct or to pardon them for offences, the\nrule of right itself, founded upon the justice and holiness, and\nsustained by the conscience, of the Eternal, must be immutable and\neternal as its Author; and the means, manifestations, and influences,\nunder the different dispensations, are expedients of mercy, designed\nand adapted to bring men to act in conformity with its requirements.\n\n    [32] See chap. iv. on Affectionate Obedience.\n\nHow, then, under the new dispensation, and in conformity with its\nspiritual and universal character, could love for God be produced in\nthe human heart?\n\nWe will here, again, as the subject in hand is most important, notice\nsome of the conditions upon which affection for an object may be\nproduced in the heart.\n\nThe will is influenced by motives and by affection; and all acts of\nwill produced entirely by pure affection, are disinterested acts.\nThere is, probably, no one living, who has attained to maturity of\nyears, but has, at some period of life, felt affection for another, so\nthat it was more gratifying to please the object of his affection than\nto please himself. Love for another always influences the will to do\nthose things which please the object loved; and the acts which proceed\nfrom affection are disinterested, not being done with any selfish end\nin view, but to conform to the will and meet the desires of another.\nThe moment the affections are fixed upon an object, the will is drawn\ninto union with the will of the object loved; and if that object be\nregarded as superior, in proportion as he rises above us in the scale\nof being, to obey his will and secure his regard becomes a spontaneous\nvolition of the soul; and the pleasure that arises from affectionate\ncompliance with the will of a worthy and loved object, does not arise\nbecause it is sought for, but from the constitution the Maker has\ngiven to the human soul; it is the result of its activity, produced in\naccordance with the law of love.\n\nAll happy obedience must arise from affection, exercised towards the\nobject obeyed. Obedience which arises from affection blesses the\nspirit which yields it, if the conscience approve of the object\nobeyed. While, on the contrary, no being can be happy in obeying one\nwhom he does not love. To obey a parent, or to obey God, from\ninterested motives, would be sin. The devil might be obeyed for the\nsame reasons. All enlightened minds agree to what the Bible confirms,\nand what reason can clearly perceive, without argument, that love for\nGod is essential to every act of religious duty. To tender obedience\nor homage to God, while we had no love for him in our hearts, would be\ndishonourable to the Maker, and doing violence to our own nature.\n\nWhen an object presents itself to the attention, whose character\nengages the heart, then the affections flow out, and the soul acts\nsweetly in this new relation. There is a bond of sympathy between the\nhearts of the two beings, and those things which affect the one affect\nthe other, in proportion to the strength of the cherished affection.\nOne meets the desires and conforms to the will of the other, not from\na sense of obligation merely, but from choice. And in thus giving and\nreceiving affection, the soul experiences its highest enjoyment, its\ngreatest good; and when the understanding perceives, in the object\nloved, perfections of the highest character, and affection of the\npurest kind for those that love him, the conscience sanctions the\naction of the heart and the obedience of the will, and all the moral\npowers of the soul unite in happy and harmonious action.\n\nWe return, now, to the problem--Under the spiritual dispensation of\nChrist, how could the affections of the soul be awakened by faith, and\nfixed upon God their proper object?\n\nThe principle has been stated, which everyone will recognise as true\nin his own experience, that the more we feel the want of a benefactor,\ntemporal or spiritual, and the more we feel our inability to rescue\nourselves from existing difficulties and impending dangers, the more\ngrateful love will the heart feel for the being who, moved by\nkindness, and in despite of personal sacrifices, interposes to assist\nand save us.\n\nUnder the Old Testament dispensation the affections of the Israelites\nwere educed and fixed upon God in accordance with this law of the\nsoul. They were placed in circumstances of abject need; and from this\ncondition of suffering and sorrow, God delivered them, and thus drew\ntheir hearts to himself. Now the Jews, as has been noticed, supposed\nthat the Messiah would appear, and again confer upon them similar\nfavours, by delivering them from their state of dependence and\nsubjection as a nation. But a temporal deliverance of this kind, as\nhas been shown, was not consistent with the design of Christ's perfect\nand spiritual dispensation, which was designed to save men from sin\nand spiritual bondage, and restore them to spiritual happiness by\nrestoring them to affectionate obedience to the only living and true\nGod.\n\nThe inquiry, then, presents itself, as a feeling of want was\nnecessary, in order that the soul might love the Being who supplied\nthat want--and as Jesus came to bestow spiritual mercies upon\nmankind--_How could men be brought to feel the want of a spiritual\nBenefactor and Saviour?_\n\nAllow the thought to be repeated again--According to the constitution\nwhich God has given the soul, it must feel the want of spiritual\nmercies before it can feel love for the Giver of those mercies; and\njust in proportion as the soul feels its lost, guilty, and dangerous\ncondition, in the same proportion will it exercise love to the Being\nwho grants spiritual favour and salvation. How, then, could the\nspiritual want be produced in the souls of men, in order that they\nmight love the spiritual Benefactor?\n\nNot by temporal bondage and temporal suffering, because these would\nlead men to desire a temporal deliverance. The only possible way by\nwhich man could be made to hope for and appreciate spiritual mercies,\nand to love a spiritual deliverer, would be to produce a conviction in\nthe soul itself of its evil condition, its danger as a spiritual\nbeing, and its inability, unaided, to satisfy the requirements of a\nspiritual law, or to escape its just and spiritual penalty. If man\ncould be made to perceive that he was guilty and needy, that his soul\nwas under the condemnation of the holy law of a holy God, he would\nthen necessarily feel the need of a deliverance from sin and its\nconsequences; and in this way only could the soul of man be led to\nappreciate spiritual mercies or love a spiritual benefactor.\n\nMark another fact, in connection with the foregoing, which is to be\nespecially noticed, and which will be developed fully in subsequent\npages--The greater the kindness and self-denial of a benefactor\nmanifested in our behalf, the warmer and the stronger will be the\naffection which his goodness will produce in the human heart.\n\nHere, then, are two facts growing out of the constitution of human\nnature--First, the soul must feel its evil and lost state, as the\npre-requisite condition upon which alone it can love a deliverer;\nSecondly, the degree of kindness and self-denial in a benefactor,\ntemporal or spiritual, graduates the degree of affection and gratitude\nthat will be awakened for him.\n\nNow, in view of these necessary conditions, mark the means which God\nhas used, and the manifestations which he has made of himself, in\norder to secure the supreme love of the human soul.\n\nIn the first place, _The soul is brought to see and feel its evil and\nlost condition, and its need of deliverance_.\n\nAt the advent of Jesus, the Roman world was in precisely the condition\nwhich was necessary to prepare it for his doctrines. The Jews had the\nmoral law written in their Scriptures, and recognised it as the will\nof Jehovah; and the Gentiles had its requirements, concerning their\nduty to each other, and their duty to worship, written upon their\nhearts. Both the doctors among the Jews, and the schools of philosophy\namong the Gentiles, especially those of the Stoics, taught the\nobligatory nature of many of the important moral duties which man owes\nto man. No period in the history of the heathen mind ever existed\nbefore or since, when man's relations to man were so clearly\nperceived.[33] The Jews, however, had these advantages, that while the\nfew intelligent Gentiles received the instruction of the philosophers\nin relation to morals as truth, it was truth without any higher\nsanction than that of having been spoken by wise men, and therefore it\ncontained in itself no authority or weight of obligation to bind the\nconscience; while they had the Moral Law as a rule of duty, sanctioned\nby the authority and infinite justice of Jehovah. Thus the moral\nvirtues assumed the sanction of religious duties; and they had not\nonly the moral precepts thus sanctioned, but, having been taught the\ntrue character of God, their religious duties were likewise united in\nthe same sacred decalogue.\n\n    [33] For the views of the different schools of Grecian and Roman\n    philosophy at this period, and the amount of their indebtedness to\n    the Jewish Scriptures, see Enfield's History of Philosophy.\n\nThere was, however, in the application of the law, one most important\nand vital mistake, in relation to what constituted human guilt. The\nmoral law was generally applied as the civil law, not to the acts of\nthe spirit, but to the acts of the body. It was applied to the\nexternal conduct of men, not to the internal life. If there was\nconformity to the letter of the law in external manners, there was a\nfulfilment, in the eyes of the Jew and the Gentile, of the highest\nclaims that God or man held upon the spirit. No matter how dark or\ndamning were the exercises of the soul, if it only kept its sin in its\nown habitation, and did not develop it in action, the penalty of the\nlaw was not laid to its charge. The character of the spirit itself\nmight be criminal, and all its exercises of thought and feeling\nsensual and selfish, yet if it added hypocrisy to its guilt, and\nmaintained an outward conformity to the law--a conformity itself\nproduced by selfishness--man judged himself, and others adjudged him,\nguiltless. Man could not, therefore, understand his own guilt, as a\nspiritual being, nor feel his condemned and lost condition, until the\nrequirements of the holy law were applied to the exercises of his\nsoul.\n\nNow, Jesus applied the Divine law directly to the soul, and laid its\nobligation upon the movements of the will and the desires. He taught\nthat all wrong thoughts and feelings were acts of transgression\nagainst God, and as such would be visited with the penalty of the\nDivine law. Thus he made the law spiritual, and its penalty spiritual,\nand appealing to the authority of the supreme God, he laid its claims\nupon the naked soul. He entered the secret recesses of the spirit's\ntabernacle; he flashed the light of the Divine law upon the awful\nsecrets known only to the soul itself; and with the voice of a God, he\nspoke to the 'I' of the mind: 'Thou shalt not will, nor desire, nor\nfeel wickedly.'\n\nWhen he had thus shown that all the wrong exercises of the soul were\nsin against God, and that the soul was in a guilty condition, under\nthe condemnation of the Divine law, he then directs the attention to\nthe spiritual consequences of this guilt. These he declared to be\nexclusion from the kingdom and presence of God, and penalty which\ninvolved either endless spiritual suffering, or destruction of the\nsoul itself. The punishment which he declared to be impending over the\nunbelieving and impenitent spirit, he portrayed by using all those\nfigures which would lead men to apprehend the most fearful and\nunmitigated spiritual misery.\n\nBefore the impenitent and unpardoned sinner there was the destruction\nof the soul and body in hell--consignment to a state of darkness,\nwhere the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched--cursed and\nbanished from God into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and\nhis angels--agonising in flame, and refused a drop of water to\nmitigate the agony. Now, these figures, to the minds both of Jews and\nGentiles, must have conveyed a most appalling impression of the misery\nthat was impending over the soul, unless it was relieved from sin, and\nthe consequent curse of the law. Jesus knew that the Jews, especially,\nwould understand these figures as implying fearful future punishment:\nhe therefore designed to do, what was undoubtedly accomplished in the\nmind of everyone that believed his instruction, which was, to produce\na conviction of sin in the soul, by applying to it the requirements of\nthe spiritual law of God, and by showing that the penalty consequent\nupon sin was fearful and everlasting destruction. We say, then, what\neveryone who has followed these thoughts must perceive to be true,\nthat the instruction of Jesus would necessarily produce, in the mind\nof everyone that believed, a conviction that he was a guilty and\ncondemned creature, and that an awful doom awaited his soul, unless he\nreceived pardon and spiritual deliverance.\n\nThus, then, by the instruction of Jesus Christ, showing the spirituality\nand holiness of the Divine law, and applying it, with its infinite\nsanctions, to the exercise of the soul, that condition of mind was\nproduced which alone could prepare man to love a spiritual deliverer;\nand there is no other way in which the soul could have been prepared, in\naccordance with truth and the constitution of its own nature, to\nappreciate the spiritual mercies of God, and love him as a spiritual\nSaviour.\n\nThe law and the truth being exhibited by Christ in the manner adapted\nto produce the condition of soul pre-requisite to the exercise of\naffection for spiritual deliverance--now, as God was the author of\nthe law, and as he is the only proper object both of supreme love and\nobedience; and, as man could not be happy in obeying the law without\nloving its author, it follows, that the thing now necessary, in order\nthat man's affections might be fixed upon the proper object of love\nand obedience, was, that the supreme God should, by self-denying\nkindness, manifest spiritual mercy to those who felt their spiritual\nwants, and thus draw to himself the love and worship of mankind. If\nany other being should supply the need, that being would receive the\nlove; it was therefore necessary that God himself should do it, in\norder that the affection of believers might centre upon the proper\nobject.\n\nBut, notice, that in order to the accomplishment of this end, without\nviolating the moral constitution of the universe, it would be\nessentially necessary that the holiness of God's law should be\nmaintained. This would be necessary, because the law is, in itself,\nthe will of the Godhead, and God himself must be unholy before his\nwill can be so. And whatever God may overlook in those who know not\ntheir duty, yet, when he reveals his perfect law, that law cannot,\nfrom the nature of its Author, allow the commission of a single sin.\nBut, besides, if its holiness were not maintained, man is so\nconstituted that he could never become holy. Every change to a better\ncourse in man's life must be preceded by a conviction of error; man\ncannot repent and turn from sin till he is convicted of sin in\nhimself. Now, if the holiness of the law, as a standard of duty, was\nmaintained, man might thus be enlightened and convicted of sin, until\nhe had seen and felt the last sin in his soul; and if the law allowed\none sin, there would be no way of convicting man of that sin, or of\nconverting him from it; he would, therefore, remain, in some degree, a\nsinner for ever. But, finally and conclusively, if the holiness of the\nlaw was not maintained, that sense of guilt and danger could not be\nproduced which is necessary in order that man may love a spiritual\nSaviour. Jesus produced that condition by applying to the soul the\nauthority, the claims, and the sanctions of the holy law. It is\nimpossible, therefore, in the nature of things, for a sinful being to\nappreciate God's mercy, unless he first feel his justice as manifested\nin the holy law. Love in the soul is produced by the joint influence\nof the justice and mercy of God. The integrity of the eternal law,\ntherefore, must be for ever maintained.[34]\n\n    [34] The preceding views are confirmed, both by the character of\n    the moral law, and by its design and exposition, as given by the\n    apostles of Christ. The moral law, or the rule and obligation of\n    moral rectitude in the sight of God, which is revealed in the\n    Scriptures, and interpreted by Christ as obligatory upon the\n    thoughts and feelings of the soul, is not only in its nature of\n    perpetual and universal obligation, and adapted to produce\n    conviction of sin in every soul that is sensible of transgressing\n    its requirements; but the Scriptures expressly declare that it was\n    designed to produce conviction of sin in the soul, in order to\n    prepare it to receive the gospel.\n\n    The moral law is set forth in the Scriptures as holy, just, and\n    good in its character; and whatever may be its effects upon the\n    soul itself, that its character is such no intelligent being in\n    the universe can doubt, because it requires of every one perfect\n    holiness, justice, and goodness; it requires that the soul should\n    be perfectly free from sin in the sight of God: and, as we have\n    seen, God ought not to allow one sin; if he did, the law would not\n    be holy, nor adapted to make men holy. But the more holy the law,\n    the more conviction it would produce in the mind of sinners. If\n    the law extended only to external conduct, men would not feel\n    guilty for their wrong thoughts, desires, or designs; and if it\n    extended only to certain classes of spiritual exercises, men would\n    not feel guilty for those which it did not condemn; but if it\n    required that the soul itself--the spiritual agent--the 'I' of the\n    mind--should be holy, and all its thoughts and feelings in\n    accordance with the law of love and righteousness, then the soul\n    would be convicted of guilt for a single wrong exercise, because,\n    while it felt that the law was holy, just, and good, it could not\n    but feel condemned in breaking it. When Christ came, therefore,\n    every soul that was taught its spirituality would be convicted of\n    sin. One of two things men had to do, either shut out its light\n    from their soul, and refuse to believe its spiritual and perfect\n    requirements, or judge and condemn themselves by those\n    requirements. And while the law thus showed sin to exist in the\n    soul, and condemned the soul as guilty and liable to its penalty,\n    it imparted no strength to the sinner to enable him to fulfil its\n    requirements; it merely sets forth the true standard, which is\n    holy in itself, and which God must maintain; and, by its light, it\n    shows sinners their guilt, condemns them, and leaves them under\n    its curse.\n\n    Now, the Scriptures declare that this is the end which, by its\n    nature, it is adapted to accomplish, and that it was revealed to\n    men with the design to accomplish this end, and thus lead men to\n    see and feel the necessity of justification and pardon by Jesus\n    Christ. The Scripture says, 'It is easier for heaven and earth to\n    pass than one tittle of the law to fail.' 'The law worketh wrath:\n    for where there is no law, there is no transgression.' 'Moreover\n    the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin\n    abounded grace did much more abound; that as sin hath reigned unto\n    death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto\n    eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.' Mark the following--'Now\n    we know that what things soever the law saith it saith to them who\n    are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the\n    world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the\n    law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law\n    is the knowledge of sin.'\n\n    The argument of the apostle in vindicating the holiness of the\n    law, while it, at the same time, produced conviction and\n    condemnation, is conclusive. 'What shall we say then? Is the law\n    sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I\n    had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet;\n    (that is, I should not have felt covetousness to be sin, except\n    the law had condemned it as such;) for I was alive (that is, not\n    consciously condemned) without the law once; but when the\n    commandment came, sin revived, and I died; and the commandment,\n    which was ordained to life, (that is, which required the soul to\n    be holy and therefore alive to God,) I found to be unto death. For\n    sin, taking occasion by the commandment, (or acts shown to be sin\n    by the commandment,) deceived me, and by it slew me. Wherefore the\n    law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. Was\n    then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin,\n    that it might appear sin, (that is, sin which did exist in the\n    soul, was made to appear in its true evil character,) working\n    death in me by that which is good; (that is, the holiness of the\n    law showed the evil of sin;) that sin by the commandment might\n    become exceeding sinful. For we know that the law is spiritual:\n    but I am carnal, sold under sin.' And then, for deliverance from\n    this bondage, he looks to Christ--'For the law of the Spirit of\n    life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and\n    death,' etc. And mark again--'Is the law then against the promises\n    of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could\n    have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law\n    (that is, while the law showed the soul unholy and condemned to\n    spiritual death, it provided no means for the relief of the\n    sinner--no influence by which love and holiness could be produced\n    in the heart). But the Scripture (that is, the revelation of law\n    in the Scriptures) hath concluded all under sin, that the promise\n    by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But\n    before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the\n    faith which should afterwards be revealed; wherefore the law was\n    our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be\n    justified by faith.'\n\n    Now, from the above Scriptures it is evident that the apostle\n    understood the law not only to be adapted, but designed by its\n    Author, to show the soul its guilty and lost condition, its\n    inability to free itself from the condemnation to which it was\n    liable, and to prepare it, at the proper time, to love and trust\n    in Christ for salvation from sin, and spiritual death, the\n    consequence of sin.\n\nHow, then, could God manifest that mercy to sinners by which love to\nhimself and to his law would be produced, while his infinite holiness\nand justice would be maintained?\n\nWe answer, in no way possible, but by some expedient by which his\njustice and mercy would both be exalted. If, in the wisdom of the\nGodhead, such a way could be devised, by which God himself could save\nthe soul from the consequences of its guilt--by which he himself could\nin some way suffer and make self-denials for its good; and, by his own\ninterposition, open a way for the soul to recover from its lost and\ncondemned condition, then the result would follow inevitably, that\nevery one of the human family who had been led to see and feel his\nguilty condition before God, and who believed in God thus manifesting\nhimself to rescue his soul from spiritual death--everyone, thus\nbelieving, would, from the necessities of his nature, be led to love\nGod his Saviour; and mark, the greater the self-denial and the\nsuffering on the part of the Saviour, in ransoming the soul, the\nstronger would be the affection felt for him.\n\nThis is the central and vital doctrine of the plan of salvation. We\nwill now, by throwing light and accumulating strength upon this\ndoctrine from different points, illustrate and establish it beyond the\npossibility of rational doubt.\n\n\n_1. The testimony of Jesus that it was necessary man should feel the\nwant, in order to exercise the love._\n\nJesus uniformly speaks of it as being necessary that, previously to\naccepting him as a Saviour, the soul should feel the need of\nsalvation. He does not even invite the thoughtless sinner, or the\nGodless worldling, who has no sense of the evil or the guilt of sin,\nto come to him. Said Jesus, 'I came not to call the righteous, but\nsinners to repentance.' 'They that are whole need not a physician, but\nthey that are sick.' 'Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy\nladen, and I will give you rest.' 'If any man thirst, let him come\nunto me and drink.' 'Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after\nrighteousness for they shall be filled.' Thus, the points which have\nbeen shown to be necessary, from the constitution of things, in order\nto the soul's loving God, are presented in the same light by Jesus\nhimself; and upon the principle which they involve, he acted during\nhis ministry.\n\n\n_2. The testimony of the Scriptures that God did thus manifest himself\nas suffering and making self-denials for the spiritual good of men._\n\n'God was in Christ,' says the apostle, 'reconciling the world to\nhimself;' that is, God was in Christ doing those things that would\nrestore to himself the obedience and affection of everyone that\nbelieved. Christ represents himself as a ransom for the soul, as\nlaying down his life for sinners. He is represented as descending from\na state of the highest felicity; taking upon him the nature of man,\nand humbling himself even to the death of the cross, a death of the\nmost excruciating torture; and thus bearing the sins of men in his own\nbody on the tree, that through his death God 'might be just, and the\njustifier of him which believeth in Jesus.'\n\nIt was thus, by a self-denial surpassing description, by a life of\nlabour for human good, accomplished by constant personal sacrifices,\nand tending at every step towards the centre of the vortex, he went on\nuntil, finally, life closed to a crisis, by the passion in the garden,\nthe rebuke, and the buffeting, and the cruel mockery of the Jews and\nthe Romans: and then, bearing his cross, faint with former agony of\nspirit, and his flesh quivering with recent scourging, he goes to\nCalvary, where the agonised Sufferer for human sin cried, 'IT IS\nFINISHED;' and gave up the ghost.\n\nSuch is the testimony of the Scriptures; and it may be affirmed,\nwithout hesitancy, that it would be impossible for the human soul to\nexercise full faith in the testimony that it was a guilty and needy\ncreature, condemned by the holy law of a holy God; and that from this\ncondition of spiritual guilt and danger, Jesus Christ suffered and\ndied to accomplish its ransom--we say a human being could not exercise\nfull faith in these truths and not love the Saviour.\n\n\n_3. The atonement of Christ produces the necessary effect upon the\nhuman soul, in restoring it to affectionate obedience, which neither\nphilosophy, law, nor perceptive truth could accomplish._\n\nThe wisdom of Divine Providence was conspicuous in the fact that,\npreviously to the introduction of Christianity, all the resources of\nhuman wisdom had been exhausted in efforts to confer upon man true\nknowledge and true happiness. Although most of the great names of\nantiquity were conspicuous rather for those properties which rendered\nthem a terror and a scourge to mankind; and although society, among the\nancients, in its best state, was little better than semi-barbarism, yet\nthere was a class in society, during the Augustan and Periclean ages,\nand even at some periods before the last-named, that was cultivated in\nmind and manners.\n\nFrom this class, individuals at times arose who were truly great--men\ndistinguished alike for the strength, compass, and discrimination of\ntheir intellect. In all the efforts of these men, with the exception\nof those who applied themselves exclusively to the study of physical\nphenomena, the great end sought was the means or secret of human\nhappiness. All admitted that human nature, as they found it, was in an\nimperfect or depraved condition, and not in the enjoyment of its chief\ngood; and the plans they proposed by which to obtain that happiness of\nwhich they believed the soul susceptible, were as various and diverse\nfrom each other as can be imagined. No one of these plans ever\naccomplished, in any degree, the end desired; and no one of them was\never adapted to, or embraced by, the common people. The philosophers\nthemselves, after wrangling for the honour of having discovered truth,\nand making themselves miserable in the pursuit of happiness, died; and\nman was left unsatisfied and unhappy, philosophy having shed only\nsufficient light upon his mind to disclose more fully the guilty and\nwretched state of his heart.\n\nThere are, perhaps, two exceptions to these remarks as applied to the\ngreat minds of antiquity: those are Socrates and his pupil Plato.\nThese men, with a far-penetrating insight into the constitutional\nwants of man, contemplating the disordered and unhappy condition of\nhuman nature, and inquiring for a remedy adequate to enlighten the\nmind, and give the heart a satisfying good, perceived that there was\nnot in the resources of philosophy, nor within the compass of human\nmeans, any power that could reach the source of the difficulty, and\nrectify the evil of human nature, which consisted in a want of\nbenevolent affection.[35] Inferring from the nature of man what would\nbe necessary, and trusting in the goodness of the Deity to grant the\nrequisite aid, they expressed their belief that a Divine Teacher would\ncome from heaven, who would restore truth and happiness to the human\nsoul.[36]\n\n    [35] That Plato had some idea of the want, and none of what was\n    necessary to supply it, may be seen in the fact that in order to\n    make men love as brethren, which he saw to be necessary, he\n    recommended a community of wives to the members of his ideal\n    republic.\n\n    [36] In Plato's dialogue upon the duties of religious worship, a\n    passage occurs, the design of which appears to be, to show that\n    man could not, of himself, learn either the nature of the gods, or\n    the proper manner of worshipping them, unless an instructor should\n    come from heaven. The following remarkable passage occurs between\n    Socrates and Alcibiades:--\n\n    _Socrates._--To me it appears best to be patient. It is necessary\n    to wait till you learn how you ought to act towards the gods, and\n    towards men.\n\n    _Alcibiades._--When, O Socrates, shall that time be? and who shall\n    instruct me? for most willingly would I see this person, who he\n    is.\n\n    _Socrates._--He is one who cares for you; but, as Homer represents\n    Minerva as taking away darkness from the eyes of Diomedes, that he\n    might distinguish a god from a man: so it is necessary that he\n    should first take away the darkness from your mind, and then bring\n    near those things by which you shall know good and evil.\n\n    _Alcibiades._--Let him take away the darkness, or any other thing,\n    if he will; for whoever this man is, I am prepared to refuse none\n    of the things which he commands, if I shall be made\n    better.--_Platonis Alcibiad._ ii.\n\nIt is strange that among philosophers of succeeding ages there has\nnot been wisdom sufficient to discover, from the constitutional\nnecessities of the human spirit, that demand for the instruction and\naid of the Messiah which Socrates and Plato discovered, even in a\ncomparatively dark age.\n\nThere are two insuperable difficulties which would for ever hinder the\nrestoration of mankind to truth and happiness from being accomplished\nby human means. The first, which has been already alluded to, is that\nhuman instruction, as such, has no power to bind the conscience. Even\nif man were competent to discover all the truth necessary for a\nperfect rule of conduct, yet that truth would have no reformatory\npower, because men could never feel that truth was obligatory which\nproceeded from merely human sources. It is an obvious principle of our\nnature that the conscience will not charge guilt on the soul for\ndisobedience, when the command proceeds from a fellow man who is not\nrecognised as having the prerogative and the right to require\nsubmission. And besides, as men's minds are variously constituted, and\nof various capacities, there could be no agreement in such a case\nconcerning the question, 'What is truth?' As well might we expect two\nschoolboys to reform each other's manners in school, without the aid\nof the teacher's authority, as that men can reform their fellows\nwithout the sanction of that authority which will quicken and bind the\nconscience. The human conscience was made to recognise and enforce the\nauthority of God; and unless there is belief in the Divine obligation\nof truth, conscience refuses to perform its office.\n\nBut the grand difficulty is this:--Truth, whether sanctioned by\nconscience or not, has no power, as has been shown, to produce love in\nthe heart. The law may convict and guide the mind, but it has no power\nto soften or to change the affections. This was the precise thing\nnecessary, and this necessary end the wisdom of the world could not\naccomplish. All the wisdom of all the philosophers in all ages could\nnever cause the affections of the soul to rise to the holy, blessed God.\nTo destroy selfish pride, and produce humility--to eradicate the evil\npassions, and produce in the soul desires for the universal good, and\nlove for the universal Parent, were beyond the reach of earthly wisdom\nand power. The wisdom of the world in their efforts to give truth and\nhappiness to the human soul, was foolishness with God; and the wisdom of\nGod--Christ crucified--was foolishness with the philosophers, in\nrelation to the same subject;[37] yet it was Divine philosophy: an\nadapted means, and the only adequate means, to accomplish the necessary\nend. Said an apostle, in speaking upon this subject: 'The Jews require a\nsign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified,\nunto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness: but\nunto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of\nGod, and the wisdom of God.' The Jews, while they required a sign, did\nnot perceive that miracles, in themselves, were not adapted to produce\naffection. And the Greeks, while they sought after wisdom, did not\nperceive that all the wisdom of the Gentiles would never work love in\nthe heart. But the apostle preached 'Christ crucified,' an exhibition of\nself-denial, of suffering, and of self-sacrificing love and mercy,\nendured in behalf of men; which, when received by faith, became 'the\npower of God, and the wisdom of God,' to produce love and obedience in\nthe human soul. Paul understood the efficacy of the cross. He looked to\nCalvary and beheld Christ crucified as the sun of the Gospel system. Not\nas the moon, reflecting cold and borrowed rays; but as the Sun of\nrighteousness, glowing with radiant mercy, and pouring warm beams of\nlife and love into the open bosom of the believer.\n\n    [37] From an observation of one of the Fathers, it would seem that\n    after the Gospel had been preached among the Greeks, many of them\n    perceived its adaptedness to accomplish the end for which they had\n    sought in vain. 'Philosophy,' says Clemens, of Alexandria, 'led\n    the Greeks to Christ, as the law did the Jews.'\n\n    Concluding paragraph of the apology of M. Minucius Felix in\n    defence of Christianity, A.D. 250:\n\n    'To conclude: the sum of our boasting is, that we are got into\n    possession of what the philosophers have been always in quest of;\n    and what, with all their application, they could never find. Why,\n    then, so much ill-will stirring against us? If Divine truth is\n    come to perfection in our time, let us make a good use of the\n    blessing; let us govern our knowledge with discretion; let\n    superstition and impiety be no more; and let true religion triumph\n    in their stead.'\n\n\n_4. Analogy between the moral and physical laws of the universe._\n\nThe laws which govern physical nature are analogous to those which the\ngospel introduces into the spiritual world. The earth is held to the\nsun by the power of attraction, and performs regularly its circuit\nround the central sustaining luminary: maintaining, at the same time,\nits equal relations with its sister planets. But the moral system upon\nthe earth is a chaos of derangement. The attraction of _affection_\nwhich holds the soul to God has been broken, and the soul of man,\nactuated by selfishness--revolving upon its own centre only--jars in\nits course with its fellow spirits, and crosses their orbits; and the\nwhole system of the spiritual world upon earth revolves in disorder,\nthe orbs wandering and rolling away from that centre of moral life and\npower which alone could hold them in harmonious and happy motion. Into\nthe midst of this chaos of disordered spirits, God, the Sun of the\nspiritual world, came down. He shed light upon the moral darkness, and\nby coming near, like the approaches of a mighty magnet, the attraction\nof his mercy, as manifested in Christ crucified, became so powerful,\nthat many spirits, rolling away into darkness and destruction, felt\nthe efficacy, and were drawn back, and caused to move again, in their\nregular orbits, around the 'Light,' and 'Life,' and 'Love' of the\nspiritual system.\n\nIf free agency could be predicated of the bodies of the solar system,\nthe great law which governs their movements might be imposed on\nthem--_of attraction to the Sun, and mutual attraction among\nthemselves_. Similar is the great law of the spiritual world: 'Thou\nshalt love the Lord thy God with all thy soul, and thy neighbour as\nthyself.' Now, if a planet had broken away from its orbit, it would\nhave a tendency to fly off for ever, and it never could be restored,\nunless the sun, the great centre of attraction, could, in some way,\nfollow it in its wanderings, and thus by the increased power of his\nattraction, as he approached nearer to the fallen planet, attach it to\nhimself, and then draw it back again to its original orbit. So with\nthe human spirit; its affections were alienated from God, the centre\nof spiritual attraction, and they could never have been restored,\nunless God had approached, and by the increased power of his mercy, as\nmanifested in the self-denial, sufferings, and death of Christ, united\nman again to himself, by the power of affection, that he might thus\ndraw him up from his misery and sin, to revolve around him, in harmony\nand love, for ever.\n\nIf this earth had, by some means, broken away from the sun, there\nwould be no way possible of recovering it again to its place in the\nsystem but that which has been mentioned--that the sun should leave\nhis central position, and approach the wandering orb, and thus, by the\nincreased power of his attraction, draw back the earth to its original\nposition. But the sun could not thus leave the centre of the system\nwithout drawing all the other planets from their orbits by the\nmovement to recover the lost one. The relations of the system would be\nbroken up, and the whole solar economy sacrificed, if the universal\nand equal law of gravitation were infringed by the sun changing his\nposition and his relations in the system.\n\nFurther, the established laws of the physical universe would render\nit impossible that any other planet should be the instrument of\nrecovering the earth to the sun. If another planet should approach the\nearth while thus wandering, the increased power of attraction would\ncause the two globes to revolve round each other; or if the\napproaching planet was of greater magnitude, the earth would revolve\nas a satellite round it. But this would not be to restore the earth to\nits place in the system, nor to its movement round the sun, but to fix\nit in a wrong position and a wrong movement, and thus alienate it for\never from the central source of light and heat. It follows, therefore,\nthat in accordance with the established laws of the solar system, the\nearth could never be recovered, but would fly off for ever, or be\nbroken into asteroids.\n\nThere would, therefore, be no way possible for the recovery of the\nearth, unless God should adopt an expedient unknown to the physical\nlaws of the universe. This, all who believe that God is almighty, and\nhimself the Author of those laws, will allow that he might do. That\nexpedient must not destroy the great laws of the system, upon which\nthe safety of all its parts depends, but an augmented force of\nattraction must be thrown upon the earth from the sun itself, which\nwould be sufficient to check the force of its departing momentum, and\ngradually draw it back to its place. If a portion of the magnetic\npower of the sun could be thrown into the earth, an adhesion would\ntake place between it and the earth, and then, after the cord was\nfastened, if that body of attractive matter could ascend again to the\nbody of the sun, the earth would receive the returning impulse, and a\nnew and peculiar influence would be created to draw it back to its\nallegiance to the sun. If, as has been said, the power came from any\nother body but the sun itself, or attracted towards any other body,\nthe earth would lose its place in the system for ever.[38]\n\n    [38] These illustrations are not to be applied to the mode of\n    existence, or subsistence, in the Godhead; but as God is the\n    Author of both the physical and moral laws, and as the attraction\n    of gravitation in physics corresponds with the attraction of\n    affection in morals, an analogy of what would be necessary under\n    one, is taken to what was accomplished by Christ under the other.\n\nSo in the moral world: God's relations to the moral universe must be\nsustained. The infinite justice and holiness of the Divine law must\nnot be compromised. The end to be gained is, to draw man, as a\nrevolted sinner, back to God, while the integrity of God's moral\ngovernment is maintained. Now _affection_ is the attraction of the\nmoral universe. And, in accordance with the foregoing deduction, to\nreclaim alienated man to God would be impossible, unless there should\nbe a manifestation of the Godhead in the world to attract to himself\nman's estranged affections; and then, after the affinity was fastened\nby faith, by his ascending again to the bosom of the Deity, mankind\nwould thus be gradually drawn back to allegiance to Jehovah.\n\n\n_5. Illustrations from nature and the Scriptures._\n\nThe plan of salvation is likened to a vine which has fallen down from\nthe boughs of an oak. It lies prone upon the ground; it crawls in the\ndust, and all its tendrils and claspers, which were formed to hold it\nin the lofty place from which it has fallen, are twined around the\nweed and the bramble, and having no strength to raise itself, it lies\nfruitless and corrupting, tied down to the base things of the earth.\nNow, how shall the vine arise from its fallen condition? But one way\nis possible for the vine to rise again to the place from whence it had\nfallen. The bough of the lofty oak must be let down, or some\ncommunication must be formed connected with the top of the oak, and at\nthe same time with the earth. Then, when the bough of the oak was let\ndown to the place where the vine lay, its tender claspers might fasten\nupon it, and, thus supported, it might raise itself up, and bloom and\nbear fruit again in the lofty place from whence it fell. So with\nman--his affections had fallen from God, and were fastened to the base\nthings of the earth. Jesus Christ came down, and by his humanity\nstood upon the earth, and by his Divinity raised his hands and united\nhimself with the Deity of the everlasting Father: thus the fallen\naffections of man may fasten upon him, and twine around him, until\nthey again ascend to the bosom of the Godhead, from whence they fell.\n\nIt was thus that prophets, evangelists, apostles, and the Son of God\nhimself, presented the Divine scheme of human redemption. Christ is\nthe 'Branch' by which the vine may recover itself from its prone and\nbase condition: he is the 'Arm of the Lord' by which he reaches down\nand rescues sinful men from the ruins of the fall: 'through whom,'\nsays Peter, 'ye believe in God' [that is, believe in God manifested\nthrough Christ], 'that raised him up from the dead, and gave him\nglory, that your faith and hope might be in God.' Says Paul, 'Your\nlife is hid with Christ in God.' Jesus himself proclaimed that the\nbeliever should have within him 'a well of water, springing up into\neverlasting life'--that is, he that believeth in Christ crucified, the\nhard heart within him will be struck by the rod of faith, and in his\nsoul there will be a well of pure and living affection springing up to\nGod for ever. And again: 'Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on\nme, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me, and he that seeth me\nseeth him that sent me'--that is, Christ was _God acting_, developing\nthe Divine attributes through human nature, so that men might\napprehend and realise them. God might have been as merciful as he is\nif Christ had never died; but man could never have known the extent,\nnor felt the power, of his mercy, but by the exhibition on the cross.\nHis mercy could have been manifested to man's heart in no other way.\nAnd men cannot love God for what he truly is, unless they love him as\nmanifested in the suffering and death of Christ Jesus. 'I am the Way,\nthe Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me.' 'If\nye had known me, ye would have known my Father also; and from\nhenceforth ye know him, and have seen him.'\n\n\n_6. The preceding views established by reductio ad absurdum._\n\nIt is necessary that man should know the character of the true God,\nand feel the influence of that character upon his mind and heart. But\nhuman nature, as at present constituted, could not be made to feel the\ngoodness of God's mercy unless God--blessed be his name!--should make\nself-denials for man's benefit; either by assuming human nature, or in\nsome other way. And is it not true that God could make self-denials\nfor men in no other way than would be plain to their apprehension,\nexcept by embodying his Godhead in human nature? Mercy can be\nmanifested to man, so as to make an impression upon his heart, in no\nother way than by labour and self-denial. This principle is obvious.\nSuppose an individual is confined, under condemnation of the law, and\nthe governor, in the exercise of his powers, pardons him: this act of\nclemency would produce upon the heart of the criminal no particular\neffect, either to make him grateful, or to make him better. He might,\nperhaps, be sensible of a complacent feeling for the release granted;\nbut so long as he knew that his release cost the governor nothing but\nan act of his will, there would be no basis in the prisoner's mind for\ngratitude and love. The liberated man would feel more gratitude to one\nof his friends, who had laboured to get petitions before the governor\nfor his release, than to the governor who released him. To vary the\nillustration: Suppose that two persons, who are liable to be destroyed\nin the flames of a burning dwelling, are rescued by two separate\nindividuals. The one is enabled to escape by an individual who,\nperceiving his danger, steps up to the door and opens it, without any\neffort or self-denial on his part. The other is rescued in a different\nmanner. An individual, perceiving his danger and liability to death,\nascends to him, and by a severe effort, and while he is himself\nsuffering from the flames, holds open the door until the inmate\nescapes for his life. Now, the one who opened the door without\nself-denial may have been merciful, and the individual relieved would\nrecognise the act as a kindness done to one in peril; but no one would\nfeel that _that_ act proved that the man who delivered the other\nmanifested any special mercy, because any man would have done the\nsame act. But the one who ascended the ladder and rescued, by peril,\nand by personal suffering, the individual liable to death, would\nmanifest special mercy, and all who observed it would acknowledge the\nclaim; and the individual rescued would feel the mercy of the act,\nmelting his heart into gratitude to his deliverer unless his heart\nwere a moral petrifaction.\n\nWhat are, in reality, the facts by which alone men may know that any\nbeing possesses a benevolent nature? Not, certainly, by that being\nconferring benefits upon others, which cost him neither personal labour\nnor self-denial; because we could not tell but these favours would cease\nthe moment they involved the least degree of sacrifice, or the moment\nthey interfered with his selfish interests. But when it requires a\nsacrifice, on the part of a benefactor, to bestow a favour, and that\nsacrifice is made, then benevolence of heart is made evidently manifest.\nNow mark--any being who is prompted, by benevolence of heart, to make\nsacrifices, may not lose happiness, in the aggregate, by so doing; for a\nbenevolent nature finds happiness in performing benevolent acts.\nSelf-denials are, therefore, not only the appropriate method of\nmanifesting benevolence to men, but they are likewise the appropriate\nmanifestations of a benevolent nature. Now, suppose God is perfectly\nbenevolent; then, it follows in view of the foregoing deductions, in\norder to manifest his true nature to men, self-denials would be\nnecessary, in order that men might see and feel that 'God is love.' It\nis clear, therefore, that those who reject the Divinity of Christ, as\nconnected with the atonement, cannot believe in God's benevolence;\nbecause God is really as benevolent as the self-denials of Christ\n(believed in as Divine) will lead men to feel that he is: nor can they\nbelieve in the mercy of God in any way that will produce an effect upon\ntheir hearts. To say that the human heart can be deeply affected by\nmercy that is not manifested by self-denial, is to show but little\nknowledge of the springs which move the inner life of the human soul.\nMan will feel a degree of love and gratitude for a benefactor who\nmanifests an interest in his wants, and labours to supply them; but he\nwill feel a greater degree of grateful love for the benefactor who\nmanifests an interest in his wants, and makes self-denials to aid him.\nTo deny, therefore, the Divine and meritorious character of the\natonement, is to shut out both the evidence and the effect of God's\nmercy from the soul.\n\nIn accordance with this view is the teaching of the Scriptures. There\nis but one thing which is charged against men, in the New Testament,\nas a fundamental and soul-destroying _heresy_, and that is, not\ndenying the Lord, but 'denying the Lord that bought them.' It is\nrejecting the purchase of Christ by his self-denying atonement which\ncauses the destruction of the soul, because it rejects the truth which\nalone can produce love to the God of love.\n\nBut further: the facts have been fully proved, that God Jehovah, by\ntaking a personal interest in the well-being of the Israelites, and\nlabouring to secure their redemption, secured their affections to\nhimself; and that his acts of mercy produced this effect was\nmanifested by their song after their final deliverance at the Red Sea.\n'I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the\nhorse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. The Lord is my\nstrength and song, and he is become my salvation.' In like manner,\nJesus Christ secured to himself, in a greater degree, the affections\nof Christians, by his self-denying life and death, to ransom them from\nspiritual bondage and misery. The Israelites in Egypt were under a\ntemporal law so severe, that while they suffered in the greatest\ndegree, they could not fulfil its requirements: they therefore loved\nJehovah for temporal deliverance. The believer was under a spiritual\nlaw, the requirements of which he could not fulfil, and therefore he\nloved Christ for spiritual deliverance. This fact, that the supreme\naffection of believers was thus fixed upon Christ, and fixed upon him\nin view of his self-sacrificing love for them, is manifest throughout\nthe whole New Testament--even more manifest than that the Jews loved\nJehovah for temporal deliverance. 'The love of Christ constraineth\nus,' says one: thus manifesting that his very life was actuated by\naffection for Jesus. Says another--speaking of early Christians\ngenerally--'Whom [Christ] having not seen, ye love; in whom, though\nnow ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and\nfull of glory.' The Bible requires religious men to perform religious\nduties, moved by love to Christ: 'And whatsoever ye do, do it\nheartily, as to the Lord and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye\nshall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord\nChrist.' Mark--these Christians were moved in what they did, what they\nsaid, and what they felt, by love to Christ: love to Jesus actuated\ntheir whole being, body and soul. It governed them.\n\nNow, suppose that Jesus Christ was not God, nor a true manifestation\nof the Godhead in human nature, but a man, or angel, authorised by God\nto accomplish the redemption of the human race from sin and misery. In\ndoing this, it appears, from the nature of things, and from the\nScriptures, that he did what was adapted to, and what does, draw the\nheart of every true believer--as in the case of the apostle and the\nearly Christians--to himself, as the supreme or governing object of\naffection. Their will is governed by the will of Christ; and love to\nhim moves their heart and hands. Now, if it be true that Jesus Christ\nis not God, then he has devised and executed a plan by which the\nsupreme affections of the human heart are drawn to himself, and\nalienated from God, the proper object of love and worship: and, God\nhaving authorised this plan, he has devised means to make man love\nChrist, the creature, more than the Creator, who is God over all,\nblessed for evermore.\n\nBut it is said that, Christ having taught and suffered by the will and\nauthority of God, we are under obligation to love God for what Christ\nhas done for us. It is answered, that this is impossible. We cannot\nlove one being for what another does or suffers on our behalf. We can\nlove no being for labours and self-denials in our behalf, but that\nbeing who voluntarily labours and denies himself. It is the kindness\nand mercy exhibited in the self-denial that moves the affections; and\nthe affections can move to no being but the one that makes the\nself-denials, because it is the self-denials that draw out the love of\nthe heart.\n\nIt is still said, that Christ was sent by God to do his will and not\nhis own; and therefore we ought to love God, as the Being to whom\ngratitude and love are due for what Christ said and suffered. Then it\nis answered: If God willed that Christ, as a creature of his, should\ncome, and by his sufferings and death redeem sinners, we ought not to\nlove Christ for it, because he did it as a creature, in obedience to\nthe commands of God, and was not self-moved nor meritorious in the\nwork; and we cannot love God for it, for the labour and self-denial\nwere not borne by him. And further: If one being, by an act of his\nauthority, should cause another innocent being to suffer, in order\nthat he might be loved who had imposed the suffering, but not borne\nit, it would render him unworthy of love. If God had caused Jesus\nChrist, being his creature, to suffer, that he might be loved himself\nfor Christ's sufferings, while he had no connection with them, instead\nof such an exhibition, on the part of God, producing love to him, it\nwould produce pity for Christ, and aversion towards God. So that,\nneither God, nor Christ, nor any other being, can be loved for mercy\nextended, by self-denials to the needy, unless those self-denials were\nproduced by a voluntary act of mercy upon the part of the being who\nsuffers them; and no being, but the one who made the sacrifices, could\nbe meritorious in the case. It follows, therefore, incontrovertibly,\nthat if Christ was a creature--no matter of how exalted worth--and not\nGod; and if God approved of his work in saving sinners, he approved of\ntreason against his own government; because, in that case, the work of\nChrist was adapted to draw, and did necessarily draw, the affections\nof the human soul to himself, as its spiritual Saviour, and thus\nalienate them from God, their rightful object. And Jesus Christ\nhimself had the design of drawing men's affections to himself in view,\nby his crucifixion: says he, 'And I, if I be lifted up from the earth,\nwill draw all men unto me.' This he said, signifying what death he\nshould die: thus distinctly stating that it was the self-denials and\nmercy exhibited in the crucifixion that would draw out the affections\nof the human soul, and that those affections would be drawn to himself\nas the suffering Saviour. But that God would sanction a scheme which\nwould involve treason against himself, and that Christ should\nparticipate in it, is absurd and impossible, and therefore cannot be\ntrue.\n\nBut if the Divine nature was united with the human in the teaching and\nwork of Christ--if 'God was in Christ,' [drawing the affections of\nmen, or] 'reconciling the world unto himself'--if, when Christ was\nlifted up, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, he drew,\nas he said he would, the affections of all believers unto himself; and\nthen, if he ascended, as the second person of the Trinity, into the\nbosom of the eternal Godhead--he thereby, after he had engaged, by his\nwork on earth, the affections of the human soul, bore them up to the\nbosom of the Father, from whence they had fallen. Thus the ruins of\nthe fall were rebuilt, and the affections of the human soul again\nrestored to God, the Creator, and proper object of supreme love. Oh\nthe length, and the breadth, and the depth, and the height, of the\nDivine wisdom and goodness, as manifested in the wonderful plan of\nsalvation! 'Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in\nthe flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the\nGentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.' Amen.\nBlessing and honour, dominion, and power, be unto Him that sitteth\nupon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever. Amen and amen.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\n\nTHE INFLUENCE OF FAITH IN CHRIST UPON THE MORAL DISPOSITION AND MORAL\nPOWERS OF THE SOUL.\n\n\nIt has been demonstrated that the teaching and atonement of God the\nSaviour would draw to him, by faith, the affections of the human\nheart. We will now inquire what particular effect that faith in Christ\nwhich works by love has upon the moral disposition, the conscience,\nthe imagination, and the life of believers. Would faith in Christ, as\na Divine, suffering Saviour, quicken, and regulate, and harmonize the\nmoral powers of the soul?\n\n_1. The influence of faith in Christ upon the moral disposition of\nthe soul._--When its disposition is affected, the soul is affected\nto the centre of its being. By disposition is meant the desires or\npredilections of the heart, which influence the choice of the will\nto do good or evil. The radical difference of character in spirits\ndepends upon their disposition. The spirit that has a settled love\nfor sin and hatred for holiness is a devil, whether it be in time or\neternity--embodied or disembodied. And that spirit which has a\nsettled love for holiness is a benevolent spirit, in whatever\ncondition it exists. A devil or malignant spirit is one that seeks\nits gratification in habitually doing evil. A holy being, or\nbenevolent spirit, is one that finds its gratification in habitually\ndoing good. Whatever, therefore, affects the moral disposition of\nthe soul, affects, radically, the character of the soul. It becomes,\ntherefore, a question of the deepest interest--What effect will\nfaith in Christ have upon man's moral disposition?\n\nThe solution of this inquiry is not difficult. Is Jesus Christ holy?\nAll Christendom--sceptics and believers--answers in the affirmative.\nNow the love of a holy being will, as a necessary result, counteract\nunholiness in the heart. Holiness is the antagonistic principle of\nsin. The soul cannot love a holy being, and at the same time cherish\nthose principles and exercises which it is conscious are offensive to\nthe soul of the beloved object. From the nature of the case, love to\nholiness will produce opposition to sin. Love is the fulfilling of the\nlaw, and sin is the transgression of the law; so that, while the soul\nis entirely actuated in all its exercises by pure love to Christ,\nthose exercises of the heart cannot be sinful.\n\nWhen the heart is attached to any being, especially when that being is\nlovely and pure in his character, it becomes averse to everything\nwhich, from its evil nature, causes suffering to the object of its\naffections. There are few things which will cause one to feel so\nsensibly the evil of sin as to see that his sins are causing anguish\nto one that he loves.\n\nIt is said of Zeleucus, a king of the ancient Locri, that he enacted a\nlaw, the penalty of which was that the offender should lose both his\neyes. One of his sons became a transgressor of that law. The father\nhad his attachment to his son, and regard to the law he himself had\npromulgated as righteous in its requirements and in its penalty. The\nlawgiver, it is said, ordered his son into his presence, and required\nthat one of his eyes should be taken out, and then, in order to show\nmercy to his son, and at the same time maintain the penalty of the\nlaw, he sacrificed one of his own eyes as a ransom for the remaining\neye of his child. Now we do not refer to this case as a perfect\nanalogy, but to show the moral effect of such an exhibition of justice\nand self-sacrificing mercy. As man is constituted, it is perfectly\ncertain that this transaction would produce two effects; one upon the\nsubjects of the king, which would be to impress upon every heart that\nthe law was sacred, and that the lawgiver thus regarded it. This\nimpression would be made much more strongly than it would have been if\nthe king had ordered that his son should lose both his eyes; because\nit manifested, in the strongest manner possible, his love for his son,\nand his sacred regard for his law. If he had allowed his son to\nescape, it would have exhibited to his subjects less love for his\nlaw; and if he had executed the whole penalty of the law upon the son,\ninstead of bearing a portion of it himself, he would have manifested\nless love for his son. The king was the lawgiver; he therefore had the\npower to pardon his son, without inflicting the penalty upon him, and\nwithout enduring any sacrifice himself. Every mind, therefore, would\nfeel that it was a voluntary act on the part of the king; and such an\nexhibition of justice and mercy, maintaining the law and saving his\nson by his own sacrifice, would impress all minds with the deepest\nreverence for the character of the lawgiver, and for the sacredness of\nthe law.\n\nBut another effect, deep and lasting in its character, would be\nproduced upon the son who had transgressed the law. Every time that he\nlooked upon his father, or remembered what he had suffered for his\ntransgression, it would increase his love for him, increase his\nreverence for the law, and cause an abhorrence of his crime to arise\nin his soul. His feelings would be more kind towards his sire, more\nsubmissive to the law, and more averse to transgression.\n\nNow this is precisely the effect necessary to be produced, in order\nthat pardon may be extended to transgressors, and yet just and\nrighteous government be maintained. If civil law had some expedient\nby which, with the offer of pardon, some influence could be exerted\nupon the heart of the transgressor which would entirely change his\ncharacter; an influence which would make him love the law he had\ntransgressed, hate the crime he had committed, hate himself for\ncommitting it, and implant within him the spirit of an obedient and\nfaithful subject--if such an effect could be produced by pardon, then\npardon would be safe; because there would be some means, or some\nmoral power, connected with it, that would, at the same time that the\npardon was granted, change the moral disposition of the criminal from\nthat of a rebellious to that of a faithful and affectionate subject.\nThis expedient the civil law can never have. Such an expedient was\nthat of Zeleucus, the self-sacrificed lawgiver and father. Such an\nexpedient, in some respects, in the moral government of God, is the\natoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. 'He,' says the prophet, 'was\nbruised for our iniquities;' says the apostle, 'He bare our sins in\nhis own body on the tree;' says himself, 'This is my body broken for\nyou.' Now two effects would follow this exhibition of the\nself-sacrificing love of Christ. One in the heart of the believing\nsinner; every time he realized by faith that the Divine Saviour\nsuffered the rebuke, the scorn, and the cross, as a sacrifice for his\nsins, he would regard the Saviour with greater love; and sin, which\ncaused the suffering of his Divine Benefactor, he would regard in\nhimself and others with greater abhorrence. Another effect which\nwould result would be that all the holy beings in the universe, if\nthey had knowledge of the self-sacrifice of God the Saviour, as an\natonement to maintain the law and redeem sinners, would be inspired\nwith greater reverence for the eternal law, and greater aversion to\nsin. Thus would the faith of Christ affect the moral disposition of\nbelievers, and of all holy beings throughout the universe; drawing\nthe believer back to holiness and obedience, and adding a new motive\nto confirm holy beings in happy allegiance.\n\nThe language of the apostle confirms this view: 'What the law could\nnot do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending his own\nSon in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the\nflesh'--that is, the law, although it had power to show to the mind\nthe evil and the guilt of sin, had no power to produce in the heart an\naversion to it; but Christ coming in the body, and dying for sin, in\nthat way reaches man's moral feelings, and creates a sentiment of\ncondemnation of, or aversion to, sin in the heart of every believer.\n\nA feeling cannot be manifested by intellect or will. A communication\nof knowledge, or law, does not manifest feeling so that it produces\nfeeling in others. The moral feelings of God were manifested by the\nsacrifice of Christ; and that manifestation, through the flesh,\naffects the moral feelings of man, assimilates them to God, and\nproduces an aversion to sin--the abominable thing which God hates.\nBlessed faith! which, while it purifies the heart, works by the sweet\ninfluence of love in accomplishing the believer's sanctification.\n\n_2. The influence of faith in Christ upon the moral sense, or\nconscience of believers._--To a mind endowed with the higher qualities\nof reason, there can be no more interesting thought than that noticed\nin a previous demonstration; which was, that a man's conscience is\nguided by his faith. Conscience is the highest moral faculty, or\nrather the governing moral power of the soul; and this governing\nfaculty is regulated and controlled by faith. Man's conscience always\nfollows his religious belief, and changes with it, and grows weak or\nstrong with it. Now, as God has so constituted the world that the\naffections, and likewise the conscience, are affected and controlled\nby faith; and the purity of the one, and the integrity of the other,\nand the activity of both, depend upon what man believes: this being\ntrue, no mind can avoid the conviction, that the principle of FAITH,\nwhich Christ has laid at the foundation of the Christian system, is\nfrom the nature of things, the only principle through the operation of\nwhich man's moral powers can be brought into happy, harmonious, and\nperfect activity. But this happy effect, as has been shown, can be\nproduced only by faith in the truth; and besides, it is an intuition\nof reason, that God certainly would not make the soul so that its\nmoral powers would be controlled by faith, and then cause that faith\nin falsehood should perfect and make happy those powers. Such a\nsupposition would be a violation of reason, as well as an impiety. In\nsearching, therefore, for the answer to the inquiry, What is truth? as\nit concerns the spiritual interests of man, the direct process of\nsolution would be, to inquire what effect certain facts, or supposed\nfacts, would have upon the moral disposition and moral powers of the\nsoul; and that faith which quickens and rectifies those powers, as we\nhave noticed, is necessarily truth.\n\nWe come now to the inquiry, _What effect has faith in Christ--in his\nDivinity, in his teaching, and in his atonement for sin--upon the\nconscience of believers?_\n\nThe answer is plain. In those who received Christ as possessing\nsupreme authority as a Divine Teacher, their faith would so affect\ntheir conscience, that it would reprove for every neglect of\nconformity to the example of Jesus. The moment faith recognises Christ\nas a Divine instructor, that moment conscience recognises his\ninstruction and his example as obligatory to be received and\npractised. To the believer, the teachings and example of Christ have\nnot only the force of truth, recognised as such by the understanding,\nbut they have likewise the authority of supreme law, as coming from\nthat Divine Being who is the rightful Lawgiver of the soul. Now, then,\nif faith in Christ would regulate the conscience according to his\nexample and precepts, the only inquiry which remains is, Were the\nexample and precepts of Christ a perfect rule of duty towards God and\nmen? This inquiry has been the subject of examination in another\nchapter, in which the fact was shown--which has been generally\nadmitted by all men, believers and sceptics--that Christ's example of\npiety towards God, and kindness towards men, was perfect. When this is\nadmitted, the consecutive fact follows, whether men perceive it or\nnot, that in the case of all who receive him as their Lord and\nLawgiver, the conscience would be regulated according to a perfect\nstandard, and guided by a perfect rule.\n\nBut further--While it is true that a knowledge of duty guides the\nconscience, and a knowledge of the Divine authority of the lawgiver\nbinds it, by imposing a sense of obligation, it is likewise true that\nfaith in Christ's atoning sacrifice has peculiar efficacy to\nstrengthen this sense of obligation. Two men may have an equal\nknowledge of duty, and yet one feel, much more than the other, a sense\nof obligation to perform it: whatever, therefore, increases the sense\nof obligation, increases the power of conscience, and thereby promotes\nin a greater degree active conformity of the life to the rule of duty.\n\nThe atonement of Christ increases the sense of obligation, by waking\ninto exercise gratitude and hope in the soul of the believer.\nGratitude gives the conscience a power in the soul where it exists,\nwhich could arise from no other source. Conscience reproves for the\nneglect of known duty; but to neglect duty, when it involves the sense\nof gratitude to the kindest of benefactors, is to arm the moral sense\nof the soul with a two-edged sword. When the lawgiver is likewise the\nbenefactor, conscience rebukes, not only for wrongdoing, but for\ningratitude. One step further--\n\nWhen the being who claims our obedience is not only our benefactor,\nbut the object of all our hopes, the power of obligation is still\nfurther increased. To disobey a being whom we ought to obey, would be\nwrong; to disobey that being, if he were our self-denying benefactor,\nwould be ingratitude added to the wrong; and to disobey that being, if\nfrom him we hoped for all future good, would be to add unworthiness to\nwrong and ingratitude. Thus, faith in Christ Jesus combines the sense\nof wrong, of ingratitude, and unworthiness, in the rebuke which\nconscience gives to the delinquent believer; and obedience to the\nRedeemer's example and precepts is enforced by the united power of\nduty, gratitude, and hope.\n\nFurther, and finally--Conscience recognises the fact that our obligation\nof gratitude is in proportion to the benefit conferred. If a benefactor\nhas endured great sacrifices and self-denials to benefit us, the\nobligation of gratitude binds us the more strongly to respect the will\nand feelings of that individual. Conscience feels the obligation of\ngratitude just in proportion to the self-denials and sacrifices made in\nour behalf. If a friend risks his interest to the amount of a dollar, or\nan hour of time, to benefit us, the obligation of gratitude upon the\nconscience is light, but still there is a sense of obligation; but if a\nfriend risks his life, and wades through deep afflictions, to confer\nbenefits, the universal conscience of man would affirm the obligation,\nand would reprobate the conduct of the individual benefited, as base\nand unnatural, if he did not ever after manifest an affectionate regard\nfor the interests and the desires of his benefactor.\n\nThus, by faith in Jesus Christ, the conscience is not only guided by a\nperfect rule, but it is likewise quickened and empowered by a perfect\nsense of obligation. Christ is the Divine Lawgiver; therefore it is\nright to obey him. He is our Benefactor; gratitude, therefore,\nrequires obedience. But as our Benefactor he has endured the utmost\nself-denial and sacrifice for our sake, therefore we are under the\nutmost obligation of gratitude to return self-denial and sacrifice for\nhis sake; or, in the words of an apostle, 'He died for all, that they\nwhich live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him\nwhich died for them, and rose again;' and, added to this, our hope of\nall future good rests in the same Being that right and gratitude\nrequire us to obey and love. Thus does a perfect faith in Christ\nperfect the conscience of believers, by guiding, quickening, and by\nproducing a perfect sense of obligation.\n\n_3. The influence of faith, in Christ upon the imagination._--There\nare few exercises of the mind fraught with so much evil, and yet so\nlittle regarded, as that of an evil imagination. Many individuals\nspend much of their time in a labour of spirit which is vain and\nuseless, and often very hurtful to the moral character of the soul.\nThe spirit is borne off upon the wings of an active imagination, and\nexpatiates among ideal conceptions that are improbable, absurd, and\nsinful. Some people spend about as much time in day-dreams as they do\nin night-dreams. Imaginations of popularity, pleasure, or wealth\nemploy the minds of worldly men, and perchance the Christian dreams of\nwealth, and of magnificent plans of benevolence, or of schemes less\npious in their character. It is difficult to convey a distinct idea of\nthe evil under consideration, without supposing a case like the\nfollowing:\n\nOne day, while a young man was employed silently about his usual\npursuits, he imagined a train of circumstances by which he supposed\nhimself to be put in possession of great wealth; and then he imagined\nthat he would be the master of a splendid mansion surrounded with\ngrounds devoted to profit and amusement--he would keep horses and\nconveyances that would be perfect in all points, and servants that\nwould want nothing in faithfulness or affection--he would be great in\nthe eyes of men, and associate with the great among men, and render\nhimself admired or honoured by his generation. Thus his soul wandered,\nfor hours, amid the ideal creations of his own fancy.\n\nNow, much of men's time, when their attention might be employed by\nuseful topics of thought, is thus spent in building 'castles in the\nair.' Some extraordinary circumstance is thought of by which they\nmight be enriched, and then hours are wasted in foolishly imagining\nthe manner in which they would expend their imaginary funds. Such\nexcursions of the fancy may be said to be comparatively innocent, and\nthey are so, compared with the more guilty exercises of a great\nportion of mankind. The mind of the politician and of the partisan\ndivine is employed in forming schemes of triumph over their opponents.\nThe minds of the votaries of fashion, of both sexes, are employed in\nimagining displays and triumphs at home and abroad; and those of them\nwho are vicious at heart, not having their attention engaged by any\nuseful occupation, pollute their souls by cherishing imaginary scenes\nof folly and licentiousness. And not only the worthless votaries of\nthe world, but likewise the followers of the holy Jesus, are sometimes\nled captive by an unsanctified imagination. Not that they indulge in\nthe sinful reveries which characterise the unregenerate sons and\ndaughters of time and sense; but their thoughts wander to unprofitable\ntopics, and wander at times when they should be fixed on those truths\nwhich have a sanctifying efficacy upon the heart. In the solemn\nassemblies for public worship, many of those whose bodies are bowed\nand their eyes closed in token of reverence for God, are yet mocking\ntheir Maker by assuming the external semblance of worshippers, while\ntheir souls are away roaming amid a labyrinth of irrelevant and sinful\nthought.\n\nIt is not affirmed that the exercises of the imagination are\nnecessarily evil. Imagination is one of the noblest attributes of the\nhuman spirit; and there is something in the fact that the soul has\npower to create, by its own combinations, scenes of rare beauty, and\nof perfect happiness, unsullied by the imperfections which pertain to\nearthly things, that indicates not only its nobility, but perhaps its\nfuture life. When the imagination is employed in painting the beauties\nof nature, or in collecting the beauties of sentiment and devotion,\nand in grouping them together by the sweet measures of poetry, its\nexercises have a benign influence upon the spirit. It is like\npresenting 'apples of gold in pictures of silver' for the survey of\nthe soul. The imagination may degrade and corrupt, or it may elevate\nand refine the feelings of the heart. The inquiry, then, is important.\nHow may the exercises of the imagination be controlled and directed,\nso that their influence upon the soul shall not be injurious, but\nennobling and purifying? Would faith in Christ turn the sympathies of\nthe soul away from those gifted but guilty minds:\n\n            'Whose poisoned song\n    Would blend the bounds of right and wrong;\n    And hold, with sweet but cursed art,\n    Their incantations o'er the heart,\n    Till every pulse or pure desire\n    Throbs with the glow of passion's fire,\n    And love, and reason's mild control,\n    Yield to the simoom of the soul?'\n\nWhen the conscience had become purified and quickened, it would be a\ncheck upon the erratic movements of the imagination; and when the\ndisposition was corrected, it would be disinclined to every unholy\nexercise; so that, in the believer, the disinclination of the will and\nthe disapprobation of the conscience would be powerful aids in\nbringing into subjection the imaginative faculty. But, more than this,\nfaith in Christ would have a direct influence in correcting the evils\nof the imagination. It is a law of mind, that the subject which\ninterests an individual most, subordinates all other subjects to\nitself, or removes them from the mind and assumes their place. As a\ngroup of persons, who might be socially conversing upon a variety of\ntopics, if some venerable individual should enter and introduce an\nabsorbing subject, in which all felt interested, minor topics would be\nforgotten in the interest created by the master subject;--so when\n'Christ crucified' enters the presence-chamber of the believer's Soul,\nthe high moral powers of the mind bow around in obeisance; and even\nimagination folds her starry wings around her face, and bends before\nImmanuel. When the cross of Christ becomes the central subject of the\nsoul, it has power to chasten the imagination, and subdue its\nwaywardness by the sublime exhibition of the bleeding mercy in the\natonement. The apostle perceived the efficacy of the cross in subduing\nvain reasoning and an evil imagination, and alludes to it in language\npossessing both strength and beauty, as 'casting down imaginations,\nand every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of\nGod, and [mark] bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience\nof Christ.'\n\nThat these views are not idle speculations, but truthful realities, is\naffirmed by the experience of every Christian. When the imagination is\nwandering to unprofitable or forbidden subjects, all that is necessary\nin order to break the chain of evil suggestion, and introduce into the\nmind a profitable train of thought, is to turn the eye of the soul\nupon the 'Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.' By the\npresence of this delightful and sacred idea every unworthy and hurtful\nthought will be awed out of the mind.\n\nThus does faith in the blessed Jesus control and purify the imagination\nof believers.\n\n_4. The influence of faith in Christ upon the life: leading man to\nsuch conduct as would eventually accomplish the salvation of the whole\nhuman family._\n\nIt is certain that men have all the faculties which, if rightly\ndirected, would be necessary to enable them to benefit and bless each\nother. Suppose one individual did all in his power to do others good\nand make them happy, who can limit the amount of consolation which\nthat man might impart to the children of want and sorrow; or the\namount of light he might shed upon the minds of the ignorant; or the\nrebukes and warnings he might sound in the ears of those who persisted\nin sin? Suppose a whole community of such individuals, denying\nthemselves the selfish ease and worldly pleasures which the children\nof this world seek after, and devoting their lives to spread around\nthem the blessings and benefits of the gospel--should individuals or\ncommunities desire thus to devote their lives to benevolence instead\nof selfish effort, it is certain the Creator has endowed them with\nevery faculty necessary to the accomplishment of such a work. They\nhave hearts to love their fellow-men; they have reason and knowledge\nto learn themselves, and then to instruct others. They can travel to\nwhere the ignorant and the needy dwell, either at home or abroad; or,\nif they feel disqualified personally to do this, they have hands to\nlabour for the means to send others on errands of benevolence\nthroughout the world. That men have been created with the faculties,\ntherefore, to diffuse the blessings which they possess, throughout the\nworld, no one can doubt.\n\nBut, secondly--Men are so constituted, that the exercise of those\nfaculties, in a manner that would bless others, would likewise produce\na blessing in their own souls. It is a fact in experience, as well as\nphilosophy, that the exercise of any power of the soul, gives\nincreased strength to that power. By exercising their selfish and\nmalevolent feelings, men become continually more selfish and\nmalevolent; while, on the contrary, by exercising self-denial and the\nbenevolent feelings, men become continually more benevolent.\nSelfishness, all admit, is an evil in the heart. Self-denial is its\nantagonist principle; and it is by invigorating the latter by\nexercise, that the former evil principle is to be eradicated. It\nwould, therefore, be the greatest benefit to those who possessed\nblessings, to induce them to exercise benevolence by communicating\nthem to others.\n\nIt follows, therefore, that not only the greatest good of the guilty\nand the ignorant requires self-denying benevolence in those who have\nthe means and the power to enlighten and guide them to truth and\nhappiness; but likewise, that the greatest good of those possessing\nblessings is, to impart them to others. 'It is more blessed to give\nthan to receive;' because, by the exercise of self-denial to do good,\nbenevolence is strengthened in the soul; and from benevolent exercises\narises the blessedness of the spirit. Men are constantly making\nsacrifices to advance their own aggrandizement, and thus, by\nincreasing their own selfishness, they make themselves more miserable:\nthe great end to be gained, is to lead them to make sacrifices for\nothers, and thus, with others, bless themselves.\n\nNow, no one doubts that the whole human family, in the days of Christ,\nneeded the blessing of an enlightening and purifying religion. And no\none doubts that the ultimate end of a religion from heaven would be\nthe greatest ultimate good of the entire race. Three things, then, are\nobvious: 1. That a religion from heaven would be designed ultimately\nto bless the whole world. 2. That the best good of mankind, as a\nfamily, required that they should be the instruments in disseminating\nthis religion among themselves. 3. That the principle of self-denial,\nor denying ourselves the ease and pleasures of selfishness, in order\nto perform acts of benevolence, is the great principle by which the\noperation of spreading this religion would be carried on.\n\nNow, Jesus Christ professed to give a universal spiritual religion;\none which encircled in its design, and was to bless by its influence,\nthe whole family of man; and faith he set forth as the great\nmotive-power of the whole plan. The question then is--Would faith in\nChrist lead men to that method of living and acting, and to the\npossession of those views and feelings, which would make them\ninstrumental in benefiting each other, and which would destroy\nselfishness and promote the happiness and interest of the whole\nfamily of man, in accordance with the three principles above\nspecified?\n\n1. It has been shown that the example and precepts of Christ become\nthe guide to conscience, and the rule of faith and practice for all\nbelievers. What, then, has Christ said and done, to induce men to do\neach other good, and to unite the race of man in one harmonious and\nhappy family?\n\nThe gospel of Christ possesses all the characteristics of a universal\nreligion. _It is adapted to human nature: not to any particular\ncountry or class of men; but, as has been shown, to the NATURE of the\nrace._ Its truths are intelligible, and may be understood by all men,\nand transferred into all languages. It is spiritual in its character;\ndesigned to affect the mind and heart of man; so that wherever\nintelligent beings are to be found, there it may be introduced into\nthe heart by faith, to correct the spiritual evils of their nature,\nand produce happiness in the soul.[39]\n\n    [39] See Reinhard's Plan: sect. 17, 22.\n\nThe precepts and teachings of Jesus are designed and adapted to\nharmonize the race of man into one happy family. Instead of the\nabominations and folly of polytheism, he presented before the minds of\nmen one common object of worship; and so exhibited the character of\nthat object, by presenting before the world a grand spectacle of\nself-denying mercy, that the exhibition was adapted to attract the\nattention of all, and draw all hearts to one centre of affection.\n\nIn all his instructions to regulate the conduct of men, he viewed them\nas brethren of the same great family, and taught them to consider\nthemselves as such. No retaliation was to be offered for injuries\nreceived, but the injured child was to appeal only to the great Parent\nof the family. No one might treat another as his enemy: and no one was\nto cease in efforts to do good to another, unless he perceived that\nthose efforts were treated with contempt, and instead of benefiting,\nhad a hardening effect upon the heart.\n\n2. Their lives were to be spent in efforts to impart those blessings\nwhich they possessed, to their brethren of the human family who\npossessed them not. Instead of the unhallowed and anxious struggle\nwhich worldly men manifest to raise themselves to power over their\nfellows, their efforts were to be directed to the opposite end--to\nraise the ignorant and the needy to the enjoyment of the blessings and\nprivileges which they possessed.\n\nThis active and constant effort to extend the blessings which they\npossessed to others, and to relieve men from their vices and\nignorance, was not to stop with their own kindred, or nation, or\ntongue, nor to be restricted to the grateful, or the deserving; in\nthis respect, their philanthropy was to be modelled after that of\ntheir heavenly Father, who causeth his sun to shine upon the just and\nthe unjust. It was to continue during life, and to extend to the ends\nof the earth. And in proportion as men were found in a condition of\nignorance and want, in the same proportion they were to make\nbenevolent exertions to elevate and bless them.\n\nNow, every one can see, that if these precepts were obeyed, strife\nbetween individuals and nations would cease, and the glorious process\nof benevolent effort would go on, until the last benighted mind was\nenlightened, and the last corrupted heart purified by the power of the\nfaith of Christ.\n\n_It was necessary, in connection with these precepts, that some motive\nshould be presented to cause men to deny themselves, in order to act\nin accordance with them._ Now it has been shown that the believer acts\nin view of the character and will of Jesus. Christ, therefore, in\norder to give these precepts moving power upon the souls of men,\nidentified himself with his needy creatures, and sanctioned the duty\nwhich he prescribed to others, by conformity to it himself; so that\nthese precepts, given to govern men's conduct in this life, he made\nthe rule of judgment in heaven's court of equity, and by them the\ndecision will be made out, which will settle, finally, the spiritual\ndestiny of men. 'Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of\nthese my brethren, ye did it not unto me.' Thus Christ identifies\nhimself with the most needy of mankind, and receives an act of\nkindness done to them, as done to himself. When the love of Christ,\ntherefore, constrains men, he has so exhibited his will, that it\nconstrains them to act for the good of each other. Those that love\nJesus, therefore, and expect his favour, must serve him by doing good\nto others.\n\nMoreover, Christ has sanctioned these precepts by his own example.\nHis life was a life of self-denying labour, for the benefit of our\nrace; and his command to everyone is--'Deny thyself, take up thy\ncross, and follow me.' Thus, by Christ's precepts, by his example,\nand especially by his identifying himself with those in need, that\nmethod of life is sanctioned which alone could make man the\nbenefactor of his fellows--unite the human family in one happy\nbrotherhood--and make them blessed in doing each other good, in the\nfaith of Christ.\n\nThose that love Jesus will desire to do his will--will find their\nhappiness in obeying him; and that will is, that they should labour to\nbenefit his creatures. Those who believe in and love Jesus will have\ntheir conscience regulated by his precepts and example. Thus, the\nconscience of believers is set (if I may so express it), so that it\nwill regulate the movement of their life in such a manner, as finally\nto work out the salvation of a world lying in wickedness.\n\nIt follows, therefore, that faith in Jesus Christ is directly designed\nand adapted to strengthen men's benevolent affection, and to produce\nin believers that active desire and effort for the good of others\nwhich will necessarily produce the dissemination of the light and love\nof the gospel throughout the whole habitable world.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII.\n\nTHE DESIGN AND THE IMPORTANCE OF THE MEANS OF GRACE.\n\n\n1.--PRAYER.\n\nIt has been shown that, constituted as we are, the manifestations made\nof the character and attributes of God in the Scriptures are adapted\nto produce the greatest good in the human spirit; and in order that\nthat good may be effected, it is necessary that the truths of the\nScripture be brought into contact with the soul, that it may be\nimpressed and influenced by them. The truths and manifestations of\nrevelation are the elements of moral power, which, apprehended by\nfaith, are effective in purifying the fountain of life in the soul,\nand in rectifying and regulating its exercises; it follows, therefore,\nthat the requirement to bring those truths before the mind in a\nparticular manner would be a duty necessarily connected with the\nrevelation of the doctrines, as directions for taking the medicine are\nconnected with the prescription of a physician into whose hands a\npatient has submitted himself. Now, prayer, or worship, is one method\nby which the truths and manifestations of revelation are directly\nbrought before the contemplation of the soul. Prayer brings the mind\nto the immediate contemplation of God's character, and holds it there,\ntill by comparison and aspiration the believer's soul is properly\nimpressed, and his wants properly felt. The more subtle physical\nprocesses and affinities become, the better are the analogies which\nthey furnish of processes in the spiritual world. The influence of\nbelieving prayer has a good analogy in the daguerreotype. By means of\nthis process, the features of natural objects are thrown upon a\nsensitive sheet, through a lens, and leave their impression upon the\nsheet. So when the character of God is, by means of prayer, brought to\nbear upon the mind of the believer--that mind being rendered sensitive\nby the Holy Spirit--it impresses there the Divine image. In this\nmanner the image of Christ is formed in the soul, the existence of\nwhich the Scriptures represent as inspiring the believer with the hope\nof glory.\n\nIn the introductory chapter it was shown that the impulse which leads\nmen to worship proves a curse to the soul, where the objects worshipped\nare unholy, and that the only remedy for the evil was the revelation of\na holy object for the supreme homage of the human soul. So soon as a\nrighteous and benevolent God is presented before the mind, then prayer\nbecomes a blessing instead of a curse to the soul. Look at the subject\nin the form of a syllogism:\n\nMan, by worshipping, becomes assimilated to the moral character of the\nobject that he worships:\n\nThe God of the Bible, as manifest in Christ Jesus, is the only\nperfectly righteous and perfectly benevolent Being ever worshipped by\nman.\n\nTherefore, man can become righteous and benevolent in no other way but\nby that worship which will assimilate him to the God of the Bible.\n\nAnd further, as it has been demonstrated that righteousness and\nbenevolence produce the rectitude and the happiness--the greatest\ngood--of the soul, man can gain the great end of his being only by\nthat worship which assimilates his nature to the moral image of God.\n\nIt follows, therefore, that prayer is a necessary and most important\nmeans of grace--a duty growing out of the nature of the case, and a\nduty upon which depends, in a great measure, the well-being of the\nhuman spirit. The apostle understood the philosophy of this subject\nwhen he said: 'But we all, with open face, beholding as in a glass the\nglory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to\nglory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.' Therefore it is that the\ncommandment that men should pray is presented in the Bible in every\nvariety of language; and it is constantly repeated by the inspired\nwriters and by the Son of God himself, who commended, by his precepts\nand example, private, social, and public prayer; and who taught by a\nparable that 'men ought always to pray, and not to faint.'\n\n\n_The importance of strong desire and importunity in prayer._\n\nIt is impossible to produce grateful feelings by granting a benefit\nfor which the recipient has no desire. If a child asked for bread when\nit was not hungry, and if, while the child had no feeling of want, its\nunfelt request was answered by its father, it could neither appreciate\nthe gift nor be grateful for it. The soul is so constituted, as has\nbeen fully shown, that it must really feel the need of the benefit\nbefore it can appreciate its importance, or be grateful for the favour\nreceived. So it is in the case of the suppliant in prayer: if he has\nan anxious desire, a spirit of importunate solicitude, for the\nblessing which he asks, when he receives it, gratitude and praise\nwill, as the consequence of gratified desire, spring up in the heart.\nNow, mark, if there were not a feeling of importunate desire in the\nmind of the suppliant, God could not be glorified, nor the creature\nbenefited, by an answer to prayer. God could not be glorified, because\nhis goodness would not be felt and acknowledged in the answer. And the\ncreature could not be benefited, because it is the feeling of\ngratitude and praise in his own heart which constitutes the spiritual\nblessing, so far forth as the suppliant himself is concerned; and this\nexercise is produced only so far as it is preceded by dependent and\nanxious desire for the blessing sought. When the supplication is for\nspiritual blessing upon another individual, two minds are blessed by\nthe answer, the individual prayed for and the individual who prays.\nAnd if a thousand individuals desired spiritual mercies for that soul,\nGod would be glorified by a thousand hearts, and a thousand hearts\nwould be reciprocally blessed by the answer. The time may come when\nall the angels in heaven, and all the saints upon earth, will be\nblessed by mercy bestowed upon a single individual; when the last\nunregenerated sinner stands in solitary and awful rebellion upon the\nearth, should tidings be circulated through earth and heaven that he\nhad submitted himself to God, and that his affections began to take\nhold on Christ, every being in the universe who had strongly desired\nthe conversion of the last sinner would feel the thrill of 'glory to\nGod and good-will to men' arise in his soul. It follows, therefore,\nthat a fervent, importunate state of mind is, from the nature of the\ncase, necessary, in order that God may be glorified, and man blessed,\nby the duty of prayer. It was in view of these constitutional\nprinciples that Jesus constantly taught the necessity of desire and\nimportunity, in order that mercies might be received in answer to the\nsupplication of saints.[40]\n\n    [40] Matt. vi. 6; Luke xi. 5-10, and xviii. 1-14.\n\n\n_The importance of faith and a spirit of dependence upon God, as\nconcomitants of acceptable prayer._\n\nThe necessity of faith, as a primary element in all acceptable\nreligious exercises, has already been noticed. A feeling of entire\ndependence upon God for spiritual mercies is the only right feeling,\nbecause it is the only true feeling. As a matter of fact, the soul is\nentirely dependent upon God for spiritual mercies; truth, therefore,\nrequires that our dependence should be acknowledged and felt.\n\nBut further, without faith in God as the immediate bestower of mercies\nin answer to prayer, he could not be honoured for blessings received.\nSuppose two individuals desired with equally strong feelings the same\nblessing, and that both received it: each would rejoice alike in its\nreception; but suppose there was this difference in their state of\nmind--one regarded the blessing as coming immediately from God in\nanswer to prayer, the other did not: the result would be that the one\nwho had faith in God would be filled with love to his Maker for the\nmercy, the other would rejoice in himself, or, at least, he would not\nrejoice in God. In the one case, God would be honoured and praised for\nhis acts of grace; in the other, he would neither be honoured nor\nloved for his goodness. We do not present this illustration as\napplicable in all its bearings--because we do not suppose that the\nunregenerate ever truly desire spiritual blessing till they are\nconvinced of sin--but it will make the point clear to the reason of\neveryone, that God cannot be honoured without faith; and, therefore,\n'without faith it is impossible to please him.'\n\nIt is necessary, according to the foregoing view of the subject, in\norder to offer acceptable prayer, that men should possess a spirit of\nfaith and dependence upon Christ. The principle upon which Christ\nacted in relation to this subject, as well as his instruction\nconcerning the duty of prayer, fully confirm the preceding thoughts.\nHe seldom performed an act of mercy, by miracle or otherwise, unless\nthose who received the mercy could see the hand of God in the\nblessing:--'If thou canst believe, thou mayest be cleansed,' was his\nhabitual sentiment. As if he had said--Your desire for the blessing is\nmanifest by your urgent requests: now, if you can have faith to see\nGod in the blessing, so that he will be honoured and praised for\nconferring it, I will grant it; but if you have no faith, you can\nreceive no favour.\n\nAnd, again, in order that the believer might be brought into a state\nof dependence, and have his faith quickened every time that he\npresented his supplications to God, Jesus said, looking forward to the\ntime when he would have perfected his ministry and atonement--'In that\nday ye shall ask me nothing,--whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my\nname'--that is, depending on me, the atoning, interceding Saviour--'he\nwill do it;' and in another place he promised, 'Whatsoever ye shall\nask in my name, that will I do.' Thus does the instruction of the\nSaviour make the believer entirely dependent upon Christ himself when\nhe approaches the mercy-seat of the Most High. As the Jews were\nconstantly to call to mind the deliverance from Egypt, in order that\ntheir feelings might be moved to love, dependence, and faith towards\ntheir temporal deliverer, so Christians are to call to mind the\ndeliverance from spiritual bondage by the sacrifice of Christ, in\norder that they may realize their dependence, and be inspired with a\nspirit of faith and love towards their spiritual Deliverer. And\nbecause believers can thus depend upon Christ, and feel the mercy of\nGod as it is manifested in the atonement, they are constituted priests\n'to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.'\n\n\n2.--PRAISE.\n\nThe truth which has been demonstrated in previous chapters is again\nassumed, that the manifestations of God, in Christ Jesus, would, when\nbrought into efficient contact with the soul, produce that active\nholiness in the heart which is man's greatest good. And as the end to\nbe accomplished depends, under God, on those truths which are\ndeveloped in the great plan of mercy being impressed upon the mind and\nthe heart, it follows that those means would be used which, from their\nnature, are best adapted to give influence and impressiveness to the\ngreat truths of revelation.\n\nThe influence of music upon the emotions of the soul is well known to\nevery one--\n\n    'There is in souls a sympathy with sounds;'\n\nthe soul is awakened, and invited by the spirit of the melody to\nreceive the sentiment uttered in the song. Sweet, affecting music--not\nthe tone of the piano, nor the peals of the organ--but a melodious\nair, sung by strong and well-disciplined voices, and accompanied by\nthe flute and viol--such music reaches the fountains of thought and\nfeeling; and,\n\n    'Untwisting all the links that tie\n    The hidden soul of harmony,'\n\nit tinges the emotions with its own hues, whether plaintive or joyous;\nand it fosters in the heart the sentiment which it conveys, whether it\nbe love of country or of God, admiration of noble achievement, or of\ndevoted and self-sacrificing affection.\n\nThe power of music to fix in the memory the sentiment with which it is\nconnected, and to foster it in the heart, has been understood in all\nages of the world. Some of the early legislators wrote their laws in\nverse, and sang them in public places; and many of the earliest\nsketches of primitive history are in the measures of lyric poetry. In\nthis manner the memory was aided in retaining the facts; the ear was\ninvited to attend to them; imagination threw around them the drapery\nof beauty, dignity, or power; and then music conveyed the sentiment,\nand mingled it with the emotions of the soul. It was in view of the\npower of music, when united with sentiment adapted to affect the\nheart, that one has said: 'Permit me to write the ballads of a nation,\nand I care not who makes her laws.'\n\nWhen the effects of music and poetry upon the soul are considered, we\ncan perceive their importance as means of fostering the Christian\nvirtues in the soul of the believer. They should be used to convey to\nthe mind sublime and elevating conceptions of the attributes of\nJehovah; to impress the memory with the most affecting truths of\nrevelation, and especially to cherish in the heart tender and vivid\nemotions of love to Christ, in view of the manifestations of Divine\njustice and mercy exhibited in his ministry, his passion, and his\nsacrifice.[41]\n\n    [41] 'The proper drapery for music is truth. It is its only\n    apparel, whether as applied to God, or as used for the cultivation\n    of man.'--_Erasmus._\n\nThere cannot be found, in all the resources of thought, material which\nwould furnish sentiment for music so subduing and overpowering as the\nhistory of redemption. There is the life of Jesus--a series of acts\nGodlike in their benevolence, connected at times with exhibitions of\nDivine power and of human character, in their most affecting aspects.\nAnd as the scenes of Christ's eventful ministry converge to the\ncatastrophe, there is the tenderness of his love for the disciples,\nthe last supper, the scene in Gethsemane; the Mediator in the hall of\njudgment, exhibiting the dignity of truth and conscious virtue amidst\nthe tempest of human passion by which he is surrounded. Then the awful\nmoral and elemental grandeur of the crucifixion; the Saviour, nailed\nto the cross by his own creatures, crying, 'Father, forgive them, for\nthey know not what they do;' and then, while darkness shrouds the sun,\nand 'nature through all her works gives signs of woe,' he cries, 'It\nis finished, and gave up the ghost.' Thus did the dark stream of human\ndepravity roll,\n\n    'Till a rainbow broke upon its gloom,\n    Which spanned the portals of the Saviour's tomb.'\n\nSuch exhibitions of sublimity and power, when clothed with the\ninfluence of music, and impressed upon a heart rendered sensitive by\nDivine influence, are adapted to make the most abiding and blessed\nimpressions.\n\n    'My heart, awake!--to feel is to be fired;\n    And to believe, Lorenzo, is to feel.'\n\nIt follows, from the preceding views, that in selecting the means to\nimpress the mind with religious truth, and the heart with pious\nsentiment, music and poetry could not be neglected. There is not in\nnature another means which would compensate for the loss of their\ninfluence. We do not mean to say that their influence is as great as\nsome other means in impressing the truths of revelation upon the soul;\nbut their influence is peculiar and delightful, and without it the\nsystem of means would not be perfect.\n\nWe see, therefore, the reasons why music and poetry were introduced as\na means of impressing revealed truth, both under the old and the new\ndispensations. Moses not only made the laws, but he made, likewise,\nthe songs of the nation. These songs, in some instances, all the\npeople were required to learn, in order that their memory might\nretain, and their heart feel, the influence of the events recorded in\ntheir national anthems.\n\nMusic held a conspicuous place in the worship of the temple; and under\nthe new dispensation, it is sanctioned by the express example of\nJesus, and specifically commanded by the apostles; the example is\ngiven in connection with the institution of the eucharist, which was\nto commemorate the most affecting scene in the history of God's love;\nand the command is in such words as indicate the effects of music upon\nthe heart: 'Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual\nsongs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving\nthanks always for all things unto God and the Father, in the name of\nour Lord Jesus Christ.' Upon this subject, as upon some others, the\napostolic churches fell into some abuses; yet the high praises of God\nand the Lamb have always been celebrated in poetry and music by the\nchurch of Christ. One of the first notices of the Christians by pagan\nwriters speaks of them as 'singing a hymn to Christ, as to a God;'\nthus showing that the principles established in the preceding views\nwere recognised by the early disciples, who used music as a means of\nfostering in their hearts love to the Saviour.\n\nAs in the case of the primitive Christians, so every regenerated heart\ndelights in such spiritual songs as speak of Christ as an atoning\nSaviour. And those only are qualified to write hymns for the church\nwhose hearts are affected by the love of Jesus. On this account some\nof the hymns of Cowper, Charles Wesley, Watts, and Newton, will last\nwhile the church on earth lasts, _and perhaps longer_. Thousands of\nChristian hearts have glowed with emotion, while they sang,\n\n    'There is a fountain fill'd with blood,\n      Drawn from Immanuel's veins;\n    And sinners plunged beneath that flood\n      Lose all their guilty stains.'\n\nOr,\n\n    'Rock of ages, cleft for me,\n    Let me hide myself in thee.'\n\nThousands have been awakened to duty and to prayer, by that solemn\nhymn,\n\n    'Lo, on a narrow neck of land,\n    'Twixt two unbounded seas I stand,\n      Yet how insensible!'\n\nAnd it would not have been possible for any but a Christian poet to\nhave written the lines,\n\n    'Her noblest life my spirit draws\n    From his dear wounds and bleeding side.'\n\n\n3.--PREACHING.\n\nIt has been said that the truths and manifestations of revelation are\nthe elements of moral power, which, being brought into efficient contact\nwith the soul, are effective in rectifying and regulating its exercises.\nA medicine may be prepared in which are inherent qualities adapted to\nremove a particular disease; but in order to the accomplishment of its\nappropriate effect, it must be brought to act upon the body of the\npatient. And if the disease has rendered the patient not only\nunconscious of his danger, but has induced upon him a deep lethargy of\nmind, it would be necessary that the physician should arouse his dormant\nfaculties, in order that he might receive the medicine which would\nrestore him to health. So with the moral diseases of the soul; the\nattention and sensibilities of men must be awakened, in order that the\ntruth may affect their understanding, their conscience, and their heart.\nWhatever, therefore, is adapted to attract the attention and move the\nsensibilities, at the same time that it conveys truth to the mind, would\nbe a means peculiarly efficient to impress the gospel upon the soul.\n\nThere are but two avenues through which moral truth reaches the soul.\nAnd there are but two methods by which it can be conveyed through\nthose avenues. By the living voice, truth is communicated through the\near; and by the signs of language it is communicated through the eye.\nThe first of these methods--the living voice--has many advantages over\nall other means, in conveying and impressing truth. It is necessary\nthat an individual should read with ease in order to be benefited by\nwhat he reads. The efforts which a bad reader has to make, both\ndisincline him to the task of reading, and hinder his appreciation of\ntruth. Besides, a large proportion of the human family cannot read,\nbut all can understand their own language when spoken. In order,\ntherefore, that the whole human family might be instructed, the living\nspeaker would be the first, and best, and natural method.\n\nThe living speaker has power to arrest attention, to adapt his\nlanguage and illustrations to the character and occupation of his\naudience, and to accompany his communications with those emotions and\ngestures which are adapted to arouse and impress his hearers.\n\nIt is evident, from these considerations, that among the means which\nGod would appoint to disseminate his truth through the world, the\nliving teacher would hold a first and important place. This result is\nin conformity with the arrangements of Jesus. He appointed a living\nministry, endowed them with the ability to speak the languages of\nother nations, and commissioned them to go into all the world, and\npreach the gospel to every creature.\n\nIn connection with this subject, there is one other inquiry of\nimportance. It concerns not only the harmony of the gospel system with\nthe nature of things, but likewise the harmony of apostolic practice\nwith what has been shown to be necessary in order that the truths of\nthe gospel might produce their legitimate effect upon the mind.\n\nIt has been demonstrated that a sense of man's guilt and danger must\nexist in the mind before there can be gratitude and love to the being\nwho removes the guilt and rescues from the danger. It has likewise\nbeen noticed, as a self-evident principle, that before repentance\nthere must be conviction of sin. A sense of guilt and error must\nnecessarily precede reformation of life. A man cannot conscientiously\nturn from a course of life, and repent of past conduct, unless he sees\nand feels the error and the evil of that course from which he turns.\nTo suppose that a man would turn from a course of life which he\nneither thought nor felt to be wrong or dangerous, is to suppose an\nabsurdity; it follows, therefore, that the preacher's first duty, in\nendeavouring to reclaim men to holiness and to God, would be, in all\ncases, to present such truths as were adapted to convict their hearers\nof their spiritual guilt and danger. As God has constituted the mind,\nrepentance from sin and attainment to holiness would for ever be\nimpossible on any other conditions.\n\nBut the same truths would not convict all men of sin. In order to\nconvict any particular man, or class of men, of sin, those facts must\nbe fastened upon with which they have associated the idea of moral\ngood and evil, and concerning which they are particularly guilty.\nThus, in the days of the apostles, the Gentiles could not be convicted\nof sin for rejecting and crucifying Christ; but, it being a fact in\nthe case of the Jews that all their ideas of good and evil, both\ntemporal and spiritual, were associated with the Messiah, nothing in\nall the catalogue of guilt would be adapted to convict them of sin so\npowerfully as the thought that they had despised and crucified the\nMessiah of God.\n\nOn the other hand, the heathen, upon whom the charge of rejecting\nChrist would have no influence, could be convicted of sin only by\nshowing them the falsehood and folly of their idolatry; the holy\ncharacter of the true God, and the righteous and spiritual nature of\nthe law which they were bound to obey, and by which they would finally\nbe judged. The first preachers of the Gospel, therefore, in conformity\nwith these principles, would aim first, and directly, to convince\ntheir hearers of their sins, and in accomplishing this end, they would\nfasten upon those facts in which the guilt of their hearers more\nparticularly consisted. And then, when men were thus convicted of\ntheir guilt, the salvation through Christ from sin, and its penalty,\nwould be pressed upon their anxious souls; and they would be taught to\nexercise faith in Jesus, as the meritorious cause of life, pardon, and\nhappiness.\n\nNow, the apostolical histories fully confirm the fact that this\ncourse--the only one consistent with truth, philosophy, and the nature\nof man--was the course pursued by the primitive preachers.\n\nThe first movement, after they were endowed with the gift of tongues\nand filled with the Holy Ghost, was the sermon by Peter, on the day of\nPentecost, in which he directly charged the Jews with the murder of\nthe Messiah, and produced in thousands of minds convictions of the\nmost pungent and overwhelming description. At Athens, Paul, in\npreaching to the Gentiles, pursued a different course. He exposed the\nfolly of their idolatry, by appealing to their reason and their own\nacknowledged authorities. He spoke to them of the guilt which they\nwould incur if they refused, under the light of the Gospel, to forsake\nthe errors which God, on account of past ignorance, had overlooked. He\nthen closed by turning their attention to the righteous retributions\nof the eternal world, and to the appointed day when man would be\njudged by Jesus Christ, according to his gospel.\n\nThe manner in which the apostles presented Christ crucified to the\npenitent and convicted sinner, as the object of faith, and the means\nof pardon, and the hope of glory, is abundantly exhibited in the Acts\nof the Apostles, and in their several epistles to the Churches.\n\nThus did God, by the appointment of the living preacher as a means\nof spreading the Gospel, adapt himself to the constitution of his\ncreatures; and the apostles, moved by Divine guidance, likewise\nadapted the truth which they preached to the peculiar necessities\nand circumstances of men.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII.\n\nTHE AGENCY OF GOD IN CARRYING ON THE WORK OF REDEMPTION, AND THE\nMANNER IN WHICH THAT AGENCY IS EXERTED.\n\n\nGod having thus devised the plan, and manifested the truth, and\ninstituted the means of redemption, the inquiry naturally presents\nitself: In what way would he put the plan into operation, and give\nefficiency to the means of grace?\n\nWe cannot suppose that God would put his own institution beyond his\npower, or that he would leave it to be managed by the imperfect wisdom\nand the limited power of human instruments. God would not prepare the\nmaterial, devise the plan, adapt the parts to each other, furnish the\ninstruments for building, and then neglect to supervise and complete\nthe structure. God has put none of his works beyond his power; and\nespecially in a plan of which he is the Author and Architect, reason\nsuggests that he would guide it to its accomplishment. The inquiry\nis--By what agency, and in what way, would the power of God be exerted\nin carrying into efficient operation upon the souls of men the system\nof saving mercy?\n\nIn relation to the character of the agency, the solution is clear. The\nagency by which the plan of salvation would be carried forward to its\nultimate consummation would be spiritual in its nature, because God is a\nSpirit, and the soul of man is a spirit, and the end to be accomplished\nis to lead men to worship God 'in spirit and in truth.'\n\nIn relation to the mode of the Spirit's operation, some things belong to\nthat class of inquiries upon which the mind may exert its powers in\nvain.--The mode by which God communicates life to any thing in the\nvegetable, animal, or spiritual world lies beyond the reach of the human\nintellect. But although man cannot understand the _modus operandi_ of\nthe Divine mind in communicating life, yet the manifestations of life,\nand the medium through which it operates, are subjects open to human\nexamination. Whether the influence of the Spirit be directly upon the\nsoul, or mediately by means of truth, the end accomplished would be the\nsame. The soul might be quickened to see and feel the power of the\ntruth; or, by the spirit, truth might be rendered powerful to affect the\nsoul. The wax might be softened to receive the impression, or the seal\nheated, or a power exerted upon it, to make the impression on the wax;\nor both might be done, and still the result would be the same. It is not\nonly necessary that the metal should be prepared to receive the\nimpression of a die, but it is likewise necessary that the die should be\nprepared and adapted to the particular kind of metal--the image and the\nsuperscription of the king put upon it--the machinery prepared and\nadapted to hold the die and apply it to the metal; and after all these\nthings necessary are done, the coin can never be made unless power is\nexerted to strike the die into the metal, or the metal into the die. So\nit is in the processes of the spiritual world; the material [mankind]\nmust be prepared. The die [the truth of the gospel system] must be\nrevealed and adapted to the material; and the image to be impressed upon\nhuman nature [the Lord Jesus Christ] and the superscription [glory to\nGod and good-will to men] must be cut upon the die. Then the means of\nbringing the truth into contact with the material must be provided; and\nafter all these preparations and adaptations, there must be the power\nof the Holy Spirit to guide the whole process, and to form the image of\nChrist in the soul.\n\nThe foregoing is a complicated analogy, but not more complicated than\nare the processes of the animal and spiritual world. Look at the human\nbody, with its thousands of adaptations, all of them necessary to the\nsystem, the whole dependent upon the use of means for the supply of\nanimal life, and yet deriving from God its rational life, which operates\nthrough and actuates the whole. In like manner the Spirit of God\noperates through and guides the processes of the plan of salvation.\n\nThe Scriptures reveal the truth clearly, that the Spirit of God gives\nefficiency to the means of grace. And not only this, but he operates\nin accordance with those necessary principles which have been\ndeveloped in the progress of these chapters. Christ instructed his\ndisciples to expect that he would send the Holy Spirit; and when he is\ncome, said Jesus, 'He will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness,\nand of judgment;' that is, the Holy Spirit will produce conviction of\nsin in the hearts of the unsanctified and impenitent:--the office-work\nof the Spirit of God in relation to the world is to convince of sin.\nIn relation to the saints he exercises a different office. He is their\nComforter. He takes of the things that belong to Jesus, and shows them\nto his people.[42] That is, he causes the people of God to see more\nand more of the excellency, and the glory, and the mercy manifested in\na crucified Saviour; and by this blessed influence they 'grow in\ngrace, and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.' Christ, by his ministry\nand death, furnished the facts necessary for human salvation: the Holy\nSpirit uses those facts to convict and sanctify the heart. Paul, in a\npassage already noticed, alludes to the influence of the Spirit\noperating by the appointed means of prayer, or devout meditation. 'But\nwe all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord,\nare changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the\nSpirit of the Lord.'\n\n    [42] John xvi. 7-14.\n\nFurther: At what juncture, in the progress of the great plan of\nsalvation, would this agency be most powerfully exerted? We answer, at\nthe time when the whole moral machinery of the dispensation through\nwhich the effect was to be produced was completed. Whatever is\ndesigned and adapted to produce a definite result as an instrument\nmust be completed before it is put into operation, otherwise it will\nnot produce the definite effect required. An imperfect system put into\noperation would produce an imperfect result. Here a special effect was\nto be produced; it was necessary, therefore, that the truth should be\nrevealed, and the manifestations all made, before the power was\nimparted to give them effect.\n\nUnder the new dispensation the greatest and most imposing manifestations\nwere the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus: had the system\nbeen put into operation before these crowning manifestations were made,\nthe great end of the gospel would not have been accomplished. It\nfollows, then, that the material would be first prepared, the\nmanifestations made and adapted to the material, the appropriate means\nordained, and then the agency of the Spirit would be introduced to guide\nthe dispensation to its ultimate triumphs, and to give efficiency to its\noperations.\n\nThese deductions harmonise with the teachings of the Scriptures.\n\nFirst, they expressly teach that without the agency of God no perfect\nresult is accomplished.\n\nSecondly, they everywhere represent that the Divine agency is exerted\nthrough the truth upon the soul, or exerted to awaken the soul to\napprehend and receive the truth.\n\nThirdly, the Spirit was not fully communicated until the whole economy\nof the gospel dispensation was completed. The apostles were instructed\nto assemble at Jerusalem after the ascension, and wait till they were\nendued with power from on high. On the day of Pentecost the promised\nSpirit descended. The apostles at once perceived the spiritual nature\nof Christ's kingdom. They spoke in demonstration of the Spirit, and\nwith power. Men were convicted of sin in their hearts. Sinners were\nconverted to Christ by repentance and faith; and under the guidance\nof that Divine Spirit, the plan of salvation moves on to its high and\nglorious consummation when 'the kingdoms of this world shall become\nthe kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ.' 'Amen: even so, come\nLord Jesus.'\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX.\n\nCONCERNING THE PRACTICAL EFFECTS OF THE SYSTEM.\n\n\nThe evidence which the Lord Jesus Christ proposed as proof of the\nDivinity of the gospel system was its practical effect upon\nindividuals who receive and obey the truth. 'If any man will do his\nwill, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God.' If a sick\nman calls a physician, who prescribes a certain medicine, which, by\nhis receiving it according to the directions, cures him, he then knows\nboth the efficacy of the medicine and the skill of the physician.\nExperience is evidence to the saints of the Divinity of the system;\nand its effects, in restoring the soul to moral health, is evidence to\nthe world of the Divine efficacy and power of its doctrines: 'By their\nfruits ye shall know them.' In closing our volume, therefore, we have\nnow only briefly to inquire what are the ascertained practical effects\nof faith in Christ?\n\nWe shall not refer to the moral condition of man in countries under\nthe influence of the gospel, compared with his condition in pagan\nlands. We will not dwell upon the fact which, of itself, is sufficient\nto establish at once and for ever the Divine origin of evangelical\nreligion, and the truth of the distinctive views developed in the\npreceding chapters--that the most holy men and woman that have ever\nlived have been those who exercised most constant and implicit faith\nin Christ. Passing these facts, important in themselves, we will close\nour volume by a statement of facts concerning the present influence of\nfaith in Christ upon individuals now living, and subject to the\nexamination of any one who might be sceptical upon the subject.\n\nThe following is a true statement of the influence of the religion of\nJesus upon several individual members of a village church in one of\nthe United States. It is composed of members of common intelligence,\nand those in the common walks of life. Other churches might have been\nselected in which, perhaps, a greater number of interesting cases\nmight have been found. And there are other individuals in this church\nthat would furnish as good an illustration of the power of the gospel\nas some of those which are noticed below. This church has been\nselected, because the writer had a better opportunity of visiting it\nin order to obtain the facts than any other in which he knew the power\nof the religion of Christ was experienced.\n\nWith the individuals spoken of I am well acquainted, having frequently\nconversed with them all on the subjects of which I shall speak. Their\nwords in all cases may not have been remembered, but the sense is\ntruly given.\n\nCASE 1.--An old man who has been a professor of religion from early\nlife. He was once a deacon, or elder, of the church. Twenty years ago he\nwas struck with paralysis, by which he has been ever since confined\nalmost entirely to his room. His situation is one that, to a mind which\nhad no inward consolation, would be irksome in the extreme. His books\nare the Bible and one or two volumes of the old divines. He is patient\nand happy; and speaking of the love of Christ almost invariably suffuses\nhis eyes with tears. He delights to dwell on religious subjects; and to\ntalk with a pious friend of the topics which his heart loves gives him\nevident delight. Recently, his aged wife, who had trodden the path of\nlife with him, from youth to old age, died in his presence. She died,\nwhat is called by Christians, a triumphant death; her last words were\naddressed to her children who stood around--'I see the cross,'--a gleam\nof pleasure passed over her features, her eyes lighted up with peculiar\nbrightness; she said, 'Blessed Jesus, the last hour is come: I am\nready;' and thus she departed. At her death, the old man wept freely,\nand wept aloud; but his sorrow, he said, was mingled with a sweet joy.\nHow desolate would have been the condition of this poor cripple for the\nlast twenty years without the consolations of faith in Christ! And when\nhis aged wife died, who had for years sat by his side, how appalling\nwould have been the gloom that would have settled upon his soul, had not\nhis mind been sustained by heavenly hope! His case shows that the\nreligion of Christ will keep the affections warm and tender even to the\nlatest periods of old age, and give happiness to the soul under\ncircumstances of the most severe temporal bereavement.\n\nCASE 2.--A converted atheist. I knew that there were those in the world\nwho professed to doubt the existence of a God; but I had met with no one\nin all my intercourse with mankind who seemed so sincerely and so\nentirely an atheist as the individual whose case is now introduced. The\nfirst time that I met him was at the house of his son-in-law, a\ngentleman of piety and intelligence. His appearance was that of a\ndecrepid, disconsolate old man. In the course of conversation he\nunhesitatingly expressed his unbelief of the existence of a God, and his\nsuspicion of the motives of most of those who professed religion. I\nlearned from others that he had ceased in some measure to have\nintercourse with men--had become misanthropic in his feelings, regarding\nmankind in the light of a family of sharks, preying upon each other; and\nhis own duty in such a state of things, he supposed to be to make all\n_honest_ endeavours to wrest from the grasp of others as much as he\ncould. He used profane language, opposed the temperance reformation, and\nlooked with the deepest hatred upon the ministers of religion. His\nsocial affections seemed to be withered, and his body, sympathizing, was\ndistorted and diseased by rheumatic pains.\n\n1. This old man had for years been the subject of special prayer on the\npart of his pious daughter and his son-in-law; and he was finally\npersuaded by them to attend a season of religious worship in the church\nof which they were members. During these services, which lasted several\ndays, he passed from a state of atheism to a state of faith. The change\nseemed to surprise every one, and himself as much as any other. From\nbeing an atheist, he became the most simple and implicit believer. He\nseemed like a being who had waked up in another world, the sensations of\nwhich were all new to him; and although a man of sound sense in business\naffairs, when he began to express his religious ideas, his language\nseemed strange and incongruous, from the fact that, while his soul was\nnow filled with new thoughts and feelings, he had no knowledge of the\nlanguage by which such thoughts are usually expressed. The effects\nproduced by his conversion were as follows--stated at one time to\nmyself, and upon another occasion to one of the most eminent medical\npractitioners in this country:--One of the first things which he did\nafter his conversion, was to love, in a practical manner, his worst\nenemy. There was one man in the village who had, as he supposed, dealt\ntreacherously with him in some money transactions which had occurred\nbetween them. On this account, personal enmity had long existed between\nthe two individuals. When converted, he sought his old enemy--asked his\nforgiveness--and endeavoured to benefit him by bringing him under the\ninfluence of the gospel.\n\n2. His benevolent feelings were awakened and expanded. His first\nbenevolent offering was twenty-five cents, in a collection for\ncharitable uses. He now gives very liberally, in proportion to his\nmeans, to all objects which he thinks will advance the interests of\nthe gospel of Christ. Besides supporting his own church and her\nbenevolent institutions, no enterprise of any denomination which he\nreally believes will do good fails to receive something from him, if\nhe has the means. During the last year, he has given more with the\ndesign of benefiting his fellow-men than he had done in his whole\nlifetime before.\n\n3. His affections have received new life. He said to me, in conversation\nupon the subject: 'One part of the Scriptures I feel to be true--that\nwhich says, \"I will take away the hard and stony heart, and give you a\nheart of flesh.\" Once I seemed to have no feeling; now, thank God, I can\nfeel. I have buried two wives and six children, but I never shed a\ntear--I felt hard and unhappy; now my tears flow at the recollection of\nthese things.' The tears at that time wet the old man's cheeks. It is\nnot probable that, since his conversion, there has been a single week\nthat he has not shed tears; before conversion he had not wept since the\nage of manhood. An exhibition of the love of Christ will, at any time,\nmove his feelings with gratitude and love, until the tears moisten his\neyes.\n\n4. Effect upon his life. Since his conversion he has not ceased to do\ngood as he has had opportunity. Several individuals have been led to\nrepent and believe in Christ through his instrumentality. Some of\nthese were individuals whose former habits rendered a change of\ncharacter very improbable in the eyes of most individuals. One of\nthem, who had fallen into the habit of intemperance, is now a\nrespectable and happy father of a respectable Christian family. He has\nbeen known to go to several families on the same day, pray with them,\nand invite them to attend religious worship on the Sabbath. And when\nsome difficulty was stated as a hindrance to their attendance, he has\nassisted them to buy shoes, and granted other little aids of the kind,\nin order that they might be induced to attend divine service. Since\nthe first edition was issued, a most remarkable fact concerning this\nold man has come to the knowledge of the author. When converted, one\nof his first acts, although he had heard nothing of any such act in\nothers, was to make out a list of all his old associates then living\nwithin reach of his influence. For the conversion of these he\ndetermined to labour as he had opportunity, and pray daily. On his\nlist were one hundred and sixteen names, among whom were sceptics,\ndrunkards, and other individuals as little likely to be reached by\nChristian influence as any other men in the region. Within two years\nfrom the period of the old man's conversion, one hundred of these\nindividuals had made a profession of religion. We can hardly suppose\nthat the old man was instrumental in the conversion of all these\npersons, yet the fact is one of the most remarkable that has been\ndeveloped in the progress of Christianity.\n\n5. Effect upon his happiness. In a social meeting of the church where\nhe worships, I heard him make such an expression as this: 'I have\nrejoiced but once since I trusted in Christ--that has been all the\ntime.' His state of mind may be best described in his own characteristic\nlanguage. One day he was repairing his fence. An individual passing\naddressed him: 'Mr. ----, you are at work all alone.' 'Not alone,' said\nthe old man, 'God is with me.' He said that his work seemed easy to him,\nand his peace of mind continued with scarcely an interruption. I saw him\nat a time when he had just received intelligence that a son who had gone\nto the south had been shot in a personal altercation in one of the\nsouthern cities. The old man's parental feelings were moved, but he\nseemed, even under this sudden and most distressing affliction, to\nderive strong consolation from trust in God.\n\n6. Physical effects of the moral change. As soon as his moral nature had\nundergone a change, his body, by sympathy, felt the benign influence.\nHis countenance assumed a milder and more intelligent aspect. He became\nmore tidy in his apparel, and his 'thousand pains,' in a good measure,\nleft him. In his case, there seemed to be a renovation both of soul and\nbody.\n\nThis case is not exaggerated: the old man is living, and there are\na thousand living witnesses to this testimony, among whom is an\nintelligent physician, who, hearing the old man's history of his\nfeelings, and having known him personally for years, the obvious\neffects which the faith in Christ had produced in this case, combined\nwith other influences by which he was surrounded, led him seriously to\nexamine the subject of religion, as it concerned his own spiritual\ninterest. By this examination he was led to relinquish the system of\n'rational religion' (as the Socinian system is most inappropriately\ncalled by its adherents), and profess his faith in orthodox religion.\n\nCASE 3.--Two individuals, who had always been poor in this world's\ngoods but who are rich in faith. Many years ago, they lived in a new\nsettlement where there were no religious services. The neighbourhood,\nat the suggestion of one of its members, met together on the Sabbath,\nto sing sacred music, and to hear a sermon read. Those sermons were\nthe means of the conversion of the mother of the family. She lived an\nexemplary life, but her husband still continued impenitent, and became\nsomewhat addicted to intemperance. Some of the children of the family,\nas they reached mature years, were converted; the husband, and\nfinally, after a few years, all the remaining children, embraced\nreligion. From the day of the husband's conversion he drank no more\nliquor, and, he says, he always afterwards thought of the habit with\nabhorrence. The old people live alone. The old woman's sense of\nhearing has so failed that she hears but imperfectly. When the weather\nwill allow, she attends church regularly, but sometimes hears but\nlittle of the sermon. She sits on the Sabbath and looks up at the\nminister, with a countenance glowing with an interested and happy\nexpression. She has joy to know that the minister is preaching about\nChrist. The minister once described religion possessed as a spring of\nliving water, flowing from the rock by the way-side, which yields to\nthe weary traveller refreshment and delight; the old lady, at the\nclose, remarked, with meekness, 'I hope I have drunk, many times, of\nthose sweet waters.'\n\nExcept what concerns their particular domestic duties, the conversation\nof this aged pair is almost entirely religious. They are devout, and\nvery happy in each other's society; and sometimes in their family\ndevotions and religious conversations their hearts glow with love for\nGod. They look forward to death with the consoling hope that they will\nawake in the likeness of the glorious Saviour, and so 'be for ever with\nthe Lord.'\n\nCASE 4.--A female was early in life united with the church, and\nconscientiously performed the external duties of Christian life. She\nhad for many years little if any happiness in the performance of her\nreligious duties, yet would have been more unhappy if she had not\nperformed them. She married a gentleman who, during the last years of\nhis life, was peculiarly devoted. During this period, in attending\nupon the means of grace she experienced an entire change in her\nreligious feelings. She felt, as she says, that 'now she gave up all\nfor Christ. She felt averse to everything which she believed to be\ncontrary to his will.--To the will of Jesus she could now submit for\never, with joyful and entire confidence.--She now loved to pray, and\nfound happiness in obeying the Saviour.' She made, as she believes, at\nthat time an entire surrender of all her interests, for time and\neternity, to Christ, and since then her labours in his service have\nbeen happy labours. Before they were constrained by conscience, now\nthey are prompted by the affections. She does not think she was not a\nChristian before. She had repented in view of the law, but she had\nnot, till the time mentioned, exercised affectionate faith in\nChrist.[43] She now often prays most solicitously for the conversion\nof sinners and the sanctification of the church. She loves to meet\nweekly in the female circle for prayer, and labours to induce others\nto attend with her. Her little son, nine years of age, is, as she\nhopes, a Christian; and her daughter, just approaching the years of\nwomanhood, has recently united with the church. Two years since her\nhusband died under circumstances peculiarly afflicting. She prayed for\nresignation, and never felt any disposition to murmur against the\nprovidence of God. She sometimes blamed herself that she had not\nthought of other expedients to prolong, if possible, the life of one\nthat she loved so tenderly; but to God she looked up with submission,\nand said in spirit: 'The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I\nnot drink it?' Her husband she views as a departed saint, whom she\nexpects to meet in a better world. She cherishes his memory with an\naffection that seems peculiarly sacred, and the remembrance of his\npiety is a consoling association connected with the recollections of\none now in heaven.[44]\n\n    [43] Are there not many in all the churches who have been\n    convicted of sin, and who have perhaps repented, but have not\n    exercised full faith in Christ?\n\n    [44] That the marriage bond becomes more sacred, and the\n    reciprocal duties of affection more tender, between two hearts\n    that both love Jesus, I have no doubt. The feelings of this pious\n    widow favour the supposition; and the facts recorded in the\n    biographies of Edwards, Fletcher, and Corvosso, fully confirm it.\n\nA single incident develops the secret of that piety which gives her\npeace, and makes her useful. One of the last times that I saw her she\nstated, in conversation upon the subject, that a short time before she\nhad read a Sabbath school book, which one of her children had received,\nin which was a representation of Christ bearing his cross to Calvary.\nWhile contemplating this scene, love and gratitude sprang up in her\nheart, which were subduing, sweet, and peaceful beyond expression. How\nis it, reader, that the contemplation of such a scene of suffering\nshould cause such blessed emotions to spread like a rich fragrance\nthrough the soul, and rise in sweet incense to God? It is the holy\nsecret of the cross of Christ, which none but the saints know, and\neven they cannot communicate.[45]\n\n    [45] Thomas \u00e0 Kempis endeavoured to give expression to the\n    consciousness of the Divine life in the soul--'Frequens Christi\n    visitatio cum homine interno, dulcis sermocinatio, grata\n    consolatio, multa pax,' etc. ['The frequent presence of Christ in\n    the inner man is sweet converse, grateful consolation, much\n    peace,' etc.]\n\n\n\n\nCONCLUSION.\n\n\nAllow the author to say, in closing, that it is his opinion that, in\nview of the reasonings and facts presented in the preceding pages,\nevery individual who reads the book intelligently, and who is in\npossession of a sound and unprejudiced reason, will come to the\nconclusion that the religion of the Bible is from God, and Divinely\nadapted to produce the greatest present and eternal spiritual good\nof the human family. And if any one should doubt its Divine origin\n(which, in view of its adaptations and its effects as herein\ndeveloped, would involve the absurdity of doubting whether an\nintelligent design had an intelligent designer), still, be the\norigin of the gospel where it may, in heaven, earth, or hell, the\ndemonstration is conclusive that it is the only religion possible\nfor man, in order to perfect his nature, and restore his lapsed\npowers to harmony and holiness.\n\n\nTHE END.\n\n\nBILLING AND SONS, PRINTERS, GUILDFORD AND LONDON.\n\n\n\n\nPUBLICATIONS OF THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY.\n\n\n  The Present Saviour; or, Great Truths for Earnest Times.\n    By the Rev. J. S. Nutter. In large type. 1s. cloth boards.\n\n  Saving Faith: what is it?\n    A Scriptural Inquiry and Appeal. By the Rev. J. Tanner. Small 8vo.\n    8d. cloth boards.\n\n  Salvation Sought, Found, and Enjoyed.\n    Fcap. 8vo, 1s. cloth boards.\n\n  Persuasives to Early Piety.\n    By the Rev. J. G. 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J.\n    Stuart. 2s. 6d. cloth boards.\n\n\nThe Religious Tract Society,\n\nLondon: 56, Paternoster Row; 65, St. Paul's Churchyard; And 164,\nPiccadilly.\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's Note\n\nVariations in spelling are preserved as printed.\n\nMinor punctuation and typographic errors have been repaired.\n\nThe Hebrew text of the footnote on page 51 has an error where it appears\nthat a samech has been used instead of a mem (final). On the assumption\nthat this is a printer error, it has been fixed: \u05e9\u05e1 amended to \u05e9\u05dd.\n\nThe asterism in the preface is represented with *** in this version of\nthe e-book.","title":"Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation: A Book for the Times","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":54932}