{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_49618/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_49618","id":"gutenberg_49618","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/49618","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Religion/Spirituality","Church year sermons","Lutheran Church -- Sermons","Sermons, American"],"text":"Transcriber's Note: Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.\n\nMinor typographical and punctuation errors have been corrected\nwithout note. Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have\nbeen retained as printed.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: cover]\n\n[Illustration: titlepage]\n\n\n\n\n  Faith and Duty\n\n\n  Sermons on Free Texts\n\n  With Reference to the Church-Year\n\n  By the\n\n  REV. LOUIS BUCHHEIMER\n\n  Pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer, St. Louis, Mo.\n\n  [Illustration: logo]\n\n  ST. LOUIS, MO.\n  CONCORDIA PUBLISHING HOUSE\n  1913\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n                                                       PAGE\n  First Sunday in Advent. Gen. 7, 1                       1\n  Second Sunday in Advent. Rev. 20, 11. 12. 15            7\n  Third Sunday in Advent. 2 Cor. 8, 23                   14\n  Fourth Sunday in Advent. Luke 1, 78                    20\n  Christmas. 2 Cor. 9, 15                                25\n  Last Sunday in the Year. Isaiah 64, 6                  31\n  New Year's Day. Matt. 6, 9                             37\n  Epiphany Sunday. John 8, 12                            43\n  First Sunday after Epiphany. Eccl. 12, 1               48\n  Second Sunday after Epiphany. Hebr. 14, 4              54\n  Third Sunday after Epiphany. John 4, 14. 15            60\n  Fourth Sunday after Epiphany. Matt. 14, 22-27          67\n  Fifth Sunday after Epiphany. Matt. 13, 47. 48          73\n  Septuagesima Sunday. Matt. 20, 15                      79\n  Sexagesima Sunday. John 5, 39                          85\n  Quinquagesima Sunday. Rom. 3, 23                       90\n  First Sunday in Lent. Exodus 17, 8-13                  96\n  Second Sunday in Lent. 2 Tim. 4, 10                   102\n  Third Sunday in Lent. Luke 7, 39                      108\n  Fourth Sunday in Lent. Matt. 18, 7                    114\n  Fifth Sunday in Lent. Exodus 12, 13                   119\n  Palm Sunday. Gen. 35, 1-3                             124\n  Easter. John 5, 28. 29                                129\n  First Sunday after Easter. John 21, 4                 134\n  Second Sunday after Easter. John 21, 15-17            140\n  Third Sunday after Easter. Matt. 5, 15. 16            145\n  Fourth Sunday after Easter. Col. 3, 16                150\n  Fifth Sunday after Easter. Eph. 6, 18                 156\n  Ascension. Mark 16, 19                                161\n  Sunday after Ascension. Luke 9, 26                    166\n  Pentecost. Zech. 4, 6                                 171\n  Trinity Sunday. 2 Cor. 13, 14                         176\n  First Sunday after Trinity. Matt. 25, 46              181\n  Second Sunday after Trinity. Acts 24, 25              186\n  Third Sunday after Trinity. Matt. 9, 9-13             192\n  Fourth Sunday after Trinity. Matt. 16, 19             197\n  Fifth Sunday after Trinity. Acts 9, 17. 18            202\n  Sixth Sunday after Trinity. 2 Tim. 3, 5               208\n  Seventh Sunday after Trinity. Luke 12, 6              213\n  Eighth Sunday after Trinity. 1 Tim. 6, 20             218\n  Ninth Sunday after Trinity. Luke 12, 16-21            225\n  Tenth Sunday after Trinity. 1 Cor. 12, 12 and 26      230\n  Eleventh Sunday after Trinity. Rom. 3, 28             236\n  Twelfth Sunday after Trinity. Prov. 22, 6             241\n  Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity. Matt. 25, 40         246\n  Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity. 2 Pet. 1, 5-7        252\n  Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity. 1 Pet. 5, 7           258\n  Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity. 2 Kings 20, 1-6       263\n  Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity. 1 Cor. 3, 11-15     269\n  Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity. 1 Kings 18, 21       274\n  Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity. John 5, 1-9          280\n  Twentieth Sunday after Trinity. Luke 12, 54-56        286\n  Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity. Luke 14, 28-30     292\n  Twenty-second Sunday after Trinity. Gal. 6, 1         297\n  Twenty-third Sunday after Trinity. Mark 12, 41-44     303\n  Humiliation and Prayer Sunday. Dan. 5, 27             309\n  Reformation. Ps. 87, 1-3                              314\n\n\n\n\nFIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT.\n\n     Come thou and all thy house into the ark.--_Gen. 7, 1._\n\n\nThe Bible, from beginning to end, is a series of object lessons. God\nsets before us certain persons, things, events, and bids us look at\nand learn from them, just as the teacher at school draws a diagram\non the blackboard, and tells the children to look at and learn from\nit. No word, or single incident, recorded in the Bible, is wasted or\nuseless; what may, at first glance, sometimes appear trifling and\nunimportant to us, may, on closer examination, mean very much, like\nthe decimal point in arithmetic or the accent on a word. So it is\nwith the words of the text just quoted. They may seem insignificant,\nyet are they most important.\n\nThe present season, beginning with this Sunday, is called Advent.\nWe are accustomed, in the four weeks before Christmas, to direct\nour minds to Christ's advent or coming. This advent, we say, is\nthreefold: First, there is Christ's coming in the flesh, when as a\nlittle babe He lay in the manger at Bethlehem, taking upon Himself\nthe form of Abraham, made in the likeness of human flesh, and\nperforming the pilgrimage of an earthly life that He might thus save\nman. Again, we distinguish His second coming, _i. e._, His return,\nas we confess in the Creed, \"to judge the quick and the dead,\" when,\narrayed in all the power and majesty of Almightiness, He shall\ncome to execute vengeance upon the evildoers, vindicate and take\nhome with Himself those who believed in Him. And between these two\ncomings lies a third, which we are wont to designate \"His spiritual\ncoming,\" by which we mean His coming and knocking at the door of\nour hearts for admission. This coming is not visible, however,\nas the other two, but invisible, yet none the less real on that\naccount, and it is carried on by means of His Word and sacraments,\nthrough the instrumentality of the preaching of the Gospel and\nthe administration of Holy Baptism and the Lord's Supper, for the\nexecution of which He has founded a divine institution called the\nChurch. To that Church He has entrusted the work of Gospel preaching\nand sacramental giving. She, if true to her calling and message, is\nthe conservatory of His truth, the disseminator of His kingdom upon\nearth. It is within her pales that He dispenses salvation. Outside\nof the Church He does not promise to bestow forgiveness of sin and\nthe blessings of His grace. How these preliminary remarks bear upon\nthe selection and consideration of our text, what precious and\ninstructive lessons we may gather from the comparison, that let us\nsee, and may we be wise and heed.\n\n\"Come thou and all thy house into the ark,\" reads the command of\nGod. We immediately perceive with what account of ancient history\nthat connects. The people of the Old World, the antediluvians, as\nthey are generally called, had become so corrupt in morals and life\nthat God determined their destruction and said: \"The end of all\nflesh is come before me, for the earth is filled with violence,\"\nyet, to show His desire to save them, He appointed His servant Noah\nto preach righteousness to them, and directed him to build an ark\nas an evidence that He was minded to carry out His purpose, and as\na means of safety for Noah. Few, however, none, in fact, except\nNoah and his immediate family, eight souls in all, took the warning\nto heart. Many a one of that perverse generation, we may surmise,\neven assisted in the construction of the ark, and the patriarchal\nminister would exhort them to forsake their sins and worship God,\nonly to be sneered at for his credulity and ridiculed for his\nnonsensical eccentricity of building such a boathouse.\n\nBut the hundred and twenty years given for probation expired, and\nNoah receives directions to embark. \"Come thou,\" is the command,\n\"into the ark.\" Just one week is allowed to bring into the ark\nall his family, and the birds and beasts to be preserved, and\nthen--what an unusual sound it must have been--the door was shut,\nnot by Noah's, or any human hand, but by the hand of Jehovah; for\nit is written: \"And the Lord shut him in,\" and now, amid the war\nof heaven's artillery and the shaking of the earth, the fountains\nof the deep burst open, and the windows of the skies break loose,\nand the greatest and most terrible calamity Revelation records is\non. Imagination cannot portray the scenes that must have then been\nenacted,--how, forgetful of everything but self-preservation, they\nfled towards the singular building, which but a little before they\nhad insolently defied; how, perhaps laboring in their distraction\nto scramble up its huge sides, the angry tide of waters keeps\nthem down, and with a cry of despair they dash into the watery\nabyss; how some, climbing up to the loftiest pinnacle and summit\nof the mountains, in the hope that perhaps at the end the door\nmay be opened to receive a few more, they see the wondrous ship\ndashing along, gallant and safe, and hear that gurgling sound, the\ndeath requiem of their race, rising higher and higher. Oh! who can\ndescribe the anguish, the woe, the cursing of self. But it was now\ntoo late, and yet, whose fault was it? Provision had been made,\nprobation time had been granted them; there was none to blame but\nthemselves. God's warnings are not empty sounds, His institutions\nnot for ridicule and rejection. And now, more generally, for the\napplication.\n\nWe, too, have an ark, a New Testament Ark. God, Himself, as the\ndivine architect and artificer, has built it; He devised the plans,\nHe selected the material, and employs the Noahs in its construction;\ndaily do we see before our eyes its towers and walls, hear regularly\nand pleadingly the bells sending out the invitation: \"Come thou\ninto the ark.\" You know what this ark is,--it's the Holy Christian\nChurch, that divine structure which by Him has been finished these\n1900 years. There, in the midst of a world of sin and depravity,\nupon which God has pronounced His righteous judgments as clearly as\nupon the race of antediluvians, it stands,--the great, the capacious\nGospel Ark, a refuge of safety; come whatever Jehovah may commission\nupon our guilty world, it is certain to ride safely above the\ntumultuous tempest and bring us gallantly to the celestial mountain,\nthe Ararat of Heaven.\n\nMy dear hearer, have you entered into that ark? Is your name\nenrolled among the list of passengers? And why not? Make known the\nreason of your backwardness. In other words, without figure, lay\nbefore you the question: Why are you not a church-member? Why do you\nstand aloof from the church? Why do you not join? I shall listen\nto a few of your reasons, and then tell you why you ought to join.\nPerhaps you are laboring under the fear that there is not room\nenough for you in the ark, that you are not invited among them to\nwhom the gracious offer is tendered. Banish that thought instantly\nfrom your mind. \"Not room enough in the ark!\" \"Not wanted!\" \"Come\nthou and thy house into the ark.\" You know the beautiful parable of\nthe Great Supper, to which all and sundry were invited, and after\neverything had been precisely done as the master had commanded,\nthe servant comes and tells the master of the house: \"Yet there is\nroom.\" A striking truth! Those words reveal that the Christian Ark\nis not yet fully tenanted, that, as the invitation is still out, you\nare yet in time.\n\n\"Not _room_--not _wanted_!\" God forbid that such a thought should\nin your breasts be found. \"Come unto me,\" declared your Savior,\n\"come thou into the ark.\" But you say: \"I do belong to the church,\nthe so-called 'Big Church,' _i. e._, to the number of those who\nstill profess to be Christians, who uphold Christian principles and\nlive good moral lives, who aim at what is right, and I am just as\ngood and honest as any in the church.\" Perhaps so, my dear friend,\nperhaps more so, for not all that profess to be church-members\nare such; some are slimy and wily hypocrites. But _you_, as an\nhonorable and professing Christian, ought to be a church-member,\nfor you know that Christ does not acknowledge the \"Big Church\" of\nwhich you are speaking. You cannot put asunder what Christ has\njoined together. He has joined these two things together, Himself\nand the Church; outside of His ark He promises no salvation, and\nyou have no right to expect it. For what is the Church? It is\nChrist's provision for the salvation of man,--how? By the preaching\nof His holy Word and the administration of His sacraments, as we\nheard. Is the Word of God preached in the \"Big Church\"? Is Baptism\nadministered, the Lord's Communion received? How can faith in the\nSavior then be wrought, maintained, forgiveness of sins secured,\nhope and salvation? \"Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the\nWord of God,\" says the Bible. \"If ye continue in my Word, then are\nye my disciples, indeed,\" says the Savior. \"He that believeth and is\nbaptized shall be saved.\" \"Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man\nand drink His blood, ye have no life in you.\"\n\nI doubt not that many of the antediluvians did not despise the ark\noutright. Who knows but what they might have thought there was\nsomething to it,--when the great calamity comes we shall be all\nright,--and that they told the preacher of righteousness: \"Never\nmind about us, Noah, our record is still good.\" But salvation was in\nthe ark, and there it is to-day; you cannot separate Christ from His\nChurch, Christliness from Churchliness, for the Church is Christ's,\nand Christ is in His Church; and I know not, from the study of God's\nWord, the Bible, what right any man has to stand aloof from the\nChristian Church and call himself a Christian. The \"Big Church\" is\na big delusion.\n\n\"Yes, I recognize that I ought to belong to the Church, but I do not\nlike to bind myself,\" pleads another. Bind yourself? To what? To a\nlife of godliness, to a conduct becoming a Christian, to the duties\nincumbent upon a member? Why, if you are a Christian at all, you are\nbound by these things already. The further few hours occasionally\ngiven to the deliberation of congregational affairs ought not to\ndeter you. You are bound already, why speak about binding yourself?\nAnd you certainly do not want to be unbound,--for in the ark alone\nis your safety.\n\nThere are yet other reasons why some do not join the Church. In our\nmaterialistic age, there are hundreds whom the love of money keeps\nout of the house of God. It costs something, and they shun costs, no\nmatter for what purpose--ever so noble. They hold connections which\nthe Church cannot sanction, belong to organizations against which it\nfinds itself compelled to testify, and because people cannot bear\nto have their connections reproved, and do not stop to weigh and\nconsider what the Church has to say, they immediately, without any\nfurther ado, break off all relation with the Church, and raise the\ncry against it of being too strict, and stay away from the preaching\nand the sacraments, none of which have been denied them, and to\nwhich they are warmly invited and heartily welcomed. They will once\nhave to answer for it. The invitation remains: \"Come thou and all\nthy house into the ark.\"--\n\nAnd now, having listened to why some people do not belong to the\nChurch, let us regard a few reasons why each and every Christian\nought to be a church-member. First, there is the positive command\nof God. The Lord said unto Noah--commanded, directed him: \"Come\nthou and all thy house into the ark.\" His directions to us and ours\nare not less specific. His Third Commandment reads: \"Thou shalt\nsanctify the holyday.\" Where does the sanctification of that day\ntake place but in His Church, in the observance of its institutions?\nHe warns: \"Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as\nthe manner of some is.\" Again, take all such clear passages in\nwhich He commands us to profess piety as this: \"I say unto you,\nWhosoever shall confess me before men, him will I also confess\nbefore my Father which is in heaven,\" which, if it means anything,\ncertainly means that we must either be publicly and openly rated\namong His confessors, or He will not consent to acknowledge us among\nHis saints. How can a man be a proper child of God who will not so\nmuch as give His name as a believer? What guarantee has he to count\nsecurely on salvation if he refuses to say before men whether he\ntakes Christ as his Redeemer, or not? It is true: \"With the heart\nman believeth unto righteousness,\" but it is equally true: \"With the\nmouth confession is made unto salvation.\" Church-membership is not\noptional; it is imperative, it is based upon God's command.\n\nAnother reason for church-membership is, that a Christian must\nadvance his Master's cause. If you are at liberty to decline\nconnection with Christ's Church, then I am; if one is, all are,\nand how, then, can there be the maintenance of the ministry, the\nfurtherance of the manifest kingdom of God? We pray daily: \"Hallowed\nbe Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in\nheaven.\" When is God's name hallowed? When does His kingdom come?\nAnd by what influences and agencies is His will done on earth but\nby this organization established by Himself for that purpose,--His\nholy Church? Who keeps up the work of the ministry with its\nschools of education, who maintains the propagation of the faith\nby the support of missions, and all those other efforts essential\nto the preservation and spreading of Christ's kingdom, and you,\nas a disciple of Christ, should be found standing aloof from it,\nnot helping along yourself, yea, by your passive indifference and\nnon-cooperation setting a bad example unto others? Your duty in this\nrespect is as plain as Noah's,--you should get into the ark.\n\nAnd, reason last. It promotes your own good. Aside from what we\nhave already emphasized, there is something in the simple matter\nof being known and feeling committed as a member of a Church which\nstrengthens and helps a man. It restrains where otherwise there\nwould be no restraint. It induces to arouse a livelier sense of\nreligious obligations, stimulates to stricter fidelity in the\nobservance of things which otherwise are easily neglected, secures\nthe watch and oversight of experienced Christians, and, withal,\ngives a force and quickening which comes from conviction that one is\nrated as a disciple of Christ and looked to for example in faith, in\nword, and in deeds. It brings spiritual things and Christian duty\ncloser home. If conscientiously attended to, it is a blessing to\nyou, and it makes you a blessing to others.\n\nLet this suffice on this subject at this time. Let those who have\nheld and are holding membership draw a rule from what has been said\nfor the regulation of their conduct. So divine and essential a cause\nenlists their endeavors. Let them make it their business to honor\nit, to widen and extend its influences by being punctual at the\nservices, by being particular in the observance of its sacraments,\nby being uncompromising in the belief and defense of its faith, by\nbeing active in encouraging all efforts necessary to its life and\nsuccess. And those who have hitherto stood aloof from the Church,\nor who are mere lingerers about its gates, let them also learn from\nthis the unsatisfactoriness of their position, and be admonished of\nthe duty and necessity that is upon them if they would find God and\nsalvation.\n\n\"Come thou and thy family into the ark,\"--what time could be more\nopportune than this first day of another year of God's grace?\nConsider the matter, and may it lead you to lay your vow upon God's\naltar and have your name recorded on the roster of the Church. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nSECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT.\n\n     And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it. And I\n     saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books\n     were opened; and another book was opened which is the book of\n     life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were\n     written in the books, according to their works; and whosoever\n     was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake\n     of fire.--_Rev. 20, 11. 12. 15._\n\n\nWe are all acquainted, my beloved, with the verdict that was once\npronounced upon King Belshazzar of Babylon,--how, seated one night\nat a royal banquet, with his princes, his wives and concubines,\neating, drinking, and making merry, there suddenly appeared upon the\nwall of his palace the ghostly fingers of a man's hand tracing in\nclear and distinct letters the words: \"Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin.\"\nWhen the king saw the mysterious script and surmised its probable\nmeaning, his countenance was changed, the joints of his loins were\nloosed, and his knees smote one against another. The wisest man in\nhis realm was sent for, one Daniel, the Lord's prophet, interprets\nthe words and tells him: \"Mene: God has numbered thy kingdom and\nfinished it. Tekel: Thou art weighed in the balance and found\nwanting. Upharsin: Thy kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and\nPersians.\" Nor was it the space of two hours before the verdict met\nits fulfillment. Darius, the king of the Medes, by a subterranean\npassage, dug under the city's walls, broke into the city. Belshazzar\nwas slain that night, and his mighty empire shattered like chaff\nbefore the wind.\n\n\"Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin,\" that is the handwriting which one\nmight appropriately inscribe over the portals of this day. Loving\nand warning as was the picture which we contemplated on the last\nLord's Day, where we observed our Savior riding in royal state,\nin the City of David, and heard the prophet's prediction: \"Tell\nye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek\nand sitting upon a colt,\" just as tremendous and awfully solemn is\nthe account in to-day's Gospel, which presents to us that selfsame\nKing transformed into a judge, His meekness into righteous display,\nHis offers of salvation into sentences of sharpness, justice, and\nretribution, parceling out to every one, as He did unto Belshazzar\nat Babylon, the just verdict of his deed. It is Christ's \"Second\nAdvent,\" His coming to judge the quick and the dead, that forms\nthe topic of our present contemplation, and taking up the account\nread from Revelations, step by step, may God's Holy Spirit make our\nconsideration of it a blessing to your souls. Four things enlist our\ndevotion: _I. The Judge_; _II. the judged_; _III. the books_; _IV.\nthe results_.\n\nThe first thing that arrested the Apostle's eye was the throne. \"And\nI saw a great white throne,\" he tells us. Thrones are the seats of\nkings and sovereigns, and they are always associated with the idea\nof regal splendor and magnificence. Just so the meaning is, that\nwhen the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord\nof lords, appears in the clouds of heaven, He will be surrounded\nwith the manifestations of grandeur, majesty, and dominion, as the\nGospel indicates when it says: \"Then shall ye see the Son of Man\ncoming in great glory,\" and things are particularly specified, too,\nregarding this throne. It is a \"great throne,\" like the one which\nIsaiah, the prophet, saw in one of his visions \"high and lifted up,\"\nso that the millions and myriads of earth can easily discern it as\nthe spot where they shall hear their eternal destiny read out. And\nit was also a \"white\" throne. White, in the language of the Bible\nand of all nations, is the mark of purity and holiness, and when,\naccordingly, the throne is designated as being \"white,\" it means\nthat white decisions will be rendered there, stainless judgment,\nunspotted by the least prejudice, crookedness, partiality, or\nmistakes; none will think of questioning their equity, or dream of\nappealing to any higher court. Their verdict will be final and fair.\n\nThe next object that attracted the Apostle's eye was the Judge\nHimself: \"And I saw Him that sat on it.\" No further description of\nthe personal appearance of the Judge is given. John simply says: \"I\nsaw Him,\" whence it follows that He can be seen, and, accordingly,\nit could not have been the absolute, invisible God, who cannot be\nseen. Who, then, was it? It was none other than Jesus Christ, of\nwhom we confess in the Second Article that He was born of the Virgin\nMary, was crucified, dead and buried, and the third day rose again,\nand, ascending into heaven, shall come again to judge the quick\nand the dead. This is the plain teaching of Scripture throughout.\nChrist Jesus, the Son of Man, wearing the very nature of those whom\nHe judges, will be the Judge. \"God hath appointed a day in which\nHe will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath\nordained.\" But not any longer as the gentle, compassionate Savior,\nas the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world, but as the\nLion of the tribe of Judah, as the Judge from whose face the earth\nand the heavens will flee away, and the unrighteous call out in\ndespair: \"Ye mountains, fall upon us, and ye hills, hide us from Him\nthat sitteth on the throne.\" And think not, we would here add, that\nwe are describing matters of imagination, such as poets and painters\nmay dwell upon. We are describing things that will really happen.\nJohn saw these things in vision. You and I shall one day see these\nthings in reality. \"Behold, He cometh with clouds, and every eye\nshall see Him.\" Where shall be _our_ place, what _our_ portion at\nthat time, in that day?\n\nThis we learn from the next point of consideration: Who shall be\nthe judged? \"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before\nGod.\" By the \"dead\" here are meant _all mankind_, the entire family\nof earth, all of woman born, from Adam down to the last offspring\nof human race,--they must all appear before the judgment-seat of\nChrist. It is computed that there are more than eighty millions\nof inhabitants in our land. This is about one-twentieth part\nof the entire population of the globe, which, at this time, is\ncalculated at one billion five hundred millions. These one billion\nfive hundred millions will be all gathered together into one\nthronging assemblage, and not they only, but also, in addition,\nthe two hundred generations of men who have preceded us, and\nthose generations--how many we know not, God knoweth--that will\nstill live in the earth between these days and the last general\njudgment. These all, which no man can number, shall be judged. It\nsays: \"The great and small.\" There will be no distinction of age,\nsize, color, or nation, condition or rank, those of high degree and\nthose of low estate, the rich and the poor, the sovereign and his\nsubjects, the man of silvery hair and the infant of a span long, the\ndistinguished scholar and the untutored savage, husband and wife,\npastor and people, apostles and sinners,--all shall stand before\nGod. All the dead, whose bodies were once consigned by loving hands\nto quiet resting-chambers beneath mother earth, those whose bones\nlie bleached upon the desert's sands or Alpine mountains, those\nwhose corpse was lowered down into watery depths,--immaterial how,\nwhen, or where dead,--these all shall yield up their tents when the\ntrumpet of the archangel sounds to gather the children of men unto\njudgment. And with the parties thus arrayed at the bar, we proceed\nto the judgment itself.\n\n\"And the books were opened, and another book was opened which is the\nbook of life. And the dead were judged out of those things which\nwere written in the books.\" Two sets of books are here spoken of:\nfirst, two books, and then another book. Other passages in God's\nWord also speak of books in connection with the Judgment. What\nthe character of these books spoken of is we are not at a loss to\ndetermine; the one is the book of God's remembrance, and the other\nis the book of God's Word. Not as if God in reality employs books\nto make His entries; the all-knowing King needs no such helps to\nremind Him of men's actions. His all-capacious mind knows all things\nand forgets nothing. The idea is: Just as men, in their manifold\ndealings, do not trust to their memories, but use memoranda and\nrecords in order to be able to refer to them as occasion requires,\njust so, in condescension to our way of thinking, figuratively\nspeaking, God represents Himself as keeping a book in which He\nhas an exact record of what has been done by any creature, past,\npresent, and future. And an exact record it will be, accurate in the\nminutest detail. Not only man's general character, the sum total\nof his life, whether (taken altogether) he was, on the whole, a\nworldly or a pious man, or the like, will be taken into account,\nbut every trifling act, good or bad, of which his entire life was\ncomposed. The word is: \"God shall bring every work into judgment,\nwith every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.\"\nEverything. Nothing shall be kept back, nothing will be overlooked.\nThat thought that passed so rapidly through your mind as hardly\nto be noticed, that word that so hastily escaped your lips, all\nthe deliberate and determined actions which have left their stain\nupon your life, all these, down to the secret sin that you have\nbeen so successful in hiding from the sight of man, all, whether\ndone in childhood, youth, manhood, or old age, all that has been\ncommitted or omitted, will be opened out to public view by the\nall-seeing, all-remembering Judge. This is the first book, the Book\nof Remembrance.\n\nAnd the divine Arbiter opens another book. We have no difficulty in\nrecognizing it at once. It is to us a familiar volume,--\"The word\nthat I have spoken, the same shall judge you in the last day,\" is\nthe language of the Judge Himself. That book, we contend, is the\nguide and rule of our faith and actions in this life; it is also\nthe statute-book of heaven, the touchstone by which our hearts and\nlives are to be tried in the life hereafter. Plain enough are the\ndirections that book tells you. \"Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God,\nwith all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and\nthy neighbor as thyself.\" Plainly does it speak to you and to all\nof heaven, of judgment, of eternity, of faith, of holiness, and of\nthe new birth and conversion; plainly does it inform you of Him\nwho redeemed us from the curse of the Law, being made a curse for\nus, that he that believeth in the Son hath eternal life, and he\nthat believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God\nabideth on him. In brief, according to that opened Bible man shall\nbe justified or condemned. Here is the standard, the rule.\n\nHow important, my beloved, that we should see on what terms we\nstand with our Bibles now--whether they justify us, or whether they\ncondemn us. Oh, for that oft-neglected divine Book!\n\nBut there is a third book to be opened. That is the book of life,\nand \"whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast\ninto the lake of fire.\" It was a custom generally observed at the\ncourts of princes to keep a list of the persons employed in their\nservice, of the officers of their armies, and sometimes even the\nnames of the soldiers; and when it is said in the Bible that a\nperson's name is written in the book of life, it means that he\nparticularly belongs to God, is enrolled among His friends and\nfollowers. It is also probable that the early Christian churches,\nlike our churches now, kept lists of their members, and that this\nterm \"book of life\" was derived from such a custom, it being\nregarded that any one on the list was also an assured member of\nheaven. And how may I know whether my name is inscribed in this\nbook of life? \"He that believeth in the Son hath eternal life,\"\nand \"he that believeth not in the Son, shall not see life, but the\nwrath of God abideth on him.\" What determines our eternal destiny,\nour acceptance or rejection by the Judge, is our personal belief\nand faith in Jesus Christ; on that depends our salvation, our being\nenrolled or canceled from the book of life. \"Jesus, Thy blood and\nrighteousness, my jewels are, my glorious dress; in these before my\nGod I'll stand when summoned to His own right hand.\" Nothing else\nwill avail but faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Redeemer.\nThat places our name in the book of life; with that men will stand\nor fall. \"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he\nthat believeth not shall be damned.\"\n\nBut does not the Record here, verse 12, and the Bible _elsewhere_,\nemphasize that we will be judged according to our works, according\nto what we have done? Indeed, but this does not contradict salvation\nby faith in Christ Jesus; our faith, to prove itself genuine, must\nwork and does work. If there are no works, we may rest assured\nthere is no faith. At the last day our works will be inquired into\nto ascertain the nature of our faith. If there is no love toward\nthe brethren of Jesus, no manifestation of Christ's Spirit toward\nChrist's suffering members, we may take it for granted that faith\nis dead. Our works come into account as fruits of our faith;\nbut faith in Christ Jesus is the principle on which all stand or\nfall, for--what will the outcome of that final judgment be? \"And\nthey shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous\ninto life eternal.\" The Bible everywhere speaks, in connection\nwith the Day of Judgment, of mankind being separated into two\ndistinct portions. Now the wheat and tares grow together. There is\na difference between them, even at the present, which the skilled\neye in many instances can detect, but, as yet, they run together,\nand there is no severance of them into separate fields or pastures.\nIt will not always be so. Infidels and Christians will one day\ncease to live under the same roof, or believers and unbelievers to\nbe unequally yoked together, or the children of the devil and the\nchildren of God to be intermingled in the same families, firms, and\nsocieties. When men come to appear before their Judge, the record\nis: \"He shall separate them one from another, and shall set the good\nas sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.\" In ancient\ntimes the left and right hand of a judge meant much. To be placed on\nthe right hand signified acceptance, acquittal; on the left hand,\ncondemnation, rejection. And He shall say to them on His right hand:\n\"Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you\nfrom the foundation of the world.\" And, addressing Himself to the\nother, there break from the lips of the Judge the dark, desolating\nwords: \"Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared\nfor the devil and his angels.\" One shudders to speak them, but here\nare the words from the lips of the almighty Judge Himself. Who can\nalter them? On the one side is an inheritance, a realm of divine\nblessedness, a kingdom which knows no evil, a life which knows no\ndeath. On the other side gapes a lake of unquenchable fire, never,\nindeed, meant or made for men. Punishments are there, and tears\nthat ever fall, and flames that ever burn, and miseries that never\nexhaust. Exactly what it is I cannot tell, and wish that none may\nascertain. I can only rehearse the expressions of God's Word upon\nthe subject,--\"blackness of darkness, worm that dieth not, weeping\nand gnashing of teeth\"; and no representation is more awful than the\none employed in the text, \"a lake of fire,\" seething, sweltering,\nweltering fire, that shall never be quenched, everlasting burning.\n\nAnd why, brethren, bring before you these solemn truths? Is it\nto torment you before the time? No, indeed, but as He Himself in\nto-day's Gospel declares, \"that ye may be accounted worthy to escape\nall these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the\nSon of Man,\" that you be sincere believers and worshipers here on\nearth, diligent in good works, and on that day be rated among those\nwho shall inherit their Father's kingdom, and to that end:\n\n    King of Majesty, tremendous,\n    Who dost free salvation send us,\n    Fount of pity, then befriend us,\n    With the favored sheep, O place us!\n    Nor amid the goats abase us,\n    To Thine own right hand upraise us!\n\n    Amen.\n\n\n\n\nTHIRD SUNDAY IN ADVENT.\n\n     They are the messengers of the churches.--_2 Cor. 8, 23._\n\n\nSt. Paul the Apostle was laboring in Macedonia. He had there learned\nthat through the famine which then prevailed the pious converts in\nJudea were in pecuniary straits. He had applied for aid in their\nbehalf to the brethren in Macedonia, and they, considering their\npoverty, had responded in the most liberal manner to his appeal.\nHe informs the church of Corinth of this large benevolence, and\nstates his conviction that the Corinthian believers, who were so\nmuch richer than those of Macedonia, would not allow themselves\nto be outdone in the extent of their bounty. Not satisfied with\nhaving informed them by letter, he also sends to them Titus and\nother Christian ministers to explain to them fully the wants of\ntheir suffering brethren and to raise the necessary supplies. Now,\nit appeared requisite for the information of those who were not\nsufficiently acquainted with the men sent that they should carry\nwith them some introduction, some credentials. St. Paul, therefore,\naccredits them in the words of the text: \"Whether any do inquire of\nTitus or of our brethren, they are the messengers of the churches\nand the glory of Christ.\"\n\nIt is not my intention, on the present occasion, to dwell upon\nthe circumstances to which our text most immediately refers. My\nobject is to impress upon your minds the solemn character of the\nministerial office as explained by the expression: \"messengers of\nthe churches.\" The epistle of this Sunday suggests this, and the\nfact that it is the ----th anniversary of my ministry among you\nlends it a personal coloring. Two chief items commend our thoughts:\n_I. The office of Christ's ministers_, _II. the duty of Christ's\npeople,--what is it?_\n\nThe office of Christ's ministers,--what is it? Announces Paul in\nthe text: \"They are the messengers of the churches.\" We all know\nthe office of a messenger. It is to bear a message from one person\nto another person. This figure is frequently made use of in the\nBible to illustrate the intercourse between God and man. Thus it is\nemployed in reference to the Lord Himself. From all eternity He had\nbeen in the bosom of the Father, and when the fullness of time was\ncome, He appeared in the form of a man, to make known, to declare,\nthe message of the Father. That message was the unfolding of the\neverlasting covenant whereby God might be just and yet pardon and\nsave the sinner. Hence, the Prophet Malachi predicts Christ's coming\nunder this very name of Messenger: \"The Lord whom ye seek, shall\nsuddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the Covenant,\nwhom ye delight in.\" Our blessed Lord, accordingly, was a messenger.\n\nThe angels, also, have often been employed to bring messages\nfrom God to man. They, likewise, are spoken of under this title.\nThe Greek word which we translate \"angel\" means \"messenger.\" The\nvision which Jacob saw at Bethel, the angels of God ascending and\ndescending upon the ladder, aptly represents the services of those\nheavenly beings who are continually descending and ascending with\ntidings respecting the business which is being transacted between\nheaven and earth. Hence, the angel, or messenger, who appeared to\nZacharias and told the purpose of his visit from the courts above:\n\"I am Gabriel,\" said he, \"that stand in the presence of God, and am\nsent to speak unto thee and to show thee these glad tidings.\"\n\nBut, besides the Lord Jesus and the angels, it has pleased God in\nHis mercy and condescension to make use of _men_ as His messengers\nto the human race, and so they are described in the Word of God.\nWe read: \"Thus spake Haggai, the Lord's messenger,\" and St. Paul,\nin writing to the Philippians, respecting their minister, says: \"I\nsupposed it necessary to send unto you Epaphroditus, my brother and\ncompanion in labor, but your messenger.\"\n\nBut, alas, through the corruption of our common nature, everything\nhuman is liable to be perverted. There are many who profess to\nbe the Lord's messengers, who are not such. It is, accordingly,\nintimated in the Scripture, for the warning of Lord's people,\nthat there are two classes of messengers, the evil and the good.\nIn the history and prophecies of the Old Testament we read of\nfalse prophets who were not sent, and yet they ran and taught the\npeople perverse doctrines and led many away from the true service\nof the living God. In the days of Israel in the wilderness there\nwere Korah, Dathan and Abiram, who, contrary to the spirit of God,\ntaught the people to rebel against Moses and Aaron. The Prophet\nJeremiah speaks of a very busy set of false prophets who did not\nstand in the Lord's counsel and misled His people. And in the New\nTestament they are not missing,--there were the Pharisees, Judas,\nHymenaeus, and Alexander. St. Paul bitterly complains about some\nwho, to gain their own selfish purposes, pretended to be apostles,\nbut who were not. Our Lord admonishes that, at all times of the\nChristian dispensation, we may expect false prophets wearing the\nclothing of sheep. Now, how are we to distinguish between the real\nand pretended messengers of Christ? The Lord Himself has told us:\n\"By their fruits ye shall know them.\" If, therefore, a minister does\nnot bring forth the proper fruits, say what he will to the contrary,\nhe is not accredited by Christ,--he is not the Lord's messenger.\nOne chief point by which we may judge is the \"fruits of the lips.\"\nWhat message does he deliver? Is it the Lord's message, or is it\nsome conceit of his own? The popish priest, who preaches salvation\nby works, the intercession of the Virgin, the lying delusion of\npurgatory, delivers not the Lord's message. The Unitarian minister,\nwho talks of the virtues of humanity, who denies the Trinity, the\natonement of the Redeemer, the converting and sanctifying operations\nof the Holy Spirit, he, too, certainly does not deliver the Lord's\nmessage. And to come nearer to ourselves, he who professes to be a\nLutheran minister, and who yet denies the doctrine of Justification\nby Faith only, who does not preach the regenerating power of the\nHoly Sacrament of Baptism, and the real presence of Christ's body\nand blood in the Lord's Supper, he, likewise, whatever may be his\nprofession to the contrary, does not deliver the Lord's message.\n\nWhat is the Lord's message? The voice said: \"Cry,\" and the faithful\nmessenger said: \"What shall I cry?\" \"All flesh is grass. The grass\nwithereth, the flower fadeth, but the Word of our God shall stand\nforever.\" \"The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and\nhe that hath _my Word_, let him speak my Word faithfully.\"\n\n\"Preach the Word,\" was St. Paul's advice to Timothy. \"Preach the\nWord\"; \"be instant\" with that word \"in season and out of season\";\nin the pulpit and out of the pulpit; in the schoolroom and on the\nplatform; in the sick chamber and in the abodes of health; in the\nhighways and in the byways. Only one-half of a minister's duty is\ndone when the services of the sanctuary are over, and the marriages,\nfunerals, and baptisms are performed. \"The minister,\" one has\nremarked, \"is a physician. He has a vast field before him. He has\nto study a variety of constitutions. He has to furnish himself with\nthe knowledge of the whole system of remedies. He is to be a man of\nskill and expediency. If one thing fails, he must know how to apply\nanother. He must be able to speak a word in season, to deliver the\nLord's message to the saint and to the sinner, to the heavy-laden\nand to the presumptuous, to the contrite and to the inquirer,--to\nall, in short, that come.\" \"For the priest's lips,\" says Malachi,\n\"should keep knowledge, and they should seek the Law at his mouth.\"\nFor this reason, he will unceasingly be on the lookout for tidings.\nHe will not, indeed, originate new things. He will not speak\nanything which comes into his own head, but he will diligently study\nwhat the Word of the Lord says, and that will he, no matter who may\nbe present in the congregation, boldly and unreservedly deliver.\nHe will deliver the whole counsel of God. He will be zealous for\nthe truth, and neither teach nor tolerate any manner or degree of\nerror; but, above all, he will preach, as the most important part\nof his message, Christ Jesus. Other preaching may inform the head\nand please the ear, but it is the setting forth of Christ in all His\nwillingness to pardon, Christ in all His mightiness to save, which\nalone can storm the outworks and force the citadel of the heart.\nIt is not the flowery language and the rounded period, embellished\nwith sparkling figures and brilliant metaphors, that will of itself\nwin souls to the Lord. No, it is the discriminating, earnest, and\naffectionate preaching of Christ, whether in the polished language\nof the scholar or in the ruder accents of a less accomplished\nzeal,--it is this preaching alone which is worthy of the name.\nThe minister of Christ has a much more important matter in hand\nthan some imagine. As a faithful messenger, he is to deliver, not\ninformation about political issues, lectures on morals, literature,\nand topics of the day, but he is to give hearers a full exhibition\nof Christ as He is revealed in the Bible and ought to be imprinted\non every human heart,--the sinner's Hope, the sinner's Refuge,\nthe sinner's Surety and Substitute, the sinner's High Priest and\nAdvocate, the sinner's All and in all.\n\nThis, dear members and hearers, is the message. And oh, what a\nblessing such a message is! How beautiful upon the mountains are the\nfeet of him that bringeth these good tidings; that publisheth peace;\nthat bringeth these good tidings of good; that publisheth salvation.\nAs refreshing rain upon the dry, parched soil, so is such a faithful\nmessage to them that hear him.\n\nAnd this is the character which he who now addresses you is anxious\nto sustain, as minister of this congregation. For ---- years have\nI preached this message of redemption among you. Most graciously\nhave you received it at my lips, which leads me to thank God and\ntake courage, asking for the Spirit's influence to make that message\neffectual. This, then, is the duty of Christ's ministers.\n\nWhat, to come to the next consideration, is the duty of Christ's\npeople?\n\nIf it is the duty of Christ's ministers to declare His message, it\nis equally the duty of Christ's people to receive that message. Now,\nit is well to note that, according to God's Word, our message is\ntwofold. It is Law, and it is Gospel. Both we are to proclaim,--the\nLaw, which demands, threatens, and condemns in its sharpness\nand terror, and shows us our sin and the wrath of God; and the\nGospel, which shows us our Savior and the grace of God, and offers\nforgiveness, life, and salvation in its sweetness and comfort. Can\nyou bear to be thus slain by the Law? Can you bear to speak with\nthe lesson of this Sunday--the ministry of John the Baptist, the\nman girt about with a leathern girdle, expressing himself in the\nlanguage of bold reproof, and declaring that \"even now the ax\nis laid unto the root of the trees,\" and that \"every tree which\nbringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire\"?\nCan you bear to be told that, virtuous as many of you may be, you\nmust seek salvation as sinners? Can you bear to be told that, if any\nman will be Christ's disciple, he must deny himself daily, and take\nup his cross, and follow his Lord wherever He may lead? Can you bear\nto have it forced upon you: \"Be not conformed to this world\"?\n\nThese things belong to the message, and we would not be ministers of\nthe Gospel of Christ without telling you them. And remember, too,\nthat you must receive them not with your ears only, but with your\nhearts. Believe me, it is not enough to come hither and to attend\nthese messages, and as you quit the sanctuary to say you are pleased\nwith the sermons you hear. Highly as we, that are ministers, value\nyour kind regard and affectionate esteem, we miss our object if that\nis all we accomplish. No, beloved, we seek not your praise, but you.\nWe want your eye to pass on from the servant to his Master, from the\nmessenger to Him that sent Him. Like John, we are but His voice, the\nvoice of one that crieth amid this wilderness and waste. He that\ncometh is Christ. We are but the tube, or trumpet, through which He\nspeaks. Forget thus the messenger, shut your eyes upon the preacher,\nand think of the Savior. Hear His voice, let that go to your heart.\n\nOne more duty,--assist the messenger. Various are the means and\nchannels in which that may be done. We have in our midst a willing\nband of Sunday-school teachers; what are they doing but helping to\nbring the message to the hearts of our youth? We have those who are\nnot ashamed or afraid to invite others to come and hear the message\nspoken in public, those who encourage some to go and hear it in\nprivate, in catechetical instruction. Then, too, are our church\nsocieties laboring usefully in the Lord. Many are the means and ways\nin which these messengers may be assisted in the performance of\ntheir duty, and to so assist in the duty of all. My dear members,\nmay God continue to bless, as He has visibly and bountifully\nblessed, these past years, His message and His messengers and those\nthat hear it! The Lord hear and answer this our petition for our\nGreat Redeemer's sake! Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFOURTH SUNDAY IN ADVENT.\n\n     The Dayspring from on high hath visited us.--_Luke 1, 78._\n\n\nIn directing our attention to this text, we would regard, _I. by\nwhom the words were spoken_, and _II. of whom they were spoken_. At\nthe time of our Savior's birth the spiritual conditions in the land\nof Israel were distressingly sad; religious life had become very\ndegenerate and corrupt; all manner of sects, like the Pharisees and\nSadducees, with their stiff and ossified formalism, ceremonialism,\nmaterialism, had caused a dark eclipse to come over the once living\nfaith of God's chosen people. Things were droughty and dead. But no\nperiod is ever so desperate, the Church of God never so forlorn and\nmiserable as not to have in it some true children of faith, yea,\nwhen things are at the worst, divine Goodness is sure to interfere\nto bring about a change for the better; and so it was in these\ndesolate days of Judaism. Residing in the hill country of Judea\nwas an aged couple; they had lived long together without being\nblessed with offspring. This, with the Jews, was not only a defect\nin matrimonial happiness, but a positive reproach. The name of\nthis pair was Zacharias and Elizabeth. Zacharias was a priest, and\nElizabeth was of the daughters of Aaron, and the testimony given of\ntheir character in Holy Scripture is that they were both righteous\nbefore God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the\nLord blameless--a devout and honorable pair. One day, so runs the\nstory in the beginning verses of the Gospel of St. Luke, while he\nwas engaged in his ministry, offering incense in the temple, there\nappeared unto Zacharias at the right-hand side of the altar an angel\nof God, and told him that his prayers were answered and that he\nwould receive a son, whom he should call John. Zacharias startled\nat the heavenly apparition, and quite forgetful of the birth of an\nIsaac and Samson and Samuel, and that what happened of old might\nagain happen, since nothing is impossible with God, he skeptically\nasked for a sign as the proof of the angel's message, whereupon the\nangel replied: \"I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God, and\nam sent to speak unto thee and show thee these glad tidings. And,\nbehold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day\nthat these things shall be performed, because thou believest not\nmy words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.\" When Zacharias\ncame out of the temple to the multitude of worshipers that had been\nimpatiently waiting for his return, he beckoned to the people with\nhis hand, and they perceived that he had seen a vision.\n\nNine months had elapsed after that miraculous visitation and\nannunciation of the angel, when the details in the paragraph\nimmediately preceding our text came to pass. Elizabeth, having\nreceived the fulfillment of the heavenly message, and a company of\nher neighbors and relatives having gathered for the circumcision of\nthe child, a question of friendly contention arose over the name,\nthe most of them being in favor of calling him after the name of his\nfather, Zacharias. Zacharias, being consulted and asking for a slate\nwhereupon to write his opinion, wrote the name John. By this writing\nhe showed that he consented in the name of the child according to\nthe angel's direction, and it says: \"His mouth was immediately\nopened and his tongue loosed, and he spake and praised God in a\nsong of blessing and joy.\" This song of Zacharias, which is called\nthe \"Benedictus,\" because it begins with the word \"Benedictus\" or\nBlessed, is one of the treasured songs of the Church.\n\nSignificant--as we read that song it is that his own circumstances\nlargely are overlooked or disregarded. Two grand and miraculous\nevents had just happened to him, the birth of a son and the recovery\nof speech. These, it may be supposed, would have primarily employed\nhis mind and called forth his praise and adoration to God; but\nwhilst he does speak a few words of exultation over his son, a\ngreat, more transporting, and august theme fills his breast; he\nthinks in pious rapture of the prophecies that have gone before, the\npromises of God by the mouth of His inspired servants, that He would\nsend a mighty Savior to deliver His people. Now that his own son,\nwho was to be the forerunner of the Lord and messenger, was born,\nhe sees the incarnation of this almighty Deliverer begun; under\nprophetic inspiration he proclaims what first happened six months\nafter: \"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for He hath visited and\nredeemed His people,\" and none among us are less interested in\nthis propitious event than Zacharias was. We have before us the\nsame prophecies that Zacharias had; we have the same need of this\nSavior, and we desire the same blessings from Him which he did. Why,\nthen, should it not be the rapture of our hearts, the topic of our\ntriumphant song, as it was of his? With pious joy let us hail the\nglorious festival that shall be upon us in a few days, and in this\nmay our reflection on our text aid us.\n\n\"The Dayspring from on high hath visited us.\" It is interesting to\nnote how to one whose heart is wrapped up in Christ every object\nbecomes a preacher, a memorial. That beautiful star, last in the\ntrain of night and first in the forehead of morning, sings of Him\nwho is the bright Morning Star. That orb in the skies, shedding\nthe benignant rays over the earth, tells of Him who is the Sun of\nRighteousness with healing in His wings. The bread which I eat\nbecomes to me a symbol of Him who is the Bread of Life; the water\nwhich I drink reminds me of the living water whereof who drinks\nshall never thirst again. In brief, Christ is seen in everything,\nin every object of external nature, and so with the figure employed\nby Zacharias in these words: \"the Dayspring,\" or, as we would\nsay--the dawn of the morning. Beautiful is dawn. The ancient poets\nhave represented it as a lovely maiden rising from the waters of\nthe East (casting aside the gloomy veil of night), and hastening\nforward on the foremost rays of light, to open the gates of day,\nwhilst her rosy fingers scatter abroad the drops of sparkling dew.\nZacharias employs the same illustration only to a subject more\nnoble. He sees Messiah near at hand, breaking on the world just like\nthe approach of dawn. Yes, the vision of His coming is so clear that\nhe says not, \"The Dayspring shall visit us,\" but, \"The Dayspring\nhath visited us.\" Let us spend a few moments in considering, not\nevery, but a few features that connect with this description of our\nLord as the \"Dayspring from on high.\" And here, to begin with, we\nhave a significant thought. \"The Dayspring from on high\" suggests\nHis _origin_. The day-dawn comes from the heaven; it is not of\nman's ordering and making, but of God's; it bears the imprint of\nthe Creator's hand, and for this reason the Bible styles Him \"the\nFather of lights,\" and says: \"Every good and every perfect gift is\nfrom above, and cometh down from the Father of lights.\" So with this\nDayspring, Christ,--He is from on high. His origin and His coming\nare divine. We sing:\n\n    True Son of the Father, He comes from the skies,\n    To be born of a virgin He does not despise.\n\nThis earth is not His home, as it says: \"The Dayspring from on high\nhath visited us.\" He came from elsewhere and He departed again\nelsewhere. From eternity He lay in the bosom of the Father, and\nwhen the fullness of time was come, He descended upon this earth\nand tabernacled among us thirty and three years, and then returned\nto the glory whence He came forth. It was, indeed, a transcendent\nsojourn, a visit that spells everything, that connects with\nsalvation and blessedness. Yes, it was only a visit; He was from\non high. To use the words of the Nicene Creed: Christ is true God,\nbegotten of the Father from eternity, God of God, Light of Light\n(note that expression as in accordance with the figure in the text),\nvery God of very God, begotten, not made; being of one substance\nwith the Father, who for us men and for our salvation, came down\nfrom heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary,\nand was made man. Verily, He was the Dayspring from on high.\n\nAgain, observe _the manner of His coming_,--how like the day-dawn.\nWhat so gentle as the light of morning, rising mutely in the\nbrightening east and pouring the light so softly that never a leaf\nis stirred; noiselessly, peacefully does it make its approach.\nSo when the Savior was born, He came into the world silently and\nunobtrusively. All heaven was moved and followed Him down to the\nthreshold of earth; but few on earth were aware of it. One solitary\nstar pointed to the humble birthplace, and the hymn that sang of it\nwas heard only at night by a few watching shepherds, and His whole\nlife partook of the same character. For which reason we sing in one\nof our favorite hymns:\n\n    As His coming was in peace,\n    Noiseless, full of gentleness,\n    Let the same mind be in me\n    That was ever found in Thee.\n\nHe came like the dawn in its soft and silent approach. Then, also,\nin another manner. Not suddenly, nor all at once. The sun's rising\nis a gradual and progressive thing. First, there is but a faint gray\ntwilight, softening the darkness and heralding what is to come,\nthen a few dim purple streaks spread upon the far eastern horizon,\nfollowed shortly by the golden tips of the great luminary lifting\nthe gates of the morning. So with our divine Dayspring. From all\neternity it was determined that this Dayspring should come. Adam,\ngoing weeping from a paradise lost, and after him Seth and Enoch\nand Noah and Shem and Abraham beheld from afar the early dawn, the\ndim and vague streaks. The types and holy sacrifices offered in the\ntemple after that, the psalms and prophecies given by God's inspired\nservants, gave still nearer and clearer views of what was to come.\nZacharias exults as he sees the tips, as it were, beginning to\nappear. And we, with the whole Christian world, are hastening these\ndays in spirit to see the sun rising over the hills of Judea in\nBethlehem's town. How in its promises and preparations--its gradual\ndevelopment--was the coming of Christ like the day-spring, the\nrising dawn.\n\nNor can we afford to overlook one other feature in the manner of\nChrist's visit as the Dayspring. The sun comes every morning,\nshining for all and singling out none. There is a universality of\nkindness about it. The poorest man and the richest, all classes and\nall things, have the same access to its undivided radiance. How much\nis this like Christ's coming! \"God so loved the world that He gave\nHis only-begotten Son.\" \"Behold,\" was the angelic proclamation on\nChristmas night, \"I bring you glad tidings of great joy which shall\nbe to _all_ people.\" The Christmas story enters into the world with\nthe broad universal look of daylight. It is as wide and open to all\nas is this earth. It singles out none, it excludes none, it wishes\nto bless a whole guilty world with the same impartiality as the sun.\nThe Christmas message is unlimited in its invitation: \"Come hither,\nye faithful, O come, one and all.\" Silently, gradually, universally,\nhath and doth the Dayspring from on high visit us. And why--that is\nthe concluding feature of our contemplation, why has it visited us?\nWhat is its object in doing so?\n\nThe sun is the dispenser of the world's light and warmth and\nfruitfulness. Without the day-dawn everything would be chilliness,\ndarkness, desolation, and death. Let the sun arise, shoot forth his\ncheering and enlivening rays,--the dormant germs start up, the buds\nswell, the birds sing, and man goes forth to ply the occupation\nof his hands. Christ is the same to the human race. He rose above\nthe darkness of Judaism and over the night of heathenism. He\ndeclared: \"I am the Light of the world.\" \"When once Thou visitest\nthe heart, the truth begins to shine.\" New life, new energy, new\nunderstanding takes hold upon the dormant and dead soul, and the\nfruits of righteousness spring up. To quote the text and language of\nZacharias: \"To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the\nshadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.\" There is\nnot the least exaggeration about it; wherever Christ is preached,\nthe darkness flees as night flies before the sun, the clouds of\nignorance and superstition pass away. Pardon of sin, purity of\nmorals, comfort in affliction, triumph in death,--these are a\nportion of what follows. Do these things not constitute the light of\nlife of man? What else does?\n\nIs, to conclude, Christ such a light to you? Would you permit this\nseason to pass without diligently inquiring whether \"the Dayspring\nfrom on high\" has visited your souls? Do you rejoice at His coming\nwith holy joy? Invigorating, inspiring is the sight of a morning\ndawn; are you so welcoming again the Dayspring from on high about\nto send its healing beams, its cheering, holy splendor upon our\nworld? Open your hearts to receive and to realize the significance\nand blessedness of this \"Dayspring from on high, which by the tender\nmercy of our God hath visited us.\" Amen.\n\n\n\n\nCHRISTMAS.\n\n     Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable Gift.--_2 Cor. 9, 15._\n\n    Joy to the world,--the Lord is come,\n    Let earth receive her King,\n    Let every heart prepare Him room,\n    And heaven and nature sing.\n\n\nWith these words of exultation would I greet you on this festival\nmorn. Joy to the world, the Lord is come; the King, Messiah, after\nweeks of preparation, is making His triumphal entry into the\nhabitation of men. Indeed, the long expected guest, with whom our\nthoughts, songs, and services in the past season of Advent were\noccupied, has at length arrived. How shall we receive Him? When He\nfirst came, nineteen hundred and ---- years ago, in Bethlehem's\ntown, there was a stir and commotion. Wise men suspended their\nstudies and speculations and followed the sign in the firmament\nwhich conducted them to the place where the young Child lay; an\nangel from heaven was sent as a herald to proclaim the glad tidings\nof great joy, while the multitude of the heavenly host eagerly\ndescended to congratulate men and made the celestial heights resound\nwith their seraphic acclamation: \"Glory to God in the highest, and\non earth peace, good will toward men.\" And, taking up that chant:\n\"Our heart from very joy doth leap, our lips no more can silence\nkeep.\" Dull like the ground he walks upon must be the man who,\namongst the holy demonstration that is upon the social world, the\ncheerful merrymaking that is in earth's homes, the radiations of\nfestivities and greetings of cordiality and good will, will not feel\na pulsation of that cheer and brightness in his own heart. How this\nfact of our Christian faith, our Savior's birth, God's assumption of\nmutual flesh, the coming of the Most High to tabernacle among men,\nhas been more than any other an occasion of universal rejoicing,\nthe center of earth's noblest and holiest joy in family and in\nthe sanctuary! Is it not fitting that it should be so? Merry\nChristmas, happy Christmas, blessed Christmas, we bid thee welcome!\nWe rejoice that in the rounds of the calendar it has come again.\nAnd how shall we observe it? How receive its spiritual and highest\nblessedness unto ourselves? By lighting up a few candles on our\ntrees? Decorating our windows and walls with some sprigs of garlands\nand green? By attending a few services during which we are present\nin body, but largely absent in spirit? The quiet contemplation,\nthe sinking of our minds into the great mystery of godliness: God\nmanifested in the flesh, the realization as it comes from pious\nmeditation of what it all means to us and to all mankind, and that\nwhen the external glamor and motion shall have passed over, it shall\nhave left us benefited and blessed in soul, beloved, is not this,\nafter all, for us Christians, the true significance of this holiday\ntime? And it is in harmony with this, that we would bring to our\nminds the words of the text. Let us devoutly, with concentrated and\nholy thoughts, regard God's gift, for thus reads the text: \"Thanks\nbe unto God for His unspeakable Gift.\"\n\n     I. _Which is this gift?_ II. _Note what is said about it._ III.\n     _Our conduct respecting it._\n\nWhich is it? God, my beloved hearers, is always good. His very name,\nGod, which means good, bespeaks that. Continually is He bestowing\ngifts and favors upon us. \"His constant mercies,\" declares the\npsalmist, \"are new to us every morning.\" What is there which we\npossess that He has not given us?--clothing and shoes, meat and\ndrink, house and home, wife and children, fields, cattle, and all my\ngoods. But there is one gift that excels and outstrips them all.\n\nOur children, in the course of the year, are being constantly\nprovided with all that they need to support their bodies and lives,\narticles of food and dress and mind, and yet the best donations we\nafford them, those which cause their youthful hearts to skip as the\nlambs, are invariably given in the days of Christmas festivity. So\nwith the beneficent Parent on high,--always good and gracious, yet\nHis foremost and most excellent gift He bestows at this time. And\nwhich is it? Yonder, in Bethlehem's manger, it lies. Insignificant\nenough as you gaze upon it with outward eyes: how tiny,\nunpretentious, judged by the standard of men; what lowly quarters,\nwhat unfavorable circumstances, what socially unassuming people;\nthat woman watching over the Child, those shepherds hastening\nthither from their humble toil,--certainly nothing there to impress\none. And this is Heaven's foremost and precious gift, the gift of\nall gifts. Is that the best that God can give us? Yes.\n\nFor various reasons. In determining the value of earthly donations,\ndifferent considerations weigh and prevail. For once, it is the\nsentiment that prompted that gift; it frequently is not so much\nthe mercantile value of the gift as it is the considerations, the\nspirit, the sentiment, and affection that go along with it; and\nthere, after all, rests its real power and beauty. Regard God's\nChristmas gift. The Apostle calls it \"unspeakable\"; he declares that\nit towers in its value and majesty beyond the reach of language\nand beyond the power of human expression. 'Tis truly so. What\nsentiment prompted it? \"God so _loved_ the world that He gave His\nonly-begotten Son.\" There we have the motive, His love. And why\ndid He love man? Because he was so lovable? Nay, man had rebelled\nagainst Him, had raised himself up in disobedience against Him and\nHis holy commandments and was at enmity with Him, and still God\nloved him, loved the child that had forsaken and sinned against\nHim, and so loved him that He spared not His dearest and His best,\nbut delivered Him up for us all. Oh! the greatness of that charity,\nthat love divine, all love excelling, love that passed all knowledge\nand understanding and expression too,--that supplied the Gift\nunspeakable, says the Apostle.\n\nAgain, when we are the recipients of gifts, we examine them, we give\nthem careful scrutiny, we desire to know: What is that which we have\nreceived? Apply that to God's Christmas gift. What is it? He tells\nus: \"Unto you is born this day a Savior, which is Christ, the Lord.\"\nNot a star, not a world, not any created thing, but Christ, the Lord.\n\n    Veiled in flesh the Godhead see,\n    Hail th' incarnate Deity.\n    Pleased as man with man to dwell,\n    Jesus, our Emmanuel.\n\nO the mystery, the impenetrable mystery of the gift! As you sit\ndown and meditate upon it, as you reflect and gaze upon that divine\nChild, reason is confounded, thought is pushed to confusion, faith\nstands in profound contemplation on the brink of this sea, too\ndeep for human intelligence to fathom, too broad for man's mind to\nencircle, and yet, let us not stagger at the wonderful fact. We\nare standing to-day, my beloved, in the presence of the greatest\nmiracle of time. We behold here no ordinary child. It's Deity in\nhumanity, Divinity in infancy. In this little body is bound up\nGod's immensity, in this Babe's weakness is enclosed heaven's\nalmightiness. This child resting at His mother's breast (who can\ngrasp it?) is the Lord of glory, the worshipful Creator of the\nuniverse, God blest forevermore.\n\nSuch is the nature of the gift--\"unspeakable,\" as the Apostle\ndeclares.\n\nAgain, we consider the purpose of the gift. There are every variety\nand quality of gifts bestowed at this season: ornamental ones,\nserving the purpose of decoration and embellishment, beautiful for\nthe eye to behold; useful ones, administering to the necessity\nand the comforts of their recipients. How about God's Christmas\ngift? Ah! for human lips to speak out its value. Again we lisp,\n\"Unspeakable.\" What illustrations might I employ? You lift up your\neyes and encounter the bright rays of the sun; what would this world\nbe without the light and warmth that comes from its radiant face?\nYou feel the drops of rain falling in gentle showers; what would the\nsoil be without these rivulets and streams that fructify its acres?\nYet all such illustrations are too improper to express what this\nworld would spiritually be without Christ. Said the angel: \"Unto\nyou is born this day, in the city of David, a Savior.\" In that word\nyou have the key of Christmas and the purpose of God's Christmas\ngift. \"A Savior\"--what a chapter that opens before us! Back to\nthe days of Paradise does it conduct us, when man was dwelling in\ninnocence, fell and falling, carrying himself and all his posterity\nto universal and eternal destruction. Sin, that most terrible of all\nevils upon the soul, thorns and thistles upon the ground, misery and\nsickness and death upon the body, the whole creation groaning and\ntravailing in pain,--this was the sorry consequence, and this is\nthe sad, sad story as it is read in the history of every man's life\nand of the world at large. And whence was deliverance to come? From\nman? Helpless, powerless, hopeless creature, how could he cancel\nthe curse that rested upon soul and body and ailing earth? A more\npowerful one held him at his mercy; and what could he do to pluck\nout the sting of death beneath whose dominion he had completely\nfallen? A more dismal condition could never exist. What man needed\nwas a Savior, a Deliverer mightier than the forces that held him\nbound, and such a one God had promised man. Adam and Eve, leaving\nParadise, were consoled by the prediction of the Seed of the Woman\nthat should bruise the head of the serpent--the Savior, Abraham,\nSeth, Enoch, Noah, Isaac, and Jacob looked forward to that Deliverer\nand were sustained by the hope: Ah, that the Savior soon would\ncome to break our bondage and lead us home! Succeeding saints and\nprophets took up the pleading strain, and sang and prophesied of His\nadvent, and finally, when the fullness of time was come, He arrived;\nand what did He bring?\n\nThe supply of man's foremost and chief requisite--what is that?\nWealth, affluence of estate? Support of body? Not so. This is not\nman's foremost need. Education of mind, culture of intellect?\nNeither that. What is it? Deliverance from sin, death, and the power\nof the devil, and the salvation of man's immortal soul; for what is\na man profited though he should gain the whole world, and possess\nall treasures and mines of knowledge, and possess not and know not\nhow to save his soul? Beloved, when you reflect what this world\nwould be without this divine Christmas gift, then we might well ask,\nWould life be worth living without Him? It would, indeed, be a dark\nchapter, a barren and gloomy prison cell. And so, having regarded\nthese various particulars, we almost instinctively give voice to\nthe Apostle's declaration: \"Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable\ngift.\" That brings us to the concluding part of our consideration.\n\nA donation so transcendent calls for some corresponding attitude.\nWhat would we think of a child accepting its holiday gifts without\nshowing appreciation, and speaking not a word of acknowledging\nthanks? Nothing is more rude than ingratitude. That spoils it\nall. Look at the interest the heavenly inhabitants took in that\nunspeakable gift. They came down with gracious messages concerning\nit. They were all present and sang their highest songs when the\nSavior was born. Their conduct was just such as we may expect from\nbeings so pure, so intelligent, and yet it was not to them, nor for\nthem. \"Unto us a Child is born, unto us this Son is given.\" It is\nfor us and for our salvation that the Lord of glory came and was\nmade man. Here is a thought that ought to stir us to a higher pitch\nof emotion and gratitude. People have capacities to appreciate\nfavors, to acknowledge good, to feel the worth of help when great\nand pressing need is upon them; why not over against this amazing\ngoodness of God? Oh! that any human heart should be found weighted\ndown by such leaden dullness that it should fail in its adoring\nthankfulness to God for His unspeakable gift. Far better such had\nnever been born!\n\nAnd thankfulness and rejoicing, if genuine, is never selfish.\nObserve our children at this time. When they have received their\ngifts, they do not selfishly hug them to themselves, place them in a\ncorner, and strive to keep others from seeing them; they run about\ndisplaying what kindness has bestowed, shout and make commotion, nor\nfeel happier than when others--their playmates and companions--come\nto share in their merriment. It is not different with God's\nChristmas gift; it is designed to be the occasion of universal\njoy. \"I bring you glad tidings of great joy, which shall be to all\npeople.\" \"God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son.\"\n\nA certain ancient writer remarks: \"Were some explorer to discover\nthe real elixir of life by which life and health and youth might\nbe made perpetual, with what shouts of triumph and songs of joy\nwould the discovery be heralded forth!\" Friend would rush to bear\nthe glad tidings to friend, over hill and mountain; across valley\nand plain would the joyful tidings roll, until there were no\nsolitary inhabitant, be his dwelling ever so remote or concealed,\nbut would have found it out. Beloved, here is the true elixir of\nlife, in Bethlehem's manger; there is the fountain of perpetual\nhealth and youth. Let the glorious truth, then, receive universal\nproclamation; let the tawny African in his dark jungle, the Eskimo\nin his icy, squalid hut, the dweller in the most distant isle, and\nthe man, woman, and child that lives with you and next to you,--let\none and all hear the glad news that God's unspeakable gift has come\nto earth. Yes, let this blessed truth spread till every sinful and\nsorrowing brother may rejoice with us, and that from earth and sky\nmay echo forth in grateful refrain: \"Thanks be unto God for His\nunspeakable Gift,\" now on these present Christmas festivals, and\nthen when these earthly celebrations will have passed over into\nthe celebration of heaven, we shall see and adore Him who was once\na babe in Bethlehem, but now sitteth upon the throne, God blessed\nforevermore. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nLAST SUNDAY IN THE YEAR.\n\n     We all do fade as a leaf.--_Isaiah 64, 6._\n\n\nThere is perhaps no truth which is more generally admitted and which\nis more frequently referred to than that life is short and time is\nfleeting, that--\"man born of a woman,\" as Job expresses it, \"is of\nfew days and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower and is\ncut down.\" Every tolling knell that resounds its muffled voice from\nthe church's spire, every painful sickness that casts us upon a\nweary and dreary couch, every change of season in nature's annual\nround and tearing off one leaf after the other from the calendar,\nuntil the present date, the 31st day of its last messenger, bids us\ndiscard the whole,--all these are just so many solemn and constant\nmonitors reminding us of the brevity, the rapidity of time's flight.\nAnd yet, with all these numerous and unmistakable evidences of the\ntransitoriness of all earthly things, how little of an abiding\nimpression they produce! Who of us, in thoughtful reflection,\ndoes not admit the necessity of asking in this matter for divine\ninstruction and of preparing ourselves for the time when time shall\nbe no more, and when we shall be called upon to give account of how\nwe have used our earthly days, and to leave this world and all its\nconcerns? It is to this that I would invite your thoughts on this\nday which marks the concluding day of another chapter of life's\ncalendar. May God's Holy Spirit teach us to number our days, that\nwe may apply our hearts to wisdom, as I endeavor to explain and\napply the words of our text.\n\nHuman life, man's natural existence, is most aptly represented by\nthe figure before employed, the fading of a leaf. More than two\nthousand years ago did the inspired penman, the Prophet Isaiah,\nwrite these lines, and yet its truth is preached to us with\nunfailing regularity and solemnity in every recurring autumn. As we\ngo out into the woods towards the close of each successive summer,\nwe observe a gradual change in the appearance of the trees. We see\nthe leaves, first one and then another, and then by degrees all\nof them alike, changing their green for a brown and yellow hue,\nat length, till, shriveling at the edges and loosening their hold\nto their native boughs, the wet and the cold and the wind cause\nthem to fall to the ground with a sound so soft that it is almost\nsilence and there, by the action of the elements, they soon decay\nand mingle with the earth, out of which they were first produced.\nJust so, my brethren, it is with ourselves. As soon as we begin to\nlive, we begin to die. \"Our hearts like muffled drums are beating\nfuneral marches to the grave.\" If we succeed in adhering to the tree\nof life during the spring and summer of man's allotted years, autumn\nand winter of old age will certainly overtake us, and we shall sink\naway as surely and as silently as the descending leaves in fall, our\nspirits returning to God, who gave them, and our bodies mingling\nwith the dust from which they were taken. We look over the annals of\nthe world,--where are those mighty conquerors, a Hannibal, a C\u00e6sar,\nan Alexander, a Napoleon, who once made whole nations tremble and\nkingdoms fall? Where are those brilliant statesmen, a Bismarck, a\nWebster, a Calhoun, and a Clay, upon whose lips admiring senates\nhung with wonder and delight? Where are the poets, the historians,\nthe warriors, the divines, who, each in his day and generation, were\nthe theme of general conversation, and were lauded with the tribute\nof a nation's praise? \"Like the baseless fabric of a vision,\"--gone.\nIt is related of Xerxes, the powerful King of Persia, that when\nabout to cross from Asia over to conquer Greece, he ordered a review\nto be made of all his forces on the shores of the Hellespont. A\nmagnificent throne was erected upon a lofty peak. Seated on this\npinnacle of gold, he gazed upon the unnumbered millions below him\non ship and shore. No sight could have been more dazzling or more\naugust. The hillsides were white with tents, the sea with ships.\nGay banners floating in the sun, glittering with gold and silver,\nweakened the eye by their brightness and beauty; whatever unbounded\nwealth and intense love of display could produce or suggest was\nthere, and in the midst of such transcendent glory and deepest\nhomage, where multitudinous nobles were urging to kiss the hem of\nhis garment and worshiped him as a god, the great king, Xerxes,\nwept. Amazed at such an act, expressive of feelings so contrary to\nthose in which they were indulging, they reverently inquired the\ncause of his tears. \"Alas,\" said he, \"of all this vast multitude not\none will be left upon the earth a hundred years hence.\" That was\nsaid more than two thousand years ago. How many generations have\nfollowed that, over which he wept and uttered this sad truth! We\noccupy their places now for a few days, and then we shall lie beside\nthem. Of the congregation that is looking up into my face this\nmorning, twenty, thirty, fifty years, where shall it be? The church\nbell will be rung out, I hope, from its steeple, but it shall be\nrung by other hands, and for other worshipers. This pulpit will be\nfilled by another preacher and the pews by other listeners. As you\nwould pass in your way home from its door, in your family and social\ncircles, how you would miss the old and once familiar forms, yea,\nperhaps our very homes will be occupied by strangers. As the prophet\nsays: \"We all do fade as a leaf.\"\n\nLest our subject should be rendered useless by being too general,\nI will proceed, without further delay, to apply our text and this\nby addressing the various classes of persons among you, so that\nall, by the baptism of the Holy Ghost, may derive some spiritual\nbenefit. That our text refers not to one class, but to every, is\nevident from the word \"all,\"--\"We all do fade as a leaf.\" It applies\nitself, then, first to the young. Not only in autumn and winter,\nbut even in the spring and early months of the year, leaves are\nseen to fall. And similarly, as the inscriptions upon the many\ntombstones in our last resting-places will testify, so many of\nthe human family disappear in infancy and youth. It is a mournful\nsight to see them thus carried off in the vigor and tenderness of\nopening bloom, but it's one that ought to convey solemn teaching\nto those of youthful years. And what teaching? Wise King Solomon\nhas expressed it in these words: \"Remember thy Creator in the days\nof thy youth.\" And why? Because it is the most favorable time,\nthe most God-honoring time, the most profitable. At no other time\nis the soul so capable of deep and abiding impressions, are the\naffections more easily touched and moved, are we more accessible\nto the influences of emotions and truth. It is preeminently the\nchoosing time, the valley of decision, in which at almost every step\nwe do or leave undone something which has its effect, for good or\nill, upon one's future habits and character and eternity; and you\ncan only be prepared to determine matters that call for decision\nwhen you have made the great decision; you can choose and act safely\nand wisely in all the other departments of life, the social, the\nintellectual, the moral, only when you have taken a decisive stand\nupon the subject of religion. Hence, our Savior urgently entreats\nyoung people: \"Seek ye first,\" first in point of importance and\nfirst in point of years, \"the kingdom of heaven.\" Ah, my young\nmembers, if the sun does not dispel the mists pretty early in the\nmorning, you may look with reasonable certainty for a foggy day,\nand so if the Sun of Righteousness, Christ Jesus, does not early\nin the day of your lives dispel the mists of unbelief and sin, the\nchances are that it will be more or less gloomy obstruction the rest\nof your lives. You will never be such Christians as you would have\nbeen; there will not be the development of character as if you had\nstarted at the right time, and there will always be a feeling of\nregret in your heart. Note, then, that this is the time to begin\nto serve God; now is the time to put the yoke of Christ upon your\nnecks and to break yourselves in for lives of usefulness. And what\nis more God-honoring? Religion is always an ornament, it decorates\nthe silvery locks and the wrinkled brow, but it looks exquisitely\nattractive and suitable when worn by youth. God accepts the sinner\nat all times, even when he comes with tottering footsteps and with\nstooped back; but is it right to do service to another and make Him\nsuspend His claim as your rightful Lord to satisfy the world and\nthe flesh, His degrading rivals, to sow wild oats in the springtime\nof your years and send Him forth to gather among the stubbles the\ngleanings of life, after the enemy has secured the harvest? Nay, to\nHim belong the first-born of your days, the first-fruits of your\nseason, the price of your love and devotion,--give them. You will\nnever regret it. Incalculable are the benefits of early piety,\nbeneficial for body and business, for character and connections,\nfor mind and morals, for after-life and life after death; for, as\nour text inculcates, your earthly existence hangs but on a slender,\nfrail, and feeble fiber. Do you know of none in your circle of\nacquaintances swept low by the grim reaper whom we call death? And\nwhat assurance have you, my youthful hearers, that you may not be\namong his victims in the succeeding year? Glory not, then, in your\nhealth and strength. Pride yourself not on anything which is so\nfeeble and frail, but seek those solid blessings which are to be\nfound in Christ Jesus, and make true preparation against the time\nwhen you shall go hence and be no more. \"Remember thy Creator,\" thy\nRedeemer, thy Sanctifier, \"in the days of thy youth.\"\n\nAgain, the text addresses itself to the middle-aged. Scarcely a\nsummer passes over our heads but some tempests, lightning, hail,\nrain, and thunder, rage in the sky, and these commotions of the\nelements drive myriads of leaves, although then firmly grown and\nfilled with sap, from their branches to the ground, and there,\nlike those that fall later, they fade away. It is so with man. In\nthe midst of all his hustling industry and matured vigor, when, as\nJob says, his bones are moistened with marrow, he is liable to be\ncarried off by various diseases and casualties. Absalom died before\nhis father. The list of orphans in the Bible is not small, and among\nus those attired in sable garments, because of those whose sun has\ngone down at noon, are not few. A tender leaf, which the first\nstrong wind, the first descending shower loosens in its hold,--that\nis man in the strength of his days. And what does that teach those\nof maturer years? That they presume not on their sturdiness, and\nthat they forget not, amidst the distractions of all manner of\nconnection for what life has been given, and correspondingly rightly\nimprove it. Life has been given us for a high and noble purpose; it\nis not only a time of preparation and of probation for the world\nto come, it is a time of activity, of usefulness in the service\nof God and fellow-man, and \"he most lives who thinks the most,\nfeels the noblest, acts the best.\" There are those who live a mere\nanimal life, whose sublimest principle and purpose is embodied in\nthe motto: \"Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we shall be dead.\"\nAs for God, heaven, and eternity, there is none. There are those\nwho live a mere worldly life; gaining a livelihood and property,\nacquiring a social standing and a position, perhaps a ribbon or a\nmedal,--that's their life's chief object and design. There are those\nwho lead bad lives, diabolical lives, making society miserable and\nfamilies wretched; and there are those who lead good lives, morally\nand socially, providing things honestly in the sight of all men. But\nthere is one class that, according to Scripture, lives a right life,\na life that will bear the sight of the Judge eternal and receive His\nheavenly plaudit: \"Well done, thou good and faithful servant,\" and\nthat is the man and the woman who lives a Christian life, a life\nin Christ Jesus, who, while believing in Him as their only Lord\nand Savior, are seeking to imitate His precepts; who live to His\nglory, with the furtherance of His kingdom constantly in mind; who\nmake everything that they undertake and do conducive to the praise\nand honor of their God; who delight to render their time, talents,\nand means in such a service. Any other kind of a life but that is a\nlife of God's grace neglected, of moments wasted in selfishness, in\nindolence, in sensuality often, in wickedness, and it fails of the\npurpose for which time has been given. Let us be careful, then, how\nwe employ it; never live a week in vain; having something at the\nclose of it for the reviewing eye to fix upon; something for God,\nfor your fellow-creatures, for yourself. Live for Christ, and thus\nbest live while you live, and be best prepared when you are called\nupon to die, for as you live, thus will you die, and thus will you\nbe judged.\n\nThere remains, however, one more class to which our text refers with\ngreat propriety, and that is the aged.\n\nIf the young and middle-aged may fall, the old must; there is no\nremedy or human skill, or physician's antidote against the wrinkled\nbrow, the failing memory, and the stiffening of the joints. \"The\ndays of our years,\" says the Psalmist, \"are threescore years and\nten, and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is\ntheir strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly\naway.\" How soon this may take place, who can declare? What attitude,\nthen, becomes those who have upon them declining years? I know no\nbetter answer than to gaze upon that patriarchal couple in to-day's\nGospel, Simeon and Anna; what a beautiful picture of declining life\nas it is calmed and brightened by the comforts of religion and the\nhope of nearing heaven. How impressive to see them meet in the\ntemple of God, and taking upon their arms the blessed object of\ntheir faith and prayer for all those long rolling years, speaking\nof Him, as it says, unto all them that looked for redemption in\nJerusalem, finally singing their \"Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant\ndepart in peace, for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation.\" \"The hoary\nhead is a crown of glory,\" says Solomon, \"if it be found in the way\nof righteousness.\" Let the aged saints, then, among us use their\nadvancing years to speak, as years' and hearts' experience alone\ncan speak, of Him who is their Salvation and Consolation; let them,\nby the respect due them, cause us to more greatly respect Him whom\nthey have learned to know, and by their lives be an example to the\nyounger generations how to live.\n\nHaving, then, regarded our text: \"We all do fade as a leaf,\" let us\nhave learned, as these years pass away, how to receive the crown,\nincorruptible, and undefiled, and which passeth not away. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nNEW YEAR'S DAY.\n\n     Our Father which art in heaven.--_Matt. 6, 9._\n\n\nDr. Luther, after his inimitable fashion, once remarked: \"The Lord's\nPrayer is the greatest martyr upon earth. It is a pity above all\npity that such a prayer by such a Master should be so terribly\nabused in all the earth. Many pray the Lord's Prayer a thousand\ntimes a year, and though they prayed it a thousand years, yet have\nthey not properly prayed one letter thereof.\"\n\nIt is a sweeping and striking assertion. The truth of his remarks,\nhowever, who would wish to contest? Take, in evidence, the words\nof the text. The opening words of that divine prayer taught by the\nLord Himself are indeed familiar words,--no service but we recite\nthem, no day but a Christian ought to recite them; yet, have we ever\nregarded the deep significance that is contained, the inspiration\nthat is hidden, in them? A little reflection will prove how\nappropriate they are for this day, the beginning of a new year in\ncivil life.\n\n_Our Father_,--that expresses, I. _trust in God_, II. _obedience in\nduty_, III. _submission in affliction_. All these we need for our\nencouragement and spiritual profit to-day.\n\nWhat sacred associations cluster around the word \"father\"! The\nthought of him, _if he was a father indeed_, was inwoven into all\nour youthful plans and early ambitions. We knew no worldly care\nwhen we dwelt beneath his sheltering roof; as we grew in years, we\nincreased also in confidence in him. He was our adviser in doubt,\nour protector in danger, our supporter in perplexity. A true father\nis the best earthly friend while he is alive, and after he is gone,\nthere gathers around his memory a halo of tender remembrance.\nAll that is generous, manly, noble, and wise is to a loving son\ntreasured up in the word \"father.\" But the earthly significance,\nthe human fatherhood, does not exhaust the meaning of this blessed\nname; it is but a mere pattern and shadow of that relationship\nwhich God sustains to His people. He is a \"Father\"; we, then, are\nHis children by nature and adoption, by creation and redemption,\nand, as children, we may go to Him, and with all confidence and\nboldness ask Him as dear children ask their dear father. And such\nconfidence, such trustful looking up in faith and reliance to Him as\nour Father, is a becoming attitude to-day. We stand upon the shores\nof another year, as it lifts itself, veiled in mist, from the great\nocean of the future. Futurity means uncertainty, and uncertainty\nsuggests anxiety. Say not that it is not so. As God created man,\nhe is forecasting in his thoughts. It is as easy and natural for\nus to have regard to what is before us as it is for the waters of\nthe Mississippi to flow towards the Gulf. Nor does God forbid it.\nSays wise King Solomon: \"A wise man deviseth his way.\" He forms his\nplans, he frames his resolutions, he has his ambitions, his object\nin life that he wishes to attain. It is not a sign of sanity or of\nChristianity to walk into the future blindfolded, irresolutely,\nimprovidently. The business man who at this time looks over his\nstock and ledger and strikes a balance of profit and loss, so\nas to make prudent arrangement for the business of the incoming\nyear, the man of family who gazes upon the members seated about\nhis table, and, considering demands and expenditures, weighs his\nincome and ability to make ends meet, or whatever situation you\nmay be in, or relation you may sustain, an intelligent, provident,\nweighing, considering, looking into the future is legitimate, wise,\nproper. But that is one thing; another thing, and not an uncommon\nthing, rather too prevalent, is to look into the future with fear,\ntrembling of heart, and anxiety of mind. \"Oh, how shall we ever get\nthrough; it's been none too rosy in the past, income scant, debts,\nsome yet to pay, children growing up, health not to boast of,\"--what\na dreadful nightmare these considerations are to many people at the\nstart of a new year; how it crushes out all good cheer, happiness,\nthe very thing men are wishing each other!\n\n'Tis foolish, 'tis needless, and godless! A man bending and\nstaggering along the road under the weight of a heavy load met a\npassing wagon; he was invited to get in. He did so, but he still\nkept the load on his back. Foolish man! Yet that's the common\nattitude. God's chariot drives up to us this morning, overtaking\nus on life's way. \"Get in, traveler, I will bear thee along,\" is\nthe invitation. \"Cast all your cares upon me. I will care for you.\"\n\"Thank you, kind Lord, but I prefer to bear the load myself.\" There\nis a Being that has brought us into this world,--Father, we call\nHim. He is a resourceful Father, having all forces and agencies of\nsky, land, and sea, all the operations of men, angels, and beasts at\nHis command; He is a loving Father; He has pleasure in the children\nafter His heart. Silly child, you say, that will start to cry and\nmake a great ado because it has conceived the notion that its\nwealthy father cannot feed and clothe it any longer. Is it not just\nas incongruous, my dear Christian, for you to perplex yourself with\nthoughts of anguish that God cannot provide for you any more? \"He\nthat spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how\nshall He not with Him freely give us all things?\" He should neglect\nHis loving providence, leave and forsake thee this year? O ye of\nlittle faith!\n\nIn one of the books handed to our children at Christmas time is\nthe history of a familiar and beautiful German hymn. Reduced by\nfinancial straits to sell his only means of support, his violin, a\npoor musician took it to the pawnshop of a Jew. As he gave it up, he\nlooked lovingly at it, and tearfully asked the Jew if he might play\none more tune upon it. \"You don't know,\" he said, \"how hard it is\nto part with it. For ten years it has been my companion; if I had\nnothing else, I had it. Of all the sad hearts that have left your\ndoor, there has been none so sad as mine.\" Whereupon, pausing for a\nmoment, he seized the instrument and commenced a tune so exquisitely\nsoft that even the Jew listened, in spite of himself. Then, laying\naside the instrument, he said, \"As God will,\" and rushed from the\nshop, only to be stopped at the door by a stranger, who, having\nlistened, said to him, \"Could you tell me where I could obtain a\ncopy of that song? I would willingly give a florin for it.\" \"I will\ngive it to you without the florin.\" The stranger happened to be the\nSwedish ambassador, and when he heard the poor man's story, his\ntroubles ended then and there. Redeeming the instrument, he called\nhis landlady and his friends, and sang, to his own accompaniment,\nhis own sweet hymn, No. 350 in our hymn-book, of which this is the\nfirst stanza:\n\n    Leave God to order all thy ways,\n    And hope in Him, whate'er betide,\n    Thou'lt find Him, in the evil days,\n    Thine all-sufficient strength and guide.\n    Who trusts in God's unchanging love\n    Builds on a rock that naught can move.\n\nThis is the first reflection that lies in these introductory words,\n\"Our Father.\" It expresses trustful looking up to Him at the\nbeginning of the year. And, _again_, it supplies obedience in duty.\nIt is a part of the father's relation to direct and control, as well\nas provide, for his children. He has a rightful authority over his\nhousehold, the right to tell them what to do and how to do. None\nother with our heavenly Father.\n\nThe new year means new activities, new problems, new duties. With\nthe morrow the tradesman, the mechanic, and the clerk will return\nto the work of his calling, the student to his books, and the\nhousewife will be as busy as ever before. The great machinery of\nsecular life will all clatter and hum in all its complexity and\nparts. And in the church, there will not, as there dare not be, a\nstandstill. Much still remains to be done. How shall we face it? In\nour own strength? \"With might of ours can naught be done, soon were\nour loss effected.\" After our own plans, doing things to suit our\nown selves? Is that the way it is in a well-regulated household?\nThere is one whose law obtains, whose word determines, whose wish\nregulates it all. So ought it be with our life's duties. No matter\nwhat may be the occupation of your head and of your hands, whether\nyou be a physician ministering to the alleviation of human ills, or\na carpenter constructing the earthly home for man to dwell therein,\nour blessed Lord was both, physician and carpenter. Whether life's\nwork finds you busy with the pen, like Matthew, the publican,\nsitting at the receipt of custom, or, like Martha, cumbered and\nconcerned about many things, one reigning principle ought to be\ngoverning it all, as it governed the life of Him who was our example\nin all things, this: \"My work is to do the will of Him that sent\nme.\"\n\nBegin your work with Him, consecrate it to Him, conduct it with Him.\nServe Him in it. There are two ways of doing everything--with God\nand without God. You may go to your work on Monday morning with God\nor without God; you may discharge its thousand and one different\ndetails with God or without God; your fellow-workman and companions\nmay not know the difference, and yet, my dear hearer, it makes all\nthe difference in the world, and a difference even for the world to\ncome, whether you do your work with a glance of the eye upward and a\nspirit that says, \"Our Father.\" Work without God is drudgery, duty\ncold and stern; it lacks inspiration, warmth, joyful energy. It is\ndone because it must. It makes the worker a slave. That is not the\nway God would have us perform it, and it is not the work--neither in\nfamily, nor shop, nor church, that brings grand results. Whenever\nyou feel your service becoming irksome or your duties degenerating,\ndone with little conscientiousness and still less joy, then speak,\n\"Our Father\"; and when you saunter forth knowing that you are\ngoing to perform your Father's business, then the direst and most\nuninteresting things of daily life will acquire a new importance\nin your eyes, and will be done with a spring of elasticity and\ngladsomeness. Let me ask you to try this heavenly specific, and you\nwill find that bending over your toil, with these thoughts, it will\nbe lit up with radiance and significance hitherto inexperienced and\nduty will be merged into delight. This is the second consideration,\nwhen we can truly and intelligently say, \"Our Father,\" life's work\nbecomes transfigured with a new meaning and joy. In such a spirit go\nhence to this year's employments. Do them with God.\n\nOne other phase of human experience remains to be touched upon at\nthis time. The Lord Himself hath said by the mouth of Solomon: \"He\nthat spareth the rod hateth the child,\" and He is too wise a Father\nto think of training His children without discipline. It is by\nsending them trials that He leads them to bethink themselves and to\nreturn when they have been backsliding, develops them in character,\nand prepares them for the discharge of arduous and important duties.\nWhatever we may regard this method of dealing with us, this is His\nmethod, and it will be no different with the incoming year. What\nshape that trial will take, this none can say in advance; it may\nbring sickness to ourselves or to our near and dear ones; pain of\nbody, feverish tossing, restless nights, weary days; it may bring\nreverses in fortune; the position we thought so secure may pass\ninto the hands of another; our income may decrease, trade languish,\naccidents and expenses multiply; it may be that the grim visitor\nwill invade our homes, a casket, little or large, be placed into our\nrooms to remind us that in the midst of life we are in death. God\nalone, who knows the future, knows. And when these ordeals occur, it\nis well to keep before us a few things.\n\nIn the first place, we must recognize that, however strange and\nunwelcome these experiences are, 'tis He who sends them, and gives\nthem just because He deals with us as His children. Discipline is\na privilege that a father reserves for His own children. One does\nnot get himself to correct the faults of all the young people in\nthe neighborhood. You direct your efforts along that line to your\nown, and only because of your affectionate interest in them do you\nvisit them with correction. Even so it is with God, and when we are\nsuffering from His hands, instead of thinking that He has forgotten\nus, we ought to see in the chastisement a new evidence of His\ncontinued regard for us. The trials sent us, my dear hearers, are\nthe tokens of a heavenly Father's affection, and happy art thou if\nin life's salutary discipline you have learned to look up and say,\n\"Thy will be done.\"\n\nThen, knowing from whom it proceeds--to mention the second\nconsideration,--you will be wonderfully sustained. To illustrate,\na story from my holiday reading: A little girl sent on an errand\nhad to cross a wide but shallow stream, but there were firm and\ntried stepping-stones all the way over. \"Oh! I'm afraid,\" said\nthe child to a lady who was passing. \"Why are you afraid, there\nare stones all the way over. See how easily I can cross it.\" Very\ntimidly the little girl began to cross. \"Just one step at a time is\nall you have to take,\" said the kind guide. So one step followed\nanother--the first few were the hardest to take,--and soon she\nwas safe on the other shore, smiling at her fears. \"It is not so\nhard after all,\" she remarked, \"just one step at a time brought\nus over.\" Beloved, when troubles come,--they are sure to, in this\nyear also,--do not look so much at the waters before you, but at\nthe stepping-stones the Father has placed for your feet. Here is a\nstrong, firm stepping-stone that has often sustained me: \"As thy\ndays, so shall thy strength be.\" Here is another: \"The Lord is my\nShepherd, I shall not want.\" Have a few such stepping-stones, select\none in particular for this year. This, perhaps, will do, small, but\nweighty, \"Our Father.\" Amen.\n\n\n\n\nEPIPHANY SUNDAY.\n\n     I am the Light of the world.--_John 8, 12._\n\n\nUnderneath Rome, the ancient capital of the world, and extending for\nmiles and miles between the River Tiber and the Mediterranean Sea,\nare those mysterious passages called the catacombs. How far they go,\nwhither they lead, at what exact point they terminate, no living man\ncan tell. From the examinations of the learned who have explored\nthem for some little distance, at some few points, we know that they\nare long and narrow quarries in the rock; underground roads mined\nout of the soft volcanic tufa, or stone, on both sides of which the\nearly Christians, who would not burn, but insisted on burying their\ndead, would deposit their departed, and where during these fierce\npersecutions they would also assemble for worship. These passages\nare but high enough to walk upright through them; they are so narrow\nin width that you can touch the sides on either hand, as you grope\nalong, and they are unutterably silent and dark. If you strain your\neye forward, you see nothing beyond the few feet which the feeble\ntorch or flickering candle illumines; if you look up, the rock is\nthere; if you gaze to the right or to the left, you see the shallow\nniches, like shelves, one over another, where are strewn the bones\nof the dead, crumbling into dust and ashes; and gazing behind you,\nyou feel a choking sensation at the heart, that if your light should\ngo out, or your guide should forsake you, you would never find your\nway back,--as it is a well-known fact that many too curious in\ntheir researches have disappeared. Such, then, are the catacombs, a\nsubterranean home of death, a place of impenetrable darkness. And,\nmy beloved, what better emblem could be found to illustrate what\nthis world is like, without the Gospel of Jesus Christ, than the\nhopeless labyrinths of darkness underneath the City of Rome?\n\nTake the time when our Savior pronounced these words of our text,\nor when, as Epiphany suggests to us, those wise men came from the\nEast, following the star,--what darkness was spread over the earth!\nWith the exception of the one people, numbering only a few millions\nat most, and these sunk away in general apostasy, aside from the\nlittle wax lights of the Jews, there was universal gloom. Around\nthem, to the farthest limit of the earth, including enlightened and\nrefined Greece and Rome, the whole world of man lay in heathenism\nand idolatry, feeling after God, but knowing Him not, worshiping and\nserving creatures rather than the ever-blessed Creator. Think of\nEgypt's adoration of bulls, rams, cats, bugs, birds, and crocodiles!\nThink of the Assyrian's worship, or of any of those people of\nantiquity, rendering to beasts or to heroes and the spirits of dead\nmen, like the Chinese and Japanese and Hindoos of this day, the\nhomage due unto the living God! Add to this the attendant miseries,\nshameless debaucheries, cruelties, revolting abominations, practiced\nall over in the name and belief of honoring God and meriting the\nfavor of heaven, and it may well be said, the world was darkness,\npitch black darkness. And it is so even to this present day where\nChristianity has not yet shed its redeeming light. It is so with\nevery human soul; the darkness of ignorance, of sin, of misery is\nupon it. The man whose understanding has not yet been enlightened by\nthe beams of spiritual truth is just like a tourist groping along,\nand stumbling among, the bones and dust of the catacombs. He knows\nnot what he is living for, as little as the underground passenger\nknows whither he is going. Whenever misfortune and sorrow comes,\nthere is none to turn to for consolation.\n\nWhenever conscience is troubled and agitated with a sense of its\nguilt, and there are times when the spectral hand of conscience,\nlike in the case of King Belshazzar, writes bitter things against\nthem, there is no remedy or peace. When death comes, it is all\ngloom, spiritual night, a prison-house, a catacomb.\n\n    All our knowledge, sense, and sight\n    Lie in deepest darkness shrouded,\n    Till God's brightness breaks our night\n    By the beams of truth unclouded.\n\nAnd that is the lesson of this season, which means manifestation,\nthat is the message of Christ to the world of man and to each soul.\nHe is the Light. As God at the beginning of the world, when it was\na huge mass of confused matter, wrapped in unpenetrable darkness,\nspake the word: \"Let there be light,\" and there was light, so,\nwhen humanity at the beginning of these ---- years was spiritual\ndarkness, the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and men saw\nHis glory, the glory of the Only-begotten of the Father, full of\ngrace and truth.\n\nAddressing ourselves to our text, let us _I. trace some points of\nresemblance between Christ and light_; _II. note the conduct which\nbecomes us toward this Light_.\n\nThe purest and most untarnishable thing in this world is light. Snow\nis pure, so is ice, water, and air, but each of these will admit of\ndefilement, may be marred and polluted. It is not so with light.\nMan's hand cannot soil it. No corruption can infest or cleave to\nit. Nothing can defile its rays or attach pollution to its beams.\nAnd such is Christ. All creatures have shown themselves liable to\nsin and moral taint, but Christ passed through the world of sin\nas a sunbeam through a house of filth and disease, and came forth\nas pure and blessed as He sprang from God Himself. He took on Him\nsin's form, that He might endure sin's due, but sin's stain He never\nknew. In Bethlehem's manger, He was the holy Child. He lived a human\nlife, oppressed with all its cares and temptations, grew up among\nits corrupt children, suffered its coarseness, its rebuffs, and its\nvillainies, but with all this He did no sin, neither was guile found\nin His mouth. He was the spotless Lamb of God, pure; for He was the\nLight.\n\nAgain, light is as bright as it is pure. Things are bright in\nproportion as they are full of light. The day is bright when no\nclouds shut out the sun. The scenery is bright when illumined by\nthe greatest number of rays. The hope is bright when it is freest\nfrom gloomy forebodings and fullest of the light of promise. And\nsuch is Christ. He is brightness, \"the brightness of the Father's\nglory,\" and His office is to dispense brightness. That is the\nbrightest time in the soul when there is most of Christ in it.\nThat is the brightest page on which most of Christ is found. That\nis the brightest sermon in which most of Christ is heard. That is\nthe brightest life in which most of Christ is seen. That is the\nbrightest world in which Christ is most fully received; and that\nheart, that home, that church is but confusion and darkness where\nChrist is not.\n\nLight, likewise, is free. It comes without cost, and it comes\neverywhere. No poverty is so great as to debar from its blessing,\nnor is there an open crevice, a nook or corner in all this wide\nworld into which it is unwilling to enter, or where it fails to\nthrow its heavenlike smiles. The halls of the great and the huts of\nthe humble does it gild alike, and that without money and without\nprice. As related, it is free, and so is Christ. The command is: \"Go\nye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature.\"\nThere is no place nor spot where its beams are not to be diffused,\nno heart into which it does not struggle for entrance. To the poor\nas well as to the rich, to Jews as well as to Gentiles is Christ\noffered equally freely, and on the same terms of free grace to\neach and all willing to accept Him. He is the true Light, ready to\nlighten every man that cometh into the world.\n\nAnother quality that pertains to the nature of light is that it\nis revealing. Darkness obscures. Where it is not light, a pit may\ngape at our feet, a murderer may be waiting in our path, a dagger\naimed at our heart; we do not see and know, our vision is held. It\nrequires light to perceive these things. And so in the spiritual\nworld, Christ is the great Revealer. By Him we come to know God and\nour true selves. By Him we learn who and where we are, what our\nneeds are, and how to relieve them. One of the hardest things in\nthe world is to make people believe that they are guilty and lost\nbeings. The reason is, they are in the dark. They need the light\nto show them themselves. And that light is Christ. Only let a man\nexamine himself in the light of Christ's life and teaching, and it\nwill not be long until he sees that self of his to be a mere mass\nof guilt, and things appearing quite differently in this world of\nimperfection and sin.\n\nAnd to mention the final feature, light is life-giving. Without\nlight the world is dead. Where the sun rarely shines, or not at all,\nthere is barrenness, dreariness, perpetual winter, desolation. It\nis the warming light of spring that starts the dormant germs, that\nswells the buds, and clothes the vineyards, the field, and the woods\nwith vegetation, fragrance, and plenty. So with the spiritual Light.\nWhere Christ is not, life is not, there is spiritual barrenness,\nwinter upon the soul. But when His beams shine in upon the soul, the\nseeds of virtue put forth, the tree of faith lifts up its fragrant\nbloom, and the fruits and flowers of love and grace spring and bud.\n\nThus, by a few comparisons with the material, natural light, have\nwe sought to explain in what sense Christ is called, or rather calls\nHimself, the Light.\n\nLet us inquire how we ought to conduct ourselves toward Him. First\nof all, if you would enjoy the blessings of this Light, you must\nreceive the Light; the outward illumination must be followed by a\ncorresponding inward one. What good does the light do the man who,\nwhen its morning rays shine into his room, will pull down the shades\nand close the shutters and pull the cover of his couch over his\nhead? It's only the worse for the man. The thing is to receive it,\nto throw open the shutters of your heart, and to let its radiant\nsunbeams burst into its every corner and crevice. That is what it\nis for, and we fail of its purpose and benefit if we fail to so\ntreat it. What if the incoming rays do show us the dust that lies\nupon furniture and floor? Should we therefore dislike it, reject\nit, or should we cleanse the furniture and the floor? What if the\nspiritual Sun reveals to us our darling sins and ignorances? Should\nwe therefore avoid it and dislike it? It is extremely sorry to see\nthe attitude of the most of mankind, how they will cling like bats\nand owls to darkness who fly away to some dismal haunts, and there\nsit and blink whenever a ray of spiritual sunlight reaches them.\nChrist Himself said: \"Men love darkness rather than light.\" Let it\nnot be so to us. Let us accept and profess it, take its blessed rays\ninto our souls.\n\nAnd, again, let us reflect it. The Bible directs us not only to be\nradiant and luminous ourselves, but to give light and shining so\nas to enlighten others, just like the moon and the planets, who,\nborrowing their light from the sun, are directed to do service in\ntheir way and sphere. So, borrowing from the Sun of Righteousness,\nwe must shine forth, each in his respective sphere. \"Let your light\nso shine before men,\" says our Savior, \"that they may see your good\nworks.\" And be it understood this pertains to every Christian, to\nbe a lamp and light-dispensing orb. Parents are called to a large\nshare in this office. Young men and young women in the Sunday-school\npartake in the same commission. The officers to be installed this\nmorning, every man, woman, and child in the church have a large\nand responsible share, and charged to let his or her light shine\nin carrying light to the souls of others. With this opening of the\nnew year let us be reminded of our Christian duty. Having seen the\nSun of Righteousness rising over the hilltops of Bethlehem, and\nrejoicing in its spiritual splendors, see that the benefits be\nof lasting impression. Ask yourselves, at the outset, where its\nSundays will find you. And know they are the rays of brightening and\nillumination in sacred thoughts and improvements, the days in which\nthe divine Word shines forth in its radiancy and the gracious Light\nof salvation flashes in its glory; then, how can you be children of\nlight and yet forsake the assembling of yourselves together where\nthe light is? How can you thus be light-bearers, according to God's\ndirection? And so in every particular. Taking on the brightness\nof the true Light, may it exhibit itself in your energies and\nactivities. \"No man lighteth a candle and putteth it under a bushel\nor under a bed, but on a candlestick, that it may give light to all\nthat are in the house.\" Let it be in your houses, and if in the past\nyear the candle of your faith and devotion has been flickering low,\nit's an opportune time to trim the wick afresh and to brighten the\nflame.\n\nWe have seen that Christ is the true and only Light. Let us believe\nin Him and walk in Him, now in this day of Gospel brightness and\nsalvation,--so that we may become partakers of that still more\nstupendous Epiphany, that glorious manifestation, when the Son of\nMan shall appear in full splendor of His glory to take us home to\nthe inheritance of the saints in light. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.\n\n     Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth.--_Eccl. 12,\n     1._\n\n\nThere is no idea, my beloved, more common among men than this, that\nnot childhood, nor youth, nor manhood, but old age is the most\nsuitable period for becoming religious. The argument in support of\nthis idea runs thus: In old age we have less to do with the affairs\nof this world, and consequently shall have more time and leisure for\nthose of the next; then this world will afford us little enjoyment\nand pleasure, and with our passions quenched, with hair turning\ngray, hands palsied, limbs tottering, can we fail to recognize these\nas the heralds of the grim king and hear his voice that says: \"Be\nready, the Judge is at the door\"? As a vessel, rocked by storms and\nfalling to pieces, makes all haste to get to port, so will we. So\nruns the argument.\n\nPrevalent as this idea is, it's a wild fancy, a mocking and baseless\ndelusion. For various reasons: At no time is change of heart more\ndifficult than in old age. Not as if God's grace were less powerful\nthen, but because the difficulties of conversion increase with\nyears; the heart grows more callous, the sinful habits stronger.\nTake a sapling, for instance; it bends to your hand, turning this\nway or that, as you will. When seventy springs have clothed it with\nleaves and the sun of seventy summers has added to its breadth and\nheight, it scorns, not yours only, but a giant's strength. Every\nyear of the seventy, adding fiber to its body and firmness to the\nfibers, has increased the difficulty of bending it. In the matter\nof our everlasting welfare it is much the same. Advancing time\nhardens the fibers of man's heart. Of all tasks we know, there is\nnone so difficult as to touch the feelings and rouse the conscience\nof godless old age. Moreover, it is an extremely doubtful matter\nwhether we shall ever reach old age. Few do, and the probability\nis that we shall not. Of all our race, nearly half die in infancy.\nAnother large proportion sinks into the grave ere the summer of\nlife is past. Ask that aged man with stooping form and slow gait,\nwhere the playmates are of his childhood; where the boys that sat\nby him at the desk in school; where the youths, flushed with health\nand full of hope, with whom he started in the race of life; where\nhis fellow-workmen or partners in business. With one blow of His\nhand, one sentence of His lips, God may dash all our expectations\nof threescore years and ten to pieces. This night thy soul shall be\nrequired of thee, and then think of the folly that suggests that\nold age is the best for getting an interest in Christ, peace with\nGod, and a meetness for the kingdom of heaven. Do men act with such\ninfatuation in other and far less important matters? Here is a man\nwho insures his life,--why? Because, he will tell you, life is\nuncertain, because nothing is more uncertain, because the chances\nare he may not live to be old; \"and if I would be cut off suddenly,\nwhat is to become of my family?\" Men regard this worldly prudence.\nBut, oh, that man would reason as soundly and act as wisely where\nhigh interests are at stake! Let me change but a little the terms of\nthat question: If you should be cut off suddenly and early, what is\nto become of your family, and ask: If you should die suddenly and\nearly, what is to become of your soul?\n\nLet me this morning, prompted by the Gospel-lesson of this Sunday,\nwhich presents to us the youthful Savior in the temple, ask you,\nespecially my young hearers, to ponder with me the words of our\ntext: \"Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth.\" We shall\nconsider, _I. that youth is the most favorable season in which to\nbegin a religious course_; _II. point out some of the beneficial\nresults of early piety_; _III. conclude with a word of general\napplication_.\n\nYouth, my beloved, is the most favorable time to begin a religious\ncourse, because, we would say, in the first place, it's the critical\ntime of a person's life. Childhood receives impressions easily, but\nthese impressions, while lively, are not deep or abiding. How soon\nthe infant forgets its mother and transfers its love to another, and\nthe children that stood so pitiful at a parent's casket, a few weeks\nafterward are as buoyant and gay at their play as the happiest of\ntheir playmates. Manhood, again, on the other hand, like the solid\nrock, retains impressions once made, but does not easily receive\nthem; what the intellect has gained in ripeness, the heart has lost\nin tenderness; and impressibility, lying between these two periods,\nis youth; then it is that our minds, like the wax to which the seal,\nor the clay to which the mold is applied, possess both the power\nof receiving impressions and the power of retaining them. Then the\ncharacter is fixed; then the turn is taken either for God or for\nthe world; then the road is entered which determines our future\ndestiny. It is an old and trite saying, found in another tongue,\n\"What the boy does not learn, the man does not know.\" In youth the\npowers are more volatile, the memory is receptive and tenacious.\nThe mind is lively and vigorous, the affections are more easily\ntouched and moved, we are more accessible to the influence of joy\nand sorrow, hope and fear, we engage in an enterprise with more\nexpectation, ardor, and zeal.--Moreover, the season of youth will\nbe found to contain the fewest obstacles, and is most free from the\ntroubles which afterward embitter, cares which afterward perplex,\nand the schemes which engross, and engagements which hinder one in\nmore advanced and connected life. And, hence, it has been the advice\nof the wise men: \"In the morning sow thy seed.\" It is the young\nand tender root that penetrates the soil; it is when the fibers\nare delicate that, entering the fissures, it passes into the heart\nof the rock; and the earlier the mind is brought in contact with\nreligion and becomes acquainted with its great and immense objects,\nthe more thoroughly in after life will it comprehend and, like a\nroot wrapped around the rock, the more firmly hold to it. It is the\nyoung recruits that become the best soldiers, and young apprentices\nthe best mechanics, and the best Christians, in like manner, are\nthose who have been so early. Run, in evidence of that, over the\nlist of names which God so honorably distinguished in history,\nJoseph, Samuel, David, Solomon, Jonah, Timothy, John,--and you will\nobserve that in almost all cases they are examples of early piety.\nAnd if we come to later times and read the biographies of those that\nhave been eminent in God's kingdom, like our great reformer, Dr.\nLuther, and his colaborers, of Dr. Walther, and scores and hundreds\nof others, the Almighty seems to have acted almost invariably by the\nsame rule, and appears to have seldom conferred distinguished honor,\nwith very few exceptions, except on early piety. They were all men\nthat feared the Lord in their youth. How important and reasonable,\nthen, is youth to begin a religious course.\n\nAnd, again, we would remark, it is, of all others, the most\nhonorable period in which to begin a course of godliness. Religion\nis an ornament. Piety in any situation or age is pleasing to the\nMost High. It is well, when the world cannot fill our hearts, to\nturn our trembling steps from its broken cisterns to the fountain\nof living waters. It is a grand testimony to religion to see a\ngray and bent old man standing by the door of mercy and with loud\nand urging knocking imploring God to open and let him in; but it's\nexquisitely more attractive and noble to see a youth in the beauty\nand dew of his age giving himself to Christ and a life of high\nand holy virtues. Would you thank any one to offer you the shell\nwithout the kernel, or the stalk without the flower, or a purse\nwithout the money? And think you God is pleased with the dregs of\nthe cup, the refuse and few declining years of a man's life? Is it\nfair and reasonable that men should employ their time and talents,\ntheir health and their strength, and their genius to serve Satan,\nthe world, and the flesh, God's degrading rivals, and then ask Him\nto gather among the stubble of life after the enemy has secured the\nharvest? In the Old Testament God commanded that green ears had\nto be offered; the _first_ had to be chosen for His services: the\n_first_-born of man, the _first_-born of beasts, the _first_ fruits\nof the field. It was an honor becoming the Lord they worshiped to\nserve Him first. And, correspondingly, it is your duty in the New\nTestament that you should give Him the first-born of your days,\nthe first fruits of your reason, the prime of your affections. It\nis with such sacrifices that God is well pleased. The Apostle John\nwas the youngest disciple; he was called the disciple whom Jesus\nloved. It's the most suitable and honorable, and it is the most\nprofitable and advantageous. It has its reward. That is our second\nconsideration, _viz._, the beneficial results of early piety.\n\nHere we would note, as the first advantage, that to serve God in\nyouth is a safeguard, a defense against vice and temptations. No\nage, indeed, is secure. Till we arrive in heaven and have laid off\nthis body of sin and infirmities we are never safe. Here, like\ntravelers in the mountains, where a coating of snow hides the\ntreacherous ice, and one false step may prove the Christian's ruin,\nwe walk in slippery places, and have need to lean on an arm stronger\nthan our own. Still youth is of all ages the most dangerous.\nWith its ardent temper, its inexperience, its credulity, taking\nappearances for realities, its impatience of restraint, its unbroken\npassions, and feeble hands to control and guide them, it requires\nthe utmost care and vigilance. \"Lead us not into temptation,\" should\nbe its daily, constant, earnest prayer. We read at times in our\npublic prints of the wrecks that happen on the shores of our great\nlakes or the ocean, of vessels gone down in disaster and storms.\nWhat is that list of wrecked vessels to the number of men and women\nwho year by year are wrecked in their youth on the dangers and vices\nof our towns,--our town? What a graveyard of virtue, honor, and\nhonesty! Let the places of business where employers show no regard\nto the welfare, but only to the work of those in their service; let\nthe houses where no friendly interest is taken in their domestics;\nlet the halls of public amusement, the haunts of drunkenness, and\nthe hells of vice, give up their secrets, as the sea does the\ndrowned cast upon the beach, and we should have a roll like the\nprophet's, \"written without and within with lamentations, mourning,\nand woe,\" as shocking, if not more so, as the field of battle,\ncovered with the carnage of war. And out upon the scene, from the\nvirtuous influence of home and school, steps the unsophisticated\nyouth, a thousand avenues of seduction opening around him and\na siren voice singing at the entrance of each. Evil companions\nsurround him, erroneous publications ensnare his eye, means and\nopportunities of temptation and sin. He may flatter himself that\nhis own good sense and moral feelings will render him secure, but\nas the wise King Solomon says: \"He that trusteth in his own heart\nis a fool.\" The force of examples, the influence of circumstances,\nthe voice of railing and ridicule, the fascinations of the pleasure\nparty, stifle the finest resolutions, and often render us an\nastonishment to ourselves, as the old proverb says: \"Give the devil\nan inch, and he will take an ell.\" No, depend upon it, there is\nnothing that will do to keep you virtuous, noble, and happy but a\nhearty consecration of soul and body to the God that loves you, and\nthe Savior that redeemed you, nothing else than the restraints which\nthat God inspires in His holy Law, and the helps that He provides in\nthe rules and ordinances of His Church. Let a young Christian love\nthe habitation of His house, the place where His honor dwelleth, and\nlet Him follow the Savior's direction to watch and pray, and he will\nretain an undefiled soul in an undefiled body.\n\nNor only thus before God, but as it says of the youthful Savior in\nto-day's Gospel. He increased in favor with God and _man_. Early\npiety is honored, commands the respect of every right thinking\nperson in this world. You will remember how the sterling piety of\nthe youthful Joseph was honored by Potiphar and afterwards by the\nKing of Egypt himself. Nor need I remind you how Daniel and the\nother three Hebrew youths, because of the excellent spirit of piety\nthat was in them, was promoted to the highest post of dignity and\nresponsibility in the Chaldean empire, and whilst God does not\npromise you that if you seek Him in your youth, you will be advanced\nto sit among princes and to rule kingdoms, He promises you honor and\nrespect, in whatever station you may be placed. The most worldly\npeople and religiously careless people would rather have the godly\nlad in their employ, the young man who is loyal to his conscience\nand of genuine integrity of character, who will do his duty, \"not\nwith eye-service, but in singleness of heart, as unto the Lord,\"\nthan any other kind. In brief, as the Apostle says, you will find\nthat \"Godliness is profitable for all things, having the promise of\nthe life that now is, and of that which is to come.\"\n\nLet me, then, in conclusion, charge you, my dear hearers, to\nconsecrate to the Lord the first fruits of your days. \"Remember,\"\nsays our text, \"thy Creator in the days of thy youth.\" What though\nfrivolous men and thoughtless women ridicule your devotion,\nand scoff at your churchgoing and professions! What though\nsome shallow-minded companions charge you with fanaticism or\nsingularity, hypocrisy or pride! The day is fast coming when they\nwill be compelled to justify your conduct, to confess that you have\nchosen the better part, and to mourn that they neglected to seek the\nSavior in the morning of their existence.\n\nAnd to those among you who have feared the Lord from your youth, and\nare now glorifying your Redeemer in the maturity of life, I would\nsay: \"Go on, earnestly pursue the glorious course which you have\nbegun; be not weary in your religious life, grow in grace as you\nadvance in years, be illustrations and stimulating examples unto\nothers, and thus spend your life usefully for God and man, before\nthe evil days come and the years draw nigh, when you will say: \"I\nhave no pleasure in them,\" when eternity stands at the door, and you\nwill face your Maker. God strengthen you in this determination for\nChrist's sake. Amen.\"\n\n\n\n\nSECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.\n\n     Marriage is honorable in all.--_Hebr. 13, 4._\n\n\n\"And God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was\nvery good.\" These words of Holy Scripture immediately following\nthe statement: \"And God created man in His image, male and female\ncreated He them,\" contain the divine verdict regarding the social\nrelation that we call matrimony or marriage. Declared the all-wise\nGod: \"It was very good.\"\n\nThat, however, was in the holy and happy days of Paradise, in\nthe midst of righteousness, purity, and bliss. Sin entered, and\nthings changed; the image of the divine Maker was forfeited, that\npurity effaced, over that bliss was written in indelible letters:\n\"Paradise Lost.\" What, then, became of the marriage relation? Was\nit, too, dissolved, forfeited, lost? Wonderful Providence! From\nthat universal wreck,--of the few things which God permitted man to\ncarry with him, remains, to insure him happiness and welfare in the\nmidst of a world otherwise steeped in misery and tears, the marriage\nestate. It was not lost.\n\nThe Gospel-lesson of to-day presents the Savior as being present\nat a marriage feast, and records that on that occasion He changed\nwater into wine and manifested forth His glory. By His presence and\nby that miracle He also manifested forth, endorsed, sanctioned,\nand placed His divine approbation upon matrimony, as He once did\namid the scenes of Eden's creation and loveliness. Nothing could\nbe more significant than that, when the God-man came to found His\nkingdom upon earth, and entered upon His Messianic work, His first\nwork should have been wrought in honor of the wedding tie. And so\nGod's Word speaks of marriage throughout. When the Apostle desires\na comparison to set forth the holy and pure relation between Christ\nand His Church, he knows none more sublime and noble than the union\nthat exists between man and woman in wedlock, for which reason the\nChurch is called Christ's bride--Christ is called her Bridegroom.\n\nTo raise one's tongue or pen in impiety or censure against marriage\nis to raise them against heaven and Christ. To set up in its place\nthe teaching and practice of celibacy, by which men and women are\ndivested, in the name of religion, from the ties and duties of\nfamily; to turn away, or in any manner to advocate what may break\ndown the proper relation between the sexes, is casting reproach upon\nGod's institution, and a perversion of true religion, as it is of\nnature's laws. To speak depreciatingly, disparagingly of marriage,\nto arch the brow, to puck the lips up in a smile, when it is called\n\"holy\" matrimony, and in any way to entertain light and derogatory\nviews concerning it and family life, is to get oneself into conflict\nwith, and to invite the ill favor of, Him who has thrown a sacred\nhedge around the institution, when on Sinai's mountain, in His Ten\nCommandments, He commanded how we should regard this estate.\n\n\"Marriage,\" says the Apostle in our text, \"is honorable in all.\"\nThere is nothing concerning it that is unworthy, unholy, hindersome\nto piety and salvation. The Son of God would not have graced with\nHis presence and miracle those Galilean nuptials if it had not been\nholy throughout. Concerning the honorableness of that estate would I\nspeak at this time a few words of plainness and truth. May He who is\ncalled the God of families bless them to our instruction!\n\nAmong the views concerning matrimony, there is also this one, taught\nby men sitting in professors' chairs and senselessly repeated by\nthe ungodly multitude, that, as man has evolved from a lower to a\nhigher form of existence, so morality and also matrimony have only\ngradually, in the course of many centuries, yes, thousands of\nyears, evolved to what it now is. Originally man knew as little of\nmatrimony as the beasts of the field. Little by little, pride and\nself-interest induced especially strong men to take unto themselves,\nand keep with themselves, one or a few of the other sex, and so it\neventually grew into a custom and rule that one man and one woman\nshould form a union for life, and in evidence of that they will even\npoint to the Bible, the instance of Abraham, who beside his wife,\nSarah, had her maid, Hagar, and Jacob had two, really four wives,\nand David, Solomon, in fact, all the Jews among the Old Testament\nkings practiced polygamy,--it was only with the introduction of\nChristianity that monogamy, the union of one man and one woman, and\nthe indissolubleness of the marriage-tie, became general rule. What\nfolly of folly, contrary to all sacred and secular story!\n\nWithout entering too explicitly upon this subject, do we not read\nin the chapters of Genesis that when Pharaoh of Egypt had cast his\neyes upon Sarah, thinking she was Abraham's sister, that after he\nhad been rightly informed, he at once desisted from his advances and\nmade explanation? And did not Abimelech, when about to fall into\na like error, offer apology and make restitution? Is it not plain\nfrom these cases that they well knew that the marriage relation was\nnot to be broken, that one man was not to take another man's wife?\nMoreover, it never occurred to Abraham, or any of the patriarchs,\nto put away from themselves their wives, for any reasons, and these\nmen lived nearly two thousand years before Christ. How absurd the\ncontention that men originally lived without a knowledge of the\nsanctity of marriage! Turning to secular history, we have record\nof the same. Rome, for instance, was founded in the eighth century\nbefore Christ. Its first citizens were robbers, and such as had\nbeen banished for gross offenses from other cities of Italy. But\nconcerning the marriage relation--they did not live as brutes.\nEvery physically able inhabitant was legally required to wed, and\nfor several centuries not a solitary case of divorce occurred.\nSuch a thing was regarded simply impossible. It was not until late\ncenturies, when effeminacy had taken hold upon the city, that we\nhear of those social abominations. The same may be said of our\nheathen forefathers, the German and Teutonic tribes; marriage, with\nthem, was held in highest respect.\n\nThis, then, is the true view according to Bible and history. God\ninstituted marriage at creation, and God ordained that it should\nbe a union between one man and one woman, and that this union is\nindissoluble and inseparable. As everything else, however, suffered\nby the fall of man into sin, so also this divine regulation. The\ncorruption at the time of the flood was such that God destroyed the\nworld on that very account. \"They took them wives of all that they\nchose,\" is the sacred account. It is with regret that we read of\nmen like Abraham, Jacob, David, who were not found strong enough\nto resist the common corruption, but were deplorably drawn into\nlooseness of the marriage ties.\n\nHow was it at the time of the Savior? The teaching of the synagogue\nwas, that \"whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a\nwriting of divorcement.\" When it entered a man's mind to get rid\nof his wife, all he needed to do was to write upon a piece of\nparchment: \"I divorce myself from my wife,\" have it signed by two\nor three witnesses, and the wife had to go; or if it occurred to\na woman to sever herself from her husband, she demanded a writing\nof divorcement from him, and if he refused, life became miserable,\nor she would simply run away, as Herodias did from her husband,\nPhilip, and married her husband's brother, Herod Antipas. And these\noccurrences were not done with blushing reserve, those guilty of it\nboasted of it. Beloved, are we not rapidly falling upon such times?\n\nThe miserable revelations that come from our courts are veritable\ncesspools reeking with stench and bestial filth. As one eminent\njurist has expressed it: \"Broken marriages are as common as broken\nwindow-panes.\" Divorce, what is it practically, in effect, but\nenabling men and women to live in successive polygamy? Now, over\nagainst this and all like influences and evils that would break\ndown the honor of marriage, our Lord clearly and emphatically\nlaid down God's Law. Here it is: \"They are no more twain, but one\nflesh.\" \"What, therefore, God has joined together, let not man put\nasunder,\" and again, \"Whosoever shall put away his wife and marry\nanother, committeth adultery, and whosoever marrieth her that is\nput away committeth adultery.\" These words are as clear as language\ncan be. Only one exception does Christ give to the rule, Matt. 5,\n32: \"Whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of\nfornication.\" Fornication means unfaithfulness to each other in\nthe marriage relation. Illicit intercourse with another person,\nthat is given as the exception, as a just cause for severance. As\nfor other causes, the Bible recognizes not one. And even in cases\nof fornication it does not _demand_ a divorce. That, then, is the\nposition of the Scripture and of our church. This is the practice of\nher clergy.\n\nAgain, another particular that tends to the honorableness of the\nmarriage state, as pointed out in the text, is the high purpose\nwhich it is intended to serve according to the will of God. The\nfamily life is the foundation of human society. Married life,\nwithout seeking to fulfill its first purpose, the perpetuating of\nthe human race and the bringing up of one's offspring in the proper\nmanner, is to undermine, frustrate, that foundation of the state.\nThis leads me to refer to an evil which I hardly know how to speak\nof, which should be named in the blackest of evils,--I mean the\nwillful intention and resolve to defeat the first of those purposes\nfor which matrimony was instituted by God. It comes looming up\non the view of this generation as a great, a growing, an almost\nnational crime. The foundation of a home is the first thing intended\nin matrimony. But some deliberately resolve that there shall be\nno home, or at least that it shall be as narrow, as limited, as\npossible. Be it to avoid pain, be it to shrink the duty of the\nparent, be it to remain free to enjoy the world,--arts base and\nblack, devices which in the Old Testament were punished by death,\nare used to carry out these ungodly and absurd resolves; ungodly,\nbecause it would not be possible more grossly to outrage God's law\nthan in this way; absurd, because a marriage contracted with that\nunderstanding and intention is a contradiction, a misnomer, a fraud\non society and on the Church. And so I say, as God's minister and\nin His name, as we who must speak fearlessly, that this act of\ndeliberately preventing the formation of a home is a crime, and\none which brings down curses from a God of justice, who knows and\nwho rewards according to our deeds. \"Marriage,\" be it noted, \"is\nhonorable in all\"; it is a holy and pure estate, and holiness must\nprevail therein.\n\nAnd now let us regard the other part of our discourse: If marriage\nis a holy estate, then it must be entered honorably and must be\ncontinued honorably.\n\nMarriage ought to be entered honorably. There is something appalling\nin the thoughtlessness, the irresponsibility with which young people\nwill contract marriage; there seems to be often no apparent sense\nof the gravity of the act, no reflection upon what is involved. A\npleasant face, captivating demeanor, money, or position are not\ninfrequently the flimsy threads that tie the conjugal knot.\n\nBut how can any one who is a Christian enter upon that relation\nwhich, more than any other, affects the whole life, without\nconsulting and seeking the blessing of the divine Author? Yet it\nis done, and alas! done only too often by those who ought to know\nbetter. Some contract acquaintanceship, keep company, and have an\ninterchange of hearts, and never think of their God and Savior in\nconnection with it. Religion, in fact, seems unwelcome and out of\nplace to many at such a time, whilst one heart-felt prayer to Him\nin connection with such an acquaintance would in thousands of cases\nhave prevented anguish of souls from which there is no refuge but\nthe grave.\n\nIn other words, whether you will be happy or unhappy in the marriage\nlife depends largely upon the companion of your choice. Therefore,\nwhen choosing a life's companion, ask God for His counsel to give\nyou the spouse of His choice; and when you marry, marry honorably.\n\nThe contracting parties in to-day's Gospel-lesson were not a runaway\ncouple, or Jesus would not have honored their wedding feast with\nHis presence. Nor did they marry from sheer necessity to hide the\nresults of sin. Their relatives and friends, and, if still living,\ntheir parents were there; they had asked for and received the honest\nand unqualified consent of the latter. It is not an idle service\nor the mere acknowledgment of a civil contract, but a proper and\nsignificant Christian act to have marriage solemnized by a religious\nceremony, conducted by a minister of the church, and blessed in the\nname of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.\n\nNo Christian man or woman should ever think of contracting a\nmarriage alliance at which a servant of God is not present to invoke\nthe Savior's blessing. Marriage should be entered into reverently,\ndiscreetly, and in the fear of God. Nor can I in this connection\nrefrain from calling attention to the good old church custom called\nin English \"publishing the banns,\" the persons asking for the prayer\nof a Christian congregation upon their union. Thus, in the ways\nindicated, does a Christian enter upon marriage \"honorably.\"\n\nAnd having entered upon it thus, it ought to be so continued. There\nis one thing that married couples ought ever to remember, this: that\nthey are both sinners. If they bear that in mind, they will not\nlook for imaginary perfections in their life's partner, and will,\nconscious of their own shortcomings, bear with the shortcomings of\nthe other. And where there is this conviction that both are sinners,\nthey will find their balance in the Savior of sinners. It is well\nenough to bring into married life an amiable disposition, the happy\nfaculty of controlling one's temper, but, believe me, the best\nthing to bring along, the most effective safeguard against discord\nand estrangement, is the fear of the Lord, the mutual respect for\nGod's law and authority. Temporary differences, quarrels even, may\narise in that home, but cannot remain. The husband has been hard\nand unkind, but will be prompt to make amends. If the wife has been\ncontrary, quarrelsome, or has in other ways angered her husband, the\nlove of Christ will not let her rest, but to acknowledge and seek\nreconciliation. There is nothing like genuine religion to regulate\nthe household, to take off the frictions of daily life, to educate\nus in self-denial, in bearing and forbearing with one another.\n\nLet us, then, keep before us the dignity of the estate, and conduct\nourselves honorably therein, until God shall summon us from this\nearthly relation to the marriage feast of the Lamb on high. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nTHIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.\n\n     Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall\n     never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be a\n     well of water springing up into everlasting life. The woman\n     saith unto Him, Sir, give me this water.--_John 4, 14. 15._\n\n\nOur blessed Lord, having provoked by His preaching and by His\nmiracles the enmity of the Pharisees, they began to plot His\ndestruction. To escape their persecutions, His hour having not yet\ncome, He departed for Galilee, between which territory and Judea lay\nthe province of Samaria, through which, accordingly, as the holy\nwriter expresses it, He must needs go. The first place at which he\nstopped was Sychar, one of the cities of Samaria. In its vicinity\nwas a well, called Jacob's well, in all probability because the\npatriarch Jacob had caused it to be dug. Arriving there about the\nsixth hour, or noon, fatigued with the toils of the day, He seated\nHimself, while His disciples went into the city to purchase food. He\ncould easily have relieved His wants by a miracle, but His miracles\nHe employed only for the relief of others. While thus resting and\nalone, there cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water. Our Lord at\nonce resolved to benefit her. He was one who sowed by all waters,\nand with Him one hearer was enough to justify the finest sermon.\nHe introduced Himself to her by asking a favor, the best way that\ncould have been selected. It must be spoken to the credit of our\npoor humanity that a request for a favor is always regarded as\nallowable. There are men and women whom you would not dare speak to\non the street, without expecting to be reproachfully treated, but\nwhom you may with perfect confidence ask a small favor of, such as\nthe time of day, a drink of water, or the like. Jesus saith to her:\n\"Give me to drink.\" The woman is astonished, for she saw, by His\nfeatures and His dress, that He was a Jew. Then saith the woman of\nSamaria unto Him: \"How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of\nme, which am a woman of Samaria?\" It was a very natural question.\nThe Jews regarded contact with a Samaritan disreputable. Their touch\nwas pollution; to spend the night at the house of one of them was\nto reproach a family for generations. A Jew would not speak to a\nSamaritan, much less ask a favor of one. But the mind of Jesus knew\nnothing of this narrow bigotry, this odious illiberality. His object\nwas to benefit all, and He, therefore, freely conversed with all.\nHis answer was: \"If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that\nsaith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of Him,\nand He would have given thee living water.\" The Savior, as you will\nhave noted from your Bible reading, often seizes upon incidents and\nobjects before the eyes of His hearers to shadow forth spiritual\ntruths. Thus, when He had fed the multitude with bread, He spoke of\nHimself as \"the bread which cometh from heaven and giveth eternal\nlife.\" Being at Jerusalem at the Feast of Tabernacles, when the\npeople in crowds drew water from the pool of Siloam, He cried with\na loud voice: \"If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.\"\nSo here He takes occasion to elevate this woman's thoughts from\nthe earthly water to the heavenly. Still supposing, however, that\nJesus referred to common water, she objects to Him: \"Sir, Thou\nhast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; from whence, then,\nhast Thou this living water?\" And to suppose that He could find\nbetter water elsewhere would imply that He was greater than Jacob,\nwho esteemed this the best in all the territory, and so she adds:\n\"Art Thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well,\nand drank thereof himself, and his children and his cattle?\" Jesus,\npitying her ignorance, and bearing with her weakness, began more\nfully to explain the properties of that water of which He spoke. He\nsaid to her: \"Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again,\nbut whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall\nnever thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a\nwell of water springing up into everlasting life.\" The woman, still\ntaking the words in a natural sense, was disposed to turn them into\nridicule, and she begged the Savior by all means to give her some\nof that excellent water which would prevent her from ever thirsting\nagain and would render it unnecessary for her to come so far and\ndraw water. She says: \"Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not,\nneither come hither to draw.\" To check her impatience, Jesus shows\nthat He was perfectly acquainted with her character. He bids her\ncall her husband. The woman replied: \"I have no husband.\" Then came\nthe crushing exposure; Jesus said to her: \"Thou hast well said, I\nhave no husband; for thou hast had five husbands, and he whom thou\nnow hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.\" She, at\nonce convinced of Jesus' prophetic character, adroitly changes the\nsubject. Said she: \"Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and ye\nsay that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.\"\n\nThis was opening up an interesting topic. When the Jews returned\nafter the Babylonian captivity, they went to rebuild the temple at\nJerusalem. The Samaritans proposed to bear part of the expense, and\nto worship with them, as they accepted some of the Jewish laws and\nceremonies. The Jews rejected their offer, and would have nothing\nto do with them. The Samaritans then built a temple of their own\non Mount Gerizim. Hence, the woman wished to be informed by this\nprophet which was the right place, Mount Gerizim or Jerusalem. The\nreply of Jesus was full of instruction; with great stateliness\nand dignity He said: \"Woman, believe me, the hour cometh when ye\nshall neither in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the\nFather. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship; for\nsalvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the\ntrue worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth;\nfor the Father seeketh such to worship. God is a Spirit; and they\nthat worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.\" The\nwoman, hearing these instructions, without disputing with Jesus, but\nalso without approving entirely of what He said, refers the entire\ndecision of the question to the coming of the Messiah. \"I know that\nMessiah cometh, which is called Christ; when He is come, He will\ntell us all things,\" to which Jesus replies: \"I that speak unto thee\nam he.\"\n\nHere the disciples, returning from the city, interrupted the\nconversation. The woman went back to the city and told the people\nof the wonderful stranger. Full of curiosity, they came out to see\nJesus, and prevailed on Him to stay two days with them, and \"many,\"\nrecords the sacred writer, \"of the Samaritans of that city believed\non Him.\"\n\nThere are a number of important lessons that we may profitably\ndwell upon from this interview between Christ and that woman of\nSamaria. We shall restrict ourselves to the most outstanding one.\nOur Lord teaches us here the nature of salvation; He compares it\nto water. It is noteworthy and most suggestive that whatever in\nthe material world is most useful and highly valuable to man is\nalso the most common and most abundant. Things which can, without\nserious loss and injury to any one, be dispensed with, or which\nserve merely or mainly to give pleasure, such as gold, diamonds,\nand jewels, exquisite foreign fruit, these alone are rare, the\nproperty of a few. But what all men need, and most largely ministers\nto their comfort and enjoyment,--the wholesome food, the pure,\nrefreshing water, the air, and the light,--these are spread out in\nfree, unstinted store before rich and poor, young and old, one and\nall.--But besides this material world there is another with which we\nhave to do, an unseen spiritual world, in which our souls are living\nand breathing, and there the same law obtains. God has abundantly\nsupplied us with what we need. Two-thirds of the earth's surface\nis covered with water. You find water all over and everywhere, in\noceans, rivers, springs, wells, sufficient to supply all the wants\nof man. So, too, there is not a meager quantity, but an abundance\nof living water. If all the human beings who have ever lived upon\nthis earth could come to this heavenly Fountain in a body, there\nwould be water enough and to spare, and it is everywhere and for\neverybody. It is for Americans, for Europeans, for the inhabitants\nof Asia, Africa and the islands of the sea. There never will be a\ndiminution of its vast and boundless supply. Nor will God permit any\nbarrier to hedge it in.\n\nLike the water in your homes, salvation is being brought to your\ndoors; it is gushing forth like a stream at your feet now, and it\nflows through the very aisles of this church, and filters into every\npew. And like natural water, Christ's water of salvation possesses\nlike qualities. To mention the particular He dwells upon in this\ntext, Jesus answered and said to her, \"Whosoever drinketh of this\nwater shall thirst again; but whosoever drinketh of the water that I\nshall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give\nhim shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting\nlife.\" The soul has its desires, its yearnings, its appetites,\nas well as the body, and it is miserable until that thirst is\nsatisfied. And how is this done? Certainly not by anything of man's\nprovision. The various schools of man's wisdom, philosophy, have\ntried it, and we have their confession that they failed to find what\nthey sought. The same may truly be said of this world's pleasures,\npossessions, and honors. These things, being earthly, leave the soul\nas thirsty as before, yea, even worse, like sailors in distress\nwho drink the ocean's brine; it will but increase their thirst a\nhundredfold. \"But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give\nhim shall never thirst.\" Christ's water, alone, is able to satisfy\nthe thirst of the human soul.--The reason is very apparent. Man's\nhappiness depends, first of all, upon a right relation to his God;\nas long as that is severed or strained, satisfaction and peace\nof heart are out of the question. And it is only He, that divine\nperson, who sat upon Jacob's well, that has this supply of living\nwater. We are made for God, and our hearts remain thirsty and\nrestless until they find satisfaction and repose in Him.\n\nBut, you will note, it says: \"Whosoever drinketh of the water that\nI give him.\" Christ gives it, but there is something, accordingly,\nfor the thirsty soul to do. Water cannot quench the thirst unless\nit is taken; not all the water in the river at the foot of our city\ncan save a man that does not partake of it. Nor can Christ's water\nof life assuage the thirst of a soul that declines it. There must\nbe personal appropriation, or it fails of the blessed effects.\nNot as if there is anything meritorious in that, any more than it\nis a merit for one to drink a glass of water to allay his physical\nthirst. And yet, it is only thus that one becomes partaker of\nit; and the only reason why so many fail of its blessed effects\nis,--they do not drink it. It is told of a ship that its supply of\nfresh water was exhausted. The passengers and crew on board were at\nthe point of perishing. For several days they had lacked water, and\nwere almost frenzied. At last a vessel was sighted in the distance.\nThey raised their cry: \"Give us water, water; we are dying for\nwater!\" The reply came back, \"Let down your buckets! You are in the\nmouth of the Amazon! You have fresh water all around you.\" They\nhad been floating three days in fresh water and knew it not. It is\nso spiritually. Ignorance is what keeps many from salvation. The\nchurches, like vast reservoirs and pumping stations, are seeking\nto supply the masses with the knowledge of Christ and His Gospel.\nThey are actually floating like these perishing souls in the midst\nof religion, and yet they dip not their buckets to fill. With some\nit is because they are too indifferent, and with others, because\nof sheer stupidity they care not to give such matters concern. It\nis positively surprising to see how many otherwise intelligent and\nwide-awake men and women will be found altogether destitute of the\nfirst things, the A B C of Christian teaching and principles. Ask\nthem to select the real things of man's life, to tell you the true\npurpose of existence, touch on matters of eternity, soul and God,\nand they are as ignorant of those things as children of the value\nof currency, who will tear to pieces a five-dollar bill and cling\nto their five-cent picture-book, or who will at any time take in\nexchange for a ten-dollar gold piece a large, glittering ball of\nChristmas tinsel. They know not, and so they value not, and allow\nthe treasures of heaven, the gift of God, as our Savior called it,\nthe blessed water of life, to flow by undrunk and unimproved.\n\nTo this first reason, ignorance, may be rightfully added\nanother,--prejudice. There is a vast amount of that against Christ's\nreligion. In fact, there is in every material heart a feeling of\naversion against the whole thing, and, strange enough, those who\nmight be expected to be most favorably inclined toward salvation,\nthe outwardly good, honest, and honored, are, as a rule, set against\nit. Their self-sufficiency is in the way. Take the case before\nus. It was a most unpromising one, this woman. The reproof openly\ngiven by a stranger, a Jew at that, would have irritated many a\none. Some would have replied by abusive language. Others would\nhave denied the charge, especially as it did not appear probable\nthat this unknown person could uphold them. But the Samaritan had\ndifferent sentiments, and bears out the statement of our Lord that\nthe publicans and sinners were nearer the kingdom of heaven than the\nPharisees, who were so devout in their outward appearances. Some of\nthe most unpromising characters prove the most promising, and those\nwhom we should have regarded as giving Christ cordial welcome, the\nreligionists of His time, were offended at Him.\n\nSo to-day, there are numbers of those who regard themselves good\nenough or not worse than many others and these very church people,\nand so are never seen in a house of Christian worship, except to see\nsome one married, or buried; who will read anything and everything,\nand who are ready to meet with you and talk with you on every topic\nexcept one, and that is religion. Prejudice, my beloved, prejudice,\nshort-sighted, cruel, unreasonable.\n\nBut, to conclude; to us, my dear hearers, as to this woman of\nSychar, has the Savior come. He is sitting not only, as of old, on\nJacob's well, He is sitting aside you in the pew, He is offering you\nthe same water of life. Why not take and drink it?\n\nPeople will go far and spend much to drink of earthly springs for\nbodily invigoration and health. Here is the life-water, which alone\ncan give health to the soul, and which springs up into eternal life.\nOh! that some of its life-giving drops may fall upon your hearts in\nthese moments to soften them into penitence and holy resolve: \"Sir,\ngive me of this water.\"\n\n    I heard the voice of Jesus say,\n    Behold, I freely give\n    The living water; thirsty one,\n    Stoop down, and drink and live.\n    I came to Jesus and I drank\n    Of that life-giving stream;\n    My thirst was quenched, my soul revived,\n    And now I live in Him.\n\n    Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.\n\n     And straightway Jesus constrained His disciples to get into a\n     ship, and to go before Him unto the other side, while He sent\n     the multitudes away. And when He had sent the multitudes away,\n     He went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening\n     was come, He was there alone. But the ship was now in the midst\n     of the sea, tossed with waves; for the wind was contrary. And in\n     the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them, walking on\n     the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they\n     were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out in\n     fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good\n     cheer; it is I; be not afraid.--_Matt. 14, 22-27._\n\n\nOur blessed Lord was both, He was true God and He was true man.\nTo-day's Gospel-lesson presents Him to us in the fishermen's boat,\nweary and sleeping on a pillow. There is humanity; for of God it\nsays: \"Behold, He shall neither slumber nor sleep.\" Again, the same\nstory presents Him as commanding the winds and the waves. There is\nGodship; for of God alone can it be said: \"Thou rulest the raging\nof the sea; when the waves thereof arise, Thou stillest them.\"\nAnd this remarkable contrast you will find running through all\nHis earthly history. You enter the stable at Bethlehem. You see\na babe slumbering on its mother's lap. You say, \"This is Mary's\nchild.\" Presently a company of shepherds enter, and tell what they\nheard and saw while keeping watch over their flocks by night.\nScarcely have they finished their description, when wise men from\nthe East appear, alleging that they have been guided thither by a\nstar, and worshiping the Child with costly offerings. You stand on\nJordan's bank and mingle with the thousands who have come to hear\nthe word and submit to the Baptism of John. You behold one, Jesus\nof Nazareth, going down to be baptized, but you think little of\nit, for He differs, apparently, in nothing from those by whom He\nis surrounded. But as He comes up from the water, the heavens are\nopened, and the Spirit of God descends like a dove, and lights upon\nHim, while from the celestial heights comes a voice, \"This is my\nbeloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.\" You accompany Him to the\ngrave of Lazarus, and you see the tears trickle down His cheeks, and\nyou realize that He is a man; for neither Deity nor angels weep.\nBut soon you behold Lazarus come forth from his sepulcher in answer\nto His word of power, and once more you ask in wonder verging on\nadoration: \"What manner of man is this?\" And so till you see Him\non the cross, His back lacerated with the scourge, and His brow\nbleeding from the pressure of the crown of thorns. You hear the\nwords, \"It is finished,\" and see the pale cast of death settle on\nHis countenance. But on the third day after, you meet Him in the\nupper room at evening, extending His hand in resurrection greeting:\n\"Peace be unto you.\"\n\nNow, what shall we make of this wonderful dualism, as we may call\nit? There remains nothing for us to do but to accept that Christ was\ntrue God and true man. No other interpretation or explanation will\ndo. Our church, in the standard Confession, in the Third Article\nof the Augsburg Confession, thus voices its belief, and to that we\nsubscribe. We teach that God the Son became man and was born of\nthe Virgin Mary; that the two natures, the human and the divine,\ninseparably united in one person, are one Christ, who is true God\nand man. So much as to the great doctrinal truth taught in the\nScripture-reading of to-day. It contains also a very instructive and\ncomforting practical truth. We shall regard as our topic:--\n\n_The experience of Christ's disciples on the Sea of Galilee a\npicture of Christ's people on the sea of life_, noting, _I. their\nadversity_, _II. their security_.\n\nThe poet has said that human life is\n\n    Bits of gladness and of sorrow,\n    Strangely crossed and interlaid;\n    Bits of cloud belt and of rainbow,\n    In deep alternation braid;\n    Bits of storm when winds are warring,\n    Bits of calm when blasts are stay'd,\n    Bits of silence and of uproar,\n    Bits of sunlight and of shade.\n\nAnd it's more than poetic fancy; it is stern reality. Like that Sea\nof Galilee, the sea of life is sometimes calm and sometimes stormy,\nsometimes reposing under the soft smiles of a sunshiny sky, and\nsometimes ruffled and whipped by the restless gales.\n\nWearied from the toils and turmoils of the day, our Lord constrains\nHis disciples to get into a ship, and to go before Him to the other\nside, while He sent the multitude away. When He had done this, He\nretired. Whither? Into a neighboring mountain. For what? To pray.\nHe wished to be alone; His heart yearned for communication with\nHis Father; He also needed strength and preparation for the work\nand conflicts of the morrow. How could He secure it? By prayer.\nHow suggestive and instructive for us. Our Lord needed thus to\nstrengthen and prepare Himself for life's difficulties and battles.\nLet us learn a lesson from Him,--discover where the secret of our\npower lies.\n\nBut while thus engaged, His disciples were in danger upon the sea.\nA fearful storm, one of those sudden, violent squalls, peculiar to\nthe Sea of Galilee, had arisen, and was lashing the sea with violent\nfury. Try as they might, and they were accustomed to the sails and\noars, they were perfectly helpless, and the greatest misfortune was\nthat the Master was not with them. Had He been there, even though\nasleep, they might have roused and brought Him to their rescue. But,\nalas! He was far away. Consternation and despair seized hold upon\nthem, when, at a sudden, they discern in the distance the form of a\nman walking on the foaming crests of the waters. What? Could it be\nHe? Indeed, there He was, and He speaks to them. No sooner did He\nset His foot on the ship than the tossing waters sank down to their\nquiet bed. There was a great calm.\n\nBeloved, these stories of the Bible have not been written for\nentertainment, but as the Apostle declares: \"Whatever was written\naforetime was written for our learning, that we through patience\nand comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.\" Life has its times\nof prosperities, and it has its times when the wind is contrary\nand wave dashes fast upon wave. The occasion of this storm may be\nvarious. Sometimes it is the matter of livelihood. Circumstances\nover which we have no control overwhelm us, embarrass us. Try as\nhard as we may, like these disciples, who made only thirty furlongs,\nwe can make no headway; yes, in spite of our willingness and energy,\nwe go backward; reverses set in, loss is ours. We are mightily\ntossed by the waves, and the clouds look dreadfully frowning and\ndark. Sometimes it is bodily ailment; suffering of one sort or\nanother comes over us like a destructive wave; we are called to\nbattle with disease, the probabilities and improbabilities of ever\nbecoming strong again,--it is bitter experience. Or it may be the\nwave of bereavement. Like this little fisherman's craft, we are\ncarried down into the depths of heart-rending sorrow; our eyes are\nwet with tears; before us closes the grave upon one whom we would\nhave given the whole world to retain.\n\nContrary winds! Dashing billows! Rolling, tossing sea! And imagine\nnot that by believing the Gospel, your being a Christian, will\nmake you exempt from these storms. We are sometimes told: Do what\nis right, and you will not suffer. It sounds very plausible, but\nit is not true,--very unfrequently otherwise. Why was Joseph cast\ninto prison? He did that which was right. Why were the martyrs put\nto death? These disciples in the path of duty when the storm came\nupon them were doing what had been commanded by the Lord. You may\nnot infrequently be exposed to fierce blasts by being a Christian\nconsistent, consecrated in life and duties. It matters not what your\nprofession or portion in life may be, whether you are a Christian\nor not, godly or ungodly, rich or poor, famous or obscure, the\nstorms of life will certainly, with more or less violence, overtake\nyou. There is no exemption, no escape from them. Now, what shall we\nthink, what say, to sustain ourselves amid experiences like that?\n\nIt may be well enough to note the experience of those disciples\nyonder on the Sea of Galilee. \"And when the disciples saw Him\nwalking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit;\nand they cried out for fear.\" What could it be, that moving form?\nA man? No, impossible! How could a man tread upon the waters? Then\nit must be a ghost, an apparition, a grim visitor from the other\nworlds. And as this idea forced itself upon them, they could not\nrefrain from crying out with terror. Thus, my dear hearers, God's\npeople are sometimes perplexed, when scenes of distress appear,\nand bereavement, humiliation, and sorrow appear upon life's sea.\nThey are sometimes disposed to cry out with terror, \"What can it\nmean?\"--these dark and threatening forms. Surely, a loving and\nbeneficent God would not alarm His children, and add still greater\nanxiety and anguish to their already fierce battling with the waves\nand the elements. My beloved, that is just what God does, and wisdom\non our part, our sustaining strength, and the comfort consists in\nthis, that we recognize that form, nor, mistaking it, cry out in\nterror.\n\nThat storm on the Galilean Sea was not an accident, it did not come\nby chance, it was sent by and with the permission of the Governor\nof the winds and the waves; and when the billows were rolling\nfiercest and fastest, His hand was there guiding and controlling.\nNone less so with the streams of life. These are not accidental,\nbut intentional. They do not come by chance, but are sent by, and\nwith the permission of, the Governor of the universe, and when the\nbillows are rolling fast, His hand is guiding and controlling our\nafflictions. Perplexing as they may be, they are part of God's grand\nand sovereign system of dealing with us. It is He, His Providence,\nHis divine appointment and arrangement, not some strange, unmerciful\npower, which people call Fate, Chance, Nature, but the divine form\nof our blessed Savior. That is the first thing we must bear in mind\namid life's storms.\n\n\"But straightway Jesus spoke unto them, saying, Be of good cheer;\nit is I; be not afraid.\" Human lips cannot describe the effect\nwhich these words uttered by that familiar voice must have had upon\nthem. In a moment the whole truth flashed upon their minds,--the\napparition so much dreaded was no other than He whom, above all\nothers, they longed to see. There is a common expression in English,\nwhich speaks of \"blessings in disguise.\" Such are all of life's\nuntoward happenings to a Christian--\"blessings in disguise.\"\n\nThat Galilean experience in the night and storm gave to these\ndisciples enlarged ideas of the Master and His power, it developed\ntheir faith and trust in Him. Not for all the toil and terrors would\nthey have foregone it. They never forgot it. Beloved, the time will\ncome when you will look back upon that experience that wrenched your\nsoul, that household cross that proved so heavy, that disheartening\nreverse that caused a big black mark to be drawn through your life's\nprospects and plans, those hours of dread and darkness, as the very\noccasions of your highest blessings, the making of yourselves. The\n\"evils of life\"--speak not thus--are blessings in disguise. \"Nearer,\nmy God, to Thee, nearer to Thee, e'en though it be a cross that\nraiseth me.\" Have you ever seen anything but a cross raise men?\nThe smiles of prosperity, the sunshiny sky, the even waves of the\nsea of life are not the means calculated to raise a soul nearer to\nGod; that takes the buffetings, the storms, and the rising billows\n(blessings in disguise), sent by a wise God in loving purpose.\n\nAnd one more. When the disciples recognized and realized that it\nwas their Master, their fear vanished. Let the winds blow, the ship\ntoss, and the waves run high, they felt secure,--He was with them.\nIt is a simple thought, yet it constitutes the whole of religion,\nthe essence of faith, our comfort in life, our hope in death, our\nall in all, this one thought: He is with us, Jesus, the Master.\n\nI am thinking this moment of a man,--his eyesight impaired, sickness\nupon his body, his head bending low with age, striving hard to\nlive, afraid to die. The religion of Christ was never his, and he\ndesires none of it now. A more melancholy lot never was man's as he\nis tossed about with many a conflict and many a doubt, fightings\nand fears within, without, dissatisfied, unhappy. I am thinking\nof another,--his eyes have not seen the light of day for eight\nyears; his once powerful frame is now as delicate as a child's, his\nhair is gray from much weariness and pain; but none was ever more\ncheerful, submissive, hopeful, and happy. The difference? The one\nhas recognized the divine form walking on the surging billows, and\nhas taken Him into his life's boat; the other has not, and will not\ndo so. With the one it is a \"great calm,\" stillness, joy. With the\nother, tumult, danger, and despair. That is the difference,--_what_\na difference! So, whether it be sickness, or that the world goes\nagainst us, or that we are straitened in our means of living, or\nexperiencing the loss of the dearest and nearest; not _from_ them\nhas Christ and Christianity promised to save us, but _in_ them,\ntrusting in Him, it has promised, and that we shall feel safe.\n\nAnd that is the one great practical lesson of the day's texts, that\nis why they are recorded in the Bible, that we may have this faith,\nthis comfort and hope. Then in the day of trouble we shall think\nof something more than the mere earthly and temporal look of the\ntrouble; we should all think of God in it, of God guiding it, and of\nHis sheltering and sustaining hand in it. Then when we are sick, our\nthoughts would not be so taken up with the mere pains and annoyances\nwe suffer, the probabilities or the improbabilities of our getting\nback to health and strength again; but whether we get better or not,\nthe remembrance of the Hand of our Savior in it will make us feel\neasy, submissive, and patient under it, as no other strength can.\nAnd so with all other trouble. Amid the waves of the sea of life,\nwhich is seldom calm, and often swells into mountainous billows,\nlet us heed the voice of the Savior, \"Be of good cheer, it is I.\"\nLet us toil on. No contrary wind can last forever. After a time we\nshall reach the other shore, and when we touch that, we shall be\ndone with these storms. Then will there be a great calm. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.\n\n     The kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the\n     sea, and gathered of every kind: which, when it was full, they\n     drew to the shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into\n     vessels, but cast the bad away.--_Matt. 13, 47. 48._\n\n\nA number of our Lord's discourses were addressed to those who were\nengaged in agriculture. To such were uttered the parables of the\nsower, of the wicked husbandmen, of the mustard seed, and to-day's\nGospel of the wheat and tares. Others of these discourses were\nspoken more immediately to His own disciples, the most of whom had\nbeen fishermen on the Lake of Galilee, and to them mightily appealed\nan illustration like that which we are about to consider. They had\noften experienced what our Lord so simply describes. They had gone\nforth in their boats to fish, and after they had drawn their nets\nto shore, they had made an examination of what they contained, and\nout of the meshes they had gathered the good into vessels, for sale\nor for use, and that which was worthless they had thrown away. A\nvery simple figure setting forth a very affecting and awakening\ntruth. May the Holy Ghost solemnize our minds and write some abiding\nimpressions on all our hearts!\n\nThe subject divides itself into two parts. It shows us, _I.\nThe present mixed character of the churches_; _II. the future\nseparation_.\n\nThe Kingdom of Heaven, that is, the Church, is likened by our Lord\nto a net cast into the sea. The net spoken of is not the ordinary\ncasting-net, but a seine, or hauling-net, which was sometimes half\na mile in length, leaded below that it might drag the bottom of\nthe sea, and kept above the water with large corks. A net of such\ndimensions will naturally enclose fish of all sizes and kinds, some\nbad and others good, some valuable and others worthless, some in the\nbest condition, others out of season, dead, or putrid, and unfit\nfor human food. And so it is with the net of the Gospel. It is a\nlarge, capacious draw-net; it is not merely let down into one stream\nor river, but it sweeps the ocean, the wide and open sea of the\nworld, and its threads are so strong, so well knitted together that\nscarcely a single fish can escape. In other words, we have here a\npicture of the all-embracing Church of Christ, the preaching of the\nGospel to every nation. But as the divine fishermen, the ministers\nof Christ, cast their net into this universal sea and enclose an\nabundance of human fishes, not all are of the same quality; it's a\nmixed and motley multitude. \"In the visible Church there is a deal\nof trash and rubbish, refuse, and vermin, as well as fish,\" says an\nold commentator.\n\nIn this our own blessed country, where the Gospel is preached in\nnearly 2,000,000 sermons every year, and where churches and chapels\nrear their spires on the right hand and on the left, there are many\nprofessed Christians, and those who belong to the visible Church,\nbut they are not alike. They were baptized in infancy, and many of\nthem renewed their solemn covenant at God's altar in Confirmation.\nBut there their religion ends. They never seek God's face in\nprivate prayer. They profane and desecrate God's holy day. They\nneglect God's sanctuary. They never read God's Word. They are daily\nsupported by God's bounty, but they cherish no more gratitude to the\nAuthor of all their blessings than if they were sticks or stones.\nWhat are such baptized Christians in reality but vile refuse in the\nnet. Others, again, are not so pronounced in their conduct; they do\nobserve to some extent the proprieties of a religious life; they\nare seen now and then inside of God's house, and have their names\nenrolled upon the communicant or membership list of some church,\nsend their children to Sunday-school, and withhold not at times a\ncharitable hand. But, then, that is the whole of their religion.\nThey do not believe in always running to church, in being so awfully\nsanctimonious; a person can be a Christian, read his Bible, and\npray at home just as well.--That's the type of many. It is the form\nwithout the power. The virgin's lamp of profession is there, the oil\nof God's Spirit is not there, or very, very low. And, in addition to\nthese various classes, there is a \"remnant,\" as the Apostle calls\nit, in many places a very small remnant, \"according to the election\nof grace.\" These are they, and some such are now hearing me who\nhave received the truth for the love of it, and who have embraced\nthe Gospel as it has embraced them. They belong not to them that are\n\"good enough,\" and \"if God accepts any one, He cannot pass them by,\"\nbut being convinced by the Holy Ghost that they are poor, soul-sick\nsinners, they seek Christ's blood as their only remedy and Christ's\nrighteousness as their only ground of acceptance, and flee to\nChrist's cross as their only hope, and seek to adorn this doctrine\nby a consistent and holy life and a diligent and conscientious\nattendance upon the Word and Sacraments.\n\nThese, my beloved, are some of the various classes of the mixed\nand motley multitude that are now being gathered into the net, the\noutward church, and yet it is sheer impossibility to distinguish\nbetween them. They are so closely mixed together; people may live\nin the same houses, walk together the same street, sit side by side\nin the same pew, listen to the same preacher, kneel at the same\nsacramental altar, and at last lie down, amid sacred ceremony, in\nthe same burial plot, and yet may be inwardly utterly dissimilar,\nthe one from the other, the one genuine, the other spurious; the\none be finally saved, the other ultimately lost.--This is something\nwhich we cannot determine, which our natural, material eye cannot\ndiscern. But that is the teaching of our text,--there will come a\ntime when this will be made manifest. As in the drag-net, first of\nevery sort are gathered together in the same enclosure only for a\nlittle while, till the nets are drawn in to the shore, so in the\nspiritual net, the outward Church of Christ on earth, the opposite\ndescriptions of mankind are equally enclosed, but only for a season,\na brief season; they will presently be divided. Says our parable:\n\"The kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the\nsea, and gathered of every kind; which, when it was full, they drew\nto the shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but\ncast the bad away.\" When the net shall be full, when the last saved\nof the number of God's elect shall be gathered in, the examination\nwill be made, and the separation will take place. There is a time\nset in God's everlasting purposes,--we know not when, indeed, that\ntime will be according to the measurement of our years, but we know\nthat it will be when the Gospel shall have fulfilled that which it\nhas been sent for; for, according to the Master-Fisher, it must not\nreturn void and empty, but full. And so the net is now filling,\nfaster at some times than at others, all along continuing to be\nfilled until it will be drawn to shore, the shore of eternity; and\nthen will the dividing process take place.\n\nFrom this parable, and from the corresponding one of the wheat\nand the tares, we see what a mistake we make if we expect to\nfind anywhere a perfect Church upon earth. To expect the Church\nto be a community of perfect saints is to expect more than its\ndivine Founder ever expected, according to the words of His own\nparables. There was a Balaam among the prophets of God, and Achan\nin the camp of Israel, a Judas numbered with the twelve apostles,\nan Ananias and Sapphira connected with the first little flock in\nJerusalem. In the Corinthian, Galatian, and Ephesian Churches,\nplanted and superintended by St. Paul, there arose bad ministers and\ndisreputable private Christians. No wonder, then, that in our church\nand charges there should be found reprehensible and undesirable\nmaterial, and no preaching, however powerful and faithful, no\ndiscipline, however strict and prudent, no watchfulness, however\ncareful and ready, can ever make it otherwise. Even to the end of\nthe world the goats will mingle with the sheep, the tares grow up\nwith the wheat, whilst the nets are being filled, the bad fish will\nbe gathered with the good. Perfection is not to be found this side\nof heaven.\n\nThe second error pointed out by this part of our subject is this,\nthat we must not seek, by force or persecution, to get rid of\nwhat _we_ may call putrid or unprofitable fish. Church discipline\nis, indeed, enjoined in the Scripture in regard to doctrine and\nin regard to practice. When Paul writes to Titus: \"Rebuke them\nsharply, that they may be sound in the faith,\" and advises the\nCorinthians concerning the man guilty of incest, \"Put away from\namong yourselves that wicked person,\"--when a person has become\nmanifest as an outspoken disbeliever or as an open transgressor of\nGod's Law, flagrant in his morals, then it becomes incumbent upon a\ncongregation to admonish, to discipline, for the saving of his soul,\nthat person. Church discipline is not intended to cast away, but to\nbring back to proper belief and proper conduct, to save a person's\nsoul, to keep him in the net, by removing his error and inducing him\nto live a decent life. However, if such a one obstinately persists\nin his wickedness, then it commends itself to every one that he can\nno longer be admitted to fellowship.\n\nBut it is not this quality of fish that our parable speaks about. In\nfact, such, to make it plainer, are no fish at all; they are vermin,\nlizards, or whatever species of reptile you wish to name them. A\nman that is outspoken in unbelief and profligate in his morals\nis not within the Gospel net. Christ in this parable is speaking\nof such people as wished to be recognized as Christians, confess\nthemselves as spiritual and converted children of the Kingdom,\nand as long as they do that, we may have our serious doubts as to\ntheir sincerity; we may, as we see their faults and obliqueness of\nconduct, consider their Christianity of a rather dubious specimen\nor type--hypocritical is the common term. But it's not for us to\nread them out of the membership of the saints, much less dare the\nChurch deny them access to the house of God, or resort to external\nforce, police or military measures to enforce her teachings and\npersecute those who differ from her. Has that ever been done, you\nquestion? My dear hearers, the robes of the professing Church are\nred with the blood of saints, because it has failed to heed the\nparables of our consideration to-day. We think of a John Huss, a\nforerunner of the Reformation, taken to the stake at Constance,\nburned as an arch-heretic; of the Albigenses and Waldenses,\npersecuted, slaughtered by the so-called holy Christian Church,\nbanished for no other cause but adherence to their Bibles. We call\nto our remembrance the scenes of the Inquisition, the horrible\ntreatments and tortures, when Rome undertook to separate the bad\nfrom the good, and destroyed thousands of Christians better than\nherself, 18,000 in the Netherlands, 60,000 in France. We can still\nhear the bells tolling on that fatal day, August 24, 1572, called\nSt. Bartholomew's Day, when the signal for a massacre was given that\ncost 30,000 Huguenots their lives in the streets of Paris. Time\nfails us to speak of England and Germany with their gruesome thirty\nyears of religious war, of the countries where fanaticism, armed\nwith the sword, wished to root out what it thought was tares, and\ncast away the bad fish; and let us mark that the Pope resides not\nonly in Rome, but there are a multitude of little popes everywhere,\njudging and pronouncing on one another, with all the stringency and\nself-confidence of their colossal type in Rome, their anathemas,\nand who would, if they could, quickly and radically empty the net.\nBut, says the Savior, let them be gathered together until the day of\nseparation.\n\nAnd by whom, to continue the parable, will the separation be made?\nNot by the fishermen, the ministers; for they are liable to make\ngreat and fatal mistakes. Ministers cannot see people's hearts.\nThey may often think, \"These are God's elect,\" when God says, \"I\nknow them not,\" and the reverse. No, my brethren, ministers will be\nsifted like the rest, themselves be classed either with the wicked\nor the just, and, strange as it may sound, those who have cast the\nnets, may themselves be cast away. God will, therefore, according\nto the parable, employ brighter agents for this important work.\n\"The angels,\" it says, \"shall come forth and sever the wicked from\namong the just.\" The same is told in the parable of the tares. \"The\nreapers are the angels\"; and they will do their work with perfect\naccuracy. They will make no mistakes. The angel that passed over the\nhouses in Egypt committed no error. Every house on whose door-posts\nwas the blood he spared, while in every house where the blood was\nnot seen he left a first-born dead. So, in the separation on the\nfinal day, these celestial reapers will see at a glance who have\nbeen justified by the Lord and sanctified by the Spirit, and who\nhave not. Not one will escape their discerning eye. Oh! what a\nseparation that will be. There will be no haste, no precipitation;\nall will be calm and judicial. The angels will \"sit down,\" as the\nterm is, to denote the calm inquiry and the patient investigation\nof each member of the visible Church; and the good they will then\ngather into vessels, into the mansions above; but the bad will they\ncast away into a furnace of fire, where there shall be wailing and\ngnashing of teeth. Methinks that these concluding words of our\nLord are the most terrible that can be anywhere found, and yet,\nwithal, they are the words of a loving Savior, graciously telling\nus beforehand what the result of the final separation will be. Well\nmay we heed for our instruction the solemn appeal: \"Who hath ears to\nhear, let him hear.\"\n\nThere only remains now for me, to rivet these lessons upon your\nminds, two further remarks: First, be not offended; secondly, be\nnot deceived. Too often do we hear the remark, \"There are too many\nhypocrites in the Church, I don't care to associate with such\npeople.\" You are right, my dear friend; but such a clear-sighted\nperson as you are will certainly not judge a Christian Church by\nthe faulty character of some of its members. Have you remained\nunmarried because some people have proved failures in marriage?\nOr do you keep your children from being educated because some\neducated people are great rascals? Is this the fault of marriage or\neducation? And will you contend that the Word of God and the water\nof Holy Baptism make those who hear and receive it hypocrites and\nspiritual counterfeits? What hollowness of reasoning! You would\nnot spurn the gold because it is embedded in quartz, or discard\nthe diamond because it lies buried in sand, or refuse the daylight\nbecause there is a spot on the sun. You know too well that a cause\nmust be judged by its principles, its teachings, and not by the\nfaults and failures of its adherents. And so when the question\narises as to your connection with the Church of Christ, it is\nfor you to consider the principles and doctrine of that, and act\naccordingly.\n\nAgain, be not deceived. We are all of us, in a sense, in the net;\nand in the net are to be found of every kind, good and bad. Which\nare we? Christ tells us that _many_--not a few--many at the last\nday, will cry to Him, saying, \"Lord, we have heard Thy ministers\npreach, and by them Thou hast taught us in our churches;\" but He\nwill say: \"Depart from me; I never knew you.\" Do you, then, belong\namong the good? _i. e._, those who have their souls appareled in the\ngarments of Christ's goodness? In other words, are you a sincere and\nsimple believer in Christ Jesus? Then shall you be cast into the\nvessels. May God grant us a favorable judgment when the drag-net of\nthe Gospel is drawn to the everlasting shore! Amen.\n\n\n\n\nSEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY.\n\n     Is thine eye evil because I am good?--_Matt. 20, 15._\n\n\nSuch was the question put by the householder, in the parable, to\nthe laborers that murmured against him. He had gone forth early in\nthe morning to hire men for his vineyard. He discovers that those\nengaged at first were not enough, so he continues to go forth at\ndifferent times during the day to the market-place to employ\nothers. With those first hired he had made a stipulated contract,\nfixing the wages at so much; with those later hired no such fixed\nagreement was made, but merely the general promise given that he\nwould pay them whatever was fair and just. In the evening, when the\nwork was over, and the steward ready to pay off the men, he directed\nto give them all one and the same coin; each was to receive a penny,\nthe value of which, considering all things, was about $1.50 in our\npresent-day currency, a common laborer's wage. Whereupon, relates\nthe parable, those who had been in the vineyard all the day thought\nthemselves hardly, unjustly treated. They said, \"These last have\nwrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal with us which\nhave borne the burden of the day.\" \"So I have,\" said the master of\nthe vineyard to one of those murmurers; I have paid you alike, but\nhave you not received your just due, the sum you agreed for? \"Take\nthat thine is, and go thy way. Have I not the right to do as I like\nwith my own money?\" And so, if I choose to remunerate these men\nafter the manner that I have, what hurt or worry is that to thee?\n\"Is thine eye evil because I am good?\"\n\nLet us regard for our study and profit this morning this one\nparticular, \"the evil eye,\" noting _I. its nature_, _II. its cure_.\nAnd may God bless His Word!\n\nWhat, to begin with, is meant by an \"evil eye\"? It may in different\nplaces of the Bible mean different things. What is meant in the text\nis clear enough. The evil eye here is such an eye as the laborers in\nthe vineyard had when they looked askance at their neighbor's good\nfortune. An evil eye, therefore, is a grudging, an envious eye. To\nsay of any one in this sense that he has an evil eye, is the same\nas saying that he is of a grudging, an envious turn of mind. Now,\nthis particular turn of mind is far more common than it ought to\nbe. The divine Householder still has occasion to ask, \"Is thine\neye evil?\" It is a spirit very general, in truth, it is the moral\nepidemic of the world, it is found everywhere, and more or less in\neverybody, yourself, my dear hearers, myself not excepted. We open\nour Bibles, and we read of Ahab, King of Israel, dwelling in the\nmidst of affluence and of plenty, yet he goes to his royal palace,\nheavy and displeased, and lays himself down on his bed and will\nnot eat,--why? His evil eye grudged a poor vineyard which Naboth\nwould not surrender. Haman was the favorite of King Ahasuerus,\nthe mighty ruler of Babylon. All the princes of Persia pay him\nrespect and riches are his; the evil eye has stung his heart, and\nhe says, \"All this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai,\nthe Jew, sitting at the king's gate, who will not bow to me.\" Nor\nis it confined to the rich, this grudging cast of mind. Coming\ndown the ladder of life, who were the people that murmured against\nthe owner of the vineyard? Were they not common laborers, who had\nbeen hired to work for the day, day laborers? And the disease is\nprevalent among them yet to-day. The disposition to grumble and\ntease themselves into dissatisfaction and discontent over the good\nestate of their more favored and fortunate fellow-men, is not this\nthe fundamental heresy of Socialism, the evil eye? Again, coming\nfrom the various classes of men to the different spheres of life,\nin the private and social sphere, what mean those jealousies and\nrivalries that are ever dividing a neighbor from a neighbor, friend\nfrom friend, relatives from relatives? Because the one possesses\nmore of this world's money or goods, because one is more attractive\nand amiable in person, has greater intellectual endowments, is more\npopular, eloquent, skilled, holds a position superior, he becomes\nthe occasion for a brother or a sister or a neighbor to envy him,\nand the butt of all sorts of petty and annoying uncharitableness on\nthe part of relatives. Example: Because he was beloved by his father\nand had dreamed a dream which showed him superior to them, Joseph\nwas hated by his brothers, and they could not speak peaceably to\nhim. No, let us beware of flattering ourselves that this malignant\neye is not in the Church. The vineyard of the parable symbolizes the\nChurch. The minister of the Gospel who looks askance with green-eyed\njealousy at another whose efforts are crowned with greater success\nthan his own; the Sunday-school teacher who throws up the work in\nwounded self-love because some one else occupies the place and\nprestige he or she covets; the over-sensitive member who smarts\nunder the feeling that his or her talents are not sufficiently\nrecognized, their efforts duly respected and flattered, and so\nwithdraws altogether from every kind of cooperation and enterprise,\nmay all look into, and carefully examine, their spiritual eyesight\nin the light of this text.\n\nAnd having regarded the prevalency of the evil eye, what shall we\nsay to it? It is something foolish. It shows a want of thought.\nPeople are envied for their superiority in fortune and estate, but\nthe distinction between the gifts of God to man are not so wide as\nyou may think. The rich man has his park, the poor man can look at\nit and enjoy it without the expense of maintaining it. Some people\nlive in a stately mansion, but they have to pay very heavily for\nthe privilege. The rich man has his valuable picture gallery; but\nto see the sun rise in the morning and set in golden splendor in\nthe evening is a picture such as no human artist can paint. The\npoor man possesses not, it is true, some of the conveniences and\ndelights of the better favored, but, in return, he is free from the\nmany embarrassments to which they are subject. By the simplicity and\nuniformity of his life he is delivered from a variety of cares. His\nplain meal eaten with relish and appetite is more delicious than the\nluxurious banquet. You are acquainted with the story that tells of\nthe king who invited a dissatisfied subject of his realm to visit\nhim in his palace. He put a rich spread before him in his banquet\nhall, and asked him to indulge heartily. But the man instantly\nturned pale, and his appetite was gone, as, accidentally looking up,\nhe beheld a sharp sword suspended by a tiny thread over his head.\nThen why envy the man whom God has gifted with talents of mind and\ntongue? Greater gifts entail greater responsibilities, toil, study,\nand more arduous duties. Foolish!\n\nMoreover, what does all this envy of a fellow-man's better fortune\navail? For me to pine over my neighbor's better fortune, for me to\ncovet his superior talents of mind or beauty of person, will not\nmake me more attractive and talented. What folly, then, because you\nare not so fortunate as another to make yourself miserable over it!\n\"Envy,\" says a certain writer, \"is the source of endless vexation,\nan instrument of self-torture, a rottenness in the bones, a burning,\nfestering ulcer of the soul.\"\n\nBut the evil eye is not only foolish, it is more, it is positively\nsinful, and to indulge in such a spirit leads into all sorts of\nmisery and woe. Because she was envious, Mother Eve stretched out\nher hand, and, eating, brought a blight on Paradise and a curse over\nGod's creation. Because envy filled his heart, the first child born\ninto this world rose up and slew his innocent brother. Because of\nenvy Joseph was cast into the pit by his brothers. Why was David\npersecuted by King Saul? Why did Ahab shed the blood of Naboth? Why\ndid the high priests, the scribes and Pharisees seek the death of\nthe Holiest and Best that ever trod this earth, and did not rest\ntill they fastened their eyes upon His agonizing form on the cross?\nWhat was it? Envy. It has ever been the mother of every evil work\nand vice. And its workings are to-day no different than then. In how\nmany thousand ugly shapes does it show itself!\n\nNow, this is the most important part, how may it be overcome?\nWhat is the remedy, or the remedies, that might be suggested? The\nlaborers had been called into the vineyard, the householder was\nunder no obligation to hire them; that he did so was by his own\nfree choice. In a much higher sense, the heavenly Householder has\nplaced us into this world. He has given us certain things, certain\ntalents; some of us have received more, some less, but all that all\nof us have in body, mind, and estate we have from Him. \"What hast\nthou that thou hast not received?\" \"By the grace of God I am what I\nam.\" Whatever we have we have from God. Seeing this, and that all\nalike are but the recipients of God's gifts, for me to be envious of\nanother, whom God has given more, argues dissatisfaction, discontent\nwith God's will and ways. God well knows how to distribute His\ngifts, and why He distributes them as He does; and so let no one of\nus arraign His providence. You have and receive just what is fair,\nand just that you should receive, and so learn to be content with\nthat. \"Take that thine is, and go thy way.\" That would I suggest\nas the first remedy against envy,--contentment, a sense of the\nconviction that what we have is given us all by grace, God's kind\nfavor, and that He gives us just what is proper and right.\n\nThe second remedy is this, that we bear in mind that envy is the\nspirit of the devil. Heaven and heavenly creatures are never\nenvious; hell and its occupants are aflame with it. Envy is\nagainst the Fifth Commandment, which reads: \"Thou shalt not kill,\"\na disposition of the heart that lusteth unto murder. St. Paul\nclassifies it among the works of the flesh, putting it in such\ncompany as adultery, fornication, idolatry, murder, drunkenness,\nand the like, and over and against such things and associations a\nChristian's mind and conduct is plain. We must fight it and avoid\nit. Not the evil spirit, but the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, is to rule\nin our hearts, and Christ's Spirit is a Spirit of love, not the evil\neye, but the good eye, the eye that wishes good and rejoices in the\ngood of his neighbor. Since we cannot have both an evil and a good\neye, it is for us to consult the heavenly Oculist. Let us pray\nGod to help us against this murderous spirit; it is a work of the\nflesh; in a word, ask Him for the \"good eye,\" and use it. That is,\ncultivate the spirit of rejoicing over the good fortune and success\nof another, giving due recognition to his talents and his endeavors,\nthanking God that, if one cannot himself do it so well, there is\nanother whom He has given the means and ability to serve Him. Remedy\nsecond, then: root it out with God's help. He can do that, and He\nwill do that, if we ask Him.\n\nAnd to come back to the parable, it is only the workman who puts\naside the evil eye that is acceptable in the Lord's vineyard and\ndoes His work well. The person that is always bent on his own honor,\ndignity, and self-consciousness is easily offended, and easily draws\nback. The superiority or success of another unnerves him, and not\ninfrequently he acts like a balking horse. Not so the person who has\nbeen with the Divine Oculist, and has received in the place of the\nevil the good eye. He is willing to pluck grapes in a corner of the\nLord's vineyard where they are not so plentiful and luscious. What\nif there was a St. Paul and an Augustine and a Luther and a Walther,\nand if to-day we have men in the ministry who quite overshadow me?\nShall I for that reason keep my hands from filling grapes into my\nchurch basket? Nevermore. Should you, because you are no church\nofficer or esteemed pillar in the sanctuary? Even if you cannot\npluck some grapes, you may at least hold the basket.\n\nThe Church has a place for everybody; five times did the householder\ngo out to hire laborers. It has a place for you; but when you come,\nleave behind you the evil eye. For that the Church has no place. Let\nevery one think seriously over the text, examine his eyesight, ask\nGod's forgiveness, for Christ's sake, for the sins he has committed\nin this respect, and help with His divine help to overcome it, so\nthat he may be found an approved laborer in God's vineyard. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nSEXAGESIMA SUNDAY.\n\n     Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal\n     life: and they are they which testify of me.--_John 5, 39._\n\n\nThis year marks an event of more than passing interest to the\nEnglish-speaking world, _viz._, the tercentenary or 300th birthday\nof the translation of the Bible. It was in 1611, early in the\nsummer, when, after seven years of the most painstaking labors,\nthe most scholarly men of that time completed and turned over for\npublication their manuscripts. It was styled the King James Version\nor Translation, because it was with the help and patronage of that\nmonarch of England, King James, that it was issued; and so as the\nGermans speak of Dr. Luther's Bible translation, the English speak\nof King James' Version.\n\nIt is this translation of God's Word that lies before us, for though\nin the past three centuries there have been more than a score\nof worthy revisions, none has dislodged this from its place of\nsupremacy, and so it is fitting that grateful mention should be made\nof the glorious work, the blessings of which continue to flow out to\nus whenever we open the holy pages.\n\nIt must be remembered that the Bible, prior to these translations,\nwas a sealed book. One seal was the tyrannical policy of the\nChurch of Rome, that forbade the people to read it for themselves.\nChained to the altar of some cathedral or to the wall of some\nlibrary, like that which Luther discovered in the University at\nErfurt, it was securely clasped and locked. The only persons who\nhad anything to do with it were the monks, who in their dark and\nobscure cells would spend their days mechanically copying the sacred\nparchments. It was in this respect, indeed, a sealed book. Another\nseal were the languages in which it was written, so that, even if\nthe people had possessed a copy, they would for that reason have\nbeen unable to read it; Hebrew, Greek, and Latin were things they\ncould not understand and read. And to this might be added another\nseal, _viz._, that the Church of Rome had well seen to it that the\nmajority of the people could not read at all. Ignorance among the\nmasses was profound.\n\nNow, thank God, no such seals exist. There is no prohibition of\nBible reading in this land. There are to-day more Bibles than ever;\nit is the very best seller of all books, and no one dares forbid\nus to read God's Word as freely as we please. We also have the\nScriptures in our own tongue, and never has there been a time in the\nworld's history when people were as universally able to read. And\nyet, glorious as this all is, is it not true that the Bible is a\nbook that is shut and sealed? Which is that seal? That seal, my dear\nhearers, is one of the people's own making, one that they themselves\nplace upon it,--it is a lack of genuine study of it. They do not\ngo and search the Scriptures that they may learn the wonderful\nthings it has to teach them. If, then, I shall succeed in a measure\nto break that seal, and to stimulate you to Bible study, I shall\nconsider that God has blessed the humble effort of His servant.\n\nWe shall regard this morning: _I. Why you should read your Bibles._\n_II. How you should read them._\n\nWhy you should read them. Because God says so. \"Search the\nScriptures,\" is His plain and authoritative command. We are well\nenough acquainted with the arguments of Rome that would tell us it\nis a great mistake to let every layman read the Bible. See what\nconfusion it has caused. Whence came all these hundred and one\ndifferent sects, these endless conflicting opinions, this skepticism\namong you Protestants? Is it not because you permit every one,\nwithout distinction and discrimination, to read the Bible? To which\nwe answer: By no means. That is not the fault of the Bible. That\nsome have wrested the Scripture to their own harm, misused it, does\nnot do away with its proper use. God has beautifully made this\nworld, and it is full of His blessing; that some, in selfishness and\nsinfulness, abuse it, is not His fault nor that of His gifts. He\nhas given man His only-begotten Son for their salvation; the fact\nthat hundred thousands do not accept and believe in Him is not God's\nfault, nor His Son's, nor His Gospel's, nor His Church's fault. Just\nas destitute of all sound reason it is to place the abuses which\nsome have made with the Bible to the Bible itself.\n\nNo, clearly, distinctly, positively rings out God's command: \"Search\nthe Scriptures.\" He bids us do it. He points to each and every one\nof us, as if to say, \"Thou do it.\" Does it not lie in the very\nnature of the Book? For whom did He cause it to be written? For the\nclergy, that the ministers might have some texts to preach on? No\nmore so than He gave the Ten Commandments only to the clergy. They\nare the universal possession, they are for all the laity as well\nas the clergy. And to whom, as you examine the Inspired Volume,\nare most of its contents directed? There are the fourteen letters,\nor epistles, of St. Paul. A few of them, like those to Timothy and\nTitus, are addressed to a clergyman, but the greater majority are\naddressed to the congregations at Rome, at Ephesus, at Philippi, at\nThessalonica, and so forth, to the members accordingly. Moreover,\nthe direction in many places is, that the hearers should examine\nwhat the preachers say, lest they preach something contrary to the\nScriptures. How could the hearers do this if they were prohibited\nfrom reading the Bible? Away, then, with this opinion that is\ngaining ground, that the Bible is a professional clergyman's\ntext-book, and let the personal application strike home in your own\ncase, Thou shalt search the Scriptures.\n\nAnd one other reason does God furnish us in the text why we should\nread it. He says, \"For in them ye think ye have eternal life; and\nthey are they which testify of me.\" Those are deep, wonderful words;\nthey tell what Bible reading benefits, brings us, _viz._, eternal\nlife. That this present life is not all there is to life, that there\nis a life besides and after this, that all men in all ages and in\nall countries have conjectured; that life is dependent upon a right\nrelation to God, this, too, an inward monitor, called conscience,\nhowever unwelcome may be its voice, tells every one with greater or\nless distinctness; but how man is to get into right relations with\nhis God, to that problem one book, the Bible, and it alone, holds\nthe key. What is that key? The text says it: \"Search the Scriptures;\nfor in them ye think we have eternal life, and they are they which\ntestify of me.\" \"Me,\" is the speaker, Jesus Christ, and doing what\nthe text directs, we find that everywhere does it link \"life\" with\nChrist. \"I,\" says Jesus, \"am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life.\"\n\"I am the Resurrection and the Life.\" \"I am come that ye might have\nlife.\" The writings of the Apostles are full of the same thought:\n\"In Him was life.\" \"He that hath the Son hath life.\" \"He that\nbelieveth not the Son shall not see life.\" \"This is life eternal to\nknow Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.\"\n\nWould we, then, have life, life that is life indeed, spiritual life,\nlife that passes over into eternal life, then must we find it in\nChrist, and this is the teaching of the text, and its application\nto us; to find Christ you must read your Bible. Outside of what the\nBible tells us there is no salvation, no hope, no life. Let that\nthought, I pray you, sink down indelibly into your minds. There are\nsome certain truths which men may know without the Bible,--that\nthere is a God; that this God has certain attributes; that He is\nalmighty, all-knowing, holy, just, gracious; for it is only an\nalmighty Being that could have created, only an all-wise Being\nthat could so adequately have fitted up this universe. Men also\nknow without the Bible that there is a difference between good and\nevil, and that the one is to be done and the other left undone.\nLikewise they have a strong notion that man is immortal, and that\nthere is a future state. These few things men may know without the\nScriptures, and these few even only imperfectly. But when it comes\nto the questions: Who is God? What is His will? What His purposes\ntoward us men, purposes of damnation for offenses and sins committed\nagainst His holiness? What guarantee have you that there is a life\nbeyond this? And what sort of a life is it? Who has ever brought\nus information regarding it? What can afford me peace against a\nconscience that convicts me of wrong and offense against the holy\nGod? When, as stated, it comes to deal with such and innumerable\nother questions, there is only one source of information, one book\nthat can enlighten and instruct us, and that is this Book which\nGod Himself has inspired to be written; in which He has revealed\nHimself, according to His person and His attributes; in which He\nproclaims His plan of salvation for the sinful and condemned race\nof men, and opens out to them with divine assurance the gates of\nimmortality and life. There is none equal to it, nothing like it, it\nstands in a class all to itself,--it is not man's book, but God's.\n\nWouldst thou, then, my dear hearer, know these things that affect\nthy soul, thy salvation, thy everlasting destiny, then take this\nvolume and read. So much as to the first concern, why we should read\nit. Because God commands it. Because of what it brings us. And now\nlet us regard: How should we read it?\n\nHere I would say, first, regularly, with pious consistency. It is\nwell enough for a person to come to church on Sunday. As long as\nhe does that, and attends to what is going on there, his soul is\nnot left altogether without spiritual nourishment. But church comes\nonly once a week, and if the soul gets no spiritual food beyond\nwhat it may pick up there, I leave you to judge whether it is\nlikely to shoot up into a strong and healthy growth of godliness.\nThe First Psalm describes the godly man as delighting in the Law\nof the Lord, and in His Law doth he meditate both day and night.\nTime, indeed, for the most of us may be very limited; but none of\nus--I say that without fear of challenge--but can, if he wishes and\nso wills, find a few minutes to read a verse or two when he comes\nhome in the evening, or before he goes to work in the morning, or\nwhile going to work, and a couple of verses well thought over will\ndo a person more good than whole chapters swallowed without thought.\nResolve to do but this little, my dear hearers, and God, who judges\nus according to our means, and who looked with greater favor on the\ntwo mites of the poor widow than on all the golden offerings of the\nrich, will accept your two verses and enable your souls to grow and\ngain strength by this their daily food. The doctors tell us that our\nhealth is largely determined by the regularity of our habits, and\nthis is as true of our spiritual health as of our bodily. There is\nnone of us who fails to take a glance at the daily paper,--why not\nat the Bible? Be regular.\n\nThen, again, as you have time, read it carefully. That is the\ndirection of the text. The word \"search\" in the original is a very\nstrong one, much stronger than \"read.\" It may be rendered \"ransack.\"\nTurn up and down,--bring all your industry to bear upon the quest.\nOne trouble with our hearers is that they imagine that they are\npretty well familiar with all the Bible has to tell them, and the\nresult is that they miss the wealth of its hidden treasures. But\nthere is no royal road to Bible knowledge. It calls for thought,\nearnest research, and thorough investigation. For that reason every\none, to become right practical, every member of the family should\nhave a Bible of his or her own, of clear type and good paper, and\nof substantial binding. On the margin that Bible ought to have\nthe marginal references of which I spoke to you at length in a\nformer service. In the rear of your Bible have a concordance; there\nyou will find a large number of passages on a certain topic, for\ninstance, prayer. Look them up in your Bible, compare them, and you\nwill learn what the Bible has to say regarding prayer. So of other\nsubjects, such as faith, charity, redemption, and the like. It is\nprofitable and delightful work. It is like digging out gold. You\nwill not mind the labor in the fascinating charm it has for you.\nAnd to this you may add as a most helpful guide a good commentary\nwritten by some sincere lover of God's Word. What other devout and\nlearned students of God's Word have written it is well for us to\nprofit by in our understanding of the precious volume.\n\nNot a charm or an ornament to keep on our shelves or to lock up in\nour closets, not a story-book to read for amusement, is the Bible,\nbut, as the text tells us, the means of giving us eternal life in\nChrist Jesus; and so we ought to make use of it.\n\nThere, then, it is--Holy Bible, Book Divine, our chief treasure in\nthis sin-darkened world, giving strength, comfort, and salvation.\nAh! who should not prize it, read it, search it? God make us\nministers and our members Bible students; how much better ministers,\nhow much better members we would then be!\n\nMay God bless the words of our lips and the meditation of our\nhearts! Amen.\n\n\n\n\nQUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY.\n\n     For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.--_Rom.\n     3, 23._\n\n\nA few days more, and we shall have entered upon Lent. What is Lent?\nLent is a time of several weeks which for ages has been set apart\namong Christians for a period of more than usual seriousness. As\nobserved in our Church, it is a time marked out from the rest of the\nyear as more especially devoted to the contemplation of those vital\ntruths on which our Christian religion is founded. To be brief,\nLenten time with us is Passion time. Passion, in simple English,\nmeans suffering, more particularly, the suffering of Christ.\nAccordingly, Passion time, or Passion tide, is the season when we\nare more especially called upon to commemorate, and call to mind,\nand ponder, and think over the suffering of our Savior, Christ,\nthose scenes announced in the Gospel when He was betrayed into the\nhands of wicked men, and by them was falsely accused, reviled,\nmocked, scourged, crowned with thorns, and at last crucified.\n\nIn order that we might do that in the proper manner, as we ought to\ndo, the Church, from the earliest period, has appointed the forty\ndays of Lent, just as it has appointed the four Sundays in Advent,\nto be a preparation for Christmas. For there are two great seasons\nin the year which it behooves every Christian to conscientiously\nobserve, if he wishes to pay dutiful honor to his Savior.\n\nThe first season is Christmas, in memory of His loving kindness in\ncoming down from heaven, putting on the nature of man. The other\nseason is Lent, to commemorate His dying love. Both these seasons\nare so important, of such moment to the welfare of the soul,\nthat the Church has set apart the four Sundays which come before\nChristmas and the forty days which come before Easter as a time of\npreparation. The wisdom of such an arrangement no one can doubt.\nJust like the early bell on Sunday is meant to call us to get\nready for church, the service of God's house, so Advent and Lent\ncall us to get ready for Christmas and Good Friday. When a musical\ninstrument has been laid by for a while, it needs tuning, or it\nwill make but sorry music. The minds and hearts of most Christians,\ntoo, require to be gotten into tune before they can bear their\npart fitly and harmoniously in the services by which the Church\ncommemorates the death and resurrection of her Lord. And how? What\nis the best way to prepare for a profitable and advantageous Lent?\nThat is conditioned by another question: What was it that delivered\nour blessed Lord into the hands of those wicked men, that caused\nHim that shameful treatment, mockery, and finally nailed Him to\nthe cross? The malice of the chief priest, the treachery of Judas,\nthe cowardice of Pontius Pilate? Deeper, my beloved, deeper; they\nwere but the instrumental, not the procuring cause. The real cause,\nyou know it, was something else,--sin. To do away with, to secure\nthe pardon of that, Christ died. Then it is plain, that in order\nto understand the value of His suffering, to observe that season\naright, we must begin with being convinced of the evil, of the\nexceeding hatefulness and danger of sin.\n\nHere is the first elementary truth which meets us at the threshold\nof Lent, without which it will be of no more value to you than a\nlock without a key, a mine without a shaft; herein consists its best\npreparation, to secure a right conviction of sin. That, God blessing\nthe effort, shall be the intent of our sermon.\n\nWhen the ostrich, scouring along the sandy desert, finds that it\ncannot escape the huntsman, it is said to thrust its head into\na bush, and fancying that the danger which it ceases to see has\nceased to exist, it remains there, quite tranquil, to receive the\ndeath-blow of the huntsman. Poor, senseless, stupid bird! Yet not\none degree more so than is the folly of many who are not birds, but\npossessed of reason and soul. Plenty there are who, shutting their\neyes to the evil, burrowing their heads in the sand-heap of excuses\nand false peace, thus hide until the fatal stroke of death puts an\nend to their earthly career, and opening their eyes in a place where\nthere is no repentance, as the rich man in the parable, they realize\nthat it is too late.\n\nIf we turn to the Bible, it teaches that there are two great classes\nor kinds of sin; and if we turn to the witness within and the\nevidence without, we shall find what the Bible tells us everywhere\ncorroborated and borne out. The one kind of sin is the Original or\nBirth Sin, that all men are naturally engendered, are conceived and\nborn in sin; that is, they are all, from their mother's womb, full\nof evil desires and propensities, and that this is the fountainhead\nof all other, or actual, sins, such as evil thoughts, words, and\ndeeds. There are many who reject this doctrine; they contend that\nwhen man is born into this world, his soul is as pure as the snow\nthat comes down in beautiful flurries from the sky, and as perfect\nas the vessel that passes from the potter's hand; they tell us that\nwe are God's favorite creatures, that He has made us lords of the\ncreation and heirs of eternal life, and that, therefore, it is quite\nimpossible that we should be so prone to sin, as our Church, setting\nforth the doctrine of the Bible in her confession, declares us to\nbe. But they are willfully ignorant. The question whether we are\nprone to sin from our cradles upward is a mere question of fact. One\nhas only to look into one's own heart, and what do you find there,\ngood or evil? You will say, a little of both. Be it so; but tell\nme, or rather tell yourselves, honestly and truly, which of the\ntwo cost you the most trouble to learn, and which of the two comes\nthe easier? Is there a doubt? Does one contract good habits easier\nthan bad, or the reverse? Is it easier for a sober man to become\na drunkard than for a poor, miserable, besotted drunkard to trace\nhis steps back and to become sober? Or, another point of view. Ask\nmothers, accustomed to watch their children from earliest infancy,\nwhether every child that has come under their observation had not\nsomething to learn that was good, and something to unlearn that was\nevil. Now, whence did this evil come from? It cannot have been\ntaught to the child, for the evil showed itself at a time before all\nteaching; it had it naturally. And so it is in other things. The\ngood wheat must be sown and looked after, or it will never amount\nto much. The weeds sprout up and spread of themselves, and it is as\ngreat a labor to keep them down as to get the good wheat up. The\ntruth is, \"Like begetteth like.\" \"In Adam's fall we sinned all.\" The\nfountain was polluted, so is the stream; sin is born in the bone, as\nit were, and without God's help we can no more mend it than a sick\nman can mend and cure himself without the help of a physician.\n\nBut this original sin is not the only kind. Though men deny that,\nthey cannot deny the other, what our Catechism calls Actual Sin.\nLike trees in the forest does it surround them. Where is the man\nthat dares affirm that he has never been guilty of doing what he\nshould never have done, or guilty of not doing what he should have\ndone? Lives there a person so happy as to look back on the past and\nfeel no remorse, or forward to the future and feel no fear? What?\nIs there no page of your history that you would obliterate, no leaf\nthat, with God's permission, you would tear from the book of life's\nstory? To David's prayer, \"Lord, remember not the sins of my youth,\nnor my transgressions,\" have you no solemn and hearty Amen? If you\ncould be carried back to the starting-post, and stood again at your\nmother's knee, and sat again at the old school desk with companions\nthat are now changed, or scattered, or dead, or gone, were you to\nbegin life anew, would you run the selfsame course, would you live\nover the selfsame life? Is there no speech to unsay, no act to undo,\nno day, Sunday, or evening to spend better? No one among those with\nwhom you are now living or among those that have gone before--to\nwhom you would bear yourself otherwise than you have done? Where is\nthere a breathing man that can say: \"I am pure in my heart. I am\nclear from all sin\"? If he does, he deceives himself, the truth is\nnot in him. As well deny your existence as deny the existence of\nactual sin.\n\nBut what men will not deny they will seek to excuse. It were\namusing, if it were not a matter so serious, to observe with what\npalliation and apologies defenses are thrown up by which, after all,\nmen's sins do not look so exceedingly sinful. Thus there be those\nwho say: If we are naturally born to evil, as the Bible says and\nour experience testifies, we cannot help it, and how can it be a\nfault of ours if we do wrong? And how can God blame and punish us\nfor not being better than He made us? It is thus that Scotland's\nfamous poet, Burns, sings:\n\n    Thou knowest that Thou hast formed me\n    With passions wild and strong,\n    And listening to their witching voice\n    Has often led me wrong.\n\nIn other words, I am a sinner, but the fault is not mine, but God's.\n\nOr, again, they ascribe the blame to the power of temptation.\n\"The serpent beguiled me,\" was the excuse of the first sinner; it\nis still, in a more or less measure, the excuse of every sinner.\nTemptation came upon them so suddenly and with such stealth and\nvehemence that it swept them off their feet before they were aware\nof it. Or (once more), like the original sinner, they lay their\nblame upon their fellow-man. \"The woman that Thou gavest to be\nwith me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.\" What parent or\nmother has not discovered, in correcting a disobedient boy, that he\nis uniformly punishing the wrong one? It was always the other boy\nwho brought about the evil act, and so, invariably, it is the bad\ncompany, evil influences, peculiar surroundings, locality, that make\npeople to sin.\n\nWhatever the palliatives and excuses, my beloved hearers, the thing\nwill not do; it is vain and ignoble, and, in part, what has been\nsaid is blasphemy. In the first place, whatever prompted, tempted\nthe act, the act was done by the sinner himself, and not by another;\nhe knew of it, he consented to it, he gave his members and body to\nit. It is also useless to say that he was swept away by temptation.\nThe same excuse might the suicide plead who seeks the river, stands\non its brink, and, leaping in, is swept off to his watery grave. We\ngo down like Samson to Delilah; we stand in the way of sinners, we\nfrequent the places of guilty pleasures, and then, falling, complain\nabout the strength of temptation. Away with all such subterfuges and\nopiates that simply drug the conscience!\n\nWhat is sin? Sin, says God's Word, is the transgression of the Law,\nthe most terrible and abominable thing in this world. Sin is that\nwhich drove man out of Paradise garden, robbed him of the divine\nimage, severed the happy relation between him and his Creator,\nand plunged him into accursedness and misery. Sin is a disease\nwhich turns all moral beauty into rottenness, causes all grief and\ndistress, breaks hearts, and fills our cemeteries, man's worst,\nman's most ruinous and most formidable enemy, that dogs his every\nfootstep in this life, and calls down upon his body and soul the\nwrath and eternal damnation from a God who hates and who punishes\nsin.\n\nWhat greater comfort, then, than to know how and where to receive\ndeliverance and remedy from it. It has been stated before among the\nexcuses that man is born a sinner, and because born so, he cannot be\nblamed for sinning, any more than a sick person for dying. He cannot\nhelp it. That seems very plausible, indeed. It would be very unjust\nto blame a sick person for dying, provided there were no remedies;\nbut in a country where there are plenty of physicians and the sick\nhave only to send for them,--if in such a country a sick man is\nobstinate, and will not send for a physician, nor take the means of\nbeing made well, he is to blame, and if he dies, he is guilty of his\nown death. And suppose now that the physician does not wait to be\nsent for, that he comes of his own accord to the sick man's bedside,\nthat he brings a medicine of rare herbs in his hand, and says to the\nsick man: \"My friend, I heard you were very sick, and so I came to\nsee you and fetch you a medicine which is a certain cure if you take\nit. Never mind your poverty, I ask no payment.\" But the sick man\nrefuses it; he does not like its look, or he finds it is bitter to\ntake, or a neighbor has told him not to heed the physician, and he\ndies. Who is to blame? That's our case precisely. We have a soul's\nsickness. But a great Physician is come to us. He has a dear remedy,\na specific, made of the most precious ingredients, _viz._, His holy,\nprecious blood and His innocent suffering and death. He brings that\nmedicine to our doors. Shall we refuse to take it? Shall we say\nthat we will have none of it? We may do so; there is no compulsion;\nthis heavenly Physician foists Himself on none. But whose shall\nbe the blame, who be the loser? Be wise, then. Lenten time is\nrepenting time. May we, as it says in the Collect, so pass through\nthis holy time of our Lord that we may obtain the pardon of our\nsins. May we enter this incoming season with a solemn earnestness\ntoward spiritual things, with a resolve to spend its days in sacred\ndevotion under the cross, and with sorrow over our past failures\nset ourselves to a better and more consecrated life. And to this may\nthe good Lord graciously incline the hearts of every one of us! Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFIRST SUNDAY IN LENT.\n\n     Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And Moses\n     said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with\n     Amalek; to-morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the\n     rod of God in mine hand. So Joshua did as Moses had said to him\n     and fought with Amalek; And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to\n     the top of the hill. And it came to pass, when Moses held up\n     his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand,\n     Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a\n     stone and put it under him, and he sat thereon: and Aaron and\n     Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other\n     on the other side: And his hands were steady until the going\n     down of the sun. And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people\n     with the edge of the sword.--_Exodus 17, 8-13._\n\n\nAn impressive picture of modern art is that which has for its\nscene the Evil One, the devil, sitting at a table playing a game\nof chess. Bending over the board, with the self-possession of a\nmaster, reclines the adversary of man. At the opposite side is a\nyoung man. There is a look of diabolical glee upon the dark brow of\nSatan, whilst the features of his playmate wear the signs of deepest\nagony; for, alas! that which the youth has staked on the results\nof the game seems hopelessly lost--his immortal soul. Back of the\nyoung man, unseen by him, the artist has painted a calm, benignant\nfigure. It is his guardian angel, or better still, the Angel of the\nCovenant, the Lord, whose heavenly skill at last checkmates the\ndestroyer.\n\nThis is not merely poetic and artist's fancy. It is with no cloudy\nvagueness that the existence of a Spirit of Evil is revealed in the\nHoly Scriptures. There are many these days who are disposed to laugh\nat the account which tells us of man's temptation and fall in the\nGarden as a myth, an Oriental hyperbole, and to characterize the\nclosing chapters of Revelation, which inform us of the Tempter's\nfall and fate, as allegory and romance. But there still remains\nscattered throughout the Bible, in connection with every prominent\nBible character and Bible event, mention of a personal agent of\nevil, the foe of God and the foe of man, bent with restless activity\nand mastery of deceit upon the destruction of souls and the\ncorruption of the creation of God.\n\nNot a matter of speculation is this belief in the existence and\npower of the chief of fallen angels, and far wiser and prudent were\nit if, in place of talking of, people, in humble acceptation of\nGod's Word, would recognize their foe, and seek the strength and\nmeans to contend with him.\n\nWhat we need against the arch-enemy of our souls is the simple faith\nand the bold defiance that breathes forth in the life, the words,\nand the hymns of our great Reformer, a spirit which prompted him to\ndo--what is perhaps only a tradition, yet fully characterizes the\nman--_viz._, that when his mighty imagination had conjured up before\nhim the very form and face of the Wicked One, he took his inkstand\nand hurled it at him, leaving behind, as memento, an ugly spot upon\nthe wall of his study.\n\nIt is of this conflict with the Prince of Darkness that the text\nspeaks.\n\nThree particulars would we note: _I. The foe to be encountered_;\n_II. the weapons employed_; _III. the victory achieved_, and as\nMoses was distinctly bidden by God in the 14th verse of the chapter\nfrom which our text has been taken: \"Write these for a memorial in a\nbook,\" let us write the words spoken for a memorial on the tablet of\nour hearts.\n\nWe meet the people of God in Rephidim engaged in a fierce encounter\nwith the Amalekites. No doubt, the Lord could have led His people\nsafely through the wilderness without any such conflicts if He had\nchosen to do so, but He had His own, wise designs in permitting\nthem. And so with Satan's workings and attacks people may argue and\nspeculate. Why did God ever permit such a dangerous foe to exert\nhis malicious power and tempt mankind? Suffice it to answer: It\nthus seemed good unto Him, and is in perfect accordance with His\nalmightiness and wisdom.\n\nThe Amalekites, the people with whom the Israelites were in\nconflict, were the descendants of Esau, Amalek having been his\ngrandson, and as is wont to be with relatives, unfortunately,\nthe hatred which Esau entertained toward his brother Jacob had\nbecome transplanted upon his children, yea, seems to have grown\nthe more bitter, deeper, and malignant as time progressed. And the\noffspring of both multiplied into a great and prosperous people. The\nAmalekites at this time occupied a large tract of land extending\nfrom the confines of Idumea to the shores of the Red Sea. When,\ntherefore, Israel crossed over and encamped at the Mount of Sinai,\nthey were close upon their borders; but they offered them no injury\nnor provocation, and far from invading their territory, they were\nturning rapidly away from it when Amalek assaulted them, and that in\na most dastardly manner; for, not daring to engage them in front,\nthey smote the hindmost of them, even all that were faint and weary,\nwho had lagged behind and were alike incapable of resistance or\nflight. When Moses became aware of the enemy, he issues command unto\nJoshua, the military leader: \"Choose us out men, and go out, and\nfight with Amalek; to-morrow I will stand on the top of the hill\nwith the rod of God in mine hand.\" \"So Joshua did as Moses had said\nto him, and fought with Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up\nto the top of the hill.\" And whilst the battle was raging in the\nvalley, whilst the swords were clashing, the warriors grappling,\nthe wounded groaning, and the fighting masses surging to and fro\nin fierce and bloody encounter, Moses was stationed upon the brow\nof Mount Sinai, lifting up his hands in prayer and intercession\nto the God of Battles. An encouraging sight! From that ancient\nbattle-ground, a picture and pattern, we would direct our eyes unto\nourselves.\n\nLike as of old, we are warriors of the Lord, soldiers of Jesus\nChrist. We have our Amalek, the old evil Foe, who means deadly woe.\nLet us take our stand by the side of Moses in the mountain, and for\na few moments look at the enemy. Foremost, the leader of the host,\nis that original tempter, deceiver, destroyer, and murderer, that\nWicked One, the Father of Lies, the Prince of Darkness, the roaring\nlion that goes about seeking whom he may destroy. Marshaled around\nhim, as their mighty captain, are legions of lesser spirit-beings\nwhich arithmetic cannot begin to calculate. Scripture tells us that\nSatan could spare seven devils to torment one poor sinner. What,\nthen, must their number be? And as the Amalekites, they hate us\nwith a perfect hatred. Having by their bad ambition and pride lost\nheaven and being hurled to the bottomless pit, they are now most\nbitterly and irreconcilably opposed to everything that stands in\nconnection with the Redeemer and His redeemed. To think that we, who\nare equally fallen into sin, should be restored to grace, accepted\nto the very thrones they have lost, is more than their envy can\nendure. For this reason they pursue us through life, dog our every\nstep, and press us to the very gate of death. What tactics does this\nspiritual enemy employ? As the enemy in the field, by false signals,\nfeigned movements, masked batteries, and every strategic art, seeks\nto conceal his position, disguises his plan of attack, just so our\nspiritual enemies seek to beguile by a thousand stratagems and\nschemes to mislead the unwary and inexperienced and bring to fall\nthe strongest.\n\nAs in the case of the Amalekites, they attack you in your most\nvulnerable points and at a time when you are faint and weakest; and\nthey are as vigilant as they are cunning. Always and everywhere\nthey are on the watch for souls. If you come to the house of God,\nthey are here before you; if you enter your room in prayer, you\ncannot shut them out. By day they compass your path, by night they\nsurround your pillow. Wherever you are they are; whatever you say,\nthey hear it; whatever you do, they perceive it. From our birth to\nour burial--a frightful thought!--we are perpetually watched by\nmyriads of malignant eyes, unclean and accursed spirits, ready to\navail themselves of every opportunity to do us harm and ruin all our\nhopes. Or need we any examples for what harm they have done? Behold\nthat lovely pair fresh from the Creator's hand walking the groves of\nEden, and behold again the outcasts--we know the cause. Observe Job,\nthat perfect man of Uz, robbed of his property and his children,\nand smitten in body with a sore disease. Who was it that instigated\nJudas to betray the Lord, Peter to deny Him, all Jerusalem to clamor\nfor His blood, the Roman governor to condemn Him to the cross? St.\nJohn said in his day that the whole world was lying in the bosom of\nthe Evil One, and it is much the same to this present day. All men\nare more or less subject to his influences, and two-thirds of the\nhuman race controlled by this evil genius. This, then, is the foe\nwith whom we are obliged to contend.\n\nBut how can the lamb cope with the lion? How can we expect to\nconquer that enemy who conquered our first parents in the strength\nof their original purity? Truly, \"With might of ours can naught\nbe done, soon were our loss effected.\" And yet we have nothing\nto fear. We have a precious ally, we battle under a valiant, an\nunconquerable Leader. The Lord of Hosts is with us, just so we are\nfirm in the strife and rightly use the weapons He has furnished\nus. And which are these? Reading the 13th verse of our text, we\nfind it distinctly mentioned: \"And Joshua discomfited Amalek and\nhis people with the edge of the sword.\" And which is our spiritual\nsword? For our enemy being spiritual, it is evident our weapon must\nbe likewise. Saint Paul gives answer when he says in Ephesians:\n\"Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.\" Here,\nthen, Christian warrior, is a weapon, better than Damascus blades.\nWith this our Lord defeated Satan in the wilderness; with this St.\nPeter pierced the hearts of thousands on Pentecost; with this St.\nPaul made Felix tremble, and Agrippa, as he confessed to Paul, was\nalmost persuaded by him to become a Christian; with this Martin\nLuther prevailed against the son of Belial and his besotted minions.\nGrasp it firmly, wield it vigorously. Or do you claim you do not\nknow how? Then permit me to give you a few general directions.\nYou are all familiar with the story of David and Goliath,--how\nthe great champion of the Philistines daily came forth, cursing\nand challenging the people of God, until one day a shepherd lad\nof Bethlehem comes into the camp and with a stone from his sling\nstretches the huge form of the giant flat upon the ground. You, my\nbeloved, are spiritual Davids; the smooth pebbles you have gathered\nup from the brook of God's Word are the holy Ten Commandments;\nlearn to sling these aright, and you are invincible. Are you, for\ninstance, tempted to speak the Lord's name irreverently, then place\npebble, called the second, in your spiritual sling, which says:\n\"Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord, thy God, in vain,\" and\nyour tempter will fall flat like Philistia's giant. Are you tempted\nto negligence, indifference in regard to the Lord's day and the\nLord's house, take No. 3. Would Satan tempt a young Christian to\ndisobedience, to indecency, or an old Christian to dishonesty,\nintemperance, coveteousness,--whatever the sin may be, select the\nproper pebble, and victory is yours. \"This world's prince may still\nscowl fierce as he will, he can harm us none, he's judged, the deed\nis done, one little word can fell him.\" Then, too, let us remember\nthat we are \"more than conquerors through Him that loves us.\" In His\nstrength let us battle. When the devil would deceive us, or seduce\nus into misbelief, despair, and other great shame and vice, let us\ncast ourselves upon Him who vanquished the Evil Foe. His cross is\nour strength. Let us hold that up before him, and he will skulk away\nin sullen retreat. The precious Gospel of Christ will quench all the\nfiery darts of doubt, unbelief, and despair which the hellish enemy\nwould shoot into our hearts. Thus with the Law and the Gospel we can\nconquer him.\n\nNor is this all. Another powerful weapon is placed at our command.\nMost graphically does our text describe it when it says: \"And\nMoses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And it came\nto pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and\nwhen he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.\" The Israelites would\nnot have conquered had they not fought. But the other is equally as\ntrue: they would not have conquered had Moses not prayed. The real\ndecision in the matter seemed not so much in the conflict in the\nvalley as with the man of prayer, the suppliant on the mountain. And\nhere, my dear Christian, still rests your power. Much as people may\nsneer at prayer in these atheistic and skeptic times, prayer is the\nhand that moves the world. \"Satan trembles when he sees the weakest\nsaint upon his knees.\" Our Lord warning Peter addresses him, \"Simon\nPeter, behold, Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift you\nas wheat; but I have prayed for thee\"; and His constant exhortation\nin the sore hour of Gethsemane was, \"Watch and pray lest ye fall\ninto temptation.\" How many a one when he asks himself, How was it\npossible that I should have fallen so deeply and strayed so far from\nmy God? will hear his conscience whisper: You had grown indifferent,\nneglectful in your devotion and your prayers, and hence came your\nfailure. Prayer must be incessant and mutual. Two are better than\none, and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. Moses, Aaron, and\nHur, together they prevailed. Where man and wife join in sacred\ncommunion to the God of families, His blessing will rest upon them,\nand the Evil One be kept at bay. Where a congregation is strong in\ndevout and earnest looking to God, it can accomplish wonders against\nthe Prince of Darkness and the wickedness of the world. When the day\nclosed and the sun had sunk beneath the battle-ground in Rephidim,\nthe victory was won; Amalek was defeated. It was Israel's first\nachievement, but not their last. Amalek continued to harass them,\nand even Saul and David had to take up arms against them. Nor is\nit different with us. The spiritual campaign lasts \"until we draw\nour fleeting breath, till our eyelids close in death\"; hence, \"from\nstrength to strength go on, wrestle, and fight, and pray, tread all\nthe powers of darkness down, and win the well-fought day.\" And if\nat times your hands would grow weary and your knees weak amidst\nthe conflict in the valley, then look up like Israel of old to the\nmountain from whence cometh your help, to that blessed knoll where\nhangs our divine Moses with his arms extended,--look up to the\ncross. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nSECOND SUNDAY IN LENT.\n\n     Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world.--_2\n     Tim. 4, 10._\n\n\nThere is nothing sadder, my beloved hearers, nothing more calculated\nto strike dread into the heart, than the punishment of a deserter\nin the army. The offender is led before his regiment, and after\nthe rehearsal of his disgrace to his fellow-soldiers, his arms\nare pinioned, his eyes bandaged, and an open coffin stands ready\nto receive his lifeless body. The file of soldiers aim at the one\nfluttering heart, and the lightning-like death ends the dreadful\nscene.\n\nAnd why is a deserter's doom made so awful? Simply because the\ncrime of desertion is so great, its demoralizing effect which it\nwould have on the army so fatal, that it must be punished in the\nmost telling and fearful manner. History, both sacred and secular,\nhas put no deeper brand of infamy than on deserters. Benedict\nArnold stands forth as an instance of the one, Judas Iscariot as\nan instance of the other. American history holds up the one before\nus, bandaged, pinioned, shot through with the bullets of a nation's\nabhorrence and malediction, whilst the other, Judas, is a name\ndetested as far as the Bible is read and to the day of doom.\n\nIn our text we read of another deserter. His name is Demas, and the\nApostle Paul has set the mark of infamy upon him.\n\nWho, we question, was this man Demas? And what was the nature of his\noffense? We know very little of his early career, but that little is\nmost favorable. He had been an associate of St. Paul in the ranks\nof Christ's followers. Paul more than once makes honorable mention\nof his name. When he wrote his letter to the Church at Colossae, he\ncoupled the name of Demas with that of St. Luke. He thus writes:\n\"Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas greet you,\" which shows\nthat he must have been favorably known in the Church, and that his\ngreetings must have been highly thought of, else would the apostle\nnot have forwarded them through his own letter.\n\nAnd one more fact do we know of him. He not only professed\nlove toward Christ, but he had once suffered for his Christian\nprofession. He most likely had worn the honorable mark of prison\nchains in the name and for the sake of Christ. In his letter to\nPhilemon, St. Paul, remembering his companions in suffering, writes:\n\"There salute thee Epaphras, my fellow-prisoner in Christ Jesus;\nMarcus, Aristarchus, Demas, and Lucas, my fellow-laborers.\" So the\napostle once wrote from a Roman prison of Demas, and it was from the\nsame prison that he afterwards sadly penned these painful words:\n\"Demas hath forsaken me.\" And why? Did his health fail? Did he go\nto labor elsewhere? Paul tells us: \"Demas hath forsaken me, having\nloved this present world.\" There we have the reason, and it is one\nthat we shall more clearly regard in our instruction these moments.\n\nOn the previous Lord's day we considered the first great enemy of\nour soul, Satan. To-day we come to the second, the world, reserving\nthe third, the flesh, God willing, for next Sunday. To deal\npractically and directly with the matter, let us ask the questions:\n_I. What is worldliness, and how can I tell whether I am worldly or\nnot?_ _II. How can I overcome my worldliness?_ And may God's wisdom\nand blessing attend our meditation!\n\nIf we read our Bible carefully, my beloved, we shall be impressed,\noverwhelmed by the number of Scripture passages which refer to God's\npeople and their relation to this world. These passages are found in\nthe Old Testament and in the New, and they are plain-spoken, their\nown interpretation. In the Old Testament they are such as these:\n\"Deliver my soul from men of the world, who have their portion in\nthis life.\" \"And ye shall be holy unto me, for I, the Lord, am holy,\nand have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.\"\n\nIn the New Testament we find the passages still more explicit and\nmanifold. To begin with, there is nothing that Jesus teaches with\ngreater frequency or with greater positiveness than this fact, that\nwe are to be unworldly in our Christian life. \"Ye are not of the\nworld,\" He declares, \"for I have chosen you out of the world.\" \"Ye\ncannot serve God and mammon.\" \"What shall it profit a man if he\nshould gain the whole world and lose his own soul?\"\n\nAnd as the Master, so His apostles. \"Be not conformed,\" exhorts\nPaul, \"to this world.\" \"Be not unequally yoked together with\nunbelievers.\" \"Come out from among them, and be ye separate.\" James\nwrites: \"The friendship of the world is enmity with God. Whosoever\nwill be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.\" \"True religion\nbefore God is to keep oneself unspotted from the world.\" And to\nfinish our quotations with the words of St. John: \"Love not the\nworld, neither the things that are in the world. If any one love\nthe world, the love of the Father is not in him.\" There is nothing\nuncertain about these statements. Their teaching is clear. They\ndeclare that there is a broad and ineffaceable line of demarcation\nbetween the people of God and the world. They are so far apart\nthat no man can belong to both at the same time. To try to do so\nproduces an absurd piety and a sham, is as foolish as trying to mix\nlight and darkness, oil and water. They refuse to mix. It means\neither--or, one or the other. Either Christianity will have the\nsway, and it will conquer and eradicate the world, or the world will\nhave the sway, and it will efface Christianity. The world proposes a\ncompromise, it is true, but the compromise always means death; that\nis why it proposes it. How imperative, then, that we should analyze\nwhat worldliness is and plant an interrogation in our heart: Am I\nworldly?\n\nWhat, then, is worldliness? There are some who have no difficulty\nwhatever in defining it. \"Worldliness,\" why, that's easily\nexplained; going to races, theaters, balls, playing euchre and\ndressing flashily--that's it. No doubt it is; but worldliness\ndoes not confine itself merely to theaters and balls, cards and\ndress. There are hundreds of people who have never been inside of a\nballroom, rarely or never attended a theater, and yet they may be\nintensely worldly for all that. Worldliness implies something vastly\nmore and deeper. It is something which affects not only the external\nacts of a person, but the heart; something which is determined by\nthe spirit with which we do things, and not so much by the things\nwith which we have to do. It is not the earth, the objects and the\npeople that fill this earth, that we may not love, but the way in\nwhich we love these objects and people that constitute the world.\n\"Worldliness,\" I answer, is a condition of the heart.\n\nLet us look into this a little closer. It has to do with the inner\nspirit of the man or the woman. Demas' mistake was that he loved\nthe world. Did not Paul love the world? Did he not love it when\nhe renounced ease, gain, promotion, and station, and threw his\nwhole soul into the holy effort of saving a poor lost world for\nChrist? Do we not read that God so loved the world that He gave His\nonly-begotten Son? And that only-begotten Son, did He not love the\nworld when He gave His heart's blood to redeem it? Yes, they loved\nit and showed their love by lifting it out of its sinful and guilty\ncondition. In the same way you and I may love the world that we may\ndo it good, and so give more of our time, money, talents, and energy\nto win it back to God.\n\nBut that was not the love that brought Demas to fall, and against\nwhich we are warned. No, something quite different,--the world's\nways, maxims, aims, ease, pleasures, and fascinations. Tradition\ntells us that Demas afterwards became a priest in a heathen temple.\nIf so, it was no doubt because he found more gain in silver and gold\nthan in the service of Christ. How do you regard the things of the\nworld in your heart, and how do you regard the people of the world?\nThat is what determines worldliness. If you love pleasure better\nthan your prayers, any book better than your Bible, any house better\nthan God's, any person better than your Savior, you are worldly. You\nare surrounded by people who do not fear God, who do not keep His\ncommandments, who have no treasure in heaven, no plans or purposes\nwhich extend beyond the grave, minus faith, minus hope, minus all\nspiritual life,--what is your attitude toward such? Do you make your\nchoice of friends from these professed worldly men and women? If so,\nyou are worldly. I assure you some of our worst foes are our ungodly\nfriends.\n\nThen, you may reply, we cannot go into society at all, we must live\nsecluded lives. The Bible does not say that. What it says is that,\nwhen we go into society, we ought to take our Christianity with\nus. Our Lord went into society, and wherever He went, they felt\nthe sacredness which was about Him. You go into society, what is\nthe result? Do you influence it, or are you influenced by it? What\neffect has it upon your religious life and professions? Does it\nsecularize you and make you unfit for prayer? Does it silence your\ntestimony of Christ, and cool down your interest and enthusiasm for\nthe Church? Know, then, that it is making you worldly. A woman who\ncannot be recognized in society as a Christian by her modest dress\nand her pure ways, and the tone and topic of her conversation,\nis a worldling. The man who can do business, and not be known as\na Christian by his business scruples and methods and spirit, is\na worldling. If a worldling can truthfully say of you, \"He is no\nbetter than I am,\" you are a worldling. If you live as a worldling,\nyou are a worldling. That needs no argument. But, after all, be it\nnoted that, however it manifests itself in manner, dress, social\ncompanionship, and conduct, worldliness primarily is a temper,\nspirit, and disposition of the heart. \"As a man thinketh in his\nheart, so is he.\" The world would have done Demas no harm if he\nhad not loved it. It will do us no harm as long as we keep it out\nof our hearts. But here is where lurks the very danger,--it so\neasily, so silently, and very gradually insinuates itself into the\nheart. To use an illustration: In olden times the sailors, a race\ngiven to superstition, used to tell that somewhere in the Indian\nOcean there was a magnetic rock that rose from the deep with power\nof attraction. Silently a ship was drawn towards this rock, nearer\nand nearer, and gradually one by one the bolts were drawn out of\nthe vessel's side by the magnetic power. The end was that, when\nthe doomed vessel had drawn so near that every bolt and clamp was\nunloosed, the whole fabric fell apart, and the crew and cargo would\nsink down into the waters.\n\nSo stands the magnetic rock of worldliness, enchantments, and\nfascinations. Its attraction is slow, silent, and yet powerfully it\ndraws the soul that comes within its range. Under its spell, bolt\nafter bolt of good resolutions, clamp after clamp of Christian duty\nare drawn out, until at length the whole structure of Christian\nprofession falls together, a pitiable wreck. Attracted by the things\nof time and sense, the affections become chilled, the mind step by\nstep full of the world.\n\nO for the poor victims, thousands of them, equally as promising,\nthat have foundered like this unfortunate Demas! We can see them\nfloating everywhere on the surface of society, like spiritual\ndriftwood, alas! see them in the church keeping up a little outward\nappearance and forms of religion, but generally found absent from\ntheir pew and taking little or no interest in matters of the Church.\n\nAnd in what way, coming to the second consideration, may we\novercome this dangerous evil, worldliness? The Bible does not leave\nus without answer. As worldliness is a disposition of heart, it\nfirst aims at that. We are not to spend our time in saying this\nis worldly and that in formulating absolute and universal rules\nand binding church-members to them. It is not so much a matter of\ncorrect outward conduct as of correct inward principles. If the\nblood is in good condition, the complexion will be. If the heart\nis right, the conduct will be, and so the Apostle, getting at the\nroot of the cause, says: \"Be not conformed to this world, but be\nye transformed,\" by the renewing of your minds. Christianity is a\nspiritual power. When the soul opens to it, the Holy Spirit resets\nand new-creates the spirit of the man, so that he looks away from\nearth to heaven, and from the things of this world to the things\nof God and eternity. Another bent is given to his feelings and his\naims. He walks in the light of a new sun. He feels the presence\nof a new law drawing him in a different direction. He sees with\nother eyes, estimates things by another rule, and is moved by other\nprinciples. And as he yields to this new graft upon his nature, he\ninstinctively realizes what is contrary to it. He does not need\noutward rules, it is plainly told him from within. The written Word\nis at hand to direct in many cases, and in questions of doubt the\nhonest consultation of his own moral sense, the life of faith in the\nsoul, will tell him where the line is to be drawn between him and\nthe world.\n\nAnd to mention one other way. If you would overcome worldliness,\nlook after your associations. The Bible is full of admonitions and\nillustrations to that effect, but one perhaps stands out in boldest\ntype, the story of Lot. He moved out of his simple patriarchal life\ninto Sodom, the world center of his age, and the result you know.\nHis family became hopelessly worldly, he himself without influence\nand power among men, and the end was destruction of his estate and\njudgment upon his unfortunate wife.\n\nIf not quite as disastrous, the result is always the same in\ncharacter. Keep godly associations and connections, attend to\nthe house of God. We need the fellowship of God's people to\nrespiritualize and recharge our depressed Christian lives. It should\nbe a place of strengthening to you. Make its people your special\ncompanions and confidants; have some from among its membership with\nwhom you are on terms of intimacy and friendship. It is wonderful\nhow much we are influenced by our environment and fellowship; let\nus, then, be careful to live with God and with God's people.\n\nTo conclude,--God help us by His grace and Holy Spirit so to live in\nthis world as to live above it and look beyond it, diligently use\nthe means He has given us for strength and fidelity, and preserve us\nfrom the deadly snare of that great enemy of our soul, the godless,\nChristless world. Nor, let us ever remember, can we successfully\nmeet this enemy without looking for strength to that divine source\nupon which our eyes are centered at this season, the cross of our\nadorable Savior. He that kneels in devotion at the foot of the\ncross, that has the love of Him that suffered and died for us upon\nthat cross spread abroad in his heart, cannot divide that heart with\nhis rival, and enemy, and obtain force and power to combat against\nhis assaults. Without Him we can do nothing. With Him we can prevail.\n\n    Grant that I Thy passion view\n    With repentant grieving,\n    Nor Thee crucify anew\n    By unholy living.\n    How could I refuse to shun\n    Every sinful pleasure,\n    Since for me God's only Son\n    Suffered without measure?\n\n    Amen.\n\n\n\n\nTHIRD SUNDAY IN LENT.\n\n     Now when the Pharisee which had bidden Him saw it, he spake\n     within himself, saying, This man, if He were a prophet, would\n     have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth\n     Him; for she is a sinner.--_Luke 7, 39._\n\n\nOur Lord was reclining at a social meal in the house of Simon the\nPharisee, when, unbidden, a woman enters the room, and, standing\nat the feet of Jesus, bursts into tears. She had not come for that\npurpose, but stationed aside of the Lord, she was so overcome\nthat she could not restrain her emotion, and as the tears fall\nthick and fast upon the feet of her Lord, she wipes them with her\nhair, and kissing them, anoints them with costly ointment. The\nwhole transaction is so simple and touching that we feel at once\ninterested in the stranger. It is a question much discussed by Bible\nstudents who this woman was. It has been said it was Mary Magdalene,\nbut that is a mistake; nor was it Mary, the sister of Martha and\nLazarus of Bethany. Her name, for wise and kind reasons, is withheld\nfrom the Church. But we are not left entirely in suspense about her\nhistory.\n\nFrom several incidents in this chapter we infer that she lived\nin the City of Nain where our Lord raised up the widow's son.\nFurthermore, we are told that she was a sinner; that means here,\nshe had abandoned herself to a life of sin and impurity, and\nfinally, it seems quite probable, judging from the precious quality\nof the ointment used, that she was a person of some wealth and\nfortune. What fixes our attention most is that she was a sinner,\nand a penitent sinner at that. What was the precise character\nof her transgression we are not told; but whether she had been\nan adulteress, or, being unmarried, had yielded to her depraved\ndispositions, and was leading a life of criminal voluptuousness,\none thing is certain, she had reason to weep and lament. If she\nwas guilty of the former,--adultery, unfaithfulness to her own\nspouse,--what opinion must a woman form of herself that has\ncommitted this offense? And if she was guilty of the last-named\ntransgression, prostitution, no tears could have been too bitter.\nHuman words fail to describe the condition of a woman who has\narrived at such a depth of dissoluteness as to eradicate every\ndegree of modesty, hand herself over to infamy that overthrows the\nwhole social life, and converts mankind into a state of putrefaction\nand decay. If there is one offense that is calculated to become a\nperpetual source of sorrow, piercing the heart with thousand arrows\nof sad reflection and remorse, fixing daggers in the souls of loving\nparents, and covering one's family with public disgrace, it is the\noffense which defiles the most sacred and inviolable relation of\nhuman life. And however it may be done, we ought never to speak of\nsuch crime in the way of extenuation. Holy Scripture characterizes\nsuch not as pitiable, but as criminal, not as imposed upon, but as\ndeceiving, not as corrupt, but as corrupters, the only course for\nwhom is to do as this penitent, prostrate themselves in tears at\nthe feet of Him who will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the\nsmoking flax.\n\nThese introductory remarks point to us the topic which shall employ\nour further contemplation this morning. We have considered the first\ngreat enemy of our souls, the devil, that wicked spirit who walketh\nabout seeking whom he may devour, and the second, the world, and\nnow we come to the third, the flesh, in contemplating which _we\nshall note a few of the most prevalent forms in which it manifests\nitself_, and secondly, _how we may overcome it_. May God grant His\ndivine blessing!\n\nThere are topics, my beloved, which if a minister treats of them,\nhe will be regarded indelicate and forward, and which if he does\nnot treat of them, he will be charged with timidity and neglect of\nduty. His course, however, is clear. As a faithful steward of divine\ntruth, he must declare the whole counsel of God, irrespective of\ncriticism and fear, lest any man's soul be required at his hands. No\ndiligent attendant of God's house will have failed to have marked\nthe reigning note in the Epistle readings of the last Sundays.\nThat note is a call to purity and sanctity of life. \"Abstain from\nfornication,\"--\"But fornication and all uncleanness, let it not\nbe once named among you, as becometh saints, for ye know that no\nwhoremonger nor unclean person hath any inheritance in the kingdom\nof Christ and of God,\"--solemn words, and not superfluous words\neither, as little now as then, or since the beginning of man's\nsinful career. We turn to the pages of Holy Writ,--what is it that\nbrought on that most terrible calamity, all except eight persons\ngoing down in the waters of a universal flood? The sacred volume\nanswers: \"When man began to multiply on the face of the earth, the\nsons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair, and took\nthem wives of all which they chose. Then it repented the Lord that\nHe had made man,\" and the judgment was let loose for destruction.\nWhat was it that caused Sodom and Gomorrah, the cities of the plain,\nto go down in fire and brimstone? The still gurgling sea of salt\nand death gives back the answer of its brutality and uncleanness.\nWhat caused the twenty and three thousand to perish in one day,\ntheir white carcasses to strew the wilderness sand? Moses tells us:\nfornication, sensuality, and impurity. And who is not bent with\ngrief as he reads of David and of Solomon? And the hearts of mankind\nare as full of impurity now as then, in thoughts, words, deeds,\nand dress. There are spectacles to be seen in places of amusement,\nthere are reports to be read in our public prints, which indicate\nlittle or no improvement, though decking themselves with the name\nof Christian and moral. What St. Paul wrote: \"It is a shame even to\nspeak of these things which are done of them in secret,\" is still\ntrue and too true, alas! of some professed Christians.\n\nFire, my beloved, is a most valuable, an indispensable agent of\nthe human race. What would we do without it? But fire must remain\nwithin bounds. Woe if it overleaps them! Then it becomes a terrible\nand destructive power! Man's body, likewise, is a great and noble\ninstrument, a fine handiwork of God, with powers for good; but it\nmust remain within its bounds, it must always be kept as a servant\nin subjection. Woe to man's happiness and the welfare of others when\nit overleaps its legitimate bounds, and the servant becomes the\nmaster, a tyrant, and a destroyer! \"I keep under my body and bring\nit into subjection,\" says Paul. Our great business as Christians is\nto learn to control our body, its lusts and desires; to subdue and\nmaster it, to bring it into a pure and honorable service, above and\nbeyond its own miserable gratification. \"Dearly beloved,\" writes\nSt. Peter, \"I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from\nfleshly lusts which war against the soul.\" Yes, back in the days of\nMount Sinai, God voiced His will in words of fire and thunder on\nstony tablets: \"Thou shalt not commit adultery,\" which means we are\nto lead a chaste and decent life in word and deed, and each curb,\nguard, and control the sinful desires of the flesh.\n\nNor is this unchastity, the overstepping of the proper relation\nbetween the sexes, the sinful indulgence of man's lower nature,\nthe only temptation that comes from the flesh. From the long list\nenumerated by the Apostle in his letters we shall select one other.\n\nThat is _intemperance_, the too free indulgence in stimulating\ndrinks. Nor can it be questioned that a word in this respect is\noccasionally in place. The history of strong drink is the history of\nruin, of tears, and of blood. It is perhaps the greatest curse that\never scourged the earth. Other evils have slain their thousands, but\nthis has slain its tens of thousands. It is simply impossible to\npicture the crime of which it is the cause. It is the Mississippi\namong the rivers of wretchedness. It is an evil which is limited\nto no age, no nation, no sex, no period and call of life. It has\ntaken the poor man at his toil and the rich man in his palace, the\nstatesman in the halls of legislature, and the workingman on the\nstreet, the preacher in the pulpit, and the layman in the pew, and\nplunged them into a common ruin.\n\nSince the time that Noah came out of the ark and planted vineyards\nand drank of their wines, nearly five thousand years ago, we see\nthe foul and murderous track, destroying some of the mightiest\nintellects, some of the happiest homes, some of the noblest\nspecimens of man. It has supplied every jail, penitentiary,\nalmshouse, and charity hospital with inmates, and flooded every city\nwith bestiality and crime. It empties the pockets, disgraces the\ncharacter, brutalizes the affections, brings disease to the body and\npoison to the intellect. It does infinitely worse,--it bars the soul\nout of heaven; for thus it is written: \"No drunkard shall enter the\nkingdom of heaven.\"\n\nSuch is the result of appetites indulged, what it means when the\nflesh gains the supremacy, when a person turns himself over to\nbecome a slave of his lusts and excesses. Nor let any one say as he\nlooks upon such a miserable victim of this vice: \"I shall never be\nlike him.\" God grant that we may not, but \"let him that thinketh\nhe standeth take heed lest he fall.\" The drunkard once thought the\nsame. No one can be certain that he will not yet fill a drunkard's\ngrave, unless he learn and employ the lessons which God has given us\nto overcome this enemy, the flesh.\n\nAnd which are these lessons, and how may this enemy be overcome?\nWe shall mention two. The first is this: \"Keep thy heart with all\ndiligence.\" Our enemies are not only without, they are within. It\nis our Savior who remarks: \"Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts,\nmurders, adultery, fornication,\" and other shameful sins. And the\nenemies within are the more dangerous, just as a traitor in our\ncity is worse than the enemy without the walls. So, then, our first\nattention must be given to that. Keep, _i. e._, watch, garrison the\nheart.\n\nHow? Keep from thoughts and purposes of sin. As long as we live\nin this sinful body, in the midst of a perverse generation and\nunchastisement, our eyes will behold scenes, our ears hear language,\nour imagination suggest pictures that are impure and lewd, but it's\nfor the Christian to watch that such gazes of the eye do not become\npurposeful, not to permit the imagination loose reins and range,\nthat unvirtuous thoughts are not indulged in, but repressed; as Dr.\nLuther expresses it: \"You cannot prevent the devil from shooting\narrows of evil thoughts into your heart, but take care that you do\nnot let such arrows stick and grow there.\"\n\nThe young Christian, who buys a ticket to the average theater,\nwith its abounding sensualities, has no right to complain if his\nimagination is impure. Can any one take coals of fire into his bosom\nand not be burned, handle pitch and not be soiled? The man and woman\nwho delight in reading lewd books, sensational, spicy newspaper\nreports, who gaze upon indecent pictures, suggestive sights as they\nare euphemistically termed, who listen to smutty stories, evil\ncommunications, foolish jestings, as St. Paul calls them; the woman\nwho mixes in loose company, dresses indecently, and allows the\nthoughts to dwell upon any subjects which connect with such sin,\nneed not wonder if the heart is invaded and influenced with unholy\nsentiments, and fleshly appetites run riot. Guard your heart, what\ntranspires therein, and what enters in, with all diligence.\n\nIt was a wise man, in fact, the wisest of all men, one who, speaking\nfrom own sad experience, gave this advice. Heed it, my dear hearer,\nheed it!\n\nAnd, again, the second lesson furnished by the holy Apostle is this:\n\"Walk in the spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the\nflesh.\" There is a mine of wisdom in that. Our religion not only\ntells us what not to do, it also tells us what to do; it is not\nonly negative, it is positive. There are two ways of dealing with\ntemptation. The one way is negative, the other is positive. \"Thou\nshalt not commit adultery,\" that is negative. We are to eradicate\nvice, that is positive.\n\nThe effectual safeguard against drink is not prohibition. Neither\nthe most cunningly devised laws, nor the most unrelenting\npersecution of liquor dealers, nor any other device of man can\narrest this terrible evil. To successfully combat it, to make the\npoor victim a worthy and honored member of society, requires some\nstronger and firmer basis, some more controlling motive than mere\nearthly considerations. \"Put on the Lord Jesus,\" is St. Paul's plain\ndirection, \"and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the\nlusts thereof.\" The eye that has gazed upon the cross of Calvary\nwith penitence and faith, the heart that has been regenerated by the\nwashing of the Holy Ghost, and in whose soul is diffused the Spirit\nof God, and who strives to walk in the Spirit, he, and only he, can\nescape the temptations of the dreaded serpent of intemperance. And\nso, whatever the habit, you cannot wrestle successfully with a\nvicious habit, unless you cultivate a higher and different taste, a\nlove for the things of God's Spirit. Life, to be safe, must stand\nfor something, not simply against something, must express itself in\nthe spirit, not simply suppress itself in the lust of the flesh.\n\nFrom away back in the past comes to us a voice, the voice of a young\nman who, when tempted by the dark-eyed adulteress in Egypt, said:\n\"How, then, can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?\"\nOh, that the young and the old would let these words of Joseph\nincessantly ring in their ears! A positive attachment, devotion to\nGod will prompt us to be and to do what He wants you to be and to\ndo, and as it inspires you to do what is right, it keeps you from\ndoing that which is wrong.\n\nAnd here again, to conclude, in our combat against this enemy of our\nsoul we cannot stand upright unless we have some mightier power to\nsustain us. We know as Lenten Christians whence this power flows.\nHow can any one who has looked up to that divine Sufferer in faith\ncrucify Him anew by unholy living? The thought of what He has done\nfor us, the love that prompted Him to shed His holy, precious\nblood for our sins, will restrain us from falling a victim to this\ninsidious and wicked enemy. The Lord grant us repentance over past\nfalls, gracious forgiveness, and strength!\n\n    Plenteous grace with Thee is found,\n    Grace to cover all my sin;\n    Let the healing streams abound,\n    Make and keep me pure within.\n\n    Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT.\n\n     Woe unto the world because of offenses! For it must needs be\n     that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense\n     cometh!--_Matt. 18, 7._\n\n\nIt has grown a custom with us to regard on this particular Sunday\nsome particular phase of sin. Now there is a sin which very many\npeople think little about; that is the sin of making others sin.\nThey feel that they are accountable for their own sins, the sins\nof their hands, tongues, and thoughts, but as to responsibility for\nwhat others have done, they feel no guilt that belongs exclusively\nto them. And yet, when one reflects on the matter; when we consider\nhow we are all bound up with one another, what influence we exert,\nwhat our words and deeds cause others to do, how, without our\nknowing it, others have taken our example to encourage themselves\nin what is wrong, thinking they could not go wrong if following in\nour steps; when we reflect that the first sin committed in the world\nwas the sin of making others sin, that of the devil tempting Eve to\ndisobey God, and that the first evil consequence of man's fall was\nthat Eve, when she had sinned herself, was to make her husband sin\nalso,--we begin to realize that it is a real sin, and a common sin,\nthe sin of making others do wrong; nor can there be any doubt or\nmistake as to our Lord's judgment concerning it.\n\nOur blessed Savior, in the course of His ministry, denounced woes\nupon other sins. He said: \"Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto thee,\nBethsaida! Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Woe unto\nthat man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!\" But when He said: \"Woe\nunto the world because of offenses!\" He qualifies it; He bitterly\nadds: \"For it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man\nby whom the offense cometh! It were better for him that a millstone\nwere hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth\nof the sea.\" It could have been no ordinary occasion, it can be\nno common sin that could have drawn from the merciful lips of our\nRedeemer, that could have wrung from His loving heart, so tremendous\na condemnation.\n\nLet us regard, then, _I. In what way we may cause others to sin.\nII. How we may prevent it._ May God's Spirit make the words spoken\nprofitable and instructive to every one of you!\n\nCausing others to sin may be done in two ways: by direct temptation\nand by evil example. Sin loves companionship; having done wrong\nthemselves, men look for others to do wrong with them. There are but\nfew sins that men can do alone. They require some one to sin with\nthem.\n\nThere is nothing an infidel loves so much as when he can gain the\near of some unsophisticated person to fill his mind with ungodliness\nand infamy. The vile libertine never gloats more in fiendish glee\nthan when he can, by flattery or love of dress and amusement,\nmake some innocent girl the tool of his debauched sensuality.\nIt seems the delight of some to teach others the habit of taking\nGod's name in vain. What shall we say of those foul brothels that,\nlike poisonous mushrooms, pollute our cities, leading men's steps\ndown to the house of the strange woman; what of the conventional\ndrinking-houses and pool-rooms and gambling dens, the haunts of\nprofanity, intemperance, and profligacy; what of the playhouses\nwith their usual performances, beautifying vice and placing a low\nestimate on marriage and morals? What are those but just so many\nplaces and occasions of direct temptation to sin? And those who\nconduct and foster them are under the condemnation of this text.\nWhat are they but vultures that feed on the carrion of sin, making\nmen's lusts and depraved animal passions a source of ungodly gain?\nNo words would be a more truthful sign to place over the entrance of\nsuch places than these of Matt. 18, 7: \"Woe unto the world because\nof offenses! For it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to\nthat man by whom the offense cometh!\"\n\nBut this is not the only way in which men may transgress this text.\nThere are, be it said to the credit of our race, men who have not\nmuch scruple about doing wrong themselves, but who have not so far\nlost nobleness and generosity of mind as not to shrink from directly\ntempting others who are as yet free from guilt. They think little of\nthe sin themselves, still they would not have others share their bad\nexperience. However, though they would not like to bring on their\nsouls the sin of directly tempting others, they forget what judgment\nthey are heaping on themselves by their evil example. And here it is\nthat we are all more or less concerned.\n\nIt may be well to observe that in the paragraph preceding our text\nthe Lord is speaking of little children, and so, we may consider,\nfirst, the responsibility of parents. There are but few parents who\ndo not desire to bring up their children well, and to this end are\ncareful to teach them to be truthful and honest, pure, gentle, and\nunselfish. But of how little avail to teach these things as theories\nand principles when the example which parents set is precisely the\nopposite to their teaching! When the head of the family commands\nhis children to attend divine service, but himself does not, what,\nin fact, is he teaching but to stay away? Or does he think for one\nmoment that the children are so foolish as not to reason thus: If it\nwere really my duty to go to church, would not my father go himself?\nWhy do what my father fails to do? Or if the wife and mother is\nseen by her offspring to practice deception in little things,\nresorts readily to untruth, is not \"in\" when she is \"in,\" and the\nlike, how quick they are to notice it, and grow up to think that\ntruth and honesty are to be held as theories, rather than practiced\nas virtues. Nor need we restrict it merely to the home sphere, it\napplies to every other, school, college, workshop, friendship.\nWithout limit is the effect of unconscious example. We uttered it as\na mere joke, or what we styled as a harmless way of getting out of a\ndifficulty, but the falsehood we uttered has stuck, and taken root\nin some one's mind near us, and blossomed into a full-blown way of\nlying, which he says he learned from us, and defends by our example.\n\nBecause when we were young, we looked up and trusted and admired\nsome one, a teacher, a friend, on account of their attractiveness,\nor brilliancy, or personal magnetism, we imitated them, and that,\nperhaps, in things not at all commendable. And what we have done\nand do, others in time do with us. The minister who will tell\nhis members and catechumens, You must mind only what I preach\nand not what I _do_, is a caricature and disgrace to his office.\nThe religious teacher of the Sunday-school who goes to places of\nfrolic, and is seen by his or her pupils, or by the grown sisters\nand brothers of these pupils, who then defend their presence there\nbecause they, the teachers of religion, were there,--such teachers\nare dropping evil seed which strengthens others in wickedness, and\ndo well to examine their conduct and character under the sharp lens\nof this text.\n\nThe young man or, for all that, he, too, of advanced years, who is\nseen seeking his couch in the late hours of night, or the small\nhours of morn, apart from his family and the companionship of\nreputable associates, may also reflect how this is likely to affect\nthe honor and peace of the home, and serve as an example for others.\n\nEnough has been said, I take it, to make plain what is meant. And is\nthis a sin to think little of? Let us awake to our responsibility!\nNo man liveth to himself. The moral impulse, the influence we exert,\nthe example we set, God holds us answerable for them.\n\nWhat, then, to come to the next particular, shall we do if we have\nbecome guilty in this respect? I was once told of a man who on his\ndeathbed had something on his conscience which greatly disturbed\nhim. He had not been a bad man, from the world's standpoint, and\nit was only a boyish freak. What he related was this: \"I was going\nacross a common one day, and I saw a sign-post at the crossroads,\npointing the way to two different places. The post was old, the sign\neasily removed, and so for fun I took down the arms and changed\nthem, so as to make them point to the wrong roads. It was a foolish\nthing, but of late years it has continually haunted me. And now on\nmy deathbed it greatly troubles me to think how many a poor, weary\nman crossing that common I have sent on the wrong road.\"\n\nBeloved, this is a parable of life, nor leave it till you are on\nyour deathbed. Think if by your example you have ever sent any poor\nfellow-creature toiling across the common of this life on the wrong\nroad, the road which leads to destruction, instead of the narrow way\nwhich leads to heaven! Think if by any example of yours you have\nremoved the guiding post which would have led the man aright had you\nnot pointed out the wrong way, and if your conscience accuse you of\nthis, repent of your guilt and ask God honestly and humbly for His\nforgiveness. That is the first thing we ought to do.\n\nAnd, in the second place, we must give most careful heed to\nourselves. One thing we must never forget: we are Christians,\nChrist's disciples, and concerning His disciples, Christ says: \"Ye\nare the salt of the earth, ye are the light of the world.\" That\nis their distinctive property, their mission. Salt is an active\nprinciple; it works, and purifies, and diffuses its saltiness.\nSo, too, it behooves us, by speech and pen, by example and\ninfluence, by suffrage and legislation, by every agency in our\npower, to set ourselves against the social sins of our land and\nage,--intemperance, Lord's day desecration, uncharitableness,\nlewdness, insubordination, which, like cancers, have fastened\nthemselves upon the moral and religious life of our nation, and are\nfast destroying its vitality. We are to be a salt, a savor of moral\nhealth to all who come into contact with us, and a light, so the\nSavior directs. \"Let your light so shine before men that they may\nsee your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.\"\n\nWe had respect to the evil example of parents,--why,\ncorrespondingly, should it not make for good? We find not uncommonly\nthat the child catches the words, nay, even the tone of voice which\nhe has heard his father use. Will he not be still more likely to\ncatch his other habits?--to be mild and kind, sober and industrious,\nif the manner and behavior of his father are marked by mildness,\nkindness, sobriety, and diligence? And so in all deportments. They\nare familiar lines, fraught with deep thought:\n\n    Lives of great men all remind us,\n    We can make our lives sublime,\n    And departing, leave behind us\n    Footprints on the sands of time.\n\nLet's leave some such footprints, some stimulating, ennobling\ninfluence and example, around and behind us.\n\nThese, then, are the truths presented by the text. Let them be\nseriously and deeply considered. May God by His grace deliver us\nfrom the bitter \"woe\" of having given offense, causing others to\nsin, and grant us wisdom and power to turn many into the right way\nthrough faith in Christ Jesus, the Savior of sinners. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT.\n\n     When I see the blood, I will pass over you.--_Exodus 12, 13._\n\n\nThe one grand theme, the central, all-pervading subject of the\nBible, from beginning to end, is redemption by the blood of Christ.\nIt matters not who held the pen, whether Moses in the land of\nMidian, or David in the mountains of Israel, or Daniel in the court\nof Babylon, Paul, a prisoner at Rome, or John amid the bleak rocks\nof the Isle of Patmos,--one golden thread runs through all their\nrecords.\n\nJust as in an orchestra the various notes and chords of the\nmusicians' instruments express the one central idea of the\ncomposition they are rendering, so whatever chords are touched by\nthe hands of the holy writers in God's Book, one keynote vibrates,\nthat is, _salvation through the blood of the Lamb_.\n\n\"The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin,\"\nis the testimony of St. John. \"Ye know that ye were redeemed by the\nprecious blood of Christ,\" is the plea of Saint Peter. \"Justified\nby His blood,\" is the Gospel of St. Paul. And the voices of heaven\nblend with those of earth, for thus is the saints' eternal song:\n\"Worthy is the Lamb that was slain and hath redeemed us to God\nby His blood.\" And this is the Church's theme on this particular\nSunday, as it reads in the Epistle: \"Christ by His blood hath\nobtained eternal redemption for us.\" The past Sundays in Lent have\nwe been seeking to learn what sin is and what sin does; how could we\nmore appropriately spend this service than to consider how we may be\nsaved from sin, and in that may the Scripture selected profitably\naid us.\n\nEight times had Pharaoh's hardened heart brought sorrow upon the\npeople of Egypt. As one calamity after another was fulfilled, he\nseemed softened for a while and willing to comply with God's command\nto let His people Israel go, but no sooner was the pressing plague\nremoved than he again defied the Lord of heaven. And now the tenth,\nthe last and most dreadful and desolating of visitations, was to be\nsent. The king and his people are informed that, if Israel were not\nallowed straightway to depart, the first-born in every home shall,\nat one and the same hour, be slain.\n\nBut before the destroying angel started on his sorrowful mission,\nthe Israelites were directed to kill a lamb, to take its blood and\nbesprinkle therewith the headpiece and the two sideposts of their\ndwellings. This was God's sacred mark. Wherever that crimson sign\nwould appear, the messenger of judgment was to pass over and spare.\n\nIt was as told. At the hour of midnight the avenging angel swept\nover the land. All the first-born were slain. Not a house where\nthere was not one dead. In Pharaoh's palace and in the pauper's\nhovel, stricken hearts bewailed the countenance of their eldest\nsuddenly darkened by death. Only in the houses of the Hebrews there\nwas security and peace, because the blood was on their doors. Such\nis the simple historical event connected with our text, designed by\nGod to foreshadow a far greater and more important event, an event\nthat was to bear upon the whole race of man wherever, whenever, and\nhowever found.\n\nThree leading thoughts are suggested thereby: _I. All men, like the\ninhabitants of Egypt, are exposed to the destruction and penalty\nof death._ _II. A means of escape has been supplied._ _III. One\ncondition that connects with that escape._ And may God's Holy Spirit\nwork enlightenment and conviction!\n\nThat man, to take up the first point, is exposed to destruction\nand death, is the clear and abundant testimony of Scripture, and\nit tells why. \"All have sinned,\" it says, and, \"The wages of sin\nis _death_.\" \"The soul that sinneth, it shall die.\" And is there a\nsingle heart among the sons and daughters of Adam that dare offer\nremonstrance?\n\nSince the time that the first human pair, smitten by the sense\nof guilt, hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among\nthe trees of the garden, and their first-born son, with his hands\nreddened by a brother's blood, declared that his punishment was\ngreater than he could bear, down to the ignoble disciple who,\nafter selling the life of his Master for filthy lucre, unable to\nbear the upbraidings of conscience, went and hanged himself, the\nconsciousness of having broken God's Law and exposed one's self to\nthe righteous displeasure of the great Lawgiver, has haunted and\npained man everywhere and at all times, and filled him with a fear\nwhich all his own efforts and every human appliance is powerless to\nremove. Why go farther than our own selves? Is there a person here\nwho can declare that never for a moment has his soul's surface been\ndisturbed by feelings of regret, who can truthfully affirm that\nhe has never known what it means to experience remorse for duty\nneglected, for wrong spoken or done? We have sought on previous\nSundays to drive home to your conscience the terrors of the law on\nmatters of the Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Commandments; and do you\nmean to say that in a review of your past life you have no slightest\npain of self-reproach along these lines? If not, then your spirit\nhas been cast in a different mold from all others, or your memory\nand conscience are both fast asleep. I take it that all are ready\nto acknowledge not only that there is a law, a law written in God's\nWord, as well as in your own hearts, but that we have also broken\nthat law time and again, and thereby--to quote the familiar words\nof our Catechism--\"have we exposed ourselves to God's wrath and\ndispleasure, temporal death, and eternal damnation.\"\n\nThis is the A B C of Christianity. And is there a way of escape, as\nin the case of Egypt's death and destruction? no possibility of its\nbeing said: \"I will pass over you\"? Ah, it is here that we come to\nthe heart and center of our holy religion, its pith and core, its\nHoliest of Holy. Sprinkled upon the headpieces and the two posts of\ntheir doors was the blood, God's own sacred mark. A lamb, none over\na year old, none with the slightest taint or blemish upon it, was\nmade to yield up its life in sacrifice to secure that blood. Need\nI inform you what that typified, of whom that lamb was a type and\nshadow? That unblemished lamb of sacrifice referred to Christ, \"the\nLamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.\" That innocent\nblood which turned aside the angel of death foreshowed the blood of\nChrist, who through the Spirit offered Himself without spot to God.\nYonder upon that post with its two beams, reddened by crimson drops,\nis the fulfillment, the realization, of it all. Simple, is it not?\n\nGod, by the application of a coat of blood upon its homes, could\nredeem Israel from the avenging stroke. It was not for any among\nthem to speculate about it, to doubt and refuse it. To do so would\nhave meant disaster. Only in that blood was security, safety, and\ndeliverance.\n\nThere are many these days who are offended at the blood doctrine\nof the cross; they will have none of it; it's puerile to them.\nThey know not whereof they speak. It reflects Heaven's profoundest\nwisdom; it was thus, and only thus, that the authority and dignity\nof God's Law could be maintained, and yet the transgressor pass\nunpunished.\n\nThe supreme, the perfect and sinless Lawgiver Himself, even the\neternal Son, bearing the penalty in the room of those by whom it\nhad been incurred, and on whom it must otherwise and most justly\nhave fallen,--this is the only way in which peace could have been\nreinstated between God and man, deliverance made possible. And this,\neven this, is the great burden of the Gospel message, the only balm\nof peace to the troubled soul, the only solid ground of hope for\nanother life,--without which all in this world would be darkness,\ndisorder, and despair. Imagine a prisoner under sentence of death\nin his lonely cell; the last morning sun he ever expects to gaze on\nstreaming through his grated window, and the sound of busy hammers\nerecting his gallows ringing in his ears, and, then, unbar the\nbolts of his prison, and instead of leading him out to execution,\nput into his hands the Governor's pardon, and bid him go forth and\nenjoy till life's latest time the best and sweetest it can offer.\nOr think of a crew of voyagers on a dark and stormy sea, a fearful\nhurricane above, all around perilous rocks and quicksand, and the\nvessel threatening every moment to part asunder below,--think of\nthem wafted all at once into a peaceful harbor and landed on a\nhospitable shore. Figure yourselves placed in such and kindred\nperilous circumstances, and followed by a like happy deliverance,\nand you will still have only a dim shadow of the glorious and\nblessed reality to which our text points. Far more terrible than\nbodily bondage, more appalling than death of the body, is the terror\nand the doom that attends a soul exposed to the extent of God's\nwrath and destruction, and from that--deliverance, safety, and\nescape through the blood of the Lamb.\n\nThere is, however, one point still that practically and to each of\nus is the most important of all. It is not said simply: \"I will\npass over you,\" but, \"When I see the blood, I will pass over you.\"\nIt was not enough that the paschal lamb had been slain. Nor was it\nsufficient that the Most High Lamb merely purpose to spare them as\nHis chosen people. If they would escape the calamity that was to\nfall upon their heathen oppressors, they must sprinkle the blood\nof that lamb openly on the posts of their doors. And even so it is\nnot enough that God will have all men to be saved and come unto\nthe knowledge of the truth; not enough that the Lamb of God was\nslain to take away the sins of a guilty world, unless that blood is\nsprinkled by faith on the heart, unless, in other words, Christ is\ntaken by each separately and individually as his or her Savior. It\nis faith which forms the grand connecting link between the priceless\nblessings of redemption and the perishing sinner's soul. What avails\nit to the wretch who is being borne down by a rapid current nearer\nand nearer to the fatal cataract to throw him a rope if he will not\ngrasp it? Or what to him whose dwelling is in flames, to place a\nladder for his rescue, if he will not so much as step upon it? Even\nso, what will it serve any of us, but only fearfully to heighten\nour condemnation, to be told of the great salvation, and have that\nsalvation pressed on us in almost every form of persuasive appeal,\nas the only means of escape from death and destruction, if we still\nrefuse to it the homage of our hearts, and deem ourselves perfectly\nsafe without, and treat it as an idle tale?\n\nChrist's blood has been shed, but before it can work its wonders,\ncan stay the arm of divine Justice uplifted to smite, that blood\nmust be sprinkled, too; and the reason why it is not sprinkled on\nsome, why it is not sprinkled on all who have heard of it, why all\nsuch do not feel in their hearts and display in their lives its\ncleansing, sanctifying power, is, and can only be, their willful,\nstubborn unbelief. How it is with you whom I am now addressing it is\nnot for me to say.\n\nThose only who are thus marked have any right to count themselves\nto the Lord's people, and to set themselves at the Savior's table.\nLet us hold, not as a dry doctrine, but as a blessed truth, that\napart from Christ's blood there is no salvation. Let us fix our\nhearts with deeper and more prayerful love on Him; let it be ours\nwith a glow of spiritual fervor, a joy with which nothing else will\ncompare, to confess:\n\n    My hope is built on nothing less\n    Than Jesus' blood and righteousness.\n\n    Amen.\n\n\n\n\nPALM SUNDAY.\n\n     And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell\n     there, and make there an altar unto God that appeared unto thee\n     when thou fleddest from the face of Esau, thy brother. Then\n     Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him,\n     Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and\n     change your garments. And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and\n     I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day\n     of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.--_Gen.\n     35, 1-3._\n\n\nThe passage before us refers to a very interesting part in the\nhistory of Jacob. To escape the fury of his brother, Esau, whom he\nhad deprived of the patriarchal blessing, Jacob, at the proposal\nof his mother, Rebecca, flees to the house of his uncle, Laban. On\nthe first night of his journey he dreamed he saw a ladder reaching\nfrom earth to heaven, angels ascending and descending upon it, God\nstanding at the top; and God also speaks to the poor pilgrim resting\non a stone beneath. He assures Jacob that He was the Lord God \"of\nAbraham, thy father, and the God of Isaac.\" He promises to give the\nland of Canaan to his seed, to render his offspring illustrious\nand innumerable as the stars of heaven, and finally, in one of\nhis descendants, to bless all the families of the earth; and to\naccommodate Himself still more to the condition in which Jacob then\nwas, He added: \"And behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in\nall places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this\nland; for I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have\nspoken to thee of.\"\n\nDeeply impressed with this vision of God's presence, Jacob arose.\nBut before he proceeded upon his journey, he vowed a vow, saying:\n\"If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and\nwill give me bread to eat and raiment to put on, so that I come\nagain to my father's house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God,\nand this stone which I have set for a pillar shall be God's house,\nand of all that Thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto\nThee.\"\n\nTwenty years had passed since that occasion, years of hard service\nand vexation, when Jacob resolves to return home. He crosses the\nFord of Jabbok, where he wrestled with the Angel, and comes to\nShalem. Here he buys a piece of ground, builds an altar, and lingers\nfor seven or eight years; he was now enjoying the delights, the\ncomforts of home and of plenty. God had fulfilled His engagement\nwith him to the letter,--He had been with him and defended him,\nled him back to his country in peace and prospered him, who had\nhad nothing but a staff in his hand when he fled before the face\nof his brother, until he was now two bands. But where is now his\nvow, where his altar, where the tenth of all his possessions, as he\nhad promised? Nor does he show the least disposition to redeem, to\nperform it; and so it becomes necessary for God Himself to stir him\nup; and thus reads the first verse of the text: \"And God said unto\nJacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there, and make there an\naltar unto God that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the\nface of Esau, thy brother.\"\n\nFrom this little piece of history let us seek to derive some\ninstructive observations, and pertinent with this Sunday, the\ncharacter of which is well known to you.\n\nFirst, we may note how soon the influence of impressive scenes\nwears away, how quickly we lose the sense of God's mercies, and\nthe religious feelings they produce. If a person had seen Jacob\non the morning after his vision, when he was leaving the spot\nmade sacred by his experience there, and had said to him: \"God\nwill accomplish all thy desires; He will guide and keep thee, and\nbring thee back enriched and multiplied, but thou wilt live year\nafter year unmindful of thy vow,\" he would have exclaimed, \"What!\nis thy servant a dog, that he should do this thing?\" How were the\nIsraelites affected when God appeared at the Red Sea? They sang\nHis praise, they resolved to distrust Him no more. They said, \"All\nthat the Lord commandeth us will we do.\" But they soon forgot His\nwords and the wonders He had shown them. They murmured, and they\nrebelled time and again; all their vows and promises were written in\nthe sand, and the first returning wave of trouble washed them out.\nIf some kind of spiritual device, after the manner of our present\nday, could be invented to secure our feelings in certain periods\nand conditions of life, so that we might afterwards review them\nand compare ourselves, what revelations it would disclose! Like a\nsieve, full while lowered, but, when raised up, empty and dripping,\nor like water, which has a natural tendency to be cold, if it has\nnot a perpetual fire below to keep it warm, so do we constantly\nneed means and helps; so necessary is it to have our minds stirred\nup by way of remembrance; and as we learn from our text, God also\ndoes that. He reminds His people of forgotten duties. Various are\nHis ways of doing so. One of His principal designs are afflictions.\nWhen difficulties are upon us, it is then that we remember former\ndeliverances and vows, and our ingratitude in not keeping them.\n\nAnother such witness and monitor is man's conscience, which accuses\nthe transgressor, and often presses a thorn into man's side.\nMinisters of the Gospel are also God's remembrancers. Their business\nis, not to bring strange things to your ears, to entertain you with\nnovelties or speculation, but their calling is to remind you of\nthings you already know. As St. Peter writes: \"I will therefore put\nyou in remembrance of these things, though ye once knew them,\" and\nSt. Paul says: \"If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these\nthings, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ.\" And our\ntext furthermore shows us that good and pious characters give heed\nto these reminders. There is where we perceive a difference between\nChristians and others. Christians, it is true, are encompassed with\nfaults and infirmities, they may err; they may fall, but there is in\nthem a principle which secures their rising again. A man who is only\nasleep is easily distinguished from one who is dead; the difference\nwill appear as soon as you try to wake them; the one remains\nmotionless, the other stirs and springs up. The branch of a tree may\nbend down to the earth under a pressure, but remove the load, and it\nis upright again. When our Lord looked only upon Peter, \"he went out\nand wept bitterly.\" Jacob here does not argue the matter with the\nLord. He does not seek to excuse himself.\n\nThus reads the second verse: \"Then Jacob said unto his household,\nand to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are\namong you, and be clean, and change your garments.\" Here we may\nstop a moment to emphasize the truth that there may be wickedness\nin a religious family. We find \"strange gods\" even in Jacob's, the\npatriarch's, household, and we may view such a condition in two\nways,--first, as a good man's affliction, and also as a good man's\nown fault. An affliction it certainly is to behold wickedness in\none's family. It is bad enough to have bodily sickness and ailment\nin the house, but it is immensely worse to have sin, the plague and\npestilence of the soul.\n\nBut, could we see things as God sees them, could we trace back\neffects to their cause, we would ofttimes not be surprised at the\ndisorder and wickedness which prevails. How many masters of families\nresemble Eli, whose \"sons made themselves vile, and he restrained\nthem not,\"--or David, \"who had never displeased Adonijah at any time\nin saying, Why hast thou done so?\"\n\nOthers, again, have provoked them to anger, till they are\ndiscouraged; while they preach humility and meekness in words,\nthey practice pride and passion by example; while they send them\nto receive the nurture and admonition of the Lord at the hands\nof others, they rarely or ever recommend religion by their own\npersonal behavior,--and they then wonder at irregularities in their\nhouseholds. Rather ought they wonder at their own folly in seeking\n\"to gather grapes of thorns and figs of thistles.\" Observe Jacob\nhere, he would not go alone, but calls upon his family, and all\nthat are with him; everybody must attend. And thus our religious\ninterest should not be confined to ourselves alone, we must bring\nour families along with us to the exercise of devotion.\n\nIn our own families we possess authority and influence, and this\nauthority and influence we are to employ for religious as well as\ncivil purposes. God holds us answerable for it. There is nothing\nmore lovely than the members of a family going to the house of God\nin company. Such families are nurseries of their churches, and it is\nwith delight that a minister addresses a hopeful audience made up of\na number of amiable, orderly, serious-minded families. But oh! how\nit pains one to see you separated, and coming in alone,--the wife\nwithout the husband, the father without the son, the mother without\nthe daughter.\n\nReflect on these things, my beloved. It is sometimes said that so\nfew of those who make their confirmation vow remain loyal. To me\nit is inspiring that so many do remain loyal when you consider the\ninfluence and the atmosphere in the homes they come from. Never\na Christian word escapes the lips of the mother; all kinds of\npolitical, secular newspapers and books are daily read, never a line\nof God's Word or a church-paper. All sorts of time set aside for\nvisits and trivialities on God's day, never for divine service.\n\nThere remains yet the third and last verse: \"And let us arise and go\nup to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered\nme in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I\nwent.\" Jacob arrives at Bethel, he looks around, he discovers the\nstone, now covered with moss, which, twenty-eight years ago, had\nserved as his pillow. What feelings must have throbbed through his\nsoul! what shame! what joy! And he fulfills his vow, erects an\naltar, does God honor and service, and gives the tenth to Him of all\nhe possesses.\n\nThe application of all this? To you who have this day laid down upon\nGod's altar your vow of allegiance, let Jacob be to you an example\nof warning. God greatly disapproved of Jacob's delay, his forgetting\nand breaking of promise, and, as we heard, he himself suffered\nby it,--wickedness, strange gods, had gotten into his household.\nVastly more noble than his conduct was that of the woman who one day\nappeared in the temple leading by the hand a lad, and, presenting\nhim to the high priest, said: \"For this child I prayed, and the Lord\nhath given me my petition which I asked of Him. Therefore, also, I\nhave lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth, he shall be lent\nto the Lord.\" You know who he was--Samuel, afterwards Israel's high\npriest and judge. May you prove to be Samuels brought hither to the\ntemple, become useful members. It is only thus you may glorify God.\nOr, those who, perchance like Jacob, have neglected their vows, who\nblush to recall them, let them take this episode to heart, strive\nwith the aid of that God who called Jacob's vow to remembrance to\nfulfill their engagements; following the patriarch, may they say:\n\"Let us go up to Bethel,\" that means, to the house of God. The Lord\ngrant you Christian courage and determination! Amen.\n\n\n\n\nEASTER.\n\n     Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming in the which all that\n     are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth;\n     they that have done good unto the resurrection of life; and they\n     that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation.--_John\n     5, 28. 29._\n\n\n\"Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, in hope of the\nresurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ.\" These\nsolemn words, pronounced at the most solemn time, at the close of\nman's earthly career, are familiar words, and each Lord's day do we\nconfess in words equally as familiar: \"I believe in the resurrection\nof the body.\" In that committal and confession we say much. We\nvoice a belief that is peculiarly, distinctively Christian. Natural\nreason, assisted by some light lingering in tradition and borrowed\nfrom the Jews, was able to spell out the immortality of the soul;\nbut that the body should rise again, that there should be another\nlife for this corporeal frame, was a hope which has been brought to\nlight by revelation only. When natural man hears the doctrine the\nfirst time, the mere natural mind marvels. The next thing it does,\nas the philosophers at Athens, when Paul preached it unto them,--it\nmocks.\n\n\"Can these dry bones live?\" is still the unbeliever's sneer. The\ndoctrine of the resurrection is a lamp kindled by a hand which once\nwas pierced. It is linked with the resurrection of our blessed\nLord, and is one of the brightest gems in His crown. Throughout\nthe writings of the holy apostles do we find them giving great\nprominence to this truth. The Apostle Paul, as he describes the\nGospel by which true believers are saved, says: \"I deliver unto\nyou first of all that which I received,--how that Christ died for\nour sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and\nthat He rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures,\" and\nargues that, \"if Christ be not raised,\" both your faith and our\npreaching are \"in vain.\" In the early Church the doctrine of the\nresurrection was the main battle-ax and weapon of war. Wherever\nthe first missionaries went, they made this prominent that the\ndead would rise again to be judged by the Man Christ, according to\nthe Gospel. It is, indeed, the keystone of the Christian arch. Let\nus, then, to the honor of Christ Jesus, the Risen One, regard this\narticle of our faith so prominent in the Easter thought of man,\nobserving _I. The certainty of the resurrection_, _II. its results_.\n\n\"The hour is coming,\" saith the Savior. Those words spoken by the\nMouth of Truth express certainty. There are some events which may or\nmay not be. Kingdoms and the great powers of the earth may stand or\nthey may fall, their throne broken into dust and their might wither\nlike autumn leaves. Events which we suppose inevitable may never\ncome to pass, another wheel in the machinery of Providence may make\nthings revolve in quite another fashion from what our puny wisdom\nwould foretell. There is nothing certain on this earth, in fact, but\nuncertainty. But the resurrection is certain, whatever else may be\ncontingent or doubtful. \"The hour cometh,\" it surely cometh. In the\ndivine decree it has been so unchangeably fixed. \"The hour,\" saith\nChrist. I suppose He calls it an hour to intimate how very near it\nis in His esteem, since we do not begin to look at an exact hour\nof an event when it is extremely remote. An event which will not\noccur for hundreds of years is at first looked for and noted by the\nyear, and only when we are reasonably near it, do men talk of the\nday of the month, and we are coming very near it when we look for\nthe precise hour. Christ intimates to us that, whether we think so\nor not, in God's thoughts the day of resurrection is very near. He\nwould have us think _God's_ thought about it, not reckon any time\ntoo distantly and the event far away.\n\nThis, too, is practical wisdom, to bring close up to us that which\nis inevitable, and to act towards it after a manner as though\nit were but to-morrow when the trumpet might sound. And most\nsignificantly does our Lord speak of that \"hour.\" He calls it \"the\nhour.\" We read of hours that have been big with the fate of nations;\nhours in which the welfare of millions trembled in the balances;\nhours in which the die was cast for peace or for war; hours that\nhave been called \"crises\" in history. But here is the culminating\ncrisis of all, the master, the royal, the august hour that is\ncoming. Every second, every swing of the pendulum, every beat of\nthe heart of time is bringing it nearer; silently, surely, we are\ndrifting along the river of time to the ocean of eternity, and there\nis nothing to stop the constant flight.\n\nWe pass on. \"Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming in the\nwhich all that are in the graves shall hear His voice.\" \"All that\nare in the graves,\"--by this term is meant, not only all whose\nbodies are actually in the grave at this time, but all who ever\nwere buried, though their bones may have mingled with the elements,\nbeen scattered by the winds, dissolved in the waves, or merged into\nvegetable forms, all who have lived and have died--all these. All!\nWhat a numberless number! Think of the inhabitants of this world\nat the time of the flood, more numerous then than now when men's\nnumbers are so terribly thinned out by death! Think from the time of\nthe flood onward, of Adam's vast offspring! Nineveh, Babylon, and\nChaldea, and Persia, and Greece, and Rome were enormous empires of\nantiquity. The Parthians and Scythians, and Tartars, and Goths, and\nHuns in the Middle Ages, what teeming hives of humanity; and our\npresent communities and nations, what a numberless band! Think of\nEthiopia and the whole continent of Africa; remember India and Japan\nand the land of the setting sun; in all lands great tribes of men\nhave come and have gone to rest in their sepulchers. What millions\nupon millions lie buried in China this day, a country of 400\nmillions. What innumerable hosts are slumbering in the land of the\npyramids, embalmed in Egypt of old. And every one, all who have ever\nlived of woman born,--not one shall be left in the tomb. _All_,--all\nthe righteous and the wicked; all that were engulfed in the sea; all\nthat slumber in the lap of the earth; all the great and the humble,\nall the children of luxury and the sons of toil; all the wise and\nall the foolish; all the beloved and the despised. There shall not\nbe one single individual omitted, nor you, my dear hearer. As surely\nas you sit here this morning, so surely shall you stand before\nthe Son of Man. You shall not be forgotten; your departed spirit\nshall have its appointed place, and your body, which once contained\nit, shall have its place, till, by the power of God, it shall be\nrestored to your spirit again at the sounding of the last trumpet.\nIt is a wondrous truth, and yet, as the Savior directs, \"marvel not\nat this,\" so as to doubt it, though you may marvel at it and adore\nthe Lord, who shall bring it to pass.\n\nAnd so it continues: \"All that are in the graves shall hear His\nvoice.\" Yes, that ear that was buried a thousand years ago, and of\nwhich there was not the slightest relic left, that ear so long lost\nin silence, it shall hear--hear the almighty voice of that God who\nmade man's ear at the beginning, who makes the ear of the newborn\nbabe now, and is able, according to the working whereby He is able\nto do all things, to renew and refashion the ear, and hearing it\nshall start up, as the next words say, \"shall come forth.\" It is\nnot in the power of man's speech or imagination to conceive what a\nspectacle it shall be when, as the heavens are passing with a great\nnoise, and the elements are burning with furnace heat, the angels\nare sounding the arrival of the great day of Judgment, we shall see\nthe multitudes in the valleys of the dead rising up from land and\nsea, from mountain top and deep ravines, swarming up a great and\ncountless number before the bar of their Judge. Ah, what a sight it\nwill be! What a wonder!\n\nAnd how will they look? you may naturally inquire. In answer I would\nsay on the basis of God's Word: Like themselves. To each one will be\ngiven \"his own body.\" Our resurrected body, whatever it may exactly\nbe and however different and superior it will undoubtedly be to our\npresent body, will yet in some way be identical with our present\nbody, and it will so far retain the appearance and individuality\nof our present body that in that future resurrected body we shall\neasily be recognized by those who knew us, and will be known as the\nsame distinct personalities which we are now known to be in our\npresent body. \"Though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in\nmy flesh shall I see God.\"\n\nWe pass on to weigh the results. The text goes on to say: \"And shall\ncome forth, they that have done good unto the resurrection of life,\nand they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation.\"\nFrom this we gather that the whole family will be divided as it is\neven now, indeed, into two, and only two, classes of characters:\n\"They that have done good,\" and \"they that have done evil.\" Who are\nthose who have done good? By nature no one is \"good.\" We are all\nsinners. There is none righteous, no, not one. The best of us are\nunprofitable servants. We can only be \"good\" in our way, and that is\nby having the goodness of another, the goodness of Christ set down\nto our account. Then, when we are thus joined to Christ by faith in\nHim, we shall, from principle, strive to do good. Good, my beloved,\nis a word that may be measured according to those who use it. The\n\"evil man,\" the unpardoned sinner, may \"do good\" in his sense and\nthe sense of the world,--good to you, to his child, his wife, his\nfriend, but he has no care for God, no reverence, no esteem for the\ngreat Lawgiver. Therefore, that which may be good to you may be ill\nto God, because done for no right motive, even perhaps done with\na wrong motive. It depends upon what position I occupy towards my\nGod and Christ that determines on the Day of Resurrection, and that\nposition is either for or against Him; there is no middle, mixed, or\nmingled character. I am either a pardoned sinner or an unpardoned\nsinner, and my destiny will be accordingly. And what will that\ndestiny be? Either \"life\" or \"damnation.\"\n\n\"Life\" does not mean here mere existence; for both will exist,\nand exist forever, the \"evil\" and the \"good.\" But \"life\" means\nhappiness, joy, rapture, bliss; in fact, it is a term so\ncomprehensive that it needs no small time to express all that\nit means. As for the other, theirs shall be a resurrection to\ndamnation; their bodies and souls will come under the condemnation\nof God,--to use our Savior's word, \"shall be damned.\" We are shocked\nat the very sound of the word. We may well be so; we should be\nten thousand-fold more shocked, if we really knew what the word\nfully means. It is vain for us to describe it, and we are loath to\ndescribe it. It were better for such that they had never been born,\nnever awakened. From so terrible a portion, from Thy wrath and from\nevil damnation, good Lord, deliver us! We have thus seen, first, the\ncertainty of resurrection, and secondly, the results. It remains, in\nconclusion, to draw one or two lessons from the text.\n\nThe first is a lesson of consolation. We are frequently called\nupon to stand beside opened graves; some of you have stood there\nlately. What comfort for our wounded spirits is such meditation:\nto never mourn with regard to the souls of the righteous because\nthey are forever with the Lord. The only mourning that we permit\namong Christians concerns the body, and here God's Word offers us\nthe assurance: Weep not as though you had cast your treasure into\nthe sea, where you will never find it again. You have only laid it\nby in a casket, whence you shall receive it again brighter and more\nbeautiful than before. Thou shalt look again with thine own eyes\ninto those eyes which have spoken love to thee so often. Thy child\nshall see thee again. That departed friend and father and mother,\nhaving loved his Lord as thou dost, shall once rejoice with thee\nin the land where they die no more. It is but a short parting; it\nwill be an eternal meeting. Forever with the Lord, we shall also be\nforever with each other. \"Let us comfort one another,\" says the\napostle, \"with these words.\"\n\nThe other lesson is that of self-examination. If we are to rise,\nsome to rewards and some to punishments, what--let each conscience\nask--what shall be my position? Where shall I stand? That depends\nupon what your life and your life's principles have been. What has\nit been? To amass wealth? To procure honor? To provide for your\nfamily? If so, it has been deficient. Life's object and duty is to\nprepare for life, for the resurrection unto life. And to prepare for\nthat, you must undergo a resurrection right now. There is as great\na difference between men now as there will be hereafter. At present\nwe have all living bodies, but in those living bodies, what is the\nstate of the soul? There are in some living bodies living souls.\nThere are in other living bodies souls that are dead. And that dead\nsoul must be resurrected to life, or salvation is out of question;\nand that resurrection must take place _now_; it is too late\nhereafter. It takes place when you now give heed to that same divine\nvoice that shall start the dead into life, the voice of Christ Jesus\nin His Gospel and Church. \"He that believeth on Him hath life, and\nshall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto\nlife.\"\n\nEaster calls for a rising up to spiritual life now, that it may be a\nresurrection unto eternal life, when all the dead shall come forth\nfrom the grave at the voice of Him who this day so gloriously arose\nfrom the tomb. May we be partakers of both! Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFIRST SUNDAY AFTER EASTER.\n\n     But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore; but\n     the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.--_John 21, 4._\n\n\nThe last chapter of the Gospel of St. John takes us back to some\nof the scenes and circumstances of Christ after His resurrection.\nThe immediate text portrays to us how seven men come slowly and\nthoughtfully down to the narrow beach, enter a boat, and push out\na little way from the land. They are clad in the coarse garb of\nGalilean fishermen. Their faces are bronzed by exposure to the wind\nand the sun; their hands calloused from dragging the dripping net\nand pulling the laboring oar. But they are men destined to hold the\nhighest mark among the great teachers of mankind. Foremost among\nthem is Simon Peter, fiery soul, as ready to smite with the sword\nas to weep in sorrow at a look from his Lord. After him follows\nJohn, the gentle and loving, who leaned on His Master's bosom at\nthe Passover. Then comes Thomas, the slow and distrustful, so\nhonest in his doubts and so yielding in his confession. Then James,\nwho was the first to seal his faith with the blood of martyrdom.\nLastly Nathanael is mentioned, the upright and guileless, whilst\nthe names of two are withheld. Says Simon Peter to this number:\n\"I go a-fishing.\" The rest join in, and soon the crew sets sail\nfor the higher waters, but with no success. The long hours pass in\nfruitless toil; day creeps into evening, evening into night, night\ninto morning, and still they cast and cast, and catch nothing. At\nearliest dawn a figure appears on the beach, and a voice is heard\nspeaking to them. The text tells who it was.\n\nFor some reason, as our text states, they do not distinguish Him.\nPerhaps it is because they are not expecting Him, and it is still\nmorning twilight, and they cannot see distinctly, or, what is more\nprobable, because some change has come over His risen body like that\nwhich on Resurrection Sunday had prevented Mary Magdalene and the\ntwo disciples journeying to Emmaus from readily recognizing Him.\nTaking Him, quite probably, to be a fish-dealer, one of those who\ndaily came out at dawn from the town to meet the boats and make\ntheir purchase, they hear a voice coming to them from the dim shore,\nsaluting them,--to translate the question into our English idiomatic\nequivalent, Boys, what luck? \"None,\" answer the weary fishermen.\nAgain the voice sings out to them, \"Cast.\" No sooner done than\ntheir net was filled with fishes. And then at once, by a spiritual\ninstinct, rather than by the vision of his eyes, John knew who this\nstranger was, and said to the rest, \"It is the Lord.\" Whereupon,\n\"When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's\ncoat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the\nsea.\"\n\nIt is this beautiful incident that we shall regard in a few phases,\nin accordance with this season and practical life.\n\nIn the first place, let us note that the resurrected Lord revealed\nHimself, and still reveals Himself to us in the midst of our daily\nwork. The Lord came to these men while occupied with the toils\nand duties of their trade. Many are the instances in which it has\npleased God to show His special favor to persons while earnestly\noccupied with their ordinary callings. David was summoned from the\ncare of his father's flock to be Israel's king. Elisha was following\nthe plow when called to be Elijah's successor. It was to faithful\nshepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night that the angel\nchoirs were sent to announce the birth of the Prince of Peace, and\nhere, while the disciples were busily engaged in their familiar\ntoils, it was that Jesus came and manifested Himself to them. Was\nthere not something very instructive in this appearance at such a\ntime? It showed that Jesus ratified their decision to be up and\ndoing. It showed that He was present with them in the midst of all\ntheir work. It showed, too, that upon His presence depended entirely\nthe success of their labors, for before His arrival they had caught\nnothing; their nets were only filled with seaweeds. It was through\nHis direction and through His direction alone, that their nets at\nlast were filled with fish. What a lesson this for all faithful\ntoilers, whether on sea or on shore, the lesson that Jesus is with\nus in our daily tasks, whatever these tasks may be.\n\nWe know that Jesus Himself once stood in the ranks of the world's\ntoil. Many a day, for many a year, He wrought in the sweat of His\nbrow in the carpenter shop at Nazareth. He thus stamped with the\napproval of His own example the work of every toiler, and showed the\nhigh dignity that belongs to all honest labor. By this manifestation\nof the risen Jesus to those fishermen of Galilee He sanctified and\nglorified the work of His children. Like that dim figure on the\nshore of the Sea of Tiberias, Jesus stands over against us, watching\nus with eyes of sympathy, and waiting to bless us with His counsel\nand help. He has not changed. He is the same yesterday, to-day, and\nforever. Let us not forget this glorious truth as we bend over our\ndesks, or machines, stand behind sale counters, or move in household\nduties; the thought: Jesus is looking on, will shed its hallowed\nlight upon the \"common task,\" as it is styled, fill us with courage\nand cheerfulness, though our own work be irksome and hard, and\nenable us to do it faithfully, to quote the words of the apostle,\n\"not with eye-service as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart,\nas unto the Lord,\" who looketh on.\n\nAgain, we note, Jesus revealed Himself to His disciples on this\noccasion, not only in the midst of their daily work, but in the\n_hour of their failure and disappointment_. They had gone forth to\ncatch fish; but they had caught nothing. They were wet and cold,\nweary and hungry. And it was to these tired and disappointed men\nthat the Lord appeared. He filled their nets with fish; He filled\ntheir hearts with the joy of His presence, nor did He forget their\nbodily comfort and needs, He kindled a fire upon the shore, and\nprovided for them a welcome meal of fish and bread. And Christ's\nmethods, my beloved, have not altered with the years. That scene on\nLake Gennesaret is an allegory with a deep meaning for ourselves. It\nreminds us that our schemes and plans and endeavors, toil however\nhard we may, not infrequently meet with disappointment. We have\nperhaps all of us experienced what the poet says:\n\n    Oh! it is hard to work for God,\n    To rise and take His part;\n    Upon this battle-field of earth,\n    And not sometimes lose heart.\n    He hides Himself so wondrously\n    As though there were no God,\n    He is least seen when all the powers\n    Of ill are most abroad.\n    Or, He deserts us at the hour;\n    The light is all but lost,\n    And seems to leave us to ourselves\n    Just when we need Him most.\n\nAnd yet, to speak with the text, though we may recognize Him not,\nHe is tenderly watching us from the shore. He has long since passed\nover to His glory. But while His disciples are yet on these waters,\nHe keeps Himself near the margin, and looks down upon them in\ntheir toil. His great heart is with us all in our disappointments,\ndifficulties, and disheartening endeavors, and in some way, at the\nright time, He will come, just as yonder on the Sea of Galilee, to\nhelp us. Let us believe that, and go ahead with our present duties,\nsteadily, bravely, hopefully. Hopefully, I repeat; there is all the\ndifference in the world between working with hope and without it.\n\nThe sailor on the raft sinks into despair as long as there is no\nvessel in sight, but let a ship appear on the far horizon, and\nimmediately he is alert, and seeks by every means in his power to\nattract the attention of those on board, if, haply, he may be saved.\nIn the same way, if we lose the hope of Christ's help, we shall give\nup and break down. Let us hold on, no matter what we are required\nto contend against in the battle of life, in the Lord's cause,\nand rest assured that at length Christ will come to us with such\nstrength and supply as will abundantly compensate us for the toil\nand worry. Let us believe that, or we shall fail in our undertakings.\n\nNor only, to follow our text, in the midst of work and\ndisappointment, but in the time of spiritual doubt and difficulty\ndoes Jesus reveal Himself. In those days the hearts of the disciples\nwere burdened with many regrets and uncertainties and fears. In that\nstern of that very boat perchance their Master had often reclined,\nupon those same waters, and as they sat throughout those long and\nweary hours with the sails idly flapping, or plying the long, heavy\noars, the waves splashing against the side of the boat, how these\nvarious sights and sounds must have reminded them irresistibly of\nOne who used to be beside them constantly, and of the vanished\nhappiness when they had been His pupils and His friends. That life\nof close companionship was ended now. Their beloved Master had been\ntaken from them by wicked hands and crucified and slain. And, though\nsince He had already appeared to them after His resurrection, and\nassured them of His living presence and power, yet He had appeared\nonly to vanish away, and they did not know exactly how they were to\nthink of Jesus, or what He would have them do. They were in a state\nof spiritual doubt and uncertainty, full of regrets for the vanished\npast, and with no clear outlook for the years to come.\n\nJesus appears to them on this morning. They learn more fully who\nHe was, and also what He would have them do. Immediately following\nthis description is the interview He had with Peter, three times\ndirecting him, \"Feed my lambs, feed my sheep.\" He was teaching them\nall the while a valuable lesson. Up to this time they had been in\nvisible companionship with the Lord; He was now educating them into\nthe thought that, though His visible form should be withdrawn,\nHis personal presence would be with them still. In short, He was\npreparing them to believe the great truth, on which the very\nexistence of the Christian Church depends, and which He announced to\nthem in the words of His parting promise: \"Lo, I am with you alway,\neven unto the ends of the world.\"\n\nIt is quite similar with believers now. Our faith is often sorely\ntried, we are \"tossed about with many a conflict, many a doubt.\"\nWe need those things; the Lord is thereby educating us, teaching\nus some lesson or lessons, so that our faith may become stronger,\npurer, and better. \"Doubt,\" one has said who lived long ago, \"doubt\nis the daughter of the devil.\" There is that kind of a doubt which\nis the sign of an enlarging faith. Of that sort was Thomas. How\ngloriously it was removed, and he the better for it! So with these\nmen here, and so with us. Not seldom do we find a soul must be\ntossed all night upon a dark, tempestuous sea of doubt and misgiving\nbefore Jesus comes with the morning light to speak His word of\npeace, and to make all things plain.\n\nThis leads to the last thought, _viz._, that Jesus reveals Himself\nto the eyes of those who love Him. We must not think that work, or\ndisappointment, or religious doubt, in themselves, insure the vision\nof the Lord. On the contrary, it may be these things precisely that\nveil Him from our sight. Sometimes a man's work so absorbs his heart\nthat he has no thoughts left for spiritual things. And sometimes\nworldly disappointments only make a man hard, bitter, and cynical,\nwhile spiritual doubt drives him into sheer unbelief and black\ndespair. A certain condition of heart is needful in order that these\nthings become blessings, the occasion of fresh revelations of the\nLord. This narrative suggests which it is. It was John who saw Jesus\nfirst in the figure that stood on the shore, and John, as we know,\nwas the disciple who loved Jesus most and best, and there was a real\nconnection between these two facts. It was the love of John's heart,\nrather than the sharpness of his eyes, that enabled him to say, \"It\nis the Lord\"; for love detects the loved one afar off, and where\nothers see only the indistinguishable figure of a man, it cries:\n\"Nay, it is he himself.\" And love, my beloved, is still and always\na great condition of spiritual knowledge. \"He that loveth me,\" said\nJesus, \"shall be loved of my Father, and I will love Him and will\nmanifest Myself to him.\" Often, like those fishermen of Galilee, we\nhave to face life's duties and burdens with a dull and heavy heart;\nif there is love to Christ, He will appear to our faith, if not\nto our sight, filling our hearts with the joy of His presence and\ncompelling us to say in wonder and delight: \"It is the Lord.\"\n\nGod grant that we may know Him in this life, so that when the\nmorning of eternity dawns upon us, we may see Christ standing on the\nshore of heaven and hear His words of welcome. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nSECOND SUNDAY AFTER EASTER.\n\n     So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son\n     of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto Him,\n     Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee. He saith unto him,\n     Feed my lambs. He saith to him the second time, Simon, son\n     of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto Him, Yea, Lord, Thou\n     knowest that I love Thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. He\n     saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou\n     me? Peter was grieved because He said unto him the third time,\n     Lovest thou me? And he said unto Him, Lord, Thou knowest all\n     things; Thou knowest that I love Thee. Jesus saith unto him,\n     Feed my sheep.--_John 21, 15-17._\n\n\nIt was on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. The first pale shafts of\nthe rising sun were shooting across the eastern sky, revealing seven\nfishermen out upon the water in a little boat. All night they had\nbeen toiling, rowing and letting down their nets, but nothing had\nthey caught. Disheartened by their fruitless toil, they were just\nabout to give up further attempt when a once familiar form is seen\nstanding upon the beach, and they hear a voice telling them to cast\nthe net on the right side of the ship. They heed the direction, and\nthe success which follows--a draught of one hundred and fifty-three\nfishes--confirms them in their belief that it was their risen Master\nwho had given the command. Thereupon they drag the boats to shore,\nand find a fire of coals, and fish laid thereon and bread, whilst He\nwhom all know to be the Lord, but whom none from holy awe dares ask,\n\"Who art Thou?\" bids them, \"Come and eat.\"\n\nIt is here that our text sets in--one of the most pathetic incidents\nin sacred story. To understand it properly, we go back in spirit\nto that scene in the high priest's palace when Peter, the bold\nand courageous, whose impulsiveness had caused him to promise\ngreat things, had shamefully and cowardly denied his Master in the\nhour of distress. Thrice had he averred that he knew not the man\nof whom they spoke, and aggravated his offense by denunciations\nand an oath. It was a grievous, a most terrible fall for the\napostle, one that virtually excluded him from the circle of his\nfellow-disciples and from his holy office; and whilst it is true\nthat he had wept in sorrowing repentance when the eye of his Master\nhad met his insignificant look, yet the occurrence was such as to\ndemand a personal heart-to-heart interview and setting aright. This\ninterview took place on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, after\nthe miraculous draught of fish. Everything tended to prepare the\napostle for the holy scene. It was just three years before, at the\nsame sea, after a similar miracle, that the Lord had established\nhim in his ministerial office. The early hour reminded him of the\nmorning watch, that fire of coals answered to that fire of coals\nin the palace of Caiaphas,--all of this must have touched Peter's\nheart to the quick, made him exquisitively sensitive to the scene\nthat followed. The particulars of that scene we shall now ponder,\nregarding, _I. The examination_, _II. the charge_.\n\nWhen they had finished their meal, Jesus said to Simon Peter,\n\"Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?\" Each designation is\ntouchingly significant. \"Simon, son of Jonas.\" Why not \"Peter,\" the\nname He had Himself once bestowed? Because he had proved himself\nanything but a Peter, a rock man. It was not as Peter, as a rock,\nbut as Simon, son of flesh and blood, that he had acted in denying\nhis Lord. \"Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou _me_?\" Remembering what\nhad occurred, how divine, how unspeakably tender a word! \"Lovest\nthou _me_?\" even Him whom thou didst say and confirm with an oath,\n\"I know not the man,\" and more than these, as thou didst boastfully\nclaim: \"Although all should be offended because of Thee, yet will\nI never be offended.\" Truly, a rigid examination if accompanied by\nthe same look that once brought tears to his eyes, calculated to cut\ndown deep into his innermost soul. Moreover, the Lord repeats the\ninquiry three times, evidently as a reminder of the thrice shameful\ndenial.\n\nAnd what does the disciple reply? Sad almost unto death, he would\nprefer to turn aside and give vent to his feelings in silent\ntears. But the Lord has put a question to him, and speak he must,\nand so he responds with great tact and deep emotion, \"Yea, Lord,\nThou knowest that I love Thee.\" And the last time, with additional\nforce, \"Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I love\nThee,\" as though he said: \"Others may misjudge me, these brethren\nand apostles, those servants in the high priest's palace, but Thou,\nLord, the Omniscient, knowest that I love Thee.\" And we may believe\nthat it was so. On the day of Pentecost, when boldly confessing his\nMaster in the face of thousands, until the day when, pinned to the\ncross in Rome, he at last made good his promise, \"Though I should\ndie with Thee, yet will I not deny Thee,\"--in all this we have the\nevidence of that love thrice avowed. And has that original scene on\nthe shore of the Sea of Galilee and that question no concern and no\napplication whatever for us? No superfluous or unprofitable inquiry,\nmy dear hearers.\n\nIf the Lord were to appear personally in our midst this morning,\nlook straight into your eyes, and, addressing you by your name,\nsay, as He did to Simon, son of Jonas: \"Lovest thou me?\" could you\nanswer as promptly, as heartily as the Apostle did, \"Yea, Lord, Thou\nknowest that I love Thee\"? Or are there no tests by which to find\nout? It was written by a pious man, but it is poor, unchristian\ntheology:\n\n    'Tis a point I long to know,\n    Oft it causes anxious thought,\n    Do I love the Lord or no?\n    Am I His, or am I not?\n\nWe need only settle down to a faithful and impartial scrutiny with\nourselves to find out, \"Lovest thou me more than these?\" What\n\"these\"?\n\nLove, according to its object, has been variously classified. There\nis social affection, or love of friends. In spite of much that has\nbeen said about the fickleness of friends and friendships, there is\nno darker lot and no gloomier epitaph could be inscribed upon the\nmonument of any man than that: \"He lived and died without a friend.\"\nHistory gives us many noble testimonies of its strength and beauty.\nWe think of the Bible account of David and Jonathan. Again, more\nbeautiful and binding is the affection which subsists in the family\ncircle. The bond that ties together husband and wife, that unites\ntogether brothers and sisters, brought up around the same domestic\nhearths, sharing in common joys and sorrows, how strong and enduring\nit ought to be, and especially that which exists between parents and\nthe child. The recollection of a noble parent, of a devoted mother,\ntime nor place nor change can ever uproot the affection from the\nheart. But, asks the voice of our text: \"Lovest thou me more than\nthese?\"\n\nThere is One toward whom we sustain a still nearer and holier\nrelation, One whose care surpasses that of an earthly parent, and\nwhose love is more deep and sublime and unfailing than a mother's,\neven He who has created you, redeemed you, and who crowns not only\nyour life, but your whole eternity with His goodness. It matters not\nwhat, and hence you may embrace in that riches, honor, property,\npossessions, fame and name, or even self,--there is One who requires\nthat all these should be held in subordination to a still higher,\nall-sustaining affection. \"Lovest thou me\"--is the question, \"more\nthan these,\" and where is the evidence?\n\nIf you love a person, you will delight in the fellowship and company\nof that person. Love finds its greatest happiness in the presence of\nthe beloved. The thought of a long absence is painful, or hopeless\nseparation, intolerable. It is so with Him who asks \"Lovest thou\nme?\" Every opportunity of communion with Him the believer values as\na privilege. The Word in which He speaks to him, the place in which\nHe meets with him, the table which He spreads for him, these are his\ngreatest delight, his favorite and fondest resort.\n\nAgain, if you love some one, you will constantly aim to please that\nperson. You will be considerate of his feelings, you will refrain\nfrom any conduct that might be displeasing, and strive in every\npossible way to be of service and help to his interests. It is none\nelse with Christ. Consideration for Him and obedience to Him, and\nthat as a pleasure and privilege, is a criterion of our love to Him;\nand this alone you will find where there is true attachment. The\nmaiden that loves will think nothing of leaving a pleasant home to\ncast her lot with the man of her devotion. The mother will spend\nherself, unselfishly sacrifice her comfort, strength, and even life\nitself, for the objects of her affection, and this rule applies to\nthe Christian sphere.--No man ever possessed true love for Christ\nwho was not willing to lay down in sacrifice what he cherished\nhighly. Here, then, are a few criterions, and now, with all\nsincerity, repeat the question once more, \"Lovest thou me?\" Lovest\nthou my Word, my house, my sacraments? Is my service thy delight?\nWhat sacrifice art thou bringing? Shall the Savior say unto thee as\nDelilah said unto Samson: \"How canst thou say, I love thee, when\nthy heart is not with me?\" Or are you able to say with the Apostle,\n\"Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee\"? May we all be brought to love\nand adore, with our whole, undivided heart, Him who loved us and\ngave Himself for us, and who is the Model and Source of all pure and\nennobling lives.\n\nBut there is yet another consideration for us to weigh in the text.\nPeter, making threefold confession of His attachment, is three\ntimes, after each answer, commanded, \"Feed my lambs,\" \"Feed my\nsheep.\" A desperate cause, in this passage as in a few others, wants\nto find a proof of Peter's supremacy. There is a certain pontiff\nwho wears a triple crown--the tiara--upon his head, styles himself\nPeter's successor, and seals his briefs and documents with the\n\"Fisherman's Ring,\" and he affects to rule all Christendom in virtue\nof the right conferred on that Apostle by Christ. But in vain do we\nseek the scripture for any such reference, and surely no such sense\nis implied here. That scene on the shores of the Sea of Galilee can\nby no means be interpreted to mean that Peter was being exalted\nabove his fellow-apostles. Neither could we regard it as a reproof\nand abasement. None other had so sorrowfully forfeited his charge as\nPeter had, and it was not necessary to reinstate them. Where, then,\nis the exaltation? Nor is there any such a sense implied in the\nwords themselves. \"Feed my lambs,\" is Christ's direction. Romanism,\nyou will observe, exalts the ruling; you can see that in such words\nas pope, cardinal, primate, bishop, prelate, diocesan, throne, and\nso forth. Protestantism emphasizes the \"feeding.\" Protestantism\nmakes much of preaching, Rome but little. Rome exalts the clergy,\nProtestantism gives prominence to the congregation.\n\nIt is easy enough to decree and lord it over, it is not so easy to\nfeed. And food is what a flock explicitly needs. It can live without\nedicts, it cannot live without food. Observe, also, the pronoun \"my\"\nsheep. The flock was not Peter's, it was the flock of Peter's Lord.\nThe flock does not belong to the under-shepherd; it belongs to the\nchief shepherd. And did not Peter himself--and that is one reason\nwhy his letters are never read in the Romish Church--very strongly\ndenounce the very things which it is asserted that Christ had\ninvested him with: lordship over the Church, a separate hierarchical\npriesthood, and refuse such honors as are freely given to his\nsuccessor? As Luther has well said: \"Popery never drew its doctrine\nfrom the Bible, but uses it as a means to thrust upon the world an\naudacious system which has its origin somewhere else.\"\n\nNor can we leave entirely unnoticed the difference the Lord makes\nbetween His people,--\"Feed my lambs,\" and again, \"Feed my sheep.\"\nSome of Christ's flock are lambs, lambs in years. Perhaps there are\nmore lambs than sheep, more true members of Christ in the nursery\nand in the Sunday-school and in the Christian day-school than in the\nassembly of the adults, and these we are to feed, and it becomes\nthose who are invested with the sacred office, and those who are\nsupporting the sacred office, to dispense to them wholesome and\nhealth-sustaining spiritual food. Our responsibilities in this\nrespect are great, and all the greater because the more secular\nknowledge would crowd out religious, the many things that are now\nregarded needful, and set aside \"the one thing needful.\" \"Feed my\nlambs,\" and, \"Feed my sheep,\" says the Chief Shepherd. See that they\nget the proper food and get it in proper proportion.\n\nAnd \"My sheep;\" we are not always to remain lambs. Christian life is\na growth. First the blade, then the ear, and then the full corn in\nthe ear. First babes, and then we need milk; afterwards adults, and\nthen we need meat. Alas! that, like the writer of the letter to the\nHebrews, we are sometimes constrained to complain \"that many of you\nwho ought by this time be teachers, are yet needing again that one\nteach them the first rudiments of the oracles of God, having become\nsuch as have need of milk and not of solid food.\"\n\nThis was a crisis in Peter's life. Hitherto he had been tended\nas a sheep, henceforth he was to tend as a shepherd. Having been\nconverted, that is to say, having been turned again to his Master,\nhe is henceforth to strengthen his brethren. What hinders us from\ndoing likewise, pastors and teachers, educating, tending, and\nfeeding the flock of God? This is the privilege of the laity, not\nless than of the ministry. When the laity really do their work,\nthey, too, are really a ministry, true shepherds. But let us\nevermore keep in mind--which was the first part of our sermon--that\nthe essential qualification, the principle of such service, as it is\nthe only thing that will render your work delightful and carry you\nthrough all difficulties, is love to Christ, \"Lovest thou me more\nthan these?--Feed my sheep.\" Amen.\n\n\n\n\nTHIRD SUNDAY AFTER EASTER.\n\n     Neither do men, light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but\n     on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the\n     house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your\n     good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.--_Matt.\n     5, 15. 16._\n\n\nThe religion of Jesus Christ is the religion of everyday life. He\ntouched the common things, and, like a magic wand, they changed\ninto the finest gold. He went into the kitchen for a text, and\ntransfigured the meal, the dough in the bread wrought into a parable\nof God's working grace. He went into the garden or the woods, and\nfound a lesson in the springing seed and the flowers which carpeted\nthe ground. \"Consider the lilies,\" He said in His Sermon on the\nMount. He went on board the fishing boat, and the nets become a\npicture of the kingdom of heaven. Here, in this immediate verse, our\nLord steps into an Eastern or Oriental house for a text and speaks\nunder the illustration of an article which is to be found in every\nhome, of a candle, or rather, a lamp.\n\nThe Apostle Peter, who was present at the original preaching, must\nhave carefully noted the comparison, for he speaks in to-day's\nEpistle-lesson in nearly the same language as His Master when he\nadmonishes his hearers to let people see their good works and thus\nglorify God. May we do likewise as we shall now regard, under God's\nblessing, the Christian's duty to let his light shine before men,\nobserving, _I. How this is done_; _II. why it ought to be done_.\n\nBe it noted, my beloved, at the outset, that man, in and of himself,\nis not a light; he is darkness. Says the Apostle, writing to the\nEphesians, \"Ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye a light\nin the Lord.\" How did they get light? Not by worldly science and\nlearning. Many are very learned and literate, and yet their souls\nare enwrapped in thick darkness and without hope in the world. And\nthere are those who are illiterate, incompetent to read and write,\nwho rejoice in this light as the star of their hope. In the eighth\nchapter of John the Lord says: \"I am the Light of the world; he that\nfolloweth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of\nlife.\" Jesus Christ, then, and He alone, is the one true Light. To\nhave light, light unto eternal life, you must seek, embrace Him as\nyour Savior, your Righteousness, the Propitiation and Reconciliation\nfor your sins. You must recognize in Him the wisdom of God and the\nway to God. Here you have in what sense Christians are lights,\n_viz._, by Jesus Christ. The sun shines by its own inherent light,\nthe moon by borrowed light. In itself a dark body the moon shines\nonly because the light of the sun falls upon it and is reflected\nfrom it. Christ is the Sun of Righteousness, resplendent in His own\nglory, which He had before ever the world was. We have our light\nfrom Christ, the true Light, which lights every man, says the Bible,\nthat cometh into the world.\n\nAnd what dispensation is made of this light? \"Neither do men light\na candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it\ngiveth light unto all that are in the house.\" A candle or lamp under\na bushel would be of no advantage to any one. A light locked up in\na cupboard would leave the house in darkness. Correspondingly, we\nChristians are meant to be lights that can be seen. A man cannot be\na Christian in secret. It is a delusion if a person thinks he might\nbe a Christian privately for himself, that he need not associate\nwith, join the church, or make a public confession of his faith.\n\nIn the days of Christ many of the chief rulers believed on Him, but\nbecause of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should\nbe put out of the synagogues. It is said of them that they loved the\npraise of men more than the praise of God, and had their reward.\nWe, my brethren, as Christ's people, must not keep our religion\nlocked up or hidden; we must not be ashamed of it, and we must not\nbe selfish about it. If you believe in the truth of the Gospel; if\nyou hold the doctrine of the Church; if you reverence the Bible; if\nyou are given to prayer,--hang out the light, let others know it,\nput that precious lamp where others may share it. What use is there\nto tell us that such and such a person is a burning and shining\nlight in the religious world, unless we can see his light shining\nbefore men? They are no more helps as guides than a lighthouse whose\nlantern is gone out; no one is the better for it.\n\nAnd this light is twofold; it is a light of warning, and it is a\nlight of holy example.--A light of warning. If you look at a great\nrailway station at night, you will see numbers of lamps, some\nshowing a red, some a green, some a white light. These are all\nwarnings to the many trains leaving or entering the station, and\nupon them depends the safety of hundreds of lives. If the signal\nman fails to show the red light when there is danger, wholesale\ndestruction follows. Dear hearers, there are times when we are\ncalled upon to show the danger signal. If we see a relative or\nfriend deliberately going into danger, taking a course which means\nruin to his character, ruin to his soul, what is our duty? Are we\nto say, I am very sorry, and thus hide our light under a bushel?\nNo, we must try to stop a brother from destruction; we must say a\nword of warning, kindly, tactfully, but firmly; we must say, For\nGod's sake, stop! If you see an acquaintance imbibing too freely,\nfrequenting the place at the corner, show him the danger, hang out\nthe red light. If you see young people neglecting religious duties,\nslinking about after dark in bad company, going with those who bet\nand gamble,--let them go? No; try to turn them on a safe road; hang\nout the red light, the danger signal.\n\nI once read of a man who was engaged as a laborer on a railway. One\nstormy night, when he returned to his cabin, he found that a sudden\nlandslide had occurred, and that part of the track was blocked where\nthe express would pass in a few moments. Would he remain quiet and\nlet the accident happen? What could he do to show the danger signal?\nHe had in his cabin an old lantern lighted by a piece of candle,\nbut that would not show the red light. Then, when the roar of the\nadvancing train was audible in the distance, he seized a glass flask\nand with the broken neck cut into the veins of his wrist he let the\nblood color the lantern, and the candle shone through it with a dim\nred light, and this, scarcely able to stand, he held up on high,\njust in time to stop the express at the edge of destruction. Take\nthat illustration for what it is worth, just so it impresses you\nwith the importance of showing the red danger signal unto others.\n\nAnd so it is also with the signal light that is clear and white, the\nsignal of holy example. Let that also shine. As we look carefully\nat our text, it would seem as if the Master had two spheres in mind\nwhen He spoke these words. We are told that when the lamp or candle\nis put in its proper place and doing its proper work, it gives light\nto _all_ in the house. There is nothing like household religion.\nSometimes professing Christians are very bright and shining lights\nin public, and quite dark in private, in the home and family circle.\nThe right sort of Christianity shows a pure, clear light amid the\ntroubles, worries, and anxieties of home. It will not do for the\nwife to be a shining light in society or at the public meeting, and\nat home be fretful and unkind to her husband, a constant scold and\na scare to her children, perpetually complaining and quarreling.\nIt will not do for men to make brilliant speeches on the blessings\nand benefits of Christianity, if they show no example of it by the\nfireside. Take care of the home light; let it shine clear there, if\nanywhere. But not only there!\n\nA lady who was once asked to unite with a society of the church, no\ncircumstances or other considerations preventing, declined, replying\nthat she had a society to look after with which none compared. Which\nis that? \"That society is my family.\" There was truth in that; the\nfamily is the chief society. Parents are to exercise a Christian\nexample in the home. Christian discipleship, like charity, begins\nthere. But it does not end there, nor is it restricted there. \"No\nman liveth unto himself, neither alone unto his family.\" He belongs\nto his country, to his church, to the world, to mankind at large,\nand has duties toward them. \"Ye are the light of the world,\" is the\nlanguage of the Savior. What will men not do to gain followers for\na party in politics and otherwise! And in matters of salvation,\nChurch, Gospel, eternal life, we should be timid, silent, diffident,\nshy, reluctant to open our mouths and assert our convictions, stand\naside, and place our convictions under a bushel? Surely, that's not\nletting the light shine. So much as to the nature and mission of\nthis spiritual light.\n\nIn conclusion, a word as to the blessedness that attends it.\nThis blessedness, in part, affects ourselves. Blessing others,\nwe are blessed. Gaining others, we gain. I think here, by way of\nillustration, of the two travelers who, plodding along through snow\nand bitter cold, discovered a man lying by the roadside frozen\nand numbed. Said the one, \"I cannot stay here to attend to this\nfellow, I must take care of my own life.\" The other, like the good\nSamaritan of old, remarked, \"I cannot pass on without having made\nsome attempt to restore him,\" whereupon he set about to rub him\nwith all his might. His efforts were rewarded; after a little while\nthe unfortunate man opened his eyes, and, arising, went with his\nrescuer. What surprise was theirs when, passing along, they saw\nthe man who had selfishly and heartlessly continued his way, lying\nfrozen to death. The good Samaritan, by his labor of love, had\nstirred his blood into intense circulation, and thereby saved his\nown life. Spiritually it is just that way. Seeking to win others\nfor eternal life, we win eternal life for ourselves. Our faith is\nstrengthened, charity increased, we are blessed in our deed.\n\nAnd this is the second consideration,--our Father in heaven is\nglorified. That is the great thing we must aim at in everything we\ndo in religion. In this center the lives of all our actions must\nmeet. We must not only endeavor to glorify God ourselves, but must\ndo all we can to bring others to glorify Him.\n\nWe have considered a grand spiritual truth, our exalted position\nand calling. Conscious of it, may we shed forth the beams of\nillumination for the lightening and the brightening of a dark and\ngloomy world, receiving supply from the true and only Light, Christ\nJesus, until we shall dwell in the world where God Himself is the\nLight and where we shall shine as the stars for ever and ever. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER.\n\n     Teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and\n     spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the\n     Lord.--_Col. 3, 16._\n\n\nWe read in the 28th chapter of Genesis that when Jacob, the\npatriarch, was fleeing from the wrath of his brother Esau into the\nland of Mesopotamia, while resting at night upon a stone for his\npillow, he had a wonderful dream. A ladder extended from heaven to\nearth, angels ascending and descending upon it, and God, standing at\nthe top, spoke to the heartsore traveler beneath. That vision was\nhighly typical. The ladder was a symbol of the intimate connection\nthat existed between him and the God of his fathers, Abraham and\nIsaac; the angels ascending and descending, were a symbol that his\nprayers and sighs had come up before the heavenly throne, whilst the\nwords of the Almighty were a guarantee that his journey would take\na prosperous end, and cheerfully, we are told, did the patriarch\ntake up his pilgrim staff and resume his route in the morrow. Now\nas it is with all things we find written in the Old Testament, so\nwith this also. We have the reality of what Jacob experienced in\ndream only. The ladder which now extends between heaven and earth,\nconnecting us pilgrims or strangers with our heavenly home, that\nladder is Jesus Christ, man's Mediator, who declares, \"I am the Way;\nno man cometh unto the Father but by me.\"--The word of the Almighty,\nthen spoken, we have, greatly amplified, in this divine revelation,\nthis holy volume before us; nor are the angels, these celestial\nmessengers, missing to carry on communication and intercourse\nbetween God and sinful man. Figuratively and symbolically speaking,\nthese angels stand for all those agencies, exercises, and\naccompaniments by which the soul is lifted up to heaven and God,\nand by which we are spiritually helped and edified, and it is one\nsuch holy agency and accompaniment of sacred truth that we wish to\nconsider in these moments of devotion.\n\nSt. Paul speaks in our immediate text of \"teaching and admonishing\none another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.\" Let us regard\nthese words, and may ours be the same confession as Jacob's at\nBethel: \"How venerable is this place! This is none other but the\nhouse of God and this is the gate of heaven.\"\n\n\"O sing unto the Lord a new song, for He hath done marvelous\nthings.\" \"Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, sing forth the honor\nof His name, with the harp, with trumpets and the sound of cornet.\nPraise ye the Lord.\" These are the words of the 98th Psalm of David,\nand it was with this Psalm that the service began, in the ancient\nChurch, on the fourth Sunday after Easter. The name of the Sunday\nis Cantate, which means \"Singing Sunday,\" and probably there is no\ntime in the course of the civil church-year more appropriate to\nraise one's voice in rejoicing and heart-felt song. In nature a\nnew era of revival and tender growth has gone forth; the earth is\nclothed with loveliness, refreshed with energy, and from birds and\nblades, from flowering buds and a tender branch goes up a joyful\nmelody and proclamation to their Creator; and when we come into His\nsanctuary, the house of His Word and His worship, and reflect on the\nblessed Easter scene from which we are just coming, we have reason\nto tune our voices in strains of loudest and loveliest anthems, and\nan appropriate and beautiful thing it certainly is to bring this\nnoblest of human arts to the aid of the soul in its communication\nwith God. Since time immemorial has the power of music been\nacknowledged over the heart of man. \"Let me make the songs of the\npeople,\" said a celebrated statesman, \"and I care not who makes the\nlaws.\" An illustrious Greek philosopher was not far wrong when he\nstated that the human soul was closely allied to rhythm and harmony,\nand we know that the Court of Rome feared the sacred hymns of Luther\nas much, if not more, than his publications and fiery eloquence.\n\nTurning to the Holy Scriptures, we observe a constant recognition of\nmusic in the Old Testament and in the New. Standing on the shores\nof the Red Sea, Moses, the man of God, chants forth the gratitude\nof his people after their safe deliverance from Egypt's bondage in\nsong, whilst Miriam, his sister, responds with timbrel and dance.\nDavid, the anointed shepherd boy, takes his harp and charms into\ntranquillity the ferocious spirit of Saul. Elisha, when he would\nprophesy, calls for a minstrel, and under his playing the prophet's\nheart grows warm and his lips eloquent with a message from God. And\nwhere do we hear of more magnificent renderings than in the temple\nat Jerusalem, thousands of voices organized in costly choir to chant\nwith accompaniment of complete orchestra, the psalms written by\ntheir monarch, David, called the sweet singer of Israel. Cherubim\nand Seraphim are incessantly praising God in thrice \"Holy to the\nGod of Sabaoth,\" and angels' choirs filled the midnight stillness\nof Bethlehem's plains. Add to this Zacharias' _Benedictus_ and\nMary's _Magnificat_, which have lent their hallowed inspiration to\nages since in the Christian Church, and if there is one scene which\nimpresses every reader of his Bible, and to which he looks forward\nwith pure delight, it is the worship of the Lamb in Revelation, the\njoining of the celestial choir in hymns of endless melody. Desiring\nto bear our part in that tuneful service, can our lips be silent\non earth? Nay, music is one of God's good and perfect gifts, of\nwhich to-day's Epistle speaks as coming down from above. True, like\nall other good gifts to man, it has been seized upon and perverted\nfor evil purpose by the enemy. Satan it is who has levied upon\nmusic and made sad havoc in the line of song. But shall we abandon\nto him the territory? Shall we not make reprisal upon the enemy,\nconsecrate to the divine Giver His first-fruits? And unquestionably,\nin the worship of our Lutheran Church, hymnology has a larger and\na more correct province than in any other body of Christians. I\nhave listened to various music, I have heard entranced the melting\ntones of the _Miserere_ in early mass at the Catholic Cathedral,\nthe sweetly attuned antiphons of a vested Episcopal choir. I have\nlistened to solos and quartets, accomplished tunes, composed by\nmasters; but what do all these solos, superbly rendered, amount\nto when in God's worship the congregation itself sits mute in\nits pews, deprived of every response, as in the Catholic Church,\nor too indolent to respond, as in many others? Is it Christian,\nis it churchly, is it consistent with our text or the spirit of\ntrue worship, that ninety-nine tongues of a hundred be silent in\nthe house of the Lord? When the minister turns to the people and\nsays, \"The Lord be with you,\" is he supposed to address only four\nsingers and an organist? No, my dear hearers, praise is the duty and\nprivilege of all the people, and to deny or stint them in a share\nin it is to wrong their souls and insult their Maker. A well-tuned\nsolo is good, the chorus of the choir is better, but best of all\nis the response and song of the entire congregation, sending up\nits confession and praise to the God of heaven. There is nothing\nmore solemn and pleasing to the Lord of Sabaoth than a singing\ncongregation, and nothing more dull and spiritless than singing\nwailed forth in melody calculated to freeze the last spark of holy\nfire upon the altar of the heart.\n\nHaving emphasized which is the best form of songful worship, that\nby the congregation, let us regard it a little more closely.\nThe singing of a congregation of worshipers is, as it were, the\npreaching of the congregation, is the confession which it renders\non its part and in behalf of its faith, is the Amen which it places\nupon the words and utterances of the preacher. The most important\nplace, it must ever be maintained, in a truly evangelical service,\nis the exposition, the setting forth of God's Word. A worship\nconsisting exclusively of singing, commonly called a Song Service,\nis an innovation in Lutheran church life, and a very questionable\none at that. The object of our attendance at church is not to hear\n\"sweet music,\"--this can be better answered at the concert or the\noratorio,--honest Christian people come to hear God's Word, to build\nup their souls in divine truth. The sweetest tune sung by the lips\nof angels or of man cannot replace the least passage of the Bible,\nfor it alone is the power of God unto salvation. Christianity is\nnot rapturous ecstasy, super-induced by fine melody, not emotional\nfeeling; Christianity means repentance and faith.\n\nThere is nothing, no symphonies and oratorios, no strains, that can\nbring peace and rest to a sinner's heart, but only and solely the\nsimple words of the Lord received and believed. The sermon, then,\noccupies the central position of the worship, just as the sun is\nthe center of the solar system, and, in turn, determines the true\nplace of the song and music. It is the noble handmaiden, preceding\nand accompanying the preaching of the Word, the sweet odors which\ncarry our devotion and sacrifice upward to heaven, in harmony with\nthe utterance of the speaker. It is thus we value our hymns as the\nfinest ornament of our evangelical worship, and nothing is more\nsignificant than to find in your homes the Christian hymn-book lying\nupon God's Book. And what does a careful survey of that hymn-book\nreveal to us? We would not from any feeling of denominational pride\ndetract any from the grandeur of hymns originated in dissenting\nbodies, many of which are embodied in our hymnal, but if there\nis one church whose voice swells out loudly among the hymnody of\nChristendom, that can look with satisfaction on its collection of\nsacred songs, it is our beloved Lutheran Zion with its stately and\nmajestic chorals, its incomparable anthems. There is about our hymns\na spirit of divine power; they are the expressions of our Christian\nfaith, church-hymns in the fullest and best sense, not only\ninspiring and devotional, but educating and instructive, designed\nto lead us in our way to salvation and heaven. Take, for instance,\nthe various seasons of the church-year: Advent, expectant and\nexultant over the coming of the Savior of man; Christmas, what hymns\nwill compare with those of our church in childlike simplicity and\ndepth of feeling? Passion-tide, with its solemn lines: \"O Bleeding\nHead and Wounded,\" \"O Lamb of God Most Holy;\" Easter-tide, with\nits stirring hallelujahs. How doctrinally sound are our hymns of\nfaith, how cheering our hymns of praise, how touching the melodies\nof penitence and death! Referring to our text, we find the first\nrequisite for a correct church-hymn is this: to bring God's Word\ncloser to us. The Apostle says: \"Teaching.\" Our hymns will stand\nthe test of this standard. In the days of the Reformation they were\none of the most beneficial means of winning hearts and conquering\nlands for Bible truth and Bible Church. Many a priest, history\nrecords, was sung down from the pulpit and out of the church by the\ncongregation joining in a Lutheran hymn, and later, in the dreary\ndays of Rationalism, when man's folly was put in the place of God's\nwisdom, it was these church-hymns which still afforded spiritual\nfood to the children of God, and till this day, wherever those tried\nand heavenly true hymns resound, we can cheerfully be persuaded that\nthey assert their influence in making men wise unto salvation.\n\nNor are they merely calculated to instruct, but also to cheer\nand inspire. There is scarcely another power that will ease the\nheart, strengthen and sustain the lagging and downcast spirit, as\nwill a heartfelt \"Commit whate'er may grieve thee,\" and kindred\nhymns. In the darkest moments of his life, David tuned his harp and\nbade sorrow and grief flee. In Philippi's dungeon, at the hour of\nmidnight, Paul and Silas raised their voices in melody of praise.\nAfter days of bitter conflict and labor the Reformer would produce\nhis lute, and sing unto the Lord a pleasant song, to the joy of the\nangels and the chagrin of the devil. Gustavus Adolphus, Sweden's\nvaliant hero of the faith, who fought and died for religious\nliberty, never entered a battle without prostrating himself with his\narmy before the Lord of heaven and singing, \"A Mighty Fortress Is\nOur God,\" \"Fear Not, O Little Flock, the Foe.\" Sacred story tells us\nof Saul, that whenever the evil spirit came over him, the king would\nsend for David, and under his tune find relief from his torments.\n\nNor has the spiritual song lost any of this soothing element.\n\"The singing of songs and hymns purifieth our thoughts,\" says a\nchurch-father, \"represses sensuality, stirs the heart to pure\nemotions, awakens a love and a longing for the beauty of holiness,\nmoves to holy contrition and godly sobriety.\" No wonder that Luther\nranked music next to theology of pure religion, effectual as it is\nin warding off Satan's suggestions, and aiding us in becoming better\nand more noble, and hence, in harmony with this Sunday, Cantate,\nwe are justified in bringing this topic to your consideration,\nespecially in our times, which are replete with so much vain and\nshoddy music, senseless and overwrought travesties, often set to\ntunes that are a perfect scandal and shame upon all divine worship,\nand better suited for the opera than for the house of God. Let us\nrejoice in this good gift God has bestowed upon us, and diligently\nuse it in our churches and homes until it shall be our happy lot to\njoin the multitudes of those who shall raise their voices to pour\nforth their everlasting song, and cause the city of God to ring with\nanthems of perpetual worship. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER.\n\n     Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit,\n     and watching thereunto with all perseverance.--_Eph. 6, 18._\n\n\nAmong the things that people believed in olden times was a certain\nstone, called a touchstone. By means of this stone it was claimed\none could determine whether a gem or a precious piece of jewelry was\ngenuine or not. The sham diamond might glitter ever so brightly, the\nsham gold externally deceive the eye, let the touchstone be applied,\nand its real character would at once appear. Spiritually, in\nreligion, there is such a touchstone by which those who profess to\nserve God can discover whether they are genuine Christians or not,\nwhether their religion is pure gold or inferior metal, whether their\nfaith is a gem of great price or only worthless imitation, useless\ndross. That touchstone of true spiritual life is prayer, communion\nwith his God, for as a man communeth with his God, so he is. How,\nthen, does this touchstone apply to you? Are you a man, or woman, of\nprayer? What sort of Christian are you?\n\nNor can it be said that we need no instruction on this subject. We\nmust be taught to pray just as we must be taught how to write and\ntalk correctly. Let us, then, in all simplicity, with plainness of\nspeech and practicalness of purpose, consider. _I. When, II. where,\nand III. how we should pray_: and may God's Holy Spirit, the Lord of\nPrayer, attend with His blessing our meditation.\n\nThere are many passages in Holy Scripture which seem to command\nimpossibilities, and we tacitly pass them by as not intended for us.\nThis cannot be a wise or safe thing to do, for God does not command\nimpossibilities. So with the text, \"Praying always.\" In other places\nwe read, \"Pray without ceasing,\" \"Continue constant in prayer.\" Our\nfirst thought may be, That's beyond us. How, in this busy life of\nours, shall we ever be able to give ourselves over to never-ceasing\nprayer? A few minutes a day, a special prayer occasionally at\nspecial seasons or special emergencies, that's about all we can\nafford. That is a mistaken notion of these texts of prayer. It is a\nfamiliar expression: \"Prayer is the Christian's vital breath,\" the\nChristian's native air. We are always breathing. Ceasing to breathe\nmeans death. So with the spiritual life. For a person not to pray\nmeans spiritual death. Every one who is a Christian prays; not to\npray stamps him as a non-Christian.\n\nAnd yet, as in the bodily sphere a distinction exists between\nbreathing and using that breath for speaking, so we must draw a\ndistinction between \"prayer\" and \"saying prayers.\" A Christian,\nas he is always breathing naturally, so he is always breathing\nspiritually. He lives a life of prayer; he is always in such a state\nof faith and heart and spirit that he can lift up his heart in\nprayer. Even when we are silent, we breathe; even when a Christian\nis not \"saying prayers,\" engaged in forms of worship, he is in a\nspiritual frame of mind, and is living a life of prayer. To pray\nalways is to live as in God's presence, to be constantly conscious\nof Him.\n\nAnd still, true as it is that a Christian is always living a life\nof prayer, there must be times for prayer--times when we engage in\n\"saying prayers.\" There is more in this matter of habit than many\npersons think. It means regularity, and makes it both easy and\npleasant. There is no absolute rule on this subject, no technical\nlimit. Each one must determine himself how often he ought to pray\ndaily. David, in the Psalm, says, \"Evening and morning and at noon\nwill I pray.\" Daniel was accustomed to kneel upon his knees three\ntimes a day. There is, if we may so speak, a natural propriety in\nthus thrice addressing the throne of grace. Three times a day we\nare accustomed to feed our bodies, and this very act may suggest\nto us that our souls need similar attention. \"Men shall not live\nby bread alone.\" We have our blessed Lord's example for it. The\nholiest and most fruitful Christian lives have been lived by men\nand women who thus prayed not less than three times a day. The\nearly Christians were exemplary in the discharge of this duty. What\nChristian, arising from his bed in the morning, can neglect his\nprayer? Everything seems to invite him to lift up his heart unto\nGod. When we arise from our beds, it is like a resurrection from the\ndead, and it seems almost impossible for a pious mind not to view it\nin that divine light, thanking God for his waking; and as he sallies\nforth from his home, not knowing what a day may bring forth, and\nfeeling his weakness and frailty and danger, the temptation to which\nhe is every moment exposed, how can he do it without first raising\nhis eyes and thoughts on high, committing himself to the faithful\nCreator, and invoking His protection and strength? Moreover,\nknowing that everything is resting upon His blessing, he should\ninvoke it upon the occupation of his mind and hands.\n\n    Direct, control, suggest this day,\n    All I may deign, or do, or say,\n    That all my powers, with all their might,\n    In Thy sole glory may unite.\n\nWhen we thus go forth into the world, it is with an atmosphere of\ndevotion around us.\n\nAnd then again at night-time, when we have given all our strength\nto the work of our calling, tired and exhausted from the toil of\nthe day, and our couches invite us to repose, who can look back\non the blessings of the day without being moved to gratitude to\nHim who kept us safely through it? There was this and that of the\nday's transaction that deserves a calm retrospect in the sight of\nthe Lord, confession of one's discrepancy and wrong-doing. And who\ncan resign himself to sleep, the emblem of death, and to his bed,\nthe type of his grave, without saying a few words of Christian\ncommittal? And who, during the day, cannot find a few moments to\nlift up his thoughts on high? Nor, beloved fellow-Christians and\nchurch-members, neglect to speak grace at your table; there are\nblessings, direct and indirect, which connect with that pious\nand time-honored custom which no household can afford to forego.\nFrequently the only time when the family meets during the day, it\nforms a link of spirituality between its members. It is no little\nmeans of keeping the devil out and bringing the dove of peace back.\nPermit not this grand old and well-tried custom to lapse into\ndisuse; hold fast to it as a sacred heirloom transmitted from your\ngodly parents. Thus have your fixed, established season of prayer.\n\nAnd it is good not only to have stated times, but also stated places\nfor prayers. This is our second consideration: Where? You can pray\nanywhere. You can hold audience with God at your own option. The\nplace is not essential to prayer. Peter prayed on the housetop,\nPaul in prison, Daniel in the lions' den, Jonah in the fish's\nbelly. The Lord is everywhere, and His ears are always open to the\ncries of His people. But the law of association is the friend of\nreligion. As you speed to your labors in the morning, as you sit\nfor recuperation in the shade of one of our beautiful parks, as you\nare busy with your duties in kitchen and workshop, your heart can\ngo out to God in devotion. And so it is well to have a little nook\nsomewhere, a spot especially suggestive to us of prayer. There\nis help in this. Daniel had his spot, where, when he came in from\nthe excitement of the court, he could kneel down and pray to his\nGod. His window opened towards Jerusalem, not accidentally, but by\nspecial arrangement, and his eyes swept over the western hills until\nvision was lost in the distance; his imagination swept onward till\nhe stood in the courts of the Lord's house on Zion's hill, heard\nits holy songs, and inhaled the incense that arose from its sacred\naltars. There is something dear to us in such a spot. Our Lord,\nin His direction on prayer, enjoins: \"Enter into thy closet and\npray.\" It was the custom of the Jews to have certain private rooms\non the flat top of their homes which they especially reserved for\ndevotional purposes. One such place you certainly ought to have.\n\nGod in His Word calls our churches \"houses of prayer.\" It is a\nsignificant title. Not only preaching ought to employ us in the\nholy place, for what profit is there in preaching, the best of\npreaching, if there is no outgoing of the heart to God? No singing,\nno music that has not in it the element of devotion can make melody\nin His ear. Prayer is an essential part of our service, at the\naltar and in the pulpit; and it ought to be in the pew. It is here\nat least, in God's temple, that the Christian soul ought to find a\nspot, and regularly, where, amid the distressing scenes of earth,\nit can come to itself, where it can feel and commune in the ear of\nGod, where, lifting itself above the sordidness and the perversity\nof this earth, it can bathe in the invigorating atmosphere of a\nnobler world, and draw inspiration for the affairs of life, in a few\nmoments of communion with a Higher Power. Let, I beseech you, this\nhouse be to you a house of prayer, and have a similar place in your\nown home. There's wisdom and great help in that.\n\nHaving answered the _when_ and _where_, let us now note the _how_.\nBy this we do not mean the posture in prayer, whether we ought to\npray standing or kneeling; neither do we mean whether we ought to\nuse a fixed prayer, committed to memory, or pray extempore, out of\nthe heart, finding our own words. I do not think it is wise to use\nno form as a rule. Extempore prayers are apt to lack both orderly\narrangement and fullness, and when weary or dull, or our thoughts\nare wandering, we cannot make prayers for ourselves,--we want to\nhave a form of devout words put into our mouths. Those simple,\nyet stately prayers of our Catechism and hymn-book have been,\nand are still, the inspiration of thousands of the most devout of\nGod's children. And yet, there is one danger. Using a regular form\nof prayer statedly may lead to listlessness and lifelessness. It\nis not only the Romanist who, counting his beads and making his\ncrossings and prostrations, nor the Mohammedan, who at the priest's\ncall from the mosque falls upon his knees, who does not pray, but\nthe Protestant may say or read his addresses to God, and yet not\npray. There is a difference between saying prayer and praying.\nPrayer, to be right, must be offered up in the spirit of prayer,\nand by the spirit of prayer is meant a devotional tone and temper\nof the mind and the heart. Reads our text: \"Praying always with\nall prayer and supplication in the Spirit.\" It is the heart that\nprays, not the knees, nor the hands, nor the lips. To hasten over\nthe words heedlessly, anxious to be done as quickly as possible,\nto do it because it's a custom, and perhaps with a superstitious\nfear that if we do not do it, something might befall us, is making\na mockery of prayer. We ought to pray, but we must pray in earnest,\nwith faith, reverence, sincerity, as if we meant it. As it has been\nexpressed: God does not look at the arithmetic of our prayers, how\nmany there may be; nor does He look at the logic of our prayers, how\nmethodical and nicely arranged they may be; nor at the rhetoric,\nhow beautiful they may be. What He looks at is the sincerity of\nour prayers, how earnest they are. And lose not the Spirit in your\nprayers; that is the one direction of to-day's text. And the other\nis, \"Praying always with all perseverance,\" _i. e._, prayer must\nbe constant, unceasing. The Apostle knew the defects of earth-born\nman, and, knowing, bids them to beware of being tardy in their\nprayer. There is a good reason why. Prayer is spiritual breath, we\nsaid. If a man's breathing is bad, if it is hurried, fitful, some\nmortal mischief is at work. Even so spiritually. If our prayers are\nhurried, if they are irregular, if we regard them as disagreeable\nduties, if they are not the natural and necessary consequences of\nour spiritual life, natural and necessary as breathing is to every\nliving man, then that life is sadly weak and diseased. Why are we\nso weak in Christian faith? why so wayward and sluggish in our\nChristian life? Why have sinful habits such power over us? It is\nbecause we breathe, _i. e._, pray, so badly. How is it possible to\nwork for God, or fight for Him, if we are tardy in holding communion\nwith Him?\n\nThink it over, my dear fellow-Christian, and may it aid you in\nmaking you a man, a woman, of prayer! For what is a man of prayer?\nSee yonder mountain. Below is its gigantic base; then your eye runs\nup the mountain side, and you see--what? That the peak is lost in\nthe clouds. So is the man of prayer. His feet stand upon the earth,\nhis heart is in the clouds; there is a something that keeps him in\nconstant communion with God. There lies his strength. We call it\n\"prayer.\" Amen.\n\n\n\n\nASCENSION.\n\n     So, then, after the Lord had spoken unto them, He was received\n     up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.--_Mark 16, 19._\n\n\nThe Christian Church, from the beginning, has made the ascension of\nour Lord the subject of a special annual festival and service, and\nwith excellent reason. The ascension of Christ ranks in importance\nwith His birth, His death, and His resurrection. Strange to say,\nhowever, much less attention is given to it. Many are prompt\nand devout in noting and observing Christmas, Good Friday, and\nEaster, but when it comes to the glorious ascension, the heavenly\nenthronement of our blessed Lord, though furnishing equal cause for\nour gratitude and rejoicing, few seem to so regard it, and make\nlittle over its celebration. This ought not to be.\n\nChrist's ascension into heaven is one of the great foundation\ntruths of our Christian faith, a part of the fundamental Creed.\n\"He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God\nthe Father Almighty,\" we recite in the Apostles' Confession. The\nancient prophets spoke repeatedly of it, Christ, Himself, on several\noccasions foretold it, and the apostles and evangelists, most of\nwhom were eye-witnesses of it, testify to it, and, moreover, it is\nalso full of blessedness and precious consolation for those who\nenter into it with spirit and understanding, as one of the sick,\nafter a sermon on Christ's ascension, preached by our missionary in\nthe City Hospital, exclaimed, \"Thank God for this precious truth\nof Christ's ascension!\" The man was right. It is a truth full of\nstrength for a Christian's faith, hope, and love, that it well\nbehooves us to regard it, considering _I. Its significance for\nHim_; _II. its significance for us_.\n\nSt. Paul, summing up the history of our Savior's life, says:\n\"Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was\nmanifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels,\npreached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up\ninto glory.\" That is the last item, the capstone, as it were, of\nHis life. His work upon earth was completed, the purpose for which\nHe had come perfected; there was nothing for Him to do. \"It is\nfinished,\" He had spoken upon the cross. Moreover, He could not\nremain upon earth, and eventually die again as a man, for He had\nconquered death. What, then, was left for Him to do but to return\nwhere He had come forth, to ascend on high? This ascension was not\na vanishing out of sight, as, for instance, when Christ vanished\nout of sight in the case of the disciples of Emmaus; nor was it a\nconcealment of Himself, as He concealed Himself from the Jews in\nthe Temple when they lifted up stones to cast at Him; nor was it a\ntransfiguration of His body, as on Mount Tabor, when His face shone\nas the sun and His garment was white with light.\n\nBy Christ's ascension we mean that Christ, according to body and\nsoul, was taken up in a visible manner, by a true and local motion\nascending into the clouds, so that now \"body and soul\" He is in\nheaven. We shall not speculate, throw up all manner of questions how\nthis could be, but accept the statement of trustworthy, reliable\nwitnesses, men of unimpeachable veracity, that so it was, and we\nknow that it was not the only case of such heavenly ascension. The\nBible records two others; the one occurred in the days before the\nFlood, when it states of Enoch \"that God took him and he was seen\nno more\"; and the other took place after the Flood, when Elijah,\nthe prophet, was conveyed in a fiery chariot into ethereal realms.\nThese Old Testament incidents were types of Christ's ascension. The\nascension of our Lord stands out as an indisputable fact, witnessed\nby many. The exact time, place, and circumstances are all minutely\ngiven. Thus, what is the first particular of its significance for\nHim, it shows that He was the divine Being which the Bible states,\nthat He was divine God blessed forevermore.\n\nAnd we rejoice at this elevation of His. How delightful it is to-day\nto lift up our eyes and behold Him who for our sakes became a babe\nin the poverty and humiliation of Bethlehem's stall, Him whose\nlife was one uninterrupted series of woes, Him who was despised and\nrejected of men, whose head was pierced by the crown of thorns,\nand in whose hand was placed the insulting rod, who hung suspended\nfrom the cross,--how delightful to see Him worshiped by the host\nof heaven, conquering, triumphing, receiving the very honor that\nbehooves Him as the true God. On this day we invite and unite with\nall Christendom in \"bringing forth the royal diadem, and crowning\nHim Lord of all.\" As He once said to Nicodemus: \"No man ascendeth up\ninto heaven but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man,\nwhich is in heaven.\" The ascension of Christ is evidence that He was\nthe God-Man, having come from heaven.\n\nAgain, Christ's ascension shows that His work on earth was\naccomplished, and that He had done that work well. When our\nGovernment sends an ambassador to effect a treaty with a foreign\nnation, and on his return home this ambassador is received with\npublic demonstrations of joy, and is accorded a seat of honor in\nthe national capitol, this reception is proof that he has performed\nhis mission well, to the satisfaction of the Government. The event\nwhich we to-day commemorate, this gladsome reception of Christ into\nheaven, this exaltation to the right hand of God the Father, prove\nconclusively that the work He had been sent to do was done and was\ndone well, to the complete satisfaction of the Father. This is\nimplied already in the text by the word \"sat.\" He sat down. Sitting\nis a posture, an attitude of rest. God rested on the seventh day,\nafter all His work of creation was finished. Christ now sits upon\nHis throne, at the right hand. That is a mark of honor. When we read\nthat Bathsheba, the queen-mother, went in to see Solomon, her royal\nson, she was placed on a throne at the king's right hand, in token\nof the respect he paid to her as his parent. So when the same term\nis used in the case of our Savior, it means that Christ, in His\nhuman form, as man,--for as God He needed not to be glorified,--that\nChrist the Man was lifted up into the exalted dignity of heaven,\nhigh above all the powers and dignities of the angels, that at the\nname of Jesus every knee must bow and every tongue confess that He\nis Lord, to the glory of God the Father.\n\nThe right hand also implies power. Our right hand, as a rule, is\nthe stronger hand. So when Scripture speaks of God's right hand, we\nare well aware that that is not to be taken literally, since God\nis a spirit and has no parts of a man, but is a figure of speech,\nto imply His majesty and power. Christ's taking His seat at His\nright hand means that Christ, the God-man, as our Catechism says,\nruleth and reigneth with infinite, eternal majesty and power over\nall creatures and works of God's hand. To quote His own words,\nexpressed to His disciples at His departure, \"All power is given\nunto me in heaven and in earth.\" Yes, it is one of the great and\nglorious truths of our holy Christian faith that He who was born in\nBethlehem, crucified on Calvary, and buried in Joseph's tomb, is\nnow enthroned as the Lord of angels, the Head over all things, and\nthat He particularly takes care of His Church. That this is indeed\nthe case we may learn from the experience of Saul. When Saul was\nsmitten down on the way to Damascus, he was asked by a heavenly\nvoice, \"Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?\" Saul was persecuting\nthe Christians, but the voice says \"Me.\" Jesus thus identifies\nHimself with His people. Their interests are His interests, their\nsufferings, His sufferings. They are the apple of His eye: no harm\ncan come to them but when He permits it.\n\nWhat consolation this thought ought to afford to believers amidst\nall the sorrows of life! But this leads us already to consider of\nwhat significance Christ's ascension is to _us_.\n\nWe sing in one of our Ascension hymns:\n\n    Th' atoning work is done,\n    The victim's blood is shed,\n    And Jesus now is gone\n    His people's cause to plead.\n    He stands in heav'n, their great High Priest,\n    And bears their names upon His breast.\n\nReference is here made to the great day of Atonement, when the\nJewish high priest, bearing on his breast the plate upon which were\ninserted the twelve stones, each stone of which was engraved with\nthe name of one of the tribes of Israel, and having in his hand\nthe blood of sacrifice, would take it into the Holy of Holies, and\npresenting it before the Ark of the Covenant, would intercede, ask\nforgiveness for the sins of the people whose representative he was.\nSo our great High Priest, having given His life a sacrifice for our\nsins, passes into the Holy of Holies, there to make intercession\nfor us, for which reason we speak of Christ as our Advocate, our\nSpokesman, for instance, when it says: \"If any man sin, we have an\nAdvocate with the Father.\" The best of us are continually coming\nshort, but there stands our mutilated and meritorious Brother,\nholding up the hands that felt the nails, ever pleading in our\nbehalf, ever drawing down upon us the compassionate mercy of an\noffended God. Yes, \"He stands in heav'n, our great High Priest, and\nbears our names upon His breast.\"\n\nAnd, again, in Christ's ascension we have an earnest pledge of our\nown. He is the Head, and, \"Where the Head is,\" we sing to-day, \"well\nwe know the members He has left below in time He surely gathers.\"\nHe is our Forerunner, and a forerunner means that others are on\nthe same way to the same place. His entering for us implies our\nentrance also. Christ did not only take our human nature upon Him\nfor thirty-three years, while He dwelt upon earth among us, then,\nhowever, discarding it as a worthless and worn-out garment,--He\ntook it along with Him into heaven and glory, and we are branches\nof the same vine, joined with Him in the same organism, and thus\nHis ascension is virtually our ascension, the first-fruits of a\nlike harvest to follow. Taking our stand to-day on Mount Olive and\ngazing on the blessed Savior as He mysteriously mounts up into the\nhigh heavens, we behold our Lord clearing a way for us into that\nupper world, and giving us an example of how all believers are to\nascend at one time to the same heavenly realms. \"In our blessed\nLord's ascension we by faith behold our own.\" He has told us, \"I go\nto prepare a place for you. Where I am, there shall also my servants\nbe.\"\n\nHow the ascension of Christ confirms our faith, animates our hope!\nWho can question that there is as much to awaken our grateful joy\nin our Savior's ascension as in any other event of this marvelous\ndestiny? Christmas joy is right, and Easter joy is right; but there\nis no less reason to give due honor to the event of our devotion\nto-day, so blessed, so assuring, so vital. And if we have duly\nentered into the joyous truths of our faith, the practical effect is\nplain. The Apostle directs us, \"Seek those things which are above,\nwhere Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection\non things above, not on things on the earth.\" \"Where your treasure\nis,\" the Savior said, \"there will your heart be also.\" Christ is the\nChristian's treasure, and since He has ascended into heaven, there\nis a corresponding uplifting of our love to that home of blessedness\nwhither He has gone, and which He is making ready for His believing\npeople.\n\nThese, then, are some of the chief thoughts which connect with the\nevent we are commemorating to-day. To this ascended Savior let us\nanew render our devout homage. Anew let us give Him our love, our\ngratitude, our faith, our service. Let our lives, down to their very\nclose, be spent in Him and for Him. Then, too, the day shall come\nwhen we also shall go up in triumph. Angels of God will then also\nescort us as conquerors to the skies, and we shall be and reign\nforever with Him. Grant us this, O Christ! Amen.\n\n\n\n\nSUNDAY AFTER ASCENSION.\n\n     For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him\n     shall the Son of Man be ashamed when He shall come in His own\n     glory, and in His Father's, and of the holy angels.--_Luke 9,\n     26._\n\n\nIt is an awful doom that our text bids us to look forward to, that\nwhen Christ comes in His glory and in His Father's and of His holy\nangels, then He shall be ashamed of us, refuse to acknowledge us,\nand yet we are inclined to think, at first sight, that, so far as it\ndepends on our being ashamed of Christ, there is not so much fear.\nThere is much that is wrong among us. But being ashamed of Christ,\nashamed of being known as His disciples, ashamed of His name and\nreligion, does not seem one of our shortcomings and dangers. Were\nnot the words rather applicable to the early disciples than to us\nand our days?\n\nAnd true it is, as the Gospel to-day presents, that confessing\nChrist was a very different thing then from what it is now. When\nfirst the Gospel was preached among men, not to be ashamed of Christ\nmeant nothing more or less than that a man was ready to leave\neverything in this world and to die for Christ. When all the powers\nof earth, Jews and Gentiles, were arrayed against the new faith,\nwhen men were brought before kings and rulers, and simply told that,\nunless they would deny Christ, they would be thrown to the wild\nbeasts, or buried alive, or be sent to prison to labor like convicts\nall the rest of their days; or when almost everybody took it for\ngranted that the Gospel was mere folly, and that every one who\nfollowed it was the most stupid and obstinate of bigots; in other\nwords, when believing and confessing Christ meant to be laughed at,\njeered at, mockery, persecution, and martyrdom,--at such seasons we\ncan understand the suitableness and solemnity of Christ's warning to\nthem. But those times, thank God, have passed away; the Gospel is\nno longer met with fagot and sword. The open profession of religion\ndoes no one any hurt in life, exposes him to no special mockery or\ninsult, causes no unfavorable or unpleasant feelings towards him.\n\nYes, so far from its going against him, he will not infrequently\nstand higher and have more credit. And yet, let us not be led\ninto mistakes. This easiness in being religious, which without\ncontradiction is greater nowadays than it ever was in the world\nsince Christ came into it, must not blind us to the spirit of our\nLord's words. They have a meaning still, and, while men are men,\nwill continue to have to the world's end. _I. In what way, or ways,\nthey apply to us_; _II. what is the one main lesson they would bring\nhome to us_,--that let us, under the guidance and blessing of the\nHoly Spirit, consider.\n\nThere is, my beloved, extant among us these days a confession of\nChrist that is general. By general we mean it does not like to go\ninto particulars. And it is in the general that we are so brave and\nbold in professing not to be ashamed of Christ. Take, to make the\ntest, that upon which our religion rests, the Holy Bible. People\nrespect it as a sacred book; something is missing in a Christian\nhome if it is not there; they reverence it in the general. But when\nit comes to the particular, how little is it really pondered; how\nlittle do men feel bound by its particular statements; how easily\nare its direct communications set aside when they conflict with\ntheir notions or feelings or wishes.\n\nDid God actually create man out of the dust of the ground, or is\nhe the creature of evolution? Is the account of the fall of man\ninto sin to be taken literally, or is it only an allegory, a poetic\ninterpretation, a childish and primitive way to account for sin and\nits sad consequences? Is there a personal devil, or is the devil\nonly to stand for evil in the abstract? The narrative of Balaam, or\nJonah, of the men in the fiery oven,--are they to be received as\nthey read? And when it comes to the New Testament,--how are we to\nunderstand the conception of the virgin birth of our Savior? how\nHis glorious ascension? how His descent into hell? how His words of\nthe Sacrament: \"Take, eat; this is my body. Take, drink; this is my\nblood,\" literally or figuratively, \"is\" meaning \"represents\"? Does\nBaptism work forgiveness of sin? Is it the washing of regeneration\nand renewing of the Holy Ghost, as St. Paul says to Titus, chapter\n3? Go, and question among Christ's followers, consult the thousands\nof books that are flooding the market,--what do they teach? They\nare ashamed to admit that God created the world in six days of\ntwenty-four hours each; it's unscientific; they blush at the\naccounts of Balaam's ass and of Jonah's whale. The blood doctrine\nof the cross, that Christ has redeemed us by His holy, precious\nblood and by His innocent suffering and death, is repugnant to many.\nChrist's body and blood in the Sacrament, Baptism the means of a\nnew birth,--they are abashed to acknowledge such teachings. It is\nthe tendency of the age to acknowledge everything in general, and\nin particular nothing, nothing distinct and definite. People are\nashamed of the words of Christ. Why tinker and twist in order not to\nmake the writings say but the one thing they do say? What is this\nbut being ashamed?\n\nAnd as in the doctrine, so in matters of religious duty. To speak\nfirst, in general. We come to church. Others around us do the\nsame. It's the fashion to do so. But let us ask ourselves, What if\neverybody around us did not do so? There are places and associations\nwhere it is not customary; some of us get among such also: no one\ngoes;--at the very utmost one service a Sunday is thought the full\nlimit. At such times are we shy of doing differently from other\npeople when we know and feel what is right? What is this but being,\nin reality, ashamed of His words? Or take the Lord's Table,--how\nmany know that they ought to come to the Lord's Table, know and\nacknowledge what the Lord's command is, and not only that, but in\ntheir hearts would like to come, and yet they stay away because\nthey are ashamed to do what other people don't do, of being asked,\nperchance, sneering questions, of its being said that they are\nseeking to set themselves up and making more pretense of religion\nthan their neighbors. What is this but staying away because they are\nashamed to confess Christ and His words before men?\n\nOne instance would I emphasize this morning in particular, and\nthat is church-membership. People are ashamed of the church, not\nin general,--they regard it as a charitable institution. They have\nno objection to go there, nor do they mind, if the minister is a\nfascinating speaker, to part with a little spare change. But there\nis where the connection ends. With many--their number is tens of\nthousands--the doctrine is, that one can be just as good and hopeful\noutside of the Church as in it, that as long as they maintain a\ngeneral uprightness of behavior, do not defraud any one, live\non kindly terms with their neighbors, act as honorable citizens\nand profess belief in a Higher Being, it does not matter whether\nthey just believe this or that doctrine or not, whether they are\nconfirmed or not, whether they attend public worship, or consult\ntheir own ease and pleasure on that subject. Indeed, they can see\nno difference between conformity to the moral teachings and rules\nof some order, Odd Fellows' associations or Masonic fraternity,\nand the Church of Christ. In a word, they confound mere outward\nrespectability and godliness with the teachings of Christianity,\nand place man's organizations, secular societies, on a common par\nand level with God's organization, Christ's Church, and they quite\nforget that, in matters of religion and sound morality, it is not\nfor them, nor any man, to point out the way and set up the standard,\nbut humbly to bow to the requirements, and walk in the way which God\nhas ordained and appointed for us to walk in.\n\nAnd now turn to Christ and His Word,--what does it say? The teaching\nthere is, that outside of His Church, and apart from those acts of\nBaptism, Holy Communion, public worship, and public identification\nwith the Lord's people, there is no right Christianity and\nconfession of Him. The statement and impression throughout is to\nthis effect that a man's religion is spurious and sorely lacking if\nit does not bring him into the common fellowship of believers, if it\ndoes not lead him to live and move and have his being in observance\nof the Christian ordinances, and maintaining Christian recognition\nand membership in the communion of the saints. Can any one think\nfor a moment that in those early days of persecution, when it meant\neither--or, life or death, people distinguished between being a\nChristian or a church-member? To be one meant to be the other.\n\nAnd now go and ask people to join the Church. Ask our young members,\nwhen arriving at the age of twenty-one years, to come in and help,\nto support with means and vote, give a little of their time, and see\nwhether they regard it a privilege and a delight, a God-enjoined\nduty. In general there is churchliness; and in particular flimsy\nexcuses, pretexts, subterfuges are offered.\n\nAnd why, to come to our next consideration, why is this? What\nis the cause? Why this distinction between the early disciples\nand our present-day confessors of Christ? There was one thing\nthey possessed, which is now so largely lacking,--what is it?\nChristianity those days, we heard, meant personal sacrifice,\npersecution, martyrdom. Thank God that form is now over. To-day we\nsee not the Church weeping in sackcloth and ashes at the graves of\nher slaughtered children, nor hear the Coliseum ringing with the\nwild shouts: \"_Christianos ad leones_: Christians to the lions!\"\nAnd yet, while not so striking, something of the same vigorous\nprinciple, of the same spirit, must characterize the conduct of\nevery Christian. \"If any man will follow after me,\" says the Master,\nbe my disciple, \"let him deny himself.\" There must be readiness,\nnow as of old, to suffer for righteousness' sake. I am glad to\nnote there still is. Young men go out into the ministry, from\ntheir associations and their kin, into places the crudest and the\nrudest to preach the Gospel of Christ, enduring poverty, calumny,\nand finally are broken down in health, thrown upon the charity of\na cold, unfeeling world. We know some women who were lured by fair\nappearance into marriage by young men who won their love, and who,\nthough now abused, lampooned, mocked, are holding fast to their\nfaith. We know of some who, in order to attend to their religious\nworship and duty, have sacrificed positions of better income, and we\nknow of some who have forfeited money and social honor by giving up\ntheir connection with beneficiary and fraternal societies. But for\nthese the Christian faith would perish from the earth. They are the\nsalt of the earth, the light of the world.\n\nYet, apart from these, what is the religious life of Christians?\nIs it not simply a matter of convenience, custom, inheritance,\nyes, sometimes of fashion or of business? Do we not find numbers\nof Christians who cannot give for God's worship an hour out of\nthe 168 hours a week, who would not lift a finger or a foot to\nhelp a sinking brother, to save a wandering boy, to speak a kind\nword to restrain a wayward girl, who, like Cain, his brother's\nmurderer, insolently reply, \"Am I my brother's keeper?\" Yes, as\nwe survey the average Christian life to-day, it seems to have\nlost all strenuousness. Tact, worldly wisdom, policy, not truth,\nGod's wisdom, principles, more of profession than deeds, more of\ncriticism than service. We see clergymen begging people if they\nwon't be Christians, urging them to accept the glorious blessing of\nsalvation, or, if professing Christians, humbly beseeching them to\nfulfill their vows, asking oft with fear and trembling for a little\npittance to keep up the grand work, and when given, given as if an\nact of favor and grace, not from the conviction that they owe it\nto God and grace, whose it is, who demands it. Oh! it is pitiable,\na mock and farce upon the religion we profess. When we think of\nthe apostles and evangelists and martyrs for Jesus' sake, how they\nparted with homes, occupations, possessions, and even life itself\nfor Christ and His Word, we have reason, every one of us, to hang\nour heads in shame. What the Church needs to-day are those who are\nnot ashamed of Christ and His Word, _i. e._, men and women who will\ndo their duty without ceasing; men and women who, when they have\ndone their duty, will not be expecting the praise of men, but who\nfind their reward in their service; men and women who are ready to\nsacrifice of their time, their labors, their money, themselves; men\nand women who, when principle, divine truth, is at stake, will stand\nby and rather go down, upholding what is right, than surrender to\nthat which may be popular and fashionable, but is wrong.\n\nMy beloved, the religion of the twentieth century is no other\nthan the religion of the first century. It calls for self-denial,\nsacrifice. To what extent has it entered, and does it enter, into\nyour religious life? Examine yourself in the sight of Him who said:\n\"Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and my words, of him shall the Son\nof Man be ashamed when He shall come in His own glory and in His\nFather's and of the holy angels.\" Amen.\n\n\n\n\nPENTECOST.\n\n     Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of\n     hosts.--_Zech. 4, 6._\n\n\nWe shall first explain, and then seek to apply the words read.\n\nThe Lord, through the Prophet Zechariah, addresses this message to\nZerubbabel under remarkably instructive circumstances. Zerubbabel\nwas the prince and leader of the Jews, under whom the first company\nof the exiles, numbering about 50,000, returned from the seventy\nyears' captivity in Babylon. On reaching Jerusalem, he with his\nfellow-exiles promptly set about the work of building the second\ntemple. They laid the foundations with great rejoicing, in high\nhope of speedily and successfully completing the work. But seeing\nthe smallness of their resources and the vastness of the work, the\nlarge numbers who opposed, and the fewness of those who helped,\nalso hearing the old men, who remembered the glory of the former,\n_i. e._, Solomon's Temple, say, as they looked with tears on the\ncrude beginning before them, \"It is as nothing in comparison,\"\nZerubbabel and his people became discouraged and ceased from the\nwork. For fully fifteen years nothing was done. To arouse the leader\nand stir up the people, to resume and press forward the work, the\nLord by Zechariah now addresses them. Though they are poor and\nweak in comparison with the builders of the first temple, yet the\nLord will have them know that this work is not wholly theirs, but\nis emphatically His, and must therefore be accomplished. By way of\nteaching them how this would be done, He sent them an impressive\nsymbolic vision recorded in the verses immediately preceding the\nline of the text.\n\nThe prophet sees a candlestick all of gold, having seven branches,\nand on the top of each branch nine lamps. On the right side of the\ncandlestick is a living olive tree, and on the left side a similar\nolive tree. These trees pour from themselves a plentiful and\nunfailing supply of oil into the central bowl of the candlestick.\nThen the prophet asks what the vision means. The reply given are the\nwords of the text: \"Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit,\nsaith the Lord of hosts.\" The meaning evidently is this: As the\ncandlestick--which stands for the Church--is furnished without cost\nor labor, with an unfailing and abundant supply of oil--oil being\nthe symbol of the Holy Ghost--from the living olive trees, so will\nthe Spirit of the Lord furnish abundant power and resources in ways\nwithin His power, to enable His servants to successfully complete\nthe building of His house.\n\nThus, instructed and encouraged, leader and people promptly resume\nthe work laid aside fifteen years before. There was no lack of\nmaterials. The building advanced rapidly to completion. In the\nsixth year afterwards the house was dedicated to God. As the people\nlooked upon the great structure in its completeness, every stone and\ntimber, from the lowest foundation to the highest pinnacle, seemed\nto reecho the language of the text. It is done, not by might nor by\npower, but by the Spirit of the Lord of hosts.\n\nSuch is the original meaning and application, but it by no means\nexhausts the lesson,--rather suggests a much wider and universal\nuse. In the New Testament and the Church of Christ it is also most\nemphatically true that all depends upon the light-giving, life\ngiving, power-giving of the Spirit of God. It was so on the first\nPentecost, which we commemorate to-day; it is just so now. The\nsource of the Church's life, and its success, is the energy of God's\nSpirit. That is the one prominent thought and truth that we would\nmeditate and impress upon our minds in these moments of instruction.\nMen are accustomed to look on the outward appearance. They are\ndisposed to trust to material resources. Thus, quite naturally,\nthey are inclined to fall into the error that God's cause, the\npreservation and extension of Christ's Church, are dependent upon\nthe same things, that these same things are necessary to the success\nof the Gospel truth. Thus, to be more explicit, they have a notion\nthat wealth and worldly influence are such necessary helps. We see\nmoney exercising a nearly unlimited sway for external comfort and\nenjoyment. We behold how those who possess it secure respect and\nhomage, thousands standing ready to do with hireling eagerness their\nslightest wish. To the success of every scheme, whether material\nor intellectual, money in our day would appear to be the one thing\nneedful. It is called the _nervus rerum_, the nerve of things. And\nis the Church exempt? How is it to be supported at home, how the\nheathen brought within its fold, unless the ear of the rich and the\npowerful be first gained and their purse-strings opened to supply\nthe financial aid? Has it not come to this, that, when inquiring\nas to the prosperity of a particular congregation, wealth suggests\nitself as the most prominent, and piety and high moral worth as only\nsubordinate ideas, if, indeed, these occur to people at all? Now\nit would be foolish to contend that money and wealth may not be,\nand actually are, a means in God's providence to further His cause.\nWe need money, but, let it be noted, not as a necessary, but as\nonly a very accidental means. To take any other view of the matter\nis to put it in the place of God, whence alone it can derive its\nefficiency.\n\nAny one who has given calm and careful attention to the history of\nthe Church, from the first publication of our holy faith by Christ\nHimself down to the present day, will have found that the favor\nof the rich and the powerful is not essential to its advancement.\nIn the period of its rise and apparently greatest weakness, when\nit had only a few poor fishermen for its adherents and advocates,\nits growth was most rapid. After wealth began to make itself felt,\nits progress was retarded, and internal decay set in. By that we do\nnot say that such has been, and naturally is, the result of every\ninfluence of this sort, but simply that the cause of divine truth\nis independent of all such agencies for its vitality and effective\npower. Riches and civil power cannot in themselves, and irrespective\nof the divine blessing, promote the cause of Christ in the world.\nThat, I know, every one professing himself a Christian is ready at\nonce to allow, and yet in view of the undue prominence that is made\nover the matter, it is proper to call heed to the warning contained\nin the text. Let us not overestimate and exaggerate the value of\nmoney in spiritual matters.\n\nAgain, it is well to remark that the cause of Christ is not\ndependent for its advancement on personal talents and high\nintellectual endowments. How much is not made of that these days!\nCorrect enough, as the supernatural gifts of the Spirit ceased with\nthe early Christian age, the Christian Church, guided by common\nprudence, as well as by the express statements of the Bible, has\never since required that those who occupy the sacred office should\npossess such an amount of mental culture as might fit them to\ninterpret, expound, and apply the truths of Scripture, but that\nthere is danger of overestimating and idolizing the intellectual\nability of these office-holders to the practical neglect of the\ntruth they present, is only too lamentably apparent. Since the day\nthat Paul, Apollos, and Cephas divided the favor of the Church of\nCorinth, the one being for Paul, the other for Apollos, and the\nthird for Peter, this partiality, or favoritism, has been very\ncommon and yet is. Add to this the growing intelligence of the age,\nits high and general standard of education, and the loud cry for men\nof talents and superior scholarship is strong and pronounced.\n\nThese things, accordingly, are not to be despised or neglected; on\nthe contrary, cultivated. But let us not for one moment believe that\nGospel truth is dependent on learning and genius to keep it awake.\nLearning and genius and oratory are nothing except when they are\nblessed; nay, without the blessing they are likely to be productive\nof injury, just in proportion as they are great. Let us beware of\nregarding them in any higher or different way. Unless an energy or\nagency superior to that of man pave the way for truth to enter, the\nfinest scholarship and the most persuasive eloquence will not force\na passage. What that energy and agency is the text tells us.\n\nOne other agency and resource upon which too much stress is\nlaid is this: We have fallen upon a generation of fuss, bustle,\ntrumpet-blowing, and advertising. It would almost seem as if\nmany of us believed that we were to take the world by storm. We\nsee it in every department, and the Church is falling in line.\nWe have all sorts of noisy demonstrations and manifestations;\nministers advertise themselves and their sermons under ridiculous\nannouncements, as if to draw the crowd, and not rather regenerating\ntheir heart, were the only and sole purpose. Let us beware of\nplacing too much significance on this matter of advertising. We must\nnot be forgetful of the Master's direction: \"Let your light shine\nbefore men.\" \"A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do\nmen light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick.\"\nAnd yet, it is well to remember that vision of Elijah, when he stood\nupon Mount Horeb, and the Lord wished to speak to His servant. First\nthere was a terrific earthquake that shook the ground; \"but,\" it\nsays, \"the Lord was not in the earthquake.\" That was followed by\na terrific whirlwind rending the trees and causing havoc around;\n\"but,\" it says, \"the Lord was not in the whirlwind.\" Then, following\nit, came a fire; \"but,\" it says, \"the Lord was not in the fire.\"\nThen, when tranquillity reigned again, and earth and skies lay in\nsilence, \"came a still, small voice.\" The Lord was in that. He is\nstill in the still, small voice of Gospel grace.\n\nLet the ministers preach this Gospel grace in all its purity and\nin all faithfulness, and it will do the work. It is the only\ninstrument the Spirit employs in changing a man's nature. Let him\nand his members live that Gospel, let them show in their characters\nand behavior that they have been born again and are sustained by\nthe agency of the Holy Spirit; that they are temples of God, and\nthe Spirit dwelleth in them, and thus by a godlike life commend\nthe religion they profess; let them both, minister and members, be\nfound where they were all with one accord on the first Pentecost,\nin one place, that one place the place of worship; and let them\nboth be doing what the first disciples were doing,--praying for\nthe outpouring of the Spirit, upon themselves and their cause,\nand, verily, as God's promise is true, they shall not fail of a\npentecostal outpouring, success, and blessing upon their undertaking.\n\nSummon all your forces, mention all your resources. \"Not by might\nnor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.\" God, Holy\nSpirit, we invoke Thee, Come into our hearts, take possession of\nthem, come into our homes, rule there. Come into our churches and\nour church. Come, and Thy people bless, and give Thy Word success,\nfor Thou, and Thou only, canst and must do so. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nTRINITY SUNDAY.\n\n     The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the\n     communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all.--_2 Cor. 13, 14._\n\n\nWe are entering to-day upon the second part of the Christian\nchurch-year. The seasons and festivals of the church-year may be\ncompared to a river that takes its rise, like the stream which\nwashes the banks of our city, in some small and distant lake, and\nthen ever continues to grow, widen, and deepen, until it becomes a\nmajestic flow, and finally empties into the vast gulf of the ocean.\n\nWe have seen in the past months the river of grace and salvation\nissuing as a tiny rivulet from under a humble manger on Bethlehem's\nplains, passing through the gorge of Nazareth, flowing along the\nbanks of Jordan, sweeping past the cities of Galilee and Judea,\nlifting up its surging billows to the height of Calvary and Olivet,\nuntil it overflowed the world with its heavenly billows on the day\nof Pentecost.\n\nBy that river it has been our good fortune to linger each Sunday,\nto dip up of its waters many a draught for our thirsty souls, and\nbathe in its currents for the washing away of our sins. To-day,\nhowever, we are called to ascend to its source, to leave Bethlehem,\nNazareth, and Judea behind, to climb above Golgotha's Mount and\nOlivet's top, yes, to soar beyond the cloud which once received our\nascended Lord out of sight, and to gaze upon a gulf, an ocean, which\nhas no boundary and no shore. To speak in simple and unadorned\nspeech: It is the subject of God Himself which we are invited to\ncontemplate, the most overwhelming, mysterious, deepest of them all.\n\"Who by searching,\" asks Job, \"can find out God? Who can find out\nthe Almighty to perfection?\" And yet there are some things which we\ncan and which we must know, for the subject of God is at the base\nof all things, of all religion. Without the right knowledge of God\nno man is a right man, and no one can rightly adjust himself to his\nplace in this world or in the next. Let us, then, approach the great\nmystery of godliness, letting heavenly wisdom be our teacher.--\n\nTo-day's festival is called the Festival of the Trinity. What is\nthe doctrine of the Trinity? For it certainly behooves every one to\nunderstand what is meant thereby, and this doctrine is held by all\nthe Christian churches. Whosoever believes it, becomes a member of\nthe Church. Whoever rejects it, ceases to belong to the Christian\nChurch, and becomes a heretic.\n\nScripture tells us on the one hand that God is one, that there are\nnot three Gods, but one God; on the other hand, that the Father is\nGod, that our blessed Lord Jesus, the Son, is God, that the Holy\nGhost is God, each person being a perfect God, yet so joined, each\nto each, that they constitute one invisible God. We are taught\nthat these three persons are uncreated, incomprehensible, eternal,\nalmighty, equal in glory, majesty, and power. None is before, none\nafter, none greater or less than another; they are coeternal and\ncoequal.\n\nThat is the plain teaching of God's holy Word. The Father, the Son,\nand the Holy Ghost, each of them is God, and yet there are not three\nGods, but one God. How these three persons are so united as to\nmake up only one God, so that the persons are neither confounded,\nnor the substance divided, we are nowhere told in Scripture. On\nthis, as with regard to many other matters, we must be content to\nbe ignorant. That is a great hardship to the pride of the would-be\nwise. And so in the earliest ages men arose and strove against this\ndoctrine of the Trinity. The first violent strife that agitated the\nearly Christian Church was just on this point. Arius, a certain\nbishop, would not accept the simple statement of Scripture that\nChrist is God, in the same sense as the Father is God; he would make\nHim inferior in divine nature. A most fierce controversy was waged,\nwhich ended in Arius' being branded a heretic, as, indeed, he was,\nand the true faith being only the more clearly confessed in the\ncreeds of the Church, called the Athanasian and the Nicene Creed.\n\nDoes this doctrine sound strange and hard to believe to the carnal\nunderstanding? Let those who would be wise come forward, and prove\ntheir right to be admitted into the mystery of heaven, by showing\nthat they have fully mastered the lesser mysteries of earth. Let\nthem tell us, for instance, why the needle of the compass always\nturns toward the north. Perhaps they will say, Because it is in\nits nature to do so. But that is no answer. Our question is, _Why_\ndoes the needle so turn? What secret and invisible hand twists it\naround and causes it to point always the same way? Or, if this be\ntoo puzzling a question, perhaps these wise people who think it so\ngreat a hardship that they are not permitted to understand God, may\ntell us a little about themselves. They can perhaps teach us how it\ncomes to pass that the blood keeps flowing unceasingly through our\nveins, without our being aware of it, except when we are in a high\nfever. We grow tired with labor or with exercise, we tire even with\ndoing nothing, but the blood never ceases in its flow; from the hour\nof our birth, day and night, summer and winter, year after year, it\nkeeps on with its silent round, never stopping, till it stops once\nfor all. How, I ask, can these things be? No answer. And this is not\nthe only matter by any means. There is, for instance, sleep. Who\ndoes not sleep? One-third of our lifetime is spent in sleep. Who can\nsay what this is? And if you cannot,--and no one can,--let those\nwho know nothing about the how and the why in so many, yea, in most\nof earthly matters, not be so very much surprised that they cannot\nunderstand the existence of that invisible, that eternal, that\ninfinite Spirit whom we call God.\n\nBut though Scripture has only told us _that_ these things are,\nwithout teaching us _how_ they are, yet for the sake of showing\nthat the mystery of the Trinity is not so utterly at variance with\nwhat we find in earthly things, as unbelievers would fain persuade\nus, for the sake of proving how possible it is, even according to\nour limited notions, for that which is three in one sense to be\none in another sense, learned and pious men have busied themselves\nin seeking out likenesses for the Trinity among the things of this\nworld. These likenesses, it should be borne in mind, are very\nimperfect, and they do not give us a full and just idea of the\nglorious Trinity; yet such comparisons may help us in attaching\nsome sort of notion to the words of the Creed, may keep those words\nfrom lying dead in our minds or, rather, on our tongues.\n\nOne such likeness or comparison is the glorious object which our\neyes see in the sky--the sun. That grand orb yonder, from which\nall life doth come, may be compared to the Father, from whom all\nblessings flow. From it issues light. This we may compare to the\nsecond person of the Trinity, who came forth from the Father, and\nwho John tells us is the true Light, which lights every man that\ncometh into this world. But besides this, there comes from the\nsun, heat, which is different from light, and may exist altogether\nwithout it. This heat of the sun may not imperfectly be compared\nto the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life, as the Creed calls\nHim, for heat is the great fosterer of life. Thus we have, first,\nthe sun in the sky; secondly, the light which issues from the sun;\nthirdly, the heat which accompanies the light--three separate and\ndistinguishable things; for the sun viewed as an orb is one thing,\nthe light sent forth from it is another thing, the heat still\nanother; and yet, what can be more undivided than the sun, its light\nand its warmth?\n\nTo mention another.--As with the most glorious of heavenly bodies,\nso with the purest of earthly bodies--water. Here, too, we have,\nfirst, the fountain, high up among the rocks, far out of man's\nreach, answering to the Father; secondly, the stream which issues\nfrom the fountain, and flows down into the valley for the use of\nman, which may be likened to Jesus Christ, the Son; thirdly, the\nmist which rises from the water, and falls in rain or dew upon the\nthirsty ground, which, I need hardly state, answers to the Holy\nGhost, who, as we regarded last Sunday, came down visibly, like the\nrain, with a sound as of a rushing mighty wind on the apostles, but\nwho now descends gently and silently, like the dew, in the silence\nof night, on the heart of the believer.\n\nAnd these comparisons may be multiplied without number. Thus you\nare yourself a trinity, a three in one, consisting of body, soul,\nand spirit. A clover leaf is one, yet has three lobes. A tree is\nroots, trunk, and branches, yet one tree. Time is past, present, and\nfuture; constitutes one thing,--time. By these comparisons we do\nnot make the difficulty in the mystery of the Trinity conceivable\nto man's reason. What God is in Himself,--how the Son is the\nOnly-begotten of the Father; how the Holy Ghost proceeds from\nthe Father; how the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost abide forever in\ninseparable union and trinity,--these are questions of no importance\nfor us to know, and therefore God has not thought fit to reveal them\nto us more clearly.\n\nAnd having considered the doctrine of the Trinity, as expressed in\nthe words of the text and of Scripture at large, let us draw a few\npractical lessons from it. Many regard the doctrine of the Trinity\nto be what is called a speculative doctrine only, that is to say, a\ndoctrine concerning which men may think and conjecture and dispute\nfor their amusement, but of no effect or importance in real life.\nThis is a mistake. The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is eminently\npractical and eminently profitable. Our religion is founded upon\nit. Deny or think lightly of this article of our faith, and you\nremove the very corner-stone. If it be not true that Christ Jesus\nis God in the same degree and sense that the Father is, then He\nwas not God at all, then He was a creature, then His redemption is\nnone-availing,--\"for no man can redeem his brother,\"--then, in other\nwords, we have no Savior, and our faith is vain, and our salvation\na delusion, and all that brings us together in Christian worship\nis false; for in whose name, then, have we been baptized, for what\npurpose do we recite the Creed, and does the minister at the end of\nthe service pronounce the blessing, and the congregation sing the\ndoxology?\n\nYou will observe that this doctrine lies at the very center and\nheart of all our faith and worship, of all our Christian life of joy\nand hope. And some exceedingly profitable lessons does it teach us.\nOne is humility. To hear some people talk, one would suppose them\nthe embodiment of all wisdom; they are so self-consequential and\nconceited as if they knew it all, and what they cannot figure out\non their fingers or by the rule of two is not worth accepting. Let\nsuch learn in view of this doctrine to put their hand upon their\nmouth, and their mouth into the dust, and learn to confess their\ninsignificance and folly. It is said of Augustine, the great bishop,\nthat he was once in great distress of mind how he might comprehend\nand describe this article concerning the Three-One God. When thus\nengaged, he tells that he dreamed that he was walking along the\nseashore; he saw a little child who had dug a hole into the sand,\nand was employed dipping the ocean water into the hole with a shell.\n\"What are you doing?\" said the church-father. \"Oh,\" replied the\nlittle one, \"nothing, only trying to empty this sea here into the\nhole.\" Laughingly he rejoined, \"You will never be able to do that,\nwill you?\" \"Indeed,\" answered the child, \"and thou wouldst empty\nthe mysteries of the infinite Triune God with the little dipper of\nthy thoughts!\" Let us guard against being overly wise. Study to be\nhumble when it comes to matters of God and our holy religion. And,\nto conclude, let us encourage ourselves by such meditation to joyous\nand childlike faith. God is great beyond all searching; therefore,\nmay we rest assured that all is well in His hands and management. A\nfarmer once remarked to Dr. Luther that he could not understand the\nCreed when it speaks of God Almighty. \"Neither can I nor all the\ndoctors,\" said the Reformer, \"but only believe it in all simplicity,\nand take that God Almighty for thy Lord, and He will take care\nof thee and all thou hast, and bring thee safely through all thy\ntroubles.\"\n\nThe same is true with regard to the second part of the Trinity.\n\"If God,\" says the apostle, \"spared not His own Son, but delivered\nHim up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us\nall things?\" And the Holy Spirit coming into our hearts, changing,\nsustaining, and enlightening us--ought not a devout consideration of\nthis loving, redeeming, sanctifying work of the Triune God prompt us\nto trust in Him--for life, in death, for time and eternity?\n\n    To the great One in Three\n    The highest praises be\n    Hence evermore!\n    His sovereign majesty\n    May we in glory see,\n    And through eternity\n    Love and adore.\n\n    Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.\n\n  And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous\n  into life eternal.--_Matt. 25, 46._\n\n\nTruth, my beloved, never changes; it is always the same. What was\ntrue 1900 years ago, is true to-day; what is true to-day, will be\ntrue 1900 years to come. And this is emphatically so with regard\nto heavenly truth. There is no new revelation in religion. What\nthe Bible taught of old, it teaches now; we have no new Bible. The\nChristian faith, like its Founder, is the same yesterday, to-day,\nand forever. Thank God that it is so; that among the ever-changing\nthings of earth, the constantly fluctuating and shifting ideas and\nopinions of men, firmer than the Rock of Gibraltar, more solid than\nthe mountains, there stands the Word of our God. And this pertains\nalso to the doctrine which this day's Gospel prominently sets before\nus, the doctrine of future punishment.\n\nIt is only recently that the public prints quoted the minister of\na prominent church as saying: \"Modern Christianity has happily\ngrown away from the old traditional doctrine of hell. The Church\nno longer believes in a place of literal fire and brimstone, into\nwhich all unbelievers are cast for an eternity of torment. Even\nthe most rigid orthodoxy allows wide latitude of belief in the\nproblem of future punishment.\" Such utterances are very prevalent,\nand have caused untold confusion of thought. The matter, however,\nis very simple. It is not a question of what some certain minister\nthinks, however prominent he may be; neither are we to be guided\nby what modern Christianity thinks, for modern Christianity ought\nnot think and believe differently from ancient Christianity, since\nChristianity ought to be ever the same; nor are we concerned what\nwas the old traditional doctrine, since tradition is not, nor has\nit ever been, a criterion for us. The only determining factor in\nthis, as in all articles of our religious belief, is, What saith the\nScripture? Nor may it be superfluous, in approaching the subject\nof to-day's instruction, to warn against another element, which is\nsentimentality. Sentiment in its place and sphere is noble and good;\nbut it must remain within its place and sphere. When it comes into\nconflict with God's teaching, or when it sets itself against the\nteachings of God's Word, and, because it cannot think or feel how\na loving and righteous God could do or permit certain things, then\nsentiment degenerates into sickly sentimentality, becomes ignoble\nand sinful. We must never allow our emotion to outrun our sober\nreason, and, least of all, to set itself against the statements of\nreligion and the arrangements of a holy and all-wise God.\n\nAnd what is that arrangement in respect to the future? Two main\nthoughts would we dwell upon at this time: _I. Hell, what is\nit?--its nature. II. How long does it last?--its duration._\n\nWhenever a general in war wishes to surprise his enemy, he seeks to\nconceal himself from him, endeavors to make his antagonist believe\nthat he is not at all about, or that he is not as formidable as the\nother might think. Just so the infernal enemy of men's souls seek\nto delude them into the belief that there is no hell; that, at any\nrate, it is not what some would make it out to be. Hell is within\nyou; it's the pinching of conscience in this life, or the misery\nyou have to endure here. At the most, it is not terrible, it is not\ngoing to last forever; there is going to be a final and universal\nrestoration; all unbelievers will ultimately be delivered.\n\nAll this passes for naught. Whether there is a future life, and of\nwhat sort that future life is--only one can positively tell us,\nand that is God--I repeat, _positively_ tell us. Human reason and\nphilosophy have conjectured its probability or its possibility,\nbut as to its _certainty_, that we have exclusively from the book\nof God's revelations--the Bible. And the Bible tells us, in plain,\nunmistakable terms, as plainly as it tells us that there is a heaven\nand a God, that there is a hell. To discredit it is to discredit the\nBible, to contradict our blessed Lord, to shut one's eyes willfully\nagainst the truth, and what is it? Something within us--something\nconfined to this world? Never does the Bible so speak. Hell,\naccording to the Scriptures, refers always to the future. So in\nthe parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. The rich man _died_, and\n_then_, after his death, in hell, he lifted up his eyes. When this\nlife is over, the scenes of this world have faded upon their vision,\nthen, for the unrepentant and unsaved, comes hell.\n\nAnd what is it? To give it with one word--punishment. \"These,\"\ndeclares the eternal Judge, \"shall go away into everlasting\npunishment.\" This punishment is twofold; it is outward and it is\ninward. Man consists of body and of soul; both are the instruments\nof his guilt and condemnation; both receive the just reward of\ntheir deeds. Whenever Scripture speaks of future punishment, it\nuses expressions like these: \"darkness, blackness of darkness,\nthirst, fire, lake burning with fire and brimstone.\" The Gospel\nparable represents the rich man begging for a drop of water to cool\nhis tongue. It has been said that this is nothing but imagery,\nmere drapery, pictorial embellishment; but it is _true_. Imagery\nand the figure are always less terrible than the reality. It may\nbe idle curiosity to speculate as to whether this fire which the\nBible speaks of is material fire, how God can support life in the\nburnings of hell,--though we know that He sustained the companions\nof Daniel in a hot furnace in the days of King Nebuchadnezzar whose\nimage they would not worship. Waiving all such questions as to the\nnature of the fire, the place where it is, and the extent to which\nit is inflicted, the fact that Scripture almost always employs the\nidea of fire to express the sufferings of hell leads one to believe\nthat there unhappy sufferers literally endure torments like those\nwhich men burning in flames feel; and without running into all sorts\nof revolting descriptions, so much is plain: Hell is pain, acute\nsensation of the body, the sense of feeling physical suffering; and\ncoupled with this outward punishment is the _inward_ anguish of\nmind, remorse of conscience. Thus, in the parable, Abraham speaks to\nthe rich man, \"Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst\nthy good things.\" Memory will be a dreadful source of misery.\n\nHere, again, we shall not enter upon any speculations as to the\nworkings of mind and conscience in future retributions, but we know\nwhat agony remorse of conscience occasions in this world. It has\nmade strong men tremble, it has smitten the knees of Belshazzar\ntogether in the midst of his pleasure. It has forced many a one\nto confess his misdeed, to give evidence against himself, and\nseek punishment to escape its excruciating agony. Terrible is an\nawakened conscience, and yonder it shall be fully awakened. It\nwill have to do homage to an offended and avenging God; be obliged\nto say to itself, You are the author of your own punishment, you\nsuffer for your own sins. The recollection of his selfishness, his\nuncharitableness, sensuality, of possessions, and of opportunities\nabused and misspent, as in the case of this rich man in the\nparable, will cause him keen and tormenting self-reproach. Anguish,\ninward and outward, and all this aggravated by the society, the\ncompanionship about them. Imagine the associates in yonder accursed\nplace! No wonder that the unfortunate subject of to-day's parable\nplaintively pleads: \"I pray thee, father, that thou wouldst send\nLazarus to my father's house; for I have five brothers, lest they\nalso come into this place of torment.\" The thought, not that of\npity,--for pity and sympathy are unknown in hell,--but of increasing\nhis misery, knowing how much he was guilty toward them in leading\nthem astray by scoffing word and lewd example,--it was this that\nwrung from his lips this plea. How awful such association! How\ndreadful it is all!\n\nSo much as to the first particular, what hell is: outward and inward\npunishment in the society of the damned. And such punishment, it is\nfurther revealed here, is ceaseless in its duration. Many theories\nare taught to the contrary. It is contended by some that this\npunishment is only for a time, then follows annihilation of the\nwicked, they cease to exist. Others, again, hold that all the wicked\nwill be finally restored to God's favor and heaven; that they are\nnow only in a state of trial and probation; that hell will come to\nan end. I grant you that we would be very much inclined to believe\nthat if we could. But what say the Scriptures? There is not a single\nword in all the Bible which indicates that there will be probation,\nanother chance, after death. As the tree falleth, so it lies. When\nthe sand has run out of the glass of life, there is no reversion\nof the glass, the period of grace is gone. \"There is a great gulf\nfixed, says the Gospel, so that they which would pass from hence to\nyou cannot; neither can they pass to us that would come from thence.\"\n\nWhat plainer words could be spoken: \"These shall go away into\neverlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal.\" Mark\nthe comparison,--everlasting punishment, life eternal. If you tamper\nwith, lessen the one, you do so with the other; the only thing in\nfairness is to accept them thus strictly and expressly, meaning just\nwhat they say. _Eternity_, that is the word which is written over\nthe portals of the blessed, over the place of the cursed.\n\nThus in its dread and awful solemnity have I set this subject before\nyou. Why? Because it is the duty of a faithful servant of God to\ndeclare to his people the whole counsel of His Master, and do so\nunreservedly. A much abused subject is the subject of \"Hell,\"--from\nthe playwright who works it up for public amusement, to the swearer\nwho uses it in his foul mouth to add poison and fury to his oath,\nto the over-sensitive churchmen who treat the passages which treat\nof hell like a waxen nose that they can twist and turn to suit, and\nwho would not recite in the Creed: \"Christ descended into hell,\"\nsince it sounds so bad. Over against these and all other perversions\nit behooves us to vindicate the clear and unmistakable teaching of\nthe Bible. It is the Savior Himself who tells us to-day's parable,\nwho spoke the words of our text, and it is for us to believe and\ndeclare what He says, to avoid all levity in the matter and all vain\nspeculation, and to give it its proper weight and place.\n\nBut above all, this dreadful subject is held up before us that we\nmay know how to escape the terrors portrayed. How? \"God so loved\nthe world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever\nbelieveth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.\" \"He\nhas redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won\nme, that I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom, and\nserve Him in everlasting righteousness and blessedness.\" That is\nthe purpose of the Gospel. God wants none to perish, not one soul\nhas He destined to eternal perdition; He would have all men to be\nsaved. He has made every provision to save man from everlasting\ndoom. The terrors of yonder place magnify the riches of that grace\nwhich in Jesus Christ delivers from it. Let us adore the wisdom, the\nunspeakable mercy that would spare us from such a doom. Let us turn\nto the Cross, employ the time of grace in faith and in wholesome\nservice and life,--\n\n    So whene'er the signal's given\n    Us from earth to call away,\n    Borne on angels' wings to heaven,\n    Glad the summons to obey,\n    May we ready, may we ready,\n    Rise and reign in endless day.\n\n    Amen.\n\n\n\n\nSECOND SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.\n\n     And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to\n     come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time;\n     when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.--_Acts\n     24, 25._\n\n\nFelix, the man here mentioned, was the Roman Governor or Procurator\nof Judea. Felix is a Latin word and means \"happy.\" But Felix was not\nhappy, for no wicked person can be happy, and Felix was a wicked\nperson. Tacitus, the historian, says of him: \"In the practice of\nall kinds of cruelty and lust, Felix exercised the power of a king\nwith the temper of a slave.\" A sample we have here given. It\nreads in the previous verse: \"After certain days, ... Felix came\nwith his wife.\" Strictly taken, she was not his wife, but, being\npersuaded to elope to him from her husband, the two were living\ntogether in an adulterous alliance. And before this man appears\na prisoner, unpretentious-looking, loaded with chains. He had\nstood before the Governor once before in answer to certain charges\nmade by his countrymen, and had so ably and convincingly defended\nhimself that, had it not been, as it says in the next verse, that\nFelix expected to realize something out of the case by way of a\nbribe, he would have set him free. As it was, the Governor had\nbeen so impressed with Paul's (for none other was the prisoner)\nforceful speech that he requested the apostle to give him a more\nexplicit account concerning the religion he preached. He arranges\nthe occasion, and the champion of the cross gladly availed himself\nof the opportunity. We do not know the precise course which he\nfollowed in his address to Felix, but his general outline was based\non the same principles that every good Christian sermon is based on,\nviz., faith and practice. First he spoke concerning the faith in\nChrist, that is, the Christian faith, laying down its fundamental\nand cardinal facts and doctrines. But as a sick man will never send\nfor the physician till he is aware of his danger, so the sinner\nwill never betake himself to the redeeming blood of his Savior\ntill he becomes sensible of his lost and sinful condition. The\napostle, therefore, not only preaches the Gospel; he also preaches\nthe Law. \"He reasoned,\" it says, \"of righteousness, temperance,\nand judgment to come.\" No topics could have been more appropriate.\nFelix was a high-ranked magistrate, accustomed to see every one\nprostrate at his feet. Paul points out to him that though there\nbe various gradations in social life, the one a king, the other a\nsubject, the one stepping on a carpet of down and gold, the other\nwalking barefoot through the dust, in the sight of God all these\ndistinctions avail not. Yea, having higher opportunities, a man's\nresponsibilities are but the greater, and woe if in the discharge\nof his office a man measure not up to the responsibilities. Thus,\nturning to the next particular, he reasoned of temperance, _i. e._,\nthe right government of the passions; he showed him how intemperance\ndegrades the character, debases society, and invites the punishment\nof God, and, finally, placing his sermon on still higher ground,\nhe draws away for a moment from the eyes of Felix the bandage that\nconcealed the sight of futurity, and ushers him in thought before\nthe judgment-bar of his unalterable Judge.\n\nHe had invited this prisoner, far-famed for his topic and eloquence,\nto give a display of his powers, but he had never supposed such\na presentation. As the divine word, the two-edged sword of the\nSpirit, wielded by such an arm, cut into the joints and marrow of\nthe profligate sinner's conscience. It had the same effect which\nthe handwriting on the wall once had upon Belshazzar of Babylon.\nHe moved about uneasily, his color changed, his knees smote one\nagainst the other; \"he trembled,\" it says. The truth had smitten to\nthe heart, and then? Was truth victorious? Did virtue conquer? Did\nthe judgment-hall echo the words of the Philippian jailer, \"What\nshall I do to be saved?\" or, like the publican, did he smite upon\nhis breast, saying, \"God be merciful to me a sinner\"? How the angels\nwould have rejoiced, and Felix would have been what his name means,\n\"happy.\" But Satan knew his man too well. In a moment the smitten\nsinner had rallied from his shock; with a grace and courtesy, truly\nadmirable if it had not been so disastrous, he says: \"Go thy way for\nthis time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.\"\n\nThe story of Felix has been written for our admonition. God grant\nthat like an arrow it may smite into the joints and marrow of our\nconscience to-day. Our theme is:\n\n\nTHE CONVENIENT SEASON,\n\n    noting, _I. A few things that hinder the convenient season;\n            II. The delusion of putting it off._\n\n\nWe have heard Felix' plea; it was not an abrupt turning away from\nthe topics Paul had spoken to him of. He did not declare in express\nterms that he would never embrace the faith in Christ, that he would\nnot renounce iniquity and prepare for the final account. No, his\nanswer implies that he would do all this, but he begs to be excused\nfrom doing it for the present. \"When I have a convenient season, I\nwill call for thee.\"\n\nFelix' plea is still a most prevalent plea. Perhaps it is the most\nprevalent plea, never advanced so much as in our times. It is not\nthat people are deliberately determined to rush into the arms of\nthe devil and hell; many of the most thoughtless and the most\nprofligate, convicted by the emotions of conscience within and the\npresentation of religion, still have the intention that some time\nor other, bye and bye, they are going to become more serious, to\nreform. The drunkard will some day abandon his cups, the swearer his\nprofanity, the lewd man his profligacy, but not just now. And not\nonly these, the thoughtless, the profligate, but those who are very\nthoughtful and of excellent standing and morals. What a universal\nplea it is!\n\nThere is one class, they are \"too young to be religious. Youth is\nthe time of gayety. Even if they do not sow wild oats, they must\nhave their pleasure. As they advance in years, they will eventually\ngrow more serious.\" Let me caution you, my young hearers! Of all\nother seasons, youth is the fittest for God and godliness. No man\never became more disposed to be religious by mere age. He may become\nmore thoughtful and serious, but thoughtfulness and seriousness is\nnot yet religion. The duty enjoined is: \"Remember thy Creator in the\ndays of thy youth,\" and it is a solemn fact that the greater number\nof those who are Christians indeed have been so in early life.--So\nbe not deceived! The present time is the most convenient season. You\ncan never enjoy a better.\n\nAnother apology and hindrance which multitudes offer against the\nconvenient season is what they style \"business.\" I suppose Felix\nhad occasion to offer that, too. The office of a governor was no\nlazy one; he had a large docket of pending cases, a considerable\ncorrespondence, many distracting cares.\n\nCorrespondingly, at the present, there be those who are occupied in\nproviding for their wants, gaining a livelihood for their families,\naccumulating a fortune. It is impossible for them just now, but in\na few years they will have more leisure; their property will be\ngreater, their anxiety lessened, and then, relieved of pressing\ncares, they will devote their time and their attention to God's\nservice. Sad mistake! Business never lets up. The world gives no man\nleisure for the consideration of the greater business of salvation.\nI have known those who have urged this excuse ten, nearly twenty\nyears ago; they still urge it, and will continue to do so so long as\nthey live. Some may regard it as a witticism, but it was immensely\nserious when a child recently informed its mother that the child\ndid not think papa was going to heaven, and asked why, replied, \"He\ncan't possibly leave the store.\" We have a number of that class in\nconnection with our membership. It is a sorry business that keeps\nany man away from the main business, the one thing needful.\n\nOne more plea would we regard, that is health. How many, when\naroused to the importance of attending to matters spiritual, will\nseek to soothe the clamors of conscience by the reflection: It is\ntrue, I must be renewed and holy, or I will perish. I cannot go\nto heaven as I am, but I hope to be better before I die. I will\nlook after these things when I get sick; then I shall have leisure\nfor reflection. With nothing else to do then, I will repent and\nmake my peace with God. Oh! the folly and the wickedness of such\nreasoning! Not only does it reflect on God's religion, as if it\nwere a tyranny and a grievous yoke that one puts off as long as it\nis possible, not only is it God-dishonoring, giving unto the devil\nand to the world, the Lord's foremost rivals, the best fruits of\none's days, and turning over to Him the stubble and the dregs left\nin the cup of life, but who knows the time of his death, the time\nappointed when he shall go hence, and whether occasion shall be\nleft for any reflection? Like a lightning flash it may summon us\ninto the presence of the Almighty. And even granted that everything\nshall be propitious in that respect, have you ever seen persons on\na sick- or death-bed? Their pulse feverish and their body weak;\ntheir senses so impaired that they seem utterly unable to collect\ntheir thoughts; and this is the time that people want to select for\nreligious reflection? Then, too, when does the Bible say that a man\ncan convert himself at any time that he chooses? The Bible speaks of\nonly one solitary case of death-bed, or eleventh-hour repentance,\nand that is the instance of the dying thief on the cross. And there\nis a tremendously wide difference between him and the people who\noffer up that plea. The dying malefactor had never deferred his\nconversion to his dying day; he had never put religion off until\nthen. So his case does not belong under consideration at all, though\nit is always quoted by such delinquents. No, there is only one\nconvenient season, and there is only one course to pursue in view of\nit. That one convenient season is now, and the only one course to\npursue in view of it is to seize hold upon and attend to its demands.\n\nWe have all seen mottoes on the walls of business offices: \"Do it\nnow,\" \"Never put off until to-morrow what can be done to-day,\" \"Now\nor never,\" \"Make hay while the sun shines.\" And as you see them at\ntheir worldly interests, they follow those mottoes; they are up\nand about, straining every nerve, using every moment to gain an\nadvantage. Yes, as you study the whole working creation of God,\nyou will discover that everything is on time: The birds know when\nto fly southward; the stars of heaven meet all their appointments;\nthe earth is believed to make a circuit of five hundred millions\nof miles and back again at the winter and spring solstice on the\nsecond, yes, on the millionth part of a second. There is only one\nwho wastes time, and that in the most important matter, and that\ncreature is _man_.\n\nObserve in this the terrible delusion of procrastination. And\nit cheats us all, more or less; or how--to make the application\nto ourselves who are church-members--how is it that we can hear\nthe things which we hear Sunday after Sunday, and on many other\noccasions, things which, so far from denying or contradicting, we\nlike to hear, we would be uncomfortable not to hear, and agree with\nthem and still go on living and doing as if they were mere words\nand meant nothing, if it were not that we fancy to ourselves a time\nwhen it will suit us not only to agree with them, but actually to\nput them in practice,--a time when we shall pray in earnest, though\nwe are careless about praying now,--a time when we shall take up\nthe reading of the Bible, though we neglect it now,--a time when we\nshall be gentle, and loving, and heavenly-minded, and pure, whatever\nto the contrary we may be now? But is it not a delusion? If you are\nputting off saying your prayers regularly and earnestly because it\nis not convenient now, do you really think that the time will come\nwhen it will be easier, and more natural for you to do this? If you\nare still putting off, as so many have, and are putting off for\nyears, what yet they acknowledge to be a Christian's bounden duty,\nemploying the much-needed means of grace, the coming to the Lord's\nholy Sacrament, can you really expect that anything will happen to\nyou which somehow or other will be the opportunity you cannot find\nnow of hearing the Gospel and drawing near to that blessed communion?\n\nReflect! Felix waited for a convenient season. It never came; it\nwill never come where he is now. Let him be a lesson to us. The\nconvenient season is just now,--and let us beware of trifling with\nit.\n\n    Of all sad words of tongue or pen,\n    The saddest are these, It might have been.\n\nAnd of all devices by which the devil throws a loop around the\nsinner's neck, the most effective is this: \"A more convenient\nseason!\" \"Not yet.\"\n\nMy dear hearers, I have again, like my great predecessor, the\napostle, made an appeal to you to accept the faith as it is in\nChrist Jesus. What say you? With Felix: \"Not now,\" or, \"I will\"? O\nfor the right choice! God gives you the opportunity to make it now.\nWill you not seize it? Amen.\n\n\n\n\nTHIRD SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.\n\n     And as Jesus passed forth from thence, He saw a man named\n     Matthew sitting at the receipt of custom; and He said unto\n     him, Follow me. And he arose and followed Him. And it came to\n     pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans\n     and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And\n     when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto His disciples, Why\n     eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus\n     heard that, He said unto them, They that be whole need not a\n     physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that\n     meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice; for I am not come\n     to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.--_Matt. 9,\n     9-13._\n\n\nThe text just heard contains much of interest and importance--first,\nfor the history which it gives, and secondly, for the Gospel which\nit preaches. We shall consider both for our encouragement and\ninstruction.\n\nIt was in Capernaum, the capital of Galilee, on the borders of Lake\nTiberias. Jesus was walking by the seaside when He saw a man named\nMatthew sitting at the receipt of customs, collecting the duties,\nor taxes, on goods landed from the vessels. To all human appearance\nthis collector of customs, or publican, as they were called, was\na very unlikely person to become a convert, much less an apostle.\nPublicans, or taxgatherers, in those days were held in very ill\nrepute. One reason for this was that they were in the employ of the\nRoman Government, and no patriotic, loyal-hearted Jew would permit\nhimself to be employed by these despised and oppressive Gentiles.\nAnother reason was that those who were thus employed generally\nmanaged to make it profitable for themselves. By practicing\nfraud and distortion upon their own countrymen, overcharging and\ncollecting more than was due, they succeeded in accumulating means,\nand many, like Zaccheus, a large fortune. There is nothing to show\nthat Matthew was guilty of such extortion and fraud, but he was by\noffice and occupation connected with this odious and unprincipled\nset of men; nor is it necessary for us to believe that he was\naltogether free from the taint that attached to them. And yet, out\nof the ranks of these base and detested publicans, Jesus did not\ndisdain to take at least one of those twelve men whom He chose to\nbe the heralds of His Gospel, the great leaders of His kingdom to\na perishing world. Good men, let us learn from this, often come\nfrom despised and unworthy classes. Outward circumstances do not\nalways prove as unfavorable nor as adverse to piety as we are apt to\nimagine. There is often a wide contrast between outward appearances\nand inward realities. It may be that Matthew inwardly was very\nmuch disposed to follow Jesus when addressed by Him. It is not for\nus to discern what is going on in the inner man. We may hear the\nblasphemer uttering a vile oath and pass him by as one on the verge\nof perdition, while the heart of the poor wretch at the very moment\nmay be bursting with anguish and filled with self-reproach, and one\nword of kindness might melt him into contrition and love. We see\nanother amid the wild whirl of earthly dissipation and pleasure, and\nmay suppose that it would be casting pearls before swine to waste\na word on religious topics with him, while he may be aching with\na sense of the emptiness of the world, and a single expression of\nChristian kindness may draw from him a confession of the vanity of\nall his pleasures, and the inquiry, Who will show me any permanent\nand real good? Never let us judge of the hopelessness of man's\nsalvation by the mere outward appearance.\n\nNo den of infamy is so vile, no hall of skepticism, or haunt\nof worldliness is so impenetrable, no prison cell so deep or\npolluted, but that Jesus can gather thence gems that shall shine\nin His crown. Who was ever a more devoted follower of Christ than\nMary Magdalene?--and yet she once had seven devils. Who was more\nvoluptuous, depraved, and infamous in his course as a young man\nthan Augustine, who became the great bishop of Hippo and one of\nthe most illustrious doctors of the Church? And what did Jesus see\nin any of us to lead Him to visit us with His salvation? Was there\nany such native excellence in your character, or such a purity in\nyour conduct, when out of Christ, that God was attracted thereby\nand stooped from heaven to save you, because it was a pity that\nso much worth and goodness should be lost forever? Oh, no, not for\nour merits, but of His own infinite mercy does He save us, and if\nwe feel aright, we shall never think that we deserved to be saved,\nwhile the vile sinner deserved to be damned, but that all of us are\nsinners worthy of God's wrath and curse, and that none have reason\nfor boasting. Viewed in that light, we shall not wonder that Christ\nchose an apostle from that most ill-favored class of men known in\nPalestine at the time.\n\nAnd the call was not unheeded. It is not necessary to assume that\nthe call came to Matthew as a clap of thunder out of a clear sky.\nMatthew, as a dweller in Capernaum, where our Savior was preaching\nand performing some of His most noted miracles, and as a man who\ndaily had to do with people of all classes, could not have been\nwithout some knowledge of what was going on. In all likelihood he\nhad seen and heard Christ, and so was not wholly without preparation\nfor what happened when the great Teacher and Wonder-worker came into\nhis office and said to him, \"Follow me.\" And what was the decision?\nOur text informs us: He left all, rose up, and followed Christ.\nPromptly, cheerfully, he surrendered his worldly interests, unites\nhis fortune and his future with the Master. It was not so in every\ninstance. We know that the same call was extended to others, who at\nonce propounded something else to be attended to. The one remarked,\n\"Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father;\" another, \"Lord,\nI will follow Thee, but let me first go bid them farewell which\nare at home at my house,\" and still another, it says, \"went away\nsorrowing,\" because he was not willing to separate himself from his\ngreat possessions. It is so to this very day and hour.\n\nTo every one that hears the Gospel the word is: \"Follow Me.\" There\nare those who heed it like Matthew. Then others who hear the same\ncall make a thousand excuses, but never reach the point of honest\ndecision. Obedience, as it is the first virtue of a child, in a\nsoldier, or a servant, so it is the first virtue in a Christian.\nWhen you hear the blessed Savior's voice, asking you to take up\nthe obligations of a Christian faith and life, then respond like\nMatthew, instantly, promptly.\n\nAnd not only was it prompt and ready obedience, it was steadfast,\npersevering. It was not a spirit of momentary enthusiasm that\npresently died away. Never again did he return to his old\nprofession. With unfaltering devotion did he cling to our Lord,\nand finally laid down his life in His cause. There are those who,\nwhen they hear the merciful call of the Savior, are prompt enough\nsometimes to follow. They are greatly captivated with the Christian\nprofession. They like the distinction it gives them, the new\nattitude and surroundings in which they are placed, the gaining of\nnew friends, sympathies and credit with which it invests them. But\nwhen it comes to the serious side,--and Christian discipleship has\na serious side,--it does not mean only wearing a bright uniform and\ncarrying a flag, but standing on guard, enduring hardships as a good\nsoldier of Christ. Then the cross becomes too heavy for them, and by\nand by they are offended, their zeal expires, and their once flaming\ndevotion dies. Matthew was not of that class; his decision was as\nhonest, thorough, and enduring as it was prompt, and in this he is\nan example for us.\n\nNor was this all. Not only did Matthew follow the Savior, but the\nsubsequent verse informs us that he made a great feast for the\nMaster. We can easily see the motives of the man in making this\nfeast. \"My Lord has had mercy on me,\" he would say, \"and I wish to\ndo something to testify my love and gratitude to Him. I will make an\nentertainment in His honor, and I will invite my old friends among\nthe publicans to it, for it may be that His words of power may reach\ntheir hearts as they did mine, and turn them from their sins.\" That,\nmy beloved, is one of the strongest evidences of a truly converted\nsoul--anxiety and concern for the soul of others. A person that\nhas found the Savior is anxious that others should find Him, too.\nChristianity is not like gold, which every one wishes to secrete for\nhis own use, but it is like a full fountain--it runs over; like the\nsun--it must shine forth. And so we behold the Savior now seated in\nthe midst of a large company of publicans and sinners.\n\nBut have you, my dear hearers, ever known of a noble and holy work,\nno matter what it is, that did not meet with some criticism? Some\ncarping voice is bound to be always heard, and so here. That Jesus\nwas found in such company, and agreed to be a guest with such\nsociety, was a scandal in the eyes of the ceremonial, self-righteous\nJews, and \"He it was who claimed to be the long-expected Messiah.\"\nIt was conclusive evidence to them that He was a sheer impostor,\na glutton and wine-bibber, equally as bad as those whom He met on\nsuch familiar terms. Nor were they slow in making known their\nconclusions. They uttered their malignant feelings, not to Jesus\nHimself, but to His disciples. When Jesus learned their cavils,\nit does not appear that He was ruffled in the least. He knew His\nmission, for what purpose He had come into this world, and so with\nall firmness we hear Him setting forth His association with these\nill-reputed people as in accord not only with the best principles\nof common sense, but with the whole spirit and intent of His\nMessiahship. \"But when Jesus heard that, He said unto them, They\nthat be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.\" Sin\nis a sickness, a disease, and these publicans and sinners were\nvery deeply under the power of this disease. Now, where should a\nphysician be but with the sick and the dying? Is a doctor to be\nblamed for entering a hospital full of suffering invalids? Is it not\nrather a blessed demonstration of His fidelity to his profession\nto go to such ailing people? Well, then, what right had these\nself-constituted saints and judges to find fault? They claimed to be\ngood and holy people. They kept the Law. They were _whole_. They had\nno need of a physician to make them better,--so they thought. Why,\nthen, was the great Healer of souls to confine Himself to them? Thus\nupon their own principles and common sense, Christ amply justified\nHis conduct.\n\nThere is a double lesson to be drawn from our text. First, if\nyou have always maintained a good moral character, through the\nrestraints of a religious education and of God's grace, be thankful\nfor it; it is, indeed, a great mercy to have been kept from gross\nsins, and it will be a great help to you in a life of godliness. But\nbe careful that you do not rest salvation upon it, make a Savior\nof your own goodness, and so refuse Christ, without whom you will\nbe damned as surely as the vilest transgressor. Beware that your\noutward decency of character does not puff you up and make you think\nthat such as you can never be lost. There is no other name but that\nof Christ whereby you can be saved, and you must come to Him weary\nand heavy-laden, just as the vilest sinner does, if you would find\nrest to your soul.\n\nOn the other hand, if there be one present who has fallen into\ngross transgression, so that it seems almost too much for him to\nhope to be forgiven, let him hear the words of Jesus, \"I came not\nto call the righteous, but sinners to repentance,\" and let him be\nencouraged. Is there any wound this great Physician cannot heal? Is\nthere any sin the grace of Jesus cannot pardon, or His blood wash\naway? Doubt not His infinite compassion, doubt not His almighty\npower. Lay your soul in His hands. Though your sins be as scarlet,\nthey shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson,\nthey shall be as wool. Oh! that, like Matthew of old, we might yield\nourselves to His gracious summons, go down to our houses, humble,\nobedient believers in Him who came into this world to call sinners\nto repentance. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFOURTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.\n\n     And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and\n     whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;\n     and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in\n     heaven.--_Matt. 16, 19._\n\n\nFixed in our Church calendar for the 29th of June is Saint Peter the\nApostle's day. We do not, as a rule, observe these days, or minor\nfestivals, as they are styled. And it may be asked why we have them\ngiven in our Church calendar and observe them at all. In answer we\nwould say that we do not, like the Romanists, regard the saints as\nmediators, do not address prayers to them, nor ask them to pray for\nus. And we differ further from the Romanists in that we place none\nin our Church calendar as saints save such as are clearly set forth\nin that character in the Word of God. Rome is continually adding\nnew saints to her list. Any one who has been eminently holy--in the\nodor of sanctity--is canonized by the pope, and his or her name\nplaced in the calendar; and there are instances on record where\nother influences besides piety placed it there. We place the word\n\"saint\" before none but those who, we are sure from God's Word, are\ndeserving of it. Nor even all of these do we thus honor. Enoch and\nElijah were translated into heaven and are assuredly among God's\nsaints. The same is true of Abraham and Moses, Joseph and Daniel.\nBut we never speak of St. Abraham, St. Moses, and the like. In this\nmatter we follow our Lord's rule: \"He that is least in the kingdom,\"\nmeaning the Church He came to establish, \"is greater than he,\" and\nselect for our list only New Testament persons; and here, again,\nthose especially near to Him, such as the evangelists and apostles,\nand so we speak of St. Peter, St. Matthew, St. Paul. These we honor\nbecause Christ honored them. On his birthday each year we extol\nthe virtues of a Washington; on Reformation Day we speak on the\ncharacter and life-work of a Luther. Why should we not, therefore,\non one day of the year, especially when it falls on a Sunday, note\nfor our instruction what God in His Word has recorded of these\nfavored servants? Only ignorance and prejudice could ever find fault\nwith such an observance of these days and minor festivals which the\nChurch in her wisdom purposes, and so from the lesson of this day\nwould we regard the latter part. An important truth is it, a truth\nwhich has given rise to endless controversy, that this line sets\nforth to us. We shall inquire, _I. What is the office or the power\nof the Keys? II. How is it exercised?_\n\nIn the opinion of some, these words addressed to Peter on that\nmemorable occasion when he confessed Jesus to be the Christ, the\nSon of the living God, gave to Peter a direction to take charge\nof divine affairs. The religious destiny of the race was placed\nin his hands. It was for him to save or condemn at will, and this\npower and commission he then turned over to his successor, alleged\nto be the pope at Rome. That was the common interpretation for\nhundreds of years. In consequence of that we have such happenings\nin history as that which took place at Canossa, when Henry IV of\nGermany, deposed from his royal office through the influence of the\npope, came over the Alps to secure the Holy Father's absolution. He\npresented himself at the gate of Gregory VII, and made his humble\npetition. He was ordered to remain at the gate and abstain from\nfood; he was further ordered to strip himself of the royal purple\nand put on hair-cloth. At the end of three weary days of penance,\nstanding out in the cold and snow, and nearly famished, he was\nrequired to go into the presence of Pope Gregory and kiss his feet.\nThen this \"vicar of God,\" as he styled himself, was pleased to say,\n\"_Absolvo te_,\" \"I absolve thee.\" And what child knows not the\naccount of Tetzel, who, with an armful of indulgences and a chest\nbearing the inscription: \"Soon as the money in the chest doth ring,\nthe soul at once to heaven doth spring,\" sold as an article of\nmerchandise, for so much consideration, so many and such great sins?\nThe confessional, the extreme unction, the deliverance of souls from\npurgatory, these and other adjuncts and accessories that have risen\nfrom the claim of the Romish Church to the power of the keys, they\nallege were once given to St. Peter. But it rests, like so many\nother claims of that Church, upon a serious misinterpretation and\nperversion of the passage.\n\nIn the following chapter our Lord says to the whole band of\napostles: \"Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in\nheaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in\nheaven.\" And this He said not only on one occasion to them all,\nbut on several. On this particular occasion He said it especially\nto Peter because Peter had acted as the spokesman of the rest and\nrendered a grand confession. Never do we find that any command,\nblessing, office, or grace was ever conferred here or anywhere\nupon Peter which was not conferred equally and also upon all the\napostles of the Lord. Nor can it be shown from the Bible, nor from\nthe history of the Church in apostolic times, or from those who\nlived next after the apostles, that Peter ever asserted, or sought\nto assert, such authority. On the contrary, Peter, in his Epistles,\ninvariably refers to himself as simply one of the apostles, in no\nway the superior of the others, and when the first Christian synod\nwas held, though he was present, it was James that presided and gave\nthe official judgment of the assembly. If God's authority prevails,\nwe must dismiss the Romish dogma which would entrench itself in this\ntext as a falsehood, without the remotest claim to our respect. No,\nnot to Peter exclusively was given the power of the keys; not even\nto the twelve apostles exclusively, in the sense that it belonged to\nthem personally. They received it as a power, a commission, which\nbelonged to the Church. In the 18th chapter of St. Matthew, speaking\nof this very thing, the Savior directs: \"And if he neglect to hear\nthem, tell it to the Church; but if he neglect to hear the Church,\nlet him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. Verily, I\nsay unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in\nheaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in\nheaven.\"\n\nCorrectly does our Catechism define the office of the keys. It\nsays: \"The office of the keys is the peculiar Church power which\nChrist has given to His Church on earth, to forgive the sins of the\npenitent unto them, but to retain the sins of the impenitent as long\nas they do not repent.\" We learn, then, who is invested with this\nauthority, _viz._, the Church, the congregation of believers. It is\nsomething which belongs to all Christians, not to one apostle only,\nor to twelve apostles only, but to every congregation that is met\naround the Word and the Sacrament. They have this jurisdiction and\npower. What jurisdiction and power? The power that attaches to the\noffice of the keys is twofold. It is used to lock and to unlock, to\nfasten and to open the door.\n\nFirst, there is the power to fasten and to lock. We call this\nadministering discipline. This is necessary to the health and life\nof the Church. In the Corinthian church a certain man was guilty of\na nameless crime. Possibly of good social standing, his offense was\nwinked at. St. Paul, however, exhorts the Corinthian congregation\nto deal summarily with him; he exhorts them to meet in the name of\nthe Lord, and deliver this evil-doer over to Satan in the hope that\nhe might come to his senses and be reclaimed--\"for the destruction\nof the flesh,\" as the phrase is. In another place he writes: \"I\nhave written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is\ncalled a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or\na railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner. Put away from among\nyourselves that wicked person.\" It was what we call suspension,\nexcommunication, or the ban.\n\nIt is not a pleasant duty by any means, as little as it is a\npleasant thing to amputate, to cut off a member of the body; but\nif the member be gangrenous and a menace to the life of the body,\nand nothing but an amputation will do, then let it be done. A\ncongregation is answerable before the Head of the Church; it must\nkeep its membership and roster clear; it dare not permit among\nits membership impenitent and manifest sinners, those who are\ndespisers of God's means of grace, the Word and the Sacrament, whose\nmorals are a blot, whose lives are a stench in the nostrils of the\nbelievers and of the world. Such, after due hearing, exhortation,\nremonstrance, must be turned out. They have no place in the company\nof Christians. This is the exercise of the office of the keys in the\none direction. In general, it is to be deplored that the Christian\nChurches do not exercise this power as they ought. It would mean the\nreawakening and recovery of many a sinner.\n\nThe other part of the office of the keys is what is called\nabsolution, the power to forgive sins. That power the Church has\ncommitted to it, as we heard in the text, by Christ Himself. There\nis much misconception on this among even Christians; to some it is\nno small stumbling-block. It need not be. The matter is quite simple\nand plain.\n\nCould Peter forgive sins? The Lord says so. Could the apostles\nforgive sins? The Lord says so. Can the Church, through its called\nministers, forgive sins? The Lord says so. Yes, we may press the\nquestion still further and ask, Can every Christian forgive sins?\nWhat the Church, as the collective body of Christians, can do, that\neach Christian can do as an individual. Yes, every Christian can\nforgive sins. How is that to be understood? Peter, as Peter, as a\nman, could not forgive sins of himself and by his own authority. No\nman can forgive sins--that is a divine prerogative. But Christ gave\nto Peter the charge, the commission, to do so. The power, then, was\nnot in Peter, but in the charge, the commission. When the Governor\nof our State issues a pardon and sends a messenger to deliver it,\nit is rightly and properly said that the messenger brings pardon to\nthe prisoner. The power, of course, is not of the messenger, but of\nthe Governor, as vested in the message of pardon. Equally so the\nGospel is the message of pardon to sinful men. The ministers of\nChrist, as the messengers of the Churches, proclaim that message.\nThe power of the pardon does not depend upon them, their general\npiety or impiety; the power of the pardon rests upon Him that\ngave it, the great Governor of the Church. And yet, can it not be\njustly, truthfully, and properly said in their case, as in the case\nmentioned, that the messengers bring pardon to the prisoners, that\nthey forgive sins? So our Lord spoke, so our Catechism speaks, and\nso we may speak.\n\nNot the power of absolute forgiveness does the text confer upon the\nChurch, but that of declarative forgiveness. But this declaration of\nforgiveness, it must be held, is real forgiveness. When the Church\nforgives sins, they are forgiven. The words of Christ say that as\ndistinctly as words can say it. \"Whosesoever sins ye remit, they\nare remitted unto them.\" The pardon brought by the messenger is a\nreal pardon, as certain and valid as if the Governor had brought it\nhimself. And so, declares our Catechism, when in the confessional\nservice the minister pronounces the forgiveness of sins, you are to\nreceive it as from God Himself and in no wise to doubt, but firmly\nto believe that by it your sins are forgiven before God in heaven.\n\nThis is the teaching of God's Word in regard to the loosing power of\nthe office of the keys. A comforting teaching it is. We Christians,\nit is true, have the assurance of forgiveness already in our\nbaptism, in the general preaching of the Gospel, and in the Lord's\nSupper; but that does not make absolution superfluous. Battling, as\nwe have daily to do, against flesh and blood, disturbed as we are by\nmany a conflict, many a doubt, fightings and fears within, without,\nhow uplifting the words of absolution addressed to you directly,\nindividually: \"My son, my daughter, be of good cheer, thy sins are\nforgiven thee!\"\n\nGod preserve us from all abuse, perversion, and misunderstanding of\nHis Word and ministry, and give us the comfort and blessing that\ncome from both! Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFIFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.\n\n     And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and\n     putting his hands on him, said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even\n     Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath\n     sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled\n     with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes as\n     it had been scales; and he received sight forthwith, and arose\n     and was baptized.--_Acts 9, 17, 18._\n\n\nWe hear in the Gospel of this Sunday how by speech and by miracle\nour Lord called four of His disciples from their fishing boats to\nthe labors of His ministry. His first selection fell upon persons\nfrom the humble walks of life, plain, unlettered fishermen, toilers\nfor their daily bread in a lowly occupation. There was divine wisdom\nin the choice. Being of the common people, they knew the thoughts,\nfeelings, and habits of the common people, and so could best adapt\nthemselves and their preaching to the general masses. But the time\ncame when God, for the propagation of His saving Gospel, for the\nupbuilding of His Church, needed another sort and stamp of man,\na man whose learning, eloquence, and boldness should elevate the\nGospel before the eyes of all the world. And then as now He was not\nat a loss to secure such a chosen vessel. We shall regard in these\nmoments sacred to devotion the call or conversion of St. Paul.\n\nAbout the time that the boy Jesus was found in the temple seated\namong the doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions,\nfar to the northwest of Jerusalem, in the heathen city of Tarsus,\nthere was born a babe, born of strict Jewish parents, of the tribe\nof Benjamin, but also, because his father in some way had become\na Roman citizen, also born to the rights and privileges of Roman\ncitizenship. Being a bright child, of great natural gifts, he was\ngiven careful training at home in the schools of his native city,\nand then sent to Jerusalem, to finish his education under the care\nand tuition of Gamaliel, the most renowned rabbi of the Jewish land\nthen living. His family, apparently well to do, spared no expense to\nmake him one of the most learned men of his day; nor did they fail\nin their attempt, as his writings, masterpieces of composition and\nlogic, abundantly testify.\n\nThe first mention that we have of Paul, or, rather, at that time\nSaul, is in connection with the scenes that led up to the murder of\nStephen, the first Christian martyr. When the Christian religion\nbegan to spread in the very center of Judaism, Jerusalem, great\ndisputation arose between its followers and the Jews. And Saul,\nwho belonged to the strictest sect of the Jewish religion, the\nPharisees, and was a man of strong feeling and enthusiastic in\ntemper, soon became involved in these discussions, and so we find\nthat when the mob took Stephen and ignominiously stoned him to\ndeath, it says of Saul: \"He was consenting unto his death,\" and that\nthe murderers \"laid down their clothes at a young man's feet named\nSaul.\"\n\nNor did he stop here. His whole being was so aflame with religious\nzeal that he knew only one purpose of life, and that was to blot\nout the name of that detestable Founder of the new religion and His\nfollowers. Accordingly, we read in Acts that \"Saul made havoc of\nthe Church, entering into every house, and haling men and women,\ncommitted them to prison.\" And not satisfied with his work at\nJerusalem, he began to extend his persecution to distant cities. The\nopening verses of this chapter read: \"And Saul yet breathing out\nthreatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went\nunto the high priest, and desired of him letters to Damascus to the\nsynagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men\nor women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.\" Damascus, in\nSyria, now the oldest city in the world, had opened its gates as a\nrefuge to the Christians, and provided with legal papers from the\nhigh priests, he set out at the head of an armed and mounted force\nto bring those Christians at Damascus to terms. But he did not. In\nthe affairs of men it ever remains true: Man proposes, God disposes,\nand most wonderfully did He dispose in the case of Saul of Tarsus.\n\nIt was high noon in Syria, the sun standing in its zenith. On\nthe road leading from Jerusalem to Damascus could be heard the\nclattering of horses' hoofs. The horsemen could already see the\nbeautiful city rising upon their sight and its gates swinging open,\nwhen, suddenly, there came a flash from the sky, and \"a light\nabove the brightness of the sun\" shone round about them, with such\noverwhelming effect that it struck the chief with blindness, smote\nhim to the ground, and filled every man with terror and dismay. And\nto this brilliancy of light was added a clear and distant voice\nringing through the air, \"Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?\"\n\nLike pointed steel these words went down into Saul's heart. He had\nbeen persecuting the Christians, and now comes a voice from heaven,\nsaying, \"Why persecutest thou Me?\" What! could it be possible that\nGod identifies Himself with these people he, Saul, was seeking to\ndestroy? Could it be true that He whom His nation had crucified\nwas indeed the Messiah, risen and alive? Overcome with remorse,\nSaul raises his sightless eyeballs on high and asks, \"Who art\nThou, O Lord?\" And back comes the quick reply, \"I am Jesus, whom\nthou persecutest.\" That was too much for him. Here was the voice\nof Jehovah Himself,--what could he do but submit? Trembling and\nastonished he said, \"Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?\" The\nvictory was won. The Galilean had conquered. \"Arise,\" said He, \"and\ngo into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.\" For\nthree days Saul lay sick in Damascus unable to see, to move, to eat\nand drink by reason of the great convulsions that had shaken up his\nbody and soul, but during that time undergoing a change which has\nplaced his name among the great and noble members of the kingdom\nof heaven. At the close of these never-to-be-forgotten days God\nsent to him one of the faithful disciples, or Christians, living\nat Damascus, Ananias by name. Ananias at first was very reluctant\nto go, having heard such evil report of the man, but the Lord had\nsaid, \"Go,\" and that settled the matter. He found the dreaded Saul\nlying on his couch, addressed him with brotherly kindness, told\nhim why he had come, and laid his hands upon him. \"And immediately\nthere fell from his eyes as it had been scales; and he received\nsight forthwith, and arose and was baptized.\" This interesting\nnarrative shall we view as to the subject of conversion and as to\nits significance to the Church.\n\nTaking up some practical lessons on the subject of conversion: What\nwas there in St. Paul's case that need not be looked for in other\ncases? And what was there in it that is common to every case? Let us\nlook at St. Paul's case. He was called in a miraculous manner by the\nSavior. It was a miracle to prove the truth of Christianity in that\nearly day. But now we have no ground to look for like circumstances\nin the conversion of any one in our day. If Saul of Tarsus saw Jesus\nappearing to him in the way, the sinner must not, for this reason,\nalso expect to be visited by some remarkable call, dream, vision, or\nsupernatural impression upon his mind.\n\nAgain, Saul fell to the earth, and was in great distress of mind\nand body for three days. It does not follow from this that every\nunconverted person must be in such distress before he can take\na step in the right direction. The Ethiopian eunuch, of whom we\nread in the preceding chapter, received the Word without any such\nprocess, and \"went on his way rejoicing.\" Of the three thousand who\nwere converted in one day it is merely said: \"They gladly received\nthe Word and were baptized.\"\n\nSometimes true Christians feel much uneasiness and anxiety because\nthey cannot point to any such distinguishing moments in their\nexperience. They have never passed through the mental anguish that\nothers speak of. They have never felt as Saul of Tarsus must have\nfelt those three days of blindness. Such persons forget that in most\nof the cases recorded in the Gospel there were no experiences of\nthis kind, but conversion consisted simply in the cordial and quiet\nacceptance of the Lord Jesus.\n\nAgain, in Paul's case there was something to fix the precise time of\nhis conversion. He could name the day, the very hour, when he fell\nupon the ground trembling and afraid. Is it, therefore, necessary\nthat every believer should be able to designate the precise time of\nhis conversion? Not one Christian out of ten can tell the date of\nhis conversion.\n\nIt is generally the case that the grosser the sins are, the more\nmarked will the change be. When any one who has made himself\nconspicuous in crime and wickedness is converted, it is like the\nlighting of a candle in a room utterly dark. There is a sudden\nchange from darkness to light. It is, therefore, easy to fix the\nprecise time when darkness ceased and light prevailed. But the case\nis very different from those who have been molded and influenced\nfrom youth up by religious teaching and training.\n\nHow was it possible for Timothy to tell when he commenced to\nbe a Christian? He was instructed from his youth in the Holy\nScriptures. He could not remember the time when he was not pious\nand God-fearing. He always belonged to the Lord--in his childhood,\nin his youth, in his manhood. The same is true of John the Baptist.\nHow could he tell when he was converted? He was sanctified from his\nbirth, we are told. Where, then, was there room for a sudden and\nmarked change in him? Yes, I am free to remark that it is just what\nGod wants in the case of each one. He does not want us to know the\nprecise time of our conversion. He does not want any one to give a\npart of his life to sin and Satan, so that a sudden, marked, and\ndefinite change seems necessary. He does not want you to act the\npart of an infidel for awhile, in order that you may be able to tell\nus the day or the hour when you became a believer. No, God wants\nyour whole life; from beginning to end it is to be consecrated to\nGod, our Savior. And does it not follow from this, that the more\nfaithfully our children are instructed in the doctrines and duties\nof our holy religion, in the family, in the Sunday-school, and in\nthe catechetical class, the less the number will become of those who\ncan point to the particular time of their conversion? The whole work\nof the Sunday-school throughout and the whole work of the pastor\nin the catechetical class has this grand object in mind, to make\na Timothy out of every child, one who is instructed in the Holy\nScriptures from his youth, and who knows no time when he did not\nbelong to the Lord.\n\nFinally, we may observe that Saul's conversion was unsought by\nhimself. He set out on his way to Damascus full of hatred against\nChrist and His disciples. He had not a single desire to become His\nfollower. In this also his conversion is singular. We are not to\nexpect, as some seem to do, that we may carelessly continue in our\nworldly affairs, or in sinful pleasures, or in other opposition to\nGod; and nevertheless some time Almighty Grace will strike us to the\nground, and raise us up Christians. God may do that, but the general\nrule is that God does not do that. The general rule is that God is\nfound by those who seek Him. The eunuch was reading the Scriptures\nwhen Philip preached Christ to him. Nathaniel was meditating and\npraying under the fig-tree when he was led to the Savior. Lydia\nwas at the place of prayer when the Lord opened her heart, and she\nattended to the things spoken by Paul. The Samaritans were listening\nto Philip's preaching when they were brought to believe. All were\nusing the means of grace, and were brought to a saving knowledge\nof the truth. So with us this day,--by the Word of God, in private\nreading, in public preaching He converts souls. In this particular\nconversion, Paul's case differs from others.--What, however, do we\nfind in every case of true conversion, no matter how varied the\ncircumstances are? Conversion is to turn from the love and practice\nof sin, and through faith in the Son of God to the love and practice\nof holiness. When a man has conviction of sin, believes in, and\ndepends on, Jesus as His Savior, he is converted, and it matters not\nhow, when, or where. Never could there be such a conviction, such a\nbelief, such a striving, unless there has previously been a change,\nand that change we call conversion. Believe it that when a man can\nlook up like the man Saul of Tarsus, and say, \"Lord, what wilt Thou\nhave me to do?\" he is a converted man.--\n\nViewed as a public event in its significance to the Christian\nChurch, the conversion of Paul is one of the strongest external\nproofs furnished us in the Bible for the truth of the Christian\nreligion. If it can be established that Saul became Paul, then the\nGospel must be true, and all that it tells us of Jesus as our divine\nLord and Redeemer must be true. And there has never yet been a man\nwho has dared to deny the historical truth of this conversion, or to\ncontradict that Saul _did_ become Paul.\n\nAt the beginning of the last century Sir Gilbert West and Lord\nLyttleton, two great literary lights of England, determined on a\nmasterstroke for the suppression of the Gospel. It seemed to them\nthat the two greatest miracles of the Christian religion were\nChrist's resurrection and Saul's conversion. Gilbert West agreed\nto write a refutation of the resurrection of Christ, and Lord\nLyttleton a refutation of the conversion of Saul. At the conclusion\nof their work they met by appointment. Lord Lyttleton asked, \"What\nis the result of your work?\" The answer was: \"I have thoughtfully\ninvestigated the resurrection of Christ, and have come to the\nconclusion that He who is said to have come forth from the sepulcher\nof Joseph's garden was, as He claimed to be, the veritable Son\nof God.\" And Lord Lyttleton said: \"I have fully investigated the\nnarrative of the conversion of St. Paul, and am satisfied that this\nman, on his journey along the Damascus highway, really saw Jesus\nof Nazareth, and that this Jesus was the very Christ of God.\" No\nother conclusion can be reached as we enter upon the study of the\ncharacter of the man, and the results that have come from that event.\n\nTo finish our meditation with a personal application: St. Paul,\nwhose conversion we have considered, wrote much for the instruction\nof all after ages, but he never penned more memorable words than\nthese, words which perhaps have been oftener quoted than any\nsentence of any writer that ever lived--may God enable you to take\nthe words home to your heart--: \"This is a faithful saying, and\nworthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world\nto save sinners, of which I am chief.\" Paul's conversion is a\nbeacon-light to encourage us never to despair for the worst and most\nhopeless of sinners.\n\nIf Grace could take a blasphemer and persecutor like Saul, then\nthere is hope for you and for me. May we realize it! Amen.\n\n\n\n\nSIXTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.\n\n     Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.--_2\n     Tim. 3, 5._\n\n\nThings are not always what they seem. There is much deception,\nsham, pretense in this world. And religion forms no exception; much\nthat passes under that name is not such in reality. The text just\nquoted distinguishes between \"the form of godliness\" and \"the power\nof godliness,\" thus intimating that there may be one without the\nother. All created things indeed have some form. We cannot think\nof anything without form. Every essence and substance manifests\nitself in some shape, through some medium, external substance; and\nso religion finds expression in outward forms, in prayer, in this\ninstitution called the Church, in that Book called the Bible, in the\nsacraments and other ordinances.\n\nBut, whilst we cannot have religion without form, there may be form\nwithout religion. Not every eye sees, though it was created for that\npurpose; not every ear, though it have the perfect form, hears. We\ndiscover eyes without seeing and ears without hearing, and in like\nmanner we discover the form of godliness with none of its power. A\nman may appear very religious, and yet not be religious. The Bible\nand history both are full of such. Thus, St. Paul in his day came\nto the city of Athens and was constrained to confess: \"I observe,\nO men of Athens, that ye are exceedingly devout.\" Judging by the\nform, he saw, in that representative city of heathenism, a great\ndegree of religiousness and devotion; gods and goddesses, altars and\ntemples, stood on the right hand and on the left, carved out in the\nmost exquisite marble, with the most exquisite skill. Every public\nedifice was a sanctuary. The theaters were ascribed to the deities.\nAs any scholar of ancient history knows, the streets and markets,\nthe groves and public places were full and overflowing with the\nfigures and statues of Jupiter and Diana, and every other god and\ngoddess which their imagination had invented. Yes, the men of Athens\nwere exceedingly religious, and, withal, they were notoriously\nungodly, and Paul could not help expressing himself to that effect.\n\nAgain, take the religionists mentioned in to-day's Gospel--the\nscribes and the Pharisees. As to the form of religion, they were\nscrupulous to the last degree. On their phylacteries, and on the\nfrontlet which they wore between their eyes, were passages of\nScripture such as: \"Hear, O Israel! The Lord, your God is one Lord.\"\nThey fasted twice in the week, more than the law required. They\npaid tithes, not only of the common products of the field, but of\ntheir garden herbs, mint, anise, and cinnamon. They were extremely\ncareful as to their cleansings. Thus the washing of hands in the six\nbooks of the Mishna, written by the Jewish rabbis, is prescribed:\nOne and one-half eggshells full of water must be used; the hands\nmust be lifted in a certain position when the water is poured upon\nthem; then the right must rub the left and the left the right; then\nthey must be held in a downward incline, palms upside down, so\nthat the water may drop off. And the towel must be properly held.\nThirty chapters alone in that Jewish book treat of the cleansing\nof cups and platters. And yet, in spite of all this scrupulosity\nand punctiliousness and ceremonialism, the Savior had occasion to\ndeclare in the opening words of to-day's Gospel-lesson: \"Except your\nrighteousness exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees,\nye shall in no wise enter the kingdom of heaven.\" The form was\nthere, the show of godliness, but something vitally essential was\nmissing; our text calls it \"the power.\"\n\nNor would we confine this formation of religion to ancient heathen\nor Judaism. An acquaintance of mine tells of a scene recently\nwitnessed in the city of Mexico. A company of men were shuffling\ncards, and casting dice, and indulging in profane and unholy jests\nin a drinking-house, when suddenly the ringing of a bell was heard\nwithout. A procession of priests was passing through the streets\nbearing the consecrated water to the bedside of the dying. At\nthe sound all in the iniquitous place fell upon their knees and\nmuttered their prayers. The bell ceased, and they resumed their\npleasure. What was this but the form of godliness without the power?\nNor need we go to distant Mexico to find the same manifestation\namong the devotees of the same religion,--ceremonialism, grand and\nspectacular, the waking early at the break of day to perform one's\nworship, the lighting of candles and bending of knees before graven\nimages, the ceaseless twisting of the rosary beads, and making of\ncrucifixes and anointing with holy oil and water. What are these\nbut the forms of godliness without the power thereof? Let us not\nbe uncharitable, but the words of the Savior press themselves upon\none's lips: Except your righteousness exceed that which so garbs\nitself, and puts in the place of Christ another's righteousness,\nwhich is the righteousness of such hollow ceremonies, pretensions,\nand good works, it shall not avail to enter into the kingdom of God.\n\nAnd is Protestantism exempt? Are there no formalists among those\nwho profess to be members of, and visit, our churches? Is there no\noutward ceremonial observance there, no form of godliness without\nthe power thereof? As we pointed out, everything has a form, and\nthat form needs attention. Injure the shell, and the kernel will be\nimpaired. Refuse to give due respect to your body, and its immortal\ntenant, the soul, will leave it. And so in religion. The outward\nmust be attended to. It will not do to say, I need not go to church,\nGod is everywhere, I can worship Him just as well under the trees\nof the park, under the blue canopy of the great temple of Nature,\nas in the four walls of a building. The church is God's; it is\nthere He has recorded His name, and promised to convey His grace\nand blessing as nowhere else. Godliness and churchliness are joined\ntogether, and it is not for any man to divorce them, to put them\nasunder.\n\nThe godly man, it will ever be found, is the best churchman. It will\nnot do to say: I can be just as good a Christian and stay away from\nthe sacrament of the Lord's Table,--it is only a form. Granting it\nis, it is a form which God has commanded by and through which He\ncommunicates life and salvation to men's souls. You do not despise\nto drink the water of the Mississippi River because it flows through\npipes and comes out at the faucet. And so you ought not reject life,\ngrace, and salvation promised by God, because He has laid it down\nfor you in the partaking of bread and wine in His sacrament, which\nis the channel by and through which He conveys it to your soul. The\nsame may be said of all the ordinances of religion,--prayer, the\nreading of the Bible, the saying of prayers. These things must be\nattended to. They are the forms in which it expresses itself--takes\nshape. And yet, we must beware of mistaking the shape for the\nsubstance, the shell for the kernel, the body for the soul. Going\nto church as a mere form saves no one; neither does going to the\nSacrament. To read the Bible, for instance, merely to find out\nwhat a fine literary product it is, has no religious value; and to\nmumble one's prayers in a thoughtless and spiritless way, our Lord\ntells us, is worthless, yes, it may be an abomination to Him. What\ngood does food do you if you do not digest it, take the strength\nout of it, the necessary qualities? Equally so with the spiritual\nfood. Religion as a form, a mere external life, a show, avails\nnothing; rather, it is a snare of delusion by which men may deceive\nthemselves and others.\n\nWhen, then,--that is the question to which our text leads up,--when\nhave we the form of godliness together with the power thereof? In\norder to have true religion, two things are necessary, the new birth\nand the new life. First, the new birth. \"Except a man be born again,\nhe cannot see the kingdom of God.\" Religion, first of all, above\nall, aims at and affects the heart. It is this which is primarily\nconcerned. \"This people,\" the Lord complains, \"draweth nigh unto me\nwith their mouth, and honoreth me with their lips, but their heart\nis far from me.\" \"Give me, my son,\" my daughter, \"thy _heart_,\" is\nthe request of the merciful Lord.\n\nWhoever has sat under the pulpit of God, listening to His\ninstructions and exhortations, or scanning the pages of His Holy\nWord, that has not had his feelings stirred and his soul warmed\nafter the manner of those two disciples on their way to Emmaus, to\nwhom the risen Lord opened the Scripture, whereupon they confessed,\n\"Did not our heart burn within us?\" Whose bosom has failed to beat\nhigher with noble resolution and holy endeavor when kneeling before\nhis God in prayer or at the sacred Communion? In a word, whose\ninner life has not been touched by the Spirit of God, and who has\nnot undergone a change of mind which brings him to see things by\nfaith in Christ, in a new light? The promise is: \"With the heart\nman believeth unto righteousness.\" \"If thou shalt believe in thine\nheart, thou shalt be saved.\" The heart belongs to true religion, and\ntrue religion belongs into the heart. This is the first requisite\nand essence of godliness--a new heart.\n\nThe other requisite is the new life. It is the natural and the\nnecessary outflow of the new birth. When the heart has been changed\nby the Spirit of God, the new life will show itself. The Lord once\nremarked, \"By their fruits ye shall know them.\" You cannot be a\nbad citizen, an undutiful parent, a spiteful husband, a fretful,\nquarrelsome wife, an unscrupulous business man, and, at the same\ntime, a good Christian. It does not exhibit the power of godliness\nto listen devoutly to a sermon on righteousness, and temperance, and\npurity, and straightway imbibe freely from the intoxicating cup,\nspeak words of profanity, and do things that are tainted. If you\nwould discover if the works of a clock are right, we look at the\nhands; so by our hands and deeds we may test whether our hearts are\nright. You cannot be in possession of an evil tongue, of a lustful\neye, of a covetous, selfish, miserly hand, and, at the same time, of\na pious and devout mind.\n\nIf our text teaches anything, it teaches that godliness is a\n\"power,\" an energy which renews and sanctifies men. But when there\nis power, it exerts and manifests itself. Then there must be, in\norder to have true religion, a regenerated heart and a corresponding\nlife. How, then, to make a few direct words of application, is it\nwith you, my dear hearer? One of the chief sources of offense, they\ntell us, is that those who profess godliness are so woefully short\nof it. \"They are everlastingly running to church, praying, and hymn\nsinging, but they live and act like heathen.\" Not infrequently that\ncharge comes from an ugly and malicious, fault-finding spirit. Let\nus see to it that it is only that, a mean, unfair charge, that, as\nfar as we are concerned, it be not true. Let us in the light of our\ntext see to it that we have not only the form of godliness, but\nthe power thereof, that our heart is right with God, and endeavor\nearnestly and conscientiously to make our head and tongues and hands\nright. God strengthen us in this resolution!\n\nLord Jesus, it is Thy religion we profess. Keep us by Thy Holy\nSpirit to be true disciples of it, to our soul's welfare, our\nfellow-man's uplift, and Thy glory. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nSEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.\n\n     Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of\n     them is forgotten before God?--_Luke 12, 6._\n\n\nOur Lord always spoke in the plainest possible terms. Whenever a\nvital truth was to be stated, an important doctrine to be set forth,\nHe did it in language so clear that no one could misunderstand.\nThe statement of our text this morning shares that quality. \"Are\nnot five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is\nforgotten before God?\" The little creature mentioned is one of the\nmost insignificant that could be thought of; the Lord selected\nit just for the sake of that utter insignificance to bring out a\nsignificant and all-inspiring truth. That truth is this: that God is\nin relation with everything that exists; that He superintends all;\nthat there is nothing so minute as to be overlooked or forgotten.\nWe call this the doctrine of God's providence, and a most prominent\nteaching of God's Word it is, as also one of the most cheering and\npractical.\n\nPrompted by the Gospel-lesson of to-day, which shows us our blessed\nLord as providing miraculously for the four thousand with seven\nloaves and a few small fishes, let us _I. seek to establish the\ndoctrine of God's providence_; _II. show its application and effect\nupon us and our lives_.\n\n\"I believe that God has made me and all creatures, that He has\ngiven me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my\nreason and all my senses, and still preserves them,\" thus we\nconfess in the explanation of the First Article of our Creed, and\nwhat our Catechism thus confesses, the sacred Scriptures with\nespecial clearness teach. God did not only, as some are willing to\nadmit, create the universe, but He also now governs it personally\nand completely. It is the theory of our modern evolutionists and\nmaterialists that God has left the world to govern and develop\nitself, that, having placed it under certain natural laws, it must\ntake care of itself, wholly independent of God's interference. As\nMelanchthon once characterized their position: \"They think of God as\na shipbuilder, who, when he has completed his vessel, launches it\nand then leaves it, or like a clock which you wind up, and then let\nrun off.\" A different impression is that received from God's Holy\nBook. That assures us that, so far from turning over His government\nto unalterable laws, so far from retiring from His works to dwell\napart in His own unapproachable Godhead in some distant sphere,\nunconcerned and uncaring for such a world and such creatures as we,\nthere is nothing done, nor said, nor thought, nor felt by man but\nHe knows it and notes it, and orders His dealings with reference\nto it. His providence includes every event,--the rise and fall of\nnations and states, the experiences and vicissitudes of the Church,\nthe occurrences of the history of each family, the unnumbered\ninstances which make up the life of each individual, no matter what\ntheir character. His supreme hand is in and over them all. Those\nwords which we so commonly use in daily speech--chance, accident,\nstrictly and consistently regarded, are untruthful, for there is\nno such thing as chance, an accident; nothing happens but it has\nbeen determined in His wisdom, and is sent, directed, or permitted\naccording to His will. Chance or accident rule in nothing--God's\nprovidence in all. What more satisfactory assurance would we desire\nfor that than what is told us in the text? It was a customary thing\nto see sold in the market-place of Jerusalem, as an article of\nmerchandise, the little creatures here mentioned. The price was a\nminimum, five sparrows for two farthings, equal at the most, to two\ncents of our money. Our Lord, in referring to it, calls attention to\nthe little regard taken by men of this poor little bird, and brings\nout in vivid and grand contrast the regard taken of it by God. \"And\nnot one of them is forgotten before God.\"\n\nElsewhere, in one of the Psalms, God says: \"I know all the fowls\nupon the mountains, and the wild beasts of the field are in my\nsight.\" We watch in their season of immigration the flight of birds,\nwhen in long flocks they cross the sky, passing from the North to\nthe South, or back again. To think that each in those countless\ntribes is known, as if by name, to its Creator, not one confounded\nwith the other in the view of God! We observe the tiny sparrow as\nit skips from ground to housetop, busily gathering its food, or the\nfrail materials wherewith to construct its nest below our house\nroof; how little we reflect that every one of them is numbered in\nthat sight which nothing can escape, and that in the ephemeral\nhistory of the poor little bird, of which the great God and Savior\ndeigns to speak, not one item is forgotten, each is seen and known\nand retained in a faithful memory; \"not forgotten,\" implying a\nknowledge that lasts, a consideration though the thing known may\nno longer exist. This, then, is the way we are taught to think\nabout our God. All things that transpire, all that has been and\nshall be--all are embraced within the circle of God's unforgetting,\nall-remembering knowledge, vision, providence. That is the Christian\ndoctrine as taught by our Lord in such plain illustrations as this,\nand as preached by His apostles on the pages of the Old and New\nTestament throughout.\n\nLet us now ask of the application. That it means something to us\nwhen the Lord says about God's not forgetting one of the sparrows\nsold in the market-place of Jerusalem is a matter of course. What\ndoes it mean? The doctrine of God's providence is, we would thus\nconsider it first, a stern and restraining truth. Consider for a\nmoment,--there is nothing about you, or in you, or of you, but God\nknows and sees it all, the thoughts of your mind, the desires of\nyour heart, the motives of your deeds. He spieth out all your ways,\nHe understandeth your thoughts afar off. Yesterday, for example,\nHe saw you when your eyes first opened to the light, and He traced\nyour steps till they closed once more in sleep. You know what you\ndid, and He also knows. You may have thought yourself unobserved,\nand some things there are which you should prefer to forget, wish\nthat you could conceal them, ashamed or afraid to have them known.\nGod does not forget, from Him you cannot conceal; all the while you\nare standing in the concentrated blaze of a light, brighter than the\nbrightest sun, and eyes that see everything are reading you through\nand through. That is, as stated, a stern and awful truth. But let us\nnot deceive ourselves concerning it. Let us remember that there is\nno privacy anywhere for us, though we may long for it, and many live\nas if they had it. Our follies and vanities, our erring steps, our\nugly temper and evil disposition, every idle word that you spoke,\nevery oath that has fallen from your lips, every vile action, every\ndollar you have wasted in luxury, folly, or withheld in miserly\nselfishness, every influence you have exerted, apt to lead a brother\nor sister astray,--God sees and knows them all. You are read like\na book by the Reader of the lives of all men. Man, my beloved\nhearers, needs a check upon him, a hand to keep him straight. He\nhas it in this belief. A person cannot go far wrong who believes\nthat God sees and knows all. The sense of His nearness is a moral\nforce, a thousandfold greater than any other that can be named. He\nthat thinks thus of His God is ever putting to himself the question\nwhether God approves what he is about at any given moment. That\nsaves him; it acts as a constant check; it is a lantern to his feet,\na light to his paths, a bridle to his lips. And God knows we all\nneed to be so held in. That communities are defiled, that the social\norder is imperiled, that men are shocked at the growing ravages of\nsin, and souls are ruined one by one, we may trace these things to\ntheir sole cause, the losing sight of the fact that God's eye is on\nthem always, and that they are accountable to Him for what they do.\nLet the doctrine of God's providence be generally rejected, and it\nis only a question of time till that comes to pass again which once\noccurred in the days of Noah, when God saw that the wickedness of\nman was great, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his\nheart was only evil continually. Here, then, is a truth which may be\ncalled the beginning of the moral law, the foundation of Christian\nethics, the Alpha and Omega of Christian practice. The doctrine of\nGod's providence is a stern and restraining doctrine.\n\nBut there is another side to the picture. To that shall we turn\nfor the greatest comfort and peace that mortal man can know. \"Are\nnot five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is\nforgotten before God?\" \"Ye are,\" continues the Master, \"of more\nvalue than many sparrows.\" If one of them cannot fall to the ground\nunnoticed by our Father, how much more in His thoughts, (that is\nthe evident line of argumentation,) are we, His children, made in\nHis likeness, redeemed by His own precious blood. What should there\nbe for us each day and hour but loving, unwavering trust. It cannot\nfail to impress every reader of his Bible how it dwells continually\nupon this very point. Our Lord knew what a burdensome world this\nis, and how easily perplexed men are. He has sought in all possible\nmanner and ways to bring home to us the truth we are considering.\nHe has given us precious and numerous promises. \"Trust in the Lord\nand do good,\" is one of them, \"So shalt thou dwell in the land, and\nverily thou shalt be fed.\" Another is: \"Whoso putteth his trust in\nthe Lord shall be safe.\" Still others: \"My grace is sufficient for\nthee:\" \"I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.\" These might be\nmultiplied from the Scriptures by the score and hundred. And again\nHe has sought to impress His divine providence upon us by numberless\nexamples. There is, for instance, Noah. Noah trusted Him, and\nlo! when the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the\nfloods rose, and millions of the ungodly sank into a watery grave,\nsheltered and shut in by God's protecting hand, the ancient saint\noutrode the deluge in safety, with his family. Elijah, alone yonder\nin the wilderness, in time of famine, trusted Him, and, behold, even\nthe ravens, divinely bidden, came flying with bread to feed him. And\nso David, and Daniel, and Peter, and all of God's illustrious saints\nwhose biography the Bible records, put their trust in His governing\nprovidence, and never were ashamed, and their experience has been\nthe universal experience and testimony of all who have ever really\nput their faith in Him, and that applies as much to us as to them.\nCome what will, the true and trusting child of God feels secure.\n\"Have we trials and temptations, is there trouble anywhere?\" Is\nghastly pestilence mowing down its victims? Is financial depression\nover all the land, labor unobtainable, wages low, and bread scarce?\nHas sickness prostrated one? Has death broken the family circle,\nand is the heart bleeding under bereavement? In the midst of it all\nthe Christian sees the wise, loving, all-governing providence of\nGod, the almighty and all-gracious hand of His own divine heavenly\nFather; and in this assurance, that God is thus in all that befalls\nhim, his soul is filled with abiding calmness. There is nothing,\namid it all, which is more calculated to banish our cares, to throw\nsunshine across life's path, to make us more content, than the\nbelief that our God holds the reins of universal rule, and that all\nis controlled and guided by His wise and kind hand.\n\nAnd this, to conclude, also gives a Christian strength and\nencouragement in his work. The thought that God is near us, the\nfeeling that He is working with us, gives an impulse, a force which\nnothing else can impart. To rise in the morning with that sense of\ndivine presence, that God sees all our endeavors, is to take up\none's work with an entirely different mood than where that feeling\nis missing. Nor are we then easily discouraged; it gives us renewed\ninspiration, the courage required for long, steady, earnest work.\n\nWe have considered a glorious truth of Christian doctrine from the\nlips of Him who never exaggerated, never erred. Lay hold of it,\nbelieve it, not languidly, but as a power in your lives, and be\nhappy in such belief. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nEIGHTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.\n\n     O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding\n     profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely\n     so called.--_1 Tim. 6, 20._\n\n\nEverything in this world is liable to be spoiled. There is nothing\nsafe against the doings of corruption. The holiest things are often\nperverted, the richest flowers blasted in their bud. Man himself, as\nthe Psalmist tells us, was made but a little lower than the angels,\nbut his glory was soon tarnished, and he frequently sinks a little\nlower than the brute. There is none, though he appear as a veritable\nsaint among men, who is beyond the reach of danger. And it is so\nalso with religion.\n\nBeautiful as is religion, and pure as it is, coming from the mind\nand bosom of God, it is liable to be spoiled in the hands and hearts\nof its professors. Such at least is the teaching of the text and\nthe testimony of experience. Just like the crystal mountain stream\nin its course from the virgin spring down to the ocean gathers some\nof the unclean and filthy deposits of the shores it washes, so the\nwaves of religion, in flowing through many lands and hearts, have\ntaken up some of their noxious and poisonous ingredients; while\npurifying and refreshing the earth, the noble river contracts some\nof its corruptions. The Jews, for instance, had a pure religion,\ncommunicated to them by the patriarchs and prophets, but heathenish\nelements were continually mingling with it. Moloch and other hideous\nidols would now and then stand in the very presence of Jehovah's\ntemple, and the priests of Baal oft took the place of the sons of\nAaron. When Christ came, the Jewish religion was exceedingly tainted\nand corrupted with Gentileism and other defiling influences. The\nChristian religion in its turn has fared no better, starting out\non the pure basis of its divine Master's directions; but it has\nbeen subject to the same influences. It was given to the world as\na plain, simple system. But when kings and emperors began to take\nit into favor, magnificent outward ceremonies were instituted,\nprivileged orders were appointed; bishops and other high authorities\nwere set up, claiming extraordinary power, and at last what started\nas Christianity became little more than baptized heathenism. Masses,\npenances, and confessionals took the stead of Christ and His\nrighteousness. In place of the old heathen gods were placed patron\nsaints. Venus of the Greeks became Mary of the Christians. The true\nglory of the Church was gone, until God in His mercy turned back the\ntide to His own Revelation and Book, the Holy Bible. That was in the\ndays of the Lutheran Reformation. But that did not settle matters;\nthe soil of misguided religion and of man's perverted opinion has\nbeen defiling, and is still defiling, its pure and holy waters. It\nneed not be. Christianity is as simple as simplicity can be, its\nteaching is as clear as is the sunlight in its noonday radiancy;\nbut, of course, it must be guarded, protected against corruption on\nthe part of man's delirious and sickly reason.\n\nThis is the caution St. Paul makes in our text to his beloved\npupil Timothy, when he directs him: \"O Timothy, keep that which is\ncommitted to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and\noppositions of science falsely so called, which some professing\nhave erred concerning the faith.\" There are two classes of science\nfalsely so called that have erred concerning the faith. The one\nis the worldly science, and the other the Christian Science, and\nconcerning both classes I would ask for your most careful attention.\n\nWhen speaking of science, it must be observed at the outset that\ntrue science and the Revelation of God are not at variance. How\ncan they be? The Book of Nature and the Book of Religion have been\nwritten by one and the same Hand, and cannot contradict each other.\nWhat man by investigation can find out in nature cannot be of a\ncharacter to make him doubt or deny the truthfulness of religion\nas laid down in the Bible. But this is what some of the men of\nsupposed higher learning are doing. They look askance at religion.\nThey shake their wise heads, and, putting on their eye-glasses,\nsuperciliously state that the Bible is not what people think it is.\nThey are willing to admit that it is a book of much good history,\na book of sublime poetry, a book of excellent moral precepts, a\nbook which admirably describes human nature, a book from which all\nmen may gather a great deal of practical wisdom and comforting\npromise, but many of its texts are spurious or faulty, it is not\naltogether up to date in their opinion. The geologist has bored\ninto the earth, and found that the various compositions must make\nit much older than Moses seems to say. The astronomer has put his\ntelescope into the heavens and finding our planet, the earth, the\nsmallest among heavenly bodies, considers it too insignificant to\nbe the object of all that divine concern the Bible speaks about.\nThe anatomist has examined the skulls of dead men, and comparing\nthe one with the other, questions whether they have all proceeded\nfrom one human pair. The natural historian has never found a race of\nsnakes with power of speech, and so he puts down the account of the\nserpent in Eden as a myth. The people of the earth speak hundreds\nof languages, and hence it must be a mere dream that there was once\na time when \"the whole earth was of one language and one speech.\"\nMiracles, they say, are so contrary to the general experience of\nmankind that they must be rejected as falsehood and fiction, and\nthus might we continue to give the objections of these wiseacres,\ncalled scientists, who are looked up to with undisguised admiration\nby numbers. It would lead us too far, though nothing might afford\nus greater pleasure to examine these objections in their true\nlight.--We will only ask, How do these wise people know what length\nof time it took the almighty God to form the various strata which\ncompose the crust of the earth? How can they tell that this world of\nours is too small to engage Jehovah so deeply for its welfare? How\ncan they prove that the human race and language do not extend back\nto one common stock? How dare they deny the credibility of miracles\nin the face of the many wonders which are spread about them every\nday, and appear every season in their sight? What authority have\nthey for their high-sounding, but hollow assertions? They think\nthemselves wise, but in fact they are but babes in these matters,\nand those who follow them are their senseless dupes.\n\nThe truth is that with all the advances of knowledge which have so\nwonderfully marked the last three hundred years, searching heaven\nand earth and sea, knocking at every door and gathering wisdom from\nevery source, there has not come to light one truth to contradict\nthese holy records, or to require the relinquishment of one word in\nall the great volume of God. Only a few instances to prove what I\nstate. It has been but a few years since Newton laid open the laws\nof gravitation, and yet the Scriptures spoke of the earth being hung\n\"upon nothing,\" as if familiar with the whole subject, before human\nscience had begun to form even the feeblest guesses in the case.\nAgain, take the theory of wind currents, and of the circulation of\nthe blood, why, read the 1st, 6th and 12th chapters of Ecclesiastes,\nand observe where Solomon describes it at least 2,500 years ago.\nAnd so in every case. You may lack understanding or research, you\nmay fail to grasp its truth, by reason of its being too wonderful\nto you, but as far as being false and spurious, let no man dare to\nraise that charge against God's religion and Book. Our wisdom, at\nbest, is only fragmentary, as St. Paul says, \"We know only in part.\"\nNo man, not even a scientist, is the personification of all wisdom,\nand ought not so consider himself. Let every man be a liar, but\nnever accuse God's truthfulness. Avoid such, as St. Paul says in our\ntext, as being profane and vain babblings and oppositions of science\nfalsely so called.\n\nThis, then, as much as worldly science is concerned, and now let us\nturn to the other species which calls itself Christian Science, but\nwhich is neither Christian nor Science,--not Christian, because it\nhas erred from the faith, as our text puts it, and not a science,\nbecause, to quote our text again, it is falsely so called. It might\nbe well to approach the matter more closely. In the first place, it\nmust be noted that Christian Science is nothing new; it is, to be\ncandid, a rehash of what is termed in Church History, Gnosticism. In\nthe early Christian Church, about the year 200 after Christ, there\narose certain heretics, Montanus and his prophetesses Maximilla and\nPriscilla, who advocated theories and things similar to those in our\ndays advanced with so much zealousness by the late Mrs. Mary Baker\nG. Eddy, the founder and high priestess of the Church of Christian\nScientists. These heretical views referred to also found adherents\nin the early Church, so that the excellent Bishop Irenaeus, of\nLyons, wrote a book against them called, \"The Refutation of\nChristian Science falsely so called.\" Mrs. Eddy very deftly\nsucceeded in bolstering up these ancient opinions, and launched\nthem forth in the various editions of her book called \"Science and\nHealth, with a Key to the Scriptures.\" I have carefully gone over\nthat book, and I confess I am overwhelmed with shame to think that\nany one who lays claim to Christianity or to well-balanced reason\ncan earnestly believe such matter. To mention only a few of her\ndoctrines:--The Bible says 1 John 5, 7: \"There are three that bear\nrecord in heaven: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and these\nthree are one.\" Mrs. Eddy says: \"The theory of three persons in the\nGodhead reminds us of heathen gods.\" In other words, she stamps the\nChristian doctrine of the Trinity as heathenish. The Bible says,\nRom. 5, 12: \"By one man sin entered into the world and death by\nsin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.\"\nMrs. Eddy calls this an \"illusion,\" purely imaginary; there is no\nsuch thing as death. Naturally, then, in line with this, she also\nrejects Christ's redeeming us from sin, stating that the time is\nnot distant when these common views about Christ's redemption will\nundergo a great change. In other words, while she mentions Christ's\nname with seemingly the greatest reverence in her book, she calls\nHim a fraud and deceiver, because the Bible tells us in just these\nwords that Christ came to save His people from their sins, came\nto destroy the works of the devil, came to redeem them that were\nunder the Law. But Mrs. Eddy spurns the existence of a personal\ndevil, denies the existence of sin, and rejects redemption. Such\npassages as 1 John 1, 7: \"The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son,\ncleanseth us from all sin,\" are \"hideous\" to her. Her entire system\nis nothing else than unchristian bosh. I say \"unchristian\" because,\non closer investigation, there is not a single particle of Christian\ndoctrine and belief that she does not openly or indirectly at least\noverthrow. It is true, she claims \"faith in the Bible\"; the title\nof her book is, \"Science and Health, with a Key to the Scriptures,\"\nbut it is a key that binds, but does not unlock. Her comment to the\nvery first verse of the Scripture: \"In the beginning God created\nthe heaven and the earth,\" is this: \"This creation consists in\nthe developing of spiritual ideas and their identities, which are\ngrasped and reflected by the unending Spirit.\" That may be Mrs.\nEddy's creation of the world, but it certainly was not the creation\nwhich the first chapter of Genesis tells us about.\n\nBut let us go on to the second chapter of the Bible. This does not\nsuit Mrs. Eddy, as she expressly states it is diametrically opposed\nto scientific truth, and \"inspired by falsehood and error,\" and in\nconsequence she rejects the second chapter of Genesis entirely. We\ncould go on at this rate, but enough has been shown to characterize\nMrs. Eddy's \"Key to the Scriptures.\" And alas! that men should be\ncarried away with such barefaced craftiness and such thick-coated\nand consummate falsehood! Oh, may it teach us to love to study our\nBible!\n\nBut there is still another phase of Christian Science of which we\nmust speak, would we do it justice, and that is the healing phase.\nMrs. Eddy claims that she has restored the sick and brought back\nthe dying to life. \"Science and Health\" and our community have been\nrepeatedly agitated by specimens of this healing ability. It is\nwell known to every one that Christian Science in its treatment of\ndisease starts from the fundamental theory that there is no sickness\nand disease, as it says in their text-book, \"Science and Health\":\n\"You call it neuralgia; this is all delusion, imagination. You\nexpose your body to a certain temperature, and your delusion says\nthat you catch a cold or get catarrh. But such is not the case; it\nis only the effect of your imagination.\" The consequence of this\nfallacy is that no medical remedies are resorted to; in fact, to a\nChristian Scientist ignorance of medicine is bliss. Mrs. Eddy warns\nagainst a knowledge of medicine as a hindrance to learning her\nsystem.\n\nStopping here for a moment to show the unscripturalness of all this,\nI would but briefly call your attention to such passages as Is. 38\nand 2 Kings 20, where we read: \"And Isaiah, the prophet of the Lord,\nsaid to Hezekiah the King, Let them take a lump of figs and lay it\nfor a plaster upon the boil, and he shall recover.\" Or, turning to\nan instance from the New Testament, St. Paul the Apostle writes in 1\nTim. 5, 23 to his afflicted pupil: \"Drink no longer water, but use\na little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities,\"\nthus suggesting a medicinal tonic or medicine. Our Lord approved of\nphysicians when He said: \"They that be whole,\" that is, healthy,\n\"need not a physician,\" which evidently implies that the sick do\nneed a physician, and we know from Col. 4, 14 that there was a\nphysician among the first disciples of the Christian Church, and\nthat was none other than the man who wrote the third and the fifth\nbook in the New Testament, namely, St. Luke. It says in Col. 4, 14:\n\"Luke, the beloved physician, greets you.\" And moreover, when we\nread that in the days of His flesh the sick and the palsied and the\nlame, and those afflicted otherwise, came to Jesus and He healed\nthem, does not Christian Science, denying that there is no sickness,\nno palsy, and no disease, brand our Lord as a liar and a fraud? God\nprotect us from such abomination!\n\nBut let us come to the final question: By what power or remedy\ndoes Christian Science heal, or, rather, claim to heal? Answer:\nBy denying the existence of matter, of sickness, of death, and\nby seeking to give the mind complete mastery. Just imagine it is\nnot so! Prayer is employed, but Mrs. Eddy does not attach as much\nimportance to that as some of her followers, and from what we have\nheard, such prayer is not the prayer of faith, for she has far erred\nfrom God and the faith. God certainly does not answer such vain and\nprofane babbling of lips that speak falsehood and lies. The whole\nChristian Science is a blustering, high-strung delusion. St. Paul\ngives a true characterization of it 2 Thess. 2, 9: \"It is after the\nworking of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders and\nwith all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish.\"\n\nGod grant that we may \"avoid profane and vain babblings and\noppositions of science falsely so called.\" With our hearts firmly\ngrounded in the simple truth as it is in Jesus, and laid down in the\nVolume before us, let us hold fast through God's grace what we have.\nIt is the power, the only power, unto salvation. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nNINTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.\n\n     And He spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a\n     certain rich man brought forth plentifully. And he thought\n     within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room\n     where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will\n     pull down my barns and build greater; and there will I bestow\n     all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul,\n     thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease,\n     eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool!\n     This night thy soul shall be required of thee; then whose shall\n     those things be which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth\n     up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.--_Luke 12,\n     16-21._\n\n\nIt is a serious matter to call any man a fool. It ought never to\nbe done except when circumstances make it imperatively necessary.\nChrist, you know, employs very strong language in reference to this\nin the Sermon on the Mount when He says: \"Whosoever shall say to his\nbrother: Raca, shall be in danger of the council, but whoever shall\nsay: Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell-fire.\" But we must bear\nin mind that our Lord does not condemn the expression \"Thou fool\"\nin itself, but rather the spirit in which it is spoken. He does not\naffirm that it is wrong to say that a fool is a fool, even to his\nface, but that it is intensely wrong to do so from a feeling of\nhatred, from spite; and so when God in the words just quoted says to\nthe rich man, \"Thou fool,\" He says so, not because He hated him, but\nbecause it was a fact, because He pitied His miserable condition,\nand because He wishes to deter others from following his example.\n\nTo deter others from following his example, by the guidance of\nGod's Holy Spirit, is what we shall attempt to do in our pulpit\ninstruction this morning. Permit me simply and briefly to direct\nyour attention to two points in this striking parable, _I. That the\nrich man spoken of in this parable was in some respects a wise man_;\n_II. in some, and the chief respects, a foolish one_.\n\nThat this man was in some respects a wise man, of this we have\nsufficient evidence before us. In the first place, he was a rich\nman. It says: \"The ground of a certain rich man brought forth\nplentifully.\" It is very often said that anybody can make money,\nthat it requires no extraordinary powers to become rich, that those\nwho have prospered in the world are more indebted to adventitious\ncircumstances than to any merits of their own, and true it is that\nmen without intelligence, without education, without genius, are\nsometimes, through a favorable combination of circumstances, enabled\nto accumulate a vast amount of wealth. Yet, as a rule, riches are\nacquired by those who work hard, who rise early and go to bed late,\nwho devote themselves with untiring energy to the serious business\nof life. The great law is that \"The hand of the diligent maketh\nrich.\" Success is a prize which can only be secured by those who\ndiligently seek it. The very fact of this man being rich was in\nitself a strong proof of his prudence; for the two, riches and good\ncommon sense, stand, as a rule, connected.\n\nAgain, we are told that the land brought forth plentifully. What\ndid that prove? Anything further than that the land was fertile? It\nproved that he was a skillful farmer, that he cultivated his land\nwell, that he knew how to make the most of it. For while it is true\nthat the abundance of the harvest depends on many circumstances over\nwhich man has no control, such as the refreshing dew, the genial\nrain, and the life-giving sunshine, so that after man has done\nhis best it is God who must give the increase, we ought also to\nremember that God invariably observes the laws which He Himself has\nestablished: He never causes corn to grow where seed has not been\nsown; He never makes the uncultivated soil bring forth at the same\nrate as that which is properly tilled; the smiles of Providence and\nthe help of God do not attend the indolent, and the careless and\nthoughtless. If a man would reap abundantly, he must sow abundantly,\nuse the brains God has given him, and conform to God's laws; and\nso, when the land brings forth plentifully, it is a proof that it\nbelongs to a skillful and prudent farmer.\n\nAnd he was careful of his goods. He thought within himself: \"What\nshall I do because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?\" There\nwas nothing wrong in this thinking, planning, and contriving. It\nwould have been an unpardonable negligence on his part to let the\ncorn rot in the fields for want of sufficient room to store it in,\nand it would have been hardly natural to expect him to distribute\nthat for which he had no room among the poor. Doubtless it is the\nduty of those who are very prosperous to be also very liberal;\naccording as they receive from God, so ought they contribute to\nGod's institutions. But God nowhere commands them to give away _all_\nthey have to spare after supplying their own immediate wants. Men\nare perfectly justified in storing up for the future, in laying\naside, and allowing to increase what they have no need of at the\npresent. And it's the part of a thoughtful man who likes to make the\nmost of his advantages and opportunities so to do.\n\nSay what people, demagogues, and unprincipled orators may, and envy\nthem as they do, those who increase wealth in an honest way have an\nunquestionable claim upon our respect. They are, as it were, the\nsinews of human society. Wealth is a mighty agent in the spread\nof civilization and good. Without wealth, railroads could not be\nconstructed, ships could not be launched, towns, mansions, and\nharbors could not be built, most of the conveniences and comforts\nof civilized life could not be secured. Barbarous nations, you will\nfind, are always poor. This man, from all accounts, did not acquire\nhis riches by defrauding his neighbors or by wild and hazardous\nspeculations, but in the exercise of a legitimate and respectable\ncalling; he was entitled to it, he was deservedly respected. Nor\ndid he--in this there was also a degree of wisdom--deny himself the\ncomforts which his possessions were able to afford him. He was not\na tight-fisted, miserly fellow who half starved through fear of\nspending his money, denying himself the things necessary to make\nlife more enjoyable. Rather the man who, like him, says to himself,\nTake thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry, than the man who in\npossession of abundance of this world's goods denies himself its\ncomforts.\n\nSo far, then, we have many favorable traits in his character,\nsome of which we might do well to imitate. He was an industrious,\nskillful, contemplating, wide-awake person who, in a business,\nsocial way, stood well with all who knew him. But this only makes\nthe remaining part of his conduct, which we shall now consider, all\nthe more deplorable.\n\nBut God said unto him, \"Thou fool.\" Why did God address him thus?\nBecause, first, all his thoughts were centered upon himself. With\nhim everything was _I_, _myself_, and _mine_. _My fruits_, _my\ngoods_, says he, as if they were absolutely his own, as if he owed\nthem entirely to his own skill and industry, and had a right to\napply them to his own selfish ends.\n\nThe man with all his worldly wisdom--and he has many like\nhimself--had not mastered one very essential and elementary truth,\nnamely this, that nothing that we have, nothing that we are, comes\nfrom ourselves; if we possess anything, we have either inherited\nit or earned it. If we have inherited it, it is not we who gave\nlife, energy, power to those who have bequeathed to us what we have.\nIf we have earned it, it was not we who gave ourselves the active\nbrain, the strong arm, and steady nerve that did the work. At the\nmost we have improved, made the most of a gift. Our powers, moral\nand intellectual, physical and spiritual, come from the Author of\nour life; our life itself is a gift. \"It is God who hath made us,\nand not we ourselves.\" We do not exist as of right, we exist on\nsufferance and as a matter of bounty. We are stewards, trustees. We\nhold what we hold on trust, as life-tenants, for an unseen Lord.\nThe first thing this man ought to have done when he found that his\nlands were crowned with plenty was to bow down before the heavenly\nthrone and say: \"Father of all mercies, I thank Thee that Thou hast\nremembered Thine unworthy servant, and hast so bountifully prospered\nthe labor of his hands.\" But no, he says not a word about God or to\nGod; all he said was about himself and to himself. \"My\" fruits and\n\"my\" goods--is his language. And as he received them without thought\nor thanks to God, he also used them. It is this feature which our\nLord emphasizes when he remarks: \"So is he that layeth up treasure\nfor himself, and is not rich toward God.\" Selfishness is the basest\nof all sins. It is the most repulsive, degraded, and degrading\nform of depravity, and to our shame it must be confessed that it\nis the peculiar fault of man. The whole constitution of nature is\na standing protest against it. No created object exists for its\nown sake, or to serve its own ends; but everything contributes its\nshare to the well-being of the rest of creation. Think of the sun,\nthe most glorious of visible objects, how from day to day, from\nyear to year, it lavishes its light upon the earth, giving life and\nbeauty and freshness to the vegetable and animal kingdoms. Or think\nof the clouds, how with unwearied constancy they drink the waters\nof the ocean, not to retain them in their own bosoms, but to pour\nthem down in plentiful showers, both on barren mountains and on\nfertile plains; or how this earth, after supplying generation after\ngeneration, is as productive as ever, and its mines inexhaustible.\nEverything, in fact, seems to teach the grand doctrine that it is\nbetter to give than to receive. Man alone, Heaven's chief recipient,\nforms the contrast. He is selfish, and herein consists his folly.\nCan we think of these things, and not blush at our own selfishness?\n\nAgain, his folly appears in this, that he provided only for the\nflesh, the least important part of his nature. 'Tis true, he talks\nabout his soul, but only in such a way as if he hardly distinguished\nit from his body, and as if it ought to have been well satisfied\nwith the things which his body only enjoyed. \"And I will say to my\nsoul,\" said he, \"Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years;\ntake thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.\" But God said to him,\n\"Thou fool.\" He talked like a madman, like one beside himself, and\nhence he deserved the severest rebuke. For what is man? Not anything\nthat he owns; not anything material that he can so handle as to make\nit serve his purpose; not even the bodily frame with which he will\npart company at death. Essentially, man is a spirit, enclosed in a\nbodily frame. The soul is the man, and that soul calls for first and\nbest consideration. The contrary course is folly.\n\nIt is quite proper for us to be careful of our bodies, to provide\nthings suitable for our present condition; indeed, it is necessary\nto do so. Alas! that rational and heaven-born creatures should\nconfine their attentions exclusively to, \"What shall we eat, what\nshall we drink, and wherewithal shall we be clothed?\" and utterly\nneglect their souls, feed their bodies sumptuously every day, and\nleave their souls to perish with hunger. Is this right? Is it\nreasonable to do this? Man has been created for a higher purpose,\nand his ambition ought to be higher than to find blessedness in\neating, drinking, and sensual pleasures. These things cannot appease\nthe cravings of his soul. Man needs God for his portion and Christ\nfor his Savior; it is only as he believes the Gospel that true peace\nis his.\n\nAnd, lastly, he provided only for _time_, the least important\nportion of his existence. What a glorious place this world would be,\nwhat a glorious time it would be eating, drinking, and being merry,\naccording to the ideal of the flesh, if--well, if it were not for\none thing. What is that? The summons quoted here in our text. \"Thou\nfool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee.\" \"Many years,\"\nthe man had said. \"This night,\" God said, and from that decree there\nwas no appeal and is no exception. That awful truth is applicable\nto every one of woman born and just as uncertain. Look around you,\nmy dear hearers, within the circuit of your own experience, and see\nif you do not recognize the picture in the parable--an indolent,\nindifferent epicureanism whispering to itself, \"Soul, take thine\nease; don't be alarmed, eat, drink, and be merry,\" broken in upon by\nthe same message flashed from heaven coming in a railway accident,\nin a sinking steamer, by death in the hunting field, or the river's\nwaves, or by the sudden stoppage of the heart's action. \"Thou fool,\nthis hour thy soul shall be required of thee,\"--and how do you\nknow whether the next summons may not mean you? Learn from this\nparable the terrible uncertainty of human affairs, and, above all,\nlearn from it the lesson of wisdom, _viz._, to look forward to the\nfuture, to forecast as to how it will be with you when the scenes\nand pursuits of this busy world will have ended. There is a life\nbeyond this. Be wise, then, and provide for it. How? To speak with\nour text: \"By being rich towards God.\" Hear the Gospel. Believe that\nJesus suffered and died for you, reconciled you with God and heaven.\nBecome members of God's kingdom on earth, the Christian Church. Make\ndiligent use of the means of grace, the Word and the Sacraments, and\nthus be prepared and blessed in time and for eternity. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nTENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.\n\n     For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the\n     members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is\n     Christ. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer\n     with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with\n     it.--_1 Cor. 12, 12 and 26._\n\n\nThere is, perhaps, nothing more remarkable, when you study the\nlife of the Church at large and of each congregation individually,\nthan the little interest which its members take in each other. In\nmost cases the entire concern of the membership devolves on a few,\nor perhaps on the pastor alone; in many instances the amount of\ninterest and sympathy which is shown to each other extends only to a\nformal, a very cool, social recognition; in some there is not even\nthe interest which secures that. People go in and out of the same\nchurch-building, month after month, year after year, without as\nmuch as knowing, or caring to know the name of their fellow-member\nor worshiper. When difficulties arise and embarrassments, those who\nbelong to the Christian Church feel no more liberty to call on a\nmember of the Church for counsel or aid than they would on any other\nperson; when disheartened and discouraged, in need of sympathy and\na kind word, they have no reason to suppose that a single member of\nthe Church sympathizes with them. And when living in the neglect\nof Christian duty, none of the members ever stop to administer an\nadmonition or gentle rebuke to keep the backslider from a melancholy\nfall. In a word, people are left to take care of themselves very\nmuch alone; and this is the more remarkable when you consider\nthe condition of those who largely make up the membership of a\ncongregation like ours. Many of them are young and inexperienced in\nChristian life, gained from families where there is no religion, no\nkindred to help them on to God, rather, where they are exposed to\ninfluences that would draw them aside, and where every effort ought\nto be made to keep them in the fold.\n\nThe reflections, my beloved, and the constant cry, \"What is the\nChurch doing for its members? See how other organizations are\nhelping each other, how they care for their constituents,\" have led\nme to propose for our consideration this morning: _What are the\nduties which the members of the Church owe to each other?_ We shall\ninquire _I. What the Christian Church is_, _II. note a few traits\nwhich ought to distinguish its members_. May God's Spirit make the\nsermon a profitable one.\n\nFirst, what the Christian Church is. The Christian Church is\nan organization, a body, separate, different from all other\norganizations or bodies. It has a separate origin, a separate\npurpose. It has separate principles and law. As to its origin--the\nChurch is divine. It is not a human institution. It is not a mere\nvoluntary association, such as an Odd Fellows' Society, a Masonic\nFraternity, a Mutual Improvement Club, an Insurance Company. None of\nthese have in them any higher wisdom, authority, or goodness than\nhuman experience or contrivance has given them. It is different with\nthe Church. God made the first Churches, and through them He made\nall other Churches. What the Church teaches in her creed is not from\nman, but from God. His revelation, the sacraments she administers,\nare divine institutions, God-appointed, and all the terms and the\nspiritual process by which people come to be part and parcel of the\nChurch are directly from God. Men can no more make a Church than\nthey can make a world. It is altogether a thing of God. Though human\nagencies are employed in its perpetuation, it is altogether of God.\n\nThis, it may be well to emphasize, is a point which does not enter\ninto the practical consideration of men as it should. People come to\nchurch or stay away the same as they would go or stay away from a\nlecture on human science, politics, or travels. They forget that in\nthe one case they are dealing with men and the things of men, in the\nother with God and the things of God. They listen to the preaching\nof the Word as they would listen to a candidate for political favor,\nexcept with a little more drowsiness and indifference. They forget\nthat it is but man speaking in the one case, and that it is God,\nthough by a man, speaking to them in the other. People all gaze more\nidly upon a baptism or an administration of the Lord's Supper than\nupon the shams and mockeries of a stage play, not reflecting that\nthe one is mere empty buffoonery, whilst the other is a transaction\nupon which angels are gazing with reverence, and in which God is\nsetting forth the precious riches of His almighty grace. They\nare great on praising their unions, clubs, lodges, fellowships,\nregarding them as the very connections for true fellowship, benefit,\nand improvement, and setting aside that organization without which\nthe good that is in those connections would never have been. The\nlittle light with which those societies shine is only a borrowed\nlight, reflecting feebly the spirit and principles of the Church\nwhich they largely despise. Beloved, these are no hasty utterances\non my part. They are the words of deliberation and truth. There is a\nlaxative goodishness, a weak religiousness spreading in our Churches\nthat holds other organizations just as good as God's organization.\n\nThe fact is that the true and certain divinity, the God character of\nthe Church, hardly enters any more into men's hearts. Let it be once\nrightly grasped and felt that the Church, as such, is a thing of\nGod, that God's name and saving grace are linked with it, and that\nit is the channel, conservatory of heaven's truth and saving grace,\nby which alone men's souls are saved. Let those who profess to be\nChristians avoid any and every connection that holds teachings,\nrituals, prayers, and practices contrary to its teachings, prayers,\nand practices, and the Church would not be shorn so much of her\nstrength and be so little thought of. If men are \"brethren\" in\nother connections besides the \"brotherhood of Christ,\" which is\nthe Church, hold with one hand to idolatry and with the other to\nChristianity, it need not be wondered that their zeal is a divided\none, and, in most cases, the Church receives the smallest division.\n\nThe first general thought, then, is this: The Church is God's. Says\nthe text, it is the body of Christ, distinct from all man-made\nassociations, and so to be honored.\n\nAnd what--to consider the second and larger part of our\ndiscourse--are some of the distinguishing traits of its members? By\nwhat are they to know each other and to be known of one another?\nOther societies have their pledges and badges. In some it is a\nsecret sign known only to the initiated, the brethren of the craft;\nin others it is some peculiarity of speech or of dress, the cut\nof the cap or the hair. Now, it is remarkable that the Savior and\nHis apostles prescribed no such external badge of membership, more\nremarkable because, perhaps, every society then, as now, could be\nknown by such an outward badge. The Jew would be known everywhere by\nhis broad phylacteries and the borders of his garments; the Roman\nsoldier had some mark wrought with imperishable dye in the skin;\nthe Greek introduced into the Eleusinian mysteries had some outward\nmethod of expressing that fact to the world. And nothing would have\nbeen easier than for the Savior to have appointed some such emblem\nfor His followers. But in the sacred record there is not even a\ndistant intimation of any such badge by which Christ's people or\nChrist's ministers are to be externally so distinguished. And yet,\nwas there no badge, no mark of distinction? There was. What was it?\nPermit me, in answer, to quote a few passages. \"A new commandment I\ngive unto you, that ye love one another as I have loved you. By this\nshall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to\nanother.\" \"We know that we have passed from death unto life, because\nwe love the brethren.\" \"He that loveth not his brother abideth in\ndeath.\" \"If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a\nliar; for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can\nhe love God whom he hath not seen?\" \"Be kindly affectioned one to\nanother with brotherly love.\" \"As touching brotherly love, ye have\nno need that I write you, for ye yourselves are taught of God to\nlove one another.\"\n\nAnd the story of John the Apostle is well known. In his old\nage of 98 years he was carried to the Church, and when he was\nasked whether he had anything to say, he would feebly respond,\n\"Children, love one another.\" Not by signs, peculiarity of dress, or\npassword--by attachment for each other were Christ's followers to be\ndistinguished the world over, in all ages. In His Church they were\nto feel that, regardless of wealth, learning, office, or other human\ndistinctions, they were on a level, that they had common wants,\nhad been redeemed by the same precious blood, were going to the\nsame heaven, and were in every respect \"brethren.\" And under this\nconviction of feeling they were to hold to each other, love each\nother. My dear hearers, did this love ever in the history of the\nChurch form such a distinguishing badge? It did. The time was when\nthe attachment of Christians for each other was such as to impress\nthe world with the reality of their religion, and with the fact that\nthey belonged to the family of the redeemed. \"See,\" said the heathen\nin the early days of Christianity, \"how these Christians love one\nanother, and how ready they are to lay down their lives for each\nother.\" Is it so now? I answer for anything that you can tell, if\npersecutions were to arise, those scenes of ancient martyrdom story\nmight be acted over again. But if there is not this love of which\nthe Savior and His apostles speak as a distinguishing characteristic\nof His Church, let it be for all of us a matter of self-examination\nand reflection. I, as a servant of the Master, can only tell what He\nrequires of His disciples.\n\nAgain, a second trait and duty required,--they are to be\ncharacterized by sympathy for those of its members who suffer.\nThe members of the Church are indeed expected and required to\nhave sympathy for all who are afflicted, but the idea is that\nthey are sympathizing with each other in a peculiar manner.\nChristians are exposed to the same kind of afflictions as others.\nThey are liable to sickness and bereavement and poverty like\nothers, and, in addition, they have sources of sorrow peculiar to\nthemselves,--internal conflicts and struggles, persecutions and\ntrials on account of their religion; and in these, as well as in the\noccasions of joy, they are supposed to find cordial sympathy and\ninterest among their brethren. That is the idea set forth in the\ntext when it says: \"And whether one member suffer, all the members\nsuffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice\nwith it.\"\n\nSuch is the formation of our body, the constitution of the nervous\nfibers and the tissues, that pain in one part affects the whole\nframe; that joy in one part diffuses itself over all. A pain in\nthe heart, the side, or in one of the limbs does not confine\nitself there, leaving the rest of the body in a state fitted for\nits usual employments, but every part sympathizes with that which\nis affected. And so the pleasure which we receive from beauty of\nobjects seen by the eye, or from the melody and harmony of music\nas perceived by the ear, is diffused over the whole frame, and we\nare filled with enjoyments. So is the Church which is the body of\nChrist. What affects one member is supposed to affect all. What\ngives pain to one gives pain to all. What honors one honors all.\nAs an injury done to a nerve in the body, though so small as not\nto be traceable to an unpracticed eye, may be felt at the remotest\nextremities, so is the body of Christ. The dishonor done to the\nobscurest member should be felt by all; the honor done to that\nmember should produce rejoicing. Without any officious intermeddling\nwith the private concerns of individuals, there should be such an\ninterest felt in the common welfare of the whole that each might\ndepend on the sympathy of his brethren at all times and in all\ncircumstances. Say not that \"So it is not.\" The consideration now,\nthe Savior's teaching, is that so it ought to be, and that every\nmember of His Church should strive to make it so.\n\nAnd one more duty must we mention, however briefly. It is this: As\nan essential to healthful congregational life there must be mutual\nadmonition among the members. Here is the fundamental principle laid\ndown by the Savior. \"If thy brother shall trespass against thee, go\nand tell him his fault between thee and him alone.\" You are not to\nblazon his fault abroad, you are not to allow the suspicion that he\nhas done you wrong to lie, and rankle, and fester in your own mind.\nYou are not to allow it to make you cold and distant, and evasive\nand repulsive when you meet him, without his knowing the cause; you\nare not to send an anonymous letter or a message by any one. You are\nto go to him and see him by himself, and give him an opportunity\nof explanation, or confession. It is a painful duty, and it is not\na duty that devolves on the pastor, but according to the rule laid\ndown by the Savior, upon a brother, _i. e._, clearly every one who\nis a member of the Church. Beloved, the more I study congregational\nlife and gather practical experience, the wiser does the Lord's\nrule appear to me in preserving the welfare of the Church. Let us\nall strive to conform to it. Let us openly and frankly treat each\nother like brethren. If you have been offended by a brother, or if\nyou have offended a brother, here is the rule that guides you; if\nyou see a congregational member wandering from the path of true\nreligion, going astray from Church and godliness, fail not to do\nyour duty by him, by an attempt to admonish and reclaim him.\n\nWe have set before us to-day what the Church is, and what the\ncharacteristics of its members are,--a peculiar love founded on\ntheir common hope of heaven, and their attachment to a common\nSavior, sympathy with each other in joy and sorrow, and a common\ninterest and proper admonition when going astray. God grant that\nall of us may rightly understand and may strive to live up to these\nthings, so that the Church may answer its high and holy purpose, the\nsalvation of men's souls through faith in Christ, to whom in all\nmatter be glory and honor forever. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.\n\n     Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith, without\n     the deeds of the Law.--_Rom. 3, 28._\n\n\nWhoever has read his Bible with attention must have observed that\nthere are some passages which, at first view, appear hard to\nreconcile. Take, for instance, the passage before us. St. Paul\nhere says \"that a man is justified by faith, without the deeds\nof the Law,\" and to confirm his assertion produces the example\nof Abraham. \"Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him\nfor righteousness.\" St. James in his letter, the second chapter,\nproduces the same example, that of Abraham, and draws from it a\nconclusion directly contradictory. He says: \"Ye see, then, that\nby works a man is justified, and not by faith only.\" Can any two\nopinions be more opposite in appearance? And as may be expected, all\nmanner of conjectures have been presented. I will not tire you with\na tenth part of these interpretations. Only two shall I mention as a\nspecimen. A writer of great eminence, recognizing the difficulty in\nits full strength, allows that it is not only hard, but impossible\nto reconcile the two apostles, and concludes that, since it is\nimpossible to hold both their sentiments, we must abide by him who\nwrote the last. Accordingly, he gives up the doctrine of faith\nwithout works, supposing that St. Paul wrote with carelessness of\nexpression, and that St. James wrote after him to clear up what Paul\nhad obscurely or inaccurately expressed.\n\nAgain we would note that our great Reformer, Dr. Martin Luther,\nhaving felt the power of St. Paul's doctrine in his own soul, that\nhe would have defied an angel from heaven to oppose it, when his\nadversaries pressed him with the passage from St. James, styled it\nan epistle of straw, because, in his opinion, it did not urge Christ\nsufficiently strong.\n\nBut what of an explanation of these apparently so contradictory\npassages?\n\nIs there an explanation? Indeed, a simple and satisfactory one.\nGod's truth never clashes. When St. Paul speaks of justification,\nhe means the justification of our persons,--how we may be accepted\nby a just and holy God, that is, by faith, and by faith alone, not\nby works. When St. James in his letter speaks of justification, he\nspeaks of the profession as believers, how a man proves, shows, that\nhe has faith, and that he can only show that he has faith in one\nway, namely, by his works. St. James, in his epistle, is addressing\nsuch of his day as _said_ they had faith, though it had no influence\nupon their hearts and conduct. He shows that their hope is vain.\nHe asks: \"What doth it profit though a man say he hath faith, and\nhath not works? Can faith save him?\"--that is, can such an idle,\nempty faith save him? He quotes an example: \"If a brother or sister\nbe destitute, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye\nwarmed and filled, notwithstanding ye give them not those things\nwhich are needful to the body, what doth it profit?\" Would such\nempty professions of charity prove a man to have charity? No more,\ndoes he argue, would a person's mere assertion that he has faith,\nunless it were followed by good works, justify his profession. A\nChristian's faith is proved to be what it ought to be by works,\nand not by mere empty profession of faith. And so the example\nof Abraham is pertinent in both cases. According to St. Paul,\n\"Abraham believed,\" had faith in God, and God counted it unto him\nfor righteousness, accepted him by faith, and being thus accepted,\nAbraham, already justified before God in person, showed that he had\nthe true faith by the effects which it produced in his heart and\nlife, and when God directed him to offer his son Isaac upon the\naltar, he obeyed. Thus, concludes the Apostle James, his obedience,\nhis works, justified his faith, his profession as a believer. In\na word, St. Paul speaks of the justification of our persons, and\nthat is by faith, and by faith alone, and St. James speaks of the\njustification of our faith, and that is by works. Viewed thus,\nthere is no discrepancy, no difficulty, and having taken up the\nsubject, let us continue to consider these two statements, perfectly\nconsistent with each other:--\n\n_I. That there is no acceptance or justification for any of us\nwith God but through Jesus Christ received by faith, and that in\nthis concern of justification works of every kind are absolutely\nexcluded._\n\n_II. That where faith in Jesus Christ exists, it must show itself by\nworks._\n\nTo begin with,--what is it for a man to be justified? When a person\nhas been brought to trial for any offense and has been found guilty,\nhe must make satisfaction for this offense. If he is able to make\na sufficient satisfaction for his offense, either through his\nown ability or that of his friends, and the law accepts such an\nindemnification, the criminal departs from the trial justified. He\nis not, indeed, an innocent man, but he is so regarded by the law,\nand though guilty, he would be no more liable to prosecution and\npunishment for that offense than a person who had never committed\nit. Now this is the way in which we are justified before God. We\nare guilty beings; the sentence of eternal punishment is pronounced\nupon us; we have no ability of our own to make satisfaction to the\ncourt of the just Judge. But an almighty Friend has died to make\nsatisfaction for us; God is ready to accept this satisfaction, and\nin consideration of it He releases us from the penalty of eternal\ndeath to restore us to His favor, in a word, to justify us, to treat\nus as innocent. A person who is found in Christ, having the infinite\nmerits of his Savior to plead for his justification, is no longer\nliable to punishment.\n\nBut how do we secure this satisfaction of an almighty Savior? Again\nthe text answers: By faith. Take, in illustration, the incident\nof Peter's walking on the sea. We have in our natural state\nnothing more substantial under our feet to keep us from sinking\ninto everlasting destruction than Peter had from sinking into the\nwatery deep, and it is only when we realize our situation as he\ndid, when we feel our entire helplessness and destitution of hope\nas he did, when we cast the imploring look and hold out the same\nsuppliant hand, confident that He is able and willing to save, that\nwe exercise a Gospel faith, receive all that Christ has ever done\nor suffered in our behalf. Faith is the hand that lays hold on the\nSavior, and so justifies.\n\nAgain, \"We are justified,\" is the Apostle's assertion, \"without\nthe deeds of the Law.\" In the first chapter of this epistle to the\nRomans, Paul labors to show that the Gentiles had sinned against\nthe law of nature which was written in their hearts, and in the\nsecond and third chapters, that the Jews had equally transgressed\ntheir written Law, and then, having thus shown that all the world\nis guilty before God, he concludes: \"Therefore by the deeds of\nthe Law there shall no flesh be justified.\" In other words, that\ngood works are of no account in our justification, they cannot set\nus right with God,--make us acceptable with Him, cannot gain His\nfavor. That is the teaching of the Scripture and the doctrine of the\nChurch. Declares the Fourth Article of the Augsburg Confession: \"We\nteach that men cannot be justified before God by their own powers,\ndeservings, or works, but are accounted righteous in grace only\nthrough the merit of our Lord Jesus Christ received by faith.\"\n\nNor is there a lesson which we learn more slowly. It is a task most\ndifficult for us to give up the idea of merit in ourselves, to feel\nthat we can do nothing, absolutely nothing, towards purchasing the\nfavor of God. Talk with the sick and the dying upon the grounds of\ntheir hope, and they will often be found pleading that they have\nalways endeavored to live good lives, and have never been guilty of\nany gross sins, showing by such language that they are clinging to\ntheir own good works, instead of trusting to the heaven-procuring\nrighteousness of God. Converse with Christians, even some of our\nchurch-members, and they will often speak in such a way as to\nshow that they are placing some merit in their good character or\nendeavors to serve God. With one foot they may indeed be standing on\nthe rock of salvation, but the other is too often still in the miry\nclay of our own deservings. We must learn to rest wholly on Christ.\nWe must pray God to break down every vain dependence, to look away,\nwith loathing and disgust, from anything that we possess or can do,\nto receive a crucified Redeemer as our only hope. \"Nothing in my\nhand I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling.\"\n\nThis is the first proposition, that there is no acceptance with God\nbut through faith, and that in this concern works of every kind are\nabsolutely excluded. But this proposition, simple and plain as it\nis, must not be perverted. It will not do, then, to say, It matters\nnot what our lives are, just so we only have faith in Christ. When\nthe Scriptures assert that we are justified by faith, they do not\nmean a faith which leaves us indifferent to our practice. The faith\nthat saves a man is of the kind that has a prevailing and ennobling\ninfluence upon the hearts and lives of those who possess it. Because\nman cannot gain salvation by his own righteousness and works, he\nmust beware of falling into the fatal and ruinous delusion that he\ncan abolish righteousness and good works. God demands good character\nand good works from His people. The same apostle who declares in the\nepistle: \"By faith we are justified,\" adds: \"And His grace which\nwas bestowed upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly\nthan they all.\" The Bible wants every Christian to be busy; his\nlife should be filled with fruits of good. But these things must\nbe put in their right place; and which is that? As an evidence of\nthe faith within us. Faith saves us, but good character and good\nworks prove that we have this saving faith. The truth of the matter\nis that to set little store on good works is an immoral and most\npestilent heresy. The works by which we recommend religion and adorn\nthe doctrine of God, our Savior; the works which spring from love\nto Christ and aim at the glory of God, the works by which a good\nman blesses society and leaves the world better than he has found\nit, are not worthless and \"filthy rags,\" but they are the gracious\nand graceful ornament of a blood-bought soul, the fruits of God's\nSpirit within us, the clear and comfortable evidence of our being\nthe children of God; and in this St. Paul and St. James agree.\nWhereas a faith that professes to believe in Christ, and denies Him\nin character and works, is not only unprofitable, but loathsome and\noffensive, a dead carcass.\n\nGod grant that we have all rightly understood that we place our sole\nand undivided dependence for salvation upon our blessed Redeemer,\nand that we evidence such faith in Him by the virtues of a holy\ncharacter and the performance of godly acts. To God be all glory in\nChrist Jesus! Amen.\n\n\n\n\nTWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.\n\n     Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old he\n     will not depart from it.--_Prov. 22, 6._\n\n\nIt has grown to be a custom to speak at this time a few words\nconcerning our youth. No one, I trust, will dispute the wisdom, nor\nquestion the appropriateness of this. After months of relaxation\nand rest our little ones have returned to the walls and duties of\nschool life. God grant His blessing that they may become intelligent\ncitizens, worthy and useful members of the commonwealth. That is our\npious wish and prayer, and for such wish we have reason abundant.\nPerhaps there has been no time when the matter of education and\nbringing up of our children has called for so much thought and\nconcern as at the present. Statisticians tell us what startling\nconditions prevail in our country in respect to wrongdoing, that\nmurders, unchastity, forgeries like a tidal wave are sweeping our\nland far above what it is in other countries, and that a large\npercentage of these crimes are being perpetuated by mere striplings\nof boys. By far the larger number of the inmates of our penal\ninstitutions--work-house and penitentiary--are young men. Our reform\nschools--Good Shepherd institutions and similar places--house\nboys and girls by the hundreds, causing one to heave a sigh of\ninexpressible sadness. Look over the docket of our Juvenile Court,\nand it convinces you beyond cavil that there is enough to justify\nits existence; and then we have said nothing about the stubbornness\nagainst parents and superiors, flippancy, and other sins of youth\ndaily on the increase. And who is to blame? Said an honorable judge\nof this city lately: \"I do say that there is a fearful amount of\ndepravity among the children in the cities of this country, and\nI don't blame the children as much as those who put them into\nexistence, the parents;\" and continuing, he says: \"We are prating\nentirely too much about the unreal and unsubstantial. After all, the\nreal questions are the ones that affect the homes and the children\nin the homes, and because we have neglected them, we are reaping\nthe ill results.\" The testimony of thousands of others could be\nquoted to the same effect. Sufficient reason, accordingly, why we\nshould direct attention to this vital subject. God blessing His word\nspoken, let us regard the text which reads: \"Train up a child in the\nway he should go,\" noticing that this is done, _I. By instruction_,\n_II. by example_, _III. by discipline_.\n\nFirst in order to a proper training of the young belongs\ninstruction, and by that we mean religious instruction, education\nnot of the mind only, but of the heart. We have no quarrel with\neducation of the mind, the culture of our children in all the\naccomplishments and acquisitions of facts and sciences; on the\ncontrary, we regard intellectual knowledge, to speak with King\nSolomon, as more precious than rubies and more to be chosen than\nfine gold; we hail with delight every facility and agency that would\nmake our children just as bright as possible, and commend the spirit\nthat makes our schools among the most elegant and conspicuous of\npublic buildings. And yet, education of the mind alone will not\ndo; we might point in evidence of that to the refined nations of\nantiquity. Is not ancient Greece with its music, painting, poetry,\nand the arts the model of modern states? And who has not heard\nand read of the Romans and the ancient Egyptians and Persians? Go\nto your public libraries and see the books on its shelves and the\nmutilated statues of Apollo, Juno, and the like that tell of their\ngenius. Why did these nations not last? Why did the fabric of their\ngrandeur crumble to pieces? Because it was not combined with the\nunperishable principle of virtue, and their want of virtue resulted\nfrom their want of religion.\n\nFar more simple, however, is the consideration that man is not only\nmind, but soul, and that this soul is preeminently what makes the\nman, here and hereafter; that it is upon the attention given to\nthat soul that man's happiness, or the reverse, depends. Hence, the\nimportance and duty of educating the soul. And that duty--where does\nit begin? Most assuredly where God first put the children--that\nis the home. At as early a period as possible, as soon as the\nlittle ones begin to think and to reason, it is for us to bring\nthem into uninterrupted contact with the sublime and simple truths\nof God's Word. You cannot begin too early. From veriest infancy\nlet them breathe the air of a religious atmosphere. The names of\nGod, Jesus, heavenly Father, words like heaven, angels, Bible,\nchurch, and others of this kind, let them be used over and over,\nconstantly in the hearing of the child. At first they convey but\nlittle meaning to it. But the brain retains even what it at first\ndoes not understand, and day by day the impression deepens and the\nunderstanding grows. Moreover, parents cannot begin too early to\nteach the child to abhor sin. Mothers should give especial attention\nto their little daughters and train them in maidenly modesty and\nchastity, reticence and reserve. And this home education does not\ncease when the children at tender age are sent to the Sunday-school\nand the parochial school. What great things are expected from that\nshort lesson on a Sunday morning! How unreasonable to look for\nresults of any amount unless there be the cooperation of the parents\nwith the teachers. How many parents cooperate with the Christian\ninstructors? How often do parents inquire about the Catechism and\nBible history lesson? sing with their children the religious songs\ntaught? If parents fail to interest themselves in what is going\non in this way, never speak to the little ones about their work,\nof what little value must this appear to the children. It needs\nthe earnest and ardent cooperation of the parents. And so when it\ncomes to confirmation. What is confirmation? A course of religious\ninstruction by the pastor. My beloved, have you ever reflected what\na most excellent appointment that is? What would our Lutheran Church\nbe and do with it? Those few months spent in personal instruction\nwith the pastor have been the most fruitful period of many a life,\nhave laid a foundation, solid and impenetrable--and God prevent the\nday that parents would begrudge the hours devoted to that purpose,\nor regard the securing of a public school diploma higher than the\nCertificate of Confirmation. As the new term is about to open, let\nparents and sponsors carefully weigh this matter!--We train the\nchildren, in the first place, by religious instruction.\n\nAgain, it has been stated, by example. To bring up a child in\nthe way it should go, you should go that way yourself. An ounce\nof example is better than a pound of precept. If children are to\nhonor parents, parents ought to honor themselves and each other. If\nfather and mother are rude to each other, no wonder if the example\nbe soon followed. If father and mother are unpunctual in their\nhours, irreverent and vulgar in gesture and speech, it needs no\nsage to tell what the effect would be. Children need models more\nthan criticism. Boys do not learn honesty and girls modesty so much\nfrom text-books--the parents are the best living encyclopedia of\npractical morality. What can one expect where the father is heard\nblaspheming his Creator, lives in debauchery, drowning his reason\nin liquor, spending his time and his earnings for purposes and in\nplaces unbecoming. How many a boy's soul has been poisoned by filthy\ntalk heard from an adult's lips! An irreverent joke on some Bible\nstory has well-nigh shattered the faith of many a lad!\n\nAnd it will never improve the moral condition of the young where the\nmothers are \"white\" liars, practice deception upon their husbands,\nand indulge in eavesdropping and gossip and find their chief delight\nwith the world, its amusements and pleasures. It well becomes us to\nexamine ourselves and our homes in this respect.\n\nTwo things in particular have tended to break down the religious\nprestige of parents and to make our homes irreligious homes. The\nfirst is this: the lack of family worship and prayer. In many, aye,\nmost cases the family altar has, to quote the language of another,\n\"been carried to the woodshed, and there demolished for kindling.\"\nWhat multitude of homes are veritable boarding houses! Each member\nof the household comes, goes, eats, and sleeps at will. When you\nadd to that the rush and push of modern business life, the spirit\nof the age, which regards religion lightly, the multiplied evening\nenjoyments, we have no time for family worship. But right there we\nare making an irreparable mistake--as foolish and worse than taking\nthe roof off our house. Dear Christian parent, put that Bible back\nwhere it belongs; let never a day pass but a chapter is heard in\nyour dwelling. Consider what I say, and the Lord grant you courage\nand blessing!\n\nParents who do not fear and love God and live according to His\ncommandments, what reason have they to complain when their children,\nmisled by them, fail to fear and love God and live according to His\ncommandments?\n\nSo the second means of training up a child in the way he should go\nis by example.\n\nThe third is discipline. Foolishness is in the heart of a child.\n\"The imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth,\" says the\nBible, and this foolish and evil heart shows itself very early and\nugly betimes, and then needs restraint. Children must be trained in\nthe way they should go, also in this particular; namely, to control\ntheir passions, to master their self-will; to render obedience,\nrespect, deference to parents and all elders. A child is in a very\nprecarious condition if it has gained the impression that it is too\nmuch for papa and mamma, and that it cannot be made to mind, and\nthat papa and mamma cannot do a thing with it. And if the parents\nunfailingly take the side of their children when something comes up\nbetween them and some other party, as the teachers and neighbors,\nthey may be certain that they are making all around good-for-nothing\nchildren of them. Children should be compelled to curb themselves,\nand not allow ugly words to come over their lips, or to frown, and\nscowl, and get into a fit of anger whenever they receive an order,\nor are reprimanded.--And how are parents to overcome disrespect and\ninsubordination of children? First of all, they must cease to coddle\ntheir children, and connive at their faults, or laugh at their\nrudeness and misbehavior.\n\nAgain, God, by the pen of Solomon, has set down a word in the Bible\nwhich needs mentioning to-day: \"He that spareth the rod hateth\nhis son; but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.\" The rod\nindeed should be used with caution and good common sense, and only\nin extreme cases of disobedience and wickedness. Parents should be\nheedful in this respect. When a child does a trifling wrong, not out\nof malice, but out of mischief or thoughtlessness, parents must not\nresort to extreme severity. Parents should take the trouble to train\ntheir children, to talk to them, to explain what is right and wrong,\nto get the consent of their will, and persuade them to obey, and it\nis only after all patience and clemency has been exhausted and the\nchild remains intractable that the rod will come in for its share\nof training. It is a well-known dictum of Luther, that the apple\nand the rod must go together, that is, love must be combined with\njustice, otherwise children feel abused, and become embittered.--But\nneither must we refrain from using the rod for the good of the\nchild, nor can we begin too early.\n\nAnd one thing more do we emphasize in this important matter of\nchildren's training: Keep your child out of bad company. Boys and\ngirls are often allowed to run wild, early and late, with all\nkinds of companions, in all sorts of places, and this has marked\nthe beginning of many a boy's and girl's downfall. You would not\nsuffer your little ones in the company of children infected with\nsome malignant disease. But some parents seem to dread such ailments\nmore than the vicious and degrading influence of ill-trained\nchildren; they never inquire about the character of their children's\nplaymates, about the nature of the games indulged in. On a Sunday\nmorning parents will leave their children at home, feasting on\nthe comic section of the Sunday paper, a flagrant exhibition of\nthe criminal meanness and spitefulness of some bad boy. To pass by\nother things, the five-cent theaters, or nickelodeons, may present\nwholesome pictures at times, but enough has been said and written\nto convince us that the nature of the entertainment offered is in\nmany cases, if not in the most, of a low and trivial order. It is\ncertainly a training in the wrong direction if children can talk\nfluently about plays, actors, and actresses. Let a child taste that\nsort of opiate, and life elsewhere will seem dull and insipid, and\nthe outcome far from the paths of righteousness and religion.\n\nMay God, according to the riches of His mercy, bless the words\nspoken so that they may arouse us parents to renewed endeavors,\nmultiplied zeal, and irresistible enthusiasm in our duties over\nagainst our youth. To His great Parent heart and Parent care we\ncommend them and us. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nTHIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.\n\n     And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto\n     you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these\n     my brethren, ye have done it unto me.--_Matt. 25, 40._\n\n\nWe Christians are sometimes at a loss whether to regard it as a\nmatter of congratulation or as a matter of disdain when we hear\npeople who otherwise repudiate our blessed Lord, who have no use\nfor His teaching and His Church, quoting Him as an authority and a\nmodel. Thus there be those who say with great emphasis that Jesus\nChrist was a Socialist, yes, the first and real Socialist; He loved\nthe common people and severely arraigned the rulers of His nation.\nOthers, when they find it convenient, contend that Christ was no\ntemperance man. Did He not perform a miracle, turning water into\nwine? While others contend that Christ was a great philanthropist;\nHis purpose and mission was to make this world a better place to\nlive in; wherefore He fed the hungry, healed the sick, and devoted\nHimself to the betterment of social conditions generally.\n\nWhether our Lord was a Socialist, or not, that depends upon the\ndefinition, \"What is a Socialist?\" Unfortunately, there are as\nmany different definitions of Socialism as there are individual\nSocialists; scarcely two are perfectly agreed. Suffice it to say\nthat, in the popular acceptance of the word, Jesus of Nazareth\nwas not a Socialist; and we do not feel greatly flattered to\nhave Him so rated. The same is true when He is quoted as a\nnon-temperance man, in the mouth of those whose use of wine and\nother intoxicants consists mostly in the abuse. And as to our Lord\nbeing a philanthropist, whose mission was the betterment of social\nconditions, this, while a favorite idea, is far from the whole\ntruth. What does our Lord Himself say was His mission in this world?\n\nHe declares that He came \"to seek and to save that which was lost.\"\nHe says: \"I am come that ye might have life, and that ye might\nhave it more abundantly.\" What did He mean by \"life\"? Surely not\nthe hand-breadth of time which we are living here and now. To Him\nman was more than a creature whose wants were only those of a\nstomach and its appurtenances. It is true, He did not minimize the\npresent life. He relieved men of their distresses and healed their\nsicknesses; but that was quite subordinate to His greater work. The\nemphasis was always placed on their eternal interests. \"The life,\"\nHe said, \"is more than meat and the body than raiment.\" His great\nquestion was, \"What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world\nand lose his soul?\" What are health and comfort and wealth, and all\nearth's emoluments in comparison with the life hereafter? Christ's\nmission was to make it possible for men to attain to that high\ndestiny; and this He did by sacrificing Himself and dying on the\ncross for them, in expiation of their sins, so that, whosoever would\nbelieve in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. This,\nbe it ever kept before us, was the purpose and mission of Christ.\nIt is not true that the ministry of Christ had to do principally\nwith the temporal welfare of men. To say so is to contradict His\nwords and belittle His work. He did champion the poor; He did\nvindicate the rights of the working classes; He did insist on happy\nhomes and just government and the betterment of society every way.\nBut He came to be a Savior, He came to save the soul from the\nravages and penalty of sin; and when people quote Him in favor of\none thing only, and that the inferior part, and reject the other\nand the superior, it is only a half truth, and not to our Lord's\ncredit. And as people judge in these matters concerning Christ, so\nconcerning His Church. The Scripture-lesson of this Sunday, treating\nof this subject, tells us of the good Samaritan and his work of love.\n\nLet us, for once, take for our topic of instruction: _I. The\nwrong view and attitude of the Church over against the works of\nbenevolence. II. Which is the correct Bible teaching and practice?_\nThe Lord grant us understanding and wisdom!\n\nThere is no question that the expectation of the multitude regarding\nthe churches has largely changed. Formerly the one and only thing\nwhich it was expected for the churches to do was to preach the\nGospel, to minister to people's souls. Public opinion now is to\nthe effect that the business of the Church is along the lines of\nsocial science and social service. There are churches to-day which\nhave, accordingly, been practically transformed into hospitals, for\nthe healing of nervous diseases, and there are Social Settlements,\nsupported by Christian people, where baths and gymnasiums,\nplay-rooms, lunch counters, musicales, moving pictures, and\nscientific lectures have free sway. \"Not only with the unseen and\neternal has the Church to do, but with the seen and temporal. Give a\nman a square meal, a good suit of clothes, better social conditions\nfor him and his children, and you will have better success as to his\nsoul. Let the churches preach that and practice that, and they will\ncome up to their proper ideal and purpose.\" Beloved, as to what is\nthe proper ideal and purpose of the Church, that is for Him to say\nwho founded the Church; and what does He say? Of Himself He said,\nas we heard: \"The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which\nis lost,\" and to His disciples He said: \"As the Father hath sent\nme,\" into the world, \"so send I you,\" that is, to seek and to save\nthose who were lost in sin. And this salvation is to be accomplished\nin what way? By social science and service? His direction is: \"Go\nye and preach the Gospel.\" That, be it noted, is _the_ purpose and\nmission of the Church. \"Teach the Gospel,\" the tidings how man's\nsoul may be saved from the guilt and power of sin through Jesus\nChrist, their Savior. That is the heaven-appointed sphere and\ncommission, at home and abroad. The object of our missionaries in\nforeign lands is not to heal the sick and teach the heathen how to\nwear clothes, and cultivate the fields. To civilize is not yet to\nChristianize. Their duty is to preach the Gospel, and invite souls\nto Christ. They may have to do other things, such as translating\nthe Scriptures, helping the poor, and treating their sick bodies,\nbut always with one thing in mind, namely, the winning of souls to\nChrist as their Savior from sin. And so among us. Let us beware of\nputting that which is only subordinate, the improvement of material\nconditions, in the place of the higher purpose of the Church, the\nwinning of souls. God's method, however men may be in love with\ntheir own, is always the best. Men's method is this: Give men better\nsocial conditions, improve their circumstances, and you will improve\ntheir souls. God's method is the reverse: First improve their souls,\nand you will improve their social condition. The Gospel does not aim\ndirectly at improving men's circumstances, it aims at improving men\nthemselves. But no sooner does it bring about a moral improvement\nin men than they bring about a noticeable improvement in their\nsurroundings.\n\nSearch the history of all Christian countries and communities, and\nsee whether it is not so. Which are the richest and most prosperous\nand flourishing nations in our day? Countries like Germany, England,\nAmerica, countries that have received most abundantly of the Gospel\nof Jesus Christ. Let us beware, then, of having our attention and\nefforts directed from the main thing. Some of those social service\nfeatures may serve a good purpose as far as they go, but only when\nthey are in line with the great mission of the Church as the Lord\ngave it: the preaching of the Gospel. A few years ago, when Japan\nbegan to emerge from barbarism, the thoughtful people of that\ncountry were accustomed to say quite candidly that they wanted our\nWestern civilization, but were not prepared to accept Christ with\nit, and this is the attitude of China just now. One of her great\nstatesmen has said: \"We purpose to keep the philosophy of Confucius,\nbut we are ready to believe the religion of Christ for its fruits.\"\nThis will not do. Neither Japan, China, nor any individual can\nborrow the clothes of religion and leave the vital thing out of it.\nThis is precisely the tendency in these days. People would reject\nthe Gospel, yet would take advantage of the blessed results which\nflow from it.\n\nWe learn, then, that the preaching of the Gospel is the first\npurpose of the Church of Christ; to that it must direct its\nmain effort; therein lies its life and success, and all other\nundertakings must be subordinate and in harmony with that. In other\nwords, the greatest charity, the noblest act of Good Samaritanism\nis that which aims at a person's soul, and that help can only be\neffected by the Gospel of Christ; that is the oil and the wine which\nthe heavenly Samaritan has designed to be poured into the soul's\nwounds of sinful and dying man.--But this does not exclude that the\nChurch should practice Good Samaritanism towards men's bodies. On\nthe contrary, this is her Lord's direction. And the Church has ever\ndone so, and is doing so, as a whole and in her individual members.\nThis is our second consideration.\n\nNo duty is more constantly enjoined by the Scripture than that of\ncontributing to the necessity of others. We think, for instance, of\nthe Savior's words to the rich young ruler: \"Sell what thou hast,\nand give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven.\" The\nChristian congregation at Jerusalem had a treasury out of which\ndistribution was made continually as any man had need. St. Paul\ntells of collections that were taken for brethren who were in\ndistress because of the famine which prevailed throughout Judea.\nIn the days of early Christianity we read of much almsgiving;\nbeautiful instances are on record of believers who, constrained by\nthe love of Christ, gave away large estates and gladly spent the\nrest of their days in poverty for their brethren's sake. Hospitals,\ninstitutions never before known, were erected by wealthy Christians,\nand the story of Laurentius is well known, who, when ordered by the\nRoman officials to produce the treasures which it was thought the\nChristians had in hiding, brought out the aged, the sick, and the\ncrippled, and remarked, \"These are our treasures.\" And the Church\nis not slack concerning works of benevolence now. Look at the chain\nof institutions of every kind that are maintained within the bounds\nof our Synod, by our congregations in this city. Whence comes the\nrevenue for the support of our Orphanage, Altenheim, Hospital,\nCity Mission? From the pockets of the hearts of those who attend\nthe public worship of God. This past week there was laid to rest a\nman who, whatever may be our verdict concerning his work and the\norganization of which he was the founder and head, the Salvation\nArmy,--Rev. Wm. Booth,--it cannot be denied that such a religious\nmovement could only have sprung up on Christian soil, fostered by\nChristian principles of charity and beneficence.\n\nAnd what pertains to the Church at large pertains to each of us\nindividually. In the text the Lord Jesus, sitting in judgment upon\neach child of Adam, says: \"What ye have done unto one of the least\nof these my brethren, ye have done it unto Me.\" What words could be\nmore pointed! How those few words tell us why and to whom we are to\nshow beneficence. \"Ye have done it unto Me,\"--that infirm and aged\none for whom you have provided a permanent and comfortable home,\n\"ye have done it unto Me.\" Those \"least of all my brethren,\"--those\norphaned children whom ye have sheltered in a Christian home or\na suitable institution, \"ye have done it unto Me.\" That coin and\ndollar which you have given unto worthy charity--to the man or\nwoman, battling against life's odds and reverses,--\"ye have done it\nunto Me.\"\n\nBeloved, never let the springs of your Christian charity dry up\nbecause of ingratitude, sorry experiences; it was, after all, not\nthat destitute one that you were dealing with, but Him.\n\nWe have regarded in our reflection to-day, first, what is the chief\nmission of Christ and of His Church, namely, the saving of the soul,\nand that this is effected by the preaching of the Gospel; secondly,\nthat where there is concern for men's souls, there will be charity\nshown toward their bodies also. In other words, where the love of\nChrist has taken possession of the heart, there it will also show\nitself in deeds of love to Christ's destitute brethren.\n\nMy beloved hearer, what is the measure of your love? What are you\ndoing unto the Lord's brethren and thus unto Him? Remember that\non that day an inspection is going to be made, a report openly\nrendered. What kind of report will yours be? Lord, give us ever a\nkind heart, a charitable hand, and through Thy grace the reward\nwhich Thou hast promised in heaven for those who served Thee on\nearth. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFOURTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.\n\n     And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith\n     virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance;\n     and to temperance, patience; and to patience, godliness; and\n     to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness,\n     charity.--_2 Pet. 1, 5-7._\n\n\nIt is a very easy thing, my beloved, to be a Christian, and it is a\nvery difficult thing to be a Christian. That may sound paradoxical\nand strange, but it is soberness and truth. It is very easy to\nbe a Christian by name, but it is very difficult to be one in\nreality. It is an undeniable fact that there are people who call\nthemselves after the Savior, and yet are a disgrace even to common\ndecency; whilst others again keep slightly more within the bounds\nof morality, yet their tempers remain unsubdued, their tongues\nunbridled, they mind earthly things, and there is little or no\ndifference between them and the people of the world. Even when\nthey have connected themselves with the Church, and taken formal\ndiscipleship and membership upon themselves, this inconsistency\nappears. Some are great saints on great occasions, when there is a\nchance to shine in the esteem of men, but are glaringly deficient in\nprivate spheres and duties, and are very leaden and dull where no\napplause is forthcoming. Others can always be depended upon where it\ncosts them nothing, but when burdens are to be borne, their interest\nlies somewhere else. Still others are generous enough with their\nmeans, but expect their dollars to answer in place of a pure life\nand to counterbalance a vast deal of self-indulgence and unsanctity.\nAnother class are those who are full of zeal and energy, provided\nthey are allowed to do everything their own way, and are not\ncompelled to cooperate with certain other people whom they despise.\nAnd so there are multitudes of chaotic, one-sided, undeveloped,\nunsatisfactory professing Christians whose conduct is anything but\nconsistent with their claims, and in little accord with Him whose\nname they would bear.\n\nNow turn to the Scripture,--read the descriptions given in the holy\nwritings of what constitutes a full-fledged Christian, and holding\nup the picture before your spiritual eyes, begin to compare the\nmodern Christian with the Scriptural one, the real one with the\nnominal. For what is a Christian? A Christian is, first of all, a\nperson who has been justified by faith in Christ; that is his real\ncharacter and standing, and as long as he remains true in his faith\nand to his Savior, he remains a Christian. But this does not offset,\nbut rather involves, that the faith by which we are justified and\nsaved must be a live, an active and vigorous principle, which draws\nafter it a train of noble virtues and good works; we must not only\nbe Christians, but show it; we must not only have justifying grace,\nbut also sanctifying grace, leading us forward in our Christian\nprofession. We Christians must not be like mill-wheels which move\nindeed, but always stand in the same place, or like mill-horses\nwhich go round and round, but never get beyond the one narrow\ncircle. Nay, we must advance in Christian holiness, go forward\nto the full measure of our stature as a Christian. This is the\nprincipal thought that the various Sundays of Trinity urge upon us,\nand again in harmony with which we find our text. These words point\nout to us: _I. The additions we are to make to our faith_; _II. the\nmanner in which we must make these additions_. May God bless our\nmeditations upon them!\n\nThe Apostle begins: \"Add to your faith virtue.\" You will observe he\ndoes not want his readers to seek after faith,--that he supposes\nthem to possess already,--he addresses them as believers, and calls\nupon them to add to their belief, as if he would say: You claim to\nhave faith (it is a good thing to have), but you seem to forget\nthat faith without works is dead, that Christianity is not only a\nspiritual religion, but a practical one. What does a foundation\namount to if the superstructure be not reared? Nothing; it is a\nbeginning without a progress. Just so with faith,--it is _the_\nchief requisite of Christian religion, and must not be a scheme of\ndoctrine which lies asleep in the mind and never stimulates.\n\nAbraham had faith, and he offered up Isaac. Moses had faith, and\nhe esteemed the afflictions and hardships of the people of Israel\ngreater rather than the treasures of Egypt. Abel and Noah had\nfaith; it led the one to build, and the other to die the death of\na martyr. And so you, claiming to have faith, \"add to your faith\nvirtue.\" This is the first addition mentioned. Virtue here does\nnot signify goodness in general, but a particular quality; it\nmeans as much as fortitude, courage, bravery,--add to your faith\ncourage. And the exhortation was indeed necessary in those days of\nthe Apostle's writing. Heathenism and Judaism were making common\ncause to despise, persecute, and malign the followers of the new\nreligion. Many of the followers of Christ had to sacrifice home,\ncountry, family, and friends, and wander about as the offscouring of\nthe earth. Temptations and distractions of the most dangerous kind\nwere assailing them. And it could not be otherwise; if not rooted\nand grounded, firm, courageous, inflexible, they would surely make\nshipwreck. It is no less necessary this day. The world is not more\na friend to religion and religionists now than it was then. It is\nnot an easy thing to encounter adverse opinion, to incur the sneers\nand frowns of relatives and associates, or the scorn of persons in\nbusiness and society. It is not a pleasant feeling to find yourself\nin a small and despised minority, and that minority ofttimes lacking\nin appreciation, sympathy, and cooperation. When you add to these\nthe petty jealousies, misrepresentations, and stabs in the back,\nhypocrisies and ingratitude, one is prone to become discouraged,\nand to drop off in sullenness and despondency. What we need in such\nmoments of weakness to support our flagging minds and faltering\nenergies is virtue,--courage, moral and religious resolve to do and\nto dare, to show ourselves as men, and not as moral cowards and\nfretting babes. Fie on a Peter that denied his Master before the\ntaunts of a maid, and shame on the disciples who forsook Him in the\nhour of emergency. How noble does there appear in comparison that\nRoman soldier at Pompeii who stood in his place when the avalanche\nof lava and fire was engulfing the city, where, over a thousand\nyears afterwards, he was excavated with his sword drawn and still\nguarding the city gate. O for a stand to our profession and to God's\nWord till He shall say, \"It is enough,\" for a little boldness, holy\ndetermination, courage, firmness to follow our convictions and to\nvoice them, regardless of the reproach we may endure, or the losses\nwe may sustain.\n\nThe second addition to our faith mentioned is \"knowledge.\" A\nknowledge of the truth as it is in Christ, these people to whom\nSt. Peter wrote indeed had. But there are such heights and depths,\nlengths and breadths in Christian knowledge that the greatest of\nsaints can never get done learning it. The most knowing are like\nchildren on the seashore. Though they may gather the many precious\npebbles and beautiful shells, the vast ocean of truth still lies\nunexplored before them, and we need all strive after a deeper and\ncleaner insight into the mysteries of God and of His grace.\n\nA person once told me that some people know too much, and that their\nvery wisdom in sacred things spoils their piety. This may be where\nthe knowledge is merely a thing of the head and not affecting the\nheart, but it will be a sad day for Christianity if ever it comes\nto accept the maxim: \"Ignorance is the mother of devotion.\" Another\nonce told me that it was useless for him to go to church, for he\nknew it all. Mistaken man! I saw him on his deathbed and found his\nsoul so destitute of true knowledge that he had not enough wherewith\nto die in peace.\n\nLet us not be deceived! Never can we come to the strength and\nstature of men and women in Christ except we search and study the\nScripture, listen attentively to the exposition of the Word. Even\nwhat is most familiar to us we need to have continually repeated in\nour ears, lest we forget it, or our piety will go out and die, just\nlike a lamp that is not supplied with oil. For not only theoretical\nknowledge does the Apostle mean here, but, I take it, practical\nknowledge, that knowledge which we ordinarily call prudence,\nwhich is knowledge applied to action. And it is a quality which a\nChristian must seek to cultivate. A Christian ought to grow wiser as\nhe grows older. A Christian is intent on studying his character and\nhis ways. He seeks to make every day an improvement or correction\nof the former, deriving strength from his very weaknesses and\nfirmness from his falls. A Christian distinguishes times, places,\ncircumstances; he does not rashly offer his opinion, but discerns\nwhen to speak and when to keep silence. When he reproves, he does\nso with skill; when he gives, he does so with judgment. A Christian\ndoes not overrate his position and talents, nor does he underrate\nthem; he is willing to approve things that are excellent, even if\nhe is not the first to advance them, and is upright enough to speak\nagainst what is wrong, even if it might not be popular. But alas,\nwhat numbers there are of normal Christians whose temper, character,\ndisposition marks no improvement; they are the same year in and year\nout, no better, no holier, no stronger in Christian life; their\nChristian experience and advancement is equal to naught. \"The wisdom\nof the prudent is to understand his way,\" says Solomon, and the\nApostle exhorts: \"Add to your faith knowledge.\"\n\nThirdly, \"Add to your faith temperance,\" _i. e._, moderation. Keep\nyour passions within due bounds and your desires regulated.\n\nHaving dwelt at length on this quality recently, we pass on to\nthe next: \"Add to your faith patience.\" Things are not always to\nour fancy and taste. The weather is not always fair and the roads\nagreeable. Men and things are liable to vex us, torment us, our\ncircumstances and connections prove galling and exacting. Nothing is\nthen more desirable than an antidote to strengthen and invigorate\nthe soul than patience. It prepares you for every changing scene\nand every suffering hour. It sustains you under afflictions, and\ngives you that calmness and resignation which so much becomes the\nChristian. Nothing is more dishonoring and disnobling than to\nbehold that disposition which must continually be pampered and\nstroked and rocked like a child, under the slightest provocation\nand disfavorableness will froth and foam. Amid life's ills practice\npatience. As the Holy Scripture expresses it: \"Let patience have her\nperfect work that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing.\"\n\nOf the remaining virtues mentioned we next have \"godliness,\" meaning\nthe fear and love of God as it is shown in our lives, pervading\nour actions and controlling our every deed. Here is the difference\nbetween morality and religion. An unbeliever, a non-Christian,\nmay conduct himself just as civilly and respectably outwardly\nas a believer, as a Christian. Outwardly, I say, the difference\nbetween the two lies in this: the one does it from consideration,\nprobably, of gain in society, or probably from a fear of avoiding\nthe penitentiary, whereas the Christian is prompted in his conduct\nby motives and considerations toward his God. You cannot be godly\nwithout being moral; you can pose for moral, and still not be godly.\nGodliness consists in this, to bring God into every part of life, to\nmake Him the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end of all we\ndo; and it is only when we do that, and when we make His Word our\nrule and His glory our aim, that life is what it is intended to be,\nand answers the purpose for which the Creator has given it. To live\nwithout godliness is like an arrow without point and feather,--it\nwill never hit the target.\n\nWhere there is godliness, it will be attended by the other two\nvirtues mentioned, \"brotherly kindness\" and \"charity.\" Where there\nis water, there it is wet; where there is a tree, there it is\nshady; where there are right sentiments toward God, there will also\nbe right sentiments toward our fellow-Christians and fellow-men.\nIt matters not how they may differ in age, they possess the same\npowers of conscience, reason, and mentality; they are liable to the\nsame afflictions, are members of the same family, travelers to the\nsame heavenly grace; they need the same assistance and cheer, hence\nI am to exercise toward them brotherly kindness and charity. But\nthe last is surely not in this case the least, for charity is the\nhighest attainment in practical Christianity, the fulfilling of the\nLaw, the bond of perfectness, and, need I add? the most difficult of\nall Christian virtues. This charity manifests itself in our conduct\ntoward the brethren. It is the opposite of that hasty spirit and\ntemper which is ever finding fault and breaking out in sudden and\nrash anger. It is that benignant spirit which does not reckon up\nthe injuries received with a view of having satisfaction for them.\nIt pities men's infirmities and moral failures, and makes ample\nallowances for them. Nor does it scramble for its own gratification\nin disregard of others' rights, dues, and comforts, but seeks to\nserve all men as it would serve itself. Nor does it lose heart\nand give up in disgust when all meets with discouragements and\nobstructions, ingratitude on the part of those for whom it labors\nand lives. It is willing to forgive and forget, to defend, and to\nput the best construction on everything. It is the highest and\nbest test of Christian character, the most important, the most\nexalted, the most enduring of all virtues. We wonder that the\nApostle mentions it last in the divine category of Christian graces,\ndirecting us to add to our faith.\n\nLet us now proceed, secondly, to inquire how this is to be\naccomplished. The Apostle tells us in our text. It is by giving all\ndiligence, and in order that we might do so, remember these things\ndeserve your diligence, that diligence will secure them, that they\ncannot be secured without diligence. They deserve your diligence. It\nis pitiable to see how many thousands are employing their zeal, and\nwasting their strength and spending their money, talents, and time\nupon practically nothing. Examine the objects for which most men are\nstriving, the aim for which they are living, and ask yourselves,\nDoes it reward their toils and indemnify them for the sacrifices\nthey make? But this cannot be said of spiritual blessings and\nvirtues. These are in the sight of God of great price, and necessary\nto man in his true and real character. They enrich him, dignify him;\nthey are his chief interest and his glory, making him a blessing\nto himself and to all around him. Or who can conceive a higher\npurpose and model of existence than a man or woman, pious, moral,\ncourageous, wise, self-denying, gentle, kind and benevolent?\n\nSecondly, diligence will secure them. In the career of worldly good,\nin the sea of life few obtain the prize, and the race is not always\nto the swiftest nor the battle to the strongest; wealth and good\nfortune do not always fall to the lot of men that strove after them,\nnor fame to those that covet it. Here the principle obtains: \"Ask,\nand ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall\nbe opened unto you.\" \"To the righteous there is a sure reward.\"\nAnd finally I stated, there is no attaining these virtues without\ndiligence. Diligence is indispensable in whatever you undertake.\nYou must labor \"for the meat that perisheth.\" The bread upon your\ntable--through what a succession of processes it must pass before it\nis ready for use. The same may be said of your clothing; in fact,\nof everything else. \"On earth naught precious is obtained but what\nis painful too,\" and perhaps we would not value and esteem things\nif it were not so. And what is true of temporal gifts pertains to\nspiritual equally as well.\n\nAwake, then, my dear fellow-Christian, be zealous, be progressive;\nit is the only way to prosper. Remember religion is not airy\nnotions, sleepy wishes, feeble resolutions, and your strength is not\nto sit still. The learned are daily adding to their intellectual\ntreasures, the rich are adding house to house and field to field,\nand none of them say: \"It is enough.\" Will you as a Christian not\nadd to your faith knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to\ntemperance, patience; and to patience, godliness; and to godliness,\nbrotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity? Reflect and\napply, by the help of God. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nFIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.\n\n     Casting all your cares upon Him, for He careth for you.--_1 Pet.\n     5, 7._\n\n\nIn that wonderful book which, next to the Bible, has been most\nextensively circulated in the English language, _viz._, Bunyan's\n\"Pilgrim's Progress,\" there is a scene which is most impressive. It\nrepresents to us Christian fleeing from the city of this world,\nwith a large bundle upon his shoulders. He comes to a place somewhat\nelevated; upon that place stands a cross, and a little below there\nis a sepulcher, and as he comes up with the cross, the bundle looses\nfrom off his shoulders and rolls away, till it comes to the mouth\nof the sepulcher, where it rolls in and he sees it no more. How\nmany as they have read or seen the picture of the quaint old story\nhave wished that it might be so with them as it was with Christian,\nthat the load which they are bearing might slip off their backs,\nleaving the heart light and spirit free. And there is no reason why\nit may not, provided they take it, like Christian, to the proper\nplace. What is set forth in the allegory, that, according to St.\nPeter in the text, may be experienced in reality and in truth. God\ngrant that with the Holy Spirit's aid we may acquire the art. Three\nthoughts are set before us: _I. That every child of man has a burden\nto bear_; _II. what he should do with it_; III. _why he should so\ndispose of it_.\n\nA distinguished German preacher, speaking on the Gospel of this\nSunday, remarked that man in this world has a solemn companion that\nfollows him whithersoever he goeth. Like a shadow, it will cling to\nhis footsteps, dogging his every movement and occupying his every\nmoment. In the silence of the chamber it will steal through the\nkeyhole, and when slumber is about to fall upon his weary eyelids,\nit will whisper rest-disturbing messages into his ear. No spot is\ntoo desolate, no mind immune against its perplexing assaults. The\nGerman calls the name of this dreary attendant \"Sorge.\" Our text\ncalls it \"Care,\" meaning anxious care, solicitude, distracting fear.\nThat, as stated, is the burden of every child of Adam. It may not\nexternally appear so,--it may be hidden behind silken tapestry or\nmarble apartments,--but it is there. People look at a king; they\ngaze upon a rich mansion, see its occupants, driving forth in an\nelegant equipage. They think, \"What a favored lot is theirs!\" They\nrealize not the dark shadow of care sitting behind the coachman,\nand realize not what the poet expresses thus: \"Uneasy lies the\nhead that wears a crown.\" Nor can it be said that it has lessened.\nWe have made mighty advancement; never was the world so rich in\nmaterial things, never did we possess so many devices for lightening\nhuman toil and tasks, and yet due likely to the speed at which\nwe have to move, the high pressure at which we have to live, the\ncomplexity of the social organism of which we form a part, it is\na matter of fact that the man and the woman of to-day are getting\nmore nervous and highly strung, less able to bear their burdens\ncalmly and patiently. Worry, constant distraction, and disquietude\nare wearing out many people before their time. And what are they\nworrying about? What is the burden of their care? Various. With\nsome it is the burden of ill health, bodily indisposition. That's\nan extremely heavy burden, one that takes the color out of the sky\nand the sweetness out of life, to spend most or a great deal of our\ntime in bed or on a sofa,--no taste for food, a throbbing head, a\nlaboring heart, constant and gnawing agony, nights often filled\nwith sleeplessness and days with weariness. This is trying, indeed.\nWith others it is business burdens. Rivalry is keen, competition\nacute, thousands are the things to harass and perplex and annoy the\nman of industry. The Lord, in the Gospel, mentions a whole array of\nburdens that rise from the question: \"What shall we eat, what shall\nwe drink, or wherewithal shall we be clothed?\" Worldly sustenance,\nthe apprehension of poverty, of future years, of loss of property,\nof health, of coming deaths and sorrow in the family, the changes\nand disasters that might come, the miscarrying of our plans, the\npossible ill success of our labors,--these things are the burdens\nthat make men full of worrying cares.\n\nAnd what can you do to rid yourself of this? There are those who\nwould drown their worry. They take to the intoxicating cup. It's a\nmiserable expedient, a ruin to body and soul; and oh! for the shame\nand remorse added to the load of ills. Others turn to the gay and\nglittering world, to some place and company where men and women are\napparently happy. For a time the thing may work well. As the child\nof care goes up and down within the great dance-hall and through\nthe illuminated gardens, where the merry voices of laughter and\nsong ring out, and instruments are discoursing sweet music, it may\nseem wise to have disposed of the burden that way. But--what when\nthe entertainment is over, and your wraps carefully labeled with\nyour name are handed back to you? Then back come the old sorrows,\nperhaps with new ones added.--And one other expedient might we think\nof: Have some one bear the burden with you. There is good reason\nand sound sense in this. Men in trouble instinctively seek human\nsympathy; a sorrow shared is a sorrow lessened. Fortunate the person\nthat has an ear and a heart to which he can apply for comfort and\nstrength. But there also is danger. Friendship is an uncertain\nthing; it is often too delicate to bear much handling, it evaporates\nunder pressure. Few are the friends that care, or are able to bear,\nthe burdens of others; and again, there are friends who are not\nreally such, who will betray your confidence, secretly rejoice over\nyour ill fortune, and even use it to harm you. Beware of a man whose\nbreath is in his nostrils.\n\nSo, then, we are shut up to one effective resource, and that is the\ncourse given in the text: \"Casting all your cares upon Him.\" What\ndoes that mean? It means two things: In the first place, it means\ntrust in God's providence. There is a Providence which has brought\nus into this world and is taking us through it. And it is for us to\npractically, not only theoretically, believe this. Theoretically, we\nmay hold very correct views on the subject, but it is practically,\nin the application to the affairs and scenes of our own life, that\nwe may fall short. And alas! that many of those who call themselves\nChristians do fall short. Else why these perplexing anxieties, this\ntormenting solicitude? If they believe in God, who has pledged\nthat He will ever provide for them, and without whose permission\nnot a hair of their head can fall, why do they yield to the same\nunbelieving fears as the worldling?\n\nWe Christians believe in an almighty Maker and Provider, that He has\ngiven us these bodies, our families and all. We furthermore believe\nthat He knows what our wants really are, and we hold that it is\nin His power to supply our wants. Besides, He has pledged Himself\nby His almighty character to supply them. Surely, it is a great\ninconsistency and unbelief to find Christians showing the spirit\nof worldly carefulness, losing the comfort of trust in God amidst\na host of distracting cares. If there is a word more expressive of\nChristian character than any other, it is this one, trust,--trust\nin God, trust in Jesus to save, in His Spirit to sanctify, in His\nprovidence to provide; trust amidst perplexity and mystery, for the\nfuture, the present, in life and in death,--in all things trust in\nGod.\n\nYes, dear child of affliction and sorrow, God loves you. He has\nredeemed you by the blood of His own dear Son. He cares for you.\nHe knows your ailments, and He would not permit His children to\nsuffer anything to their hurt. Believe that. To give way to contrary\nfeeling and expressions is to dishonor and provoke God. When a\nfather knows that he can uphold a child in any threatening danger,\nhe does not like to hear the continual expression of that child's\nfears and apprehensions. It vexes him. When we have chosen a pilot,\nhe would be offended, were he to find us trembling as to the safety\nof the ship; he would throw up the helm, and tell us to guide for\nourselves, since we had no confidence in His skill. It is doubting\nour heavenly Father's wisdom, it is distrusting His power and\ngoodness, and contradicting His gracious powers and pledges to be\noveranxious. The thing is to look up to, and confide in Him: \"God\nnever does forsake in need the soul that trusts in Him indeed.\" And\nwith this trust goes something else, and that something else is\nprayer.\n\n\"Be careful for nothing,\" says the Apostle in another place, \"but in\neverything by prayer and supplication let your requests be known to\nGod.\" Prayer: What is there to it? Nothing, if you have never tried\nit; and since ours is such a prayerless age, it is such an anxious\nage. Would they be cured of the evil, they must follow the Apostle's\ndirection, so simple and yet so effective. Prayer is God's specific,\nHis antidote, against care. In one of two ways God answers the\nrequest of every care-worn soul. Sometimes He takes away the thing\nthat troubles it. Sometimes He still allows them to remain, but\nfills the soul itself with such grace and strength that it learns\nto smile at its old fears, and refuses to be fretted and worried\nany more. Try it, thou anxious, distracted, worried soul, go to the\nLord, speak out in His ear whatsoever gives thee worry,--anxiety\nfor worldly sustenance, illness, concern of family, solicitude for\nthose who are at a distance, and how many moments of dejection you\nmight save yourself. As an old commentator says: \"Care cannot live\nin the presence of prayer; but prayer extinguisheth care as water\nextinguisheth fire.\"\n\nTo conclude, there will always be burdens, and anxieties will\nnever fail, but we have God's instruction as to how to treat them.\nLet us commit to memory such a text as this. Let us in moments of\ngloom repeat it over and over again, and oh! how like Christian in\n\"Pilgrim's Progress\" anxious cares will roll off your shoulders;\ndistrust, impatience, and fear will yield to holy hope, prayerful\ncommittal, humble and peaceful trust. God bless and impress His Word\nto that effect! Amen.\n\n\n\n\nSIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.\n\n     In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the Prophet\n     Isaiah, the son of Amoz, came to him, and said unto him, Thus\n     saith the Lord, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die,\n     and not live. Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed\n     unto the Lord, saying: I beseech Thee, O Lord, remember now how\n     I have walked before Thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and\n     have done that which is good in Thy sight. And Hezekiah wept\n     sore. And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the\n     middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying,\n     Turn again, and tell Hezekiah, the captain of my people, Thus\n     saith the Lord, the God of David, thy father, I have heard thy\n     prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee; on the\n     third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord. And I\n     will add unto thy days fifteen years.--_2 Kings 20, 1-6._\n\n\nNone reading the Gospel-lessons of these successive Sundays with\nan observing mind will have failed to discover that they treat of\nlife's ills, its sufferings and sorrows. Last Sunday it was the\nmatter of care, anxiety, worry concerning which our Lord gave us\ninstruction; the Sunday before ten lepers--the picture of intense\nbodily affliction--appear upon the scene; and previous to that we\nheard of the deaf-mute and of the Good Samaritan administering his\nwork of love, until in to-day's Scripture, as if the climax, we\nobserve a young man, under circumstances the most pathetic, being\ncarried out to his burial-place. Nor can we do more wisely than to\nfollow the line of thought thus indicated, for which reason we have\nselected the foregoing text. May we, under God's blessing, learn its\ncomforting and practical truths!\n\nThree things would we note from the Scripture: _I. King Hezekiah's\naffliction_; _II. his recovery_; _III. what he gained from his\nexperience_.\n\nThe verses before us tell us that just after the destruction of\nthe army of Sennacherib, which had been laying siege to Jerusalem,\nKing Hezekiah was prostrated with a dangerous malady, the result,\nmost probably, of the fatigue and anxiety in connection with the\ndefense of his capital. At first it would seem that he had little\napprehension as to the issue of his illness, but when the Prophet\nIsaiah told him that his disease was mortal, and bade him set his\nhouse in order, his heart sank within him. He was yet a young man,\npossibly forty years, in the prime of life; he had just escaped a\ngreat peril; the Lord had given him a marvelous, yea, miraculous\ndeliverance, from the hands of the Assyrian oppressor, and he was a\ngood man, a pious king, who, more than any other since the time of\nDavid, was zealous for the honor of Jehovah among the people.\n\nBut now all these hopes were dashed to the ground; the cherished\npurpose of his heart frustrated, his life's work promptly cut short;\nand as he thought over these things, he turned his face toward the\nwall, and prayed to the Lord, and wept sore. He could not understand\nGod's dealings with him. Why had he been delivered from the Assyrian\nking if he was thus and now to be removed? To what end had all\nhis efforts in the interest of true religion been if he was to be\ncut down before they could be carried through? It was like the\ngardener plucking the flower before it was opened, like the builder\ndestroying his own structure before it was finished. It was not\nHezekiah's case alone; there have been and are many others since. It\nis an old problem and a constantly recurring problem: Why does God\ndeal so, and why does He deal so with those who are His people?\n\nIn reply, I would say that a full answer to that problem has not\nbeen furnished us, and yet there is some light cast upon it by\nthis and other accounts in God's Word.--First of all, would we\nward off the rash conclusion, so commonly heard and everywhere\nrepeated, that because we are afflicted, we cannot be the objects\nof God's love, that, if a person is sick and suffering, he must\nhave done something, committed some sin or sins which have brought\nupon him such affliction. How frequently does this lamentation\nreach a pastor's ear, \"What have I done that God should thus deal\nwith me?\" The Savior distinctly warned His disciples against such\na conclusion, that particular suffering is always the consequence\nof some particular wickedness. It is clear that all such reasoning\nin the case of Hezekiah was unwarranted; he had done no special\nsin; he was not a sinner above all other sinners; his ailment came\nin the course that all bodily ailments come. Why, then, make such\nconclusions regarding ourselves and others? No, God's Word offers\na different explanation. The Savior, on one occasion, speaking of\nthe sickness of His friend Lazarus, said, \"This sickness is for the\nglory of God.\" Let us mark that statement. The design of God in\nthe affliction of His people is to show forth His glory. In what\nrespect? How? In two respects, in the afflicted one himself and\nupon others. God's glory is advanced by the afflicted person, if\nthe person afflicted is helped by the affliction in his spiritual\ngrowth, is made firmer in faith, established in Christian character.\nLuther numbered trials as among his best instructors. The Psalmist\nrecords the experience of multitudes when he says: It is good for\nme that I have been afflicted. When afflictions have this effect,\nthey are to the glory of God. Then, again, the afflictions of God's\npeople may redound to His glory in the effects which they may have\nupon others, to silence the gainsayer, convert the careless, or\neducate the weak believer into stronger faith. An instance of that\nis Job. The calamities came upon him to prove the utter falseness\nof the assertion made by Satan that Job was serving God for what\nhe could make thereby; and I doubt not that even in our days many\nChristians have been sorely afflicted just to show the unbelieving,\nscoffing element by whom they are surrounded how firm and abiding\ntheir faith is, and how lovingly God can sustain them in their\ndeepest distress.\n\nSometimes, too, through the sufferings of a believer the indifferent\nand careless are awakened and led to the Lord. The affliction of\na parent has been a blessing to a son or daughter; the illness of\na wife, borne with Christian submission, has led many a man to\nChrist, while all of us are strengthened in our faith by the sight\nof the calm and simple trustfulness of a dear one on whom God's hand\nhas been laid. Afflictions are often to the glory of God. These\nreflections may not, indeed, fully explain the mystery why God lays\nlow His people, but it lessens it. In any case it ought to keep us\nfrom that rash and altogether too common conclusion that because we\nare afflicted we are particularly faulty. The contrary seems really\ntrue. When the teacher desires to demonstrate his own excellence\nas an instructor, he takes not the poorest, but the best pupil and\nsubjects him to the severest examination; so sometimes, I think, the\nLord exposes His dearest people to fierce trials, just because He\nknows their strength and would thereby commend that faith by which\nthey stand to the acceptance of their fellow-men.\n\nThat is the first consideration that we would direct attention to:\nHezekiah, the beloved, pious, God-praying King of Judah, was laid\nlow with a serious malady. And so, as the Apostle expresses it, let\nGod's people not think it strange concerning the fiery trial that\ncometh upon them as though some strange thing had happened unto\nthem. The very best of men are often the greatest sufferers.\n\nAgain, we notice the conduct of Hezekiah. His case was hopeless. The\nprophet had been directed to tell him: \"Set thine house in order,\nfor thou shalt die, and not live.\" What does the king do? The record\nsays: \"He turned his face to the wall.\" Was it to conceal his grief\nat the fatal intelligence he had received from the prophet? Was\nit to be more unmolested from the presence of his attendants, or\nbecause the wall was on that side of his mansion which faced toward\nthe Temple of God? We are not told; but it says: \"He turned his face\nto the wall, and prayed.\" He had a place whither he went in his\ndistress. When all earthly hopes vanished and all help seemed at an\nend, he addressed himself directly and immediately to Him in whose\nhands alone rests the outcome of life and of death. Pouring out his\nheart in tearful sobs, he pleads with the Lord, tells Him of his\nsincerity of life and purpose to serve Him, and of God's promises\nto His people to give length of days; and He who by the mouth of\nHis prophet had directed: \"Call upon me in the day of trouble, and\nI will deliver thee,\" had His ears open unto his cry. He is not\ndispleased with the outpouring of their souls to Him, He delights in\nit, and it has power with Him. Yes, it is by this very conduct that\none can test whose they are and whom they serve. To whomsoever they\nfirst go in the time of their extremity, to which refuge they betake\nthemselves when calamity is overtaking them, determines, more than\nanything else, whether they are God's followers or not. To use an\nillustration: Traveling once, there was among my fellow-passengers\na little girl who romped about and was at home with everybody, and\nwhile she was frolicking around it might have been difficult to tell\nwhom she belonged to, she seemed so much the property of every one;\nbut when the engine gave a loud, long shriek, and we went thundering\nalong into a dark tunnel, the little one made one bound and ran to\nnestle in a lady's lap. Then one knew who was her mother. So in the\nday of prosperity, it may be occasionally difficult to say whether\na man is a Christian or not, but let him be sent through some dark,\ndamp tunnel of severe affliction, and you will see at once to whom\nhe belongs. That will infallibly reveal it. Take a note of it, my\nbeloved hearer, and when affliction comes, observe to whom you flee\nfor help; that is a sure test whether you are Christ's and Christ is\nyours.\n\nTo recur to the narrative,--Hezekiah's appeal was not without\nresults. As he lay there tearfully communing with his own heart and\nwith God, Isaiah returned to his chamber with a message of healing\nassuring him that he should go up to the temple on the third day,\nand directed him to take a lump of figs and place it upon the boil.\nThis simple direction goes to refute and correct some errors very\ncommon in our day. The one is that remedies are to be absolutely\ntabooed, that they do no good; faith and prayer alone are to be\nresorted to to effect a cure. The theory, and the heresy that has\nprompted it, are set at naught by this one direction, in which God's\nprophet, under the direction of the almighty Physician, specified\nthe remedy to be used. And the other error which it sets at naught\nis, that medical remedies have, in themselves, aside from God,\nany virtue or value. Too much does suffering humanity rely upon\nmedicine; the drug bottle has become with many a veritable idol;\nthat is their god who is going to help them. The application of\nfigs to boils was a remedy known before Isaiah suggested it, in all\nlikelihood it had been tried in Hezekiah's case without result; now,\nat the prophet's injunction, it is tried again and effectively. In\nother words, this time God worked through it, and so it proved of\nvalue. All the medicine in the world is worthless if He does not put\ndivine properties into it. And so let us beware of idolizing the\nmedicine, and forgetting over it Him who put the good into it, and\nwhen we take it, let us not fail to offer up with it prayer to Him\nwho can and must make it efficacious.\n\nAnd so it came about, through the use of the means which the prophet\nprescribed, that Hezekiah improved,--_improved_, I repeat, only\nphysically, to natural strength and health? Is that all that his\nsickness was intended for, that is included in his recovery? Is that\nall that our affliction is intended for, that, having been confined\nto the sick-room for a while, we return to our work and calling as\nbefore? Hezekiah was a wiser man than that. The song that he wrote\nafter his recovery, recorded in the 38th chapter of Isaiah, shows\nthat looking death in the face had not failed of good results. No\nman, if he be a thinking man, can be brought to the brink of the\ngrave, and raised almost as if from the dead, without some benefit\nfrom the experience. For one thing, it ought to make him a better\nChristian. \"Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee, e'en though it\nbe a cross that raiseth me.\" Luther was wont to say that his three\ngreat teachers were prayer, study, and trial, and any reader of his\nlife can perceive that if it had not been for the experiences that\nhe passed through, he would not have been the sturdy character that\nhe was. What the tempering is to the iron, giving it the toughness\nand endurance of steel, that afflictions are to the soul. The wind\nmight shake and uproot the stripling of a tree, but its blasts are\nharmless to the oak that has passed through many a hurricane and\nstorm. And so unbelief may give out its miserable twaddle, the\nfaithless world raise its scoffing and deriding tongue, the man who\nonce turned his face to the wall and prayed will not be upset, he\nknows whom he has believed, what he has experienced in his own soul\nand life.\n\nAnd, again, as it strengthened his faith in God, Hezekiah, after\nhis recovery, was a faithful servant of the Lord, using his kingly\nauthority to bring his people back to the true worship of Jehovah.\nSimply enough; a man who has been in the very grip of the last enemy\nand has recovered, cannot but reason thus: \"What if I had died?\nThese possessions would have been no longer mine. They cannot,\ntherefore, be mine at all in the highest sense; they must have been\nentrusted to me by God, and I must use them for God.\" Usefulness, in\nmost cases, is the result of discipline, the trials we have passed\nthrough. Who is the sympathetic person? You will find it to be him\nwho has passed through similar affliction that you are passing\nthrough. Who is the one that is willing to give a helping hand? Not\nthe priest and the Levite, who, if we knew their prior testing,\nnever knew a serious affliction,--but the Good Samaritan, who very\nlikely knew from personal experience what it meant to be waylaid.\n\nAnd so, to conclude, despise not the chastening of the Almighty.\nLearn to look upon it aright; go to the right source for relief, and\nthus derive from it the spiritual benefit which God designs. May you\nlay up what you have heard against that time when you need it, for\nthere comes a time when you will need it. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nSEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.\n\n     For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is\n     Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold,\n     silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, every man's work\n     shall be made manifest; for the day shall declare it, because it\n     shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's\n     work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath\n     built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work\n     shall be burned, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be\n     saved, yet so as by fire.--_1 Cor. 3, 11-15._\n\n\nIn order to understand these startling words we must, in the\nfirst place, gain a clear idea of the picture which lay before\nthe Apostle's mind. He sees the Church of Christ as a building,\nharmonious in structure, every part fitting into, and each stone\nsupporting, the other, thus presenting that oneness which the divine\nArchitect designed it to have. The foundation of the building had\nbeen laid once for all, but for the uprearing of the walls men are\nto bring the materials.\n\nNo materials except those worthy of God and of the precious\nfoundation on which they are to be built, ought to be brought and\nlaid there. Nothing but the pure and eternal truths of the faith\nrevealed in the Scriptures ought to be preached as the doctrine\nof the Gospel and the Church. This was the ideal, perfect picture\nwhich stood out before the mind of the Apostle. But he also spoke\nof men placing perishable and vile materials upon the walls of\nGod's building, using \"wood, hay, stubble,\" substances unworthy to\nbe made a part of Christ's spiritual temple. What did the Apostle\nmean by \"wood, hay, and stubble\"? The Church of Corinth, whom he\naddresses, had lost, so far as some of its members were concerned,\nthat perfectness which ought to characterize the whole body. There\nwas a working towards disunion. Envying and strife, factions, and a\ndisposition to make this or that man the religious leader and guide,\nhad been allowed to disturb the harmony of the congregation. The\nnames of men had become watchwords. Parties rallied around Apollo,\nmistaking his eloquence for the Gospel to which it ought to lead;\naround Cephas, that is, Peter, because of his prominent position;\naround Paul, because he brought out certain doctrines into special\nprominence. And so, instead of regarding these men as doing each his\nown part in helping to maintain and preserve the whole truth, they\nfoolishly set up this or that one, Apollo, or Peter, or Paul, as\ntheir favorite. Still, notwithstanding all these outworkings of a\ncarnal or earthly spirit, there was as yet no rupture. The organic\nunity of all believers and builders remained unbroken. Individuals\ndiffered in opinions, but the Church had still only one creed. There\nwere parties, but no denominations; factions, but no sects; strifes,\nbut no schism. But even these cannot be allowed to disfigure the\nfurnished temple, the Church of the final future. The Apostle looked\nbeyond the poor work which narrow-minded men were doing at Corinth\nto the day when, as he tells in another place, that same Church\nwhich had been built upon the one foundation shall be presented to\nGod, \"not having spot or wrinkle,\" but \"holy and without blemish.\"\nThat day, he says, \"will try every man's work, of what sort it is.\"\nWhatsoever is worthy of Christ, the solid and precious stone, shall\nabide, and the builder thereof shall have, along with eternal life,\na reward due to his faithfulness to God's plan and design. But the\nhuman materials which unwise and ignorant workmen brought--all these\nshall be burned with the cleansing fire and go for nothing, but the\nbuilder himself shall be saved, because his own soul was built upon\nJesus Christ, as the foundation of his faith and as his Redeemer.\nThat is the meaning of the Apostle's solemn teaching. And now for\nthe application.\n\nThat application may be made unto each Christian. We are all\nbuilders, and it is for us to use the proper materials. What is\nbuilt upon Christ, from faith in Him and love to Him, according to\nHis mind and the honor of His cause and Church, is \"gold and silver\nand precious stones.\" What is done to serve self, the gratification\nof one's vanity and ambition, is to heap up stubble for themselves\nwhich cannot abide in the day of testing fire. But the more special\napplication in accord with the text is that which pertains to the\nChurch as a whole, of the various bodies of Christians, the many\ndenominations of Christendom. Concerning these let us speak a few\nwords, taking occasion, _I. to explain our position_, _II. to regard\nour duty in this respect_.\n\n\"Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus\nChrist.\" The Church is a building reared upon that foundation.\nTherefore, there is and can be but one Church. As the Apostle says\nin the Epistle-lesson: \"One Lord, one faith, one baptism,\" so he\nsays there is _one body_. To rend the body of Christ, to divide His\nChurch into different sects, where altar is set up against altar,\nministry against ministry, is contrary to the will and purpose\nof its Founder. Some look amiably upon this Babel of beliefs and\nunbeliefs and counterbeliefs, think well of and would justify all\nso-called churches, consider one as good as another, and meekly\nsettle down in the nearest, because \"they are all aiming at the same\nend.\" This is not the teaching of the Bible nor the position of our\nChurch. Not as if we read the members of these denominations out of\nthe Church of Christ. We admit that they are built upon Christ, the\nFoundation, and we furthermore admit that they are building some\ngold, silver, and precious stones upon that foundation. To be more\nspecific. Take the Roman Catholic Church. We have many things in\ncommon with the Catholic Church. It believes with us in the divinity\nof the Trinity, in the Godhead of Christ, in the personality of\nthe Holy Ghost, in the divinity of the vicarious atonement, in the\ninspiration of the Scriptures. Far be it from me to contend that\nin the Catholic Church souls cannot be saved. Notwithstanding the\nmany grave errors the Catholic Church has clung to up to this hour,\nit has produced characters, true, noble children of God, whose\nlives we may profitably study. Nearer to us stand the so-called\nReformed Churches, by which term we understand the Episcopalians,\nPresbyterians, Congregationalists, Methodists, Baptists. With\nthese Protestant Churches we have in common the great fundamental\nprinciples of the Reformation, namely, first: that the Word of God\nis the only source of religious knowledge and the only judge in\nmatters of salvation, and secondly, justification before God by\nChrist through faith only. Thus it stands in the matter of doctrine;\nnor can we dispute that in matters of practical Christianity they\nare zealous, even putting us to blush. We all love to hear that\nthe Bible is the most widely read book in the world. But to whose\nefforts is this mainly due? What little we do is far outdistanced by\nthe work of societies principally supported by Methodists, Baptists,\nand Presbyterians.\n\nWe glory that we accept the whole Bible, but who studies the Bible\nas a whole most earnestly? I well know that we teach Bible History\nin our schools, and that we also have many earnest Bible readers,\nbut if I could show you at greater length what is done for the study\nof the whole Bible by both young and old people in some of the\nchurches mentioned, you would confess that at least many of our\nyounger and older people are put to shame in this respect too. We\npoint with satisfaction and pride to the mighty changes which the\nGospel has wrought in heathen lands,--but who for the most brought\nthem that Gospel of Christ? Who has footed the bills? We preach as\nno other church does that the grace of Christ is powerful to rescue\nthe vilest, the most degraded sinners,--but who goes after them and\nlabors the most extensively among them? Who, to mention one more\nparticular, gives most liberally for the support of the Church and\nfor charity? Lutherans? Roman Catholics and others. Of course, it is\nnot all gold that glitters, and splendid things could also be said\nto the glory of our Church. Who first gave the Bible to the people?\nThrough whom has the whole Church been redeemed from the bondage\nof Antichrist? Who was the first to begin modern mission work? But\nour present purpose is to point out that the various Churches are,\nthank God, also adding gold, silver, and precious stones upon the\nfoundation which has been laid, which is Christ Jesus. But is that\nall?--Fair-minded as we are to the one, should we be short-sighted\nas to the other, namely, that they are also building worthless,\nperishable material, material of their own human choosing, \"wood,\nhay, and stubble\"?\n\nWho, enlightened by the plain Gospel, as it shines to us from\nevery page of the sacred Book, can help but see that the errors of\nthe Roman Catholic Church are many; that they seriously obscure\nthe truth; that they lessen the merits of Christ; that, among the\nmasses, they produce a mere formal religion devoid of soul and life?\nTheir divinity of the Church, with its visible head upon earth, the\nPope, of purgatory, mass, worship of the Virgin and the saints,\nindulgences, confessional,--are these not wood, hay, and stubble?\nAnd coming to the Reformed Churches, which of them believes in\nbaptismal regeneration, accepts Baptism to be a christening? Which\nbelieves in the real presence of Christ's body and blood in the\nSacrament? Not one. Then, again, the Baptists insist, contrary to\nGod's Word, that immersion is the only mode of baptism; he that\nhas not been completely put under water has not been baptized.\nLikewise they sneer at infant baptism. The Episcopalian upholds as\ndivine his form of church government,--so that, if a minister has\nnot been ordained by an Episcopalian bishop, he is no minister.\nThe Methodist overestimates the knowledge of one's conversion,\nand, like all of the Reformed Churches, cultivates a spirit of\nlegalism, placing religion in such things as abstaining from\nintoxicants. The Presbyterian Church has never yet revoked the\nteaching of their catechism that God has elected certain persons\nto damnation, and insists upon its form of government as divine.\n\"Wood, hay, and stubble,\" teachings and practices that are not\naccording to the teachings of God in His Bible. What about them?\nThe text declares that the fire will try the Christian work of all\nthe ages. Every religious system not in harmony with God's will,\nall human speculations which men have woven around the truths of\nthe Bible, all the wood and the stubble, though brought with pious\nhands and placed in sincerity upon the one foundation, shall turn to\nashes and wither like grass. And yet, because of that foundation,\nand the faith of those who wrought thereupon, they themselves shall\nbe saved. We would distinguish between sectarian systems and the\nindividuals gathered under them. We recognize the unity of all\nChristians as believers in Christ, but we can never recognize these\ndivisions of Christ's spiritual body. That would be sanctioning the\n\"wood, hay, and stubble.\"\n\nWhat, then, is our duty--to come to the second consideration--in\nthis respect? So sensitive, my beloved hearers, have people become\nthese days that when a clear Scriptural presentation of this matter\nis given, they will stop up their ears, and without giving thought\nor attention, will say: illiberal, uncharitable, bigoted! We are\nnone of these. Not illiberal; we are just as liberal as God's plain\nWord permits us to be. We are not uncharitable;--the greatest\ncharity is to tell a person the greatest amount of truth. And as\nto the charge of bigotry, that shows so much ill-feeling and bad\njudgment that we dismiss it without comment.\n\nThe truth is, that, guided by the Bible, we cannot justify and hold\nfellowship with religious societies that teach doctrines contrary to\nthe Bible, without sinning in a twofold way. First, we would mislead\nour own people to believe that the differences are of no fundamental\ncharacter, that it makes no difference whether you believe that\nChrist's body and blood are in the Sacrament, or not, whether\nchildren are baptized and regenerated in baptism, or not, and so\nforth. That would be practically denying the faith; and secondly,\nby fellowshiping with these denominations, we would be endorsing\ntheir errors, and arouse the impression that it makes little or no\ndifference whether they believe in the Bible, or not.\n\nWhen a man builds a house, he is very much on the alert that no\nshoddy, inferior material enters into the building; not one joint or\ndoor but it should measure up to the specifications. Strange that in\nthe infinitely more important building of Christ's Church, people\nshould be so indifferent as to the material and of things measuring\nup to the specifications of God's Word, and allow \"wood, hay, and\nstubble\" to take the place of gold, silver, and precious stones.\n\nGod protect us against indifference. And then, to conclude, the\nmembers of what Church are we? The character, legitimacy, and proper\nChristianity of a church is its true, clear, unmistakable confession\nof the doctrines of the Scripture, and it is our right to say that\nthese doctrines are embraced, held, and taught by us, and were thus\nheld and taught by us before any of the multitudinous sects and\nparties about us had a being. The Mother of Protestantism,--what\nchurch is it? It was born, existed, and was mighty in strength\nbefore them all, and upon them rests the burden of proof and apology\nfor their separate being. And we should go borrowing to them, or\nhesitate to speak a modest word in our favor?\n\n    My Church, my Church, my dear old Church!\n    I love her ancient name,\n    And God forbid a child of hers\n    Should ever do her shame.\n    Her mother-care I'll ever share,\n    Her child I am alone,\n    Till He who gave me to her arms\n    Shall call me to His own.\n\n    Amen.\n\n\n\n\nEIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.\n\n     And Elijah came unto all the people and said, How long halt\n     ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow Him; but\n     if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a\n     word.--_1 Kings 18, 21._\n\n\nIt was a remarkable, but wise decision that King Solomon once\nrendered in a difficult case which was brought before him. Two\nwomen came to him with an infant to which they both asserted a\nmother's claim, the one contending that the other had overlaid her\nchild, and taken hers from her before she was awake, and laid her\nown dead child in its place, whilst the other asserted that the\ncontrary was the truth, saying, \"The dead child is hers, and the\nliving is mine.\" And now it was for the King to decide. But how was\nit to be done? Solomon calls for a sword. \"Divide,\" he commands,\n\"the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the\nother.\" Then spake, says the Holy Record, the woman whose the living\nchild was unto the King, for her bowels yearned upon her son, \"O\nmy lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it.\" But\nthe other said, \"Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.\"\nSolomon instantly recognized the true mother's heart. \"Give her\nthe child,\" he said. The same it is with God, our true heavenly\nParent. He does not want His children divided; He will have them\nentirely, as a whole living sacrifice, or not at all. The sum of His\ncommandment and will regarding us, as repeated in to-day's Gospel\nlesson, is: \"Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God, with _all_ thy\nheart, and with _all_ thy soul, and with _all_ thy mind.\" Of that\nwould we remind ourselves in our present worship, taking for our\ninstruction the Scripture read as our text.\n\nWith the aid of the Holy Spirit we note Elijah's challenge on Mount\nCarmel,--_A call to Christian decision_. _I. The question at issue:\n\"Is the Lord God?\"_ _II. The obligation involved, \"Then follow Him.\"_\n\nIsrael had had many wicked kings since the suicide of its first\nmonarch, Saul, upon Mount Gilboa, but none more so than Ahab. The\ncrowning iniquity of this unprincipled and despicable prince was the\nintroduction of the idol called Baal into Israel. Baal signifies\ngovernor or ruler, and was the name given in the East to the chief\nmale idol of the heathen. To the honor of this idol, temples\nwere erected, bloody sacrifices offered, and the most shameful\nthings perpetrated. Ahab had married Jezebel, the daughter of the\nidolatrous King of the Sidonians, and under her sway the worship\nof this idol had become sinfully popular in Israel. Four hundred\nand fifty priests served at his altar, and nearly an equally large\nnumber were appointed to the worship of his mate, Ashtaroth, for\nevery male idol was wont to have his goddess. This abominable form\nof idolatry was going on in the land where God had thundered from\nthe sides of Sinai as His first requirement: \"Thou shalt have no\nother gods before me,\" and had declared: \"My glory will I not give\nto another, nor my praise to graven images\"; and in consequence\nthe judgments of Jehovah were not slow to follow. No rain or dew\nhad fallen for the space of three years, the heaven was as brass,\nand the earth like a nether grindstone.--Famine stalked throughout\nthe land, when one day, as Ahab was wandering up and down the\ncountry searching for food, he met the stern and fearless prophet\nof Jehovah, Elijah, called the Tishbite. \"Art thou he,\" asks the\nKing, \"that troubleth Israel?\" Elijah retorts: \"Not I have troubled\nIsrael, but thou and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken\nthe commandment of the Lord, and thou hast followed Baalim.\"\n\nAnd so the contest is on, not so much between Elijah and Ahab as\nbetween the supremacy of Jehovah and Baal. How is the dispute to be\nsettled? Elijah proposes a method. All Israel should be convened\nat a place specified, Mount Carmel. Two altars were to be erected,\none by the champions of Baal, another by himself. Sacrifice was to\nbe laid thereupon, and the God that would answer by fire to devour\nthe sacrifice should be recognized victor. The test is accepted.\nYou, as well-informed Bible readers, know the outcome. After futile\nattempts by the priests of Baal to secure the hearing of their God,\nElijah addresses his God. In fervent prayer he raises his eyes and\nhands and heart to heaven. No sooner had the last words escaped the\nprophet's lips than down came the fire of God consuming the whole\nsacrifice and the wood, the stones, and the dust, and licked up the\nwater that was in the trench, whilst the fickle people fell on their\nfaces, crying: \"The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God.\" Elijah\nthen follows up his victory by commanding them to seize the whole\ngroup of Baal's priests and slay them at the brook Kishon. Thus did\nJehovah terribly and surely vindicate His honor and majesty.\n\nWhat lesson may be gathered from this thrilling story? Beloved, the\nconflict between the forces of the true God and His opponents is\nnot yet over, and, as of old, that conflict, in the final issue,\ncenters in a question. At that time it was, \"Is Jehovah the Lord\nGod?\" Formulated by the Lord Himself in the Gospel-lesson of this\nday, it now reads: \"What think ye of Christ? Whose Son is he?\" Or,\nin other words, Is He, Jesus Christ, God? Around that question are\nrallied the religious forces of to-day. The answer to that question\ndetermines men's attitude, their position on the one side or on the\nother; their answer to that question decides the destiny of every\nindividual soul. According as the Gospel of Jesus Christ is accepted\nor rejected, will men stand or fall. What is it in its significance\nbut the conflict of Mount Carmel over again? And how is this vital\nquestion to be decided? For the determining of the question, \"Is\nJesus Christ God?\" there are many proofs, all of them conclusive\nand incontrovertible. We might point to Christ's spotless character\nand His immaculate life. \"Which of you,\" He challenged His enemies,\n\"convinceth me of sin?\" And none who has ever examined into His\nlife and character but is unstinted in His admiration and praise.\n\"He was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners\"; He was\ndivine. We could point furthermore to His teaching. Merely human\nmind and merely human lips never conceived and spake as He spake. As\nyou study our Lord's utterances, what loftiness in His maxims, what\nprofundity of wisdom in His discourses! The hearers of His time were\nconstrained to exclaim, \"Never man spake as this man speaketh,\" and\nHe taught as one having authority and not as the scribes. No wonder,\nfor He was the teacher come from God,--He was God.\n\nWe could point out the divine influence His religion has exerted\nupon the world. Why do the nations write 1912 in the enumeration\nof time? Who has taken possession of everything great and grand in\nour age? Rather, should I say, who has made that which is great\nand grand in art, in music, in literature--the masterpieces, the\nsublimest productions? Whom do they treat of? The civilization of\nto-day--whose product is it but of His religion? thus stamping it\nand its Founder as divine, as God.\n\nBut, my beloved, after all these and manifold other proofs have\nbeen adduced, there remains one more which, more than any other\nproof, brings home to us the conviction that Christ is God, not\nonly intellectually, but morally, spiritually. From the scene upon\nMount Carmel I would direct you to a scene upon another mount,\nMount Calvary. There, too, we witness a sacrifice; there, too, lies\na victim upon an altar, the altar of the cross. The fire of God's\nwrath comes from heaven to consume that sacrifice. How is that a\nproof of Christ's divinity? Because it solves, as nothing else\ncan solve, the great problem of Religion, \"How can man be saved,\njustified before God?\" \"No man can by any means redeem his brother,\nnor give to God a ransom for him.\" It required one more than mere\nman to do that--God Himself. What man can look upon that Calvary\nscene and contemplate the significance of it, but exclaim with\nthe Roman centurion under the cross, \"Truly, this was the Son of\nGod,\"--nor gaze upon the print of the nails in His hands, and the\nmark of the spear gash in His side, but confess, with the multitude\nupon Mount Carmel, \"Jehovah--Jesus, He is the God! Jehovah--Jesus,\nHe is the God!\" There is no proof so powerful that Christ is God but\nthe sacrifice of Calvary; yea, he who accepts not that sacrifice,\ntogether with the resurrection of Christ, believes not in Christ.\nThat Old Testament scene and sacrifice points, and is a type, of\nthe New Testament scene and sacrifice. May the impression and the\nconfession it produced be the same on the lips of every one of us,\nas it was yonder on Mount Carmel,--\"The Lord, even Christ, is God.\nHe is my God.\"\n\nAnd now let us note the obligation it involved. The particular\noffense with which Elijah charges the people on this occasion is\n\"halting.\" The word translated \"halting\" is old English. It does\nnot mean standing still, but limping. Elijah's question, \"How long\nhalt ye between two opinions?\" accordingly means, \"Why do you not\nmake up your minds; why do you not take a positive stand one way or\nthe other and instead of vacillating between the worship of Baal\nand the worship of Jehovah, accepting neither fully, seize on to\none or the other with full conviction, and follow that with _all_\nyour heart?\" Decision, the taking of a position and holding to it,\nis the appeal of the prophet. And is his appeal not applicable in\nour own day? Is there no halting, limping, swaying, and swerving\nbetween two opinions? It is of just such people that our modern and\nimmediate community is full; they take an intermediate position, a\nsort of betwixt and between; they are not out and out Christians,\nand still they wish to be rated as Christians. They admit their\nreverence for the Bible; they would not question anything taught on\nits testimony; they take delight in hearing occasionally a Christian\npreacher, attending upon Christian services; there is scarcely a\nmental or moral persuasion in favor of Christianity which they do\nnot cheerfully entertain; they would not think of having their\nchildren grow up unchristened or a marriage in the family performed\nwithout a Christian minister, and when trouble and sorrow comes\nupon them, they look to Christian sources for consolation. And\nstill, when the test comes for them to confess themselves in the\nappointed way as Christ's disciples, to take their places at the\nfamily table of the Christian Church, they have their excuses; they\nturn their backs and go off on to something else. \"They've not\nbeen confirmed\"; perchance, \"they want to consider.\" As stated,\nour immediate neighborhood is full of such halting, compromising,\nso-near-and-yet-so-far people. What they want is not to \"consider,\"\nbut to act. Time for deliberation they have had plenty and long\nenough. One year, ten years, finds them still \"considering.\" What\nthey need is decision, action, and not to arrive at that is to\nremain in a state of sin and of danger, of ingratitude to God\nand discomfort to their own soul. If I am addressing any such,\nand I know that I am, let them not be offended, but earnestly\nregard and give up a position so unworthy, unsatisfactory, God and\nChrist-dishonoring.\n\nBut does the appeal of the prophet in no wise apply to those who\nhave made a pronounced confession, who have taken a stand, and whose\nnames appear on the roster as His followers? Is there no indecision\nof conduct there, no limping, no dividing of one's heart between\nBaal and Jehovah? The ordinary type of Christian and church-member\nis not a person of fixedness, determination, neither in doctrine\nnor in practice. Baal still has his altar, only decked out in a\ndifferent shape:--in the market-places of business, in the houses\nof amusements, in the halls of secret organizations and lodges.\nIt is not an unusual thing to see men and women in our churches\ngoing to the Lord's Sacrament and belonging to societies which know\nnot Christ and will have none of Him, reject His Godship and His\nsacrifice upon Calvary. It is not an unusual thing to hear men and\nwomen, young and old, singing hymns and doxologies and speaking\nwords of Christian prayer, and then lifting up their voices in\nspeech and song that tells not whose they are and whom they serve.\nThe trouble with all of us is that we are not as outspoken in our\ntestimony, as consistent and faithful, and unflinching as we ought\nto be, as our Christian duty and the honor of our Lord calls for\nand deserves. Having performed our vows and service to God in His\ntemple, we are content to go back to the world and to business,\nforgetful that there, too, we should bear faithful witness for our\nLord. From the text of the day may you form the noble resolution:\n\"I will be always and altogether the servant of God, the follower of\nChrist; in which resolution do Thou, Lord, sustain me to the end.\"\n\n    Thine forever! God of love,\n    Hear us from Thy throne above.\n    Thine forever may we be\n    Here and in eternity.\n\n    Amen.\n\n\n\n\nNINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.\n\n     After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up\n     to Jerusalem. Now there is at Jerusalem, by the sheep-market,\n     a pool which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having\n     five porches. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk,\n     of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.\n     For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool and\n     troubled the water; whosoever, then, first after the troubling\n     of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he\n     had. And a certain man was there which had an infirmity thirty\n     and eight years. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had\n     been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou\n     be made whole? The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no\n     man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool; but\n     while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. Jesus saith\n     unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the\n     man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the\n     same day was the Sabbath.--_John 5, 1-9._\n\n\nThe most serious charge that can be placed against mankind is this,\nthat when the Gospel is proclaimed to them, that Gospel is rejected,\nthat when pardon and salvation of God is offered, that offer is\ncoldly and indifferently turned aside. We are sometimes surprised\nat this. We ought not to be. The same coldness and indifference was\nmanifested years ago. It says: \"Christ came into His own, and His\nown received Him not.\" To-day's Gospel records to us the cure of the\nparalytic. It was a most remarkable and convincing evidence that He\nwho could bring to His feet this debilitated and disabled man was\nindeed the Messiah, the Savior of the world. But no; it started a\nwrangling among His enemies about the power of forgiveness of sin,\nand caused Him to be haunted with hatred and malice. And as a\nparallel passage to that Gospel miracle is the record here in the\nfifth chapter of St. John, part of which we have just heard. Let us\nnotice now, _I. the history of the miracle_; _II. the instruction it\nimparts_.\n\n\"After this,\" says the Evangelist, that is, after Jesus had\nconversed with the woman of Samaria at Jacob's well, and after He\nhad healed the nobleman's son who was lying sick at Capernaum,\n\"there was a feast of the Jews.\" The feast, it is generally\nsupposed, was the Passover. And \"Jesus went up,\" out of Galilee\ninto Judea, \"to Jerusalem.\" He went thither not only that He might\npay all due regard to the Temple and to the Law, but also that He\nmight have an opportunity of manifesting Himself and His doctrine\nto a greater number of people. \"Now,\" says the next verse, \"there\nis at Jerusalem by the sheep-market,\" or sheep-gate, a \"pool,\" or\na bath, the ordinary purpose of which was for bathing or swimming,\nbut on account of the supernatural character of the water was called\nBethesda, that is, the House, or Place, of Mercy. Around this pool,\nor bath, were built five porches, porticos, or verandas, which\nserved to shelter from the heat and the cold those who frequented\nthe place. In these porches \"there lay a great multitude of impotent\nfolk;\" some of them were \"blind,\" some \"halt\" (or lame), and others\nwere \"withered,\" that is, their sinews and muscles were disabled,\nwithered in one particular part of the body, as the man with the\nwithered hand, or all over, as in the case of the paralytic, whose\nfriends had to bear him on a litter. These patients, at least most\nof them, were probably deemed incurable by ordinary methods, and\ntherefore they were carried to Bethesda to wait and hope for a\nmiraculous recovery there; for it pleased God (in order to show\nthat He had not forsaken His chosen people, but was operating among\nthem) to send \"an angel\" who went down at certain seasons into\nthe pool and \"troubled the water,\" by which troubling of it, and\nby the extraordinary motion that followed, the sick were informed\nof the time of the angel's descent, and, \"whosoever then first,\nafter the troubling of the water, stepped in\" was instantly healed,\nwhile those who bathed afterwards obtained no relief. All sorts of\nopinions have been advanced as to this healing spring. That it was\nnot the natural virtue, as in the case of mineral springs in this\ncountry, that wrought the cure, is evident from the circumstance\nthat not one disease, but all manners of disease were healed by it;\nthat these cures were performed not always, but only at the seasons\nappointed by God, and that not all who stepped in, but _one_ only\nwas healed after the troubling of the water. What became of this\nfountain we are not told; very likely its miraculous properties did\nnot continue for many years. In the porches around this pool was an\nimpotent man; he had labored under a bodily infirmity for thirty\nand eight years. How long he had waited at the pool we know not,\nbut certainly for a considerable period. But it was hoping against\nhope. The man was so utterly helpless that even if he saw the water\ndisturbed, whilst he was slowly dragging himself along, another\nstepped in before him. When Jesus, therefore, passed by and saw him\nin this helpless condition, and knowing his past history, He asked\nhim, \"Wilt thou be made whole?\" The man does not even give direct\nanswer, but narrates the story of his long and futile expectation,\nwhereupon Jesus gives this command: \"Rise, take up thy bed and\nwalk,\" when instantly, easily, as if the withered limbs had been\nthrilled with electric sparks, the man arises, takes up his bed,\nand walks away. Such is the history of the miracle; and now let us\nregard some of the instructions it imparts.\n\nOur interest is naturally divided between the man who had lain\nsick such a number of years, the pool, and the cure. And, surely,\na long and wearisome time he had had of it,--thirty and eight\nyears. The woman with the issue of blood who touched the hem of our\nSavior's garment, had borne her affliction twelve years, but that\nwas scarcely one-third as long, and she was still able to be up and\nabout. As then, so now. The number of those who lie on pallets and\nare bent low with sickness is larger than superficiality credits;\nin fact, those who have never been racked with pain, distressed\nwith fever, are few and far between. How many ever give thought as\nto this providential dealing--have stopped to ask whence it comes,\nor what profit and lessons may be in it? It has been remarked by\na famous writer that there are two chapters of human history that\nshall never be read upon the earth; the one chapter is the chapter\nof the dying. The feelings and emotions, the inexpressible thoughts\nand sensations that pass through the soul when the things of this\nworld fade upon the senses, and the doors of eternity are about\nto swing open, is an experience which no human tongue or pen can\ndescribe, is something which none but ourselves can discover. And\nanother chapter is the chapter of the sick and the ailing, as it\nis written in quietness within the narrow space of a couch and four\nwalls, alternating perhaps with the operating table and passing\nthrough the dark valley of the Shadow of Death. And yet, something\nof this chapter may still be read, and most remarkable, significant,\nand ofttimes blessed things are experienced in the sickroom. Who\ndare say that the world in its present condition would be what\nit still is without this check, this intruder upon the affairs\nof life? Most men are inclined to regard sickness as a calamity,\nas a positive misfortune, a smiting scourge. It is not that. It\nhas blessings both to the one afflicted and to those around him.\nSickness may contribute to the development of the noblest qualities\nof the mind and heart. In the rush and tug of life men are too\nmuch inclined to concern themselves with the affairs of this life,\nto lose sight of the greater value of the unseen and eternal. Put\nsuch a one from the excitement of business and the frivolity of\nthis world's fashions and pleasures prostrate upon his back with\nthe hot fingers of disease clutching for his vitals or the sharp\npains striking upon the heartstrings, and he must be thoughtless,\neven base, whose appreciation of the merely earthly things does not\nfall, and who does not learn that with all his boasted strength and\nall that he has and hopes for, he is only a pilgrim and stranger on\nthis earth, and that there is something more worthy than what is\nseen and temporal. Oh! the quiet reflections of a sickbed. Many a\nman is indebted to them for a revelation which has been the wisdom\nand power of God unto his salvation when the message of Church and\nits servant had but very little effect. The parched lips of disease\nare often more eloquent and effective than man's lips. And he that\nfails of this salutary end of affliction, does not come forth a\nbetter person, more devoted and consecrated to his God, has missed\nthe purpose for which it was sent, and gone out of the way of the\nAlmighty. Of this man in the text we may have the assurance that\nthe experience of thirty-eight years remained indelibly upon his\nmind and enrolled him among the faithful disciples of Christ. May\nit serve likewise in your case, my dear hearer, at the sickbed of\nmany of whom I have had occasion and may yet be called to minister.\nAnd not only for the person afflicted, but for those attending and\naffected by the affliction, sickness is a blessing, a positive\nmessenger of good and mercy. It is when disease has broken in upon\ntheir habitation that many a man has first learned to appreciate\nthe kindly ministry of his life's partner; has keenly felt what this\nworld would be like should death part them asunder, and the hearts\nsometimes estranged have again become reconciled and determined\nto bear and forbear. It is when the little cheek is hard pressed\nagainst the feverish and aching pillow that we feel how intensely we\nlove that boy and girl and would sacrifice everything else dear to\nus to keep them. Yes, there is nothing in human experience to bring\ninto larger and better exercise our common love and sympathy and to\nshow that there is still some nobility, kindness, and pity in our\nshattered humanity than in the care and memories that cluster around\nthe sickbed. Would to God that these experiences touching the hearts\nthat perhaps for long time were dead would be of longer duration,\nfor commonly they are so quickly forgotten and so easily erased from\nthe mind.\n\nSo much as to the first suggestion--the man's sickness. The\nplace where he was lying was called Bethesda, which means House\nof Mercy. Nor need I inform you which is the true Bethesda, the\nHouse of Mercy, provided for the cure of those souls who are\nspiritually halt, blind, withered, and weak. That's the Church of\nJesus Christ, and in that place there was a pool, as we heard,\nendowed with miraculous properties, greatly valued, thronged about\nby patients. To that pool we have in our Bethesda an exact and\nsuperior counterpart, a blessed fountain from which issues the\nstream of health and salvation upon the sinful and diseased race\nof man, a water allied not only with the contact of an angel, but\nwith the presence of the Savior Himself. You know of what water I\nam speaking, you yourselves have been committed into this salutary\nflood. It is the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. It might be well to\nspeak a few words on the subject. What Bethesda's part was for the\nbody, that, my beloved, is Holy Baptism to the soul. It was a means\nof restoration and recovery, it gave health back to the limbs and\nframe. So does Baptism. \"Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy\nsins,\" said Ananias to Saul. \"A washing of regeneration and renewing\nof the Holy Ghost,\" says Paul. \"It works forgiveness of sins,\ndelivers from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation,\"\nsays Luther. Baptism is the means by which the Holy Ghost operates\nin a soul, the outward washing which you see with your eyes is a\ntype of the washing which God's power affects invisibly. We speak\nof Baptism in our church not only as a rite, a ceremony, a form of\ninitiation, but as a means of grace, as a means of salvation, by\nwhich we are christened, that is, made Christians. To elucidate.\nOutside of our city there are enormous reservoirs holding millions\nof tons of water, and we daily see vast tanks holding thousands of\ncubic feet of gas. But all of these would be useless unless pipes\nare laid to convey their currents. Lay those pipes, and you have the\nmeans of securing water in your homes and light in your dwellings.\nSo the Sacraments, of which Baptism is one, are means by which God's\nblessings are brought to our souls. It's not an idle ceremony which\none can dispense with at liberty, nor is it something which people\ncan wait with till they are old enough to be taught the Christian\nfaith and to understand it; as well might they dispense with the\nsupply of water and illumination, or wait until they themselves\ncan lay the pipes. No; God has given us the means, now we must use\nthem, and use them as early as possible. If this man had spoken\nas disparagingly of the pool of Bethesda as some people speak of\nBaptism, and had in consequence kept away from its waters, he would\nnot have met with Christ, and would have remained a cripple all\nhis days. It is for us to use God's means, and to hold with the\nScripture that no man is a Christian until he has been baptized. Of\ncourse, there is this difference between the impotent man in the\nGospel and some in our community. He _could_ not enter the healing\nwater, they _will_ not. They lie by the side of Bethesda, but, not\nbelieving in the healing waters, are never benefited as to their own\nsouls.\n\nThere are many objections made against Baptism. To repeat and\npublicly set aright one objection sometimes met with in our circles:\nWhat good does Baptism do? See how many children turn out bad\nafterwards notwithstanding. What good does it do? I answer: The same\ngood that it does if you had water and illumination connection,\nand then cut it off. No good; on the contrary, if, having been\nmade God's children, Christians, in Baptism, we afterwards live as\nheathen, so much the worse the sin as our Savior particularly warns\nthis man who was healed. \"Behold, thou art made whole; sin no more,\nlest a worse thing come upon thee.\" But had the man nevertheless\ngone back to his sinful life, would that have made the healing of no\naccount? And so the fact that people once baptized live in sin does\nnot make Baptism of no account. Marriage is not a failure because\nsome who have married have proved failures. When a man enlists\nin the army, the form of enlistment makes him a soldier, but not\nnecessarily a good soldier; he may prove to be a coward and traitor,\nbut it put him in a position to lead a brave and useful life and to\nwin honor and glory; if he chooses otherwise, it is his own fault.\nSo in baptism we are made Christians, but it is our own fault if we\nafterwards turn out bad Christians. Baptism is the beginning, the\nmeans, not the end. We are put on the right road, we are made God's\nchildren, citizens of His kingdom of heaven. It is our own fault,\nnot the Sacrament, if we develop into prodigals, wander out of the\nright road, prove cowardly soldiers and bad citizens.\n\nAs to the third suggestion made, the cure, let us briefly note that\nthe condition of that poor paralytic is the perfect emblem of our\nhuman nature, of ourselves without Christ. As he was diseased and\nhelpless in body, so are we all diseased and helpless in soul. To a\nmiracle of grace he owed his recovery; and where he found his cure,\nwe must find ours. He stands before us this very moment again, that\nomnipotent Son of God, that compassionate Savior, and asks, \"Wilt\nthou be made whole?\" Wilt thou receive the absolution of thy God,\nthe forgiveness of thy sins, through the mediation of my suffering\nand death? Nothing else can remove the palsy of our nature, nothing\nelse can give health and soundness.--Let us, then, who feel our\nmalady and wish it removed, answer, Yes, Lord, I will be whole.\n\n    Jesus, give me true repentance\n    By Thy Spirit come from heaven.\n    Whisper this transporting sentence,\n    \"Son, thy sins are all forgiven.\"\n\n    Amen.\n\n\n\n\nTWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.\n\n     And He said also to the people, When ye see a cloud rise out of\n     the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it\n     is. And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be\n     heat; and it cometh to pass. Ye hypocrites! Ye can discern the\n     face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not\n     discern this time?--_Luke 12, 54-56._\n\n\nMen have always been solicitous about the weather. In the morning\nthey are desirous to know what the day will bring forth; in\nthe evening, what sort of temperature it will be on the morrow.\nCuriosity, in part, a lack of something more important to think\nand talk about, and, in part, the regulation of one's duties and\nwork prompt this concern. It has ever been so. In the Holy Land,\nwhen the sky was aglow with the exquisite tints of an Oriental\nsunset, it meant fair weather the next day; when the west wind,\nsweeping over the Great or Mediterranean Sea laden with moisture\nblew over the land, it was a safe indication of rain, whereas the\nbreezes coming from the sterile and desert plains of the East\nportended a heated season and continued drouth. We have similar\nindications. Flocks of birds, at this season, flying across our\ncity in search of a more congenial home, tell us of approaching\nwinter. Not relying on such indications alone, the Government has\nestablished everywhere meteorological stations; weather forecasts\nare distributed broadcast, wireless telegraphy flashes out the\napproach of devastating storms, thus forewarning navigation and\nsecuring protection to citizens and property and life. All of which\nis commendable, argues forethought, wisdom, which God has designed\nthat men should exercise. Nor does our Lord in the text in any wise\ndisapprove of such precautions and measures. He would have us make\napplication of that same forethought, wise provision, with respect\nto another sphere. \"As you study the weather,\" is His direction, so\nyou ought with equally observing and wakeful mind study the times,\nwatch the signs, regard the phenomena that appear in the political,\ncivil, social, mercantile, domestic skies, marking their bearing\non the affairs of God's kingdom, and exercise respecting them the\nsame forethought and sense of provision. That duty shall we now\ndo in these moments of public worship, noting as our theme: _A\nfew signs of the times and the corresponding duties of Christians\nand church-members. We shall observe:_ _I. Three such outstanding\nsigns_; _II. what it becomes us to do_.\n\nThe first outstanding sign, prevailing and predominating\ncharacteristic of our times, that we shall mention is commercialism.\nTo explain:--the question of \"what shall we eat, what shall we\ndrink, and wherewith shall we be clothed,\" has always and everywhere\nbeen a live question. Men must live, and \"to live\" means the\npossession of the things just mentioned, food and drink, dress and\nproperty, the possession of this earth's goods; but it is a question\nwhether in the history of the world these matters have bulged\nout so prominently and so monopolized the efforts and attention\nof men as at the present and in our own country. With the avenues\nof success open to every man that is industrious and intelligent,\nwith competition keen, demanding concentration of energy and\neffort, gaining a livelihood and a little of this earth's goods has\nbecome like a whirlpool which draws and drags everything into its\ndevouring current and vortex. The spirit of commerce is supreme;\nnot, I suppose, that everybody loves money and this earth's goods\nsimply and only for its own sake, but there is an excitement and\nfascination in having it; it stands for the standard of efficiency\nand worth and influence among men, so that all are scrambling and\nscheming for it. Listen to the trend of conversation, the topic of\ndiscussion in people's homes--what is it? Show a man a material\nadvantage that he may secure, often at the sacrifice of honesty and\nprinciple, and he is your undying friend. Now, with men's minds\nthus set, it is but a natural consequence that it should affect\ntheir heart, endanger their spiritual life. Business, indeed, is\nnot incompatible with piety. A man may be a devout Christian and\nchurch-member and an excellent business man, but it may so preoccupy\nhis mind and preengage his heart that he ceases to think about\nreligious matters at all. It is not an uncommon thing to see a man\nattentive unto the things of the Lord, intent in the services and\nthe meetings of the church; when anything special is to be done, he\nis on hand to help. Business responsibilities increase, he becomes\nless earnest in these respects; he has to rise so early in the\nmorning that he has no time or thought for prayer; he comes home so\ntired in the evening that he has no consideration for anything else,\nand if he goes out, it is in the interest of business. Even the\nLord's day is levied upon, and when it comes, his mind is perchance\nmore occupied while he sits under the pulpit with his figures than\nwith the sermon. Tell him he is being missed,--the retort is the\ncommon, trite answer, \"No time.\" But the real reason lies deeper. He\nhas gotten into the current, he is being drawn into the whirlpool of\ncommercialism, and if there be any who feel that I have been holding\nup a mirror wherein you have seen yourselves, let me urge upon you\nto take heed. You are paying too much for your material success, and\nif you do not return to your old anchorage, you may find yourself\nwhere you had never thought to get--afar from Christ, His worship\nand service. There is nothing better than for a man occasionally\nto take his bearings, to find where he is located, and whether\nhe is holding his own against the stream of opposite tendency\nthat is flowing through our social life, in which he is drifting,\nbeing carried in opposite direction, among those who pass from the\nneglecting to the despising and rejecting of the great salvation.\n\nHand in hand with this tendency of our times there is another:\nindifferentism. Certainly, if everything is gauged by the\nmeasurement of dollars and cents, then men's thoughts are absorbed\nby material considerations. It is quite natural that religion\nshould be placed on the same low basis. Indifferentism generally\nresolves itself into a question. That question is, \"What's the use?\nWhat's the use of prayer? Has it ever brought you any gain? What\nhave you that you wouldn't have if you had not prayed?\" \"What's the\nuse of going to church? What benefit has it ever brought you? It\nhas not fetched you one customer, one penny of profit, rather the\nreverse--it has been an expense, easily avoidable.\" \"What's the use\nof going to the Lord's Supper? A man may be a Christian for all\nthat.\" \"God governs the world, His providence overrules it all,\nbut it is, after all, the man who plans and plods that wins out,\nso why be concerned about this overruling Providence?\" \"When the\nend comes, well, then I hope there is a place where those who, like\nmyself, have tried to be honest and upright will finally get to. I\nam willing to risk my chances. What is the use of being over-much\nconcerned about the future?\" It is not that our times are stubbornly\nand positively atheistic and infidelic; perhaps there was never less\nof that than now. But comparatively few in speech or person or in\nprint venture to attack Christianity as a system. The danger lies\nelsewhere. We have lapsed into a state of indifference. There is a\npassing away of an earnestness of conviction, of moral stamina, of\nstrength of belief. What was once accepted as God's truth is now\ncalled into question. \"Don't emphasize creed, doctrine, destructive\nbelief; we have gotten beyond that.\" Yes, we have gotten beyond\nthat, and in consequence have gotten and are daily getting into a\ncurrent that shall find us contending for the simplest truths of the\nChristian faith. What fad, however unscriptural and irrational, but\nit finds multitudes of followers. Consider the greatest fad that is\nsweeping over the land--Christian Science. How is it possible that\nsuch an absolutely heretical, nonsensical system of unchristian,\nanti-Biblical statement should ever have had such a phenomenal\ngrowth, if our people were not so dreadfully indifferent in matters\nof Bible teaching? The same is true of the Russellites, whose\npublications are being distributed broadcast over the land, who deny\nthe simple doctrines of hell and resurrection, and foretell the time\nof Christ's coming to Judgment and to reign in unadulterated bliss\nfor thousand years.\n\nThe Catechism is denounced from the pulpits. \"Why instruct the\njuvenile mind in such fetters of theology?\" \"What is there to\nconfirmation?--teaching children in their teens to confess a faith\nthey do not half comprehend?\" The good old Bible Book--\"is it\nreally what has been claimed for it?\" Do not most clergymen of\nprogressive ideas put allegorical interpretations upon its stories,\nfor instance, the fall of man into sin? Do not many learned scholars\npoint out what they claim to be discrepancies, and say it must be\nconsidered and weighed just like every other book in which are\nsome good things and some inferior? And the sorry consequence of\nall this? It is this, that we have no positive conviction at all,\nthat the majority are like a vessel without a guiding compass or a\ndeterminate course, floating hither and thither, as the wavering\ncurrent of whims or opinion may chance to drive them. And if, to\nnote the application, we are asked whether we join in this trend\nof thought of the times, this contemptuous treatment of the Word\nof God and Catechism, we should answer with an emphatic \"No.\"\nBut are we quite sure that we have not imbibed a little of it\nunconsciously? After so much has been said about the old-fashioned\nhell,--a hard doctrine for sentimental souls to believe,--why not\nmitigate it a little, and believe that after this life poor sinners\nhave another chance?--'Tis true, the Savior does say, \"This do in\nremembrance of me,\" \"but I guess I'll not be condemned if I do not\ngo to His Sacrament.\" Beloved hearer, you may flatter yourself that\nit will have no effect upon you, but unless you conscientiously\nand determinedly watch it, you will find yourself yielding to it.\nBeloved, we watchmen on the towers of Zion, scanning the skies and\nobserving the signs, are everywhere noting the indifference among\nour older members, among our young people, and the only thing to\ndo is to get back to the old anchorage, to place our faith firmly\nand securely upon the rock of eternal Truth, _i. e._, the grand old\nBible. Its words are truth and nothing but the truth. Let that be\nour guide in doctrine, in practice. What that says let us believe;\nwhat that forbids let us forsake; that will put us right and keep\nus right. These vagaries and fluctuating opinions of men and women\nwill pass away like the clouds of the air; but even though heaven\nand earth pass away, God's Word will not pass away. Our safety and\nhappiness lies in adhering to what it teaches and following its\ndirections.--When the storm-clouds are gathering in the horizon and\nthe weather bureau flashes out the danger signals, then it is wisdom\nto seek shelter, to get under somewhere. There is such an ark of\nsafety yet, and that is the Church of Christ, where His cross and\nGospel are preached, held and confessed, uncompromisingly. Take your\nplace there as a consistent, positive member, and avoid indifference\nin religious matters.\n\nAnd one more disastrous sign of the times would we regard. I need\nnot remind you that the brightest jewel that we possess under the\nConstitution of this country is religious liberty. Its wise and\npious framers, knowing both from reason and from sharp experience\nthat religious liberty can only exist in the strict separation of\nChurch and State, adopted every precaution to prevent the admission\nof anything hostile to religious liberty, to go into the political\nmachinery of the state. Their object was \"a free church in a free\ncountry.\" It is well known, not suspicion merely, but known by those\nwho have the best understanding of the times, that a spirit has of\nlate years prevailed which is intensely hostile to the civil and\nreligious principles of our government. There have been some bold\nencroachments on the part of a subtle and formidable antagonist.\nYou know whom I mean--Rome, dangerous Rome, which does not believe\nin the separation of Church and State, which acknowledges but one\nhead, who is the embodiment of temporal, political, and spiritual\npower, which openly and unequivocally asserts that the civil\nauthority is subordinate to the Church. Rome's representatives have\nbeen loaded with official favors and flatteries; Rome's interests\nhave been fostered with the most fatal insidiousness by political\nleaders; Rome has been caressed, and complimented, and taken into\nconfidence and alliance with those in authority. What is the meaning\nof all this? Sordid maneuvers of diplomacy and craft undermining\nthe fundamental principles and rights of our Constitution, menacing\nclouds in the sky that threaten our civil liberty. And what is to\nbe done? We ought to know; the name which graces our denomination\npoints the way. Luther gave Rome its death-wound in his day by\nwielding so powerfully the sword, the sword of the Spirit, which is\nthe Word of God. Let us grasp that selfsame sword; let us teach the\ndoctrines which he taught so effectively to its overthrow, and we,\ntoo, shall prevail. Point out the soul-destroying errors of Rome,\nand you unarm her spiritually. And again, as citizens, let us make\na determined and combined movement to repel the creeping invasion,\nthe subtle but forceful and successful invasion of popery. The\npolitical leading men of our day may not be conscious of it; let\nus hope, in the judgment of charity, that they are not; but it is\nperfectly clear that the influence of that dark and mysterious and\ntremendous system is upon them. For us who have studied and know\nRome it becomes to counteract, eradicate every tendency that would\nbreak down or reduce our constitutional liberties.\n\nWe have mentioned three specific signs--commercialism,\nindifferentism, Romanism. Let us, keeping our eyes open, beware of\nthe destructive power of the first, the deadening influence of the\nsecond, the insidious danger of the third, and so pass through these\nthings temporal that we lose not the things eternal. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nTWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.\n\n     For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down\n     first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to\n     finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and\n     is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock\n     him, saying, This man began to build, and was not able to\n     finish.--_Luke 14, 28-30._\n\n\nIn the pass of Thermopylae, in the country of Greece, there stands\na monument, world-renowned, erected to Leonidas and his valiant\nthree hundred. It bears the inscription: \"Go, stranger, and tell\nat Sparta that we died here fighting to the last in obedience to\nour laws,\" and commemorates that thrilling event when Leonidas\nwith his three hundred successfully held the pass of Thermopylae\nagainst tremendous odds until betrayed into the hands of the enemy.\nWhat it bears magnificent witness to is the quality of loyalty,\nsteadfastness. The same noble quality does God require, look for,\nin His people. The Apostle in to-day's Epistle, summing up the\nconduct of the spiritual soldier, says: \"Stand, therefore, and\nhaving done all, stand,\" and again, emphasizing the same virtue, he\nremarks: \"Watching thereunto with all perseverance.\" It is not the\nboldest regiment that always makes the best record, but that which\nholds out the longest. It is not the most enthusiastic Christian and\nardent church-member that wins His Master's commendation, but he\nthat proves \"faithful.\" The parable of our text brings home to us\nthe same lesson. It tells us of a man who contemplates the erection\nof a tower. Before entering upon his enterprise, he first sets down\nand, with pencil in hand, figures the cost, whether his funds will\npermit him to undertake the matter, lest, having begun and failing,\nhe become the laughing-stock of his neighbors, and the uncompleted\nstructure a monument to his folly. Equally so, does the Savior point\nout, is it, in another sphere, the realm of religion. A person hears\nthe call of religion, feels its power and promptings, its necessity\nand claims; his heart is persuaded, his mind is made up, he ought\nto, and wants to be, a Christian, in the words of the parable, he\ncontemplates the erection of the tower, but ordinary prudence bids\nthat he should sit down and consider the costs, lest, beginning and\nnot completing, the venture end in dismal failure, and he become the\nobject of mockery and contempt. And yet is it not this ordinary,\ncommon-sense method, which they apply so keenly otherwise, that so\nmany disregard in matters of soul? Why else would there be so many\napostates, fallings away, in the ranks of confessed believers? Let\nus, then, wisely and for once sit down for a few moments in public\nChristian worship, and consider this matter, noting: _The parable\nof the tower--an exhortation to Christian steadfastness._ We shall\ngroup our remarks around two chief thoughts: _I. What does it cost\nto be a Christian?_ _II. Does it pay to be one?_\n\nTo begin with, let it be noted that Christianity connects with cost;\nit _does_ cost to be a Christian. There is a type of religion which\nis not only a very easy, but a most inexpensive kind. Putting on the\ngarment and speaking the language of godliness, it is stranger to\nits power. However, that type is not the building of a tower, rather\nof a shack, a flimsy construction which the slightest wind-storm\nand rising rivulet will soon sweep away. In building a substantial\nstructure, the first concern is the foundation. You do not see that,\nit is hidden from view; yet upon that foundation rests the building,\nand it is just as strong as its foundation. So, spiritually, the\nmain part of Christianity is hidden, it is something that takes\nplace away from human view; yet upon that unseen experience rests\nits reality, its strength. What is that experience?\n\nIn laying a foundation, there is, first, the excavation, the removal\nof the soil, of all obstructions and obstacles. This is difficult\nwork and costly work. So, spiritually, religion calls for the\nremoval of obstacles, obstructions, soil. Man's heart is not fit\nto build the tower of Christ's religion, it must undergo a change;\n\"old things must pass away.\" There must be a plowing up. There are\npainful memories to be recalled, sins to be mourned over, habits\nand ways of thinking and doing to be given up, likes and loves and\nfeelings to be renounced. It is as true now as it ever was that\n\"except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.\" We\ncall this repentance, contrition, sorrow over one's sin. It means\nthe reconstruction and transformation of one's nature, and costs\nmany a pang, many a sigh, many an inner struggle and protest.\n\nThen, when the rubbish and soil have been removed, the excavation\nhas taken place; there must be a laying of the foundation. Which\nthat foundation is, is plain. \"Other foundation can no man lay than\nthat is laid, which is Jesus Christ.\" Belief in Christ, faith in the\nSavior, must follow, else there can be no tower. My dear hearer,\nhave you undergone that change of heart, experienced that inner\nsorrow? Have you paid the first cost?\n\nLaying a foundation without building thereupon does not answer the\npurpose. We must add a superstructure, and this also costs. And\nwhat is the superstructure? St. Paul speaks of it when he writes:\n\"I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God that ye present\nyour bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which\nis your reasonable service,\" when he says to the Corinthians: \"Ye\nare bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your bodies and\nin your spirits, which are God's,\" or quite briefly remarks: \"For\nme to live is Christ.\" We call this adding of the superstructure,\nconsecration, and what does it involve? Everything. Beginning with\nyourself, it levies upon your body, your mind, your soul, your time,\ntalents, influence, possessions, property, money, your all. It is\njust to this particular, of consecration, dedication of oneself and\npossessions, that Christ refers in the verses preceding the text:\n\"If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and\nwife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own\nlife, he cannot be my disciple.\"\n\nEarthly love, domestic relations, material considerations--nothing\nis permitted to stand in the way of absolute and entire consecration\nof oneself, and all one has and possesses, to Christ. Beloved, is\nthis not a particular which many who profess to be Christians do not\napprehend? When they are called upon to give themselves, of their\ntime and means and ability, to the cause of the Lord, they feel and\nact as though some great thing is being asked of them, that they are\ndoing something superfluous. They need not feel so. It is a matter\nthey ought to have weighed when they entered upon Christian life.\nGod lays His hand upon all that you are, and all that you have, and\nsays: \"This is mine,\" and only he and she are building properly upon\nthe foundation which is Christ who say: \"Here, Lord, am I and all\nthat is mine. Upon thy altar it lies in holy consecration. Lord,\nwhat wilt Thou have me do?\"\n\nAnd one other cost would we mention. It costs courage. Not exactly\nthe same courage as when called upon, in the early centuries, to\nface the tortures of the rack, the beasts of the Coliseum and the\nflames of the martyr's stake, yet a courage, none the less noble,\na moral courage. There are plenty of things to discourage us. \"Is\nthis vile world a friend to grace to help me on to God?\" No, it is\nnot. It is full of conflicts and criticisms and sharp collisions.\nIf so many Christians of our day have such a good and easy time of\nit, is it not because they are not Christians after the style of the\napostles and the early martyrs?\n\nSatan is still the god of this world, and one need only take a\ndecided stand against him, and the things that belong to him,\nto find it out. Yes, it costs something to be a Christian, a\nconsecrated church-member. A Christian cannot be, cannot act and do,\nas non-Christians, non-church-members act and do. Aye, does it not\nfrequently call for courage even to be known as a church-member? The\nfinger of scorn is pointed and the sneer of sarcasm is hurled at\nmany a one for that.\n\nNor only from those that are without; discouragement frequently\ncomes from those who are within. Christians are the communion of\nsaints, but their behavior toward each other is not always saintly.\nHuman nature, everywhere ugly and crabbed, is apt to make itself\nmanifest there too. Appreciation deserved, gratitude looked for, is\nnot always received. And this is very trying, betimes; in fact, some\nthink that it is beyond all endurance, judging by their withdrawal.\nBut have those that so feel ever thought it over? Whoever builds\na house without having some unpleasantness, and sometimes great\nunpleasantness? But does he, therefore, desist from completing the\nstructure? Know, my dear hearer, whatever may be the nature of the\nannoyances, difficulties, and hindrances to Christian life and\nchurch-membership, they belong to the costs, and when they occur,\nface them with becoming courage and steadfastness. A sorry soldier\nthat will throw away his gun and quit the ranks because of the\ndiscouragements in the way! This, then, is what it costs to be a\nChristian--repentance, consecration, courage.\n\nAnd are the returns adequate to the cost? What benefit is there\nin being a Christian, erecting such a tower? Does it pay? There\nare people who think not. They consider that they make the most by\nkeeping aloof. Whether they have done it by careful figuring out,\nlike the man in the parable, is doubtful, but they are persuaded\nin their own mind that they are the gainers by not identifying\nthemselves with Christ and His Church. They do not like religious\nrestraints. They wish to be free to do as they please. They can\nenjoy more of the comforts and pleasures of life, can pursue\ntheir ways with less compunction, make more money, gain more\nfriends, if they keep themselves out of the church entanglements\nand obligations. So they reason and congratulate themselves. But\nwhat advantage have they over us? The truth is that there is not a\nsingle relation or human interest in which it does not pay to be a\nChristian. To specify briefly: It pays to be a Christian physically;\ngodliness teaches and inculcates all those laws and things that\nproduce and promote health, the welfare of one's body. It pays to\nbe a Christian materially, in one's labors and business. To be a\ngood man, to have the reputation of honesty, is as fine a business\ncapital as any one would want. It pays domestically; the home where\ngodliness prevails approaches the ideal home and is the strongest\nbulwark of society. The same holds good with regard to the joys\nof life. \"Religion was never devised to make our pleasures less.\"\nReligion sanctifies our pleasures; it draws the checkreins upon\nungodly extravagances and excesses; and so it pays also in this\nrespect. And when it comes to the dark side of life, the manifold\ndifficulties and troubles that accompany man in his abode here\nbelow, \"when other helpers fail and comforts flee\"--oh, for the\npower, the comfort, the divine support of religion! And we have said\nnothing yet of the strictly spiritual advantages. It pays to be a\nChristian; a Christian possesses a good conscience, which is more\nvaluable than all of this world's possessions, the sunshine of God's\nforgiveness and favor through faith in his Savior; the blessed joy\nand inspiration that comes from prayer and worship of God. Nor does\nthe matter stop there. When the scenes of this time and world fade\nupon our vision; when, passing through the dark and shadowy valley\nand before the judgment seat of Him to whom we must give account;\nwhen the glories of the Golden City open and the crown immortal is\nplaced upon our brow,--then we shall realize that it pays to be a\nChristian.\n\nTo conclude,--there should be any right-thinking, calculating person\nthat, having begun, will fail to complete the building of this\ntower? How foolish before God and men, how dangerous!\n\n    Be steadfast! be wise!--\n    \"Build on, my soul, till death\n    Shall bring thee to thy God;\n    He'll take thee at thy parting breath\n    To thy divine abode.\"\n\n    Amen.\n\n\n\n\nTWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.\n\n     Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are\n     spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness;\n     considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.--_Gal. 6, 1._\n\n\nThe Christian Church is frequently compared with a hospital. The\ncomparison is correct. Christ calls Himself a Physician; then those\nto whom He has come to heal are sick, and the institution which\nHe has established for the spiritually soul-sick is the Church.\nNot for those who regard themselves well, who in self-righteous\nhaughtiness would be no sinners, but for those who, acknowledging\ntheir soul-sickness, are looking for healing from the Physician of\nsouls, Christ Jesus, is this divine institution. The Church, we may\naptly say, is a hospital.\n\nIn a hospital, however, we have respect to proper treatment, we\ndesire to become rid of our ailment, and are ready to submit to any\ncourse and remedy that will promote our healing. Equally so in the\nspiritual hospital ought we to be ready and thankful for any method\nand manner of treatment that helps us become rid of our sins, our\nfaults, our errors. Such a course, suggested by the Gospel-lesson,\nwould we for once regard in this morning devotion. Let us consider\n_a Christian's duty toward an erring brother_, noting, _I. what this\nduty is_; _II. how it is to be performed_; _III. some of the happy\nresults_.\n\n\"Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual\nrestore such an one in the spirit of meekness.\" What the Apostle\nhere commands is this: If a Christian, a member of a congregation,\nfalls, those who are standing are to help him up again. If he falls\ninto error of doctrine, they are to bring him to the belief of the\nBible truth, and if he falls into some sin of life, they are to\nremonstrate with him, so that he may repent and return into the way\nof right. That this is one of the most difficult of Christian duties\nis true, and that it is a duty grossly neglected by Christians is\ntrue also. But for that reason it becomes all the more necessary to\ncall attention to it. \"Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor,\nand not suffer sin upon him,\" we read Lev. 19. Solomon says: \"Rebuke\na wise man, and he will love thee.\" A greater than Solomon, even our\nSavior, has said: \"If thy brother trespass against thee, go and tell\nhim his fault.\" Again, St. Paul directs: \"Reprove, rebuke, exhort\nwith all long-suffering.\" These are but a few of many similar texts\nof Scripture that might be cited to show that to reprove an erring\nfellow-Christian is just as solemn and weighty as that which tells\nus, \"Thou shalt not steal,\" or admonishes to read our Bibles, and\nattend on public worship. And be it noted, this is every Christian's\nduty. It will not do to say: Let the pastor do it, or let those do\nit who are better qualified than myself. It is indeed the pastor's\nduty, and it is the duty of those of whom you say they are better\nqualified than yourself, and it is also your duty; for thus says\nthe Apostle: \"Ye which are spiritual restore such an one.\" If you\nare spiritual, if you are a Christian, it is your duty to apply\nbrotherly admonition; and is it right to shift your duty on to the\nshoulders of others?\n\nChristians may easily sin by depending too much on the pastor to do\neverything. The pastor cannot be everywhere, cannot see everything,\nand often it is wrong to tell him about everything. The direction\nhere is not only for the pastors, but for all the members. That\nquestion of qualification is indeed a delicate thing. The truth\nis that those who think themselves qualified, and therefore use\nimpertinent boldness, are generally not qualified for effectual\nbrotherly admonition. If God has placed you into such a situation\nthat you see a brother in danger of losing his soul through error,\nsin, or despondency, then let not the feeling of disqualification\nseal your lips, but sigh to God to open your lips to speak a word\nof instruction, rebuke, or comfort as it seems needed. Remember, it\nis a duty, this matter of Christian reproof, something which God\nhas plainly and strongly commanded us to perform. This is our first\nconsideration.\n\nHowever, if brotherly admonition is to have the proper effect, it\nmust be applied in the right way. \"Brethren, if a man be overtaken\nin a fault.\" That does not mean that a Christian should make it his\nbusiness to rebukingly approach others for little and insignificant\nfaults. In that case he would soon be regarded as a faultfinder, an\noverly eager critic, and would no more be listened to. Brotherly\nadmonition should be applied in such things by which the brother's\nsoul is endangered if left to go on therein.\n\nI shall mention a few,--neglect of attendance upon divine worship\nand sacrament, intemperance, when one is convinced that the visits\nto the drinkhouse are too frequent, habitually frequenting the\nplayhouse, the dancing-floor, living in some secret sin, using\nungodly, profane speech, being irreconcilable with one's housemates\nor fellow-members. These are faults, and when one is overtaken\nin such a fault, then it becomes my Christian duty and yours to\nrestore such a one--how? In the spirit of meekness, with mildness,\nkindness, humility. Nothing is more opposed to the spirit in which\nChristian rebuke is to be administered than harshness, haughtiness,\nabruptness, overbearing manner. Hard words are apt to incite\nopposition and stubbornness. A reproof kindly given is like a\nhealing oil. A tornado destroys, a mild breeze refreshes. Brotherly\nadmonition is only then indeed brotherly when given in a brotherly\nmanner.\n\nIn reproving an offending brother, we must make it apparent that\nit is his highest good that we honestly seek; it must be obvious\nthat we have no personal dislike to gratify, no spleen to vent,\nno feeling of superiority. It must be manifest to him that we\ndo it from a sincere conviction of duty, from a feeling that if\nwe did not care for him and sincerely desire his happiness as a\nChristian, we could never be induced to attempt this painful duty.\nThis is the spirit with compassion for the offended. There must\nbe a spirit like this, and oh! the power in Christian rebuke when\nadministered like this. It will subdue and reclaim anything but a\nheart of adamant. But this meekness must be mingled with humbling\nconviction of our own frailty and liability to sin. \"Considering,\"\nwrote the Apostle, \"thyself, lest thou also be tempted.\" We must go\nto the erring brother with that gentle and subdued spirit resulting\nfrom conviction and practical view of our own numerous sins, and a\nholy fear of falling ourselves, that we may soon need the Christian\nreproof of a brother for our own faults. Fraternal kindness and\ngentleness does not exclude--what we must yet mention--firmness. The\nhand of the surgeon who amputates a diseased limb or growth from\nthe human body, must be a steady hand, unmoved by the cries and the\nwrithing of the patient. It is not cruelty, but kindness to the\nsufferer, that keeps the surgeon undiverted and firm to his purpose\ntill the operation is performed. So he that would successfully\nadminister Christian reproof must have his heart firmly set on\nthe work. He must go about it with an inflexible determination\nto accomplish, by God's aid, what he attempts. The wincing\nirritability, ill temper, and provoking replies of the offended\nmust not for a moment divert him from his purpose, or throw him off\nhis guard. He must approach with the purpose of winning him back to\ntruth and the path of righteousness. Hating the sin, but loving the\nsinner, he must hold on until the person has been saved or proved to\nbe incorrigible, a manifest and unrepentant sinner.\n\nSo much as to the manner--\"with meekness and firmness.\" And are\nthere any happy effects to be realized from the faithful performance\nof this duty? That is the last general thought to be presented,\nnamely, the blessed consequences of Christian reproof.\n\nThe first happy effect is that it will free the Christian who\nperforms this duty from being partaker of others' sins, and will\ngive him a peace of conscience which he cannot otherwise enjoy. God\nhas solemnly warned us Christians: \"Be ye not partakers of other\nmen's sins.\" Now that professing Christian who fails to rebuke or\nreprove a brother whom he knows to be in fault, silently assents\nto that brother's sin. His conduct obviously shows that he either\ndoes not consider his brother as sinning at all, or that his fault\nis so trivial that it is not necessary to tell him of it. That is\nthe inference which the erring brother himself draws. Now we are, to\nsome extent, the keepers of our brother's soul, and if we do not use\nthe means and the influences which we might use to free him from his\nfaults, God will hold us accountable, partakers, a portion of the\nguilt attaches to us.\n\nWe may complain of this as hard if we choose, but this will not\nalter the case. There are two ways in which we can free ourselves\nfrom being partakers of other men's sins. The one is by living holy\nlives ourselves; the other, Christian reproof to them for their\nfaults. Not only must our lives testify, but our lips. You would\npardon the personal illustration. We were friends. Six years did we\noccupy the same desk and room together. A sin was fastening itself\nupon him, the general word for it is \"tippling,\" fancy drinking. I\nremonstrated with him, as talented a student as ever was. He has\nlong fallen from the Christian ministry, and his body lies in a\ndrunkard's grave, one of the saddest experiences of my life. But one\nconsolation,--I spoke to him words of Christian reproof. Would you\nbe untarnished by the guilt of other men's sins, and blessed with a\npeace of conscience to be procured on no other terms, be faithful in\nthe performance of this duty.\n\nA second happy effect of the faithful performance of this duty\nis that it will prevent the evil of talebearing and backbiting.\nA prevalent, giant evil this, also in some of our churches among\nChristians. Anything that would remedy this evil ought to be hailed\nwith gladness. God has brought His authority to bear on it in the\ndirect command: \"Thou shalt not go up and down in the land as a\ntalebearer; thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.\"\nThe Lord Jesus Himself has laid down the law that Christians are\nnot permitted to talk about the faults of others till they have\ngone to them and told them their faults alone. How much this rule\nis regarded some of our consciences can testify. But let it be\ndone, and you will see how talebearing and backbiting will cease;\nfor either as you go to the erring brother or sister in the spirit\nin which reproof ought to be administered you will find, in not\na few instances, that you were mistaken, that the person is not\nguilty in the matter, as you had supposed, and then, of course, you\ncannot go about speaking of his fault; or if you find that he is\nactually at fault to the extent that you thought he was, he will\nno doubt, on faithful reproof, make an apology, and then, with what\nface can you go about talking to others of his fault? If there is\nanything distressing, causing permanent estrangement, discord, and\nheart-burning, it is to take up evil reports against each other,\ncirculate them without ever going to the person incriminated, and\ninquiring into the truth or falsehood of what is spread. And this\ndevilish work will cease or become rare, and the calumniator will be\nregarded as doing the work of his father, the devil, if Christians\nwill faithfully perform the duty of reproof in the right spirit.\nTo repeat,--if we have anything to say of a brother, let us say it\nfirst to him. Let us say nothing in his absence that we should be\nafraid to utter in his presence. And when any one comes with an evil\nreport against another, let us refuse to listen to him, unless he\ncan assure us that he has said all that he is going to utter to the\nperson whom it most concerns. It will check, prevent the evil of\ntalebearing. And to mention briefly one other blessed effect,--it\nwill promote a feeling of brotherliness and promote prosperity of\nthe congregation. To speak to a delinquent brother, give him to\nunderstand that he is missed and doing amiss, is to give him to\nunderstand, at the same time, that he is thought of, that we should\nlike to have him to be what his own conscience testifies he ought\nto be; and this consideration, kindly and firmly made, cannot but\nmake him, if he is not past all correction, feel attracted and\nattached toward those who are concerned about him. To keep the\nunity of spirit in the bonds of peace, to banish prejudice, hatred,\nto promote and build up a strong, solid, permanent church-body in\nwhich the members cling to each other, Christian reproof is a most\nvaluable means. Christian reproof is something which deeply concerns\nthe spiritual life and growth of a congregation.\n\nTo conclude: How far, Christian brethren, have we been faithful to\nthe admonition of the text? Have you ever, since connected with this\nchurch, made one serious attempt to reclaim an erring brother or\nsister? There is, I know, a little of this spirit among us; may it\nprosper and grow, and the Lord will surely give His blessing. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nTWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.\n\n     And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the\n     people cast money into the treasury. And many that were rich\n     cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw\n     in two mites, which make a farthing. And He called unto Him His\n     disciples and saith unto them, Verily, I say unto you, That\n     this poor widow hath cast more in than all they which have cast\n     into the treasury. For all they did cast in of their abundance;\n     but she of her want did cast in all she had, even all her\n     living.--_Mark 12, 41-44._\n\n\nThe words just read from sacred story are the simple record of a\npious deed performed more than a thousand years ago in the city\nof Jerusalem. It speaks of a poor woman modestly putting in her\ncontribution into the treasury of the Temple. At the time to\nwhich the text refers the Savior had just silenced the cavils and\nobjections of the scribes and Sadducees, as we heard in the Gospel\nof to-day, and was remaining in the temple a few moments longer and\ntaking His seat near the place where the people were wont to deposit\ntheir offerings. As He watched the multitudes surging to and fro\nand with His all-seeing eye scanned the various depositors placing\ntheir gifts into the receptacle, He had nothing to say. But when\na poor widow came along, unnoticed and overlooked, as the artists\ngenerally picture her, with a little one at her side and an infant\nupon her breast, and drops in her insignificant coin of two paltry\nmites, there was something that broke the current of His thoughts,\nand calling His disciples, He directed their attention to the humble\ngift and the unpretentious offerer.\n\nThough that gorgeous Temple has long passed away, and the\nmagnificent city is in ruins, that simple act of piety lives on,\nas fresh and beautiful as the moment of its performance. This\nSunday has been set aside in the course of the church-year for the\nconsideration of Christian beneficence. It is an eminently proper\nand legitimate topic, and one on which instruction and stirring\nup is needed the same as on any other. Some think such sermons\naside from the Gospel, but that only shows how imperfect is their\nknowledge, and how important it is to bring the matter forth from\nthe obscurity to which some would consign it. Paul frequently\nintroduces it into his doctrinal epistles. The Savior Himself\nembraced in it many of His discourses, and it is difficult to see\nhow any Christian minister is discharging his duty of faithfully\nand fully declaring the counsel of God to his people who fails\nbetimes to give it a prominent place in his pulpit ministrations.\nLet us regard as our theme this morning: _The widow's mite, an\nencouraging model of Christian beneficence, observing_, _I, the\nmotive why we should give_; _II. the measure and proportion in which\nwe should give_; _III. the method how we should give_. May God bless\nthe presentation of His Word!\n\nFirst, the motive of giving. What prompted this poor widow to give?\nShe had been worshiping in the Temple, had witnessed the beautiful\nand inspiring services, had been edified by the instruction of\nGod's Word, her heart was warmed and stirred with appreciation for\nthese spiritual blessings, and as she passes out with the throng\nand views the receptacle at the entrance, well knowing what it had\nbeen placed there for, she cannot resist, but under a sense of\nobligation, a strong feeling to reciprocate, and do something toward\nthe maintenance of God's house, she draws forth two little coins and\ndrops them in, then, more destitute of means, but richer in heart,\nproceeds on her way.\n\nAnd the like motives ought to prevail with us. We confess in the\nCreed: \"I believe that God has made me and all creatures, that\nHe richly and daily provides me, that He defends me against all\ndanger\"; that Jesus Christ, our Lord, has redeemed us lost and\ncondemned creatures; that the Holy Ghost has called us by the\nGospel, enlightened us with His gifts, sanctifies and keeps us in\nthe true faith; and for all that, what shall we render for God's\ngifts? His blessings are indeed always freely bestowed, without\nany merit or worthiness on our part; nevertheless, they call for\ngratitude, recognition, appreciation. And in consideration of gifts\nso unspeakable is any offering of gold, or frankincense, or myrrh\ntoo large? what ointment of spikenard too costly? The spirit of\nshowing gratitude, as in the case of this widow, is one motive, and\na most beautiful and God-honoring one, why we ought to give to Him:\nthe honor of His name and the spread and prosperity of His cause--in\nHis temple.\n\nThe other is this,--the sense of our obligation. He desires and\ncommands us to do so. Everywhere in the Scripture of God do we find\nthe matter of giving, especially for religious purposes, spoken of\nwith commendation and inculcated as part of the very essence and\nlife of true godliness, whether we look to the Old Testament or\nto the New Testament, to prophets, apostles, or Christ Himself,\nthe language is the same. \"Honor the Lord with thy substance,\nand with the first fruits of all thine increase.\" \"To do good and\nto communicate, forget not, for with such sacrifices God is well\npleased.\" In to-day's Gospel the Lord plainly enough says: \"Render\nunto C\u00e6sar the things that are C\u00e6sar's, and unto God the things that\nare God's.\" In a certain sense it is all His, of course. \"The earth\nis the Lord's and the fullness thereof.\" The silver and the gold\nare His. But it belongs to His wisdom and providence to make us His\nstewards in the disposition of His, and in that disposition He lays\ndown very emphatically the law: \"Render unto me the things that are\nmine.\" Every penny that we possess is stamped with the divine image\nand superscription. He still sits over against the treasury, and\nobserves what we are putting into the receptacle, whether we are\ngiving unto Him what it is our duty to give. These are, then, the\nmotives,--gratefulness and dutifulness.\n\nAnd now as to the _measure_, the amount of Christian giving--the\nhow much. As we turn to the record, two parties are distinguished.\nThe one wealthy.--\"Many,\" it says, \"that were rich cast in much.\"\nThat the rich should give and gave largely, and that this was the\ncase not with a few, but with numbers of them, was to their honor,\nespecially since the practice has never been common, experience\nshowing that \"many that are rich do not cast in much.\" And the\nother, indigent, the poor, selected by way of a specific example--a\nwidow.\n\nThe idea sometimes is that poor people ought not be asked to give.\nThis is a mistake. Poor people can give, and ought to give, out of\ntheir poverty, as well as rich people ought to give out of their\nriches. Poor people can hurt themselves, and injure their souls,\nand prove themselves niggardly and illiberal by not giving just as\nwell as rich people can. True, they cannot give as much as the more\nfavored, in the actual amount of their gifts, but they _can_ give as\nmuch in proportion to their means.\n\nWe often hear people say, if they were only rich, willingly\nwould they contribute to every good cause, and munificent things\nwould they do with their money. But all such charitable words\nand sentiments are just nothing. The thing is to give the gift\nof poverty, if poor, without being ashamed of it, and not to\nsentimentalize about the great things we would do if we were rich.\nThe fact is that few people ever get rich, and if wealth increases,\ndesires, styles of living, and general expenses increase with it,\nand the wealthy man has so many expenditures, so many demands to\nmeet, so many drains upon him, that he is just about as poor in\nhis riches as he was without them. This is the plain fact in the\nvast majority of cases. Indeed, exceptions are very rare. It is,\ntherefore, a mere matter of self-deception for people to talk how\nliberal they would be if they were rich. Moreover, what are we\ncoming to if we regard only the rich as under obligation to give?\nNo! Christian liberality is a thing for the poor as well as the\nrich, and for the most part facts prove that the poor are more\nliberal than the rich.\n\nTo come back to our text: Such were the donors our Savior\nrecognized, both poor and rich. Let us note, furthermore, their\ncontribution. While the rich gave much, the widow \"threw in\" only\n\"two mites,\" which make a farthing, with us half a cent. It is\neasy to conceive what the givers themselves would think of their\ndonations. The rich would be satisfied, imagining that they had done\ntheir duty, if not more than was required of them, while the poor\nwidow would deem what she had done unworthy of notice, and, perhaps,\nfelt ashamed to cast into the treasury such a mean trifle.\n\nOthers, too, who were lookers-on, had they known what the parties\ngave, would have extolled the one as prodigies of liberality, while\nthey would have treated the other with neglect, or reproached her\nfor giving what she could not afford. But how were those two mites\nviewed by Him whose eyes were as a flame of fire, and who searcheth\nthe reins and the hearts?\n\n\"And He called unto Him His disciples, and saith unto them, Verily,\nI say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in than all they\nwhich have cast into the treasury. For all they did cast in of their\nabundance; but she of her want did cast in all she had, even all her\nliving.\" At first this seems strange, and our Lord could not mean\nthat she had given more than all the others as to quantity, but more\nas to motive, more as to principle, more, relatively, as to their\ncondition and her circumstances; more comparatively.\n\nThese men had given much; they had done it of their abundance and\nsuperfluity, and could go home to houses filled with plenty, and\nto tables spread with delicacies, while she went home to a lonely\napartment, and opening her cupboard, found little, and that the\nearning of her hard toil.\n\nWhat an encouragement this! And the less favored in this world's\ngoods require it. We have known persons remaining away from the\nhouse of God--this house of God--because they could only appear in\nworkday clothing, and others who have been prevented from meeting\nwith the congregation because they felt that they could not do what\nwas expected of them. Let none such, however humble their condition,\nor limited their means, for a moment suppose that they are less\nregarded; let them beware of making the sad mistake that because\nthey cannot do much, they are justified in doing nothing. The\ncommendation of Mary was: \"She hath done what she could,\" whereas\nthe condemnation of the unprofitable servant was that because he\ndid not have ten talents, or five, he failed to trade with the one\nhe did have. It's not the inability that God judges you by, but by\nthe indisposition to do what you have. In the light of these two\nmites let us take heart, and do what dutifulness and gratitude would\nprompt us to do toward His temple, knowing that it is a small thing\nthat we should be judged by any man's judgment, but that He that\njudges us is the Lord.\n\nAnd, again, our Lord's decision teaches us, in fact, seems to be\nthe main inference to be drawn from the subject, that the rule\nwith regard to liberality is proportion. These men gave \"much\"\n(much when the amount was considered, much according to their own\nopinion and their admirers); yet, was it much relatively? much\ncompared with what others gave whose means were unspeakably less?\nWhat self-denial was there connected with it? \"Charity,\" an old\ncommentator remarks to these words of our text, \"is to be judged of,\nnot by what is given, but by what is left.\" These men gave of their\nabundance. They never felt it. True benevolence feels it. The widow\ndid feel it; and many, I take it, among us feel it in the sacrifice\nof self-decoration, self-gratification, when they put their\ncontribution into the plate in regular service, and occasionally a\nspecial donation, as on the Day of Humiliation and Prayer and Church\nAnniversary. That is the right kind of benevolence that feels it;\nthose are the coins that count in God's treasury which have, as they\nring in the basket, a piece of ourselves attached to them, stand for\nself-denial; that gives them their highest value,--not merely the 1,\n5, or 10 stamped upon them.\n\nLet each of the assembly here worshiping examine himself\naccordingly. There is no law in the case. Christianity does not\ntax, coerce, dictate how much in exact proportion to your income\nand means you ought to give. It is not for you to tell me how much\nI am to do for God and Church, nor for me to tell you. That is my\nbusiness and yours, left to us individually. Only this are we to\nobserve: All are expected to give, and all who are really touched\nwith the Spirit of Christ and true religion give and will give, and\nit is for them to give in proportion as God has blessed them.\n\nGiving is a thing of character, which, like every other, must grow\nlittle by little, more by more, until through diligent practice\nand repeated acts it becomes a habit. To give once in a while,\nimpulsively, as one is moved by this or that plea, is good enough,\nbut far more fruitful and blessed is systematic giving, however\nsmall the amount be at a time. The plan which has God's authority,\nand which has borne the most encouraging results, is the one which\nSt. Paul has laid down in 1 Cor. 16: \"On the first day of the week,\"\non Sunday, when men's thoughts are turned from earth to heaven, from\nthe things of this world to the next, when God's unspeakable gift is\nbrought to our mind and our duties to the good Lord, then \"let every\none of you lay by him in store as the Lord hath prospered him.\"\n\nTo aid you in doing that, the system of envelopes has been\nintroduced. The idea has never been to burden any one, to tax any\none, or to prescribe to any one, but to present an easy and secure\nmethod for collecting what each one, in conscience and calmness,\nmight consider his or her proper gift to the Lord and His treasury.\nThe very boxes bear that name, \"The Lord's Treasury,\" and I hope\nthat each time as you scan the words you will think of the \"widow's\nmites.\"\n\nNor do we have any reason to be dissatisfied with results. The\nwaters that flow down the great Niagara with such rush and roar,\nand then sweep onward in deep majesty to the ocean are formed by\ncountless brooks and rills and trickling streamlets and melting\nsnows and little raindrops, and so the results that have all wrought\nfor our congregation, and the amount upon which it is still largely\ndependent, comes from the small contributions of our members,\nregularly and systematically given. In view of the fact that a large\nindebtedness rests upon us, I feel warranted to bring this matter\nbefore you in the pulpit, asking for a faithful continuation of the\nplan.\n\n\"The widow's two mites\"--what grand services they have accomplished,\nwhat an immense harvest of good they have brought forth to the whole\nworld. Remembering how His all-seeing eye still scans the church\nreceptacle, let us not allow selfishness, avarice, and a carnal\ngreed to hinder what conscience dictates; rather let us strive to\nsecure this commendation which this poor widow received, and be\nblessed in our deeds. Amen.\n\n\n\n\nHUMILIATION AND PRAYER SUNDAY.\n\n     TEKEL: Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found\n     wanting.--_Dan. 5, 27_.\n\n\nThe words of our text connect with an account of Old Testament story\nwhich, if once heard, is never forgotten. The place was Babylon,\na city so vast in extent that after its capture it was three days\nbefore the fact was known all over it. The scene was in the royal\npalace, a marvelous structure within the walls of which were the\nfamous \"hanging gardens,\" which the world has agreed to number among\nits \"seven great wonders.\" There, in the most sumptuous of all his\nbanquet halls, at a table groaning with the burdens of massive\nplate and the rarest and richest of viands and wines, reclined\nthe proud and voluptuous King of Babylon, Belshazzar. Around him\nreclined a thousand of his lords and the fairest women of his harem.\nA more magnificent banquet was never given or enjoyed. Golden\nlamps, suspended from a ceiling, paneled with ivory and pearl,\nshed soft luster on walls pillared with statues, on a floor paved\nwith alabaster, and carpeted with richest rugs from the looms of\nIndia, on couches mounted with silver and cushioned with velvet,\non illustrious princes, gorgeous costumes, in the most bewildering\nsplendor, whilst over it all floated the sweet strains of music and\nsong. Every heart in that glittering company was wild with delight.\nNo one seemed troubled with care.\n\nIn the midst of the feasting an impious deed suggests itself to the\nking's mind. Calling a servant, he orders him to bring the golden\nand silver vessels which his grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar, had\ncarried away from God's altar in Jerusalem. They were brought and\nplaced before him in a glittering row. They had been consecrated\nto the service of God centuries before, and had never been put\nto any common use. For any man to use them, unless he were a\nheavenly-appointed priest serving at the altar of Jehovah, would be\nsacrilege of the most damning kind, Belshazzar knew that, but he was\nresolved to insult Jehovah in the presence of that great company,\nand so, at his command, those consecrated vessels were filled with\nintoxicating drink, and he and his princes, and his wives and his\nconcubines, drank from them, amid profane jests and ridicule, to the\nhealth of the god of Babylon, whose images of gold, silver, brass,\nand stone adorned the hall where the wild revel was held. Suddenly\na cry of agony is heard. There sat Belshazzar, pale as marble,\npointing to an object on the wall. With horror unutterable they look\nand see the fingers of a human hand slowly tracing a style across\nthe wall,--that was all that was visible. The pen and hand vanished,\nand nothing remained but the writing. At that the banqueters stared,\ntransfixed with speechless terror. No one in that drunken crowd was\nable to read it, until Daniel, the Lord's prophet, was summoned.\nThis was the inscription: \"Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin.\" The prophet\ngave their hidden meaning: \"Mene: God has numbered thy kingdom and\nfinished it. Tekel: Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found\nwanting. Upharsin: Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes\nand Persians.\" And so it was. That very night, by an underground\nchannel, Darius the Mede entered the city of Babylon, and Belshazzar\nwas hewn to pieces.\n\nAnd is there nothing in this piece of ancient history, transferred\nto God's Book and interpreted by God's prophet, that has value\nand application to us? Is not everything that we find recorded\nin the Scripture written for our learning, our warning? Those\nfour words, and particularly, the one chosen for our immediate\ndevotion, \"Tekel,\" has it no spiritual warning for us? We have met\nthis morning for that very purpose--to weigh ourselves. Fifty-two\nSundays--another year of grace has come and has departed in the\nchurch calendar--we are invited to solemn retrospect and thoughtful\nreview, to consider what report we have to make. Let us, then,\nhonestly and conscientiously, address ourselves to it on the basis\nof the text, and may God's Holy Spirit touch your hearts and\nsolemnize your minds!\n\n\"Tekel: Thou art weighed in the balances.\" We all know what a\nbalance is, a pair of scales. The beam is suspended exactly in the\nmiddle. The two arms are equal, and supplied with a pan, not to\ndiffer by a hair's thickness. If equal weights are placed in the two\npans, the beam rests perfectly level. Such is God's balance. It is\nsensitive to the last degree. It weighs men's acts; it weighs men's\nwords; it weighs men's thoughts; it weighs men's characters. It\nweighs them accurately, and every weight is set down in the book of\ndivine memory. At the judgment on that Great Day that book will be\nopened, and every one shall be judged out of those things which are\nwritten in the book, according to their works. Ask you me the name\nof God's balances, I answer: Justice,--that's God's balance.\n\nBut in weighing there are two scales. On the one pan is placed that\nwhich is weighed, and in the other that against which it is weighed,\nthe standard, the weight. And so God, in weighing man, uses weights\nwhich have been tested by a perfect standard. Conscience is such a\nweight, that \"still, small voice\" which speaks to you out of your\nown soul, that forceful monitor in your breast, that weighs against\nyour acts and words and thoughts, excusing or else accusing you,\nfrom whose troubling thoughts you cannot escape, and which, as the\nsaying is, makes cowards of us all. Conscience--that's one.\n\nAnother, heavier than the first--for it is made out of stone--we\nrecognize at once: God's Ten Commandments, a holy standard. \"Thou\nshalt have no other gods before me,\" reads the first line, and we\nknow that means that an idolater is not he alone who bows down to\nrocks and stones; whosoever worships self in greed or manner, or\nbestows supreme regard for anything short of the true and only\nGod, sets up an idol and is an idolater. And so he is not the only\nmurderer, according to the sense and spirit of these tables, who has\nkilled a fellow-mortal, but he already that hateth his brother, that\nindulges the malicious feeling, the revengeful desire. Nor is he\nthe only lewd man who has given himself to lewdness, but according\nto this sixth line on that measure, the impure thought, the sensual\nlook, and the cherished unchaste hope already fix the guilt of\nadultery. We observe, then, it is an exact weight, and so if all\nthat a man has thought and said and done is up to the standard, the\nbeam hangs level, and the divine face of the weigher is wreathed\nwith smiles. If not, the Judge frowns, and from His lips issues the\nverdict: \"Wanting!\"\n\nThe third weight that God employs when He wishes to learn the\navoirdupois of your soul is opportunity. Into one scale He puts\nthe man's character and life; into the other He puts all the\nopportunities which he has enjoyed for getting and doing good.\nThat includes such things as these: godly parents, godly example,\na Christian school, Confirmation, the preaching of the true and\npure Gospel, the faithful ministry of the Word and Sacraments.\nIt includes bereavements, disappointments, startling events of\nProvidence, losses of health, fortune, family, all of which were\nto direct you nearer to God. It includes every example of holy\nliving which you have witnessed, every occasion presented you to\nglorify your Master and bless your fellow-men. All these and such\nlike opportunities, impulses, and impressions to move the soul\nand bring it into saving harmony with God, make up the sum of his\nopportunities, and if the weight of what the man has done and is,\nequals the sum of all these opportunities, it is well; if otherwise,\nGod's scale goes up, and the sentence is: \"Wanting!\"\n\nAnd one more weight must be named. We shall not dwell lengthily\nupon it, for we can all see it so conveniently. It lies before me.\nLet us take it and put it into the pan of the scales--the Bible;\nas your Savior says: \"Ye have Moses and the prophets,--ye have the\nEvangelists and Apostles,--hear ye them.\" That is your standard,\nyour measure, placed against you; by its precepts you shall be\nweighed.\n\nAnd now let us proceed to put something into the other side of the\nscale to counterbalance, and watch the result. Let us judge in the\nlight of conscience, God's Law, our opportunities, and the Lord's\nBible, our beloved congregation. They tell us that knowledge of\none's self is one of the hardest and most unpleasant attainments,\nbut the most needful and most salutary for all that. Weighing\nourselves, what report have these fifty-two Sundays to give of\nour congregation as a whole and of you, my dear member, as an\nindividual? How has it been with the worship, the attendance at\nservices? Nothing to boast of, in most cases something to be ashamed\nof. Some are hovering near the verge of church discipline for their\nlaxity and deficiency; particularly does this pertain to the male\nportion of the flock.\n\n\"Thou shalt sanctify the holyday,\" reads the third and unalterable\ncommand of their God, yet months pass at a time, and their face\nappears not in the assembly of the worshipers. But for the visitors\nand strangers, especially at the evening services, these pews\nwould be deplorably depleted. Others come with a commendable\ndegree of regularity, but is there participation in the services\nand punctuality in arriving? Do not the hymns drag along at times\nso dull and spiritless because many never open their lips? How\nlistless and devotionless the hearers betimes appear, their eyes\nroaming about elsewhere, and even closing in sleep. Remember every\nattendance is weighed in the balance. Occasions when every member\nought to regard it a loss to be absent, like Pentecost, Reformation,\nEaster, Church Dedication, little increase in the audience is noted.\nAnnounce a particular topic for the following Sunday, and it would\nseem as if some deliberately stay away. O what a poor thing it must\nappear in the case of the average Christian, of the most of us!\n\nIs it much different--to take up another point--with our partaking\nof the Lord's Supper? What drudgery, what shrinking and hesitancy\nwith regard to the sacred feast! The Lord says: \"This do, as oft as\nye drink it, in remembrance of Me.\" Paul the Apostle directs: \"As\noft as ye eat this bread and drink this cup.\" Luther, in his preface\nto the Small Catechism, thus interprets this \"oft:\" \"If a person\ndoes not seek nor desire the Lord's Supper at least some four times\na year, it is to be feared that he despises the Sacrament, and is\nnot a Christian.\" Weighed in this balance, what shall we say of\nour Communion Table? How many times have you gone in these twelve\nmonths, these fifty-two Sundays? Observe the handwriting on the\nwall! Read those letters: \"Wanting,\" and ask yourself, Does that\nmean me?\n\nBut permit me to pass briefly to an examination of your hearts\nand your homes. Have you grown in grace and in the knowledge of\nyour Lord and Savior? Do the fruits of your discipleship abound in\ngreater liberality and activity? Do you read God's Word at home, say\ngrace at table, have family devotion? Are you increasingly imbibing\nand personifying the temper of your religion in the control of your\npassion, in the subduing of your pride, in the cultivating of a\nforgiving spirit? Do you pray thoughtfully, regularly, cheerfully?\nFor you to live--is it Christ? As you grow in age, do you grow in\nheavenly-mindedness, draw closer to your God? To serve the Lord,\nto speak for Him, is this your delight? I need not press these\ninquiries. With each one of you the scale takes an upward turn, and\nI hear you saying with sighing of heart: \"Enter not into judgment\nwith Thy servant, O Lord,\" for this servant is wanting, _wanting_.\n\nAnd what is to be done, with the scales always rising higher and\nhigher and striking the very beam? First of all, repent; learn to\nunderstand and acknowledge your dismal condition. That was the\nfault with Belshazzar--his security and vain confidence; as God\nsaid to him through Daniel: \"O Belshazzar, thou hast not humbled\nthine heart, but hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven.\"\nTherefore, in the dust with thee! Let ours be the publican's cry:\n\"God be merciful to me, a sinner!\" \"If Thou, O Lord, shouldst mark\niniquity, O Lord, who shall stand?\" With the balances suspended,\nGod's Law, God's Bible, conscience, against us, repentance,\nconviction and confession of sin, is the first thing required of\nyou. But that alone would lead to despair. Dear hearer, observe\nthe scales as they are held by the stern and just hand of divine\nJustice, the one down, the other with man's soul, asking for mercy.\nBehold, another hand appears. It is a soft, delicate hand; in its\npalm is a wound, from that wound there oozes out a drop of blood\nupon the weighed and wanting soul. Instantly the scales go down,\ntill the beam hands are evenly poised, and a voice is heard: \"The\nblood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin.\" Faith in that\nblood, belief in Christ Jesus, your Savior, is the next thing\nnecessary. And the last is renewed consecration, earnest, honest\nresolve with God's help to do better, firm determination that the\nincoming year of grace shall be characterized by a brightening\nof faith, an advance in holiness, a progress in all lines that\ngrace a follower of Christ, that it find you at its close a more\nintelligent, a more humble, a more sanctified Christian than to-day.\n\nBeloved, cast another look at the handwriting on the wall, lest it\nbe written against you on the day of Judgment. Repent, believe in\nChrist, amend--in this may God help us! Amen.\n\n\n\n\nREFORMATION.\n\n     His foundation is in the holy mountains. The Lord loveth the\n     gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious\n     things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Selah.--_Ps. 87, 1-3._\n\n\nThe history of the Christian Church may be expressed in three\nwords--Formation, Deformation, and Reformation. The first period\nbegins with the story of the shepherds on Bethlehem's plains on\nChristmas night 1912 years ago, and ended with the establishment of\nthe Church in cultured Europe and Asia and Africa.\n\nAs we pass the main occurrences of that first epoch of its\nformation, before our mind's eye, we see how the infant cause\nof Christ spreads from Jerusalem round about to the surrounding\ncountries, conquering and to conquer. See how in her course\nof advancement she meets with opposition the fiercest and\nbloodiest; see how the blood of her children wets the sands of the\namphitheater, and how their bones are crushed by the lions and wild\nanimals of the arena, whilst the ashes of thousands of others strew\nthe funeral pile upon which they died praying, \"Lord Jesus, receive\nmy spirit.\"\n\nThose were the days of persecution, when the church was despised and\nrejected of men. And yet, in the indestructibility of her life she\novercame that opposition. Yea, as one said, \"the very blood of the\nmartyrs was the seed grain of her progress.\" Before the preaching\nof Christ fadeth the glories of heathenism, and where once stood in\nsplendid magnificence the pagan temples of heathenish paganism was\nplaced in its simple and sublime beauty the cross. The Galilean, the\nCarpenter's Son, God's Son, had conquered. The Church, in a word,\nhad been established.\n\nAnd then the view changes. A new period begins. Across the face of\nthis period there is written in all directions one word. That word\nis _Rome_. It is Rome at the altar swinging the censer, Rome on the\nbattlefield wielding the sword; it is Rome in the councils of kings,\nand Rome in the judge's seat; it is Rome in the professor's chair,\nand Rome in the children's nursery; it is Rome in the market stall\ntelling what to sell, and Rome in the kitchen telling people what to\neat and drink. It is Rome first, last, and all the time.\n\nAt Rome, styled the Holy City, the Mistress of the World, sat a\ntriple-crowned dictator. Princes kissed his feet, and held the\nstirrups for him as he mounted his bediamoned horse. An emperor\nstands barefoot in the snow of his courtyard suing for forgiveness\nbecause he had dared to govern without his sanction, whilst his\nclergy, monks without number, swarmed in every place, all sworn to\nstand by him on peril of salvation, and themselves guarded from all\nreach of law for any crime they may commit. Gigantic, powerful,\nproud, wicked and wanton, haughty Rome, drunk with shocking\nabomination! That is the second period, the era of deformation.\n\nOnce more the view changes: Antichrist--for none else is the\npope--is assailed by a poor, unknown monk in far-away Saxony. \"Who\nminds a monk? 'Tis nothing.\" But, lo, the monk towers like a giant,\nand German princes are by his side, while a nation hangs on his\nlips. Tidings of great joy, like once from Bethlehem's plains, are\nagain spreading from the little town of Wittenberg on the banks of\nthe Elbe. Ninety-five theses nailed up by that monk against the\nchurch-door on the eve of October 31, 1517, are borne on the wings\nof the wind. How they talk about them in London, now in Copenhagen,\nnow in the streets of Jerusalem. Men, women, youths, fearlessly\ngive the lie to the priest whom they had dreaded too much before.\nRome startled; she would use her old force. She would suppress the\nnew teaching, which was nothing but the old truth repeated again.\nOf no avail! \"She's judged. The deed is done.\" The Lord has smitten\nAntichrist with the breath of His mouth. The world is enjoying once\nmore the pure and abundant Gospel preaching. A new life is upon\nthe nations. The Church has entered upon another epoch. We call\nit the period of the Reformation. It is the topic of our concern\nand gathering to-day. And in order that we may duly grasp its\nmeaning and appreciate its blessing, let us observe, on the basis\nof our text, _The glory of the Lutheran Reformation and Church_.\nThat glory is threefold: _I. a glory of foundation_; _II. a glory\nof possession_; _III. a glory of prospect_. And may God help us\nunderstand and appreciate!\n\nFirst, a glory of _foundation_. The psalmist, referring to the\nOld Testament Church, speaks of its foundation. So, too, the New\nTestament Church has its foundation. \"Other foundation can no\nman lay,\" writes the Apostle, \"than that is laid, which is Jesus\nChrist,\" the Son of God, God Himself. The work of redemption\nwhich He came into this world to perform is the foundation of our\nreligion, our Church.\n\nWhat our children learn from their Catechism: \"I believe that Jesus\nChrist, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also\ntrue man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord, who has redeemed me,\na lost and condemned creature, purchased and won me from all sins,\nfrom death and from the power of the devil,\"--that is the heart and\nmarrow of our faith, its foundation. This was the point Luther made\nin those ninety-five theses and in all the teachings, preaching, and\nwriting that he did ever afterwards.\n\nBut does not the Church of Rome believe that too? My dear hearer,\naccompany me in spirit to one of their places of worship. It matters\nnot in what direction we go, they are plentiful everywhere. We\nenter. Our Protestant eye looks for the Savior. Thank God He is\nstill there. But what means that statue at His side--whose is it?\nFrancis De Sales, St. Anthony of Padua, St. Vincent, St. Anna, St.\nElizabeth. Have they forgotten the First Commandment which says:\n\"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness to\nbow thyself down to them\"? We look upon the assembled worshipers.\nWhat is it that they are holding in their hands, busily twisting the\nbeads while their lips move in devotion? \"Hail, Mary,\" they pray,\n\"mother of God, queen of heaven.\" Why not Christ?--for there is only\none Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.\n\nAs we stand there in observation amid the striking of little gongs,\nthere enters, gorgeously arrayed, a priest. \"Why a priest?\" We, in\nthe New Testament, according to the Bible, know of only one Priest,\nand that is He of whom the Apostle says: \"Such an High Priest became\nus who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners.\" What\ndoes the priest do? He is offering sacrifice, in an unbloody manner,\nfor the sins of the people. They call it \"mass.\" But does not the\nBible teach that \"by one sacrifice,\" _viz._, by His sacrifice upon\nGolgotha, \"Christ hath forever perfected them that are sanctified\"?\nWhy, then, this mass? Do they think they can, as they claim, improve\nupon, perfect, that propitiatory sacrifice?\n\nOr, while we are en route, let us transfer ourselves in spirit a\nlittle further; let us go for a few moments to Rome. There sits a\nman whom they style \"Holy Father.\" God's Word says: \"Ye shall call\nno man in religion your father nor master upon earth. One is your\nFather,\" even He who is in heaven. \"One is your Master--\" Christ.\nThis man at Rome claims that he is the vicar of Christ upon earth,\nwith power to rule both the Church and the world. But, says Christ,\n\"My kingdom is not of this world,\" and I, even I, am its only Head.\nAnd not only so, but in how many innumerable ways does this man at\nRome contradict Christ! Thus: Christ, through His Spirit, says: A\nbishop, a minister, ought to be the \"husband of one wife.\" \"The\nhusband of no wife,\" contradicts the pope. \"It is a great wrong for\na priest to marry.\" \"Abstaining from meats,\" forbidding people to\neat what they choose and at any time they choose, is \"a doctrine\nof the devil,\" says Christ through His Spirit. \"It is a sin to\neat meat on Friday and throughout Lent,\" says the pope. \"You must\ndiligently pray and liberally pay, and then shall the souls of your\nbeloved ones come out of purgatory.\" There is no such place, is the\nteaching of Christ, for instance, when He spoke to the thief on the\ncross: \"To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise.\" \"I have redeemed\nyou with my holy, precious blood and with my innocent suffering and\ndeath.\" Let your only hope and constant prayer be:\n\n    Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness\n    My beauty are, my glorious dress.\n    'Midst flaming worlds, in these arrayed,\n    With joy shall I lift up my head.\n\n\"Not so,\" says the pope. \"Heaven and salvation do not depend only\nupon what Christ has done, but much depends upon what _you_ have\ndone.\" \"If any one saith,\" so reads the decree of Rome, \"that we\nare justified, saved, by faith alone, let him be anathema--cursed.\"\nYour good works must help along. It is only as you do _this_ and\ngive _that_, buy indulgences, pay for some holy candles, appropriate\nof your earnings an adequate amount to the Church, remember it in\nyour last will and testament, and set apart a certain sum for the\nreading of mass,--it is only thus that you can expect to die in\npeace and your soul find its way to heaven. Now, beloved, we leave\nit to the smallest child--is this making Christ the foundation?\nAnd it was against this that Luther protested in the ninety-five\ntheses which he nailed up 395 years ago; and it is against this that\nwe would raise our voices and pen. Jesus Christ and His work of\nredemption--He shall be our foundation. \"Ave Marias?\" No! Saints and\npopes? No!\n\n    All hail the power of Jesus' name,\n    Let angels prostrate fall.\n    Bring forth the royal diadem\n    And crown Him Lord of all.\n\nAgain, our Church not only glories in its foundation, but likewise\nin its _possessions_. And what does it possess? Look upon the\nimposing churches and cathedrals of Rome, those stupendous hospitals\nand institutions of one kind and another. What wealth of property,\nwhat revenues and revenues of silver and gold! Who will dispute\nthat Rome is rich, possesses much? But since when are silver and\ngold and splendid edifices the marks of the Church? If those things\nconstituted true churchliness, then none would have been more\ndespicable than the early Christians, for they had no churches and\nworshiped in catacombs and the recesses of darkest forests. If\npompous ceremonies and spectacular display and strains of fine music\nstand for the worship of God, the same might be seen and heard in\nJewish temples.\n\nOver against this, what possessions does our Church glory in? To\nmention a few. Open before us lies this holy Book, God's Book,\naccessible to all, inviting examination and study of its sacred\npages, and that in a language not foreign, Latin, Greek, or Hebrew,\nbut intelligible to all its hearers and readers. Rome would not so\nhave it. It forbids its reading, and calls it a dangerous book. It\nadds to its infallible teachings the traditions of men, and wants\nall its pages read through the eye-glasses of the pope. It has\nalways been, and still is, to them an \"unknown\" Book. You have,\nperchance, already seen the picture, quite familiar, which, beneath\nthe title \"Caught,\" represents an aged man and his little grandchild\nreading the Bible while some soldiers are seen entering the room\nto arrest them. The story that connects with it is this: Philip\nthe Second of Spain and the Netherlands had sworn the pope that no\nProtestant should be allowed to live in his provinces. In a little\ntown in Holland lived a good old man with his grandchild Bertha,\nwho had become believers in the doctrines of the Reformation, and\nsince the Bible was forbidden to be read and everywhere taken from\nthe people, the only time for them to strengthen themselves with\nits sacred contents was the dead of night. They were just reading\nthe fifth chapter of Matthew, wherein occur the words: \"Blessed are\nthey which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the\nkingdom of heaven,\" when a rough knock on the door tells them that\nthe Roman spies had discovered them. \"Grandfather,\" cries the child,\n\"we are caught.\" \"Yes, my child. God's hour seems at hand.\" And it\nwas. The next moment the axes of the soldiers had battered down the\ndoor; the Bible was seized and burned, the aged man and his little\ngranddaughter were hurried off to prison, and were tortured and\nafterward stretched on the rack until they died amid horrible pain.\nThat is Rome's attitude toward the Bible. Thank God, then, for this\nblessed possession, a free Bible, which we read everywhere and at\nall times.\n\nThen, too, there is the blessed Sacrament, not in its mutilated\nshape, the lay people deprived of the cup, but in both species. We\npossess that. Furthermore, our services. Take those stately and\nsublime hymns that are the inspiration and comfort of a Protestant\nChristian. The Romish Church knows them not, the people do not\nsing at their services. They are deprived of that. Then, when\nwe pray--what a possession, the privilege of free, unlimited,\nand direct access to God's throne, without the intercession and\nintervention of priests and patron saints, but according to Christ's\ninvitation and commandment: \"Come unto me, all ye that labor and are\nheavy laden, and I will give you rest.\"\n\nHere, then, are a few of the many blessings we glory in, wrought and\nbrought back to us through the Lutheran Reformation, and for which\non this day we thank and praise God.\n\nAnd now a few words yet as to the third part mentioned, the glory\nof _prospect_.--When Luther closed his eyes, our haughty enemies\npredicted the death of the Lutheran Church. As a Romish priest\nonce said to a Lutheran peasant, \"With your Church it will soon be\n'Matthaei am letzten,'\" that is, Matthew the last, which is a German\nexpression meaning, \"Things will soon be at an end with you.\" The\npeasant remarked, since he was acquainted with his Bible, \"That's\nsplendid!\" In Matthew, the last chapter and the last verse, our\nSavior says: \"Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the\nworld.\" Our Church has come to stay, for it is Christ's Church,\nand the gates of hell shall not prevail against that. Great in\nmembership, numbering millions of souls, spread throughout every\npeople and nation, her faith proclaimed in nearly every dialect and\ntongue of earth, great is her prospect.\n\nTake it in this land of ours. Men are awakening more and more to\nan appreciation of her history and progress and power. In this\nage of unsettling of creeds and of abandonment of time-honored\nconvictions, in the age of sensationalism and of pulpits which have\nno messages, except those of political and sociological interest,\nthe old Church of the Reformation stands where she ever stood. Mr.\nRoosevelt remarked while he was President of the United States: \"The\nLutheran Church is of very great power numerically and through the\nintelligence and thrift of its members; but it will grow steadily\nto even greater power. It is destined to be one of the two or three\ngreatest in the United States.\"\n\nIf, then, to conclude, any of you have been ashamed of her,\napologized for being Lutherans, perchance even been casting their\neyes in other directions for church-fellowship, if any of us have\nnot been as loyal as we ought to have been, neglected her glorious\npossessions, indifferent to the high blessings she affords in Word\nand Sacrament and services, let him and her reflect and amend.\n\nMay it be our heartfelt conviction and determination:--\n\n    My Church, my Church, my dear old Church!\n    I love her ancient name,\n    And God forbid a child of hers\n    Should ever do her shame.\n    Her mother-care I'll ever share,\n    Her child I am alone,\n    Till He who gave me to her arms\n    Shall call me to His own.\n\n    Amen.","title":"Faith and Duty: Sermons on Free Texts, with Reference to the Church-Year","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":138537}