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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Practical Religion, by John Charles Ryle
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Practical Religion
+       Being Plain Papers on the Daily Duties, Experience, Dangers, and Privileges of Professing Christians
+
+
+Author: John Charles Ryle
+
+
+
+Release Date: November 28, 2011  [eBook #38162]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PRACTICAL RELIGION***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Colin Bell, Hazel Batey, and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net)
+
+
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+      Text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face (=bold=).
+
+
+
+
+
+PRACTICAL RELIGION
+
+Being Plain Papers on the Daily Duties, Experience, Dangers, and
+Privileges of Professing Christians
+
+by
+
+JOHN CHARLES RYLE, D.D.,
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+         PREFACE                v
+
+      I. SELF-INQUIRY           1
+
+     II. SELF-EXERTION         23
+
+    III. REALITY               46
+
+     IV. PRAYER                63
+
+      V. BIBLE-READING         97
+
+     VI. GOING TO THE TABLE   140
+
+    VII. CHARITY              165
+
+   VIII. ZEAL                 183
+
+     IX. FREEDOM              210
+
+      X. HAPPINESS            230
+
+     XI. FORMALITY            261
+
+    XII. THE WORLD            284
+
+   XIII. RICHES AND POVERTY   312
+
+    XIV. THE BEST FRIEND      336
+
+     XV. SICKNESS             352
+
+    XVI. THE FAMILY OF GOD    375
+
+   XVII. OUR HOME             392
+
+  XVIII. HEIRS OF GOD         403
+
+    XIX. THE GREAT GATHERING  429
+
+     XX. THE GREAT SEPARATION 442
+
+    XXI. ETERNITY             472
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+The volume now in the reader's hands is intended to be a companion to
+two other volumes which I have already published, entitled "Knots
+Untied," and "Old Paths."
+
+"Knots Untied" consists of a connected series of papers, systematically
+arranged, about the principal points which form the subject of
+controversy among Churchmen in the present day. All who take interest in
+such disputed questions as the nature of the Church, the Ministry,
+Baptism, Regeneration, the Lord's Supper, the Real Presence, Worship,
+Confession, and the Sabbath, will find them pretty fully discussed in
+"Knots Untied."
+
+"Old Paths" consists of a similar series of papers about those leading
+doctrines of the Gospel which are generally considered necessary to
+salvation. The inspiration of Scripture, sin, justification,
+forgiveness, repentance, conversion, faith, the work of Christ, and the
+work of the Holy Spirit, are the principal subjects handled in "Old
+Paths."
+
+The present volume contains a series of papers about "practical
+religion," and treats of the daily duties, dangers, experience, and
+privileges of all who profess and call themselves true Christians. Read
+in conjunction with another work I have previously put out, called
+"Holiness," I think it will throw some light on what every believer
+ought to be, to do, and expect.
+
+One common feature will be found in all the three volumes. I avow it
+frankly at the outset, and will not keep it back for a moment. The
+standpoint I have tried to occupy, from first to last, is that of an
+Evangelical Churchman.
+
+I say this deliberately and emphatically. I am fully aware that
+Evangelical churchmanship is not popular and acceptable in this day. It
+is despised by many, and has "no form or comeliness" in their eyes. To
+avow attachment to Evangelical views, in some quarters, is to provoke a
+sneer, and to bring on yourself the reproach of being an "unlearned and
+ignorant man." But none of these things move me. I am not ashamed of my
+opinions. After forty years of Bible-reading and praying, meditation
+and theological study, I find myself clinging more tightly than ever to
+"Evangelical" religion, and more than ever satisfied with it. It wears
+well: it stands the fire. I know no system of religion which is better.
+In the faith of it I have lived for the third of a century, and in the
+faith of it I hope to die.
+
+The plain truth is, that I see no other ground to occupy, and find no
+other rest for the sole of my foot. I lay no claim to infallibility, and
+desire to be no man's judge. But the longer I live and read, the more I
+am convinced and persuaded that Evangelical principles are the
+principles of the Bible, of the Articles and Prayer-book, and of the
+leading Divines of the reformed Church of England. Holding these views,
+I cannot write otherwise than I have written.
+
+I now send forth this volume with an earnest prayer that God the Holy
+Ghost may bless it, and make it useful and helpful to many souls.
+
+                                             J. C. RYLE,
+
+                November, 1878.             _Vicar of Stradbroke._
+
+
+
+
+PRACTICAL RELIGION
+
+I
+
+
+SELF-INQUIRY
+
+     "_Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we
+     have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they
+     do._"--Acts xv. 36.
+
+
+The text which heads this page contains a proposal which the Apostle
+Paul made to Barnabas after their first missionary journey. He proposed
+to revisit the Churches they had been the means of founding, and to see
+how they were getting on. Were their members continuing steadfast in the
+faith? Were they growing in grace? Were they going forward, or standing
+still? Were they prospering, or falling away?--"Let us go again and
+visit our brethren, and see how they do."
+
+This was a wise and useful proposal. Let us lay it to heart, and apply
+it to ourselves in the nineteenth century. Let us search our ways, and
+find out how matters stand between ourselves and God. Let us "see how we
+do." I ask every reader of this volume to begin its perusal by joining
+me in self-inquiry. If ever self-inquiry about religion was needed, it
+is needed at the present day.
+
+We live in an age of peculiar _spiritual privileges_. Since the world
+began there never was such an opportunity for a man's soul to be saved
+as there is in England at this time. There never were so many signs of
+religion in the land, so many sermons preached, so many services held in
+churches and chapels, so many Bibles sold, so many religious books and
+tracts printed, so many Societies for evangelizing mankind supported, so
+much outward respect paid to Christianity. Things are done everywhere
+now-a-days which a hundred years ago would have been thought impossible.
+Bishops support the boldest and most aggressive efforts to reach the
+unconverted. Deans and Chapters throw open the naves of cathedrals for
+Sunday evening sermons! Clergy of the narrowest High Church School
+advocate special missions, and vie with their Evangelical brethren in
+proclaiming that going to church on Sunday is not enough to take a man
+to heaven. In short, there is a stir about religion now-a-days to which
+there has been nothing like since England was a nation, and which the
+cleverest sceptics and infidels cannot deny. If Romaine, and Venn, and
+Berridge, and Rowlands, and Grimshaw, and Hervey, had been told that
+such things would come to pass about a century after their deaths, they
+would have been tempted to say, with the Samaritan nobleman,--"If the
+Lord should make windows of heaven might such a thing be." (2 Kings vii.
+19.) But the Lord has opened the windows of heaven. There is more taught
+now-a-days in England of the real Gospel, and of the way of salvation by
+faith in Jesus Christ, in one week, than there was in a year in
+Romaine's time. Surely I have a right to say that we live in an age of
+spiritual privileges. But are we any better for it? In an age like this
+it is well to ask, "How do we do about our souls?"
+
+We live in an age of peculiar _spiritual danger_. Never perhaps since
+the world began was there such an immense amount of mere outward
+profession of religion as there is in the present day. A painfully large
+proportion of all the congregations in the land consists of unconverted
+people, who know nothing of heart-religion, never come to the Lord's
+Table, and never confess Christ in their daily lives. Myriads of those
+who are always running after preachers, and crowding to hear special
+sermons, are nothing better than empty tubs, and tinkling cymbals,
+without a jot of real vital Christianity at home.[1] The parable of the
+sower is continually receiving most vivid and painful illustrations. The
+way-side hearers, the stony-ground hearers, the thorny-ground hearers
+abound on every side.
+
+  1: It is curious and instructive to observe how history repeats itself,
+  and how much sameness there is in the human heart in every age. Even in
+  the Primitive Church, says Canon Robertson, "Many persons were found at
+  church for the great Christian ceremonies, and at the theatres, or even
+  at the temples, for the heathen spectacles. The ritual of the Church was
+  viewed as a theatrical spectacle. The sermons were listened to as the
+  display of rhetoricians; and eloquent preachers were cheered, with
+  clapping of hands, stamping of feet, waving of handkerchiefs, cries of
+  'Orthodox,' 'Thirteenth Apostle,' and such like demonstrations, which
+  such teachers as Chrysostom and Augustine tried to restrain, that they
+  might persuade their flocks to a more profitable manner of hearing. Some
+  went to Church for the sermon only, alleging that they could pray at
+  home. And when the more attractive parts of the service were over, the
+  great mass of the people departed without remaining for the
+  eucharist."--Robertson's "Church History," B. II., ch. vi., p. 356.
+
+The life of many religious professors, I fear, in this age, is nothing
+better than a continual course of spiritual dram-drinking. They are
+always morbidly craving fresh excitement; and they seem to care little
+what it is if they only get it. All preaching seems to come alike to
+them; and they appear unable to "see differences," so long as they hear
+what is clever, have their ears tickled, and sit in a crowd. Worst of
+all, there are hundreds of young unestablished believers who are so
+infected with the same love of excitement, that they actually think it a
+duty to be always seeking it. Insensibly almost to themselves, they take
+up a kind of hysterical, sensational, sentimental Christianity, until
+they are never content with the "old paths," and, like the Athenians,
+are always running after something new. To see a calm-minded young
+believer, who is not stuck up, self-confident, self-conceited, and more
+ready to teach than learn, but content with a daily steady effort to
+grow up into Christ's likeness, and to do Christ's work quietly and
+unostentatiously, at home, is really becoming almost a rarity! Too many
+young professors, alas, behave like young recruits who have not spent
+all their bounty money. They show how little deep root they have, and
+how little knowledge of their own hearts, by noise, forwardness,
+readiness to contradict and set down old Christians, and over-weening
+trust in their own fancied soundness and wisdom! Well will it be for
+many young professors of this age if they do not end, after being tossed
+about for a while, and "carried to and fro by every wind of doctrine,"
+by joining some petty, narrow-minded, censorious sect, or embracing some
+senseless, unreasoning, crotchetty heresy. Surely in times like these
+there is great need for self-examination. When we look around us, we may
+well ask, "How do we do about our souls?"
+
+In handling this question, I think the shortest plan will be to suggest
+a list of subjects for self-inquiry, and to go through them in order. By
+so doing I shall hope to meet the case of every one into whose hands
+this volume may fall. I invite every reader of this paper to join me in
+calm, searching self-examination, for a few short minutes. I desire to
+speak to myself as well as to you. I approach you not as an enemy, but
+as a friend. "My heart's desire and prayer to God is that you may be
+saved." (Rom. x. 1.) Bear with me if I say things which at first sight
+look harsh and severe. Believe me, he is your best friend who tells you
+the most truth.
+
+(1) Let me ask, in the first place, _Do we ever think about our souls at
+all_? Thousands of English people, I fear, cannot answer that question
+satisfactorily. They never give the subject of religion any place in
+their thoughts. From the beginning of the year to the end they are
+absorbed in the pursuit of business, pleasure, politics, money, or
+self-indulgence of some kind or another. Death, and judgement, and
+eternity, and heaven, and hell, and a world to come, are never calmly
+looked at and considered. They live on as if they were never going to
+die, or rise again, or stand at the bar of God, or receive an eternal
+sentence! They do not openly oppose religion, for they have not
+sufficient reflection about it to do so;--but they eat, and drink, and
+sleep, and get money, and spend money, as if religion was a mere fiction
+and not a reality. They are neither Romanists, nor Socinians, nor
+infidels, nor High Church, nor Low Church, nor Broad Church. They are
+just _nothing at all_, and do not take the trouble to have opinions. A
+more senseless and unreasonable way of living cannot be conceived; but
+they do not pretend to reason about it. They simply never think about
+God, unless frightened for a few minutes by sickness, death in their
+families, or an accident. Barring such interruptions, they appear to
+ignore religion altogether, and hold on their way cool and undisturbed,
+as if there were nothing worth thinking of except this world.
+
+It is hard to imagine a life more unworthy of an immortal creature than
+such a life as I have just described, for it reduces a man to the level
+of a beast. But it is literally and truly the life of multitudes in
+England; and as they pass away their place is taken by multitudes like
+them. The picture, no doubt, is horrible, distressing, and revolting:
+but, unhappily, it is only too true. In every large town, in every
+market, on every stock-exchange, in every club, you may see specimens of
+this class by scores,--men who think of everything under the sun except
+the one thing needful,--the salvation of their souls. Like the Jews of
+old they do not "consider their ways," they do not "consider their
+latter end;" they do not "consider that they do evil." (Isa. i. 3; Hag.
+i. 7; Deut. xxxii. 29; Eccles. v. i.) Like Gallio they "care for none of
+these things:" they are not in their way. (Acts xviii. 17.) If they
+prosper in the world, and get rich, and succeed in their line of life,
+they are praised, and admired by their contemporaries. Nothing succeeds
+in England like success! But for all this they cannot live for ever.
+They will have to die and appear before the bar of God, and be judged;
+and then what will the end be? When a large class of this kind exists in
+our country, no reader need wonder that I ask whether he belongs to it.
+If you do, you ought to have a mark set on your door, as there used to
+be a mark on a plague-stricken house two centuries ago, with the words,
+"Lord have mercy on us," written on it. Look at the class I have been
+describing, and then look at your own soul.
+
+(2) Let me ask, in the second place, _whether we ever do anything about
+our souls?_? There are multitudes in England who think occasionally
+about religion, but unhappily never get beyond thinking. After a
+stirring sermon,--or after a funeral,--or under the pressure of
+illness,--or on Sunday evening,--or when things are going on badly in
+their families,--or when they meet some bright example of a
+Christian,--or when they fall in with some striking religious book or
+tract,--they will at the time think a good deal, and even talk a little
+about religion in a vague way. But they stop short, as if thinking and
+talking were enough to save them. They are always meaning, and
+intending, and purposing, and resolving, and wishing, and telling us
+that they "know" what is right, and "hope" to be found right at last,
+but they never attain to any _action_. There is no actual separation
+from the service of the world and sin, no real taking up the cross and
+following Christ, no positive _doing_ in their Christianity. Their life
+is spent in playing the part of the son in our Lord's parable, to whom
+the father said, "Go, work in my vineyard: and he answered, I go, sir,
+and went not." (Matt. xxi. 30.) They are like those whom Ezekiel
+describes, who liked his preaching, but never practised what he
+preached:--"They come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit
+before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do
+them.... And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that
+hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear
+thy words, but they do them not." (Ezek. xxxiii. 31, 32.) In a day like
+this, when hearing and thinking, without _doing_, is so common, no one
+can justly wonder that I press upon men the absolute need of
+self-examination. Once more, then, I ask my readers to consider the
+question of my text,--"How do we do about our souls?"
+
+(3) Let me ask, in the third place, _whether we are trying to satisfy
+our consciences with a mere formal religion_? There are myriads in
+England at this moment who are making shipwreck on this rock. Like the
+Pharisees of old, they make much ado about the outward part of
+Christianity, while the inward and spiritual part is totally neglected.
+They are careful to attend all the services of their place of worship,
+and regular in using all its forms and ordinances. They are never absent
+from Communion when the Lord's Supper is administered. Sometimes they
+are most strict in observing Lent, and attach great importance to
+Saints' days. They are often keen partisans of their own Church, or
+sect, or congregation, and ready to contend with any one who does not
+agree with them. Yet all this time there is no _heart_ in their
+religion. Any one who knows them intimately can see with half an eye
+that their affections are set on things below, and not on things above;
+and that they are trying to make up for the want of inward Christianity
+by an excessive quantity of outward form. And this formal religion does
+them no real good. They are not satisfied. Beginning at the wrong end,
+by making the outward things first, they know nothing of inward joy and
+peace, and pass their lives in a constant struggle, secretly conscious
+that there is something wrong, and yet not knowing why. Well, after all,
+if they do not go on from one stage of formality to another, until in
+despair they take a fatal plunge, and fall into Popery! When professing
+Christians of this kind are so painfully numerous, no one need wonder if
+I press upon him the paramount importance of close self-examination. If
+you love life, do not be content with the husk, and shell, and
+scaffolding of religion. Remember our Saviour's words about the Jewish
+formalists of His day: "This people draweth nigh with their mouth, and
+honoureth Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. In vain do
+they worship." (Matt. xv. 9.) It needs something more than going
+diligently to church, and receiving the Lord's Supper, to take our souls
+to heaven. Means of grace and forms of religion are useful in their way,
+and God seldom does anything for His church without them. But let us
+beware of making shipwreck on the very lighthouse which helps to show
+the channel into the harbour. Once more I ask, "How do we do about our
+souls?"
+
+(4) Let me ask, in the fourth place, _whether we have received the
+forgiveness of our sins_? Few reasonable Englishmen would think of
+denying that they are sinners. Many perhaps would say that they are not
+so bad as many, and that they have not been so very wicked, and so
+forth. But few, I repeat, would pretend to say that they had always
+lived like angels, and never done, or said, or thought a wrong thing all
+their days. In short, all of us must confess that we are more or less
+"_sinners_," and, as sinners, are guilty before God; and, as guilty, we
+must be forgiven, or lost and condemned for ever at the last day.--Now
+it is the glory of the Christian religion that it provides for us the
+very forgiveness that we need,--full, free, perfect, eternal, and
+complete. It is a leading article in that well-known creed which most
+Englishmen learn when they are children. They are taught to say, "I
+believe in the forgiveness of sins." This forgiveness of sins has been
+purchased for us by the eternal Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. He
+has purchased it for us by coming into the world to be our Saviour, and
+by living, dying, and rising again, as our Substitute, in our behalf. He
+has bought it for us at the price of His own most precious blood, by
+suffering in our stead on the cross, and making satisfaction for our
+sins. But this forgiveness, great, and full, and glorious as it is, does
+not become the property of every man and woman, as a matter of course.
+It is not a privilege which every member of a Church possesses, merely
+because he is a Churchman. It is a thing which each individual must
+receive for himself by his own personal faith, lay hold on by faith,
+appropriate by faith, and make his own by faith; or else, so far as he
+is concerned, Christ will have died in vain. "He that believeth on the
+Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not
+see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." (John iii. 36.) No terms
+can be imagined more simple, and more suitable to man. As good old
+Latimer said, in speaking of the matter of justification, "It is but
+believe and have." It is only faith that is required; and faith is
+nothing more than the humble, heartfelt trust of the soul which desires
+to be saved. Jesus is able and willing to save; but man must come to
+Jesus and believe. All that believe are at once justified and forgiven:
+but without believing there is no forgiveness at all.
+
+Now here is exactly the point, I am afraid, where multitudes of English
+people fail, and are in imminent danger of being lost for ever. They
+know that there is no forgiveness of sin excepting in Christ Jesus. They
+can tell you that there is no Saviour for sinners, no Redeemer, no
+Mediator, excepting Him who was born of the Virgin Mary, and was
+crucified under Pontius Pilate, dead, and buried. But here they stop,
+and get no further! They never come to the point of actually laying hold
+on Christ by faith, and becoming one with Christ and Christ in them.
+They can say, He is a Saviour, but not 'my Saviour,'--a Redeemer, but
+not 'my Redeemer,'--a Priest, but not 'my Priest,'--an Advocate, but not
+'my Advocate:' and so they live and die unforgiven! No wonder that
+Martin Luther said, "Many are lost because they cannot use possessive
+pronouns." When this is the state of many in this day, no one need
+wonder that I ask men whether they have received the forgiveness of
+sins. An eminent Christian lady once said, in her old age,--"The
+beginning of eternal life in my soul, was a conversation I had with an
+old gentleman, who came to visit my father, when I was only a little
+girl. He took me by the hand one day, and said, 'My dear child, my life
+is nearly over, and you will probably live many years after I am gone.
+But never forget two things. One is, that there is such a thing as
+having our sins forgiven while we live. The other is, that there is such
+a thing as knowing and feeling that we are forgiven.' I thank God I have
+never forgotten his words."--How is it with us? Let us not rest till we
+"know and feel," as the Prayer-book says, that we are forgiven. Once
+more let us ask,--In the matter of forgiveness of sins, "How do we do?"
+
+(5) Let me ask, in the fifth place, _whether we know anything by
+experience of conversion to God_. Without conversion there is no
+salvation. "Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye
+shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."--"Except a man be born
+again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."--"If any man have not the
+Spirit of Christ, he is none of His."--"If any man be in Christ he is a
+new creature." (Matt. xviii. 3; John iii. 3; Rom. viii. 9; 2 Cor. v.
+17.) We are all by nature so weak, so worldly, so earthly-minded, so
+inclined to sin, that without a thorough change we cannot serve God in
+life, and could not enjoy Him after death. Just as ducks, as soon as
+they are hatched, take naturally to water, so do children, as soon as
+they can do anything, take to selfishness, lying, and deceit; and none
+pray, or love God, unless they are taught. High or low, rich or poor,
+gentle or simple, we all need a complete change,--a change which it is
+the special office of the Holy Ghost to give us. Call it what you
+please,--new birth, regeneration, renewal, new creation, quickening,
+repentance,--the thing must be had if we are to be saved: and if we have
+the thing it will be _seen_.
+
+Sense of sin and deep hatred to it, faith in Christ and love to Him,
+delight in holiness and longing after more of it, love to God's people
+and distaste for the things of the world,--these, these are the signs
+and evidences which always accompany conversion. Myriads around us, it
+may be feared, know nothing about it. They are, in Scripture language,
+dead, and asleep, and blind, and unfit for the kingdom of God. Year
+after year, perhaps, they go on repeating the words of the Creed, "I
+believe in the Holy Ghost;" but they are utterly ignorant of His
+changing operations on the inward man. Sometimes they flatter themselves
+they are born again, because they have been baptized, and go to church,
+and receive the Lord's Supper; while they are totally destitute of the
+marks of the new birth, as described by St. John in his first Epistle.
+And all this time the words of Scripture are clear and plain,--"Except
+ye be converted, ye shall in no case enter the kingdom." (Matt. xviii.
+3.) In times like these, no reader ought to wonder that I press the
+subject of conversion on men's souls. No doubt there are plenty of sham
+conversions in such a day of religious excitement as this. But bad coin
+is no proof that there is no good money: nay, rather it is a sign that
+there is some money current which is valuable, and is worth imitation.
+Hypocrites and sham Christians are indirect evidence that there is such
+a thing as real grace among men. Let us search our own hearts then, and
+see how it is with ourselves. Once more let us ask, in the matter of
+conversion, "How do we do?"
+
+(6) Let me ask, in the sixth place, _whether we know anything of
+practical Christian holiness_? It is as certain as anything in the Bible
+that "without holiness no man shall see the Lord." (Heb. xii. 14.) It is
+equally certain that it is the invariable fruit of saving faith, the
+real test of regeneration, the only sound evidence of indwelling grace,
+the certain consequence of vital union with Christ.--Holiness is not
+absolute perfection and freedom from all faults. Nothing of the kind!
+The wild words of some who talk of enjoying "unbroken communion with
+God" for many months, are greatly to be deprecated, because they raise
+unscriptural expectations in the minds of young believers, and so do
+harm. Absolute perfection is for heaven, and not for earth, where we
+have a weak body, a wicked world, and a busy devil continually near our
+souls. Nor is real Christian holiness ever attained, or maintained,
+without a constant fight and struggle. The great Apostle, who said "I
+fight,--I labour,--I keep under my body and bring it into subjection" (1
+Cor. ix. 27), would have been amazed to hear of _sanctification without
+personal exertion_, and to be told that believers only need to sit
+still, and everything will be done for them!
+
+Yet, weak and imperfect as the holiness of the best saints may be, it is
+a real true thing, and has a character about it as unmistakable as light
+and salt. It is not a thing which begins and ends with noisy profession:
+it will be _seen_ much more than _heard_. Genuine Scriptural holiness
+will make a man do his duty at home and by the fireside, and adorn his
+doctrine in the little trials of daily life. It will exhibit itself in
+passive graces as well as in active. It will make a man humble, kind,
+gentle, unselfish, good-tempered, considerate for others, loving, meek,
+and forgiving. It will not constrain him to go out of the world, and
+shut himself up in a cave, like a hermit. But it will make him do his
+duty in that state to which God has called him, on Christian principles,
+and after the pattern of Christ. Such holiness, I know well, is not
+common. It is a style of practical Christianity which is painfully rare
+in these days. But I can find no other standard of holiness in the Word
+of God,--no other which comes up to the pictures drawn by our Lord and
+His Apostles. In an age like this no reader can wonder if I press this
+subject also on men's attention. Once more let us ask,--In the matter of
+holiness, how is it with our souls? "How do we do?"
+
+(7) Let me ask, in the seventh place, _whether we know anything of
+enjoying the means of grace_? When I speak of the means of grace, I have
+in my mind's eye five principal things,--the reading of the Bible,
+private prayer, public worship, the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and
+the rest of the Lord's day. They are means which God has graciously
+appointed, in order to convey grace to man's heart by the Holy Ghost, or
+to keep up the spiritual life after it has begun. As long as the world
+stands, the state of a man's soul will always depend greatly on the
+_manner and spirit_ in which he uses means of grace. The manner and
+spirit, I say deliberately and of purpose. Many English people use the
+means of grace regularly and formally, but know nothing of enjoying
+them: they attend to them as a matter of duty, but without a jot of
+feeling, interest, or affection. Yet even common sense might tell us
+that this formal, mechanical use of holy things, is utterly worthless
+and unprofitable. Our _feeling_ about them is just one of the many tests
+of the state of our souls. How can that man be thought to love God who
+reads about Him and His Christ, as a mere matter of duty, content and
+satisfied if he has just moved his mark onward over so many
+chapters?--How can that man suppose he is ready to meet Christ, who
+never takes any trouble to pour out his heart to Him in private as a
+Friend, and is satisfied with saying over a string of words every
+morning and evening, under the name of "prayer," scarcely thinking what
+he is about?--How could that man be happy in heaven for ever, who finds
+the Sunday a dull, gloomy, tiresome day,--who knows nothing of hearty
+prayer and praise, and cares nothing whether he hears truth or error
+from the pulpit, or scarcely listens to the sermon?--What can be the
+spiritual condition of that man whose heart never "burns within him,"
+when he receives that bread and wine which specially remind us of
+Christ's death on the cross, and the atonement for sin? These inquiries
+are very serious and important. If means of grace had no other use, and
+were not mighty helps toward heaven, they would be useful in supplying a
+test of our real state in the sight of God. Tell me what a man does in
+the matter of Bible-reading and praying, in the matter of Sunday, public
+worship, and the Lord's Supper, and I will soon tell you what he is, and
+on which road he is travelling. How is it with ourselves? Once more let
+us ask,--In the matter of means of grace, "How do we do?"
+
+(8) Let me ask, in the eighth place, _whether we ever try to do any good
+in the world_? Our Lord Jesus Christ was continually "going about doing
+good," while He was on earth. (Acts x. 38.) The Apostles, and all the
+disciples in Bible times, were always striving to walk in His steps. A
+Christian who was content to go to heaven himself, and cared not what
+became of others, whether they lived happy and died in peace or not,
+would have been regarded as a kind of monster in primitive times, who
+had not the Spirit of Christ. Why should we suppose for a moment that a
+lower standard will suffice in the present day? Why should fig trees
+which bear no fruit be spared in the present day, when in our Lord's
+time they were to be cut down as "cumberers of the ground"? (Luke xiii.
+7.) These are serious inquiries, and demand serious answers.
+
+There is a generation of professing Christians now-a-days, who seem to
+know nothing of caring for their neighbours, and are wholly swallowed up
+in the concerns of number one,--that is, their own and their family's.
+They eat, and drink, and sleep, and dress, and work, and get money, and
+spend money, year after year; and whether others are happy or miserable,
+well or ill, converted or unconverted, travelling toward heaven or
+toward hell, appear to be questions about which they are supremely
+indifferent. Can this be right? Can it be reconciled with the religion
+of Him who spoke the parable of the good Samaritan, and bade us "go and
+do likewise"? (Luke x. 37.) I doubt it altogether.
+
+There is much to be done on every side. There is not a place in England
+where there is not a field for work, and an open door for being useful,
+if any one is willing to enter it. There is not a Christian in England
+who cannot find some good work to do for others, if he has only a heart
+to do it. The poorest man or woman, without a single penny to give, can
+always show his deep sympathy to the sick and sorrowful, and by simple
+good-nature and tender helpfulness, can lessen the misery and increase
+the comfort of somebody in this troubled world. But alas, the vast
+majority of professing Christians, whether rich or poor, Churchmen or
+Dissenters, seem possessed with a devil of detestable selfishness, and
+know not the luxury of doing good. They can argue by the hour about
+baptism, and the Lord's supper, and the forms of worship, and the union
+of Church and State, and such-like dry-bone questions. But all this time
+they seem to care nothing for their neighbours. The plain practical
+point, whether they love their neighbour, as the Samaritan loved the
+traveller in the parable, and can spare any time and trouble to do him
+good, is a point they never touch with one of their fingers. In too
+many English parishes, both in town and country, true love seems almost
+dead, both in church and chapel, and wretched party-spirit and
+controversy are the only fruits that Christianity appears able to
+produce. In a day like this, no reader should wonder if I press this
+plain old subject on his conscience. Do we know anything of genuine
+Samaritan love to others? Do we ever try to do any good to any one
+beside our own friends and relatives, and our own party or cause? Are we
+living like disciples of Him who always "went about doing good," and
+commanded His disciples to take Him for their "example"? (John xiii.
+15.) If not, with what face shall we meet Him in the judgment day? In
+this matter also, how is it with our souls? Once more I ask, "How do we
+do?"
+
+(9) Let me ask, in the ninth place, _whether we know anything of living
+the life of habitual communion with Christ_? By "communion," I mean that
+habit of "abiding in Christ" which our Lord speaks of, in the fifteenth
+chapter of St. John's Gospel, as essential to Christian fruitfulness.
+(John xv. 4-8.) Let it be distinctly understood that union with Christ
+is one thing, and communion is another. There can be no communion with
+the Lord Jesus without union first; but unhappily there may be union
+with the Lord Jesus, and afterwards little or no communion at all. The
+difference between the two things is not the difference between two
+distinct steps, but the difference between the higher and lower ends of
+an inclined plane. Union is the common privilege of all who feel their
+sins, and truly repent, and come to Christ by faith, and are accepted,
+forgiven, and justified in Him. Too many believers, it may be feared,
+_never get beyond this stage_! Partly from ignorance, partly from
+laziness, partly from fear of man, partly from secret love of the world,
+partly from some unmortified besetting sin, they are content with a
+little faith, and a little hope, and a little peace, and a little
+measure of holiness. And they live on all their lives in this
+condition--doubting, weak, halting, and bearing fruit only "thirty-fold"
+to the very end of their days!
+
+Communion with Christ is the privilege of those who are continually
+striving to grow in grace, and faith, and knowledge, and conformity to
+the mind of Christ in all things,--who do not "look to the things
+behind," and "count not themselves to have attained," but "press toward
+the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
+(Phil. iii. 14.) Union is the bud, but communion is the flower: union is
+the babe, but communion is the strong man. He that has union with Christ
+does well; but he that enjoys communion with Him does far better. Both
+have one life, one hope, one heavenly seed in their hearts,--one Lord,
+one Saviour, one Holy Spirit, one eternal home: but union is not so good
+as communion! The grand secret of communion with Christ is to be
+continually "living the life of faith in Him," and drawing out of Him
+every hour the supply that every hour requires. "To me," said St. Paul,
+"to live is Christ."--"I live: yet not I, but Christ liveth in me."
+(Gal. ii. 20; Phil. i. 21.)
+
+Communion like this is the secret of the abiding "joy and peace in
+believing," which eminent saints like Bradford and Rutherford
+notoriously possessed. None were ever more humble, or more deeply
+convinced of their own infirmities and corruption. They would have
+told you that the seventh chapter of Romans precisely described
+their own experience. They would have endorsed every word of the
+"Confession" put into the mouths of true believers, in our
+Prayer-book Communion Service. They would have said continually,
+"The remembrance of our sins is grievous unto us; the burden of them
+is intolerable." But they were ever looking unto Jesus, and in Him
+they were ever able to rejoice.--Communion like this is the secret
+of the splendid victories which such men as these won over sin, the
+world, and the fear of death. They did not sit still idly, saying,
+"I leave it all to Christ to do for me," but, strong in the Lord,
+they used the Divine nature He had implanted in them, boldly and
+confidently, and were "more than conquerors through Him that loved
+them." (Rom. viii. 37.) Like St. Paul they would have said, "I can
+do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." (Phil iv.
+13.)--Ignorance of this life of communion is one among many reasons
+why so many in this age are hankering after the Confessional, and
+strange views of the "real presence" in the Lord's Supper. Such
+errors often spring from imperfect knowledge of Christ, and obscure
+views of the life of faith in a risen, living, and interceding
+Saviour.
+
+Is communion with Christ like this a common thing? Alas! it is very rare
+indeed! The greater part of believers seem content with the barest
+elementary knowledge of justification by faith, and half-a-dozen other
+doctrines, and go doubting, limping, halting, groaning along the way to
+heaven, and experience little either of the sense of victory or joy. The
+Churches of these latter days are full of weak, powerless, and
+uninfluential believers, saved at last, "but so as by fire," but never
+shaking the world, and knowing nothing of an "abundant entrance." (1
+Cor. iii. 15; 2 Pet. i. 11.) Despondency and Feeble-mind and
+Much-afraid, in "Pilgrim's Progress," reached the celestial city as
+really and truly as Valiant-for-the-truth and Greatheart. But they
+certainly did not reach it with the same comfort, and did not do a tenth
+part of the same good in the world! I fear there are many like them in
+these days! When things are so in the Churches, no reader can wonder
+that I inquire how it is with our souls. Once more I ask,--In the matter
+of communion with Christ, "How do we do?"
+
+(10) Let me ask, in the tenth and last place, _whether we know anything
+of being ready for Christ's second coming_? That He will come again the
+second time is as certain as anything in the Bible. The world has not
+yet seen the last of Him. As surely as He went up visibly, and in the
+body, on the Mount of Olives, before the eyes of His disciples, so
+surely will He come again in the clouds of heaven, with power and great
+glory. (Acts i. 11.) He will come to raise the dead, to change the
+living, to reward His saints, to punish the wicked, to renew the earth,
+and take the curse away,--to purify the world, even as He purified the
+temple,--and to set up a kingdom where sin shall have no place, and
+holiness shall be the universal rule. The Creeds which we repeat and
+profess to believe, continually declare that Christ is coming again. The
+ancient Christians made it a part of their religion to look for His
+return. _Backward_ they looked to the cross and the atonement for sin,
+and rejoiced in Christ crucified. _Upward_ they looked to Christ at the
+right hand of God, and rejoiced in Christ interceding. _Forward_ they
+looked to the promised return of their Master, and rejoiced in the
+thought that they would see Him again. And we ought to do the same.
+
+What have we really got from Christ? and what do we know of Him? and
+what do we think of Him? Are we living as if we long to see Him again,
+and love His appearing?--Readiness for that appearing is nothing more
+than being a real, consistent Christian. It requires no man to cease
+from his daily business. The farmer need not give up his farm, nor the
+shopkeeper his counter, nor the doctor his patients, nor the carpenter
+his hammer and nails, nor the bricklayer his mortar and trowel, nor the
+blacksmith his smithy. Each and all cannot do better than be found doing
+his duty, but doing it _as a Christian_, and with a heart packed up and
+ready to be gone. In the face of truth like this no reader can feel
+surprised if I ask, How is it with our souls in the matter of Christ's
+second coming? The world is growing old and running to seed. The vast
+majority of Christians seem like the men in the time of Noah and Lot,
+who were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, planting
+and building, up to the very day when flood and fire came. Those words
+of our Master are very solemn and heart-searching,--"Remember Lot's
+wife."--"Take heed lest at any time your heart be overcharged with the
+cares of this life, and that day come upon you unawares." (Luke xvii.
+32; xxi. 34.) Once more I ask,--In the matter of readiness for Christ's
+second coming, "How do we do?"
+
+I end my inquiries here. I might easily add to them; but I trust I have
+said enough, at the beginning of this volume, to stir up self-inquiry
+and self-examination in many minds. God is my witness that I have said
+nothing that I do not feel of paramount importance to my own soul. I
+only want to do good to others. Let me now conclude all with a few words
+of practical application.
+
+(_a_) Is any reader of this paper _asleep and utterly thoughtless about
+religion_? Oh, awake and sleep no more! Look at the churchyards and
+cemeteries. One by one the people around you are dropping into them, and
+you must lie there one day. Look forward to a world to come, and lay
+your hand on your heart, and say, if you dare, that you are fit to die
+and meet God. Ah! you are like one sleeping in a boat drifting down the
+stream towards the falls of Niagara! "What meanest thou, oh sleeper!
+Arise and call upon thy God!"--"Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from
+the dead, and Christ shall give thee light!" (Jonah i. 6; Eph v. 14.)
+
+(_b_) Is any reader of this paper _feeling self-condemned, and afraid
+that there is no hope for his soul_? Cast aside your fears, and accept
+the offer of our Lord Jesus Christ to sinners. Hear Him saying, "Come
+unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you
+rest." (Matt. xi. 28.) "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and
+drink." (John vii. 37.) "Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast
+out." (John vi. 37.) Doubt not that these words are for you as well as
+for any one else. Bring all your sins, and unbelief, and sense of guilt,
+and unfitness, and doubts, and infirmities,--bring all to Christ. "This
+Man receiveth sinners," and He will receive you. (Luke xv. 2.) Do not
+stand still, halting between two opinions, and waiting for a convenient
+season. "Arise: He calleth thee!" Come to Christ this very day. (Mark x.
+49.)
+
+(_c_) Is any reader of this paper a professing believer in Christ, but a
+_believer without much joy and peace and comfort_? Take advice this day.
+Search your own heart, and see whether the fault be not entirely your
+own. Very likely you are sitting at ease, content with a little faith,
+and a little repentance, a little grace and a little sanctification, and
+unconsciously shrinking back from extremes. You will never be a very
+happy Christian at this rate, if you live to the age of Methuselah.
+Change your plan, if you love life and would see good days, without
+delay. Come out boldly, and act decidedly. Be thorough, thorough, very
+thorough in your Christianity, and set your face fully towards the sun.
+Lay aside every weight, and the sin that doth so easily beset you.
+Strive to get nearer to Christ, to abide in Him, to cleave to Him, and
+to sit at His feet like Mary, and drink full draughts out of the
+fountain of life. "These things," says St. John, "we write unto you that
+your joy may be full." (1 John i. 4.) "If we walk in the light as He is
+in the light, we have fellowship one with another." (1 John i. 7.)
+
+(_d_) Is any reader of this paper _a believer oppressed with doubts and
+fears_, on account of his feebleness, infirmity, and sense of sin?
+Remember the text that says of Jesus, "A bruised reed will He not break,
+and smoking flax shall He not quench." (Matt. xii. 20.) Take comfort in
+the thought that this text is for you. What though your faith be feeble?
+It is better than no faith at all. The least grain of life is better
+than death. Perhaps you are expecting too much in this world. Earth is
+not heaven. You are yet in the body. Expect little from self, but much
+from Christ. Look more to Jesus, and less to self.
+
+(_e_) Finally, is any reader of this paper _sometimes downcast_ by the
+trials he meets with in the way to heaven, bodily trials, family trials,
+trials of circumstances, trials from neighbours, and trials from the
+world? Look up to a sympathizing Saviour at God's right hand, and pour
+out your heart before Him. He can be touched with the feeling of your
+infirmities, for He suffered Himself being tempted.--Are you alone? So
+was He. Are you misrepresented and calumniated? So was He. Are you
+forsaken by friends? So was He. Are you persecuted? So was He. Are you
+wearied in body and grieved in spirit? So was He.--Yes! He can feel for
+you, and He can help as well as feel. Then learn to draw nearer to
+Christ. The time is short. Yet a little time, and all will be over: we
+shall soon be "with the Lord." "There is an end; and thine expectation
+shall not be cut off." (Prov. xxiii. 18.) "Ye have need of patience,
+that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
+For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not
+tarry." (Heb. x. 36, 37.)
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+
+SELF-EXERTION
+
+     "_Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto
+     you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able._"--Luke
+     xiii. 24.
+
+
+There was once a man who asked our Lord Jesus Christ a very deep
+question. He said to Him, "Lord, are there few that be saved?"
+
+Who this man was we do not know. What his motive was for asking this
+question we are not told. Perhaps he wished to gratify an idle
+curiosity: perhaps he wanted an excuse for not seeking salvation
+himself. The Holy Ghost has kept back all this from us: the name and
+motive of the inquirer are both hidden.
+
+But one thing is very clear, and that is the vast importance of the
+saying of our Lord to which the question gave rise. Jesus seized the
+opportunity to direct the minds of all around Him to their own plain
+duty. He knew the train of thought which the man's inquiry had set
+moving in their hearts: He saw what was going on within them. "Strive,"
+He cries, "to enter in at the strait gate." Whether there be few saved
+or many, your course is clear;--strive to enter in. Now is the accepted
+time. Now is the day of salvation. A day shall come when many will seek
+to enter in and shall not be able. "Strive to enter in now."
+
+I desire to call the serious attention of all who read this paper to the
+solemn lessons which this saying of the Lord Jesus is meant to teach.
+It is one which deserves special remembrance in the present day. It
+teaches unmistakeably that mighty truth, our own personal responsibility
+for the salvation of our souls. It shows the immense danger of putting
+off the great business of religion, as so many unhappily do. On both
+these points the witness of our Lord Jesus Christ in the text is clear.
+He, who is the eternal God, and who spoke the words of perfect wisdom,
+says to the sons of men,--"Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for
+many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able."
+
+
+    I. Here is a _description_ of the way of salvation. Jesus calls it
+    "the strait gate."
+
+    II. Here is a plain _command_. Jesus says, "Strive to enter in."
+
+    III. Here is an awful _prophecy_. Jesus says, "Many will seek to
+    enter in, and shall not be able."
+
+May the Holy Ghost apply the subject to the hearts of all into whose
+hands this paper may fall! May all who read it know the way of salvation
+experimentally, obey the command of the Lord practically, and be found
+safe in the great day of His second coming!
+
+
+I. Here is a _description___ of the way of salvation. Jesus calls it
+"_the strait gate_."
+
+There is a gate which leads to pardon, peace with God, and heaven.
+Whosoever goes in by that gate shall be saved. Never, surely, was a gate
+more needed. Sin is a vast mountain between man and God. How shall a man
+climb over it?--Sin is a high wall between man and God. How shall man
+get through it?--Sin is a deep gulf between man and God. How shall man
+cross over it?--God is in heaven, holy, pure, spiritual, undefiled,
+light without any darkness at all, a Being who cannot bear that which
+is evil, or look upon iniquity. Man is a poor fallen worm, crawling on
+earth for a few years,--sinful, corrupt, erring, defective,--a being
+whose imagination is only evil, and whose heart is deceitful above all
+things, and desperately wicked. How shall man and God be brought
+together? How shall man ever draw near to his Maker without fear and
+shame? Blessed be God, there is a way! There is a road. There is a path.
+There is a door. It is the gate spoken of in the words of Christ,--"the
+strait gate."
+
+This gate was _made for sinners by the Lord Jesus Christ_. From all
+eternity He covenanted and engaged that He would make it. In the fulness
+of time He came into the world and made it, by His own atoning death on
+the cross. By that death He made satisfaction for man's sin, paid man's
+debt to God, and bore man's punishment. He built a great gate at the
+cost of His own body and blood. He reared a ladder on earth whose top
+reached to heaven. He made a door by which the chief of sinners may
+enter into the holy presence of God, and not be afraid. He opened a road
+by which the vilest of men, believing in Him, may draw near to God and
+have peace. He cries to us, "I am the door: by Me if any man enter in,
+he shall be saved." (John x. 9.) "I am the way: no man cometh unto the
+Father but by Me." (John xiv. 6.) "By Him," says Paul, "we have boldness
+and access with confidence." (Eph. iii. 12.) Thus was the gate of
+salvation formed.
+
+This gate is called _the strait gate_, and it is not called so without
+cause. It is always strait, narrow, and difficult to pass through to
+some persons, and it will be so as long as the world stands. It is
+narrow to all who love sin, and are determined not to part with it. It
+is narrow to all who set their affection on this world, and seek first
+its pleasures and rewards. It is narrow to all who dislike trouble, and
+are unwilling to take pains and make sacrifices for their souls. It is
+narrow to all who like company, and want to keep in with the crowd. It
+is narrow to all who are self-righteous, and think they are good people,
+and deserve to be saved. To all such the great gate, which Christ made,
+is narrow and strait. In vain they seek to pass through. The gate will
+not admit them. God is not unwilling to receive them; their sins are not
+too many to be forgiven: but they are not willing to be saved in God's
+way. Thousands, for the last eighteen centuries, have tried to make the
+gate-way wider: thousands have worked and toiled to get to heaven on
+lower terms. But the gate never alters. It is not elastic: it will not
+stretch to accommodate one man more than another. It is still the strait
+gate.
+
+Strait as this gate is, it is _the only one by which men can get to
+heaven_. There is no side door; there is no bye-path; there is no gap or
+low-place in the wall. All that are ever saved will be saved only by
+Christ, and only by simple faith in Him.--Not one will be saved by
+repentance. To-day's sorrow does not wipe off yesterday's score.--Not
+one will be saved by his own works. The best works that any man can do
+are little better than splendid sins.--Not one will be saved by his
+formal regularity in the use of the outward means of grace. When we have
+done all, we are poor "unprofitable servants." Oh, no! it is mere waste
+of time to seek any other road to eternal life. Men may look right and
+left, and weary themselves with their own devices, but they will never
+find another door. Proud men may dislike the gate if they will.
+Profligate men may scoff at it, and make a jest of those who use it.
+Lazy men may complain that the way is hard. But men will discover no
+other salvation than that of faith in the blood and righteousness of a
+crucified Redeemer. There stands between us and heaven one great gate:
+it may be strait; but it is the only one. We must either enter heaven by
+the strait gate, or not at all.
+
+Strait as this gate is, it is _a gate ever ready to open_. No sinners of
+any kind are forbidden to draw near: whosoever will may enter in and be
+saved. There is but one condition of admission: that condition is that
+you really feel your sins and desire to be saved by Christ in His own
+way. Art thou really sensible of thy guilt and vileness? Hast thou a
+truly broken and contrite heart? Behold the gate of salvation, and come
+in. He that made it declares,--"Him that cometh unto Me I will in no
+wise cast out." (John vi. 37.) The question to be considered is not
+whether you are a great sinner or a little sinner--whether you are elect
+or not,--whether you are converted or not. The question is simply
+this, "Do you feel your sins? Do you feel labouring and heavy-laden? Are
+you willing to put your soul into Christ's hand?" Then if that be the
+case, the gate will open to you at once. Come in this very day.
+"Wherefore standest thou without?" (Gen. xxiv. 31.)
+
+Strait as this gate is, it is _one through which thousands have gone in
+and been saved_. No sinner was ever turned back, and told he was too bad
+to be admitted, if he came really sick of his sins. Thousands of all
+sorts have been received, cleansed, washed, pardoned, clothed, and made
+heirs of eternal life. Some of them seemed very unlikely to be admitted:
+you and I might have thought they were too bad to be saved. But He that
+built the gate did not refuse them. As soon as they knocked, He gave
+orders that they should be let in.
+
+Manasseh, King of Judah, went up to this gate. None could have been
+worse than he. He had despised his good father Hezekiah's example and
+advice. He had bowed down to idols. He had filled Jerusalem with
+bloodshed and cruelty. He had slain his own children. But as soon as his
+eyes were opened to his sins, and he fled to the gate for pardon, the
+gate flew wide open, and he was saved.
+
+Saul the Pharisee went up to this gate. He had been a great offender.
+He had been a blasphemer of Christ, and a persecutor of Christ's people.
+He had laboured hard to stop the progress of the Gospel. But as soon as
+his heart was touched, and he found out his own guilt and fled to the
+gate for pardon, at once the gate flew wide open, and he was saved.
+
+Many of the Jews who crucified our Lord went up to this gate. They had
+been grievous sinners indeed. They had refused and rejected their own
+Messiah. They had delivered Him to Pilate, and entreated that He might
+be slain. They had desired Barabbas to be let go, and the Son of God to
+be crucified. But in the day when they were pricked to the heart by
+Peter's preaching, they fled to the gate for pardon, and at once the
+gate flew open, and they were saved.
+
+The jailer at Philippi went up to this gate. He had been a cruel, hard,
+godless man. He had done all in his power to ill-treat Paul and his
+companion. He had thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet
+fast in the stocks. But when his conscience was aroused by the
+earthquake, and his mind enlightened by Paul's teaching, he fled to the
+gate for pardon, and at once the gate flew open, and he was saved.
+
+But why need I stop short in Bible examples? Why should I not say that
+multitudes have gone to "the strait gate" since the days of the
+Apostles, and have entered in by it and been saved? Thousands of all
+ranks, classes, and ages,--learned and unlearned, rich and poor, old and
+young,--have tried the gate and found it ready to open,--have gone
+through it and found peace to their souls. Yes: thousands of persons yet
+living have made proof of the gate, and found it the way to real
+happiness. Noblemen and commoners, merchants and bankers, soldiers and
+sailors, farmers and tradesmen, labourers and workmen, are still upon
+earth, who have found the strait gate to be "a way of pleasantness and a
+path of peace." They have not brought up an evil report of the country
+inside. They have found Christ's yoke to be easy, and His burden to be
+light. Their only regret has been that so few enter in, and that they
+themselves did not enter in before.
+
+This is the gate which I want every one to enter, into whose hand this
+paper may fall. I want you not merely to go to church or chapel, but to
+go with heart and soul to the gate of life. I want you not merely to
+believe there is such a gate, and to think it a good thing, but to enter
+by faith and be saved.
+
+Think _what a privilege_ it is to have a gate at all. The angels who
+kept not their first estate, fell, never to rise again. To them there
+was no door of escape opened.--The heathen never heard of any way to
+eternal life. What would not many a black man and many a red man give,
+if he only heard one plain sermon about Christ?--The Jews in Old
+Testament times only saw the gate dimly and far away. "The way into the
+holiest was not made manifest, while the first tabernacle was standing."
+(Heb. ix. 8.) You have the gate set plainly before you: you have Christ
+and full salvation offered to you, without money and without price. You
+never need be at a loss which way to turn. Oh, consider what a mercy
+this is! Beware that you do not despise the gate and perish in unbelief.
+Better a thousand times not to know of the gate than to know of it and
+yet tarry outside. How indeed will you escape if you neglect so great
+salvation?
+
+Think _what a thankful man_ you ought to be if you have really gone in
+at the strait gate. To be a pardoned, forgiven, justified soul,--to be
+ready for sickness, death, judgment and eternity,--to be ever provided
+for in both worlds,--surely this is matter for daily praise. True
+Christians ought to be more full of thanksgivings than they are. I fear
+that few sufficiently remember what they were by nature, and what
+debtors they are to grace. A heathen remarked that singing hymns of
+praise was one special mark of the early Christians. Well would it be
+for Christians in the present day, if they knew more of this frame of
+mind. It is no mark of a healthy state of soul when there is much
+complaining and little praise. It is an amazing mercy that there is any
+gate of salvation at all; but it is a still greater mercy when we are
+taught to enter in by it and be saved.
+
+
+II. In the second place, here is a plain _command_.--Jesus says to us,
+"_Strive to enter in at the strait gate_." There is often much to be
+learned in a single word of Scripture. The words of our Lord Jesus in
+particular, are always full of matter for thought. Here is a word which
+is a striking example of what I mean. Let us see what the great Teacher
+would have us gather out of the word "_Strive_."
+
+"STRIVE" teaches that a man must use means diligently, if he would have
+his soul saved. There are means which God has appointed to help man in
+his endeavours to approach Him. There are ways in which a man must walk,
+if he desires to be found of Christ. Public Worship, reading the Bible,
+hearing the Gospel preached,--these are the kind of things to which I
+refer. They lie, as it were, in the middle, between man and God.
+Doubtless no one can change his own heart, or wipe away one of his sins,
+or make himself in the least degree acceptable to God; but I do say that
+if man could do nothing but sit still, Christ would never have said
+"Strive."
+
+"STRIVE" teaches that man is a free agent, and will be dealt with by God
+as a responsible being. The Lord Jesus does not bid us to wait, and
+wish, and feel, and hope, and desire. He says, "Strive." I call that
+miserable religion which teaches people to be content with saying, "We
+can do nothing of ourselves," and makes them continue in sin. It is as
+bad as teaching people that it is not their fault if they are not
+converted, and that God only is to blame if they are not saved. I find
+no such theology in the New Testament. I hear Jesus saying to sinners,
+"Come--repent--believe--labour--ask--seek--knock." I see plainly that
+our salvation, from first to last, is entirely _of God_; but I see with
+no less plainness that our ruin, if lost, is wholly and entirely _of
+ourselves_. I maintain that sinners are always addressed as accountable
+and responsible; and I want no better proof of this than is contained in
+the word "Strive."
+
+"STRIVE" teaches that a man must expect many adversaries and a hard
+battle, if he would have his soul saved. And this, as a matter of
+experience, is strictly true. There are no "gains without pains" in
+spiritual things any more than in temporal. That roaring lion, the
+devil, will never let a soul escape from him without a struggle. The
+heart which is naturally sensual and earthly will never be turned to
+spiritual things without a daily fight. The world, with all its
+opposition and temptations, will never be overcome without a conflict.
+But why should all this surprise us? What great and good thing was ever
+done without trouble? Wheat does not grow without ploughing and sowing;
+riches are not obtained without care and attention; success in life is
+not won without hardships and toil; and heaven, above all, is not to be
+reached without the cross and the battle. The "violent take the kingdom
+by force." (Matt xi. 12.) A man must "strive."
+
+"STRIVE" teaches that it is worth while for a man to seek salvation.
+That may well be said. If there be anything that deserves a struggle in
+this world, it is the prosperity of the soul. The objects for which the
+great majority of men strive are comparatively poor and trifling things.
+Riches, and greatness, and rank, and learning, are "a corruptible
+crown." The incorruptible things are all within the strait gate. The
+peace of God which passeth all understanding,--the bright hope of good
+things to come,--the sense of the Spirit dwelling in us,--the
+consciousness that we are pardoned, safe, ready, insured, provided for
+in time and eternity, whatever may happen,--these are true gold, and
+durable riches. Well may the Lord Jesus call on us to "strive."
+
+"STRIVE" teaches that laziness in religion is a great sin. It is not
+merely a misfortune, as some fancy,--a thing for which people are to be
+pitied, and a matter for regret. It is something far more than this. It
+is a breach of a plain commandment. What shall be said of the man who
+transgresses God's law, and does something which God says, Thou shalt
+not do? There can be but one answer. He is a sinner. "Sin is the
+transgression of the law." (1 John iii. 4.) And what shall be said of
+the man who neglects his soul, and makes no effort to enter the strait
+gate? There can be only one reply. He is omitting a positive duty.
+Christ says to him, "Strive," and behold, he sits still!
+
+"STRIVE" teaches that all outside the strait gate are in great danger.
+They are in danger of being lost for ever. There is but a step between
+them and death. If death finds them in their present condition, they
+will perish without hope. The Lord Jesus saw that clearly. He knew the
+uncertainty of life and the shortness of time: He would fain have
+sinners make haste and delay not, lest they put off soul business too
+late. He speaks as one who saw the devil drawing near to them daily, and
+the days of their life gradually ebbing away. He would have them take
+heed they be not too late: therefore He cries, "Strive."
+
+That word "Strive," raises solemn thoughts in my mind. It is brimful of
+condemnation for thousands of baptized persons. It condemns the ways and
+practices of multitudes who profess and call themselves Christians. Many
+there are who neither swear, nor murder, nor commit adultery, nor
+steal, nor lie; but one thing unhappily cannot be said of them: they
+cannot be said to "strive" to be saved. The "spirit of slumber"
+possesses their hearts in everything that concerns religion. About the
+things of the world they are active enough: they rise early, and late
+take rest; they labour; they toil; they are busy; they are careful: but
+about the one thing needful they never "strive" at all.
+
+What shall I say of those who are irregular about public worship on
+Sundays? There are thousands all over Great Britain who answer this
+description. Sometimes, if they feel disposed, they go to some church or
+chapel, and attend a religious service; at other times they stay at home
+and read the paper, or idle about, or look over their accounts, or seek
+some amusement. _Is this "striving"_? I speak to men of common sense.
+Let them judge what I say.
+
+What shall I say of those who come regularly to a place of worship, but
+come entirely as a matter of form? There are many in every parish of
+Great Britain in this condition. Their fathers taught them to come;
+their custom has always been to come: it would not be respectable to
+stay away. But they care nothing for the worship of God when they do
+come. Whether they hear law or Gospel, truth or error, it is all the
+same to them. They remember nothing afterwards. They put off their form
+of religion with their Sunday clothes, and return to the world. And _is
+this "striving"_? I speak to men of common sense. Let them judge what I
+say.
+
+What shall I say of those who seldom or never read the Bible? There are
+thousands of persons, I fear, who answer this description. They know the
+Book by name; they know it is commonly regarded as the only Book which
+teaches us how to live and how to die: but they can never find time for
+reading it. Newspapers, reviews, novels, romances, they can read, but
+not the Bible. And _is this "striving"_ to enter in? I speak to men of
+common sense. Let them judge what I say.
+
+What shall I say of those who never pray? There are multitudes, I firmly
+believe, in this condition. Without God they rise in the morning, and
+without God they lie down at night. They ask nothing; they confess
+nothing; they return thanks for nothing; they seek nothing. They are all
+dying creatures, and yet they are not even on speaking terms with their
+Maker and their Judge! And _is this "striving"_? I speak to men of
+common sense. Let them judge what I say.
+
+It is a solemn thing to be a minister of the Gospel. It is a painful
+thing to look on, and notice the ways of mankind in spiritual matters.
+We hold in our hands that great statute Book of God, which declares that
+without repentance, and conversion, and faith in Christ, and holiness,
+no man living can be saved. In discharge of our office we urge on men to
+repent, believe, and be saved; but, alas, how frequently we have to
+lament that our labour seems all in vain. Men attend our churches, and
+listen, and approve, but do not "strive" to be saved. We show the
+sinfulness of sin; we unfold the loveliness of Christ; we expose the
+vanity of the world; we set forth the happiness of Christ's service; we
+offer the living water to the wearied and heavy laden sons of toil: but,
+alas, how often we seem to speak to the winds. Our words are patiently
+heard on Sundays; our arguments are not refuted: but we see plainly in
+the week that men are not "striving" to be saved. There comes the devil
+on Monday morning, and offers his countless snares; there comes the
+world, and holds out its seeming prizes: our hearers follow them
+greedily. They work hard for this world's goods; they toil at Satan's
+bidding: but for the one thing needful they will not "strive" at all.
+
+I am not writing from hear-say. I speak what I have seen. I write down
+the result of thirty-seven years' experience in the ministry. I have
+learned lessons about human nature during that period which I never
+knew before. I have seen how true are our Lord's words about the narrow
+way. I have discovered how few there are that "strive" to be saved.
+
+Earnestness about temporal matters is common enough. Striving to be rich
+and prosperous in this world is not rare at all. Pains about money, and
+business, and politics,--pains about trade, and science, and fine arts,
+and amusements,--pains about rent, and wages, and labour, and
+land,--pains about such matters I see in abundance both in town and
+country. But I see few who take pains about their souls. I see few any
+where who "strive" to enter in at the strait gate.
+
+I am not surprised at all this. I read in the Bible that it is only what
+I am to expect. The parable of the great supper is an exact picture of
+things that I have seen with my own eyes ever since I became a minister.
+(Luke xiv. 16.) I find, as my Lord and Saviour tells me, that "men make
+excuse." One has his piece of land to see; another has his oxen to
+prove; a third has his family hindrances. But all this does not prevent
+my feeling deeply grieved for the souls of men. I grieve to think that
+they should have eternal life so close to them, and yet be lost because
+they will not "strive" to enter in and be saved.
+
+I know not in what state of soul many readers of this paper may be. But
+I warn you to take heed that you do not perish for ever for want of
+"striving." Do not suppose that it needs some great scarlet sin to bring
+you to the pit of destruction. You have only to sit still and do
+nothing, and you will find yourself there at last. Yes! Satan does not
+ask you to walk in the steps of Cain, and Pharaoh, and Ahab, and
+Belshazzar, and Judas Iscariot. There is another road to hell quite as
+sure,--the road of spiritual indolence, spiritual laziness, and
+spiritual sloth. Satan has no objection to your being a respectable
+member of the Christian Church. He will let you pay your tithes, and
+rates, and pew rents; he will allow you to sit comfortably in church
+every Sunday you live. He knows full well, that so long as you do not
+"strive," you must come at last to the worm that never dies, and the
+fire that is not quenched. Take heed that you do not come to this end. I
+repeat it, _you have only to do nothing, and you will be lost_.
+
+If you have been taught to "strive" for your soul's prosperity, I
+entreat you never to suppose you can go too far. Never give way to the
+idea that you are taking too much trouble about your spiritual
+condition, and that there is no need for so much carefulness. Settle it
+rather in your mind that "in all labour there is profit," and that no
+labour is so profitable as that bestowed on the soul. It is a maxim
+among good farmers that the more they do for the land the more the land
+does for them. I am sure it should be a maxim among Christians that the
+more they do for their religion the more their religion will do for
+them. Watch against the slightest inclination to be careless about any
+means of grace. Beware of shortening your prayers, your Bible reading,
+your private communion with God. Take heed that you do not give way to a
+thoughtless, lazy manner of using the public services of God's house.
+Fight against any rising disposition to be sleepy, critical, and
+fault-finding, while you listen to the preaching of the Gospel. Whatever
+you do for God, do it with all your heart and mind and strength. In
+other things be moderate, and dread running into extremes. In soul
+matters fear moderation just as you would fear the plague. Care not what
+men think of you. Let it be enough for you that your Master says,
+"STRIVE."
+
+
+III. The last thing I wish to consider in this paper is the _awful
+prophecy which the Lord Jesus delivers_. He says, "Many will seek to
+enter in, and shall not be able."
+
+When shall this be? At what period shall the gate of salvation be shut
+for ever? When shall "striving" to enter be of no use? These are
+serious questions. The gate is now ready to open to the chief of
+sinners; but a day comes when it shall open no more.
+
+The time foretold by our Lord is the time of His own second coming to
+judge the world. The long-suffering of God will at last have an end. The
+throne of grace will at length be taken down, and the throne of judgment
+shall be set up in its place. The fountain of living waters shall at
+length be closed. The strait gate shall at last be barred and bolted.
+The day of grace will be passed and over. The day of reckoning with a
+sin-laden world shall at length begin. And then shall be brought to pass
+the solemn prophecy of the Lord Jesus,--"Many will seek to enter in, and
+shall not be able."
+
+All prophecies of Scripture that have been fulfilled hitherto, have been
+fulfilled to the very letter. They have seemed to many unlikely,
+improbable, impossible, up to the very time of their accomplishment; but
+not one word of them has ever failed.
+
+The promises of _good things_ have come to pass, in spite of
+difficulties that seemed insuperable. Sarah had a son when she was past
+bearing; the children of Israel were brought out of Egypt and planted in
+the promised land; the Jews were redeemed from the captivity of Babylon,
+after seventy years, and enabled once more to build the temple; the Lord
+Jesus was born of a pure virgin, lived, ministered, was betrayed, and
+cut off, precisely as Scripture foretold. The Word of God was pledged in
+all these cases, that it should be. _And so it was._
+
+The predictions of _judgments_ on cities and nations have come to pass,
+though at the time they were first spoken they seemed incredible. Egypt
+is the basest of kingdoms; Edom is a wilderness; Tyre is a rock for
+drying nets; Nineveh, that "exceeding great city," is laid waste, and
+become a desolation; Babylon is a dry land and a wilderness,--her broad
+walls are utterly broken down; the Jews are scattered over the whole
+earth as a separate people. In all these cases the Word of God foretold
+that it should be so. _And so it was._
+
+The prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ which I press on your attention
+this day, shall be fulfilled in like manner. Not one word of it shall
+fail when the time of its accomplishment is due. "Many will seek to
+enter in, and shall not be able."
+
+There is a time coming when seeking God shall be useless. Oh, that men
+would remember that! Too many seem to fancy that the hour will never
+arrive when they shall seek and not find: but they are sadly mistaken.
+They will discover their mistake one day to their own confusion, except
+they repent. When Christ comes "many shall seek to enter in, and _not be
+able_."
+
+There is a time coming when many shall be shut out from heaven for ever.
+It shall not be the lot of a few, but of a great multitude; it shall not
+happen to one or two in this parish, and one or two in that: it shall be
+the miserable end of a vast crowd. "_Many_ will seek to enter in, and
+shall not be able."
+
+Knowledge shall come to many too late. They shall see at last the value
+of an immortal soul, and the happiness of having it saved. They shall
+understand at last their own sinfulness and God's holiness, and the
+glorious fitness of the Gospel of Christ. They shall comprehend at last
+why ministers seemed so anxious, and preached so long, and entreated
+them so earnestly to be converted. But, alas, they shall know all this
+_too late_!
+
+Repentance shall come to many too late. They shall discover their own
+exceeding wickedness and be thoroughly ashamed of their past folly. They
+shall be full of bitter regret and unavailing lamentations, of keen
+convictions and of piercing sorrows. They shall weep, and wail, and
+mourn, when they reflect on their sins. The remembrance of their lives
+will be grievous to them; the burden of their guilt will seem
+intolerable. But, alas, like Judas Iscariot, they will repent _too
+late_!
+
+Faith shall come to many too late. They will no longer be able to deny
+that there is a God, and a devil, a heaven, and a hell. Deism, and
+scepticism, and infidelity shall be laid aside for ever; scoffing, and
+jesting, and free-thinking shall cease. They will see with their own
+eyes, and feel in their own bodies, that the things of which ministers
+spoke were not cunningly devised fables, but great real truths. They
+will find out to their cost that evangelical religion was not cant,
+extravagance, fanaticism, and enthusiasm: they will discover that it was
+the one thing needful, and that for want of it they are lost for ever.
+Like the devil, they will at length believe and tremble, but _too late_!
+
+A desire of salvation shall come to many too late. They shall long after
+pardon, and peace, and the favour of God, when they can no more be had.
+They will wish they might have one more Sunday over again, have one more
+offer of forgiveness, have one more call to prayer. But it will matter
+nothing what they think, or feel, or desire then: the day of grace will
+be over; the gate of salvation will be bolted and barred. It will be
+_too late_!
+
+I often think what a change there will be one day in the price and
+estimation at which things are valued. I look round this world in which
+my lot is cast; I mark the current price of everything this world
+contains; I look forward to the coming of Christ, and the great day of
+God. I think of the new order of things, which that day will bring in; I
+read the words of the Lord Jesus, when He describes the master of the
+house rising up and shutting the door; and as I read, I say to myself,
+"There will be a great change soon."
+
+What are the _dear things_ now? Gold, silver, precious stones, bank
+notes, mines, ships, lands, houses, horses, carriages, furniture, meat,
+drink, clothes, and the like. These are the things that are thought
+valuable; these are the things that command a ready market; these are
+the things which you can never get below a certain price. He that has
+much of these things is counted a wealthy man. Such is the world!
+
+And what are the _cheap things_ now? The knowledge of God, the free
+salvation of the Gospel, the favour of Christ, the grace of the Holy
+Ghost, the privilege of being God's son, the title to eternal life, the
+right to the tree of life, the reversion of a mansion in heaven, the
+promises of an incorruptible inheritance, the offer of a crown of glory
+that fadeth not away. These are the things that no man hardly cares for.
+They are offered to the sons of men without money and without price:
+they may be had for nothing,--freely and gratuitously. Whosoever will
+may take his portion. But, alas, there is no demand for these things!
+They go a begging. They are scarcely looked at. They are offered in
+vain. Such is the world!
+
+But a day is coming upon us all when the value of everything shall be
+altered. A day is coming when bank-notes shall be as useless as rags,
+and gold shall be as worthless as the dust of the earth. A day is coming
+when thousands shall care nothing for the things for which they once
+lived, and shall desire nothing so much as the things which they once
+despised. The halls and palaces will be forgotten in the desire of a
+"house not made with hands." The favour of the rich and great will be no
+more remembered, in the longing for the favour of the King of kings. The
+silks, and satins, and velvets, and laces, will be lost sight of in the
+anxious want of the robe of Christ's righteousness. All shall be
+altered, all shall be changed in the great day of the Lord's return.
+"Many will seek to enter in, and shall not be able."
+
+It was a weighty saying of some wise man, that "hell is truth known too
+late." I fear that thousands of professing Christians in this day will
+find this out by experience. They will discover the value of their
+souls when it is too late to obtain mercy, and see the beauty of the
+Gospel when they can derive no benefit from it. Oh, that men would be
+wise betimes! I often think there are few passages of Scripture more
+awful than that in the first chapter of Proverbs,--"Because I have
+called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man
+regarded; but ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my
+reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear
+cometh; when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh
+as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall
+they call upon Me, but I will not answer; they shall seek Me early, but
+they shall not find Me: for that they hated knowledge, and did not
+choose the fear of the Lord: they would none of my counsel; they
+despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their
+own way, and be filled with their own devices." (Prov. i. 24-31.)
+
+Some reader of this paper may be one of those who neither like the faith
+nor practice which the Gospel of Christ requires. You think us extreme
+when we beseech you to repent and be converted. You think we ask too
+much when we urge you to come out from the world, and take up the cross,
+and follow Christ. But take notice that you will one day confess _that
+we were right_. Sooner or later, in this world or the next, you will
+acknowledge that you were wrong. Yes! it is a melancholy consideration
+for the faithful minister of the Gospel, that all who hear him will one
+day allow that his counsel was good. Mocked, despised, scorned,
+neglected as his testimony may be on earth, a day is coming which shall
+prove effectually that truth was on his side. The rich man who hears us
+and yet makes a god of this world,--the tradesman who hears us and yet
+makes his ledger his Bible,--the farmer who hears us and yet remains
+cold as the clay on his land,--the labourer who hears us and feels no
+more for his soul than a stone,--all, all will at length acknowledge
+before the world that they were wrong. All will at length desire
+earnestly that very mercy which we now set before them in vain. "They
+will seek to enter in, and shall not be able."
+
+Some reader of this paper may be one of those who love the Lord Jesus
+Christ in sincerity. Such an one may well take comfort when he looks
+forward. You often suffer persecution now for your religion's sake. You
+have to bear hard words and unkind insinuations. Your motives are often
+misrepresented, and your conduct slandered. The reproach of the cross
+has not ceased. But you may well take courage when you look forward and
+think of the Lord's second coming. That day shall make amends for all.
+You will see those who now laugh at you because you read the Bible, and
+pray, and love Christ, in a very different state of mind. They will come
+to you as the foolish virgins came to the wise, saying, "Give us of your
+oil, because our lamps are gone out." (Matt. xxv. 8.) You will see those
+who now hate you and call you fools because, like Caleb and Joshua, you
+bring up a good report of Christ's service, altered, changed, and no
+longer like the same men. They will say, "Oh, that we had taken part
+with you! You have been the truly wise, and we the foolish." Then fear
+not the reproach of men. Confess Christ boldly before the world. Show
+your colours, and be not ashamed of your Master. Time is short: eternity
+hastens on. The cross is only for a little season: the crown is for
+ever. Make sure work about that crown: leave nothing uncertain. "Many
+will seek to enter in, and shall not be able."
+
+
+And now let me offer to every one who reads this paper a few parting
+words, in order to apply the whole subject to his soul. You have heard
+the words of the Lord Jesus unfolded and expounded. You have seen the
+picture of the way of salvation: it is a strait gate.--You have heard
+the command of the King: "Strive to enter in."--You have been told of
+His solemn warning: "Many shall seek to enter in, and shall not be
+able."--Bear with me a little longer while I try to impress the whole
+matter on your conscience. I have yet something to say on God's behalf.
+
+(1) For one thing, I will ask you a plain question. _Have you entered in
+at the strait gate or not?_ Old or young, rich or poor, churchman or
+dissenter, I repeat my question, Have you entered in at the strait gate?
+
+I ask not whether you have heard of it, and believe there is a gate. I
+ask not whether you have looked at it, and admired it, and hope one day
+to go in. I ask whether you have gone up to it, knocked at it, been
+admitted, and _are now inside_?
+
+If you are not inside, what good have you got from your religion? You
+are not pardoned and forgiven. You are not reconciled to God. You are
+not born again, sanctified, and meet for heaven. If you die as you are,
+the devil will have you for ever, and your soul will be eternally
+miserable.
+
+Oh, think, think what a state this is to live in! Think, think above all
+things, what a state this is to die in! Your life is but a vapour. A few
+more years at most and you are gone: your place in the world will soon
+be filled up; your house will be occupied by another. The sun will go on
+shining; the grass and daises will soon grow thick over your grave; your
+body will be food for worms, and your soul will be lost to all eternity.
+
+And all this time there stands open before you a gate of salvation. God
+invites you. Jesus Christ offers to save you. All things are ready for
+your deliverance. One thing only is wanting, and that is that you should
+be willing to be saved.
+
+Oh think of these things, and be wise!
+
+(2) For another thing, I will give plain advice to all who are not yet
+inside the strait gate. That advice is simply this: _to enter in without
+a day's delay_.
+
+Tell me, if you can, of any one who ever reached heaven excepting
+through "the strait gate." I know of none. From Abel, the first who
+died, down to the end of the list of Bible names, I see none saved by
+any way but that of faith in Christ.
+
+Tell me, if you can, of any one who ever entered in at the strait gate
+without "striving." I know of none excepting those who die in infancy.
+He that would win heaven must be content to fight for it.
+
+Tell me, if you can, of any one who ever strove earnestly to enter, and
+failed to succeed. I know of none. I believe that however weak and
+ignorant men may be, they never seek life heartily and conscientiously,
+at the right door, and are left without an answer of peace.
+
+Tell me, if you can, of any one who ever entered in at the strait gate,
+and was afterwards sorry. I know of none. I believe the footsteps on the
+threshold of that gate are all one way. All have found it a good thing
+to serve Christ, and have never regretted taking up His cross.
+
+If these things are so, seek Christ without delay, and enter in at the
+gate of life while you can! Make a beginning this very day. Go to that
+merciful and mighty Saviour in prayer, and pour out your heart before
+Him. Confess to Him your guilt and wickedness and sin. Unbosom yourself
+freely to Him: keep nothing back. Tell Him that you cast yourself and
+all your soul's affairs wholly on His hands, and ask Him to save you
+according to His promise, and put His Holy Spirit within you.
+
+There is everything _to encourage you to do this_. Thousands as bad as
+you have applied to Christ in this way, and not one of them has been
+sent away and refused. They have found a peace of conscience they never
+knew before, and have gone on their way rejoicing. They have found
+strength for all the trials of life, and none of them have been allowed
+to perish in the wilderness. Why should not you also seek Christ?
+
+There is everything to encourage you to do what I tell you _at once_. I
+know no reason why your repentance and conversion should not be as
+immediate as that of others before you. The Samaritan woman came to the
+well an ignorant sinner, and returned to her home a new creature. The
+Philippian jailor turned from darkness to light, and became a professed
+disciple of Christ in a single day. And why should not others do the
+same? Why should not you give up your sins, and lay hold on Christ this
+very day?
+
+I know that the advice I have given you is good. The grand question is,
+Will you take it?
+
+(3) The last thing I have to say shall be a request to all who have
+really entered in at the strait gate. That request is, that you will
+_tell others_ of the blessings which you have found.
+
+I want all converted people to be missionaries. I do not want them all
+to go out to foreign lands, and preach to the heathen; but I do want all
+to be of a missionary spirit, and to strive to do good at home. I want
+them to testify to all around them that the strait gate is the way to
+happiness, and to persuade them to enter in by it.
+
+When Andrew was converted he found his brother Peter, and said to him,
+"We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. And
+he brought him to Jesus." (John i. 41, 42.) When Philip was converted he
+found Nathaniel, and said to him, "We have found Him, of whom Moses in
+the law, and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of
+Joseph. And Nathaniel said unto him, Can there any good thing come out
+of Nazareth? Philip said unto him, Come and see." (John i. 45, 46.) When
+the Samaritan woman was converted, she "left her waterpot, and went into
+the city, and said to the men, Come, see a man which told me all things
+that ever I did: is not this the Christ?" (John iv. 28, 29.) When Saul
+the Pharisee was converted, "Straightway he preached Christ in the
+synagogues, that He is the son of God." (Acts ix. 20.)
+
+I long to see this kind of spirit among Christians in the present day. I
+long to see more zeal to commend the strait gate to all who are yet
+outside, and more desire to persuade them to enter in and be saved.
+Happy indeed is that Church whose members not only desire to reach
+heaven themselves, but desire also to take others with them!
+
+The great gate of salvation is yet ready to open, but the hour draws
+near when it will be closed for ever. Let us work while it is called
+to-day, for "the night cometh when no man can work." (John ix. 4.) Let
+us tell our relatives and friends, that we have proved the way of life
+and found it pleasant, that we have tasted the bread of life and found
+it good.
+
+I have heard it calculated that if every believer in the world were to
+bring one soul to Christ each year, the whole human race would be
+converted in less than twenty years. I make no comment on such a
+calculation. Whether such a thing might be or not, one thing is sure:
+that thing is, that many more _souls might probably be converted to God,
+if Christians were more zealous to do good_.
+
+This, at least, we may remember, that God is "not willing that any
+should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Pet. iii. 9.)
+He that endeavours to show his neighbour the strait gate is doing a work
+which God approves. He is doing a work which angels regard with
+interest, and with which the building of a pyramid will not compare in
+importance. What saith the Scripture? "He which converteth a sinner from
+the error of his way, shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a
+multitude of sins." (James v. 20.)
+
+Let us all awaken to a deeper sense of our responsibility in this
+matter. Let us look round the circle of those among whom we live, and
+consider their state before God. Are there not many of them yet outside
+the gate, unforgiven, unsanctified, and unfit to die? Let us watch for
+opportunities of speaking to them. Let us tell them of the strait gate,
+and entreat them to "strive to enter in."
+
+Who can tell what "a word spoken in due season" may do? Who can tell
+what it may do when spoken in faith and prayer? It may be the
+turning-point in some man's history. It may be the beginning of thought,
+prayer, and eternal life. Oh, for more love and boldness among
+believers! Think what a blessing to be allowed to speak one converting
+word!
+
+I know not what the feelings of my readers may be on this subject. My
+heart's desire and prayer is that you may daily remember Christ's solemn
+words,--"Many will seek to enter in, and shall not be able." Keep these
+words in mind, and then be careless about the souls of others, if you
+can.
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+
+REALITY
+
+     "_Reprobate silver._"--Jer. vi. 30.
+
+     "_Nothing but leaves._"--Mark xi. 13.
+
+     "_Let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and
+     in truth._"--1 John iii. 18. "_Thou hast a name that thou
+     livest, and art dead._"--Rev. iii. 1.
+
+
+If we profess to have any religion at all, let us take care that it is
+real. I say it emphatically, and I repeat the saying: Let us mind that
+our religion is real.
+
+What do I mean when I use the word "real." I mean that which is genuine,
+and sincere, and honest, and thorough. I mean that which is not base,
+and hollow, and formal, and false, and counterfeit, and sham, and
+nominal. "Real" religion is not mere show, and pretence, and skin-deep
+feeling, and temporary profession, and outside work. It is something
+inward, solid, substantial, intrinsic, living, lasting. We know the
+difference between base coin and good money,--between solid gold and
+tinsel,--between plated metal and silver,--between real stone and
+plaster imitation. Let us think of these things as we consider the
+subject of this paper. What is the character of our religion? Is it
+real? It may be weak, and feeble, and mingled with many infirmities.
+That is not the point before us to-day. Is our religion real? Is it
+true?
+
+The times in which we live demand attention to this subject. A want of
+reality is a striking feature of a vast amount of religion in the
+present day. Poets have sometimes told us that the world has passed
+through four different states or conditions. We have had a golden age,
+and a silver age, a brazen age, and an iron age. How far this is true, I
+do not stop to inquire. But I fear there is little doubt as to the
+character of the age in which we live. It is universally an age of base
+metal and alloy. If we measure the religion of the age by its apparent
+quantity, there is much of it. But if we measure it by its quality,
+there is very little indeed. On every side we want MORE REALITY.
+
+I ask attention, while I try to bring home to men's consciences the
+question of this paper. There are two things which I propose to do:--
+
+    I. In the first place, I will show the _importance of reality in
+    religion_.
+
+    II. In the second place, I will supply _some tests by which we may
+    prove whether our own religion is real._
+
+Has any reader of this paper the least desire to go to heaven when he
+dies? Do you wish to have a religion which will comfort you in life,
+give you good hope in death, and abide the judgment of God at the last
+day? Then, do not turn away from the subject before you. Sit down, and
+consider calmly, whether your Christianity is real and true, or base and
+hollow.
+
+
+I. I have to show _the importance of reality in religion._
+
+The point is one which, at first sight, may seem to require very few
+remarks to establish it. All men, I shall be told, are fully convinced
+of the importance of reality.
+
+But is this true? Can it be said indeed that reality is rightly esteemed
+among Christians? I deny it entirely. The greater part of people who
+profess to admire reality, seem to think that every one possesses
+it!--They tell us "that all have got good hearts at bottom,"--that all
+are sincere and true in the main, though they may make mistakes. They
+call us uncharitable, and harsh, and censorious, if we doubt anybody's
+goodness of heart. In short, they destroy the value of reality, by
+regarding it as a thing which almost every one has.
+
+This wide-spread delusion is precisely one of the causes why I take up
+this subject. I want men to understand that _reality_ is a far more rare
+and uncommon thing than is commonly supposed. I want men to see that
+_unreality_ is one of the great dangers of which Christians ought to
+beware.
+
+What saith the Scripture? This is the only judge that can try the
+subject. Let us turn to our Bibles, and examine them fairly, and then
+deny, if we can, the importance of reality in religion, and the danger
+of not being real.
+
+(1) Let us look then, for one thing, at the parables spoken by our Lord
+Jesus Christ. Observe how many of them are intended to put in strong
+contrast the true believer and the mere nominal disciple. The parables
+of the sower, of the wheat and tares, of the draw-net, of the two sons,
+of the wedding garment, of the ten virgins, of the talents, of the great
+supper, of the pounds, of the two builders, have all one great point in
+common. They all bring out in striking colours the difference between
+reality and unreality in religion. They all show the uselessness and
+danger of any Christianity which is not real, thorough, and true.
+
+(2) Let us look, for another thing, at the language of our Lord Jesus
+Christ about the scribes and the Pharisees. Eight times over in one
+chapter we find Him denouncing them as "hypocrites," in words of almost
+fearful severity.--"Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers," He says, "How
+can ye escape the damnation of hell?" (Matt. xxiii. 33.) What may we
+learn from these tremendously strong expressions? How is it that our
+gracious and merciful Saviour used such cutting words about people who
+at any rate were more moral and decent than the publicans and harlots?
+It is meant to teach us the exceeding abominableness of false profession
+and mere outward religion in God's sight. Open profligacy and wilful
+obedience to fleshly lusts are no doubt ruinous sins, if not given up.
+But there seems nothing which is so displeasing to Christ as hypocrisy
+and unreality.
+
+(3) Let us look, for another thing, at the startling fact, that there is
+hardly a grace in the character of a true Christian of which you will
+not find a counterfeit described in the Word of God. There is not a
+feature in a believer's countenance of which there is not an imitation.
+Give me your attention, and I will show you this in a few particulars.
+
+Is there not an unreal _repentance_? Beyond doubt there is. Saul and
+Ahab, and Herod, and Judas Iscariot had many feelings of sorrow about
+sin. But they never really repented unto salvation.
+
+Is there not an unreal _faith_? Beyond doubt there is. It is written of
+Simon Magus, at Samaria, that he "believed," and yet his heart was not
+right in the sight of God. It is even written of the devils that they
+"believe and tremble." (Acts viii. 13; James ii. 19.)
+
+Is there not an unreal _holiness_? Beyond doubt there is. Joash, king of
+Judah, became to all appearance very holy and good, so long as Jehoiada
+the priest lived. But as soon as he died the religion of Joash died at
+the same time. (2 Chron. xxiv. 2.)--Judas Iscariot's outward life was as
+correct as that of any of the apostles up to the time that he betrayed
+his Master. There was nothing suspicious about him. Yet in reality he
+was "a thief" and a traitor. (John xii. 6.)
+
+Is there not an unreal _love and charity_? Beyond doubt there is. There
+is a love which consists in words and tender expressions, and a great
+show of affection, and calling other people "dear brethren," while the
+heart does not love at all. It is not for nothing that St. John says,
+"Let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth."
+It was not without cause that St. Paul said: "Let love be without
+dissimulation." (1 John iii. 18; Rom. xii. 19.)
+
+Is there not an unreal _humility_? Beyond doubt there is. There is a
+pretended lowliness of demeanour, which often covers over a very proud
+heart. St. Paul warns us against a "voluntary humility," and speaks of
+"things which had a show of wisdom in will-worship and humility." (Col.
+ii. 18, 23.)
+
+Is there not unreal _praying_? Beyond doubt there is. Our Lord denounces
+it as one of the special sins of the Pharisees--that for a "pretence
+they made long prayers." (Matt. xxiii. 14.) He does not charge them with
+not praying, or with praying too shortly. Their sin lay in this, that
+their prayers were not real.
+
+Is there not unreal _worship_? Beyond doubt there is. Our Lord says of
+the Jews: "This people draw nigh to Me with their mouths, and honour Me
+with their lips, but their heart is far from Me." (Matt. xv. 8.) They
+had plenty of formal services in their temples and their synagogues. But
+the fatal defect about them was want of reality and want of heart.
+
+Is there not unreal _talking_ about religion? Beyond doubt there is.
+Ezekiel describes some professing Jews who talked and spoke like God's
+people "while their hearts went after their covetousness." (Ezek.
+xxxiii. 31.) St. Paul tells us that we may "speak with the tongue of men
+and angels," and yet be no better than sounding brass and a tinkling
+cymbal. (1 Cor. xiii. 1.)
+
+What shall we say to these things? To say the least they ought to set us
+thinking. To my own mind they seem to lead to only one conclusion. They
+show clearly the immense importance which Scripture attaches to reality
+in religion. They show clearly what need we have to take heed lest our
+Christianity turn out to be merely nominal, formal, unreal, and base.
+
+The subject is of deep importance in every age. There has never been a
+time, since the Church of Christ was founded, when there has not been a
+vast amount of unreality and mere nominal religion among professing
+Christians. I am sure it is the case in the present day. Wherever I turn
+my eyes I see abundant cause for the warning,--"Beware of base metal in
+religion. Be genuine. Be thorough. Be real. Be true."
+
+How much religion among some members of the Church of England consists
+of _nothing but churchmanship_! They belong to the Established Church.
+They are baptized at her fonts, married at her communion rails, buried
+in her churchyards, preached to on Sundays by her ministers. But the
+great doctrines laid down in her Articles and Liturgy have no place in
+their hearts, and no influence on their lives. They neither think, nor
+feel, nor care, nor know anything about them. And is the religion of
+these people real Christianity? It is nothing of the kind. It is mere
+base metal. It is not the Christianity of Peter, and James, and John,
+and Paul. It is _Churchianity_, and no more.
+
+How much religion among some Dissenters from the Church of England
+consists of _nothing but dissent_! They pride themselves on having
+nothing to do with the Establishment. They rejoice in having no liturgy,
+no forms, no bishops. They glory in the exercise of their private
+judgment, and the absence of everything like ceremonial in their public
+worship. But all this time they have neither grace, nor faith, nor
+repentance, nor holiness, nor spirituality of conduct or conversation.
+The experimental and practical piety of the old Nonconformists is a
+thing of which they are utterly destitute. Their Christianity is as
+sapless and fruitless as a dead tree, and as dry and marrowless as an
+old bone. And is the Christianity of these people real? It is nothing
+of the kind. It is base metal. It is not the Christianity of Owen, and
+Manton, and Goodwin, and Baxter, and Traill. It is _Dissentianity_, and
+nothing more.
+
+How much Ritualistic religion is utterly unreal! You will sometimes see
+men boiling over with zeal about vestments, and gestures, and postures,
+and church decorations, and daily services, and frequent communions,
+while their hearts are manifestly in the world. Of the inward work of
+the Holy Ghost,--of living faith in the Lord Jesus,--of delight in the
+Bible and religious conversation,--of separation from worldly follies
+and amusements,--of zeal for the conversion of souls to God,--of all
+these things they are profoundly ignorant. And is such Christianity as
+this real? It is nothing of the kind. It is a mere name.
+
+How much Evangelical religion is completely unreal? You will sometimes
+see men professing great affection for the pure "Gospel," while they are
+practically inflicting on it the greatest injury. They will talk loudly
+of soundness in the faith, and have a keen nose for heresy. They will
+run eagerly after popular preachers, and applaud Protestant speakers at
+public meetings to the very echo. They are familiar with all the phrases
+of evangelical religion, and can converse fluently about its leading
+doctrines. To see their faces at public meetings, or in church, you
+would think them eminently godly. To hear them talk you would suppose
+their lives were bound up in religious Societies, the "Record" or "Rock"
+newspapers, and Exeter Hall. And yet these people in private will
+sometimes do things of which even some heathens would be ashamed. They
+are neither truthful, nor straightforward, nor honest, nor manly, nor
+just, nor good-tempered, nor unselfish, nor merciful, nor humble, nor
+kind! And is such Christianity as this real? It is not. It is a
+miserable imposture, a base cheat and caricature.
+
+How much Revivalist religion in the present day is utterly unreal! You
+will find a crowd of false professors bringing discredit on the work of
+God wherever the Holy Spirit is poured out. You will see a mixed
+multitude of Egyptians accompanying the Israel of God, and doing it
+harm, whenever Israel goes out of Egypt. How many now-a-days will
+profess to be suddenly convinced of sin,--to find peace in Jesus,--to be
+overwhelmed with joys and ecstacies of soul,--while in reality they have
+no grace at all. Like the stony-ground hearers, they endure but for a
+season. "In the time of temptation they fall away." (Luke viii. 13) As
+soon as the first excitement is passed off, they return to their old
+ways, and resume their former sins. Their religion is like Jonah's
+gourd, which came up in a night and perished in a night. They have
+neither root nor vitality. They only injure God's cause and give
+occasion to God's enemies to blaspheme. And is Christianity like this
+real? It is nothing of the kind. It is base metal from the devil's mint,
+=and= is worthless in God's sight.
+
+I write these things with sorrow. I have no desire to bring any section
+of the Church of Christ into contempt. I have no wish to cast any slur
+on any movement which begins with the Spirit of God. But the times
+demand very plain speaking about some points in the prevailing
+Christianity of our day. And one point, I am quite persuaded, that
+demands attention, is the abounding want of reality which is to be seen
+on every side.
+
+No reader, at any rate, can well deny that the subject of the paper
+before him is of vast importance.
+
+
+II. I pass on now to the second thing which I propose to do. _I will
+supply some tests by which we may try the reality of our religion._
+
+In approaching this part of my subject, I ask every reader of this paper
+to deal fairly, honestly, and reasonably with his soul. Dismiss from
+your mind the common idea,--that of course all is right if you go to
+church or to chapel. Cast away such vain notions for ever. You must look
+further, higher, deeper than this, if you would find out the truth.
+Listen to me, and I will give you a few hints. Believe me, it is no
+light matter. It is your life.
+
+(1) For one thing, if you would know whether your religion is real, try
+it by _the place which it occupies_ in your inner man. It is not enough
+that it is in your _head_. You may know the truth, and assent to the
+truth, and believe the truth, and yet be wrong in God's sight.--It is
+not enough that it is on your _lips_. You may repeat the creed daily.
+You may say "Amen" to public prayer in church, and yet have nothing more
+than an outward religion.--It is not enough that it is in your
+_feelings_. You may weep under preaching one day, and be lifted to the
+third heaven by joyous excitement another day, and yet be dead to
+God.--Your religion, if it is real, and given by the Holy Ghost, must be
+in your _heart_. It must occupy the citadel. It must hold the reins. It
+must sway the affections. It must lead the will. It must direct the
+tastes. It must influence the choices and decisions. It must fill the
+deepest, lowest, inmost seat in your soul. Is this your religion? If
+not, you may well doubt whether it is "_real_" and true. (Acts viii. 21;
+Rom. x. 10.)
+
+(2) In the next place, if you would know whether your religion is real,
+try it by the _feelings towards sin_ which it produces. The Christianity
+which is from the Holy Ghost will always have a very deep view of the
+sinfulness of sin. It will not merely regard sin as a blemish and
+misfortune, which makes men and women objects of pity and compassion. It
+will see in sin the abominable thing which God hates, the thing which
+makes man guilty and lost in his Maker's sight, the thing which deserves
+God's wrath and condemnation. It will look on sin as the cause of all
+sorrow and unhappiness, of strife and wars, of quarrels and contentions,
+of sickness and death,--the blight which has blighted God's fair
+creation, the cursed thing which makes the whole earth groan and travail
+in pain. Above all, it will see in sin the thing which will ruin us
+eternally, except we can find a ransom,--lead us captive, except we can
+get its chains broken,--and destroy our happiness, both here and
+hereafter, except we fight against it, even unto death. Is this your
+religion? Are these your feelings about sin? If not, you may well doubt
+whether your religion is "_real_."
+
+(3) For another thing, if you would know whether your religion is real,
+try it by the _feelings toward Christ_ which it produces. Nominal
+religion may believe that such a person as Christ existed, and was a
+great benefactor to mankind. It may show Him some external respect,
+attend His outward ordinances, and bow the head at His name. But it will
+go no further. Real religion will make a man glory in Christ, as the
+Redeemer, the Deliverer, the Priest, the Friend, without whom he would
+have no hope at all. It will produce confidence in Him, love towards
+Him, delight in Him, comfort in Him, as the mediator, the food, the
+light, the life, the peace of the soul. Is this your religion? Do you
+know anything of feelings like these toward Jesus Christ? If not, you
+may well doubt whether your religion is "_real_."
+
+(4) For another thing, if you would know whether your religion is real,
+try it by _the fruit it bears in your heart and life_. The Christianity
+which is from above will always be known by its fruits. It will produce
+in the man who has it repentance, faith, hope, charity, humility,
+spirituality, kind temper, self-denial, unselfishness, forgivingness,
+temperance, truthfulness, brotherly-kindness, patience, forbearance. The
+degree in which these various graces appear may vary in different
+believers. The germ and seeds of them will be found in all who are the
+children of God. By their fruits they may be known. Is this your
+religion? If not, you may well doubt whether it is "_real_."
+
+(5) In the last place, if you would know whether your religion is real,
+try it by your _feelings and habits about means of grace_. Prove it by
+the Sunday. Is that day a season of weariness and constraint, or a
+delight and a refreshment, and a sweet foretaste of the rest to come in
+heaven?--Prove it by the public means of grace. What are your feelings
+about public prayer and public praise, about the public preaching of
+God's Word, and the administration of the Lord's Supper? Are they things
+to which you give a cold assent, and tolerate them as proper and
+correct? Or, are they things in which you take pleasure, and without
+which you could not live happy?--Prove it, finally, by your feelings
+about private means of grace. Do you find it essential to your comfort
+to read the Bible regularly in private, and to speak to God in prayer?
+Or, do you find these practices irksome, and either slur them over, or
+neglect them altogether? These questions deserve your attention. If
+means of grace, whether public or private, are not as necessary to your
+soul as meat and drink are to your body, you may well doubt whether your
+religion is "_real_."
+
+I press on the attention of all my readers the five points which I have
+just named. There is nothing like coming to particulars about these
+matters. If you would know whether your religion is "real," genuine, and
+true, measure it by the five particulars which I have now named. Measure
+it fairly: test it honestly. If your heart is right in the sight of God,
+you have no cause to flinch from examination. If it is wrong, the sooner
+you find it out the better.
+
+
+And now I have done what I proposed to do. I have shown from Scripture
+the unspeakable importance of reality in religion, and the danger in
+which many stand of being lost for ever, for want of it. I have given
+five plain tests, by which a man may find out whether his Christianity
+is real. I will conclude all by a direct application of the whole
+subject to the souls of all who read this paper. I will draw my bow at a
+venture, and trust that God will bring an arrow home to the hearts and
+consciences of many.
+
+(1) My first word of application shall be _an inquiry_. Is your own
+religion real or unreal? genuine or base? I do not ask what you think
+about others. Perhaps you may see many hypocrites around you. You may be
+able to point to many who have no "reality" at all. This is not the
+question. You may be right in your opinion about others. But I want to
+know about yourself. Is your own Christianity real and true? or nominal
+and base?
+
+If you love life, do not turn away from the question which is now before
+you. The time must come when the whole truth will be known. The judgment
+day will reveal every man's religion, of what sort it is. The parable of
+the wedding-garment will receive an awful fulfilment. Surely it is a
+thousand times better to find out _now_ your condition, and to repent,
+than to find it out too late in the next world, when there will be no
+space for repentance. If you have common prudence, sense, and judgment,
+consider what I say. Sit down quietly this day, and examine yourself.
+Find out the real character of your religion. With the Bible in your
+hand, and honesty in your heart, the thing may be known. Then resolve to
+find out.
+
+(2) My second word of application shall be a _warning_. I address it to
+all who know, in their own consciences, that their religion is not real.
+I ask them to remember the greatness of their danger, and their
+exceeding guilt in the sight of God.
+
+An unreal Christianity is specially offensive to that Great God with
+whom we have to do. He is continually spoken of in Scripture as the God
+of Truth. Truth is peculiarly one of His attributes. Can you doubt for a
+moment that He abhors everything that is not genuine and true? Better, I
+firmly believe, to be found an ignorant heathen at the last day, than to
+be found with nothing better than a nominal religion. If your religion
+is of this sort, beware!
+
+An unreal Christianity is sure to fail a man at last. It will wear out;
+it will break down; it will leave its possessor like a wreck on a
+sandbank, high and dry and forsaken by the tide; it will supply no
+comfort in the hour when comfort is most needed,--in the time of
+affliction, and on the bed of death. If you want a religion to be of any
+use to your soul, beware of unreality! If you would not be comfortless
+in death, and hopeless in the judgment day, be genuine, be real, be
+true.
+
+(3) My third word of application shall be _advice_. I offer it to all
+who feel pricked in conscience by the subject of this paper. I advise
+them to cease from all trifling and playing with religion, and to become
+honest, thorough-going, whole-hearted followers of the Lord Jesus
+Christ.
+
+Apply without delay to the Lord Jesus, and ask Him to become your
+Saviour, your Physician, your Priest, and your Friend. Let not the
+thought of your unworthiness keep you away: let not the recollection of
+your sins prevent your application. Never, never forget that Christ can
+cleanse you from any quantity of sins, if you only commit your soul to
+Him. But one thing He does ask of those who come to Him: He asks them to
+be real, honest, and true.
+
+Let reality be one great mark of your approach to Christ, and there is
+everything to give you hope. Your repentance may be feeble, but let it
+be real; your faith may be weak, but let it be real; your desires after
+holiness may be mingled with much infirmity, but let them be real. Let
+there be nothing of reserve, of double-dealing, of part-acting of
+dishonesty, of sham, of counterfeit, in your Christianity. Never be
+content to wear a cloak of religion. Be all that you profess. Though you
+may err, be real. Though you may stumble, be true. Keep this principle
+continually before your eyes, and it will be well with your soul
+throughout your journey from grace to glory.
+
+(4) My last word of application shall be _encouragement_. I address it
+to all who have manfully taken up the cross, and are honestly following
+Christ. I exhort them to persevere, and not to be moved by difficulties
+and opposition.
+
+You may often find few with you, and many against you. You may often
+hear hard things said of you. You may often be told that you go too far,
+and that you are extreme. Heed it not. Turn a deaf ear to remarks of
+this kind. Press on.
+
+If there is anything which a man ought to do thoroughly, really, truly,
+honestly, and with all his heart, it is the business of his soul. If
+there is any work which he ought never to slur over, and do in a
+slovenly fashion, it is the great work of "working out his own
+salvation." (Phil. ii. 12.) Believer in Christ, remember this! Whatever
+you do in religion, do it well. Be real. Be thorough. Be honest. Be
+true.
+
+If there is anything in the world of which a man need not be ashamed, it
+is the service of Jesus Christ. Of sin, of worldliness, of levity, of
+trifling, of time-wasting, of pleasure-seeking, of bad temper, of pride,
+of making an idol of money, dress, dancing, hunting, shooting,
+card-playing, novel-reading, and the like,--of all this a man may well
+be ashamed. Living after this fashion he makes the angels sorrow, and
+the devils rejoice. But of living for his soul,--caring for his
+soul,--thinking of his soul,--providing for his soul,--making his soul's
+salvation the principal and chief thing in his daily life,--of all this
+a man has no cause to be ashamed at all. Believer in Christ, remember
+this! Remember it in your Bible-reading and your private praying.
+Remember it on your Sabbaths. Remember it in your worship of God. In all
+these things never be ashamed of being whole-hearted, real, thorough,
+and true.
+
+The years of our life are fast passing away. Who knows but this year may
+be the last in his life? Who can tell but that he may be called this
+very year to meet his God? As ever you would be found ready, be a real
+and true Christian. Do not be base metal.
+
+The time is fast coming when nothing but reality will stand the fire.
+Real repentance towards God,--real faith towards our Lord Jesus
+Christ,--real holiness of heart and life,--these, these are the things
+which will alone pass current at the last day. It is a solemn saying of
+our Lord Jesus Christ, "Many shall say in that day, Lord, Lord, have we
+not prophesied in Thy name, and in Thy name have cast out devils, and in
+Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess to them, I
+never knew you. Depart from Me, ye that work iniquity." (Matt. vii. 22,
+23.)
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+
+PRAYER
+
+     "_Men ought always to pray._"--Luke xviii. 1.
+
+     "_I will that men pray everywhere._"--1 Tim. ii. 8.
+
+
+Prayer is the most important subject in practical religion. All other
+subjects are second to it. Reading the Bible, keeping the Sabbath,
+hearing sermons, attending public worship, going to the Lord's
+Table,--all these are very weighty matters. But none of them are so
+important as private prayer.
+
+I propose in this paper to offer seven plain reasons why I use such
+strong language about prayer. I invite to these reasons the attention of
+every thinking man into whose hands this paper may fall. I venture to
+assert with confidence that they deserve serious consideration.
+
+
+I. In the first place, _Prayer is absolutely needful to a man's
+salvation_.
+
+I say absolutely needful, and I say so advisedly. I am not speaking now
+of infants and idiots. I am not settling the state of the heathen. I
+remember that where little is given, there little will be required. I
+speak especially of those who call themselves Christians, in a land like
+our own. And of such I say no man or woman can expect to be saved who
+does not pray.
+
+I hold salvation by grace as strongly as any one. I would gladly offer a
+free and full pardon to the greatest sinner that ever lived. I would not
+hesitate to stand by his dying bed, and say, "Believe on the Lord Jesus
+Christ even now, and you shall be saved." But that a man can have
+salvation without _asking_ for it, I cannot see in the Bible. That a man
+will receive pardon of his sins, who will not so much as lift up his
+heart inwardly, and say, "Lord Jesus, give it to me," this I cannot
+find. I can find that nobody will be saved by his prayers, but I cannot
+find that without prayer anybody will be saved.
+
+It is not absolutely needful to salvation that a man should _read_ the
+Bible. A man may have no learning, or be blind, and yet have Christ in
+his heart. It is not absolutely needful that a man should _hear_ the
+public preaching of the Gospel. He may live where the Gospel is not
+preached, or he may be bedridden, or deaf. But the same thing cannot be
+said about prayer. It is absolutely needful to salvation that a man
+should _pray_.
+
+There is no royal road either to health or learning. Princes and kings,
+poor men and peasants, all alike must attend to the wants of their own
+bodies and their own minds. No man can eat, drink, or sleep by proxy. No
+man can get the alphabet learned for him by another. All these are
+things which everybody must do for himself, or they will not be done at
+all.
+
+Just as it is with the mind and body, so it is with the soul. There are
+certain things absolutely needful to the soul's health and well-being.
+Each one must attend to these things for himself. Each must repent for
+himself. Each must apply to Christ for himself. And for himself each one
+must speak to God and pray. You must do it for yourself, for by nobody
+else can it be done.
+
+How can we expect to be saved by an "unknown" God? And how can we know
+God without prayer? We know nothing of men and women in this world,
+unless we speak with them. We cannot know God in Christ, unless we speak
+to Him in prayer. If we wish to be with Him in heaven, we must be His
+friends on earth. If we wish to be His friends on earth, _we must pray_.
+
+There will be many at Christ's right hand in the last day. The saints
+gathered from North and South, and East and West, will be "a multitude
+that no man can number." (Rev. vii. 9.) The song of victory that will
+burst from their mouths, when their redemption is at length complete,
+will be a glorious song indeed. It will be far above the noise of many
+waters, and of mighty thunders. But there will be no discord in that
+song. They that sing will sing with one heart as well as one voice.
+Their experience will be one and the same. All will have believed. All
+will have been washed in the blood of Christ. All will have been born
+again. All will have prayed. Yes, we must pray on earth, or we shall
+never praise in heaven. We must go through the school of prayer, or we
+shall never be fit for the holiday of praise. In short, to be prayerless
+is to be without God,--without Christ,--without grace,--without
+hope,--and without heaven. It is to be in the road to hell.
+
+
+II. In the second place, _a habit of prayer is one of the surest marks
+of a true Christian_.
+
+All the children of God on earth are alike in this respect. From the
+moment there is any life and reality about their religion, they pray.
+Just as the first sign of life in an infant when born into the world, is
+the act of breathing, so the first act of men and women when they are
+born again, is _praying_.
+
+This is one of the common marks of all the elect of God: "They cry unto
+Him day and night." (Luke xviii. 1.) The Holy Spirit, who makes them new
+creatures, works in them the feeling of adoption, and makes them cry,
+"Abba, Father." (Rom. viii. 15.) The Lord Jesus, when He quickens them,
+gives them a voice and a tongue, and says to them, "Be dumb no more."
+God has no dumb children. It is as much a part of their new nature to
+pray, as it is of a child to cry. They see their need of mercy and
+grace. They feel their emptiness and weakness. They cannot do otherwise
+than they do. They _must_ pray.
+
+I have looked carefully over the lives of God's saints in the Bible. I
+cannot find one of whose history much is told us, from Genesis to
+Revelation, who was not a man of prayer. I find it mentioned as a
+characteristic of the godly, that "they call on the Father," that "they
+call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ." I find it recorded as a
+characteristic of the wicked, that "they call not upon the Lord." (1
+Peter i. 17; 1 Cor. i. 2; Psalm xiv. 4.)
+
+I have read the lives of many eminent Christians who have been on earth
+since the Bible days. Some of them, I see, were rich, and some poor.
+Some were learned, and some unlearned. Some of them were Episcopalians,
+some Presbyterians, some Baptists, some Independents. Some were
+Calvinists, and some Arminians. Some have loved to use a liturgy, and
+some to use none. But one thing, I see, they all had in common. They
+have all been _men of prayer_.
+
+I study the reports of Missionary Societies in our own times. I see with
+joy that heathen men and women are receiving the Gospel in various parts
+of the globe. There are conversions in Africa, in New Zealand, in
+Hindostan, in America. The people converted are naturally unlike one
+another in every respect. But one striking thing I observe at all the
+Missionary stations. The converted people _always pray_.
+
+I do not deny that a man may pray without heart, and without sincerity.
+I do not for a moment pretend to say that the mere fact of a person
+praying proves everything about his soul. As in every other part of
+religion, so also in this, there is plenty of deception and hypocrisy.
+
+But this I do say,--that not praying is a clear proof that a man is not
+yet a true Christian. He cannot really feel his sins. He cannot love
+God. He cannot feel himself a debtor to Christ. He cannot long after
+holiness. He cannot desire heaven. He has yet to be born again. He has
+yet to be made a new creature. He may boast confidently of election,
+grace, faith, hope, and knowledge, and deceive ignorant people. But you
+may rest assured it is all vain talk _if he does not pray_.
+
+And I say furthermore, that of all the evidences of real work of the
+Spirit, a habit of hearty private prayer is one of the most satisfactory
+that can be named. A man may preach from false motives. A man may write
+books, and make fine speeches, and seem diligent in good works, and yet
+be a Judas Iscariot. But a man seldom goes into his closet, and pours
+out his soul before God in secret, unless he is in earnest. The Lord
+Himself has set His stamp on prayer as the best proof of a true
+conversion. When He, sent Ananias to Saul in Damascus, He gave him no
+other evidence of his change of heart than this,--"_Behold, he
+prayeth_." (Acts ix. 11.)
+
+I know that much may go on in a man's mind before he is brought to pray.
+He may have many convictions, desires, wishes, feelings, intentions,
+resolutions, hopes, and fears. But all these things are very uncertain
+evidences. They are to be found in ungodly people, and often come to
+nothing. In many a case they are not more lasting than "the morning
+cloud, and the dew that goeth away." (Hos. vi. 4.) A real hearty prayer,
+flowing from a broken and contrite spirit, is worth all these things put
+together.
+
+I know that the elect of God are chosen to salvation from all eternity.
+I do not forget that the Holy Spirit, who calls them in due time, in
+many instances leads them by very slow degrees to acquaintance with
+Christ. But the eye of man can only judge by what it sees. I cannot
+call any one justified until he believes. I dare not say that any one
+believes until he prays. I cannot understand a dumb faith. The first act
+of faith will be to speak to God. Faith is to the soul what life is to
+the body. Prayer is to faith what breath is to life. How a man can live
+and not breathe is past my comprehension, and how a man can believe and
+not pray is past my comprehension too.
+
+Let no one be surprised if he hears ministers of the Gospel dwelling
+much on the importance of prayer. This is the point we want to bring you
+to,--we want to know that you pray. Your views of doctrine may be
+correct. Your love of Protestantism may be warm and unmistakeable. But
+still this may be nothing more than head knowledge and party spirit. The
+great point is this,--whether you can speak _to_ God as well as speak
+_about_ God.
+
+
+III. In the third place, _there is no duty in religion so neglected as
+private prayer_.
+
+We live in days of abounding religious profession. There are more places
+of public worship now than there ever were before. There are more
+persons attending them than there ever have been since England was a
+nation. And yet in spite of all this public religion, I believe there is
+a vast neglect of private prayer.
+
+I should not have said so a few years ago. I once thought, in my
+ignorance, that most people said their prayers, and many people prayed.
+I have lived to think differently. I have come to the conclusion that
+the great majority of professing Christians do not pray at all.
+
+I know this sounds very shocking, and will startle many. But I am
+satisfied that prayer is just one of those things which is thought a
+"matter of course," and, like many matters of course, is shamefully
+neglected. It is "everybody's business;" and, as it often happens in
+such cases, it is a business carried on by very few. It is one of those
+private transactions between God and our souls which no eye sees, and
+therefore one which there is every temptation to pass over and leave
+undone.
+
+I believe that thousands _never say a word of prayer at all_. They eat;
+they drink; they sleep; they rise; they go forth to their labour; they
+return to their homes; they breathe God's air; they see God's sun; they
+walk on God's earth; they enjoy God's mercies; they have dying bodies;
+they have judgment and eternity before them. But they _never speak to
+God_! They live like the beasts that perish; they behave like creatures
+without souls; they have not a word to say to Him in whose hand are
+their life, and breath, and all things, and from whose mouth they must
+one day receive their everlasting sentence. How dreadful this seems! But
+if the secrets of men were only known, how common!
+
+I believe there are tens of thousands _whose prayers are nothing but a
+mere form_,--a set of words repeated by rote, without a thought about
+their meaning. Some say over a few hasty sentences picked up in the
+nursery when they were children. Some content themselves with repeating
+the Belief, forgetting that there is not a request in it. Some add the
+Lord's Prayer, but without the slightest desire that its solemn
+petitions may be granted. Some among the poor, even at this day, repeat
+the old popish lines:--
+
+    "Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
+     Bless the bed that I lie on."
+
+Many, even of those who use good forms, mutter their prayers over after
+they have got into bed, or scramble over them while they wash or dress
+in the morning. Men may think what they please, but they may depend that
+in the sight of God _this is not praying_. Words said without heart are
+as utterly useless to our souls as the drum-beating of the poor heathen
+before their idols. Where there is _no heart_, there may be lip-work
+and tongue-work, but there is nothing that God listens to,--there is _no
+prayer_. Saul, I have no doubt, said many a long prayer before the Lord
+met him on the way to Damascus. But it was not till his heart was broken
+that the Lord said, "He prayeth."
+
+Does this surprise any reader? Listen to me and I will show you that I
+am not speaking as I do without reason. Do you think that my assertions
+are extravagant and unwarrantable? Give me your attention, and I will
+soon show you that I am only telling you the truth.
+
+Have you forgotten that it is _not natural_ to any one to pray? The
+carnal mind is enmity against God. The desire of man's heart is to get
+far away from God, and to have nothing to do with Him. His feeling
+toward Him is not love but fear. Why then should a man pray when he has
+no real sense of sin, no real feeling of spiritual wants,--no thorough
+belief in unseen things,--no desire after holiness and heaven? Of all
+these things the vast majority of men know and feel nothing. The
+multitude walk in the broad way. I cannot forget this. Therefore I say
+boldly, I believe that few pray.
+
+Have you forgotten that it is _not fashionable_ to pray? It is just one
+of the things that many would be rather ashamed to own. There are
+hundreds who would sooner storm a breach, or lead a forlorn hope, than
+confess publicly that they make a habit of prayer. There are thousands
+who, if obliged by chance to sleep in the same room with a stranger,
+would lie down in bed without a prayer. To ride well, to shoot well, to
+dress well, to go to balls, and concerts, and theatres, to be thought
+clever and agreeable,--all this is fashionable, but not to pray. I
+cannot forget this. I cannot think a habit is common which so many seem
+ashamed to own. I believe that few pray.
+
+Have you forgotten _the lives that many live_? Can we really suppose
+that people are praying against sin night and day, when we see them
+plunging right into it? Can we suppose they pray against the world, when
+they are entirely absorbed and taken up with its pursuits? Can we think
+they really ask God for grace to serve Him, when they do not show the
+slightest desire to serve Him at all? Oh, no! It is plain as daylight
+that the great majority of men either ask nothing of God, or _do not
+mean what they say_ when they do ask,--which is just the same thing.
+Praying and sinning will never live together in the same heart. Prayer
+will consume sin, or sin will choke prayer. I cannot forget this. I look
+at men's lives. I believe that few pray.
+
+Have you forgotten _the deaths that many die_? How many, when they draw
+near death, seem entirely strangers to God. Not only are they sadly
+ignorant of His Gospel, but sadly wanting in the power of speaking to
+Him. There is a terrible awkwardness, and shyness, and newness, and
+rawness, in their endeavours to approach Him. They seem to be taking up
+a fresh thing. They appear as if they wanted an introduction to God, and
+as if they had never talked with Him before. I remember having heard of
+a lady who was anxious to have a minister to visit her in her last
+illness. She desired that he would pray with her. He asked her what he
+should pray for. She did not know and could not tell. She was utterly
+unable to name any one thing which she wished him to ask God for her
+soul. All she seemed to want was the form of a minister's prayers. I can
+quite understand this. Death-beds are great revealers of secrets. I
+cannot forget what I have seen of sick and dying people. This also leads
+me to believe that few pray.
+
+
+IV. In the fourth place, _prayer is that act in religion to which there
+is the greatest encouragement_.
+
+There is everything on God's part to make prayer easy, if men will only
+attempt it. "All things are ready" on His side. (Luke xiv. 17.) Every
+objection is anticipated. Every difficulty is provided for. The crooked
+places are made straight, and the rough places are made smooth. There is
+no excuse left for the prayerless man.
+
+There is _a way_ by which any man, however sinful and unworthy, may draw
+near to God the Father. Jesus Christ has opened that way by the
+sacrifice He made for us upon the cross. The holiness and justice of God
+need not frighten sinners and keep them back. Only let them cry to God
+in the name of Jesus,--only let them plead the atoning blood of
+Jesus,--and they shall find God upon a throne of grace, willing and
+ready to hear. The name of Jesus is a never-failing passport to our
+prayers. In that name a man may draw near to God with boldness, and ask
+with confidence. God has engaged to hear him. Think of this. Is not this
+encouragement?
+
+There is _an advocate_ and intercessor always waiting to present the
+prayers of those who will employ Him. That advocate is Jesus Christ. He
+mingles our prayers with the incense of His own almighty intercession.
+So mingled they go up as a sweet savour before the throne of God. Poor
+as they are in themselves, they are mighty and powerful in the hand of
+our High Priest and elder brother. The bank-note without a signature at
+the bottom is nothing but a worthless piece of paper. A few strokes of a
+pen confer on it all its value. The prayer of a poor child of Adam is a
+feeble thing in itself, but once endorsed by the hand of the Lord Jesus
+it availeth much. There was an officer in the city of Rome who was
+appointed to have his doors always open, in order to receive any Roman
+citizen who applied to him for help. Just so the ear of the Lord Jesus
+is ever open to the cry of all who want mercy and grace. It is His
+office to help them. Their prayer is His delight. Think of this. Is not
+this encouragement?
+
+There is _the Holy Spirit_ ever ready to help our infirmities in prayer.
+It is one part of His special office to assist us in our endeavours to
+speak to God. We need not be cast down and distressed by the fear of not
+knowing what to say. The Spirit will give us words if we will only seek
+His aid. He will supply us with "thoughts that breathe and words that
+burn." The prayers of the Lord's people are the inspiration of the
+Lord's Spirit,--the work of the Holy Ghost who dwells within them as the
+Spirit of grace and supplications. Surely the Lord's people may well
+hope to be heard. It is not they merely that pray, but the Holy Ghost
+pleading in them. (Rom. viii. 26.) Think of this. Is not this
+encouragement?
+
+There are exceeding great and precious _promises_ to those who pray.
+What did the Lord Jesus mean when He spoke such words as these, "Ask,
+and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall
+be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that
+seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." (Matt.
+vii. 7, 8.) "All things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer believing, ye
+shall receive." (Matt. xxi. 22.) "Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name,
+that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall
+ask any thing in my name, I will do it." (John xiv. 13, 14.) What did
+the Lord mean when He spoke the parables of the friend at midnight and
+the importunate widow? (Luke xi. 5, and xviii. 1.) Think over these
+passages. If this is not encouragement to pray, words have no meaning at
+all.
+
+There are wonderful _examples_ in Scripture of the power of prayer.
+Nothing seems to be too great, too hard, or too difficult for prayer to
+do. It has obtained things that seemed impossible and out of reach. It
+has won victories over fire, air, earth, and water. Prayer opened the
+Red Sea. Prayer brought water from the rock and bread from heaven.
+Prayer made the sun stand still. Prayer brought fire from the sky on
+Elijah's sacrifice. Prayer turned the counsel of Ahithophel into
+foolishness. Prayer overthrew the army of Sennacherib. Well might Mary,
+Queen of Scots, say, "I fear John Knox's prayers more than an army of
+ten thousand men." Prayer has healed the sick. Prayer has raised the
+dead. Prayer has procured the conversion of souls. "The child of many
+prayers," said an old Christian to Augustine's mother, "shall never
+perish." Prayer, pains, and faith can do anything. Nothing seems
+impossible when a man has the Spirit of adoption. "Let me alone," is the
+remarkable saying of God to Moses, when Moses was about to intercede for
+the children of Israel. (Exod. xxxii. 10.) The Chaldee version has it
+"Leave off praying." So long as Abraham asked mercy for Sodom, the Lord
+went on giving. He never ceased to give till Abraham ceased to pray.
+Think of this. Is not this encouragement?
+
+What more can a man want to lead him to take any step in religion than
+the things I have just told him about prayer? What more could be done to
+make the path to the mercy-seat easy, and to remove all occasions of
+stumbling from the sinner's way? Surely if the devils in hell had such a
+door set open before them they would leap for gladness, and make the
+very pit ring with joy.
+
+But where will the man hide his head at last who neglects such glorious
+encouragements? What can be possibly said for the man who after all dies
+without prayer? God forbid that any reader of this paper should be that
+man.
+
+
+V. In the fifth place, _diligence in prayer is the secret of eminent
+holiness_.
+
+Without controversy there is a vast difference among true Christians.
+There is an immense interval between the foremost and the hindermost in
+the army of God.
+
+They are all fighting the same good fight;--but how much more valiantly
+some fight than others! They are all doing the Lord's work;--but how
+much more some do than others! They are all light in the Lord;--but how
+much more brightly some shine than others! They are all running the same
+race;--but how much faster some get on than others! They all love the
+same Lord and Saviour;--but how much more some love Him than others! I
+ask any true Christian whether this is not the case. Are not these
+things so?
+
+There are some of the Lord's people who seem _never able to get on_ from
+the time of their conversion. They are born again, but they remain
+babies all their lives. They are learners in Christ's school, but they
+never seem to get beyond A B C, and the lowest form. They have got
+inside the fold, but there they lie down and get no further. Year after
+year you see in them the same old besetting sins. You hear from them the
+same old experience. You remark in them the same want of spiritual
+appetite,--the same squeamishness about anything but the milk of the
+Word, and the same dislike to strong meat,--the same childishness,--the
+same feebleness,--the same littleness of mind,--the same narrowness of
+heart,--the same want of interest in anything beyond their own little
+circle, which you remarked ten years ago. They are pilgrims indeed, but
+pilgrims like the Gibeonites of old;--their bread is always dry and
+mouldy,--their shoes always old and clouted, and their garments always
+rent and torn. (Josh. ix. 4, 5.) I say this with sorrow and grief. But I
+ask any real Christian, Is it not true?
+
+There are others of the Lord's people who seem to be _always getting
+on_. They grow like the grass after rain. They increase like Israel in
+Egypt. They press on like Gideon,--though sometimes "faint, yet always
+pursuing." (Judges viii. 4.) They are ever adding grace to grace, and
+faith to faith, and strength to strength. Every time you meet them
+their hearts seem larger, and their spiritual stature bigger, taller,
+and stronger. Every year they appear to see more, and know more, and
+believe more, and feel more in their religion. They not only have good
+works to prove the reality of their faith, but they are _zealous_ of
+them. They not only do well, but they are _unwearied_, in well-doing.
+(Titus ii. 14; Gal. vi. 9.) They attempt great things, and they do great
+things. When they fail they try again, and when they fall they are soon
+up again. And all this time they think themselves poor unprofitable
+servants, and fancy they do nothing at all!--These are those who make
+religion lovely and beautiful in the eyes of all. They wrest praise even
+from the unconverted, and win golden opinions even from the selfish men
+of the world. These are those whom it does one good to see, to be with,
+and to hear. When you meet them, you could believe that, like Moses,
+they had just come out from the presence of God. When you part with them
+you feel warmed by their company, as if your soul had been near a fire.
+I know such people are rare. I only ask, Is it not so?
+
+Now, how can we account for the difference which I have just described?
+What is the reason that some believers are so much brighter and holier
+than others? I believe the difference, in nineteen cases out of twenty,
+arises from different habits about private prayer. I believe that those
+who are not eminently holy pray _little_, and those who are eminently
+holy pray _much_.
+
+I daresay this opinion will startle some readers. I have little doubt
+that many look on eminent holiness as a kind of special gift, which none
+but a few must pretend to aim at. They admire it at a distance, in
+books: they think it beautiful when they see an example near themselves.
+But as to its being a thing within the reach of any but a very few, such
+a notion never seems to enter their minds. In short, they consider it a
+kind of monopoly granted to a few favoured believers, but certainly not
+to all.
+
+Now I believe that this is a most dangerous mistake. I believe that
+spiritual, as well as natural, greatness, depends far more on the use of
+means within everybody's reach, than on anything else. Of course I do
+not say we have a right to expect a miraculous grant of intellectual
+gifts. But this I do say, that when a man is once converted to God,
+whether he shall be eminently holy or not depends chiefly on his own
+diligence in the use of God's appointed means. And I assert confidently,
+that the principal means by which most believers have become great in
+the Church of Christ is the habit of _diligent private prayer_.
+
+Look through the lives of the brightest and best of God's servants,
+whether in the Bible or not. See what is written of Moses, and David,
+and Daniel, and Paul. Mark what is recorded of Luther and Bradford, the
+Reformers. Observe what is related of the private devotions of
+Whitfield, and Cecil, and Venn, and Bickersteth, and M'Cheyne. Tell me
+of one of all the goodly fellowship of saints and martyrs, who has not
+had this mark most prominently,--he was _a man of prayer_. Oh, depend
+upon it, prayer is power!
+
+Prayer obtains fresh and continued outpourings of the Spirit. He alone
+begins the work of grace in a man's heart: He alone can carry it forward
+and make it prosper. But the good Spirit loves to be entreated. And
+those who ask most, will always have most of His influence.
+
+Prayer is the surest remedy against the devil and besetting sins. That
+sin will never stand firm which is heartily prayed against: that devil
+will never long keep dominion over us which we beseech the Lord to cast
+forth. But, then, we must spread out all our case before our Heavenly
+Physician, if He is to give us daily relief: we must drag our
+indwelling devils to the feet of Christ, and cry to Him to send them
+back to the pit.
+
+Do we wish to grow in grace and be very holy Christians? Then let us
+never forget the value of prayer.
+
+
+VI. In the sixth place, _neglect of prayer is one great cause of
+backsliding_.
+
+There is such a thing as going back in religion, after making a good
+profession. Men may run well for a season, like the Galatians, and then
+turn aside after false teachers. Men may profess loudly, while their
+feelings are warm, as Peter did; and then, in the hour of trial, deny
+their Lord. Men may lose their first love, as the Ephesians did. Men may
+cool down in their zeal to do good, like Mark, the companion of Paul.
+Men may follow an apostle for a season, and then, like Demas, go back to
+the world.--All these things men may do.
+
+It is a miserable thing to be a backslider. Of all unhappy things that
+can befall a man, I suppose it is the worst. A stranded ship, a
+broken-winged eagle, a garden overrun with weeds, a harp without
+strings, a church in ruins,--all these are sad sights; but a backslider
+is a sadder sight still. That true grace shall never be extinguished,
+and true union with Christ never be broken off, I feel no doubt. But I
+do believe that a man may fall away so far that he shall lose sight of
+his own grace, and despair of his own salvation. And if this is not
+hell, it is certainly the next thing to it! A wounded conscience, a mind
+sick of itself, a memory full of self-reproach, a heart pierced through
+with the Lord's arrows, a spirit broken with a load of inward
+accusation,--all this is _a taste of hell_. It is a hell on earth. Truly
+that saying of the wise man is solemn and weighty,--"The backslider in
+heart shall be filled with his own ways." (Prov. xiv. 14.)
+
+Now, what is the cause of most backsliding? I believe, as a general
+rule, one of the chief causes is neglect of private prayer. Of course
+the secret history of falls will not be known till the last day. I can
+only give my opinion as a minister of Christ and a student of the heart.
+That opinion is, I repeat distinctly, that backsliding generally first
+begins with _neglect of private prayer_.
+
+Bibles read without prayer, sermons heard without prayer, marriages
+contracted without prayer, journeys undertaken without prayer,
+residences chosen without prayer, friendships formed without prayer, the
+daily act of private prayer itself hurried over or gone through without
+heart,--these are the kind of downward steps by which many a Christian
+descends to a condition of spiritual palsy, or reaches the point where
+God allows him to have a tremendous fall.
+
+This is the process which forms the lingering Lots, the unstable
+Samsons, the wife-idolizing Solomons, the inconsistent Asas, the pliable
+Jehoshaphats, the over-careful Marthas, of whom so many are to be found
+in the Church of Christ. Often the simple history of such cases is
+this,--they became _careless about private prayer_.
+
+We may be very sure that men fall in private long before they fall in
+public. They are backsliders on their knees long before they backslide
+openly in the eyes of the world. Like Peter, they first disregard the
+Lord's warning to watch and pray; and then, like Peter, their strength
+is gone, and in the hour of temptation they deny their Lord.
+
+The world takes notice of their fall, and scoffs loudly. But the world
+knows nothing of the real reason. The heathen succeeded in making
+Origen, the old Christian Father, offer incense to an idol, by
+threatening him with a punishment worse than death. They then triumphed
+greatly at the sight of his cowardice and apostacy. But the heathen did
+not know the fact, which Origen himself tells us, that on that very
+morning he had left his bedchamber hastily, and without finishing his
+usual prayers.
+
+If any reader of this paper is a Christian indeed I trust he will never
+be a backslider. But if you do not wish to be a backsliding Christian,
+remember the hint I give you,--Mind your prayers.
+
+
+VII. In the seventh place, _prayer is one of the best receipts for
+happiness and contentment_.
+
+We live in a world where sorrow abounds. This has always been its state
+since sin came in. There cannot be sin without sorrow. And till sin is
+driven out from the world it is vain for any one to suppose he can
+escape sorrow.
+
+Some, without doubt, have a larger cup of sorrow to drink than others.
+But few are to be found who live long without sorrows or cares of one
+sort or another. Our bodies, our property, our families, our children,
+our relations, our servants, our friends, our neighbours, our worldly
+callings,--each and all of these are fountains of care. Sicknesses,
+deaths, losses, disappointments, partings, separations, ingratitude,
+slander,--all these are common things. We cannot get through life
+without them. Some day or other they find us out. The greater are our
+affections, the deeper are our afflictions; and the more we love, the
+more we have to weep.
+
+And what is the best receipt for cheerfulness in such a world as this?
+How shall we get through this valley of tears with least pain? I know no
+better receipt than the habit of _taking everything to God in prayer_.
+
+This is the plain advice that the Bible gives, both in the Old Testament
+and the New. What says the Psalmist? "Call upon Me in the day of
+trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me." (Psalm l. 15.)
+"Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee: He shall
+never suffer the righteous to be moved." (Psalm lv. 22.) What says the
+Apostle Paul? "Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and
+supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto
+God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep
+your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." (Phil. iv. 6, 7.) What says
+the Apostle James? "Is any afflicted among you? let him pray." (James v.
+13.)
+
+This was the practice of all the saints whose history we have recorded
+in the Scriptures. This is what Jacob did, when he feared his brother
+Esau. This is what Moses did, when the people were ready to stone him in
+the wilderness. This is what Joshua did, when Israel was defeated before
+Ai. This is what David did, when he was in danger at Keliah. This is
+what Hezekiah did, when he received the letter from Sennacherib. This is
+what the Church did, when Peter was put in prison. This is what Paul
+did, when he was cast into the dungeon at Philippi.
+
+The only way to be really happy, in such a world as this is to be ever
+casting all our cares on God. It is the trying to carry their own
+burdens which so often makes believers sad. If they will only tell their
+troubles to God He will enable them to bear them as easily as Samson did
+the gates of Gaza. If they are resolved to keep them to themselves they
+will find one day that the very grasshopper is a burden. (Eccles. xii.
+5.)
+
+There is a friend ever waiting to help us, if we will only unbosom to
+Him our sorrow,--a friend who pitied the poor, and sick, and sorrowful,
+when He was upon earth,--a friend who knows the heart of a man, for He
+lived thirty-three years as a man amongst us,--a friend who can weep
+with the weepers, for He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with
+grief,--a friend who is able to help us, for there never was earthly
+pain He could not cure. That friend is Jesus Christ. The way to be happy
+is to be always opening our hearts to Him. Oh, that we were all like
+that poor Christian negro, who only answered, when threatened and
+punished, "_I must tell the Lord_."
+
+Jesus can make those happy who trust Him and call on Him, whatever be
+their outward condition. He can give them peace of heart in a
+prison,--contentment in the midst of poverty,--comfort in the midst of
+bereavements,--joy on the brink of the grave. There is a mighty fulness
+in Him for all His believing members,--a fulness that is ready to be
+poured out on every one who will ask in prayer. Oh, that men would
+understand that happiness does not depend on outward circumstances, but
+on the state of the heart!
+
+Prayer can lighten crosses for us however heavy. It can bring down to
+our side One who will help us to bear them.--Prayer can open a door for
+us when our way seems hedged up. It can bring down One who will say,
+"This is the way, walk in it."--Prayer can let in a ray of hope, when
+all our earthly prospects seem darkened. It can bring down One who will
+say, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee."--Prayer can obtain
+relief for us when those we love most are taken away, and the world
+feels empty. It can bring down One who can fill the gap in our hearts
+with Himself, and say to the waves within, "Peace: be still!" Oh, that
+men were not so like Hagar in the wilderness, blind to the well of
+living waters close beside them! (Gen. xxi. 19.)
+
+I want the readers of this paper to be really happy Christians. I am
+certain I cannot urge on them a more important duty than prayer.
+
+
+And now it is high time for me to bring this paper to an end. I trust I
+have brought before my readers things that will be seriously considered.
+I heartily pray God that this consideration may be blessed to their
+souls.
+
+(1) Let me speak a parting word _to those who do not pray_. I dare not
+suppose that all who read these pages will be praying people. If you are
+a prayerless person, suffer me to speak to you this day on God's behalf.
+
+Prayerless friend, I can only warn you; but I do warn you most solemnly.
+I warn you that you are in a position of fearful danger. If you die in
+your present state you are a lost soul. You will only rise again to be
+eternally miserable. I warn you that of all professing Christians you
+are most utterly without excuse. There is not a single good reason that
+you can show for living without prayer.
+
+It is useless to say you _know not how_ to pray. Prayer is the simplest
+act in all religion. It is simply speaking to God. It needs neither
+learning, nor wisdom, nor book-knowledge to begin it. It needs nothing
+but heart and will. The weakest infant can cry when he is hungry. The
+poorest beggar can hold out his hand for an alms, and does not wait to
+find fine words. The most ignorant man will find something to say to
+God, if he has only a mind.
+
+It is useless to say you have _no convenient place_ to pray in. Any man
+can find a place private enough, if he is disposed. Our Lord prayed on a
+mountain; Peter on the house-top; Isaac in the field; Nathanael under
+the fig-tree; Jonah in the whale's belly. Any place may become a closet,
+an oratory, and a Bethel, and be to us the presence of God.
+
+It is useless to say _you have no time_. There is plenty of time, if men
+will only employ it. Time may be short, but time is always long enough
+for prayer. Daniel had all the affairs of a kingdom on his hands, and
+yet he prayed three times a day. David was ruler over a mighty nation,
+and yet he says, "Evening and morning and at noon will I pray." (Psalm
+lv. 17.) When time is really wanted, time can always be found.
+
+It is useless to say you _cannot pray till you have faith and a new
+heart_, and that you must sit still and wait for them. This is to add
+sin to sin. It is bad enough to be unconverted and going to hell. It is
+even worse to say, "I know it, but I will not cry for mercy." This is a
+kind of argument for which there is no warrant in Scripture. "Call ye
+upon the Lord," saith Isaiah, "while He is near." (Isaiah lv. 6.) "Take
+with you words, and come unto the Lord," says Hosea. (Hosea xiv. 1.)
+"Repent and pray," says Peter to Simon Magus. (Acts viii. 22.) If you
+want faith and a new heart, go and cry to the Lord for them. The very
+attempt to pray has often been the quickening of a dead soul. Alas,
+there is no devil so dangerous as a dumb devil.
+
+Oh, prayerless man, who and what are you that you will not ask anything
+of God? Have you made a covenant with death and hell? Are you at peace
+with the worm and the fire? Have you no sins to be pardoned? Have you no
+fear of eternal torment? Have you no desire after heaven? Oh, that you
+would awake from your present folly! Oh, that you would consider your
+latter end! Oh, that you would arise and call upon God! Alas, there is a
+day coming when men shall pray loudly, "Lord, Lord, open to us," but all
+too late;--when many shall cry to the rocks to fall on them, and the
+hills to cover them, who would never cry to God. In all affection I warn
+you. Beware lest this be the end of your soul. Salvation is very near
+you. Do not lose heaven for want of asking.
+
+(2) Let me speak in the next place _to those who have real desires for
+salvation_, but know not what steps to take or where to begin. I cannot
+but hope that some readers may be in this state of mind, and if there be
+but one such I must offer him encouragement and advice.
+
+In every journey there must be a first step. There must be a change from
+sitting still to moving forward. The journeyings of Israel from Egypt to
+Canaan were long and wearisome. Forty years passed away before they
+crossed Jordan. Yet there was someone who moved first when they marched
+from Rameses to Succoth. When does a man really take his first step in
+coming out from sin and the world? He does it in the day when he first
+prays with his heart.
+
+In every building the first stone must be laid, and the first blow must
+be struck. The ark was 120 years in building. Yet there was a day when
+Noah laid his axe to the first tree he cut down to form it. The temple
+of Solomon was a glorious building. But there was a day when the first
+huge stone was laid at the foot of Mount Moriah. When does the building
+of the Spirit really begin to appear in a man's heart? It begins, so far
+as we can judge, when he first pours out his heart to God in prayer.
+
+If any reader of this paper desires salvation, and wants to know what to
+do, I advise him to go this very day to the Lord Jesus Christ, in the
+first private place he can find, and entreat Him in prayer to save his
+soul.
+
+Tell Him that you have heard that He receives sinners, and has said,
+"Him that cometh unto Me I will in nowise cast out." (John vi. 37.) Tell
+Him that you are a poor vile sinner, and that you come to Him on the
+faith of His own invitation. Tell Him you put yourself wholly and
+entirely in His hands,--that you feel vile and helpless, and hopeless in
+yourself,--and that except He saves you, you have no hope to be saved at
+all. Beseech Him to deliver you from the guilt, the power, and the
+consequences of sin. Beseech Him to pardon you and wash you in His own
+blood. Beseech Him to give you a new heart, and plant the Holy Spirit in
+your soul. Beseech Him to give you grace, and faith, and will, and power
+to be His disciple and servant from this day for ever. Yes: go this very
+day, and tell these things to the Lord Jesus Christ, if you really are
+in earnest about your soul.
+
+Tell Him in your own way and your own words. If a doctor came to see you
+when sick you could tell him where you felt pain. If your soul really
+feels its disease you can surely find something to tell Christ.
+
+Doubt not His willingness to save you, because you are a sinner. It is
+Christ's office to save sinners. He says Himself, "I came not to call
+the righteous, but sinners to repentance." (Luke v. 32.)
+
+Wait not, because you feel unworthy. Wait for nothing: wait for nobody.
+Waiting comes from the devil. Just as you are, go to Christ. The worse
+you are, the more need you have to apply to Him. You will never mend
+yourself by staying away.
+
+Fear not because your prayer is stammering, your words feeble, and your
+language poor. Jesus can understand you. Just as a mother understands
+the first babblings of her infant, so does the blessed Saviour
+understand sinners. He can read a sigh, and see a meaning in a groan.
+
+Despair not, because you do not get an answer immediately. While you are
+speaking, Jesus is listening. If He delays an answer, it is only for
+wise reasons, and to try if you are in earnest. Pray on, and the answer
+will surely come. Though it tarry, wait for it: it will surely come at
+last.
+
+If you have any desire to be saved, remember the advice I have given you
+this day. Act upon it honestly and heartily, and you shall be saved.
+
+(3) Let me speak, lastly, _to those who do pray_. I trust that some who
+read this paper know well what prayer is, and have the Spirit of
+adoption. To all such I offer a few words of brotherly counsel and
+exhortation. The incense offered in the tabernacle was ordered to be
+made in a particular way. Not every kind of incense would do. Let us
+remember this, and be careful about the matter and manner of our
+prayers.
+
+If I know anything of a Christian's heart, you to whom I now speak are
+often sick of your own prayers. You never enter into the Apostle's
+words, "When I would do good, evil is present with me" (Rom. vii. 21),
+so thoroughly as you sometimes do upon your knees. You can understand
+David's words, "I hate vain thoughts." You can sympathize with that poor
+converted Hottentot, who was overheard praying, "Lord, deliver me from
+all my enemies; and, above all, from that bad man myself!"--There are
+few children of God who do not often find the season of prayer a season
+of conflict. The devil has special wrath against us when he sees us on
+our knees. Yet I believe that prayers which cost us no trouble should be
+regarded with great suspicion. I believe we are very poor judges of the
+goodness of our prayers, and that the prayer which pleases us _least_
+often pleases God _most_. Suffer me then, as a companion in the
+Christian warfare, to offer you a few words of exhortation. One thing,
+at least, we all feel,--we must pray. We cannot give it up: we must go
+on.
+
+(_a_) I commend, then, to your attention the importance of _reverence
+and humility_ in prayer. Let us never forget what we are, and what a
+solemn thing it is to speak with God. Let us beware of rushing into His
+presence with carelessness and levity. Let us say to ourselves, "I am on
+holy ground. This is no other than the gate of heaven. If I do not mean
+what I say, I am trifling with God. If I regard iniquity in my heart,
+the Lord will not hear me." Let us keep in mind the words of Solomon:
+"Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter
+anything before God; for God is in heaven, and thou on earth." (Eccles.
+v. 2.) When Abraham spoke to God, he said, "I am dust and ashes." When
+Job spoke, he said, "I am vile." (Gen. xviii. 27; Job xl. 4.) Let us do
+likewise.
+
+(_b_) I commend to you, in the next place, the importance of praying
+_spiritually_. I mean by this that we should labour always to have the
+direct help of the Spirit in our prayers, and beware above all things of
+formality. There is nothing so spiritual but that it may become a form,
+and this is specially true of private prayer. We may insensibly get into
+the habit of using the fittest possible words, and offering the most
+Scriptural petitions; and yet we may do it all by rote, without feeling
+it, and walk daily round an old beaten path, like a horse in a mill. I
+desire to touch this point with caution and delicacy. I know that there
+are certain great things we daily want, and that there is nothing
+necessarily formal in asking for these things in the same words. The
+world, the devil, and our hearts, are daily the same. Of necessity we
+must daily go over old ground. But this I say,--we must be very careful
+on this point. If the skeleton and outline of our prayers be by habit
+almost a form, let us strive that the clothing and filling up of our
+prayers be as far as possible of the Spirit. As to praying out of a
+book, it is a habit I cannot praise. If we can tell our doctors the
+state of our bodies without a book, we ought to be able to tell the
+state of our souls to God. I have no objection to a man using crutches,
+when he is first recovering from a broken limb. It is better to use
+crutches than not to walk at all. But if I saw him all his life on
+crutches, I should not think it matter for congratulation. I should like
+to see him strong enough to throw his crutches away.
+
+(_c_) I commend to you, in the next place, the importance of making
+prayer _a regular business of life_. I might say something of the value
+of regular times in the day for prayer. God is a God of order. The hours
+for morning and evening sacrifice in the Jewish temple were not fixed as
+they were without a meaning. Disorder is eminently one of the fruits of
+sin. But I would not bring any under bondage. This only I say, that it
+is essential to your soul's health to make praying a part of the
+business of every twenty-four hours in your life. Just as you allot time
+to eating, sleeping, and business, so also allot time to prayer. Choose
+your own hours and seasons. At the very least, speak with God in the
+morning, before you speak with the world; and speak with God at night,
+after you have done with the world. But settle it down in your minds
+that prayer is one of the great things of every day. Do not drive it
+into a corner. Do not give it the scraps, and leavings, and parings of
+your day. Whatever else you make a business of, make a business of
+prayer.
+
+(_d_) I commend to you, in the next place, the importance of
+_perseverance_ in prayer. Once having begun the habit, never give it up.
+Your heart will sometimes say, "We have had family prayers; what mighty
+harm if we leave private prayer undone?"--Your body will sometimes say,
+"You are unwell, or sleepy, or weary; you need not pray."--Your mind
+will sometimes say, "You have important business to attend to to-day;
+cut short your prayers." Look on all such suggestions as coming direct
+from the devil. They are all as good as saying, "Neglect your soul." I
+do not maintain that prayers should always be of the same length;--but I
+do say, let no excuse make you give up prayer. It is not for nothing
+that Paul said, "Continue in prayer," and "Pray without ceasing."
+(Colos. iv. 2; 1 Thess. v. 7.) He did not mean that men should be always
+on their knees, as an old sect, called the Euchitæ, supposed. But he did
+mean that our prayers should be like the continual burnt offering,--a
+thing steadily persevered in every day;--that it should be like
+seed-time and harvest, and summer and winter,--a thing that should
+unceasingly come round at regular seasons;--that it should be like the
+fire on the altar, not always consuming sacrifices, but never completely
+going out. Never forget that you may tie together morning and evening
+devotions by an endless chain of short ejaculatory prayers throughout
+the day. Even in company, or business, or in the very streets, you may
+be silently sending up little winged messengers to God, as Nehemiah did
+in the very presence of Artaxerxes. (Neh. ii. 4.) And never think that
+time is wasted which is given to God. A nation does not become poorer
+because it loses one year of working days in seven by keeping the
+Sabbath. A Christian never finds he is a loser in the long run by
+persevering in prayer.
+
+(_e_) I commend to you, in the next place, the importance of
+_earnestness_ in prayer. It is not necessary that a man should shout,
+or scream, or be very loud, in order to prove that he is in earnest. But
+it is desirable that we should be hearty, and fervent, and warm, and ask
+as if we were really interested in what we were doing. It is the
+"effectual fervent" prayer that "availeth much," and not the cold,
+sleepy, lazy, listless one. This is the lesson that is taught us by the
+expressions used in Scripture about prayer. It is called, "crying,
+knocking, wrestling, labouring, striving." This is the lesson taught us
+by Scripture examples. Jacob is one. He said to the angel at Penuel, "I
+will not let thee go, except thou bless me." (Gen. xxxii. 26.) Daniel is
+another. Hear how he pleaded with God: "O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O
+Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God." (Dan.
+ix. 19.) Our Lord Jesus Christ is another. It is written of Him, "In the
+days of His flesh He offered up prayer and supplication, with strong
+crying and tears." (Heb. v. 7.) Alas, how unlike is this to many of our
+supplications! How tame and lukewarm they seem by comparison! How truly
+might God say to many of us, "You do not really want what you pray for!"
+Let us try to amend this fault. Let us knock loudly at the door of
+grace, like Mercy in "Pilgrim's Progress," as if we must perish unless
+heard. Let us settle it down in our minds, that cold prayers are a
+sacrifice without fire. Let us remember the story of Demosthenes, the
+great orator, when one came to him, and wanted him to plead his cause.
+He heard him without attention, while he told his story without
+earnestness. The man saw this, and cried out with anxiety that it was
+all true. "Ah!" said Demosthenes, "I believe you _now_."
+
+(_f_) I commend to you, in the next place, the importance of _praying
+with faith_. We should endeavour to believe that our prayers are always
+heard, and that if we ask things according to God's will, we shall
+always be answered. This is the plain command of our Lord Jesus Christ:
+"Whatsoever things ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive
+them, and ye shall have them." (Mark xi. 24). Faith is to prayer what
+the feather is to the arrow: without it prayer will not hit the mark. We
+should cultivate the habit of pleading promises in our prayers. We
+should take with us some promise, and say, "Lord, here is Thine own word
+pledged. Do for us as Thou hast said." (2 Sam. vii. 25.) This was the
+habit of Jacob, and Moses, and David. The 119th Psalm is full of things
+asked, "according to Thy word." Above all, we should cultivate the habit
+of expecting answers to our prayers. We should do like the merchant who
+sends his ships to sea. We should not be satisfied unless we see some
+return. Alas, there are few points on which Christians come short so
+much as this. The Church at Jerusalem made prayer without ceasing for
+Peter in prison; but when the prayer was answered, they would hardly
+believe it. (Acts xii. 15.) It is a solemn saying of old Traill's,
+"There is no surer mark of trifling in prayer, than when men are
+careless what they get by prayer."
+
+(_g_) I commend to you, in the next place, the importance of _boldness_
+in prayer. There is an unseemly familiarity in some men's prayers, which
+I cannot praise. But there is such a thing as a holy boldness, which is
+exceedingly to be desired. I mean such boldness as that of Moses, when
+he pleads with God not to destroy Israel: "Wherefore," says he, "should
+the Egyptians speak and say, For mischief did He bring them out, to slay
+them in the mountains? Turn from Thy fierce anger." (Exod. xxxii. 12.) I
+mean such boldness as that of Joshua, when the children of Israel were
+defeated before Ai: "What," says he, "wilt Thou do unto Thy great name?"
+(Josh. vii. 9.) This is the boldness for which Luther was remarkable.
+One who heard him praying said, "What a spirit,--what a confidence was
+in his very expressions! With such a reverence he sued, as one begging
+of God, and yet with such hope and assurance, as if he spake with a
+loving father or friend." This is the boldness which distinguished
+Bruce, a great Scotch divine of the 17th century. His prayers were said
+to be "like bolts shot up into heaven." Here also I fear we sadly come
+short. We do not sufficiently realize the believer's privileges. We do
+not plead as often as we might, "Lord, are we not Thine own people? Is
+it not for Thy glory that we should be sanctified? Is it not for Thine
+honour that thy Gospel should increase?"
+
+(_h_) I commend to you, in the next place, the importance of _fulness_
+in prayer. I do not forget that our Lord warns us against the example of
+the Pharisees, who for pretence made long prayers, and commands us, when
+we pray, not to use vain repetitions. But I cannot forget, on the other
+hand, that He has given His own sanction to large and long devotions, by
+continuing all night in prayer to God. At all events we are not likely
+in this day to err on the side of praying _too much_. Might it not
+rather be feared that many believers in this generation pray _too
+little_? Is not the actual amount of time that many Christians give to
+prayer in the aggregate very small? I am afraid these questions cannot
+be answered satisfactorily. I am afraid the private devotions of many
+are most painfully scanty and limited,--just enough to prove they are
+alive, and no more. They really seem to want little from God. They seem
+to have little to confess, little to ask for, and little to thank Him
+for. Alas, this is altogether wrong! Nothing is more common than to hear
+believers complaining that they do not get on. They tell us that they do
+not grow in grace, as they could desire. Is it not rather to be
+suspected that many have quite as much grace as they ask for? Is it not
+the true account of many, that they have little, because they ask
+little? The cause of their weakness is to be found in their own stunted,
+dwarfish, clipped, contracted, hurried, little, narrow, diminutive
+prayers. _They have not because they ask not._ Oh, reader, we are not
+straitened in Christ, but in ourselves. The Lord says, "Open thy mouth
+wide, and I will fill it." But we are like the king of Israel who smote
+on the ground thrice and stayed, when he ought to have smitten five or
+six times. (Psalm lxxxi. 10; 2 Kings xiii. 18, 19.)
+
+(_i_) I commend to you, in the next place, the importance of
+_particularity_ in prayer. We ought not to be content with great general
+petitions. We ought to specify our wants before the throne of grace. It
+should not be enough to confess we are sinners. We should name the sins
+of which our conscience tells us we are most guilty. It should not be
+enough to ask for holiness. We should name the graces in which we feel
+most deficient. It should not be enough to tell the Lord we are in
+trouble. We should describe our trouble and all its peculiarities. This
+is what Jacob did, when he feared his brother Esau. He tells God exactly
+what it is that he fears. (Gen. xxxii. 11.) This is what Eliezer did,
+when he sought a wife for his master's son. He spreads before God
+precisely what he wants. (Gen. xxiv. 12.) This is what Paul did, when he
+had a thorn in the flesh. He besought the Lord. (2 Cor. xii. 8.) This is
+true faith and confidence. We should believe that nothing is too small
+to be named before God. What should we think of the patient who told his
+doctor he was ill, but never went into particulars? What should we think
+of the wife who told her husband she was unhappy, but did not specify
+the cause? What should we think of the child who told his father he was
+in trouble, but nothing more? Let us never forget that Christ is the
+true bridegroom of the soul,--the true physician of the heart,--the
+real father of all His people. Let us show that we feel this, by being
+unreserved in our communications with Him. Let us hide no secrets from
+Him. Let us tell Him all our hearts.
+
+(_j_) I commend to you, in the next place, the importance of
+_intercession_ in our prayers. We are all selfish by nature, and our
+selfishness is very apt to stick to us, even when we are converted.
+There is a tendency in us to think only of our own souls,--our own
+spiritual conflict,--our own progress in religion, and to forget others.
+Against this tendency we have all need to watch and strive, and not
+least in our prayers. We should study to be of a public spirit. We
+should stir ourselves up to name other names beside our own before the
+throne of grace. We should try to bear in our hearts the whole
+world,--the heathen,--the Jews,--the Roman Catholics,--the body of true
+believers,--the professing Protestant Churches,--the country in which we
+live,--the congregation to which we belong,--the household in which we
+sojourn,--the friends and relations we are connected with. For each and
+all of these we should plead. This is the highest charity. He loves me
+best who loves me in his prayers. This is for our soul's health. It
+enlarges our sympathies and expands our hearts. This is for the benefit
+of the Church. The wheels of all machinery for extending the Gospel are
+oiled by prayer. They do as much for the Lord's cause who intercede like
+Moses on the mount, as they do who fight like Joshua in the thick of the
+battle. This is to be like Christ. He bears the names of His people on
+His breast and shoulders as their High Priest before the Father. Oh, the
+privilege of being like Jesus! This is to be a true helper to ministers.
+If I must needs choose a congregation, give me a people that prays.
+
+(_k_) I commend to you, in the next place, the importance of
+_thankfulness_ in prayer. I know well that asking God is one thing, and
+praising God is another. But I see so close a connection between prayer
+and praise in the Bible, that I dare not call that true prayer in which
+thankfulness has no part. It is not for nothing that Paul says, "By
+prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made
+known unto God." (Phil. iv. 6.) "Continue in prayer, and watch in the
+same with thanksgiving." (Coloss. iv. 2.) It is of mercy that we are
+not in hell. It is of mercy that we have the hope of heaven. It is of
+mercy that we live in a land of spiritual light. It is of mercy that we
+have been called by the Spirit, and not left to reap the fruit of our
+own ways. It is of mercy that we still live, and have opportunities of
+glorifying God actively or passively. Surely, these thoughts should
+crowd on our minds whenever we speak with God. Surely, we should never
+open our lips in prayer without blessing God for that free grace by
+which we live, and for that loving-kindness which endureth for ever.
+Never was there an eminent saint who was not full of thankfulness. St.
+Paul hardly ever writes an Epistle without beginning with thankfulness.
+Men like Whitfield in the last century, and Bickersteth, and Marsh, and
+Haldane Stewart, in our own time, were ever running over with
+thankfulness. Oh, if we would be bright and shining lights in our day,
+we must cherish a spirit of praise! And above all, let our prayers be
+thankful prayers.
+
+(_l_) I commend to you, in the last place, the importance of
+_watchfulness over your prayers_. Prayer is that point of all others in
+religion at which you must be on your guard. Here it is that true
+religion begins: here it flourishes, and here it decays. Tell me what a
+man's prayers are, and I will soon tell you the state of his soul.
+Prayer is the spiritual pulse: by this the spiritual health may always
+be tested. Prayer is the spiritual weather-glass: by this we may always
+know whether it is fair or foul with our hearts. Oh, let us keep an eye
+continually upon our private devotions! Here is the pith, and marrow,
+and backbone of our practical Christianity. Sermons, and books, and
+tracts, and committee meetings, and the company of good men, are all
+good in their way; but they will never make up for the neglect of
+private prayer. Mark well the places, and society, and companions, that
+unhinge your hearts for communion with God, and make your prayers drive
+heavily. _There be on your guard._ Observe narrowly what friends and
+what employments leave your soul in the most spiritual frame, and most
+ready to speak with God. _To these cleave and stick fast._ If you will
+only take care of your prayers, I will engage that nothing shall go very
+wrong with your soul.
+
+I offer these points for private consideration. I do it in all humility.
+I know no one who needs to be reminded of them more than I do myself.
+But I believe them to be God's own truth, and I should like myself and
+all I love to feel them more.
+
+I want the times we live in to be praying times. I want the Christians
+of our day to be praying Christians. I want the Church of our age to be
+a praying Church. My heart's desire and prayer in sending forth this
+paper is to promote a spirit of prayerfulness. I want those who never
+prayed yet, to arise and call upon God; and I want those who do pray, to
+improve their prayers every year, and to see that they are not getting
+slack, and praying amiss.
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+
+BIBLE-READING
+
+     "_Search the Scriptures._"--John v. 39.
+
+     "_How readest thou?_"--Luke x. 26.
+
+
+Next to praying there is nothing so important in practical religion as
+Bible-reading. God has mercifully given us a book which is "able to make
+us wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." (2 Tim.
+iii. 15.) By reading that book we may learn what to believe, what to be,
+and what to do; how to live with comfort, and how to die in peace. Happy
+is that man who possesses a Bible! Happier still is he who reads it!
+Happiest of all is he who not only reads it, but obeys it, and makes it
+the rule of his faith and practice!
+
+Nevertheless it is a sorrowful fact that man has an unhappy skill in
+abusing God's gifts. His privileges, and power, and faculties, are all
+ingeniously perverted to other ends than those for which they were
+bestowed. His speech, his imagination, his intellect, his strength, his
+time, his influence, his money,--instead of being used as instruments
+for glorifying his Maker,--are generally wasted, or employed for his own
+selfish ends. And just as man naturally makes a bad use of his other
+mercies, so he does of the written Word. One sweeping charge may be
+brought against the whole of Christendom, and that charge is neglect and
+abuse of the Bible.
+
+To prove this charge we have no need to look abroad: the proof lies at
+our own doors. I have no doubt that there are more Bibles in Great
+Britain at this moment than there ever were since the world began. There
+is more Bible buying and Bible selling,--more Bible printing and Bible
+distributing,--than ever was since England was a nation. We see Bibles
+in every bookseller's shop,--Bibles of every size, price, and
+style,--Bibles great, and Bibles small,--Bibles for the rich, and Bibles
+for the poor. There are Bibles in almost every house in the land. But
+all this time I fear we are in danger of forgetting, that to _have_ the
+Bible is one thing, and to _read_ it quite another.
+
+This neglected Book is the subject about which I address the readers of
+this paper to-day. Surely it is no light matter _what you are doing with
+the Bible_. Surely, when the plague is abroad, you should search and see
+whether the plague-spot is on you. Give me your attention while I supply
+you with a few plain reasons why every one who cares for his soul ought
+to value the Bible highly, to study it regularly, and to make himself
+thoroughly acquainted with its contents.
+
+
+I. In the first place, _there is no book in existence written in such a
+manner as the Bible_.
+
+The Bible was "given by inspiration of God." (2 Tim. iii. 16.) In this
+respect it is utterly unlike all other writings. God taught the writers
+of it what to say. God put into their minds thoughts and ideas. God
+guided their pens in setting down those thoughts and ideas. When you
+read it, you are not reading the self-taught compositions of poor
+imperfect men like yourself, but the words of the eternal God. When you
+hear it, you are not listening to the erring opinions of short-lived
+mortals, but to the unchanging mind of the King of kings. The men who
+were employed to indite the Bible, spoke not of themselves. They "spake
+as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." (2 Peter i. 21.) All other books
+in the world, however good and useful in their way, are more or less
+defective. The more you look at them the more you see their defects and
+blemishes. The Bible alone is absolutely perfect. From beginning to end
+it is "the Word of God."
+
+I shall not waste time by attempting any long and laboured proof of
+this. I say boldly, that the Book itself is the best witness of its own
+inspiration. It is utterly inexplicable and unaccountable in any other
+point of view. It is the greatest standing miracle in the world. He that
+dares to say the Bible is not inspired, let him give a reasonable
+account of it, if he can. Let him explain the peculiar nature and
+character of the Book in a way that will satisfy any man of common
+sense. The burden of proof seems to my mind to lie on him.
+
+It proves nothing against inspiration, as some have asserted, that the
+writers of the Bible have each a different style. Isaiah does not write
+like Jeremiah, and Paul does not write like John. This is perfectly
+true,--and yet the works of these men are not a whit less equally
+inspired. The waters of the sea have many different shades. In one place
+they look blue, and in another green. And yet the difference is owing to
+the depth or shallowness of the part we see, or to the nature of the
+bottom. The water in every case is the same salt sea.--The breath of a
+man may produce different sounds, according to the character of the
+instrument on which he plays. The flute, the pipe, and the trumpet, have
+each their peculiar note. And yet the breath that calls forth the notes,
+is in each case one and the same.--The light of the planets we see in
+heaven is very various. Mars, and Saturn, and Jupiter, have each a
+peculiar colour. And yet we know that the light of the sun, which each
+planet reflects, is in each case one and the same. Just in the same way
+the books of the Old and New Testaments are all inspired truth, and yet
+the aspect of that truth varies according to the mind through which the
+Holy Ghost makes it flow. The handwriting and style of the writers
+differ enough to prove that each had a distinct individual being; but
+the Divine Guide who dictates and directs the whole is always one. All
+is alike inspired. Every chapter, and verse, and word, is from God.
+
+Oh, that men who are troubled with doubts, and questionings, and
+sceptical thoughts about inspiration, would calmly examine the Bible for
+themselves! Oh, that they would act on the advice which was the first
+step to Augustine's conversion,--"Take it up and read it!--take it up
+and read it!" How many Gordian knots this course of action would cut!
+How many difficulties and objections would vanish away at once like mist
+before the rising sun! How many would soon confess, "The finger of God
+is here! God is in this Book, and I knew it not."
+
+This is the Book about which I address the readers of this paper. Surely
+it is no light matter _what you are doing with this Book_. It is no
+light thing that God should have caused this Book to be "written for
+your learning," and that you should have before you "the oracles of
+God." (Rom. iii. 2; xv. 4.) I charge you, I summon you to give an honest
+answer to my question. What art thou doing with the Bible?--Dost thou
+read it at all?--HOW READEST THOU?
+
+
+II. In the second place, _there is no knowledge absolutely needful to a
+man's salvation, except a knowledge of the things which are to be found
+in the Bible_.
+
+We live in days when the words of Daniel are fulfilled before our
+eyes:--"Many run to and fro, and knowledge is increased." (Dan. xii. 4.)
+Schools are multiplying on every side. New colleges are set up. Old
+Universities are reformed and improved. New books are continually coming
+forth. More is being taught,--more is being learned,--more is being
+read,--than there ever was since the world begun. It is all well. I
+rejoice at it. An ignorant population is a perilous and expensive burden
+to any nation. It is a ready prey to the first Absalom, or Catiline, or
+Wat Tyler, or Jack Cade, who may arise to entice it to do evil. But this
+I say,--we must never forget that all the education a man's head can
+receive, will not save his soul from hell, unless he knows the truths of
+the Bible.
+
+A man _may have prodigious learning, and yet never be saved_. He may be
+master of half the languages spoken round the globe. He may be
+acquainted with the highest and deepest things in heaven and earth. He
+may have read books till he is like a walking cyclopædia. He may be
+familiar with the stars of heaven,--the birds of the air,--the beasts of
+the earth, and the fishes of the sea. He may be able, like Solomon, to
+"speak of trees, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows on
+the wall, of beasts also, and fowls, and creeping things, and fishes."
+(1 King iv. 33.) He may be able to discourse of all the secrets of fire,
+air, earth, and water. And yet, if he dies ignorant of Bible truths, he
+dies a miserable man! Chemistry never silenced a guilty conscience.
+Mathematics never healed a broken heart. All the sciences in the world
+never smoothed down a dying pillow. No earthly philosophy ever supplied
+hope in death. No natural theology ever gave peace in the prospect of
+meeting a holy God. All these things are of the earth, earthy, and can
+never raise a man above the earth's level. They may enable a man to
+strut and fret his little season here below with a more dignified gait
+than his fellow-mortals, but they can never give him wings, and enable
+him to soar towards heaven. He that has the largest share of them, will
+find at length that without Bible knowledge he has got no lasting
+possession. Death will make an end of all his attainments, and after
+death they will do him no good at all.
+
+A man _may be a very ignorant man, and yet be saved_. He may be unable
+to read a word, or write a letter. He may know nothing of geography
+beyond the bounds of his own parish, and be utterly unable to say which
+is nearest to England, Paris or New York. He may know nothing of
+arithmetic, and not see any difference between a million and a thousand.
+He may know nothing of history, not even of his own land, and be quite
+ignorant whether his country owes most to Semiramis, Boadicea, or Queen
+Elizabeth. He may know nothing of the affairs of his own times, and be
+incapable of telling you whether the Chancellor of the Exchequer, or the
+Commander-in-Chief, or the Archbishop of Canterbury is managing the
+national finances. He may know nothing of science, and its
+discoveries,--and whether Julius Cæsar won his victories with gunpowder,
+or the apostles had a printing press, or the sun goes round the earth,
+may be matters about which he has not an idea. And yet if that very man
+has heard Bible truth with his ears, and believed it with his heart, he
+knows enough to save his soul. He will be found at last with Lazarus in
+Abraham's bosom, while his scientific fellow-creature, who has died
+unconverted, is lost for ever.
+
+There is much talk in these days about science and "useful knowledge."
+But after all a knowledge of the Bible is the one knowledge that is
+needful and eternally useful. A man may get to heaven without money,
+learning, health, or friends,--but without Bible knowledge he will never
+get there at all. A man may have the mightiest of minds, and a memory
+stored with all that mighty mind can grasp,--and yet, if he does not
+know the things of the Bible, he will make shipwreck of his soul for
+ever. Woe! woe! woe to the man who dies in ignorance of the Bible!
+
+This is the Book about which I am addressing the readers of these pages
+to-day. It is no light matter _what you do with such a book_. It
+concerns the life of your soul. I summon you,--I charge you to give an
+honest answer to my question. What are you doing with the Bible? Do you
+read it? HOW READEST THOU?
+
+
+III. In the third place, _no book in existence contains such important
+matter as the Bible_.
+
+The time would fail me if I were to enter fully into all the great
+things which are to be found in the Bible, and only in the Bible. It is
+not by any sketch or outline that the treasures of the Bible can be
+displayed. It would be easy to fill this volume with a list of the
+peculiar truths it reveals, and yet the half of its riches would be left
+untold.
+
+How glorious and soul-satisfying is the description it gives us of God's
+plan of salvation, and the way by which our sins can be forgiven! The
+coming into the world of Jesus Christ, the God-man, to save
+sinners,--the atonement He has made by suffering in our stead, the just
+for the unjust,--the complete payment He has made for our sins by His
+own blood,--the justification of every sinner who simply believes on
+Jesus,--the readiness of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, to receive,
+pardon, and save to the uttermost,--how unspeakably grand and cheering
+are all these truths! We should know nothing of them without the Bible.
+
+How comforting is the account it gives us of the great Mediator of the
+New Testament,--the man Christ Jesus! Four times over His picture is
+graciously drawn before our eyes. Four separate witnesses tell us of His
+miracles and His ministry,--His sayings and His doings,--His life and
+His death,--His power and His love,--His kindness and His patience,--His
+ways, His words, His works, His thoughts, His heart. Blessed be God,
+there is one thing in the Bible which the most prejudiced reader can
+hardly fail to understand, and that is the character of Jesus Christ!
+
+How encouraging are the examples the Bible gives us of good people! It
+tells us of many who were of like passions with ourselves,--men and
+women who had cares, crosses, families, temptations, afflictions,
+diseases, like ourselves,--and yet "by faith and patience inherited the
+promises," and got safe home. (Heb. vi. 12.) It keeps back nothing in
+the history of these people. Their mistakes, their infirmities, their
+conflicts, their experience, their prayers, their praises, their useful
+lives, their happy deaths,--all are fully recorded. And it tells us the
+God and Saviour of these men and women still waits to be gracious, and
+is altogether unchanged.
+
+How instructive are the examples the Bible gives us of bad people! It
+tells us of men and women who had light, and knowledge, and
+opportunities, like ourselves, and yet hardened their hearts, loved the
+world, clung to their sins, would have their own way, despised reproof,
+and ruined their own souls for ever. And it warns us that the God who
+punished Pharaoh, and Saul, and Ahab, and Jezebel, and Judas, and
+Ananias and Sapphira, is a God who never alters, and that there is a
+hell.
+
+How precious are the promises which the Bible contains for the use of
+those who love God! There is hardly any possible emergency or condition
+for which it has not some "word in season." And it tells men that God
+loves to be put in remembrance of these promises, and that if He has
+said He will do a thing, His promise shall certainly be performed.
+
+How blessed are the hopes which the Bible holds out to the believer in
+Christ Jesus! Peace in the hour of death,--rest and happiness on the
+other side of the grave,--a glorious body in the morning of the
+resurrection,--a full and triumphant acquittal in the day of
+judgment,--an everlasting reward in the kingdom of Christ,--a joyful
+meeting with the Lord's people in the day of gathering together;--these,
+these are the future prospects of every true Christian. They are all
+written in the book,--in the book which is all true.
+
+How striking is the light which the Bible throws on the character of
+man! It teaches =us= what men may be expected to be and do in every
+position and station of life. It gives us the deepest insight into the
+secret springs and motives of human actions, and the ordinary course of
+events under the control of human agents. It is the true "discerner of
+the thoughts and intents of the heart." (Heb. iv. 12.) How deep is the
+wisdom contained in the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes! I can well
+understand an old divine saying, "Give me a candle and a Bible, and shut
+me up in a dark dungeon, and I will tell you all that the whole world is
+doing."
+
+All these are things which men could find nowhere except in the Bible.
+We have probably not the least idea how little we should know about
+these things if we had not the Bible. We hardly know the value of the
+air we breathe, and the sun which shines on us, because we have never
+known what it is to be without them. We do not value the truths on which
+I have been just now dwelling, because we do not realize the darkness of
+men to whom these truths have not been revealed. Surely no tongue can
+fully tell the value of the treasures this one volume contains. Well
+might old John Newton say that some books were _copper_ books in his
+estimation, some were _silver_, and some few were _gold_;--but the Bible
+alone was like a book all made up of _bank notes_.
+
+This is the Book about which I address the reader of this paper this
+day. Surely it is no light matter _what you are doing with the Bible_.
+It is no light matter in what way you are using this treasure. I charge
+you, I summon you to give an honest answer to my question,--What art
+thou doing with the Bible?--Dost thou read it?--HOW READEST THOU?
+
+
+IV. In the fourth place, _no book in existence has produced such
+wonderful effects on mankind at large as the Bible_.
+
+(_a_) This is the Book whose doctrines turned the world upside down in
+the days of the Apostles.
+
+Eighteen centuries have now passed away since God sent forth a few Jews
+from a remote corner of the earth, to do a work which according to man's
+judgment must have seemed impossible. He sent them forth at a time when
+the whole world was full of superstition, cruelty, lust, and sin. He
+sent them forth to proclaim that the established religions of the earth
+were false and useless, and must be forsaken. He sent them forth to
+persuade men to give up old habits and customs, and to live different
+lives. He sent them forth to do battle with the most grovelling
+idolatry, with the vilest and most disgusting immorality, with vested
+interests, with old associations, with a bigoted priesthood, with
+sneering philosophers, with an ignorant population, with bloody-minded
+emperors, with the whole influence of Rome. Never was there an
+enterprise to all appearance more Quixotic, and less likely to succeed!
+
+And how did He arm them for this battle? He gave them no carnal weapons.
+He gave them no worldly power to compel assent, and no worldly riches to
+bribe belief. He simply put the Holy Ghost into their hearts, and the
+Scriptures into their hands. He simply bade them to expound and explain,
+to enforce and to publish the doctrines of the Bible. The preacher of
+Christianity in the first century was not a man with a sword and an
+army, to frighten people, like Mahomet,--or a man with a license to be
+sensual, to allure people, like the priests of the shameful idols of
+Hindostan. No! he was nothing more than one holy man with one holy book.
+
+And how did these men of one book prosper? In a few generations they
+entirely changed the face of society by the doctrines of the Bible. They
+emptied the temples of the heathen gods. They famished idolatry, or left
+it high and dry like a stranded ship. They brought into the world a
+higher tone of morality between man and man. They raised the character
+and position of woman. They altered the standard of purity and decency.
+They put an end to many cruel and bloody customs, such as the
+gladiatorial fights.--There was no stopping the change. Persecution and
+opposition were useless. One victory after another was won. One bad
+thing after another melted away. Whether men liked it or not, they were
+insensibly affected by the movement of the new religion, and drawn
+within the whirlpool of its power. The earth shook, and their rotten
+refuges fell to the ground. The flood rose, and they found themselves
+obliged to rise with it. The tree of Christianity swelled and grew, and
+the chains they had cast round it to arrest its growth, snapped like
+tow. And all this was done by the doctrines of the Bible! Talk of
+victories indeed! What are the victories of Alexander, and Cæsar, and
+Marlborough, and Napoleon, and Wellington, compared with those I have
+just mentioned? For extent, for completeness, for results, for
+permanence, there are no victories like the victories of the Bible.
+
+(_b_) This is the Book which turned Europe upside down in the days of
+the glorious Protestant Reformation.
+
+No man can read the history of Christendom as it was five hundred years
+ago, and not see that darkness covered the whole professing Church of
+Christ, even a darkness that might be felt. So great was the change
+which had come over Christianity, that if an apostle had risen from the
+dead he would not have recognised it, and would have thought that
+heathenism had revived again. The doctrines of the Gospel lay buried
+under a dense mass of human traditions. Penances, and pilgrimages, and
+indulgences, relic-worship, and image-worship, and saint-worship, and
+worship of the Virgin Mary, formed the sum and substance of most
+people's religion. The Church was made an idol. The priests and
+ministers of the Church usurped the place of Christ. And by what means
+was all this miserable darkness cleared away? By none so much as by
+bringing forth once more the Bible.
+
+It was not merely the preaching of Luther and his friends, which
+established Protestantism in Germany. The grand lever which overthrew
+the Pope's power in that country, was Luther's translation of the Bible
+into the German tongue.--It was not merely the writings of Cranmer and
+the English Reformers which cast down popery in England. The seeds of
+the work thus carried forward were first sown by Wycliffe's translation
+of the Bible many years before.--It was not merely the quarrel of Henry
+VIII. and the Pope of Rome, which loosened the Pope's hold on English
+minds. It was the royal permission to have the Bible translated and set
+up in churches, so that every one who liked might read it. Yes! it was
+the reading and circulation of Scripture which mainly established the
+cause of Protestantism in England, in Germany, and Switzerland. Without
+it the people would probably have returned to their former bondage when
+the first reformers died. But by the reading of the Bible the public
+mind became gradually leavened with the principles of true religion.
+Men's eyes became thoroughly open. Their spiritual understandings became
+thoroughly enlarged. The abominations of popery became distinctly
+visible. The excellence of the pure Gospel became a rooted idea in their
+hearts. It was then in vain for Popes to thunder forth excommunications.
+It was useless for Kings and Queens to attempt to stop the course of
+Protestantism by fire and sword. It was all too late. The people knew
+too much. They had seen the light. They had heard the joyful sound. They
+had tasted the truth. The sun had risen on their minds. The scales had
+fallen from their eyes. The Bible had done its appointed work within
+them, and that work was not to be overthrown. The people would not
+return to Egypt. The clock could not be put back again. A mental and
+moral revolution had been effected, and mainly effected by God's Word.
+Those are the true revolutions which the Bible effects. What are all the
+revolutions recorded by Vertot,--what are all the revolutions which
+France and England have gone through, compared to these? No revolutions
+are so bloodless, none so satisfactory, none so rich in lasting results,
+as the revolutions accomplished by the Bible!
+
+This is the book on which the well-being of nations has always hinged,
+and with which the best interests of every nation in Christendom at this
+moment are inseparably bound up. Just in proportion as the Bible is
+honoured or not, light or darkness, morality or immorality, true
+religion or superstition, liberty or despotism, good laws or bad, will
+be found in a land. Come with me and open the pages of history, and you
+will read the proofs in time past. Read it in the history of Israel
+under the Kings. How great was the wickedness that then prevailed! But
+who can wonder? The law of the Lord had been completely lost sight of,
+and was found in the days of Josiah thrown aside in a corner of the
+temple. (2 Kings xxii. 8.)--Read it in the history of the Jews in our
+Lord Jesus Christ's time. How awful the picture of Scribes and
+Pharisees, and their religion! But who can wonder? The Scripture was
+"made of none effect by man's traditions." (Matt. xv. 6.)--Read it in
+the history of the Church of Christ in the middle ages. What can be
+worse than the accounts we have of its ignorance and superstition? But
+who can wonder? The times might well be dark, when men had not the light
+of the Bible.
+
+This is the Book to which the civilized world is indebted for many of
+its best and most praise-worthy institutions. Few probably are aware how
+many are the good things that men have adopted for the public benefit,
+of which the origin may be clearly traced up to the Bible. It has left
+lasting marks wherever it has been received. From the Bible are drawn
+many of the best laws by which society is kept in order. From the Bible
+has been obtained the standard of morality about truth, honesty, and the
+relations of man and wife, which prevails among Christian nations, and
+which,--however feebly respected in many cases,--makes so great a
+difference between Christians and heathen. To the Bible we are indebted
+for that most merciful provision for the poor man, the Sabbath day. To
+the influence of the Bible we owe nearly every humane and charitable
+institution in existence. The sick, the poor, the aged, the orphan, the
+lunatic, the idiot, the blind, were seldom or never thought of before
+the Bible leavened the world. You may search in vain for any record of
+institutions for their aid in the histories of Athens or of Rome. Alas!
+there are many who sneer at the Bible, and say the world would get on
+well enough without it, who little think how great are their own
+obligations to the Bible. Little does the infidel workman think, as he
+lies sick in some of our great hospitals, that he owes all his present
+comforts to the very book he affects to despise. Had it not been for the
+Bible, he might have died in misery, uncared for, unnoticed and alone.
+Verily the world we live in is fearfully unconscious of its debts. The
+last day alone, I believe, will tell the full amount of benefit
+conferred upon it by the Bible.
+
+This wonderful book is the subject about which I address the reader of
+this paper this day. Surely it is no light matter _what you are doing
+with the Bible_. The swords of conquering Generals,--the ship in which
+Nelson led the fleets of England to victory,--the hydraulic press which
+raised the tubular bridge at the Menai;--each and all of these are
+objects of interest as instruments of mighty power. The Book I speak of
+this day is an instrument a thousand-fold mightier still. Surely it is
+no light matter whether you are paying it the attention it deserves. I
+charge you, I summon you to give me an honest answer this day,--What
+art thou doing with the Bible? Dost thou read it? HOW READEST THOU?
+
+
+V. In the fifth place, _no book in existence can do so much for every
+one who reads it rightly as the Bible_.
+
+The Bible does not profess to teach the wisdom of this world. It was not
+written to explain geology or astronomy. It will neither instruct you in
+mathematics, nor in natural philosophy. It will not make you a doctor,
+or a lawyer, or an engineer.
+
+But there is another world to be thought of, beside that world in which
+man now lives. There are other ends for which man was created, beside
+making money and working. There are other interests which he is meant to
+attend to, beside those of his body, and those interests are the
+interests of his soul. It is the interests of the immortal soul which
+the Bible is especially able to promote. If you would know law, you may
+study Blackstone or Sugden. If you would know astronomy or geology, you
+may study Herschel and Lyell. But if you would know how to have your
+soul saved, you must study the written Word of God.
+
+The Bible is "_able to make a man wise unto salvation, through faith
+which is in Christ Jesus_." (2 Tim. iii. 15.) It can show you the way
+which leads to heaven. It can teach you everything you need to know,
+point out everything you need to believe, and explain everything you
+need to do. It can show you what you are,--_a sinner_. It can show you
+what God is,--perfectly _holy_. It can show you the great giver of
+pardon, peace, and grace,--_Jesus Christ_. I have read of an Englishman
+who visited Scotland in the days of Blair, Rutherford, and Dickson,
+three famous preachers,--and heard all three in succession. He said that
+the first showed him the majesty of God,--the second showed him the
+beauty of Christ,--and the third showed him all his heart. It is the
+glory and beauty of the Bible that it is always teaching these three
+things more or less, from the first chapter of it to the last.
+
+The Bible applied to the heart by the Holy Ghost, is _the grand
+instrument by which souls are first converted to God_. That mighty
+change is generally begun by some text or doctrine of the Word, brought
+home to a man's conscience. In this way the Bible has worked moral
+miracles by thousands. It has made drunkards become sober,--unchaste
+people become pure,--thieves become honest,--and violent-tempered people
+become meek. It has wholly altered the course of men's lives. It has
+caused their old things to pass away, and made all their ways new. It
+has taught worldly people to seek first the kingdom of God. It has
+taught lovers of pleasure to become lovers of God. It has taught the
+stream of men's affections to run upwards instead of running downwards.
+It has made men think of heaven, instead of always thinking of earth,
+and live by faith, instead of living by sight. All this it has done in
+every part of the world. All this it is doing still. What are the Romish
+miracles which weak men believe, compared to all this, even if they were
+true? Those are the truly great miracles which are yearly worked by the
+Word.
+
+The Bible applied to the heart by the Holy Ghost, is _the chief means by
+which men are built up and stablished in the faith_, after their
+conversion. It is able to cleanse them, to sanctify them, to instruct
+them in righteousness, and to furnish them thoroughly for all good
+works. (Psalm cxix. 9; John xvii. 17; 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17.) The Spirit
+ordinarily does these things by the written Word; sometimes by the Word
+read, and sometimes by the Word preached, but seldom, if ever, without
+the Word. The Bible can show a believer how to walk in this world so as
+to please God. It can teach him how to glorify Christ in all the
+relations of life, and can make him a good master, servant, subject,
+husband, father, or son. It can enable him to bear afflictions and
+privations without murmuring, and say, "It is well." It can enable him
+to look down into the grave, and say, "I fear no evil." (Psalm xxiii.
+4.) It can enable him to think on judgment and eternity, and not feel
+afraid. It can enable him to bear persecution without flinching, and to
+give up liberty and life rather than deny Christ's truth. Is he drowsy
+in soul? It can awaken him.--Is he mourning? It can comfort him.--Is he
+erring? It can restore him.--Is he weak? It can make him strong.--Is he
+in company? It can keep him from evil.--Is he alone? It can talk with
+him.--(Prov. vi. 22.) All this the Bible can do for all believers,--for
+the least as well as the greatest,--for the richest as well as the
+poorest. It has done it for thousands already, and is doing it for
+thousands every day.
+
+The man who has the Bible, and the Holy Spirit in his heart, has
+everything which is absolutely needful to make him spiritually wise. He
+needs no priest to break the bread of life for him. He needs no ancient
+traditions, no writings of the Fathers, no voice of the Church, to guide
+him into all truth. He has the well of truth open before him, and what
+can he want more? Yes! though he be shut up alone in a prison, or cast
+on a desert island,--though he never see a church, or minister, or
+sacrament again,--if he has but the Bible, he has got the infallible
+guide, and wants no other. If he has but the will to read that Bible
+rightly, it will certainly teach him the road that leads to heaven. It
+is here alone that infallibility resides. It is not in the Church. It is
+not in the Councils. It is not in ministers. It is only in the written
+Word.
+
+(_a_) I know well that many say they have found no saving power in the
+Bible. They tell us they have tried to read it, and have learned nothing
+from it. They can see in it nothing but hard and deep things. They ask
+us what we mean by talking of its power.
+
+I answer, that the Bible no doubt contains hard things, or else it would
+not be the book of God. It contains things hard to comprehend, but only
+hard because we have not grasp of mind to comprehend them. It contains
+things above our reasoning powers, but nothing that might not be
+explained if the eyes of our understanding were not feeble and dim. But
+is not an acknowledgment of our own ignorance the very corner-stone and
+foundation of all knowledge? Must not many things be taken for granted
+in the beginning of every science, before we can proceed one step
+towards acquaintance with it? Do we not require our children to learn
+many things of which they cannot see the meaning at first? And ought we
+not then to expect to find "deep things" when we begin studying the Word
+of God, and yet to believe that if we persevere in reading it the
+meaning of many of them will one day be made clear? No doubt we ought so
+to expect, and so to believe. We must read with humility. We must take
+much on trust. We must believe that what we know not now, we shall know
+hereafter,--some part in this world, and all in the world to come.
+
+But I ask that man who has given up reading the Bible because it
+contains hard things, whether he did not find many things in it easy and
+plain? I put it to his conscience whether he did not see great landmarks
+and principles in it all the way through? I ask him whether the things
+needful to salvation did not stand out boldly before his eyes, like the
+light-houses on English headlands from the Land's-end to the mouth of
+the Thames. What should we think of the captain of a steamer who brought
+up at night in the entrance of the Channel, on the plea that he did not
+know every parish, and village, and creek, along the British coast?
+Should we not think him a lazy coward, when the lights on the Lizard,
+and Eddystone, and the Start, and Portland, and St. Catherine's, and
+Beachy Head, and Dungeness, and the Forelands, were shining forth like
+so many lamps, to guide him up to the river? Should we not say, Why did
+you not steer by the great leading lights? And what ought we to say to
+the man who gives up reading the Bible because it contains hard things,
+when his own state, and the path to heaven, and the way to serve God,
+are all written down clearly and unmistakably, as with a sunbeam? Surely
+we ought to tell that man that his objections are no better than lazy
+excuses, and do not deserve to be heard.
+
+(_b_) I know well that many raise the objection, that thousands read the
+Bible and are not a whit the better for their reading. And they ask us,
+when this is the case, what becomes of the Bible's boasted power?
+
+I answer, that the reason why so many read the Bible without benefit is
+plain and simple;--they do not read it in the right way. There is
+generally a right way and a wrong way of doing everything in the world;
+and just as it is with other things, so it is in the matter of reading
+the Bible. The Bible is not so entirely different from all other books
+as to make it of no importance in what spirit and manner you read it. It
+does not do good, as a matter of course, by merely running our eyes over
+the print, any more than the sacraments do good by mere virtue of our
+receiving them. It does not ordinarily do good, unless it is read with
+humility and earnest prayer. The best steam-engine that was ever built
+is useless if a man does not know how to work it. The best sun-dial that
+was ever constructed will not tell its owner the time of day if he is so
+ignorant as to put it up in the shade. Just as it is with that
+steam-engine, and that sun-dial, so it is with the Bible. When men read
+it without profit, _the fault is not in the Book, but in themselves_.
+
+I tell the man who doubts the power of the Bible, because many read it,
+and are no better for the reading, that the abuse of a thing is no
+argument against the use of it. I tell him boldly, that never did man or
+woman read that book in a childlike persevering spirit,--like the
+Ethiopian eunuch, and the Bereans (Acts viii. 28; xvii. 11),--and miss
+the way to heaven. Yes, many a broken cistern will be exposed to shame
+in the day of judgment; but there will not rise up one soul who will be
+able to say, that he went thirsting to the Bible, and found in it no
+living water,--he searched for truth in the Scriptures, and searching,
+did not find it. The words which are spoken of Wisdom in the Proverbs
+are strictly true of the Bible: "If thou criest after knowledge, and
+liftest up thy voice for understanding; if thou seekest her as silver,
+and searchest for her as for hid treasures; then shalt thou understand
+the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God." (Prov. ii. 3, 4,
+5.)
+
+This wonderful Book is the subject about which I address the readers of
+this paper this day. Surely it is no light matter _what you are doing
+with the Bible_. What should you think of the man who in time of cholera
+despised a sure receipt for preserving the health of his body? What must
+be thought of you if you despise the only sure receipt for the
+everlasting health of your soul? I charge you, I entreat you, to give an
+honest answer to my question. What dost thou do with the Bible?--Dost
+thou read it?--HOW READEST THOU?
+
+
+VI. In the sixth place, _the Bible is the only rule by which all
+questions of doctrine or of duty can be tried_.
+
+The Lord God knows the weakness and infirmity of our poor fallen
+understandings. He knows that, even after conversion, our perceptions of
+right and wrong are exceedingly indistinct. He knows how artfully Satan
+can gild error with an appearance of truth, and can dress up wrong with
+plausible arguments, till it looks like right. Knowing all this, He has
+mercifully provided us with an unerring standard of truth and error,
+right and wrong, and has taken care to make that standard a written
+book,--even the Scripture.
+
+No one can look round the world, and not see the wisdom of such a
+provision. No one can live long, and not find out that he is constantly
+in need of a counsellor and adviser,--of a rule of faith and practice,
+on which he can depend. Unless he lives like a beast, without a soul and
+conscience, he will find himself constantly assailed by difficult and
+puzzling questions. He will be often asking himself, What must I
+believe? and what must I do?
+
+(_a_) The world is full of difficulties about points of _doctrine_. The
+house of error lies close alongside the house of truth. The door of one
+is so like the door of the other that there is continual risk of
+mistakes.
+
+Does a man read or travel much? He will soon find the most opposite
+opinions prevailing among those who are called Christians. He will
+discover that different persons give the most different answers to the
+important question, What shall I do to be saved? The Roman Catholic and
+the Protestant,--the Neologian and the Tractarian,--the Mormonite and
+the Swedenborgian,--each and all will assert that he alone has the
+truth. Each and all will tell him that safety is only to be found in his
+party. Each and all say, "Come with us." All this is puzzling. What
+shall a man do?
+
+Does he settle down quietly in some English or Scotch parish? He will
+soon find that even in our own land the most conflicting views are held.
+He will soon discover that there are serious differences among
+Christians as to the comparative importance of the various parts and
+articles of the faith. One man thinks of nothing but Church
+government,--another of nothing but sacraments, services, and forms,--a
+third of nothing but preaching the Gospel. Does he apply to ministers
+for a solution? He will perhaps find one minister teaching one doctrine,
+and another another. All this is puzzling. What shall a man do?
+
+There is only one answer to this question. A man must make the Bible
+alone his rule. He must receive nothing, and believe nothing, which is
+not according to the Word. He must try all religious teaching by one
+simple test,--Does it square with the Bible? What saith the Scripture?
+
+I would to God the eyes of the laity of this country were more open on
+this subject. I would to God they would learn to weigh sermons, books,
+opinions, and ministers, in the scales of the Bible, and to value all
+according to their conformity to the Word. I would to God they would see
+that it matters little who says a thing,--whether he be Father or
+Reformer,--Bishop or Archbishop,--Priest or Deacon,--Archdeacon or Dean.
+The only question is,--Is the thing said Scriptural? If it is, it ought
+to be received and believed. If it is not, it ought to be refused and
+cast aside. I fear the consequences of that servile acceptance of
+everything which "the parson" says, which is so common among many
+English laymen. I fear lest they be led they know not whither, like the
+blinded Syrians, and awake some day to find themselves in the power of
+Rome. (2 Kings vi. 20.) Oh, that men in England would only remember for
+what purpose the Bible was given them!
+
+I tell English laymen that it is nonsense to say, as some do, that it is
+presumptuous to judge a minister's teaching by the Word. When one
+doctrine is proclaimed in one parish, and another in another, people
+must read and judge for themselves. Both doctrines cannot be right, and
+both ought to be tried by the Word. I charge them, above all things,
+never to suppose that any true minister of the Gospel will dislike his
+people measuring all he teaches by the Bible. On the contrary, the more
+they read the Bible, and prove all he says by the Bible, the better he
+will be pleased. A false minister may say, "You have no right to use
+your private judgment: leave the Bible to us who are ordained." A true
+minister will say, "Search the Scriptures, and if I do not teach you
+what is Scriptural, do not believe me." A false minister may cry, "Hear
+the Church," and "Hear me." A true minister will say, "Hear the Word of
+God."
+
+(_b_) But the world is not only full of difficulties about points of
+doctrine; it is equally full of difficulties about points of _practice_.
+Every professing Christian, who wishes to act conscientiously, must know
+that it is so. The most puzzling questions are continually arising. He
+is tried on every side by doubts as to the line of duty, and can often
+hardly see what is the right thing to do.
+
+He is tried by questions connected with the management of his _worldly
+calling_, if he is in business or in trade. He sometimes sees things
+going on of a very doubtful character,--things that can hardly be called
+fair, straightforward, truthful, and doing as you would be done by. But
+then everybody in the trade does these things. They have always been
+done in the most respectable houses. There would be no carrying on a
+profitable business if they were not done. They are not things
+distinctly named and prohibited by God. All this is very puzzling. What
+is a man to do?
+
+He is tried by questions about _worldly amusements_. Races, and balls,
+and operas, and theatres, and card parties, are all very doubtful
+methods of spending time. But then he sees numbers of great people
+taking part in them. Are all these people wrong? Can there really be
+such mighty harm in these things? All this is very puzzling. What is a
+man to do?
+
+He is tried by questions about the _education of his children_. He
+wishes to train them up morally and religiously, and to remember their
+souls. But he is told by many sensible people, that young persons will
+be young,--that it does not do to check and restrain them too much, and
+that he ought to attend pantomimes and children's parties, and give
+children's balls himself. He is informed that this nobleman, or that
+lady of rank, always does so, and yet they are reckoned religious
+people. Surely it cannot be wrong. All this is very puzzling. What is he
+to do?
+
+There is only one answer to all these questions. A man must make the
+Bible his rule of conduct. He must make its leading principles the
+compass by which he steers his course through life. By the letter or
+spirit of the Bible he must test every difficult point and question.
+"_To the law and to the testimony! What saith the Scripture?_" He ought
+to care nothing for what other people may think right. He ought not to
+set his watch by the clock of his neighbour, but by the sun-dial of the
+Word.
+
+I charge my readers solemnly to act on the maxim I have just laid down,
+and to adhere to it rigidly all the days of their lives. You will never
+repent of it. Make it a leading principle never to act contrary to the
+Word. Care not for the charge of over-strictness, and needless
+precision. Remember you serve a strict and holy God. Listen not to the
+common objection, that the rule you have laid down is impossible, and
+cannot be observed in such a world as this. Let those who make such an
+objection speak out plainly, and tell us for what purpose the Bible was
+given to man. Let them remember that by the Bible we shall all be judged
+at the last day, and let them learn to judge themselves by it here, lest
+they be judged and condemned by it hereafter.
+
+This mighty rule of faith and practice is the book about which I am
+addressing the readers of this paper this day. Surely it is no light
+matter _what you are doing with the Bible_. Surely when danger is abroad
+on the right hand and on the left, you should consider what you are
+doing with the safe-guard which God has provided. I charge you, I
+beseech you, to give an honest answer to my question. What art thou
+doing with the Bible?--Dost thou read it? HOW READEST THOU?
+
+VII. In the seventh place, _the Bible is the book which all true
+servants of God have always lived on and loved_.
+
+Every living thing which God creates requires food. The life that God
+imparts needs sustaining and nourishing. It is so with animal and
+vegetable life,--with birds, beasts, fishes, reptiles, insects, and
+plants. It is equally so with spiritual life. When the Holy Ghost raises
+a man from the death of sin and makes him a new creature in Christ
+Jesus, the new principle in that man's heart requires food, and the only
+food which will sustain it is the Word of God.
+
+There never was a man or woman truly converted, from one end of the
+world to the other, who did not love the revealed will of God. Just as a
+child born into the world desires naturally the milk provided for its
+nourishment, so does a soul "born again" desire the sincere milk of the
+Word. This is a common mark of all the children of God--they "delight in
+the law of the Lord." (Psalm, i. 2.)
+
+Show me a person who despises Bible reading, or thinks little of Bible
+preaching, and I hold it to be a certain fact that he is not yet "born
+again." He may be zealous about forms and ceremonies. He may be diligent
+in attending sacraments and daily services. But if these things are more
+precious to him than the Bible, I cannot think he is a converted man.
+Tell me what the Bible is to a man, and I will generally tell you what
+he is. This is the pulse to try,--this is the barometer to look at,--if
+we would know the state of the heart. I have no notion of the Spirit
+dwelling in a man and not giving clear evidence of His presence. And I
+believe it to be a signal evidence of the Spirit's presence when the
+Word is really precious to a man's soul.
+
+Love to the Word is one of the characteristics we see in Job. Little as
+we know of this Patriarch and his age, this at least stands out clearly.
+He says, "I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary
+food." (Job xxiii. 12.)
+
+Love to the Word is a shining feature in the character of David. Mark
+how it appears all through that wonderful part of Scripture, the cxixth
+Psalm. He might well say, "Oh, how I love thy law!" (Psalm cxix. 97.)
+
+Love to the Word is a striking point in the character of St. Paul. What
+were he and his companions but men "mighty in the Scriptures?" What were
+his sermons but expositions and applications of the Word?
+
+Love to the Word appears pre-eminently in our Lord and Saviour Jesus
+Christ. He read it publicly. He quoted it continually. He expounded it
+frequently. He advised the Jews to "search" it. He used it as His weapon
+to resist the devil. He said repeatedly, "The Scripture must be
+fulfilled."--Almost the last thing He did was to "open the understanding
+of His disciples, that they might understand the Scriptures." (Luke
+xxiv. 45.) I am afraid that man can be no true servant of Christ, who
+has not something of his Master's mind and feeling towards the Bible.
+
+Love to the Word has been a prominent feature in the history of all the
+saints, of whom we know anything, since the days of the Apostles. This
+is the lamp which Athanasius and Chrysostom and Augustine followed. This
+is the compass which kept the Vallenses and Albigenses from making
+shipwreck of the faith. This is the well which was re-opened by Wycliffe
+and Luther, after it had been long stopped up. This is the sword with
+which Latimer, and Jewell, and Knox won their victories. This is the
+manna which fed Baxter and Owen, and the noble host of the Puritans, and
+made them strong to battle. This is the armoury from which Whitefield
+and Wesley drew their powerful weapons. This is the mine from which
+Bickersteth and M'Cheyne brought forth rich gold. Differing as these
+holy men did in some matters, on one point they were all agreed,--they
+all delighted in the Word.
+
+Love to the Word is one of the first things that appears in the
+converted heathen, at the various Missionary stations throughout the
+world. In hot climates and in cold,--among savage people and among
+civilized,--in New Zealand, in the South Sea Islands, in Africa, in
+Hindostan,--it is always the same. They enjoy hearing it read. They long
+to be able to read it themselves. They wonder why Christians did not
+send it to them before. How striking is the picture which Moffat draws
+of Africaner, the fierce South African chieftain, when first brought
+under the power of the Gospel! "Often have I seen him," he says, "under
+the shadow of a great rock nearly the live-long day, eagerly perusing
+the pages of the Bible."--How touching is the expression of a poor
+converted Negro, speaking of the Bible! He said, "It is never old and
+never cold."--How affecting was the language of another old negro, when
+some would have dissuaded him from learning to read, because of his
+great age. "No!" he said, "I will never give it up till I die. It is
+worth all the labour to be able to read that one verse, 'God so loved
+the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
+in him should not perish, but have eternal life.'"
+
+Love to the Bible is one of the grand points of agreement among all
+converted men and women in our own land. Episcopalians and
+Presbyterians, Baptists and Independents, Methodists and Plymouth
+Brethren,--all unite in honouring the Bible, as soon as they are real
+Christians. This is the manna which all the tribes of our Israel feed
+upon, and find satisfying food. This is the fountain round which all the
+various portions of Christ's flock meet together, and from which no
+sheep goes thirsty away. Oh, that believers in this country would learn
+to cleave more closely to the written Word! Oh, that they would see that
+the more the Bible, and the Bible only, is the substance of men's
+religion, the more they agree! It is probable there never was an
+uninspired book more universally admired than Bunyan's Pilgrim's
+Progress. It is a book which all denominations of Christians delight to
+honour. It has won praise from all parties. Now what a striking fact it
+is, that the author was pre-eminently a man of one book! He had read
+hardly anything but the Bible.
+
+It is a blessed thought that there will be "much people" in heaven at
+last. Few as the Lord's people undoubtedly are at any one given time or
+place, yet all gathered together at last, they will be "a multitude that
+no man can number." (Rev. vii. 9; xix. 1.) They will be of one heart and
+mind. They will have passed through like experience. They will all have
+repented, believed, lived holy, prayerful, and humble. They will all
+have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
+But one thing beside all this they will have in common: they will all
+love the texts and doctrines of the Bible. The Bible will have been
+their food and delight in the days of their pilgrimage on earth. And the
+Bible will be a common subject of joyful meditation and retrospect, when
+they are gathered together in heaven.
+
+This Book, which all true Christians live upon and love, is the subject
+about which I am addressing the readers of this paper this day. Surely
+it is no light matter _what you are doing with the Bible_. Surely it is
+matter for serious inquiry, whether you know anything of this love to
+the Word, and have this mark of walking "in the footsteps of the flock."
+(Cant. i. 8.) I charge you, I entreat you to give me an honest answer.
+What art thou doing with the Bible?--Dost thou read it?--HOW READEST
+THOU?
+
+
+VIII. In the last place, _the Bible is the only book which can comfort a
+man in the last hours of his life_.
+
+Death is an event which in all probability is before us all. There is no
+avoiding it. It is the river which each of us must cross. I who write,
+and you who read, have each one day to die. It is good to remember
+this. We are all sadly apt to put away the subject from us. "Each man
+thinks each man mortal but himself." I want every one to do his duty in
+life, but I also want every one to think of death. I want every one to
+know how to live, but I also want every one to know how to die.
+
+Death is a solemn event to all. It is the winding up of all earthly
+plans and expectations. It is a separation from all we have loved and
+lived with. It is often accompanied by much bodily pain and distress. It
+brings us to the grave, the worm, and corruption. It opens the door to
+judgment and eternity,--to heaven or to hell. It is an event after which
+there is no change, or space for repentance. Other mistakes may be
+corrected or retrieved, but not a mistake on our death-beds. As the tree
+falls, there it must lie. No conversion in the coffin! No new birth
+after we have ceased to breathe! And death is before us all. It may be
+close at hand. The time of our departure is quite uncertain. But sooner
+or later we must each lie down alone and die. All these are serious
+considerations.
+
+Death is a solemn event even to the believer in Christ. For him no doubt
+the "sting of death" is taken away. (1 Cor. xv. 55.) Death has become
+one of his privileges, for he is Christ's. Living or dying, he is the
+Lord's. If he lives, Christ lives in him; and if he dies, he goes to
+live with Christ. To him "to live is Christ, and to die is gain." (Phil.
+i. 21.) Death frees him from many trials,--from a weak body, a corrupt
+heart, a tempting devil, and an ensnaring or persecuting world. Death
+admits him to the enjoyment of many blessings. He rests from his
+labours:--the hope of a joyful resurrection is changed into a
+certainty:--he has the company of holy redeemed spirits:--he is "with
+Christ." All this is true,--and yet, even to a believer, death is a
+solemn thing. Flesh and blood naturally shrink from it. To part from all
+we love, is a wrench and trial to the feelings. The world we go to is a
+world unknown, even though it is our home. Friendly and harmless as
+death is to a believer, it is not an event to be treated lightly. It
+always must be a very solemn thing.
+
+It becomes every thoughtful and sensible man to consider calmly how he
+is going to meet death. Gird up your loins, like a man, and look the
+subject in the face. Listen to me, while I tell you a few things about
+the end to which we are coming.
+
+The good things of the world cannot comfort a man when he draws near
+death. All the gold of California and Australia will not provide light
+for the dark valley. Money can buy the best medical advice and
+attendance for a man's body; but money cannot buy peace for his
+conscience, heart, and soul.
+
+Relatives, loved friends, and servants, cannot comfort a man when he
+draws near death. They may minister affectionately to his bodily wants.
+They may watch by his bed-side tenderly, and anticipate his every wish.
+They may smooth down his dying pillow, and support his sinking frame in
+their arms. But they cannot "minister to a mind diseased." They cannot
+stop the achings of a troubled heart. They cannot screen an uneasy
+conscience from the eye of God.
+
+The pleasures of the world cannot comfort a man when he draws near
+death. The brilliant ball-room,--the merry dance,--the midnight
+revel,--the party to Epsom races,--the card table,--the box at the
+opera,--the voices of singing men and singing women,--all these are at
+length distasteful things. To hear of hunting and shooting engagements
+gives him no pleasure. To be invited to feasts, and regattas, and
+fancy-fairs, gives him no ease. He cannot hide from himself that these
+are hollow, empty, powerless things. They jar upon the ear of his
+conscience. They are out of harmony with his condition. They cannot stop
+one gap in his heart, when the last enemy is coming in like a flood.
+They cannot make him calm in the prospect of meeting a holy God.
+
+Books and newspapers cannot comfort a man when he draws near death. The
+most brilliant writings of Macaulay or Dickens will pall on his ear. The
+most able article in the Times will fail to interest him. The Edinburgh
+and Quarterly Reviews will give him no pleasure. Punch and the
+Illustrated News, and the last new novel, will lie unopened and
+unheeded. Their time will be past. Their vocation will be gone. Whatever
+they may be in health, they are useless in the hour of death.
+
+There is but one fountain of comfort for a man drawing near to his end,
+and that is the Bible. Chapters out of the Bible,--texts out of the
+Bible,--statements of truth taken out of the Bible,--books containing
+matter drawn from the Bible,--these are a man's only chance of comfort
+when he comes to die. I do not at all say that the Bible will do good,
+as a matter of course, to a dying man, if he has not valued it before. I
+know, unhappily, too much of death-beds to say that. I do not say
+whether it is probable that he who has been unbelieving and neglectful
+of the Bible in life, will at once believe and get comfort from it in
+death. But I do say positively, that no dying man will ever get real
+comfort, except from the contents of the Word of God. All comfort from
+any other source is a house built upon sand.
+
+I lay this down as a rule of universal application. I make no exception
+in favour of any class on earth. Kings and poor men, learned and
+unlearned,--all are on a level in this matter. There is not a jot of
+real consolation for any dying man, unless he gets it from the Bible.
+Chapters, passages, texts, promises, and doctrines of Scripture,--heard,
+received, believed, and rested on,--these are the only comforters I dare
+promise to any one, when he leaves the world. Taking the sacrament will
+do a man no more good than the Popish extreme unction, so long as the
+Word is not received and believed. Priestly absolution will no more ease
+the conscience than the incantations of a heathen magician, if the poor
+dying sinner does not receive and believe Bible truth. I tell every one
+who reads this paper, that although men may seem to get on comfortably
+without the Bible while they live, they may be sure that without the
+Bible they cannot comfortably die. It was a true confession of the
+learned Selden,--"There is no book upon which we can rest in a dying
+moment but the Bible."
+
+I might easily confirm all I have just said, by examples and
+illustrations. I might show you the death-beds of men who have affected
+to despise the Bible. I might tell you how Voltaire and Paine, the
+famous infidels, died in misery, bitterness, rage, fear, and despair. I
+might show you the happy death-beds of those who have loved the Bible
+and believed it, and the blessed effect the sight of their death-beds
+had on others. Cecil,--a minister whose praise ought to be in all
+churches,--says, "I shall never forget standing by the bed-side of my
+dying mother. 'Are you afraid to die?' I asked.--'No!' she
+replied.--'But why does the uncertainty of another state give you no
+concern?'--'Because God has said, Fear not; when thou passest through
+the waters I will be with thee, and through the rivers, they shall not
+overflow thee.'" (Isa. xliii. 2.) I might easily multiply illustrations
+of this kind. But I think it better to conclude this part of my subject
+by giving the result of my own observations as a minister.
+
+I have seen not a few dying persons in my time. I have seen great
+varieties of manner and deportment among them. I have seen some die
+sullen, silent, and comfortless. I have seen others die ignorant,
+unconcerned, and apparently without much fear. I have seen some die so
+wearied out with long illness that they were quite willing to depart,
+and yet they did not seem to me at all in a fit state to go before God.
+I have seen others die with professions of hope and trust in God,
+without leaving satisfactory evidences that they were on the rock. I
+have seen others die who, I believe, were "in Christ," and safe, and yet
+they never seemed to enjoy much sensible comfort. I have seen some few
+dying in the full assurance of hope, and like Bunyan's "Standfast,"
+giving glorious testimony to Christ's faithfulness, even in the river.
+But one thing I have never seen. I never saw any one enjoy what I should
+call real, solid, calm, reasonable peace on his death-bed, who did not
+draw his peace from the Bible. And this I am bold to say, that the man
+who thinks to go to his death-bed without having the Bible for his
+comforter, his companion, and his friend, is one of the greatest madmen
+in the world. There are no comforts for the soul but Bible comforts, and
+he who has not got hold of these, has got hold of nothing at all, unless
+it be a broken reed.
+
+The only comforter for a death-bed is the book about which I address the
+readers of this paper this day. Surely it is no light matter whether you
+read that book or not. Surely a dying man, in a dying world, should
+seriously consider whether he has got anything to comfort him when his
+turn comes to die. I charge you, I entreat you, for the last time, to
+give an honest answer to my question. What art thou doing with the
+Bible?--Dost thou read it?--HOW READEST THOU?
+
+
+I have now given the reasons why I press on every reader the duty and
+importance of reading the Bible. I have shown that no book is written in
+such a manner as the Bible,--that knowledge of the Bible is absolutely
+necessary to salvation,--that no book contains such matter,--that no
+book has done so much for the world generally,--that no book can do so
+much for every one who reads it aright,--that this book is the only rule
+of faith and practice,--that it is, and always has been, the food of all
+true servants of God,--and that it is the only book which can comfort
+men when they die. All these are ancient things. I do not pretend to
+tell anything new. I have only gathered together old truths, and tried
+to mould them into a new shape. Let me finish all by addressing a few
+plain words to the conscience of every class of readers.
+
+(1) This paper may fall into the hands of some who _can read, but never
+do read the Bible at all_. Are you one of them? If you are, I have
+something to say to you.
+
+I cannot comfort you in your present state of mind. It would be mockery
+and deceit to do so. I cannot speak to you of peace and heaven, while
+you treat the Bible as you do. You are in danger of losing your soul.
+
+You are in danger, because _your neglected Bible is a plain evidence
+that you do not love God_. The health of a man's body may generally be
+known by his appetite. The health of a man's soul may be known by his
+treatment of the Bible. Now you are manifestly labouring under a sore
+disease. Will you not repent?
+
+I know I cannot reach your heart. I cannot make you see and feel these
+things. I can only enter my solemn protest against your present
+treatment of the Bible, and lay that protest before your conscience. I
+do so with all my soul. Oh, beware lest you repent too late! Beware lest
+you put off reading the Bible till you send for the doctor in your last
+illness, and then find the Bible a sealed book, and dark, as the cloud
+between the hosts of Israel and Egypt, to your anxious soul! Beware lest
+you go on saying all your life, "Men do very well without all this
+Bible-reading," and find at length, to your cost, that men do very ill,
+and end in hell! Beware lest the day come when you will feel, "Had I but
+honoured the Bible as much as I have honoured the newspaper, I should
+not have been left without comfort in my last hours!" Bible-neglecting
+reader, I give you a plain warning. The plague-cross is at present on
+your door. The Lord have mercy upon your soul!
+
+(2) This paper may fall into the hands of some one who is _willing to
+begin reading the Bible, but wants advice_ on the subject. Are you that
+man? Listen to me, and I will give a few short hints.
+
+(_a_) For one thing, _begin reading your Bible this very day_. The way
+to do a thing is to do it, and the way to read the Bible is actually to
+read it. It is not meaning, or wishing, or resolving, or intending, or
+thinking about it, which will advance you one step. You must positively
+read. There is no royal road in this matter, any more than in the matter
+of prayer. If you cannot read yourself, you must persuade somebody else
+to read to you. But one way or another, through eyes or ears, the words
+of Scripture must actually pass before your mind.
+
+(_b_) For another thing, _read the Bible with an earnest desire to
+understand it_. Think not for a moment that the great object is to turn
+over a certain quantity of printed paper, and that it matters nothing
+whether you understand it or not. Some ignorant people seem to fancy
+that all is done if they clear off so many chapters every day, though
+they may not have a notion what they are all about, and only know that
+they have pushed on their mark so many leaves. This is turning Bible
+reading into a mere form. It is almost as bad as the Popish habit of
+buying indulgences, by saying an almost fabulous number of ave-marias
+and paternosters. It reminds one of the poor Hottentot who ate up a
+Dutch hymn-book because he saw it comforted his neighbours' hearts.
+Settle it down in your mind as a general principle, that a Bible not
+understood is a Bible that does no good. Say to yourself often as you
+read, "What is all this about?" Dig for the meaning like a man digging
+for Australian gold. Work hard, and do not give up the work in a hurry.
+
+(_c_) For another thing, _read the Bible with child-like faith and
+humility_. Open your heart as you open your book, and say, "Speak,
+Lord, for thy servant heareth." Resolve to believe implicitly whatever
+you find there, however much it may run counter to your own prejudices.
+Resolve to receive heartily every statement of truth, whether you like
+it or not. Beware of that miserable habit of mind into which some
+readers of the Bible fall. They receive some doctrines because they like
+them: they reject others because they are condemning to themselves, or
+to some lover, or relation, or friend. At this rate the Bible is
+useless. Are we to be judges of what ought to be in the Word? Do we know
+better than God? Settle it down in your mind that you will receive all
+and believe all, and that what you cannot understand you will take on
+trust. Remember, when you pray, you are speaking to God, and God hears
+you. But, remember, when you read, God is speaking to you, and you are
+not to "answer again," but to listen.
+
+(_d_) For another thing, _read the Bible in a spirit of obedience and
+self-application_. Sit down to the study of it with a daily
+determination that _you_ will live by its rules, rest on its statements,
+and act on its commands. Consider, as you travel through every chapter,
+"How does this affect _my_ position and course of conduct? What does
+this teach _me_?" It is poor work to read the Bible from mere curiosity,
+and for speculative purposes, in order to fill your head and store your
+mind with opinions, while you do not allow the book to influence your
+heart and life. That Bible is read best which is practised most.
+
+(_e_) For another thing, _read the Bible daily_. Make it a part of every
+day's business to read and meditate on some portion of God's Word.
+Private means of grace are just as needful every day for our souls as
+food and clothing are for our bodies. Yesterday's bread will not feed
+the labourer to-day, and to-day's bread will not feed the labourer
+to-morrow. Do as the Israelites did in the wilderness. Gather your manna
+fresh every morning. Choose your own seasons and hours. Do not scramble
+over and hurry your reading. Give your Bible the best, and not the worst
+part of your time. But whatever plan you pursue, let it be a rule of
+your life to visit the throne of grace and the Bible every day.
+
+(_f_) For another thing, _read all the Bible, and read it in an orderly
+way_. I fear there are many parts of the Word which some people never
+read at all. This is to say the least, a very presumptuous habit. "All
+Scripture is profitable." (2 Tim. iii. 16.) To this habit may be traced
+that want of broad, well-proportioned views of truth, which is so common
+in this day. Some people's Bible-reading is a system of perpetual
+dipping and picking. They do not seem to have an idea of regularly going
+through the whole book. This also is a great mistake. No doubt in times
+of sickness and affliction it is allowable to search out seasonable
+portions. But with this exception, I believe it is by far the best plan
+to begin the Old and New Testaments at the same time,--to read each
+straight through to the end, and then begin again. This is a matter in
+which every one must be persuaded in his own mind. I can only say it has
+been my own plan for nearly forty years, and I have never seen cause to
+alter it.
+
+(_g_) For another thing, _read the Bible fairly and honestly_. Determine
+to take everything in its plain, obvious meaning, and regard all forced
+interpretations with great suspicion. As a general rule, whatever a
+verse of the Bible seems to mean, it does mean. Cecil's rule is a very
+valuable one,--"The right way of interpreting Scripture is to take it as
+we find it, without any attempt to force it into any particular system."
+Well said Hooker, "I hold it for a most infallible rule in the
+exposition of Scripture, that when a literal construction will stand,
+the furthest from the literal is commonly the worst."
+
+(_h_) In the last place, _read the Bible with Christ continually in
+view_. The grand primary object of all Scripture is to testify of
+Jesus. Old Testament ceremonies are shadows of Christ. Old Testament
+judges and deliverers are types of Christ. Old Testament history shows
+the world's need of Christ. Old Testament prophecies are full of
+Christ's sufferings, and of Christ's glory yet to come. The first advent
+and the second,--the Lord's humiliation and the Lord's kingdom,--the
+cross and the crown, shine forth everywhere in the Bible. Keep fast hold
+on this clue, if you would read the Bible aright.
+
+I might easily add to these hints, if space permitted. Few and short as
+they are, you will find them worth attention. Act upon them, and I
+firmly believe you will never be allowed to miss the way to heaven. Act
+upon them, and you will find light continually increasing in your mind.
+No book of evidence can be compared with that internal evidence which he
+obtains who daily uses the Word in the right way. Such a man does not
+need the books of learned men, like Paley, and Wilson, and M'Ilvaine. He
+has the witness in himself. The book satisfies and feeds his soul. A
+poor Christian woman once said to an infidel, "I am no scholar. I cannot
+argue like you. But I know that honey is honey, because it leaves a
+sweet taste in my mouth. And I know the Bible to be God's book, because
+of the taste it leaves in my heart."
+
+(3) This paper may fall into the hands of some one who _loves and
+believes the Bible, and yet reads it but little_. I fear there are many
+such in this day. It is a day of bustle and hurry. It is a day of
+talking, and committee-meetings, and public work. These things are all
+very well in their way, but I fear that they sometimes clip and cut
+short the private reading of the Bible. Does your conscience tell you
+that you are one of the persons I speak of? Listen to me, and I will say
+a few things which deserve your serious attention.
+
+You are the man that is likely to _get little comfort from the Bible in
+time of need_. Trial is a sifting season. Affliction is a searching
+wind, which strips the leaves off the trees, and brings to light the
+birds' nests. Now I fear that your stores of Bible consolations may one
+day run very low. I fear lest you should find yourself at last on very
+short allowance, and come into harbour weak, worn and thin.
+
+You are the man that is likely _never to be established in the truth_. I
+shall not be surprised to hear that you are troubled with doubts and
+questionings about assurance, grace, faith, perseverance, and the like.
+The devil is an old and cunning enemy. Like the Benjamites, he can
+"throw stones at a hair-breadth, and not miss." (Judges xx. 16.) He can
+quote Scripture readily enough when he pleases. Now you are not
+sufficiently ready with your weapons to be able to fight a good fight
+with him. Your armour does not fit you well. Your sword sits loosely in
+your hand.
+
+You are the man that is likely to _make mistakes in life_. I shall not
+wonder if I am told that you have erred about your own marriage,--erred
+about your children's education,--erred about the conduct of your
+household,--erred about the company you keep. The world you steer
+through is full of rocks, and shoals, and sandbanks. You are not
+sufficiently familiar either with the lights or charts.
+
+You are the man that is likely to _be carried away by some specious
+false teacher for a season_. It will not surprise me if I hear that some
+one of those clever, eloquent men, who can "make the worse appear the
+better cause," is leading you into many follies. You are wanting in
+ballast. No wonder if you are tossed to and fro, like a cork on the
+waves.
+
+All these are uncomfortable things. I want every reader of this paper to
+escape them all. Take the advice I offer you this day. Do not merely
+read your Bible "a little," but read it a great deal. "Let the Word of
+Christ dwell in you richly." (Coloss. iii. 16.) Do not be a mere babe
+in spiritual knowledge. Seek to become "well instructed in the kingdom
+of heaven," and to be continually adding new things to old. A religion
+of feeling is an uncertain thing. It is like the tide, sometimes high,
+and sometimes low. It is like the moon, sometimes bright, and sometimes
+dim. A religion of deep Bible knowledge, is a firm and lasting
+possession. It enables a man not merely to say, "I feel hope in
+Christ,"--but "I know whom I have believed." (2 Tim. i. 12.)
+
+(4) This paper may fall into the hands of some one who _reads the Bible
+much, and yet fancies he is no better for his reading_. This is a crafty
+temptation of the devil. At one stage he says, "Do not read the Bible at
+all." At another he says, "Your reading does you no good: give it up."
+Are you that man? I feel for you from the bottom of my soul. Let me try
+to do you good.
+
+Do not think you are getting no good from the Bible, merely because you
+do not see that good day by day. The greatest effects are by no means
+those which make the most noise, and are most easily observed. The
+greatest effects are often silent, quiet, and hard to detect at the time
+they are being produced. Think of the influence of the moon upon the
+earth, and of the air upon the human lungs. Remember how silently the
+dew falls, and how imperceptibly the grass grows. There may be far more
+doing than you think in your soul by your Bible-reading.
+
+The Word may be gradually producing deep _impressions_ on your heart, of
+which you are not at present aware. Often when the memory is retaining
+no facts, the character of a man is receiving some everlasting
+impression. Is sin becoming every year more hateful to you? Is Christ
+becoming every year more precious? Is holiness becoming every year more
+lovely and desirable in your eyes? If these things are so, take courage.
+The Bible is doing you good, though you may not be able to trace it out
+day by day.
+
+The Bible may be restraining you from some sin or delusion into which
+you would otherwise run. It may be daily keeping you back, and hedging
+you up, and preventing many a false step. Ah, you might soon find this
+out to your cost, if you were to cease reading the Word! The very
+familiarity of blessings sometimes makes us insensible to their value.
+Resist the devil. Settle it down in your mind as an established rule,
+that, whether you feel it at the moment or not, you are inhaling
+spiritual health by reading the Bible, and insensibly becoming more
+strong.
+
+(5) This paper may fall into the hands of some who _really love the
+Bible, live upon the Bible, and read it much_. Are you one of these?
+Give me your attention, and I will mention a few things which we shall
+do well to lay to heart for time to come.
+
+Let us resolve to _read the Bible more and more_ every year we live. Let
+us try to get it rooted in our memories, and engrafted into our hearts.
+Let us be thoroughly well provisioned with it against the voyage of
+death. Who knows but we may have a very stormy passage? Sight and
+hearing may fail us, and we may be in deep waters. Oh, to have the Word
+"hid in our hearts" in such an hour as that! (Ps. cxix. 11.)
+
+Let us resolve to be _more watchful over our Bible-reading_ every year
+that we live. Let us be jealously careful about the time we give to it,
+and the manner that time is spent. Let us beware of omitting our daily
+reading without sufficient cause. Let us not be gaping, and yawning, and
+dozing over our book, while we read. Let us read like a London merchant
+studying the city article in the Times,--or like a wife reading a
+husband's letter from a distant land. Let us be very careful that we
+never exalt any minister, or sermon, or book, or tract, or friend above
+the Word. Cursed be that book, or tract, or human counsel, which creeps
+in between us and the Bible, and hides the Bible from our eyes! Once
+more I say, let us be very watchful. The moment we open the Bible the
+devil sits down by our side. Oh, to read with a hungry spirit, and a
+simple desire for edification!
+
+Let us resolve to _honour the Bible more in our families_. Let us read
+it morning and evening to our children and households, and not be
+ashamed to let men see that we do so. Let us not be discouraged by
+seeing no good arise from it. The Bible-reading in a family has kept
+many a one from the gaol, the workhouse, and the Gazette, if it has not
+kept him from hell.
+
+Let us resolve to _meditate more on the Bible_. It is good to take with
+us two or three texts when we go out into the world, and to turn them
+over and over in our minds whenever we have a little leisure. It keeps
+out many vain thoughts. It clenches the nail of daily reading. It
+preserves our souls from stagnating and breeding corrupt things. It
+sanctifies and quickens our memories, and prevents them becoming like
+those ponds where the frogs live but the fish die.
+
+Let us resolve to _talk more to believers about the Bible_ when we meet
+them. Alas, the conversation of Christians, when they do meet, is often
+sadly unprofitable! How many frivolous, and trifling, and uncharitable
+things are said! Let us bring out the Bible more, and it will help to
+drive the devil away, and keep our hearts in tune. Oh, that we may all
+strive so to walk together in this evil world, that Jesus may often draw
+near, and go with us, as He went with the two disciples journeying to
+Emmaus!
+
+Last of all, let us resolve to _live by the Bible more and more_ every
+year we live. Let us frequently take account of all our opinions and
+practices,--of our habits and tempers,--of our behaviour in public and
+in private,--in the world, and by our own firesides. Let us measure all
+by the Bible, and resolve, by God's help, to conform to it. Oh that we
+may learn increasingly to "cleanse our ways" by the Word! (Ps. cxix.
+9.)
+
+I commend all these things to the serious and prayerful attention of
+every one into whose hands this paper may fall. I want the ministers of
+my beloved country to be Bible-reading ministers,--the congregations,
+Bible-reading congregations,--and the nation, a Bible-reading nation. To
+bring about this desirable end I cast in my mite into God's treasury.
+The Lord grant that it may prove not to have been in vain!
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+
+GOING TO THE TABLE
+
+     "_Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread,
+     and drink of that cup._"--1 Cor. xi. 28.
+
+
+The words which form the title of this paper refer to a subject of vast
+importance. That subject is the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper.
+
+Perhaps no part of the Christian religion is so thoroughly misunderstood
+as the Lord's Supper. On no point have there been so many disputes,
+strifes, and controversies for almost 1800 years. On no point have
+mistakes done so much harm. Even at this very day the battle is still
+raging, and Christians seem hopelessly divided. The very ordinance which
+was meant for our peace and profit has become the cause of discord and
+the occasion of sin. These things ought not so to be!
+
+I make no excuse for including the Lord's Supper among the leading
+points of _practical_ Christianity. I believe firmly that ignorant views
+or false doctrine about this sacrament lie at the root of half the
+present divisions of professing Christians. Some neglect it altogether;
+some completely misunderstand it; some exalt it to a position it was
+never meant to occupy, and turn it into an idol. If I can throw a little
+light on it, and clear up the doubts of some minds, I shall feel very
+thankful. It is hopeless, I fear, to expect that the controversy about
+the Lord's Supper will ever be finally closed until the Lord comes. But
+it is not too much to hope that the fog and mystery and obscurity with
+which it is surrounded in some minds, may be cleared away by plain Bible
+truth.
+
+In examining the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper I shall content myself
+with asking four practical questions, and offering answers to them.
+
+
+    I. Why was the Lord's supper ordained?
+
+    II. Who ought to go to the Table and be communicants?
+
+    III. What may communicants expect from the Lord's Supper?
+
+    IV. Why do many so-called Christians never go to the Lord's Table?
+
+
+I think it will be impossible to handle these four questions fairly,
+honestly, and impartially, without seeing the subject of this paper more
+clearly, and getting some distinct and practical ideas about some
+leading errors of our day. I say "practical" emphatically. My chief aim
+in this volume is to promote practical Christianity.
+
+
+I. In the first place, _why was the Lord's Supper ordained_?
+
+I answer that question in the words of the Church Catechism. I am sure I
+cannot mend them. It was ordained "for the continual remembrance of the
+sacrifice of the death of Christ, and of the benefits which we receive
+thereby."--The bread which in the Lord's Supper is broken, given, and
+eaten, is meant to remind us of Christ's body given on the cross for our
+sins. The wine which is poured out and received, is meant to remind us
+of Christ's blood shed on the cross for our sins. He that eats that
+bread and drinks that wine is reminded, in the most striking and
+forcible manner, of the benefits Christ has obtained for his soul, and
+of the death of Christ as the hinge and turning point on which all those
+benefits depend.
+
+Now is the view here stated the doctrine of the New Testament? If it is
+not, for ever let it be rejected, cast aside, and refused by men. If it
+is, let us never be ashamed to hold it fast, profess our belief in it,
+pin our faith on it, and steadfastly refuse to hold any other view, no
+matter by whom it is taught. In subjects like this we must call no man
+master. It signifies little what great Bishops and learned divines have
+thought fit to put forth about the Lord's Supper. If they teach more
+than the Word of God contains they are not to be believed.
+
+I take down my Bible and turn to the New Testament. There I find no less
+than four separate accounts of the first appointment of the Lord's
+Supper. St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. Paul, all four describe
+it: all four agree in telling us what our Lord did on this memorable
+occasion.--Two only tell us the reason which our Lord assigned why His
+disciples were to eat the bread and drink the cup. St. Paul and St. Luke
+both record the remarkable words, "_Do this in remembrance of Me_."--St.
+Paul adds his own inspired comment: "As often as ye eat this bread and
+drink this cup, ye do shew (or declare or proclaim) the Lord's death
+till He come." (Luke xxii. 19; 1 Cor. xi. 25, 26.) When Scripture speaks
+so plainly, why cannot men be content with it? Why should we mystify and
+confuse a subject which in the New Testament is so simple? The
+"continual remembrance of Christ's death" was the one grand object for
+which the Lord's Supper was ordained. He that goes further than this is
+adding to God's Word, and does so to the great peril of his soul.
+
+Now is it reasonable to suppose that our Lord would appoint an ordinance
+for so simple a purpose as the "_keeping His death in remembrance_"?
+Most certainly it is. Of all the facts in His earthly ministry none are
+equal in importance to that of His death. It was the great satisfaction
+for man's sin, which had been appointed in God's covenant from the
+foundation of the world. It was the great atonement of almighty power,
+to which every sacrifice of animals, from the fall of man, continually
+pointed. It was the grand end and purpose for which Messiah came into
+the world. It was the corner-stone and foundation of all man's hopes of
+pardon and peace with God. In short, Christ would have lived, and
+taught, and preached, and prophesied, and wrought miracles in vain, if
+He had not _crowned all by dying for our sins as our Substitute_! His
+death was our life. His death was the payment of our debt to God.
+Without His death we should have been of all creatures most miserable.
+No wonder that an ordinance was specially appointed to remind us of our
+Saviour's death. It is the very one thing of which poor, weak, sinful
+man needs to be continually reminded.
+
+Does the New Testament warrant men in saying that the Lord's Supper was
+ordained to be a sacrifice, and that in it Christ's body and blood are
+present under the forms of bread and wine? _Most certainly not!_ When
+the Lord Jesus said to the disciples, "This is my Body," and "this is my
+Blood," He evidently meant, "This bread in my hand is an emblem of my
+Body, and this cup of wine in my hand contains an emblem of my Blood."
+The disciples were accustomed to hear Him use such language. They
+remembered His saying, "The field _is_ the world," "The good seed _are_
+the children of the kingdom." (Matt. xiii. 38.) It never entered into
+their minds that He meant to say He was holding His own body and His own
+blood in His hands, and literally giving them His literal body and blood
+to eat and drink. Not one of the writers of the New Testament ever
+speaks of the sacrament as a sacrifice, or calls the Lord's Table an
+altar, or even hints that a Christian minister is a sacrificing priest.
+The universal doctrine of the New Testament is that after the one
+offering of Christ there remains no more need of sacrifice.[2]
+
+  2: If any one fancies that St. Paul's words to the Hebrews, "We have an
+  altar," are a proof that the Lord's table is an altar, I advise him to
+  read what Waterland, no mean theologian, says on the
+  subject:--"Christians have an altar whereof they partake. That altar is
+  Christ our Lord, who is Altar, Priest, and Sacrifice, all in
+  One."--_Waterland's Works_, Vol. V., 268. Oxford edition.
+
+Does the English Prayer-book warrant any Churchman in saying that the
+Lord's Supper was meant to be a sacrifice, and that Christ's body and
+blood are present under the forms of bread and wine? Once more I reply,
+_Most certainly not!_ Not once is the word _altar_ to be found in the
+Prayer-book: not once is the Lord's Supper called a _sacrifice_.
+Throughout the Communion Service the one idea of the ordinance
+continually pressed on our attention is that of a "remembrance" of
+Christ's death. As to any presence of Christ's natural body and blood
+under the forms of bread and wine, the rubric at the end of the Service
+gives the most flat and distinct contradiction to the idea. That rubric
+expressly asserts that "the natural body and blood of Christ are in
+heaven, and not here." Those many Churchmen, so-called, who delight in
+talking of the "altar," the "sacrifice," the "priest," and the "real
+presence" in the Lord's Supper, would do well to remember that they are
+using language which is entirely unused by the Church of England.
+
+The point before us is one of vast importance. Let us lay hold upon it
+firmly, and never let it go. It is the very point on which our Reformers
+had their sharpest controversy with the Romanists, and went to the
+stake, rather than give way. Sooner than admit that the Lord's Supper
+was a sacrifice, they cheerfully laid down their lives. To bring back
+the doctrine of the "real presence," and to turn the good old English
+communion into the Romish "mass," is to pour contempt on our Martyrs,
+and to upset the first principles of the Protestant Reformation. Nay,
+rather, it is to ignore the plain teaching of God's Word, and do
+dishonour to the priestly office of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible
+teaches expressly that the Lord's Supper was ordained to be "a
+remembrance of Christ's body and blood," and not an offering. The Bible
+teaches that Christ's vicarious death on the cross was the one perfect
+sacrifice for sin, which never needs to be repeated. Let us stand fast
+in these two great principles of the Christian faith. A clear view of
+the intention of the Lord's Supper is one of the soul's best safeguards
+against the delusions of modern days.
+
+
+II. In the second place, let me try to show _who ought to be
+communicants_? _What kind of persons were meant to go to the Table and
+receive the Lord's Supper?_
+
+It will clear the ground if I first show who ought not to be partakers
+of this ordinance. The ignorance which prevails on this, as well as on
+every part of the subject, is vast, lamentable, and appalling. If I can
+contribute anything that may throw light upon it, I shall feel very
+thankful. The principal giants whom John Bunyan describes, in "Pilgrim's
+Progress," as dangerous to Christian pilgrims, were two, Pope and Pagan.
+If the good old Puritan had foreseen the times we live in, he would have
+said something about the giant Ignorance.
+
+(_a_) It is not right to urge all baptized persons to become
+communicants. There is such a thing as fitness and preparedness for the
+ordinance. It does not work like a medicine, independently of the state
+of mind of those who receive it. The teaching of those who press all
+their congregation to come to the Lord's Table, as if the coming _must_
+necessarily do every one good, is entirely without warrant of Scripture.
+Nay, rather, it is teaching which is calculated to do immense harm to
+men's souls, and to turn the reception of the sacrament into a mere
+form. Ignorance can never be the mother of acceptable worship, and an
+ignorant communicant who comes to the Lord's Table without knowing why
+he comes, is altogether in the wrong place.--"Let a man examine himself,
+and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup."--"To discern
+the Lord's body,"--that is to understand what the elements of bread and
+wine represent, and why they are appointed, and what is the particular
+use of remembering Christ's death,--is an essential qualification of a
+true communicant. God "commands all men everywhere to repent" and
+believe the Gospel (Acts xvii. 30); but He does not in the same way, or
+in the same manner, command every body to come to the Lord's Table. No:
+this thing is not to be taken in hand unadvisedly, lightly, or
+carelessly! It is a solemn ordinance, and solemnly it ought to be used.
+
+(_b_) But this is not all. Sinners living in open sin, and determined
+not to give it up, ought on no account to come to the Lord's Table. To
+do so is a positive insult to Christ, and to pour contempt on His
+Gospel. It is nonsense to profess we desire to remember Christ's death,
+while we cling to the accursed thing which made it needful for Christ to
+die. The mere fact that a man is continuing in sin, is plain evidence
+that he does not care for Christ, and feels no gratitude for redemption.
+The ignorant Papist who goes to the priest's confessional and receives
+absolution, may think he is fit to go to the Popish mass, and after mass
+may return to his sins. He never reads the Bible, and knows no better!
+But the Englishman who habitually breaks any of God's commandments, and
+yet goes to the Sacrament, as if it would do him good and wipe away his
+sins, is very guilty indeed. So long as he chooses to continue his
+wicked habits he cannot receive the slightest benefit from Christ's
+ordinances, and is only adding sin to sin. To carry unrepented sin up to
+the Communion Rail, and there receive the bread and wine, knowing in our
+own hearts that we and wickedness are yet friends, is one of the worst
+things a man can do, and one of the most hardening to conscience. If a
+man must have his sins, and cannot give them up, let him by all means
+stay away from the Lord's Supper. There is such a thing as "eating and
+drinking unworthily," and to our own "condemnation." To no one do these
+words apply so thoroughly as to an open sinner.
+
+(_c_) But I have not done yet. Self-righteous people, who think that
+they are to be saved by their own works, have no business to come to the
+Lord's Table. Strange as it may sound at first, these persons are the
+least qualified of all to receive the Sacrament. They may be outwardly
+correct, moral and respectable in their lives, but so long as they trust
+in their own goodness for salvation, they are entirely in the wrong
+place at the Lord's Supper. For what do we declare at the Lord's Supper?
+We publicly profess that we have no goodness, righteousness, or
+worthiness of our own, and that all our hope is in Christ. We publicly
+profess that we are guilty, sinful, and corrupt, and naturally deserve
+God's wrath and condemnation. We publicly profess that Christ's merit
+and not our's, Christ's righteousness and not our's, is the alone cause
+why we look for acceptance with God. Now what has a self-righteous man
+to do with an ordinance like this? Clearly nothing at all. One thing, at
+any rate, is very plain: a self-righteous man has no business to receive
+the sacrament in the Church of England. The Communion Service of the
+Church bids all communicants declare that "they do not presume to come
+to the Table trusting in their own righteousness, but in God's manifold
+and great mercies."--It tells them to say,--"We are not worthy so much
+as to gather up the crumbs under Thy table,"--"the remembrance of our
+sins is grievous unto us; the burden of them is intolerable."--How any
+self-righteous Churchman can ever go to the Lord's Table, and take these
+words into his mouth, passes my understanding! It only shows that many
+professing Christians use excellent "forms" of worship without taking
+the trouble to consider what they mean.
+
+The plain truth is that the Lord's Supper was not meant for dead souls,
+but for living ones. The careless, the ignorant, the wilfully wicked,
+the self-righteous, are no more fit to come to the Communion rail than a
+dead corpse is fit to sit down at a king's feast. To enjoy a spiritual
+feast we must have a spiritual heart, and taste, and appetite. To
+suppose that Christ's ordinances can do good to an unspiritual man, is
+as foolish as to put bread and wine into the mouth of a dead person. The
+careless, the ignorant, and the wilfully wicked, so long as they
+continue in that state, are utterly unfit to be communicants. To urge
+them to attend is not to do them good but harm. The Lord's Supper is not
+a converting or justifying ordinance. If a man goes to the Table
+unconverted or unforgiven, he will come away no better at all.
+
+But, after all, the ground having been cleared of error, the question
+still remains to be answered,--Who are the sort of persons who ought to
+be communicants? I answer that question in the words of the Church
+Catechism. I there find the inquiry made, "What is required of them who
+come to the Lord's Supper?" In reply I find it taught that people should
+"examine themselves whether they repent them truly of their former sins,
+steadfastly purposing to lead a new life;"--whether they "have a lively
+faith in God's mercy through Christ, with a thankful remembrance of His
+death;"--and whether they "are in charity with all men."--In a word, I
+find that a worthy communicant is one who possesses three simple marks
+and qualifications,--repentance, faith, and charity. Does a man truly
+repent of sin and hate it? Does a man put his trust in Jesus Christ as
+his only hope of salvation? Does a man live in charity towards others?
+He that can truly say to each of these questions, "I do," he is a man
+that is Scripturally qualified for the Lord's Supper. Let him come
+boldly. Let no barrier be put in his way. He comes up to the Bible
+standard of communicants. He may draw near with confidence, and feel
+assured that the great Master of the banquet is not displeased.
+
+Such a man's repentance may be very imperfect. Never mind! Is it real?
+Does he truly repent at all?--His faith in Christ may be very weak.
+Never mind! Is it real? A penny is as truly the current coin of the
+realm, and as really stamped with the Queen's image as a sovereign. His
+charity may be very defective in quantity and degree. Never mind! Is it
+genuine? The grand test of a man's Christianity is not the quantity of
+grace he has got, but whether he has any grace at all. The first twelve
+communicants, when Christ Himself gave the bread and wine, were weak
+indeed,--weak in knowledge, weak in faith, weak in courage, weak in
+patience, weak in love! But eleven of them had that about them which
+outweighed all defects: they were real, genuine, sincere, and true.
+
+For ever let this great principle be rooted in our minds,--the only
+worthy communicant is the man who is experimentally acquainted with
+repentance toward God, faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, and
+practical love toward others. Are you that man? Then you may draw
+near to the table, and take the sacrament to your comfort. Lower
+than this I dare not pitch my standard of a communicant. I will
+never help to crowd a communion rail with careless, ignorant,
+self-righteous attendants.--Higher than this I will not pitch my
+standard. I will never tell any one to keep away till he is perfect,
+and to wait till his heart is as unruffled as an angel's. I will not
+do so, because I believe that neither my Master nor His Apostles
+would have done so. Show me a man that really feels his sins, really
+leans on Christ, really struggles to be holy, and I will bid him
+welcome in my Master's name. He may feel weak, erring, empty,
+feeble, doubting, wretched, and poor. What matter? St. Paul, I
+believe, would have received him as a right communicant, and I will
+do likewise.
+
+
+III. In the third place, let us consider _what benefit communicants may
+expect to get by going to the Table and attending the Lord's Supper_.
+This is a point of grave importance, and one on which vast mistakes
+abound. On no point, perhaps, connected with this ordinance, are the
+views of Christians so vague and misty and undefined.
+
+One common idea among men is that "taking the sacrament must do them
+good." Why, they cannot explain. What good, they cannot exactly say. But
+they have a loose general notion that it is the right thing to be a
+communicant, and that somehow or other it is of service to their souls!
+This is of course nothing better than ignorance. It is unreasonable to
+suppose that such communicants can please Christ, or receive any real
+benefit from what they do. If there is any principle clearly laid down
+in the Bible about any act of religious worship, it is this,--that it
+must be _intelligent_. The worshipper must at least understand something
+about what he is doing. Mere bodily worship, unaccompanied by mind or
+heart, is utterly worthless. The man who walks up to a communion rail,
+and eats the bread and drinks the wine, as a mere matter of form,
+because his minister tells him, without any clear idea of what it all
+means, derives no benefit. He might just as well stay at home!
+
+Another common idea among men is that, "taking the sacrament will help
+them to heaven, and take away their sins." To this delusive idea you may
+trace up the habit in some parishes of going to the sacrament once a
+year, in order, as an old farmer once said, "to wipe off the year's
+sins." To this idea again, you may trace the too common practice of
+sending for a minister in time of sickness, in order to receive the
+sacrament before death. Alas, how many take comfort about their
+relatives, after they have lived a most ungodly life, for no better
+reason than this,--that _they took the sacrament_ when they were dying!
+Whether they repented and believed and had new hearts, they neither seem
+to know or care. All they know is that "they took the sacrament before
+they died." My heart sinks within me when I hear people resting on such
+evidence as this.
+
+Ideas like these are mournful proofs of the ignorance that fills the
+minds of men about the Lord's Supper. They are ideas for which there is
+not the slightest warrant either in Scripture or the Prayer-book. The
+sooner they are cast aside and given up, the better for the Church and
+the world.
+
+Let us settle it firmly in our minds that the Lord's Supper was not
+given to be a means either of justification or of conversion. It was
+never meant to give grace where there is no grace already, or to provide
+pardon when pardon is not already enjoyed. It cannot possibly supply the
+absence of repentance to God, and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. It
+is an ordinance for the penitent, not for the impenitent,--for the
+believing, not for the unbelieving,--for the converted, not for the
+unconverted. The unconverted man, who fancies that he can find a
+short-cut road to heaven by taking the sacrament, without treading the
+well-worn steps of repentance and faith, will find to his cost one day,
+that he is totally deceived. The Lord's Supper was meant to increase and
+help the grace that a man has, but not to impart the grace that he has
+not. It was certainly never intended to make our peace with God, to
+justify, or to convert.
+
+The simplest statement of the benefit which a true-hearted communicant
+may expect to receive from the Lord's Supper, is that which is supplied
+by the Church Catechism,--"The strengthening and refreshing of our
+souls."--Clearer views of Christ and His atonement, clearer views of
+all the offices which Christ fills as our Mediator and Advocate, clearer
+views of the complete redemption Christ has obtained for us by His
+vicarious death on the cross, clearer views of our full and perfect
+acceptance in Christ before God, fresh reasons for deep repentance for
+sin, fresh reasons for lively faith,--these are among the leading
+returns which a believer may confidently expect to get from his
+attendance at the Lord's Table. He that eats the bread and drinks the
+wine in a right spirit, will find himself drawn into closer communion
+with Christ, and will feel to know Him more, and understand Him better.
+
+(_a_) Right reception of the Lord's Supper has a _humbling_ effect on
+the soul. The sight of these emblems of Christ's body and blood, reminds
+us how sinful sin must be, if anything less than the death of God's own
+Son could make satisfaction for it, or redeem us from its guilt. Never
+surely ought we to be so "clothed with humility," as when we kneel at
+the Communion rail.
+
+(_b_) Right reception of the Lord's Supper has a _cheering_ effect on
+the soul. The sight of the bread broken, and the wine poured out,
+reminds us how full, perfect, and complete is our salvation. Those
+lively emblems remind us what an enormous price has been paid for our
+redemption. They press on us the mighty truth, that believing on Christ,
+we have nothing to fear, because a sufficient payment has been made for
+our debt. The "precious blood of Christ" answers every charge that can
+be brought against us. God can be a "just God, and yet the justifier of
+every one that believeth on Jesus." (Rom. iii. 26.)
+
+(_c_) Right reception of the Lord's Supper has a _sanctifying_ effect on
+the soul. The bread and wine remind us how great is our debt of
+gratitude to our Lord, and how thoroughly we are bound to live for Him
+who died for our sins. They seem to say to us, "Remember what Christ has
+done for you, and ask yourself whether there is anything too great to do
+for Him."
+
+(_d_) Right reception of the Lord's Supper into hearts, has a
+_restraining_ effect on the soul. Every time a believer goes up to the
+Communion rail he is reminded what a serious thing it is to be a
+Christian, and what an obligation is laid on him to lead a consistent
+life. Bought with such a price as that bread and wine call to his
+recollection, ought he not to glorify Christ in body and spirit, which
+are His? The man that goes regularly and intelligently to the Lord's
+Table finds it increasingly hard to yield to sin and conform to the
+world.
+
+Such is a brief account of the benefits which a right-hearted
+communicant may expect to receive from the Lord's Supper. In eating that
+bread and drinking that cup, such a man will have his repentance
+deepened, his faith increased, his knowledge enlarged, his habit of holy
+living strengthened. He will realize more of the "real presence" of
+Christ in his heart. Eating that bread by faith, he will feel closer
+communion with the body of Christ. Drinking that wine by faith, he will
+feel closer communion with the blood of Christ. He will see more clearly
+what Christ is to him, and what he is to Christ. He will understand more
+thoroughly what it is to be "one with Christ, and Christ one with him."
+He will feel the roots of his soul's spiritual life watered, and the
+work of grace in his heart stablished, built up, and carried forward.
+All these things may seem and sound foolishness to a natural man, but to
+a true Christian these things are light, and health, and life, and
+peace. No wonder that a true Christian finds the Lord's Supper a source
+of blessing!
+
+Remember, I do not pretend to say that all Christians experience the
+full blessing of the Lord's Supper, which I have just attempted to
+describe. Nor yet do I say that the same believer will always find his
+soul in the same spiritual frame, and always receive the same amount of
+benefit from the sacrament. But this I will boldly say: you will rarely
+find a true believer who will not say that he reckons the Lord's Supper
+one of his best helps and highest privileges. He will tell you that if
+he were deprived of the Lord's Supper he should find the loss of it a
+great drawback to his soul. There are some things of which we never know
+the value till they are taken from us. So I believe it is with the
+Lord's Supper. The weakest and humblest of God's children gets a
+blessing from this sacrament, to an extent of which he is not aware.
+
+
+IV. In the last place, I have to consider _why it is that many so-called
+Christians never come to the Lord's Supper_.
+
+It is a simple matter of fact, that myriads of baptized persons never
+come to the Table of the Lord. They would not endure to be told that
+they deny the faith, and are practically not in communion with Christ.
+When they worship, they attend a place of Christian worship; when they
+hear religious teaching, it is the teaching of Christianity; when they
+are married, they use a Christian service; when their children are
+baptized, they ask for the Sacrament of Baptism. Yet all this time they
+never come to the Lord's Supper! They often live on in this state of
+mind for many years, and to all appearance are not ashamed. They often
+die in this condition without ever having received the sacrament, and
+yet profess to feel hope at the last, and their friends express a hope
+about them. And yet they live and die in open disobedience to a plain
+command of Christ! These are simple facts. Let any one look around him,
+and deny them if he can. I challenge any one to deny that the
+non-communicants in all English congregations form the majority, and the
+communicants the minority of the worshippers.
+
+Now how is this? What account can we give of it? Our Lord Jesus Christ's
+last injunctions to His disciples are clear, plain, and unmistakable. He
+says to all, "Eat, drink: do this in remembrance of Me." Did He leave
+it to our discretion whether we would attend to His injunction or not?
+Did He mean that it did not signify whether His disciples did or did not
+keep up the ordinance He had just established? Certainly not. The very
+idea is absurd, and one certainly never dreamed of in apostolic
+times.--St. Paul evidently takes it for granted that every Christian is
+a communicant. A class of Christian worshippers who never came to the
+Table, was a class whose existence was unknown to him. What, then, are
+we to say of that large multitude of non-communicants which walks out of
+our churches every sacrament Sunday, unabashed, unhumbled, not afraid,
+not the least ashamed? Why is it? How is it? What does it all mean? Let
+us look these questions fairly in the face, and endeavour to give an
+answer to them.
+
+(1) For one thing, many are not communicants because they are utterly
+careless and thoughtless about religion, and ignorant of the very first
+principles of Christianity. They go to church, as a matter of form,
+because other people go; but they neither know, nor care anything about
+what is done, at church! The faith of Christ has no place either in
+their hearts, or heads, or consciences, or wills, or understandings. It
+is a mere affair of "words and names," about which they know no more
+than Festus or Gallio. There were very few such Christians in St. Paul's
+times, if indeed there were any. There are far too many in these last
+days of the world, when everything seems to be wearing out and running
+to seed. They are the dead-weight of the Churches, and the scandal of
+Christianity. What such people need is light, knowledge, grace, a
+renewed conscience, a changed heart. In their present state they have no
+part or lot in Christ; and dying in this state they are unfit for
+heaven. Do I wish them to come to the Lord's Supper? Certainly not, till
+they are converted. Except a man be converted he will never enter the
+kingdom of God.
+
+(2) For another thing, many are not communicants because they know they
+are living in the habitual practice of some sin, or in the habitual
+neglect of some Christian duty. Their conscience tells them that so long
+as they live in this state, and do not break off from their sins, they
+are unfit to come to the Table of the Lord. Well: they are so far quite
+right! I wish no man to be a communicant if he cannot give up his sins.
+But I warn these people not to forget that if they are unfit for the
+Lord's Supper they are unfit to die, and that if they die in their
+present condition they will be lost eternally. The same sins which
+disqualify them for the sacrament, most certainly disqualify them for
+heaven. Do I want them to come to the Lord's Supper as they are?
+Certainly not! But I do want them to repent and be converted, to cease
+to do evil, and to break off from their sins. For ever let it be
+remembered that the man unfit for the Lord's Supper is unfit to die.
+
+(3) For another thing, some are not communicants because they fancy it
+will add to their responsibility. They are not, as many, ignorant and
+careless about religion. They even attend regularly on the means of
+grace, and like the preaching of the Gospel. But they say they dread
+coming forward and making a profession. They fear that they might
+afterwards fall away, and bring scandal on the cause of Christianity.
+They think it wisest to be on the safe side, and not commit themselves
+at all. Such people would do well to remember that if they avoid
+responsibility of one kind by not coming to the Lord's Table, they incur
+responsibility of another kind, quite as grave, and quite as injurious
+to the soul. They are responsible for open disobedience to a command of
+Christ. They are shrinking from doing that which their Master
+continually enjoins on His disciples,--from confessing Him before men.
+No doubt it is a serious step to come forward and receive the sacrament.
+It is a step that none should take lightly and without self-examination.
+But it is _no less a serious step to walk away and refuse the
+ordinance_, when we remember Who invites us to receive it, and for what
+purpose it was appointed! I warn the people I am now dealing with to
+take heed what they are doing. Let them not flatter themselves that it
+can ever be a wise, a prudent, a safe line of conduct to neglect a plain
+command of Christ. They may find at length, to their cost, that they
+have only increased their guilt and forsaken their mercies.
+
+(4) For another thing, some are not communicants because they fancy they
+are not yet worthy. They wait and stand still, under the mistaken notion
+that no one is qualified for the Lord's Supper unless he feels within
+him something like perfection. They pitch their idea of a communicant so
+high that they despair of attaining to it. Waiting for inward perfection
+they live, and waiting for it too often they die. Now such persons would
+do well to understand that they are completely mistaken in their
+estimate of what "worthiness" really is. They are forgetting that the
+Lord's Supper was not intended for unsinning angels, but for men and
+women compassed with infirmity, dwelling in a world full of temptations,
+and needing mercy and grace every day they live. A sense of our own
+utter unworthiness is the best worthiness we can bring to the Communion
+rail. A deep feeling of our own entire indebtedness to Christ for all we
+have and hope for, is the best feeling we can bring with us. The people
+I now have in view ought to consider seriously whether the ground they
+have taken up is tenable, and whether they are not standing in their own
+light. If they are waiting till they feel in themselves perfect hearts,
+perfect motives, perfect feelings, perfect repentance, perfect love,
+perfect faith, they will wait for ever. There never were such
+communicants in any age,--certainly not in the days of our Lord and of
+the Apostles,--there never will be as long as the world stands. Nay,
+rather, the very thought that we feel literally worthy, is a symptom of
+secret self-righteousness, and proves us unfit for communion in God's
+sight. Sinners we are when we first come to the throne of
+grace,--sinners we shall be till we die; converted changed, renewed,
+sanctified, but sinners still. In short, no man is a really worthy
+communicant who does not deeply feel that he is a "miserable sinner."
+
+(5) In the last place, some object to be communicants because they see
+others coming to the Lord's Table who are not worthy, and not in a right
+state of mind. Because others eat and drink unworthily, they refuse to
+eat and drink at all. Of all the grounds taken up by non-communicants to
+justify their own neglect of Christ's ordinance, I must plainly say, I
+know none which seems to me so foolish, so weak, so unreasonable, and so
+unscriptural as this. It is as good as saying that we will never receive
+the Lord's Supper at all! When shall we ever find a body of communicants
+on earth of which all the members are converted?--It is setting up
+ourselves in the most unhealthy attitude of judging others. "Who art
+thou that judgest another?" "What is that to thee? Follow thou Me."--It
+is depriving ourselves of a great privilege merely because others
+profane it and make a bad use of it.--It is pretending to be wiser than
+our Master Himself. If the words of St. Luke mean anything, Judas
+Iscariot was present at the first Communion, and received the bread and
+wine among others.--It is taking up ground for which there is no warrant
+in Scripture. St. Paul rebukes the Corinthians sharply for the
+irreverent behaviour of some of the communicants; but I cannot find him
+giving a single hint that when some came to the Table unworthily, others
+ought to draw back or stay away. Let me advise the non-communicants I
+have now in view to beware of being wise above that which was written.
+Let them study the parable of the Wheat and Tares, and mark how both
+were to "grow together till the harvest." (Matt. xiii. 30.) Perfect
+Churches, perfect congregations, perfect bodies of communicants, are
+all unattainable in this world of confusion and sin. Let us covet the
+best gifts, and do all we can to check sin in others; but let us not
+starve our own selves because others are ignorant sinners, and turn
+their meat into poison. If others are foolish enough to eat and drink
+unworthily, let us not turn our backs on Christ's ordinance, and refuse
+to eat and drink at all.
+
+Such are the five common excuses why myriads in the present day, though
+professing themselves Christians, never come to the Lord's Supper. One
+common remark may be made about them: there is not a single reason among
+the five which deserves to be called "good," and which does not condemn
+the man who gives it. I challenge any one to deny this. I have said
+repeatedly that I want no one to be a communicant who is not properly
+qualified. But I ask those who stay away never to forget that the very
+reasons they assign for their conduct are their condemnation. I tell
+them that they stand convicted before God of either being very ignorant
+of what a communicant is, and what the Lord's Supper is; or else of
+being persons who are not living rightly, and are unfit to die. In
+short, to say, I am a non-communicant, is as good as saying one of three
+things:--"I am living in sin, and cannot come;--I know Christ commands
+me, but I will not obey Him;--I am an ignorant man, and do not
+understand what the Lord's Supper means."
+
+
+I know not in what state of mind this book may find the reader of this
+paper, or what his opinions may be about the Lord's Supper. But I will
+conclude the whole subject by offering to all some warnings, which I
+venture to think are peculiarly required by the times.
+
+(1) In the first place, _do not neglect_ the Lord's Supper. The man who
+coolly and deliberately refuses to use an ordinance which the Lord Jesus
+Christ appointed for his profit, may be very sure that his soul is in a
+very wrong state. There is a judgment yet to come; there is an account
+to be rendered of all our conduct on earth. How any one can look forward
+to that day, and expect to meet Christ with comfort and in peace, if he
+has refused all his life to meet Christ in His own ordinance, is a thing
+that I cannot understand. Does this come home to you? Mind what you are
+doing.
+
+(2) In the second place, _do not receive the Lord's Supper carelessly_,
+irreverently, and as a matter of form. The man who walks up to the
+Communion rail, and eats the bread and drinks the wine, while his heart
+is far away, is committing a great sin, and robbing himself of a great
+blessing. In this, as in every other means of grace, everything depends
+on the state of mind in which the ordinance is used. He that draws near
+without repentance, faith, and love, and with a heart full of sin and
+the world, will certainly be nothing better, but rather worse. Does this
+come home to you? Mind what you are about.
+
+(3) In the third place, _do not make an idol_ of the Lord's Supper. The
+man who tells you that it is the first, foremost, chief, and principal
+ordinance in Christianity, is telling you that which he will find it
+hard to prove. In the great majority of the books of the New Testament
+the Lord's Supper is not even named. In the letter to Timothy and Titus,
+about a minister's duties, the subject is not even mentioned. To repent
+and be converted, to believe and be holy, to be born again and have
+grace in our hearts,--all these things are of far more importance than
+to be a communicant. Without them we cannot be saved. Without the Lord's
+Supper we can. The penitent thief was not a communicant, and Judas
+Iscariot was! Are you tempted to make the Lord's Supper override and
+overshadow everything in Christianity, and place it above prayer and
+preaching? Take care. Mind what you are about.
+
+(4) In the fourth place, _do not use the Lord's Supper irregularly_.
+Never be absent when this ordinance is administered. Make every
+sacrifice to be in your place. Regular habits are essential to the
+maintenance of the health of our bodies. Regular use of every means of
+grace is essential to the prosperity of our souls. The man who finds it
+a weariness to attend on every occasion when the Lord's Table is spread,
+may well doubt whether all is right within him, and whether he is ready
+for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. If Thomas had not been absent when
+the Lord appeared the first time to the assembled disciples, he would
+not have said the foolish things he did. Absence made him miss a
+blessing. Does this come home to you? Mind what you are about.
+
+(5) In the fifth place, _do not do anything to bring discredit_ on your
+profession as a communicant. The man who after attending the Lord's
+Table runs into sin, does more harm perhaps than any sinner. He is a
+walking sermon on behalf of the devil. He gives occasion to the enemies
+of the Lord to blaspheme. He helps to keep people away from Christ.
+Lying, drinking, adulterous, dishonest, passionate communicants are the
+helpers of the devil, and the worst enemies of the Gospel. Does this
+come home to you? Mind what you are about.
+
+(6) In the last place, _do not despond_ and be cast down, if with all
+your desires you do not feel to get great good from the Lord's Supper.
+Very likely you are expecting too much. Very likely you are a poor judge
+of your own state. Your soul's roots may be strengthening and growing,
+while you think you are not getting on. Very likely you are forgetting
+that earth is not heaven, and that here we walk by sight and not by
+faith, and must expect nothing perfect. Lay these things to heart. Do
+not write bitter things against yourself without cause.
+
+To every reader into whose hands this paper may fall, I commend the
+whole subject of it as deserving of serious and solemn consideration. I
+am nothing better than a poor fallible man myself. But if I have made
+up my mind on any point it is this,--that there is no truth which
+demands such plain speaking as truth about the Lord's Supper.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+NOTE
+
+     I ask the special attention of my readers to the following
+     extracts from the last Charge of the late Dr. Longley,
+     Archbishop of Canterbury.
+
+     The office held by the Archbishop, the remarkable gentleness
+     and mildness of his character, the fact that this Charge
+     contains his last sentiments, and that it was not made public
+     till after his death,--all this appears to me to invest these
+     extracts about the Lord's Supper with peculiar interest.
+
+     "It is far from my intention to impute to all those who have
+     taken the ill-advised step of adopting the Sacrificial
+     Vestments (in administering the Lord's Supper) any sympathy
+     with Roman error; but I am constrained to avow that there are
+     plain indications in some of the publications which have been
+     issued as manifestoes of the opinions of that section of our
+     Church, that some of its professed members, yea, even of her
+     ministers, think themselves at liberty to hold the doctrines of
+     the Church of Rome in relation to the Sacrifice of the Mass,
+     and yet retain their position within the pale of the Anglican
+     Church with the avowed purpose of eliminating from its
+     formularies every trace of the Reformation, as regards its
+     protest against Romish error. The language they hold with
+     respect to it is entirely incompatible with loyalty to the
+     Church to which they profess to belong. They call it 'a
+     Communion deeply tainted with Protestant heresy:' 'Our duty,'
+     they say, 'is the expulsion of the evil, not flight from it.'
+     It is no want of charity, therefore, to declare that they
+     remain with us in order that they may substitute the Mass for
+     the Communion; the obvious aim of our Reformers having been to
+     substitute the Communion for the Mass. Doubtless the Church of
+     England admits of considerable latitude in the views that may
+     be taken of that most mysterious of all mysteries, the
+     Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. And so long as those solemn
+     words of its original institution, 'This is my Body,' 'This is
+     my Blood,' shall remain in the sentence of consecration (and
+     they never can be erased from it), so long will there be
+     varieties of interpretation of these words, all of which may be
+     consistent with a true allegiance to our Church, provided these
+     three conditions be observed:--
+
+     "1. That they be not construed to signify that the Natural Body
+     of Christ is present in the Sacrament:
+
+     "2. Nor to admit of any adoration either of the Sacramental
+     bread and wine there bodily received, or of any corporal
+     presence of Christ's Natural Body and Blood:
+
+     "3. Nor to justify the belief that the Body and Blood are again
+     offered as a satisfaction for sin; seeing that the offering of
+     Christ once made was a perfect redemption, propitiation, and
+     satisfaction for the sins of the whole world, original and
+     actual.
+
+     "These are the limits which our Church imposes upon the liberty
+     of interpretation of the words of our blessed Lord.
+
+     "The use of these sacrificial vestments is in the minds of many
+     intimately connected with the idea that an essential element in
+     the Holy Communion is the offering to God a Sacrifice of the
+     Body and Blood of Christ, which abide with the elements in a
+     mysterious manner after the act of Consecration. The minister
+     wears the vestments at that time as a sacrificing priest.
+     According to this view it would seem that the most important
+     part of this Holy Sacrament is what we offer to God, not what
+     we receive from Him.
+
+     "This view is not recognised by the Church of England in her
+     formularies. The general definition in the XXVth Article states
+     that Sacraments are 'certain sure witnesses and effectual signs
+     of grace, by the which [God] doth work invisibly in us;' and it
+     is said specifically of the Lord's Supper (Art. XXVIII.), that
+     it 'is a Sacrament of our Redemption by Christ's death:
+     insomuch that to such as rightly, worthily, and with faith,
+     receive the same, the Bread which we break is a partaking of
+     the Body of Christ; and likewise the Cup of Blessing is a
+     partaking of the Blood of Christ.' The idea of the Sacrifice of
+     that Body and Blood finds no place in either of these strict
+     definitions. The Catechism speaks the same language when it
+     defines a Sacrament to be 'an outward and visible sign of an
+     inward and spiritual grace given unto us.' Nor will an
+     examination of the Office of the Holy Communion itself give any
+     countenance to the idea in question. The only distinct oblation
+     or offering mentioned in that Office is previous to the
+     Consecration of the elements, in the Prayer for the Church
+     Militant, and therefore cannot be an offering or sacrifice of
+     the Body and Blood of Christ; and the only sacrifice which we
+     are spoken of as making, is the offering of 'ourselves, our
+     souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, and lively
+     sacrifice.'[3] Our Church seems most studiously to have avoided
+     any expression which could countenance the notion of a
+     perpetual Sacrifice of Christ, while on the other hand it
+     speaks of Christ's death upon the cross as 'His own oblation of
+     Himself once offered as a full, perfect, and sufficient
+     sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.' No room is left for
+     the repetition of that sacrifice, or for the admission of any
+     other sacrifice for sin."
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+  3: See Proctor on the Common Prayer, p. 320.
+
+"The Romish notion of a true, real, and substantial Sacrifice of the
+Body and Blood of Christ, as it is called in the Council of Trent,
+entailed the use of the term _altar_. But this term appears nowhere in
+the Book of Common Prayer, and was no doubt omitted lest any countenance
+should be given to the sacrificial view. The notion, therefore, of
+making in the material elements a perpetual offering of the Body and
+Blood of Christ, is as foreign to the spirit and the letter of our
+Service as I hold it to be to the doctrine of the early Fathers, as well
+as of the leading divines of our Church. This latter point also I shall
+endeavour to establish hereafter.
+
+"Meanwhile it cannot be denied, on the other hand, that the doctrine of
+the Real Presence is, in one sense, the doctrine of the Church of
+England. She asserts that the Body and Blood of Christ are 'verily and
+indeed taken and received by the faithful in the Lord's Supper.' And she
+asserts equally that such presence is not material or corporal; but that
+Christ's Body 'is given, taken, and eaten, in the Supper, only after a
+heavenly and spiritual manner.' (Art. XXVIII.) Christ's presence is
+effectual for all those intents and purposes for which His Body was
+broken, and His Blood shed. As to a presence elsewhere than in the heart
+of the believer, the Church of England is silent, and the words of
+Hooker therefore represent her views: 'The real presence of Christ's
+most blessed Body and Blood is not to be sought in the Sacrament, but in
+the worthy receiver of the Sacrament.'"
+
+
+
+
+VII
+
+
+CHARITY
+
+     "_Now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the
+     greatest of these is charity._"--1 Cor. xiii. 13.
+
+
+Charity is rightly called "the Queen of Christian graces." "The end of
+the commandment," says St. Paul, "is charity." (1 Tim. i. 5.) It is a
+grace which all people profess to admire. It seems a plain practical
+thing which everybody can understand. It is none of "those troublesome
+doctrinal points" about which Christians are disagreed. Thousands, I
+suspect, would not be ashamed to tell you that they knew nothing about
+justification or regeneration, about the work of Christ or the Holy
+Spirit. But nobody, I believe, would like to say that he knew nothing
+about "charity!" If men possess nothing else in religion, they always
+flatter themselves that they possess "charity."
+
+A few plain thoughts about charity may not be without use. There are
+false notions abroad about it which require to be dispelled. There are
+mistakes about it which require to be rectified. In my admiration of
+charity I yield to none. But I am bold to say that in many minds the
+whole subject seems completely misunderstood.
+
+
+    I. Let me show, firstly, _the place the Bible gives to charity_.
+
+    II. Let me show, secondly, _what the charity of the Bible really
+    is_.
+
+    III. Let me show, thirdly, _whence true charity comes_.
+
+    IV. Let me show, lastly, _why charity is "the greatest" of the
+    graces_.
+
+
+I ask the best attention of my readers to the subject. My heart's desire
+and prayer to God is, that the growth of charity may be promoted in this
+sin-burdened world. In nothing does the fallen condition of man show
+itself so strongly as in the scarcity of Christian charity. There is
+little faith on earth, little hope, little knowledge of Divine things.
+But nothing, after all, is so scarce as real charity.
+
+
+I. Let me show _the place which the Bible gives to charity_.
+
+I begin with this point in order to establish the immense practical
+importance of my subject. I do not forget that there are many
+high-flying Christians in this present day, who almost refuse to look at
+anything _practical_ in Christianity. They can talk of nothing but two
+or three favourite doctrines. Now I want to remind my readers that the
+Bible contains much about practice as well as about doctrine, and that
+one thing to which it attaches great weight is "charity."
+
+I turn to the New Testament, and ask men to observe what it says about
+charity. In all religious inquiries there is nothing like letting the
+Scripture speak for itself. There is no surer way of finding out truth
+than the old way of turning to plain texts. Texts were our Lord's
+weapons, both in answering Satan, and in arguing with the Jews. Texts
+are the guides we must never be ashamed to refer to in the present
+day.--"What saith the Scripture? What is written? How readest thou?"
+
+Let us hear what St. Paul says to the Corinthians: "Though I speak with
+the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as
+sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of
+prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I
+have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity,
+I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and
+though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth
+me nothing." (1 Cor. xiii. 1--3.)
+
+Let us hear what St. Paul says to the Colossians: "Above all these
+things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness." (Col. iii.
+14.)
+
+Let us hear what St. Paul says to Timothy: "The end of the commandment
+is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith
+unfeigned." (1 Tim. i. 5.)
+
+Let us hear what St. Peter says: "Above all things have fervent charity
+among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins." (1
+Peter iv. 8.)
+
+Let us hear what our Lord Jesus Christ Himself says about that love,
+which is only another name for charity.[4] "A new commandment give I
+unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also
+love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples,
+if ye have love one to another." (John xiii. 34, 35.) Above all, let us
+read our Lord's account of the last judgment, and mark that want of love
+will condemn millions. (Matt. xxv. 41, 42.)
+
+  4: In the Greek language one and the same word only is used for
+  "love" and "charity." In our English version our translators have
+  sometimes rendered this word one way and sometimes another.
+
+Let us hear what St. Paul says to the Romans: "Owe no man anything, but
+to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law."
+(Rom. xiii. 8.)
+
+Let us hear what St. Paul says to the Ephesians: "Walk in love, as
+Christ also hath loved us." (Eph. v. 2.)
+
+Let us hear what St. John says: "Beloved, let us love one another: for
+love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth
+God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." (1 John iv.
+7, 8.)
+
+I shall make no comment upon these texts. I think it better to place
+them before my readers in their naked simplicity, and to let them speak
+for themselves. If any one is disposed to think the subject of this
+paper a matter of light importance, I will only ask him to look at these
+texts, and to think again. He that would take down "charity" from the
+high and holy place which it occupies in the Bible, and treat it as a
+matter of secondary moment, must settle his account with God's Word. I
+certainly shall not waste time in arguing with him.
+
+To my own mind the evidence of these texts appears clear, plain, and
+incontrovertible. They show the immense importance of charity, as one of
+the "things that accompany salvation." They prove that it has a right to
+demand the serious attention of all who call themselves Christians, and
+that those who despise the subject are only exposing their own ignorance
+of Scripture.
+
+
+II. Let me show, secondly, _what the charity of the Bible really is_.
+
+I think it of great importance to have clear views on this point. It is
+precisely here that mistakes about charity begin. Thousands delude
+themselves with the idea that they have "charity," when they have not,
+from downright ignorance of Scripture. Their charity is not the charity
+described in the Bible.
+
+(_a_) The charity of the Bible does not consist in giving to the poor.
+It is a common delusion to suppose that it does. Yet St. Paul tells us
+plainly, that a man may "bestow all his goods to feed the poor" (1 Cor.
+xiii. 3), and not have charity. That a charitable man will "remember the
+poor," there can be no question. (Gal. ii. 10.) That he will do all he
+can to assist them, relieve them, and lighten their burdens, I do not
+for a moment deny. All I say is, that this does not make up "charity."
+It is easy to spend a fortune in giving away money, and soup, and wine,
+and bread, and coals, and blankets, and clothing, and yet to be utterly
+destitute of Bible charity.
+
+(_b_) The charity of the Bible does not consist in never disapproving
+anybody's conduct. Here is another very common delusion! Thousands pride
+themselves on never condemning others, or calling them wrong, whatever
+they may do. They convert the precept of our Lord, "judge not," into an
+excuse for having no unfavourable opinion at all of anybody. They
+pervert His prohibition of rash and censorious judgments, into a
+prohibition of all judgment whatsoever. Your neighbour may be a
+drunkard, a liar, a Sabbath-breaker, a passionate man. Never mind! "It
+is not charity," they tell you, "to pronounce him, wrong." You are to
+believe that he has a good heart at bottom! This idea of charity is,
+unhappily, a very common one. It is full of mischief. To throw a veil
+over sin, and to refuse to call things by their right names,--to talk of
+"hearts" being good, when "lives" are flatly wrong,--to shut our eyes
+against wickedness, and say smooth things of immorality,--this is not
+Scriptural charity.
+
+(_c_) The charity of the Bible does not consist in never disapproving
+anybody's religious opinions. Here is another most serious and growing
+delusion. There are many who pride themselves on never pronouncing
+others mistaken, whatever views they may hold. Your neighbour, forsooth,
+may be an Arian, or a Socinian, a Roman Catholic, or a Mormonite, a
+Deist, or a Sceptic, a mere Formalist, or a thorough Antinomian. But the
+"charity" of many says that you have no right to think Him wrong! If he
+is sincere, it is "uncharitable" to think unfavourably of his spiritual
+condition!--From such charity may I ever be delivered! At this rate the
+Apostles were wrong in going out to preach to the Gentiles! At this rate
+there is no use in missions! At this rate we had better close our
+Bibles, and shut up our churches! Everybody is right, and nobody is
+wrong! Everybody is going to heaven, and nobody is going to hell! Such
+charity is a monstrous caricature. To say that all are equally right in
+their opinions, though their opinions flatly contradict one another,--to
+say that all are equally in the way to heaven, though their doctrinal
+sentiments are as opposite as black and white,--this is not Scriptural
+charity. Charity like this pours contempt on the Bible, and talks as if
+God had not given us a written test of truth. Charity like this confuses
+all our notions of heaven, and would fill it with a discordant
+inharmonious rabble. True charity does not think everybody right in
+doctrine. True charity cries,--"Believe not every spirit, but try the
+spirits whether they be of God: because many false prophets are gone out
+into the world."--"If there come any unto you, and bring not this
+doctrine, receive him not." (1 John iv. 1; 2 John 10.)
+
+I leave the negative side of the question here. I have dwelt upon it at
+some length because of the days in which we live and the strange notions
+which abound. Let me now turn to the positive side. Having shown what
+charity is not, let me now show what it is.
+
+Charity is that "love," which St. Paul places first among those fruits
+which the Spirit causes to be brought forth in the heart of a believer.
+"The fruit of the Spirit is love." (Gal. v. 2.) Love to God, such as
+Adam had before the fall, is its first feature. He that has charity,
+desires to love God with heart, and soul and mind, and strength. Love to
+man is its second feature. He that has charity, desires to love his
+neighbour as himself. This is indeed that view in which the word
+"charity" in Scripture is more especially regarded. When I speak of a
+believer having "love" in his heart, I mean that he has love to both God
+and man. When I speak of a believer having "charity," I mean more
+particularly that he has love to man.
+
+The charity of the Bible will show itself in a _believer's doings_. It
+will make him ready to do kind acts to every one within his
+reach,--both to their bodies and souls. It will not let him be content
+with soft words and kind wishes. It will make him diligent in doing all
+that lies in his power to lessen the sorrow and increase the happiness
+of others. Like his Master, he will care more for ministering than for
+being ministered to, and will look for nothing in return. Like his
+Master's great apostle, he will very willingly "spend and be spent" for
+others, even though they repay him with hatred, and not with love. True
+charity does not want wages. Its work is its reward.
+
+The charity of the Bible will show itself in a believer's _readiness to
+bear_ evil as well as to do good. It will make him patient under
+provocation, forgiving when injured, meek when unjustly attacked, quiet
+when slandered. It will make him bear much and forbear much, put up with
+much and look over much, submit often and deny himself often, all for
+the sake of peace. It will make him put a strong bit on his temper, and
+a strong bridle on his tongue. True charity is not always asking,--"What
+are my rights? Am I treated as I deserve?" but, "How can I best promote
+peace? How can I do that which is most edifying to others?"
+
+The charity of the Bible will show itself in the _general spirit and
+demeanour_ of a believer. It will make him kind, unselfish,
+good-natured, good-tempered, and considerate for others. It will make
+him gentle, affable, and courteous, in all the daily relations of
+private life, thoughtful for others' comfort, tender for others'
+feelings, and more anxious to give pleasure than to receive. True
+charity never envies others when they prosper, nor rejoices in the
+calamities of others when they are in trouble. At all times it will
+believe, and hope, and try to put a good construction on others' doings.
+And even at the worst, it will be full of pity, mercy, and compassion.
+
+Would we like to know where the true Pattern of charity like this can be
+found? We have only to look at the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, as
+described in the Gospels, and we shall see it perfectly exemplified.
+Charity shone forth in all His doings. His daily life was an incessant
+"going about", doing good.--Charity shone forth in all His bearing. He
+was continually hated, persecuted, slandered, misrepresented. But He
+patiently endured it all. No angry word ever fell from His lips. No
+ill-temper ever appeared in His demeanour. "When He was reviled, He
+reviled not again: when He suffered, He threatened not." (1 Pet. ii.
+23.)--Charity shone forth in all His spirit and deportment. The law of
+kindness was ever on His lips. Among weak and ignorant disciples, among
+sick and sorrowful petitioners for help and relief, among publicans and
+sinners, among Pharisees and Sadducees, He was always one and the
+same.--kind and patient to all.
+
+And yet, be it remembered, our blessed Master never flattered sinners,
+or connived at sin. He never shrunk from exposing wickedness in its true
+colours, or from rebuking those who would cleave to it. He never
+hesitated to denounce false doctrine, by whomsoever it might be held, or
+to exhibit false practice in its true colours, and the certain end to
+which it tends. He called things by their right names. He spoke as
+freely of hell and the fire that is not quenched, as of heaven and the
+kingdom of glory. He has left on record an everlasting proof that
+perfect charity does not require us to approve everybody's life or
+opinions, and that it is quite possible to condemn false doctrine and
+wicked practice, and yet to be full of love at the same time.
+
+I have now set before my readers the true nature of Scriptural charity.
+I have given a slight and very brief account of what it is not, and what
+it is. I cannot pass on without suggesting two practical thoughts, which
+press home on my mind with weighty force, and I hope may press home on
+others.
+
+You have heard of charity. Think, for a moment, how deplorably little
+charity there is upon earth! How conspicuous is the absence of true love
+among Christians! I speak not of heathen now, I speak of Christians.
+What angry tempers, what passions, what selfishness, what bitter
+tongues, are to be found in private families! What strifes, what
+quarrels, what spitefulness, what malice, what revenge, what envy
+between neighbours and fellow-parishioners! What jealousies and
+contentions between Churchmen and Dissenters, Calvinists and Arminians,
+High Churchmen and Low Churchmen! "Where is charity?" we may well
+ask,--"Where is love? where is the mind of Christ?" when we look at the
+spirit which reigns in the world. No wonder that Christ's cause stands
+still, and infidelity abounds, when men's hearts know so little of
+charity! Surely, we may well say,--"When the Son of man cometh, shall He
+find charity upon earth?"
+
+Think, for another thing, what a happy world this would be if there was
+more charity. It is the want of love which causes half the misery there
+is upon earth. Sickness, and death, and poverty, will not account for
+more than half the sorrows. The rest come from ill-temper, ill-nature,
+strifes, quarrels, lawsuits, malice, envy, revenge, frauds, violence,
+wars, and the like. It would be one great step towards doubling the
+happiness of mankind, and halving their sorrows, if all men and women
+were full of Scriptural charity.
+
+
+III. Let me show, thirdly, _whence the charity of the Bible comes_.
+
+Charity, such as I have described, is certainly not natural to man.
+Naturally, we are all more or less selfish, envious, ill-tempered,
+spiteful, ill-natured, and unkind. We have only to observe children,
+when left to themselves, to see the proof of this. Let boys and girls
+grow up without proper training and education, and you will not see one
+of them possessing Christian charity. Mark how some of them think first
+of themselves, and their own comfort and advantage! Mark how others are
+full of pride, passion, and evil tempers! How can we account for it?
+There is but one reply. The natural heart knows nothing of true charity.
+
+The charity of the Bible will never be found except in a heart prepared
+by the Holy Ghost. It is a tender plant, and will never grow except in
+one soil. You may as well expect grapes on thorns, or figs on thistles,
+as look for charity when the heart is not right.
+
+The heart in which charity grows is a heart changed, renewed, and
+transformed by the Holy Ghost. The image and likeness of God, which Adam
+lost at the fall, has been restored to it, however feeble and imperfect
+the restoration may appear. It is a "partaker of the Divine nature," by
+union with Christ and sonship to God; and one of the first features of
+that nature is love. (2 Pet. i. 4.)
+
+Such a heart is deeply convinced of sin, hates it, flees from it, and
+fights with it from day to day. And one of the prime motions of sin
+which it daily labours to overcome, is selfishness and want of charity.
+
+Such a heart is deeply sensible of its mighty debt to our Lord Jesus
+Christ. It feels continually that it owes to Him who died for us on the
+cross, all its present comfort, hope, and peace. How can it show forth
+its gratitude? What can it render to its Redeemer? If it can do nothing
+else, it strives to be like Him, to drink into His spirit, to walk in
+His footsteps, and, like Him, to be full of love. "The love of Christ
+shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost" is the surest fountain of
+Christian charity. Love will produce love.
+
+I ask my reader's special attention to this point. It is one of great
+importance in the present day. There are many who profess to admire
+charity, while they care nothing about vital Christianity. They like
+some of the fruits and results of the Gospel, but not the root from
+which these fruits alone can grow, or the doctrines with which they are
+inseparably connected.
+
+Hundreds will praise love and charity, who hate to be told of man's
+corruption, of the blood of Christ, and of the inward work of the Holy
+Ghost. Many a parent would like his children to grow up unselfish and
+good tempered, who would not be much pleased if conversion, and
+repentance, and faith, were pressed home on their attention.
+
+Now I desire to protest against this notion, that you can have the
+fruits of Christianity without the roots,--that you can produce
+Christian tempers without teaching Christian doctrines,--that you can
+have charity that will wear and endure without grace in the heart.
+
+I grant, most freely, that every now and then one sees a person who
+seems very charitable and amiable, without any distinctive doctrinal
+religion. But such cases are so rare and remarkable, that, like
+exceptions, they only prove the truth of the general rule. And often,
+too often, it may be feared in such cases the apparent charity is only
+seeming, and in private completely fails. I firmly believe, as a general
+rule, you will not find such charity as the Bible describes, except in
+the soil of a heart thoroughly imbued with Bible religion. Holy practice
+will not flourish without sound doctrine. What God has joined together,
+it is useless to expect to have separate and asunder.
+
+The delusion which I am trying to combat is helped forward to a most
+mischievous degree by the vast majority of novels, romances, and tales
+of fiction. Who does not know that the heroes and heroines of these
+works are constantly described as patterns of perfection? They are
+always doing the right thing, saying the right thing, and showing the
+right temper! They are always kind, and amiable, and unselfish, and
+forgiving! And yet you never hear a word about their religion! In short,
+to judge by the generality of works of fiction, it is possible to have
+excellent practical religion without doctrine, the fruits of the Spirit
+without the grace of the Spirit, and the mind of Christ without union
+with Christ!
+
+Here, in short, is the great danger of reading most novels, romances,
+and works of fiction. The greater part of them give a false or incorrect
+view of human nature. They paint their model men and women as they ought
+to be, and not as they really are. The readers of such writings get
+their minds filled with wrong conceptions of what the world is. Their
+notions of mankind become visionary and unreal. They are constantly
+looking for men and women such as they never meet, and expecting what
+they never find.
+
+Let me entreat my readers, once for all, to draw their ideas of human
+nature from the Bible, and not from novels. Settle it down in your mind,
+that there cannot be true charity without a heart renewed by grace. A
+certain degree of kindness, courtesy, amiability, good nature, may
+undoubtedly be seen in many who have no vital religion. But the glorious
+plant of Bible charity, in all its fulness and perfection, will never be
+found without union with Christ, and the work of the Holy Ghost. Teach
+this to your children, if you have any. Hold it up in schools, if you
+are connected with any. Lift up charity. Make much of charity. Give
+place to none in exalting the grace of kindness, love, good nature,
+unselfishness, good temper. But never, never forget, that there is but
+one school in which these things can be thoroughly learned, and that is
+the school of Christ. Real charity comes down from above. True love is
+the fruit of the Spirit. He that would have it must sit at Christ's
+feet, and learn of Him.
+
+
+IV. Let me show, lastly, _why charity is called the "greatest" of the
+graces_.
+
+The words of St. Paul, on this subject, are distinct and unmistakable.
+He winds up his wonderful chapter on charity in the following manner:
+"Now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three: but the greatest of
+these is charity." (1 Cor. xiii. 13.)
+
+This expression is very remarkable. Of all the writers in the New
+Testament, none, certainly, exalts "faith" so highly as St. Paul. The
+Epistles to the Romans and Galatians abound in sentences showing its
+vast importance. By it the sinner lays hold on Christ and is saved.
+Through it we are justified, and have peace with God. Yet here the same
+St. Paul speaks of something which is even greater than faith. He puts
+before us the three leading Christian graces, and pronounces the
+following judgment on them,--"The greatest is charity." Such a sentence
+from such a writer demands special attention. What are we to understand
+when we hear of charity being greater than faith and hope?
+
+We are not to suppose, for a moment, that charity can atone for our
+sins, or make our peace with God. Nothing can do that for us but the
+blood of Christ, and nothing can give us an interest in Christ's blood
+but faith. It is unscriptural ignorance not to know this. The office of
+justifying and joining the soul to Christ belongs to faith alone. Our
+charity, and all our other graces, are all more or less imperfect, and
+could not stand the severity of God's judgment. When we have done all,
+we are "unprofitable servants." (Luke xvii. 10.)
+
+We are not to suppose that charity can exist independently of faith. St.
+Paul did not intend to set up one grace in rivalry to the other. He did
+not mean that one man might have faith, another hope, and another
+charity, and that the best of these was the man who had charity. The
+three graces are inseparably joined together. Where there is faith,
+there will always be love; and where there is love, there will be faith.
+Sun and light, fire and heat, ice and cold, are not more intimately
+united than faith and charity.
+
+The reasons why charity is called the greatest of the three graces,
+appear to me plain and simple. Let me show what they are.
+
+(_a_) Charity is called the greatest of graces, because it is the one in
+which there is _some likeness between the believer and his God_. God has
+no need of faith. He is dependent on no one. There is none superior to
+Him in whom He must trust.--God has no need of hope. To Him all things
+are certain, whether past, present, or to come.--But "God is love:" and
+the more love His people have, the more like they are to their Father in
+heaven.
+
+(_b_) Charity, for another thing, is called the greatest of the graces,
+because _it is most useful to others_. Faith and hope, beyond doubt,
+however precious, have special reference to a believer's own private
+individual benefit. Faith unites the soul to Christ, brings peace with
+God, and opens the way to heaven. Hope fills the soul with cheerful
+expectation of things to come, and, amid the many discouragements of
+things seen, comforts with visions of the things unseen. But charity is
+pre-eminently the grace which makes a man useful. It is the spring of
+good works and kindnesses. It is the root of missions, schools, and
+hospitals. Charity made apostles spend and be spent for souls. Charity
+raises up workers for Christ, and keeps them working. Charity smooths
+quarrels, and stops strife, and in this sense "covers a multitude of
+sins." (1 Pet. iv. 8.) Charity adorns Christianity, and recommends it to
+the world. A man may have real faith, and feel it, and yet his faith may
+be invisible to others. But a man's charity cannot be hid.
+
+(_c_) Charity, in the last place, is the greatest of the graces, because
+it is the one which _endures the longest_. In fact, it will never die.
+Faith will one day be swallowed up in sight, and hope in certainty.
+Their office will be useless in the morning of the resurrection, and,
+like old almanacs, they will be laid aside. But love will live on
+through the endless ages of eternity. Heaven will be the abode of love.
+The inhabitants of heaven will be full of love. One common feeling will
+be in all their hearts, and that will be charity.
+
+I leave this part of my subject here, and pass on to a conclusion. On
+each of the three points of comparison I have just named, between
+charity and the other graces, it would be easy to enlarge. But time and
+space both forbid me to do so. If I have said enough to guard men
+against mistakes about the right meaning of the "greatness" of charity,
+I am content. Charity, be it ever remembered, cannot justify and put
+away our sins. It is neither Christ, nor faith. But charity makes us
+somewhat like God. Charity is of mighty use to the world. Charity will
+live and flourish when faith's work is done. Surely, in these points of
+view, charity well deserves the crown.
+
+(1) And now let me ask every one into whose hands this paper may come a
+simple question. Let me press home on your conscience the whole subject
+of this paper. Do you know anything of the grace of which I have been
+speaking? _Have you charity?_
+
+The strong language of the Apostle St. Paul must surely convince you
+that the inquiry is not one that ought to be lightly put aside. The
+grace, without which that holy man could say, "I am nothing," the grace
+which the Lord Jesus says expressly is the great mark of being His
+disciple,--such a grace as this demands the serious consideration of
+every one who is in earnest about the salvation of his soul. It should
+set him thinking,--"How does this affect me? Have I charity?"
+
+You have some knowledge, it may be, of religion. You know the difference
+between true and false doctrine. You can, perhaps, even quote texts, and
+defend the opinions you hold. But, remember the knowledge which is
+barren of practical results in life and temper is a useless possession.
+The words of the Apostle are very plain: "Though I understand all
+knowledge, and have not charity, I am nothing." (1 Cor. xiii. 3.)
+
+You think you have faith, perhaps. You trust you are one of God's elect,
+and rest in that. But surely you should remember that there is a faith
+of devils, which is utterly unprofitable, and that the faith of God's
+elect is a "faith that worketh by love." It was when St. Paul remembered
+the "love" of the Thessalonians, as well as their faith and hope, that
+he said,--"I know your election of God." (1 Thess. i. 4.)
+
+Look at your own daily life, both at home and abroad, and consider what
+place the charity of Scripture has in it. What is your temper? What are
+your ways of behaving toward all around you in your own family? What is
+your manner of speaking, especially in seasons of vexation and
+provocation? Where is your good-nature, your courtesy, your patience,
+your meekness, your gentleness, your forbearance? Where are your
+practical actions of love in your dealing with others? What do you know
+of the mind of Him who "went about doing good,"--who loved all, though
+specially His disciples,--who returned good for evil, and kindness for
+hatred, and had a heart wide enough to feel for all?
+
+What would you do in heaven, I wonder, if you got there without charity?
+What comfort could you have in an abode where love was the law, and
+selfishness and ill-nature completely shut out? Alas! I fear that heaven
+would be no place for an uncharitable and ill-tempered man!--What said a
+little boy one day? "If grandfather goes to heaven, I hope I and brother
+will not go there." "Why do you say that?" he was asked. He
+replied,--"If he sees us there, I am sure he will say, as he does
+now,--'What are these boys doing here? Let them get out of the way.' He
+does not like to see us on earth, and I suppose he would not like to see
+us in heaven."
+
+Give yourself no rest till you know something by experience of real
+Christian charity. Go and learn of Him who is meek and lowly of heart,
+and ask Him to teach you how to love. Ask the Lord Jesus to put His
+Spirit within you, to take away the old heart, to give you a new nature,
+to make you know something of His mind. Cry to Him night and day for
+grace, and give Him no rest until you feel something of what I have been
+describing in this paper. Happy indeed will your life be when you really
+understand "walking in love."
+
+(2) But I do not forget that I am writing to some who are not ignorant
+of the charity of Scripture, and who long to feel more of it every year.
+I will give you two simple words of exhortation. They are
+these,--"Practice and teach the grace of charity."
+
+Practice charity diligently. It is one of those graces, above all, which
+grow by constant exercise. Strive more and more to carry it into every
+little detail of daily life. Watch over your own tongue and temper
+throughout every hour of the day,--and especially in your dealings with
+servants, children, and near relatives. Remember the character of the
+excellent woman:--"In her tongue is the law of kindness." (Prov. xxxi.
+26.)--Remember the words of St. Paul: "Let ALL your things be done with
+charity." (1 Cor. xvi. 14.) Charity should be seen in little things as
+well as in great ones.--Remember, not least, the words of St. Peter:
+"Have fervent charity among yourselves;" not a charity which just keeps
+alight, but a burning shining fire, which all around can see. (1 Pet.
+iv. 8.) It may cost pains and trouble to keep these things in mind.
+There may be little encouragement from the example of others. But
+persevere. Charity like this brings its own reward.
+
+Finally, teach charity to others. Press it continually on servants, if
+you have any. Tell them the great duty of kindness, helpfulness, and
+considerateness, one for another. Press it, above all, on children, it
+you have any. Remind them constantly that kindness, good nature, and
+good temper, are among the first evidences which Christ requires in
+children. If they cannot know much, or explain doctrines, they can
+understand love. A child's religion is worth very little if it only
+consists in repeating texts and hymns. Useful as they are, they are
+often learned without thought, remembered without feeling, said over
+without consideration of their meaning, and forgotten when childhood is
+gone. By all means let children be taught texts and hymns; but let not
+such teaching be made everything in their religion. Teach them to keep
+their tempers, to be kind one to another, to be unselfish, good-natured,
+obliging, patient, gentle, forgiving. Tell them never to forget to their
+dying day, if they live as long as Methuselah, that without charity, the
+Holy Ghost says, "we are nothing." Tell them "_above all things_ to put
+on charity, which is the bond of perfectness." (Colos. iii. 14.)
+
+
+
+
+VIII
+
+
+ZEAL
+
+     "_It is good to be zealously affected always in a good
+     thing._"--Gal. iv. 18.
+
+
+Zeal is a subject, like many others in religion, most sadly
+misunderstood. Many would be ashamed to be thought "zealous" Christians.
+Many are ready to say of zealous people what Festus said of Paul: "They
+are beside themselves,--they are mad." (Acts xxvi. 24)
+
+But zeal is a subject which no reader of the Bible has any right to pass
+over. If we make the Bible our rule of faith and practice, we cannot
+turn away from it. We must look it in the face. What says the Apostle
+Paul to Titus? "Christ gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from
+all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, _zealous_ of
+good works." (Titus ii. 14.) What says the Lord Jesus to the Laodicean
+Church? "Be _zealous_ and repent." (Rev. iii. 19.)
+
+My object in this paper is to plead the cause of zeal in religion. I
+believe we ought not to be afraid of it, but rather to love and admire
+it. I believe it to be a mighty blessing to the world, and the origin of
+countless benefits to mankind. I want to strike a blow at the lazy,
+easy, sleepy Christianity of these latter days, which can see no beauty
+in zeal, and only uses the word "zealot" as a word of reproach. I want
+to remind Christians that "Zealot" was a name given to one of our Lord
+Jesus Christ's Apostles, and to persuade them to be zealous men.
+
+I ask every reader of this paper to give me his attention while I tell
+him something about zeal. Listen to me for your own sake,--for the sake
+of the world,--for the sake of the Church of Christ. Listen to me, and
+by God's help I will show you that to be "zealous" is to be wise.
+
+
+    I. Let me show, in the first place, _what is zeal in religion_.
+
+    II. Let me show, in the second place, _when a man can be called
+    rightly zealous in religion_?
+
+    III. Let me show, in the third place, _why it is a good thing for a
+    man to be zealous in religion_?
+
+
+I. First of all, I propose to consider this question. "What is _zeal_ in
+religion?"
+
+Zeal in religion is a burning desire to please God, to do His will, and
+to advance His glory in the world in every possible way. It is a desire
+which no man feels by nature,--which the Spirit puts in the heart of
+every believer when he is converted,--but which some believers feel so
+much more strongly than others that they alone deserve to be called
+"zealous" men.
+
+This desire is so strong, when it really reigns in a man, that it impels
+him to make any sacrifice,--to go through any trouble,--to deny himself
+to any amount,--to suffer, to work, to labour, to toil,--to spend
+himself and be spent, and even to die,--if only he can please God and
+honour Christ.
+
+A zealous man in religion is pre-eminently _a man of one thing_. It is
+not enough to say that he is earnest, hearty, uncompromising,
+thorough-going, whole-hearted, fervent in spirit. He only sees one
+thing, he cares for one thing, he lives for one thing, he is swallowed
+up in one thing; and that one thing is to please God. Whether he lives,
+or whether he dies,--whether he has health, or whether he has
+sickness,--whether he is rich, or whether he is poor,--whether he
+pleases man, or whether he gives offence,--whether he is thought wise,
+or whether he is thought foolish,--whether he gets blame, or whether he
+gets praise,--whether he gets honour, or whether he gets shame,--for all
+this the zealous man cares nothing at all. He burns for one thing; and
+that one thing is to please God, and to advance God's glory. If he is
+consumed in the very burning, he cares not for it,--he is content. He
+feels that, like a lamp, he is made to burn; and if consumed in burning,
+he has but done the work for which God appointed him. Such an one will
+always find a sphere for his zeal. If he cannot preach, and work, and
+give money, he will cry, and sigh, and pray. Yes: if he is only a
+pauper, on a perpetual bed of sickness, he will make the wheels of sin
+around him drive heavily, by continually interceding against it. If he
+cannot fight in the valley with Joshua, he will do the work of Moses,
+Aaron, and Hur, on the hill. (Exod. xvii. 9--13.) If he is cut off from
+working himself, he will give the Lord no rest till help is raised up
+from another quarter, and the work is done. This is what I mean when I
+speak of "zeal" in religion.
+
+We all know the habit of mind that makes men great in this world,--that
+makes such men as Alexander the Great, or Julius Cæsar, or Oliver
+Cromwell, or Peter the Great, or Charles XII., or Marlborough, or
+Napoleon, or Pitt. We know that, with all their faults, they were all
+men of one thing. They threw themselves into one grand pursuit. They
+cared for nothing else. They put every thing else aside. They counted
+every thing else as second-rate, and of subordinate importance, compared
+to the one thing that they put before their eyes every day they lived. I
+say that the same habit of mind applied to the service of the Lord
+Jesus Christ becomes religious _zeal_.
+
+We know the habit of mind that makes men great in the sciences of this
+world,--that makes such men as Archimedes, or Sir Isaac Newton, or
+Galileo, or Ferguson the astronomer, or James Watt. All these were men
+of one thing. They brought the powers of their minds into one single
+focus. They cared for nothing else beside. And this was the secret of
+their success. I say that this same habit consecrated to the service of
+God becomes religious _zeal_.
+
+We know the habit of mind that makes men rich,--that makes men amass
+mighty fortunes, and leave millions behind them. What kind of people
+were the bankers, and merchants, and tradesmen, who have left a name
+behind them, as men who acquired immense wealth and became rich from
+being poor? They were all men that threw themselves entirely into their
+business, and neglected every thing else for the sake of that business.
+They gave their first attention, their first thoughts, the best of their
+time, and the best part of their mind, to pushing forward the
+transactions in which they were engaged. They were men of one thing.
+Their hearts were not divided. They devoted themselves, body, soul, and
+mind to their business. They seemed to live for nothing else. I say that
+if you turn that habit of mind to the service of God and His Christ it
+makes religious _zeal_.
+
+(_a_) Now this habit of mind,--this zeal was _the characteristic of
+all the Apostles_. See for example the Apostle Paul. Hear him when
+he speaks to the Ephesian elders for the last time: "None of these
+things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I
+might finish my course with joy, and the ministry that I have
+received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the grace of
+God." (Acts xx. 24.) Hear him again, when he writes to the
+Philippians: "This one thing I do; I press towards the mark for the
+prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Phil. iii.
+13, 14.) See him from the day of his conversion, giving up his
+brilliant prospects,--forsaking all for Christ's sake,--and going
+forth to preach that very Jesus whom he had once despised. See him
+going to and fro throughout the world from that time,--through
+persecution,--through oppression,--through opposition,--through
+prisons,--through bonds,--through afflictions,--through things next
+to death itself, up to the very day when he sealed his faith with
+his blood, and died at Rome, a martyr for that Gospel which he had
+so long proclaimed. This was true religious _zeal_.
+
+(_b_) This again was the _characteristic of the early Christians_. They
+were men "every where spoken against." (Acts xxviii. 22.) They were
+driven to worship God in dens and caves of the earth. They often lost
+every thing in the world for their religion's sake. They generally
+gained nothing but the cross, persecution, shame, and reproach. But they
+seldom, very seldom, went back. If they could not dispute, at least they
+could suffer. If they could not convince their adversaries by argument,
+at any rate they could die, and prove that they themselves were in
+earnest. Look at Ignatius cheerfully travelling to the place where he
+was to be devoured by lions, and saying as he went, "Now do I begin to
+be a disciple of my Master, Christ." Hear old Polycarp before the Roman
+Governor, saying boldly, when called upon to deny Christ, "Four score
+and six years have I served Christ, neither hath He ever offended me in
+any thing, and how then can I revile my King?" This was true _zeal_.
+
+(_c_) This again was _the characteristic of Martin Luther_. He boldly
+defied the most powerful hierarchy that the world has ever seen. He
+unveiled its corruptions with an unflinching hand. He preached the
+long-neglected truth of justification by faith, in spite of anathemas
+and excommunications, fast and thickly poured upon him. See him going
+to the Diet at Worms, and pleading his cause before the Emperor and the
+Legate, and a host of the children of this world. Hear him saying,--when
+men were dissuading him from going, and reminding him of the fate of
+John Huss, "Though there were a devil under every tile on the roofs of
+Worms, in the name of the Lord I shall go forward." This was true
+_zeal_.
+
+(_d_) This again was _the characteristic of our own English Reformers_.
+You have it in our first Reformer, Wickliffe, when he rose up on his
+sick bed, and said to the Friars, who wanted him to retract all he had
+said against the Pope, "I shall not die, but live to declare the
+villanies of the Friars." You have it in Cranmer, dying at the stake,
+rather than deny Christ's Gospel, holding forth that hand to be first
+burned which, in a moment of weakness, had signed a recantation, and
+saying, as he held it in the flames, "This unworthy hand!" You have it
+in old father Latimer, standing boldly on his faggot, at the age of
+seventy years, and saying to Ridley, "Courage, brother Ridley! we shall
+light such a candle this day as, by God's grace, shall never be put
+out." This was _zeal_.
+
+(_e_) This again has been _the characteristic of all the greatest
+Missionaries_. You see it in Dr. Judson, in Carey, in Morrison, in
+Schwartz, in Williams, in Brainerd, in Elliott. You see it in none more
+brightly than in Henry Martyn. Here was a man who had reached the
+highest academical honours that Cambridge could bestow. Whatever
+profession he chose to follow, he had the most dazzling prospects of
+success. He turned his back upon it all. He chose to preach the Gospel
+to poor benighted heathen. He went forth to an early grave, in a foreign
+land. He said when he got there and saw the condition of the people, "I
+could bear to be torn in pieces, if I could but hear the sobs of
+penitence,--if I could but see the eyes of faith directed to the
+Redeemer!" This was _zeal_.
+
+(_f_) But let us look away from all earthly examples,--and remember
+that zeal was pre-eminently the characteristic of our Lord and Saviour
+Jesus Christ Himself. Of Him it was written hundreds of years before He
+came upon earth, that He was "clad with _zeal_ as with a cloak," and
+"the _zeal_ of thine house hath even eaten me." And His own words were
+"My meat is to do my Father's will, and to finish His work." (Psalm
+lxix. 9; Isaiah lix. 17; John iv. 34.)
+
+Where shall we begin, if we try to give examples of His zeal? Where
+should we end, if we once began? Trace all the narratives of His life in
+the four Gospels. Read all the history of what He was from the beginning
+of His ministry to the end. Surely if there ever was one who was _all
+zeal_, it was our great Example,--our Head,--our High Priest,--the great
+Shepherd of our profession, the Lord Jesus Christ.
+
+If these things are so, we should not only beware of running down zeal,
+but we should also beware of allowing zeal to be run down in our
+presence. It may be badly directed, and then it becomes a curse;--but it
+may be turned to the highest and best ends, and then it is a mighty
+blessing. Like fire, it is one of the best of servants;--but, like fire
+also, if not well directed, it may be the worst of masters. Listen not
+to those people who talk of zeal as weakness and enthusiasm. Listen not
+to those who see no beauty in missions, who laugh at all attempts at the
+conversion of souls,--who call Societies for sending the Gospel to the
+world useless,--and who look upon City Missions, and District Visiting,
+and Ragged Schools and Open Air Preaching, as nothing but foolishness
+and fanaticism. Beware, lest in joining a cry of that kind you condemn
+the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Beware lest you speak against Him who has
+"left us an example that we should follow His steps." (1 Pet. ii. 21.)
+
+Alas! I fear there are many professing Christians who if they had lived
+in the days when our Lord and His Apostles walked upon earth would have
+called Him and all His followers enthusiasts and fanatics. There are
+many, I fear, who have more in common with Annas and Caiaphas,--with
+Pilate and Herod,--with Festus and Agrippa,--with Felix and
+Gallio,--than with St. Paul and the Lord Jesus Christ.
+
+
+II. I pass on now to the second thing I proposed to speak of. _When is a
+man truly zealous in religion?_
+
+There never was a grace of which Satan has not made a counterfeit. There
+never was a good coin issued from the mint but forgers at once have
+coined something very like it. It was one of Nero's cruel practices
+first to sew up Christians in the skins of wild beasts, and then bait
+them with dogs. It is one of Satan's devices to place distorted copies
+of the believer's graces before the eyes of men, and so to bring the
+true graces into contempt. No grace has suffered so much in this way as
+zeal. Of none perhaps are there so many shams and counterfeits abroad.
+We must therefore clear the ground of all rubbish on this question. We
+must find out when zeal in religion is really good, and true, and of
+God.
+
+(1) If zeal be true, it will be a _zeal according to knowledge_. It must
+not be a blind, ignorant zeal. It must be a calm, reasonable,
+intelligent principle, which can show the warrant of Scripture for every
+step it takes. The unconverted Jews had zeal. Paul says, "I bear them
+record that they have a zeal of God, _but not according to knowledge_."
+(Rom. x. 2.) Saul had zeal when he was a persecuting Pharisee. He says
+himself, in one of his addresses to the Jews, "I was _zealous_ toward
+God as ye all are this day." (Acts xxii. 3.)--Manasseh had zeal in the
+days when he was an idolater. The man who made his own children pass
+through the fire,--who gave up the fruit of his body to Moloch, to atone
+for the sin of his soul,--that man had zeal.--James and John had zeal
+when they would have called down fire on a Samaritan village. But our
+Lord rebuked them.--Peter had zeal when he drew his sword and cut off
+the ear of Malchus. But he was quite wrong.--Bonner and Gardiner had
+zeal when they burned Latimer and Cranmer. Were they not in earnest? Let
+us do them justice. They were zealous, though it was for an unscriptural
+religion.--The members of the Inquisition in Spain had zeal when they
+tortured men, and put them to horrible deaths, because they would not
+forsake the Gospel. Yes! they marched men and women to the stake in
+solemn procession, and called it "An Act of Faith," and believed they
+were doing God service.--The Hindoos, who used to lie down before the
+car of Juggernaut and allow their bodies to be crushed under its
+wheels:--had not they zeal?--The Indian widows, who used to burn
+themselves on the funeral pile of their deceased husbands,--the Roman
+Catholics, who persecuted to death the Vaudois and Albigenses, and cast
+down men and women from rocks and precipices, because they were
+heretics;--had not they zeal?--The Saracens--the Crusaders,--the
+Jesuits,--the Anabaptists of Munster--the followers of Joanna
+Southcote,--had they not all zeal? Yes! Yes! I do not deny it. All these
+had zeal beyond question. They were all zealous. They were all in
+earnest. But their zeal was not such zeal as God approves,--it was not a
+"zeal according to knowledge."
+
+(2) Furthermore, if zeal be true, it will be a zeal _from true motives_.
+Such is the subtlety of the heart that men will often do right things
+from wrong motives. Amaziah and Joash, kings of Judah, are striking
+proofs of this. Just so a man may have zeal about things that are good
+and right, but from second-rate motives, and not from a desire to please
+God. And such zeal is worth nothing. It is reprobate silver. It is
+utterly wanting when placed in the balance of God. Man looks only at the
+action: God looks at the motive. Man only thinks of the quantity of work
+done: God considers the doer's heart.
+
+There is such a thing as zeal from _party spirit_. It is quite possible
+for a man to be unwearied in promoting the interests of his own Church
+or denomination, and yet to have no grace in his own heart,--to be ready
+to die for the peculiar opinions of his own section of Christians, and
+yet to have no real love to Christ. Such was the zeal of the Pharisees.
+They "compassed sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he was
+made, they made him two-fold more the child of hell than themselves."
+(Matt. xxiii. 15.) This zeal is not true.
+
+There is such a thing as zeal from mere _selfishness_. There are times
+when it is men's interest to be zealous in religion. Power and patronage
+are sometimes given to godly men. The good things of the world are
+sometimes to be attained by wearing a cloak of religion. And whenever
+this is the case there is no lack of false zeal. Such was the zeal of
+Joab, when he served David. Such was the zeal of only too many
+Englishmen in the days of the Commonwealth, when the Puritans were in
+power.
+
+There is such a thing as zeal from the _love of praise_. Such was the
+zeal of Jehu, when he was putting down the worship of Baal. Remember how
+he met Jonadab the son of Rechab, and said, "Come with me, and see my
+zeal for the Lord." (2 Kings x. 16.) Such is the zeal that Bunyan refers
+to in "Pilgrim's Progress," when he speaks of some who went "for praise"
+to mount Zion. Some people feed on the praise of their fellow-creatures.
+They would rather have it from Christians than have none at all.
+
+It is a sad and humbling proof of man's corruption that there is no
+degree of self-denial and self-sacrifice to which men may not go from
+false motives. It does not follow that a man's religion is true because
+he "gives his body to be burned," or because he "gives his goods to feed
+the poor." The Apostle Paul tells us that a man may do this, and yet not
+have true charity. (1 Cor. xiii. 1, etc.) It does not follow because men
+go into a wilderness, and become hermits, that therefore they know what
+true self-denial is. It does not follow because people immure themselves
+in monasteries and nunneries, or become "sisters of charity," and
+"sisters of mercy," that therefore they know what true crucifixion of
+the flesh and self-sacrifice is in the sight of God. All these things
+people may do on wrong principles. They may do them from wrong
+motives,--to satisfy a secret pride and love of notoriety,--but not from
+the true motive of zeal for the glory of God. All such zeal, let us
+understand, is false. It is of earth, and not of heaven.
+
+(3) Furthermore, if zeal be true, it will be a zeal _about things
+according to God's mind, and sanctioned by plain examples in God's
+Word_. Take, for one instance, that highest and best kind of zeal,--I
+mean zeal for our own growth in personal holiness. Such zeal will make a
+man feel incessantly that sin is the mightiest of all evils, and
+conformity to Christ the greatest of all blessings. It will make him
+feel that there is nothing which ought not to be done, in order to keep
+up a close walk with God. It will make him willing to cut off the right
+hand, or pluck out the right eye, or make any sacrifice, if only he can
+attain a closer communion with Jesus. Is not this just what you see in
+the Apostle Paul? He says, "I keep under my body and bring it into
+subjection, lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I
+myself should be a castaway."--"I count not myself to have apprehended:
+but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and
+reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the
+mark." (1 Cor. ix. 27; Phil. iii. 13, 14.)
+
+Take, for another instance, zeal for the salvation of souls. Such zeal
+will make a man burn with desire to enlighten the darkness which covers
+the souls of multitudes, and to bring every man, woman, and child he
+sees to the knowledge of the Gospel. Is not this what you see in the
+Lord Jesus? It is said that He neither gave Himself nor His disciples
+leisure so much as to eat. (Mark vi. 31.) Is not this what you see in
+the Apostle Paul? He says, "I am made all things to all men, that I
+might by all means save some." (1 Cor. ix. 22.)
+
+Take, for another instance, zeal against evil practices. Such zeal will
+make a man hate everything which God hates, such as drunkenness,
+slavery, or infanticide, and long to sweep it from the face of the
+earth. It will make him jealous of God's honour and glory, and look on
+everything which robs him of it as an offence. Is not this what you see
+in Phinehas, the son of Eleazar?--or in Hezekiah and Josiah, when they
+put down idolatry?
+
+Take, for another instance, zeal for maintaining the doctrines of the
+Gospel. Such zeal will make a man hate unscriptural teaching, just as he
+hates sin. It will make him regard religious error as a pestilence which
+must be checked, whatever may be the cost. It will make him scrupulously
+careful about every jot and tittle of the counsel of God, lest by some
+omission the whole Gospel should be spoiled. Is not this what you see in
+Paul at Antioch, when he withstood Peter to the face, and said he was to
+be blamed? (Gal. ii. 11.) These are the kind of things about which true
+zeal is employed. Such zeal, let us understand, is honourable before
+God.
+
+(4) Furthermore, if zeal be true, it will be a zeal _tempered with
+charity and love_. It will not be a bitter zeal. It will not be a fierce
+enmity against persons. It will not be a zeal ready to take the sword,
+and to smite with carnal weapons. The weapons of true zeal are not
+carnal, but spiritual. True zeal will hate sin, and yet love the sinner.
+True zeal will hate heresy, and yet love the heretic. True zeal will
+long to break the idol, but deeply pity the idolater. True zeal will
+abhor every kind of wickedness, but labour to do good even to the vilest
+of transgressors.
+
+True zeal will warn as St. Paul warned the Galatians, and yet feel
+tenderly, as a nurse or a mother over erring children. It will expose
+false teachers, as Jesus did the Scribes and Pharisees, and yet weep
+tenderly, as Jesus did over Jerusalem when He came near to it for the
+last time. True zeal will be decided, as a surgeon dealing with a
+diseased limb; but true zeal will be gentle, as one that is dressing the
+wounds of a brother. True zeal will speak truth boldly, like Athanasius,
+against the world, and not care who is offended; but true zeal will
+endeavour, in all its speaking, to "speak the truth in love."
+
+(5) Furthermore, if zeal be true, _it will be joined to a deep
+humility_. A truly zealous man will be the last to discover the
+greatness of his own attainments. All that he is and does will come so
+immensely short of his own desires, that he will be filled with a sense
+of his own unprofitableness, and amazed to think that God should work by
+him at all. Like Moses, when he came down from the Mount, he will not
+know that his face shines. Like the righteous, in the twenty-fifth
+chapter of St. Matthew, he will not be aware of his own good works. Dr.
+Buchanan is one whose praise is in all the churches. He was one of the
+first to take up the cause of the perishing heathen. He literally spent
+himself, body and mind, in labouring to arouse sleeping Christians to
+see the importance of missions. Yet he says in one of his letters, "I do
+not know that I ever had what Christians call zeal." Whitefield was one
+of the most zealous preachers of the Gospel the world has ever seen.
+Fervent in spirit, instant in season and out of season, he was a burning
+and shining light, and turned thousands to God. Yet he says after
+preaching for thirty years, "Lord help me to begin to begin." M'Cheyne
+was one of the greatest blessings that God ever gave to the Church of
+Scotland. He was a minister insatiably desirous of the salvation of
+souls. Few men ever did so much good as he did, though he died at the
+age of twenty-nine. Yet he says in one of his letters, "None but God
+knows what an abyss of corruption is in my heart. It is perfectly
+wonderful that ever God could bless such a ministry." We may be very
+sure where there is self-conceit there is little true zeal.
+
+I ask the readers of this paper particularly to remember the description
+of true zeal which I have just given. Zeal according to knowledge,--zeal
+from true motives,--zeal warranted by Scriptural examples,--zeal
+tempered with charity,--zeal accompanied by deep humility,--this is true
+genuine zeal,--this is the kind of zeal which God approves. Of such zeal
+you and I never need fear having too much.
+
+I ask you to remember the description, because of the times in which you
+live. Beware of supposing that sincerity alone can ever make up true
+zeal,--that earnestness, however ignorant, makes a man a really zealous
+Christian in the sight of God. There is a generation in these days which
+makes an idol of what it is pleased to call "_earnestness_" in religion.
+These men will allow no fault to be found with an "_earnest man_."
+Whatever his theological opinions may be,--if he be but an earnest man,
+that is enough for these people, and we are to ask no more. They tell
+you we have nothing to do with minute points of doctrine, and with
+questions of "words and names," about which Christians are not agreed.
+Is the man an earnest man? If he is, we ought to be satisfied.
+"Earnestness" in their eyes covers over a multitude of sins. I warn you
+solemnly to beware of this specious doctrine. In the name of the Gospel,
+and in the name of the Bible, I enter my protest against the theory that
+mere earnestness can make a man a truly zealous and pious man in the
+sight of God.
+
+These idolaters of earnestness would make out that God has given us no
+standard of truth and error, or that the true standard, the Bible, is so
+obscure, that no man can find out what truth is by simply going to it.
+They pour contempt upon the Word, the written Word, and therefore they
+must be wrong.
+
+These idolaters of earnestness would make us condemn every witness for
+the truth, and every opponent of false teaching, from the time of the
+Lord Jesus down to this day. The Scribes and Pharisees were "in
+earnest," and yet our Lord opposed them. And shall we dare even to hint
+a suspicion that they ought to have been let alone?--Queen Mary, and
+Bonner, and Gardiner were "in earnest" in restoring Popery, and trying
+to put down Protestantism, and yet Ridley and Latimer opposed them to
+the death. And shall we dare to say that as both parties were "in
+earnest," both were in the right?--Devil-worshippers and idolaters at
+this day are in earnest, and yet our missionaries labour to expose their
+errors. And shall we dare to say that "earnestness" would take them to
+heaven, and that missionaries to heathen and Roman Catholics had better
+stay at home?--Are we really going to admit that the Bible does not show
+us what is truth? Are we really going to put a mere vague thing called
+"earnestness," in the place of Christ, and to maintain that no "earnest"
+man can be wrong? God forbid that we should give place to such doctrine!
+I shrink with horror from such theology. I warn men solemnly to beware
+of being carried away by it, for it is common and most seductive in this
+day. Beware of it, for it is only a new form of an old error,--that old
+error which says that a man "Can't be wrong whose life is in the right."
+Admire zeal. Seek after zeal. Encourage zeal. But see that your own zeal
+be true. See that the zeal which you admire in others is a zeal
+"according to knowledge,"--a zeal from right motives,--a zeal that can
+bring chapter and verse out of the Bible for its foundation. Any zeal
+but this is but a false fire. It is not lighted by the Holy Ghost.
+
+
+III. I pass on now to the third thing I proposed to speak of. Let me
+show _why it is good for a man to be zealous_.
+
+It is certain that God never gave man a commandment which it was not
+man's interest as well as duty to obey. He never set a grace before His
+believing people which His people will not find it their highest
+happiness to follow after. This is true of all the graces of the
+Christian character. Perhaps it is pre-eminently true in the case of
+zeal.
+
+(_a_) Zeal is _good for a Christian's own soul_. We all know that
+exercise is good for the health, and that regular employment of our
+muscles and limbs promotes our bodily comfort, and increases our bodily
+vigour. Now that which exercise does for our bodies, zeal will do for
+our souls. It will help mightily to promote inward feelings of joy,
+peace, comfort, and happiness. None have so much enjoyment of Christ as
+those who are ever zealous for His glory,--jealous over their own
+walk,--tender over their own consciences,--full of anxiety about the
+souls of others,--and ever watching, working, labouring, striving, and
+toiling to extend the knowledge of Jesus Christ upon earth. Such men
+live in the full light of the sun, and therefore their hearts are always
+warm. Such men water others, and therefore they are watered themselves.
+Their hearts are like a garden daily refreshed by the dew of the Holy
+Ghost. They honour God, and so God honours them.
+
+I would not be mistaken in saying this. I would not appear to speak
+slightingly of any believer. I know that "the Lord takes pleasure in all
+His people." (Ps. cxlix. 4.) There is not one, from the least to the
+greatest,--from the smallest child in the kingdom of God, to the oldest
+warrior in the battle against Satan,--there is not one in whom the Lord
+Jesus Christ does not take great pleasure. We are all His children,--and
+however weak and feeble some of us may be, "as a father pitieth his
+children, so does the Lord pity them that love and fear Him." (Ps. ciii.
+13.) We are all the plants of His own planting;--and though many of us
+are poor, weakly exotics, scarcely keeping life together in a foreign
+soil,--yet as the gardener loves that which his hands have reared, so
+does the Lord Jesus love the poor sinners that trust in Him. But while I
+say this, I do also believe that the Lord takes special pleasure in
+those who are _zealous_ for Him,--in those who give themselves body,
+soul, and spirit, to extend His glory in this world. To them He reveals
+Himself, as he does not to others. To them He shows things that other
+men never see. He blesses the work of their hands. He cheers them with
+spiritual consolations, which others only know by the hearing of the
+ear. They are men after His own heart, for they are men more like
+Himself than others. None have such joy and peace in believing,--none
+have such sensible comfort in their religion,--none have so much of
+"heaven upon earth" (Deut. xi. 21),--none see and feel so much of the
+consolations of the Gospel as those who are zealous, earnest,
+thorough-going, devoted Christians. For the sake of our own souls, if
+there were no other reason, it is good to be zealous,--to be very
+zealous in our religion.
+
+(_b_) As zeal is good for ourselves individually, so it is also _good
+for the professing Church of Christ generally_. Nothing so much keeps
+alive true religion as a leaven of zealous Christians scattered to and
+fro throughout a Church. Like salt, they prevent the whole body falling
+into a state of corruption. None but men of this kind can revive
+Churches when ready to die. It is impossible to over-estimate the debt
+that all Christians owe to zeal. The greatest mistake the rulers of a
+Church can make is to drive zealous men out of its pale. By so doing
+they drain out the life-blood of the system, and hasten on
+ecclesiastical decline and death.
+
+Zeal is in truth that grace which God seems to delight to honour. Look
+through the list of Christians who have been eminent for usefulness. Who
+are the men that have left the deepest and most indelible marks on the
+Church of their day? Who are the men that God has generally honoured to
+build up the walls of His Zion, and turn the battle from the gate? Not
+so much men of learning and literary talents, as men of zeal.
+
+Bishop Latimer was not such a deeply-read scholar as Cranmer or Ridley.
+He could not quote Fathers from memory, as they did. He refused to be
+drawn into arguments about antiquity. He stuck to his Bible. Yet it is
+not too much to say that no English reformer made such a lasting
+impression on the nation as old Latimer did. And what was the reason?
+His simple zeal.
+
+Baxter, the Puritan, was not equal to some of his contemporaries in
+intellectual gifts. It is no disparagement to say that he does not stand
+on a level with Manton or Owen. Yet few men probably exercised so wide
+an influence on the generation in which he lived. And what was the
+reason? His burning zeal.
+
+Whitefield, and Wesley, and Berridge, and Venn were inferior in mental
+attainments to Bishops Butler and Watson. But they produced effects on
+the people of this country which fifty Butlers and Watsons would
+probably never have produced. They saved the Church of England from
+ruin. And what was one secret of their power? Their zeal.
+
+These men stood forward at turning points in the history of the Church.
+They bore unmoved storms of opposition and persecution.--They were not
+afraid to stand alone. They cared not though their motives were
+misinterpreted.--They counted all things but loss for the truth's
+sake.--They were each and all and every one eminently _men of one
+thing_:--and that one thing was to advance the glory of God, and to
+maintain His truth in the world. They were all fire, and so they lighted
+others.--They were wide awake, and so they awakened others.--They were
+all alive, and so they quickened others.--They were always working, and
+so they shamed others into working too.--They came down upon men like
+Moses from the mount.--They shone as if they had been in the presence
+of God.--They carried to and fro with them, as they walked their course
+through the world, something of the atmosphere and savour of heaven
+itself.
+
+There is a sense in which it may be said that zeal is contagious.
+Nothing is more useful to the professors of Christianity than to see a
+real live Christian, a thoroughly zealous man of God. They may rail at
+him,--they may carp at him,--they may pick holes in his conduct,--they
+may look shy upon him,--they may not understand him any more than men
+understand a new comet when a new comet appears;--but insensibly a
+zealous man does them good. He opens their eyes. He makes them feel
+their own sleepiness. He makes their own great darkness visible. He
+obliges them to see their own barrenness. He compels them to think,
+whether they like it or not--"What are we doing? Are we not no better
+than mere cumberers of the ground?" It may be sadly true that "one
+sinner _destroyeth_ much good;" but it is also a blessed truth that one
+zealous Christian can _do_ much good. Yes: one single zealous man in a
+town,--one zealous man in a congregation,--one zealous man in a
+society,--one zealous man in a family, may be a great, a most extensive
+blessing. How many machines of usefulness such a man sets a going! How
+much Christian activity he often calls into being which would otherwise
+have slept! How many fountains he opens which would otherwise have been
+sealed! Verily there is a deep mine of truth in those words of the
+Apostle Paul to the Corinthians: "Your zeal hath provoked very many." (2
+Cor. ix, 2.)
+
+(_c_) But, as zeal is good for the Church and for individuals, so zeal
+is _good for the world_. Where would the Missionary work be if it were
+not for zeal? Where would our City Missions and Ragged Schools be if it
+were not for zeal? Where would our District-Visiting and Pastoral Aid
+Societies be if it were not for zeal? Where would be our Societies for
+rooting out sin and ignorance, for finding out the dark places of the
+earth, and recovering poor lost souls? Where would be all these glorious
+instruments for good if it were not for Christian zeal? Zeal called
+these institutions into being, and zeal keeps them at work when they
+have begun. Zeal gathers a few despised men, and makes them the nucleus
+of many a powerful Society. Zeal keeps up the collections of a Society
+when it is formed. Zeal prevents men from becoming lazy and sleepy when
+the machine is large and begins to get favour from the world. Zeal
+raises up men to go forth, putting their lives in their hands, like
+Moffatt and Williams in our own day. Zeal supplies their place when they
+are gathered into the garner, and taken home.
+
+What would become of the ignorant masses who crowd the lanes and alleys
+of our overgrown cities, if it were not for Christian zeal? Governments
+can do nothing with them: they cannot make laws that will meet the evil.
+The vast majority of professing Christians have no eyes to see it: like
+the priest and Levite, they pass by on the other side. But zeal has eyes
+to see, and a heart to feel, and a head to devise, and a tongue to
+plead, and hands to work, and feet to travel, in order to rescue poor
+souls, and raise them from their low estate. Zeal does not stand poring
+over difficulties, but simply says, "Here are souls perishing, and
+something _shall_ be done." Zeal does not shrink back because there are
+Anakims in the way: it looks over their heads, like Moses on Pisgah, and
+says, "The land _shall_ be possessed." Zeal does not wait for company,
+and tarry till good works are fashionable: it goes forward like a
+forlorn hope, and trusts that others will follow by and bye. Ah! the
+world little knows what a debt it owes to Christian zeal. How much crime
+it has checked! How much sedition it has prevented! How much public
+discontent it has calmed! How much obedience to law and love of order it
+has produced! How many souls it has saved! Yes! and I believe we little
+know what might be done if every Christian was a zealous man! How much
+if ministers were more like Bickersteth, and Whitefield, and M'Cheyne!
+How much if laymen were more like Howard, and Wilberforce, and Thornton,
+and Nasmith, and George Moore! Oh, for the world's sake, as well as your
+own, resolve, labour, strive to be a zealous Christian!
+
+Let every one who professes to be a Christian beware of checking zeal.
+Seek it. Cultivate it. Try to blow up the fire in your own heart, and
+the hearts of others, but never, never check it. Beware of throwing cold
+water on zealous souls, whenever you meet with them. Beware of nipping
+in the bud this precious grace when first it shoots. If you are a
+parent, beware of checking it in your children;--if you are a husband,
+beware of checking it in your wife;--if you are a brother, beware of
+checking it in your sisters,--and if you are a minister, beware of
+checking it in the members of your congregation. It is a shoot of
+heaven's own planting. Beware of crushing it, for Christ's sake. Zeal
+may make mistakes.--Zeal may need directing.--Zeal may want guiding,
+controlling, and advising. Like the elephants on ancient fields of
+battle, it may sometimes do injury to its own side. But zeal does not
+need damping in a wretched, cold, corrupt, miserable world like this.
+Zeal, like John Knox pulling down the Scotch monasteries, may hurt the
+feelings of narrow-minded and sleepy Christians. It may offend the
+prejudices of those old-fashioned religionists who hate everything new,
+and (like those who wanted soldiers and sailors to go on wearing
+pigtails) abhor all change. But zeal in the end will be justified by its
+results. Zeal, like John Knox, in the long run of life will do
+infinitely more good than harm. There is little danger of there ever
+being too much zeal for the glory of God. God forgive those who think
+there is! You know little of human nature. You forget that sickness is
+far more contagious than health, and that it is much easier to catch a
+chill than impart a glow. Depend upon it, the Church seldom needs a
+bridle, but often needs a spur. It seldom needs to be checked, it often
+needs to be urged on.
+
+
+And now, in conclusion, let me try to apply this subject to the
+conscience of every person who reads this paper. It is a warning
+subject, an arousing subject, an encouraging subject, according to the
+state of our several hearts. I wish, by God's help, to give every reader
+his portion.
+
+(1) First of all, let me offer a warning to all _who make no decided
+profession of religion_. There are thousands and tens of thousands, I
+fear, in this condition. If you are one, the subject before you is full
+of solemn warning. Oh, that the Lord in mercy may incline your heart to
+receive it!
+
+I ask you, then, in all affection, Where is your zeal in religion? With
+the Bible before me, I may well be bold in asking. But with your life
+before me, I may well tremble as to the answer. I ask again, Where is
+your zeal for the glory of God? Where is your zeal for extending
+Christ's Gospel through an evil world? Zeal, which was the
+characteristic of the Lord Jesus; zeal, which is the characteristic of
+the angels; zeal, which shines forth in all the brightest Christians:
+where is your zeal, unconverted reader?--where is your zeal indeed! You
+know well it is nowhere at all; you know well you see no beauty in it;
+you know well it is scorned and cast out as evil by you and your
+companions; you know well it has no place, no portion, no standing
+ground, in the religion of your soul. It is not perhaps that you know
+not what it is to be zealous in a certain way. You have zeal, but it is
+all misapplied. It is all earthly: it is all about the things of time.
+It is not zeal for the glory of God: it is not zeal for the salvation of
+souls. Yes: many a man has zeal for the newspaper, but not for the
+Bible,--zeal for the daily reading of the _Times_, but no zeal for the
+daily reading of God's blessed Word. Many a man has zeal for the account
+book and the business book, but no zeal about the Book of Life and the
+last great account,--zeal about Australian and Californian gold, but no
+zeal about the unsearchable riches of Christ. Many a man has zeal about
+his earthly concerns,--his family, his pleasures, his daily pursuits;
+but no zeal about God, and heaven, and eternity.
+
+If this is the state of any one who is reading this paper, awake, I do
+beseech you, to see your gross _folly_. You cannot live for ever. You
+are not ready to die. You are utterly unfit for the company of saints
+and angels. Awake: be zealous and repent!--Awake to see the _harm_ you
+are doing! You are putting arguments in the hands of infidels by your
+shameful coldness. You are pulling down as fast as ministers build. You
+are helping the devil. Awake: be zealous, and repent!--Awake to see your
+childish _inconsistency_! What can be more worthy of zeal than eternal
+things, than the glory of God, than the salvation of souls? Surely if it
+is good to labour for rewards that are temporal, it is a thousand times
+better to labour for those that are eternal. Awake: be zealous and
+repent! Go and read that long-neglected Bible. Take up that blessed Book
+which you have, and perhaps never use. Read that New Testament through.
+Do you find nothing there to make you zealous,--to make you earnest
+about your soul? Go and look at the cross of Christ. Go and see how the
+Son of God there shed His precious blood for you,--how He suffered and
+groaned, and died for you,--how He poured out His soul as an offering
+for sin, in order that you, sinful brother or sister, might not perish,
+but have eternal life. Go and look at the cross of Christ, and never
+rest till you feel some zeal for your own soul,--some zeal for the glory
+of God,--some zeal for extension of the Gospel throughout the world.
+Once more I say, awake: be zealous, and repent!
+
+(2) Let me, in the next place, say something to arouse those _who make a
+profession of being decided Christians, and are yet lukewarm in their
+practice_. There are only too many, I regret to say, in this state of
+soul. If you are one, there is much in this subject which ought to lead
+you to searchings of heart.
+
+Let me speak to your conscience. To you also I desire to put the
+question in all brotherly affection, Where is your zeal?--Where is your
+zeal for the glory of God, and for extending the gospel throughout the
+world? You know well it is very low. You know well that your zeal is a
+little feeble glimmering spark, that just lives, and no more;--it is
+like a thing "ready to die." (Rev. iii. 2.) Surely, there is a fault
+somewhere, if this is the case. This state of things ought not to be.
+You, the child of God,--you, redeemed at so glorious a price,--you,
+ransomed with such precious blood, you, who are an heir of glory such as
+no tongue ever yet told, or eye saw;--surely you ought to be a man of
+another kind. Surely your zeal ought not to be so small.
+
+I deeply feel that this is a painful subject to touch upon. I do it with
+reluctance, and with a constant remembrance of my own unprofitableness.
+Nevertheless, truth ought to be spoken. The plain truth is that many
+believers in the present day seem so dreadfully afraid of doing harm
+that they hardly ever dare to do good. There are many who are fruitful
+in objections, but barren in actions;--rich in wet blankets, but poor in
+anything like Christian fire. They are like the Dutch deputies, recorded
+in the history of last century, who would never allow Marlborough to
+venture anything, and by their excessive caution prevented many a
+victory being won. Truly, in looking round the Church of Christ, a man
+might sometimes think that God's kingdom had come, and God's will was
+being done upon earth, so small is the zeal that some believers show. It
+is vain to deny it. I need not go far for evidence. I point to Societies
+for doing good to the heathen, the colonies, and the dark places of our
+own land, languishing and standing still for want of active support. I
+ask, _Is this zeal?_ I point to thousands of miserable guinea
+subscriptions which are never missed by the givers, and yet make up the
+sum of their Christian liberality. I ask, _Is this zeal?_ I point to
+false doctrine allowed to grow up in parishes and families without an
+effort being made to check it, while so-called believers look on, and
+content themselves with wishing it was not so. I ask, _Is this zeal?_
+Would the apostles have been satisfied with such a state of things? We
+know they would not.
+
+If the conscience of any one who read this paper pleads guilty to any
+participation in the short-comings I have spoken of, I call upon him, in
+the name of the Lord, to awake, be zealous, and repent. Let not zeal be
+confined to Lincoln's Inn, the Temple, and Westminster;--to banks, and
+shops, and counting houses. Let us see the same zeal in the Church of
+Christ. Let not zeal be abundant to lead forlorn hopes, or get gold from
+Australia, or travel over thick ribbed ice in voyages of discovery, but
+defective to send the Gospel to the heathen, or to pluck Roman Catholics
+like brands from the fire, or to enlighten the dark places of the
+colonies of this great land. Never were there such doors of usefulness
+opened,--never were there so many opportunities for doing good. I loathe
+that squeamishness which refuses to help religious works if there is a
+blemish about the instrument by which the work is carried on. At this
+rate we might never do anything at all. Let us resist the feeling, if we
+are tempted by it. It is one of Satan's devices. It is better to work
+with feeble instruments than not to work at all. At all events, try to
+do something for God and Christ,--something against ignorance and sin.
+Give, collect, teach, exhort, visit, pray, according as God enables you.
+Only make up your mind that all can do something, and resolve that by
+you, at any rate, something shall be done. If you have only one talent,
+do not bury it in the ground. Try to live so as to be missed. There is
+far more to be done in twelve hours than most of us have ever yet done
+on any day in our lives.
+
+Think of the _precious souls_ which are perishing while you are
+sleeping. Be taken up with your inward conflicts if you will. Go on
+anatomizing your own feelings, and poring over your own corruptions, if
+you are so determined. But remember all this time souls are going to
+hell, and you might do something to save them by working, by giving, by
+writing, by begging, and by prayer. Oh, awake! be zealous, and repent!
+
+Think of the _shortness of time_. You will soon be gone. You will have
+no opportunity for works of mercy in another world. In heaven there will
+be no ignorant people to instruct, and no unconverted to reclaim.
+Whatever you do must be done now. Oh, when are you going to begin?
+Awake! be zealous, and repent.
+
+Think of _the devil_, and his zeal to do harm. It was a solemn saying of
+old Bernard when he said that "Satan would rise up in judgment against
+some people at the last day, because he had shown more zeal to ruin
+souls than they had to save them." Awake! be zealous, and repent.
+
+Think of _your Saviour_, and all His zeal for you. Think of Him in
+Gethsemane and on Calvary, shedding His blood for sinners. Think of His
+life and death,--His sufferings and His doings. This He has done for
+you. What are you doing for Him? Oh, resolve that for the time to come
+you will spend and be spent for Christ! Awake! be zealous and repent.
+
+(3) Last of all, let me encourage _all readers of this paper who are
+truly zealous Christians_.
+
+I have but one request to make, and that is _that you will persevere_. I
+do beseech you to hold fast your zeal, and never let it go. I do beseech
+you never to go back from your first works, never to leave your first
+love, never to let it be said of you that your first things were better
+than your last.--Beware of cooling down. You have only to be lazy, and
+to sit still, and you will soon lose all your warmth. You will soon
+become another man from what you are now. Oh, do not think this a
+needless exhortation!
+
+It may be very true that wise young believers are very rare. But it is
+no less true that zealous old believers are very rare also. Never allow
+yourself to think that you can do too much,--that you can spend and be
+spent too much for Christ's cause. For one man that does too much I will
+show you a thousand who do not do enough. Rather think that "the night
+cometh, when no man can work" (John ix. 4),--and give, collect, teach,
+visit, work, pray, as if you were doing it for the last time. Lay to
+heart the words of that noble-minded Jansenist, who said, when told that
+he ought to rest a little, "What should we rest for? have we not all
+eternity to rest in?"
+
+Fear not the reproach of men. Faint not because you are sometimes
+abused. Heed it not if you are sometimes called bigot, enthusiast,
+fanatic, madman, and fool. There is nothing disgraceful in these titles.
+They have often been given to the best and wisest of men. If you are
+only to be zealous when you are praised for it,--if the wheels of your
+zeal must be oiled by the world's commendation, your zeal will be but
+short-lived. Care not for the praise or frown of man. There is but one
+thing worth caring for, and that is the praise of God. There is but one
+question worth asking about our actions: "How will they look in the day
+of judgment?"
+
+
+
+
+IX
+
+
+FREEDOM
+
+     "_If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free
+     indeed._"--John viii. 36.
+
+
+The subject before our eyes deserves a thousand thoughts. It should ring
+in the ears of Englishmen and Scotchmen like the voice of a trumpet. We
+live in a land which is the very cradle of freedom. But are we ourselves
+free?
+
+The question is one which demands special attention at the present state
+of public opinion in Great Britain. The minds of many are wholly
+absorbed in politics. Yet there is a freedom, within the reach of all,
+which few, I am afraid, ever think of,--a freedom independent of all
+political changes,--a freedom which neither Queen, Lords and Commons,
+nor the cleverest popular leaders can bestow. This is the freedom about
+which I write this day. Do we know anything of it? Are we free?
+
+In opening this subject, there are three points which I wish to bring
+forward.
+
+
+    I. I will show, in the first place, _the general excellence of
+    freedom_.
+
+    II. I will show, in the second place, _the best and truest kind of
+    freedom_.
+
+    III. I will show, in the last place, _the way in which the best kind
+    of freedom may become your own_.
+
+Let no reader think for a moment that this is going to be a political
+paper. I am no politician: I have no politics but those of the Bible.
+The only party I care for is the Lord's side: show me where that is, and
+it shall have my support. The only election I am very anxious about is
+the election of grace. My one desire is, that sinners should make their
+own calling and election sure.--The liberty I desire above all things to
+make known, and further, is the glorious liberty of the children of
+God.--The Government I care to support is the government which is on the
+shoulder of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Before Christ I want every
+knee to bow, and every tongue to confess that He is Lord. I ask
+attention while I canvass these subjects. If you are not free, I want to
+guide you into true liberty. If you are free, I want you to know the
+full value of your freedom.
+
+
+I. The first thing I have to show is _the general excellence of
+freedom_.
+
+On this point some readers may think it needless to say anything: they
+imagine that all men know the value of freedom, and that to dwell on it
+is mere waste of time. I do not agree with such people at all. I believe
+that myriads of Englishmen know nothing of the blessings which they
+enjoy in their own land: they have grown up from infancy to manhood in
+the midst of free institutions. They have not the least idea of the
+state of things in other countries: they are ignorant alike of those two
+worst forms of tyranny,--the crushing tyranny of a cruel military
+despot, and the intolerant tyranny of an unreasoning mob. In short, many
+Englishmen know nothing of the value of liberty, just because they have
+been born in the middle of it, and have never been for a moment without
+it.
+
+I call then on every one who reads this paper to remember that liberty
+is one of the greatest temporal blessings that man can have on this side
+the grave. We live in a land where our _bodies_ are free. So long as we
+hurt nobody's person, or property, or character, no one can touch us:
+the poorest man's house is his castle.--We live in a land where our
+_actions_ are free. So long as we support ourselves, we are free to
+choose what we will do, where we will go, and how we will spend our
+time.--We live in a land where our _consciences_ are free. So long as we
+hold quietly on our own way, and do not interfere with others, we are
+free to worship God as we please, and no man can compel us to take his
+way to heaven. We live in a land where no foreigner rules over us. Our
+laws are made and altered by Englishmen like ourselves, and our
+Governors dwell by our side, bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh.
+
+In short, we have every kind of freedom to an extent which no other
+nation on earth can equal. We have personal freedom, civil freedom,
+religious freedom, and national freedom. We have free bodies, free
+consciences, free speech, free thought, free action, free Bibles, a free
+press, and free homes. How vast is this list of privileges! How endless
+the comforts which it contains! The full value of them can never perhaps
+be known. Well said the Jewish Rabbins in ancient days: "If the sea were
+ink and the world parchment, it would never serve to describe the
+praises of liberty."
+
+The want of this freedom has been the most fertile cause of misery to
+nations in every age of the world. What reader of the Bible can fail to
+remember the sorrows of the children of Israel, when they were bondmen
+under Pharaoh in Egypt, or under Philistines in Canaan? What student of
+history needs to be reminded of the woes inflicted on the Netherlands,
+Poland, Spain, and Italy by the hand of foreign oppressors, or the
+Inquisition? Who, even in our own time, has not heard of that enormous
+fountain of wretchedness, the slavery of the Negro race? No misery
+certainly is so great as the misery of slavery.
+
+To win and preserve freedom has been the aim of many national struggles
+which have deluged the earth with blood. Liberty has been the cause in
+which myriads of Greeks, and Romans, and Germans, and Poles, and Swiss,
+and Englishmen, and Americans have willingly laid down their lives. No
+price has been thought too great to pay in order that nations might be
+free.
+
+The champions of freedom in every age have been justly esteemed among
+the greatest benefactors of mankind. Such names as Moses and Gideon in
+Jewish history, such names as the Spartan Leonidas, the Roman Horatius,
+the German Martin Luther, the Swedish Gustavus Vasa, the Swiss William
+Tell, the Scotch Robert Bruce and John Knox, the English Alfred and
+Hampden and the Puritans, the American George Washington, are deservedly
+embalmed in history, and will never be forgotten. To be the mother of
+many patriots is the highest praise of a nation.
+
+The enemies of freedom in every age have been rightly regarded as the
+pests and nuisances of their times. Such names as Pharaoh in Egypt,
+Dionysius at Syracuse, Nero at Rome, Charles IX. in France, bloody Mary
+in England, are names which will never be rescued from disgrace. The
+public opinion of mankind will never cease to condemn them, on the one
+ground that they would not let people be free.
+
+But why should I dwell on these things? Time and space would fail me if
+I were to attempt to say a tenth part of what might be said in praise of
+freedom. What are the annals of history but a long record of conflicts
+between the friends and foes of liberty? Where is the nation upon earth
+that has ever attained greatness, and left its mark on the world,
+without freedom? Which are the countries on the face of the globe at
+this very moment which are making the most progress in trade, in arts,
+in sciences, in civilization, in philosophy, in morals, in social
+happiness? Precisely those countries in which there is the greatest
+amount of true freedom. Which are the countries at this very day where
+is the greatest amount of internal misery, where we hear continually of
+secret plots, and murmuring, and discontent, and attempts on life and
+property? Precisely those countries where freedom does not exist, or
+exists only in name,--where men are treated as serfs and slaves, and are
+not allowed to think and act for themselves. No wonder that a mighty
+Transatlantic Statesman declared on a great occasion to his assembled
+countrymen: "Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at
+the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, almighty God! I know not
+what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me
+death!"[5]
+
+  5: To prevent mistakes, I think it well to say that the man I refer to
+  is Patrick Henry, an American Statesman of the last century.
+
+Let us beware of _undervaluing_ the liberty we enjoy in this country of
+ours, as Englishmen. I am sure there is need of this warning. There is,
+perhaps, no country on earth where there is so much grumbling and
+fault-finding as there is in England. Men look at the fancied evils
+which they see around them, and exaggerate both their number and their
+intensity. They refuse to look at the countless blessings and privileges
+which surround us, or underrate the advantages of them. They forget that
+comparison should be applied to everything. With all our faults and
+defects there is at this hour no country on earth where there is so much
+liberty and happiness for all classes, as there is in England. They
+forget that as long as human nature is corrupt, it is vain to expect
+perfection here below. No laws or government whatever can possibly
+prevent a certain quantity of abuses and corruptions. Once more then, I
+say, let us beware of undervaluing English liberty, and running eagerly
+after every one who proposes sweeping changes. Changes are not always
+improvements. The old shoes may have some holes and defects, but the new
+shoes may pinch so much that we cannot walk at all. No doubt we might
+have better laws and government than we have: but I am quite sure we
+might easily have worse. At this very day there is no country on the
+face of the globe where there is so much care taken of the life, and
+health, and property, and character, and personal liberty of the meanest
+inhabitant, as there is in England. Those who want to have more liberty,
+would soon find, if they crossed the seas, that there is no country on
+earth where there is so much real liberty as our own.[6]
+
+  6: The following weighty passage, from the pen of the judicious Hooker,
+  is commended to the attention of all in the present day. It is the
+  opening passage of the first book of his "Ecclesiastical Polity."
+
+  "He that goeth about to persuade a multitude that they are not
+  so well governed as they ought to be, shall never want
+  attentive and favourable hearers, because they know the
+  manifold defects whereunto every kind of regiment or government
+  is subject; but the secret lets and difficulties, which in
+  public proceedings are innumerable and inevitable, they have
+  not ordinarily the judgment to consider. And because such as
+  openly reprove disorders of States are taken for principal
+  friends to the common benefit of all, and for men that carry
+  singular freedom of mind, under this fair and plausible colour
+  whatsoever they utter passeth for good and current. That which
+  is wanting in the weight of their speech is supplied by the
+  aptness of men's minds to accept and believe it. Whereas, on
+  the other side, if we maintain things that are established, we
+  have not only to strive with a number of heavy prejudices,
+  deeply rooted in the breasts of men, who think that herein we
+  serve the times, and speak in favour of the present state,
+  because we either hold or seek preferment; but also to bear
+  such reception as minds so averted beforehand usually take
+  against that which they are loth should be poured into them."
+
+But while I bid men not undervalue English liberty, so also on the other
+hand I charge them not to _overvalue_ it. Never forget that temporal
+slavery is not the only slavery, and temporal freedom not the only
+freedom. What shall it profit you to be a citizen of a free country, so
+long as your soul is not free? What is the use of living in a free land
+like England, with free thought, free speech, free action, free
+conscience, so long as you are a slave to sin, and a captive to the
+devil? Yes: there are tyrants whom no eye can see, as real and
+destructive as Pharaoh or Nero! There are chains which no hands can
+touch, as true and heavy and soul-withering as ever crushed the limbs of
+an African! It is these tyrants whom I want you this day to remember. It
+is these chains from which I want you to be free. Value by all means
+your English liberty, but do not overvalue it. Look higher, further than
+any temporal freedom. In the highest sense let us take care that "we are
+free."
+
+
+II. The second thing I have to show is _the truest and best kind of
+freedom_.
+
+The freedom I speak of is a freedom that is within the reach of every
+child of Adam who is willing to have it. No power on earth can prevent a
+man or woman having it, if they have but the will to receive it. Tyrants
+may threaten and cast in prison, but nothing they can do can stop a
+person having this liberty. And, once our own, nothing can take it away.
+Men may torture us, banish us, hang us, behead us, burn us, but they can
+never tear from us true freedom. The poorest may have it no less than
+the richest: the most unlearned may have it as well as the most learned,
+and the weakest as well as the strongest. Laws cannot deprive us of it:
+Pope's bulls cannot rob us of it. Once our own, it is an everlasting
+possession.
+
+Now, what is this glorious freedom? Where is it to be found? What is it
+like? Who has obtained it for man? Who has got it at this moment to
+bestow? I ask my readers to give me their attention, and I will supply a
+plain answer to these questions.
+
+The true freedom =I= speak of is spiritual freedom,--freedom of soul. It
+is the freedom which Christ bestows, without money and without price, on
+all true Christians. Those whom the Son makes free are free indeed:
+"Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." (2 Cor. iii. 17.)
+Let men talk what they please of the comparative freedom of monarchies
+and republics; let them struggle, if they will, for universal liberty,
+fraternity, and equality: we never know the highest style of liberty
+till we are enrolled citizens of the kingdom of God. We are ignorant of
+the best kind of freedom if we are not Christ's freemen.
+
+Christ's freemen are free from the _guilt of sin_. That heavy burden of
+unforgiven transgressions, which lies so heavy on many consciences, no
+longer presses them down. Christ's blood has cleansed it all away. They
+feel pardoned, reconciled, justified, and accepted in God's sight. They
+can look back to their old sins, however black and many, and say,--"Ye
+cannot condemn me." They can look back on long years of carelessness and
+worldliness and say,--"Who shall lay anything to my charge?" This is
+true liberty. This is to be free.
+
+Christ's freemen are free from the _power of sin_. It no longer rules
+and reigns in their hearts, and carries them before it like a flood.
+Through the power of Christ's Spirit they mortify the deeds of their
+bodies, and crucify their flesh with its affections and lusts. Through
+His grace working in them they get the victory over their evil
+inclinations. The flesh may fight, but it does not conquer them; the
+devil may tempt and vex, but does not overcome them: they are no longer
+the bondslaves of lusts and appetites, and passions, and tempers. Over
+all these things they are more than conquerors, through Him that loved
+them. This is true liberty. This is to be free.
+
+Christ's freemen are free from the _slavish fear of God_. They no longer
+look at Him with dread and alarm, as an offended Maker; they no longer
+hate Him, and get away from Him, like Adam among the trees of the
+garden; they no longer tremble at the thought of His judgment. Through
+the Spirit of adoption which Christ has given them, they look on God as
+a reconciled Father, and rejoice in the thought of His love. They feel
+that anger is passed away. They feel that when God the Father looks down
+upon them, He sees them in Christ, and unworthy as they are in
+themselves, is well-pleased. This is true liberty. This is to be free.
+
+Christ's freemen are free from the _fear of man_. They are no longer
+afraid of man's opinions, or care much what man thinks of them; they are
+alike indifferent to his favour or his enmity, his smile or his frown.
+They look away from man who can be seen, to Christ who is not seen, and
+having the favour of Christ, they care little for the blame of man. "The
+fear of man" was once a snare to them. They trembled at the thought of
+what man would say, or think, or do: they dared not run counter to the
+fashions and customs of those around them; they shrank from the idea of
+standing alone. But the snare is now broken and they are delivered. This
+is true liberty. This is to be free.
+
+Christ's freemen are free from the _fear of death_. They no longer look
+forward to it with silent dismay, as a horrible thing which they do not
+care to think of. Through Christ they can look this last enemy calmly in
+the face, and say,--"Thou canst not harm me." They can look forward to
+all that comes after death,--decay, resurrection, judgment, and
+eternity,--and yet not feel cast down. They can stand by the side of an
+open grave, and say, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy
+victory?" They can lay them down on their death-beds, and say, "Though I
+walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil."
+(Ps. xxiii. 4.) "Not a hair of my head shall perish." This is true
+liberty. This is to be free.
+
+Best of all, Christ's freemen are _free for ever_. Once enrolled in the
+list of heavenly citizens, their names shall never be struck off. Once
+presented with the freedom of Christ's kingdom, they shall possess it
+for evermore. The highest privileges of this world's freedom can only
+endure for a life-time; the freest citizen on earth must submit at
+length to die, and lose his franchise for ever: but the franchise of
+Christ's people is eternal. They carry it down to the grave, and it
+lives still; they will rise again with it at the last day, and enjoy the
+privileges of it for evermore. This is true liberty. This is to be free.
+
+Does anyone ask how and in what way Christ has obtained these mighty
+privileges for His people? You have a right to ask the question, and it
+is one that can never be answered too clearly. Give me your attention,
+and I will show you by what means Christ has made His people free.
+
+The freedom of Christ's people has been procured, like all other
+freedom, at a mighty cost and by a mighty sacrifice. Great was the
+bondage in which they were naturally held, and great was the price
+necessary to be paid to set them free: mighty was the enemy who claimed
+them as his captives, and it needed mighty power to release them out of
+his hands. But, blessed be God, there was grace enough, and power enough
+ready in Jesus Christ. He provided to the uttermost everything that was
+required to set His people free. The price that Christ paid for His
+people was nothing less than His own life-blood. He became their
+Substitute, and suffered for their sins on the cross: He redeemed them
+from the curse of the law, by being made a curse for them. (Gal. iii.
+13.) He paid all their debt in His own person, by allowing the
+chastisement of their peace to be laid on Him. (Isaiah liii. 5.) He
+satisfied every possible demand of the law against them, by fulfilling
+its righteousness to the uttermost. He cleared them from every
+imputation of sin, by becoming sin for them. (2 Cor. v. 21.) He fought
+their battle with the devil, and triumphed over him on the cross. As
+their Champion, He spoiled principalities and powers, and made a show of
+them openly on Calvary. In a word, Christ having given Himself for us,
+has purchased the full right of redemption for us. Nothing can touch
+those to whom He gives freedom: their debts are paid, and paid a
+thousand times over; their sins are atoned for by a full, perfect, and
+sufficient atonement. A Divine Substitute's death meets completely the
+justice of God, and provides completely redemption for man.
+
+Let us look well at this glorious plan of redemption, and take heed that
+we understand it. Ignorance on this point is one great secret of faint
+hopes, little comfort, and ceaseless doubts in the minds of Christians.
+Too many are content with a vague idea that Christ will somehow save
+sinners: but how or why they cannot tell. I protest against this
+ignorance. Let us set fully before our eyes the doctrine of Christ's
+vicarious death and substitution, and rest our souls upon it. Let us
+grasp firmly the mighty truth, that Christ on the cross, stood in the
+place of His people, died for His people, suffered for His people, was
+counted a curse and sin for His people, paid the debts of His people,
+made satisfaction for His people, became the surety and representative
+of His people, and in this way procured His people's freedom. Let us
+understand this clearly, and then we shall see what a mighty privilege
+it is to be made free by Christ.
+
+This is the freedom which, above all other, is worth having. We can
+never value it too highly: there is no danger of overvaluing it. All
+other freedom is an unsatisfying thing at the best, and a poor uncertain
+possession at any time. Christ's freedom alone can never be overthrown.
+It is secured by a covenant ordered in all things and sure: its
+foundations are laid in the eternal councils of God, and no foreign
+enemy can overthrow them. They are cemented and secured by the blood of
+the Son of God Himself, and can never be cast down. The freedom of
+nations often lasts no longer than a few centuries: the freedom which
+Christ gives to any one of His people is a freedom that shall outlive
+the solid world.
+
+This is the truest, highest kind of freedom. This is the freedom which
+in a changing, dying world, I want men to possess.
+
+
+III. I have now to show, in the last place, _the way in which the best
+kind of freedom is made our own_.
+
+This is a point of vast importance, on account of the many mistakes
+which prevail about it. Thousands, perhaps, will allow that there is
+such a thing as spiritual freedom, and that Christ alone has purchased
+it for us: but when they come to the application of redemption, they go
+astray. They cannot answer the question, "Who are those whom Christ
+effectually makes free?" and for want of knowledge of the answer, they
+sit still in their chains. I ask every reader to give me his attention
+once more, and I will try to throw a little light on the subject.
+Useless indeed is the redemption which Christ has obtained, unless you
+know how the fruit of that redemption can become your own. In vain have
+you read of the freedom wherewith Christ makes people free, unless you
+understand how you yourself may have an interest in it.
+
+We are not born Christ's freemen. The inhabitants of many a city enjoy
+privileges by virtue of their birth-place. St. Paul, who drew
+life-breath first at Tarsus in Cilicia, could say to the Roman
+Commander, "I was free-born." But this is not the case with Adam's
+children, in spiritual things. We are born slaves and servants of sin:
+we are by nature "children of wrath," and destitute of any title to
+heaven.
+
+We are not made Christ's freemen by baptism. Myriads are every year
+brought to the font, and solemnly baptized in the name of the Trinity,
+who serve sin like slaves, and neglect Christ all their days. Wretched
+indeed is that man's state of soul who can give no better evidence of
+his citizenship of heaven than the mere naked fact of his baptism!
+
+We are not made Christ's freemen by mere membership of Christ's Church.
+There are Companies and Corporations whose members are entitled to vast
+privileges, without any respect to their personal character, if their
+names are only on the list of members. The kingdom of Christ is not a
+corporation of this kind. The grand test of belonging to it is personal
+character.
+
+Let these things sink down into our minds. Far be it from me to narrow
+the extent of Christ's redemption: the price He paid on the cross is
+sufficient for the whole world. Far be it from me to undervalue baptism
+or Church-membership: the ordinance which Christ appointed, and the
+Church which He maintains in the midst of a dark world, ought neither of
+them to be lightly esteemed.--All I contend for is the absolute
+necessity of not being content either with baptism or Church-membership.
+If our religion stops short here it is unprofitable and unsatisfying. It
+needs something more than this to give us an interest in the redemption
+which Christ has purchased.
+
+There is no other way to become Christ's freemen than that of simply
+believing. It is by faith, simple faith in Him as our Saviour and
+Redeemer, that men's souls are made free. It is by receiving Christ,
+trusting Christ, committing ourselves to Christ, reposing our whole
+weight on Christ,--it is by this, and by no other plan, that spiritual
+liberty is made our own. Mighty as are the privileges which Christ's
+freemen possess, they all become a man's property in the day that he
+first believes. He may not yet know their full value, but they are all
+his own. He that believeth in Christ is not condemned,--is justified, is
+born again, is an heir of God, and hath everlasting life.
+
+The truth before us is one of priceless importance. Let us cling to it
+firmly, and never let it go. If you desire peace of conscience, if you
+want inward rest and consolation, stir not an inch off the ground that
+faith is the grand secret of an interest in Christ's redemption.--Take
+the simplest view of faith: beware of confusing your mind by complicated
+ideas about it. Follow holiness as closely as you can: seek the fullest
+and clearest evidence of the inward work of the Spirit. But in the
+matter of an interest in Christ's redemption remember that faith stands
+alone. It is by believing, simply believing, that souls become free.
+
+No doctrine like this to suit the ignorant and unlearned! Visit the
+poorest and humblest cottager, who knows nothing of theology, and cannot
+even repeat the creed. Tell him the story of the cross, and the good
+news about Jesus Christ, and His love to sinners; show him that there is
+freedom provided for him, as well as for the most learned in the
+land,--freedom from guilt, freedom from the devil, freedom from
+condemnation, freedom from hell. And then tell him plainly, boldly,
+broadly, unreservedly, that this freedom may be all his own, if he will
+but trust in Christ and believe.
+
+No doctrine like this to suit the sick and dying! Go to the bedside of
+the vilest sinner, when death is coming nigh, and tell him lovingly that
+there is a hope even for him, if he can receive it. Tell him that Christ
+came into the world to save sinners, even the chief of them; tell him
+that Christ has done all, paid all, performed all, purchased all that
+the soul of man can possibly need for salvation. And then assure him
+that he, even he, may be freed at once from all his guilt, if he will
+only believe. Yes, say to him, in the words of Scripture, "If thou shalt
+confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that
+God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." (Rom. x. 9.)
+
+Let us never forget that this is the point to which we must turn our own
+eyes, if we would know whether we have a saving interest in Christ's
+redemption. Waste not your time in speculations whether you are elect,
+and converted, and a vessel of grace. Stand not poring over the
+unprofitable question whether Christ died for you or not. That is a
+point of which no one ever made any question in the Bible. Settle your
+thoughts on this one simple inquiry,--"Do I really trust in Christ, as a
+humble sinner? Do I cast myself on Him? Do I believe?"--Look not to
+anything else. Look at this alone. Fear not to rest your soul on plain
+texts and promises of Scripture. If you believe, you are free.
+
+(1) And now as I bring this paper to a conclusion, let me affectionately
+press upon every reader the inquiry which grows naturally out of the
+whole subject. Let me ask every one a plain question: "Are you free?"
+
+I know not who or what you are into whose hands this paper has fallen.
+But this I do know, there never was an age when the inquiry I press upon
+you was more thoroughly needed. Political liberty, civil liberty,
+commercial liberty, liberty of speech, liberty of the press,--all these,
+and a hundred other kindred subjects, are swallowing up men's attention.
+Few, very few, find time to think of spiritual liberty. Many, too many,
+forget that no man is so thoroughly a slave, whatever his position, as
+the man who serves sin. Yes! there are thousands in this country who are
+slaves of beer and spirits, slaves of lust, slaves of ambition, slaves
+of political party, slaves of money, slaves of gambling, slaves of
+fashion, or slaves of temper! You may not see their chains with the
+naked eye, and they themselves may boast of their liberty: but for all
+that they are thoroughly slaves. Whether men like to hear it or not, the
+gambler and the drunkard, the covetous and the passionate, the glutton
+and the sensualist, are not free, but slaves. They are bound hand and
+foot by the devil. "He that committeth sin is the servant of sin."
+(Rom. viii. 34.) He that boasts of liberty, while he is enslaved by
+lusts and passions, is going down to hell with a lie in his right hand.
+
+Awake to see these things, while health, and time, and life are granted
+to you. Let not political struggles and party strife make you forget
+your precious soul. Take any side in politics you please, and follow
+honestly your conscientious convictions; but never, never forget that
+there is a liberty far higher and more lasting than any that politics
+can give you. Rest not till that liberty is your own. Rest not till YOUR
+SOUL IS FREE.
+
+(2) Do you feel any desire to be free? Do you find any longing within
+you for a higher, better liberty than this world can give--a liberty
+that will not die at your death, but will go with you beyond the grave?
+Then take the advice I give you this day. Seek Christ, repent, believe,
+and be free. Christ has a glorious liberty to bestow on all who humbly
+cry to Him for freedom. Christ can take burdens off your heart, and
+strike chains off your inward man. "If the Son shall make you free, you
+shall be free indeed." (John viii. 36.)
+
+Freedom like this is the secret of true happiness. None go through the
+world with such ease and content as those who are citizens of a heavenly
+country. Earth's burdens press lightly upon their shoulders; earth's
+disappointments do not crush them down as they do others; earth's duties
+and anxieties do not drink up their spirit. In their darkest hours they
+have always this sustaining thought to fall back on,--"I have something
+which makes me independent of this world: I am spiritually free."
+
+Freedom like this is the secret of being a good politician. In every age
+Christ's freemen have been the truest friends to law and order, and to
+measures for the benefit of all classes of mankind. Never, =never= let
+it be forgotten that the despised Puritans, two hundred years ago, did
+more for the cause of real liberty in England than all the Governments
+which ever ruled this land. No man ever made this country so feared and
+respected as Oliver Cromwell. The root of the most genuine patriotism is
+to be one of those whom Christ has made free.
+
+(3) Are you spiritually free? Then rejoice, and be thankful for your
+freedom. Care not for the scorn and contempt of man: you have no cause
+to be ashamed of your religion or your Master. He whose citizenship is
+in heaven (Phil. iii. 20), who has God for his Father, and Christ for
+his Elder Brother, angels for his daily guards, and heaven itself for
+his home, is one that is well provided for. No change of laws can add to
+his greatness: no extension of franchise can raise him higher than he
+stands in God's sight. "The lines are fallen to him in pleasant places,
+and he has a goodly heritage." (Psalm xvi. 6.) Grace now, and the hope
+of glory hereafter, are more lasting privileges than the power of voting
+for twenty boroughs or counties.
+
+Are you free? Then stand fast in your liberty, and be not entangled
+again in the yoke of bondage. Listen not to those who by good words and
+fair speeches would draw you back to the Church of Rome. Beware of those
+who would fain persuade you that there is any mediator but the one
+Mediator, Christ Jesus,--any sacrifice but the one Sacrifice offered on
+Calvary,--any priest but the great High Priest Emmanuel,--any incense
+needed in worship but the savour of His name who was crucified,--any
+rule of faith and practice but God's Word,--any confessional but the
+throne of grace,--any effectual absolution but that which Christ bestows
+on the hearts of His believing people,--any purgatory but the one
+fountain open for all sins, the blood of Christ, to be only used while
+we are alive. On all these points stand fast, and be on your guard.
+Scores of misguided teachers are trying to rob Christians of Gospel
+liberty, and to bring back among us exploded superstitions. Resist them
+manfully, and do not give way for a moment. Remember what Romanism was
+in this country before the blessed Reformation. Remember at what mighty
+cost our martyred Reformers brought spiritual freedom to light by the
+Gospel. Stand fast for this freedom like a man, and labour to hand it
+down to your children, whole and unimpaired.
+
+Are you free? Then think every day you live of the millions of your
+fellow-creatures who are yet bound hand and foot in spiritual darkness.
+Think of six hundred millions of heathens who never yet heard of Christ
+and salvation. Think of the poor homeless Jews, scattered and wandering
+over the face of the earth, because they have not yet received their
+Messiah. Think of the millions of Roman Catholics who are yet in
+captivity under the Pope, and know nothing of true liberty, light, and
+peace. Think of the myriads of your own fellow-countrymen in our great
+cities, who, without Sabbaths and without means of grace, are
+practically heathens, and whom the devil is continually leading captive
+at his will. Think of them all, and feel for them. Think of them all,
+and often say to yourself,--"What can I do for them? How can I help to
+set them free?"
+
+What! Shall it be proclaimed at the last day that Pharisees and Jesuits
+have compassed sea and land to make proselytes,--that politicians have
+leagued and laboured night and day to obtain catholic emancipation and
+free trade,--that philanthropists have travailed in soul for years to
+procure the suppression of negro slavery,--and shall it appear at the
+same time that Christ's freemen have done little to rescue men and women
+from hell? Forbid it, faith! Forbid it, charity! Surely if the children
+of this world are zealous to promote temporal freedom, the children of
+God ought to be much more zealous to promote spiritual freedom. Let the
+time past suffice us to have been selfish and indolent in this matter.
+For the rest of our days let us use =every= effort to promote spiritual
+emancipation. If we have tasted the blessings of freedom, let us spare
+no pains to make others free.
+
+Are you free? Then look forward in faith and hope for good things yet to
+come. Free as we are, if we believe on Christ, from the guilt and power
+of sin, we must surely feel every day that we are not free from its
+presence and the temptations of the devil. Redeemed as we are from the
+eternal consequences of the fall, we must often feel that we are not yet
+redeemed from sickness and infirmity, from sorrow and from pain. No,
+indeed! Where is the freeman of Christ on earth who is not often
+painfully reminded that we are not yet in heaven? We are yet in the
+body; we are yet travelling through the wilderness of this world: we are
+not at home. We have shed many tears already, and probably we shall have
+to shed many more; we have got yet within us a poor weak heart: we are
+yet liable to be assaulted by the devil. Our redemption is begun indeed,
+but it is not yet completed. We have redemption now in the root, but we
+have it not in the flower.
+
+But let us take courage: there are better days yet to come. Our great
+Redeemer and Liberator has gone before us to prepare a place for His
+people, and when He comes again our redemption will be complete. The
+great jubilee year is yet to come. A few more returns of Christmas and
+New Year's Days,--a few more meetings and partings,--a few more births
+and deaths,--a few more weddings and funerals,--a few more tears and
+struggles,--a few more sicknesses and pains,--a few more Sabbaths and
+sacraments,--a few more preachings and prayings,--a few more, and the
+end will come! Our Master will come back again. The dead saints shall be
+raised. The living saints shall be changed. Then, and not till then, we
+shall be completely free. The liberty which we enjoyed by faith shall be
+changed into the liberty of sight, and the freedom of hope into the
+freedom of certainty.
+
+Come, then, and let us resolve to wait, and watch, and hope, and pray,
+and live like men who have something laid up for them in heaven. The
+night is far spent, and the day is at hand. Our King is not far off: our
+full redemption draweth nigh. Our full salvation is nearer than when we
+believed. The signs of the times are strange, and demand every
+Christian's serious attention. The kingdoms of this world are in
+confusion: the powers of this world, both temporal and ecclesiastical,
+are everywhere reeling and shaken to their foundations. Happy, thrice
+happy, are those who are citizens of Christ's eternal kingdom, and ready
+for anything that may come. Blessed indeed are those men and women who
+know and feel that they are free!
+
+
+
+
+X
+
+
+HAPPINESS
+
+     "_Happy is that people whose God is the Lord._"--Psalm cxliv.
+     15.
+
+
+An infidel was once addressing a crowd of people in the open air. He was
+trying to persuade them that there was no God and no devil no heaven,
+and no hell, no resurrection, no judgment, and no life to come. He
+advised them to throw away their Bibles, and not to mind what parsons
+said. He recommended them to think as he did, and to be like him. He
+talked boldly. The crowd listened eagerly. It was "the blind leading the
+blind." Both were falling into the ditch. (Matt. xv. 14.)
+
+In the middle of his address a poor old woman suddenly pushed her way
+through the crowd, to the place where he was standing. She stood before
+him. She looked him full in the face. "Sir," she said, in a loud voice,
+"Are you happy?" The infidel looked scornfully at her, and gave her no
+answer. "Sir," she said again, "I ask you to answer my question. Are you
+happy? You want us to throw away our Bibles. You tell us not to believe
+what parsons say about religion. You advise us to think as you do, and
+be like you. Now before we take your advice we have a right to know what
+good we shall get by it. Do your fine new notions give you much comfort?
+Do you yourself really feel happy?"
+
+The infidel stopped, and attempted to answer the old woman's question.
+He stammered, and shuffled, and fidgetted, and endeavoured to explain
+his meaning. He tried hard to turn the subject. He said, he "had not
+come there to preach about happiness." But it was of no use. The old
+woman stuck to her point. She insisted on her question being answered,
+and the crowd took her part. She pressed him hard with her inquiry, and
+would take no excuse. And at last the infidel was obliged to leave the
+ground, and sneak off in confusion. He could not reply to the question.
+His conscience would not let him: he dared not say that he was happy.
+
+The old woman showed great wisdom in asking the question that she did.
+The argument she used may seem very simple, but in reality it is one of
+the most powerful that can be employed. It is a weapon that has more
+effect on some minds than the most elaborate reasoning of Butler, or
+Paley, or Chalmers. Whenever a man begins to take up new views of
+religion, and pretends to despise old Bible Christianity, thrust home at
+his conscience the old woman's question. Ask him whether his new views
+make him feel comfortable within. Ask him whether he can say, with
+honesty and sincerity, that he is happy. The grand test of a man's faith
+and religion is, "Does it make him happy?"
+
+Let me now affectionately invite every reader to consider the subject of
+this paper. Let me warn you to remember that the salvation of your soul,
+and nothing less, is closely bound up with the subject. The heart cannot
+be right in the sight of God which knows nothing of happiness. That man
+or woman cannot be in a safe state of soul who feels nothing of peace
+within.
+
+There are three things which I purpose to do, in order to clear up the
+subject of happiness. I ask special attention to each one of them. And I
+pray the Spirit of God to apply all to the souls of all who read this
+paper.
+
+    I. Let me point out some things which are absolutely essential to
+    all happiness.
+
+    II. Let me expose some common mistakes about the way to be happy.
+
+    III. Let me show the way to be truly happy.
+
+
+I. First of all I have _to point out some things which are absolutely
+essential to all true happiness_.
+
+Happiness is what all mankind want to obtain: the desire of it is deeply
+planted in the human heart. All men naturally dislike pain, sorrow, and
+discomfort. All men naturally like ease, comfort, and gladness. All men
+naturally hunger and thirst after happiness. Just as the sick man longs
+for health, and the prisoner of war for liberty,--just as the parched
+traveller in hot countries longs to see the cooling fountain, or the
+ice-bound polar voyager the sun rising above the horizon,--just in the
+same way does poor mortal man long to be happy. But, alas, how few
+consider what they really mean when they talk of happiness! How vague
+and indistinct and undefined the ideas of most men are upon the subject!
+They think some are happy who in reality are miserable: they think some
+are gloomy and sad who in reality are truly happy. They dream of a
+happiness which in reality would never satisfy their nature's wants. Let
+me try this day to throw a little light on the subject.
+
+True happiness _is not perfect freedom from sorrow and discomfort_. Let
+that never be forgotten. If it were so there would be no such thing as
+happiness in the world. Such happiness is for angels who have never
+fallen, and not for man. The happiness I am inquiring about is such as a
+poor, dying, sinful creature may hope to attain. Our whole nature is
+defiled by sin. Evil abounds in the world. Sickness, and death, and
+change are daily doing their sad work on every side. In such a state of
+things the highest happiness man can attain to on earth must
+necessarily be a mixed thing. If we expect to find any literally perfect
+happiness on this side of the grave, we expect what we shall not find.
+
+True happiness _does not consist in laughter and smiles_. The face is
+very often a poor index of the inward man. There are thousands who laugh
+loud and are merry as a grasshopper in company, but are wretched and
+miserable in private, and almost afraid to be alone. There are hundreds
+who are grave and serious in their demeanour, whose hearts are full of
+solid peace. A poet of our own has truly told us that smiles are worth
+but little:--
+
+    "A man may smile and smile and be a villain."
+
+And the eternal Word of God teaches us that "even in laughter the heart
+is sorrowful." (Prov. xiv. 13.) Tell me not merely of smiling and
+laughing faces: I want to hear of something more than that when I ask
+whether a man is happy. A truly happy man no doubt will often show his
+happiness in his countenance; but a man may have a very merry face and
+yet not be happy at all.
+
+Of all deceptive things on earth nothing is so deceptive as mere gaiety
+and merriment. It is a hollow empty show, utterly devoid of substance
+and reality. Listen to the brilliant talker in society, and mark the
+applause which he receives from an admiring company: follow him to his
+own private room, and you will very likely find him plunged in
+melancholy despondency. Colonel Gardiner confessed that even when he was
+thought most happy he often wished he was a dog.--Look at the smiling
+beauty in the ball-room, and you might suppose she knew not what it was
+to be unhappy; see her next day at her own home, and you may probably
+find her out of temper with herself and everybody else besides.--Oh, no:
+worldly merriment is not real happiness! There is a certain pleasure
+about it, I do not deny. There is an animal excitement about it, I make
+no question. There is a temporary elevation of spirits about it, I
+freely concede. But call it not by the sacred name of happiness. The
+most beautiful cut flowers stuck into the ground do not make a garden.
+When glass is called diamond, and tinsel is called gold, then, and not
+till then, your people who can laugh and smile will deserve to be called
+happy men.[7]
+
+  7: Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, at a time when all Spain was
+  laughing at his humorous work, was overwhelmed with a deep cloud of
+  melancholy.
+
+  Molière, the first of French comic writers, carried into his domestic
+  circle a sadness which the greatest worldly prosperity could never
+  dispel.
+
+  Samuel Foote, the noted wit of the last century, died of a broken heart.
+
+  Theodore Hooke, the facetious novel writer, who could set everybody
+  laughing, says of himself in his diary, "I am suffering under a constant
+  depression of spirits, which no one who sees me in society dreams of."
+
+  A wobegone stranger consulted a physician about his health. The
+  physician advised him to keep up his spirits by going to hear the great
+  comic actor of the day. "You should go and hear Matthews. He would make
+  you well." "Alas, sir," was the reply, "I am Matthews
+  himself!"--_Pictorial Pages._
+
+To be truly happy _the highest wants of a man's nature must be met and
+satisfied_. The requirements of his curiously wrought constitution must
+all be filled up. There must be nothing about him that cries, "Give,
+give," but cries in vain and gets no answer. The horse and the ox are
+happy as long as they are warmed and filled. And why? It is because they
+are satisfied. The little infant looks happy when it is clothed, and
+fed, and well, and in its mother's arms. And why? Because it is
+satisfied. And just so it is with man. His highest wants must be met and
+satisfied before he can be truly happy. All must be filled up. There
+must be no void, no empty places, no unsupplied cravings. Till then he
+is never truly happy.
+
+And what are _man's principal wants_? Has he a body only? No: he has
+something more! He has a soul.--Has he sensual faculties only? Can he
+do nothing but hear, and see, and smell, and taste, and feel? No: he has
+a thinking mind and a conscience!--Has he no consciousness of any world
+but that in which he lives and moves? He has. There is a still small
+voice within him which often makes itself heard: "This life is not all!
+There is a world unseen: there is a life beyond the grave." Yes! it is
+true. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. All men know it: all men
+feel it, if they would only speak the truth. It is utter nonsense to
+pretend that food and raiment and earthly good things alone can make men
+happy. There are soul-wants. There are conscience-wants. There can be no
+true happiness until these wants are satisfied.
+
+To be truly happy _a man must have sources of gladness which are not
+dependent on anything in this world_. There is nothing upon earth which
+is not stamped with the mark of instability and uncertainty. All the
+good things that money can buy are but for a moment: they either leave
+us or we are obliged to leave them. All the sweetest relationships in
+life are liable to come to an end: death may come any day and cut them
+off. The man whose happiness depends entirely on things here below is
+like him who builds his house on sand, or leans his weight on a reed.
+
+Tell me not of your happiness if it daily hangs on the uncertainties of
+earth. Your home may be rich in comforts; your wife and children may be
+all you could desire; your means may be amply sufficient to meet all
+your wants. But oh, remember, if you have nothing more than this to look
+to, that you stand on the brink of a precipice! Your rivers of pleasure
+may any day be dried up. Your joy may be deep and earnest, but it is
+fearfully short-lived. It has no root. It is not true happiness.
+
+To be really happy _a man must be able to look on every side without
+uncomfortable feelings_. He must be able to look back to the past
+without guilty fears; he must be able to look around him without
+discontent; he must be able to look forward without anxious dread.
+He must be able to sit down and think calmly about things past,
+present, and to come, and feel prepared. The man who has a weak side
+in his condition,--a side that he does not like looking at or
+considering,--that man is not really happy.
+
+Talk not to me of your happiness, if you are unable to look steadily
+either before or behind you. Your present position may be easy and
+pleasant. You may find many sources of joy and gladness in your
+profession, your dwelling-place, your family, and your friends. Your
+health may be good, your spirits may be cheerful. But stop and think
+quietly over your past life. Can you reflect calmly on all the omissions
+and commissions of by-gone years? How will they bear God's inspection?
+How will you answer for them at the last day?--And then look forward,
+and think on the years yet to come. Think of the certain end towards
+which you are hastening; think of death; think of judgment; think of the
+hour when you will meet God face to face. Are you ready for it? Are you
+prepared? Can you look forward to these things without alarm?--Oh, be
+very sure if you cannot look comfortably at any season but the present,
+your boasted happiness is a poor unreal thing! It is but a whitened
+sepulchre,--fair and beautiful without, but bones and corruption within.
+It is a mere thing of a day, like Jonah's gourd. It is not real
+happiness.
+
+I ask my readers to fix in their minds the account of things essential
+to happiness, which I have attempted to give. Dismiss from your thoughts
+the many mistaken notions which pass current on this subject, like
+counterfeit coin. To be truly happy, the wants of your soul and
+conscience must be satisfied; to be truly happy, your joy must be
+founded on something more than this world can give you; to be truly
+happy, you must be able to look on every side,--above, below, behind,
+before,--and feel that all is right. This is real, sterling, genuine
+happiness: this is the happiness I have in view when I urge on your
+notice the subject of this paper.
+
+
+II. In the next place, _let me expose some common mistakes about the way
+to be happy_.
+
+There are several roads which are thought by many to lead to happiness.
+In each of these roads thousands and tens of thousands of men and women
+are continually travelling. Each fancies that if he could only attain
+all he wants he would be happy. Each fancies, if he does not succeed,
+that the fault is not in his road, but in his own want of luck and good
+fortune. And all alike seem ignorant that they are hunting shadows. They
+have started in a wrong direction: they are seeking that which can never
+be found in the place where they seek it.
+
+I will mention by name some of the principal delusions about happiness.
+I do it in love, and charity, and compassion to men's souls. I believe
+it to be a public duty to warn people against cheats, quacks, and
+impostors. Oh, how much trouble and sorrow it might save my readers, if
+they would only believe what I am going to say!
+
+It is an utter mistake to suppose that _rank and greatness alone_ can
+give happiness. The kings and rulers of this world are not necessarily
+happy men. They have troubles and crosses, which none know but
+themselves; they see a thousand evils, which they are unable to remedy;
+they are slaves working in golden chains, and have less real liberty
+than any in the world; they have burdens and responsibilities laid upon
+them, which are a daily weight on their hearts. The Roman Emperor
+Antonine often said, that "the imperial power was an ocean of miseries."
+Queen Elizabeth, when she heard a milk-maid singing, wished that she had
+been born to a lot like her's. Never did our great Poet write a truer
+word than when he said,
+
+    "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown."
+
+It is an utter mistake to suppose that _riches alone_ can give
+happiness. They can enable a man to command and possess everything but
+inward peace. They cannot buy a cheerful spirit and a light heart. There
+is care in the getting of them, and care in the keeping of them, care in
+the using of them, and care in the disposing of them, care in the
+gathering, and care in the scattering of them. He was a wise man who
+said that "money" was only another name for "trouble," and that the same
+English letters which spelt "acres" would also spell "cares."
+
+It is an utter mistake to suppose that _learning and science alone_ can
+give happiness. They may occupy a man's time and attention, but they
+cannot really make him happy. They that increase knowledge often
+"increase sorrow:" the more they learn, the more they discover their own
+ignorance. (Eccles. i. 18.) It is not in the power of things on earth or
+under the earth to "minister to a mind diseased." The heart wants
+something as well as the head: the conscience needs food as well as the
+intellect. All the secular knowledge in the world will not give a man
+joy and gladness, when he thinks on sickness, and death, and the grave.
+They that have climbed the highest, have often found themselves
+solitary, dissatisfied, and empty of peace. The learned Selden, at the
+close of his life, confessed that all his learning did not give him such
+comfort as four verses of St. Paul. (Titus ii. 11--14.)
+
+It is an utter mistake to suppose that _idleness alone_ can give
+happiness. The labourer who gets up at five in the morning, and goes out
+to work all day in a cold clay ditch, often thinks, as he walks past the
+rich man's door, "What a fine thing it must be to have no work to do."
+Poor fellow! he little knows what he thinks. The most miserable
+creature on earth is the man who has nothing to do. Work for the hands
+or work for the head is absolutely essential to human happiness. Without
+it the mind feeds upon itself, and the whole inward man becomes
+diseased. The machinery within _will_ work, and without something to
+work upon, will often wear itself to pieces. There was no idleness in
+Eden. Adam and Eve had to "dress the garden and keep it." There will be
+no idleness in heaven: God's "servants shall serve Him." Oh, be very
+sure the idlest man is the man most truly unhappy! (Gen. ii. 15; Rev.
+xxii. 3.)
+
+It is an utter mistake to suppose that _pleasure-seeking and amusement
+alone_ can give happiness. Of all roads that men can take in order to be
+happy, this is the one that is most completely wrong. Of all weary,
+flat, dull, and unprofitable ways of spending life, this exceeds all. To
+think of a dying creature, with an immortal soul, expecting happiness in
+feasting and revelling,--in dancing and singing,--in dressing and
+visiting,--in ball-going and card-playing,--in races and fairs,--in
+hunting and shooting,--in crowds, in laughter, in noise, in music, in
+wine! Surely it is a sight that is enough to make the devil laugh and
+the angels weep. Even a child will not play with its toys all day long.
+It must have food. But when grown up men and women think to find
+happiness in a constant round of amusement they sink far below a child.
+
+I place before every reader of this paper these common mistakes about
+the way to be happy. I ask you to mark them well. I warn you plainly
+against these pretended short cuts to happiness, however crowded they
+may be. I tell you that if you fancy any one of them can lead you to
+true peace you are entirely deceived. Your conscience will never feel
+satisfied; your immortal soul will never feel easy: your whole inward
+man will feel uncomfortable and out of health. Take any one of these
+roads, or take all of them, and if you have nothing besides to look to,
+you will never find happiness. You may travel on and on and on, and the
+wished for object will seem as far away at the end of each stage of life
+as when you started. You are like one pouring water into a sieve, or
+putting money into a bag with holes. You might as well try to make an
+elephant happy by feeding him with a grain of sand a day, as try to
+satisfy that heart of your's with rank, riches, learning, idleness, or
+pleasure.
+
+Do you doubt the truth of all I am saying? I dare say you do. Then let
+us turn to the great Book of human experience, and read over a few lines
+out of its solemn pages. You shall have the testimony of a few competent
+witnesses on the great subject I am urging on your attention.
+
+A King shall be our first witness: I mean Solomon, King of Israel. We
+know that he had power, and wisdom, and wealth, far exceeding that of
+any ruler of his time. We know from his own confession, that he tried
+the great experiment how far the good things of this world can make man
+happy. We know, from the record of his own hand, the result of this
+curious experiment. He writes it by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost,
+for the benefit of the whole world, in the book of Ecclesiastes. Never,
+surely, was the experiment tried under such favourable circumstances:
+never was any one so likely to succeed as the Jewish King. Yet what is
+Solomon's testimony? You have it in his melancholy words: "All is vanity
+and vexation of spirit." (Eccles. i. 14.)
+
+A famous French lady shall be our next witness: I mean Madam De
+Pompadour. She was the friend and favourite of Louis the Fifteenth. She
+had unbounded influence at the Court of France. She wanted nothing that
+money could procure. Yet what does she say herself? "What a situation is
+that of the great! They only live in the future, and are only happy in
+hope. There is no peace in ambition. I am always gloomy, and often so
+unreasonably. The kindness of the King, the regard of courtiers, the
+attachment of my domestics, and the fidelity of a large number of
+friends,--motives like these, which ought to make me happy, affect me no
+longer. I have no longer inclinations for all which once pleased me. I
+have caused my house at Paris to be magnificently furnished: well; it
+pleased for two days! My residence at Bellevue is charming; and I alone
+cannot endure it. Benevolent people relate to me all the news and
+adventures of Paris: they think I listen, but when they have done I ask
+them what they said. In a word, I do not live: I am dead before my time.
+I have no interest in the world. Everything conspires to embitter my
+life. My life is a continual death." To such testimony I need not add a
+single word. (_Sinclair's Anecdotes and Aphorisms_ p. 33)
+
+A famous German writer shall be our next witness: I mean Goethe. It is
+well known that he was almost idolized by many during his life. His
+works were read and admired by thousands. His name was known and
+honoured, wherever German was read, all over the world. And yet the
+praise of man, of which he reaped such an abundant harvest, was utterly
+unable to make Goethe happy. "He confessed, when about eighty years old,
+that he could not remember being in a really happy state of mind even
+for a few weeks together; and that when he wished to feel happy, he had
+to veil his self-consciousness." (_See Sinclair's Anecdotes and
+Aphorisms, p. 280._)
+
+An English peer and poet shall be our next witness: I mean Lord Byron.
+If ever there was one who ought to have been happy according to the
+standard of the world, Lord Byron was the man. He began life with all
+the advantages of English rank and position. He had splendid abilities
+and powers of mind, which the world soon discovered and was ready to
+honour. He had a sufficiency of means to gratify every lawful wish, and
+never knew anything of real poverty. Humanly speaking, there seemed
+nothing to prevent him enjoying life and being happy. Yet it is a
+notorious fact that Byron was a miserable man. Misery stands out in his
+poems: misery creeps out in his letters. Weariness, satiety, disgust,
+and discontent appear in all his ways. He is an awful warning that rank,
+and title, and literary fame, alone, are not sufficient to make a man
+happy.
+
+A man of science shall be our next witness: I mean Sir Humphrey Davy. He
+was a man eminently successful in the line of life which he chose, and
+deservedly so. A distinguished philosopher,--the inventor of the famous
+safety-lamp which bears his name, and has preserved so many poor miners
+from death by fire-damp,--a Baronet of the United Kingdom and President
+of the Royal Society;--his whole life seemed a continual career of
+prosperity. If learning alone were the road to happiness, this man at
+least ought to have been happy. Yet what was the true record of Davy's
+feelings? We have it in his own melancholy journal at the latter part of
+his life. He describes himself in two painful words: "Very miserable!"
+
+A man of wit and pleasure shall be our next witness: I mean Lord
+Chesterfield. He shall speak for himself: his own words in a letter
+shall be his testimony. "I have seen the silly round of business and
+pleasure, and have done with it all. I have enjoyed all the pleasures of
+the world, and consequently know their futility, and do not regret their
+loss. I appraise them at their real value, which in truth is very low;
+whereas those who have not experience always overrate them. They only
+see their gay outside, and are dazzled with their glare; but I have been
+behind the scenes. I have seen all the coarse pullies and dirty ropes
+which exhibit and move the gaudy machine, and I have seen and smelt the
+tallow candles which illuminate the whole decoration, to the
+astonishment and admiration of the ignorant audience. When I reflect on
+what I have seen, what I have heard, and what I have done, I cannot
+persuade myself that all that frivolous hurry of bustle and pleasure of
+the world had any reality. I look on all that is past as one of those
+romantic dreams which opium occasions, and I do by no means wish to
+repeat the nauseous dose for the sake of the fugitive dream." These
+sentences speak for themselves. I need not add to them one single word.
+
+The Statesmen and Politicians who have swayed the destinies of the
+world, ought by good right to be our last witnesses. But I forbear, in
+Christian charity, to bring them forward. It makes my heart ache when I
+run my eye over the list of names famous in English history, and think
+how many have worn out their lives in a breathless struggle after place
+and distinction. How many of our greatest men have died of broken
+hearts,--disappointed, disgusted, and tried with constant failure! How
+many have left on record some humbling confession that in the plentitude
+of their power they were pining for rest, as the caged eagle for
+liberty! How many whom the world is applauding as "masters of the
+situation," are in reality little better than galley-slaves, chained to
+the oar and unable to get free! Alas, there are many sad proofs, both
+among the living and the dead, that to be great and powerful is not
+necessarily to be happy.
+
+I think it very likely that men do not believe what I am saying. I know
+something of the deceitfulness of the heart on the subject of happiness.
+There are few things which man is so slow to believe as the truths I am
+now putting forth about the way to be happy. Bear with me then while I
+say something more.
+
+Come and stand with me some afternoon in the heart of the city of
+London. Let us watch the faces of most of the wealthy men whom we shall
+see leaving their houses of business at the close of the day. Some of
+them are worth hundreds of thousands: some of them are worth millions of
+pounds. But what is written in the countenances of these grave men whom
+we see swarming out from Lombard Street and Cornhill, from the Bank of
+England and the Stock Exchange? What mean those deep lines which furrow
+so many a cheek and so many a brow? What means that air of anxious
+thoughtfulness which is worn by five out of every six we meet? Ah, these
+things tell a serious tale. They tell us that it needs something more
+than gold and bank notes to make men happy.
+
+Come next and stand with me near the Houses of Parliament, in the middle
+of a busy session. Let us scan the faces of Peers and Commoners, whose
+names are familiar and well-known all over the civilized world. There
+you may see on some fine May evening the mightiest Statesmen in England
+hurrying to a debate, like eagles to the carcase. Each has a power of
+good or evil in his tongue which it is fearful to contemplate. Each may
+say things before to-morrow's sun dawns, which may affect the peace and
+prosperity of nations, and convulse the world. There you may see the men
+who hold the reins of power and government already; there you may see
+the men who are daily watching for an opportunity of snatching those
+reins out of their hands, and governing in their stead. But what do
+their faces tell us as they hasten to their posts? What may be learned
+from their care-worn countenances? What may be read in many of their
+wrinkled foreheads,--so absent-looking and sunk in thought? They teach
+us a solemn lesson. They teach us that it needs something more than
+political greatness to make men happy.
+
+Come next and stand with me in the most fashionable part of London, in
+the height of the season. Let us visit Regent Street or Pall Mall, Hyde
+Park or May Fair. How many fair faces and splendid equipages we shall
+see! How many we shall count up in an hour's time who seem to possess
+the choicest gifts of this world,--beauty, wealth, rank, fashion, and
+troops of friends! But, alas, how few we shall see who appear happy! In
+how many countenances we shall read weariness, dissatisfaction,
+discontent, sorrow, or unhappiness, as clearly as if it was written with
+a pen! Yes: it is a humbling lesson to learn, but a very wholesome one.
+It needs something more than rank, and fashion, and beauty, to make
+people happy.
+
+Come next and walk with me through some quiet country parish in merry
+England. Let us visit some secluded corner in our beautiful old
+father-land, far away from great towns, and fashionable dissipation and
+political strife. There are not a few such to be found in the land.
+There are rural parishes where there is neither street, nor public
+house, nor beershop,--where there is work for all the labourers, and a
+church for all the population, and a school for all the children, and a
+minister of the Gospel to look after the people. Surely, you will say,
+we shall find happiness here! Surely such parishes must be the very
+abodes of peace and joy!--Go into those quiet-looking cottages, one by
+one, and you will soon be undeceived. Learn the inner history of each
+family, and you will soon alter your mind. You will soon discover that
+backbiting, and lying, and slandering, and envy, and jealousy, and
+pride, and laziness, and drinking, and extravagance, and lust, and petty
+quarrels, can murder happiness in the country quite as much as in the
+town. No doubt a rural village sounds pretty in poetry, and looks
+beautiful in pictures; but in sober reality human nature is the same
+evil thing everywhere. Alas, it needs something more than a residence in
+a quiet country parish to make any child of Adam a happy man!
+
+I know these are ancient things. They have been said a thousand times
+before without effect, and I suppose they will be said without effect
+again. I want no greater proof of the corruption of human nature than
+the pertinacity with which we seek happiness where happiness cannot be
+found. Century after century wise men have left on record their
+experience about the way to be happy. Century after century the children
+of men will have it that they know the way perfectly well, and need no
+teaching. They cast to the winds our warnings; they rush, every one, on
+his own favourite path; they walk in a vain shadow, and disquiet
+themselves in vain, and wake up when too late to find their whole life
+has been a grand mistake. Their eyes are blinded: they will not see that
+their visions are as baseless and disappointing as the mirage of the
+African desert. Like the tired traveller in those deserts, they think
+they are approaching a lake of cooling waters; like the same traveller,
+they find to their dismay that this fancied lake was a splendid optical
+delusion, and that they are still helpless in the midst of burning
+sands.
+
+Are you a young person? I entreat you to accept the affectionate warning
+of a minister of the Gospel, and not to seek happiness where happiness
+cannot be found. Seek it not in riches; seek it not in power and rank;
+seek it not in pleasure; seek it not in learning. All these are bright
+and splendid fountains: their waters taste sweet. A crowd is standing
+round them, which will not leave them; but, oh, remember that God has
+written over each of these fountains, "He that drinketh of this water
+shall thirst again." (John iv. 13.) Remember this, and be wise.
+
+Are you poor? Are you tempted to fancy that if you had the rich man's
+place you would be quite happy? Resist the temptation, and cast it
+behind you. Envy not your wealthy neighbours: be content with such
+things as you have. Happiness does not depend on houses or land; silks
+and satins cannot shut out sorrow from the heart; castles and halls
+cannot prevent anxiety and care coming in at their doors. There is as
+much misery riding and driving about in carriages as there is walking
+about on foot: there is as much unhappiness in ceiled houses as in
+humble cottages. Oh, remember the mistakes which are common about
+happiness, and be wise!
+
+
+III. Let me now, in the last place, _point out the way to be really
+happy_.
+
+There is a sure path which leads to happiness, if men will only take it.
+There never lived the person who travelled in that path, and missed the
+object that he sought to attain.
+
+It is a path open to all. It needs neither wealth, nor rank, nor
+learning in order to walk in it. It is for the servant as well as for
+the master: it is for the poor as well as for the rich. None are
+excluded but those who exclude themselves.
+
+It is the one only path. All that have ever been happy, since the days
+of Adam, have journeyed on it. There is no royal road to happiness.
+Kings must be content to go side by side with their humblest subjects,
+if they would be happy.
+
+Where is this path? Where is this road? Listen, and you shall hear.
+
+The way to be happy is _to be a real, thorough-going, true-hearted
+Christian_. Scripture declares it: experience proves it. The converted
+man, the believer in Christ, the child of God,--he, and he alone, is the
+happy man.
+
+It sounds too simple to be true: it seems at first sight so plain a
+receipt that it is not believed. But the greatest truths are often the
+simplest. The secret which many of the wisest on earth have utterly
+failed to discover, is revealed to the humblest believer in Christ. I
+repeat it deliberately, and defy the world to disprove it: the true
+Christian is the only happy man.
+
+What do I mean when I speak of a true Christian? Do I mean everybody who
+goes to church or chapel? Do I mean everybody who professes an orthodox
+creed, and bows his head at the belief? Do I mean everybody who
+professes to love the Gospel? No: indeed! I mean something very
+different. All are not Christians who are called Christians. The man I
+have in view is _the Christian in heart and life_. He who has been
+taught by the Spirit really to feel his sins,--he who really rests all
+his hopes on the Lord Jesus Christ, and His atonement,--he who has been
+born again and really lives a spiritual, holy life,--he whose religion
+is not a mere Sunday coat, but a mighty constraining principle governing
+every day of his life,--he is the man I mean, when I speak of a true
+Christian.
+
+What do I mean when I say the true Christian is happy? Has he no doubts
+and no fears? Has he no anxieties and no troubles? Has he no sorrows and
+no cares? Does he never feel pain, and shed no tears? Far be it from me
+to say anything of the kind. He has a body weak and frail like other
+men; he has affections and passions like every one born of woman: he
+lives in a changeful world. But deep down in his heart he has a mine of
+solid peace and substantial joy which is never exhausted. This is true
+happiness.
+
+Do I say that all true Christians are equally happy? No: not for a
+moment! There are babes in Christ's family as well as old men; there are
+weak members of the mystical body as well as strong ones; there are
+tender lambs as well as sheep. There are not only the cedars of Lebanon
+but the hyssop that grows on the wall. There are degrees of grace and
+degrees of faith. Those who have most faith and grace will have most
+happiness. But all, more or less, compared to the children of the world,
+are happy men.
+
+Do I say that real true Christians are equally happy at all times? No:
+not for a moment! All have their ebbs and flows of comfort: some, like
+the Mediterranean sea, almost insensibly; some, like the tide at
+Chepstow, fifty or sixty feet at a time. Their bodily health is not
+always the same; their earthly circumstances are not always the same;
+the souls of those they love fill them at seasons with special anxiety:
+they themselves are sometimes overtaken by a fault, and walk in
+darkness. They sometimes give way to inconsistencies and besetting sins,
+and lose their sense of pardon. But, as a general rule, the true
+Christian has a deep pool of peace within him, which even at the lowest
+is never entirely dry.[8]
+
+  8: I use the words, "as a general rule," advisedly. When a believer
+  falls into such a horrible sin as that of David, it would be monstrous
+  to talk of his feeling inward peace. If a man professing to be a true
+  Christian talked to me of being happy in such a case,--before giving any
+  evidence of the deepest, most heart-abasing repentance,--I should feel
+  great doubts whether he ever had any grace at all.
+
+The true Christian is the only happy man, because _his conscience is at
+peace_. That mysterious witness for God, which is so mercifully placed
+within us, is fully satisfied and at rest. It sees in the blood of
+Christ a complete cleansing away of all its guilt. It sees in the
+priesthood and mediation of Christ a complete answer to all its fears.
+It sees that through the sacrifice and death of Christ, God can now be
+just, and yet be the justifier of the ungodly. It no longer bites and
+stings, and makes its possessor afraid of himself. The Lord Jesus Christ
+has amply met all its requirements. Conscience is no longer the enemy of
+the true Christian, but his friend and adviser. Therefore he is happy.
+
+The true Christian is the only happy man, because he can _sit down
+quietly and think about his soul_. He can look behind him and before
+him, he can look within him and around him, and feel, "All is well."--He
+can think calmly on his past life, and however many and great his sins,
+take comfort in the thought that they are all forgiven. The
+righteousness of Christ covers all, as Noah's flood overtopped the
+highest hills.--He can think calmly about things to come, and yet not be
+afraid. Sickness is painful; death is solemn; the judgment day is an
+awful thing: but having Christ for him, he has nothing to fear.--He can
+think calmly about the Holy God, whose eyes are on all his ways, and
+feel, "He is my Father, my reconciled Father in Christ Jesus. I am weak;
+I am unprofitable: yet in Christ He regards me as His dear child, and is
+well-pleased." Oh, what a blessed privilege it is to be able to _think_,
+and not be afraid! I can well understand the mournful complaint of the
+prisoner in solitary confinement. He had warmth, and food, and clothing,
+and work, but he was not happy. And why? He said, "He was obliged to
+think."
+
+The true Christian is the only happy man, because _he has sources of
+happiness entirely independent of this world_. He has something which
+cannot be affected by sickness and by deaths, by private losses and by
+public calamities, the "peace of God, which passeth all understanding."
+He has a hope laid up for him in heaven; he has a treasure which moth
+and rust cannot corrupt; he has a house which can never be taken down.
+His loving wife may die, and his heart feel rent in twain; his darling
+children may be taken from him, and he may be left alone in this cold
+world; his earthly plans may be crossed; his health may fail: but all
+this time he has a portion which nothing can hurt. He has one Friend who
+never dies; he has possessions beyond the grave, of which nothing can
+deprive him: his nether springs may fail, but his upper springs are
+never dry. This is real happiness.
+
+The true Christian is happy, because he is _in his right position_. All
+the powers of his being are directed to right ends. His affections are
+not set on things below, but on things above; his will is not bent on
+self-indulgence, but is submissive to the will of God; his mind is not
+absorbed in wretched perishable trifles. He desires useful employment:
+he enjoys the luxury of doing good. Who does not know the misery of
+disorder? Who has not tasted the discomfort of a house where everything
+and everybody are in their wrong places,--the last things first and the
+first things last? The heart of an unconverted man is just such a house.
+Grace puts everything in that heart in its right position. The things of
+the soul come first, and the things of the world come second. Anarchy
+and confusion cease: unruly passions no longer do each one what is right
+in his eyes. Christ reigns over the whole man, and each part of him does
+his proper work. The new heart is the only really light heart, for it is
+the only heart that is in order.--The true Christian has found out his
+place. He has laid aside his pride and self-will; he sits at the feet of
+Jesus, and is in his right mind: he loves God and loves man, and so he
+is happy. In heaven all are happy because all do God's will perfectly.
+The nearer a man gets to this standard the happier he will be.
+
+The plain truth is that without Christ there is no happiness in this
+world. He alone can give the Comforter who abideth for ever. He is the
+sun; without Him men never feel warm. He is the light; without Him men
+are always in the dark. He is the bread; without Him men are always
+starving. He is the living water; without Him men are always athirst.
+Give them what you like,--place them where you please,--surround them
+with all the comforts you can imagine,--it makes no difference. Separate
+from Christ, the Prince of Peace, a man cannot be happy.
+
+Give a man a sensible interest in Christ, and he will be happy _in spite
+of poverty_. He will tell you that he wants nothing that is really good.
+He is provided for: he has riches in possession, and riches in
+reversion; he has meat to eat that the world knows not of; he has
+friends who never leave him nor forsake him. The Father and the Son come
+to him, and make their abode with him: the Lord Jesus Christ sups with
+him, and he with Christ. (Rev. iii. 20.)
+
+Give a man a sensible interest in Christ, and he will be happy _in
+spite of sickness_. His flesh may groan, and his body be worn out with
+pain, but his heart will rest and be at peace. One of the happiest
+people I ever saw was a young woman who had been hopelessly ill for many
+years with disease of the spine. She lay in a garret without a fire; the
+straw thatch was not two feet above her face. She had not the slightest
+hope of recovery. But she was always rejoicing in the Lord Jesus. The
+spirit triumphed mightily over the flesh. She was happy, because Christ
+was with her.[9]
+
+   9: John Howard, the famous Christian philanthropist, in his last
+  journey said, "I hope I have sources of enjoyment that depend not on
+  the particular spot I inhabit. A rightly cultivated mind, under the
+  power of religion and the exercises of beneficent dispositions,
+  affords a ground of satisfaction little affected by _heres and
+  theres_."
+
+Give a man a sensible interest in Christ, and he will be happy _in spite
+of abounding public calamities_. The government of his country may be
+thrown into confusion, rebellion and disorder may turn everything upside
+down, laws may be trampled under foot; justice and equity may be
+outraged; liberty may be cast down to the ground; might may prevail over
+right: but still his heart will not fail. He will remember that the
+kingdom of Christ will one day be set up. He will say, like the old
+Scotch minister who lived unmoved throughout the turmoil of the first
+French revolution: "It is all right: it shall be well with the
+righteous."
+
+I know well that Satan hates the doctrine which I am endeavouring to
+press upon you. I have no doubt he is filling your mind with objections
+and reasonings, and persuading you that I am wrong. I am not afraid to
+meet these objections face to face. Let us bring them forward and see
+what they are.
+
+You may tell me that "_you know many very religious people who are not
+happy at all_." You see them diligent in attending public worship. You
+know that they are never missing at the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper.
+But you see in them no marks of the peace which I have been describing.
+
+But are you sure that these people you speak of are true believers in
+Christ? Are you sure that, with all their appearance of religion, they
+are born again and converted to God? Is it not very likely that they
+have nothing but the name of Christianity, without the reality; and a
+form of godliness, without the power? Alas! you have yet to learn that
+people may do many religious acts, and yet possess no saving religion!
+It is not a mere formal, ceremonial Christianity that will ever make
+people happy. We want something more than going to Church, and going to
+sacraments, to give us peace. There must be real, vital union with
+Christ. It is not the formal Christian, but the true Christian, that is
+the happy man.
+
+You may tell me that "_you know really spiritually-minded and converted
+people who do not seem happy_." You have heard them frequently
+complaining of their own hearts, and groaning over their own corruption.
+They seem to you all doubts, and anxieties, and fears; and you want to
+know where is the happiness in these people of which I have been saying
+so much.
+
+I do not deny that there are many saints of God such as these whom you
+describe, and I am sorry for it. I allow that there are many believers
+who live far below their privileges, and seem to know nothing of joy and
+peace in believing. But did you ever ask any of these people whether
+they would give up the position in religion they have reached, and go
+back to the world? Did you ever ask them, after all their groanings, and
+doubtings, and fearings, whether they think they would be happier if
+they ceased to follow hard after Christ? _Did you ever ask those
+questions?_ I am certain if you did, that the weakest and lowest
+believers would all give you one answer. I am certain they would tell
+you that they would rather cling to their little scrap of hope in
+Christ, than possess the world. I am sure they would all answer, "Our
+faith is weak, if we have any; our grace is small, if we have any; our
+joy in Christ is next to nothing at all: but we cannot give up what we
+have got. Though the Lord slay us, we must cling to Him." The root of
+happiness lies deep in many a poor weak believer's heart, when neither
+leaves nor blossoms are to be seen!
+
+But you will tell me, in the last place, that "_you cannot think most
+believers are happy, because they are so grave and serious_." You think
+that they do not really possess this happiness I have been describing,
+because their countenances do not show it. You doubt the reality of
+their joy, because it is so little seen.
+
+I might easily repeat what I told you at the beginning of this
+paper,--that a merry face is no sure proof of a happy heart. But I will
+not do so. I will rather ask you whether you yourself may not be the
+cause why believers look grave and serious when you meet them? If you
+are not converted yourself, you surely cannot expect them to look at you
+without sorrow. They see you on the high road to destruction, and that
+alone is enough to give them pain: they see thousands like you, hurrying
+on to weeping and wailing and endless woe. Now, is it possible that such
+a daily sight should not give them grief? Your company, very likely, is
+one cause why they are grave. Wait till you are a converted man
+yourself, before you pass judgment on the gravity of converted people.
+See them in companies where all are of one heart, and all love Christ,
+and so far as my own experience goes, you will find no people so truly
+happy as true Christians.[10]
+
+  10: When the infidel Hume asked Bishop Horne why religious people
+  always looked melancholy, the learned prelate replied, "The sight of
+  you, Mr. Hume, would make any Christian melancholy."--_Sinclair's
+  Aphorisms._ Page 13.
+
+I repeat my assertion in this part of my subject. I repeat it boldly,
+confidently, deliberately. I say that there is no happiness among men
+that will at all compare with that of the true Christian. All other
+happiness by the side of his is moonlight compared to sunshine, and
+brass by the side of gold. Boast, if you will, of the laughter and
+merriment of irreligious men; sneer, if you will, at the gravity and
+seriousness, which appear in the demeanour of many Christians. I have
+looked the whole subject in the face, and am not moved. I say that the
+true Christian alone is the truly happy man, and the way to be happy is
+to be a true Christian.
+
+And now I am going to close this paper by a few words of plain
+application. I have endeavoured to show what is essential to true
+happiness. I have endeavoured to expose the fallacy of many views which
+prevail upon the subject. I have endeavoured to point out, in plain and
+unmistakable words, where true happiness alone can be found. Suffer me
+to wind up all by an affectionate appeal to the consciences of all into
+whose hands this volume may fall.
+
+(1) In the first place, _let me entreat every reader of this paper to
+apply to his own heart the solemn inquiry, Are you happy_?
+
+High or low, rich or poor, master or servant, farmer or labourer, young
+or old, here is a question that deserves an answer,--_Are you really
+happy_?
+
+Man of the world, who art caring for nothing but the things of time,
+neglecting the Bible, making a god of business or money, providing for
+everything but the day of judgment, scheming and planning about
+everything but eternity: are you happy? _You know you are not._
+
+Foolish woman, who art trifling life away in levity and frivolity,
+spending hours after hours on that poor frail body which must soon feed
+the worms, making an idol of dress and fashion, and excitement, and
+human praise, as if this world was all: are you happy? _You know you are
+not._
+
+Young man, who art bent on pleasure and self-indulgence, fluttering from
+one idle pastime to another, like the moth about the candle,--fancying
+yourself clever and knowing, and too wise to be led by parsons, and
+ignorant that the devil is leading you captive, like the ox that is led
+to the slaughter: are you happy? _You know you are not._
+
+Yes: each and all of you, you are not happy! and in your own consciences
+you know it well. You may not allow it, but it is sadly true. There is a
+great empty place in each of your hearts, and nothing will fill it. Pour
+into it money, learning, rank, and pleasure, and it will be empty still.
+There is a sore place in each of your consciences, and nothing will heal
+it. Infidelity cannot; free-thinking cannot; Romanism cannot: they are
+all quack medicines. Nothing can heal it, but that which at present you
+have not used,--the simple Gospel of Christ. Yes: you are indeed a
+miserable people!
+
+Take warning this day, that you never will be happy till you are
+converted. You might as well expect to feel the sun shine on your face
+when you turn your back to it, as to feel happy when you turn your back
+on God and on Christ.
+
+(2) In the next place, _let me warn all who are not true Christians of
+the folly of living a life which cannot make them happy_.
+
+I pity you from the bottom of my heart, and would fain persuade you to
+open your eyes and be wise. I stand as a watchman on the tower of the
+everlasting Gospel. I see you sowing misery for yourselves, and I call
+upon you to stop and think, before it is too late. Oh, that God may show
+you your folly!
+
+You are hewing out for yourselves cisterns, broken cisterns, which can
+hold no water. You are spending your time, and strength, and affections
+on that which will give you no return for your labour,--"spending your
+money on that which is not bread, and your labour for that which
+satisfieth not." (Isa. lv. 2.) You are building up Babels of your own
+contriving, and ignorant that God will pour contempt on your schemes for
+procuring happiness, because you attempt to be happy without Him.
+
+Awake from your dreams, I entreat you, and show yourselves men. Think of
+the uselessness of living a life which you will be ashamed of when you
+die, and of having a mere nominal religion, which will just fail you
+when it is most wanted.
+
+Open your eyes and look round the world. Tell me who was ever really
+happy without God and Christ and the Holy Spirit. Look at the road in
+which you are travelling. Mark the footsteps of those who have gone
+before you: see how many have turned away from it, and confessed they
+were wrong.
+
+I warn you plainly, that if you are not a true Christian you will miss
+happiness in the world that now is, as well as in the world to come. Oh,
+believe me, the way of happiness, and the way of salvation are one and
+the same! He that will have his own way, and refuses to serve Christ,
+will never be really happy. But he that serves Christ has the promise of
+both lives. He is happy on earth, and will be happier still in heaven.
+
+If you are neither happy in this world nor the next, it will be all your
+own fault. Oh, think of this! Do not be guilty of such enormous folly.
+Who does not mourn over the folly of the drunkard, the opium eater, and
+the suicide? But there is no folly like that of the impenitent child of
+the world.
+
+(3) In the next place, _let me entreat all readers of this book, who are
+not yet happy, to seek happiness where alone it can be found_.
+
+The keys of the way to happiness are in the hands of the Lord Jesus
+Christ. He is sealed and appointed by God the Father, to give the bread
+of life to them that hunger, and to give the water of life to them that
+thirst. The door which riches and rank and learning have so often tried
+to open, and tried in vain, is now ready to open to every humble,
+praying believer. Oh, if you want to be happy, come to Christ!
+
+Come to Him, confessing that you are weary of your own ways, and want
+rest,--that you find you have no power and might to make yourself holy
+or happy or fit for heaven, and have no hope but in Him. Tell Him this
+unreservedly. This is coming to Christ.
+
+Come to Him, imploring Him to show you His mercy, and grant you His
+salvation,--to wash you in His own blood, and take your sins away,--to
+speak peace to your conscience, and heal your troubled soul. Tell Him
+all this unreservedly. This is coming to Christ.
+
+You have everything to encourage you. The Lord Jesus Himself invites
+you. He proclaims to you as well as to others, "Come unto Me, all ye
+that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke
+upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye
+shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is
+light." (Matt. xi. 28--30.) Wait for nothing. You may feel unworthy. You
+may feel as if you did not repent enough. But wait no longer. Come to
+Christ.
+
+You have everything to encourage you. Thousands have walked in the way
+you are invited to enter, and have found it good. Once, like yourself,
+they served the world, and plunged deeply into folly and sin. Once, like
+yourself, they became weary of their wickedness, and longed for
+deliverance and rest. They heard of Christ, and His willingness to help
+and save: they came to Him by faith and prayer, after many a doubt and
+hesitation; they found Him a thousand times more gracious than they had
+expected. They rested on Him and were happy: they carried His cross and
+tasted peace. Oh, walk in their steps!
+
+I beseech you, by the mercies of God, to come to Christ. As ever you
+would be happy, I entreat you to come to Christ. Cast off delays. Awake
+from your past slumber: arise, and be free! This day come to Christ.
+
+(4) In the last place, _let me offer a few hints to all true Christians
+for the increase and promotion of their happiness_.
+
+I offer these hints with diffidence. I desire to apply them to my own
+conscience as well as to your's. You have found Christ's service happy.
+I have no doubt that you feel such sweetness in Christ's peace that you
+would fain know more of it. I am sure that these hints deserve
+attention.
+
+Believers, if you would have an increase of happiness in Christ's
+service, _labour every year to grow in grace_. Beware of standing still.
+The holiest men are always the happiest. Let your aim be every year to
+be more holy,--to know more, to feel more, to see more of the fulness of
+Christ. Rest not upon old grace: do not be content with the degree of
+religion whereunto you have attained. Search the Scriptures more
+earnestly; pray more fervently; hate sin more; mortify self-will more;
+become more humble the nearer you draw to your end; seek more direct
+personal communion with the Lord Jesus; strive to be more like
+Enoch,--daily walking with God; keep your conscience clear of little
+sins; grieve not the Spirit; avoid wranglings and disputes about the
+lesser matters of religion: lay more firm hold upon those great truths,
+without which no man can be saved. Remember and practise these things,
+and you will be more happy.
+
+Believers, if you would have an increase of happiness in Christ's
+service, _labour every year to be more thankful_. Pray that you may know
+more and more what it is to "rejoice in the Lord." (Phil. iii. 1.) Learn
+to have a deeper sense of your own wretched sinfulness and corruption,
+and to be more deeply grateful, that by the grace of God you are what
+you are. Alas, there is too much complaining and too little thanksgiving
+among the people of God! There is too much murmuring and poring over the
+things that we have not. There is too little praising and blessing for
+the many undeserved mercies that we have. Oh, that God would pour out
+upon us a great spirit of thankfulness and praise!
+
+Believers, if you would have an increase of happiness in Christ's
+service, _labour every year to do more good_. Look round the circle in
+which your lot is cast, and lay yourself out to be useful. Strive to be
+of the same character with God: He is not only good, but "doeth good."
+(Ps. cxix. 68.) Alas, there is far too much selfishness among believers
+in the present day! There is far too much lazy sitting by the fire
+nursing our own spiritual diseases, and croaking over the state of our
+own hearts. Up; and be useful in your day and generation! Is there no
+one in all the world that you can read to? Is there no one that you can
+speak to? Is there no one that you can write to? Is there literally
+nothing that you can do for the glory of God, and the benefit of your
+fellow-men? Oh I cannot think it! I cannot think it. There is much that
+you might do, if you had only the will. For your own happiness' sake,
+arise and do it, without delay. The bold, outspeaking, working
+Christians are always the happiest. The more you do for God, the more
+God will do for you.
+
+The compromising lingering Christian must never expect to taste perfect
+peace. THE MOST DECIDED CHRISTIAN WILL ALWAYS BE THE HAPPIEST MAN.
+
+
+
+
+XI
+
+
+FORMALITY
+
+     "_Having a form of godliness, but denying the power
+     thereof._"--2 Tim. iii. 5.
+
+     "_He is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that
+     circumcision, which is outward in the flesh_:
+
+     "_But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is
+     that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose
+     praise is not of men, but of God._"--Rom. ii. 28, 29.
+
+
+The texts which head this page deserve serious attention at any time.
+But they deserve especial notice in this age of the Church and world.
+Never since the Lord Jesus Christ left the earth, was there so much
+formality and false profession as there is at the present day. Now, if
+ever, we ought to examine ourselves, and search our religion, that we
+may know of what sort it is. Let us try to find out whether our
+Christianity is a thing of form or a thing of heart.
+
+I know no better way of unfolding the subject than by turning to a plain
+passage of the Word of God. Let us hear what St. Paul says about it. He
+lays down the following great principles in his Epistle to the Romans:
+"He is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision,
+which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly;
+and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter;
+whose praise is not of men, but of God." (Rom. ii. 28, 29.) Three most
+instructive lessons appear to me to stand out on the face of that
+passage. Let us see what they are.
+
+
+    I. We learn, firstly, that formal religion is not religion, and a
+    formal Christian is not a Christian in God's sight.
+
+    II. We learn, secondly, that the heart is the seat of true religion,
+    and that the true Christian is the Christian in heart.
+
+    III. We learn, thirdly, that true religion must never expect to be
+    popular. It will not have the "praise of man, but of God."
+
+Let us thoroughly consider these great principles. Two hundred years
+have passed away since a mighty Puritan divine said, "Formality,
+formality, formality is the great sin of England at this day, under
+which the land groans.--There is more light than there was, but less
+life; more shadow, but less substance; more profession, but less
+sanctification." (_Thomas Hall, on 2 Tim. iii. 5, 1658._) What would
+this good man have said if he had lived in our times?
+
+
+I. We learn first, that _formal religion is not religion, and a formal
+Christian is not a Christian in God's sight_.
+
+What do I mean when I speak of formal religion? This is a point that
+must be made clear. Thousands, I suspect, know nothing about it. Without
+a distinct understanding of this point my whole paper will be useless.
+My first step shall be to paint, describe, and define.
+
+When a man is a Christian in name only, and not in reality,--in outward
+things only, and not in his inward feelings,--in profession only, and
+not in practice,--when his Christianity in short is a mere matter of
+form, or fashion, or custom, without any influence on his heart or
+life,--in such a case as this the man has what I call a "formal
+religion." He possesses indeed the _form_, or husk, or skin of religion,
+but he does not possess its substance or its _power_.
+
+Look for example at those thousands of people whose whole religion seems
+to consist in keeping religious ceremonies and ordinances. They attend
+regularly on public worship. They go regularly to the Lord's table. But
+they never get any further. They know nothing of experimental
+Christianity. They are not familiar with the Scriptures, and take no
+delight in reading them. They do not separate themselves from the ways
+of the world. They draw no distinction between godliness and ungodliness
+in their friendships, or matrimonial alliances. They care little or
+nothing about the distinctive doctrines of the Gospel. They appear
+utterly indifferent as to what they hear preached. You may be in their
+company for weeks, and for anything you may hear or see on a week day
+you might suppose they were infidels or deists. What can be said about
+these people? They are Christians undoubtedly, by profession; and yet
+there is neither heart nor life in their Christianity. There is but one
+thing to be said about them.--They are formal Christians. Their religion
+is a FORM.
+
+Look in another direction at those hundreds of people whose whole
+religion seems to consist in talk and high profession. They know the
+theory of the Gospel with their heads, and profess to delight in
+Evangelical doctrine. They can say much about the "soundness" of their
+own views, and the "darkness" of all who disagree with them. But they
+never get any further! When you examine their inner lives you find that
+they know nothing of practical godliness. They are neither truthful, nor
+charitable, nor humble, nor honest, nor kind-tempered, nor gentle, nor
+unselfish, nor honourable. What shall we say of these people? They are
+Christians, no doubt, in name, and yet there is neither substance nor
+fruit in their Christianity. There is but one thing to be said.--They
+are formal Christians. Their religion is an empty FORM.
+
+Such is the formal religion against which I wish to raise a warning
+voice this day. Here is the rock on which myriads on every side are
+making miserable shipwreck of their souls. One of the wickedest things
+that Machiavel ever said was this: "Religion itself should not be cared
+for, but only the appearance of it. The credit of it is a help; the
+reality and use is a cumber." Such notions are of the earth, earthy.
+Nay, rather they are from beneath: they smell of the pit. Beware of
+them, and stand upon your guard. If there is anything about which the
+Scripture speaks expressly, it is the sin and uselessness of FORMALITY.
+
+Hear what St. Paul tells the Romans: "He is not a Jew which is one
+outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh."
+(Rom. ii. 28.) These are strong words indeed! A man might be a son of
+Abraham according to the flesh,--a member of one of the twelve
+tribes,--circumcised the eighth day,--a keeper of all the feasts,--a
+regular worshipper in the temple,--and yet in God's sight not be a
+Jew!--Just so a man may be a Christian by outward profession,--a member
+of a Christian Church,--baptized with Christian baptism,--an attendant
+on Christian ordinances,--and yet, in God's sight, not a Christian at
+all.
+
+Hear what the prophet Isaiah says: "To what purpose is the multitude of
+your sacrifices unto Me? saith the Lord: I am full of the burnt
+offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the
+blood of bullocks or of lambs, or of he-goats. When ye come to appear
+before Me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?
+Bring no more vain oblations: incense is an abomination unto Me; the new
+moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it
+is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed
+feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto Me: I am weary to bear
+them. And when ye spread forth your hands I will hide mine eyes from
+you; yea, when ye make many prayers I will not hear: your hands are full
+of blood." (Isaiah i. 10--15.) These words, when duly weighed, are very
+extraordinary. The sacrifices which are here declared to be useless were
+appointed by God Himself! The feasts and ordinances which God says He
+"hates," had been prescribed by Himself! God Himself pronounces His own
+institutions to be useless when they are used formally and without heart
+in the worshipper! In fact they are worse than useless; they are even
+offensive and hurtful. Words cannot be imagined more distinct and
+unmistakeable. They show that formal religion is worthless in God's
+sight. It is not worth calling religion at all.
+
+Hear, lastly, what our Lord Jesus Christ says. We find Him saying of the
+Jews of His day, "This people draweth nigh unto Me with their mouth, and
+honoureth Me with their lips; but their heart is far from Me. But in
+vain do they worship Me." (Matt. xv. 8.) We see Him repeatedly
+denouncing the formalism and hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees, and
+warning His disciples against it. Eight times in one chapter (Matt.
+xxiii. 13) He says to them, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
+hypocrites!" For sinners of the worst description He always had a word
+of kindness, and held out to them an open door. But formalism, He would
+have us know, is a desperate disease, and must be exposed in the
+severest language. To the eye of an ignorant man a formalist may seem to
+have a very decent _quantity_ of religion, though not perhaps of the
+best _quality_. In the eye of Christ, however, the case is very
+different. In His sight formality is no religion at all.
+
+What shall we say to these testimonies of Scripture? It would be easy
+to add to them. They do not stand alone. If words mean anything, they
+are a clear warning to all who profess and call themselves Christians.
+They teach us plainly that as we dread sin and avoid sin, so we ought to
+dread formality and avoid formality. Formalism may take our hand with a
+smile, and look like a brother, while sin comes against us with sword
+drawn, and strikes at us like an open enemy. But both have one end in
+view. Both want to ruin our souls; and of the two, formalism is far the
+most likely to do it. If we love life, let us beware of formality in
+religion.
+
+Nothing is _so common_. It is one of the great family diseases of the
+whole race of mankind. It is born with us, grows with us, and is never
+completely cast out of us till we die. It meets us in church, and it
+meets us in chapel. It meets us among rich, and it meets us among poor.
+It meets us among learned people, and it meets us among unlearned. It
+meets us among Romanists, and it meets us among Protestants. It meets us
+among High Churchmen, and it meets us among Low Churchmen. It meets us
+among Evangelicals, and it meets us among Ritualists. Go where we will,
+and join what Church we may, we are never beyond the risk of its
+infection. We shall find it among Quakers and Plymouth Brethren, as well
+as at Rome. The man who thinks that, at any rate, there is no formal
+religion in his own camp, is a very blind and ignorant person. If you
+love life, beware of formality.
+
+Nothing is _so dangerous_ to a man's own soul. Familiarity with the form
+of religion, while we neglect its reality, has a fearfully deadening
+effect on the conscience. It brings up by degrees a thick crust of
+insensibility over the whole inner man. None seem to become so
+desperately hard as those who are continually repeating holy words and
+handling holy things, while their hearts are running after sin and the
+world. Landlords who only go to church formally, to set an example to
+their tenants,--masters who have family prayers formally, to keep up a
+good appearance in their households,--unconverted clergymen, who are
+every week reading prayers and lessons of Scripture, in which they feel
+no real interest,--unconverted clerks, who are constantly reading
+responses and saying "Amen," without feeling what they say,--unconverted
+singers, who sing the most spiritual hymns every Sunday, merely because
+they have good voices, while their affections are entirely on things
+below,--all, all, all are in awful danger. They are gradually hardening
+their hearts, and searing the skin of their consciences. If you love
+your own soul, beware of formality.
+
+Nothing, finally, is _so foolish_, senseless, and unreasonable. Can a
+formal Christian really suppose that the mere outward Christianity he
+professes will comfort him in the day of sickness and the hour of death?
+The thing is impossible. A painted fire cannot warm, and a painted
+banquet cannot satisfy hunger, and a formal religion cannot bring peace
+to the soul.--Can he suppose that God does not see the heartlessness and
+deadness of his Christianity? Though he may deceive neighbours,
+acquaintances, fellow-worshippers, and ministers with a form of
+godliness, does he think that he can deceive God? The very idea is
+absurd. "He that formed the eye, shall He not see?" He knows the very
+secrets of the heart. He will "judge the secrets of men" at the last
+day. He who said to each angel of the seven Churches, "I know thy
+works," is not changed. He who said to the man without the wedding
+garment, "Friend, how camest thou in hither?" will not be deceived by a
+little cloak of outward religion. If you would not be put to shame at
+the last day, once more I say, beware of formality. (Psalm xciv. 9; Rom.
+ii. 16; Rev. ii. 2; Matt. xxii. 11.)
+
+
+II. I pass on to the second thing which I proposed to consider. _The
+heart is the seat of true religion, and the true Christian is the
+Christian in heart._
+
+The heart is the real test of a man's character. It is not what he says
+or what he does by which the man may be always known. He may say and do
+things that are right, from false and unworthy motives, while his heart
+is altogether wrong. The heart is the man. "As he thinketh in his heart,
+so is he." (Prov. xxiii. 7.)
+
+The heart is the right test of a man's religion. It is not enough that a
+man holds a correct creed of doctrine, and maintains a proper outward
+form of godliness. What is his heart?--That is the grand question. This
+is what God looks at. "Man looketh at the outward appearance, but the
+Lord looketh at the heart." (1 Sam. xvi. 7.) This is what St. Paul lays
+down distinctly as the standard measure of the soul: "He is a Jew, which
+is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart." (Rom. ii. 28.)
+Who can doubt that this mighty sentence was written for Christians as
+well as for Jews? He is a Christian, the apostle would have us know,
+which is one inwardly, and baptism is that of the heart.
+
+The heart is the place where saving religion must begin. It is naturally
+irreligious, and must be renewed by the Holy Ghost. "A new heart will I
+give unto you."--It is naturally hard, and must be made tender and
+broken. "I will take away the heart of stone, and I will give you a
+heart of flesh." "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken
+and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise."--It is naturally
+closed and shut against God, and must be opened. The Lord "opened the
+heart" of Lydia. (Ezek. xxxvi. 26; Psalm li. 17; Acts xvi. 14.)
+
+The heart is the seat of true saving faith. "With the heart man
+believeth unto righteousness." (Rom. x. 10.) A man may believe that
+Jesus is the Christ, as the devils do, and yet remain in his sins. He
+may believe that he is a sinner, and that Christ is the only Saviour,
+and feel occasional lazy wishes that he was a better man. But no one
+ever lays hold on Christ, and receives pardon and peace, until he
+believes with the heart. It is heart-faith that justifies.
+
+The heart is the spring of true holiness and steady continuance in
+well-doing. True Christians are holy because their hearts are
+interested. They obey from the heart. They do the will of God from the
+heart. Weak, and feeble, and imperfect as all their doings are, they
+please God, because they are done from a loving heart. He who commended
+the widow's mite more than all the offerings of the wealthy Jews,
+regards quality far more than quantity. What He likes to see is a thing
+done from "an honest and good heart." (Luke viii. 15.) There is no real
+holiness without a right heart.
+
+The things I am saying may sound strange. Perhaps they run counter to
+all the notions of some into whose hands this paper may fall. Perhaps
+you have thought that if a man's religion is correct outwardly, he must
+be one with whom God is well pleased. You are completely mistaken. You
+are rejecting the whole tenor of Bible teaching. Outward correctness
+without a right heart is neither more nor less than Pharisaism. The
+outward things of Christianity,--baptism, the Lord's Supper,
+Church-membership, almsgiving, and the like,--will never take any man's
+soul to heaven, unless his heart is right. There must be inward things
+as well as outward,--and it is on the inward things that God's eyes are
+chiefly fixed.
+
+Hear how St. Paul teaches us about this matter in three most striking
+texts: "In Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor
+uncircumcision; but faith that worketh by love."--"In Christ Jesus
+neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new
+creature."--"Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but
+the keeping of the commandments of God." (1 Cor. vii. 19; Galat. v. 6;
+Galat. vi. 15.) Did the Apostle only mean in these texts, that
+circumcision was no longer needed under the Gospel? Was that all? No
+indeed! I believe he meant much more. He meant that true religion did
+not consist of forms, and that its essence was something far greater
+than being circumcised or not circumcised. He meant that under Christ
+Jesus, everything depended on being born again,--on having true saving
+faith,--on being holy in life and conduct. He meant that these are the
+things we ought to look at chiefly, and not at outward forms. "Am I a
+new creature? Do I really believe on Christ? Am I a holy man?" These are
+the grand questions that we must seek to answer.
+
+_When the heart is wrong all is wrong in God's sight._ Many right things
+may be done. The forms and ordinances which God Himself has appointed
+may seem to be honoured. But so long as the heart is at fault God is not
+pleased. He will have man's heart or nothing.
+
+The ark was the most sacred thing in the Jewish tabernacle. On it was
+the mercy-seat. Within it were the tables of the law, written by God's
+own finger. The High Priest alone was allowed to go into the place where
+it was kept, within the veil, and that only once every year. The
+presence of the ark with the camp was thought to bring a special
+blessing. And yet this very ark could do the Israelites no more good
+than any common wooden box, when they trusted to it like an idol, with
+their hearts full of wickedness. They brought it into the camp, on a
+special occasion, saying, "Let us fetch the ark, that it may save us out
+of the hand of our enemies." (1 Sam iv. 3.) When it came in the camp
+they showed it all reverence and honour. "They shouted with a great
+shout, so that the earth rang again." But it was all in vain. They were
+smitten before the Philistines, and the ark itself was taken. And why
+was this? It was because their religion was a mere form. They honoured
+the ark, but did not give the God of the ark their hearts.
+
+There were some kings of Judah and Israel who did many things that were
+right in God's sight, and yet were never written in the list of godly
+and righteous men. Rehoboam began well, and "for three years walked in
+the way of David and Solomon." (2 Chron. xi. 17.) But afterwards "he did
+evil, because he prepared not his _heart_ to seek the Lord." (2 Chron.
+xii. 14.)--Abijah, according to the book of Chronicles, said many things
+that were right, and fought successfully against Jeroboam. Nevertheless
+the general verdict is against him. We read, in Kings, that "his _heart_
+was not perfect with the Lord his God." (1 Kings xv. 3.)--Amaziah, we
+are expressly told, "did that which was right in the sight of the Lord,
+but not with a perfect _heart_." (2 Chron. xxv. 2.)--Jehu, King of
+Israel, was raised up, by God's command, to put down idolatry. He was a
+man of special zeal in doing God's work. But unhappily it is written of
+him: "He took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with
+all his _heart_: for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, which
+made Israel to sin." (2 Kings x. 31.) In short, one general remark
+applies to all these kings. They were all wrong inwardly. They were
+rotten at heart.
+
+There are places of worship in England at this very day where all the
+outward things of religion are done to perfection. The building is
+beautiful. The service is beautiful. The singing is beautiful. The forms
+of devotion are beautiful. There is everything to gratify the senses.
+Eye, and ear, and natural sentimentality are all pleased. But all this
+time God is not pleased. One thing is lacking, and the want of that one
+thing spoils all. What is that one thing? It is heart! God sees under
+all this fair outward show the form of religion put in the place of the
+substance, and when He sees that He is displeased. He sees nothing with
+an eye of favour in the building, the service, the minister, or the
+people, if He does not see converted, renewed, broken, penitent hearts.
+Bowed heads, bended knees, loud amens, crossed hands, faces turned to
+the east, all, all are nothing in God's sight without right hearts.
+
+_When the heart is right God can look over many things that are
+defective._ There may be faults in judgment, and infirmities in
+practice. There may be many deviations from the best course in the
+outward things of religion. But if the heart is sound in the main, God
+is not extreme to mark that which is amiss. He is merciful and gracious,
+and will pardon much that is imperfect, when He sees a true heart and a
+single eye.
+
+Jehoshaphat and Asa were Kings of Judah, who were defective in many
+things. Jehoshaphat was a timid, irresolute man, who did not know how to
+say "No," and joined affinity with Ahab, the wickedest king that ever
+reigned over Israel. Asa was an unstable man, who at one time trusted in
+the King of Syria more than in God, and at another time was wroth with
+God's prophet for rebuking him. (2 Chron. xvi. 10.) Yet both of them had
+one great redeeming point in their characters. With all their faults
+they had right _hearts_.
+
+The passover kept by Hezekiah was one at which there were many
+irregularities. The proper forms were not observed by many. They ate the
+passover "otherwise than the commandment" ordered. But they did it with
+true and honest _hearts_. And we read that Hezekiah prayed for them,
+saying, "The good Lord pardon every one that prepareth his heart to seek
+God,--though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the
+sanctuary. And the Lord hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people."
+(2 Chron. xxx. 20.)
+
+The passover kept by Josiah must have been far smaller and worse
+attended than scores of passovers in the days of David and Solomon, or
+even in the reign of Jehoshaphat and Hezekiah. How then can we account
+for the strong language used in Scripture about it? "There was no
+passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the
+prophet; neither did all the Kings of Israel keep such a passover as
+Josiah kept, and the Priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and
+Jerusalem that were present." (2 Chron. xxxv. 18.) There is but one
+explanation. There never was a passover at which the _hearts_ of the
+worshippers were so truly in the feast. The Lord does not look at the
+quantity of worshippers so much as the quality. The glory of Josiah's
+passover was the state of people's hearts.
+
+There are many assemblies of Christian worshippers on earth at this very
+day in which there is literally nothing to attract the natural man. They
+meet in miserable dirty chapels, so-called, or in wretched upper-rooms
+and cellars. They sing unmusically. They hear feeble prayers, and more
+feeble sermons. And yet the Holy Ghost is often in the midst of them!
+Sinners are often converted in them, and the kingdom of God prospers far
+more than in any Roman Catholic Cathedral, or than in many gorgeous
+Protestant Churches. How is this? How can it be explained? The cause is
+simply this, that in these humble assemblies heart-religion is taught
+and held. Heart-work is aimed at. Heart-work is honoured. And the
+consequence is that God is pleased and grants His blessing.
+
+I leave this part of my subject here. I ask men to weigh well the things
+that I have been saying. I believe that they will bear examination, and
+are all true. Resolve this day, whatever Church you belong to, to be a
+Christian in _heart_. Whether Episcopalian or Presbyterian, Baptist or
+Independent, be not content with a mere form of godliness, without the
+power. Settle it down firmly in your mind that formal religion is not
+saving religion, and that heart-religion is the only religion that leads
+to heaven.
+
+I only give one word of caution. Do not suppose, because formal religion
+will not save, that forms of religion are of no use at all. Beware of
+any such senseless extreme. The misuse of a thing is no argument
+against the right use of it. The blind idolatry of forms which prevails
+in some quarters is no reason why you should throw all forms aside. The
+ark, when made an idol of by Israel and put in the place of God, was
+unable to save them from the Philistines. And yet the same ark, when
+irreverently and profanely handled, brought death on Uzza; and when
+honoured and reverenced, brought a blessing on the house of Obed-edom.
+The words of Bishop Hall are strong, but true: "He that hath but a form
+is a hypocrite; but he that hath not a form is an Atheist." (_Hall's
+Sermons_, No. 28.) Forms cannot save us, but they are not therefore to
+be despised. A lantern is not a man's home, and yet it is a help to a
+man if he travels towards his home in a dark night. Use the forms of
+Christianity diligently, and you will find them a blessing. Only
+remember, in all your use of forms, the great principle, that the first
+thing in religion is the state of the heart.
+
+
+III. I come now to the last thing which I proposed to consider. I said
+_that true religion must never expect to be popular. It will not have
+the praise of man, but of God._
+
+I dare not turn away from this part of my subject, however painful it
+may be. Anxious as I am to commend heart-religion to every one who reads
+this paper, I will not try to conceal what heart-religion entails. I
+will not gain a recruit for my Master's army under false pretences. I
+will not promise anything which the Scripture does not warrant. The
+words of St. Paul are clear and unmistakable. Heart-religion is a
+religion "whose praise is not of men, but of God." (Rom. ii. 29.)
+
+God's truth and Scriptural Christianity are never really popular. They
+never have been. They never will be as long as the world stands. No one
+can calmly consider what human nature is, as described in the Bible,
+and reasonably expect anything else. As long as man is what man is, the
+majority of mankind will always like a religion of form far better than
+a religion of heart.
+
+Formal religion just suits an unenlightened conscience. Some religion a
+man will have. Atheism and downright infidelity, as a general rule, are
+never very popular. But a man must have a religion which does not
+require much,--trouble his heart much,--interfere with his sins much.
+Formal Christianity satisfies him. It seems the very thing that he
+wants.
+
+Formal religion gratifies the secret self-righteousness of man. We are
+all of us more or less Pharisees. We all naturally cling to the idea
+that the way to be saved is to do so many things, and go through so many
+religious observances, and that at last we shall get to heaven.
+Formalism meets us here. It seems to show us a way by which we can make
+our own peace with God.
+
+Formal religion pleases the natural indolence of man. It attaches an
+excessive importance to that which is the easiest part of
+Christianity,--the shell and the form. Man likes this. He hates trouble
+in religion. He wants something which will not meddle with his
+conscience and inner life. Only leave conscience alone, and, like Herod,
+he will "do many things." Formalism seems to open a wider gate, and a
+more easy way to heaven. (Mark vi. 20.)
+
+Facts speak louder than assertions. Facts are stubborn things. Look over
+the history of religion in every age of the world, and observe what has
+always been popular. Look at the history of Israel from the beginning of
+Exodus to the end of the Acts of the Apostles, and see what has always
+found favour. Formalism was one main sin against which the Old Testament
+prophets were continually protesting. Formalism was the great plague
+which had overspread the Jews, when our Lord Jesus Christ came into the
+world.--Look at the history of the Church of Christ after the days of
+the apostles. How soon formalism ate out the life and vitality of the
+primitive Christians!--Look at the middle ages, as they are called.
+Formalism so completely covered the face of Christendom that the Gospel
+lay as one dead.--Look, lastly, at the history of Protestant Churches in
+the three last centuries. How few are the places where religion is a
+living thing! How many are the countries where Protestantism is nothing
+more than a form! There is no getting over these things. They speak with
+a voice of thunder. They all show that formal religion is a popular
+thing. It has the praise of man.
+
+But why should we look at facts in history? Why should we not look at
+facts under our own eyes, and by our own doors? Can any one deny that a
+mere outward religion, a religion of downright formality, is the
+religion which is popular in England at the present day? It is not for
+nothing that St. John says of certain false teachers, "They are of the
+world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth
+them." (1 John iv. 5.) Only say your prayers,--and go to church with
+tolerable regularity,--and receive the sacrament occasionally,--and
+the vast majority of Englishmen will set you down as an excellent
+Christian.--"What more would you have?" they say: "If this is not
+Christianity, what is?"--To require more of anyone is thought bigotry,
+illiberality, fanaticism, and enthusiasm! To insinuate a doubt whether
+such a man as this will go to heaven is called the height of
+uncharitableness! When these things are so it is vain to deny that
+formal religion is popular. It is popular. It always was popular. It
+always will be popular till Christ comes again. It always has had and
+always will have "the praise of man."
+
+Turn now to the religion of the heart, and you will hear a very
+different report. As a general rule it has never had the good word of
+mankind. It has entailed on its professors laughter, mockery, ridicule,
+scorn, contempt, enmity, hatred, slander, persecution, imprisonment, and
+even death. Its lovers have been faithful and ardent,--but they have
+always been few. It has never had, comparatively, "the praise of man."
+
+Heart-religion is too _humbling_ to be popular. It leaves natural man no
+room to boast. It tells him that he is a guilty, lost, hell-deserving
+sinner, and that he must flee to Christ for salvation. It tells him that
+he is dead, and must be made alive again, and born of the Spirit. The
+pride of man rebels against such tidings as these. He hates to be told
+that his case is so bad.
+
+Heart-religion is too _holy_ to be popular. It will not leave natural
+man alone. It interferes with his worldliness and his sins. It requires
+of him things that he loathes and abominates,--conversion, faith,
+repentance, spiritual-mindedness, Bible-reading, prayer. It bids him
+give up many things that he loves and clings to, and cannot make up his
+mind to lay aside. It would be strange indeed if he liked it. It crosses
+his path as a kill-joy and a mar-plot, and it is absurd to expect that
+he will be pleased.
+
+Was heart-religion popular in Old Testament times? We find David
+complaining: "They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was the
+song of the drunkards." (Psalm lxix. 12.) We find the prophets
+persecuted and ill-treated because they preached against sin, and
+required men to give their hearts to God. Elijah, Micaiah, Jeremiah,
+Amos, are all cases in point. To formalism and ceremonialism the Jews
+never seem to have made objection. What they did dislike was serving God
+with their hearts.
+
+Was heart-religion popular in New Testament times? The whole history of
+our Lord Jesus Christ's ministry and the lives of His apostles are a
+sufficient answer. The scribes and Pharisees would have willingly
+received a Messiah who encouraged formalism, and a Gospel which exalted
+ceremonialism. But they could not tolerate a religion of which the first
+principles were humiliation and sanctification of heart.
+
+Has heart-religion even been popular in the professing Church of Christ
+during the last eighteen centuries? Never hardly, except in the early
+centuries when the primitive Church had not left her first love. Soon,
+very soon, the men who protested against formalism and sacramentalism
+were fiercely denounced as "troublers of Israel." Long before the
+Reformation, things came to this pass, that anyone who cried up
+heart-holiness and cried down formality was treated as a common enemy.
+He was either silenced, excommunicated, imprisoned, or put to death like
+John Huss.--In the time of the Reformation itself, the work of Luther
+and his companions was carried on under an incessant storm of calumny
+and slander. And what was the cause? It was because they protested
+against formalism, ceremonialism, monkery, and priestcraft, and taught
+the necessity of heart-religion.
+
+Has heart-religion ever been popular in our own land in days gone by?
+Never, excepting for a little season. It was not popular in the days of
+Queen Mary, when Latimer and his brother-martyrs were burned.--It was
+not popular in the days of the Stuarts, when to be a Puritan was worse
+for a man than to get drunk or swear.--It was not popular in the middle
+of last century, when Wesley and Whitfield were shut out of the
+established Church. The cause of our martyred Reformers, of the early
+Puritans, and of the Methodists, was essentially one and the same. They
+were all hated because they preached the uselessness of formalism, and
+the impossibility of salvation without repentance, faith, regeneration,
+spiritual-mindedness, and holiness of heart.
+
+Is heart-religion popular in England at this very day? I answer
+sorrowfully that I do not believe it is. Look at the followers of it
+among the laity. They are always comparatively few in number. They
+stand alone in their respective congregations and parishes. They have to
+put up with many hard things, hard words, hard imputations, hard
+treatment, laughter, ridicule, slander, and petty persecution. This is
+not popularity!--Look at the teachers of heart-religion in the pulpit.
+They are loved and liked, no doubt, by the few hearers who agree with
+them. They are sometimes admired for their talents and eloquence by the
+many who do not agree with them. They are even called "popular
+preachers," because of the crowds who listen to their preaching. But
+none know so well as the faithful teachers of heart-religion that few
+really like them. Few really help them. Few sympathize with them. Few
+stand by them in any time of need. They find, like their Divine Master,
+that they must work almost alone. I write these things with sorrow, but
+I believe they are true. Real heart-religion at this day, no less than
+in days gone by, has not "the praise of man."
+
+But after all it signifies little what man thinks, and what man praises.
+He that judgeth us is the Lord. Man will not judge us at the last day.
+Man will not sit on the great white throne, examine our religion, and
+pronounce our eternal sentence. Those only whom God commends will be
+commended at the bar of Christ. Here lies the value and glory of
+heart-religion. It may not have the praise of man, but it has "the
+praise of God."
+
+God approves and honours heart-religion in the life that now is. He
+looks down from heaven, and reads the hearts of all the children of men.
+Wherever He sees heart-repentance for sin,--heart-faith in
+Christ,--heart-holiness of life,--heart-love to His Son, His law, His
+will, and His Word,--wherever God sees these things He is well pleased.
+He writes a book of remembrance for that man, however poor and unlearned
+he may be. He gives His angels special charge over Him. He maintains in
+him the work of grace, and gives Him daily supplies of peace, hope, and
+strength. He regards him as a member of His own dear Son, as one who is
+witnessing for the truth, as His Son did. Weak as the man's heart may
+seem to himself, it is the living sacrifice which God loves, and the
+heart which He has solemnly declared He will not despise. Such praise is
+worth more than the praise of man!
+
+God will proclaim His approval of heart-religion before the assembled
+world at the last day. He will command His angels to gather together His
+saints, from every part of the globe, into one glorious company. He will
+raise the dead and change the living, and place them at the right hand
+of His beloved Son's throne. Then all that have served Christ with the
+heart shall hear Him say, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the
+kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:--you were
+faithful over few things, and I will make you rulers over many things;
+enter into the joy of your Lord.--Ye confessed Me before men, and I will
+confess you before my Father and His holy angels.--Ye are they who
+continued with Me in my temptations, and I appoint unto you a kingdom as
+my Father hath appointed unto Me." (Matt. xxv. 21--34; Luke xii. 8;
+xxii. 28, 29.) These words will be addressed to none but those who have
+given Christ their hearts! They will not be addressed to the formalist,
+the hypocrite, the wicked, and the ungodly. _They_ will, indeed, stand
+by and see the fruits of heart-religion, but they will not eat of them.
+We shall never know the full value of heart-religion until the last day.
+Then, and only then, we shall fully understand how much better it is to
+have the praise of God than the praise of man.
+
+If you take up heart-religion I cannot promise you the praise of man.
+Pardon, peace, hope, guidance, comfort, consolation, grace according to
+your need, strength according to your day, joy which the world can
+neither give nor take away,--all this I can boldly promise to the man
+who comes to Christ, and serves Him with his heart. But I cannot promise
+him that his religion will be popular with man. I would rather warn him
+to expect mockery and ridicule, slander and unkindness, opposition and
+persecution. There is a cross belonging to heart-religion, and we must
+be content to carry it. "Through much tribulation we must enter the
+kingdom."--"All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer
+persecution." (Acts xiv. 22; 2 Tim. iii. 12.) But if the world hates
+you, God will love you. If the world forsakes you, Christ has promised
+that He will never forsake and never fail. Whatever you may lose by
+heart-religion, be sure that the praise of God will make up for all.
+
+
+And now I close this paper with three plain words of application. I want
+it to strike and stick to the conscience of every one into whose hands
+it falls. May God make it a blessing to many a soul both in time and
+eternity!
+
+(1) In the first place, Is your religion a matter of form and not of
+heart? Answer this question honestly, and as in the sight of God. If it
+is, _consider solemnly the immense danger in which you stand_.
+
+You have got nothing to comfort your soul in the day of trial, nothing
+to give you hope on your death-bed, nothing to save you at the last day.
+Formal religion never took any man to heaven. Like base metal, it will
+not stand the fire. Continuing in your present state you are in imminent
+peril of being lost for ever.
+
+I earnestly beseech you this day to know your danger, to open your eyes
+and repent. Churchman or Dissenter, High Church or Low Church, if you
+have only a name to live, and a form of godliness without the power,
+awake and repent. Awake, above all, if you are an Evangelical formalist.
+"There is no devil," said the quaint old Puritans, "like a white
+devil." There is no formalism so dangerous as Evangelical formalism.
+
+I can only warn you. I do so with all affection. God alone can apply the
+warning to your soul. Oh, that you would see the folly as well as the
+danger of a heartless Christianity! It was sound advice which a dying
+man, in Suffolk, once gave to his son: "Son," he said, "whatever
+religion you have, never be content with wearing a cloak."
+
+(2) In the second place, if your heart condemns you, and you wish to
+know what to do, _consider seriously the only course that you can safely
+take_.
+
+Apply to the Lord Jesus Christ without delay, and spread before Him the
+state of your soul. Confess before Him your formality in time past, and
+ask Him to forgive it. Seek from Him the promised grace of the Holy
+Ghost, and entreat Him to quicken and renew your inward man.
+
+The Lord Jesus is appointed and commissioned to be the Physician of
+man's soul. There is no case too hard for Him. There is no condition of
+soul that He cannot cure. There is no devil He cannot cast out. Seared
+and hardened as the heart of a formalist may be, there is balm in Gilead
+which can heal him, and a Physician who is mighty to save. Go and call
+on the Lord Jesus Christ this very day. "Ask, and it shall be given you;
+seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you." (Luke
+xi. 9.)
+
+(3) In the last place, if your heart condemns you not, and you have real
+well-grounded confidence towards God, _consider seriously the many
+responsibilities of your position_.
+
+Praise Him daily who hath called you out of darkness into light, and
+made you to differ. Praise Him daily, and ask Him never to forsake the
+work of His own hands.
+
+Watch with a jealous watchfulness every part of your inward man.
+Formality is ever ready to come in upon us, like the Egyptian plague of
+frogs, which went even into the king's chamber. Watch, and be on your
+guard.--Watch over your Bible-reading,--your praying,--your temper and
+your tongue,--your family life and your Sunday religion. There is
+nothing so good and spiritual that we may not fall into formal habits
+about it. There is none so spiritual but that he may have a heavy fall.
+Watch, therefore, and be on your guard.
+
+Look forward, finally, and hope for the coming of the Lord. Your best
+things are yet to come. The second coming of Christ will soon be here.
+The time of temptation will soon be past and gone. The judgment and
+reward of the saints shall soon make amends for all. Rest in the hope of
+that day. Work, watch, and look forward.--One thing, at any rate, that
+day will make abundantly clear. It will show that there was never an
+hour in our lives in which we gave our hearts too thoroughly to Christ.
+
+
+
+
+XII
+
+
+THE WORLD
+
+     "_Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the
+     Lord._" 2 Cor. vi. 17.
+
+
+The text which heads this page touches a subject of vast importance in
+religion. That subject is the great duty of separation from the world.
+This is the point which St. Paul had in view when he wrote to the
+Corinthians, "Come out,--be separate."
+
+The subject is one which demands the best attention of all who profess
+and call themselves Christians. In every age of the Church separation
+from the world has always been one of the grand evidences of a work of
+grace in the heart. He that has been really born of the Spirit, and made
+a new creature in Christ Jesus, has always endeavoured to "come out from
+the world," and live a separate life. They who have only had the name of
+Christian, without the reality, have always refused to "come out and be
+separate" from the world.
+
+The subject perhaps was never more important than it is at the present
+day. There is a widely-spread desire to make things pleasant in
+religion,--to saw off the corners and edges of the cross, and to avoid,
+as far as possible, self-denial. On every side we hear professing
+Christians declaring loudly that we must not be "narrow and exclusive,"
+and that there is no harm in many things which the holiest saints of old
+thought bad for their souls. That we may go anywhere, and do anything,
+and spend our time in anything, and read anything, and keep any company,
+and plunge into anything, and all the while may be very good
+Christians,--this, this is the maxim of thousands. In a day like this I
+think it good to raise a warning voice, and invite attention to the
+teaching of God's Word. It is written in that Word, "Come out, and be
+separate."
+
+There are four points which I shall try to show my readers, in examining
+this mighty subject.
+
+
+    I. First, I shall try to show _that the world is a source of great
+    danger to the soul_.
+
+    II. Secondly, I shall try to show _what is not meant by separation
+    from the world_.
+
+    III. Thirdly, I shall try to show in _what real separation from the
+    world consists_.
+
+    IV. Fourthly, I shall try _to show the secret of victory over the
+    world_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+And now, before I go a single step further, let me warn every reader of
+this paper that he will never understand this subject unless he first
+understands what a true Christian is. If you are one of those unhappy
+people who think everybody is a Christian who goes to a place of
+worship, no matter how he lives, or what he believes, I fear you will
+care little about separation from the world. But if you read your Bible,
+and are in earnest about your soul, you will know that there are two
+classes of Christians,--converted and unconverted. You will know that
+what the Jews were among the nations under the Old Testament, this the
+true Christian is meant to be under the New. You will understand what I
+mean when I say that true Christians are meant, in like manner, to be a
+"peculiar people" under the Gospel, and that there must be a difference
+between believers and unbelievers. To you, therefore, I make a special
+appeal this day. While many avoid the subject of separation from the
+world, and many positively hate it, and many are puzzled by it, give me
+your attention while I try to show you "the thing as it is."
+
+
+I. First of all, let me show that _the world is a source of great danger
+to the soul_.
+
+By "the world," be it remembered, I do not mean the material world on
+the face of which we are living and moving. He that pretends to say that
+anything which God has created in the heavens above, or the earth
+beneath, is in itself harmful to man's soul, says that which is
+unreasonable and absurd. On the contrary, the sun, moon, and stars,--the
+mountains, the valleys, and the plains,--the seas, lakes, and
+rivers,--the animal and vegetable creation,--all are in themselves "very
+good." (Gen. i. 31.) All are full of lessons of God's wisdom and power,
+and all proclaim daily, "The hand that made us is Divine." The idea that
+"matter" is in itself sinful and corrupt is a foolish heresy.
+
+When I speak of "the world" in this paper, I mean those people who think
+only, or chiefly, of this world's things, and neglect the world to
+come,--the people who are always thinking more of earth than of heaven,
+more of time than of eternity, more of the body than of the soul, more
+of pleasing man than of pleasing God. It is of them and their ways,
+habits, customs, opinions, practices, tastes, aims, spirit, and tone,
+that I am speaking when I speak of "the world." This is the world from
+which St. Paul tells us to "Come out and be separate."
+
+Now that "the world," in this sense, is an enemy to the soul, the
+well-known Church Catechism teaches us at its very beginning. It tells
+us that there are three things which a baptized Christian is bound to
+renounce and give up, and three enemies which he ought to fight with and
+resist. These three are the flesh, the devil, and "the world." All three
+are terrible foes, and all three must be overcome if we would be saved.
+
+But, whatever men please to think about the Catechism, we shall do well
+to turn to the testimony of Holy Scripture. If the texts I am about to
+quote do not prove that the world is a source of danger to the soul,
+there is no meaning in words.
+
+(_a_) Let us hear what St. Paul says:--
+
+"Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing
+of your mind." (Rom. xii. 2.)
+
+"We have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is
+of God." (1 Cor. ii. 12.)
+
+"Christ gave Himself for us, that He might deliver us from this present
+evil world." (Gal. i. 4.)
+
+"In time past ye walked according to the course of this world." (Eph.
+ii. 2.)
+
+"Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world." (2 Tim. iv.
+10.)
+
+(_b_) Let us hear what St. James says:--
+
+"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit
+the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself
+unspotted from the world." (James i. 27.)
+
+"Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?
+Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."
+(James iv. 4.)
+
+(_c_) Let us hear what St. John says:--
+
+"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any
+man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
+
+"For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of
+the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the
+world.
+
+"And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the
+will of God abideth for ever." (1 John ii. 15--17.)
+
+"The world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not." (1 John iii. 1.)
+
+"They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world
+heareth them." (1 John iv. 5.)
+
+"Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world." (1 John v. 4.)
+
+"We know that we are of God and the whole world lieth in wickedness." (1
+John v. 19.)
+
+(_d_) Let us hear, lastly, what the Lord Jesus Christ says:--
+
+"The cares of this world choke the Word, and it becometh unfruitful."
+(Matt. xiii. 22.)
+
+"Ye are of this world: I am not of this world." (John viii. 23.)
+
+"The Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth
+Him not, neither knoweth Him." (John xiv. 17.)
+
+"If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you."
+(John xv. 18.)
+
+"If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye
+are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore
+the world hateth you." (John xv. 19.)
+
+"In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have
+overcome the world." (John xvi. 33.)
+
+"They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." (John xvii.
+16.)
+
+I make no comment on these twenty-one texts. They speak for themselves.
+If any one can read them carefully, and fail to see that "the world" is
+an enemy to the Christian's soul, and that there is an utter opposition
+between the friendship of the world and the friendship of Christ, he is
+past the reach of argument, and it is waste of time to reason with him.
+To my eyes they contain a lesson as clear as the sun at noon day.
+
+I turn from Scripture to matters of fact and experience. I appeal to any
+old Christian who keeps his eyes open, and knows what is going on in the
+Churches. I ask him whether it be not true that nothing damages the
+cause of religion so much as "the world"? It is not open sin, or open
+unbelief, which robs Christ of His professing servants, so much as the
+love of the world, the fear of the world, the cares of the world, the
+business of the world, the money of the world, the pleasures of the
+world, and the desire to keep in with the world. This is the great rock
+on which thousands of young people are continually making shipwreck.
+They do not object to any article of the Christian faith. They do not
+deliberately choose evil, and openly rebel against God. They hope
+somehow to get to heaven at last; and they think it proper to have some
+religion. But they cannot give up their idol: they must have the world.
+And so after running well and bidding fair for heaven, while boys and
+girls, they turn aside when they become men and women, and go down the
+broad way which leads to destruction. They begin with Abraham and Moses,
+and end with Demas and Lot's wife.
+
+The last day alone will prove how many souls "the world" has slain.
+Hundreds will be found to have been trained in religious families, and
+to have known the Gospel from their very childhood, and yet missed
+heaven. They left the harbour of home with bright prospects, and
+launched forth on the ocean of life with a father's blessing and a
+mother's prayers, and then got out of the right course through the
+seductions of the world, and ended their voyage in shallows and in
+misery. It is a sorrowful story to tell; but, alas, it is only too
+common! I cannot wonder that St. Paul says, "Come out and be separate."
+
+
+II. Let me now try to show _what does not constitute separation from the
+world_.
+
+The point is one which requires clearing up. There are many mistakes
+made about it. You will sometimes see sincere and well-meaning
+Christians doing things which God never intended them to do, in the
+matter of separation from the world, and honestly believing that they
+are in the path of duty. Their mistakes often do great harm. They give
+occasion to the wicked to ridicule all religion, and supply them with an
+excuse for having none. They cause the way of truth to be evil spoken
+of, and add to the offence of the cross. I think it a plain duty to make
+a few remarks on the subject. We must never forget that it is possible
+to be very much in earnest, and to think we are "doing God service,"
+when in reality we are making some great mistake. There is such a thing
+as "zeal not according to knowledge." (John xvi. 2, Rom. x. 2.) There
+are few things about which it is so important to pray for a right
+judgment and sanctified common sense, as about separation from the
+world.
+
+(_a_) When St. Paul said, "Come out and be separate," he did not mean
+that Christians ought to give up all worldly callings, trades,
+professions, and business. He did not forbid men to be soldiers,
+sailors, lawyers, doctors, merchants, bankers, shop-keepers, or
+tradesmen. There is not a word in the New Testament to justify such a
+line of conduct. Cornelius the centurion, Luke the physician, Zenas the
+lawyer, are examples to the contrary. Idleness is in itself a sin. A
+lawful calling is a remedy against temptation. "If any man will not
+work, neither shall he eat." (2 Thess. iii. 10.) To give up any business
+of life, which is not necessarily sinful, to the wicked and the devil,
+from fear of getting harm from it, is lazy, cowardly conduct. The right
+plan is to carry our religion into our business, and not to give up
+business under the specious pretence that it interferes with our
+religion.
+
+(_b_) When St. Paul said, "Come out and be separate," he did not mean
+that Christians ought to decline all intercourse with unconverted
+people, and refuse to go into their society. There is no warrant for
+such conduct in the New Testament. Our Lord and His disciples did not
+refuse to go to a marriage feast, or to sit at meat at a Pharisee's
+table. St. Paul does not say, "If any of them that believe not bid you
+to a feast," you must not go, but only tells us how to behave if we do
+go. (1 Cor. x. 27.) Moreover, it is a dangerous thing to begin judging
+people too closely, and settling who are converted and who are not, and
+what society is godly and what ungodly. We are sure to make mistakes.
+Above all, such a course of life would cut us off from many
+opportunities of doing good. If we carry our Master with us wherever we
+go, who can tell but we may "save some," and get no harm? (1 Cor. ix.
+22.)
+
+(_c_) When St. Paul says, "Come out and be separate," he did not mean
+that Christians ought to take no interest in anything on earth except
+religion. To neglect science, art, literature, and politics,--to read
+nothing which is not directly spiritual,--to know nothing about what is
+going on among mankind, and never to look at a newspaper,--to care
+nothing about the government of one's country, and to be utterly
+indifferent as to the persons who guide its counsels and make its
+laws,--all this may seem very right and proper in the eyes of some
+people. But I take leave to think that it is an idle, selfish neglect of
+duty. St. Paul knew the value of good government, as one of the main
+helps to our "living a quiet and peaceable life in godliness and
+honesty." (1 Tim. ii. 2.) St. Paul was not ashamed to read heathen
+writers, and to quote their words in his speeches and writings. St. Paul
+did not think it beneath him to show an acquaintance with the laws and
+customs and callings of the world, in the illustrations he gave from
+them. Christians who plume themselves on their ignorance of secular
+things are precisely the Christians who bring religion into contempt. I
+knew the case of a blacksmith who would not come to hear his clergyman
+preach the Gospel, until he found out that he knew the properties of
+iron. Then he came.
+
+(_d_) When St. Paul said, "Come out and be separate," he did not mean
+that Christians should be singular, eccentric, and peculiar in their
+dress, manners, demeanour, and voice. Anything which attracts notice in
+these matters is most objectionable, and ought to be carefully avoided.
+To wear clothes of such a colour, or made in such a fashion, that when
+you go into company every eye is fixed on you, and you are the object of
+general observation, is an enormous mistake. It gives occasion to the
+wicked to ridicule religion, and looks self-righteous and affected.
+There is not the slightest proof that our Lord and His apostles, and
+Priscilla, and Persis, and their companions, did not dress and behave
+just like others in their own ranks of life. On the other hand, one of
+the many charges our Lord brings against the Pharisees was that of
+"making broad their phylacteries, and enlarging the borders of their
+garments," so as to be "seen of men." (Matt. xxiii. 5.) True sanctity
+and sanctimoniousness are entirely different things. Those who try to
+show their unworldliness by wearing conspicuously ugly clothes, or by
+speaking in a whining, snuffling voice, or by affecting an unnatural
+slavishness, humility, and gravity of manner, miss their mark
+altogether, and only give occasion to the enemies of the Lord to
+blaspheme.
+
+(_e_) When St. Paul said, "Come out and be separate," he did not mean
+that Christians ought to retire from the company of mankind, and shut
+themselves up in solitude. It is one of the crying errors of the Church
+of Rome to suppose that eminent holiness is to be attained by such
+practices. It is the unhappy delusion of the whole army of monks, nuns,
+and hermits. Separation of this kind is not according to the mind of
+Christ. He says distinctly in His last prayer, "I pray not that Thou
+shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them
+from the evil." (John xvii. 15.) There is not a word in the Acts or
+Epistles to recommend such a separation. True believers are always
+represented as mixing in the world, doing their duty in it, and
+glorifying God by patience, meekness, purity, and courage in their
+several positions, and not by cowardly desertion of them. Moreover, it
+is foolish to suppose that we can keep the world and the devil out of
+our hearts by going into holes and corners. True religion and
+unworldliness are best seen, not in timidly forsaking the post which God
+has allotted to us, but in manfully standing our ground, and showing the
+power of grace to overcome evil.
+
+(_f_) Last, but not least, when St. Paul said, "Come out and be
+separate," he did not mean that Christians ought to withdraw from every
+Church in which there are unconverted members, or to refuse to worship
+in company with any who are not believers, or to keep away from the
+Lord's table if any ungodly people go up to it. This is a very common
+but a very grievous mistake. There is not a text in the New Testament to
+justify it, and it ought to be condemned as a pure invention of man. Our
+Lord Jesus Christ Himself deliberately allowed Judas Iscariot to be an
+apostle for three years, and gave him the Lord's Supper. He has taught
+us, in the parable of the wheat and tares, that converted and
+unconverted will be "together till the harvest," and cannot be divided.
+(Matt. xiii. 30.) In His Epistles to the Seven Churches, and in all St.
+Paul's Epistles, we often see faults and corruptions mentioned and
+reproved; but we are never told that they justify desertion of the
+assembly, or neglect of ordinances. In short, we must not look for a
+perfect Church, a perfect congregation, and a perfect company of
+communicants, until the marriage supper of the Lamb. If others are
+unworthy Churchmen, or unworthy partakers of the Lord's Supper, the sin
+is theirs and not ours: we are not their judges. But to separate
+ourselves from Church assemblies, and deprive ourselves of Christian
+ordinances, because others use them unworthily, is to take up a foolish,
+unreasonable, and unscriptural position. It is not the mind of Christ,
+and it certainly is not St. Paul's idea of separation from the world.
+
+I commend these six points to the calm consideration of all who wish to
+understand the subject of separation from the world. About each and all
+of them far more might be said than I have space to say in this paper.
+About each and all of them I have seen so many mistakes made, and so
+much misery and unhappiness caused by those mistakes, that I want to put
+Christians on their guard. I want them not to take up positions hastily,
+in the zeal of their first love, which they will afterwards be obliged
+to give up.
+
+I leave this part of my subject with two pieces of advice, which I offer
+especially to young Christians.
+
+I advise them, for one thing, if they really desire to come out from the
+world, to remember that the shortest path is not always the path of
+duty. To quarrel with all our unconverted relatives, to "cut" all our
+old friends, to withdraw entirely from mixed society, to live an
+exclusive life, to give up every act of courtesy and civility in order
+that we may devote ourselves to the direct work of Christ,--all this may
+seem very right, and may satisfy our consciences and save us trouble.
+But I venture a doubt whether it is not often a selfish, lazy,
+self-pleasing line of conduct, and whether the true cross and true line
+of duty may not be to deny ourselves, and adopt a very different course
+of action.
+
+I advise them, for another thing, if they want to come out from the
+world, to watch against a sour, morose, ungenial, gloomy, unpleasant,
+bearish demeanour, and never to forget that there is such a thing as
+"winning without the Word." (1 Peter iii. 1.) Let them strive to show
+unconverted people that their principles, whatever may be thought of
+them, make them cheerful, amiable, good-tempered, unselfish, considerate
+for others, and ready to take an interest in everything that is innocent
+and of good report. In short, let there be no needless separation
+between us and the world. In many things, as I shall soon show, we must
+be separate; but let us take care that it is separation of the right
+sort. If the world is offended by such separation we cannot help it. But
+let us never give the world occasion to say that our separation is
+foolish, senseless, ridiculous, unreasonable, uncharitable, and
+unscriptural.
+
+
+III. In the third place, I shall try to show _what true separation from
+the world really is_.
+
+I take up this branch of my subject with a very deep sense of its
+difficulty. That there is a certain line of conduct which all true
+Christians ought to pursue with respect to "the world, and the things of
+the world," is very evident. The texts already quoted make that plain.
+The key to the solution of that question lies in the word "separation."
+But in what separation consists it is not easy to show. On some points
+it is not hard to lay down particular rules; on others it is impossible
+to do more than state general principles, and leave every one to apply
+them according to his position in life. This is what I shall now attempt
+to do.
+
+(_a_) First and foremost, he that desires to "come out from the world,
+and be separate," _must steadily and habitually refuse to be guided by
+the world's standard of right and wrong_.
+
+The rule of the bulk of mankind is to go with the stream, to do as
+others, to follow the fashion, to keep in with the common opinion, and
+to set your watch by the town-clock. The true Christian will never be
+content with such a rule as that. He will simply ask, What saith the
+Scripture? What is written in the Word of God? He will maintain firmly
+that nothing can be right which God says is wrong, and that the customs
+and opinions of his neighbours can never make that to be a trifle which
+God calls serious, or that to be no sin which God calls sin. He will
+never think lightly of such sins as drinking, swearing, gambling, lying,
+cheating, swindling, or breach of the seventh commandment, because they
+are common, and many say, "Where is the mighty harm?" That miserable
+argument,--"Everybody thinks so, everybody says so, everybody does it,
+everybody will be there,"--goes for nothing with him. Is it condemned or
+approved by the Bible? That is his only question. If he stands alone in
+the parish, or town, or congregation, he will not go against the Bible.
+If he has to come out from the crowd, and take a position by himself, he
+will not flinch from it rather than disobey the Bible. This is genuine
+Scriptural separation.
+
+(_b_) He that desires to "come out from the world and be separate,"
+_must be very careful how he spends his leisure time_.
+
+This is a point which at first sight appears of little importance. But
+the longer I live, the more I am persuaded that it deserves most serious
+attention. Honourable occupation and lawful business are a great
+safeguard to the soul, and the time that is spent upon them is
+comparatively the time of our least danger. The devil finds it hard to
+get a hearing from a busy man. But when the day's work is over, and the
+time of leisure arrives, then comes the hour of temptation.
+
+I do not hesitate to warn every man who wants to live a Christian life,
+to be very careful how he spends his evenings. Evening is the time when
+we are naturally disposed to unbend after the labours of the day; and
+evening is the time when the Christian is too often tempted to lay aside
+his armour, and consequently brings trouble on his soul. "Then cometh
+the devil," and with the devil the world. Evening is the time when the
+poor man is tempted to go to the public-house, and fall into sin.
+Evening is the time when the tradesman too often goes to the Inn
+parlour, and sits for hours hearing and seeing things which do him no
+good. Evening is the time which the higher classes choose for dancing,
+card playing, and the like; and consequently never get to bed till late
+at night. If we love our souls, and would not become worldly, let us
+mind how we spend our evenings. Tell me how a man spends his evenings,
+and I can generally tell what his character is.
+
+The true Christian will do well to make it a settled rule never to
+_waste_ his evenings. Whatever others may do, let him resolve always to
+make time for quiet, calm thought,--for Bible-reading and prayer. The
+rule will prove a hard one to keep. It may bring on him the charge of
+being unsocial and over strict. Let him not mind this. Anything of this
+kind is better than habitual late hours in company, hurried prayers,
+slovenly Bible reading, and a bad conscience. Even if he stands alone in
+his parish or town, let him not depart from his rule. He will find
+himself in a minority, and be thought a peculiar man. But this is
+genuine Scriptural separation.
+
+(_c_) He that desires to "come out from the world and be separate," must
+_steadily and habitually determine not to be swallowed up and absorbed
+in the business of the world_.
+
+A true Christian will strive to do his duty in whatever station or
+position he finds himself, and to do it well. Whether statesman, or
+merchant, or banker, or lawyer, or doctor, or tradesman, or farmer, he
+will try to do his work so that no one can find occasion for fault in
+him. But he will not allow it to get between him and Christ. If he
+finds his business beginning to eat up his Sundays, his Bible-reading,
+his private prayer, and to bring clouds between him and heaven, he will
+say, "Stand back! There is a limit. Hitherto thou mayest go, but no
+further. I cannot sell my soul for place, fame, or gold." Like Daniel,
+he will make time for his communion with God, whatever the cost may be.
+Like Havelock, he will deny himself anything rather than lose his
+Bible-reading and his prayers. In all this he will find he stands almost
+alone. Many will laugh at him, and tell him they get on well enough
+without being so strict and particular. He will heed it not. He will
+resolutely hold the world at arm's length, whatever present loss or
+sacrifice it may seem to entail. He will choose rather to be less rich
+and prosperous in this world, than not to prosper about his soul. To
+stand alone in this way, to run counter to the ways of others, requires
+immense self denial. But this is genuine Scriptural separation.
+
+(_d_) He that desires to "come out from the world and be separate" must
+steadily _abstain from all amusements and recreations which are
+inseparably connected with sin_.
+
+This is a hard subject to handle, and I approach it with pain. But I do
+not think I should be faithful to Christ, and faithful to my office as a
+minister, if I did not speak very plainly about it, in considering such
+a matter as separation from the world.
+
+Let me, then, say honestly, that I cannot understand how any one who
+makes any pretence to real vital religion can allow himself to attend
+races and theatres. Conscience no doubt, is a strange thing, and every
+man must judge for himself and use his liberty. One man sees no harm in
+things which another regards with abhorrence as evil. I can only give my
+own opinion for what it is worth, and entreat my readers to consider
+seriously what I say.
+
+That to look at horses running at full speed is in itself perfectly
+harmless, no sensible man will pretend to deny. That many plays, such as
+Shakespeare's, are among the finest productions of the human intellect,
+is equally undeniable. But all this is beside the question. The question
+is whether horse-racing and theatres, as they are now conducted, in
+England, are not inseparably bound up with things that are downright
+wicked. =I= assert without hesitation that they are so bound up. =I=
+assert that the breach of God's commandments so invariably accompanies
+the race and the play, that you cannot go to the amusement without
+helping sin.
+
+I entreat all professing Christians to remember this, and to take heed
+what they do. I warn them plainly that they have no right to shut their
+eyes to facts which every intelligent person knows, for the mere
+pleasure of seeing a horse-race, or listening to good actors or
+actresses. I warn them that they must not talk of separation from the
+world, if they can lend their sanction to amusements which are
+invariably connected with gambling, betting, drunkenness, and
+fornication. These are the things "which God will judge."--"The end of
+these things is death." (Heb. xiii. 4; Rom. vi. 21.)
+
+Hard words these, no doubt! But are they not true? It may seem to your
+relatives and friends very strait-laced, strict, and narrow, if you tell
+them you cannot go to the races or the theatre with them. But we must
+fall back on first principles. Is the world a danger to the soul, or is
+it not? Are we to come out from the world, or are we not? These are
+questions which can only be answered in one way.
+
+If we love our souls we must have nothing to do with amusements which
+are bound up with sin. Nothing short of this can be called genuine
+scriptural separation from the world.[11]
+
+  11: See Note, page 310.
+
+(_e_) He that desires to "come out from the world, and be separate,"
+must be _moderate in the use of lawful and innocent recreations_.
+
+No sensible Christian will ever think of condemning all recreations. In
+a world of wear and tear like that we live in, occasional unbending and
+relaxation are good for all. Body and mind alike require seasons of
+lighter occupation, and opportunities of letting off high spirits, and
+especially when they are young. Exercise itself is a positive necessity
+for the preservation of mental and bodily health. I see no harm in
+cricket, rowing, running, and other manly athletic recreations. I find
+no fault with those who play at chess and such-like games of skill. We
+are all fearfully and wonderfully made. No wonder the poet says,--
+
+    "Strange that a harp of thousand strings
+        Should keep in tune so long!"
+
+Anything which strengthens nerves, and brain, and digestion, and lungs,
+and muscles, and makes us more fit for Christ's work, so long as it is
+not in itself sinful, is a blessing, and ought to be thankfully used.
+Anything which will occasionally divert our thoughts from their usual
+grinding channel, in a healthy manner, is a good and not an evil.
+
+But it is the excess of these innocent things which a true Christian
+must watch against, if he wants to be separate from the world. He must
+not devote his whole heart, and soul, and mind, and strength, and time
+to them, as many do, if he wishes to serve Christ. There are hundreds of
+lawful things which are good in moderation, but bad when taken in
+excess: healthful medicine in small quantities,--downright poison when
+swallowed down in huge doses. In nothing is this so true as it is in the
+matter of recreations. The use of them is one thing, and the abuse of
+them is another. The Christian who uses them must know when to stop,
+and how to say "Hold: enough!"--Do they interfere with his private
+religion? Do they take up too much of his thoughts and attention? Have
+they a secularizing effect on his soul? Have they a tendency to pull him
+down to earth? Then let him hold hard and take care. All this will
+require courage, self-denial, and firmness. It is a line of conduct
+which will often bring on us the ridicule and contempt of those who know
+not what moderation is, and who spend their lives in making trifles
+serious things and serious things trifles. But if we mean to come out
+from the world we must not mind this. We must be "temperate" even in
+lawful things, whatever others may think of us. This is genuine
+Scriptural separation.
+
+(_f_) Last, but not least, he that desires to "come out from the world
+and be separate" must be _careful how he allows himself in friendships,
+intimacies, and close relationships with worldly people_.
+
+We cannot help meeting many unconverted people as long as we live. We
+cannot avoid having intercourse with them, and doing business with them,
+unless "we go out of the world." (1 Cor. v. 10.) To treat them with the
+utmost courtesy, kindness, and charity, whenever we do meet them, is a
+positive duty. But acquaintance is one thing, and intimate friendship is
+quite another. To seek their society without cause, to choose their
+company, to cultivate intimacy with them, is very dangerous to the soul.
+Human nature is so constituted that we cannot be much with other people
+without effect on our own character. The old proverb will never fail to
+prove true: "Tell me with whom a man chooses to live, and I will tell
+you what he is." The Scripture says expressly, "He that walketh with
+wise men shall be wise; but a companion of fools shall be destroyed."
+(Prov. xiii. 20.) If then a Christian, who desires to live consistently,
+chooses for his friends those who either do not care for their souls, or
+the Bible, or God, or Christ, or holiness, or regard them as of
+secondary importance, it seems to me impossible for him to prosper in
+his religion. He will soon find that their ways are not his ways, nor
+their thoughts his thoughts, nor their tastes his tastes; and that,
+unless they change, he must give up intimacy with them. In short, there
+must be separation. Of course such separation will be painful. But if we
+have to choose between the loss of a friend and the injury of our souls,
+there ought to be no doubt in our minds. If friends will not walk in the
+narrow way with us, we must not walk in the broad way to please them.
+But let us distinctly understand that to attempt to keep up close
+intimacy between a converted and an unconverted person, if both are
+consistent with their natures, is to attempt an impossibility.
+
+The principle here laid down ought to be carefully remembered by all
+unmarried Christians in the choice of a husband or wife. I fear it is
+too often entirely forgotten. Too many seem to think of everything
+except religion in choosing a partner for life, or to suppose that it
+will come somehow as a matter of course. Yet when a praying,
+Bible-reading, God-fearing, Christ-loving, Sabbath-keeping Christian
+marries a person who takes no interest whatever in serious religion,
+what can the result be but injury to the Christian, or immense
+unhappiness? Health is not infectious, but disease is. As a general
+rule, in such cases, the good go down to the level of the bad, and the
+bad do not come up to the level of the good. The subject is a delicate
+one, and I do not care to dwell upon it. But this I say confidently to
+every unmarried Christian man or woman,--if you love your soul, if you
+do not want to fall away and backslide, if you do not want to destroy
+your own peace and comfort for life, resolve never to marry any person
+who is not a thorough Christian, whatever the resolution may cost you.
+You had better die than marry an unbeliever. Stand to this resolution,
+and let no one ever persuade you out of it. Depart from this resolution,
+and you will find it almost impossible to "come out and be separate."
+You will find you have tied a mill-stone round your own neck in running
+the race towards heaven; and, if saved at last, it will be "so as by
+fire." (1 Cor. iii. 15.)
+
+I offer these six general hints to all who wish to follow St. Paul's
+advice, and to come out from the world and be separate. In giving them,
+I lay no claim to infallibility; but I believe they deserve
+consideration and attention. I do not forget that the subject is full of
+difficulties, and that scores of doubtful cases are continually arising
+in a Christian's course, in which it is very hard to say what is the
+path of duty, and how to behave. Perhaps the following bits of advice
+may be found useful.--In all doubtful cases we should first pray for
+wisdom and sound judgment. If prayer is worth anything, it must be
+specially valuable when we desire to do right, but do not see our
+way.--In all doubtful cases let us often try ourselves by recollecting
+the eye of God. Should I go to such and such a place, or do such and
+such a thing, if I really thought God was looking at me?--In all
+doubtful cases let us never forget the second advent of Christ and the
+day of judgment. Should I like to be found in such and such company, or
+employed in such and such ways?--Finally, in all doubtful cases let us
+find out what the conduct of the holiest and best Christians has been
+under similar circumstances. If we do not clearly see our own way, we
+need not be ashamed to follow good examples. I throw out these
+suggestions for the use of all who are in difficulties about disputable
+points in the matter of separation from the world. I cannot help
+thinking that they may help to untie many knots, and solve many
+problems.
+
+
+IV. I shall now conclude the whole subject by trying to _show the
+secrets of real victory over the world_.
+
+To come out from the world of course is not an easy thing. It cannot be
+easy so long as human nature is what it is, and a busy devil is always
+near us. It requires a constant struggle and exertion; it entails
+incessant conflict and self-denial; it often places us in exact
+opposition to members of our own families, to relations and neighbours;
+it sometimes obliges us to do things which give great offence, and bring
+on us ridicule and petty persecution. It is precisely this which makes
+many hang back and shrink from decided religion. They know they are not
+right; they know that they are not so "thorough" in Christ's service as
+they ought to be, and they feel uncomfortable and ill at ease. But the
+fear of man keeps them back. And so they linger on through life with
+aching, dissatisfied hearts,--with too much religion to be happy in the
+world, and too much of the world to be happy in their religion. I fear
+this is a very common case, if the truth were known.
+
+Yet there are some in every age who seem to get the victory over the
+world. They come out decidedly from its ways, and are unmistakably
+separate. They are independent of its opinions, and unshaken by its
+opposition. They move on like planets in an orbit of their own, and seem
+to rise equally above the world's smiles and frowns. And what are the
+secrets of their victory? I will set them down.
+
+(_a_) The first secret of victory over the world is a _right heart_. By
+that I mean a heart renewed, changed and sanctified by the Holy
+Ghost,--a heart in which Christ dwells, a heart in which old things have
+passed away, and all things become new. The grand mark of such a heart
+is the bias of its tastes and affections. The owner of such a heart no
+longer likes the world, and the things of the world, and therefore finds
+it no trial or sacrifice to give them up. He has no longer any appetite
+for the company, the conversation, the amusements, the occupations, the
+books which he once loved, and to "come out" from them seems natural to
+him. Great indeed is the expulsive power of a new principle! Just as the
+new spring-buds in a beech hedge push off the old leaves and make them
+quietly fall to the ground, so does the new heart of a believer
+invariably affect his tastes and likings, and make him drop many things
+which he once loved and lived in, because he now likes them no more. Let
+him that wants to "come out from the world and be separate," make sure
+first and foremost that he has got a new heart. If the heart is really
+right, everything else will be right in time. "If thine eye be single,
+thy whole body shall be full of light." (Matt. vi. 22.) If the
+affections are not right, there never will be right action.
+
+(_b_) The second secret of victory over the world is a _lively practical
+faith_ in unseen things. What saith the Scripture? "This is the victory
+that overcometh the world, even our faith." (1 John v. 4.) To attain and
+keep up the habit of looking steadily at invisible things, as if they
+were visible,--to set before our minds every day, as grand realities,
+our souls, God, Christ, heaven, hell, judgment, eternity,--to cherish an
+abiding conviction that what we do not see is just as real as what we do
+see, and ten thousand times more important,--this, this is one way to be
+conquerors over the world. This was the faith which made the noble army
+of saints, described in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, obtain such a
+glorious testimony from the Holy Ghost. They all acted under a firm
+persuasion that they had a real God, a real Saviour, and a real home in
+heaven, though unseen by mortal eyes. Armed with this faith, a man
+regards this world as a shadow compared to the world to come, and cares
+little for its praise or blame, its enmity or its rewards. Let him that
+wants to come out from the world and be separate, but shrinks and hangs
+back for fear of the things seen, pray and strive to have this faith.
+"All things are possible to him that believes." (Mark ix. 23.) Like
+Moses, he will find it possible to forsake Egypt, seeing Him that is
+invisible. Like Moses, he will not care what he loses and who is
+displeased, because he sees afar off, like one looking through a
+telescope, a substantial recompense of reward. (Heb. xi. 26.)
+
+(_c_) The third and last secret of victory over the world, is to attain
+and cultivate the _habit of boldly confessing Christ_ on all proper
+occasions. In saying this I would not be mistaken. I want no one to blow
+a trumpet before him, and thrust his religion on others at all seasons.
+But I do wish to encourage all who strive to come out from the world to
+show their colours, and to act and speak out like men who are not
+ashamed to serve Christ. A steady, quiet assertion of our own
+principles, as Christians,--an habitual readiness to let the children of
+the world see that we are guided by other rules than they are, and do
+not mean to swerve from them,--a calm, firm, courteous maintenance of
+our own standard of things in every company,--all this will insensibly
+form a habit within us, and make it comparatively easy to be a separate
+man. It will be hard at first, no doubt, and cost us many a struggle;
+but the longer we go on, the easier will it be. Repeated acts of
+confessing Christ will produce habits. Habits once formed will produce a
+settled character. Our characters once known, we shall be saved much
+trouble. Men will know what to expect from us, and will count it no
+strange thing if they see us living the lives of separate peculiar
+people. He that grasps the nettle most firmly will always be less hurt
+than the man who touches it with a trembling hand. It is a great thing
+to be able to say "No" decidedly, but courteously, when asked to do
+anything which conscience says is wrong. He that shows his colours
+boldly from the first, and is never ashamed to let men see "whose he is
+and whom he serves," will soon find that he has overcome the world, and
+will be let alone. Bold confession is a long step towards victory.
+
+
+It only remains for me now to conclude the whole subject with a few
+short words of application. The danger of the world ruining the soul,
+the nature of true separation from the world, the secrets of victory
+over the world, are all before the reader of this paper. I now ask him
+to give me his attention for the last time, while I try to say something
+directly for his personal benefit.
+
+(1) My first word shall be _a question_. Are you overcoming the world,
+or are you overcome by it? Do you know what it is to come out from the
+world and be separate, or are you yet entangled by it, and conformed to
+it? If you have any desire to be saved, I entreat you to answer this
+question.
+
+If you know nothing of "separation," I warn you affectionately that your
+soul is in great danger. The world passeth away; and they who cling to
+the world, and think only of the world, will pass away with it to
+everlasting ruin. Awake to know your peril before it be too late. Awake
+and flee from the wrath to come. The time is short. The end of all
+things is at hand. The shadows are lengthening. The sun is going down.
+The night cometh when no man can work. The great white throne will soon
+be set. The judgment will begin. The books will be opened. Awake, and
+come out from the world while it is called to-day.
+
+Yet a little while, and there will be no more worldly occupations and
+worldly amusements,--no more getting money and spending money,--no more
+eating, and drinking, and feasting, and dressing, and ball-going, and
+theatres, and races, and cards, and gambling. What will you do when all
+these things have passed away for ever? How can you possibly be happy in
+an eternal heaven, where holiness is all in all, and worldliness has no
+place? Oh consider these things, and be wise! Awake, and break the
+chains which the world has thrown around you. Awake, and flee from the
+wrath to come.
+
+(2) My second word shall be _a counsel_. If you want to come out from
+the world, but know not what to do, take the advice which I give you
+this day. Begin by applying direct, as a penitent sinner, to our Lord
+Jesus Christ, and put your case in His hands. Pour out your heart before
+Him. Tell Him your whole story, and keep nothing back. Tell Him that you
+are a sinner wanting to be saved from the world, the flesh, and the
+devil, and entreat Him to save you.
+
+That blessed Saviour "gave Himself for us that He might deliver us from
+this present evil world." (Gal. i. 2.) He knows what the world is, for
+He lived in it thirty and three years. He knows what the difficulties of
+a man are, for He was made man for our sakes, and dwelt among men. High
+in heaven, at the right hand of God, He is able to save to the uttermost
+all who come to God by Him,--able to keep us from the evil of the world
+while we are still living in it,--able to give us power to become the
+sons of God,--able to keep us from falling,--able to make us more than
+conquerors. Once more I say, Go direct to Christ with the prayer of
+faith, and put yourself wholly and unreservedly in His hands. Hard as it
+may seem to you now to come out from the world and be separate, you
+shall find that with Jesus nothing is impossible. You, even you, shall
+overcome the world.
+
+(3) My third and last word shall be _encouragement_. If you have learned
+by experience what it is to come out from the world, I can only say to
+you, Take comfort, and persevere. You are in the right road; you have no
+cause to be afraid. The everlasting hills are in sight. Your salvation
+is nearer than when you believed. Take comfort and press on.
+
+No doubt you have had many a battle, and made many a false step. You
+have sometimes felt ready to faint, and been half disposed to go back to
+Egypt. But your Master has never entirely left you, and He will never
+suffer you to be tempted above that you are able to bear. Then persevere
+steadily in your separation from the world, and never be ashamed of
+standing alone. Settle it firmly in your mind that the most decided
+Christians are always the happiest, and remember that no one ever said
+at the end of his course that he had been too holy, and lived too near
+to God.
+
+Hear, last of all, what is written in the Scriptures of truth:
+
+"Whosoever shall confess Me before men, him shall the Son of man also
+confess before the angels of God." (Luke xii. 8.)
+
+"There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or
+father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the
+gospel's,
+
+"But he shall receive an hundred-fold now in this time, houses, and
+brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with
+persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life." (Mark x. 29, 30.)
+
+"Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of
+reward.
+
+"For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God,
+ye might receive the promise.
+
+"For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not
+tarry." (Heb. x. 35--37.)
+
+Those words were written and spoken for our sakes. Let us lay hold on
+them, and never forget them. Let us persevere to the end, and never be
+ashamed of coming out from the world, and being separate. We may be sure
+it brings its own reward.
+
+
+NOTE
+
+     Thoughtful and intelligent readers will probably observe that,
+     under the head of worldly amusements, I have said nothing about
+     ball-going and card-playing. They are delicate and difficult
+     subjects, and many classes of society are not touched by them.
+     But I am quite willing to give my opinion, and the more so
+     because I do not speak of them without experience in the days
+     of my youth.
+
+     (_a_) Concerning _ball-going_, I only ask Christians to judge
+     the amusement by its tendencies and accompaniments. To say
+     there is anything morally wrong in the mere bodily act of
+     dancing would be absurd. David danced before the ark. Solomon
+     said, "There is a time to dance." (Eccle. iii 4.) Just as it is
+     natural to lambs and kittens to frisk about, so it seems
+     natural to young people, all over the world, to jump about to a
+     lively tune of music. If dancing were taken up for mere
+     exercise, if dancing took place at early hours, and men only
+     danced with men, and women with women, it would be needless and
+     absurd to object to it. But everybody knows that this is not
+     what is meant by modern ball-going. This is an amusement which
+     involves very late hours, extravagant dressing, and an immense
+     amount of frivolity, vanity, jealousy, unhealthy excitement,
+     and vain conversation. Who would like to be found in a modern
+     ball-room when the Lord Jesus Christ comes the second time? Who
+     that has taken much part in balls, as I myself once did, before
+     I knew better, can deny that they have a most dissipating
+     effect on the mind, like opium-eating and dram-drinking on the
+     body? I cannot withhold my opinion that ball-going is one of
+     those worldly amusements which "war against the soul," and
+     which it is wisest and best to give up. And as for those
+     parents who urge their sons and daughters, against their wills
+     and inclinations, to go to balls, I can only say that they are
+     taking on themselves a most dangerous responsibility, and
+     risking great injury to their children's souls.
+
+     (_b_) Concerning _card-playing_, my judgment is much the same.
+     I ask Christian people to try it by its tendencies and
+     consequences. Of course it would be nonsense to say there is
+     positive wickedness in an innocent game of cards, for
+     diversion, and not for money. I have known instances of old
+     people of lethargic and infirm habit of body, unable to work or
+     read, to whom cards in an evening were really useful, to keep
+     them from drowsiness, and preserve their health. But it is vain
+     to shut our eyes to facts. If masters and mistresses once begin
+     to play cards in the parlour, servants are likely to play cards
+     in the kitchen; and then comes in a whole train of evils.
+     Moreover, from simple card-playing to desperate gambling there
+     is but a chain of steps. If parents teach young people that
+     there is no harm in the first step, they must never be
+     surprised if they go on to the last.
+
+     I give this opinion with much diffidence. I lay no claim to
+     infallibility. Let every one be persuaded in his own mind. But,
+     considering all things, it is my deliberate judgment that the
+     Christian who wishes to keep his soul right, and to "come out
+     from the world," will do wisely to have nothing to do with
+     card-playing. It is a habit which seems to grow on some people
+     so much that it becomes at last a necessity, and they cannot
+     live without it. "Madam," said Romaine to an old lady at Bath,
+     who declared she could not do without her cards,--"Madam, if
+     this is the case, cards are your god, and your god is a very
+     poor one." Surely in doubtful matters like these it is well to
+     give our souls the benefit of the doubt, and to refrain.
+
+     (_c_) Concerning _field-sports_, I admit that it is not easy to
+     lay down a strict rule. I cannot go the length of some, and say
+     that galloping across country, or shooting grouse, partridges,
+     or pheasants, or catching salmon or trout, are in themselves
+     positively sinful occupations, and distinct marks of an
+     unconverted heart. There are many persons, I know, to whom
+     violent out-door exercise and complete diversion of mind are
+     absolute necessities, for the preservation of their bodily and
+     mental health. But in all these matters the chief question is
+     one of degree. Much depends on the company men are thrown into,
+     and the extent to which the thing is carried. The great danger
+     lies in excess. It is possible to be _intemperate_ about
+     hunting and shooting as well as about drinking. We are
+     commanded in Scripture to be "temperate in all things," if we
+     would so run as to obtain; and those who are addicted to
+     field-sports should not forget this rule.
+
+     The question, however, is one about which Christians must be
+     careful in expressing an opinion, and moderate in their
+     judgments. The man who can neither ride, nor shoot, nor throw a
+     fly, is hardly qualified to speak dispassionately about such
+     matters. It is cheap and easy work to condemn others for doing
+     things which you cannot do yourself, and are utterly unable to
+     enjoy! One thing only is perfectly certain,--all intemperance
+     or excess is sin. The man who is wholly absorbed in
+     field-sports, and spends all his years in such a manner that he
+     seems to think God only created him to be a "hunting, shooting,
+     and fishing animal," is a man who at present knows very little
+     of Scriptural Christianity. It is written, "Where your treasure
+     is, there will your heart be also." (Matt. vi. 21.)
+
+
+
+
+XIII
+
+
+RICHES AND POVERTY
+
+     "_There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and
+     fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day_:
+
+     "_And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid
+     at his gate, full of sores_,
+
+     "_And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the
+     rich man's table: moreover, the dogs came and licked his
+     sores._
+
+     "_And it came to pass that the beggar died, and was carried by
+     the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and
+     was buried_;
+
+     "_And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth
+     Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom._"--
+
+     Luke xvi. 19--23.
+
+There are probably few readers of the Bible who are not familiar with
+the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. It is one of those passages of
+Scripture which leave an indelible impression on the mind. Like the
+parable of the Prodigal Son, once read it is never forgotten.
+
+The reason of this is clear and simple. The whole parable is a most
+vividly painted picture. The story, as it goes on, carries our
+senses with it with irresistible power. Instead of readers, we
+become lookers on. We are witnesses of all the events described. We
+see. We hear. We fancy we could almost touch. The rich man's
+banquet,--the purple,--the fine linen,--the gate,--the beggar lying
+by it,--the sores,--the dogs,--the crumbs,--the two deaths,--the
+rich man's burial,--the ministering angels,--the bosom of
+Abraham,--the rich man's fearful waking up,--the fire,--the
+gulf,--the hopeless remorse,--all, all stand out before our eyes in
+bold relief, and stamp themselves upon our minds. This is the
+perfection of language. This is the attainment of the famous Arabian
+standard of eloquence,--"He speaks the =best= who turns the ear into
+an eye."
+
+But, after all, it is one thing to admire the masterly composition of
+this parable, and quite another to receive the spiritual lessons it
+contains. The eye of the intellect can often see beauties while the
+heart remains asleep, and sees nothing at all. Hundreds read Pilgrim's
+Progress with deep interest, to whom the struggle for the celestial city
+is foolishness. Thousands are familiar with every word of the parable
+before us this day, who never consider how it comes home to their own
+case. Their conscience is deaf to the cry which ought to ring in their
+ears as they read,--"Thou art the man." Their heart never turns to God
+with the solemn inquiry,--"Lord, is this my picture?--Lord, is it I?"
+
+I invite my readers this day to consider the leading truths which this
+parable is meant to teach us. I purposely omit to notice any part of it
+but that which stands at the head of this paper. May the Holy Ghost give
+us a teachable spirit, and an understanding heart, and so produce
+lasting impressions on our souls!
+
+
+I. Let us observe, first of all, _how different are the conditions which
+God allots to different men_.
+
+The Lord Jesus begins the parable by telling us of a rich man and a
+beggar. He says not a word in praise either of poverty or of riches. He
+describes the circumstances of a wealthy man and the circumstances of a
+poor man; but He neither condemns the temporal position of one, nor
+praises that of the other.
+
+The contrast between the two men is painfully striking. Look on this
+picture, and on that.
+
+Here is one who possessed abundance of this world's good things. "He was
+clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day."
+
+Here is another who has literally nothing. He is a friendless, diseased,
+half-starved pauper. "He lies at the rich man's gate full of sores," and
+begs for crumbs.
+
+Both are children of Adam. Both came from the same dust, and belonged to
+one family. Both are living in the same land and subjects of the same
+government. And yet how different is their condition!
+
+But we must take heed that we do not draw lessons from the parable which
+it was never meant to teach. The rich are not always bad men, and do not
+always go to hell. The poor are not always good men, and do not always
+go to heaven. We must not rush into the extreme of supposing that it is
+sinful to be rich. We must not run away with the idea that there is
+anything wicked in the difference of condition here described, and that
+God intended all men to be equal. There is nothing in our Lord Jesus
+Christ's words to warrant any such conclusion. He simply describes
+things as they are often seen in the world, and as we must expect to see
+them.
+
+Universal equality is a very high-sounding expression, and a favourite
+idea with visionary men. Many in every age have disturbed society by
+stirring up the poor against the rich, and by preaching up the popular
+doctrine that all men ought to be equal. But so long as the world is
+under the present order of things this universal equality cannot be
+attained. Those who declaim against the vast inequality of men's lots
+will doubtless never be in want of hearers; but so long as human nature
+is what it is, this inequality cannot be prevented.
+
+So long as some are wise and some are foolish,--some strong and some
+weak,--some healthy and some diseased,--some lazy and some
+diligent,--some provident and some improvident;--so long as children
+reap the fruit of their parent's misconduct;--so long as sun, and rain,
+and heat, and cold, and wind, and waves, and drought, and blight, and
+storms, and tempests are beyond man's control,--so long there always
+will be some rich and some poor. All the political economy in the world
+will never make the poor altogether "cease out of the land." (Deut. xv.
+11.)
+
+Take all the property in England by force this day, and divide it
+equally among the inhabitants. Give every man above twenty years old an
+equal portion. Let all take share and share alike, and begin the world
+over again. Do this, and see where you would be at the end of fifty
+years. You would just have come round to the point where you began. You
+would just find things as unequal as before. Some would have worked, and
+some would have been idle. Some would have been always careless, and
+some always scheming. Some would have sold, and others would have
+bought. Some would have wasted, and others would have saved. And the end
+would be that some would be rich and others poor.
+
+Let no man listen to those vain and foolish talkers who say that all men
+were meant to be equal. They might as well tell you that all men ought
+to be of the same height, weight, strength, and cleverness,--or that all
+oak trees ought to be of the same shape and size,--or that all blades of
+grass ought to be of the same length.
+
+Settle it in your mind that the main cause of all the suffering you see
+around you is sin. Sin is the grand cause of the enormous luxury of the
+rich, and the painful degradation of the poor,--of the heartless
+selfishness of the highest classes, and the helpless poverty of the
+lowest. Sin must be first cast out of the world. The hearts of all men
+must be renewed and sanctified. The devil must be bound. The Prince of
+Peace must come down and take His great power and =reign=. All this must
+be before there ever can be universal happiness, or the gulf be filled
+up which now divides the rich and poor.
+
+Beware of expecting a millennium to be brought about by any method of
+government, by any system of education, by any political party. Labour
+might and main to do good to all men. Pity your poorer brethren, and
+help every reasonable endeavour to raise them from their low estate.
+Slack not your hand from any endeavour to increase knowledge, to promote
+morality, to improve the temporal condition of the poor. But never,
+never forget that you live in a fallen world, that sin is all around
+you, and that the devil is abroad. And be very sure that the rich man
+and Lazarus are emblems of two classes which will always be in the world
+until the Lord comes.
+
+
+II. Let us observe, in the next place, that _a man's temporal condition
+is no test of the state of his soul_.
+
+The rich man in the parable appears to have been the world's pattern of
+a prosperous man. If the life that now is were all, he seems to have had
+everything that heart could wish. We know that he was "clothed in purple
+and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day." We need not doubt that
+he had everything else which money could procure. The wisest of men had
+good cause for saying, "Money answereth all things." "The rich hath many
+friends." (Eccles. x. 19; Prov. xiv. 20.)
+
+But who that reads the story through can fail to see that in the highest
+and best sense the rich man was pitiably _poor_? Take away the good
+things of this life, and he had nothing left,--nothing after
+death,--nothing beyond the grave,--nothing in the world to come. With
+all his riches he had no "treasure laid up in heaven." With all his
+purple and fine linen he had no garment of righteousness. With all his
+boon companions he had no Friend and Advocate at God's right hand. With
+all his sumptuous fare he had never tasted the bread of life. With all
+his splendid palace he had no home in the eternal world. Without God,
+without Christ, without faith, without grace, without pardon, without
+holiness, he lives to himself for a few short years, and then goes down
+hopelessly into the pit. How hollow and unreal was all his prosperity!
+Judge what I say,--_The rich man was very poor_.
+
+Lazarus appears to have been one who had literally nothing in the world.
+It is hard to conceive a case of greater misery and destitution than
+his. He had neither house, nor money, nor food, nor health, nor, in all
+probability, even clothes. His picture is one that can never be
+forgotten. He "lay at the rich man's gate, covered with sores." He
+desired to be "fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table."
+Moreover, the dogs came and "licked his sores." Verily the wise man
+might well say, "The poor is hated even of his neighbour." "The
+destruction of the poor is their poverty." (Prov. xiv. 20; x. 15.)
+
+But who that reads the parable to the end can fail to see that in the
+highest sense Lazarus was not poor, but _rich_? He was a child of God.
+He was an heir of glory. He possessed durable riches and righteousness.
+His name was in the book of life. His place was prepared for Him in
+heaven. He had the best of clothing,--the righteousness of a Saviour. He
+had the best of friends,--God Himself was his portion. He had the best
+of food,--he had meat to eat the world knew not of. And, best of all, he
+had these things for ever. They supported him in life. They did not
+leave him in the hour of death. They went with him beyond the grave.
+They were his to eternity. Surely in this point of view we may well say,
+not "poor Lazarus," but "rich Lazarus."
+
+We should do well to measure all men by God's standard,--to measure them
+not by the amount of their income, but by the condition of their souls.
+When the Lord God looks down from heaven and sees the children of men,
+He takes no account of many things which are highly esteemed by the
+world. He looks not at men's money, or lands, or titles. He looks only
+at the state of their souls, and reckons them accordingly. Oh, that you
+would strive to do likewise! Oh, that you would value grace above
+titles, or intellect, or gold! Often, far too often, the only question
+asked about a man is, "How much is he worth?" It would be well for us
+all to remember that every man is pitiably poor until he is rich in
+faith, and rich toward God. (James ii. 5.)
+
+Wonderful as it may seem to some, all the money in the world is
+worthless in God's balances, compared to grace! Hard as the saying may
+sound, I believe that a converted beggar is far more important and
+honourable in the sight of God than an unconverted king. The one may
+glitter like the butterfly in the sun for a little season, and be
+admired by an ignorant world; but his latter end is darkness and misery
+for ever. The other may crawl through the world like a crushed worm, and
+be despised by every one who sees him; but his latter end is a glorious
+resurrection and a blessed eternity with Christ. Of him the Lord says,
+"I know thy poverty (but thou art rich)." (Rev. ii. 9.)
+
+King Ahab was ruler over the ten tribes of Israel. Obadiah was nothing
+more than a servant in his household. Yet who can doubt which was most
+precious in God's sight, the servant or the king?
+
+Ridley and Latimer were deposed from all their dignities, cast into
+prison as malefactors, and at length burnt at the stake. Bonner and
+Gardiner, their persecutors, were raised to the highest pitch of
+ecclesiastical greatness, enjoyed large incomes, and died unmolested in
+their beds. Yet who can doubt which of the two parties was on the Lord's
+side?
+
+Baxter, the famous divine, was persecuted with savage malignity, and
+condemned to a long imprisonment by a most unjust judgment. Jeffreys,
+the Lord Chief Justice, who sentenced him, was a man of infamous
+character, without either morality or religion. Baxter was sent to jail
+and Jeffreys was loaded with honours. Yet who can doubt which was the
+good man of the two, the Lord Chief Justice or the author of the
+"Saint's Rest"?
+
+We may be very sure that riches and worldly greatness are no certain
+marks of God's favour. They are often, on the contrary, a snare and
+hindrance to a man's soul. They make him love the world and forget God.
+What says Solomon? "Labour not to be rich." (Prov. xxiii. 4.) What says
+St. Paul? "They that _will_ be rich, fall into temptation and a snare,
+and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction
+and perdition." (1 Tim. vi. 9.)
+
+We may be no less sure that poverty and trial are no certain proof of
+God's anger. They are often blessings in disguise. They are always sent
+in love and wisdom. They often serve to wean man from the world. They
+teach him to set his affections on things above. They often show the
+sinner his own heart. They often make the saint fruitful in good works.
+What says the book of Job? "Happy is the man whom God correcteth;
+therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty." (Job v. 17.)
+What says St. Paul? "Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth." (Heb. xii. 6.)
+
+One great secret of happiness in this life is to be of a patient,
+contented spirit. Strive daily to realize the truth that this life is
+not the place of reward. The time of retribution and recompense is yet
+to come. Judge nothing hastily before that time. Remember the words of
+the wise man: "If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent
+perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the
+matter: for He that is higher than the highest regardeth, and there be
+higher than they." (Eccles. v. 8.) Yes! there is a day of judgment yet
+to come. That day shall put all in their right places. At last there
+shall be seen a mighty difference "between him that serveth God; and him
+that serveth Him not." (Malachi iii. 18.) The children of Lazarus and
+the children of the rich man shall, at length be seen in their true
+colours, and every one shall receive according to his works.
+
+
+III. Let us observe, in the next place, how _all classes alike come to
+the grave_.
+
+The rich man in the parable died, and Lazarus died also. Different and
+divided as they were in their lives, they had both to drink of the same
+cup at the last. Both went to the house appointed for all living. Both
+went to that place where rich and poor meet together. Dust they were,
+and unto dust they returned. (Gen. iii. 19.)
+
+This is the lot of all men. It will be our own, unless the Lord shall
+first return in glory. After all our scheming, and contriving, and
+planning, and studying,--after all our inventions, and discoveries, and
+scientific attainments,--there remains one enemy we cannot conquer and
+disarm, and that is death. The chapter in Genesis which records the long
+lives of Methuselah and the rest who lived before the flood, winds up
+the simple story of each by two expressive words: "he died." And now,
+after 4,800 years, what more can be said of the greatest among
+ourselves? The histories of Marlborough, and Washington, and Napoleon,
+and Wellington, arrive at just the same humbling conclusion. The end of
+each, after all his greatness is just this,--"he died."
+
+Death is a mighty leveller. He spares none, he waits for none, and
+stands on no ceremony. He will not tarry till you are ready. He will not
+be kept out by moats, and doors, and bars, and bolts. The Englishman
+boasts that his home is his castle, but with all his boasting, he cannot
+exclude death. An Austrian nobleman forbade death and the smallpox to
+be named in his presence. But, named or not named, it matters little, in
+God's appointed hour death will come.
+
+One man rolls easily along the road in the easiest and handsomest
+carriage that money can procure. Another toils wearily along the path on
+foot. Yet both are sure to meet at last in the same home.
+
+One man, like Absalom, has fifty servants to wait upon him and do his
+bidding. Another has none to lift a finger to do him a service. But both
+are travelling to a place where they must lie down alone.
+
+One man is the owner of hundreds of thousands. Another has scarce a
+shilling that he can call his own property. Yet neither one nor the
+other can carry one farthing with him into the unseen world.
+
+One man is the possessor of half a county. Another has not so much as a
+garden of herbs. And yet two paces of the vilest earth will be amply
+sufficient for either of them at the last.
+
+One man pampers his body with every possible delicacy, and clothes it in
+the richest and softest apparel. Another has scarce enough to eat, and
+seldom enough to put on. Yet both alike are hurrying on to a day when
+"ashes to ashes, and dust to dust," shall be proclaimed over them, and
+fifty years hence none shall be able to say, "This was the rich man's
+bone, and this the bone of the poor."
+
+I know that these are ancient things. I do not deny it for a moment. I
+am writing stale old things that all men _know_. But I am also writing
+things that all men do not _feel_. Oh, no! if they did feel them they
+would not speak and act as they do.
+
+You wonder sometimes at the tone and language of ministers of the
+Gospel. You marvel that we press upon you immediate decision. You think
+us extreme, and extravagant, and ultra in our views, because we urge
+upon you to close with Christ,--to leave nothing uncertain,--to make
+sure that you are born again and ready for heaven. You hear, but do not
+approve. You go away, and say to one another,--"The man means well, but
+he goes too far."
+
+But do you not see that the reality of death is continually forbidding
+us to use other language? We see him gradually thinning our
+congregations. We miss face after face in our assemblies. We know not
+whose turn may come next. We only know that as the tree falls there it
+will lie, and that "after death comes the judgment." We _must_ be bold
+and decided, and uncompromising in our language. We would rather run the
+risk of offending some, than of losing any. We would aim at the standard
+set up by old Baxter:--
+
+    "I'll preach as though I ne'er should preach again,
+    And as a dying man to dying men!"
+
+We would realize the character given by Charles II. of one of his
+preachers: "That man preaches as though death was behind his back. When
+I hear him I cannot go to sleep."
+
+Oh, that men would learn to live as those who may one day die! Truly it
+is poor work to set our affections on a dying world and its shortlived
+comforts, and for the sake of an inch of time to lose a glorious
+immortality! Here we are toiling, and labouring, and wearying ourselves
+about trifles, and running to and fro like ants upon a heap; and yet
+after a few years we shall all be gone, and another generation will fill
+our place. Let us live for eternity. Let us seek a portion that can
+never be taken from us. And let us never forget John Bunyan's golden
+rule: "He that would live well, let him make his dying day his
+company-keeper."
+
+
+IV. Let us observe, in the next place, _how precious a believer's soul
+is in the sight of God_.
+
+The rich man, in the parable, dies and is buried. Perhaps he had a
+splendid funeral,--a funeral proportioned to his expenditure while he
+was yet alive. But we hear nothing further of the moment when soul and
+body were divided. The next thing we hear of is that he is in _hell_.
+
+The poor man, in the parable, dies also. What manner of burial he had we
+know not. A pauper's funeral among ourselves is a melancholy business.
+The funeral of Lazarus was probably no better. But this we do
+know,--that the moment Lazarus dies he is carried by the angels into
+Abraham's bosom,--carried to a place of rest, where all the faithful are
+waiting for the resurrection of the just.
+
+There is something to my mind very striking, very touching, and very
+comforting in this expression of the parable. I ask your especial
+attention to it. It throws great light on the relation of all sinners of
+mankind who believe in Christ, to their God and Father. It shows a
+little of the care bestowed on the least and lowest of Christ's
+disciples, by the King of kings.
+
+No man has such friends and attendants as the believer, however little
+he may think it. Angels rejoice over him in the day that he is born
+again of the Spirit. Angels minister to him all through life. Angels
+encamp around him in the wilderness of this world. Angels take charge of
+his soul in death, and bear it safely home. Yes! vile as he may be in
+his own eyes, and lowly in his own sight, the very poorest and humblest
+believer in Jesus is cared for by his Father in heaven, with a care that
+passeth knowledge. The Lord has become his Shepherd, and he can "want
+nothing." (Ps. xxiii. 1.) Only let a man come unfeignedly to Christ, and
+be joined to Him, and he shall have all the benefits of a covenant
+ordered in all things and sure.
+
+Is he laden with many sins? Though they be as scarlet they shall be
+white as snow.
+
+Is his heart hard and prone to evil? A new heart shall be given to him,
+and a new spirit put in him.
+
+Is he weak and cowardly? He that enabled Peter to confess Christ before
+his enemies shall make him bold.
+
+Is he ignorant? He that bore with Thomas' slowness shall bear with him,
+and guide him into all truth.
+
+Is he alone in his position? He that stood by Paul when all men forsook
+him shall also stand by his side.
+
+Is he in circumstances of special trial? He that enabled men to be
+saints in Nero's household shall also enable him to persevere.
+
+The very hairs of his head are all numbered. Nothing can harm him
+without God's permission. He that hurteth him, hurteth the apple of
+God's eye, and injures a brother and member of Christ Himself.
+
+His trials are all wisely ordered. Satan can only vex him, as he did
+Job, when God permits him. No temptation can happen to him above what he
+is able to bear. All things are working together for his good.
+
+His steps are all ordered from grace to glory. He is kept on earth till
+he is ripe for heaven, and not one moment longer. The harvest of the
+Lord must have its appointed proportion of sun and wind, of cold and
+heat, of rain and storm. And then when the believer's work is done, the
+angels of God shall come for him, as they did for Lazarus, and carry him
+safe home.
+
+Alas! the men of the world little think whom they are despising, when
+they mock Christ's people. They are mocking those whom angels are not
+ashamed to attend upon. They are mocking the brethren and sisters of
+Christ Himself. Little do they consider that these are they for whose
+sakes the days of tribulation are shortened. These are they by whose
+intercession kings reign peacefully. Little do they reck that the
+prayers of men like Lazarus have more weight in the affairs of nations
+than hosts of armed men.
+
+Believers in Christ, who may possibly read these pages, you little know
+the full extent of your privileges and possessions. Like children at
+school, you know not half that your Father is doing for your welfare.
+Learn to live by faith more than you have done. Acquaint yourselves with
+the fulness of the treasure laid up for you in Christ even now. This
+world, no doubt, must always be a place of trial while we are in the
+body. But still there are comforts provided for the brethren of Lazarus
+which many never enjoy.
+
+
+V. Observe, in the last place, _what a dangerous and soul-ruining sin is
+the sin of selfishness_.
+
+You have the rich man, in the parable, in a hopeless state. If there was
+no other picture of a lost soul in hell in all the Bible you have it
+here. You meet him in the beginning, clothed in purple and fine linen.
+You part with him at the end, tormented in the everlasting fire.
+
+And yet there is nothing to show that this man was a murderer, or a
+thief, or an adulterer, or a liar. There is no reason to say that he was
+an atheist, or an infidel, or a blasphemer. For anything we know, he
+attended to all the ordinances of the Jewish religion. But we do know
+that he was lost for ever!
+
+There is something to my mind very solemn in this thought. Here is a man
+whose outward life in all probability was correct. At all events we know
+nothing against him. He dresses richly; but then he had money to spend
+on his apparel. He gives splendid feasts and entertainments; but then he
+was wealthy, and could well afford it. We read nothing recorded against
+him that might not be recorded of hundreds and thousands in the present
+day, who are counted respectable and good sort of people. And yet the
+end of this man is that he goes to hell. Surely this deserves serious
+attention.
+
+(_a_) I believe it is meant to teach us _to beware of living only for
+ourselves_. It is not enough that we are able to say, "I live correctly.
+I pay every one his due. I discharge all the relations of life with
+propriety. I attend to all the outward requirements of Christianity."
+There remains behind another question, to which the Bible requires an
+answer. "To whom do you live? to yourself or to Christ? What is the
+great end, aim, object, and ruling motive in your life?" Let men call
+the question extreme if they please. For myself, I can find nothing
+short of this in St. Paul's words: "He died for all, that they which
+live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died
+for them and rose again." (2 Cor. v. 15.) And I draw the conclusion,
+that if, like the rich man, we live only to ourselves, we shall ruin our
+souls.
+
+(_b_) I believe, further, that this passage is meant to teach us _the
+damnable nature of sins of omission_. It does not seem that it was so
+much the things the rich man did, but the things he left undone, which
+made him miss heaven. Lazarus was at his gate, and he let him alone. But
+is not this exactly in keeping with the history of the judgment, in the
+twenty-fifth of St. Matthew? Nothing is said there of the sins of
+commission of which the lost are guilty. How runs the charge?--"I was an
+hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no
+drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me
+not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not." (Matt. xxv. 42, 43.)
+The charge against them is simply that they did not do certain things.
+On this their sentence turns. And I draw the conclusion again, that,
+except we take heed, sins of omission may ruin our souls. Truly it was a
+solemn saying of good Archbishop Usher, on his death-bed: "Lord, forgive
+me all my sins, but specially my sins of omission."
+
+(_c_) I believe, further, that the passage is meant to teach us that
+_riches bring special danger with them_. Yes! riches, which the vast
+majority of men are always seeking after,--riches for which they spend
+their lives, and of which they make an idol,--riches entail on their
+possessors immense spiritual peril! The possession of them has a very
+hardening effect on the soul. They chill. They freeze. They petrify the
+inward man. They close the eye to the things of faith. They insensibly
+produce a tendency to forget God.
+
+And does not this stand in perfect harmony with all the language of
+Scripture on the same subject? What says our Lord? "How hardly shall
+they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for a
+camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter
+the kingdom of God!" (Mark x. 23, 25.) What says St. Paul? "The love of
+money is the root of all evil; which while some coveted after, they have
+erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."
+(1 Tim vi. 10.) What can be more striking than the fact that the Bible
+has frequently spoken of money as a most fruitful cause of sin and evil?
+For money Achan brought defeat on the armies of Israel, and death on
+himself. For money Balaam sinned against light, and tried to curse God's
+people. For money Delilah betrayed Sampson to the Philistines. For money
+Gehazi lied to Naaman and Elisha, and became a leper. For money Ananias
+and Sapphira became the first hypocrites in the early Church, and lost
+their lives. For money Judas Iscariot sold Christ, and was ruined
+eternally. Surely these facts speak loudly.
+
+Money, in truth, is one of the most _unsatisfying_ of possessions. It
+takes away some cares, no doubt; but it brings with it quite as many
+cares as it takes away. There is trouble in the getting of it. There is
+anxiety in the keeping of it. There are temptations in the use of it.
+There is guilt in the abuse of it. There is sorrow in the losing of it.
+There is perplexity in the disposing of it. Two-thirds of all the
+strifes, quarrels, and lawsuits in the world, arise from one simple
+cause,--_money_!
+
+Money most certainly is one of the most _ensnaring and heart-changing_
+of possessions. It seems desirable at a distance. It often proves a
+poison when in our hand. No man can possibly tell the effect of money on
+his soul, if it suddenly falls to his lot to possess it. Many an one did
+run well as a poor man, who forgets God when he is rich.
+
+I draw the conclusion that those who have money, like the rich man in
+the parable, ought to take double pains about their souls. They live in
+a most unhealthy atmosphere. They have double need to be on their guard.
+
+(_d_) I believe, not least, that the passage is meant to _stir up
+special carefulness about selfishness in these last days_. You have a
+special warning in 2 Tim. iii. 1, 2: "In the last days perilous times
+shall come: for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous." I
+believe we have come to the last days, and that we ought to beware of
+the sins here mentioned, if we love our souls.
+
+Perhaps we are poor judges of our own times. We are apt to exaggerate
+and magnify their evils, just because we see and feel them. But, after
+every allowance, I doubt whether there ever was more need of warnings
+against selfishness than in the present day. I am sure there never was a
+time when all classes in England had so many comforts and so many
+temporal good things. And yet I believe there is an utter disproportion
+between men's expenditure on themselves and their outlay on works of
+charity and works of mercy. I see this in the miserable one guinea
+subscriptions to which many rich men confine their charity. I see it in
+the languishing condition of many of our best religious Societies, and
+the painfully slow growth of their annual incomes. I see it in the small
+number of names which appear in the list of contributions to any good
+work. There are, I believe, thousands of rich people in this country who
+literally give away nothing at all. I see it in the notorious fact, that
+few, even of those who give, give anything proportioned to their means.
+I see all this, and mourn over it. I regard it as the selfishness and
+covetousness predicted as likely to arise in "the last days."
+
+I know that this is a painful and delicate subject. But it must not on
+that account be avoided by the minister of Christ. It is a subject for
+the times, and it needs pressing home. I desire to speak to myself, and
+to all who make any profession of religion. Of course I cannot expect
+worldly and utterly ungodly persons to view this subject in Bible light.
+To them the Bible is no rule of faith and practice. To quote texts to
+them would be of little use.
+
+But I do ask all professing Christians to consider well what Scripture
+says against covetousness and selfishness, and on behalf of liberality
+in giving money. Is it for nothing that the Lord Jesus spoke the parable
+of the rich fool, and blamed him because he was not "rich towards God"?
+(Luke xii. 21.) Is it for nothing that in the parable of the sower He
+mentions the "deceitfulness of riches" as one reason why the seed of the
+Word bears no fruit? (Matt. xiii. 22.) Is it for nothing that He says,
+"Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness"? (Luke
+xvi. 9.) Is it for nothing that He says, "When thou makest a dinner or a
+supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor
+thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense be
+made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the
+lame, the blind: and thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense
+thee; for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just"?
+(Luke xiv. 14.) Is it for nothing that He says, "Sell that ye have and
+give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the
+heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth
+corrupteth"? (Luke xii. 33.) Is it for nothing that He says, "It is more
+blessed to give than to receive"? (Acts xx. 35.) Is it for nothing that
+He warns us against the example of the priest and Levite, who saw the
+wounded traveller, but passed by on the other side? Is it for nothing
+that He praises the good Samaritan, who denied himself to show kindness
+to a stranger? (Luke x. 34.) Is it for nothing that St. Paul classes
+covetousness with sins of the grossest description, and denounces it as
+idolatry? (Coloss. iii. 5.) And is there not a striking and painful
+difference between this language and the habits and feeling of society
+about money? I appeal to any one who knows the world. Let him judge what
+I say.
+
+I only ask my reader to consider calmly the passages of Scripture to
+which I have referred. I cannot think they were meant to teach nothing
+at all. That the habits of the East and our own are different, I freely
+allow. That some of the expressions I have quoted are figurative, I
+freely admit. But still, after all, a principle lies at the bottom of
+all these expressions. Let us take heed that this principle is not
+neglected. I wish that many a professing Christian in this day, who
+perhaps dislikes what I am saying, would endeavour to write a commentary
+on these expressions, and try to explain to himself what they mean.
+
+To know that alms-giving cannot atone for sin is well. To know that our
+good works cannot justify us is excellent. To know that we may give all
+our goods to feed the poor, and build hospitals and cathedrals, without
+any real charity, is most important. But let us beware lest we go into
+the other extreme, and because our money cannot save us, give away no
+money at all.
+
+Has any one money who reads these pages? Then "take heed and beware of
+covetousness." (Luke xii. 15.) Remember you carry weight in the race
+towards heaven. All men are naturally in danger of being lost for ever,
+but you are doubly so because of your possessions. Nothing is said to
+put out fire so soon as earth thrown upon it. Nothing I am sure has such
+a tendency to quench the fire of religion as the possession of money.
+It was a solemn message which Buchanan, on his death-bed, sent to his
+old pupil, James I.: "He was going to a place where few kings and great
+men would come." It is possible, no doubt, for you to be saved as well
+as others. With God nothing is impossible. Abraham, Job, and David were
+all rich, and yet saved. But oh, take heed to yourself! Money is a good
+servant, but a bad master. Let that saying of our Lord's sink down into
+your heart: "How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the
+kingdom of God." (Mark x. 23.) Well said an old divine: "The surface
+above gold mines is generally very barren." Well might old Latimer begin
+one of his sermons before Edward VI by quoting three times over our
+Lord's words: "Take heed and beware of covetousness," and then saying,
+"What if I should say nothing else these three or four hours?" There are
+few prayers in our Litany more wise and more necessary than that
+petition, "In all time of our _wealth_, good Lord deliver us."
+
+Has any one little or no money who reads these pages? Then do not envy
+those who are richer than yourself. Pray for them. Pity them. Be
+charitable to their faults. Remember that high places are giddy places,
+and be not too hasty in your condemnation of their conduct. Perhaps if
+you had their difficulties you would do no better yourself. Beware of
+the "love of money." It is the "root of all evil." (1 Tim. vi. 10.) A
+man may love money over-much without having any at all. Beware of the
+love of self. It may be found in a cottage as well as in a palace. And
+beware of thinking that poverty alone will save you. If you would sit
+with Lazarus in glory, you must not only have fellowship with him in
+suffering, but in grace.
+
+Does any reader desire to know the remedy against that love of self
+which ruined the rich man's soul, and cleaves to us all by nature, like
+our skin? I tell him plainly there is only one remedy, and I ask Him to
+mark well what that remedy is. It is not the fear of hell. It is not the
+hope of heaven. It is not any sense of duty. Oh, no! The disease of
+selfishness is far too deeply rooted to yield to such secondary motives
+as these. Nothing will ever cure it but an experimental knowledge of
+Christ's redeeming love. You must know the misery and guilt of your own
+estate by nature. You must experience the power of Christ's atoning
+blood sprinkled upon your conscience, and making you whole. You must
+taste the sweetness of peace with God through the mediation of Jesus,
+and feel the love of a reconciled Father shed abroad in your heart by
+the Holy Ghost.
+
+_Then_, and not till then, the mainspring of selfishness will be broken.
+_Then_, knowing the immensity of your debt to Christ, you will feel that
+nothing is too great and too costly to give to Him. Feeling that you
+have been loved much when you deserved nothing, you will heartily love
+in return, and cry, "What shall I render unto the Lord for all His
+benefits?" (Ps. cxvi. 12.) Feeling that you have freely received
+countless mercies, you will think it a privilege to do anything to
+please Him to whom you owe all. Feeling that you have been "bought with
+a price," and are no longer your own, you will labour to glorify God
+with body and spirit, which are His. (1 Cor. vi. 20.)
+
+Yes: I repeat it this day. I know no _effectual_ remedy for the love of
+self, but a believing apprehension of the love of Christ. Other remedies
+may palliate the disease: this alone will heal it. Other antidotes may
+hide its deformity: this alone will work a perfect cure.
+
+An easy, good-natured temper may cover over selfishness in one man. A
+love of praise may conceal it in a second. A self-righteous asceticism
+and an affected spirit of self-denial may keep it out of sight in a
+third. But nothing will ever cut up selfishness by the roots but the
+love of Christ revealed in the mind by the Holy Ghost, and felt in the
+heart by simple faith. Once let a man see the full meaning of the words,
+"Christ loved me and gave Himself for me," and then he will delight to
+give himself to Christ, and all that he has to His service. He will live
+to Him, not in order that he may be secure, but because he is secure
+already. He will work for Him, not that he may have life and peace, but
+because life and peace are his own already.
+
+Go to the cross of Christ, all you that want to be delivered from the
+power of selfishness. Go and see what a price was paid there to provide
+a ransom for your soul. Go and see what an astounding sacrifice was
+there made, that a door to eternal life might be provided for poor
+sinners like you. Go and see how the Son of God gave Himself for you,
+and learn to think it a small thing to give yourself to Him.
+
+The disease which ruined the rich man in the parable may be cured. But
+oh, remember, there is only one real remedy! If you would not live to
+yourself you must live to Christ. See to it that this remedy is not only
+known, but applied,--not only heard of, but used.
+
+(1) And now let me conclude all by _urging on every reader of these
+pages, the great duty of self-inquiry_.
+
+A passage of Scripture like this parable ought surely to raise in many
+an one great searchings of heart.--"What am I? Where am I going? What am
+I doing? What is likely to be my condition after death? Am I prepared to
+leave the world? Have I any home to look forward to in the world to
+come? Have I put off the old man and put on the new? Am I really one
+with Christ, and a pardoned soul?" Surely such questions as these may
+well be asked when the story of the rich man and Lazarus has been heard.
+Oh, that the Holy Ghost may incline many a reader's heart to ask them!
+
+(2) In the next place, _I invite_ all readers who desire to have their
+souls saved, and have no good account to give of themselves at present,
+to seek salvation while it can be found. I do entreat you to apply to
+Him by whom alone man can enter heaven and be saved,--even Jesus Christ
+the Lord. He has the keys of heaven. He is sealed and appointed by God
+the Father to be the Saviour of all that will come to Him. Go to Him in
+earnest and hearty prayer, and tell Him your case. Tell Him that you
+have heard that "He receiveth sinners," and that you come to Him as
+such. (Luke xv. 2.) Tell Him that you desire to be saved by Him in His
+own way, and ask Him to save you. Oh, that you may take this course
+without delay! Remember the hopeless end of the rich man. Once dead
+there is no more change.
+
+(3) Last of all, _I entreat_ all professing Christians to encourage
+themselves in habits of liberality towards all causes of charity and
+mercy. Remember that you are God's stewards, and give money liberally,
+freely, and without grudging, whenever you have an opportunity. You
+cannot keep your money for ever. You must give account one day of the
+manner in which it has been expended. Oh, lay it out with an eye to
+eternity while you can!
+
+I do not ask rich men to leave their situations in life, give away all
+their property, and go into the workhouse. This would be refusing to
+fill the position of a steward for God. I ask no man to neglect his
+worldly calling, and to omit to provide for his family. Diligence in
+business is a positive Christian duty. Provision for those dependent on
+us is proper Christian prudence. But I ask all to look around
+continually as they journey on, and to remember the poor,--the poor in
+body and the poor in soul. Here we are for a few short years. How can we
+do most good with our money while we are here? How can we so spend it as
+to leave the world somewhat happier and somewhat holier when we are
+removed? Might we not abridge some of our luxuries? Might we not lay
+out less upon ourselves, and give more to Christ's cause and Christ's
+poor? Is there none we can do good to? Are there no sick, no poor, no
+needy, whose sorrows we might lessen, and whose comforts we might
+increase? Such questions will never fail to elicit an answer from some
+quarter. I am thoroughly persuaded that the income of every religious
+and charitable Society in England might easily be multiplied tenfold, if
+English Christians would give in proportion to their means.
+
+There are none surely to whom such appeals ought to come home with such
+power as professing believers in the Lord Jesus. The parable of the text
+is a striking illustration of our position by nature, and our debt to
+Christ. We all lay, like Lazarus, at heaven's gate, sick unto the death,
+helpless, and starving. Blessed be God! we were not neglected, as he
+was. Jesus came forth to relieve us. Jesus gave Himself for us, that we
+might have hope and live. For a poor Lazarus-like world He came down
+from heaven, and humbled Himself to become a man. For a poor
+Lazarus-like world He went up and down doing good, caring for men's
+bodies as well as souls, until He died for us on the cross.
+
+I believe that in giving to support works of charity and mercy, we are
+doing that which is according to Christ's mind,--and I ask readers of
+these pages to begin the habit of giving, if they never began it before;
+and to go on with it increasingly, if they have begun.
+
+I believe that in offering a warning against worldliness and
+covetousness, I have done no more than bring forward a warning specially
+called for by the times, and I ask God to bless the consideration of
+these pages to many souls.
+
+
+
+
+XIV
+
+
+THE BEST FRIEND
+
+     "_This is my friend._"--Cant. v. 16.
+
+
+A friend is one of the greatest blessings on earth. Tell me not of
+money: affection is better than gold; sympathy is better than lands. He
+is the poor man who has no friends.
+
+This world is full of sorrow because it is full of sin. It is a dark
+place. It is a lonely place. It is a disappointing place. The brightest
+sunbeam in it is a friend. Friendship halves our troubles and doubles
+our joys.
+
+A real friend is scarce and rare. There are many who will eat, and
+drink, and laugh with us in the sunshine of prosperity. There are few
+who will stand by us in the days of darkness,--few who will love us when
+we are sick, helpless, and poor,--few, above all, who will care for our
+souls.
+
+Does any reader of this paper want a real friend? I write to recommend
+one to your notice this day. I know of One "who sticketh closer than a
+brother." (Prov. xviii. 24.) I know of One who is ready to be your
+friend for time and for eternity, if you will receive Him. Hear me,
+while I try to tell you something about Him.
+
+The friend I want you to know is Jesus Christ. Happy is that family in
+which Christ has the foremost place! Happy is that person whose chief
+friend is Christ!
+
+
+I. Do we want _a friend in need_? Such a friend is the Lord Jesus
+Christ.
+
+Man is the neediest creature on God's earth, because he is a sinner.
+There is no need so great as that of sinners: poverty, hunger, thirst,
+cold, sickness, all are nothing in comparison. Sinners need pardon, and
+they are utterly unable to provide it for themselves; they need
+deliverance from a guilty conscience and the fear of death, and they
+have no power of their own to obtain it. This need the Lord Jesus Christ
+came into the world to relieve. "He came into the world to save
+sinners." (1 Tim. i. 15.)
+
+We are all by nature poor dying creatures. From the king on his throne
+to the pauper in the workhouse, we are all sick of a mortal disease of
+soul. Whether we know it or not, whether we feel it or not, we are all
+dying daily. The plague of sin is in our blood. We cannot cure
+ourselves: we are hourly getting worse and worse. All this the Lord
+Jesus undertook to remedy. He came into the world "to bring in health
+and cure;" He came to deliver us "from the second death;" He came "to
+abolish death, and bring life and immortality to light through the
+Gospel." (Jer. xxxiii. 6; Rev. ii. 11; 2 Tim. i. 10.)
+
+We are all by nature imprisoned debtors. We owed our God ten thousand
+talents, and had nothing to pay. We were wretched bankrupts, without
+hope of discharging ourselves. We could never have freed ourselves from
+our load of liabilities, and were daily getting more deeply involved.
+All this the Lord Jesus saw, and undertook to remedy. He engaged to
+"ransom and redeem us;" He came to "proclaim liberty to the captives,
+and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;" "He came to
+redeem us from the curse of the law." (Hos. xiii. 14; Isai. lxi. 1; Gal.
+iii. 13.)
+
+We were all by nature shipwrecked and cast away. We could never have
+reached the harbour of everlasting life. We were sinking in the midst of
+the waves, shiftless, hopeless, helpless, and powerless; tied and bound
+by the chain of our sins, foundering under the burden of our own guilt,
+and like to become a prey to the devil. All this the Lord Jesus saw and
+undertook to remedy. He came down from heaven to be our mighty "helper;"
+He came to "seek and to save that which was lost;" and to "deliver us
+from going down into the pit." (Psalm lxxxix. 19; Luke xix. 10; Job
+xxxiii. 24.)
+
+Could we have been saved without the Lord Jesus Christ coming down from
+heaven? It would have been impossible, so far as our eyes can see. The
+wisest men of Egypt, and Greece, and Rome never found out the way to
+peace with God. Without the friendship of Christ we should all have been
+lost for evermore in hell.
+
+Was the Lord Jesus Christ obliged to come down to save us? Oh, no! no!
+It was His own free love, mercy, and pity that brought Him down. He came
+unsought and unasked because He was gracious.
+
+Let us think on these things. Search all history from the beginning of
+the world,--look round the whole circle of those you know and love: you
+never heard of such friendship among the sons of men. There never was
+such a real friend in need as Jesus Christ.
+
+
+II. Do you want _a friend in deed_? Such a friend is the Lord Jesus
+Christ.
+
+The true extent of a man's friendship must be measured by his deeds.
+Tell me not what he says, and feels, and wishes; tell me not of his
+words and letters: tell me rather what he does. "Friendly is that
+friendly does."
+
+The doings of the Lord Jesus Christ for man are the grand proof of His
+friendly feeling towards him. Never were there such acts of kindness and
+self-denial as those which He has performed on our behalf. He has not
+loved us in word only but in deed.
+
+For our sakes He took our nature upon Him, and was born of a woman. He
+who was very God, and equal with the Father, laid aside for a season His
+glory, and took upon Him flesh and blood like our own. The almighty
+Creator of all things became a little babe like any of us, and
+experienced all our bodily weaknesses and infirmities, sin only
+excepted. "Though He was rich He became poor, that we through His
+poverty might be rich." (2 Cor. viii. 9.)
+
+For our sakes He lived thirty-three years in this evil world, despised
+and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. Though
+He was King of kings, He had not where to lay His head: though He was
+Lord of lords, He was often weary, and hungry, and thirsty, and poor.
+"He took on Him the form of a servant, and humbled Himself." (Philipp.
+iii. 7, 8.)
+
+For our sakes He suffered the most painful of all deaths, even the death
+of the cross. Though innocent, and without fault, He allowed Himself to
+be condemned, and found guilty. He who was the Prince of Life was led as
+a lamb to the slaughter, and poured out His soul unto death. He "died
+for us." (1 Thess. v. 10.)
+
+Was He obliged to do this? Oh, no! He might have summoned to His help
+more than twelve legions of angels, and scattered His enemies with a
+word. He suffered voluntarily and of His own free will, to make
+atonement for our sins. He knew that nothing but the sacrifice of His
+body and blood could ever make peace between sinful man and a holy God.
+He laid down His life to pay the price of our redemption: He died that
+we might live; He suffered that we might reign; He bore shame that we
+might receive glory. "He suffered for sins, the just for the unjust,
+that He might bring us to God." "He was made sin for us, who knew no
+sin: that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." (1 Peter
+iii. 18; 2 Cor. v. 21.)
+
+Such friendship as this passes man's understanding. Friends who would
+die for those who love them, we may have heard of sometimes. But who can
+find a man who would lay down his life for those that hate him? Yet this
+is what Jesus has done for us. "God commendeth His love towards us, in
+that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom. v. 8.)
+
+Ask all the tribes of mankind, from one end of the world to the other,
+and you will nowhere hear of a deed like this. None was ever so high and
+stooped down so low as Jesus the Son of God: none ever gave so costly a
+proof of his friendship; none ever paid so much and endured so much to
+do good to others. Never was there such a friend in deed as Jesus
+Christ!
+
+
+III. Do we want _a mighty and powerful friend_? Such a friend is Jesus
+Christ.
+
+Power to help is that which few possess in this world. Many have will
+enough to do good to others, but no power. They feel for the sorrows of
+others, and would gladly relieve them if they could: they can weep with
+their friends in affliction, but are unable to take their grief away.
+But though man is weak, Christ is strong,--though the best of our
+earthly friends is feeble, Christ is almighty: "All power is given unto
+Him in heaven and earth." (Matt. xxviii. 18.) No one can do so much for
+those whom He befriends as Jesus Christ. Others can befriend their
+bodies a little: He can befriend both body and soul. Others can do a
+little for them in time: He can be a friend both for time and eternity.
+
+(_a_) He is _able to pardon_ and save the very chief of sinners. He can
+deliver the most guilty conscience from all its burdens, and give it
+perfect peace with God. He can wash away the vilest stains of
+wickedness, and make a man whiter than snow in the sight of God. He can
+clothe a poor weak child of Adam in everlasting righteousness, and give
+him a title to heaven that can never be overthrown. In a word, He can
+give any one of us peace, hope, forgiveness, and reconciliation with
+God, if we will only trust in Him. "The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth
+from all sin." (1 John i. 7.)
+
+(_b_) He is _able to convert_ the hardest of hearts, and create in man a
+new spirit. He can take the most thoughtless and ungodly people, and
+give them another mind by the Holy Ghost, which He puts in them. He can
+cause old things to pass away, and all things to become new. He can make
+them love the things which they once hated, and hate the things which
+they once loved. "He can give them power to become the sons of God." "If
+any man be in Christ, he is a new creature." (John i. 12; 2 Cor. v. 17.)
+
+(_c_) He is _able to preserve_ to the end all who believe in Him, and
+become His disciples. He can give them grace to overcome the world, the
+flesh and the devil, and fight a good fight at the last. He can lead
+them on safely in spite of every temptation, carry them home through a
+thousand dangers, and keep them faithful, though they stand alone and
+have none to help them. "He is able to save them to the uttermost that
+come unto God by Him." (Heb. vii. 25.)
+
+(_d_) He is _able to give_ those that love Him the best of gifts. He can
+give them in life inward comforts, which money can never buy,--peace in
+poverty, joy in sorrow, patience in suffering. He can give them in death
+bright hopes, which enable them to walk through the dark valley without
+fear. He can give them after death a crown of glory, which fadeth not
+away, and a reward compared to which the Queen of England has nothing to
+bestow.
+
+This is power indeed: this is true greatness; this is real strength. Go
+and look at the poor Hindoo idolater, seeking peace in vain by
+afflicting his body; and, after fifty years of self-imposed suffering,
+unable to find it. Go and look at the benighted Romanist, giving money
+to his priest to pray for his soul, and yet dying without comfort. Go
+and look at rich men, spending thousands in search of happiness, and yet
+always discontented and unhappy. Then turn to Jesus, and think what He
+can do, and is daily doing for all who trust Him. Think how He heals all
+the broken-hearted, comforts all the sick, cheers all the poor that
+trust in Him, and supplies all their daily need. The fear of man is
+strong, the opposition of this evil world is mighty, the lusts of the
+flesh rage horribly, the fear of death is terrible, the devil is a
+roaring lion seeking whom he may devour; but Jesus is stronger than them
+all. Jesus can make us conquerors over all these foes. And then say
+whether it be not true, that there never was so mighty a friend as Jesus
+Christ.
+
+
+IV. Do we want _a loving and affectionate friend_? Such a friend is
+Jesus Christ.
+
+Kindness is the very essence of true friendship. Money and advice and
+help lose half their grace, if not given in a loving manner. What kind
+of love is that of the Lord Jesus toward man? It is called, "A love that
+passeth knowledge." (Ephes. iii. 19.)
+
+Love shines forth in His _reception of sinners_. He refuses none that
+come to Him for salvation, however unworthy they may be. Though their
+lives may have been most wicked, though their sins may be more in number
+than the stars of heaven, the Lord Jesus is ready to receive them, and
+give them pardon and peace. There is no end to His compassion: there are
+no bounds to His pity. He is not ashamed to befriend those whom the
+world casts off as hopeless. There are none too bad, too filthy, and too
+much diseased with sin, to be admitted into His home. He is willing to
+be the friend of any sinner: He has kindness and mercy and healing
+medicine for all. He has long proclaimed this to be His rule: "Him that
+cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out." (John vi. 37.)
+
+Love shines forth in His _dealings with sinners_, after they have
+believed in Him and become His friends. He is very patient with them,
+though their conduct is often very trying and provoking. He is never
+tired of hearing their complaints, however often they may come to Him.
+He sympathizes deeply in all their sorrows. He knows what pain is: He is
+"acquainted with grief." (Is. liii. 3.) In all their afflictions He is
+afflicted. He never allows them to be tempted above what they are able
+to bear: He supplies them with daily grace for their daily conflict.
+Their poor services are acceptable to Him: He is as well pleased with
+them as a parent is with his child's endeavours to speak and walk. He
+has caused it to be written in His book, that "He taketh pleasure in His
+people," and that "He taketh pleasure in them that fear Him." (Ps.
+cxlvii. 11; cxlix. 4.)
+
+There is no love on earth that can be named together with this! We love
+those in whom we see something that deserves our affection, or those who
+are our bone or our flesh: the Lord Jesus loves sinners in whom there is
+no good thing. We love those from whom we get some return for our
+affection: the Lord Jesus loves those who can do little or nothing for
+Him, compared to what He does for them. We love where we can give some
+reason for loving: the great Friend of sinners draws His reasons out of
+His own everlasting compassion. His love is purely disinterested, purely
+unselfish, purely free. Never, never was there so truly loving a friend
+as Jesus Christ.
+
+
+V. Do we want _a wise and prudent friend_? Such a friend is the Lord
+Jesus Christ.
+
+Man's friendship is sadly blind. He often injures those he loves by
+injudicious kindness: he often errs in the counsel he gives; he often
+leads his friends into trouble by bad advice, even when he means to help
+them. He sometimes keeps them back from the way of life, and entangles
+them in the vanities of the world, when they have well nigh escaped. The
+friendship of the Lord Jesus is not so: it always does us good, and
+never evil.
+
+The Lord Jesus _never spoils_ His friends by extravagant indulgence. He
+gives them everything that is really for their benefit; He withholds
+nothing from them that is really good; but He requires them to take up
+their cross daily and follow Him. He bids them endure hardships as good
+soldiers: He calls on them to fight the good fight against the world,
+the flesh, and the devil. His people often dislike it at the time, and
+think it hard; but when they reach heaven they will see it was all well
+done.
+
+The Lord Jesus _makes no mistakes_ in managing His friends' affairs. He
+orders all their concerns with perfect wisdom: all things happen to them
+at the right time, and in the right way. He gives them as much of
+sickness and as much of health, as much of poverty and as much of
+riches, as much of sorrow and as much of joy, as He sees their souls
+require. He leads them by the right way to bring them to the city of
+habitation. He mixes their bitterest cups like a wise physician, and
+takes care that they have not a drop too little or too much. His people
+often misunderstand His dealings; they are silly enough to fancy their
+course of life might have been better ordered: but in the
+resurrection-day they will thank God that not their will, but Christ's
+was done.
+
+Look round the world and see the harm which people are continually
+getting from their friends. Mark how much more ready men are to
+encourage one another in worldliness and levity, than to provoke to love
+and good works. Think how often they meet together, not for the better,
+but for the worse,--not to quicken one another's souls in the way to
+heaven, but to confirm one another in the love of this present world.
+Alas, there are thousands who are wounded unexpectedly in the house of
+their friends!
+
+And then turn to the great Friend of sinners, and see how different a
+thing is His friendship from that of man. Listen to Him as He walks by
+the way with His disciples; mark how He comforts, reproves, and exhorts
+with perfect wisdom. Observe how He times His visits to those He loves,
+as to Mary and Martha at Bethany. Hear how He converses, as He dines on
+the shore of the sea of Galilee: "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me?"
+(John xxi. 16.) His company is always sanctifying. His gifts are always
+for our soul's good; His kindness is always wise; His fellowship is
+always to edification. One day of the Son of Man is better than a
+thousand in the society of earthly friends: one hour spent in private
+communion with Him, is better than a year in kings' palaces. Never,
+never was there such a wise friend as Jesus Christ.
+
+
+VI. Do we want _a tried and proved friend_? Such a friend is Jesus
+Christ.
+
+Six thousand years have passed away since the Lord Jesus began His work
+of befriending mankind. During that long period of time He has had many
+friends in this world. Millions on millions, unhappily, have refused His
+offers and been miserably lost for ever; but thousands on thousands have
+enjoyed the mighty privilege of His friendship and been saved. He has
+had great experience.
+
+(_a_) He has had friends of _every rank and station_ in life. Some of
+them were kings and rich men, like David, and Solomon, and Hezekiah, and
+Job; some of them were very poor in this world, like the shepherds of
+Bethlehem, and James, and John, and Andrew: but they were all alike
+Christ's friends.
+
+(_b_) He has had friends _of every age_ that man can pass through. Some
+of them never knew Him till they were advanced in years, like Manasseh,
+and Zacchæus, and probably the Ethiopian Eunuch. Some of them were His
+friends even from their earliest childhood, like Joseph, and Samuel, and
+Josiah, and Timothy. But they were all alike Christ's friends.
+
+(_c_) He has had friends _of every possible temperament and
+disposition_. Some of them were simple plain men, like Isaac; some of
+them were mighty in word and deed, like Moses; some of them were fervent
+and warm-hearted, like Peter; some of them were gentle and retiring
+spirits, like John; some of them were active and stirring, like Martha;
+some of them loved to sit quietly at His feet, like Mary; some dwelt
+unknown among their own people, like the Shunamite; some have gone
+everywhere and turned the world upside down, like Paul. But they were
+all alike Christ's friends.
+
+(_d_) He has had friends _of every condition in life_. Some of them were
+married, and had sons and daughters, like Enoch; some of them lived and
+died unmarried, like Daniel and John the Baptist; some of them were
+often sick, like Lazarus and Epaphroditus; some of them were strong to
+labour, like Persis, and Tryphena, and Tryphosa; some of them were
+masters, like Abraham and Cornelius; some of them were servants, like
+the saints in Nero's household; some of them had bad servants, like
+Elisha; some of them had bad masters like Obadiah; some of them had bad
+wives and children, like David. But they were all alike Christ's
+friends.
+
+(_e_) He has had friends _of almost every nation, and people, and
+tongue_. He has had friends in hot countries and in cold; friends among
+nations highly civilized, and friends among the simplest and rudest
+tribes. His book of life contains the names of Greeks and Romans, of
+Jews and Egyptians, of bond and of free. There are to be found on its
+lists reserved Englishmen and cautious Scotchmen, impulsive Irishmen and
+fiery Welchmen, volatile Frenchmen and dignified Spaniards, refined
+Italians and solid Germans, rude Africans and refined Hindoos,
+cultivated Chinese and half-savage New Zealanders. But they were all
+alike Christ's friends.
+
+All these have made trial of Christ's friendship, and proved it to be
+good. They all found nothing wanting when they began: they all found
+nothing wanting as they went on. No lack, no defect, no deficiency was
+ever found by any one of them in Jesus Christ. Each found his own soul's
+wants fully supplied; each found every day, that in Christ there was
+enough and to spare. Never, never was there a friend so fully tried and
+proved as Jesus Christ.
+
+
+VII. Last, but not least, do we want _an unfailing friend_? Such a
+friend is the Lord Jesus Christ.
+
+The saddest part of all the good things of earth is their instability.
+Riches make themselves wings and flee away; youth and beauty are but for
+a few years; strength of body soon decays; mind and intellect are soon
+exhausted. All is perishing. All is fading. All is passing away. But
+there is one splendid exception to this general rule, and that is the
+friendship of Jesus Christ.
+
+The Lord Jesus is _a friend who never changes_. There is no fickleness
+about Him: those whom He loves, He loves unto the end. Husbands have
+been known to forsake their wives; parents have been known to cast off
+their children; human vows and promises of faithfulness have often been
+forgotten. Thousands have been neglected in their poverty and old age,
+who were honoured by all when they were rich and young. But Christ never
+changed His feelings towards one of His friends. He is "the same
+yesterday, to-day, and for ever." (Heb. xiii. 8.)
+
+The Lord Jesus _never goes away from His friends_. There is never a
+parting and good-bye between Him and His people. From the time that He
+makes His abode in the sinner's heart, He abides in it for ever. The
+world is full of leave-takings and departures: death and the lapse of
+time break up the most united family; sons go forth to make their way in
+life; daughters are married, and leave their father's house for ever.
+Scattering, scattering, scattering, is the yearly history of the
+happiest home. How many we have tearfully watched as they drove away
+from our doors, whose pleasant faces we have never seen again! How many
+we have sorrowfully followed to the grave, and then come back to a cold,
+silent, lonely, and blank fireside! But, thanks be to God, there is One
+who never leaves His friends! The Lord Jesus is He who has said, "I will
+never leave thee nor forsake thee." (Heb. xiii. 5.)
+
+The Lord Jesus _goes with His friends wherever they go_. There is no
+possible separation between Him and those whom He loves. There is no
+place or position on earth, or under the earth, that can divide them
+from the great Friend of their souls. When the path of duty calls them
+far away from home, He is their companion; when they pass through the
+fire and water of fierce tribulation, He is with them; when they lie
+down on the bed of sickness, He stands by them and makes all their
+trouble work for good; when they go down the valley of the shadow of
+death, and friends and relatives stand still and can go no further, He
+goes down by their side. When they wake up in the unknown world of
+Paradise, they are still with Him; when they rise with a new body at the
+judgment day, they will not be alone. He will own them for His friends,
+and say, "They are mine: deliver them and let them go free." He will
+make good His own words: "I am with you alway, even unto the end of the
+world." (Matt. xxviii. 20.)
+
+Look round the world, and see how failure is written on all men's
+schemes. Count up the partings, and separations, and disappointments,
+and bereavements which have happened under your own knowledge. Think
+what a privilege it is that there is One at least who never fails, and
+in whom no one was ever disappointed! Never, never was there so
+unfailing a friend as Jesus Christ.
+
+
+And now, suffer me to conclude this paper with a few plain words of
+application. I know not who you are or in what state your soul may be;
+but I am sure that the words I am about to say deserve your serious
+attention. Oh, that this paper may not find you heedless of spiritual
+things! Oh, that you may be able to give a few thoughts to Christ!
+
+(1) Know then, for one thing, that I call upon you to _consider solemnly
+whether Christ is your Friend and you are His_.
+
+There are thousands on thousands, I grieve to say, who are not Christ's
+friends. Baptized in His name, outward members of His Church, attendants
+on His means of grace,--all this they are, no doubt. But they are not
+Christ's _friends_. Do they hate the sins which Jesus died to put away?
+No.--Do they love the Saviour who came into the world to save them?
+No.--Do they care for the souls which were so precious in His sight?
+No.--Do they delight in the word of reconciliation? No.--Do they try to
+speak with the Friend of sinners in prayer? No.--Do they seek close
+fellowship with Him? No.--Oh, reader, is this your case? How is it with
+you? Are you or are you not one of Christ's friends?
+
+(2) Know, in the next place, that _if you are not one of Christ's
+friends, you are a poor miserable being_.
+
+I write this down deliberately. I do not say it without thought. I say
+that if Christ be not your friend, you are a poor, miserable being.
+
+You are in the midst of a failing, sorrowful world, and you have no real
+source of comfort, or refuge for a time of need. You are a dying
+creature, and you are not ready to die. You have sins, and they are not
+forgiven. You are going to be judged, and you are not prepared to meet
+God: you might be, but you refuse to use the one only Mediator and
+Advocate. You love the world better than Christ. You refuse the great
+Friend of sinners, and you have no friend in heaven to plead your cause.
+Yes: it is sadly true! You are a poor, miserable being. It matters
+nothing what your income is: without Christ's friendship you are very
+poor.
+
+(3) Know, in the third place, that _if you really want a friend, Christ
+is willing to become your friend_.
+
+He has long wanted you to join His people, and He now invites you by my
+hand. He is ready to receive you, all unworthy as you may feel, and to
+write your name down in the list of His friends. He is ready to pardon
+all the past, to clothe you with righteousness, to give you His Spirit,
+to make you His own dear child. All He asks you to do is to come to Him.
+
+He bids you come with all your sins; only acknowledging your vileness,
+and confessing that you are ashamed. Just as you are,--waiting for
+nothing,--unworthy of anything in yourself,--Jesus bids you come and be
+His friend.
+
+Oh, come and be wise! Come and be safe. Come and be happy. Come and be
+Christ's friend.
+
+(4) Know, in the last place, that _if Christ is your friend, you have
+great privileges, and ought to walk worthy of them_.
+
+Seek every day to have closer communion with Him who is your Friend, and
+to know more of His grace and power. True Christianity is not merely the
+believing a certain set of dry abstract propositions: it is to live in
+daily personal communication with an actual living person--Jesus the Son
+of God. "To me," said Paul, "to live is Christ." (Phil. i. 21.)
+
+Seek every day to glorify your Lord and Saviour in all your ways. "He
+that hath a friend should show himself friendly" (Prov. xviii. 24), and
+no man surely is under such mighty obligations as the friend of Christ.
+Avoid everything which would grieve your Lord. Fight hard against
+besetting sins, against inconsistency, against backwardness to confess
+Him before men. Say to your soul, whenever you are tempted to that which
+is wrong, "Soul, soul, is this thy kindness to thy Friend?"
+
+Think, above all, of the mercy which has been shown thee, and learn to
+rejoice daily in thy Friend! What though thy body be bowed down with
+disease? What though thy poverty and trials be very great? What though
+thine earthly friends forsake thee, and thou art alone in the world? All
+this may be true: but if thou art in Christ thou hast a Friend, a mighty
+Friend, a loving Friend, a wise Friend, a Friend that never fails. Oh,
+think, think much upon thy friend!
+
+Yet a little time and thy Friend shall come to take thee home, and thou
+shalt dwell with Him for ever. Yet a little time and thou shalt see as
+thou hast been seen, and know as thou hast been known. And then thou
+shalt hear assembled worlds confess, that HE IS THE RICH AND HAPPY MAN
+WHO HAS HAD CHRIST FOR HIS FRIEND.
+
+
+
+
+XV
+
+
+SICKNESS
+
+"_He whom Thou lovest is sick._"--John xi. 3.
+
+
+The chapter from which this text is taken is well known to all Bible
+readers. In life-like description, in touching interest, in sublime
+simplicity, there is no writing in existence that will bear comparison
+with that chapter. A narrative like this is to my own mind one of the
+great proofs of the inspiration of Scripture. When I read the story of
+Bethany, I feel "There is something here which the infidel can never
+account for."--"This is nothing else but the finger of God."
+
+The words which I specially dwell upon in this chapter are singularly
+affecting and instructive. They record the message which Martha and Mary
+sent to Jesus when their brother Lazarus was sick: "Lord, behold he whom
+Thou lovest is sick." That message was short and simple. Yet almost
+every word is deeply suggestive.
+
+Mark the child-like faith of these holy women. They turned to the Lord
+Jesus in their hour of need, as the frightened infant turns to its
+mother, or the compass-needle turns to the Pole. They turned to Him as
+their Shepherd, their almighty Friend, their Brother born for adversity.
+Different as they were in natural temperament, the two sisters in this
+matter were entirely agreed. Christ's help was their first thought in
+the day of trouble. Christ was the refuge to which they fled in the
+hour of need. Blessed are all they that do likewise!
+
+Mark the simple humility of their language about Lazarus. They call Him
+"He whom Thou lovest." They do not say, "He who loves Thee, believes in
+Thee, serves Thee," but "He whom Thou lovest." Martha and Mary were
+deeply taught of God. They had learned that Christ's love towards us,
+and not our love towards Christ, is the true ground of expectation, and
+true foundation of hope. Blessed, again, are all they that are taught
+likewise! To look inward to our love towards Christ is painfully
+unsatisfying: to look outward to Christ's love towards us is peace.
+
+Mark, lastly, the touching circumstance which the message of Martha and
+Mary reveals: "He whom Thou lovest is sick." Lazarus was a good man,
+converted, believing, renewed, sanctified, a friend of Christ, and an
+heir of glory. And yet Lazarus was sick! Then sickness is no sign that
+God is displeased. Sickness is intended to be a blessing to us, and not
+a curse. "All things work together for good to them that love God, and
+are called according to His purpose." "All things are yours,--life,
+death, things present, or things to come: for ye are Christ's; and
+Christ is God's." (Rom. viii. 28; 1 Cor. iii. 22.) Blessed, I say again,
+are they that have learned this! Happy are they who can say, when they
+are ill, "This is my Father's doing. It must be well."
+
+I invite the attention of my readers to the subject of sickness. The
+subject is one which we ought frequently to look in the face. We cannot
+avoid it. It needs no prophet's eye to see sickness coming to each of us
+in turn one day. "In the midst of life we are in death." Let us turn
+aside for a few moments, and consider sickness as Christians. The
+consideration will not hasten its coming, and by =God's= blessing may
+teach us wisdom.
+
+In considering the subject of sickness, three points appear to me to
+demand attention. On each I shall say a few words.
+
+
+    I. The _universal prevalence_ of sickness and disease.
+
+    II. The _general benefits_ which sickness confers on mankind.
+
+    III. The _special duties_ to which sickness calls us.
+
+
+I. The _universal prevalence of sickness_.
+
+I need not dwell long on this point. To elaborate the proof of it would
+only be multiplying truisms, and heaping up common-places which all
+allow.
+
+Sickness is everywhere. In Europe, in Asia, in Africa, in America; in
+hot countries and in cold, in civilized nations and in savage
+tribes,--men, women, and children sicken and die.
+
+Sickness is among all classes. Grace does not lift a believer above the
+reach of it. Riches will not buy exemption from it. Rank cannot prevent
+its assaults. Kings and their subjects, masters and servants, rich men
+and poor, learned and unlearned, teachers and scholars, doctors and
+patients, ministers and hearers, all alike go down before this great
+foe. "The rich man's wealth is his strong city." (Prov. xviii. 11.) The
+Englishman's house is called his castle; but there are no doors and bars
+which can keep out disease and death.
+
+Sickness is of every sort and description. From the crown of our head to
+the sole of our foot we are liable to disease. Our capacity of suffering
+is something fearful to contemplate. Who can count up the ailments by
+which our bodily frame may be assailed? Who ever visited a museum of
+morbid anatomy without a shudder? "Strange that a harp of thousand
+strings should keep in tune so long." It is not, to my mind, so
+wonderful that men should die so soon, as it is that they should live so
+long.
+
+Sickness is often one of the most humbling and distressing trials that
+can come upon man. It can turn the strongest into a little child, and
+make him feel "the grasshopper a burden." (Eccles. xii. 5.) It can
+unnerve the boldest, and make him tremble at the fall of a pin. We are
+"fearfully and wonderfully made." (Psalm cxxxix. 14.) The connection
+between body and mind is curiously close. The influence that some
+diseases can exercise upon the temper and spirits is immensely great.
+There are ailments of brain, and liver, and nerves, which can bring down
+a Solomon in mind to a state little better than that of a babe. He that
+would know to what depths of humiliation poor man can fall, has only to
+attend for a short time on sick-beds.
+
+Sickness is not preventible by anything that man can do. The average
+duration of life may doubtless be somewhat lengthened. The skill of
+doctors may continually discover new remedies, and effect surprising
+cures. The enforcement of wise sanitary regulations may greatly lower
+the death-rate in a land. But, afterall,--whether in healthy or
+unhealthy localities,--whether in mild climates or in cold,--whether
+treated by homeopathy or allopathy,--men will sicken and die. "The days
+of our years are three-score years and ten; and if by reason of strength
+they be four-score years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for
+it is soon cut off, and we fly away." (Psalm xc. 10.) That witness is
+indeed true. It was true 3300 years ago.--It is true still.
+
+Now what can we make of this great fact,--the universal prevalence of
+sickness? How shall we account for it? What explanation can we give of
+it? What answer shall we give to our inquiring children when they ask
+us, "Father, why do people get ill and die?" These are grave questions.
+A few words upon them will not be out of place.
+
+Can we suppose for a moment that God created sickness and disease at
+the beginning? Can we imagine that He who formed our world in such
+perfect order was the Former of needless suffering and pain? Can we
+think that He who made all things "very good," made Adam's race to
+sicken and to die? The idea is, to my mind, revolting. It introduces a
+grand imperfection into the midst of God's perfect works. I must find
+another solution to satisfy my mind.
+
+The only explanation that satisfies me is that which the Bible gives.
+Something has come into the world which has dethroned man from his
+original position, and stripped him of his original privileges.
+Something has come in, which, like a handful of gravel thrown into the
+midst of machinery, has marred the perfect order of God's creation. And
+what is that _something_? I answer, in one word, It is sin. "Sin has
+entered into the world, and death by sin." (Rom. v. 12.) Sin is the
+cause of all the sickness, and disease, and pain, and suffering, which
+prevail on the earth. They are all a part of that curse which came into
+the world when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and fell. There
+would have been no sickness, if there had been no fall. There would have
+been no disease, if there had been no sin.
+
+I pause for a moment at this point, and yet in pausing I do not depart
+from my subject. I pause to remind my readers that there is no ground so
+untenable as that which is occupied by the Atheist, the Deist, or the
+unbeliever in the Bible. I advise every young reader of this paper, who
+is puzzled by the bold and specious arguments of the infidel, to study
+well that most important subject,--the _Difficulties of Infidelity_. I
+say boldly that it requires far more credulity to be an infidel than to
+be a Christian. I say boldly, that there are great broad patent facts in
+the condition of mankind, which nothing but the Bible can explain, and
+that one of the most striking of these facts is the universal prevalence
+of pain, sickness, and disease. In short, one of the mightiest
+difficulties in the way of Atheists and Deists, is the body of man.
+
+You have doubtless heard of Atheists. An Atheist is one who professes to
+believe that there is no God, no Creator, no First Cause, and that all
+things came together in this world by mere chance.--Now shall we listen
+to such a doctrine as this? Go, take an Atheist to one of the excellent
+surgical schools of our land, and ask him to study the wonderful
+structure of the human body. Show him the matchless skill with which
+every joint, and vein, and valve, and muscle, and sinew, and nerve, and
+bone, and limb, has been formed. Show him the perfect adaptation of
+every part of the human frame to the purpose which it serves. Show him
+the thousand delicate contrivances for meeting wear and tear, and
+supplying daily waste of vigour. And then ask this man who denies the
+being of a God, and a great First Cause, if all this wonderful mechanism
+is the result of chance? Ask him if it came together at first by luck
+and accident? Ask him if he so thinks about the watch he looks at, the
+bread he eats, or the coat he wears? Oh, no! Design is an insuperable
+difficulty in the Atheist's way. _There is a God._
+
+You have doubtless heard of Deists. A Deist is one who professes to
+believe that there is a God, who made the world and all things therein.
+But He does not believe the Bible. "A God, but no Bible!--a Creator, but
+no Christianity!" This is the Deist's creed.--Now, shall we listen to
+this doctrine? Go again, I say, and take a Deist to an hospital, and
+show him some of the awful handiwork of disease. Take him to the bed
+where lies some tender child, scarce knowing good from evil, with an
+incurable cancer. Send him to the ward where there is a loving mother of
+a large family in the last stage of some excruciating disease. Show him
+some of the racking pains and agonies to which flesh is heir, and ask
+him to account for them. Ask this man, who believes there is a great
+and wise God who made the world, but cannot believe the Bible,--ask him
+how he accounts for these traces of disorder and imperfection in his
+God's creation. Ask this man, who sneers at Christian theology and is
+too wise to believe the fall of Adam,--ask him upon his theory to
+explain the universal prevalence of pain and disease in the world. You
+may ask in vain! You will get no satisfactory answer. Sickness and
+suffering are insuperable difficulties in the Deist's way. _Man has
+sinned, and therefore man suffers._ Adam fell from his first estate, and
+therefore Adam's children sicken and die.
+
+The universal prevalence of sickness is one of the indirect evidences
+that the Bible is true. The Bible explains it. The Bible answers the
+questions about it which will arise in every inquiring mind. No other
+systems of religion can do this. They all fail here. They are silent.
+They are confounded. The Bible alone looks the subject in the face. It
+boldly proclaims the fact that man is a fallen creature, and with equal
+boldness proclaims a vast remedial system to meet his wants. I feel shut
+up to the conclusion that the Bible is from God. Christianity is a
+revelation from heaven. "Thy word is truth." (John xvii. 17.)
+
+Let us stand fast on the old ground, that the Bible, and the Bible only,
+is God's revelation of Himself to man. Be not moved by the many new
+assaults which modern scepticism is making on the inspired volume. Heed
+not the hard questions which the enemies of the faith are fond of
+putting about Bible difficulties, and to which perhaps you often feel
+unable to give an answer. Anchor your soul firmly on this safe
+principle,--that the whole book is God's truth. Tell the enemies of the
+Bible that, in spite of all their arguments, there is no book in the
+world which will bear comparison with the Bible,--none that so
+thoroughly meets man's wants,--none that explains so much of the state
+of mankind. As to the hard things in the Bible, tell them you are
+content to wait. You find enough plain truth in the book to satisfy your
+conscience and save your soul. The hard things will be cleared up one
+day. What you know not now, you will know hereafter.
+
+
+II. The second point I propose to consider is _the general benefits
+which sickness confers on mankind_.
+
+I use that word "benefits" advisedly. I feel it of deep importance to
+see this part of our subject clearly. I know well that sickness is one
+of the supposed weak points in God's government of the world, on which
+sceptical minds love to dwell.--"Can God be a God of love, when He
+allows pain? Can God be a God of mercy, when He permits disease? He
+might prevent pain and disease; but He does not. How can these things
+be?" Such is the reasoning which often comes across the heart of man.
+
+I reply to all such reasoners, that their doubts and questionings are
+most unreasonable. They might us well doubt the existence of a Creator,
+because the order of the universe is disturbed by earthquakes,
+hurricanes, and storms. They might as well doubt the providence of God,
+because of the horrible massacres of Delhi and Cawnpore. All this would
+be just as reasonable as to doubt the mercy of God, because of the
+presence of sickness in the world.
+
+I ask all who find it hard to reconcile the prevalence of disease and
+pain with the love of God, to cast their eyes on the world around them,
+and to mark what is going on. I ask them to observe the extent to which
+men constantly submit to present loss for the sake of future
+gain,--present sorrow for the sake of future joy,--present pain for the
+sake of future health. The seed is thrown into the ground, and rots: but
+we sow in the hope of a future harvest. The boy is sent to school amidst
+many tears: but we send him in the hope of his getting future wisdom.
+The father of a family undergoes some fearful surgical operation: but
+he bears it, in the hope of future health.--I ask men to apply this
+great principle to God's government of the world. I ask them to believe
+that God allows pain, sickness, and disease, not because He loves to vex
+man, but because He desires to benefit man's heart, and mind, and
+conscience, and soul, to all eternity.
+
+Once more I repeat, that I speak of the "benefits" of sickness on
+purpose and advisedly. I know the suffering and pain which sickness
+entails. I admit the misery and wretchedness which it often brings in
+its train. But I cannot regard it as an unmixed evil. I see in it a wise
+permission of God. I see in it a useful provision to check the ravages
+of sin and the devil among men's souls. If man had never sinned I should
+have been at a loss to discern the benefit of sickness. But since sin is
+in the world, I can see that sickness is a good. It is a blessing quite
+as much as a curse. It is a rough schoolmaster, I grant. But it is a
+real friend to man's soul.
+
+(_a_) Sickness helps to _remind men of death_. The most live as if they
+were never going to die. They follow business, or pleasure, or politics,
+or science, as if earth was their eternal home. They plan and scheme for
+the future, like the rich fool in the parable, as if they had a long
+lease of life, and were not tenants at will. A heavy illness sometimes
+goes far to dispel these delusions. It awakens men from their
+day-dreams, and reminds them that they have to die as well as to live.
+Now this I say emphatically is a mighty good.
+
+(_b_) Sickness helps to _make men think seriously of God_, and their
+souls, and the world to come. The most in their days of health can find
+no time for such thoughts. They dislike them. They put them away. They
+count them troublesome and disagreeable. Now a severe disease has
+sometimes a wonderful power of mustering and rallying these thoughts,
+and bringing them up before the eyes of a man's soul. Even a wicked king
+like Benhadad, when sick, could think of Elisha. (2 Kings viii. 8.)
+Even heathen sailors, when death was in sight, were afraid, and "cried
+every man to his god." (Jonah i. 5.) Surely anything that helps to make
+men think is a good.
+
+(_c_) Sickness helps to _soften men's hearts_, and teach them wisdom.
+The natural heart is as hard as a stone. It can see no good in anything
+which is not of this life, and no happiness excepting in this world. A
+long illness sometimes goes far to correct these ideas. It exposes the
+emptiness and hollowness of what the world calls "good" things, and
+teaches us to hold them with a loose hand. The man of business finds
+that money alone is not everything the heart requires. The woman of the
+world finds that costly apparel, and novel-reading, and the reports of
+balls and operas, are miserable comforters in a sick room. Surely
+anything that obliges us to alter our weights and measures of earthly
+things is a real good.
+
+(_d_) Sickness helps to _level and humble us_. We are all naturally
+proud and high-minded. Few, even of the poorest, are free from the
+infection. Few are to be found who do not look down on somebody else,
+and secretly flatter themselves that they are "not as other men." A sick
+bed is a mighty tamer of such thoughts as these. It forces on us the
+mighty truth that we are all poor worms, that we "dwell in houses of
+clay," and are "crushed before the moth" (Job iv. 19), and that kings
+and subjects, masters and servants, rich and poor, are all dying
+creatures, and will soon stand side by side at the bar of God. In the
+sight of the coffin and the grave it is not easy to be proud. Surely
+anything that teaches that lesson is good.
+
+(_e_) Finally, sickness helps _to try men's religion_, of what sort it
+is. There are not many on earth who have on religion at all. Yet few
+have a religion that will bear inspection. Most are content with
+traditions received from their fathers, and can render no reason of the
+hope that is in them. Now disease is sometimes most useful to a man in
+exposing the utter worthlessness of his soul's foundation. It often
+shows him that he has nothing solid under his feet, and nothing firm
+under his hand. It makes him find out that, although he may have had a
+form of religion, he has been all his life worshipping "an unknown God."
+Many a creed looks well on the smooth waters of health, which turns out
+utterly unsound and useless on the rough waves of the sick bed. The
+storms of winter often bring out the defects in a man's dwelling, and
+sickness often exposes the gracelessness of a man's soul. Surely
+anything that makes us find out the real character of our faith is a
+good.
+
+I do not say that sickness confers these benefits on all to whom it
+comes. Alas, I can say nothing of the kind! Myriads are yearly laid low
+by illness, and restored to health, who evidently learn no lesson from
+their sick beds, and return again to the world. Myriads are yearly
+passing through sickness to the grave, and yet receiving no more
+spiritual impression from it than the beasts that perish. While they
+live they have no feeling, and when they die there are "no bands in
+their death." (Psalm lxxiii. 4.) These are awful things to say. But they
+are true. The degree of deadness to which man's heart and conscience may
+attain, is a depth which I cannot pretend to fathom.
+
+But does sickness confer the benefits of which I have been speaking on
+only a few? I will allow nothing of the kind. I believe that in very
+many cases sickness produces impressions more or less akin to those of
+which I have just been speaking. I believe that in many minds sickness
+is God's "day of visitation," and that feelings are continually aroused
+on a sick bed which, if improved, might, by God's grace, result in
+salvation. I believe that in heathen lands sickness often paves the way
+for the missionary, and makes the poor idolater lend a willing ear to
+the glad tidings of the Gospel. I believe that in our own land sickness
+is one of the greatest aids to the minister of the Gospel, and that
+sermons and counsels are often brought home in the day of disease which
+we have neglected in the day of health. I believe that sickness is one
+of God's most important subordinate instruments in the saving of men,
+and that though the feelings it calls forth are often temporary, it is
+also often a means whereby the Spirit works effectually on the heart. In
+short, I believe firmly that the sickness of men's bodies has often led,
+in God's wonderful providence, to the salvation of men's souls.
+
+I leave this branch of my subject here. It needs no further remark. If
+sickness can do the things of which I have been speaking (and who will
+gainsay it?), if sickness in a wicked world can help to make men think
+of God and their souls, then sickness confers benefits on mankind.
+
+We have no right to murmur at sickness, and repine at its presence in
+the world. We ought rather to thank God for it. It is God's witness. It
+is the soul's adviser. It is an awakener to the conscience. It is a
+purifier to the heart. Surely I have a right to tell you that sickness
+is a blessing and not a curse,--a help and not an injury,--a gain and
+not a loss,--a friend and not a foe to mankind. So long as we have a
+world wherein there is sin, it is a mercy that it is a world wherein
+there is sickness.
+
+
+III. The third and last point which I propose to consider, is _the
+special duties which the prevalence of sickness entails on each one of
+ourselves_.
+
+I should be sorry to leave the subject of sickness without saying
+something on this point. I hold it to be of cardinal importance not to
+be content with generalities in delivering God's message to souls. I am
+anxious to impress on each one into whose hands this paper may fall, his
+own personal responsibility in connection with the subject. I would fain
+have no one lay down this paper unable to answer the questions,--"What
+practical lesson have I learned? What, in a world of disease and death,
+what ought I to do?"
+
+(_a_) One paramount duty which the prevalence of sickness entails on
+man, is that of _living habitually prepared to meet God_. Sickness is a
+remembrancer of death. Death is the door through which we must all pass
+to judgment. Judgment is the time when we must at last see God face to
+face. Surely the first lesson which the inhabitant of a sick and dying
+world should learn should be to prepare to meet his God.
+
+When are you prepared to meet God? Never till your iniquities are
+forgiven, and your sin covered! Never till your heart is renewed, and
+your will taught to delight in the will of God! You have many sins. If
+you go to church your own mouth is taught to confess this every Sunday.
+The blood of Jesus Christ can alone cleanse those sins away. The
+righteousness of Christ can alone make you acceptable in the sight of
+God. Faith, simple childlike faith, can alone give you an interest in
+Christ and His benefits. Would you know whether you are prepared to meet
+God? Then where is your faith?--Your heart is naturally unmeet for God's
+company. You have no real pleasure in doing His will. The Holy Ghost
+must transform you after the image of Christ. Old things must pass away.
+All things must become new. Would you know whether you are prepared to
+meet God? Then, where is your grace? Where are the evidences of your
+conversion and sanctification?
+
+I believe that this, and nothing less than this, is preparedness to meet
+God. Pardon of sin and meetness for God's presence,--justification by
+faith and sanctification of the heart,--the blood of Christ sprinkled on
+us, and the Spirit of Christ dwelling in us,--these are the grand
+essentials of the Christian religion. These are no mere words and names
+to furnish bones of contention for wrangling theologians. These are
+sober, solid, substantial realities. To live in the actual possession
+of these things, in a world full of sickness and death, is the first
+duty which I press home upon your soul.
+
+(_b_) Another paramount duty which the prevalence of sickness entails on
+you, is that of _living habitually ready to bear it patiently_. Sickness
+is no doubt a trying thing to flesh and blood. To feel our nerves
+unstrung, and our natural force abated,--to be obliged to sit still and
+be cut off from all our usual avocations,--to see our plans broken off
+and our purposes disappointed,--to endure long hours, and days, and
+nights of weariness and pain,--all this is a severe strain on poor
+sinful human nature. What wonder if peevishness and impatience are
+brought out by disease! Surely in such a dying world as this we should
+study patience.
+
+How shall we learn to bear sickness patiently, when sickness comes to
+our turn? We must lay up stores of grace in the time of health. We must
+seek for the sanctifying influence of the Holy Ghost over our unruly
+tempers and dispositions. We must make a real business of our prayers,
+and regularly ask for strength to endure God's will as well as to do it.
+Such strength is to be had for the asking: "If ye shall ask anything in
+my name, I will do it for you." (John xiv. 14.)
+
+I cannot think it needless to dwell on this point. I believe the passive
+graces of Christianity receive far less notice than they deserve.
+Meekness, gentleness, long-suffering, faith, patience, are all mentioned
+in the Word of God as fruits of the Spirit. They are passive graces
+which specially glorify God. They often make men think, who despise the
+active side of the Christian character. Never do these graces shine so
+brightly as they do in the sick room. They enable many a sick person to
+preach a silent sermon, which those around him never forget. Would you
+adorn the doctrine you profess? Would you make your Christianity
+beautiful in the eyes of others? Then take the hint I give you this
+day. Lay up a store of patience against the time of illness. Then,
+though your sickness be not to death, it shall be for the "glory of
+God." (John xi. 4.)
+
+(_c_) One more paramount duty which the prevalence of sickness entails
+on you, is that of _habitual readiness to feel with and help your
+fellow-men_. Sickness is never very far from us. Few are the families
+who have not some sick relative. Few are the parishes where you will not
+find some one ill. But wherever there is sickness, there is a call to
+duty. A little timely assistance in some cases,--a kindly visit in
+others,--a friendly inquiry,--a mere expression of sympathy, may do a
+vast good. These are the sort of things which soften asperities, and
+bring men together, and promote good feeling. These are ways by which
+you may ultimately lead men to Christ and save their souls. These are
+good works to which every professing Christian should be ready. In a
+world full of sickness and disease we ought to "bear one another's
+burdens," and be "kind one to another." (Gal. vi. 2; Ephes. iv. 32.)
+
+These things, I dare say, may appear to some little and trifling. They
+must needs be doing something great, and grand, and striking, and
+heroic! I take leave to say that conscientious attention to these little
+acts of brotherly-kindness is one of the clearest evidences of having
+"the mind of Christ." They are acts in which our blessed Master Himself
+was abundant. He was ever "going about doing good" to the sick and
+sorrowful. (Acts x. 38.) They are acts to which He attaches great
+importance in that most solemn passage of Scripture, the description of
+the last judgment. He says there: "I was sick, and ye visited Me."
+(Matt. xxv. 36.)
+
+Have you any desire to prove the reality of your charity,--that blessed
+grace which so many talk of, and so few practise? If you have, beware of
+unfeeling selfishness and neglect of your sick brethren. Search them
+out. Assist them if they need aid. Show your sympathy with them. Try to
+lighten their burdens. Above all, strive to do good to their souls. It
+will do you good if it does no good to them. It will keep your heart
+from murmuring. It may prove a blessing to your own soul. I firmly
+believe that God is testing and proving us by every case of sickness
+within our reach. By permitting suffering, He tries whether Christians
+have any feeling. Beware, lest you be weighed in the balances and found
+wanting. If you can live in a sick and dying world and not feel for
+others, you have yet much to learn.
+
+I leave this branch of my subject here. I throw out the points I have
+named as suggestions, and I pray God that they may work in many minds. I
+repeat, that habitual preparedness to meet God,--habitual readiness to
+suffer patiently,--habitual willingness to sympathize heartily,--are
+plain duties which sickness entails on all. They are duties within the
+reach of every one. In naming them I ask nothing extravagant or
+unreasonable. I bid no man retire into a monastery and ignore the duties
+of his station. I only want men to realize that they live in a sick and
+dying world, and to live accordingly. And I say boldly, that the man who
+lives the life of faith, and holiness, and patience, and charity, is not
+only the most true Christian, but the most wise and reasonable man.
+
+
+And now I conclude all with four words of practical application. I want
+the subject of this paper to be turned to some spiritual use. My heart's
+desire and prayer to God in placing it in this volume is to do good to
+souls.
+
+(1) In the first place, I offer a _question_ to all who read this paper,
+to which, as God's ambassador, I entreat their serious attention. It is
+a question which grows naturally out of the subject on which I have been
+writing. It is a question which concerns all, of every rank, and class,
+and condition. I ask you, What will you do when you are ill?
+
+The time must come when you, as well as others, must go down the dark
+valley of the shadow of death. The hour must come when you, like all
+your forefathers, must sicken and die. The time may be near or far off.
+God only knows. But whenever the time may be, I ask again. What are you
+going to do? Where do you mean to turn for comfort? On what do you mean
+to rest your soul? On what do you mean to build your hope? From whence
+will you fetch your consolations?
+
+I do entreat you not to put these questions away. Suffer them to work on
+your conscience, and rest not till you can give them a satisfactory
+answer. Trifle not with that precious gift, an immortal soul. Defer not
+the consideration of the matter to a more convenient season. Presume not
+on a death-bed repentance. The greatest business ought surely not to be
+left to the last. One dying thief was saved that men might not despair,
+but only one that none might presume. I repeat the question. I am sure
+it deserves an answer, "What will you do when you are ill?"
+
+If you were going to live for ever in this world I would not address you
+as I do. But it cannot be. There is no escaping the common lot of all
+mankind. Nobody can die in our stead. The day must come when we must
+each go to our long home. Against that day I want you to be prepared.
+The body which now takes up so much of your attention--the body which
+you now clothe, and feed, and warm with so much care,--that body must
+return again to the dust. Oh, think what an awful thing it would prove
+at last to have provided for everything except the one thing
+needful,--to have provided for the body, but to have neglected the
+soul,--to die, in fact, like Cardinal Beaufort, and "give no sign" of
+being saved! Once more I press my question on your conscience: "What
+will you do when you are ill?"
+
+(2) In the next place, I offer _counsel_ to all who feel they need it
+and are willing to take it,--to all who feel they are not yet prepared
+to meet God. That counsel is short and simple. Acquaint yourself with
+the Lord Jesus Christ without delay. Repent, be converted, flee to
+Christ, and be saved.
+
+Either you have a soul or you have not. You will surely never deny that
+you have. Then if you have a soul, seek that soul's salvation. Of all
+gambling in the world, there is none so reckless as that of the man who
+lives unprepared to meet God, and yet puts off repentance.--Either you
+have sins or you have none. If you have (and who will dare to deny it?),
+break off from those sins, cast away your transgressions, and turn away
+from them without delay.--Either you need a Saviour or you do not. If
+you do, flee to the only Saviour this very day, and cry mightily to Him
+to save your soul. Apply to Christ at once. Seek Him by faith. Commit
+your soul into His keeping. Cry mightily to Him for pardon and peace
+with God. Ask Him to pour down the Holy Spirit upon you, and make you a
+thorough Christian. He will hear you. No matter what you have been, He
+will not refuse your prayer. He has said, "Him that cometh to Me I will
+in no wise cast out." (John vi. 37.)
+
+Beware, I beseech you, of a vague and indefinite Christianity. Be not
+content with a general hope that all is right because you belong to the
+old Church of England, and that all will be well at last because God is
+merciful. Rest not, rest not without personal union with Christ Himself.
+Rest not, rest not till you have the witness of the Spirit in your
+heart, that you are washed, and sanctified, and justified, and one with
+Christ, and Christ in you. Rest not till you can say with the apostle,
+"I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep
+that which I have committed to Him against that day." (2 Tim. i. 12.)
+
+Vague, and indefinite, and indistinct religion may do very well in time
+of health. It will never do in the day of sickness. A mere formal,
+perfunctory Church-membership may carry a man through the sunshine of
+youth and prosperity. It will break down entirely when death is in
+sight. Nothing will do then but real heart-union with Christ. Christ
+interceding for us at God's right hand,--Christ known and believed as
+our Priest, our Physician, our Friend,--Christ alone can rob death of
+its sting and enable us to face sickness without fear. He alone can
+deliver those who through fear of death are in bondage. I say to every
+one who wants advice, Be acquainted with Christ. As ever you would have
+hope and comfort on the bed of sickness, be acquainted with Christ. Seek
+Christ. Apply to Christ.
+
+Take every care and trouble to Him when you are acquainted with Him. He
+will keep you and carry you through all. Pour out your heart before Him,
+when your conscience is burdened. He is the true Confessor. He alone can
+absolve you and take the burden away. Turn to Him first in the day of
+sickness, like Martha and Mary. Keep on looking to Him to the last
+breath of your life. Christ is worth knowing. The more you know Him the
+better you will love Him. Then be acquainted with Jesus Christ.
+
+(3) In the third place, I exhort all true Christians who read this paper
+to remember how much they may glorify God in the time of sickness, and
+to _lie quiet in God's hand when they are ill_.
+
+I feel it very important to touch on this point. I know how ready the
+heart of a believer is to faint, and how busy Satan is in suggesting
+doubts and questionings, when the body of a Christian is weak. I have
+seen something of the depression and melancholy which sometimes comes
+upon the children of God when they are suddenly laid aside by disease,
+and obliged to sit still. I have marked how prone some good people are
+to torment themselves with morbid thoughts at such seasons, and to say
+in their hearts, "God has forsaken me: I am cast out of His sight."
+
+I earnestly entreat all sick believers to remember that they may honour
+God as much by patient suffering as they can by active work. It often
+shows more grace to sit still than it does to go to and fro, and perform
+great exploits. I entreat them to remember that Christ cares for them as
+much when they are sick as He does when they are well, and that the very
+chastisement they feel so acutely is sent in love, and not in anger.
+Above all, I entreat them to recollect the sympathy of Jesus for all His
+weak members. They are always tenderly cared for by Him, but never so
+much as in their time of need. Christ has had great experience of
+sickness. He knows the heart of a sick man. He used to see "all manner
+of sickness, and all manner of disease" when He was upon earth. He felt
+specially for the sick in the days of His flesh. He feels for them
+specially still. Sickness and suffering, I often think, make believers
+more like their Lord in experience, than health. "Himself took our
+infirmities, and bare our sicknesses." (Isaiah liii. 3; Matt. viii. 17.)
+The Lord Jesus was a "Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief." None
+have such an opportunity of learning the mind of a suffering Saviour as
+suffering disciples.
+
+(4) I conclude with a word of _exhortation_ to all believers, which I
+heartily pray God to impress upon their souls. I exhort you to keep up a
+habit of close communion with Christ, and never to be afraid of "going
+too far" in your religion. Remember this, if you wish to have "great
+peace" in your times of sickness.
+
+I observe with regret a tendency in some quarters to lower the standard
+of practical Christianity, and to denounce what are called "extreme
+views" about a Christian's daily walk in life. I remark with pain that
+even religious people will sometimes look coldly on those who withdraw
+from worldly society, and will censure them as "exclusive,
+narrow-minded, illiberal, uncharitable, sour-spirited," and the like. I
+warn every believer in Christ who reads this paper to beware of being
+influenced by such censures. I entreat him, if he wants light in the
+valley of death, to "keep himself unspotted from the world," to "follow
+the Lord very fully," and to walk very closely with God. (James i. 27;
+Num. xiv. 24.)
+
+I believe that the want of "thoroughness" about many people's
+Christianity is one secret of their little comfort, both in health and
+sickness. I believe that the "half-and-half,"--"keep-in-with-everybody"
+religion, which satisfies many in the present day, is offensive to God,
+and sows thorns in dying pillows, which hundreds never discover till too
+late. I believe that the weakness and feebleness of such a religion
+never comes out so much as it does upon a sick bed.
+
+If you and I want "strong consolation" in our time of need, we must not
+be content with a bare union with Christ. (Heb. vi. 18.) We must seek to
+know something of heart-felt, experimental _communion_ with Him. Never,
+never let us forget, that "union" is one thing, and "communion" another.
+Thousands, I fear, who know what "union" with Christ is, know nothing of
+"communion."
+
+The day may come when after a long fight with disease, we shall feel
+that medicine can do no more, and that nothing remains but to die.
+Friends will be standing by, unable to help us. Hearing, eyesight, even
+the power of praying, will be fast failing us. The world and its shadows
+will be melting beneath our feet. Eternity, with its realities, will be
+looming large before our minds. What shall support us in that trying
+hour? What shall enable us to feel, "I fear no evil"? (Psalm xxiii. 4.)
+Nothing, nothing can do it but close communion with Christ. Christ
+dwelling in our hearts by faith,--Christ putting His right arm under our
+heads,--Christ felt to be sitting by our side,--Christ can alone give us
+the complete victory in the last struggle.
+
+Let us cleave to Christ more closely, love Him more heartily, live to
+Him more thoroughly, copy Him more exactly, confess Him more boldly,
+follow Him more fully. Religion like this will always bring its own
+reward. Worldly people may laugh at it. Weak brethren may think it
+extreme. But it will wear well. At even time it will bring us light. In
+sickness it will bring us peace. In the world to come it will give us a
+crown of glory that fadeth not away.
+
+The time is short. The fashion of this world passeth away. A few more
+sicknesses, and all will be over. A few more funerals, and our own
+funeral will take place. A few more storms and tossings, and we shall be
+safe in harbour. We travel towards a world where there is no more
+sickness,--where parting, and pain, and crying, and mourning, are done
+with for evermore. Heaven is becoming every year more full, and earth
+more empty. The friends ahead are becoming more numerous than the
+friends astern. "Yet a little time and He that shall come will come, and
+will not tarry." (Heb. x. 37.) In His presence shall be fulness of joy.
+Christ shall wipe away all tears from His people's eyes. The last enemy
+that shall be destroyed is Death. But he shall be destroyed. Death
+himself shall one day die. (Rev. xx. 14.)
+
+In the meantime let us live the life of faith in the Son of God. Let us
+lean all our weight on Christ, and rejoice in the thought that He lives
+for evermore.
+
+Yes: blessed be God! Christ lives, though we may die. Christ lives,
+though friends and families are carried to the grave. He lives who
+abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light by the
+Gospel. He lives who said, "O death, I will be thy plagues: O grave, I
+will be thy destruction." (Hos. xiii. 14.) He lives who will one day
+change our vile body, and make it like unto His glorious body. In
+sickness and in health, in life and in death, let us lean confidently on
+Him. Surely we ought to say daily with one of old, "Blessed be God for
+Jesus Christ!"
+
+
+
+
+XVI
+
+
+THE FAMILY OF GOD
+
+     "_The whole family in heaven and earth._"--Ephes. iii. 15.
+
+
+The words which form the title of this paper ought to stir some feelings
+in our minds at any time. There lives not the man or woman on earth who
+is not member of some "family." The poorest as well as the richest has
+his kith and kin, and can tell you something of his "family."
+
+Family gatherings at certain times of the year, such as Christmas, we
+all know, are very common. Thousands of firesides are crowded then, if
+at no other time of the year. The young man in town snatches a few days
+from business, and takes a run down to the old folks at home. The young
+woman in service gets a short holiday, and comes to visit her father and
+mother. Brothers and sisters meet for a few hours. Parents and children
+look one another in the face. How much there is to talk about! How many
+questions to be asked! How many interesting things to be told! Happy
+indeed is that fireside which sees gathered round it at Christmas "the
+whole family!"
+
+Family gatherings are natural, and right, and good. I approve them with
+all my heart. It does me good to see them kept up. They are one of the
+very few pleasant things which have survived the fall of man. Next to
+the grace of God, I see no principle which unites people so much in
+this sinful world as family feeling. Community of blood is a most
+powerful tie. It was a fine saying of an American naval officer, when
+his men insisted on helping the English sailors in fighting the Taku
+forts in China,--"I cannot help it: blood is thicker than water." I have
+often observed that people will stand up for their relations, merely
+because they _are_ their relations,--and refuse to hear a word against
+them,--even when they have no sympathy with their tastes and ways.
+Anything which helps to keep up family feeling ought to be commended. It
+is a wise thing, when it can be done, to gather together at Christmas
+"the whole family."
+
+Family gatherings, nevertheless, are often sorrowful things. It would be
+strange indeed, in such a world as this, if they were not. Few are the
+family circles which do not show gaps and vacant places as years pass
+away. Changes and deaths make sad havoc as time goes on. Thoughts will
+rise up within us, as we grow older, about faces and voices no longer
+with us, which no Christmas merriment can entirely keep down. When the
+young members of the family have once begun to launch forth into the
+world, the old heads may long survive the scattering of the nest; but
+after a certain time, it seldom happens that you see together "the whole
+family."
+
+There is one great family to which I want all the readers of this paper
+to belong. It is a family despised by many, and not even known by some.
+But it is a family of far more importance than any family on earth. To
+belong to it entitles a man to far greater privileges than to be the son
+of a king. It is the family of which St. Paul speaks to the Ephesians,
+when he tells them of the "whole family in heaven and earth." It is the
+family of God.
+
+I ask the attention of every reader of this paper while I try to
+describe this family, and recommend it to his notice. I want to tell you
+of the amazing benefits which membership of this family conveys. I want
+you to be found one of this family, when its gathering shall come at
+last,--a gathering without separation, or sorrow, or tears. Hear me
+while, as a minister of Christ, and friend to your soul, I speak to you
+for a few minutes about "the whole family in heaven and earth:"--
+
+
+    I. First of all, _what is this family_?
+
+    II. Secondly, _what is its present position_?
+
+    III. Thirdly, _what are its future prospects_?
+
+
+I wish to unfold these three things before you, and I invite your
+serious consideration of them. Our family gatherings on earth must have
+an end one day. Our last earthly Christmas must come. Happy indeed is
+that Christmas which finds us prepared to meet God!
+
+
+I. _What is that family_ which the Bible calls "the whole family in
+heaven and earth"? Of whom does it consist?
+
+The family before us consists of all real Christians,--of all who have
+the Spirit,--of all true believers in Christ,--of the saints of every
+age, and Church, and nation, and tongue. It includes the blessed company
+of all faithful people. It is the same as the election of God,--the
+household of faith,--the mystical body of Christ,--the bride,--the
+living temple,--the sheep that never perish,--the Church of the
+first-born,--the holy Catholic Church. All these expressions are only
+"the family of God" under other names.
+
+Membership of the family before us does not depend on any earthly
+connection. It comes not by natural birth, but by new birth. Ministers
+cannot impart it to their hearers. Parents cannot give it to their
+children. You may be born in the godliest family in the land, and enjoy
+the richest means of grace a Church can supply, and yet never belong to
+the family of God. To belong to it you must be born again. None but the
+Holy Ghost can make a living member of His family. It is His special
+office and prerogative to bring into the true Church such as shall be
+saved. They that are born again are born, "not of blood, nor of the will
+of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (John i. 13.)
+
+Do you ask the reason, of this name which the Bible gives to the company
+of all true Christians? Would you like to know why they are called "a
+family"? Listen and I will tell you.
+
+(_a_) True Christians are called "a family" because they have all _one
+Father_. They are all children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. They are
+all born of one Spirit. They are all sons and daughters of the Lord
+Almighty. They have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby they cry,
+Abba Father. (Gal. iii. 26; John iii. 8; 2 Cor. vi. 18; Rom. viii. 15.)
+They do not regard God with slavish fear, as an austere Being, only
+ready to punish them. They look up to Him with tender confidence, as a
+reconciled and loving parent,--as one forgiving iniquity, transgression,
+and sin, to all who believe on Jesus,--and full of pity even to the
+least and feeblest. The words, "Our Father which art in heaven," are no
+mere form in the mouth of true Christians. No wonder they are called
+God's "family."
+
+(_b_) True Christians are called "a family," because they all _rejoice
+in one name_. That name is the name of their great Head and Elder
+Brother, even Jesus Christ the Lord. Just as a common family name is the
+uniting link to all the members of a Highland clan, so does the name of
+Jesus tie all believers together in one vast family. As members of
+outward visible Churches they have various names and distinguishing
+appellations. As living members of Christ, they all, with one heart and
+mind, rejoice in one Saviour. Not a heart among them but feels drawn to
+Jesus as the only object of hope. Not a tongue among them but would
+tell you that "Christ is all." Sweet to them all is the thought of
+Christ's death for them on the cross. Sweet is the thought of Christ's
+intercession for them at the right hand of God. Sweet is the thought of
+Christ's coming again to unite them to Himself in one glorified company
+for ever. In fact, you might as well take away the sun out of heaven, as
+take away the name of Christ from believers. To the world there may seem
+little in His name. To believers it is full of comfort, hope, joy, rest,
+and peace. No wonder they are called "a family."
+
+(_c_) True Christians, above all, are called "a family" because there is
+so strong _a family likeness_ among them. They are all led by one
+Spirit, and are marked by the same general features of life, heart,
+taste, and character. Just as there is a general bodily resemblance
+among the brothers and sisters of a family, so there is a general
+spiritual resemblance among all the sons and daughters of the Lord
+Almighty. They all hate sin and love God. They all rest their hope of
+salvation on Christ, and have no confidence in themselves. They all
+endeavour to "come out and be separate" from the ways of the world, and
+to set their affections on things above. They all turn naturally to the
+same Bible, as the only food of their souls and the only sure guide in
+their pilgrimage toward heaven: they find it a "lamp to their feet, and
+a light to their path." (Psa. cxix. 105.) They all go to the same throne
+of grace in prayer, and find it as needful to speak to God as to
+breathe. They all live by the same rule, the Word of God, and strive to
+conform their daily life to its precepts. They have all the same inward
+experience. Repentance, faith, hope, charity, humility, inward conflict,
+are things with which they are all more or less acquainted. No wonder
+they are called "a family."
+
+This family likeness among true believers is a thing that deserves
+special attention. To my own mind it is one of the strongest indirect
+evidences of the truth of Christianity It is one of the greatest proofs
+of the reality of the work of the Holy Ghost. Some true Christians live
+in civilized countries, and some in the midst of heathen lands. Some are
+highly educated, and some are unable to read a letter. Some are rich and
+some are poor. Some are Churchmen and some are Dissenters. Some are old
+and some are young. And yet, notwithstanding all this, there is a
+marvellous oneness of heart and character among them. Their joys and
+their sorrows, their love and their hatred, their likes and their
+dislikes, their tastes and their distastes, their hopes and their fears,
+are all most curiously alike. Let others think what they please, I see
+in all this the finger of God. His handiwork is always one and the same.
+No wonder that true Christians are compared to "a family."
+
+Take a converted Englishman and a converted Hindoo, and let them
+suddenly meet for the first time. I will engage, if they can understand
+one another's language, they will soon find common ground between them,
+and feel at home. The one may have been brought up at Eton and Oxford,
+and enjoyed every privilege of English civilization. The other may have
+been trained in the midst of gross heathenism, and accustomed to habits,
+ways, and manners as unlike the Englishman's as darkness compared to
+light. And yet now in half an hour they feel that they are friends! The
+Englishman finds that he has more in common with his Hindoo brother than
+he has with many an old college companion or school-fellow! Who can
+account for this? How can it be explained? Nothing can account for it
+but the unity of the Spirit's teaching. It is "one touch" of grace (not
+nature) "that makes the whole world kin." God's people are in the
+highest sense "a family."
+
+This is the family to which I wish to direct the attention of my readers
+in this paper. This is the family to which I want you to belong. I ask
+you this day to consider it well, if you never considered it before. I
+have shown you the Father of the family,--the God and Father of our Lord
+Jesus Christ. I have shown you the Head and Elder Brother of the
+family,--the Lord Jesus Himself. I have shown you the features and
+characteristics of the family. Its members have all great marks of
+resemblance. Once more I say, consider it well.
+
+Outside this family, remember, there is no salvation. None but those who
+belong to it, according to the Bible, are in the way that leads to
+heaven. The salvation of our souls does not depend on union with one
+Church or separation from another. They are miserably deceived who think
+that it does, and will find it out to their cost one day, except they
+awake. No! the life of our souls depends on something far more
+important. This is life eternal, to be a member of "the whole family in
+heaven and earth."
+
+
+II. I will now pass on to the second thing which I promised to consider.
+_What is the present position_ of the whole family in heaven and earth?
+
+The family to which I am directing the attention of my readers this day
+is divided into two great parts. Each part has its own residence or
+dwelling-place. Part of the family is in heaven, and part is on earth.
+For the present the two parts are entirely separated from one another.
+But they form one body in the sight of God, though resident in two
+places; and their union is sure to take place one day.
+
+Two places, be it remembered, and two only, contain the family of God.
+The Bible tells us of no third habitation. There is no such thing as
+purgatory, whatever some Christians may think fit to say. There is no
+house of purifying, training, or probation for those who are not true
+Christians when they die. Oh no! There are but two parts of the
+family,--the part that is seen and the part that is unseen, the part
+that is in "heaven" and the part that is on "earth." The members of the
+family that are not in heaven are on earth, and those that are not on
+earth are in heaven. Two parts, and two only! Two places, and two only!
+Let this never be forgotten.
+
+Some of God's family are safe _in heaven_. They are at rest in that
+place which the Lord Jesus expressly calls "Paradise." (Luke xxiii. 43.)
+They have finished their course. They have fought their battle. They
+have done their appointed work. They have learned their lessons. They
+have carried their cross. They have passed through the waves of this
+troublesome world and reached the harbour. Little as we know about them,
+we know that they are happy. They are no longer troubled by sin and
+temptation. They have said good-bye for ever to poverty and anxiety, to
+pain and sickness, to sorrow and tears. They are with Christ Himself,
+who loved them and gave Himself for them, and in His company they must
+needs be happy. (Phil. i. 23.) They have nothing to fear in looking back
+to the past. They have nothing to dread in looking forward to things to
+come. Three things only are lacking to make their happiness complete.
+These three are the second advent of Christ in glory, the resurrection
+of their own bodies, and the gathering together of all believers. And of
+these three things they are sure.
+
+Some of God's family are still _upon earth_. They are scattered to and
+fro in the midst of a wicked world, a few in one place and a few in
+another. All are more or less occupied in the same way, according to the
+measure of their grace. All are running a race, doing a work, warring a
+warfare, carrying a cross, striving against sin, resisting the devil,
+crucifying the flesh, struggling against the world, witnessing for
+Christ, mourning over their own hearts, hearing, reading, and praying,
+however feebly, for the life of their souls. Each is often disposed to
+think no cross so heavy as his own, no work so difficult, no heart so
+hard. But each and all hold on their way,--a wonder to the ignorant
+world around them, and often a wonder to themselves.
+
+But, however divided God's family may be at present in dwelling-place
+and local habitation, it is still one family. Both parts of it are still
+one in character, one in possessions, and one in relation to God. The
+part in heaven has not so much superiority over the part on earth as at
+first sight may appear. The difference between the two is only one of
+degree.
+
+(_a_) Both parts of the family love the same Saviour, and delight in the
+same perfect will of God. But the part on earth loves with much
+imperfection and infirmity, and lives by faith, not by sight.--The part
+in heaven loves without weakness, or doubt, or distraction. It walks by
+sight and not by faith, and sees what it once believed.
+
+(_b_) Both parts of the family are saints. But the saints on earth are
+often poor weary pilgrims, who find the "flesh lusting against the
+spirit and the spirit lusting against the flesh, so that they cannot do
+the things they would." (Gal. v. 17.) They live in the midst of an evil
+world, and are often sick of themselves and of the sin they see around
+them.--The saints in heaven, on the contrary, are delivered from the
+world, the flesh, and the devil, and enjoy a glorious liberty. They are
+called "the spirits of just men made perfect." (Heb. xii. 23.)
+
+(_c_) Both parts of the family are alike God's children. But the
+children in heaven have learned all their lessons, have finished their
+appointed tasks, have begun an eternal holiday.--The children on earth
+are still at school. They are daily learning wisdom, though slowly and
+with much trouble, and often needing to be reminded of their past
+lessons by chastisement and the rod. Their holidays are yet to come.
+
+(_d_) Both parts of the family are alike God's soldiers. But the
+soldiers on earth are yet militant. Their warfare is not accomplished.
+Their fight is not over. They need every day to put on the whole armour
+of God.--The soldiers in heaven are all triumphant. No enemy can hurt
+them now. No fiery dart can reach them. Helmet and shield may both be
+laid aside. They may at last say to the sword of the Spirit, "Rest and
+be still." They may at length sit down, and need not to watch and stand
+on their guard.
+
+(2) Last, but not least, both parts of the family are alike safe and
+secure. Wonderful as this may sound, it is true. Christ cares as much
+for His members on earth as His members in heaven. You might as well
+think to pluck the stars out of heaven, as to pluck one saint, however
+feeble, out of Christ's hand. Both parts of the family are alike secured
+by "an everlasting covenant ordered in all things and sure." (2 Sam.
+xxiii. 5.) The members on earth, through the burden of the flesh and the
+dimness of their faith, may neither see, nor know, nor feel their own
+safety. But they are safe, though they may not see it. The whole family
+is "kept by the power of God, through faith unto salvation." (1 Peter i.
+5.) The members yet on the road are as secure as the members who have
+got home. Not one shall be found missing at the last day. The words of
+the Christian poet shall be found strictly true:--
+
+    "More happy, but not more secure,
+    The glorified spirits in heaven."
+
+Before I leave this part of my subject, I ask every reader of this paper
+to understand thoroughly the present position of God's family, and to
+form a just estimate of it. Learn not to measure its numbers or its
+privileges by what you see with your eyes. You see only a small body of
+believers in this present time. But you must not forget that a great
+company has got safe to heaven already, and that when all are assembled
+at the last day they will be "a multitude which no man can number."
+(Rev. vii. 9.) You only see that part of the family which is struggling
+on earth. You must never forget that the greater part of the family has
+got home and is resting in heaven.--You see the militant part, but not
+the triumphant. You see the part that is carrying the cross, but not the
+part which is safe in Paradise. The family of God is far more rich and
+glorious than you suppose. Believe me, it is no small thing to belong to
+the "whole family in heaven and earth."
+
+
+III. I will now pass on to the last thing which I promised to
+consider.--_What are the future prospects_ of the whole family in heaven
+and earth?
+
+The future prospects of a family! What a vast amount of uncertainty
+these words open up when we look at any family now in the world! How
+little we can tell of the things coming on any of us! What a mercy that
+we do not know the sorrows and trials and separations through which our
+beloved children may have to pass, when we have left the world! It is a
+mercy that we do not know "what a day may bring forth," and a far
+greater mercy that we do not know what may happen in twenty years.
+(Prov. xxvii. 1.) Alas, foreknowledge of the future prospects of our
+belongings would spoil many a family gathering, and fill the whole party
+with gloom!
+
+Think how many a fine boy, who is now the delight of his parents, will
+by and by walk in the prodigal's footsteps, and never return home! Think
+how many a fair daughter, the joy of a mother's heart, will follow the
+bent of her self-will after a few years, and insist on some miserably
+mistaken marriage! Think how disease and pain will often lay low the
+loveliest of a family circle, and make her life a burden and weariness
+to herself, if not to others! Think of the endless breaches and
+divisions arising out of money matters! Alas, there is many a life-long
+quarrel about a few pounds, between those who once played together in
+the same nursery! Think of these things. The "future prospects" of many
+a family which meets together every Christmas are a solemn and serious
+subject. Hundreds, to say the least, are gathering together for the last
+time: when they part, they will never meet again.
+
+But, thank God, there is one great family whose "prospects" are very
+different. It is the family of which I am speaking in this paper, and
+commending to your attention. The future prospects of the family of God
+are not uncertain. They are good, and only good,--happy, and only happy.
+Listen to me, and I will try to set them in order before you.
+
+(_a_) The members of God's family shall all be _brought safe home_ one
+day. Here upon earth they may be scattered, tried, tossed with tempests,
+and bowed down with afflictions. But not one of them shall perish. (John
+x. 28.) The weakest lamb shall not be left to perish in the wilderness:
+the feeblest child shall not be missing when the muster-roll is brought
+out at the last day. In spite of the world, the flesh, and the devil,
+the whole family shall get home. "If, when we were enemies, we were
+reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled,
+we shall be saved by His life." (Rom. v. 10.)
+
+(_b_) The members of God's family _shall all have glorious bodies_ one
+day. When the Lord Jesus Christ comes the second time, the dead saints
+shall all be raised and the living shall all be changed. They shall no
+longer have a vile mortal body, full of weaknesses and infirmities: they
+shall have a body like that of their risen Lord, without the slightest
+liability to sickness and pain. They shall no longer be clogged and
+hindered by an aching frame, when they want to serve God: they shall be
+able to serve Him night and day without weariness, and to attend upon
+Him without distraction. The former things will have passed away. That
+word will be fulfilled, "I make all things new." (Rev. xxi. 5.)
+
+(_c_) The members of God's family shall all be _gathered into one
+company_ one day. It matters nothing where they have lived or where they
+have died. They may have been separated from one another both by time
+and space. One may have lived in tents, with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
+and another travelled by railway in our own day. One may have laid his
+bones in an Australian desert, and another may have been buried in an
+English churchyard. It makes no difference. All shall be gathered
+together from north and south, and east and west, and meet in one happy
+assembly, to part no more. The earthly partings of God's family are only
+for a few days. Their meeting is for eternity. It matters little where
+we live. It is a time of scattering now, and not of gathering. It
+matters little where we die. All graves are equally near to Paradise.
+But it does matter much whether we belong to God's family. If we do we
+are sure to meet again at last.
+
+(_d_) The members of God's family shall all be _united in mind and
+judgment_ one day. They are not so now about many little things. About
+the things needful to salvation there is a marvellous unity among them.
+About many speculative points in religion, about forms of worship and
+Church government, they often sadly disagree. But there shall be no
+disagreement among them one day. Ephraim shall no longer vex Judah, nor
+Judah Ephraim. Churchmen shall no more quarrel with Dissenters, nor
+Dissenters with Churchmen. Partial knowledge and dim vision shall be at
+an end for ever. Divisions and separations, misunderstandings and
+misconstructions, shall be buried and forgotten. As there shall only be
+one language, so there shall only be one opinion. At last, after six
+thousand years of strife and jangling, perfect unity and harmony shall
+be found. A family shall at length be shown to angels and men in which
+all are of one mind.
+
+(_e_) The members of God's family shall all be _perfected in holiness_
+one day. They are not literally perfect now, although "complete in
+Christ." (Col. ii. 10.) Though born again, and renewed after the image
+of Christ, they offend and fall short in many things. (James iii, 2.)
+None know it better than they do themselves. It is their grief and
+sorrow that they do not love God more heartily and serve Him more
+faithfully. But they shall be completely freed from all corruption one
+day. They shall rise again at Christ's second appearing without any of
+the infirmities which cleave to them in their lives. Not a single evil
+temper or corrupt inclination shall be found in them. They shall be
+presented by their Head to the Father, without spot, or wrinkle, or any
+such thing,--perfectly holy and without blemish,--fair as the moon, and
+clear as the sun. (Eph. v. 27; Cant. v. 10.) Grace, even now, is a
+beautiful thing, when it lives, and shines, and flourishes in the midst
+of imperfection. But how much more beautiful will grace appear when it
+is seen pure, unmixed, unmingled, and alone! And it shall be seen so
+when Christ comes to be glorified in His saints at the last day.
+
+(_f_) Last, but not least, the members of God's family shall all be
+_eternally provided for_ one day. When the affairs of this sinful world
+are finally wound up and settled, there shall be an everlasting portion
+for all the sons and daughters of the Lord almighty. Not even the
+weakest of them shall be overlooked and forgotten. There shall be
+something for everyone, according to his measure. The smallest vessel of
+grace, as well as the greatest, shall be filled to the brim with glory.
+The precise nature of that glory and reward it would be folly to pretend
+to describe. It is a thing which eye has not seen, nor mind of man
+conceived. Enough for us to know that each member of God's family, when
+he awakes up after His Master's likeness, shall be "satisfied." (Psalm
+xvii. 15.) Enough, above all, to know that their joy, and glory, and
+reward shall be for ever. What they receive in the day of the Lord they
+will never lose. The inheritance reserved for them, when they come of
+age, is "incorruptible, undefiled, and fadeth not away." (1 Peter i. 4.)
+
+These prospects of God's family are great realities. They are not vague
+shadowy talk of man's invention. They are real true things, and will be
+seen as such before long. They deserve your serious consideration.
+Examine them well.
+
+Look round the families of earth with which you are acquainted, the
+richest, the greatest, the noblest, the happiest. Where will you find
+one among them all which can show prospects to compare with those of
+which you have just heard. The earthly riches, in many a case, will be
+gone in a hundred years hence. The noble blood, in many a case, will not
+prevent some disgraceful deed staining the family name. The happiness,
+in many a case, will be found hollow and seeming. Few, indeed, are the
+homes which have not a secret sorrow, or "a skeleton in the closet."
+Whether for present possessions or future prospects, there is no family
+so well off as "the whole family in heaven and earth." Whether you look
+at what they have now, or will have hereafter, there is no family like
+the family of God.
+
+
+My task is done. My paper is drawing to a close. It only remains to
+close it with a few words of practical application. Give me your
+attention for the last time. May God bless what I am going to say to the
+good of your soul!
+
+(1) I ask you a plain question. Take it with you to every family
+gathering which you join at any season of the year. Take it with you,
+and amidst all your happiness make time for thinking about it. It is a
+simple question, but a solemn one,--_Do you yet belong to the family of
+God_?
+
+To the family of God, remember! This is the point of my question. It is
+no answer to say that you are a Protestant, or a Churchman, or a
+Dissenter. I want to hear of something more and better than that. I want
+you to have some soul-satisfying and soul-saving religion,--a religion
+that will give you peace while you live, and hope when you die. To have
+such peace and hope you must be something more than a Protestant, or a
+Churchman, or a Dissenter. You must belong to "the family of God."
+Thousands around you do not belong to it, I can well believe. But that
+is no reason why you should not.
+
+If you do not yet belong to God's family, I invite you this day to join
+it without delay. Open your eyes to see the value of your soul, the
+sinfulness of sin, the holiness of God, the danger of your present
+condition, the absolute necessity of a mighty change. Open your eyes to
+see these things, and repent this very day.--Open your eyes to see the
+great Head of God's family, even Christ Jesus, waiting to save your
+soul. See how He has loved you, lived for you, died for you, risen again
+for you, and obtained complete redemption for you. See how He offers you
+free, full, immediate pardon, if you will believe in Him. Open your eyes
+to see these things. Seek Christ at once. Come and believe on Him, and
+commit your soul to His keeping this very day.
+
+I know nothing of your family or past history. I know not where you go
+to spend your leisure weeks, or what company you are going to be in. But
+I am bold to say, that if you join the family of God you will find it
+the best and happiest family in the world.
+
+(2) If you really belong to the whole family in heaven and earth, count
+up your privileges, and _learn to be more thankful_. Think what a mercy
+it is to have something which the world can neither give nor take
+away,--something which makes you independent of sickness or
+poverty,--something which is your own for evermore. The old family
+fireside will soon be cold and tenantless. The old family gatherings
+will soon be past and gone for ever. The loving faces we now delight to
+gaze on are rapidly leaving us. The cheerful voices which now welcome us
+will soon be silent in the grave. But, thank God, if we belong to
+Christ's family there is a better gathering yet to come. Let us often
+think of it, and be thankful!
+
+The family gathering of all God's people will make amends for all that
+their religion now costs them. A meeting where none are missing,--a
+meeting where there are no gaps and empty places,--a meeting where there
+are no tears,--a meeting where there is no parting,--such a meeting as
+this is worth a fight and a struggle. And such a meeting is yet to come
+to "the whole family in heaven and earth."
+
+In the meantime let us strive to live worthy of the family to which we
+belong. Let us labour to do nothing that may cause our Father's house to
+be spoken against. Let us endeavour to make our Master's name beautiful
+by our temper, conduct, and conversation. Let us love as brethren, and
+abhor all quarrels. Let us behave as if the honour of "the family"
+depended on our behaviour.
+
+So living, by the grace of God, we shall make our calling and election
+sure, both to ourselves and others. So living, we may hope to have an
+abundant entrance, and to enter harbour in full sail, whenever we change
+earth for heaven. (2 Peter i. 11.) So living, we shall recommend our
+Father's family to others, and perhaps by God's blessing incline them to
+say, "We will go with you."
+
+
+
+
+XVII
+
+
+OUR HOME!
+
+     "_Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations._"
+
+     Psalm xc. 1.
+
+
+There are two reasons why the text which heads this paper should ring in
+our hearts with special power. It is the first verse of a deeply solemn
+Psalm,--the first bar of a wondrous piece of spiritual music. How others
+feel when they read the ninetieth Psalm I cannot tell. It always makes
+me lean back in my chair and think.
+
+For one thing, this ninetieth Psalm is the only Psalm composed by
+"Moses, the man of God."[12] It expresses that holy man's feelings, as
+he saw the whole generation whom he had led forth from Egypt, dying in
+the wilderness. Year after year he saw that fearful judgment fulfilling,
+which Israel brought on itself by unbelief:--"Your carcases shall fall
+in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your
+whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured
+against Me, doubtless ye shall not come into the land." (Num. xiv. 29.)
+One after another he saw the heads of the families whom he had led forth
+from Egypt, laying their bones in the desert. For forty long years he
+saw the strong, the swift, the wise, the tender, the beautiful, who had
+crossed the Red Sea with him in triumph, cut down and withering like
+grass. For forty years he saw his companions continually changing,
+consuming, and passing away. Who can wonder that he should say, "Lord,
+Thou art our dwelling-place." We are all pilgrims and strangers upon
+earth, and there is none abiding. "Lord, Thou art our home."
+
+  12: I am quite aware that I have no direct authority for this
+  statement, except the prefatory heading at the beginning of the
+  Psalm. However ancient those headings may be, it is agreed among
+  learned men that they were not given by inspiration, and must not be
+  regarded as a part of God's Word. There is, nevertheless, a curious
+  amount of agreement among critics, that in the case of this
+  ninetieth Psalm the tradition about its authorship is not without
+  foundation.
+
+For another thing, the ninetieth Psalm forms part of the Burial Service
+of the Church of England. Whatever fault men may find with the
+Prayer-book, I think no one can deny the singular beauty of the Burial
+Service. Beautiful are the texts which it puts into the minister's mouth
+as he meets the coffin at the churchyard gate, and leads the mourners
+into God's house. Beautiful is the chapter from the first Epistle to the
+Corinthians about the resurrection of the body. Beautiful are the
+sentences and prayers appointed to be read as the body is laid in its
+long home. But specially beautiful, to my mind, are the Psalms which are
+selected for reading when the mourners have just taken their places in
+church. I know nothing which sounds so soothing, solemnizing,
+heart-touching, and moving to man's spirit, at that trying moment, as
+the wondrous utterance of the old inspired law-giver: "Lord, Thou hast
+been our dwelling-place." "Lord, Thou art our home."
+
+I want to draw from these words two thoughts that may do the readers of
+this paper some good. An English home is famous all over the world for
+its happiness and comfort. It is a little bit of heaven left upon earth.
+But even an English home is not for ever. The family nest is sure to be
+taken down, and its inmates are sure to be scattered. Bear with me for
+a few short minutes, while I try to set before you the best, truest, and
+happiest home.
+
+
+I. The first thought that I will offer you is this:--I will show you
+_what the world is_.
+
+It is a beautiful world in many respects, I freely admit. Its seas and
+rivers, its sunrises and sunsets, its mountains and valleys, its
+harvests and its forests, its fruits and its flowers, its days and its
+nights, all, all are beautiful in their way. Cold and unfeeling must
+that heart be which never finds a day in the year when it can admire
+anything in nature! But beautiful as the world is, there are many things
+in it to remind us that it is not home. It is an inn, a tent, a
+tabernacle, a lodging, a training school. But it is not home.
+
+(_a_) It is a _changing_ world. All around us is continually moving,
+altering, and passing away. Families, properties, landlords, tenants,
+farmers, labourers, tradesmen, all are continually on the move. To find
+the same name in the same dwelling for three generations running is so
+uncommon, that it is the exception and not the rule. A world so full of
+change cannot be called home.
+
+(_b_) It is a _trying and disappointing_ world. Who ever lives to be
+fifty years old and does not find to his cost that it is so? Trials in
+married life and trials in single life,--trials in children and trials
+in brothers and sisters,--trials in money matters and trials in
+health,--how many they are! Their name is legion. And not the tenth part
+of them perhaps ever comes to light. Few indeed are the families which
+have not "a skeleton in the closet." A world so full of trial and
+disappointment cannot be called home.
+
+(_c_) It is a _dying_ world. Death is continually about us and near us,
+and meets us at every turn. Few are the family gatherings, when
+Christmas comes round, in which there are not some empty chairs and
+vacant places. Few are the men and women, past thirty, who could not
+number a long list of names, deeply cut for ever in their hearts, but
+names of beloved ones now dead and gone. Where are our fathers and
+mothers? Where are our ministers and teachers? Where are our brothers
+and sisters? Where are our husbands and wives? Where are our neighbours
+and friends? Where are the old grey-headed worshippers, whose reverent
+faces we remember so well, when we first went to God's house? Where are
+the boys and girls we played with when we went to school? How many must
+reply, "Dead, dead, dead! The daisies are growing over their graves, and
+we are left alone." Surely a world so full of death can never be called
+a home.
+
+(_d_) It is a _scattering and dividing_ world. Families are continually
+breaking up, and going in different directions. How rarely do the
+members of a family ever meet together again, after the surviving parent
+is laid in the grave! The band of union seems snapped, and nothing welds
+it again. The cement seems withdrawn from the parts of the building, and
+the whole principle of cohesion is lost. How often some miserable
+squabble about trinkets, or some wretched wrangle about money, makes a
+breach that is never healed, and, like a crack in china, though riveted,
+can never be quite cured! Rarely indeed do those who played in the same
+nursery lie down at length in the same churchyard, or keep peace with
+one another till they die. A world so full of division can never be
+home.
+
+These are ancient things. It is useless to be surprised at them. They
+are the bitter fruit of sin, and the sorrowful consequence of the fall.
+Change, trial, death, and division, all entered into the world when Adam
+and Eve transgressed. We must not murmur. We must not fret. We must not
+complain. We must accept the situation in which we find ourselves. We
+must each do our best to lighten the sorrows, and increase the comforts
+of our position. We must steadily resolve to make the best of everybody
+and everything around us. But we must never, never, never, forget that
+the world is not home.
+
+Are you young? Does all around and before you seem bright, and cheerful,
+and happy? Do you secretly think in your own mind that I take too gloomy
+a view of the world? Take care. You will not say so by and by. Be wise
+betimes. Learn to moderate your expectations. Depend on it, the less you
+expect from people and things here below the happier you will be.
+
+Are you prosperous in the world? Have death, and sickness, and
+disappointment, and poverty, and family troubles, passed over your door
+up to this time, and not come in? Are you secretly saying to yourself,
+"Nothing can hurt me much. I shall die quietly in my bed, and see no
+sorrow." Take care. You are not yet in harbour. A sudden storm of
+unexpected trouble may make you change your note. Set not your affection
+on things below. Hold them with a very loose hand, and be ready to
+surrender them at a moment's notice. Use your prosperity well while you
+have it; but lean not all your weight on it, lest it break suddenly and
+pierce your hand.
+
+Have you a happy home? Are you going to spend Christmas round a family
+hearth, where sickness, and death, and poverty, and partings, and
+quarrellings, have never yet been seen? Be thankful for it: oh, be
+thankful for it! A really happy Christian home is the nearest approach
+to heaven on earth. But take care. This state of things will not last
+for ever. It must have an end; and if you are wise, you will never
+forget that--"the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have
+wives be as though they had none; and they that weep, as though they
+wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they
+that buy, as though they possessed not; and they that use this world, as
+not abusing it; for the fashion of this world passeth away." (1 Cor.
+vii. 29--31.)
+
+
+II. The second thought that I will offer you is this: I will show you
+_what Christ is, even in this life, to true Christians_.
+
+Heaven, beyond doubt, is the final home in which a true Christian will
+dwell at last. Towards that he is daily travelling: nearer to that he is
+daily coming. "We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were
+dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands,
+eternal in the heavens." (2 Cor. v. 1.) Body and soul united once more,
+renewed, beautified, and perfected, will live for ever in the Father's
+great house in heaven. To that home we have not yet come. We are not yet
+in heaven.
+
+But is there meanwhile no home for our souls? Is there no spiritual
+dwelling-place to which we may continually repair in this desolate
+world, and, repairing to it, find rest and peace? Thank God, there is no
+difficulty in finding an answer to that question. There is a home
+provided for all labouring and heavy-laden souls, and that home is
+Christ. To know Christ by faith, to live the life of faith in Him, to
+abide in Him daily by faith, to flee to Him in every storm of
+conscience, to use Him as our refuge in every day of trouble, to employ
+Him as our Priest, Confessor, Absolver, and spiritual Director, every
+morning and evening in our lives,--this is to be at home spiritually,
+even before we die. To all sinners of mankind who by faith use Christ in
+this fashion, Christ is in the highest sense a dwelling-place. They can
+say with truth, "We are pilgrims and strangers on earth, and yet we have
+a home."
+
+Of all the emblems and figures under which Christ is set before man, I
+know few more cheering and comforting than the one before us. Home is
+one of the sweetest, tenderest words in the English language. Home is
+the place with which our pleasantest thoughts are closely bound up. All
+that the best and happiest home is to its inmates, that Christ is to
+the soul that believes on Him. In the midst of a dying, changing,
+disappointing world, a true Christian has always something which no
+power on earth can take away. Morning, noon, and night, he has near him
+a living Refuge,--a living home for his soul. You may rob him of life,
+and liberty, and money; you may take from him health, and lands, and
+house, and friends; but, do what you will, you cannot rob him of his
+home. Like those humblest of God's creatures which carry their shells on
+their backs, wherever they are, so the Christian, wherever he goes,
+carries his home. No wonder that holy Baxter sings,--
+
+    "What if in prison I must dwell,
+       May I not then converse with Thee?
+     Save me from sin, Thy wrath, and hell,--
+       Call me Thy child, and I am free!"
+
+(_a_) No home like Christ! In Him there is _room for all_, and room for
+all sorts. None are unwelcome guests and visitors, and none are refused
+admission. The door is always on the latch, and never bolted. The best
+robe, the fatted calf, the ring, the shoes are always ready for all
+comers. What though in time past you have been the vilest of the vile, a
+servant of sin, an enemy of all righteousness, a Pharisee of Pharisees,
+a Sadducee of Sadducees, a publican of publicans? It matters nothing:
+there is yet hope. All may be pardoned, forgiven, and forgotten. There
+is a home and refuge where your soul may be admitted this very day. That
+home is Christ. "Come unto Me," He cries: "Knock, and it shall be opened
+unto you." (Matt. xi. 28; vii. 7.)
+
+(_b_) No home like Christ! In Him there is boundless and unwearied
+_mercy for all_, even after admission. None are rejected and cast forth
+again after probation, because they are too weak and bad to stay. Oh,
+no! Whom He receives, them He always keeps. Where He begins, there He
+makes a good end. Whom He admits, them He at once fully justifies. Whom
+He justifies, them He also sanctifies. Whom He sanctifies, them He also
+glorifies. No hopeless characters are ever sent away from His house. No
+men or women are ever found too bad to heal and renew. Nothing is too
+hard for Him to do who made the world out of nothing. He who is Himself
+the Home, hath said it, and will stand to it: "Him that cometh unto Me,
+I will in no wise cast out." (John vi. 37.)
+
+(_c_) No home like Christ! In Him there is unvarying _kindness_,
+_patience_, _and gentle dealing for all_. He is not "an austere man,"
+but "meek and lowly in heart." (Matt. xi. 29.) None who apply to Him are
+ever treated roughly, or made to feel that their company is not welcome.
+A feast of fat things is always provided for them. The holy Spirit is
+placed in their hearts, and dwells in them as in a temple. Leading,
+guiding, and instruction are daily provided for them. If they err, they
+are brought back into the right way; if they fall, they are raised
+again; if they transgress wilfully, they are chastised to make them
+better. But the rule of the whole house is love.
+
+(_d_) No home like Christ! In Him there is _no change_. From youth to
+age He loves all who come to Him, and is never tired of doing them good.
+Earthly homes, alas, are full of fickleness and uncertainty. Favour is
+deceitful. Courtesy and civility are often on men's lips, while inwardly
+they are weary of your company and wish you were gone. You seldom know
+how long your presence is welcome, or to what extent your friends really
+care to see you. But it is not so with Christ. "He is the same
+yesterday, and to-day, and for ever." (Heb. xiii. 8.)
+
+(_e_) No home like Christ! Communion once begun with Him shall _never be
+broken off_. Once joined to the Lord by faith, you are joined to Him for
+an endless eternity. Earthly homes always come to an end sooner or
+later: the dear old furniture is sold and dispersed; the dear old heads
+of the family are gathered to their fathers; the dear old nest is pulled
+to pieces. But it is not so with Christ. Faith will at length be
+swallowed up in sight: hope shall at last be changed into certainty. We
+shall see one day with our eyes, and no longer need to believe. We shall
+be moved from the lower chamber to the upper, and from the outer court
+to the Holy of Holies. But once in Christ, we shall never be out of
+Christ. Once let our name be placed in the Lamb's book of life, and we
+belong to a home which shall continue for evermore.
+
+(1) And now, before I conclude, let me ask every reader of this paper a
+plain question. _Have you got a home for your soul?_ Is it safe? Is it
+pardoned? Is it justified? Is it prepared to meet God? With all my heart
+I wish you a happy home. But remember my question. Amidst the greetings
+and salutations of home, amidst the meetings and partings, amidst the
+laughter and merriment, amidst the joys and sympathies and affections,
+think, think of my question,--Have you got a home for your soul?
+
+Our earthly homes will soon be closed for ever. Time hastens on with
+giant strides. Old age and death will be upon us before many years have
+passed away. Oh, seek an abiding home for the better part of you,--the
+part that never dies! Before it be too late seek a home for your soul.
+
+Seek Christ, that you may be safe. Woe to the man who is found outside
+the ark when the flood of God's wrath bursts at length on a sinful
+world!--Seek Christ, that you may be happy. None have a real right to be
+cheerful, merry, light-hearted, and at ease, excepting those who have
+got a home for their souls. Once more I say, Seek Christ without delay.
+
+(2) If Christ is the home of your soul, _accept a friendly caution_.
+Beware of being ashamed of your home in any place or company.
+
+The man who is ashamed of the home where he was born, the parents that
+brought him up when a baby, the brothers and sisters that played with
+him,--that man, as a general rule, may be set down as a mean and
+despicable being. But what shall we say of the man who is ashamed of Him
+who died for him on the cross? What shall we say of the man who is
+ashamed of his religion, ashamed of his Master, ashamed of his home?
+
+Take care that you are not that man. Whatever others around you please
+to think, do you never be ashamed of being a Christian. Let them laugh,
+and mock, and jest, and scoff, if they will. They will not scoff in the
+hour of death and in the day of judgment. Hoist your flag; show your
+colours; nail them to the mast. Of drinking, gambling, lying, swearing,
+Sabbath-breaking, idleness, pride, you may well be ashamed. Of
+Bible-reading, praying, and belonging to Christ, you have no cause to be
+ashamed at all. Let those laugh that win. A good soldier is never
+ashamed of his Queen's colours, and his uniform. Take care that you are
+never ashamed of your Master. Never be ashamed of your home.
+
+(3) If Christ is the home of your soul, _accept a piece of friendly
+advice_. Let nothing tempt you to stray away from home.
+
+The world and the devil will often try hard to make you drop your
+religion for a little season, and walk with them. Your own flesh will
+whisper that there is no danger in going a little with them, and that it
+can do you no mighty harm. Take care, I say: take care when you are
+tempted in this fashion. Take care of looking back, like Lot's wife.
+Forsake not your home.
+
+There are pleasures in sin no doubt, but they are not real and
+satisfactory. There is an excitement and short-lived enjoyment in the
+world's ways, beyond all question, but it is joy that leaves a bitter
+taste behind it. Oh, no! wisdom's ways alone are ways of pleasantness,
+and wisdom's paths alone are paths of peace. Cleave to them strictly
+and turn not aside. Follow the Lamb whithersoever He goes. Stick to
+Christ and His rule, through evil report and good report. The longer you
+live the happier you will find His service: the more ready will you be
+to sing, in the highest sense, "There is no place like home."
+
+(4) If Christ is the home of your soul, _accept a hint about your duty_.
+Mind that you take every opportunity of telling others about your
+happiness. Tell them THAT, wherever you are. Tell them that you have a
+happy home.
+
+Tell them, if they will hear you, that you find Christ a good Master,
+and Christ's service a happy service. Tell them that His yoke is easy,
+and His burden is light. Tell them that, whatever the devil may say, the
+rules of your home are not grievous, and that your Master pays far
+better wages than the world does! Try to do a little good wherever you
+are. Try to enlist more inmates for your happy home. Say to your friends
+and relatives, if they will listen, as one did of old, "Come with us,
+and we will do you good; for the Lord hath spoken good concerning
+Israel." (Numbers x. 29.)
+
+
+
+
+XVIII
+
+
+HEIRS OF GOD
+
+     "_As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of
+     God._
+
+     "_For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear;
+     but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry,
+     Abba, Father._
+
+     "_The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we
+     are the children of God_:
+
+     "_And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs
+     with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be
+     also glorified together._"--(Romans viii. 14--17.)
+
+
+The people of whom St. Paul speaks in the verses before our eyes are the
+richest people upon earth. It must needs be so. They are called "heirs
+of God, and joint heirs with Christ."
+
+The inheritance of these people is the only inheritance _really worth
+having_. All others are unsatisfying and disappointing. They bring with
+them many cares. They cannot cure an aching heart, or lighten a heavy
+conscience. They cannot keep off family troubles. They cannot prevent
+sicknesses, bereavements, separations, and deaths. But there is no
+disappointment among the "heirs of God."
+
+The inheritance =I= speak of is the only inheritance _which can be kept
+for ever_. All others must be left in the hour of death, if they have
+not been taken away before. The owners of millions of pounds can carry
+nothing with them beyond the grave. But it is not so with the "heirs of
+God." Their inheritance is eternal.
+
+The inheritance I speak of is the only inheritance _which is within
+every body's reach_. Most men can never obtain riches and greatness,
+though they labour hard for them all their lives. But glory, honour, and
+eternal life, are offered to every man freely, who is willing to accept
+them on God's terms. "Whosoever will," may be an "heir of God, and joint
+heir with Christ."
+
+If any reader of this paper wishes to have a portion of this
+inheritance, let him know that he must be a member of that one family on
+earth to which it belongs, and that is the family of all true
+Christians. You must become one of God's children on earth, if you
+desire to have glory in heaven. I write this paper in order to persuade
+you to become a child of God this day, if you are not one already. I
+write it to persuade you to make sure work that you are one, if at
+present you have only a vague hope, and nothing more. None but true
+Christians are the children of God! None but the children of God are
+heirs of God! Give me your attention, while I try to unfold to you these
+things, and to show the lessons contained in the verses which head this
+page.
+
+
+    I. Let me show _the relation of all true Christians to God. They are
+    "sons of God._"
+
+    II. Let me show _the special evidences of this relation_. True
+    Christians are "_led by the Spirit_." They have "_the Spirit of
+    adoption_." They have the "_witness of the Spirit_." They "_suffer
+    with Christ_."
+
+    III. Let me show _the privileges of this relation_. True Christians
+    are "_heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ_."
+
+
+I. First let me show _the relation of all true Christians to God_. They
+are God's "Sons."
+
+I know no higher and more comfortable word that could have been chosen.
+To be servants of God,--to be subjects, soldiers, disciples,
+friends,--all these are excellent titles; but to be the "sons" of God is
+a step higher still. What says the Scripture? "The servant abideth not
+in the house for ever, but the Son abideth ever." (John viii. 35.)
+
+To be son of the rich and noble in this world,--to be son of the princes
+and kings of the earth,--this is commonly reckoned a great temporal
+advantage and privilege. But to be a son of the King of kings, and Lord
+of lords,--to be a son of the High and Holy One, who inhabiteth
+eternity,--this is something far higher. And yet this is the portion of
+every true Christian.
+
+The son of an earthly parent looks naturally to his father for
+affection, maintenance, provision, and education. There is a home always
+open to him. There is a love which, generally speaking, no bad conduct
+can completely extinguish. All these are things belonging even to the
+sonship of this world. Think then how great is the privilege of that
+poor sinner of mankind who can say of God, "He is my Father."
+
+But HOW can sinful men like ourselves become sons of God? When do we
+enter into this glorious relationship? We are not the sons of God by
+nature. We were not born so when we came into the world. No man has a
+natural right to look to God as his Father. It is a vile heresy to say
+that he has. Men are said to be born poets and painters,--but men are
+never born sons of God. The Epistle to the Ephesians tells us, "Ye were
+by nature children of wrath, even as others." (Ephes. ii. 3.) The
+Epistle of St. John says, "The children of God are manifest, and the
+children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God."
+(1 John iii. 10.) The Catechism of the Church of England wisely follows
+the doctrine of the Bible, and teaches us to say, "By nature we are
+born in sin, and children of wrath." Yes: we are all rather children of
+the devil, than children of God! Sin is indeed hereditary, and runs in
+the family of Adam. Grace is anything but hereditary, and holy men have
+not, as a matter of course, holy sons. How then and when does this
+mighty change and translation come upon men? When and in what manner do
+sinners become the "sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty?" (2 Cor vi.
+18.)
+
+Men become sons of God in the day that the Spirit leads them to believe
+on Jesus Christ for salvation, and not before.[13] What says the Epistle
+to the Galatians? "Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ
+Jesus." (Gal. iii. 26.) What says the first Epistle to the Corinthians?
+"Of Him are ye in Christ Jesus." (1 Cor. i. 30.) What says the Gospel of
+John? "As many as received Christ, to them gave He power (or privilege)
+to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name." (John
+i. 12.) Faith unites the sinner to the Son of God, and makes him one of
+His members. Faith makes him one of those in whom the Father sees no
+spot, and is well-pleased. Faith marries him to the beloved Son of God,
+and entitles him to be reckoned among the sons. Faith gives him
+"fellowship with the Father and the Son." (1 John i. 3.) Faith grafts
+him into the Father's family, and opens up to him a room in the Father's
+house. Faith gives him life instead of death, and makes him, instead of
+being a servant, a son. Show me a man that has this faith, and, whatever
+be his church or denomination, I say that he is a son of God.
+
+  13: The reader will of course understand that I am not speaking now
+  of children who die in infancy, or of persons who live and die
+  idiots.
+
+This is one of those points we should never forget. You and I know
+nothing of a man's sonship _until he believes_. No doubt the sons of God
+are foreknown and chosen from all eternity, and predestinated to
+adoption. But, remember, it is not till they are called in due time, and
+believe,--it is not till then that you and I can be certain they are
+sons. It is not till they repent and believe, that the angels of God
+rejoice over them. The angels cannot read the book of God's election:
+they know not who are "His hidden ones" in the earth. (Ps. lxxxiii. 3.)
+They rejoice over no man till he believes. But when they see some poor
+sinner repenting and believing, then there is joy among them,--joy that
+one more brand is plucked from the burning, and one more son and heir
+born again to the Father in heaven. (Luke xv. 10.) But once more I say,
+you and I know nothing certain about a man's sonship to God _until he
+believes on Christ_.
+
+I warn you to beware of the delusive notion that all men and women are
+alike children of God, whether they have faith in Christ or not. It is a
+wild theory which many are clinging to in these days, but one which
+cannot be proved out of the Word of God. It is a perilous dream, with
+which many are trying to soothe themselves, but one from which there
+will be a fearful waking up at the last day.
+
+That God in a certain sense is the universal Father of all mankind, I do
+not pretend to deny. He is the Great First Cause of all things. He is
+the Creator of all mankind, and in Him alone, all men, whether
+Christians or heathens, "live and move and have their being." All this
+is unquestionably true. In this sense Paul told the Athenians, a poet of
+their own had truly said, "we are His offspring." (Acts xvii. 28.) But
+this sonship gives no man a title to heaven. The sonship which we have
+by creation is one which belongs to stones, trees, beasts, or even to
+the devils, as much as to us. (Job i. 6.)
+
+That God loves all mankind with a love of pity and compassion, I do not
+deny. "His tender mercies are over all His works."--"He is not willing
+that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."--"He
+has no pleasure in the death of him that dieth." All this I admit to the
+full. In this sense our Lord Jesus tells us, "God so loved the world,
+that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him
+should not perish, but have eternal life." (Ps. cxlv. 9; 2 Peter iii. 9;
+Ezek. xviii. 32; John iii. 16.)
+
+But that God is a reconciled and pardoning Father to any but the members
+of His Son Jesus Christ, and that any are members of Jesus Christ who do
+not believe on Him for salvation,--this is a doctrine which I utterly
+deny. The holiness and justice of God are both against the doctrine.
+They make it impossible for sinful men to approach God, excepting
+through the Mediator. They tell us that God out of Christ is "a
+consuming fire." (Heb. xii. 29.) The whole system of the new Testament
+is against the doctrine. That system teaches that no man can claim
+interest in Christ unless he will receive Him as his Mediator, and
+believe on Him as his Saviour. Where there is no faith in Christ it is a
+dangerous error to say that a man may take comfort in God as his Father.
+God is a reconciled Father to none but the members of Christ.
+
+It is unreasonable to talk of the view I am now upholding as
+narrow-minded and harsh. The Gospel sets an open door before every man.
+Its promises are wide and full. Its invitations are earnest and tender.
+Its requirements are simple and clear. "Only believe on the Lord Jesus
+Christ, and, whosoever thou art, thou shalt be saved." But to say that
+proud men, who will not bow their necks to the easy yoke of Christ, and
+worldly men who are determined to have their own way and their sins,--to
+say that such men have a right to claim an interest in Christ, and a
+right to call themselves sons of God, is to say what never can be proved
+from Scripture. God offers to be their Father; but He does it on certain
+distinct terms:--they must draw near to Him through Christ. Christ
+offers to be their Saviour; but in doing it He makes one simple
+requirement:--they must commit their souls to Him, and give Him their
+hearts. They refuse the _terms_, and yet dare to call God their Father!
+They scorn the _requirement_, and yet dare to hope that Christ will save
+them! God is to be their Father,--but on their own terms! Christ is to
+be their Saviour,--but on their own conditions! What can be more
+unreasonable? What can be more proud? What can be more unholy than such
+a doctrine as this? Let us beware of it, for it is a common doctrine in
+these latter days. Let us beware of it, for it is often speciously put
+forward, and sounds beautiful and charitable in the mouth of poets,
+novelists, sentimentalists, and tender-hearted women. Let us beware of
+it, unless we mean to throw aside our Bible altogether, and set up
+ourselves to be wiser than God. Let us stand fast on the old Scriptural
+ground: _No sonship to God without Christ! No interest in Christ without
+faith!_
+
+I would to God there was not so much cause for giving warnings of this
+kind. I have reason to think they need to be given clearly and
+unmistakably. There is a school of theology rising up in this day, which
+appears to me most eminently calculated to promote infidelity, to help
+the devil, and to ruin souls. It comes to us like Joab to Amasa, with
+the highest professions of charity, liberality, and love. God is all
+mercy and love, according to this theology:--His holiness and justice
+are completely left out of sight! Hell is never spoken of in this
+theology:--its talk is all of heaven! Damnation is never mentioned:--it
+is treated as an impossible thing:--all men and women are to be saved!
+Faith, and the work of the Spirit, are refined away into nothing at all!
+"Everybody who believes anything has faith! Everybody who thinks
+anything has the Spirit! Everybody is right! Nobody is wrong! Nobody is
+to blame for any action he may commit! It is the result of his position.
+It is the effect of circumstances! He is not accountable for his
+opinions, any more than for the colour of his skin! He must be what he
+is! The Bible is a very imperfect book! It is old-fashioned! It is
+obsolete! We may believe just as much of it as we please, and no
+more!"--Of all this theology I warn men solemnly to beware. In spite of
+big swelling words about "liberality," and "charity," and "broad views,"
+and "new lights," and "freedom from bigotry," and so forth, I do believe
+it to be a theology that leads to hell.
+
+(_a_) _Facts_ are directly against the teachers of this theology. Let
+them visit Mesopotamia, and see what desolation reigns where Nineveh and
+Babylon once stood. Let them go to the shores of the Dead Sea, and look
+down into its mysterious bitter waters. Let them travel in Palestine,
+and ask what has turned that fertile country into a wilderness. Let them
+observe the wandering Jews, scattered over the face of the world,
+without a land of their own, and yet never absorbed among other nations.
+And then let them tell us, if they dare, that God is so entirely a God
+of mercy and love that He never does and never will punish sin.
+
+(_b_) _The conscience of man_ is directly against these teachers. Let
+them go to the bedside of some dying child of the world, and try to
+comfort him with their doctrines. Let them see if their vaunted theories
+will calm his gnawing, restless anxiety about the future, and enable him
+to depart in peace. Let them show us, if they can, a few
+well-authenticated cases of joy and happiness in death without Bible
+promises,--without conversion,--and without that faith in the blood of
+Christ, which old-fashioned theology enjoins. Alas! when men are leaving
+the world, conscience makes sad work of the new systems of these latter
+days. Conscience is not easily satisfied, in a dying hour, that there is
+no such thing as hell.
+
+(_c_) _Every reasonable conception that we can form of a future state_
+is directly against these teachers. Fancy a heaven which should contain
+all mankind! Fancy a heaven in which holy and unholy, pure and impure,
+good and bad, would be all gathered together in one confused mass! What
+point of union would there be in such a company? What common bond of
+harmony and brotherhood? What common delight in a common service? What
+concord, what harmony, what peace, what oneness of spirit could exist?
+Surely the mind revolts from the idea of a heaven in which there would
+be no distinction between the righteous and the wicked,--between Pharaoh
+and Moses, between Abraham and the Sodomites, between Paul and Nero,
+between Peter and Judas Iscariot, between the man who dies in the act of
+murder or drunkenness, and men like Baxter, George Herbert, Wilberforce,
+and M'Cheyne! Surely an eternity in such a miserably confused crowd
+would be worse than annihilation itself! Surely such a heaven would be
+no better than hell!
+
+(_d_) The _interests of all holiness and morality_ are directly against
+these teachers. If all men and women alike are God's children, whatever
+is the difference between them in their lives,--and all alike going to
+heaven, however different they may be from one another here in the
+world,--where is the use of labouring after holiness at all? What motive
+remains for living soberly, righteously, and godly? What does it matter
+how men conduct themselves, if all go to heaven, and nobody goes to
+hell? Surely the heathen poets and philosophers of Greece and Rome could
+tell us something better and wiser than this! Surely a doctrine which is
+subversive of holiness and morality, and takes away all motives to
+exertion, carries on the face of it the stamp of its origin. It is of
+earth, and not of heaven. It is of the devil, and not of God.
+
+(_e_) _The Bible_ is against these teachers from first to last. Hundreds
+of texts might be quoted which are diametrically opposed to their
+theories. These texts must be rejected summarily, if the Bible is to
+square with their views. There may be no reason why they should be
+rejected,--but to suit the theology I speak of they must be thrown away!
+At this rate the authority of the whole Bible is soon at an end. And
+what do men give us in its place? Nothing,--nothing at all! They rob us
+of the bread of life, and do not give us in its stead so much as a
+stone.
+
+Once more I warn all into whose hands this volume may fall to beware of
+this theology. I charge you to hold fast the doctrine which I have been
+endeavouring to uphold in this paper. Remember what I have said, and
+never let it go. No inheritance of glory without sonship to God! No
+sonship to God without an interest in Christ! No interest in Christ
+without your own personal faith! This is God's truth. Never forsake it.
+
+Who now among the readers of this paper _desires to know whether he is a
+son of God_? Ask yourself this question, and ask it this day,--and ask
+it as in God's sight, whether you have repented and believed. Ask
+yourself whether you are experimentally acquainted with Christ, and
+united to Him in heart. If not you may be very sure you are no son of
+God. You are not yet born again. You are yet in your sins. Your Father
+in creation God may be, but your reconciled and pardoning Father God is
+not. Yes! though Church and world may agree to tell you to the
+contrary,--though clergy and laity unite in flattering you,--your
+sonship is worth little or nothing in the sight of God. Let God be true
+and every man a liar. Without faith in Christ you are no son of God: you
+are not born again.
+
+Who is there among the readers of this paper who _desires to become a
+son of God_? Let that person see and feel his sins, and flee to Christ
+for salvation, and this day he shall be placed among the children.--Only
+acknowledge thine iniquity, and lay hold on the hand that Jesus holds
+out to thee this day, and sonship, with all it privileges, is thine
+own. Only confess thy sins, and bring them unto Christ, and God is
+"faithful and just to forgive thee thy sins, and cleanse thee from all
+unrighteousness." (1 John i. 9.) This very day old things shall pass
+away, and all things become new. This very day thou shalt be forgiven,
+pardoned, "accepted in the Beloved." (Ephes. i. 6.) This very day thou
+shalt have a new name given to thee in heaven. Thou didst take up this
+book a child of wrath. Thou shalt lie down to night a child of God. Mark
+this, if thy professed desire after sonship is sincere,--if thou art
+truly weary of thy sins, and hast really something more than a lazy wish
+to be free,--there is real comfort for thee. It is all true. It is all
+written in Scripture, even as I have put it down. I dare not raise
+barriers between thee and God. This day I say, Believe on the Lord Jesus
+Christ, and thou shalt be "a son," and be saved.
+
+Who is there among the readers of this paper that _is a son of God
+indeed_? Rejoice, I say, and be exceeding glad of your privileges.
+Rejoice, for you have good cause to be thankful. Remember the words of
+the beloved apostle: "Behold what manner of love the Father hath
+bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God." (1 John
+iii. 1.) How wonderful that heaven should look down on earth,--that the
+holy God should set His affections on sinful man, and admit him into His
+family! What though the world does not understand you! What though the
+men of this world laugh at you, and cast out your name as evil! Let them
+laugh if they will. God is your Father. You have no need to be ashamed.
+The Queen can create a nobleman. The Bishops can ordain clergymen. But
+Queen, Lords, and Commons,--bishops, priests, and deacons,--all together
+cannot, of their own power, make one son of God, or one of greater
+dignity than a son of God. The man that can call God his Father, and
+Christ his elder brother,--that man may be poor and lowly, yet he never
+need be ashamed.
+
+
+II. Let me show, in the second place, _the special evidences of the true
+Christians relation to God_.
+
+How shall a man make sure work of his own sonship? How shall he find out
+whether he is one that has come to Christ by faith and been born again?
+What are the marks and signs, and tokens, by which the "sons of God" may
+be known? This is a question which all who love eternal life ought to
+ask. This is a question to which the verses of Scripture I am asking you
+to consider, like many others, supply an answer.
+
+(1) The sons of God, for one thing, are all _led by His Spirit_. What
+says the Scripture which heads this paper? "As many as are led by the
+Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." (Rom. viii. 14.)
+
+They are all under the leading and teaching of a power which is
+Almighty, though unseen,--even the power of the Holy Ghost. They no
+longer turn every man to his own way, and walk every man in the light of
+His own eyes, and follow every man his own natural heart's desire. The
+Spirit leads them. The Spirit guides them. There is a movement in their
+hearts, lives, and affections, which they feel, though they may not be
+able to explain, and a movement which is always more or less in the same
+direction.
+
+They are led away from sin,--away from self-righteousness,--away from
+the world. This is the road by which the Spirit leads God's children.
+Those whom God adopts He teaches and trains. He shows them their own
+hearts. He makes them weary of their own ways. He makes them long for
+inward peace.
+
+They are led to Christ. They are led to the Bible. They are led to
+prayer. They are led to holiness. This is the beaten path along which
+the Spirit makes them to travel. Those whom God adopts He always
+sanctifies. He makes sin very bitter to them. He makes holiness very
+sweet.
+
+It is the Spirit who leads them to Sinai, and first shows them the law,
+that their hearts may be broken. It is He who leads them to Calvary, and
+shows them the cross, that their hearts may be bound up and healed. It
+is He who leads them to Pisgah, and gives them distinct views of the
+promised land, that their hearts may be cheered. When they are taken
+into the wilderness, and taught to see their own emptiness, it is the
+leading of the Spirit. When they are carried up to Tabor or Hermon, and
+lifted up with glimpses of the glory to come, it is the leading of the
+Spirit. Each and all of God's sons is the subject of these leadings.
+Each and every one is "willing in the day of the Spirit's power," and
+yields himself to it. And each and all is led by the right way, to bring
+him to a city of habitation. (Ps. cx. 3; cvii. 7.)
+
+Settle this down in your heart, and do not let it go. The sons of God
+are a people "led by the Spirit of God," and always led more or less in
+the same way. Their experience will tally wonderfully when they compare
+notes in heaven. This is one mark of sonship.
+
+(2) Furthermore, all the sons of God _have the feelings of adopted
+children towards their Father in heaven_. What says the Scripture which
+heads this paper? "Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to
+fear, but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry Abba
+Father." (Rom. viii. 15.)
+
+The sons of God are delivered from that slavish fear of God which sin
+begets in the natural heart. They are redeemed from that feeling of
+guilt which made Adam "hide himself in the trees of the garden," and
+Cain "go out from the presence of the Lord." (Gen. iii. 8; iv. 16.) They
+are no longer afraid of God's holiness, and justice, and majesty. They
+no longer feel as if there was a great gulf and barrier between
+themselves and God, and as if God was angry with them, and must be angry
+with them, because of their sins. From these chains and fetters of the
+soul the sons of God are delivered.
+
+Their feelings towards God are now those of peace and confidence. They
+see Him as a Father reconciled in Christ Jesus. They look on Him as a
+God whose attributes are all satisfied by their great Mediator and
+Peacemaker, the Lord Jesus,--as a God who is "just, and yet the
+Justifier of every one that believeth on Jesus." (Rom. iii. 26.) As a
+Father, they draw near to Him with boldness: as a Father, they can speak
+to Him with freedom. They have exchanged the spirit of bondage for that
+of liberty, and the spirit of fear for that of love. They know that God
+is holy, but they are not afraid: they know that they are sinners, but
+they are not afraid. Though holy, they believe that God is completely
+reconciled: though sinners, they believe they are clothed all over with
+Jesus Christ. Such is the feeling of the sons of God.
+
+I allow that some of them have this feeling more vividly than others.
+Some of them carry about scraps and remnants of the old spirit of
+bondage to their dying day. Many of them have fits and paroxysms of the
+old man's complaint of fear returning upon them at intervals. But very
+few of the sons of God could be found who would not say, if
+cross-examined, that since they knew Christ they have had very different
+feelings towards God from what they ever had before. They feel as if
+something like the old Roman form of adoption had taken place between
+themselves and their Father in heaven. They feel as if He had said to
+each one of them, "Wilt thou be my son?" and as if their hearts had
+replied, "I will."
+
+Let us try to grasp this also, and hold it fast. The sons of God are a
+people who feel towards God in a way that the children of the world do
+not. They feel no more slavish fear towards Him: they feel towards Him
+as a reconciled parent. This, then, is another mark of sonship.
+
+(3) But, again, the sons of God _have the witness of the Spirit in their
+consciences_. What says the Scripture which heads this paper? "The
+Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children
+of God." (Rom. viii. 16.)
+
+The sons of God have got something within their hearts which tells them
+there is a relationship between themselves and God. They feel something
+which tells them that old things are passed away, and all things become
+new: that guilt is gone, that peace is restored, that heaven's door is
+open, and hell's door is shut. They have, in short, what the children of
+the world have not,--a felt, positive, reasonable hope. They have what
+Paul calls the "seal" and "earnest" of the Spirit. (2 Cor. i. 22; Eph.
+i. 13.)
+
+I do not for a moment deny that this witness of the Spirit is
+exceedingly various in the extent to which the sons of God possess it.
+With some it is a loud, clear, ringing, distinct testimony of
+conscience: "I am Christ's, and Christ is mine." With others it is a
+little, feeble, stammering whisper, which the devil and the flesh often
+prevent being heard. Some of the children of God speed on their course
+towards heaven under the full sails of assurance. Others are tossed to
+and fro all their voyage, and will scarce believe they have got faith.
+But take the least and lowest of the sons of God. Ask him if he will
+give up the little bit of religious hope which he has attained? Ask him
+if he will exchange his heart, with all its doubts and conflicts, its
+fightings and fears,--ask him if he will exchange that heart for the
+heart of the downright worldly and careless man? Ask him if he would be
+content to turn round and throw down the things he has got hold of, and
+go back to the world? Who can doubt what the answer would be I? "I
+cannot do that," he would reply. "I do not know whether I have faith, I
+do not feel sure I have got grace; but I have got something within me I
+would not like to part with." And what is that "_something_"? I will
+tell you.--It is the witness of the Spirit.
+
+Let us try to understand this also. The sons of God have the witness of
+the Spirit in their consciences. This is another mark of sonship.
+
+(4) One thing more let me add. All the sons of God _take part in
+suffering with Christ_. What says the Scripture which heads this paper?
+"If children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if
+so be that we suffer with Him." (Rom. viii. 17.)
+
+All the children of God have a cross to carry. They have trials,
+troubles, and afflictions to go through for the Gospel's sake. They have
+trials from the world,--trials from the flesh,--and trials from the
+devil. They have trials of feeling from relations and friends,--hard
+words, hard treatment, and hard judgment. They have trials in the matter
+of character;--slander, misrepresentation, mockery, insinuation of false
+motives,--all these often rain thick upon them. They have trials in the
+matter of worldly interests. They have often to choose whether they will
+please man and lose glory, or gain glory and offend man. They have
+trials from their own hearts. They have each generally their own thorn
+in the flesh,--their own home-devil, who is their worst foe. This is the
+experience of the sons of God.
+
+Some of them suffer more, and some less. Some of them suffer in one way,
+and some in another. God measures out their portions like a wise
+physician, and cannot err. But never, I believe, was there one child of
+God who reached paradise without a cross.
+
+Suffering is the diet of the Lord's family. "Whom the Lord loveth He
+chasteneth."--"If ye be without chastisement, then are ye bastards, and
+not sons."--"Through much tribulation we must enter the kingdom of
+God."--"All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer
+persecution." (Heb. xii. 6, 8; Acts xiv. 22; 2 Tim. iii. 12.) When
+Bishop Latimer was told by his landlord that he had never had a trouble,
+"Then," said he, "God cannot be here."
+
+Suffering is a part of the process by which the sons of God are
+sanctified. They are chastened to wean them from the world, and make
+them partakers of God's holiness. The Captain of their salvation was
+"made perfect through suffering," and so are they. (Heb. ii. 10; xii.
+10.) There never yet was a great saint who had not either great
+afflictions or great corruptions. Well said Philip Melancthon: "Where
+there are no cares there will generally be no prayers."
+
+Let us try to settle this down into our hearts also. The sons of God
+have all to bear a cross. A suffering Saviour generally has suffering
+disciples. The Bridegroom was a man of sorrows. The Bride must not be a
+woman of pleasures and unacquainted with grief. Blessed are they that
+mourn! Let us not murmur at the cross. This also is a sign of sonship.
+
+I warn men never to suppose that they are sons of God except they have
+the scriptural marks of sonship. Beware of a sonship without evidences.
+Again I say, Beware. When a man has no leading of the Spirit to show me,
+no spirit of adoption to tell of, no witness of the Spirit in his
+conscience, no cross in his experience,--is this man a son of God?
+Whatever others may think I dare not say so! His spot is "not the spot
+of God's children." (Deut. xxxii. 5.) He is no heir of glory.
+
+Tell me not that you have been baptized and taught the catechism of the
+Church of England, and therefore must be a child of God. I tell you that
+the parish register is not the book of life. I tell you that to be
+styled a child of God, and called regenerate in infancy by the faith and
+charity of the Prayer-book, is one thing; but to be a child of God in
+deed, another thing altogether. Go and read that catechism again. It is
+the "death unto sin and the new birth unto righteousness," which makes
+men _children of grace_. Except you know these by experience, you are no
+son of God.
+
+Tell me not that you are a member of Christ's Church, and so must be a
+son. I answer that the sons of the Church are not necessarily the sons
+of God. Such sonship is not the sonship of the eighth of Romans. That is
+the sonship you must have if you are to be saved.
+
+And now, I doubt not some reader of this paper will want to know if he
+may not be saved without the witness of the Spirit.
+
+I answer, If you mean by the witness of the Spirit, the full assurance
+of hope,--You may be so saved, without question. But if you want to know
+whether a man can be saved without _any_ inward sense, or knowledge, or
+hope of salvation, I answer, that ordinarily He cannot. I warn you
+plainly to cast away all indecision as to your state before God, and to
+make your calling sure. Clear up your position and relationship. Do not
+think there is anything praiseworthy in always doubting. Leave that to
+the Papists. Do not fancy it wise and humble to be ever living like the
+borderers of old time, on the "debateable ground." "Assurance," said old
+Dod, the puritan, "may be attained: and what have we been doing all our
+lives, since we became Christians, if we have not attained it?"
+
+I doubt not some true Christians who read this paper will think their
+evidence of sonship is too small to be good, and will write bitter
+things against themselves. Let me try to cheer them. Who gave you the
+feelings you possess? Who made you hate sin? Who made you love Christ?
+Who made you long and labour to be holy? Whence did these feelings come?
+Did they come from nature? There are no such products in a natural man's
+heart.--Did they come from the devil? He would fain stifle such feelings
+altogether.--Cheer up, and take courage. Fear not, neither be cast down.
+Press forward, and go on. There is hope for you after all. Strive.
+Labour. Seek. Ask. Knock. Follow on. You shall yet see that you are
+"sons of God."
+
+
+III. Let me show, in the last place, _the privileges of the true
+Christian's relation to God_.
+
+Nothing can be conceived more glorious than the prospects of the sons of
+God. The words of Scripture which head this paper contain a rich mine of
+good and comfortable things. "If we are children," says Paul, "we are
+heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ,--to be glorified
+together with Him." (Rom. viii. 17.)
+
+True Christians then are "heirs."--Something is prepared for them all
+which is yet to be revealed.
+
+They are "heirs of God."--To be heirs of the rich on earth is something.
+How much more then is it to be son and heir of the King of kings!
+
+They are "joint heirs with Christ." They shall share in His majesty, and
+take part in His glory. They shall be glorified together with Him.
+
+And this, we must remember, is for _all_ the children. Abraham took care
+to provide for all his children, and God takes care to provide for His.
+None of them are disinherited. None will be cast out. None will be cut
+off. Each shall stand in his lot, and have a portion, in the day when
+the Lord brings many sons to glory.
+
+Who can tell the full nature of the inheritance of the saints in light?
+Who can describe the glory which is yet to be revealed and given to the
+children of God? Words fail us. Language falls short. Mind cannot
+conceive fully, and tongue cannot express perfectly, the things which
+are comprised in the glory yet to come upon the sons and daughters of
+the Lord Almighty. Oh, it is indeed a true saying of the Apostle John:
+"It doth not yet appear what we shall be." (1 John iii. 2.)
+
+The very Bible itself only lifts a little of the veil which hangs over
+this subject. How could it do more? We could not thoroughly understand
+more if more had been told us. Our mental constitution is as yet too
+earthly,--our understanding is as yet too carnal to appreciate more if
+we had it. The Bible generally deals with the subject in negative terms
+and not in positive assertions. It describes what there will not be in
+the glorious inheritance, that thus we may get some faint idea of what
+there will be. It paints the _absence_ of certain things, in order that
+we may drink in a little the blessedness of the things _present_. It
+tells us that the inheritance is "incorruptible, undefiled, and fadeth
+not away." It tells us that "the crown of glory fadeth not away." It
+tells us that the devil is to be "bound," that there shall be "no more
+night and no more curse," that "death shall be cast into the lake of
+fire," that "all tears shall be wiped away," and that the inhabitant
+shall no more say, "I am sick." And these are glorious things indeed. No
+corruption!--No fading!--No withering!--No devil!--No curse of sin!--No
+sorrow!--No tears!--No sickness!--No death! Surely the cup of the
+children of God will indeed run over! (1 Pet. i. 4; v. 4; Rev. xx. 2;
+xxi. 25; xxii. 3; xx. 14; xxi. 4; Is. xxxiii. 24.)
+
+But there are positive things told us about the glory yet to come upon
+the heirs of God, which ought not to be kept back. There are many sweet,
+pleasant, and unspeakable comforts in their future inheritance, which
+all true Christians would do well to consider. There are cordials for
+fainting pilgrims in many words and expressions of Scripture, which you
+and I ought to lay up against time of need.
+
+(_a_) Is _knowledge_ pleasant to us now? Is the little that we know
+of God and Christ, and the Bible precious to our souls, and do we
+long for more? We shall have it perfectly in glory. What says the
+Scripture? "Then shall I know even as also I am known." (1 Cor.
+xiii. 12.) Blessed be God, there will be no more disagreements among
+believers! Episcopalians and Presbyterians,--Calvinists and
+Arminians,--Millennarians and Anti-millennarians,--friends of
+Establishments and friends of the Voluntary system,--advocates of
+infant baptism and advocates of adult baptism,--all will at length
+see eye to eye. The former ignorance will have passed away. We shall
+marvel to find how childish and blind we have been.
+
+(_b_) Is _holiness_ pleasant to us now? Is sin the burden and bitterness
+of our lives? Do we long for entire conformity to the image of God? We
+shall have it perfectly in glory. What says the Scripture? "Christ gave
+Himself for the Church," not only that He might sanctify it on earth,
+but also "that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not
+having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing." (Ephes. v. 27.) Oh, the
+blessedness of an eternal good-bye to sin! Oh, how little the best of
+us do at present! Oh, what unutterable corruption sticks, like birdlime,
+to all our motives, all our thoughts, all our words, all our actions!
+Oh, how many of us, like Naphtali, are goodly in our words, but, like
+Reuben, unstable in our works! Thank God, all this shall be changed.
+(Gen. xlix. 4, 21.)
+
+(_c_) Is _rest_ pleasant to us now? Do we often feel "faint though
+pursuing?" (Judges viii. 4.) Do we long for a world in which we need not
+to be always watching and warring? We shall have it perfectly in glory.
+What saith the Scripture? "There remaineth a rest for the people of
+God." (Heb. iv. 9.) The daily, hourly conflict with the world, the
+flesh, and the devil, shall at length be at an end. The enemy shall be
+bound. The warfare shall be over. The wicked shall at last cease from
+troubling. The weary shall at length be at rest. There shall be a great
+calm.
+
+(_d_) Is _service_ pleasant to us now? Do we find it sweet to work for
+Christ, and yet groan being burdened by a feeble body? Is our spirit
+often willing, but hampered and clogged by the poor weak flesh? Have our
+hearts burned within us, when we have been allowed to give a cup of cold
+water for Christ's sake, and have we sighed to think what unprofitable
+servants we are? Let us take comfort. We shall be able to serve
+perfectly in glory, and without weariness. What saith the Scripture?
+"They serve Him day and night in His temple." (Rev. vii. 15.)
+
+(_e_) Is _satisfaction_ pleasant to us now? Do we find the world empty?
+Do we long for the filling up of every void place and gap in our hearts?
+We shall have it perfectly in glory. We shall no longer have to mourn
+over cracks in all our earthen vessels, and thorns in all our roses, and
+bitter dregs in all our sweet cups. We shall no longer lament with Jonah
+over withered gourds. We shall no longer say with Solomon, "All is
+vanity and vexation of spirit." We shall no longer cry with aged David,
+"I have seen an end of all perfection." What saith the Scripture? "I
+shall be satisfied when I awake with Thy likeness." (Eccles. i. 14; Ps.
+cxix. 96; xvii. 15.)
+
+(_f_) Is _communion with the saints_ pleasant to us now? Do we feel that
+we are never so happy as when we are with the "excellent of the earth?"
+Are we never so much at home as in their company? (Ps. xvi. 3.) We shall
+have it perfectly in glory. What saith the Scripture? "The Son of man
+shall send His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all they
+that offend, and them which work iniquity." "He shall send His angels
+with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His
+elect from the four winds." (Matt. xiii. 41; xxiv. 31.) Praised be God!
+We shall see all the saints of whom we have read in the Bible, and in
+whose steps we have tried to walk. We shall see apostles, prophets,
+patriarchs, martyrs, reformers, missionaries, and ministers, of whom the
+world was not worthy. We shall see the faces of those we have known and
+loved in Christ on earth, and over whose departure we shed bitter tears.
+We shall see them more bright and glorious than they ever were before.
+And, best of all, we shall see them without hurry and anxiety, and
+without feeling that we only meet to part again. In the coming glory
+there is no death, no parting, no farewell.
+
+(_g_) Is _communion with Christ_ pleasant to us now? Do we find His
+name precious to us? Do we feel our hearts burn within us at the thought
+of His dying love? We shall have perfect communion with Him in glory.
+"We shall ever be with the Lord." (1 Thess. iv. 17.) We shall be with
+Him in paradise. (Luke xxiii. 43.) We shall see His face in the kingdom.
+These eyes of ours will behold those hands and feet which were pierced
+with nails, and that head which was crowned with thorns. Where He is,
+there will the sons of God be. When He comes, they will come with Him.
+When He sits down in His glory, they shall sit down by His side. Blessed
+prospect indeed! I am a dying man in a dying world. All before me is
+dark. The world to come is a harbour unknown. But Christ is there, and
+that is enough. Surely if there is rest and peace in following Him by
+faith on earth, there will be far more rest and peace when we see Him
+face to face. If we have found it good to follow the pillar of cloud and
+fire in the wilderness, we shall find it a thousand times better to sit
+down in our eternal inheritance, with our Joshua, in the promised land.
+
+If any one among the readers of this paper is not yet among the sons and
+heirs, I do pity you with all my heart! How much you are missing! How
+little true comfort you are enjoying! There you are, struggling on, and
+toiling in the fire, and wearying yourself for mere earthly
+ends,--seeking rest and finding none,--chasing shadows and never
+catching them,--wondering why you are not happy, and yet refusing to see
+the cause,--hungry, and thirsty, and empty, and yet blind to the plenty
+within your reach. Oh, that you were wise! Oh, that you would hear the
+voice of Jesus, and learn of Him!
+
+If you are one of those who are sons and heirs, you may well rejoice and
+be happy. You may well wait, like the boy Patience in Pilgrim's
+Progress: your best things are yet to come. You may well bear crosses
+without murmuring: your light affliction is but for a moment. "The
+sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the
+glory which is to be revealed."--"When Christ our life appears, then you
+also shall appear with Him in glory." (Rom. viii. 18; Colos. iii. 4.)
+You may well not envy the transgressor and his prosperity. You are the
+truly rich. Well said a dying believer in my own parish: "I am more rich
+than I ever was in my life." You may say as Mephibosheth said to David:
+"Let the world take all, my king is coming again in peace." (2 Sam. xix.
+30.) You may say as Alexander said when he gave all his riches away, and
+was asked what he kept for himself: "I have hope." You may well not be
+cast down by sickness: the eternal part of you is safe and provided for,
+whatever happens to your body. You may well look calmly on death: it
+opens a door between you and your inheritance. You may well not sorrow
+excessively over the things of the world,--over partings and
+bereavements, over losses and crosses: the day of gathering is before
+you. Your treasure is beyond reach of harm. Heaven is becoming every
+year more full of those you love, and earth more empty. Glory in your
+inheritance. It is all yours if you are a son of God: "If we are
+children, then we are heirs."
+
+(1) And now, in concluding this paper, _let me ask every one who reads
+it Whose child are you_? Are you the child of nature or the child of
+grace? Are you the child of the devil or the child of God? You cannot be
+both at once. Which are you?
+
+Settle the question without delay, for you must die at last either one
+or the other. Settle it, for it can be settled, and it is folly to leave
+it doubtful. Settle it, for time is short, the world is getting old, and
+you are fast drawing near to the judgment seat of Christ. Settle it, for
+death is nigh, the Lord is at hand, and who can tell what a day might
+bring forth? Oh, that you would never rest till the question is
+settled! Oh, that you may never feel satisfied till you can say, "I have
+been born again: I am a son of God!"
+
+(2) _If you are not a son and heir of God, let me entreat you to become
+one without delay._ Would you be rich? There are unsearchable riches in
+Christ. Would you be noble? You shall be a king. Would you be happy? You
+shall have a peace which passeth understanding, and which the world can
+never give and never take away. Oh, come out, and take up the cross and
+follow Christ! Come out from among the thoughtless and worldly, and hear
+the word of the Lord: "I will receive you, and will be a Father unto
+you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord almighty." (2
+Cor. vi. 18.)
+
+(3) _If you are a son of God, I beseech you to walk worthy of your
+Father's house._ I charge you solemnly to honour Him in your life; and
+above all to honour Him by implicit obedience to all His commands, and
+hearty love to all His children. Labour to travel through the world like
+a child of God and heir to glory. Let men be able to trace a family
+likeness between you and Him that begat you. Live a heavenly life. Seek
+things that are above. Do not seem to be building your nest below.
+Behave like a man who seeks a city out of sight, whose citizenship is in
+heaven, and who would be content with many hardships till he gets home.
+
+Labour _to feel like a son of God_ in every condition in which you are
+placed. Never forget you are on your Father's ground so long as you are
+here on earth. Never forget that a Father's hand sends all your mercies
+and crosses. Cast every care on Him. Be happy and cheerful in Him. Why
+indeed art thou ever sad if thou art the King's son? Why should men ever
+doubt, when they look at you, whether it is a pleasant thing to be one
+of God's children?
+
+Labour _to behave towards others like a son of God_. Be blameless and
+harmless in your day and generation. Be a "peacemaker among all =you=
+know." (Matt. v. 9.) Seek for your children sonship to God, above
+everything else: seek for them an inheritance in heaven, whatever else
+you do for them. No man leaves his children so well provided for as he
+who leaves them sons and heirs of God.
+
+Persevere in your Christian calling, if you are a son of God, and press
+forward more and more. Be careful to lay aside every weight, and the sin
+which most easily besets you. Keep your eyes steadily fixed on Jesus.
+Abide in Him. Remember that without Him you can do nothing, and with Him
+you can do all things. (John xv. 5; Philip. iv. 13.) Watch and pray
+daily. Be steadfast, unmoveable, and always abounding in the work of the
+Lord. Settle it down in your heart that not a cup of cold water given in
+the name of a disciple shall lose its reward, and that every year you
+are so much nearer home.
+
+"Yet a little time and He that shall come will come, and will not
+tarry." (Heb. x. 37.) Then shall be the glorious liberty, and the full
+manifestation of the sons of God. (Rom. viii. 19, 21.) Then shall the
+world acknowledge that they were the truly wise. Then shall the sons of
+God at length come of age, and be no longer heirs in expectancy, but
+heirs in possession. Then shall they hear with exceeding joy those
+comfortable words: "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom
+prepared for you from the foundation of the world." (Matt. xxv. 34.)
+Surely that day will make amends for all!
+
+
+
+
+XIX
+
+
+THE GREAT GATHERING
+
+     "_Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus
+     Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him._"--2 Thess. ii.
+     1.
+
+
+The text which heads this page contains an expression which deserves no
+common attention. That expression is,--"Our gathering together."
+
+"Our gathering together!" Those three words touch a note which ought to
+find a response in every part of the world. Man is by nature a social
+being: he does not like to be alone. Go where you will on earth, people
+generally like meeting together, and seeing one another's faces. It is
+the exception, and not the rule, to find children of Adam who do not
+like "gathering together."
+
+For example, Christmas is peculiarly a time when English people "gather
+together." It is the season when family meetings have become almost a
+national institution. In town and in country, among rich and among poor,
+from the palace to the workhouse, Christmas cheer and Christmas parties
+are proverbial things. It is the one time in the twelvemonth with many
+for seeing their friends at all. Sons snatch a few days from London
+business to run down and see their parents; brothers get leave of
+absence from the desk to spend a week with their sisters; friends accept
+long-standing invitations, and contrive to pay a visit to their
+friends; boys rush home from school, and glory in the warmth and comfort
+of the old house. Business for a little space comes to a standstill: the
+weary wheels of incessant labour seem almost to cease revolving for a
+few hours. In short, from the Isle of Wight to Berwick-on-Tweed, and
+from the Land's End to the North Foreland, there is a general spirit of
+"gathering together."
+
+Happy is the land where such a state of things exists! Long may it last
+in England, and never may it end! Poor and shallow is that philosophy
+which sneers at Christmas gatherings. Cold and hard is that religion
+which pretends to frown at them, and denounces them as wicked. Family
+affection lies at the very roots of well-ordered society. It is one of
+the few good things which have survived the fall, and prevent men and
+women from being mere devils. It is the secret oil on the wheels of our
+social system which keeps the whole machine going, and without which
+neither steam nor fire would avail. Anything which helps to keep up
+family affection and brotherly love is a positive good to a country. May
+the Christmas day never arrive in England when there are no family
+meetings and no gatherings together!
+
+But earthly gatherings after all have something about them that is sad
+and sorrowful. The happiest parties sometimes contain uncongenial
+members: the merriest meetings are only for a very short time. Moreover,
+as years roll on, the hand of death makes painful gaps in the family
+circle. Even in the midst of Christmas merriment we cannot help
+remembering those who have passed away. The longer we live, the more we
+feel to stand alone. The old faces will rise before the eyes of our
+minds, and the old voices will sound in our ears, even in the midst of
+holiday mirth and laughter. People do not talk much of such things; but
+there are few that do not feel them. We need not intrude our inmost
+thoughts on others, and especially when all around us are bright and
+happy. But there are not many, I suspect, who reach middle age, who
+would not admit, if they spoke the truth, that there are sorrowful
+things inseparably mixed up with a Christmas party. In short, there is
+no unmixed pleasure about any earthly "gathering."
+
+But is there no better "gathering" yet to come? Is there no bright
+prospect in our horizon of an assembly which shall far outshine the
+assemblies of Christmas and New Year,--an assembly in which there shall
+be joy without sorrow, and mirth without tears? I thank God that I can
+give a plain answer to these questions; and to give it is the simple
+object of this paper. I ask my readers to give me their attention for a
+few minutes, and I will soon show them what I mean.
+
+
+I. There is a "gathering together" of true Christians which is to come.
+_What is it, and when shall it be?_
+
+The gathering I speak of shall take place at the end of the world, in
+the day when Christ returns to earth the second time. As surely as He
+came the first time, so surely shall He come the second time. In the
+clouds of heaven He went away, and in the clouds of heaven He shall
+return. Visibly, in the body, He went away, and visibly, in the body, He
+will return. And the very first thing that Christ will do will be to
+"gather together" His people. "He shall send His angels with a great
+sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the
+four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." (Matt. xxiv. 31.)
+
+The _manner_ of this "gathering together" is plainly revealed in
+Scripture. The dead saints shall all be raised, and the living saints
+shall all be changed. It is written, "The sea shall give up the dead
+which are in it, and death and hell shall give up the dead that are in
+them."--"The dead in Christ shall rise first. Those which are alive and
+remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the
+Lord in the air."--"We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
+in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the
+trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we
+shall be changed." (Rev. xx. 13; 1 Thess. iv. 16, 17; 1 Cor. xv. 51,
+52.) And then, when every member of Christ is found, and not one left
+behind, when soul and body, those old companions, are once more
+reunited, then shall be the grand "gathering together."
+
+The _object_ of this "gathering together" is as clearly revealed in
+Scripture as its manner. It is partly for the final reward of Christ's
+people: that their complete justification from all guilt may be declared
+to all creation; that they may receive the "crown of glory which fadeth
+not away," and the "kingdom prepared before the foundation of the
+world;" that they may be admitted publicly into the joy of their
+Lord.--It is partly for the safety of Christ's people, that, like Noah
+in the ark and Lot in Zoar, they may be hid and covered before the storm
+of God's judgment comes down on the wicked; that when the last plagues
+are falling on the enemies of the Lord, they may be untouched, as
+Rahab's family in the fall of Jericho, and unscathed as the three
+children in the midst of the fire. The saints have no cause to fear the
+day of gathering, however fearful the signs that may accompany it.
+Before the final crash of all things begins, they shall be hidden in the
+secret place of the Most High. The grand gathering is for their safety
+and their reward. "Fear not ye," shall the angel-reapers say, "for ye
+seek Jesus which was crucified."--"Come, my people," shall their Master
+say: "enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide
+thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be
+overpast." (Matt. xxviii. 5; Isa. xxvi. 20.)
+
+(_a_) This gathering will be a _great_ one. All children of God who have
+ever lived, from Abel the first saint down to the last born in the day
+that our Lord comes,--all of every age, and nation, and church, and
+people, and tongue,--all shall be assembled together. Not one shall be
+overlooked or forgotten. The weakest and feeblest shall not be left
+behind. Now, when "scattered," true Christians seem a little flock;
+then, when "gathered," they shall be found a multitude which no man can
+number.
+
+(_b_) This gathering will be a _wonderful_ one. The saints from distant
+lands, who never saw each other in the flesh, and could not understand
+each other's speech if they met, shall all be brought together in one
+harmonious company. The dwellers in Australia shall find they are as
+near heaven, and as soon there, as the dwellers in England. The
+believers who died five thousand years ago, and whose bones are mere
+dust, shall find their bodies raised and renewed as quickly as those who
+are alive when the trumpet sounds. Above all, miracles of grace will be
+revealed. We shall see some in heaven who we never expected would have
+been saved at all. The confusion of tongues shall at length be reversed,
+and done away. The assembled multitude will cry with one heart and in
+one language, "What hath God wrought!" (Num. xxiii. 23.)
+
+(_c_) This gathering shall be a _humbling_ one. It shall make an end of
+bigotry and narrow-mindedness for ever. The Christians of one
+denomination shall find themselves side by side with those of another
+denomination. If they would not tolerate them on earth, they will be
+obliged to tolerate them in heaven. Churchmen and Dissenters, who will
+neither pray together nor worship together now, will discover to their
+shame that they must praise together hereafter to all eternity. The very
+people who will not receive us at their ordinances now, and keep us back
+from their Table, will be obliged to acknowledge us before our Master's
+face, and to let us sit down by their side. Never will the world have
+seen such a complete overthrow of sectarianism, party spirit,
+unbrotherliness, religious jealousy, and religious pride. At last we
+shall all be completely "clothed with humility." (1 Pet. v. 5.)
+
+This mighty, wonderful "gathering together," is the gathering which
+ought to be often in men's thoughts. It deserves consideration: it
+demands attention. Gatherings of other kinds are incessantly occupying
+our minds, political gatherings, scientific gatherings, gatherings for
+pleasure, gatherings for gain. But the hour comes, and will soon be
+here, when gatherings of this kind will be completely forgotten. One
+thought alone will swallow up men's minds: that thought will be, "Shall
+I be gathered with Christ's people into a place of safety and honour, or
+be left behind to everlasting woe?" LET US TAKE CARE THAT WE ARE NOT
+LEFT BEHIND.
+
+
+II. _Why is this "gathering together" of true Christians a thing to be
+desired?_ Let us try to get an answer to that question.
+
+St. Paul evidently thought that the gathering at the last day was a
+cheering object which Christians ought to keep before their eyes. He
+classes it with that second coming of our Lord, which he says elsewhere
+believers love and long for. He exalts it in the distant horizon as one
+of those "good things to come," which should animate the faith of every
+pilgrim in the narrow way. Not only, he seems to say, will each servant
+of God have rest, and a kingdom, and a crown; he will have besides a
+happy "gathering together." Now, where is the peculiar blessedness of
+this gathering? Why is it a thing that we ought to look forward to with
+joy, and expect with pleasure? Let us see.
+
+(1) For one thing, the "gathering together" of all true Christians will
+be a _state of things totally unlike their present condition._ To be
+scattered, and not gathered, seems the rule of man's existence now. Of
+all the millions who are annually born into the world, how few continue
+together till they die! Children who draw their first breath under the
+same roof, and play by the same fireside, are sure to be separated as
+they grow up, and to draw their last breath far distant from one
+another.--The same law applies to the people of God. They are spread
+abroad like salt, one in one place and one in another, and never allowed
+to continue long side by side. It is doubtless good for the world that
+it is so. A town would be a very dark place at night if all the lighted
+candles were crowded together into one room.--But, good as it is for the
+world, it is no small trial to believers. Many a day they feel desolate
+and alone; many a day they long for a little more communion with their
+brethren, and a little more companionship with those who love the Lord!
+Well, they may look forward with hope and comfort. The hour is coming
+when they shall have no lack of companions. Let them lift up their heads
+and rejoice. There will be a "gathering together" by and by.
+
+(2) For another thing, the gathering together of all true Christians
+will be _an assembly entirely of one mind_. There are no such assemblies
+now. Mixture, hypocrisy, and false profession, creep in everywhere.
+Wherever there is wheat there are sure to be tares. Wherever there are
+good fish there are sure to be bad. Wherever there are wise virgins
+there are sure to be foolish. There is no such thing as a perfect Church
+now. There is a Judas Iscariot at every communion table, and a Demas in
+every Apostolic company; and wherever the "sons of God" come together
+Satan is sure to appear among them. (Job i. 6.) But all this shall come
+to an end one day. Our Lord shall at length present to the Father a
+perfect Church, "having neither spot nor wrinkle, nor any such thing."
+(Eph. v. 27.) How glorious such a Church will be! To meet with
+half-a-dozen believers together now is a rare event in a Christian's
+year, and one that cheers him like a sunshiny day in winter: it makes
+him feel his heart burn within him, as the disciples felt on the way to
+Emmaus. But how much more joyful will it be to meet a "multitude that no
+man can number!" To find too, that all we meet are at last of one
+opinion and one judgment, and see eye to eye,--to discover that all our
+miserable controversies are buried for ever, and that Calvinists no
+longer hate Arminians, nor Arminians Calvinists, Churchmen no longer
+quarrel with Dissenters, nor Dissenters with Churchmen,--to join a
+company of Christians in which there is neither jarring, squabbling, nor
+discord,--every man's graces fully developed, and every man's besetting
+sins dropped off like beech-leaves in spring,--all this will be
+happiness indeed! No wonder that St. Paul bids us look forward.
+
+(3) For another thing, the gathering together of true Christians will be
+_a meeting at which none shall be absent_. The weakest lamb shall not be
+left behind in the wilderness: the youngest babe that ever drew breath
+shall not be overlooked or forgotten. We shall once more see our beloved
+friends and relatives who fell asleep in Christ, and left us in sorrow
+and tears,--better, brighter, more beautiful, more pleasant than ever we
+found them on earth. We shall hold communion with all the saints of God
+who have fought the good fight before us, from the beginning of the
+world to the end. Patriarchs and Prophets, Apostles and Fathers, Martyrs
+and Missionaries, Reformers and Puritans, all the host of God's elect
+shall be there. If to read their words and works has been pleasant, how
+much better shall it be to see them! If to hear of them, and be stirred
+by their example, has been useful, how much more delightful to talk with
+them, and ask them questions! To sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and
+Jacob, and hear how they kept the faith without any Bible,--to converse
+with Moses, and Samuel, and David, and Isaiah, and Daniel, and hear how
+they could believe in a Christ yet to come,--to converse with Peter, and
+Paul, and Lazarus, and Mary, and Martha, and listen to their wondrous
+tale of what their Master did for them,--all this will be sweet indeed!
+No wonder that St. Paul bids us look forward.
+
+(4) In the last place, the gathering of all true Christians shall be _a
+meeting without a parting_. There are no such meetings now. We seem to
+live in an endless hurry, and can hardly sit down and take breath before
+we are off again. "Good-bye" treads on the heels of "How do you do?" The
+cares of this world, the necessary duties of life, the demands of our
+families, the work of our various stations and callings,--all these
+things appear to eat up our days, and to make it impossible to have long
+quiet times of communion with God's people. But, blessed be God, it
+shall not always be so. The hour cometh, and shall soon be here, when
+"good-bye" and "farewell" shall be words that are laid aside and buried
+for ever. When we meet in a world where the former things have passed
+away, where there is no more sin and no more sorrow,--no more poverty
+and no more money,--no more work of body or work of brains,--no more
+need of anxiety for families,--no more sickness, no more pain, no more
+old age, no more death, no more change,--when we meet in that endless
+state of being, calm, and restful, and unhurried,--who can tell what the
+blessedness of the change will be? I cannot wonder that St. Paul bids us
+look up and look forward.
+
+
+I lay these things before all who read this paper, and ask their serious
+attention to them. If I know anything of a Christian's experience, I am
+sure they contain food for reflection. This, at least, I say
+confidently: the man who sees nothing much in the second coming of
+Christ and the public "gathering" of Christ's people,--nothing happy,
+nothing joyful, nothing pleasant, nothing desirable,--such a man may
+well doubt whether he himself is a true Christian and has got any grace
+at all.
+
+(1) _I ask you a plain question._ Do not turn away from it and refuse
+to look it in the face. Shall you be gathered by the angels into God's
+home when the Lord returns, or shall you be left behind?
+
+One thing, at any rate, is very certain. There will only be two parties
+of mankind at the last great day: those who are on the right hand of
+Christ, and those who are on the left;--those who are counted righteous,
+and those who are wicked;--those who are safe in the ark, and those who
+are outside;--those who are gathered like wheat into God's barn, and
+those who are left behind like tares to be burned. Now, what will your
+portion be?
+
+Perhaps you do not know yet. You cannot say. You are not sure. You hope
+the best. You trust it will be all right at last: but you won't
+undertake to give an opinion. Well! I only hope you will never rest till
+you do know. The Bible will tell you plainly who are they that will be
+gathered. Your own heart, if you deal honestly, will tell you whether
+you are one of the number. Rest not, rest not, till you know!
+
+How men can stand the partings and separations of this life if they have
+no hope of anything better,--how they can bear to say "good-bye" to sons
+and daughters, and launch them on the troublesome waves of this world,
+if they have no expectation of a safe "gathering" in Christ at
+last,--how they can part with beloved members of their families, and let
+them journey forth to the other side of the globe, not knowing if they
+shall ever meet happily in this life or a life to come,--how all this
+can be, completely baffles my understanding. I can only suppose that the
+many never think, never consider, never look forward. Once let a man
+begin to think, and he will never be satisfied till he has found Christ
+and is safe.
+
+(2) _I offer you a plain means of testing your own soul's condition_, if
+you want to know your own chance of being gathered into God's home. Ask
+yourself what kind of gatherings you like best here upon earth? Ask
+yourself whether you really love the assembling together of God's
+people?
+
+How could that man enjoy the meeting of true Christians in heaven who
+takes no pleasure in meeting true Christians on earth? How can that
+heart which is wholly set on balls, and races, and feasts, and
+amusements, and worldly assemblies, and thinks earthly worship a
+weariness--how can such a heart be in tune for the company of saints,
+and saints alone? The thing is impossible. It cannot be.
+
+Never, never let it be forgotten, that our tastes on earth are a sure
+evidence of the state of our hearts; and the state of our hearts here is
+a sure indication of our position hereafter. Heaven is a prepared place
+for a prepared people. He that hopes to be gathered with saints in
+heaven while he only loves the gathering of sinners on earth is
+deceiving himself. If he lives and dies in that state of mind he will
+find at last that he had better never have been born.
+
+(3) If you are a true Christian, _I exhort you to be often looking
+forward_. Your good things are yet to come. Your redemption draweth
+nigh. The night is far spent. The day is at hand. Yet a little time, and
+He whom you love and believe on will come, and will not tarry. When He
+comes, He will bring His dead saints with Him and change His living
+ones. Look forward! There is a "gathering together" yet to come.
+
+The morning after a shipwreck is a sorrowful time. The joy of
+half-drowned survivors, who have safely reached the land, is often sadly
+marred by the recollection of shipmates who have sunk to rise no more.
+There will be no such sorrow when believers gather together round the
+throne of the Lamb. Not one of the ship's company shall be found absent.
+"Some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship,--all will get
+safe to shore at last." (Acts xxvii. 44.) The great waters and raging
+waves shall swallow none of God's elect. When the sun rises they shall
+be seen all safe, and "gathered together."
+
+Even the day after a great victory is a sorrowful time. The triumphant
+feelings of the conquerors are often mingled with bitter regrets for
+those who fell in action, and died on the field. The list of "killed,
+wounded, and missing," breaks many a heart, fills many a home with
+mourning, and brings many a grey head sorrowing to the grave. The great
+Duke of Wellington often said, "there was but one thing worse than a
+victory, and that was a defeat." But, thanks be to God, there will be no
+such sorrow in heaven! The soldiers of the great Captain of our
+salvation shall all answer to their names at last. The muster-roll shall
+be as complete after the battle as it was before. Not one believer shall
+be "missing" in the great "gathering together."
+
+Does Christmas, for instance, bring with it sorrowful feelings and
+painful associations? Do tears rise unbidden in your eyes when you mark
+the empty places round the fireside? Do grave thoughts come sweeping
+over your mind, even in the midst of your children's mirth, when you
+recollect the dear old faces and much loved voices of some that sleep in
+the churchyard? Well, look up and look forward! The time is short. The
+world is growing old. The coming of the Lord draweth nigh. There is yet
+to be a meeting without parting, and a gathering without separation.
+Those believers whom you laid in the grave with many tears are in good
+keeping: you will yet see them again with joy. Look up! I say once more.
+Lay hold by faith on the "coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our
+gathering together unto Him." Believe it, think of it, rest on it. It is
+all true.
+
+Do you feel lonely and desolate as every December comes round? Do you
+find few to pray with, few to praise with, few to open your heart to,
+few to exchange experience with? Do you learn increasingly, that heaven
+is becoming every year more full and earth more empty? Well, it is an
+old story. You are only drinking a cup which myriads have drunk before.
+Look up and look forward. The lonely time will soon be past and over:
+you will have company enough by and by. "When you wake up after your
+Lord's likeness you shall be satisfied." (Ps. xvii. 15.) Yet a little
+while and you shall see a congregation that shall never break up, and a
+sabbath that shall never end. "The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
+our gathering together unto Him," shall make amends for all.
+
+
+
+
+XX
+
+
+THE GREAT SEPARATION
+
+     "_Whose fan is in His hand, and He will throughly purge His
+     floor, and gather His wheat into the garner; but He will burn
+     up the chaff with unquenchable fire._"--Matt. iii. 12.
+
+
+The verse of Scripture which is now before our eyes contains words which
+were spoken by John the Baptist. They are a prophecy about our Lord
+Jesus Christ, and a prophecy which has not yet been fulfilled. They are
+a prophecy which we shall all see fulfilled one day, and God alone knows
+how soon.
+
+I invite every reader of this paper to consider seriously the great
+truths which this verse contains. I invite you to give me your
+attention, while I unfold them, and set them before you in order. Who
+knows but this text may prove a word in season to your soul? Who knows
+but this text may help to make this day the happiest day in your life?
+
+
+I. Let me show, in the first place, _the two great classes into which
+mankind may be divided_.
+
+There are only two classes of people in the world in the sight of God,
+and both are mentioned in the text which begins this paper. There are
+those who are called _the wheat_, and there are those who are called
+_the chaff_.
+
+Viewed with the eye of man, the earth contains many different sorts of
+inhabitants. Viewed with the eye of God it only contains two. Man's eye
+looks at the outward appearance:--this is all he thinks of. The eye of
+God looks at the heart:--this is the only part of which He takes any
+account. And tried by the state of their hearts, there are but two
+classes into which people can be divided:--either they are wheat, or
+they are chaff.
+
+_Who are the wheat in the world?_ This is a point which demands special
+consideration.
+
+The wheat means all men and women who are believers in the Lord Jesus
+Christ,--all who are led by the Holy Spirit,--all who have felt
+themselves sinners, and fled for refuge to the salvation offered in the
+Gospel,--all who love the Lord Jesus and live to the Lord Jesus, and
+serve the Lord Jesus,--all who have taken Christ for their only
+confidence, and the Bible for their only guide, and regard sin as their
+deadliest enemy, and look to heaven as their only home. All such, of
+every Church, name, nation, people, and tongue,--of every rank, station,
+condition, and degree,--all such are God's "wheat."
+
+Show me people of this kind anywhere, and I know what they are. I know
+not that they and I may agree in all particulars, but I see in them the
+handiwork of the King of kings, and I ask no more. I know not whence
+they came, and where they found their religion; but I know where they
+are going, and that is enough for me. They are the children of my Father
+in heaven. They are part of His "wheat."
+
+All such, though sinful and vile, and unworthy in their own eyes, are
+the precious part of mankind. They are the sons and daughters of God the
+Father. They are the delight of God the Son. They are the habitation of
+God the Spirit. The Father beholds no iniquity in them:--they are the
+members of His dear Son's mystical body: in Him He sees them, and is
+well-pleased. The Lord Jesus discerns in them the fruit of His own
+travail and work upon the cross, and is well satisfied. The Holy Ghost
+regards them as spiritual temples which He Himself has reared, and
+rejoices over them. In a word, they are the "wheat" of the earth.
+
+_Who are the chaff in the world?_ This again is a point which demands
+special attention.
+
+The chaff means all men and women who have no saving faith in Christ,
+and no sanctification of the Spirit, whosoever they may be. Some of them
+perhaps are infidels, and some are formal Christians. Some are sneering
+Sadducees, and some self-righteous Pharisees. Some of them make a point
+of keeping up a kind of Sunday religion, and others are utterly careless
+of everything except their own pleasure and the world. But all alike,
+who have the two great marks already mentioned--_no faith and no
+sanctification_,--all such are "chaff." From Paine and Voltaire to the
+dead Churchman who can think of nothing but outward ceremonies,--from
+Julian and Porphyry to the unconverted admirer of sermons in the present
+day,--all, all are standing in one rank before God: all, all are
+"chaff."
+
+They bring no glory to God the Father. "They honour not the Son, and so
+do not honour the Father that sent Him." (John v. 23.) They neglect that
+mighty salvation which countless millions of angels admire. They disobey
+that Word which was graciously written for their learning. They listen
+not to the voice of Him who condescended to leave heaven and die for
+their sins. They pay no tribute of service and affection to Him who gave
+them "life, and breath, and all things." And therefore God takes no
+pleasure in them. He pities them, but He reckons them no better than
+"chaff."
+
+Yes! you may have rare intellectual gifts and high mental attainments:
+you may sway kingdoms by your counsel, move millions by your pen, or
+keep crowds in breathless attention by your tongue; but if you have
+never submitted yourself to the yoke of Christ, and never honoured His
+Gospel by heartfelt reception of it, you are nothing in His sight.
+Natural gifts without grace are like a row of cyphers without an unit
+before them: they look big, but they are of no value. The meanest insect
+that crawls is a nobler being than you are: it fills its place in
+creation, and glorifies its Maker with all its power, and you do not.
+You do not honour God with heart, and will, and intellect, and members,
+which are all His. You invert His order and arrangement, and live as if
+time was of more importance than eternity, and body better than soul.
+You dare to neglect God's greatest gift,--His own incarnate Son. You are
+cold about that subject which fills all heaven with hallelujahs. And so
+long as this is the case you belong to the worthless part of mankind.
+You are the "chaff" of the earth.
+
+Let this thought be graven deeply in the mind of every reader of this
+paper, whatever else he forgets. Remember there are only two sorts of
+people in the world. There are wheat, and there are chaff.
+
+There are many nations in Europe. Each differs from the rest. Each has
+its own language, its own laws, its own peculiar customs. But God's eye
+divides Europe into two great parties,--the wheat and the chaff.
+
+There are many classes in England. There are peers and
+commoners,--farmers and shopkeepers,--masters and servants,--rich and
+poor. But God's eye only takes account of two orders,--the wheat and the
+chaff.
+
+There are many and various minds in every congregation that meets for
+religious worship. There are some who attend for a mere form, and some
+who really desire to meet Christ,--some who come there to please others,
+and some who come to please God,--some who bring their hearts with them
+and are not soon tired, and some who leave their hearts behind them, and
+reckon the whole service weary work. But the eye of the Lord Jesus only
+sees two divisions in the congregation,--the wheat and the chaff.
+
+There were millions of visitors to the Great Exhibition of 1851. From
+Europe, Asia, Africa, and America,--from North and South, and East and
+West,--crowds came together to see what skill and industry could do.
+Children of our first father Adam's family, who had never seen each
+other before, for once met face to face under one roof. But the eye of
+the Lord only saw two companies thronging that large palace of
+glass,--the wheat and the chaff.
+
+I know well the world dislikes this way of dividing professing
+Christians. The world tries hard to fancy there are _three_ sorts of
+people, and not _two_. To be very good and very strict does not suit the
+world:--they cannot, will not be saints. To have no religion at all does
+not suit the world:--it would not be respectable.--"Thank God," they
+will say, "we are not so bad as that." But to have religion enough to be
+saved, and yet not go into extremes,--to be sufficiently good, and yet
+not be peculiar,--to have a quiet, easy-going, moderate kind of
+Christianity, and go comfortably to heaven after all,--this is the
+world's favourite idea. There is a third class,--a safe middle
+class,--the world fancies, and in this middle class the majority of men
+persuade themselves they will be found.
+
+I denounce this notion of a middle class, as an immense and soul-ruining
+delusion. I warn you strongly not to be carried away by it. It is as
+vain an invention as the Pope's purgatory. It is a refuge of lies,--a
+castle in the air,--a Russian ice-palace,--a vast unreality,--an empty
+dream. This middle class is a class of Christians nowhere spoken of in
+the Bible.
+
+There were two classes in the day of Noah's flood, those who were inside
+the ark, and those who were without;--two in the parable of the
+Gospel-net, those who are called the good fish, and those who are called
+the bad;--two in the parable of the ten virgins, those who are described
+as wise, and those who are described as foolish;--two in the account of
+the judgment day, the sheep and the goats;--two sides of the throne, the
+right hand and the left;--two abodes when the last sentence has been
+passed, heaven and hell.
+
+And just so there are only two classes in the visible Church on
+earth,--those who are in the state of nature, and those who are in the
+state of grace,--those who are in the narrow way, and those who are in
+the broad,--those who have faith, and those who have not faith,--those
+who have been converted, and those who have not been converted,--those
+who are with Christ, and those who are against Him,--those who gather
+with Him, and those who scatter abroad,--those who are "wheat," and
+those who are "chaff." Into these two classes the whole professing
+Church of Christ may be divided. Beside these two classes there is none.
+
+See now what cause there is for self-inquiry. Are you among the wheat,
+or among the chaff? Neutrality is impossible. Either you are in one
+class, or in the other. Which is it of the two?
+
+You attend church, perhaps. You go to the Lord's table. You like good
+people. You can distinguish between good preaching and bad. You think
+Popery false, and oppose it warmly. You think Protestantism true, and
+support it cordially. You subscribe to religious Societies. You attend
+religious meetings. You sometimes read religious books. It is well: it
+is very well. It is good: it is all very good. It is more than can be
+said of many. But still this is not a straightforward answer to my
+question.--Are you wheat or are you chaff?
+
+Have you been born again? Are you a new creature? Have you put off the
+old man, and put on the new? Have you ever felt your sins, and repented
+of them? Are you looking simply to Christ for pardon and life eternal?
+Do you love Christ? Do you serve Christ? Do you loathe heart-sins, and
+fight against them? Do you long for perfect holiness, and follow hard
+after it? Have you come out from the world? Do you delight in the Bible?
+Do you wrestle in prayer? Do you love Christ's people? Do you try to do
+good to the world? Are you vile in your own eyes, and willing to take
+the lowest place? Are you a Christian in business, and on week-days, and
+by your own fireside? Oh, think, think, think on these things, and then
+perhaps you will be better able to tell the state of your soul.
+
+I beseech you not to turn away from my question, however unpleasant it
+may be. Answer it, though it may prick your conscience, and cut you to
+the heart. Answer it, though it may prove you in the wrong, and expose
+your fearful danger. Rest not, rest not, till you know how it is between
+you and God. Better a thousand times find out that you are in an evil
+case, and repent betimes, than live on in uncertainty, and be lost
+eternally.
+
+
+II. Let me show, in the second place, _the time when the two great
+classes of mankind shall be separated_.
+
+The text at the beginning of this paper foretells a separation. It says
+that Christ shall one day do to His professing Church what the farmer
+does to his corn. He shall winnow and sift it. He "shall throughly purge
+His floor." And then the wheat and the chaff shall be divided.
+
+There is no separation yet. Good and bad are now all mingled together in
+the visible Church of Christ. Believers and unbelievers,--converted and
+unconverted,--holy and unholy,--all are to be found now among those who
+call themselves Christians. They sit side by side in our assemblies.
+They kneel side by side in our pews. They listen side by side to our
+sermons. They sometimes come up side by side to the Lord's table, and
+receive the same bread and wine from our hands.
+
+But it shall not always be so. Christ shall come the second time with
+His fan in His hand. He shall purge His Church, even as He purified the
+temple. And then the wheat and the chaff shall be separated, and each
+shall go to its own place.
+
+(_a_) Before Christ comes _separation is impossible_. It is not in man's
+power to effect it. There lives not the minister on earth who can read
+the hearts of every one in his congregation. About some he may speak
+decidedly;--he cannot about all. Who have oil in their lamps, and who
+have not,--who have grace as well as profession,--and who have
+profession only and no grace,--who are children of God, and who of the
+devil,--all these are questions which in many cases we cannot accurately
+decide. The winnowing fan is not put into our hands.
+
+Grace is sometimes so weak and feeble, that it looks like nature. Nature
+is sometimes so plausible and well-dressed, that it looks like grace. I
+believe we should many of us have said that Judas was as good as any of
+the Apostles; and yet he proved a traitor. I believe we should have said
+that Peter was a reprobate when he denied his Lord; and yet he repented
+immediately, and rose again. We are but fallible men. "We know in part
+and we prophesy in part." (1 Cor. xiii. 9.) We scarcely understand our
+own hearts. It is no great wonder if we cannot read the hearts of
+others.
+
+But it will not always be so. There is One coming who never errs in
+judgment, and is perfect in knowledge. Jesus shall purge His floor.
+Jesus shall sift the chaff from the wheat. I wait for this. Till then I
+will lean to the side of charity in my judgments. I would rather
+tolerate much chaff in the Church than cast out one grain of wheat. He
+shall soon come "who has His fan in His hand," and then the certainty
+about every one shall be known.
+
+(_b_) Before Christ comes it is useless to _expect to see a perfect
+Church_. There cannot be such a thing. The wheat and the chaff, in the
+present state of things, will always be found together. I pity those who
+leave one Church and join another, because of a few faults and unsound
+members. I pity them, because they are fostering ideas which can never
+be realized. I pity them, because they are seeking that which cannot be
+found. I see "chaff" everywhere. I see imperfections and infirmities of
+some kind in every communion on earth. I believe there are few tables of
+the Lord, if any, where all the communicants are converted. I often see
+loud-talking professors exalted as saints. I often see holy and contrite
+believers set down as having no grace at all. I am satisfied if men are
+too scrupulous, they may go fluttering about, like Noah's dove, all
+their days, and never find rest.
+
+Does any reader of this paper desire a perfect Church? You must wait for
+the day of Christ's appearing. Then, and not till then, you will see a
+"glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing." (Eph.
+v. 27.) Then, and not till then, the floor will be purged.
+
+(_c_) Before Christ comes it is vain to _look for the conversion of the
+world_. How can it be, if He is to find wheat and chaff side by side in
+the day of His second coming? I believe some Christians expect that
+missions will fill the earth with the knowledge of Christ, and that
+little by little sin will disappear, and a state of perfect holiness
+gradually glide in. I cannot see with their eyes. I think they are
+mistaking God's purposes, and sowing for themselves bitter
+disappointment. I expect nothing of the kind. I see nothing in the
+Bible, or in the world around me, to make me expect it. I have never
+heard of a single congregation entirely converted to God, in England or
+Scotland, or of anything like it.--And why am I to look for a different
+result from the preaching of the Gospel in other lands? I only expect to
+see a few raised up as witnesses to Christ in every nation, some in one
+place and some in another. Then I expect the Lord Jesus will come in
+glory, with His fan in His hand. And when He has purged His floor, and
+not till then, His kingdom will begin.
+
+_No separation and no perfection till Christ comes!_ This is my creed. I
+am not moved when the infidel asks me why all the world is not
+converted, if Christianity is really true. I answer, It was never
+promised that it would be so in the present order of things. The Bible
+tells me that believers will always be few,--that corruptions and
+divisions and heresies will always abound, and that when my Lord returns
+to earth He will find plenty of chaff.
+
+_No perfection till Christ comes!_ I am not disturbed when men say, "Make
+all the people good Christians at home before you send missionaries to
+the heathen abroad." I answer, If I am to wait for that, I may wait for
+ever. When we have done all at home, the Church will still be a mixed
+body,--it will contain some wheat and much chaff.
+
+But Christ will come again. Sooner or later there shall be a separation
+of the visible Church into two companies, and fearful shall that
+separation be. The wheat shall make up one company. The chaff shall make
+up another. The one company will be all godly. The other company will be
+all ungodly. Each shall be by themselves, and a great gulf between, that
+none can pass. Blessed indeed shall the righteous be in that day! They
+shall shine like stars, no longer obscured with clouds. They shall be
+beautiful as the lily, no longer choked with thorns. (Cant. ii. 2.)
+Wretched indeed will the ungodly be! How corrupt will corruption be when
+left without one grain of salt to season it! How dark will darkness be
+when left without one spark of light! Ah, it is not enough to respect
+and admire the Lord's people! You must belong to them, or you will one
+day be parted from them for ever. There will be no chaff in heaven.
+Many, many are the families where one will be taken and another left.
+(Luke xvii. 34.)
+
+Who is there now among the readers of this paper that loves the Lord
+Jesus Christ in sincerity? If I know anything of the heart of a
+Christian, your greatest trials are in the company of worldly
+people,--your greatest joys in the company of the saints. Yes! there are
+many weary days, when your spirit feels broken and crushed by the
+earthly tone of all around you,--days when you could cry with David,
+"Woe is me that I dwell in Mesech, and have my habitation in the tents
+of Kedar." (Ps. cxx. 5.) And yet there are hours when your soul is so
+refreshed and revived by meeting some of God's dear children, that it
+seems like heaven on earth. Do I not speak to your heart? Are not these
+things true? See then how you should long for the time when Christ shall
+come again. See how you should pray daily that the Lord would hasten His
+kingdom, and say to Him, "Come quickly, Lord Jesus." (Rev. xxii. 20.)
+Then, and not till then, shall be a pure unmixed communion. Then, and
+not till then, the saints shall all be together, and shall go out from
+one another's presence no more. Wait a little. Wait a little. Scorn and
+contempt will soon be over. Laughter and ridicule shall soon have an
+end. Slander and misrepresentation will soon cease. Your Saviour shall
+come and plead your cause. And then, as Moses said to Korah, "the Lord
+will show who are His,"[14] (Num. xvi. 5.)
+
+  14: "This is certain,--when the elect are all converted, then Christ
+  will come to judgment. As he that rows a boat stays till all the
+  passengers are taken into his boat, and then he rows away; so Christ
+  stays till all the elect are gathered in, and then He will hasten
+  away to judgment."--_Thomas Watson._ 1660
+
+Who is there among the readers of this paper that knows his heart is not
+right in the sight of God? See how you should fear and tremble at the
+thought of Christ's appearing. Alas, indeed for the man that lives and
+dies with nothing better than a cloak of religion! In the day when
+Christ shall purge His floor, you will be shown up and exposed in your
+true colours. You may deceive ministers, and friends, and
+neighbours,--but you cannot deceive Christ. The paint and varnish of a
+heartless Christianity will never stand the fire of that day. The Lord
+is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed. You will find
+that the eye which saw Achan and Gehazi, has read your secrets, and
+searched out your hidden things. You will hear that awful word, "Friend,
+how camest thou in hither, not having a wedding garment?" (Matt. xxii.
+12.) Oh, tremble at the thought of the day of sifting and separation!
+Surely hypocrisy is a most losing game. Surely it never answers to act a
+part. Surely it never answers, like Ananias and Sapphira, to pretend to
+give God something, and yet to keep back your heart. It all fails at
+last. Your joy is but for a moment. Your hopes are no better than a
+dream. Oh, tremble, tremble: tremble and repent!
+
+
+III. Let me show, in the third place, _the portion which Christ's people
+shall receive when He comes to purge His floor_.
+
+The text at the beginning of this paper tells us that, in good and
+comfortable words. It tells us that Christ shall "gather His wheat into
+the garner."
+
+When the Lord Jesus comes the second time, He shall collect His
+believing people into a place of safety. He will send His angels and
+gather them from every quarter. The sea shall give up the dead that are
+in it, and the graves the dead that are in them, and the living shall be
+changed. Not one poor sinner of mankind who has ever laid hold on Christ
+by faith shall be wanting in that company. Not one single grain of wheat
+shall be missing and left outside, when judgments fall upon a wicked
+world. There shall be a garner for the wheat of the earth, and into that
+garner all the wheat shall be brought.
+
+It is a sweet and comfortable thought, that "the Lord taketh pleasure in
+His people" and "careth for the righteous." (Ps. cxlix. 4; 1 Pet. v. 7.)
+But how much the Lord cares for them, I fear is little known, and dimly
+seen. Believers have their trials, beyond question, and these both many
+and great. The flesh is weak. The world is full of snares. The cross is
+heavy. The way is narrow. The companions are few. But still they have
+strong consolations, if their eyes were but open to see them. Like
+Hagar, they have a well of water near them, even in the wilderness,
+though they often do not find it out. Like Mary, they have Jesus
+standing by their side, though often they are not aware of it for very
+tears. (Gen. xxi. 19; John xx. 14.)
+
+Bear with me while I try to tell you something about Christ's care for
+poor sinners that believe in Him. Alas, indeed, that it should be
+needful! But we live in a day of weak and feeble statements. The danger
+of the state of nature is feebly exposed. The privileges of the state of
+grace are feebly set forth. Hesitating souls are not encouraged.
+Disciples are not established and confirmed. The man out of Christ is
+not rightly alarmed. The man in Christ is not rightly built up. The one
+sleeps on, and seldom has his conscience pricked. The other creeps and
+crawls all his days, and never thoroughly understands the riches of his
+inheritance. Truly this is a sore disease, and one that I would gladly
+help to cure. Truly it is a melancholy thing that the people of God
+should never go up to mount Pizgah, and never know the length and
+breadth of their possessions. To be brethren of Christ, and sons of God
+by adoption,--to have full and perfect forgiveness, and the renewing of
+the Holy Ghost,--to have a place in the book of life, and a name on the
+breast-plate of the Great High Priest in heaven,--all these are glorious
+things indeed. But still they are not the whole of a believer's portion.
+They are upper springs indeed, but still there are nether springs
+beside.
+
+(_a_) The Lord _takes pleasure in His believing people_. Though black in
+their own eyes, they are comely and honourable in His. They are all
+fair. He sees "no spot" in them. (Cant. iv. 7.) Their weaknesses and
+short-comings do not break off the union between Him and them. He chose
+them, knowing all their hearts. He took them for his own, with a perfect
+understanding of all their debts, liabilities, and infirmities, and He
+will never break His covenant and cast them off. When they fall, He will
+raise them again. When they wander, He will bring them back. Their
+_prayers_ are pleasant to Him. As a father loves the first stammering
+efforts of his child to speak, so the Lord loves the poor feeble
+petitions of His people. He endorses them with His own mighty
+intercession, and gives them power on high. Their _services_ are
+pleasant to Him. As a father delights in the first daisy that his child
+picks up and brings him, even so the Lord is pleased with the weak
+attempts of His people to serve Him. Not a cup of cold water shall lose
+its reward. Not a word spoken in love shall ever be forgotten. The Holy
+Ghost inspired St. Paul to tell the Hebrews of Noah's faith, but not of
+his drunkenness,--of Rahab's faith, but not of her lie. It is a blessed
+thing to be God's wheat!
+
+(_b_) The Lord _cares for His believing people in their lives_. Their
+dwelling-place is well known. The street called "straight," where Judas
+dwelt, and Paul lodged,--the house by the sea-side, where Peter prayed,
+were all familiar to their Lord. None have such attendants as they
+have:--angels rejoice when they are born again; angels minister to them;
+and angels encamp around them. None have such food;--their bread is
+given them and their water is sure, and they have meat to eat of which
+the world knows nothing. None have such company as they have: the Spirit
+dwelleth with them; the Father and the Son come to them, and make their
+abode with them. (John xiv. 23.) Their steps are all ordered from grace
+to glory: they that persecute them persecute Christ Himself, and they
+that hurt them hurt the apple of the Lord's eye. Their trials and
+temptations are all measured out by a wise Physician:--not a grain of
+bitterness is ever mingled in their cup that is not good for the health
+of their souls. Their temptations, like Job's, are all under God's
+control.--Satan cannot touch a hair of their head without their Lord's
+permission, nor even tempt them above that which they shall be able to
+bear. "As a father pitieth his own children, so does the Lord pity them
+that fear Him." He never afflicts them willingly. (Ps. ciii. 13; Lam.
+iii. 33.) He leads them by the right way. He withholds nothing that is
+really for their good. Come what will, there is always a "needs-be."
+When they are placed in the furnace, it is that they may be purified.
+When they are chastened, it is that they may become more holy. When they
+are pruned, it is to make them more fruitful. When they are transplanted
+from place to place, it is that they may bloom more brightly. All things
+are continually working together for their good. Like the bee, they
+extract sweetness even out of the bitterest flowers.
+
+(_c_) The Lord _cares for His believing people in their deaths_. Their
+times are all in the Lord's hand. The hairs of their heads are all
+numbered, and not one can ever fall to the ground without their Father.
+They are kept on earth till they are ripe and ready for glory, and not
+one moment longer. When they have had sun and rain enough, wind and
+storm enough, cold and heat enough,--when the ear is perfected,--then,
+and not till then, the sickle is put in. They are all immortal till
+their work is done. There is not a disease that can loosen the pins of
+their tabernacle, until the Lord gives the word. A thousand may fall at
+their right hand, but there is not a plague that can touch them till the
+Lord sees good. There is not a physician that can keep them alive, when
+the Lord gives the word. When they come to their death-bed, the
+everlasting arms are round about them, and make all their bed in their
+sickness. When they die, they die like Moses, "according to the word of
+the Lord," at the right time, and in the right way. (Deut. xxxiv. 5.)
+And when they breathe their last, they fall asleep in Christ, and are at
+once carried, like Lazarus, into Abraham's bosom. Yes! it is a blessed
+thing to be Christ's wheat! When the sun of other men is setting, the
+sun of the believer is rising. When other men are laying aside their
+honours, he is putting his on. Death locks the door on the unbeliever,
+and shuts him out from hope. But death opens the door to the believer,
+and lets him into paradise.
+
+(_d_) And the Lord _will care for His believing people in the dreadful
+day of His appearing_. The flaming fire shall not come nigh them. The
+voice of the Archangel and the trump of God shall proclaim no terrors to
+their ears. Sleeping or waking, quick or dead, mouldering in the coffin,
+or standing at the post of daily duty,--believers shall be secure and
+unmoved. They shall lift up their heads with joy when they see
+redemption drawing nigh. They shall be changed, and put on their
+beautiful garments in the twinkling of an eye. They shall be "caught up
+to meet the Lord in the air." (1 Thess. iv. 17.) Jesus will do nothing
+to a sin-laden world till all his people are safe. There was an ark for
+Noah when the flood began. There was a Zoar for Lot when the fire fell
+on Sodom. There was a Pella for early Christians when Jerusalem was
+besieged. There was a Zurich for English reformers when Popish Mary came
+to the throne. And there will be a garner for all the wheat of the earth
+in the last day. Yes! it is a blessed thing to be Christ's wheat!
+
+I often wonder at the miserable faithlessness of those among us who are
+believers. Next to the hardness of the unconverted heart, I call it one
+of the greatest wonders in the world. I wonder that with such mighty
+reasons for confidence we can still be so full of doubts. I marvel,
+above all things, how any can deny the doctrine that Christ's people
+persevere unto the end, and can fancy that He who loved them so as to
+die for them upon the cross, will ever let them be cast away. I cannot
+think so. I do not believe the Lord Jesus will ever lose one of His
+flock. He will not let Satan pluck away from Him so much as one sick
+lamb. He will not allow one bone of His mystical body to be broken. He
+will not suffer one jewel to fall from His crown. He and His bride have
+been once joined in an everlasting covenant, and they shall never, never
+be put asunder. The trophies won by earthly conquerors have often been
+wrested from them, and carried off; but this shall never be said of the
+trophies of Him who triumphed for us on the cross. "My sheep," He says,
+"shall never perish." (John x. 28.) I take my stand on that text. I know
+not how it can be evaded. If words have any meaning, the perseverance of
+Christ's people is there.
+
+I do not believe, when David had rescued the lamb from the paws of the
+lion, that he left it weak and wounded to perish in the wilderness. I
+cannot believe when the Lord Jesus has delivered a soul from the snare
+of the devil that He will ever leave that soul to take his chance, and
+wrestle on in his own feebleness, against sin, the devil, and the world.
+
+I dare be sure, if you were present at a shipwreck, and seeing some
+helpless child tossing on the waves were to plunge into the sea and save
+him at the risk of your own life,--I dare be sure you would not be
+content with merely bringing that child safe to shore. You would not lay
+him down when you had reached the land, and say, "I will do no more. He
+is weak,--he is insensible,--he is cold: it matters not. I have done
+enough,--I have delivered him from the waters: he is not drowned." You
+would not do it. You would not say so. You would not treat that child in
+such a manner. You would lift him in your arms; you would carry him to
+the nearest house; you would try to bring back warmth and animation; you
+would use every means to restore health and vigour: you would never
+leave him till his recovery was a certain thing.
+
+And can you suppose the Lord Jesus Christ is less merciful and less
+compassionate? Can you think He would suffer on the cross and die, and
+yet leave it uncertain whether believers in Him would be saved? Can you
+think He would wrestle with death and hell, and go down to the grave for
+our sakes, and yet allow our eternal life to hang on such a thread as
+our poor miserable endeavours.
+
+Oh, no: He does not do so! He is a perfect and complete Saviour. Those
+whom He loves, He loves unto the end. Those whom He washes in His blood
+He never leaves nor forsakes. He puts His fear into their hearts, so
+that they shall not depart from Him. Where He begins a work, there He
+also finishes. All whom He plants in His "garden inclosed" on earth, He
+transplants sooner or later into paradise. All whom He quickens by His
+Spirit He will also bring with Him when He enters His kingdom. There is
+a garner for every grain of the wheat. All shall appear in Zion before
+God.
+
+From false grace man may fall, and that both finally and foully. I never
+doubt this. I see proof of it continually. From true grace men never do
+fall totally. They never did, and they never will. If they commit sin,
+like Peter, they shall repent and rise again. If they err from the right
+way, like David, they shall be brought back. It is not any strength or
+power of their own that keeps them from apostacy. They are kept because
+the power, and love, and promises of the Trinity are all engaged on
+their side. The election of God the Father shall not be fruitless; the
+intercession of God the Son shall not be ineffectual; the love of God
+the Spirit shall not be labour in vain. The Lord "shall keep the feet of
+His saints." (1 Sam. ii. 9) They shall all be more than conquerors
+through Him that loved them. They all shall conquer, and none die
+eternally.[15]
+
+  15: "Blessed for ever and ever be that mother's child whose faith
+  hath made him the child of God. The earth may shake, the pillars of
+  the world may tremble under us, the countenance of the heaven may be
+  appalled, the sun may lose his light, the moon her beauty, the stars
+  their glory: but concerning the man that trusteth in God,--what is
+  there in the world that shall change his heart, overthrow his faith,
+  alter his affection towards God, or the affection of God to
+  him?"--_Richard Hooker_, 1585.
+
+If you have not yet taken up the cross and become Christ's disciple, you
+little know what privileges you are missing. Peace with God now and
+glory hereafter,--the everlasting arms to keep you by the way, and the
+garner of safety in the end,--all these are freely offered to you
+without money and without price. You may say that Christians have
+tribulations;--you forget that they have also consolations. You may say
+they have peculiar sorrows;--you forget they have also peculiar joys.
+You see but half the Christian life. You see not all. You see the
+warfare;--but not the meat and the wages. You see the tossing and
+conflict of the outward part of Christianity; you see not the hidden
+treasures which lie deep within. Like Elisha's servant, you see the
+enemies of God's children; but you do not, like Elisha, see the chariots
+and horses of fire which protect them. Oh, judge not by outward
+appearances! Be sure that the least drop of the water of life is better
+than all the rivers of the world. Remember the garner and the crown. Be
+wise in time.
+
+If you feel that you are a weak disciple, think not that weakness shuts
+you out from any of the privileges of which I have been speaking. Weak
+faith is true faith, and weak grace is true grace; and both are the gift
+of Him who never gives in vain. Fear not, neither be discouraged. Doubt
+not, neither despair. Jesus will never "break the bruised reed, nor
+quench the smoking flax." (Isa. xlii. 3.) The babes in a family are as
+much loved and thought of as the elder brothers and sisters. The tender
+seedlings in a garden are as diligently looked after as the old trees.
+The lambs in the flock are as carefully tended by the good shepherd as
+the old sheep. Oh, rest assured it is just the same in Christ's family,
+in Christ's garden, in Christ's flock! All are loved. All are tenderly
+thought of. All are cared for. And all shall be found in His garner at
+last.
+
+
+IV. Let me show, in the last place, the _portion which remains for all
+who are not Christ's people_.
+
+The text at the beginning of this paper describes this in words which
+should make our ears tingle: Christ shall "burn up the chaff with fire
+unquenchable."
+
+When the Lord Jesus Christ comes to purge His floor, He shall punish all
+who are not His disciples with a fearful punishment. All who are found
+impenitent and unbelieving,--all who have held the truth in
+unrighteousness,--all who have clung to sin, stuck to the world, and set
+their affections on things below,--all who are without Christ,--all such
+shall come to an awful end. Christ shall "burn up the chaff."
+
+Their punishment shall be _most severe_. There is no pain like that of
+burning. Put your finger in the candle for a moment, if you doubt this,
+and try. Fire is the most destructive and devouring of all elements.
+Look into the mouth of a blast-furnace, and think what it would be to be
+there. Fire is of all elements most opposed to life. Creatures can live
+in air, and earth, and water; but nothing can live in fire. Yet fire is
+the portion to which the Christless and unbelieving will come. Christ
+will "burn up the chaff with fire."
+
+Their punishment shall be _eternal_. Millions of ages shall pass away,
+and the fire into which the chaff is cast shall still burn on. That fire
+shall never burn low and become dim. The fuel of that fire shall never
+waste away and be consumed. It is "unquenchable fire."
+
+Alas, these are sad and painful things to speak of! I have no pleasure
+in dwelling on them. I could rather say with the Apostle Paul, as I
+write, "I have great heaviness and continual sorrow." (Rom. ix. 2.) But
+they are things written for our learning, and it is good to consider
+them. They are a part of that Scripture which is "all profitable," and
+they ought to be heard. Painful as the subject of hell is, it is one
+about which I dare not, cannot, must not be silent. Who would desire to
+speak of hell-fire if God had not spoken of it? When God has spoken of
+it so plainly, who can safely hold his peace?
+
+I dare not shut my eyes to the fact that a deep-rooted infidelity lurks
+in men's minds on the subject of hell. I see it oozing out in the utter
+apathy of some: they eat, and drink, and sleep, as if there was no wrath
+to come. I see it creeping forth in the coldness of others about their
+neighbours' souls: they show little anxiety to pluck brands from the
+fire. I desire to denounce such infidelity with all my might. Believing
+that there are "terrors of the Lord," as well as the "recompense of
+reward," I call on all who profess to believe the Bible, to be on their
+guard.
+
+(_a_) I know that some do not believe there is any hell at all. They
+think it impossible there can be such a place. They call it inconsistent
+with the mercy of God. They say it is too awful an idea to be really
+true. The devil of course rejoices in the views of such people. They
+help his kingdom mightily. They are preaching up his own favourite
+doctrine: "Ye shall not surely die." (Gen. iii. 4.)
+
+(_b_) I know, furthermore, that some do not believe that hell is
+eternal. They tell us it is incredible that a compassionate God will
+punish men for ever. He will surely open the prison doors at last. This
+also is a mighty help to the devil's cause. "Take your ease," he
+whispers to sinners: "if you do make a mistake, never mind, it is not
+for ever." A wicked woman was overheard in the streets of London saying
+to a bad companion, "Come along: who is afraid? Some parsons say there
+is no hell."
+
+(_c_) I know also that some believe there is a hell, but never allow
+that anybody is going there. All people, with them, are good as soon as
+they die,--all were sincere,--all meant well,--and all, they hope, got
+to heaven. Alas, what a common delusion is this! I can well understand
+the feeling of the little girl who asked her mother where all the wicked
+people were buried, "for she found no mention on the grave-stones of any
+except the good."
+
+(_d_) And I know very well that some believe there is a hell, and never
+like it to be spoken of. It is a subject that should always be kept
+back, in their opinion. They see no profit in bringing it forward, and
+are rather shocked when it is mentioned. This also is an immense help to
+the devil. "Hush, hush!" says Satan, "say nothing about hell." The
+fowler wishes to hear no noise when he lays his snares. The wolf would
+like the shepherd to sleep while he prowls round the fold. The devil
+rejoices when Christians are silent about hell.
+
+All these notions are the opinions of man. But what is it to you and me
+what man thinks in religion? Man will not judge us at the last day.
+Man's fancies and traditions are not to be our guide in this life. There
+is but one point to be settled: "What says the Word of God?"
+
+(_a_) Do you believe the Bible? Then depend upon it, _hell is real and
+true_. It is true as heaven,--as true as justification by faith,--as
+true as the fact that Christ died upon the cross,--as true as the Dead
+Sea. There is not a fact or doctrine which you may not lawfully doubt if
+you doubt hell. Disbelieve hell, and you unscrew, unsettle, and unpin
+everything in Scripture. You may as well throw your Bible away at once.
+From "no hell" to "no God" there is but a series of steps.
+
+(_b_) Do you believe the Bible? Then depend upon it, _hell will have
+inhabitants_. The wicked shall certainly be turned into hell, and all
+the people that forget God. "These shall go away into everlasting
+punishment." (Matt. xxv. 46.) The same blessed Saviour who now sits on a
+throne of grace, will one day sit on a throne of judgment, and men will
+see there is such a thing as "the wrath of the Lamb." (Rev. vi. 16.) The
+same lips which now say, "Come: come unto Me!" will one day say,
+"Depart, ye cursed!" Alas, how awful the thought of being condemned by
+Christ Himself, judged by the Saviour, sentenced to misery by the Lamb!
+
+(_c_) Do you believe the Bible? Then depend upon it, _hell will be
+intense and unutterable woe_. It is vain to talk of all the expressions
+about it being only figures of speech. The pit, the prison, the worm,
+the fire, the thirst, the blackness, the darkness, the weeping, the
+gnashing of teeth, the second death,--all these may be figures of speech
+if you please. But Bible figures mean something, beyond all question,
+and here they mean something which man's mind can never fully conceive.
+The miseries of mind and conscience are far worse than those of the
+body. The whole extent of hell, the present suffering, the bitter
+recollection of the past, the hopeless prospect of the future, will
+never be thoroughly known except by those who go there.
+
+(_d_) Do you believe the Bible? Then depend upon it, _hell is eternal_.
+It must be eternal, or words have no meaning at all. For ever and
+ever--everlasting--unquenchable--never-dying,--all these are expressions
+used about hell, and expressions that cannot be explained away. It must
+be eternal, or the very foundations of heaven are cast down. If hell has
+an end, heaven has an end too. They both stand or fall together.--It
+must be eternal, or else every doctrine of the Gospel is undermined. If
+a man may escape hell at length without faith in Christ, or
+sanctification of the Spirit, sin is no longer an infinite evil, and
+there was no such great need for Christ making an atonement. And where
+is there warrant for saying that hell can ever change a heart, or make
+it fit for heaven?--It must be eternal, or hell would cease to be hell
+altogether. Give a man hope, and he will bear anything. Grant a hope of
+deliverance, however distant, and hell is but a drop of water. Ah, these
+are solemn things! Well said old Caryl: "FOR EVER is the most solemn
+saying in the Bible." Alas, for that day which will have no
+to-morrow,--that day when men shall seek death and not find it, and
+shall desire to die, but death shall flee from them! Who shall dwell
+with devouring fire? Who shall dwell with everlasting burnings? (Rev.
+ix. 6; Isa. xxxiii. 14.)
+
+(_e_) Do you believe the Bible? Then depend upon it, _hell is a subject
+that ought not to be kept back_. It is striking to observe the many
+texts about it in Scripture. It is striking to observe that none say so
+much about it as our Lord Jesus Christ, that gracious and merciful
+Saviour; and the apostle John, whose heart seems full of love. Truly it
+may well be doubted whether we ministers speak of it as much as we
+ought. I cannot forget the words of a dying hearer of Mr. Newton's:
+"Sir, you often told me of Christ and salvation: why did you not oftener
+remind me of hell and danger?"
+
+Let others hold their peace about hell if they will;--I dare not do so.
+I see it plainly in Scripture, and I must speak of it. I fear that
+thousands are on that broad way that leads to it, and I would fain
+arouse them to a sense of the peril before them. What would you say of
+the man who saw his neighbour's house in danger of being burned down,
+and never raised the cry of "Fire"? What ought to be said of us as
+ministers, if we call ourselves watchmen for souls, and yet see the
+fires of hell raging in the distance, and never give the alarm? Call it
+bad taste, if you like, to speak of hell. Call it charity to make things
+pleasant, and speak smoothly, and soothe men with a constant lullaby of
+peace. From such notions of taste and charity may I ever be delivered!
+My notion of charity is to warn men plainly of danger. My notion of
+taste in the ministerial office is to declare all the counsel of God. If
+I never spoke of hell, I should think I had kept back something that was
+profitable, and should look on myself as an accomplice of the devil.
+
+I beseech every reader of this paper, in all tender affection, to beware
+of false views of the subject on which I have been dwelling. Beware of
+new and strange doctrines about hell and the eternity of punishment.
+Beware of manufacturing a God of your own,--a God who is all mercy, but
+not just,--a God who is all love, but not holy,--a God who has a heaven
+for everybody, but a hell for none,--a God who can allow good and bad to
+be side by side in time, but will make no distinction between good and
+bad in eternity. Such a God is an idol of your own, as really as Jupiter
+or Moloch,--as true an idol as any snake or crocodile in an Egyptian
+temple,--as true an idol as was ever moulded out of brass or clay. The
+hands of your own fancy and sentimentality have made him. He is not the
+God of the Bible, and besides the God of the Bible there is no God at
+all. Your heaven would be no heaven at all. A heaven containing all
+sorts of characters indiscriminately would be miserable discord indeed.
+Alas, for the eternity of such a heaven! there would be little
+difference between it and hell. There is a hell! There is a fire for the
+chaff! Take heed lest you find it out, to your cost, too late.
+
+Beware of being wise above that which is written. Beware of forming
+fanciful theories of your own, and then trying to make the Bible square
+in with them. Beware of making selections from your Bible to suit your
+taste,--refusing, like a spoilt child, whatever you think
+bitter,--seizing, like a spoilt child, whatever you think sweet. What is
+all this but taking Jehoiakim's penknife? (Jer. xxxvi. 23.) What does it
+amount to but telling God, that you, a poor short-lived worm, know what
+is good for you better than He. It will not do: it will not do. You must
+take the Bible as it is. You must read it all, and believe it all. You
+must come to the reading of it in the spirit of a little child. Dare not
+to say, "I believe this verse, for I like it. I reject that, for I do
+not like it. I receive this, for I can understand it. I refuse that, for
+I cannot reconcile it with my views." Nay, but, O man, "who art thou
+that repliest against God?" (Rom. ix. 20.) By what right do you talk in
+this way? Surely it were better to say over every chapter in the Word,
+"Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth."--If men would do this, they
+would never deny hell, the chaff, and the fire.
+
+
+And now, let me say four things in conclusion, and then I have done. I
+have shown the two great classes of mankind, the wheat and the chaff.--I
+have shown the separation which will one day take place.--I have shown
+the safety of the Lord's people.--I have shown the fearful portion of
+the Christless and unbelieving.--I commend these things to the
+conscience of every reader of this paper, as in the sight of God.
+
+(1) First of all, settle it down in your mind that the things of which I
+have been speaking are _all real and true_.
+
+I do believe that many never see the great truths of religion in this
+light. I firmly believe that many never listen to the things they hear
+from ministers as realities. They regard it all, like Gallio, as a
+matter of "names and words," and nothing more; a huge shadow,--a formal
+part-acting,--a vast sham. The last novel, the latest news from France,
+India, Australia, Turkey, or New York,--all these are things they
+realize: they feel interested and excited about them. But as to the
+Bible, and heaven, and the kingdom of Christ, and the judgment
+day,--these are subjects that they hear unmoved: they do not really
+believe them. If Layard had dug up at Nineveh anything damaging the
+truth and authority of the Old Testament Scriptures, it would not have
+interfered with their peace for an hour.
+
+If you have unhappily got into this frame of mind, I charge you to cast
+it off for ever. Whether you mean to hear or forbear, awaken to a
+thorough conviction that the things I have brought before you are real
+and true. The wheat, the chaff, the separation, the garner, the
+fire,--all these are great realities,--as real as the sun in heaven,--as
+real as the paper which your eyes behold. For my part, I believe in
+heaven, and I believe in hell. I believe in a coming judgment. I believe
+in a day of sifting. I am not ashamed to say so. I believe them all, and
+therefore write as I do. Oh, take a friend's advice,--live as if these
+things were true.
+
+(2) Settle it down in your mind, in the second place, that the things of
+which I write _concern yourself_. They are your business, your affair,
+and your concern.
+
+Many, I am satisfied, never look on religion as a matter that concerns
+themselves. They attend on its outward part, as a decent and proper
+fashion. They hear sermons. They read religious books. They have their
+children christened. But all the time they never ask themselves, "What
+is all this to me?" They sit in our churches like spectators in a
+theatre or court of law. They read our writings as if they were reading
+a report of an interesting trial, or of some event far away. But they
+never say to themselves, "I am the man."
+
+If you have this kind of feeling, depend upon it it will never do. There
+must be an end of all this if ever you are to be saved. You are the man
+I write to, whoever you may be who reads this paper. I write not
+specially to the rich. I write not specially to the poor. I write to
+everybody who will read, whatever his rank may be. It is on your soul's
+account that I am pleading, and not another's. You are spoken of in the
+text that begins this paper. You are this very day either among the
+"wheat" or among the "chaff." Your portion will one day either be the
+garner or the fire. Oh, that men were wise, and would lay these things
+to heart! Oh, that they would not trifle, dally, linger, live on
+half-and-half Christians, meaning well, but never acting boldly, and at
+last awake when it is too late!
+
+(3) Settle it down in your mind, in the third place, that if you are
+willing to be one of the wheat of the earth, _the Lord Jesus Christ is
+willing to receive you_.
+
+Does any man suppose that Jesus is not willing to see His garner filled?
+Do you think He does not desire to bring many sons to glory? Oh, but you
+little know the depth of His mercy and compassion, if you can think such
+a thought! He wept over unbelieving Jerusalem. He mourns over the
+impenitent and the thoughtless in the present day. He sends you
+invitations by my mouth this hour. He invites you to hear and live, to
+forsake the way of the foolish and go in the paths of understanding. "As
+I live," He says, "I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth.
+Turn ye, turn ye: why will ye die?" (Ezek. xviii. 32.)
+
+Oh, if you never came to Christ for life before, come to Him this very
+day! Come to Him with the penitent's prayer for mercy and grace. Come to
+Him without delay. Come to Him while the subject of this paper is still
+fresh on your mind. Come to Him before another sun rises on the earth,
+and let the morning find you a new creature.
+
+If you are determined to have the world, and the things of the
+world,--its pleasures and its rewards,--its follies and its sins;--if
+you must have your own way, and cannot give up anything for Christ and
+your soul;--if this be your case, there is but one end before you. I
+fairly warn you,--I plainly tell you:--You will sooner or later come to
+the unquenchable fire.
+
+But if any man is willing to be saved, the Lord Jesus Christ stands
+ready to save him. "Come unto Me," He says, "weary soul, and I will give
+you rest. Come, guilty and sinful soul, and I will give you free pardon.
+Come, lost and ruined soul, and I will give you eternal life." (Matt.
+xi. 28.)
+
+Let that passage be a word in season. Arise and call upon the Lord. Let
+the angels of God rejoice over one more saved soul. Let the courts of
+heaven hear the good tidings that one more lost sheep is found.
+
+(4) Settle it down in your mind, last of all, that if you have committed
+your soul to Christ, _Christ will never allow that soul to perish_.
+
+The everlasting arms are round about you. Lean back in them and know
+your safety. The same hand that was nailed to the cross is holding you.
+The same wisdom that framed the heavens and the earth is engaged to
+maintain your cause. The same power that redeemed the twelve tribes from
+the house of bondage is on your side. The same love that bore with and
+carried Israel from Egypt to Canaan is pledged to keep you. Yes! they
+are well kept whom Christ keeps! Our faith may repose calmly on such a
+bed as Christ's omnipotence.
+
+Take comfort, doubting believer. Why are you cast down? The love of
+Jesus is no summer-day fountain: no man ever yet saw its bottom. The
+compassion of Jesus is a fire that never yet burned low: the cold, grey
+ashes of that fire have never yet been seen. Take comfort. In your own
+heart you may find little cause for rejoicing. But you may always
+rejoice in the Lord.
+
+You say your faith is so small. But where is it said that none shall be
+saved except their faith be great? And after all, "Who gave thee any
+faith at all?" The very fact that you have any faith is a token for
+good.
+
+You say your sins are so many. But where is the sin, or the heap of
+sins, that the blood of Jesus cannot wash away? And after all, "Who
+told thee thou hadst any sins?" That feeling never came from thyself.
+Blessed indeed is that mother's child who really knows and feels that he
+is a sinner.
+
+Take comfort, I say once more, if you have really come to
+Christ. Take comfort, and know your privileges. Cast every care
+on Jesus. Tell every want to Jesus. Roll every burden on Jesus:
+sins,--unbelief,--doubts,--fears,--anxieties,--lay them all on
+Christ. He loves to see you doing so. He loves to be employed as
+your High Priest. He loves to be trusted. He loves to see His
+people ceasing from the vain effort to carry their burdens for
+themselves.
+
+
+I commend these things to the notice of every one into whose hands this
+volume may fall. Only be among Christ's "wheat" now, and then, in the
+great day of separation, as sure as the Bible is true, you shall be in
+Christ's "garner" hereafter.
+
+
+
+
+XXI
+
+
+ETERNITY!
+
+     "_The things which are seen are temporal; but the things which
+     are not seen are eternal._"--2 Cor. iv. 18.
+
+
+A subject stands out on the face of this text which is one of the most
+solemn and heart-searching in the Bible. That subject is _eternity_.[16]
+
+  16: The following pages contain the _substance_ of a sermon which I
+  preached, by invitation, in the nave of Peterborough Cathedral, on
+  the fourth Sunday in Advent, 1877,--the _substance_ and not the
+  precise words. The plain truth is, that the sermon was not intended
+  for publication. It was preached from notes, and was one of those
+  popular addresses which will not bear close reporting. A style of
+  language which satisfies the ear when listened to, will seldom
+  satisfy the mind when read. On receiving a manuscript report from
+  the publisher, I soon found that it would require far more labour to
+  condense, correct, paragraph, punctuate, and prepare the sermon for
+  the press, than to write it out roughly from my own notes and
+  recollection. From want of time I had no alternative but to adopt
+  this course, or to object altogether to publication. The result is
+  that the reader has before him the matter, order, heads,
+  arrangement, and principal thoughts of my sermon, but not, I repeat,
+  the precise words.
+
+The subject is one of which the wisest man can only take in a little. We
+have no eyes to see it fully, no line to fathom it, no mind to grasp it;
+and yet we must not refuse to consider it. There are star-depths in the
+heavens above us, which the most powerful telescope cannot pierce; yet
+it is well to look into them and learn something, if we cannot learn
+everything. There are heights and depths about the subject of eternity
+which mortal man can never comprehend; but God has spoken of it, and we
+have no right to turn away from it altogether.
+
+The subject is one which we must never approach without the Bible in our
+hands. The moment we depart from "God's Word written," in considering
+eternity and the future state of man, we are likely to fall into error.
+In examining points like these we have nothing to do with preconceived
+notions as to what is God's character, and what _we think_ God ought to
+be, or ought to do with man after death.[17] We have only to find out
+what is written. What saith the Scripture? What saith the Lord? It is
+wild work to tell us that we ought to have "noble thoughts about God,"
+independent of, and over and above, Scripture. Natural religion soon
+comes to a standstill here. The noblest thoughts about God which we have
+a right to hold are the thoughts which He has been pleased to reveal to
+us in His "written Word."
+
+  17: "What sentence can we expect from a judge, who at the same time
+  that he calls in witnesses and pretends to examine them, makes a
+  declaration that however, let them say what they will, the cause is
+  so absurd, is so unjust, that no evidence will be sufficient to
+  prove it?"--_Horbery_, vol. ii. p. 137.
+
+I ask the attention of all into whose hands this paper may fall, while I
+offer a few suggestive thoughts about eternity. As a mortal man I feel
+deeply my own insufficiency to handle this subject. But I pray that God
+the Holy Ghost, whose strength is made perfect in weakness, may bless
+the words I speak, and make them seeds of eternal life in many minds.
+
+
+I. The first thought which I commend to the attention of my readers is
+this:--_We live in a world where all things are temporal and passing
+away_.
+
+That man must be blind indeed who cannot realize this. Everything around
+us is decaying, dying, and coming to an end. There is a sense no doubt
+in which "matter" is eternal. Once created, it will never entirely
+perish. But in a popular practical sense, there is nothing undying about
+us except our souls. No wonder the poet says:--
+
+    "Change and decay in all around I see:
+     O Thou that changest not, abide with me!"
+
+We are all going, going, going, whether high or low, gentle or simple,
+rich or poor, old or young. We are all going, and shall soon be gone.
+
+Beauty is only temporal. Sarah was once the fairest of women, and
+the admiration of the Court of Egypt; yet a day came when even
+Abraham, her husband, said, "Let me bury my dead out of my sight."
+(Gen. xxiii. 4.)--Strength of body is only temporal. David was once
+a mighty man of valour, the slayer of the lion and the bear, and the
+champion of Israel against Goliath; yet a day came when even David
+had to be nursed and ministered to in his old age like a
+child.--Wisdom and power of brain are only temporal. Solomon was
+once a prodigy of knowledge, and all the kings of the earth came to
+hear his wisdom; yet even Solomon in his latter days played the fool
+exceedingly, and allowed his wives to "turn away his heart."
+(1 Kings xi. 2.)
+
+Humbling and painful as these truths may sound, it is good for us all to
+realize them and lay them to heart. The houses we live in, the homes we
+love, the riches we accumulate, the professions we follow, the plans we
+form, the relations we enter into,--they are only for a time. "The
+things seen are temporal." "The fashion of this world passeth away."
+(1 Cor. vii. 31.)
+
+The thought is one which ought to rouse every one who is living only for
+this world. If his conscience is not utterly seared, it should stir in
+him great searchings of heart. Oh, take care what you are doing! Awake
+to see things in their true light before it be too late. The things you
+live for now are all temporal and passing away. The pleasures, the
+amusements, the recreations, merry-makings, the profits, the earthly
+callings, which now absorb all your heart and drink up all your mind,
+will soon be over. They are poor ephemeral things which cannot last. Oh,
+love them not too well; grasp them not too tightly; make them not your
+idols! You cannot keep them, and you must leave them. Seek first the
+kingdom of God, and then everything else shall be added to you. "Set
+your affections on things above, not on things on the earth." Oh, you
+that love the world, be wise in time! Never, never forget that it is
+written, "The world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that
+doeth the will of God abideth for ever." (Col. iii. 2; 1 John ii. 17.)
+
+The same thought ought to cheer and comfort every true Christian. Your
+trials, crosses, and conflicts, are all temporal. They will soon have an
+end; and even now they are working for you "a far more exceeding and
+eternal weight of glory." (2 Cor. iv. 17.) Take them patiently: bear
+them quietly: look upward, forward, onward, and far beyond them. Fight
+your daily fight under an abiding conviction that it is only for a
+little time, and that rest is not far off. Carry your daily cross with
+an abiding recollection that it is one of the "things seen" which are
+temporal. The cross shall soon be exchanged for a crown, and you shall
+sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of God.
+
+
+II. The second thought which I commend to the attention of my readers is
+this:--_We are all going towards a world where everything is eternal_.
+
+That great unseen state of existence which lies behind the grave, is for
+ever. Whether it be happy or miserable, whether it be a condition of joy
+or sorrow, in one respect it is utterly unlike this world,--it is for
+ever. _There_ at any rate will be no change and decay, no end, no
+good-bye, no mornings and evenings, no alteration, no annihilation.
+Whatever there is beyond the tomb, when the last trumpet has sounded,
+and the dead are raised, will be endless, everlasting, and eternal. "The
+things unseen are eternal."
+
+We cannot fully realize this condition. The contrast between now and
+then, between this world and the next, is so enormously great that our
+feeble minds will not take it in. The consequences it entails are so
+tremendous, that they almost take away our breath, and we shrink from
+looking at them. But when the Bible speaks plainly we have no right to
+turn away from a subject, and with the Bible in our hands we shall do
+well to look at the "things which are eternal."
+
+Let us settle it then in our minds, for one thing, that the _future
+happiness_ of those who are saved is eternal. However little we may
+understand it, it is something which will have no end: it will never
+cease, never grow old, never decay, never die. At God's "right hand are
+pleasures for evermore." (Ps. xvi. 11.) Once landed in paradise, the
+saints of God shall go out no more. The inheritance is "incorruptible,
+undefiled, and fadeth not away." They shall "receive a crown of glory
+that fadeth not away." (1 Pet. i. 4; v. 4.) Their warfare is
+accomplished; their fight is over; their work is done. They shall hunger
+no more, neither thirst any more. They are travelling on towards an
+"eternal weight of glory," towards a home which shall never be broken
+up, a meeting without a parting, a family gathering without a
+separation, a day without night. Faith shall be swallowed up in sight,
+and hope in certainty. They shall see as they have been seen, and know
+as they have been known, and "be for ever with the Lord." I do not
+wonder that the apostle Paul adds, "Comfort one another with these
+words." (1 Thess. iv. 17, 18.)
+
+Let us settle it, for another thing, in our minds, that the _future
+misery_ of those who are finally lost is eternal. This is an awful
+truth, I am aware, and flesh and blood naturally shrink from the
+contemplation of it. But I am one of those who believe it to be plainly
+revealed in Scripture, and I dare not keep it back in the pulpit. To my
+eyes eternal future happiness and eternal future misery appear to stand
+side by side. I fail to see how you can distinguish the duration of one
+from the duration of the other. If the joy of the believer is for ever,
+the sorrow of the unbeliever is also for ever. If heaven is eternal, so
+likewise is hell. It may be my ignorance, but I know not how the
+conclusion can be avoided.
+
+I cannot reconcile the non-eternity of punishment with the _language of
+the Bible_. Its advocates talk loudly about love and charity, and say
+that it does not harmonize with the merciful and compassionate character
+of God. But what saith the Scripture? Who ever spoke such loving and
+merciful words as our Lord Jesus Christ? Yet His are the lips which
+three times over describe the consequence of impenitence and sin, as
+"the worm that never dies and the fire that is not quenched." He is the
+Person who speaks in one sentence of the wicked going away into
+"everlasting punishment" and the righteous into "life eternal." (Mark
+ix. 43--48; Matt. xxv. 46.)[18]--Who does not remember the Apostle
+Paul's words about charity? Yet he is the very Apostle who says, the
+wicked "shall be punished with everlasting destruction." (2 Thess. i.
+9.)--Who does not know the spirit of love which runs through all St.
+John's Gospel and Epistles? Yet the beloved Apostle is the very writer
+in the New Testament who dwells most strongly, in the book of
+Revelation, on the reality and eternity of future woe. What shall we say
+to these things? Shall we be wise above that which is written? Shall we
+admit the dangerous principle that words in Scripture do not mean what
+they appear to mean? Is it not far better to lay our hands on our mouths
+and say, "Whatever God has written must be true." "Even so, Lord God
+Almighty, true and righteous are Thy judgments." (Rev. xvi. 7.)
+
+  18: "If God had intended to have told us that the punishment of
+  wicked man shall have no end, the languages wherein the Scriptures
+  are written do hardly afford fuller and more certain words than
+  those that are used in this case, whereby to express a duration
+  without end; and likewise, which is almost a peremptory decision of
+  the thing, the duration of the punishment of wicked men is in the
+  very same sentence expressed by the very same word which is used for
+  the duration of happiness of the righteous."--_Archbishop Tillotson
+  on Hell Torments._ See _Horbery_, vol. ii. p. 42.
+
+I cannot reconcile the non-eternity of punishment with the _language of
+our Prayer-book_. The very first petition in our matchless Litany
+contains this sentence, "From everlasting damnation, good Lord, deliver
+us."--The Catechism teaches every child who learns it, that whenever we
+repeat the Lord's Prayer we desire our Heavenly Father to "keep us from
+our ghostly enemy and from everlasting death."--Even in our Burial
+Service we pray at the grave side, "Deliver us not into the bitter pains
+of eternal death."--Once more I ask, "What shall we say to these
+things?" Shall our congregations be taught that even when people live
+and die in sin we may hope for their happiness in a remote future?
+Surely the common sense of many of our worshippers would reply, that if
+this is the case Prayer-book words mean nothing at all.
+
+I lay no claim to any peculiar knowledge of Scripture. I feel daily that
+I am no more infallible than the Bishop of Rome. But I must speak
+according to the light which God has given to me; and I do not think I
+should do my duty if I did not raise a warning voice on this subject,
+and try to put Christians on their guard. Six thousand years ago sin
+entered into the world by the devil's daring falsehood,--"Ye shall not
+surely die." (Gen. iii. 4.) At the end of six thousand years the great
+enemy of mankind is still using his old weapon, and trying to persuade
+men that they may live and die in sin, and yet at some distant period
+may be finally saved. Let us not be ignorant of his devices. Let us walk
+steadily in the old paths. Let us hold fast the old truth, and believe
+that as the happiness of the saved is eternal, so also is the misery of
+the lost.[19]
+
+  19: "There is nothing that Satan more desires than that we should
+  believe that he does not exist, and that there is no such a place as
+  hell, and no such things as eternal torments. He whispers all this
+  into our ears, and he exults when he hears a layman, and much more
+  when he hears a clergyman, deny these things, for then he hopes to
+  make them and others his victims."--_Bishop Wordsworth's Sermons on
+  Future Rewards and Punishments_, p. 36.
+
+(_a_) Let us hold it fast _in the interest of the whole system of
+revealed religion_. What was the use of God's Son becoming incarnate,
+agonizing in Gethsemane, and dying on the cross to make atonement, if
+men can be finally saved without believing on Him? Where is the
+slightest proof that saving faith in Christ's blood can ever begin after
+death? Where is the need of the Holy Ghost, if sinners are at last to
+enter heaven without conversion and renewal of heart? Where can we find
+the smallest evidence that any one can be born again, and have a new
+heart, if he dies in an unregenerate state? If a man may escape eternal
+punishment at last, without faith in Christ or sanctification of the
+Spirit, sin is no longer an infinite evil, and there was no need for
+Christ making an atonement.
+
+(_b_) Let us hold it fast _for the sake of holiness and morality_. I can
+imagine nothing so pleasant to flesh and blood as the specious theory
+that we may live in sin, and yet escape eternal perdition; and that
+although we "serve divers lusts and pleasures" while we are here, we
+shall somehow or other all get to heaven hereafter! Only tell the young
+man who is "wasting his substance in riotous living" that there is
+heaven at last even for those who live and die in sin, and he is never
+likely to turn from evil. Why should he repent and take up the cross, if
+he can get to heaven at last without trouble?
+
+(_c_) Finally, let us hold it fast, _for the sake of the common hopes of
+all God's saints_. Let us distinctly understand that every blow struck
+at the eternity of punishment is an equally heavy blow at the eternity
+of reward. It is impossible to separate the two things. No ingenious
+theological definition can divide them. They stand or fall together. The
+same language is used, the same figures of speech are employed, when the
+Bible speaks about either condition. Every attack on the duration of
+hell is also an attack on the duration of heaven.[20] It is a deep and
+true saying, "With the sinner's fear our hope departs."
+
+  20: "If the punishment of the wicked is only temporary, such will
+  also be the happiness of the righteous, which is repugnant to the
+  whole teaching of Scripture; but if the happiness of the righteous
+  will be everlasting (who will be equal to the angels, and their
+  bodies will be like the body of Christ), such also will be the
+  punishment of the wicked."--_Bishop Wordsworth's Sermon on Future
+  Rewards and Punishments, p. 31._
+
+I turn from this part of my subject with a deep sense of its
+painfulness. I feel strongly with Robert M'Cheyne, that "it is a hard
+subject to handle lovingly." But I turn from it with an equally deep
+conviction that if we believe the Bible we must never give up anything
+which it contains. From hard, austere, and unmerciful theology, good
+Lord, deliver us! If men are not saved it is because they "will not come
+to Christ." (John v. 40.) But we must not be wise above that which is
+written. No morbid love of liberality, so called, must induce us to
+reject anything which God has revealed about eternity. Men sometimes
+talk exclusively about God's mercy and love and compassion, as if He had
+no other attributes, and leave out of sight entirely His holiness and
+His purity, His justice and His unchangeableness, and His hatred of sin.
+Let us beware of falling into this delusion. It is a growing evil in
+these latter days. Low and inadequate views of the unutterable vileness
+and filthiness of sin, and of the unutterable purity of the eternal God,
+are fertile sources of error about man's future state. Let us think of
+the mighty Being with whom we have to do, as he Himself declared His
+character to Moses, saying, "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and
+gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping
+mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, and transgression and sin." But
+let us not forget the solemn clause which concludes the sentence: "And
+_that will by no means clear the guilty_." (Exod. xxxiv. 6, 7.)
+Unrepented sin is an eternal evil, and can never cease to be sin; and He
+with whom we have to do is an eternal God.
+
+The words of Psalm cxlv. are strikingly beautiful: "The Lord is
+gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. The
+Lord is good to all: and His tender mercies are over all His works.--The
+Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed
+down.--The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His works.
+The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon
+Him in truth.--The Lord preserveth all them that love Him." Nothing can
+exceed the mercifulness of this language! But what a striking fact it is
+that the passage goes on to add the following solemn conclusion, "_All
+the wicked will He destroy_." (Psalm cxlv. 8-20.)
+
+
+III. The third thought which I commend to the attention of my readers is
+this:--_Our state in the unseen world of eternity depends entirely on
+what we are in time_.
+
+The life that we live upon earth is short at the very best, and soon
+gone. "We spend our days as a tale that is told."--"What is our life? It
+is a vapour: so soon passeth it away, and we are gone." (Psalm xc. 9;
+James iv. 14.) The life that is before us when we leave this world is an
+endless eternity, a sea without a bottom, and an ocean without a shore.
+"One day in Thy sight," eternal God, "is as a thousand years, and a
+thousand years as one day." (2 Pet. iii. 8.) In that world time shall be
+no more.--But short as our life is here, and endless as it will be
+hereafter, it is a tremendous thought that eternity hinges upon time.
+Our lot after death depends, humanly speaking, on what we are while we
+are alive. It is written, God "will render to every man according to his
+deeds: to them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory
+and honour and immortality, eternal life: but to them that are
+contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness,
+indignation and wrath." (Rom. ii. 6, 7.)
+
+We ought never to forget, that we are all, while we live, in a state of
+probation. We are constantly sowing seeds which will spring up and bear
+fruit, every day and hour in our lives. There are eternal consequences
+resulting from all our thoughts and words and actions, of which we take
+far too little account. "For every idle word that men speak they shall
+give account in the day of judgment." (Matt. xii. 36.) Our thoughts are
+all numbered, our actions are weighed. No wonder that St. Paul says, "He
+that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that
+soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." (Gal.
+vi. 8.) In a word, what we sow in life we shall reap after death, and
+reap to all eternity.
+
+There is no greater delusion than the common idea that it is possible to
+live wickedly, and yet rise again gloriously; to be without religion in
+this world, and yet to be a saint in the next. When the famous
+Whitefield revived the doctrine of conversion last century, it is
+reported that one of his hearers came to him after a sermon and
+said,--"It is all quite true, sir. I hope I shall be converted and born
+again one day, but not till after I am dead." I fear there are many like
+him. I fear the false doctrine of the Romish _purgatory_ has many secret
+friends even within the pale of the Church of England! However
+carelessly men may go on while they live, they secretly cling to the
+hope that they shall be found among the saints when they die. They seem
+to hug the idea that there is some cleansing, purifying effect produced
+by death, and that, whatever they may be in this life, they shall be
+found "meet for the inheritance of the saints" in the life to come. But
+it is all a delusion.[21]
+
+  21: "The Scripture never represents the state of future misery, as a
+  state of purgation and purification, or anything like analogous to a
+  state of trial, where men may fit and qualify themselves for some
+  better state of existence: but always as a state of retribution,
+  punishment, and righteous vengeance, in which God's justice (a
+  perfection of which some men seem to render no account) vindicates
+  the power of His majesty, His government, and His love, by punishing
+  those who have despised them."--_Horbery_, vol. ii. p. 183.
+
+    "Life is the time to serve the Lord,
+     The time to insure the great reward."
+
+The Bible teaches plainly, that as we die, whether converted or
+unconverted, whether believers or unbelievers, whether godly or ungodly,
+so shall we rise again when the last trumpet sounds. There is no
+repentance in the grave: there is no conversion after the last breath is
+drawn. Now is the time to believe in Christ, and to lay hold on eternal
+life. Now is the time to turn from darkness unto light, and to make our
+calling and election sure. The night cometh when no man can work. As the
+tree falls, there it will lie. If we leave this world impenitent and
+unbelieving, we shall rise the same in the resurrection morning, and
+find it had been "good for us if we had never been born."[22]
+
+  22: "This life is the time of our preparation for our future state.
+  Our souls will continue for ever what we make them in this world.
+  Such a taste and disposition of mind as a man carries with him out
+  of this life, he shall retain in the next. It is true, indeed,
+  heaven perfects those holy and virtuous dispositions which are begun
+  here; but the other world alters no man as to his main state. He
+  that is filthy will be filthy still; and he that is unrighteous will
+  be unrighteous still."--_Archbishop Tillotson's Sermon on Phil. iii.
+  20._ (See _Horbrey_, vol. ii. p. 133.)
+
+I charge every reader of this paper to remember this, and to make a good
+use of time. Regard it as the stuff of which life is made, and never
+waste it or throw it away. Your hours and days and weeks and months and
+years have all something to say to an eternal condition beyond the
+grave. What you sow in life you are sure to reap in a life to come. As
+holy Baxter says, it is "now or never." Whatever we do in religion must
+be done now.
+
+Remember this in your use of all the means of grace, from the least to
+the greatest. Never be careless about them. They are given to be your
+helps toward an eternal world, and not one of them ought to be
+thoughtlessly treated or lightly and irreverently handled. Your daily
+prayers and Bible-reading, your weekly behaviour on the Lord's day, your
+manner of going through public worship,--all, all these things are
+important. Use them all as one who remembers eternity.
+
+Remember it, not least, whenever you are tempted to do evil. When
+sinners entice you, and say, "It is only a little one,"--when Satan
+whispers in your heart, "Never mind: where is the mighty harm? Everybody
+does so,"--then look beyond time to a world unseen, and place in the
+face of the temptation the thought of eternity. There is a grand saying
+recorded of the martyred Reformer, Bishop Hooper, when one urged him to
+recant before he was burned, saying, "Life is sweet and death is
+bitter." "True," said the good Bishop, "quite true! But eternal life is
+more sweet, and eternal death is more bitter."
+
+
+IV. The last thought which I commend to the attention of my readers is
+this:--_The Lord Jesus Christ is the great Friend to whom we must all
+look for help, both for time and eternity_.
+
+The purpose for which the eternal Son of God came into the world can
+never be declared too fully, or proclaimed too loudly. He came to give
+us hope and peace while we live among the "things seen, which are
+temporal," and glory and blessedness when we go into the "things unseen,
+which are eternal." He came to "bring life and immortality to light,"
+and to "deliver those who, through fear of death, were all their
+life-time subject to bondage." (2 Tim. i. 10; Heb. ii. 15.) He saw our
+lost and bankrupt condition, and had compassion on us. And now, blessed
+be His name, a mortal man may pass through "things temporal" with
+comfort, and look forward to "things eternal" without fear.
+
+These mighty privileges our Lord Jesus Christ has purchased for us at
+the cost of His own precious blood. He became our Substitute, and bore
+our sins in His own body on the cross, and then rose again for our
+justification. "He suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He
+might bring us unto God." He was made sin for us who knew no sin, that
+we poor sinful creatures might have pardon and justification while we
+live, and glory and blessedness when we die. (1 Peter ii. 24; iii. 18; 2
+Cor. v. 21.)
+
+And all that our Lord Jesus Christ has purchased for us He offers freely
+to every one who will turn from his sins, come to Him, and believe. "I
+am the light of the world," He says: "he that followeth Me shall not
+walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."--"Come unto Me, all
+ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."--"If any
+man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink."--"Him that cometh unto Me
+I will in no wise cast out."--And the terms are as simple as the offer
+is free: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be
+saved."--"Whosoever believeth on Him shall not perish but have eternal
+life." (John viii. 12; Matt. xi. 28; John vii. 37; vi. 37; Acts xvi. 31;
+John iii. 16.)
+
+He that has Christ, has life. He can look round him on the "things
+temporal," and see change and decay on every side without dismay. He has
+got treasure in heaven, which neither rust nor moth can corrupt, nor
+thieves break through and steal. He can look forward to the "things
+eternal," and feel calm and composed. His Saviour has risen, and gone to
+prepare a place for him. When he leaves this world he shall have a crown
+of glory, and be for ever with his Lord. He can look down even into the
+grave, as the wisest Greeks and Romans could never do, and say, "Oh,
+death, where is thy sting? oh, grave, where is thy victory? oh,
+eternity, where are thy terrors?" (1 Cor. xv. 55.)
+
+Let us all settle it firmly in our minds that the only way to pass
+through "things seen" with comfort, and look forward to "things unseen"
+without fear, is to have Christ for our Saviour and Friend, to lay hold
+on Christ by faith, to become one with Christ and Christ in us, and
+while we live in the flesh to live the life of faith in the Son of God.
+(Gal. ii. 20.) How vast is the difference between the state of him who
+has faith in Christ, and the state of him who has none! Blessed indeed
+is that man or woman who can say, with truth, "I trust in Jesus: I
+believe." When Cardinal Beaufort lay upon his death-bed, our mighty poet
+describes King Henry as saying, "He dies, but gives no sign." When John
+Knox, the Scotch Reformer, was drawing to his end, and unable to speak,
+a faithful servant asked him to give some proof that the Gospel he had
+preached in life gave him comfort in death, by raising his hand. He
+heard; and raised his hand toward heaven three times, and then
+departed. Blessed, I say again, is he that believes! He alone is rich,
+independent, and beyond the reach of harm. If you and I have no comfort
+amidst things temporal, and no hope for the things eternal, the fault is
+all our own. It is because we "will not come to Christ, that we may have
+life." (John v. 40.)
+
+
+I leave the subject of eternity here, and pray that God may bless it to
+many souls. In conclusion, I offer to every one who reads this volume
+some food for thought, and matter for self-examination.
+
+(1) First of all, how are you _using your time_? Life is short and very
+uncertain. You never know what a day may bring forth. Business and
+pleasure, money-getting and money-spending, eating and drinking,
+marrying and giving in marriage,--all, all will soon be over and done
+with for ever. And you, what are you doing for your immortal soul? Are
+you wasting time, or turning it to good account? Are you preparing to
+meet God?
+
+(2) Secondly, where _shall you be in eternity_? It is coming, coming,
+coming very fast upon us. You are going, going, going very fast into it.
+But where will you be? On the right hand or on the left, in the day of
+judgment? Among the lost or among the saved? Oh, rest not, rest not till
+your soul is insured! Make sure work: leave nothing uncertain. It is a
+fearful thing to die unprepared, and fall into the hands of the living
+God.
+
+(3) Thirdly, would you be _safe for time and eternity_? Then seek
+Christ, and believe in Him. Come to Him just as you are. Seek Him while
+He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. There is still a throne
+of grace. It is not too late. Christ waits to be gracious: He invites
+you to come to Him. Before the door is shut and the judgment begins,
+repent, believe, and be saved.
+
+(4) Lastly, _would you be happy_? Cling to Christ, and live the life of
+faith in Him. Abide in Him, and live near to Him. Follow Him with heart
+and soul and mind and strength, and seek to know Him better every day.
+So doing you shall have great peace while you pass through "things
+temporal," and in the midst of a dying world shall "never die." (John
+xi. 26.) So doing, you shall be able to look forward to "things eternal"
+with unfailing confidence, and to feel and "know that if our earthly
+house of this tabernacle be dissolved we have a building of God, a house
+not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." (2 Cor. v. 1.)
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+P. S.
+
+Since preaching the above Sermon I have read Canon Farrar's volume,
+"Eternal Hope." With much that this book contains I cannot at all agree.
+Anything that comes from the pen of such a well-known writer of course
+deserves respectful consideration. But I must honestly confess, after
+reading "Eternal Hope," that I see no reason to withdraw anything I have
+said in my Sermon on "Eternity," and that I laid down the volume with
+regret and dissatisfaction, unconvinced and unshaken in my opinions.
+
+I can find nothing new in Canon Farrar's statements. He says hardly
+anything that has not been said before, and refuted before. To all who
+wish to examine fully the subject of the reality and eternity of future
+punishment, I venture to recommend some works which are far less known
+than they ought to be, and which appear to me far sounder, and more
+Scriptural, than "Eternal Hope." These are "_Horbery's Enquiry into the
+Scripture Doctrine of the Duration of Future Punishment_,"
+"_Girdlestone's Dies Iræ_," the Rev. C. F. Childe's "_Unsafe Anchor_"
+and the Rev. Flavel Cook's "_Righteous Judgment_." "_Bishop Pearson on
+the Creed_," under the head "Resurrection," and "_Hodge's Systematic
+Theology_," vol. iii. p. 868. will also repay a careful perusal.
+
+The plain truth is, that there are vast difficulties bound up with the
+subject of the future state of the wicked, which Canon Farrar seems to
+me to leave untouched. The amazing mercifulness of God, and the
+awfulness of supposing that many around us will be lost eternally, he
+has handled fully and with characteristic rhetoric. No doubt the
+compassions of God are unspeakable. He is "not willing that any should
+perish." He "would have all men to be saved." His love in sending Christ
+into the world to die for sinners is an inexhaustible subject.--But this
+is only one side of God's character, as we have it revealed in
+Scripture. His character and attributes need to be looked at all round.
+The infinite holiness and justice of an eternal God,--His hatred of
+evil, manifested in Noah's flood and at Sodom, and in the destruction of
+the seven nations of Canaan,--the unspeakable vileness and guilt of sin
+in God's sight,--the wide gulf between natural man and his perfect
+Maker,--the enormous spiritual change which every child of Adam must go
+through, if he is to dwell for ever in God's presence,--and the utter
+absence of any intimation in the Bible that this change can take place
+after death,--all, all these are points which seem to me comparatively
+put on one aside, or left alone, in Canon Farrar's volume. My mind
+demands satisfaction on these points before I can accept the views
+advocated in "Eternal Hope," and that satisfaction I fail to find in the
+book.
+
+The position that Canon Farrar has taken up was first formally advocated
+by Origen, a Father who lived in the third century after Christ. He
+boldly broached the opinion that future punishment would be only
+temporary; but his opinion was rejected by almost all his
+contemporaries. Bishop Wordsworth says,--"The Fathers of the Church in
+Origen's time and in the following centuries, among whom were many to
+whom the original language of the New Testament was their mother tongue,
+and who _could not be misled by translations_, examined minutely the
+opinion and statements of Origen, and agreed for the most part in
+rejecting and condemning them. Irenæus, Cyril of Jerusalem, Chrysostom,
+Basil, Cyril of Alexandria, and others of the Eastern Church, and
+Tertullian, Cyprian, Lactantius, Augustine, Gregory the Great, Bede, and
+many more of the Western Church, were unanimous in teaching that the
+joys of the righteous and the punishments of the wicked will not be
+temporary, but everlasting."
+
+"Nor was this all. The Fifth General Council, held at Constantinople
+under the Emperor Justinian, in 553, A.D. examined the tenets of Origen,
+and passed a synodical decree condemnatory of them. And for a thousand
+years after that time there was an unanimous consent in Christendom in
+this sense." (Bishop Wordsworth's "Sermons," p. 34.)
+
+Let me add to this statement the fact that the eternity of future
+punishment has been held by almost all the greatest theologians from the
+time of the Reformation down to the present day. It is a point on which
+Lutherans, Calvinists, and Arminians, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, and
+Independents have always, with a few exceptions, been of one mind.
+Search the writings of the most eminent and learned Reformers, search
+the works of the Puritans, search the few literary remains of the men
+who revived English Christianity in the eighteenth century, and, as a
+rule, you will always get one harmonious answer. Within the last few
+years, no doubt, the "non-eternity of future punishment" has found
+several zealous advocates. But up to a comparatively modern date, I
+unhesitatingly assert, the supporters of Canon Farrar's views have
+always been an extremely small minority among orthodox Christians. That
+fact is, at any rate, worth remembering.
+
+As to the _difficulties_ besetting the old or common view of future
+punishment, I admit their existence, and I do not pretend to explain
+them. But I always expect to find many mysteries in revealed religion,
+and I am not stumbled by them. I see other difficulties in the world
+which I cannot solve, and I am content to wait for their solution. What
+a mighty divine has called, "The mystery of God, the great mystery of
+His suffering vice and confusion to prevail,"--the origin of evil,--the
+permission of cruelty, oppression, poverty, and disease,--the allowed
+sickness and death of infants before they know good from evil,--the
+future prospects of the heathen who never heard the Gospel,--the times
+of ignorance which God has winked at,--the condition of China,
+Hindostan, and Central Africa, for the last 1800 years,--all these
+things are to my mind great knots which I am unable to untie, and depths
+which I have no line to fathom. But I wait for light, and I have no
+doubt all will be made plain. I rest in the thought that I am a poor
+ignorant mortal, and that God is a Being of infinite wisdom, and is
+doing all things well. "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right."
+(Gen. xviii. 25.) It is a wise sentence of Bishop Butler: "All shadow of
+injustice, and indeed all harsh appearances in the various economy of
+God, would be lost, if we would keep in mind that every merciful
+allowance shall be made, and no more shall be required of any one, than
+what might have been equitably expected of him from the circumstances in
+which he was placed, and not what might have been expected from him had
+he been placed in other circumstances." ("Analogy," part ii. ch. vi. p.
+425. Wilson's edition.) It is a grand saying of Elihu, in Job, "Touching
+the Almighty, we cannot find Him out: He is excellent in power, and in
+judgment, and in plenty of justice: He will not afflict." (Job xxxvii.
+23.)
+
+It may be perfectly true that many Romish divines, and even some
+Protestants, have made extravagant and offensive statements about the
+bodily sufferings of the lost in another world. It may be true that
+those who believe in eternal punishment have occasionally misunderstood
+or mistranslated texts, and have pressed figurative language too far.
+But it is hardly fair to make Christianity responsible for the mistakes
+of its advocates. It is an old saying that "Christian errors are infidel
+arguments." Thomas Aquinas, and Dantè, and Milton, and Boston, and
+Jonathan Edwards were not inspired and infallible, and I decline to be
+answerable for all they may have written about the physical torments of
+the lost. But after every allowance, admission, and deduction, there
+remains, in my humble opinion, a mass of Scripture evidence in support
+of the doctrine of eternal punishment, which can never be explained
+away, and which no revision or new translation of the English Bible will
+ever overthrow.[23] That there are degrees of misery as well as degrees
+of glory in the future state, that the condition of some who are lost
+will be far worse than that of others, all this is undeniable. But that
+the punishment of the wicked will ever have an end, or that length of
+time alone can ever change a heart, or that the Holy Spirit ever works
+on the dead, or that there is any purging, purifying process beyond the
+grave, by which the wicked will be finally fitted for heaven, these are
+positions which I maintain it is utterly impossible to prove by texts of
+Scripture. Nay, rather, there are texts of Scripture which teach an
+utterly different doctrine. "It is surprising," says Horbery, "if hell
+be such a state of purification, that it should always be represented in
+Scripture as a place of punishment." (Vol. ii. p. 223.) "Nothing," says
+Girdlestone, "but clear statements of Scripture could justify us in
+holding, or preaching to ungodly men, the doctrine of repentance after
+death; and not one clear statement on this subject is to be found."
+("Dies Iræ," p. 269.) If we once begin to invent doctrines which we
+cannot prove by texts, or to refuse the evidence of texts in Scripture
+because they land us in conclusions we do not like, we may as well throw
+aside the Bible altogether, and discard it as the judge of controversy.
+
+  23: Horbery alone alleges and examines no less than one hundred and
+  three texts, on his side, in his reply to Whiston.
+
+The favourite argument of some, that no religious doctrine can be
+true which is rejected by the "common opinion" and popular feeling
+of mankind,--that any texts which contradict this common popular
+feeling must be wrongly interpreted,--and that therefore eternal
+punishment cannot be true, because the inward feeling of the
+multitude revolts against it,--this argument appears to me alike
+most dangerous and unsound. It is _dangerous_, because it strikes a
+direct blow at the authority of Scripture as the only rule of faith.
+Where is the use of the Bible, if the "common opinion" of mortal man
+is to be regarded as of more weight than the declarations of God's
+Word?--It is _unsound_, because it ignores the great fundamental
+principle of Christianity,--that man is a fallen creature, with a
+corrupt heart and understanding, and that in spiritual things his
+judgment is worthless. There is a veil over our hearts. "The natural
+man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are
+foolishness to him." (1 Cor. ii. 14.) To say, in the face of such a
+text, that any doctrine which the majority of men dislike, such as
+eternal punishment, _must_ therefore be untrue, is simply absurd!
+The "common opinion" is more likely to be wrong than right! No doubt
+Bishop Butler has said, "If in revelation there be found any passage
+the seeming meaning of which is contrary to natural religion, we may
+most certainly conclude such seeming meaning not to be the real
+one." But those who triumphantly quote these words would do well to
+observe the sentence which immediately follows: "But it is not any
+degree of a presumption against an interpretation of Scripture, that
+such an interpretation contains a doctrine which the light of nature
+cannot discover." ("Analogy," part i. chap. ii. p. 358. Wilson's
+edition.)
+
+After all, what the "common feeling" or opinion of the majority of
+mankind is about the duration of future punishment, is a question which
+admits of much doubt. Of course we have no means of ascertaining: and it
+signifies little either way. In such a matter the only point is, What
+saith the Scripture? But I have a strong suspicion, if the world could
+be polled, that we should find the greater part of mankind believed in
+eternal punishment! About the opinion of the Greeks and Romans at any
+rate there can be little dispute. If anything is clearly taught in the
+stories of their mythology it is the endless nature of the sufferings of
+the wicked. Bishop Butler says, "Gentile writers, both moralist and
+poetic, speak of the future punishment of the wicked, both as to
+duration and degree, in a like manner of expression and description as
+the Scripture does." ("Analogy," part i. chap. ii. p. 218.) The strange
+and weird legends of Tantalus, Sisyphus, Ixion, Prometheus, and the
+Danaides, have all one common feature about them. In each case the
+punishment is eternal! This is a fact worth noticing. It is worth what
+it is worth. But it shows, at all events, that the opponents of eternal
+punishment should not talk too confidently about the "common opinion of
+mankind."
+
+As to the doctrine of the _Annihilation of the Wicked_, to which many
+adhere, it appears to me so utterly irreconcilable with our Lord Jesus
+Christ's words about "the resurrection of damnation," and "the worm that
+never dies, and the fire that is not quenched," and St. Paul's words
+about "the resurrection of the unjust" (John v. 29; Mark ix. 43-48; Acts
+xxiv. 15), that until those words can be proved to form no part of
+inspired Scripture it seems to me mere waste of time to argue about it.
+
+The favourite argument of the advocates of this doctrine, that "death,
+dying, perishing, destruction," and the like, are phrases which can only
+mean "cessation of existence," is so ridiculously weak that it is
+scarcely worth noticing. Every Bible reader knows that God said to Adam,
+concerning the forbidden fruit, "In the day thou eatest thereof thou
+shalt surely _die_." (Gen. ii. 17.) But every well-taught Sunday scholar
+knows that Adam did not "cease to exist," when he broke the commandment.
+He died spiritually, but he did not cease to be!--So also St. Peter says
+of the flood: "The world that then was, being overflowed with water,
+_perished_." (2 Peter iii. 6.) Yet, though temporarily drowned, it
+certainly did not cease to be; and when the water was dried up Noah
+lived on it again.
+
+It only remains for me now to add one more last word, by way of
+information. Those who care to investigate the meaning of the words
+"eternal" and "everlasting," as used in Scripture, will find the subject
+fully and exhaustively considered in _Girdlestone's "Old Testament
+Synonyms_," ch. 30, p. 495; and in the same writer's "_Dies Iræ_," ch.
+10 and 11, p. 128.
+
+
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+   p.8 thing changed to think
+   p.38 the burden o changed to the burden of
+   p.77 beecome changed to become
+   p.148 still remain to be changed to still remains to be
+   p.241 Aphorisims changed to Aphorisms
+   p.320 all lasses changed to all classes
+   p.335 thorougly changed to thoroughly
+   p.469 still fresh on you mind changed to still fresh on your mind
+   Hyphenation of words is inconsistent and has been left as in the
+   original.
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PRACTICAL RELIGION***
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+<body>
+<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Practical Religion, by John Charles Ryle</h1>
+<pre>
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre>
+<p>Title: Practical Religion</p>
+<p>       Being Plain Papers on the Daily Duties, Experience, Dangers, and Privileges of Professing Christians</p>
+<p>Author: John Charles Ryle</p>
+<p>Release Date: November 28, 2011  [eBook #38162]</p>
+<p>Language: English</p>
+<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p>
+<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PRACTICAL RELIGION***</p>
+<br><br><center><h3>E-text prepared by Colin Bell, Hazel Batey,<br>
+    and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br >
+    (http://www.pgdp.net)</h3></center><br><br>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full">
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h1>PRACTICAL RELIGION</h1>
+
+<p class= 'smaller center'><b>BEING PLAIN PAPERS</b></p>
+
+<p class= 'smaller center'><b>ON THE DAILY DUTIES, EXPERIENCE, DANGERS, AND</b></p>
+
+<p class= 'smaller center'><b>PRIVILEGES OF PROFESSING CHRISTIANS</b></p><br><br>
+
+<p class='smaller center'>BY</p>
+
+<p class='larger center'><b>JOHN CHARLES RYLE, D.D.,</b></p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p class='larger center'><b>BAKER BOOK HOUSE<br>
+Grand Rapids, Michigan</b></p><br>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+
+<div class="center">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents">
+<tr><td align="right"></td><td align="left"><a href="#PREFACE">PREFACE</a></td><td align="right">v</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">I.</td><td align="left"><a href="#I">SELF-INQUIRY</a></td><td align="right">1</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">II.</td><td align="left"><a href="#II">SELF-EXERTION</a></td><td align="right">23</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">III.</td><td align="left"><a href="#III">REALITY</a></td><td align="right">46</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">IV.</td><td align="left"><a href="#IV">PRAYER</a></td><td align="right">63</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">V.</td><td align="left"><a href="#V">BIBLE-READING</a></td><td align="right">97</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">VI.</td><td align="left"><a href="#VI">GOING TO THE TABLE</a></td><td align="right">140</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">VII.</td><td align="left"><a href="#VII">CHARITY</a></td><td align="right">165</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">VIII.</td><td align="left"><a href="#VIII">ZEAL</a></td><td align="right">183</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">IX.</td><td align="left"><a href="#IX">FREEDOM</a></td><td align="right">210</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">X.</td><td align="left"><a href="#X">HAPPINESS</a></td><td align="right">230</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">XI.</td><td align="left"><a href="#XI">FORMALITY</a></td><td align="right">261</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">XII.</td><td align="left"><a href="#XII">THE WORLD</a></td><td align="right">284</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">XIII.</td><td align="left"><a href="#XIII">RICHES AND POVERTY</a></td><td align="right">312</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">XIV.</td><td align="left"><a href="#XIV">THE BEST FRIEND</a></td><td align="right">336</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">XV.</td><td align="left"><a href="#XV">SICKNESS</a></td><td align="right">352</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">XVI.</td><td align="left"><a href="#XVI">THE FAMILY OF GOD</a></td><td align="right">375</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">XVII.</td><td align="left"><a href="#XVII">OUR HOME</a></td><td align="right">392</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">XVIII.</td><td align="left"><a href="#XVIII">HEIRS OF GOD</a></td><td align="right">403</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">XIX.</td><td align="left"><a href="#XIX">THE GREAT GATHERING</a></td><td align="right">429</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">XX.</td><td align="left"><a href="#XX">THE GREAT SEPARATION</a></td><td align="right">442</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right">XXI.</td><td align="left"><a href="#XXI">ETERNITY</a></td><td align="right">472</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<br>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;">
+<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE</h2>
+
+
+<p>The volume now in the reader's hands is intended to be
+a companion to two other volumes which I have already
+published, entitled "Knots Untied," and "Old Paths."</p>
+
+<p>"Knots Untied" consists of a connected series of papers,
+systematically arranged, about the principal points which
+form the subject of controversy among Churchmen in the
+present day. All who take interest in such disputed
+questions as the nature of the Church, the Ministry,
+Baptism, Regeneration, the Lord's Supper, the Real
+Presence, Worship, Confession, and the Sabbath, will
+find them pretty fully discussed in "Knots Untied."</p>
+
+<p>"Old Paths" consists of a similar series of papers about
+those leading doctrines of the Gospel which are generally
+considered necessary to salvation. The inspiration of
+Scripture, sin, justification, forgiveness, repentance, conversion,
+faith, the work of Christ, and the work of the
+Holy Spirit, are the principal subjects handled in
+"Old Paths."</p>
+
+<p>The present volume contains a series of papers about
+"practical religion," and treats of the daily duties, dangers,
+experience, and privileges of all who profess and call
+themselves true Christians. Read in conjunction with
+another work I have previously put out, called "Holiness,"
+I think it will throw some light on what every believer
+ought to be, to do, and expect.</p>
+
+<p>One common feature will be found in all the three
+volumes. I avow it frankly at the outset, and will not
+keep it back for a moment. The standpoint I have tried
+to occupy, from first to last, is that of an Evangelical
+Churchman.</p>
+
+<p>I say this deliberately and emphatically. I am fully
+aware that Evangelical churchmanship is not popular and
+acceptable in this day. It is despised by many, and has
+"no form or comeliness" in their eyes. To avow attachment
+to Evangelical views, in some quarters, is to provoke
+a sneer, and to bring on yourself the reproach of being an
+"unlearned and ignorant man." But none of these things
+move me. I am not ashamed of my opinions. After
+forty years of Bible-reading and praying, meditation
+and theological study, I find myself clinging more tightly
+than ever to "Evangelical" religion, and more than
+ever satisfied with it. It wears well: it stands the fire.
+I know no system of religion which is better. In the
+faith of it I have lived for the third of a century, and
+in the faith of it I hope to die.</p>
+
+<p>The plain truth is, that I see no other ground to occupy,
+and find no other rest for the sole of my foot. I lay no
+claim to infallibility, and desire to be no man's judge.
+But the longer I live and read, the more I am convinced
+and persuaded that Evangelical principles are the principles
+of the Bible, of the Articles and Prayer-book, and
+of the leading Divines of the reformed Church of England.
+Holding these views, I cannot write otherwise than I have
+written.</p>
+
+<p>I now send forth this volume with an earnest prayer
+that God the Holy Ghost may bless it, and make it useful
+and helpful to many souls.</p>
+
+<p style="margin-left: 70%">
+J. C. RYLE,</p>
+<p class="smcap">November, 1878. <span style="margin-left: 35%"><i>Vicar of Stradbroke.</i></span>
+</p><br>
+
+
+<br>
+<h2>PRACTICAL RELIGION</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 1]</span>
+
+
+<h2><a name="I" id="I"></a>I</h2>
+
+<h2>SELF-INQUIRY</h2>
+
+<blockquote><p>"<i>Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we
+have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they do.</i>"&mdash;<span class="smcap">Acts</span>
+xv. 36.</p></blockquote>
+
+
+<p>The text which heads this page contains a proposal which
+the Apostle Paul made to Barnabas after their first
+missionary journey. He proposed to revisit the Churches
+they had been the means of founding, and to see how
+they were getting on. Were their members continuing
+steadfast in the faith? Were they growing in grace?
+Were they going forward, or standing still? Were they
+prospering, or falling away?&mdash;"Let us go again and visit
+our brethren, and see how they do."</p>
+
+<p>This was a wise and useful proposal. Let us lay it to
+heart, and apply it to ourselves in the nineteenth century.
+Let us search our ways, and find out how matters stand
+between ourselves and God. Let us "see how we do." I
+ask every reader of this volume to begin its perusal by
+joining me in self-inquiry. If ever self-inquiry about
+religion was needed, it is needed at the present day.</p>
+
+<p>We live in an age of peculiar <i>spiritual privileges</i>.
+Since the world began there never was such an opportunity
+for a man's soul to be saved as there is in England
+at this time. There never were so many signs of religion<span class="pagenum">[Pg 2]</span>
+in the land, so many sermons preached, so many services
+held in churches and chapels, so many Bibles sold, so
+many religious books and tracts printed, so many Societies
+for evangelizing mankind supported, so much outward
+respect paid to Christianity. Things are done everywhere
+now-a-days which a hundred years ago would have been
+thought impossible. Bishops support the boldest and
+most aggressive efforts to reach the unconverted. Deans
+and Chapters throw open the naves of cathedrals for
+Sunday evening sermons! Clergy of the narrowest High
+Church School advocate special missions, and vie with
+their Evangelical brethren in proclaiming that going to
+church on Sunday is not enough to take a man to heaven.
+In short, there is a stir about religion now-a-days to
+which there has been nothing like since England was
+a nation, and which the cleverest sceptics and infidels
+cannot deny. If Romaine, and Venn, and Berridge, and
+Rowlands, and Grimshaw, and Hervey, had been told that
+such things would come to pass about a century after
+their deaths, they would have been tempted to say, with
+the Samaritan nobleman,&mdash;"If the Lord should make
+windows of heaven might such a thing be." (2 Kings
+vii. 19.) But the Lord has opened the windows of heaven.
+There is more taught now-a-days in England of the real
+Gospel, and of the way of salvation by faith in Jesus
+Christ, in one week, than there was in a year in Romaine's
+time. Surely I have a right to say that we live in an
+age of spiritual privileges. But are we any better for
+it? In an age like this it is well to ask, "How do we do
+about our souls?"</p>
+
+<p>We live in an age of peculiar <i>spiritual danger</i>. Never
+perhaps since the world began was there such an immense
+amount of mere outward profession of religion as there is
+in the present day. A painfully large proportion of all
+the congregations in the land consists of unconverted
+people, who know nothing of heart-religion, never come to<span class="pagenum">[Pg 3]</span>
+the Lord's Table, and never confess Christ in their daily
+lives. Myriads of those who are always running after
+preachers, and crowding to hear special sermons, are
+nothing better than empty tubs, and tinkling cymbals,
+without a jot of real vital Christianity at home.<a href="#ft_1">[1]</a> The
+parable of the sower is continually receiving most vivid
+and painful illustrations. The way-side hearers, the stony-ground
+hearers, the thorny-ground hearers abound on
+every side.</p>
+
+<p>The life of many religious professors, I fear, in this age,
+is nothing better than a continual course of spiritual dram-drinking.
+They are always morbidly craving fresh excitement;
+and they seem to care little what it is if they only
+get it. All preaching seems to come alike to them; and
+they appear unable to "see differences," so long as they hear
+what is clever, have their ears tickled, and sit in a crowd.
+Worst of all, there are hundreds of young unestablished
+believers who are so infected with the same love of excitement,
+that they actually think it a duty to be always seeking
+it. Insensibly almost to themselves, they take up a kind of
+hysterical, sensational, sentimental Christianity, until they
+are never content with the "old paths," and, like the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 4]</span>
+Athenians, are always running after something new. To
+see a calm-minded young believer, who is not stuck up, self-confident,
+self-conceited, and more ready to teach than
+learn, but content with a daily steady effort to grow up
+into Christ's likeness, and to do Christ's work quietly and
+unostentatiously, at home, is really becoming almost a
+rarity! Too many young professors, alas, behave like
+young recruits who have not spent all their bounty money.
+They show how little deep root they have, and how little
+knowledge of their own hearts, by noise, forwardness,
+readiness to contradict and set down old Christians, and
+over-weening trust in their own fancied soundness and
+wisdom! Well will it be for many young professors of
+this age if they do not end, after being tossed about for a
+while, and "carried to and fro by every wind of doctrine,"
+by joining some petty, narrow-minded, censorious sect, or
+embracing some senseless, unreasoning, crotchetty heresy.
+Surely in times like these there is great need for self-examination.
+When we look around us, we may well ask, "How do we do about our souls?"</p>
+
+<p>In handling this question, I think the shortest plan
+will be to suggest a list of subjects for self-inquiry, and to
+go through them in order. By so doing I shall hope to
+meet the case of every one into whose hands this volume
+may fall. I invite every reader of this paper to join me
+in calm, searching self-examination, for a few short minutes.
+I desire to speak to myself as well as to you. I approach
+you not as an enemy, but as a friend. "My heart's desire and
+prayer to God is that you may be saved." (Rom. x. 1.)
+Bear with me if I say things which at first sight look
+harsh and severe. Believe me, he is your best friend who
+tells you the most truth.</p>
+
+<p>(1) Let me ask, in the first place, <i>Do we ever think
+about our souls at all</i>? Thousands of English people, I
+fear, cannot answer that question satisfactorily. They
+never give the subject of religion any place in their<span class="pagenum">[Pg 5]</span>
+thoughts. From the beginning of the year to the end
+they are absorbed in the pursuit of business, pleasure,
+politics, money, or self-indulgence of some kind or another.
+Death, and judgement, and eternity, and heaven, and hell,
+and a world to come, are never calmly looked at and
+considered. They live on as if they were never going to
+die, or rise again, or stand at the bar of God, or receive
+an eternal sentence! They do not openly oppose religion,
+for they have not sufficient reflection about it to do so;&mdash;but
+they eat, and drink, and sleep, and get money, and
+spend money, as if religion was a mere fiction and not a
+reality. They are neither Romanists, nor Socinians, nor
+infidels, nor High Church, nor Low Church, nor Broad
+Church. They are just <i>nothing at all</i>, and do not take
+the trouble to have opinions. A more senseless and unreasonable
+way of living cannot be conceived; but they do
+not pretend to reason about it. They simply never think
+about God, unless frightened for a few minutes by sickness,
+death in their families, or an accident. Barring such
+interruptions, they appear to ignore religion altogether,
+and hold on their way cool and undisturbed, as if there
+were nothing worth thinking of except this world.</p>
+
+<p>It is hard to imagine a life more unworthy of an
+immortal creature than such a life as I have just described,
+for it reduces a man to the level of a beast. But
+it is literally and truly the life of multitudes in England;
+and as they pass away their place is taken by multitudes
+like them. The picture, no doubt, is horrible, distressing,
+and revolting: but, unhappily, it is only too true. In
+every large town, in every market, on every stock-exchange,
+in every club, you may see specimens of this class by
+scores,&mdash;men who think of everything under the sun
+except the one thing needful,&mdash;the salvation of their souls.
+Like the Jews of old they do not "consider their ways," they
+do not "consider their latter end;" they do not "consider
+that they do evil." (Isa. i. 3; Hag. i. 7; Deut. xxxii. 29;<span class="pagenum">[Pg 6]</span>
+Eccles. v. i.) Like Gallio they "care for none of these
+things:" they are not in their way. (Acts xviii. 17.) If
+they prosper in the world, and get rich, and succeed in
+their line of life, they are praised, and admired by their
+contemporaries. Nothing succeeds in England like success!
+But for all this they cannot live for ever. They will have
+to die and appear before the bar of God, and be judged;
+and then what will the end be? When a large class of
+this kind exists in our country, no reader need wonder
+that I ask whether he belongs to it. If you do, you ought
+to have a mark set on your door, as there used to be a
+mark on a plague-stricken house two centuries ago, with
+the words, "Lord have mercy on us," written on it. Look
+at the class I have been describing, and then look at your
+own soul.</p>
+
+<p>(2) Let me ask, in the second place, <i>whether we ever do
+anything about our souls?</i>? There are multitudes in
+England who think occasionally about religion, but unhappily
+never get beyond thinking. After a stirring
+sermon,&mdash;or after a funeral,&mdash;or under the pressure of
+illness,&mdash;or on Sunday evening,&mdash;or when things are going
+on badly in their families,&mdash;or when they meet some bright
+example of a Christian,&mdash;or when they fall in with some
+striking religious book or tract,&mdash;they will at the time
+think a good deal, and even talk a little about religion in
+a vague way. But they stop short, as if thinking and
+talking were enough to save them. They are always
+meaning, and intending, and purposing, and resolving, and
+wishing, and telling us that they "know" what is right, and
+"hope" to be found right at last, but they never attain to
+any <i>action</i>. There is no actual separation from the service
+of the world and sin, no real taking up the cross and
+following Christ, no positive <i>doing</i> in their Christianity.
+Their life is spent in playing the part of the son in our
+Lord's parable, to whom the father said, "Go, work in my
+vineyard: and he answered, I go, sir, and went not."<span class="pagenum">[Pg 7]</span>
+(Matt. xxi. 30.) They are like those whom Ezekiel describes,
+who liked his preaching, but never practised what
+he preached:&mdash;"They come unto thee as the people
+cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they
+hear thy words, but they will not do them.... And, lo,
+thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath
+a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for
+they hear thy words, but they do them not." (Ezek.
+xxxiii. 31, 32.) In a day like this, when hearing and
+thinking, without <i>doing</i>, is so common, no one can justly
+wonder that I press upon men the absolute need of self-examination.
+Once more, then, I ask my readers to consider
+the question of my text,&mdash;"How do we do about our
+souls?"</p>
+
+<p>(3) Let me ask, in the third place, <i>whether we are
+trying to satisfy our consciences with a mere formal religion</i>?
+There are myriads in England at this moment who
+are making shipwreck on this rock. Like the Pharisees of
+old, they make much ado about the outward part of Christianity,
+while the inward and spiritual part is totally neglected.
+They are careful to attend all the services of their place of
+worship, and regular in using all its forms and ordinances.
+They are never absent from Communion when the Lord's
+Supper is administered. Sometimes they are most strict
+in observing Lent, and attach great importance to Saints'
+days. They are often keen partisans of their own Church,
+or sect, or congregation, and ready to contend with any
+one who does not agree with them. Yet all this time
+there is no <i>heart</i> in their religion. Any one who knows
+them intimately can see with half an eye that their
+affections are set on things below, and not on things above;
+and that they are trying to make up for the want of
+inward Christianity by an excessive quantity of outward
+form. And this formal religion does them no real good.
+They are not satisfied. Beginning at the wrong end, by
+making the outward things first, they know nothing of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 8]</span>
+inward joy and peace, and pass their lives in a constant
+struggle, secretly conscious that there is something wrong,
+and yet not knowing why. Well, after all, if they do not
+go on from one stage of formality to another, until in despair
+they take a fatal plunge, and fall into Popery! When
+professing Christians of this kind are so painfully numerous,
+no one need wonder if I press upon him the paramount
+importance of close self-examination. If you love life, do
+not be content with the husk, and shell, and scaffolding of
+religion. Remember our Saviour's words about the Jewish
+formalists of His day: "This people draweth nigh with
+their mouth, and honoureth Me with their lips, but their
+heart is far from Me. In vain do they worship." (Matt.
+xv. 9.) It needs something more than going diligently to
+church, and receiving the Lord's Supper, to take our souls
+to heaven. Means of grace and forms of religion are
+useful in their way, and God seldom does anything for His
+church without them. But let us beware of making
+shipwreck on the very lighthouse which helps to show
+the channel into the harbour. Once more I ask, "How do
+we do about our souls?"</p>
+
+<p>(4) Let me ask, in the fourth place, <i>whether we have
+received the forgiveness of our sins</i>? Few reasonable
+Englishmen would think of denying that they are sinners.
+Many perhaps would say that they are not so bad as
+many, and that they have not been so very wicked, and
+so forth. But few, I repeat, would pretend to say that they
+had always lived like angels, and never done, or said, or
+thought a wrong thing all their days. In short, all of us
+must confess that we are more or less "<i>sinners</i>," and, as
+sinners, are guilty before God; and, as guilty, we must be
+forgiven, or lost and condemned for ever at the last day.&mdash;Now
+it is the glory of the Christian religion that it provides
+for us the very forgiveness that we need,&mdash;full, free,
+perfect, eternal, and complete. It is a leading article in
+that well-known creed which most Englishmen learn when<span class="pagenum">[Pg 9]</span>
+they are children. They are taught to say, "I believe in
+the forgiveness of sins." This forgiveness of sins has
+been purchased for us by the eternal Son of God, our Lord
+Jesus Christ. He has purchased it for us by coming into
+the world to be our Saviour, and by living, dying, and
+rising again, as our Substitute, in our behalf. He has
+bought it for us at the price of His own most precious
+blood, by suffering in our stead on the cross, and making
+satisfaction for our sins. But this forgiveness, great, and
+full, and glorious as it is, does not become the property of
+every man and woman, as a matter of course. It is not a
+privilege which every member of a Church possesses, merely
+because he is a Churchman. It is a thing which each
+individual must receive for himself by his own personal
+faith, lay hold on by faith, appropriate by faith, and make
+his own by faith; or else, so far as he is concerned, Christ
+will have died in vain. "He that believeth on the Son hath
+everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not
+see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." (John iii.
+36.) No terms can be imagined more simple, and more suitable
+to man. As good old Latimer said, in speaking of the
+matter of justification, "It is but believe and have." It is
+only faith that is required; and faith is nothing more than
+the humble, heartfelt trust of the soul which desires to be
+saved. Jesus is able and willing to save; but man must
+come to Jesus and believe. All that believe are at once
+justified and forgiven: but without believing there is no
+forgiveness at all.</p>
+
+<p>Now here is exactly the point, I am afraid, where multitudes
+of English people fail, and are in imminent danger
+of being lost for ever. They know that there is no forgiveness
+of sin excepting in Christ Jesus. They can tell
+you that there is no Saviour for sinners, no Redeemer, no
+Mediator, excepting Him who was born of the Virgin
+Mary, and was crucified under Pontius Pilate, dead, and
+buried. But here they stop, and get no further! They<span class="pagenum">[Pg 10]</span>
+never come to the point of actually laying hold on Christ
+by faith, and becoming one with Christ and Christ in
+them. They can say, He is a Saviour, but not 'my
+Saviour,'&mdash;a Redeemer, but not 'my Redeemer,'&mdash;a Priest,
+but not 'my Priest,'&mdash;an Advocate, but not 'my Advocate:'
+and so they live and die unforgiven! No wonder
+that Martin Luther said, "Many are lost because they
+cannot use possessive pronouns." When this is the state
+of many in this day, no one need wonder that I ask men
+whether they have received the forgiveness of sins. An
+eminent Christian lady once said, in her old age,&mdash;"The
+beginning of eternal life in my soul, was a conversation I
+had with an old gentleman, who came to visit my father,
+when I was only a little girl. He took me by the hand
+one day, and said, 'My dear child, my life is nearly over,
+and you will probably live many years after I am gone.
+But never forget two things. One is, that there is such a
+thing as having our sins forgiven while we live. The
+other is, that there is such a thing as knowing and feeling
+that we are forgiven.' I thank God I have never forgotten
+his words."&mdash;How is it with us? Let us not rest till we
+"know and feel," as the Prayer-book says, that we are
+forgiven. Once more let us ask,&mdash;In the matter of forgiveness
+of sins, "How do we do?"</p>
+
+<p>(5) Let me ask, in the fifth place, <i>whether we know
+anything by experience of conversion to God</i>. Without
+conversion there is no salvation. "Except ye be converted,
+and become as little children, ye shall not enter
+into the kingdom of heaven."&mdash;"Except a man be born
+again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."&mdash;"If any man
+have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His."&mdash;"If any
+man be in Christ he is a new creature." (Matt. xviii. 3;
+John iii. 3; Rom. viii. 9; 2 Cor. v. 17.) We are all by
+nature so weak, so worldly, so earthly-minded, so inclined
+to sin, that without a thorough change we cannot serve
+God in life, and could not enjoy Him after death. Just<span class="pagenum">[Pg 11]</span>
+as ducks, as soon as they are hatched, take naturally to
+water, so do children, as soon as they can do anything,
+take to selfishness, lying, and deceit; and none pray, or
+love God, unless they are taught. High or low, rich or
+poor, gentle or simple, we all need a complete change,&mdash;a
+change which it is the special office of the Holy Ghost to
+give us. Call it what you please,&mdash;new birth, regeneration,
+renewal, new creation, quickening, repentance,&mdash;the
+thing must be had if we are to be saved: and if we have
+the thing it will be <i>seen</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Sense of sin and deep hatred to it, faith in Christ and
+love to Him, delight in holiness and longing after more of
+it, love to God's people and distaste for the things of the
+world,&mdash;these, these are the signs and evidences which
+always accompany conversion. Myriads around us, it may
+be feared, know nothing about it. They are, in Scripture
+language, dead, and asleep, and blind, and unfit for the
+kingdom of God. Year after year, perhaps, they go on
+repeating the words of the Creed, "I believe in the Holy
+Ghost;" but they are utterly ignorant of His changing
+operations on the inward man. Sometimes they flatter
+themselves they are born again, because they have been
+baptized, and go to church, and receive the Lord's Supper;
+while they are totally destitute of the marks of the new
+birth, as described by St. John in his first Epistle. And
+all this time the words of Scripture are clear and plain,&mdash;"Except
+ye be converted, ye shall in no case enter the
+kingdom." (Matt. xviii. 3.) In times like these, no reader
+ought to wonder that I press the subject of conversion
+on men's souls. No doubt there are plenty of sham conversions
+in such a day of religious excitement as this.
+But bad coin is no proof that there is no good money:
+nay, rather it is a sign that there is some money current
+which is valuable, and is worth imitation. Hypocrites and
+sham Christians are indirect evidence that there is such a
+thing as real grace among men. Let us search our own<span class="pagenum">[Pg 12]</span>
+hearts then, and see how it is with ourselves. Once more
+let us ask, in the matter of conversion, "How do we do?"</p>
+
+<p>(6) Let me ask, in the sixth place, <i>whether we know
+anything of practical Christian holiness</i>? It is as certain
+as anything in the Bible that "without holiness no man
+shall see the Lord." (Heb. xii. 14.) It is equally certain
+that it is the invariable fruit of saving faith, the real test
+of regeneration, the only sound evidence of indwelling
+grace, the certain consequence of vital union with Christ.&mdash;Holiness
+is not absolute perfection and freedom from all
+faults. Nothing of the kind! The wild words of some
+who talk of enjoying "unbroken communion with God"
+for many months, are greatly to be deprecated, because
+they raise unscriptural expectations in the minds of young
+believers, and so do harm. Absolute perfection is for
+heaven, and not for earth, where we have a weak body, a
+wicked world, and a busy devil continually near our souls.
+Nor is real Christian holiness ever attained, or maintained,
+without a constant fight and struggle. The great
+Apostle, who said "I fight,&mdash;I labour,&mdash;I keep under my
+body and bring it into subjection" (1 Cor. ix. 27), would
+have been amazed to hear of <i>sanctification without
+personal exertion</i>, and to be told that believers only need
+to sit still, and everything will be done for them!</p>
+
+<p>Yet, weak and imperfect as the holiness of the best
+saints may be, it is a real true thing, and has a character
+about it as unmistakable as light and salt. It is not a
+thing which begins and ends with noisy profession: it will
+be <i>seen</i> much more than <i>heard</i>. Genuine Scriptural
+holiness will make a man do his duty at home and by the
+fireside, and adorn his doctrine in the little trials of daily
+life. It will exhibit itself in passive graces as well as in
+active. It will make a man humble, kind, gentle, unselfish,
+good-tempered, considerate for others, loving, meek,
+and forgiving. It will not constrain him to go out of the
+world, and shut himself up in a cave, like a hermit. But<span class="pagenum">[Pg 13]</span>
+it will make him do his duty in that state to which God
+has called him, on Christian principles, and after the
+pattern of Christ. Such holiness, I know well, is not
+common. It is a style of practical Christianity which is
+painfully rare in these days. But I can find no other
+standard of holiness in the Word of God,&mdash;no other which
+comes up to the pictures drawn by our Lord and His
+Apostles. In an age like this no reader can wonder if I
+press this subject also on men's attention. Once more let
+us ask,&mdash;In the matter of holiness, how is it with our souls?
+"How do we do?"</p>
+
+<p>(7) Let me ask, in the seventh place, <i>whether we know
+anything of enjoying the means of grace</i>? When I speak
+of the means of grace, I have in my mind's eye five
+principal things,&mdash;the reading of the Bible, private prayer,
+public worship, the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and
+the rest of the Lord's day. They are means which God
+has graciously appointed, in order to convey grace to man's
+heart by the Holy Ghost, or to keep up the spiritual life
+after it has begun. As long as the world stands, the state
+of a man's soul will always depend greatly on the <i>manner
+and spirit</i> in which he uses means of grace. The manner
+and spirit, I say deliberately and of purpose. Many
+English people use the means of grace regularly and
+formally, but know nothing of enjoying them: they
+attend to them as a matter of duty, but without a jot of
+feeling, interest, or affection. Yet even common sense
+might tell us that this formal, mechanical use of holy
+things, is utterly worthless and unprofitable. Our <i>feeling</i>
+about them is just one of the many tests of the state of
+our souls. How can that man be thought to love God
+who reads about Him and His Christ, as a mere matter of
+duty, content and satisfied if he has just moved his mark
+onward over so many chapters?&mdash;How can that man suppose
+he is ready to meet Christ, who never takes any trouble to
+pour out his heart to Him in private as a Friend, and is<span class="pagenum">[Pg 14]</span>
+satisfied with saying over a string of words every morning
+and evening, under the name of "prayer," scarcely
+thinking what he is about?&mdash;How could that man be
+happy in heaven for ever, who finds the Sunday a dull,
+gloomy, tiresome day,&mdash;who knows nothing of hearty
+prayer and praise, and cares nothing whether he hears
+truth or error from the pulpit, or scarcely listens to the
+sermon?&mdash;What can be the spiritual condition of that
+man whose heart never "burns within him," when he
+receives that bread and wine which specially remind us of
+Christ's death on the cross, and the atonement for sin?
+These inquiries are very serious and important. If means
+of grace had no other use, and were not mighty helps
+toward heaven, they would be useful in supplying a test of
+our real state in the sight of God. Tell me what a man
+does in the matter of Bible-reading and praying, in the
+matter of Sunday, public worship, and the Lord's Supper,
+and I will soon tell you what he is, and on which road
+he is travelling. How is it with ourselves? Once more
+let us ask,&mdash;In the matter of means of grace, "How do
+we do?"</p>
+
+<p>(8) Let me ask, in the eighth place, <i>whether we ever
+try to do any good in the world</i>? Our Lord Jesus Christ
+was continually "going about doing good," while He was
+on earth. (Acts x. 38.) The Apostles, and all the disciples
+in Bible times, were always striving to walk in His
+steps. A Christian who was content to go to heaven
+himself, and cared not what became of others, whether
+they lived happy and died in peace or not, would have
+been regarded as a kind of monster in primitive times,
+who had not the Spirit of Christ. Why should we
+suppose for a moment that a lower standard will suffice in
+the present day? Why should fig trees which bear no
+fruit be spared in the present day, when in our Lord's
+time they were to be cut down as "cumberers of the
+ground"? (Luke xiii. 7.) These are serious inquiries,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 15]</span>
+and demand serious answers.</p>
+
+<p>There is a generation of professing Christians now-a-days,
+who seem to know nothing of caring for their
+neighbours, and are wholly swallowed up in the concerns
+of number one,&mdash;that is, their own and their family's.
+They eat, and drink, and sleep, and dress, and work, and
+get money, and spend money, year after year; and
+whether others are happy or miserable, well or ill,
+converted or unconverted, travelling toward heaven or toward
+hell, appear to be questions about which they are
+supremely indifferent. Can this be right? Can it be
+reconciled with the religion of Him who spoke the parable
+of the good Samaritan, and bade us "go and do likewise"?
+(Luke x. 37.) I doubt it altogether.</p>
+
+<p>There is much to be done on every side. There is not
+a place in England where there is not a field for work,
+and an open door for being useful, if any one is willing to
+enter it. There is not a Christian in England who cannot
+find some good work to do for others, if he has only a
+heart to do it. The poorest man or woman, without a
+single penny to give, can always show his deep sympathy
+to the sick and sorrowful, and by simple good-nature and
+tender helpfulness, can lessen the misery and increase the
+comfort of somebody in this troubled world. But alas, the
+vast majority of professing Christians, whether rich or
+poor, Churchmen or Dissenters, seem possessed with a
+devil of detestable selfishness, and know not the luxury of
+doing good. They can argue by the hour about baptism,
+and the Lord's supper, and the forms of worship, and the
+union of Church and State, and such-like dry-bone questions.
+But all this time they seem to care nothing for
+their neighbours. The plain practical point, whether they
+love their neighbour, as the Samaritan loved the traveller
+in the parable, and can spare any time and trouble to do
+him good, is a point they never touch with one of their
+fingers. In too many English parishes, both in town<span class="pagenum">[Pg 16]</span>
+and country, true love seems almost dead, both in church
+and chapel, and wretched party-spirit and controversy are
+the only fruits that Christianity appears able to produce.
+In a day like this, no reader should wonder if I press this
+plain old subject on his conscience. Do we know anything
+of genuine Samaritan love to others? Do we ever try to
+do any good to any one beside our own friends and relatives,
+and our own party or cause? Are we living like disciples
+of Him who always "went about doing good," and commanded
+His disciples to take Him for their "example"?
+(John xiii. 15.) If not, with what face shall we meet Him
+in the judgment day? In this matter also, how is it with
+our souls? Once more I ask, "How do we do?"</p>
+
+<p>(9) Let me ask, in the ninth place, <i>whether we know
+anything of living the life of habitual communion with
+Christ</i>? By "communion," I mean that habit of "abiding
+in Christ" which our Lord speaks of, in the fifteenth
+chapter of St. John's Gospel, as essential to Christian
+fruitfulness. (John xv. 4-8.) Let it be distinctly understood
+that union with Christ is one thing, and communion
+is another. There can be no communion with the Lord
+Jesus without union first; but unhappily there may be
+union with the Lord Jesus, and afterwards little or no
+communion at all. The difference between the two things
+is not the difference between two distinct steps, but the
+difference between the higher and lower ends of an
+inclined plane. Union is the common privilege of all who
+feel their sins, and truly repent, and come to Christ by
+faith, and are accepted, forgiven, and justified in Him.
+Too many believers, it may be feared, <i>never get beyond
+this stage</i>! Partly from ignorance, partly from laziness,
+partly from fear of man, partly from secret love of the
+world, partly from some unmortified besetting sin, they
+are content with a little faith, and a little hope, and a
+little peace, and a little measure of holiness. And they
+live on all their lives in this condition&mdash;doubting, weak,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 17]</span>
+halting, and bearing fruit only "thirty-fold" to the very
+end of their days!</p>
+
+<p>Communion with Christ is the privilege of those who
+are continually striving to grow in grace, and faith, and
+knowledge, and conformity to the mind of Christ in all
+things,&mdash;who do not "look to the things behind," and "count
+not themselves to have attained," but "press toward the
+mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ
+Jesus." (Phil. iii. 14.) Union is the bud, but communion
+is the flower: union is the babe, but communion is the
+strong man. He that has union with Christ does well;
+but he that enjoys communion with Him does far better.
+Both have one life, one hope, one heavenly seed in their
+hearts,&mdash;one Lord, one Saviour, one Holy Spirit, one
+eternal home: but union is not so good as communion!
+The grand secret of communion with Christ is to be continually
+"living the life of faith in Him," and drawing out
+of Him every hour the supply that every hour requires.
+"To me," said St. Paul, "to live is Christ."&mdash;"I live: yet
+not I, but Christ liveth in me." (Gal. ii. 20; Phil. i. 21.)</p>
+
+<p>Communion like this is the secret of the abiding "joy
+and peace in believing," which eminent saints like Bradford
+and Rutherford notoriously possessed. None were ever
+more humble, or more deeply convinced of their own
+infirmities and corruption. They would have told you
+that the seventh chapter of Romans precisely described
+their own experience. They would have endorsed every
+word of the "Confession" put into the mouths of true
+believers, in our Prayer-book Communion Service. They
+would have said continually, "The remembrance of our
+sins is grievous unto us; the burden of them is intolerable."
+But they were ever looking unto Jesus, and in Him they
+were ever able to rejoice.&mdash;Communion like this is the secret
+of the splendid victories which such men as these won over
+sin, the world, and the fear of death. They did not sit
+still idly, saying, "I leave it all to Christ to do for me,"<span class="pagenum">[Pg 18]</span>
+but, strong in the Lord, they used the Divine nature He
+had implanted in them, boldly and confidently, and were
+"more than conquerors through Him that loved them."
+(Rom. viii. 37.) Like St. Paul they would have said, "I
+can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."
+(Phil iv. 13.)&mdash;Ignorance of this life of communion is one
+among many reasons why so many in this age are hankering
+after the Confessional, and strange views of the "real
+presence" in the Lord's Supper. Such errors often spring
+from imperfect knowledge of Christ, and obscure views of
+the life of faith in a risen, living, and interceding Saviour.</p>
+
+<p>Is communion with Christ like this a common thing?
+Alas! it is very rare indeed! The greater part of
+believers seem content with the barest elementary knowledge
+of justification by faith, and half-a-dozen other
+doctrines, and go doubting, limping, halting, groaning
+along the way to heaven, and experience little either of
+the sense of victory or joy. The Churches of these latter
+days are full of weak, powerless, and uninfluential
+believers, saved at last, "but so as by fire," but never
+shaking the world, and knowing nothing of an "abundant
+entrance." (1 Cor. iii. 15; 2 Pet. i. 11.) Despondency
+and Feeble-mind and Much-afraid, in "Pilgrim's Progress,"
+reached the celestial city as really and truly as Valiant-for-the-truth
+and Greatheart. But they certainly did not
+reach it with the same comfort, and did not do a tenth
+part of the same good in the world! I fear there are
+many like them in these days! When things are so
+in the Churches, no reader can wonder that I inquire how
+it is with our souls. Once more I ask,&mdash;In the matter of
+communion with Christ, "How do we do?"</p>
+
+<p>(10) Let me ask, in the tenth and last place, <i>whether
+we know anything of being ready for Christ's second
+coming</i>? That He will come again the second time is as
+certain as anything in the Bible. The world has not yet
+seen the last of Him. As surely as He went up visibly,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 19]</span>
+and in the body, on the Mount of Olives, before the eyes
+of His disciples, so surely will He come again in the
+clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. (Acts i. 11.)
+He will come to raise the dead, to change the living, to
+reward His saints, to punish the wicked, to renew the
+earth, and take the curse away,&mdash;to purify the world, even
+as He purified the temple,&mdash;and to set up a kingdom
+where sin shall have no place, and holiness shall be the
+universal rule. The Creeds which we repeat and profess
+to believe, continually declare that Christ is coming again.
+The ancient Christians made it a part of their religion to
+look for His return. <i>Backward</i> they looked to the cross
+and the atonement for sin, and rejoiced in Christ crucified.
+<i>Upward</i> they looked to Christ at the right hand of God,
+and rejoiced in Christ interceding. <i>Forward</i> they looked
+to the promised return of their Master, and rejoiced in
+the thought that they would see Him again. And we
+ought to do the same.</p>
+
+<p>What have we really got from Christ? and what do
+we know of Him? and what do we think of Him? Are
+we living as if we long to see Him again, and love
+His appearing?&mdash;Readiness for that appearing is nothing
+more than being a real, consistent Christian. It requires
+no man to cease from his daily business. The farmer
+need not give up his farm, nor the shopkeeper his
+counter, nor the doctor his patients, nor the carpenter
+his hammer and nails, nor the bricklayer his mortar
+and trowel, nor the blacksmith his smithy. Each and
+all cannot do better than be found doing his duty, but
+doing it <i>as a Christian</i>, and with a heart packed up
+and ready to be gone. In the face of truth like this
+no reader can feel surprised if I ask, How is it with our
+souls in the matter of Christ's second coming? The
+world is growing old and running to seed. The vast
+majority of Christians seem like the men in the time of
+Noah and Lot, who were eating and drinking, marrying and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 20]</span>
+giving in marriage, planting and building, up to the very
+day when flood and fire came. Those words of our Master
+are very solemn and heart-searching,&mdash;"Remember Lot's
+wife."&mdash;"Take heed lest at any time your heart be
+overcharged with the cares of this life, and that day come
+upon you unawares." (Luke xvii. 32; xxi. 34.) Once
+more I ask,&mdash;In the matter of readiness for Christ's second
+coming, "How do we do?"</p>
+
+<p>I end my inquiries here. I might easily add to them;
+but I trust I have said enough, at the beginning of this
+volume, to stir up self-inquiry and self-examination in
+many minds. God is my witness that I have said nothing
+that I do not feel of paramount importance to my own
+soul. I only want to do good to others. Let me now
+conclude all with a few words of practical application.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>a</i>) Is any reader of this paper <i>asleep and utterly
+thoughtless about religion</i>? Oh, awake and sleep no
+more! Look at the churchyards and cemeteries. One by
+one the people around you are dropping into them, and
+you must lie there one day. Look forward to a world to
+come, and lay your hand on your heart, and say, if you
+dare, that you are fit to die and meet God. Ah! you are
+like one sleeping in a boat drifting down the stream
+towards the falls of Niagara! "What meanest thou, oh
+sleeper! Arise and call upon thy God!"&mdash;"Awake thou
+that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall
+give thee light!" (Jonah i. 6; Eph v. 14.)</p>
+
+<p>(<i>b</i>) Is any reader of this paper <i>feeling self-condemned,
+and afraid that there is no hope for his soul</i>? Cast
+aside your fears, and accept the offer of our Lord Jesus
+Christ to sinners. Hear Him saying, "Come unto Me, all
+ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you
+rest." (Matt. xi. 28.) "If any man thirst, let him come
+unto Me and drink." (John vii. 37.) "Him that cometh
+unto Me I will in no wise cast out." (John vi. 37.)
+Doubt not that these words are for you as well as for any one<span class="pagenum">[Pg 21]</span>
+else. Bring all your sins, and unbelief, and sense of guilt,
+and unfitness, and doubts, and infirmities,&mdash;bring all to
+Christ. "This Man receiveth sinners," and He will receive
+you. (Luke xv. 2.) Do not stand still, halting between two
+opinions, and waiting for a convenient season. "Arise: He
+calleth thee!" Come to Christ this very day. (Mark x. 49.)</p>
+
+<p>(<i>c</i>) Is any reader of this paper a professing believer in
+Christ, but a <i>believer without much joy and peace and
+comfort</i>? Take advice this day. Search your own heart,
+and see whether the fault be not entirely your own.
+Very likely you are sitting at ease, content with a little
+faith, and a little repentance, a little grace and a little
+sanctification, and unconsciously shrinking back from
+extremes. You will never be a very happy Christian at
+this rate, if you live to the age of Methuselah. Change
+your plan, if you love life and would see good days,
+without delay. Come out boldly, and act decidedly. Be
+thorough, thorough, very thorough in your Christianity, and
+set your face fully towards the sun. Lay aside every weight,
+and the sin that doth so easily beset you. Strive to get
+nearer to Christ, to abide in Him, to cleave to Him, and
+to sit at His feet like Mary, and drink full draughts out
+of the fountain of life. "These things," says St. John,
+"we write unto you that your joy may be full." (1 John
+i. 4.) "If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we
+have fellowship one with another." (1 John i. 7.)</p>
+
+<p>(<i>d</i>) Is any reader of this paper <i>a believer oppressed
+with doubts and fears</i>, on account of his feebleness,
+infirmity, and sense of sin? Remember the text that says
+of Jesus, "A bruised reed will He not break, and smoking
+flax shall He not quench." (Matt. xii. 20.) Take comfort
+in the thought that this text is for you. What though
+your faith be feeble? It is better than no faith at all.
+The least grain of life is better than death. Perhaps you
+are expecting too much in this world. Earth is not heaven.
+You are yet in the body. Expect little from self, but much<span class="pagenum">[Pg 22]</span>
+from Christ. Look more to Jesus, and less to self.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>e</i>) Finally, is any reader of this paper <i>sometimes
+downcast</i> by the trials he meets with in the way to
+heaven, bodily trials, family trials, trials of circumstances,
+trials from neighbours, and trials from the world? Look
+up to a sympathizing Saviour at God's right hand, and pour
+out your heart before Him. He can be touched with the
+feeling of your infirmities, for He suffered Himself being
+tempted.&mdash;Are you alone? So was He. Are you misrepresented
+and calumniated? So was He. Are you
+forsaken by friends? So was He. Are you persecuted?
+So was He. Are you wearied in body and grieved in
+spirit? So was He.&mdash;Yes! He can feel for you, and He
+can help as well as feel. Then learn to draw nearer to
+Christ. The time is short. Yet a little time, and all will
+be over: we shall soon be "with the Lord." "There is
+an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off."
+(Prov. xxiii. 18.) "Ye have need of patience, that, after
+ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
+For yet a little while, and He that shall come will
+come, and will not tarry." (Heb. x. 36, 37.)</p>
+
+<br>
+<h2><a name="II" id="II"></a>II</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 23]</span>
+
+<h2>SELF-EXERTION</h2>
+
+<blockquote><p>"<i>Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you,
+will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.</i>"&mdash;<span class="smcap">Luke</span> xiii. 24.</p></blockquote>
+
+
+<p>There was once a man who asked our Lord Jesus Christ
+a very deep question. He said to Him, "Lord, are there
+few that be saved?"</p>
+
+<p>Who this man was we do not know. What his motive
+was for asking this question we are not told. Perhaps he
+wished to gratify an idle curiosity: perhaps he wanted an
+excuse for not seeking salvation himself. The Holy Ghost
+has kept back all this from us: the name and motive of
+the inquirer are both hidden.</p>
+
+<p>But one thing is very clear, and that is the vast importance
+of the saying of our Lord to which the question
+gave rise. Jesus seized the opportunity to direct the
+minds of all around Him to their own plain duty. He
+knew the train of thought which the man's inquiry had
+set moving in their hearts: He saw what was going on
+within them. "Strive," He cries, "to enter in at the strait
+gate." Whether there be few saved or many, your course
+is clear;&mdash;strive to enter in. Now is the accepted time.
+Now is the day of salvation. A day shall come when
+many will seek to enter in and shall not be able. "Strive
+to enter in now."</p>
+
+<p>I desire to call the serious attention of all who read this
+paper to the solemn lessons which this saying of the Lord
+Jesus is meant to teach. It is one which deserves special<span class="pagenum">[Pg 24]</span>
+remembrance in the present day. It teaches unmistakeably
+that mighty truth, our own personal responsibility for the
+salvation of our souls. It shows the immense danger of
+putting off the great business of religion, as so many
+unhappily do. On both these points the witness of our
+Lord Jesus Christ in the text is clear. He, who is the
+eternal God, and who spoke the words of perfect wisdom,
+says to the sons of men,&mdash;"Strive to enter in at the strait
+gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and
+shall not be able."</p>
+
+
+<blockquote><p>I. Here is a <i>description</i> of the way of salvation.
+Jesus calls it "the strait gate."</p>
+
+<p>II. Here is a plain <i>command</i>. Jesus says, "Strive to
+enter in."</p>
+
+<p>III. Here is an awful <i>prophecy</i>. Jesus says, "Many
+will seek to enter in, and shall not be able."</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>May the Holy Ghost apply the subject to the hearts
+of all into whose hands this paper may fall! May all who
+read it know the way of salvation experimentally, obey
+the command of the Lord practically, and be found safe in
+the great day of His second coming!</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>I. Here is a <i>description</i> of the way of salvation.
+Jesus calls it "<i>the strait gate</i>."</p>
+
+<p>There is a gate which leads to pardon, peace with God,
+and heaven. Whosoever goes in by that gate shall be
+saved. Never, surely, was a gate more needed. Sin is a
+vast mountain between man and God. How shall a man
+climb over it?&mdash;Sin is a high wall between man and God.
+How shall man get through it?&mdash;Sin is a deep gulf
+between man and God. How shall man cross over it?&mdash;God
+is in heaven, holy, pure, spiritual, undefiled, light
+without any darkness at all, a Being who cannot bear that
+which is evil, or look upon iniquity. Man is a poor fallen<span class="pagenum">[Pg 25]</span>
+worm, crawling on earth for a few years,&mdash;sinful, corrupt,
+erring, defective,&mdash;a being whose imagination is only evil,
+and whose heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately
+wicked. How shall man and God be brought
+together? How shall man ever draw near to his Maker
+without fear and shame? Blessed be God, there is a way!
+There is a road. There is a path. There is a door. It is
+the gate spoken of in the words of Christ,&mdash;"the strait
+gate."</p>
+
+<p>This gate was <i>made for sinners by the Lord Jesus
+Christ</i>. From all eternity He covenanted and engaged
+that He would make it. In the fulness of time He came
+into the world and made it, by His own atoning death on
+the cross. By that death He made satisfaction for man's
+sin, paid man's debt to God, and bore man's punishment.
+He built a great gate at the cost of His own body and blood.
+He reared a ladder on earth whose top reached to heaven.
+He made a door by which the chief of sinners may enter
+into the holy presence of God, and not be afraid. He
+opened a road by which the vilest of men, believing in
+Him, may draw near to God and have peace. He cries to
+us, "I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall
+be saved." (John x. 9.) "I am the way: no man cometh
+unto the Father but by Me." (John xiv. 6.) "By Him,"
+says Paul, "we have boldness and access with confidence."
+(Eph. iii. 12.) Thus was the gate of salvation formed.</p>
+
+<p>This gate is called <i>the strait gate</i>, and it is not called so
+without cause. It is always strait, narrow, and difficult to
+pass through to some persons, and it will be so as long as
+the world stands. It is narrow to all who love sin, and
+are determined not to part with it. It is narrow to all
+who set their affection on this world, and seek first its
+pleasures and rewards. It is narrow to all who dislike
+trouble, and are unwilling to take pains and make sacrifices
+for their souls. It is narrow to all who like company,
+and want to keep in with the crowd. It is narrow to all<span class="pagenum">[Pg 26]</span>
+who are self-righteous, and think they are good people,
+and deserve to be saved. To all such the great gate,
+which Christ made, is narrow and strait. In vain they
+seek to pass through. The gate will not admit them.
+God is not unwilling to receive them; their sins are not
+too many to be forgiven: but they are not willing to be
+saved in God's way. Thousands, for the last eighteen
+centuries, have tried to make the gate-way wider:
+thousands have worked and toiled to get to heaven on
+lower terms. But the gate never alters. It is not
+elastic: it will not stretch to accommodate one man
+more than another. It is still the strait gate.</p>
+
+<p>Strait as this gate is, it is <i>the only one by which men
+can get to heaven</i>. There is no side door; there is no
+bye-path; there is no gap or low-place in the wall. All
+that are ever saved will be saved only by Christ, and only
+by simple faith in Him.&mdash;Not one will be saved by repentance.
+To-day's sorrow does not wipe off yesterday's
+score.&mdash;Not one will be saved by his own works. The
+best works that any man can do are little better than
+splendid sins.&mdash;Not one will be saved by his formal
+regularity in the use of the outward means of grace.
+When we have done all, we are poor "unprofitable servants."
+Oh, no! it is mere waste of time to seek any other road
+to eternal life. Men may look right and left, and weary
+themselves with their own devices, but they will never
+find another door. Proud men may dislike the gate if
+they will. Profligate men may scoff at it, and make a
+jest of those who use it. Lazy men may complain that
+the way is hard. But men will discover no other salvation
+than that of faith in the blood and righteousness of a
+crucified Redeemer. There stands between us and
+heaven one great gate: it may be strait; but it is the
+only one. We must either enter heaven by the strait
+gate, or not at all.</p>
+
+<p>Strait as this gate is, it is <i>a gate ever ready to open</i><span class="pagenum">[Pg 27]</span>.
+No sinners of any kind are forbidden to draw near:
+whosoever will may enter in and be saved. There is but
+one condition of admission: that condition is that you
+really feel your sins and desire to be saved by Christ in
+His own way. Art thou really sensible of thy guilt and
+vileness? Hast thou a truly broken and contrite heart?
+Behold the gate of salvation, and come in. He that made
+it declares,&mdash;"Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise
+cast out." (John vi. 37.) The question to be considered is not
+whether you are a great sinner or a little sinner&mdash;whether
+you are elect or not,&mdash;whether you are converted or not.
+The question is simply this,"Do you feel your sins? Do you
+feel labouring and heavy-laden? Are you willing to put
+your soul into Christ's hand?" Then if that be the case,
+the gate will open to you at once. Come in this very
+day. "Wherefore standest thou without?" (Gen. xxiv. 31.)</p>
+
+<p>Strait as this gate is, it is <i>one through which thousands
+have gone in and been saved</i>. No sinner was ever turned
+back, and told he was too bad to be admitted, if he came
+really sick of his sins. Thousands of all sorts have been
+received, cleansed, washed, pardoned, clothed, and made
+heirs of eternal life. Some of them seemed very unlikely
+to be admitted: you and I might have thought they were
+too bad to be saved. But He that built the gate did not
+refuse them. As soon as they knocked, He gave orders
+that they should be let in.</p>
+
+<p>Manasseh, King of Judah, went up to this gate. None
+could have been worse than he. He had despised his
+good father Hezekiah's example and advice. He had
+bowed down to idols. He had filled Jerusalem with
+bloodshed and cruelty. He had slain his own children.
+But as soon as his eyes were opened to his sins, and he
+fled to the gate for pardon, the gate flew wide open, and
+he was saved.</p>
+
+<p>Saul the Pharisee went up to this gate. He had been
+a great offender. He had been a blasphemer of Christ,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 28]</span>
+and a persecutor of Christ's people. He had laboured
+hard to stop the progress of the Gospel. But as soon as
+his heart was touched, and he found out his own guilt and
+fled to the gate for pardon, at once the gate flew wide
+open, and he was saved.</p>
+
+<p>Many of the Jews who crucified our Lord went up to
+this gate. They had been grievous sinners indeed. They
+had refused and rejected their own Messiah. They had
+delivered Him to Pilate, and entreated that He might be
+slain. They had desired Barabbas to be let go, and the
+Son of God to be crucified. But in the day when they
+were pricked to the heart by Peter's preaching, they fled
+to the gate for pardon, and at once the gate flew open, and
+they were saved.</p>
+
+<p>The jailer at Philippi went up to this gate. He had
+been a cruel, hard, godless man. He had done all in his
+power to ill-treat Paul and his companion. He had thrust
+them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the
+stocks. But when his conscience was aroused by the
+earthquake, and his mind enlightened by Paul's teaching,
+he fled to the gate for pardon, and at once the gate flew
+open, and he was saved.</p>
+
+<p>But why need I stop short in Bible examples? Why
+should I not say that multitudes have gone to "the strait
+gate" since the days of the Apostles, and have entered in
+by it and been saved? Thousands of all ranks, classes,
+and ages,&mdash;learned and unlearned, rich and poor, old and
+young,&mdash;have tried the gate and found it ready to open,&mdash;have
+gone through it and found peace to their souls.
+Yes: thousands of persons yet living have made proof of
+the gate, and found it the way to real happiness. Noblemen
+and commoners, merchants and bankers, soldiers and
+sailors, farmers and tradesmen, labourers and workmen,
+are still upon earth, who have found the strait gate to be
+"a way of pleasantness and a path of peace." They have
+not brought up an evil report of the country inside. They<span class="pagenum">[Pg 29]</span>
+have found Christ's yoke to be easy, and His burden to be
+light. Their only regret has been that so few enter in,
+and that they themselves did not enter in before.</p>
+
+<p>This is the gate which I want every one to enter, into
+whose hand this paper may fall. I want you not merely
+to go to church or chapel, but to go with heart and soul
+to the gate of life. I want you not merely to believe
+there is such a gate, and to think it a good thing, but to
+enter by faith and be saved.</p>
+
+<p>Think <i>what a privilege</i> it is to have a gate at all. The
+angels who kept not their first estate, fell, never to rise
+again. To them there was no door of escape opened.&mdash;The
+heathen never heard of any way to eternal life. What
+would not many a black man and many a red man give,
+if he only heard one plain sermon about Christ?&mdash;The
+Jews in Old Testament times only saw the gate dimly and
+far away. "The way into the holiest was not made manifest,
+while the first tabernacle was standing." (Heb. ix. 8.)
+You have the gate set plainly before you: you have Christ
+and full salvation offered to you, without money and without
+price. You never need be at a loss which way to
+turn. Oh, consider what a mercy this is! Beware that
+you do not despise the gate and perish in unbelief. Better
+a thousand times not to know of the gate than to know of
+it and yet tarry outside. How indeed will you escape if
+you neglect so great salvation?</p>
+
+<p>Think <i>what a thankful man</i> you ought to be if you
+have really gone in at the strait gate. To be a pardoned,
+forgiven, justified soul,&mdash;to be ready for sickness, death,
+judgment and eternity,&mdash;to be ever provided for in both
+worlds,&mdash;surely this is matter for daily praise. True
+Christians ought to be more full of thanksgivings than
+they are. I fear that few sufficiently remember what they
+were by nature, and what debtors they are to grace. A
+heathen remarked that singing hymns of praise was one
+special mark of the early Christians. Well would it be for<span class="pagenum">[Pg 30]</span>
+Christians in the present day, if they knew more of this
+frame of mind. It is no mark of a healthy state of soul
+when there is much complaining and little praise. It is
+an amazing mercy that there is any gate of salvation at
+all; but it is a still greater mercy when we are taught to
+enter in by it and be saved.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>II. In the second place, here is a plain <i>command</i>.&mdash;
+Jesus says to us, "<i>Strive to enter in at the strait gate</i>."
+There is often much to be learned in a single word of
+Scripture. The words of our Lord Jesus in particular, are
+always full of matter for thought. Here is a word which
+is a striking example of what I mean. Let us see what
+the great Teacher would have us gather out of the word "<i>Strive</i>."</p>
+
+<p>"STRIVE" teaches that a man must use means
+diligently, if he would have his soul saved. There are
+means which God has appointed to help man in his
+endeavours to approach Him. There are ways in which
+a man must walk, if he desires to be found of Christ.
+Public Worship, reading the Bible, hearing the Gospel
+preached,&mdash;these are the kind of things to which I refer.
+They lie, as it were, in the middle, between man and God.
+Doubtless no one can change his own heart, or wipe away
+one of his sins, or make himself in the least degree
+acceptable to God; but I do say that if man could do
+nothing but sit still, Christ would never have said
+"Strive."</p>
+
+<p>"STRIVE" teaches that man is a free agent, and will
+be dealt with by God as a responsible being. The Lord
+Jesus does not bid us to wait, and wish, and feel, and
+hope, and desire. He says, "Strive." I call that miserable
+religion which teaches people to be content with saying,
+"We can do nothing of ourselves," and makes them
+continue in sin. It is as bad as teaching people that it is
+not their fault if they are not converted, and that God<span class="pagenum">[Pg 31]</span>
+only is to blame if they are not saved. I find no such
+theology in the New Testament. I hear Jesus saying to
+sinners, "Come&mdash;repent&mdash;believe&mdash;labour&mdash;ask&mdash;seek&mdash;knock."
+I see plainly that our salvation, from first to
+last, is entirely <i>of God</i>; but I see with no less plainness
+that our ruin, if lost, is wholly and entirely <i>of ourselves</i>.
+I maintain that sinners are always addressed as accountable
+and responsible; and I want no better proof of this than
+is contained in the word "Strive."</p>
+
+<p>"STRIVE" teaches that a man must expect many
+adversaries and a hard battle, if he would have his soul
+saved. And this, as a matter of experience, is strictly true.
+There are no "gains without pains" in spiritual things
+any more than in temporal. That roaring lion, the devil,
+will never let a soul escape from him without a struggle.
+The heart which is naturally sensual and earthly will
+never be turned to spiritual things without a daily fight.
+The world, with all its opposition and temptations, will
+never be overcome without a conflict. But why should
+all this surprise us? What great and good thing was
+ever done without trouble? Wheat does not grow without
+ploughing and sowing; riches are not obtained without
+care and attention; success in life is not won without
+hardships and toil; and heaven, above all, is not to be
+reached without the cross and the battle. The "violent
+take the kingdom by force." (Matt xi. 12.) A man must
+"strive."</p>
+
+<p>"STRIVE" teaches that it is worth while for a man to
+seek salvation. That may well be said. If there be
+anything that deserves a struggle in this world, it is the
+prosperity of the soul. The objects for which the great
+majority of men strive are comparatively poor and trifling
+things. Riches, and greatness, and rank, and learning, are
+"a corruptible crown." The incorruptible things are all
+within the strait gate. The peace of God which passeth
+all understanding,&mdash;the bright hope of good things to<span class="pagenum">[Pg 32]</span>
+come,&mdash;the sense of the Spirit dwelling in us,&mdash;the
+consciousness that we are pardoned, safe, ready, insured,
+provided for in time and eternity, whatever may happen,&mdash;these
+are true gold, and durable riches. Well may the
+Lord Jesus call on us to "strive."</p>
+
+<p>"STRIVE" teaches that laziness in religion is a great
+sin. It is not merely a misfortune, as some fancy,&mdash;a
+thing for which people are to be pitied, and a matter for
+regret. It is something far more than this. It is a breach
+of a plain commandment. What shall be said of the
+man who transgresses God's law, and does something which
+God says, Thou shalt not do? There can be but one
+answer. He is a sinner. "Sin is the transgression of the
+law." (1 John iii. 4.) And what shall be said of the man
+who neglects his soul, and makes no effort to enter the
+strait gate? There can be only one reply. He is omitting
+a positive duty. Christ says to him, "Strive," and behold,
+he sits still!</p>
+
+<p>"STRIVE" teaches that all outside the strait gate are
+in great danger. They are in danger of being lost for
+ever. There is but a step between them and death. If
+death finds them in their present condition, they will
+perish without hope. The Lord Jesus saw that clearly.
+He knew the uncertainty of life and the shortness of
+time: He would fain have sinners make haste and delay
+not, lest they put off soul business too late. He speaks
+as one who saw the devil drawing near to them daily, and
+the days of their life gradually ebbing away. He would
+have them take heed they be not too late: therefore He
+cries, "Strive."</p>
+
+<p>That word "Strive," raises solemn thoughts in my mind.
+It is brimful of condemnation for thousands of baptized
+persons. It condemns the ways and practices of multitudes
+who profess and call themselves Christians. Many there
+are who neither swear, nor murder, nor commit adultery,
+nor steal, nor lie; but one thing unhappily cannot be said<span class="pagenum">[Pg 33]</span>
+of them: they cannot be said to "strive" to be saved.
+The "spirit of slumber" possesses their hearts in everything
+that concerns religion. About the things of the world
+they are active enough: they rise early, and late take rest;
+they labour; they toil; they are busy; they are careful:
+but about the one thing needful they never "strive" at all.</p>
+
+<p>What shall I say of those who are irregular about public
+worship on Sundays? There are thousands all over Great
+Britain who answer this description. Sometimes, if they
+feel disposed, they go to some church or chapel, and attend
+a religious service; at other times they stay at home and
+read the paper, or idle about, or look over their accounts, or
+seek some amusement. <i>Is this "striving"</i>? I speak
+to men of common sense. Let them judge what I say.</p>
+
+<p>What shall I say of those who come regularly to a place
+of worship, but come entirely as a matter of form?
+There are many in every parish of Great Britain in this
+condition. Their fathers taught them to come; their
+custom has always been to come: it would not be
+respectable to stay away. But they care nothing for the
+worship of God when they do come. Whether they hear law
+or Gospel, truth or error, it is all the same to them. They
+remember nothing afterwards. They put off their form of
+religion with their Sunday clothes, and return to the
+world. And <i>is this "striving"</i>? I speak to men of
+common sense. Let them judge what I say.</p>
+
+<p>What shall I say of those who seldom or never read the
+Bible? There are thousands of persons, I fear, who
+answer this description. They know the Book by name;
+they know it is commonly regarded as the only Book
+which teaches us how to live and how to die: but they
+can never find time for reading it. Newspapers, reviews,
+novels, romances, they can read, but not the Bible. And
+<i>is this "striving"</i> to enter in? I speak to men of
+common sense. Let them judge what I say.</p>
+
+<p>What shall I say of those who never pray? There are<span class="pagenum">[Pg 34]</span>
+multitudes, I firmly believe, in this condition. Without
+God they rise in the morning, and without God they lie
+down at night. They ask nothing; they confess nothing;
+they return thanks for nothing; they seek nothing. They
+are all dying creatures, and yet they are not even on
+speaking terms with their Maker and their Judge! And
+<i>is this "striving"</i>? I speak to men of common sense.
+Let them judge what I say.</p>
+
+<p>It is a solemn thing to be a minister of the Gospel. It
+is a painful thing to look on, and notice the ways of
+mankind in spiritual matters. We hold in our hands that
+great statute Book of God, which declares that without
+repentance, and conversion, and faith in Christ, and holiness,
+no man living can be saved. In discharge of our
+office we urge on men to repent, believe, and be saved;
+but, alas, how frequently we have to lament that our
+labour seems all in vain. Men attend our churches, and
+listen, and approve, but do not "strive" to be saved. We
+show the sinfulness of sin; we unfold the loveliness of
+Christ; we expose the vanity of the world; we set forth
+the happiness of Christ's service; we offer the living water
+to the wearied and heavy laden sons of toil: but, alas,
+how often we seem to speak to the winds. Our words are
+patiently heard on Sundays; our arguments are not refuted:
+but we see plainly in the week that men are not
+"striving" to be saved. There comes the devil on Monday
+morning, and offers his countless snares; there comes the
+world, and holds out its seeming prizes: our hearers follow
+them greedily. They work hard for this world's goods;
+they toil at Satan's bidding: but for the one thing needful
+they will not "strive" at all.</p>
+
+<p>I am not writing from hear-say. I speak what I have
+seen. I write down the result of thirty-seven years' experience
+in the ministry. I have learned lessons about
+human nature during that period which I never knew
+before. I have seen how true are our Lord's words about<span class="pagenum">[Pg 35]</span>
+the narrow way. I have discovered how few there are
+that "strive" to be saved.</p>
+
+<p>Earnestness about temporal matters is common enough.
+Striving to be rich and prosperous in this world is not
+rare at all. Pains about money, and business, and politics,&mdash;pains
+about trade, and science, and fine arts, and amusements,&mdash;pains
+about rent, and wages, and labour, and land,&mdash;pains
+about such matters I see in abundance both in
+town and country. But I see few who take pains about
+their souls. I see few any where who "strive" to enter
+in at the strait gate.</p>
+
+<p>I am not surprised at all this. I read in the Bible that
+it is only what I am to expect. The parable of the great
+supper is an exact picture of things that I have seen with
+my own eyes ever since I became a minister. (Luke xiv. 16.)
+I find, as my Lord and Saviour tells me, that "men make
+excuse." One has his piece of land to see; another has his
+oxen to prove; a third has his family hindrances. But all
+this does not prevent my feeling deeply grieved for the
+souls of men. I grieve to think that they should have
+eternal life so close to them, and yet be lost because they
+will not "strive" to enter in and be saved.</p>
+
+<p>I know not in what state of soul many readers of this
+paper may be. But I warn you to take heed that you do
+not perish for ever for want of "striving." Do not suppose
+that it needs some great scarlet sin to bring you to the pit
+of destruction. You have only to sit still and do nothing,
+and you will find yourself there at last. Yes! Satan does
+not ask you to walk in the steps of Cain, and Pharaoh,
+and Ahab, and Belshazzar, and Judas Iscariot. There is
+another road to hell quite as sure,&mdash;the road of spiritual
+indolence, spiritual laziness, and spiritual sloth. Satan
+has no objection to your being a respectable member of
+the Christian Church. He will let you pay your tithes,
+and rates, and pew rents; he will allow you to sit comfortably
+in church every Sunday you live. He knows full<span class="pagenum">[Pg 36]</span>
+well, that so long as you do not "strive," you must come
+at last to the worm that never dies, and the fire that is
+not quenched. Take heed that you do not come to this
+end. I repeat it, <i>you have only to do nothing, and you
+will be lost</i>.</p>
+
+<p>If you have been taught to "strive" for your soul's prosperity,
+I entreat you never to suppose you can go too far.
+Never give way to the idea that you are taking too much
+trouble about your spiritual condition, and that there is
+no need for so much carefulness. Settle it rather in your
+mind that "in all labour there is profit," and that no
+labour is so profitable as that bestowed on the soul. It is
+a maxim among good farmers that the more they do for
+the land the more the land does for them. I am sure it
+should be a maxim among Christians that the more they
+do for their religion the more their religion will do for
+them. Watch against the slightest inclination to be
+careless about any means of grace. Beware of shortening
+your prayers, your Bible reading, your private communion
+with God. Take heed that you do not give way to a
+thoughtless, lazy manner of using the public services of
+God's house. Fight against any rising disposition to be
+sleepy, critical, and fault-finding, while you listen to the
+preaching of the Gospel. Whatever you do for God, do
+it with all your heart and mind and strength. In other
+things be moderate, and dread running into extremes. In
+soul matters fear moderation just as you would fear the
+plague. Care not what men think of you. Let it be
+enough for you that your Master says, "STRIVE."</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>III. The last thing I wish to consider in this paper is
+the <i>awful prophecy which the Lord Jesus delivers</i>. He
+says, "Many will seek to enter in, and shall not be able."</p>
+
+<p>When shall this be? At what period shall the gate of
+salvation be shut for ever? When shall "striving" to enter
+be of no use? These are serious questions. The gate is<span class="pagenum">[Pg 37]</span>
+now ready to open to the chief of sinners; but a day
+comes when it shall open no more.</p>
+
+<p>The time foretold by our Lord is the time of His own
+second coming to judge the world. The long-suffering of
+God will at last have an end. The throne of grace will at
+length be taken down, and the throne of judgment shall
+be set up in its place. The fountain of living waters shall
+at length be closed. The strait gate shall at last be barred
+and bolted. The day of grace will be passed and over.
+The day of reckoning with a sin-laden world shall at
+length begin. And then shall be brought to pass the
+solemn prophecy of the Lord Jesus,&mdash;"Many will seek to
+enter in, and shall not be able."</p>
+
+<p>All prophecies of Scripture that have been fulfilled
+hitherto, have been fulfilled to the very letter. They
+have seemed to many unlikely, improbable, impossible, up
+to the very time of their accomplishment; but not one
+word of them has ever failed.</p>
+
+<p>The promises of <i>good things</i> have come to pass, in spite of
+difficulties that seemed insuperable. Sarah had a son when
+she was past bearing; the children of Israel were brought
+out of Egypt and planted in the promised land; the Jews
+were redeemed from the captivity of Babylon, after seventy
+years, and enabled once more to build the temple; the
+Lord Jesus was born of a pure virgin, lived, ministered,
+was betrayed, and cut off, precisely as Scripture foretold.
+The Word of God was pledged in all these cases, that it
+should be. <i>And so it was.</i></p>
+
+<p>The predictions of <i>judgments</i> on cities and nations have
+come to pass, though at the time they were first spoken
+they seemed incredible. Egypt is the basest of kingdoms;
+Edom is a wilderness; Tyre is a rock for drying nets;
+Nineveh, that "exceeding great city," is laid waste, and
+become a desolation; Babylon is a dry land and a wilderness,&mdash;her
+broad walls are utterly broken down; the Jews
+are scattered over the whole earth as a separate people.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 38]</span>
+In all these cases the Word of God foretold that it should
+be so. <i>And so it was.</i></p>
+
+<p>The prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ which I press
+on your attention this day, shall be fulfilled in like manner.
+Not one word of it shall fail when the time of its accomplishment
+is due. "Many will seek to enter in, and shall
+not be able."</p>
+
+<p>There is a time coming when seeking God shall be
+useless. Oh, that men would remember that! Too many
+seem to fancy that the hour will never arrive when they
+shall seek and not find: but they are sadly mistaken.
+They will discover their mistake one day to their own
+confusion, except they repent. When Christ comes "many
+shall seek to enter in, and <i>not be able</i>."</p>
+
+<p>There is a time coming when many shall be shut out
+from heaven for ever. It shall not be the lot of a few, but
+of a great multitude; it shall not happen to one or two in
+this parish, and one or two in that: it shall be the miserable
+end of a vast crowd. "<i>Many</i> will seek to enter in, and
+shall not be able."</p>
+
+<p>Knowledge shall come to many too late. They shall
+see at last the value of an immortal soul, and the happiness
+of having it saved. They shall understand at last their
+own sinfulness and God's holiness, and the glorious fitness
+of the Gospel of Christ. They shall comprehend at last
+why ministers seemed so anxious, and preached so long,
+and entreated them so earnestly to be converted. But,
+alas, they shall know all this <i>too late</i>!</p>
+
+<p>Repentance shall come to many too late. They shall
+discover their own exceeding wickedness and be thoroughly
+ashamed of their past folly. They shall be full of bitter
+regret and unavailing lamentations, of keen convictions
+and of piercing sorrows. They shall weep, and wail, and
+mourn, when they reflect on their sins. The remembrance
+of their lives will be grievous to them; the burden of
+their guilt will seem intolerable. But, alas, like Judas<span class="pagenum">[Pg 39]</span>
+Iscariot, they will repent <i>too late</i>!</p>
+
+<p>Faith shall come to many too late. They will no longer
+be able to deny that there is a God, and a devil, a heaven,
+and a hell. Deism, and scepticism, and infidelity shall
+be laid aside for ever; scoffing, and jesting, and free-thinking
+shall cease. They will see with their own eyes,
+and feel in their own bodies, that the things of which
+ministers spoke were not cunningly devised fables, but
+great real truths. They will find out to their cost that
+evangelical religion was not cant, extravagance, fanaticism,
+and enthusiasm: they will discover that it was the one
+thing needful, and that for want of it they are lost for
+ever. Like the devil, they will at length believe and
+tremble, but <i>too late</i>!</p>
+
+<p>A desire of salvation shall come to many too late. They
+shall long after pardon, and peace, and the favour of God,
+when they can no more be had. They will wish they might
+have one more Sunday over again, have one more offer of
+forgiveness, have one more call to prayer. But it will
+matter nothing what they think, or feel, or desire then:
+the day of grace will be over; the gate of salvation will
+be bolted and barred. It will be <i>too late</i>!</p>
+
+<p>I often think what a change there will be one day in
+the price and estimation at which things are valued. I
+look round this world in which my lot is cast; I mark the
+current price of everything this world contains; I look
+forward to the coming of Christ, and the great day of God.
+I think of the new order of things, which that day will
+bring in; I read the words of the Lord Jesus, when He
+describes the master of the house rising up and shutting
+the door; and as I read, I say to myself, "There will be a
+great change soon."</p>
+
+<p>What are the <i>dear things</i> now? Gold, silver, precious
+stones, bank notes, mines, ships, lands, houses, horses,
+carriages, furniture, meat, drink, clothes, and the like.
+These are the things that are thought valuable; these are<span class="pagenum">[Pg 40]</span>
+the things that command a ready market; these are the
+things which you can never get below a certain price. He
+that has much of these things is counted a wealthy man.
+Such is the world!</p>
+
+<p>And what are the <i>cheap things</i> now? The knowledge
+of God, the free salvation of the Gospel, the favour of
+Christ, the grace of the Holy Ghost, the privilege of being
+God's son, the title to eternal life, the right to the tree of
+life, the reversion of a mansion in heaven, the promises of
+an incorruptible inheritance, the offer of a crown of glory
+that fadeth not away. These are the things that no man
+hardly cares for. They are offered to the sons of men
+without money and without price: they may be had for
+nothing,&mdash;freely and gratuitously. Whosoever will may
+take his portion. But, alas, there is no demand for these
+things! They go a begging. They are scarcely looked at.
+They are offered in vain. Such is the world!</p>
+
+<p>But a day is coming upon us all when the value of
+everything shall be altered. A day is coming when bank-notes
+shall be as useless as rags, and gold shall be as
+worthless as the dust of the earth. A day is coming when
+thousands shall care nothing for the things for which they
+once lived, and shall desire nothing so much as the things
+which they once despised. The halls and palaces will be
+forgotten in the desire of a "house not made with hands."
+The favour of the rich and great will be no more
+remembered, in the longing for the favour of the King of
+kings. The silks, and satins, and velvets, and laces, will
+be lost sight of in the anxious want of the robe of Christ's
+righteousness. All shall be altered, all shall be changed
+in the great day of the Lord's return. "Many will seek
+to enter in, and shall not be able."</p>
+
+<p>It was a weighty saying of some wise man, that "hell
+is truth known too late." I fear that thousands of
+professing Christians in this day will find this out by
+experience. They will discover the value of their souls<span class="pagenum">[Pg 41]</span>
+when it is too late to obtain mercy, and see the beauty of
+the Gospel when they can derive no benefit from it. Oh,
+that men would be wise betimes! I often think there are
+few passages of Scripture more awful than that in the
+first chapter of Proverbs,&mdash;"Because I have called, and ye
+refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man
+regarded; but ye have set at nought all my counsel, and
+would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your
+calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; when your
+fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as
+a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
+Then shall they call upon Me, but I will not answer; they
+shall seek Me early, but they shall not find Me: for that
+they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the
+Lord: they would none of my counsel; they despised all
+my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their
+own way, and be filled with their own devices." (Prov. i.
+24-31.)</p>
+
+<p>Some reader of this paper may be one of those who
+neither like the faith nor practice which the Gospel
+of Christ requires. You think us extreme when we
+beseech you to repent and be converted. You think we
+ask too much when we urge you to come out from the
+world, and take up the cross, and follow Christ. But take
+notice that you will one day confess <i>that we were right</i>.
+Sooner or later, in this world or the next, you will acknowledge
+that you were wrong. Yes! it is a melancholy
+consideration for the faithful minister of the Gospel, that
+all who hear him will one day allow that his counsel was
+good. Mocked, despised, scorned, neglected as his testimony
+may be on earth, a day is coming which shall prove
+effectually that truth was on his side. The rich man who
+hears us and yet makes a god of this world,&mdash;the tradesman
+who hears us and yet makes his ledger his Bible,&mdash;the
+farmer who hears us and yet remains cold as the clay
+on his land,&mdash;the labourer who hears us and feels no more<span class="pagenum">[Pg 42]</span>
+for his soul than a stone,&mdash;all, all will at length acknowledge
+before the world that they were wrong. All will at
+length desire earnestly that very mercy which we now set
+before them in vain. "They will seek to enter in, and
+shall not be able."</p>
+
+<p>Some reader of this paper may be one of those who love
+the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Such an one may well
+take comfort when he looks forward. You often suffer persecution
+now for your religion's sake. You have to bear
+hard words and unkind insinuations. Your motives are
+often misrepresented, and your conduct slandered. The
+reproach of the cross has not ceased. But you may well
+take courage when you look forward and think of the
+Lord's second coming. That day shall make amends for
+all. You will see those who now laugh at you because
+you read the Bible, and pray, and love Christ, in a very
+different state of mind. They will come to you as the
+foolish virgins came to the wise, saying, "Give us of your
+oil, because our lamps are gone out." (Matt. xxv. 8.) You
+will see those who now hate you and call you fools because,
+like Caleb and Joshua, you bring up a good report of Christ's
+service, altered, changed, and no longer like the same men.
+They will say, "Oh, that we had taken part with you! You
+have been the truly wise, and we the foolish." Then fear
+not the reproach of men. Confess Christ boldly before
+the world. Show your colours, and be not ashamed of
+your Master. Time is short: eternity hastens on. The
+cross is only for a little season: the crown is for ever.
+Make sure work about that crown: leave nothing uncertain.
+"Many will seek to enter in, and shall not be able."</p>
+
+<br>
+<p>And now let me offer to every one who reads this paper
+a few parting words, in order to apply the whole subject to
+his soul. You have heard the words of the Lord Jesus unfolded
+and expounded. You have seen the picture of the
+way of salvation: it is a strait gate.&mdash;You have heard the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 43]</span>
+command of the King: "Strive to enter in."&mdash;You have
+been told of His solemn warning: "Many shall seek to
+enter in, and shall not be able."&mdash;Bear with me a little
+longer while I try to impress the whole matter on your
+conscience. I have yet something to say on God's behalf.</p>
+
+<p>(1) For one thing, I will ask you a plain question.
+<i>Have you entered in at the strait gate or not?</i> Old or
+young, rich or poor, churchman or dissenter, I repeat my
+question, Have you entered in at the strait gate?</p>
+
+<p>I ask not whether you have heard of it, and believe
+there is a gate. I ask not whether you have looked at it,
+and admired it, and hope one day to go in. I ask whether
+you have gone up to it, knocked at it, been admitted, and
+<i>are now inside</i>?</p>
+
+<p>If you are not inside, what good have you got from your
+religion? You are not pardoned and forgiven. You are
+not reconciled to God. You are not born again, sanctified,
+and meet for heaven. If you die as you are, the devil
+will have you for ever, and your soul will be eternally
+miserable.</p>
+
+<p>Oh, think, think what a state this is to live in! Think,
+think above all things, what a state this is to die in!
+Your life is but a vapour. A few more years at most and
+you are gone: your place in the world will soon be filled
+up; your house will be occupied by another. The sun
+will go on shining; the grass and daises will soon grow
+thick over your grave; your body will be food for worms,
+and your soul will be lost to all eternity.</p>
+
+<p>And all this time there stands open before you a gate of
+salvation. God invites you. Jesus Christ offers to save
+you. All things are ready for your deliverance. One
+thing only is wanting, and that is that you should be
+willing to be saved.</p>
+
+<p>Oh think of these things, and be wise!</p>
+
+<p>(2) For another thing, I will give plain advice to all
+who are not yet inside the strait gate. That advice is<span class="pagenum">[Pg 44]</span>
+simply this: <i>to enter in without a day's delay</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Tell me, if you can, of any one who ever reached heaven
+excepting through "the strait gate." I know of none. From
+Abel, the first who died, down to the end of the list of
+Bible names, I see none saved by any way but that of
+faith in Christ.</p>
+
+<p>Tell me, if you can, of any one who ever entered in at
+the strait gate without "striving." I know of none excepting
+those who die in infancy. He that would win heaven
+must be content to fight for it.</p>
+
+<p>Tell me, if you can, of any one who ever strove earnestly
+to enter, and failed to succeed. I know of none. I believe
+that however weak and ignorant men may be, they never
+seek life heartily and conscientiously, at the right door,
+and are left without an answer of peace.</p>
+
+<p>Tell me, if you can, of any one who ever entered in at
+the strait gate, and was afterwards sorry. I know of none.
+I believe the footsteps on the threshold of that gate are
+all one way. All have found it a good thing to serve
+Christ, and have never regretted taking up His cross.</p>
+
+<p>If these things are so, seek Christ without delay, and
+enter in at the gate of life while you can! Make a
+beginning this very day. Go to that merciful and mighty
+Saviour in prayer, and pour out your heart before Him.
+Confess to Him your guilt and wickedness and sin.
+Unbosom yourself freely to Him: keep nothing back.
+Tell Him that you cast yourself and all your soul's affairs
+wholly on His hands, and ask Him to save you according
+to His promise, and put His Holy Spirit within you.</p>
+
+<p>There is everything <i>to encourage you to do this</i>.
+Thousands as bad as you have applied to Christ in this
+way, and not one of them has been sent away and refused.
+They have found a peace of conscience they never knew
+before, and have gone on their way rejoicing. They have
+found strength for all the trials of life, and none of them
+have been allowed to perish in the wilderness. Why<span class="pagenum">[Pg 45]</span>
+should not you also seek Christ?</p>
+
+<p>There is everything to encourage you to do what I tell
+you <i>at once</i>. I know no reason why your repentance and
+conversion should not be as immediate as that of others
+before you. The Samaritan woman came to the well an
+ignorant sinner, and returned to her home a new creature.
+The Philippian jailor turned from darkness to light, and
+became a professed disciple of Christ in a single day.
+And why should not others do the same? Why should
+not you give up your sins, and lay hold on Christ this
+very day?</p>
+
+<p>I know that the advice I have given you is good. The
+grand question is, Will you take it?</p>
+
+<p>(3) The last thing I have to say shall be a request to
+all who have really entered in at the strait gate. That
+request is, that you will <i>tell others</i> of the blessings which
+you have found.</p>
+
+<p>I want all converted people to be missionaries. I do
+not want them all to go out to foreign lands, and preach
+to the heathen; but I do want all to be of a missionary
+spirit, and to strive to do good at home. I want them to
+testify to all around them that the strait gate is the way
+to happiness, and to persuade them to enter in by it.</p>
+
+<p>When Andrew was converted he found his brother
+Peter, and said to him, "We have found the Messias,
+which is, being interpreted, the Christ. And he brought
+him to Jesus." (John i. 41, 42.) When Philip was
+converted he found Nathaniel, and said to him, "We have
+found Him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets
+did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And
+Nathaniel said unto him, Can there any good thing come
+out of Nazareth? Philip said unto him, Come and see."
+(John i. 45, 46.) When the Samaritan woman was
+converted, she "left her waterpot, and went into the city,
+and said to the men, Come, see a man which told me all
+things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?" (John<span class="pagenum">[Pg 46]</span>
+iv. 28, 29.) When Saul the Pharisee was converted,
+"Straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that
+He is the son of God." (Acts ix. 20.)</p>
+
+<p>I long to see this kind of spirit among Christians in the
+present day. I long to see more zeal to commend the
+strait gate to all who are yet outside, and more desire to
+persuade them to enter in and be saved. Happy indeed
+is that Church whose members not only desire to reach
+heaven themselves, but desire also to take others with
+them!</p>
+
+<p>The great gate of salvation is yet ready to open, but
+the hour draws near when it will be closed for ever.
+Let us work while it is called to-day, for "the night cometh
+when no man can work." (John ix. 4.) Let us tell our
+relatives and friends, that we have proved the way of life
+and found it pleasant, that we have tasted the bread of
+life and found it good.</p>
+
+<p>I have heard it calculated that if every believer in the
+world were to bring one soul to Christ each year, the
+whole human race would be converted in less than twenty
+years. I make no comment on such a calculation.
+Whether such a thing might be or not, one thing is sure:
+that thing is, that many more <i>souls might probably be
+converted to God, if Christians were more zealous to do
+good</i>.</p>
+
+<p>This, at least, we may remember, that God is "not
+willing that any should perish, but that all should come to
+repentance." (2 Pet. iii. 9.) He that endeavours to show
+his neighbour the strait gate is doing a work which God
+approves. He is doing a work which angels regard with
+interest, and with which the building of a pyramid will
+not compare in importance. What saith the Scripture?
+"He which converteth a sinner from the error of his way,
+shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude
+of sins." (James v. 20.)</p>
+
+<p>Let us all awaken to a deeper sense of our responsibility<span class="pagenum">[Pg 47]</span>
+in this matter. Let us look round the circle of
+those among whom we live, and consider their state before
+God. Are there not many of them yet outside the gate,
+unforgiven, unsanctified, and unfit to die? Let us watch
+for opportunities of speaking to them. Let us tell them
+of the strait gate, and entreat them to "strive to enter in."</p>
+
+<p>Who can tell what "a word spoken in due season" may
+do? Who can tell what it may do when spoken in faith
+and prayer? It may be the turning-point in some man's
+history. It may be the beginning of thought, prayer, and
+eternal life. Oh, for more love and boldness among
+believers! Think what a blessing to be allowed to speak
+one converting word!</p>
+
+<p>I know not what the feelings of my readers may be on
+this subject. My heart's desire and prayer is that you
+may daily remember Christ's solemn words,&mdash;"Many will
+seek to enter in, and shall not be able." Keep these
+words in mind, and then be careless about the souls of
+others, if you can.</p>
+<br>
+
+
+
+<h2><a name="III" id="III"></a>III</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 48]</span>
+
+<h2>REALITY</h2>
+
+<blockquote><p>"<i>Reprobate silver.</i>"&mdash;<span class="smcap">Jer.</span> vi. 30.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Nothing but leaves.</i>"&mdash;<span class="smcap">Mark</span> xi. 13.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth.</i>"&mdash;1
+<span class="smcap">John</span> iii. 18.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.</i>"&mdash;<span class="smcap">Rev.</span> iii. 1.</p></blockquote>
+
+
+<p>If we profess to have any religion at all, let us take care
+that it is real. I say it emphatically, and I repeat the
+saying: Let us mind that our religion is real.</p>
+
+<p>What do I mean when I use the word "real." I mean
+that which is genuine, and sincere, and honest, and
+thorough. I mean that which is not base, and hollow,
+and formal, and false, and counterfeit, and sham, and
+nominal. "Real" religion is not mere show, and pretence,
+and skin-deep feeling, and temporary profession, and outside
+work. It is something inward, solid, substantial,
+intrinsic, living, lasting. We know the difference between
+base coin and good money,&mdash;between solid gold and tinsel,&mdash;between
+plated metal and silver,&mdash;between real stone
+and plaster imitation. Let us think of these things as we
+consider the subject of this paper. What is the character
+of our religion? Is it real? It may be weak, and
+feeble, and mingled with many infirmities. That is not
+the point before us to-day. Is our religion real? Is it
+true?</p>
+
+<p>The times in which we live demand attention to this
+subject. A want of reality is a striking feature of a vast<span class="pagenum">[Pg 49]</span>
+amount of religion in the present day. Poets have sometimes
+told us that the world has passed through four
+different states or conditions. We have had a golden age,
+and a silver age, a brazen age, and an iron age. How far
+this is true, I do not stop to inquire. But I fear there is
+little doubt as to the character of the age in which we
+live. It is universally an age of base metal and alloy.
+If we measure the religion of the age by its apparent
+quantity, there is much of it. But if we measure it by
+its quality, there is very little indeed. On every side we
+want MORE REALITY.</p>
+
+<p>I ask attention, while I try to bring home to men's
+consciences the question of this paper. There are two
+things which I propose to do:&mdash;</p>
+
+
+<blockquote><p>I. In the first place, I will show the <i>importance of
+reality in religion</i>.</p>
+
+<p>II. In the second place, I will supply <i>some tests by
+which we may prove whether our own religion is real.</i></p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Has any reader of this paper the least desire to go to
+heaven when he dies? Do you wish to have a religion
+which will comfort you in life, give you good hope in
+death, and abide the judgment of God at the last day?
+Then, do not turn away from the subject before you. Sit
+down, and consider calmly, whether your Christianity is
+real and true, or base and hollow.</p>
+
+<br>
+<p>I. I have to show <i>the importance of reality in religion.</i></p>
+
+<p>The point is one which, at first sight, may seem to
+require very few remarks to establish it. All men, I shall
+be told, are fully convinced of the importance of reality.</p>
+
+<p>But is this true? Can it be said indeed that reality is
+rightly esteemed among Christians? I deny it entirely.
+The greater part of people who profess to admire reality,
+seem to think that every one possesses it!&mdash;They tell us
+"that all have got good hearts at bottom,"&mdash;that all are<span class="pagenum">[Pg 50]</span>
+sincere and true in the main, though they may make mistakes.
+They call us uncharitable, and harsh, and censorious,
+if we doubt anybody's goodness of heart. In
+short, they destroy the value of reality, by regarding it as
+a thing which almost every one has.</p>
+
+<p>This wide-spread delusion is precisely one of the causes
+why I take up this subject. I want men to understand
+that <i>reality</i> is a far more rare and uncommon thing than
+is commonly supposed. I want men to see that <i>unreality</i>
+is one of the great dangers of which Christians ought to
+beware.</p>
+
+<p>What saith the Scripture? This is the only judge that
+can try the subject. Let us turn to our Bibles, and examine
+them fairly, and then deny, if we can, the importance
+of reality in religion, and the danger of not being real.</p>
+
+<p>(1) Let us look then, for one thing, at the parables spoken
+by our Lord Jesus Christ. Observe how many of them are
+intended to put in strong contrast the true believer and
+the mere nominal disciple. The parables of the sower, of
+the wheat and tares, of the draw-net, of the two sons, of
+the wedding garment, of the ten virgins, of the talents, of
+the great supper, of the pounds, of the two builders, have
+all one great point in common. They all bring out in
+striking colours the difference between reality and unreality
+in religion. They all show the uselessness and
+danger of any Christianity which is not real, thorough,
+and true.</p>
+
+<p>(2) Let us look, for another thing, at the language of our
+Lord Jesus Christ about the scribes and the Pharisees.
+Eight times over in one chapter we find Him denouncing
+them as "hypocrites," in words of almost fearful severity.&mdash;"Ye
+serpents, ye generation of vipers," He says, "How can ye
+escape the damnation of hell?" (Matt. xxiii. 33.) What
+may we learn from these tremendously strong expressions?
+How is it that our gracious and merciful Saviour used
+such cutting words about people who at any rate were<span class="pagenum">[Pg 51]</span>
+more moral and decent than the publicans and harlots?
+It is meant to teach us the exceeding abominableness of
+false profession and mere outward religion in God's sight.
+Open profligacy and wilful obedience to fleshly lusts are
+no doubt ruinous sins, if not given up. But there seems
+nothing which is so displeasing to Christ as hypocrisy and
+unreality.</p>
+
+<p>(3) Let us look, for another thing, at the startling fact,
+that there is hardly a grace in the character of a true
+Christian of which you will not find a counterfeit described
+in the Word of God. There is not a feature in a believer's
+countenance of which there is not an imitation. Give me
+your attention, and I will show you this in a few particulars.</p>
+
+<p>Is there not an unreal <i>repentance</i>? Beyond doubt there
+is. Saul and Ahab, and Herod, and Judas Iscariot had
+many feelings of sorrow about sin. But they never really
+repented unto salvation.</p>
+
+<p>Is there not an unreal <i>faith</i>? Beyond doubt there is.
+It is written of Simon Magus, at Samaria, that he
+"believed," and yet his heart was not right in the sight of
+God. It is even written of the devils that they "believe
+and tremble." (Acts viii. 13; James ii. 19.)</p>
+
+<p>Is there not an unreal <i>holiness</i>? Beyond doubt there
+is. Joash, king of Judah, became to all appearance very
+holy and good, so long as Jehoiada the priest lived. But
+as soon as he died the religion of Joash died at the same
+time. (2 Chron. xxiv. 2.)&mdash;Judas Iscariot's outward life
+was as correct as that of any of the apostles up to the
+time that he betrayed his Master. There was nothing
+suspicious about him. Yet in reality he was "a thief" and
+a traitor. (John xii. 6.)</p>
+
+<p>Is there not an unreal <i>love and charity</i>? Beyond
+doubt there is. There is a love which consists in words
+and tender expressions, and a great show of affection, and
+calling other people "dear brethren," while the heart does
+not love at all. It is not for nothing that St. John says,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 52]</span>
+"Let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed
+and in truth." It was not without cause that St. Paul
+said: "Let love be without dissimulation." (1 John iii.
+18; Rom. xii. 19.)</p>
+
+<p>Is there not an unreal <i>humility</i>? Beyond doubt there
+is. There is a pretended lowliness of demeanour, which
+often covers over a very proud heart. St. Paul warns us
+against a "voluntary humility," and speaks of "things
+which had a show of wisdom in will-worship and
+humility." (Col. ii. 18, 23.)</p>
+
+<p>Is there not unreal <i>praying</i>? Beyond doubt there is.
+Our Lord denounces it as one of the special sins of the
+Pharisees&mdash;that for a "pretence they made long prayers."
+(Matt. xxiii. 14.) He does not charge them with not
+praying, or with praying too shortly. Their sin lay in
+this, that their prayers were not real.</p>
+
+<p>Is there not unreal <i>worship</i>? Beyond doubt there is.
+Our Lord says of the Jews: "This people draw nigh to
+Me with their mouths, and honour Me with their lips, but
+their heart is far from Me." (Matt. xv. 8.) They had
+plenty of formal services in their temples and their
+synagogues. But the fatal defect about them was want of
+reality and want of heart.</p>
+
+<p>Is there not unreal <i>talking</i> about religion? Beyond
+doubt there is. Ezekiel describes some professing Jews
+who talked and spoke like God's people "while their
+hearts went after their covetousness." (Ezek. xxxiii. 31.)
+St. Paul tells us that we may "speak with the tongue of
+men and angels," and yet be no better than sounding brass
+and a tinkling cymbal. (1 Cor. xiii. 1.)</p>
+
+<p>What shall we say to these things? To say the least
+they ought to set us thinking. To my own mind they
+seem to lead to only one conclusion. They show clearly
+the immense importance which Scripture attaches to
+reality in religion. They show clearly what need we have
+to take heed lest our Christianity turn out to be merely<span class="pagenum">[Pg 53]</span>
+nominal, formal, unreal, and base.</p>
+
+<p>The subject is of deep importance in every age. There
+has never been a time, since the Church of Christ was
+founded, when there has not been a vast amount of
+unreality and mere nominal religion among professing
+Christians. I am sure it is the case in the present day.
+Wherever I turn my eyes I see abundant cause for the
+warning,&mdash;"Beware of base metal in religion. Be genuine.
+Be thorough. Be real. Be true."</p>
+
+<p>How much religion among some members of the Church
+of England consists of <i>nothing but churchmanship</i>!
+They belong to the Established Church. They are
+baptized at her fonts, married at her communion rails,
+buried in her churchyards, preached to on Sundays by her
+ministers. But the great doctrines laid down in her
+Articles and Liturgy have no place in their hearts, and no
+influence on their lives. They neither think, nor feel, nor
+care, nor know anything about them. And is the religion
+of these people real Christianity? It is nothing of the
+kind. It is mere base metal. It is not the Christianity
+of Peter, and James, and John, and Paul. It is
+<i>Churchianity</i>, and no more.</p>
+
+<p>How much religion among some Dissenters from the
+Church of England consists of <i>nothing but dissent</i>!
+They pride themselves on having nothing to do with the
+Establishment. They rejoice in having no liturgy, no
+forms, no bishops. They glory in the exercise of their
+private judgment, and the absence of everything like
+ceremonial in their public worship. But all this time
+they have neither grace, nor faith, nor repentance, nor
+holiness, nor spirituality of conduct or conversation. The
+experimental and practical piety of the old Nonconformists
+is a thing of which they are utterly destitute. Their
+Christianity is as sapless and fruitless as a dead tree, and
+as dry and marrowless as an old bone. And is the
+Christianity of these people real? It is nothing of the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 54]</span>
+kind. It is base metal. It is not the Christianity of
+Owen, and Manton, and Goodwin, and Baxter, and Traill.
+It is <i>Dissentianity</i>, and nothing more.</p>
+
+<p>How much Ritualistic religion is utterly unreal! You
+will sometimes see men boiling over with zeal about
+vestments, and gestures, and postures, and church decorations,
+and daily services, and frequent communions, while
+their hearts are manifestly in the world. Of the inward
+work of the Holy Ghost,&mdash;of living faith in the Lord
+Jesus,&mdash;of delight in the Bible and religious conversation,&mdash;of
+separation from worldly follies and amusements,&mdash;of
+zeal for the conversion of souls to God,&mdash;of all these things
+they are profoundly ignorant. And is such Christianity
+as this real? It is nothing of the kind. It is a mere
+name.</p>
+
+<p>How much Evangelical religion is completely unreal?
+You will sometimes see men professing great affection for
+the pure "Gospel," while they are practically inflicting on
+it the greatest injury. They will talk loudly of soundness
+in the faith, and have a keen nose for heresy. They will
+run eagerly after popular preachers, and applaud Protestant
+speakers at public meetings to the very echo. They are
+familiar with all the phrases of evangelical religion, and
+can converse fluently about its leading doctrines. To see
+their faces at public meetings, or in church, you would
+think them eminently godly. To hear them talk you
+would suppose their lives were bound up in religious
+Societies, the "Record" or "Rock" newspapers, and
+Exeter Hall. And yet these people in private will
+sometimes do things of which even some heathens would
+be ashamed. They are neither truthful, nor straightforward,
+nor honest, nor manly, nor just, nor good-tempered, nor
+unselfish, nor merciful, nor humble, nor kind! And is
+such Christianity as this real? It is not. It is a miserable
+imposture, a base cheat and caricature.</p>
+
+<p>How much Revivalist religion in the present day is<span class="pagenum">[Pg 55]</span>
+utterly unreal! You will find a crowd of false professors
+bringing discredit on the work of God wherever the Holy
+Spirit is poured out. You will see a mixed multitude of
+Egyptians accompanying the Israel of God, and doing it
+harm, whenever Israel goes out of Egypt. How many
+now-a-days will profess to be suddenly convinced of sin,&mdash;to
+find peace in Jesus,&mdash;to be overwhelmed with joys and
+ecstacies of soul,&mdash;while in reality they have no grace at
+all. Like the stony-ground hearers, they endure but for a
+season. "In the time of temptation they fall away."
+(Luke viii. 13) As soon as the first excitement is passed
+off, they return to their old ways, and resume their former
+sins. Their religion is like Jonah's gourd, which came up
+in a night and perished in a night. They have neither
+root nor vitality. They only injure God's cause and give
+occasion to God's enemies to blaspheme. And is Christianity
+like this real? It is nothing of the kind. It is
+base metal from the devil's mint, <b>and</b> is worthless in
+God's sight.</p>
+
+<p>I write these things with sorrow. I have no desire to
+bring any section of the Church of Christ into contempt.
+I have no wish to cast any slur on any movement which
+begins with the Spirit of God. But the times demand
+very plain speaking about some points in the prevailing
+Christianity of our day. And one point, I am quite
+persuaded, that demands attention, is the abounding want
+of reality which is to be seen on every side.</p>
+
+<p>No reader, at any rate, can well deny that the subject
+of the paper before him is of vast importance.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>II. I pass on now to the second thing which I propose
+to do. <i>I will supply some tests by which we may try the
+reality of our religion.</i></p>
+
+<p>In approaching this part of my subject, I ask every
+reader of this paper to deal fairly, honestly, and reasonably
+with his soul. Dismiss from your mind the common idea,&mdash;that<span class="pagenum">[Pg 56]</span>
+of course all is right if you go to church or to
+chapel. Cast away such vain notions for ever. You must
+look further, higher, deeper than this, if you would find
+out the truth. Listen to me, and I will give you a few
+hints. Believe me, it is no light matter. It is your life.</p>
+
+<p>(1) For one thing, if you would know whether your
+religion is real, try it by <i>the place which it occupies</i> in
+your inner man. It is not enough that it is in your <i>head</i>.
+You may know the truth, and assent to the truth, and
+believe the truth, and yet be wrong in God's sight.&mdash;It is
+not enough that it is on your <i>lips</i>. You may repeat the
+creed daily. You may say "Amen" to public prayer in
+church, and yet have nothing more than an outward
+religion.&mdash;It is not enough that it is in your <i>feelings</i>.
+You may weep under preaching one day, and be lifted to
+the third heaven by joyous excitement another day, and
+yet be dead to God.&mdash;Your religion, if it is real, and given
+by the Holy Ghost, must be in your <i>heart</i>. It must
+occupy the citadel. It must hold the reins. It must
+sway the affections. It must lead the will. It must
+direct the tastes. It must influence the choices and decisions.
+It must fill the deepest, lowest, inmost seat in
+your soul. Is this your religion? If not, you may well
+doubt whether it is "<i>real</i>" and true. (Acts viii. 21; Rom.
+x. 10.)</p>
+
+<p>(2) In the next place, if you would know whether your
+religion is real, try it by the <i>feelings towards sin</i> which
+it produces. The Christianity which is from the Holy
+Ghost will always have a very deep view of the sinfulness
+of sin. It will not merely regard sin as a blemish and
+misfortune, which makes men and women objects of pity
+and compassion. It will see in sin the abominable thing
+which God hates, the thing which makes man guilty and
+lost in his Maker's sight, the thing which deserves God's
+wrath and condemnation. It will look on sin as the cause
+of all sorrow and unhappiness, of strife and wars, of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 57]</span>
+quarrels and contentions, of sickness and death,&mdash;the
+blight which has blighted God's fair creation, the cursed
+thing which makes the whole earth groan and travail in
+pain. Above all, it will see in sin the thing which will
+ruin us eternally, except we can find a ransom,&mdash;lead us
+captive, except we can get its chains broken,&mdash;and
+destroy our happiness, both here and hereafter, except we
+fight against it, even unto death. Is this your religion?
+Are these your feelings about sin? If not, you may well
+doubt whether your religion is "<i>real</i>."</p>
+
+<p>(3) For another thing, if you would know whether your
+religion is real, try it by the <i>feelings toward Christ</i> which
+it produces. Nominal religion may believe that such a
+person as Christ existed, and was a great benefactor to
+mankind. It may show Him some external respect, attend
+His outward ordinances, and bow the head at His name.
+But it will go no further. Real religion will make a man
+glory in Christ, as the Redeemer, the Deliverer, the Priest,
+the Friend, without whom he would have no hope at all.
+It will produce confidence in Him, love towards Him,
+delight in Him, comfort in Him, as the mediator, the food,
+the light, the life, the peace of the soul. Is this your
+religion? Do you know anything of feelings like these
+toward Jesus Christ? If not, you may well doubt
+whether your religion is "<i>real</i>."</p>
+
+<p>(4) For another thing, if you would know whether your
+religion is real, try it by <i>the fruit it bears in your heart
+and life</i>. The Christianity which is from above will
+always be known by its fruits. It will produce in the man
+who has it repentance, faith, hope, charity, humility,
+spirituality, kind temper, self-denial, unselfishness, forgivingness,
+temperance, truthfulness, brotherly-kindness,
+patience, forbearance. The degree in which these various
+graces appear may vary in different believers. The germ
+and seeds of them will be found in all who are the
+children of God. By their fruits they may be known. Is<span class="pagenum">[Pg 58]</span>
+this your religion? If not, you may well doubt whether
+it is "<i>real</i>."</p>
+
+<p>(5) In the last place, if you would know whether your
+religion is real, try it by your <i>feelings and habits about
+means of grace</i>. Prove it by the Sunday. Is that day
+a season of weariness and constraint, or a delight and a
+refreshment, and a sweet foretaste of the rest to come in
+heaven?&mdash;Prove it by the public means of grace. What
+are your feelings about public prayer and public praise,
+about the public preaching of God's Word, and the
+administration of the Lord's Supper? Are they things to
+which you give a cold assent, and tolerate them as proper
+and correct? Or, are they things in which you take
+pleasure, and without which you could not live happy?&mdash;Prove
+it, finally, by your feelings about private means of
+grace. Do you find it essential to your comfort to read
+the Bible regularly in private, and to speak to God in
+prayer? Or, do you find these practices irksome, and
+either slur them over, or neglect them altogether? These
+questions deserve your attention. If means of grace,
+whether public or private, are not as necessary to your
+soul as meat and drink are to your body, you may well
+doubt whether your religion is "<i>real</i>."</p>
+
+<p>I press on the attention of all my readers the five
+points which I have just named. There is nothing like
+coming to particulars about these matters. If you would
+know whether your religion is "real," genuine, and true,
+measure it by the five particulars which I have now
+named. Measure it fairly: test it honestly. If your
+heart is right in the sight of God, you have no cause to
+flinch from examination. If it is wrong, the sooner you
+find it out the better.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>And now I have done what I proposed to do. I have
+shown from Scripture the unspeakable importance of
+reality in religion, and the danger in which many stand of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 59]</span>
+being lost for ever, for want of it. I have given five plain
+tests, by which a man may find out whether his Christianity
+is real. I will conclude all by a direct application of the
+whole subject to the souls of all who read this paper. I
+will draw my bow at a venture, and trust that God will
+bring an arrow home to the hearts and consciences of
+many.</p>
+
+<p>(1) My first word of application shall be <i>an inquiry</i>.
+Is your own religion real or unreal? genuine or base? I
+do not ask what you think about others. Perhaps you
+may see many hypocrites around you. You may be able
+to point to many who have no "reality" at all. This is not
+the question. You may be right in your opinion about
+others. But I want to know about yourself. Is your own
+Christianity real and true? or nominal and base?</p>
+
+<p>If you love life, do not turn away from the question
+which is now before you. The time must come when the
+whole truth will be known. The judgment day will reveal
+every man's religion, of what sort it is. The parable of
+the wedding-garment will receive an awful fulfilment.
+Surely it is a thousand times better to find out <i>now</i> your
+condition, and to repent, than to find it out too late in the
+next world, when there will be no space for repentance.
+If you have common prudence, sense, and judgment, consider
+what I say. Sit down quietly this day, and examine
+yourself. Find out the real character of your religion.
+With the Bible in your hand, and honesty in your heart,
+the thing may be known. Then resolve to find out.</p>
+
+<p>(2) My second word of application shall be a <i>warning</i>.
+I address it to all who know, in their own consciences, that
+their religion is not real. I ask them to remember the
+greatness of their danger, and their exceeding guilt in the
+sight of God.</p>
+
+<p>An unreal Christianity is specially offensive to that
+Great God with whom we have to do. He is continually
+spoken of in Scripture as the God of Truth. Truth is<span class="pagenum">[Pg 60]</span>
+peculiarly one of His attributes. Can you doubt for a
+moment that He abhors everything that is not genuine
+and true? Better, I firmly believe, to be found an ignorant
+heathen at the last day, than to be found with nothing
+better than a nominal religion. If your religion is of this
+sort, beware!</p>
+
+<p>An unreal Christianity is sure to fail a man at last. It
+will wear out; it will break down; it will leave its possessor
+like a wreck on a sandbank, high and dry and
+forsaken by the tide; it will supply no comfort in the hour
+when comfort is most needed,&mdash;in the time of affliction,
+and on the bed of death. If you want a religion to be of
+any use to your soul, beware of unreality! If you would
+not be comfortless in death, and hopeless in the judgment
+day, be genuine, be real, be true.</p>
+
+<p>(3) My third word of application shall be <i>advice</i>. I
+offer it to all who feel pricked in conscience by the subject
+of this paper. I advise them to cease from all trifling
+and playing with religion, and to become honest, thorough-going,
+whole-hearted followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.</p>
+
+<p>Apply without delay to the Lord Jesus, and ask Him to
+become your Saviour, your Physician, your Priest, and
+your Friend. Let not the thought of your unworthiness
+keep you away: let not the recollection of your sins
+prevent your application. Never, never forget that Christ
+can cleanse you from any quantity of sins, if you only
+commit your soul to Him. But one thing He does ask of
+those who come to Him: He asks them to be real, honest,
+and true.</p>
+
+<p>Let reality be one great mark of your approach to
+Christ, and there is everything to give you hope. Your
+repentance may be feeble, but let it be real; your faith
+may be weak, but let it be real; your desires after holiness
+may be mingled with much infirmity, but let them be
+real. Let there be nothing of reserve, of double-dealing, of
+part-acting of dishonesty, of sham, of counterfeit, in your<span class="pagenum">[Pg 61]</span>
+Christianity. Never be content to wear a cloak of religion.
+Be all that you profess. Though you may err, be real.
+Though you may stumble, be true. Keep this principle
+continually before your eyes, and it will be well with your
+soul throughout your journey from grace to glory.</p>
+
+<p>(4) My last word of application shall be <i>encouragement</i>.
+I address it to all who have manfully taken up the cross,
+and are honestly following Christ. I exhort them to persevere,
+and not to be moved by difficulties and opposition.</p>
+
+<p>You may often find few with you, and many against
+you. You may often hear hard things said of you. You
+may often be told that you go too far, and that you are
+extreme. Heed it not. Turn a deaf ear to remarks of
+this kind. Press on.</p>
+
+<p>If there is anything which a man ought to do thoroughly,
+really, truly, honestly, and with all his heart, it is the
+business of his soul. If there is any work which he ought
+never to slur over, and do in a slovenly fashion, it is the
+great work of "working out his own salvation." (Phil. ii.
+12.) Believer in Christ, remember this! Whatever you
+do in religion, do it well. Be real. Be thorough. Be
+honest. Be true.</p>
+
+<p>If there is anything in the world of which a man need
+not be ashamed, it is the service of Jesus Christ. Of sin,
+of worldliness, of levity, of trifling, of time-wasting, of
+pleasure-seeking, of bad temper, of pride, of making an
+idol of money, dress, dancing, hunting, shooting, card-playing,
+novel-reading, and the like,&mdash;of all this a man
+may well be ashamed. Living after this fashion he makes
+the angels sorrow, and the devils rejoice. But of living
+for his soul,&mdash;caring for his soul,&mdash;thinking of his soul,&mdash;providing
+for his soul,&mdash;making his soul's salvation the
+principal and chief thing in his daily life,&mdash;of all this a
+man has no cause to be ashamed at all. Believer in
+Christ, remember this! Remember it in your Bible-reading
+and your private praying. Remember it on your<span class="pagenum">[Pg 62]</span>
+Sabbaths. Remember it in your worship of God. In all
+these things never be ashamed of being whole-hearted,
+real, thorough, and true.</p>
+
+<p>The years of our life are fast passing away. Who
+knows but this year may be the last in his life? Who
+can tell but that he may be called this very year to meet
+his God? As ever you would be found ready, be a real
+and true Christian. Do not be base metal.</p>
+
+<p>The time is fast coming when nothing but reality will
+stand the fire. Real repentance towards God,&mdash;real faith
+towards our Lord Jesus Christ,&mdash;real holiness of heart and
+life,&mdash;these, these are the things which will alone pass
+current at the last day. It is a solemn saying of our Lord
+Jesus Christ, "Many shall say in that day, Lord, Lord,
+have we not prophesied in Thy name, and in Thy name
+have cast out devils, and in Thy name done many
+wonderful works? And then will I profess to them, I
+never knew you. Depart from Me, ye that work iniquity."
+(Matt. vii. 22, 23.)</p>
+<br>
+
+
+
+<h2><a name="IV" id="IV"></a>IV</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 63]</span>
+
+<h2>PRAYER</h2>
+
+<blockquote><p>"<i>Men ought always to pray.</i>"&mdash;<span class="smcap">Luke</span> xviii. 1.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>I will that men pray everywhere.</i>"&mdash;1 <span class="smcap">Tim.</span> ii. 8.</p></blockquote>
+
+
+<p>Prayer is the most important subject in practical religion.
+All other subjects are second to it. Reading the Bible,
+keeping the Sabbath, hearing sermons, attending public
+worship, going to the Lord's Table,&mdash;all these are very
+weighty matters. But none of them are so important as
+private prayer.</p>
+
+<p>I propose in this paper to offer seven plain reasons why
+I use such strong language about prayer. I invite to
+these reasons the attention of every thinking man into
+whose hands this paper may fall. I venture to assert
+with confidence that they deserve serious consideration.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>I. In the first place, <i>Prayer is absolutely needful to
+a man's salvation</i>.</p>
+
+<p>I say absolutely needful, and I say so advisedly. I am
+not speaking now of infants and idiots. I am not settling
+the state of the heathen. I remember that where little is
+given, there little will be required. I speak especially of
+those who call themselves Christians, in a land like our
+own. And of such I say no man or woman can expect to
+be saved who does not pray.</p>
+
+<p>I hold salvation by grace as strongly as any one. I<span class="pagenum">[Pg 64]</span>
+would gladly offer a free and full pardon to the greatest
+sinner that ever lived. I would not hesitate to stand by
+his dying bed, and say, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
+even now, and you shall be saved." But that a man can
+have salvation without <i>asking</i> for it, I cannot see in the
+Bible. That a man will receive pardon of his sins, who
+will not so much as lift up his heart inwardly, and say,
+"Lord Jesus, give it to me," this I cannot find. I can
+find that nobody will be saved by his prayers, but I cannot
+find that without prayer anybody will be saved.</p>
+
+<p>It is not absolutely needful to salvation that a man
+should <i>read</i> the Bible. A man may have no learning, or
+be blind, and yet have Christ in his heart. It is not
+absolutely needful that a man should <i>hear</i> the public
+preaching of the Gospel. He may live where the Gospel
+is not preached, or he may be bedridden, or deaf. But
+the same thing cannot be said about prayer. It is absolutely
+needful to salvation that a man should <i>pray</i>.</p>
+
+<p>There is no royal road either to health or learning.
+Princes and kings, poor men and peasants, all alike must
+attend to the wants of their own bodies and their own
+minds. No man can eat, drink, or sleep by proxy. No
+man can get the alphabet learned for him by another.
+All these are things which everybody must do for himself,
+or they will not be done at all.</p>
+
+<p>Just as it is with the mind and body, so it is with the
+soul. There are certain things absolutely needful to the
+soul's health and well-being. Each one must attend to these
+things for himself. Each must repent for himself. Each
+must apply to Christ for himself. And for himself each one
+must speak to God and pray. You must do it for yourself,
+for by nobody else can it be done.</p>
+
+<p>How can we expect to be saved by an "unknown"
+God? And how can we know God without prayer?
+We know nothing of men and women in this world,
+unless we speak with them. We cannot know God in<span class="pagenum">[Pg 65]</span>
+Christ, unless we speak to Him in prayer. If we wish
+to be with Him in heaven, we must be His friends on
+earth. If we wish to be His friends on earth, <i>we must
+pray</i>.</p>
+
+<p>There will be many at Christ's right hand in the last
+day. The saints gathered from North and South, and East
+and West, will be "a multitude that no man can number."
+(Rev. vii. 9.) The song of victory that will burst from their
+mouths, when their redemption is at length complete, will
+be a glorious song indeed. It will be far above the noise
+of many waters, and of mighty thunders. But there will
+be no discord in that song. They that sing will sing with
+one heart as well as one voice. Their experience will be
+one and the same. All will have believed. All will have
+been washed in the blood of Christ. All will have been
+born again. All will have prayed. Yes, we must pray
+on earth, or we shall never praise in heaven. We must
+go through the school of prayer, or we shall never be fit
+for the holiday of praise. In short, to be prayerless is to
+be without God,&mdash;without Christ,&mdash;without grace,&mdash;without
+hope,&mdash;and without heaven. It is to be in the road
+to hell.</p>
+
+<br>
+<p>II. In the second place, <i>a habit of prayer is one of
+the surest marks of a true Christian</i>.</p>
+
+<p>All the children of God on earth are alike in this
+respect. From the moment there is any life and reality
+about their religion, they pray. Just as the first sign of
+life in an infant when born into the world, is the act of
+breathing, so the first act of men and women when they
+are born again, is <i>praying</i>.</p>
+
+<p>This is one of the common marks of all the elect of
+God: "They cry unto Him day and night." (Luke
+xviii. 1.) The Holy Spirit, who makes them new
+creatures, works in them the feeling of adoption, and
+makes them cry, "Abba, Father." (Rom. viii. 15.) The<span class="pagenum">[Pg 66]</span>
+Lord Jesus, when He quickens them, gives them a voice
+and a tongue, and says to them, "Be dumb no more."
+God has no dumb children. It is as much a part of their
+new nature to pray, as it is of a child to cry. They see
+their need of mercy and grace. They feel their emptiness
+and weakness. They cannot do otherwise than they do.
+They <i>must</i> pray.</p>
+
+<p>I have looked carefully over the lives of God's saints in
+the Bible. I cannot find one of whose history much is
+told us, from Genesis to Revelation, who was not a man of
+prayer. I find it mentioned as a characteristic of the
+godly, that "they call on the Father," that "they call on
+the name of the Lord Jesus Christ." I find it recorded
+as a characteristic of the wicked, that "they call not upon
+the Lord." (1 Peter i. 17; 1 Cor. i. 2; Psalm xiv. 4.)</p>
+
+<p>I have read the lives of many eminent Christians who
+have been on earth since the Bible days. Some of them,
+I see, were rich, and some poor. Some were learned, and
+some unlearned. Some of them were Episcopalians, some
+Presbyterians, some Baptists, some Independents. Some
+were Calvinists, and some Arminians. Some have loved
+to use a liturgy, and some to use none. But one thing, I
+see, they all had in common. They have all been <i>men of
+prayer</i>.</p>
+
+<p>I study the reports of Missionary Societies in our own
+times. I see with joy that heathen men and women are
+receiving the Gospel in various parts of the globe. There
+are conversions in Africa, in New Zealand, in Hindostan,
+in America. The people converted are naturally unlike
+one another in every respect. But one striking thing I
+observe at all the Missionary stations. The converted
+people <i>always pray</i>.</p>
+
+<p>I do not deny that a man may pray without heart, and
+without sincerity. I do not for a moment pretend to say
+that the mere fact of a person praying proves everything
+about his soul. As in every other part of religion, so also<span class="pagenum">[Pg 67]</span>
+in this, there is plenty of deception and hypocrisy.</p>
+
+<p>But this I do say,&mdash;that not praying is a clear proof
+that a man is not yet a true Christian. He cannot really
+feel his sins. He cannot love God. He cannot feel
+himself a debtor to Christ. He cannot long after holiness.
+He cannot desire heaven. He has yet to be born again.
+He has yet to be made a new creature. He may boast
+confidently of election, grace, faith, hope, and knowledge,
+and deceive ignorant people. But you may rest assured
+it is all vain talk <i>if he does not pray</i>.</p>
+
+<p>And I say furthermore, that of all the evidences of real
+work of the Spirit, a habit of hearty private prayer is one
+of the most satisfactory that can be named. A man may
+preach from false motives. A man may write books, and
+make fine speeches, and seem diligent in good works, and
+yet be a Judas Iscariot. But a man seldom goes into his
+closet, and pours out his soul before God in secret, unless
+he is in earnest. The Lord Himself has set His stamp on
+prayer as the best proof of a true conversion. When He,
+sent Ananias to Saul in Damascus, He gave him no other
+evidence of his change of heart than this,&mdash;"<i>Behold, he
+prayeth</i>." (Acts ix. 11.)</p>
+
+<p>I know that much may go on in a man's mind before
+he is brought to pray. He may have many convictions,
+desires, wishes, feelings, intentions, resolutions, hopes, and
+fears. But all these things are very uncertain evidences.
+They are to be found in ungodly people, and often come
+to nothing. In many a case they are not more lasting
+than "the morning cloud, and the dew that goeth away."
+(Hos. vi. 4.) A real hearty prayer, flowing from a broken
+and contrite spirit, is worth all these things put together.</p>
+
+<p>I know that the elect of God are chosen to salvation from
+all eternity. I do not forget that the Holy Spirit, who calls
+them in due time, in many instances leads them by very
+slow degrees to acquaintance with Christ. But the eye of
+man can only judge by what it sees. I cannot call any<span class="pagenum">[Pg 68]</span>
+one justified until he believes. I dare not say that any
+one believes until he prays. I cannot understand a dumb
+faith. The first act of faith will be to speak to God.
+Faith is to the soul what life is to the body. Prayer is to
+faith what breath is to life. How a man can live and not
+breathe is past my comprehension, and how a man can
+believe and not pray is past my comprehension too.</p>
+
+<p>Let no one be surprised if he hears ministers of the
+Gospel dwelling much on the importance of prayer. This
+is the point we want to bring you to,&mdash;we want to know
+that you pray. Your views of doctrine may be correct.
+Your love of Protestantism may be warm and unmistakeable.
+But still this may be nothing more than head
+knowledge and party spirit. The great point is this,&mdash;whether
+you can speak <i>to</i> God as well as speak <i>about</i> God.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>III. In the third place, <i>there is no duty in religion
+so neglected as private prayer</i>.</p>
+
+<p>We live in days of abounding religious profession.
+There are more places of public worship now than there
+ever were before. There are more persons attending them
+than there ever have been since England was a nation.
+And yet in spite of all this public religion, I believe there
+is a vast neglect of private prayer.</p>
+
+<p>I should not have said so a few years ago. I once thought,
+in my ignorance, that most people said their prayers, and
+many people prayed. I have lived to think differently.
+I have come to the conclusion that the great majority of
+professing Christians do not pray at all.</p>
+
+<p>I know this sounds very shocking, and will startle many.
+But I am satisfied that prayer is just one of those things
+which is thought a "matter of course," and, like many
+matters of course, is shamefully neglected. It is "everybody's
+business;" and, as it often happens in such cases,
+it is a business carried on by very few. It is one of those
+private transactions between God and our souls which no<span class="pagenum">[Pg 69]</span>
+eye sees, and therefore one which there is every temptation
+to pass over and leave undone.</p>
+
+<p>I believe that thousands <i>never say a word of prayer
+at all</i>. They eat; they drink; they sleep; they rise;
+they go forth to their labour; they return to their homes;
+they breathe God's air; they see God's sun; they walk on
+God's earth; they enjoy God's mercies; they have dying
+bodies; they have judgment and eternity before them.
+But they <i>never speak to God</i>! They live like the beasts
+that perish; they behave like creatures without souls;
+they have not a word to say to Him in whose hand are
+their life, and breath, and all things, and from whose
+mouth they must one day receive their everlasting sentence.
+How dreadful this seems! But if the secrets of men were
+only known, how common!</p>
+
+<p>I believe there are tens of thousands <i>whose prayers
+are nothing but a mere form</i>,&mdash;a set of words repeated
+by rote, without a thought about their meaning. Some
+say over a few hasty sentences picked up in the nursery
+when they were children. Some content themselves with
+repeating the Belief, forgetting that there is not a request
+in it. Some add the Lord's Prayer, but without the
+slightest desire that its solemn petitions may be granted.
+Some among the poor, even at this day, repeat the old
+popish lines:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="pbox">
+"Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,<br>
+Bless the bed that I lie on."<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Many, even of those who use good forms, mutter their
+prayers over after they have got into bed, or scramble
+over them while they wash or dress in the morning. Men
+may think what they please, but they may depend that in
+the sight of God <i>this is not praying</i>. Words said without
+heart are as utterly useless to our souls as the drum-beating
+of the poor heathen before their idols. Where
+there is <i>no heart</i>, there may be lip-work and tongue-work,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 70]</span>
+but there is nothing that God listens to,&mdash;there is <i>no
+prayer</i>. Saul, I have no doubt, said many a long prayer
+before the Lord met him on the way to Damascus. But
+it was not till his heart was broken that the Lord said,
+"He prayeth."</p>
+
+<p>Does this surprise any reader? Listen to me and I will
+show you that I am not speaking as I do without reason.
+Do you think that my assertions are extravagant and
+unwarrantable? Give me your attention, and I will soon
+show you that I am only telling you the truth.</p>
+
+<p>Have you forgotten that it is <i>not natural</i> to any one
+to pray? The carnal mind is enmity against God. The
+desire of man's heart is to get far away from God, and
+to have nothing to do with Him. His feeling toward Him
+is not love but fear. Why then should a man pray when
+he has no real sense of sin, no real feeling of spiritual
+wants,&mdash;no thorough belief in unseen things,&mdash;no desire
+after holiness and heaven? Of all these things the vast
+majority of men know and feel nothing. The multitude
+walk in the broad way. I cannot forget this. Therefore
+I say boldly, I believe that few pray.</p>
+
+<p>Have you forgotten that it is <i>not fashionable</i> to pray?
+It is just one of the things that many would be rather
+ashamed to own. There are hundreds who would sooner
+storm a breach, or lead a forlorn hope, than confess
+publicly that they make a habit of prayer. There are
+thousands who, if obliged by chance to sleep in the same
+room with a stranger, would lie down in bed without a
+prayer. To ride well, to shoot well, to dress well, to go to
+balls, and concerts, and theatres, to be thought clever and
+agreeable,&mdash;all this is fashionable, but not to pray. I
+cannot forget this. I cannot think a habit is common
+which so many seem ashamed to own. I believe that
+few pray.</p>
+
+<p>Have you forgotten <i>the lives that many live</i>? Can we
+really suppose that people are praying against sin night and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 71]</span>
+day, when we see them plunging right into it? Can we
+suppose they pray against the world, when they are
+entirely absorbed and taken up with its pursuits? Can
+we think they really ask God for grace to serve Him,
+when they do not show the slightest desire to serve Him
+at all? Oh, no! It is plain as daylight that the great
+majority of men either ask nothing of God, or <i>do not
+mean what they say</i> when they do ask,&mdash;which is just the
+same thing. Praying and sinning will never live together
+in the same heart. Prayer will consume sin, or sin will
+choke prayer. I cannot forget this. I look at men's
+lives. I believe that few pray.</p>
+
+<p>Have you forgotten <i>the deaths that many die</i>? How
+many, when they draw near death, seem entirely strangers
+to God. Not only are they sadly ignorant of His Gospel,
+but sadly wanting in the power of speaking to Him.
+There is a terrible awkwardness, and shyness, and newness,
+and rawness, in their endeavours to approach Him.
+They seem to be taking up a fresh thing. They appear as
+if they wanted an introduction to God, and as if they had
+never talked with Him before. I remember having heard
+of a lady who was anxious to have a minister to visit her
+in her last illness. She desired that he would pray with
+her. He asked her what he should pray for. She did
+not know and could not tell. She was utterly unable to
+name any one thing which she wished him to ask God for
+her soul. All she seemed to want was the form of a
+minister's prayers. I can quite understand this. Death-beds
+are great revealers of secrets. I cannot forget what
+I have seen of sick and dying people. This also leads me
+to believe that few pray.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>IV. In the fourth place, <i>prayer is that act in religion
+to which there is the greatest encouragement</i>.</p>
+
+<p>There is everything on God's part to make prayer easy,
+if men will only attempt it. "All things are ready" on<span class="pagenum">[Pg 72]</span>
+His side. (Luke xiv. 17.) Every objection is anticipated.
+Every difficulty is provided for. The crooked places are
+made straight, and the rough places are made smooth.
+There is no excuse left for the prayerless man.</p>
+
+<p>There is <i>a way</i> by which any man, however sinful and
+unworthy, may draw near to God the Father. Jesus
+Christ has opened that way by the sacrifice He made for
+us upon the cross. The holiness and justice of God need
+not frighten sinners and keep them back. Only let them
+cry to God in the name of Jesus,&mdash;only let them plead
+the atoning blood of Jesus,&mdash;and they shall find God
+upon a throne of grace, willing and ready to hear. The
+name of Jesus is a never-failing passport to our prayers.
+In that name a man may draw near to God with boldness,
+and ask with confidence. God has engaged to hear him.
+Think of this. Is not this encouragement?</p>
+
+<p>There is <i>an advocate</i> and intercessor always waiting to
+present the prayers of those who will employ Him. That
+advocate is Jesus Christ. He mingles our prayers with
+the incense of His own almighty intercession. So mingled
+they go up as a sweet savour before the throne of God.
+Poor as they are in themselves, they are mighty and
+powerful in the hand of our High Priest and elder
+brother. The bank-note without a signature at the
+bottom is nothing but a worthless piece of paper. A few
+strokes of a pen confer on it all its value. The prayer of
+a poor child of Adam is a feeble thing in itself, but once
+endorsed by the hand of the Lord Jesus it availeth much.
+There was an officer in the city of Rome who was
+appointed to have his doors always open, in order to
+receive any Roman citizen who applied to him for help.
+Just so the ear of the Lord Jesus is ever open to the cry
+of all who want mercy and grace. It is His office to help
+them. Their prayer is His delight. Think of this. Is
+not this encouragement?</p>
+
+<p>There is <i>the Holy Spirit</i> ever ready to help our<span class="pagenum">[Pg 73]</span>
+infirmities in prayer. It is one part of His special office
+to assist us in our endeavours to speak to God. We
+need not be cast down and distressed by the fear of not
+knowing what to say. The Spirit will give us words if
+we will only seek His aid. He will supply us with
+"thoughts that breathe and words that burn." The
+prayers of the Lord's people are the inspiration of the
+Lord's Spirit,&mdash;the work of the Holy Ghost who dwells
+within them as the Spirit of grace and supplications.
+Surely the Lord's people may well hope to be heard. It
+is not they merely that pray, but the Holy Ghost pleading
+in them. (Rom. viii. 26.) Think of this. Is not this
+encouragement?</p>
+
+<p>There are exceeding great and precious <i>promises</i> to
+those who pray. What did the Lord Jesus mean when
+He spoke such words as these, "Ask, and it shall be given
+you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened
+unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he
+that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall
+be opened." (Matt. vii. 7, 8.) "All things, whatsoever
+ye shall ask in prayer believing, ye shall receive." (Matt.
+xxi. 22.) "Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that
+will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If
+ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it." (John
+xiv. 13, 14.) What did the Lord mean when He spoke
+the parables of the friend at midnight and the importunate
+widow? (Luke xi. 5, and xviii. 1.) Think over these
+passages. If this is not encouragement to pray, words
+have no meaning at all.</p>
+
+<p>There are wonderful <i>examples</i> in Scripture of the power
+of prayer. Nothing seems to be too great, too hard, or
+too difficult for prayer to do. It has obtained things that
+seemed impossible and out of reach. It has won victories
+over fire, air, earth, and water. Prayer opened the Red
+Sea. Prayer brought water from the rock and bread from
+heaven. Prayer made the sun stand still. Prayer<span class="pagenum">[Pg 74]</span>
+brought fire from the sky on Elijah's sacrifice. Prayer
+turned the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness. Prayer
+overthrew the army of Sennacherib. Well might Mary,
+Queen of Scots, say, "I fear John Knox's prayers more
+than an army of ten thousand men." Prayer has healed
+the sick. Prayer has raised the dead. Prayer has
+procured the conversion of souls. "The child of many
+prayers," said an old Christian to Augustine's mother,
+"shall never perish." Prayer, pains, and faith can do
+anything. Nothing seems impossible when a man has the
+Spirit of adoption. "Let me alone," is the remarkable
+saying of God to Moses, when Moses was about to
+intercede for the children of Israel. (Exod. xxxii. 10.)
+The Chaldee version has it "Leave off praying." So long
+as Abraham asked mercy for Sodom, the Lord went on
+giving. He never ceased to give till Abraham ceased to
+pray. Think of this. Is not this encouragement?</p>
+
+<p>What more can a man want to lead him to take any
+step in religion than the things I have just told him about
+prayer? What more could be done to make the path to
+the mercy-seat easy, and to remove all occasions of
+stumbling from the sinner's way? Surely if the devils in
+hell had such a door set open before them they would leap
+for gladness, and make the very pit ring with joy.</p>
+
+<p>But where will the man hide his head at last who
+neglects such glorious encouragements? What can be
+possibly said for the man who after all dies without
+prayer? God forbid that any reader of this paper should
+be that man.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>V. In the fifth place, <i>diligence in prayer is the secret
+of eminent holiness</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Without controversy there is a vast difference among
+true Christians. There is an immense interval between
+the foremost and the hindermost in the army of God.</p>
+
+<p>They are all fighting the same good fight;&mdash;but how<span class="pagenum">[Pg 75]</span>
+much more valiantly some fight than others! They are
+all doing the Lord's work;&mdash;but how much more some do
+than others! They are all light in the Lord;&mdash;but how
+much more brightly some shine than others! They are
+all running the same race;&mdash;but how much faster some
+get on than others! They all love the same Lord and
+Saviour;&mdash;but how much more some love Him than
+others! I ask any true Christian whether this is not the
+case. Are not these things so?</p>
+
+<p>There are some of the Lord's people who seem <i>never
+able to get on</i> from the time of their conversion. They
+are born again, but they remain babies all their lives.
+They are learners in Christ's school, but they never seem
+to get beyond A B C, and the lowest form. They have
+got inside the fold, but there they lie down and get no
+further. Year after year you see in them the same old
+besetting sins. You hear from them the same old
+experience. You remark in them the same want of
+spiritual appetite,&mdash;the same squeamishness about anything
+but the milk of the Word, and the same dislike to strong
+meat,&mdash;the same childishness,&mdash;the same feebleness,&mdash;the
+same littleness of mind,&mdash;the same narrowness of heart,&mdash;the
+same want of interest in anything beyond their own
+little circle, which you remarked ten years ago. They are
+pilgrims indeed, but pilgrims like the Gibeonites of old;&mdash;their
+bread is always dry and mouldy,&mdash;their shoes always
+old and clouted, and their garments always rent and torn.
+(Josh. ix. 4, 5.) I say this with sorrow and grief. But
+I ask any real Christian, Is it not true?</p>
+
+<p>There are others of the Lord's people who seem to be
+<i>always getting on</i>. They grow like the grass after rain.
+They increase like Israel in Egypt. They press on like
+Gideon,&mdash;though sometimes "faint, yet always pursuing."
+(Judges viii. 4.) They are ever adding grace to grace,
+and faith to faith, and strength to strength. Every
+time you meet them their hearts seem larger, and their<span class="pagenum">[Pg 76]</span>
+spiritual stature bigger, taller, and stronger. Every year
+they appear to see more, and know more, and believe
+more, and feel more in their religion. They not only
+have good works to prove the reality of their faith, but they
+are <i>zealous</i> of them. They not only do well, but they
+are <i>unwearied</i>, in well-doing. (Titus ii. 14; Gal. vi. 9.)
+They attempt great things, and they do great things.
+When they fail they try again, and when they fall they
+are soon up again. And all this time they think themselves
+poor unprofitable servants, and fancy they do nothing at
+all!&mdash;These are those who make religion lovely and
+beautiful in the eyes of all. They wrest praise even from
+the unconverted, and win golden opinions even from the
+selfish men of the world. These are those whom it does
+one good to see, to be with, and to hear. When you meet
+them, you could believe that, like Moses, they had just
+come out from the presence of God. When you part with
+them you feel warmed by their company, as if your soul
+had been near a fire. I know such people are rare. I
+only ask, Is it not so?</p>
+
+<p>Now, how can we account for the difference which I
+have just described? What is the reason that some
+believers are so much brighter and holier than others? I
+believe the difference, in nineteen cases out of twenty,
+arises from different habits about private prayer. I
+believe that those who are not eminently holy pray <i>little</i>,
+and those who are eminently holy pray <i>much</i>.</p>
+
+<p>I daresay this opinion will startle some readers. I have
+little doubt that many look on eminent holiness as a kind
+of special gift, which none but a few must pretend to aim
+at. They admire it at a distance, in books: they think it
+beautiful when they see an example near themselves.
+But as to its being a thing within the reach of any
+but a very few, such a notion never seems to enter their
+minds. In short, they consider it a kind of monopoly
+granted to a few favoured believers, but certainly not<span class="pagenum">[Pg 77]</span>
+to all.</p>
+
+<p>Now I believe that this is a most dangerous mistake.
+I believe that spiritual, as well as natural, greatness,
+depends far more on the use of means within everybody's
+reach, than on anything else. Of course I do not say we
+have a right to expect a miraculous grant of intellectual
+gifts. But this I do say, that when a man is once converted
+to God, whether he shall be eminently holy or not
+depends chiefly on his own diligence in the use of God's
+appointed means. And I assert confidently, that the
+principal means by which most believers have become
+great in the Church of Christ is the habit of <i>diligent
+private prayer</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Look through the lives of the brightest and best of
+God's servants, whether in the Bible or not. See what is
+written of Moses, and David, and Daniel, and Paul. Mark
+what is recorded of Luther and Bradford, the Reformers.
+Observe what is related of the private devotions of
+Whitfield, and Cecil, and Venn, and Bickersteth, and
+M'Cheyne. Tell me of one of all the goodly fellowship of
+saints and martyrs, who has not had this mark most
+prominently,&mdash;he was <i>a man of prayer</i>. Oh, depend
+upon it, prayer is power!</p>
+
+<p>Prayer obtains fresh and continued outpourings of
+the Spirit. He alone begins the work of grace in a
+man's heart: He alone can carry it forward and make
+it prosper. But the good Spirit loves to be entreated.
+And those who ask most, will always have most of His
+influence.</p>
+
+<p>Prayer is the surest remedy against the devil and
+besetting sins. That sin will never stand firm which is
+heartily prayed against: that devil will never long keep
+dominion over us which we beseech the Lord to cast forth.
+But, then, we must spread out all our case before our
+Heavenly Physician, if He is to give us daily relief: we
+must drag our indwelling devils to the feet of Christ, and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 78]</span>
+cry to Him to send them back to the pit.</p>
+
+<p>Do we wish to grow in grace and be very holy Christians?
+Then let us never forget the value of prayer.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>VI. In the sixth place, <i>neglect of prayer is one great
+cause of backsliding</i>.</p>
+
+<p>There is such a thing as going back in religion, after
+making a good profession. Men may run well for a
+season, like the Galatians, and then turn aside after false
+teachers. Men may profess loudly, while their feelings
+are warm, as Peter did; and then, in the hour of trial,
+deny their Lord. Men may lose their first love, as the
+Ephesians did. Men may cool down in their zeal to do
+good, like Mark, the companion of Paul. Men may follow
+an apostle for a season, and then, like Demas, go back to
+the world.&mdash;All these things men may do.</p>
+
+<p>It is a miserable thing to be a backslider. Of all
+unhappy things that can befall a man, I suppose it is the
+worst. A stranded ship, a broken-winged eagle, a garden
+overrun with weeds, a harp without strings, a church in
+ruins,&mdash;all these are sad sights; but a backslider is a
+sadder sight still. That true grace shall never be extinguished,
+and true union with Christ never be broken off,
+I feel no doubt. But I do believe that a man may fall
+away so far that he shall lose sight of his own grace, and
+despair of his own salvation. And if this is not hell, it is
+certainly the next thing to it! A wounded conscience, a
+mind sick of itself, a memory full of self-reproach, a heart
+pierced through with the Lord's arrows, a spirit broken
+with a load of inward accusation,&mdash;all this is <i>a taste of
+hell</i>. It is a hell on earth. Truly that saying of the
+wise man is solemn and weighty,&mdash;"The backslider in
+heart shall be filled with his own ways." (Prov. xiv. 14.)</p>
+
+<p>Now, what is the cause of most backsliding? I believe,
+as a general rule, one of the chief causes is neglect of
+private prayer. Of course the secret history of falls will<span class="pagenum">[Pg 79]</span>
+not be known till the last day. I can only give my opinion
+as a minister of Christ and a student of the heart. That
+opinion is, I repeat distinctly, that backsliding generally
+first begins with <i>neglect of private prayer</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Bibles read without prayer, sermons heard without
+prayer, marriages contracted without prayer, journeys
+undertaken without prayer, residences chosen without
+prayer, friendships formed without prayer, the daily act
+of private prayer itself hurried over or gone through
+without heart,&mdash;these are the kind of downward steps by
+which many a Christian descends to a condition of
+spiritual palsy, or reaches the point where God allows
+him to have a tremendous fall.</p>
+
+<p>This is the process which forms the lingering Lots, the
+unstable Samsons, the wife-idolizing Solomons, the inconsistent
+Asas, the pliable Jehoshaphats, the over-careful
+Marthas, of whom so many are to be found in the Church
+of Christ. Often the simple history of such cases is this,&mdash;they
+became <i>careless about private prayer</i>.</p>
+
+<p>We may be very sure that men fall in private long before
+they fall in public. They are backsliders on their knees
+long before they backslide openly in the eyes of the
+world. Like Peter, they first disregard the Lord's warning
+to watch and pray; and then, like Peter, their strength is
+gone, and in the hour of temptation they deny their Lord.</p>
+
+<p>The world takes notice of their fall, and scoffs loudly.
+But the world knows nothing of the real reason. The heathen
+succeeded in making Origen, the old Christian Father,
+offer incense to an idol, by threatening him with a punishment
+worse than death. They then triumphed greatly at
+the sight of his cowardice and apostacy. But the heathen
+did not know the fact, which Origen himself tells us, that
+on that very morning he had left his bedchamber hastily,
+and without finishing his usual prayers.</p>
+
+<p>If any reader of this paper is a Christian indeed I
+trust he will never be a backslider. But if you do not<span class="pagenum">[Pg 80]</span>
+wish to be a backsliding Christian, remember the hint I
+give you,&mdash;Mind your prayers.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>VII. In the seventh place, <i>prayer is one of the best
+receipts for happiness and contentment</i>.</p>
+
+<p>We live in a world where sorrow abounds. This has
+always been its state since sin came in. There cannot be
+sin without sorrow. And till sin is driven out from the
+world it is vain for any one to suppose he can escape
+sorrow.</p>
+
+<p>Some, without doubt, have a larger cup of sorrow to
+drink than others. But few are to be found who live long
+without sorrows or cares of one sort or another. Our bodies,
+our property, our families, our children, our relations, our
+servants, our friends, our neighbours, our worldly callings,&mdash;each
+and all of these are fountains of care. Sicknesses,
+deaths, losses, disappointments, partings, separations, ingratitude,
+slander,&mdash;all these are common things. We
+cannot get through life without them. Some day or other
+they find us out. The greater are our affections, the
+deeper are our afflictions; and the more we love, the more
+we have to weep.</p>
+
+<p>And what is the best receipt for cheerfulness in such a
+world as this? How shall we get through this valley of
+tears with least pain? I know no better receipt than the
+habit of <i>taking everything to God in prayer</i>.</p>
+
+<p>This is the plain advice that the Bible gives, both in the
+Old Testament and the New. What says the Psalmist?
+"Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee,
+and thou shalt glorify Me." (Psalm l. 15.) "Cast thy
+burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee: He
+shall never suffer the righteous to be moved." (Psalm
+lv. 22.) What says the Apostle Paul? "Be careful for
+nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication
+with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto
+God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 81]</span>
+shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ
+Jesus." (Phil. iv. 6, 7.) What says the Apostle James?
+"Is any afflicted among you? let him pray." (James v. 13.)</p>
+
+<p>This was the practice of all the saints whose history we
+have recorded in the Scriptures. This is what Jacob did,
+when he feared his brother Esau. This is what Moses did,
+when the people were ready to stone him in the wilderness.
+This is what Joshua did, when Israel was defeated before
+Ai. This is what David did, when he was in danger at
+Keliah. This is what Hezekiah did, when he received the
+letter from Sennacherib. This is what the Church did,
+when Peter was put in prison. This is what Paul did,
+when he was cast into the dungeon at Philippi.</p>
+
+<p>The only way to be really happy, in such a world as this
+is to be ever casting all our cares on God. It is the
+trying to carry their own burdens which so often makes
+believers sad. If they will only tell their troubles to God
+He will enable them to bear them as easily as Samson did
+the gates of Gaza. If they are resolved to keep them to
+themselves they will find one day that the very grasshopper
+is a burden. (Eccles. xii. 5.)</p>
+
+<p>There is a friend ever waiting to help us, if we will
+only unbosom to Him our sorrow,&mdash;a friend who pitied
+the poor, and sick, and sorrowful, when He was upon
+earth,&mdash;a friend who knows the heart of a man, for He
+lived thirty-three years as a man amongst us,&mdash;a friend
+who can weep with the weepers, for He was a man of
+sorrows and acquainted with grief,&mdash;a friend who is able
+to help us, for there never was earthly pain He could not
+cure. That friend is Jesus Christ. The way to be happy
+is to be always opening our hearts to Him. Oh, that we
+were all like that poor Christian negro, who only answered,
+when threatened and punished, "<i>I must tell the Lord</i>."</p>
+
+<p>Jesus can make those happy who trust Him and call on
+Him, whatever be their outward condition. He can give
+them peace of heart in a prison,&mdash;contentment in the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 82]</span>
+midst of poverty,&mdash;comfort in the midst of bereavements,&mdash;joy
+on the brink of the grave. There is a mighty
+fulness in Him for all His believing members,&mdash;a fulness
+that is ready to be poured out on every one who will ask
+in prayer. Oh, that men would understand that happiness
+does not depend on outward circumstances, but on the
+state of the heart!</p>
+
+<p>Prayer can lighten crosses for us however heavy. It
+can bring down to our side One who will help us to bear
+them.&mdash;Prayer can open a door for us when our way seems
+hedged up. It can bring down One who will say, "This is
+the way, walk in it."&mdash;Prayer can let in a ray of hope,
+when all our earthly prospects seem darkened. It can
+bring down One who will say, "I will never leave thee nor
+forsake thee."&mdash;Prayer can obtain relief for us when those
+we love most are taken away, and the world feels empty.
+It can bring down One who can fill the gap in our hearts
+with Himself, and say to the waves within, "Peace: be
+still!" Oh, that men were not so like Hagar in the
+wilderness, blind to the well of living waters close beside
+them! (Gen. xxi. 19.)</p>
+
+<p>I want the readers of this paper to be really happy
+Christians. I am certain I cannot urge on them a more
+important duty than prayer.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>And now it is high time for me to bring this paper to
+an end. I trust I have brought before my readers things
+that will be seriously considered. I heartily pray God
+that this consideration may be blessed to their souls.</p>
+
+<p>(1) Let me speak a parting word <i>to those who do not
+pray</i>. I dare not suppose that all who read these pages
+will be praying people. If you are a prayerless person,
+suffer me to speak to you this day on God's behalf.</p>
+
+<p>Prayerless friend, I can only warn you; but I do warn
+you most solemnly. I warn you that you are in a position
+of fearful danger. If you die in your present state you<span class="pagenum">[Pg 83]</span>
+are a lost soul. You will only rise again to be eternally
+miserable. I warn you that of all professing Christians you
+are most utterly without excuse. There is not a single
+good reason that you can show for living without prayer.</p>
+
+<p>It is useless to say you <i>know not how</i> to pray. Prayer
+is the simplest act in all religion. It is simply speaking
+to God. It needs neither learning, nor wisdom, nor book-knowledge
+to begin it. It needs nothing but heart and
+will. The weakest infant can cry when he is hungry.
+The poorest beggar can hold out his hand for an alms, and
+does not wait to find fine words. The most ignorant man
+will find something to say to God, if he has only a mind.</p>
+
+<p>It is useless to say you have <i>no convenient place</i> to
+pray in. Any man can find a place private enough, if he
+is disposed. Our Lord prayed on a mountain; Peter on
+the house-top; Isaac in the field; Nathanael under the
+fig-tree; Jonah in the whale's belly. Any place may
+become a closet, an oratory, and a Bethel, and be to us
+the presence of God.</p>
+
+<p>It is useless to say <i>you have no time</i>. There is plenty
+of time, if men will only employ it. Time may be short,
+but time is always long enough for prayer. Daniel had
+all the affairs of a kingdom on his hands, and yet he
+prayed three times a day. David was ruler over a mighty
+nation, and yet he says, "Evening and morning and at
+noon will I pray." (Psalm lv. 17.) When time is really
+wanted, time can always be found.</p>
+
+<p>It is useless to say you <i>cannot pray till you have faith
+and a new heart</i>, and that you must sit still and wait for
+them. This is to add sin to sin. It is bad enough to be
+unconverted and going to hell. It is even worse to say,
+"I know it, but I will not cry for mercy." This is a kind
+of argument for which there is no warrant in Scripture.
+"Call ye upon the Lord," saith Isaiah, "while He is near."
+(Isaiah lv. 6.) "Take with you words, and come unto the
+Lord," says Hosea. (Hosea xiv. 1.) "Repent and pray,"<span class="pagenum">[Pg 84]</span>
+says Peter to Simon Magus. (Acts viii. 22.) If you want
+faith and a new heart, go and cry to the Lord for them.
+The very attempt to pray has often been the quickening
+of a dead soul. Alas, there is no devil so dangerous as a
+dumb devil.</p>
+
+<p>Oh, prayerless man, who and what are you that you will
+not ask anything of God? Have you made a covenant
+with death and hell? Are you at peace with the worm
+and the fire? Have you no sins to be pardoned? Have
+you no fear of eternal torment? Have you no desire after
+heaven? Oh, that you would awake from your present
+folly! Oh, that you would consider your latter end! Oh,
+that you would arise and call upon God! Alas, there is a
+day coming when men shall pray loudly, "Lord, Lord,
+open to us," but all too late;&mdash;when many shall cry to the
+rocks to fall on them, and the hills to cover them, who
+would never cry to God. In all affection I warn you.
+Beware lest this be the end of your soul. Salvation is
+very near you. Do not lose heaven for want of asking.</p>
+
+<p>(2) Let me speak in the next place <i>to those who have
+real desires for salvation</i>, but know not what steps to
+take or where to begin. I cannot but hope that some
+readers may be in this state of mind, and if there be but
+one such I must offer him encouragement and advice.</p>
+
+<p>In every journey there must be a first step. There
+must be a change from sitting still to moving forward.
+The journeyings of Israel from Egypt to Canaan were long
+and wearisome. Forty years passed away before they
+crossed Jordan. Yet there was someone who moved first
+when they marched from Rameses to Succoth. When does
+a man really take his first step in coming out from sin
+and the world? He does it in the day when he first
+prays with his heart.</p>
+
+<p>In every building the first stone must be laid, and the
+first blow must be struck. The ark was 120 years in
+building. Yet there was a day when Noah laid his axe<span class="pagenum">[Pg 85]</span>
+to the first tree he cut down to form it. The temple of
+Solomon was a glorious building. But there was a day
+when the first huge stone was laid at the foot of Mount
+Moriah. When does the building of the Spirit really begin
+to appear in a man's heart? It begins, so far as we can
+judge, when he first pours out his heart to God in prayer.</p>
+
+<p>If any reader of this paper desires salvation, and wants
+to know what to do, I advise him to go this very day to
+the Lord Jesus Christ, in the first private place he can
+find, and entreat Him in prayer to save his soul.</p>
+
+<p>Tell Him that you have heard that He receives sinners,
+and has said, "Him that cometh unto Me I will in nowise
+cast out." (John vi. 37.) Tell Him that you are a poor vile
+sinner, and that you come to Him on the faith of His own
+invitation. Tell Him you put yourself wholly and entirely
+in His hands,&mdash;that you feel vile and helpless, and hopeless
+in yourself,&mdash;and that except He saves you, you have no
+hope to be saved at all. Beseech Him to deliver you from
+the guilt, the power, and the consequences of sin. Beseech
+Him to pardon you and wash you in His own blood.
+Beseech Him to give you a new heart, and plant the
+Holy Spirit in your soul. Beseech Him to give you grace,
+and faith, and will, and power to be His disciple and
+servant from this day for ever. Yes: go this very day,
+and tell these things to the Lord Jesus Christ, if you
+really are in earnest about your soul.</p>
+
+<p>Tell Him in your own way and your own words. If a
+doctor came to see you when sick you could tell him
+where you felt pain. If your soul really feels its disease
+you can surely find something to tell Christ.</p>
+
+<p>Doubt not His willingness to save you, because you are
+a sinner. It is Christ's office to save sinners. He says
+Himself, "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to
+repentance." (Luke v. 32.)</p>
+
+<p>Wait not, because you feel unworthy. Wait for nothing:
+wait for nobody. Waiting comes from the devil. Just as<span class="pagenum">[Pg 86]</span>
+you are, go to Christ. The worse you are, the more need
+you have to apply to Him. You will never mend yourself
+by staying away.</p>
+
+<p>Fear not because your prayer is stammering, your words
+feeble, and your language poor. Jesus can understand
+you. Just as a mother understands the first babblings of
+her infant, so does the blessed Saviour understand sinners.
+He can read a sigh, and see a meaning in a groan.</p>
+
+<p>Despair not, because you do not get an answer immediately.
+While you are speaking, Jesus is listening. If
+He delays an answer, it is only for wise reasons, and to
+try if you are in earnest. Pray on, and the answer will
+surely come. Though it tarry, wait for it: it will surely
+come at last.</p>
+
+<p>If you have any desire to be saved, remember the advice
+I have given you this day. Act upon it honestly and
+heartily, and you shall be saved.</p>
+
+<p>(3) Let me speak, lastly, <i>to those who do pray</i>. I trust
+that some who read this paper know well what prayer is,
+and have the Spirit of adoption. To all such I offer a few
+words of brotherly counsel and exhortation. The incense
+offered in the tabernacle was ordered to be made in a
+particular way. Not every kind of incense would do.
+Let us remember this, and be careful about the matter
+and manner of our prayers.</p>
+
+<p>If I know anything of a Christian's heart, you to whom
+I now speak are often sick of your own prayers. You
+never enter into the Apostle's words, "When I would
+do good, evil is present with me" (Rom. vii. 21), so
+thoroughly as you sometimes do upon your knees.
+You can understand David's words, "I hate vain
+thoughts." You can sympathize with that poor converted
+Hottentot, who was overheard praying, "Lord, deliver me
+from all my enemies; and, above all, from that bad man
+myself!"&mdash;There are few children of God who do not
+often find the season of prayer a season of conflict. The<span class="pagenum">[Pg 87]</span>
+devil has special wrath against us when he sees us on our
+knees. Yet I believe that prayers which cost us no
+trouble should be regarded with great suspicion. I believe
+we are very poor judges of the goodness of our prayers,
+and that the prayer which pleases us <i>least</i> often pleases
+God <i>most</i>. Suffer me then, as a companion in the Christian
+warfare, to offer you a few words of exhortation. One
+thing, at least, we all feel,&mdash;we must pray. We cannot
+give it up: we must go on.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>a</i>) I commend, then, to your attention the importance of
+<i>reverence and humility</i> in prayer. Let us never forget
+what we are, and what a solemn thing it is to speak
+with God. Let us beware of rushing into His presence
+with carelessness and levity. Let us say to ourselves, "I
+am on holy ground. This is no other than the gate of
+heaven. If I do not mean what I say, I am trifling with
+God. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not
+hear me." Let us keep in mind the words of Solomon:
+"Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be
+hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven,
+and thou on earth." (Eccles. v. 2.) When Abraham spoke
+to God, he said, "I am dust and ashes." When Job
+spoke, he said, "I am vile." (Gen. xviii. 27; Job xl. 4.)
+Let us do likewise.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>b</i>) I commend to you, in the next place, the importance
+of praying <i>spiritually</i>. I mean by this that we should
+labour always to have the direct help of the Spirit in our
+prayers, and beware above all things of formality. There
+is nothing so spiritual but that it may become a form, and
+this is specially true of private prayer. We may insensibly
+get into the habit of using the fittest possible words,
+and offering the most Scriptural petitions; and yet we may
+do it all by rote, without feeling it, and walk daily round an
+old beaten path, like a horse in a mill. I desire to touch
+this point with caution and delicacy. I know that there
+are certain great things we daily want, and that there is<span class="pagenum">[Pg 88]</span>
+nothing necessarily formal in asking for these things in
+the same words. The world, the devil, and our hearts, are
+daily the same. Of necessity we must daily go over old
+ground. But this I say,&mdash;we must be very careful on this
+point. If the skeleton and outline of our prayers be by
+habit almost a form, let us strive that the clothing and
+filling up of our prayers be as far as possible of the Spirit.
+As to praying out of a book, it is a habit I cannot praise.
+If we can tell our doctors the state of our bodies without
+a book, we ought to be able to tell the state of our souls
+to God. I have no objection to a man using crutches,
+when he is first recovering from a broken limb. It is
+better to use crutches than not to walk at all. But if I
+saw him all his life on crutches, I should not think it
+matter for congratulation. I should like to see him strong
+enough to throw his crutches away.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>c</i>) I commend to you, in the next place, the importance
+of making prayer <i>a regular business of life</i>. I might say
+something of the value of regular times in the day for
+prayer. God is a God of order. The hours for morning
+and evening sacrifice in the Jewish temple were not fixed
+as they were without a meaning. Disorder is eminently
+one of the fruits of sin. But I would not bring any under
+bondage. This only I say, that it is essential to your
+soul's health to make praying a part of the business of
+every twenty-four hours in your life. Just as you allot
+time to eating, sleeping, and business, so also allot time to
+prayer. Choose your own hours and seasons. At the
+very least, speak with God in the morning, before you
+speak with the world; and speak with God at night, after
+you have done with the world. But settle it down in your
+minds that prayer is one of the great things of every day.
+Do not drive it into a corner. Do not give it the scraps,
+and leavings, and parings of your day. Whatever else you
+make a business of, make a business of prayer.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>d</i>) I commend to you, in the next place, the importance<span class="pagenum">[Pg 89]</span>
+of <i>perseverance</i> in prayer. Once having begun the habit,
+never give it up. Your heart will sometimes say, "We
+have had family prayers; what mighty harm if we leave
+private prayer undone?"&mdash;Your body will sometimes say,
+"You are unwell, or sleepy, or weary; you need not pray."&mdash;Your
+mind will sometimes say, "You have important
+business to attend to to-day; cut short your prayers." Look
+on all such suggestions as coming direct from the devil.
+They are all as good as saying, "Neglect your soul." I do
+not maintain that prayers should always be of the same
+length;&mdash;but I do say, let no excuse make you give up
+prayer. It is not for nothing that Paul said, "Continue in
+prayer," and "Pray without ceasing." (Colos. iv. 2;
+1 Thess. v. 7.) He did not mean that men should be
+always on their knees, as an old sect, called the
+Euchitæ, supposed. But he did mean that our prayers
+should be like the continual burnt offering,&mdash;a thing
+steadily persevered in every day;&mdash;that it should be
+like seed-time and harvest, and summer and winter,&mdash;a
+thing that should unceasingly come round at regular
+seasons;&mdash;that it should be like the fire on the altar, not
+always consuming sacrifices, but never completely going
+out. Never forget that you may tie together morning and
+evening devotions by an endless chain of short ejaculatory
+prayers throughout the day. Even in company, or
+business, or in the very streets, you may be silently
+sending up little winged messengers to God, as Nehemiah
+did in the very presence of Artaxerxes. (Neh. ii. 4.) And
+never think that time is wasted which is given to God. A
+nation does not become poorer because it loses one year
+of working days in seven by keeping the Sabbath. A
+Christian never finds he is a loser in the long run by persevering
+in prayer.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>e</i>) I commend to you, in the next place, the importance
+of <i>earnestness</i> in prayer. It is not necessary that a man
+should shout, or scream, or be very loud, in order to prove<span class="pagenum">[Pg 90]</span>
+that he is in earnest. But it is desirable that we should
+be hearty, and fervent, and warm, and ask as if we were
+really interested in what we were doing. It is the
+"effectual fervent" prayer that "availeth much," and not
+the cold, sleepy, lazy, listless one. This is the lesson that
+is taught us by the expressions used in Scripture about
+prayer. It is called, "crying, knocking, wrestling, labouring,
+striving." This is the lesson taught us by Scripture
+examples. Jacob is one. He said to the angel at Penuel,
+"I will not let thee go, except thou bless me." (Gen.
+xxxii. 26.) Daniel is another. Hear how he pleaded
+with God: "O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord,
+hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my
+God." (Dan. ix. 19.) Our Lord Jesus Christ is another.
+It is written of Him, "In the days of His flesh He offered
+up prayer and supplication, with strong crying and tears."
+(Heb. v. 7.) Alas, how unlike is this to many of our
+supplications! How tame and lukewarm they seem by
+comparison! How truly might God say to many of us,
+"You do not really want what you pray for!" Let us try
+to amend this fault. Let us knock loudly at the door of
+grace, like Mercy in "Pilgrim's Progress," as if we must
+perish unless heard. Let us settle it down in our minds,
+that cold prayers are a sacrifice without fire. Let us
+remember the story of Demosthenes, the great orator,
+when one came to him, and wanted him to plead his
+cause. He heard him without attention, while he told
+his story without earnestness. The man saw this, and
+cried out with anxiety that it was all true. "Ah!" said
+Demosthenes, "I believe you <i>now</i>."</p>
+
+<p>(<i>f</i>) I commend to you, in the next place, the importance
+of <i>praying with faith</i>. We should endeavour to believe that
+our prayers are always heard, and that if we ask things
+according to God's will, we shall always be answered. This is
+the plain command of our Lord Jesus Christ: "Whatsoever
+things ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive<span class="pagenum">[Pg 91]</span>
+them, and ye shall have them." (Mark xi. 24). Faith is
+to prayer what the feather is to the arrow: without it
+prayer will not hit the mark. We should cultivate the
+habit of pleading promises in our prayers. We should
+take with us some promise, and say, "Lord, here is Thine
+own word pledged. Do for us as Thou hast said." (2
+Sam. vii. 25.) This was the habit of Jacob, and Moses,
+and David. The 119th Psalm is full of things asked,
+"according to Thy word." Above all, we should cultivate
+the habit of expecting answers to our prayers. We should
+do like the merchant who sends his ships to sea. We
+should not be satisfied unless we see some return. Alas,
+there are few points on which Christians come short so
+much as this. The Church at Jerusalem made prayer
+without ceasing for Peter in prison; but when the prayer
+was answered, they would hardly believe it. (Acts xii. 15.)
+It is a solemn saying of old Traill's, "There is no surer
+mark of trifling in prayer, than when men are careless
+what they get by prayer."</p>
+
+<p>(<i>g</i>) I commend to you, in the next place, the importance
+of <i>boldness</i> in prayer. There is an unseemly familiarity in
+some men's prayers, which I cannot praise. But there is
+such a thing as a holy boldness, which is exceedingly to be
+desired. I mean such boldness as that of Moses, when he
+pleads with God not to destroy Israel: "Wherefore," says
+he, "should the Egyptians speak and say, For mischief did
+He bring them out, to slay them in the mountains? Turn
+from Thy fierce anger." (Exod. xxxii. 12.) I mean such
+boldness as that of Joshua, when the children of Israel
+were defeated before Ai: "What," says he, "wilt Thou do
+unto Thy great name?" (Josh. vii. 9.) This is the boldness
+for which Luther was remarkable. One who heard him
+praying said, "What a spirit,&mdash;what a confidence was in
+his very expressions! With such a reverence he sued, as
+one begging of God, and yet with such hope and assurance,
+as if he spake with a loving father or friend." This is the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 92]</span>
+boldness which distinguished Bruce, a great Scotch divine
+of the 17th century. His prayers were said to be "like
+bolts shot up into heaven." Here also I fear we sadly
+come short. We do not sufficiently realize the believer's
+privileges. We do not plead as often as we might, "Lord,
+are we not Thine own people? Is it not for Thy glory that
+we should be sanctified? Is it not for Thine honour that
+thy Gospel should increase?"</p>
+
+<p>(<i>h</i>) I commend to you, in the next place, the importance
+of <i>fulness</i> in prayer. I do not forget that our Lord warns
+us against the example of the Pharisees, who for pretence
+made long prayers, and commands us, when we pray, not
+to use vain repetitions. But I cannot forget, on the other
+hand, that He has given His own sanction to large and
+long devotions, by continuing all night in prayer to God.
+At all events we are not likely in this day to err on the
+side of praying <i>too much</i>. Might it not rather be feared
+that many believers in this generation pray <i>too little</i>? Is
+not the actual amount of time that many Christians give
+to prayer in the aggregate very small? I am afraid these
+questions cannot be answered satisfactorily. I am afraid
+the private devotions of many are most painfully scanty
+and limited,&mdash;just enough to prove they are alive, and no
+more. They really seem to want little from God. They
+seem to have little to confess, little to ask for, and little to
+thank Him for. Alas, this is altogether wrong! Nothing
+is more common than to hear believers complaining that
+they do not get on. They tell us that they do not grow
+in grace, as they could desire. Is it not rather to be
+suspected that many have quite as much grace as they ask
+for? Is it not the true account of many, that they have
+little, because they ask little? The cause of their weakness
+is to be found in their own stunted, dwarfish, clipped,
+contracted, hurried, little, narrow, diminutive prayers.
+<i>They have not because they ask not.</i> Oh, reader, we are
+not straitened in Christ, but in ourselves. The Lord says,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 93]</span>
+"Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it." But we are
+like the king of Israel who smote on the ground thrice
+and stayed, when he ought to have smitten five or six times.
+(Psalm lxxxi. 10; 2 Kings xiii. 18, 19.)</p>
+
+<p>(<i>i</i>) I commend to you, in the next place, the importance
+of <i>particularity</i> in prayer. We ought not to be content
+with great general petitions. We ought to specify our wants
+before the throne of grace. It should not be enough to
+confess we are sinners. We should name the sins of which
+our conscience tells us we are most guilty. It should not
+be enough to ask for holiness. We should name the graces
+in which we feel most deficient. It should not be enough
+to tell the Lord we are in trouble. We should describe
+our trouble and all its peculiarities. This is what Jacob
+did, when he feared his brother Esau. He tells God
+exactly what it is that he fears. (Gen. xxxii. 11.) This is
+what Eliezer did, when he sought a wife for his master's
+son. He spreads before God precisely what he wants.
+(Gen. xxiv. 12.) This is what Paul did, when he had a
+thorn in the flesh. He besought the Lord. (2 Cor. xii. 8.)
+This is true faith and confidence. We should believe
+that nothing is too small to be named before God. What
+should we think of the patient who told his doctor he was
+ill, but never went into particulars? What should we
+think of the wife who told her husband she was unhappy,
+but did not specify the cause? What should we think of
+the child who told his father he was in trouble, but nothing
+more? Let us never forget that Christ is the true bridegroom
+of the soul,&mdash;the true physician of the heart,&mdash;the
+real father of all His people. Let us show that we feel
+this, by being unreserved in our communications with
+Him. Let us hide no secrets from Him. Let us tell Him
+all our hearts.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>j</i>) I commend to you, in the next place, the importance
+of <i>intercession</i> in our prayers. We are all selfish by nature,
+and our selfishness is very apt to stick to us, even when<span class="pagenum">[Pg 94]</span>
+we are converted. There is a tendency in us to think
+only of our own souls,&mdash;our own spiritual conflict,&mdash;our
+own progress in religion, and to forget others. Against
+this tendency we have all need to watch and strive, and
+not least in our prayers. We should study to be of a
+public spirit. We should stir ourselves up to name other
+names beside our own before the throne of grace. We
+should try to bear in our hearts the whole world,&mdash;the
+heathen,&mdash;the Jews,&mdash;the Roman Catholics,&mdash;the body of
+true believers,&mdash;the professing Protestant Churches,&mdash;the
+country in which we live,&mdash;the congregation to which we
+belong,&mdash;the household in which we sojourn,&mdash;the friends
+and relations we are connected with. For each and all of
+these we should plead. This is the highest charity. He
+loves me best who loves me in his prayers. This is for our
+soul's health. It enlarges our sympathies and expands
+our hearts. This is for the benefit of the Church. The
+wheels of all machinery for extending the Gospel are oiled
+by prayer. They do as much for the Lord's cause who
+intercede like Moses on the mount, as they do who fight
+like Joshua in the thick of the battle. This is to be like
+Christ. He bears the names of His people on His breast
+and shoulders as their High Priest before the Father.
+Oh, the privilege of being like Jesus! This is to be a
+true helper to ministers. If I must needs choose a
+congregation, give me a people that prays.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>k</i>) I commend to you, in the next place, the importance
+of <i>thankfulness</i> in prayer. I know well that asking God is
+one thing, and praising God is another. But I see so
+close a connection between prayer and praise in the Bible,
+that I dare not call that true prayer in which thankfulness
+has no part. It is not for nothing that Paul says,
+"By prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your
+request be made known unto God." (Phil. iv. 6.) "Continue
+in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving."
+(Coloss. iv. 2.) It is of mercy that we are not in hell.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 95]</span>
+It is of mercy that we have the hope of heaven. It is
+of mercy that we live in a land of spiritual light. It is
+of mercy that we have been called by the Spirit, and
+not left to reap the fruit of our own ways. It is of
+mercy that we still live, and have opportunities of
+glorifying God actively or passively. Surely, these
+thoughts should crowd on our minds whenever we speak
+with God. Surely, we should never open our lips in
+prayer without blessing God for that free grace by which
+we live, and for that loving-kindness which endureth for
+ever. Never was there an eminent saint who was not full
+of thankfulness. St. Paul hardly ever writes an Epistle
+without beginning with thankfulness. Men like Whitfield
+in the last century, and Bickersteth, and Marsh, and
+Haldane Stewart, in our own time, were ever running
+over with thankfulness. Oh, if we would be bright and
+shining lights in our day, we must cherish a spirit of
+praise! And above all, let our prayers be thankful prayers.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>l</i>) I commend to you, in the last place, the importance of
+<i>watchfulness over your prayers</i>. Prayer is that point of
+all others in religion at which you must be on your guard.
+Here it is that true religion begins: here it flourishes, and
+here it decays. Tell me what a man's prayers are, and I
+will soon tell you the state of his soul. Prayer is the
+spiritual pulse: by this the spiritual health may always
+be tested. Prayer is the spiritual weather-glass: by this
+we may always know whether it is fair or foul with our
+hearts. Oh, let us keep an eye continually upon our
+private devotions! Here is the pith, and marrow, and
+backbone of our practical Christianity. Sermons, and
+books, and tracts, and committee meetings, and the company
+of good men, are all good in their way; but they
+will never make up for the neglect of private prayer.
+Mark well the places, and society, and companions, that
+unhinge your hearts for communion with God, and make
+your prayers drive heavily. <i>There be on your guard.</i><span class="pagenum">[Pg 96]</span>
+Observe narrowly what friends and what employments
+leave your soul in the most spiritual frame, and most
+ready to speak with God. <i>To these cleave and stick fast.</i>
+If you will only take care of your prayers, I will engage
+that nothing shall go very wrong with your soul.</p>
+
+<p>I offer these points for private consideration. I do it in
+all humility. I know no one who needs to be reminded
+of them more than I do myself. But I believe them to
+be God's own truth, and I should like myself and all I
+love to feel them more.</p>
+
+<p>I want the times we live in to be praying times. I
+want the Christians of our day to be praying Christians.
+I want the Church of our age to be a praying Church.
+My heart's desire and prayer in sending forth this paper
+is to promote a spirit of prayerfulness. I want those who
+never prayed yet, to arise and call upon God; and I want
+those who do pray, to improve their prayers every year, and
+to see that they are not getting slack, and praying amiss.</p>
+<br>
+
+
+
+<h2><a name="V" id="V"></a>V</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 97]</span>
+
+<h2>BIBLE-READING</h2>
+
+<blockquote><p>"<i>Search the Scriptures.</i>"&mdash;<span class="smcap">John</span> v. 39.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>How readest thou?</i>"&mdash;<span class="smcap">Luke</span> x. 26.</p></blockquote>
+
+
+<p>Next to praying there is nothing so important in practical
+religion as Bible-reading. God has mercifully given us a
+book which is "able to make us wise unto salvation through
+faith which is in Christ Jesus." (2 Tim. iii. 15.) By reading
+that book we may learn what to believe, what to be, and
+what to do; how to live with comfort, and how to die in
+peace. Happy is that man who possesses a Bible!
+Happier still is he who reads it! Happiest of all is he
+who not only reads it, but obeys it, and makes it the rule
+of his faith and practice!</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless it is a sorrowful fact that man has an unhappy
+skill in abusing God's gifts. His privileges, and
+power, and faculties, are all ingeniously perverted to other
+ends than those for which they were bestowed. His
+speech, his imagination, his intellect, his strength, his
+time, his influence, his money,&mdash;instead of being used as
+instruments for glorifying his Maker,&mdash;are generally wasted,
+or employed for his own selfish ends. And just as man
+naturally makes a bad use of his other mercies, so he does
+of the written Word. One sweeping charge may be
+brought against the whole of Christendom, and that charge
+is neglect and abuse of the Bible.</p>
+
+<p>To prove this charge we have no need to look abroad:
+the proof lies at our own doors. I have no doubt that<span class="pagenum">[Pg 98]</span>
+there are more Bibles in Great Britain at this moment
+than there ever were since the world began. There is
+more Bible buying and Bible selling,&mdash;more Bible printing
+and Bible distributing,&mdash;than ever was since England was
+a nation. We see Bibles in every bookseller's shop,&mdash;Bibles
+of every size, price, and style,&mdash;Bibles great, and
+Bibles small,&mdash;Bibles for the rich, and Bibles for the poor.
+There are Bibles in almost every house in the land. But
+all this time I fear we are in danger of forgetting, that to
+<i>have</i> the Bible is one thing, and to <i>read</i> it quite another.</p>
+
+<p>This neglected Book is the subject about which I
+address the readers of this paper to-day. Surely it is no
+light matter <i>what you are doing with the Bible</i>. Surely,
+when the plague is abroad, you should search and see
+whether the plague-spot is on you. Give me your attention
+while I supply you with a few plain reasons why every one
+who cares for his soul ought to value the Bible highly, to
+study it regularly, and to make himself thoroughly
+acquainted with its contents.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>I. In the first place, <i>there is no book in existence
+written in such a manner as the Bible</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The Bible was "given by inspiration of God." (2 Tim.
+iii. 16.) In this respect it is utterly unlike all other
+writings. God taught the writers of it what to say. God
+put into their minds thoughts and ideas. God guided
+their pens in setting down those thoughts and ideas.
+When you read it, you are not reading the self-taught
+compositions of poor imperfect men like yourself, but the
+words of the eternal God. When you hear it, you are not
+listening to the erring opinions of short-lived mortals, but
+to the unchanging mind of the King of kings. The men
+who were employed to indite the Bible, spoke not of
+themselves. They "spake as they were moved by the
+Holy Ghost." (2 Peter i. 21.) All other books in the
+world, however good and useful in their way, are more or<span class="pagenum">[Pg 99]</span>
+less defective. The more you look at them the more you
+see their defects and blemishes. The Bible alone is
+absolutely perfect. From beginning to end it is "the
+Word of God."</p>
+
+<p>I shall not waste time by attempting any long and
+laboured proof of this. I say boldly, that the Book itself
+is the best witness of its own inspiration. It is utterly
+inexplicable and unaccountable in any other point of view.
+It is the greatest standing miracle in the world. He that
+dares to say the Bible is not inspired, let him give a
+reasonable account of it, if he can. Let him explain the
+peculiar nature and character of the Book in a way that
+will satisfy any man of common sense. The burden of
+proof seems to my mind to lie on him.</p>
+
+<p>It proves nothing against inspiration, as some have
+asserted, that the writers of the Bible have each a
+different style. Isaiah does not write like Jeremiah, and
+Paul does not write like John. This is perfectly true,&mdash;and
+yet the works of these men are not a whit less equally
+inspired. The waters of the sea have many different
+shades. In one place they look blue, and in another
+green. And yet the difference is owing to the depth or
+shallowness of the part we see, or to the nature of the
+bottom. The water in every case is the same salt sea.&mdash;The
+breath of a man may produce different sounds,
+according to the character of the instrument on which he
+plays. The flute, the pipe, and the trumpet, have each
+their peculiar note. And yet the breath that calls forth
+the notes, is in each case one and the same.&mdash;The light of
+the planets we see in heaven is very various. Mars, and
+Saturn, and Jupiter, have each a peculiar colour. And
+yet we know that the light of the sun, which each planet
+reflects, is in each case one and the same. Just in the
+same way the books of the Old and New Testaments are
+all inspired truth, and yet the aspect of that truth varies
+according to the mind through which the Holy Ghost<span class="pagenum">[Pg 100]</span>
+makes it flow. The handwriting and style of the writers
+differ enough to prove that each had a distinct individual
+being; but the Divine Guide who dictates and directs the
+whole is always one. All is alike inspired. Every chapter,
+and verse, and word, is from God.</p>
+
+<p>Oh, that men who are troubled with doubts, and
+questionings, and sceptical thoughts about inspiration,
+would calmly examine the Bible for themselves! Oh, that
+they would act on the advice which was the first step to
+Augustine's conversion,&mdash;"Take it up and read it!&mdash;take
+it up and read it!" How many Gordian knots this course
+of action would cut! How many difficulties and objections
+would vanish away at once like mist before the rising sun!
+How many would soon confess, "The finger of God is
+here! God is in this Book, and I knew it not."</p>
+
+<p>This is the Book about which I address the readers of
+this paper. Surely it is no light matter <i>what you are
+doing with this Book</i>. It is no light thing that God
+should have caused this Book to be "written for your
+learning," and that you should have before you "the
+oracles of God." (Rom. iii. 2; xv. 4.) I charge you, I
+summon you to give an honest answer to my question.
+What art thou doing with the Bible?&mdash;Dost thou read it
+at all?&mdash;HOW READEST THOU?</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>II. In the second place, <i>there is no knowledge absolutely
+needful to a man's salvation, except a knowledge
+of the things which are to be found in the Bible</i>.</p>
+
+<p>We live in days when the words of Daniel are fulfilled
+before our eyes:&mdash;"Many run to and fro, and knowledge
+is increased." (Dan. xii. 4.) Schools are multiplying on
+every side. New colleges are set up. Old Universities are
+reformed and improved. New books are continually coming
+forth. More is being taught,&mdash;more is being learned,&mdash;more
+is being read,&mdash;than there ever was since the world begun.
+It is all well. I rejoice at it. An ignorant population is<span class="pagenum">[Pg 101]</span>
+a perilous and expensive burden to any nation. It is a
+ready prey to the first Absalom, or Catiline, or Wat Tyler,
+or Jack Cade, who may arise to entice it to do evil. But
+this I say,&mdash;we must never forget that all the education a
+man's head can receive, will not save his soul from hell,
+unless he knows the truths of the Bible.</p>
+
+<p>A man <i>may have prodigious learning, and yet never
+be saved</i>. He may be master of half the languages
+spoken round the globe. He may be acquainted with the
+highest and deepest things in heaven and earth. He may
+have read books till he is like a walking cyclopædia. He
+may be familiar with the stars of heaven,&mdash;the birds of
+the air,&mdash;the beasts of the earth, and the fishes of the
+sea. He may be able, like Solomon, to "speak of trees,
+from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows on
+the wall, of beasts also, and fowls, and creeping things,
+and fishes." (1 King iv. 33.) He may be able to discourse
+of all the secrets of fire, air, earth, and water.
+And yet, if he dies ignorant of Bible truths, he dies a
+miserable man! Chemistry never silenced a guilty conscience.
+Mathematics never healed a broken heart. All
+the sciences in the world never smoothed down a dying
+pillow. No earthly philosophy ever supplied hope in
+death. No natural theology ever gave peace in the
+prospect of meeting a holy God. All these things are of
+the earth, earthy, and can never raise a man above the
+earth's level. They may enable a man to strut and fret
+his little season here below with a more dignified gait than
+his fellow-mortals, but they can never give him wings, and
+enable him to soar towards heaven. He that has the
+largest share of them, will find at length that without
+Bible knowledge he has got no lasting possession. Death
+will make an end of all his attainments, and after death
+they will do him no good at all.</p>
+
+<p>A man <i>may be a very ignorant man, and yet be saved</i>.
+He may be unable to read a word, or write a letter. He<span class="pagenum">[Pg 102]</span>
+may know nothing of geography beyond the bounds of his
+own parish, and be utterly unable to say which is nearest to
+England, Paris or New York. He may know nothing of
+arithmetic, and not see any difference between a million and
+a thousand. He may know nothing of history, not even of
+his own land, and be quite ignorant whether his country
+owes most to Semiramis, Boadicea, or Queen Elizabeth.
+He may know nothing of the affairs of his own times, and
+be incapable of telling you whether the Chancellor of the
+Exchequer, or the Commander-in-Chief, or the Archbishop
+of Canterbury is managing the national finances. He
+may know nothing of science, and its discoveries,&mdash;and
+whether Julius Cæsar won his victories with gunpowder,
+or the apostles had a printing press, or the sun goes round
+the earth, may be matters about which he has not an
+idea. And yet if that very man has heard Bible truth
+with his ears, and believed it with his heart, he knows
+enough to save his soul. He will be found at last with
+Lazarus in Abraham's bosom, while his scientific fellow-creature,
+who has died unconverted, is lost for ever.</p>
+
+<p>There is much talk in these days about science and
+"useful knowledge." But after all a knowledge of
+the Bible is the one knowledge that is needful and
+eternally useful. A man may get to heaven without
+money, learning, health, or friends,&mdash;but without Bible
+knowledge he will never get there at all. A man may
+have the mightiest of minds, and a memory stored with
+all that mighty mind can grasp,&mdash;and yet, if he does not
+know the things of the Bible, he will make shipwreck of
+his soul for ever. Woe! woe! woe to the man who dies
+in ignorance of the Bible!</p>
+
+<p>This is the Book about which I am addressing the
+readers of these pages to-day. It is no light matter <i>what
+you do with such a book</i>. It concerns the life of your
+soul. I summon you,&mdash;I charge you to give an honest
+answer to my question. What are you doing with the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 103]</span>
+Bible? Do you read it? HOW READEST THOU?</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>III. In the third place, <i>no book in existence contains
+such important matter as the Bible</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The time would fail me if I were to enter fully into all
+the great things which are to be found in the Bible, and
+only in the Bible. It is not by any sketch or outline that
+the treasures of the Bible can be displayed. It would be
+easy to fill this volume with a list of the peculiar truths
+it reveals, and yet the half of its riches would be left untold.</p>
+
+<p>How glorious and soul-satisfying is the description it
+gives us of God's plan of salvation, and the way by which
+our sins can be forgiven! The coming into the world of
+Jesus Christ, the God-man, to save sinners,&mdash;the atonement
+He has made by suffering in our stead, the just for the
+unjust,&mdash;the complete payment He has made for our sins
+by His own blood,&mdash;the justification of every sinner who
+simply believes on Jesus,&mdash;the readiness of Father, Son,
+and Holy Ghost, to receive, pardon, and save to the
+uttermost,&mdash;how unspeakably grand and cheering are all
+these truths! We should know nothing of them without
+the Bible.</p>
+
+<p>How comforting is the account it gives us of the great
+Mediator of the New Testament,&mdash;the man Christ Jesus!
+Four times over His picture is graciously drawn before our
+eyes. Four separate witnesses tell us of His miracles and
+His ministry,&mdash;His sayings and His doings,&mdash;His life and
+His death,&mdash;His power and His love,&mdash;His kindness and
+His patience,&mdash;His ways, His words, His works, His
+thoughts, His heart. Blessed be God, there is one thing in
+the Bible which the most prejudiced reader can hardly fail
+to understand, and that is the character of Jesus Christ!</p>
+
+<p>How encouraging are the examples the Bible gives us
+of good people! It tells us of many who were of like
+passions with ourselves,&mdash;men and women who had cares,
+crosses, families, temptations, afflictions, diseases, like
+ourselves,&mdash;and yet "by faith and patience inherited the
+promises," and got safe home. (Heb. vi. 12.) It keeps
+back nothing in the history of these people. Their mistakes,
+their infirmities, their conflicts, their experience,
+their prayers, their praises, their useful lives, their happy
+deaths,&mdash;all are fully recorded. And it tells us the God
+and Saviour of these men and women still waits to be
+gracious, and is altogether unchanged.</p>
+
+<p>How instructive are the examples the Bible gives us of
+bad people! It tells us of men and women who had light,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 104]</span>
+and knowledge, and opportunities, like ourselves, and yet
+hardened their hearts, loved the world, clung to their sins,
+would have their own way, despised reproof, and ruined
+their own souls for ever. And it warns us that the God
+who punished Pharaoh, and Saul, and Ahab, and Jezebel,
+and Judas, and Ananias and Sapphira, is a God who never
+alters, and that there is a hell.</p>
+
+<p>How precious are the promises which the Bible contains
+for the use of those who love God! There is hardly any
+possible emergency or condition for which it has not some
+"word in season." And it tells men that God loves to be
+put in remembrance of these promises, and that if He has
+said He will do a thing, His promise shall certainly be
+performed.</p>
+
+<p>How blessed are the hopes which the Bible holds out to
+the believer in Christ Jesus! Peace in the hour of death,&mdash;rest
+and happiness on the other side of the grave,&mdash;a
+glorious body in the morning of the resurrection,&mdash;a full
+and triumphant acquittal in the day of judgment,&mdash;an
+everlasting reward in the kingdom of Christ,&mdash;a joyful
+meeting with the Lord's people in the day of gathering
+together;&mdash;these, these are the future prospects of every
+true Christian. They are all written in the book,&mdash;in the
+book which is all true.</p>
+
+<p>How striking is the light which the Bible throws on the
+character of man! It teaches <b>us</b> what men may be<span class="pagenum">[Pg 105]</span>
+expected to be and do in every position and station of life.
+It gives us the deepest insight into the secret springs and
+motives of human actions, and the ordinary course of
+events under the control of human agents. It is the true
+"discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."
+(Heb. iv. 12.) How deep is the wisdom contained in the
+books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes! I can well understand
+an old divine saying, "Give me a candle and a
+Bible, and shut me up in a dark dungeon, and I will tell
+you all that the whole world is doing."</p>
+
+<p>All these are things which men could find nowhere
+except in the Bible. We have probably not the least idea
+how little we should know about these things if we had
+not the Bible. We hardly know the value of the air we
+breathe, and the sun which shines on us, because we have
+never known what it is to be without them. We do not
+value the truths on which I have been just now dwelling,
+because we do not realize the darkness of men to whom
+these truths have not been revealed. Surely no tongue
+can fully tell the value of the treasures this one volume
+contains. Well might old John Newton say that some
+books were <i>copper</i> books in his estimation, some were
+<i>silver</i>, and some few were <i>gold</i>;&mdash;but the Bible alone was
+like a book all made up of <i>bank notes</i>.</p>
+
+<p>This is the Book about which I address the reader of
+this paper this day. Surely it is no light matter <i>what you
+are doing with the Bible</i>. It is no light matter in what
+way you are using this treasure. I charge you, I summon
+you to give an honest answer to my question,&mdash;What art
+thou doing with the Bible?&mdash;Dost thou read it?&mdash;HOW
+READEST THOU?</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>IV. In the fourth place, <i>no book in existence has produced
+such wonderful effects on mankind at large as the
+Bible</i>.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>a</i>) This is the Book whose doctrines turned the world<span class="pagenum">[Pg 106]</span>
+upside down in the days of the Apostles.</p>
+
+<p>Eighteen centuries have now passed away since God
+sent forth a few Jews from a remote corner of the earth,
+to do a work which according to man's judgment must
+have seemed impossible. He sent them forth at a time
+when the whole world was full of superstition, cruelty,
+lust, and sin. He sent them forth to proclaim that the
+established religions of the earth were false and useless,
+and must be forsaken. He sent them forth to persuade
+men to give up old habits and customs, and to live different
+lives. He sent them forth to do battle with the most
+grovelling idolatry, with the vilest and most disgusting
+immorality, with vested interests, with old associations,
+with a bigoted priesthood, with sneering philosophers,
+with an ignorant population, with bloody-minded emperors,
+with the whole influence of Rome. Never was
+there an enterprise to all appearance more Quixotic, and
+less likely to succeed!</p>
+
+<p>And how did He arm them for this battle? He gave
+them no carnal weapons. He gave them no worldly power
+to compel assent, and no worldly riches to bribe belief.
+He simply put the Holy Ghost into their hearts, and the
+Scriptures into their hands. He simply bade them to
+expound and explain, to enforce and to publish the doctrines
+of the Bible. The preacher of Christianity in the first
+century was not a man with a sword and an army, to
+frighten people, like Mahomet,&mdash;or a man with a license
+to be sensual, to allure people, like the priests of the
+shameful idols of Hindostan. No! he was nothing more
+than one holy man with one holy book.</p>
+
+<p>And how did these men of one book prosper? In a few
+generations they entirely changed the face of society by
+the doctrines of the Bible. They emptied the temples of
+the heathen gods. They famished idolatry, or left it high
+and dry like a stranded ship. They brought into the
+world a higher tone of morality between man and man.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 107]</span>
+They raised the character and position of woman. They
+altered the standard of purity and decency. They put an end
+to many cruel and bloody customs, such as the gladiatorial
+fights.&mdash;There was no stopping the change. Persecution
+and opposition were useless. One victory after another
+was won. One bad thing after another melted away.
+Whether men liked it or not, they were insensibly affected
+by the movement of the new religion, and drawn within
+the whirlpool of its power. The earth shook, and their
+rotten refuges fell to the ground. The flood rose, and they
+found themselves obliged to rise with it. The tree of
+Christianity swelled and grew, and the chains they had
+cast round it to arrest its growth, snapped like tow. And
+all this was done by the doctrines of the Bible! Talk of
+victories indeed! What are the victories of Alexander,
+and Cæsar, and Marlborough, and Napoleon, and Wellington,
+compared with those I have just mentioned? For
+extent, for completeness, for results, for permanence, there
+are no victories like the victories of the Bible.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>b</i>) This is the Book which turned Europe upside down
+in the days of the glorious Protestant Reformation.</p>
+
+<p>No man can read the history of Christendom as it was
+five hundred years ago, and not see that darkness covered
+the whole professing Church of Christ, even a darkness
+that might be felt. So great was the change which had
+come over Christianity, that if an apostle had risen from
+the dead he would not have recognised it, and would have
+thought that heathenism had revived again. The doctrines
+of the Gospel lay buried under a dense mass of human
+traditions. Penances, and pilgrimages, and indulgences,
+relic-worship, and image-worship, and saint-worship, and
+worship of the Virgin Mary, formed the sum and substance
+of most people's religion. The Church was made an idol.
+The priests and ministers of the Church usurped the place
+of Christ. And by what means was all this miserable
+darkness cleared away? By none so much as by bringing<span class="pagenum">[Pg 108]</span>
+forth once more the Bible.</p>
+
+<p>It was not merely the preaching of Luther and his
+friends, which established Protestantism in Germany.
+The grand lever which overthrew the Pope's power in
+that country, was Luther's translation of the Bible into
+the German tongue.&mdash;It was not merely the writings of
+Cranmer and the English Reformers which cast down
+popery in England. The seeds of the work thus carried
+forward were first sown by Wycliffe's translation of the
+Bible many years before.&mdash;It was not merely the quarrel
+of Henry VIII. and the Pope of Rome, which loosened the
+Pope's hold on English minds. It was the royal permission
+to have the Bible translated and set up in
+churches, so that every one who liked might read it.
+Yes! it was the reading and circulation of Scripture
+which mainly established the cause of Protestantism in
+England, in Germany, and Switzerland. Without it the
+people would probably have returned to their former
+bondage when the first reformers died. But by the reading
+of the Bible the public mind became gradually leavened
+with the principles of true religion. Men's eyes became
+thoroughly open. Their spiritual understandings became
+thoroughly enlarged. The abominations of popery became
+distinctly visible. The excellence of the pure Gospel
+became a rooted idea in their hearts. It was then in vain
+for Popes to thunder forth excommunications. It was
+useless for Kings and Queens to attempt to stop the course
+of Protestantism by fire and sword. It was all too late.
+The people knew too much. They had seen the light.
+They had heard the joyful sound. They had tasted the
+truth. The sun had risen on their minds. The scales had
+fallen from their eyes. The Bible had done its appointed
+work within them, and that work was not to be overthrown.
+The people would not return to Egypt. The
+clock could not be put back again. A mental and moral
+revolution had been effected, and mainly effected by God's<span class="pagenum">[Pg 109]</span>
+Word. Those are the true revolutions which the Bible
+effects. What are all the revolutions recorded by Vertot,&mdash;what
+are all the revolutions which France and England
+have gone through, compared to these? No revolutions
+are so bloodless, none so satisfactory, none so rich in
+lasting results, as the revolutions accomplished by the
+Bible!</p>
+
+<p>This is the book on which the well-being of nations has
+always hinged, and with which the best interests of every
+nation in Christendom at this moment are inseparably
+bound up. Just in proportion as the Bible is honoured or
+not, light or darkness, morality or immorality, true religion
+or superstition, liberty or despotism, good laws or
+bad, will be found in a land. Come with me and open the
+pages of history, and you will read the proofs in time past.
+Read it in the history of Israel under the Kings. How
+great was the wickedness that then prevailed! But who
+can wonder? The law of the Lord had been completely
+lost sight of, and was found in the days of Josiah thrown
+aside in a corner of the temple. (2 Kings xxii. 8.)&mdash;Read
+it in the history of the Jews in our Lord Jesus Christ's
+time. How awful the picture of Scribes and Pharisees,
+and their religion! But who can wonder? The Scripture
+was "made of none effect by man's traditions." (Matt.
+xv. 6.)&mdash;Read it in the history of the Church of
+Christ in the middle ages. What can be worse than the
+accounts we have of its ignorance and superstition? But
+who can wonder? The times might well be dark, when
+men had not the light of the Bible.</p>
+
+<p>This is the Book to which the civilized world is indebted
+for many of its best and most praise-worthy institutions.
+Few probably are aware how many are the good things
+that men have adopted for the public benefit, of which
+the origin may be clearly traced up to the Bible. It has
+left lasting marks wherever it has been received. From
+the Bible are drawn many of the best laws by which<span class="pagenum">[Pg 110]</span>
+society is kept in order. From the Bible has been obtained
+the standard of morality about truth, honesty, and
+the relations of man and wife, which prevails among
+Christian nations, and which,&mdash;however feebly respected
+in many cases,&mdash;makes so great a difference between
+Christians and heathen. To the Bible we are indebted
+for that most merciful provision for the poor man, the
+Sabbath day. To the influence of the Bible we owe nearly
+every humane and charitable institution in existence.
+The sick, the poor, the aged, the orphan, the lunatic, the
+idiot, the blind, were seldom or never thought of before
+the Bible leavened the world. You may search in vain
+for any record of institutions for their aid in the histories of
+Athens or of Rome. Alas! there are many who sneer at the
+Bible, and say the world would get on well enough without
+it, who little think how great are their own obligations to
+the Bible. Little does the infidel workman think, as he lies
+sick in some of our great hospitals, that he owes all his
+present comforts to the very book he affects to despise.
+Had it not been for the Bible, he might have died in
+misery, uncared for, unnoticed and alone. Verily the
+world we live in is fearfully unconscious of its debts. The
+last day alone, I believe, will tell the full amount of
+benefit conferred upon it by the Bible.</p>
+
+<p>This wonderful book is the subject about which I
+address the reader of this paper this day. Surely it is no
+light matter <i>what you are doing with the Bible</i>. The
+swords of conquering Generals,&mdash;the ship in which Nelson
+led the fleets of England to victory,&mdash;the hydraulic press
+which raised the tubular bridge at the Menai;&mdash;each and
+all of these are objects of interest as instruments of
+mighty power. The Book I speak of this day is an
+instrument a thousand-fold mightier still. Surely it is no
+light matter whether you are paying it the attention it
+deserves. I charge you, I summon you to give me an
+honest answer this day,&mdash;What art thou doing with the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 111]</span>
+Bible? Dost thou read it? HOW READEST THOU?</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>V. In the fifth place, <i>no book in existence can do so
+much for every one who reads it rightly as the Bible</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The Bible does not profess to teach the wisdom of this
+world. It was not written to explain geology or astronomy.
+It will neither instruct you in mathematics, nor in natural
+philosophy. It will not make you a doctor, or a lawyer,
+or an engineer.</p>
+
+<p>But there is another world to be thought of, beside that
+world in which man now lives. There are other ends for
+which man was created, beside making money and working.
+There are other interests which he is meant to attend to,
+beside those of his body, and those interests are the
+interests of his soul. It is the interests of the immortal
+soul which the Bible is especially able to promote. If you
+would know law, you may study Blackstone or Sugden.
+If you would know astronomy or geology, you may study
+Herschel and Lyell. But if you would know how to
+have your soul saved, you must study the written Word
+of God.</p>
+
+<p>The Bible is "<i>able to make a man wise unto salvation,
+through faith which is in Christ Jesus</i>." (2 Tim. iii. 15.) It
+can show you the way which leads to heaven. It can teach
+you everything you need to know, point out everything
+you need to believe, and explain everything you need to do.
+It can show you what you are,&mdash;<i>a sinner</i>. It can show
+you what God is,&mdash;perfectly <i>holy</i>. It can show you the
+great giver of pardon, peace, and grace,&mdash;<i>Jesus Christ</i>.
+I have read of an Englishman who visited Scotland in the
+days of Blair, Rutherford, and Dickson, three famous
+preachers,&mdash;and heard all three in succession. He said
+that the first showed him the majesty of God,&mdash;the second
+showed him the beauty of Christ,&mdash;and the third showed
+him all his heart. It is the glory and beauty of the Bible
+that it is always teaching these three things more or less,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 112]</span>
+from the first chapter of it to the last.</p>
+
+<p>The Bible applied to the heart by the Holy Ghost, is
+<i>the grand instrument by which souls are first converted
+to God</i>. That mighty change is generally begun by some
+text or doctrine of the Word, brought home to a man's
+conscience. In this way the Bible has worked moral
+miracles by thousands. It has made drunkards become
+sober,&mdash;unchaste people become pure,&mdash;thieves become
+honest,&mdash;and violent-tempered people become meek. It
+has wholly altered the course of men's lives. It has
+caused their old things to pass away, and made all their
+ways new. It has taught worldly people to seek first the
+kingdom of God. It has taught lovers of pleasure to
+become lovers of God. It has taught the stream of men's
+affections to run upwards instead of running downwards.
+It has made men think of heaven, instead of always
+thinking of earth, and live by faith, instead of living by
+sight. All this it has done in every part of the world.
+All this it is doing still. What are the Romish miracles
+which weak men believe, compared to all this, even if
+they were true? Those are the truly great miracles
+which are yearly worked by the Word.</p>
+
+<p>The Bible applied to the heart by the Holy Ghost, is
+<i>the chief means by which men are built up and stablished
+in the faith</i>, after their conversion. It is able to cleanse
+them, to sanctify them, to instruct them in righteousness,
+and to furnish them thoroughly for all good works. (Psalm
+cxix. 9; John xvii. 17; 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17.) The Spirit
+ordinarily does these things by the written Word; sometimes
+by the Word read, and sometimes by the Word
+preached, but seldom, if ever, without the Word. The
+Bible can show a believer how to walk in this world so as
+to please God. It can teach him how to glorify Christ in
+all the relations of life, and can make him a good master,
+servant, subject, husband, father, or son. It can enable
+him to bear afflictions and privations without murmuring,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 113]</span>
+and say, "It is well." It can enable him to look down
+into the grave, and say, "I fear no evil." (Psalm xxiii. 4.)
+It can enable him to think on judgment and eternity, and
+not feel afraid. It can enable him to bear persecution
+without flinching, and to give up liberty and life rather
+than deny Christ's truth. Is he drowsy in soul? It can
+awaken him.&mdash;Is he mourning? It can comfort him.&mdash;Is
+he erring? It can restore him.&mdash;Is he weak? It can
+make him strong.&mdash;Is he in company? It can keep him
+from evil.&mdash;Is he alone? It can talk with him.&mdash;(Prov.
+vi. 22.) All this the Bible can do for all believers,&mdash;for
+the least as well as the greatest,&mdash;for the richest as well
+as the poorest. It has done it for thousands already, and
+is doing it for thousands every day.</p>
+
+<p>The man who has the Bible, and the Holy Spirit in his
+heart, has everything which is absolutely needful to make
+him spiritually wise. He needs no priest to break the
+bread of life for him. He needs no ancient traditions, no
+writings of the Fathers, no voice of the Church, to guide
+him into all truth. He has the well of truth open before
+him, and what can he want more? Yes! though he be
+shut up alone in a prison, or cast on a desert island,&mdash;though
+he never see a church, or minister, or sacrament
+again,&mdash;if he has but the Bible, he has got the infallible
+guide, and wants no other. If he has but the will to read
+that Bible rightly, it will certainly teach him the road
+that leads to heaven. It is here alone that infallibility
+resides. It is not in the Church. It is not in the
+Councils. It is not in ministers. It is only in the
+written Word.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>a</i>) I know well that many say they have found no saving
+power in the Bible. They tell us they have tried to read
+it, and have learned nothing from it. They can see in it
+nothing but hard and deep things. They ask us what we
+mean by talking of its power.</p>
+
+<p>I answer, that the Bible no doubt contains hard things,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 114]</span>
+or else it would not be the book of God. It contains
+things hard to comprehend, but only hard because we have
+not grasp of mind to comprehend them. It contains things
+above our reasoning powers, but nothing that might not
+be explained if the eyes of our understanding were not
+feeble and dim. But is not an acknowledgment of our
+own ignorance the very corner-stone and foundation of all
+knowledge? Must not many things be taken for granted
+in the beginning of every science, before we can proceed
+one step towards acquaintance with it? Do we not
+require our children to learn many things of which they
+cannot see the meaning at first? And ought we not then
+to expect to find "deep things" when we begin studying the
+Word of God, and yet to believe that if we persevere in
+reading it the meaning of many of them will one day be
+made clear? No doubt we ought so to expect, and so to
+believe. We must read with humility. We must take
+much on trust. We must believe that what we know not
+now, we shall know hereafter,&mdash;some part in this world,
+and all in the world to come.</p>
+
+<p>But I ask that man who has given up reading the
+Bible because it contains hard things, whether he did not
+find many things in it easy and plain? I put it to his
+conscience whether he did not see great landmarks and
+principles in it all the way through? I ask him whether
+the things needful to salvation did not stand out boldly
+before his eyes, like the light-houses on English headlands
+from the Land's-end to the mouth of the Thames. What
+should we think of the captain of a steamer who brought
+up at night in the entrance of the Channel, on the plea
+that he did not know every parish, and village, and creek,
+along the British coast? Should we not think him a lazy
+coward, when the lights on the Lizard, and Eddystone,
+and the Start, and Portland, and St. Catherine's, and
+Beachy Head, and Dungeness, and the Forelands, were
+shining forth like so many lamps, to guide him up to the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 115]</span>
+river? Should we not say, Why did you not steer by the
+great leading lights? And what ought we to say to the
+man who gives up reading the Bible because it contains
+hard things, when his own state, and the path to heaven,
+and the way to serve God, are all written down clearly and
+unmistakably, as with a sunbeam? Surely we ought to
+tell that man that his objections are no better than lazy
+excuses, and do not deserve to be heard.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>b</i>) I know well that many raise the objection, that
+thousands read the Bible and are not a whit the better
+for their reading. And they ask us, when this is the case,
+what becomes of the Bible's boasted power?</p>
+
+<p>I answer, that the reason why so many read the Bible
+without benefit is plain and simple;&mdash;they do not read it
+in the right way. There is generally a right way and a
+wrong way of doing everything in the world; and just as
+it is with other things, so it is in the matter of reading
+the Bible. The Bible is not so entirely different from all
+other books as to make it of no importance in what spirit
+and manner you read it. It does not do good, as a matter
+of course, by merely running our eyes over the print, any
+more than the sacraments do good by mere virtue of our
+receiving them. It does not ordinarily do good, unless it
+is read with humility and earnest prayer. The best steam-engine
+that was ever built is useless if a man does not
+know how to work it. The best sun-dial that was ever
+constructed will not tell its owner the time of day if he is
+so ignorant as to put it up in the shade. Just as it is with
+that steam-engine, and that sun-dial, so it is with the
+Bible. When men read it without profit, <i>the fault is not
+in the Book, but in themselves</i>.</p>
+
+<p>I tell the man who doubts the power of the Bible,
+because many read it, and are no better for the reading,
+that the abuse of a thing is no argument against the use
+of it. I tell him boldly, that never did man or woman
+read that book in a childlike persevering spirit,&mdash;like the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 116]</span>
+Ethiopian eunuch, and the Bereans (Acts viii. 28; xvii. 11),&mdash;and
+miss the way to heaven. Yes, many a broken
+cistern will be exposed to shame in the day of judgment;
+but there will not rise up one soul who will be able to
+say, that he went thirsting to the Bible, and found in it no
+living water,&mdash;he searched for truth in the Scriptures, and
+searching, did not find it. The words which are spoken of
+Wisdom in the Proverbs are strictly true of the Bible: "If
+thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for
+understanding; if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest
+for her as for hid treasures; then shalt thou understand
+the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God."
+(Prov. ii. 3, 4, 5.)</p>
+
+<p>This wonderful Book is the subject about which I
+address the readers of this paper this day. Surely it is no
+light matter <i>what you are doing with the Bible</i>. What
+should you think of the man who in time of cholera
+despised a sure receipt for preserving the health of his
+body? What must be thought of you if you despise the
+only sure receipt for the everlasting health of your soul?
+I charge you, I entreat you, to give an honest answer to
+my question. What dost thou do with the Bible?&mdash;Dost
+thou read it?&mdash;HOW READEST THOU?</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>VI. In the sixth place, <i>the Bible is the only rule
+by which all questions of doctrine or of duty can be
+tried</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The Lord God knows the weakness and infirmity of our
+poor fallen understandings. He knows that, even after
+conversion, our perceptions of right and wrong are
+exceedingly indistinct. He knows how artfully Satan can
+gild error with an appearance of truth, and can dress up
+wrong with plausible arguments, till it looks like right.
+Knowing all this, He has mercifully provided us with an
+unerring standard of truth and error, right and wrong,
+and has taken care to make that standard a written book,&mdash;even<span class="pagenum">[Pg 117]</span>
+the Scripture.</p>
+
+<p>No one can look round the world, and not see the
+wisdom of such a provision. No one can live long, and
+not find out that he is constantly in need of a counsellor
+and adviser,&mdash;of a rule of faith and practice, on which he
+can depend. Unless he lives like a beast, without a soul
+and conscience, he will find himself constantly assailed by
+difficult and puzzling questions. He will be often asking
+himself, What must I believe? and what must I do?</p>
+
+<p>(<i>a</i>) The world is full of difficulties about points of
+<i>doctrine</i>. The house of error lies close alongside the house
+of truth. The door of one is so like the door of the other
+that there is continual risk of mistakes.</p>
+
+<p>Does a man read or travel much? He will soon find
+the most opposite opinions prevailing among those who
+are called Christians. He will discover that different
+persons give the most different answers to the important
+question, What shall I do to be saved? The Roman
+Catholic and the Protestant,&mdash;the Neologian and the
+Tractarian,&mdash;the Mormonite and the Swedenborgian,&mdash;each
+and all will assert that he alone has the truth. Each
+and all will tell him that safety is only to be found in his
+party. Each and all say, "Come with us." All this is
+puzzling. What shall a man do?</p>
+
+<p>Does he settle down quietly in some English or Scotch
+parish? He will soon find that even in our own land the
+most conflicting views are held. He will soon discover that
+there are serious differences among Christians as to the
+comparative importance of the various parts and articles
+of the faith. One man thinks of nothing but Church
+government,&mdash;another of nothing but sacraments, services,
+and forms,&mdash;a third of nothing but preaching the Gospel.
+Does he apply to ministers for a solution? He will perhaps
+find one minister teaching one doctrine, and another
+another. All this is puzzling. What shall a man do?</p>
+
+<p>There is only one answer to this question. A man must<span class="pagenum">[Pg 118]</span>
+make the Bible alone his rule. He must receive nothing,
+and believe nothing, which is not according to the Word.
+He must try all religious teaching by one simple test,&mdash;Does
+it square with the Bible? What saith the Scripture?</p>
+
+<p>I would to God the eyes of the laity of this country
+were more open on this subject. I would to God they
+would learn to weigh sermons, books, opinions, and
+ministers, in the scales of the Bible, and to value all
+according to their conformity to the Word. I would to God
+they would see that it matters little who says a thing,&mdash;whether
+he be Father or Reformer,&mdash;Bishop or Archbishop,&mdash;Priest
+or Deacon,&mdash;Archdeacon or Dean. The only
+question is,&mdash;Is the thing said Scriptural? If it is, it
+ought to be received and believed. If it is not, it ought
+to be refused and cast aside. I fear the consequences of
+that servile acceptance of everything which "the parson"
+says, which is so common among many English laymen.
+I fear lest they be led they know not whither, like the
+blinded Syrians, and awake some day to find themselves
+in the power of Rome. (2 Kings vi. 20.) Oh, that men
+in England would only remember for what purpose the
+Bible was given them!</p>
+
+<p>I tell English laymen that it is nonsense to say, as some
+do, that it is presumptuous to judge a minister's teaching
+by the Word. When one doctrine is proclaimed in one
+parish, and another in another, people must read and
+judge for themselves. Both doctrines cannot be right, and
+both ought to be tried by the Word. I charge them,
+above all things, never to suppose that any true minister
+of the Gospel will dislike his people measuring all he
+teaches by the Bible. On the contrary, the more they
+read the Bible, and prove all he says by the Bible, the
+better he will be pleased. A false minister may say,
+"You have no right to use your private judgment: leave
+the Bible to us who are ordained." A true minister will
+say, "Search the Scriptures, and if I do not teach you
+what is Scriptural, do not believe me." A false minister
+may cry, "Hear the Church," and "Hear me." A true<span class="pagenum">[Pg 119]</span>
+minister will say, "Hear the Word of God."</p>
+
+<p>(<i>b</i>) But the world is not only full of difficulties about
+points of doctrine; it is equally full of difficulties about
+points of <i>practice</i>. Every professing Christian, who wishes
+to act conscientiously, must know that it is so. The most
+puzzling questions are continually arising. He is tried on
+every side by doubts as to the line of duty, and can often
+hardly see what is the right thing to do.</p>
+
+<p>He is tried by questions connected with the management
+of his <i>worldly calling</i>, if he is in business or in trade.
+He sometimes sees things going on of a very doubtful
+character,&mdash;things that can hardly be called fair, straightforward,
+truthful, and doing as you would be done by.
+But then everybody in the trade does these things. They
+have always been done in the most respectable houses.
+There would be no carrying on a profitable business if
+they were not done. They are not things distinctly
+named and prohibited by God. All this is very puzzling.
+What is a man to do?</p>
+
+<p>He is tried by questions about <i>worldly amusements</i>.
+Races, and balls, and operas, and theatres, and card parties,
+are all very doubtful methods of spending time. But
+then he sees numbers of great people taking part in them.
+Are all these people wrong? Can there really be such
+mighty harm in these things? All this is very puzzling.
+What is a man to do?</p>
+
+<p>He is tried by questions about the <i>education of his
+children</i>. He wishes to train them up morally and
+religiously, and to remember their souls. But he is told
+by many sensible people, that young persons will be young,&mdash;that
+it does not do to check and restrain them too
+much, and that he ought to attend pantomimes and
+children's parties, and give children's balls himself. He is
+informed that this nobleman, or that lady of rank, always<span class="pagenum">[Pg 120]</span>
+does so, and yet they are reckoned religious people.
+Surely it cannot be wrong. All this is very puzzling.
+What is he to do?</p>
+
+<p>There is only one answer to all these questions. A
+man must make the Bible his rule of conduct. He must
+make its leading principles the compass by which he
+steers his course through life. By the letter or spirit of
+the Bible he must test every difficult point and question.
+"<i>To the law and to the testimony! What saith the
+Scripture?</i>" He ought to care nothing for what other
+people may think right. He ought not to set his watch by
+the clock of his neighbour, but by the sun-dial of the Word.</p>
+
+<p>I charge my readers solemnly to act on the maxim I
+have just laid down, and to adhere to it rigidly all the
+days of their lives. You will never repent of it. Make it
+a leading principle never to act contrary to the Word.
+Care not for the charge of over-strictness, and needless
+precision. Remember you serve a strict and holy God.
+Listen not to the common objection, that the rule you
+have laid down is impossible, and cannot be observed in
+such a world as this. Let those who make such an objection
+speak out plainly, and tell us for what purpose the
+Bible was given to man. Let them remember that by
+the Bible we shall all be judged at the last day, and let
+them learn to judge themselves by it here, lest they be
+judged and condemned by it hereafter.</p>
+
+<p>This mighty rule of faith and practice is the book
+about which I am addressing the readers of this paper
+this day. Surely it is no light matter <i>what you are doing
+with the Bible</i>. Surely when danger is abroad on the
+right hand and on the left, you should consider what you
+are doing with the safe-guard which God has provided. I
+charge you, I beseech you, to give an honest answer to my
+question. What art thou doing with the Bible?&mdash;Dost
+thou read it? HOW READEST THOU?</p>
+<br>
+<p>VII. In the seventh place, <i>the Bible is the book which<span class="pagenum">[Pg 121]</span>
+all true servants of God have always lived on and loved</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Every living thing which God creates requires food.
+The life that God imparts needs sustaining and nourishing.
+It is so with animal and vegetable life,&mdash;with birds, beasts,
+fishes, reptiles, insects, and plants. It is equally so with
+spiritual life. When the Holy Ghost raises a man from
+the death of sin and makes him a new creature in Christ
+Jesus, the new principle in that man's heart requires food,
+and the only food which will sustain it is the Word of God.</p>
+
+<p>There never was a man or woman truly converted, from
+one end of the world to the other, who did not love the
+revealed will of God. Just as a child born into the world
+desires naturally the milk provided for its nourishment, so
+does a soul "born again" desire the sincere milk of the
+Word. This is a common mark of all the children of God&mdash;they
+"delight in the law of the Lord." (Psalm, i. 2.)</p>
+
+<p>Show me a person who despises Bible reading, or thinks
+little of Bible preaching, and I hold it to be a certain fact
+that he is not yet "born again." He may be zealous about
+forms and ceremonies. He may be diligent in attending
+sacraments and daily services. But if these things are
+more precious to him than the Bible, I cannot think he is
+a converted man. Tell me what the Bible is to a man,
+and I will generally tell you what he is. This is the pulse
+to try,&mdash;this is the barometer to look at,&mdash;if we would
+know the state of the heart. I have no notion of the
+Spirit dwelling in a man and not giving clear evidence of
+His presence. And I believe it to be a signal evidence of
+the Spirit's presence when the Word is really precious to a
+man's soul.</p>
+
+<p>Love to the Word is one of the characteristics we see in
+Job. Little as we know of this Patriarch and his age,
+this at least stands out clearly. He says, "I have esteemed
+the words of His mouth more than my necessary food."
+(Job xxiii. 12.)</p>
+
+<p>Love to the Word is a shining feature in the character<span class="pagenum">[Pg 122]</span>
+of David. Mark how it appears all through that wonderful
+part of Scripture, the cxixth Psalm. He might well say,
+"Oh, how I love thy law!" (Psalm cxix. 97.)</p>
+
+<p>Love to the Word is a striking point in the character of
+St. Paul. What were he and his companions but men
+"mighty in the Scriptures?" What were his sermons but
+expositions and applications of the Word?</p>
+
+<p>Love to the Word appears pre-eminently in our Lord
+and Saviour Jesus Christ. He read it publicly. He
+quoted it continually. He expounded it frequently. He
+advised the Jews to "search" it. He used it as His weapon
+to resist the devil. He said repeatedly, "The Scripture
+must be fulfilled."&mdash;Almost the last thing He did was to
+"open the understanding of His disciples, that they might
+understand the Scriptures." (Luke xxiv. 45.) I am afraid
+that man can be no true servant of Christ, who has not
+something of his Master's mind and feeling towards the
+Bible.</p>
+
+<p>Love to the Word has been a prominent feature in the
+history of all the saints, of whom we know anything, since
+the days of the Apostles. This is the lamp which
+Athanasius and Chrysostom and Augustine followed.
+This is the compass which kept the Vallenses and
+Albigenses from making shipwreck of the faith. This is
+the well which was re-opened by Wycliffe and Luther,
+after it had been long stopped up. This is the sword
+with which Latimer, and Jewell, and Knox won their
+victories. This is the manna which fed Baxter and Owen,
+and the noble host of the Puritans, and made them strong
+to battle. This is the armoury from which Whitefield
+and Wesley drew their powerful weapons. This is the
+mine from which Bickersteth and M'Cheyne brought forth
+rich gold. Differing as these holy men did in some
+matters, on one point they were all agreed,&mdash;they all
+delighted in the Word.</p>
+
+<p>Love to the Word is one of the first things that appears<span class="pagenum">[Pg 123]</span>
+in the converted heathen, at the various Missionary stations
+throughout the world. In hot climates and in cold,&mdash;among
+savage people and among civilized,&mdash;in New Zealand, in
+the South Sea Islands, in Africa, in Hindostan,&mdash;it is
+always the same. They enjoy hearing it read. They long
+to be able to read it themselves. They wonder why
+Christians did not send it to them before. How striking
+is the picture which Moffat draws of Africaner, the fierce
+South African chieftain, when first brought under the
+power of the Gospel! "Often have I seen him," he says,
+"under the shadow of a great rock nearly the live-long
+day, eagerly perusing the pages of the Bible."&mdash;How
+touching is the expression of a poor converted Negro,
+speaking of the Bible! He said, "It is never old and
+never cold."&mdash;How affecting was the language of another
+old negro, when some would have dissuaded him from
+learning to read, because of his great age. "No!" he said,
+"I will never give it up till I die. It is worth all the
+labour to be able to read that one verse, 'God so loved the
+world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
+believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal
+life.'"</p>
+
+<p>Love to the Bible is one of the grand points of agreement
+among all converted men and women in our own
+land. Episcopalians and Presbyterians, Baptists and Independents,
+Methodists and Plymouth Brethren,&mdash;all unite
+in honouring the Bible, as soon as they are real Christians.
+This is the manna which all the tribes of our Israel feed
+upon, and find satisfying food. This is the fountain round
+which all the various portions of Christ's flock meet
+together, and from which no sheep goes thirsty away. Oh,
+that believers in this country would learn to cleave more
+closely to the written Word! Oh, that they would see
+that the more the Bible, and the Bible only, is the substance
+of men's religion, the more they agree! It is probable
+there never was an uninspired book more universally<span class="pagenum">[Pg 124]</span>
+admired than Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. It is a book
+which all denominations of Christians delight to honour.
+It has won praise from all parties. Now what a striking
+fact it is, that the author was pre-eminently a man of one
+book! He had read hardly anything but the Bible.</p>
+
+<p>It is a blessed thought that there will be "much people"
+in heaven at last. Few as the Lord's people undoubtedly
+are at any one given time or place, yet all gathered
+together at last, they will be "a multitude that no man
+can number." (Rev. vii. 9; xix. 1.) They will be of one
+heart and mind. They will have passed through like
+experience. They will all have repented, believed, lived
+holy, prayerful, and humble. They will all have washed
+their robes and made them white in the blood of the
+Lamb. But one thing beside all this they will have in
+common: they will all love the texts and doctrines of the
+Bible. The Bible will have been their food and delight
+in the days of their pilgrimage on earth. And the Bible
+will be a common subject of joyful meditation and retrospect,
+when they are gathered together in heaven.</p>
+
+<p>This Book, which all true Christians live upon and love,
+is the subject about which I am addressing the readers of
+this paper this day. Surely it is no light matter <i>what you
+are doing with the Bible</i>. Surely it is matter for serious
+inquiry, whether you know anything of this love to the
+Word, and have this mark of walking "in the footsteps
+of the flock." (Cant. i. 8.) I charge you, I entreat you to
+give me an honest answer. What art thou doing with the
+Bible?&mdash;Dost thou read it?&mdash;HOW READEST THOU?</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>VIII. In the last place, <i>the Bible is the only book
+which can comfort a man in the last hours of his life</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Death is an event which in all probability is before us
+all. There is no avoiding it. It is the river which each
+of us must cross. I who write, and you who read, have
+each one day to die. It is good to remember this. We<span class="pagenum">[Pg 125]</span>
+are all sadly apt to put away the subject from us. "Each
+man thinks each man mortal but himself." I want every
+one to do his duty in life, but I also want every one to
+think of death. I want every one to know how to live,
+but I also want every one to know how to die.</p>
+
+<p>Death is a solemn event to all. It is the winding up
+of all earthly plans and expectations. It is a separation
+from all we have loved and lived with. It is often
+accompanied by much bodily pain and distress. It brings
+us to the grave, the worm, and corruption. It opens the
+door to judgment and eternity,&mdash;to heaven or to hell. It
+is an event after which there is no change, or space for
+repentance. Other mistakes may be corrected or retrieved,
+but not a mistake on our death-beds. As the tree falls,
+there it must lie. No conversion in the coffin! No new
+birth after we have ceased to breathe! And death is
+before us all. It may be close at hand. The time of our
+departure is quite uncertain. But sooner or later we
+must each lie down alone and die. All these are serious
+considerations.</p>
+
+<p>Death is a solemn event even to the believer in Christ.
+For him no doubt the "sting of death" is taken away.
+(1 Cor. xv. 55.) Death has become one of his privileges,
+for he is Christ's. Living or dying, he is the Lord's. If he
+lives, Christ lives in him; and if he dies, he goes to live
+with Christ. To him "to live is Christ, and to die is gain."
+(Phil. i. 21.) Death frees him from many trials,&mdash;from a
+weak body, a corrupt heart, a tempting devil, and an ensnaring
+or persecuting world. Death admits him to the
+enjoyment of many blessings. He rests from his labours:&mdash;the
+hope of a joyful resurrection is changed into a certainty:&mdash;he
+has the company of holy redeemed spirits:&mdash;he
+is "with Christ." All this is true,&mdash;and yet, even to a
+believer, death is a solemn thing. Flesh and blood naturally
+shrink from it. To part from all we love, is a wrench and
+trial to the feelings. The world we go to is a world<span class="pagenum">[Pg 126]</span>
+unknown, even though it is our home. Friendly and
+harmless as death is to a believer, it is not an event to be
+treated lightly. It always must be a very solemn thing.</p>
+
+<p>It becomes every thoughtful and sensible man to
+consider calmly how he is going to meet death. Gird up
+your loins, like a man, and look the subject in the face.
+Listen to me, while I tell you a few things about the end
+to which we are coming.</p>
+
+<p>The good things of the world cannot comfort a man
+when he draws near death. All the gold of California
+and Australia will not provide light for the dark valley.
+Money can buy the best medical advice and attendance
+for a man's body; but money cannot buy peace for his
+conscience, heart, and soul.</p>
+
+<p>Relatives, loved friends, and servants, cannot comfort a
+man when he draws near death. They may minister
+affectionately to his bodily wants. They may watch by
+his bed-side tenderly, and anticipate his every wish. They
+may smooth down his dying pillow, and support his sinking
+frame in their arms. But they cannot "minister to a
+mind diseased." They cannot stop the achings of a
+troubled heart. They cannot screen an uneasy conscience
+from the eye of God.</p>
+
+<p>The pleasures of the world cannot comfort a man when
+he draws near death. The brilliant ball-room,&mdash;the merry
+dance,&mdash;the midnight revel,&mdash;the party to Epsom races,&mdash;the
+card table,&mdash;the box at the opera,&mdash;the voices of
+singing men and singing women,&mdash;all these are at length
+distasteful things. To hear of hunting and shooting
+engagements gives him no pleasure. To be invited to
+feasts, and regattas, and fancy-fairs, gives him no ease.
+He cannot hide from himself that these are hollow, empty,
+powerless things. They jar upon the ear of his conscience.
+They are out of harmony with his condition. They cannot
+stop one gap in his heart, when the last enemy is coming
+in like a flood. They cannot make him calm in the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 127]</span>
+unknown, even though it is our home. Friendly and
+prospect of meeting a holy God.</p>
+
+<p>Books and newspapers cannot comfort a man when he
+draws near death. The most brilliant writings of Macaulay
+or Dickens will pall on his ear. The most able article in
+the Times will fail to interest him. The Edinburgh and
+Quarterly Reviews will give him no pleasure. Punch and
+the Illustrated News, and the last new novel, will lie
+unopened and unheeded. Their time will be past. Their
+vocation will be gone. Whatever they may be in health,
+they are useless in the hour of death.</p>
+
+<p>There is but one fountain of comfort for a man drawing
+near to his end, and that is the Bible. Chapters out of
+the Bible,&mdash;texts out of the Bible,&mdash;statements of truth
+taken out of the Bible,&mdash;books containing matter drawn
+from the Bible,&mdash;these are a man's only chance of comfort
+when he comes to die. I do not at all say that the Bible
+will do good, as a matter of course, to a dying man, if he
+has not valued it before. I know, unhappily, too much of
+death-beds to say that. I do not say whether it is probable
+that he who has been unbelieving and neglectful of
+the Bible in life, will at once believe and get comfort
+from it in death. But I do say positively, that no dying
+man will ever get real comfort, except from the contents
+of the Word of God. All comfort from any other source is
+a house built upon sand.</p>
+
+<p>I lay this down as a rule of universal application. I
+make no exception in favour of any class on earth. Kings
+and poor men, learned and unlearned,&mdash;all are on a level
+in this matter. There is not a jot of real consolation for
+any dying man, unless he gets it from the Bible. Chapters,
+passages, texts, promises, and doctrines of Scripture,&mdash;heard,
+received, believed, and rested on,&mdash;these are the
+only comforters I dare promise to any one, when he leaves
+the world. Taking the sacrament will do a man no more
+good than the Popish extreme unction, so long as the
+Word is not received and believed. Priestly absolution<span class="pagenum">[Pg 128]</span>
+will no more ease the conscience than the incantations of
+a heathen magician, if the poor dying sinner does not
+receive and believe Bible truth. I tell every one who
+reads this paper, that although men may seem to get on
+comfortably without the Bible while they live, they may
+be sure that without the Bible they cannot comfortably
+die. It was a true confession of the learned Selden,&mdash;"There
+is no book upon which we can rest in a dying
+moment but the Bible."</p>
+
+<p>I might easily confirm all I have just said, by examples
+and illustrations. I might show you the death-beds of
+men who have affected to despise the Bible. I might tell
+you how Voltaire and Paine, the famous infidels, died in
+misery, bitterness, rage, fear, and despair. I might show
+you the happy death-beds of those who have loved the
+Bible and believed it, and the blessed effect the sight of
+their death-beds had on others. Cecil,&mdash;a minister whose
+praise ought to be in all churches,&mdash;says, "I shall never
+forget standing by the bed-side of my dying mother. 'Are
+you afraid to die?' I asked.&mdash;'No!' she replied.&mdash;'But
+why does the uncertainty of another state give you no
+concern?'&mdash;'Because God has said, Fear not; when thou
+passest through the waters I will be with thee, and through
+the rivers, they shall not overflow thee.'" (Isa. xliii. 2.) I
+might easily multiply illustrations of this kind. But I
+think it better to conclude this part of my subject by
+giving the result of my own observations as a minister.</p>
+
+<p>I have seen not a few dying persons in my time. I have
+seen great varieties of manner and deportment among
+them. I have seen some die sullen, silent, and comfortless.
+I have seen others die ignorant, unconcerned, and
+apparently without much fear. I have seen some die so
+wearied out with long illness that they were quite willing
+to depart, and yet they did not seem to me at all in a fit
+state to go before God. I have seen others die with professions
+of hope and trust in God, without leaving satisfactory<span class="pagenum">[Pg 129]</span>
+evidences that they were on the rock. I have seen
+others die who, I believe, were "in Christ," and safe, and
+yet they never seemed to enjoy much sensible comfort. I
+have seen some few dying in the full assurance of hope,
+and like Bunyan's "Standfast," giving glorious testimony
+to Christ's faithfulness, even in the river. But one thing
+I have never seen. I never saw any one enjoy what I
+should call real, solid, calm, reasonable peace on his death-bed,
+who did not draw his peace from the Bible. And
+this I am bold to say, that the man who thinks to go to
+his death-bed without having the Bible for his comforter,
+his companion, and his friend, is one of the greatest madmen
+in the world. There are no comforts for the soul but
+Bible comforts, and he who has not got hold of these, has
+got hold of nothing at all, unless it be a broken reed.</p>
+
+<p>The only comforter for a death-bed is the book about
+which I address the readers of this paper this day. Surely
+it is no light matter whether you read that book or not.
+Surely a dying man, in a dying world, should seriously
+consider whether he has got anything to comfort him when
+his turn comes to die. I charge you, I entreat you, for
+the last time, to give an honest answer to my question.
+What art thou doing with the Bible?&mdash;Dost thou read it?&mdash;HOW
+READEST THOU?</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>I have now given the reasons why I press on every
+reader the duty and importance of reading the Bible. I
+have shown that no book is written in such a manner as
+the Bible,&mdash;that knowledge of the Bible is absolutely
+necessary to salvation,&mdash;that no book contains such matter,&mdash;that
+no book has done so much for the world generally,&mdash;that
+no book can do so much for every one who reads it
+aright,&mdash;that this book is the only rule of faith and practice,&mdash;that
+it is, and always has been, the food of all true
+servants of God,&mdash;and that it is the only book which can
+comfort men when they die. All these are ancient things.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 130]</span>
+I do not pretend to tell anything new. I have only
+gathered together old truths, and tried to mould them
+into a new shape. Let me finish all by addressing a few
+plain words to the conscience of every class of readers.</p>
+
+<p>(1) This paper may fall into the hands of some who <i>can
+read, but never do read the Bible at all</i>. Are you one of
+them? If you are, I have something to say to you.</p>
+
+<p>I cannot comfort you in your present state of mind. It
+would be mockery and deceit to do so. I cannot speak to
+you of peace and heaven, while you treat the Bible as you
+do. You are in danger of losing your soul.</p>
+
+<p>You are in danger, because <i>your neglected Bible is a
+plain evidence that you do not love God</i>. The health of
+a man's body may generally be known by his appetite.
+The health of a man's soul may be known by his treatment
+of the Bible. Now you are manifestly labouring
+under a sore disease. Will you not repent?</p>
+
+<p>I know I cannot reach your heart. I cannot make you
+see and feel these things. I can only enter my solemn
+protest against your present treatment of the Bible, and
+lay that protest before your conscience. I do so with all
+my soul. Oh, beware lest you repent too late! Beware
+lest you put off reading the Bible till you send for the
+doctor in your last illness, and then find the Bible a sealed
+book, and dark, as the cloud between the hosts of Israel
+and Egypt, to your anxious soul! Beware lest you go on
+saying all your life, "Men do very well without all this
+Bible-reading," and find at length, to your cost, that men
+do very ill, and end in hell! Beware lest the day come
+when you will feel, "Had I but honoured the Bible as
+much as I have honoured the newspaper, I should not
+have been left without comfort in my last hours!" Bible-neglecting
+reader, I give you a plain warning. The
+plague-cross is at present on your door. The Lord have
+mercy upon your soul!</p>
+
+<p>(2) This paper may fall into the hands of some one who<span class="pagenum">[Pg 131]</span>
+is <i>willing to begin reading the Bible, but wants advice</i> on
+the subject. Are you that man? Listen to me, and I
+will give a few short hints.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>a</i>) For one thing, <i>begin reading your Bible this very day</i>.
+The way to do a thing is to do it, and the way to read the
+Bible is actually to read it. It is not meaning, or wishing,
+or resolving, or intending, or thinking about it, which will
+advance you one step. You must positively read. There
+is no royal road in this matter, any more than in the
+matter of prayer. If you cannot read yourself, you must
+persuade somebody else to read to you. But one way or
+another, through eyes or ears, the words of Scripture must
+actually pass before your mind.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>b</i>) For another thing, <i>read the Bible with an earnest
+desire to understand it</i>. Think not for a moment that
+the great object is to turn over a certain quantity of
+printed paper, and that it matters nothing whether you
+understand it or not. Some ignorant people seem to
+fancy that all is done if they clear off so many chapters
+every day, though they may not have a notion what they
+are all about, and only know that they have pushed on
+their mark so many leaves. This is turning Bible reading
+into a mere form. It is almost as bad as the Popish habit
+of buying indulgences, by saying an almost fabulous
+number of ave-marias and paternosters. It reminds one
+of the poor Hottentot who ate up a Dutch hymn-book
+because he saw it comforted his neighbours' hearts. Settle
+it down in your mind as a general principle, that a Bible
+not understood is a Bible that does no good. Say to
+yourself often as you read, "What is all this about?"
+Dig for the meaning like a man digging for Australian
+gold. Work hard, and do not give up the work in a
+hurry.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>c</i>) For another thing, <i>read the Bible with child-like faith
+and humility</i>. Open your heart as you open your book,
+and say, "Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth." Resolve<span class="pagenum">[Pg 132]</span>
+to believe implicitly whatever you find there, however
+much it may run counter to your own prejudices. Resolve
+to receive heartily every statement of truth, whether you
+like it or not. Beware of that miserable habit of mind
+into which some readers of the Bible fall. They receive
+some doctrines because they like them: they reject others
+because they are condemning to themselves, or to some
+lover, or relation, or friend. At this rate the Bible is
+useless. Are we to be judges of what ought to be in the
+Word? Do we know better than God? Settle it down
+in your mind that you will receive all and believe all, and
+that what you cannot understand you will take on trust.
+Remember, when you pray, you are speaking to God, and
+God hears you. But, remember, when you read, God is
+speaking to you, and you are not to "answer again," but
+to listen.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>d</i>) For another thing, <i>read the Bible in a spirit of obedience
+and self-application</i>. Sit down to the study of it
+with a daily determination that <i>you</i> will live by its rules,
+rest on its statements, and act on its commands. Consider,
+as you travel through every chapter, "How does this affect
+<i>my</i> position and course of conduct? What does this teach
+<i>me</i>?" It is poor work to read the Bible from mere curiosity,
+and for speculative purposes, in order to fill your head and
+store your mind with opinions, while you do not allow the
+book to influence your heart and life. That Bible is read
+best which is practised most.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>e</i>) For another thing, <i>read the Bible daily</i>. Make it a
+part of every day's business to read and meditate on some
+portion of God's Word. Private means of grace are just
+as needful every day for our souls as food and clothing are
+for our bodies. Yesterday's bread will not feed the labourer
+to-day, and to-day's bread will not feed the labourer to-morrow.
+Do as the Israelites did in the wilderness. Gather
+your manna fresh every morning. Choose your own seasons
+and hours. Do not scramble over and hurry your reading.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 133]</span>
+Give your Bible the best, and not the worst part of your
+time. But whatever plan you pursue, let it be a rule of
+your life to visit the throne of grace and the Bible every
+day.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>f</i>) For another thing, <i>read all the Bible, and read it in
+an orderly way</i>. I fear there are many parts of the Word
+which some people never read at all. This is to say the
+least, a very presumptuous habit. "All Scripture is profitable."
+(2 Tim. iii. 16.) To this habit may be traced that
+want of broad, well-proportioned views of truth, which is
+so common in this day. Some people's Bible-reading is a
+system of perpetual dipping and picking. They do not seem
+to have an idea of regularly going through the whole book.
+This also is a great mistake. No doubt in times of sickness
+and affliction it is allowable to search out seasonable
+portions. But with this exception, I believe it is by far
+the best plan to begin the Old and New Testaments at
+the same time,&mdash;to read each straight through to the end,
+and then begin again. This is a matter in which every
+one must be persuaded in his own mind. I can only
+say it has been my own plan for nearly forty years, and I
+have never seen cause to alter it.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>g</i>) For another thing, <i>read the Bible fairly and honestly</i>.
+Determine to take everything in its plain, obvious meaning,
+and regard all forced interpretations with great suspicion.
+As a general rule, whatever a verse of the Bible seems to
+mean, it does mean. Cecil's rule is a very valuable one,&mdash;"The
+right way of interpreting Scripture is to take it as
+we find it, without any attempt to force it into any particular
+system." Well said Hooker, "I hold it for a most
+infallible rule in the exposition of Scripture, that when a
+literal construction will stand, the furthest from the literal
+is commonly the worst."</p>
+
+<p>(<i>h</i>) In the last place, <i>read the Bible with Christ continually
+in view</i>. The grand primary object of all Scripture is
+to testify of Jesus. Old Testament ceremonies are shadows<span class="pagenum">[Pg 134]</span>
+of Christ. Old Testament judges and deliverers are types
+of Christ. Old Testament history shows the world's need
+of Christ. Old Testament prophecies are full of Christ's
+sufferings, and of Christ's glory yet to come. The first
+advent and the second,&mdash;the Lord's humiliation and the
+Lord's kingdom,&mdash;the cross and the crown, shine forth
+everywhere in the Bible. Keep fast hold on this clue, if
+you would read the Bible aright.</p>
+
+<p>I might easily add to these hints, if space permitted.
+Few and short as they are, you will find them worth
+attention. Act upon them, and I firmly believe you will
+never be allowed to miss the way to heaven. Act upon
+them, and you will find light continually increasing in
+your mind. No book of evidence can be compared with
+that internal evidence which he obtains who daily uses
+the Word in the right way. Such a man does not need
+the books of learned men, like Paley, and Wilson, and
+M'Ilvaine. He has the witness in himself. The book
+satisfies and feeds his soul. A poor Christian woman once
+said to an infidel, "I am no scholar. I cannot argue like
+you. But I know that honey is honey, because it leaves
+a sweet taste in my mouth. And I know the Bible to be
+God's book, because of the taste it leaves in my heart."</p>
+
+<p>(3) This paper may fall into the hands of some one
+who <i>loves and believes the Bible, and yet reads it but
+little</i>. I fear there are many such in this day. It is a day
+of bustle and hurry. It is a day of talking, and committee-meetings,
+and public work. These things are all very well
+in their way, but I fear that they sometimes clip and cut
+short the private reading of the Bible. Does your conscience
+tell you that you are one of the persons I speak
+of? Listen to me, and I will say a few things which
+deserve your serious attention.</p>
+
+<p>You are the man that is likely to <i>get little comfort from
+the Bible in time of need</i>. Trial is a sifting season.
+Affliction is a searching wind, which strips the leaves off<span class="pagenum">[Pg 135]</span>
+the trees, and brings to light the birds' nests. Now I fear
+that your stores of Bible consolations may one day run
+very low. I fear lest you should find yourself at last on
+very short allowance, and come into harbour weak, worn
+and thin.</p>
+
+<p>You are the man that is likely <i>never to be established in
+the truth</i>. I shall not be surprised to hear that you are
+troubled with doubts and questionings about assurance,
+grace, faith, perseverance, and the like. The devil is an
+old and cunning enemy. Like the Benjamites, he can
+"throw stones at a hair-breadth, and not miss." (Judges
+xx. 16.) He can quote Scripture readily enough when he
+pleases. Now you are not sufficiently ready with your
+weapons to be able to fight a good fight with him. Your
+armour does not fit you well. Your sword sits loosely in
+your hand.</p>
+
+<p>You are the man that is likely to <i>make mistakes in
+life</i>. I shall not wonder if I am told that you have erred
+about your own marriage,&mdash;erred about your children's
+education,&mdash;erred about the conduct of your household,&mdash;erred
+about the company you keep. The world you steer
+through is full of rocks, and shoals, and sandbanks. You
+are not sufficiently familiar either with the lights or
+charts.</p>
+
+<p>You are the man that is likely to <i>be carried away by
+some specious false teacher for a season</i>. It will not
+surprise me if I hear that some one of those clever,
+eloquent men, who can "make the worse appear the better
+cause," is leading you into many follies. You are wanting
+in ballast. No wonder if you are tossed to and fro, like a
+cork on the waves.</p>
+
+<p>All these are uncomfortable things. I want every reader
+of this paper to escape them all. Take the advice I offer
+you this day. Do not merely read your Bible "a little,"
+but read it a great deal. "Let the Word of Christ dwell
+in you richly." (Coloss. iii. 16.) Do not be a mere babe<span class="pagenum">[Pg 136]</span>
+in spiritual knowledge. Seek to become "well instructed
+in the kingdom of heaven," and to be continually adding
+new things to old. A religion of feeling is an uncertain
+thing. It is like the tide, sometimes high, and sometimes
+low. It is like the moon, sometimes bright, and sometimes
+dim. A religion of deep Bible knowledge, is a firm
+and lasting possession. It enables a man not merely to
+say, "I feel hope in Christ,"&mdash;but "I know whom I have
+believed." (2 Tim. i. 12.)</p>
+
+<p>(4) This paper may fall into the hands of some one who
+<i>reads the Bible much, and yet fancies he is no better for
+his reading</i>. This is a crafty temptation of the devil.
+At one stage he says, "Do not read the Bible at all." At
+another he says, "Your reading does you no good: give it
+up." Are you that man? I feel for you from the bottom
+of my soul. Let me try to do you good.</p>
+
+<p>Do not think you are getting no good from the Bible,
+merely because you do not see that good day by day. The
+greatest effects are by no means those which make the
+most noise, and are most easily observed. The greatest
+effects are often silent, quiet, and hard to detect at the
+time they are being produced. Think of the influence of
+the moon upon the earth, and of the air upon the human
+lungs. Remember how silently the dew falls, and how
+imperceptibly the grass grows. There may be far more
+doing than you think in your soul by your Bible-reading.</p>
+
+<p>The Word may be gradually producing deep <i>impressions</i>
+on your heart, of which you are not at present aware.
+Often when the memory is retaining no facts, the character
+of a man is receiving some everlasting impression. Is sin
+becoming every year more hateful to you? Is Christ
+becoming every year more precious? Is holiness becoming
+every year more lovely and desirable in your eyes? If
+these things are so, take courage. The Bible is doing you
+good, though you may not be able to trace it out day by day.</p>
+
+<p>The Bible may be restraining you from some sin or<span class="pagenum">[Pg 137]</span>
+delusion into which you would otherwise run. It may be
+daily keeping you back, and hedging you up, and preventing
+many a false step. Ah, you might soon find this out
+to your cost, if you were to cease reading the Word! The
+very familiarity of blessings sometimes makes us insensible
+to their value. Resist the devil. Settle it down in your
+mind as an established rule, that, whether you feel it at
+the moment or not, you are inhaling spiritual health by
+reading the Bible, and insensibly becoming more strong.</p>
+
+<p>(5) This paper may fall into the hands of some who
+<i>really love the Bible, live upon the Bible, and read it
+much</i>. Are you one of these? Give me your attention,
+and I will mention a few things which we shall do well
+to lay to heart for time to come.</p>
+
+<p>Let us resolve to <i>read the Bible more and more</i> every
+year we live. Let us try to get it rooted in our memories,
+and engrafted into our hearts. Let us be thoroughly well
+provisioned with it against the voyage of death. Who
+knows but we may have a very stormy passage? Sight
+and hearing may fail us, and we may be in deep waters.
+Oh, to have the Word "hid in our hearts" in such an hour
+as that! (Ps. cxix. 11.)</p>
+
+<p>Let us resolve to be <i>more watchful over our Bible-reading</i>
+every year that we live. Let us be jealously
+careful about the time we give to it, and the manner that
+time is spent. Let us beware of omitting our daily
+reading without sufficient cause. Let us not be gaping,
+and yawning, and dozing over our book, while we read.
+Let us read like a London merchant studying the city
+article in the Times,&mdash;or like a wife reading a husband's
+letter from a distant land. Let us be very careful that
+we never exalt any minister, or sermon, or book, or tract,
+or friend above the Word. Cursed be that book, or tract,
+or human counsel, which creeps in between us and the
+Bible, and hides the Bible from our eyes! Once more I
+say, let us be very watchful. The moment we open the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 138]</span>
+Bible the devil sits down by our side. Oh, to read with a
+hungry spirit, and a simple desire for edification!</p>
+
+<p>Let us resolve to <i>honour the Bible more in our families</i>.
+Let us read it morning and evening to our children and
+households, and not be ashamed to let men see that we do
+so. Let us not be discouraged by seeing no good arise
+from it. The Bible-reading in a family has kept many a
+one from the gaol, the workhouse, and the Gazette, if it
+has not kept him from hell.</p>
+
+<p>Let us resolve to <i>meditate more on the Bible</i>. It is
+good to take with us two or three texts when we go out
+into the world, and to turn them over and over in our
+minds whenever we have a little leisure. It keeps out
+many vain thoughts. It clenches the nail of daily reading.
+It preserves our souls from stagnating and breeding
+corrupt things. It sanctifies and quickens our memories,
+and prevents them becoming like those ponds where the
+frogs live but the fish die.</p>
+
+<p>Let us resolve to <i>talk more to believers about the Bible</i>
+when we meet them. Alas, the conversation of Christians,
+when they do meet, is often sadly unprofitable! How
+many frivolous, and trifling, and uncharitable things are
+said! Let us bring out the Bible more, and it will help
+to drive the devil away, and keep our hearts in tune. Oh,
+that we may all strive so to walk together in this evil
+world, that Jesus may often draw near, and go with us, as
+He went with the two disciples journeying to Emmaus!</p>
+
+<p>Last of all, let us resolve to <i>live by the Bible more and
+more</i> every year we live. Let us frequently take account
+of all our opinions and practices,&mdash;of our habits and
+tempers,&mdash;of our behaviour in public and in private,&mdash;in
+the world, and by our own firesides. Let us measure all
+by the Bible, and resolve, by God's help, to conform to it.
+Oh that we may learn increasingly to "cleanse our ways"
+by the Word! (Ps. cxix. 9.)</p>
+
+<p>I commend all these things to the serious and prayerful<span class="pagenum">[Pg 139]</span>
+attention of every one into whose hands this paper may
+fall. I want the ministers of my beloved country to be
+Bible-reading ministers,&mdash;the congregations, Bible-reading
+congregations,&mdash;and the nation, a Bible-reading nation.
+To bring about this desirable end I cast in my mite into
+God's treasury. The Lord grant that it may prove not to
+have been in vain!</p>
+<br>
+
+
+
+<h2><a name="VI" id="VI"></a>VI</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 140]</span>
+
+<h2>GOING TO THE TABLE</h2>
+
+<blockquote><p>"<i>Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and
+drink of that cup.</i>"&mdash;1 <span class="smcap">Cor.</span> xi. 28.</p></blockquote>
+
+
+<p>The words which form the title of this paper refer to a
+subject of vast importance. That subject is the Sacrament
+of the Lord's Supper.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps no part of the Christian religion is so
+thoroughly misunderstood as the Lord's Supper. On no
+point have there been so many disputes, strifes, and controversies
+for almost 1800 years. On no point have mistakes
+done so much harm. Even at this very day the
+battle is still raging, and Christians seem hopelessly
+divided. The very ordinance which was meant for our
+peace and profit has become the cause of discord and the
+occasion of sin. These things ought not so to be!</p>
+
+<p>I make no excuse for including the Lord's Supper
+among the leading points of <i>practical</i> Christianity. I
+believe firmly that ignorant views or false doctrine about
+this sacrament lie at the root of half the present divisions
+of professing Christians. Some neglect it altogether;
+some completely misunderstand it; some exalt it to a
+position it was never meant to occupy, and turn it into an
+idol. If I can throw a little light on it, and clear up the
+doubts of some minds, I shall feel very thankful. It is
+hopeless, I fear, to expect that the controversy about the
+Lord's Supper will ever be finally closed until the Lord<span class="pagenum">[Pg 141]</span>
+comes. But it is not too much to hope that the fog and
+mystery and obscurity with which it is surrounded in some
+minds, may be cleared away by plain Bible truth.</p>
+
+<p>In examining the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper I
+shall content myself with asking four practical questions,
+and offering answers to them.</p>
+
+
+<blockquote><p>I. Why was the Lord's supper ordained?</p>
+
+<p>II. Who ought to go to the Table and be communicants?</p>
+
+<p>III. What may communicants expect from the Lord's
+Supper?</p>
+
+<p>IV. Why do many so-called Christians never go to the
+Lord's Table?</p></blockquote>
+
+
+<p>I think it will be impossible to handle these four questions
+fairly, honestly, and impartially, without seeing the
+subject of this paper more clearly, and getting some distinct
+and practical ideas about some leading errors of our day.
+I say "practical" emphatically. My chief aim in this
+volume is to promote practical Christianity.</p>
+
+<br>
+<p>I. In the first place, <i>why was the Lord's Supper
+ordained</i>?</p>
+
+<p>I answer that question in the words of the Church
+Catechism. I am sure I cannot mend them. It was
+ordained "for the continual remembrance of the sacrifice
+of the death of Christ, and of the benefits which we
+receive thereby."&mdash;The bread which in the Lord's Supper
+is broken, given, and eaten, is meant to remind us of
+Christ's body given on the cross for our sins. The wine
+which is poured out and received, is meant to remind us
+of Christ's blood shed on the cross for our sins. He that
+eats that bread and drinks that wine is reminded, in the
+most striking and forcible manner, of the benefits Christ
+has obtained for his soul, and of the death of Christ as<span class="pagenum">[Pg 142]</span>
+the hinge and turning point on which all those benefits
+depend.</p>
+
+<p>Now is the view here stated the doctrine of the New
+Testament? If it is not, for ever let it be rejected, cast
+aside, and refused by men. If it is, let us never be ashamed
+to hold it fast, profess our belief in it, pin our faith on it,
+and steadfastly refuse to hold any other view, no matter
+by whom it is taught. In subjects like this we must call
+no man master. It signifies little what great Bishops and
+learned divines have thought fit to put forth about the
+Lord's Supper. If they teach more than the Word of God
+contains they are not to be believed.</p>
+
+<p>I take down my Bible and turn to the New Testament.
+There I find no less than four separate accounts of the
+first appointment of the Lord's Supper. St. Matthew, St.
+Mark, St. Luke, and St. Paul, all four describe it: all four
+agree in telling us what our Lord did on this memorable
+occasion.&mdash;Two only tell us the reason which our Lord
+assigned why His disciples were to eat the bread and
+drink the cup. St. Paul and St. Luke both record the
+remarkable words, "<i>Do this in remembrance of Me</i>."&mdash;St.
+Paul adds his own inspired comment: "As often as ye eat
+this bread and drink this cup, ye do shew (or declare or
+proclaim) the Lord's death till He come." (Luke xxii. 19;
+1 Cor. xi. 25, 26.) When Scripture speaks so plainly, why
+cannot men be content with it? Why should we mystify
+and confuse a subject which in the New Testament is so
+simple? The "continual remembrance of Christ's death"
+was the one grand object for which the Lord's Supper was
+ordained. He that goes further than this is adding to
+God's Word, and does so to the great peril of his soul.</p>
+
+<p>Now is it reasonable to suppose that our Lord would
+appoint an ordinance for so simple a purpose as the
+"<i>keeping His death in remembrance</i>"? Most certainly
+it is. Of all the facts in His earthly ministry none are
+equal in importance to that of His death. It was the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 143]</span>
+great satisfaction for man's sin, which had been appointed
+in God's covenant from the foundation of the world. It
+was the great atonement of almighty power, to which
+every sacrifice of animals, from the fall of man, continually
+pointed. It was the grand end and purpose for which
+Messiah came into the world. It was the corner-stone and
+foundation of all man's hopes of pardon and peace with
+God. In short, Christ would have lived, and taught, and
+preached, and prophesied, and wrought miracles in vain,
+if He had not <i>crowned all by dying for our sins as our
+Substitute</i>! His death was our life. His death was the
+payment of our debt to God. Without His death we should
+have been of all creatures most miserable. No wonder that
+an ordinance was specially appointed to remind us of our
+Saviour's death. It is the very one thing of which poor,
+weak, sinful man needs to be continually reminded.</p>
+
+<p>Does the New Testament warrant men in saying that
+the Lord's Supper was ordained to be a sacrifice, and that
+in it Christ's body and blood are present under the forms
+of bread and wine? <i>Most certainly not!</i> When the
+Lord Jesus said to the disciples, "This is my Body," and
+"this is my Blood," He evidently meant, "This bread in
+my hand is an emblem of my Body, and this cup of wine
+in my hand contains an emblem of my Blood." The
+disciples were accustomed to hear Him use such language.
+They remembered His saying, "The field <i>is</i> the world,"
+"The good seed <i>are</i> the children of the kingdom." (Matt.
+xiii. 38.) It never entered into their minds that He meant
+to say He was holding His own body and His own blood
+in His hands, and literally giving them His literal body
+and blood to eat and drink. Not one of the writers of
+the New Testament ever speaks of the sacrament as a
+sacrifice, or calls the Lord's Table an altar, or even hints
+that a Christian minister is a sacrificing priest. The
+universal doctrine of the New Testament is that after
+the one offering of Christ there remains no more need of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 144]</span>
+sacrifice.<a href="#ft_2">[2]</a></p>
+
+<p>Does the English Prayer-book warrant any Churchman
+in saying that the Lord's Supper was meant to be a
+sacrifice, and that Christ's body and blood are present
+under the forms of bread and wine? Once more I reply,
+<i>Most certainly not!</i> Not once is the word <i>altar</i> to be
+found in the Prayer-book: not once is the Lord's Supper
+called a <i>sacrifice</i>. Throughout the Communion Service
+the one idea of the ordinance continually pressed on our
+attention is that of a "remembrance" of Christ's death.
+As to any presence of Christ's natural body and blood
+under the forms of bread and wine, the rubric at the end
+of the Service gives the most flat and distinct contradiction
+to the idea. That rubric expressly asserts that "the
+natural body and blood of Christ are in heaven, and not
+here." Those many Churchmen, so-called, who delight in
+talking of the "altar," the "sacrifice," the "priest," and
+the "real presence" in the Lord's Supper, would do well
+to remember that they are using language which is
+entirely unused by the Church of England.</p>
+
+<p>The point before us is one of vast importance. Let us
+lay hold upon it firmly, and never let it go. It is the
+very point on which our Reformers had their sharpest
+controversy with the Romanists, and went to the stake,
+rather than give way. Sooner than admit that the Lord's
+Supper was a sacrifice, they cheerfully laid down their
+lives. To bring back the doctrine of the "real presence,"
+and to turn the good old English communion into the
+Romish "mass," is to pour contempt on our Martyrs, and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 145]</span>
+to upset the first principles of the Protestant Reformation.
+Nay, rather, it is to ignore the plain teaching of God's
+Word, and do dishonour to the priestly office of our Lord
+Jesus Christ. The Bible teaches expressly that the Lord's
+Supper was ordained to be "a remembrance of Christ's
+body and blood," and not an offering. The Bible teaches
+that Christ's vicarious death on the cross was the one
+perfect sacrifice for sin, which never needs to be repeated.
+Let us stand fast in these two great principles of the
+Christian faith. A clear view of the intention of the
+Lord's Supper is one of the soul's best safeguards against
+the delusions of modern days.</p>
+
+<br>
+<p>II. In the second place, let me try to show <i>who ought
+to be communicants</i>? <i>What kind of persons were
+meant to go to the Table and receive the Lord's Supper?</i></p>
+
+<p>It will clear the ground if I first show who ought not to
+be partakers of this ordinance. The ignorance which
+prevails on this, as well as on every part of the subject, is
+vast, lamentable, and appalling. If I can contribute
+anything that may throw light upon it, I shall feel very
+thankful. The principal giants whom John Bunyan describes,
+in "Pilgrim's Progress," as dangerous to Christian
+pilgrims, were two, Pope and Pagan. If the good old
+Puritan had foreseen the times we live in, he would have
+said something about the giant Ignorance.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>a</i>) It is not right to urge all baptized persons to become
+communicants. There is such a thing as fitness and
+preparedness for the ordinance. It does not work like a
+medicine, independently of the state of mind of those
+who receive it. The teaching of those who press all their
+congregation to come to the Lord's Table, as if the coming
+<i>must</i> necessarily do every one good, is entirely without
+warrant of Scripture. Nay, rather, it is teaching which is
+calculated to do immense harm to men's souls, and to
+turn the reception of the sacrament into a mere form.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 146]</span>
+Ignorance can never be the mother of acceptable worship,
+and an ignorant communicant who comes to the Lord's
+Table without knowing why he comes, is altogether in the
+wrong place.&mdash;"Let a man examine himself, and so let
+him eat of that bread and drink of that cup."&mdash;"To
+discern the Lord's body,"&mdash;that is to understand what the
+elements of bread and wine represent, and why they are
+appointed, and what is the particular use of remembering
+Christ's death,&mdash;is an essential qualification of a true
+communicant. God "commands all men everywhere to
+repent" and believe the Gospel (Acts xvii. 30); but He does
+not in the same way, or in the same manner, command every
+body to come to the Lord's Table. No: this thing is not
+to be taken in hand unadvisedly, lightly, or carelessly! It
+is a solemn ordinance, and solemnly it ought to be used.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>b</i>) But this is not all. Sinners living in open sin, and determined
+not to give it up, ought on no account to come to
+the Lord's Table. To do so is a positive insult to Christ,
+and to pour contempt on His Gospel. It is nonsense to
+profess we desire to remember Christ's death, while we
+cling to the accursed thing which made it needful for
+Christ to die. The mere fact that a man is continuing in
+sin, is plain evidence that he does not care for Christ, and
+feels no gratitude for redemption. The ignorant Papist
+who goes to the priest's confessional and receives absolution,
+may think he is fit to go to the Popish mass, and after
+mass may return to his sins. He never reads the Bible,
+and knows no better! But the Englishman who habitually
+breaks any of God's commandments, and yet goes to the
+Sacrament, as if it would do him good and wipe away his
+sins, is very guilty indeed. So long as he chooses to continue
+his wicked habits he cannot receive the slightest
+benefit from Christ's ordinances, and is only adding sin to
+sin. To carry unrepented sin up to the Communion Rail,
+and there receive the bread and wine, knowing in our own
+hearts that we and wickedness are yet friends, is one of the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 147]</span>
+worst things a man can do, and one of the most hardening
+to conscience. If a man must have his sins, and cannot
+give them up, let him by all means stay away from the
+Lord's Supper. There is such a thing as "eating and
+drinking unworthily," and to our own "condemnation."
+To no one do these words apply so thoroughly as to an
+open sinner.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>c</i>) But I have not done yet. Self-righteous people, who
+think that they are to be saved by their own works, have
+no business to come to the Lord's Table. Strange as it
+may sound at first, these persons are the least qualified of
+all to receive the Sacrament. They may be outwardly
+correct, moral and respectable in their lives, but so long
+as they trust in their own goodness for salvation, they
+are entirely in the wrong place at the Lord's Supper. For
+what do we declare at the Lord's Supper? We publicly
+profess that we have no goodness, righteousness, or
+worthiness of our own, and that all our hope is in Christ.
+We publicly profess that we are guilty, sinful, and corrupt,
+and naturally deserve God's wrath and condemnation.
+We publicly profess that Christ's merit and not our's,
+Christ's righteousness and not our's, is the alone cause why
+we look for acceptance with God. Now what has a self-righteous
+man to do with an ordinance like this? Clearly
+nothing at all. One thing, at any rate, is very plain: a
+self-righteous man has no business to receive the
+sacrament in the Church of England. The Communion
+Service of the Church bids all communicants declare that
+"they do not presume to come to the Table trusting in
+their own righteousness, but in God's manifold and great
+mercies."&mdash;It tells them to say,&mdash;"We are not worthy so
+much as to gather up the crumbs under Thy table,"&mdash;"the
+remembrance of our sins is grievous unto us; the burden
+of them is intolerable."&mdash;How any self-righteous Churchman
+can ever go to the Lord's Table, and take these words
+into his mouth, passes my understanding! It only shows<span class="pagenum">[Pg 148]</span>
+that many professing Christians use excellent "forms" of
+worship without taking the trouble to consider what they
+mean.</p>
+
+<p>The plain truth is that the Lord's Supper was not meant
+for dead souls, but for living ones. The careless, the
+ignorant, the wilfully wicked, the self-righteous, are no
+more fit to come to the Communion rail than a dead corpse
+is fit to sit down at a king's feast. To enjoy a spiritual
+feast we must have a spiritual heart, and taste, and appetite.
+To suppose that Christ's ordinances can do good to
+an unspiritual man, is as foolish as to put bread and wine
+into the mouth of a dead person. The careless, the
+ignorant, and the wilfully wicked, so long as they continue
+in that state, are utterly unfit to be communicants. To
+urge them to attend is not to do them good but harm.
+The Lord's Supper is not a converting or justifying ordinance.
+If a man goes to the Table unconverted or
+unforgiven, he will come away no better at all.</p>
+
+<p>But, after all, the ground having been cleared of error,
+the question still remains to be answered,&mdash;Who are the sort
+of persons who ought to be communicants? I answer that
+question in the words of the Church Catechism. I there
+find the inquiry made, "What is required of them who
+come to the Lord's Supper?" In reply I find it taught
+that people should "examine themselves whether they
+repent them truly of their former sins, steadfastly purposing
+to lead a new life;"&mdash;whether they "have a lively
+faith in God's mercy through Christ, with a thankful
+remembrance of His death;"&mdash;and whether they "are in
+charity with all men."&mdash;In a word, I find that a worthy
+communicant is one who possesses three simple marks and
+qualifications,&mdash;repentance, faith, and charity. Does a man
+truly repent of sin and hate it? Does a man put
+his trust in Jesus Christ as his only hope of salvation?
+Does a man live in charity towards others? He that can
+truly say to each of these questions, "I do," he is a man<span class="pagenum">[Pg 149]</span>
+that is Scripturally qualified for the Lord's Supper. Let
+him come boldly. Let no barrier be put in his way. He
+comes up to the Bible standard of communicants. He
+may draw near with confidence, and feel assured that the
+great Master of the banquet is not displeased.</p>
+
+<p>Such a man's repentance may be very imperfect. Never
+mind! Is it real? Does he truly repent at all?&mdash;His
+faith in Christ may be very weak. Never mind! Is it
+real? A penny is as truly the current coin of the realm,
+and as really stamped with the Queen's image as a sovereign.
+His charity may be very defective in quantity and degree.
+Never mind! Is it genuine? The grand test of a man's
+Christianity is not the quantity of grace he has got, but
+whether he has any grace at all. The first twelve communicants,
+when Christ Himself gave the bread and wine,
+were weak indeed,&mdash;weak in knowledge, weak in faith,
+weak in courage, weak in patience, weak in love! But
+eleven of them had that about them which outweighed all
+defects: they were real, genuine, sincere, and true.</p>
+
+<p>For ever let this great principle be rooted in our minds,&mdash;the
+only worthy communicant is the man who is experimentally
+acquainted with repentance toward God,
+faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, and practical love
+toward others. Are you that man? Then you may draw
+near to the table, and take the sacrament to your comfort.
+Lower than this I dare not pitch my standard of a communicant.
+I will never help to crowd a communion rail
+with careless, ignorant, self-righteous attendants.&mdash;Higher
+than this I will not pitch my standard. I will never tell
+any one to keep away till he is perfect, and to wait till his
+heart is as unruffled as an angel's. I will not do so, because
+I believe that neither my Master nor His Apostles would
+have done so. Show me a man that really feels his sins,
+really leans on Christ, really struggles to be holy, and I
+will bid him welcome in my Master's name. He may feel
+weak, erring, empty, feeble, doubting, wretched, and poor.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 150]</span>
+What matter? St. Paul, I believe, would have received
+him as a right communicant, and I will do likewise.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>III. In the third place, let us consider <i>what benefit
+communicants may expect to get by going to the Table
+and attending the Lord's Supper</i>. This is a point of
+grave importance, and one on which vast mistakes abound.
+On no point, perhaps, connected with this ordinance, are
+the views of Christians so vague and misty and undefined.</p>
+
+<p>One common idea among men is that "taking the
+sacrament must do them good." Why, they cannot explain.
+What good, they cannot exactly say. But they have a
+loose general notion that it is the right thing to be a
+communicant, and that somehow or other it is of service
+to their souls! This is of course nothing better than
+ignorance. It is unreasonable to suppose that such communicants
+can please Christ, or receive any real benefit
+from what they do. If there is any principle clearly laid
+down in the Bible about any act of religious worship, it is
+this,&mdash;that it must be <i>intelligent</i>. The worshipper must
+at least understand something about what he is doing.
+Mere bodily worship, unaccompanied by mind or heart, is
+utterly worthless. The man who walks up to a communion
+rail, and eats the bread and drinks the wine, as a mere
+matter of form, because his minister tells him, without
+any clear idea of what it all means, derives no benefit.
+He might just as well stay at home!</p>
+
+<p>Another common idea among men is that, "taking the
+sacrament will help them to heaven, and take away their
+sins." To this delusive idea you may trace up the habit
+in some parishes of going to the sacrament once a year,
+in order, as an old farmer once said, "to wipe off the year's
+sins." To this idea again, you may trace the too common
+practice of sending for a minister in time of sickness, in
+order to receive the sacrament before death. Alas, how
+many take comfort about their relatives, after they have<span class="pagenum">[Pg 151]</span>
+lived a most ungodly life, for no better reason than this,&mdash;that
+<i>they took the sacrament</i> when they were dying!
+Whether they repented and believed and had new hearts,
+they neither seem to know or care. All they know is
+that "they took the sacrament before they died." My
+heart sinks within me when I hear people resting on such
+evidence as this.</p>
+
+<p>Ideas like these are mournful proofs of the ignorance
+that fills the minds of men about the Lord's Supper.
+They are ideas for which there is not the slightest warrant
+either in Scripture or the Prayer-book. The sooner they
+are cast aside and given up, the better for the Church and
+the world.</p>
+
+<p>Let us settle it firmly in our minds that the Lord's
+Supper was not given to be a means either of justification
+or of conversion. It was never meant to give grace where
+there is no grace already, or to provide pardon when
+pardon is not already enjoyed. It cannot possibly supply
+the absence of repentance to God, and faith toward the
+Lord Jesus Christ. It is an ordinance for the penitent,
+not for the impenitent,&mdash;for the believing, not for the
+unbelieving,&mdash;for the converted, not for the unconverted.
+The unconverted man, who fancies that he can find a
+short-cut road to heaven by taking the sacrament, without
+treading the well-worn steps of repentance and faith, will
+find to his cost one day, that he is totally deceived. The
+Lord's Supper was meant to increase and help the grace
+that a man has, but not to impart the grace that he has
+not. It was certainly never intended to make our peace
+with God, to justify, or to convert.</p>
+
+<p>The simplest statement of the benefit which a true-hearted
+communicant may expect to receive from the
+Lord's Supper, is that which is supplied by the Church
+Catechism,&mdash;"The strengthening and refreshing of our
+souls."&mdash;Clearer views of Christ and His atonement, clearer
+views of all the offices which Christ fills as our Mediator<span class="pagenum">[Pg 152]</span>
+and Advocate, clearer views of the complete redemption
+Christ has obtained for us by His vicarious death on the
+cross, clearer views of our full and perfect acceptance in
+Christ before God, fresh reasons for deep repentance for
+sin, fresh reasons for lively faith,&mdash;these are among the
+leading returns which a believer may confidently expect to
+get from his attendance at the Lord's Table. He that
+eats the bread and drinks the wine in a right spirit, will
+find himself drawn into closer communion with Christ, and
+will feel to know Him more, and understand Him better.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>a</i>) Right reception of the Lord's Supper has a <i>humbling</i>
+effect on the soul. The sight of these emblems of Christ's
+body and blood, reminds us how sinful sin must be, if
+anything less than the death of God's own Son could make
+satisfaction for it, or redeem us from its guilt. Never
+surely ought we to be so "clothed with humility," as when
+we kneel at the Communion rail.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>b</i>) Right reception of the Lord's Supper has a <i>cheering</i>
+effect on the soul. The sight of the bread broken, and
+the wine poured out, reminds us how full, perfect, and
+complete is our salvation. Those lively emblems remind
+us what an enormous price has been paid for our redemption.
+They press on us the mighty truth, that believing
+on Christ, we have nothing to fear, because a sufficient
+payment has been made for our debt. The "precious
+blood of Christ" answers every charge that can be brought
+against us. God can be a "just God, and yet the justifier
+of every one that believeth on Jesus." (Rom. iii. 26.)</p>
+
+<p>(<i>c</i>) Right reception of the Lord's Supper has a <i>sanctifying</i>
+effect on the soul. The bread and wine remind us
+how great is our debt of gratitude to our Lord, and how
+thoroughly we are bound to live for Him who died for our
+sins. They seem to say to us, "Remember what Christ
+has done for you, and ask yourself whether there is
+anything too great to do for Him."</p>
+
+<p>(<i>d</i>) Right reception of the Lord's Supper into hearts,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 153]</span>
+has a <i>restraining</i> effect on the soul. Every time a believer
+goes up to the Communion rail he is reminded what a
+serious thing it is to be a Christian, and what an obligation
+is laid on him to lead a consistent life. Bought with such
+a price as that bread and wine call to his recollection,
+ought he not to glorify Christ in body and spirit, which
+are His? The man that goes regularly and intelligently
+to the Lord's Table finds it increasingly hard to yield to
+sin and conform to the world.</p>
+
+<p>Such is a brief account of the benefits which a right-hearted
+communicant may expect to receive from the
+Lord's Supper. In eating that bread and drinking that
+cup, such a man will have his repentance deepened, his
+faith increased, his knowledge enlarged, his habit of holy
+living strengthened. He will realize more of the "real
+presence" of Christ in his heart. Eating that bread by
+faith, he will feel closer communion with the body of
+Christ. Drinking that wine by faith, he will feel closer
+communion with the blood of Christ. He will see more
+clearly what Christ is to him, and what he is to Christ.
+He will understand more thoroughly what it is to be "one
+with Christ, and Christ one with him." He will feel the
+roots of his soul's spiritual life watered, and the work of
+grace in his heart stablished, built up, and carried forward.
+All these things may seem and sound foolishness to a
+natural man, but to a true Christian these things are light,
+and health, and life, and peace. No wonder that a true
+Christian finds the Lord's Supper a source of blessing!</p>
+
+<p>Remember, I do not pretend to say that all Christians
+experience the full blessing of the Lord's Supper, which
+I have just attempted to describe. Nor yet do I say that
+the same believer will always find his soul in the same
+spiritual frame, and always receive the same amount of
+benefit from the sacrament. But this I will boldly say:
+you will rarely find a true believer who will not say that
+he reckons the Lord's Supper one of his best helps and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 154]</span>
+highest privileges. He will tell you that if he were
+deprived of the Lord's Supper he should find the loss of
+it a great drawback to his soul. There are some things of
+which we never know the value till they are taken from
+us. So I believe it is with the Lord's Supper. The
+weakest and humblest of God's children gets a blessing
+from this sacrament, to an extent of which he is not aware.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>IV. In the last place, I have to consider <i>why it is that
+many so-called Christians never come to the Lord's
+Supper</i>.</p>
+
+<p>It is a simple matter of fact, that myriads of baptized
+persons never come to the Table of the Lord. They
+would not endure to be told that they deny the faith, and
+are practically not in communion with Christ. When
+they worship, they attend a place of Christian worship;
+when they hear religious teaching, it is the teaching of
+Christianity; when they are married, they use a Christian
+service; when their children are baptized, they ask for
+the Sacrament of Baptism. Yet all this time they never
+come to the Lord's Supper! They often live on in this
+state of mind for many years, and to all appearance are not
+ashamed. They often die in this condition without ever
+having received the sacrament, and yet profess to feel hope
+at the last, and their friends express a hope about them.
+And yet they live and die in open disobedience to a plain
+command of Christ! These are simple facts. Let any
+one look around him, and deny them if he can. I
+challenge any one to deny that the non-communicants in
+all English congregations form the majority, and the
+communicants the minority of the worshippers.</p>
+
+<p>Now how is this? What account can we give of it?
+Our Lord Jesus Christ's last injunctions to His disciples
+are clear, plain, and unmistakable. He says to all, "Eat,
+drink: do this in remembrance of Me." Did He leave it
+to our discretion whether we would attend to His<span class="pagenum">[Pg 155]</span>
+injunction or not? Did He mean that it did not signify
+whether His disciples did or did not keep up the ordinance
+He had just established? Certainly not. The very idea
+is absurd, and one certainly never dreamed of in apostolic
+times.&mdash;St. Paul evidently takes it for granted that every
+Christian is a communicant. A class of Christian
+worshippers who never came to the Table, was a class
+whose existence was unknown to him. What, then, are
+we to say of that large multitude of non-communicants
+which walks out of our churches every sacrament Sunday,
+unabashed, unhumbled, not afraid, not the least ashamed?
+Why is it? How is it? What does it all mean? Let
+us look these questions fairly in the face, and endeavour
+to give an answer to them.</p>
+
+<p>(1) For one thing, many are not communicants because
+they are utterly careless and thoughtless about religion,
+and ignorant of the very first principles of Christianity.
+They go to church, as a matter of form, because other
+people go; but they neither know, nor care anything
+about what is done, at church! The faith of Christ has
+no place either in their hearts, or heads, or consciences, or
+wills, or understandings. It is a mere affair of "words
+and names," about which they know no more than Festus
+or Gallio. There were very few such Christians in St.
+Paul's times, if indeed there were any. There are far too
+many in these last days of the world, when everything
+seems to be wearing out and running to seed. They are
+the dead-weight of the Churches, and the scandal of
+Christianity. What such people need is light, knowledge,
+grace, a renewed conscience, a changed heart. In their
+present state they have no part or lot in Christ; and
+dying in this state they are unfit for heaven. Do I wish
+them to come to the Lord's Supper? Certainly not, till
+they are converted. Except a man be converted he will
+never enter the kingdom of God.</p>
+
+<p>(2) For another thing, many are not communicants<span class="pagenum">[Pg 156]</span>
+because they know they are living in the habitual practice
+of some sin, or in the habitual neglect of some Christian
+duty. Their conscience tells them that so long as they
+live in this state, and do not break off from their sins, they
+are unfit to come to the Table of the Lord. Well: they
+are so far quite right! I wish no man to be a communicant
+if he cannot give up his sins. But I warn these people
+not to forget that if they are unfit for the Lord's Supper
+they are unfit to die, and that if they die in their present
+condition they will be lost eternally. The same sins which
+disqualify them for the sacrament, most certainly disqualify
+them for heaven. Do I want them to come to the Lord's
+Supper as they are? Certainly not! But I do want them
+to repent and be converted, to cease to do evil, and to
+break off from their sins. For ever let it be remembered
+that the man unfit for the Lord's Supper is unfit to die.</p>
+
+<p>(3) For another thing, some are not communicants
+because they fancy it will add to their responsibility. They
+are not, as many, ignorant and careless about religion.
+They even attend regularly on the means of grace, and
+like the preaching of the Gospel. But they say they dread
+coming forward and making a profession. They fear that
+they might afterwards fall away, and bring scandal on the
+cause of Christianity. They think it wisest to be on the
+safe side, and not commit themselves at all. Such people
+would do well to remember that if they avoid responsibility
+of one kind by not coming to the Lord's Table, they incur
+responsibility of another kind, quite as grave, and quite as
+injurious to the soul. They are responsible for open
+disobedience to a command of Christ. They are shrinking
+from doing that which their Master continually enjoins on
+His disciples,&mdash;from confessing Him before men. No
+doubt it is a serious step to come forward and receive the
+sacrament. It is a step that none should take lightly and
+without self-examination. But it is <i>no less a serious step
+to walk away and refuse the ordinance</i>, when we remember<span class="pagenum">[Pg 157]</span>
+Who invites us to receive it, and for what purpose it was
+appointed! I warn the people I am now dealing with to
+take heed what they are doing. Let them not flatter
+themselves that it can ever be a wise, a prudent, a safe
+line of conduct to neglect a plain command of Christ.
+They may find at length, to their cost, that they have only
+increased their guilt and forsaken their mercies.</p>
+
+<p>(4) For another thing, some are not communicants
+because they fancy they are not yet worthy. They wait
+and stand still, under the mistaken notion that no one is
+qualified for the Lord's Supper unless he feels within him
+something like perfection. They pitch their idea of a
+communicant so high that they despair of attaining to it.
+Waiting for inward perfection they live, and waiting
+for it too often they die. Now such persons would do well
+to understand that they are completely mistaken in their
+estimate of what "worthiness" really is. They are
+forgetting that the Lord's Supper was not intended for
+unsinning angels, but for men and women compassed with
+infirmity, dwelling in a world full of temptations, and
+needing mercy and grace every day they live. A sense of
+our own utter unworthiness is the best worthiness we can
+bring to the Communion rail. A deep feeling of our own
+entire indebtedness to Christ for all we have and hope for,
+is the best feeling we can bring with us. The people I
+now have in view ought to consider seriously whether the
+ground they have taken up is tenable, and whether they
+are not standing in their own light. If they are waiting
+till they feel in themselves perfect hearts, perfect motives,
+perfect feelings, perfect repentance, perfect love, perfect
+faith, they will wait for ever. There never were such
+communicants in any age,&mdash;certainly not in the days of
+our Lord and of the Apostles,&mdash;there never will be as
+long as the world stands. Nay, rather, the very thought
+that we feel literally worthy, is a symptom of secret
+self-righteousness, and proves us unfit for communion in<span class="pagenum">[Pg 158]</span>
+God's sight. Sinners we are when we first come to the
+throne of grace,&mdash;sinners we shall be till we die; converted
+changed, renewed, sanctified, but sinners still. In short,
+no man is a really worthy communicant who does not
+deeply feel that he is a "miserable sinner."</p>
+
+<p>(5) In the last place, some object to be communicants
+because they see others coming to the Lord's Table who
+are not worthy, and not in a right state of mind. Because
+others eat and drink unworthily, they refuse to eat and
+drink at all. Of all the grounds taken up by non-communicants
+to justify their own neglect of Christ's ordinance,
+I must plainly say, I know none which seems to me so
+foolish, so weak, so unreasonable, and so unscriptural as
+this. It is as good as saying that we will never receive
+the Lord's Supper at all! When shall we ever find a body
+of communicants on earth of which all the members are
+converted?&mdash;It is setting up ourselves in the most unhealthy
+attitude of judging others. "Who art thou that
+judgest another?" "What is that to thee? Follow thou
+Me."&mdash;It is depriving ourselves of a great privilege merely
+because others profane it and make a bad use of it.&mdash;It is
+pretending to be wiser than our Master Himself. If the
+words of St. Luke mean anything, Judas Iscariot was
+present at the first Communion, and received the bread
+and wine among others.&mdash;It is taking up ground for which
+there is no warrant in Scripture. St. Paul rebukes the
+Corinthians sharply for the irreverent behaviour of some
+of the communicants; but I cannot find him giving a
+single hint that when some came to the Table unworthily,
+others ought to draw back or stay away. Let me advise
+the non-communicants I have now in view to beware of
+being wise above that which was written. Let them study
+the parable of the Wheat and Tares, and mark how both
+were to "grow together till the harvest." (Matt. xiii. 30.)
+Perfect Churches, perfect congregations, perfect bodies of
+communicants, are all unattainable in this world of confusion<span class="pagenum">[Pg 159]</span>
+and sin. Let us covet the best gifts, and do all
+we can to check sin in others; but let us not starve our
+own selves because others are ignorant sinners, and turn
+their meat into poison. If others are foolish enough to
+eat and drink unworthily, let us not turn our backs on
+Christ's ordinance, and refuse to eat and drink at all.</p>
+
+<p>Such are the five common excuses why myriads in the
+present day, though professing themselves Christians, never
+come to the Lord's Supper. One common remark may be
+made about them: there is not a single reason among the
+five which deserves to be called "good," and which does
+not condemn the man who gives it. I challenge any one
+to deny this. I have said repeatedly that I want no one
+to be a communicant who is not properly qualified. But
+I ask those who stay away never to forget that the very
+reasons they assign for their conduct are their condemnation.
+I tell them that they stand convicted before God
+of either being very ignorant of what a communicant is,
+and what the Lord's Supper is; or else of being persons
+who are not living rightly, and are unfit to die. In short,
+to say, I am a non-communicant, is as good as saying one
+of three things:&mdash;"I am living in sin, and cannot come;&mdash;I
+know Christ commands me, but I will not obey Him;&mdash;I
+am an ignorant man, and do not understand what the
+Lord's Supper means."</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>I know not in what state of mind this book may find
+the reader of this paper, or what his opinions may be
+about the Lord's Supper. But I will conclude the whole
+subject by offering to all some warnings, which I venture
+to think are peculiarly required by the times.</p>
+
+<p>(1) In the first place, <i>do not neglect</i> the Lord's Supper.
+The man who coolly and deliberately refuses to use an
+ordinance which the Lord Jesus Christ appointed for his
+profit, may be very sure that his soul is in a very wrong
+state. There is a judgment yet to come; there is an<span class="pagenum">[Pg 160]</span>
+account to be rendered of all our conduct on earth. How
+any one can look forward to that day, and expect to meet
+Christ with comfort and in peace, if he has refused all his
+life to meet Christ in His own ordinance, is a thing that I
+cannot understand. Does this come home to you? Mind
+what you are doing.</p>
+
+<p>(2) In the second place, <i>do not receive the Lord's Supper
+carelessly</i>, irreverently, and as a matter of form. The man
+who walks up to the Communion rail, and eats the bread
+and drinks the wine, while his heart is far away, is committing
+a great sin, and robbing himself of a great blessing.
+In this, as in every other means of grace, everything
+depends on the state of mind in which the ordinance is
+used. He that draws near without repentance, faith, and
+love, and with a heart full of sin and the world, will
+certainly be nothing better, but rather worse. Does this
+come home to you? Mind what you are about.</p>
+
+<p>(3) In the third place, <i>do not make an idol</i> of the
+Lord's Supper. The man who tells you that it is the first,
+foremost, chief, and principal ordinance in Christianity, is
+telling you that which he will find it hard to prove. In
+the great majority of the books of the New Testament
+the Lord's Supper is not even named. In the letter to
+Timothy and Titus, about a minister's duties, the subject is
+not even mentioned. To repent and be converted, to
+believe and be holy, to be born again and have grace in
+our hearts,&mdash;all these things are of far more importance
+than to be a communicant. Without them we cannot be
+saved. Without the Lord's Supper we can. The penitent
+thief was not a communicant, and Judas Iscariot was!
+Are you tempted to make the Lord's Supper override and
+overshadow everything in Christianity, and place it above
+prayer and preaching? Take care. Mind what you are
+about.</p>
+
+<p>(4) In the fourth place, <i>do not use the Lord's Supper
+irregularly</i>. Never be absent when this ordinance is<span class="pagenum">[Pg 161]</span>
+administered. Make every sacrifice to be in your place.
+Regular habits are essential to the maintenance of the
+health of our bodies. Regular use of every means of
+grace is essential to the prosperity of our souls. The man
+who finds it a weariness to attend on every occasion when
+the Lord's Table is spread, may well doubt whether all is
+right within him, and whether he is ready for the Marriage
+Supper of the Lamb. If Thomas had not been absent
+when the Lord appeared the first time to the assembled
+disciples, he would not have said the foolish things he
+did. Absence made him miss a blessing. Does this come
+home to you? Mind what you are about.</p>
+
+<p>(5) In the fifth place, <i>do not do anything to bring
+discredit</i> on your profession as a communicant. The man
+who after attending the Lord's Table runs into sin, does
+more harm perhaps than any sinner. He is a walking
+sermon on behalf of the devil. He gives occasion to the
+enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. He helps to keep
+people away from Christ. Lying, drinking, adulterous,
+dishonest, passionate communicants are the helpers of the
+devil, and the worst enemies of the Gospel. Does this
+come home to you? Mind what you are about.</p>
+
+<p>(6) In the last place, <i>do not despond</i> and be cast down,
+if with all your desires you do not feel to get great good
+from the Lord's Supper. Very likely you are expecting too
+much. Very likely you are a poor judge of your own state.
+Your soul's roots may be strengthening and growing,
+while you think you are not getting on. Very likely
+you are forgetting that earth is not heaven, and that
+here we walk by sight and not by faith, and must expect
+nothing perfect. Lay these things to heart. Do not write
+bitter things against yourself without cause.</p>
+
+<p>To every reader into whose hands this paper may fall, I
+commend the whole subject of it as deserving of serious
+and solemn consideration. I am nothing better than a
+poor fallible man myself. But if I have made up my<span class="pagenum">[Pg 162]</span>
+mind on any point it is this,&mdash;that there is no truth which
+demands such plain speaking as truth about the Lord's
+Supper.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;">
+
+<p>NOTE</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>I ask the special attention of my readers to the following extracts
+from the last Charge of the late Dr. Longley, Archbishop of Canterbury.</p>
+
+<p>The office held by the Archbishop, the remarkable gentleness and
+mildness of his character, the fact that this Charge contains his last
+sentiments, and that it was not made public till after his death,&mdash;all
+this appears to me to invest these extracts about the Lord's Supper with
+peculiar interest.</p>
+
+<p>"It is far from my intention to impute to all those who have taken
+the ill-advised step of adopting the Sacrificial Vestments (in administering
+the Lord's Supper) any sympathy with Roman error; but I am
+constrained to avow that there are plain indications in some of the
+publications which have been issued as manifestoes of the opinions of
+that section of our Church, that some of its professed members, yea,
+even of her ministers, think themselves at liberty to hold the doctrines
+of the Church of Rome in relation to the Sacrifice of the Mass, and yet
+retain their position within the pale of the Anglican Church with the
+avowed purpose of eliminating from its formularies every trace of the
+Reformation, as regards its protest against Romish error. The language
+they hold with respect to it is entirely incompatible with loyalty to the
+Church to which they profess to belong. They call it 'a Communion
+deeply tainted with Protestant heresy:' 'Our duty,' they say, 'is the
+expulsion of the evil, not flight from it.' It is no want of charity,
+therefore, to declare that they remain with us in order that they may
+substitute the Mass for the Communion; the obvious aim of our Reformers
+having been to substitute the Communion for the Mass. Doubtless
+the Church of England admits of considerable latitude in the views
+that may be taken of that most mysterious of all mysteries, the Sacrament
+of the Lord's Supper. And so long as those solemn words of its
+original institution, 'This is my Body,' 'This is my Blood,' shall remain
+in the sentence of consecration (and they never can be erased from it),
+so long will there be varieties of interpretation of these words, all of
+which may be consistent with a true allegiance to our Church, provided
+these three conditions be observed:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"1. That they be not construed to signify that the Natural Body
+of Christ is present in the Sacrament:</p>
+
+<p>"2. Nor to admit of any adoration either of the Sacramental bread<span class="pagenum">[Pg 163]</span>
+and wine there bodily received, or of any corporal presence of Christ's
+Natural Body and Blood:</p>
+
+<p>"3. Nor to justify the belief that the Body and Blood are again
+offered as a satisfaction for sin; seeing that the offering of Christ once
+made was a perfect redemption, propitiation, and satisfaction for the sins
+of the whole world, original and actual.</p>
+
+<p>"These are the limits which our Church imposes upon the liberty of
+interpretation of the words of our blessed Lord.</p>
+
+<p>"The use of these sacrificial vestments is in the minds of many intimately
+connected with the idea that an essential element in the Holy
+Communion is the offering to God a Sacrifice of the Body and Blood of
+Christ, which abide with the elements in a mysterious manner after the
+act of Consecration. The minister wears the vestments at that time as
+a sacrificing priest. According to this view it would seem that the most
+important part of this Holy Sacrament is what we offer to God, not
+what we receive from Him.</p>
+
+<p>"This view is not recognised by the Church of England in her formularies.
+The general definition in the XXVth Article states that Sacraments
+are 'certain sure witnesses and effectual signs of grace, by the
+which [God] doth work invisibly in us;' and it is said specifically of the
+Lord's Supper (Art. XXVIII.), that it 'is a Sacrament of our Redemption
+by Christ's death: insomuch that to such as rightly, worthily, and
+with faith, receive the same, the Bread which we break is a partaking
+of the Body of Christ; and likewise the Cup of Blessing is a partaking
+of the Blood of Christ.' The idea of the Sacrifice of that Body and
+Blood finds no place in either of these strict definitions. The Catechism
+speaks the same language when it defines a Sacrament to be 'an outward
+and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace given unto us.' Nor
+will an examination of the Office of the Holy Communion itself give any
+countenance to the idea in question. The only distinct oblation or
+offering mentioned in that Office is previous to the Consecration of the
+elements, in the Prayer for the Church Militant, and therefore cannot be
+an offering or sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Christ; and the only
+sacrifice which we are spoken of as making, is the offering of 'ourselves,
+our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, and lively sacrifice.'<a href="#ft_3">[3]</a>
+Our Church seems most studiously to have avoided any expression which
+could countenance the notion of a perpetual Sacrifice of Christ, while on
+the other hand it speaks of Christ's death upon the cross as 'His own
+oblation of Himself once offered as a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice
+for the sins of the whole world.' No room is left for the repetition of
+that sacrifice, or for the admission of any other sacrifice for sin.</p>
+
+<p>"The Romish notion of a true, real, and substantial Sacrifice of the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 164]</span>
+Body and Blood of Christ, as it is called in the Council of Trent, entailed
+the use of the term <i>altar</i>. But this term appears nowhere in the Book
+of Common Prayer, and was no doubt omitted lest any countenance
+should be given to the sacrificial view. The notion, therefore, of making
+in the material elements a perpetual offering of the Body and Blood of
+Christ, is as foreign to the spirit and the letter of our Service as I hold it
+to be to the doctrine of the early Fathers, as well as of the leading divines
+of our Church. This latter point also I shall endeavour to establish
+hereafter.</p>
+
+<p>"Meanwhile it cannot be denied, on the other hand, that the doctrine
+of the Real Presence is, in one sense, the doctrine of the Church of
+England. She asserts that the Body and Blood of Christ are 'verily
+and indeed taken and received by the faithful in the Lord's Supper.'
+And she asserts equally that such presence is not material or corporal;
+but that Christ's Body 'is given, taken, and eaten, in the Supper, only
+after a heavenly and spiritual manner.' (Art. XXVIII.) Christ's
+presence is effectual for all those intents and purposes for which His
+Body was broken, and His Blood shed. As to a presence elsewhere
+than in the heart of the believer, the Church of England is silent, and
+the words of Hooker therefore represent her views: 'The real presence
+of Christ's most blessed Body and Blood is not to be sought in the
+Sacrament, but in the worthy receiver of the Sacrament.'"</p></blockquote>
+
+<br>
+
+<h2><a name="VII" id="VII">VII</a></h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 165]</span>
+
+<h2>CHARITY</h2>
+
+<blockquote><p>"<i>Now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of
+these is charity.</i>"&mdash;1 <span class="smcap">Cor.</span> xiii. 13.</p></blockquote>
+
+
+<p>Charity is rightly called "the Queen of Christian graces."
+"The end of the commandment," says St. Paul, "is
+charity." (1 Tim. i. 5.) It is a grace which all people
+profess to admire. It seems a plain practical thing which
+everybody can understand. It is none of "those troublesome
+doctrinal points" about which Christians are disagreed.
+Thousands, I suspect, would not be ashamed to tell you
+that they knew nothing about justification or regeneration,
+about the work of Christ or the Holy Spirit. But nobody,
+I believe, would like to say that he knew nothing about
+"charity!" If men possess nothing else in religion, they
+always flatter themselves that they possess "charity."</p>
+
+<p>A few plain thoughts about charity may not be without
+use. There are false notions abroad about it which require
+to be dispelled. There are mistakes about it which require
+to be rectified. In my admiration of charity I yield to
+none. But I am bold to say that in many minds the
+whole subject seems completely misunderstood.</p>
+
+
+<blockquote><p>I. Let me show, firstly, <i>the place the Bible gives to
+charity</i>.</p>
+
+<p>II. Let me show, secondly, <i>what the charity of the
+Bible really is</i>.</p>
+
+<p>III. Let me show, thirdly, <i>whence true charity comes</i>.</p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 166]</span>
+
+<p>IV. Let me show, lastly, <i>why charity is "the greatest"
+of the graces</i>.</p></blockquote>
+
+
+<p>I ask the best attention of my readers to the subject.
+My heart's desire and prayer to God is, that the growth of
+charity may be promoted in this sin-burdened world. In
+nothing does the fallen condition of man show itself so
+strongly as in the scarcity of Christian charity. There is
+little faith on earth, little hope, little knowledge of Divine
+things. But nothing, after all, is so scarce as real charity.</p>
+
+<br>
+<p>I. Let me show <i>the place which the Bible gives to charity</i>.</p>
+
+<p>I begin with this point in order to establish the immense
+practical importance of my subject. I do not forget that
+there are many high-flying Christians in this present day,
+who almost refuse to look at anything <i>practical</i> in
+Christianity. They can talk of nothing but two or three
+favourite doctrines. Now I want to remind my readers
+that the Bible contains much about practice as well as
+about doctrine, and that one thing to which it attaches
+great weight is "charity."</p>
+
+<p>I turn to the New Testament, and ask men to observe
+what it says about charity. In all religious inquiries there
+is nothing like letting the Scripture speak for itself. There
+is no surer way of finding out truth than the old way of
+turning to plain texts. Texts were our Lord's weapons,
+both in answering Satan, and in arguing with the Jews.
+Texts are the guides we must never be ashamed to refer
+to in the present day.&mdash;"What saith the Scripture? What
+is written? How readest thou?"</p>
+
+<p>Let us hear what St. Paul says to the Corinthians:
+"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels,
+and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a
+tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy,
+and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and
+though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 167]</span>
+and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow
+all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my
+body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me
+nothing." (1 Cor. xiii. 1&mdash;3.)</p>
+
+<p>Let us hear what St. Paul says to the Colossians:
+"Above all these things put on charity, which is the bond
+of perfectness." (Col. iii. 14.)</p>
+
+<p>Let us hear what St. Paul says to Timothy: "The end
+of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of
+a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned." (1 Tim. i. 5.)</p>
+
+<p>Let us hear what St. Peter says: "Above all things have
+fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover
+the multitude of sins." (1 Peter iv. 8.)</p>
+
+<p>Let us hear what our Lord Jesus Christ Himself says
+about that love, which is only another name for charity.<a href="#ft_4">[4]</a>
+"A new commandment give I unto you, That ye love one
+another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
+By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye
+have love one to another." (John xiii. 34, 35.) Above all,
+let us read our Lord's account of the last judgment, and
+mark that want of love will condemn millions. (Matt.
+xxv. 41, 42.)</p>
+
+<p>Let us hear what St. Paul says to the Romans: "Owe no
+man anything, but to love one another: for he that loveth
+another hath fulfilled the law." (Rom. xiii. 8.)</p>
+
+<p>Let us hear what St. Paul says to the Ephesians: "Walk
+in love, as Christ also hath loved us." (Eph. v. 2.)</p>
+
+<p>Let us hear what St. John says: "Beloved, let us love one
+another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth
+is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not
+knoweth not God; for God is love." (1 John iv. 7, 8.)</p>
+
+<p>I shall make no comment upon these texts. I think it<span class="pagenum">[Pg 168]</span>
+better to place them before my readers in their naked
+simplicity, and to let them speak for themselves. If any
+one is disposed to think the subject of this paper a matter
+of light importance, I will only ask him to look at these
+texts, and to think again. He that would take down
+"charity" from the high and holy place which it occupies
+in the Bible, and treat it as a matter of secondary moment,
+must settle his account with God's Word. I certainly
+shall not waste time in arguing with him.</p>
+
+<p>To my own mind the evidence of these texts appears
+clear, plain, and incontrovertible. They show the immense
+importance of charity, as one of the "things that accompany
+salvation." They prove that it has a right to
+demand the serious attention of all who call themselves
+Christians, and that those who despise the subject are only
+exposing their own ignorance of Scripture.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>II. Let me show, secondly, <i>what the charity of the
+Bible really is</i>.</p>
+
+<p>I think it of great importance to have clear views on
+this point. It is precisely here that mistakes about charity
+begin. Thousands delude themselves with the idea that
+they have "charity," when they have not, from downright
+ignorance of Scripture. Their charity is not the charity
+described in the Bible.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>a</i>) The charity of the Bible does not consist in giving
+to the poor. It is a common delusion to suppose that it
+does. Yet St. Paul tells us plainly, that a man may
+"bestow all his goods to feed the poor" (1 Cor. xiii. 3), and
+not have charity. That a charitable man will "remember
+the poor," there can be no question. (Gal. ii. 10.) That
+he will do all he can to assist them, relieve them, and
+lighten their burdens, I do not for a moment deny. All
+I say is, that this does not make up "charity." It is easy
+to spend a fortune in giving away money, and soup, and
+wine, and bread, and coals, and blankets, and clothing, and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 169]</span>
+yet to be utterly destitute of Bible charity.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>b</i>) The charity of the Bible does not consist in never
+disapproving anybody's conduct. Here is another very
+common delusion! Thousands pride themselves on never
+condemning others, or calling them wrong, whatever they
+may do. They convert the precept of our Lord, "judge
+not," into an excuse for having no unfavourable opinion
+at all of anybody. They pervert His prohibition of rash
+and censorious judgments, into a prohibition of all judgment
+whatsoever. Your neighbour may be a drunkard, a
+liar, a Sabbath-breaker, a passionate man. Never mind!
+"It is not charity," they tell you, "to pronounce him,
+wrong." You are to believe that he has a good heart at
+bottom! This idea of charity is, unhappily, a very common
+one. It is full of mischief. To throw a veil over sin,
+and to refuse to call things by their right names,&mdash;to talk
+of "hearts" being good, when "lives" are flatly wrong,&mdash;to
+shut our eyes against wickedness, and say smooth things
+of immorality,&mdash;this is not Scriptural charity.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>c</i>) The charity of the Bible does not consist in never
+disapproving anybody's religious opinions. Here is another
+most serious and growing delusion. There are many who
+pride themselves on never pronouncing others mistaken,
+whatever views they may hold. Your neighbour, forsooth,
+may be an Arian, or a Socinian, a Roman Catholic, or a
+Mormonite, a Deist, or a Sceptic, a mere Formalist, or a
+thorough Antinomian. But the "charity" of many says
+that you have no right to think Him wrong! If he is
+sincere, it is "uncharitable" to think unfavourably of his
+spiritual condition!&mdash;From such charity may I ever be
+delivered! At this rate the Apostles were wrong in going
+out to preach to the Gentiles! At this rate there is no
+use in missions! At this rate we had better close our
+Bibles, and shut up our churches! Everybody is right,
+and nobody is wrong! Everybody is going to heaven, and
+nobody is going to hell! Such charity is a monstrous<span class="pagenum">[Pg 170]</span>
+caricature. To say that all are equally right in their
+opinions, though their opinions flatly contradict one
+another,&mdash;to say that all are equally in the way to
+heaven, though their doctrinal sentiments are as opposite
+as black and white,&mdash;this is not Scriptural charity. Charity
+like this pours contempt on the Bible, and talks as if God
+had not given us a written test of truth. Charity like this
+confuses all our notions of heaven, and would fill it with
+a discordant inharmonious rabble. True charity does not
+think everybody right in doctrine. True charity cries,&mdash;"Believe
+not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they
+be of God: because many false prophets are gone out into
+the world."&mdash;"If there come any unto you, and bring not
+this doctrine, receive him not." (1 John iv. 1; 2 John 10.)</p>
+
+<p>I leave the negative side of the question here. I have
+dwelt upon it at some length because of the days in which
+we live and the strange notions which abound. Let me
+now turn to the positive side. Having shown what charity
+is not, let me now show what it is.</p>
+
+<p>Charity is that "love," which St. Paul places first among
+those fruits which the Spirit causes to be brought forth in
+the heart of a believer. "The fruit of the Spirit is love."
+(Gal. v. 2.) Love to God, such as Adam had before the
+fall, is its first feature. He that has charity, desires to
+love God with heart, and soul and mind, and strength.
+Love to man is its second feature. He that has charity,
+desires to love his neighbour as himself. This is indeed
+that view in which the word "charity" in Scripture is
+more especially regarded. When I speak of a believer
+having "love" in his heart, I mean that he has love to
+both God and man. When I speak of a believer having
+"charity," I mean more particularly that he has love to
+man.</p>
+
+<p>The charity of the Bible will show itself in a <i>believer's
+doings</i>. It will make him ready to do kind acts to every
+one within his reach,&mdash;both to their bodies and souls. It<span class="pagenum">[Pg 171]</span>
+will not let him be content with soft words and kind
+wishes. It will make him diligent in doing all that lies
+in his power to lessen the sorrow and increase the
+happiness of others. Like his Master, he will care more
+for ministering than for being ministered to, and will look
+for nothing in return. Like his Master's great apostle, he
+will very willingly "spend and be spent" for others, even
+though they repay him with hatred, and not with love.
+True charity does not want wages. Its work is its reward.</p>
+
+<p>The charity of the Bible will show itself in a believer's
+<i>readiness to bear</i> evil as well as to do good. It will make
+him patient under provocation, forgiving when injured,
+meek when unjustly attacked, quiet when slandered. It
+will make him bear much and forbear much, put up with
+much and look over much, submit often and deny himself
+often, all for the sake of peace. It will make him put a
+strong bit on his temper, and a strong bridle on his tongue.
+True charity is not always asking,&mdash;"What are my rights?
+Am I treated as I deserve?" but, "How can I best promote
+peace? How can I do that which is most edifying to
+others?"</p>
+
+<p>The charity of the Bible will show itself in the <i>general
+spirit and demeanour</i> of a believer. It will make him
+kind, unselfish, good-natured, good-tempered, and considerate
+for others. It will make him gentle, affable, and
+courteous, in all the daily relations of private life,
+thoughtful for others' comfort, tender for others' feelings,
+and more anxious to give pleasure than to receive. True
+charity never envies others when they prosper, nor rejoices
+in the calamities of others when they are in trouble. At
+all times it will believe, and hope, and try to put a good
+construction on others' doings. And even at the worst, it
+will be full of pity, mercy, and compassion.</p>
+
+<p>Would we like to know where the true Pattern of charity
+like this can be found? We have only to look at the life
+of our Lord Jesus Christ, as described in the Gospels, and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 172]</span>
+we shall see it perfectly exemplified. Charity shone forth
+in all His doings. His daily life was an incessant "going
+about", doing good.&mdash;Charity shone forth in all His
+bearing. He was continually hated, persecuted, slandered,
+misrepresented. But He patiently endured it all. No
+angry word ever fell from His lips. No ill-temper ever
+appeared in His demeanour. "When He was reviled, He
+reviled not again: when He suffered, He threatened not."
+(1 Pet. ii. 23.)&mdash;Charity shone forth in all His spirit and
+deportment. The law of kindness was ever on His lips.
+Among weak and ignorant disciples, among sick and
+sorrowful petitioners for help and relief, among publicans
+and sinners, among Pharisees and Sadducees, He was
+always one and the same.&mdash;kind and patient to all.</p>
+
+<p>And yet, be it remembered, our blessed Master never
+flattered sinners, or connived at sin. He never shrunk
+from exposing wickedness in its true colours, or from
+rebuking those who would cleave to it. He never
+hesitated to denounce false doctrine, by whomsoever it
+might be held, or to exhibit false practice in its true
+colours, and the certain end to which it tends. He called
+things by their right names. He spoke as freely of hell
+and the fire that is not quenched, as of heaven and the
+kingdom of glory. He has left on record an everlasting
+proof that perfect charity does not require us to approve
+everybody's life or opinions, and that it is quite possible
+to condemn false doctrine and wicked practice, and yet to
+be full of love at the same time.</p>
+
+<p>I have now set before my readers the true nature of
+Scriptural charity. I have given a slight and very brief
+account of what it is not, and what it is. I cannot pass
+on without suggesting two practical thoughts, which press
+home on my mind with weighty force, and I hope may
+press home on others.</p>
+
+<p>You have heard of charity. Think, for a moment, how
+deplorably little charity there is upon earth! How<span class="pagenum">[Pg 173]</span>
+conspicuous is the absence of true love among Christians!
+I speak not of heathen now, I speak of Christians. What
+angry tempers, what passions, what selfishness, what bitter
+tongues, are to be found in private families! What
+strifes, what quarrels, what spitefulness, what malice, what
+revenge, what envy between neighbours and fellow-parishioners!
+What jealousies and contentions between
+Churchmen and Dissenters, Calvinists and Arminians,
+High Churchmen and Low Churchmen! "Where is
+charity?" we may well ask,&mdash;"Where is love? where is
+the mind of Christ?" when we look at the spirit which
+reigns in the world. No wonder that Christ's cause stands
+still, and infidelity abounds, when men's hearts know so
+little of charity! Surely, we may well say,&mdash;"When the
+Son of man cometh, shall He find charity upon earth?"</p>
+
+<p>Think, for another thing, what a happy world this would
+be if there was more charity. It is the want of love
+which causes half the misery there is upon earth.
+Sickness, and death, and poverty, will not account for
+more than half the sorrows. The rest come from ill-temper,
+ill-nature, strifes, quarrels, lawsuits, malice, envy,
+revenge, frauds, violence, wars, and the like. It would be
+one great step towards doubling the happiness of mankind,
+and halving their sorrows, if all men and women were full
+of Scriptural charity.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>III. Let me show, thirdly, <i>whence the charity of the
+Bible comes</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Charity, such as I have described, is certainly not
+natural to man. Naturally, we are all more or less selfish,
+envious, ill-tempered, spiteful, ill-natured, and unkind.
+We have only to observe children, when left to themselves,
+to see the proof of this. Let boys and girls grow up
+without proper training and education, and you will not
+see one of them possessing Christian charity. Mark how
+some of them think first of themselves, and their own<span class="pagenum">[Pg 174]</span>
+comfort and advantage! Mark how others are full of
+pride, passion, and evil tempers! How can we account
+for it? There is but one reply. The natural heart knows
+nothing of true charity.</p>
+
+<p>The charity of the Bible will never be found except in
+a heart prepared by the Holy Ghost. It is a tender plant,
+and will never grow except in one soil. You may as well
+expect grapes on thorns, or figs on thistles, as look for
+charity when the heart is not right.</p>
+
+<p>The heart in which charity grows is a heart changed,
+renewed, and transformed by the Holy Ghost. The
+image and likeness of God, which Adam lost at the fall,
+has been restored to it, however feeble and imperfect the
+restoration may appear. It is a "partaker of the Divine
+nature," by union with Christ and sonship to God; and
+one of the first features of that nature is love. (2 Pet. i. 4.)</p>
+
+<p>Such a heart is deeply convinced of sin, hates it, flees
+from it, and fights with it from day to day. And one of
+the prime motions of sin which it daily labours to
+overcome, is selfishness and want of charity.</p>
+
+<p>Such a heart is deeply sensible of its mighty debt to
+our Lord Jesus Christ. It feels continually that it owes
+to Him who died for us on the cross, all its present
+comfort, hope, and peace. How can it show forth its
+gratitude? What can it render to its Redeemer? If it
+can do nothing else, it strives to be like Him, to drink
+into His spirit, to walk in His footsteps, and, like Him, to
+be full of love. "The love of Christ shed abroad in the
+heart by the Holy Ghost" is the surest fountain of Christian
+charity. Love will produce love.</p>
+
+<p>I ask my reader's special attention to this point. It is
+one of great importance in the present day. There are
+many who profess to admire charity, while they care nothing
+about vital Christianity. They like some of the fruits
+and results of the Gospel, but not the root from which
+these fruits alone can grow, or the doctrines with which<span class="pagenum">[Pg 175]</span>
+they are inseparably connected.</p>
+
+<p>Hundreds will praise love and charity, who hate to be
+told of man's corruption, of the blood of Christ, and of
+the inward work of the Holy Ghost. Many a parent would
+like his children to grow up unselfish and good tempered,
+who would not be much pleased if conversion, and repentance,
+and faith, were pressed home on their attention.</p>
+
+<p>Now I desire to protest against this notion, that you
+can have the fruits of Christianity without the roots,&mdash;that
+you can produce Christian tempers without teaching
+Christian doctrines,&mdash;that you can have charity that will
+wear and endure without grace in the heart.</p>
+
+<p>I grant, most freely, that every now and then one sees
+a person who seems very charitable and amiable, without
+any distinctive doctrinal religion. But such cases are so
+rare and remarkable, that, like exceptions, they only prove
+the truth of the general rule. And often, too often, it may
+be feared in such cases the apparent charity is only
+seeming, and in private completely fails. I firmly believe,
+as a general rule, you will not find such charity as the
+Bible describes, except in the soil of a heart thoroughly
+imbued with Bible religion. Holy practice will not
+flourish without sound doctrine. What God has joined
+together, it is useless to expect to have separate and
+asunder.</p>
+
+<p>The delusion which I am trying to combat is helped
+forward to a most mischievous degree by the vast majority
+of novels, romances, and tales of fiction. Who does not
+know that the heroes and heroines of these works are
+constantly described as patterns of perfection? They are
+always doing the right thing, saying the right thing, and
+showing the right temper! They are always kind, and
+amiable, and unselfish, and forgiving! And yet you never
+hear a word about their religion! In short, to judge by
+the generality of works of fiction, it is possible to have
+excellent practical religion without doctrine, the fruits of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 176]</span>
+the Spirit without the grace of the Spirit, and the mind
+of Christ without union with Christ!</p>
+
+<p>Here, in short, is the great danger of reading most
+novels, romances, and works of fiction. The greater part
+of them give a false or incorrect view of human nature.
+They paint their model men and women as they ought to
+be, and not as they really are. The readers of such
+writings get their minds filled with wrong conceptions of
+what the world is. Their notions of mankind become
+visionary and unreal. They are constantly looking for
+men and women such as they never meet, and expecting
+what they never find.</p>
+
+<p>Let me entreat my readers, once for all, to draw their
+ideas of human nature from the Bible, and not from novels.
+Settle it down in your mind, that there cannot be true
+charity without a heart renewed by grace. A certain
+degree of kindness, courtesy, amiability, good nature, may
+undoubtedly be seen in many who have no vital religion.
+But the glorious plant of Bible charity, in all its fulness
+and perfection, will never be found without union with
+Christ, and the work of the Holy Ghost. Teach this to
+your children, if you have any. Hold it up in schools, if
+you are connected with any. Lift up charity. Make much
+of charity. Give place to none in exalting the grace of
+kindness, love, good nature, unselfishness, good temper.
+But never, never forget, that there is but one school in
+which these things can be thoroughly learned, and that is
+the school of Christ. Real charity comes down from above.
+True love is the fruit of the Spirit. He that would have
+it must sit at Christ's feet, and learn of Him.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>IV. Let me show, lastly, <i>why charity is called the
+"greatest" of the graces</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The words of St. Paul, on this subject, are distinct and
+unmistakable. He winds up his wonderful chapter on
+charity in the following manner: "Now abideth faith,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 177]</span>
+hope, charity, these three: but the greatest of these is
+charity." (1 Cor. xiii. 13.)</p>
+
+<p>This expression is very remarkable. Of all the writers
+in the New Testament, none, certainly, exalts "faith" so
+highly as St. Paul. The Epistles to the Romans and
+Galatians abound in sentences showing its vast importance.
+By it the sinner lays hold on Christ and is saved. Through
+it we are justified, and have peace with God. Yet here
+the same St. Paul speaks of something which is even
+greater than faith. He puts before us the three leading
+Christian graces, and pronounces the following judgment
+on them,&mdash;"The greatest is charity." Such a sentence
+from such a writer demands special attention. What are
+we to understand when we hear of charity being greater
+than faith and hope?</p>
+
+<p>We are not to suppose, for a moment, that charity can
+atone for our sins, or make our peace with God. Nothing
+can do that for us but the blood of Christ, and nothing can
+give us an interest in Christ's blood but faith. It is unscriptural
+ignorance not to know this. The office of
+justifying and joining the soul to Christ belongs to faith
+alone. Our charity, and all our other graces, are all more
+or less imperfect, and could not stand the severity of God's
+judgment. When we have done all, we are "unprofitable
+servants." (Luke xvii. 10.)</p>
+
+<p>We are not to suppose that charity can exist independently
+of faith. St. Paul did not intend to set up one
+grace in rivalry to the other. He did not mean that one
+man might have faith, another hope, and another charity,
+and that the best of these was the man who had charity.
+The three graces are inseparably joined together. Where
+there is faith, there will always be love; and where there
+is love, there will be faith. Sun and light, fire and heat,
+ice and cold, are not more intimately united than faith
+and charity.</p>
+
+<p>The reasons why charity is called the greatest of the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 178]</span>
+three graces, appear to me plain and simple. Let me
+show what they are.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>a</i>) Charity is called the greatest of graces, because it is
+the one in which there is <i>some likeness between the believer
+and his God</i>. God has no need of faith. He is
+dependent on no one. There is none superior to Him in
+whom He must trust.&mdash;God has no need of hope. To
+Him all things are certain, whether past, present, or to
+come.&mdash;But "God is love:" and the more love His
+people have, the more like they are to their Father in
+heaven.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>b</i>) Charity, for another thing, is called the greatest of
+the graces, because <i>it is most useful to others</i>. Faith and
+hope, beyond doubt, however precious, have special
+reference to a believer's own private individual benefit.
+Faith unites the soul to Christ, brings peace with God,
+and opens the way to heaven. Hope fills the soul with
+cheerful expectation of things to come, and, amid the
+many discouragements of things seen, comforts with
+visions of the things unseen. But charity is pre-eminently
+the grace which makes a man useful. It is the spring of
+good works and kindnesses. It is the root of missions,
+schools, and hospitals. Charity made apostles spend and
+be spent for souls. Charity raises up workers for Christ,
+and keeps them working. Charity smooths quarrels, and
+stops strife, and in this sense "covers a multitude of sins."
+(1 Pet. iv. 8.) Charity adorns Christianity, and recommends
+it to the world. A man may have real faith, and
+feel it, and yet his faith may be invisible to others. But a
+man's charity cannot be hid.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>c</i>) Charity, in the last place, is the greatest of the graces,
+because it is the one which <i>endures the longest</i>. In fact,
+it will never die. Faith will one day be swallowed up in
+sight, and hope in certainty. Their office will be useless
+in the morning of the resurrection, and, like old almanacs,
+they will be laid aside. But love will live on through<span class="pagenum">[Pg 179]</span>
+the endless ages of eternity. Heaven will be the abode
+of love. The inhabitants of heaven will be full of love.
+One common feeling will be in all their hearts, and that
+will be charity.</p>
+
+<p>I leave this part of my subject here, and pass on to a
+conclusion. On each of the three points of comparison I
+have just named, between charity and the other graces, it
+would be easy to enlarge. But time and space both forbid
+me to do so. If I have said enough to guard men against
+mistakes about the right meaning of the "greatness" of
+charity, I am content. Charity, be it ever remembered,
+cannot justify and put away our sins. It is neither Christ,
+nor faith. But charity makes us somewhat like God.
+Charity is of mighty use to the world. Charity will live
+and flourish when faith's work is done. Surely, in these
+points of view, charity well deserves the crown.</p>
+
+<p>(1) And now let me ask every one into whose hands
+this paper may come a simple question. Let me press
+home on your conscience the whole subject of this paper.
+Do you know anything of the grace of which I have been
+speaking? <i>Have you charity?</i></p>
+
+<p>The strong language of the Apostle St. Paul must
+surely convince you that the inquiry is not one that ought
+to be lightly put aside. The grace, without which that
+holy man could say, "I am nothing," the grace which the
+Lord Jesus says expressly is the great mark of being His
+disciple,&mdash;such a grace as this demands the serious consideration
+of every one who is in earnest about the salvation
+of his soul. It should set him thinking,&mdash;"How does
+this affect me? Have I charity?"</p>
+
+<p>You have some knowledge, it may be, of religion. You
+know the difference between true and false doctrine. You
+can, perhaps, even quote texts, and defend the opinions
+you hold. But, remember the knowledge which is barren
+of practical results in life and temper is a useless possession.
+The words of the Apostle are very plain:<span class="pagenum">[Pg 180]</span>
+"Though I understand all knowledge, and have not
+charity, I am nothing." (1 Cor. xiii. 3.)</p>
+
+<p>You think you have faith, perhaps. You trust you are
+one of God's elect, and rest in that. But surely you
+should remember that there is a faith of devils, which is
+utterly unprofitable, and that the faith of God's elect is a
+"faith that worketh by love." It was when St. Paul
+remembered the "love" of the Thessalonians, as well as
+their faith and hope, that he said,&mdash;"I know your election
+of God." (1 Thess. i. 4.)</p>
+
+<p>Look at your own daily life, both at home and abroad,
+and consider what place the charity of Scripture has in it.
+What is your temper? What are your ways of behaving
+toward all around you in your own family? What is
+your manner of speaking, especially in seasons of vexation
+and provocation? Where is your good-nature, your
+courtesy, your patience, your meekness, your gentleness,
+your forbearance? Where are your practical actions of
+love in your dealing with others? What do you know
+of the mind of Him who "went about doing good,"&mdash;who
+loved all, though specially His disciples,&mdash;who returned
+good for evil, and kindness for hatred, and had a
+heart wide enough to feel for all?</p>
+
+<p>What would you do in heaven, I wonder, if you got
+there without charity? What comfort could you have in
+an abode where love was the law, and selfishness and ill-nature
+completely shut out? Alas! I fear that heaven
+would be no place for an uncharitable and ill-tempered
+man!&mdash;What said a little boy one day? "If grandfather
+goes to heaven, I hope I and brother will not go there."
+"Why do you say that?" he was asked. He replied,&mdash;"If
+he sees us there, I am sure he will say, as he does
+now,&mdash;'What are these boys doing here? Let them get
+out of the way.' He does not like to see us on earth, and
+I suppose he would not like to see us in heaven."</p>
+
+<p>Give yourself no rest till you know something by experience<span class="pagenum">[Pg 181]</span>
+of real Christian charity. Go and learn of Him
+who is meek and lowly of heart, and ask Him to teach
+you how to love. Ask the Lord Jesus to put His Spirit
+within you, to take away the old heart, to give you a new
+nature, to make you know something of His mind. Cry
+to Him night and day for grace, and give Him no rest
+until you feel something of what I have been describing
+in this paper. Happy indeed will your life be when you
+really understand "walking in love."</p>
+
+<p>(2) But I do not forget that I am writing to some who
+are not ignorant of the charity of Scripture, and who long
+to feel more of it every year. I will give you two simple
+words of exhortation. They are these,&mdash;"Practice and
+teach the grace of charity."</p>
+
+<p>Practice charity diligently. It is one of those graces,
+above all, which grow by constant exercise. Strive more
+and more to carry it into every little detail of daily life.
+Watch over your own tongue and temper throughout every
+hour of the day,&mdash;and especially in your dealings with
+servants, children, and near relatives. Remember the
+character of the excellent woman:&mdash;"In her tongue is the
+law of kindness." (Prov. xxxi. 26.)&mdash;Remember the
+words of St. Paul: "Let ALL your things be done with
+charity." (1 Cor. xvi. 14.) Charity should be seen in
+little things as well as in great ones.&mdash;Remember, not
+least, the words of St. Peter: "Have fervent charity
+among yourselves;" not a charity which just keeps alight,
+but a burning shining fire, which all around can see.
+(1 Pet. iv. 8.) It may cost pains and trouble to keep these
+things in mind. There may be little encouragement from
+the example of others. But persevere. Charity like this
+brings its own reward.</p>
+
+<p>Finally, teach charity to others. Press it continually
+on servants, if you have any. Tell them the great duty of
+kindness, helpfulness, and considerateness, one for another.
+Press it, above all, on children, it you have any. Remind<span class="pagenum">[Pg 182]</span>
+them constantly that kindness, good nature, and good
+temper, are among the first evidences which Christ requires
+in children. If they cannot know much, or explain
+doctrines, they can understand love. A child's religion
+is worth very little if it only consists in repeating texts
+and hymns. Useful as they are, they are often learned
+without thought, remembered without feeling, said over
+without consideration of their meaning, and forgotten
+when childhood is gone. By all means let children be
+taught texts and hymns; but let not such teaching be
+made everything in their religion. Teach them to keep
+their tempers, to be kind one to another, to be unselfish,
+good-natured, obliging, patient, gentle, forgiving. Tell
+them never to forget to their dying day, if they live as
+long as Methuselah, that without charity, the Holy Ghost
+says, "we are nothing." Tell them "<i>above all things</i> to
+put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness." (Colos.
+iii. 14.)</p>
+<br>
+
+
+<h2><a name="VIII" id="VIII"></a>VIII</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 183]</span>
+
+<h2>ZEAL</h2>
+
+<blockquote><p>"<i>It is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing.</i>"&mdash;<span class="smcap">Gal.</span>
+iv. 18.</p></blockquote>
+
+
+<p>Zeal is a subject, like many others in religion, most sadly
+misunderstood. Many would be ashamed to be thought
+"zealous" Christians. Many are ready to say of zealous
+people what Festus said of Paul: "They are beside themselves,&mdash;they
+are mad." (Acts xxvi. 24)</p>
+
+<p>But zeal is a subject which no reader of the Bible has
+any right to pass over. If we make the Bible our rule of
+faith and practice, we cannot turn away from it. We
+must look it in the face. What says the Apostle Paul to
+Titus? "Christ gave Himself for us that He might redeem
+us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar
+people, <i>zealous</i> of good works." (Titus ii. 14.) What
+says the Lord Jesus to the Laodicean Church? "Be
+<i>zealous</i> and repent." (Rev. iii. 19.)</p>
+
+<p>My object in this paper is to plead the cause of zeal in
+religion. I believe we ought not to be afraid of it, but
+rather to love and admire it. I believe it to be a mighty
+blessing to the world, and the origin of countless benefits
+to mankind. I want to strike a blow at the lazy, easy,
+sleepy Christianity of these latter days, which can see
+no beauty in zeal, and only uses the word "zealot" as
+a word of reproach. I want to remind Christians that
+"Zealot" was a name given to one of our Lord Jesus<span class="pagenum">[Pg 184]</span>
+Christ's Apostles, and to persuade them to be zealous
+men.</p>
+
+<p>I ask every reader of this paper to give me his attention
+while I tell him something about zeal. Listen to me for
+your own sake,&mdash;for the sake of the world,&mdash;for the sake
+of the Church of Christ. Listen to me, and by God's
+help I will show you that to be "zealous" is to be wise.</p>
+
+
+<blockquote><p>I. Let me show, in the first place, <i>what is zeal in
+religion</i>.</p>
+
+<p>II. Let me show, in the second place, <i>when a man
+can be called rightly zealous in religion</i>?</p>
+
+<p>III. Let me show, in the third place, <i>why it is a good
+thing for a man to be zealous in religion</i>?</p></blockquote>
+<br>
+
+<p>I. First of all, I propose to consider this question.
+"What is <i>zeal</i> in religion?"</p>
+
+<p>Zeal in religion is a burning desire to please God, to do
+His will, and to advance His glory in the world in every
+possible way. It is a desire which no man feels by nature,&mdash;which
+the Spirit puts in the heart of every believer
+when he is converted,&mdash;but which some believers feel so
+much more strongly than others that they alone deserve
+to be called "zealous" men.</p>
+
+<p>This desire is so strong, when it really reigns in a man,
+that it impels him to make any sacrifice,&mdash;to go through
+any trouble,&mdash;to deny himself to any amount,&mdash;to suffer,
+to work, to labour, to toil,&mdash;to spend himself and be spent,
+and even to die,&mdash;if only he can please God and honour
+Christ.</p>
+
+<p>A zealous man in religion is pre-eminently <i>a man of
+one thing</i>. It is not enough to say that he is earnest,
+hearty, uncompromising, thorough-going, whole-hearted,
+fervent in spirit. He only sees one thing, he cares for one
+thing, he lives for one thing, he is swallowed up in one<span class="pagenum">[Pg 185]</span>
+thing; and that one thing is to please God. Whether he
+lives, or whether he dies,&mdash;whether he has health, or
+whether he has sickness,&mdash;whether he is rich, or whether
+he is poor,&mdash;whether he pleases man, or whether he gives
+offence,&mdash;whether he is thought wise, or whether he is
+thought foolish,&mdash;whether he gets blame, or whether he
+gets praise,&mdash;whether he gets honour, or whether he
+gets shame,&mdash;for all this the zealous man cares nothing at
+all. He burns for one thing; and that one thing is to
+please God, and to advance God's glory. If he is
+consumed in the very burning, he cares not for it,&mdash;he is
+content. He feels that, like a lamp, he is made to burn;
+and if consumed in burning, he has but done the work for
+which God appointed him. Such an one will always find
+a sphere for his zeal. If he cannot preach, and work, and
+give money, he will cry, and sigh, and pray. Yes: if he is
+only a pauper, on a perpetual bed of sickness, he will
+make the wheels of sin around him drive heavily, by
+continually interceding against it. If he cannot fight in
+the valley with Joshua, he will do the work of Moses,
+Aaron, and Hur, on the hill. (Exod. xvii. 9&mdash;13.) If he
+is cut off from working himself, he will give the Lord no
+rest till help is raised up from another quarter, and the
+work is done. This is what I mean when I speak of
+"zeal" in religion.</p>
+
+<p>We all know the habit of mind that makes men great
+in this world,&mdash;that makes such men as Alexander the
+Great, or Julius Cæsar, or Oliver Cromwell, or Peter the
+Great, or Charles XII., or Marlborough, or Napoleon, or
+Pitt. We know that, with all their faults, they were all
+men of one thing. They threw themselves into one grand
+pursuit. They cared for nothing else. They put every thing
+else aside. They counted every thing else as second-rate,
+and of subordinate importance, compared to the one thing
+that they put before their eyes every day they lived. I say
+that the same habit of mind applied to the service of the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 186]</span>
+Lord Jesus Christ becomes religious <i>zeal</i>.</p>
+
+<p>We know the habit of mind that makes men great in
+the sciences of this world,&mdash;that makes such men as
+Archimedes, or Sir Isaac Newton, or Galileo, or Ferguson
+the astronomer, or James Watt. All these were men of
+one thing. They brought the powers of their minds into
+one single focus. They cared for nothing else beside.
+And this was the secret of their success. I say that this
+same habit consecrated to the service of God becomes
+religious <i>zeal</i>.</p>
+
+<p>We know the habit of mind that makes men rich,&mdash;that
+makes men amass mighty fortunes, and leave
+millions behind them. What kind of people were the
+bankers, and merchants, and tradesmen, who have left a
+name behind them, as men who acquired immense wealth
+and became rich from being poor? They were all men
+that threw themselves entirely into their business, and
+neglected every thing else for the sake of that business.
+They gave their first attention, their first thoughts, the
+best of their time, and the best part of their mind, to
+pushing forward the transactions in which they were
+engaged. They were men of one thing. Their hearts
+were not divided. They devoted themselves, body, soul,
+and mind to their business. They seemed to live for
+nothing else. I say that if you turn that habit of mind
+to the service of God and His Christ it makes religious <i>zeal</i>.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>a</i>) Now this habit of mind,&mdash;this zeal was <i>the characteristic
+of all the Apostles</i>. See for example the Apostle Paul.
+Hear him when he speaks to the Ephesian elders for the
+last time: "None of these things move me, neither count
+I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my
+course with joy, and the ministry that I have received of
+the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the grace of God."
+(Acts xx. 24.) Hear him again, when he writes to the
+Philippians: "This one thing I do; I press towards the
+mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ<span class="pagenum">[Pg 187]</span>
+Jesus." (Phil. iii. 13, 14.) See him from the day of his
+conversion, giving up his brilliant prospects,&mdash;forsaking
+all for Christ's sake,&mdash;and going forth to preach that very
+Jesus whom he had once despised. See him going to and
+fro throughout the world from that time,&mdash;through
+persecution,&mdash;through oppression,&mdash;through opposition,&mdash;through
+prisons,&mdash;through bonds,&mdash;through afflictions,&mdash;through
+things next to death itself, up to the very day
+when he sealed his faith with his blood, and died at Rome,
+a martyr for that Gospel which he had so long proclaimed.
+This was true religious <i>zeal</i>.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>b</i>) This again was the <i>characteristic of the early
+Christians</i>. They were men "every where spoken against."
+(Acts xxviii. 22.) They were driven to worship God in
+dens and caves of the earth. They often lost every thing
+in the world for their religion's sake. They generally
+gained nothing but the cross, persecution, shame, and
+reproach. But they seldom, very seldom, went back. If
+they could not dispute, at least they could suffer. If they
+could not convince their adversaries by argument, at any
+rate they could die, and prove that they themselves were
+in earnest. Look at Ignatius cheerfully travelling to the
+place where he was to be devoured by lions, and saying as
+he went, "Now do I begin to be a disciple of my Master,
+Christ." Hear old Polycarp before the Roman Governor,
+saying boldly, when called upon to deny Christ, "Four
+score and six years have I served Christ, neither hath He
+ever offended me in any thing, and how then can I revile
+my King?" This was true <i>zeal</i>.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>c</i>) This again was <i>the characteristic of Martin Luther</i>.
+He boldly defied the most powerful hierarchy that the
+world has ever seen. He unveiled its corruptions with
+an unflinching hand. He preached the long-neglected
+truth of justification by faith, in spite of anathemas and
+excommunications, fast and thickly poured upon him.
+See him going to the Diet at Worms, and pleading his<span class="pagenum">[Pg 188]</span>
+cause before the Emperor and the Legate, and a host of
+the children of this world. Hear him saying,&mdash;when men
+were dissuading him from going, and reminding him of
+the fate of John Huss, "Though there were a devil under
+every tile on the roofs of Worms, in the name of the
+Lord I shall go forward." This was true <i>zeal</i>.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>d</i>) This again was <i>the characteristic of our own English
+Reformers</i>. You have it in our first Reformer, Wickliffe,
+when he rose up on his sick bed, and said to the Friars,
+who wanted him to retract all he had said against the
+Pope, "I shall not die, but live to declare the villanies of
+the Friars." You have it in Cranmer, dying at the stake,
+rather than deny Christ's Gospel, holding forth that hand
+to be first burned which, in a moment of weakness, had
+signed a recantation, and saying, as he held it in the
+flames, "This unworthy hand!" You have it in old
+father Latimer, standing boldly on his faggot, at the age
+of seventy years, and saying to Ridley, "Courage, brother
+Ridley! we shall light such a candle this day as, by God's
+grace, shall never be put out." This was <i>zeal</i>.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>e</i>) This again has been <i>the characteristic of all the
+greatest Missionaries</i>. You see it in Dr. Judson, in Carey,
+in Morrison, in Schwartz, in Williams, in Brainerd, in
+Elliott. You see it in none more brightly than in Henry
+Martyn. Here was a man who had reached the highest
+academical honours that Cambridge could bestow. Whatever
+profession he chose to follow, he had the most dazzling
+prospects of success. He turned his back upon it all.
+He chose to preach the Gospel to poor benighted heathen.
+He went forth to an early grave, in a foreign land. He
+said when he got there and saw the condition of the
+people, "I could bear to be torn in pieces, if I could but
+hear the sobs of penitence,&mdash;if I could but see the eyes
+of faith directed to the Redeemer!" This was <i>zeal</i>.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>f</i>) But let us look away from all earthly examples,&mdash;and
+remember that zeal was pre-eminently the characteristic of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 189]</span>
+our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Himself. Of Him it
+was written hundreds of years before He came upon earth,
+that He was "clad with <i>zeal</i> as with a cloak," and "the <i>zeal</i>
+of thine house hath even eaten me." And His own words
+were "My meat is to do my Father's will, and to finish
+His work." (Psalm lxix. 9; Isaiah lix. 17; John iv. 34.)</p>
+
+<p>Where shall we begin, if we try to give examples of
+His zeal? Where should we end, if we once began?
+Trace all the narratives of His life in the four Gospels.
+Read all the history of what He was from the beginning
+of His ministry to the end. Surely if there ever was
+one who was <i>all zeal</i>, it was our great Example,&mdash;our
+Head,&mdash;our High Priest,&mdash;the great Shepherd of our
+profession, the Lord Jesus Christ.</p>
+
+<p>If these things are so, we should not only beware of
+running down zeal, but we should also beware of allowing
+zeal to be run down in our presence. It may be badly
+directed, and then it becomes a curse;&mdash;but it may be
+turned to the highest and best ends, and then it is a
+mighty blessing. Like fire, it is one of the best of servants;&mdash;but,
+like fire also, if not well directed, it may be
+the worst of masters. Listen not to those people who
+talk of zeal as weakness and enthusiasm. Listen not to
+those who see no beauty in missions, who laugh at all
+attempts at the conversion of souls,&mdash;who call Societies for
+sending the Gospel to the world useless,&mdash;and who look
+upon City Missions, and District Visiting, and Ragged
+Schools and Open Air Preaching, as nothing but foolishness
+and fanaticism. Beware, lest in joining a cry of that
+kind you condemn the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Beware
+lest you speak against Him who has "left us an example
+that we should follow His steps." (1 Pet. ii. 21.)</p>
+
+<p>Alas! I fear there are many professing Christians who
+if they had lived in the days when our Lord and His
+Apostles walked upon earth would have called Him and
+all His followers enthusiasts and fanatics. There are many,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 190]</span>
+I fear, who have more in common with Annas and Caiaphas,&mdash;with
+Pilate and Herod,&mdash;with Festus and Agrippa,&mdash;with
+Felix and Gallio,&mdash;than with St. Paul and the Lord
+Jesus Christ.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>II. I pass on now to the second thing I proposed to
+speak of. <i>When is a man truly zealous in religion?</i></p>
+
+<p>There never was a grace of which Satan has not made
+a counterfeit. There never was a good coin issued from
+the mint but forgers at once have coined something
+very like it. It was one of Nero's cruel practices first to
+sew up Christians in the skins of wild beasts, and then
+bait them with dogs. It is one of Satan's devices to place
+distorted copies of the believer's graces before the eyes of
+men, and so to bring the true graces into contempt. No
+grace has suffered so much in this way as zeal. Of none
+perhaps are there so many shams and counterfeits abroad.
+We must therefore clear the ground of all rubbish on this
+question. We must find out when zeal in religion is
+really good, and true, and of God.</p>
+
+<p>(1) If zeal be true, it will be a <i>zeal according to knowledge</i>.
+It must not be a blind, ignorant zeal. It must be
+a calm, reasonable, intelligent principle, which can show
+the warrant of Scripture for every step it takes. The
+unconverted Jews had zeal. Paul says, "I bear them
+record that they have a zeal of God, <i>but not according to
+knowledge</i>." (Rom. x. 2.) Saul had zeal when he was
+a persecuting Pharisee. He says himself, in one of his
+addresses to the Jews, "I was <i>zealous</i> toward God as ye
+all are this day." (Acts xxii. 3.)&mdash;Manasseh had zeal in
+the days when he was an idolater. The man who made
+his own children pass through the fire,&mdash;who gave up the
+fruit of his body to Moloch, to atone for the sin of his soul,&mdash;that
+man had zeal.&mdash;James and John had zeal when
+they would have called down fire on a Samaritan village.
+But our Lord rebuked them.&mdash;Peter had zeal when he<span class="pagenum">[Pg 191]</span>
+drew his sword and cut off the ear of Malchus. But he
+was quite wrong.&mdash;Bonner and Gardiner had zeal when
+they burned Latimer and Cranmer. Were they not in
+earnest? Let us do them justice. They were zealous,
+though it was for an unscriptural religion.&mdash;The members
+of the Inquisition in Spain had zeal when they tortured
+men, and put them to horrible deaths, because they would
+not forsake the Gospel. Yes! they marched men and
+women to the stake in solemn procession, and called it
+"An Act of Faith," and believed they were doing God
+service.&mdash;The Hindoos, who used to lie down before the
+car of Juggernaut and allow their bodies to be crushed
+under its wheels:&mdash;had not they zeal?&mdash;The Indian
+widows, who used to burn themselves on the funeral pile
+of their deceased husbands,&mdash;the Roman Catholics, who
+persecuted to death the Vaudois and Albigenses, and cast
+down men and women from rocks and precipices, because
+they were heretics;&mdash;had not they zeal?&mdash;The Saracens&mdash;
+the Crusaders,&mdash;the Jesuits,&mdash;the Anabaptists of
+Munster&mdash;the followers of Joanna Southcote,&mdash;had they
+not all zeal? Yes! Yes! I do not deny it. All these had
+zeal beyond question. They were all zealous. They were
+all in earnest. But their zeal was not such zeal as God
+approves,&mdash;it was not a "zeal according to knowledge."</p>
+
+<p>(2) Furthermore, if zeal be true, it will be a zeal <i>from
+true motives</i>. Such is the subtlety of the heart that men
+will often do right things from wrong motives. Amaziah
+and Joash, kings of Judah, are striking proofs of this.
+Just so a man may have zeal about things that are good
+and right, but from second-rate motives, and not from a
+desire to please God. And such zeal is worth nothing.
+It is reprobate silver. It is utterly wanting when placed
+in the balance of God. Man looks only at the action:
+God looks at the motive. Man only thinks of the quantity
+of work done: God considers the doer's heart.</p>
+
+<p>There is such a thing as zeal from <i>party spirit</i>. It is<span class="pagenum">[Pg 192]</span>
+quite possible for a man to be unwearied in promoting the
+interests of his own Church or denomination, and yet to
+have no grace in his own heart,&mdash;to be ready to die for
+the peculiar opinions of his own section of Christians, and
+yet to have no real love to Christ. Such was the zeal of
+the Pharisees. They "compassed sea and land to make
+one proselyte, and when he was made, they made him
+two-fold more the child of hell than themselves." (Matt.
+xxiii. 15.) This zeal is not true.</p>
+
+<p>There is such a thing as zeal from mere <i>selfishness</i>.
+There are times when it is men's interest to be zealous in
+religion. Power and patronage are sometimes given to
+godly men. The good things of the world are sometimes
+to be attained by wearing a cloak of religion. And whenever
+this is the case there is no lack of false zeal. Such
+was the zeal of Joab, when he served David. Such was
+the zeal of only too many Englishmen in the days of the
+Commonwealth, when the Puritans were in power.</p>
+
+<p>There is such a thing as zeal from the <i>love of praise</i>.
+Such was the zeal of Jehu, when he was putting down the
+worship of Baal. Remember how he met Jonadab the
+son of Rechab, and said, "Come with me, and see my
+zeal for the Lord." (2 Kings x. 16.) Such is the zeal that
+Bunyan refers to in "Pilgrim's Progress," when he speaks
+of some who went "for praise" to mount Zion. Some people
+feed on the praise of their fellow-creatures. They would
+rather have it from Christians than have none at all.</p>
+
+<p>It is a sad and humbling proof of man's corruption
+that there is no degree of self-denial and self-sacrifice to
+which men may not go from false motives. It does not
+follow that a man's religion is true because he "gives his
+body to be burned," or because he "gives his goods to feed
+the poor." The Apostle Paul tells us that a man may do
+this, and yet not have true charity. (1 Cor. xiii. 1, etc.) It
+does not follow because men go into a wilderness, and become
+hermits, that therefore they know what true self-denial<span class="pagenum">[Pg 193]</span>
+is. It does not follow because people immure themselves in
+monasteries and nunneries, or become "sisters of charity,"
+and "sisters of mercy," that therefore they know what true
+crucifixion of the flesh and self-sacrifice is in the sight of
+God. All these things people may do on wrong principles.
+They may do them from wrong motives,&mdash;to satisfy a secret
+pride and love of notoriety,&mdash;but not from the true motive
+of zeal for the glory of God. All such zeal, let us understand,
+is false. It is of earth, and not of heaven.</p>
+
+<p>(3) Furthermore, if zeal be true, it will be a zeal <i>about
+things according to God's mind, and sanctioned by plain
+examples in God's Word</i>. Take, for one instance, that
+highest and best kind of zeal,&mdash;I mean zeal for our own
+growth in personal holiness. Such zeal will make a man
+feel incessantly that sin is the mightiest of all evils, and
+conformity to Christ the greatest of all blessings. It will
+make him feel that there is nothing which ought not to
+be done, in order to keep up a close walk with God. It
+will make him willing to cut off the right hand, or pluck
+out the right eye, or make any sacrifice, if only he can
+attain a closer communion with Jesus. Is not this just
+what you see in the Apostle Paul? He says, "I keep
+under my body and bring it into subjection, lest that by
+any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should
+be a castaway."&mdash;"I count not myself to have apprehended:
+but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are
+behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are
+before, I press toward the mark." (1 Cor. ix. 27; Phil.
+iii. 13, 14.)</p>
+
+<p>Take, for another instance, zeal for the salvation of
+souls. Such zeal will make a man burn with desire to
+enlighten the darkness which covers the souls of multitudes,
+and to bring every man, woman, and child he sees
+to the knowledge of the Gospel. Is not this what you
+see in the Lord Jesus? It is said that He neither gave
+Himself nor His disciples leisure so much as to eat.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 194]</span>
+(Mark vi. 31.) Is not this what you see in the Apostle
+Paul? He says, "I am made all things to all men, that
+I might by all means save some." (1 Cor. ix. 22.)</p>
+
+<p>Take, for another instance, zeal against evil practices.
+Such zeal will make a man hate everything which God
+hates, such as drunkenness, slavery, or infanticide, and
+long to sweep it from the face of the earth. It will make
+him jealous of God's honour and glory, and look on everything
+which robs him of it as an offence. Is not this what
+you see in Phinehas, the son of Eleazar?&mdash;or in Hezekiah
+and Josiah, when they put down idolatry?</p>
+
+<p>Take, for another instance, zeal for maintaining the
+doctrines of the Gospel. Such zeal will make a man hate
+unscriptural teaching, just as he hates sin. It will make
+him regard religious error as a pestilence which must be
+checked, whatever may be the cost. It will make him
+scrupulously careful about every jot and tittle of the
+counsel of God, lest by some omission the whole Gospel
+should be spoiled. Is not this what you see in Paul at
+Antioch, when he withstood Peter to the face, and said he
+was to be blamed? (Gal. ii. 11.) These are the kind of
+things about which true zeal is employed. Such zeal, let
+us understand, is honourable before God.</p>
+
+<p>(4) Furthermore, if zeal be true, it will be a zeal <i>tempered
+with charity and love</i>. It will not be a bitter zeal.
+It will not be a fierce enmity against persons. It will not
+be a zeal ready to take the sword, and to smite with
+carnal weapons. The weapons of true zeal are not carnal,
+but spiritual. True zeal will hate sin, and yet love the
+sinner. True zeal will hate heresy, and yet love the heretic.
+True zeal will long to break the idol, but deeply pity the
+idolater. True zeal will abhor every kind of wickedness,
+but labour to do good even to the vilest of transgressors.</p>
+
+<p>True zeal will warn as St. Paul warned the Galatians,
+and yet feel tenderly, as a nurse or a mother over erring
+children. It will expose false teachers, as Jesus did the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 195]</span>
+Scribes and Pharisees, and yet weep tenderly, as Jesus did
+over Jerusalem when He came near to it for the last time.
+True zeal will be decided, as a surgeon dealing with a
+diseased limb; but true zeal will be gentle, as one that is
+dressing the wounds of a brother. True zeal will speak
+truth boldly, like Athanasius, against the world, and not
+care who is offended; but true zeal will endeavour, in all
+its speaking, to "speak the truth in love."</p>
+
+<p>(5) Furthermore, if zeal be true, <i>it will be joined to a
+deep humility</i>. A truly zealous man will be the last to
+discover the greatness of his own attainments. All that
+he is and does will come so immensely short of his own
+desires, that he will be filled with a sense of his own
+unprofitableness, and amazed to think that God should
+work by him at all. Like Moses, when he came down
+from the Mount, he will not know that his face shines.
+Like the righteous, in the twenty-fifth chapter of St.
+Matthew, he will not be aware of his own good works.
+Dr. Buchanan is one whose praise is in all the churches.
+He was one of the first to take up the cause of the perishing
+heathen. He literally spent himself, body and mind,
+in labouring to arouse sleeping Christians to see the
+importance of missions. Yet he says in one of his letters,
+"I do not know that I ever had what Christians call zeal."
+Whitefield was one of the most zealous preachers of the
+Gospel the world has ever seen. Fervent in spirit, instant
+in season and out of season, he was a burning and shining
+light, and turned thousands to God. Yet he says after
+preaching for thirty years, "Lord help me to begin to
+begin." M'Cheyne was one of the greatest blessings that
+God ever gave to the Church of Scotland. He was a
+minister insatiably desirous of the salvation of souls. Few
+men ever did so much good as he did, though he died at
+the age of twenty-nine. Yet he says in one of his letters,
+"None but God knows what an abyss of corruption is in
+my heart. It is perfectly wonderful that ever God could<span class="pagenum">[Pg 196]</span>
+bless such a ministry." We may be very sure where there
+is self-conceit there is little true zeal.</p>
+
+<p>I ask the readers of this paper particularly to remember
+the description of true zeal which I have just given. Zeal
+according to knowledge,&mdash;zeal from true motives,&mdash;zeal
+warranted by Scriptural examples,&mdash;zeal tempered with
+charity,&mdash;zeal accompanied by deep humility,&mdash;this is true
+genuine zeal,&mdash;this is the kind of zeal which God approves.
+Of such zeal you and I never need fear having too much.</p>
+
+<p>I ask you to remember the description, because of the
+times in which you live. Beware of supposing that
+sincerity alone can ever make up true zeal,&mdash;that earnestness,
+however ignorant, makes a man a really zealous
+Christian in the sight of God. There is a generation in
+these days which makes an idol of what it is pleased to
+call "<i>earnestness</i>" in religion. These men will allow no
+fault to be found with an "<i>earnest man</i>." Whatever his
+theological opinions may be,&mdash;if he be but an earnest man,
+that is enough for these people, and we are to ask no more.
+They tell you we have nothing to do with minute points
+of doctrine, and with questions of "words and names," about
+which Christians are not agreed. Is the man an earnest
+man? If he is, we ought to be satisfied. "Earnestness"
+in their eyes covers over a multitude of sins. I warn you
+solemnly to beware of this specious doctrine. In the name
+of the Gospel, and in the name of the Bible, I enter my
+protest against the theory that mere earnestness can make
+a man a truly zealous and pious man in the sight of God.</p>
+
+<p>These idolaters of earnestness would make out that God
+has given us no standard of truth and error, or that the
+true standard, the Bible, is so obscure, that no man can
+find out what truth is by simply going to it. They pour
+contempt upon the Word, the written Word, and therefore
+they must be wrong.</p>
+
+<p>These idolaters of earnestness would make us condemn
+every witness for the truth, and every opponent of false<span class="pagenum">[Pg 197]</span>
+teaching, from the time of the Lord Jesus down to this
+day. The Scribes and Pharisees were "in earnest," and yet
+our Lord opposed them. And shall we dare even to hint
+a suspicion that they ought to have been let alone?&mdash;Queen
+Mary, and Bonner, and Gardiner were "in earnest" in
+restoring Popery, and trying to put down Protestantism,
+and yet Ridley and Latimer opposed them to the death.
+And shall we dare to say that as both parties were "in
+earnest," both were in the right?&mdash;Devil-worshippers and
+idolaters at this day are in earnest, and yet our missionaries
+labour to expose their errors. And shall we dare to say
+that "earnestness" would take them to heaven, and that
+missionaries to heathen and Roman Catholics had better
+stay at home?&mdash;Are we really going to admit that the
+Bible does not show us what is truth? Are we really
+going to put a mere vague thing called "earnestness," in
+the place of Christ, and to maintain that no "earnest" man
+can be wrong? God forbid that we should give place to
+such doctrine! I shrink with horror from such theology.
+I warn men solemnly to beware of being carried away by
+it, for it is common and most seductive in this day.
+Beware of it, for it is only a new form of an old error,&mdash;that
+old error which says that a man "Can't be wrong
+whose life is in the right." Admire zeal. Seek after zeal.
+Encourage zeal. But see that your own zeal be true. See
+that the zeal which you admire in others is a zeal
+"according to knowledge,"&mdash;a zeal from right motives,&mdash;a
+zeal that can bring chapter and verse out of the Bible for
+its foundation. Any zeal but this is but a false fire. It
+is not lighted by the Holy Ghost.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>III. I pass on now to the third thing I proposed to
+speak of. Let me show <i>why it is good for a man to be
+zealous</i>.</p>
+
+<p>It is certain that God never gave man a commandment
+which it was not man's interest as well as duty to obey.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 198]</span>
+He never set a grace before His believing people which
+His people will not find it their highest happiness to follow
+after. This is true of all the graces of the Christian
+character. Perhaps it is pre-eminently true in the case of
+zeal.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>a</i>) Zeal is <i>good for a Christian's own soul</i>. We all
+know that exercise is good for the health, and that regular
+employment of our muscles and limbs promotes our bodily
+comfort, and increases our bodily vigour. Now that which
+exercise does for our bodies, zeal will do for our souls.
+It will help mightily to promote inward feelings of joy,
+peace, comfort, and happiness. None have so much enjoyment
+of Christ as those who are ever zealous for His glory,&mdash;jealous
+over their own walk,&mdash;tender over their own
+consciences,&mdash;full of anxiety about the souls of others,&mdash;and
+ever watching, working, labouring, striving, and toiling
+to extend the knowledge of Jesus Christ upon earth.
+Such men live in the full light of the sun, and therefore
+their hearts are always warm. Such men water others,
+and therefore they are watered themselves. Their hearts
+are like a garden daily refreshed by the dew of the Holy
+Ghost. They honour God, and so God honours them.</p>
+
+<p>I would not be mistaken in saying this. I would not
+appear to speak slightingly of any believer. I know that
+"the Lord takes pleasure in all His people." (Ps. cxlix. 4.)
+There is not one, from the least to the greatest,&mdash;from the
+smallest child in the kingdom of God, to the oldest warrior
+in the battle against Satan,&mdash;there is not one in whom the
+Lord Jesus Christ does not take great pleasure. We are all
+His children,&mdash;and however weak and feeble some of us
+may be, "as a father pitieth his children, so does the Lord
+pity them that love and fear Him." (Ps. ciii. 13.) We are all
+the plants of His own planting;&mdash;and though many of us
+are poor, weakly exotics, scarcely keeping life together in
+a foreign soil,&mdash;yet as the gardener loves that which his
+hands have reared, so does the Lord Jesus love the poor<span class="pagenum">[Pg 199]</span>
+sinners that trust in Him. But while I say this, I do also
+believe that the Lord takes special pleasure in those who are
+<i>zealous</i> for Him,&mdash;in those who give themselves body, soul,
+and spirit, to extend His glory in this world. To them He
+reveals Himself, as he does not to others. To them He
+shows things that other men never see. He blesses the
+work of their hands. He cheers them with spiritual
+consolations, which others only know by the hearing of
+the ear. They are men after His own heart, for they are
+men more like Himself than others. None have such
+joy and peace in believing,&mdash;none have such sensible
+comfort in their religion,&mdash;none have so much of "heaven
+upon earth" (Deut. xi. 21),&mdash;none see and feel so much of
+the consolations of the Gospel as those who are zealous,
+earnest, thorough-going, devoted Christians. For the sake
+of our own souls, if there were no other reason, it is good
+to be zealous,&mdash;to be very zealous in our religion.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>b</i>) As zeal is good for ourselves individually, so it is also
+<i>good for the professing Church of Christ generally</i>.
+Nothing so much keeps alive true religion as a leaven of
+zealous Christians scattered to and fro throughout a
+Church. Like salt, they prevent the whole body falling
+into a state of corruption. None but men of this kind
+can revive Churches when ready to die. It is impossible
+to over-estimate the debt that all Christians owe to zeal.
+The greatest mistake the rulers of a Church can make is
+to drive zealous men out of its pale. By so doing they
+drain out the life-blood of the system, and hasten on
+ecclesiastical decline and death.</p>
+
+<p>Zeal is in truth that grace which God seems to delight
+to honour. Look through the list of Christians who have
+been eminent for usefulness. Who are the men that have
+left the deepest and most indelible marks on the Church
+of their day? Who are the men that God has generally
+honoured to build up the walls of His Zion, and turn the
+battle from the gate? Not so much men of learning and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 200]</span>
+literary talents, as men of zeal.</p>
+
+<p>Bishop Latimer was not such a deeply-read scholar as
+Cranmer or Ridley. He could not quote Fathers from
+memory, as they did. He refused to be drawn into
+arguments about antiquity. He stuck to his Bible. Yet
+it is not too much to say that no English reformer made
+such a lasting impression on the nation as old Latimer
+did. And what was the reason? His simple zeal.</p>
+
+<p>Baxter, the Puritan, was not equal to some of his
+contemporaries in intellectual gifts. It is no disparagement
+to say that he does not stand on a level with Manton or
+Owen. Yet few men probably exercised so wide an
+influence on the generation in which he lived. And what
+was the reason? His burning zeal.</p>
+
+<p>Whitefield, and Wesley, and Berridge, and Venn were
+inferior in mental attainments to Bishops Butler and
+Watson. But they produced effects on the people of this
+country which fifty Butlers and Watsons would probably
+never have produced. They saved the Church of England
+from ruin. And what was one secret of their power?
+Their zeal.</p>
+
+<p>These men stood forward at turning points in the
+history of the Church. They bore unmoved storms of
+opposition and persecution.&mdash;They were not afraid to
+stand alone. They cared not though their motives were
+misinterpreted.&mdash;They counted all things but loss for the
+truth's sake.&mdash;They were each and all and every one
+eminently <i>men of one thing</i>:&mdash;and that one thing was to
+advance the glory of God, and to maintain His truth in
+the world. They were all fire, and so they lighted others.&mdash;They
+were wide awake, and so they awakened others.&mdash;They
+were all alive, and so they quickened others.&mdash;They
+were always working, and so they shamed others into
+working too.&mdash;They came down upon men like Moses
+from the mount.&mdash;They shone as if they had been in the
+presence of God.&mdash;They carried to and fro with them, as<span class="pagenum">[Pg 201]</span>
+they walked their course through the world, something
+of the atmosphere and savour of heaven itself.</p>
+
+<p>There is a sense in which it may be said that zeal is
+contagious. Nothing is more useful to the professors of
+Christianity than to see a real live Christian, a thoroughly
+zealous man of God. They may rail at him,&mdash;they may
+carp at him,&mdash;they may pick holes in his conduct,&mdash;they
+may look shy upon him,&mdash;they may not understand him
+any more than men understand a new comet when a new
+comet appears;&mdash;but insensibly a zealous man does them
+good. He opens their eyes. He makes them feel their
+own sleepiness. He makes their own great darkness
+visible. He obliges them to see their own barrenness.
+He compels them to think, whether they like it or not&mdash;"What
+are we doing? Are we not no better than mere
+cumberers of the ground?" It may be sadly true that
+"one sinner <i>destroyeth</i> much good;" but it is also a
+blessed truth that one zealous Christian can <i>do</i> much
+good. Yes: one single zealous man in a town,&mdash;one
+zealous man in a congregation,&mdash;one zealous man in a
+society,&mdash;one zealous man in a family, may be a great, a
+most extensive blessing. How many machines of usefulness
+such a man sets a going! How much Christian
+activity he often calls into being which would otherwise
+have slept! How many fountains he opens which would
+otherwise have been sealed! Verily there is a deep mine
+of truth in those words of the Apostle Paul to the
+Corinthians: "Your zeal hath provoked very many." (2
+Cor. ix, 2.)</p>
+
+<p>(<i>c</i>) But, as zeal is good for the Church and for individuals,
+so zeal is <i>good for the world</i>. Where would the Missionary
+work be if it were not for zeal? Where would our City
+Missions and Ragged Schools be if it were not for zeal?
+Where would our District-Visiting and Pastoral Aid
+Societies be if it were not for zeal? Where would be our
+Societies for rooting out sin and ignorance, for finding out<span class="pagenum">[Pg 202]</span>
+the dark places of the earth, and recovering poor lost souls?
+Where would be all these glorious instruments for good if
+it were not for Christian zeal? Zeal called these institutions
+into being, and zeal keeps them at work when they
+have begun. Zeal gathers a few despised men, and makes
+them the nucleus of many a powerful Society. Zeal keeps
+up the collections of a Society when it is formed. Zeal
+prevents men from becoming lazy and sleepy when the
+machine is large and begins to get favour from the world.
+Zeal raises up men to go forth, putting their lives in their
+hands, like Moffatt and Williams in our own day. Zeal
+supplies their place when they are gathered into the
+garner, and taken home.</p>
+
+<p>What would become of the ignorant masses who crowd
+the lanes and alleys of our overgrown cities, if it were not
+for Christian zeal? Governments can do nothing with
+them: they cannot make laws that will meet the evil.
+The vast majority of professing Christians have no eyes to
+see it: like the priest and Levite, they pass by on the other
+side. But zeal has eyes to see, and a heart to feel, and a
+head to devise, and a tongue to plead, and hands to work,
+and feet to travel, in order to rescue poor souls, and raise
+them from their low estate. Zeal does not stand poring
+over difficulties, but simply says, "Here are souls perishing,
+and something <i>shall</i> be done." Zeal does not shrink back
+because there are Anakims in the way: it looks over their
+heads, like Moses on Pisgah, and says, "The land <i>shall</i> be
+possessed." Zeal does not wait for company, and tarry
+till good works are fashionable: it goes forward like a
+forlorn hope, and trusts that others will follow by and bye.
+Ah! the world little knows what a debt it owes to Christian
+zeal. How much crime it has checked! How much
+sedition it has prevented! How much public discontent
+it has calmed! How much obedience to law and love of
+order it has produced! How many souls it has saved!
+Yes! and I believe we little know what might be done<span class="pagenum">[Pg 203]</span>
+if every Christian was a zealous man! How much if
+ministers were more like Bickersteth, and Whitefield, and
+M'Cheyne! How much if laymen were more like Howard,
+and Wilberforce, and Thornton, and Nasmith, and George
+Moore! Oh, for the world's sake, as well as your own,
+resolve, labour, strive to be a zealous Christian!</p>
+
+<p>Let every one who professes to be a Christian beware of
+checking zeal. Seek it. Cultivate it. Try to blow up
+the fire in your own heart, and the hearts of others, but
+never, never check it. Beware of throwing cold water on
+zealous souls, whenever you meet with them. Beware of
+nipping in the bud this precious grace when first it shoots.
+If you are a parent, beware of checking it in your children;&mdash;if
+you are a husband, beware of checking it in your
+wife;&mdash;if you are a brother, beware of checking it in your
+sisters,&mdash;and if you are a minister, beware of checking it
+in the members of your congregation. It is a shoot of
+heaven's own planting. Beware of crushing it, for Christ's
+sake. Zeal may make mistakes.&mdash;Zeal may need directing.&mdash;Zeal
+may want guiding, controlling, and advising. Like
+the elephants on ancient fields of battle, it may sometimes
+do injury to its own side. But zeal does not need damping
+in a wretched, cold, corrupt, miserable world like this.
+Zeal, like John Knox pulling down the Scotch monasteries,
+may hurt the feelings of narrow-minded and sleepy
+Christians. It may offend the prejudices of those old-fashioned
+religionists who hate everything new, and (like
+those who wanted soldiers and sailors to go on wearing
+pigtails) abhor all change. But zeal in the end will be
+justified by its results. Zeal, like John Knox, in the long
+run of life will do infinitely more good than harm. There
+is little danger of there ever being too much zeal for the
+glory of God. God forgive those who think there is!
+You know little of human nature. You forget that sickness
+is far more contagious than health, and that it is much
+easier to catch a chill than impart a glow. Depend upon<span class="pagenum">[Pg 204]</span>
+it, the Church seldom needs a bridle, but often needs a
+spur. It seldom needs to be checked, it often needs to be
+urged on.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>And now, in conclusion, let me try to apply this subject
+to the conscience of every person who reads this paper.
+It is a warning subject, an arousing subject, an encouraging
+subject, according to the state of our several hearts. I
+wish, by God's help, to give every reader his portion.</p>
+
+<p>(1) First of all, let me offer a warning to all <i>who make
+no decided profession of religion</i>. There are thousands
+and tens of thousands, I fear, in this condition. If you
+are one, the subject before you is full of solemn warning.
+Oh, that the Lord in mercy may incline your heart to
+receive it!</p>
+
+<p>I ask you, then, in all affection, Where is your zeal in
+religion? With the Bible before me, I may well be bold
+in asking. But with your life before me, I may well
+tremble as to the answer. I ask again, Where is your zeal
+for the glory of God? Where is your zeal for extending
+Christ's Gospel through an evil world? Zeal, which was
+the characteristic of the Lord Jesus; zeal, which is the
+characteristic of the angels; zeal, which shines forth in
+all the brightest Christians: where is your zeal, unconverted
+reader?&mdash;where is your zeal indeed! You know
+well it is nowhere at all; you know well you see no beauty
+in it; you know well it is scorned and cast out as evil by
+you and your companions; you know well it has no place,
+no portion, no standing ground, in the religion of your
+soul. It is not perhaps that you know not what it is to be
+zealous in a certain way. You have zeal, but it is all misapplied.
+It is all earthly: it is all about the things of
+time. It is not zeal for the glory of God: it is not zeal
+for the salvation of souls. Yes: many a man has zeal for
+the newspaper, but not for the Bible,&mdash;zeal for the daily
+reading of the <i>Times</i>, but no zeal for the daily reading<span class="pagenum">[Pg 205]</span>
+of God's blessed Word. Many a man has zeal for the
+account book and the business book, but no zeal about
+the Book of Life and the last great account,&mdash;zeal about
+Australian and Californian gold, but no zeal about the unsearchable
+riches of Christ. Many a man has zeal about
+his earthly concerns,&mdash;his family, his pleasures, his daily
+pursuits; but no zeal about God, and heaven, and eternity.</p>
+
+<p>If this is the state of any one who is reading this paper,
+awake, I do beseech you, to see your gross <i>folly</i>. You
+cannot live for ever. You are not ready to die. You are
+utterly unfit for the company of saints and angels. Awake:
+be zealous and repent!&mdash;Awake to see the <i>harm</i> you are
+doing! You are putting arguments in the hands of
+infidels by your shameful coldness. You are pulling down
+as fast as ministers build. You are helping the devil.
+Awake: be zealous, and repent!&mdash;Awake to see your
+childish <i>inconsistency</i>! What can be more worthy of
+zeal than eternal things, than the glory of God, than the
+salvation of souls? Surely if it is good to labour for
+rewards that are temporal, it is a thousand times better
+to labour for those that are eternal. Awake: be zealous
+and repent! Go and read that long-neglected Bible.
+Take up that blessed Book which you have, and perhaps
+never use. Read that New Testament through. Do you
+find nothing there to make you zealous,&mdash;to make you
+earnest about your soul? Go and look at the cross of
+Christ. Go and see how the Son of God there shed His
+precious blood for you,&mdash;how He suffered and groaned,
+and died for you,&mdash;how He poured out His soul as an
+offering for sin, in order that you, sinful brother or sister,
+might not perish, but have eternal life. Go and look at
+the cross of Christ, and never rest till you feel some zeal
+for your own soul,&mdash;some zeal for the glory of God,&mdash;some
+zeal for extension of the Gospel throughout the world.
+Once more I say, awake: be zealous, and repent!</p>
+
+<p>(2) Let me, in the next place, say something to arouse<span class="pagenum">[Pg 206]</span>
+those <i>who make a profession of being decided Christians,
+and are yet lukewarm in their practice</i>. There are only
+too many, I regret to say, in this state of soul. If you are
+one, there is much in this subject which ought to lead you
+to searchings of heart.</p>
+
+<p>Let me speak to your conscience. To you also I desire
+to put the question in all brotherly affection, Where is your
+zeal?&mdash;Where is your zeal for the glory of God, and for
+extending the gospel throughout the world? You know
+well it is very low. You know well that your zeal is a little
+feeble glimmering spark, that just lives, and no more;&mdash;it
+is like a thing "ready to die." (Rev. iii. 2.) Surely, there
+is a fault somewhere, if this is the case. This state of things
+ought not to be. You, the child of God,&mdash;you, redeemed
+at so glorious a price,&mdash;you, ransomed with such precious
+blood, you, who are an heir of glory such as no tongue ever
+yet told, or eye saw;&mdash;surely you ought to be a man of
+another kind. Surely your zeal ought not to be so small.</p>
+
+<p>I deeply feel that this is a painful subject to touch upon.
+I do it with reluctance, and with a constant remembrance
+of my own unprofitableness. Nevertheless, truth ought
+to be spoken. The plain truth is that many believers in
+the present day seem so dreadfully afraid of doing harm
+that they hardly ever dare to do good. There are many
+who are fruitful in objections, but barren in actions;&mdash;rich
+in wet blankets, but poor in anything like Christian fire.
+They are like the Dutch deputies, recorded in the history
+of last century, who would never allow Marlborough to
+venture anything, and by their excessive caution prevented
+many a victory being won. Truly, in looking
+round the Church of Christ, a man might sometimes
+think that God's kingdom had come, and God's will
+was being done upon earth, so small is the zeal that some
+believers show. It is vain to deny it. I need not go far
+for evidence. I point to Societies for doing good to the
+heathen, the colonies, and the dark places of our own land,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 207]</span>
+languishing and standing still for want of active support.
+I ask, <i>Is this zeal?</i> I point to thousands of miserable
+guinea subscriptions which are never missed by the givers,
+and yet make up the sum of their Christian liberality. I
+ask, <i>Is this zeal?</i> I point to false doctrine allowed to
+grow up in parishes and families without an effort being
+made to check it, while so-called believers look on, and
+content themselves with wishing it was not so. I ask, <i>Is
+this zeal?</i> Would the apostles have been satisfied with
+such a state of things? We know they would not.</p>
+
+<p>If the conscience of any one who read this paper pleads
+guilty to any participation in the short-comings I have
+spoken of, I call upon him, in the name of the Lord, to
+awake, be zealous, and repent. Let not zeal be confined to
+Lincoln's Inn, the Temple, and Westminster;&mdash;to banks,
+and shops, and counting houses. Let us see the same
+zeal in the Church of Christ. Let not zeal be abundant
+to lead forlorn hopes, or get gold from Australia, or travel
+over thick ribbed ice in voyages of discovery, but defective
+to send the Gospel to the heathen, or to pluck Roman
+Catholics like brands from the fire, or to enlighten the
+dark places of the colonies of this great land. Never
+were there such doors of usefulness opened,&mdash;never
+were there so many opportunities for doing good. I
+loathe that squeamishness which refuses to help religious
+works if there is a blemish about the instrument by which
+the work is carried on. At this rate we might never
+do anything at all. Let us resist the feeling, if we
+are tempted by it. It is one of Satan's devices. It is
+better to work with feeble instruments than not to work
+at all. At all events, try to do something for God and
+Christ,&mdash;something against ignorance and sin. Give,
+collect, teach, exhort, visit, pray, according as God enables
+you. Only make up your mind that all can do something,
+and resolve that by you, at any rate, something shall be
+done. If you have only one talent, do not bury it in the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 208]</span>
+ground. Try to live so as to be missed. There is far
+more to be done in twelve hours than most of us have ever
+yet done on any day in our lives.</p>
+
+<p>Think of the <i>precious souls</i> which are perishing while
+you are sleeping. Be taken up with your inward conflicts
+if you will. Go on anatomizing your own feelings, and
+poring over your own corruptions, if you are so determined.
+But remember all this time souls are going to hell, and
+you might do something to save them by working, by
+giving, by writing, by begging, and by prayer. Oh, awake!
+be zealous, and repent!</p>
+
+<p>Think of the <i>shortness of time</i>. You will soon be gone.
+You will have no opportunity for works of mercy in
+another world. In heaven there will be no ignorant
+people to instruct, and no unconverted to reclaim. Whatever
+you do must be done now. Oh, when are you going
+to begin? Awake! be zealous, and repent.</p>
+
+<p>Think of <i>the devil</i>, and his zeal to do harm. It was a
+solemn saying of old Bernard when he said that "Satan
+would rise up in judgment against some people at the
+last day, because he had shown more zeal to ruin souls
+than they had to save them." Awake! be zealous, and
+repent.</p>
+
+<p>Think of <i>your Saviour</i>, and all His zeal for you.
+Think of Him in Gethsemane and on Calvary, shedding
+His blood for sinners. Think of His life and death,&mdash;His
+sufferings and His doings. This He has done for you.
+What are you doing for Him? Oh, resolve that for the
+time to come you will spend and be spent for Christ!
+Awake! be zealous and repent.</p>
+
+<p>(3) Last of all, let me encourage <i>all readers of this
+paper who are truly zealous Christians</i>.</p>
+
+<p>I have but one request to make, and that is <i>that you
+will persevere</i>. I do beseech you to hold fast your zeal,
+and never let it go. I do beseech you never to go back
+from your first works, never to leave your first love, never<span class="pagenum">[Pg 209]</span>
+to let it be said of you that your first things were better
+than your last.&mdash;Beware of cooling down. You have only
+to be lazy, and to sit still, and you will soon lose all your
+warmth. You will soon become another man from what
+you are now. Oh, do not think this a needless exhortation!</p>
+
+<p>It may be very true that wise young believers are very
+rare. But it is no less true that zealous old believers are
+very rare also. Never allow yourself to think that you can
+do too much,&mdash;that you can spend and be spent too much
+for Christ's cause. For one man that does too much I
+will show you a thousand who do not do enough. Rather
+think that "the night cometh, when no man can work"
+(John ix. 4),&mdash;and give, collect, teach, visit, work, pray,
+as if you were doing it for the last time. Lay to heart the
+words of that noble-minded Jansenist, who said, when told
+that he ought to rest a little, "What should we rest for?
+have we not all eternity to rest in?"</p>
+
+<p>Fear not the reproach of men. Faint not because you
+are sometimes abused. Heed it not if you are sometimes
+called bigot, enthusiast, fanatic, madman, and fool.
+There is nothing disgraceful in these titles. They have
+often been given to the best and wisest of men. If you
+are only to be zealous when you are praised for it,&mdash;if the
+wheels of your zeal must be oiled by the world's commendation,
+your zeal will be but short-lived. Care not for
+the praise or frown of man. There is but one thing worth
+caring for, and that is the praise of God. There is but
+one question worth asking about our actions: "How will
+they look in the day of judgment?"</p>
+
+
+<br>
+
+<h2><a name="IX" id="IX"></a>IX</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 210]</span>
+
+<h2>FREEDOM</h2>
+
+<blockquote><p>"<i>If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.</i>"&mdash;<span class="smcap">John</span>
+viii. 36.</p></blockquote>
+
+
+<p>The subject before our eyes deserves a thousand thoughts.
+It should ring in the ears of Englishmen and Scotchmen
+like the voice of a trumpet. We live in a land which is
+the very cradle of freedom. But are we ourselves free?</p>
+
+<p>The question is one which demands special attention at
+the present state of public opinion in Great Britain. The
+minds of many are wholly absorbed in politics. Yet
+there is a freedom, within the reach of all, which few, I
+am afraid, ever think of,&mdash;a freedom independent of all
+political changes,&mdash;a freedom which neither Queen, Lords
+and Commons, nor the cleverest popular leaders can
+bestow. This is the freedom about which I write this
+day. Do we know anything of it? Are we free?</p>
+
+<p>In opening this subject, there are three points which I
+wish to bring forward.</p>
+
+
+<blockquote><p>I. I will show, in the first place, <i>the general excellence
+of freedom</i>.</p>
+
+<p>II. I will show, in the second place, <i>the best and truest
+kind of freedom</i>.</p>
+
+<p>III. I will show, in the last place, <i>the way in which
+the best kind of freedom may become your own</i>.</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Let no reader think for a moment that this is going to<span class="pagenum">[Pg 211]</span>
+be a political paper. I am no politician: I have no
+politics but those of the Bible. The only party I care for
+is the Lord's side: show me where that is, and it shall
+have my support. The only election I am very anxious
+about is the election of grace. My one desire is, that
+sinners should make their own calling and election sure.&mdash;The
+liberty I desire above all things to make known, and
+further, is the glorious liberty of the children of God.&mdash;The
+Government I care to support is the government
+which is on the shoulder of my Lord and Saviour Jesus
+Christ. Before Christ I want every knee to bow, and
+every tongue to confess that He is Lord. I ask attention
+while I canvass these subjects. If you are not free, I
+want to guide you into true liberty. If you are free, I
+want you to know the full value of your freedom.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>I. The first thing I have to show is <i>the general
+excellence of freedom</i>.</p>
+
+<p>On this point some readers may think it needless to say
+anything: they imagine that all men know the value of
+freedom, and that to dwell on it is mere waste of time. I
+do not agree with such people at all. I believe that
+myriads of Englishmen know nothing of the blessings
+which they enjoy in their own land: they have grown up
+from infancy to manhood in the midst of free institutions.
+They have not the least idea of the state of things in
+other countries: they are ignorant alike of those two
+worst forms of tyranny,&mdash;the crushing tyranny of a cruel
+military despot, and the intolerant tyranny of an unreasoning
+mob. In short, many Englishmen know nothing
+of the value of liberty, just because they have been born
+in the middle of it, and have never been for a moment
+without it.</p>
+
+<p>I call then on every one who reads this paper to remember
+that liberty is one of the greatest temporal blessings
+that man can have on this side the grave. We live in a land<span class="pagenum">[Pg 212]</span>
+where our <i>bodies</i> are free. So long as we hurt nobody's
+person, or property, or character, no one can touch us: the
+poorest man's house is his castle.&mdash;We live in a land where
+our <i>actions</i> are free. So long as we support ourselves, we
+are free to choose what we will do, where we will go, and
+how we will spend our time.&mdash;We live in a land where
+our <i>consciences</i> are free. So long as we hold quietly on
+our own way, and do not interfere with others, we are free
+to worship God as we please, and no man can compel us
+to take his way to heaven. We live in a land where no
+foreigner rules over us. Our laws are made and altered
+by Englishmen like ourselves, and our Governors dwell by
+our side, bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh.</p>
+
+<p>In short, we have every kind of freedom to an extent
+which no other nation on earth can equal. We have
+personal freedom, civil freedom, religious freedom, and
+national freedom. We have free bodies, free consciences,
+free speech, free thought, free action, free Bibles, a free
+press, and free homes. How vast is this list of privileges!
+How endless the comforts which it contains! The full
+value of them can never perhaps be known. Well said
+the Jewish Rabbins in ancient days: "If the sea were ink
+and the world parchment, it would never serve to describe
+the praises of liberty."</p>
+
+<p>The want of this freedom has been the most fertile
+cause of misery to nations in every age of the world.
+What reader of the Bible can fail to remember the sorrows
+of the children of Israel, when they were bondmen under
+Pharaoh in Egypt, or under Philistines in Canaan? What
+student of history needs to be reminded of the woes
+inflicted on the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and Italy by
+the hand of foreign oppressors, or the Inquisition? Who,
+even in our own time, has not heard of that enormous
+fountain of wretchedness, the slavery of the Negro race?
+No misery certainly is so great as the misery of slavery.</p>
+
+<p>To win and preserve freedom has been the aim of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 213]</span>
+many national struggles which have deluged the earth
+with blood. Liberty has been the cause in which myriads
+of Greeks, and Romans, and Germans, and Poles, and
+Swiss, and Englishmen, and Americans have willingly
+laid down their lives. No price has been thought too
+great to pay in order that nations might be free.</p>
+
+<p>The champions of freedom in every age have been justly
+esteemed among the greatest benefactors of mankind.
+Such names as Moses and Gideon in Jewish history, such
+names as the Spartan Leonidas, the Roman Horatius, the
+German Martin Luther, the Swedish Gustavus Vasa, the
+Swiss William Tell, the Scotch Robert Bruce and John
+Knox, the English Alfred and Hampden and the Puritans,
+the American George Washington, are deservedly embalmed
+in history, and will never be forgotten. To be the mother
+of many patriots is the highest praise of a nation.</p>
+
+<p>The enemies of freedom in every age have been rightly
+regarded as the pests and nuisances of their times. Such
+names as Pharaoh in Egypt, Dionysius at Syracuse, Nero
+at Rome, Charles IX. in France, bloody Mary in England,
+are names which will never be rescued from disgrace.
+The public opinion of mankind will never cease to
+condemn them, on the one ground that they would not let
+people be free.</p>
+
+<p>But why should I dwell on these things? Time and
+space would fail me if I were to attempt to say a tenth
+part of what might be said in praise of freedom. What
+are the annals of history but a long record of conflicts
+between the friends and foes of liberty? Where is the
+nation upon earth that has ever attained greatness, and
+left its mark on the world, without freedom? Which are
+the countries on the face of the globe at this very moment
+which are making the most progress in trade, in arts, in
+sciences, in civilization, in philosophy, in morals, in social
+happiness? Precisely those countries in which there is
+the greatest amount of true freedom. Which are the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 214]</span>
+countries at this very day where is the greatest amount
+of internal misery, where we hear continually of secret
+plots, and murmuring, and discontent, and attempts on
+life and property? Precisely those countries where
+freedom does not exist, or exists only in name,&mdash;where
+men are treated as serfs and slaves, and are not allowed
+to think and act for themselves. No wonder that a
+mighty Transatlantic Statesman declared on a great
+occasion to his assembled countrymen: "Is life so dear, or
+peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains
+and slavery? Forbid it, almighty God! I know not
+what course others may take; but as for me, give me
+liberty or give me death!"<a href="#ft_5">[5]</a></p>
+
+<p>Let us beware of <i>undervaluing</i> the liberty we enjoy in
+this country of ours, as Englishmen. I am sure there is
+need of this warning. There is, perhaps, no country on
+earth where there is so much grumbling and fault-finding
+as there is in England. Men look at the fancied evils
+which they see around them, and exaggerate both their
+number and their intensity. They refuse to look at the
+countless blessings and privileges which surround us, or
+underrate the advantages of them. They forget that
+comparison should be applied to everything. With all our
+faults and defects there is at this hour no country on earth
+where there is so much liberty and happiness for all
+classes, as there is in England. They forget that as long
+as human nature is corrupt, it is vain to expect perfection
+here below. No laws or government whatever can possibly
+prevent a certain quantity of abuses and corruptions.
+Once more then, I say, let us beware of undervaluing
+English liberty, and running eagerly after every one who
+proposes sweeping changes. Changes are not always<span class="pagenum">[Pg 215]</span>
+improvements. The old shoes may have some holes and
+defects, but the new shoes may pinch so much that we
+cannot walk at all. No doubt we might have better laws
+and government than we have: but I am quite sure we
+might easily have worse. At this very day there is no
+country on the face of the globe where there is so much
+care taken of the life, and health, and property, and
+character, and personal liberty of the meanest inhabitant,
+as there is in England. Those who want to have more
+liberty, would soon find, if they crossed the seas, that there
+is no country on earth where there is so much real liberty
+as our own.<a href="#ft_6">[6]</a></p>
+
+<p>But while I bid men not undervalue English liberty, so
+also on the other hand I charge them not to <i>overvalue</i> it.
+Never forget that temporal slavery is not the only slavery,
+and temporal freedom not the only freedom. What shall
+it profit you to be a citizen of a free country, so long as<span class="pagenum">[Pg 216]</span>
+your soul is not free? What is the use of living in a free
+land like England, with free thought, free speech, free
+action, free conscience, so long as you are a slave to sin,
+and a captive to the devil? Yes: there are tyrants whom
+no eye can see, as real and destructive as Pharaoh or Nero!
+There are chains which no hands can touch, as true and
+heavy and soul-withering as ever crushed the limbs of an
+African! It is these tyrants whom I want you this day
+to remember. It is these chains from which I want you
+to be free. Value by all means your English liberty, but
+do not overvalue it. Look higher, further than any
+temporal freedom. In the highest sense let us take care
+that "we are free."</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>II. The second thing I have to show is <i>the truest and
+best kind of freedom</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The freedom I speak of is a freedom that is within the
+reach of every child of Adam who is willing to have it.
+No power on earth can prevent a man or woman having
+it, if they have but the will to receive it. Tyrants may
+threaten and cast in prison, but nothing they can do can
+stop a person having this liberty. And, once our own,
+nothing can take it away. Men may torture us, banish
+us, hang us, behead us, burn us, but they can never tear
+from us true freedom. The poorest may have it no less
+than the richest: the most unlearned may have it as well
+as the most learned, and the weakest as well as the
+strongest. Laws cannot deprive us of it: Pope's bulls
+cannot rob us of it. Once our own, it is an everlasting
+possession.</p>
+
+<p>Now, what is this glorious freedom? Where is it to be
+found? What is it like? Who has obtained it for man?
+Who has got it at this moment to bestow? I ask my
+readers to give me their attention, and I will supply a
+plain answer to these questions.</p>
+
+<p>The true freedom <b>I</b> speak of is spiritual freedom,&mdash;freedom<span class="pagenum">[Pg 217]</span>
+of soul. It is the freedom which Christ bestows,
+without money and without price, on all true Christians.
+Those whom the Son makes free are free indeed: "Where
+the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." (2 Cor. iii. 17.)
+Let men talk what they please of the comparative freedom
+of monarchies and republics; let them struggle, if they
+will, for universal liberty, fraternity, and equality: we
+never know the highest style of liberty till we are
+enrolled citizens of the kingdom of God. We are ignorant
+of the best kind of freedom if we are not Christ's freemen.</p>
+
+<p>Christ's freemen are free from the <i>guilt of sin</i>. That
+heavy burden of unforgiven transgressions, which lies so
+heavy on many consciences, no longer presses them down.
+Christ's blood has cleansed it all away. They feel
+pardoned, reconciled, justified, and accepted in God's sight.
+They can look back to their old sins, however black and
+many, and say,&mdash;"Ye cannot condemn me." They can
+look back on long years of carelessness and worldliness
+and say,&mdash;"Who shall lay anything to my charge?" This
+is true liberty. This is to be free.</p>
+
+<p>Christ's freemen are free from the <i>power of sin</i>. It no
+longer rules and reigns in their hearts, and carries them
+before it like a flood. Through the power of Christ's
+Spirit they mortify the deeds of their bodies, and crucify
+their flesh with its affections and lusts. Through His
+grace working in them they get the victory over their evil
+inclinations. The flesh may fight, but it does not conquer
+them; the devil may tempt and vex, but does not overcome
+them: they are no longer the bondslaves of lusts and
+appetites, and passions, and tempers. Over all these
+things they are more than conquerors, through Him that
+loved them. This is true liberty. This is to be free.</p>
+
+<p>Christ's freemen are free from the <i>slavish fear of God</i>.
+They no longer look at Him with dread and alarm, as an
+offended Maker; they no longer hate Him, and get away
+from Him, like Adam among the trees of the garden;<span class="pagenum">[Pg 218]</span>
+they no longer tremble at the thought of His judgment.
+Through the Spirit of adoption which Christ has given
+them, they look on God as a reconciled Father, and
+rejoice in the thought of His love. They feel that anger
+is passed away. They feel that when God the Father looks
+down upon them, He sees them in Christ, and unworthy
+as they are in themselves, is well-pleased. This is true
+liberty. This is to be free.</p>
+
+<p>Christ's freemen are free from the <i>fear of man</i>. They
+are no longer afraid of man's opinions, or care much what
+man thinks of them; they are alike indifferent to his
+favour or his enmity, his smile or his frown. They look
+away from man who can be seen, to Christ who is not
+seen, and having the favour of Christ, they care little for
+the blame of man. "The fear of man" was once a snare
+to them. They trembled at the thought of what man
+would say, or think, or do: they dared not run counter to
+the fashions and customs of those around them; they
+shrank from the idea of standing alone. But the snare is
+now broken and they are delivered. This is true liberty.
+This is to be free.</p>
+
+<p>Christ's freemen are free from the <i>fear of death</i>. They
+no longer look forward to it with silent dismay, as a
+horrible thing which they do not care to think of. Through
+Christ they can look this last enemy calmly in the face,
+and say,&mdash;"Thou canst not harm me." They can look
+forward to all that comes after death,&mdash;decay, resurrection,
+judgment, and eternity,&mdash;and yet not feel cast down.
+They can stand by the side of an open grave, and say, "O
+death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?"
+They can lay them down on their death-beds, and say,
+"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of
+death, I will fear no evil." (Ps. xxiii. 4.) "Not a hair of my
+head shall perish." This is true liberty. This is to be free.</p>
+
+<p>Best of all, Christ's freemen are <i>free for ever</i>. Once
+enrolled in the list of heavenly citizens, their names shall<span class="pagenum">[Pg 219]</span>
+never be struck off. Once presented with the freedom of
+Christ's kingdom, they shall possess it for evermore. The
+highest privileges of this world's freedom can only endure
+for a life-time; the freest citizen on earth must submit at
+length to die, and lose his franchise for ever: but the
+franchise of Christ's people is eternal. They carry it down
+to the grave, and it lives still; they will rise again with it
+at the last day, and enjoy the privileges of it for evermore.
+This is true liberty. This is to be free.</p>
+
+<p>Does anyone ask how and in what way Christ has
+obtained these mighty privileges for His people? You
+have a right to ask the question, and it is one that can
+never be answered too clearly. Give me your attention,
+and I will show you by what means Christ has made His
+people free.</p>
+
+<p>The freedom of Christ's people has been procured, like
+all other freedom, at a mighty cost and by a mighty
+sacrifice. Great was the bondage in which they were
+naturally held, and great was the price necessary to be
+paid to set them free: mighty was the enemy who claimed
+them as his captives, and it needed mighty power to
+release them out of his hands. But, blessed be God, there
+was grace enough, and power enough ready in Jesus
+Christ. He provided to the uttermost everything that
+was required to set His people free. The price that Christ
+paid for His people was nothing less than His own life-blood.
+He became their Substitute, and suffered for their
+sins on the cross: He redeemed them from the curse of
+the law, by being made a curse for them. (Gal. iii. 13.)
+He paid all their debt in His own person, by allowing
+the chastisement of their peace to be laid on Him.
+(Isaiah liii. 5.) He satisfied every possible demand of the
+law against them, by fulfilling its righteousness to the
+uttermost. He cleared them from every imputation of
+sin, by becoming sin for them. (2 Cor. v. 21.) He fought
+their battle with the devil, and triumphed over him on<span class="pagenum">[Pg 220]</span>
+the cross. As their Champion, He spoiled principalities
+and powers, and made a show of them openly on Calvary.
+In a word, Christ having given Himself for us, has
+purchased the full right of redemption for us. Nothing
+can touch those to whom He gives freedom: their debts
+are paid, and paid a thousand times over; their sins are
+atoned for by a full, perfect, and sufficient atonement. A
+Divine Substitute's death meets completely the justice of
+God, and provides completely redemption for man.</p>
+
+<p>Let us look well at this glorious plan of redemption,
+and take heed that we understand it. Ignorance on this
+point is one great secret of faint hopes, little comfort, and
+ceaseless doubts in the minds of Christians. Too many
+are content with a vague idea that Christ will somehow
+save sinners: but how or why they cannot tell. I protest
+against this ignorance. Let us set fully before our eyes
+the doctrine of Christ's vicarious death and substitution,
+and rest our souls upon it. Let us grasp firmly the mighty
+truth, that Christ on the cross, stood in the place of His
+people, died for His people, suffered for His people, was
+counted a curse and sin for His people, paid the debts of
+His people, made satisfaction for His people, became the
+surety and representative of His people, and in this way
+procured His people's freedom. Let us understand this
+clearly, and then we shall see what a mighty privilege it
+is to be made free by Christ.</p>
+
+<p>This is the freedom which, above all other, is worth
+having. We can never value it too highly: there is no
+danger of overvaluing it. All other freedom is an unsatisfying
+thing at the best, and a poor uncertain possession
+at any time. Christ's freedom alone can never be overthrown.
+It is secured by a covenant ordered in all things
+and sure: its foundations are laid in the eternal councils
+of God, and no foreign enemy can overthrow them. They
+are cemented and secured by the blood of the Son of God
+Himself, and can never be cast down. The freedom of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 221]</span>
+nations often lasts no longer than a few centuries: the
+freedom which Christ gives to any one of His people is a
+freedom that shall outlive the solid world.</p>
+
+<p>This is the truest, highest kind of freedom. This is the
+freedom which in a changing, dying world, I want men to
+possess.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>III. I have now to show, in the last place, <i>the way in
+which the best kind of freedom is made our own</i>.</p>
+
+<p>This is a point of vast importance, on account of the
+many mistakes which prevail about it. Thousands, perhaps,
+will allow that there is such a thing as spiritual freedom,
+and that Christ alone has purchased it for us: but when
+they come to the application of redemption, they go astray.
+They cannot answer the question, "Who are those whom
+Christ effectually makes free?" and for want of knowledge
+of the answer, they sit still in their chains. I ask every
+reader to give me his attention once more, and I will try
+to throw a little light on the subject. Useless indeed is
+the redemption which Christ has obtained, unless you
+know how the fruit of that redemption can become your
+own. In vain have you read of the freedom wherewith
+Christ makes people free, unless you understand how you
+yourself may have an interest in it.</p>
+
+<p>We are not born Christ's freemen. The inhabitants of
+many a city enjoy privileges by virtue of their birth-place.
+St. Paul, who drew life-breath first at Tarsus in Cilicia,
+could say to the Roman Commander, "I was free-born."
+But this is not the case with Adam's children, in spiritual
+things. We are born slaves and servants of sin: we are
+by nature "children of wrath," and destitute of any title
+to heaven.</p>
+
+<p>We are not made Christ's freemen by baptism. Myriads
+are every year brought to the font, and solemnly baptized
+in the name of the Trinity, who serve sin like slaves, and
+neglect Christ all their days. Wretched indeed is that<span class="pagenum">[Pg 222]</span>
+man's state of soul who can give no better evidence of his
+citizenship of heaven than the mere naked fact of his
+baptism!</p>
+
+<p>We are not made Christ's freemen by mere membership
+of Christ's Church. There are Companies and Corporations
+whose members are entitled to vast privileges, without
+any respect to their personal character, if their names are
+only on the list of members. The kingdom of Christ is
+not a corporation of this kind. The grand test of belonging
+to it is personal character.</p>
+
+<p>Let these things sink down into our minds. Far be it
+from me to narrow the extent of Christ's redemption: the
+price He paid on the cross is sufficient for the whole world.
+Far be it from me to undervalue baptism or Church-membership:
+the ordinance which Christ appointed, and
+the Church which He maintains in the midst of a dark
+world, ought neither of them to be lightly esteemed.&mdash;All
+I contend for is the absolute necessity of not being content
+either with baptism or Church-membership. If our religion
+stops short here it is unprofitable and unsatisfying. It
+needs something more than this to give us an interest in
+the redemption which Christ has purchased.</p>
+
+<p>There is no other way to become Christ's freemen than
+that of simply believing. It is by faith, simple faith in
+Him as our Saviour and Redeemer, that men's souls are
+made free. It is by receiving Christ, trusting Christ,
+committing ourselves to Christ, reposing our whole weight
+on Christ,&mdash;it is by this, and by no other plan, that
+spiritual liberty is made our own. Mighty as are the
+privileges which Christ's freemen possess, they all become
+a man's property in the day that he first believes. He
+may not yet know their full value, but they are all his
+own. He that believeth in Christ is not condemned,&mdash;is
+justified, is born again, is an heir of God, and hath everlasting
+life.</p>
+
+<p>The truth before us is one of priceless importance. Let<span class="pagenum">[Pg 223]</span>
+us cling to it firmly, and never let it go. If you desire
+peace of conscience, if you want inward rest and consolation,
+stir not an inch off the ground that faith is the
+grand secret of an interest in Christ's redemption.&mdash;Take
+the simplest view of faith: beware of confusing your mind
+by complicated ideas about it. Follow holiness as closely
+as you can: seek the fullest and clearest evidence of the
+inward work of the Spirit. But in the matter of an
+interest in Christ's redemption remember that faith stands
+alone. It is by believing, simply believing, that souls
+become free.</p>
+
+<p>No doctrine like this to suit the ignorant and unlearned!
+Visit the poorest and humblest cottager, who knows nothing
+of theology, and cannot even repeat the creed. Tell him
+the story of the cross, and the good news about Jesus
+Christ, and His love to sinners; show him that there is
+freedom provided for him, as well as for the most learned
+in the land,&mdash;freedom from guilt, freedom from the devil,
+freedom from condemnation, freedom from hell. And then
+tell him plainly, boldly, broadly, unreservedly, that this
+freedom may be all his own, if he will but trust in Christ
+and believe.</p>
+
+<p>No doctrine like this to suit the sick and dying! Go to
+the bedside of the vilest sinner, when death is coming nigh,
+and tell him lovingly that there is a hope even for him, if
+he can receive it. Tell him that Christ came into the world
+to save sinners, even the chief of them; tell him that
+Christ has done all, paid all, performed all, purchased all
+that the soul of man can possibly need for salvation. And
+then assure him that he, even he, may be freed at once
+from all his guilt, if he will only believe. Yes, say to him,
+in the words of Scripture, "If thou shalt confess with thy
+mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that
+God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."
+(Rom. x. 9.)</p>
+
+<p>Let us never forget that this is the point to which we<span class="pagenum">[Pg 224]</span>
+must turn our own eyes, if we would know whether we
+have a saving interest in Christ's redemption. Waste not
+your time in speculations whether you are elect, and converted,
+and a vessel of grace. Stand not poring over the
+unprofitable question whether Christ died for you or not.
+That is a point of which no one ever made any question
+in the Bible. Settle your thoughts on this one simple
+inquiry,&mdash;"Do I really trust in Christ, as a humble sinner?
+Do I cast myself on Him? Do I believe?"&mdash;Look not to
+anything else. Look at this alone. Fear not to rest your
+soul on plain texts and promises of Scripture. If you
+believe, you are free.</p>
+
+<p>(1) And now as I bring this paper to a conclusion, let
+me affectionately press upon every reader the inquiry
+which grows naturally out of the whole subject. Let me
+ask every one a plain question: "Are you free?"</p>
+
+<p>I know not who or what you are into whose hands this
+paper has fallen. But this I do know, there never was an
+age when the inquiry I press upon you was more thoroughly
+needed. Political liberty, civil liberty, commercial liberty,
+liberty of speech, liberty of the press,&mdash;all these, and a
+hundred other kindred subjects, are swallowing up men's
+attention. Few, very few, find time to think of spiritual
+liberty. Many, too many, forget that no man is so
+thoroughly a slave, whatever his position, as the man who
+serves sin. Yes! there are thousands in this country who
+are slaves of beer and spirits, slaves of lust, slaves of
+ambition, slaves of political party, slaves of money, slaves
+of gambling, slaves of fashion, or slaves of temper! You
+may not see their chains with the naked eye, and they
+themselves may boast of their liberty: but for all that they
+are thoroughly slaves. Whether men like to hear it or
+not, the gambler and the drunkard, the covetous and the
+passionate, the glutton and the sensualist, are not free, but
+slaves. They are bound hand and foot by the devil. "He
+that committeth sin is the servant of sin." (Rom. viii. 34.)<span class="pagenum">[Pg 225]</span>
+He that boasts of liberty, while he is enslaved by lusts and
+passions, is going down to hell with a lie in his right hand.</p>
+
+<p>Awake to see these things, while health, and time, and
+life are granted to you. Let not political struggles and
+party strife make you forget your precious soul. Take any
+side in politics you please, and follow honestly your conscientious
+convictions; but never, never forget that there
+is a liberty far higher and more lasting than any that
+politics can give you. Rest not till that liberty is your
+own. Rest not till YOUR SOUL IS FREE.</p>
+
+<p>(2) Do you feel any desire to be free? Do you find any
+longing within you for a higher, better liberty than this
+world can give&mdash;a liberty that will not die at your death,
+but will go with you beyond the grave? Then take the
+advice I give you this day. Seek Christ, repent, believe,
+and be free. Christ has a glorious liberty to bestow on all
+who humbly cry to Him for freedom. Christ can take
+burdens off your heart, and strike chains off your inward
+man. "If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free
+indeed." (John viii. 36.)</p>
+
+<p>Freedom like this is the secret of true happiness. None
+go through the world with such ease and content as those
+who are citizens of a heavenly country. Earth's burdens
+press lightly upon their shoulders; earth's disappointments
+do not crush them down as they do others; earth's duties
+and anxieties do not drink up their spirit. In their darkest
+hours they have always this sustaining thought to fall back
+on,&mdash;"I have something which makes me independent of
+this world: I am spiritually free."</p>
+
+<p>Freedom like this is the secret of being a good politician.
+In every age Christ's freemen have been the truest friends
+to law and order, and to measures for the benefit of all
+classes of mankind. Never, <b>never</b> let it be forgotten that
+the despised Puritans, two hundred years ago, did more
+for the cause of real liberty in England than all the
+Governments which ever ruled this land. No man ever<span class="pagenum">[Pg 226]</span>
+made this country so feared and respected as Oliver
+Cromwell. The root of the most genuine patriotism is to
+be one of those whom Christ has made free.</p>
+
+<p>(3) Are you spiritually free? Then rejoice, and be
+thankful for your freedom. Care not for the scorn and
+contempt of man: you have no cause to be ashamed of
+your religion or your Master. He whose citizenship is in
+heaven (Phil. iii. 20), who has God for his Father, and
+Christ for his Elder Brother, angels for his daily guards,
+and heaven itself for his home, is one that is well provided
+for. No change of laws can add to his greatness: no
+extension of franchise can raise him higher than he stands
+in God's sight. "The lines are fallen to him in pleasant
+places, and he has a goodly heritage." (Psalm xvi. 6.)
+Grace now, and the hope of glory hereafter, are more
+lasting privileges than the power of voting for twenty
+boroughs or counties.</p>
+
+<p>Are you free? Then stand fast in your liberty, and be
+not entangled again in the yoke of bondage. Listen not
+to those who by good words and fair speeches would draw
+you back to the Church of Rome. Beware of those who
+would fain persuade you that there is any mediator but
+the one Mediator, Christ Jesus,&mdash;any sacrifice but the one
+Sacrifice offered on Calvary,&mdash;any priest but the great
+High Priest Emmanuel,&mdash;any incense needed in worship
+but the savour of His name who was crucified,&mdash;any rule
+of faith and practice but God's Word,&mdash;any confessional
+but the throne of grace,&mdash;any effectual absolution but that
+which Christ bestows on the hearts of His believing
+people,&mdash;any purgatory but the one fountain open for all
+sins, the blood of Christ, to be only used while we are
+alive. On all these points stand fast, and be on your guard.
+Scores of misguided teachers are trying to rob Christians
+of Gospel liberty, and to bring back among us exploded
+superstitions. Resist them manfully, and do not give way
+for a moment. Remember what Romanism was in this<span class="pagenum">[Pg 227]</span>
+country before the blessed Reformation. Remember at
+what mighty cost our martyred Reformers brought spiritual
+freedom to light by the Gospel. Stand fast for this freedom
+like a man, and labour to hand it down to your children,
+whole and unimpaired.</p>
+
+<p>Are you free? Then think every day you live of the
+millions of your fellow-creatures who are yet bound hand
+and foot in spiritual darkness. Think of six hundred
+millions of heathens who never yet heard of Christ and
+salvation. Think of the poor homeless Jews, scattered
+and wandering over the face of the earth, because they
+have not yet received their Messiah. Think of the millions
+of Roman Catholics who are yet in captivity under the
+Pope, and know nothing of true liberty, light, and peace.
+Think of the myriads of your own fellow-countrymen in
+our great cities, who, without Sabbaths and without means
+of grace, are practically heathens, and whom the devil is
+continually leading captive at his will. Think of them
+all, and feel for them. Think of them all, and often say
+to yourself,&mdash;"What can I do for them? How can I help
+to set them free?"</p>
+
+<p>What! Shall it be proclaimed at the last day that
+Pharisees and Jesuits have compassed sea and land to
+make proselytes,&mdash;that politicians have leagued and
+laboured night and day to obtain catholic emancipation
+and free trade,&mdash;that philanthropists have travailed in
+soul for years to procure the suppression of negro slavery,&mdash;and
+shall it appear at the same time that Christ's freemen
+have done little to rescue men and women from hell?
+Forbid it, faith! Forbid it, charity! Surely if the children
+of this world are zealous to promote temporal freedom, the
+children of God ought to be much more zealous to promote
+spiritual freedom. Let the time past suffice us to have
+been selfish and indolent in this matter. For the rest of
+our days let us use <b>every</b> effort to promote spiritual
+emancipation. If we have tasted the blessings of freedom,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 228]</span>
+let us spare no pains to make others free.</p>
+
+<p>Are you free? Then look forward in faith and hope for
+good things yet to come. Free as we are, if we believe on
+Christ, from the guilt and power of sin, we must surely
+feel every day that we are not free from its presence and
+the temptations of the devil. Redeemed as we are from
+the eternal consequences of the fall, we must often feel
+that we are not yet redeemed from sickness and infirmity,
+from sorrow and from pain. No, indeed! Where is the
+freeman of Christ on earth who is not often painfully
+reminded that we are not yet in heaven? We are yet in
+the body; we are yet travelling through the wilderness of
+this world: we are not at home. We have shed many
+tears already, and probably we shall have to shed many
+more; we have got yet within us a poor weak heart: we
+are yet liable to be assaulted by the devil. Our redemption
+is begun indeed, but it is not yet completed. We
+have redemption now in the root, but we have it not in
+the flower.</p>
+
+<p>But let us take courage: there are better days yet to
+come. Our great Redeemer and Liberator has gone before
+us to prepare a place for His people, and when He comes
+again our redemption will be complete. The great jubilee
+year is yet to come. A few more returns of Christmas
+and New Year's Days,&mdash;a few more meetings and partings,&mdash;a
+few more births and deaths,&mdash;a few more weddings
+and funerals,&mdash;a few more tears and struggles,&mdash;a few
+more sicknesses and pains,&mdash;a few more Sabbaths and
+sacraments,&mdash;a few more preachings and prayings,&mdash;a few
+more, and the end will come! Our Master will come back
+again. The dead saints shall be raised. The living saints
+shall be changed. Then, and not till then, we shall be
+completely free. The liberty which we enjoyed by faith
+shall be changed into the liberty of sight, and the freedom
+of hope into the freedom of certainty.</p>
+
+<p>Come, then, and let us resolve to wait, and watch, and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 229]</span>
+hope, and pray, and live like men who have something
+laid up for them in heaven. The night is far spent, and
+the day is at hand. Our King is not far off: our full
+redemption draweth nigh. Our full salvation is nearer
+than when we believed. The signs of the times are
+strange, and demand every Christian's serious attention.
+The kingdoms of this world are in confusion: the powers
+of this world, both temporal and ecclesiastical, are
+everywhere reeling and shaken to their foundations.
+Happy, thrice happy, are those who are citizens of Christ's
+eternal kingdom, and ready for anything that may come.
+Blessed indeed are those men and women who know and
+feel that they are free!</p>
+<br>
+
+
+<h2><a name="X" id="X"></a>X</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 230]</span>
+
+<h2>HAPPINESS</h2>
+
+<blockquote><p>"<i>Happy is that people whose God is the Lord.</i>"&mdash;<span class="smcap">Psalm</span> cxliv. 15.</p></blockquote>
+
+
+<p>An infidel was once addressing a crowd of people in the
+open air. He was trying to persuade them that there was
+no God and no devil no heaven, and no hell, no resurrection,
+no judgment, and no life to come. He advised them to
+throw away their Bibles, and not to mind what parsons
+said. He recommended them to think as he did, and to be
+like him. He talked boldly. The crowd listened eagerly.
+It was "the blind leading the blind." Both were falling
+into the ditch. (Matt. xv. 14.)</p>
+
+<p>In the middle of his address a poor old woman suddenly
+pushed her way through the crowd, to the place where he
+was standing. She stood before him. She looked him full
+in the face. "Sir," she said, in a loud voice, "Are you
+happy?" The infidel looked scornfully at her, and gave
+her no answer. "Sir," she said again, "I ask you to answer
+my question. Are you happy? You want us to throw
+away our Bibles. You tell us not to believe what parsons
+say about religion. You advise us to think as you do, and
+be like you. Now before we take your advice we have a
+right to know what good we shall get by it. Do your fine
+new notions give you much comfort? Do you yourself
+really feel happy?"</p>
+
+<p>The infidel stopped, and attempted to answer the old<span class="pagenum">[Pg 231]</span>
+woman's question. He stammered, and shuffled, and
+fidgetted, and endeavoured to explain his meaning. He
+tried hard to turn the subject. He said, he "had not come
+there to preach about happiness." But it was of no use.
+The old woman stuck to her point. She insisted on her
+question being answered, and the crowd took her part.
+She pressed him hard with her inquiry, and would take no
+excuse. And at last the infidel was obliged to leave the
+ground, and sneak off in confusion. He could not reply
+to the question. His conscience would not let him: he
+dared not say that he was happy.</p>
+
+<p>The old woman showed great wisdom in asking the
+question that she did. The argument she used may seem
+very simple, but in reality it is one of the most powerful
+that can be employed. It is a weapon that has more effect
+on some minds than the most elaborate reasoning of Butler,
+or Paley, or Chalmers. Whenever a man begins to take
+up new views of religion, and pretends to despise old Bible
+Christianity, thrust home at his conscience the old woman's
+question. Ask him whether his new views make him feel
+comfortable within. Ask him whether he can say, with
+honesty and sincerity, that he is happy. The grand test
+of a man's faith and religion is, "Does it make him
+happy?"</p>
+
+<p>Let me now affectionately invite every reader to consider
+the subject of this paper. Let me warn you to remember
+that the salvation of your soul, and nothing less, is closely
+bound up with the subject. The heart cannot be right in
+the sight of God which knows nothing of happiness.
+That man or woman cannot be in a safe state of soul who
+feels nothing of peace within.</p>
+
+<p>There are three things which I purpose to do, in order
+to clear up the subject of happiness. I ask special
+attention to each one of them. And I pray the Spirit of
+God to apply all to the souls of all who read this paper.</p>
+
+
+<blockquote><p>I. Let me point out some things which are absolutely<span class="pagenum">[Pg 232]</span>
+essential to all happiness.</p>
+
+<p>II. Let me expose some common mistakes about the
+way to be happy.</p>
+
+<p>III. Let me show the way to be truly happy.</p></blockquote>
+<br>
+
+<p>I. First of all I have <i>to point out some things which
+are absolutely essential to all true happiness</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Happiness is what all mankind want to obtain: the
+desire of it is deeply planted in the human heart. All
+men naturally dislike pain, sorrow, and discomfort. All
+men naturally like ease, comfort, and gladness. All men
+naturally hunger and thirst after happiness. Just as the
+sick man longs for health, and the prisoner of war for
+liberty,&mdash;just as the parched traveller in hot countries
+longs to see the cooling fountain, or the ice-bound polar
+voyager the sun rising above the horizon,&mdash;just in the
+same way does poor mortal man long to be happy. But,
+alas, how few consider what they really mean when they
+talk of happiness! How vague and indistinct and
+undefined the ideas of most men are upon the subject!
+They think some are happy who in reality are miserable:
+they think some are gloomy and sad who in reality are
+truly happy. They dream of a happiness which in reality
+would never satisfy their nature's wants. Let me try this
+day to throw a little light on the subject.</p>
+
+<p>True happiness <i>is not perfect freedom from sorrow and
+discomfort</i>. Let that never be forgotten. If it were so
+there would be no such thing as happiness in the world.
+Such happiness is for angels who have never fallen, and
+not for man. The happiness I am inquiring about is such
+as a poor, dying, sinful creature may hope to attain. Our
+whole nature is defiled by sin. Evil abounds in the world.
+Sickness, and death, and change are daily doing their sad
+work on every side. In such a state of things the highest
+happiness man can attain to on earth must necessarily be<span class="pagenum">[Pg 233]</span>
+a mixed thing. If we expect to find any literally perfect
+happiness on this side of the grave, we expect what we
+shall not find.</p>
+
+<p>True happiness <i>does not consist in laughter and
+smiles</i>. The face is very often a poor index of the inward
+man. There are thousands who laugh loud and are merry
+as a grasshopper in company, but are wretched and
+miserable in private, and almost afraid to be alone. There
+are hundreds who are grave and serious in their demeanour,
+whose hearts are full of solid peace. A poet of our own
+has truly told us that smiles are worth but little:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="pbox">
+"A man may smile and smile and be a villain."<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>And the eternal Word of God teaches us that "even in
+laughter the heart is sorrowful." (Prov. xiv. 13.) Tell
+me not merely of smiling and laughing faces: I want to
+hear of something more than that when I ask whether a
+man is happy. A truly happy man no doubt will often
+show his happiness in his countenance; but a man may
+have a very merry face and yet not be happy at all.</p>
+
+<p>Of all deceptive things on earth nothing is so deceptive
+as mere gaiety and merriment. It is a hollow empty
+show, utterly devoid of substance and reality. Listen to
+the brilliant talker in society, and mark the applause
+which he receives from an admiring company: follow him
+to his own private room, and you will very likely find him
+plunged in melancholy despondency. Colonel Gardiner
+confessed that even when he was thought most happy he
+often wished he was a dog.&mdash;Look at the smiling beauty
+in the ball-room, and you might suppose she knew not
+what it was to be unhappy; see her next day at her own
+home, and you may probably find her out of temper with
+herself and everybody else besides.&mdash;Oh, no: worldly
+merriment is not real happiness! There is a certain
+pleasure about it, I do not deny. There is an animal
+excitement about it, I make no question. There is a<span class="pagenum">[Pg 234]</span>
+temporary elevation of spirits about it, I freely concede.
+But call it not by the sacred name of happiness. The
+most beautiful cut flowers stuck into the ground do not
+make a garden. When glass is called diamond, and tinsel
+is called gold, then, and not till then, your people who can
+laugh and smile will deserve to be called happy men.<a href="#ft_7">[7]</a></p>
+
+
+<p>To be truly happy <i>the highest wants of a man's nature
+must be met and satisfied</i>. The requirements of his
+curiously wrought constitution must all be filled up.
+There must be nothing about him that cries, "Give, give,"
+but cries in vain and gets no answer. The horse and the
+ox are happy as long as they are warmed and filled. And
+why? It is because they are satisfied. The little infant
+looks happy when it is clothed, and fed, and well, and in
+its mother's arms. And why? Because it is satisfied.
+And just so it is with man. His highest wants must be
+met and satisfied before he can be truly happy. All must
+be filled up. There must be no void, no empty places, no
+unsupplied cravings. Till then he is never truly happy.</p>
+
+<p>And what are <i>man's principal wants</i>? Has he a body
+only? No: he has something more! He has a soul.&mdash;Has
+he sensual faculties only? Can he do nothing but<span class="pagenum">[Pg 235]</span>
+hear, and see, and smell, and taste, and feel? No: he
+has a thinking mind and a conscience!&mdash;Has he no
+consciousness of any world but that in which he lives and
+moves? He has. There is a still small voice within him
+which often makes itself heard: "This life is not all!
+There is a world unseen: there is a life beyond the grave."
+Yes! it is true. We are fearfully and wonderfully made.
+All men know it: all men feel it, if they would only
+speak the truth. It is utter nonsense to pretend that food
+and raiment and earthly good things alone can make men
+happy. There are soul-wants. There are conscience-wants.
+There can be no true happiness until these wants
+are satisfied.</p>
+
+<p>To be truly happy <i>a man must have sources of
+gladness which are not dependent on anything in this
+world</i>. There is nothing upon earth which is not stamped
+with the mark of instability and uncertainty. All the
+good things that money can buy are but for a moment:
+they either leave us or we are obliged to leave them. All
+the sweetest relationships in life are liable to come to an
+end: death may come any day and cut them off. The
+man whose happiness depends entirely on things here
+below is like him who builds his house on sand, or leans
+his weight on a reed.</p>
+
+<p>Tell me not of your happiness if it daily hangs on the
+uncertainties of earth. Your home may be rich in
+comforts; your wife and children may be all you could
+desire; your means may be amply sufficient to meet all
+your wants. But oh, remember, if you have nothing more
+than this to look to, that you stand on the brink of a
+precipice! Your rivers of pleasure may any day be dried
+up. Your joy may be deep and earnest, but it is fearfully
+short-lived. It has no root. It is not true happiness.</p>
+
+<p>To be really happy <i>a man must be able to look on
+every side without uncomfortable feelings</i>. He must be
+able to look back to the past without guilty fears; he<span class="pagenum">[Pg 236]</span>
+must be able to look around him without discontent; he
+must be able to look forward without anxious dread. He
+must be able to sit down and think calmly about things
+past, present, and to come, and feel prepared. The man
+who has a weak side in his condition,&mdash;a side that he does
+not like looking at or considering,&mdash;that man is not really
+happy.</p>
+
+<p>Talk not to me of your happiness, if you are unable to
+look steadily either before or behind you. Your present
+position may be easy and pleasant. You may find many
+sources of joy and gladness in your profession, your
+dwelling-place, your family, and your friends. Your health
+may be good, your spirits may be cheerful. But stop and
+think quietly over your past life. Can you reflect calmly
+on all the omissions and commissions of by-gone years?
+How will they bear God's inspection? How will you
+answer for them at the last day?&mdash;And then look forward,
+and think on the years yet to come. Think of the certain
+end towards which you are hastening; think of death;
+think of judgment; think of the hour when you will
+meet God face to face. Are you ready for it? Are you
+prepared? Can you look forward to these things without
+alarm?&mdash;Oh, be very sure if you cannot look comfortably
+at any season but the present, your boasted happiness is a
+poor unreal thing! It is but a whitened sepulchre,&mdash;fair
+and beautiful without, but bones and corruption within.
+It is a mere thing of a day, like Jonah's gourd. It is not
+real happiness.</p>
+
+<p>I ask my readers to fix in their minds the account of things
+essential to happiness, which I have attempted to give.
+Dismiss from your thoughts the many mistaken notions
+which pass current on this subject, like counterfeit coin.
+To be truly happy, the wants of your soul and conscience
+must be satisfied; to be truly happy, your joy must be
+founded on something more than this world can give you;
+to be truly happy, you must be able to look on every side,&mdash;above,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 237]</span>
+below, behind, before,&mdash;and feel that all is right.
+This is real, sterling, genuine happiness: this is the
+happiness I have in view when I urge on your notice the
+subject of this paper.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>II. In the next place, <i>let me expose some common
+mistakes about the way to be happy</i>.</p>
+
+<p>There are several roads which are thought by many to
+lead to happiness. In each of these roads thousands and
+tens of thousands of men and women are continually
+travelling. Each fancies that if he could only attain all
+he wants he would be happy. Each fancies, if he does not
+succeed, that the fault is not in his road, but in his own
+want of luck and good fortune. And all alike seem
+ignorant that they are hunting shadows. They have
+started in a wrong direction: they are seeking that which
+can never be found in the place where they seek it.</p>
+
+<p>I will mention by name some of the principal delusions
+about happiness. I do it in love, and charity, and
+compassion to men's souls. I believe it to be a public
+duty to warn people against cheats, quacks, and impostors.
+Oh, how much trouble and sorrow it might save my
+readers, if they would only believe what I am going to say!</p>
+
+<p>It is an utter mistake to suppose that <i>rank and
+greatness alone</i> can give happiness. The kings and rulers
+of this world are not necessarily happy men. They have
+troubles and crosses, which none know but themselves;
+they see a thousand evils, which they are unable to
+remedy; they are slaves working in golden chains, and
+have less real liberty than any in the world; they have
+burdens and responsibilities laid upon them, which are
+a daily weight on their hearts. The Roman Emperor
+Antonine often said, that "the imperial power was an
+ocean of miseries." Queen Elizabeth, when she heard a
+milk-maid singing, wished that she had been born to a lot
+like her's. Never did our great Poet write a truer word<span class="pagenum">[Pg 238]</span>
+than when he said,</p>
+
+<p class="pbox">
+"Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown."
+</p>
+
+<p>It is an utter mistake to suppose that <i>riches alone</i> can
+give happiness. They can enable a man to command and
+possess everything but inward peace. They cannot buy a
+cheerful spirit and a light heart. There is care in the
+getting of them, and care in the keeping of them, care in
+the using of them, and care in the disposing of them, care
+in the gathering, and care in the scattering of them. He
+was a wise man who said that "money" was only another
+name for "trouble," and that the same English letters
+which spelt "acres" would also spell "cares."</p>
+
+<p>It is an utter mistake to suppose that <i>learning and
+science alone</i> can give happiness. They may occupy a
+man's time and attention, but they cannot really make
+him happy. They that increase knowledge often "increase
+sorrow:" the more they learn, the more they discover their
+own ignorance. (Eccles. i. 18.) It is not in the power of
+things on earth or under the earth to "minister to a mind
+diseased." The heart wants something as well as the head:
+the conscience needs food as well as the intellect. All the
+secular knowledge in the world will not give a man joy and
+gladness, when he thinks on sickness, and death, and the
+grave. They that have climbed the highest, have often
+found themselves solitary, dissatisfied, and empty of peace.
+The learned Selden, at the close of his life, confessed that
+all his learning did not give him such comfort as four
+verses of St. Paul. (Titus ii. 11&mdash;14.)</p>
+
+<p>It is an utter mistake to suppose that <i>idleness alone</i>
+can give happiness. The labourer who gets up at five in
+the morning, and goes out to work all day in a cold clay
+ditch, often thinks, as he walks past the rich man's door,
+"What a fine thing it must be to have no work to do."
+Poor fellow! he little knows what he thinks. The most
+miserable creature on earth is the man who has nothing<span class="pagenum">[Pg 239]</span>
+to do. Work for the hands or work for the head is
+absolutely essential to human happiness. Without it the
+mind feeds upon itself, and the whole inward man becomes
+diseased. The machinery within <i>will</i> work, and without
+something to work upon, will often wear itself to pieces.
+There was no idleness in Eden. Adam and Eve had to
+"dress the garden and keep it." There will be no
+idleness in heaven: God's "servants shall serve Him."
+Oh, be very sure the idlest man is the man most truly
+unhappy! (Gen. ii. 15; Rev. xxii. 3.)</p>
+
+<p>It is an utter mistake to suppose that <i>pleasure-seeking
+and amusement alone</i> can give happiness. Of all roads
+that men can take in order to be happy, this is the one
+that is most completely wrong. Of all weary, flat, dull,
+and unprofitable ways of spending life, this exceeds all.
+To think of a dying creature, with an immortal soul,
+expecting happiness in feasting and revelling,&mdash;in dancing
+and singing,&mdash;in dressing and visiting,&mdash;in ball-going and
+card-playing,&mdash;in races and fairs,&mdash;in hunting and shooting,&mdash;in
+crowds, in laughter, in noise, in music, in wine!
+Surely it is a sight that is enough to make the devil laugh
+and the angels weep. Even a child will not play with its
+toys all day long. It must have food. But when grown
+up men and women think to find happiness in a constant
+round of amusement they sink far below a child.</p>
+
+<p>I place before every reader of this paper these common
+mistakes about the way to be happy. I ask you to mark
+them well. I warn you plainly against these pretended
+short cuts to happiness, however crowded they may be.
+I tell you that if you fancy any one of them can lead you
+to true peace you are entirely deceived. Your conscience
+will never feel satisfied; your immortal soul will never
+feel easy: your whole inward man will feel uncomfortable
+and out of health. Take any one of these roads, or take
+all of them, and if you have nothing besides to look to,
+you will never find happiness. You may travel on and on<span class="pagenum">[Pg 240]</span>
+and on, and the wished for object will seem as far away at
+the end of each stage of life as when you started. You
+are like one pouring water into a sieve, or putting money
+into a bag with holes. You might as well try to make an
+elephant happy by feeding him with a grain of sand a
+day, as try to satisfy that heart of your's with rank, riches,
+learning, idleness, or pleasure.</p>
+
+<p>Do you doubt the truth of all I am saying? I dare
+say you do. Then let us turn to the great Book of human
+experience, and read over a few lines out of its solemn
+pages. You shall have the testimony of a few competent
+witnesses on the great subject I am urging on your
+attention.</p>
+
+<p>A King shall be our first witness: I mean Solomon,
+King of Israel. We know that he had power, and wisdom,
+and wealth, far exceeding that of any ruler of his time.
+We know from his own confession, that he tried the great
+experiment how far the good things of this world can
+make man happy. We know, from the record of his own
+hand, the result of this curious experiment. He writes it
+by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, for the benefit of
+the whole world, in the book of Ecclesiastes. Never,
+surely, was the experiment tried under such favourable
+circumstances: never was any one so likely to succeed as
+the Jewish King. Yet what is Solomon's testimony?
+You have it in his melancholy words: "All is vanity and
+vexation of spirit." (Eccles. i. 14.)</p>
+
+<p>A famous French lady shall be our next witness: I
+mean Madam De Pompadour. She was the friend and
+favourite of Louis the Fifteenth. She had unbounded
+influence at the Court of France. She wanted nothing
+that money could procure. Yet what does she say herself?
+"What a situation is that of the great! They only live
+in the future, and are only happy in hope. There is no
+peace in ambition. I am always gloomy, and often so
+unreasonably. The kindness of the King, the regard of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 241]</span>
+courtiers, the attachment of my domestics, and the fidelity
+of a large number of friends,&mdash;motives like these, which
+ought to make me happy, affect me no longer. I have no
+longer inclinations for all which once pleased me. I have
+caused my house at Paris to be magnificently furnished:
+well; it pleased for two days! My residence at Bellevue is
+charming; and I alone cannot endure it. Benevolent people
+relate to me all the news and adventures of Paris: they
+think I listen, but when they have done I ask them what
+they said. In a word, I do not live: I am dead before
+my time. I have no interest in the world. Everything
+conspires to embitter my life. My life is a continual
+death." To such testimony I need not add a single word.
+(<i>Sinclair's Anecdotes and Aphorisms p. 33</i>)</p>
+
+<p>A famous German writer shall be our next witness: I
+mean Goethe. It is well known that he was almost idolized
+by many during his life. His works were read and
+admired by thousands. His name was known and
+honoured, wherever German was read, all over the world.
+And yet the praise of man, of which he reaped such an
+abundant harvest, was utterly unable to make Goethe
+happy. "He confessed, when about eighty years old, that
+he could not remember being in a really happy state of
+mind even for a few weeks together; and that when he
+wished to feel happy, he had to veil his self-consciousness."
+(<i>See Sinclair's Anecdotes and Aphorisms, p. 280.</i>)</p>
+
+<p>An English peer and poet shall be our next witness: I
+mean Lord Byron. If ever there was one who ought to
+have been happy according to the standard of the world,
+Lord Byron was the man. He began life with all the
+advantages of English rank and position. He had
+splendid abilities and powers of mind, which the world
+soon discovered and was ready to honour. He had a
+sufficiency of means to gratify every lawful wish, and
+never knew anything of real poverty. Humanly speaking,
+there seemed nothing to prevent him enjoying life and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 242]</span>
+being happy. Yet it is a notorious fact that Byron was a
+miserable man. Misery stands out in his poems: misery
+creeps out in his letters. Weariness, satiety, disgust, and
+discontent appear in all his ways. He is an awful warning
+that rank, and title, and literary fame, alone, are not
+sufficient to make a man happy.</p>
+
+<p>A man of science shall be our next witness: I mean
+Sir Humphrey Davy. He was a man eminently successful
+in the line of life which he chose, and deservedly so. A
+distinguished philosopher,&mdash;the inventor of the famous
+safety-lamp which bears his name, and has preserved so
+many poor miners from death by fire-damp,&mdash;a Baronet of
+the United Kingdom and President of the Royal Society;&mdash;his
+whole life seemed a continual career of prosperity.
+If learning alone were the road to happiness, this man at
+least ought to have been happy. Yet what was the true
+record of Davy's feelings? We have it in his own
+melancholy journal at the latter part of his life. He
+describes himself in two painful words: "Very miserable!"</p>
+
+<p>A man of wit and pleasure shall be our next witness:
+I mean Lord Chesterfield. He shall speak for himself:
+his own words in a letter shall be his testimony. "I have
+seen the silly round of business and pleasure, and have
+done with it all. I have enjoyed all the pleasures of the
+world, and consequently know their futility, and do not
+regret their loss. I appraise them at their real value,
+which in truth is very low; whereas those who have not
+experience always overrate them. They only see their gay
+outside, and are dazzled with their glare; but I have been
+behind the scenes. I have seen all the coarse pullies and
+dirty ropes which exhibit and move the gaudy machine,
+and I have seen and smelt the tallow candles which
+illuminate the whole decoration, to the astonishment and
+admiration of the ignorant audience. When I reflect on
+what I have seen, what I have heard, and what I have
+done, I cannot persuade myself that all that frivolous<span class="pagenum">[Pg 243]</span>
+hurry of bustle and pleasure of the world had any reality.
+I look on all that is past as one of those romantic dreams
+which opium occasions, and I do by no means wish to
+repeat the nauseous dose for the sake of the fugitive
+dream." These sentences speak for themselves. I need
+not add to them one single word.</p>
+
+<p>The Statesmen and Politicians who have swayed the
+destinies of the world, ought by good right to be our last
+witnesses. But I forbear, in Christian charity, to bring
+them forward. It makes my heart ache when I run my
+eye over the list of names famous in English history, and
+think how many have worn out their lives in a breathless
+struggle after place and distinction. How many of our
+greatest men have died of broken hearts,&mdash;disappointed,
+disgusted, and tried with constant failure! How many
+have left on record some humbling confession that in the
+plentitude of their power they were pining for rest, as the
+caged eagle for liberty! How many whom the world is
+applauding as "masters of the situation," are in reality
+little better than galley-slaves, chained to the oar and
+unable to get free! Alas, there are many sad proofs, both
+among the living and the dead, that to be great and
+powerful is not necessarily to be happy.</p>
+
+<p>I think it very likely that men do not believe what I
+am saying. I know something of the deceitfulness of the
+heart on the subject of happiness. There are few things
+which man is so slow to believe as the truths I am now
+putting forth about the way to be happy. Bear with me
+then while I say something more.</p>
+
+<p>Come and stand with me some afternoon in the heart
+of the city of London. Let us watch the faces of most
+of the wealthy men whom we shall see leaving their
+houses of business at the close of the day. Some of them
+are worth hundreds of thousands: some of them are
+worth millions of pounds. But what is written in the
+countenances of these grave men whom we see swarming<span class="pagenum">[Pg 244]</span>
+out from Lombard Street and Cornhill, from the Bank of
+England and the Stock Exchange? What mean those
+deep lines which furrow so many a cheek and so many a
+brow? What means that air of anxious thoughtfulness
+which is worn by five out of every six we meet? Ah,
+these things tell a serious tale. They tell us that it needs
+something more than gold and bank notes to make men
+happy.</p>
+
+<p>Come next and stand with me near the Houses of
+Parliament, in the middle of a busy session. Let us scan
+the faces of Peers and Commoners, whose names are
+familiar and well-known all over the civilized world.
+There you may see on some fine May evening the
+mightiest Statesmen in England hurrying to a debate,
+like eagles to the carcase. Each has a power of good or
+evil in his tongue which it is fearful to contemplate. Each
+may say things before to-morrow's sun dawns, which may
+affect the peace and prosperity of nations, and convulse
+the world. There you may see the men who hold the
+reins of power and government already; there you may
+see the men who are daily watching for an opportunity of
+snatching those reins out of their hands, and governing in
+their stead. But what do their faces tell us as they
+hasten to their posts? What may be learned from their
+care-worn countenances? What may be read in many of
+their wrinkled foreheads,&mdash;so absent-looking and sunk in
+thought? They teach us a solemn lesson. They teach us
+that it needs something more than political greatness to
+make men happy.</p>
+
+<p>Come next and stand with me in the most fashionable
+part of London, in the height of the season. Let us visit
+Regent Street or Pall Mall, Hyde Park or May Fair. How
+many fair faces and splendid equipages we shall see! How
+many we shall count up in an hour's time who seem to
+possess the choicest gifts of this world,&mdash;beauty, wealth,
+rank, fashion, and troops of friends! But, alas, how few<span class="pagenum">[Pg 245]</span>
+we shall see who appear happy! In how many countenances
+we shall read weariness, dissatisfaction, discontent,
+sorrow, or unhappiness, as clearly as if it was written with
+a pen! Yes: it is a humbling lesson to learn, but a very
+wholesome one. It needs something more than rank, and
+fashion, and beauty, to make people happy.</p>
+
+<p>Come next and walk with me through some quiet
+country parish in merry England. Let us visit some
+secluded corner in our beautiful old father-land, far away
+from great towns, and fashionable dissipation and political
+strife. There are not a few such to be found in the land.
+There are rural parishes where there is neither street, nor
+public house, nor beershop,&mdash;where there is work for all the
+labourers, and a church for all the population, and a school
+for all the children, and a minister of the Gospel to look
+after the people. Surely, you will say, we shall find
+happiness here! Surely such parishes must be the very
+abodes of peace and joy!&mdash;Go into those quiet-looking
+cottages, one by one, and you will soon be undeceived.
+Learn the inner history of each family, and you will soon
+alter your mind. You will soon discover that backbiting,
+and lying, and slandering, and envy, and jealousy, and
+pride, and laziness, and drinking, and extravagance, and
+lust, and petty quarrels, can murder happiness in the
+country quite as much as in the town. No doubt a rural
+village sounds pretty in poetry, and looks beautiful in
+pictures; but in sober reality human nature is the same
+evil thing everywhere. Alas, it needs something more
+than a residence in a quiet country parish to make any
+child of Adam a happy man!</p>
+
+<p>I know these are ancient things. They have been said
+a thousand times before without effect, and I suppose they
+will be said without effect again. I want no greater proof
+of the corruption of human nature than the pertinacity
+with which we seek happiness where happiness cannot be
+found. Century after century wise men have left on<span class="pagenum">[Pg 246]</span>
+record their experience about the way to be happy.
+Century after century the children of men will have it
+that they know the way perfectly well, and need no
+teaching. They cast to the winds our warnings; they
+rush, every one, on his own favourite path; they walk in
+a vain shadow, and disquiet themselves in vain, and wake
+up when too late to find their whole life has been a grand
+mistake. Their eyes are blinded: they will not see that
+their visions are as baseless and disappointing as the
+mirage of the African desert. Like the tired traveller in
+those deserts, they think they are approaching a lake of
+cooling waters; like the same traveller, they find to their
+dismay that this fancied lake was a splendid optical delusion,
+and that they are still helpless in the midst of burning
+sands.</p>
+
+<p>Are you a young person? I entreat you to accept the
+affectionate warning of a minister of the Gospel, and not
+to seek happiness where happiness cannot be found. Seek
+it not in riches; seek it not in power and rank; seek it
+not in pleasure; seek it not in learning. All these are
+bright and splendid fountains: their waters taste sweet.
+A crowd is standing round them, which will not leave
+them; but, oh, remember that God has written over each
+of these fountains, "He that drinketh of this water shall
+thirst again." (John iv. 13.) Remember this, and be wise.</p>
+
+<p>Are you poor? Are you tempted to fancy that if you
+had the rich man's place you would be quite happy?
+Resist the temptation, and cast it behind you. Envy not
+your wealthy neighbours: be content with such things as
+you have. Happiness does not depend on houses or land;
+silks and satins cannot shut out sorrow from the heart;
+castles and halls cannot prevent anxiety and care coming
+in at their doors. There is as much misery riding and
+driving about in carriages as there is walking about on
+foot: there is as much unhappiness in ceiled houses as in
+humble cottages. Oh, remember the mistakes which are<span class="pagenum">[Pg 247]</span>
+common about happiness, and be wise!</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>III. Let me now, in the last place, <i>point out the way
+to be really happy</i>.</p>
+
+<p>There is a sure path which leads to happiness, if men
+will only take it. There never lived the person who
+travelled in that path, and missed the object that he
+sought to attain.</p>
+
+<p>It is a path open to all. It needs neither wealth, nor
+rank, nor learning in order to walk in it. It is for the
+servant as well as for the master: it is for the poor as well
+as for the rich. None are excluded but those who exclude
+themselves.</p>
+
+<p>It is the one only path. All that have ever been happy,
+since the days of Adam, have journeyed on it. There is
+no royal road to happiness. Kings must be content to go
+side by side with their humblest subjects, if they would be
+happy.</p>
+
+<p>Where is this path? Where is this road? Listen, and
+you shall hear.</p>
+
+<p>The way to be happy is <i>to be a real, thorough-going,
+true-hearted Christian</i>. Scripture declares it: experience
+proves it. The converted man, the believer in Christ, the
+child of God,&mdash;he, and he alone, is the happy man.</p>
+
+<p>It sounds too simple to be true: it seems at first sight
+so plain a receipt that it is not believed. But the greatest
+truths are often the simplest. The secret which many of
+the wisest on earth have utterly failed to discover, is
+revealed to the humblest believer in Christ. I repeat it
+deliberately, and defy the world to disprove it: the true
+Christian is the only happy man.</p>
+
+<p>What do I mean when I speak of a true Christian?
+Do I mean everybody who goes to church or chapel? Do
+I mean everybody who professes an orthodox creed, and
+bows his head at the belief? Do I mean everybody who
+professes to love the Gospel? No: indeed! I mean something<span class="pagenum">[Pg 248]</span>
+very different. All are not Christians who are
+called Christians. The man I have in view is <i>the Christian
+in heart and life</i>. He who has been taught by the Spirit
+really to feel his sins,&mdash;he who really rests all his hopes
+on the Lord Jesus Christ, and His atonement,&mdash;he who
+has been born again and really lives a spiritual, holy life,&mdash;he
+whose religion is not a mere Sunday coat, but a
+mighty constraining principle governing every day of his
+life,&mdash;he is the man I mean, when I speak of a true
+Christian.</p>
+
+<p>What do I mean when I say the true Christian is happy?
+Has he no doubts and no fears? Has he no anxieties and
+no troubles? Has he no sorrows and no cares? Does he
+never feel pain, and shed no tears? Far be it from me
+to say anything of the kind. He has a body weak and
+frail like other men; he has affections and passions like
+every one born of woman: he lives in a changeful world.
+But deep down in his heart he has a mine of solid peace
+and substantial joy which is never exhausted. This is
+true happiness.</p>
+
+<p>Do I say that all true Christians are equally happy?
+No: not for a moment! There are babes in Christ's
+family as well as old men; there are weak members of the
+mystical body as well as strong ones; there are tender
+lambs as well as sheep. There are not only the cedars of
+Lebanon but the hyssop that grows on the wall. There
+are degrees of grace and degrees of faith. Those who
+have most faith and grace will have most happiness. But
+all, more or less, compared to the children of the world,
+are happy men.</p>
+
+<p>Do I say that real true Christians are equally happy
+at all times? No: not for a moment! All have their
+ebbs and flows of comfort: some, like the Mediterranean
+sea, almost insensibly; some, like the tide at Chepstow,
+fifty or sixty feet at a time. Their bodily health is not
+always the same; their earthly circumstances are not<span class="pagenum">[Pg 249]</span>
+always the same; the souls of those they love fill them at
+seasons with special anxiety: they themselves are sometimes
+overtaken by a fault, and walk in darkness. They
+sometimes give way to inconsistencies and besetting sins,
+and lose their sense of pardon. But, as a general rule,
+the true Christian has a deep pool of peace within him,
+which even at the lowest is never entirely dry.<a href="#ft_8">[8]</a></p>
+
+<p>The true Christian is the only happy man, because <i>his
+conscience is at peace</i>. That mysterious witness for God,
+which is so mercifully placed within us, is fully satisfied
+and at rest. It sees in the blood of Christ a complete
+cleansing away of all its guilt. It sees in the priesthood
+and mediation of Christ a complete answer to all its fears.
+It sees that through the sacrifice and death of Christ, God
+can now be just, and yet be the justifier of the ungodly.
+It no longer bites and stings, and makes its possessor
+afraid of himself. The Lord Jesus Christ has amply met
+all its requirements. Conscience is no longer the enemy
+of the true Christian, but his friend and adviser. Therefore
+he is happy.</p>
+
+<p>The true Christian is the only happy man, because he
+can <i>sit down quietly and think about his soul</i>. He can
+look behind him and before him, he can look within him
+and around him, and feel, "All is well."&mdash;He can think
+calmly on his past life, and however many and great his
+sins, take comfort in the thought that they are all forgiven.
+The righteousness of Christ covers all, as Noah's flood
+overtopped the highest hills.&mdash;He can think calmly about
+things to come, and yet not be afraid. Sickness is painful;
+death is solemn; the judgment day is an awful thing: but<span class="pagenum">[Pg 250]</span>
+having Christ for him, he has nothing to fear.&mdash;He can
+think calmly about the Holy God, whose eyes are on all
+his ways, and feel, "He is my Father, my reconciled
+Father in Christ Jesus. I am weak; I am unprofitable:
+yet in Christ He regards me as His dear child, and is
+well-pleased." Oh, what a blessed privilege it is to be able
+to <i>think</i>, and not be afraid! I can well understand the
+mournful complaint of the prisoner in solitary confinement.
+He had warmth, and food, and clothing, and work, but he was
+not happy. And why? He said, "He was obliged to think."</p>
+
+<p>The true Christian is the only happy man, because <i>he
+has sources of happiness entirely independent of this
+world</i>. He has something which cannot be affected by
+sickness and by deaths, by private losses and by public
+calamities, the "peace of God, which passeth all understanding."
+He has a hope laid up for him in heaven; he
+has a treasure which moth and rust cannot corrupt; he
+has a house which can never be taken down. His loving
+wife may die, and his heart feel rent in twain; his darling
+children may be taken from him, and he may be left alone
+in this cold world; his earthly plans may be crossed; his
+health may fail: but all this time he has a portion which
+nothing can hurt. He has one Friend who never dies; he
+has possessions beyond the grave, of which nothing can
+deprive him: his nether springs may fail, but his upper
+springs are never dry. This is real happiness.</p>
+
+<p>The true Christian is happy, because he is <i>in his right
+position</i>. All the powers of his being are directed to right
+ends. His affections are not set on things below, but on
+things above; his will is not bent on self-indulgence, but
+is submissive to the will of God; his mind is not absorbed
+in wretched perishable trifles. He desires useful employment:
+he enjoys the luxury of doing good. Who does not
+know the misery of disorder? Who has not tasted the
+discomfort of a house where everything and everybody are
+in their wrong places,&mdash;the last things first and the first<span class="pagenum">[Pg 251]</span>
+things last? The heart of an unconverted man is just
+such a house. Grace puts everything in that heart in its
+right position. The things of the soul come first, and the
+things of the world come second. Anarchy and confusion
+cease: unruly passions no longer do each one what is right
+in his eyes. Christ reigns over the whole man, and each
+part of him does his proper work. The new heart is the
+only really light heart, for it is the only heart that is in
+order.&mdash;The true Christian has found out his place. He
+has laid aside his pride and self-will; he sits at the feet of
+Jesus, and is in his right mind: he loves God and loves
+man, and so he is happy. In heaven all are happy because
+all do God's will perfectly. The nearer a man gets to this
+standard the happier he will be.</p>
+
+<p>The plain truth is that without Christ there is no
+happiness in this world. He alone can give the Comforter
+who abideth for ever. He is the sun; without Him men
+never feel warm. He is the light; without Him men are
+always in the dark. He is the bread; without Him men
+are always starving. He is the living water; without Him
+men are always athirst. Give them what you like,&mdash;place
+them where you please,&mdash;surround them with all the
+comforts you can imagine,&mdash;it makes no difference.
+Separate from Christ, the Prince of Peace, a man cannot
+be happy.</p>
+
+<p>Give a man a sensible interest in Christ, and he will be
+happy <i>in spite of poverty</i>. He will tell you that he wants
+nothing that is really good. He is provided for: he has
+riches in possession, and riches in reversion; he has meat
+to eat that the world knows not of; he has friends who
+never leave him nor forsake him. The Father and the
+Son come to him, and make their abode with him: the
+Lord Jesus Christ sups with him, and he with Christ.
+(Rev. iii. 20.)</p>
+
+<p>Give a man a sensible interest in Christ, and he will be
+happy <i>in spite of sickness</i>. His flesh may groan, and his<span class="pagenum">[Pg 252]</span>
+body be worn out with pain, but his heart will rest and be
+at peace. One of the happiest people I ever saw was a
+young woman who had been hopelessly ill for many years
+with disease of the spine. She lay in a garret without a
+fire; the straw thatch was not two feet above her face.
+She had not the slightest hope of recovery. But she was
+always rejoicing in the Lord Jesus. The spirit triumphed
+mightily over the flesh. She was happy, because Christ
+was with her.<a href="#ft_9">[9]</a></p>
+
+<p>Give a man a sensible interest in Christ, and he will be
+happy <i>in spite of abounding public calamities</i>. The
+government of his country may be thrown into confusion,
+rebellion and disorder may turn everything upside down,
+laws may be trampled under foot; justice and equity may
+be outraged; liberty may be cast down to the ground;
+might may prevail over right: but still his heart will not
+fail. He will remember that the kingdom of Christ will
+one day be set up. He will say, like the old Scotch
+minister who lived unmoved throughout the turmoil of
+the first French revolution: "It is all right: it shall be
+well with the righteous."</p>
+
+<p>I know well that Satan hates the doctrine which I am
+endeavouring to press upon you. I have no doubt he is
+filling your mind with objections and reasonings, and persuading
+you that I am wrong. I am not afraid to meet
+these objections face to face. Let us bring them forward
+and see what they are.</p>
+
+<p>You may tell me that "<i>you know many very religious
+people who are not happy at all</i>." You see them diligent
+in attending public worship. You know that they are
+never missing at the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 253]</span>
+But you see in them no marks of the peace which I have
+been describing.</p>
+
+<p>But are you sure that these people you speak of are
+true believers in Christ? Are you sure that, with all their
+appearance of religion, they are born again and converted
+to God? Is it not very likely that they have nothing but
+the name of Christianity, without the reality; and a form
+of godliness, without the power? Alas! you have yet to
+learn that people may do many religious acts, and yet
+possess no saving religion! It is not a mere formal, ceremonial
+Christianity that will ever make people happy.
+We want something more than going to Church, and going
+to sacraments, to give us peace. There must be real, vital
+union with Christ. It is not the formal Christian, but the
+true Christian, that is the happy man.</p>
+
+<p>You may tell me that "<i>you know really spiritually-minded
+and converted people who do not seem happy</i>."
+You have heard them frequently complaining of their own
+hearts, and groaning over their own corruption. They
+seem to you all doubts, and anxieties, and fears; and you
+want to know where is the happiness in these people of
+which I have been saying so much.</p>
+
+<p>I do not deny that there are many saints of God such
+as these whom you describe, and I am sorry for it. I allow
+that there are many believers who live far below their
+privileges, and seem to know nothing of joy and peace in
+believing. But did you ever ask any of these people
+whether they would give up the position in religion they
+have reached, and go back to the world? Did you ever
+ask them, after all their groanings, and doubtings, and
+fearings, whether they think they would be happier if
+they ceased to follow hard after Christ? <i>Did you ever
+ask those questions?</i> I am certain if you did, that the
+weakest and lowest believers would all give you one
+answer. I am certain they would tell you that they would
+rather cling to their little scrap of hope in Christ, than<span class="pagenum">[Pg 254]</span>
+possess the world. I am sure they would all answer, "Our
+faith is weak, if we have any; our grace is small, if we
+have any; our joy in Christ is next to nothing at all: but
+we cannot give up what we have got. Though the Lord
+slay us, we must cling to Him." The root of happiness
+lies deep in many a poor weak believer's heart, when
+neither leaves nor blossoms are to be seen!</p>
+
+<p>But you will tell me, in the last place, that "<i>you cannot
+think most believers are happy, because they are so grave
+and serious</i>." You think that they do not really possess
+this happiness I have been describing, because their
+countenances do not show it. You doubt the reality of
+their joy, because it is so little seen.</p>
+
+<p>I might easily repeat what I told you at the beginning
+of this paper,&mdash;that a merry face is no sure proof of a
+happy heart. But I will not do so. I will rather ask you
+whether you yourself may not be the cause why believers
+look grave and serious when you meet them? If you are
+not converted yourself, you surely cannot expect them to
+look at you without sorrow. They see you on the high
+road to destruction, and that alone is enough to give them
+pain: they see thousands like you, hurrying on to weeping
+and wailing and endless woe. Now, is it possible that
+such a daily sight should not give them grief? Your
+company, very likely, is one cause why they are grave.
+Wait till you are a converted man yourself, before you
+pass judgment on the gravity of converted people. See
+them in companies where all are of one heart, and all love
+Christ, and so far as my own experience goes, you will find
+no people so truly happy as true Christians.<a href="#ft_10">[10]</a></p>
+
+<p>I repeat my assertion in this part of my subject. I<span class="pagenum">[Pg 255]</span>
+repeat it boldly, confidently, deliberately. I say that there
+is no happiness among men that will at all compare with
+that of the true Christian. All other happiness by the
+side of his is moonlight compared to sunshine, and brass
+by the side of gold. Boast, if you will, of the laughter
+and merriment of irreligious men; sneer, if you will, at
+the gravity and seriousness, which appear in the demeanour
+of many Christians. I have looked the whole subject in
+the face, and am not moved. I say that the true Christian
+alone is the truly happy man, and the way to be happy is
+to be a true Christian.</p>
+
+<p>And now I am going to close this paper by a few words
+of plain application. I have endeavoured to show what is
+essential to true happiness. I have endeavoured to expose
+the fallacy of many views which prevail upon the subject.
+I have endeavoured to point out, in plain and unmistakable
+words, where true happiness alone can be found. Suffer
+me to wind up all by an affectionate appeal to the consciences
+of all into whose hands this volume may fall.</p>
+
+<p>(1) In the first place, <i>let me entreat every reader of
+this paper to apply to his own heart the solemn inquiry,
+Are you happy</i>?</p>
+
+<p>High or low, rich or poor, master or servant, farmer or
+labourer, young or old, here is a question that deserves an
+answer,&mdash;<i>Are you really happy</i>?</p>
+
+<p>Man of the world, who art caring for nothing but the
+things of time, neglecting the Bible, making a god of
+business or money, providing for everything but the day of
+judgment, scheming and planning about everything but
+eternity: are you happy? <i>You know you are not.</i></p>
+
+<p>Foolish woman, who art trifling life away in levity and
+frivolity, spending hours after hours on that poor frail body
+which must soon feed the worms, making an idol of dress
+and fashion, and excitement, and human praise, as if this
+world was all: are you happy? <i>You know you are not.</i></p>
+
+<p>Young man, who art bent on pleasure and self-indulgence,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 256]</span>
+fluttering from one idle pastime to another, like
+the moth about the candle,&mdash;fancying yourself clever and
+knowing, and too wise to be led by parsons, and ignorant
+that the devil is leading you captive, like the ox that is
+led to the slaughter: are you happy? <i>You know you are
+not.</i></p>
+
+<p>Yes: each and all of you, you are not happy! and in
+your own consciences you know it well. You may not
+allow it, but it is sadly true. There is a great empty place
+in each of your hearts, and nothing will fill it. Pour
+into it money, learning, rank, and pleasure, and it will be
+empty still. There is a sore place in each of your consciences,
+and nothing will heal it. Infidelity cannot; free-thinking
+cannot; Romanism cannot: they are all quack
+medicines. Nothing can heal it, but that which at present
+you have not used,&mdash;the simple Gospel of Christ. Yes:
+you are indeed a miserable people!</p>
+
+<p>Take warning this day, that you never will be happy
+till you are converted. You might as well expect to feel
+the sun shine on your face when you turn your back to
+it, as to feel happy when you turn your back on God and
+on Christ.</p>
+
+<p>(2) In the next place, <i>let me warn all who are not true
+Christians of the folly of living a life which cannot make
+them happy</i>.</p>
+
+<p>I pity you from the bottom of my heart, and would fain
+persuade you to open your eyes and be wise. I stand as
+a watchman on the tower of the everlasting Gospel. I see
+you sowing misery for yourselves, and I call upon you to
+stop and think, before it is too late. Oh, that God may
+show you your folly!</p>
+
+<p>You are hewing out for yourselves cisterns, broken
+cisterns, which can hold no water. You are spending your
+time, and strength, and affections on that which will give
+you no return for your labour,&mdash;"spending your money on
+that which is not bread, and your labour for that which<span class="pagenum">[Pg 257]</span>
+satisfieth not." (Isa. lv. 2.) You are building up Babels
+of your own contriving, and ignorant that God will pour
+contempt on your schemes for procuring happiness, because
+you attempt to be happy without Him.</p>
+
+<p>Awake from your dreams, I entreat you, and show
+yourselves men. Think of the uselessness of living a life
+which you will be ashamed of when you die, and of having
+a mere nominal religion, which will just fail you when it
+is most wanted.</p>
+
+<p>Open your eyes and look round the world. Tell me
+who was ever really happy without God and Christ and
+the Holy Spirit. Look at the road in which you are
+travelling. Mark the footsteps of those who have gone
+before you: see how many have turned away from it, and
+confessed they were wrong.</p>
+
+<p>I warn you plainly, that if you are not a true Christian
+you will miss happiness in the world that now is, as well
+as in the world to come. Oh, believe me, the way of
+happiness, and the way of salvation are one and the same!
+He that will have his own way, and refuses to serve Christ,
+will never be really happy. But he that serves Christ has
+the promise of both lives. He is happy on earth, and will
+be happier still in heaven.</p>
+
+<p>If you are neither happy in this world nor the next, it
+will be all your own fault. Oh, think of this! Do not be
+guilty of such enormous folly. Who does not mourn over
+the folly of the drunkard, the opium eater, and the
+suicide? But there is no folly like that of the impenitent
+child of the world.</p>
+
+<p>(3) In the next place, <i>let me entreat all readers of this
+book, who are not yet happy, to seek happiness where
+alone it can be found</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The keys of the way to happiness are in the hands of
+the Lord Jesus Christ. He is sealed and appointed by
+God the Father, to give the bread of life to them that
+hunger, and to give the water of life to them that thirst.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 258]</span>
+The door which riches and rank and learning have so
+often tried to open, and tried in vain, is now ready to open
+to every humble, praying believer. Oh, if you want to be
+happy, come to Christ!</p>
+
+<p>Come to Him, confessing that you are weary of your
+own ways, and want rest,&mdash;that you find you have no
+power and might to make yourself holy or happy or fit
+for heaven, and have no hope but in Him. Tell Him this
+unreservedly. This is coming to Christ.</p>
+
+<p>Come to Him, imploring Him to show you His mercy,
+and grant you His salvation,&mdash;to wash you in His own
+blood, and take your sins away,&mdash;to speak peace to your
+conscience, and heal your troubled soul. Tell Him all this
+unreservedly. This is coming to Christ.</p>
+
+<p>You have everything to encourage you. The Lord
+Jesus Himself invites you. He proclaims to you as well
+as to others, "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are
+heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke
+upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in
+heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my
+yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matt. xi. 28&mdash;30.)
+Wait for nothing. You may feel unworthy. You may
+feel as if you did not repent enough. But wait no longer.
+Come to Christ.</p>
+
+<p>You have everything to encourage you. Thousands
+have walked in the way you are invited to enter, and have
+found it good. Once, like yourself, they served the world,
+and plunged deeply into folly and sin. Once, like
+yourself, they became weary of their wickedness, and
+longed for deliverance and rest. They heard of Christ,
+and His willingness to help and save: they came to Him
+by faith and prayer, after many a doubt and hesitation;
+they found Him a thousand times more gracious than they
+had expected. They rested on Him and were happy: they
+carried His cross and tasted peace. Oh, walk in their steps!</p>
+
+<p>I beseech you, by the mercies of God, to come to Christ.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 259]</span>
+As ever you would be happy, I entreat you to come to Christ.
+Cast off delays. Awake from your past slumber: arise,
+and be free! This day come to Christ.</p>
+
+<p>(4) In the last place, <i>let me offer a few hints to all true
+Christians for the increase and promotion of their
+happiness</i>.</p>
+
+<p>I offer these hints with diffidence. I desire to apply
+them to my own conscience as well as to your's. You have
+found Christ's service happy. I have no doubt that you
+feel such sweetness in Christ's peace that you would fain
+know more of it. I am sure that these hints deserve
+attention.</p>
+
+<p>Believers, if you would have an increase of happiness in
+Christ's service, <i>labour every year to grow in grace</i>. Beware
+of standing still. The holiest men are always the happiest.
+Let your aim be every year to be more holy,&mdash;to know
+more, to feel more, to see more of the fulness of Christ.
+Rest not upon old grace: do not be content with the degree
+of religion whereunto you have attained. Search the
+Scriptures more earnestly; pray more fervently; hate sin
+more; mortify self-will more; become more humble the
+nearer you draw to your end; seek more direct personal
+communion with the Lord Jesus; strive to be more like
+Enoch,&mdash;daily walking with God; keep your conscience
+clear of little sins; grieve not the Spirit; avoid wranglings
+and disputes about the lesser matters of religion: lay more
+firm hold upon those great truths, without which no man
+can be saved. Remember and practise these things, and
+you will be more happy.</p>
+
+<p>Believers, if you would have an increase of happiness in
+Christ's service, <i>labour every year to be more thankful</i>.
+Pray that you may know more and more what it is to
+"rejoice in the Lord." (Phil. iii. 1.) Learn to have a deeper
+sense of your own wretched sinfulness and corruption, and
+to be more deeply grateful, that by the grace of God you are
+what you are. Alas, there is too much complaining and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 260]</span>
+too little thanksgiving among the people of God! There
+is too much murmuring and poring over the things that
+we have not. There is too little praising and blessing for
+the many undeserved mercies that we have. Oh, that
+God would pour out upon us a great spirit of thankfulness
+and praise!</p>
+
+<p>Believers, if you would have an increase of happiness in
+Christ's service, <i>labour every year to do more good</i>. Look
+round the circle in which your lot is cast, and lay yourself
+out to be useful. Strive to be of the same character with
+God: He is not only good, but "doeth good." (Ps. cxix. 68.)
+Alas, there is far too much selfishness among believers in
+the present day! There is far too much lazy sitting by the
+fire nursing our own spiritual diseases, and croaking over
+the state of our own hearts. Up; and be useful in your day
+and generation! Is there no one in all the world that you
+can read to? Is there no one that you can speak to? Is there
+no one that you can write to? Is there literally nothing
+that you can do for the glory of God, and the benefit of
+your fellow-men? Oh I cannot think it! I cannot think
+it. There is much that you might do, if you had only the
+will. For your own happiness' sake, arise and do it,
+without delay. The bold, outspeaking, working Christians
+are always the happiest. The more you do for God, the
+more God will do for you.</p>
+
+<p>The compromising lingering Christian must never expect
+to taste perfect peace. THE MOST DECIDED
+CHRISTIAN WILL ALWAYS BE THE HAPPIEST
+MAN.</p>
+<br>
+
+
+<h2><a name="XI" id="XI"></a>XI</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 261]</span>
+
+<h2>FORMALITY</h2>
+
+<blockquote><p>"<i>Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.</i>"&mdash;2
+<span class="smcap">Tim.</span> iii. 5.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>He is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision,
+which is outward in the flesh</i>:</p>
+
+<p>"<i>But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that
+of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is
+not of men, but of God.</i>"&mdash;<span class="smcap">Rom.</span> ii. 28, 29.</p></blockquote>
+
+
+<p>The texts which head this page deserve serious attention
+at any time. But they deserve especial notice in this age
+of the Church and world. Never since the Lord Jesus
+Christ left the earth, was there so much formality and
+false profession as there is at the present day. Now, if
+ever, we ought to examine ourselves, and search our
+religion, that we may know of what sort it is. Let us try
+to find out whether our Christianity is a thing of form or
+a thing of heart.</p>
+
+<p>I know no better way of unfolding the subject than by
+turning to a plain passage of the Word of God. Let us
+hear what St. Paul says about it. He lays down the
+following great principles in his Epistle to the Romans:
+"He is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that
+circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: but he is a
+Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of
+the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is
+not of men, but of God." (Rom. ii. 28, 29.) Three most<span class="pagenum">[Pg 262]</span>
+instructive lessons appear to me to stand out on the face
+of that passage. Let us see what they are.</p>
+
+
+<blockquote><p>I. We learn, firstly, that formal religion is not religion,
+and a formal Christian is not a Christian in God's sight.</p>
+
+<p>II. We learn, secondly, that the heart is the seat of
+true religion, and that the true Christian is the Christian
+in heart.</p>
+
+<p>III. We learn, thirdly, that true religion must never
+expect to be popular. It will not have the "praise of
+man, but of God."</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Let us thoroughly consider these great principles.
+Two hundred years have passed away since a mighty
+Puritan divine said, "Formality, formality, formality is the
+great sin of England at this day, under which the land
+groans.&mdash;There is more light than there was, but less life;
+more shadow, but less substance; more profession, but less
+sanctification." (<i>Thomas Hall, on 2 Tim. iii. 5, 1658.</i>)
+What would this good man have said if he had lived in
+our times?</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>I. We learn first, that <i>formal religion is not religion,
+and a formal Christian is not a Christian in God's
+sight</i>.</p>
+
+<p>What do I mean when I speak of formal religion?
+This is a point that must be made clear. Thousands, I
+suspect, know nothing about it. Without a distinct
+understanding of this point my whole paper will be
+useless. My first step shall be to paint, describe, and
+define.</p>
+
+<p>When a man is a Christian in name only, and not in
+reality,&mdash;in outward things only, and not in his inward
+feelings,&mdash;in profession only, and not in practice,&mdash;when
+his Christianity in short is a mere matter of form, or
+fashion, or custom, without any influence on his heart or<span class="pagenum">[Pg 263]</span>
+life,&mdash;in such a case as this the man has what I call a
+"formal religion." He possesses indeed the <i>form</i>, or husk,
+or skin of religion, but he does not possess its substance
+or its <i>power</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Look for example at those thousands of people whose
+whole religion seems to consist in keeping religious
+ceremonies and ordinances. They attend regularly on
+public worship. They go regularly to the Lord's table.
+But they never get any further. They know nothing of
+experimental Christianity. They are not familiar with
+the Scriptures, and take no delight in reading them.
+They do not separate themselves from the ways of the
+world. They draw no distinction between godliness and
+ungodliness in their friendships, or matrimonial alliances.
+They care little or nothing about the distinctive doctrines
+of the Gospel. They appear utterly indifferent as to what
+they hear preached. You may be in their company for
+weeks, and for anything you may hear or see on a week
+day you might suppose they were infidels or deists.
+What can be said about these people? They are
+Christians undoubtedly, by profession; and yet there is
+neither heart nor life in their Christianity. There is but
+one thing to be said about them.&mdash;They are formal
+Christians. Their religion is a FORM.</p>
+
+<p>Look in another direction at those hundreds of people
+whose whole religion seems to consist in talk and high
+profession. They know the theory of the Gospel with
+their heads, and profess to delight in Evangelical doctrine.
+They can say much about the "soundness" of their own
+views, and the "darkness" of all who disagree with them.
+But they never get any further! When you examine
+their inner lives you find that they know nothing of
+practical godliness. They are neither truthful, nor
+charitable, nor humble, nor honest, nor kind-tempered,
+nor gentle, nor unselfish, nor honourable. What shall we
+say of these people? They are Christians, no doubt, in<span class="pagenum">[Pg 264]</span>
+name, and yet there is neither substance nor fruit in their
+Christianity. There is but one thing to be said.&mdash;They
+are formal Christians. Their religion is an empty FORM.</p>
+
+<p>Such is the formal religion against which I wish to
+raise a warning voice this day. Here is the rock on which
+myriads on every side are making miserable shipwreck
+of their souls. One of the wickedest things that Machiavel
+ever said was this: "Religion itself should not be cared for,
+but only the appearance of it. The credit of it is a help;
+the reality and use is a cumber." Such notions are of
+the earth, earthy. Nay, rather they are from beneath:
+they smell of the pit. Beware of them, and stand upon
+your guard. If there is anything about which the
+Scripture speaks expressly, it is the sin and uselessness of
+FORMALITY.</p>
+
+<p>Hear what St. Paul tells the Romans: "He is not a Jew
+which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which
+is outward in the flesh." (Rom. ii. 28.) These are strong
+words indeed! A man might be a son of Abraham
+according to the flesh,&mdash;a member of one of the twelve
+tribes,&mdash;circumcised the eighth day,&mdash;a keeper of all the
+feasts,&mdash;a regular worshipper in the temple,&mdash;and yet in
+God's sight not be a Jew!&mdash;Just so a man may be a
+Christian by outward profession,&mdash;a member of a Christian
+Church,&mdash;baptized with Christian baptism,&mdash;an attendant
+on Christian ordinances,&mdash;and yet, in God's sight, not a
+Christian at all.</p>
+
+<p>Hear what the prophet Isaiah says: "To what purpose
+is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me? saith the
+Lord: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat
+of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks
+or of lambs, or of he-goats. When ye come to appear
+before Me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread
+my courts? Bring no more vain oblations: incense is an
+abomination unto Me; the new moons and sabbaths, the
+calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 265]</span>
+even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your
+appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto
+Me: I am weary to bear them. And when ye spread forth
+your hands I will hide mine eyes from you; yea, when ye
+make many prayers I will not hear: your hands are full
+of blood." (Isaiah i. 10&mdash;15.) These words, when duly
+weighed, are very extraordinary. The sacrifices which
+are here declared to be useless were appointed by God
+Himself! The feasts and ordinances which God says He
+"hates," had been prescribed by Himself! God Himself
+pronounces His own institutions to be useless when they
+are used formally and without heart in the worshipper!
+In fact they are worse than useless; they are even
+offensive and hurtful. Words cannot be imagined more
+distinct and unmistakeable. They show that formal
+religion is worthless in God's sight. It is not worth
+calling religion at all.</p>
+
+<p>Hear, lastly, what our Lord Jesus Christ says. We find
+Him saying of the Jews of His day, "This people draweth
+nigh unto Me with their mouth, and honoureth Me with
+their lips; but their heart is far from Me. But in vain
+do they worship Me." (Matt. xv. 8.) We see Him
+repeatedly denouncing the formalism and hypocrisy of the
+scribes and Pharisees, and warning His disciples against
+it. Eight times in one chapter (Matt. xxiii. 13) He says to
+them, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!"
+For sinners of the worst description He always had a
+word of kindness, and held out to them an open door.
+But formalism, He would have us know, is a desperate
+disease, and must be exposed in the severest language. To
+the eye of an ignorant man a formalist may seem to have
+a very decent <i>quantity</i> of religion, though not perhaps of
+the best <i>quality</i>. In the eye of Christ, however, the case is
+very different. In His sight formality is no religion at all.</p>
+
+<p>What shall we say to these testimonies of Scripture?
+It would be easy to add to them. They do not stand<span class="pagenum">[Pg 266]</span>
+alone. If words mean anything, they are a clear warning
+to all who profess and call themselves Christians. They
+teach us plainly that as we dread sin and avoid sin, so
+we ought to dread formality and avoid formality.
+Formalism may take our hand with a smile, and look
+like a brother, while sin comes against us with sword
+drawn, and strikes at us like an open enemy. But both
+have one end in view. Both want to ruin our souls; and
+of the two, formalism is far the most likely to do it. If
+we love life, let us beware of formality in religion.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing is <i>so common</i>. It is one of the great family
+diseases of the whole race of mankind. It is born with
+us, grows with us, and is never completely cast out of us
+till we die. It meets us in church, and it meets us in
+chapel. It meets us among rich, and it meets us among
+poor. It meets us among learned people, and it meets us
+among unlearned. It meets us among Romanists, and it
+meets us among Protestants. It meets us among High
+Churchmen, and it meets us among Low Churchmen. It
+meets us among Evangelicals, and it meets us among
+Ritualists. Go where we will, and join what Church we
+may, we are never beyond the risk of its infection. We
+shall find it among Quakers and Plymouth Brethren, as
+well as at Rome. The man who thinks that, at any rate,
+there is no formal religion in his own camp, is a very
+blind and ignorant person. If you love life, beware of
+formality.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing is <i>so dangerous</i> to a man's own soul.
+Familiarity with the form of religion, while we neglect its
+reality, has a fearfully deadening effect on the conscience.
+It brings up by degrees a thick crust of insensibility over
+the whole inner man. None seem to become so desperately
+hard as those who are continually repeating holy words
+and handling holy things, while their hearts are running
+after sin and the world. Landlords who only go to church
+formally, to set an example to their tenants,&mdash;masters who<span class="pagenum">[Pg 267]</span>
+have family prayers formally, to keep up a good appearance
+in their households,&mdash;unconverted clergymen, who are
+every week reading prayers and lessons of Scripture, in
+which they feel no real interest,&mdash;unconverted clerks, who
+are constantly reading responses and saying "Amen,"
+without feeling what they say,&mdash;unconverted singers, who
+sing the most spiritual hymns every Sunday, merely
+because they have good voices, while their affections are
+entirely on things below,&mdash;all, all, all are in awful danger.
+They are gradually hardening their hearts, and searing
+the skin of their consciences. If you love your own soul,
+beware of formality.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing, finally, is <i>so foolish</i>, senseless, and unreasonable.
+Can a formal Christian really suppose that the mere
+outward Christianity he professes will comfort him in the
+day of sickness and the hour of death? The thing is
+impossible. A painted fire cannot warm, and a painted
+banquet cannot satisfy hunger, and a formal religion
+cannot bring peace to the soul.&mdash;Can he suppose that God
+does not see the heartlessness and deadness of his
+Christianity? Though he may deceive neighbours, acquaintances,
+fellow-worshippers, and ministers with a form
+of godliness, does he think that he can deceive God?
+The very idea is absurd. "He that formed the eye, shall
+He not see?" He knows the very secrets of the heart.
+He will "judge the secrets of men" at the last day. He
+who said to each angel of the seven Churches, "I know
+thy works," is not changed. He who said to the man
+without the wedding garment, "Friend, how camest thou
+in hither?" will not be deceived by a little cloak of
+outward religion. If you would not be put to shame at
+the last day, once more I say, beware of formality. (Psalm
+xciv. 9; Rom. ii. 16; Rev. ii. 2; Matt. xxii. 11.)</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>II. I pass on to the second thing which I proposed to
+consider. <i>The heart is the seat of true religion, and the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 268]</span>
+true Christian is the Christian in heart.</i></p>
+
+<p>The heart is the real test of a man's character. It is
+not what he says or what he does by which the man may
+be always known. He may say and do things that are
+right, from false and unworthy motives, while his heart is
+altogether wrong. The heart is the man. "As he
+thinketh in his heart, so is he." (Prov. xxiii. 7.)</p>
+
+<p>The heart is the right test of a man's religion. It is
+not enough that a man holds a correct creed of doctrine,
+and maintains a proper outward form of godliness. What
+is his heart?&mdash;That is the grand question. This is what
+God looks at. "Man looketh at the outward appearance,
+but the Lord looketh at the heart." (1 Sam. xvi. 7.)
+This is what St. Paul lays down distinctly as the standard
+measure of the soul: "He is a Jew, which is one inwardly;
+and circumcision is that of the heart." (Rom. ii. 28.)
+Who can doubt that this mighty sentence was written for
+Christians as well as for Jews? He is a Christian, the
+apostle would have us know, which is one inwardly, and
+baptism is that of the heart.</p>
+
+<p>The heart is the place where saving religion must begin.
+It is naturally irreligious, and must be renewed by the
+Holy Ghost. "A new heart will I give unto you."&mdash;It is
+naturally hard, and must be made tender and broken. "I
+will take away the heart of stone, and I will give you a
+heart of flesh." "The sacrifices of God are a broken
+spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not
+despise."&mdash;It is naturally closed and shut against God, and
+must be opened. The Lord "opened the heart" of Lydia.
+(Ezek. xxxvi. 26; Psalm li. 17; Acts xvi. 14.)</p>
+
+<p>The heart is the seat of true saving faith. "With the
+heart man believeth unto righteousness." (Rom. x. 10.)
+A man may believe that Jesus is the Christ, as the devils
+do, and yet remain in his sins. He may believe that he
+is a sinner, and that Christ is the only Saviour, and feel
+occasional lazy wishes that he was a better man. But no<span class="pagenum">[Pg 269]</span>
+one ever lays hold on Christ, and receives pardon and
+peace, until he believes with the heart. It is heart-faith
+that justifies.</p>
+
+<p>The heart is the spring of true holiness and steady
+continuance in well-doing. True Christians are holy
+because their hearts are interested. They obey from the
+heart. They do the will of God from the heart. Weak,
+and feeble, and imperfect as all their doings are, they
+please God, because they are done from a loving heart.
+He who commended the widow's mite more than all the
+offerings of the wealthy Jews, regards quality far more
+than quantity. What He likes to see is a thing done
+from "an honest and good heart." (Luke viii. 15.) There
+is no real holiness without a right heart.</p>
+
+<p>The things I am saying may sound strange. Perhaps
+they run counter to all the notions of some into whose
+hands this paper may fall. Perhaps you have thought
+that if a man's religion is correct outwardly, he must be
+one with whom God is well pleased. You are completely
+mistaken. You are rejecting the whole tenor of Bible
+teaching. Outward correctness without a right heart is
+neither more nor less than Pharisaism. The outward
+things of Christianity,&mdash;baptism, the Lord's Supper,
+Church-membership, almsgiving, and the like,&mdash;will never
+take any man's soul to heaven, unless his heart is right.
+There must be inward things as well as outward,&mdash;and it
+is on the inward things that God's eyes are chiefly fixed.</p>
+
+<p>Hear how St. Paul teaches us about this matter in three
+most striking texts: "In Jesus Christ neither circumcision
+availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith that
+worketh by love."&mdash;"In Christ Jesus neither circumcision
+availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature."&mdash;"Circumcision
+is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing,
+but the keeping of the commandments of God." (1 Cor.
+vii. 19; Galat. v. 6; Galat. vi. 15.) Did the Apostle only
+mean in these texts, that circumcision was no longer<span class="pagenum">[Pg 270]</span>
+needed under the Gospel? Was that all? No indeed!
+I believe he meant much more. He meant that true
+religion did not consist of forms, and that its essence was
+something far greater than being circumcised or not
+circumcised. He meant that under Christ Jesus, everything
+depended on being born again,&mdash;on having true
+saving faith,&mdash;on being holy in life and conduct. He
+meant that these are the things we ought to look at
+chiefly, and not at outward forms. "Am I a new creature?
+Do I really believe on Christ? Am I a holy man?"
+These are the grand questions that we must seek to answer.</p>
+
+<p><i>When the heart is wrong all is wrong in God's sight.</i>
+Many right things may be done. The forms and
+ordinances which God Himself has appointed may seem
+to be honoured. But so long as the heart is at fault God
+is not pleased. He will have man's heart or nothing.</p>
+
+<p>The ark was the most sacred thing in the Jewish
+tabernacle. On it was the mercy-seat. Within it were
+the tables of the law, written by God's own finger. The
+High Priest alone was allowed to go into the place where
+it was kept, within the veil, and that only once every year.
+The presence of the ark with the camp was thought to
+bring a special blessing. And yet this very ark could do
+the Israelites no more good than any common wooden box,
+when they trusted to it like an idol, with their hearts full
+of wickedness. They brought it into the camp, on a
+special occasion, saying, "Let us fetch the ark, that it may
+save us out of the hand of our enemies." (1 Sam iv. 3.)
+When it came in the camp they showed it all reverence
+and honour. "They shouted with a great shout, so that
+the earth rang again." But it was all in vain. They
+were smitten before the Philistines, and the ark itself was
+taken. And why was this? It was because their religion
+was a mere form. They honoured the ark, but did not
+give the God of the ark their hearts.</p>
+
+<p>There were some kings of Judah and Israel who did many<span class="pagenum">[Pg 271]</span>
+things that were right in God's sight, and yet were never
+written in the list of godly and righteous men. Rehoboam
+began well, and "for three years walked in the way of
+David and Solomon." (2 Chron. xi. 17.) But afterwards
+"he did evil, because he prepared not his <i>heart</i> to seek
+the Lord." (2 Chron. xii. 14.)&mdash;Abijah, according to the
+book of Chronicles, said many things that were right, and
+fought successfully against Jeroboam. Nevertheless the
+general verdict is against him. We read, in Kings, that
+"his <i>heart</i> was not perfect with the Lord his God." (1
+Kings xv. 3.)&mdash;Amaziah, we are expressly told, "did that
+which was right in the sight of the Lord, but not with a
+perfect <i>heart</i>." (2 Chron. xxv. 2.)&mdash;Jehu, King of Israel,
+was raised up, by God's command, to put down idolatry.
+He was a man of special zeal in doing God's work. But
+unhappily it is written of him: "He took no heed to walk
+in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his <i>heart</i>:
+for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, which
+made Israel to sin." (2 Kings x. 31.) In short, one general
+remark applies to all these kings. They were all wrong
+inwardly. They were rotten at heart.</p>
+
+<p>There are places of worship in England at this very day
+where all the outward things of religion are done to perfection.
+The building is beautiful. The service is beautiful.
+The singing is beautiful. The forms of devotion are beautiful.
+There is everything to gratify the senses. Eye, and
+ear, and natural sentimentality are all pleased. But all this
+time God is not pleased. One thing is lacking, and the
+want of that one thing spoils all. What is that one thing?
+It is heart! God sees under all this fair outward show
+the form of religion put in the place of the substance, and
+when He sees that He is displeased. He sees nothing
+with an eye of favour in the building, the service, the
+minister, or the people, if He does not see converted,
+renewed, broken, penitent hearts. Bowed heads, bended
+knees, loud amens, crossed hands, faces turned to the east,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 272]</span>
+all, all are nothing in God's sight without right hearts.</p>
+
+<p><i>When the heart is right God can look over many things
+that are defective.</i> There may be faults in judgment, and
+infirmities in practice. There may be many deviations
+from the best course in the outward things of religion.
+But if the heart is sound in the main, God is not extreme
+to mark that which is amiss. He is merciful and gracious,
+and will pardon much that is imperfect, when He sees a
+true heart and a single eye.</p>
+
+<p>Jehoshaphat and Asa were Kings of Judah, who were
+defective in many things. Jehoshaphat was a timid,
+irresolute man, who did not know how to say "No," and
+joined affinity with Ahab, the wickedest king that ever
+reigned over Israel. Asa was an unstable man, who at
+one time trusted in the King of Syria more than in God,
+and at another time was wroth with God's prophet for
+rebuking him. (2 Chron. xvi. 10.) Yet both of them
+had one great redeeming point in their characters. With
+all their faults they had right <i>hearts</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The passover kept by Hezekiah was one at which there
+were many irregularities. The proper forms were not
+observed by many. They ate the passover "otherwise
+than the commandment" ordered. But they did it with
+true and honest <i>hearts</i>. And we read that Hezekiah
+prayed for them, saying, "The good Lord pardon every
+one that prepareth his heart to seek God,&mdash;though he be
+not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.
+And the Lord hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the
+people." (2 Chron. xxx. 20.)</p>
+
+<p>The passover kept by Josiah must have been far smaller
+and worse attended than scores of passovers in the days of
+David and Solomon, or even in the reign of Jehoshaphat
+and Hezekiah. How then can we account for the strong
+language used in Scripture about it? "There was no
+passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of
+Samuel the prophet; neither did all the Kings of Israel<span class="pagenum">[Pg 273]</span>
+keep such a passover as Josiah kept, and the Priests, and
+the Levites, and all Judah and Jerusalem that were
+present." (2 Chron. xxxv. 18.) There is but one explanation.
+There never was a passover at which the <i>hearts</i>
+of the worshippers were so truly in the feast. The Lord
+does not look at the quantity of worshippers so much as
+the quality. The glory of Josiah's passover was the state
+of people's hearts.</p>
+
+<p>There are many assemblies of Christian worshippers on
+earth at this very day in which there is literally nothing
+to attract the natural man. They meet in miserable dirty
+chapels, so-called, or in wretched upper-rooms and cellars.
+They sing unmusically. They hear feeble prayers, and
+more feeble sermons. And yet the Holy Ghost is often in
+the midst of them! Sinners are often converted in them,
+and the kingdom of God prospers far more than in any
+Roman Catholic Cathedral, or than in many gorgeous
+Protestant Churches. How is this? How can it be
+explained? The cause is simply this, that in these
+humble assemblies heart-religion is taught and held.
+Heart-work is aimed at. Heart-work is honoured. And
+the consequence is that God is pleased and grants His
+blessing.</p>
+
+<p>I leave this part of my subject here. I ask men to
+weigh well the things that I have been saying. I believe
+that they will bear examination, and are all true. Resolve
+this day, whatever Church you belong to, to be a Christian
+in <i>heart</i>. Whether Episcopalian or Presbyterian, Baptist
+or Independent, be not content with a mere form of
+godliness, without the power. Settle it down firmly in
+your mind that formal religion is not saving religion, and
+that heart-religion is the only religion that leads to heaven.</p>
+
+<p>I only give one word of caution. Do not suppose,
+because formal religion will not save, that forms of
+religion are of no use at all. Beware of any such
+senseless extreme. The misuse of a thing is no argument<span class="pagenum">[Pg 274]</span>
+against the right use of it. The blind idolatry of forms
+which prevails in some quarters is no reason why you
+should throw all forms aside. The ark, when made an
+idol of by Israel and put in the place of God, was unable
+to save them from the Philistines. And yet the same ark,
+when irreverently and profanely handled, brought death
+on Uzza; and when honoured and reverenced, brought a
+blessing on the house of Obed-edom. The words of
+Bishop Hall are strong, but true: "He that hath but a
+form is a hypocrite; but he that hath not a form is an
+Atheist." (<i>Hall's Sermons</i>, No. 28.) Forms cannot save
+us, but they are not therefore to be despised. A lantern
+is not a man's home, and yet it is a help to a man if he
+travels towards his home in a dark night. Use the forms
+of Christianity diligently, and you will find them a
+blessing. Only remember, in all your use of forms, the
+great principle, that the first thing in religion is the state
+of the heart.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>III. I come now to the last thing which I proposed to
+consider. I said <i>that true religion must never expect to
+be popular. It will not have the praise of man, but of
+God.</i></p>
+
+<p>I dare not turn away from this part of my subject,
+however painful it may be. Anxious as I am to commend
+heart-religion to every one who reads this paper, I will
+not try to conceal what heart-religion entails. I will not
+gain a recruit for my Master's army under false pretences.
+I will not promise anything which the Scripture does not
+warrant. The words of St. Paul are clear and unmistakable.
+Heart-religion is a religion "whose praise is not of
+men, but of God." (Rom. ii. 29.)</p>
+
+<p>God's truth and Scriptural Christianity are never really
+popular. They never have been. They never will be as
+long as the world stands. No one can calmly consider
+what human nature is, as described in the Bible, and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 275]</span>
+reasonably expect anything else. As long as man is what
+man is, the majority of mankind will always like a
+religion of form far better than a religion of heart.</p>
+
+<p>Formal religion just suits an unenlightened conscience.
+Some religion a man will have. Atheism and downright
+infidelity, as a general rule, are never very popular. But
+a man must have a religion which does not require much,&mdash;trouble
+his heart much,&mdash;interfere with his sins much.
+Formal Christianity satisfies him. It seems the very
+thing that he wants.</p>
+
+<p>Formal religion gratifies the secret self-righteousness of
+man. We are all of us more or less Pharisees. We all
+naturally cling to the idea that the way to be saved is to
+do so many things, and go through so many religious
+observances, and that at last we shall get to heaven.
+Formalism meets us here. It seems to show us a way by
+which we can make our own peace with God.</p>
+
+<p>Formal religion pleases the natural indolence of man.
+It attaches an excessive importance to that which is the
+easiest part of Christianity,&mdash;the shell and the form.
+Man likes this. He hates trouble in religion. He wants
+something which will not meddle with his conscience and
+inner life. Only leave conscience alone, and, like Herod,
+he will "do many things." Formalism seems to open a
+wider gate, and a more easy way to heaven. (Mark vi. 20.)</p>
+
+<p>Facts speak louder than assertions. Facts are stubborn
+things. Look over the history of religion in every age of
+the world, and observe what has always been popular.
+Look at the history of Israel from the beginning of
+Exodus to the end of the Acts of the Apostles, and see
+what has always found favour. Formalism was one main
+sin against which the Old Testament prophets were
+continually protesting. Formalism was the great plague
+which had overspread the Jews, when our Lord Jesus
+Christ came into the world.&mdash;Look at the history of the
+Church of Christ after the days of the apostles. How<span class="pagenum">[Pg 276]</span>
+soon formalism ate out the life and vitality of the
+primitive Christians!&mdash;Look at the middle ages, as they
+are called. Formalism so completely covered the face of
+Christendom that the Gospel lay as one dead.&mdash;Look,
+lastly, at the history of Protestant Churches in the three
+last centuries. How few are the places where religion is
+a living thing! How many are the countries where
+Protestantism is nothing more than a form! There is no
+getting over these things. They speak with a voice of
+thunder. They all show that formal religion is a popular
+thing. It has the praise of man.</p>
+
+<p>But why should we look at facts in history? Why
+should we not look at facts under our own eyes, and by
+our own doors? Can any one deny that a mere outward
+religion, a religion of downright formality, is the religion
+which is popular in England at the present day? It is
+not for nothing that St. John says of certain false teachers,
+"They are of the world: therefore speak they of the
+world, and the world heareth them." (1 John iv. 5.) Only
+say your prayers,&mdash;and go to church with tolerable
+regularity,&mdash;and receive the sacrament occasionally,&mdash;and
+the vast majority of Englishmen will set you down as an
+excellent Christian.&mdash;"What more would you have?" they
+say: "If this is not Christianity, what is?"&mdash;To require
+more of anyone is thought bigotry, illiberality, fanaticism,
+and enthusiasm! To insinuate a doubt whether such a
+man as this will go to heaven is called the height of
+uncharitableness! When these things are so it is vain to
+deny that formal religion is popular. It is popular. It
+always was popular. It always will be popular till Christ
+comes again. It always has had and always will have
+"the praise of man."</p>
+
+<p>Turn now to the religion of the heart, and you will
+hear a very different report. As a general rule it has
+never had the good word of mankind. It has entailed on
+its professors laughter, mockery, ridicule, scorn, contempt,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 277]</span>
+enmity, hatred, slander, persecution, imprisonment, and
+even death. Its lovers have been faithful and ardent,&mdash;but
+they have always been few. It has never had,
+comparatively, "the praise of man."</p>
+
+<p>Heart-religion is too <i>humbling</i> to be popular. It leaves
+natural man no room to boast. It tells him that he is a
+guilty, lost, hell-deserving sinner, and that he must flee to
+Christ for salvation. It tells him that he is dead, and
+must be made alive again, and born of the Spirit. The
+pride of man rebels against such tidings as these. He
+hates to be told that his case is so bad.</p>
+
+<p>Heart-religion is too <i>holy</i> to be popular. It will not
+leave natural man alone. It interferes with his worldliness
+and his sins. It requires of him things that he loathes
+and abominates,&mdash;conversion, faith, repentance, spiritual-mindedness,
+Bible-reading, prayer. It bids him give up
+many things that he loves and clings to, and cannot make
+up his mind to lay aside. It would be strange indeed if
+he liked it. It crosses his path as a kill-joy and a mar-plot,
+and it is absurd to expect that he will be pleased.</p>
+
+<p>Was heart-religion popular in Old Testament times?
+We find David complaining: "They that sit in the gate
+speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards."
+(Psalm lxix. 12.) We find the prophets persecuted and
+ill-treated because they preached against sin, and required
+men to give their hearts to God. Elijah, Micaiah,
+Jeremiah, Amos, are all cases in point. To formalism and
+ceremonialism the Jews never seem to have made
+objection. What they did dislike was serving God with
+their hearts.</p>
+
+<p>Was heart-religion popular in New Testament times?
+The whole history of our Lord Jesus Christ's ministry
+and the lives of His apostles are a sufficient answer. The
+scribes and Pharisees would have willingly received a
+Messiah who encouraged formalism, and a Gospel which
+exalted ceremonialism. But they could not tolerate a<span class="pagenum">[Pg 278]</span>
+religion of which the first principles were humiliation and
+sanctification of heart.</p>
+
+<p>Has heart-religion even been popular in the professing
+Church of Christ during the last eighteen centuries?
+Never hardly, except in the early centuries when the
+primitive Church had not left her first love. Soon, very
+soon, the men who protested against formalism and
+sacramentalism were fiercely denounced as "troublers of
+Israel." Long before the Reformation, things came to
+this pass, that anyone who cried up heart-holiness and
+cried down formality was treated as a common enemy.
+He was either silenced, excommunicated, imprisoned, or
+put to death like John Huss.&mdash;In the time of the
+Reformation itself, the work of Luther and his companions
+was carried on under an incessant storm of calumny and
+slander. And what was the cause? It was because they
+protested against formalism, ceremonialism, monkery, and
+priestcraft, and taught the necessity of heart-religion.</p>
+
+<p>Has heart-religion ever been popular in our own land in
+days gone by? Never, excepting for a little season. It
+was not popular in the days of Queen Mary, when Latimer
+and his brother-martyrs were burned.&mdash;It was not popular
+in the days of the Stuarts, when to be a Puritan was
+worse for a man than to get drunk or swear.&mdash;It was not
+popular in the middle of last century, when Wesley and
+Whitfield were shut out of the established Church. The
+cause of our martyred Reformers, of the early Puritans,
+and of the Methodists, was essentially one and the same.
+They were all hated because they preached the uselessness
+of formalism, and the impossibility of salvation without
+repentance, faith, regeneration, spiritual-mindedness, and
+holiness of heart.</p>
+
+<p>Is heart-religion popular in England at this very day?
+I answer sorrowfully that I do not believe it is. Look
+at the followers of it among the laity. They are always
+comparatively few in number. They stand alone in their<span class="pagenum">[Pg 279]</span>
+respective congregations and parishes. They have to put
+up with many hard things, hard words, hard imputations,
+hard treatment, laughter, ridicule, slander, and petty
+persecution. This is not popularity!&mdash;Look at the
+teachers of heart-religion in the pulpit. They are loved
+and liked, no doubt, by the few hearers who agree with
+them. They are sometimes admired for their talents and
+eloquence by the many who do not agree with them.
+They are even called "popular preachers," because of the
+crowds who listen to their preaching. But none know so
+well as the faithful teachers of heart-religion that few
+really like them. Few really help them. Few sympathize
+with them. Few stand by them in any time of need.
+They find, like their Divine Master, that they must work
+almost alone. I write these things with sorrow, but I
+believe they are true. Real heart-religion at this day,
+no less than in days gone by, has not "the praise of
+man."</p>
+
+<p>But after all it signifies little what man thinks, and
+what man praises. He that judgeth us is the Lord. Man
+will not judge us at the last day. Man will not sit on the
+great white throne, examine our religion, and pronounce
+our eternal sentence. Those only whom God commends
+will be commended at the bar of Christ. Here lies the
+value and glory of heart-religion. It may not have the
+praise of man, but it has "the praise of God."</p>
+
+<p>God approves and honours heart-religion in the life
+that now is. He looks down from heaven, and reads the
+hearts of all the children of men. Wherever He sees
+heart-repentance for sin,&mdash;heart-faith in Christ,&mdash;heart-holiness
+of life,&mdash;heart-love to His Son, His law, His will,
+and His Word,&mdash;wherever God sees these things He is
+well pleased. He writes a book of remembrance for that
+man, however poor and unlearned he may be. He gives
+His angels special charge over Him. He maintains in
+him the work of grace, and gives Him daily supplies of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 280]</span>
+peace, hope, and strength. He regards him as a member
+of His own dear Son, as one who is witnessing for the
+truth, as His Son did. Weak as the man's heart may
+seem to himself, it is the living sacrifice which God loves,
+and the heart which He has solemnly declared He will
+not despise. Such praise is worth more than the praise
+of man!</p>
+
+<p>God will proclaim His approval of heart-religion before
+the assembled world at the last day. He will command
+His angels to gather together His saints, from every part
+of the globe, into one glorious company. He will raise
+the dead and change the living, and place them at the
+right hand of His beloved Son's throne. Then all that
+have served Christ with the heart shall hear Him say,
+"Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom
+prepared for you from the foundation of the world:&mdash;you
+were faithful over few things, and I will make you rulers
+over many things; enter into the joy of your Lord.&mdash;Ye
+confessed Me before men, and I will confess you before
+my Father and His holy angels.&mdash;Ye are they who
+continued with Me in my temptations, and I appoint unto
+you a kingdom as my Father hath appointed unto Me."
+(Matt. xxv. 21&mdash;34; Luke xii. 8; xxii. 28, 29.) These words
+will be addressed to none but those who have given Christ
+their hearts! They will not be addressed to the formalist,
+the hypocrite, the wicked, and the ungodly. <i>They</i> will,
+indeed, stand by and see the fruits of heart-religion, but
+they will not eat of them. We shall never know the full
+value of heart-religion until the last day. Then, and only
+then, we shall fully understand how much better it is to
+have the praise of God than the praise of man.</p>
+
+<p>If you take up heart-religion I cannot promise you the
+praise of man. Pardon, peace, hope, guidance, comfort,
+consolation, grace according to your need, strength according
+to your day, joy which the world can neither give nor
+take away,&mdash;all this I can boldly promise to the man who<span class="pagenum">[Pg 281]</span>
+comes to Christ, and serves Him with his heart. But I
+cannot promise him that his religion will be popular with
+man. I would rather warn him to expect mockery and
+ridicule, slander and unkindness, opposition and persecution.
+There is a cross belonging to heart-religion, and we
+must be content to carry it. "Through much tribulation
+we must enter the kingdom."&mdash;"All that will live godly in
+Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." (Acts xiv. 22; 2
+Tim. iii. 12.) But if the world hates you, God will love
+you. If the world forsakes you, Christ has promised that
+He will never forsake and never fail. Whatever you may
+lose by heart-religion, be sure that the praise of God will
+make up for all.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>And now I close this paper with three plain words of
+application. I want it to strike and stick to the
+conscience of every one into whose hands it falls. May
+God make it a blessing to many a soul both in time and
+eternity!</p>
+
+<p>(1) In the first place, Is your religion a matter of form
+and not of heart? Answer this question honestly, and as
+in the sight of God. If it is, <i>consider solemnly the
+immense danger in which you stand</i>.</p>
+
+<p>You have got nothing to comfort your soul in the day
+of trial, nothing to give you hope on your death-bed,
+nothing to save you at the last day. Formal religion
+never took any man to heaven. Like base metal, it will
+not stand the fire. Continuing in your present state you
+are in imminent peril of being lost for ever.</p>
+
+<p>I earnestly beseech you this day to know your danger,
+to open your eyes and repent. Churchman or Dissenter,
+High Church or Low Church, if you have only a name to
+live, and a form of godliness without the power, awake
+and repent. Awake, above all, if you are an Evangelical
+formalist. "There is no devil," said the quaint old
+Puritans, "like a white devil." There is no formalism so<span class="pagenum">[Pg 282]</span>
+dangerous as Evangelical formalism.</p>
+
+<p>I can only warn you. I do so with all affection. God
+alone can apply the warning to your soul. Oh, that you
+would see the folly as well as the danger of a heartless
+Christianity! It was sound advice which a dying man,
+in Suffolk, once gave to his son: "Son," he said, "whatever
+religion you have, never be content with wearing a
+cloak."</p>
+
+<p>(2) In the second place, if your heart condemns you,
+and you wish to know what to do, <i>consider seriously the
+only course that you can safely take</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Apply to the Lord Jesus Christ without delay, and
+spread before Him the state of your soul. Confess before
+Him your formality in time past, and ask Him to forgive
+it. Seek from Him the promised grace of the Holy
+Ghost, and entreat Him to quicken and renew your
+inward man.</p>
+
+<p>The Lord Jesus is appointed and commissioned to be
+the Physician of man's soul. There is no case too hard
+for Him. There is no condition of soul that He cannot
+cure. There is no devil He cannot cast out. Seared and
+hardened as the heart of a formalist may be, there is
+balm in Gilead which can heal him, and a Physician who
+is mighty to save. Go and call on the Lord Jesus Christ
+this very day. "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek,
+and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you."
+(Luke xi. 9.)</p>
+
+<p>(3) In the last place, if your heart condemns you not,
+and you have real well-grounded confidence towards God,
+<i>consider seriously the many responsibilities of your
+position</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Praise Him daily who hath called you out of darkness
+into light, and made you to differ. Praise Him daily, and
+ask Him never to forsake the work of His own hands.</p>
+
+<p>Watch with a jealous watchfulness every part of your
+inward man. Formality is ever ready to come in upon us,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 283]</span>
+like the Egyptian plague of frogs, which went even into
+the king's chamber. Watch, and be on your guard.&mdash;Watch
+over your Bible-reading,&mdash;your praying,&mdash;your temper and
+your tongue,&mdash;your family life and your Sunday religion.
+There is nothing so good and spiritual that we may not
+fall into formal habits about it. There is none so spiritual
+but that he may have a heavy fall. Watch, therefore, and
+be on your guard.</p>
+
+<p>Look forward, finally, and hope for the coming of the
+Lord. Your best things are yet to come. The second
+coming of Christ will soon be here. The time of
+temptation will soon be past and gone. The judgment
+and reward of the saints shall soon make amends for all.
+Rest in the hope of that day. Work, watch, and look
+forward.&mdash;One thing, at any rate, that day will make
+abundantly clear. It will show that there was never an
+hour in our lives in which we gave our hearts too
+thoroughly to Christ.</p>
+<br>
+
+
+
+<h2><a name="XII" id="XII"></a>XII</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 284]</span>
+
+<h2>THE WORLD</h2>
+
+<blockquote><p>"<i>Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord.</i>"
+2 <span class="smcap">Cor.</span> vi. 17.</p></blockquote>
+
+
+<p>The text which heads this page touches a subject of vast
+importance in religion. That subject is the great duty of
+separation from the world. This is the point which St.
+Paul had in view when he wrote to the Corinthians,
+"Come out,&mdash;be separate."</p>
+
+<p>The subject is one which demands the best attention of
+all who profess and call themselves Christians. In every
+age of the Church separation from the world has always
+been one of the grand evidences of a work of grace in
+the heart. He that has been really born of the Spirit,
+and made a new creature in Christ Jesus, has always
+endeavoured to "come out from the world," and live a
+separate life. They who have only had the name of
+Christian, without the reality, have always refused to
+"come out and be separate" from the world.</p>
+
+<p>The subject perhaps was never more important than it
+is at the present day. There is a widely-spread desire to
+make things pleasant in religion,&mdash;to saw off the corners
+and edges of the cross, and to avoid, as far as possible,
+self-denial. On every side we hear professing Christians
+declaring loudly that we must not be "narrow and
+exclusive," and that there is no harm in many things<span class="pagenum">[Pg 285]</span>
+which the holiest saints of old thought bad for their souls.
+That we may go anywhere, and do anything, and spend
+our time in anything, and read anything, and keep any
+company, and plunge into anything, and all the while may
+be very good Christians,&mdash;this, this is the maxim of
+thousands. In a day like this I think it good to raise a
+warning voice, and invite attention to the teaching of
+God's Word. It is written in that Word, "Come out, and
+be separate."</p>
+
+<p>There are four points which I shall try to show my
+readers, in examining this mighty subject.</p>
+
+
+<blockquote><p>I. First, I shall try to show <i>that the world is a source
+of great danger to the soul</i>.</p>
+
+<p>II. Secondly, I shall try to show <i>what is not meant
+by separation from the world</i>.</p>
+
+<p>III. Thirdly, I shall try to show in <i>what real separation
+from the world consists</i>.</p>
+
+<p>IV. Fourthly, I shall try <i>to show the secret of victory
+over the world</i>.</p></blockquote>
+
+
+<p>And now, before I go a single step further, let me warn
+every reader of this paper that he will never understand
+this subject unless he first understands what a true
+Christian is. If you are one of those unhappy people
+who think everybody is a Christian who goes to a place of
+worship, no matter how he lives, or what he believes, I
+fear you will care little about separation from the world.
+But if you read your Bible, and are in earnest about your
+soul, you will know that there are two classes of Christians,&mdash;converted
+and unconverted. You will know that what
+the Jews were among the nations under the Old Testament,
+this the true Christian is meant to be under the New.
+You will understand what I mean when I say that true
+Christians are meant, in like manner, to be a "peculiar<span class="pagenum">[Pg 286]</span>
+people" under the Gospel, and that there must be a
+difference between believers and unbelievers. To you,
+therefore, I make a special appeal this day. While many
+avoid the subject of separation from the world, and many
+positively hate it, and many are puzzled by it, give me
+your attention while I try to show you "the thing as it is."</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>I. First of all, let me show that <i>the world is a source
+of great danger to the soul</i>.</p>
+
+<p>By "the world," be it remembered, I do not mean the
+material world on the face of which we are living and
+moving. He that pretends to say that anything which
+God has created in the heavens above, or the earth
+beneath, is in itself harmful to man's soul, says that which
+is unreasonable and absurd. On the contrary, the sun,
+moon, and stars,&mdash;the mountains, the valleys, and the
+plains,&mdash;the seas, lakes, and rivers,&mdash;the animal and
+vegetable creation,&mdash;all are in themselves "very good."
+(Gen. i. 31.) All are full of lessons of God's wisdom and
+power, and all proclaim daily, "The hand that made us is
+Divine." The idea that "matter" is in itself sinful and
+corrupt is a foolish heresy.</p>
+
+<p>When I speak of "the world" in this paper, I mean
+those people who think only, or chiefly, of this world's
+things, and neglect the world to come,&mdash;the people who
+are always thinking more of earth than of heaven, more
+of time than of eternity, more of the body than of the
+soul, more of pleasing man than of pleasing God. It is
+of them and their ways, habits, customs, opinions, practices,
+tastes, aims, spirit, and tone, that I am speaking when I
+speak of "the world." This is the world from which St.
+Paul tells us to "Come out and be separate."</p>
+
+<p>Now that "the world," in this sense, is an enemy to the
+soul, the well-known Church Catechism teaches us at its
+very beginning. It tells us that there are three things
+which a baptized Christian is bound to renounce and give<span class="pagenum">[Pg 287]</span>
+up, and three enemies which he ought to fight with and
+resist. These three are the flesh, the devil, and "the world."
+All three are terrible foes, and all three must be overcome
+if we would be saved.</p>
+
+<p>But, whatever men please to think about the Catechism,
+we shall do well to turn to the testimony of Holy
+Scripture. If the texts I am about to quote do not prove
+that the world is a source of danger to the soul, there is
+no meaning in words.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>a</i>) Let us hear what St. Paul says:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed
+by the renewing of your mind." (Rom. xii. 2.)</p>
+
+<p>"We have received, not the spirit of the world, but the
+Spirit which is of God." (1 Cor. ii. 12.)</p>
+
+<p>"Christ gave Himself for us, that He might deliver us
+from this present evil world." (Gal. i. 4.)</p>
+
+<p>"In time past ye walked according to the course of this
+world." (Eph. ii. 2.)</p>
+
+<p>"Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present
+world." (2 Tim. iv. 10.)</p>
+
+<p>(<i>b</i>) Let us hear what St. James says:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father
+is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their
+affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world."
+(James i. 27.)</p>
+
+<p>"Know ye not that the friendship of the world is
+enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend
+of the world is the enemy of God." (James iv. 4.)</p>
+
+<p>(<i>c</i>) Let us hear what St. John says:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the
+world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father
+is not in him.</p>
+
+<p>"For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and
+the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the
+Father, but is of the world.</p>
+
+<p>"And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof;<span class="pagenum">[Pg 288]</span>
+but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever."
+(1 John ii. 15&mdash;17.)</p>
+
+<p>"The world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not."
+(1 John iii. 1.)</p>
+
+<p>"They are of the world: therefore speak they of the
+world, and the world heareth them." (1 John iv. 5.)</p>
+
+<p>"Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world."
+(1 John v. 4.)</p>
+
+<p>"We know that we are of God and the whole world
+lieth in wickedness." (1 John v. 19.)</p>
+
+<p>(<i>d</i>) Let us hear, lastly, what the Lord Jesus Christ
+says:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"The cares of this world choke the Word, and it
+becometh unfruitful." (Matt. xiii. 22.)</p>
+
+<p>"Ye are of this world: I am not of this world."
+(John viii. 23.)</p>
+
+<p>"The Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive,
+because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him." (John
+xiv. 17.)</p>
+
+<p>"If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me
+before it hated you." (John xv. 18.)</p>
+
+<p>"If ye were of the world, the world would love his own:
+but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen
+you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you."
+(John xv. 19.)</p>
+
+<p>"In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good
+cheer; I have overcome the world." (John xvi. 33.)</p>
+
+<p>"They are not of the world, even as I am not of the
+world." (John xvii. 16.)</p>
+
+<p>I make no comment on these twenty-one texts. They
+speak for themselves. If any one can read them carefully,
+and fail to see that "the world" is an enemy to the Christian's
+soul, and that there is an utter opposition between the
+friendship of the world and the friendship of Christ, he is
+past the reach of argument, and it is waste of time to
+reason with him. To my eyes they contain a lesson as<span class="pagenum">[Pg 289]</span>
+clear as the sun at noon day.</p>
+
+<p>I turn from Scripture to matters of fact and experience.
+I appeal to any old Christian who keeps his eyes open,
+and knows what is going on in the Churches. I ask him
+whether it be not true that nothing damages the cause of
+religion so much as "the world"? It is not open sin, or
+open unbelief, which robs Christ of His professing servants,
+so much as the love of the world, the fear of the world,
+the cares of the world, the business of the world, the
+money of the world, the pleasures of the world, and the
+desire to keep in with the world. This is the great rock
+on which thousands of young people are continually
+making shipwreck. They do not object to any article of
+the Christian faith. They do not deliberately choose evil,
+and openly rebel against God. They hope somehow to
+get to heaven at last; and they think it proper to have
+some religion. But they cannot give up their idol: they
+must have the world. And so after running well and
+bidding fair for heaven, while boys and girls, they turn
+aside when they become men and women, and go down
+the broad way which leads to destruction. They begin
+with Abraham and Moses, and end with Demas and Lot's
+wife.</p>
+
+<p>The last day alone will prove how many souls "the world"
+has slain. Hundreds will be found to have been trained
+in religious families, and to have known the Gospel from
+their very childhood, and yet missed heaven. They left
+the harbour of home with bright prospects, and launched
+forth on the ocean of life with a father's blessing and a
+mother's prayers, and then got out of the right course
+through the seductions of the world, and ended their
+voyage in shallows and in misery. It is a sorrowful
+story to tell; but, alas, it is only too common! I
+cannot wonder that St. Paul says, "Come out and be
+separate."</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>II. Let me now try to show <i>what does not constitute<span class="pagenum">[Pg 290]</span>
+separation from the world</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The point is one which requires clearing up. There
+are many mistakes made about it. You will sometimes
+see sincere and well-meaning Christians doing things
+which God never intended them to do, in the matter of
+separation from the world, and honestly believing that
+they are in the path of duty. Their mistakes often do
+great harm. They give occasion to the wicked to ridicule
+all religion, and supply them with an excuse for having
+none. They cause the way of truth to be evil spoken of,
+and add to the offence of the cross. I think it a plain
+duty to make a few remarks on the subject. We must
+never forget that it is possible to be very much in earnest,
+and to think we are "doing God service," when in reality
+we are making some great mistake. There is such a
+thing as "zeal not according to knowledge." (John xvi. 2,
+Rom. x. 2.) There are few things about which it is so
+important to pray for a right judgment and sanctified
+common sense, as about separation from the world.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>a</i>) When St. Paul said, "Come out and be separate,"
+he did not mean that Christians ought to give up all
+worldly callings, trades, professions, and business. He did
+not forbid men to be soldiers, sailors, lawyers, doctors,
+merchants, bankers, shop-keepers, or tradesmen. There
+is not a word in the New Testament to justify such a line
+of conduct. Cornelius the centurion, Luke the physician,
+Zenas the lawyer, are examples to the contrary. Idleness
+is in itself a sin. A lawful calling is a remedy against
+temptation. "If any man will not work, neither shall he
+eat." (2 Thess. iii. 10.) To give up any business of life,
+which is not necessarily sinful, to the wicked and the
+devil, from fear of getting harm from it, is lazy, cowardly
+conduct. The right plan is to carry our religion into our
+business, and not to give up business under the specious
+pretence that it interferes with our religion.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>b</i>) When St. Paul said, "Come out and be separate,"<span class="pagenum">[Pg 291]</span>
+he did not mean that Christians ought to decline all intercourse
+with unconverted people, and refuse to go into
+their society. There is no warrant for such conduct in
+the New Testament. Our Lord and His disciples did not
+refuse to go to a marriage feast, or to sit at meat at a
+Pharisee's table. St. Paul does not say, "If any of them
+that believe not bid you to a feast," you must not go, but
+only tells us how to behave if we do go. (1 Cor. x. 27.)
+Moreover, it is a dangerous thing to begin judging people
+too closely, and settling who are converted and who are
+not, and what society is godly and what ungodly. We are
+sure to make mistakes. Above all, such a course of life
+would cut us off from many opportunities of doing good.
+If we carry our Master with us wherever we go, who can
+tell but we may "save some," and get no harm? (1 Cor.
+ix. 22.)</p>
+
+<p>(<i>c</i>) When St. Paul says, "Come out and be separate,"
+he did not mean that Christians ought to take no interest
+in anything on earth except religion. To neglect science,
+art, literature, and politics,&mdash;to read nothing which is not
+directly spiritual,&mdash;to know nothing about what is going
+on among mankind, and never to look at a newspaper,&mdash;to
+care nothing about the government of one's country,
+and to be utterly indifferent as to the persons who guide
+its counsels and make its laws,&mdash;all this may seem very
+right and proper in the eyes of some people. But I take
+leave to think that it is an idle, selfish neglect of duty.
+St. Paul knew the value of good government, as one of the
+main helps to our "living a quiet and peaceable life in
+godliness and honesty." (1 Tim. ii. 2.) St. Paul was not
+ashamed to read heathen writers, and to quote their words
+in his speeches and writings. St. Paul did not think it
+beneath him to show an acquaintance with the laws and
+customs and callings of the world, in the illustrations he
+gave from them. Christians who plume themselves on
+their ignorance of secular things are precisely the Christians<span class="pagenum">[Pg 292]</span>
+who bring religion into contempt. I knew the case
+of a blacksmith who would not come to hear his clergyman
+preach the Gospel, until he found out that he knew the
+properties of iron. Then he came.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>d</i>) When St. Paul said, "Come out and be separate,"
+he did not mean that Christians should be singular,
+eccentric, and peculiar in their dress, manners, demeanour,
+and voice. Anything which attracts notice in these
+matters is most objectionable, and ought to be carefully
+avoided. To wear clothes of such a colour, or made in
+such a fashion, that when you go into company every eye
+is fixed on you, and you are the object of general observation,
+is an enormous mistake. It gives occasion to the
+wicked to ridicule religion, and looks self-righteous and
+affected. There is not the slightest proof that our Lord
+and His apostles, and Priscilla, and Persis, and their
+companions, did not dress and behave just like others in
+their own ranks of life. On the other hand, one of the
+many charges our Lord brings against the Pharisees was
+that of "making broad their phylacteries, and enlarging
+the borders of their garments," so as to be "seen of men."
+(Matt. xxiii. 5.) True sanctity and sanctimoniousness are
+entirely different things. Those who try to show their
+unworldliness by wearing conspicuously ugly clothes, or
+by speaking in a whining, snuffling voice, or by affecting
+an unnatural slavishness, humility, and gravity of manner,
+miss their mark altogether, and only give occasion to the
+enemies of the Lord to blaspheme.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>e</i>) When St. Paul said, "Come out and be separate,"
+he did not mean that Christians ought to retire from the
+company of mankind, and shut themselves up in solitude.
+It is one of the crying errors of the Church of Rome to
+suppose that eminent holiness is to be attained by such
+practices. It is the unhappy delusion of the whole army
+of monks, nuns, and hermits. Separation of this kind is
+not according to the mind of Christ. He says distinctly<span class="pagenum">[Pg 293]</span>
+in His last prayer, "I pray not that Thou shouldest take
+them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep
+them from the evil." (John xvii. 15.) There is not a
+word in the Acts or Epistles to recommend such a separation.
+True believers are always represented as mixing in
+the world, doing their duty in it, and glorifying God by
+patience, meekness, purity, and courage in their several
+positions, and not by cowardly desertion of them. Moreover,
+it is foolish to suppose that we can keep the world
+and the devil out of our hearts by going into holes and
+corners. True religion and unworldliness are best seen,
+not in timidly forsaking the post which God has allotted
+to us, but in manfully standing our ground, and showing
+the power of grace to overcome evil.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>f</i>) Last, but not least, when St. Paul said, "Come out
+and be separate," he did not mean that Christians ought
+to withdraw from every Church in which there are unconverted
+members, or to refuse to worship in company with
+any who are not believers, or to keep away from the
+Lord's table if any ungodly people go up to it. This is a
+very common but a very grievous mistake. There is not
+a text in the New Testament to justify it, and it ought to
+be condemned as a pure invention of man. Our Lord
+Jesus Christ Himself deliberately allowed Judas Iscariot
+to be an apostle for three years, and gave him the Lord's
+Supper. He has taught us, in the parable of the wheat
+and tares, that converted and unconverted will be "together
+till the harvest," and cannot be divided. (Matt. xiii. 30.) In
+His Epistles to the Seven Churches, and in all St. Paul's
+Epistles, we often see faults and corruptions mentioned and
+reproved; but we are never told that they justify desertion
+of the assembly, or neglect of ordinances. In short, we must
+not look for a perfect Church, a perfect congregation, and
+a perfect company of communicants, until the marriage
+supper of the Lamb. If others are unworthy Churchmen,
+or unworthy partakers of the Lord's Supper, the sin is<span class="pagenum">[Pg 294]</span>
+theirs and not ours: we are not their judges. But to
+separate ourselves from Church assemblies, and deprive
+ourselves of Christian ordinances, because others use them
+unworthily, is to take up a foolish, unreasonable, and
+unscriptural position. It is not the mind of Christ, and
+it certainly is not St. Paul's idea of separation from the
+world.</p>
+
+<p>I commend these six points to the calm consideration
+of all who wish to understand the subject of separation
+from the world. About each and all of them far more
+might be said than I have space to say in this paper.
+About each and all of them I have seen so many mistakes
+made, and so much misery and unhappiness caused by
+those mistakes, that I want to put Christians on their
+guard. I want them not to take up positions hastily, in
+the zeal of their first love, which they will afterwards be
+obliged to give up.</p>
+
+<p>I leave this part of my subject with two pieces of
+advice, which I offer especially to young Christians.</p>
+
+<p>I advise them, for one thing, if they really desire to
+come out from the world, to remember that the shortest
+path is not always the path of duty. To quarrel with all
+our unconverted relatives, to "cut" all our old friends, to
+withdraw entirely from mixed society, to live an exclusive
+life, to give up every act of courtesy and civility in
+order that we may devote ourselves to the direct work
+of Christ,&mdash;all this may seem very right, and may
+satisfy our consciences and save us trouble. But I
+venture a doubt whether it is not often a selfish, lazy,
+self-pleasing line of conduct, and whether the true cross
+and true line of duty may not be to deny ourselves, and
+adopt a very different course of action.</p>
+
+<p>I advise them, for another thing, if they want to come
+out from the world, to watch against a sour, morose, ungenial,
+gloomy, unpleasant, bearish demeanour, and never
+to forget that there is such a thing as "winning without<span class="pagenum">[Pg 295]</span>
+the Word." (1 Peter iii. 1.) Let them strive to show
+unconverted people that their principles, whatever may be
+thought of them, make them cheerful, amiable, good-tempered,
+unselfish, considerate for others, and ready to
+take an interest in everything that is innocent and of
+good report. In short, let there be no needless separation
+between us and the world. In many things, as I shall
+soon show, we must be separate; but let us take care that
+it is separation of the right sort. If the world is offended
+by such separation we cannot help it. But let us never
+give the world occasion to say that our separation is
+foolish, senseless, ridiculous, unreasonable, uncharitable,
+and unscriptural.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>III. In the third place, I shall try to show <i>what true
+separation from the world really is</i>.</p>
+
+<p>I take up this branch of my subject with a very deep
+sense of its difficulty. That there is a certain line of
+conduct which all true Christians ought to pursue with
+respect to "the world, and the things of the world," is
+very evident. The texts already quoted make that plain.
+The key to the solution of that question lies in the word
+"separation." But in what separation consists it is not
+easy to show. On some points it is not hard to lay down
+particular rules; on others it is impossible to do more
+than state general principles, and leave every one to apply
+them according to his position in life. This is what I
+shall now attempt to do.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>a</i>) First and foremost, he that desires to "come out
+from the world, and be separate," <i>must steadily and
+habitually refuse to be guided by the world's standard
+of right and wrong</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The rule of the bulk of mankind is to go with the
+stream, to do as others, to follow the fashion, to keep in
+with the common opinion, and to set your watch by the
+town-clock. The true Christian will never be content<span class="pagenum">[Pg 296]</span>
+with such a rule as that. He will simply ask, What saith
+the Scripture? What is written in the Word of God?
+He will maintain firmly that nothing can be right which
+God says is wrong, and that the customs and opinions of
+his neighbours can never make that to be a trifle which
+God calls serious, or that to be no sin which God calls sin.
+He will never think lightly of such sins as drinking,
+swearing, gambling, lying, cheating, swindling, or breach
+of the seventh commandment, because they are common,
+and many say, "Where is the mighty harm?" That miserable
+argument,&mdash;"Everybody thinks so, everybody says so,
+everybody does it, everybody will be there,"&mdash;goes for
+nothing with him. Is it condemned or approved by the
+Bible? That is his only question. If he stands alone in
+the parish, or town, or congregation, he will not go against
+the Bible. If he has to come out from the crowd, and
+take a position by himself, he will not flinch from it
+rather than disobey the Bible. This is genuine Scriptural
+separation.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>b</i>) He that desires to "come out from the world and
+be separate," <i>must be very careful how he spends his
+leisure time</i>.</p>
+
+<p>This is a point which at first sight appears of little
+importance. But the longer I live, the more I am persuaded
+that it deserves most serious attention. Honourable
+occupation and lawful business are a great safeguard to
+the soul, and the time that is spent upon them is comparatively
+the time of our least danger. The devil finds
+it hard to get a hearing from a busy man. But when the
+day's work is over, and the time of leisure arrives, then
+comes the hour of temptation.</p>
+
+<p>I do not hesitate to warn every man who wants to live
+a Christian life, to be very careful how he spends his
+evenings. Evening is the time when we are naturally
+disposed to unbend after the labours of the day; and
+evening is the time when the Christian is too often tempted<span class="pagenum">[Pg 297]</span>
+to lay aside his armour, and consequently brings trouble
+on his soul. "Then cometh the devil," and with the devil
+the world. Evening is the time when the poor man is
+tempted to go to the public-house, and fall into sin.
+Evening is the time when the tradesman too often goes to
+the Inn parlour, and sits for hours hearing and seeing
+things which do him no good. Evening is the time which
+the higher classes choose for dancing, card playing, and
+the like; and consequently never get to bed till late at
+night. If we love our souls, and would not become
+worldly, let us mind how we spend our evenings. Tell
+me how a man spends his evenings, and I can generally
+tell what his character is.</p>
+
+<p>The true Christian will do well to make it a settled rule
+never to <i>waste</i> his evenings. Whatever others may do,
+let him resolve always to make time for quiet, calm
+thought,&mdash;for Bible-reading and prayer. The rule will
+prove a hard one to keep. It may bring on him the
+charge of being unsocial and over strict. Let him not
+mind this. Anything of this kind is better than habitual
+late hours in company, hurried prayers, slovenly Bible
+reading, and a bad conscience. Even if he stands alone in
+his parish or town, let him not depart from his rule. He
+will find himself in a minority, and be thought a peculiar
+man. But this is genuine Scriptural separation.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>c</i>) He that desires to "come out from the world and
+be separate," must <i>steadily and habitually determine not
+to be swallowed up and absorbed in the business of the
+world</i>.</p>
+
+<p>A true Christian will strive to do his duty in whatever
+station or position he finds himself, and to do it well.
+Whether statesman, or merchant, or banker, or lawyer, or
+doctor, or tradesman, or farmer, he will try to do his work
+so that no one can find occasion for fault in him. But he
+will not allow it to get between him and Christ. If he
+finds his business beginning to eat up his Sundays, his<span class="pagenum">[Pg 298]</span>
+Bible-reading, his private prayer, and to bring clouds
+between him and heaven, he will say, "Stand back!
+There is a limit. Hitherto thou mayest go, but no further.
+I cannot sell my soul for place, fame, or gold." Like
+Daniel, he will make time for his communion with God,
+whatever the cost may be. Like Havelock, he will deny
+himself anything rather than lose his Bible-reading and
+his prayers. In all this he will find he stands almost
+alone. Many will laugh at him, and tell him they get on
+well enough without being so strict and particular. He
+will heed it not. He will resolutely hold the world at
+arm's length, whatever present loss or sacrifice it may
+seem to entail. He will choose rather to be less rich and
+prosperous in this world, than not to prosper about his
+soul. To stand alone in this way, to run counter to the
+ways of others, requires immense self denial. But this is
+genuine Scriptural separation.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>d</i>) He that desires to "come out from the world and
+be separate" must steadily <i>abstain from all amusements
+and recreations which are inseparably connected with
+sin</i>.</p>
+
+<p>This is a hard subject to handle, and I approach it with
+pain. But I do not think I should be faithful to Christ,
+and faithful to my office as a minister, if I did not speak
+very plainly about it, in considering such a matter as
+separation from the world.</p>
+
+<p>Let me, then, say honestly, that I cannot understand
+how any one who makes any pretence to real vital religion
+can allow himself to attend races and theatres. Conscience
+no doubt, is a strange thing, and every man must judge
+for himself and use his liberty. One man sees no harm in
+things which another regards with abhorrence as evil. I
+can only give my own opinion for what it is worth, and
+entreat my readers to consider seriously what I say.</p>
+
+<p>That to look at horses running at full speed is in itself
+perfectly harmless, no sensible man will pretend to deny.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 299]</span>
+That many plays, such as Shakespeare's, are among the
+finest productions of the human intellect, is equally undeniable.
+But all this is beside the question. The question
+is whether horse-racing and theatres, as they are now
+conducted, in England, are not inseparably bound up with
+things that are downright wicked. <b>I</b> assert without
+hesitation that they are so bound up. <b>I</b> assert that the
+breach of God's commandments so invariably accompanies
+the race and the play, that you cannot go to the amusement
+without helping sin.</p>
+
+<p>I entreat all professing Christians to remember this, and
+to take heed what they do. I warn them plainly that
+they have no right to shut their eyes to facts which every
+intelligent person knows, for the mere pleasure of seeing
+a horse-race, or listening to good actors or actresses. I
+warn them that they must not talk of separation from the
+world, if they can lend their sanction to amusements which
+are invariably connected with gambling, betting, drunkenness,
+and fornication. These are the things "which God
+will judge."&mdash;"The end of these things is death." (Heb.
+xiii. 4; Rom. vi. 21.)</p>
+
+<p>Hard words these, no doubt! But are they not true?
+It may seem to your relatives and friends very strait-laced,
+strict, and narrow, if you tell them you cannot go to the
+races or the theatre with them. But we must fall back
+on first principles. Is the world a danger to the soul, or is
+it not? Are we to come out from the world, or are we
+not? These are questions which can only be answered in
+one way.</p>
+
+<p>If we love our souls we must have nothing to do with
+amusements which are bound up with sin. Nothing short
+of this can be called genuine scriptural separation from
+the world.<a href="#ft_11">[11]</a></p>
+
+
+<p>(<i>e</i>) He that desires to "come out from the world, and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 300]</span>
+be separate," must be <i>moderate in the use of lawful and
+innocent recreations</i>.</p>
+
+<p>No sensible Christian will ever think of condemning all
+recreations. In a world of wear and tear like that we
+live in, occasional unbending and relaxation are good for
+all. Body and mind alike require seasons of lighter
+occupation, and opportunities of letting off high spirits,
+and especially when they are young. Exercise itself is a
+positive necessity for the preservation of mental and
+bodily health. I see no harm in cricket, rowing, running,
+and other manly athletic recreations. I find no fault with
+those who play at chess and such-like games of skill. We
+are all fearfully and wonderfully made. No wonder the
+poet says,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="pbox">
+"Strange that a harp of thousand strings<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Should keep in tune so long!"</span><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Anything which strengthens nerves, and brain, and
+digestion, and lungs, and muscles, and makes us more fit
+for Christ's work, so long as it is not in itself sinful, is a
+blessing, and ought to be thankfully used. Anything
+which will occasionally divert our thoughts from their
+usual grinding channel, in a healthy manner, is a good and
+not an evil.</p>
+
+<p>But it is the excess of these innocent things which a
+true Christian must watch against, if he wants to be
+separate from the world. He must not devote his whole
+heart, and soul, and mind, and strength, and time to them,
+as many do, if he wishes to serve Christ. There are
+hundreds of lawful things which are good in moderation,
+but bad when taken in excess: healthful medicine in
+small quantities,&mdash;downright poison when swallowed down
+in huge doses. In nothing is this so true as it is in the
+matter of recreations. The use of them is one thing, and
+the abuse of them is another. The Christian who uses
+them must know when to stop, and how to say "Hold:<span class="pagenum">[Pg 301]</span>
+enough!"&mdash;Do they interfere with his private religion?
+Do they take up too much of his thoughts and attention?
+Have they a secularizing effect on his soul? Have they a
+tendency to pull him down to earth? Then let him hold
+hard and take care. All this will require courage, self-denial,
+and firmness. It is a line of conduct which will
+often bring on us the ridicule and contempt of those who
+know not what moderation is, and who spend their lives
+in making trifles serious things and serious things trifles.
+But if we mean to come out from the world we must not
+mind this. We must be "temperate" even in lawful
+things, whatever others may think of us. This is genuine
+Scriptural separation.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>f</i>) Last, but not least, he that desires to "come out
+from the world and be separate" must be <i>careful how he
+allows himself in friendships, intimacies, and close
+relationships with worldly people</i>.</p>
+
+<p>We cannot help meeting many unconverted people as
+long as we live. We cannot avoid having intercourse with
+them, and doing business with them, unless "we go out of
+the world." (1 Cor. v. 10.) To treat them with the utmost
+courtesy, kindness, and charity, whenever we do meet
+them, is a positive duty. But acquaintance is one thing,
+and intimate friendship is quite another. To seek their
+society without cause, to choose their company, to cultivate
+intimacy with them, is very dangerous to the soul.
+Human nature is so constituted that we cannot be much
+with other people without effect on our own character.
+The old proverb will never fail to prove true: "Tell me
+with whom a man chooses to live, and I will tell you what
+he is." The Scripture says expressly, "He that walketh
+with wise men shall be wise; but a companion of fools
+shall be destroyed." (Prov. xiii. 20.) If then a Christian,
+who desires to live consistently, chooses for his friends
+those who either do not care for their souls, or the Bible,
+or God, or Christ, or holiness, or regard them as of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 302]</span>
+secondary importance, it seems to me impossible for him
+to prosper in his religion. He will soon find that their
+ways are not his ways, nor their thoughts his thoughts, nor
+their tastes his tastes; and that, unless they change, he
+must give up intimacy with them. In short, there must
+be separation. Of course such separation will be painful.
+But if we have to choose between the loss of a friend and
+the injury of our souls, there ought to be no doubt in our
+minds. If friends will not walk in the narrow way with
+us, we must not walk in the broad way to please them.
+But let us distinctly understand that to attempt to keep
+up close intimacy between a converted and an unconverted
+person, if both are consistent with their natures, is to
+attempt an impossibility.</p>
+
+<p>The principle here laid down ought to be carefully
+remembered by all unmarried Christians in the choice of
+a husband or wife. I fear it is too often entirely forgotten.
+Too many seem to think of everything except religion in
+choosing a partner for life, or to suppose that it will come
+somehow as a matter of course. Yet when a praying,
+Bible-reading, God-fearing, Christ-loving, Sabbath-keeping
+Christian marries a person who takes no interest whatever
+in serious religion, what can the result be but injury to
+the Christian, or immense unhappiness? Health is not
+infectious, but disease is. As a general rule, in such cases,
+the good go down to the level of the bad, and the bad do
+not come up to the level of the good. The subject is a
+delicate one, and I do not care to dwell upon it. But this
+I say confidently to every unmarried Christian man or
+woman,&mdash;if you love your soul, if you do not want to
+fall away and backslide, if you do not want to destroy
+your own peace and comfort for life, resolve never to
+marry any person who is not a thorough Christian,
+whatever the resolution may cost you. You had better
+die than marry an unbeliever. Stand to this resolution,
+and let no one ever persuade you out of it. Depart from<span class="pagenum">[Pg 303]</span>
+this resolution, and you will find it almost impossible to
+"come out and be separate." You will find you have tied
+a mill-stone round your own neck in running the race
+towards heaven; and, if saved at last, it will be "so as by
+fire." (1 Cor. iii. 15.)</p>
+
+<p>I offer these six general hints to all who wish to follow
+St. Paul's advice, and to come out from the world and be
+separate. In giving them, I lay no claim to infallibility;
+but I believe they deserve consideration and attention.
+I do not forget that the subject is full of difficulties, and
+that scores of doubtful cases are continually arising in a
+Christian's course, in which it is very hard to say what is
+the path of duty, and how to behave. Perhaps the
+following bits of advice may be found useful.&mdash;In all
+doubtful cases we should first pray for wisdom and sound
+judgment. If prayer is worth anything, it must be
+specially valuable when we desire to do right, but do not
+see our way.&mdash;In all doubtful cases let us often try ourselves
+by recollecting the eye of God. Should I go to
+such and such a place, or do such and such a thing, if I
+really thought God was looking at me?&mdash;In all doubtful
+cases let us never forget the second advent of Christ and
+the day of judgment. Should I like to be found in such
+and such company, or employed in such and such ways?&mdash;Finally,
+in all doubtful cases let us find out what the
+conduct of the holiest and best Christians has been under
+similar circumstances. If we do not clearly see our own
+way, we need not be ashamed to follow good examples. I
+throw out these suggestions for the use of all who are in
+difficulties about disputable points in the matter of separation
+from the world. I cannot help thinking that they
+may help to untie many knots, and solve many problems.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>IV. I shall now conclude the whole subject by trying
+to <i>show the secrets of real victory over the world</i>.</p>
+
+<p>To come out from the world of course is not an easy<span class="pagenum">[Pg 304]</span>
+thing. It cannot be easy so long as human nature is
+what it is, and a busy devil is always near us. It requires
+a constant struggle and exertion; it entails incessant
+conflict and self-denial; it often places us in exact opposition
+to members of our own families, to relations and
+neighbours; it sometimes obliges us to do things which
+give great offence, and bring on us ridicule and petty
+persecution. It is precisely this which makes many hang
+back and shrink from decided religion. They know they
+are not right; they know that they are not so "thorough"
+in Christ's service as they ought to be, and they feel uncomfortable
+and ill at ease. But the fear of man keeps
+them back. And so they linger on through life with
+aching, dissatisfied hearts,&mdash;with too much religion to be
+happy in the world, and too much of the world to be
+happy in their religion. I fear this is a very common
+case, if the truth were known.</p>
+
+<p>Yet there are some in every age who seem to get the
+victory over the world. They come out decidedly from its
+ways, and are unmistakably separate. They are independent
+of its opinions, and unshaken by its opposition.
+They move on like planets in an orbit of their own, and
+seem to rise equally above the world's smiles and frowns.
+And what are the secrets of their victory? I will set
+them down.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>a</i>) The first secret of victory over the world is a <i>right
+heart</i>. By that I mean a heart renewed, changed and
+sanctified by the Holy Ghost,&mdash;a heart in which Christ
+dwells, a heart in which old things have passed away, and
+all things become new. The grand mark of such a heart
+is the bias of its tastes and affections. The owner of such
+a heart no longer likes the world, and the things of the
+world, and therefore finds it no trial or sacrifice to give
+them up. He has no longer any appetite for the company,
+the conversation, the amusements, the occupations, the
+books which he once loved, and to "come out" from them<span class="pagenum">[Pg 305]</span>
+seems natural to him. Great indeed is the expulsive
+power of a new principle! Just as the new spring-buds
+in a beech hedge push off the old leaves and make them
+quietly fall to the ground, so does the new heart of a
+believer invariably affect his tastes and likings, and make
+him drop many things which he once loved and lived in,
+because he now likes them no more. Let him that wants
+to "come out from the world and be separate," make sure
+first and foremost that he has got a new heart. If the
+heart is really right, everything else will be right in time.
+"If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of
+light." (Matt. vi. 22.) If the affections are not right,
+there never will be right action.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>b</i>) The second secret of victory over the world is a
+<i>lively practical faith</i> in unseen things. What saith the
+Scripture? "This is the victory that overcometh the world,
+even our faith." (1 John v. 4.) To attain and keep up
+the habit of looking steadily at invisible things, as if they
+were visible,&mdash;to set before our minds every day, as grand
+realities, our souls, God, Christ, heaven, hell, judgment,
+eternity,&mdash;to cherish an abiding conviction that what we
+do not see is just as real as what we do see, and ten
+thousand times more important,&mdash;this, this is one way to
+be conquerors over the world. This was the faith which
+made the noble army of saints, described in the eleventh
+chapter of Hebrews, obtain such a glorious testimony from
+the Holy Ghost. They all acted under a firm persuasion
+that they had a real God, a real Saviour, and a real home
+in heaven, though unseen by mortal eyes. Armed with
+this faith, a man regards this world as a shadow compared
+to the world to come, and cares little for its praise or
+blame, its enmity or its rewards. Let him that wants to
+come out from the world and be separate, but shrinks and
+hangs back for fear of the things seen, pray and strive to
+have this faith. "All things are possible to him that
+believes." (Mark ix. 23.) Like Moses, he will find it<span class="pagenum">[Pg 306]</span>
+possible to forsake Egypt, seeing Him that is invisible.
+Like Moses, he will not care what he loses and who is
+displeased, because he sees afar off, like one looking
+through a telescope, a substantial recompense of reward.
+(Heb. xi. 26.)</p>
+
+<p>(<i>c</i>) The third and last secret of victory over the world,
+is to attain and cultivate the <i>habit of boldly confessing
+Christ</i> on all proper occasions. In saying this I would
+not be mistaken. I want no one to blow a trumpet before
+him, and thrust his religion on others at all seasons.
+But I do wish to encourage all who strive to come out
+from the world to show their colours, and to act and speak
+out like men who are not ashamed to serve Christ. A
+steady, quiet assertion of our own principles, as Christians,&mdash;an
+habitual readiness to let the children of the world
+see that we are guided by other rules than they are, and
+do not mean to swerve from them,&mdash;a calm, firm, courteous
+maintenance of our own standard of things in every
+company,&mdash;all this will insensibly form a habit within us,
+and make it comparatively easy to be a separate man.
+It will be hard at first, no doubt, and cost us many a
+struggle; but the longer we go on, the easier will it be.
+Repeated acts of confessing Christ will produce habits.
+Habits once formed will produce a settled character. Our
+characters once known, we shall be saved much trouble.
+Men will know what to expect from us, and will count it
+no strange thing if they see us living the lives of separate
+peculiar people. He that grasps the nettle most firmly
+will always be less hurt than the man who touches it with
+a trembling hand. It is a great thing to be able to
+say "No" decidedly, but courteously, when asked to do
+anything which conscience says is wrong. He that
+shows his colours boldly from the first, and is never
+ashamed to let men see "whose he is and whom he
+serves," will soon find that he has overcome the world,
+and will be let alone. Bold confession is a long step<span class="pagenum">[Pg 307]</span>
+towards victory.</p>
+
+<br>
+<p>It only remains for me now to conclude the whole
+subject with a few short words of application. The danger
+of the world ruining the soul, the nature of true separation
+from the world, the secrets of victory over the world, are
+all before the reader of this paper. I now ask him to give
+me his attention for the last time, while I try to say
+something directly for his personal benefit.</p>
+
+<p>(1) My first word shall be <i>a question</i>. Are you overcoming
+the world, or are you overcome by it? Do you
+know what it is to come out from the world and be separate,
+or are you yet entangled by it, and conformed to it? If
+you have any desire to be saved, I entreat you to answer
+this question.</p>
+
+<p>If you know nothing of "separation," I warn you affectionately
+that your soul is in great danger. The world
+passeth away; and they who cling to the world, and think
+only of the world, will pass away with it to everlasting
+ruin. Awake to know your peril before it be too late.
+Awake and flee from the wrath to come. The time is
+short. The end of all things is at hand. The shadows
+are lengthening. The sun is going down. The night
+cometh when no man can work. The great white throne
+will soon be set. The judgment will begin. The books
+will be opened. Awake, and come out from the world
+while it is called to-day.</p>
+
+<p>Yet a little while, and there will be no more worldly
+occupations and worldly amusements,&mdash;no more getting
+money and spending money,&mdash;no more eating, and drinking,
+and feasting, and dressing, and ball-going, and theatres,
+and races, and cards, and gambling. What will you do
+when all these things have passed away for ever? How
+can you possibly be happy in an eternal heaven, where
+holiness is all in all, and worldliness has no place? Oh
+consider these things, and be wise! Awake, and break<span class="pagenum">[Pg 308]</span>
+the chains which the world has thrown around you.
+Awake, and flee from the wrath to come.</p>
+
+<p>(2) My second word shall be <i>a counsel</i>. If you want
+to come out from the world, but know not what to do,
+take the advice which I give you this day. Begin by
+applying direct, as a penitent sinner, to our Lord Jesus
+Christ, and put your case in His hands. Pour out your
+heart before Him. Tell Him your whole story, and keep
+nothing back. Tell Him that you are a sinner wanting
+to be saved from the world, the flesh, and the devil, and
+entreat Him to save you.</p>
+
+<p>That blessed Saviour "gave Himself for us that He
+might deliver us from this present evil world." (Gal. i. 2.)
+He knows what the world is, for He lived in it thirty and
+three years. He knows what the difficulties of a man are,
+for He was made man for our sakes, and dwelt among
+men. High in heaven, at the right hand of God, He is
+able to save to the uttermost all who come to God by
+Him,&mdash;able to keep us from the evil of the world while
+we are still living in it,&mdash;able to give us power to become
+the sons of God,&mdash;able to keep us from falling,&mdash;able to
+make us more than conquerors. Once more I say, Go
+direct to Christ with the prayer of faith, and put yourself
+wholly and unreservedly in His hands. Hard as it may
+seem to you now to come out from the world and be
+separate, you shall find that with Jesus nothing is
+impossible. You, even you, shall overcome the world.</p>
+
+<p>(3) My third and last word shall be <i>encouragement</i>.
+If you have learned by experience what it is to come out
+from the world, I can only say to you, Take comfort, and
+persevere. You are in the right road; you have no cause
+to be afraid. The everlasting hills are in sight. Your
+salvation is nearer than when you believed. Take comfort
+and press on.</p>
+
+<p>No doubt you have had many a battle, and made many
+a false step. You have sometimes felt ready to faint, and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 309]</span>
+been half disposed to go back to Egypt. But your Master
+has never entirely left you, and He will never suffer you
+to be tempted above that you are able to bear. Then
+persevere steadily in your separation from the world, and
+never be ashamed of standing alone. Settle it firmly in
+your mind that the most decided Christians are always
+the happiest, and remember that no one ever said at the
+end of his course that he had been too holy, and lived too
+near to God.</p>
+
+<p>Hear, last of all, what is written in the Scriptures of
+truth:</p>
+
+<p>"Whosoever shall confess Me before men, him shall the
+Son of man also confess before the angels of God." (Luke
+xii. 8.)</p>
+
+<p>"There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or
+sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands,
+for my sake, and the gospel's,</p>
+
+<p>"But he shall receive an hundred-fold now in this time,
+houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children,
+and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come
+eternal life." (Mark x. 29, 30.)</p>
+
+<p>"Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath
+great recompense of reward.</p>
+
+<p>"For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done
+the will of God, ye might receive the promise.</p>
+
+<p>"For yet a little while, and He that shall come will
+come, and will not tarry." (Heb. x. 35&mdash;37.)</p>
+
+<p>Those words were written and spoken for our sakes.
+Let us lay hold on them, and never forget them. Let us
+persevere to the end, and never be ashamed of coming out
+from the world, and being separate. We may be sure it
+brings its own reward.</p>
+
+
+<p>NOTE</p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 310]</span>
+
+<blockquote><p>Thoughtful and intelligent readers will probably observe that, under
+the head of worldly amusements, I have said nothing about ball-going
+and card-playing. They are delicate and difficult subjects, and many
+classes of society are not touched by them. But I am quite willing to
+give my opinion, and the more so because I do not speak of them
+without experience in the days of my youth.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>a</i>) Concerning <i>ball-going</i>, I only ask Christians to judge the amusement
+by its tendencies and accompaniments. To say there is anything
+morally wrong in the mere bodily act of dancing would be absurd.
+David danced before the ark. Solomon said, "There is a time to dance."
+(Eccle. iii 4.) Just as it is natural to lambs and kittens to frisk about,
+so it seems natural to young people, all over the world, to jump about
+to a lively tune of music. If dancing were taken up for mere exercise,
+if dancing took place at early hours, and men only danced with men,
+and women with women, it would be needless and absurd to object to
+it. But everybody knows that this is not what is meant by modern
+ball-going. This is an amusement which involves very late hours,
+extravagant dressing, and an immense amount of frivolity, vanity,
+jealousy, unhealthy excitement, and vain conversation. Who would
+like to be found in a modern ball-room when the Lord Jesus Christ
+comes the second time? Who that has taken much part in balls, as I
+myself once did, before I knew better, can deny that they have a most
+dissipating effect on the mind, like opium-eating and dram-drinking on
+the body? I cannot withhold my opinion that ball-going is one of those
+worldly amusements which "war against the soul," and which it is
+wisest and best to give up. And as for those parents who urge their
+sons and daughters, against their wills and inclinations, to go to balls, I
+can only say that they are taking on themselves a most dangerous
+responsibility, and risking great injury to their children's souls.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>b</i>) Concerning <i>card-playing</i>, my judgment is much the same. I ask
+Christian people to try it by its tendencies and consequences. Of course
+it would be nonsense to say there is positive wickedness in an innocent
+game of cards, for diversion, and not for money. I have known
+instances of old people of lethargic and infirm habit of body, unable to
+work or read, to whom cards in an evening were really useful, to keep
+them from drowsiness, and preserve their health. But it is vain to shut
+our eyes to facts. If masters and mistresses once begin to play cards in
+the parlour, servants are likely to play cards in the kitchen; and then
+comes in a whole train of evils. Moreover, from simple card-playing to
+desperate gambling there is but a chain of steps. If parents teach
+young people that there is no harm in the first step, they must never be
+surprised if they go on to the last.</p>
+
+<p>I give this opinion with much diffidence. I lay no claim to infallibility.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 311]</span>
+Let every one be persuaded in his own mind. But, considering all
+things, it is my deliberate judgment that the Christian who wishes to
+keep his soul right, and to "come out from the world," will do wisely
+to have nothing to do with card-playing. It is a habit which seems to
+grow on some people so much that it becomes at last a necessity, and
+they cannot live without it. "Madam," said Romaine to an old lady at
+Bath, who declared she could not do without her cards,&mdash;"Madam, if
+this is the case, cards are your god, and your god is a very poor one."
+Surely in doubtful matters like these it is well to give our souls the
+benefit of the doubt, and to refrain.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>c</i>) Concerning <i>field-sports</i>, I admit that it is not easy to lay down a
+strict rule. I cannot go the length of some, and say that galloping
+across country, or shooting grouse, partridges, or pheasants, or catching
+salmon or trout, are in themselves positively sinful occupations, and
+distinct marks of an unconverted heart. There are many persons, I
+know, to whom violent out-door exercise and complete diversion of mind
+are absolute necessities, for the preservation of their bodily and mental
+health. But in all these matters the chief question is one of degree.
+Much depends on the company men are thrown into, and the extent to
+which the thing is carried. The great danger lies in excess. It is
+possible to be <i>intemperate</i> about hunting and shooting as well as about
+drinking. We are commanded in Scripture to be "temperate in all
+things," if we would so run as to obtain; and those who are addicted to
+field-sports should not forget this rule.</p>
+
+<p>The question, however, is one about which Christians must be careful
+in expressing an opinion, and moderate in their judgments. The man
+who can neither ride, nor shoot, nor throw a fly, is hardly qualified to
+speak dispassionately about such matters. It is cheap and easy work to
+condemn others for doing things which you cannot do yourself, and are
+utterly unable to enjoy! One thing only is perfectly certain,&mdash;all
+intemperance or excess is sin. The man who is wholly absorbed in
+field-sports, and spends all his years in such a manner that he seems to
+think God only created him to be a "hunting, shooting, and fishing
+animal," is a man who at present knows very little of Scriptural
+Christianity. It is written, "Where your treasure is, there will your
+heart be also." (Matt. vi. 21.)</p></blockquote>
+
+<br>
+
+
+<h2><a name="XIII" id="XIII"></a>XIII</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 312]</span>
+
+<h2>RICHES AND POVERTY</h2>
+
+<blockquote><p>"<i>There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and
+fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day</i>:</p>
+
+<p>"<i>And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at
+his gate, full of sores</i>,</p>
+
+<p>"<i>And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich
+man's table: moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores.</i></p>
+
+<p>"<i>And it came to pass that the beggar died, and was carried by the
+angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was
+buried</i>;</p>
+
+<p>"<i>And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth
+Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.</i>"&mdash;</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>
+<span class="smcap">Luke</span> xvi. 19&mdash;23.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>There are probably few readers of the Bible who are not
+familiar with the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.
+It is one of those passages of Scripture which leave an
+indelible impression on the mind. Like the parable of the
+Prodigal Son, once read it is never forgotten.</p>
+
+<p>The reason of this is clear and simple. The whole
+parable is a most vividly painted picture. The story, as
+it goes on, carries our senses with it with irresistible power.
+Instead of readers, we become lookers on. We are witnesses
+of all the events described. We see. We hear.
+We fancy we could almost touch. The rich man's
+banquet,&mdash;the purple,&mdash;the fine linen,&mdash;the gate,&mdash;the
+beggar lying by it,&mdash;the sores,&mdash;the dogs,&mdash;the crumbs,&mdash;the
+two deaths,&mdash;the rich man's burial,&mdash;the ministering<span class="pagenum">[Pg 313]</span>
+angels,&mdash;the bosom of Abraham,&mdash;the rich man's fearful
+waking up,&mdash;the fire,&mdash;the gulf,&mdash;the hopeless remorse,&mdash;all,
+all stand out before our eyes in bold relief, and stamp
+themselves upon our minds. This is the perfection of
+language. This is the attainment of the famous Arabian
+standard of eloquence,&mdash;"He speaks the <b>best</b> who turns
+the ear into an eye."</p>
+
+<p>But, after all, it is one thing to admire the masterly
+composition of this parable, and quite another to receive
+the spiritual lessons it contains. The eye of the intellect
+can often see beauties while the heart remains asleep,
+and sees nothing at all. Hundreds read Pilgrim's Progress
+with deep interest, to whom the struggle for the celestial
+city is foolishness. Thousands are familiar with every
+word of the parable before us this day, who never consider
+how it comes home to their own case. Their conscience
+is deaf to the cry which ought to ring in their ears as they
+read,&mdash;"Thou art the man." Their heart never turns to
+God with the solemn inquiry,&mdash;"Lord, is this my picture?&mdash;Lord,
+is it I?"</p>
+
+<p>I invite my readers this day to consider the leading
+truths which this parable is meant to teach us. I purposely
+omit to notice any part of it but that which stands at the
+head of this paper. May the Holy Ghost give us a
+teachable spirit, and an understanding heart, and so
+produce lasting impressions on our souls!</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>I. Let us observe, first of all, <i>how different are the
+conditions which God allots to different men</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The Lord Jesus begins the parable by telling us of a
+rich man and a beggar. He says not a word in praise
+either of poverty or of riches. He describes the circumstances
+of a wealthy man and the circumstances of a poor
+man; but He neither condemns the temporal position of
+one, nor praises that of the other.</p>
+
+<p>The contrast between the two men is painfully striking.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 314]</span>
+Look on this picture, and on that.</p>
+
+<p>Here is one who possessed abundance of this world's
+good things. "He was clothed in purple and fine linen,
+and fared sumptuously every day."</p>
+
+<p>Here is another who has literally nothing. He is a
+friendless, diseased, half-starved pauper. "He lies at the
+rich man's gate full of sores," and begs for crumbs.</p>
+
+<p>Both are children of Adam. Both came from the same
+dust, and belonged to one family. Both are living in the
+same land and subjects of the same government. And yet
+how different is their condition!</p>
+
+<p>But we must take heed that we do not draw lessons
+from the parable which it was never meant to teach. The
+rich are not always bad men, and do not always go to hell.
+The poor are not always good men, and do not always go
+to heaven. We must not rush into the extreme of
+supposing that it is sinful to be rich. We must not run
+away with the idea that there is anything wicked in the
+difference of condition here described, and that God
+intended all men to be equal. There is nothing in our
+Lord Jesus Christ's words to warrant any such conclusion.
+He simply describes things as they are often seen in the
+world, and as we must expect to see them.</p>
+
+<p>Universal equality is a very high-sounding expression,
+and a favourite idea with visionary men. Many in every
+age have disturbed society by stirring up the poor against
+the rich, and by preaching up the popular doctrine that
+all men ought to be equal. But so long as the world is
+under the present order of things this universal equality
+cannot be attained. Those who declaim against the vast
+inequality of men's lots will doubtless never be in want of
+hearers; but so long as human nature is what it is, this
+inequality cannot be prevented.</p>
+
+<p>So long as some are wise and some are foolish,&mdash;some
+strong and some weak,&mdash;some healthy and some diseased,&mdash;some
+lazy and some diligent,&mdash;some provident and some<span class="pagenum">[Pg 315]</span>
+improvident;&mdash;so long as children reap the fruit of their
+parent's misconduct;&mdash;so long as sun, and rain, and heat,
+and cold, and wind, and waves, and drought, and blight,
+and storms, and tempests are beyond man's control,&mdash;so
+long there always will be some rich and some poor. All
+the political economy in the world will never make the
+poor altogether "cease out of the land." (Deut. xv. 11.)</p>
+
+<p>Take all the property in England by force this day, and
+divide it equally among the inhabitants. Give every man
+above twenty years old an equal portion. Let all take
+share and share alike, and begin the world over again.
+Do this, and see where you would be at the end of fifty
+years. You would just have come round to the point
+where you began. You would just find things as unequal
+as before. Some would have worked, and some would have
+been idle. Some would have been always careless, and
+some always scheming. Some would have sold, and others
+would have bought. Some would have wasted, and others
+would have saved. And the end would be that some
+would be rich and others poor.</p>
+
+<p>Let no man listen to those vain and foolish talkers who
+say that all men were meant to be equal. They might as
+well tell you that all men ought to be of the same height,
+weight, strength, and cleverness,&mdash;or that all oak trees
+ought to be of the same shape and size,&mdash;or that all blades
+of grass ought to be of the same length.</p>
+
+<p>Settle it in your mind that the main cause of all the
+suffering you see around you is sin. Sin is the grand
+cause of the enormous luxury of the rich, and the painful
+degradation of the poor,&mdash;of the heartless selfishness of
+the highest classes, and the helpless poverty of the lowest.
+Sin must be first cast out of the world. The hearts of all
+men must be renewed and sanctified. The devil must be
+bound. The Prince of Peace must come down and take
+His great power and <b>reign</b>. All this must be before there
+ever can be universal happiness, or the gulf be filled up<span class="pagenum">[Pg 316]</span>
+which now divides the rich and poor.</p>
+
+<p>Beware of expecting a millennium to be brought about
+by any method of government, by any system of education,
+by any political party. Labour might and main to do
+good to all men. Pity your poorer brethren, and help
+every reasonable endeavour to raise them from their low
+estate. Slack not your hand from any endeavour to
+increase knowledge, to promote morality, to improve the
+temporal condition of the poor. But never, never forget
+that you live in a fallen world, that sin is all around you,
+and that the devil is abroad. And be very sure that the
+rich man and Lazarus are emblems of two classes which
+will always be in the world until the Lord comes.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>II. Let us observe, in the next place, that <i>a man's
+temporal condition is no test of the state of his soul</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The rich man in the parable appears to have been the
+world's pattern of a prosperous man. If the life that now
+is were all, he seems to have had everything that heart
+could wish. We know that he was "clothed in purple and
+fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day." We need
+not doubt that he had everything else which money could
+procure. The wisest of men had good cause for saying,
+"Money answereth all things." "The rich hath many
+friends." (Eccles. x. 19; Prov. xiv. 20.)</p>
+
+<p>But who that reads the story through can fail to see
+that in the highest and best sense the rich man was
+pitiably <i>poor</i>? Take away the good things of this life,
+and he had nothing left,&mdash;nothing after death,&mdash;nothing
+beyond the grave,&mdash;nothing in the world to come. With
+all his riches he had no "treasure laid up in heaven." With
+all his purple and fine linen he had no garment of
+righteousness. With all his boon companions he had no
+Friend and Advocate at God's right hand. With all his
+sumptuous fare he had never tasted the bread of life.
+With all his splendid palace he had no home in the
+eternal world. Without God, without Christ, without<span class="pagenum">[Pg 317]</span>
+faith, without grace, without pardon, without holiness, he
+lives to himself for a few short years, and then goes down
+hopelessly into the pit. How hollow and unreal was all
+his prosperity! Judge what I say,&mdash;<i>The rich man was
+very poor</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Lazarus appears to have been one who had literally
+nothing in the world. It is hard to conceive a case of
+greater misery and destitution than his. He had neither
+house, nor money, nor food, nor health, nor, in all
+probability, even clothes. His picture is one that can
+never be forgotten. He "lay at the rich man's gate,
+covered with sores." He desired to be "fed with the
+crumbs that fell from the rich man's table." Moreover,
+the dogs came and "licked his sores." Verily the wise man
+might well say, "The poor is hated even of his neighbour."
+"The destruction of the poor is their poverty." (Prov.
+xiv. 20; x. 15.)</p>
+
+<p>But who that reads the parable to the end can fail to
+see that in the highest sense Lazarus was not poor, but
+<i>rich</i>? He was a child of God. He was an heir of glory.
+He possessed durable riches and righteousness. His name
+was in the book of life. His place was prepared for Him
+in heaven. He had the best of clothing,&mdash;the righteousness
+of a Saviour. He had the best of friends,&mdash;God
+Himself was his portion. He had the best of food,&mdash;he
+had meat to eat the world knew not of. And, best of all,
+he had these things for ever. They supported him in life.
+They did not leave him in the hour of death. They went
+with him beyond the grave. They were his to eternity.
+Surely in this point of view we may well say, not "poor
+Lazarus," but "rich Lazarus."</p>
+
+<p>We should do well to measure all men by God's
+standard,&mdash;to measure them not by the amount of their
+income, but by the condition of their souls. When the
+Lord God looks down from heaven and sees the children<span class="pagenum">[Pg 318]</span>
+of men, He takes no account of many things which are
+highly esteemed by the world. He looks not at men's
+money, or lands, or titles. He looks only at the state of
+their souls, and reckons them accordingly. Oh, that you
+would strive to do likewise! Oh, that you would value
+grace above titles, or intellect, or gold! Often, far too
+often, the only question asked about a man is, "How
+much is he worth?" It would be well for us all to
+remember that every man is pitiably poor until he is rich
+in faith, and rich toward God. (James ii. 5.)</p>
+
+<p>Wonderful as it may seem to some, all the money in the
+world is worthless in God's balances, compared to grace!
+Hard as the saying may sound, I believe that a converted
+beggar is far more important and honourable in the sight
+of God than an unconverted king. The one may glitter
+like the butterfly in the sun for a little season, and be
+admired by an ignorant world; but his latter end is
+darkness and misery for ever. The other may crawl
+through the world like a crushed worm, and be despised
+by every one who sees him; but his latter end is a glorious
+resurrection and a blessed eternity with Christ. Of him
+the Lord says, "I know thy poverty (but thou art rich)."
+(Rev. ii. 9.)</p>
+
+<p>King Ahab was ruler over the ten tribes of Israel.
+Obadiah was nothing more than a servant in his household.
+Yet who can doubt which was most precious in God's
+sight, the servant or the king?</p>
+
+<p>Ridley and Latimer were deposed from all their
+dignities, cast into prison as malefactors, and at length
+burnt at the stake. Bonner and Gardiner, their persecutors,
+were raised to the highest pitch of ecclesiastical
+greatness, enjoyed large incomes, and died unmolested in
+their beds. Yet who can doubt which of the two parties
+was on the Lord's side?</p>
+
+<p>Baxter, the famous divine, was persecuted with savage
+malignity, and condemned to a long imprisonment by a<span class="pagenum">[Pg 319]</span>
+most unjust judgment. Jeffreys, the Lord Chief Justice,
+who sentenced him, was a man of infamous character,
+without either morality or religion. Baxter was sent to
+jail and Jeffreys was loaded with honours. Yet who can
+doubt which was the good man of the two, the Lord Chief
+Justice or the author of the "Saint's Rest"?</p>
+
+<p>We may be very sure that riches and worldly greatness
+are no certain marks of God's favour. They are often, on
+the contrary, a snare and hindrance to a man's soul. They
+make him love the world and forget God. What says
+Solomon? "Labour not to be rich." (Prov. xxiii. 4.)
+What says St. Paul? "They that <i>will</i> be rich, fall into
+temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful
+lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition."
+(1 Tim. vi. 9.)</p>
+
+<p>We may be no less sure that poverty and trial are no
+certain proof of God's anger. They are often blessings in
+disguise. They are always sent in love and wisdom.
+They often serve to wean man from the world. They
+teach him to set his affections on things above. They
+often show the sinner his own heart. They often make
+the saint fruitful in good works. What says the book of
+Job? "Happy is the man whom God correcteth; therefore
+despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty."
+(Job v. 17.) What says St. Paul? "Whom the Lord
+loveth He chasteneth." (Heb. xii. 6.)</p>
+
+<p>One great secret of happiness in this life is to be of a
+patient, contented spirit. Strive daily to realize the truth
+that this life is not the place of reward. The time of
+retribution and recompense is yet to come. Judge nothing
+hastily before that time. Remember the words of the wise
+man: "If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent
+perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel
+not at the matter: for He that is higher than the highest
+regardeth, and there be higher than they." (Eccles. v. 8.)
+Yes! there is a day of judgment yet to come. That day<span class="pagenum">[Pg 320]</span>
+shall put all in their right places. At last there shall be
+seen a mighty difference "between him that serveth God;
+and him that serveth Him not." (Malachi iii. 18.) The
+children of Lazarus and the children of the rich man shall,
+at length be seen in their true colours, and every one shall
+receive according to his works.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>III. Let us observe, in the next place, how <i>all classes
+alike come to the grave</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The rich man in the parable died, and Lazarus died
+also. Different and divided as they were in their lives,
+they had both to drink of the same cup at the last. Both
+went to the house appointed for all living. Both went to
+that place where rich and poor meet together. Dust they
+were, and unto dust they returned. (Gen. iii. 19.)</p>
+
+<p>This is the lot of all men. It will be our own, unless the
+Lord shall first return in glory. After all our scheming,
+and contriving, and planning, and studying,&mdash;after all our
+inventions, and discoveries, and scientific attainments,&mdash;there
+remains one enemy we cannot conquer and disarm,
+and that is death. The chapter in Genesis which records
+the long lives of Methuselah and the rest who lived before
+the flood, winds up the simple story of each by two
+expressive words: "he died." And now, after 4,800 years,
+what more can be said of the greatest among ourselves?
+The histories of Marlborough, and Washington, and
+Napoleon, and Wellington, arrive at just the same humbling
+conclusion. The end of each, after all his greatness
+is just this,&mdash;"he died."</p>
+
+<p>Death is a mighty leveller. He spares none, he waits
+for none, and stands on no ceremony. He will not tarry
+till you are ready. He will not be kept out by moats, and
+doors, and bars, and bolts. The Englishman boasts that
+his home is his castle, but with all his boasting, he cannot
+exclude death. An Austrian nobleman forbade death and
+the smallpox to be named in his presence. But, named or<span class="pagenum">[Pg 321]</span>
+not named, it matters little, in God's appointed hour death
+will come.</p>
+
+<p>One man rolls easily along the road in the easiest and
+handsomest carriage that money can procure. Another
+toils wearily along the path on foot. Yet both are sure to
+meet at last in the same home.</p>
+
+<p>One man, like Absalom, has fifty servants to wait upon
+him and do his bidding. Another has none to lift a finger
+to do him a service. But both are travelling to a place
+where they must lie down alone.</p>
+
+<p>One man is the owner of hundreds of thousands.
+Another has scarce a shilling that he can call his own
+property. Yet neither one nor the other can carry one
+farthing with him into the unseen world.</p>
+
+<p>One man is the possessor of half a county. Another
+has not so much as a garden of herbs. And yet two paces
+of the vilest earth will be amply sufficient for either of
+them at the last.</p>
+
+<p>One man pampers his body with every possible delicacy,
+and clothes it in the richest and softest apparel. Another
+has scarce enough to eat, and seldom enough to put on.
+Yet both alike are hurrying on to a day when "ashes to
+ashes, and dust to dust," shall be proclaimed over them,
+and fifty years hence none shall be able to say, "This was
+the rich man's bone, and this the bone of the poor."</p>
+
+<p>I know that these are ancient things. I do not deny it
+for a moment. I am writing stale old things that all men
+<i>know</i>. But I am also writing things that all men do not
+<i>feel</i>. Oh, no! if they did feel them they would not speak
+and act as they do.</p>
+
+<p>You wonder sometimes at the tone and language of
+ministers of the Gospel. You marvel that we press upon
+you immediate decision. You think us extreme, and extravagant,
+and ultra in our views, because we urge upon
+you to close with Christ,&mdash;to leave nothing uncertain,&mdash;to
+make sure that you are born again and ready for heaven.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 322]</span>
+You hear, but do not approve. You go away, and say to
+one another,&mdash;"The man means well, but he goes too far."</p>
+
+<p>But do you not see that the reality of death is continually
+forbidding us to use other language? We see him
+gradually thinning our congregations. We miss face after
+face in our assemblies. We know not whose turn may
+come next. We only know that as the tree falls there
+it will lie, and that "after death comes the judgment."
+We <i>must</i> be bold and decided, and uncompromising in
+our language. We would rather run the risk of offending
+some, than of losing any. We would aim at the standard
+set up by old Baxter:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="pbox">
+<p>"I'll preach as though I ne'er should preach again,<br>
+And as a dying man to dying men!"</p></div>
+
+<p>We would realize the character given by Charles II. of
+one of his preachers: "That man preaches as though death
+was behind his back. When I hear him I cannot go to
+sleep."</p>
+
+<p>Oh, that men would learn to live as those who may one
+day die! Truly it is poor work to set our affections on a
+dying world and its shortlived comforts, and for the sake
+of an inch of time to lose a glorious immortality! Here
+we are toiling, and labouring, and wearying ourselves
+about trifles, and running to and fro like ants upon a heap;
+and yet after a few years we shall all be gone, and another
+generation will fill our place. Let us live for eternity.
+Let us seek a portion that can never be taken from us.
+And let us never forget John Bunyan's golden rule: "He
+that would live well, let him make his dying day his
+company-keeper."</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>IV. Let us observe, in the next place, <i>how precious a
+believer's soul is in the sight of God</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The rich man, in the parable, dies and is buried.
+Perhaps he had a splendid funeral,&mdash;a funeral proportioned<span class="pagenum">[Pg 323]</span>
+to his expenditure while he was yet alive. But we hear
+nothing further of the moment when soul and body were
+divided. The next thing we hear of is that he is in
+<i>hell</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The poor man, in the parable, dies also. What manner
+of burial he had we know not. A pauper's funeral among
+ourselves is a melancholy business. The funeral of Lazarus
+was probably no better. But this we do know,&mdash;that the
+moment Lazarus dies he is carried by the angels into
+Abraham's bosom,&mdash;carried to a place of rest, where all the
+faithful are waiting for the resurrection of the just.</p>
+
+<p>There is something to my mind very striking, very
+touching, and very comforting in this expression of the
+parable. I ask your especial attention to it. It throws great
+light on the relation of all sinners of mankind who
+believe in Christ, to their God and Father. It shows a
+little of the care bestowed on the least and lowest of
+Christ's disciples, by the King of kings.</p>
+
+<p>No man has such friends and attendants as the believer,
+however little he may think it. Angels rejoice over him
+in the day that he is born again of the Spirit. Angels
+minister to him all through life. Angels encamp around
+him in the wilderness of this world. Angels take charge of
+his soul in death, and bear it safely home. Yes! vile as
+he may be in his own eyes, and lowly in his own sight, the
+very poorest and humblest believer in Jesus is cared for
+by his Father in heaven, with a care that passeth knowledge.
+The Lord has become his Shepherd, and he can
+"want nothing." (Ps. xxiii. 1.) Only let a man come unfeignedly
+to Christ, and be joined to Him, and he shall have
+all the benefits of a covenant ordered in all things and sure.</p>
+
+<p>Is he laden with many sins? Though they be as
+scarlet they shall be white as snow.</p>
+
+<p>Is his heart hard and prone to evil? A new heart shall
+be given to him, and a new spirit put in him.</p>
+
+<p>Is he weak and cowardly? He that enabled Peter to<span class="pagenum">[Pg 324]</span>
+confess Christ before his enemies shall make him bold.</p>
+
+<p>Is he ignorant? He that bore with Thomas' slowness
+shall bear with him, and guide him into all truth.</p>
+
+<p>Is he alone in his position? He that stood by Paul
+when all men forsook him shall also stand by his side.</p>
+
+<p>Is he in circumstances of special trial? He that enabled
+men to be saints in Nero's household shall also enable him
+to persevere.</p>
+
+<p>The very hairs of his head are all numbered. Nothing
+can harm him without God's permission. He that hurteth
+him, hurteth the apple of God's eye, and injures a brother
+and member of Christ Himself.</p>
+
+<p>His trials are all wisely ordered. Satan can only vex
+him, as he did Job, when God permits him. No temptation
+can happen to him above what he is able to bear. All
+things are working together for his good.</p>
+
+<p>His steps are all ordered from grace to glory. He is
+kept on earth till he is ripe for heaven, and not one
+moment longer. The harvest of the Lord must have its
+appointed proportion of sun and wind, of cold and heat,
+of rain and storm. And then when the believer's work is
+done, the angels of God shall come for him, as they did for
+Lazarus, and carry him safe home.</p>
+
+<p>Alas! the men of the world little think whom they are
+despising, when they mock Christ's people. They are
+mocking those whom angels are not ashamed to attend
+upon. They are mocking the brethren and sisters of
+Christ Himself. Little do they consider that these are they
+for whose sakes the days of tribulation are shortened.
+These are they by whose intercession kings reign peacefully.
+Little do they reck that the prayers of men like Lazarus
+have more weight in the affairs of nations than hosts of
+armed men.</p>
+
+<p>Believers in Christ, who may possibly read these pages,
+you little know the full extent of your privileges and
+possessions. Like children at school, you know not half<span class="pagenum">[Pg 325]</span>
+that your Father is doing for your welfare. Learn to live
+by faith more than you have done. Acquaint yourselves
+with the fulness of the treasure laid up for you in Christ
+even now. This world, no doubt, must always be a place
+of trial while we are in the body. But still there are
+comforts provided for the brethren of Lazarus which many
+never enjoy.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>V. Observe, in the last place, <i>what a dangerous and
+soul-ruining sin is the sin of selfishness</i>.</p>
+
+<p>You have the rich man, in the parable, in a hopeless
+state. If there was no other picture of a lost soul in hell
+in all the Bible you have it here. You meet him in the
+beginning, clothed in purple and fine linen. You part
+with him at the end, tormented in the everlasting fire.</p>
+
+<p>And yet there is nothing to show that this man was a
+murderer, or a thief, or an adulterer, or a liar. There is
+no reason to say that he was an atheist, or an infidel, or a
+blasphemer. For anything we know, he attended to all
+the ordinances of the Jewish religion. But we do know
+that he was lost for ever!</p>
+
+<p>There is something to my mind very solemn in this
+thought. Here is a man whose outward life in all probability
+was correct. At all events we know nothing
+against him. He dresses richly; but then he had money
+to spend on his apparel. He gives splendid feasts and
+entertainments; but then he was wealthy, and could well
+afford it. We read nothing recorded against him that
+might not be recorded of hundreds and thousands in the
+present day, who are counted respectable and good sort of
+people. And yet the end of this man is that he goes to
+hell. Surely this deserves serious attention.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>a</i>) I believe it is meant to teach us <i>to beware of living
+only for ourselves</i>. It is not enough that we are able to
+say, "I live correctly. I pay every one his due. I
+discharge all the relations of life with propriety. I attend<span class="pagenum">[Pg 326]</span>
+to all the outward requirements of Christianity." There
+remains behind another question, to which the Bible
+requires an answer. "To whom do you live? to yourself or
+to Christ? What is the great end, aim, object, and ruling
+motive in your life?" Let men call the question extreme
+if they please. For myself, I can find nothing short of
+this in St. Paul's words: "He died for all, that they which
+live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto
+Him which died for them and rose again." (2 Cor. v. 15.)
+And I draw the conclusion, that if, like the rich man, we
+live only to ourselves, we shall ruin our souls.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>b</i>) I believe, further, that this passage is meant to teach
+us <i>the damnable nature of sins of omission</i>. It does not
+seem that it was so much the things the rich man did,
+but the things he left undone, which made him miss
+heaven. Lazarus was at his gate, and he let him alone.
+But is not this exactly in keeping with the history of the
+judgment, in the twenty-fifth of St. Matthew? Nothing
+is said there of the sins of commission of which the lost
+are guilty. How runs the charge?&mdash;"I was an hungered,
+and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me
+no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked,
+and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited
+me not." (Matt. xxv. 42, 43.) The charge against them
+is simply that they did not do certain things. On this
+their sentence turns. And I draw the conclusion again,
+that, except we take heed, sins of omission may ruin our
+souls. Truly it was a solemn saying of good Archbishop
+Usher, on his death-bed: "Lord, forgive me all my sins,
+but specially my sins of omission."</p>
+
+<p>(<i>c</i>) I believe, further, that the passage is meant to teach
+us that <i>riches bring special danger with them</i>. Yes! riches,
+which the vast majority of men are always seeking after,&mdash;riches
+for which they spend their lives, and of which
+they make an idol,&mdash;riches entail on their possessors
+immense spiritual peril! The possession of them has a<span class="pagenum">[Pg 327]</span>
+very hardening effect on the soul. They chill. They
+freeze. They petrify the inward man. They close the
+eye to the things of faith. They insensibly produce a
+tendency to forget God.</p>
+
+<p>And does not this stand in perfect harmony with all
+the language of Scripture on the same subject? What
+says our Lord? "How hardly shall they that have riches
+enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to
+go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to
+enter the kingdom of God!" (Mark x. 23, 25.) What
+says St. Paul? "The love of money is the root of all
+evil; which while some coveted after, they have erred
+from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many
+sorrows." (1 Tim vi. 10.) What can be more striking
+than the fact that the Bible has frequently spoken of
+money as a most fruitful cause of sin and evil? For
+money Achan brought defeat on the armies of Israel, and
+death on himself. For money Balaam sinned against
+light, and tried to curse God's people. For money Delilah
+betrayed Sampson to the Philistines. For money Gehazi
+lied to Naaman and Elisha, and became a leper. For
+money Ananias and Sapphira became the first hypocrites
+in the early Church, and lost their lives. For money
+Judas Iscariot sold Christ, and was ruined eternally.
+Surely these facts speak loudly.</p>
+
+<p>Money, in truth, is one of the most <i>unsatisfying</i> of
+possessions. It takes away some cares, no doubt; but it
+brings with it quite as many cares as it takes away. There
+is trouble in the getting of it. There is anxiety in the
+keeping of it. There are temptations in the use of it.
+There is guilt in the abuse of it. There is sorrow in the
+losing of it. There is perplexity in the disposing of it.
+Two-thirds of all the strifes, quarrels, and lawsuits in the
+world, arise from one simple cause,&mdash;<i>money</i>!</p>
+
+<p>Money most certainly is one of the most <i>ensnaring and
+heart-changing</i> of possessions. It seems desirable at a<span class="pagenum">[Pg 328]</span>
+distance. It often proves a poison when in our hand.
+No man can possibly tell the effect of money on his soul,
+if it suddenly falls to his lot to possess it. Many an one
+did run well as a poor man, who forgets God when he is
+rich.</p>
+
+<p>I draw the conclusion that those who have money, like
+the rich man in the parable, ought to take double pains
+about their souls. They live in a most unhealthy atmosphere.
+They have double need to be on their guard.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>d</i>) I believe, not least, that the passage is meant to <i>stir
+up special carefulness about selfishness in these last days</i>.
+You have a special warning in 2 Tim. iii. 1, 2: "In the
+last days perilous times shall come: for men shall be
+lovers of their own selves, covetous." I believe we have
+come to the last days, and that we ought to beware of the
+sins here mentioned, if we love our souls.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps we are poor judges of our own times. We are
+apt to exaggerate and magnify their evils, just because we
+see and feel them. But, after every allowance, I doubt
+whether there ever was more need of warnings against
+selfishness than in the present day. I am sure there
+never was a time when all classes in England had so
+many comforts and so many temporal good things. And
+yet I believe there is an utter disproportion between men's
+expenditure on themselves and their outlay on works of
+charity and works of mercy. I see this in the miserable
+one guinea subscriptions to which many rich men confine
+their charity. I see it in the languishing condition of
+many of our best religious Societies, and the painfully slow
+growth of their annual incomes. I see it in the small
+number of names which appear in the list of contributions
+to any good work. There are, I believe, thousands of rich
+people in this country who literally give away nothing at
+all. I see it in the notorious fact, that few, even of those
+who give, give anything proportioned to their means. I
+see all this, and mourn over it. I regard it as the selfishness<span class="pagenum">[Pg 329]</span>
+and covetousness predicted as likely to arise in "the
+last days."</p>
+
+<p>I know that this is a painful and delicate subject. But
+it must not on that account be avoided by the minister of
+Christ. It is a subject for the times, and it needs pressing
+home. I desire to speak to myself, and to all who make
+any profession of religion. Of course I cannot expect
+worldly and utterly ungodly persons to view this subject
+in Bible light. To them the Bible is no rule of faith and
+practice. To quote texts to them would be of little use.</p>
+
+<p>But I do ask all professing Christians to consider well
+what Scripture says against covetousness and selfishness,
+and on behalf of liberality in giving money. Is it for
+nothing that the Lord Jesus spoke the parable of the rich
+fool, and blamed him because he was not "rich towards
+God"? (Luke xii. 21.) Is it for nothing that in the
+parable of the sower He mentions the "deceitfulness of
+riches" as one reason why the seed of the Word bears no
+fruit? (Matt. xiii. 22.) Is it for nothing that He says,
+"Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness"?
+(Luke xvi. 9.) Is it for nothing that He says,
+"When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy
+friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich
+neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense
+be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the
+poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: and thou shalt be
+blessed; for they cannot recompense thee; for thou shalt
+be recompensed at the resurrection of the just"? (Luke
+xiv. 14.) Is it for nothing that He says, "Sell that ye
+have and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax
+not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where
+no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth"? (Luke
+xii. 33.) Is it for nothing that He says, "It is more
+blessed to give than to receive"? (Acts xx. 35.) Is it for
+nothing that He warns us against the example of the priest
+and Levite, who saw the wounded traveller, but passed by<span class="pagenum">[Pg 330]</span>
+on the other side? Is it for nothing that He praises the
+good Samaritan, who denied himself to show kindness to a
+stranger? (Luke x. 34.) Is it for nothing that St. Paul
+classes covetousness with sins of the grossest description,
+and denounces it as idolatry? (Coloss. iii. 5.) And is
+there not a striking and painful difference between this
+language and the habits and feeling of society about
+money? I appeal to any one who knows the world. Let
+him judge what I say.</p>
+
+<p>I only ask my reader to consider calmly the passages of
+Scripture to which I have referred. I cannot think they
+were meant to teach nothing at all. That the habits of
+the East and our own are different, I freely allow. That
+some of the expressions I have quoted are figurative, I
+freely admit. But still, after all, a principle lies at the
+bottom of all these expressions. Let us take heed that
+this principle is not neglected. I wish that many a
+professing Christian in this day, who perhaps dislikes
+what I am saying, would endeavour to write a commentary
+on these expressions, and try to explain to himself
+what they mean.</p>
+
+<p>To know that alms-giving cannot atone for sin is well.
+To know that our good works cannot justify us is excellent.
+To know that we may give all our goods to feed the poor,
+and build hospitals and cathedrals, without any real charity,
+is most important. But let us beware lest we go into the
+other extreme, and because our money cannot save us, give
+away no money at all.</p>
+
+<p>Has any one money who reads these pages? Then "take
+heed and beware of covetousness." (Luke xii. 15.) Remember
+you carry weight in the race towards heaven. All
+men are naturally in danger of being lost for ever, but you
+are doubly so because of your possessions. Nothing is said
+to put out fire so soon as earth thrown upon it. Nothing I
+am sure has such a tendency to quench the fire of religion
+as the possession of money. It was a solemn message<span class="pagenum">[Pg 331]</span>
+which Buchanan, on his death-bed, sent to his old pupil,
+James I.: "He was going to a place where few kings and
+great men would come." It is possible, no doubt, for you
+to be saved as well as others. With God nothing is
+impossible. Abraham, Job, and David were all rich, and
+yet saved. But oh, take heed to yourself! Money is a
+good servant, but a bad master. Let that saying of our
+Lord's sink down into your heart: "How hardly shall they
+that have riches enter into the kingdom of God." (Mark
+x. 23.) Well said an old divine: "The surface above gold
+mines is generally very barren." Well might old Latimer
+begin one of his sermons before Edward VI by quoting
+three times over our Lord's words: "Take heed and beware
+of covetousness," and then saying, "What if I should say
+nothing else these three or four hours?" There are few
+prayers in our Litany more wise and more necessary than
+that petition, "In all time of our <i>wealth</i>, good Lord
+deliver us."</p>
+
+<p>Has any one little or no money who reads these pages?
+Then do not envy those who are richer than yourself.
+Pray for them. Pity them. Be charitable to their faults.
+Remember that high places are giddy places, and be not
+too hasty in your condemnation of their conduct. Perhaps
+if you had their difficulties you would do no better
+yourself. Beware of the "love of money." It is the
+"root of all evil." (1 Tim. vi. 10.) A man may love
+money over-much without having any at all. Beware
+of the love of self. It may be found in a cottage as well
+as in a palace. And beware of thinking that poverty
+alone will save you. If you would sit with Lazarus in
+glory, you must not only have fellowship with him in
+suffering, but in grace.</p>
+
+<p>Does any reader desire to know the remedy against that
+love of self which ruined the rich man's soul, and cleaves
+to us all by nature, like our skin? I tell him plainly there
+is only one remedy, and I ask Him to mark well what that<span class="pagenum">[Pg 332]</span>
+remedy is. It is not the fear of hell. It is not the hope
+of heaven. It is not any sense of duty. Oh, no! The
+disease of selfishness is far too deeply rooted to yield to
+such secondary motives as these. Nothing will ever cure
+it but an experimental knowledge of Christ's redeeming
+love. You must know the misery and guilt of your own
+estate by nature. You must experience the power of
+Christ's atoning blood sprinkled upon your conscience, and
+making you whole. You must taste the sweetness of
+peace with God through the mediation of Jesus, and feel
+the love of a reconciled Father shed abroad in your heart
+by the Holy Ghost.</p>
+
+<p><i>Then</i>, and not till then, the mainspring of selfishness
+will be broken. <i>Then</i>, knowing the immensity of your
+debt to Christ, you will feel that nothing is too great and
+too costly to give to Him. Feeling that you have been
+loved much when you deserved nothing, you will heartily
+love in return, and cry, "What shall I render unto the
+Lord for all His benefits?" (Ps. cxvi. 12.) Feeling that
+you have freely received countless mercies, you will think
+it a privilege to do anything to please Him to whom you
+owe all. Feeling that you have been "bought with a price,"
+and are no longer your own, you will labour to glorify God
+with body and spirit, which are His. (1 Cor. vi. 20.)</p>
+
+<p>Yes: I repeat it this day. I know no <i>effectual</i> remedy
+for the love of self, but a believing apprehension of the
+love of Christ. Other remedies may palliate the disease:
+this alone will heal it. Other antidotes may hide its
+deformity: this alone will work a perfect cure.</p>
+
+<p>An easy, good-natured temper may cover over selfishness
+in one man. A love of praise may conceal it in a second.
+A self-righteous asceticism and an affected spirit of self-denial
+may keep it out of sight in a third. But nothing
+will ever cut up selfishness by the roots but the love of
+Christ revealed in the mind by the Holy Ghost, and felt
+in the heart by simple faith. Once let a man see the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 333]</span>
+full meaning of the words, "Christ loved me and gave
+Himself for me," and then he will delight to give himself
+to Christ, and all that he has to His service. He will live
+to Him, not in order that he may be secure, but because
+he is secure already. He will work for Him, not that he
+may have life and peace, but because life and peace are
+his own already.</p>
+
+<p>Go to the cross of Christ, all you that want to be
+delivered from the power of selfishness. Go and see what
+a price was paid there to provide a ransom for your soul.
+Go and see what an astounding sacrifice was there made,
+that a door to eternal life might be provided for poor
+sinners like you. Go and see how the Son of God
+gave Himself for you, and learn to think it a small thing
+to give yourself to Him.</p>
+
+<p>The disease which ruined the rich man in the parable
+may be cured. But oh, remember, there is only one real
+remedy! If you would not live to yourself you must live
+to Christ. See to it that this remedy is not only known,
+but applied,&mdash;not only heard of, but used.</p>
+
+<p>(1) And now let me conclude all by <i>urging on every
+reader of these pages, the great duty of self-inquiry</i>.</p>
+
+<p>A passage of Scripture like this parable ought surely to
+raise in many an one great searchings of heart.&mdash;"What
+am I? Where am I going? What am I doing? What
+is likely to be my condition after death? Am I prepared
+to leave the world? Have I any home to look forward to
+in the world to come? Have I put off the old man and
+put on the new? Am I really one with Christ, and a
+pardoned soul?" Surely such questions as these may well
+be asked when the story of the rich man and Lazarus has
+been heard. Oh, that the Holy Ghost may incline many
+a reader's heart to ask them!</p>
+
+<p>(2) In the next place, <i>I invite</i> all readers who desire to
+have their souls saved, and have no good account to give
+of themselves at present, to seek salvation while it can be<span class="pagenum">[Pg 334]</span>
+found. I do entreat you to apply to Him by whom alone
+man can enter heaven and be saved,&mdash;even Jesus Christ
+the Lord. He has the keys of heaven. He is sealed
+and appointed by God the Father to be the Saviour of
+all that will come to Him. Go to Him in earnest and
+hearty prayer, and tell Him your case. Tell Him that
+you have heard that "He receiveth sinners," and that you
+come to Him as such. (Luke xv. 2.) Tell Him that you
+desire to be saved by Him in His own way, and ask Him
+to save you. Oh, that you may take this course without
+delay! Remember the hopeless end of the rich man.
+Once dead there is no more change.</p>
+
+<p>(3) Last of all, <i>I entreat</i> all professing Christians to
+encourage themselves in habits of liberality towards all
+causes of charity and mercy. Remember that you are
+God's stewards, and give money liberally, freely, and
+without grudging, whenever you have an opportunity.
+You cannot keep your money for ever. You must give
+account one day of the manner in which it has been
+expended. Oh, lay it out with an eye to eternity while
+you can!</p>
+
+<p>I do not ask rich men to leave their situations in life,
+give away all their property, and go into the workhouse.
+This would be refusing to fill the position of a steward
+for God. I ask no man to neglect his worldly calling,
+and to omit to provide for his family. Diligence in
+business is a positive Christian duty. Provision for
+those dependent on us is proper Christian prudence.
+But I ask all to look around continually as they journey
+on, and to remember the poor,&mdash;the poor in body and
+the poor in soul. Here we are for a few short years.
+How can we do most good with our money while we are
+here? How can we so spend it as to leave the world
+somewhat happier and somewhat holier when we are
+removed? Might we not abridge some of our luxuries?
+Might we not lay out less upon ourselves, and give more<span class="pagenum">[Pg 335]</span>
+to Christ's cause and Christ's poor? Is there none we can
+do good to? Are there no sick, no poor, no needy, whose
+sorrows we might lessen, and whose comforts we might
+increase? Such questions will never fail to elicit an
+answer from some quarter. I am thoroughly persuaded
+that the income of every religious and charitable Society
+in England might easily be multiplied tenfold, if English
+Christians would give in proportion to their means.</p>
+
+<p>There are none surely to whom such appeals ought to
+come home with such power as professing believers in the
+Lord Jesus. The parable of the text is a striking illustration
+of our position by nature, and our debt to Christ.
+We all lay, like Lazarus, at heaven's gate, sick unto the
+death, helpless, and starving. Blessed be God! we were
+not neglected, as he was. Jesus came forth to relieve us.
+Jesus gave Himself for us, that we might have hope and
+live. For a poor Lazarus-like world He came down from
+heaven, and humbled Himself to become a man. For a
+poor Lazarus-like world He went up and down doing good,
+caring for men's bodies as well as souls, until He died for
+us on the cross.</p>
+
+<p>I believe that in giving to support works of charity and
+mercy, we are doing that which is according to Christ's
+mind,&mdash;and I ask readers of these pages to begin the
+habit of giving, if they never began it before; and to go
+on with it increasingly, if they have begun.</p>
+
+<p>I believe that in offering a warning against worldliness
+and covetousness, I have done no more than bring forward
+a warning specially called for by the times, and I ask God
+to bless the consideration of these pages to many souls.</p>
+
+<br>
+
+
+<h2><a name="XIV" id="XIV"></a>XIV</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 336]</span>
+
+<h2>THE BEST FRIEND</h2>
+
+<blockquote><p>"<i>This is my friend.</i>"&mdash;<span class="smcap">Cant.</span> v. 16.</p></blockquote>
+
+
+<p>A friend is one of the greatest blessings on earth. Tell
+me not of money: affection is better than gold; sympathy
+is better than lands. He is the poor man who has no
+friends.</p>
+
+<p>This world is full of sorrow because it is full of sin. It
+is a dark place. It is a lonely place. It is a disappointing
+place. The brightest sunbeam in it is a friend. Friendship
+halves our troubles and doubles our joys.</p>
+
+<p>A real friend is scarce and rare. There are many who
+will eat, and drink, and laugh with us in the sunshine of
+prosperity. There are few who will stand by us in the days
+of darkness,&mdash;few who will love us when we are sick,
+helpless, and poor,&mdash;few, above all, who will care for our
+souls.</p>
+
+<p>Does any reader of this paper want a real friend? I
+write to recommend one to your notice this day. I know
+of One "who sticketh closer than a brother." (Prov.
+xviii. 24.) I know of One who is ready to be your friend
+for time and for eternity, if you will receive Him. Hear
+me, while I try to tell you something about Him.</p>
+
+<p>The friend I want you to know is Jesus Christ. Happy
+is that family in which Christ has the foremost place!
+Happy is that person whose chief friend is Christ!</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>I. Do we want <i>a friend in need</i>? Such a friend is<span class="pagenum">[Pg 337]</span>
+the Lord Jesus Christ.</p>
+
+<p>Man is the neediest creature on God's earth, because he
+is a sinner. There is no need so great as that of sinners:
+poverty, hunger, thirst, cold, sickness, all are nothing in
+comparison. Sinners need pardon, and they are utterly
+unable to provide it for themselves; they need deliverance
+from a guilty conscience and the fear of death, and they
+have no power of their own to obtain it. This need the
+Lord Jesus Christ came into the world to relieve. "He
+came into the world to save sinners." (1 Tim. i. 15.)</p>
+
+<p>We are all by nature poor dying creatures. From the
+king on his throne to the pauper in the workhouse, we are
+all sick of a mortal disease of soul. Whether we know it
+or not, whether we feel it or not, we are all dying daily.
+The plague of sin is in our blood. We cannot cure
+ourselves: we are hourly getting worse and worse. All
+this the Lord Jesus undertook to remedy. He came into
+the world "to bring in health and cure;" He came to
+deliver us "from the second death;" He came "to abolish
+death, and bring life and immortality to light through the
+Gospel." (Jer. xxxiii. 6; Rev. ii. 11; 2 Tim. i. 10.)</p>
+
+<p>We are all by nature imprisoned debtors. We owed
+our God ten thousand talents, and had nothing to pay.
+We were wretched bankrupts, without hope of discharging
+ourselves. We could never have freed ourselves from our
+load of liabilities, and were daily getting more deeply
+involved. All this the Lord Jesus saw, and undertook to
+remedy. He engaged to "ransom and redeem us;"
+He came to "proclaim liberty to the captives, and the
+opening of the prison to them that are bound;" "He
+came to redeem us from the curse of the law." (Hos. xiii.
+14; Isai. lxi. 1; Gal. iii. 13.)</p>
+
+<p>We were all by nature shipwrecked and cast away. We
+could never have reached the harbour of everlasting life.
+We were sinking in the midst of the waves, shiftless,
+hopeless, helpless, and powerless; tied and bound by the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 338]</span>
+chain of our sins, foundering under the burden of our own
+guilt, and like to become a prey to the devil. All this the
+Lord Jesus saw and undertook to remedy. He came down
+from heaven to be our mighty "helper;" He came to
+"seek and to save that which was lost;" and to "deliver
+us from going down into the pit." (Psalm lxxxix. 19;
+Luke xix. 10; Job xxxiii. 24.)</p>
+
+<p>Could we have been saved without the Lord Jesus
+Christ coming down from heaven? It would have been
+impossible, so far as our eyes can see. The wisest men of
+Egypt, and Greece, and Rome never found out the way to
+peace with God. Without the friendship of Christ we
+should all have been lost for evermore in hell.</p>
+
+<p>Was the Lord Jesus Christ obliged to come down to
+save us? Oh, no! no! It was His own free love, mercy,
+and pity that brought Him down. He came unsought
+and unasked because He was gracious.</p>
+
+<p>Let us think on these things. Search all history from
+the beginning of the world,&mdash;look round the whole circle
+of those you know and love: you never heard of such
+friendship among the sons of men. There never was such
+a real friend in need as Jesus Christ.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>II. Do you want <i>a friend in deed</i>? Such a friend is
+the Lord Jesus Christ.</p>
+
+<p>The true extent of a man's friendship must be measured
+by his deeds. Tell me not what he says, and feels, and
+wishes; tell me not of his words and letters: tell me
+rather what he does. "Friendly is that friendly does."</p>
+
+<p>The doings of the Lord Jesus Christ for man are the
+grand proof of His friendly feeling towards him. Never
+were there such acts of kindness and self-denial as those
+which He has performed on our behalf. He has not loved
+us in word only but in deed.</p>
+
+<p>For our sakes He took our nature upon Him, and was
+born of a woman. He who was very God, and equal with<span class="pagenum">[Pg 339]</span>
+the Father, laid aside for a season His glory, and took
+upon Him flesh and blood like our own. The almighty
+Creator of all things became a little babe like any of us,
+and experienced all our bodily weaknesses and infirmities,
+sin only excepted. "Though He was rich He became
+poor, that we through His poverty might be rich." (2
+Cor. viii. 9.)</p>
+
+<p>For our sakes He lived thirty-three years in this evil
+world, despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows,
+and acquainted with grief. Though He was King of kings,
+He had not where to lay His head: though He was Lord
+of lords, He was often weary, and hungry, and thirsty,
+and poor. "He took on Him the form of a servant, and
+humbled Himself." (Philipp. iii. 7, 8.)</p>
+
+<p>For our sakes He suffered the most painful of all deaths,
+even the death of the cross. Though innocent, and without
+fault, He allowed Himself to be condemned, and found
+guilty. He who was the Prince of Life was led as a lamb
+to the slaughter, and poured out His soul unto death. He
+"died for us." (1 Thess. v. 10.)</p>
+
+<p>Was He obliged to do this? Oh, no! He might have
+summoned to His help more than twelve legions of angels,
+and scattered His enemies with a word. He suffered
+voluntarily and of His own free will, to make atonement
+for our sins. He knew that nothing but the sacrifice of
+His body and blood could ever make peace between sinful
+man and a holy God. He laid down His life to pay the
+price of our redemption: He died that we might live; He
+suffered that we might reign; He bore shame that we
+might receive glory. "He suffered for sins, the just for
+the unjust, that He might bring us to God." "He was
+made sin for us, who knew no sin: that we might be made
+the righteousness of God in Him." (1 Peter iii. 18; 2
+Cor. v. 21.)</p>
+
+<p>Such friendship as this passes man's understanding.
+Friends who would die for those who love them, we may<span class="pagenum">[Pg 340]</span>
+have heard of sometimes. But who can find a man who
+would lay down his life for those that hate him? Yet
+this is what Jesus has done for us. "God commendeth
+His love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners,
+Christ died for us." (Rom. v. 8.)</p>
+
+<p>Ask all the tribes of mankind, from one end of the
+world to the other, and you will nowhere hear of a deed
+like this. None was ever so high and stooped down so
+low as Jesus the Son of God: none ever gave so costly a
+proof of his friendship; none ever paid so much and
+endured so much to do good to others. Never was there
+such a friend in deed as Jesus Christ!</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>III. Do we want <i>a mighty and powerful friend</i>?
+Such a friend is Jesus Christ.</p>
+
+<p>Power to help is that which few possess in this world.
+Many have will enough to do good to others, but no power.
+They feel for the sorrows of others, and would gladly
+relieve them if they could: they can weep with their
+friends in affliction, but are unable to take their grief
+away. But though man is weak, Christ is strong,&mdash;though
+the best of our earthly friends is feeble, Christ is almighty:
+"All power is given unto Him in heaven and earth."
+(Matt. xxviii. 18.) No one can do so much for those whom
+He befriends as Jesus Christ. Others can befriend their
+bodies a little: He can befriend both body and soul.
+Others can do a little for them in time: He can be a
+friend both for time and eternity.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>a</i>) He is <i>able to pardon</i> and save the very chief of
+sinners. He can deliver the most guilty conscience from
+all its burdens, and give it perfect peace with God. He
+can wash away the vilest stains of wickedness, and make a
+man whiter than snow in the sight of God. He can
+clothe a poor weak child of Adam in everlasting righteousness,
+and give him a title to heaven that can never be
+overthrown. In a word, He can give any one of us peace,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 341]</span>
+hope, forgiveness, and reconciliation with God, if we will
+only trust in Him. "The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth
+from all sin." (1 John i. 7.)</p>
+
+<p>(<i>b</i>) He is <i>able to convert</i> the hardest of hearts, and create
+in man a new spirit. He can take the most thoughtless
+and ungodly people, and give them another mind by the
+Holy Ghost, which He puts in them. He can cause old
+things to pass away, and all things to become new. He
+can make them love the things which they once hated,
+and hate the things which they once loved. "He can
+give them power to become the sons of God." "If any
+man be in Christ, he is a new creature." (John i. 12; 2
+Cor. v. 17.)</p>
+
+<p>(<i>c</i>) He is <i>able to preserve</i> to the end all who believe in
+Him, and become His disciples. He can give them grace
+to overcome the world, the flesh and the devil, and fight a
+good fight at the last. He can lead them on safely in
+spite of every temptation, carry them home through a
+thousand dangers, and keep them faithful, though they
+stand alone and have none to help them. "He is able to
+save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him."
+(Heb. vii. 25.)</p>
+
+<p>(<i>d</i>) He is <i>able to give</i> those that love Him the best of gifts.
+He can give them in life inward comforts, which money
+can never buy,&mdash;peace in poverty, joy in sorrow, patience
+in suffering. He can give them in death bright hopes,
+which enable them to walk through the dark valley without
+fear. He can give them after death a crown of glory,
+which fadeth not away, and a reward compared to which
+the Queen of England has nothing to bestow.</p>
+
+<p>This is power indeed: this is true greatness; this is
+real strength. Go and look at the poor Hindoo idolater,
+seeking peace in vain by afflicting his body; and, after
+fifty years of self-imposed suffering, unable to find it. Go
+and look at the benighted Romanist, giving money to his
+priest to pray for his soul, and yet dying without comfort.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 342]</span>
+Go and look at rich men, spending thousands in search of
+happiness, and yet always discontented and unhappy.
+Then turn to Jesus, and think what He can do, and is
+daily doing for all who trust Him. Think how He heals
+all the broken-hearted, comforts all the sick, cheers all the
+poor that trust in Him, and supplies all their daily need.
+The fear of man is strong, the opposition of this evil world
+is mighty, the lusts of the flesh rage horribly, the fear of
+death is terrible, the devil is a roaring lion seeking whom
+he may devour; but Jesus is stronger than them all.
+Jesus can make us conquerors over all these foes. And
+then say whether it be not true, that there never was so
+mighty a friend as Jesus Christ.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>IV. Do we want <i>a loving and affectionate friend</i>?
+Such a friend is Jesus Christ.</p>
+
+<p>Kindness is the very essence of true friendship. Money
+and advice and help lose half their grace, if not given in
+a loving manner. What kind of love is that of the Lord
+Jesus toward man? It is called, "A love that passeth
+knowledge." (Ephes. iii. 19.)</p>
+
+<p>Love shines forth in His <i>reception of sinners</i>. He
+refuses none that come to Him for salvation, however
+unworthy they may be. Though their lives may have
+been most wicked, though their sins may be more in
+number than the stars of heaven, the Lord Jesus is ready
+to receive them, and give them pardon and peace. There
+is no end to His compassion: there are no bounds to His
+pity. He is not ashamed to befriend those whom the
+world casts off as hopeless. There are none too bad, too
+filthy, and too much diseased with sin, to be admitted into
+His home. He is willing to be the friend of any sinner:
+He has kindness and mercy and healing medicine for all.
+He has long proclaimed this to be His rule: "Him that
+cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out." (John vi. 37.)</p>
+
+<p>Love shines forth in His <i>dealings with sinners</i>, after<span class="pagenum">[Pg 343]</span>
+they have believed in Him and become His friends. He
+is very patient with them, though their conduct is often
+very trying and provoking. He is never tired of hearing
+their complaints, however often they may come to Him.
+He sympathizes deeply in all their sorrows. He knows
+what pain is: He is "acquainted with grief." (Is. liii. 3.)
+In all their afflictions He is afflicted. He never allows them
+to be tempted above what they are able to bear: He supplies
+them with daily grace for their daily conflict. Their poor
+services are acceptable to Him: He is as well pleased with
+them as a parent is with his child's endeavours to speak
+and walk. He has caused it to be written in His book,
+that "He taketh pleasure in His people," and that "He
+taketh pleasure in them that fear Him." (Ps. cxlvii. 11;
+cxlix. 4.)</p>
+
+<p>There is no love on earth that can be named together
+with this! We love those in whom we see something that
+deserves our affection, or those who are our bone or our
+flesh: the Lord Jesus loves sinners in whom there is no
+good thing. We love those from whom we get some
+return for our affection: the Lord Jesus loves those who
+can do little or nothing for Him, compared to what He
+does for them. We love where we can give some reason
+for loving: the great Friend of sinners draws His reasons
+out of His own everlasting compassion. His love is purely
+disinterested, purely unselfish, purely free. Never, never
+was there so truly loving a friend as Jesus Christ.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>V. Do we want <i>a wise and prudent friend</i>? Such
+a friend is the Lord Jesus Christ.</p>
+
+<p>Man's friendship is sadly blind. He often injures those
+he loves by injudicious kindness: he often errs in the
+counsel he gives; he often leads his friends into trouble by
+bad advice, even when he means to help them. He sometimes
+keeps them back from the way of life, and entangles
+them in the vanities of the world, when they have well<span class="pagenum">[Pg 344]</span>
+nigh escaped. The friendship of the Lord Jesus is not so:
+it always does us good, and never evil.</p>
+
+<p>The Lord Jesus <i>never spoils</i> His friends by extravagant
+indulgence. He gives them everything that is really for
+their benefit; He withholds nothing from them that is
+really good; but He requires them to take up their cross
+daily and follow Him. He bids them endure hardships as
+good soldiers: He calls on them to fight the good fight
+against the world, the flesh, and the devil. His people
+often dislike it at the time, and think it hard; but when
+they reach heaven they will see it was all well done.</p>
+
+<p>The Lord Jesus <i>makes no mistakes</i> in managing His
+friends' affairs. He orders all their concerns with perfect
+wisdom: all things happen to them at the right time, and
+in the right way. He gives them as much of sickness and
+as much of health, as much of poverty and as much of
+riches, as much of sorrow and as much of joy, as He sees
+their souls require. He leads them by the right way to
+bring them to the city of habitation. He mixes their
+bitterest cups like a wise physician, and takes care that
+they have not a drop too little or too much. His people
+often misunderstand His dealings; they are silly enough
+to fancy their course of life might have been better
+ordered: but in the resurrection-day they will thank God
+that not their will, but Christ's was done.</p>
+
+<p>Look round the world and see the harm which people
+are continually getting from their friends. Mark how
+much more ready men are to encourage one another in
+worldliness and levity, than to provoke to love and good
+works. Think how often they meet together, not for the
+better, but for the worse,&mdash;not to quicken one another's
+souls in the way to heaven, but to confirm one another
+in the love of this present world. Alas, there are
+thousands who are wounded unexpectedly in the house of
+their friends!</p>
+
+<p>And then turn to the great Friend of sinners, and see<span class="pagenum">[Pg 345]</span>
+how different a thing is His friendship from that of man.
+Listen to Him as He walks by the way with His disciples;
+mark how He comforts, reproves, and exhorts with perfect
+wisdom. Observe how He times His visits to those He
+loves, as to Mary and Martha at Bethany. Hear how He
+converses, as He dines on the shore of the sea of Galilee:
+"Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me?" (John xxi. 16.)
+His company is always sanctifying. His gifts are always
+for our soul's good; His kindness is always wise; His
+fellowship is always to edification. One day of the Son of
+Man is better than a thousand in the society of earthly
+friends: one hour spent in private communion with Him,
+is better than a year in kings' palaces. Never, never was
+there such a wise friend as Jesus Christ.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>VI. Do we want <i>a tried and proved friend</i>? Such a
+friend is Jesus Christ.</p>
+
+<p>Six thousand years have passed away since the Lord
+Jesus began His work of befriending mankind. During
+that long period of time He has had many friends in this
+world. Millions on millions, unhappily, have refused His
+offers and been miserably lost for ever; but thousands
+on thousands have enjoyed the mighty privilege of His
+friendship and been saved. He has had great experience.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>a</i>) He has had friends of <i>every rank and station</i> in life.
+Some of them were kings and rich men, like David, and
+Solomon, and Hezekiah, and Job; some of them were very
+poor in this world, like the shepherds of Bethlehem, and
+James, and John, and Andrew: but they were all alike
+Christ's friends.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>b</i>) He has had friends <i>of every age</i> that man can pass
+through. Some of them never knew Him till they were
+advanced in years, like Manasseh, and Zacchæus, and probably
+the Ethiopian Eunuch. Some of them were His
+friends even from their earliest childhood, like Joseph,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 346]</span>
+and Samuel, and Josiah, and Timothy. But they were all
+alike Christ's friends.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>c</i>) He has had friends <i>of every possible temperament
+and disposition</i>. Some of them were simple plain men,
+like Isaac; some of them were mighty in word and deed,
+like Moses; some of them were fervent and warm-hearted,
+like Peter; some of them were gentle and retiring spirits,
+like John; some of them were active and stirring, like
+Martha; some of them loved to sit quietly at His feet, like
+Mary; some dwelt unknown among their own people, like
+the Shunamite; some have gone everywhere and turned
+the world upside down, like Paul. But they were all alike
+Christ's friends.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>d</i>) He has had friends <i>of every condition in life</i>. Some
+of them were married, and had sons and daughters, like
+Enoch; some of them lived and died unmarried, like Daniel
+and John the Baptist; some of them were often sick, like
+Lazarus and Epaphroditus; some of them were strong to
+labour, like Persis, and Tryphena, and Tryphosa; some of
+them were masters, like Abraham and Cornelius; some of
+them were servants, like the saints in Nero's household;
+some of them had bad servants, like Elisha; some of them
+had bad masters like Obadiah; some of them had bad
+wives and children, like David. But they were all alike
+Christ's friends.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>e</i>) He has had friends <i>of almost every nation, and
+people, and tongue</i>. He has had friends in hot countries and
+in cold; friends among nations highly civilized, and friends
+among the simplest and rudest tribes. His book of life
+contains the names of Greeks and Romans, of Jews and
+Egyptians, of bond and of free. There are to be found on
+its lists reserved Englishmen and cautious Scotchmen, impulsive
+Irishmen and fiery Welchmen, volatile Frenchmen
+and dignified Spaniards, refined Italians and solid Germans,
+rude Africans and refined Hindoos, cultivated Chinese and
+half-savage New Zealanders. But they were all alike<span class="pagenum">[Pg 347]</span>
+Christ's friends.</p>
+
+<p>All these have made trial of Christ's friendship, and
+proved it to be good. They all found nothing wanting
+when they began: they all found nothing wanting as they
+went on. No lack, no defect, no deficiency was ever found
+by any one of them in Jesus Christ. Each found his own
+soul's wants fully supplied; each found every day, that
+in Christ there was enough and to spare. Never, never
+was there a friend so fully tried and proved as Jesus
+Christ.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>VII. Last, but not least, do we want <i>an unfailing
+friend</i>? Such a friend is the Lord Jesus Christ.</p>
+
+<p>The saddest part of all the good things of earth is their
+instability. Riches make themselves wings and flee away;
+youth and beauty are but for a few years; strength of
+body soon decays; mind and intellect are soon exhausted.
+All is perishing. All is fading. All is passing away. But
+there is one splendid exception to this general rule, and
+that is the friendship of Jesus Christ.</p>
+
+<p>The Lord Jesus is <i>a friend who never changes</i>. There
+is no fickleness about Him: those whom He loves, He
+loves unto the end. Husbands have been known to forsake
+their wives; parents have been known to cast off their
+children; human vows and promises of faithfulness have
+often been forgotten. Thousands have been neglected in
+their poverty and old age, who were honoured by all when
+they were rich and young. But Christ never changed His
+feelings towards one of His friends. He is "the same
+yesterday, to-day, and for ever." (Heb. xiii. 8.)</p>
+
+<p>The Lord Jesus <i>never goes away from His friends</i>.
+There is never a parting and good-bye between Him and
+His people. From the time that He makes His abode in
+the sinner's heart, He abides in it for ever. The world is
+full of leave-takings and departures: death and the lapse
+of time break up the most united family; sons go forth to<span class="pagenum">[Pg 348]</span>
+make their way in life; daughters are married, and leave
+their father's house for ever. Scattering, scattering,
+scattering, is the yearly history of the happiest home.
+How many we have tearfully watched as they drove away
+from our doors, whose pleasant faces we have never seen
+again! How many we have sorrowfully followed to the
+grave, and then come back to a cold, silent, lonely, and
+blank fireside! But, thanks be to God, there is One who
+never leaves His friends! The Lord Jesus is He who has
+said, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." (Heb.
+xiii. 5.)</p>
+
+<p>The Lord Jesus <i>goes with His friends wherever they
+go</i>. There is no possible separation between Him and
+those whom He loves. There is no place or position on
+earth, or under the earth, that can divide them from the
+great Friend of their souls. When the path of duty calls
+them far away from home, He is their companion; when
+they pass through the fire and water of fierce tribulation,
+He is with them; when they lie down on the bed of
+sickness, He stands by them and makes all their trouble
+work for good; when they go down the valley of the
+shadow of death, and friends and relatives stand still and
+can go no further, He goes down by their side. When they
+wake up in the unknown world of Paradise, they are still
+with Him; when they rise with a new body at the
+judgment day, they will not be alone. He will own them
+for His friends, and say, "They are mine: deliver them
+and let them go free." He will make good His own words:
+"I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."
+(Matt. xxviii. 20.)</p>
+
+<p>Look round the world, and see how failure is written on
+all men's schemes. Count up the partings, and separations,
+and disappointments, and bereavements which have
+happened under your own knowledge. Think what a
+privilege it is that there is One at least who never fails,
+and in whom no one was ever disappointed! Never, never<span class="pagenum">[Pg 349]</span>
+was there so unfailing a friend as Jesus Christ.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>And now, suffer me to conclude this paper with a few
+plain words of application. I know not who you are or in
+what state your soul may be; but I am sure that the
+words I am about to say deserve your serious attention.
+Oh, that this paper may not find you heedless of spiritual
+things! Oh, that you may be able to give a few thoughts
+to Christ!</p>
+
+<p>(1) Know then, for one thing, that I call upon you to
+<i>consider solemnly whether Christ is your Friend and you
+are His</i>.</p>
+
+<p>There are thousands on thousands, I grieve to say, who
+are not Christ's friends. Baptized in His name, outward
+members of His Church, attendants on His means of grace,&mdash;all
+this they are, no doubt. But they are not Christ's
+<i>friends</i>. Do they hate the sins which Jesus died to put
+away? No.&mdash;Do they love the Saviour who came into
+the world to save them? No.&mdash;Do they care for the souls
+which were so precious in His sight? No.&mdash;Do they
+delight in the word of reconciliation? No.&mdash;Do they try
+to speak with the Friend of sinners in prayer? No.&mdash;Do
+they seek close fellowship with Him? No.&mdash;Oh, reader,
+is this your case? How is it with you? Are you or are
+you not one of Christ's friends?</p>
+
+<p>(2) Know, in the next place, that <i>if you are not one of
+Christ's friends, you are a poor miserable being</i>.</p>
+
+<p>I write this down deliberately. I do not say it without
+thought. I say that if Christ be not your friend, you are
+a poor, miserable being.</p>
+
+<p>You are in the midst of a failing, sorrowful world, and
+you have no real source of comfort, or refuge for a time of
+need. You are a dying creature, and you are not ready to
+die. You have sins, and they are not forgiven. You are
+going to be judged, and you are not prepared to meet God:
+you might be, but you refuse to use the one only Mediator<span class="pagenum">[Pg 350]</span>
+and Advocate. You love the world better than Christ.
+You refuse the great Friend of sinners, and you have no
+friend in heaven to plead your cause. Yes: it is sadly
+true! You are a poor, miserable being. It matters nothing
+what your income is: without Christ's friendship you are
+very poor.</p>
+
+<p>(3) Know, in the third place, that <i>if you really want
+a friend, Christ is willing to become your friend</i>.</p>
+
+<p>He has long wanted you to join His people, and He
+now invites you by my hand. He is ready to receive you,
+all unworthy as you may feel, and to write your name
+down in the list of His friends. He is ready to pardon all
+the past, to clothe you with righteousness, to give you His
+Spirit, to make you His own dear child. All He asks you
+to do is to come to Him.</p>
+
+<p>He bids you come with all your sins; only acknowledging
+your vileness, and confessing that you are ashamed. Just
+as you are,&mdash;waiting for nothing,&mdash;unworthy of anything
+in yourself,&mdash;Jesus bids you come and be His friend.</p>
+
+<p>Oh, come and be wise! Come and be safe. Come and
+be happy. Come and be Christ's friend.</p>
+
+<p>(4) Know, in the last place, that <i>if Christ is your friend,
+you have great privileges, and ought to walk worthy of
+them</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Seek every day to have closer communion with Him
+who is your Friend, and to know more of His grace and
+power. True Christianity is not merely the believing a
+certain set of dry abstract propositions: it is to live in
+daily personal communication with an actual living person&mdash;Jesus
+the Son of God. "To me," said Paul, "to live is
+Christ." (Phil. i. 21.)</p>
+
+<p>Seek every day to glorify your Lord and Saviour in all
+your ways. "He that hath a friend should show himself
+friendly" (Prov. xviii. 24), and no man surely is under such
+mighty obligations as the friend of Christ. Avoid everything
+which would grieve your Lord. Fight hard against<span class="pagenum">[Pg 351]</span>
+besetting sins, against inconsistency, against backwardness
+to confess Him before men. Say to your soul, whenever
+you are tempted to that which is wrong, "Soul, soul, is
+this thy kindness to thy Friend?"</p>
+
+<p>Think, above all, of the mercy which has been shown
+thee, and learn to rejoice daily in thy Friend! What
+though thy body be bowed down with disease? What
+though thy poverty and trials be very great? What
+though thine earthly friends forsake thee, and thou art
+alone in the world? All this may be true: but if thou
+art in Christ thou hast a Friend, a mighty Friend, a loving
+Friend, a wise Friend, a Friend that never fails. Oh, think,
+think much upon thy friend!</p>
+
+<p>Yet a little time and thy Friend shall come to take thee
+home, and thou shalt dwell with Him for ever. Yet a
+little time and thou shalt see as thou hast been seen, and
+know as thou hast been known. And then thou shalt
+hear assembled worlds confess, that HE IS THE RICH
+AND HAPPY MAN WHO HAS HAD CHRIST
+FOR HIS FRIEND.</p>
+<br>
+
+
+
+<h2><a name="XV" id="XV"></a>XV</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 352]</span>
+
+<h2>SICKNESS</h2>
+
+<blockquote>"<i>He whom Thou lovest is sick.</i>"&mdash;<span class="smcap">John</span> xi. 3.</blockquote>
+
+
+<p>The chapter from which this text is taken is well known
+to all Bible readers. In life-like description, in touching
+interest, in sublime simplicity, there is no writing in
+existence that will bear comparison with that chapter. A
+narrative like this is to my own mind one of the great
+proofs of the inspiration of Scripture. When I read the
+story of Bethany, I feel "There is something here which
+the infidel can never account for."&mdash;"This is nothing else
+but the finger of God."</p>
+
+<p>The words which I specially dwell upon in this chapter
+are singularly affecting and instructive. They record the
+message which Martha and Mary sent to Jesus when their
+brother Lazarus was sick: "Lord, behold he whom Thou
+lovest is sick." That message was short and simple. Yet
+almost every word is deeply suggestive.</p>
+
+<p>Mark the child-like faith of these holy women. They
+turned to the Lord Jesus in their hour of need, as the
+frightened infant turns to its mother, or the compass-needle
+turns to the Pole. They turned to Him as their
+Shepherd, their almighty Friend, their Brother born for
+adversity. Different as they were in natural temperament,
+the two sisters in this matter were entirely agreed.
+Christ's help was their first thought in the day of trouble.
+Christ was the refuge to which they fled in the hour of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 353]</span>
+need. Blessed are all they that do likewise!</p>
+
+<p>Mark the simple humility of their language about
+Lazarus. They call Him "He whom Thou lovest."
+They do not say, "He who loves Thee, believes in Thee,
+serves Thee," but "He whom Thou lovest." Martha and
+Mary were deeply taught of God. They had learned that
+Christ's love towards us, and not our love towards Christ,
+is the true ground of expectation, and true foundation of
+hope. Blessed, again, are all they that are taught likewise!
+To look inward to our love towards Christ is painfully
+unsatisfying: to look outward to Christ's love towards us
+is peace.</p>
+
+<p>Mark, lastly, the touching circumstance which the
+message of Martha and Mary reveals: "He whom Thou
+lovest is sick." Lazarus was a good man, converted,
+believing, renewed, sanctified, a friend of Christ, and an
+heir of glory. And yet Lazarus was sick! Then sickness
+is no sign that God is displeased. Sickness is intended to
+be a blessing to us, and not a curse. "All things work
+together for good to them that love God, and are called
+according to His purpose." "All things are yours,&mdash;life,
+death, things present, or things to come: for ye are
+Christ's; and Christ is God's." (Rom. viii. 28; 1 Cor. iii.
+22.) Blessed, I say again, are they that have learned this!
+Happy are they who can say, when they are ill, "This is
+my Father's doing. It must be well."</p>
+
+<p>I invite the attention of my readers to the subject of
+sickness. The subject is one which we ought frequently
+to look in the face. We cannot avoid it. It needs no
+prophet's eye to see sickness coming to each of us in turn
+one day. "In the midst of life we are in death." Let us
+turn aside for a few moments, and consider sickness as
+Christians. The consideration will not hasten its coming,
+and by <b>God's</b> blessing may teach us wisdom.</p>
+
+<p>In considering the subject of sickness, three points
+appear to me to demand attention. On each I shall say<span class="pagenum">[Pg 354]</span>
+a few words.</p>
+
+
+<blockquote><p>I. The <i>universal prevalence</i> of sickness and disease.</p>
+
+<p>II. The <i>general benefits</i> which sickness confers on
+mankind.</p>
+
+<p>III. The <i>special duties</i> to which sickness calls us.</p></blockquote>
+<br>
+
+<p>I. The <i>universal prevalence of sickness</i>.</p>
+
+<p>I need not dwell long on this point. To elaborate the
+proof of it would only be multiplying truisms, and heaping
+up common-places which all allow.</p>
+
+<p>Sickness is everywhere. In Europe, in Asia, in Africa,
+in America; in hot countries and in cold, in civilized
+nations and in savage tribes,&mdash;men, women, and children
+sicken and die.</p>
+
+<p>Sickness is among all classes. Grace does not lift a
+believer above the reach of it. Riches will not buy
+exemption from it. Rank cannot prevent its assaults.
+Kings and their subjects, masters and servants, rich men
+and poor, learned and unlearned, teachers and scholars,
+doctors and patients, ministers and hearers, all alike go
+down before this great foe. "The rich man's wealth is his
+strong city." (Prov. xviii. 11.) The Englishman's house
+is called his castle; but there are no doors and bars which
+can keep out disease and death.</p>
+
+<p>Sickness is of every sort and description. From the
+crown of our head to the sole of our foot we are liable to
+disease. Our capacity of suffering is something fearful to
+contemplate. Who can count up the ailments by which
+our bodily frame may be assailed? Who ever visited a
+museum of morbid anatomy without a shudder? "Strange
+that a harp of thousand strings should keep in tune so
+long." It is not, to my mind, so wonderful that men
+should die so soon, as it is that they should live so long.</p>
+
+<p>Sickness is often one of the most humbling and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 355]</span>
+distressing trials that can come upon man. It can turn
+the strongest into a little child, and make him feel "the
+grasshopper a burden." (Eccles. xii. 5.) It can unnerve
+the boldest, and make him tremble at the fall of a pin. We are
+"fearfully and wonderfully made." (Psalm cxxxix.
+14.) The connection between body and mind is curiously
+close. The influence that some diseases can exercise upon
+the temper and spirits is immensely great. There are
+ailments of brain, and liver, and nerves, which can bring
+down a Solomon in mind to a state little better than that
+of a babe. He that would know to what depths of
+humiliation poor man can fall, has only to attend for a
+short time on sick-beds.</p>
+
+<p>Sickness is not preventible by anything that man can
+do. The average duration of life may doubtless be somewhat
+lengthened. The skill of doctors may continually
+discover new remedies, and effect surprising cures. The
+enforcement of wise sanitary regulations may greatly
+lower the death-rate in a land. But, afterall,&mdash;whether
+in healthy or unhealthy localities,&mdash;whether in mild
+climates or in cold,&mdash;whether treated by homeopathy or
+allopathy,&mdash;men will sicken and die. "The days of our
+years are three-score years and ten; and if by reason of
+strength they be four-score years, yet is their strength
+labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away."
+(Psalm xc. 10.) That witness is indeed true. It was true
+3300 years ago.&mdash;It is true still.</p>
+
+<p>Now what can we make of this great fact,&mdash;the universal
+prevalence of sickness? How shall we account for it?
+What explanation can we give of it? What answer shall
+we give to our inquiring children when they ask us,
+"Father, why do people get ill and die?" These are
+grave questions. A few words upon them will not be out
+of place.</p>
+
+<p>Can we suppose for a moment that God created sickness
+and disease at the beginning? Can we imagine that He<span class="pagenum">[Pg 356]</span>
+who formed our world in such perfect order was the
+Former of needless suffering and pain? Can we think
+that He who made all things "very good," made Adam's
+race to sicken and to die? The idea is, to my mind,
+revolting. It introduces a grand imperfection into the
+midst of God's perfect works. I must find another
+solution to satisfy my mind.</p>
+
+<p>The only explanation that satisfies me is that which the
+Bible gives. Something has come into the world which
+has dethroned man from his original position, and stripped
+him of his original privileges. Something has come in,
+which, like a handful of gravel thrown into the midst of
+machinery, has marred the perfect order of God's creation.
+And what is that <i>something</i>? I answer, in one word, It is
+sin. "Sin has entered into the world, and death by sin."
+(Rom. v. 12.) Sin is the cause of all the sickness, and
+disease, and pain, and suffering, which prevail on the
+earth. They are all a part of that curse which came into
+the world when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit
+and fell. There would have been no sickness, if there had
+been no fall. There would have been no disease, if there
+had been no sin.</p>
+
+<p>I pause for a moment at this point, and yet in pausing
+I do not depart from my subject. I pause to remind my
+readers that there is no ground so untenable as that which
+is occupied by the Atheist, the Deist, or the unbeliever in
+the Bible. I advise every young reader of this paper, who
+is puzzled by the bold and specious arguments of the
+infidel, to study well that most important subject,&mdash;the
+<i>Difficulties of Infidelity</i>. I say boldly that it requires far
+more credulity to be an infidel than to be a Christian. I
+say boldly, that there are great broad patent facts in the
+condition of mankind, which nothing but the Bible can
+explain, and that one of the most striking of these facts is
+the universal prevalence of pain, sickness, and disease.
+In short, one of the mightiest difficulties in the way of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 357]</span>
+Atheists and Deists, is the body of man.</p>
+
+<p>You have doubtless heard of Atheists. An Atheist is
+one who professes to believe that there is no God, no
+Creator, no First Cause, and that all things came together
+in this world by mere chance.&mdash;Now shall we listen to such
+a doctrine as this? Go, take an Atheist to one of the
+excellent surgical schools of our land, and ask him to study
+the wonderful structure of the human body. Show him
+the matchless skill with which every joint, and vein, and
+valve, and muscle, and sinew, and nerve, and bone, and
+limb, has been formed. Show him the perfect adaptation
+of every part of the human frame to the purpose which it
+serves. Show him the thousand delicate contrivances for
+meeting wear and tear, and supplying daily waste of
+vigour. And then ask this man who denies the being of
+a God, and a great First Cause, if all this wonderful
+mechanism is the result of chance? Ask him if it came
+together at first by luck and accident? Ask him if he so
+thinks about the watch he looks at, the bread he eats, or
+the coat he wears? Oh, no! Design is an insuperable
+difficulty in the Atheist's way. <i>There is a God.</i></p>
+
+<p>You have doubtless heard of Deists. A Deist is one
+who professes to believe that there is a God, who made the
+world and all things therein. But He does not believe the
+Bible. "A God, but no Bible!&mdash;a Creator, but no Christianity!"
+This is the Deist's creed.&mdash;Now, shall we listen
+to this doctrine? Go again, I say, and take a Deist to an
+hospital, and show him some of the awful handiwork of
+disease. Take him to the bed where lies some tender
+child, scarce knowing good from evil, with an incurable
+cancer. Send him to the ward where there is a loving
+mother of a large family in the last stage of some excruciating
+disease. Show him some of the racking pains
+and agonies to which flesh is heir, and ask him to account
+for them. Ask this man, who believes there is a great and
+wise God who made the world, but cannot believe the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 358]</span>
+Bible,&mdash;ask him how he accounts for these traces of
+disorder and imperfection in his God's creation. Ask this
+man, who sneers at Christian theology and is too wise to
+believe the fall of Adam,&mdash;ask him upon his theory to
+explain the universal prevalence of pain and disease in the
+world. You may ask in vain! You will get no satisfactory
+answer. Sickness and suffering are insuperable difficulties
+in the Deist's way. <i>Man has sinned, and therefore man
+suffers.</i> Adam fell from his first estate, and therefore
+Adam's children sicken and die.</p>
+
+<p>The universal prevalence of sickness is one of the
+indirect evidences that the Bible is true. The Bible
+explains it. The Bible answers the questions about it
+which will arise in every inquiring mind. No other
+systems of religion can do this. They all fail here. They
+are silent. They are confounded. The Bible alone looks
+the subject in the face. It boldly proclaims the fact that
+man is a fallen creature, and with equal boldness proclaims
+a vast remedial system to meet his wants. I feel shut up
+to the conclusion that the Bible is from God. Christianity
+is a revelation from heaven. "Thy word is truth." (John
+xvii. 17.)</p>
+
+<p>Let us stand fast on the old ground, that the Bible, and
+the Bible only, is God's revelation of Himself to man. Be
+not moved by the many new assaults which modern
+scepticism is making on the inspired volume. Heed not
+the hard questions which the enemies of the faith are
+fond of putting about Bible difficulties, and to which
+perhaps you often feel unable to give an answer. Anchor
+your soul firmly on this safe principle,&mdash;that the whole
+book is God's truth. Tell the enemies of the Bible that,
+in spite of all their arguments, there is no book in the
+world which will bear comparison with the Bible,&mdash;none
+that so thoroughly meets man's wants,&mdash;none that explains
+so much of the state of mankind. As to the hard things
+in the Bible, tell them you are content to wait. You find<span class="pagenum">[Pg 359]</span>
+enough plain truth in the book to satisfy your conscience
+and save your soul. The hard things will be cleared
+up one day. What you know not now, you will know
+hereafter.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>II. The second point I propose to consider is <i>the
+general benefits which sickness confers on mankind</i>.</p>
+
+<p>I use that word "benefits" advisedly. I feel it of deep
+importance to see this part of our subject clearly. I know
+well that sickness is one of the supposed weak points in
+God's government of the world, on which sceptical minds
+love to dwell.&mdash;"Can God be a God of love, when He
+allows pain? Can God be a God of mercy, when He
+permits disease? He might prevent pain and disease;
+but He does not. How can these things be?" Such is
+the reasoning which often comes across the heart of man.</p>
+
+<p>I reply to all such reasoners, that their doubts and
+questionings are most unreasonable. They might us well
+doubt the existence of a Creator, because the order of the
+universe is disturbed by earthquakes, hurricanes, and
+storms. They might as well doubt the providence of God,
+because of the horrible massacres of Delhi and Cawnpore.
+All this would be just as reasonable as to doubt the mercy
+of God, because of the presence of sickness in the world.</p>
+
+<p>I ask all who find it hard to reconcile the prevalence of
+disease and pain with the love of God, to cast their eyes
+on the world around them, and to mark what is going on.
+I ask them to observe the extent to which men constantly
+submit to present loss for the sake of future gain,&mdash;present
+sorrow for the sake of future joy,&mdash;present pain for the
+sake of future health. The seed is thrown into the ground,
+and rots: but we sow in the hope of a future harvest.
+The boy is sent to school amidst many tears: but we send
+him in the hope of his getting future wisdom. The father
+of a family undergoes some fearful surgical operation: but
+he bears it, in the hope of future health.&mdash;I ask men to<span class="pagenum">[Pg 360]</span>
+apply this great principle to God's government of the
+world. I ask them to believe that God allows pain,
+sickness, and disease, not because He loves to vex man,
+but because He desires to benefit man's heart, and mind,
+and conscience, and soul, to all eternity.</p>
+
+<p>Once more I repeat, that I speak of the "benefits" of
+sickness on purpose and advisedly. I know the suffering
+and pain which sickness entails. I admit the misery and
+wretchedness which it often brings in its train. But I
+cannot regard it as an unmixed evil. I see in it a wise
+permission of God. I see in it a useful provision to check
+the ravages of sin and the devil among men's souls. If
+man had never sinned I should have been at a loss to
+discern the benefit of sickness. But since sin is in the
+world, I can see that sickness is a good. It is a blessing
+quite as much as a curse. It is a rough schoolmaster, I
+grant. But it is a real friend to man's soul.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>a</i>) Sickness helps to <i>remind men of death</i>. The most
+live as if they were never going to die. They follow
+business, or pleasure, or politics, or science, as if earth was
+their eternal home. They plan and scheme for the future,
+like the rich fool in the parable, as if they had a long lease
+of life, and were not tenants at will. A heavy illness
+sometimes goes far to dispel these delusions. It awakens
+men from their day-dreams, and reminds them that they
+have to die as well as to live. Now this I say emphatically
+is a mighty good.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>b</i>) Sickness helps to <i>make men think seriously of God</i>,
+and their souls, and the world to come. The most in their
+days of health can find no time for such thoughts. They
+dislike them. They put them away. They count them
+troublesome and disagreeable. Now a severe disease has
+sometimes a wonderful power of mustering and rallying
+these thoughts, and bringing them up before the eyes of a
+man's soul. Even a wicked king like Benhadad, when
+sick, could think of Elisha. (2 Kings viii. 8.) Even<span class="pagenum">[Pg 361]</span>
+heathen sailors, when death was in sight, were afraid, and
+"cried every man to his god." (Jonah i. 5.) Surely anything
+that helps to make men think is a good.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>c</i>) Sickness helps to <i>soften men's hearts</i>, and teach them
+wisdom. The natural heart is as hard as a stone. It can
+see no good in anything which is not of this life, and no
+happiness excepting in this world. A long illness sometimes
+goes far to correct these ideas. It exposes the
+emptiness and hollowness of what the world calls "good"
+things, and teaches us to hold them with a loose hand.
+The man of business finds that money alone is not everything
+the heart requires. The woman of the world finds
+that costly apparel, and novel-reading, and the reports of
+balls and operas, are miserable comforters in a sick room.
+Surely anything that obliges us to alter our weights and
+measures of earthly things is a real good.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>d</i>) Sickness helps to <i>level and humble us</i>. We are all
+naturally proud and high-minded. Few, even of the
+poorest, are free from the infection. Few are to be found
+who do not look down on somebody else, and secretly
+flatter themselves that they are "not as other men." A
+sick bed is a mighty tamer of such thoughts as these. It
+forces on us the mighty truth that we are all poor worms,
+that we "dwell in houses of clay," and are "crushed before
+the moth" (Job iv. 19), and that kings and subjects, masters
+and servants, rich and poor, are all dying creatures, and will
+soon stand side by side at the bar of God. In the sight
+of the coffin and the grave it is not easy to be proud.
+Surely anything that teaches that lesson is good.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>e</i>) Finally, sickness helps <i>to try men's religion</i>, of what
+sort it is. There are not many on earth who have on
+religion at all. Yet few have a religion that will bear
+inspection. Most are content with traditions received
+from their fathers, and can render no reason of the hope
+that is in them. Now disease is sometimes most useful to
+a man in exposing the utter worthlessness of his soul's<span class="pagenum">[Pg 362]</span>
+foundation. It often shows him that he has nothing solid
+under his feet, and nothing firm under his hand. It makes
+him find out that, although he may have had a form of
+religion, he has been all his life worshipping "an unknown
+God." Many a creed looks well on the smooth waters of
+health, which turns out utterly unsound and useless on the
+rough waves of the sick bed. The storms of winter often
+bring out the defects in a man's dwelling, and sickness
+often exposes the gracelessness of a man's soul. Surely
+anything that makes us find out the real character of our
+faith is a good.</p>
+
+<p>I do not say that sickness confers these benefits on all
+to whom it comes. Alas, I can say nothing of the kind!
+Myriads are yearly laid low by illness, and restored to
+health, who evidently learn no lesson from their sick beds,
+and return again to the world. Myriads are yearly passing
+through sickness to the grave, and yet receiving no more
+spiritual impression from it than the beasts that perish.
+While they live they have no feeling, and when they die
+there are "no bands in their death." (Psalm lxxiii. 4.)
+These are awful things to say. But they are true. The
+degree of deadness to which man's heart and conscience
+may attain, is a depth which I cannot pretend to fathom.</p>
+
+<p>But does sickness confer the benefits of which I have
+been speaking on only a few? I will allow nothing of the
+kind. I believe that in very many cases sickness produces
+impressions more or less akin to those of which I
+have just been speaking. I believe that in many minds
+sickness is God's "day of visitation," and that feelings are
+continually aroused on a sick bed which, if improved,
+might, by God's grace, result in salvation. I believe that
+in heathen lands sickness often paves the way for the
+missionary, and makes the poor idolater lend a willing ear
+to the glad tidings of the Gospel. I believe that in our
+own land sickness is one of the greatest aids to the minister
+of the Gospel, and that sermons and counsels are often<span class="pagenum">[Pg 363]</span>
+brought home in the day of disease which we have
+neglected in the day of health. I believe that sickness is
+one of God's most important subordinate instruments in
+the saving of men, and that though the feelings it calls
+forth are often temporary, it is also often a means whereby
+the Spirit works effectually on the heart. In short, I
+believe firmly that the sickness of men's bodies has often
+led, in God's wonderful providence, to the salvation of
+men's souls.</p>
+
+<p>I leave this branch of my subject here. It needs no
+further remark. If sickness can do the things of which I
+have been speaking (and who will gainsay it?), if sickness
+in a wicked world can help to make men think of God and
+their souls, then sickness confers benefits on mankind.</p>
+
+<p>We have no right to murmur at sickness, and repine at
+its presence in the world. We ought rather to thank God
+for it. It is God's witness. It is the soul's adviser. It is
+an awakener to the conscience. It is a purifier to the
+heart. Surely I have a right to tell you that sickness is
+a blessing and not a curse,&mdash;a help and not an injury,&mdash;a
+gain and not a loss,&mdash;a friend and not a foe to mankind.
+So long as we have a world wherein there is sin, it is a
+mercy that it is a world wherein there is sickness.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>III. The third and last point which I propose to
+consider, is <i>the special duties which the prevalence of
+sickness entails on each one of ourselves</i>.</p>
+
+<p>I should be sorry to leave the subject of sickness
+without saying something on this point. I hold it to be
+of cardinal importance not to be content with generalities
+in delivering God's message to souls. I am anxious to
+impress on each one into whose hands this paper may fall,
+his own personal responsibility in connection with the
+subject. I would fain have no one lay down this paper
+unable to answer the questions,&mdash;"What practical lesson
+have I learned? What, in a world of disease and death,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 364]</span>
+what ought I to do?"</p>
+
+<p>(<i>a</i>) One paramount duty which the prevalence of sickness
+entails on man, is that of <i>living habitually prepared to
+meet God</i>. Sickness is a remembrancer of death. Death
+is the door through which we must all pass to judgment.
+Judgment is the time when we must at last see God face
+to face. Surely the first lesson which the inhabitant of a
+sick and dying world should learn should be to prepare to
+meet his God.</p>
+
+<p>When are you prepared to meet God? Never till your
+iniquities are forgiven, and your sin covered! Never till
+your heart is renewed, and your will taught to delight in
+the will of God! You have many sins. If you go to
+church your own mouth is taught to confess this every
+Sunday. The blood of Jesus Christ can alone cleanse those
+sins away. The righteousness of Christ can alone make
+you acceptable in the sight of God. Faith, simple childlike
+faith, can alone give you an interest in Christ and His
+benefits. Would you know whether you are prepared to
+meet God? Then where is your faith?&mdash;Your heart is
+naturally unmeet for God's company. You have no real
+pleasure in doing His will. The Holy Ghost must transform
+you after the image of Christ. Old things must pass
+away. All things must become new. Would you know
+whether you are prepared to meet God? Then, where is
+your grace? Where are the evidences of your conversion
+and sanctification?</p>
+
+<p>I believe that this, and nothing less than this, is
+preparedness to meet God. Pardon of sin and meetness
+for God's presence,&mdash;justification by faith and sanctification
+of the heart,&mdash;the blood of Christ sprinkled on us, and the
+Spirit of Christ dwelling in us,&mdash;these are the grand
+essentials of the Christian religion. These are no mere
+words and names to furnish bones of contention for wrangling
+theologians. These are sober, solid, substantial
+realities. To live in the actual possession of these things,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 365]</span>
+in a world full of sickness and death, is the first duty
+which I press home upon your soul.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>b</i>) Another paramount duty which the prevalence of
+sickness entails on you, is that of <i>living habitually ready
+to bear it patiently</i>. Sickness is no doubt a trying thing
+to flesh and blood. To feel our nerves unstrung, and our
+natural force abated,&mdash;to be obliged to sit still and be cut
+off from all our usual avocations,&mdash;to see our plans broken
+off and our purposes disappointed,&mdash;to endure long hours,
+and days, and nights of weariness and pain,&mdash;all this is a
+severe strain on poor sinful human nature. What wonder
+if peevishness and impatience are brought out by disease!
+Surely in such a dying world as this we should study
+patience.</p>
+
+<p>How shall we learn to bear sickness patiently, when
+sickness comes to our turn? We must lay up stores of
+grace in the time of health. We must seek for the
+sanctifying influence of the Holy Ghost over our unruly
+tempers and dispositions. We must make a real business
+of our prayers, and regularly ask for strength to endure
+God's will as well as to do it. Such strength is to be had
+for the asking: "If ye shall ask anything in my name, I
+will do it for you." (John xiv. 14.)</p>
+
+<p>I cannot think it needless to dwell on this point. I
+believe the passive graces of Christianity receive far less
+notice than they deserve. Meekness, gentleness, long-suffering,
+faith, patience, are all mentioned in the Word of
+God as fruits of the Spirit. They are passive graces which
+specially glorify God. They often make men think, who
+despise the active side of the Christian character. Never
+do these graces shine so brightly as they do in the sick
+room. They enable many a sick person to preach a silent
+sermon, which those around him never forget. Would you
+adorn the doctrine you profess? Would you make your
+Christianity beautiful in the eyes of others? Then take
+the hint I give you this day. Lay up a store of patience<span class="pagenum">[Pg 366]</span>
+against the time of illness. Then, though your sickness be
+not to death, it shall be for the "glory of God." (John xi. 4.)</p>
+
+<p>(<i>c</i>) One more paramount duty which the prevalence of
+sickness entails on you, is that of <i>habitual readiness to
+feel with and help your fellow-men</i>. Sickness is never
+very far from us. Few are the families who have not
+some sick relative. Few are the parishes where you will
+not find some one ill. But wherever there is sickness,
+there is a call to duty. A little timely assistance in some
+cases,&mdash;a kindly visit in others,&mdash;a friendly inquiry,&mdash;a
+mere expression of sympathy, may do a vast good. These
+are the sort of things which soften asperities, and bring
+men together, and promote good feeling. These are ways
+by which you may ultimately lead men to Christ and
+save their souls. These are good works to which every
+professing Christian should be ready. In a world full of
+sickness and disease we ought to "bear one another's
+burdens," and be "kind one to another." (Gal. vi. 2;
+Ephes. iv. 32.)</p>
+
+<p>These things, I dare say, may appear to some little and
+trifling. They must needs be doing something great, and
+grand, and striking, and heroic! I take leave to say that
+conscientious attention to these little acts of brotherly-kindness
+is one of the clearest evidences of having "the
+mind of Christ." They are acts in which our blessed
+Master Himself was abundant. He was ever "going about
+doing good" to the sick and sorrowful. (Acts x. 38.)
+They are acts to which He attaches great importance in
+that most solemn passage of Scripture, the description of
+the last judgment. He says there: "I was sick, and ye
+visited Me." (Matt. xxv. 36.)</p>
+
+<p>Have you any desire to prove the reality of your
+charity,&mdash;that blessed grace which so many talk of, and so
+few practise? If you have, beware of unfeeling selfishness
+and neglect of your sick brethren. Search them out.
+Assist them if they need aid. Show your sympathy with<span class="pagenum">[Pg 367]</span>
+them. Try to lighten their burdens. Above all, strive to
+do good to their souls. It will do you good if it does no
+good to them. It will keep your heart from murmuring.
+It may prove a blessing to your own soul. I firmly believe
+that God is testing and proving us by every case of
+sickness within our reach. By permitting suffering, He
+tries whether Christians have any feeling. Beware, lest
+you be weighed in the balances and found wanting. If
+you can live in a sick and dying world and not feel for
+others, you have yet much to learn.</p>
+
+<p>I leave this branch of my subject here. I throw out
+the points I have named as suggestions, and I pray God
+that they may work in many minds. I repeat, that habitual
+preparedness to meet God,&mdash;habitual readiness to suffer
+patiently,&mdash;habitual willingness to sympathize heartily,&mdash;are
+plain duties which sickness entails on all. They are
+duties within the reach of every one. In naming them I
+ask nothing extravagant or unreasonable. I bid no man
+retire into a monastery and ignore the duties of his
+station. I only want men to realize that they live in a
+sick and dying world, and to live accordingly. And I say
+boldly, that the man who lives the life of faith, and
+holiness, and patience, and charity, is not only the most
+true Christian, but the most wise and reasonable man.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>And now I conclude all with four words of practical
+application. I want the subject of this paper to be turned
+to some spiritual use. My heart's desire and prayer to
+God in placing it in this volume is to do good to souls.</p>
+
+<p>(1) In the first place, I offer a <i>question</i> to all who read
+this paper, to which, as God's ambassador, I entreat their
+serious attention. It is a question which grows naturally
+out of the subject on which I have been writing. It is a
+question which concerns all, of every rank, and class, and
+condition. I ask you, What will you do when you are ill?</p>
+
+<p>The time must come when you, as well as others, must<span class="pagenum">[Pg 368]</span>
+go down the dark valley of the shadow of death. The
+hour must come when you, like all your forefathers, must
+sicken and die. The time may be near or far off. God
+only knows. But whenever the time may be, I ask again.
+What are you going to do? Where do you mean to turn
+for comfort? On what do you mean to rest your soul?
+On what do you mean to build your hope? From whence
+will you fetch your consolations?</p>
+
+<p>I do entreat you not to put these questions away.
+Suffer them to work on your conscience, and rest not till
+you can give them a satisfactory answer. Trifle not with
+that precious gift, an immortal soul. Defer not the
+consideration of the matter to a more convenient season.
+Presume not on a death-bed repentance. The greatest
+business ought surely not to be left to the last. One
+dying thief was saved that men might not despair, but
+only one that none might presume. I repeat the question.
+I am sure it deserves an answer, "What will you do
+when you are ill?"</p>
+
+<p>If you were going to live for ever in this world I would
+not address you as I do. But it cannot be. There is no
+escaping the common lot of all mankind. Nobody can
+die in our stead. The day must come when we must each
+go to our long home. Against that day I want you to be
+prepared. The body which now takes up so much of your
+attention&mdash;the body which you now clothe, and feed, and
+warm with so much care,&mdash;that body must return again to
+the dust. Oh, think what an awful thing it would prove
+at last to have provided for everything except the one
+thing needful,&mdash;to have provided for the body, but to
+have neglected the soul,&mdash;to die, in fact, like Cardinal
+Beaufort, and "give no sign" of being saved! Once more
+I press my question on your conscience: "What will you
+do when you are ill?"</p>
+
+<p>(2) In the next place, I offer <i>counsel</i> to all who feel
+they need it and are willing to take it,&mdash;to all who feel<span class="pagenum">[Pg 369]</span>
+they are not yet prepared to meet God. That counsel is
+short and simple. Acquaint yourself with the Lord Jesus
+Christ without delay. Repent, be converted, flee to Christ,
+and be saved.</p>
+
+<p>Either you have a soul or you have not. You will
+surely never deny that you have. Then if you have a
+soul, seek that soul's salvation. Of all gambling in the
+world, there is none so reckless as that of the man who
+lives unprepared to meet God, and yet puts off repentance.&mdash;Either
+you have sins or you have none. If you have
+(and who will dare to deny it?), break off from those sins,
+cast away your transgressions, and turn away from them
+without delay.&mdash;Either you need a Saviour or you do not.
+If you do, flee to the only Saviour this very day, and cry
+mightily to Him to save your soul. Apply to Christ at
+once. Seek Him by faith. Commit your soul into His
+keeping. Cry mightily to Him for pardon and peace with
+God. Ask Him to pour down the Holy Spirit upon you,
+and make you a thorough Christian. He will hear you.
+No matter what you have been, He will not refuse your
+prayer. He has said, "Him that cometh to Me I will in
+no wise cast out." (John vi. 37.)</p>
+
+<p>Beware, I beseech you, of a vague and indefinite
+Christianity. Be not content with a general hope that all
+is right because you belong to the old Church of England,
+and that all will be well at last because God is merciful.
+Rest not, rest not without personal union with Christ
+Himself. Rest not, rest not till you have the witness of
+the Spirit in your heart, that you are washed, and sanctified,
+and justified, and one with Christ, and Christ in you.
+Rest not till you can say with the apostle, "I know whom
+I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep
+that which I have committed to Him against that day."
+(2 Tim. i. 12.)</p>
+
+<p>Vague, and indefinite, and indistinct religion may do
+very well in time of health. It will never do in the day<span class="pagenum">[Pg 370]</span>
+of sickness. A mere formal, perfunctory Church-membership
+may carry a man through the sunshine of youth and
+prosperity. It will break down entirely when death is in
+sight. Nothing will do then but real heart-union with
+Christ. Christ interceding for us at God's right hand,&mdash;Christ
+known and believed as our Priest, our Physician,
+our Friend,&mdash;Christ alone can rob death of its sting and
+enable us to face sickness without fear. He alone can
+deliver those who through fear of death are in bondage.
+I say to every one who wants advice, Be acquainted with
+Christ. As ever you would have hope and comfort on the
+bed of sickness, be acquainted with Christ. Seek Christ.
+Apply to Christ.</p>
+
+<p>Take every care and trouble to Him when you are
+acquainted with Him. He will keep you and carry you
+through all. Pour out your heart before Him, when your
+conscience is burdened. He is the true Confessor. He
+alone can absolve you and take the burden away. Turn
+to Him first in the day of sickness, like Martha and Mary.
+Keep on looking to Him to the last breath of your life.
+Christ is worth knowing. The more you know Him the
+better you will love Him. Then be acquainted with
+Jesus Christ.</p>
+
+<p>(3) In the third place, I exhort all true Christians who
+read this paper to remember how much they may glorify
+God in the time of sickness, and to <i>lie quiet in God's
+hand when they are ill</i>.</p>
+
+<p>I feel it very important to touch on this point. I know
+how ready the heart of a believer is to faint, and how
+busy Satan is in suggesting doubts and questionings, when
+the body of a Christian is weak. I have seen something
+of the depression and melancholy which sometimes comes
+upon the children of God when they are suddenly laid
+aside by disease, and obliged to sit still. I have marked
+how prone some good people are to torment themselves
+with morbid thoughts at such seasons, and to say in their<span class="pagenum">[Pg 371]</span>
+hearts, "God has forsaken me: I am cast out of His
+sight."</p>
+
+<p>I earnestly entreat all sick believers to remember that
+they may honour God as much by patient suffering as
+they can by active work. It often shows more grace to
+sit still than it does to go to and fro, and perform great
+exploits. I entreat them to remember that Christ cares
+for them as much when they are sick as He does when
+they are well, and that the very chastisement they feel so
+acutely is sent in love, and not in anger. Above all, I
+entreat them to recollect the sympathy of Jesus for all
+His weak members. They are always tenderly cared for
+by Him, but never so much as in their time of need.
+Christ has had great experience of sickness. He knows
+the heart of a sick man. He used to see "all manner of
+sickness, and all manner of disease" when He was upon
+earth. He felt specially for the sick in the days of His
+flesh. He feels for them specially still. Sickness and
+suffering, I often think, make believers more like their
+Lord in experience, than health. "Himself took our
+infirmities, and bare our sicknesses." (Isaiah liii. 3; Matt.
+viii. 17.) The Lord Jesus was a "Man of sorrows, and
+acquainted with grief." None have such an opportunity
+of learning the mind of a suffering Saviour as suffering
+disciples.</p>
+
+<p>(4) I conclude with a word of <i>exhortation</i> to all
+believers, which I heartily pray God to impress upon
+their souls. I exhort you to keep up a habit of close
+communion with Christ, and never to be afraid of "going
+too far" in your religion. Remember this, if you wish to
+have "great peace" in your times of sickness.</p>
+
+<p>I observe with regret a tendency in some quarters to
+lower the standard of practical Christianity, and to
+denounce what are called "extreme views" about a
+Christian's daily walk in life. I remark with pain that
+even religious people will sometimes look coldly on those<span class="pagenum">[Pg 372]</span>
+who withdraw from worldly society, and will censure them
+as "exclusive, narrow-minded, illiberal, uncharitable, sour-spirited,"
+and the like. I warn every believer in Christ
+who reads this paper to beware of being influenced by
+such censures. I entreat him, if he wants light in the
+valley of death, to "keep himself unspotted from the
+world," to "follow the Lord very fully," and to walk very
+closely with God. (James i. 27; Num. xiv. 24.)</p>
+
+<p>I believe that the want of "thoroughness" about many
+people's Christianity is one secret of their little comfort,
+both in health and sickness. I believe that the "half-and-half,"&mdash;"keep-in-with-everybody"
+religion, which satisfies
+many in the present day, is offensive to God, and sows
+thorns in dying pillows, which hundreds never discover
+till too late. I believe that the weakness and feebleness
+of such a religion never comes out so much as it does upon
+a sick bed.</p>
+
+<p>If you and I want "strong consolation" in our time of
+need, we must not be content with a bare union with
+Christ. (Heb. vi. 18.) We must seek to know something
+of heart-felt, experimental <i>communion</i> with Him.
+Never, never let us forget, that "union" is one thing,
+and "communion" another. Thousands, I fear, who
+know what "union" with Christ is, know nothing of
+"communion."</p>
+
+<p>The day may come when after a long fight with disease,
+we shall feel that medicine can do no more, and that
+nothing remains but to die. Friends will be standing by,
+unable to help us. Hearing, eyesight, even the power of
+praying, will be fast failing us. The world and its shadows
+will be melting beneath our feet. Eternity, with its
+realities, will be looming large before our minds. What
+shall support us in that trying hour? What shall enable
+us to feel, "I fear no evil"? (Psalm xxiii. 4.) Nothing,
+nothing can do it but close communion with Christ.
+Christ dwelling in our hearts by faith,&mdash;Christ putting<span class="pagenum">[Pg 373]</span>
+His right arm under our heads,&mdash;Christ felt to be sitting
+by our side,&mdash;Christ can alone give us the complete
+victory in the last struggle.</p>
+
+<p>Let us cleave to Christ more closely, love Him more
+heartily, live to Him more thoroughly, copy Him more
+exactly, confess Him more boldly, follow Him more fully.
+Religion like this will always bring its own reward.
+Worldly people may laugh at it. Weak brethren may
+think it extreme. But it will wear well. At even time
+it will bring us light. In sickness it will bring us peace.
+In the world to come it will give us a crown of glory that
+fadeth not away.</p>
+
+<p>The time is short. The fashion of this world passeth
+away. A few more sicknesses, and all will be over. A
+few more funerals, and our own funeral will take place.
+A few more storms and tossings, and we shall be safe in
+harbour. We travel towards a world where there is no
+more sickness,&mdash;where parting, and pain, and crying, and
+mourning, are done with for evermore. Heaven is becoming
+every year more full, and earth more empty. The friends
+ahead are becoming more numerous than the friends astern.
+"Yet a little time and He that shall come will come, and
+will not tarry." (Heb. x. 37.) In His presence shall be
+fulness of joy. Christ shall wipe away all tears from
+His people's eyes. The last enemy that shall be destroyed
+is Death. But he shall be destroyed. Death himself
+shall one day die. (Rev. xx. 14.)</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime let us live the life of faith in the Son
+of God. Let us lean all our weight on Christ, and rejoice
+in the thought that He lives for evermore.</p>
+
+<p>Yes: blessed be God! Christ lives, though we may die.
+Christ lives, though friends and families are carried to the
+grave. He lives who abolished death, and brought life
+and immortality to light by the Gospel. He lives who
+said, "O death, I will be thy plagues: O grave, I will be
+thy destruction." (Hos. xiii. 14.) He lives who will one<span class="pagenum">[Pg 374]</span>
+day change our vile body, and make it like unto His
+glorious body. In sickness and in health, in life and in
+death, let us lean confidently on Him. Surely we ought
+to say daily with one of old, "Blessed be God for Jesus
+Christ!"</p>
+<br>
+
+
+
+<h2><a name="XVI" id="XVI"></a>XVI</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 375]</span>
+
+<h2>THE FAMILY OF GOD</h2>
+
+<blockquote><p>"<i>The whole family in heaven and earth.</i>"&mdash;<span class="smcap">Ephes.</span> iii. 15.</p></blockquote>
+
+
+<p>The words which form the title of this paper ought to
+stir some feelings in our minds at any time. There lives
+not the man or woman on earth who is not member of
+some "family." The poorest as well as the richest has his
+kith and kin, and can tell you something of his "family."</p>
+
+<p>Family gatherings at certain times of the year, such as
+Christmas, we all know, are very common. Thousands of
+firesides are crowded then, if at no other time of the year.
+The young man in town snatches a few days from business,
+and takes a run down to the old folks at home. The young
+woman in service gets a short holiday, and comes to visit
+her father and mother. Brothers and sisters meet for a
+few hours. Parents and children look one another in the
+face. How much there is to talk about! How many
+questions to be asked! How many interesting things to
+be told! Happy indeed is that fireside which sees gathered
+round it at Christmas "the whole family!"</p>
+
+<p>Family gatherings are natural, and right, and good. I
+approve them with all my heart. It does me good to see
+them kept up. They are one of the very few pleasant
+things which have survived the fall of man. Next to the
+grace of God, I see no principle which unites people so
+much in this sinful world as family feeling. Community<span class="pagenum">[Pg 376]</span>
+of blood is a most powerful tie. It was a fine saying of
+an American naval officer, when his men insisted on
+helping the English sailors in fighting the Taku forts in
+China,&mdash;"I cannot help it: blood is thicker than water."
+I have often observed that people will stand up for their
+relations, merely because they <i>are</i> their relations,&mdash;and
+refuse to hear a word against them,&mdash;even when they have
+no sympathy with their tastes and ways. Anything which
+helps to keep up family feeling ought to be commended.
+It is a wise thing, when it can be done, to gather together
+at Christmas "the whole family."</p>
+
+<p>Family gatherings, nevertheless, are often sorrowful
+things. It would be strange indeed, in such a world as
+this, if they were not. Few are the family circles which
+do not show gaps and vacant places as years pass away.
+Changes and deaths make sad havoc as time goes on.
+Thoughts will rise up within us, as we grow older, about
+faces and voices no longer with us, which no Christmas
+merriment can entirely keep down. When the young
+members of the family have once begun to launch forth
+into the world, the old heads may long survive the
+scattering of the nest; but after a certain time, it seldom
+happens that you see together "the whole family."</p>
+
+<p>There is one great family to which I want all the readers
+of this paper to belong. It is a family despised by many,
+and not even known by some. But it is a family of far
+more importance than any family on earth. To belong to
+it entitles a man to far greater privileges than to be the
+son of a king. It is the family of which St. Paul speaks
+to the Ephesians, when he tells them of the "whole family
+in heaven and earth." It is the family of God.</p>
+
+<p>I ask the attention of every reader of this paper while
+I try to describe this family, and recommend it to his
+notice. I want to tell you of the amazing benefits which
+membership of this family conveys. I want you to be
+found one of this family, when its gathering shall come at<span class="pagenum">[Pg 377]</span>
+last,&mdash;a gathering without separation, or sorrow, or tears.
+Hear me while, as a minister of Christ, and friend to your
+soul, I speak to you for a few minutes about "the whole
+family in heaven and earth:"&mdash;</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>I. First of all, <i>what is this family</i>?</p>
+
+<p>II. Secondly, <i>what is its present position</i>?</p>
+
+<p>III. Thirdly, <i>what are its future prospects</i>?</p></blockquote>
+
+
+<p>I wish to unfold these three things before you, and I
+invite your serious consideration of them. Our family
+gatherings on earth must have an end one day. Our last
+earthly Christmas must come. Happy indeed is that
+Christmas which finds us prepared to meet God!</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>I. <i>What is that family</i> which the Bible calls "the
+whole family in heaven and earth"? Of whom does it
+consist?</p>
+
+<p>The family before us consists of all real Christians,&mdash;of
+all who have the Spirit,&mdash;of all true believers in Christ,&mdash;of
+the saints of every age, and Church, and nation, and
+tongue. It includes the blessed company of all faithful
+people. It is the same as the election of God,&mdash;the
+household of faith,&mdash;the mystical body of Christ,&mdash;the
+bride,&mdash;the living temple,&mdash;the sheep that never perish,&mdash;the
+Church of the first-born,&mdash;the holy Catholic Church.
+All these expressions are only "the family of God" under
+other names.</p>
+
+<p>Membership of the family before us does not depend on
+any earthly connection. It comes not by natural birth,
+but by new birth. Ministers cannot impart it to their
+hearers. Parents cannot give it to their children. You
+may be born in the godliest family in the land, and enjoy
+the richest means of grace a Church can supply, and yet
+never belong to the family of God. To belong to it you<span class="pagenum">[Pg 378]</span>
+must be born again. None but the Holy Ghost can make
+a living member of His family. It is His special office
+and prerogative to bring into the true Church such as
+shall be saved. They that are born again are born, "not
+of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of
+man, but of God." (John i. 13.)</p>
+
+<p>Do you ask the reason, of this name which the Bible
+gives to the company of all true Christians? Would you
+like to know why they are called "a family"? Listen and
+I will tell you.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>a</i>) True Christians are called "a family" because they
+have all <i>one Father</i>. They are all children of God by faith
+in Christ Jesus. They are all born of one Spirit. They are
+all sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty. They have
+received the Spirit of adoption, whereby they cry, Abba
+Father. (Gal. iii. 26; John iii. 8; 2 Cor. vi. 18; Rom.
+viii. 15.) They do not regard God with slavish fear, as an
+austere Being, only ready to punish them. They look up
+to Him with tender confidence, as a reconciled and loving
+parent,&mdash;as one forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin, to
+all who believe on Jesus,&mdash;and full of pity even to the least
+and feeblest. The words, "Our Father which art in
+heaven," are no mere form in the mouth of true Christians.
+No wonder they are called God's "family."</p>
+
+<p>(<i>b</i>) True Christians are called "a family," because they
+all <i>rejoice in one name</i>. That name is the name of their
+great Head and Elder Brother, even Jesus Christ the Lord.
+Just as a common family name is the uniting link to all
+the members of a Highland clan, so does the name of Jesus
+tie all believers together in one vast family. As members
+of outward visible Churches they have various names and
+distinguishing appellations. As living members of Christ,
+they all, with one heart and mind, rejoice in one Saviour.
+Not a heart among them but feels drawn to Jesus as the
+only object of hope. Not a tongue among them but would
+tell you that "Christ is all." Sweet to them all is the thought<span class="pagenum">[Pg 379]</span>
+of Christ's death for them on the cross. Sweet is the
+thought of Christ's intercession for them at the right hand
+of God. Sweet is the thought of Christ's coming again to
+unite them to Himself in one glorified company for ever.
+In fact, you might as well take away the sun out of heaven,
+as take away the name of Christ from believers. To the
+world there may seem little in His name. To believers it
+is full of comfort, hope, joy, rest, and peace. No wonder
+they are called "a family."</p>
+
+<p>(<i>c</i>) True Christians, above all, are called "a family"
+because there is so strong <i>a family likeness</i> among them.
+They are all led by one Spirit, and are marked by the same
+general features of life, heart, taste, and character. Just
+as there is a general bodily resemblance among the brothers
+and sisters of a family, so there is a general spiritual
+resemblance among all the sons and daughters of the Lord
+Almighty. They all hate sin and love God. They all
+rest their hope of salvation on Christ, and have no confidence
+in themselves. They all endeavour to "come out and
+be separate" from the ways of the world, and to set their
+affections on things above. They all turn naturally to the
+same Bible, as the only food of their souls and the only
+sure guide in their pilgrimage toward heaven: they find
+it a "lamp to their feet, and a light to their path." (Psa.
+cxix. 105.) They all go to the same throne of grace in
+prayer, and find it as needful to speak to God as to breathe.
+They all live by the same rule, the Word of God, and strive
+to conform their daily life to its precepts. They have all
+the same inward experience. Repentance, faith, hope,
+charity, humility, inward conflict, are things with which
+they are all more or less acquainted. No wonder they are
+called "a family."</p>
+
+<p>This family likeness among true believers is a thing that
+deserves special attention. To my own mind it is one of
+the strongest indirect evidences of the truth of Christianity
+It is one of the greatest proofs of the reality of the work<span class="pagenum">[Pg 380]</span>
+of the Holy Ghost. Some true Christians live in civilized
+countries, and some in the midst of heathen lands. Some
+are highly educated, and some are unable to read a letter.
+Some are rich and some are poor. Some are Churchmen
+and some are Dissenters. Some are old and some are
+young. And yet, notwithstanding all this, there is a
+marvellous oneness of heart and character among them.
+Their joys and their sorrows, their love and their hatred,
+their likes and their dislikes, their tastes and their distastes,
+their hopes and their fears, are all most curiously alike.
+Let others think what they please, I see in all this the
+finger of God. His handiwork is always one and the same.
+No wonder that true Christians are compared to "a
+family."</p>
+
+<p>Take a converted Englishman and a converted Hindoo,
+and let them suddenly meet for the first time. I will
+engage, if they can understand one another's language,
+they will soon find common ground between them, and
+feel at home. The one may have been brought up at
+Eton and Oxford, and enjoyed every privilege of English
+civilization. The other may have been trained in the
+midst of gross heathenism, and accustomed to habits, ways,
+and manners as unlike the Englishman's as darkness
+compared to light. And yet now in half an hour they feel
+that they are friends! The Englishman finds that he has
+more in common with his Hindoo brother than he has
+with many an old college companion or school-fellow!
+Who can account for this? How can it be explained?
+Nothing can account for it but the unity of the Spirit's
+teaching. It is "one touch" of grace (not nature) "that
+makes the whole world kin." God's people are in the
+highest sense "a family."</p>
+
+<p>This is the family to which I wish to direct the attention
+of my readers in this paper. This is the family to which
+I want you to belong. I ask you this day to consider it
+well, if you never considered it before. I have shown you<span class="pagenum">[Pg 381]</span>
+the Father of the family,&mdash;the God and Father of our Lord
+Jesus Christ. I have shown you the Head and Elder
+Brother of the family,&mdash;the Lord Jesus Himself. I have
+shown you the features and characteristics of the family.
+Its members have all great marks of resemblance. Once
+more I say, consider it well.</p>
+
+<p>Outside this family, remember, there is no salvation.
+None but those who belong to it, according to the Bible,
+are in the way that leads to heaven. The salvation of
+our souls does not depend on union with one Church or
+separation from another. They are miserably deceived
+who think that it does, and will find it out to their cost
+one day, except they awake. No! the life of our souls
+depends on something far more important. This is life
+eternal, to be a member of "the whole family in heaven
+and earth."</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>II. I will now pass on to the second thing which I
+promised to consider. <i>What is the present position</i> of the
+whole family in heaven and earth?</p>
+
+<p>The family to which I am directing the attention of my
+readers this day is divided into two great parts. Each part
+has its own residence or dwelling-place. Part of the family
+is in heaven, and part is on earth. For the present the two
+parts are entirely separated from one another. But they
+form one body in the sight of God, though resident in two
+places; and their union is sure to take place one day.</p>
+
+<p>Two places, be it remembered, and two only, contain
+the family of God. The Bible tells us of no third habitation.
+There is no such thing as purgatory, whatever some
+Christians may think fit to say. There is no house of
+purifying, training, or probation for those who are not true
+Christians when they die. Oh no! There are but two parts
+of the family,&mdash;the part that is seen and the part that is
+unseen, the part that is in "heaven" and the part that is
+on "earth." The members of the family that are not in<span class="pagenum">[Pg 382]</span>
+heaven are on earth, and those that are not on earth are
+in heaven. Two parts, and two only! Two places, and
+two only! Let this never be forgotten.</p>
+
+<p>Some of God's family are safe <i>in heaven</i>. They are at
+rest in that place which the Lord Jesus expressly calls
+"Paradise." (Luke xxiii. 43.) They have finished their
+course. They have fought their battle. They have done
+their appointed work. They have learned their lessons.
+They have carried their cross. They have passed through
+the waves of this troublesome world and reached the
+harbour. Little as we know about them, we know that
+they are happy. They are no longer troubled by sin and
+temptation. They have said good-bye for ever to poverty
+and anxiety, to pain and sickness, to sorrow and tears.
+They are with Christ Himself, who loved them and gave
+Himself for them, and in His company they must needs
+be happy. (Phil. i. 23.) They have nothing to fear in
+looking back to the past. They have nothing to dread in
+looking forward to things to come. Three things only are
+lacking to make their happiness complete. These three
+are the second advent of Christ in glory, the resurrection
+of their own bodies, and the gathering together of all
+believers. And of these three things they are sure.</p>
+
+<p>Some of God's family are still <i>upon earth</i>. They are
+scattered to and fro in the midst of a wicked world, a few
+in one place and a few in another. All are more or less
+occupied in the same way, according to the measure of
+their grace. All are running a race, doing a work, warring
+a warfare, carrying a cross, striving against sin, resisting
+the devil, crucifying the flesh, struggling against the world,
+witnessing for Christ, mourning over their own hearts,
+hearing, reading, and praying, however feebly, for the life
+of their souls. Each is often disposed to think no cross so
+heavy as his own, no work so difficult, no heart so hard.
+But each and all hold on their way,&mdash;a wonder to the
+ignorant world around them, and often a wonder to<span class="pagenum">[Pg 383]</span>
+themselves.</p>
+
+<p>But, however divided God's family may be at present in
+dwelling-place and local habitation, it is still one family.
+Both parts of it are still one in character, one in possessions,
+and one in relation to God. The part in heaven has not
+so much superiority over the part on earth as at first sight
+may appear. The difference between the two is only one
+of degree.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>a</i>) Both parts of the family love the same Saviour, and
+delight in the same perfect will of God. But the part on
+earth loves with much imperfection and infirmity, and
+lives by faith, not by sight.&mdash;The part in heaven loves
+without weakness, or doubt, or distraction. It walks by
+sight and not by faith, and sees what it once believed.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>b</i>) Both parts of the family are saints. But the saints
+on earth are often poor weary pilgrims, who find the "flesh
+lusting against the spirit and the spirit lusting against
+the flesh, so that they cannot do the things they would."
+(Gal. v. 17.) They live in the midst of an evil world, and
+are often sick of themselves and of the sin they see around
+them.&mdash;The saints in heaven, on the contrary, are delivered
+from the world, the flesh, and the devil, and enjoy a
+glorious liberty. They are called "the spirits of just men
+made perfect." (Heb. xii. 23.)</p>
+
+<p>(<i>c</i>) Both parts of the family are alike God's children.
+But the children in heaven have learned all their lessons,
+have finished their appointed tasks, have begun an eternal
+holiday.&mdash;The children on earth are still at school. They
+are daily learning wisdom, though slowly and with much
+trouble, and often needing to be reminded of their past
+lessons by chastisement and the rod. Their holidays are
+yet to come.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>d</i>) Both parts of the family are alike God's soldiers.
+But the soldiers on earth are yet militant. Their warfare
+is not accomplished. Their fight is not over. They need
+every day to put on the whole armour of God.&mdash;The<span class="pagenum">[Pg 384]</span>
+soldiers in heaven are all triumphant. No enemy can
+hurt them now. No fiery dart can reach them. Helmet
+and shield may both be laid aside. They may at last say
+to the sword of the Spirit, "Rest and be still." They may
+at length sit down, and need not to watch and stand on
+their guard.</p>
+
+<p>(2) Last, but not least, both parts of the family are alike
+safe and secure. Wonderful as this may sound, it is true.
+Christ cares as much for His members on earth as His
+members in heaven. You might as well think to pluck
+the stars out of heaven, as to pluck one saint, however
+feeble, out of Christ's hand. Both parts of the family are
+alike secured by "an everlasting covenant ordered in all
+things and sure." (2 Sam. xxiii. 5.) The members on
+earth, through the burden of the flesh and the dimness of
+their faith, may neither see, nor know, nor feel their own
+safety. But they are safe, though they may not see it.
+The whole family is "kept by the power of God, through
+faith unto salvation." (1 Peter i. 5.) The members yet
+on the road are as secure as the members who have got
+home. Not one shall be found missing at the last day.
+The words of the Christian poet shall be found strictly
+true:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="pbox">
+"More happy, but not more secure,<br>
+The glorified spirits in heaven."
+</p>
+
+<p>Before I leave this part of my subject, I ask every
+reader of this paper to understand thoroughly the present
+position of God's family, and to form a just estimate of it.
+Learn not to measure its numbers or its privileges by what
+you see with your eyes. You see only a small body of
+believers in this present time. But you must not forget
+that a great company has got safe to heaven already, and
+that when all are assembled at the last day they will be
+"a multitude which no man can number." (Rev. vii. 9.)
+You only see that part of the family which is struggling<span class="pagenum">[Pg 385]</span>
+on earth. You must never forget that the greater part of
+the family has got home and is resting in heaven.&mdash;You
+see the militant part, but not the triumphant. You see
+the part that is carrying the cross, but not the part which
+is safe in Paradise. The family of God is far more rich
+and glorious than you suppose. Believe me, it is no small
+thing to belong to the "whole family in heaven and
+earth."</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>III. I will now pass on to the last thing which I
+promised to consider.&mdash;<i>What are the future prospects</i> of
+the whole family in heaven and earth?</p>
+
+<p>The future prospects of a family! What a vast amount
+of uncertainty these words open up when we look at any
+family now in the world! How little we can tell of the
+things coming on any of us! What a mercy that we do
+not know the sorrows and trials and separations through
+which our beloved children may have to pass, when we
+have left the world! It is a mercy that we do not know
+"what a day may bring forth," and a far greater mercy
+that we do not know what may happen in twenty years.
+(Prov. xxvii. 1.) Alas, foreknowledge of the future prospects
+of our belongings would spoil many a family
+gathering, and fill the whole party with gloom!</p>
+
+<p>Think how many a fine boy, who is now the delight of
+his parents, will by and by walk in the prodigal's footsteps,
+and never return home! Think how many a fair daughter,
+the joy of a mother's heart, will follow the bent of her
+self-will after a few years, and insist on some miserably
+mistaken marriage! Think how disease and pain will
+often lay low the loveliest of a family circle, and make
+her life a burden and weariness to herself, if not to others!
+Think of the endless breaches and divisions arising out of
+money matters! Alas, there is many a life-long quarrel
+about a few pounds, between those who once played
+together in the same nursery! Think of these things.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 386]</span>
+The "future prospects" of many a family which meets together
+every Christmas are a solemn and serious subject.
+Hundreds, to say the least, are gathering together for the
+last time: when they part, they will never meet again.</p>
+
+<p>But, thank God, there is one great family whose "prospects"
+are very different. It is the family of which I am
+speaking in this paper, and commending to your attention.
+The future prospects of the family of God are not uncertain.
+They are good, and only good,&mdash;happy, and only
+happy. Listen to me, and I will try to set them in order
+before you.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>a</i>) The members of God's family shall all be <i>brought
+safe home</i> one day. Here upon earth they may be scattered,
+tried, tossed with tempests, and bowed down with afflictions.
+But not one of them shall perish. (John x. 28.)
+The weakest lamb shall not be left to perish in the
+wilderness: the feeblest child shall not be missing when
+the muster-roll is brought out at the last day. In spite of
+the world, the flesh, and the devil, the whole family shall
+get home. "If, when we were enemies, we were reconciled
+to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled,
+we shall be saved by His life." (Rom. v. 10.)</p>
+
+<p>(<i>b</i>) The members of God's family <i>shall all have glorious
+bodies</i> one day. When the Lord Jesus Christ comes the
+second time, the dead saints shall all be raised and the
+living shall all be changed. They shall no longer have a
+vile mortal body, full of weaknesses and infirmities: they
+shall have a body like that of their risen Lord, without
+the slightest liability to sickness and pain. They shall no
+longer be clogged and hindered by an aching frame, when
+they want to serve God: they shall be able to serve Him
+night and day without weariness, and to attend upon Him
+without distraction. The former things will have passed
+away. That word will be fulfilled, "I make all things
+new." (Rev. xxi. 5.)</p>
+
+<p>(<i>c</i>) The members of God's family shall all be <i>gathered</i><span class="pagenum">[Pg 387]</span>
+<i>into one company</i> one day. It matters nothing where they
+have lived or where they have died. They may have been
+separated from one another both by time and space. One
+may have lived in tents, with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
+and another travelled by railway in our own day. One
+may have laid his bones in an Australian desert, and
+another may have been buried in an English churchyard.
+It makes no difference. All shall be gathered together
+from north and south, and east and west, and meet in one
+happy assembly, to part no more. The earthly partings of
+God's family are only for a few days. Their meeting is
+for eternity. It matters little where we live. It is a time
+of scattering now, and not of gathering. It matters little
+where we die. All graves are equally near to Paradise.
+But it does matter much whether we belong to God's
+family. If we do we are sure to meet again at last.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>d</i>) The members of God's family shall all be <i>united in
+mind and judgment</i> one day. They are not so now
+about many little things. About the things needful to
+salvation there is a marvellous unity among them. About
+many speculative points in religion, about forms of worship
+and Church government, they often sadly disagree. But
+there shall be no disagreement among them one day.
+Ephraim shall no longer vex Judah, nor Judah Ephraim.
+Churchmen shall no more quarrel with Dissenters, nor
+Dissenters with Churchmen. Partial knowledge and dim
+vision shall be at an end for ever. Divisions and separations,
+misunderstandings and misconstructions, shall be
+buried and forgotten. As there shall only be one
+language, so there shall only be one opinion. At last,
+after six thousand years of strife and jangling, perfect
+unity and harmony shall be found. A family shall at
+length be shown to angels and men in which all are of
+one mind.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>e</i>) The members of God's family shall all be <i>perfected
+in holiness</i> one day. They are not literally perfect<span class="pagenum">[Pg 388]</span>
+now, although "complete in Christ." (Col. ii. 10.) Though
+born again, and renewed after the image of Christ,
+they offend and fall short in many things. (James
+iii, 2.) None know it better than they do themselves.
+It is their grief and sorrow that they do not love God
+more heartily and serve Him more faithfully. But they
+shall be completely freed from all corruption one day.
+They shall rise again at Christ's second appearing without
+any of the infirmities which cleave to them in their lives.
+Not a single evil temper or corrupt inclination shall be
+found in them. They shall be presented by their Head
+to the Father, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing,&mdash;perfectly
+holy and without blemish,&mdash;fair as the moon,
+and clear as the sun. (Eph. v. 27; Cant. v. 10.) Grace,
+even now, is a beautiful thing, when it lives, and shines,
+and flourishes in the midst of imperfection. But how
+much more beautiful will grace appear when it is seen
+pure, unmixed, unmingled, and alone! And it shall be
+seen so when Christ comes to be glorified in His saints at
+the last day.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>f</i>) Last, but not least, the members of God's family shall
+all be <i>eternally provided for</i> one day. When the affairs
+of this sinful world are finally wound up and settled,
+there shall be an everlasting portion for all the sons and
+daughters of the Lord almighty. Not even the weakest
+of them shall be overlooked and forgotten. There shall
+be something for everyone, according to his measure. The
+smallest vessel of grace, as well as the greatest, shall be
+filled to the brim with glory. The precise nature of that
+glory and reward it would be folly to pretend to describe.
+It is a thing which eye has not seen, nor mind of man
+conceived. Enough for us to know that each member of
+God's family, when he awakes up after His Master's
+likeness, shall be "satisfied." (Psalm xvii. 15.) Enough,
+above all, to know that their joy, and glory, and reward
+shall be for ever. What they receive in the day of the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 389]</span>
+Lord they will never lose. The inheritance reserved for
+them, when they come of age, is "incorruptible, undefiled,
+and fadeth not away." (1 Peter i. 4.)</p>
+
+<p>These prospects of God's family are great realities.
+They are not vague shadowy talk of man's invention.
+They are real true things, and will be seen as such before
+long. They deserve your serious consideration. Examine
+them well.</p>
+
+<p>Look round the families of earth with which you are
+acquainted, the richest, the greatest, the noblest, the
+happiest. Where will you find one among them all which
+can show prospects to compare with those of which you
+have just heard. The earthly riches, in many a case, will
+be gone in a hundred years hence. The noble blood, in
+many a case, will not prevent some disgraceful deed
+staining the family name. The happiness, in many a
+case, will be found hollow and seeming. Few, indeed, are
+the homes which have not a secret sorrow, or "a skeleton
+in the closet." Whether for present possessions or future
+prospects, there is no family so well off as "the whole
+family in heaven and earth." Whether you look at what
+they have now, or will have hereafter, there is no family
+like the family of God.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>My task is done. My paper is drawing to a close. It
+only remains to close it with a few words of practical
+application. Give me your attention for the last time.
+May God bless what I am going to say to the good of your
+soul!</p>
+
+<p>(1) I ask you a plain question. Take it with you to
+every family gathering which you join at any season of the
+year. Take it with you, and amidst all your happiness
+make time for thinking about it. It is a simple question,
+but a solemn one,&mdash;<i>Do you yet belong to the family of
+God</i>?</p>
+
+<p>To the family of God, remember! This is the point of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 390]</span>
+my question. It is no answer to say that you are a
+Protestant, or a Churchman, or a Dissenter. I want to
+hear of something more and better than that. I want
+you to have some soul-satisfying and soul-saving religion,&mdash;a
+religion that will give you peace while you live, and
+hope when you die. To have such peace and hope you
+must be something more than a Protestant, or a Churchman,
+or a Dissenter. You must belong to "the family of
+God." Thousands around you do not belong to it, I can
+well believe. But that is no reason why you should not.</p>
+
+<p>If you do not yet belong to God's family, I invite you
+this day to join it without delay. Open your eyes to see
+the value of your soul, the sinfulness of sin, the holiness
+of God, the danger of your present condition, the absolute
+necessity of a mighty change. Open your eyes to see
+these things, and repent this very day.&mdash;Open your eyes
+to see the great Head of God's family, even Christ Jesus,
+waiting to save your soul. See how He has loved you,
+lived for you, died for you, risen again for you, and obtained
+complete redemption for you. See how He offers you
+free, full, immediate pardon, if you will believe in Him.
+Open your eyes to see these things. Seek Christ at once.
+Come and believe on Him, and commit your soul to His
+keeping this very day.</p>
+
+<p>I know nothing of your family or past history. I know
+not where you go to spend your leisure weeks, or what
+company you are going to be in. But I am bold to say,
+that if you join the family of God you will find it the
+best and happiest family in the world.</p>
+
+<p>(2) If you really belong to the whole family in heaven
+and earth, count up your privileges, and <i>learn to be more
+thankful</i>. Think what a mercy it is to have something
+which the world can neither give nor take away,&mdash;something
+which makes you independent of sickness or poverty,&mdash;something
+which is your own for evermore. The old
+family fireside will soon be cold and tenantless. The old<span class="pagenum">[Pg 391]</span>
+family gatherings will soon be past and gone for ever.
+The loving faces we now delight to gaze on are rapidly
+leaving us. The cheerful voices which now welcome us
+will soon be silent in the grave. But, thank God, if we
+belong to Christ's family there is a better gathering yet to
+come. Let us often think of it, and be thankful!</p>
+
+<p>The family gathering of all God's people will make
+amends for all that their religion now costs them. A
+meeting where none are missing,&mdash;a meeting where there
+are no gaps and empty places,&mdash;a meeting where there are
+no tears,&mdash;a meeting where there is no parting,&mdash;such a
+meeting as this is worth a fight and a struggle. And such
+a meeting is yet to come to "the whole family in heaven
+and earth."</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime let us strive to live worthy of the
+family to which we belong. Let us labour to do nothing
+that may cause our Father's house to be spoken against.
+Let us endeavour to make our Master's name beautiful by
+our temper, conduct, and conversation. Let us love as
+brethren, and abhor all quarrels. Let us behave as if the
+honour of "the family" depended on our behaviour.</p>
+
+<p>So living, by the grace of God, we shall make our
+calling and election sure, both to ourselves and others.
+So living, we may hope to have an abundant entrance,
+and to enter harbour in full sail, whenever we change
+earth for heaven. (2 Peter i. 11.) So living, we shall
+recommend our Father's family to others, and perhaps by
+God's blessing incline them to say, "We will go with you."</p>
+<br>
+
+
+
+<h2><a name="XVII" id="XVII"></a>XVII</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 392]</span>
+
+<h2>OUR HOME!</h2>
+
+<blockquote><p>"<i>Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations.</i>"</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Psalm</span> xc. 1.</p></blockquote>
+
+
+<p>There are two reasons why the text which heads this
+paper should ring in our hearts with special power. It is
+the first verse of a deeply solemn Psalm,&mdash;the first bar of
+a wondrous piece of spiritual music. How others feel
+when they read the ninetieth Psalm I cannot tell. It
+always makes me lean back in my chair and think.</p>
+
+<p>For one thing, this ninetieth Psalm is the only Psalm
+composed by "Moses, the man of God."<a href="#ft_12">[12]</a> It expresses
+that holy man's feelings, as he saw the whole generation
+whom he had led forth from Egypt, dying in the wilderness.
+Year after year he saw that fearful judgment fulfilling,
+which Israel brought on itself by unbelief:&mdash;"Your
+carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were
+numbered of you, according to your whole number, from
+twenty years old and upward, which have murmured
+against Me, doubtless ye shall not come into the land."
+(Num. xiv. 29.) One after another he saw the heads of
+the families whom he had led forth from Egypt, laying
+their bones in the desert. For forty long years he saw
+the strong, the swift, the wise, the tender, the beautiful,
+who had crossed the Red Sea with him in triumph, cut
+down and withering like grass. For forty years he saw
+his companions continually changing, consuming, and
+passing away. Who can wonder that he should say,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 393]</span>
+"Lord, Thou art our dwelling-place." We are all pilgrims
+and strangers upon earth, and there is none abiding.
+"Lord, Thou art our home."</p>
+
+<p>For another thing, the ninetieth Psalm forms part of
+the Burial Service of the Church of England. Whatever
+fault men may find with the Prayer-book, I think no one
+can deny the singular beauty of the Burial Service.
+Beautiful are the texts which it puts into the minister's
+mouth as he meets the coffin at the churchyard gate, and
+leads the mourners into God's house. Beautiful is the
+chapter from the first Epistle to the Corinthians about the
+resurrection of the body. Beautiful are the sentences and
+prayers appointed to be read as the body is laid in its
+long home. But specially beautiful, to my mind, are the
+Psalms which are selected for reading when the mourners
+have just taken their places in church. I know nothing
+which sounds so soothing, solemnizing, heart-touching, and
+moving to man's spirit, at that trying moment, as the
+wondrous utterance of the old inspired law-giver: "Lord,
+Thou hast been our dwelling-place." "Lord, Thou art our
+home."</p>
+
+<p>I want to draw from these words two thoughts that may
+do the readers of this paper some good. An English home
+is famous all over the world for its happiness and comfort.
+It is a little bit of heaven left upon earth. But even an
+English home is not for ever. The family nest is sure to
+be taken down, and its inmates are sure to be scattered.
+Bear with me for a few short minutes, while I try to set<span class="pagenum">[Pg 394]</span>
+before you the best, truest, and happiest home.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>I. The first thought that I will offer you is this:&mdash;I
+will show you <i>what the world is</i>.</p>
+
+<p>It is a beautiful world in many respects, I freely admit.
+Its seas and rivers, its sunrises and sunsets, its mountains
+and valleys, its harvests and its forests, its fruits and its
+flowers, its days and its nights, all, all are beautiful in
+their way. Cold and unfeeling must that heart be which
+never finds a day in the year when it can admire anything
+in nature! But beautiful as the world is, there are many
+things in it to remind us that it is not home. It is an
+inn, a tent, a tabernacle, a lodging, a training school. But
+it is not home.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>a</i>) It is a <i>changing</i> world. All around us is continually
+moving, altering, and passing away. Families, properties,
+landlords, tenants, farmers, labourers, tradesmen, all are
+continually on the move. To find the same name in the
+same dwelling for three generations running is so uncommon,
+that it is the exception and not the rule. A world
+so full of change cannot be called home.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>b</i>) It is a <i>trying and disappointing</i> world. Who ever
+lives to be fifty years old and does not find to his cost
+that it is so? Trials in married life and trials in single
+life,&mdash;trials in children and trials in brothers and sisters,&mdash;trials
+in money matters and trials in health,&mdash;how many
+they are! Their name is legion. And not the tenth part
+of them perhaps ever comes to light. Few indeed are the
+families which have not "a skeleton in the closet." A
+world so full of trial and disappointment cannot be called
+home.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>c</i>) It is a <i>dying</i> world. Death is continually about us
+and near us, and meets us at every turn. Few are the
+family gatherings, when Christmas comes round, in which
+there are not some empty chairs and vacant places. Few
+are the men and women, past thirty, who could not number<span class="pagenum">[Pg 395]</span>
+a long list of names, deeply cut for ever in their hearts,
+but names of beloved ones now dead and gone. Where
+are our fathers and mothers? Where are our ministers
+and teachers? Where are our brothers and sisters?
+Where are our husbands and wives? Where are our
+neighbours and friends? Where are the old grey-headed
+worshippers, whose reverent faces we remember so well,
+when we first went to God's house? Where are the boys
+and girls we played with when we went to school? How
+many must reply, "Dead, dead, dead! The daisies are
+growing over their graves, and we are left alone." Surely
+a world so full of death can never be called a home.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>d</i>) It is a <i>scattering and dividing</i> world. Families are
+continually breaking up, and going in different directions.
+How rarely do the members of a family ever meet together
+again, after the surviving parent is laid in the grave!
+The band of union seems snapped, and nothing welds it
+again. The cement seems withdrawn from the parts of
+the building, and the whole principle of cohesion is lost.
+How often some miserable squabble about trinkets, or
+some wretched wrangle about money, makes a breach that
+is never healed, and, like a crack in china, though riveted,
+can never be quite cured! Rarely indeed do those who
+played in the same nursery lie down at length in the same
+churchyard, or keep peace with one another till they die.
+A world so full of division can never be home.</p>
+
+<p>These are ancient things. It is useless to be surprised
+at them. They are the bitter fruit of sin, and the sorrowful
+consequence of the fall. Change, trial, death, and division,
+all entered into the world when Adam and Eve transgressed.
+We must not murmur. We must not fret. We
+must not complain. We must accept the situation in
+which we find ourselves. We must each do our best to
+lighten the sorrows, and increase the comforts of our position.
+We must steadily resolve to make the best of
+everybody and everything around us. But we must never,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 396]</span>
+never, never, forget that the world is not home.</p>
+
+<p>Are you young? Does all around and before you seem
+bright, and cheerful, and happy? Do you secretly think
+in your own mind that I take too gloomy a view of the
+world? Take care. You will not say so by and by. Be
+wise betimes. Learn to moderate your expectations.
+Depend on it, the less you expect from people and things
+here below the happier you will be.</p>
+
+<p>Are you prosperous in the world? Have death, and
+sickness, and disappointment, and poverty, and family
+troubles, passed over your door up to this time, and not
+come in? Are you secretly saying to yourself, "Nothing
+can hurt me much. I shall die quietly in my bed, and
+see no sorrow." Take care. You are not yet in harbour.
+A sudden storm of unexpected trouble may make you
+change your note. Set not your affection on things below.
+Hold them with a very loose hand, and be ready to
+surrender them at a moment's notice. Use your prosperity
+well while you have it; but lean not all your weight on it,
+lest it break suddenly and pierce your hand.</p>
+
+<p>Have you a happy home? Are you going to spend
+Christmas round a family hearth, where sickness, and
+death, and poverty, and partings, and quarrellings, have
+never yet been seen? Be thankful for it: oh, be thankful
+for it! A really happy Christian home is the nearest
+approach to heaven on earth. But take care. This state
+of things will not last for ever. It must have an end;
+and if you are wise, you will never forget that&mdash;"the time
+is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be
+as though they had none; and they that weep, as though
+they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they
+rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed
+not; and they that use this world, as not abusing it; for
+the fashion of this world passeth away." (1 Cor. vii.
+29&mdash;31.)</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>II. The second thought that I will offer you is this:<span class="pagenum">[Pg 397]</span>
+I will show you <i>what Christ is, even in this life, to true
+Christians</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Heaven, beyond doubt, is the final home in which a
+true Christian will dwell at last. Towards that he is daily
+travelling: nearer to that he is daily coming. "We
+know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were
+dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made
+with hands, eternal in the heavens." (2 Cor. v. 1.) Body
+and soul united once more, renewed, beautified, and
+perfected, will live for ever in the Father's great house in
+heaven. To that home we have not yet come. We are
+not yet in heaven.</p>
+
+<p>But is there meanwhile no home for our souls? Is
+there no spiritual dwelling-place to which we may continually
+repair in this desolate world, and, repairing to it,
+find rest and peace? Thank God, there is no difficulty in
+finding an answer to that question. There is a home
+provided for all labouring and heavy-laden souls, and that
+home is Christ. To know Christ by faith, to live the life
+of faith in Him, to abide in Him daily by faith, to flee to
+Him in every storm of conscience, to use Him as our
+refuge in every day of trouble, to employ Him as our
+Priest, Confessor, Absolver, and spiritual Director, every
+morning and evening in our lives,&mdash;this is to be at home
+spiritually, even before we die. To all sinners of mankind
+who by faith use Christ in this fashion, Christ is in the
+highest sense a dwelling-place. They can say with truth,
+"We are pilgrims and strangers on earth, and yet we have
+a home."</p>
+
+<p>Of all the emblems and figures under which Christ is
+set before man, I know few more cheering and comforting
+than the one before us. Home is one of the sweetest,
+tenderest words in the English language. Home is the
+place with which our pleasantest thoughts are closely
+bound up. All that the best and happiest home is to its
+inmates, that Christ is to the soul that believes on Him.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 398]</span>
+In the midst of a dying, changing, disappointing world, a
+true Christian has always something which no power on
+earth can take away. Morning, noon, and night, he has
+near him a living Refuge,&mdash;a living home for his soul.
+You may rob him of life, and liberty, and money; you
+may take from him health, and lands, and house, and
+friends; but, do what you will, you cannot rob him of his
+home. Like those humblest of God's creatures which
+carry their shells on their backs, wherever they are, so the
+Christian, wherever he goes, carries his home. No wonder
+that holy Baxter sings,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="pbox">
+"What if in prison I must dwell,<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">May I not then converse with Thee?</span><br>
+Save me from sin, Thy wrath, and hell,&mdash;<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Call me Thy child, and I am free!"</span><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>(<i>a</i>) No home like Christ! In Him there is <i>room for all</i>,
+and room for all sorts. None are unwelcome guests and
+visitors, and none are refused admission. The door is
+always on the latch, and never bolted. The best robe, the
+fatted calf, the ring, the shoes are always ready for all
+comers. What though in time past you have been the
+vilest of the vile, a servant of sin, an enemy of all righteousness,
+a Pharisee of Pharisees, a Sadducee of Sadducees,
+a publican of publicans? It matters nothing: there is
+yet hope. All may be pardoned, forgiven, and forgotten.
+There is a home and refuge where your soul may be
+admitted this very day. That home is Christ. "Come
+unto Me," He cries: "Knock, and it shall be opened unto
+you." (Matt. xi. 28; vii. 7.)</p>
+
+<p>(<i>b</i>) No home like Christ! In Him there is boundless and
+unwearied <i>mercy for all</i>, even after admission. None are
+rejected and cast forth again after probation, because they
+are too weak and bad to stay. Oh, no! Whom He receives,
+them He always keeps. Where He begins, there He
+makes a good end. Whom He admits, them He at once<span class="pagenum">[Pg 399]</span>
+fully justifies. Whom He justifies, them He also sanctifies.
+Whom He sanctifies, them He also glorifies. No hopeless
+characters are ever sent away from His house. No men
+or women are ever found too bad to heal and renew.
+Nothing is too hard for Him to do who made the world
+out of nothing. He who is Himself the Home, hath said
+it, and will stand to it: "Him that cometh unto Me, I
+will in no wise cast out." (John vi. 37.)</p>
+
+<p>(<i>c</i>) No home like Christ! In Him there is unvarying
+<i>kindness</i>, <i>patience</i>, <i>and gentle dealing for all</i>. He is not
+"an austere man," but "meek and lowly in heart." (Matt.
+xi. 29.) None who apply to Him are ever treated roughly,
+or made to feel that their company is not welcome. A
+feast of fat things is always provided for them. The holy
+Spirit is placed in their hearts, and dwells in them as in a
+temple. Leading, guiding, and instruction are daily provided
+for them. If they err, they are brought back into
+the right way; if they fall, they are raised again; if they
+transgress wilfully, they are chastised to make them better.
+But the rule of the whole house is love.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>d</i>) No home like Christ! In Him there is <i>no change</i>.
+From youth to age He loves all who come to Him, and is
+never tired of doing them good. Earthly homes, alas, are
+full of fickleness and uncertainty. Favour is deceitful.
+Courtesy and civility are often on men's lips, while inwardly
+they are weary of your company and wish you were
+gone. You seldom know how long your presence is welcome,
+or to what extent your friends really care to see you. But
+it is not so with Christ. "He is the same yesterday, and
+to-day, and for ever." (Heb. xiii. 8.)</p>
+
+<p>(<i>e</i>) No home like Christ! Communion once begun with
+Him shall <i>never be broken off</i>. Once joined to the Lord
+by faith, you are joined to Him for an endless eternity.
+Earthly homes always come to an end sooner or later:
+the dear old furniture is sold and dispersed; the dear old
+heads of the family are gathered to their fathers; the dear<span class="pagenum">[Pg 400]</span>
+old nest is pulled to pieces. But it is not so with Christ.
+Faith will at length be swallowed up in sight: hope shall
+at last be changed into certainty. We shall see one day
+with our eyes, and no longer need to believe. We shall
+be moved from the lower chamber to the upper, and from
+the outer court to the Holy of Holies. But once in Christ,
+we shall never be out of Christ. Once let our name be
+placed in the Lamb's book of life, and we belong to a
+home which shall continue for evermore.</p>
+
+<p>(1) And now, before I conclude, let me ask every
+reader of this paper a plain question. <i>Have you got a
+home for your soul?</i> Is it safe? Is it pardoned? Is
+it justified? Is it prepared to meet God? With all
+my heart I wish you a happy home. But remember my
+question. Amidst the greetings and salutations of home,
+amidst the meetings and partings, amidst the laughter and
+merriment, amidst the joys and sympathies and affections,
+think, think of my question,&mdash;Have you got a home for
+your soul?</p>
+
+<p>Our earthly homes will soon be closed for ever. Time
+hastens on with giant strides. Old age and death will be
+upon us before many years have passed away. Oh, seek
+an abiding home for the better part of you,&mdash;the part that
+never dies! Before it be too late seek a home for your soul.</p>
+
+<p>Seek Christ, that you may be safe. Woe to the man
+who is found outside the ark when the flood of God's
+wrath bursts at length on a sinful world!&mdash;Seek Christ,
+that you may be happy. None have a real right to be
+cheerful, merry, light-hearted, and at ease, excepting those
+who have got a home for their souls. Once more I say,
+Seek Christ without delay.</p>
+
+<p>(2) If Christ is the home of your soul, <i>accept a friendly
+caution</i>. Beware of being ashamed of your home in any
+place or company.</p>
+
+<p>The man who is ashamed of the home where he was
+born, the parents that brought him up when a baby, the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 401]</span>
+brothers and sisters that played with him,&mdash;that man, as a
+general rule, may be set down as a mean and despicable
+being. But what shall we say of the man who is ashamed
+of Him who died for him on the cross? What shall we
+say of the man who is ashamed of his religion, ashamed
+of his Master, ashamed of his home?</p>
+
+<p>Take care that you are not that man. Whatever others
+around you please to think, do you never be ashamed of
+being a Christian. Let them laugh, and mock, and jest,
+and scoff, if they will. They will not scoff in the hour of
+death and in the day of judgment. Hoist your flag; show
+your colours; nail them to the mast. Of drinking,
+gambling, lying, swearing, Sabbath-breaking, idleness,
+pride, you may well be ashamed. Of Bible-reading,
+praying, and belonging to Christ, you have no cause to be
+ashamed at all. Let those laugh that win. A good
+soldier is never ashamed of his Queen's colours, and his
+uniform. Take care that you are never ashamed of your
+Master. Never be ashamed of your home.</p>
+
+<p>(3) If Christ is the home of your soul, <i>accept a piece
+of friendly advice</i>. Let nothing tempt you to stray away
+from home.</p>
+
+<p>The world and the devil will often try hard to make
+you drop your religion for a little season, and walk with
+them. Your own flesh will whisper that there is no danger
+in going a little with them, and that it can do you no
+mighty harm. Take care, I say: take care when you are
+tempted in this fashion. Take care of looking back, like
+Lot's wife. Forsake not your home.</p>
+
+<p>There are pleasures in sin no doubt, but they are not
+real and satisfactory. There is an excitement and short-lived
+enjoyment in the world's ways, beyond all question,
+but it is joy that leaves a bitter taste behind it. Oh, no!
+wisdom's ways alone are ways of pleasantness, and wisdom's
+paths alone are paths of peace. Cleave to them strictly
+and turn not aside. Follow the Lamb whithersoever He<span class="pagenum">[Pg 402]</span>
+goes. Stick to Christ and His rule, through evil report
+and good report. The longer you live the happier you
+will find His service: the more ready will you be to sing,
+in the highest sense, "There is no place like home."</p>
+
+<p>(4) If Christ is the home of your soul, <i>accept a hint
+about your duty</i>. Mind that you take every opportunity
+of telling others about your happiness. Tell them THAT,
+wherever you are. Tell them that you have a happy
+home.</p>
+
+<p>Tell them, if they will hear you, that you find Christ a
+good Master, and Christ's service a happy service. Tell
+them that His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. Tell
+them that, whatever the devil may say, the rules of your
+home are not grievous, and that your Master pays far
+better wages than the world does! Try to do a little good
+wherever you are. Try to enlist more inmates for your
+happy home. Say to your friends and relatives, if they
+will listen, as one did of old, "Come with us, and we will
+do you good; for the Lord hath spoken good concerning
+Israel." (Numbers x. 29.)</p>
+<br>
+
+
+<h2><a name="XVIII" id="XVIII"></a>XVIII</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 403]</span>
+
+<h2>HEIRS OF GOD</h2>
+
+<blockquote><p>"<i>As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.</i></p>
+
+<p>"<i>For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but
+ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba,
+Father.</i></p>
+
+<p>"<i>The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the
+children of God</i>:</p>
+
+<p>"<i>And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with
+Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be
+also glorified together.</i>"&mdash;(<span class="smcap">Romans</span> viii. 14&mdash;17.)</p></blockquote>
+
+
+<p>The people of whom St. Paul speaks in the verses before
+our eyes are the richest people upon earth. It must
+needs be so. They are called "heirs of God, and joint
+heirs with Christ."</p>
+
+<p>The inheritance of these people is the only inheritance
+<i>really worth having</i>. All others are unsatisfying and
+disappointing. They bring with them many cares. They
+cannot cure an aching heart, or lighten a heavy conscience.
+They cannot keep off family troubles. They
+cannot prevent sicknesses, bereavements, separations, and
+deaths. But there is no disappointment among the "heirs
+of God."</p>
+
+<p>The inheritance <b>I</b> speak of is the only inheritance <i>which
+can be kept for ever</i>. All others must be left in the hour
+of death, if they have not been taken away before. The
+owners of millions of pounds can carry nothing with them<span class="pagenum">[Pg 404]</span>
+beyond the grave. But it is not so with the "heirs of God."
+Their inheritance is eternal.</p>
+
+<p>The inheritance I speak of is the only inheritance <i>which
+is within every body's reach</i>. Most men can never obtain
+riches and greatness, though they labour hard for them all
+their lives. But glory, honour, and eternal life, are offered
+to every man freely, who is willing to accept them on God's
+terms. "Whosoever will," may be an "heir of God, and
+joint heir with Christ."</p>
+
+<p>If any reader of this paper wishes to have a portion of
+this inheritance, let him know that he must be a member
+of that one family on earth to which it belongs, and that
+is the family of all true Christians. You must become
+one of God's children on earth, if you desire to have glory
+in heaven. I write this paper in order to persuade you
+to become a child of God this day, if you are not one
+already. I write it to persuade you to make sure work
+that you are one, if at present you have only a vague
+hope, and nothing more. None but true Christians are
+the children of God! None but the children of God are
+heirs of God! Give me your attention, while I try to
+unfold to you these things, and to show the lessons contained
+in the verses which head this page.</p>
+
+
+<blockquote><p>I. Let me show <i>the relation of all true Christians
+to God. They are "sons of God.</i>"</p>
+
+<p>II. Let me show <i>the special evidences of this relation</i>.
+True Christians are "<i>led by the Spirit</i>." They have "<i>the
+Spirit of adoption</i>." They have the "<i>witness of the
+Spirit</i>." They "<i>suffer with Christ</i>."</p>
+
+<p>III. Let me show <i>the privileges of this relation</i>.
+True Christians are "<i>heirs of God, and joint heirs with
+Christ</i>."</p></blockquote>
+<br>
+
+<p>I. First let me show <i>the relation of all true Christians<span class="pagenum">[Pg 405]</span>
+to God</i>. They are God's "<span class="smcap">Sons</span>."</p>
+
+<p>I know no higher and more comfortable word that could
+have been chosen. To be servants of God,&mdash;to be subjects,
+soldiers, disciples, friends,&mdash;all these are excellent titles;
+but to be the "sons" of God is a step higher still. What
+says the Scripture? "The servant abideth not in the house
+for ever, but the Son abideth ever." (John viii. 35.)</p>
+
+<p>To be son of the rich and noble in this world,&mdash;to be
+son of the princes and kings of the earth,&mdash;this is commonly
+reckoned a great temporal advantage and privilege.
+But to be a son of the King of kings, and Lord of lords,&mdash;to
+be a son of the High and Holy One, who inhabiteth
+eternity,&mdash;this is something far higher. And yet this is
+the portion of every true Christian.</p>
+
+<p>The son of an earthly parent looks naturally to his
+father for affection, maintenance, provision, and education.
+There is a home always open to him. There is a love
+which, generally speaking, no bad conduct can completely
+extinguish. All these are things belonging even to the
+sonship of this world. Think then how great is the
+privilege of that poor sinner of mankind who can say
+of God, "He is my Father."</p>
+
+<p>But <span class="smcap">how</span> can sinful men like ourselves become sons
+of God? When do we enter into this glorious relationship?
+We are not the sons of God by nature. We were
+not born so when we came into the world. No man has a
+natural right to look to God as his Father. It is a vile
+heresy to say that he has. Men are said to be born poets
+and painters,&mdash;but men are never born sons of God. The
+Epistle to the Ephesians tells us, "Ye were by nature
+children of wrath, even as others." (Ephes. ii. 3.) The
+Epistle of St. John says, "The children of God are
+manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth
+not righteousness is not of God." (1 John iii. 10.) The
+Catechism of the Church of England wisely follows the
+doctrine of the Bible, and teaches us to say, "By nature<span class="pagenum">[Pg 406]</span>
+we are born in sin, and children of wrath." Yes: we are
+all rather children of the devil, than children of God! Sin
+is indeed hereditary, and runs in the family of Adam.
+Grace is anything but hereditary, and holy men have not,
+as a matter of course, holy sons. How then and when
+does this mighty change and translation come upon men?
+When and in what manner do sinners become the "sons
+and daughters of the Lord Almighty?" (2 Cor vi. 18.)</p>
+
+<p>Men become sons of God in the day that the Spirit
+leads them to believe on Jesus Christ for salvation, and
+not before.<a href="#ft_13">[13]</a> What says the Epistle to the Galatians?
+"Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ
+Jesus." (Gal. iii. 26.) What says the first Epistle to the
+Corinthians? "Of Him are ye in Christ Jesus." (1 Cor.
+i. 30.) What says the Gospel of John? "As many as
+received Christ, to them gave He power (or privilege) to
+become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His
+name." (John i. 12.) Faith unites the sinner to the Son
+of God, and makes him one of His members. Faith makes
+him one of those in whom the Father sees no spot, and is
+well-pleased. Faith marries him to the beloved Son of
+God, and entitles him to be reckoned among the sons.
+Faith gives him "fellowship with the Father and the
+Son." (1 John i. 3.) Faith grafts him into the Father's
+family, and opens up to him a room in the Father's house.
+Faith gives him life instead of death, and makes him,
+instead of being a servant, a son. Show me a man that
+has this faith, and, whatever be his church or denomination,
+I say that he is a son of God.</p>
+
+<p>This is one of those points we should never forget. You
+and I know nothing of a man's sonship <i>until he believes</i>.
+No doubt the sons of God are foreknown and chosen from
+all eternity, and predestinated to adoption. But, remember,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 407]</span>
+it is not till they are called in due time, and believe,&mdash;it is
+not till then that you and I can be certain they are sons.
+It is not till they repent and believe, that the angels of
+God rejoice over them. The angels cannot read the book
+of God's election: they know not who are "His hidden
+ones" in the earth. (Ps. lxxxiii. 3.) They rejoice over no
+man till he believes. But when they see some poor sinner
+repenting and believing, then there is joy among them,&mdash;joy
+that one more brand is plucked from the burning, and
+one more son and heir born again to the Father in heaven.
+(Luke xv. 10.) But once more I say, you and I know
+nothing certain about a man's sonship to God <i>until he
+believes on Christ</i>.</p>
+
+<p>I warn you to beware of the delusive notion that all
+men and women are alike children of God, whether they
+have faith in Christ or not. It is a wild theory which
+many are clinging to in these days, but one which cannot
+be proved out of the Word of God. It is a perilous dream,
+with which many are trying to soothe themselves, but one
+from which there will be a fearful waking up at the last
+day.</p>
+
+<p>That God in a certain sense is the universal Father of all
+mankind, I do not pretend to deny. He is the Great First
+Cause of all things. He is the Creator of all mankind,
+and in Him alone, all men, whether Christians or heathens,
+"live and move and have their being." All this is unquestionably
+true. In this sense Paul told the Athenians, a
+poet of their own had truly said, "we are His offspring."
+(Acts xvii. 28.) But this sonship gives no man a title to
+heaven. The sonship which we have by creation is one
+which belongs to stones, trees, beasts, or even to the devils,
+as much as to us. (Job i. 6.)</p>
+
+<p>That God loves all mankind with a love of pity and
+compassion, I do not deny. "His tender mercies are over
+all His works."&mdash;"He is not willing that any should perish,
+but that all should come to repentance."&mdash;"He has no<span class="pagenum">[Pg 408]</span>
+pleasure in the death of him that dieth." All this I admit
+to the full. In this sense our Lord Jesus tells us, "God
+so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son,
+that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but
+have eternal life." (Ps. cxlv. 9; 2 Peter iii. 9; Ezek. xviii.
+32; John iii. 16.)</p>
+
+<p>But that God is a reconciled and pardoning Father to
+any but the members of His Son Jesus Christ, and that
+any are members of Jesus Christ who do not believe on
+Him for salvation,&mdash;this is a doctrine which I utterly deny.
+The holiness and justice of God are both against the
+doctrine. They make it impossible for sinful men to
+approach God, excepting through the Mediator. They tell
+us that God out of Christ is "a consuming fire." (Heb. xii.
+29.) The whole system of the new Testament is against
+the doctrine. That system teaches that no man can claim
+interest in Christ unless he will receive Him as his
+Mediator, and believe on Him as his Saviour. Where
+there is no faith in Christ it is a dangerous error to say
+that a man may take comfort in God as his Father. God is
+a reconciled Father to none but the members of Christ.</p>
+
+<p>It is unreasonable to talk of the view I am now upholding
+as narrow-minded and harsh. The Gospel sets an open
+door before every man. Its promises are wide and full.
+Its invitations are earnest and tender. Its requirements
+are simple and clear. "Only believe on the Lord Jesus
+Christ, and, whosoever thou art, thou shalt be saved."
+But to say that proud men, who will not bow their necks
+to the easy yoke of Christ, and worldly men who are
+determined to have their own way and their sins,&mdash;to say
+that such men have a right to claim an interest in Christ,
+and a right to call themselves sons of God, is to say what
+never can be proved from Scripture. God offers to be their
+Father; but He does it on certain distinct terms:&mdash;they
+must draw near to Him through Christ. Christ offers to
+be their Saviour; but in doing it He makes one simple<span class="pagenum">[Pg 409]</span>
+requirement:&mdash;they must commit their souls to Him, and
+give Him their hearts. They refuse the <i>terms</i>, and yet dare
+to call God their Father! They scorn the <i>requirement</i>,
+and yet dare to hope that Christ will save them! God is
+to be their Father,&mdash;but on their own terms! Christ is to
+be their Saviour,&mdash;but on their own conditions! What can
+be more unreasonable? What can be more proud? What
+can be more unholy than such a doctrine as this? Let us
+beware of it, for it is a common doctrine in these latter
+days. Let us beware of it, for it is often speciously put
+forward, and sounds beautiful and charitable in the mouth
+of poets, novelists, sentimentalists, and tender-hearted
+women. Let us beware of it, unless we mean to throw
+aside our Bible altogether, and set up ourselves to be
+wiser than God. Let us stand fast on the old Scriptural
+ground: <i>No sonship to God without Christ! No interest
+in Christ without faith!</i></p>
+
+<p>I would to God there was not so much cause for giving
+warnings of this kind. I have reason to think they need
+to be given clearly and unmistakably. There is a school
+of theology rising up in this day, which appears to me most
+eminently calculated to promote infidelity, to help the
+devil, and to ruin souls. It comes to us like Joab to
+Amasa, with the highest professions of charity, liberality,
+and love. God is all mercy and love, according to this
+theology:&mdash;His holiness and justice are completely left out
+of sight! Hell is never spoken of in this theology:&mdash;its
+talk is all of heaven! Damnation is never mentioned:&mdash;it
+is treated as an impossible thing:&mdash;all men and women
+are to be saved! Faith, and the work of the Spirit, are
+refined away into nothing at all! "Everybody who believes
+anything has faith! Everybody who thinks anything has
+the Spirit! Everybody is right! Nobody is wrong!
+Nobody is to blame for any action he may commit! It is
+the result of his position. It is the effect of circumstances!
+He is not accountable for his opinions, any more than for<span class="pagenum">[Pg 410]</span>
+the colour of his skin! He must be what he is! The
+Bible is a very imperfect book! It is old-fashioned!
+It is obsolete! We may believe just as much of it as we
+please, and no more!"&mdash;Of all this theology I warn men
+solemnly to beware. In spite of big swelling words about
+"liberality," and "charity," and "broad views," and "new
+lights," and "freedom from bigotry," and so forth, I do
+believe it to be a theology that leads to hell.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>a</i>) <i>Facts</i> are directly against the teachers of this theology.
+Let them visit Mesopotamia, and see what desolation
+reigns where Nineveh and Babylon once stood. Let them
+go to the shores of the Dead Sea, and look down into its
+mysterious bitter waters. Let them travel in Palestine,
+and ask what has turned that fertile country into a
+wilderness. Let them observe the wandering Jews, scattered
+over the face of the world, without a land of their
+own, and yet never absorbed among other nations. And
+then let them tell us, if they dare, that God is so entirely
+a God of mercy and love that He never does and never
+will punish sin.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>b</i>) <i>The conscience of man</i> is directly against these
+teachers. Let them go to the bedside of some dying child of
+the world, and try to comfort him with their doctrines. Let
+them see if their vaunted theories will calm his gnawing,
+restless anxiety about the future, and enable him to depart
+in peace. Let them show us, if they can, a few well-authenticated
+cases of joy and happiness in death without
+Bible promises,&mdash;without conversion,&mdash;and without that
+faith in the blood of Christ, which old-fashioned theology
+enjoins. Alas! when men are leaving the world, conscience
+makes sad work of the new systems of these latter days.
+Conscience is not easily satisfied, in a dying hour, that
+there is no such thing as hell.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>c</i>) <i>Every reasonable conception that we can form of a
+future state</i> is directly against these teachers. Fancy a
+heaven which should contain all mankind! Fancy a<span class="pagenum">[Pg 411]</span>
+heaven in which holy and unholy, pure and impure, good
+and bad, would be all gathered together in one confused
+mass! What point of union would there be in such a
+company? What common bond of harmony and brotherhood?
+What common delight in a common service?
+What concord, what harmony, what peace, what oneness
+of spirit could exist? Surely the mind revolts from the
+idea of a heaven in which there would be no distinction
+between the righteous and the wicked,&mdash;between Pharaoh
+and Moses, between Abraham and the Sodomites, between
+Paul and Nero, between Peter and Judas Iscariot, between
+the man who dies in the act of murder or drunkenness,
+and men like Baxter, George Herbert, Wilberforce, and
+M'Cheyne! Surely an eternity in such a miserably confused
+crowd would be worse than annihilation itself! Surely
+such a heaven would be no better than hell!</p>
+
+<p>(<i>d</i>) The <i>interests of all holiness and morality</i> are directly
+against these teachers. If all men and women alike are
+God's children, whatever is the difference between them
+in their lives,&mdash;and all alike going to heaven, however
+different they may be from one another here in the world,&mdash;where
+is the use of labouring after holiness at all?
+What motive remains for living soberly, righteously, and
+godly? What does it matter how men conduct themselves,
+if all go to heaven, and nobody goes to hell? Surely the
+heathen poets and philosophers of Greece and Rome could
+tell us something better and wiser than this! Surely a
+doctrine which is subversive of holiness and morality,
+and takes away all motives to exertion, carries on the face
+of it the stamp of its origin. It is of earth, and not of
+heaven. It is of the devil, and not of God.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>e</i>) <i>The Bible</i> is against these teachers from first to
+last. Hundreds of texts might be quoted which are
+diametrically opposed to their theories. These texts must
+be rejected summarily, if the Bible is to square with their
+views. There may be no reason why they should be rejected,&mdash;but<span class="pagenum">[Pg 412]</span>
+to suit the theology I speak of they must be
+thrown away! At this rate the authority of the whole
+Bible is soon at an end. And what do men give us in its
+place? Nothing,&mdash;nothing at all! They rob us of the
+bread of life, and do not give us in its stead so much as a
+stone.</p>
+
+<p>Once more I warn all into whose hands this volume
+may fall to beware of this theology. I charge you to hold
+fast the doctrine which I have been endeavouring to uphold
+in this paper. Remember what I have said, and
+never let it go. No inheritance of glory without sonship
+to God! No sonship to God without an interest in Christ!
+No interest in Christ without your own personal faith!
+This is God's truth. Never forsake it.</p>
+
+<p>Who now among the readers of this paper <i>desires to
+know whether he is a son of God</i>? Ask yourself this
+question, and ask it this day,&mdash;and ask it as in God's
+sight, whether you have repented and believed. Ask
+yourself whether you are experimentally acquainted with
+Christ, and united to Him in heart. If not you may be
+very sure you are no son of God. You are not yet born
+again. You are yet in your sins. Your Father in creation
+God may be, but your reconciled and pardoning
+Father God is not. Yes! though Church and world may
+agree to tell you to the contrary,&mdash;though clergy and laity
+unite in flattering you,&mdash;your sonship is worth little or
+nothing in the sight of God. Let God be true and every
+man a liar. Without faith in Christ you are no son of
+God: you are not born again.</p>
+
+<p>Who is there among the readers of this paper who
+<i>desires to become a son of God</i>? Let that person see and
+feel his sins, and flee to Christ for salvation, and this day he
+shall be placed among the children.&mdash;Only acknowledge
+thine iniquity, and lay hold on the hand that Jesus holds
+out to thee this day, and sonship, with all it privileges, is
+thine own. Only confess thy sins, and bring them unto<span class="pagenum">[Pg 413]</span>
+Christ, and God is "faithful and just to forgive thee thy sins,
+and cleanse thee from all unrighteousness." (1 John i. 9.)
+This very day old things shall pass away, and all things
+become new. This very day thou shalt be forgiven, pardoned,
+"accepted in the Beloved." (Ephes. i. 6.) This very
+day thou shalt have a new name given to thee in heaven.
+Thou didst take up this book a child of wrath. Thou
+shalt lie down to night a child of God. Mark this, if thy
+professed desire after sonship is sincere,&mdash;if thou art truly
+weary of thy sins, and hast really something more than a
+lazy wish to be free,&mdash;there is real comfort for thee. It is
+all true. It is all written in Scripture, even as I have
+put it down. I dare not raise barriers between thee and
+God. This day I say, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
+and thou shalt be "a son," and be saved.</p>
+
+<p>Who is there among the readers of this paper that <i>is
+a son of God indeed</i>? Rejoice, I say, and be exceeding
+glad of your privileges. Rejoice, for you have good cause
+to be thankful. Remember the words of the beloved
+apostle: "Behold what manner of love the Father hath
+bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of
+God." (1 John iii. 1.) How wonderful that heaven
+should look down on earth,&mdash;that the holy God should set
+His affections on sinful man, and admit him into His
+family! What though the world does not understand
+you! What though the men of this world laugh at you,
+and cast out your name as evil! Let them laugh if they
+will. God is your Father. You have no need to be
+ashamed. The Queen can create a nobleman. The Bishops
+can ordain clergymen. But Queen, Lords, and
+Commons,&mdash;bishops, priests, and deacons,&mdash;all together
+cannot, of their own power, make one son of God, or one
+of greater dignity than a son of God. The man that can
+call God his Father, and Christ his elder brother,&mdash;that
+man may be poor and lowly, yet he never need be ashamed.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>II. Let me show, in the second place, <i>the special<span class="pagenum">[Pg 414]</span>
+evidences of the true Christians relation to God</i>.</p>
+
+<p>How shall a man make sure work of his own sonship?
+How shall he find out whether he is one that has come to
+Christ by faith and been born again? What are the
+marks and signs, and tokens, by which the "sons of God"
+may be known? This is a question which all who love
+eternal life ought to ask. This is a question to which the
+verses of Scripture I am asking you to consider, like
+many others, supply an answer.</p>
+
+<p>(1) The sons of God, for one thing, are all <i>led by His
+Spirit</i>. What says the Scripture which heads this paper?
+"As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the
+sons of God." (Rom. viii. 14.)</p>
+
+<p>They are all under the leading and teaching of a power
+which is Almighty, though unseen,&mdash;even the power of the
+Holy Ghost. They no longer turn every man to his own
+way, and walk every man in the light of His own eyes,
+and follow every man his own natural heart's desire. The
+Spirit leads them. The Spirit guides them. There is a
+movement in their hearts, lives, and affections, which they
+feel, though they may not be able to explain, and a movement
+which is always more or less in the same direction.</p>
+
+<p>They are led away from sin,&mdash;away from self-righteousness,&mdash;away
+from the world. This is the road by which
+the Spirit leads God's children. Those whom God adopts
+He teaches and trains. He shows them their own hearts.
+He makes them weary of their own ways. He makes
+them long for inward peace.</p>
+
+<p>They are led to Christ. They are led to the Bible.
+They are led to prayer. They are led to holiness. This
+is the beaten path along which the Spirit makes them to
+travel. Those whom God adopts He always sanctifies.
+He makes sin very bitter to them. He makes holiness
+very sweet.</p>
+
+<p>It is the Spirit who leads them to Sinai, and first shows
+them the law, that their hearts may be broken. It is He<span class="pagenum">[Pg 415]</span>
+who leads them to Calvary, and shows them the cross, that
+their hearts may be bound up and healed. It is He who
+leads them to Pisgah, and gives them distinct views of the
+promised land, that their hearts may be cheered. When
+they are taken into the wilderness, and taught to see their
+own emptiness, it is the leading of the Spirit. When
+they are carried up to Tabor or Hermon, and lifted up
+with glimpses of the glory to come, it is the leading of the
+Spirit. Each and all of God's sons is the subject of these
+leadings. Each and every one is "willing in the day of
+the Spirit's power," and yields himself to it. And each
+and all is led by the right way, to bring him to a city of
+habitation. (Ps. cx. 3; cvii. 7.)</p>
+
+<p>Settle this down in your heart, and do not let it go.
+The sons of God are a people "led by the Spirit of God,"
+and always led more or less in the same way. Their experience
+will tally wonderfully when they compare notes in
+heaven. This is one mark of sonship.</p>
+
+<p>(2) Furthermore, all the sons of God <i>have the feelings
+of adopted children towards their Father in heaven</i>.
+What says the Scripture which heads this paper? "Ye
+have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but
+ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry
+Abba Father." (Rom. viii. 15.)</p>
+
+<p>The sons of God are delivered from that slavish fear of
+God which sin begets in the natural heart. They are
+redeemed from that feeling of guilt which made Adam
+"hide himself in the trees of the garden," and Cain "go
+out from the presence of the Lord." (Gen. iii. 8; iv. 16.)
+They are no longer afraid of God's holiness, and justice,
+and majesty. They no longer feel as if there was a great
+gulf and barrier between themselves and God, and as if
+God was angry with them, and must be angry with them,
+because of their sins. From these chains and fetters of
+the soul the sons of God are delivered.</p>
+
+<p>Their feelings towards God are now those of peace and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 416]</span>
+confidence. They see Him as a Father reconciled in
+Christ Jesus. They look on Him as a God whose attributes
+are all satisfied by their great Mediator and Peacemaker,
+the Lord Jesus,&mdash;as a God who is "just, and yet the
+Justifier of every one that believeth on Jesus." (Rom. iii.
+26.) As a Father, they draw near to Him with boldness: as
+a Father, they can speak to Him with freedom. They have
+exchanged the spirit of bondage for that of liberty, and
+the spirit of fear for that of love. They know that God
+is holy, but they are not afraid: they know that they are
+sinners, but they are not afraid. Though holy, they believe
+that God is completely reconciled: though sinners, they
+believe they are clothed all over with Jesus Christ. Such
+is the feeling of the sons of God.</p>
+
+<p>I allow that some of them have this feeling more vividly
+than others. Some of them carry about scraps and remnants
+of the old spirit of bondage to their dying day.
+Many of them have fits and paroxysms of the old man's
+complaint of fear returning upon them at intervals. But
+very few of the sons of God could be found who would
+not say, if cross-examined, that since they knew Christ
+they have had very different feelings towards God from
+what they ever had before. They feel as if something like
+the old Roman form of adoption had taken place between
+themselves and their Father in heaven. They feel as if He
+had said to each one of them, "Wilt thou be my son?"
+and as if their hearts had replied, "I will."</p>
+
+<p>Let us try to grasp this also, and hold it fast. The sons
+of God are a people who feel towards God in a way that
+the children of the world do not. They feel no more
+slavish fear towards Him: they feel towards Him as a
+reconciled parent. This, then, is another mark of sonship.</p>
+
+<p>(3) But, again, the sons of God <i>have the witness of the
+Spirit in their consciences</i>. What says the Scripture
+which heads this paper? "The Spirit itself beareth witness
+with our spirit, that we are the children of God."<span class="pagenum">[Pg 417]</span>
+(Rom. viii. 16.)</p>
+
+<p>The sons of God have got something within their hearts
+which tells them there is a relationship between themselves
+and God. They feel something which tells them that old
+things are passed away, and all things become new: that
+guilt is gone, that peace is restored, that heaven's door is
+open, and hell's door is shut. They have, in short, what
+the children of the world have not,&mdash;a felt, positive,
+reasonable hope. They have what Paul calls the "seal"
+and "earnest" of the Spirit. (2 Cor. i. 22; Eph. i. 13.)</p>
+
+<p>I do not for a moment deny that this witness of the
+Spirit is exceedingly various in the extent to which the
+sons of God possess it. With some it is a loud, clear,
+ringing, distinct testimony of conscience: "I am Christ's,
+and Christ is mine." With others it is a little, feeble,
+stammering whisper, which the devil and the flesh often
+prevent being heard. Some of the children of God speed
+on their course towards heaven under the full sails of
+assurance. Others are tossed to and fro all their voyage,
+and will scarce believe they have got faith. But take the
+least and lowest of the sons of God. Ask him if he will
+give up the little bit of religious hope which he has
+attained? Ask him if he will exchange his heart, with
+all its doubts and conflicts, its fightings and fears,&mdash;ask
+him if he will exchange that heart for the heart of the
+downright worldly and careless man? Ask him if he
+would be content to turn round and throw down the
+things he has got hold of, and go back to the world?
+Who can doubt what the answer would be I? "I cannot
+do that," he would reply. "I do not know whether I have
+faith, I do not feel sure I have got grace; but I have got
+something within me I would not like to part with." And
+what is that "<i>something</i>"? I will tell you.&mdash;It is the
+witness of the Spirit.</p>
+
+<p>Let us try to understand this also. The sons of God
+have the witness of the Spirit in their consciences. This<span class="pagenum">[Pg 418]</span>
+is another mark of sonship.</p>
+
+<p>(4) One thing more let me add. All the sons of God
+<i>take part in suffering with Christ</i>. What says the Scripture
+which heads this paper? "If children, then heirs,
+heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if so be that
+we suffer with Him." (Rom. viii. 17.)</p>
+
+<p>All the children of God have a cross to carry. They
+have trials, troubles, and afflictions to go through for the
+Gospel's sake. They have trials from the world,&mdash;trials
+from the flesh,&mdash;and trials from the devil. They have
+trials of feeling from relations and friends,&mdash;hard words,
+hard treatment, and hard judgment. They have trials in
+the matter of character;&mdash;slander, misrepresentation,
+mockery, insinuation of false motives,&mdash;all these often
+rain thick upon them. They have trials in the matter of
+worldly interests. They have often to choose whether they
+will please man and lose glory, or gain glory and offend
+man. They have trials from their own hearts. They
+have each generally their own thorn in the flesh,&mdash;their
+own home-devil, who is their worst foe. This is the
+experience of the sons of God.</p>
+
+<p>Some of them suffer more, and some less. Some of
+them suffer in one way, and some in another. God
+measures out their portions like a wise physician, and
+cannot err. But never, I believe, was there one child of
+God who reached paradise without a cross.</p>
+
+<p>Suffering is the diet of the Lord's family. "Whom the
+Lord loveth He chasteneth."&mdash;"If ye be without chastisement,
+then are ye bastards, and not sons."&mdash;"Through much
+tribulation we must enter the kingdom of God."&mdash;"All
+that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution."
+(Heb. xii. 6, 8; Acts xiv. 22; 2 Tim. iii. 12.) When
+Bishop Latimer was told by his landlord that he had never
+had a trouble, "Then," said he, "God cannot be here."</p>
+
+<p>Suffering is a part of the process by which the sons of
+God are sanctified. They are chastened to wean them<span class="pagenum">[Pg 419]</span>
+from the world, and make them partakers of God's holiness.
+The Captain of their salvation was "made perfect through
+suffering," and so are they. (Heb. ii. 10; xii. 10.) There never
+yet was a great saint who had not either great afflictions
+or great corruptions. Well said Philip Melancthon: "Where
+there are no cares there will generally be no prayers."</p>
+
+<p>Let us try to settle this down into our hearts also. The
+sons of God have all to bear a cross. A suffering Saviour
+generally has suffering disciples. The Bridegroom was a
+man of sorrows. The Bride must not be a woman of
+pleasures and unacquainted with grief. Blessed are they
+that mourn! Let us not murmur at the cross. This also
+is a sign of sonship.</p>
+
+<p>I warn men never to suppose that they are sons of God
+except they have the scriptural marks of sonship. Beware
+of a sonship without evidences. Again I say, Beware.
+When a man has no leading of the Spirit to show me, no
+spirit of adoption to tell of, no witness of the Spirit in his
+conscience, no cross in his experience,&mdash;is this man a son
+of God? Whatever others may think I dare not say so!
+His spot is "not the spot of God's children." (Deut. xxxii.
+5.) He is no heir of glory.</p>
+
+<p>Tell me not that you have been baptized and taught
+the catechism of the Church of England, and therefore
+must be a child of God. I tell you that the parish
+register is not the book of life. I tell you that to be
+styled a child of God, and called regenerate in infancy by
+the faith and charity of the Prayer-book, is one thing; but
+to be a child of God in deed, another thing altogether.
+Go and read that catechism again. It is the "death unto
+sin and the new birth unto righteousness," which makes
+men <i>children of grace</i>. Except you know these by experience,
+you are no son of God.</p>
+
+<p>Tell me not that you are a member of Christ's Church,
+and so must be a son. I answer that the sons of the
+Church are not necessarily the sons of God. Such sonship<span class="pagenum">[Pg 420]</span>
+is not the sonship of the eighth of Romans. That is the
+sonship you must have if you are to be saved.</p>
+
+<p>And now, I doubt not some reader of this paper will
+want to know if he may not be saved without the witness
+of the Spirit.</p>
+
+<p>I answer, If you mean by the witness of the Spirit, the
+full assurance of hope,&mdash;You may be so saved, without
+question. But if you want to know whether a man can
+be saved without <i>any</i> inward sense, or knowledge, or hope
+of salvation, I answer, that ordinarily He cannot. I warn
+you plainly to cast away all indecision as to your state
+before God, and to make your calling sure. Clear up your
+position and relationship. Do not think there is anything
+praiseworthy in always doubting. Leave that to the
+Papists. Do not fancy it wise and humble to be ever
+living like the borderers of old time, on the "debateable
+ground." "Assurance," said old Dod, the puritan, "may
+be attained: and what have we been doing all our lives,
+since we became Christians, if we have not attained it?"</p>
+
+<p>I doubt not some true Christians who read this paper
+will think their evidence of sonship is too small to be good,
+and will write bitter things against themselves. Let me
+try to cheer them. Who gave you the feelings you possess?
+Who made you hate sin? Who made you love Christ?
+Who made you long and labour to be holy? Whence did
+these feelings come? Did they come from nature? There
+are no such products in a natural man's heart.&mdash;Did they
+come from the devil? He would fain stifle such feelings
+altogether.&mdash;Cheer up, and take courage. Fear not,
+neither be cast down. Press forward, and go on. There is
+hope for you after all. Strive. Labour. Seek. Ask. Knock.
+Follow on. You shall yet see that you are "sons of God."</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>III. Let me show, in the last place, <i>the privileges of
+the true Christian's relation to God</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing can be conceived more glorious than the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 421]</span>
+prospects of the sons of God. The words of Scripture
+which head this paper contain a rich mine of good and
+comfortable things. "If we are children," says Paul, "we
+are heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ,&mdash;to be
+glorified together with Him." (Rom. viii. 17.)</p>
+
+<p>True Christians then are "heirs."&mdash;Something is
+prepared for them all which is yet to be revealed.</p>
+
+<p>They are "heirs of God."&mdash;To be heirs of the rich on
+earth is something. How much more then is it to be son
+and heir of the King of kings!</p>
+
+<p>They are "joint heirs with Christ." They shall share
+in His majesty, and take part in His glory. They shall
+be glorified together with Him.</p>
+
+<p>And this, we must remember, is for <i>all</i> the children.
+Abraham took care to provide for all his children, and God
+takes care to provide for His. None of them are disinherited.
+None will be cast out. None will be cut off. Each shall
+stand in his lot, and have a portion, in the day when the
+Lord brings many sons to glory.</p>
+
+<p>Who can tell the full nature of the inheritance of the
+saints in light? Who can describe the glory which is yet
+to be revealed and given to the children of God? Words
+fail us. Language falls short. Mind cannot conceive
+fully, and tongue cannot express perfectly, the things
+which are comprised in the glory yet to come upon the
+sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty. Oh, it is
+indeed a true saying of the Apostle John: "It doth not
+yet appear what we shall be." (1 John iii. 2.)</p>
+
+<p>The very Bible itself only lifts a little of the veil which
+hangs over this subject. How could it do more? We
+could not thoroughly understand more if more had been
+told us. Our mental constitution is as yet too earthly,&mdash;our
+understanding is as yet too carnal to appreciate more if
+we had it. The Bible generally deals with the subject in
+negative terms and not in positive assertions. It describes
+what there will not be in the glorious inheritance, that<span class="pagenum">[Pg 422]</span>
+thus we may get some faint idea of what there will be.
+It paints the <i>absence</i> of certain things, in order that we
+may drink in a little the blessedness of the things <i>present</i>.
+It tells us that the inheritance is "incorruptible, undefiled,
+and fadeth not away." It tells us that "the crown of glory
+fadeth not away." It tells us that the devil is to be
+"bound," that there shall be "no more night and no more
+curse," that "death shall be cast into the lake of fire,"
+that "all tears shall be wiped away," and that the
+inhabitant shall no more say, "I am sick." And these are
+glorious things indeed. No corruption!&mdash;No fading!&mdash;No
+withering!&mdash;No devil!&mdash;No curse of sin!&mdash;No sorrow!&mdash;No
+tears!&mdash;No sickness!&mdash;No death! Surely the cup
+of the children of God will indeed run over! (1 Pet. i. 4;
+v. 4; Rev. xx. 2; xxi. 25; xxii. 3; xx. 14; xxi. 4; Is.
+xxxiii. 24.)</p>
+
+<p>But there are positive things told us about the glory
+yet to come upon the heirs of God, which ought not to
+be kept back. There are many sweet, pleasant, and
+unspeakable comforts in their future inheritance, which
+all true Christians would do well to consider. There
+are cordials for fainting pilgrims in many words and
+expressions of Scripture, which you and I ought to lay
+up against time of need.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>a</i>) Is <i>knowledge</i> pleasant to us now? Is the little that
+we know of God and Christ, and the Bible precious to our
+souls, and do we long for more? We shall have it perfectly
+in glory. What says the Scripture? "Then shall
+I know even as also I am known." (1 Cor. xiii. 12.)
+Blessed be God, there will be no more disagreements among
+believers! Episcopalians and Presbyterians,&mdash;Calvinists
+and Arminians,&mdash;Millennarians and Anti-millennarians,&mdash;friends
+of Establishments and friends of the Voluntary
+system,&mdash;advocates of infant baptism and advocates of
+adult baptism,&mdash;all will at length see eye to eye. The
+former ignorance will have passed away. We shall marvel<span class="pagenum">[Pg 423]</span>
+to find how childish and blind we have been.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>b</i>) Is <i>holiness</i> pleasant to us now? Is sin the burden and
+bitterness of our lives? Do we long for entire conformity
+to the image of God? We shall have it perfectly in glory.
+What says the Scripture? "Christ gave Himself for the
+Church," not only that He might sanctify it on earth, but
+also "that He might present it to Himself a glorious
+Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing."
+(Ephes. v. 27.) Oh, the blessedness of an eternal good-bye
+to sin! Oh, how little the best of us do at present!
+Oh, what unutterable corruption sticks, like birdlime, to
+all our motives, all our thoughts, all our words, all our
+actions! Oh, how many of us, like Naphtali, are goodly
+in our words, but, like Reuben, unstable in our works!
+Thank God, all this shall be changed. (Gen. xlix. 4, 21.)</p>
+
+<p>(<i>c</i>) Is <i>rest</i> pleasant to us now? Do we often feel "faint
+though pursuing?" (Judges viii. 4.) Do we long for a
+world in which we need not to be always watching and
+warring? We shall have it perfectly in glory. What
+saith the Scripture? "There remaineth a rest for the
+people of God." (Heb. iv. 9.) The daily, hourly conflict
+with the world, the flesh, and the devil, shall at length be
+at an end. The enemy shall be bound. The warfare
+shall be over. The wicked shall at last cease from
+troubling. The weary shall at length be at rest. There
+shall be a great calm.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>d</i>) Is <i>service</i> pleasant to us now? Do we find it sweet
+to work for Christ, and yet groan being burdened by a
+feeble body? Is our spirit often willing, but hampered
+and clogged by the poor weak flesh? Have our hearts
+burned within us, when we have been allowed to give
+a cup of cold water for Christ's sake, and have we sighed
+to think what unprofitable servants we are? Let us
+take comfort. We shall be able to serve perfectly in
+glory, and without weariness. What saith the Scripture?
+"They serve Him day and night in His temple." (Rev.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 424]</span>
+vii. 15.)</p>
+
+<p>(<i>e</i>) Is <i>satisfaction</i> pleasant to us now? Do we find
+the world empty? Do we long for the filling up of every
+void place and gap in our hearts? We shall have it perfectly
+in glory. We shall no longer have to mourn over
+cracks in all our earthen vessels, and thorns in all our
+roses, and bitter dregs in all our sweet cups. We shall
+no longer lament with Jonah over withered gourds. We
+shall no longer say with Solomon, "All is vanity and
+vexation of spirit." We shall no longer cry with aged
+David, "I have seen an end of all perfection." What
+saith the Scripture? "I shall be satisfied when I awake
+with Thy likeness." (Eccles. i. 14; Ps. cxix. 96; xvii. 15.)</p>
+
+<p>(<i>f</i>) Is <i>communion with the saints</i> pleasant to us now?
+Do we feel that we are never so happy as when we are with
+the "excellent of the earth?" Are we never so much at
+home as in their company? (Ps. xvi. 3.) We shall have it
+perfectly in glory. What saith the Scripture? "The Son
+of man shall send His angels, and they shall gather out of
+His kingdom all they that offend, and them which work
+iniquity." "He shall send His angels with a great sound
+of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect
+from the four winds." (Matt. xiii. 41; xxiv. 31.) Praised
+be God! We shall see all the saints of whom we have
+read in the Bible, and in whose steps we have tried to
+walk. We shall see apostles, prophets, patriarchs, martyrs,
+reformers, missionaries, and ministers, of whom the world
+was not worthy. We shall see the faces of those we have
+known and loved in Christ on earth, and over whose
+departure we shed bitter tears. We shall see them more
+bright and glorious than they ever were before. And, best
+of all, we shall see them without hurry and anxiety, and
+without feeling that we only meet to part again. In the
+coming glory there is no death, no parting, no farewell.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>g</i>) Is <i>communion with Christ</i> pleasant to us now? Do
+we find His name precious to us? Do we feel our hearts<span class="pagenum">[Pg 425]</span>
+burn within us at the thought of His dying love? We shall
+have perfect communion with Him in glory. "We shall ever
+be with the Lord." (1 Thess. iv. 17.) We shall be with Him
+in paradise. (Luke xxiii. 43.) We shall see His face in the
+kingdom. These eyes of ours will behold those hands
+and feet which were pierced with nails, and that head
+which was crowned with thorns. Where He is, there will
+the sons of God be. When He comes, they will come
+with Him. When He sits down in His glory, they shall
+sit down by His side. Blessed prospect indeed! I am
+a dying man in a dying world. All before me is dark.
+The world to come is a harbour unknown. But Christ is
+there, and that is enough. Surely if there is rest and
+peace in following Him by faith on earth, there will be
+far more rest and peace when we see Him face to face.
+If we have found it good to follow the pillar of cloud and
+fire in the wilderness, we shall find it a thousand times
+better to sit down in our eternal inheritance, with our
+Joshua, in the promised land.</p>
+
+<p>If any one among the readers of this paper is not yet
+among the sons and heirs, I do pity you with all my heart!
+How much you are missing! How little true comfort you
+are enjoying! There you are, struggling on, and toiling
+in the fire, and wearying yourself for mere earthly ends,&mdash;seeking
+rest and finding none,&mdash;chasing shadows and
+never catching them,&mdash;wondering why you are not happy,
+and yet refusing to see the cause,&mdash;hungry, and thirsty,
+and empty, and yet blind to the plenty within your reach.
+Oh, that you were wise! Oh, that you would hear the
+voice of Jesus, and learn of Him!</p>
+
+<p>If you are one of those who are sons and heirs, you may
+well rejoice and be happy. You may well wait, like the
+boy Patience in Pilgrim's Progress: your best things are
+yet to come. You may well bear crosses without murmuring:
+your light affliction is but for a moment. "The
+sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be<span class="pagenum">[Pg 426]</span>
+compared to the glory which is to be revealed."&mdash;"When
+Christ our life appears, then you also shall appear with
+Him in glory." (Rom. viii. 18; Colos. iii. 4.) You may
+well not envy the transgressor and his prosperity. You
+are the truly rich. Well said a dying believer in my own
+parish: "I am more rich than I ever was in my life."
+You may say as Mephibosheth said to David: "Let the
+world take all, my king is coming again in peace." (2
+Sam. xix. 30.) You may say as Alexander said when he
+gave all his riches away, and was asked what he kept for
+himself: "I have hope." You may well not be cast down
+by sickness: the eternal part of you is safe and provided
+for, whatever happens to your body. You may well look
+calmly on death: it opens a door between you and your
+inheritance. You may well not sorrow excessively over
+the things of the world,&mdash;over partings and bereavements,
+over losses and crosses: the day of gathering is before
+you. Your treasure is beyond reach of harm. Heaven is
+becoming every year more full of those you love, and
+earth more empty. Glory in your inheritance. It is all
+yours if you are a son of God: "If we are children, then
+we are heirs."</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>(1) And now, in concluding this paper, <i>let me ask every
+one who reads it Whose child are you</i>? Are you the child
+of nature or the child of grace? Are you the child of the
+devil or the child of God? You cannot be both at once.
+Which are you?</p>
+
+<p>Settle the question without delay, for you must die at
+last either one or the other. Settle it, for it can be
+settled, and it is folly to leave it doubtful. Settle it,
+for time is short, the world is getting old, and you are
+fast drawing near to the judgment seat of Christ. Settle
+it, for death is nigh, the Lord is at hand, and who can tell
+what a day might bring forth? Oh, that you would never
+rest till the question is settled! Oh, that you may never<span class="pagenum">[Pg 427]</span>
+feel satisfied till you can say, "I have been born again: I
+am a son of God!"</p>
+
+<p>(2) <i>If you are not a son and heir of God, let me entreat
+you to become one without delay.</i> Would you be rich?
+There are unsearchable riches in Christ. Would you be
+noble? You shall be a king. Would you be happy?
+You shall have a peace which passeth understanding, and
+which the world can never give and never take away.
+Oh, come out, and take up the cross and follow Christ!
+Come out from among the thoughtless and worldly, and
+hear the word of the Lord: "I will receive you, and will
+be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and
+daughters, saith the Lord almighty." (2 Cor. vi. 18.)</p>
+
+<p>(3) <i>If you are a son of God, I beseech you to walk worthy
+of your Father's house.</i> I charge you solemnly to honour
+Him in your life; and above all to honour Him by implicit
+obedience to all His commands, and hearty love to all His
+children. Labour to travel through the world like a child
+of God and heir to glory. Let men be able to trace a
+family likeness between you and Him that begat you.
+Live a heavenly life. Seek things that are above. Do
+not seem to be building your nest below. Behave like a
+man who seeks a city out of sight, whose citizenship is
+in heaven, and who would be content with many hardships
+till he gets home.</p>
+
+<p>Labour <i>to feel like a son of God</i> in every condition in
+which you are placed. Never forget you are on your
+Father's ground so long as you are here on earth. Never
+forget that a Father's hand sends all your mercies and
+crosses. Cast every care on Him. Be happy and cheerful
+in Him. Why indeed art thou ever sad if thou art the
+King's son? Why should men ever doubt, when they
+look at you, whether it is a pleasant thing to be one of
+God's children?</p>
+
+<p>Labour <i>to behave towards others like a son of God</i>. Be
+blameless and harmless in your day and generation. Be<span class="pagenum">[Pg 428]</span>
+a "peacemaker among all <b>you</b> know." (Matt. v. 9.) Seek
+for your children sonship to God, above everything else:
+seek for them an inheritance in heaven, whatever else
+you do for them. No man leaves his children so well
+provided for as he who leaves them sons and heirs of God.</p>
+
+<p>Persevere in your Christian calling, if you are a son of
+God, and press forward more and more. Be careful to lay
+aside every weight, and the sin which most easily besets
+you. Keep your eyes steadily fixed on Jesus. Abide in
+Him. Remember that without Him you can do nothing,
+and with Him you can do all things. (John xv. 5; Philip.
+iv. 13.) Watch and pray daily. Be steadfast, unmoveable,
+and always abounding in the work of the Lord. Settle it
+down in your heart that not a cup of cold water given
+in the name of a disciple shall lose its reward, and that
+every year you are so much nearer home.</p>
+
+<p>"Yet a little time and He that shall come will come,
+and will not tarry." (Heb. x. 37.) Then shall be the glorious
+liberty, and the full manifestation of the sons of God.
+(Rom. viii. 19, 21.) Then shall the world acknowledge
+that they were the truly wise. Then shall the sons of
+God at length come of age, and be no longer heirs in
+expectancy, but heirs in possession. Then shall they hear
+with exceeding joy those comfortable words: "Come, ye
+blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for
+you from the foundation of the world." (Matt. xxv. 34.)
+Surely that day will make amends for all!</p>
+<br>
+
+
+<h2><a name="XIX" id="XIX"></a>XIX</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 429]</span>
+
+<h2>THE GREAT GATHERING</h2>
+
+<blockquote><p>"<i>Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus
+Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him.</i>"&mdash;2 <span class="smcap">Thess.</span> ii. 1.</p></blockquote>
+
+
+<p>The text which heads this page contains an expression
+which deserves no common attention. That expression
+is,&mdash;"Our gathering together."</p>
+
+<p>"Our gathering together!" Those three words touch a
+note which ought to find a response in every part of the
+world. Man is by nature a social being: he does not like
+to be alone. Go where you will on earth, people generally
+like meeting together, and seeing one another's faces. It
+is the exception, and not the rule, to find children of
+Adam who do not like "gathering together."</p>
+
+<p>For example, Christmas is peculiarly a time when
+English people "gather together." It is the season when
+family meetings have become almost a national institution.
+In town and in country, among rich and among poor, from
+the palace to the workhouse, Christmas cheer and Christmas
+parties are proverbial things. It is the one time in
+the twelvemonth with many for seeing their friends at all.
+Sons snatch a few days from London business to run down
+and see their parents; brothers get leave of absence from
+the desk to spend a week with their sisters; friends
+accept long-standing invitations, and contrive to pay a
+visit to their friends; boys rush home from school, and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 430]</span>
+glory in the warmth and comfort of the old house.
+Business for a little space comes to a standstill: the
+weary wheels of incessant labour seem almost to cease
+revolving for a few hours. In short, from the Isle of
+Wight to Berwick-on-Tweed, and from the Land's End to
+the North Foreland, there is a general spirit of "gathering
+together."</p>
+
+<p>Happy is the land where such a state of things exists!
+Long may it last in England, and never may it end! Poor
+and shallow is that philosophy which sneers at Christmas
+gatherings. Cold and hard is that religion which pretends
+to frown at them, and denounces them as wicked. Family
+affection lies at the very roots of well-ordered society. It
+is one of the few good things which have survived the
+fall, and prevent men and women from being mere devils.
+It is the secret oil on the wheels of our social system which
+keeps the whole machine going, and without which neither
+steam nor fire would avail. Anything which helps to keep
+up family affection and brotherly love is a positive good to a
+country. May the Christmas day never arrive in England
+when there are no family meetings and no gatherings
+together!</p>
+
+<p>But earthly gatherings after all have something about
+them that is sad and sorrowful. The happiest parties
+sometimes contain uncongenial members: the merriest
+meetings are only for a very short time. Moreover, as
+years roll on, the hand of death makes painful gaps in the
+family circle. Even in the midst of Christmas merriment
+we cannot help remembering those who have passed away.
+The longer we live, the more we feel to stand alone. The
+old faces will rise before the eyes of our minds, and the
+old voices will sound in our ears, even in the midst of
+holiday mirth and laughter. People do not talk much of
+such things; but there are few that do not feel them.
+We need not intrude our inmost thoughts on others, and
+especially when all around us are bright and happy. But<span class="pagenum">[Pg 431]</span>
+there are not many, I suspect, who reach middle age, who
+would not admit, if they spoke the truth, that there are
+sorrowful things inseparably mixed up with a Christmas
+party. In short, there is no unmixed pleasure about any
+earthly "gathering."</p>
+
+<p>But is there no better "gathering" yet to come? Is there
+no bright prospect in our horizon of an assembly which
+shall far outshine the assemblies of Christmas and New
+Year,&mdash;an assembly in which there shall be joy without
+sorrow, and mirth without tears? I thank God that I can
+give a plain answer to these questions; and to give it is
+the simple object of this paper. I ask my readers to give
+me their attention for a few minutes, and I will soon
+show them what I mean.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>I. There is a "gathering together" of true Christians
+which is to come. <i>What is it, and when shall it be?</i></p>
+
+<p>The gathering I speak of shall take place at the end of
+the world, in the day when Christ returns to earth the
+second time. As surely as He came the first time, so
+surely shall He come the second time. In the clouds of
+heaven He went away, and in the clouds of heaven He
+shall return. Visibly, in the body, He went away, and
+visibly, in the body, He will return. And the very first
+thing that Christ will do will be to "gather together" His
+people. "He shall send His angels with a great sound of
+a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from
+the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."
+(Matt. xxiv. 31.)</p>
+
+<p>The <i>manner</i> of this "gathering together" is plainly
+revealed in Scripture. The dead saints shall all be raised,
+and the living saints shall all be changed. It is written,
+"The sea shall give up the dead which are in it, and death
+and hell shall give up the dead that are in them."&mdash;"The
+dead in Christ shall rise first. Those which are alive and
+remain shall be caught up together with them in the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 432]</span>
+clouds, to meet the Lord in the air."&mdash;"We shall not all
+sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the
+twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet
+shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,
+and we shall be changed." (Rev. xx. 13; 1 Thess. iv. 16,
+17; 1 Cor. xv. 51, 52.) And then, when every member of
+Christ is found, and not one left behind, when soul and
+body, those old companions, are once more reunited, then
+shall be the grand "gathering together."</p>
+
+<p>The <i>object</i> of this "gathering together" is as clearly
+revealed in Scripture as its manner. It is partly for the
+final reward of Christ's people: that their complete justification
+from all guilt may be declared to all creation; that
+they may receive the "crown of glory which fadeth not
+away," and the "kingdom prepared before the foundation
+of the world;" that they may be admitted publicly into the
+joy of their Lord.&mdash;It is partly for the safety of Christ's
+people, that, like Noah in the ark and Lot in Zoar, they
+may be hid and covered before the storm of God's judgment
+comes down on the wicked; that when the last plagues
+are falling on the enemies of the Lord, they may be
+untouched, as Rahab's family in the fall of Jericho, and
+unscathed as the three children in the midst of the fire.
+The saints have no cause to fear the day of gathering,
+however fearful the signs that may accompany it. Before
+the final crash of all things begins, they shall be hidden
+in the secret place of the Most High. The grand gathering
+is for their safety and their reward. "Fear not ye," shall
+the angel-reapers say, "for ye seek Jesus which was
+crucified."&mdash;"Come, my people," shall their Master say:
+"enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about
+thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the
+indignation be overpast." (Matt. xxviii. 5; Isa. xxvi. 20.)</p>
+
+<p>(<i>a</i>) This gathering will be a <i>great</i> one. All children of
+God who have ever lived, from Abel the first saint down to
+the last born in the day that our Lord comes,&mdash;all of every<span class="pagenum">[Pg 433]</span>
+age, and nation, and church, and people, and tongue,&mdash;all
+shall be assembled together. Not one shall be overlooked
+or forgotten. The weakest and feeblest shall not be left
+behind. Now, when "scattered," true Christians seem a
+little flock; then, when "gathered," they shall be found a
+multitude which no man can number.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>b</i>) This gathering will be a <i>wonderful</i> one. The saints
+from distant lands, who never saw each other in the flesh,
+and could not understand each other's speech if they met,
+shall all be brought together in one harmonious company.
+The dwellers in Australia shall find they are as near
+heaven, and as soon there, as the dwellers in England. The
+believers who died five thousand years ago, and whose
+bones are mere dust, shall find their bodies raised and
+renewed as quickly as those who are alive when the
+trumpet sounds. Above all, miracles of grace will be
+revealed. We shall see some in heaven who we never
+expected would have been saved at all. The confusion of
+tongues shall at length be reversed, and done away. The
+assembled multitude will cry with one heart and in one
+language, "What hath God wrought!" (Num. xxiii. 23.)</p>
+
+<p>(<i>c</i>) This gathering shall be a <i>humbling</i> one. It shall
+make an end of bigotry and narrow-mindedness for ever.
+The Christians of one denomination shall find themselves
+side by side with those of another denomination. If they
+would not tolerate them on earth, they will be obliged to
+tolerate them in heaven. Churchmen and Dissenters, who
+will neither pray together nor worship together now, will
+discover to their shame that they must praise together
+hereafter to all eternity. The very people who will not
+receive us at their ordinances now, and keep us back from
+their Table, will be obliged to acknowledge us before our
+Master's face, and to let us sit down by their side. Never
+will the world have seen such a complete overthrow of
+sectarianism, party spirit, unbrotherliness, religious jealousy,
+and religious pride. At last we shall all be completely<span class="pagenum">[Pg 434]</span>
+"clothed with humility." (1 Pet. v. 5.)</p>
+
+<p>This mighty, wonderful "gathering together," is the
+gathering which ought to be often in men's thoughts. It
+deserves consideration: it demands attention. Gatherings
+of other kinds are incessantly occupying our minds, political
+gatherings, scientific gatherings, gatherings for
+pleasure, gatherings for gain. But the hour comes, and
+will soon be here, when gatherings of this kind will be
+completely forgotten. One thought alone will swallow up
+men's minds: that thought will be, "Shall I be gathered
+with Christ's people into a place of safety and honour, or
+be left behind to everlasting woe?" LET US TAKE
+CARE THAT WE ARE NOT LEFT BEHIND.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>II. <i>Why is this "gathering together" of true Christians
+a thing to be desired?</i> Let us try to get an answer to
+that question.</p>
+
+<p>St. Paul evidently thought that the gathering at the
+last day was a cheering object which Christians ought to
+keep before their eyes. He classes it with that second
+coming of our Lord, which he says elsewhere believers
+love and long for. He exalts it in the distant horizon as
+one of those "good things to come," which should animate
+the faith of every pilgrim in the narrow way. Not only,
+he seems to say, will each servant of God have rest, and a
+kingdom, and a crown; he will have besides a happy
+"gathering together." Now, where is the peculiar blessedness
+of this gathering? Why is it a thing that we ought
+to look forward to with joy, and expect with pleasure?
+Let us see.</p>
+
+<p>(1) For one thing, the "gathering together" of all true
+Christians will be a <i>state of things totally unlike their
+present condition.</i> To be scattered, and not gathered,
+seems the rule of man's existence now. Of all the
+millions who are annually born into the world, how few
+continue together till they die! Children who draw their<span class="pagenum">[Pg 435]</span>
+first breath under the same roof, and play by the same
+fireside, are sure to be separated as they grow up, and to
+draw their last breath far distant from one another.&mdash;The
+same law applies to the people of God. They are spread
+abroad like salt, one in one place and one in another, and
+never allowed to continue long side by side. It is doubtless
+good for the world that it is so. A town would be a very
+dark place at night if all the lighted candles were crowded
+together into one room.&mdash;But, good as it is for the world,
+it is no small trial to believers. Many a day they feel
+desolate and alone; many a day they long for a little more
+communion with their brethren, and a little more companionship
+with those who love the Lord! Well, they
+may look forward with hope and comfort. The hour is
+coming when they shall have no lack of companions. Let
+them lift up their heads and rejoice. There will be a
+"gathering together" by and by.</p>
+
+<p>(2) For another thing, the gathering together of all true
+Christians will be <i>an assembly entirely of one mind</i>.
+There are no such assemblies now. Mixture, hypocrisy,
+and false profession, creep in everywhere. Wherever
+there is wheat there are sure to be tares. Wherever there
+are good fish there are sure to be bad. Wherever there
+are wise virgins there are sure to be foolish. There is
+no such thing as a perfect Church now. There is a Judas
+Iscariot at every communion table, and a Demas in every
+Apostolic company; and wherever the "sons of God" come
+together Satan is sure to appear among them. (Job i. 6.)
+But all this shall come to an end one day. Our Lord shall
+at length present to the Father a perfect Church, "having
+neither spot nor wrinkle, nor any such thing." (Eph. v. 27.)
+How glorious such a Church will be! To meet with half-a-dozen
+believers together now is a rare event in a Christian's
+year, and one that cheers him like a sunshiny day in
+winter: it makes him feel his heart burn within him, as
+the disciples felt on the way to Emmaus. But how much<span class="pagenum">[Pg 436]</span>
+more joyful will it be to meet a "multitude that no man
+can number!" To find too, that all we meet are at last of
+one opinion and one judgment, and see eye to eye,&mdash;to
+discover that all our miserable controversies are buried for
+ever, and that Calvinists no longer hate Arminians, nor
+Arminians Calvinists, Churchmen no longer quarrel with
+Dissenters, nor Dissenters with Churchmen,&mdash;to join a
+company of Christians in which there is neither jarring,
+squabbling, nor discord,&mdash;every man's graces fully developed,
+and every man's besetting sins dropped off like
+beech-leaves in spring,&mdash;all this will be happiness indeed!
+No wonder that St. Paul bids us look forward.</p>
+
+<p>(3) For another thing, the gathering together of true
+Christians will be <i>a meeting at which none shall be absent</i>.
+The weakest lamb shall not be left behind in the wilderness:
+the youngest babe that ever drew breath shall not
+be overlooked or forgotten. We shall once more see our
+beloved friends and relatives who fell asleep in Christ, and
+left us in sorrow and tears,&mdash;better, brighter, more beautiful,
+more pleasant than ever we found them on earth. We
+shall hold communion with all the saints of God who have
+fought the good fight before us, from the beginning of the
+world to the end. Patriarchs and Prophets, Apostles and
+Fathers, Martyrs and Missionaries, Reformers and Puritans,
+all the host of God's elect shall be there. If to read their
+words and works has been pleasant, how much better shall
+it be to see them! If to hear of them, and be stirred by
+their example, has been useful, how much more delightful
+to talk with them, and ask them questions! To sit down
+with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and hear how they kept
+the faith without any Bible,&mdash;to converse with Moses, and
+Samuel, and David, and Isaiah, and Daniel, and hear how
+they could believe in a Christ yet to come,&mdash;to converse with
+Peter, and Paul, and Lazarus, and Mary, and Martha, and
+listen to their wondrous tale of what their Master did for
+them,&mdash;all this will be sweet indeed! No wonder that<span class="pagenum">[Pg 437]</span>
+St. Paul bids us look forward.</p>
+
+<p>(4) In the last place, the gathering of all true Christians
+shall be <i>a meeting without a parting</i>. There are no such
+meetings now. We seem to live in an endless hurry, and
+can hardly sit down and take breath before we are off
+again. "Good-bye" treads on the heels of "How do you
+do?" The cares of this world, the necessary duties of
+life, the demands of our families, the work of our various
+stations and callings,&mdash;all these things appear to eat up
+our days, and to make it impossible to have long quiet
+times of communion with God's people. But, blessed be
+God, it shall not always be so. The hour cometh, and
+shall soon be here, when "good-bye" and "farewell" shall
+be words that are laid aside and buried for ever. When we
+meet in a world where the former things have passed away,
+where there is no more sin and no more sorrow,&mdash;no more
+poverty and no more money,&mdash;no more work of body or
+work of brains,&mdash;no more need of anxiety for families,&mdash;no
+more sickness, no more pain, no more old age, no more
+death, no more change,&mdash;when we meet in that endless
+state of being, calm, and restful, and unhurried,&mdash;who
+can tell what the blessedness of the change will be? I
+cannot wonder that St. Paul bids us look up and look
+forward.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>I lay these things before all who read this paper, and
+ask their serious attention to them. If I know anything
+of a Christian's experience, I am sure they contain food
+for reflection. This, at least, I say confidently: the man
+who sees nothing much in the second coming of Christ and
+the public "gathering" of Christ's people,&mdash;nothing happy,
+nothing joyful, nothing pleasant, nothing desirable,&mdash;such
+a man may well doubt whether he himself is a true Christian
+and has got any grace at all.</p>
+
+<p>(1) <i>I ask you a plain question.</i> Do not turn away
+from it and refuse to look it in the face. Shall you be<span class="pagenum">[Pg 438]</span>
+gathered by the angels into God's home when the Lord
+returns, or shall you be left behind?</p>
+
+<p>One thing, at any rate, is very certain. There will only
+be two parties of mankind at the last great day: those
+who are on the right hand of Christ, and those who are on
+the left;&mdash;those who are counted righteous, and those who
+are wicked;&mdash;those who are safe in the ark, and those who
+are outside;&mdash;those who are gathered like wheat into
+God's barn, and those who are left behind like tares to be
+burned. Now, what will your portion be?</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps you do not know yet. You cannot say. You
+are not sure. You hope the best. You trust it will be
+all right at last: but you won't undertake to give an
+opinion. Well! I only hope you will never rest till you
+do know. The Bible will tell you plainly who are they
+that will be gathered. Your own heart, if you deal
+honestly, will tell you whether you are one of the number.
+Rest not, rest not, till you know!</p>
+
+<p>How men can stand the partings and separations of
+this life if they have no hope of anything better,&mdash;how
+they can bear to say "good-bye" to sons and daughters, and
+launch them on the troublesome waves of this world, if
+they have no expectation of a safe "gathering" in Christ at
+last,&mdash;how they can part with beloved members of their
+families, and let them journey forth to the other side of
+the globe, not knowing if they shall ever meet happily in
+this life or a life to come,&mdash;how all this can be, completely
+baffles my understanding. I can only suppose that the
+many never think, never consider, never look forward.
+Once let a man begin to think, and he will never be
+satisfied till he has found Christ and is safe.</p>
+
+<p>(2) <i>I offer you a plain means of testing your own
+soul's condition</i>, if you want to know your own chance of
+being gathered into God's home. Ask yourself what kind
+of gatherings you like best here upon earth? Ask
+yourself whether you really love the assembling together<span class="pagenum">[Pg 439]</span>
+of God's people?</p>
+
+<p>How could that man enjoy the meeting of true Christians
+in heaven who takes no pleasure in meeting true
+Christians on earth? How can that heart which is wholly
+set on balls, and races, and feasts, and amusements, and
+worldly assemblies, and thinks earthly worship a weariness&mdash;how
+can such a heart be in tune for the company of
+saints, and saints alone? The thing is impossible. It
+cannot be.</p>
+
+<p>Never, never let it be forgotten, that our tastes on earth
+are a sure evidence of the state of our hearts; and the
+state of our hearts here is a sure indication of our position
+hereafter. Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared
+people. He that hopes to be gathered with saints in
+heaven while he only loves the gathering of sinners on
+earth is deceiving himself. If he lives and dies in that
+state of mind he will find at last that he had better never
+have been born.</p>
+
+<p>(3) If you are a true Christian, <i>I exhort you to be often
+looking forward</i>. Your good things are yet to come.
+Your redemption draweth nigh. The night is far spent.
+The day is at hand. Yet a little time, and He whom you
+love and believe on will come, and will not tarry. When
+He comes, He will bring His dead saints with Him and
+change His living ones. Look forward! There is a
+"gathering together" yet to come.</p>
+
+<p>The morning after a shipwreck is a sorrowful time.
+The joy of half-drowned survivors, who have safely reached
+the land, is often sadly marred by the recollection of shipmates
+who have sunk to rise no more. There will be no
+such sorrow when believers gather together round the
+throne of the Lamb. Not one of the ship's company
+shall be found absent. "Some on boards, and some on
+broken pieces of the ship,&mdash;all will get safe to shore at
+last." (Acts xxvii. 44.) The great waters and raging
+waves shall swallow none of God's elect. When the sun<span class="pagenum">[Pg 440]</span>
+rises they shall be seen all safe, and "gathered together."</p>
+
+<p>Even the day after a great victory is a sorrowful time.
+The triumphant feelings of the conquerors are often
+mingled with bitter regrets for those who fell in action,
+and died on the field. The list of "killed, wounded, and
+missing," breaks many a heart, fills many a home with
+mourning, and brings many a grey head sorrowing to the
+grave. The great Duke of Wellington often said, "there
+was but one thing worse than a victory, and that was a
+defeat." But, thanks be to God, there will be no such
+sorrow in heaven! The soldiers of the great Captain of
+our salvation shall all answer to their names at last. The
+muster-roll shall be as complete after the battle as it was
+before. Not one believer shall be "missing" in the great
+"gathering together."</p>
+
+<p>Does Christmas, for instance, bring with it sorrowful
+feelings and painful associations? Do tears rise unbidden
+in your eyes when you mark the empty places round the
+fireside? Do grave thoughts come sweeping over your
+mind, even in the midst of your children's mirth, when
+you recollect the dear old faces and much loved voices of
+some that sleep in the churchyard? Well, look up and
+look forward! The time is short. The world is growing
+old. The coming of the Lord draweth nigh. There is
+yet to be a meeting without parting, and a gathering
+without separation. Those believers whom you laid in
+the grave with many tears are in good keeping: you will
+yet see them again with joy. Look up! I say once more.
+Lay hold by faith on the "coming of our Lord Jesus
+Christ, and our gathering together unto Him." Believe
+it, think of it, rest on it. It is all true.</p>
+
+<p>Do you feel lonely and desolate as every December
+comes round? Do you find few to pray with, few to praise
+with, few to open your heart to, few to exchange experience
+with? Do you learn increasingly, that heaven is
+becoming every year more full and earth more empty?<span class="pagenum">[Pg 441]</span>
+Well, it is an old story. You are only drinking a cup
+which myriads have drunk before. Look up and look
+forward. The lonely time will soon be past and over:
+you will have company enough by and by. "When you
+wake up after your Lord's likeness you shall be satisfied."
+(Ps. xvii. 15.) Yet a little while and you shall see a
+congregation that shall never break up, and a sabbath that
+shall never end. "The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,
+and our gathering together unto Him," shall make amends
+for all.</p>
+<br>
+
+
+
+<h2><a name="XX" id="XX"></a>XX</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 442]</span>
+
+<h2>THE GREAT SEPARATION</h2>
+
+<blockquote><p>"<i>Whose fan is in His hand, and He will throughly purge His
+floor, and gather His wheat into the garner; but He will burn
+up the chaff with unquenchable fire.</i>"&mdash;<span class="smcap">Matt.</span> iii. 12.</p></blockquote>
+
+
+<p>The verse of Scripture which is now before our eyes
+contains words which were spoken by John the Baptist.
+They are a prophecy about our Lord Jesus Christ, and a
+prophecy which has not yet been fulfilled. They are a
+prophecy which we shall all see fulfilled one day, and God
+alone knows how soon.</p>
+
+<p>I invite every reader of this paper to consider seriously
+the great truths which this verse contains. I invite you
+to give me your attention, while I unfold them, and set
+them before you in order. Who knows but this text may
+prove a word in season to your soul? Who knows but
+this text may help to make this day the happiest day in
+your life?</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>I. Let me show, in the first place, <i>the two great classes
+into which mankind may be divided</i>.</p>
+
+<p>There are only two classes of people in the world in the
+sight of God, and both are mentioned in the text which
+begins this paper. There are those who are called <i>the
+wheat</i>, and there are those who are called <i>the chaff</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Viewed with the eye of man, the earth contains many
+different sorts of inhabitants. Viewed with the eye of
+God it only contains two. Man's eye looks at the outward<span class="pagenum">[Pg 443]</span>
+appearance:&mdash;this is all he thinks of. The eye of God
+looks at the heart:&mdash;this is the only part of which He
+takes any account. And tried by the state of their hearts,
+there are but two classes into which people can be divided:&mdash;either
+they are wheat, or they are chaff.</p>
+
+<p><i>Who are the wheat in the world?</i> This is a point
+which demands special consideration.</p>
+
+<p>The wheat means all men and women who are believers
+in the Lord Jesus Christ,&mdash;all who are led by the Holy
+Spirit,&mdash;all who have felt themselves sinners, and fled for
+refuge to the salvation offered in the Gospel,&mdash;all who
+love the Lord Jesus and live to the Lord Jesus, and serve
+the Lord Jesus,&mdash;all who have taken Christ for their only
+confidence, and the Bible for their only guide, and regard
+sin as their deadliest enemy, and look to heaven as their
+only home. All such, of every Church, name, nation,
+people, and tongue,&mdash;of every rank, station, condition,
+and degree,&mdash;all such are God's "wheat."</p>
+
+<p>Show me people of this kind anywhere, and I know what
+they are. I know not that they and I may agree in all
+particulars, but I see in them the handiwork of the King
+of kings, and I ask no more. I know not whence they
+came, and where they found their religion; but I know
+where they are going, and that is enough for me. They
+are the children of my Father in heaven. They are part
+of His "wheat."</p>
+
+<p>All such, though sinful and vile, and unworthy in their
+own eyes, are the precious part of mankind. They are
+the sons and daughters of God the Father. They are the
+delight of God the Son. They are the habitation of God
+the Spirit. The Father beholds no iniquity in them:&mdash;they
+are the members of His dear Son's mystical body:
+in Him He sees them, and is well-pleased. The Lord
+Jesus discerns in them the fruit of His own travail and
+work upon the cross, and is well satisfied. The Holy
+Ghost regards them as spiritual temples which He Himself<span class="pagenum">[Pg 444]</span>
+has reared, and rejoices over them. In a word, they are
+the "wheat" of the earth.</p>
+
+<p><i>Who are the chaff in the world?</i> This again is a point
+which demands special attention.</p>
+
+<p>The chaff means all men and women who have no
+saving faith in Christ, and no sanctification of the Spirit,
+whosoever they may be. Some of them perhaps are
+infidels, and some are formal Christians. Some are sneering
+Sadducees, and some self-righteous Pharisees. Some
+of them make a point of keeping up a kind of Sunday
+religion, and others are utterly careless of everything
+except their own pleasure and the world. But all alike,
+who have the two great marks already mentioned&mdash;<i>no
+faith and no sanctification</i>,&mdash;all such are "chaff." From
+Paine and Voltaire to the dead Churchman who can think
+of nothing but outward ceremonies,&mdash;from Julian and
+Porphyry to the unconverted admirer of sermons in the
+present day,&mdash;all, all are standing in one rank before God:
+all, all are "chaff."</p>
+
+<p>They bring no glory to God the Father. "They honour
+not the Son, and so do not honour the Father that sent
+Him." (John v. 23.) They neglect that mighty salvation
+which countless millions of angels admire. They disobey
+that Word which was graciously written for their learning.
+They listen not to the voice of Him who condescended to
+leave heaven and die for their sins. They pay no tribute
+of service and affection to Him who gave them "life, and
+breath, and all things." And therefore God takes no
+pleasure in them. He pities them, but He reckons them
+no better than "chaff."</p>
+
+<p>Yes! you may have rare intellectual gifts and high
+mental attainments: you may sway kingdoms by your
+counsel, move millions by your pen, or keep crowds in
+breathless attention by your tongue; but if you have never
+submitted yourself to the yoke of Christ, and never
+honoured His Gospel by heartfelt reception of it, you are<span class="pagenum">[Pg 445]</span>
+nothing in His sight. Natural gifts without grace are
+like a row of cyphers without an unit before them: they
+look big, but they are of no value. The meanest insect
+that crawls is a nobler being than you are: it fills its place
+in creation, and glorifies its Maker with all its power, and
+you do not. You do not honour God with heart, and will,
+and intellect, and members, which are all His. You
+invert His order and arrangement, and live as if time was
+of more importance than eternity, and body better than
+soul. You dare to neglect God's greatest gift,&mdash;His own
+incarnate Son. You are cold about that subject which
+fills all heaven with hallelujahs. And so long as this is
+the case you belong to the worthless part of mankind.
+You are the "chaff" of the earth.</p>
+
+<p>Let this thought be graven deeply in the mind of every
+reader of this paper, whatever else he forgets. Remember
+there are only two sorts of people in the world. There are
+wheat, and there are chaff.</p>
+
+<p>There are many nations in Europe. Each differs from
+the rest. Each has its own language, its own laws, its own
+peculiar customs. But God's eye divides Europe into two
+great parties,&mdash;the wheat and the chaff.</p>
+
+<p>There are many classes in England. There are peers
+and commoners,&mdash;farmers and shopkeepers,&mdash;masters and
+servants,&mdash;rich and poor. But God's eye only takes
+account of two orders,&mdash;the wheat and the chaff.</p>
+
+<p>There are many and various minds in every congregation
+that meets for religious worship. There are some who
+attend for a mere form, and some who really desire to meet
+Christ,&mdash;some who come there to please others, and some
+who come to please God,&mdash;some who bring their hearts
+with them and are not soon tired, and some who leave
+their hearts behind them, and reckon the whole service
+weary work. But the eye of the Lord Jesus only sees two
+divisions in the congregation,&mdash;the wheat and the chaff.</p>
+
+<p>There were millions of visitors to the Great Exhibition<span class="pagenum">[Pg 446]</span>
+of 1851. From Europe, Asia, Africa, and America,&mdash;from
+North and South, and East and West,&mdash;crowds came
+together to see what skill and industry could do. Children
+of our first father Adam's family, who had never seen
+each other before, for once met face to face under one
+roof. But the eye of the Lord only saw two companies
+thronging that large palace of glass,&mdash;the wheat and the
+chaff.</p>
+
+<p>I know well the world dislikes this way of dividing
+professing Christians. The world tries hard to fancy there
+are <i>three</i> sorts of people, and not <i>two</i>. To be very good
+and very strict does not suit the world:&mdash;they cannot, will
+not be saints. To have no religion at all does not suit the
+world:&mdash;it would not be respectable.&mdash;"Thank God," they
+will say, "we are not so bad as that." But to have religion
+enough to be saved, and yet not go into extremes,&mdash;to be
+sufficiently good, and yet not be peculiar,&mdash;to have a quiet,
+easy-going, moderate kind of Christianity, and go comfortably
+to heaven after all,&mdash;this is the world's favourite
+idea. There is a third class,&mdash;a safe middle class,&mdash;the
+world fancies, and in this middle class the majority of men
+persuade themselves they will be found.</p>
+
+<p>I denounce this notion of a middle class, as an immense
+and soul-ruining delusion. I warn you strongly not to be
+carried away by it. It is as vain an invention as the Pope's
+purgatory. It is a refuge of lies,&mdash;a castle in the air,&mdash;a
+Russian ice-palace,&mdash;a vast unreality,&mdash;an empty dream.
+This middle class is a class of Christians nowhere spoken
+of in the Bible.</p>
+
+<p>There were two classes in the day of Noah's flood, those
+who were inside the ark, and those who were without;&mdash;two
+in the parable of the Gospel-net, those who are called
+the good fish, and those who are called the bad;&mdash;two in
+the parable of the ten virgins, those who are described as
+wise, and those who are described as foolish;&mdash;two in the
+account of the judgment day, the sheep and the goats;&mdash;two<span class="pagenum">[Pg 447]</span>
+sides of the throne, the right hand and the left;&mdash;two
+abodes when the last sentence has been passed, heaven
+and hell.</p>
+
+<p>And just so there are only two classes in the visible
+Church on earth,&mdash;those who are in the state of nature,
+and those who are in the state of grace,&mdash;those who are
+in the narrow way, and those who are in the broad,&mdash;those
+who have faith, and those who have not faith,&mdash;those who
+have been converted, and those who have not been
+converted,&mdash;those who are with Christ, and those who are
+against Him,&mdash;those who gather with Him, and those who
+scatter abroad,&mdash;those who are "wheat," and those who
+are "chaff." Into these two classes the whole professing
+Church of Christ may be divided. Beside these two classes
+there is none.</p>
+
+<p>See now what cause there is for self-inquiry. Are you
+among the wheat, or among the chaff? Neutrality is
+impossible. Either you are in one class, or in the other.
+Which is it of the two?</p>
+
+<p>You attend church, perhaps. You go to the Lord's table.
+You like good people. You can distinguish between good
+preaching and bad. You think Popery false, and oppose
+it warmly. You think Protestantism true, and support it
+cordially. You subscribe to religious Societies. You attend
+religious meetings. You sometimes read religious books.
+It is well: it is very well. It is good: it is all very good.
+It is more than can be said of many. But still this is not
+a straightforward answer to my question.&mdash;Are you wheat
+or are you chaff?</p>
+
+<p>Have you been born again? Are you a new creature?
+Have you put off the old man, and put on the new? Have
+you ever felt your sins, and repented of them? Are you
+looking simply to Christ for pardon and life eternal? Do
+you love Christ? Do you serve Christ? Do you loathe
+heart-sins, and fight against them? Do you long for
+perfect holiness, and follow hard after it? Have you<span class="pagenum">[Pg 448]</span>
+come out from the world? Do you delight in the Bible?
+Do you wrestle in prayer? Do you love Christ's people?
+Do you try to do good to the world? Are you vile in your
+own eyes, and willing to take the lowest place? Are you
+a Christian in business, and on week-days, and by your
+own fireside? Oh, think, think, think on these things, and
+then perhaps you will be better able to tell the state of
+your soul.</p>
+
+<p>I beseech you not to turn away from my question,
+however unpleasant it may be. Answer it, though it may
+prick your conscience, and cut you to the heart. Answer
+it, though it may prove you in the wrong, and expose your
+fearful danger. Rest not, rest not, till you know how it
+is between you and God. Better a thousand times find
+out that you are in an evil case, and repent betimes, than
+live on in uncertainty, and be lost eternally.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>II. Let me show, in the second place, <i>the time when
+the two great classes of mankind shall be separated</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The text at the beginning of this paper foretells a
+separation. It says that Christ shall one day do to His
+professing Church what the farmer does to his corn. He
+shall winnow and sift it. He "shall throughly purge
+His floor." And then the wheat and the chaff shall be
+divided.</p>
+
+<p>There is no separation yet. Good and bad are now all
+mingled together in the visible Church of Christ. Believers
+and unbelievers,&mdash;converted and unconverted,&mdash;holy and
+unholy,&mdash;all are to be found now among those who call
+themselves Christians. They sit side by side in our
+assemblies. They kneel side by side in our pews. They
+listen side by side to our sermons. They sometimes come
+up side by side to the Lord's table, and receive the same
+bread and wine from our hands.</p>
+
+<p>But it shall not always be so. Christ shall come the
+second time with His fan in His hand. He shall purge<span class="pagenum">[Pg 449]</span>
+His Church, even as He purified the temple. And then
+the wheat and the chaff shall be separated, and each shall
+go to its own place.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>a</i>) Before Christ comes <i>separation is impossible</i>. It is
+not in man's power to effect it. There lives not the
+minister on earth who can read the hearts of every one in
+his congregation. About some he may speak decidedly;&mdash;he
+cannot about all. Who have oil in their lamps, and
+who have not,&mdash;who have grace as well as profession,&mdash;and
+who have profession only and no grace,&mdash;who are
+children of God, and who of the devil,&mdash;all these are
+questions which in many cases we cannot accurately decide.
+The winnowing fan is not put into our hands.</p>
+
+<p>Grace is sometimes so weak and feeble, that it looks
+like nature. Nature is sometimes so plausible and well-dressed,
+that it looks like grace. I believe we should
+many of us have said that Judas was as good as any of the
+Apostles; and yet he proved a traitor. I believe we should
+have said that Peter was a reprobate when he denied his
+Lord; and yet he repented immediately, and rose again.
+We are but fallible men. "We know in part and we
+prophesy in part." (1 Cor. xiii. 9.) We scarcely understand
+our own hearts. It is no great wonder if we cannot
+read the hearts of others.</p>
+
+<p>But it will not always be so. There is One coming who
+never errs in judgment, and is perfect in knowledge.
+Jesus shall purge His floor. Jesus shall sift the chaff
+from the wheat. I wait for this. Till then I will lean to
+the side of charity in my judgments. I would rather
+tolerate much chaff in the Church than cast out one
+grain of wheat. He shall soon come "who has His fan in
+His hand," and then the certainty about every one shall
+be known.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>b</i>) Before Christ comes it is useless to <i>expect to see a
+perfect Church</i>. There cannot be such a thing. The
+wheat and the chaff, in the present state of things, will<span class="pagenum">[Pg 450]</span>
+always be found together. I pity those who leave one
+Church and join another, because of a few faults and unsound
+members. I pity them, because they are fostering
+ideas which can never be realized. I pity them, because
+they are seeking that which cannot be found. I see "chaff"
+everywhere. I see imperfections and infirmities of some
+kind in every communion on earth. I believe there are
+few tables of the Lord, if any, where all the communicants
+are converted. I often see loud-talking professors exalted
+as saints. I often see holy and contrite believers set down
+as having no grace at all. I am satisfied if men are too
+scrupulous, they may go fluttering about, like Noah's dove,
+all their days, and never find rest.</p>
+
+<p>Does any reader of this paper desire a perfect Church?
+You must wait for the day of Christ's appearing. Then,
+and not till then, you will see a "glorious Church, not
+having spot or wrinkle or any such thing." (Eph. v. 27.)
+Then, and not till then, the floor will be purged.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>c</i>) Before Christ comes it is vain to <i>look for the conversion
+of the world</i>. How can it be, if He is to find wheat
+and chaff side by side in the day of His second coming?
+I believe some Christians expect that missions will fill the
+earth with the knowledge of Christ, and that little by
+little sin will disappear, and a state of perfect holiness
+gradually glide in. I cannot see with their eyes. I think
+they are mistaking God's purposes, and sowing for themselves
+bitter disappointment. I expect nothing of the kind.
+I see nothing in the Bible, or in the world around me, to
+make me expect it. I have never heard of a single congregation
+entirely converted to God, in England or Scotland,
+or of anything like it.&mdash;And why am I to look for a
+different result from the preaching of the Gospel in other
+lands? I only expect to see a few raised up as witnesses
+to Christ in every nation, some in one place and some in
+another. Then I expect the Lord Jesus will come in
+glory, with His fan in His hand. And when He has<span class="pagenum">[Pg 451]</span>
+purged His floor, and not till then, His kingdom will
+begin.</p>
+
+<p><i>No separation and no perfection till Christ comes!</i>
+This is my creed. I am not moved when the infidel asks
+me why all the world is not converted, if Christianity is
+really true. I answer, It was never promised that it would
+be so in the present order of things. The Bible tells me
+that believers will always be few,&mdash;that corruptions and
+divisions and heresies will always abound, and that when
+my Lord returns to earth He will find plenty of chaff.</p>
+
+<p><i>No perfection till Christ comes!</i> I am not disturbed
+when men say, "Make all the people good Christians at
+home before you send missionaries to the heathen abroad."
+I answer, If I am to wait for that, I may wait for ever.
+When we have done all at home, the Church will still be
+a mixed body,&mdash;it will contain some wheat and much chaff.</p>
+
+<p>But Christ will come again. Sooner or later there shall
+be a separation of the visible Church into two companies,
+and fearful shall that separation be. The wheat shall
+make up one company. The chaff shall make up another.
+The one company will be all godly. The other company
+will be all ungodly. Each shall be by themselves, and a
+great gulf between, that none can pass. Blessed indeed
+shall the righteous be in that day! They shall shine like
+stars, no longer obscured with clouds. They shall be
+beautiful as the lily, no longer choked with thorns. (Cant.
+ii. 2.) Wretched indeed will the ungodly be! How
+corrupt will corruption be when left without one grain of
+salt to season it! How dark will darkness be when left
+without one spark of light! Ah, it is not enough to
+respect and admire the Lord's people! You must belong
+to them, or you will one day be parted from them for ever.
+There will be no chaff in heaven. Many, many are the
+families where one will be taken and another left. (Luke
+xvii. 34.)</p>
+
+<p>Who is there now among the readers of this paper that<span class="pagenum">[Pg 452]</span>
+loves the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity? If I know anything
+of the heart of a Christian, your greatest trials are
+in the company of worldly people,&mdash;your greatest joys in
+the company of the saints. Yes! there are many weary
+days, when your spirit feels broken and crushed by the
+earthly tone of all around you,&mdash;days when you could cry
+with David, "Woe is me that I dwell in Mesech, and have
+my habitation in the tents of Kedar." (Ps. cxx. 5.) And
+yet there are hours when your soul is so refreshed and
+revived by meeting some of God's dear children, that it
+seems like heaven on earth. Do I not speak to your
+heart? Are not these things true? See then how you
+should long for the time when Christ shall come again.
+See how you should pray daily that the Lord would hasten
+His kingdom, and say to Him, "Come quickly, Lord
+Jesus." (Rev. xxii. 20.) Then, and not till then, shall
+be a pure unmixed communion. Then, and not till
+then, the saints shall all be together, and shall go out
+from one another's presence no more. Wait a little.
+Wait a little. Scorn and contempt will soon be over.
+Laughter and ridicule shall soon have an end. Slander
+and misrepresentation will soon cease. Your Saviour shall
+come and plead your cause. And then, as Moses said to
+Korah, "the Lord will show who are His,"<a href="#ft_14">[14]</a> (Num. xvi. 5.)</p>
+
+<p>Who is there among the readers of this paper that
+knows his heart is not right in the sight of God? See
+how you should fear and tremble at the thought of
+Christ's appearing. Alas, indeed for the man that lives
+and dies with nothing better than a cloak of religion! In
+the day when Christ shall purge His floor, you will be<span class="pagenum">[Pg 453]</span>
+shown up and exposed in your true colours. You may
+deceive ministers, and friends, and neighbours,&mdash;but you
+cannot deceive Christ. The paint and varnish of a heartless
+Christianity will never stand the fire of that day.
+The Lord is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are
+weighed. You will find that the eye which saw Achan
+and Gehazi, has read your secrets, and searched out your
+hidden things. You will hear that awful word, "Friend,
+how camest thou in hither, not having a wedding garment?"
+(Matt. xxii. 12.) Oh, tremble at the thought of the day
+of sifting and separation! Surely hypocrisy is a most
+losing game. Surely it never answers to act a part.
+Surely it never answers, like Ananias and Sapphira, to
+pretend to give God something, and yet to keep back your
+heart. It all fails at last. Your joy is but for a moment.
+Your hopes are no better than a dream. Oh, tremble,
+tremble: tremble and repent!</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>III. Let me show, in the third place, <i>the portion which
+Christ's people shall receive when He comes to purge His
+floor</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The text at the beginning of this paper tells us that, in
+good and comfortable words. It tells us that Christ shall
+"gather His wheat into the garner."</p>
+
+<p>When the Lord Jesus comes the second time, He shall
+collect His believing people into a place of safety. He
+will send His angels and gather them from every quarter.
+The sea shall give up the dead that are in it, and the
+graves the dead that are in them, and the living shall be
+changed. Not one poor sinner of mankind who has ever
+laid hold on Christ by faith shall be wanting in that
+company. Not one single grain of wheat shall be missing
+and left outside, when judgments fall upon a wicked world.
+There shall be a garner for the wheat of the earth, and
+into that garner all the wheat shall be brought.</p>
+
+<p>It is a sweet and comfortable thought, that "the Lord<span class="pagenum">[Pg 454]</span>
+taketh pleasure in His people" and "careth for the righteous."
+(Ps. cxlix. 4; 1 Pet. v. 7.) But how much the Lord
+cares for them, I fear is little known, and dimly seen.
+Believers have their trials, beyond question, and these
+both many and great. The flesh is weak. The world is
+full of snares. The cross is heavy. The way is narrow. The
+companions are few. But still they have strong consolations,
+if their eyes were but open to see them. Like Hagar,
+they have a well of water near them, even in the wilderness,
+though they often do not find it out. Like Mary, they have
+Jesus standing by their side, though often they are not
+aware of it for very tears. (Gen. xxi. 19; John xx. 14.)</p>
+
+<p>Bear with me while I try to tell you something about
+Christ's care for poor sinners that believe in Him. Alas,
+indeed, that it should be needful! But we live in a day
+of weak and feeble statements. The danger of the state
+of nature is feebly exposed. The privileges of the state
+of grace are feebly set forth. Hesitating souls are not
+encouraged. Disciples are not established and confirmed.
+The man out of Christ is not rightly alarmed. The man
+in Christ is not rightly built up. The one sleeps on, and
+seldom has his conscience pricked. The other creeps and
+crawls all his days, and never thoroughly understands the
+riches of his inheritance. Truly this is a sore disease,
+and one that I would gladly help to cure. Truly it is a
+melancholy thing that the people of God should never go
+up to mount Pizgah, and never know the length and
+breadth of their possessions. To be brethren of Christ,
+and sons of God by adoption,&mdash;to have full and perfect
+forgiveness, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost,&mdash;to
+have a place in the book of life, and a name on the
+breast-plate of the Great High Priest in heaven,&mdash;all
+these are glorious things indeed. But still they are not
+the whole of a believer's portion. They are upper springs
+indeed, but still there are nether springs beside.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>a</i>) The Lord <i>takes pleasure in His believing people</i>.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 455]</span>
+Though black in their own eyes, they are comely and
+honourable in His. They are all fair. He sees "no spot"
+in them. (Cant. iv. 7.) Their weaknesses and short-comings
+do not break off the union between Him and them. He
+chose them, knowing all their hearts. He took them for
+his own, with a perfect understanding of all their debts,
+liabilities, and infirmities, and He will never break His
+covenant and cast them off. When they fall, He will raise
+them again. When they wander, He will bring them back.
+Their <i>prayers</i> are pleasant to Him. As a father loves the
+first stammering efforts of his child to speak, so the Lord
+loves the poor feeble petitions of His people. He endorses
+them with His own mighty intercession, and gives them
+power on high. Their <i>services</i> are pleasant to Him. As
+a father delights in the first daisy that his child picks up
+and brings him, even so the Lord is pleased with the weak
+attempts of His people to serve Him. Not a cup of cold
+water shall lose its reward. Not a word spoken in love
+shall ever be forgotten. The Holy Ghost inspired St. Paul
+to tell the Hebrews of Noah's faith, but not of his drunkenness,&mdash;of
+Rahab's faith, but not of her lie. It is a
+blessed thing to be God's wheat!</p>
+
+<p>(<i>b</i>) The Lord <i>cares for His believing people in their lives</i>.
+Their dwelling-place is well known. The street called
+"straight," where Judas dwelt, and Paul lodged,&mdash;the house
+by the sea-side, where Peter prayed, were all familiar to
+their Lord. None have such attendants as they have:&mdash;angels
+rejoice when they are born again; angels minister
+to them; and angels encamp around them. None have such
+food;&mdash;their bread is given them and their water is sure, and
+they have meat to eat of which the world knows nothing.
+None have such company as they have: the Spirit dwelleth
+with them; the Father and the Son come to them, and
+make their abode with them. (John xiv. 23.) Their steps
+are all ordered from grace to glory: they that persecute
+them persecute Christ Himself, and they that hurt them<span class="pagenum">[Pg 456]</span>
+hurt the apple of the Lord's eye. Their trials and temptations
+are all measured out by a wise Physician:&mdash;not a
+grain of bitterness is ever mingled in their cup that is not
+good for the health of their souls. Their temptations,
+like Job's, are all under God's control.&mdash;Satan cannot
+touch a hair of their head without their Lord's permission,
+nor even tempt them above that which they shall be able
+to bear. "As a father pitieth his own children, so does
+the Lord pity them that fear Him." He never afflicts them
+willingly. (Ps. ciii. 13; Lam. iii. 33.) He leads them by the
+right way. He withholds nothing that is really for their
+good. Come what will, there is always a "needs-be." When
+they are placed in the furnace, it is that they may be
+purified. When they are chastened, it is that they may
+become more holy. When they are pruned, it is to make
+them more fruitful. When they are transplanted from
+place to place, it is that they may bloom more brightly.
+All things are continually working together for their good.
+Like the bee, they extract sweetness even out of the
+bitterest flowers.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>c</i>) The Lord <i>cares for His believing people in their
+deaths</i>. Their times are all in the Lord's hand. The hairs
+of their heads are all numbered, and not one can ever fall to
+the ground without their Father. They are kept on earth
+till they are ripe and ready for glory, and not one moment
+longer. When they have had sun and rain enough, wind
+and storm enough, cold and heat enough,&mdash;when the ear
+is perfected,&mdash;then, and not till then, the sickle is put in.
+They are all immortal till their work is done. There is
+not a disease that can loosen the pins of their tabernacle,
+until the Lord gives the word. A thousand may fall at
+their right hand, but there is not a plague that can touch
+them till the Lord sees good. There is not a physician
+that can keep them alive, when the Lord gives the word.
+When they come to their death-bed, the everlasting arms
+are round about them, and make all their bed in their<span class="pagenum">[Pg 457]</span>
+sickness. When they die, they die like Moses, "according
+to the word of the Lord," at the right time, and in the
+right way. (Deut. xxxiv. 5.) And when they breathe their
+last, they fall asleep in Christ, and are at once carried, like
+Lazarus, into Abraham's bosom. Yes! it is a blessed thing
+to be Christ's wheat! When the sun of other men is setting,
+the sun of the believer is rising. When other men are
+laying aside their honours, he is putting his on. Death
+locks the door on the unbeliever, and shuts him out from
+hope. But death opens the door to the believer, and lets
+him into paradise.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>d</i>) And the Lord <i>will care for His believing people in
+the dreadful day of His appearing</i>. The flaming fire shall
+not come nigh them. The voice of the Archangel and
+the trump of God shall proclaim no terrors to their ears.
+Sleeping or waking, quick or dead, mouldering in the coffin,
+or standing at the post of daily duty,&mdash;believers shall be
+secure and unmoved. They shall lift up their heads with
+joy when they see redemption drawing nigh. They shall
+be changed, and put on their beautiful garments in the
+twinkling of an eye. They shall be "caught up to meet
+the Lord in the air." (1 Thess. iv. 17.) Jesus will do
+nothing to a sin-laden world till all his people are safe.
+There was an ark for Noah when the flood began. There
+was a Zoar for Lot when the fire fell on Sodom. There
+was a Pella for early Christians when Jerusalem was besieged.
+There was a Zurich for English reformers when
+Popish Mary came to the throne. And there will be a
+garner for all the wheat of the earth in the last day. Yes!
+it is a blessed thing to be Christ's wheat!</p>
+
+<p>I often wonder at the miserable faithlessness of those
+among us who are believers. Next to the hardness of the
+unconverted heart, I call it one of the greatest wonders in
+the world. I wonder that with such mighty reasons for
+confidence we can still be so full of doubts. I marvel,
+above all things, how any can deny the doctrine that<span class="pagenum">[Pg 458]</span>
+Christ's people persevere unto the end, and can fancy that
+He who loved them so as to die for them upon the cross,
+will ever let them be cast away. I cannot think so. I
+do not believe the Lord Jesus will ever lose one of His
+flock. He will not let Satan pluck away from Him so
+much as one sick lamb. He will not allow one bone of
+His mystical body to be broken. He will not suffer one
+jewel to fall from His crown. He and His bride have
+been once joined in an everlasting covenant, and they
+shall never, never be put asunder. The trophies won by
+earthly conquerors have often been wrested from them,
+and carried off; but this shall never be said of the trophies
+of Him who triumphed for us on the cross. "My sheep,"
+He says, "shall never perish." (John x. 28.) I take my
+stand on that text. I know not how it can be evaded.
+If words have any meaning, the perseverance of Christ's
+people is there.</p>
+
+<p>I do not believe, when David had rescued the lamb from
+the paws of the lion, that he left it weak and wounded to
+perish in the wilderness. I cannot believe when the Lord
+Jesus has delivered a soul from the snare of the devil
+that He will ever leave that soul to take his chance, and
+wrestle on in his own feebleness, against sin, the devil, and
+the world.</p>
+
+<p>I dare be sure, if you were present at a shipwreck, and
+seeing some helpless child tossing on the waves were to
+plunge into the sea and save him at the risk of your own
+life,&mdash;I dare be sure you would not be content with merely
+bringing that child safe to shore. You would not lay him
+down when you had reached the land, and say, "I will do
+no more. He is weak,&mdash;he is insensible,&mdash;he is cold: it
+matters not. I have done enough,&mdash;I have delivered him
+from the waters: he is not drowned." You would not do
+it. You would not say so. You would not treat that
+child in such a manner. You would lift him in your arms;
+you would carry him to the nearest house; you would try<span class="pagenum">[Pg 459]</span>
+to bring back warmth and animation; you would use every
+means to restore health and vigour: you would never leave
+him till his recovery was a certain thing.</p>
+
+<p>And can you suppose the Lord Jesus Christ is less
+merciful and less compassionate? Can you think He
+would suffer on the cross and die, and yet leave it uncertain
+whether believers in Him would be saved? Can you
+think He would wrestle with death and hell, and go down
+to the grave for our sakes, and yet allow our eternal life
+to hang on such a thread as our poor miserable endeavours.</p>
+
+<p>Oh, no: He does not do so! He is a perfect and
+complete Saviour. Those whom He loves, He loves unto
+the end. Those whom He washes in His blood He never
+leaves nor forsakes. He puts His fear into their hearts, so
+that they shall not depart from Him. Where He begins
+a work, there He also finishes. All whom He plants in
+His "garden inclosed" on earth, He transplants sooner or
+later into paradise. All whom He quickens by His Spirit
+He will also bring with Him when He enters His kingdom.
+There is a garner for every grain of the wheat. All shall
+appear in Zion before God.</p>
+
+<p>From false grace man may fall, and that both finally
+and foully. I never doubt this. I see proof of it continually.
+From true grace men never do fall totally.
+They never did, and they never will. If they commit sin,
+like Peter, they shall repent and rise again. If they err
+from the right way, like David, they shall be brought back.
+It is not any strength or power of their own that keeps
+them from apostacy. They are kept because the power,
+and love, and promises of the Trinity are all engaged on
+their side. The election of God the Father shall not be
+fruitless; the intercession of God the Son shall not be
+ineffectual; the love of God the Spirit shall not be labour
+in vain. The Lord "shall keep the feet of His saints."
+(1 Sam. ii. 9) They shall all be more than conquerors
+through Him that loved them. They all shall conquer,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 460]</span>
+and none die eternally.<a href="#ft_15">[15]</a></p>
+
+<p>If you have not yet taken up the cross and become Christ's
+disciple, you little know what privileges you are missing.
+Peace with God now and glory hereafter,&mdash;the everlasting
+arms to keep you by the way, and the garner of safety in
+the end,&mdash;all these are freely offered to you without
+money and without price. You may say that Christians
+have tribulations;&mdash;you forget that they have also consolations.
+You may say they have peculiar sorrows;&mdash;you
+forget they have also peculiar joys. You see but half
+the Christian life. You see not all. You see the warfare;&mdash;but
+not the meat and the wages. You see the tossing
+and conflict of the outward part of Christianity; you see
+not the hidden treasures which lie deep within. Like
+Elisha's servant, you see the enemies of God's children;
+but you do not, like Elisha, see the chariots and horses of
+fire which protect them. Oh, judge not by outward
+appearances! Be sure that the least drop of the water of
+life is better than all the rivers of the world. Remember
+the garner and the crown. Be wise in time.</p>
+
+<p>If you feel that you are a weak disciple, think not that
+weakness shuts you out from any of the privileges of
+which I have been speaking. Weak faith is true faith,
+and weak grace is true grace; and both are the gift of Him
+who never gives in vain. Fear not, neither be discouraged.
+Doubt not, neither despair. Jesus will never "break the
+bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax." (Isa. xlii. 3.)
+The babes in a family are as much loved and thought of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 461]</span>
+as the elder brothers and sisters. The tender seedlings in
+a garden are as diligently looked after as the old trees.
+The lambs in the flock are as carefully tended by the good
+shepherd as the old sheep. Oh, rest assured it is just the
+same in Christ's family, in Christ's garden, in Christ's
+flock! All are loved. All are tenderly thought of. All
+are cared for. And all shall be found in His garner at
+last.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>IV. Let me show, in the last place, the <i>portion which
+remains for all who are not Christ's people</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The text at the beginning of this paper describes this in
+words which should make our ears tingle: Christ shall
+"burn up the chaff with fire unquenchable."</p>
+
+<p>When the Lord Jesus Christ comes to purge His floor,
+He shall punish all who are not His disciples with a
+fearful punishment. All who are found impenitent and
+unbelieving,&mdash;all who have held the truth in unrighteousness,&mdash;all
+who have clung to sin, stuck to the world, and
+set their affections on things below,&mdash;all who are without
+Christ,&mdash;all such shall come to an awful end. Christ shall
+"burn up the chaff."</p>
+
+<p>Their punishment shall be <i>most severe</i>. There is no
+pain like that of burning. Put your finger in the candle
+for a moment, if you doubt this, and try. Fire is the
+most destructive and devouring of all elements. Look
+into the mouth of a blast-furnace, and think what it would
+be to be there. Fire is of all elements most opposed to
+life. Creatures can live in air, and earth, and water; but
+nothing can live in fire. Yet fire is the portion to which
+the Christless and unbelieving will come. Christ will
+"burn up the chaff with fire."</p>
+
+<p>Their punishment shall be <i>eternal</i>. Millions of ages
+shall pass away, and the fire into which the chaff is cast
+shall still burn on. That fire shall never burn low and
+become dim. The fuel of that fire shall never waste away<span class="pagenum">[Pg 462]</span>
+and be consumed. It is "unquenchable fire."</p>
+
+<p>Alas, these are sad and painful things to speak of! I
+have no pleasure in dwelling on them. I could rather say
+with the Apostle Paul, as I write, "I have great heaviness
+and continual sorrow." (Rom. ix. 2.) But they are things
+written for our learning, and it is good to consider them.
+They are a part of that Scripture which is "all profitable,"
+and they ought to be heard. Painful as the subject of hell
+is, it is one about which I dare not, cannot, must not
+be silent. Who would desire to speak of hell-fire if God
+had not spoken of it? When God has spoken of it so
+plainly, who can safely hold his peace?</p>
+
+<p>I dare not shut my eyes to the fact that a deep-rooted
+infidelity lurks in men's minds on the subject of hell. I
+see it oozing out in the utter apathy of some: they eat,
+and drink, and sleep, as if there was no wrath to come. I
+see it creeping forth in the coldness of others about their
+neighbours' souls: they show little anxiety to pluck brands
+from the fire. I desire to denounce such infidelity with
+all my might. Believing that there are "terrors of the
+Lord," as well as the "recompense of reward," I call on
+all who profess to believe the Bible, to be on their guard.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>a</i>) I know that some do not believe there is any hell at
+all. They think it impossible there can be such a place.
+They call it inconsistent with the mercy of God. They
+say it is too awful an idea to be really true. The devil
+of course rejoices in the views of such people. They help
+his kingdom mightily. They are preaching up his own
+favourite doctrine: "Ye shall not surely die." (Gen. iii. 4.)</p>
+
+<p>(<i>b</i>) I know, furthermore, that some do not believe that
+hell is eternal. They tell us it is incredible that a compassionate
+God will punish men for ever. He will surely open
+the prison doors at last. This also is a mighty help to
+the devil's cause. "Take your ease," he whispers to
+sinners: "if you do make a mistake, never mind, it is not
+for ever." A wicked woman was overheard in the streets<span class="pagenum">[Pg 463]</span>
+of London saying to a bad companion, "Come along:
+who is afraid? Some parsons say there is no hell."</p>
+
+<p>(<i>c</i>) I know also that some believe there is a hell, but
+never allow that anybody is going there. All people, with
+them, are good as soon as they die,&mdash;all were sincere,&mdash;all
+meant well,&mdash;and all, they hope, got to heaven. Alas, what
+a common delusion is this! I can well understand the
+feeling of the little girl who asked her mother where all
+the wicked people were buried, "for she found no mention
+on the grave-stones of any except the good."</p>
+
+<p>(<i>d</i>) And I know very well that some believe there is a
+hell, and never like it to be spoken of. It is a subject that
+should always be kept back, in their opinion. They see
+no profit in bringing it forward, and are rather shocked
+when it is mentioned. This also is an immense help to
+the devil. "Hush, hush!" says Satan, "say nothing about
+hell." The fowler wishes to hear no noise when he lays
+his snares. The wolf would like the shepherd to sleep
+while he prowls round the fold. The devil rejoices when
+Christians are silent about hell.</p>
+
+<p>All these notions are the opinions of man. But what is
+it to you and me what man thinks in religion? Man will
+not judge us at the last day. Man's fancies and traditions
+are not to be our guide in this life. There is but one
+point to be settled: "What says the Word of God?"</p>
+
+<p>(<i>a</i>) Do you believe the Bible? Then depend upon it, <i>hell
+is real and true</i>. It is true as heaven,&mdash;as true as justification
+by faith,&mdash;as true as the fact that Christ died upon
+the cross,&mdash;as true as the Dead Sea. There is not a fact
+or doctrine which you may not lawfully doubt if you doubt
+hell. Disbelieve hell, and you unscrew, unsettle, and
+unpin everything in Scripture. You may as well throw
+your Bible away at once. From "no hell" to "no God"
+there is but a series of steps.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>b</i>) Do you believe the Bible? Then depend upon it,
+<i>hell will have inhabitants</i>. The wicked shall certainly<span class="pagenum">[Pg 464]</span>
+be turned into hell, and all the people that forget God.
+"These shall go away into everlasting punishment." (Matt.
+xxv. 46.) The same blessed Saviour who now sits on a
+throne of grace, will one day sit on a throne of judgment,
+and men will see there is such a thing as "the wrath of
+the Lamb." (Rev. vi. 16.) The same lips which now say,
+"Come: come unto Me!" will one day say, "Depart, ye
+cursed!" Alas, how awful the thought of being condemned
+by Christ Himself, judged by the Saviour, sentenced to
+misery by the Lamb!</p>
+
+<p>(<i>c</i>) Do you believe the Bible? Then depend upon it, <i>hell
+will be intense and unutterable woe</i>. It is vain to talk
+of all the expressions about it being only figures of speech.
+The pit, the prison, the worm, the fire, the thirst, the
+blackness, the darkness, the weeping, the gnashing of
+teeth, the second death,&mdash;all these may be figures of
+speech if you please. But Bible figures mean something,
+beyond all question, and here they mean something which
+man's mind can never fully conceive. The miseries of
+mind and conscience are far worse than those of the body.
+The whole extent of hell, the present suffering, the bitter
+recollection of the past, the hopeless prospect of the
+future, will never be thoroughly known except by those
+who go there.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>d</i>) Do you believe the Bible? Then depend upon it, <i>hell
+is eternal</i>. It must be eternal, or words have no meaning
+at all. For ever and ever&mdash;everlasting&mdash;unquenchable&mdash;never-dying,&mdash;all
+these are expressions used about hell,
+and expressions that cannot be explained away. It must
+be eternal, or the very foundations of heaven are cast
+down. If hell has an end, heaven has an end too. They
+both stand or fall together.&mdash;It must be eternal, or else
+every doctrine of the Gospel is undermined. If a man may
+escape hell at length without faith in Christ, or sanctification
+of the Spirit, sin is no longer an infinite evil, and
+there was no such great need for Christ making an atonement.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 465]</span>
+And where is there warrant for saying that hell
+can ever change a heart, or make it fit for heaven?&mdash;It
+must be eternal, or hell would cease to be hell altogether.
+Give a man hope, and he will bear anything. Grant
+a hope of deliverance, however distant, and hell is
+but a drop of water. Ah, these are solemn things!
+Well said old Caryl: "FOR EVER is the most solemn
+saying in the Bible." Alas, for that day which will have
+no to-morrow,&mdash;that day when men shall seek death and
+not find it, and shall desire to die, but death shall flee from
+them! Who shall dwell with devouring fire? Who shall
+dwell with everlasting burnings? (Rev. ix. 6; Isa. xxxiii. 14.)</p>
+
+<p>(<i>e</i>) Do you believe the Bible? Then depend upon it, <i>hell
+is a subject that ought not to be kept back</i>. It is striking
+to observe the many texts about it in Scripture. It is
+striking to observe that none say so much about it as our
+Lord Jesus Christ, that gracious and merciful Saviour; and
+the apostle John, whose heart seems full of love. Truly
+it may well be doubted whether we ministers speak of it
+as much as we ought. I cannot forget the words of a
+dying hearer of Mr. Newton's: "Sir, you often told me of
+Christ and salvation: why did you not oftener remind me
+of hell and danger?"</p>
+
+<p>Let others hold their peace about hell if they will;&mdash;I
+dare not do so. I see it plainly in Scripture, and I must
+speak of it. I fear that thousands are on that broad way
+that leads to it, and I would fain arouse them to a sense
+of the peril before them. What would you say of the
+man who saw his neighbour's house in danger of being
+burned down, and never raised the cry of "Fire"? What
+ought to be said of us as ministers, if we call ourselves
+watchmen for souls, and yet see the fires of hell raging in
+the distance, and never give the alarm? Call it bad taste,
+if you like, to speak of hell. Call it charity to make
+things pleasant, and speak smoothly, and soothe men with
+a constant lullaby of peace. From such notions of taste<span class="pagenum">[Pg 466]</span>
+and charity may I ever be delivered! My notion of
+charity is to warn men plainly of danger. My notion of
+taste in the ministerial office is to declare all the counsel
+of God. If I never spoke of hell, I should think I had
+kept back something that was profitable, and should look
+on myself as an accomplice of the devil.</p>
+
+<p>I beseech every reader of this paper, in all tender
+affection, to beware of false views of the subject on which
+I have been dwelling. Beware of new and strange doctrines
+about hell and the eternity of punishment. Beware of
+manufacturing a God of your own,&mdash;a God who is all
+mercy, but not just,&mdash;a God who is all love, but not holy,&mdash;a
+God who has a heaven for everybody, but a hell for none,&mdash;a
+God who can allow good and bad to be side by side in
+time, but will make no distinction between good and bad
+in eternity. Such a God is an idol of your own, as really
+as Jupiter or Moloch,&mdash;as true an idol as any snake or
+crocodile in an Egyptian temple,&mdash;as true an idol as was
+ever moulded out of brass or clay. The hands of your own
+fancy and sentimentality have made him. He is not the
+God of the Bible, and besides the God of the Bible there
+is no God at all. Your heaven would be no heaven at all.
+A heaven containing all sorts of characters indiscriminately
+would be miserable discord indeed. Alas, for the eternity
+of such a heaven! there would be little difference between
+it and hell. There is a hell! There is a fire for the chaff!
+Take heed lest you find it out, to your cost, too late.</p>
+
+<p>Beware of being wise above that which is written. Beware
+of forming fanciful theories of your own, and then
+trying to make the Bible square in with them. Beware
+of making selections from your Bible to suit your taste,&mdash;refusing,
+like a spoilt child, whatever you think bitter,&mdash;seizing,
+like a spoilt child, whatever you think sweet.
+What is all this but taking Jehoiakim's penknife? (Jer.
+xxxvi. 23.) What does it amount to but telling God, that
+you, a poor short-lived worm, know what is good for you<span class="pagenum">[Pg 467]</span>
+better than He. It will not do: it will not do. You
+must take the Bible as it is. You must read it all, and
+believe it all. You must come to the reading of it in the
+spirit of a little child. Dare not to say, "I believe this
+verse, for I like it. I reject that, for I do not like it. I
+receive this, for I can understand it. I refuse that, for I
+cannot reconcile it with my views." Nay, but, O man,
+"who art thou that repliest against God?" (Rom. ix. 20.)
+By what right do you talk in this way? Surely it were
+better to say over every chapter in the Word, "Speak,
+Lord, for thy servant heareth."&mdash;If men would do this,
+they would never deny hell, the chaff, and the fire.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>And now, let me say four things in conclusion, and then
+I have done. I have shown the two great classes of
+mankind, the wheat and the chaff.&mdash;I have shown the
+separation which will one day take place.&mdash;I have shown
+the safety of the Lord's people.&mdash;I have shown the fearful
+portion of the Christless and unbelieving.&mdash;I commend
+these things to the conscience of every reader of this
+paper, as in the sight of God.</p>
+
+<p>(1) First of all, settle it down in your mind that the
+things of which I have been speaking are <i>all real and
+true</i>.</p>
+
+<p>I do believe that many never see the great truths of
+religion in this light. I firmly believe that many never
+listen to the things they hear from ministers as realities.
+They regard it all, like Gallio, as a matter of "names
+and words," and nothing more; a huge shadow,&mdash;a formal
+part-acting,&mdash;a vast sham. The last novel, the latest news
+from France, India, Australia, Turkey, or New York,&mdash;all
+these are things they realize: they feel interested and
+excited about them. But as to the Bible, and heaven, and
+the kingdom of Christ, and the judgment day,&mdash;these are
+subjects that they hear unmoved: they do not really
+believe them. If Layard had dug up at Nineveh anything<span class="pagenum">[Pg 468]</span>
+damaging the truth and authority of the Old Testament
+Scriptures, it would not have interfered with their peace
+for an hour.</p>
+
+<p>If you have unhappily got into this frame of mind, I
+charge you to cast it off for ever. Whether you mean to
+hear or forbear, awaken to a thorough conviction that the
+things I have brought before you are real and true. The
+wheat, the chaff, the separation, the garner, the fire,&mdash;all
+these are great realities,&mdash;as real as the sun in heaven,&mdash;as
+real as the paper which your eyes behold. For my
+part, I believe in heaven, and I believe in hell. I believe
+in a coming judgment. I believe in a day of sifting. I
+am not ashamed to say so. I believe them all, and therefore
+write as I do. Oh, take a friend's advice,&mdash;live as if
+these things were true.</p>
+
+<p>(2) Settle it down in your mind, in the second place,
+that the things of which I write <i>concern yourself</i>. They
+are your business, your affair, and your concern.</p>
+
+<p>Many, I am satisfied, never look on religion as a matter
+that concerns themselves. They attend on its outward
+part, as a decent and proper fashion. They hear sermons.
+They read religious books. They have their children
+christened. But all the time they never ask themselves,
+"What is all this to me?" They sit in our churches like
+spectators in a theatre or court of law. They read our
+writings as if they were reading a report of an interesting
+trial, or of some event far away. But they never say to
+themselves, "I am the man."</p>
+
+<p>If you have this kind of feeling, depend upon it it will
+never do. There must be an end of all this if ever you
+are to be saved. You are the man I write to, whoever
+you may be who reads this paper. I write not specially
+to the rich. I write not specially to the poor. I write to
+everybody who will read, whatever his rank may be. It
+is on your soul's account that I am pleading, and not
+another's. You are spoken of in the text that begins this<span class="pagenum">[Pg 469]</span>
+paper. You are this very day either among the "wheat" or
+among the "chaff." Your portion will one day either be the
+garner or the fire. Oh, that men were wise, and would
+lay these things to heart! Oh, that they would not trifle,
+dally, linger, live on half-and-half Christians, meaning
+well, but never acting boldly, and at last awake when it
+is too late!</p>
+
+<p>(3) Settle it down in your mind, in the third place, that
+if you are willing to be one of the wheat of the earth, <i>the
+Lord Jesus Christ is willing to receive you</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Does any man suppose that Jesus is not willing to see
+His garner filled? Do you think He does not desire to
+bring many sons to glory? Oh, but you little know the
+depth of His mercy and compassion, if you can think such
+a thought! He wept over unbelieving Jerusalem. He
+mourns over the impenitent and the thoughtless in the
+present day. He sends you invitations by my mouth this
+hour. He invites you to hear and live, to forsake the way
+of the foolish and go in the paths of understanding. "As
+I live," He says, "I have no pleasure in the death of him
+that dieth. Turn ye, turn ye: why will ye die?" (Ezek.
+xviii. 32.)</p>
+
+<p>Oh, if you never came to Christ for life before, come to
+Him this very day! Come to Him with the penitent's
+prayer for mercy and grace. Come to Him without delay.
+Come to Him while the subject of this paper is still fresh
+on your mind. Come to Him before another sun rises on
+the earth, and let the morning find you a new creature.</p>
+
+<p>If you are determined to have the world, and the things
+of the world,&mdash;its pleasures and its rewards,&mdash;its follies
+and its sins;&mdash;if you must have your own way, and cannot
+give up anything for Christ and your soul;&mdash;if this be
+your case, there is but one end before you. I fairly warn
+you,&mdash;I plainly tell you:&mdash;You will sooner or later come
+to the unquenchable fire.</p>
+
+<p>But if any man is willing to be saved, the Lord Jesus<span class="pagenum">[Pg 470]</span>
+Christ stands ready to save him. "Come unto Me," He says,
+"weary soul, and I will give you rest. Come, guilty and
+sinful soul, and I will give you free pardon. Come, lost
+and ruined soul, and I will give you eternal life." (Matt.
+xi. 28.)</p>
+
+<p>Let that passage be a word in season. Arise and call
+upon the Lord. Let the angels of God rejoice over one
+more saved soul. Let the courts of heaven hear the good
+tidings that one more lost sheep is found.</p>
+
+<p>(4) Settle it down in your mind, last of all, that if you
+have committed your soul to Christ, <i>Christ will never
+allow that soul to perish</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The everlasting arms are round about you. Lean
+back in them and know your safety. The same hand that
+was nailed to the cross is holding you. The same wisdom
+that framed the heavens and the earth is engaged to
+maintain your cause. The same power that redeemed the
+twelve tribes from the house of bondage is on your side.
+The same love that bore with and carried Israel from Egypt
+to Canaan is pledged to keep you. Yes! they are well
+kept whom Christ keeps! Our faith may repose calmly on
+such a bed as Christ's omnipotence.</p>
+
+<p>Take comfort, doubting believer. Why are you cast
+down? The love of Jesus is no summer-day fountain: no
+man ever yet saw its bottom. The compassion of Jesus
+is a fire that never yet burned low: the cold, grey ashes
+of that fire have never yet been seen. Take comfort. In
+your own heart you may find little cause for rejoicing.
+But you may always rejoice in the Lord.</p>
+
+<p>You say your faith is so small. But where is it said
+that none shall be saved except their faith be great? And
+after all, "Who gave thee any faith at all?" The very
+fact that you have any faith is a token for good.</p>
+
+<p>You say your sins are so many. But where is the sin,
+or the heap of sins, that the blood of Jesus cannot wash
+away? And after all, "Who told thee thou hadst any<span class="pagenum">[Pg 471]</span>
+sins?" That feeling never came from thyself. Blessed
+indeed is that mother's child who really knows and feels
+that he is a sinner.</p>
+
+<p>Take comfort, I say once more, if you have really come
+to Christ. Take comfort, and know your privileges. Cast
+every care on Jesus. Tell every want to Jesus. Roll
+every burden on Jesus: sins,&mdash;unbelief,&mdash;doubts,&mdash;fears,&mdash;anxieties,&mdash;lay
+them all on Christ. He loves to see you
+doing so. He loves to be employed as your High Priest.
+He loves to be trusted. He loves to see His people
+ceasing from the vain effort to carry their burdens for
+themselves.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>I commend these things to the notice of every one
+into whose hands this volume may fall. Only be among
+Christ's "wheat" now, and then, in the great day of
+separation, as sure as the Bible is true, you shall be in
+Christ's "garner" hereafter.</p>
+<br>
+
+
+<h2><a name="XXI" id="XXI"></a>XXI</h2><span class="pagenum">[Pg 472]</span>
+
+<h2>ETERNITY!</h2>
+
+<blockquote><p>"<i>The things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are
+not seen are eternal.</i>"&mdash;2 <span class="smcap">Cor.</span> iv. 18.</p></blockquote>
+
+
+<p>A subject stands out on the face of this text which is one
+of the most solemn and heart-searching in the Bible.
+That subject is <i>eternity</i>.<a href="#ft_16">[16]</a></p>
+
+<p>The subject is one of which the wisest man can only
+take in a little. We have no eyes to see it fully, no line
+to fathom it, no mind to grasp it; and yet we must not
+refuse to consider it. There are star-depths in the heavens
+above us, which the most powerful telescope cannot pierce;
+yet it is well to look into them and learn something, if we<span class="pagenum">[Pg 473]</span>
+cannot learn everything. There are heights and depths
+about the subject of eternity which mortal man can never
+comprehend; but God has spoken of it, and we have no
+right to turn away from it altogether.</p>
+
+<p>The subject is one which we must never approach without
+the Bible in our hands. The moment we depart from
+"God's Word written," in considering eternity and the
+future state of man, we are likely to fall into error. In
+examining points like these we have nothing to do with
+preconceived notions as to what is God's character, and
+what <i>we think</i> God ought to be, or ought to do with man
+after death.<a href="#ft_17">[17]</a> We have only to find out what is written.
+What saith the Scripture? What saith the Lord? It is
+wild work to tell us that we ought to have "noble thoughts
+about God," independent of, and over and above, Scripture.
+Natural religion soon comes to a standstill here. The
+noblest thoughts about God which we have a right to hold
+are the thoughts which He has been pleased to reveal to
+us in His "written Word."</p>
+
+<p>I ask the attention of all into whose hands this paper
+may fall, while I offer a few suggestive thoughts about
+eternity. As a mortal man I feel deeply my own insufficiency
+to handle this subject. But I pray that God the
+Holy Ghost, whose strength is made perfect in weakness,
+may bless the words I speak, and make them seeds of
+eternal life in many minds.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>I. The first thought which I commend to the attention
+of my readers is this:&mdash;<i>We live in a world where all
+things are temporal and passing away</i>.</p>
+
+<p>That man must be blind indeed who cannot realize<span class="pagenum">[Pg 474]</span>
+this. Everything around us is decaying, dying, and coming
+to an end. There is a sense no doubt in which "matter"
+is eternal. Once created, it will never entirely perish.
+But in a popular practical sense, there is nothing undying
+about us except our souls. No wonder the poet says:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="pbox">
+"Change and decay in all around I see:<br>
+O Thou that changest not, abide with me!"
+</p>
+
+<p>We are all going, going, going, whether high or low, gentle
+or simple, rich or poor, old or young. We are all going,
+and shall soon be gone.</p>
+
+<p>Beauty is only temporal. Sarah was once the fairest of
+women, and the admiration of the Court of Egypt; yet a
+day came when even Abraham, her husband, said, "Let me
+bury my dead out of my sight." (Gen. xxiii. 4.)&mdash;Strength
+of body is only temporal. David was once a mighty man
+of valour, the slayer of the lion and the bear, and the
+champion of Israel against Goliath; yet a day came when
+even David had to be nursed and ministered to in his old
+age like a child.&mdash;Wisdom and power of brain are only
+temporal. Solomon was once a prodigy of knowledge,
+and all the kings of the earth came to hear his wisdom;
+yet even Solomon in his latter days played the fool exceedingly,
+and allowed his wives to "turn away his heart."
+(1 Kings xi. 2.)</p>
+
+<p>Humbling and painful as these truths may sound, it is
+good for us all to realize them and lay them to heart.
+The houses we live in, the homes we love, the riches we
+accumulate, the professions we follow, the plans we form,
+the relations we enter into,&mdash;they are only for a time.
+"The things seen are temporal." "The fashion of this
+world passeth away." (1 Cor. vii. 31.)</p>
+
+<p>The thought is one which ought to rouse every one who
+is living only for this world. If his conscience is not
+utterly seared, it should stir in him great searchings of
+heart. Oh, take care what you are doing! Awake to see<span class="pagenum">[Pg 475]</span>
+things in their true light before it be too late. The things
+you live for now are all temporal and passing away. The
+pleasures, the amusements, the recreations, merry-makings,
+the profits, the earthly callings, which now absorb
+all your heart and drink up all your mind, will soon be
+over. They are poor ephemeral things which cannot last.
+Oh, love them not too well; grasp them not too tightly;
+make them not your idols! You cannot keep them, and
+you must leave them. Seek first the kingdom of God,
+and then everything else shall be added to you. "Set
+your affections on things above, not on things on the
+earth." Oh, you that love the world, be wise in time!
+Never, never forget that it is written, "The world passeth
+away, and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of
+God abideth for ever." (Col. iii. 2; 1 John ii. 17.)</p>
+
+<p>The same thought ought to cheer and comfort every
+true Christian. Your trials, crosses, and conflicts, are all
+temporal. They will soon have an end; and even now
+they are working for you "a far more exceeding and
+eternal weight of glory." (2 Cor. iv. 17.) Take them
+patiently: bear them quietly: look upward, forward,
+onward, and far beyond them. Fight your daily fight
+under an abiding conviction that it is only for a little
+time, and that rest is not far off. Carry your daily cross
+with an abiding recollection that it is one of the "things
+seen" which are temporal. The cross shall soon be
+exchanged for a crown, and you shall sit down with
+Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of God.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>II. The second thought which I commend to the
+attention of my readers is this:&mdash;<i>We are all going
+towards a world where everything is eternal</i>.</p>
+
+<p>That great unseen state of existence which lies behind
+the grave, is for ever. Whether it be happy or miserable,
+whether it be a condition of joy or sorrow, in one respect
+it is utterly unlike this world,&mdash;it is for ever. <i>There</i> at<span class="pagenum">[Pg 476]</span>
+any rate will be no change and decay, no end, no good-bye,
+no mornings and evenings, no alteration, no annihilation.
+Whatever there is beyond the tomb, when the last trumpet
+has sounded, and the dead are raised, will be endless,
+everlasting, and eternal. "The things unseen are eternal."</p>
+
+<p>We cannot fully realize this condition. The contrast
+between now and then, between this world and the next,
+is so enormously great that our feeble minds will not take
+it in. The consequences it entails are so tremendous, that
+they almost take away our breath, and we shrink from
+looking at them. But when the Bible speaks plainly we
+have no right to turn away from a subject, and with the
+Bible in our hands we shall do well to look at the "things
+which are eternal."</p>
+
+<p>Let us settle it then in our minds, for one thing, that
+the <i>future happiness</i> of those who are saved is eternal.
+However little we may understand it, it is something which
+will have no end: it will never cease, never grow old, never
+decay, never die. At God's "right hand are pleasures for
+evermore." (Ps. xvi. 11.) Once landed in paradise, the
+saints of God shall go out no more. The inheritance is
+"incorruptible, undefiled, and fadeth not away." They
+shall "receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away."
+(1 Pet. i. 4; v. 4.) Their warfare is accomplished; their
+fight is over; their work is done. They shall hunger no
+more, neither thirst any more. They are travelling on
+towards an "eternal weight of glory," towards a home
+which shall never be broken up, a meeting without a
+parting, a family gathering without a separation, a day
+without night. Faith shall be swallowed up in sight, and
+hope in certainty. They shall see as they have been seen,
+and know as they have been known, and "be for ever with
+the Lord." I do not wonder that the apostle Paul adds,
+"Comfort one another with these words." (1 Thess. iv.
+17, 18.)</p>
+
+<p>Let us settle it, for another thing, in our minds, that<span class="pagenum">[Pg 477]</span>
+the <i>future misery</i> of those who are finally lost is eternal.
+This is an awful truth, I am aware, and flesh and blood
+naturally shrink from the contemplation of it. But I am
+one of those who believe it to be plainly revealed in
+Scripture, and I dare not keep it back in the pulpit. To
+my eyes eternal future happiness and eternal future misery
+appear to stand side by side. I fail to see how you can
+distinguish the duration of one from the duration of the
+other. If the joy of the believer is for ever, the sorrow of
+the unbeliever is also for ever. If heaven is eternal, so
+likewise is hell. It may be my ignorance, but I know
+not how the conclusion can be avoided.</p>
+
+<p>I cannot reconcile the non-eternity of punishment with
+the <i>language of the Bible</i>. Its advocates talk loudly
+about love and charity, and say that it does not harmonize
+with the merciful and compassionate character of God.
+But what saith the Scripture? Who ever spoke such
+loving and merciful words as our Lord Jesus Christ? Yet
+His are the lips which three times over describe the
+consequence of impenitence and sin, as "the worm that
+never dies and the fire that is not quenched." He is the
+Person who speaks in one sentence of the wicked going
+away into "everlasting punishment" and the righteous
+into "life eternal." (Mark ix. 43&mdash;48; Matt. xxv. 46.)<a href="#ft_18">[18]</a>&mdash;Who
+does not remember the Apostle Paul's words about
+charity? Yet he is the very Apostle who says, the wicked
+"shall be punished with everlasting destruction." (2 Thess.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 478]</span>
+i. 9.)&mdash;Who does not know the spirit of love which runs
+through all St. John's Gospel and Epistles? Yet the
+beloved Apostle is the very writer in the New Testament
+who dwells most strongly, in the book of Revelation, on
+the reality and eternity of future woe. What shall we say
+to these things? Shall we be wise above that which is
+written? Shall we admit the dangerous principle that
+words in Scripture do not mean what they appear to mean?
+Is it not far better to lay our hands on our mouths and
+say, "Whatever God has written must be true." "Even
+so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Thy judgments."
+(Rev. xvi. 7.)</p>
+
+<p>I cannot reconcile the non-eternity of punishment with
+the <i>language of our Prayer-book</i>. The very first petition
+in our matchless Litany contains this sentence, "From
+everlasting damnation, good Lord, deliver us."&mdash;The
+Catechism teaches every child who learns it, that whenever
+we repeat the Lord's Prayer we desire our Heavenly
+Father to "keep us from our ghostly enemy and from
+everlasting death."&mdash;Even in our Burial Service we pray
+at the grave side, "Deliver us not into the bitter pains of
+eternal death."&mdash;Once more I ask, "What shall we say to
+these things?" Shall our congregations be taught that
+even when people live and die in sin we may hope for
+their happiness in a remote future? Surely the common
+sense of many of our worshippers would reply, that if this
+is the case Prayer-book words mean nothing at all.</p>
+
+<p>I lay no claim to any peculiar knowledge of Scripture.
+I feel daily that I am no more infallible than the Bishop
+of Rome. But I must speak according to the light which
+God has given to me; and I do not think I should do
+my duty if I did not raise a warning voice on this subject,
+and try to put Christians on their guard. Six thousand
+years ago sin entered into the world by the devil's daring
+falsehood,&mdash;"Ye shall not surely die." (Gen. iii. 4.) At
+the end of six thousand years the great enemy of mankind<span class="pagenum">[Pg 479]</span>
+is still using his old weapon, and trying to persuade
+men that they may live and die in sin, and yet at some
+distant period may be finally saved. Let us not be
+ignorant of his devices. Let us walk steadily in the old
+paths. Let us hold fast the old truth, and believe that as
+the happiness of the saved is eternal, so also is the misery
+of the lost.<a href="#ft_19">[19]</a></p>
+
+<p>(<i>a</i>) Let us hold it fast <i>in the interest of the whole
+system of revealed religion</i>. What was the use of God's
+Son becoming incarnate, agonizing in Gethsemane, and
+dying on the cross to make atonement, if men can be
+finally saved without believing on Him? Where is the
+slightest proof that saving faith in Christ's blood can ever
+begin after death? Where is the need of the Holy Ghost,
+if sinners are at last to enter heaven without conversion
+and renewal of heart? Where can we find the smallest
+evidence that any one can be born again, and have a new
+heart, if he dies in an unregenerate state? If a man may
+escape eternal punishment at last, without faith in Christ
+or sanctification of the Spirit, sin is no longer an infinite
+evil, and there was no need for Christ making an atonement.</p>
+
+<p>(<i>b</i>) Let us hold it fast <i>for the sake of holiness and
+morality</i>. I can imagine nothing so pleasant to flesh and
+blood as the specious theory that we may live in sin, and yet
+escape eternal perdition; and that although we "serve
+divers lusts and pleasures" while we are here, we shall
+somehow or other all get to heaven hereafter! Only tell
+the young man who is "wasting his substance in riotous<span class="pagenum">[Pg 480]</span>
+living" that there is heaven at last even for those who
+live and die in sin, and he is never likely to turn from
+evil. Why should he repent and take up the cross, if he
+can get to heaven at last without trouble?</p>
+
+<p>(<i>c</i>) Finally, let us hold it fast, <i>for the sake of the common
+hopes of all God's saints</i>. Let us distinctly understand
+that every blow struck at the eternity of punishment is
+an equally heavy blow at the eternity of reward. It is
+impossible to separate the two things. No ingenious
+theological definition can divide them. They stand or
+fall together. The same language is used, the same figures
+of speech are employed, when the Bible speaks about
+either condition. Every attack on the duration of hell is
+also an attack on the duration of heaven.<a href="#ft_20">[20]</a> It is a deep
+and true saying, "With the sinner's fear our hope departs."</p>
+
+<p>I turn from this part of my subject with a deep sense
+of its painfulness. I feel strongly with Robert M'Cheyne,
+that "it is a hard subject to handle lovingly." But I turn
+from it with an equally deep conviction that if we believe
+the Bible we must never give up anything which it contains.
+From hard, austere, and unmerciful theology, good Lord,
+deliver us! If men are not saved it is because they "will
+not come to Christ." (John v. 40.) But we must not be
+wise above that which is written. No morbid love of
+liberality, so called, must induce us to reject anything
+which God has revealed about eternity. Men sometimes
+talk exclusively about God's mercy and love and compassion,
+as if He had no other attributes, and leave out of
+sight entirely His holiness and His purity, His justice and
+His unchangeableness, and His hatred of sin. Let us<span class="pagenum">[Pg 481]</span>
+beware of falling into this delusion. It is a growing evil
+in these latter days. Low and inadequate views of the
+unutterable vileness and filthiness of sin, and of the
+unutterable purity of the eternal God, are fertile sources
+of error about man's future state. Let us think of the
+mighty Being with whom we have to do, as he Himself
+declared His character to Moses, saying, "The Lord, the
+Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant
+in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands,
+forgiving iniquity, and transgression and sin." But let us
+not forget the solemn clause which concludes the sentence:
+"And <i>that will by no means clear the guilty</i>." (Exod.
+xxxiv. 6, 7.) Unrepented sin is an eternal evil, and can
+never cease to be sin; and He with whom we have to do
+is an eternal God.</p>
+
+<p>The words of Psalm cxlv. are strikingly beautiful: "The
+Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger,
+and of great mercy. The Lord is good to all: and His
+tender mercies are over all His works.&mdash;The Lord upholdeth
+all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed
+down.&mdash;The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy
+in all His works. The Lord is nigh unto all them that
+call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth.&mdash;The
+Lord preserveth all them that love Him." Nothing can
+exceed the mercifulness of this language! But what a
+striking fact it is that the passage goes on to add the
+following solemn conclusion, "<i>All the wicked will He
+destroy</i>." (Psalm cxlv. 8-20.)</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>III. The third thought which I commend to the
+attention of my readers is this:&mdash;<i>Our state in the unseen
+world of eternity depends entirely on what we are in
+time</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The life that we live upon earth is short at the very
+best, and soon gone. "We spend our days as a tale that<span class="pagenum">[Pg 482]</span>
+is told."&mdash;"What is our life? It is a vapour: so soon
+passeth it away, and we are gone." (Psalm xc. 9; James
+iv. 14.) The life that is before us when we leave this
+world is an endless eternity, a sea without a bottom, and
+an ocean without a shore. "One day in Thy sight,"
+eternal God, "is as a thousand years, and a thousand years
+as one day." (2 Pet. iii. 8.) In that world time shall be no
+more.&mdash;But short as our life is here, and endless as it will
+be hereafter, it is a tremendous thought that eternity
+hinges upon time. Our lot after death depends, humanly
+speaking, on what we are while we are alive. It is written,
+God "will render to every man according to his deeds: to
+them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for
+glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: but to
+them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but
+obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath." (Rom.
+ii. 6, 7.)</p>
+
+<p>We ought never to forget, that we are all, while we live,
+in a state of probation. We are constantly sowing seeds
+which will spring up and bear fruit, every day and hour
+in our lives. There are eternal consequences resulting
+from all our thoughts and words and actions, of which we
+take far too little account. "For every idle word that
+men speak they shall give account in the day of judgment."
+(Matt. xii. 36.) Our thoughts are all numbered,
+our actions are weighed. No wonder that St. Paul says,
+"He that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption;
+but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the
+Spirit reap life everlasting." (Gal. vi. 8.) In a word,
+what we sow in life we shall reap after death, and reap to
+all eternity.</p>
+
+<p>There is no greater delusion than the common idea
+that it is possible to live wickedly, and yet rise again
+gloriously; to be without religion in this world, and yet
+to be a saint in the next. When the famous Whitefield
+revived the doctrine of conversion last century, it is reported<span class="pagenum">[Pg 483]</span>
+that one of his hearers came to him after a sermon
+and said,&mdash;"It is all quite true, sir. I hope I shall be
+converted and born again one day, but not till after I am
+dead." I fear there are many like him. I fear the false
+doctrine of the Romish <i>purgatory</i> has many secret friends
+even within the pale of the Church of England! However
+carelessly men may go on while they live, they
+secretly cling to the hope that they shall be found among
+the saints when they die. They seem to hug the idea
+that there is some cleansing, purifying effect produced by
+death, and that, whatever they may be in this life, they
+shall be found "meet for the inheritance of the saints" in
+the life to come. But it is all a delusion.<a href="#ft_21">[21]</a></p>
+
+<p class="pbox">
+"Life is the time to serve the Lord,<br>
+The time to insure the great reward."
+</p>
+
+<p>The Bible teaches plainly, that as we die, whether
+converted or unconverted, whether believers or unbelievers,
+whether godly or ungodly, so shall we rise again when
+the last trumpet sounds. There is no repentance in the
+grave: there is no conversion after the last breath is
+drawn. Now is the time to believe in Christ, and to lay
+hold on eternal life. Now is the time to turn from darkness
+unto light, and to make our calling and election sure.
+The night cometh when no man can work. As the tree
+falls, there it will lie. If we leave this world impenitent
+and unbelieving, we shall rise the same in the resurrection
+morning, and find it had been "good for us if we had<span class="pagenum">[Pg 484]</span>
+never been born."<a href="#ft_22">[22]</a></p>
+
+<p>I charge every reader of this paper to remember this,
+and to make a good use of time. Regard it as the stuff
+of which life is made, and never waste it or throw it
+away. Your hours and days and weeks and months and
+years have all something to say to an eternal condition
+beyond the grave. What you sow in life you are sure to
+reap in a life to come. As holy Baxter says, it is "now or
+never." Whatever we do in religion must be done now.</p>
+
+<p>Remember this in your use of all the means of grace,
+from the least to the greatest. Never be careless about
+them. They are given to be your helps toward an eternal
+world, and not one of them ought to be thoughtlessly
+treated or lightly and irreverently handled. Your daily
+prayers and Bible-reading, your weekly behaviour on the
+Lord's day, your manner of going through public worship,&mdash;all,
+all these things are important. Use them all as one
+who remembers eternity.</p>
+
+<p>Remember it, not least, whenever you are tempted to
+do evil. When sinners entice you, and say, "It is only a
+little one,"&mdash;when Satan whispers in your heart, "Never
+mind: where is the mighty harm? Everybody does so,"&mdash;then
+look beyond time to a world unseen, and place in
+the face of the temptation the thought of eternity. There
+is a grand saying recorded of the martyred Reformer,
+Bishop Hooper, when one urged him to recant before he
+was burned, saying, "Life is sweet and death is bitter."
+"True," said the good Bishop, "quite true! But eternal<span class="pagenum">[Pg 485]</span>
+life is more sweet, and eternal death is more bitter."</p>
+<br>
+
+<p>IV. The last thought which I commend to the attention
+of my readers is this:&mdash;<i>The Lord Jesus Christ is the
+great Friend to whom we must all look for help, both
+for time and eternity</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The purpose for which the eternal Son of God came
+into the world can never be declared too fully, or proclaimed
+too loudly. He came to give us hope and peace
+while we live among the "things seen, which are temporal,"
+and glory and blessedness when we go into the "things
+unseen, which are eternal." He came to "bring life and
+immortality to light," and to "deliver those who, through
+fear of death, were all their life-time subject to bondage."
+(2 Tim. i. 10; Heb. ii. 15.) He saw our lost and bankrupt
+condition, and had compassion on us. And now, blessed
+be His name, a mortal man may pass through "things
+temporal" with comfort, and look forward to "things
+eternal" without fear.</p>
+
+<p>These mighty privileges our Lord Jesus Christ has
+purchased for us at the cost of His own precious blood.
+He became our Substitute, and bore our sins in His own
+body on the cross, and then rose again for our justification.
+"He suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might
+bring us unto God." He was made sin for us who knew no
+sin, that we poor sinful creatures might have pardon and
+justification while we live, and glory and blessedness when
+we die. (1 Peter ii. 24; iii. 18; 2 Cor. v. 21.)</p>
+
+<p>And all that our Lord Jesus Christ has purchased for
+us He offers freely to every one who will turn from his
+sins, come to Him, and believe. "I am the light of the
+world," He says: "he that followeth Me shall not walk in
+darkness, but shall have the light of life."&mdash;"Come unto
+Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give
+you rest."&mdash;"If any man thirst, let him come unto Me
+and drink."&mdash;"Him that cometh unto Me I will in no<span class="pagenum">[Pg 486]</span>
+wise cast out."&mdash;And the terms are as simple as the offer
+is free: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt
+be saved."&mdash;"Whosoever believeth on Him shall not perish
+but have eternal life." (John viii. 12; Matt. xi. 28;
+John vii. 37; vi. 37; Acts xvi. 31; John iii. 16.)</p>
+
+<p>He that has Christ, has life. He can look round him
+on the "things temporal," and see change and decay on
+every side without dismay. He has got treasure in heaven,
+which neither rust nor moth can corrupt, nor thieves break
+through and steal. He can look forward to the "things
+eternal," and feel calm and composed. His Saviour has
+risen, and gone to prepare a place for him. When he
+leaves this world he shall have a crown of glory, and be
+for ever with his Lord. He can look down even into the
+grave, as the wisest Greeks and Romans could never do,
+and say, "Oh, death, where is thy sting? oh, grave, where
+is thy victory? oh, eternity, where are thy terrors?"
+(1 Cor. xv. 55.)</p>
+
+<p>Let us all settle it firmly in our minds that the only
+way to pass through "things seen" with comfort, and look
+forward to "things unseen" without fear, is to have Christ
+for our Saviour and Friend, to lay hold on Christ by faith,
+to become one with Christ and Christ in us, and while we
+live in the flesh to live the life of faith in the Son of God.
+(Gal. ii. 20.) How vast is the difference between the state
+of him who has faith in Christ, and the state of him who
+has none! Blessed indeed is that man or woman who can
+say, with truth, "I trust in Jesus: I believe." When
+Cardinal Beaufort lay upon his death-bed, our mighty
+poet describes King Henry as saying, "He dies, but gives
+no sign." When John Knox, the Scotch Reformer, was
+drawing to his end, and unable to speak, a faithful servant
+asked him to give some proof that the Gospel he had
+preached in life gave him comfort in death, by raising his
+hand. He heard; and raised his hand toward heaven
+three times, and then departed. Blessed, I say again, is<span class="pagenum">[Pg 487]</span>
+he that believes! He alone is rich, independent, and
+beyond the reach of harm. If you and I have no comfort
+amidst things temporal, and no hope for the things eternal,
+the fault is all our own. It is because we "will not come
+to Christ, that we may have life." (John v. 40.)</p>
+
+<br>
+<p>I leave the subject of eternity here, and pray that God
+may bless it to many souls. In conclusion, I offer to every
+one who reads this volume some food for thought, and
+matter for self-examination.</p>
+
+<p>(1) First of all, how are you <i>using your time</i>? Life
+is short and very uncertain. You never know what a day
+may bring forth. Business and pleasure, money-getting
+and money-spending, eating and drinking, marrying and
+giving in marriage,&mdash;all, all will soon be over and done
+with for ever. And you, what are you doing for your
+immortal soul? Are you wasting time, or turning it to
+good account? Are you preparing to meet God?</p>
+
+<p>(2) Secondly, where <i>shall you be in eternity</i>? It is
+coming, coming, coming very fast upon us. You are going,
+going, going very fast into it. But where will you be?
+On the right hand or on the left, in the day of judgment?
+Among the lost or among the saved? Oh, rest not, rest
+not till your soul is insured! Make sure work: leave
+nothing uncertain. It is a fearful thing to die unprepared,
+and fall into the hands of the living God.</p>
+
+<p>(3) Thirdly, would you be <i>safe for time and eternity</i>?
+Then seek Christ, and believe in Him. Come to Him
+just as you are. Seek Him while He may be found, call
+upon Him while He is near. There is still a throne of
+grace. It is not too late. Christ waits to be gracious:
+He invites you to come to Him. Before the door is shut
+and the judgment begins, repent, believe, and be saved.</p>
+
+<p>(4) Lastly, <i>would you be happy</i>? Cling to Christ, and
+live the life of faith in Him. Abide in Him, and live
+near to Him. Follow Him with heart and soul and mind<span class="pagenum">[Pg 488]</span>
+and strength, and seek to know Him better every day.
+So doing you shall have great peace while you pass through
+"things temporal," and in the midst of a dying world shall
+"never die." (John xi. 26.) So doing, you shall be able
+to look forward to "things eternal" with unfailing
+confidence, and to feel and "know that if our earthly
+house of this tabernacle be dissolved we have a building
+of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the
+heavens." (2 Cor. v. 1.)</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;">
+
+<p>P. S.</p>
+
+<p>Since preaching the above Sermon I have read Canon
+Farrar's volume, "Eternal Hope." With much that this
+book contains I cannot at all agree. Anything that comes
+from the pen of such a well-known writer of course deserves
+respectful consideration. But I must honestly confess,
+after reading "Eternal Hope," that I see no reason to
+withdraw anything I have said in my Sermon on "Eternity,"
+and that I laid down the volume with regret and dissatisfaction,
+unconvinced and unshaken in my opinions.</p>
+
+<p>I can find nothing new in Canon Farrar's statements.
+He says hardly anything that has not been said before,
+and refuted before. To all who wish to examine fully the
+subject of the reality and eternity of future punishment,
+I venture to recommend some works which are far less
+known than they ought to be, and which appear to me far
+sounder, and more Scriptural, than "Eternal Hope." These
+are "<i>Horbery's Enquiry into the Scripture Doctrine of
+the Duration of Future Punishment</i>," "<i>Girdlestone's
+Dies Iræ</i>," the Rev. C. F. Childe's "<i>Unsafe Anchor</i>" and
+the Rev. Flavel Cook's "<i>Righteous Judgment</i>." "<i>Bishop
+Pearson on the Creed</i>," under the head "Resurrection,"
+and "<i>Hodge's Systematic Theology</i>," vol. iii. p. 868. will<span class="pagenum">[Pg 489]</span>
+also repay a careful perusal.</p>
+
+<p>The plain truth is, that there are vast difficulties bound
+up with the subject of the future state of the wicked,
+which Canon Farrar seems to me to leave untouched.
+The amazing mercifulness of God, and the awfulness of
+supposing that many around us will be lost eternally, he
+has handled fully and with characteristic rhetoric. No
+doubt the compassions of God are unspeakable. He is
+"not willing that any should perish." He "would have all
+men to be saved." His love in sending Christ into the
+world to die for sinners is an inexhaustible subject.&mdash;But
+this is only one side of God's character, as we have
+it revealed in Scripture. His character and attributes
+need to be looked at all round. The infinite holiness and
+justice of an eternal God,&mdash;His hatred of evil, manifested
+in Noah's flood and at Sodom, and in the destruction of
+the seven nations of Canaan,&mdash;the unspeakable vileness
+and guilt of sin in God's sight,&mdash;the wide gulf between
+natural man and his perfect Maker,&mdash;the enormous spiritual
+change which every child of Adam must go through, if he
+is to dwell for ever in God's presence,&mdash;and the utter
+absence of any intimation in the Bible that this change
+can take place after death,&mdash;all, all these are points which
+seem to me comparatively put on one aside, or left alone,
+in Canon Farrar's volume. My mind demands satisfaction
+on these points before I can accept the views advocated in
+"Eternal Hope," and that satisfaction I fail to find in the
+book.</p>
+
+<p>The position that Canon Farrar has taken up was first
+formally advocated by Origen, a Father who lived in the
+third century after Christ. He boldly broached the
+opinion that future punishment would be only temporary;
+but his opinion was rejected by almost all his contemporaries.
+Bishop Wordsworth says,&mdash;"The Fathers of the
+Church in Origen's time and in the following centuries,
+among whom were many to whom the original language of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 490]</span>
+the New Testament was their mother tongue, and who
+<i>could not be misled by translations</i>, examined minutely
+the opinion and statements of Origen, and agreed for the
+most part in rejecting and condemning them. Irenæus,
+Cyril of Jerusalem, Chrysostom, Basil, Cyril of Alexandria,
+and others of the Eastern Church, and Tertullian, Cyprian,
+Lactantius, Augustine, Gregory the Great, Bede, and many
+more of the Western Church, were unanimous in teaching
+that the joys of the righteous and the punishments of the
+wicked will not be temporary, but everlasting."</p>
+
+<p>"Nor was this all. The Fifth General Council, held at
+Constantinople under the Emperor Justinian, in 553, <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>
+examined the tenets of Origen, and passed a synodical
+decree condemnatory of them. And for a thousand years
+after that time there was an unanimous consent in
+Christendom in this sense." (Bishop Wordsworth's "Sermons,"
+p. 34.)</p>
+
+<p>Let me add to this statement the fact that the eternity
+of future punishment has been held by almost all the
+greatest theologians from the time of the Reformation down
+to the present day. It is a point on which Lutherans,
+Calvinists, and Arminians, Episcopalians, Presbyterians,
+and Independents have always, with a few exceptions,
+been of one mind. Search the writings of the most
+eminent and learned Reformers, search the works of
+the Puritans, search the few literary remains of the men
+who revived English Christianity in the eighteenth
+century, and, as a rule, you will always get one harmonious
+answer. Within the last few years, no doubt, the "non-eternity
+of future punishment" has found several zealous
+advocates. But up to a comparatively modern date, I
+unhesitatingly assert, the supporters of Canon Farrar's
+views have always been an extremely small minority
+among orthodox Christians. That fact is, at any rate,
+worth remembering.</p>
+
+<p>As to the <i>difficulties</i> besetting the old or common view<span class="pagenum">[Pg 491]</span>
+of future punishment, I admit their existence, and I do
+not pretend to explain them. But I always expect to find
+many mysteries in revealed religion, and I am not
+stumbled by them. I see other difficulties in the world
+which I cannot solve, and I am content to wait for their
+solution. What a mighty divine has called, "The mystery
+of God, the great mystery of His suffering vice and
+confusion to prevail,"&mdash;the origin of evil,&mdash;the permission
+of cruelty, oppression, poverty, and disease,&mdash;the allowed
+sickness and death of infants before they know good
+from evil,&mdash;the future prospects of the heathen who
+never heard the Gospel,&mdash;the times of ignorance which
+God has winked at,&mdash;the condition of China, Hindostan,
+and Central Africa, for the last 1800 years,&mdash;all these
+things are to my mind great knots which I am unable
+to untie, and depths which I have no line to fathom.
+But I wait for light, and I have no doubt all will
+be made plain. I rest in the thought that I am a
+poor ignorant mortal, and that God is a Being of infinite
+wisdom, and is doing all things well. "Shall not the
+Judge of all the earth do right." (Gen. xviii. 25.) It is
+a wise sentence of Bishop Butler: "All shadow of injustice,
+and indeed all harsh appearances in the various economy
+of God, would be lost, if we would keep in mind that
+every merciful allowance shall be made, and no more shall
+be required of any one, than what might have been
+equitably expected of him from the circumstances in
+which he was placed, and not what might have been
+expected from him had he been placed in other circumstances."
+("Analogy," part ii. ch. vi. p. 425. Wilson's
+edition.) It is a grand saying of Elihu, in Job, "Touching
+the Almighty, we cannot find Him out: He is excellent
+in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice: He
+will not afflict." (Job xxxvii. 23.)</p>
+
+<p>It may be perfectly true that many Romish divines,
+and even some Protestants, have made extravagant and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 492]</span>
+offensive statements about the bodily sufferings of the lost
+in another world. It may be true that those who believe
+in eternal punishment have occasionally misunderstood or
+mistranslated texts, and have pressed figurative language too
+far. But it is hardly fair to make Christianity responsible
+for the mistakes of its advocates. It is an old saying
+that "Christian errors are infidel arguments." Thomas
+Aquinas, and Dantè, and Milton, and Boston, and Jonathan
+Edwards were not inspired and infallible, and I decline to
+be answerable for all they may have written about the
+physical torments of the lost. But after every allowance,
+admission, and deduction, there remains, in my humble
+opinion, a mass of Scripture evidence in support of the
+doctrine of eternal punishment, which can never be explained
+away, and which no revision or new translation of
+the English Bible will ever overthrow.<a href="#ft_23">[23]</a> That there are
+degrees of misery as well as degrees of glory in the future
+state, that the condition of some who are lost will be far
+worse than that of others, all this is undeniable. But that
+the punishment of the wicked will ever have an end, or
+that length of time alone can ever change a heart, or that
+the Holy Spirit ever works on the dead, or that there is
+any purging, purifying process beyond the grave, by which
+the wicked will be finally fitted for heaven, these are
+positions which I maintain it is utterly impossible to prove
+by texts of Scripture. Nay, rather, there are texts of
+Scripture which teach an utterly different doctrine. "It
+is surprising," says Horbery, "if hell be such a state of
+purification, that it should always be represented in
+Scripture as a place of punishment." (Vol. ii. p. 223.)
+"Nothing," says Girdlestone, "but clear statements of
+Scripture could justify us in holding, or preaching to
+ungodly men, the doctrine of repentance after death; and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 493]</span>
+not one clear statement on this subject is to be found."
+("Dies Iræ," p. 269.) If we once begin to invent doctrines
+which we cannot prove by texts, or to refuse the evidence
+of texts in Scripture because they land us in conclusions
+we do not like, we may as well throw aside the Bible altogether,
+and discard it as the judge of controversy.</p>
+
+<p>The favourite argument of some, that no religious
+doctrine can be true which is rejected by the "common
+opinion" and popular feeling of mankind,&mdash;that any texts
+which contradict this common popular feeling must be
+wrongly interpreted,&mdash;and that therefore eternal punishment
+cannot be true, because the inward feeling of the multitude
+revolts against it,&mdash;this argument appears to me alike
+most dangerous and unsound. It is <i>dangerous</i>, because it
+strikes a direct blow at the authority of Scripture as the
+only rule of faith. Where is the use of the Bible, if the
+"common opinion" of mortal man is to be regarded as of
+more weight than the declarations of God's Word?&mdash;It is
+<i>unsound</i>, because it ignores the great fundamental principle
+of Christianity,&mdash;that man is a fallen creature, with
+a corrupt heart and understanding, and that in spiritual
+things his judgment is worthless. There is a veil over our
+hearts. "The natural man receiveth not the things of the
+Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him." (1 Cor.
+ii. 14.) To say, in the face of such a text, that any
+doctrine which the majority of men dislike, such as eternal
+punishment, <i>must</i> therefore be untrue, is simply absurd!
+The "common opinion" is more likely to be wrong than
+right! No doubt Bishop Butler has said, "If in revelation
+there be found any passage the seeming meaning of which
+is contrary to natural religion, we may most certainly
+conclude such seeming meaning not to be the real one."
+But those who triumphantly quote these words would do
+well to observe the sentence which immediately follows:
+"But it is not any degree of a presumption against an
+interpretation of Scripture, that such an interpretation<span class="pagenum">[Pg 494]</span>
+contains a doctrine which the light of nature cannot
+discover." ("Analogy," part i. chap. ii. p. 358. Wilson's
+edition.)</p>
+
+<p>After all, what the "common feeling" or opinion of the
+majority of mankind is about the duration of future
+punishment, is a question which admits of much doubt.
+Of course we have no means of ascertaining: and it
+signifies little either way. In such a matter the only
+point is, What saith the Scripture? But I have a strong
+suspicion, if the world could be polled, that we should
+find the greater part of mankind believed in eternal
+punishment! About the opinion of the Greeks and
+Romans at any rate there can be little dispute. If
+anything is clearly taught in the stories of their mythology
+it is the endless nature of the sufferings of the wicked.
+Bishop Butler says, "Gentile writers, both moralist and
+poetic, speak of the future punishment of the wicked,
+both as to duration and degree, in a like manner of expression
+and description as the Scripture does." ("Analogy,"
+part i. chap. ii. p. 218.) The strange and weird legends of
+Tantalus, Sisyphus, Ixion, Prometheus, and the Danaides,
+have all one common feature about them. In each case
+the punishment is eternal! This is a fact worth noticing.
+It is worth what it is worth. But it shows, at all events,
+that the opponents of eternal punishment should not talk
+too confidently about the "common opinion of mankind."</p>
+
+<p>As to the doctrine of the <i>Annihilation of the Wicked</i>,
+to which many adhere, it appears to me so utterly irreconcilable
+with our Lord Jesus Christ's words about "the
+resurrection of damnation," and "the worm that never
+dies, and the fire that is not quenched," and St. Paul's
+words about "the resurrection of the unjust" (John v. 29;
+Mark ix. 43-48; Acts xxiv. 15), that until those words
+can be proved to form no part of inspired Scripture it
+seems to me mere waste of time to argue about it.</p>
+
+<p>The favourite argument of the advocates of this doctrine,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 495]</span>
+that "death, dying, perishing, destruction," and the
+like, are phrases which can only mean "cessation of existence,"
+is so ridiculously weak that it is scarcely worth
+noticing. Every Bible reader knows that God said to
+Adam, concerning the forbidden fruit, "In the day thou
+eatest thereof thou shalt surely <i>die</i>." (Gen. ii. 17.) But
+every well-taught Sunday scholar knows that Adam did
+not "cease to exist," when he broke the commandment.
+He died spiritually, but he did not cease to be!&mdash;So also
+St. Peter says of the flood: "The world that then was,
+being overflowed with water, <i>perished</i>." (2 Peter iii. 6.)
+Yet, though temporarily drowned, it certainly did not
+cease to be; and when the water was dried up Noah lived
+on it again.</p>
+
+<p>It only remains for me now to add one more last word,
+by way of information. Those who care to investigate
+the meaning of the words "eternal" and "everlasting,"
+as used in Scripture, will find the subject fully and
+exhaustively considered in <i>Girdlestone's "Old Testament
+Synonyms</i>," ch. 30, p. 495; and in the same writer's
+"<i>Dies Iræ</i>," ch. 10 and 11, p. 128.</p>
+<br>
+
+<h2>FOOTNOTES</H2>
+<p class=tbox><a name="ft_1" id="ft_1"></a>1: It is curious and instructive to observe how history repeats itself,
+and how much sameness there is in the human heart in every age.
+Even in the Primitive Church, says Canon Robertson, "Many persons
+were found at church for the great Christian ceremonies, and at the
+theatres, or even at the temples, for the heathen spectacles. The ritual
+of the Church was viewed as a theatrical spectacle. The sermons were
+listened to as the display of rhetoricians; and eloquent preachers were
+cheered, with clapping of hands, stamping of feet, waving of handkerchiefs,
+cries of 'Orthodox,' 'Thirteenth Apostle,' and such like demonstrations,
+which such teachers as Chrysostom and Augustine tried to
+restrain, that they might persuade their flocks to a more profitable
+manner of hearing. Some went to Church for the sermon only, alleging
+that they could pray at home. And when the more attractive parts of
+the service were over, the great mass of the people departed without
+remaining for the eucharist."&mdash;Robertson's "Church History," <span class="smcap">b. II.</span>,
+ch. vi., p. 356.</p>
+
+<p class="tbox"><a name="ft_2" id="ft_2"></a>2: If any one fancies that St. Paul's words to the Hebrews, "We have
+an altar," are a proof that the Lord's table is an altar, I advise him to
+read what Waterland, no mean theologian, says on the subject:&mdash;"Christians
+have an altar whereof they partake. That altar is Christ
+our Lord, who is Altar, Priest, and Sacrifice, all in One."&mdash;<i>Waterland's
+Works</i>, Vol. V., 268. Oxford edition.</p>
+
+<p class="tbox"><a name="ft_3" id="ft_3"></a>3: See Proctor on the Common Prayer, p. 320.</p>
+
+
+<p class="tbox"><a name="ft_4" id="ft_4"></a>4: In the Greek language one and the same word only is used for
+"love" and "charity." In our English version our translators have
+sometimes rendered this word one way and sometimes another.</p>
+
+<p class=tbox><a name="ft_5" id="ft_5"></a>5: To prevent mistakes, I think it well to say that the man I refer to is
+Patrick Henry, an American Statesman of the last century.</p>
+
+<p class="tbox"><a name="ft_6" id="ft_6"></a>6: The following weighty passage, from the pen of the judicious Hooker,
+is commended to the attention of all in the present day. It is the
+opening passage of the first book of his "Ecclesiastical Polity."
+<br><br>
+"He that goeth about to persuade a multitude that they are not so
+well governed as they ought to be, shall never want attentive and
+favourable hearers, because they know the manifold defects whereunto
+every kind of regiment or government is subject; but the secret lets and
+difficulties, which in public proceedings are innumerable and inevitable,
+they have not ordinarily the judgment to consider. And because such
+as openly reprove disorders of States are taken for principal friends to
+the common benefit of all, and for men that carry singular freedom of
+mind, under this fair and plausible colour whatsoever they utter passeth
+for good and current. That which is wanting in the weight of their
+speech is supplied by the aptness of men's minds to accept and believe it.
+Whereas, on the other side, if we maintain things that are established,
+we have not only to strive with a number of heavy prejudices, deeply
+rooted in the breasts of men, who think that herein we serve the times,
+and speak in favour of the present state, because we either hold or seek
+preferment; but also to bear such reception as minds so averted beforehand
+usually take against that which they are loth should be poured
+into them."</p>
+
+<div class="tbox"><a name="ft_7" id="ft_7"></a>7: Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, at a time when all Spain was
+laughing at his humorous work, was overwhelmed with a deep cloud of
+melancholy.
+
+<p>Molière, the first of French comic writers, carried into his domestic
+circle a sadness which the greatest worldly prosperity could never dispel.</p>
+
+<p>Samuel Foote, the noted wit of the last century, died of a broken heart.</p>
+
+<p>Theodore Hooke, the facetious novel writer, who could set everybody
+laughing, says of himself in his diary, "I am suffering under a constant
+depression of spirits, which no one who sees me in society dreams of."</p>
+
+<p>A wobegone stranger consulted a physician about his health. The
+physician advised him to keep up his spirits by going to hear the great
+comic actor of the day. "You should go and hear Matthews. He
+would make you well." "Alas, sir," was the reply, "I am Matthews
+himself!"&mdash;<i>Pictorial Pages.</i></p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="tbox"><a name="ft_8" id="ft_8"></a>8: I use the words, "as a general rule," advisedly. When a believer
+falls into such a horrible sin as that of David, it would be monstrous to
+talk of his feeling inward peace. If a man professing to be a true
+Christian talked to me of being happy in such a case,&mdash;before giving
+any evidence of the deepest, most heart-abasing repentance,&mdash;I should
+feel great doubts whether he ever had any grace at all.</p>
+
+<p class="tbox"><a name="ft_9" id="ft_9"></a>9: John Howard, the famous Christian philanthropist, in his last
+journey said, "I hope I have sources of enjoyment that depend not on
+the particular spot I inhabit. A rightly cultivated mind, under the
+power of religion and the exercises of beneficent dispositions, affords a
+ground of satisfaction little affected by <i>heres and theres</i>."</p>
+
+<p class="tbox"><a name="ft_10" id="ft_10"></a>10: When the infidel Hume asked Bishop Horne why religious people
+always looked melancholy, the learned prelate replied, "The sight of
+you, Mr. Hume, would make any Christian melancholy."&mdash;<i>Sinclair's
+Aphorisms.</i> Page 13.</p>
+
+<p class="tbox"><a name="ft_11" id="ft_11"></a>11: See Note, page 310.</p>
+
+<p class="tbox"><a name="ft_12" id="ft_12"></a>12: I am quite aware that I have no direct authority for this statement,
+except the prefatory heading at the beginning of the Psalm. However
+ancient those headings may be, it is agreed among learned men that
+they were not given by inspiration, and must not be regarded as a part
+of God's Word. There is, nevertheless, a curious amount of agreement
+among critics, that in the case of this ninetieth Psalm the tradition
+about its authorship is not without foundation.</p>
+
+<p class="tbox"><a name="ft_13" id="ft_13"></a>13: The reader will of course understand that I am not speaking now of
+children who die in infancy, or of persons who live and die idiots.]</p>
+
+<p class="tbox"><a name="ft_14" id="ft_14"></a>14: "This is certain,&mdash;when the elect are all converted, then Christ will
+come to judgment. As he that rows a boat stays till all the passengers
+are taken into his boat, and then he rows away; so Christ stays till all
+the elect are gathered in, and then He will hasten away to judgment."&mdash;<i>Thomas
+Watson.</i> 1660</p>
+
+<p class="tbox"><a name="ft_15" id="ft_15"></a>15: "Blessed for ever and ever be that mother's child whose faith hath
+made him the child of God. The earth may shake, the pillars of the
+world may tremble under us, the countenance of the heaven may be
+appalled, the sun may lose his light, the moon her beauty, the stars
+their glory: but concerning the man that trusteth in God,&mdash;what is
+there in the world that shall change his heart, overthrow his faith,
+alter his affection towards God, or the affection of God to him?"&mdash;<i>Richard
+Hooker</i>, 1585.</p>
+
+<p class="tbox"><a name="ft_16" id="ft_16"></a>16: The following pages contain the <i>substance</i> of a sermon which I
+preached, by invitation, in the nave of Peterborough Cathedral, on the
+fourth Sunday in Advent, 1877,&mdash;the <i>substance</i> and not the precise words.
+The plain truth is, that the sermon was not intended for publication. It
+was preached from notes, and was one of those popular addresses which
+will not bear close reporting. A style of language which satisfies the
+ear when listened to, will seldom satisfy the mind when read. On
+receiving a manuscript report from the publisher, I soon found that it
+would require far more labour to condense, correct, paragraph, punctuate,
+and prepare the sermon for the press, than to write it out roughly from
+my own notes and recollection. From want of time I had no alternative
+but to adopt this course, or to object altogether to publication. The
+result is that the reader has before him the matter, order, heads,
+arrangement, and principal thoughts of my sermon, but not, I repeat,
+the precise words.</p>
+
+<p class="tbox"><a name="ft_17" id="ft_17"></a>17: "What sentence can we expect from a judge, who at the same time
+that he calls in witnesses and pretends to examine them, makes a
+declaration that however, let them say what they will, the cause is so
+absurd, is so unjust, that no evidence will be sufficient to prove it?"&mdash;<i>Horbery</i>,
+vol. ii. p. 137.</p>
+
+<p class="tbox"><a name="ft_18" id="ft_18"></a>18: "If God had intended to have told us that the punishment of wicked
+man shall have no end, the languages wherein the Scriptures are written
+do hardly afford fuller and more certain words than those that are used
+in this case, whereby to express a duration without end; and likewise,
+which is almost a peremptory decision of the thing, the duration of the
+punishment of wicked men is in the very same sentence expressed by the
+very same word which is used for the duration of happiness of the
+righteous."&mdash;<i>Archbishop Tillotson on Hell Torments.</i> See <i>Horbery</i>, vol.
+ii. p. 42.]</p>
+
+<p class="tbox"><a name="ft_19" id="ft_19"></a>19: "There is nothing that Satan more desires than that we should
+believe that he does not exist, and that there is no such a place as hell,
+and no such things as eternal torments. He whispers all this into our
+ears, and he exults when he hears a layman, and much more when he
+hears a clergyman, deny these things, for then he hopes to make them
+and others his victims."&mdash;<i>Bishop Wordsworth's Sermons on Future
+Rewards and Punishments</i>, p. 36.</p>
+
+<p class="tbox"><a name="ft_20" id="ft_20"></a>20: "If the punishment of the wicked is only temporary, such will
+also be the happiness of the righteous, which is repugnant to the whole
+teaching of Scripture; but if the happiness of the righteous will be
+everlasting (who will be equal to the angels, and their bodies will be like
+the body of Christ), such also will be the punishment of the wicked."&mdash;<i>Bishop
+Wordsworth's Sermon on Future Rewards and Punishments, p. 31.</i></p>
+
+<p class="tbox"><a name="ft_21" id="ft_21"></a>21: "The Scripture never represents the state of future misery, as a
+state of purgation and purification, or anything like analogous to a state
+of trial, where men may fit and qualify themselves for some better state
+of existence: but always as a state of retribution, punishment, and
+righteous vengeance, in which God's justice (a perfection of which some
+men seem to render no account) vindicates the power of His majesty,
+His government, and His love, by punishing those who have despised
+them."&mdash;<i>Horbery</i>, vol. ii. p. 183.</p>
+
+<p class="tbox"><a name="ft_22" id="ft_22"></a>22: "This life is the time of our preparation for our future state. Our
+souls will continue for ever what we make them in this world. Such a
+taste and disposition of mind as a man carries with him out of this life,
+he shall retain in the next. It is true, indeed, heaven perfects those
+holy and virtuous dispositions which are begun here; but the other
+world alters no man as to his main state. He that is filthy will be filthy
+still; and he that is unrighteous will be unrighteous still."&mdash;<i>Archbishop
+Tillotson's Sermon on Phil. iii. 20.</i> (See <i>Horbrey</i>, vol. ii. p. 133.)</p>
+
+<p class="tbox"><a name="ft_23" id="ft_23"></a>23: Horbery alone alleges and examines no less than one hundred and
+three texts, on his side, in his reply to Whiston.</p><br>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<blockquote>Transcribers note:
+<p><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">p.8 thing changed to think</span></p>
+<p><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">p.38 the burden o changed to the burden of</span></p>
+<p><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">p.77 beecome changed to become</span></p>
+<p><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">p.148 still remain to be changed to still remains to be</span></p>
+<p><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">p.241 Aphorisims changed to Aphorisms</span></p>
+<p><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">p.320 all lasses changed to all classes</span></p>
+<p><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">p.335 thorougly changed to thoroughly</span></p>
+<p><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">p.469 still fresh on you mind changed to still fresh on your mind</span></p>
+<p><span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">Hyphenation of words is inconsistent and has been left as in
+the original.</span></p></blockquote>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full">
+<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PRACTICAL RELIGION***</p>
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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Practical Religion, by John Charles Ryle
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Practical Religion
+       Being Plain Papers on the Daily Duties, Experience, Dangers, and Privileges of Professing Christians
+
+
+Author: John Charles Ryle
+
+
+
+Release Date: November 28, 2011  [eBook #38162]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PRACTICAL RELIGION***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Colin Bell, Hazel Batey, and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net)
+
+
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+      Text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face (=bold=).
+
+
+
+
+
+PRACTICAL RELIGION
+
+Being Plain Papers on the Daily Duties, Experience, Dangers, and
+Privileges of Professing Christians
+
+by
+
+JOHN CHARLES RYLE, D.D.,
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+         PREFACE                v
+
+      I. SELF-INQUIRY           1
+
+     II. SELF-EXERTION         23
+
+    III. REALITY               46
+
+     IV. PRAYER                63
+
+      V. BIBLE-READING         97
+
+     VI. GOING TO THE TABLE   140
+
+    VII. CHARITY              165
+
+   VIII. ZEAL                 183
+
+     IX. FREEDOM              210
+
+      X. HAPPINESS            230
+
+     XI. FORMALITY            261
+
+    XII. THE WORLD            284
+
+   XIII. RICHES AND POVERTY   312
+
+    XIV. THE BEST FRIEND      336
+
+     XV. SICKNESS             352
+
+    XVI. THE FAMILY OF GOD    375
+
+   XVII. OUR HOME             392
+
+  XVIII. HEIRS OF GOD         403
+
+    XIX. THE GREAT GATHERING  429
+
+     XX. THE GREAT SEPARATION 442
+
+    XXI. ETERNITY             472
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+The volume now in the reader's hands is intended to be a companion to
+two other volumes which I have already published, entitled "Knots
+Untied," and "Old Paths."
+
+"Knots Untied" consists of a connected series of papers, systematically
+arranged, about the principal points which form the subject of
+controversy among Churchmen in the present day. All who take interest in
+such disputed questions as the nature of the Church, the Ministry,
+Baptism, Regeneration, the Lord's Supper, the Real Presence, Worship,
+Confession, and the Sabbath, will find them pretty fully discussed in
+"Knots Untied."
+
+"Old Paths" consists of a similar series of papers about those leading
+doctrines of the Gospel which are generally considered necessary to
+salvation. The inspiration of Scripture, sin, justification,
+forgiveness, repentance, conversion, faith, the work of Christ, and the
+work of the Holy Spirit, are the principal subjects handled in "Old
+Paths."
+
+The present volume contains a series of papers about "practical
+religion," and treats of the daily duties, dangers, experience, and
+privileges of all who profess and call themselves true Christians. Read
+in conjunction with another work I have previously put out, called
+"Holiness," I think it will throw some light on what every believer
+ought to be, to do, and expect.
+
+One common feature will be found in all the three volumes. I avow it
+frankly at the outset, and will not keep it back for a moment. The
+standpoint I have tried to occupy, from first to last, is that of an
+Evangelical Churchman.
+
+I say this deliberately and emphatically. I am fully aware that
+Evangelical churchmanship is not popular and acceptable in this day. It
+is despised by many, and has "no form or comeliness" in their eyes. To
+avow attachment to Evangelical views, in some quarters, is to provoke a
+sneer, and to bring on yourself the reproach of being an "unlearned and
+ignorant man." But none of these things move me. I am not ashamed of my
+opinions. After forty years of Bible-reading and praying, meditation
+and theological study, I find myself clinging more tightly than ever to
+"Evangelical" religion, and more than ever satisfied with it. It wears
+well: it stands the fire. I know no system of religion which is better.
+In the faith of it I have lived for the third of a century, and in the
+faith of it I hope to die.
+
+The plain truth is, that I see no other ground to occupy, and find no
+other rest for the sole of my foot. I lay no claim to infallibility, and
+desire to be no man's judge. But the longer I live and read, the more I
+am convinced and persuaded that Evangelical principles are the
+principles of the Bible, of the Articles and Prayer-book, and of the
+leading Divines of the reformed Church of England. Holding these views,
+I cannot write otherwise than I have written.
+
+I now send forth this volume with an earnest prayer that God the Holy
+Ghost may bless it, and make it useful and helpful to many souls.
+
+                                             J. C. RYLE,
+
+                November, 1878.             _Vicar of Stradbroke._
+
+
+
+
+PRACTICAL RELIGION
+
+I
+
+
+SELF-INQUIRY
+
+     "_Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we
+     have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they
+     do._"--Acts xv. 36.
+
+
+The text which heads this page contains a proposal which the Apostle
+Paul made to Barnabas after their first missionary journey. He proposed
+to revisit the Churches they had been the means of founding, and to see
+how they were getting on. Were their members continuing steadfast in the
+faith? Were they growing in grace? Were they going forward, or standing
+still? Were they prospering, or falling away?--"Let us go again and
+visit our brethren, and see how they do."
+
+This was a wise and useful proposal. Let us lay it to heart, and apply
+it to ourselves in the nineteenth century. Let us search our ways, and
+find out how matters stand between ourselves and God. Let us "see how we
+do." I ask every reader of this volume to begin its perusal by joining
+me in self-inquiry. If ever self-inquiry about religion was needed, it
+is needed at the present day.
+
+We live in an age of peculiar _spiritual privileges_. Since the world
+began there never was such an opportunity for a man's soul to be saved
+as there is in England at this time. There never were so many signs of
+religion in the land, so many sermons preached, so many services held in
+churches and chapels, so many Bibles sold, so many religious books and
+tracts printed, so many Societies for evangelizing mankind supported, so
+much outward respect paid to Christianity. Things are done everywhere
+now-a-days which a hundred years ago would have been thought impossible.
+Bishops support the boldest and most aggressive efforts to reach the
+unconverted. Deans and Chapters throw open the naves of cathedrals for
+Sunday evening sermons! Clergy of the narrowest High Church School
+advocate special missions, and vie with their Evangelical brethren in
+proclaiming that going to church on Sunday is not enough to take a man
+to heaven. In short, there is a stir about religion now-a-days to which
+there has been nothing like since England was a nation, and which the
+cleverest sceptics and infidels cannot deny. If Romaine, and Venn, and
+Berridge, and Rowlands, and Grimshaw, and Hervey, had been told that
+such things would come to pass about a century after their deaths, they
+would have been tempted to say, with the Samaritan nobleman,--"If the
+Lord should make windows of heaven might such a thing be." (2 Kings vii.
+19.) But the Lord has opened the windows of heaven. There is more taught
+now-a-days in England of the real Gospel, and of the way of salvation by
+faith in Jesus Christ, in one week, than there was in a year in
+Romaine's time. Surely I have a right to say that we live in an age of
+spiritual privileges. But are we any better for it? In an age like this
+it is well to ask, "How do we do about our souls?"
+
+We live in an age of peculiar _spiritual danger_. Never perhaps since
+the world began was there such an immense amount of mere outward
+profession of religion as there is in the present day. A painfully large
+proportion of all the congregations in the land consists of unconverted
+people, who know nothing of heart-religion, never come to the Lord's
+Table, and never confess Christ in their daily lives. Myriads of those
+who are always running after preachers, and crowding to hear special
+sermons, are nothing better than empty tubs, and tinkling cymbals,
+without a jot of real vital Christianity at home.[1] The parable of the
+sower is continually receiving most vivid and painful illustrations. The
+way-side hearers, the stony-ground hearers, the thorny-ground hearers
+abound on every side.
+
+  1: It is curious and instructive to observe how history repeats itself,
+  and how much sameness there is in the human heart in every age. Even in
+  the Primitive Church, says Canon Robertson, "Many persons were found at
+  church for the great Christian ceremonies, and at the theatres, or even
+  at the temples, for the heathen spectacles. The ritual of the Church was
+  viewed as a theatrical spectacle. The sermons were listened to as the
+  display of rhetoricians; and eloquent preachers were cheered, with
+  clapping of hands, stamping of feet, waving of handkerchiefs, cries of
+  'Orthodox,' 'Thirteenth Apostle,' and such like demonstrations, which
+  such teachers as Chrysostom and Augustine tried to restrain, that they
+  might persuade their flocks to a more profitable manner of hearing. Some
+  went to Church for the sermon only, alleging that they could pray at
+  home. And when the more attractive parts of the service were over, the
+  great mass of the people departed without remaining for the
+  eucharist."--Robertson's "Church History," B. II., ch. vi., p. 356.
+
+The life of many religious professors, I fear, in this age, is nothing
+better than a continual course of spiritual dram-drinking. They are
+always morbidly craving fresh excitement; and they seem to care little
+what it is if they only get it. All preaching seems to come alike to
+them; and they appear unable to "see differences," so long as they hear
+what is clever, have their ears tickled, and sit in a crowd. Worst of
+all, there are hundreds of young unestablished believers who are so
+infected with the same love of excitement, that they actually think it a
+duty to be always seeking it. Insensibly almost to themselves, they take
+up a kind of hysterical, sensational, sentimental Christianity, until
+they are never content with the "old paths," and, like the Athenians,
+are always running after something new. To see a calm-minded young
+believer, who is not stuck up, self-confident, self-conceited, and more
+ready to teach than learn, but content with a daily steady effort to
+grow up into Christ's likeness, and to do Christ's work quietly and
+unostentatiously, at home, is really becoming almost a rarity! Too many
+young professors, alas, behave like young recruits who have not spent
+all their bounty money. They show how little deep root they have, and
+how little knowledge of their own hearts, by noise, forwardness,
+readiness to contradict and set down old Christians, and over-weening
+trust in their own fancied soundness and wisdom! Well will it be for
+many young professors of this age if they do not end, after being tossed
+about for a while, and "carried to and fro by every wind of doctrine,"
+by joining some petty, narrow-minded, censorious sect, or embracing some
+senseless, unreasoning, crotchetty heresy. Surely in times like these
+there is great need for self-examination. When we look around us, we may
+well ask, "How do we do about our souls?"
+
+In handling this question, I think the shortest plan will be to suggest
+a list of subjects for self-inquiry, and to go through them in order. By
+so doing I shall hope to meet the case of every one into whose hands
+this volume may fall. I invite every reader of this paper to join me in
+calm, searching self-examination, for a few short minutes. I desire to
+speak to myself as well as to you. I approach you not as an enemy, but
+as a friend. "My heart's desire and prayer to God is that you may be
+saved." (Rom. x. 1.) Bear with me if I say things which at first sight
+look harsh and severe. Believe me, he is your best friend who tells you
+the most truth.
+
+(1) Let me ask, in the first place, _Do we ever think about our souls at
+all_? Thousands of English people, I fear, cannot answer that question
+satisfactorily. They never give the subject of religion any place in
+their thoughts. From the beginning of the year to the end they are
+absorbed in the pursuit of business, pleasure, politics, money, or
+self-indulgence of some kind or another. Death, and judgement, and
+eternity, and heaven, and hell, and a world to come, are never calmly
+looked at and considered. They live on as if they were never going to
+die, or rise again, or stand at the bar of God, or receive an eternal
+sentence! They do not openly oppose religion, for they have not
+sufficient reflection about it to do so;--but they eat, and drink, and
+sleep, and get money, and spend money, as if religion was a mere fiction
+and not a reality. They are neither Romanists, nor Socinians, nor
+infidels, nor High Church, nor Low Church, nor Broad Church. They are
+just _nothing at all_, and do not take the trouble to have opinions. A
+more senseless and unreasonable way of living cannot be conceived; but
+they do not pretend to reason about it. They simply never think about
+God, unless frightened for a few minutes by sickness, death in their
+families, or an accident. Barring such interruptions, they appear to
+ignore religion altogether, and hold on their way cool and undisturbed,
+as if there were nothing worth thinking of except this world.
+
+It is hard to imagine a life more unworthy of an immortal creature than
+such a life as I have just described, for it reduces a man to the level
+of a beast. But it is literally and truly the life of multitudes in
+England; and as they pass away their place is taken by multitudes like
+them. The picture, no doubt, is horrible, distressing, and revolting:
+but, unhappily, it is only too true. In every large town, in every
+market, on every stock-exchange, in every club, you may see specimens of
+this class by scores,--men who think of everything under the sun except
+the one thing needful,--the salvation of their souls. Like the Jews of
+old they do not "consider their ways," they do not "consider their
+latter end;" they do not "consider that they do evil." (Isa. i. 3; Hag.
+i. 7; Deut. xxxii. 29; Eccles. v. i.) Like Gallio they "care for none of
+these things:" they are not in their way. (Acts xviii. 17.) If they
+prosper in the world, and get rich, and succeed in their line of life,
+they are praised, and admired by their contemporaries. Nothing succeeds
+in England like success! But for all this they cannot live for ever.
+They will have to die and appear before the bar of God, and be judged;
+and then what will the end be? When a large class of this kind exists in
+our country, no reader need wonder that I ask whether he belongs to it.
+If you do, you ought to have a mark set on your door, as there used to
+be a mark on a plague-stricken house two centuries ago, with the words,
+"Lord have mercy on us," written on it. Look at the class I have been
+describing, and then look at your own soul.
+
+(2) Let me ask, in the second place, _whether we ever do anything about
+our souls?_? There are multitudes in England who think occasionally
+about religion, but unhappily never get beyond thinking. After a
+stirring sermon,--or after a funeral,--or under the pressure of
+illness,--or on Sunday evening,--or when things are going on badly in
+their families,--or when they meet some bright example of a
+Christian,--or when they fall in with some striking religious book or
+tract,--they will at the time think a good deal, and even talk a little
+about religion in a vague way. But they stop short, as if thinking and
+talking were enough to save them. They are always meaning, and
+intending, and purposing, and resolving, and wishing, and telling us
+that they "know" what is right, and "hope" to be found right at last,
+but they never attain to any _action_. There is no actual separation
+from the service of the world and sin, no real taking up the cross and
+following Christ, no positive _doing_ in their Christianity. Their life
+is spent in playing the part of the son in our Lord's parable, to whom
+the father said, "Go, work in my vineyard: and he answered, I go, sir,
+and went not." (Matt. xxi. 30.) They are like those whom Ezekiel
+describes, who liked his preaching, but never practised what he
+preached:--"They come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit
+before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do
+them.... And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that
+hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear
+thy words, but they do them not." (Ezek. xxxiii. 31, 32.) In a day like
+this, when hearing and thinking, without _doing_, is so common, no one
+can justly wonder that I press upon men the absolute need of
+self-examination. Once more, then, I ask my readers to consider the
+question of my text,--"How do we do about our souls?"
+
+(3) Let me ask, in the third place, _whether we are trying to satisfy
+our consciences with a mere formal religion_? There are myriads in
+England at this moment who are making shipwreck on this rock. Like the
+Pharisees of old, they make much ado about the outward part of
+Christianity, while the inward and spiritual part is totally neglected.
+They are careful to attend all the services of their place of worship,
+and regular in using all its forms and ordinances. They are never absent
+from Communion when the Lord's Supper is administered. Sometimes they
+are most strict in observing Lent, and attach great importance to
+Saints' days. They are often keen partisans of their own Church, or
+sect, or congregation, and ready to contend with any one who does not
+agree with them. Yet all this time there is no _heart_ in their
+religion. Any one who knows them intimately can see with half an eye
+that their affections are set on things below, and not on things above;
+and that they are trying to make up for the want of inward Christianity
+by an excessive quantity of outward form. And this formal religion does
+them no real good. They are not satisfied. Beginning at the wrong end,
+by making the outward things first, they know nothing of inward joy and
+peace, and pass their lives in a constant struggle, secretly conscious
+that there is something wrong, and yet not knowing why. Well, after all,
+if they do not go on from one stage of formality to another, until in
+despair they take a fatal plunge, and fall into Popery! When professing
+Christians of this kind are so painfully numerous, no one need wonder if
+I press upon him the paramount importance of close self-examination. If
+you love life, do not be content with the husk, and shell, and
+scaffolding of religion. Remember our Saviour's words about the Jewish
+formalists of His day: "This people draweth nigh with their mouth, and
+honoureth Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. In vain do
+they worship." (Matt. xv. 9.) It needs something more than going
+diligently to church, and receiving the Lord's Supper, to take our souls
+to heaven. Means of grace and forms of religion are useful in their way,
+and God seldom does anything for His church without them. But let us
+beware of making shipwreck on the very lighthouse which helps to show
+the channel into the harbour. Once more I ask, "How do we do about our
+souls?"
+
+(4) Let me ask, in the fourth place, _whether we have received the
+forgiveness of our sins_? Few reasonable Englishmen would think of
+denying that they are sinners. Many perhaps would say that they are not
+so bad as many, and that they have not been so very wicked, and so
+forth. But few, I repeat, would pretend to say that they had always
+lived like angels, and never done, or said, or thought a wrong thing all
+their days. In short, all of us must confess that we are more or less
+"_sinners_," and, as sinners, are guilty before God; and, as guilty, we
+must be forgiven, or lost and condemned for ever at the last day.--Now
+it is the glory of the Christian religion that it provides for us the
+very forgiveness that we need,--full, free, perfect, eternal, and
+complete. It is a leading article in that well-known creed which most
+Englishmen learn when they are children. They are taught to say, "I
+believe in the forgiveness of sins." This forgiveness of sins has been
+purchased for us by the eternal Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. He
+has purchased it for us by coming into the world to be our Saviour, and
+by living, dying, and rising again, as our Substitute, in our behalf. He
+has bought it for us at the price of His own most precious blood, by
+suffering in our stead on the cross, and making satisfaction for our
+sins. But this forgiveness, great, and full, and glorious as it is, does
+not become the property of every man and woman, as a matter of course.
+It is not a privilege which every member of a Church possesses, merely
+because he is a Churchman. It is a thing which each individual must
+receive for himself by his own personal faith, lay hold on by faith,
+appropriate by faith, and make his own by faith; or else, so far as he
+is concerned, Christ will have died in vain. "He that believeth on the
+Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not
+see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." (John iii. 36.) No terms
+can be imagined more simple, and more suitable to man. As good old
+Latimer said, in speaking of the matter of justification, "It is but
+believe and have." It is only faith that is required; and faith is
+nothing more than the humble, heartfelt trust of the soul which desires
+to be saved. Jesus is able and willing to save; but man must come to
+Jesus and believe. All that believe are at once justified and forgiven:
+but without believing there is no forgiveness at all.
+
+Now here is exactly the point, I am afraid, where multitudes of English
+people fail, and are in imminent danger of being lost for ever. They
+know that there is no forgiveness of sin excepting in Christ Jesus. They
+can tell you that there is no Saviour for sinners, no Redeemer, no
+Mediator, excepting Him who was born of the Virgin Mary, and was
+crucified under Pontius Pilate, dead, and buried. But here they stop,
+and get no further! They never come to the point of actually laying hold
+on Christ by faith, and becoming one with Christ and Christ in them.
+They can say, He is a Saviour, but not 'my Saviour,'--a Redeemer, but
+not 'my Redeemer,'--a Priest, but not 'my Priest,'--an Advocate, but not
+'my Advocate:' and so they live and die unforgiven! No wonder that
+Martin Luther said, "Many are lost because they cannot use possessive
+pronouns." When this is the state of many in this day, no one need
+wonder that I ask men whether they have received the forgiveness of
+sins. An eminent Christian lady once said, in her old age,--"The
+beginning of eternal life in my soul, was a conversation I had with an
+old gentleman, who came to visit my father, when I was only a little
+girl. He took me by the hand one day, and said, 'My dear child, my life
+is nearly over, and you will probably live many years after I am gone.
+But never forget two things. One is, that there is such a thing as
+having our sins forgiven while we live. The other is, that there is such
+a thing as knowing and feeling that we are forgiven.' I thank God I have
+never forgotten his words."--How is it with us? Let us not rest till we
+"know and feel," as the Prayer-book says, that we are forgiven. Once
+more let us ask,--In the matter of forgiveness of sins, "How do we do?"
+
+(5) Let me ask, in the fifth place, _whether we know anything by
+experience of conversion to God_. Without conversion there is no
+salvation. "Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye
+shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."--"Except a man be born
+again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."--"If any man have not the
+Spirit of Christ, he is none of His."--"If any man be in Christ he is a
+new creature." (Matt. xviii. 3; John iii. 3; Rom. viii. 9; 2 Cor. v.
+17.) We are all by nature so weak, so worldly, so earthly-minded, so
+inclined to sin, that without a thorough change we cannot serve God in
+life, and could not enjoy Him after death. Just as ducks, as soon as
+they are hatched, take naturally to water, so do children, as soon as
+they can do anything, take to selfishness, lying, and deceit; and none
+pray, or love God, unless they are taught. High or low, rich or poor,
+gentle or simple, we all need a complete change,--a change which it is
+the special office of the Holy Ghost to give us. Call it what you
+please,--new birth, regeneration, renewal, new creation, quickening,
+repentance,--the thing must be had if we are to be saved: and if we have
+the thing it will be _seen_.
+
+Sense of sin and deep hatred to it, faith in Christ and love to Him,
+delight in holiness and longing after more of it, love to God's people
+and distaste for the things of the world,--these, these are the signs
+and evidences which always accompany conversion. Myriads around us, it
+may be feared, know nothing about it. They are, in Scripture language,
+dead, and asleep, and blind, and unfit for the kingdom of God. Year
+after year, perhaps, they go on repeating the words of the Creed, "I
+believe in the Holy Ghost;" but they are utterly ignorant of His
+changing operations on the inward man. Sometimes they flatter themselves
+they are born again, because they have been baptized, and go to church,
+and receive the Lord's Supper; while they are totally destitute of the
+marks of the new birth, as described by St. John in his first Epistle.
+And all this time the words of Scripture are clear and plain,--"Except
+ye be converted, ye shall in no case enter the kingdom." (Matt. xviii.
+3.) In times like these, no reader ought to wonder that I press the
+subject of conversion on men's souls. No doubt there are plenty of sham
+conversions in such a day of religious excitement as this. But bad coin
+is no proof that there is no good money: nay, rather it is a sign that
+there is some money current which is valuable, and is worth imitation.
+Hypocrites and sham Christians are indirect evidence that there is such
+a thing as real grace among men. Let us search our own hearts then, and
+see how it is with ourselves. Once more let us ask, in the matter of
+conversion, "How do we do?"
+
+(6) Let me ask, in the sixth place, _whether we know anything of
+practical Christian holiness_? It is as certain as anything in the Bible
+that "without holiness no man shall see the Lord." (Heb. xii. 14.) It is
+equally certain that it is the invariable fruit of saving faith, the
+real test of regeneration, the only sound evidence of indwelling grace,
+the certain consequence of vital union with Christ.--Holiness is not
+absolute perfection and freedom from all faults. Nothing of the kind!
+The wild words of some who talk of enjoying "unbroken communion with
+God" for many months, are greatly to be deprecated, because they raise
+unscriptural expectations in the minds of young believers, and so do
+harm. Absolute perfection is for heaven, and not for earth, where we
+have a weak body, a wicked world, and a busy devil continually near our
+souls. Nor is real Christian holiness ever attained, or maintained,
+without a constant fight and struggle. The great Apostle, who said "I
+fight,--I labour,--I keep under my body and bring it into subjection" (1
+Cor. ix. 27), would have been amazed to hear of _sanctification without
+personal exertion_, and to be told that believers only need to sit
+still, and everything will be done for them!
+
+Yet, weak and imperfect as the holiness of the best saints may be, it is
+a real true thing, and has a character about it as unmistakable as light
+and salt. It is not a thing which begins and ends with noisy profession:
+it will be _seen_ much more than _heard_. Genuine Scriptural holiness
+will make a man do his duty at home and by the fireside, and adorn his
+doctrine in the little trials of daily life. It will exhibit itself in
+passive graces as well as in active. It will make a man humble, kind,
+gentle, unselfish, good-tempered, considerate for others, loving, meek,
+and forgiving. It will not constrain him to go out of the world, and
+shut himself up in a cave, like a hermit. But it will make him do his
+duty in that state to which God has called him, on Christian principles,
+and after the pattern of Christ. Such holiness, I know well, is not
+common. It is a style of practical Christianity which is painfully rare
+in these days. But I can find no other standard of holiness in the Word
+of God,--no other which comes up to the pictures drawn by our Lord and
+His Apostles. In an age like this no reader can wonder if I press this
+subject also on men's attention. Once more let us ask,--In the matter of
+holiness, how is it with our souls? "How do we do?"
+
+(7) Let me ask, in the seventh place, _whether we know anything of
+enjoying the means of grace_? When I speak of the means of grace, I have
+in my mind's eye five principal things,--the reading of the Bible,
+private prayer, public worship, the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and
+the rest of the Lord's day. They are means which God has graciously
+appointed, in order to convey grace to man's heart by the Holy Ghost, or
+to keep up the spiritual life after it has begun. As long as the world
+stands, the state of a man's soul will always depend greatly on the
+_manner and spirit_ in which he uses means of grace. The manner and
+spirit, I say deliberately and of purpose. Many English people use the
+means of grace regularly and formally, but know nothing of enjoying
+them: they attend to them as a matter of duty, but without a jot of
+feeling, interest, or affection. Yet even common sense might tell us
+that this formal, mechanical use of holy things, is utterly worthless
+and unprofitable. Our _feeling_ about them is just one of the many tests
+of the state of our souls. How can that man be thought to love God who
+reads about Him and His Christ, as a mere matter of duty, content and
+satisfied if he has just moved his mark onward over so many
+chapters?--How can that man suppose he is ready to meet Christ, who
+never takes any trouble to pour out his heart to Him in private as a
+Friend, and is satisfied with saying over a string of words every
+morning and evening, under the name of "prayer," scarcely thinking what
+he is about?--How could that man be happy in heaven for ever, who finds
+the Sunday a dull, gloomy, tiresome day,--who knows nothing of hearty
+prayer and praise, and cares nothing whether he hears truth or error
+from the pulpit, or scarcely listens to the sermon?--What can be the
+spiritual condition of that man whose heart never "burns within him,"
+when he receives that bread and wine which specially remind us of
+Christ's death on the cross, and the atonement for sin? These inquiries
+are very serious and important. If means of grace had no other use, and
+were not mighty helps toward heaven, they would be useful in supplying a
+test of our real state in the sight of God. Tell me what a man does in
+the matter of Bible-reading and praying, in the matter of Sunday, public
+worship, and the Lord's Supper, and I will soon tell you what he is, and
+on which road he is travelling. How is it with ourselves? Once more let
+us ask,--In the matter of means of grace, "How do we do?"
+
+(8) Let me ask, in the eighth place, _whether we ever try to do any good
+in the world_? Our Lord Jesus Christ was continually "going about doing
+good," while He was on earth. (Acts x. 38.) The Apostles, and all the
+disciples in Bible times, were always striving to walk in His steps. A
+Christian who was content to go to heaven himself, and cared not what
+became of others, whether they lived happy and died in peace or not,
+would have been regarded as a kind of monster in primitive times, who
+had not the Spirit of Christ. Why should we suppose for a moment that a
+lower standard will suffice in the present day? Why should fig trees
+which bear no fruit be spared in the present day, when in our Lord's
+time they were to be cut down as "cumberers of the ground"? (Luke xiii.
+7.) These are serious inquiries, and demand serious answers.
+
+There is a generation of professing Christians now-a-days, who seem to
+know nothing of caring for their neighbours, and are wholly swallowed up
+in the concerns of number one,--that is, their own and their family's.
+They eat, and drink, and sleep, and dress, and work, and get money, and
+spend money, year after year; and whether others are happy or miserable,
+well or ill, converted or unconverted, travelling toward heaven or
+toward hell, appear to be questions about which they are supremely
+indifferent. Can this be right? Can it be reconciled with the religion
+of Him who spoke the parable of the good Samaritan, and bade us "go and
+do likewise"? (Luke x. 37.) I doubt it altogether.
+
+There is much to be done on every side. There is not a place in England
+where there is not a field for work, and an open door for being useful,
+if any one is willing to enter it. There is not a Christian in England
+who cannot find some good work to do for others, if he has only a heart
+to do it. The poorest man or woman, without a single penny to give, can
+always show his deep sympathy to the sick and sorrowful, and by simple
+good-nature and tender helpfulness, can lessen the misery and increase
+the comfort of somebody in this troubled world. But alas, the vast
+majority of professing Christians, whether rich or poor, Churchmen or
+Dissenters, seem possessed with a devil of detestable selfishness, and
+know not the luxury of doing good. They can argue by the hour about
+baptism, and the Lord's supper, and the forms of worship, and the union
+of Church and State, and such-like dry-bone questions. But all this time
+they seem to care nothing for their neighbours. The plain practical
+point, whether they love their neighbour, as the Samaritan loved the
+traveller in the parable, and can spare any time and trouble to do him
+good, is a point they never touch with one of their fingers. In too
+many English parishes, both in town and country, true love seems almost
+dead, both in church and chapel, and wretched party-spirit and
+controversy are the only fruits that Christianity appears able to
+produce. In a day like this, no reader should wonder if I press this
+plain old subject on his conscience. Do we know anything of genuine
+Samaritan love to others? Do we ever try to do any good to any one
+beside our own friends and relatives, and our own party or cause? Are we
+living like disciples of Him who always "went about doing good," and
+commanded His disciples to take Him for their "example"? (John xiii.
+15.) If not, with what face shall we meet Him in the judgment day? In
+this matter also, how is it with our souls? Once more I ask, "How do we
+do?"
+
+(9) Let me ask, in the ninth place, _whether we know anything of living
+the life of habitual communion with Christ_? By "communion," I mean that
+habit of "abiding in Christ" which our Lord speaks of, in the fifteenth
+chapter of St. John's Gospel, as essential to Christian fruitfulness.
+(John xv. 4-8.) Let it be distinctly understood that union with Christ
+is one thing, and communion is another. There can be no communion with
+the Lord Jesus without union first; but unhappily there may be union
+with the Lord Jesus, and afterwards little or no communion at all. The
+difference between the two things is not the difference between two
+distinct steps, but the difference between the higher and lower ends of
+an inclined plane. Union is the common privilege of all who feel their
+sins, and truly repent, and come to Christ by faith, and are accepted,
+forgiven, and justified in Him. Too many believers, it may be feared,
+_never get beyond this stage_! Partly from ignorance, partly from
+laziness, partly from fear of man, partly from secret love of the world,
+partly from some unmortified besetting sin, they are content with a
+little faith, and a little hope, and a little peace, and a little
+measure of holiness. And they live on all their lives in this
+condition--doubting, weak, halting, and bearing fruit only "thirty-fold"
+to the very end of their days!
+
+Communion with Christ is the privilege of those who are continually
+striving to grow in grace, and faith, and knowledge, and conformity to
+the mind of Christ in all things,--who do not "look to the things
+behind," and "count not themselves to have attained," but "press toward
+the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
+(Phil. iii. 14.) Union is the bud, but communion is the flower: union is
+the babe, but communion is the strong man. He that has union with Christ
+does well; but he that enjoys communion with Him does far better. Both
+have one life, one hope, one heavenly seed in their hearts,--one Lord,
+one Saviour, one Holy Spirit, one eternal home: but union is not so good
+as communion! The grand secret of communion with Christ is to be
+continually "living the life of faith in Him," and drawing out of Him
+every hour the supply that every hour requires. "To me," said St. Paul,
+"to live is Christ."--"I live: yet not I, but Christ liveth in me."
+(Gal. ii. 20; Phil. i. 21.)
+
+Communion like this is the secret of the abiding "joy and peace in
+believing," which eminent saints like Bradford and Rutherford
+notoriously possessed. None were ever more humble, or more deeply
+convinced of their own infirmities and corruption. They would have
+told you that the seventh chapter of Romans precisely described
+their own experience. They would have endorsed every word of the
+"Confession" put into the mouths of true believers, in our
+Prayer-book Communion Service. They would have said continually,
+"The remembrance of our sins is grievous unto us; the burden of them
+is intolerable." But they were ever looking unto Jesus, and in Him
+they were ever able to rejoice.--Communion like this is the secret
+of the splendid victories which such men as these won over sin, the
+world, and the fear of death. They did not sit still idly, saying,
+"I leave it all to Christ to do for me," but, strong in the Lord,
+they used the Divine nature He had implanted in them, boldly and
+confidently, and were "more than conquerors through Him that loved
+them." (Rom. viii. 37.) Like St. Paul they would have said, "I can
+do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." (Phil iv.
+13.)--Ignorance of this life of communion is one among many reasons
+why so many in this age are hankering after the Confessional, and
+strange views of the "real presence" in the Lord's Supper. Such
+errors often spring from imperfect knowledge of Christ, and obscure
+views of the life of faith in a risen, living, and interceding
+Saviour.
+
+Is communion with Christ like this a common thing? Alas! it is very rare
+indeed! The greater part of believers seem content with the barest
+elementary knowledge of justification by faith, and half-a-dozen other
+doctrines, and go doubting, limping, halting, groaning along the way to
+heaven, and experience little either of the sense of victory or joy. The
+Churches of these latter days are full of weak, powerless, and
+uninfluential believers, saved at last, "but so as by fire," but never
+shaking the world, and knowing nothing of an "abundant entrance." (1
+Cor. iii. 15; 2 Pet. i. 11.) Despondency and Feeble-mind and
+Much-afraid, in "Pilgrim's Progress," reached the celestial city as
+really and truly as Valiant-for-the-truth and Greatheart. But they
+certainly did not reach it with the same comfort, and did not do a tenth
+part of the same good in the world! I fear there are many like them in
+these days! When things are so in the Churches, no reader can wonder
+that I inquire how it is with our souls. Once more I ask,--In the matter
+of communion with Christ, "How do we do?"
+
+(10) Let me ask, in the tenth and last place, _whether we know anything
+of being ready for Christ's second coming_? That He will come again the
+second time is as certain as anything in the Bible. The world has not
+yet seen the last of Him. As surely as He went up visibly, and in the
+body, on the Mount of Olives, before the eyes of His disciples, so
+surely will He come again in the clouds of heaven, with power and great
+glory. (Acts i. 11.) He will come to raise the dead, to change the
+living, to reward His saints, to punish the wicked, to renew the earth,
+and take the curse away,--to purify the world, even as He purified the
+temple,--and to set up a kingdom where sin shall have no place, and
+holiness shall be the universal rule. The Creeds which we repeat and
+profess to believe, continually declare that Christ is coming again. The
+ancient Christians made it a part of their religion to look for His
+return. _Backward_ they looked to the cross and the atonement for sin,
+and rejoiced in Christ crucified. _Upward_ they looked to Christ at the
+right hand of God, and rejoiced in Christ interceding. _Forward_ they
+looked to the promised return of their Master, and rejoiced in the
+thought that they would see Him again. And we ought to do the same.
+
+What have we really got from Christ? and what do we know of Him? and
+what do we think of Him? Are we living as if we long to see Him again,
+and love His appearing?--Readiness for that appearing is nothing more
+than being a real, consistent Christian. It requires no man to cease
+from his daily business. The farmer need not give up his farm, nor the
+shopkeeper his counter, nor the doctor his patients, nor the carpenter
+his hammer and nails, nor the bricklayer his mortar and trowel, nor the
+blacksmith his smithy. Each and all cannot do better than be found doing
+his duty, but doing it _as a Christian_, and with a heart packed up and
+ready to be gone. In the face of truth like this no reader can feel
+surprised if I ask, How is it with our souls in the matter of Christ's
+second coming? The world is growing old and running to seed. The vast
+majority of Christians seem like the men in the time of Noah and Lot,
+who were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, planting
+and building, up to the very day when flood and fire came. Those words
+of our Master are very solemn and heart-searching,--"Remember Lot's
+wife."--"Take heed lest at any time your heart be overcharged with the
+cares of this life, and that day come upon you unawares." (Luke xvii.
+32; xxi. 34.) Once more I ask,--In the matter of readiness for Christ's
+second coming, "How do we do?"
+
+I end my inquiries here. I might easily add to them; but I trust I have
+said enough, at the beginning of this volume, to stir up self-inquiry
+and self-examination in many minds. God is my witness that I have said
+nothing that I do not feel of paramount importance to my own soul. I
+only want to do good to others. Let me now conclude all with a few words
+of practical application.
+
+(_a_) Is any reader of this paper _asleep and utterly thoughtless about
+religion_? Oh, awake and sleep no more! Look at the churchyards and
+cemeteries. One by one the people around you are dropping into them, and
+you must lie there one day. Look forward to a world to come, and lay
+your hand on your heart, and say, if you dare, that you are fit to die
+and meet God. Ah! you are like one sleeping in a boat drifting down the
+stream towards the falls of Niagara! "What meanest thou, oh sleeper!
+Arise and call upon thy God!"--"Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from
+the dead, and Christ shall give thee light!" (Jonah i. 6; Eph v. 14.)
+
+(_b_) Is any reader of this paper _feeling self-condemned, and afraid
+that there is no hope for his soul_? Cast aside your fears, and accept
+the offer of our Lord Jesus Christ to sinners. Hear Him saying, "Come
+unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you
+rest." (Matt. xi. 28.) "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and
+drink." (John vii. 37.) "Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast
+out." (John vi. 37.) Doubt not that these words are for you as well as
+for any one else. Bring all your sins, and unbelief, and sense of guilt,
+and unfitness, and doubts, and infirmities,--bring all to Christ. "This
+Man receiveth sinners," and He will receive you. (Luke xv. 2.) Do not
+stand still, halting between two opinions, and waiting for a convenient
+season. "Arise: He calleth thee!" Come to Christ this very day. (Mark x.
+49.)
+
+(_c_) Is any reader of this paper a professing believer in Christ, but a
+_believer without much joy and peace and comfort_? Take advice this day.
+Search your own heart, and see whether the fault be not entirely your
+own. Very likely you are sitting at ease, content with a little faith,
+and a little repentance, a little grace and a little sanctification, and
+unconsciously shrinking back from extremes. You will never be a very
+happy Christian at this rate, if you live to the age of Methuselah.
+Change your plan, if you love life and would see good days, without
+delay. Come out boldly, and act decidedly. Be thorough, thorough, very
+thorough in your Christianity, and set your face fully towards the sun.
+Lay aside every weight, and the sin that doth so easily beset you.
+Strive to get nearer to Christ, to abide in Him, to cleave to Him, and
+to sit at His feet like Mary, and drink full draughts out of the
+fountain of life. "These things," says St. John, "we write unto you that
+your joy may be full." (1 John i. 4.) "If we walk in the light as He is
+in the light, we have fellowship one with another." (1 John i. 7.)
+
+(_d_) Is any reader of this paper _a believer oppressed with doubts and
+fears_, on account of his feebleness, infirmity, and sense of sin?
+Remember the text that says of Jesus, "A bruised reed will He not break,
+and smoking flax shall He not quench." (Matt. xii. 20.) Take comfort in
+the thought that this text is for you. What though your faith be feeble?
+It is better than no faith at all. The least grain of life is better
+than death. Perhaps you are expecting too much in this world. Earth is
+not heaven. You are yet in the body. Expect little from self, but much
+from Christ. Look more to Jesus, and less to self.
+
+(_e_) Finally, is any reader of this paper _sometimes downcast_ by the
+trials he meets with in the way to heaven, bodily trials, family trials,
+trials of circumstances, trials from neighbours, and trials from the
+world? Look up to a sympathizing Saviour at God's right hand, and pour
+out your heart before Him. He can be touched with the feeling of your
+infirmities, for He suffered Himself being tempted.--Are you alone? So
+was He. Are you misrepresented and calumniated? So was He. Are you
+forsaken by friends? So was He. Are you persecuted? So was He. Are you
+wearied in body and grieved in spirit? So was He.--Yes! He can feel for
+you, and He can help as well as feel. Then learn to draw nearer to
+Christ. The time is short. Yet a little time, and all will be over: we
+shall soon be "with the Lord." "There is an end; and thine expectation
+shall not be cut off." (Prov. xxiii. 18.) "Ye have need of patience,
+that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
+For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not
+tarry." (Heb. x. 36, 37.)
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+
+SELF-EXERTION
+
+     "_Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto
+     you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able._"--Luke
+     xiii. 24.
+
+
+There was once a man who asked our Lord Jesus Christ a very deep
+question. He said to Him, "Lord, are there few that be saved?"
+
+Who this man was we do not know. What his motive was for asking this
+question we are not told. Perhaps he wished to gratify an idle
+curiosity: perhaps he wanted an excuse for not seeking salvation
+himself. The Holy Ghost has kept back all this from us: the name and
+motive of the inquirer are both hidden.
+
+But one thing is very clear, and that is the vast importance of the
+saying of our Lord to which the question gave rise. Jesus seized the
+opportunity to direct the minds of all around Him to their own plain
+duty. He knew the train of thought which the man's inquiry had set
+moving in their hearts: He saw what was going on within them. "Strive,"
+He cries, "to enter in at the strait gate." Whether there be few saved
+or many, your course is clear;--strive to enter in. Now is the accepted
+time. Now is the day of salvation. A day shall come when many will seek
+to enter in and shall not be able. "Strive to enter in now."
+
+I desire to call the serious attention of all who read this paper to the
+solemn lessons which this saying of the Lord Jesus is meant to teach.
+It is one which deserves special remembrance in the present day. It
+teaches unmistakeably that mighty truth, our own personal responsibility
+for the salvation of our souls. It shows the immense danger of putting
+off the great business of religion, as so many unhappily do. On both
+these points the witness of our Lord Jesus Christ in the text is clear.
+He, who is the eternal God, and who spoke the words of perfect wisdom,
+says to the sons of men,--"Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for
+many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able."
+
+
+    I. Here is a _description_ of the way of salvation. Jesus calls it
+    "the strait gate."
+
+    II. Here is a plain _command_. Jesus says, "Strive to enter in."
+
+    III. Here is an awful _prophecy_. Jesus says, "Many will seek to
+    enter in, and shall not be able."
+
+May the Holy Ghost apply the subject to the hearts of all into whose
+hands this paper may fall! May all who read it know the way of salvation
+experimentally, obey the command of the Lord practically, and be found
+safe in the great day of His second coming!
+
+
+I. Here is a _description___ of the way of salvation. Jesus calls it
+"_the strait gate_."
+
+There is a gate which leads to pardon, peace with God, and heaven.
+Whosoever goes in by that gate shall be saved. Never, surely, was a gate
+more needed. Sin is a vast mountain between man and God. How shall a man
+climb over it?--Sin is a high wall between man and God. How shall man
+get through it?--Sin is a deep gulf between man and God. How shall man
+cross over it?--God is in heaven, holy, pure, spiritual, undefiled,
+light without any darkness at all, a Being who cannot bear that which
+is evil, or look upon iniquity. Man is a poor fallen worm, crawling on
+earth for a few years,--sinful, corrupt, erring, defective,--a being
+whose imagination is only evil, and whose heart is deceitful above all
+things, and desperately wicked. How shall man and God be brought
+together? How shall man ever draw near to his Maker without fear and
+shame? Blessed be God, there is a way! There is a road. There is a path.
+There is a door. It is the gate spoken of in the words of Christ,--"the
+strait gate."
+
+This gate was _made for sinners by the Lord Jesus Christ_. From all
+eternity He covenanted and engaged that He would make it. In the fulness
+of time He came into the world and made it, by His own atoning death on
+the cross. By that death He made satisfaction for man's sin, paid man's
+debt to God, and bore man's punishment. He built a great gate at the
+cost of His own body and blood. He reared a ladder on earth whose top
+reached to heaven. He made a door by which the chief of sinners may
+enter into the holy presence of God, and not be afraid. He opened a road
+by which the vilest of men, believing in Him, may draw near to God and
+have peace. He cries to us, "I am the door: by Me if any man enter in,
+he shall be saved." (John x. 9.) "I am the way: no man cometh unto the
+Father but by Me." (John xiv. 6.) "By Him," says Paul, "we have boldness
+and access with confidence." (Eph. iii. 12.) Thus was the gate of
+salvation formed.
+
+This gate is called _the strait gate_, and it is not called so without
+cause. It is always strait, narrow, and difficult to pass through to
+some persons, and it will be so as long as the world stands. It is
+narrow to all who love sin, and are determined not to part with it. It
+is narrow to all who set their affection on this world, and seek first
+its pleasures and rewards. It is narrow to all who dislike trouble, and
+are unwilling to take pains and make sacrifices for their souls. It is
+narrow to all who like company, and want to keep in with the crowd. It
+is narrow to all who are self-righteous, and think they are good people,
+and deserve to be saved. To all such the great gate, which Christ made,
+is narrow and strait. In vain they seek to pass through. The gate will
+not admit them. God is not unwilling to receive them; their sins are not
+too many to be forgiven: but they are not willing to be saved in God's
+way. Thousands, for the last eighteen centuries, have tried to make the
+gate-way wider: thousands have worked and toiled to get to heaven on
+lower terms. But the gate never alters. It is not elastic: it will not
+stretch to accommodate one man more than another. It is still the strait
+gate.
+
+Strait as this gate is, it is _the only one by which men can get to
+heaven_. There is no side door; there is no bye-path; there is no gap or
+low-place in the wall. All that are ever saved will be saved only by
+Christ, and only by simple faith in Him.--Not one will be saved by
+repentance. To-day's sorrow does not wipe off yesterday's score.--Not
+one will be saved by his own works. The best works that any man can do
+are little better than splendid sins.--Not one will be saved by his
+formal regularity in the use of the outward means of grace. When we have
+done all, we are poor "unprofitable servants." Oh, no! it is mere waste
+of time to seek any other road to eternal life. Men may look right and
+left, and weary themselves with their own devices, but they will never
+find another door. Proud men may dislike the gate if they will.
+Profligate men may scoff at it, and make a jest of those who use it.
+Lazy men may complain that the way is hard. But men will discover no
+other salvation than that of faith in the blood and righteousness of a
+crucified Redeemer. There stands between us and heaven one great gate:
+it may be strait; but it is the only one. We must either enter heaven by
+the strait gate, or not at all.
+
+Strait as this gate is, it is _a gate ever ready to open_. No sinners of
+any kind are forbidden to draw near: whosoever will may enter in and be
+saved. There is but one condition of admission: that condition is that
+you really feel your sins and desire to be saved by Christ in His own
+way. Art thou really sensible of thy guilt and vileness? Hast thou a
+truly broken and contrite heart? Behold the gate of salvation, and come
+in. He that made it declares,--"Him that cometh unto Me I will in no
+wise cast out." (John vi. 37.) The question to be considered is not
+whether you are a great sinner or a little sinner--whether you are elect
+or not,--whether you are converted or not. The question is simply
+this, "Do you feel your sins? Do you feel labouring and heavy-laden? Are
+you willing to put your soul into Christ's hand?" Then if that be the
+case, the gate will open to you at once. Come in this very day.
+"Wherefore standest thou without?" (Gen. xxiv. 31.)
+
+Strait as this gate is, it is _one through which thousands have gone in
+and been saved_. No sinner was ever turned back, and told he was too bad
+to be admitted, if he came really sick of his sins. Thousands of all
+sorts have been received, cleansed, washed, pardoned, clothed, and made
+heirs of eternal life. Some of them seemed very unlikely to be admitted:
+you and I might have thought they were too bad to be saved. But He that
+built the gate did not refuse them. As soon as they knocked, He gave
+orders that they should be let in.
+
+Manasseh, King of Judah, went up to this gate. None could have been
+worse than he. He had despised his good father Hezekiah's example and
+advice. He had bowed down to idols. He had filled Jerusalem with
+bloodshed and cruelty. He had slain his own children. But as soon as his
+eyes were opened to his sins, and he fled to the gate for pardon, the
+gate flew wide open, and he was saved.
+
+Saul the Pharisee went up to this gate. He had been a great offender.
+He had been a blasphemer of Christ, and a persecutor of Christ's people.
+He had laboured hard to stop the progress of the Gospel. But as soon as
+his heart was touched, and he found out his own guilt and fled to the
+gate for pardon, at once the gate flew wide open, and he was saved.
+
+Many of the Jews who crucified our Lord went up to this gate. They had
+been grievous sinners indeed. They had refused and rejected their own
+Messiah. They had delivered Him to Pilate, and entreated that He might
+be slain. They had desired Barabbas to be let go, and the Son of God to
+be crucified. But in the day when they were pricked to the heart by
+Peter's preaching, they fled to the gate for pardon, and at once the
+gate flew open, and they were saved.
+
+The jailer at Philippi went up to this gate. He had been a cruel, hard,
+godless man. He had done all in his power to ill-treat Paul and his
+companion. He had thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet
+fast in the stocks. But when his conscience was aroused by the
+earthquake, and his mind enlightened by Paul's teaching, he fled to the
+gate for pardon, and at once the gate flew open, and he was saved.
+
+But why need I stop short in Bible examples? Why should I not say that
+multitudes have gone to "the strait gate" since the days of the
+Apostles, and have entered in by it and been saved? Thousands of all
+ranks, classes, and ages,--learned and unlearned, rich and poor, old and
+young,--have tried the gate and found it ready to open,--have gone
+through it and found peace to their souls. Yes: thousands of persons yet
+living have made proof of the gate, and found it the way to real
+happiness. Noblemen and commoners, merchants and bankers, soldiers and
+sailors, farmers and tradesmen, labourers and workmen, are still upon
+earth, who have found the strait gate to be "a way of pleasantness and a
+path of peace." They have not brought up an evil report of the country
+inside. They have found Christ's yoke to be easy, and His burden to be
+light. Their only regret has been that so few enter in, and that they
+themselves did not enter in before.
+
+This is the gate which I want every one to enter, into whose hand this
+paper may fall. I want you not merely to go to church or chapel, but to
+go with heart and soul to the gate of life. I want you not merely to
+believe there is such a gate, and to think it a good thing, but to enter
+by faith and be saved.
+
+Think _what a privilege_ it is to have a gate at all. The angels who
+kept not their first estate, fell, never to rise again. To them there
+was no door of escape opened.--The heathen never heard of any way to
+eternal life. What would not many a black man and many a red man give,
+if he only heard one plain sermon about Christ?--The Jews in Old
+Testament times only saw the gate dimly and far away. "The way into the
+holiest was not made manifest, while the first tabernacle was standing."
+(Heb. ix. 8.) You have the gate set plainly before you: you have Christ
+and full salvation offered to you, without money and without price. You
+never need be at a loss which way to turn. Oh, consider what a mercy
+this is! Beware that you do not despise the gate and perish in unbelief.
+Better a thousand times not to know of the gate than to know of it and
+yet tarry outside. How indeed will you escape if you neglect so great
+salvation?
+
+Think _what a thankful man_ you ought to be if you have really gone in
+at the strait gate. To be a pardoned, forgiven, justified soul,--to be
+ready for sickness, death, judgment and eternity,--to be ever provided
+for in both worlds,--surely this is matter for daily praise. True
+Christians ought to be more full of thanksgivings than they are. I fear
+that few sufficiently remember what they were by nature, and what
+debtors they are to grace. A heathen remarked that singing hymns of
+praise was one special mark of the early Christians. Well would it be
+for Christians in the present day, if they knew more of this frame of
+mind. It is no mark of a healthy state of soul when there is much
+complaining and little praise. It is an amazing mercy that there is any
+gate of salvation at all; but it is a still greater mercy when we are
+taught to enter in by it and be saved.
+
+
+II. In the second place, here is a plain _command_.--Jesus says to us,
+"_Strive to enter in at the strait gate_." There is often much to be
+learned in a single word of Scripture. The words of our Lord Jesus in
+particular, are always full of matter for thought. Here is a word which
+is a striking example of what I mean. Let us see what the great Teacher
+would have us gather out of the word "_Strive_."
+
+"STRIVE" teaches that a man must use means diligently, if he would have
+his soul saved. There are means which God has appointed to help man in
+his endeavours to approach Him. There are ways in which a man must walk,
+if he desires to be found of Christ. Public Worship, reading the Bible,
+hearing the Gospel preached,--these are the kind of things to which I
+refer. They lie, as it were, in the middle, between man and God.
+Doubtless no one can change his own heart, or wipe away one of his sins,
+or make himself in the least degree acceptable to God; but I do say that
+if man could do nothing but sit still, Christ would never have said
+"Strive."
+
+"STRIVE" teaches that man is a free agent, and will be dealt with by God
+as a responsible being. The Lord Jesus does not bid us to wait, and
+wish, and feel, and hope, and desire. He says, "Strive." I call that
+miserable religion which teaches people to be content with saying, "We
+can do nothing of ourselves," and makes them continue in sin. It is as
+bad as teaching people that it is not their fault if they are not
+converted, and that God only is to blame if they are not saved. I find
+no such theology in the New Testament. I hear Jesus saying to sinners,
+"Come--repent--believe--labour--ask--seek--knock." I see plainly that
+our salvation, from first to last, is entirely _of God_; but I see with
+no less plainness that our ruin, if lost, is wholly and entirely _of
+ourselves_. I maintain that sinners are always addressed as accountable
+and responsible; and I want no better proof of this than is contained in
+the word "Strive."
+
+"STRIVE" teaches that a man must expect many adversaries and a hard
+battle, if he would have his soul saved. And this, as a matter of
+experience, is strictly true. There are no "gains without pains" in
+spiritual things any more than in temporal. That roaring lion, the
+devil, will never let a soul escape from him without a struggle. The
+heart which is naturally sensual and earthly will never be turned to
+spiritual things without a daily fight. The world, with all its
+opposition and temptations, will never be overcome without a conflict.
+But why should all this surprise us? What great and good thing was ever
+done without trouble? Wheat does not grow without ploughing and sowing;
+riches are not obtained without care and attention; success in life is
+not won without hardships and toil; and heaven, above all, is not to be
+reached without the cross and the battle. The "violent take the kingdom
+by force." (Matt xi. 12.) A man must "strive."
+
+"STRIVE" teaches that it is worth while for a man to seek salvation.
+That may well be said. If there be anything that deserves a struggle in
+this world, it is the prosperity of the soul. The objects for which the
+great majority of men strive are comparatively poor and trifling things.
+Riches, and greatness, and rank, and learning, are "a corruptible
+crown." The incorruptible things are all within the strait gate. The
+peace of God which passeth all understanding,--the bright hope of good
+things to come,--the sense of the Spirit dwelling in us,--the
+consciousness that we are pardoned, safe, ready, insured, provided for
+in time and eternity, whatever may happen,--these are true gold, and
+durable riches. Well may the Lord Jesus call on us to "strive."
+
+"STRIVE" teaches that laziness in religion is a great sin. It is not
+merely a misfortune, as some fancy,--a thing for which people are to be
+pitied, and a matter for regret. It is something far more than this. It
+is a breach of a plain commandment. What shall be said of the man who
+transgresses God's law, and does something which God says, Thou shalt
+not do? There can be but one answer. He is a sinner. "Sin is the
+transgression of the law." (1 John iii. 4.) And what shall be said of
+the man who neglects his soul, and makes no effort to enter the strait
+gate? There can be only one reply. He is omitting a positive duty.
+Christ says to him, "Strive," and behold, he sits still!
+
+"STRIVE" teaches that all outside the strait gate are in great danger.
+They are in danger of being lost for ever. There is but a step between
+them and death. If death finds them in their present condition, they
+will perish without hope. The Lord Jesus saw that clearly. He knew the
+uncertainty of life and the shortness of time: He would fain have
+sinners make haste and delay not, lest they put off soul business too
+late. He speaks as one who saw the devil drawing near to them daily, and
+the days of their life gradually ebbing away. He would have them take
+heed they be not too late: therefore He cries, "Strive."
+
+That word "Strive," raises solemn thoughts in my mind. It is brimful of
+condemnation for thousands of baptized persons. It condemns the ways and
+practices of multitudes who profess and call themselves Christians. Many
+there are who neither swear, nor murder, nor commit adultery, nor
+steal, nor lie; but one thing unhappily cannot be said of them: they
+cannot be said to "strive" to be saved. The "spirit of slumber"
+possesses their hearts in everything that concerns religion. About the
+things of the world they are active enough: they rise early, and late
+take rest; they labour; they toil; they are busy; they are careful: but
+about the one thing needful they never "strive" at all.
+
+What shall I say of those who are irregular about public worship on
+Sundays? There are thousands all over Great Britain who answer this
+description. Sometimes, if they feel disposed, they go to some church or
+chapel, and attend a religious service; at other times they stay at home
+and read the paper, or idle about, or look over their accounts, or seek
+some amusement. _Is this "striving"_? I speak to men of common sense.
+Let them judge what I say.
+
+What shall I say of those who come regularly to a place of worship, but
+come entirely as a matter of form? There are many in every parish of
+Great Britain in this condition. Their fathers taught them to come;
+their custom has always been to come: it would not be respectable to
+stay away. But they care nothing for the worship of God when they do
+come. Whether they hear law or Gospel, truth or error, it is all the
+same to them. They remember nothing afterwards. They put off their form
+of religion with their Sunday clothes, and return to the world. And _is
+this "striving"_? I speak to men of common sense. Let them judge what I
+say.
+
+What shall I say of those who seldom or never read the Bible? There are
+thousands of persons, I fear, who answer this description. They know the
+Book by name; they know it is commonly regarded as the only Book which
+teaches us how to live and how to die: but they can never find time for
+reading it. Newspapers, reviews, novels, romances, they can read, but
+not the Bible. And _is this "striving"_ to enter in? I speak to men of
+common sense. Let them judge what I say.
+
+What shall I say of those who never pray? There are multitudes, I firmly
+believe, in this condition. Without God they rise in the morning, and
+without God they lie down at night. They ask nothing; they confess
+nothing; they return thanks for nothing; they seek nothing. They are all
+dying creatures, and yet they are not even on speaking terms with their
+Maker and their Judge! And _is this "striving"_? I speak to men of
+common sense. Let them judge what I say.
+
+It is a solemn thing to be a minister of the Gospel. It is a painful
+thing to look on, and notice the ways of mankind in spiritual matters.
+We hold in our hands that great statute Book of God, which declares that
+without repentance, and conversion, and faith in Christ, and holiness,
+no man living can be saved. In discharge of our office we urge on men to
+repent, believe, and be saved; but, alas, how frequently we have to
+lament that our labour seems all in vain. Men attend our churches, and
+listen, and approve, but do not "strive" to be saved. We show the
+sinfulness of sin; we unfold the loveliness of Christ; we expose the
+vanity of the world; we set forth the happiness of Christ's service; we
+offer the living water to the wearied and heavy laden sons of toil: but,
+alas, how often we seem to speak to the winds. Our words are patiently
+heard on Sundays; our arguments are not refuted: but we see plainly in
+the week that men are not "striving" to be saved. There comes the devil
+on Monday morning, and offers his countless snares; there comes the
+world, and holds out its seeming prizes: our hearers follow them
+greedily. They work hard for this world's goods; they toil at Satan's
+bidding: but for the one thing needful they will not "strive" at all.
+
+I am not writing from hear-say. I speak what I have seen. I write down
+the result of thirty-seven years' experience in the ministry. I have
+learned lessons about human nature during that period which I never
+knew before. I have seen how true are our Lord's words about the narrow
+way. I have discovered how few there are that "strive" to be saved.
+
+Earnestness about temporal matters is common enough. Striving to be rich
+and prosperous in this world is not rare at all. Pains about money, and
+business, and politics,--pains about trade, and science, and fine arts,
+and amusements,--pains about rent, and wages, and labour, and
+land,--pains about such matters I see in abundance both in town and
+country. But I see few who take pains about their souls. I see few any
+where who "strive" to enter in at the strait gate.
+
+I am not surprised at all this. I read in the Bible that it is only what
+I am to expect. The parable of the great supper is an exact picture of
+things that I have seen with my own eyes ever since I became a minister.
+(Luke xiv. 16.) I find, as my Lord and Saviour tells me, that "men make
+excuse." One has his piece of land to see; another has his oxen to
+prove; a third has his family hindrances. But all this does not prevent
+my feeling deeply grieved for the souls of men. I grieve to think that
+they should have eternal life so close to them, and yet be lost because
+they will not "strive" to enter in and be saved.
+
+I know not in what state of soul many readers of this paper may be. But
+I warn you to take heed that you do not perish for ever for want of
+"striving." Do not suppose that it needs some great scarlet sin to bring
+you to the pit of destruction. You have only to sit still and do
+nothing, and you will find yourself there at last. Yes! Satan does not
+ask you to walk in the steps of Cain, and Pharaoh, and Ahab, and
+Belshazzar, and Judas Iscariot. There is another road to hell quite as
+sure,--the road of spiritual indolence, spiritual laziness, and
+spiritual sloth. Satan has no objection to your being a respectable
+member of the Christian Church. He will let you pay your tithes, and
+rates, and pew rents; he will allow you to sit comfortably in church
+every Sunday you live. He knows full well, that so long as you do not
+"strive," you must come at last to the worm that never dies, and the
+fire that is not quenched. Take heed that you do not come to this end. I
+repeat it, _you have only to do nothing, and you will be lost_.
+
+If you have been taught to "strive" for your soul's prosperity, I
+entreat you never to suppose you can go too far. Never give way to the
+idea that you are taking too much trouble about your spiritual
+condition, and that there is no need for so much carefulness. Settle it
+rather in your mind that "in all labour there is profit," and that no
+labour is so profitable as that bestowed on the soul. It is a maxim
+among good farmers that the more they do for the land the more the land
+does for them. I am sure it should be a maxim among Christians that the
+more they do for their religion the more their religion will do for
+them. Watch against the slightest inclination to be careless about any
+means of grace. Beware of shortening your prayers, your Bible reading,
+your private communion with God. Take heed that you do not give way to a
+thoughtless, lazy manner of using the public services of God's house.
+Fight against any rising disposition to be sleepy, critical, and
+fault-finding, while you listen to the preaching of the Gospel. Whatever
+you do for God, do it with all your heart and mind and strength. In
+other things be moderate, and dread running into extremes. In soul
+matters fear moderation just as you would fear the plague. Care not what
+men think of you. Let it be enough for you that your Master says,
+"STRIVE."
+
+
+III. The last thing I wish to consider in this paper is the _awful
+prophecy which the Lord Jesus delivers_. He says, "Many will seek to
+enter in, and shall not be able."
+
+When shall this be? At what period shall the gate of salvation be shut
+for ever? When shall "striving" to enter be of no use? These are
+serious questions. The gate is now ready to open to the chief of
+sinners; but a day comes when it shall open no more.
+
+The time foretold by our Lord is the time of His own second coming to
+judge the world. The long-suffering of God will at last have an end. The
+throne of grace will at length be taken down, and the throne of judgment
+shall be set up in its place. The fountain of living waters shall at
+length be closed. The strait gate shall at last be barred and bolted.
+The day of grace will be passed and over. The day of reckoning with a
+sin-laden world shall at length begin. And then shall be brought to pass
+the solemn prophecy of the Lord Jesus,--"Many will seek to enter in, and
+shall not be able."
+
+All prophecies of Scripture that have been fulfilled hitherto, have been
+fulfilled to the very letter. They have seemed to many unlikely,
+improbable, impossible, up to the very time of their accomplishment; but
+not one word of them has ever failed.
+
+The promises of _good things_ have come to pass, in spite of
+difficulties that seemed insuperable. Sarah had a son when she was past
+bearing; the children of Israel were brought out of Egypt and planted in
+the promised land; the Jews were redeemed from the captivity of Babylon,
+after seventy years, and enabled once more to build the temple; the Lord
+Jesus was born of a pure virgin, lived, ministered, was betrayed, and
+cut off, precisely as Scripture foretold. The Word of God was pledged in
+all these cases, that it should be. _And so it was._
+
+The predictions of _judgments_ on cities and nations have come to pass,
+though at the time they were first spoken they seemed incredible. Egypt
+is the basest of kingdoms; Edom is a wilderness; Tyre is a rock for
+drying nets; Nineveh, that "exceeding great city," is laid waste, and
+become a desolation; Babylon is a dry land and a wilderness,--her broad
+walls are utterly broken down; the Jews are scattered over the whole
+earth as a separate people. In all these cases the Word of God foretold
+that it should be so. _And so it was._
+
+The prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ which I press on your attention
+this day, shall be fulfilled in like manner. Not one word of it shall
+fail when the time of its accomplishment is due. "Many will seek to
+enter in, and shall not be able."
+
+There is a time coming when seeking God shall be useless. Oh, that men
+would remember that! Too many seem to fancy that the hour will never
+arrive when they shall seek and not find: but they are sadly mistaken.
+They will discover their mistake one day to their own confusion, except
+they repent. When Christ comes "many shall seek to enter in, and _not be
+able_."
+
+There is a time coming when many shall be shut out from heaven for ever.
+It shall not be the lot of a few, but of a great multitude; it shall not
+happen to one or two in this parish, and one or two in that: it shall be
+the miserable end of a vast crowd. "_Many_ will seek to enter in, and
+shall not be able."
+
+Knowledge shall come to many too late. They shall see at last the value
+of an immortal soul, and the happiness of having it saved. They shall
+understand at last their own sinfulness and God's holiness, and the
+glorious fitness of the Gospel of Christ. They shall comprehend at last
+why ministers seemed so anxious, and preached so long, and entreated
+them so earnestly to be converted. But, alas, they shall know all this
+_too late_!
+
+Repentance shall come to many too late. They shall discover their own
+exceeding wickedness and be thoroughly ashamed of their past folly. They
+shall be full of bitter regret and unavailing lamentations, of keen
+convictions and of piercing sorrows. They shall weep, and wail, and
+mourn, when they reflect on their sins. The remembrance of their lives
+will be grievous to them; the burden of their guilt will seem
+intolerable. But, alas, like Judas Iscariot, they will repent _too
+late_!
+
+Faith shall come to many too late. They will no longer be able to deny
+that there is a God, and a devil, a heaven, and a hell. Deism, and
+scepticism, and infidelity shall be laid aside for ever; scoffing, and
+jesting, and free-thinking shall cease. They will see with their own
+eyes, and feel in their own bodies, that the things of which ministers
+spoke were not cunningly devised fables, but great real truths. They
+will find out to their cost that evangelical religion was not cant,
+extravagance, fanaticism, and enthusiasm: they will discover that it was
+the one thing needful, and that for want of it they are lost for ever.
+Like the devil, they will at length believe and tremble, but _too late_!
+
+A desire of salvation shall come to many too late. They shall long after
+pardon, and peace, and the favour of God, when they can no more be had.
+They will wish they might have one more Sunday over again, have one more
+offer of forgiveness, have one more call to prayer. But it will matter
+nothing what they think, or feel, or desire then: the day of grace will
+be over; the gate of salvation will be bolted and barred. It will be
+_too late_!
+
+I often think what a change there will be one day in the price and
+estimation at which things are valued. I look round this world in which
+my lot is cast; I mark the current price of everything this world
+contains; I look forward to the coming of Christ, and the great day of
+God. I think of the new order of things, which that day will bring in; I
+read the words of the Lord Jesus, when He describes the master of the
+house rising up and shutting the door; and as I read, I say to myself,
+"There will be a great change soon."
+
+What are the _dear things_ now? Gold, silver, precious stones, bank
+notes, mines, ships, lands, houses, horses, carriages, furniture, meat,
+drink, clothes, and the like. These are the things that are thought
+valuable; these are the things that command a ready market; these are
+the things which you can never get below a certain price. He that has
+much of these things is counted a wealthy man. Such is the world!
+
+And what are the _cheap things_ now? The knowledge of God, the free
+salvation of the Gospel, the favour of Christ, the grace of the Holy
+Ghost, the privilege of being God's son, the title to eternal life, the
+right to the tree of life, the reversion of a mansion in heaven, the
+promises of an incorruptible inheritance, the offer of a crown of glory
+that fadeth not away. These are the things that no man hardly cares for.
+They are offered to the sons of men without money and without price:
+they may be had for nothing,--freely and gratuitously. Whosoever will
+may take his portion. But, alas, there is no demand for these things!
+They go a begging. They are scarcely looked at. They are offered in
+vain. Such is the world!
+
+But a day is coming upon us all when the value of everything shall be
+altered. A day is coming when bank-notes shall be as useless as rags,
+and gold shall be as worthless as the dust of the earth. A day is coming
+when thousands shall care nothing for the things for which they once
+lived, and shall desire nothing so much as the things which they once
+despised. The halls and palaces will be forgotten in the desire of a
+"house not made with hands." The favour of the rich and great will be no
+more remembered, in the longing for the favour of the King of kings. The
+silks, and satins, and velvets, and laces, will be lost sight of in the
+anxious want of the robe of Christ's righteousness. All shall be
+altered, all shall be changed in the great day of the Lord's return.
+"Many will seek to enter in, and shall not be able."
+
+It was a weighty saying of some wise man, that "hell is truth known too
+late." I fear that thousands of professing Christians in this day will
+find this out by experience. They will discover the value of their
+souls when it is too late to obtain mercy, and see the beauty of the
+Gospel when they can derive no benefit from it. Oh, that men would be
+wise betimes! I often think there are few passages of Scripture more
+awful than that in the first chapter of Proverbs,--"Because I have
+called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man
+regarded; but ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my
+reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear
+cometh; when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh
+as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall
+they call upon Me, but I will not answer; they shall seek Me early, but
+they shall not find Me: for that they hated knowledge, and did not
+choose the fear of the Lord: they would none of my counsel; they
+despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their
+own way, and be filled with their own devices." (Prov. i. 24-31.)
+
+Some reader of this paper may be one of those who neither like the faith
+nor practice which the Gospel of Christ requires. You think us extreme
+when we beseech you to repent and be converted. You think we ask too
+much when we urge you to come out from the world, and take up the cross,
+and follow Christ. But take notice that you will one day confess _that
+we were right_. Sooner or later, in this world or the next, you will
+acknowledge that you were wrong. Yes! it is a melancholy consideration
+for the faithful minister of the Gospel, that all who hear him will one
+day allow that his counsel was good. Mocked, despised, scorned,
+neglected as his testimony may be on earth, a day is coming which shall
+prove effectually that truth was on his side. The rich man who hears us
+and yet makes a god of this world,--the tradesman who hears us and yet
+makes his ledger his Bible,--the farmer who hears us and yet remains
+cold as the clay on his land,--the labourer who hears us and feels no
+more for his soul than a stone,--all, all will at length acknowledge
+before the world that they were wrong. All will at length desire
+earnestly that very mercy which we now set before them in vain. "They
+will seek to enter in, and shall not be able."
+
+Some reader of this paper may be one of those who love the Lord Jesus
+Christ in sincerity. Such an one may well take comfort when he looks
+forward. You often suffer persecution now for your religion's sake. You
+have to bear hard words and unkind insinuations. Your motives are often
+misrepresented, and your conduct slandered. The reproach of the cross
+has not ceased. But you may well take courage when you look forward and
+think of the Lord's second coming. That day shall make amends for all.
+You will see those who now laugh at you because you read the Bible, and
+pray, and love Christ, in a very different state of mind. They will come
+to you as the foolish virgins came to the wise, saying, "Give us of your
+oil, because our lamps are gone out." (Matt. xxv. 8.) You will see those
+who now hate you and call you fools because, like Caleb and Joshua, you
+bring up a good report of Christ's service, altered, changed, and no
+longer like the same men. They will say, "Oh, that we had taken part
+with you! You have been the truly wise, and we the foolish." Then fear
+not the reproach of men. Confess Christ boldly before the world. Show
+your colours, and be not ashamed of your Master. Time is short: eternity
+hastens on. The cross is only for a little season: the crown is for
+ever. Make sure work about that crown: leave nothing uncertain. "Many
+will seek to enter in, and shall not be able."
+
+
+And now let me offer to every one who reads this paper a few parting
+words, in order to apply the whole subject to his soul. You have heard
+the words of the Lord Jesus unfolded and expounded. You have seen the
+picture of the way of salvation: it is a strait gate.--You have heard
+the command of the King: "Strive to enter in."--You have been told of
+His solemn warning: "Many shall seek to enter in, and shall not be
+able."--Bear with me a little longer while I try to impress the whole
+matter on your conscience. I have yet something to say on God's behalf.
+
+(1) For one thing, I will ask you a plain question. _Have you entered in
+at the strait gate or not?_ Old or young, rich or poor, churchman or
+dissenter, I repeat my question, Have you entered in at the strait gate?
+
+I ask not whether you have heard of it, and believe there is a gate. I
+ask not whether you have looked at it, and admired it, and hope one day
+to go in. I ask whether you have gone up to it, knocked at it, been
+admitted, and _are now inside_?
+
+If you are not inside, what good have you got from your religion? You
+are not pardoned and forgiven. You are not reconciled to God. You are
+not born again, sanctified, and meet for heaven. If you die as you are,
+the devil will have you for ever, and your soul will be eternally
+miserable.
+
+Oh, think, think what a state this is to live in! Think, think above all
+things, what a state this is to die in! Your life is but a vapour. A few
+more years at most and you are gone: your place in the world will soon
+be filled up; your house will be occupied by another. The sun will go on
+shining; the grass and daises will soon grow thick over your grave; your
+body will be food for worms, and your soul will be lost to all eternity.
+
+And all this time there stands open before you a gate of salvation. God
+invites you. Jesus Christ offers to save you. All things are ready for
+your deliverance. One thing only is wanting, and that is that you should
+be willing to be saved.
+
+Oh think of these things, and be wise!
+
+(2) For another thing, I will give plain advice to all who are not yet
+inside the strait gate. That advice is simply this: _to enter in without
+a day's delay_.
+
+Tell me, if you can, of any one who ever reached heaven excepting
+through "the strait gate." I know of none. From Abel, the first who
+died, down to the end of the list of Bible names, I see none saved by
+any way but that of faith in Christ.
+
+Tell me, if you can, of any one who ever entered in at the strait gate
+without "striving." I know of none excepting those who die in infancy.
+He that would win heaven must be content to fight for it.
+
+Tell me, if you can, of any one who ever strove earnestly to enter, and
+failed to succeed. I know of none. I believe that however weak and
+ignorant men may be, they never seek life heartily and conscientiously,
+at the right door, and are left without an answer of peace.
+
+Tell me, if you can, of any one who ever entered in at the strait gate,
+and was afterwards sorry. I know of none. I believe the footsteps on the
+threshold of that gate are all one way. All have found it a good thing
+to serve Christ, and have never regretted taking up His cross.
+
+If these things are so, seek Christ without delay, and enter in at the
+gate of life while you can! Make a beginning this very day. Go to that
+merciful and mighty Saviour in prayer, and pour out your heart before
+Him. Confess to Him your guilt and wickedness and sin. Unbosom yourself
+freely to Him: keep nothing back. Tell Him that you cast yourself and
+all your soul's affairs wholly on His hands, and ask Him to save you
+according to His promise, and put His Holy Spirit within you.
+
+There is everything _to encourage you to do this_. Thousands as bad as
+you have applied to Christ in this way, and not one of them has been
+sent away and refused. They have found a peace of conscience they never
+knew before, and have gone on their way rejoicing. They have found
+strength for all the trials of life, and none of them have been allowed
+to perish in the wilderness. Why should not you also seek Christ?
+
+There is everything to encourage you to do what I tell you _at once_. I
+know no reason why your repentance and conversion should not be as
+immediate as that of others before you. The Samaritan woman came to the
+well an ignorant sinner, and returned to her home a new creature. The
+Philippian jailor turned from darkness to light, and became a professed
+disciple of Christ in a single day. And why should not others do the
+same? Why should not you give up your sins, and lay hold on Christ this
+very day?
+
+I know that the advice I have given you is good. The grand question is,
+Will you take it?
+
+(3) The last thing I have to say shall be a request to all who have
+really entered in at the strait gate. That request is, that you will
+_tell others_ of the blessings which you have found.
+
+I want all converted people to be missionaries. I do not want them all
+to go out to foreign lands, and preach to the heathen; but I do want all
+to be of a missionary spirit, and to strive to do good at home. I want
+them to testify to all around them that the strait gate is the way to
+happiness, and to persuade them to enter in by it.
+
+When Andrew was converted he found his brother Peter, and said to him,
+"We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. And
+he brought him to Jesus." (John i. 41, 42.) When Philip was converted he
+found Nathaniel, and said to him, "We have found Him, of whom Moses in
+the law, and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of
+Joseph. And Nathaniel said unto him, Can there any good thing come out
+of Nazareth? Philip said unto him, Come and see." (John i. 45, 46.) When
+the Samaritan woman was converted, she "left her waterpot, and went into
+the city, and said to the men, Come, see a man which told me all things
+that ever I did: is not this the Christ?" (John iv. 28, 29.) When Saul
+the Pharisee was converted, "Straightway he preached Christ in the
+synagogues, that He is the son of God." (Acts ix. 20.)
+
+I long to see this kind of spirit among Christians in the present day. I
+long to see more zeal to commend the strait gate to all who are yet
+outside, and more desire to persuade them to enter in and be saved.
+Happy indeed is that Church whose members not only desire to reach
+heaven themselves, but desire also to take others with them!
+
+The great gate of salvation is yet ready to open, but the hour draws
+near when it will be closed for ever. Let us work while it is called
+to-day, for "the night cometh when no man can work." (John ix. 4.) Let
+us tell our relatives and friends, that we have proved the way of life
+and found it pleasant, that we have tasted the bread of life and found
+it good.
+
+I have heard it calculated that if every believer in the world were to
+bring one soul to Christ each year, the whole human race would be
+converted in less than twenty years. I make no comment on such a
+calculation. Whether such a thing might be or not, one thing is sure:
+that thing is, that many more _souls might probably be converted to God,
+if Christians were more zealous to do good_.
+
+This, at least, we may remember, that God is "not willing that any
+should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Pet. iii. 9.)
+He that endeavours to show his neighbour the strait gate is doing a work
+which God approves. He is doing a work which angels regard with
+interest, and with which the building of a pyramid will not compare in
+importance. What saith the Scripture? "He which converteth a sinner from
+the error of his way, shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a
+multitude of sins." (James v. 20.)
+
+Let us all awaken to a deeper sense of our responsibility in this
+matter. Let us look round the circle of those among whom we live, and
+consider their state before God. Are there not many of them yet outside
+the gate, unforgiven, unsanctified, and unfit to die? Let us watch for
+opportunities of speaking to them. Let us tell them of the strait gate,
+and entreat them to "strive to enter in."
+
+Who can tell what "a word spoken in due season" may do? Who can tell
+what it may do when spoken in faith and prayer? It may be the
+turning-point in some man's history. It may be the beginning of thought,
+prayer, and eternal life. Oh, for more love and boldness among
+believers! Think what a blessing to be allowed to speak one converting
+word!
+
+I know not what the feelings of my readers may be on this subject. My
+heart's desire and prayer is that you may daily remember Christ's solemn
+words,--"Many will seek to enter in, and shall not be able." Keep these
+words in mind, and then be careless about the souls of others, if you
+can.
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+
+REALITY
+
+     "_Reprobate silver._"--Jer. vi. 30.
+
+     "_Nothing but leaves._"--Mark xi. 13.
+
+     "_Let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and
+     in truth._"--1 John iii. 18. "_Thou hast a name that thou
+     livest, and art dead._"--Rev. iii. 1.
+
+
+If we profess to have any religion at all, let us take care that it is
+real. I say it emphatically, and I repeat the saying: Let us mind that
+our religion is real.
+
+What do I mean when I use the word "real." I mean that which is genuine,
+and sincere, and honest, and thorough. I mean that which is not base,
+and hollow, and formal, and false, and counterfeit, and sham, and
+nominal. "Real" religion is not mere show, and pretence, and skin-deep
+feeling, and temporary profession, and outside work. It is something
+inward, solid, substantial, intrinsic, living, lasting. We know the
+difference between base coin and good money,--between solid gold and
+tinsel,--between plated metal and silver,--between real stone and
+plaster imitation. Let us think of these things as we consider the
+subject of this paper. What is the character of our religion? Is it
+real? It may be weak, and feeble, and mingled with many infirmities.
+That is not the point before us to-day. Is our religion real? Is it
+true?
+
+The times in which we live demand attention to this subject. A want of
+reality is a striking feature of a vast amount of religion in the
+present day. Poets have sometimes told us that the world has passed
+through four different states or conditions. We have had a golden age,
+and a silver age, a brazen age, and an iron age. How far this is true, I
+do not stop to inquire. But I fear there is little doubt as to the
+character of the age in which we live. It is universally an age of base
+metal and alloy. If we measure the religion of the age by its apparent
+quantity, there is much of it. But if we measure it by its quality,
+there is very little indeed. On every side we want MORE REALITY.
+
+I ask attention, while I try to bring home to men's consciences the
+question of this paper. There are two things which I propose to do:--
+
+    I. In the first place, I will show the _importance of reality in
+    religion_.
+
+    II. In the second place, I will supply _some tests by which we may
+    prove whether our own religion is real._
+
+Has any reader of this paper the least desire to go to heaven when he
+dies? Do you wish to have a religion which will comfort you in life,
+give you good hope in death, and abide the judgment of God at the last
+day? Then, do not turn away from the subject before you. Sit down, and
+consider calmly, whether your Christianity is real and true, or base and
+hollow.
+
+
+I. I have to show _the importance of reality in religion._
+
+The point is one which, at first sight, may seem to require very few
+remarks to establish it. All men, I shall be told, are fully convinced
+of the importance of reality.
+
+But is this true? Can it be said indeed that reality is rightly esteemed
+among Christians? I deny it entirely. The greater part of people who
+profess to admire reality, seem to think that every one possesses
+it!--They tell us "that all have got good hearts at bottom,"--that all
+are sincere and true in the main, though they may make mistakes. They
+call us uncharitable, and harsh, and censorious, if we doubt anybody's
+goodness of heart. In short, they destroy the value of reality, by
+regarding it as a thing which almost every one has.
+
+This wide-spread delusion is precisely one of the causes why I take up
+this subject. I want men to understand that _reality_ is a far more rare
+and uncommon thing than is commonly supposed. I want men to see that
+_unreality_ is one of the great dangers of which Christians ought to
+beware.
+
+What saith the Scripture? This is the only judge that can try the
+subject. Let us turn to our Bibles, and examine them fairly, and then
+deny, if we can, the importance of reality in religion, and the danger
+of not being real.
+
+(1) Let us look then, for one thing, at the parables spoken by our Lord
+Jesus Christ. Observe how many of them are intended to put in strong
+contrast the true believer and the mere nominal disciple. The parables
+of the sower, of the wheat and tares, of the draw-net, of the two sons,
+of the wedding garment, of the ten virgins, of the talents, of the great
+supper, of the pounds, of the two builders, have all one great point in
+common. They all bring out in striking colours the difference between
+reality and unreality in religion. They all show the uselessness and
+danger of any Christianity which is not real, thorough, and true.
+
+(2) Let us look, for another thing, at the language of our Lord Jesus
+Christ about the scribes and the Pharisees. Eight times over in one
+chapter we find Him denouncing them as "hypocrites," in words of almost
+fearful severity.--"Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers," He says, "How
+can ye escape the damnation of hell?" (Matt. xxiii. 33.) What may we
+learn from these tremendously strong expressions? How is it that our
+gracious and merciful Saviour used such cutting words about people who
+at any rate were more moral and decent than the publicans and harlots?
+It is meant to teach us the exceeding abominableness of false profession
+and mere outward religion in God's sight. Open profligacy and wilful
+obedience to fleshly lusts are no doubt ruinous sins, if not given up.
+But there seems nothing which is so displeasing to Christ as hypocrisy
+and unreality.
+
+(3) Let us look, for another thing, at the startling fact, that there is
+hardly a grace in the character of a true Christian of which you will
+not find a counterfeit described in the Word of God. There is not a
+feature in a believer's countenance of which there is not an imitation.
+Give me your attention, and I will show you this in a few particulars.
+
+Is there not an unreal _repentance_? Beyond doubt there is. Saul and
+Ahab, and Herod, and Judas Iscariot had many feelings of sorrow about
+sin. But they never really repented unto salvation.
+
+Is there not an unreal _faith_? Beyond doubt there is. It is written of
+Simon Magus, at Samaria, that he "believed," and yet his heart was not
+right in the sight of God. It is even written of the devils that they
+"believe and tremble." (Acts viii. 13; James ii. 19.)
+
+Is there not an unreal _holiness_? Beyond doubt there is. Joash, king of
+Judah, became to all appearance very holy and good, so long as Jehoiada
+the priest lived. But as soon as he died the religion of Joash died at
+the same time. (2 Chron. xxiv. 2.)--Judas Iscariot's outward life was as
+correct as that of any of the apostles up to the time that he betrayed
+his Master. There was nothing suspicious about him. Yet in reality he
+was "a thief" and a traitor. (John xii. 6.)
+
+Is there not an unreal _love and charity_? Beyond doubt there is. There
+is a love which consists in words and tender expressions, and a great
+show of affection, and calling other people "dear brethren," while the
+heart does not love at all. It is not for nothing that St. John says,
+"Let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth."
+It was not without cause that St. Paul said: "Let love be without
+dissimulation." (1 John iii. 18; Rom. xii. 19.)
+
+Is there not an unreal _humility_? Beyond doubt there is. There is a
+pretended lowliness of demeanour, which often covers over a very proud
+heart. St. Paul warns us against a "voluntary humility," and speaks of
+"things which had a show of wisdom in will-worship and humility." (Col.
+ii. 18, 23.)
+
+Is there not unreal _praying_? Beyond doubt there is. Our Lord denounces
+it as one of the special sins of the Pharisees--that for a "pretence
+they made long prayers." (Matt. xxiii. 14.) He does not charge them with
+not praying, or with praying too shortly. Their sin lay in this, that
+their prayers were not real.
+
+Is there not unreal _worship_? Beyond doubt there is. Our Lord says of
+the Jews: "This people draw nigh to Me with their mouths, and honour Me
+with their lips, but their heart is far from Me." (Matt. xv. 8.) They
+had plenty of formal services in their temples and their synagogues. But
+the fatal defect about them was want of reality and want of heart.
+
+Is there not unreal _talking_ about religion? Beyond doubt there is.
+Ezekiel describes some professing Jews who talked and spoke like God's
+people "while their hearts went after their covetousness." (Ezek.
+xxxiii. 31.) St. Paul tells us that we may "speak with the tongue of men
+and angels," and yet be no better than sounding brass and a tinkling
+cymbal. (1 Cor. xiii. 1.)
+
+What shall we say to these things? To say the least they ought to set us
+thinking. To my own mind they seem to lead to only one conclusion. They
+show clearly the immense importance which Scripture attaches to reality
+in religion. They show clearly what need we have to take heed lest our
+Christianity turn out to be merely nominal, formal, unreal, and base.
+
+The subject is of deep importance in every age. There has never been a
+time, since the Church of Christ was founded, when there has not been a
+vast amount of unreality and mere nominal religion among professing
+Christians. I am sure it is the case in the present day. Wherever I turn
+my eyes I see abundant cause for the warning,--"Beware of base metal in
+religion. Be genuine. Be thorough. Be real. Be true."
+
+How much religion among some members of the Church of England consists
+of _nothing but churchmanship_! They belong to the Established Church.
+They are baptized at her fonts, married at her communion rails, buried
+in her churchyards, preached to on Sundays by her ministers. But the
+great doctrines laid down in her Articles and Liturgy have no place in
+their hearts, and no influence on their lives. They neither think, nor
+feel, nor care, nor know anything about them. And is the religion of
+these people real Christianity? It is nothing of the kind. It is mere
+base metal. It is not the Christianity of Peter, and James, and John,
+and Paul. It is _Churchianity_, and no more.
+
+How much religion among some Dissenters from the Church of England
+consists of _nothing but dissent_! They pride themselves on having
+nothing to do with the Establishment. They rejoice in having no liturgy,
+no forms, no bishops. They glory in the exercise of their private
+judgment, and the absence of everything like ceremonial in their public
+worship. But all this time they have neither grace, nor faith, nor
+repentance, nor holiness, nor spirituality of conduct or conversation.
+The experimental and practical piety of the old Nonconformists is a
+thing of which they are utterly destitute. Their Christianity is as
+sapless and fruitless as a dead tree, and as dry and marrowless as an
+old bone. And is the Christianity of these people real? It is nothing
+of the kind. It is base metal. It is not the Christianity of Owen, and
+Manton, and Goodwin, and Baxter, and Traill. It is _Dissentianity_, and
+nothing more.
+
+How much Ritualistic religion is utterly unreal! You will sometimes see
+men boiling over with zeal about vestments, and gestures, and postures,
+and church decorations, and daily services, and frequent communions,
+while their hearts are manifestly in the world. Of the inward work of
+the Holy Ghost,--of living faith in the Lord Jesus,--of delight in the
+Bible and religious conversation,--of separation from worldly follies
+and amusements,--of zeal for the conversion of souls to God,--of all
+these things they are profoundly ignorant. And is such Christianity as
+this real? It is nothing of the kind. It is a mere name.
+
+How much Evangelical religion is completely unreal? You will sometimes
+see men professing great affection for the pure "Gospel," while they are
+practically inflicting on it the greatest injury. They will talk loudly
+of soundness in the faith, and have a keen nose for heresy. They will
+run eagerly after popular preachers, and applaud Protestant speakers at
+public meetings to the very echo. They are familiar with all the phrases
+of evangelical religion, and can converse fluently about its leading
+doctrines. To see their faces at public meetings, or in church, you
+would think them eminently godly. To hear them talk you would suppose
+their lives were bound up in religious Societies, the "Record" or "Rock"
+newspapers, and Exeter Hall. And yet these people in private will
+sometimes do things of which even some heathens would be ashamed. They
+are neither truthful, nor straightforward, nor honest, nor manly, nor
+just, nor good-tempered, nor unselfish, nor merciful, nor humble, nor
+kind! And is such Christianity as this real? It is not. It is a
+miserable imposture, a base cheat and caricature.
+
+How much Revivalist religion in the present day is utterly unreal! You
+will find a crowd of false professors bringing discredit on the work of
+God wherever the Holy Spirit is poured out. You will see a mixed
+multitude of Egyptians accompanying the Israel of God, and doing it
+harm, whenever Israel goes out of Egypt. How many now-a-days will
+profess to be suddenly convinced of sin,--to find peace in Jesus,--to be
+overwhelmed with joys and ecstacies of soul,--while in reality they have
+no grace at all. Like the stony-ground hearers, they endure but for a
+season. "In the time of temptation they fall away." (Luke viii. 13) As
+soon as the first excitement is passed off, they return to their old
+ways, and resume their former sins. Their religion is like Jonah's
+gourd, which came up in a night and perished in a night. They have
+neither root nor vitality. They only injure God's cause and give
+occasion to God's enemies to blaspheme. And is Christianity like this
+real? It is nothing of the kind. It is base metal from the devil's mint,
+=and= is worthless in God's sight.
+
+I write these things with sorrow. I have no desire to bring any section
+of the Church of Christ into contempt. I have no wish to cast any slur
+on any movement which begins with the Spirit of God. But the times
+demand very plain speaking about some points in the prevailing
+Christianity of our day. And one point, I am quite persuaded, that
+demands attention, is the abounding want of reality which is to be seen
+on every side.
+
+No reader, at any rate, can well deny that the subject of the paper
+before him is of vast importance.
+
+
+II. I pass on now to the second thing which I propose to do. _I will
+supply some tests by which we may try the reality of our religion._
+
+In approaching this part of my subject, I ask every reader of this paper
+to deal fairly, honestly, and reasonably with his soul. Dismiss from
+your mind the common idea,--that of course all is right if you go to
+church or to chapel. Cast away such vain notions for ever. You must look
+further, higher, deeper than this, if you would find out the truth.
+Listen to me, and I will give you a few hints. Believe me, it is no
+light matter. It is your life.
+
+(1) For one thing, if you would know whether your religion is real, try
+it by _the place which it occupies_ in your inner man. It is not enough
+that it is in your _head_. You may know the truth, and assent to the
+truth, and believe the truth, and yet be wrong in God's sight.--It is
+not enough that it is on your _lips_. You may repeat the creed daily.
+You may say "Amen" to public prayer in church, and yet have nothing more
+than an outward religion.--It is not enough that it is in your
+_feelings_. You may weep under preaching one day, and be lifted to the
+third heaven by joyous excitement another day, and yet be dead to
+God.--Your religion, if it is real, and given by the Holy Ghost, must be
+in your _heart_. It must occupy the citadel. It must hold the reins. It
+must sway the affections. It must lead the will. It must direct the
+tastes. It must influence the choices and decisions. It must fill the
+deepest, lowest, inmost seat in your soul. Is this your religion? If
+not, you may well doubt whether it is "_real_" and true. (Acts viii. 21;
+Rom. x. 10.)
+
+(2) In the next place, if you would know whether your religion is real,
+try it by the _feelings towards sin_ which it produces. The Christianity
+which is from the Holy Ghost will always have a very deep view of the
+sinfulness of sin. It will not merely regard sin as a blemish and
+misfortune, which makes men and women objects of pity and compassion. It
+will see in sin the abominable thing which God hates, the thing which
+makes man guilty and lost in his Maker's sight, the thing which deserves
+God's wrath and condemnation. It will look on sin as the cause of all
+sorrow and unhappiness, of strife and wars, of quarrels and contentions,
+of sickness and death,--the blight which has blighted God's fair
+creation, the cursed thing which makes the whole earth groan and travail
+in pain. Above all, it will see in sin the thing which will ruin us
+eternally, except we can find a ransom,--lead us captive, except we can
+get its chains broken,--and destroy our happiness, both here and
+hereafter, except we fight against it, even unto death. Is this your
+religion? Are these your feelings about sin? If not, you may well doubt
+whether your religion is "_real_."
+
+(3) For another thing, if you would know whether your religion is real,
+try it by the _feelings toward Christ_ which it produces. Nominal
+religion may believe that such a person as Christ existed, and was a
+great benefactor to mankind. It may show Him some external respect,
+attend His outward ordinances, and bow the head at His name. But it will
+go no further. Real religion will make a man glory in Christ, as the
+Redeemer, the Deliverer, the Priest, the Friend, without whom he would
+have no hope at all. It will produce confidence in Him, love towards
+Him, delight in Him, comfort in Him, as the mediator, the food, the
+light, the life, the peace of the soul. Is this your religion? Do you
+know anything of feelings like these toward Jesus Christ? If not, you
+may well doubt whether your religion is "_real_."
+
+(4) For another thing, if you would know whether your religion is real,
+try it by _the fruit it bears in your heart and life_. The Christianity
+which is from above will always be known by its fruits. It will produce
+in the man who has it repentance, faith, hope, charity, humility,
+spirituality, kind temper, self-denial, unselfishness, forgivingness,
+temperance, truthfulness, brotherly-kindness, patience, forbearance. The
+degree in which these various graces appear may vary in different
+believers. The germ and seeds of them will be found in all who are the
+children of God. By their fruits they may be known. Is this your
+religion? If not, you may well doubt whether it is "_real_."
+
+(5) In the last place, if you would know whether your religion is real,
+try it by your _feelings and habits about means of grace_. Prove it by
+the Sunday. Is that day a season of weariness and constraint, or a
+delight and a refreshment, and a sweet foretaste of the rest to come in
+heaven?--Prove it by the public means of grace. What are your feelings
+about public prayer and public praise, about the public preaching of
+God's Word, and the administration of the Lord's Supper? Are they things
+to which you give a cold assent, and tolerate them as proper and
+correct? Or, are they things in which you take pleasure, and without
+which you could not live happy?--Prove it, finally, by your feelings
+about private means of grace. Do you find it essential to your comfort
+to read the Bible regularly in private, and to speak to God in prayer?
+Or, do you find these practices irksome, and either slur them over, or
+neglect them altogether? These questions deserve your attention. If
+means of grace, whether public or private, are not as necessary to your
+soul as meat and drink are to your body, you may well doubt whether your
+religion is "_real_."
+
+I press on the attention of all my readers the five points which I have
+just named. There is nothing like coming to particulars about these
+matters. If you would know whether your religion is "real," genuine, and
+true, measure it by the five particulars which I have now named. Measure
+it fairly: test it honestly. If your heart is right in the sight of God,
+you have no cause to flinch from examination. If it is wrong, the sooner
+you find it out the better.
+
+
+And now I have done what I proposed to do. I have shown from Scripture
+the unspeakable importance of reality in religion, and the danger in
+which many stand of being lost for ever, for want of it. I have given
+five plain tests, by which a man may find out whether his Christianity
+is real. I will conclude all by a direct application of the whole
+subject to the souls of all who read this paper. I will draw my bow at a
+venture, and trust that God will bring an arrow home to the hearts and
+consciences of many.
+
+(1) My first word of application shall be _an inquiry_. Is your own
+religion real or unreal? genuine or base? I do not ask what you think
+about others. Perhaps you may see many hypocrites around you. You may be
+able to point to many who have no "reality" at all. This is not the
+question. You may be right in your opinion about others. But I want to
+know about yourself. Is your own Christianity real and true? or nominal
+and base?
+
+If you love life, do not turn away from the question which is now before
+you. The time must come when the whole truth will be known. The judgment
+day will reveal every man's religion, of what sort it is. The parable of
+the wedding-garment will receive an awful fulfilment. Surely it is a
+thousand times better to find out _now_ your condition, and to repent,
+than to find it out too late in the next world, when there will be no
+space for repentance. If you have common prudence, sense, and judgment,
+consider what I say. Sit down quietly this day, and examine yourself.
+Find out the real character of your religion. With the Bible in your
+hand, and honesty in your heart, the thing may be known. Then resolve to
+find out.
+
+(2) My second word of application shall be a _warning_. I address it to
+all who know, in their own consciences, that their religion is not real.
+I ask them to remember the greatness of their danger, and their
+exceeding guilt in the sight of God.
+
+An unreal Christianity is specially offensive to that Great God with
+whom we have to do. He is continually spoken of in Scripture as the God
+of Truth. Truth is peculiarly one of His attributes. Can you doubt for a
+moment that He abhors everything that is not genuine and true? Better, I
+firmly believe, to be found an ignorant heathen at the last day, than to
+be found with nothing better than a nominal religion. If your religion
+is of this sort, beware!
+
+An unreal Christianity is sure to fail a man at last. It will wear out;
+it will break down; it will leave its possessor like a wreck on a
+sandbank, high and dry and forsaken by the tide; it will supply no
+comfort in the hour when comfort is most needed,--in the time of
+affliction, and on the bed of death. If you want a religion to be of any
+use to your soul, beware of unreality! If you would not be comfortless
+in death, and hopeless in the judgment day, be genuine, be real, be
+true.
+
+(3) My third word of application shall be _advice_. I offer it to all
+who feel pricked in conscience by the subject of this paper. I advise
+them to cease from all trifling and playing with religion, and to become
+honest, thorough-going, whole-hearted followers of the Lord Jesus
+Christ.
+
+Apply without delay to the Lord Jesus, and ask Him to become your
+Saviour, your Physician, your Priest, and your Friend. Let not the
+thought of your unworthiness keep you away: let not the recollection of
+your sins prevent your application. Never, never forget that Christ can
+cleanse you from any quantity of sins, if you only commit your soul to
+Him. But one thing He does ask of those who come to Him: He asks them to
+be real, honest, and true.
+
+Let reality be one great mark of your approach to Christ, and there is
+everything to give you hope. Your repentance may be feeble, but let it
+be real; your faith may be weak, but let it be real; your desires after
+holiness may be mingled with much infirmity, but let them be real. Let
+there be nothing of reserve, of double-dealing, of part-acting of
+dishonesty, of sham, of counterfeit, in your Christianity. Never be
+content to wear a cloak of religion. Be all that you profess. Though you
+may err, be real. Though you may stumble, be true. Keep this principle
+continually before your eyes, and it will be well with your soul
+throughout your journey from grace to glory.
+
+(4) My last word of application shall be _encouragement_. I address it
+to all who have manfully taken up the cross, and are honestly following
+Christ. I exhort them to persevere, and not to be moved by difficulties
+and opposition.
+
+You may often find few with you, and many against you. You may often
+hear hard things said of you. You may often be told that you go too far,
+and that you are extreme. Heed it not. Turn a deaf ear to remarks of
+this kind. Press on.
+
+If there is anything which a man ought to do thoroughly, really, truly,
+honestly, and with all his heart, it is the business of his soul. If
+there is any work which he ought never to slur over, and do in a
+slovenly fashion, it is the great work of "working out his own
+salvation." (Phil. ii. 12.) Believer in Christ, remember this! Whatever
+you do in religion, do it well. Be real. Be thorough. Be honest. Be
+true.
+
+If there is anything in the world of which a man need not be ashamed, it
+is the service of Jesus Christ. Of sin, of worldliness, of levity, of
+trifling, of time-wasting, of pleasure-seeking, of bad temper, of pride,
+of making an idol of money, dress, dancing, hunting, shooting,
+card-playing, novel-reading, and the like,--of all this a man may well
+be ashamed. Living after this fashion he makes the angels sorrow, and
+the devils rejoice. But of living for his soul,--caring for his
+soul,--thinking of his soul,--providing for his soul,--making his soul's
+salvation the principal and chief thing in his daily life,--of all this
+a man has no cause to be ashamed at all. Believer in Christ, remember
+this! Remember it in your Bible-reading and your private praying.
+Remember it on your Sabbaths. Remember it in your worship of God. In all
+these things never be ashamed of being whole-hearted, real, thorough,
+and true.
+
+The years of our life are fast passing away. Who knows but this year may
+be the last in his life? Who can tell but that he may be called this
+very year to meet his God? As ever you would be found ready, be a real
+and true Christian. Do not be base metal.
+
+The time is fast coming when nothing but reality will stand the fire.
+Real repentance towards God,--real faith towards our Lord Jesus
+Christ,--real holiness of heart and life,--these, these are the things
+which will alone pass current at the last day. It is a solemn saying of
+our Lord Jesus Christ, "Many shall say in that day, Lord, Lord, have we
+not prophesied in Thy name, and in Thy name have cast out devils, and in
+Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess to them, I
+never knew you. Depart from Me, ye that work iniquity." (Matt. vii. 22,
+23.)
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+
+PRAYER
+
+     "_Men ought always to pray._"--Luke xviii. 1.
+
+     "_I will that men pray everywhere._"--1 Tim. ii. 8.
+
+
+Prayer is the most important subject in practical religion. All other
+subjects are second to it. Reading the Bible, keeping the Sabbath,
+hearing sermons, attending public worship, going to the Lord's
+Table,--all these are very weighty matters. But none of them are so
+important as private prayer.
+
+I propose in this paper to offer seven plain reasons why I use such
+strong language about prayer. I invite to these reasons the attention of
+every thinking man into whose hands this paper may fall. I venture to
+assert with confidence that they deserve serious consideration.
+
+
+I. In the first place, _Prayer is absolutely needful to a man's
+salvation_.
+
+I say absolutely needful, and I say so advisedly. I am not speaking now
+of infants and idiots. I am not settling the state of the heathen. I
+remember that where little is given, there little will be required. I
+speak especially of those who call themselves Christians, in a land like
+our own. And of such I say no man or woman can expect to be saved who
+does not pray.
+
+I hold salvation by grace as strongly as any one. I would gladly offer a
+free and full pardon to the greatest sinner that ever lived. I would not
+hesitate to stand by his dying bed, and say, "Believe on the Lord Jesus
+Christ even now, and you shall be saved." But that a man can have
+salvation without _asking_ for it, I cannot see in the Bible. That a man
+will receive pardon of his sins, who will not so much as lift up his
+heart inwardly, and say, "Lord Jesus, give it to me," this I cannot
+find. I can find that nobody will be saved by his prayers, but I cannot
+find that without prayer anybody will be saved.
+
+It is not absolutely needful to salvation that a man should _read_ the
+Bible. A man may have no learning, or be blind, and yet have Christ in
+his heart. It is not absolutely needful that a man should _hear_ the
+public preaching of the Gospel. He may live where the Gospel is not
+preached, or he may be bedridden, or deaf. But the same thing cannot be
+said about prayer. It is absolutely needful to salvation that a man
+should _pray_.
+
+There is no royal road either to health or learning. Princes and kings,
+poor men and peasants, all alike must attend to the wants of their own
+bodies and their own minds. No man can eat, drink, or sleep by proxy. No
+man can get the alphabet learned for him by another. All these are
+things which everybody must do for himself, or they will not be done at
+all.
+
+Just as it is with the mind and body, so it is with the soul. There are
+certain things absolutely needful to the soul's health and well-being.
+Each one must attend to these things for himself. Each must repent for
+himself. Each must apply to Christ for himself. And for himself each one
+must speak to God and pray. You must do it for yourself, for by nobody
+else can it be done.
+
+How can we expect to be saved by an "unknown" God? And how can we know
+God without prayer? We know nothing of men and women in this world,
+unless we speak with them. We cannot know God in Christ, unless we speak
+to Him in prayer. If we wish to be with Him in heaven, we must be His
+friends on earth. If we wish to be His friends on earth, _we must pray_.
+
+There will be many at Christ's right hand in the last day. The saints
+gathered from North and South, and East and West, will be "a multitude
+that no man can number." (Rev. vii. 9.) The song of victory that will
+burst from their mouths, when their redemption is at length complete,
+will be a glorious song indeed. It will be far above the noise of many
+waters, and of mighty thunders. But there will be no discord in that
+song. They that sing will sing with one heart as well as one voice.
+Their experience will be one and the same. All will have believed. All
+will have been washed in the blood of Christ. All will have been born
+again. All will have prayed. Yes, we must pray on earth, or we shall
+never praise in heaven. We must go through the school of prayer, or we
+shall never be fit for the holiday of praise. In short, to be prayerless
+is to be without God,--without Christ,--without grace,--without
+hope,--and without heaven. It is to be in the road to hell.
+
+
+II. In the second place, _a habit of prayer is one of the surest marks
+of a true Christian_.
+
+All the children of God on earth are alike in this respect. From the
+moment there is any life and reality about their religion, they pray.
+Just as the first sign of life in an infant when born into the world, is
+the act of breathing, so the first act of men and women when they are
+born again, is _praying_.
+
+This is one of the common marks of all the elect of God: "They cry unto
+Him day and night." (Luke xviii. 1.) The Holy Spirit, who makes them new
+creatures, works in them the feeling of adoption, and makes them cry,
+"Abba, Father." (Rom. viii. 15.) The Lord Jesus, when He quickens them,
+gives them a voice and a tongue, and says to them, "Be dumb no more."
+God has no dumb children. It is as much a part of their new nature to
+pray, as it is of a child to cry. They see their need of mercy and
+grace. They feel their emptiness and weakness. They cannot do otherwise
+than they do. They _must_ pray.
+
+I have looked carefully over the lives of God's saints in the Bible. I
+cannot find one of whose history much is told us, from Genesis to
+Revelation, who was not a man of prayer. I find it mentioned as a
+characteristic of the godly, that "they call on the Father," that "they
+call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ." I find it recorded as a
+characteristic of the wicked, that "they call not upon the Lord." (1
+Peter i. 17; 1 Cor. i. 2; Psalm xiv. 4.)
+
+I have read the lives of many eminent Christians who have been on earth
+since the Bible days. Some of them, I see, were rich, and some poor.
+Some were learned, and some unlearned. Some of them were Episcopalians,
+some Presbyterians, some Baptists, some Independents. Some were
+Calvinists, and some Arminians. Some have loved to use a liturgy, and
+some to use none. But one thing, I see, they all had in common. They
+have all been _men of prayer_.
+
+I study the reports of Missionary Societies in our own times. I see with
+joy that heathen men and women are receiving the Gospel in various parts
+of the globe. There are conversions in Africa, in New Zealand, in
+Hindostan, in America. The people converted are naturally unlike one
+another in every respect. But one striking thing I observe at all the
+Missionary stations. The converted people _always pray_.
+
+I do not deny that a man may pray without heart, and without sincerity.
+I do not for a moment pretend to say that the mere fact of a person
+praying proves everything about his soul. As in every other part of
+religion, so also in this, there is plenty of deception and hypocrisy.
+
+But this I do say,--that not praying is a clear proof that a man is not
+yet a true Christian. He cannot really feel his sins. He cannot love
+God. He cannot feel himself a debtor to Christ. He cannot long after
+holiness. He cannot desire heaven. He has yet to be born again. He has
+yet to be made a new creature. He may boast confidently of election,
+grace, faith, hope, and knowledge, and deceive ignorant people. But you
+may rest assured it is all vain talk _if he does not pray_.
+
+And I say furthermore, that of all the evidences of real work of the
+Spirit, a habit of hearty private prayer is one of the most satisfactory
+that can be named. A man may preach from false motives. A man may write
+books, and make fine speeches, and seem diligent in good works, and yet
+be a Judas Iscariot. But a man seldom goes into his closet, and pours
+out his soul before God in secret, unless he is in earnest. The Lord
+Himself has set His stamp on prayer as the best proof of a true
+conversion. When He, sent Ananias to Saul in Damascus, He gave him no
+other evidence of his change of heart than this,--"_Behold, he
+prayeth_." (Acts ix. 11.)
+
+I know that much may go on in a man's mind before he is brought to pray.
+He may have many convictions, desires, wishes, feelings, intentions,
+resolutions, hopes, and fears. But all these things are very uncertain
+evidences. They are to be found in ungodly people, and often come to
+nothing. In many a case they are not more lasting than "the morning
+cloud, and the dew that goeth away." (Hos. vi. 4.) A real hearty prayer,
+flowing from a broken and contrite spirit, is worth all these things put
+together.
+
+I know that the elect of God are chosen to salvation from all eternity.
+I do not forget that the Holy Spirit, who calls them in due time, in
+many instances leads them by very slow degrees to acquaintance with
+Christ. But the eye of man can only judge by what it sees. I cannot
+call any one justified until he believes. I dare not say that any one
+believes until he prays. I cannot understand a dumb faith. The first act
+of faith will be to speak to God. Faith is to the soul what life is to
+the body. Prayer is to faith what breath is to life. How a man can live
+and not breathe is past my comprehension, and how a man can believe and
+not pray is past my comprehension too.
+
+Let no one be surprised if he hears ministers of the Gospel dwelling
+much on the importance of prayer. This is the point we want to bring you
+to,--we want to know that you pray. Your views of doctrine may be
+correct. Your love of Protestantism may be warm and unmistakeable. But
+still this may be nothing more than head knowledge and party spirit. The
+great point is this,--whether you can speak _to_ God as well as speak
+_about_ God.
+
+
+III. In the third place, _there is no duty in religion so neglected as
+private prayer_.
+
+We live in days of abounding religious profession. There are more places
+of public worship now than there ever were before. There are more
+persons attending them than there ever have been since England was a
+nation. And yet in spite of all this public religion, I believe there is
+a vast neglect of private prayer.
+
+I should not have said so a few years ago. I once thought, in my
+ignorance, that most people said their prayers, and many people prayed.
+I have lived to think differently. I have come to the conclusion that
+the great majority of professing Christians do not pray at all.
+
+I know this sounds very shocking, and will startle many. But I am
+satisfied that prayer is just one of those things which is thought a
+"matter of course," and, like many matters of course, is shamefully
+neglected. It is "everybody's business;" and, as it often happens in
+such cases, it is a business carried on by very few. It is one of those
+private transactions between God and our souls which no eye sees, and
+therefore one which there is every temptation to pass over and leave
+undone.
+
+I believe that thousands _never say a word of prayer at all_. They eat;
+they drink; they sleep; they rise; they go forth to their labour; they
+return to their homes; they breathe God's air; they see God's sun; they
+walk on God's earth; they enjoy God's mercies; they have dying bodies;
+they have judgment and eternity before them. But they _never speak to
+God_! They live like the beasts that perish; they behave like creatures
+without souls; they have not a word to say to Him in whose hand are
+their life, and breath, and all things, and from whose mouth they must
+one day receive their everlasting sentence. How dreadful this seems! But
+if the secrets of men were only known, how common!
+
+I believe there are tens of thousands _whose prayers are nothing but a
+mere form_,--a set of words repeated by rote, without a thought about
+their meaning. Some say over a few hasty sentences picked up in the
+nursery when they were children. Some content themselves with repeating
+the Belief, forgetting that there is not a request in it. Some add the
+Lord's Prayer, but without the slightest desire that its solemn
+petitions may be granted. Some among the poor, even at this day, repeat
+the old popish lines:--
+
+    "Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
+     Bless the bed that I lie on."
+
+Many, even of those who use good forms, mutter their prayers over after
+they have got into bed, or scramble over them while they wash or dress
+in the morning. Men may think what they please, but they may depend that
+in the sight of God _this is not praying_. Words said without heart are
+as utterly useless to our souls as the drum-beating of the poor heathen
+before their idols. Where there is _no heart_, there may be lip-work
+and tongue-work, but there is nothing that God listens to,--there is _no
+prayer_. Saul, I have no doubt, said many a long prayer before the Lord
+met him on the way to Damascus. But it was not till his heart was broken
+that the Lord said, "He prayeth."
+
+Does this surprise any reader? Listen to me and I will show you that I
+am not speaking as I do without reason. Do you think that my assertions
+are extravagant and unwarrantable? Give me your attention, and I will
+soon show you that I am only telling you the truth.
+
+Have you forgotten that it is _not natural_ to any one to pray? The
+carnal mind is enmity against God. The desire of man's heart is to get
+far away from God, and to have nothing to do with Him. His feeling
+toward Him is not love but fear. Why then should a man pray when he has
+no real sense of sin, no real feeling of spiritual wants,--no thorough
+belief in unseen things,--no desire after holiness and heaven? Of all
+these things the vast majority of men know and feel nothing. The
+multitude walk in the broad way. I cannot forget this. Therefore I say
+boldly, I believe that few pray.
+
+Have you forgotten that it is _not fashionable_ to pray? It is just one
+of the things that many would be rather ashamed to own. There are
+hundreds who would sooner storm a breach, or lead a forlorn hope, than
+confess publicly that they make a habit of prayer. There are thousands
+who, if obliged by chance to sleep in the same room with a stranger,
+would lie down in bed without a prayer. To ride well, to shoot well, to
+dress well, to go to balls, and concerts, and theatres, to be thought
+clever and agreeable,--all this is fashionable, but not to pray. I
+cannot forget this. I cannot think a habit is common which so many seem
+ashamed to own. I believe that few pray.
+
+Have you forgotten _the lives that many live_? Can we really suppose
+that people are praying against sin night and day, when we see them
+plunging right into it? Can we suppose they pray against the world, when
+they are entirely absorbed and taken up with its pursuits? Can we think
+they really ask God for grace to serve Him, when they do not show the
+slightest desire to serve Him at all? Oh, no! It is plain as daylight
+that the great majority of men either ask nothing of God, or _do not
+mean what they say_ when they do ask,--which is just the same thing.
+Praying and sinning will never live together in the same heart. Prayer
+will consume sin, or sin will choke prayer. I cannot forget this. I look
+at men's lives. I believe that few pray.
+
+Have you forgotten _the deaths that many die_? How many, when they draw
+near death, seem entirely strangers to God. Not only are they sadly
+ignorant of His Gospel, but sadly wanting in the power of speaking to
+Him. There is a terrible awkwardness, and shyness, and newness, and
+rawness, in their endeavours to approach Him. They seem to be taking up
+a fresh thing. They appear as if they wanted an introduction to God, and
+as if they had never talked with Him before. I remember having heard of
+a lady who was anxious to have a minister to visit her in her last
+illness. She desired that he would pray with her. He asked her what he
+should pray for. She did not know and could not tell. She was utterly
+unable to name any one thing which she wished him to ask God for her
+soul. All she seemed to want was the form of a minister's prayers. I can
+quite understand this. Death-beds are great revealers of secrets. I
+cannot forget what I have seen of sick and dying people. This also leads
+me to believe that few pray.
+
+
+IV. In the fourth place, _prayer is that act in religion to which there
+is the greatest encouragement_.
+
+There is everything on God's part to make prayer easy, if men will only
+attempt it. "All things are ready" on His side. (Luke xiv. 17.) Every
+objection is anticipated. Every difficulty is provided for. The crooked
+places are made straight, and the rough places are made smooth. There is
+no excuse left for the prayerless man.
+
+There is _a way_ by which any man, however sinful and unworthy, may draw
+near to God the Father. Jesus Christ has opened that way by the
+sacrifice He made for us upon the cross. The holiness and justice of God
+need not frighten sinners and keep them back. Only let them cry to God
+in the name of Jesus,--only let them plead the atoning blood of
+Jesus,--and they shall find God upon a throne of grace, willing and
+ready to hear. The name of Jesus is a never-failing passport to our
+prayers. In that name a man may draw near to God with boldness, and ask
+with confidence. God has engaged to hear him. Think of this. Is not this
+encouragement?
+
+There is _an advocate_ and intercessor always waiting to present the
+prayers of those who will employ Him. That advocate is Jesus Christ. He
+mingles our prayers with the incense of His own almighty intercession.
+So mingled they go up as a sweet savour before the throne of God. Poor
+as they are in themselves, they are mighty and powerful in the hand of
+our High Priest and elder brother. The bank-note without a signature at
+the bottom is nothing but a worthless piece of paper. A few strokes of a
+pen confer on it all its value. The prayer of a poor child of Adam is a
+feeble thing in itself, but once endorsed by the hand of the Lord Jesus
+it availeth much. There was an officer in the city of Rome who was
+appointed to have his doors always open, in order to receive any Roman
+citizen who applied to him for help. Just so the ear of the Lord Jesus
+is ever open to the cry of all who want mercy and grace. It is His
+office to help them. Their prayer is His delight. Think of this. Is not
+this encouragement?
+
+There is _the Holy Spirit_ ever ready to help our infirmities in prayer.
+It is one part of His special office to assist us in our endeavours to
+speak to God. We need not be cast down and distressed by the fear of not
+knowing what to say. The Spirit will give us words if we will only seek
+His aid. He will supply us with "thoughts that breathe and words that
+burn." The prayers of the Lord's people are the inspiration of the
+Lord's Spirit,--the work of the Holy Ghost who dwells within them as the
+Spirit of grace and supplications. Surely the Lord's people may well
+hope to be heard. It is not they merely that pray, but the Holy Ghost
+pleading in them. (Rom. viii. 26.) Think of this. Is not this
+encouragement?
+
+There are exceeding great and precious _promises_ to those who pray.
+What did the Lord Jesus mean when He spoke such words as these, "Ask,
+and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall
+be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that
+seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." (Matt.
+vii. 7, 8.) "All things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer believing, ye
+shall receive." (Matt. xxi. 22.) "Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name,
+that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall
+ask any thing in my name, I will do it." (John xiv. 13, 14.) What did
+the Lord mean when He spoke the parables of the friend at midnight and
+the importunate widow? (Luke xi. 5, and xviii. 1.) Think over these
+passages. If this is not encouragement to pray, words have no meaning at
+all.
+
+There are wonderful _examples_ in Scripture of the power of prayer.
+Nothing seems to be too great, too hard, or too difficult for prayer to
+do. It has obtained things that seemed impossible and out of reach. It
+has won victories over fire, air, earth, and water. Prayer opened the
+Red Sea. Prayer brought water from the rock and bread from heaven.
+Prayer made the sun stand still. Prayer brought fire from the sky on
+Elijah's sacrifice. Prayer turned the counsel of Ahithophel into
+foolishness. Prayer overthrew the army of Sennacherib. Well might Mary,
+Queen of Scots, say, "I fear John Knox's prayers more than an army of
+ten thousand men." Prayer has healed the sick. Prayer has raised the
+dead. Prayer has procured the conversion of souls. "The child of many
+prayers," said an old Christian to Augustine's mother, "shall never
+perish." Prayer, pains, and faith can do anything. Nothing seems
+impossible when a man has the Spirit of adoption. "Let me alone," is the
+remarkable saying of God to Moses, when Moses was about to intercede for
+the children of Israel. (Exod. xxxii. 10.) The Chaldee version has it
+"Leave off praying." So long as Abraham asked mercy for Sodom, the Lord
+went on giving. He never ceased to give till Abraham ceased to pray.
+Think of this. Is not this encouragement?
+
+What more can a man want to lead him to take any step in religion than
+the things I have just told him about prayer? What more could be done to
+make the path to the mercy-seat easy, and to remove all occasions of
+stumbling from the sinner's way? Surely if the devils in hell had such a
+door set open before them they would leap for gladness, and make the
+very pit ring with joy.
+
+But where will the man hide his head at last who neglects such glorious
+encouragements? What can be possibly said for the man who after all dies
+without prayer? God forbid that any reader of this paper should be that
+man.
+
+
+V. In the fifth place, _diligence in prayer is the secret of eminent
+holiness_.
+
+Without controversy there is a vast difference among true Christians.
+There is an immense interval between the foremost and the hindermost in
+the army of God.
+
+They are all fighting the same good fight;--but how much more valiantly
+some fight than others! They are all doing the Lord's work;--but how
+much more some do than others! They are all light in the Lord;--but how
+much more brightly some shine than others! They are all running the same
+race;--but how much faster some get on than others! They all love the
+same Lord and Saviour;--but how much more some love Him than others! I
+ask any true Christian whether this is not the case. Are not these
+things so?
+
+There are some of the Lord's people who seem _never able to get on_ from
+the time of their conversion. They are born again, but they remain
+babies all their lives. They are learners in Christ's school, but they
+never seem to get beyond A B C, and the lowest form. They have got
+inside the fold, but there they lie down and get no further. Year after
+year you see in them the same old besetting sins. You hear from them the
+same old experience. You remark in them the same want of spiritual
+appetite,--the same squeamishness about anything but the milk of the
+Word, and the same dislike to strong meat,--the same childishness,--the
+same feebleness,--the same littleness of mind,--the same narrowness of
+heart,--the same want of interest in anything beyond their own little
+circle, which you remarked ten years ago. They are pilgrims indeed, but
+pilgrims like the Gibeonites of old;--their bread is always dry and
+mouldy,--their shoes always old and clouted, and their garments always
+rent and torn. (Josh. ix. 4, 5.) I say this with sorrow and grief. But I
+ask any real Christian, Is it not true?
+
+There are others of the Lord's people who seem to be _always getting
+on_. They grow like the grass after rain. They increase like Israel in
+Egypt. They press on like Gideon,--though sometimes "faint, yet always
+pursuing." (Judges viii. 4.) They are ever adding grace to grace, and
+faith to faith, and strength to strength. Every time you meet them
+their hearts seem larger, and their spiritual stature bigger, taller,
+and stronger. Every year they appear to see more, and know more, and
+believe more, and feel more in their religion. They not only have good
+works to prove the reality of their faith, but they are _zealous_ of
+them. They not only do well, but they are _unwearied_, in well-doing.
+(Titus ii. 14; Gal. vi. 9.) They attempt great things, and they do great
+things. When they fail they try again, and when they fall they are soon
+up again. And all this time they think themselves poor unprofitable
+servants, and fancy they do nothing at all!--These are those who make
+religion lovely and beautiful in the eyes of all. They wrest praise even
+from the unconverted, and win golden opinions even from the selfish men
+of the world. These are those whom it does one good to see, to be with,
+and to hear. When you meet them, you could believe that, like Moses,
+they had just come out from the presence of God. When you part with them
+you feel warmed by their company, as if your soul had been near a fire.
+I know such people are rare. I only ask, Is it not so?
+
+Now, how can we account for the difference which I have just described?
+What is the reason that some believers are so much brighter and holier
+than others? I believe the difference, in nineteen cases out of twenty,
+arises from different habits about private prayer. I believe that those
+who are not eminently holy pray _little_, and those who are eminently
+holy pray _much_.
+
+I daresay this opinion will startle some readers. I have little doubt
+that many look on eminent holiness as a kind of special gift, which none
+but a few must pretend to aim at. They admire it at a distance, in
+books: they think it beautiful when they see an example near themselves.
+But as to its being a thing within the reach of any but a very few, such
+a notion never seems to enter their minds. In short, they consider it a
+kind of monopoly granted to a few favoured believers, but certainly not
+to all.
+
+Now I believe that this is a most dangerous mistake. I believe that
+spiritual, as well as natural, greatness, depends far more on the use of
+means within everybody's reach, than on anything else. Of course I do
+not say we have a right to expect a miraculous grant of intellectual
+gifts. But this I do say, that when a man is once converted to God,
+whether he shall be eminently holy or not depends chiefly on his own
+diligence in the use of God's appointed means. And I assert confidently,
+that the principal means by which most believers have become great in
+the Church of Christ is the habit of _diligent private prayer_.
+
+Look through the lives of the brightest and best of God's servants,
+whether in the Bible or not. See what is written of Moses, and David,
+and Daniel, and Paul. Mark what is recorded of Luther and Bradford, the
+Reformers. Observe what is related of the private devotions of
+Whitfield, and Cecil, and Venn, and Bickersteth, and M'Cheyne. Tell me
+of one of all the goodly fellowship of saints and martyrs, who has not
+had this mark most prominently,--he was _a man of prayer_. Oh, depend
+upon it, prayer is power!
+
+Prayer obtains fresh and continued outpourings of the Spirit. He alone
+begins the work of grace in a man's heart: He alone can carry it forward
+and make it prosper. But the good Spirit loves to be entreated. And
+those who ask most, will always have most of His influence.
+
+Prayer is the surest remedy against the devil and besetting sins. That
+sin will never stand firm which is heartily prayed against: that devil
+will never long keep dominion over us which we beseech the Lord to cast
+forth. But, then, we must spread out all our case before our Heavenly
+Physician, if He is to give us daily relief: we must drag our
+indwelling devils to the feet of Christ, and cry to Him to send them
+back to the pit.
+
+Do we wish to grow in grace and be very holy Christians? Then let us
+never forget the value of prayer.
+
+
+VI. In the sixth place, _neglect of prayer is one great cause of
+backsliding_.
+
+There is such a thing as going back in religion, after making a good
+profession. Men may run well for a season, like the Galatians, and then
+turn aside after false teachers. Men may profess loudly, while their
+feelings are warm, as Peter did; and then, in the hour of trial, deny
+their Lord. Men may lose their first love, as the Ephesians did. Men may
+cool down in their zeal to do good, like Mark, the companion of Paul.
+Men may follow an apostle for a season, and then, like Demas, go back to
+the world.--All these things men may do.
+
+It is a miserable thing to be a backslider. Of all unhappy things that
+can befall a man, I suppose it is the worst. A stranded ship, a
+broken-winged eagle, a garden overrun with weeds, a harp without
+strings, a church in ruins,--all these are sad sights; but a backslider
+is a sadder sight still. That true grace shall never be extinguished,
+and true union with Christ never be broken off, I feel no doubt. But I
+do believe that a man may fall away so far that he shall lose sight of
+his own grace, and despair of his own salvation. And if this is not
+hell, it is certainly the next thing to it! A wounded conscience, a mind
+sick of itself, a memory full of self-reproach, a heart pierced through
+with the Lord's arrows, a spirit broken with a load of inward
+accusation,--all this is _a taste of hell_. It is a hell on earth. Truly
+that saying of the wise man is solemn and weighty,--"The backslider in
+heart shall be filled with his own ways." (Prov. xiv. 14.)
+
+Now, what is the cause of most backsliding? I believe, as a general
+rule, one of the chief causes is neglect of private prayer. Of course
+the secret history of falls will not be known till the last day. I can
+only give my opinion as a minister of Christ and a student of the heart.
+That opinion is, I repeat distinctly, that backsliding generally first
+begins with _neglect of private prayer_.
+
+Bibles read without prayer, sermons heard without prayer, marriages
+contracted without prayer, journeys undertaken without prayer,
+residences chosen without prayer, friendships formed without prayer, the
+daily act of private prayer itself hurried over or gone through without
+heart,--these are the kind of downward steps by which many a Christian
+descends to a condition of spiritual palsy, or reaches the point where
+God allows him to have a tremendous fall.
+
+This is the process which forms the lingering Lots, the unstable
+Samsons, the wife-idolizing Solomons, the inconsistent Asas, the pliable
+Jehoshaphats, the over-careful Marthas, of whom so many are to be found
+in the Church of Christ. Often the simple history of such cases is
+this,--they became _careless about private prayer_.
+
+We may be very sure that men fall in private long before they fall in
+public. They are backsliders on their knees long before they backslide
+openly in the eyes of the world. Like Peter, they first disregard the
+Lord's warning to watch and pray; and then, like Peter, their strength
+is gone, and in the hour of temptation they deny their Lord.
+
+The world takes notice of their fall, and scoffs loudly. But the world
+knows nothing of the real reason. The heathen succeeded in making
+Origen, the old Christian Father, offer incense to an idol, by
+threatening him with a punishment worse than death. They then triumphed
+greatly at the sight of his cowardice and apostacy. But the heathen did
+not know the fact, which Origen himself tells us, that on that very
+morning he had left his bedchamber hastily, and without finishing his
+usual prayers.
+
+If any reader of this paper is a Christian indeed I trust he will never
+be a backslider. But if you do not wish to be a backsliding Christian,
+remember the hint I give you,--Mind your prayers.
+
+
+VII. In the seventh place, _prayer is one of the best receipts for
+happiness and contentment_.
+
+We live in a world where sorrow abounds. This has always been its state
+since sin came in. There cannot be sin without sorrow. And till sin is
+driven out from the world it is vain for any one to suppose he can
+escape sorrow.
+
+Some, without doubt, have a larger cup of sorrow to drink than others.
+But few are to be found who live long without sorrows or cares of one
+sort or another. Our bodies, our property, our families, our children,
+our relations, our servants, our friends, our neighbours, our worldly
+callings,--each and all of these are fountains of care. Sicknesses,
+deaths, losses, disappointments, partings, separations, ingratitude,
+slander,--all these are common things. We cannot get through life
+without them. Some day or other they find us out. The greater are our
+affections, the deeper are our afflictions; and the more we love, the
+more we have to weep.
+
+And what is the best receipt for cheerfulness in such a world as this?
+How shall we get through this valley of tears with least pain? I know no
+better receipt than the habit of _taking everything to God in prayer_.
+
+This is the plain advice that the Bible gives, both in the Old Testament
+and the New. What says the Psalmist? "Call upon Me in the day of
+trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me." (Psalm l. 15.)
+"Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee: He shall
+never suffer the righteous to be moved." (Psalm lv. 22.) What says the
+Apostle Paul? "Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and
+supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto
+God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep
+your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." (Phil. iv. 6, 7.) What says
+the Apostle James? "Is any afflicted among you? let him pray." (James v.
+13.)
+
+This was the practice of all the saints whose history we have recorded
+in the Scriptures. This is what Jacob did, when he feared his brother
+Esau. This is what Moses did, when the people were ready to stone him in
+the wilderness. This is what Joshua did, when Israel was defeated before
+Ai. This is what David did, when he was in danger at Keliah. This is
+what Hezekiah did, when he received the letter from Sennacherib. This is
+what the Church did, when Peter was put in prison. This is what Paul
+did, when he was cast into the dungeon at Philippi.
+
+The only way to be really happy, in such a world as this is to be ever
+casting all our cares on God. It is the trying to carry their own
+burdens which so often makes believers sad. If they will only tell their
+troubles to God He will enable them to bear them as easily as Samson did
+the gates of Gaza. If they are resolved to keep them to themselves they
+will find one day that the very grasshopper is a burden. (Eccles. xii.
+5.)
+
+There is a friend ever waiting to help us, if we will only unbosom to
+Him our sorrow,--a friend who pitied the poor, and sick, and sorrowful,
+when He was upon earth,--a friend who knows the heart of a man, for He
+lived thirty-three years as a man amongst us,--a friend who can weep
+with the weepers, for He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with
+grief,--a friend who is able to help us, for there never was earthly
+pain He could not cure. That friend is Jesus Christ. The way to be happy
+is to be always opening our hearts to Him. Oh, that we were all like
+that poor Christian negro, who only answered, when threatened and
+punished, "_I must tell the Lord_."
+
+Jesus can make those happy who trust Him and call on Him, whatever be
+their outward condition. He can give them peace of heart in a
+prison,--contentment in the midst of poverty,--comfort in the midst of
+bereavements,--joy on the brink of the grave. There is a mighty fulness
+in Him for all His believing members,--a fulness that is ready to be
+poured out on every one who will ask in prayer. Oh, that men would
+understand that happiness does not depend on outward circumstances, but
+on the state of the heart!
+
+Prayer can lighten crosses for us however heavy. It can bring down to
+our side One who will help us to bear them.--Prayer can open a door for
+us when our way seems hedged up. It can bring down One who will say,
+"This is the way, walk in it."--Prayer can let in a ray of hope, when
+all our earthly prospects seem darkened. It can bring down One who will
+say, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee."--Prayer can obtain
+relief for us when those we love most are taken away, and the world
+feels empty. It can bring down One who can fill the gap in our hearts
+with Himself, and say to the waves within, "Peace: be still!" Oh, that
+men were not so like Hagar in the wilderness, blind to the well of
+living waters close beside them! (Gen. xxi. 19.)
+
+I want the readers of this paper to be really happy Christians. I am
+certain I cannot urge on them a more important duty than prayer.
+
+
+And now it is high time for me to bring this paper to an end. I trust I
+have brought before my readers things that will be seriously considered.
+I heartily pray God that this consideration may be blessed to their
+souls.
+
+(1) Let me speak a parting word _to those who do not pray_. I dare not
+suppose that all who read these pages will be praying people. If you are
+a prayerless person, suffer me to speak to you this day on God's behalf.
+
+Prayerless friend, I can only warn you; but I do warn you most solemnly.
+I warn you that you are in a position of fearful danger. If you die in
+your present state you are a lost soul. You will only rise again to be
+eternally miserable. I warn you that of all professing Christians you
+are most utterly without excuse. There is not a single good reason that
+you can show for living without prayer.
+
+It is useless to say you _know not how_ to pray. Prayer is the simplest
+act in all religion. It is simply speaking to God. It needs neither
+learning, nor wisdom, nor book-knowledge to begin it. It needs nothing
+but heart and will. The weakest infant can cry when he is hungry. The
+poorest beggar can hold out his hand for an alms, and does not wait to
+find fine words. The most ignorant man will find something to say to
+God, if he has only a mind.
+
+It is useless to say you have _no convenient place_ to pray in. Any man
+can find a place private enough, if he is disposed. Our Lord prayed on a
+mountain; Peter on the house-top; Isaac in the field; Nathanael under
+the fig-tree; Jonah in the whale's belly. Any place may become a closet,
+an oratory, and a Bethel, and be to us the presence of God.
+
+It is useless to say _you have no time_. There is plenty of time, if men
+will only employ it. Time may be short, but time is always long enough
+for prayer. Daniel had all the affairs of a kingdom on his hands, and
+yet he prayed three times a day. David was ruler over a mighty nation,
+and yet he says, "Evening and morning and at noon will I pray." (Psalm
+lv. 17.) When time is really wanted, time can always be found.
+
+It is useless to say you _cannot pray till you have faith and a new
+heart_, and that you must sit still and wait for them. This is to add
+sin to sin. It is bad enough to be unconverted and going to hell. It is
+even worse to say, "I know it, but I will not cry for mercy." This is a
+kind of argument for which there is no warrant in Scripture. "Call ye
+upon the Lord," saith Isaiah, "while He is near." (Isaiah lv. 6.) "Take
+with you words, and come unto the Lord," says Hosea. (Hosea xiv. 1.)
+"Repent and pray," says Peter to Simon Magus. (Acts viii. 22.) If you
+want faith and a new heart, go and cry to the Lord for them. The very
+attempt to pray has often been the quickening of a dead soul. Alas,
+there is no devil so dangerous as a dumb devil.
+
+Oh, prayerless man, who and what are you that you will not ask anything
+of God? Have you made a covenant with death and hell? Are you at peace
+with the worm and the fire? Have you no sins to be pardoned? Have you no
+fear of eternal torment? Have you no desire after heaven? Oh, that you
+would awake from your present folly! Oh, that you would consider your
+latter end! Oh, that you would arise and call upon God! Alas, there is a
+day coming when men shall pray loudly, "Lord, Lord, open to us," but all
+too late;--when many shall cry to the rocks to fall on them, and the
+hills to cover them, who would never cry to God. In all affection I warn
+you. Beware lest this be the end of your soul. Salvation is very near
+you. Do not lose heaven for want of asking.
+
+(2) Let me speak in the next place _to those who have real desires for
+salvation_, but know not what steps to take or where to begin. I cannot
+but hope that some readers may be in this state of mind, and if there be
+but one such I must offer him encouragement and advice.
+
+In every journey there must be a first step. There must be a change from
+sitting still to moving forward. The journeyings of Israel from Egypt to
+Canaan were long and wearisome. Forty years passed away before they
+crossed Jordan. Yet there was someone who moved first when they marched
+from Rameses to Succoth. When does a man really take his first step in
+coming out from sin and the world? He does it in the day when he first
+prays with his heart.
+
+In every building the first stone must be laid, and the first blow must
+be struck. The ark was 120 years in building. Yet there was a day when
+Noah laid his axe to the first tree he cut down to form it. The temple
+of Solomon was a glorious building. But there was a day when the first
+huge stone was laid at the foot of Mount Moriah. When does the building
+of the Spirit really begin to appear in a man's heart? It begins, so far
+as we can judge, when he first pours out his heart to God in prayer.
+
+If any reader of this paper desires salvation, and wants to know what to
+do, I advise him to go this very day to the Lord Jesus Christ, in the
+first private place he can find, and entreat Him in prayer to save his
+soul.
+
+Tell Him that you have heard that He receives sinners, and has said,
+"Him that cometh unto Me I will in nowise cast out." (John vi. 37.) Tell
+Him that you are a poor vile sinner, and that you come to Him on the
+faith of His own invitation. Tell Him you put yourself wholly and
+entirely in His hands,--that you feel vile and helpless, and hopeless in
+yourself,--and that except He saves you, you have no hope to be saved at
+all. Beseech Him to deliver you from the guilt, the power, and the
+consequences of sin. Beseech Him to pardon you and wash you in His own
+blood. Beseech Him to give you a new heart, and plant the Holy Spirit in
+your soul. Beseech Him to give you grace, and faith, and will, and power
+to be His disciple and servant from this day for ever. Yes: go this very
+day, and tell these things to the Lord Jesus Christ, if you really are
+in earnest about your soul.
+
+Tell Him in your own way and your own words. If a doctor came to see you
+when sick you could tell him where you felt pain. If your soul really
+feels its disease you can surely find something to tell Christ.
+
+Doubt not His willingness to save you, because you are a sinner. It is
+Christ's office to save sinners. He says Himself, "I came not to call
+the righteous, but sinners to repentance." (Luke v. 32.)
+
+Wait not, because you feel unworthy. Wait for nothing: wait for nobody.
+Waiting comes from the devil. Just as you are, go to Christ. The worse
+you are, the more need you have to apply to Him. You will never mend
+yourself by staying away.
+
+Fear not because your prayer is stammering, your words feeble, and your
+language poor. Jesus can understand you. Just as a mother understands
+the first babblings of her infant, so does the blessed Saviour
+understand sinners. He can read a sigh, and see a meaning in a groan.
+
+Despair not, because you do not get an answer immediately. While you are
+speaking, Jesus is listening. If He delays an answer, it is only for
+wise reasons, and to try if you are in earnest. Pray on, and the answer
+will surely come. Though it tarry, wait for it: it will surely come at
+last.
+
+If you have any desire to be saved, remember the advice I have given you
+this day. Act upon it honestly and heartily, and you shall be saved.
+
+(3) Let me speak, lastly, _to those who do pray_. I trust that some who
+read this paper know well what prayer is, and have the Spirit of
+adoption. To all such I offer a few words of brotherly counsel and
+exhortation. The incense offered in the tabernacle was ordered to be
+made in a particular way. Not every kind of incense would do. Let us
+remember this, and be careful about the matter and manner of our
+prayers.
+
+If I know anything of a Christian's heart, you to whom I now speak are
+often sick of your own prayers. You never enter into the Apostle's
+words, "When I would do good, evil is present with me" (Rom. vii. 21),
+so thoroughly as you sometimes do upon your knees. You can understand
+David's words, "I hate vain thoughts." You can sympathize with that poor
+converted Hottentot, who was overheard praying, "Lord, deliver me from
+all my enemies; and, above all, from that bad man myself!"--There are
+few children of God who do not often find the season of prayer a season
+of conflict. The devil has special wrath against us when he sees us on
+our knees. Yet I believe that prayers which cost us no trouble should be
+regarded with great suspicion. I believe we are very poor judges of the
+goodness of our prayers, and that the prayer which pleases us _least_
+often pleases God _most_. Suffer me then, as a companion in the
+Christian warfare, to offer you a few words of exhortation. One thing,
+at least, we all feel,--we must pray. We cannot give it up: we must go
+on.
+
+(_a_) I commend, then, to your attention the importance of _reverence
+and humility_ in prayer. Let us never forget what we are, and what a
+solemn thing it is to speak with God. Let us beware of rushing into His
+presence with carelessness and levity. Let us say to ourselves, "I am on
+holy ground. This is no other than the gate of heaven. If I do not mean
+what I say, I am trifling with God. If I regard iniquity in my heart,
+the Lord will not hear me." Let us keep in mind the words of Solomon:
+"Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter
+anything before God; for God is in heaven, and thou on earth." (Eccles.
+v. 2.) When Abraham spoke to God, he said, "I am dust and ashes." When
+Job spoke, he said, "I am vile." (Gen. xviii. 27; Job xl. 4.) Let us do
+likewise.
+
+(_b_) I commend to you, in the next place, the importance of praying
+_spiritually_. I mean by this that we should labour always to have the
+direct help of the Spirit in our prayers, and beware above all things of
+formality. There is nothing so spiritual but that it may become a form,
+and this is specially true of private prayer. We may insensibly get into
+the habit of using the fittest possible words, and offering the most
+Scriptural petitions; and yet we may do it all by rote, without feeling
+it, and walk daily round an old beaten path, like a horse in a mill. I
+desire to touch this point with caution and delicacy. I know that there
+are certain great things we daily want, and that there is nothing
+necessarily formal in asking for these things in the same words. The
+world, the devil, and our hearts, are daily the same. Of necessity we
+must daily go over old ground. But this I say,--we must be very careful
+on this point. If the skeleton and outline of our prayers be by habit
+almost a form, let us strive that the clothing and filling up of our
+prayers be as far as possible of the Spirit. As to praying out of a
+book, it is a habit I cannot praise. If we can tell our doctors the
+state of our bodies without a book, we ought to be able to tell the
+state of our souls to God. I have no objection to a man using crutches,
+when he is first recovering from a broken limb. It is better to use
+crutches than not to walk at all. But if I saw him all his life on
+crutches, I should not think it matter for congratulation. I should like
+to see him strong enough to throw his crutches away.
+
+(_c_) I commend to you, in the next place, the importance of making
+prayer _a regular business of life_. I might say something of the value
+of regular times in the day for prayer. God is a God of order. The hours
+for morning and evening sacrifice in the Jewish temple were not fixed as
+they were without a meaning. Disorder is eminently one of the fruits of
+sin. But I would not bring any under bondage. This only I say, that it
+is essential to your soul's health to make praying a part of the
+business of every twenty-four hours in your life. Just as you allot time
+to eating, sleeping, and business, so also allot time to prayer. Choose
+your own hours and seasons. At the very least, speak with God in the
+morning, before you speak with the world; and speak with God at night,
+after you have done with the world. But settle it down in your minds
+that prayer is one of the great things of every day. Do not drive it
+into a corner. Do not give it the scraps, and leavings, and parings of
+your day. Whatever else you make a business of, make a business of
+prayer.
+
+(_d_) I commend to you, in the next place, the importance of
+_perseverance_ in prayer. Once having begun the habit, never give it up.
+Your heart will sometimes say, "We have had family prayers; what mighty
+harm if we leave private prayer undone?"--Your body will sometimes say,
+"You are unwell, or sleepy, or weary; you need not pray."--Your mind
+will sometimes say, "You have important business to attend to to-day;
+cut short your prayers." Look on all such suggestions as coming direct
+from the devil. They are all as good as saying, "Neglect your soul." I
+do not maintain that prayers should always be of the same length;--but I
+do say, let no excuse make you give up prayer. It is not for nothing
+that Paul said, "Continue in prayer," and "Pray without ceasing."
+(Colos. iv. 2; 1 Thess. v. 7.) He did not mean that men should be always
+on their knees, as an old sect, called the Euchitae, supposed. But he did
+mean that our prayers should be like the continual burnt offering,--a
+thing steadily persevered in every day;--that it should be like
+seed-time and harvest, and summer and winter,--a thing that should
+unceasingly come round at regular seasons;--that it should be like the
+fire on the altar, not always consuming sacrifices, but never completely
+going out. Never forget that you may tie together morning and evening
+devotions by an endless chain of short ejaculatory prayers throughout
+the day. Even in company, or business, or in the very streets, you may
+be silently sending up little winged messengers to God, as Nehemiah did
+in the very presence of Artaxerxes. (Neh. ii. 4.) And never think that
+time is wasted which is given to God. A nation does not become poorer
+because it loses one year of working days in seven by keeping the
+Sabbath. A Christian never finds he is a loser in the long run by
+persevering in prayer.
+
+(_e_) I commend to you, in the next place, the importance of
+_earnestness_ in prayer. It is not necessary that a man should shout,
+or scream, or be very loud, in order to prove that he is in earnest. But
+it is desirable that we should be hearty, and fervent, and warm, and ask
+as if we were really interested in what we were doing. It is the
+"effectual fervent" prayer that "availeth much," and not the cold,
+sleepy, lazy, listless one. This is the lesson that is taught us by the
+expressions used in Scripture about prayer. It is called, "crying,
+knocking, wrestling, labouring, striving." This is the lesson taught us
+by Scripture examples. Jacob is one. He said to the angel at Penuel, "I
+will not let thee go, except thou bless me." (Gen. xxxii. 26.) Daniel is
+another. Hear how he pleaded with God: "O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O
+Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God." (Dan.
+ix. 19.) Our Lord Jesus Christ is another. It is written of Him, "In the
+days of His flesh He offered up prayer and supplication, with strong
+crying and tears." (Heb. v. 7.) Alas, how unlike is this to many of our
+supplications! How tame and lukewarm they seem by comparison! How truly
+might God say to many of us, "You do not really want what you pray for!"
+Let us try to amend this fault. Let us knock loudly at the door of
+grace, like Mercy in "Pilgrim's Progress," as if we must perish unless
+heard. Let us settle it down in our minds, that cold prayers are a
+sacrifice without fire. Let us remember the story of Demosthenes, the
+great orator, when one came to him, and wanted him to plead his cause.
+He heard him without attention, while he told his story without
+earnestness. The man saw this, and cried out with anxiety that it was
+all true. "Ah!" said Demosthenes, "I believe you _now_."
+
+(_f_) I commend to you, in the next place, the importance of _praying
+with faith_. We should endeavour to believe that our prayers are always
+heard, and that if we ask things according to God's will, we shall
+always be answered. This is the plain command of our Lord Jesus Christ:
+"Whatsoever things ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive
+them, and ye shall have them." (Mark xi. 24). Faith is to prayer what
+the feather is to the arrow: without it prayer will not hit the mark. We
+should cultivate the habit of pleading promises in our prayers. We
+should take with us some promise, and say, "Lord, here is Thine own word
+pledged. Do for us as Thou hast said." (2 Sam. vii. 25.) This was the
+habit of Jacob, and Moses, and David. The 119th Psalm is full of things
+asked, "according to Thy word." Above all, we should cultivate the habit
+of expecting answers to our prayers. We should do like the merchant who
+sends his ships to sea. We should not be satisfied unless we see some
+return. Alas, there are few points on which Christians come short so
+much as this. The Church at Jerusalem made prayer without ceasing for
+Peter in prison; but when the prayer was answered, they would hardly
+believe it. (Acts xii. 15.) It is a solemn saying of old Traill's,
+"There is no surer mark of trifling in prayer, than when men are
+careless what they get by prayer."
+
+(_g_) I commend to you, in the next place, the importance of _boldness_
+in prayer. There is an unseemly familiarity in some men's prayers, which
+I cannot praise. But there is such a thing as a holy boldness, which is
+exceedingly to be desired. I mean such boldness as that of Moses, when
+he pleads with God not to destroy Israel: "Wherefore," says he, "should
+the Egyptians speak and say, For mischief did He bring them out, to slay
+them in the mountains? Turn from Thy fierce anger." (Exod. xxxii. 12.) I
+mean such boldness as that of Joshua, when the children of Israel were
+defeated before Ai: "What," says he, "wilt Thou do unto Thy great name?"
+(Josh. vii. 9.) This is the boldness for which Luther was remarkable.
+One who heard him praying said, "What a spirit,--what a confidence was
+in his very expressions! With such a reverence he sued, as one begging
+of God, and yet with such hope and assurance, as if he spake with a
+loving father or friend." This is the boldness which distinguished
+Bruce, a great Scotch divine of the 17th century. His prayers were said
+to be "like bolts shot up into heaven." Here also I fear we sadly come
+short. We do not sufficiently realize the believer's privileges. We do
+not plead as often as we might, "Lord, are we not Thine own people? Is
+it not for Thy glory that we should be sanctified? Is it not for Thine
+honour that thy Gospel should increase?"
+
+(_h_) I commend to you, in the next place, the importance of _fulness_
+in prayer. I do not forget that our Lord warns us against the example of
+the Pharisees, who for pretence made long prayers, and commands us, when
+we pray, not to use vain repetitions. But I cannot forget, on the other
+hand, that He has given His own sanction to large and long devotions, by
+continuing all night in prayer to God. At all events we are not likely
+in this day to err on the side of praying _too much_. Might it not
+rather be feared that many believers in this generation pray _too
+little_? Is not the actual amount of time that many Christians give to
+prayer in the aggregate very small? I am afraid these questions cannot
+be answered satisfactorily. I am afraid the private devotions of many
+are most painfully scanty and limited,--just enough to prove they are
+alive, and no more. They really seem to want little from God. They seem
+to have little to confess, little to ask for, and little to thank Him
+for. Alas, this is altogether wrong! Nothing is more common than to hear
+believers complaining that they do not get on. They tell us that they do
+not grow in grace, as they could desire. Is it not rather to be
+suspected that many have quite as much grace as they ask for? Is it not
+the true account of many, that they have little, because they ask
+little? The cause of their weakness is to be found in their own stunted,
+dwarfish, clipped, contracted, hurried, little, narrow, diminutive
+prayers. _They have not because they ask not._ Oh, reader, we are not
+straitened in Christ, but in ourselves. The Lord says, "Open thy mouth
+wide, and I will fill it." But we are like the king of Israel who smote
+on the ground thrice and stayed, when he ought to have smitten five or
+six times. (Psalm lxxxi. 10; 2 Kings xiii. 18, 19.)
+
+(_i_) I commend to you, in the next place, the importance of
+_particularity_ in prayer. We ought not to be content with great general
+petitions. We ought to specify our wants before the throne of grace. It
+should not be enough to confess we are sinners. We should name the sins
+of which our conscience tells us we are most guilty. It should not be
+enough to ask for holiness. We should name the graces in which we feel
+most deficient. It should not be enough to tell the Lord we are in
+trouble. We should describe our trouble and all its peculiarities. This
+is what Jacob did, when he feared his brother Esau. He tells God exactly
+what it is that he fears. (Gen. xxxii. 11.) This is what Eliezer did,
+when he sought a wife for his master's son. He spreads before God
+precisely what he wants. (Gen. xxiv. 12.) This is what Paul did, when he
+had a thorn in the flesh. He besought the Lord. (2 Cor. xii. 8.) This is
+true faith and confidence. We should believe that nothing is too small
+to be named before God. What should we think of the patient who told his
+doctor he was ill, but never went into particulars? What should we think
+of the wife who told her husband she was unhappy, but did not specify
+the cause? What should we think of the child who told his father he was
+in trouble, but nothing more? Let us never forget that Christ is the
+true bridegroom of the soul,--the true physician of the heart,--the
+real father of all His people. Let us show that we feel this, by being
+unreserved in our communications with Him. Let us hide no secrets from
+Him. Let us tell Him all our hearts.
+
+(_j_) I commend to you, in the next place, the importance of
+_intercession_ in our prayers. We are all selfish by nature, and our
+selfishness is very apt to stick to us, even when we are converted.
+There is a tendency in us to think only of our own souls,--our own
+spiritual conflict,--our own progress in religion, and to forget others.
+Against this tendency we have all need to watch and strive, and not
+least in our prayers. We should study to be of a public spirit. We
+should stir ourselves up to name other names beside our own before the
+throne of grace. We should try to bear in our hearts the whole
+world,--the heathen,--the Jews,--the Roman Catholics,--the body of true
+believers,--the professing Protestant Churches,--the country in which we
+live,--the congregation to which we belong,--the household in which we
+sojourn,--the friends and relations we are connected with. For each and
+all of these we should plead. This is the highest charity. He loves me
+best who loves me in his prayers. This is for our soul's health. It
+enlarges our sympathies and expands our hearts. This is for the benefit
+of the Church. The wheels of all machinery for extending the Gospel are
+oiled by prayer. They do as much for the Lord's cause who intercede like
+Moses on the mount, as they do who fight like Joshua in the thick of the
+battle. This is to be like Christ. He bears the names of His people on
+His breast and shoulders as their High Priest before the Father. Oh, the
+privilege of being like Jesus! This is to be a true helper to ministers.
+If I must needs choose a congregation, give me a people that prays.
+
+(_k_) I commend to you, in the next place, the importance of
+_thankfulness_ in prayer. I know well that asking God is one thing, and
+praising God is another. But I see so close a connection between prayer
+and praise in the Bible, that I dare not call that true prayer in which
+thankfulness has no part. It is not for nothing that Paul says, "By
+prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made
+known unto God." (Phil. iv. 6.) "Continue in prayer, and watch in the
+same with thanksgiving." (Coloss. iv. 2.) It is of mercy that we are
+not in hell. It is of mercy that we have the hope of heaven. It is of
+mercy that we live in a land of spiritual light. It is of mercy that we
+have been called by the Spirit, and not left to reap the fruit of our
+own ways. It is of mercy that we still live, and have opportunities of
+glorifying God actively or passively. Surely, these thoughts should
+crowd on our minds whenever we speak with God. Surely, we should never
+open our lips in prayer without blessing God for that free grace by
+which we live, and for that loving-kindness which endureth for ever.
+Never was there an eminent saint who was not full of thankfulness. St.
+Paul hardly ever writes an Epistle without beginning with thankfulness.
+Men like Whitfield in the last century, and Bickersteth, and Marsh, and
+Haldane Stewart, in our own time, were ever running over with
+thankfulness. Oh, if we would be bright and shining lights in our day,
+we must cherish a spirit of praise! And above all, let our prayers be
+thankful prayers.
+
+(_l_) I commend to you, in the last place, the importance of
+_watchfulness over your prayers_. Prayer is that point of all others in
+religion at which you must be on your guard. Here it is that true
+religion begins: here it flourishes, and here it decays. Tell me what a
+man's prayers are, and I will soon tell you the state of his soul.
+Prayer is the spiritual pulse: by this the spiritual health may always
+be tested. Prayer is the spiritual weather-glass: by this we may always
+know whether it is fair or foul with our hearts. Oh, let us keep an eye
+continually upon our private devotions! Here is the pith, and marrow,
+and backbone of our practical Christianity. Sermons, and books, and
+tracts, and committee meetings, and the company of good men, are all
+good in their way; but they will never make up for the neglect of
+private prayer. Mark well the places, and society, and companions, that
+unhinge your hearts for communion with God, and make your prayers drive
+heavily. _There be on your guard._ Observe narrowly what friends and
+what employments leave your soul in the most spiritual frame, and most
+ready to speak with God. _To these cleave and stick fast._ If you will
+only take care of your prayers, I will engage that nothing shall go very
+wrong with your soul.
+
+I offer these points for private consideration. I do it in all humility.
+I know no one who needs to be reminded of them more than I do myself.
+But I believe them to be God's own truth, and I should like myself and
+all I love to feel them more.
+
+I want the times we live in to be praying times. I want the Christians
+of our day to be praying Christians. I want the Church of our age to be
+a praying Church. My heart's desire and prayer in sending forth this
+paper is to promote a spirit of prayerfulness. I want those who never
+prayed yet, to arise and call upon God; and I want those who do pray, to
+improve their prayers every year, and to see that they are not getting
+slack, and praying amiss.
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+
+BIBLE-READING
+
+     "_Search the Scriptures._"--John v. 39.
+
+     "_How readest thou?_"--Luke x. 26.
+
+
+Next to praying there is nothing so important in practical religion as
+Bible-reading. God has mercifully given us a book which is "able to make
+us wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." (2 Tim.
+iii. 15.) By reading that book we may learn what to believe, what to be,
+and what to do; how to live with comfort, and how to die in peace. Happy
+is that man who possesses a Bible! Happier still is he who reads it!
+Happiest of all is he who not only reads it, but obeys it, and makes it
+the rule of his faith and practice!
+
+Nevertheless it is a sorrowful fact that man has an unhappy skill in
+abusing God's gifts. His privileges, and power, and faculties, are all
+ingeniously perverted to other ends than those for which they were
+bestowed. His speech, his imagination, his intellect, his strength, his
+time, his influence, his money,--instead of being used as instruments
+for glorifying his Maker,--are generally wasted, or employed for his own
+selfish ends. And just as man naturally makes a bad use of his other
+mercies, so he does of the written Word. One sweeping charge may be
+brought against the whole of Christendom, and that charge is neglect and
+abuse of the Bible.
+
+To prove this charge we have no need to look abroad: the proof lies at
+our own doors. I have no doubt that there are more Bibles in Great
+Britain at this moment than there ever were since the world began. There
+is more Bible buying and Bible selling,--more Bible printing and Bible
+distributing,--than ever was since England was a nation. We see Bibles
+in every bookseller's shop,--Bibles of every size, price, and
+style,--Bibles great, and Bibles small,--Bibles for the rich, and Bibles
+for the poor. There are Bibles in almost every house in the land. But
+all this time I fear we are in danger of forgetting, that to _have_ the
+Bible is one thing, and to _read_ it quite another.
+
+This neglected Book is the subject about which I address the readers of
+this paper to-day. Surely it is no light matter _what you are doing with
+the Bible_. Surely, when the plague is abroad, you should search and see
+whether the plague-spot is on you. Give me your attention while I supply
+you with a few plain reasons why every one who cares for his soul ought
+to value the Bible highly, to study it regularly, and to make himself
+thoroughly acquainted with its contents.
+
+
+I. In the first place, _there is no book in existence written in such a
+manner as the Bible_.
+
+The Bible was "given by inspiration of God." (2 Tim. iii. 16.) In this
+respect it is utterly unlike all other writings. God taught the writers
+of it what to say. God put into their minds thoughts and ideas. God
+guided their pens in setting down those thoughts and ideas. When you
+read it, you are not reading the self-taught compositions of poor
+imperfect men like yourself, but the words of the eternal God. When you
+hear it, you are not listening to the erring opinions of short-lived
+mortals, but to the unchanging mind of the King of kings. The men who
+were employed to indite the Bible, spoke not of themselves. They "spake
+as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." (2 Peter i. 21.) All other books
+in the world, however good and useful in their way, are more or less
+defective. The more you look at them the more you see their defects and
+blemishes. The Bible alone is absolutely perfect. From beginning to end
+it is "the Word of God."
+
+I shall not waste time by attempting any long and laboured proof of
+this. I say boldly, that the Book itself is the best witness of its own
+inspiration. It is utterly inexplicable and unaccountable in any other
+point of view. It is the greatest standing miracle in the world. He that
+dares to say the Bible is not inspired, let him give a reasonable
+account of it, if he can. Let him explain the peculiar nature and
+character of the Book in a way that will satisfy any man of common
+sense. The burden of proof seems to my mind to lie on him.
+
+It proves nothing against inspiration, as some have asserted, that the
+writers of the Bible have each a different style. Isaiah does not write
+like Jeremiah, and Paul does not write like John. This is perfectly
+true,--and yet the works of these men are not a whit less equally
+inspired. The waters of the sea have many different shades. In one place
+they look blue, and in another green. And yet the difference is owing to
+the depth or shallowness of the part we see, or to the nature of the
+bottom. The water in every case is the same salt sea.--The breath of a
+man may produce different sounds, according to the character of the
+instrument on which he plays. The flute, the pipe, and the trumpet, have
+each their peculiar note. And yet the breath that calls forth the notes,
+is in each case one and the same.--The light of the planets we see in
+heaven is very various. Mars, and Saturn, and Jupiter, have each a
+peculiar colour. And yet we know that the light of the sun, which each
+planet reflects, is in each case one and the same. Just in the same way
+the books of the Old and New Testaments are all inspired truth, and yet
+the aspect of that truth varies according to the mind through which the
+Holy Ghost makes it flow. The handwriting and style of the writers
+differ enough to prove that each had a distinct individual being; but
+the Divine Guide who dictates and directs the whole is always one. All
+is alike inspired. Every chapter, and verse, and word, is from God.
+
+Oh, that men who are troubled with doubts, and questionings, and
+sceptical thoughts about inspiration, would calmly examine the Bible for
+themselves! Oh, that they would act on the advice which was the first
+step to Augustine's conversion,--"Take it up and read it!--take it up
+and read it!" How many Gordian knots this course of action would cut!
+How many difficulties and objections would vanish away at once like mist
+before the rising sun! How many would soon confess, "The finger of God
+is here! God is in this Book, and I knew it not."
+
+This is the Book about which I address the readers of this paper. Surely
+it is no light matter _what you are doing with this Book_. It is no
+light thing that God should have caused this Book to be "written for
+your learning," and that you should have before you "the oracles of
+God." (Rom. iii. 2; xv. 4.) I charge you, I summon you to give an honest
+answer to my question. What art thou doing with the Bible?--Dost thou
+read it at all?--HOW READEST THOU?
+
+
+II. In the second place, _there is no knowledge absolutely needful to a
+man's salvation, except a knowledge of the things which are to be found
+in the Bible_.
+
+We live in days when the words of Daniel are fulfilled before our
+eyes:--"Many run to and fro, and knowledge is increased." (Dan. xii. 4.)
+Schools are multiplying on every side. New colleges are set up. Old
+Universities are reformed and improved. New books are continually coming
+forth. More is being taught,--more is being learned,--more is being
+read,--than there ever was since the world begun. It is all well. I
+rejoice at it. An ignorant population is a perilous and expensive burden
+to any nation. It is a ready prey to the first Absalom, or Catiline, or
+Wat Tyler, or Jack Cade, who may arise to entice it to do evil. But this
+I say,--we must never forget that all the education a man's head can
+receive, will not save his soul from hell, unless he knows the truths of
+the Bible.
+
+A man _may have prodigious learning, and yet never be saved_. He may be
+master of half the languages spoken round the globe. He may be
+acquainted with the highest and deepest things in heaven and earth. He
+may have read books till he is like a walking cyclopaedia. He may be
+familiar with the stars of heaven,--the birds of the air,--the beasts of
+the earth, and the fishes of the sea. He may be able, like Solomon, to
+"speak of trees, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows on
+the wall, of beasts also, and fowls, and creeping things, and fishes."
+(1 King iv. 33.) He may be able to discourse of all the secrets of fire,
+air, earth, and water. And yet, if he dies ignorant of Bible truths, he
+dies a miserable man! Chemistry never silenced a guilty conscience.
+Mathematics never healed a broken heart. All the sciences in the world
+never smoothed down a dying pillow. No earthly philosophy ever supplied
+hope in death. No natural theology ever gave peace in the prospect of
+meeting a holy God. All these things are of the earth, earthy, and can
+never raise a man above the earth's level. They may enable a man to
+strut and fret his little season here below with a more dignified gait
+than his fellow-mortals, but they can never give him wings, and enable
+him to soar towards heaven. He that has the largest share of them, will
+find at length that without Bible knowledge he has got no lasting
+possession. Death will make an end of all his attainments, and after
+death they will do him no good at all.
+
+A man _may be a very ignorant man, and yet be saved_. He may be unable
+to read a word, or write a letter. He may know nothing of geography
+beyond the bounds of his own parish, and be utterly unable to say which
+is nearest to England, Paris or New York. He may know nothing of
+arithmetic, and not see any difference between a million and a thousand.
+He may know nothing of history, not even of his own land, and be quite
+ignorant whether his country owes most to Semiramis, Boadicea, or Queen
+Elizabeth. He may know nothing of the affairs of his own times, and be
+incapable of telling you whether the Chancellor of the Exchequer, or the
+Commander-in-Chief, or the Archbishop of Canterbury is managing the
+national finances. He may know nothing of science, and its
+discoveries,--and whether Julius Caesar won his victories with gunpowder,
+or the apostles had a printing press, or the sun goes round the earth,
+may be matters about which he has not an idea. And yet if that very man
+has heard Bible truth with his ears, and believed it with his heart, he
+knows enough to save his soul. He will be found at last with Lazarus in
+Abraham's bosom, while his scientific fellow-creature, who has died
+unconverted, is lost for ever.
+
+There is much talk in these days about science and "useful knowledge."
+But after all a knowledge of the Bible is the one knowledge that is
+needful and eternally useful. A man may get to heaven without money,
+learning, health, or friends,--but without Bible knowledge he will never
+get there at all. A man may have the mightiest of minds, and a memory
+stored with all that mighty mind can grasp,--and yet, if he does not
+know the things of the Bible, he will make shipwreck of his soul for
+ever. Woe! woe! woe to the man who dies in ignorance of the Bible!
+
+This is the Book about which I am addressing the readers of these pages
+to-day. It is no light matter _what you do with such a book_. It
+concerns the life of your soul. I summon you,--I charge you to give an
+honest answer to my question. What are you doing with the Bible? Do you
+read it? HOW READEST THOU?
+
+
+III. In the third place, _no book in existence contains such important
+matter as the Bible_.
+
+The time would fail me if I were to enter fully into all the great
+things which are to be found in the Bible, and only in the Bible. It is
+not by any sketch or outline that the treasures of the Bible can be
+displayed. It would be easy to fill this volume with a list of the
+peculiar truths it reveals, and yet the half of its riches would be left
+untold.
+
+How glorious and soul-satisfying is the description it gives us of God's
+plan of salvation, and the way by which our sins can be forgiven! The
+coming into the world of Jesus Christ, the God-man, to save
+sinners,--the atonement He has made by suffering in our stead, the just
+for the unjust,--the complete payment He has made for our sins by His
+own blood,--the justification of every sinner who simply believes on
+Jesus,--the readiness of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, to receive,
+pardon, and save to the uttermost,--how unspeakably grand and cheering
+are all these truths! We should know nothing of them without the Bible.
+
+How comforting is the account it gives us of the great Mediator of the
+New Testament,--the man Christ Jesus! Four times over His picture is
+graciously drawn before our eyes. Four separate witnesses tell us of His
+miracles and His ministry,--His sayings and His doings,--His life and
+His death,--His power and His love,--His kindness and His patience,--His
+ways, His words, His works, His thoughts, His heart. Blessed be God,
+there is one thing in the Bible which the most prejudiced reader can
+hardly fail to understand, and that is the character of Jesus Christ!
+
+How encouraging are the examples the Bible gives us of good people! It
+tells us of many who were of like passions with ourselves,--men and
+women who had cares, crosses, families, temptations, afflictions,
+diseases, like ourselves,--and yet "by faith and patience inherited the
+promises," and got safe home. (Heb. vi. 12.) It keeps back nothing in
+the history of these people. Their mistakes, their infirmities, their
+conflicts, their experience, their prayers, their praises, their useful
+lives, their happy deaths,--all are fully recorded. And it tells us the
+God and Saviour of these men and women still waits to be gracious, and
+is altogether unchanged.
+
+How instructive are the examples the Bible gives us of bad people! It
+tells us of men and women who had light, and knowledge, and
+opportunities, like ourselves, and yet hardened their hearts, loved the
+world, clung to their sins, would have their own way, despised reproof,
+and ruined their own souls for ever. And it warns us that the God who
+punished Pharaoh, and Saul, and Ahab, and Jezebel, and Judas, and
+Ananias and Sapphira, is a God who never alters, and that there is a
+hell.
+
+How precious are the promises which the Bible contains for the use of
+those who love God! There is hardly any possible emergency or condition
+for which it has not some "word in season." And it tells men that God
+loves to be put in remembrance of these promises, and that if He has
+said He will do a thing, His promise shall certainly be performed.
+
+How blessed are the hopes which the Bible holds out to the believer in
+Christ Jesus! Peace in the hour of death,--rest and happiness on the
+other side of the grave,--a glorious body in the morning of the
+resurrection,--a full and triumphant acquittal in the day of
+judgment,--an everlasting reward in the kingdom of Christ,--a joyful
+meeting with the Lord's people in the day of gathering together;--these,
+these are the future prospects of every true Christian. They are all
+written in the book,--in the book which is all true.
+
+How striking is the light which the Bible throws on the character of
+man! It teaches =us= what men may be expected to be and do in every
+position and station of life. It gives us the deepest insight into the
+secret springs and motives of human actions, and the ordinary course of
+events under the control of human agents. It is the true "discerner of
+the thoughts and intents of the heart." (Heb. iv. 12.) How deep is the
+wisdom contained in the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes! I can well
+understand an old divine saying, "Give me a candle and a Bible, and shut
+me up in a dark dungeon, and I will tell you all that the whole world is
+doing."
+
+All these are things which men could find nowhere except in the Bible.
+We have probably not the least idea how little we should know about
+these things if we had not the Bible. We hardly know the value of the
+air we breathe, and the sun which shines on us, because we have never
+known what it is to be without them. We do not value the truths on which
+I have been just now dwelling, because we do not realize the darkness of
+men to whom these truths have not been revealed. Surely no tongue can
+fully tell the value of the treasures this one volume contains. Well
+might old John Newton say that some books were _copper_ books in his
+estimation, some were _silver_, and some few were _gold_;--but the Bible
+alone was like a book all made up of _bank notes_.
+
+This is the Book about which I address the reader of this paper this
+day. Surely it is no light matter _what you are doing with the Bible_.
+It is no light matter in what way you are using this treasure. I charge
+you, I summon you to give an honest answer to my question,--What art
+thou doing with the Bible?--Dost thou read it?--HOW READEST THOU?
+
+
+IV. In the fourth place, _no book in existence has produced such
+wonderful effects on mankind at large as the Bible_.
+
+(_a_) This is the Book whose doctrines turned the world upside down in
+the days of the Apostles.
+
+Eighteen centuries have now passed away since God sent forth a few Jews
+from a remote corner of the earth, to do a work which according to man's
+judgment must have seemed impossible. He sent them forth at a time when
+the whole world was full of superstition, cruelty, lust, and sin. He
+sent them forth to proclaim that the established religions of the earth
+were false and useless, and must be forsaken. He sent them forth to
+persuade men to give up old habits and customs, and to live different
+lives. He sent them forth to do battle with the most grovelling
+idolatry, with the vilest and most disgusting immorality, with vested
+interests, with old associations, with a bigoted priesthood, with
+sneering philosophers, with an ignorant population, with bloody-minded
+emperors, with the whole influence of Rome. Never was there an
+enterprise to all appearance more Quixotic, and less likely to succeed!
+
+And how did He arm them for this battle? He gave them no carnal weapons.
+He gave them no worldly power to compel assent, and no worldly riches to
+bribe belief. He simply put the Holy Ghost into their hearts, and the
+Scriptures into their hands. He simply bade them to expound and explain,
+to enforce and to publish the doctrines of the Bible. The preacher of
+Christianity in the first century was not a man with a sword and an
+army, to frighten people, like Mahomet,--or a man with a license to be
+sensual, to allure people, like the priests of the shameful idols of
+Hindostan. No! he was nothing more than one holy man with one holy book.
+
+And how did these men of one book prosper? In a few generations they
+entirely changed the face of society by the doctrines of the Bible. They
+emptied the temples of the heathen gods. They famished idolatry, or left
+it high and dry like a stranded ship. They brought into the world a
+higher tone of morality between man and man. They raised the character
+and position of woman. They altered the standard of purity and decency.
+They put an end to many cruel and bloody customs, such as the
+gladiatorial fights.--There was no stopping the change. Persecution and
+opposition were useless. One victory after another was won. One bad
+thing after another melted away. Whether men liked it or not, they were
+insensibly affected by the movement of the new religion, and drawn
+within the whirlpool of its power. The earth shook, and their rotten
+refuges fell to the ground. The flood rose, and they found themselves
+obliged to rise with it. The tree of Christianity swelled and grew, and
+the chains they had cast round it to arrest its growth, snapped like
+tow. And all this was done by the doctrines of the Bible! Talk of
+victories indeed! What are the victories of Alexander, and Caesar, and
+Marlborough, and Napoleon, and Wellington, compared with those I have
+just mentioned? For extent, for completeness, for results, for
+permanence, there are no victories like the victories of the Bible.
+
+(_b_) This is the Book which turned Europe upside down in the days of
+the glorious Protestant Reformation.
+
+No man can read the history of Christendom as it was five hundred years
+ago, and not see that darkness covered the whole professing Church of
+Christ, even a darkness that might be felt. So great was the change
+which had come over Christianity, that if an apostle had risen from the
+dead he would not have recognised it, and would have thought that
+heathenism had revived again. The doctrines of the Gospel lay buried
+under a dense mass of human traditions. Penances, and pilgrimages, and
+indulgences, relic-worship, and image-worship, and saint-worship, and
+worship of the Virgin Mary, formed the sum and substance of most
+people's religion. The Church was made an idol. The priests and
+ministers of the Church usurped the place of Christ. And by what means
+was all this miserable darkness cleared away? By none so much as by
+bringing forth once more the Bible.
+
+It was not merely the preaching of Luther and his friends, which
+established Protestantism in Germany. The grand lever which overthrew
+the Pope's power in that country, was Luther's translation of the Bible
+into the German tongue.--It was not merely the writings of Cranmer and
+the English Reformers which cast down popery in England. The seeds of
+the work thus carried forward were first sown by Wycliffe's translation
+of the Bible many years before.--It was not merely the quarrel of Henry
+VIII. and the Pope of Rome, which loosened the Pope's hold on English
+minds. It was the royal permission to have the Bible translated and set
+up in churches, so that every one who liked might read it. Yes! it was
+the reading and circulation of Scripture which mainly established the
+cause of Protestantism in England, in Germany, and Switzerland. Without
+it the people would probably have returned to their former bondage when
+the first reformers died. But by the reading of the Bible the public
+mind became gradually leavened with the principles of true religion.
+Men's eyes became thoroughly open. Their spiritual understandings became
+thoroughly enlarged. The abominations of popery became distinctly
+visible. The excellence of the pure Gospel became a rooted idea in their
+hearts. It was then in vain for Popes to thunder forth excommunications.
+It was useless for Kings and Queens to attempt to stop the course of
+Protestantism by fire and sword. It was all too late. The people knew
+too much. They had seen the light. They had heard the joyful sound. They
+had tasted the truth. The sun had risen on their minds. The scales had
+fallen from their eyes. The Bible had done its appointed work within
+them, and that work was not to be overthrown. The people would not
+return to Egypt. The clock could not be put back again. A mental and
+moral revolution had been effected, and mainly effected by God's Word.
+Those are the true revolutions which the Bible effects. What are all the
+revolutions recorded by Vertot,--what are all the revolutions which
+France and England have gone through, compared to these? No revolutions
+are so bloodless, none so satisfactory, none so rich in lasting results,
+as the revolutions accomplished by the Bible!
+
+This is the book on which the well-being of nations has always hinged,
+and with which the best interests of every nation in Christendom at this
+moment are inseparably bound up. Just in proportion as the Bible is
+honoured or not, light or darkness, morality or immorality, true
+religion or superstition, liberty or despotism, good laws or bad, will
+be found in a land. Come with me and open the pages of history, and you
+will read the proofs in time past. Read it in the history of Israel
+under the Kings. How great was the wickedness that then prevailed! But
+who can wonder? The law of the Lord had been completely lost sight of,
+and was found in the days of Josiah thrown aside in a corner of the
+temple. (2 Kings xxii. 8.)--Read it in the history of the Jews in our
+Lord Jesus Christ's time. How awful the picture of Scribes and
+Pharisees, and their religion! But who can wonder? The Scripture was
+"made of none effect by man's traditions." (Matt. xv. 6.)--Read it in
+the history of the Church of Christ in the middle ages. What can be
+worse than the accounts we have of its ignorance and superstition? But
+who can wonder? The times might well be dark, when men had not the light
+of the Bible.
+
+This is the Book to which the civilized world is indebted for many of
+its best and most praise-worthy institutions. Few probably are aware how
+many are the good things that men have adopted for the public benefit,
+of which the origin may be clearly traced up to the Bible. It has left
+lasting marks wherever it has been received. From the Bible are drawn
+many of the best laws by which society is kept in order. From the Bible
+has been obtained the standard of morality about truth, honesty, and the
+relations of man and wife, which prevails among Christian nations, and
+which,--however feebly respected in many cases,--makes so great a
+difference between Christians and heathen. To the Bible we are indebted
+for that most merciful provision for the poor man, the Sabbath day. To
+the influence of the Bible we owe nearly every humane and charitable
+institution in existence. The sick, the poor, the aged, the orphan, the
+lunatic, the idiot, the blind, were seldom or never thought of before
+the Bible leavened the world. You may search in vain for any record of
+institutions for their aid in the histories of Athens or of Rome. Alas!
+there are many who sneer at the Bible, and say the world would get on
+well enough without it, who little think how great are their own
+obligations to the Bible. Little does the infidel workman think, as he
+lies sick in some of our great hospitals, that he owes all his present
+comforts to the very book he affects to despise. Had it not been for the
+Bible, he might have died in misery, uncared for, unnoticed and alone.
+Verily the world we live in is fearfully unconscious of its debts. The
+last day alone, I believe, will tell the full amount of benefit
+conferred upon it by the Bible.
+
+This wonderful book is the subject about which I address the reader of
+this paper this day. Surely it is no light matter _what you are doing
+with the Bible_. The swords of conquering Generals,--the ship in which
+Nelson led the fleets of England to victory,--the hydraulic press which
+raised the tubular bridge at the Menai;--each and all of these are
+objects of interest as instruments of mighty power. The Book I speak of
+this day is an instrument a thousand-fold mightier still. Surely it is
+no light matter whether you are paying it the attention it deserves. I
+charge you, I summon you to give me an honest answer this day,--What
+art thou doing with the Bible? Dost thou read it? HOW READEST THOU?
+
+
+V. In the fifth place, _no book in existence can do so much for every
+one who reads it rightly as the Bible_.
+
+The Bible does not profess to teach the wisdom of this world. It was not
+written to explain geology or astronomy. It will neither instruct you in
+mathematics, nor in natural philosophy. It will not make you a doctor,
+or a lawyer, or an engineer.
+
+But there is another world to be thought of, beside that world in which
+man now lives. There are other ends for which man was created, beside
+making money and working. There are other interests which he is meant to
+attend to, beside those of his body, and those interests are the
+interests of his soul. It is the interests of the immortal soul which
+the Bible is especially able to promote. If you would know law, you may
+study Blackstone or Sugden. If you would know astronomy or geology, you
+may study Herschel and Lyell. But if you would know how to have your
+soul saved, you must study the written Word of God.
+
+The Bible is "_able to make a man wise unto salvation, through faith
+which is in Christ Jesus_." (2 Tim. iii. 15.) It can show you the way
+which leads to heaven. It can teach you everything you need to know,
+point out everything you need to believe, and explain everything you
+need to do. It can show you what you are,--_a sinner_. It can show you
+what God is,--perfectly _holy_. It can show you the great giver of
+pardon, peace, and grace,--_Jesus Christ_. I have read of an Englishman
+who visited Scotland in the days of Blair, Rutherford, and Dickson,
+three famous preachers,--and heard all three in succession. He said that
+the first showed him the majesty of God,--the second showed him the
+beauty of Christ,--and the third showed him all his heart. It is the
+glory and beauty of the Bible that it is always teaching these three
+things more or less, from the first chapter of it to the last.
+
+The Bible applied to the heart by the Holy Ghost, is _the grand
+instrument by which souls are first converted to God_. That mighty
+change is generally begun by some text or doctrine of the Word, brought
+home to a man's conscience. In this way the Bible has worked moral
+miracles by thousands. It has made drunkards become sober,--unchaste
+people become pure,--thieves become honest,--and violent-tempered people
+become meek. It has wholly altered the course of men's lives. It has
+caused their old things to pass away, and made all their ways new. It
+has taught worldly people to seek first the kingdom of God. It has
+taught lovers of pleasure to become lovers of God. It has taught the
+stream of men's affections to run upwards instead of running downwards.
+It has made men think of heaven, instead of always thinking of earth,
+and live by faith, instead of living by sight. All this it has done in
+every part of the world. All this it is doing still. What are the Romish
+miracles which weak men believe, compared to all this, even if they were
+true? Those are the truly great miracles which are yearly worked by the
+Word.
+
+The Bible applied to the heart by the Holy Ghost, is _the chief means by
+which men are built up and stablished in the faith_, after their
+conversion. It is able to cleanse them, to sanctify them, to instruct
+them in righteousness, and to furnish them thoroughly for all good
+works. (Psalm cxix. 9; John xvii. 17; 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17.) The Spirit
+ordinarily does these things by the written Word; sometimes by the Word
+read, and sometimes by the Word preached, but seldom, if ever, without
+the Word. The Bible can show a believer how to walk in this world so as
+to please God. It can teach him how to glorify Christ in all the
+relations of life, and can make him a good master, servant, subject,
+husband, father, or son. It can enable him to bear afflictions and
+privations without murmuring, and say, "It is well." It can enable him
+to look down into the grave, and say, "I fear no evil." (Psalm xxiii.
+4.) It can enable him to think on judgment and eternity, and not feel
+afraid. It can enable him to bear persecution without flinching, and to
+give up liberty and life rather than deny Christ's truth. Is he drowsy
+in soul? It can awaken him.--Is he mourning? It can comfort him.--Is he
+erring? It can restore him.--Is he weak? It can make him strong.--Is he
+in company? It can keep him from evil.--Is he alone? It can talk with
+him.--(Prov. vi. 22.) All this the Bible can do for all believers,--for
+the least as well as the greatest,--for the richest as well as the
+poorest. It has done it for thousands already, and is doing it for
+thousands every day.
+
+The man who has the Bible, and the Holy Spirit in his heart, has
+everything which is absolutely needful to make him spiritually wise. He
+needs no priest to break the bread of life for him. He needs no ancient
+traditions, no writings of the Fathers, no voice of the Church, to guide
+him into all truth. He has the well of truth open before him, and what
+can he want more? Yes! though he be shut up alone in a prison, or cast
+on a desert island,--though he never see a church, or minister, or
+sacrament again,--if he has but the Bible, he has got the infallible
+guide, and wants no other. If he has but the will to read that Bible
+rightly, it will certainly teach him the road that leads to heaven. It
+is here alone that infallibility resides. It is not in the Church. It is
+not in the Councils. It is not in ministers. It is only in the written
+Word.
+
+(_a_) I know well that many say they have found no saving power in the
+Bible. They tell us they have tried to read it, and have learned nothing
+from it. They can see in it nothing but hard and deep things. They ask
+us what we mean by talking of its power.
+
+I answer, that the Bible no doubt contains hard things, or else it would
+not be the book of God. It contains things hard to comprehend, but only
+hard because we have not grasp of mind to comprehend them. It contains
+things above our reasoning powers, but nothing that might not be
+explained if the eyes of our understanding were not feeble and dim. But
+is not an acknowledgment of our own ignorance the very corner-stone and
+foundation of all knowledge? Must not many things be taken for granted
+in the beginning of every science, before we can proceed one step
+towards acquaintance with it? Do we not require our children to learn
+many things of which they cannot see the meaning at first? And ought we
+not then to expect to find "deep things" when we begin studying the Word
+of God, and yet to believe that if we persevere in reading it the
+meaning of many of them will one day be made clear? No doubt we ought so
+to expect, and so to believe. We must read with humility. We must take
+much on trust. We must believe that what we know not now, we shall know
+hereafter,--some part in this world, and all in the world to come.
+
+But I ask that man who has given up reading the Bible because it
+contains hard things, whether he did not find many things in it easy and
+plain? I put it to his conscience whether he did not see great landmarks
+and principles in it all the way through? I ask him whether the things
+needful to salvation did not stand out boldly before his eyes, like the
+light-houses on English headlands from the Land's-end to the mouth of
+the Thames. What should we think of the captain of a steamer who brought
+up at night in the entrance of the Channel, on the plea that he did not
+know every parish, and village, and creek, along the British coast?
+Should we not think him a lazy coward, when the lights on the Lizard,
+and Eddystone, and the Start, and Portland, and St. Catherine's, and
+Beachy Head, and Dungeness, and the Forelands, were shining forth like
+so many lamps, to guide him up to the river? Should we not say, Why did
+you not steer by the great leading lights? And what ought we to say to
+the man who gives up reading the Bible because it contains hard things,
+when his own state, and the path to heaven, and the way to serve God,
+are all written down clearly and unmistakably, as with a sunbeam? Surely
+we ought to tell that man that his objections are no better than lazy
+excuses, and do not deserve to be heard.
+
+(_b_) I know well that many raise the objection, that thousands read the
+Bible and are not a whit the better for their reading. And they ask us,
+when this is the case, what becomes of the Bible's boasted power?
+
+I answer, that the reason why so many read the Bible without benefit is
+plain and simple;--they do not read it in the right way. There is
+generally a right way and a wrong way of doing everything in the world;
+and just as it is with other things, so it is in the matter of reading
+the Bible. The Bible is not so entirely different from all other books
+as to make it of no importance in what spirit and manner you read it. It
+does not do good, as a matter of course, by merely running our eyes over
+the print, any more than the sacraments do good by mere virtue of our
+receiving them. It does not ordinarily do good, unless it is read with
+humility and earnest prayer. The best steam-engine that was ever built
+is useless if a man does not know how to work it. The best sun-dial that
+was ever constructed will not tell its owner the time of day if he is so
+ignorant as to put it up in the shade. Just as it is with that
+steam-engine, and that sun-dial, so it is with the Bible. When men read
+it without profit, _the fault is not in the Book, but in themselves_.
+
+I tell the man who doubts the power of the Bible, because many read it,
+and are no better for the reading, that the abuse of a thing is no
+argument against the use of it. I tell him boldly, that never did man or
+woman read that book in a childlike persevering spirit,--like the
+Ethiopian eunuch, and the Bereans (Acts viii. 28; xvii. 11),--and miss
+the way to heaven. Yes, many a broken cistern will be exposed to shame
+in the day of judgment; but there will not rise up one soul who will be
+able to say, that he went thirsting to the Bible, and found in it no
+living water,--he searched for truth in the Scriptures, and searching,
+did not find it. The words which are spoken of Wisdom in the Proverbs
+are strictly true of the Bible: "If thou criest after knowledge, and
+liftest up thy voice for understanding; if thou seekest her as silver,
+and searchest for her as for hid treasures; then shalt thou understand
+the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God." (Prov. ii. 3, 4,
+5.)
+
+This wonderful Book is the subject about which I address the readers of
+this paper this day. Surely it is no light matter _what you are doing
+with the Bible_. What should you think of the man who in time of cholera
+despised a sure receipt for preserving the health of his body? What must
+be thought of you if you despise the only sure receipt for the
+everlasting health of your soul? I charge you, I entreat you, to give an
+honest answer to my question. What dost thou do with the Bible?--Dost
+thou read it?--HOW READEST THOU?
+
+
+VI. In the sixth place, _the Bible is the only rule by which all
+questions of doctrine or of duty can be tried_.
+
+The Lord God knows the weakness and infirmity of our poor fallen
+understandings. He knows that, even after conversion, our perceptions of
+right and wrong are exceedingly indistinct. He knows how artfully Satan
+can gild error with an appearance of truth, and can dress up wrong with
+plausible arguments, till it looks like right. Knowing all this, He has
+mercifully provided us with an unerring standard of truth and error,
+right and wrong, and has taken care to make that standard a written
+book,--even the Scripture.
+
+No one can look round the world, and not see the wisdom of such a
+provision. No one can live long, and not find out that he is constantly
+in need of a counsellor and adviser,--of a rule of faith and practice,
+on which he can depend. Unless he lives like a beast, without a soul and
+conscience, he will find himself constantly assailed by difficult and
+puzzling questions. He will be often asking himself, What must I
+believe? and what must I do?
+
+(_a_) The world is full of difficulties about points of _doctrine_. The
+house of error lies close alongside the house of truth. The door of one
+is so like the door of the other that there is continual risk of
+mistakes.
+
+Does a man read or travel much? He will soon find the most opposite
+opinions prevailing among those who are called Christians. He will
+discover that different persons give the most different answers to the
+important question, What shall I do to be saved? The Roman Catholic and
+the Protestant,--the Neologian and the Tractarian,--the Mormonite and
+the Swedenborgian,--each and all will assert that he alone has the
+truth. Each and all will tell him that safety is only to be found in his
+party. Each and all say, "Come with us." All this is puzzling. What
+shall a man do?
+
+Does he settle down quietly in some English or Scotch parish? He will
+soon find that even in our own land the most conflicting views are held.
+He will soon discover that there are serious differences among
+Christians as to the comparative importance of the various parts and
+articles of the faith. One man thinks of nothing but Church
+government,--another of nothing but sacraments, services, and forms,--a
+third of nothing but preaching the Gospel. Does he apply to ministers
+for a solution? He will perhaps find one minister teaching one doctrine,
+and another another. All this is puzzling. What shall a man do?
+
+There is only one answer to this question. A man must make the Bible
+alone his rule. He must receive nothing, and believe nothing, which is
+not according to the Word. He must try all religious teaching by one
+simple test,--Does it square with the Bible? What saith the Scripture?
+
+I would to God the eyes of the laity of this country were more open on
+this subject. I would to God they would learn to weigh sermons, books,
+opinions, and ministers, in the scales of the Bible, and to value all
+according to their conformity to the Word. I would to God they would see
+that it matters little who says a thing,--whether he be Father or
+Reformer,--Bishop or Archbishop,--Priest or Deacon,--Archdeacon or Dean.
+The only question is,--Is the thing said Scriptural? If it is, it ought
+to be received and believed. If it is not, it ought to be refused and
+cast aside. I fear the consequences of that servile acceptance of
+everything which "the parson" says, which is so common among many
+English laymen. I fear lest they be led they know not whither, like the
+blinded Syrians, and awake some day to find themselves in the power of
+Rome. (2 Kings vi. 20.) Oh, that men in England would only remember for
+what purpose the Bible was given them!
+
+I tell English laymen that it is nonsense to say, as some do, that it is
+presumptuous to judge a minister's teaching by the Word. When one
+doctrine is proclaimed in one parish, and another in another, people
+must read and judge for themselves. Both doctrines cannot be right, and
+both ought to be tried by the Word. I charge them, above all things,
+never to suppose that any true minister of the Gospel will dislike his
+people measuring all he teaches by the Bible. On the contrary, the more
+they read the Bible, and prove all he says by the Bible, the better he
+will be pleased. A false minister may say, "You have no right to use
+your private judgment: leave the Bible to us who are ordained." A true
+minister will say, "Search the Scriptures, and if I do not teach you
+what is Scriptural, do not believe me." A false minister may cry, "Hear
+the Church," and "Hear me." A true minister will say, "Hear the Word of
+God."
+
+(_b_) But the world is not only full of difficulties about points of
+doctrine; it is equally full of difficulties about points of _practice_.
+Every professing Christian, who wishes to act conscientiously, must know
+that it is so. The most puzzling questions are continually arising. He
+is tried on every side by doubts as to the line of duty, and can often
+hardly see what is the right thing to do.
+
+He is tried by questions connected with the management of his _worldly
+calling_, if he is in business or in trade. He sometimes sees things
+going on of a very doubtful character,--things that can hardly be called
+fair, straightforward, truthful, and doing as you would be done by. But
+then everybody in the trade does these things. They have always been
+done in the most respectable houses. There would be no carrying on a
+profitable business if they were not done. They are not things
+distinctly named and prohibited by God. All this is very puzzling. What
+is a man to do?
+
+He is tried by questions about _worldly amusements_. Races, and balls,
+and operas, and theatres, and card parties, are all very doubtful
+methods of spending time. But then he sees numbers of great people
+taking part in them. Are all these people wrong? Can there really be
+such mighty harm in these things? All this is very puzzling. What is a
+man to do?
+
+He is tried by questions about the _education of his children_. He
+wishes to train them up morally and religiously, and to remember their
+souls. But he is told by many sensible people, that young persons will
+be young,--that it does not do to check and restrain them too much, and
+that he ought to attend pantomimes and children's parties, and give
+children's balls himself. He is informed that this nobleman, or that
+lady of rank, always does so, and yet they are reckoned religious
+people. Surely it cannot be wrong. All this is very puzzling. What is he
+to do?
+
+There is only one answer to all these questions. A man must make the
+Bible his rule of conduct. He must make its leading principles the
+compass by which he steers his course through life. By the letter or
+spirit of the Bible he must test every difficult point and question.
+"_To the law and to the testimony! What saith the Scripture?_" He ought
+to care nothing for what other people may think right. He ought not to
+set his watch by the clock of his neighbour, but by the sun-dial of the
+Word.
+
+I charge my readers solemnly to act on the maxim I have just laid down,
+and to adhere to it rigidly all the days of their lives. You will never
+repent of it. Make it a leading principle never to act contrary to the
+Word. Care not for the charge of over-strictness, and needless
+precision. Remember you serve a strict and holy God. Listen not to the
+common objection, that the rule you have laid down is impossible, and
+cannot be observed in such a world as this. Let those who make such an
+objection speak out plainly, and tell us for what purpose the Bible was
+given to man. Let them remember that by the Bible we shall all be judged
+at the last day, and let them learn to judge themselves by it here, lest
+they be judged and condemned by it hereafter.
+
+This mighty rule of faith and practice is the book about which I am
+addressing the readers of this paper this day. Surely it is no light
+matter _what you are doing with the Bible_. Surely when danger is abroad
+on the right hand and on the left, you should consider what you are
+doing with the safe-guard which God has provided. I charge you, I
+beseech you, to give an honest answer to my question. What art thou
+doing with the Bible?--Dost thou read it? HOW READEST THOU?
+
+VII. In the seventh place, _the Bible is the book which all true
+servants of God have always lived on and loved_.
+
+Every living thing which God creates requires food. The life that God
+imparts needs sustaining and nourishing. It is so with animal and
+vegetable life,--with birds, beasts, fishes, reptiles, insects, and
+plants. It is equally so with spiritual life. When the Holy Ghost raises
+a man from the death of sin and makes him a new creature in Christ
+Jesus, the new principle in that man's heart requires food, and the only
+food which will sustain it is the Word of God.
+
+There never was a man or woman truly converted, from one end of the
+world to the other, who did not love the revealed will of God. Just as a
+child born into the world desires naturally the milk provided for its
+nourishment, so does a soul "born again" desire the sincere milk of the
+Word. This is a common mark of all the children of God--they "delight in
+the law of the Lord." (Psalm, i. 2.)
+
+Show me a person who despises Bible reading, or thinks little of Bible
+preaching, and I hold it to be a certain fact that he is not yet "born
+again." He may be zealous about forms and ceremonies. He may be diligent
+in attending sacraments and daily services. But if these things are more
+precious to him than the Bible, I cannot think he is a converted man.
+Tell me what the Bible is to a man, and I will generally tell you what
+he is. This is the pulse to try,--this is the barometer to look at,--if
+we would know the state of the heart. I have no notion of the Spirit
+dwelling in a man and not giving clear evidence of His presence. And I
+believe it to be a signal evidence of the Spirit's presence when the
+Word is really precious to a man's soul.
+
+Love to the Word is one of the characteristics we see in Job. Little as
+we know of this Patriarch and his age, this at least stands out clearly.
+He says, "I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary
+food." (Job xxiii. 12.)
+
+Love to the Word is a shining feature in the character of David. Mark
+how it appears all through that wonderful part of Scripture, the cxixth
+Psalm. He might well say, "Oh, how I love thy law!" (Psalm cxix. 97.)
+
+Love to the Word is a striking point in the character of St. Paul. What
+were he and his companions but men "mighty in the Scriptures?" What were
+his sermons but expositions and applications of the Word?
+
+Love to the Word appears pre-eminently in our Lord and Saviour Jesus
+Christ. He read it publicly. He quoted it continually. He expounded it
+frequently. He advised the Jews to "search" it. He used it as His weapon
+to resist the devil. He said repeatedly, "The Scripture must be
+fulfilled."--Almost the last thing He did was to "open the understanding
+of His disciples, that they might understand the Scriptures." (Luke
+xxiv. 45.) I am afraid that man can be no true servant of Christ, who
+has not something of his Master's mind and feeling towards the Bible.
+
+Love to the Word has been a prominent feature in the history of all the
+saints, of whom we know anything, since the days of the Apostles. This
+is the lamp which Athanasius and Chrysostom and Augustine followed. This
+is the compass which kept the Vallenses and Albigenses from making
+shipwreck of the faith. This is the well which was re-opened by Wycliffe
+and Luther, after it had been long stopped up. This is the sword with
+which Latimer, and Jewell, and Knox won their victories. This is the
+manna which fed Baxter and Owen, and the noble host of the Puritans, and
+made them strong to battle. This is the armoury from which Whitefield
+and Wesley drew their powerful weapons. This is the mine from which
+Bickersteth and M'Cheyne brought forth rich gold. Differing as these
+holy men did in some matters, on one point they were all agreed,--they
+all delighted in the Word.
+
+Love to the Word is one of the first things that appears in the
+converted heathen, at the various Missionary stations throughout the
+world. In hot climates and in cold,--among savage people and among
+civilized,--in New Zealand, in the South Sea Islands, in Africa, in
+Hindostan,--it is always the same. They enjoy hearing it read. They long
+to be able to read it themselves. They wonder why Christians did not
+send it to them before. How striking is the picture which Moffat draws
+of Africaner, the fierce South African chieftain, when first brought
+under the power of the Gospel! "Often have I seen him," he says, "under
+the shadow of a great rock nearly the live-long day, eagerly perusing
+the pages of the Bible."--How touching is the expression of a poor
+converted Negro, speaking of the Bible! He said, "It is never old and
+never cold."--How affecting was the language of another old negro, when
+some would have dissuaded him from learning to read, because of his
+great age. "No!" he said, "I will never give it up till I die. It is
+worth all the labour to be able to read that one verse, 'God so loved
+the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
+in him should not perish, but have eternal life.'"
+
+Love to the Bible is one of the grand points of agreement among all
+converted men and women in our own land. Episcopalians and
+Presbyterians, Baptists and Independents, Methodists and Plymouth
+Brethren,--all unite in honouring the Bible, as soon as they are real
+Christians. This is the manna which all the tribes of our Israel feed
+upon, and find satisfying food. This is the fountain round which all the
+various portions of Christ's flock meet together, and from which no
+sheep goes thirsty away. Oh, that believers in this country would learn
+to cleave more closely to the written Word! Oh, that they would see that
+the more the Bible, and the Bible only, is the substance of men's
+religion, the more they agree! It is probable there never was an
+uninspired book more universally admired than Bunyan's Pilgrim's
+Progress. It is a book which all denominations of Christians delight to
+honour. It has won praise from all parties. Now what a striking fact it
+is, that the author was pre-eminently a man of one book! He had read
+hardly anything but the Bible.
+
+It is a blessed thought that there will be "much people" in heaven at
+last. Few as the Lord's people undoubtedly are at any one given time or
+place, yet all gathered together at last, they will be "a multitude that
+no man can number." (Rev. vii. 9; xix. 1.) They will be of one heart and
+mind. They will have passed through like experience. They will all have
+repented, believed, lived holy, prayerful, and humble. They will all
+have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
+But one thing beside all this they will have in common: they will all
+love the texts and doctrines of the Bible. The Bible will have been
+their food and delight in the days of their pilgrimage on earth. And the
+Bible will be a common subject of joyful meditation and retrospect, when
+they are gathered together in heaven.
+
+This Book, which all true Christians live upon and love, is the subject
+about which I am addressing the readers of this paper this day. Surely
+it is no light matter _what you are doing with the Bible_. Surely it is
+matter for serious inquiry, whether you know anything of this love to
+the Word, and have this mark of walking "in the footsteps of the flock."
+(Cant. i. 8.) I charge you, I entreat you to give me an honest answer.
+What art thou doing with the Bible?--Dost thou read it?--HOW READEST
+THOU?
+
+
+VIII. In the last place, _the Bible is the only book which can comfort a
+man in the last hours of his life_.
+
+Death is an event which in all probability is before us all. There is no
+avoiding it. It is the river which each of us must cross. I who write,
+and you who read, have each one day to die. It is good to remember
+this. We are all sadly apt to put away the subject from us. "Each man
+thinks each man mortal but himself." I want every one to do his duty in
+life, but I also want every one to think of death. I want every one to
+know how to live, but I also want every one to know how to die.
+
+Death is a solemn event to all. It is the winding up of all earthly
+plans and expectations. It is a separation from all we have loved and
+lived with. It is often accompanied by much bodily pain and distress. It
+brings us to the grave, the worm, and corruption. It opens the door to
+judgment and eternity,--to heaven or to hell. It is an event after which
+there is no change, or space for repentance. Other mistakes may be
+corrected or retrieved, but not a mistake on our death-beds. As the tree
+falls, there it must lie. No conversion in the coffin! No new birth
+after we have ceased to breathe! And death is before us all. It may be
+close at hand. The time of our departure is quite uncertain. But sooner
+or later we must each lie down alone and die. All these are serious
+considerations.
+
+Death is a solemn event even to the believer in Christ. For him no doubt
+the "sting of death" is taken away. (1 Cor. xv. 55.) Death has become
+one of his privileges, for he is Christ's. Living or dying, he is the
+Lord's. If he lives, Christ lives in him; and if he dies, he goes to
+live with Christ. To him "to live is Christ, and to die is gain." (Phil.
+i. 21.) Death frees him from many trials,--from a weak body, a corrupt
+heart, a tempting devil, and an ensnaring or persecuting world. Death
+admits him to the enjoyment of many blessings. He rests from his
+labours:--the hope of a joyful resurrection is changed into a
+certainty:--he has the company of holy redeemed spirits:--he is "with
+Christ." All this is true,--and yet, even to a believer, death is a
+solemn thing. Flesh and blood naturally shrink from it. To part from all
+we love, is a wrench and trial to the feelings. The world we go to is a
+world unknown, even though it is our home. Friendly and harmless as
+death is to a believer, it is not an event to be treated lightly. It
+always must be a very solemn thing.
+
+It becomes every thoughtful and sensible man to consider calmly how he
+is going to meet death. Gird up your loins, like a man, and look the
+subject in the face. Listen to me, while I tell you a few things about
+the end to which we are coming.
+
+The good things of the world cannot comfort a man when he draws near
+death. All the gold of California and Australia will not provide light
+for the dark valley. Money can buy the best medical advice and
+attendance for a man's body; but money cannot buy peace for his
+conscience, heart, and soul.
+
+Relatives, loved friends, and servants, cannot comfort a man when he
+draws near death. They may minister affectionately to his bodily wants.
+They may watch by his bed-side tenderly, and anticipate his every wish.
+They may smooth down his dying pillow, and support his sinking frame in
+their arms. But they cannot "minister to a mind diseased." They cannot
+stop the achings of a troubled heart. They cannot screen an uneasy
+conscience from the eye of God.
+
+The pleasures of the world cannot comfort a man when he draws near
+death. The brilliant ball-room,--the merry dance,--the midnight
+revel,--the party to Epsom races,--the card table,--the box at the
+opera,--the voices of singing men and singing women,--all these are at
+length distasteful things. To hear of hunting and shooting engagements
+gives him no pleasure. To be invited to feasts, and regattas, and
+fancy-fairs, gives him no ease. He cannot hide from himself that these
+are hollow, empty, powerless things. They jar upon the ear of his
+conscience. They are out of harmony with his condition. They cannot stop
+one gap in his heart, when the last enemy is coming in like a flood.
+They cannot make him calm in the prospect of meeting a holy God.
+
+Books and newspapers cannot comfort a man when he draws near death. The
+most brilliant writings of Macaulay or Dickens will pall on his ear. The
+most able article in the Times will fail to interest him. The Edinburgh
+and Quarterly Reviews will give him no pleasure. Punch and the
+Illustrated News, and the last new novel, will lie unopened and
+unheeded. Their time will be past. Their vocation will be gone. Whatever
+they may be in health, they are useless in the hour of death.
+
+There is but one fountain of comfort for a man drawing near to his end,
+and that is the Bible. Chapters out of the Bible,--texts out of the
+Bible,--statements of truth taken out of the Bible,--books containing
+matter drawn from the Bible,--these are a man's only chance of comfort
+when he comes to die. I do not at all say that the Bible will do good,
+as a matter of course, to a dying man, if he has not valued it before. I
+know, unhappily, too much of death-beds to say that. I do not say
+whether it is probable that he who has been unbelieving and neglectful
+of the Bible in life, will at once believe and get comfort from it in
+death. But I do say positively, that no dying man will ever get real
+comfort, except from the contents of the Word of God. All comfort from
+any other source is a house built upon sand.
+
+I lay this down as a rule of universal application. I make no exception
+in favour of any class on earth. Kings and poor men, learned and
+unlearned,--all are on a level in this matter. There is not a jot of
+real consolation for any dying man, unless he gets it from the Bible.
+Chapters, passages, texts, promises, and doctrines of Scripture,--heard,
+received, believed, and rested on,--these are the only comforters I dare
+promise to any one, when he leaves the world. Taking the sacrament will
+do a man no more good than the Popish extreme unction, so long as the
+Word is not received and believed. Priestly absolution will no more ease
+the conscience than the incantations of a heathen magician, if the poor
+dying sinner does not receive and believe Bible truth. I tell every one
+who reads this paper, that although men may seem to get on comfortably
+without the Bible while they live, they may be sure that without the
+Bible they cannot comfortably die. It was a true confession of the
+learned Selden,--"There is no book upon which we can rest in a dying
+moment but the Bible."
+
+I might easily confirm all I have just said, by examples and
+illustrations. I might show you the death-beds of men who have affected
+to despise the Bible. I might tell you how Voltaire and Paine, the
+famous infidels, died in misery, bitterness, rage, fear, and despair. I
+might show you the happy death-beds of those who have loved the Bible
+and believed it, and the blessed effect the sight of their death-beds
+had on others. Cecil,--a minister whose praise ought to be in all
+churches,--says, "I shall never forget standing by the bed-side of my
+dying mother. 'Are you afraid to die?' I asked.--'No!' she
+replied.--'But why does the uncertainty of another state give you no
+concern?'--'Because God has said, Fear not; when thou passest through
+the waters I will be with thee, and through the rivers, they shall not
+overflow thee.'" (Isa. xliii. 2.) I might easily multiply illustrations
+of this kind. But I think it better to conclude this part of my subject
+by giving the result of my own observations as a minister.
+
+I have seen not a few dying persons in my time. I have seen great
+varieties of manner and deportment among them. I have seen some die
+sullen, silent, and comfortless. I have seen others die ignorant,
+unconcerned, and apparently without much fear. I have seen some die so
+wearied out with long illness that they were quite willing to depart,
+and yet they did not seem to me at all in a fit state to go before God.
+I have seen others die with professions of hope and trust in God,
+without leaving satisfactory evidences that they were on the rock. I
+have seen others die who, I believe, were "in Christ," and safe, and yet
+they never seemed to enjoy much sensible comfort. I have seen some few
+dying in the full assurance of hope, and like Bunyan's "Standfast,"
+giving glorious testimony to Christ's faithfulness, even in the river.
+But one thing I have never seen. I never saw any one enjoy what I should
+call real, solid, calm, reasonable peace on his death-bed, who did not
+draw his peace from the Bible. And this I am bold to say, that the man
+who thinks to go to his death-bed without having the Bible for his
+comforter, his companion, and his friend, is one of the greatest madmen
+in the world. There are no comforts for the soul but Bible comforts, and
+he who has not got hold of these, has got hold of nothing at all, unless
+it be a broken reed.
+
+The only comforter for a death-bed is the book about which I address the
+readers of this paper this day. Surely it is no light matter whether you
+read that book or not. Surely a dying man, in a dying world, should
+seriously consider whether he has got anything to comfort him when his
+turn comes to die. I charge you, I entreat you, for the last time, to
+give an honest answer to my question. What art thou doing with the
+Bible?--Dost thou read it?--HOW READEST THOU?
+
+
+I have now given the reasons why I press on every reader the duty and
+importance of reading the Bible. I have shown that no book is written in
+such a manner as the Bible,--that knowledge of the Bible is absolutely
+necessary to salvation,--that no book contains such matter,--that no
+book has done so much for the world generally,--that no book can do so
+much for every one who reads it aright,--that this book is the only rule
+of faith and practice,--that it is, and always has been, the food of all
+true servants of God,--and that it is the only book which can comfort
+men when they die. All these are ancient things. I do not pretend to
+tell anything new. I have only gathered together old truths, and tried
+to mould them into a new shape. Let me finish all by addressing a few
+plain words to the conscience of every class of readers.
+
+(1) This paper may fall into the hands of some who _can read, but never
+do read the Bible at all_. Are you one of them? If you are, I have
+something to say to you.
+
+I cannot comfort you in your present state of mind. It would be mockery
+and deceit to do so. I cannot speak to you of peace and heaven, while
+you treat the Bible as you do. You are in danger of losing your soul.
+
+You are in danger, because _your neglected Bible is a plain evidence
+that you do not love God_. The health of a man's body may generally be
+known by his appetite. The health of a man's soul may be known by his
+treatment of the Bible. Now you are manifestly labouring under a sore
+disease. Will you not repent?
+
+I know I cannot reach your heart. I cannot make you see and feel these
+things. I can only enter my solemn protest against your present
+treatment of the Bible, and lay that protest before your conscience. I
+do so with all my soul. Oh, beware lest you repent too late! Beware lest
+you put off reading the Bible till you send for the doctor in your last
+illness, and then find the Bible a sealed book, and dark, as the cloud
+between the hosts of Israel and Egypt, to your anxious soul! Beware lest
+you go on saying all your life, "Men do very well without all this
+Bible-reading," and find at length, to your cost, that men do very ill,
+and end in hell! Beware lest the day come when you will feel, "Had I but
+honoured the Bible as much as I have honoured the newspaper, I should
+not have been left without comfort in my last hours!" Bible-neglecting
+reader, I give you a plain warning. The plague-cross is at present on
+your door. The Lord have mercy upon your soul!
+
+(2) This paper may fall into the hands of some one who is _willing to
+begin reading the Bible, but wants advice_ on the subject. Are you that
+man? Listen to me, and I will give a few short hints.
+
+(_a_) For one thing, _begin reading your Bible this very day_. The way
+to do a thing is to do it, and the way to read the Bible is actually to
+read it. It is not meaning, or wishing, or resolving, or intending, or
+thinking about it, which will advance you one step. You must positively
+read. There is no royal road in this matter, any more than in the matter
+of prayer. If you cannot read yourself, you must persuade somebody else
+to read to you. But one way or another, through eyes or ears, the words
+of Scripture must actually pass before your mind.
+
+(_b_) For another thing, _read the Bible with an earnest desire to
+understand it_. Think not for a moment that the great object is to turn
+over a certain quantity of printed paper, and that it matters nothing
+whether you understand it or not. Some ignorant people seem to fancy
+that all is done if they clear off so many chapters every day, though
+they may not have a notion what they are all about, and only know that
+they have pushed on their mark so many leaves. This is turning Bible
+reading into a mere form. It is almost as bad as the Popish habit of
+buying indulgences, by saying an almost fabulous number of ave-marias
+and paternosters. It reminds one of the poor Hottentot who ate up a
+Dutch hymn-book because he saw it comforted his neighbours' hearts.
+Settle it down in your mind as a general principle, that a Bible not
+understood is a Bible that does no good. Say to yourself often as you
+read, "What is all this about?" Dig for the meaning like a man digging
+for Australian gold. Work hard, and do not give up the work in a hurry.
+
+(_c_) For another thing, _read the Bible with child-like faith and
+humility_. Open your heart as you open your book, and say, "Speak,
+Lord, for thy servant heareth." Resolve to believe implicitly whatever
+you find there, however much it may run counter to your own prejudices.
+Resolve to receive heartily every statement of truth, whether you like
+it or not. Beware of that miserable habit of mind into which some
+readers of the Bible fall. They receive some doctrines because they like
+them: they reject others because they are condemning to themselves, or
+to some lover, or relation, or friend. At this rate the Bible is
+useless. Are we to be judges of what ought to be in the Word? Do we know
+better than God? Settle it down in your mind that you will receive all
+and believe all, and that what you cannot understand you will take on
+trust. Remember, when you pray, you are speaking to God, and God hears
+you. But, remember, when you read, God is speaking to you, and you are
+not to "answer again," but to listen.
+
+(_d_) For another thing, _read the Bible in a spirit of obedience and
+self-application_. Sit down to the study of it with a daily
+determination that _you_ will live by its rules, rest on its statements,
+and act on its commands. Consider, as you travel through every chapter,
+"How does this affect _my_ position and course of conduct? What does
+this teach _me_?" It is poor work to read the Bible from mere curiosity,
+and for speculative purposes, in order to fill your head and store your
+mind with opinions, while you do not allow the book to influence your
+heart and life. That Bible is read best which is practised most.
+
+(_e_) For another thing, _read the Bible daily_. Make it a part of every
+day's business to read and meditate on some portion of God's Word.
+Private means of grace are just as needful every day for our souls as
+food and clothing are for our bodies. Yesterday's bread will not feed
+the labourer to-day, and to-day's bread will not feed the labourer
+to-morrow. Do as the Israelites did in the wilderness. Gather your manna
+fresh every morning. Choose your own seasons and hours. Do not scramble
+over and hurry your reading. Give your Bible the best, and not the worst
+part of your time. But whatever plan you pursue, let it be a rule of
+your life to visit the throne of grace and the Bible every day.
+
+(_f_) For another thing, _read all the Bible, and read it in an orderly
+way_. I fear there are many parts of the Word which some people never
+read at all. This is to say the least, a very presumptuous habit. "All
+Scripture is profitable." (2 Tim. iii. 16.) To this habit may be traced
+that want of broad, well-proportioned views of truth, which is so common
+in this day. Some people's Bible-reading is a system of perpetual
+dipping and picking. They do not seem to have an idea of regularly going
+through the whole book. This also is a great mistake. No doubt in times
+of sickness and affliction it is allowable to search out seasonable
+portions. But with this exception, I believe it is by far the best plan
+to begin the Old and New Testaments at the same time,--to read each
+straight through to the end, and then begin again. This is a matter in
+which every one must be persuaded in his own mind. I can only say it has
+been my own plan for nearly forty years, and I have never seen cause to
+alter it.
+
+(_g_) For another thing, _read the Bible fairly and honestly_. Determine
+to take everything in its plain, obvious meaning, and regard all forced
+interpretations with great suspicion. As a general rule, whatever a
+verse of the Bible seems to mean, it does mean. Cecil's rule is a very
+valuable one,--"The right way of interpreting Scripture is to take it as
+we find it, without any attempt to force it into any particular system."
+Well said Hooker, "I hold it for a most infallible rule in the
+exposition of Scripture, that when a literal construction will stand,
+the furthest from the literal is commonly the worst."
+
+(_h_) In the last place, _read the Bible with Christ continually in
+view_. The grand primary object of all Scripture is to testify of
+Jesus. Old Testament ceremonies are shadows of Christ. Old Testament
+judges and deliverers are types of Christ. Old Testament history shows
+the world's need of Christ. Old Testament prophecies are full of
+Christ's sufferings, and of Christ's glory yet to come. The first advent
+and the second,--the Lord's humiliation and the Lord's kingdom,--the
+cross and the crown, shine forth everywhere in the Bible. Keep fast hold
+on this clue, if you would read the Bible aright.
+
+I might easily add to these hints, if space permitted. Few and short as
+they are, you will find them worth attention. Act upon them, and I
+firmly believe you will never be allowed to miss the way to heaven. Act
+upon them, and you will find light continually increasing in your mind.
+No book of evidence can be compared with that internal evidence which he
+obtains who daily uses the Word in the right way. Such a man does not
+need the books of learned men, like Paley, and Wilson, and M'Ilvaine. He
+has the witness in himself. The book satisfies and feeds his soul. A
+poor Christian woman once said to an infidel, "I am no scholar. I cannot
+argue like you. But I know that honey is honey, because it leaves a
+sweet taste in my mouth. And I know the Bible to be God's book, because
+of the taste it leaves in my heart."
+
+(3) This paper may fall into the hands of some one who _loves and
+believes the Bible, and yet reads it but little_. I fear there are many
+such in this day. It is a day of bustle and hurry. It is a day of
+talking, and committee-meetings, and public work. These things are all
+very well in their way, but I fear that they sometimes clip and cut
+short the private reading of the Bible. Does your conscience tell you
+that you are one of the persons I speak of? Listen to me, and I will say
+a few things which deserve your serious attention.
+
+You are the man that is likely to _get little comfort from the Bible in
+time of need_. Trial is a sifting season. Affliction is a searching
+wind, which strips the leaves off the trees, and brings to light the
+birds' nests. Now I fear that your stores of Bible consolations may one
+day run very low. I fear lest you should find yourself at last on very
+short allowance, and come into harbour weak, worn and thin.
+
+You are the man that is likely _never to be established in the truth_. I
+shall not be surprised to hear that you are troubled with doubts and
+questionings about assurance, grace, faith, perseverance, and the like.
+The devil is an old and cunning enemy. Like the Benjamites, he can
+"throw stones at a hair-breadth, and not miss." (Judges xx. 16.) He can
+quote Scripture readily enough when he pleases. Now you are not
+sufficiently ready with your weapons to be able to fight a good fight
+with him. Your armour does not fit you well. Your sword sits loosely in
+your hand.
+
+You are the man that is likely to _make mistakes in life_. I shall not
+wonder if I am told that you have erred about your own marriage,--erred
+about your children's education,--erred about the conduct of your
+household,--erred about the company you keep. The world you steer
+through is full of rocks, and shoals, and sandbanks. You are not
+sufficiently familiar either with the lights or charts.
+
+You are the man that is likely to _be carried away by some specious
+false teacher for a season_. It will not surprise me if I hear that some
+one of those clever, eloquent men, who can "make the worse appear the
+better cause," is leading you into many follies. You are wanting in
+ballast. No wonder if you are tossed to and fro, like a cork on the
+waves.
+
+All these are uncomfortable things. I want every reader of this paper to
+escape them all. Take the advice I offer you this day. Do not merely
+read your Bible "a little," but read it a great deal. "Let the Word of
+Christ dwell in you richly." (Coloss. iii. 16.) Do not be a mere babe
+in spiritual knowledge. Seek to become "well instructed in the kingdom
+of heaven," and to be continually adding new things to old. A religion
+of feeling is an uncertain thing. It is like the tide, sometimes high,
+and sometimes low. It is like the moon, sometimes bright, and sometimes
+dim. A religion of deep Bible knowledge, is a firm and lasting
+possession. It enables a man not merely to say, "I feel hope in
+Christ,"--but "I know whom I have believed." (2 Tim. i. 12.)
+
+(4) This paper may fall into the hands of some one who _reads the Bible
+much, and yet fancies he is no better for his reading_. This is a crafty
+temptation of the devil. At one stage he says, "Do not read the Bible at
+all." At another he says, "Your reading does you no good: give it up."
+Are you that man? I feel for you from the bottom of my soul. Let me try
+to do you good.
+
+Do not think you are getting no good from the Bible, merely because you
+do not see that good day by day. The greatest effects are by no means
+those which make the most noise, and are most easily observed. The
+greatest effects are often silent, quiet, and hard to detect at the time
+they are being produced. Think of the influence of the moon upon the
+earth, and of the air upon the human lungs. Remember how silently the
+dew falls, and how imperceptibly the grass grows. There may be far more
+doing than you think in your soul by your Bible-reading.
+
+The Word may be gradually producing deep _impressions_ on your heart, of
+which you are not at present aware. Often when the memory is retaining
+no facts, the character of a man is receiving some everlasting
+impression. Is sin becoming every year more hateful to you? Is Christ
+becoming every year more precious? Is holiness becoming every year more
+lovely and desirable in your eyes? If these things are so, take courage.
+The Bible is doing you good, though you may not be able to trace it out
+day by day.
+
+The Bible may be restraining you from some sin or delusion into which
+you would otherwise run. It may be daily keeping you back, and hedging
+you up, and preventing many a false step. Ah, you might soon find this
+out to your cost, if you were to cease reading the Word! The very
+familiarity of blessings sometimes makes us insensible to their value.
+Resist the devil. Settle it down in your mind as an established rule,
+that, whether you feel it at the moment or not, you are inhaling
+spiritual health by reading the Bible, and insensibly becoming more
+strong.
+
+(5) This paper may fall into the hands of some who _really love the
+Bible, live upon the Bible, and read it much_. Are you one of these?
+Give me your attention, and I will mention a few things which we shall
+do well to lay to heart for time to come.
+
+Let us resolve to _read the Bible more and more_ every year we live. Let
+us try to get it rooted in our memories, and engrafted into our hearts.
+Let us be thoroughly well provisioned with it against the voyage of
+death. Who knows but we may have a very stormy passage? Sight and
+hearing may fail us, and we may be in deep waters. Oh, to have the Word
+"hid in our hearts" in such an hour as that! (Ps. cxix. 11.)
+
+Let us resolve to be _more watchful over our Bible-reading_ every year
+that we live. Let us be jealously careful about the time we give to it,
+and the manner that time is spent. Let us beware of omitting our daily
+reading without sufficient cause. Let us not be gaping, and yawning, and
+dozing over our book, while we read. Let us read like a London merchant
+studying the city article in the Times,--or like a wife reading a
+husband's letter from a distant land. Let us be very careful that we
+never exalt any minister, or sermon, or book, or tract, or friend above
+the Word. Cursed be that book, or tract, or human counsel, which creeps
+in between us and the Bible, and hides the Bible from our eyes! Once
+more I say, let us be very watchful. The moment we open the Bible the
+devil sits down by our side. Oh, to read with a hungry spirit, and a
+simple desire for edification!
+
+Let us resolve to _honour the Bible more in our families_. Let us read
+it morning and evening to our children and households, and not be
+ashamed to let men see that we do so. Let us not be discouraged by
+seeing no good arise from it. The Bible-reading in a family has kept
+many a one from the gaol, the workhouse, and the Gazette, if it has not
+kept him from hell.
+
+Let us resolve to _meditate more on the Bible_. It is good to take with
+us two or three texts when we go out into the world, and to turn them
+over and over in our minds whenever we have a little leisure. It keeps
+out many vain thoughts. It clenches the nail of daily reading. It
+preserves our souls from stagnating and breeding corrupt things. It
+sanctifies and quickens our memories, and prevents them becoming like
+those ponds where the frogs live but the fish die.
+
+Let us resolve to _talk more to believers about the Bible_ when we meet
+them. Alas, the conversation of Christians, when they do meet, is often
+sadly unprofitable! How many frivolous, and trifling, and uncharitable
+things are said! Let us bring out the Bible more, and it will help to
+drive the devil away, and keep our hearts in tune. Oh, that we may all
+strive so to walk together in this evil world, that Jesus may often draw
+near, and go with us, as He went with the two disciples journeying to
+Emmaus!
+
+Last of all, let us resolve to _live by the Bible more and more_ every
+year we live. Let us frequently take account of all our opinions and
+practices,--of our habits and tempers,--of our behaviour in public and
+in private,--in the world, and by our own firesides. Let us measure all
+by the Bible, and resolve, by God's help, to conform to it. Oh that we
+may learn increasingly to "cleanse our ways" by the Word! (Ps. cxix.
+9.)
+
+I commend all these things to the serious and prayerful attention of
+every one into whose hands this paper may fall. I want the ministers of
+my beloved country to be Bible-reading ministers,--the congregations,
+Bible-reading congregations,--and the nation, a Bible-reading nation. To
+bring about this desirable end I cast in my mite into God's treasury.
+The Lord grant that it may prove not to have been in vain!
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+
+GOING TO THE TABLE
+
+     "_Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread,
+     and drink of that cup._"--1 Cor. xi. 28.
+
+
+The words which form the title of this paper refer to a subject of vast
+importance. That subject is the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper.
+
+Perhaps no part of the Christian religion is so thoroughly misunderstood
+as the Lord's Supper. On no point have there been so many disputes,
+strifes, and controversies for almost 1800 years. On no point have
+mistakes done so much harm. Even at this very day the battle is still
+raging, and Christians seem hopelessly divided. The very ordinance which
+was meant for our peace and profit has become the cause of discord and
+the occasion of sin. These things ought not so to be!
+
+I make no excuse for including the Lord's Supper among the leading
+points of _practical_ Christianity. I believe firmly that ignorant views
+or false doctrine about this sacrament lie at the root of half the
+present divisions of professing Christians. Some neglect it altogether;
+some completely misunderstand it; some exalt it to a position it was
+never meant to occupy, and turn it into an idol. If I can throw a little
+light on it, and clear up the doubts of some minds, I shall feel very
+thankful. It is hopeless, I fear, to expect that the controversy about
+the Lord's Supper will ever be finally closed until the Lord comes. But
+it is not too much to hope that the fog and mystery and obscurity with
+which it is surrounded in some minds, may be cleared away by plain Bible
+truth.
+
+In examining the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper I shall content myself
+with asking four practical questions, and offering answers to them.
+
+
+    I. Why was the Lord's supper ordained?
+
+    II. Who ought to go to the Table and be communicants?
+
+    III. What may communicants expect from the Lord's Supper?
+
+    IV. Why do many so-called Christians never go to the Lord's Table?
+
+
+I think it will be impossible to handle these four questions fairly,
+honestly, and impartially, without seeing the subject of this paper more
+clearly, and getting some distinct and practical ideas about some
+leading errors of our day. I say "practical" emphatically. My chief aim
+in this volume is to promote practical Christianity.
+
+
+I. In the first place, _why was the Lord's Supper ordained_?
+
+I answer that question in the words of the Church Catechism. I am sure I
+cannot mend them. It was ordained "for the continual remembrance of the
+sacrifice of the death of Christ, and of the benefits which we receive
+thereby."--The bread which in the Lord's Supper is broken, given, and
+eaten, is meant to remind us of Christ's body given on the cross for our
+sins. The wine which is poured out and received, is meant to remind us
+of Christ's blood shed on the cross for our sins. He that eats that
+bread and drinks that wine is reminded, in the most striking and
+forcible manner, of the benefits Christ has obtained for his soul, and
+of the death of Christ as the hinge and turning point on which all those
+benefits depend.
+
+Now is the view here stated the doctrine of the New Testament? If it is
+not, for ever let it be rejected, cast aside, and refused by men. If it
+is, let us never be ashamed to hold it fast, profess our belief in it,
+pin our faith on it, and steadfastly refuse to hold any other view, no
+matter by whom it is taught. In subjects like this we must call no man
+master. It signifies little what great Bishops and learned divines have
+thought fit to put forth about the Lord's Supper. If they teach more
+than the Word of God contains they are not to be believed.
+
+I take down my Bible and turn to the New Testament. There I find no less
+than four separate accounts of the first appointment of the Lord's
+Supper. St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. Paul, all four describe
+it: all four agree in telling us what our Lord did on this memorable
+occasion.--Two only tell us the reason which our Lord assigned why His
+disciples were to eat the bread and drink the cup. St. Paul and St. Luke
+both record the remarkable words, "_Do this in remembrance of Me_."--St.
+Paul adds his own inspired comment: "As often as ye eat this bread and
+drink this cup, ye do shew (or declare or proclaim) the Lord's death
+till He come." (Luke xxii. 19; 1 Cor. xi. 25, 26.) When Scripture speaks
+so plainly, why cannot men be content with it? Why should we mystify and
+confuse a subject which in the New Testament is so simple? The
+"continual remembrance of Christ's death" was the one grand object for
+which the Lord's Supper was ordained. He that goes further than this is
+adding to God's Word, and does so to the great peril of his soul.
+
+Now is it reasonable to suppose that our Lord would appoint an ordinance
+for so simple a purpose as the "_keeping His death in remembrance_"?
+Most certainly it is. Of all the facts in His earthly ministry none are
+equal in importance to that of His death. It was the great satisfaction
+for man's sin, which had been appointed in God's covenant from the
+foundation of the world. It was the great atonement of almighty power,
+to which every sacrifice of animals, from the fall of man, continually
+pointed. It was the grand end and purpose for which Messiah came into
+the world. It was the corner-stone and foundation of all man's hopes of
+pardon and peace with God. In short, Christ would have lived, and
+taught, and preached, and prophesied, and wrought miracles in vain, if
+He had not _crowned all by dying for our sins as our Substitute_! His
+death was our life. His death was the payment of our debt to God.
+Without His death we should have been of all creatures most miserable.
+No wonder that an ordinance was specially appointed to remind us of our
+Saviour's death. It is the very one thing of which poor, weak, sinful
+man needs to be continually reminded.
+
+Does the New Testament warrant men in saying that the Lord's Supper was
+ordained to be a sacrifice, and that in it Christ's body and blood are
+present under the forms of bread and wine? _Most certainly not!_ When
+the Lord Jesus said to the disciples, "This is my Body," and "this is my
+Blood," He evidently meant, "This bread in my hand is an emblem of my
+Body, and this cup of wine in my hand contains an emblem of my Blood."
+The disciples were accustomed to hear Him use such language. They
+remembered His saying, "The field _is_ the world," "The good seed _are_
+the children of the kingdom." (Matt. xiii. 38.) It never entered into
+their minds that He meant to say He was holding His own body and His own
+blood in His hands, and literally giving them His literal body and blood
+to eat and drink. Not one of the writers of the New Testament ever
+speaks of the sacrament as a sacrifice, or calls the Lord's Table an
+altar, or even hints that a Christian minister is a sacrificing priest.
+The universal doctrine of the New Testament is that after the one
+offering of Christ there remains no more need of sacrifice.[2]
+
+  2: If any one fancies that St. Paul's words to the Hebrews, "We have an
+  altar," are a proof that the Lord's table is an altar, I advise him to
+  read what Waterland, no mean theologian, says on the
+  subject:--"Christians have an altar whereof they partake. That altar is
+  Christ our Lord, who is Altar, Priest, and Sacrifice, all in
+  One."--_Waterland's Works_, Vol. V., 268. Oxford edition.
+
+Does the English Prayer-book warrant any Churchman in saying that the
+Lord's Supper was meant to be a sacrifice, and that Christ's body and
+blood are present under the forms of bread and wine? Once more I reply,
+_Most certainly not!_ Not once is the word _altar_ to be found in the
+Prayer-book: not once is the Lord's Supper called a _sacrifice_.
+Throughout the Communion Service the one idea of the ordinance
+continually pressed on our attention is that of a "remembrance" of
+Christ's death. As to any presence of Christ's natural body and blood
+under the forms of bread and wine, the rubric at the end of the Service
+gives the most flat and distinct contradiction to the idea. That rubric
+expressly asserts that "the natural body and blood of Christ are in
+heaven, and not here." Those many Churchmen, so-called, who delight in
+talking of the "altar," the "sacrifice," the "priest," and the "real
+presence" in the Lord's Supper, would do well to remember that they are
+using language which is entirely unused by the Church of England.
+
+The point before us is one of vast importance. Let us lay hold upon it
+firmly, and never let it go. It is the very point on which our Reformers
+had their sharpest controversy with the Romanists, and went to the
+stake, rather than give way. Sooner than admit that the Lord's Supper
+was a sacrifice, they cheerfully laid down their lives. To bring back
+the doctrine of the "real presence," and to turn the good old English
+communion into the Romish "mass," is to pour contempt on our Martyrs,
+and to upset the first principles of the Protestant Reformation. Nay,
+rather, it is to ignore the plain teaching of God's Word, and do
+dishonour to the priestly office of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible
+teaches expressly that the Lord's Supper was ordained to be "a
+remembrance of Christ's body and blood," and not an offering. The Bible
+teaches that Christ's vicarious death on the cross was the one perfect
+sacrifice for sin, which never needs to be repeated. Let us stand fast
+in these two great principles of the Christian faith. A clear view of
+the intention of the Lord's Supper is one of the soul's best safeguards
+against the delusions of modern days.
+
+
+II. In the second place, let me try to show _who ought to be
+communicants_? _What kind of persons were meant to go to the Table and
+receive the Lord's Supper?_
+
+It will clear the ground if I first show who ought not to be partakers
+of this ordinance. The ignorance which prevails on this, as well as on
+every part of the subject, is vast, lamentable, and appalling. If I can
+contribute anything that may throw light upon it, I shall feel very
+thankful. The principal giants whom John Bunyan describes, in "Pilgrim's
+Progress," as dangerous to Christian pilgrims, were two, Pope and Pagan.
+If the good old Puritan had foreseen the times we live in, he would have
+said something about the giant Ignorance.
+
+(_a_) It is not right to urge all baptized persons to become
+communicants. There is such a thing as fitness and preparedness for the
+ordinance. It does not work like a medicine, independently of the state
+of mind of those who receive it. The teaching of those who press all
+their congregation to come to the Lord's Table, as if the coming _must_
+necessarily do every one good, is entirely without warrant of Scripture.
+Nay, rather, it is teaching which is calculated to do immense harm to
+men's souls, and to turn the reception of the sacrament into a mere
+form. Ignorance can never be the mother of acceptable worship, and an
+ignorant communicant who comes to the Lord's Table without knowing why
+he comes, is altogether in the wrong place.--"Let a man examine himself,
+and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup."--"To discern
+the Lord's body,"--that is to understand what the elements of bread and
+wine represent, and why they are appointed, and what is the particular
+use of remembering Christ's death,--is an essential qualification of a
+true communicant. God "commands all men everywhere to repent" and
+believe the Gospel (Acts xvii. 30); but He does not in the same way, or
+in the same manner, command every body to come to the Lord's Table. No:
+this thing is not to be taken in hand unadvisedly, lightly, or
+carelessly! It is a solemn ordinance, and solemnly it ought to be used.
+
+(_b_) But this is not all. Sinners living in open sin, and determined
+not to give it up, ought on no account to come to the Lord's Table. To
+do so is a positive insult to Christ, and to pour contempt on His
+Gospel. It is nonsense to profess we desire to remember Christ's death,
+while we cling to the accursed thing which made it needful for Christ to
+die. The mere fact that a man is continuing in sin, is plain evidence
+that he does not care for Christ, and feels no gratitude for redemption.
+The ignorant Papist who goes to the priest's confessional and receives
+absolution, may think he is fit to go to the Popish mass, and after mass
+may return to his sins. He never reads the Bible, and knows no better!
+But the Englishman who habitually breaks any of God's commandments, and
+yet goes to the Sacrament, as if it would do him good and wipe away his
+sins, is very guilty indeed. So long as he chooses to continue his
+wicked habits he cannot receive the slightest benefit from Christ's
+ordinances, and is only adding sin to sin. To carry unrepented sin up to
+the Communion Rail, and there receive the bread and wine, knowing in our
+own hearts that we and wickedness are yet friends, is one of the worst
+things a man can do, and one of the most hardening to conscience. If a
+man must have his sins, and cannot give them up, let him by all means
+stay away from the Lord's Supper. There is such a thing as "eating and
+drinking unworthily," and to our own "condemnation." To no one do these
+words apply so thoroughly as to an open sinner.
+
+(_c_) But I have not done yet. Self-righteous people, who think that
+they are to be saved by their own works, have no business to come to the
+Lord's Table. Strange as it may sound at first, these persons are the
+least qualified of all to receive the Sacrament. They may be outwardly
+correct, moral and respectable in their lives, but so long as they trust
+in their own goodness for salvation, they are entirely in the wrong
+place at the Lord's Supper. For what do we declare at the Lord's Supper?
+We publicly profess that we have no goodness, righteousness, or
+worthiness of our own, and that all our hope is in Christ. We publicly
+profess that we are guilty, sinful, and corrupt, and naturally deserve
+God's wrath and condemnation. We publicly profess that Christ's merit
+and not our's, Christ's righteousness and not our's, is the alone cause
+why we look for acceptance with God. Now what has a self-righteous man
+to do with an ordinance like this? Clearly nothing at all. One thing, at
+any rate, is very plain: a self-righteous man has no business to receive
+the sacrament in the Church of England. The Communion Service of the
+Church bids all communicants declare that "they do not presume to come
+to the Table trusting in their own righteousness, but in God's manifold
+and great mercies."--It tells them to say,--"We are not worthy so much
+as to gather up the crumbs under Thy table,"--"the remembrance of our
+sins is grievous unto us; the burden of them is intolerable."--How any
+self-righteous Churchman can ever go to the Lord's Table, and take these
+words into his mouth, passes my understanding! It only shows that many
+professing Christians use excellent "forms" of worship without taking
+the trouble to consider what they mean.
+
+The plain truth is that the Lord's Supper was not meant for dead souls,
+but for living ones. The careless, the ignorant, the wilfully wicked,
+the self-righteous, are no more fit to come to the Communion rail than a
+dead corpse is fit to sit down at a king's feast. To enjoy a spiritual
+feast we must have a spiritual heart, and taste, and appetite. To
+suppose that Christ's ordinances can do good to an unspiritual man, is
+as foolish as to put bread and wine into the mouth of a dead person. The
+careless, the ignorant, and the wilfully wicked, so long as they
+continue in that state, are utterly unfit to be communicants. To urge
+them to attend is not to do them good but harm. The Lord's Supper is not
+a converting or justifying ordinance. If a man goes to the Table
+unconverted or unforgiven, he will come away no better at all.
+
+But, after all, the ground having been cleared of error, the question
+still remains to be answered,--Who are the sort of persons who ought to
+be communicants? I answer that question in the words of the Church
+Catechism. I there find the inquiry made, "What is required of them who
+come to the Lord's Supper?" In reply I find it taught that people should
+"examine themselves whether they repent them truly of their former sins,
+steadfastly purposing to lead a new life;"--whether they "have a lively
+faith in God's mercy through Christ, with a thankful remembrance of His
+death;"--and whether they "are in charity with all men."--In a word, I
+find that a worthy communicant is one who possesses three simple marks
+and qualifications,--repentance, faith, and charity. Does a man truly
+repent of sin and hate it? Does a man put his trust in Jesus Christ as
+his only hope of salvation? Does a man live in charity towards others?
+He that can truly say to each of these questions, "I do," he is a man
+that is Scripturally qualified for the Lord's Supper. Let him come
+boldly. Let no barrier be put in his way. He comes up to the Bible
+standard of communicants. He may draw near with confidence, and feel
+assured that the great Master of the banquet is not displeased.
+
+Such a man's repentance may be very imperfect. Never mind! Is it real?
+Does he truly repent at all?--His faith in Christ may be very weak.
+Never mind! Is it real? A penny is as truly the current coin of the
+realm, and as really stamped with the Queen's image as a sovereign. His
+charity may be very defective in quantity and degree. Never mind! Is it
+genuine? The grand test of a man's Christianity is not the quantity of
+grace he has got, but whether he has any grace at all. The first twelve
+communicants, when Christ Himself gave the bread and wine, were weak
+indeed,--weak in knowledge, weak in faith, weak in courage, weak in
+patience, weak in love! But eleven of them had that about them which
+outweighed all defects: they were real, genuine, sincere, and true.
+
+For ever let this great principle be rooted in our minds,--the only
+worthy communicant is the man who is experimentally acquainted with
+repentance toward God, faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, and
+practical love toward others. Are you that man? Then you may draw
+near to the table, and take the sacrament to your comfort. Lower
+than this I dare not pitch my standard of a communicant. I will
+never help to crowd a communion rail with careless, ignorant,
+self-righteous attendants.--Higher than this I will not pitch my
+standard. I will never tell any one to keep away till he is perfect,
+and to wait till his heart is as unruffled as an angel's. I will not
+do so, because I believe that neither my Master nor His Apostles
+would have done so. Show me a man that really feels his sins, really
+leans on Christ, really struggles to be holy, and I will bid him
+welcome in my Master's name. He may feel weak, erring, empty,
+feeble, doubting, wretched, and poor. What matter? St. Paul, I
+believe, would have received him as a right communicant, and I will
+do likewise.
+
+
+III. In the third place, let us consider _what benefit communicants may
+expect to get by going to the Table and attending the Lord's Supper_.
+This is a point of grave importance, and one on which vast mistakes
+abound. On no point, perhaps, connected with this ordinance, are the
+views of Christians so vague and misty and undefined.
+
+One common idea among men is that "taking the sacrament must do them
+good." Why, they cannot explain. What good, they cannot exactly say. But
+they have a loose general notion that it is the right thing to be a
+communicant, and that somehow or other it is of service to their souls!
+This is of course nothing better than ignorance. It is unreasonable to
+suppose that such communicants can please Christ, or receive any real
+benefit from what they do. If there is any principle clearly laid down
+in the Bible about any act of religious worship, it is this,--that it
+must be _intelligent_. The worshipper must at least understand something
+about what he is doing. Mere bodily worship, unaccompanied by mind or
+heart, is utterly worthless. The man who walks up to a communion rail,
+and eats the bread and drinks the wine, as a mere matter of form,
+because his minister tells him, without any clear idea of what it all
+means, derives no benefit. He might just as well stay at home!
+
+Another common idea among men is that, "taking the sacrament will help
+them to heaven, and take away their sins." To this delusive idea you may
+trace up the habit in some parishes of going to the sacrament once a
+year, in order, as an old farmer once said, "to wipe off the year's
+sins." To this idea again, you may trace the too common practice of
+sending for a minister in time of sickness, in order to receive the
+sacrament before death. Alas, how many take comfort about their
+relatives, after they have lived a most ungodly life, for no better
+reason than this,--that _they took the sacrament_ when they were dying!
+Whether they repented and believed and had new hearts, they neither seem
+to know or care. All they know is that "they took the sacrament before
+they died." My heart sinks within me when I hear people resting on such
+evidence as this.
+
+Ideas like these are mournful proofs of the ignorance that fills the
+minds of men about the Lord's Supper. They are ideas for which there is
+not the slightest warrant either in Scripture or the Prayer-book. The
+sooner they are cast aside and given up, the better for the Church and
+the world.
+
+Let us settle it firmly in our minds that the Lord's Supper was not
+given to be a means either of justification or of conversion. It was
+never meant to give grace where there is no grace already, or to provide
+pardon when pardon is not already enjoyed. It cannot possibly supply the
+absence of repentance to God, and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. It
+is an ordinance for the penitent, not for the impenitent,--for the
+believing, not for the unbelieving,--for the converted, not for the
+unconverted. The unconverted man, who fancies that he can find a
+short-cut road to heaven by taking the sacrament, without treading the
+well-worn steps of repentance and faith, will find to his cost one day,
+that he is totally deceived. The Lord's Supper was meant to increase and
+help the grace that a man has, but not to impart the grace that he has
+not. It was certainly never intended to make our peace with God, to
+justify, or to convert.
+
+The simplest statement of the benefit which a true-hearted communicant
+may expect to receive from the Lord's Supper, is that which is supplied
+by the Church Catechism,--"The strengthening and refreshing of our
+souls."--Clearer views of Christ and His atonement, clearer views of
+all the offices which Christ fills as our Mediator and Advocate, clearer
+views of the complete redemption Christ has obtained for us by His
+vicarious death on the cross, clearer views of our full and perfect
+acceptance in Christ before God, fresh reasons for deep repentance for
+sin, fresh reasons for lively faith,--these are among the leading
+returns which a believer may confidently expect to get from his
+attendance at the Lord's Table. He that eats the bread and drinks the
+wine in a right spirit, will find himself drawn into closer communion
+with Christ, and will feel to know Him more, and understand Him better.
+
+(_a_) Right reception of the Lord's Supper has a _humbling_ effect on
+the soul. The sight of these emblems of Christ's body and blood, reminds
+us how sinful sin must be, if anything less than the death of God's own
+Son could make satisfaction for it, or redeem us from its guilt. Never
+surely ought we to be so "clothed with humility," as when we kneel at
+the Communion rail.
+
+(_b_) Right reception of the Lord's Supper has a _cheering_ effect on
+the soul. The sight of the bread broken, and the wine poured out,
+reminds us how full, perfect, and complete is our salvation. Those
+lively emblems remind us what an enormous price has been paid for our
+redemption. They press on us the mighty truth, that believing on Christ,
+we have nothing to fear, because a sufficient payment has been made for
+our debt. The "precious blood of Christ" answers every charge that can
+be brought against us. God can be a "just God, and yet the justifier of
+every one that believeth on Jesus." (Rom. iii. 26.)
+
+(_c_) Right reception of the Lord's Supper has a _sanctifying_ effect on
+the soul. The bread and wine remind us how great is our debt of
+gratitude to our Lord, and how thoroughly we are bound to live for Him
+who died for our sins. They seem to say to us, "Remember what Christ has
+done for you, and ask yourself whether there is anything too great to do
+for Him."
+
+(_d_) Right reception of the Lord's Supper into hearts, has a
+_restraining_ effect on the soul. Every time a believer goes up to the
+Communion rail he is reminded what a serious thing it is to be a
+Christian, and what an obligation is laid on him to lead a consistent
+life. Bought with such a price as that bread and wine call to his
+recollection, ought he not to glorify Christ in body and spirit, which
+are His? The man that goes regularly and intelligently to the Lord's
+Table finds it increasingly hard to yield to sin and conform to the
+world.
+
+Such is a brief account of the benefits which a right-hearted
+communicant may expect to receive from the Lord's Supper. In eating that
+bread and drinking that cup, such a man will have his repentance
+deepened, his faith increased, his knowledge enlarged, his habit of holy
+living strengthened. He will realize more of the "real presence" of
+Christ in his heart. Eating that bread by faith, he will feel closer
+communion with the body of Christ. Drinking that wine by faith, he will
+feel closer communion with the blood of Christ. He will see more clearly
+what Christ is to him, and what he is to Christ. He will understand more
+thoroughly what it is to be "one with Christ, and Christ one with him."
+He will feel the roots of his soul's spiritual life watered, and the
+work of grace in his heart stablished, built up, and carried forward.
+All these things may seem and sound foolishness to a natural man, but to
+a true Christian these things are light, and health, and life, and
+peace. No wonder that a true Christian finds the Lord's Supper a source
+of blessing!
+
+Remember, I do not pretend to say that all Christians experience the
+full blessing of the Lord's Supper, which I have just attempted to
+describe. Nor yet do I say that the same believer will always find his
+soul in the same spiritual frame, and always receive the same amount of
+benefit from the sacrament. But this I will boldly say: you will rarely
+find a true believer who will not say that he reckons the Lord's Supper
+one of his best helps and highest privileges. He will tell you that if
+he were deprived of the Lord's Supper he should find the loss of it a
+great drawback to his soul. There are some things of which we never know
+the value till they are taken from us. So I believe it is with the
+Lord's Supper. The weakest and humblest of God's children gets a
+blessing from this sacrament, to an extent of which he is not aware.
+
+
+IV. In the last place, I have to consider _why it is that many so-called
+Christians never come to the Lord's Supper_.
+
+It is a simple matter of fact, that myriads of baptized persons never
+come to the Table of the Lord. They would not endure to be told that
+they deny the faith, and are practically not in communion with Christ.
+When they worship, they attend a place of Christian worship; when they
+hear religious teaching, it is the teaching of Christianity; when they
+are married, they use a Christian service; when their children are
+baptized, they ask for the Sacrament of Baptism. Yet all this time they
+never come to the Lord's Supper! They often live on in this state of
+mind for many years, and to all appearance are not ashamed. They often
+die in this condition without ever having received the sacrament, and
+yet profess to feel hope at the last, and their friends express a hope
+about them. And yet they live and die in open disobedience to a plain
+command of Christ! These are simple facts. Let any one look around him,
+and deny them if he can. I challenge any one to deny that the
+non-communicants in all English congregations form the majority, and the
+communicants the minority of the worshippers.
+
+Now how is this? What account can we give of it? Our Lord Jesus Christ's
+last injunctions to His disciples are clear, plain, and unmistakable. He
+says to all, "Eat, drink: do this in remembrance of Me." Did He leave
+it to our discretion whether we would attend to His injunction or not?
+Did He mean that it did not signify whether His disciples did or did not
+keep up the ordinance He had just established? Certainly not. The very
+idea is absurd, and one certainly never dreamed of in apostolic
+times.--St. Paul evidently takes it for granted that every Christian is
+a communicant. A class of Christian worshippers who never came to the
+Table, was a class whose existence was unknown to him. What, then, are
+we to say of that large multitude of non-communicants which walks out of
+our churches every sacrament Sunday, unabashed, unhumbled, not afraid,
+not the least ashamed? Why is it? How is it? What does it all mean? Let
+us look these questions fairly in the face, and endeavour to give an
+answer to them.
+
+(1) For one thing, many are not communicants because they are utterly
+careless and thoughtless about religion, and ignorant of the very first
+principles of Christianity. They go to church, as a matter of form,
+because other people go; but they neither know, nor care anything about
+what is done, at church! The faith of Christ has no place either in
+their hearts, or heads, or consciences, or wills, or understandings. It
+is a mere affair of "words and names," about which they know no more
+than Festus or Gallio. There were very few such Christians in St. Paul's
+times, if indeed there were any. There are far too many in these last
+days of the world, when everything seems to be wearing out and running
+to seed. They are the dead-weight of the Churches, and the scandal of
+Christianity. What such people need is light, knowledge, grace, a
+renewed conscience, a changed heart. In their present state they have no
+part or lot in Christ; and dying in this state they are unfit for
+heaven. Do I wish them to come to the Lord's Supper? Certainly not, till
+they are converted. Except a man be converted he will never enter the
+kingdom of God.
+
+(2) For another thing, many are not communicants because they know they
+are living in the habitual practice of some sin, or in the habitual
+neglect of some Christian duty. Their conscience tells them that so long
+as they live in this state, and do not break off from their sins, they
+are unfit to come to the Table of the Lord. Well: they are so far quite
+right! I wish no man to be a communicant if he cannot give up his sins.
+But I warn these people not to forget that if they are unfit for the
+Lord's Supper they are unfit to die, and that if they die in their
+present condition they will be lost eternally. The same sins which
+disqualify them for the sacrament, most certainly disqualify them for
+heaven. Do I want them to come to the Lord's Supper as they are?
+Certainly not! But I do want them to repent and be converted, to cease
+to do evil, and to break off from their sins. For ever let it be
+remembered that the man unfit for the Lord's Supper is unfit to die.
+
+(3) For another thing, some are not communicants because they fancy it
+will add to their responsibility. They are not, as many, ignorant and
+careless about religion. They even attend regularly on the means of
+grace, and like the preaching of the Gospel. But they say they dread
+coming forward and making a profession. They fear that they might
+afterwards fall away, and bring scandal on the cause of Christianity.
+They think it wisest to be on the safe side, and not commit themselves
+at all. Such people would do well to remember that if they avoid
+responsibility of one kind by not coming to the Lord's Table, they incur
+responsibility of another kind, quite as grave, and quite as injurious
+to the soul. They are responsible for open disobedience to a command of
+Christ. They are shrinking from doing that which their Master
+continually enjoins on His disciples,--from confessing Him before men.
+No doubt it is a serious step to come forward and receive the sacrament.
+It is a step that none should take lightly and without self-examination.
+But it is _no less a serious step to walk away and refuse the
+ordinance_, when we remember Who invites us to receive it, and for what
+purpose it was appointed! I warn the people I am now dealing with to
+take heed what they are doing. Let them not flatter themselves that it
+can ever be a wise, a prudent, a safe line of conduct to neglect a plain
+command of Christ. They may find at length, to their cost, that they
+have only increased their guilt and forsaken their mercies.
+
+(4) For another thing, some are not communicants because they fancy they
+are not yet worthy. They wait and stand still, under the mistaken notion
+that no one is qualified for the Lord's Supper unless he feels within
+him something like perfection. They pitch their idea of a communicant so
+high that they despair of attaining to it. Waiting for inward perfection
+they live, and waiting for it too often they die. Now such persons would
+do well to understand that they are completely mistaken in their
+estimate of what "worthiness" really is. They are forgetting that the
+Lord's Supper was not intended for unsinning angels, but for men and
+women compassed with infirmity, dwelling in a world full of temptations,
+and needing mercy and grace every day they live. A sense of our own
+utter unworthiness is the best worthiness we can bring to the Communion
+rail. A deep feeling of our own entire indebtedness to Christ for all we
+have and hope for, is the best feeling we can bring with us. The people
+I now have in view ought to consider seriously whether the ground they
+have taken up is tenable, and whether they are not standing in their own
+light. If they are waiting till they feel in themselves perfect hearts,
+perfect motives, perfect feelings, perfect repentance, perfect love,
+perfect faith, they will wait for ever. There never were such
+communicants in any age,--certainly not in the days of our Lord and of
+the Apostles,--there never will be as long as the world stands. Nay,
+rather, the very thought that we feel literally worthy, is a symptom of
+secret self-righteousness, and proves us unfit for communion in God's
+sight. Sinners we are when we first come to the throne of
+grace,--sinners we shall be till we die; converted changed, renewed,
+sanctified, but sinners still. In short, no man is a really worthy
+communicant who does not deeply feel that he is a "miserable sinner."
+
+(5) In the last place, some object to be communicants because they see
+others coming to the Lord's Table who are not worthy, and not in a right
+state of mind. Because others eat and drink unworthily, they refuse to
+eat and drink at all. Of all the grounds taken up by non-communicants to
+justify their own neglect of Christ's ordinance, I must plainly say, I
+know none which seems to me so foolish, so weak, so unreasonable, and so
+unscriptural as this. It is as good as saying that we will never receive
+the Lord's Supper at all! When shall we ever find a body of communicants
+on earth of which all the members are converted?--It is setting up
+ourselves in the most unhealthy attitude of judging others. "Who art
+thou that judgest another?" "What is that to thee? Follow thou Me."--It
+is depriving ourselves of a great privilege merely because others
+profane it and make a bad use of it.--It is pretending to be wiser than
+our Master Himself. If the words of St. Luke mean anything, Judas
+Iscariot was present at the first Communion, and received the bread and
+wine among others.--It is taking up ground for which there is no warrant
+in Scripture. St. Paul rebukes the Corinthians sharply for the
+irreverent behaviour of some of the communicants; but I cannot find him
+giving a single hint that when some came to the Table unworthily, others
+ought to draw back or stay away. Let me advise the non-communicants I
+have now in view to beware of being wise above that which was written.
+Let them study the parable of the Wheat and Tares, and mark how both
+were to "grow together till the harvest." (Matt. xiii. 30.) Perfect
+Churches, perfect congregations, perfect bodies of communicants, are
+all unattainable in this world of confusion and sin. Let us covet the
+best gifts, and do all we can to check sin in others; but let us not
+starve our own selves because others are ignorant sinners, and turn
+their meat into poison. If others are foolish enough to eat and drink
+unworthily, let us not turn our backs on Christ's ordinance, and refuse
+to eat and drink at all.
+
+Such are the five common excuses why myriads in the present day, though
+professing themselves Christians, never come to the Lord's Supper. One
+common remark may be made about them: there is not a single reason among
+the five which deserves to be called "good," and which does not condemn
+the man who gives it. I challenge any one to deny this. I have said
+repeatedly that I want no one to be a communicant who is not properly
+qualified. But I ask those who stay away never to forget that the very
+reasons they assign for their conduct are their condemnation. I tell
+them that they stand convicted before God of either being very ignorant
+of what a communicant is, and what the Lord's Supper is; or else of
+being persons who are not living rightly, and are unfit to die. In
+short, to say, I am a non-communicant, is as good as saying one of three
+things:--"I am living in sin, and cannot come;--I know Christ commands
+me, but I will not obey Him;--I am an ignorant man, and do not
+understand what the Lord's Supper means."
+
+
+I know not in what state of mind this book may find the reader of this
+paper, or what his opinions may be about the Lord's Supper. But I will
+conclude the whole subject by offering to all some warnings, which I
+venture to think are peculiarly required by the times.
+
+(1) In the first place, _do not neglect_ the Lord's Supper. The man who
+coolly and deliberately refuses to use an ordinance which the Lord Jesus
+Christ appointed for his profit, may be very sure that his soul is in a
+very wrong state. There is a judgment yet to come; there is an account
+to be rendered of all our conduct on earth. How any one can look forward
+to that day, and expect to meet Christ with comfort and in peace, if he
+has refused all his life to meet Christ in His own ordinance, is a thing
+that I cannot understand. Does this come home to you? Mind what you are
+doing.
+
+(2) In the second place, _do not receive the Lord's Supper carelessly_,
+irreverently, and as a matter of form. The man who walks up to the
+Communion rail, and eats the bread and drinks the wine, while his heart
+is far away, is committing a great sin, and robbing himself of a great
+blessing. In this, as in every other means of grace, everything depends
+on the state of mind in which the ordinance is used. He that draws near
+without repentance, faith, and love, and with a heart full of sin and
+the world, will certainly be nothing better, but rather worse. Does this
+come home to you? Mind what you are about.
+
+(3) In the third place, _do not make an idol_ of the Lord's Supper. The
+man who tells you that it is the first, foremost, chief, and principal
+ordinance in Christianity, is telling you that which he will find it
+hard to prove. In the great majority of the books of the New Testament
+the Lord's Supper is not even named. In the letter to Timothy and Titus,
+about a minister's duties, the subject is not even mentioned. To repent
+and be converted, to believe and be holy, to be born again and have
+grace in our hearts,--all these things are of far more importance than
+to be a communicant. Without them we cannot be saved. Without the Lord's
+Supper we can. The penitent thief was not a communicant, and Judas
+Iscariot was! Are you tempted to make the Lord's Supper override and
+overshadow everything in Christianity, and place it above prayer and
+preaching? Take care. Mind what you are about.
+
+(4) In the fourth place, _do not use the Lord's Supper irregularly_.
+Never be absent when this ordinance is administered. Make every
+sacrifice to be in your place. Regular habits are essential to the
+maintenance of the health of our bodies. Regular use of every means of
+grace is essential to the prosperity of our souls. The man who finds it
+a weariness to attend on every occasion when the Lord's Table is spread,
+may well doubt whether all is right within him, and whether he is ready
+for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. If Thomas had not been absent when
+the Lord appeared the first time to the assembled disciples, he would
+not have said the foolish things he did. Absence made him miss a
+blessing. Does this come home to you? Mind what you are about.
+
+(5) In the fifth place, _do not do anything to bring discredit_ on your
+profession as a communicant. The man who after attending the Lord's
+Table runs into sin, does more harm perhaps than any sinner. He is a
+walking sermon on behalf of the devil. He gives occasion to the enemies
+of the Lord to blaspheme. He helps to keep people away from Christ.
+Lying, drinking, adulterous, dishonest, passionate communicants are the
+helpers of the devil, and the worst enemies of the Gospel. Does this
+come home to you? Mind what you are about.
+
+(6) In the last place, _do not despond_ and be cast down, if with all
+your desires you do not feel to get great good from the Lord's Supper.
+Very likely you are expecting too much. Very likely you are a poor judge
+of your own state. Your soul's roots may be strengthening and growing,
+while you think you are not getting on. Very likely you are forgetting
+that earth is not heaven, and that here we walk by sight and not by
+faith, and must expect nothing perfect. Lay these things to heart. Do
+not write bitter things against yourself without cause.
+
+To every reader into whose hands this paper may fall, I commend the
+whole subject of it as deserving of serious and solemn consideration. I
+am nothing better than a poor fallible man myself. But if I have made
+up my mind on any point it is this,--that there is no truth which
+demands such plain speaking as truth about the Lord's Supper.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+NOTE
+
+     I ask the special attention of my readers to the following
+     extracts from the last Charge of the late Dr. Longley,
+     Archbishop of Canterbury.
+
+     The office held by the Archbishop, the remarkable gentleness
+     and mildness of his character, the fact that this Charge
+     contains his last sentiments, and that it was not made public
+     till after his death,--all this appears to me to invest these
+     extracts about the Lord's Supper with peculiar interest.
+
+     "It is far from my intention to impute to all those who have
+     taken the ill-advised step of adopting the Sacrificial
+     Vestments (in administering the Lord's Supper) any sympathy
+     with Roman error; but I am constrained to avow that there are
+     plain indications in some of the publications which have been
+     issued as manifestoes of the opinions of that section of our
+     Church, that some of its professed members, yea, even of her
+     ministers, think themselves at liberty to hold the doctrines of
+     the Church of Rome in relation to the Sacrifice of the Mass,
+     and yet retain their position within the pale of the Anglican
+     Church with the avowed purpose of eliminating from its
+     formularies every trace of the Reformation, as regards its
+     protest against Romish error. The language they hold with
+     respect to it is entirely incompatible with loyalty to the
+     Church to which they profess to belong. They call it 'a
+     Communion deeply tainted with Protestant heresy:' 'Our duty,'
+     they say, 'is the expulsion of the evil, not flight from it.'
+     It is no want of charity, therefore, to declare that they
+     remain with us in order that they may substitute the Mass for
+     the Communion; the obvious aim of our Reformers having been to
+     substitute the Communion for the Mass. Doubtless the Church of
+     England admits of considerable latitude in the views that may
+     be taken of that most mysterious of all mysteries, the
+     Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. And so long as those solemn
+     words of its original institution, 'This is my Body,' 'This is
+     my Blood,' shall remain in the sentence of consecration (and
+     they never can be erased from it), so long will there be
+     varieties of interpretation of these words, all of which may be
+     consistent with a true allegiance to our Church, provided these
+     three conditions be observed:--
+
+     "1. That they be not construed to signify that the Natural Body
+     of Christ is present in the Sacrament:
+
+     "2. Nor to admit of any adoration either of the Sacramental
+     bread and wine there bodily received, or of any corporal
+     presence of Christ's Natural Body and Blood:
+
+     "3. Nor to justify the belief that the Body and Blood are again
+     offered as a satisfaction for sin; seeing that the offering of
+     Christ once made was a perfect redemption, propitiation, and
+     satisfaction for the sins of the whole world, original and
+     actual.
+
+     "These are the limits which our Church imposes upon the liberty
+     of interpretation of the words of our blessed Lord.
+
+     "The use of these sacrificial vestments is in the minds of many
+     intimately connected with the idea that an essential element in
+     the Holy Communion is the offering to God a Sacrifice of the
+     Body and Blood of Christ, which abide with the elements in a
+     mysterious manner after the act of Consecration. The minister
+     wears the vestments at that time as a sacrificing priest.
+     According to this view it would seem that the most important
+     part of this Holy Sacrament is what we offer to God, not what
+     we receive from Him.
+
+     "This view is not recognised by the Church of England in her
+     formularies. The general definition in the XXVth Article states
+     that Sacraments are 'certain sure witnesses and effectual signs
+     of grace, by the which [God] doth work invisibly in us;' and it
+     is said specifically of the Lord's Supper (Art. XXVIII.), that
+     it 'is a Sacrament of our Redemption by Christ's death:
+     insomuch that to such as rightly, worthily, and with faith,
+     receive the same, the Bread which we break is a partaking of
+     the Body of Christ; and likewise the Cup of Blessing is a
+     partaking of the Blood of Christ.' The idea of the Sacrifice of
+     that Body and Blood finds no place in either of these strict
+     definitions. The Catechism speaks the same language when it
+     defines a Sacrament to be 'an outward and visible sign of an
+     inward and spiritual grace given unto us.' Nor will an
+     examination of the Office of the Holy Communion itself give any
+     countenance to the idea in question. The only distinct oblation
+     or offering mentioned in that Office is previous to the
+     Consecration of the elements, in the Prayer for the Church
+     Militant, and therefore cannot be an offering or sacrifice of
+     the Body and Blood of Christ; and the only sacrifice which we
+     are spoken of as making, is the offering of 'ourselves, our
+     souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, and lively
+     sacrifice.'[3] Our Church seems most studiously to have avoided
+     any expression which could countenance the notion of a
+     perpetual Sacrifice of Christ, while on the other hand it
+     speaks of Christ's death upon the cross as 'His own oblation of
+     Himself once offered as a full, perfect, and sufficient
+     sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.' No room is left for
+     the repetition of that sacrifice, or for the admission of any
+     other sacrifice for sin."
+
+        *       *       *       *       *
+
+  3: See Proctor on the Common Prayer, p. 320.
+
+"The Romish notion of a true, real, and substantial Sacrifice of the
+Body and Blood of Christ, as it is called in the Council of Trent,
+entailed the use of the term _altar_. But this term appears nowhere in
+the Book of Common Prayer, and was no doubt omitted lest any countenance
+should be given to the sacrificial view. The notion, therefore, of
+making in the material elements a perpetual offering of the Body and
+Blood of Christ, is as foreign to the spirit and the letter of our
+Service as I hold it to be to the doctrine of the early Fathers, as well
+as of the leading divines of our Church. This latter point also I shall
+endeavour to establish hereafter.
+
+"Meanwhile it cannot be denied, on the other hand, that the doctrine of
+the Real Presence is, in one sense, the doctrine of the Church of
+England. She asserts that the Body and Blood of Christ are 'verily and
+indeed taken and received by the faithful in the Lord's Supper.' And she
+asserts equally that such presence is not material or corporal; but that
+Christ's Body 'is given, taken, and eaten, in the Supper, only after a
+heavenly and spiritual manner.' (Art. XXVIII.) Christ's presence is
+effectual for all those intents and purposes for which His Body was
+broken, and His Blood shed. As to a presence elsewhere than in the heart
+of the believer, the Church of England is silent, and the words of
+Hooker therefore represent her views: 'The real presence of Christ's
+most blessed Body and Blood is not to be sought in the Sacrament, but in
+the worthy receiver of the Sacrament.'"
+
+
+
+
+VII
+
+
+CHARITY
+
+     "_Now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the
+     greatest of these is charity._"--1 Cor. xiii. 13.
+
+
+Charity is rightly called "the Queen of Christian graces." "The end of
+the commandment," says St. Paul, "is charity." (1 Tim. i. 5.) It is a
+grace which all people profess to admire. It seems a plain practical
+thing which everybody can understand. It is none of "those troublesome
+doctrinal points" about which Christians are disagreed. Thousands, I
+suspect, would not be ashamed to tell you that they knew nothing about
+justification or regeneration, about the work of Christ or the Holy
+Spirit. But nobody, I believe, would like to say that he knew nothing
+about "charity!" If men possess nothing else in religion, they always
+flatter themselves that they possess "charity."
+
+A few plain thoughts about charity may not be without use. There are
+false notions abroad about it which require to be dispelled. There are
+mistakes about it which require to be rectified. In my admiration of
+charity I yield to none. But I am bold to say that in many minds the
+whole subject seems completely misunderstood.
+
+
+    I. Let me show, firstly, _the place the Bible gives to charity_.
+
+    II. Let me show, secondly, _what the charity of the Bible really
+    is_.
+
+    III. Let me show, thirdly, _whence true charity comes_.
+
+    IV. Let me show, lastly, _why charity is "the greatest" of the
+    graces_.
+
+
+I ask the best attention of my readers to the subject. My heart's desire
+and prayer to God is, that the growth of charity may be promoted in this
+sin-burdened world. In nothing does the fallen condition of man show
+itself so strongly as in the scarcity of Christian charity. There is
+little faith on earth, little hope, little knowledge of Divine things.
+But nothing, after all, is so scarce as real charity.
+
+
+I. Let me show _the place which the Bible gives to charity_.
+
+I begin with this point in order to establish the immense practical
+importance of my subject. I do not forget that there are many
+high-flying Christians in this present day, who almost refuse to look at
+anything _practical_ in Christianity. They can talk of nothing but two
+or three favourite doctrines. Now I want to remind my readers that the
+Bible contains much about practice as well as about doctrine, and that
+one thing to which it attaches great weight is "charity."
+
+I turn to the New Testament, and ask men to observe what it says about
+charity. In all religious inquiries there is nothing like letting the
+Scripture speak for itself. There is no surer way of finding out truth
+than the old way of turning to plain texts. Texts were our Lord's
+weapons, both in answering Satan, and in arguing with the Jews. Texts
+are the guides we must never be ashamed to refer to in the present
+day.--"What saith the Scripture? What is written? How readest thou?"
+
+Let us hear what St. Paul says to the Corinthians: "Though I speak with
+the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as
+sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of
+prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I
+have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity,
+I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and
+though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth
+me nothing." (1 Cor. xiii. 1--3.)
+
+Let us hear what St. Paul says to the Colossians: "Above all these
+things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness." (Col. iii.
+14.)
+
+Let us hear what St. Paul says to Timothy: "The end of the commandment
+is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith
+unfeigned." (1 Tim. i. 5.)
+
+Let us hear what St. Peter says: "Above all things have fervent charity
+among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins." (1
+Peter iv. 8.)
+
+Let us hear what our Lord Jesus Christ Himself says about that love,
+which is only another name for charity.[4] "A new commandment give I
+unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also
+love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples,
+if ye have love one to another." (John xiii. 34, 35.) Above all, let us
+read our Lord's account of the last judgment, and mark that want of love
+will condemn millions. (Matt. xxv. 41, 42.)
+
+  4: In the Greek language one and the same word only is used for
+  "love" and "charity." In our English version our translators have
+  sometimes rendered this word one way and sometimes another.
+
+Let us hear what St. Paul says to the Romans: "Owe no man anything, but
+to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law."
+(Rom. xiii. 8.)
+
+Let us hear what St. Paul says to the Ephesians: "Walk in love, as
+Christ also hath loved us." (Eph. v. 2.)
+
+Let us hear what St. John says: "Beloved, let us love one another: for
+love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth
+God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." (1 John iv.
+7, 8.)
+
+I shall make no comment upon these texts. I think it better to place
+them before my readers in their naked simplicity, and to let them speak
+for themselves. If any one is disposed to think the subject of this
+paper a matter of light importance, I will only ask him to look at these
+texts, and to think again. He that would take down "charity" from the
+high and holy place which it occupies in the Bible, and treat it as a
+matter of secondary moment, must settle his account with God's Word. I
+certainly shall not waste time in arguing with him.
+
+To my own mind the evidence of these texts appears clear, plain, and
+incontrovertible. They show the immense importance of charity, as one of
+the "things that accompany salvation." They prove that it has a right to
+demand the serious attention of all who call themselves Christians, and
+that those who despise the subject are only exposing their own ignorance
+of Scripture.
+
+
+II. Let me show, secondly, _what the charity of the Bible really is_.
+
+I think it of great importance to have clear views on this point. It is
+precisely here that mistakes about charity begin. Thousands delude
+themselves with the idea that they have "charity," when they have not,
+from downright ignorance of Scripture. Their charity is not the charity
+described in the Bible.
+
+(_a_) The charity of the Bible does not consist in giving to the poor.
+It is a common delusion to suppose that it does. Yet St. Paul tells us
+plainly, that a man may "bestow all his goods to feed the poor" (1 Cor.
+xiii. 3), and not have charity. That a charitable man will "remember the
+poor," there can be no question. (Gal. ii. 10.) That he will do all he
+can to assist them, relieve them, and lighten their burdens, I do not
+for a moment deny. All I say is, that this does not make up "charity."
+It is easy to spend a fortune in giving away money, and soup, and wine,
+and bread, and coals, and blankets, and clothing, and yet to be utterly
+destitute of Bible charity.
+
+(_b_) The charity of the Bible does not consist in never disapproving
+anybody's conduct. Here is another very common delusion! Thousands pride
+themselves on never condemning others, or calling them wrong, whatever
+they may do. They convert the precept of our Lord, "judge not," into an
+excuse for having no unfavourable opinion at all of anybody. They
+pervert His prohibition of rash and censorious judgments, into a
+prohibition of all judgment whatsoever. Your neighbour may be a
+drunkard, a liar, a Sabbath-breaker, a passionate man. Never mind! "It
+is not charity," they tell you, "to pronounce him, wrong." You are to
+believe that he has a good heart at bottom! This idea of charity is,
+unhappily, a very common one. It is full of mischief. To throw a veil
+over sin, and to refuse to call things by their right names,--to talk of
+"hearts" being good, when "lives" are flatly wrong,--to shut our eyes
+against wickedness, and say smooth things of immorality,--this is not
+Scriptural charity.
+
+(_c_) The charity of the Bible does not consist in never disapproving
+anybody's religious opinions. Here is another most serious and growing
+delusion. There are many who pride themselves on never pronouncing
+others mistaken, whatever views they may hold. Your neighbour, forsooth,
+may be an Arian, or a Socinian, a Roman Catholic, or a Mormonite, a
+Deist, or a Sceptic, a mere Formalist, or a thorough Antinomian. But the
+"charity" of many says that you have no right to think Him wrong! If he
+is sincere, it is "uncharitable" to think unfavourably of his spiritual
+condition!--From such charity may I ever be delivered! At this rate the
+Apostles were wrong in going out to preach to the Gentiles! At this rate
+there is no use in missions! At this rate we had better close our
+Bibles, and shut up our churches! Everybody is right, and nobody is
+wrong! Everybody is going to heaven, and nobody is going to hell! Such
+charity is a monstrous caricature. To say that all are equally right in
+their opinions, though their opinions flatly contradict one another,--to
+say that all are equally in the way to heaven, though their doctrinal
+sentiments are as opposite as black and white,--this is not Scriptural
+charity. Charity like this pours contempt on the Bible, and talks as if
+God had not given us a written test of truth. Charity like this confuses
+all our notions of heaven, and would fill it with a discordant
+inharmonious rabble. True charity does not think everybody right in
+doctrine. True charity cries,--"Believe not every spirit, but try the
+spirits whether they be of God: because many false prophets are gone out
+into the world."--"If there come any unto you, and bring not this
+doctrine, receive him not." (1 John iv. 1; 2 John 10.)
+
+I leave the negative side of the question here. I have dwelt upon it at
+some length because of the days in which we live and the strange notions
+which abound. Let me now turn to the positive side. Having shown what
+charity is not, let me now show what it is.
+
+Charity is that "love," which St. Paul places first among those fruits
+which the Spirit causes to be brought forth in the heart of a believer.
+"The fruit of the Spirit is love." (Gal. v. 2.) Love to God, such as
+Adam had before the fall, is its first feature. He that has charity,
+desires to love God with heart, and soul and mind, and strength. Love to
+man is its second feature. He that has charity, desires to love his
+neighbour as himself. This is indeed that view in which the word
+"charity" in Scripture is more especially regarded. When I speak of a
+believer having "love" in his heart, I mean that he has love to both God
+and man. When I speak of a believer having "charity," I mean more
+particularly that he has love to man.
+
+The charity of the Bible will show itself in a _believer's doings_. It
+will make him ready to do kind acts to every one within his
+reach,--both to their bodies and souls. It will not let him be content
+with soft words and kind wishes. It will make him diligent in doing all
+that lies in his power to lessen the sorrow and increase the happiness
+of others. Like his Master, he will care more for ministering than for
+being ministered to, and will look for nothing in return. Like his
+Master's great apostle, he will very willingly "spend and be spent" for
+others, even though they repay him with hatred, and not with love. True
+charity does not want wages. Its work is its reward.
+
+The charity of the Bible will show itself in a believer's _readiness to
+bear_ evil as well as to do good. It will make him patient under
+provocation, forgiving when injured, meek when unjustly attacked, quiet
+when slandered. It will make him bear much and forbear much, put up with
+much and look over much, submit often and deny himself often, all for
+the sake of peace. It will make him put a strong bit on his temper, and
+a strong bridle on his tongue. True charity is not always asking,--"What
+are my rights? Am I treated as I deserve?" but, "How can I best promote
+peace? How can I do that which is most edifying to others?"
+
+The charity of the Bible will show itself in the _general spirit and
+demeanour_ of a believer. It will make him kind, unselfish,
+good-natured, good-tempered, and considerate for others. It will make
+him gentle, affable, and courteous, in all the daily relations of
+private life, thoughtful for others' comfort, tender for others'
+feelings, and more anxious to give pleasure than to receive. True
+charity never envies others when they prosper, nor rejoices in the
+calamities of others when they are in trouble. At all times it will
+believe, and hope, and try to put a good construction on others' doings.
+And even at the worst, it will be full of pity, mercy, and compassion.
+
+Would we like to know where the true Pattern of charity like this can be
+found? We have only to look at the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, as
+described in the Gospels, and we shall see it perfectly exemplified.
+Charity shone forth in all His doings. His daily life was an incessant
+"going about", doing good.--Charity shone forth in all His bearing. He
+was continually hated, persecuted, slandered, misrepresented. But He
+patiently endured it all. No angry word ever fell from His lips. No
+ill-temper ever appeared in His demeanour. "When He was reviled, He
+reviled not again: when He suffered, He threatened not." (1 Pet. ii.
+23.)--Charity shone forth in all His spirit and deportment. The law of
+kindness was ever on His lips. Among weak and ignorant disciples, among
+sick and sorrowful petitioners for help and relief, among publicans and
+sinners, among Pharisees and Sadducees, He was always one and the
+same.--kind and patient to all.
+
+And yet, be it remembered, our blessed Master never flattered sinners,
+or connived at sin. He never shrunk from exposing wickedness in its true
+colours, or from rebuking those who would cleave to it. He never
+hesitated to denounce false doctrine, by whomsoever it might be held, or
+to exhibit false practice in its true colours, and the certain end to
+which it tends. He called things by their right names. He spoke as
+freely of hell and the fire that is not quenched, as of heaven and the
+kingdom of glory. He has left on record an everlasting proof that
+perfect charity does not require us to approve everybody's life or
+opinions, and that it is quite possible to condemn false doctrine and
+wicked practice, and yet to be full of love at the same time.
+
+I have now set before my readers the true nature of Scriptural charity.
+I have given a slight and very brief account of what it is not, and what
+it is. I cannot pass on without suggesting two practical thoughts, which
+press home on my mind with weighty force, and I hope may press home on
+others.
+
+You have heard of charity. Think, for a moment, how deplorably little
+charity there is upon earth! How conspicuous is the absence of true love
+among Christians! I speak not of heathen now, I speak of Christians.
+What angry tempers, what passions, what selfishness, what bitter
+tongues, are to be found in private families! What strifes, what
+quarrels, what spitefulness, what malice, what revenge, what envy
+between neighbours and fellow-parishioners! What jealousies and
+contentions between Churchmen and Dissenters, Calvinists and Arminians,
+High Churchmen and Low Churchmen! "Where is charity?" we may well
+ask,--"Where is love? where is the mind of Christ?" when we look at the
+spirit which reigns in the world. No wonder that Christ's cause stands
+still, and infidelity abounds, when men's hearts know so little of
+charity! Surely, we may well say,--"When the Son of man cometh, shall He
+find charity upon earth?"
+
+Think, for another thing, what a happy world this would be if there was
+more charity. It is the want of love which causes half the misery there
+is upon earth. Sickness, and death, and poverty, will not account for
+more than half the sorrows. The rest come from ill-temper, ill-nature,
+strifes, quarrels, lawsuits, malice, envy, revenge, frauds, violence,
+wars, and the like. It would be one great step towards doubling the
+happiness of mankind, and halving their sorrows, if all men and women
+were full of Scriptural charity.
+
+
+III. Let me show, thirdly, _whence the charity of the Bible comes_.
+
+Charity, such as I have described, is certainly not natural to man.
+Naturally, we are all more or less selfish, envious, ill-tempered,
+spiteful, ill-natured, and unkind. We have only to observe children,
+when left to themselves, to see the proof of this. Let boys and girls
+grow up without proper training and education, and you will not see one
+of them possessing Christian charity. Mark how some of them think first
+of themselves, and their own comfort and advantage! Mark how others are
+full of pride, passion, and evil tempers! How can we account for it?
+There is but one reply. The natural heart knows nothing of true charity.
+
+The charity of the Bible will never be found except in a heart prepared
+by the Holy Ghost. It is a tender plant, and will never grow except in
+one soil. You may as well expect grapes on thorns, or figs on thistles,
+as look for charity when the heart is not right.
+
+The heart in which charity grows is a heart changed, renewed, and
+transformed by the Holy Ghost. The image and likeness of God, which Adam
+lost at the fall, has been restored to it, however feeble and imperfect
+the restoration may appear. It is a "partaker of the Divine nature," by
+union with Christ and sonship to God; and one of the first features of
+that nature is love. (2 Pet. i. 4.)
+
+Such a heart is deeply convinced of sin, hates it, flees from it, and
+fights with it from day to day. And one of the prime motions of sin
+which it daily labours to overcome, is selfishness and want of charity.
+
+Such a heart is deeply sensible of its mighty debt to our Lord Jesus
+Christ. It feels continually that it owes to Him who died for us on the
+cross, all its present comfort, hope, and peace. How can it show forth
+its gratitude? What can it render to its Redeemer? If it can do nothing
+else, it strives to be like Him, to drink into His spirit, to walk in
+His footsteps, and, like Him, to be full of love. "The love of Christ
+shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost" is the surest fountain of
+Christian charity. Love will produce love.
+
+I ask my reader's special attention to this point. It is one of great
+importance in the present day. There are many who profess to admire
+charity, while they care nothing about vital Christianity. They like
+some of the fruits and results of the Gospel, but not the root from
+which these fruits alone can grow, or the doctrines with which they are
+inseparably connected.
+
+Hundreds will praise love and charity, who hate to be told of man's
+corruption, of the blood of Christ, and of the inward work of the Holy
+Ghost. Many a parent would like his children to grow up unselfish and
+good tempered, who would not be much pleased if conversion, and
+repentance, and faith, were pressed home on their attention.
+
+Now I desire to protest against this notion, that you can have the
+fruits of Christianity without the roots,--that you can produce
+Christian tempers without teaching Christian doctrines,--that you can
+have charity that will wear and endure without grace in the heart.
+
+I grant, most freely, that every now and then one sees a person who
+seems very charitable and amiable, without any distinctive doctrinal
+religion. But such cases are so rare and remarkable, that, like
+exceptions, they only prove the truth of the general rule. And often,
+too often, it may be feared in such cases the apparent charity is only
+seeming, and in private completely fails. I firmly believe, as a general
+rule, you will not find such charity as the Bible describes, except in
+the soil of a heart thoroughly imbued with Bible religion. Holy practice
+will not flourish without sound doctrine. What God has joined together,
+it is useless to expect to have separate and asunder.
+
+The delusion which I am trying to combat is helped forward to a most
+mischievous degree by the vast majority of novels, romances, and tales
+of fiction. Who does not know that the heroes and heroines of these
+works are constantly described as patterns of perfection? They are
+always doing the right thing, saying the right thing, and showing the
+right temper! They are always kind, and amiable, and unselfish, and
+forgiving! And yet you never hear a word about their religion! In short,
+to judge by the generality of works of fiction, it is possible to have
+excellent practical religion without doctrine, the fruits of the Spirit
+without the grace of the Spirit, and the mind of Christ without union
+with Christ!
+
+Here, in short, is the great danger of reading most novels, romances,
+and works of fiction. The greater part of them give a false or incorrect
+view of human nature. They paint their model men and women as they ought
+to be, and not as they really are. The readers of such writings get
+their minds filled with wrong conceptions of what the world is. Their
+notions of mankind become visionary and unreal. They are constantly
+looking for men and women such as they never meet, and expecting what
+they never find.
+
+Let me entreat my readers, once for all, to draw their ideas of human
+nature from the Bible, and not from novels. Settle it down in your mind,
+that there cannot be true charity without a heart renewed by grace. A
+certain degree of kindness, courtesy, amiability, good nature, may
+undoubtedly be seen in many who have no vital religion. But the glorious
+plant of Bible charity, in all its fulness and perfection, will never be
+found without union with Christ, and the work of the Holy Ghost. Teach
+this to your children, if you have any. Hold it up in schools, if you
+are connected with any. Lift up charity. Make much of charity. Give
+place to none in exalting the grace of kindness, love, good nature,
+unselfishness, good temper. But never, never forget, that there is but
+one school in which these things can be thoroughly learned, and that is
+the school of Christ. Real charity comes down from above. True love is
+the fruit of the Spirit. He that would have it must sit at Christ's
+feet, and learn of Him.
+
+
+IV. Let me show, lastly, _why charity is called the "greatest" of the
+graces_.
+
+The words of St. Paul, on this subject, are distinct and unmistakable.
+He winds up his wonderful chapter on charity in the following manner:
+"Now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three: but the greatest of
+these is charity." (1 Cor. xiii. 13.)
+
+This expression is very remarkable. Of all the writers in the New
+Testament, none, certainly, exalts "faith" so highly as St. Paul. The
+Epistles to the Romans and Galatians abound in sentences showing its
+vast importance. By it the sinner lays hold on Christ and is saved.
+Through it we are justified, and have peace with God. Yet here the same
+St. Paul speaks of something which is even greater than faith. He puts
+before us the three leading Christian graces, and pronounces the
+following judgment on them,--"The greatest is charity." Such a sentence
+from such a writer demands special attention. What are we to understand
+when we hear of charity being greater than faith and hope?
+
+We are not to suppose, for a moment, that charity can atone for our
+sins, or make our peace with God. Nothing can do that for us but the
+blood of Christ, and nothing can give us an interest in Christ's blood
+but faith. It is unscriptural ignorance not to know this. The office of
+justifying and joining the soul to Christ belongs to faith alone. Our
+charity, and all our other graces, are all more or less imperfect, and
+could not stand the severity of God's judgment. When we have done all,
+we are "unprofitable servants." (Luke xvii. 10.)
+
+We are not to suppose that charity can exist independently of faith. St.
+Paul did not intend to set up one grace in rivalry to the other. He did
+not mean that one man might have faith, another hope, and another
+charity, and that the best of these was the man who had charity. The
+three graces are inseparably joined together. Where there is faith,
+there will always be love; and where there is love, there will be faith.
+Sun and light, fire and heat, ice and cold, are not more intimately
+united than faith and charity.
+
+The reasons why charity is called the greatest of the three graces,
+appear to me plain and simple. Let me show what they are.
+
+(_a_) Charity is called the greatest of graces, because it is the one in
+which there is _some likeness between the believer and his God_. God has
+no need of faith. He is dependent on no one. There is none superior to
+Him in whom He must trust.--God has no need of hope. To Him all things
+are certain, whether past, present, or to come.--But "God is love:" and
+the more love His people have, the more like they are to their Father in
+heaven.
+
+(_b_) Charity, for another thing, is called the greatest of the graces,
+because _it is most useful to others_. Faith and hope, beyond doubt,
+however precious, have special reference to a believer's own private
+individual benefit. Faith unites the soul to Christ, brings peace with
+God, and opens the way to heaven. Hope fills the soul with cheerful
+expectation of things to come, and, amid the many discouragements of
+things seen, comforts with visions of the things unseen. But charity is
+pre-eminently the grace which makes a man useful. It is the spring of
+good works and kindnesses. It is the root of missions, schools, and
+hospitals. Charity made apostles spend and be spent for souls. Charity
+raises up workers for Christ, and keeps them working. Charity smooths
+quarrels, and stops strife, and in this sense "covers a multitude of
+sins." (1 Pet. iv. 8.) Charity adorns Christianity, and recommends it to
+the world. A man may have real faith, and feel it, and yet his faith may
+be invisible to others. But a man's charity cannot be hid.
+
+(_c_) Charity, in the last place, is the greatest of the graces, because
+it is the one which _endures the longest_. In fact, it will never die.
+Faith will one day be swallowed up in sight, and hope in certainty.
+Their office will be useless in the morning of the resurrection, and,
+like old almanacs, they will be laid aside. But love will live on
+through the endless ages of eternity. Heaven will be the abode of love.
+The inhabitants of heaven will be full of love. One common feeling will
+be in all their hearts, and that will be charity.
+
+I leave this part of my subject here, and pass on to a conclusion. On
+each of the three points of comparison I have just named, between
+charity and the other graces, it would be easy to enlarge. But time and
+space both forbid me to do so. If I have said enough to guard men
+against mistakes about the right meaning of the "greatness" of charity,
+I am content. Charity, be it ever remembered, cannot justify and put
+away our sins. It is neither Christ, nor faith. But charity makes us
+somewhat like God. Charity is of mighty use to the world. Charity will
+live and flourish when faith's work is done. Surely, in these points of
+view, charity well deserves the crown.
+
+(1) And now let me ask every one into whose hands this paper may come a
+simple question. Let me press home on your conscience the whole subject
+of this paper. Do you know anything of the grace of which I have been
+speaking? _Have you charity?_
+
+The strong language of the Apostle St. Paul must surely convince you
+that the inquiry is not one that ought to be lightly put aside. The
+grace, without which that holy man could say, "I am nothing," the grace
+which the Lord Jesus says expressly is the great mark of being His
+disciple,--such a grace as this demands the serious consideration of
+every one who is in earnest about the salvation of his soul. It should
+set him thinking,--"How does this affect me? Have I charity?"
+
+You have some knowledge, it may be, of religion. You know the difference
+between true and false doctrine. You can, perhaps, even quote texts, and
+defend the opinions you hold. But, remember the knowledge which is
+barren of practical results in life and temper is a useless possession.
+The words of the Apostle are very plain: "Though I understand all
+knowledge, and have not charity, I am nothing." (1 Cor. xiii. 3.)
+
+You think you have faith, perhaps. You trust you are one of God's elect,
+and rest in that. But surely you should remember that there is a faith
+of devils, which is utterly unprofitable, and that the faith of God's
+elect is a "faith that worketh by love." It was when St. Paul remembered
+the "love" of the Thessalonians, as well as their faith and hope, that
+he said,--"I know your election of God." (1 Thess. i. 4.)
+
+Look at your own daily life, both at home and abroad, and consider what
+place the charity of Scripture has in it. What is your temper? What are
+your ways of behaving toward all around you in your own family? What is
+your manner of speaking, especially in seasons of vexation and
+provocation? Where is your good-nature, your courtesy, your patience,
+your meekness, your gentleness, your forbearance? Where are your
+practical actions of love in your dealing with others? What do you know
+of the mind of Him who "went about doing good,"--who loved all, though
+specially His disciples,--who returned good for evil, and kindness for
+hatred, and had a heart wide enough to feel for all?
+
+What would you do in heaven, I wonder, if you got there without charity?
+What comfort could you have in an abode where love was the law, and
+selfishness and ill-nature completely shut out? Alas! I fear that heaven
+would be no place for an uncharitable and ill-tempered man!--What said a
+little boy one day? "If grandfather goes to heaven, I hope I and brother
+will not go there." "Why do you say that?" he was asked. He
+replied,--"If he sees us there, I am sure he will say, as he does
+now,--'What are these boys doing here? Let them get out of the way.' He
+does not like to see us on earth, and I suppose he would not like to see
+us in heaven."
+
+Give yourself no rest till you know something by experience of real
+Christian charity. Go and learn of Him who is meek and lowly of heart,
+and ask Him to teach you how to love. Ask the Lord Jesus to put His
+Spirit within you, to take away the old heart, to give you a new nature,
+to make you know something of His mind. Cry to Him night and day for
+grace, and give Him no rest until you feel something of what I have been
+describing in this paper. Happy indeed will your life be when you really
+understand "walking in love."
+
+(2) But I do not forget that I am writing to some who are not ignorant
+of the charity of Scripture, and who long to feel more of it every year.
+I will give you two simple words of exhortation. They are
+these,--"Practice and teach the grace of charity."
+
+Practice charity diligently. It is one of those graces, above all, which
+grow by constant exercise. Strive more and more to carry it into every
+little detail of daily life. Watch over your own tongue and temper
+throughout every hour of the day,--and especially in your dealings with
+servants, children, and near relatives. Remember the character of the
+excellent woman:--"In her tongue is the law of kindness." (Prov. xxxi.
+26.)--Remember the words of St. Paul: "Let ALL your things be done with
+charity." (1 Cor. xvi. 14.) Charity should be seen in little things as
+well as in great ones.--Remember, not least, the words of St. Peter:
+"Have fervent charity among yourselves;" not a charity which just keeps
+alight, but a burning shining fire, which all around can see. (1 Pet.
+iv. 8.) It may cost pains and trouble to keep these things in mind.
+There may be little encouragement from the example of others. But
+persevere. Charity like this brings its own reward.
+
+Finally, teach charity to others. Press it continually on servants, if
+you have any. Tell them the great duty of kindness, helpfulness, and
+considerateness, one for another. Press it, above all, on children, it
+you have any. Remind them constantly that kindness, good nature, and
+good temper, are among the first evidences which Christ requires in
+children. If they cannot know much, or explain doctrines, they can
+understand love. A child's religion is worth very little if it only
+consists in repeating texts and hymns. Useful as they are, they are
+often learned without thought, remembered without feeling, said over
+without consideration of their meaning, and forgotten when childhood is
+gone. By all means let children be taught texts and hymns; but let not
+such teaching be made everything in their religion. Teach them to keep
+their tempers, to be kind one to another, to be unselfish, good-natured,
+obliging, patient, gentle, forgiving. Tell them never to forget to their
+dying day, if they live as long as Methuselah, that without charity, the
+Holy Ghost says, "we are nothing." Tell them "_above all things_ to put
+on charity, which is the bond of perfectness." (Colos. iii. 14.)
+
+
+
+
+VIII
+
+
+ZEAL
+
+     "_It is good to be zealously affected always in a good
+     thing._"--Gal. iv. 18.
+
+
+Zeal is a subject, like many others in religion, most sadly
+misunderstood. Many would be ashamed to be thought "zealous" Christians.
+Many are ready to say of zealous people what Festus said of Paul: "They
+are beside themselves,--they are mad." (Acts xxvi. 24)
+
+But zeal is a subject which no reader of the Bible has any right to pass
+over. If we make the Bible our rule of faith and practice, we cannot
+turn away from it. We must look it in the face. What says the Apostle
+Paul to Titus? "Christ gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from
+all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, _zealous_ of
+good works." (Titus ii. 14.) What says the Lord Jesus to the Laodicean
+Church? "Be _zealous_ and repent." (Rev. iii. 19.)
+
+My object in this paper is to plead the cause of zeal in religion. I
+believe we ought not to be afraid of it, but rather to love and admire
+it. I believe it to be a mighty blessing to the world, and the origin of
+countless benefits to mankind. I want to strike a blow at the lazy,
+easy, sleepy Christianity of these latter days, which can see no beauty
+in zeal, and only uses the word "zealot" as a word of reproach. I want
+to remind Christians that "Zealot" was a name given to one of our Lord
+Jesus Christ's Apostles, and to persuade them to be zealous men.
+
+I ask every reader of this paper to give me his attention while I tell
+him something about zeal. Listen to me for your own sake,--for the sake
+of the world,--for the sake of the Church of Christ. Listen to me, and
+by God's help I will show you that to be "zealous" is to be wise.
+
+
+    I. Let me show, in the first place, _what is zeal in religion_.
+
+    II. Let me show, in the second place, _when a man can be called
+    rightly zealous in religion_?
+
+    III. Let me show, in the third place, _why it is a good thing for a
+    man to be zealous in religion_?
+
+
+I. First of all, I propose to consider this question. "What is _zeal_ in
+religion?"
+
+Zeal in religion is a burning desire to please God, to do His will, and
+to advance His glory in the world in every possible way. It is a desire
+which no man feels by nature,--which the Spirit puts in the heart of
+every believer when he is converted,--but which some believers feel so
+much more strongly than others that they alone deserve to be called
+"zealous" men.
+
+This desire is so strong, when it really reigns in a man, that it impels
+him to make any sacrifice,--to go through any trouble,--to deny himself
+to any amount,--to suffer, to work, to labour, to toil,--to spend
+himself and be spent, and even to die,--if only he can please God and
+honour Christ.
+
+A zealous man in religion is pre-eminently _a man of one thing_. It is
+not enough to say that he is earnest, hearty, uncompromising,
+thorough-going, whole-hearted, fervent in spirit. He only sees one
+thing, he cares for one thing, he lives for one thing, he is swallowed
+up in one thing; and that one thing is to please God. Whether he lives,
+or whether he dies,--whether he has health, or whether he has
+sickness,--whether he is rich, or whether he is poor,--whether he
+pleases man, or whether he gives offence,--whether he is thought wise,
+or whether he is thought foolish,--whether he gets blame, or whether he
+gets praise,--whether he gets honour, or whether he gets shame,--for all
+this the zealous man cares nothing at all. He burns for one thing; and
+that one thing is to please God, and to advance God's glory. If he is
+consumed in the very burning, he cares not for it,--he is content. He
+feels that, like a lamp, he is made to burn; and if consumed in burning,
+he has but done the work for which God appointed him. Such an one will
+always find a sphere for his zeal. If he cannot preach, and work, and
+give money, he will cry, and sigh, and pray. Yes: if he is only a
+pauper, on a perpetual bed of sickness, he will make the wheels of sin
+around him drive heavily, by continually interceding against it. If he
+cannot fight in the valley with Joshua, he will do the work of Moses,
+Aaron, and Hur, on the hill. (Exod. xvii. 9--13.) If he is cut off from
+working himself, he will give the Lord no rest till help is raised up
+from another quarter, and the work is done. This is what I mean when I
+speak of "zeal" in religion.
+
+We all know the habit of mind that makes men great in this world,--that
+makes such men as Alexander the Great, or Julius Caesar, or Oliver
+Cromwell, or Peter the Great, or Charles XII., or Marlborough, or
+Napoleon, or Pitt. We know that, with all their faults, they were all
+men of one thing. They threw themselves into one grand pursuit. They
+cared for nothing else. They put every thing else aside. They counted
+every thing else as second-rate, and of subordinate importance, compared
+to the one thing that they put before their eyes every day they lived. I
+say that the same habit of mind applied to the service of the Lord
+Jesus Christ becomes religious _zeal_.
+
+We know the habit of mind that makes men great in the sciences of this
+world,--that makes such men as Archimedes, or Sir Isaac Newton, or
+Galileo, or Ferguson the astronomer, or James Watt. All these were men
+of one thing. They brought the powers of their minds into one single
+focus. They cared for nothing else beside. And this was the secret of
+their success. I say that this same habit consecrated to the service of
+God becomes religious _zeal_.
+
+We know the habit of mind that makes men rich,--that makes men amass
+mighty fortunes, and leave millions behind them. What kind of people
+were the bankers, and merchants, and tradesmen, who have left a name
+behind them, as men who acquired immense wealth and became rich from
+being poor? They were all men that threw themselves entirely into their
+business, and neglected every thing else for the sake of that business.
+They gave their first attention, their first thoughts, the best of their
+time, and the best part of their mind, to pushing forward the
+transactions in which they were engaged. They were men of one thing.
+Their hearts were not divided. They devoted themselves, body, soul, and
+mind to their business. They seemed to live for nothing else. I say that
+if you turn that habit of mind to the service of God and His Christ it
+makes religious _zeal_.
+
+(_a_) Now this habit of mind,--this zeal was _the characteristic of
+all the Apostles_. See for example the Apostle Paul. Hear him when
+he speaks to the Ephesian elders for the last time: "None of these
+things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I
+might finish my course with joy, and the ministry that I have
+received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the grace of
+God." (Acts xx. 24.) Hear him again, when he writes to the
+Philippians: "This one thing I do; I press towards the mark for the
+prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Phil. iii.
+13, 14.) See him from the day of his conversion, giving up his
+brilliant prospects,--forsaking all for Christ's sake,--and going
+forth to preach that very Jesus whom he had once despised. See him
+going to and fro throughout the world from that time,--through
+persecution,--through oppression,--through opposition,--through
+prisons,--through bonds,--through afflictions,--through things next
+to death itself, up to the very day when he sealed his faith with
+his blood, and died at Rome, a martyr for that Gospel which he had
+so long proclaimed. This was true religious _zeal_.
+
+(_b_) This again was the _characteristic of the early Christians_. They
+were men "every where spoken against." (Acts xxviii. 22.) They were
+driven to worship God in dens and caves of the earth. They often lost
+every thing in the world for their religion's sake. They generally
+gained nothing but the cross, persecution, shame, and reproach. But they
+seldom, very seldom, went back. If they could not dispute, at least they
+could suffer. If they could not convince their adversaries by argument,
+at any rate they could die, and prove that they themselves were in
+earnest. Look at Ignatius cheerfully travelling to the place where he
+was to be devoured by lions, and saying as he went, "Now do I begin to
+be a disciple of my Master, Christ." Hear old Polycarp before the Roman
+Governor, saying boldly, when called upon to deny Christ, "Four score
+and six years have I served Christ, neither hath He ever offended me in
+any thing, and how then can I revile my King?" This was true _zeal_.
+
+(_c_) This again was _the characteristic of Martin Luther_. He boldly
+defied the most powerful hierarchy that the world has ever seen. He
+unveiled its corruptions with an unflinching hand. He preached the
+long-neglected truth of justification by faith, in spite of anathemas
+and excommunications, fast and thickly poured upon him. See him going
+to the Diet at Worms, and pleading his cause before the Emperor and the
+Legate, and a host of the children of this world. Hear him saying,--when
+men were dissuading him from going, and reminding him of the fate of
+John Huss, "Though there were a devil under every tile on the roofs of
+Worms, in the name of the Lord I shall go forward." This was true
+_zeal_.
+
+(_d_) This again was _the characteristic of our own English Reformers_.
+You have it in our first Reformer, Wickliffe, when he rose up on his
+sick bed, and said to the Friars, who wanted him to retract all he had
+said against the Pope, "I shall not die, but live to declare the
+villanies of the Friars." You have it in Cranmer, dying at the stake,
+rather than deny Christ's Gospel, holding forth that hand to be first
+burned which, in a moment of weakness, had signed a recantation, and
+saying, as he held it in the flames, "This unworthy hand!" You have it
+in old father Latimer, standing boldly on his faggot, at the age of
+seventy years, and saying to Ridley, "Courage, brother Ridley! we shall
+light such a candle this day as, by God's grace, shall never be put
+out." This was _zeal_.
+
+(_e_) This again has been _the characteristic of all the greatest
+Missionaries_. You see it in Dr. Judson, in Carey, in Morrison, in
+Schwartz, in Williams, in Brainerd, in Elliott. You see it in none more
+brightly than in Henry Martyn. Here was a man who had reached the
+highest academical honours that Cambridge could bestow. Whatever
+profession he chose to follow, he had the most dazzling prospects of
+success. He turned his back upon it all. He chose to preach the Gospel
+to poor benighted heathen. He went forth to an early grave, in a foreign
+land. He said when he got there and saw the condition of the people, "I
+could bear to be torn in pieces, if I could but hear the sobs of
+penitence,--if I could but see the eyes of faith directed to the
+Redeemer!" This was _zeal_.
+
+(_f_) But let us look away from all earthly examples,--and remember
+that zeal was pre-eminently the characteristic of our Lord and Saviour
+Jesus Christ Himself. Of Him it was written hundreds of years before He
+came upon earth, that He was "clad with _zeal_ as with a cloak," and
+"the _zeal_ of thine house hath even eaten me." And His own words were
+"My meat is to do my Father's will, and to finish His work." (Psalm
+lxix. 9; Isaiah lix. 17; John iv. 34.)
+
+Where shall we begin, if we try to give examples of His zeal? Where
+should we end, if we once began? Trace all the narratives of His life in
+the four Gospels. Read all the history of what He was from the beginning
+of His ministry to the end. Surely if there ever was one who was _all
+zeal_, it was our great Example,--our Head,--our High Priest,--the great
+Shepherd of our profession, the Lord Jesus Christ.
+
+If these things are so, we should not only beware of running down zeal,
+but we should also beware of allowing zeal to be run down in our
+presence. It may be badly directed, and then it becomes a curse;--but it
+may be turned to the highest and best ends, and then it is a mighty
+blessing. Like fire, it is one of the best of servants;--but, like fire
+also, if not well directed, it may be the worst of masters. Listen not
+to those people who talk of zeal as weakness and enthusiasm. Listen not
+to those who see no beauty in missions, who laugh at all attempts at the
+conversion of souls,--who call Societies for sending the Gospel to the
+world useless,--and who look upon City Missions, and District Visiting,
+and Ragged Schools and Open Air Preaching, as nothing but foolishness
+and fanaticism. Beware, lest in joining a cry of that kind you condemn
+the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Beware lest you speak against Him who has
+"left us an example that we should follow His steps." (1 Pet. ii. 21.)
+
+Alas! I fear there are many professing Christians who if they had lived
+in the days when our Lord and His Apostles walked upon earth would have
+called Him and all His followers enthusiasts and fanatics. There are
+many, I fear, who have more in common with Annas and Caiaphas,--with
+Pilate and Herod,--with Festus and Agrippa,--with Felix and
+Gallio,--than with St. Paul and the Lord Jesus Christ.
+
+
+II. I pass on now to the second thing I proposed to speak of. _When is a
+man truly zealous in religion?_
+
+There never was a grace of which Satan has not made a counterfeit. There
+never was a good coin issued from the mint but forgers at once have
+coined something very like it. It was one of Nero's cruel practices
+first to sew up Christians in the skins of wild beasts, and then bait
+them with dogs. It is one of Satan's devices to place distorted copies
+of the believer's graces before the eyes of men, and so to bring the
+true graces into contempt. No grace has suffered so much in this way as
+zeal. Of none perhaps are there so many shams and counterfeits abroad.
+We must therefore clear the ground of all rubbish on this question. We
+must find out when zeal in religion is really good, and true, and of
+God.
+
+(1) If zeal be true, it will be a _zeal according to knowledge_. It must
+not be a blind, ignorant zeal. It must be a calm, reasonable,
+intelligent principle, which can show the warrant of Scripture for every
+step it takes. The unconverted Jews had zeal. Paul says, "I bear them
+record that they have a zeal of God, _but not according to knowledge_."
+(Rom. x. 2.) Saul had zeal when he was a persecuting Pharisee. He says
+himself, in one of his addresses to the Jews, "I was _zealous_ toward
+God as ye all are this day." (Acts xxii. 3.)--Manasseh had zeal in the
+days when he was an idolater. The man who made his own children pass
+through the fire,--who gave up the fruit of his body to Moloch, to atone
+for the sin of his soul,--that man had zeal.--James and John had zeal
+when they would have called down fire on a Samaritan village. But our
+Lord rebuked them.--Peter had zeal when he drew his sword and cut off
+the ear of Malchus. But he was quite wrong.--Bonner and Gardiner had
+zeal when they burned Latimer and Cranmer. Were they not in earnest? Let
+us do them justice. They were zealous, though it was for an unscriptural
+religion.--The members of the Inquisition in Spain had zeal when they
+tortured men, and put them to horrible deaths, because they would not
+forsake the Gospel. Yes! they marched men and women to the stake in
+solemn procession, and called it "An Act of Faith," and believed they
+were doing God service.--The Hindoos, who used to lie down before the
+car of Juggernaut and allow their bodies to be crushed under its
+wheels:--had not they zeal?--The Indian widows, who used to burn
+themselves on the funeral pile of their deceased husbands,--the Roman
+Catholics, who persecuted to death the Vaudois and Albigenses, and cast
+down men and women from rocks and precipices, because they were
+heretics;--had not they zeal?--The Saracens--the Crusaders,--the
+Jesuits,--the Anabaptists of Munster--the followers of Joanna
+Southcote,--had they not all zeal? Yes! Yes! I do not deny it. All these
+had zeal beyond question. They were all zealous. They were all in
+earnest. But their zeal was not such zeal as God approves,--it was not a
+"zeal according to knowledge."
+
+(2) Furthermore, if zeal be true, it will be a zeal _from true motives_.
+Such is the subtlety of the heart that men will often do right things
+from wrong motives. Amaziah and Joash, kings of Judah, are striking
+proofs of this. Just so a man may have zeal about things that are good
+and right, but from second-rate motives, and not from a desire to please
+God. And such zeal is worth nothing. It is reprobate silver. It is
+utterly wanting when placed in the balance of God. Man looks only at the
+action: God looks at the motive. Man only thinks of the quantity of work
+done: God considers the doer's heart.
+
+There is such a thing as zeal from _party spirit_. It is quite possible
+for a man to be unwearied in promoting the interests of his own Church
+or denomination, and yet to have no grace in his own heart,--to be ready
+to die for the peculiar opinions of his own section of Christians, and
+yet to have no real love to Christ. Such was the zeal of the Pharisees.
+They "compassed sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he was
+made, they made him two-fold more the child of hell than themselves."
+(Matt. xxiii. 15.) This zeal is not true.
+
+There is such a thing as zeal from mere _selfishness_. There are times
+when it is men's interest to be zealous in religion. Power and patronage
+are sometimes given to godly men. The good things of the world are
+sometimes to be attained by wearing a cloak of religion. And whenever
+this is the case there is no lack of false zeal. Such was the zeal of
+Joab, when he served David. Such was the zeal of only too many
+Englishmen in the days of the Commonwealth, when the Puritans were in
+power.
+
+There is such a thing as zeal from the _love of praise_. Such was the
+zeal of Jehu, when he was putting down the worship of Baal. Remember how
+he met Jonadab the son of Rechab, and said, "Come with me, and see my
+zeal for the Lord." (2 Kings x. 16.) Such is the zeal that Bunyan refers
+to in "Pilgrim's Progress," when he speaks of some who went "for praise"
+to mount Zion. Some people feed on the praise of their fellow-creatures.
+They would rather have it from Christians than have none at all.
+
+It is a sad and humbling proof of man's corruption that there is no
+degree of self-denial and self-sacrifice to which men may not go from
+false motives. It does not follow that a man's religion is true because
+he "gives his body to be burned," or because he "gives his goods to feed
+the poor." The Apostle Paul tells us that a man may do this, and yet not
+have true charity. (1 Cor. xiii. 1, etc.) It does not follow because men
+go into a wilderness, and become hermits, that therefore they know what
+true self-denial is. It does not follow because people immure themselves
+in monasteries and nunneries, or become "sisters of charity," and
+"sisters of mercy," that therefore they know what true crucifixion of
+the flesh and self-sacrifice is in the sight of God. All these things
+people may do on wrong principles. They may do them from wrong
+motives,--to satisfy a secret pride and love of notoriety,--but not from
+the true motive of zeal for the glory of God. All such zeal, let us
+understand, is false. It is of earth, and not of heaven.
+
+(3) Furthermore, if zeal be true, it will be a zeal _about things
+according to God's mind, and sanctioned by plain examples in God's
+Word_. Take, for one instance, that highest and best kind of zeal,--I
+mean zeal for our own growth in personal holiness. Such zeal will make a
+man feel incessantly that sin is the mightiest of all evils, and
+conformity to Christ the greatest of all blessings. It will make him
+feel that there is nothing which ought not to be done, in order to keep
+up a close walk with God. It will make him willing to cut off the right
+hand, or pluck out the right eye, or make any sacrifice, if only he can
+attain a closer communion with Jesus. Is not this just what you see in
+the Apostle Paul? He says, "I keep under my body and bring it into
+subjection, lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I
+myself should be a castaway."--"I count not myself to have apprehended:
+but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and
+reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the
+mark." (1 Cor. ix. 27; Phil. iii. 13, 14.)
+
+Take, for another instance, zeal for the salvation of souls. Such zeal
+will make a man burn with desire to enlighten the darkness which covers
+the souls of multitudes, and to bring every man, woman, and child he
+sees to the knowledge of the Gospel. Is not this what you see in the
+Lord Jesus? It is said that He neither gave Himself nor His disciples
+leisure so much as to eat. (Mark vi. 31.) Is not this what you see in
+the Apostle Paul? He says, "I am made all things to all men, that I
+might by all means save some." (1 Cor. ix. 22.)
+
+Take, for another instance, zeal against evil practices. Such zeal will
+make a man hate everything which God hates, such as drunkenness,
+slavery, or infanticide, and long to sweep it from the face of the
+earth. It will make him jealous of God's honour and glory, and look on
+everything which robs him of it as an offence. Is not this what you see
+in Phinehas, the son of Eleazar?--or in Hezekiah and Josiah, when they
+put down idolatry?
+
+Take, for another instance, zeal for maintaining the doctrines of the
+Gospel. Such zeal will make a man hate unscriptural teaching, just as he
+hates sin. It will make him regard religious error as a pestilence which
+must be checked, whatever may be the cost. It will make him scrupulously
+careful about every jot and tittle of the counsel of God, lest by some
+omission the whole Gospel should be spoiled. Is not this what you see in
+Paul at Antioch, when he withstood Peter to the face, and said he was to
+be blamed? (Gal. ii. 11.) These are the kind of things about which true
+zeal is employed. Such zeal, let us understand, is honourable before
+God.
+
+(4) Furthermore, if zeal be true, it will be a zeal _tempered with
+charity and love_. It will not be a bitter zeal. It will not be a fierce
+enmity against persons. It will not be a zeal ready to take the sword,
+and to smite with carnal weapons. The weapons of true zeal are not
+carnal, but spiritual. True zeal will hate sin, and yet love the sinner.
+True zeal will hate heresy, and yet love the heretic. True zeal will
+long to break the idol, but deeply pity the idolater. True zeal will
+abhor every kind of wickedness, but labour to do good even to the vilest
+of transgressors.
+
+True zeal will warn as St. Paul warned the Galatians, and yet feel
+tenderly, as a nurse or a mother over erring children. It will expose
+false teachers, as Jesus did the Scribes and Pharisees, and yet weep
+tenderly, as Jesus did over Jerusalem when He came near to it for the
+last time. True zeal will be decided, as a surgeon dealing with a
+diseased limb; but true zeal will be gentle, as one that is dressing the
+wounds of a brother. True zeal will speak truth boldly, like Athanasius,
+against the world, and not care who is offended; but true zeal will
+endeavour, in all its speaking, to "speak the truth in love."
+
+(5) Furthermore, if zeal be true, _it will be joined to a deep
+humility_. A truly zealous man will be the last to discover the
+greatness of his own attainments. All that he is and does will come so
+immensely short of his own desires, that he will be filled with a sense
+of his own unprofitableness, and amazed to think that God should work by
+him at all. Like Moses, when he came down from the Mount, he will not
+know that his face shines. Like the righteous, in the twenty-fifth
+chapter of St. Matthew, he will not be aware of his own good works. Dr.
+Buchanan is one whose praise is in all the churches. He was one of the
+first to take up the cause of the perishing heathen. He literally spent
+himself, body and mind, in labouring to arouse sleeping Christians to
+see the importance of missions. Yet he says in one of his letters, "I do
+not know that I ever had what Christians call zeal." Whitefield was one
+of the most zealous preachers of the Gospel the world has ever seen.
+Fervent in spirit, instant in season and out of season, he was a burning
+and shining light, and turned thousands to God. Yet he says after
+preaching for thirty years, "Lord help me to begin to begin." M'Cheyne
+was one of the greatest blessings that God ever gave to the Church of
+Scotland. He was a minister insatiably desirous of the salvation of
+souls. Few men ever did so much good as he did, though he died at the
+age of twenty-nine. Yet he says in one of his letters, "None but God
+knows what an abyss of corruption is in my heart. It is perfectly
+wonderful that ever God could bless such a ministry." We may be very
+sure where there is self-conceit there is little true zeal.
+
+I ask the readers of this paper particularly to remember the description
+of true zeal which I have just given. Zeal according to knowledge,--zeal
+from true motives,--zeal warranted by Scriptural examples,--zeal
+tempered with charity,--zeal accompanied by deep humility,--this is true
+genuine zeal,--this is the kind of zeal which God approves. Of such zeal
+you and I never need fear having too much.
+
+I ask you to remember the description, because of the times in which you
+live. Beware of supposing that sincerity alone can ever make up true
+zeal,--that earnestness, however ignorant, makes a man a really zealous
+Christian in the sight of God. There is a generation in these days which
+makes an idol of what it is pleased to call "_earnestness_" in religion.
+These men will allow no fault to be found with an "_earnest man_."
+Whatever his theological opinions may be,--if he be but an earnest man,
+that is enough for these people, and we are to ask no more. They tell
+you we have nothing to do with minute points of doctrine, and with
+questions of "words and names," about which Christians are not agreed.
+Is the man an earnest man? If he is, we ought to be satisfied.
+"Earnestness" in their eyes covers over a multitude of sins. I warn you
+solemnly to beware of this specious doctrine. In the name of the Gospel,
+and in the name of the Bible, I enter my protest against the theory that
+mere earnestness can make a man a truly zealous and pious man in the
+sight of God.
+
+These idolaters of earnestness would make out that God has given us no
+standard of truth and error, or that the true standard, the Bible, is so
+obscure, that no man can find out what truth is by simply going to it.
+They pour contempt upon the Word, the written Word, and therefore they
+must be wrong.
+
+These idolaters of earnestness would make us condemn every witness for
+the truth, and every opponent of false teaching, from the time of the
+Lord Jesus down to this day. The Scribes and Pharisees were "in
+earnest," and yet our Lord opposed them. And shall we dare even to hint
+a suspicion that they ought to have been let alone?--Queen Mary, and
+Bonner, and Gardiner were "in earnest" in restoring Popery, and trying
+to put down Protestantism, and yet Ridley and Latimer opposed them to
+the death. And shall we dare to say that as both parties were "in
+earnest," both were in the right?--Devil-worshippers and idolaters at
+this day are in earnest, and yet our missionaries labour to expose their
+errors. And shall we dare to say that "earnestness" would take them to
+heaven, and that missionaries to heathen and Roman Catholics had better
+stay at home?--Are we really going to admit that the Bible does not show
+us what is truth? Are we really going to put a mere vague thing called
+"earnestness," in the place of Christ, and to maintain that no "earnest"
+man can be wrong? God forbid that we should give place to such doctrine!
+I shrink with horror from such theology. I warn men solemnly to beware
+of being carried away by it, for it is common and most seductive in this
+day. Beware of it, for it is only a new form of an old error,--that old
+error which says that a man "Can't be wrong whose life is in the right."
+Admire zeal. Seek after zeal. Encourage zeal. But see that your own zeal
+be true. See that the zeal which you admire in others is a zeal
+"according to knowledge,"--a zeal from right motives,--a zeal that can
+bring chapter and verse out of the Bible for its foundation. Any zeal
+but this is but a false fire. It is not lighted by the Holy Ghost.
+
+
+III. I pass on now to the third thing I proposed to speak of. Let me
+show _why it is good for a man to be zealous_.
+
+It is certain that God never gave man a commandment which it was not
+man's interest as well as duty to obey. He never set a grace before His
+believing people which His people will not find it their highest
+happiness to follow after. This is true of all the graces of the
+Christian character. Perhaps it is pre-eminently true in the case of
+zeal.
+
+(_a_) Zeal is _good for a Christian's own soul_. We all know that
+exercise is good for the health, and that regular employment of our
+muscles and limbs promotes our bodily comfort, and increases our bodily
+vigour. Now that which exercise does for our bodies, zeal will do for
+our souls. It will help mightily to promote inward feelings of joy,
+peace, comfort, and happiness. None have so much enjoyment of Christ as
+those who are ever zealous for His glory,--jealous over their own
+walk,--tender over their own consciences,--full of anxiety about the
+souls of others,--and ever watching, working, labouring, striving, and
+toiling to extend the knowledge of Jesus Christ upon earth. Such men
+live in the full light of the sun, and therefore their hearts are always
+warm. Such men water others, and therefore they are watered themselves.
+Their hearts are like a garden daily refreshed by the dew of the Holy
+Ghost. They honour God, and so God honours them.
+
+I would not be mistaken in saying this. I would not appear to speak
+slightingly of any believer. I know that "the Lord takes pleasure in all
+His people." (Ps. cxlix. 4.) There is not one, from the least to the
+greatest,--from the smallest child in the kingdom of God, to the oldest
+warrior in the battle against Satan,--there is not one in whom the Lord
+Jesus Christ does not take great pleasure. We are all His children,--and
+however weak and feeble some of us may be, "as a father pitieth his
+children, so does the Lord pity them that love and fear Him." (Ps. ciii.
+13.) We are all the plants of His own planting;--and though many of us
+are poor, weakly exotics, scarcely keeping life together in a foreign
+soil,--yet as the gardener loves that which his hands have reared, so
+does the Lord Jesus love the poor sinners that trust in Him. But while I
+say this, I do also believe that the Lord takes special pleasure in
+those who are _zealous_ for Him,--in those who give themselves body,
+soul, and spirit, to extend His glory in this world. To them He reveals
+Himself, as he does not to others. To them He shows things that other
+men never see. He blesses the work of their hands. He cheers them with
+spiritual consolations, which others only know by the hearing of the
+ear. They are men after His own heart, for they are men more like
+Himself than others. None have such joy and peace in believing,--none
+have such sensible comfort in their religion,--none have so much of
+"heaven upon earth" (Deut. xi. 21),--none see and feel so much of the
+consolations of the Gospel as those who are zealous, earnest,
+thorough-going, devoted Christians. For the sake of our own souls, if
+there were no other reason, it is good to be zealous,--to be very
+zealous in our religion.
+
+(_b_) As zeal is good for ourselves individually, so it is also _good
+for the professing Church of Christ generally_. Nothing so much keeps
+alive true religion as a leaven of zealous Christians scattered to and
+fro throughout a Church. Like salt, they prevent the whole body falling
+into a state of corruption. None but men of this kind can revive
+Churches when ready to die. It is impossible to over-estimate the debt
+that all Christians owe to zeal. The greatest mistake the rulers of a
+Church can make is to drive zealous men out of its pale. By so doing
+they drain out the life-blood of the system, and hasten on
+ecclesiastical decline and death.
+
+Zeal is in truth that grace which God seems to delight to honour. Look
+through the list of Christians who have been eminent for usefulness. Who
+are the men that have left the deepest and most indelible marks on the
+Church of their day? Who are the men that God has generally honoured to
+build up the walls of His Zion, and turn the battle from the gate? Not
+so much men of learning and literary talents, as men of zeal.
+
+Bishop Latimer was not such a deeply-read scholar as Cranmer or Ridley.
+He could not quote Fathers from memory, as they did. He refused to be
+drawn into arguments about antiquity. He stuck to his Bible. Yet it is
+not too much to say that no English reformer made such a lasting
+impression on the nation as old Latimer did. And what was the reason?
+His simple zeal.
+
+Baxter, the Puritan, was not equal to some of his contemporaries in
+intellectual gifts. It is no disparagement to say that he does not stand
+on a level with Manton or Owen. Yet few men probably exercised so wide
+an influence on the generation in which he lived. And what was the
+reason? His burning zeal.
+
+Whitefield, and Wesley, and Berridge, and Venn were inferior in mental
+attainments to Bishops Butler and Watson. But they produced effects on
+the people of this country which fifty Butlers and Watsons would
+probably never have produced. They saved the Church of England from
+ruin. And what was one secret of their power? Their zeal.
+
+These men stood forward at turning points in the history of the Church.
+They bore unmoved storms of opposition and persecution.--They were not
+afraid to stand alone. They cared not though their motives were
+misinterpreted.--They counted all things but loss for the truth's
+sake.--They were each and all and every one eminently _men of one
+thing_:--and that one thing was to advance the glory of God, and to
+maintain His truth in the world. They were all fire, and so they lighted
+others.--They were wide awake, and so they awakened others.--They were
+all alive, and so they quickened others.--They were always working, and
+so they shamed others into working too.--They came down upon men like
+Moses from the mount.--They shone as if they had been in the presence
+of God.--They carried to and fro with them, as they walked their course
+through the world, something of the atmosphere and savour of heaven
+itself.
+
+There is a sense in which it may be said that zeal is contagious.
+Nothing is more useful to the professors of Christianity than to see a
+real live Christian, a thoroughly zealous man of God. They may rail at
+him,--they may carp at him,--they may pick holes in his conduct,--they
+may look shy upon him,--they may not understand him any more than men
+understand a new comet when a new comet appears;--but insensibly a
+zealous man does them good. He opens their eyes. He makes them feel
+their own sleepiness. He makes their own great darkness visible. He
+obliges them to see their own barrenness. He compels them to think,
+whether they like it or not--"What are we doing? Are we not no better
+than mere cumberers of the ground?" It may be sadly true that "one
+sinner _destroyeth_ much good;" but it is also a blessed truth that one
+zealous Christian can _do_ much good. Yes: one single zealous man in a
+town,--one zealous man in a congregation,--one zealous man in a
+society,--one zealous man in a family, may be a great, a most extensive
+blessing. How many machines of usefulness such a man sets a going! How
+much Christian activity he often calls into being which would otherwise
+have slept! How many fountains he opens which would otherwise have been
+sealed! Verily there is a deep mine of truth in those words of the
+Apostle Paul to the Corinthians: "Your zeal hath provoked very many." (2
+Cor. ix, 2.)
+
+(_c_) But, as zeal is good for the Church and for individuals, so zeal
+is _good for the world_. Where would the Missionary work be if it were
+not for zeal? Where would our City Missions and Ragged Schools be if it
+were not for zeal? Where would our District-Visiting and Pastoral Aid
+Societies be if it were not for zeal? Where would be our Societies for
+rooting out sin and ignorance, for finding out the dark places of the
+earth, and recovering poor lost souls? Where would be all these glorious
+instruments for good if it were not for Christian zeal? Zeal called
+these institutions into being, and zeal keeps them at work when they
+have begun. Zeal gathers a few despised men, and makes them the nucleus
+of many a powerful Society. Zeal keeps up the collections of a Society
+when it is formed. Zeal prevents men from becoming lazy and sleepy when
+the machine is large and begins to get favour from the world. Zeal
+raises up men to go forth, putting their lives in their hands, like
+Moffatt and Williams in our own day. Zeal supplies their place when they
+are gathered into the garner, and taken home.
+
+What would become of the ignorant masses who crowd the lanes and alleys
+of our overgrown cities, if it were not for Christian zeal? Governments
+can do nothing with them: they cannot make laws that will meet the evil.
+The vast majority of professing Christians have no eyes to see it: like
+the priest and Levite, they pass by on the other side. But zeal has eyes
+to see, and a heart to feel, and a head to devise, and a tongue to
+plead, and hands to work, and feet to travel, in order to rescue poor
+souls, and raise them from their low estate. Zeal does not stand poring
+over difficulties, but simply says, "Here are souls perishing, and
+something _shall_ be done." Zeal does not shrink back because there are
+Anakims in the way: it looks over their heads, like Moses on Pisgah, and
+says, "The land _shall_ be possessed." Zeal does not wait for company,
+and tarry till good works are fashionable: it goes forward like a
+forlorn hope, and trusts that others will follow by and bye. Ah! the
+world little knows what a debt it owes to Christian zeal. How much crime
+it has checked! How much sedition it has prevented! How much public
+discontent it has calmed! How much obedience to law and love of order it
+has produced! How many souls it has saved! Yes! and I believe we little
+know what might be done if every Christian was a zealous man! How much
+if ministers were more like Bickersteth, and Whitefield, and M'Cheyne!
+How much if laymen were more like Howard, and Wilberforce, and Thornton,
+and Nasmith, and George Moore! Oh, for the world's sake, as well as your
+own, resolve, labour, strive to be a zealous Christian!
+
+Let every one who professes to be a Christian beware of checking zeal.
+Seek it. Cultivate it. Try to blow up the fire in your own heart, and
+the hearts of others, but never, never check it. Beware of throwing cold
+water on zealous souls, whenever you meet with them. Beware of nipping
+in the bud this precious grace when first it shoots. If you are a
+parent, beware of checking it in your children;--if you are a husband,
+beware of checking it in your wife;--if you are a brother, beware of
+checking it in your sisters,--and if you are a minister, beware of
+checking it in the members of your congregation. It is a shoot of
+heaven's own planting. Beware of crushing it, for Christ's sake. Zeal
+may make mistakes.--Zeal may need directing.--Zeal may want guiding,
+controlling, and advising. Like the elephants on ancient fields of
+battle, it may sometimes do injury to its own side. But zeal does not
+need damping in a wretched, cold, corrupt, miserable world like this.
+Zeal, like John Knox pulling down the Scotch monasteries, may hurt the
+feelings of narrow-minded and sleepy Christians. It may offend the
+prejudices of those old-fashioned religionists who hate everything new,
+and (like those who wanted soldiers and sailors to go on wearing
+pigtails) abhor all change. But zeal in the end will be justified by its
+results. Zeal, like John Knox, in the long run of life will do
+infinitely more good than harm. There is little danger of there ever
+being too much zeal for the glory of God. God forgive those who think
+there is! You know little of human nature. You forget that sickness is
+far more contagious than health, and that it is much easier to catch a
+chill than impart a glow. Depend upon it, the Church seldom needs a
+bridle, but often needs a spur. It seldom needs to be checked, it often
+needs to be urged on.
+
+
+And now, in conclusion, let me try to apply this subject to the
+conscience of every person who reads this paper. It is a warning
+subject, an arousing subject, an encouraging subject, according to the
+state of our several hearts. I wish, by God's help, to give every reader
+his portion.
+
+(1) First of all, let me offer a warning to all _who make no decided
+profession of religion_. There are thousands and tens of thousands, I
+fear, in this condition. If you are one, the subject before you is full
+of solemn warning. Oh, that the Lord in mercy may incline your heart to
+receive it!
+
+I ask you, then, in all affection, Where is your zeal in religion? With
+the Bible before me, I may well be bold in asking. But with your life
+before me, I may well tremble as to the answer. I ask again, Where is
+your zeal for the glory of God? Where is your zeal for extending
+Christ's Gospel through an evil world? Zeal, which was the
+characteristic of the Lord Jesus; zeal, which is the characteristic of
+the angels; zeal, which shines forth in all the brightest Christians:
+where is your zeal, unconverted reader?--where is your zeal indeed! You
+know well it is nowhere at all; you know well you see no beauty in it;
+you know well it is scorned and cast out as evil by you and your
+companions; you know well it has no place, no portion, no standing
+ground, in the religion of your soul. It is not perhaps that you know
+not what it is to be zealous in a certain way. You have zeal, but it is
+all misapplied. It is all earthly: it is all about the things of time.
+It is not zeal for the glory of God: it is not zeal for the salvation of
+souls. Yes: many a man has zeal for the newspaper, but not for the
+Bible,--zeal for the daily reading of the _Times_, but no zeal for the
+daily reading of God's blessed Word. Many a man has zeal for the account
+book and the business book, but no zeal about the Book of Life and the
+last great account,--zeal about Australian and Californian gold, but no
+zeal about the unsearchable riches of Christ. Many a man has zeal about
+his earthly concerns,--his family, his pleasures, his daily pursuits;
+but no zeal about God, and heaven, and eternity.
+
+If this is the state of any one who is reading this paper, awake, I do
+beseech you, to see your gross _folly_. You cannot live for ever. You
+are not ready to die. You are utterly unfit for the company of saints
+and angels. Awake: be zealous and repent!--Awake to see the _harm_ you
+are doing! You are putting arguments in the hands of infidels by your
+shameful coldness. You are pulling down as fast as ministers build. You
+are helping the devil. Awake: be zealous, and repent!--Awake to see your
+childish _inconsistency_! What can be more worthy of zeal than eternal
+things, than the glory of God, than the salvation of souls? Surely if it
+is good to labour for rewards that are temporal, it is a thousand times
+better to labour for those that are eternal. Awake: be zealous and
+repent! Go and read that long-neglected Bible. Take up that blessed Book
+which you have, and perhaps never use. Read that New Testament through.
+Do you find nothing there to make you zealous,--to make you earnest
+about your soul? Go and look at the cross of Christ. Go and see how the
+Son of God there shed His precious blood for you,--how He suffered and
+groaned, and died for you,--how He poured out His soul as an offering
+for sin, in order that you, sinful brother or sister, might not perish,
+but have eternal life. Go and look at the cross of Christ, and never
+rest till you feel some zeal for your own soul,--some zeal for the glory
+of God,--some zeal for extension of the Gospel throughout the world.
+Once more I say, awake: be zealous, and repent!
+
+(2) Let me, in the next place, say something to arouse those _who make a
+profession of being decided Christians, and are yet lukewarm in their
+practice_. There are only too many, I regret to say, in this state of
+soul. If you are one, there is much in this subject which ought to lead
+you to searchings of heart.
+
+Let me speak to your conscience. To you also I desire to put the
+question in all brotherly affection, Where is your zeal?--Where is your
+zeal for the glory of God, and for extending the gospel throughout the
+world? You know well it is very low. You know well that your zeal is a
+little feeble glimmering spark, that just lives, and no more;--it is
+like a thing "ready to die." (Rev. iii. 2.) Surely, there is a fault
+somewhere, if this is the case. This state of things ought not to be.
+You, the child of God,--you, redeemed at so glorious a price,--you,
+ransomed with such precious blood, you, who are an heir of glory such as
+no tongue ever yet told, or eye saw;--surely you ought to be a man of
+another kind. Surely your zeal ought not to be so small.
+
+I deeply feel that this is a painful subject to touch upon. I do it with
+reluctance, and with a constant remembrance of my own unprofitableness.
+Nevertheless, truth ought to be spoken. The plain truth is that many
+believers in the present day seem so dreadfully afraid of doing harm
+that they hardly ever dare to do good. There are many who are fruitful
+in objections, but barren in actions;--rich in wet blankets, but poor in
+anything like Christian fire. They are like the Dutch deputies, recorded
+in the history of last century, who would never allow Marlborough to
+venture anything, and by their excessive caution prevented many a
+victory being won. Truly, in looking round the Church of Christ, a man
+might sometimes think that God's kingdom had come, and God's will was
+being done upon earth, so small is the zeal that some believers show. It
+is vain to deny it. I need not go far for evidence. I point to Societies
+for doing good to the heathen, the colonies, and the dark places of our
+own land, languishing and standing still for want of active support. I
+ask, _Is this zeal?_ I point to thousands of miserable guinea
+subscriptions which are never missed by the givers, and yet make up the
+sum of their Christian liberality. I ask, _Is this zeal?_ I point to
+false doctrine allowed to grow up in parishes and families without an
+effort being made to check it, while so-called believers look on, and
+content themselves with wishing it was not so. I ask, _Is this zeal?_
+Would the apostles have been satisfied with such a state of things? We
+know they would not.
+
+If the conscience of any one who read this paper pleads guilty to any
+participation in the short-comings I have spoken of, I call upon him, in
+the name of the Lord, to awake, be zealous, and repent. Let not zeal be
+confined to Lincoln's Inn, the Temple, and Westminster;--to banks, and
+shops, and counting houses. Let us see the same zeal in the Church of
+Christ. Let not zeal be abundant to lead forlorn hopes, or get gold from
+Australia, or travel over thick ribbed ice in voyages of discovery, but
+defective to send the Gospel to the heathen, or to pluck Roman Catholics
+like brands from the fire, or to enlighten the dark places of the
+colonies of this great land. Never were there such doors of usefulness
+opened,--never were there so many opportunities for doing good. I loathe
+that squeamishness which refuses to help religious works if there is a
+blemish about the instrument by which the work is carried on. At this
+rate we might never do anything at all. Let us resist the feeling, if we
+are tempted by it. It is one of Satan's devices. It is better to work
+with feeble instruments than not to work at all. At all events, try to
+do something for God and Christ,--something against ignorance and sin.
+Give, collect, teach, exhort, visit, pray, according as God enables you.
+Only make up your mind that all can do something, and resolve that by
+you, at any rate, something shall be done. If you have only one talent,
+do not bury it in the ground. Try to live so as to be missed. There is
+far more to be done in twelve hours than most of us have ever yet done
+on any day in our lives.
+
+Think of the _precious souls_ which are perishing while you are
+sleeping. Be taken up with your inward conflicts if you will. Go on
+anatomizing your own feelings, and poring over your own corruptions, if
+you are so determined. But remember all this time souls are going to
+hell, and you might do something to save them by working, by giving, by
+writing, by begging, and by prayer. Oh, awake! be zealous, and repent!
+
+Think of the _shortness of time_. You will soon be gone. You will have
+no opportunity for works of mercy in another world. In heaven there will
+be no ignorant people to instruct, and no unconverted to reclaim.
+Whatever you do must be done now. Oh, when are you going to begin?
+Awake! be zealous, and repent.
+
+Think of _the devil_, and his zeal to do harm. It was a solemn saying of
+old Bernard when he said that "Satan would rise up in judgment against
+some people at the last day, because he had shown more zeal to ruin
+souls than they had to save them." Awake! be zealous, and repent.
+
+Think of _your Saviour_, and all His zeal for you. Think of Him in
+Gethsemane and on Calvary, shedding His blood for sinners. Think of His
+life and death,--His sufferings and His doings. This He has done for
+you. What are you doing for Him? Oh, resolve that for the time to come
+you will spend and be spent for Christ! Awake! be zealous and repent.
+
+(3) Last of all, let me encourage _all readers of this paper who are
+truly zealous Christians_.
+
+I have but one request to make, and that is _that you will persevere_. I
+do beseech you to hold fast your zeal, and never let it go. I do beseech
+you never to go back from your first works, never to leave your first
+love, never to let it be said of you that your first things were better
+than your last.--Beware of cooling down. You have only to be lazy, and
+to sit still, and you will soon lose all your warmth. You will soon
+become another man from what you are now. Oh, do not think this a
+needless exhortation!
+
+It may be very true that wise young believers are very rare. But it is
+no less true that zealous old believers are very rare also. Never allow
+yourself to think that you can do too much,--that you can spend and be
+spent too much for Christ's cause. For one man that does too much I will
+show you a thousand who do not do enough. Rather think that "the night
+cometh, when no man can work" (John ix. 4),--and give, collect, teach,
+visit, work, pray, as if you were doing it for the last time. Lay to
+heart the words of that noble-minded Jansenist, who said, when told that
+he ought to rest a little, "What should we rest for? have we not all
+eternity to rest in?"
+
+Fear not the reproach of men. Faint not because you are sometimes
+abused. Heed it not if you are sometimes called bigot, enthusiast,
+fanatic, madman, and fool. There is nothing disgraceful in these titles.
+They have often been given to the best and wisest of men. If you are
+only to be zealous when you are praised for it,--if the wheels of your
+zeal must be oiled by the world's commendation, your zeal will be but
+short-lived. Care not for the praise or frown of man. There is but one
+thing worth caring for, and that is the praise of God. There is but one
+question worth asking about our actions: "How will they look in the day
+of judgment?"
+
+
+
+
+IX
+
+
+FREEDOM
+
+     "_If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free
+     indeed._"--John viii. 36.
+
+
+The subject before our eyes deserves a thousand thoughts. It should ring
+in the ears of Englishmen and Scotchmen like the voice of a trumpet. We
+live in a land which is the very cradle of freedom. But are we ourselves
+free?
+
+The question is one which demands special attention at the present state
+of public opinion in Great Britain. The minds of many are wholly
+absorbed in politics. Yet there is a freedom, within the reach of all,
+which few, I am afraid, ever think of,--a freedom independent of all
+political changes,--a freedom which neither Queen, Lords and Commons,
+nor the cleverest popular leaders can bestow. This is the freedom about
+which I write this day. Do we know anything of it? Are we free?
+
+In opening this subject, there are three points which I wish to bring
+forward.
+
+
+    I. I will show, in the first place, _the general excellence of
+    freedom_.
+
+    II. I will show, in the second place, _the best and truest kind of
+    freedom_.
+
+    III. I will show, in the last place, _the way in which the best kind
+    of freedom may become your own_.
+
+Let no reader think for a moment that this is going to be a political
+paper. I am no politician: I have no politics but those of the Bible.
+The only party I care for is the Lord's side: show me where that is, and
+it shall have my support. The only election I am very anxious about is
+the election of grace. My one desire is, that sinners should make their
+own calling and election sure.--The liberty I desire above all things to
+make known, and further, is the glorious liberty of the children of
+God.--The Government I care to support is the government which is on the
+shoulder of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Before Christ I want every
+knee to bow, and every tongue to confess that He is Lord. I ask
+attention while I canvass these subjects. If you are not free, I want to
+guide you into true liberty. If you are free, I want you to know the
+full value of your freedom.
+
+
+I. The first thing I have to show is _the general excellence of
+freedom_.
+
+On this point some readers may think it needless to say anything: they
+imagine that all men know the value of freedom, and that to dwell on it
+is mere waste of time. I do not agree with such people at all. I believe
+that myriads of Englishmen know nothing of the blessings which they
+enjoy in their own land: they have grown up from infancy to manhood in
+the midst of free institutions. They have not the least idea of the
+state of things in other countries: they are ignorant alike of those two
+worst forms of tyranny,--the crushing tyranny of a cruel military
+despot, and the intolerant tyranny of an unreasoning mob. In short, many
+Englishmen know nothing of the value of liberty, just because they have
+been born in the middle of it, and have never been for a moment without
+it.
+
+I call then on every one who reads this paper to remember that liberty
+is one of the greatest temporal blessings that man can have on this side
+the grave. We live in a land where our _bodies_ are free. So long as we
+hurt nobody's person, or property, or character, no one can touch us:
+the poorest man's house is his castle.--We live in a land where our
+_actions_ are free. So long as we support ourselves, we are free to
+choose what we will do, where we will go, and how we will spend our
+time.--We live in a land where our _consciences_ are free. So long as we
+hold quietly on our own way, and do not interfere with others, we are
+free to worship God as we please, and no man can compel us to take his
+way to heaven. We live in a land where no foreigner rules over us. Our
+laws are made and altered by Englishmen like ourselves, and our
+Governors dwell by our side, bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh.
+
+In short, we have every kind of freedom to an extent which no other
+nation on earth can equal. We have personal freedom, civil freedom,
+religious freedom, and national freedom. We have free bodies, free
+consciences, free speech, free thought, free action, free Bibles, a free
+press, and free homes. How vast is this list of privileges! How endless
+the comforts which it contains! The full value of them can never perhaps
+be known. Well said the Jewish Rabbins in ancient days: "If the sea were
+ink and the world parchment, it would never serve to describe the
+praises of liberty."
+
+The want of this freedom has been the most fertile cause of misery to
+nations in every age of the world. What reader of the Bible can fail to
+remember the sorrows of the children of Israel, when they were bondmen
+under Pharaoh in Egypt, or under Philistines in Canaan? What student of
+history needs to be reminded of the woes inflicted on the Netherlands,
+Poland, Spain, and Italy by the hand of foreign oppressors, or the
+Inquisition? Who, even in our own time, has not heard of that enormous
+fountain of wretchedness, the slavery of the Negro race? No misery
+certainly is so great as the misery of slavery.
+
+To win and preserve freedom has been the aim of many national struggles
+which have deluged the earth with blood. Liberty has been the cause in
+which myriads of Greeks, and Romans, and Germans, and Poles, and Swiss,
+and Englishmen, and Americans have willingly laid down their lives. No
+price has been thought too great to pay in order that nations might be
+free.
+
+The champions of freedom in every age have been justly esteemed among
+the greatest benefactors of mankind. Such names as Moses and Gideon in
+Jewish history, such names as the Spartan Leonidas, the Roman Horatius,
+the German Martin Luther, the Swedish Gustavus Vasa, the Swiss William
+Tell, the Scotch Robert Bruce and John Knox, the English Alfred and
+Hampden and the Puritans, the American George Washington, are deservedly
+embalmed in history, and will never be forgotten. To be the mother of
+many patriots is the highest praise of a nation.
+
+The enemies of freedom in every age have been rightly regarded as the
+pests and nuisances of their times. Such names as Pharaoh in Egypt,
+Dionysius at Syracuse, Nero at Rome, Charles IX. in France, bloody Mary
+in England, are names which will never be rescued from disgrace. The
+public opinion of mankind will never cease to condemn them, on the one
+ground that they would not let people be free.
+
+But why should I dwell on these things? Time and space would fail me if
+I were to attempt to say a tenth part of what might be said in praise of
+freedom. What are the annals of history but a long record of conflicts
+between the friends and foes of liberty? Where is the nation upon earth
+that has ever attained greatness, and left its mark on the world,
+without freedom? Which are the countries on the face of the globe at
+this very moment which are making the most progress in trade, in arts,
+in sciences, in civilization, in philosophy, in morals, in social
+happiness? Precisely those countries in which there is the greatest
+amount of true freedom. Which are the countries at this very day where
+is the greatest amount of internal misery, where we hear continually of
+secret plots, and murmuring, and discontent, and attempts on life and
+property? Precisely those countries where freedom does not exist, or
+exists only in name,--where men are treated as serfs and slaves, and are
+not allowed to think and act for themselves. No wonder that a mighty
+Transatlantic Statesman declared on a great occasion to his assembled
+countrymen: "Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at
+the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, almighty God! I know not
+what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me
+death!"[5]
+
+  5: To prevent mistakes, I think it well to say that the man I refer to
+  is Patrick Henry, an American Statesman of the last century.
+
+Let us beware of _undervaluing_ the liberty we enjoy in this country of
+ours, as Englishmen. I am sure there is need of this warning. There is,
+perhaps, no country on earth where there is so much grumbling and
+fault-finding as there is in England. Men look at the fancied evils
+which they see around them, and exaggerate both their number and their
+intensity. They refuse to look at the countless blessings and privileges
+which surround us, or underrate the advantages of them. They forget that
+comparison should be applied to everything. With all our faults and
+defects there is at this hour no country on earth where there is so much
+liberty and happiness for all classes, as there is in England. They
+forget that as long as human nature is corrupt, it is vain to expect
+perfection here below. No laws or government whatever can possibly
+prevent a certain quantity of abuses and corruptions. Once more then, I
+say, let us beware of undervaluing English liberty, and running eagerly
+after every one who proposes sweeping changes. Changes are not always
+improvements. The old shoes may have some holes and defects, but the new
+shoes may pinch so much that we cannot walk at all. No doubt we might
+have better laws and government than we have: but I am quite sure we
+might easily have worse. At this very day there is no country on the
+face of the globe where there is so much care taken of the life, and
+health, and property, and character, and personal liberty of the meanest
+inhabitant, as there is in England. Those who want to have more liberty,
+would soon find, if they crossed the seas, that there is no country on
+earth where there is so much real liberty as our own.[6]
+
+  6: The following weighty passage, from the pen of the judicious Hooker,
+  is commended to the attention of all in the present day. It is the
+  opening passage of the first book of his "Ecclesiastical Polity."
+
+  "He that goeth about to persuade a multitude that they are not
+  so well governed as they ought to be, shall never want
+  attentive and favourable hearers, because they know the
+  manifold defects whereunto every kind of regiment or government
+  is subject; but the secret lets and difficulties, which in
+  public proceedings are innumerable and inevitable, they have
+  not ordinarily the judgment to consider. And because such as
+  openly reprove disorders of States are taken for principal
+  friends to the common benefit of all, and for men that carry
+  singular freedom of mind, under this fair and plausible colour
+  whatsoever they utter passeth for good and current. That which
+  is wanting in the weight of their speech is supplied by the
+  aptness of men's minds to accept and believe it. Whereas, on
+  the other side, if we maintain things that are established, we
+  have not only to strive with a number of heavy prejudices,
+  deeply rooted in the breasts of men, who think that herein we
+  serve the times, and speak in favour of the present state,
+  because we either hold or seek preferment; but also to bear
+  such reception as minds so averted beforehand usually take
+  against that which they are loth should be poured into them."
+
+But while I bid men not undervalue English liberty, so also on the other
+hand I charge them not to _overvalue_ it. Never forget that temporal
+slavery is not the only slavery, and temporal freedom not the only
+freedom. What shall it profit you to be a citizen of a free country, so
+long as your soul is not free? What is the use of living in a free land
+like England, with free thought, free speech, free action, free
+conscience, so long as you are a slave to sin, and a captive to the
+devil? Yes: there are tyrants whom no eye can see, as real and
+destructive as Pharaoh or Nero! There are chains which no hands can
+touch, as true and heavy and soul-withering as ever crushed the limbs of
+an African! It is these tyrants whom I want you this day to remember. It
+is these chains from which I want you to be free. Value by all means
+your English liberty, but do not overvalue it. Look higher, further than
+any temporal freedom. In the highest sense let us take care that "we are
+free."
+
+
+II. The second thing I have to show is _the truest and best kind of
+freedom_.
+
+The freedom I speak of is a freedom that is within the reach of every
+child of Adam who is willing to have it. No power on earth can prevent a
+man or woman having it, if they have but the will to receive it. Tyrants
+may threaten and cast in prison, but nothing they can do can stop a
+person having this liberty. And, once our own, nothing can take it away.
+Men may torture us, banish us, hang us, behead us, burn us, but they can
+never tear from us true freedom. The poorest may have it no less than
+the richest: the most unlearned may have it as well as the most learned,
+and the weakest as well as the strongest. Laws cannot deprive us of it:
+Pope's bulls cannot rob us of it. Once our own, it is an everlasting
+possession.
+
+Now, what is this glorious freedom? Where is it to be found? What is it
+like? Who has obtained it for man? Who has got it at this moment to
+bestow? I ask my readers to give me their attention, and I will supply a
+plain answer to these questions.
+
+The true freedom =I= speak of is spiritual freedom,--freedom of soul. It
+is the freedom which Christ bestows, without money and without price, on
+all true Christians. Those whom the Son makes free are free indeed:
+"Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." (2 Cor. iii. 17.)
+Let men talk what they please of the comparative freedom of monarchies
+and republics; let them struggle, if they will, for universal liberty,
+fraternity, and equality: we never know the highest style of liberty
+till we are enrolled citizens of the kingdom of God. We are ignorant of
+the best kind of freedom if we are not Christ's freemen.
+
+Christ's freemen are free from the _guilt of sin_. That heavy burden of
+unforgiven transgressions, which lies so heavy on many consciences, no
+longer presses them down. Christ's blood has cleansed it all away. They
+feel pardoned, reconciled, justified, and accepted in God's sight. They
+can look back to their old sins, however black and many, and say,--"Ye
+cannot condemn me." They can look back on long years of carelessness and
+worldliness and say,--"Who shall lay anything to my charge?" This is
+true liberty. This is to be free.
+
+Christ's freemen are free from the _power of sin_. It no longer rules
+and reigns in their hearts, and carries them before it like a flood.
+Through the power of Christ's Spirit they mortify the deeds of their
+bodies, and crucify their flesh with its affections and lusts. Through
+His grace working in them they get the victory over their evil
+inclinations. The flesh may fight, but it does not conquer them; the
+devil may tempt and vex, but does not overcome them: they are no longer
+the bondslaves of lusts and appetites, and passions, and tempers. Over
+all these things they are more than conquerors, through Him that loved
+them. This is true liberty. This is to be free.
+
+Christ's freemen are free from the _slavish fear of God_. They no longer
+look at Him with dread and alarm, as an offended Maker; they no longer
+hate Him, and get away from Him, like Adam among the trees of the
+garden; they no longer tremble at the thought of His judgment. Through
+the Spirit of adoption which Christ has given them, they look on God as
+a reconciled Father, and rejoice in the thought of His love. They feel
+that anger is passed away. They feel that when God the Father looks down
+upon them, He sees them in Christ, and unworthy as they are in
+themselves, is well-pleased. This is true liberty. This is to be free.
+
+Christ's freemen are free from the _fear of man_. They are no longer
+afraid of man's opinions, or care much what man thinks of them; they are
+alike indifferent to his favour or his enmity, his smile or his frown.
+They look away from man who can be seen, to Christ who is not seen, and
+having the favour of Christ, they care little for the blame of man. "The
+fear of man" was once a snare to them. They trembled at the thought of
+what man would say, or think, or do: they dared not run counter to the
+fashions and customs of those around them; they shrank from the idea of
+standing alone. But the snare is now broken and they are delivered. This
+is true liberty. This is to be free.
+
+Christ's freemen are free from the _fear of death_. They no longer look
+forward to it with silent dismay, as a horrible thing which they do not
+care to think of. Through Christ they can look this last enemy calmly in
+the face, and say,--"Thou canst not harm me." They can look forward to
+all that comes after death,--decay, resurrection, judgment, and
+eternity,--and yet not feel cast down. They can stand by the side of an
+open grave, and say, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy
+victory?" They can lay them down on their death-beds, and say, "Though I
+walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil."
+(Ps. xxiii. 4.) "Not a hair of my head shall perish." This is true
+liberty. This is to be free.
+
+Best of all, Christ's freemen are _free for ever_. Once enrolled in the
+list of heavenly citizens, their names shall never be struck off. Once
+presented with the freedom of Christ's kingdom, they shall possess it
+for evermore. The highest privileges of this world's freedom can only
+endure for a life-time; the freest citizen on earth must submit at
+length to die, and lose his franchise for ever: but the franchise of
+Christ's people is eternal. They carry it down to the grave, and it
+lives still; they will rise again with it at the last day, and enjoy the
+privileges of it for evermore. This is true liberty. This is to be free.
+
+Does anyone ask how and in what way Christ has obtained these mighty
+privileges for His people? You have a right to ask the question, and it
+is one that can never be answered too clearly. Give me your attention,
+and I will show you by what means Christ has made His people free.
+
+The freedom of Christ's people has been procured, like all other
+freedom, at a mighty cost and by a mighty sacrifice. Great was the
+bondage in which they were naturally held, and great was the price
+necessary to be paid to set them free: mighty was the enemy who claimed
+them as his captives, and it needed mighty power to release them out of
+his hands. But, blessed be God, there was grace enough, and power enough
+ready in Jesus Christ. He provided to the uttermost everything that was
+required to set His people free. The price that Christ paid for His
+people was nothing less than His own life-blood. He became their
+Substitute, and suffered for their sins on the cross: He redeemed them
+from the curse of the law, by being made a curse for them. (Gal. iii.
+13.) He paid all their debt in His own person, by allowing the
+chastisement of their peace to be laid on Him. (Isaiah liii. 5.) He
+satisfied every possible demand of the law against them, by fulfilling
+its righteousness to the uttermost. He cleared them from every
+imputation of sin, by becoming sin for them. (2 Cor. v. 21.) He fought
+their battle with the devil, and triumphed over him on the cross. As
+their Champion, He spoiled principalities and powers, and made a show of
+them openly on Calvary. In a word, Christ having given Himself for us,
+has purchased the full right of redemption for us. Nothing can touch
+those to whom He gives freedom: their debts are paid, and paid a
+thousand times over; their sins are atoned for by a full, perfect, and
+sufficient atonement. A Divine Substitute's death meets completely the
+justice of God, and provides completely redemption for man.
+
+Let us look well at this glorious plan of redemption, and take heed that
+we understand it. Ignorance on this point is one great secret of faint
+hopes, little comfort, and ceaseless doubts in the minds of Christians.
+Too many are content with a vague idea that Christ will somehow save
+sinners: but how or why they cannot tell. I protest against this
+ignorance. Let us set fully before our eyes the doctrine of Christ's
+vicarious death and substitution, and rest our souls upon it. Let us
+grasp firmly the mighty truth, that Christ on the cross, stood in the
+place of His people, died for His people, suffered for His people, was
+counted a curse and sin for His people, paid the debts of His people,
+made satisfaction for His people, became the surety and representative
+of His people, and in this way procured His people's freedom. Let us
+understand this clearly, and then we shall see what a mighty privilege
+it is to be made free by Christ.
+
+This is the freedom which, above all other, is worth having. We can
+never value it too highly: there is no danger of overvaluing it. All
+other freedom is an unsatisfying thing at the best, and a poor uncertain
+possession at any time. Christ's freedom alone can never be overthrown.
+It is secured by a covenant ordered in all things and sure: its
+foundations are laid in the eternal councils of God, and no foreign
+enemy can overthrow them. They are cemented and secured by the blood of
+the Son of God Himself, and can never be cast down. The freedom of
+nations often lasts no longer than a few centuries: the freedom which
+Christ gives to any one of His people is a freedom that shall outlive
+the solid world.
+
+This is the truest, highest kind of freedom. This is the freedom which
+in a changing, dying world, I want men to possess.
+
+
+III. I have now to show, in the last place, _the way in which the best
+kind of freedom is made our own_.
+
+This is a point of vast importance, on account of the many mistakes
+which prevail about it. Thousands, perhaps, will allow that there is
+such a thing as spiritual freedom, and that Christ alone has purchased
+it for us: but when they come to the application of redemption, they go
+astray. They cannot answer the question, "Who are those whom Christ
+effectually makes free?" and for want of knowledge of the answer, they
+sit still in their chains. I ask every reader to give me his attention
+once more, and I will try to throw a little light on the subject.
+Useless indeed is the redemption which Christ has obtained, unless you
+know how the fruit of that redemption can become your own. In vain have
+you read of the freedom wherewith Christ makes people free, unless you
+understand how you yourself may have an interest in it.
+
+We are not born Christ's freemen. The inhabitants of many a city enjoy
+privileges by virtue of their birth-place. St. Paul, who drew
+life-breath first at Tarsus in Cilicia, could say to the Roman
+Commander, "I was free-born." But this is not the case with Adam's
+children, in spiritual things. We are born slaves and servants of sin:
+we are by nature "children of wrath," and destitute of any title to
+heaven.
+
+We are not made Christ's freemen by baptism. Myriads are every year
+brought to the font, and solemnly baptized in the name of the Trinity,
+who serve sin like slaves, and neglect Christ all their days. Wretched
+indeed is that man's state of soul who can give no better evidence of
+his citizenship of heaven than the mere naked fact of his baptism!
+
+We are not made Christ's freemen by mere membership of Christ's Church.
+There are Companies and Corporations whose members are entitled to vast
+privileges, without any respect to their personal character, if their
+names are only on the list of members. The kingdom of Christ is not a
+corporation of this kind. The grand test of belonging to it is personal
+character.
+
+Let these things sink down into our minds. Far be it from me to narrow
+the extent of Christ's redemption: the price He paid on the cross is
+sufficient for the whole world. Far be it from me to undervalue baptism
+or Church-membership: the ordinance which Christ appointed, and the
+Church which He maintains in the midst of a dark world, ought neither of
+them to be lightly esteemed.--All I contend for is the absolute
+necessity of not being content either with baptism or Church-membership.
+If our religion stops short here it is unprofitable and unsatisfying. It
+needs something more than this to give us an interest in the redemption
+which Christ has purchased.
+
+There is no other way to become Christ's freemen than that of simply
+believing. It is by faith, simple faith in Him as our Saviour and
+Redeemer, that men's souls are made free. It is by receiving Christ,
+trusting Christ, committing ourselves to Christ, reposing our whole
+weight on Christ,--it is by this, and by no other plan, that spiritual
+liberty is made our own. Mighty as are the privileges which Christ's
+freemen possess, they all become a man's property in the day that he
+first believes. He may not yet know their full value, but they are all
+his own. He that believeth in Christ is not condemned,--is justified, is
+born again, is an heir of God, and hath everlasting life.
+
+The truth before us is one of priceless importance. Let us cling to it
+firmly, and never let it go. If you desire peace of conscience, if you
+want inward rest and consolation, stir not an inch off the ground that
+faith is the grand secret of an interest in Christ's redemption.--Take
+the simplest view of faith: beware of confusing your mind by complicated
+ideas about it. Follow holiness as closely as you can: seek the fullest
+and clearest evidence of the inward work of the Spirit. But in the
+matter of an interest in Christ's redemption remember that faith stands
+alone. It is by believing, simply believing, that souls become free.
+
+No doctrine like this to suit the ignorant and unlearned! Visit the
+poorest and humblest cottager, who knows nothing of theology, and cannot
+even repeat the creed. Tell him the story of the cross, and the good
+news about Jesus Christ, and His love to sinners; show him that there is
+freedom provided for him, as well as for the most learned in the
+land,--freedom from guilt, freedom from the devil, freedom from
+condemnation, freedom from hell. And then tell him plainly, boldly,
+broadly, unreservedly, that this freedom may be all his own, if he will
+but trust in Christ and believe.
+
+No doctrine like this to suit the sick and dying! Go to the bedside of
+the vilest sinner, when death is coming nigh, and tell him lovingly that
+there is a hope even for him, if he can receive it. Tell him that Christ
+came into the world to save sinners, even the chief of them; tell him
+that Christ has done all, paid all, performed all, purchased all that
+the soul of man can possibly need for salvation. And then assure him
+that he, even he, may be freed at once from all his guilt, if he will
+only believe. Yes, say to him, in the words of Scripture, "If thou shalt
+confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that
+God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." (Rom. x. 9.)
+
+Let us never forget that this is the point to which we must turn our own
+eyes, if we would know whether we have a saving interest in Christ's
+redemption. Waste not your time in speculations whether you are elect,
+and converted, and a vessel of grace. Stand not poring over the
+unprofitable question whether Christ died for you or not. That is a
+point of which no one ever made any question in the Bible. Settle your
+thoughts on this one simple inquiry,--"Do I really trust in Christ, as a
+humble sinner? Do I cast myself on Him? Do I believe?"--Look not to
+anything else. Look at this alone. Fear not to rest your soul on plain
+texts and promises of Scripture. If you believe, you are free.
+
+(1) And now as I bring this paper to a conclusion, let me affectionately
+press upon every reader the inquiry which grows naturally out of the
+whole subject. Let me ask every one a plain question: "Are you free?"
+
+I know not who or what you are into whose hands this paper has fallen.
+But this I do know, there never was an age when the inquiry I press upon
+you was more thoroughly needed. Political liberty, civil liberty,
+commercial liberty, liberty of speech, liberty of the press,--all these,
+and a hundred other kindred subjects, are swallowing up men's attention.
+Few, very few, find time to think of spiritual liberty. Many, too many,
+forget that no man is so thoroughly a slave, whatever his position, as
+the man who serves sin. Yes! there are thousands in this country who are
+slaves of beer and spirits, slaves of lust, slaves of ambition, slaves
+of political party, slaves of money, slaves of gambling, slaves of
+fashion, or slaves of temper! You may not see their chains with the
+naked eye, and they themselves may boast of their liberty: but for all
+that they are thoroughly slaves. Whether men like to hear it or not, the
+gambler and the drunkard, the covetous and the passionate, the glutton
+and the sensualist, are not free, but slaves. They are bound hand and
+foot by the devil. "He that committeth sin is the servant of sin."
+(Rom. viii. 34.) He that boasts of liberty, while he is enslaved by
+lusts and passions, is going down to hell with a lie in his right hand.
+
+Awake to see these things, while health, and time, and life are granted
+to you. Let not political struggles and party strife make you forget
+your precious soul. Take any side in politics you please, and follow
+honestly your conscientious convictions; but never, never forget that
+there is a liberty far higher and more lasting than any that politics
+can give you. Rest not till that liberty is your own. Rest not till YOUR
+SOUL IS FREE.
+
+(2) Do you feel any desire to be free? Do you find any longing within
+you for a higher, better liberty than this world can give--a liberty
+that will not die at your death, but will go with you beyond the grave?
+Then take the advice I give you this day. Seek Christ, repent, believe,
+and be free. Christ has a glorious liberty to bestow on all who humbly
+cry to Him for freedom. Christ can take burdens off your heart, and
+strike chains off your inward man. "If the Son shall make you free, you
+shall be free indeed." (John viii. 36.)
+
+Freedom like this is the secret of true happiness. None go through the
+world with such ease and content as those who are citizens of a heavenly
+country. Earth's burdens press lightly upon their shoulders; earth's
+disappointments do not crush them down as they do others; earth's duties
+and anxieties do not drink up their spirit. In their darkest hours they
+have always this sustaining thought to fall back on,--"I have something
+which makes me independent of this world: I am spiritually free."
+
+Freedom like this is the secret of being a good politician. In every age
+Christ's freemen have been the truest friends to law and order, and to
+measures for the benefit of all classes of mankind. Never, =never= let
+it be forgotten that the despised Puritans, two hundred years ago, did
+more for the cause of real liberty in England than all the Governments
+which ever ruled this land. No man ever made this country so feared and
+respected as Oliver Cromwell. The root of the most genuine patriotism is
+to be one of those whom Christ has made free.
+
+(3) Are you spiritually free? Then rejoice, and be thankful for your
+freedom. Care not for the scorn and contempt of man: you have no cause
+to be ashamed of your religion or your Master. He whose citizenship is
+in heaven (Phil. iii. 20), who has God for his Father, and Christ for
+his Elder Brother, angels for his daily guards, and heaven itself for
+his home, is one that is well provided for. No change of laws can add to
+his greatness: no extension of franchise can raise him higher than he
+stands in God's sight. "The lines are fallen to him in pleasant places,
+and he has a goodly heritage." (Psalm xvi. 6.) Grace now, and the hope
+of glory hereafter, are more lasting privileges than the power of voting
+for twenty boroughs or counties.
+
+Are you free? Then stand fast in your liberty, and be not entangled
+again in the yoke of bondage. Listen not to those who by good words and
+fair speeches would draw you back to the Church of Rome. Beware of those
+who would fain persuade you that there is any mediator but the one
+Mediator, Christ Jesus,--any sacrifice but the one Sacrifice offered on
+Calvary,--any priest but the great High Priest Emmanuel,--any incense
+needed in worship but the savour of His name who was crucified,--any
+rule of faith and practice but God's Word,--any confessional but the
+throne of grace,--any effectual absolution but that which Christ bestows
+on the hearts of His believing people,--any purgatory but the one
+fountain open for all sins, the blood of Christ, to be only used while
+we are alive. On all these points stand fast, and be on your guard.
+Scores of misguided teachers are trying to rob Christians of Gospel
+liberty, and to bring back among us exploded superstitions. Resist them
+manfully, and do not give way for a moment. Remember what Romanism was
+in this country before the blessed Reformation. Remember at what mighty
+cost our martyred Reformers brought spiritual freedom to light by the
+Gospel. Stand fast for this freedom like a man, and labour to hand it
+down to your children, whole and unimpaired.
+
+Are you free? Then think every day you live of the millions of your
+fellow-creatures who are yet bound hand and foot in spiritual darkness.
+Think of six hundred millions of heathens who never yet heard of Christ
+and salvation. Think of the poor homeless Jews, scattered and wandering
+over the face of the earth, because they have not yet received their
+Messiah. Think of the millions of Roman Catholics who are yet in
+captivity under the Pope, and know nothing of true liberty, light, and
+peace. Think of the myriads of your own fellow-countrymen in our great
+cities, who, without Sabbaths and without means of grace, are
+practically heathens, and whom the devil is continually leading captive
+at his will. Think of them all, and feel for them. Think of them all,
+and often say to yourself,--"What can I do for them? How can I help to
+set them free?"
+
+What! Shall it be proclaimed at the last day that Pharisees and Jesuits
+have compassed sea and land to make proselytes,--that politicians have
+leagued and laboured night and day to obtain catholic emancipation and
+free trade,--that philanthropists have travailed in soul for years to
+procure the suppression of negro slavery,--and shall it appear at the
+same time that Christ's freemen have done little to rescue men and women
+from hell? Forbid it, faith! Forbid it, charity! Surely if the children
+of this world are zealous to promote temporal freedom, the children of
+God ought to be much more zealous to promote spiritual freedom. Let the
+time past suffice us to have been selfish and indolent in this matter.
+For the rest of our days let us use =every= effort to promote spiritual
+emancipation. If we have tasted the blessings of freedom, let us spare
+no pains to make others free.
+
+Are you free? Then look forward in faith and hope for good things yet to
+come. Free as we are, if we believe on Christ, from the guilt and power
+of sin, we must surely feel every day that we are not free from its
+presence and the temptations of the devil. Redeemed as we are from the
+eternal consequences of the fall, we must often feel that we are not yet
+redeemed from sickness and infirmity, from sorrow and from pain. No,
+indeed! Where is the freeman of Christ on earth who is not often
+painfully reminded that we are not yet in heaven? We are yet in the
+body; we are yet travelling through the wilderness of this world: we are
+not at home. We have shed many tears already, and probably we shall have
+to shed many more; we have got yet within us a poor weak heart: we are
+yet liable to be assaulted by the devil. Our redemption is begun indeed,
+but it is not yet completed. We have redemption now in the root, but we
+have it not in the flower.
+
+But let us take courage: there are better days yet to come. Our great
+Redeemer and Liberator has gone before us to prepare a place for His
+people, and when He comes again our redemption will be complete. The
+great jubilee year is yet to come. A few more returns of Christmas and
+New Year's Days,--a few more meetings and partings,--a few more births
+and deaths,--a few more weddings and funerals,--a few more tears and
+struggles,--a few more sicknesses and pains,--a few more Sabbaths and
+sacraments,--a few more preachings and prayings,--a few more, and the
+end will come! Our Master will come back again. The dead saints shall be
+raised. The living saints shall be changed. Then, and not till then, we
+shall be completely free. The liberty which we enjoyed by faith shall be
+changed into the liberty of sight, and the freedom of hope into the
+freedom of certainty.
+
+Come, then, and let us resolve to wait, and watch, and hope, and pray,
+and live like men who have something laid up for them in heaven. The
+night is far spent, and the day is at hand. Our King is not far off: our
+full redemption draweth nigh. Our full salvation is nearer than when we
+believed. The signs of the times are strange, and demand every
+Christian's serious attention. The kingdoms of this world are in
+confusion: the powers of this world, both temporal and ecclesiastical,
+are everywhere reeling and shaken to their foundations. Happy, thrice
+happy, are those who are citizens of Christ's eternal kingdom, and ready
+for anything that may come. Blessed indeed are those men and women who
+know and feel that they are free!
+
+
+
+
+X
+
+
+HAPPINESS
+
+     "_Happy is that people whose God is the Lord._"--Psalm cxliv.
+     15.
+
+
+An infidel was once addressing a crowd of people in the open air. He was
+trying to persuade them that there was no God and no devil no heaven,
+and no hell, no resurrection, no judgment, and no life to come. He
+advised them to throw away their Bibles, and not to mind what parsons
+said. He recommended them to think as he did, and to be like him. He
+talked boldly. The crowd listened eagerly. It was "the blind leading the
+blind." Both were falling into the ditch. (Matt. xv. 14.)
+
+In the middle of his address a poor old woman suddenly pushed her way
+through the crowd, to the place where he was standing. She stood before
+him. She looked him full in the face. "Sir," she said, in a loud voice,
+"Are you happy?" The infidel looked scornfully at her, and gave her no
+answer. "Sir," she said again, "I ask you to answer my question. Are you
+happy? You want us to throw away our Bibles. You tell us not to believe
+what parsons say about religion. You advise us to think as you do, and
+be like you. Now before we take your advice we have a right to know what
+good we shall get by it. Do your fine new notions give you much comfort?
+Do you yourself really feel happy?"
+
+The infidel stopped, and attempted to answer the old woman's question.
+He stammered, and shuffled, and fidgetted, and endeavoured to explain
+his meaning. He tried hard to turn the subject. He said, he "had not
+come there to preach about happiness." But it was of no use. The old
+woman stuck to her point. She insisted on her question being answered,
+and the crowd took her part. She pressed him hard with her inquiry, and
+would take no excuse. And at last the infidel was obliged to leave the
+ground, and sneak off in confusion. He could not reply to the question.
+His conscience would not let him: he dared not say that he was happy.
+
+The old woman showed great wisdom in asking the question that she did.
+The argument she used may seem very simple, but in reality it is one of
+the most powerful that can be employed. It is a weapon that has more
+effect on some minds than the most elaborate reasoning of Butler, or
+Paley, or Chalmers. Whenever a man begins to take up new views of
+religion, and pretends to despise old Bible Christianity, thrust home at
+his conscience the old woman's question. Ask him whether his new views
+make him feel comfortable within. Ask him whether he can say, with
+honesty and sincerity, that he is happy. The grand test of a man's faith
+and religion is, "Does it make him happy?"
+
+Let me now affectionately invite every reader to consider the subject of
+this paper. Let me warn you to remember that the salvation of your soul,
+and nothing less, is closely bound up with the subject. The heart cannot
+be right in the sight of God which knows nothing of happiness. That man
+or woman cannot be in a safe state of soul who feels nothing of peace
+within.
+
+There are three things which I purpose to do, in order to clear up the
+subject of happiness. I ask special attention to each one of them. And I
+pray the Spirit of God to apply all to the souls of all who read this
+paper.
+
+    I. Let me point out some things which are absolutely essential to
+    all happiness.
+
+    II. Let me expose some common mistakes about the way to be happy.
+
+    III. Let me show the way to be truly happy.
+
+
+I. First of all I have _to point out some things which are absolutely
+essential to all true happiness_.
+
+Happiness is what all mankind want to obtain: the desire of it is deeply
+planted in the human heart. All men naturally dislike pain, sorrow, and
+discomfort. All men naturally like ease, comfort, and gladness. All men
+naturally hunger and thirst after happiness. Just as the sick man longs
+for health, and the prisoner of war for liberty,--just as the parched
+traveller in hot countries longs to see the cooling fountain, or the
+ice-bound polar voyager the sun rising above the horizon,--just in the
+same way does poor mortal man long to be happy. But, alas, how few
+consider what they really mean when they talk of happiness! How vague
+and indistinct and undefined the ideas of most men are upon the subject!
+They think some are happy who in reality are miserable: they think some
+are gloomy and sad who in reality are truly happy. They dream of a
+happiness which in reality would never satisfy their nature's wants. Let
+me try this day to throw a little light on the subject.
+
+True happiness _is not perfect freedom from sorrow and discomfort_. Let
+that never be forgotten. If it were so there would be no such thing as
+happiness in the world. Such happiness is for angels who have never
+fallen, and not for man. The happiness I am inquiring about is such as a
+poor, dying, sinful creature may hope to attain. Our whole nature is
+defiled by sin. Evil abounds in the world. Sickness, and death, and
+change are daily doing their sad work on every side. In such a state of
+things the highest happiness man can attain to on earth must
+necessarily be a mixed thing. If we expect to find any literally perfect
+happiness on this side of the grave, we expect what we shall not find.
+
+True happiness _does not consist in laughter and smiles_. The face is
+very often a poor index of the inward man. There are thousands who laugh
+loud and are merry as a grasshopper in company, but are wretched and
+miserable in private, and almost afraid to be alone. There are hundreds
+who are grave and serious in their demeanour, whose hearts are full of
+solid peace. A poet of our own has truly told us that smiles are worth
+but little:--
+
+    "A man may smile and smile and be a villain."
+
+And the eternal Word of God teaches us that "even in laughter the heart
+is sorrowful." (Prov. xiv. 13.) Tell me not merely of smiling and
+laughing faces: I want to hear of something more than that when I ask
+whether a man is happy. A truly happy man no doubt will often show his
+happiness in his countenance; but a man may have a very merry face and
+yet not be happy at all.
+
+Of all deceptive things on earth nothing is so deceptive as mere gaiety
+and merriment. It is a hollow empty show, utterly devoid of substance
+and reality. Listen to the brilliant talker in society, and mark the
+applause which he receives from an admiring company: follow him to his
+own private room, and you will very likely find him plunged in
+melancholy despondency. Colonel Gardiner confessed that even when he was
+thought most happy he often wished he was a dog.--Look at the smiling
+beauty in the ball-room, and you might suppose she knew not what it was
+to be unhappy; see her next day at her own home, and you may probably
+find her out of temper with herself and everybody else besides.--Oh, no:
+worldly merriment is not real happiness! There is a certain pleasure
+about it, I do not deny. There is an animal excitement about it, I make
+no question. There is a temporary elevation of spirits about it, I
+freely concede. But call it not by the sacred name of happiness. The
+most beautiful cut flowers stuck into the ground do not make a garden.
+When glass is called diamond, and tinsel is called gold, then, and not
+till then, your people who can laugh and smile will deserve to be called
+happy men.[7]
+
+  7: Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, at a time when all Spain was
+  laughing at his humorous work, was overwhelmed with a deep cloud of
+  melancholy.
+
+  Moliere, the first of French comic writers, carried into his domestic
+  circle a sadness which the greatest worldly prosperity could never
+  dispel.
+
+  Samuel Foote, the noted wit of the last century, died of a broken heart.
+
+  Theodore Hooke, the facetious novel writer, who could set everybody
+  laughing, says of himself in his diary, "I am suffering under a constant
+  depression of spirits, which no one who sees me in society dreams of."
+
+  A wobegone stranger consulted a physician about his health. The
+  physician advised him to keep up his spirits by going to hear the great
+  comic actor of the day. "You should go and hear Matthews. He would make
+  you well." "Alas, sir," was the reply, "I am Matthews
+  himself!"--_Pictorial Pages._
+
+To be truly happy _the highest wants of a man's nature must be met and
+satisfied_. The requirements of his curiously wrought constitution must
+all be filled up. There must be nothing about him that cries, "Give,
+give," but cries in vain and gets no answer. The horse and the ox are
+happy as long as they are warmed and filled. And why? It is because they
+are satisfied. The little infant looks happy when it is clothed, and
+fed, and well, and in its mother's arms. And why? Because it is
+satisfied. And just so it is with man. His highest wants must be met and
+satisfied before he can be truly happy. All must be filled up. There
+must be no void, no empty places, no unsupplied cravings. Till then he
+is never truly happy.
+
+And what are _man's principal wants_? Has he a body only? No: he has
+something more! He has a soul.--Has he sensual faculties only? Can he
+do nothing but hear, and see, and smell, and taste, and feel? No: he has
+a thinking mind and a conscience!--Has he no consciousness of any world
+but that in which he lives and moves? He has. There is a still small
+voice within him which often makes itself heard: "This life is not all!
+There is a world unseen: there is a life beyond the grave." Yes! it is
+true. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. All men know it: all men
+feel it, if they would only speak the truth. It is utter nonsense to
+pretend that food and raiment and earthly good things alone can make men
+happy. There are soul-wants. There are conscience-wants. There can be no
+true happiness until these wants are satisfied.
+
+To be truly happy _a man must have sources of gladness which are not
+dependent on anything in this world_. There is nothing upon earth which
+is not stamped with the mark of instability and uncertainty. All the
+good things that money can buy are but for a moment: they either leave
+us or we are obliged to leave them. All the sweetest relationships in
+life are liable to come to an end: death may come any day and cut them
+off. The man whose happiness depends entirely on things here below is
+like him who builds his house on sand, or leans his weight on a reed.
+
+Tell me not of your happiness if it daily hangs on the uncertainties of
+earth. Your home may be rich in comforts; your wife and children may be
+all you could desire; your means may be amply sufficient to meet all
+your wants. But oh, remember, if you have nothing more than this to look
+to, that you stand on the brink of a precipice! Your rivers of pleasure
+may any day be dried up. Your joy may be deep and earnest, but it is
+fearfully short-lived. It has no root. It is not true happiness.
+
+To be really happy _a man must be able to look on every side without
+uncomfortable feelings_. He must be able to look back to the past
+without guilty fears; he must be able to look around him without
+discontent; he must be able to look forward without anxious dread.
+He must be able to sit down and think calmly about things past,
+present, and to come, and feel prepared. The man who has a weak side
+in his condition,--a side that he does not like looking at or
+considering,--that man is not really happy.
+
+Talk not to me of your happiness, if you are unable to look steadily
+either before or behind you. Your present position may be easy and
+pleasant. You may find many sources of joy and gladness in your
+profession, your dwelling-place, your family, and your friends. Your
+health may be good, your spirits may be cheerful. But stop and think
+quietly over your past life. Can you reflect calmly on all the omissions
+and commissions of by-gone years? How will they bear God's inspection?
+How will you answer for them at the last day?--And then look forward,
+and think on the years yet to come. Think of the certain end towards
+which you are hastening; think of death; think of judgment; think of the
+hour when you will meet God face to face. Are you ready for it? Are you
+prepared? Can you look forward to these things without alarm?--Oh, be
+very sure if you cannot look comfortably at any season but the present,
+your boasted happiness is a poor unreal thing! It is but a whitened
+sepulchre,--fair and beautiful without, but bones and corruption within.
+It is a mere thing of a day, like Jonah's gourd. It is not real
+happiness.
+
+I ask my readers to fix in their minds the account of things essential
+to happiness, which I have attempted to give. Dismiss from your thoughts
+the many mistaken notions which pass current on this subject, like
+counterfeit coin. To be truly happy, the wants of your soul and
+conscience must be satisfied; to be truly happy, your joy must be
+founded on something more than this world can give you; to be truly
+happy, you must be able to look on every side,--above, below, behind,
+before,--and feel that all is right. This is real, sterling, genuine
+happiness: this is the happiness I have in view when I urge on your
+notice the subject of this paper.
+
+
+II. In the next place, _let me expose some common mistakes about the way
+to be happy_.
+
+There are several roads which are thought by many to lead to happiness.
+In each of these roads thousands and tens of thousands of men and women
+are continually travelling. Each fancies that if he could only attain
+all he wants he would be happy. Each fancies, if he does not succeed,
+that the fault is not in his road, but in his own want of luck and good
+fortune. And all alike seem ignorant that they are hunting shadows. They
+have started in a wrong direction: they are seeking that which can never
+be found in the place where they seek it.
+
+I will mention by name some of the principal delusions about happiness.
+I do it in love, and charity, and compassion to men's souls. I believe
+it to be a public duty to warn people against cheats, quacks, and
+impostors. Oh, how much trouble and sorrow it might save my readers, if
+they would only believe what I am going to say!
+
+It is an utter mistake to suppose that _rank and greatness alone_ can
+give happiness. The kings and rulers of this world are not necessarily
+happy men. They have troubles and crosses, which none know but
+themselves; they see a thousand evils, which they are unable to remedy;
+they are slaves working in golden chains, and have less real liberty
+than any in the world; they have burdens and responsibilities laid upon
+them, which are a daily weight on their hearts. The Roman Emperor
+Antonine often said, that "the imperial power was an ocean of miseries."
+Queen Elizabeth, when she heard a milk-maid singing, wished that she had
+been born to a lot like her's. Never did our great Poet write a truer
+word than when he said,
+
+    "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown."
+
+It is an utter mistake to suppose that _riches alone_ can give
+happiness. They can enable a man to command and possess everything but
+inward peace. They cannot buy a cheerful spirit and a light heart. There
+is care in the getting of them, and care in the keeping of them, care in
+the using of them, and care in the disposing of them, care in the
+gathering, and care in the scattering of them. He was a wise man who
+said that "money" was only another name for "trouble," and that the same
+English letters which spelt "acres" would also spell "cares."
+
+It is an utter mistake to suppose that _learning and science alone_ can
+give happiness. They may occupy a man's time and attention, but they
+cannot really make him happy. They that increase knowledge often
+"increase sorrow:" the more they learn, the more they discover their own
+ignorance. (Eccles. i. 18.) It is not in the power of things on earth or
+under the earth to "minister to a mind diseased." The heart wants
+something as well as the head: the conscience needs food as well as the
+intellect. All the secular knowledge in the world will not give a man
+joy and gladness, when he thinks on sickness, and death, and the grave.
+They that have climbed the highest, have often found themselves
+solitary, dissatisfied, and empty of peace. The learned Selden, at the
+close of his life, confessed that all his learning did not give him such
+comfort as four verses of St. Paul. (Titus ii. 11--14.)
+
+It is an utter mistake to suppose that _idleness alone_ can give
+happiness. The labourer who gets up at five in the morning, and goes out
+to work all day in a cold clay ditch, often thinks, as he walks past the
+rich man's door, "What a fine thing it must be to have no work to do."
+Poor fellow! he little knows what he thinks. The most miserable
+creature on earth is the man who has nothing to do. Work for the hands
+or work for the head is absolutely essential to human happiness. Without
+it the mind feeds upon itself, and the whole inward man becomes
+diseased. The machinery within _will_ work, and without something to
+work upon, will often wear itself to pieces. There was no idleness in
+Eden. Adam and Eve had to "dress the garden and keep it." There will be
+no idleness in heaven: God's "servants shall serve Him." Oh, be very
+sure the idlest man is the man most truly unhappy! (Gen. ii. 15; Rev.
+xxii. 3.)
+
+It is an utter mistake to suppose that _pleasure-seeking and amusement
+alone_ can give happiness. Of all roads that men can take in order to be
+happy, this is the one that is most completely wrong. Of all weary,
+flat, dull, and unprofitable ways of spending life, this exceeds all. To
+think of a dying creature, with an immortal soul, expecting happiness in
+feasting and revelling,--in dancing and singing,--in dressing and
+visiting,--in ball-going and card-playing,--in races and fairs,--in
+hunting and shooting,--in crowds, in laughter, in noise, in music, in
+wine! Surely it is a sight that is enough to make the devil laugh and
+the angels weep. Even a child will not play with its toys all day long.
+It must have food. But when grown up men and women think to find
+happiness in a constant round of amusement they sink far below a child.
+
+I place before every reader of this paper these common mistakes about
+the way to be happy. I ask you to mark them well. I warn you plainly
+against these pretended short cuts to happiness, however crowded they
+may be. I tell you that if you fancy any one of them can lead you to
+true peace you are entirely deceived. Your conscience will never feel
+satisfied; your immortal soul will never feel easy: your whole inward
+man will feel uncomfortable and out of health. Take any one of these
+roads, or take all of them, and if you have nothing besides to look to,
+you will never find happiness. You may travel on and on and on, and the
+wished for object will seem as far away at the end of each stage of life
+as when you started. You are like one pouring water into a sieve, or
+putting money into a bag with holes. You might as well try to make an
+elephant happy by feeding him with a grain of sand a day, as try to
+satisfy that heart of your's with rank, riches, learning, idleness, or
+pleasure.
+
+Do you doubt the truth of all I am saying? I dare say you do. Then let
+us turn to the great Book of human experience, and read over a few lines
+out of its solemn pages. You shall have the testimony of a few competent
+witnesses on the great subject I am urging on your attention.
+
+A King shall be our first witness: I mean Solomon, King of Israel. We
+know that he had power, and wisdom, and wealth, far exceeding that of
+any ruler of his time. We know from his own confession, that he tried
+the great experiment how far the good things of this world can make man
+happy. We know, from the record of his own hand, the result of this
+curious experiment. He writes it by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost,
+for the benefit of the whole world, in the book of Ecclesiastes. Never,
+surely, was the experiment tried under such favourable circumstances:
+never was any one so likely to succeed as the Jewish King. Yet what is
+Solomon's testimony? You have it in his melancholy words: "All is vanity
+and vexation of spirit." (Eccles. i. 14.)
+
+A famous French lady shall be our next witness: I mean Madam De
+Pompadour. She was the friend and favourite of Louis the Fifteenth. She
+had unbounded influence at the Court of France. She wanted nothing that
+money could procure. Yet what does she say herself? "What a situation is
+that of the great! They only live in the future, and are only happy in
+hope. There is no peace in ambition. I am always gloomy, and often so
+unreasonably. The kindness of the King, the regard of courtiers, the
+attachment of my domestics, and the fidelity of a large number of
+friends,--motives like these, which ought to make me happy, affect me no
+longer. I have no longer inclinations for all which once pleased me. I
+have caused my house at Paris to be magnificently furnished: well; it
+pleased for two days! My residence at Bellevue is charming; and I alone
+cannot endure it. Benevolent people relate to me all the news and
+adventures of Paris: they think I listen, but when they have done I ask
+them what they said. In a word, I do not live: I am dead before my time.
+I have no interest in the world. Everything conspires to embitter my
+life. My life is a continual death." To such testimony I need not add a
+single word. (_Sinclair's Anecdotes and Aphorisms_ p. 33)
+
+A famous German writer shall be our next witness: I mean Goethe. It is
+well known that he was almost idolized by many during his life. His
+works were read and admired by thousands. His name was known and
+honoured, wherever German was read, all over the world. And yet the
+praise of man, of which he reaped such an abundant harvest, was utterly
+unable to make Goethe happy. "He confessed, when about eighty years old,
+that he could not remember being in a really happy state of mind even
+for a few weeks together; and that when he wished to feel happy, he had
+to veil his self-consciousness." (_See Sinclair's Anecdotes and
+Aphorisms, p. 280._)
+
+An English peer and poet shall be our next witness: I mean Lord Byron.
+If ever there was one who ought to have been happy according to the
+standard of the world, Lord Byron was the man. He began life with all
+the advantages of English rank and position. He had splendid abilities
+and powers of mind, which the world soon discovered and was ready to
+honour. He had a sufficiency of means to gratify every lawful wish, and
+never knew anything of real poverty. Humanly speaking, there seemed
+nothing to prevent him enjoying life and being happy. Yet it is a
+notorious fact that Byron was a miserable man. Misery stands out in his
+poems: misery creeps out in his letters. Weariness, satiety, disgust,
+and discontent appear in all his ways. He is an awful warning that rank,
+and title, and literary fame, alone, are not sufficient to make a man
+happy.
+
+A man of science shall be our next witness: I mean Sir Humphrey Davy. He
+was a man eminently successful in the line of life which he chose, and
+deservedly so. A distinguished philosopher,--the inventor of the famous
+safety-lamp which bears his name, and has preserved so many poor miners
+from death by fire-damp,--a Baronet of the United Kingdom and President
+of the Royal Society;--his whole life seemed a continual career of
+prosperity. If learning alone were the road to happiness, this man at
+least ought to have been happy. Yet what was the true record of Davy's
+feelings? We have it in his own melancholy journal at the latter part of
+his life. He describes himself in two painful words: "Very miserable!"
+
+A man of wit and pleasure shall be our next witness: I mean Lord
+Chesterfield. He shall speak for himself: his own words in a letter
+shall be his testimony. "I have seen the silly round of business and
+pleasure, and have done with it all. I have enjoyed all the pleasures of
+the world, and consequently know their futility, and do not regret their
+loss. I appraise them at their real value, which in truth is very low;
+whereas those who have not experience always overrate them. They only
+see their gay outside, and are dazzled with their glare; but I have been
+behind the scenes. I have seen all the coarse pullies and dirty ropes
+which exhibit and move the gaudy machine, and I have seen and smelt the
+tallow candles which illuminate the whole decoration, to the
+astonishment and admiration of the ignorant audience. When I reflect on
+what I have seen, what I have heard, and what I have done, I cannot
+persuade myself that all that frivolous hurry of bustle and pleasure of
+the world had any reality. I look on all that is past as one of those
+romantic dreams which opium occasions, and I do by no means wish to
+repeat the nauseous dose for the sake of the fugitive dream." These
+sentences speak for themselves. I need not add to them one single word.
+
+The Statesmen and Politicians who have swayed the destinies of the
+world, ought by good right to be our last witnesses. But I forbear, in
+Christian charity, to bring them forward. It makes my heart ache when I
+run my eye over the list of names famous in English history, and think
+how many have worn out their lives in a breathless struggle after place
+and distinction. How many of our greatest men have died of broken
+hearts,--disappointed, disgusted, and tried with constant failure! How
+many have left on record some humbling confession that in the plentitude
+of their power they were pining for rest, as the caged eagle for
+liberty! How many whom the world is applauding as "masters of the
+situation," are in reality little better than galley-slaves, chained to
+the oar and unable to get free! Alas, there are many sad proofs, both
+among the living and the dead, that to be great and powerful is not
+necessarily to be happy.
+
+I think it very likely that men do not believe what I am saying. I know
+something of the deceitfulness of the heart on the subject of happiness.
+There are few things which man is so slow to believe as the truths I am
+now putting forth about the way to be happy. Bear with me then while I
+say something more.
+
+Come and stand with me some afternoon in the heart of the city of
+London. Let us watch the faces of most of the wealthy men whom we shall
+see leaving their houses of business at the close of the day. Some of
+them are worth hundreds of thousands: some of them are worth millions of
+pounds. But what is written in the countenances of these grave men whom
+we see swarming out from Lombard Street and Cornhill, from the Bank of
+England and the Stock Exchange? What mean those deep lines which furrow
+so many a cheek and so many a brow? What means that air of anxious
+thoughtfulness which is worn by five out of every six we meet? Ah, these
+things tell a serious tale. They tell us that it needs something more
+than gold and bank notes to make men happy.
+
+Come next and stand with me near the Houses of Parliament, in the middle
+of a busy session. Let us scan the faces of Peers and Commoners, whose
+names are familiar and well-known all over the civilized world. There
+you may see on some fine May evening the mightiest Statesmen in England
+hurrying to a debate, like eagles to the carcase. Each has a power of
+good or evil in his tongue which it is fearful to contemplate. Each may
+say things before to-morrow's sun dawns, which may affect the peace and
+prosperity of nations, and convulse the world. There you may see the men
+who hold the reins of power and government already; there you may see
+the men who are daily watching for an opportunity of snatching those
+reins out of their hands, and governing in their stead. But what do
+their faces tell us as they hasten to their posts? What may be learned
+from their care-worn countenances? What may be read in many of their
+wrinkled foreheads,--so absent-looking and sunk in thought? They teach
+us a solemn lesson. They teach us that it needs something more than
+political greatness to make men happy.
+
+Come next and stand with me in the most fashionable part of London, in
+the height of the season. Let us visit Regent Street or Pall Mall, Hyde
+Park or May Fair. How many fair faces and splendid equipages we shall
+see! How many we shall count up in an hour's time who seem to possess
+the choicest gifts of this world,--beauty, wealth, rank, fashion, and
+troops of friends! But, alas, how few we shall see who appear happy! In
+how many countenances we shall read weariness, dissatisfaction,
+discontent, sorrow, or unhappiness, as clearly as if it was written with
+a pen! Yes: it is a humbling lesson to learn, but a very wholesome one.
+It needs something more than rank, and fashion, and beauty, to make
+people happy.
+
+Come next and walk with me through some quiet country parish in merry
+England. Let us visit some secluded corner in our beautiful old
+father-land, far away from great towns, and fashionable dissipation and
+political strife. There are not a few such to be found in the land.
+There are rural parishes where there is neither street, nor public
+house, nor beershop,--where there is work for all the labourers, and a
+church for all the population, and a school for all the children, and a
+minister of the Gospel to look after the people. Surely, you will say,
+we shall find happiness here! Surely such parishes must be the very
+abodes of peace and joy!--Go into those quiet-looking cottages, one by
+one, and you will soon be undeceived. Learn the inner history of each
+family, and you will soon alter your mind. You will soon discover that
+backbiting, and lying, and slandering, and envy, and jealousy, and
+pride, and laziness, and drinking, and extravagance, and lust, and petty
+quarrels, can murder happiness in the country quite as much as in the
+town. No doubt a rural village sounds pretty in poetry, and looks
+beautiful in pictures; but in sober reality human nature is the same
+evil thing everywhere. Alas, it needs something more than a residence in
+a quiet country parish to make any child of Adam a happy man!
+
+I know these are ancient things. They have been said a thousand times
+before without effect, and I suppose they will be said without effect
+again. I want no greater proof of the corruption of human nature than
+the pertinacity with which we seek happiness where happiness cannot be
+found. Century after century wise men have left on record their
+experience about the way to be happy. Century after century the children
+of men will have it that they know the way perfectly well, and need no
+teaching. They cast to the winds our warnings; they rush, every one, on
+his own favourite path; they walk in a vain shadow, and disquiet
+themselves in vain, and wake up when too late to find their whole life
+has been a grand mistake. Their eyes are blinded: they will not see that
+their visions are as baseless and disappointing as the mirage of the
+African desert. Like the tired traveller in those deserts, they think
+they are approaching a lake of cooling waters; like the same traveller,
+they find to their dismay that this fancied lake was a splendid optical
+delusion, and that they are still helpless in the midst of burning
+sands.
+
+Are you a young person? I entreat you to accept the affectionate warning
+of a minister of the Gospel, and not to seek happiness where happiness
+cannot be found. Seek it not in riches; seek it not in power and rank;
+seek it not in pleasure; seek it not in learning. All these are bright
+and splendid fountains: their waters taste sweet. A crowd is standing
+round them, which will not leave them; but, oh, remember that God has
+written over each of these fountains, "He that drinketh of this water
+shall thirst again." (John iv. 13.) Remember this, and be wise.
+
+Are you poor? Are you tempted to fancy that if you had the rich man's
+place you would be quite happy? Resist the temptation, and cast it
+behind you. Envy not your wealthy neighbours: be content with such
+things as you have. Happiness does not depend on houses or land; silks
+and satins cannot shut out sorrow from the heart; castles and halls
+cannot prevent anxiety and care coming in at their doors. There is as
+much misery riding and driving about in carriages as there is walking
+about on foot: there is as much unhappiness in ceiled houses as in
+humble cottages. Oh, remember the mistakes which are common about
+happiness, and be wise!
+
+
+III. Let me now, in the last place, _point out the way to be really
+happy_.
+
+There is a sure path which leads to happiness, if men will only take it.
+There never lived the person who travelled in that path, and missed the
+object that he sought to attain.
+
+It is a path open to all. It needs neither wealth, nor rank, nor
+learning in order to walk in it. It is for the servant as well as for
+the master: it is for the poor as well as for the rich. None are
+excluded but those who exclude themselves.
+
+It is the one only path. All that have ever been happy, since the days
+of Adam, have journeyed on it. There is no royal road to happiness.
+Kings must be content to go side by side with their humblest subjects,
+if they would be happy.
+
+Where is this path? Where is this road? Listen, and you shall hear.
+
+The way to be happy is _to be a real, thorough-going, true-hearted
+Christian_. Scripture declares it: experience proves it. The converted
+man, the believer in Christ, the child of God,--he, and he alone, is the
+happy man.
+
+It sounds too simple to be true: it seems at first sight so plain a
+receipt that it is not believed. But the greatest truths are often the
+simplest. The secret which many of the wisest on earth have utterly
+failed to discover, is revealed to the humblest believer in Christ. I
+repeat it deliberately, and defy the world to disprove it: the true
+Christian is the only happy man.
+
+What do I mean when I speak of a true Christian? Do I mean everybody who
+goes to church or chapel? Do I mean everybody who professes an orthodox
+creed, and bows his head at the belief? Do I mean everybody who
+professes to love the Gospel? No: indeed! I mean something very
+different. All are not Christians who are called Christians. The man I
+have in view is _the Christian in heart and life_. He who has been
+taught by the Spirit really to feel his sins,--he who really rests all
+his hopes on the Lord Jesus Christ, and His atonement,--he who has been
+born again and really lives a spiritual, holy life,--he whose religion
+is not a mere Sunday coat, but a mighty constraining principle governing
+every day of his life,--he is the man I mean, when I speak of a true
+Christian.
+
+What do I mean when I say the true Christian is happy? Has he no doubts
+and no fears? Has he no anxieties and no troubles? Has he no sorrows and
+no cares? Does he never feel pain, and shed no tears? Far be it from me
+to say anything of the kind. He has a body weak and frail like other
+men; he has affections and passions like every one born of woman: he
+lives in a changeful world. But deep down in his heart he has a mine of
+solid peace and substantial joy which is never exhausted. This is true
+happiness.
+
+Do I say that all true Christians are equally happy? No: not for a
+moment! There are babes in Christ's family as well as old men; there are
+weak members of the mystical body as well as strong ones; there are
+tender lambs as well as sheep. There are not only the cedars of Lebanon
+but the hyssop that grows on the wall. There are degrees of grace and
+degrees of faith. Those who have most faith and grace will have most
+happiness. But all, more or less, compared to the children of the world,
+are happy men.
+
+Do I say that real true Christians are equally happy at all times? No:
+not for a moment! All have their ebbs and flows of comfort: some, like
+the Mediterranean sea, almost insensibly; some, like the tide at
+Chepstow, fifty or sixty feet at a time. Their bodily health is not
+always the same; their earthly circumstances are not always the same;
+the souls of those they love fill them at seasons with special anxiety:
+they themselves are sometimes overtaken by a fault, and walk in
+darkness. They sometimes give way to inconsistencies and besetting sins,
+and lose their sense of pardon. But, as a general rule, the true
+Christian has a deep pool of peace within him, which even at the lowest
+is never entirely dry.[8]
+
+  8: I use the words, "as a general rule," advisedly. When a believer
+  falls into such a horrible sin as that of David, it would be monstrous
+  to talk of his feeling inward peace. If a man professing to be a true
+  Christian talked to me of being happy in such a case,--before giving any
+  evidence of the deepest, most heart-abasing repentance,--I should feel
+  great doubts whether he ever had any grace at all.
+
+The true Christian is the only happy man, because _his conscience is at
+peace_. That mysterious witness for God, which is so mercifully placed
+within us, is fully satisfied and at rest. It sees in the blood of
+Christ a complete cleansing away of all its guilt. It sees in the
+priesthood and mediation of Christ a complete answer to all its fears.
+It sees that through the sacrifice and death of Christ, God can now be
+just, and yet be the justifier of the ungodly. It no longer bites and
+stings, and makes its possessor afraid of himself. The Lord Jesus Christ
+has amply met all its requirements. Conscience is no longer the enemy of
+the true Christian, but his friend and adviser. Therefore he is happy.
+
+The true Christian is the only happy man, because he can _sit down
+quietly and think about his soul_. He can look behind him and before
+him, he can look within him and around him, and feel, "All is well."--He
+can think calmly on his past life, and however many and great his sins,
+take comfort in the thought that they are all forgiven. The
+righteousness of Christ covers all, as Noah's flood overtopped the
+highest hills.--He can think calmly about things to come, and yet not be
+afraid. Sickness is painful; death is solemn; the judgment day is an
+awful thing: but having Christ for him, he has nothing to fear.--He can
+think calmly about the Holy God, whose eyes are on all his ways, and
+feel, "He is my Father, my reconciled Father in Christ Jesus. I am weak;
+I am unprofitable: yet in Christ He regards me as His dear child, and is
+well-pleased." Oh, what a blessed privilege it is to be able to _think_,
+and not be afraid! I can well understand the mournful complaint of the
+prisoner in solitary confinement. He had warmth, and food, and clothing,
+and work, but he was not happy. And why? He said, "He was obliged to
+think."
+
+The true Christian is the only happy man, because _he has sources of
+happiness entirely independent of this world_. He has something which
+cannot be affected by sickness and by deaths, by private losses and by
+public calamities, the "peace of God, which passeth all understanding."
+He has a hope laid up for him in heaven; he has a treasure which moth
+and rust cannot corrupt; he has a house which can never be taken down.
+His loving wife may die, and his heart feel rent in twain; his darling
+children may be taken from him, and he may be left alone in this cold
+world; his earthly plans may be crossed; his health may fail: but all
+this time he has a portion which nothing can hurt. He has one Friend who
+never dies; he has possessions beyond the grave, of which nothing can
+deprive him: his nether springs may fail, but his upper springs are
+never dry. This is real happiness.
+
+The true Christian is happy, because he is _in his right position_. All
+the powers of his being are directed to right ends. His affections are
+not set on things below, but on things above; his will is not bent on
+self-indulgence, but is submissive to the will of God; his mind is not
+absorbed in wretched perishable trifles. He desires useful employment:
+he enjoys the luxury of doing good. Who does not know the misery of
+disorder? Who has not tasted the discomfort of a house where everything
+and everybody are in their wrong places,--the last things first and the
+first things last? The heart of an unconverted man is just such a house.
+Grace puts everything in that heart in its right position. The things of
+the soul come first, and the things of the world come second. Anarchy
+and confusion cease: unruly passions no longer do each one what is right
+in his eyes. Christ reigns over the whole man, and each part of him does
+his proper work. The new heart is the only really light heart, for it is
+the only heart that is in order.--The true Christian has found out his
+place. He has laid aside his pride and self-will; he sits at the feet of
+Jesus, and is in his right mind: he loves God and loves man, and so he
+is happy. In heaven all are happy because all do God's will perfectly.
+The nearer a man gets to this standard the happier he will be.
+
+The plain truth is that without Christ there is no happiness in this
+world. He alone can give the Comforter who abideth for ever. He is the
+sun; without Him men never feel warm. He is the light; without Him men
+are always in the dark. He is the bread; without Him men are always
+starving. He is the living water; without Him men are always athirst.
+Give them what you like,--place them where you please,--surround them
+with all the comforts you can imagine,--it makes no difference. Separate
+from Christ, the Prince of Peace, a man cannot be happy.
+
+Give a man a sensible interest in Christ, and he will be happy _in spite
+of poverty_. He will tell you that he wants nothing that is really good.
+He is provided for: he has riches in possession, and riches in
+reversion; he has meat to eat that the world knows not of; he has
+friends who never leave him nor forsake him. The Father and the Son come
+to him, and make their abode with him: the Lord Jesus Christ sups with
+him, and he with Christ. (Rev. iii. 20.)
+
+Give a man a sensible interest in Christ, and he will be happy _in
+spite of sickness_. His flesh may groan, and his body be worn out with
+pain, but his heart will rest and be at peace. One of the happiest
+people I ever saw was a young woman who had been hopelessly ill for many
+years with disease of the spine. She lay in a garret without a fire; the
+straw thatch was not two feet above her face. She had not the slightest
+hope of recovery. But she was always rejoicing in the Lord Jesus. The
+spirit triumphed mightily over the flesh. She was happy, because Christ
+was with her.[9]
+
+   9: John Howard, the famous Christian philanthropist, in his last
+  journey said, "I hope I have sources of enjoyment that depend not on
+  the particular spot I inhabit. A rightly cultivated mind, under the
+  power of religion and the exercises of beneficent dispositions,
+  affords a ground of satisfaction little affected by _heres and
+  theres_."
+
+Give a man a sensible interest in Christ, and he will be happy _in spite
+of abounding public calamities_. The government of his country may be
+thrown into confusion, rebellion and disorder may turn everything upside
+down, laws may be trampled under foot; justice and equity may be
+outraged; liberty may be cast down to the ground; might may prevail over
+right: but still his heart will not fail. He will remember that the
+kingdom of Christ will one day be set up. He will say, like the old
+Scotch minister who lived unmoved throughout the turmoil of the first
+French revolution: "It is all right: it shall be well with the
+righteous."
+
+I know well that Satan hates the doctrine which I am endeavouring to
+press upon you. I have no doubt he is filling your mind with objections
+and reasonings, and persuading you that I am wrong. I am not afraid to
+meet these objections face to face. Let us bring them forward and see
+what they are.
+
+You may tell me that "_you know many very religious people who are not
+happy at all_." You see them diligent in attending public worship. You
+know that they are never missing at the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper.
+But you see in them no marks of the peace which I have been describing.
+
+But are you sure that these people you speak of are true believers in
+Christ? Are you sure that, with all their appearance of religion, they
+are born again and converted to God? Is it not very likely that they
+have nothing but the name of Christianity, without the reality; and a
+form of godliness, without the power? Alas! you have yet to learn that
+people may do many religious acts, and yet possess no saving religion!
+It is not a mere formal, ceremonial Christianity that will ever make
+people happy. We want something more than going to Church, and going to
+sacraments, to give us peace. There must be real, vital union with
+Christ. It is not the formal Christian, but the true Christian, that is
+the happy man.
+
+You may tell me that "_you know really spiritually-minded and converted
+people who do not seem happy_." You have heard them frequently
+complaining of their own hearts, and groaning over their own corruption.
+They seem to you all doubts, and anxieties, and fears; and you want to
+know where is the happiness in these people of which I have been saying
+so much.
+
+I do not deny that there are many saints of God such as these whom you
+describe, and I am sorry for it. I allow that there are many believers
+who live far below their privileges, and seem to know nothing of joy and
+peace in believing. But did you ever ask any of these people whether
+they would give up the position in religion they have reached, and go
+back to the world? Did you ever ask them, after all their groanings, and
+doubtings, and fearings, whether they think they would be happier if
+they ceased to follow hard after Christ? _Did you ever ask those
+questions?_ I am certain if you did, that the weakest and lowest
+believers would all give you one answer. I am certain they would tell
+you that they would rather cling to their little scrap of hope in
+Christ, than possess the world. I am sure they would all answer, "Our
+faith is weak, if we have any; our grace is small, if we have any; our
+joy in Christ is next to nothing at all: but we cannot give up what we
+have got. Though the Lord slay us, we must cling to Him." The root of
+happiness lies deep in many a poor weak believer's heart, when neither
+leaves nor blossoms are to be seen!
+
+But you will tell me, in the last place, that "_you cannot think most
+believers are happy, because they are so grave and serious_." You think
+that they do not really possess this happiness I have been describing,
+because their countenances do not show it. You doubt the reality of
+their joy, because it is so little seen.
+
+I might easily repeat what I told you at the beginning of this
+paper,--that a merry face is no sure proof of a happy heart. But I will
+not do so. I will rather ask you whether you yourself may not be the
+cause why believers look grave and serious when you meet them? If you
+are not converted yourself, you surely cannot expect them to look at you
+without sorrow. They see you on the high road to destruction, and that
+alone is enough to give them pain: they see thousands like you, hurrying
+on to weeping and wailing and endless woe. Now, is it possible that such
+a daily sight should not give them grief? Your company, very likely, is
+one cause why they are grave. Wait till you are a converted man
+yourself, before you pass judgment on the gravity of converted people.
+See them in companies where all are of one heart, and all love Christ,
+and so far as my own experience goes, you will find no people so truly
+happy as true Christians.[10]
+
+  10: When the infidel Hume asked Bishop Horne why religious people
+  always looked melancholy, the learned prelate replied, "The sight of
+  you, Mr. Hume, would make any Christian melancholy."--_Sinclair's
+  Aphorisms._ Page 13.
+
+I repeat my assertion in this part of my subject. I repeat it boldly,
+confidently, deliberately. I say that there is no happiness among men
+that will at all compare with that of the true Christian. All other
+happiness by the side of his is moonlight compared to sunshine, and
+brass by the side of gold. Boast, if you will, of the laughter and
+merriment of irreligious men; sneer, if you will, at the gravity and
+seriousness, which appear in the demeanour of many Christians. I have
+looked the whole subject in the face, and am not moved. I say that the
+true Christian alone is the truly happy man, and the way to be happy is
+to be a true Christian.
+
+And now I am going to close this paper by a few words of plain
+application. I have endeavoured to show what is essential to true
+happiness. I have endeavoured to expose the fallacy of many views which
+prevail upon the subject. I have endeavoured to point out, in plain and
+unmistakable words, where true happiness alone can be found. Suffer me
+to wind up all by an affectionate appeal to the consciences of all into
+whose hands this volume may fall.
+
+(1) In the first place, _let me entreat every reader of this paper to
+apply to his own heart the solemn inquiry, Are you happy_?
+
+High or low, rich or poor, master or servant, farmer or labourer, young
+or old, here is a question that deserves an answer,--_Are you really
+happy_?
+
+Man of the world, who art caring for nothing but the things of time,
+neglecting the Bible, making a god of business or money, providing for
+everything but the day of judgment, scheming and planning about
+everything but eternity: are you happy? _You know you are not._
+
+Foolish woman, who art trifling life away in levity and frivolity,
+spending hours after hours on that poor frail body which must soon feed
+the worms, making an idol of dress and fashion, and excitement, and
+human praise, as if this world was all: are you happy? _You know you are
+not._
+
+Young man, who art bent on pleasure and self-indulgence, fluttering from
+one idle pastime to another, like the moth about the candle,--fancying
+yourself clever and knowing, and too wise to be led by parsons, and
+ignorant that the devil is leading you captive, like the ox that is led
+to the slaughter: are you happy? _You know you are not._
+
+Yes: each and all of you, you are not happy! and in your own consciences
+you know it well. You may not allow it, but it is sadly true. There is a
+great empty place in each of your hearts, and nothing will fill it. Pour
+into it money, learning, rank, and pleasure, and it will be empty still.
+There is a sore place in each of your consciences, and nothing will heal
+it. Infidelity cannot; free-thinking cannot; Romanism cannot: they are
+all quack medicines. Nothing can heal it, but that which at present you
+have not used,--the simple Gospel of Christ. Yes: you are indeed a
+miserable people!
+
+Take warning this day, that you never will be happy till you are
+converted. You might as well expect to feel the sun shine on your face
+when you turn your back to it, as to feel happy when you turn your back
+on God and on Christ.
+
+(2) In the next place, _let me warn all who are not true Christians of
+the folly of living a life which cannot make them happy_.
+
+I pity you from the bottom of my heart, and would fain persuade you to
+open your eyes and be wise. I stand as a watchman on the tower of the
+everlasting Gospel. I see you sowing misery for yourselves, and I call
+upon you to stop and think, before it is too late. Oh, that God may show
+you your folly!
+
+You are hewing out for yourselves cisterns, broken cisterns, which can
+hold no water. You are spending your time, and strength, and affections
+on that which will give you no return for your labour,--"spending your
+money on that which is not bread, and your labour for that which
+satisfieth not." (Isa. lv. 2.) You are building up Babels of your own
+contriving, and ignorant that God will pour contempt on your schemes for
+procuring happiness, because you attempt to be happy without Him.
+
+Awake from your dreams, I entreat you, and show yourselves men. Think of
+the uselessness of living a life which you will be ashamed of when you
+die, and of having a mere nominal religion, which will just fail you
+when it is most wanted.
+
+Open your eyes and look round the world. Tell me who was ever really
+happy without God and Christ and the Holy Spirit. Look at the road in
+which you are travelling. Mark the footsteps of those who have gone
+before you: see how many have turned away from it, and confessed they
+were wrong.
+
+I warn you plainly, that if you are not a true Christian you will miss
+happiness in the world that now is, as well as in the world to come. Oh,
+believe me, the way of happiness, and the way of salvation are one and
+the same! He that will have his own way, and refuses to serve Christ,
+will never be really happy. But he that serves Christ has the promise of
+both lives. He is happy on earth, and will be happier still in heaven.
+
+If you are neither happy in this world nor the next, it will be all your
+own fault. Oh, think of this! Do not be guilty of such enormous folly.
+Who does not mourn over the folly of the drunkard, the opium eater, and
+the suicide? But there is no folly like that of the impenitent child of
+the world.
+
+(3) In the next place, _let me entreat all readers of this book, who are
+not yet happy, to seek happiness where alone it can be found_.
+
+The keys of the way to happiness are in the hands of the Lord Jesus
+Christ. He is sealed and appointed by God the Father, to give the bread
+of life to them that hunger, and to give the water of life to them that
+thirst. The door which riches and rank and learning have so often tried
+to open, and tried in vain, is now ready to open to every humble,
+praying believer. Oh, if you want to be happy, come to Christ!
+
+Come to Him, confessing that you are weary of your own ways, and want
+rest,--that you find you have no power and might to make yourself holy
+or happy or fit for heaven, and have no hope but in Him. Tell Him this
+unreservedly. This is coming to Christ.
+
+Come to Him, imploring Him to show you His mercy, and grant you His
+salvation,--to wash you in His own blood, and take your sins away,--to
+speak peace to your conscience, and heal your troubled soul. Tell Him
+all this unreservedly. This is coming to Christ.
+
+You have everything to encourage you. The Lord Jesus Himself invites
+you. He proclaims to you as well as to others, "Come unto Me, all ye
+that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke
+upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye
+shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is
+light." (Matt. xi. 28--30.) Wait for nothing. You may feel unworthy. You
+may feel as if you did not repent enough. But wait no longer. Come to
+Christ.
+
+You have everything to encourage you. Thousands have walked in the way
+you are invited to enter, and have found it good. Once, like yourself,
+they served the world, and plunged deeply into folly and sin. Once, like
+yourself, they became weary of their wickedness, and longed for
+deliverance and rest. They heard of Christ, and His willingness to help
+and save: they came to Him by faith and prayer, after many a doubt and
+hesitation; they found Him a thousand times more gracious than they had
+expected. They rested on Him and were happy: they carried His cross and
+tasted peace. Oh, walk in their steps!
+
+I beseech you, by the mercies of God, to come to Christ. As ever you
+would be happy, I entreat you to come to Christ. Cast off delays. Awake
+from your past slumber: arise, and be free! This day come to Christ.
+
+(4) In the last place, _let me offer a few hints to all true Christians
+for the increase and promotion of their happiness_.
+
+I offer these hints with diffidence. I desire to apply them to my own
+conscience as well as to your's. You have found Christ's service happy.
+I have no doubt that you feel such sweetness in Christ's peace that you
+would fain know more of it. I am sure that these hints deserve
+attention.
+
+Believers, if you would have an increase of happiness in Christ's
+service, _labour every year to grow in grace_. Beware of standing still.
+The holiest men are always the happiest. Let your aim be every year to
+be more holy,--to know more, to feel more, to see more of the fulness of
+Christ. Rest not upon old grace: do not be content with the degree of
+religion whereunto you have attained. Search the Scriptures more
+earnestly; pray more fervently; hate sin more; mortify self-will more;
+become more humble the nearer you draw to your end; seek more direct
+personal communion with the Lord Jesus; strive to be more like
+Enoch,--daily walking with God; keep your conscience clear of little
+sins; grieve not the Spirit; avoid wranglings and disputes about the
+lesser matters of religion: lay more firm hold upon those great truths,
+without which no man can be saved. Remember and practise these things,
+and you will be more happy.
+
+Believers, if you would have an increase of happiness in Christ's
+service, _labour every year to be more thankful_. Pray that you may know
+more and more what it is to "rejoice in the Lord." (Phil. iii. 1.) Learn
+to have a deeper sense of your own wretched sinfulness and corruption,
+and to be more deeply grateful, that by the grace of God you are what
+you are. Alas, there is too much complaining and too little thanksgiving
+among the people of God! There is too much murmuring and poring over the
+things that we have not. There is too little praising and blessing for
+the many undeserved mercies that we have. Oh, that God would pour out
+upon us a great spirit of thankfulness and praise!
+
+Believers, if you would have an increase of happiness in Christ's
+service, _labour every year to do more good_. Look round the circle in
+which your lot is cast, and lay yourself out to be useful. Strive to be
+of the same character with God: He is not only good, but "doeth good."
+(Ps. cxix. 68.) Alas, there is far too much selfishness among believers
+in the present day! There is far too much lazy sitting by the fire
+nursing our own spiritual diseases, and croaking over the state of our
+own hearts. Up; and be useful in your day and generation! Is there no
+one in all the world that you can read to? Is there no one that you can
+speak to? Is there no one that you can write to? Is there literally
+nothing that you can do for the glory of God, and the benefit of your
+fellow-men? Oh I cannot think it! I cannot think it. There is much that
+you might do, if you had only the will. For your own happiness' sake,
+arise and do it, without delay. The bold, outspeaking, working
+Christians are always the happiest. The more you do for God, the more
+God will do for you.
+
+The compromising lingering Christian must never expect to taste perfect
+peace. THE MOST DECIDED CHRISTIAN WILL ALWAYS BE THE HAPPIEST MAN.
+
+
+
+
+XI
+
+
+FORMALITY
+
+     "_Having a form of godliness, but denying the power
+     thereof._"--2 Tim. iii. 5.
+
+     "_He is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that
+     circumcision, which is outward in the flesh_:
+
+     "_But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is
+     that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose
+     praise is not of men, but of God._"--Rom. ii. 28, 29.
+
+
+The texts which head this page deserve serious attention at any time.
+But they deserve especial notice in this age of the Church and world.
+Never since the Lord Jesus Christ left the earth, was there so much
+formality and false profession as there is at the present day. Now, if
+ever, we ought to examine ourselves, and search our religion, that we
+may know of what sort it is. Let us try to find out whether our
+Christianity is a thing of form or a thing of heart.
+
+I know no better way of unfolding the subject than by turning to a plain
+passage of the Word of God. Let us hear what St. Paul says about it. He
+lays down the following great principles in his Epistle to the Romans:
+"He is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision,
+which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly;
+and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter;
+whose praise is not of men, but of God." (Rom. ii. 28, 29.) Three most
+instructive lessons appear to me to stand out on the face of that
+passage. Let us see what they are.
+
+
+    I. We learn, firstly, that formal religion is not religion, and a
+    formal Christian is not a Christian in God's sight.
+
+    II. We learn, secondly, that the heart is the seat of true religion,
+    and that the true Christian is the Christian in heart.
+
+    III. We learn, thirdly, that true religion must never expect to be
+    popular. It will not have the "praise of man, but of God."
+
+Let us thoroughly consider these great principles. Two hundred years
+have passed away since a mighty Puritan divine said, "Formality,
+formality, formality is the great sin of England at this day, under
+which the land groans.--There is more light than there was, but less
+life; more shadow, but less substance; more profession, but less
+sanctification." (_Thomas Hall, on 2 Tim. iii. 5, 1658._) What would
+this good man have said if he had lived in our times?
+
+
+I. We learn first, that _formal religion is not religion, and a formal
+Christian is not a Christian in God's sight_.
+
+What do I mean when I speak of formal religion? This is a point that
+must be made clear. Thousands, I suspect, know nothing about it. Without
+a distinct understanding of this point my whole paper will be useless.
+My first step shall be to paint, describe, and define.
+
+When a man is a Christian in name only, and not in reality,--in outward
+things only, and not in his inward feelings,--in profession only, and
+not in practice,--when his Christianity in short is a mere matter of
+form, or fashion, or custom, without any influence on his heart or
+life,--in such a case as this the man has what I call a "formal
+religion." He possesses indeed the _form_, or husk, or skin of religion,
+but he does not possess its substance or its _power_.
+
+Look for example at those thousands of people whose whole religion seems
+to consist in keeping religious ceremonies and ordinances. They attend
+regularly on public worship. They go regularly to the Lord's table. But
+they never get any further. They know nothing of experimental
+Christianity. They are not familiar with the Scriptures, and take no
+delight in reading them. They do not separate themselves from the ways
+of the world. They draw no distinction between godliness and ungodliness
+in their friendships, or matrimonial alliances. They care little or
+nothing about the distinctive doctrines of the Gospel. They appear
+utterly indifferent as to what they hear preached. You may be in their
+company for weeks, and for anything you may hear or see on a week day
+you might suppose they were infidels or deists. What can be said about
+these people? They are Christians undoubtedly, by profession; and yet
+there is neither heart nor life in their Christianity. There is but one
+thing to be said about them.--They are formal Christians. Their religion
+is a FORM.
+
+Look in another direction at those hundreds of people whose whole
+religion seems to consist in talk and high profession. They know the
+theory of the Gospel with their heads, and profess to delight in
+Evangelical doctrine. They can say much about the "soundness" of their
+own views, and the "darkness" of all who disagree with them. But they
+never get any further! When you examine their inner lives you find that
+they know nothing of practical godliness. They are neither truthful, nor
+charitable, nor humble, nor honest, nor kind-tempered, nor gentle, nor
+unselfish, nor honourable. What shall we say of these people? They are
+Christians, no doubt, in name, and yet there is neither substance nor
+fruit in their Christianity. There is but one thing to be said.--They
+are formal Christians. Their religion is an empty FORM.
+
+Such is the formal religion against which I wish to raise a warning
+voice this day. Here is the rock on which myriads on every side are
+making miserable shipwreck of their souls. One of the wickedest things
+that Machiavel ever said was this: "Religion itself should not be cared
+for, but only the appearance of it. The credit of it is a help; the
+reality and use is a cumber." Such notions are of the earth, earthy.
+Nay, rather they are from beneath: they smell of the pit. Beware of
+them, and stand upon your guard. If there is anything about which the
+Scripture speaks expressly, it is the sin and uselessness of FORMALITY.
+
+Hear what St. Paul tells the Romans: "He is not a Jew which is one
+outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh."
+(Rom. ii. 28.) These are strong words indeed! A man might be a son of
+Abraham according to the flesh,--a member of one of the twelve
+tribes,--circumcised the eighth day,--a keeper of all the feasts,--a
+regular worshipper in the temple,--and yet in God's sight not be a
+Jew!--Just so a man may be a Christian by outward profession,--a member
+of a Christian Church,--baptized with Christian baptism,--an attendant
+on Christian ordinances,--and yet, in God's sight, not a Christian at
+all.
+
+Hear what the prophet Isaiah says: "To what purpose is the multitude of
+your sacrifices unto Me? saith the Lord: I am full of the burnt
+offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the
+blood of bullocks or of lambs, or of he-goats. When ye come to appear
+before Me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?
+Bring no more vain oblations: incense is an abomination unto Me; the new
+moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it
+is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed
+feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto Me: I am weary to bear
+them. And when ye spread forth your hands I will hide mine eyes from
+you; yea, when ye make many prayers I will not hear: your hands are full
+of blood." (Isaiah i. 10--15.) These words, when duly weighed, are very
+extraordinary. The sacrifices which are here declared to be useless were
+appointed by God Himself! The feasts and ordinances which God says He
+"hates," had been prescribed by Himself! God Himself pronounces His own
+institutions to be useless when they are used formally and without heart
+in the worshipper! In fact they are worse than useless; they are even
+offensive and hurtful. Words cannot be imagined more distinct and
+unmistakeable. They show that formal religion is worthless in God's
+sight. It is not worth calling religion at all.
+
+Hear, lastly, what our Lord Jesus Christ says. We find Him saying of the
+Jews of His day, "This people draweth nigh unto Me with their mouth, and
+honoureth Me with their lips; but their heart is far from Me. But in
+vain do they worship Me." (Matt. xv. 8.) We see Him repeatedly
+denouncing the formalism and hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees, and
+warning His disciples against it. Eight times in one chapter (Matt.
+xxiii. 13) He says to them, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
+hypocrites!" For sinners of the worst description He always had a word
+of kindness, and held out to them an open door. But formalism, He would
+have us know, is a desperate disease, and must be exposed in the
+severest language. To the eye of an ignorant man a formalist may seem to
+have a very decent _quantity_ of religion, though not perhaps of the
+best _quality_. In the eye of Christ, however, the case is very
+different. In His sight formality is no religion at all.
+
+What shall we say to these testimonies of Scripture? It would be easy
+to add to them. They do not stand alone. If words mean anything, they
+are a clear warning to all who profess and call themselves Christians.
+They teach us plainly that as we dread sin and avoid sin, so we ought to
+dread formality and avoid formality. Formalism may take our hand with a
+smile, and look like a brother, while sin comes against us with sword
+drawn, and strikes at us like an open enemy. But both have one end in
+view. Both want to ruin our souls; and of the two, formalism is far the
+most likely to do it. If we love life, let us beware of formality in
+religion.
+
+Nothing is _so common_. It is one of the great family diseases of the
+whole race of mankind. It is born with us, grows with us, and is never
+completely cast out of us till we die. It meets us in church, and it
+meets us in chapel. It meets us among rich, and it meets us among poor.
+It meets us among learned people, and it meets us among unlearned. It
+meets us among Romanists, and it meets us among Protestants. It meets us
+among High Churchmen, and it meets us among Low Churchmen. It meets us
+among Evangelicals, and it meets us among Ritualists. Go where we will,
+and join what Church we may, we are never beyond the risk of its
+infection. We shall find it among Quakers and Plymouth Brethren, as well
+as at Rome. The man who thinks that, at any rate, there is no formal
+religion in his own camp, is a very blind and ignorant person. If you
+love life, beware of formality.
+
+Nothing is _so dangerous_ to a man's own soul. Familiarity with the form
+of religion, while we neglect its reality, has a fearfully deadening
+effect on the conscience. It brings up by degrees a thick crust of
+insensibility over the whole inner man. None seem to become so
+desperately hard as those who are continually repeating holy words and
+handling holy things, while their hearts are running after sin and the
+world. Landlords who only go to church formally, to set an example to
+their tenants,--masters who have family prayers formally, to keep up a
+good appearance in their households,--unconverted clergymen, who are
+every week reading prayers and lessons of Scripture, in which they feel
+no real interest,--unconverted clerks, who are constantly reading
+responses and saying "Amen," without feeling what they say,--unconverted
+singers, who sing the most spiritual hymns every Sunday, merely because
+they have good voices, while their affections are entirely on things
+below,--all, all, all are in awful danger. They are gradually hardening
+their hearts, and searing the skin of their consciences. If you love
+your own soul, beware of formality.
+
+Nothing, finally, is _so foolish_, senseless, and unreasonable. Can a
+formal Christian really suppose that the mere outward Christianity he
+professes will comfort him in the day of sickness and the hour of death?
+The thing is impossible. A painted fire cannot warm, and a painted
+banquet cannot satisfy hunger, and a formal religion cannot bring peace
+to the soul.--Can he suppose that God does not see the heartlessness and
+deadness of his Christianity? Though he may deceive neighbours,
+acquaintances, fellow-worshippers, and ministers with a form of
+godliness, does he think that he can deceive God? The very idea is
+absurd. "He that formed the eye, shall He not see?" He knows the very
+secrets of the heart. He will "judge the secrets of men" at the last
+day. He who said to each angel of the seven Churches, "I know thy
+works," is not changed. He who said to the man without the wedding
+garment, "Friend, how camest thou in hither?" will not be deceived by a
+little cloak of outward religion. If you would not be put to shame at
+the last day, once more I say, beware of formality. (Psalm xciv. 9; Rom.
+ii. 16; Rev. ii. 2; Matt. xxii. 11.)
+
+
+II. I pass on to the second thing which I proposed to consider. _The
+heart is the seat of true religion, and the true Christian is the
+Christian in heart._
+
+The heart is the real test of a man's character. It is not what he says
+or what he does by which the man may be always known. He may say and do
+things that are right, from false and unworthy motives, while his heart
+is altogether wrong. The heart is the man. "As he thinketh in his heart,
+so is he." (Prov. xxiii. 7.)
+
+The heart is the right test of a man's religion. It is not enough that a
+man holds a correct creed of doctrine, and maintains a proper outward
+form of godliness. What is his heart?--That is the grand question. This
+is what God looks at. "Man looketh at the outward appearance, but the
+Lord looketh at the heart." (1 Sam. xvi. 7.) This is what St. Paul lays
+down distinctly as the standard measure of the soul: "He is a Jew, which
+is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart." (Rom. ii. 28.)
+Who can doubt that this mighty sentence was written for Christians as
+well as for Jews? He is a Christian, the apostle would have us know,
+which is one inwardly, and baptism is that of the heart.
+
+The heart is the place where saving religion must begin. It is naturally
+irreligious, and must be renewed by the Holy Ghost. "A new heart will I
+give unto you."--It is naturally hard, and must be made tender and
+broken. "I will take away the heart of stone, and I will give you a
+heart of flesh." "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken
+and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise."--It is naturally
+closed and shut against God, and must be opened. The Lord "opened the
+heart" of Lydia. (Ezek. xxxvi. 26; Psalm li. 17; Acts xvi. 14.)
+
+The heart is the seat of true saving faith. "With the heart man
+believeth unto righteousness." (Rom. x. 10.) A man may believe that
+Jesus is the Christ, as the devils do, and yet remain in his sins. He
+may believe that he is a sinner, and that Christ is the only Saviour,
+and feel occasional lazy wishes that he was a better man. But no one
+ever lays hold on Christ, and receives pardon and peace, until he
+believes with the heart. It is heart-faith that justifies.
+
+The heart is the spring of true holiness and steady continuance in
+well-doing. True Christians are holy because their hearts are
+interested. They obey from the heart. They do the will of God from the
+heart. Weak, and feeble, and imperfect as all their doings are, they
+please God, because they are done from a loving heart. He who commended
+the widow's mite more than all the offerings of the wealthy Jews,
+regards quality far more than quantity. What He likes to see is a thing
+done from "an honest and good heart." (Luke viii. 15.) There is no real
+holiness without a right heart.
+
+The things I am saying may sound strange. Perhaps they run counter to
+all the notions of some into whose hands this paper may fall. Perhaps
+you have thought that if a man's religion is correct outwardly, he must
+be one with whom God is well pleased. You are completely mistaken. You
+are rejecting the whole tenor of Bible teaching. Outward correctness
+without a right heart is neither more nor less than Pharisaism. The
+outward things of Christianity,--baptism, the Lord's Supper,
+Church-membership, almsgiving, and the like,--will never take any man's
+soul to heaven, unless his heart is right. There must be inward things
+as well as outward,--and it is on the inward things that God's eyes are
+chiefly fixed.
+
+Hear how St. Paul teaches us about this matter in three most striking
+texts: "In Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor
+uncircumcision; but faith that worketh by love."--"In Christ Jesus
+neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new
+creature."--"Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but
+the keeping of the commandments of God." (1 Cor. vii. 19; Galat. v. 6;
+Galat. vi. 15.) Did the Apostle only mean in these texts, that
+circumcision was no longer needed under the Gospel? Was that all? No
+indeed! I believe he meant much more. He meant that true religion did
+not consist of forms, and that its essence was something far greater
+than being circumcised or not circumcised. He meant that under Christ
+Jesus, everything depended on being born again,--on having true saving
+faith,--on being holy in life and conduct. He meant that these are the
+things we ought to look at chiefly, and not at outward forms. "Am I a
+new creature? Do I really believe on Christ? Am I a holy man?" These are
+the grand questions that we must seek to answer.
+
+_When the heart is wrong all is wrong in God's sight._ Many right things
+may be done. The forms and ordinances which God Himself has appointed
+may seem to be honoured. But so long as the heart is at fault God is not
+pleased. He will have man's heart or nothing.
+
+The ark was the most sacred thing in the Jewish tabernacle. On it was
+the mercy-seat. Within it were the tables of the law, written by God's
+own finger. The High Priest alone was allowed to go into the place where
+it was kept, within the veil, and that only once every year. The
+presence of the ark with the camp was thought to bring a special
+blessing. And yet this very ark could do the Israelites no more good
+than any common wooden box, when they trusted to it like an idol, with
+their hearts full of wickedness. They brought it into the camp, on a
+special occasion, saying, "Let us fetch the ark, that it may save us out
+of the hand of our enemies." (1 Sam iv. 3.) When it came in the camp
+they showed it all reverence and honour. "They shouted with a great
+shout, so that the earth rang again." But it was all in vain. They were
+smitten before the Philistines, and the ark itself was taken. And why
+was this? It was because their religion was a mere form. They honoured
+the ark, but did not give the God of the ark their hearts.
+
+There were some kings of Judah and Israel who did many things that were
+right in God's sight, and yet were never written in the list of godly
+and righteous men. Rehoboam began well, and "for three years walked in
+the way of David and Solomon." (2 Chron. xi. 17.) But afterwards "he did
+evil, because he prepared not his _heart_ to seek the Lord." (2 Chron.
+xii. 14.)--Abijah, according to the book of Chronicles, said many things
+that were right, and fought successfully against Jeroboam. Nevertheless
+the general verdict is against him. We read, in Kings, that "his _heart_
+was not perfect with the Lord his God." (1 Kings xv. 3.)--Amaziah, we
+are expressly told, "did that which was right in the sight of the Lord,
+but not with a perfect _heart_." (2 Chron. xxv. 2.)--Jehu, King of
+Israel, was raised up, by God's command, to put down idolatry. He was a
+man of special zeal in doing God's work. But unhappily it is written of
+him: "He took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with
+all his _heart_: for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, which
+made Israel to sin." (2 Kings x. 31.) In short, one general remark
+applies to all these kings. They were all wrong inwardly. They were
+rotten at heart.
+
+There are places of worship in England at this very day where all the
+outward things of religion are done to perfection. The building is
+beautiful. The service is beautiful. The singing is beautiful. The forms
+of devotion are beautiful. There is everything to gratify the senses.
+Eye, and ear, and natural sentimentality are all pleased. But all this
+time God is not pleased. One thing is lacking, and the want of that one
+thing spoils all. What is that one thing? It is heart! God sees under
+all this fair outward show the form of religion put in the place of the
+substance, and when He sees that He is displeased. He sees nothing with
+an eye of favour in the building, the service, the minister, or the
+people, if He does not see converted, renewed, broken, penitent hearts.
+Bowed heads, bended knees, loud amens, crossed hands, faces turned to
+the east, all, all are nothing in God's sight without right hearts.
+
+_When the heart is right God can look over many things that are
+defective._ There may be faults in judgment, and infirmities in
+practice. There may be many deviations from the best course in the
+outward things of religion. But if the heart is sound in the main, God
+is not extreme to mark that which is amiss. He is merciful and gracious,
+and will pardon much that is imperfect, when He sees a true heart and a
+single eye.
+
+Jehoshaphat and Asa were Kings of Judah, who were defective in many
+things. Jehoshaphat was a timid, irresolute man, who did not know how to
+say "No," and joined affinity with Ahab, the wickedest king that ever
+reigned over Israel. Asa was an unstable man, who at one time trusted in
+the King of Syria more than in God, and at another time was wroth with
+God's prophet for rebuking him. (2 Chron. xvi. 10.) Yet both of them had
+one great redeeming point in their characters. With all their faults
+they had right _hearts_.
+
+The passover kept by Hezekiah was one at which there were many
+irregularities. The proper forms were not observed by many. They ate the
+passover "otherwise than the commandment" ordered. But they did it with
+true and honest _hearts_. And we read that Hezekiah prayed for them,
+saying, "The good Lord pardon every one that prepareth his heart to seek
+God,--though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the
+sanctuary. And the Lord hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people."
+(2 Chron. xxx. 20.)
+
+The passover kept by Josiah must have been far smaller and worse
+attended than scores of passovers in the days of David and Solomon, or
+even in the reign of Jehoshaphat and Hezekiah. How then can we account
+for the strong language used in Scripture about it? "There was no
+passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the
+prophet; neither did all the Kings of Israel keep such a passover as
+Josiah kept, and the Priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and
+Jerusalem that were present." (2 Chron. xxxv. 18.) There is but one
+explanation. There never was a passover at which the _hearts_ of the
+worshippers were so truly in the feast. The Lord does not look at the
+quantity of worshippers so much as the quality. The glory of Josiah's
+passover was the state of people's hearts.
+
+There are many assemblies of Christian worshippers on earth at this very
+day in which there is literally nothing to attract the natural man. They
+meet in miserable dirty chapels, so-called, or in wretched upper-rooms
+and cellars. They sing unmusically. They hear feeble prayers, and more
+feeble sermons. And yet the Holy Ghost is often in the midst of them!
+Sinners are often converted in them, and the kingdom of God prospers far
+more than in any Roman Catholic Cathedral, or than in many gorgeous
+Protestant Churches. How is this? How can it be explained? The cause is
+simply this, that in these humble assemblies heart-religion is taught
+and held. Heart-work is aimed at. Heart-work is honoured. And the
+consequence is that God is pleased and grants His blessing.
+
+I leave this part of my subject here. I ask men to weigh well the things
+that I have been saying. I believe that they will bear examination, and
+are all true. Resolve this day, whatever Church you belong to, to be a
+Christian in _heart_. Whether Episcopalian or Presbyterian, Baptist or
+Independent, be not content with a mere form of godliness, without the
+power. Settle it down firmly in your mind that formal religion is not
+saving religion, and that heart-religion is the only religion that leads
+to heaven.
+
+I only give one word of caution. Do not suppose, because formal religion
+will not save, that forms of religion are of no use at all. Beware of
+any such senseless extreme. The misuse of a thing is no argument
+against the right use of it. The blind idolatry of forms which prevails
+in some quarters is no reason why you should throw all forms aside. The
+ark, when made an idol of by Israel and put in the place of God, was
+unable to save them from the Philistines. And yet the same ark, when
+irreverently and profanely handled, brought death on Uzza; and when
+honoured and reverenced, brought a blessing on the house of Obed-edom.
+The words of Bishop Hall are strong, but true: "He that hath but a form
+is a hypocrite; but he that hath not a form is an Atheist." (_Hall's
+Sermons_, No. 28.) Forms cannot save us, but they are not therefore to
+be despised. A lantern is not a man's home, and yet it is a help to a
+man if he travels towards his home in a dark night. Use the forms of
+Christianity diligently, and you will find them a blessing. Only
+remember, in all your use of forms, the great principle, that the first
+thing in religion is the state of the heart.
+
+
+III. I come now to the last thing which I proposed to consider. I said
+_that true religion must never expect to be popular. It will not have
+the praise of man, but of God._
+
+I dare not turn away from this part of my subject, however painful it
+may be. Anxious as I am to commend heart-religion to every one who reads
+this paper, I will not try to conceal what heart-religion entails. I
+will not gain a recruit for my Master's army under false pretences. I
+will not promise anything which the Scripture does not warrant. The
+words of St. Paul are clear and unmistakable. Heart-religion is a
+religion "whose praise is not of men, but of God." (Rom. ii. 29.)
+
+God's truth and Scriptural Christianity are never really popular. They
+never have been. They never will be as long as the world stands. No one
+can calmly consider what human nature is, as described in the Bible,
+and reasonably expect anything else. As long as man is what man is, the
+majority of mankind will always like a religion of form far better than
+a religion of heart.
+
+Formal religion just suits an unenlightened conscience. Some religion a
+man will have. Atheism and downright infidelity, as a general rule, are
+never very popular. But a man must have a religion which does not
+require much,--trouble his heart much,--interfere with his sins much.
+Formal Christianity satisfies him. It seems the very thing that he
+wants.
+
+Formal religion gratifies the secret self-righteousness of man. We are
+all of us more or less Pharisees. We all naturally cling to the idea
+that the way to be saved is to do so many things, and go through so many
+religious observances, and that at last we shall get to heaven.
+Formalism meets us here. It seems to show us a way by which we can make
+our own peace with God.
+
+Formal religion pleases the natural indolence of man. It attaches an
+excessive importance to that which is the easiest part of
+Christianity,--the shell and the form. Man likes this. He hates trouble
+in religion. He wants something which will not meddle with his
+conscience and inner life. Only leave conscience alone, and, like Herod,
+he will "do many things." Formalism seems to open a wider gate, and a
+more easy way to heaven. (Mark vi. 20.)
+
+Facts speak louder than assertions. Facts are stubborn things. Look over
+the history of religion in every age of the world, and observe what has
+always been popular. Look at the history of Israel from the beginning of
+Exodus to the end of the Acts of the Apostles, and see what has always
+found favour. Formalism was one main sin against which the Old Testament
+prophets were continually protesting. Formalism was the great plague
+which had overspread the Jews, when our Lord Jesus Christ came into the
+world.--Look at the history of the Church of Christ after the days of
+the apostles. How soon formalism ate out the life and vitality of the
+primitive Christians!--Look at the middle ages, as they are called.
+Formalism so completely covered the face of Christendom that the Gospel
+lay as one dead.--Look, lastly, at the history of Protestant Churches in
+the three last centuries. How few are the places where religion is a
+living thing! How many are the countries where Protestantism is nothing
+more than a form! There is no getting over these things. They speak with
+a voice of thunder. They all show that formal religion is a popular
+thing. It has the praise of man.
+
+But why should we look at facts in history? Why should we not look at
+facts under our own eyes, and by our own doors? Can any one deny that a
+mere outward religion, a religion of downright formality, is the
+religion which is popular in England at the present day? It is not for
+nothing that St. John says of certain false teachers, "They are of the
+world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth
+them." (1 John iv. 5.) Only say your prayers,--and go to church with
+tolerable regularity,--and receive the sacrament occasionally,--and
+the vast majority of Englishmen will set you down as an excellent
+Christian.--"What more would you have?" they say: "If this is not
+Christianity, what is?"--To require more of anyone is thought bigotry,
+illiberality, fanaticism, and enthusiasm! To insinuate a doubt whether
+such a man as this will go to heaven is called the height of
+uncharitableness! When these things are so it is vain to deny that
+formal religion is popular. It is popular. It always was popular. It
+always will be popular till Christ comes again. It always has had and
+always will have "the praise of man."
+
+Turn now to the religion of the heart, and you will hear a very
+different report. As a general rule it has never had the good word of
+mankind. It has entailed on its professors laughter, mockery, ridicule,
+scorn, contempt, enmity, hatred, slander, persecution, imprisonment, and
+even death. Its lovers have been faithful and ardent,--but they have
+always been few. It has never had, comparatively, "the praise of man."
+
+Heart-religion is too _humbling_ to be popular. It leaves natural man no
+room to boast. It tells him that he is a guilty, lost, hell-deserving
+sinner, and that he must flee to Christ for salvation. It tells him that
+he is dead, and must be made alive again, and born of the Spirit. The
+pride of man rebels against such tidings as these. He hates to be told
+that his case is so bad.
+
+Heart-religion is too _holy_ to be popular. It will not leave natural
+man alone. It interferes with his worldliness and his sins. It requires
+of him things that he loathes and abominates,--conversion, faith,
+repentance, spiritual-mindedness, Bible-reading, prayer. It bids him
+give up many things that he loves and clings to, and cannot make up his
+mind to lay aside. It would be strange indeed if he liked it. It crosses
+his path as a kill-joy and a mar-plot, and it is absurd to expect that
+he will be pleased.
+
+Was heart-religion popular in Old Testament times? We find David
+complaining: "They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was the
+song of the drunkards." (Psalm lxix. 12.) We find the prophets
+persecuted and ill-treated because they preached against sin, and
+required men to give their hearts to God. Elijah, Micaiah, Jeremiah,
+Amos, are all cases in point. To formalism and ceremonialism the Jews
+never seem to have made objection. What they did dislike was serving God
+with their hearts.
+
+Was heart-religion popular in New Testament times? The whole history of
+our Lord Jesus Christ's ministry and the lives of His apostles are a
+sufficient answer. The scribes and Pharisees would have willingly
+received a Messiah who encouraged formalism, and a Gospel which exalted
+ceremonialism. But they could not tolerate a religion of which the first
+principles were humiliation and sanctification of heart.
+
+Has heart-religion even been popular in the professing Church of Christ
+during the last eighteen centuries? Never hardly, except in the early
+centuries when the primitive Church had not left her first love. Soon,
+very soon, the men who protested against formalism and sacramentalism
+were fiercely denounced as "troublers of Israel." Long before the
+Reformation, things came to this pass, that anyone who cried up
+heart-holiness and cried down formality was treated as a common enemy.
+He was either silenced, excommunicated, imprisoned, or put to death like
+John Huss.--In the time of the Reformation itself, the work of Luther
+and his companions was carried on under an incessant storm of calumny
+and slander. And what was the cause? It was because they protested
+against formalism, ceremonialism, monkery, and priestcraft, and taught
+the necessity of heart-religion.
+
+Has heart-religion ever been popular in our own land in days gone by?
+Never, excepting for a little season. It was not popular in the days of
+Queen Mary, when Latimer and his brother-martyrs were burned.--It was
+not popular in the days of the Stuarts, when to be a Puritan was worse
+for a man than to get drunk or swear.--It was not popular in the middle
+of last century, when Wesley and Whitfield were shut out of the
+established Church. The cause of our martyred Reformers, of the early
+Puritans, and of the Methodists, was essentially one and the same. They
+were all hated because they preached the uselessness of formalism, and
+the impossibility of salvation without repentance, faith, regeneration,
+spiritual-mindedness, and holiness of heart.
+
+Is heart-religion popular in England at this very day? I answer
+sorrowfully that I do not believe it is. Look at the followers of it
+among the laity. They are always comparatively few in number. They
+stand alone in their respective congregations and parishes. They have to
+put up with many hard things, hard words, hard imputations, hard
+treatment, laughter, ridicule, slander, and petty persecution. This is
+not popularity!--Look at the teachers of heart-religion in the pulpit.
+They are loved and liked, no doubt, by the few hearers who agree with
+them. They are sometimes admired for their talents and eloquence by the
+many who do not agree with them. They are even called "popular
+preachers," because of the crowds who listen to their preaching. But
+none know so well as the faithful teachers of heart-religion that few
+really like them. Few really help them. Few sympathize with them. Few
+stand by them in any time of need. They find, like their Divine Master,
+that they must work almost alone. I write these things with sorrow, but
+I believe they are true. Real heart-religion at this day, no less than
+in days gone by, has not "the praise of man."
+
+But after all it signifies little what man thinks, and what man praises.
+He that judgeth us is the Lord. Man will not judge us at the last day.
+Man will not sit on the great white throne, examine our religion, and
+pronounce our eternal sentence. Those only whom God commends will be
+commended at the bar of Christ. Here lies the value and glory of
+heart-religion. It may not have the praise of man, but it has "the
+praise of God."
+
+God approves and honours heart-religion in the life that now is. He
+looks down from heaven, and reads the hearts of all the children of men.
+Wherever He sees heart-repentance for sin,--heart-faith in
+Christ,--heart-holiness of life,--heart-love to His Son, His law, His
+will, and His Word,--wherever God sees these things He is well pleased.
+He writes a book of remembrance for that man, however poor and unlearned
+he may be. He gives His angels special charge over Him. He maintains in
+him the work of grace, and gives Him daily supplies of peace, hope, and
+strength. He regards him as a member of His own dear Son, as one who is
+witnessing for the truth, as His Son did. Weak as the man's heart may
+seem to himself, it is the living sacrifice which God loves, and the
+heart which He has solemnly declared He will not despise. Such praise is
+worth more than the praise of man!
+
+God will proclaim His approval of heart-religion before the assembled
+world at the last day. He will command His angels to gather together His
+saints, from every part of the globe, into one glorious company. He will
+raise the dead and change the living, and place them at the right hand
+of His beloved Son's throne. Then all that have served Christ with the
+heart shall hear Him say, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the
+kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:--you were
+faithful over few things, and I will make you rulers over many things;
+enter into the joy of your Lord.--Ye confessed Me before men, and I will
+confess you before my Father and His holy angels.--Ye are they who
+continued with Me in my temptations, and I appoint unto you a kingdom as
+my Father hath appointed unto Me." (Matt. xxv. 21--34; Luke xii. 8;
+xxii. 28, 29.) These words will be addressed to none but those who have
+given Christ their hearts! They will not be addressed to the formalist,
+the hypocrite, the wicked, and the ungodly. _They_ will, indeed, stand
+by and see the fruits of heart-religion, but they will not eat of them.
+We shall never know the full value of heart-religion until the last day.
+Then, and only then, we shall fully understand how much better it is to
+have the praise of God than the praise of man.
+
+If you take up heart-religion I cannot promise you the praise of man.
+Pardon, peace, hope, guidance, comfort, consolation, grace according to
+your need, strength according to your day, joy which the world can
+neither give nor take away,--all this I can boldly promise to the man
+who comes to Christ, and serves Him with his heart. But I cannot promise
+him that his religion will be popular with man. I would rather warn him
+to expect mockery and ridicule, slander and unkindness, opposition and
+persecution. There is a cross belonging to heart-religion, and we must
+be content to carry it. "Through much tribulation we must enter the
+kingdom."--"All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer
+persecution." (Acts xiv. 22; 2 Tim. iii. 12.) But if the world hates
+you, God will love you. If the world forsakes you, Christ has promised
+that He will never forsake and never fail. Whatever you may lose by
+heart-religion, be sure that the praise of God will make up for all.
+
+
+And now I close this paper with three plain words of application. I want
+it to strike and stick to the conscience of every one into whose hands
+it falls. May God make it a blessing to many a soul both in time and
+eternity!
+
+(1) In the first place, Is your religion a matter of form and not of
+heart? Answer this question honestly, and as in the sight of God. If it
+is, _consider solemnly the immense danger in which you stand_.
+
+You have got nothing to comfort your soul in the day of trial, nothing
+to give you hope on your death-bed, nothing to save you at the last day.
+Formal religion never took any man to heaven. Like base metal, it will
+not stand the fire. Continuing in your present state you are in imminent
+peril of being lost for ever.
+
+I earnestly beseech you this day to know your danger, to open your eyes
+and repent. Churchman or Dissenter, High Church or Low Church, if you
+have only a name to live, and a form of godliness without the power,
+awake and repent. Awake, above all, if you are an Evangelical formalist.
+"There is no devil," said the quaint old Puritans, "like a white
+devil." There is no formalism so dangerous as Evangelical formalism.
+
+I can only warn you. I do so with all affection. God alone can apply the
+warning to your soul. Oh, that you would see the folly as well as the
+danger of a heartless Christianity! It was sound advice which a dying
+man, in Suffolk, once gave to his son: "Son," he said, "whatever
+religion you have, never be content with wearing a cloak."
+
+(2) In the second place, if your heart condemns you, and you wish to
+know what to do, _consider seriously the only course that you can safely
+take_.
+
+Apply to the Lord Jesus Christ without delay, and spread before Him the
+state of your soul. Confess before Him your formality in time past, and
+ask Him to forgive it. Seek from Him the promised grace of the Holy
+Ghost, and entreat Him to quicken and renew your inward man.
+
+The Lord Jesus is appointed and commissioned to be the Physician of
+man's soul. There is no case too hard for Him. There is no condition of
+soul that He cannot cure. There is no devil He cannot cast out. Seared
+and hardened as the heart of a formalist may be, there is balm in Gilead
+which can heal him, and a Physician who is mighty to save. Go and call
+on the Lord Jesus Christ this very day. "Ask, and it shall be given you;
+seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you." (Luke
+xi. 9.)
+
+(3) In the last place, if your heart condemns you not, and you have real
+well-grounded confidence towards God, _consider seriously the many
+responsibilities of your position_.
+
+Praise Him daily who hath called you out of darkness into light, and
+made you to differ. Praise Him daily, and ask Him never to forsake the
+work of His own hands.
+
+Watch with a jealous watchfulness every part of your inward man.
+Formality is ever ready to come in upon us, like the Egyptian plague of
+frogs, which went even into the king's chamber. Watch, and be on your
+guard.--Watch over your Bible-reading,--your praying,--your temper and
+your tongue,--your family life and your Sunday religion. There is
+nothing so good and spiritual that we may not fall into formal habits
+about it. There is none so spiritual but that he may have a heavy fall.
+Watch, therefore, and be on your guard.
+
+Look forward, finally, and hope for the coming of the Lord. Your best
+things are yet to come. The second coming of Christ will soon be here.
+The time of temptation will soon be past and gone. The judgment and
+reward of the saints shall soon make amends for all. Rest in the hope of
+that day. Work, watch, and look forward.--One thing, at any rate, that
+day will make abundantly clear. It will show that there was never an
+hour in our lives in which we gave our hearts too thoroughly to Christ.
+
+
+
+
+XII
+
+
+THE WORLD
+
+     "_Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the
+     Lord._" 2 Cor. vi. 17.
+
+
+The text which heads this page touches a subject of vast importance in
+religion. That subject is the great duty of separation from the world.
+This is the point which St. Paul had in view when he wrote to the
+Corinthians, "Come out,--be separate."
+
+The subject is one which demands the best attention of all who profess
+and call themselves Christians. In every age of the Church separation
+from the world has always been one of the grand evidences of a work of
+grace in the heart. He that has been really born of the Spirit, and made
+a new creature in Christ Jesus, has always endeavoured to "come out from
+the world," and live a separate life. They who have only had the name of
+Christian, without the reality, have always refused to "come out and be
+separate" from the world.
+
+The subject perhaps was never more important than it is at the present
+day. There is a widely-spread desire to make things pleasant in
+religion,--to saw off the corners and edges of the cross, and to avoid,
+as far as possible, self-denial. On every side we hear professing
+Christians declaring loudly that we must not be "narrow and exclusive,"
+and that there is no harm in many things which the holiest saints of old
+thought bad for their souls. That we may go anywhere, and do anything,
+and spend our time in anything, and read anything, and keep any company,
+and plunge into anything, and all the while may be very good
+Christians,--this, this is the maxim of thousands. In a day like this I
+think it good to raise a warning voice, and invite attention to the
+teaching of God's Word. It is written in that Word, "Come out, and be
+separate."
+
+There are four points which I shall try to show my readers, in examining
+this mighty subject.
+
+
+    I. First, I shall try to show _that the world is a source of great
+    danger to the soul_.
+
+    II. Secondly, I shall try to show _what is not meant by separation
+    from the world_.
+
+    III. Thirdly, I shall try to show in _what real separation from the
+    world consists_.
+
+    IV. Fourthly, I shall try _to show the secret of victory over the
+    world_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+And now, before I go a single step further, let me warn every reader of
+this paper that he will never understand this subject unless he first
+understands what a true Christian is. If you are one of those unhappy
+people who think everybody is a Christian who goes to a place of
+worship, no matter how he lives, or what he believes, I fear you will
+care little about separation from the world. But if you read your Bible,
+and are in earnest about your soul, you will know that there are two
+classes of Christians,--converted and unconverted. You will know that
+what the Jews were among the nations under the Old Testament, this the
+true Christian is meant to be under the New. You will understand what I
+mean when I say that true Christians are meant, in like manner, to be a
+"peculiar people" under the Gospel, and that there must be a difference
+between believers and unbelievers. To you, therefore, I make a special
+appeal this day. While many avoid the subject of separation from the
+world, and many positively hate it, and many are puzzled by it, give me
+your attention while I try to show you "the thing as it is."
+
+
+I. First of all, let me show that _the world is a source of great danger
+to the soul_.
+
+By "the world," be it remembered, I do not mean the material world on
+the face of which we are living and moving. He that pretends to say that
+anything which God has created in the heavens above, or the earth
+beneath, is in itself harmful to man's soul, says that which is
+unreasonable and absurd. On the contrary, the sun, moon, and stars,--the
+mountains, the valleys, and the plains,--the seas, lakes, and
+rivers,--the animal and vegetable creation,--all are in themselves "very
+good." (Gen. i. 31.) All are full of lessons of God's wisdom and power,
+and all proclaim daily, "The hand that made us is Divine." The idea that
+"matter" is in itself sinful and corrupt is a foolish heresy.
+
+When I speak of "the world" in this paper, I mean those people who think
+only, or chiefly, of this world's things, and neglect the world to
+come,--the people who are always thinking more of earth than of heaven,
+more of time than of eternity, more of the body than of the soul, more
+of pleasing man than of pleasing God. It is of them and their ways,
+habits, customs, opinions, practices, tastes, aims, spirit, and tone,
+that I am speaking when I speak of "the world." This is the world from
+which St. Paul tells us to "Come out and be separate."
+
+Now that "the world," in this sense, is an enemy to the soul, the
+well-known Church Catechism teaches us at its very beginning. It tells
+us that there are three things which a baptized Christian is bound to
+renounce and give up, and three enemies which he ought to fight with and
+resist. These three are the flesh, the devil, and "the world." All three
+are terrible foes, and all three must be overcome if we would be saved.
+
+But, whatever men please to think about the Catechism, we shall do well
+to turn to the testimony of Holy Scripture. If the texts I am about to
+quote do not prove that the world is a source of danger to the soul,
+there is no meaning in words.
+
+(_a_) Let us hear what St. Paul says:--
+
+"Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing
+of your mind." (Rom. xii. 2.)
+
+"We have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is
+of God." (1 Cor. ii. 12.)
+
+"Christ gave Himself for us, that He might deliver us from this present
+evil world." (Gal. i. 4.)
+
+"In time past ye walked according to the course of this world." (Eph.
+ii. 2.)
+
+"Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world." (2 Tim. iv.
+10.)
+
+(_b_) Let us hear what St. James says:--
+
+"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit
+the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself
+unspotted from the world." (James i. 27.)
+
+"Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?
+Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."
+(James iv. 4.)
+
+(_c_) Let us hear what St. John says:--
+
+"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any
+man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
+
+"For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of
+the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the
+world.
+
+"And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the
+will of God abideth for ever." (1 John ii. 15--17.)
+
+"The world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not." (1 John iii. 1.)
+
+"They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world
+heareth them." (1 John iv. 5.)
+
+"Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world." (1 John v. 4.)
+
+"We know that we are of God and the whole world lieth in wickedness." (1
+John v. 19.)
+
+(_d_) Let us hear, lastly, what the Lord Jesus Christ says:--
+
+"The cares of this world choke the Word, and it becometh unfruitful."
+(Matt. xiii. 22.)
+
+"Ye are of this world: I am not of this world." (John viii. 23.)
+
+"The Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth
+Him not, neither knoweth Him." (John xiv. 17.)
+
+"If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you."
+(John xv. 18.)
+
+"If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye
+are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore
+the world hateth you." (John xv. 19.)
+
+"In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have
+overcome the world." (John xvi. 33.)
+
+"They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." (John xvii.
+16.)
+
+I make no comment on these twenty-one texts. They speak for themselves.
+If any one can read them carefully, and fail to see that "the world" is
+an enemy to the Christian's soul, and that there is an utter opposition
+between the friendship of the world and the friendship of Christ, he is
+past the reach of argument, and it is waste of time to reason with him.
+To my eyes they contain a lesson as clear as the sun at noon day.
+
+I turn from Scripture to matters of fact and experience. I appeal to any
+old Christian who keeps his eyes open, and knows what is going on in the
+Churches. I ask him whether it be not true that nothing damages the
+cause of religion so much as "the world"? It is not open sin, or open
+unbelief, which robs Christ of His professing servants, so much as the
+love of the world, the fear of the world, the cares of the world, the
+business of the world, the money of the world, the pleasures of the
+world, and the desire to keep in with the world. This is the great rock
+on which thousands of young people are continually making shipwreck.
+They do not object to any article of the Christian faith. They do not
+deliberately choose evil, and openly rebel against God. They hope
+somehow to get to heaven at last; and they think it proper to have some
+religion. But they cannot give up their idol: they must have the world.
+And so after running well and bidding fair for heaven, while boys and
+girls, they turn aside when they become men and women, and go down the
+broad way which leads to destruction. They begin with Abraham and Moses,
+and end with Demas and Lot's wife.
+
+The last day alone will prove how many souls "the world" has slain.
+Hundreds will be found to have been trained in religious families, and
+to have known the Gospel from their very childhood, and yet missed
+heaven. They left the harbour of home with bright prospects, and
+launched forth on the ocean of life with a father's blessing and a
+mother's prayers, and then got out of the right course through the
+seductions of the world, and ended their voyage in shallows and in
+misery. It is a sorrowful story to tell; but, alas, it is only too
+common! I cannot wonder that St. Paul says, "Come out and be separate."
+
+
+II. Let me now try to show _what does not constitute separation from the
+world_.
+
+The point is one which requires clearing up. There are many mistakes
+made about it. You will sometimes see sincere and well-meaning
+Christians doing things which God never intended them to do, in the
+matter of separation from the world, and honestly believing that they
+are in the path of duty. Their mistakes often do great harm. They give
+occasion to the wicked to ridicule all religion, and supply them with an
+excuse for having none. They cause the way of truth to be evil spoken
+of, and add to the offence of the cross. I think it a plain duty to make
+a few remarks on the subject. We must never forget that it is possible
+to be very much in earnest, and to think we are "doing God service,"
+when in reality we are making some great mistake. There is such a thing
+as "zeal not according to knowledge." (John xvi. 2, Rom. x. 2.) There
+are few things about which it is so important to pray for a right
+judgment and sanctified common sense, as about separation from the
+world.
+
+(_a_) When St. Paul said, "Come out and be separate," he did not mean
+that Christians ought to give up all worldly callings, trades,
+professions, and business. He did not forbid men to be soldiers,
+sailors, lawyers, doctors, merchants, bankers, shop-keepers, or
+tradesmen. There is not a word in the New Testament to justify such a
+line of conduct. Cornelius the centurion, Luke the physician, Zenas the
+lawyer, are examples to the contrary. Idleness is in itself a sin. A
+lawful calling is a remedy against temptation. "If any man will not
+work, neither shall he eat." (2 Thess. iii. 10.) To give up any business
+of life, which is not necessarily sinful, to the wicked and the devil,
+from fear of getting harm from it, is lazy, cowardly conduct. The right
+plan is to carry our religion into our business, and not to give up
+business under the specious pretence that it interferes with our
+religion.
+
+(_b_) When St. Paul said, "Come out and be separate," he did not mean
+that Christians ought to decline all intercourse with unconverted
+people, and refuse to go into their society. There is no warrant for
+such conduct in the New Testament. Our Lord and His disciples did not
+refuse to go to a marriage feast, or to sit at meat at a Pharisee's
+table. St. Paul does not say, "If any of them that believe not bid you
+to a feast," you must not go, but only tells us how to behave if we do
+go. (1 Cor. x. 27.) Moreover, it is a dangerous thing to begin judging
+people too closely, and settling who are converted and who are not, and
+what society is godly and what ungodly. We are sure to make mistakes.
+Above all, such a course of life would cut us off from many
+opportunities of doing good. If we carry our Master with us wherever we
+go, who can tell but we may "save some," and get no harm? (1 Cor. ix.
+22.)
+
+(_c_) When St. Paul says, "Come out and be separate," he did not mean
+that Christians ought to take no interest in anything on earth except
+religion. To neglect science, art, literature, and politics,--to read
+nothing which is not directly spiritual,--to know nothing about what is
+going on among mankind, and never to look at a newspaper,--to care
+nothing about the government of one's country, and to be utterly
+indifferent as to the persons who guide its counsels and make its
+laws,--all this may seem very right and proper in the eyes of some
+people. But I take leave to think that it is an idle, selfish neglect of
+duty. St. Paul knew the value of good government, as one of the main
+helps to our "living a quiet and peaceable life in godliness and
+honesty." (1 Tim. ii. 2.) St. Paul was not ashamed to read heathen
+writers, and to quote their words in his speeches and writings. St. Paul
+did not think it beneath him to show an acquaintance with the laws and
+customs and callings of the world, in the illustrations he gave from
+them. Christians who plume themselves on their ignorance of secular
+things are precisely the Christians who bring religion into contempt. I
+knew the case of a blacksmith who would not come to hear his clergyman
+preach the Gospel, until he found out that he knew the properties of
+iron. Then he came.
+
+(_d_) When St. Paul said, "Come out and be separate," he did not mean
+that Christians should be singular, eccentric, and peculiar in their
+dress, manners, demeanour, and voice. Anything which attracts notice in
+these matters is most objectionable, and ought to be carefully avoided.
+To wear clothes of such a colour, or made in such a fashion, that when
+you go into company every eye is fixed on you, and you are the object of
+general observation, is an enormous mistake. It gives occasion to the
+wicked to ridicule religion, and looks self-righteous and affected.
+There is not the slightest proof that our Lord and His apostles, and
+Priscilla, and Persis, and their companions, did not dress and behave
+just like others in their own ranks of life. On the other hand, one of
+the many charges our Lord brings against the Pharisees was that of
+"making broad their phylacteries, and enlarging the borders of their
+garments," so as to be "seen of men." (Matt. xxiii. 5.) True sanctity
+and sanctimoniousness are entirely different things. Those who try to
+show their unworldliness by wearing conspicuously ugly clothes, or by
+speaking in a whining, snuffling voice, or by affecting an unnatural
+slavishness, humility, and gravity of manner, miss their mark
+altogether, and only give occasion to the enemies of the Lord to
+blaspheme.
+
+(_e_) When St. Paul said, "Come out and be separate," he did not mean
+that Christians ought to retire from the company of mankind, and shut
+themselves up in solitude. It is one of the crying errors of the Church
+of Rome to suppose that eminent holiness is to be attained by such
+practices. It is the unhappy delusion of the whole army of monks, nuns,
+and hermits. Separation of this kind is not according to the mind of
+Christ. He says distinctly in His last prayer, "I pray not that Thou
+shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them
+from the evil." (John xvii. 15.) There is not a word in the Acts or
+Epistles to recommend such a separation. True believers are always
+represented as mixing in the world, doing their duty in it, and
+glorifying God by patience, meekness, purity, and courage in their
+several positions, and not by cowardly desertion of them. Moreover, it
+is foolish to suppose that we can keep the world and the devil out of
+our hearts by going into holes and corners. True religion and
+unworldliness are best seen, not in timidly forsaking the post which God
+has allotted to us, but in manfully standing our ground, and showing the
+power of grace to overcome evil.
+
+(_f_) Last, but not least, when St. Paul said, "Come out and be
+separate," he did not mean that Christians ought to withdraw from every
+Church in which there are unconverted members, or to refuse to worship
+in company with any who are not believers, or to keep away from the
+Lord's table if any ungodly people go up to it. This is a very common
+but a very grievous mistake. There is not a text in the New Testament to
+justify it, and it ought to be condemned as a pure invention of man. Our
+Lord Jesus Christ Himself deliberately allowed Judas Iscariot to be an
+apostle for three years, and gave him the Lord's Supper. He has taught
+us, in the parable of the wheat and tares, that converted and
+unconverted will be "together till the harvest," and cannot be divided.
+(Matt. xiii. 30.) In His Epistles to the Seven Churches, and in all St.
+Paul's Epistles, we often see faults and corruptions mentioned and
+reproved; but we are never told that they justify desertion of the
+assembly, or neglect of ordinances. In short, we must not look for a
+perfect Church, a perfect congregation, and a perfect company of
+communicants, until the marriage supper of the Lamb. If others are
+unworthy Churchmen, or unworthy partakers of the Lord's Supper, the sin
+is theirs and not ours: we are not their judges. But to separate
+ourselves from Church assemblies, and deprive ourselves of Christian
+ordinances, because others use them unworthily, is to take up a foolish,
+unreasonable, and unscriptural position. It is not the mind of Christ,
+and it certainly is not St. Paul's idea of separation from the world.
+
+I commend these six points to the calm consideration of all who wish to
+understand the subject of separation from the world. About each and all
+of them far more might be said than I have space to say in this paper.
+About each and all of them I have seen so many mistakes made, and so
+much misery and unhappiness caused by those mistakes, that I want to put
+Christians on their guard. I want them not to take up positions hastily,
+in the zeal of their first love, which they will afterwards be obliged
+to give up.
+
+I leave this part of my subject with two pieces of advice, which I offer
+especially to young Christians.
+
+I advise them, for one thing, if they really desire to come out from the
+world, to remember that the shortest path is not always the path of
+duty. To quarrel with all our unconverted relatives, to "cut" all our
+old friends, to withdraw entirely from mixed society, to live an
+exclusive life, to give up every act of courtesy and civility in order
+that we may devote ourselves to the direct work of Christ,--all this may
+seem very right, and may satisfy our consciences and save us trouble.
+But I venture a doubt whether it is not often a selfish, lazy,
+self-pleasing line of conduct, and whether the true cross and true line
+of duty may not be to deny ourselves, and adopt a very different course
+of action.
+
+I advise them, for another thing, if they want to come out from the
+world, to watch against a sour, morose, ungenial, gloomy, unpleasant,
+bearish demeanour, and never to forget that there is such a thing as
+"winning without the Word." (1 Peter iii. 1.) Let them strive to show
+unconverted people that their principles, whatever may be thought of
+them, make them cheerful, amiable, good-tempered, unselfish, considerate
+for others, and ready to take an interest in everything that is innocent
+and of good report. In short, let there be no needless separation
+between us and the world. In many things, as I shall soon show, we must
+be separate; but let us take care that it is separation of the right
+sort. If the world is offended by such separation we cannot help it. But
+let us never give the world occasion to say that our separation is
+foolish, senseless, ridiculous, unreasonable, uncharitable, and
+unscriptural.
+
+
+III. In the third place, I shall try to show _what true separation from
+the world really is_.
+
+I take up this branch of my subject with a very deep sense of its
+difficulty. That there is a certain line of conduct which all true
+Christians ought to pursue with respect to "the world, and the things of
+the world," is very evident. The texts already quoted make that plain.
+The key to the solution of that question lies in the word "separation."
+But in what separation consists it is not easy to show. On some points
+it is not hard to lay down particular rules; on others it is impossible
+to do more than state general principles, and leave every one to apply
+them according to his position in life. This is what I shall now attempt
+to do.
+
+(_a_) First and foremost, he that desires to "come out from the world,
+and be separate," _must steadily and habitually refuse to be guided by
+the world's standard of right and wrong_.
+
+The rule of the bulk of mankind is to go with the stream, to do as
+others, to follow the fashion, to keep in with the common opinion, and
+to set your watch by the town-clock. The true Christian will never be
+content with such a rule as that. He will simply ask, What saith the
+Scripture? What is written in the Word of God? He will maintain firmly
+that nothing can be right which God says is wrong, and that the customs
+and opinions of his neighbours can never make that to be a trifle which
+God calls serious, or that to be no sin which God calls sin. He will
+never think lightly of such sins as drinking, swearing, gambling, lying,
+cheating, swindling, or breach of the seventh commandment, because they
+are common, and many say, "Where is the mighty harm?" That miserable
+argument,--"Everybody thinks so, everybody says so, everybody does it,
+everybody will be there,"--goes for nothing with him. Is it condemned or
+approved by the Bible? That is his only question. If he stands alone in
+the parish, or town, or congregation, he will not go against the Bible.
+If he has to come out from the crowd, and take a position by himself, he
+will not flinch from it rather than disobey the Bible. This is genuine
+Scriptural separation.
+
+(_b_) He that desires to "come out from the world and be separate,"
+_must be very careful how he spends his leisure time_.
+
+This is a point which at first sight appears of little importance. But
+the longer I live, the more I am persuaded that it deserves most serious
+attention. Honourable occupation and lawful business are a great
+safeguard to the soul, and the time that is spent upon them is
+comparatively the time of our least danger. The devil finds it hard to
+get a hearing from a busy man. But when the day's work is over, and the
+time of leisure arrives, then comes the hour of temptation.
+
+I do not hesitate to warn every man who wants to live a Christian life,
+to be very careful how he spends his evenings. Evening is the time when
+we are naturally disposed to unbend after the labours of the day; and
+evening is the time when the Christian is too often tempted to lay aside
+his armour, and consequently brings trouble on his soul. "Then cometh
+the devil," and with the devil the world. Evening is the time when the
+poor man is tempted to go to the public-house, and fall into sin.
+Evening is the time when the tradesman too often goes to the Inn
+parlour, and sits for hours hearing and seeing things which do him no
+good. Evening is the time which the higher classes choose for dancing,
+card playing, and the like; and consequently never get to bed till late
+at night. If we love our souls, and would not become worldly, let us
+mind how we spend our evenings. Tell me how a man spends his evenings,
+and I can generally tell what his character is.
+
+The true Christian will do well to make it a settled rule never to
+_waste_ his evenings. Whatever others may do, let him resolve always to
+make time for quiet, calm thought,--for Bible-reading and prayer. The
+rule will prove a hard one to keep. It may bring on him the charge of
+being unsocial and over strict. Let him not mind this. Anything of this
+kind is better than habitual late hours in company, hurried prayers,
+slovenly Bible reading, and a bad conscience. Even if he stands alone in
+his parish or town, let him not depart from his rule. He will find
+himself in a minority, and be thought a peculiar man. But this is
+genuine Scriptural separation.
+
+(_c_) He that desires to "come out from the world and be separate," must
+_steadily and habitually determine not to be swallowed up and absorbed
+in the business of the world_.
+
+A true Christian will strive to do his duty in whatever station or
+position he finds himself, and to do it well. Whether statesman, or
+merchant, or banker, or lawyer, or doctor, or tradesman, or farmer, he
+will try to do his work so that no one can find occasion for fault in
+him. But he will not allow it to get between him and Christ. If he
+finds his business beginning to eat up his Sundays, his Bible-reading,
+his private prayer, and to bring clouds between him and heaven, he will
+say, "Stand back! There is a limit. Hitherto thou mayest go, but no
+further. I cannot sell my soul for place, fame, or gold." Like Daniel,
+he will make time for his communion with God, whatever the cost may be.
+Like Havelock, he will deny himself anything rather than lose his
+Bible-reading and his prayers. In all this he will find he stands almost
+alone. Many will laugh at him, and tell him they get on well enough
+without being so strict and particular. He will heed it not. He will
+resolutely hold the world at arm's length, whatever present loss or
+sacrifice it may seem to entail. He will choose rather to be less rich
+and prosperous in this world, than not to prosper about his soul. To
+stand alone in this way, to run counter to the ways of others, requires
+immense self denial. But this is genuine Scriptural separation.
+
+(_d_) He that desires to "come out from the world and be separate" must
+steadily _abstain from all amusements and recreations which are
+inseparably connected with sin_.
+
+This is a hard subject to handle, and I approach it with pain. But I do
+not think I should be faithful to Christ, and faithful to my office as a
+minister, if I did not speak very plainly about it, in considering such
+a matter as separation from the world.
+
+Let me, then, say honestly, that I cannot understand how any one who
+makes any pretence to real vital religion can allow himself to attend
+races and theatres. Conscience no doubt, is a strange thing, and every
+man must judge for himself and use his liberty. One man sees no harm in
+things which another regards with abhorrence as evil. I can only give my
+own opinion for what it is worth, and entreat my readers to consider
+seriously what I say.
+
+That to look at horses running at full speed is in itself perfectly
+harmless, no sensible man will pretend to deny. That many plays, such as
+Shakespeare's, are among the finest productions of the human intellect,
+is equally undeniable. But all this is beside the question. The question
+is whether horse-racing and theatres, as they are now conducted, in
+England, are not inseparably bound up with things that are downright
+wicked. =I= assert without hesitation that they are so bound up. =I=
+assert that the breach of God's commandments so invariably accompanies
+the race and the play, that you cannot go to the amusement without
+helping sin.
+
+I entreat all professing Christians to remember this, and to take heed
+what they do. I warn them plainly that they have no right to shut their
+eyes to facts which every intelligent person knows, for the mere
+pleasure of seeing a horse-race, or listening to good actors or
+actresses. I warn them that they must not talk of separation from the
+world, if they can lend their sanction to amusements which are
+invariably connected with gambling, betting, drunkenness, and
+fornication. These are the things "which God will judge."--"The end of
+these things is death." (Heb. xiii. 4; Rom. vi. 21.)
+
+Hard words these, no doubt! But are they not true? It may seem to your
+relatives and friends very strait-laced, strict, and narrow, if you tell
+them you cannot go to the races or the theatre with them. But we must
+fall back on first principles. Is the world a danger to the soul, or is
+it not? Are we to come out from the world, or are we not? These are
+questions which can only be answered in one way.
+
+If we love our souls we must have nothing to do with amusements which
+are bound up with sin. Nothing short of this can be called genuine
+scriptural separation from the world.[11]
+
+  11: See Note, page 310.
+
+(_e_) He that desires to "come out from the world, and be separate,"
+must be _moderate in the use of lawful and innocent recreations_.
+
+No sensible Christian will ever think of condemning all recreations. In
+a world of wear and tear like that we live in, occasional unbending and
+relaxation are good for all. Body and mind alike require seasons of
+lighter occupation, and opportunities of letting off high spirits, and
+especially when they are young. Exercise itself is a positive necessity
+for the preservation of mental and bodily health. I see no harm in
+cricket, rowing, running, and other manly athletic recreations. I find
+no fault with those who play at chess and such-like games of skill. We
+are all fearfully and wonderfully made. No wonder the poet says,--
+
+    "Strange that a harp of thousand strings
+        Should keep in tune so long!"
+
+Anything which strengthens nerves, and brain, and digestion, and lungs,
+and muscles, and makes us more fit for Christ's work, so long as it is
+not in itself sinful, is a blessing, and ought to be thankfully used.
+Anything which will occasionally divert our thoughts from their usual
+grinding channel, in a healthy manner, is a good and not an evil.
+
+But it is the excess of these innocent things which a true Christian
+must watch against, if he wants to be separate from the world. He must
+not devote his whole heart, and soul, and mind, and strength, and time
+to them, as many do, if he wishes to serve Christ. There are hundreds of
+lawful things which are good in moderation, but bad when taken in
+excess: healthful medicine in small quantities,--downright poison when
+swallowed down in huge doses. In nothing is this so true as it is in the
+matter of recreations. The use of them is one thing, and the abuse of
+them is another. The Christian who uses them must know when to stop,
+and how to say "Hold: enough!"--Do they interfere with his private
+religion? Do they take up too much of his thoughts and attention? Have
+they a secularizing effect on his soul? Have they a tendency to pull him
+down to earth? Then let him hold hard and take care. All this will
+require courage, self-denial, and firmness. It is a line of conduct
+which will often bring on us the ridicule and contempt of those who know
+not what moderation is, and who spend their lives in making trifles
+serious things and serious things trifles. But if we mean to come out
+from the world we must not mind this. We must be "temperate" even in
+lawful things, whatever others may think of us. This is genuine
+Scriptural separation.
+
+(_f_) Last, but not least, he that desires to "come out from the world
+and be separate" must be _careful how he allows himself in friendships,
+intimacies, and close relationships with worldly people_.
+
+We cannot help meeting many unconverted people as long as we live. We
+cannot avoid having intercourse with them, and doing business with them,
+unless "we go out of the world." (1 Cor. v. 10.) To treat them with the
+utmost courtesy, kindness, and charity, whenever we do meet them, is a
+positive duty. But acquaintance is one thing, and intimate friendship is
+quite another. To seek their society without cause, to choose their
+company, to cultivate intimacy with them, is very dangerous to the soul.
+Human nature is so constituted that we cannot be much with other people
+without effect on our own character. The old proverb will never fail to
+prove true: "Tell me with whom a man chooses to live, and I will tell
+you what he is." The Scripture says expressly, "He that walketh with
+wise men shall be wise; but a companion of fools shall be destroyed."
+(Prov. xiii. 20.) If then a Christian, who desires to live consistently,
+chooses for his friends those who either do not care for their souls, or
+the Bible, or God, or Christ, or holiness, or regard them as of
+secondary importance, it seems to me impossible for him to prosper in
+his religion. He will soon find that their ways are not his ways, nor
+their thoughts his thoughts, nor their tastes his tastes; and that,
+unless they change, he must give up intimacy with them. In short, there
+must be separation. Of course such separation will be painful. But if we
+have to choose between the loss of a friend and the injury of our souls,
+there ought to be no doubt in our minds. If friends will not walk in the
+narrow way with us, we must not walk in the broad way to please them.
+But let us distinctly understand that to attempt to keep up close
+intimacy between a converted and an unconverted person, if both are
+consistent with their natures, is to attempt an impossibility.
+
+The principle here laid down ought to be carefully remembered by all
+unmarried Christians in the choice of a husband or wife. I fear it is
+too often entirely forgotten. Too many seem to think of everything
+except religion in choosing a partner for life, or to suppose that it
+will come somehow as a matter of course. Yet when a praying,
+Bible-reading, God-fearing, Christ-loving, Sabbath-keeping Christian
+marries a person who takes no interest whatever in serious religion,
+what can the result be but injury to the Christian, or immense
+unhappiness? Health is not infectious, but disease is. As a general
+rule, in such cases, the good go down to the level of the bad, and the
+bad do not come up to the level of the good. The subject is a delicate
+one, and I do not care to dwell upon it. But this I say confidently to
+every unmarried Christian man or woman,--if you love your soul, if you
+do not want to fall away and backslide, if you do not want to destroy
+your own peace and comfort for life, resolve never to marry any person
+who is not a thorough Christian, whatever the resolution may cost you.
+You had better die than marry an unbeliever. Stand to this resolution,
+and let no one ever persuade you out of it. Depart from this resolution,
+and you will find it almost impossible to "come out and be separate."
+You will find you have tied a mill-stone round your own neck in running
+the race towards heaven; and, if saved at last, it will be "so as by
+fire." (1 Cor. iii. 15.)
+
+I offer these six general hints to all who wish to follow St. Paul's
+advice, and to come out from the world and be separate. In giving them,
+I lay no claim to infallibility; but I believe they deserve
+consideration and attention. I do not forget that the subject is full of
+difficulties, and that scores of doubtful cases are continually arising
+in a Christian's course, in which it is very hard to say what is the
+path of duty, and how to behave. Perhaps the following bits of advice
+may be found useful.--In all doubtful cases we should first pray for
+wisdom and sound judgment. If prayer is worth anything, it must be
+specially valuable when we desire to do right, but do not see our
+way.--In all doubtful cases let us often try ourselves by recollecting
+the eye of God. Should I go to such and such a place, or do such and
+such a thing, if I really thought God was looking at me?--In all
+doubtful cases let us never forget the second advent of Christ and the
+day of judgment. Should I like to be found in such and such company, or
+employed in such and such ways?--Finally, in all doubtful cases let us
+find out what the conduct of the holiest and best Christians has been
+under similar circumstances. If we do not clearly see our own way, we
+need not be ashamed to follow good examples. I throw out these
+suggestions for the use of all who are in difficulties about disputable
+points in the matter of separation from the world. I cannot help
+thinking that they may help to untie many knots, and solve many
+problems.
+
+
+IV. I shall now conclude the whole subject by trying to _show the
+secrets of real victory over the world_.
+
+To come out from the world of course is not an easy thing. It cannot be
+easy so long as human nature is what it is, and a busy devil is always
+near us. It requires a constant struggle and exertion; it entails
+incessant conflict and self-denial; it often places us in exact
+opposition to members of our own families, to relations and neighbours;
+it sometimes obliges us to do things which give great offence, and bring
+on us ridicule and petty persecution. It is precisely this which makes
+many hang back and shrink from decided religion. They know they are not
+right; they know that they are not so "thorough" in Christ's service as
+they ought to be, and they feel uncomfortable and ill at ease. But the
+fear of man keeps them back. And so they linger on through life with
+aching, dissatisfied hearts,--with too much religion to be happy in the
+world, and too much of the world to be happy in their religion. I fear
+this is a very common case, if the truth were known.
+
+Yet there are some in every age who seem to get the victory over the
+world. They come out decidedly from its ways, and are unmistakably
+separate. They are independent of its opinions, and unshaken by its
+opposition. They move on like planets in an orbit of their own, and seem
+to rise equally above the world's smiles and frowns. And what are the
+secrets of their victory? I will set them down.
+
+(_a_) The first secret of victory over the world is a _right heart_. By
+that I mean a heart renewed, changed and sanctified by the Holy
+Ghost,--a heart in which Christ dwells, a heart in which old things have
+passed away, and all things become new. The grand mark of such a heart
+is the bias of its tastes and affections. The owner of such a heart no
+longer likes the world, and the things of the world, and therefore finds
+it no trial or sacrifice to give them up. He has no longer any appetite
+for the company, the conversation, the amusements, the occupations, the
+books which he once loved, and to "come out" from them seems natural to
+him. Great indeed is the expulsive power of a new principle! Just as the
+new spring-buds in a beech hedge push off the old leaves and make them
+quietly fall to the ground, so does the new heart of a believer
+invariably affect his tastes and likings, and make him drop many things
+which he once loved and lived in, because he now likes them no more. Let
+him that wants to "come out from the world and be separate," make sure
+first and foremost that he has got a new heart. If the heart is really
+right, everything else will be right in time. "If thine eye be single,
+thy whole body shall be full of light." (Matt. vi. 22.) If the
+affections are not right, there never will be right action.
+
+(_b_) The second secret of victory over the world is a _lively practical
+faith_ in unseen things. What saith the Scripture? "This is the victory
+that overcometh the world, even our faith." (1 John v. 4.) To attain and
+keep up the habit of looking steadily at invisible things, as if they
+were visible,--to set before our minds every day, as grand realities,
+our souls, God, Christ, heaven, hell, judgment, eternity,--to cherish an
+abiding conviction that what we do not see is just as real as what we do
+see, and ten thousand times more important,--this, this is one way to be
+conquerors over the world. This was the faith which made the noble army
+of saints, described in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, obtain such a
+glorious testimony from the Holy Ghost. They all acted under a firm
+persuasion that they had a real God, a real Saviour, and a real home in
+heaven, though unseen by mortal eyes. Armed with this faith, a man
+regards this world as a shadow compared to the world to come, and cares
+little for its praise or blame, its enmity or its rewards. Let him that
+wants to come out from the world and be separate, but shrinks and hangs
+back for fear of the things seen, pray and strive to have this faith.
+"All things are possible to him that believes." (Mark ix. 23.) Like
+Moses, he will find it possible to forsake Egypt, seeing Him that is
+invisible. Like Moses, he will not care what he loses and who is
+displeased, because he sees afar off, like one looking through a
+telescope, a substantial recompense of reward. (Heb. xi. 26.)
+
+(_c_) The third and last secret of victory over the world, is to attain
+and cultivate the _habit of boldly confessing Christ_ on all proper
+occasions. In saying this I would not be mistaken. I want no one to blow
+a trumpet before him, and thrust his religion on others at all seasons.
+But I do wish to encourage all who strive to come out from the world to
+show their colours, and to act and speak out like men who are not
+ashamed to serve Christ. A steady, quiet assertion of our own
+principles, as Christians,--an habitual readiness to let the children of
+the world see that we are guided by other rules than they are, and do
+not mean to swerve from them,--a calm, firm, courteous maintenance of
+our own standard of things in every company,--all this will insensibly
+form a habit within us, and make it comparatively easy to be a separate
+man. It will be hard at first, no doubt, and cost us many a struggle;
+but the longer we go on, the easier will it be. Repeated acts of
+confessing Christ will produce habits. Habits once formed will produce a
+settled character. Our characters once known, we shall be saved much
+trouble. Men will know what to expect from us, and will count it no
+strange thing if they see us living the lives of separate peculiar
+people. He that grasps the nettle most firmly will always be less hurt
+than the man who touches it with a trembling hand. It is a great thing
+to be able to say "No" decidedly, but courteously, when asked to do
+anything which conscience says is wrong. He that shows his colours
+boldly from the first, and is never ashamed to let men see "whose he is
+and whom he serves," will soon find that he has overcome the world, and
+will be let alone. Bold confession is a long step towards victory.
+
+
+It only remains for me now to conclude the whole subject with a few
+short words of application. The danger of the world ruining the soul,
+the nature of true separation from the world, the secrets of victory
+over the world, are all before the reader of this paper. I now ask him
+to give me his attention for the last time, while I try to say something
+directly for his personal benefit.
+
+(1) My first word shall be _a question_. Are you overcoming the world,
+or are you overcome by it? Do you know what it is to come out from the
+world and be separate, or are you yet entangled by it, and conformed to
+it? If you have any desire to be saved, I entreat you to answer this
+question.
+
+If you know nothing of "separation," I warn you affectionately that your
+soul is in great danger. The world passeth away; and they who cling to
+the world, and think only of the world, will pass away with it to
+everlasting ruin. Awake to know your peril before it be too late. Awake
+and flee from the wrath to come. The time is short. The end of all
+things is at hand. The shadows are lengthening. The sun is going down.
+The night cometh when no man can work. The great white throne will soon
+be set. The judgment will begin. The books will be opened. Awake, and
+come out from the world while it is called to-day.
+
+Yet a little while, and there will be no more worldly occupations and
+worldly amusements,--no more getting money and spending money,--no more
+eating, and drinking, and feasting, and dressing, and ball-going, and
+theatres, and races, and cards, and gambling. What will you do when all
+these things have passed away for ever? How can you possibly be happy in
+an eternal heaven, where holiness is all in all, and worldliness has no
+place? Oh consider these things, and be wise! Awake, and break the
+chains which the world has thrown around you. Awake, and flee from the
+wrath to come.
+
+(2) My second word shall be _a counsel_. If you want to come out from
+the world, but know not what to do, take the advice which I give you
+this day. Begin by applying direct, as a penitent sinner, to our Lord
+Jesus Christ, and put your case in His hands. Pour out your heart before
+Him. Tell Him your whole story, and keep nothing back. Tell Him that you
+are a sinner wanting to be saved from the world, the flesh, and the
+devil, and entreat Him to save you.
+
+That blessed Saviour "gave Himself for us that He might deliver us from
+this present evil world." (Gal. i. 2.) He knows what the world is, for
+He lived in it thirty and three years. He knows what the difficulties of
+a man are, for He was made man for our sakes, and dwelt among men. High
+in heaven, at the right hand of God, He is able to save to the uttermost
+all who come to God by Him,--able to keep us from the evil of the world
+while we are still living in it,--able to give us power to become the
+sons of God,--able to keep us from falling,--able to make us more than
+conquerors. Once more I say, Go direct to Christ with the prayer of
+faith, and put yourself wholly and unreservedly in His hands. Hard as it
+may seem to you now to come out from the world and be separate, you
+shall find that with Jesus nothing is impossible. You, even you, shall
+overcome the world.
+
+(3) My third and last word shall be _encouragement_. If you have learned
+by experience what it is to come out from the world, I can only say to
+you, Take comfort, and persevere. You are in the right road; you have no
+cause to be afraid. The everlasting hills are in sight. Your salvation
+is nearer than when you believed. Take comfort and press on.
+
+No doubt you have had many a battle, and made many a false step. You
+have sometimes felt ready to faint, and been half disposed to go back to
+Egypt. But your Master has never entirely left you, and He will never
+suffer you to be tempted above that you are able to bear. Then persevere
+steadily in your separation from the world, and never be ashamed of
+standing alone. Settle it firmly in your mind that the most decided
+Christians are always the happiest, and remember that no one ever said
+at the end of his course that he had been too holy, and lived too near
+to God.
+
+Hear, last of all, what is written in the Scriptures of truth:
+
+"Whosoever shall confess Me before men, him shall the Son of man also
+confess before the angels of God." (Luke xii. 8.)
+
+"There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or
+father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the
+gospel's,
+
+"But he shall receive an hundred-fold now in this time, houses, and
+brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with
+persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life." (Mark x. 29, 30.)
+
+"Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of
+reward.
+
+"For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God,
+ye might receive the promise.
+
+"For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not
+tarry." (Heb. x. 35--37.)
+
+Those words were written and spoken for our sakes. Let us lay hold on
+them, and never forget them. Let us persevere to the end, and never be
+ashamed of coming out from the world, and being separate. We may be sure
+it brings its own reward.
+
+
+NOTE
+
+     Thoughtful and intelligent readers will probably observe that,
+     under the head of worldly amusements, I have said nothing about
+     ball-going and card-playing. They are delicate and difficult
+     subjects, and many classes of society are not touched by them.
+     But I am quite willing to give my opinion, and the more so
+     because I do not speak of them without experience in the days
+     of my youth.
+
+     (_a_) Concerning _ball-going_, I only ask Christians to judge
+     the amusement by its tendencies and accompaniments. To say
+     there is anything morally wrong in the mere bodily act of
+     dancing would be absurd. David danced before the ark. Solomon
+     said, "There is a time to dance." (Eccle. iii 4.) Just as it is
+     natural to lambs and kittens to frisk about, so it seems
+     natural to young people, all over the world, to jump about to a
+     lively tune of music. If dancing were taken up for mere
+     exercise, if dancing took place at early hours, and men only
+     danced with men, and women with women, it would be needless and
+     absurd to object to it. But everybody knows that this is not
+     what is meant by modern ball-going. This is an amusement which
+     involves very late hours, extravagant dressing, and an immense
+     amount of frivolity, vanity, jealousy, unhealthy excitement,
+     and vain conversation. Who would like to be found in a modern
+     ball-room when the Lord Jesus Christ comes the second time? Who
+     that has taken much part in balls, as I myself once did, before
+     I knew better, can deny that they have a most dissipating
+     effect on the mind, like opium-eating and dram-drinking on the
+     body? I cannot withhold my opinion that ball-going is one of
+     those worldly amusements which "war against the soul," and
+     which it is wisest and best to give up. And as for those
+     parents who urge their sons and daughters, against their wills
+     and inclinations, to go to balls, I can only say that they are
+     taking on themselves a most dangerous responsibility, and
+     risking great injury to their children's souls.
+
+     (_b_) Concerning _card-playing_, my judgment is much the same.
+     I ask Christian people to try it by its tendencies and
+     consequences. Of course it would be nonsense to say there is
+     positive wickedness in an innocent game of cards, for
+     diversion, and not for money. I have known instances of old
+     people of lethargic and infirm habit of body, unable to work or
+     read, to whom cards in an evening were really useful, to keep
+     them from drowsiness, and preserve their health. But it is vain
+     to shut our eyes to facts. If masters and mistresses once begin
+     to play cards in the parlour, servants are likely to play cards
+     in the kitchen; and then comes in a whole train of evils.
+     Moreover, from simple card-playing to desperate gambling there
+     is but a chain of steps. If parents teach young people that
+     there is no harm in the first step, they must never be
+     surprised if they go on to the last.
+
+     I give this opinion with much diffidence. I lay no claim to
+     infallibility. Let every one be persuaded in his own mind. But,
+     considering all things, it is my deliberate judgment that the
+     Christian who wishes to keep his soul right, and to "come out
+     from the world," will do wisely to have nothing to do with
+     card-playing. It is a habit which seems to grow on some people
+     so much that it becomes at last a necessity, and they cannot
+     live without it. "Madam," said Romaine to an old lady at Bath,
+     who declared she could not do without her cards,--"Madam, if
+     this is the case, cards are your god, and your god is a very
+     poor one." Surely in doubtful matters like these it is well to
+     give our souls the benefit of the doubt, and to refrain.
+
+     (_c_) Concerning _field-sports_, I admit that it is not easy to
+     lay down a strict rule. I cannot go the length of some, and say
+     that galloping across country, or shooting grouse, partridges,
+     or pheasants, or catching salmon or trout, are in themselves
+     positively sinful occupations, and distinct marks of an
+     unconverted heart. There are many persons, I know, to whom
+     violent out-door exercise and complete diversion of mind are
+     absolute necessities, for the preservation of their bodily and
+     mental health. But in all these matters the chief question is
+     one of degree. Much depends on the company men are thrown into,
+     and the extent to which the thing is carried. The great danger
+     lies in excess. It is possible to be _intemperate_ about
+     hunting and shooting as well as about drinking. We are
+     commanded in Scripture to be "temperate in all things," if we
+     would so run as to obtain; and those who are addicted to
+     field-sports should not forget this rule.
+
+     The question, however, is one about which Christians must be
+     careful in expressing an opinion, and moderate in their
+     judgments. The man who can neither ride, nor shoot, nor throw a
+     fly, is hardly qualified to speak dispassionately about such
+     matters. It is cheap and easy work to condemn others for doing
+     things which you cannot do yourself, and are utterly unable to
+     enjoy! One thing only is perfectly certain,--all intemperance
+     or excess is sin. The man who is wholly absorbed in
+     field-sports, and spends all his years in such a manner that he
+     seems to think God only created him to be a "hunting, shooting,
+     and fishing animal," is a man who at present knows very little
+     of Scriptural Christianity. It is written, "Where your treasure
+     is, there will your heart be also." (Matt. vi. 21.)
+
+
+
+
+XIII
+
+
+RICHES AND POVERTY
+
+     "_There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and
+     fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day_:
+
+     "_And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid
+     at his gate, full of sores_,
+
+     "_And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the
+     rich man's table: moreover, the dogs came and licked his
+     sores._
+
+     "_And it came to pass that the beggar died, and was carried by
+     the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and
+     was buried_;
+
+     "_And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth
+     Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom._"--
+
+     Luke xvi. 19--23.
+
+There are probably few readers of the Bible who are not familiar with
+the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. It is one of those passages of
+Scripture which leave an indelible impression on the mind. Like the
+parable of the Prodigal Son, once read it is never forgotten.
+
+The reason of this is clear and simple. The whole parable is a most
+vividly painted picture. The story, as it goes on, carries our
+senses with it with irresistible power. Instead of readers, we
+become lookers on. We are witnesses of all the events described. We
+see. We hear. We fancy we could almost touch. The rich man's
+banquet,--the purple,--the fine linen,--the gate,--the beggar lying
+by it,--the sores,--the dogs,--the crumbs,--the two deaths,--the
+rich man's burial,--the ministering angels,--the bosom of
+Abraham,--the rich man's fearful waking up,--the fire,--the
+gulf,--the hopeless remorse,--all, all stand out before our eyes in
+bold relief, and stamp themselves upon our minds. This is the
+perfection of language. This is the attainment of the famous Arabian
+standard of eloquence,--"He speaks the =best= who turns the ear into
+an eye."
+
+But, after all, it is one thing to admire the masterly composition of
+this parable, and quite another to receive the spiritual lessons it
+contains. The eye of the intellect can often see beauties while the
+heart remains asleep, and sees nothing at all. Hundreds read Pilgrim's
+Progress with deep interest, to whom the struggle for the celestial city
+is foolishness. Thousands are familiar with every word of the parable
+before us this day, who never consider how it comes home to their own
+case. Their conscience is deaf to the cry which ought to ring in their
+ears as they read,--"Thou art the man." Their heart never turns to God
+with the solemn inquiry,--"Lord, is this my picture?--Lord, is it I?"
+
+I invite my readers this day to consider the leading truths which this
+parable is meant to teach us. I purposely omit to notice any part of it
+but that which stands at the head of this paper. May the Holy Ghost give
+us a teachable spirit, and an understanding heart, and so produce
+lasting impressions on our souls!
+
+
+I. Let us observe, first of all, _how different are the conditions which
+God allots to different men_.
+
+The Lord Jesus begins the parable by telling us of a rich man and a
+beggar. He says not a word in praise either of poverty or of riches. He
+describes the circumstances of a wealthy man and the circumstances of a
+poor man; but He neither condemns the temporal position of one, nor
+praises that of the other.
+
+The contrast between the two men is painfully striking. Look on this
+picture, and on that.
+
+Here is one who possessed abundance of this world's good things. "He was
+clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day."
+
+Here is another who has literally nothing. He is a friendless, diseased,
+half-starved pauper. "He lies at the rich man's gate full of sores," and
+begs for crumbs.
+
+Both are children of Adam. Both came from the same dust, and belonged to
+one family. Both are living in the same land and subjects of the same
+government. And yet how different is their condition!
+
+But we must take heed that we do not draw lessons from the parable which
+it was never meant to teach. The rich are not always bad men, and do not
+always go to hell. The poor are not always good men, and do not always
+go to heaven. We must not rush into the extreme of supposing that it is
+sinful to be rich. We must not run away with the idea that there is
+anything wicked in the difference of condition here described, and that
+God intended all men to be equal. There is nothing in our Lord Jesus
+Christ's words to warrant any such conclusion. He simply describes
+things as they are often seen in the world, and as we must expect to see
+them.
+
+Universal equality is a very high-sounding expression, and a favourite
+idea with visionary men. Many in every age have disturbed society by
+stirring up the poor against the rich, and by preaching up the popular
+doctrine that all men ought to be equal. But so long as the world is
+under the present order of things this universal equality cannot be
+attained. Those who declaim against the vast inequality of men's lots
+will doubtless never be in want of hearers; but so long as human nature
+is what it is, this inequality cannot be prevented.
+
+So long as some are wise and some are foolish,--some strong and some
+weak,--some healthy and some diseased,--some lazy and some
+diligent,--some provident and some improvident;--so long as children
+reap the fruit of their parent's misconduct;--so long as sun, and rain,
+and heat, and cold, and wind, and waves, and drought, and blight, and
+storms, and tempests are beyond man's control,--so long there always
+will be some rich and some poor. All the political economy in the world
+will never make the poor altogether "cease out of the land." (Deut. xv.
+11.)
+
+Take all the property in England by force this day, and divide it
+equally among the inhabitants. Give every man above twenty years old an
+equal portion. Let all take share and share alike, and begin the world
+over again. Do this, and see where you would be at the end of fifty
+years. You would just have come round to the point where you began. You
+would just find things as unequal as before. Some would have worked, and
+some would have been idle. Some would have been always careless, and
+some always scheming. Some would have sold, and others would have
+bought. Some would have wasted, and others would have saved. And the end
+would be that some would be rich and others poor.
+
+Let no man listen to those vain and foolish talkers who say that all men
+were meant to be equal. They might as well tell you that all men ought
+to be of the same height, weight, strength, and cleverness,--or that all
+oak trees ought to be of the same shape and size,--or that all blades of
+grass ought to be of the same length.
+
+Settle it in your mind that the main cause of all the suffering you see
+around you is sin. Sin is the grand cause of the enormous luxury of the
+rich, and the painful degradation of the poor,--of the heartless
+selfishness of the highest classes, and the helpless poverty of the
+lowest. Sin must be first cast out of the world. The hearts of all men
+must be renewed and sanctified. The devil must be bound. The Prince of
+Peace must come down and take His great power and =reign=. All this must
+be before there ever can be universal happiness, or the gulf be filled
+up which now divides the rich and poor.
+
+Beware of expecting a millennium to be brought about by any method of
+government, by any system of education, by any political party. Labour
+might and main to do good to all men. Pity your poorer brethren, and
+help every reasonable endeavour to raise them from their low estate.
+Slack not your hand from any endeavour to increase knowledge, to promote
+morality, to improve the temporal condition of the poor. But never,
+never forget that you live in a fallen world, that sin is all around
+you, and that the devil is abroad. And be very sure that the rich man
+and Lazarus are emblems of two classes which will always be in the world
+until the Lord comes.
+
+
+II. Let us observe, in the next place, that _a man's temporal condition
+is no test of the state of his soul_.
+
+The rich man in the parable appears to have been the world's pattern of
+a prosperous man. If the life that now is were all, he seems to have had
+everything that heart could wish. We know that he was "clothed in purple
+and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day." We need not doubt that
+he had everything else which money could procure. The wisest of men had
+good cause for saying, "Money answereth all things." "The rich hath many
+friends." (Eccles. x. 19; Prov. xiv. 20.)
+
+But who that reads the story through can fail to see that in the highest
+and best sense the rich man was pitiably _poor_? Take away the good
+things of this life, and he had nothing left,--nothing after
+death,--nothing beyond the grave,--nothing in the world to come. With
+all his riches he had no "treasure laid up in heaven." With all his
+purple and fine linen he had no garment of righteousness. With all his
+boon companions he had no Friend and Advocate at God's right hand. With
+all his sumptuous fare he had never tasted the bread of life. With all
+his splendid palace he had no home in the eternal world. Without God,
+without Christ, without faith, without grace, without pardon, without
+holiness, he lives to himself for a few short years, and then goes down
+hopelessly into the pit. How hollow and unreal was all his prosperity!
+Judge what I say,--_The rich man was very poor_.
+
+Lazarus appears to have been one who had literally nothing in the world.
+It is hard to conceive a case of greater misery and destitution than
+his. He had neither house, nor money, nor food, nor health, nor, in all
+probability, even clothes. His picture is one that can never be
+forgotten. He "lay at the rich man's gate, covered with sores." He
+desired to be "fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table."
+Moreover, the dogs came and "licked his sores." Verily the wise man
+might well say, "The poor is hated even of his neighbour." "The
+destruction of the poor is their poverty." (Prov. xiv. 20; x. 15.)
+
+But who that reads the parable to the end can fail to see that in the
+highest sense Lazarus was not poor, but _rich_? He was a child of God.
+He was an heir of glory. He possessed durable riches and righteousness.
+His name was in the book of life. His place was prepared for Him in
+heaven. He had the best of clothing,--the righteousness of a Saviour. He
+had the best of friends,--God Himself was his portion. He had the best
+of food,--he had meat to eat the world knew not of. And, best of all, he
+had these things for ever. They supported him in life. They did not
+leave him in the hour of death. They went with him beyond the grave.
+They were his to eternity. Surely in this point of view we may well say,
+not "poor Lazarus," but "rich Lazarus."
+
+We should do well to measure all men by God's standard,--to measure them
+not by the amount of their income, but by the condition of their souls.
+When the Lord God looks down from heaven and sees the children of men,
+He takes no account of many things which are highly esteemed by the
+world. He looks not at men's money, or lands, or titles. He looks only
+at the state of their souls, and reckons them accordingly. Oh, that you
+would strive to do likewise! Oh, that you would value grace above
+titles, or intellect, or gold! Often, far too often, the only question
+asked about a man is, "How much is he worth?" It would be well for us
+all to remember that every man is pitiably poor until he is rich in
+faith, and rich toward God. (James ii. 5.)
+
+Wonderful as it may seem to some, all the money in the world is
+worthless in God's balances, compared to grace! Hard as the saying may
+sound, I believe that a converted beggar is far more important and
+honourable in the sight of God than an unconverted king. The one may
+glitter like the butterfly in the sun for a little season, and be
+admired by an ignorant world; but his latter end is darkness and misery
+for ever. The other may crawl through the world like a crushed worm, and
+be despised by every one who sees him; but his latter end is a glorious
+resurrection and a blessed eternity with Christ. Of him the Lord says,
+"I know thy poverty (but thou art rich)." (Rev. ii. 9.)
+
+King Ahab was ruler over the ten tribes of Israel. Obadiah was nothing
+more than a servant in his household. Yet who can doubt which was most
+precious in God's sight, the servant or the king?
+
+Ridley and Latimer were deposed from all their dignities, cast into
+prison as malefactors, and at length burnt at the stake. Bonner and
+Gardiner, their persecutors, were raised to the highest pitch of
+ecclesiastical greatness, enjoyed large incomes, and died unmolested in
+their beds. Yet who can doubt which of the two parties was on the Lord's
+side?
+
+Baxter, the famous divine, was persecuted with savage malignity, and
+condemned to a long imprisonment by a most unjust judgment. Jeffreys,
+the Lord Chief Justice, who sentenced him, was a man of infamous
+character, without either morality or religion. Baxter was sent to jail
+and Jeffreys was loaded with honours. Yet who can doubt which was the
+good man of the two, the Lord Chief Justice or the author of the
+"Saint's Rest"?
+
+We may be very sure that riches and worldly greatness are no certain
+marks of God's favour. They are often, on the contrary, a snare and
+hindrance to a man's soul. They make him love the world and forget God.
+What says Solomon? "Labour not to be rich." (Prov. xxiii. 4.) What says
+St. Paul? "They that _will_ be rich, fall into temptation and a snare,
+and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction
+and perdition." (1 Tim. vi. 9.)
+
+We may be no less sure that poverty and trial are no certain proof of
+God's anger. They are often blessings in disguise. They are always sent
+in love and wisdom. They often serve to wean man from the world. They
+teach him to set his affections on things above. They often show the
+sinner his own heart. They often make the saint fruitful in good works.
+What says the book of Job? "Happy is the man whom God correcteth;
+therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty." (Job v. 17.)
+What says St. Paul? "Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth." (Heb. xii. 6.)
+
+One great secret of happiness in this life is to be of a patient,
+contented spirit. Strive daily to realize the truth that this life is
+not the place of reward. The time of retribution and recompense is yet
+to come. Judge nothing hastily before that time. Remember the words of
+the wise man: "If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent
+perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the
+matter: for He that is higher than the highest regardeth, and there be
+higher than they." (Eccles. v. 8.) Yes! there is a day of judgment yet
+to come. That day shall put all in their right places. At last there
+shall be seen a mighty difference "between him that serveth God; and him
+that serveth Him not." (Malachi iii. 18.) The children of Lazarus and
+the children of the rich man shall, at length be seen in their true
+colours, and every one shall receive according to his works.
+
+
+III. Let us observe, in the next place, how _all classes alike come to
+the grave_.
+
+The rich man in the parable died, and Lazarus died also. Different and
+divided as they were in their lives, they had both to drink of the same
+cup at the last. Both went to the house appointed for all living. Both
+went to that place where rich and poor meet together. Dust they were,
+and unto dust they returned. (Gen. iii. 19.)
+
+This is the lot of all men. It will be our own, unless the Lord shall
+first return in glory. After all our scheming, and contriving, and
+planning, and studying,--after all our inventions, and discoveries, and
+scientific attainments,--there remains one enemy we cannot conquer and
+disarm, and that is death. The chapter in Genesis which records the long
+lives of Methuselah and the rest who lived before the flood, winds up
+the simple story of each by two expressive words: "he died." And now,
+after 4,800 years, what more can be said of the greatest among
+ourselves? The histories of Marlborough, and Washington, and Napoleon,
+and Wellington, arrive at just the same humbling conclusion. The end of
+each, after all his greatness is just this,--"he died."
+
+Death is a mighty leveller. He spares none, he waits for none, and
+stands on no ceremony. He will not tarry till you are ready. He will not
+be kept out by moats, and doors, and bars, and bolts. The Englishman
+boasts that his home is his castle, but with all his boasting, he cannot
+exclude death. An Austrian nobleman forbade death and the smallpox to
+be named in his presence. But, named or not named, it matters little, in
+God's appointed hour death will come.
+
+One man rolls easily along the road in the easiest and handsomest
+carriage that money can procure. Another toils wearily along the path on
+foot. Yet both are sure to meet at last in the same home.
+
+One man, like Absalom, has fifty servants to wait upon him and do his
+bidding. Another has none to lift a finger to do him a service. But both
+are travelling to a place where they must lie down alone.
+
+One man is the owner of hundreds of thousands. Another has scarce a
+shilling that he can call his own property. Yet neither one nor the
+other can carry one farthing with him into the unseen world.
+
+One man is the possessor of half a county. Another has not so much as a
+garden of herbs. And yet two paces of the vilest earth will be amply
+sufficient for either of them at the last.
+
+One man pampers his body with every possible delicacy, and clothes it in
+the richest and softest apparel. Another has scarce enough to eat, and
+seldom enough to put on. Yet both alike are hurrying on to a day when
+"ashes to ashes, and dust to dust," shall be proclaimed over them, and
+fifty years hence none shall be able to say, "This was the rich man's
+bone, and this the bone of the poor."
+
+I know that these are ancient things. I do not deny it for a moment. I
+am writing stale old things that all men _know_. But I am also writing
+things that all men do not _feel_. Oh, no! if they did feel them they
+would not speak and act as they do.
+
+You wonder sometimes at the tone and language of ministers of the
+Gospel. You marvel that we press upon you immediate decision. You think
+us extreme, and extravagant, and ultra in our views, because we urge
+upon you to close with Christ,--to leave nothing uncertain,--to make
+sure that you are born again and ready for heaven. You hear, but do not
+approve. You go away, and say to one another,--"The man means well, but
+he goes too far."
+
+But do you not see that the reality of death is continually forbidding
+us to use other language? We see him gradually thinning our
+congregations. We miss face after face in our assemblies. We know not
+whose turn may come next. We only know that as the tree falls there it
+will lie, and that "after death comes the judgment." We _must_ be bold
+and decided, and uncompromising in our language. We would rather run the
+risk of offending some, than of losing any. We would aim at the standard
+set up by old Baxter:--
+
+    "I'll preach as though I ne'er should preach again,
+    And as a dying man to dying men!"
+
+We would realize the character given by Charles II. of one of his
+preachers: "That man preaches as though death was behind his back. When
+I hear him I cannot go to sleep."
+
+Oh, that men would learn to live as those who may one day die! Truly it
+is poor work to set our affections on a dying world and its shortlived
+comforts, and for the sake of an inch of time to lose a glorious
+immortality! Here we are toiling, and labouring, and wearying ourselves
+about trifles, and running to and fro like ants upon a heap; and yet
+after a few years we shall all be gone, and another generation will fill
+our place. Let us live for eternity. Let us seek a portion that can
+never be taken from us. And let us never forget John Bunyan's golden
+rule: "He that would live well, let him make his dying day his
+company-keeper."
+
+
+IV. Let us observe, in the next place, _how precious a believer's soul
+is in the sight of God_.
+
+The rich man, in the parable, dies and is buried. Perhaps he had a
+splendid funeral,--a funeral proportioned to his expenditure while he
+was yet alive. But we hear nothing further of the moment when soul and
+body were divided. The next thing we hear of is that he is in _hell_.
+
+The poor man, in the parable, dies also. What manner of burial he had we
+know not. A pauper's funeral among ourselves is a melancholy business.
+The funeral of Lazarus was probably no better. But this we do
+know,--that the moment Lazarus dies he is carried by the angels into
+Abraham's bosom,--carried to a place of rest, where all the faithful are
+waiting for the resurrection of the just.
+
+There is something to my mind very striking, very touching, and very
+comforting in this expression of the parable. I ask your especial
+attention to it. It throws great light on the relation of all sinners of
+mankind who believe in Christ, to their God and Father. It shows a
+little of the care bestowed on the least and lowest of Christ's
+disciples, by the King of kings.
+
+No man has such friends and attendants as the believer, however little
+he may think it. Angels rejoice over him in the day that he is born
+again of the Spirit. Angels minister to him all through life. Angels
+encamp around him in the wilderness of this world. Angels take charge of
+his soul in death, and bear it safely home. Yes! vile as he may be in
+his own eyes, and lowly in his own sight, the very poorest and humblest
+believer in Jesus is cared for by his Father in heaven, with a care that
+passeth knowledge. The Lord has become his Shepherd, and he can "want
+nothing." (Ps. xxiii. 1.) Only let a man come unfeignedly to Christ, and
+be joined to Him, and he shall have all the benefits of a covenant
+ordered in all things and sure.
+
+Is he laden with many sins? Though they be as scarlet they shall be
+white as snow.
+
+Is his heart hard and prone to evil? A new heart shall be given to him,
+and a new spirit put in him.
+
+Is he weak and cowardly? He that enabled Peter to confess Christ before
+his enemies shall make him bold.
+
+Is he ignorant? He that bore with Thomas' slowness shall bear with him,
+and guide him into all truth.
+
+Is he alone in his position? He that stood by Paul when all men forsook
+him shall also stand by his side.
+
+Is he in circumstances of special trial? He that enabled men to be
+saints in Nero's household shall also enable him to persevere.
+
+The very hairs of his head are all numbered. Nothing can harm him
+without God's permission. He that hurteth him, hurteth the apple of
+God's eye, and injures a brother and member of Christ Himself.
+
+His trials are all wisely ordered. Satan can only vex him, as he did
+Job, when God permits him. No temptation can happen to him above what he
+is able to bear. All things are working together for his good.
+
+His steps are all ordered from grace to glory. He is kept on earth till
+he is ripe for heaven, and not one moment longer. The harvest of the
+Lord must have its appointed proportion of sun and wind, of cold and
+heat, of rain and storm. And then when the believer's work is done, the
+angels of God shall come for him, as they did for Lazarus, and carry him
+safe home.
+
+Alas! the men of the world little think whom they are despising, when
+they mock Christ's people. They are mocking those whom angels are not
+ashamed to attend upon. They are mocking the brethren and sisters of
+Christ Himself. Little do they consider that these are they for whose
+sakes the days of tribulation are shortened. These are they by whose
+intercession kings reign peacefully. Little do they reck that the
+prayers of men like Lazarus have more weight in the affairs of nations
+than hosts of armed men.
+
+Believers in Christ, who may possibly read these pages, you little know
+the full extent of your privileges and possessions. Like children at
+school, you know not half that your Father is doing for your welfare.
+Learn to live by faith more than you have done. Acquaint yourselves with
+the fulness of the treasure laid up for you in Christ even now. This
+world, no doubt, must always be a place of trial while we are in the
+body. But still there are comforts provided for the brethren of Lazarus
+which many never enjoy.
+
+
+V. Observe, in the last place, _what a dangerous and soul-ruining sin is
+the sin of selfishness_.
+
+You have the rich man, in the parable, in a hopeless state. If there was
+no other picture of a lost soul in hell in all the Bible you have it
+here. You meet him in the beginning, clothed in purple and fine linen.
+You part with him at the end, tormented in the everlasting fire.
+
+And yet there is nothing to show that this man was a murderer, or a
+thief, or an adulterer, or a liar. There is no reason to say that he was
+an atheist, or an infidel, or a blasphemer. For anything we know, he
+attended to all the ordinances of the Jewish religion. But we do know
+that he was lost for ever!
+
+There is something to my mind very solemn in this thought. Here is a man
+whose outward life in all probability was correct. At all events we know
+nothing against him. He dresses richly; but then he had money to spend
+on his apparel. He gives splendid feasts and entertainments; but then he
+was wealthy, and could well afford it. We read nothing recorded against
+him that might not be recorded of hundreds and thousands in the present
+day, who are counted respectable and good sort of people. And yet the
+end of this man is that he goes to hell. Surely this deserves serious
+attention.
+
+(_a_) I believe it is meant to teach us _to beware of living only for
+ourselves_. It is not enough that we are able to say, "I live correctly.
+I pay every one his due. I discharge all the relations of life with
+propriety. I attend to all the outward requirements of Christianity."
+There remains behind another question, to which the Bible requires an
+answer. "To whom do you live? to yourself or to Christ? What is the
+great end, aim, object, and ruling motive in your life?" Let men call
+the question extreme if they please. For myself, I can find nothing
+short of this in St. Paul's words: "He died for all, that they which
+live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died
+for them and rose again." (2 Cor. v. 15.) And I draw the conclusion,
+that if, like the rich man, we live only to ourselves, we shall ruin our
+souls.
+
+(_b_) I believe, further, that this passage is meant to teach us _the
+damnable nature of sins of omission_. It does not seem that it was so
+much the things the rich man did, but the things he left undone, which
+made him miss heaven. Lazarus was at his gate, and he let him alone. But
+is not this exactly in keeping with the history of the judgment, in the
+twenty-fifth of St. Matthew? Nothing is said there of the sins of
+commission of which the lost are guilty. How runs the charge?--"I was an
+hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no
+drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me
+not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not." (Matt. xxv. 42, 43.)
+The charge against them is simply that they did not do certain things.
+On this their sentence turns. And I draw the conclusion again, that,
+except we take heed, sins of omission may ruin our souls. Truly it was a
+solemn saying of good Archbishop Usher, on his death-bed: "Lord, forgive
+me all my sins, but specially my sins of omission."
+
+(_c_) I believe, further, that the passage is meant to teach us that
+_riches bring special danger with them_. Yes! riches, which the vast
+majority of men are always seeking after,--riches for which they spend
+their lives, and of which they make an idol,--riches entail on their
+possessors immense spiritual peril! The possession of them has a very
+hardening effect on the soul. They chill. They freeze. They petrify the
+inward man. They close the eye to the things of faith. They insensibly
+produce a tendency to forget God.
+
+And does not this stand in perfect harmony with all the language of
+Scripture on the same subject? What says our Lord? "How hardly shall
+they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for a
+camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter
+the kingdom of God!" (Mark x. 23, 25.) What says St. Paul? "The love of
+money is the root of all evil; which while some coveted after, they have
+erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."
+(1 Tim vi. 10.) What can be more striking than the fact that the Bible
+has frequently spoken of money as a most fruitful cause of sin and evil?
+For money Achan brought defeat on the armies of Israel, and death on
+himself. For money Balaam sinned against light, and tried to curse God's
+people. For money Delilah betrayed Sampson to the Philistines. For money
+Gehazi lied to Naaman and Elisha, and became a leper. For money Ananias
+and Sapphira became the first hypocrites in the early Church, and lost
+their lives. For money Judas Iscariot sold Christ, and was ruined
+eternally. Surely these facts speak loudly.
+
+Money, in truth, is one of the most _unsatisfying_ of possessions. It
+takes away some cares, no doubt; but it brings with it quite as many
+cares as it takes away. There is trouble in the getting of it. There is
+anxiety in the keeping of it. There are temptations in the use of it.
+There is guilt in the abuse of it. There is sorrow in the losing of it.
+There is perplexity in the disposing of it. Two-thirds of all the
+strifes, quarrels, and lawsuits in the world, arise from one simple
+cause,--_money_!
+
+Money most certainly is one of the most _ensnaring and heart-changing_
+of possessions. It seems desirable at a distance. It often proves a
+poison when in our hand. No man can possibly tell the effect of money on
+his soul, if it suddenly falls to his lot to possess it. Many an one did
+run well as a poor man, who forgets God when he is rich.
+
+I draw the conclusion that those who have money, like the rich man in
+the parable, ought to take double pains about their souls. They live in
+a most unhealthy atmosphere. They have double need to be on their guard.
+
+(_d_) I believe, not least, that the passage is meant to _stir up
+special carefulness about selfishness in these last days_. You have a
+special warning in 2 Tim. iii. 1, 2: "In the last days perilous times
+shall come: for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous." I
+believe we have come to the last days, and that we ought to beware of
+the sins here mentioned, if we love our souls.
+
+Perhaps we are poor judges of our own times. We are apt to exaggerate
+and magnify their evils, just because we see and feel them. But, after
+every allowance, I doubt whether there ever was more need of warnings
+against selfishness than in the present day. I am sure there never was a
+time when all classes in England had so many comforts and so many
+temporal good things. And yet I believe there is an utter disproportion
+between men's expenditure on themselves and their outlay on works of
+charity and works of mercy. I see this in the miserable one guinea
+subscriptions to which many rich men confine their charity. I see it in
+the languishing condition of many of our best religious Societies, and
+the painfully slow growth of their annual incomes. I see it in the small
+number of names which appear in the list of contributions to any good
+work. There are, I believe, thousands of rich people in this country who
+literally give away nothing at all. I see it in the notorious fact, that
+few, even of those who give, give anything proportioned to their means.
+I see all this, and mourn over it. I regard it as the selfishness and
+covetousness predicted as likely to arise in "the last days."
+
+I know that this is a painful and delicate subject. But it must not on
+that account be avoided by the minister of Christ. It is a subject for
+the times, and it needs pressing home. I desire to speak to myself, and
+to all who make any profession of religion. Of course I cannot expect
+worldly and utterly ungodly persons to view this subject in Bible light.
+To them the Bible is no rule of faith and practice. To quote texts to
+them would be of little use.
+
+But I do ask all professing Christians to consider well what Scripture
+says against covetousness and selfishness, and on behalf of liberality
+in giving money. Is it for nothing that the Lord Jesus spoke the parable
+of the rich fool, and blamed him because he was not "rich towards God"?
+(Luke xii. 21.) Is it for nothing that in the parable of the sower He
+mentions the "deceitfulness of riches" as one reason why the seed of the
+Word bears no fruit? (Matt. xiii. 22.) Is it for nothing that He says,
+"Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness"? (Luke
+xvi. 9.) Is it for nothing that He says, "When thou makest a dinner or a
+supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor
+thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense be
+made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the
+lame, the blind: and thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense
+thee; for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just"?
+(Luke xiv. 14.) Is it for nothing that He says, "Sell that ye have and
+give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the
+heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth
+corrupteth"? (Luke xii. 33.) Is it for nothing that He says, "It is more
+blessed to give than to receive"? (Acts xx. 35.) Is it for nothing that
+He warns us against the example of the priest and Levite, who saw the
+wounded traveller, but passed by on the other side? Is it for nothing
+that He praises the good Samaritan, who denied himself to show kindness
+to a stranger? (Luke x. 34.) Is it for nothing that St. Paul classes
+covetousness with sins of the grossest description, and denounces it as
+idolatry? (Coloss. iii. 5.) And is there not a striking and painful
+difference between this language and the habits and feeling of society
+about money? I appeal to any one who knows the world. Let him judge what
+I say.
+
+I only ask my reader to consider calmly the passages of Scripture to
+which I have referred. I cannot think they were meant to teach nothing
+at all. That the habits of the East and our own are different, I freely
+allow. That some of the expressions I have quoted are figurative, I
+freely admit. But still, after all, a principle lies at the bottom of
+all these expressions. Let us take heed that this principle is not
+neglected. I wish that many a professing Christian in this day, who
+perhaps dislikes what I am saying, would endeavour to write a commentary
+on these expressions, and try to explain to himself what they mean.
+
+To know that alms-giving cannot atone for sin is well. To know that our
+good works cannot justify us is excellent. To know that we may give all
+our goods to feed the poor, and build hospitals and cathedrals, without
+any real charity, is most important. But let us beware lest we go into
+the other extreme, and because our money cannot save us, give away no
+money at all.
+
+Has any one money who reads these pages? Then "take heed and beware of
+covetousness." (Luke xii. 15.) Remember you carry weight in the race
+towards heaven. All men are naturally in danger of being lost for ever,
+but you are doubly so because of your possessions. Nothing is said to
+put out fire so soon as earth thrown upon it. Nothing I am sure has such
+a tendency to quench the fire of religion as the possession of money.
+It was a solemn message which Buchanan, on his death-bed, sent to his
+old pupil, James I.: "He was going to a place where few kings and great
+men would come." It is possible, no doubt, for you to be saved as well
+as others. With God nothing is impossible. Abraham, Job, and David were
+all rich, and yet saved. But oh, take heed to yourself! Money is a good
+servant, but a bad master. Let that saying of our Lord's sink down into
+your heart: "How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the
+kingdom of God." (Mark x. 23.) Well said an old divine: "The surface
+above gold mines is generally very barren." Well might old Latimer begin
+one of his sermons before Edward VI by quoting three times over our
+Lord's words: "Take heed and beware of covetousness," and then saying,
+"What if I should say nothing else these three or four hours?" There are
+few prayers in our Litany more wise and more necessary than that
+petition, "In all time of our _wealth_, good Lord deliver us."
+
+Has any one little or no money who reads these pages? Then do not envy
+those who are richer than yourself. Pray for them. Pity them. Be
+charitable to their faults. Remember that high places are giddy places,
+and be not too hasty in your condemnation of their conduct. Perhaps if
+you had their difficulties you would do no better yourself. Beware of
+the "love of money." It is the "root of all evil." (1 Tim. vi. 10.) A
+man may love money over-much without having any at all. Beware of the
+love of self. It may be found in a cottage as well as in a palace. And
+beware of thinking that poverty alone will save you. If you would sit
+with Lazarus in glory, you must not only have fellowship with him in
+suffering, but in grace.
+
+Does any reader desire to know the remedy against that love of self
+which ruined the rich man's soul, and cleaves to us all by nature, like
+our skin? I tell him plainly there is only one remedy, and I ask Him to
+mark well what that remedy is. It is not the fear of hell. It is not the
+hope of heaven. It is not any sense of duty. Oh, no! The disease of
+selfishness is far too deeply rooted to yield to such secondary motives
+as these. Nothing will ever cure it but an experimental knowledge of
+Christ's redeeming love. You must know the misery and guilt of your own
+estate by nature. You must experience the power of Christ's atoning
+blood sprinkled upon your conscience, and making you whole. You must
+taste the sweetness of peace with God through the mediation of Jesus,
+and feel the love of a reconciled Father shed abroad in your heart by
+the Holy Ghost.
+
+_Then_, and not till then, the mainspring of selfishness will be broken.
+_Then_, knowing the immensity of your debt to Christ, you will feel that
+nothing is too great and too costly to give to Him. Feeling that you
+have been loved much when you deserved nothing, you will heartily love
+in return, and cry, "What shall I render unto the Lord for all His
+benefits?" (Ps. cxvi. 12.) Feeling that you have freely received
+countless mercies, you will think it a privilege to do anything to
+please Him to whom you owe all. Feeling that you have been "bought with
+a price," and are no longer your own, you will labour to glorify God
+with body and spirit, which are His. (1 Cor. vi. 20.)
+
+Yes: I repeat it this day. I know no _effectual_ remedy for the love of
+self, but a believing apprehension of the love of Christ. Other remedies
+may palliate the disease: this alone will heal it. Other antidotes may
+hide its deformity: this alone will work a perfect cure.
+
+An easy, good-natured temper may cover over selfishness in one man. A
+love of praise may conceal it in a second. A self-righteous asceticism
+and an affected spirit of self-denial may keep it out of sight in a
+third. But nothing will ever cut up selfishness by the roots but the
+love of Christ revealed in the mind by the Holy Ghost, and felt in the
+heart by simple faith. Once let a man see the full meaning of the words,
+"Christ loved me and gave Himself for me," and then he will delight to
+give himself to Christ, and all that he has to His service. He will live
+to Him, not in order that he may be secure, but because he is secure
+already. He will work for Him, not that he may have life and peace, but
+because life and peace are his own already.
+
+Go to the cross of Christ, all you that want to be delivered from the
+power of selfishness. Go and see what a price was paid there to provide
+a ransom for your soul. Go and see what an astounding sacrifice was
+there made, that a door to eternal life might be provided for poor
+sinners like you. Go and see how the Son of God gave Himself for you,
+and learn to think it a small thing to give yourself to Him.
+
+The disease which ruined the rich man in the parable may be cured. But
+oh, remember, there is only one real remedy! If you would not live to
+yourself you must live to Christ. See to it that this remedy is not only
+known, but applied,--not only heard of, but used.
+
+(1) And now let me conclude all by _urging on every reader of these
+pages, the great duty of self-inquiry_.
+
+A passage of Scripture like this parable ought surely to raise in many
+an one great searchings of heart.--"What am I? Where am I going? What am
+I doing? What is likely to be my condition after death? Am I prepared to
+leave the world? Have I any home to look forward to in the world to
+come? Have I put off the old man and put on the new? Am I really one
+with Christ, and a pardoned soul?" Surely such questions as these may
+well be asked when the story of the rich man and Lazarus has been heard.
+Oh, that the Holy Ghost may incline many a reader's heart to ask them!
+
+(2) In the next place, _I invite_ all readers who desire to have their
+souls saved, and have no good account to give of themselves at present,
+to seek salvation while it can be found. I do entreat you to apply to
+Him by whom alone man can enter heaven and be saved,--even Jesus Christ
+the Lord. He has the keys of heaven. He is sealed and appointed by God
+the Father to be the Saviour of all that will come to Him. Go to Him in
+earnest and hearty prayer, and tell Him your case. Tell Him that you
+have heard that "He receiveth sinners," and that you come to Him as
+such. (Luke xv. 2.) Tell Him that you desire to be saved by Him in His
+own way, and ask Him to save you. Oh, that you may take this course
+without delay! Remember the hopeless end of the rich man. Once dead
+there is no more change.
+
+(3) Last of all, _I entreat_ all professing Christians to encourage
+themselves in habits of liberality towards all causes of charity and
+mercy. Remember that you are God's stewards, and give money liberally,
+freely, and without grudging, whenever you have an opportunity. You
+cannot keep your money for ever. You must give account one day of the
+manner in which it has been expended. Oh, lay it out with an eye to
+eternity while you can!
+
+I do not ask rich men to leave their situations in life, give away all
+their property, and go into the workhouse. This would be refusing to
+fill the position of a steward for God. I ask no man to neglect his
+worldly calling, and to omit to provide for his family. Diligence in
+business is a positive Christian duty. Provision for those dependent on
+us is proper Christian prudence. But I ask all to look around
+continually as they journey on, and to remember the poor,--the poor in
+body and the poor in soul. Here we are for a few short years. How can we
+do most good with our money while we are here? How can we so spend it as
+to leave the world somewhat happier and somewhat holier when we are
+removed? Might we not abridge some of our luxuries? Might we not lay
+out less upon ourselves, and give more to Christ's cause and Christ's
+poor? Is there none we can do good to? Are there no sick, no poor, no
+needy, whose sorrows we might lessen, and whose comforts we might
+increase? Such questions will never fail to elicit an answer from some
+quarter. I am thoroughly persuaded that the income of every religious
+and charitable Society in England might easily be multiplied tenfold, if
+English Christians would give in proportion to their means.
+
+There are none surely to whom such appeals ought to come home with such
+power as professing believers in the Lord Jesus. The parable of the text
+is a striking illustration of our position by nature, and our debt to
+Christ. We all lay, like Lazarus, at heaven's gate, sick unto the death,
+helpless, and starving. Blessed be God! we were not neglected, as he
+was. Jesus came forth to relieve us. Jesus gave Himself for us, that we
+might have hope and live. For a poor Lazarus-like world He came down
+from heaven, and humbled Himself to become a man. For a poor
+Lazarus-like world He went up and down doing good, caring for men's
+bodies as well as souls, until He died for us on the cross.
+
+I believe that in giving to support works of charity and mercy, we are
+doing that which is according to Christ's mind,--and I ask readers of
+these pages to begin the habit of giving, if they never began it before;
+and to go on with it increasingly, if they have begun.
+
+I believe that in offering a warning against worldliness and
+covetousness, I have done no more than bring forward a warning specially
+called for by the times, and I ask God to bless the consideration of
+these pages to many souls.
+
+
+
+
+XIV
+
+
+THE BEST FRIEND
+
+     "_This is my friend._"--Cant. v. 16.
+
+
+A friend is one of the greatest blessings on earth. Tell me not of
+money: affection is better than gold; sympathy is better than lands. He
+is the poor man who has no friends.
+
+This world is full of sorrow because it is full of sin. It is a dark
+place. It is a lonely place. It is a disappointing place. The brightest
+sunbeam in it is a friend. Friendship halves our troubles and doubles
+our joys.
+
+A real friend is scarce and rare. There are many who will eat, and
+drink, and laugh with us in the sunshine of prosperity. There are few
+who will stand by us in the days of darkness,--few who will love us when
+we are sick, helpless, and poor,--few, above all, who will care for our
+souls.
+
+Does any reader of this paper want a real friend? I write to recommend
+one to your notice this day. I know of One "who sticketh closer than a
+brother." (Prov. xviii. 24.) I know of One who is ready to be your
+friend for time and for eternity, if you will receive Him. Hear me,
+while I try to tell you something about Him.
+
+The friend I want you to know is Jesus Christ. Happy is that family in
+which Christ has the foremost place! Happy is that person whose chief
+friend is Christ!
+
+
+I. Do we want _a friend in need_? Such a friend is the Lord Jesus
+Christ.
+
+Man is the neediest creature on God's earth, because he is a sinner.
+There is no need so great as that of sinners: poverty, hunger, thirst,
+cold, sickness, all are nothing in comparison. Sinners need pardon, and
+they are utterly unable to provide it for themselves; they need
+deliverance from a guilty conscience and the fear of death, and they
+have no power of their own to obtain it. This need the Lord Jesus Christ
+came into the world to relieve. "He came into the world to save
+sinners." (1 Tim. i. 15.)
+
+We are all by nature poor dying creatures. From the king on his throne
+to the pauper in the workhouse, we are all sick of a mortal disease of
+soul. Whether we know it or not, whether we feel it or not, we are all
+dying daily. The plague of sin is in our blood. We cannot cure
+ourselves: we are hourly getting worse and worse. All this the Lord
+Jesus undertook to remedy. He came into the world "to bring in health
+and cure;" He came to deliver us "from the second death;" He came "to
+abolish death, and bring life and immortality to light through the
+Gospel." (Jer. xxxiii. 6; Rev. ii. 11; 2 Tim. i. 10.)
+
+We are all by nature imprisoned debtors. We owed our God ten thousand
+talents, and had nothing to pay. We were wretched bankrupts, without
+hope of discharging ourselves. We could never have freed ourselves from
+our load of liabilities, and were daily getting more deeply involved.
+All this the Lord Jesus saw, and undertook to remedy. He engaged to
+"ransom and redeem us;" He came to "proclaim liberty to the captives,
+and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;" "He came to
+redeem us from the curse of the law." (Hos. xiii. 14; Isai. lxi. 1; Gal.
+iii. 13.)
+
+We were all by nature shipwrecked and cast away. We could never have
+reached the harbour of everlasting life. We were sinking in the midst of
+the waves, shiftless, hopeless, helpless, and powerless; tied and bound
+by the chain of our sins, foundering under the burden of our own guilt,
+and like to become a prey to the devil. All this the Lord Jesus saw and
+undertook to remedy. He came down from heaven to be our mighty "helper;"
+He came to "seek and to save that which was lost;" and to "deliver us
+from going down into the pit." (Psalm lxxxix. 19; Luke xix. 10; Job
+xxxiii. 24.)
+
+Could we have been saved without the Lord Jesus Christ coming down from
+heaven? It would have been impossible, so far as our eyes can see. The
+wisest men of Egypt, and Greece, and Rome never found out the way to
+peace with God. Without the friendship of Christ we should all have been
+lost for evermore in hell.
+
+Was the Lord Jesus Christ obliged to come down to save us? Oh, no! no!
+It was His own free love, mercy, and pity that brought Him down. He came
+unsought and unasked because He was gracious.
+
+Let us think on these things. Search all history from the beginning of
+the world,--look round the whole circle of those you know and love: you
+never heard of such friendship among the sons of men. There never was
+such a real friend in need as Jesus Christ.
+
+
+II. Do you want _a friend in deed_? Such a friend is the Lord Jesus
+Christ.
+
+The true extent of a man's friendship must be measured by his deeds.
+Tell me not what he says, and feels, and wishes; tell me not of his
+words and letters: tell me rather what he does. "Friendly is that
+friendly does."
+
+The doings of the Lord Jesus Christ for man are the grand proof of His
+friendly feeling towards him. Never were there such acts of kindness and
+self-denial as those which He has performed on our behalf. He has not
+loved us in word only but in deed.
+
+For our sakes He took our nature upon Him, and was born of a woman. He
+who was very God, and equal with the Father, laid aside for a season His
+glory, and took upon Him flesh and blood like our own. The almighty
+Creator of all things became a little babe like any of us, and
+experienced all our bodily weaknesses and infirmities, sin only
+excepted. "Though He was rich He became poor, that we through His
+poverty might be rich." (2 Cor. viii. 9.)
+
+For our sakes He lived thirty-three years in this evil world, despised
+and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. Though
+He was King of kings, He had not where to lay His head: though He was
+Lord of lords, He was often weary, and hungry, and thirsty, and poor.
+"He took on Him the form of a servant, and humbled Himself." (Philipp.
+iii. 7, 8.)
+
+For our sakes He suffered the most painful of all deaths, even the death
+of the cross. Though innocent, and without fault, He allowed Himself to
+be condemned, and found guilty. He who was the Prince of Life was led as
+a lamb to the slaughter, and poured out His soul unto death. He "died
+for us." (1 Thess. v. 10.)
+
+Was He obliged to do this? Oh, no! He might have summoned to His help
+more than twelve legions of angels, and scattered His enemies with a
+word. He suffered voluntarily and of His own free will, to make
+atonement for our sins. He knew that nothing but the sacrifice of His
+body and blood could ever make peace between sinful man and a holy God.
+He laid down His life to pay the price of our redemption: He died that
+we might live; He suffered that we might reign; He bore shame that we
+might receive glory. "He suffered for sins, the just for the unjust,
+that He might bring us to God." "He was made sin for us, who knew no
+sin: that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." (1 Peter
+iii. 18; 2 Cor. v. 21.)
+
+Such friendship as this passes man's understanding. Friends who would
+die for those who love them, we may have heard of sometimes. But who can
+find a man who would lay down his life for those that hate him? Yet this
+is what Jesus has done for us. "God commendeth His love towards us, in
+that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom. v. 8.)
+
+Ask all the tribes of mankind, from one end of the world to the other,
+and you will nowhere hear of a deed like this. None was ever so high and
+stooped down so low as Jesus the Son of God: none ever gave so costly a
+proof of his friendship; none ever paid so much and endured so much to
+do good to others. Never was there such a friend in deed as Jesus
+Christ!
+
+
+III. Do we want _a mighty and powerful friend_? Such a friend is Jesus
+Christ.
+
+Power to help is that which few possess in this world. Many have will
+enough to do good to others, but no power. They feel for the sorrows of
+others, and would gladly relieve them if they could: they can weep with
+their friends in affliction, but are unable to take their grief away.
+But though man is weak, Christ is strong,--though the best of our
+earthly friends is feeble, Christ is almighty: "All power is given unto
+Him in heaven and earth." (Matt. xxviii. 18.) No one can do so much for
+those whom He befriends as Jesus Christ. Others can befriend their
+bodies a little: He can befriend both body and soul. Others can do a
+little for them in time: He can be a friend both for time and eternity.
+
+(_a_) He is _able to pardon_ and save the very chief of sinners. He can
+deliver the most guilty conscience from all its burdens, and give it
+perfect peace with God. He can wash away the vilest stains of
+wickedness, and make a man whiter than snow in the sight of God. He can
+clothe a poor weak child of Adam in everlasting righteousness, and give
+him a title to heaven that can never be overthrown. In a word, He can
+give any one of us peace, hope, forgiveness, and reconciliation with
+God, if we will only trust in Him. "The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth
+from all sin." (1 John i. 7.)
+
+(_b_) He is _able to convert_ the hardest of hearts, and create in man a
+new spirit. He can take the most thoughtless and ungodly people, and
+give them another mind by the Holy Ghost, which He puts in them. He can
+cause old things to pass away, and all things to become new. He can make
+them love the things which they once hated, and hate the things which
+they once loved. "He can give them power to become the sons of God." "If
+any man be in Christ, he is a new creature." (John i. 12; 2 Cor. v. 17.)
+
+(_c_) He is _able to preserve_ to the end all who believe in Him, and
+become His disciples. He can give them grace to overcome the world, the
+flesh and the devil, and fight a good fight at the last. He can lead
+them on safely in spite of every temptation, carry them home through a
+thousand dangers, and keep them faithful, though they stand alone and
+have none to help them. "He is able to save them to the uttermost that
+come unto God by Him." (Heb. vii. 25.)
+
+(_d_) He is _able to give_ those that love Him the best of gifts. He can
+give them in life inward comforts, which money can never buy,--peace in
+poverty, joy in sorrow, patience in suffering. He can give them in death
+bright hopes, which enable them to walk through the dark valley without
+fear. He can give them after death a crown of glory, which fadeth not
+away, and a reward compared to which the Queen of England has nothing to
+bestow.
+
+This is power indeed: this is true greatness; this is real strength. Go
+and look at the poor Hindoo idolater, seeking peace in vain by
+afflicting his body; and, after fifty years of self-imposed suffering,
+unable to find it. Go and look at the benighted Romanist, giving money
+to his priest to pray for his soul, and yet dying without comfort. Go
+and look at rich men, spending thousands in search of happiness, and yet
+always discontented and unhappy. Then turn to Jesus, and think what He
+can do, and is daily doing for all who trust Him. Think how He heals all
+the broken-hearted, comforts all the sick, cheers all the poor that
+trust in Him, and supplies all their daily need. The fear of man is
+strong, the opposition of this evil world is mighty, the lusts of the
+flesh rage horribly, the fear of death is terrible, the devil is a
+roaring lion seeking whom he may devour; but Jesus is stronger than them
+all. Jesus can make us conquerors over all these foes. And then say
+whether it be not true, that there never was so mighty a friend as Jesus
+Christ.
+
+
+IV. Do we want _a loving and affectionate friend_? Such a friend is
+Jesus Christ.
+
+Kindness is the very essence of true friendship. Money and advice and
+help lose half their grace, if not given in a loving manner. What kind
+of love is that of the Lord Jesus toward man? It is called, "A love that
+passeth knowledge." (Ephes. iii. 19.)
+
+Love shines forth in His _reception of sinners_. He refuses none that
+come to Him for salvation, however unworthy they may be. Though their
+lives may have been most wicked, though their sins may be more in number
+than the stars of heaven, the Lord Jesus is ready to receive them, and
+give them pardon and peace. There is no end to His compassion: there are
+no bounds to His pity. He is not ashamed to befriend those whom the
+world casts off as hopeless. There are none too bad, too filthy, and too
+much diseased with sin, to be admitted into His home. He is willing to
+be the friend of any sinner: He has kindness and mercy and healing
+medicine for all. He has long proclaimed this to be His rule: "Him that
+cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out." (John vi. 37.)
+
+Love shines forth in His _dealings with sinners_, after they have
+believed in Him and become His friends. He is very patient with them,
+though their conduct is often very trying and provoking. He is never
+tired of hearing their complaints, however often they may come to Him.
+He sympathizes deeply in all their sorrows. He knows what pain is: He is
+"acquainted with grief." (Is. liii. 3.) In all their afflictions He is
+afflicted. He never allows them to be tempted above what they are able
+to bear: He supplies them with daily grace for their daily conflict.
+Their poor services are acceptable to Him: He is as well pleased with
+them as a parent is with his child's endeavours to speak and walk. He
+has caused it to be written in His book, that "He taketh pleasure in His
+people," and that "He taketh pleasure in them that fear Him." (Ps.
+cxlvii. 11; cxlix. 4.)
+
+There is no love on earth that can be named together with this! We love
+those in whom we see something that deserves our affection, or those who
+are our bone or our flesh: the Lord Jesus loves sinners in whom there is
+no good thing. We love those from whom we get some return for our
+affection: the Lord Jesus loves those who can do little or nothing for
+Him, compared to what He does for them. We love where we can give some
+reason for loving: the great Friend of sinners draws His reasons out of
+His own everlasting compassion. His love is purely disinterested, purely
+unselfish, purely free. Never, never was there so truly loving a friend
+as Jesus Christ.
+
+
+V. Do we want _a wise and prudent friend_? Such a friend is the Lord
+Jesus Christ.
+
+Man's friendship is sadly blind. He often injures those he loves by
+injudicious kindness: he often errs in the counsel he gives; he often
+leads his friends into trouble by bad advice, even when he means to help
+them. He sometimes keeps them back from the way of life, and entangles
+them in the vanities of the world, when they have well nigh escaped. The
+friendship of the Lord Jesus is not so: it always does us good, and
+never evil.
+
+The Lord Jesus _never spoils_ His friends by extravagant indulgence. He
+gives them everything that is really for their benefit; He withholds
+nothing from them that is really good; but He requires them to take up
+their cross daily and follow Him. He bids them endure hardships as good
+soldiers: He calls on them to fight the good fight against the world,
+the flesh, and the devil. His people often dislike it at the time, and
+think it hard; but when they reach heaven they will see it was all well
+done.
+
+The Lord Jesus _makes no mistakes_ in managing His friends' affairs. He
+orders all their concerns with perfect wisdom: all things happen to them
+at the right time, and in the right way. He gives them as much of
+sickness and as much of health, as much of poverty and as much of
+riches, as much of sorrow and as much of joy, as He sees their souls
+require. He leads them by the right way to bring them to the city of
+habitation. He mixes their bitterest cups like a wise physician, and
+takes care that they have not a drop too little or too much. His people
+often misunderstand His dealings; they are silly enough to fancy their
+course of life might have been better ordered: but in the
+resurrection-day they will thank God that not their will, but Christ's
+was done.
+
+Look round the world and see the harm which people are continually
+getting from their friends. Mark how much more ready men are to
+encourage one another in worldliness and levity, than to provoke to love
+and good works. Think how often they meet together, not for the better,
+but for the worse,--not to quicken one another's souls in the way to
+heaven, but to confirm one another in the love of this present world.
+Alas, there are thousands who are wounded unexpectedly in the house of
+their friends!
+
+And then turn to the great Friend of sinners, and see how different a
+thing is His friendship from that of man. Listen to Him as He walks by
+the way with His disciples; mark how He comforts, reproves, and exhorts
+with perfect wisdom. Observe how He times His visits to those He loves,
+as to Mary and Martha at Bethany. Hear how He converses, as He dines on
+the shore of the sea of Galilee: "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me?"
+(John xxi. 16.) His company is always sanctifying. His gifts are always
+for our soul's good; His kindness is always wise; His fellowship is
+always to edification. One day of the Son of Man is better than a
+thousand in the society of earthly friends: one hour spent in private
+communion with Him, is better than a year in kings' palaces. Never,
+never was there such a wise friend as Jesus Christ.
+
+
+VI. Do we want _a tried and proved friend_? Such a friend is Jesus
+Christ.
+
+Six thousand years have passed away since the Lord Jesus began His work
+of befriending mankind. During that long period of time He has had many
+friends in this world. Millions on millions, unhappily, have refused His
+offers and been miserably lost for ever; but thousands on thousands have
+enjoyed the mighty privilege of His friendship and been saved. He has
+had great experience.
+
+(_a_) He has had friends of _every rank and station_ in life. Some of
+them were kings and rich men, like David, and Solomon, and Hezekiah, and
+Job; some of them were very poor in this world, like the shepherds of
+Bethlehem, and James, and John, and Andrew: but they were all alike
+Christ's friends.
+
+(_b_) He has had friends _of every age_ that man can pass through. Some
+of them never knew Him till they were advanced in years, like Manasseh,
+and Zacchaeus, and probably the Ethiopian Eunuch. Some of them were His
+friends even from their earliest childhood, like Joseph, and Samuel, and
+Josiah, and Timothy. But they were all alike Christ's friends.
+
+(_c_) He has had friends _of every possible temperament and
+disposition_. Some of them were simple plain men, like Isaac; some of
+them were mighty in word and deed, like Moses; some of them were fervent
+and warm-hearted, like Peter; some of them were gentle and retiring
+spirits, like John; some of them were active and stirring, like Martha;
+some of them loved to sit quietly at His feet, like Mary; some dwelt
+unknown among their own people, like the Shunamite; some have gone
+everywhere and turned the world upside down, like Paul. But they were
+all alike Christ's friends.
+
+(_d_) He has had friends _of every condition in life_. Some of them were
+married, and had sons and daughters, like Enoch; some of them lived and
+died unmarried, like Daniel and John the Baptist; some of them were
+often sick, like Lazarus and Epaphroditus; some of them were strong to
+labour, like Persis, and Tryphena, and Tryphosa; some of them were
+masters, like Abraham and Cornelius; some of them were servants, like
+the saints in Nero's household; some of them had bad servants, like
+Elisha; some of them had bad masters like Obadiah; some of them had bad
+wives and children, like David. But they were all alike Christ's
+friends.
+
+(_e_) He has had friends _of almost every nation, and people, and
+tongue_. He has had friends in hot countries and in cold; friends among
+nations highly civilized, and friends among the simplest and rudest
+tribes. His book of life contains the names of Greeks and Romans, of
+Jews and Egyptians, of bond and of free. There are to be found on its
+lists reserved Englishmen and cautious Scotchmen, impulsive Irishmen and
+fiery Welchmen, volatile Frenchmen and dignified Spaniards, refined
+Italians and solid Germans, rude Africans and refined Hindoos,
+cultivated Chinese and half-savage New Zealanders. But they were all
+alike Christ's friends.
+
+All these have made trial of Christ's friendship, and proved it to be
+good. They all found nothing wanting when they began: they all found
+nothing wanting as they went on. No lack, no defect, no deficiency was
+ever found by any one of them in Jesus Christ. Each found his own soul's
+wants fully supplied; each found every day, that in Christ there was
+enough and to spare. Never, never was there a friend so fully tried and
+proved as Jesus Christ.
+
+
+VII. Last, but not least, do we want _an unfailing friend_? Such a
+friend is the Lord Jesus Christ.
+
+The saddest part of all the good things of earth is their instability.
+Riches make themselves wings and flee away; youth and beauty are but for
+a few years; strength of body soon decays; mind and intellect are soon
+exhausted. All is perishing. All is fading. All is passing away. But
+there is one splendid exception to this general rule, and that is the
+friendship of Jesus Christ.
+
+The Lord Jesus is _a friend who never changes_. There is no fickleness
+about Him: those whom He loves, He loves unto the end. Husbands have
+been known to forsake their wives; parents have been known to cast off
+their children; human vows and promises of faithfulness have often been
+forgotten. Thousands have been neglected in their poverty and old age,
+who were honoured by all when they were rich and young. But Christ never
+changed His feelings towards one of His friends. He is "the same
+yesterday, to-day, and for ever." (Heb. xiii. 8.)
+
+The Lord Jesus _never goes away from His friends_. There is never a
+parting and good-bye between Him and His people. From the time that He
+makes His abode in the sinner's heart, He abides in it for ever. The
+world is full of leave-takings and departures: death and the lapse of
+time break up the most united family; sons go forth to make their way in
+life; daughters are married, and leave their father's house for ever.
+Scattering, scattering, scattering, is the yearly history of the
+happiest home. How many we have tearfully watched as they drove away
+from our doors, whose pleasant faces we have never seen again! How many
+we have sorrowfully followed to the grave, and then come back to a cold,
+silent, lonely, and blank fireside! But, thanks be to God, there is One
+who never leaves His friends! The Lord Jesus is He who has said, "I will
+never leave thee nor forsake thee." (Heb. xiii. 5.)
+
+The Lord Jesus _goes with His friends wherever they go_. There is no
+possible separation between Him and those whom He loves. There is no
+place or position on earth, or under the earth, that can divide them
+from the great Friend of their souls. When the path of duty calls them
+far away from home, He is their companion; when they pass through the
+fire and water of fierce tribulation, He is with them; when they lie
+down on the bed of sickness, He stands by them and makes all their
+trouble work for good; when they go down the valley of the shadow of
+death, and friends and relatives stand still and can go no further, He
+goes down by their side. When they wake up in the unknown world of
+Paradise, they are still with Him; when they rise with a new body at the
+judgment day, they will not be alone. He will own them for His friends,
+and say, "They are mine: deliver them and let them go free." He will
+make good His own words: "I am with you alway, even unto the end of the
+world." (Matt. xxviii. 20.)
+
+Look round the world, and see how failure is written on all men's
+schemes. Count up the partings, and separations, and disappointments,
+and bereavements which have happened under your own knowledge. Think
+what a privilege it is that there is One at least who never fails, and
+in whom no one was ever disappointed! Never, never was there so
+unfailing a friend as Jesus Christ.
+
+
+And now, suffer me to conclude this paper with a few plain words of
+application. I know not who you are or in what state your soul may be;
+but I am sure that the words I am about to say deserve your serious
+attention. Oh, that this paper may not find you heedless of spiritual
+things! Oh, that you may be able to give a few thoughts to Christ!
+
+(1) Know then, for one thing, that I call upon you to _consider solemnly
+whether Christ is your Friend and you are His_.
+
+There are thousands on thousands, I grieve to say, who are not Christ's
+friends. Baptized in His name, outward members of His Church, attendants
+on His means of grace,--all this they are, no doubt. But they are not
+Christ's _friends_. Do they hate the sins which Jesus died to put away?
+No.--Do they love the Saviour who came into the world to save them?
+No.--Do they care for the souls which were so precious in His sight?
+No.--Do they delight in the word of reconciliation? No.--Do they try to
+speak with the Friend of sinners in prayer? No.--Do they seek close
+fellowship with Him? No.--Oh, reader, is this your case? How is it with
+you? Are you or are you not one of Christ's friends?
+
+(2) Know, in the next place, that _if you are not one of Christ's
+friends, you are a poor miserable being_.
+
+I write this down deliberately. I do not say it without thought. I say
+that if Christ be not your friend, you are a poor, miserable being.
+
+You are in the midst of a failing, sorrowful world, and you have no real
+source of comfort, or refuge for a time of need. You are a dying
+creature, and you are not ready to die. You have sins, and they are not
+forgiven. You are going to be judged, and you are not prepared to meet
+God: you might be, but you refuse to use the one only Mediator and
+Advocate. You love the world better than Christ. You refuse the great
+Friend of sinners, and you have no friend in heaven to plead your cause.
+Yes: it is sadly true! You are a poor, miserable being. It matters
+nothing what your income is: without Christ's friendship you are very
+poor.
+
+(3) Know, in the third place, that _if you really want a friend, Christ
+is willing to become your friend_.
+
+He has long wanted you to join His people, and He now invites you by my
+hand. He is ready to receive you, all unworthy as you may feel, and to
+write your name down in the list of His friends. He is ready to pardon
+all the past, to clothe you with righteousness, to give you His Spirit,
+to make you His own dear child. All He asks you to do is to come to Him.
+
+He bids you come with all your sins; only acknowledging your vileness,
+and confessing that you are ashamed. Just as you are,--waiting for
+nothing,--unworthy of anything in yourself,--Jesus bids you come and be
+His friend.
+
+Oh, come and be wise! Come and be safe. Come and be happy. Come and be
+Christ's friend.
+
+(4) Know, in the last place, that _if Christ is your friend, you have
+great privileges, and ought to walk worthy of them_.
+
+Seek every day to have closer communion with Him who is your Friend, and
+to know more of His grace and power. True Christianity is not merely the
+believing a certain set of dry abstract propositions: it is to live in
+daily personal communication with an actual living person--Jesus the Son
+of God. "To me," said Paul, "to live is Christ." (Phil. i. 21.)
+
+Seek every day to glorify your Lord and Saviour in all your ways. "He
+that hath a friend should show himself friendly" (Prov. xviii. 24), and
+no man surely is under such mighty obligations as the friend of Christ.
+Avoid everything which would grieve your Lord. Fight hard against
+besetting sins, against inconsistency, against backwardness to confess
+Him before men. Say to your soul, whenever you are tempted to that which
+is wrong, "Soul, soul, is this thy kindness to thy Friend?"
+
+Think, above all, of the mercy which has been shown thee, and learn to
+rejoice daily in thy Friend! What though thy body be bowed down with
+disease? What though thy poverty and trials be very great? What though
+thine earthly friends forsake thee, and thou art alone in the world? All
+this may be true: but if thou art in Christ thou hast a Friend, a mighty
+Friend, a loving Friend, a wise Friend, a Friend that never fails. Oh,
+think, think much upon thy friend!
+
+Yet a little time and thy Friend shall come to take thee home, and thou
+shalt dwell with Him for ever. Yet a little time and thou shalt see as
+thou hast been seen, and know as thou hast been known. And then thou
+shalt hear assembled worlds confess, that HE IS THE RICH AND HAPPY MAN
+WHO HAS HAD CHRIST FOR HIS FRIEND.
+
+
+
+
+XV
+
+
+SICKNESS
+
+"_He whom Thou lovest is sick._"--John xi. 3.
+
+
+The chapter from which this text is taken is well known to all Bible
+readers. In life-like description, in touching interest, in sublime
+simplicity, there is no writing in existence that will bear comparison
+with that chapter. A narrative like this is to my own mind one of the
+great proofs of the inspiration of Scripture. When I read the story of
+Bethany, I feel "There is something here which the infidel can never
+account for."--"This is nothing else but the finger of God."
+
+The words which I specially dwell upon in this chapter are singularly
+affecting and instructive. They record the message which Martha and Mary
+sent to Jesus when their brother Lazarus was sick: "Lord, behold he whom
+Thou lovest is sick." That message was short and simple. Yet almost
+every word is deeply suggestive.
+
+Mark the child-like faith of these holy women. They turned to the Lord
+Jesus in their hour of need, as the frightened infant turns to its
+mother, or the compass-needle turns to the Pole. They turned to Him as
+their Shepherd, their almighty Friend, their Brother born for adversity.
+Different as they were in natural temperament, the two sisters in this
+matter were entirely agreed. Christ's help was their first thought in
+the day of trouble. Christ was the refuge to which they fled in the
+hour of need. Blessed are all they that do likewise!
+
+Mark the simple humility of their language about Lazarus. They call Him
+"He whom Thou lovest." They do not say, "He who loves Thee, believes in
+Thee, serves Thee," but "He whom Thou lovest." Martha and Mary were
+deeply taught of God. They had learned that Christ's love towards us,
+and not our love towards Christ, is the true ground of expectation, and
+true foundation of hope. Blessed, again, are all they that are taught
+likewise! To look inward to our love towards Christ is painfully
+unsatisfying: to look outward to Christ's love towards us is peace.
+
+Mark, lastly, the touching circumstance which the message of Martha and
+Mary reveals: "He whom Thou lovest is sick." Lazarus was a good man,
+converted, believing, renewed, sanctified, a friend of Christ, and an
+heir of glory. And yet Lazarus was sick! Then sickness is no sign that
+God is displeased. Sickness is intended to be a blessing to us, and not
+a curse. "All things work together for good to them that love God, and
+are called according to His purpose." "All things are yours,--life,
+death, things present, or things to come: for ye are Christ's; and
+Christ is God's." (Rom. viii. 28; 1 Cor. iii. 22.) Blessed, I say again,
+are they that have learned this! Happy are they who can say, when they
+are ill, "This is my Father's doing. It must be well."
+
+I invite the attention of my readers to the subject of sickness. The
+subject is one which we ought frequently to look in the face. We cannot
+avoid it. It needs no prophet's eye to see sickness coming to each of us
+in turn one day. "In the midst of life we are in death." Let us turn
+aside for a few moments, and consider sickness as Christians. The
+consideration will not hasten its coming, and by =God's= blessing may
+teach us wisdom.
+
+In considering the subject of sickness, three points appear to me to
+demand attention. On each I shall say a few words.
+
+
+    I. The _universal prevalence_ of sickness and disease.
+
+    II. The _general benefits_ which sickness confers on mankind.
+
+    III. The _special duties_ to which sickness calls us.
+
+
+I. The _universal prevalence of sickness_.
+
+I need not dwell long on this point. To elaborate the proof of it would
+only be multiplying truisms, and heaping up common-places which all
+allow.
+
+Sickness is everywhere. In Europe, in Asia, in Africa, in America; in
+hot countries and in cold, in civilized nations and in savage
+tribes,--men, women, and children sicken and die.
+
+Sickness is among all classes. Grace does not lift a believer above the
+reach of it. Riches will not buy exemption from it. Rank cannot prevent
+its assaults. Kings and their subjects, masters and servants, rich men
+and poor, learned and unlearned, teachers and scholars, doctors and
+patients, ministers and hearers, all alike go down before this great
+foe. "The rich man's wealth is his strong city." (Prov. xviii. 11.) The
+Englishman's house is called his castle; but there are no doors and bars
+which can keep out disease and death.
+
+Sickness is of every sort and description. From the crown of our head to
+the sole of our foot we are liable to disease. Our capacity of suffering
+is something fearful to contemplate. Who can count up the ailments by
+which our bodily frame may be assailed? Who ever visited a museum of
+morbid anatomy without a shudder? "Strange that a harp of thousand
+strings should keep in tune so long." It is not, to my mind, so
+wonderful that men should die so soon, as it is that they should live so
+long.
+
+Sickness is often one of the most humbling and distressing trials that
+can come upon man. It can turn the strongest into a little child, and
+make him feel "the grasshopper a burden." (Eccles. xii. 5.) It can
+unnerve the boldest, and make him tremble at the fall of a pin. We are
+"fearfully and wonderfully made." (Psalm cxxxix. 14.) The connection
+between body and mind is curiously close. The influence that some
+diseases can exercise upon the temper and spirits is immensely great.
+There are ailments of brain, and liver, and nerves, which can bring down
+a Solomon in mind to a state little better than that of a babe. He that
+would know to what depths of humiliation poor man can fall, has only to
+attend for a short time on sick-beds.
+
+Sickness is not preventible by anything that man can do. The average
+duration of life may doubtless be somewhat lengthened. The skill of
+doctors may continually discover new remedies, and effect surprising
+cures. The enforcement of wise sanitary regulations may greatly lower
+the death-rate in a land. But, afterall,--whether in healthy or
+unhealthy localities,--whether in mild climates or in cold,--whether
+treated by homeopathy or allopathy,--men will sicken and die. "The days
+of our years are three-score years and ten; and if by reason of strength
+they be four-score years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for
+it is soon cut off, and we fly away." (Psalm xc. 10.) That witness is
+indeed true. It was true 3300 years ago.--It is true still.
+
+Now what can we make of this great fact,--the universal prevalence of
+sickness? How shall we account for it? What explanation can we give of
+it? What answer shall we give to our inquiring children when they ask
+us, "Father, why do people get ill and die?" These are grave questions.
+A few words upon them will not be out of place.
+
+Can we suppose for a moment that God created sickness and disease at
+the beginning? Can we imagine that He who formed our world in such
+perfect order was the Former of needless suffering and pain? Can we
+think that He who made all things "very good," made Adam's race to
+sicken and to die? The idea is, to my mind, revolting. It introduces a
+grand imperfection into the midst of God's perfect works. I must find
+another solution to satisfy my mind.
+
+The only explanation that satisfies me is that which the Bible gives.
+Something has come into the world which has dethroned man from his
+original position, and stripped him of his original privileges.
+Something has come in, which, like a handful of gravel thrown into the
+midst of machinery, has marred the perfect order of God's creation. And
+what is that _something_? I answer, in one word, It is sin. "Sin has
+entered into the world, and death by sin." (Rom. v. 12.) Sin is the
+cause of all the sickness, and disease, and pain, and suffering, which
+prevail on the earth. They are all a part of that curse which came into
+the world when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and fell. There
+would have been no sickness, if there had been no fall. There would have
+been no disease, if there had been no sin.
+
+I pause for a moment at this point, and yet in pausing I do not depart
+from my subject. I pause to remind my readers that there is no ground so
+untenable as that which is occupied by the Atheist, the Deist, or the
+unbeliever in the Bible. I advise every young reader of this paper, who
+is puzzled by the bold and specious arguments of the infidel, to study
+well that most important subject,--the _Difficulties of Infidelity_. I
+say boldly that it requires far more credulity to be an infidel than to
+be a Christian. I say boldly, that there are great broad patent facts in
+the condition of mankind, which nothing but the Bible can explain, and
+that one of the most striking of these facts is the universal prevalence
+of pain, sickness, and disease. In short, one of the mightiest
+difficulties in the way of Atheists and Deists, is the body of man.
+
+You have doubtless heard of Atheists. An Atheist is one who professes to
+believe that there is no God, no Creator, no First Cause, and that all
+things came together in this world by mere chance.--Now shall we listen
+to such a doctrine as this? Go, take an Atheist to one of the excellent
+surgical schools of our land, and ask him to study the wonderful
+structure of the human body. Show him the matchless skill with which
+every joint, and vein, and valve, and muscle, and sinew, and nerve, and
+bone, and limb, has been formed. Show him the perfect adaptation of
+every part of the human frame to the purpose which it serves. Show him
+the thousand delicate contrivances for meeting wear and tear, and
+supplying daily waste of vigour. And then ask this man who denies the
+being of a God, and a great First Cause, if all this wonderful mechanism
+is the result of chance? Ask him if it came together at first by luck
+and accident? Ask him if he so thinks about the watch he looks at, the
+bread he eats, or the coat he wears? Oh, no! Design is an insuperable
+difficulty in the Atheist's way. _There is a God._
+
+You have doubtless heard of Deists. A Deist is one who professes to
+believe that there is a God, who made the world and all things therein.
+But He does not believe the Bible. "A God, but no Bible!--a Creator, but
+no Christianity!" This is the Deist's creed.--Now, shall we listen to
+this doctrine? Go again, I say, and take a Deist to an hospital, and
+show him some of the awful handiwork of disease. Take him to the bed
+where lies some tender child, scarce knowing good from evil, with an
+incurable cancer. Send him to the ward where there is a loving mother of
+a large family in the last stage of some excruciating disease. Show him
+some of the racking pains and agonies to which flesh is heir, and ask
+him to account for them. Ask this man, who believes there is a great
+and wise God who made the world, but cannot believe the Bible,--ask him
+how he accounts for these traces of disorder and imperfection in his
+God's creation. Ask this man, who sneers at Christian theology and is
+too wise to believe the fall of Adam,--ask him upon his theory to
+explain the universal prevalence of pain and disease in the world. You
+may ask in vain! You will get no satisfactory answer. Sickness and
+suffering are insuperable difficulties in the Deist's way. _Man has
+sinned, and therefore man suffers._ Adam fell from his first estate, and
+therefore Adam's children sicken and die.
+
+The universal prevalence of sickness is one of the indirect evidences
+that the Bible is true. The Bible explains it. The Bible answers the
+questions about it which will arise in every inquiring mind. No other
+systems of religion can do this. They all fail here. They are silent.
+They are confounded. The Bible alone looks the subject in the face. It
+boldly proclaims the fact that man is a fallen creature, and with equal
+boldness proclaims a vast remedial system to meet his wants. I feel shut
+up to the conclusion that the Bible is from God. Christianity is a
+revelation from heaven. "Thy word is truth." (John xvii. 17.)
+
+Let us stand fast on the old ground, that the Bible, and the Bible only,
+is God's revelation of Himself to man. Be not moved by the many new
+assaults which modern scepticism is making on the inspired volume. Heed
+not the hard questions which the enemies of the faith are fond of
+putting about Bible difficulties, and to which perhaps you often feel
+unable to give an answer. Anchor your soul firmly on this safe
+principle,--that the whole book is God's truth. Tell the enemies of the
+Bible that, in spite of all their arguments, there is no book in the
+world which will bear comparison with the Bible,--none that so
+thoroughly meets man's wants,--none that explains so much of the state
+of mankind. As to the hard things in the Bible, tell them you are
+content to wait. You find enough plain truth in the book to satisfy your
+conscience and save your soul. The hard things will be cleared up one
+day. What you know not now, you will know hereafter.
+
+
+II. The second point I propose to consider is _the general benefits
+which sickness confers on mankind_.
+
+I use that word "benefits" advisedly. I feel it of deep importance to
+see this part of our subject clearly. I know well that sickness is one
+of the supposed weak points in God's government of the world, on which
+sceptical minds love to dwell.--"Can God be a God of love, when He
+allows pain? Can God be a God of mercy, when He permits disease? He
+might prevent pain and disease; but He does not. How can these things
+be?" Such is the reasoning which often comes across the heart of man.
+
+I reply to all such reasoners, that their doubts and questionings are
+most unreasonable. They might us well doubt the existence of a Creator,
+because the order of the universe is disturbed by earthquakes,
+hurricanes, and storms. They might as well doubt the providence of God,
+because of the horrible massacres of Delhi and Cawnpore. All this would
+be just as reasonable as to doubt the mercy of God, because of the
+presence of sickness in the world.
+
+I ask all who find it hard to reconcile the prevalence of disease and
+pain with the love of God, to cast their eyes on the world around them,
+and to mark what is going on. I ask them to observe the extent to which
+men constantly submit to present loss for the sake of future
+gain,--present sorrow for the sake of future joy,--present pain for the
+sake of future health. The seed is thrown into the ground, and rots: but
+we sow in the hope of a future harvest. The boy is sent to school amidst
+many tears: but we send him in the hope of his getting future wisdom.
+The father of a family undergoes some fearful surgical operation: but
+he bears it, in the hope of future health.--I ask men to apply this
+great principle to God's government of the world. I ask them to believe
+that God allows pain, sickness, and disease, not because He loves to vex
+man, but because He desires to benefit man's heart, and mind, and
+conscience, and soul, to all eternity.
+
+Once more I repeat, that I speak of the "benefits" of sickness on
+purpose and advisedly. I know the suffering and pain which sickness
+entails. I admit the misery and wretchedness which it often brings in
+its train. But I cannot regard it as an unmixed evil. I see in it a wise
+permission of God. I see in it a useful provision to check the ravages
+of sin and the devil among men's souls. If man had never sinned I should
+have been at a loss to discern the benefit of sickness. But since sin is
+in the world, I can see that sickness is a good. It is a blessing quite
+as much as a curse. It is a rough schoolmaster, I grant. But it is a
+real friend to man's soul.
+
+(_a_) Sickness helps to _remind men of death_. The most live as if they
+were never going to die. They follow business, or pleasure, or politics,
+or science, as if earth was their eternal home. They plan and scheme for
+the future, like the rich fool in the parable, as if they had a long
+lease of life, and were not tenants at will. A heavy illness sometimes
+goes far to dispel these delusions. It awakens men from their
+day-dreams, and reminds them that they have to die as well as to live.
+Now this I say emphatically is a mighty good.
+
+(_b_) Sickness helps to _make men think seriously of God_, and their
+souls, and the world to come. The most in their days of health can find
+no time for such thoughts. They dislike them. They put them away. They
+count them troublesome and disagreeable. Now a severe disease has
+sometimes a wonderful power of mustering and rallying these thoughts,
+and bringing them up before the eyes of a man's soul. Even a wicked king
+like Benhadad, when sick, could think of Elisha. (2 Kings viii. 8.)
+Even heathen sailors, when death was in sight, were afraid, and "cried
+every man to his god." (Jonah i. 5.) Surely anything that helps to make
+men think is a good.
+
+(_c_) Sickness helps to _soften men's hearts_, and teach them wisdom.
+The natural heart is as hard as a stone. It can see no good in anything
+which is not of this life, and no happiness excepting in this world. A
+long illness sometimes goes far to correct these ideas. It exposes the
+emptiness and hollowness of what the world calls "good" things, and
+teaches us to hold them with a loose hand. The man of business finds
+that money alone is not everything the heart requires. The woman of the
+world finds that costly apparel, and novel-reading, and the reports of
+balls and operas, are miserable comforters in a sick room. Surely
+anything that obliges us to alter our weights and measures of earthly
+things is a real good.
+
+(_d_) Sickness helps to _level and humble us_. We are all naturally
+proud and high-minded. Few, even of the poorest, are free from the
+infection. Few are to be found who do not look down on somebody else,
+and secretly flatter themselves that they are "not as other men." A sick
+bed is a mighty tamer of such thoughts as these. It forces on us the
+mighty truth that we are all poor worms, that we "dwell in houses of
+clay," and are "crushed before the moth" (Job iv. 19), and that kings
+and subjects, masters and servants, rich and poor, are all dying
+creatures, and will soon stand side by side at the bar of God. In the
+sight of the coffin and the grave it is not easy to be proud. Surely
+anything that teaches that lesson is good.
+
+(_e_) Finally, sickness helps _to try men's religion_, of what sort it
+is. There are not many on earth who have on religion at all. Yet few
+have a religion that will bear inspection. Most are content with
+traditions received from their fathers, and can render no reason of the
+hope that is in them. Now disease is sometimes most useful to a man in
+exposing the utter worthlessness of his soul's foundation. It often
+shows him that he has nothing solid under his feet, and nothing firm
+under his hand. It makes him find out that, although he may have had a
+form of religion, he has been all his life worshipping "an unknown God."
+Many a creed looks well on the smooth waters of health, which turns out
+utterly unsound and useless on the rough waves of the sick bed. The
+storms of winter often bring out the defects in a man's dwelling, and
+sickness often exposes the gracelessness of a man's soul. Surely
+anything that makes us find out the real character of our faith is a
+good.
+
+I do not say that sickness confers these benefits on all to whom it
+comes. Alas, I can say nothing of the kind! Myriads are yearly laid low
+by illness, and restored to health, who evidently learn no lesson from
+their sick beds, and return again to the world. Myriads are yearly
+passing through sickness to the grave, and yet receiving no more
+spiritual impression from it than the beasts that perish. While they
+live they have no feeling, and when they die there are "no bands in
+their death." (Psalm lxxiii. 4.) These are awful things to say. But they
+are true. The degree of deadness to which man's heart and conscience may
+attain, is a depth which I cannot pretend to fathom.
+
+But does sickness confer the benefits of which I have been speaking on
+only a few? I will allow nothing of the kind. I believe that in very
+many cases sickness produces impressions more or less akin to those of
+which I have just been speaking. I believe that in many minds sickness
+is God's "day of visitation," and that feelings are continually aroused
+on a sick bed which, if improved, might, by God's grace, result in
+salvation. I believe that in heathen lands sickness often paves the way
+for the missionary, and makes the poor idolater lend a willing ear to
+the glad tidings of the Gospel. I believe that in our own land sickness
+is one of the greatest aids to the minister of the Gospel, and that
+sermons and counsels are often brought home in the day of disease which
+we have neglected in the day of health. I believe that sickness is one
+of God's most important subordinate instruments in the saving of men,
+and that though the feelings it calls forth are often temporary, it is
+also often a means whereby the Spirit works effectually on the heart. In
+short, I believe firmly that the sickness of men's bodies has often led,
+in God's wonderful providence, to the salvation of men's souls.
+
+I leave this branch of my subject here. It needs no further remark. If
+sickness can do the things of which I have been speaking (and who will
+gainsay it?), if sickness in a wicked world can help to make men think
+of God and their souls, then sickness confers benefits on mankind.
+
+We have no right to murmur at sickness, and repine at its presence in
+the world. We ought rather to thank God for it. It is God's witness. It
+is the soul's adviser. It is an awakener to the conscience. It is a
+purifier to the heart. Surely I have a right to tell you that sickness
+is a blessing and not a curse,--a help and not an injury,--a gain and
+not a loss,--a friend and not a foe to mankind. So long as we have a
+world wherein there is sin, it is a mercy that it is a world wherein
+there is sickness.
+
+
+III. The third and last point which I propose to consider, is _the
+special duties which the prevalence of sickness entails on each one of
+ourselves_.
+
+I should be sorry to leave the subject of sickness without saying
+something on this point. I hold it to be of cardinal importance not to
+be content with generalities in delivering God's message to souls. I am
+anxious to impress on each one into whose hands this paper may fall, his
+own personal responsibility in connection with the subject. I would fain
+have no one lay down this paper unable to answer the questions,--"What
+practical lesson have I learned? What, in a world of disease and death,
+what ought I to do?"
+
+(_a_) One paramount duty which the prevalence of sickness entails on
+man, is that of _living habitually prepared to meet God_. Sickness is a
+remembrancer of death. Death is the door through which we must all pass
+to judgment. Judgment is the time when we must at last see God face to
+face. Surely the first lesson which the inhabitant of a sick and dying
+world should learn should be to prepare to meet his God.
+
+When are you prepared to meet God? Never till your iniquities are
+forgiven, and your sin covered! Never till your heart is renewed, and
+your will taught to delight in the will of God! You have many sins. If
+you go to church your own mouth is taught to confess this every Sunday.
+The blood of Jesus Christ can alone cleanse those sins away. The
+righteousness of Christ can alone make you acceptable in the sight of
+God. Faith, simple childlike faith, can alone give you an interest in
+Christ and His benefits. Would you know whether you are prepared to meet
+God? Then where is your faith?--Your heart is naturally unmeet for God's
+company. You have no real pleasure in doing His will. The Holy Ghost
+must transform you after the image of Christ. Old things must pass away.
+All things must become new. Would you know whether you are prepared to
+meet God? Then, where is your grace? Where are the evidences of your
+conversion and sanctification?
+
+I believe that this, and nothing less than this, is preparedness to meet
+God. Pardon of sin and meetness for God's presence,--justification by
+faith and sanctification of the heart,--the blood of Christ sprinkled on
+us, and the Spirit of Christ dwelling in us,--these are the grand
+essentials of the Christian religion. These are no mere words and names
+to furnish bones of contention for wrangling theologians. These are
+sober, solid, substantial realities. To live in the actual possession
+of these things, in a world full of sickness and death, is the first
+duty which I press home upon your soul.
+
+(_b_) Another paramount duty which the prevalence of sickness entails on
+you, is that of _living habitually ready to bear it patiently_. Sickness
+is no doubt a trying thing to flesh and blood. To feel our nerves
+unstrung, and our natural force abated,--to be obliged to sit still and
+be cut off from all our usual avocations,--to see our plans broken off
+and our purposes disappointed,--to endure long hours, and days, and
+nights of weariness and pain,--all this is a severe strain on poor
+sinful human nature. What wonder if peevishness and impatience are
+brought out by disease! Surely in such a dying world as this we should
+study patience.
+
+How shall we learn to bear sickness patiently, when sickness comes to
+our turn? We must lay up stores of grace in the time of health. We must
+seek for the sanctifying influence of the Holy Ghost over our unruly
+tempers and dispositions. We must make a real business of our prayers,
+and regularly ask for strength to endure God's will as well as to do it.
+Such strength is to be had for the asking: "If ye shall ask anything in
+my name, I will do it for you." (John xiv. 14.)
+
+I cannot think it needless to dwell on this point. I believe the passive
+graces of Christianity receive far less notice than they deserve.
+Meekness, gentleness, long-suffering, faith, patience, are all mentioned
+in the Word of God as fruits of the Spirit. They are passive graces
+which specially glorify God. They often make men think, who despise the
+active side of the Christian character. Never do these graces shine so
+brightly as they do in the sick room. They enable many a sick person to
+preach a silent sermon, which those around him never forget. Would you
+adorn the doctrine you profess? Would you make your Christianity
+beautiful in the eyes of others? Then take the hint I give you this
+day. Lay up a store of patience against the time of illness. Then,
+though your sickness be not to death, it shall be for the "glory of
+God." (John xi. 4.)
+
+(_c_) One more paramount duty which the prevalence of sickness entails
+on you, is that of _habitual readiness to feel with and help your
+fellow-men_. Sickness is never very far from us. Few are the families
+who have not some sick relative. Few are the parishes where you will not
+find some one ill. But wherever there is sickness, there is a call to
+duty. A little timely assistance in some cases,--a kindly visit in
+others,--a friendly inquiry,--a mere expression of sympathy, may do a
+vast good. These are the sort of things which soften asperities, and
+bring men together, and promote good feeling. These are ways by which
+you may ultimately lead men to Christ and save their souls. These are
+good works to which every professing Christian should be ready. In a
+world full of sickness and disease we ought to "bear one another's
+burdens," and be "kind one to another." (Gal. vi. 2; Ephes. iv. 32.)
+
+These things, I dare say, may appear to some little and trifling. They
+must needs be doing something great, and grand, and striking, and
+heroic! I take leave to say that conscientious attention to these little
+acts of brotherly-kindness is one of the clearest evidences of having
+"the mind of Christ." They are acts in which our blessed Master Himself
+was abundant. He was ever "going about doing good" to the sick and
+sorrowful. (Acts x. 38.) They are acts to which He attaches great
+importance in that most solemn passage of Scripture, the description of
+the last judgment. He says there: "I was sick, and ye visited Me."
+(Matt. xxv. 36.)
+
+Have you any desire to prove the reality of your charity,--that blessed
+grace which so many talk of, and so few practise? If you have, beware of
+unfeeling selfishness and neglect of your sick brethren. Search them
+out. Assist them if they need aid. Show your sympathy with them. Try to
+lighten their burdens. Above all, strive to do good to their souls. It
+will do you good if it does no good to them. It will keep your heart
+from murmuring. It may prove a blessing to your own soul. I firmly
+believe that God is testing and proving us by every case of sickness
+within our reach. By permitting suffering, He tries whether Christians
+have any feeling. Beware, lest you be weighed in the balances and found
+wanting. If you can live in a sick and dying world and not feel for
+others, you have yet much to learn.
+
+I leave this branch of my subject here. I throw out the points I have
+named as suggestions, and I pray God that they may work in many minds. I
+repeat, that habitual preparedness to meet God,--habitual readiness to
+suffer patiently,--habitual willingness to sympathize heartily,--are
+plain duties which sickness entails on all. They are duties within the
+reach of every one. In naming them I ask nothing extravagant or
+unreasonable. I bid no man retire into a monastery and ignore the duties
+of his station. I only want men to realize that they live in a sick and
+dying world, and to live accordingly. And I say boldly, that the man who
+lives the life of faith, and holiness, and patience, and charity, is not
+only the most true Christian, but the most wise and reasonable man.
+
+
+And now I conclude all with four words of practical application. I want
+the subject of this paper to be turned to some spiritual use. My heart's
+desire and prayer to God in placing it in this volume is to do good to
+souls.
+
+(1) In the first place, I offer a _question_ to all who read this paper,
+to which, as God's ambassador, I entreat their serious attention. It is
+a question which grows naturally out of the subject on which I have been
+writing. It is a question which concerns all, of every rank, and class,
+and condition. I ask you, What will you do when you are ill?
+
+The time must come when you, as well as others, must go down the dark
+valley of the shadow of death. The hour must come when you, like all
+your forefathers, must sicken and die. The time may be near or far off.
+God only knows. But whenever the time may be, I ask again. What are you
+going to do? Where do you mean to turn for comfort? On what do you mean
+to rest your soul? On what do you mean to build your hope? From whence
+will you fetch your consolations?
+
+I do entreat you not to put these questions away. Suffer them to work on
+your conscience, and rest not till you can give them a satisfactory
+answer. Trifle not with that precious gift, an immortal soul. Defer not
+the consideration of the matter to a more convenient season. Presume not
+on a death-bed repentance. The greatest business ought surely not to be
+left to the last. One dying thief was saved that men might not despair,
+but only one that none might presume. I repeat the question. I am sure
+it deserves an answer, "What will you do when you are ill?"
+
+If you were going to live for ever in this world I would not address you
+as I do. But it cannot be. There is no escaping the common lot of all
+mankind. Nobody can die in our stead. The day must come when we must
+each go to our long home. Against that day I want you to be prepared.
+The body which now takes up so much of your attention--the body which
+you now clothe, and feed, and warm with so much care,--that body must
+return again to the dust. Oh, think what an awful thing it would prove
+at last to have provided for everything except the one thing
+needful,--to have provided for the body, but to have neglected the
+soul,--to die, in fact, like Cardinal Beaufort, and "give no sign" of
+being saved! Once more I press my question on your conscience: "What
+will you do when you are ill?"
+
+(2) In the next place, I offer _counsel_ to all who feel they need it
+and are willing to take it,--to all who feel they are not yet prepared
+to meet God. That counsel is short and simple. Acquaint yourself with
+the Lord Jesus Christ without delay. Repent, be converted, flee to
+Christ, and be saved.
+
+Either you have a soul or you have not. You will surely never deny that
+you have. Then if you have a soul, seek that soul's salvation. Of all
+gambling in the world, there is none so reckless as that of the man who
+lives unprepared to meet God, and yet puts off repentance.--Either you
+have sins or you have none. If you have (and who will dare to deny it?),
+break off from those sins, cast away your transgressions, and turn away
+from them without delay.--Either you need a Saviour or you do not. If
+you do, flee to the only Saviour this very day, and cry mightily to Him
+to save your soul. Apply to Christ at once. Seek Him by faith. Commit
+your soul into His keeping. Cry mightily to Him for pardon and peace
+with God. Ask Him to pour down the Holy Spirit upon you, and make you a
+thorough Christian. He will hear you. No matter what you have been, He
+will not refuse your prayer. He has said, "Him that cometh to Me I will
+in no wise cast out." (John vi. 37.)
+
+Beware, I beseech you, of a vague and indefinite Christianity. Be not
+content with a general hope that all is right because you belong to the
+old Church of England, and that all will be well at last because God is
+merciful. Rest not, rest not without personal union with Christ Himself.
+Rest not, rest not till you have the witness of the Spirit in your
+heart, that you are washed, and sanctified, and justified, and one with
+Christ, and Christ in you. Rest not till you can say with the apostle,
+"I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep
+that which I have committed to Him against that day." (2 Tim. i. 12.)
+
+Vague, and indefinite, and indistinct religion may do very well in time
+of health. It will never do in the day of sickness. A mere formal,
+perfunctory Church-membership may carry a man through the sunshine of
+youth and prosperity. It will break down entirely when death is in
+sight. Nothing will do then but real heart-union with Christ. Christ
+interceding for us at God's right hand,--Christ known and believed as
+our Priest, our Physician, our Friend,--Christ alone can rob death of
+its sting and enable us to face sickness without fear. He alone can
+deliver those who through fear of death are in bondage. I say to every
+one who wants advice, Be acquainted with Christ. As ever you would have
+hope and comfort on the bed of sickness, be acquainted with Christ. Seek
+Christ. Apply to Christ.
+
+Take every care and trouble to Him when you are acquainted with Him. He
+will keep you and carry you through all. Pour out your heart before Him,
+when your conscience is burdened. He is the true Confessor. He alone can
+absolve you and take the burden away. Turn to Him first in the day of
+sickness, like Martha and Mary. Keep on looking to Him to the last
+breath of your life. Christ is worth knowing. The more you know Him the
+better you will love Him. Then be acquainted with Jesus Christ.
+
+(3) In the third place, I exhort all true Christians who read this paper
+to remember how much they may glorify God in the time of sickness, and
+to _lie quiet in God's hand when they are ill_.
+
+I feel it very important to touch on this point. I know how ready the
+heart of a believer is to faint, and how busy Satan is in suggesting
+doubts and questionings, when the body of a Christian is weak. I have
+seen something of the depression and melancholy which sometimes comes
+upon the children of God when they are suddenly laid aside by disease,
+and obliged to sit still. I have marked how prone some good people are
+to torment themselves with morbid thoughts at such seasons, and to say
+in their hearts, "God has forsaken me: I am cast out of His sight."
+
+I earnestly entreat all sick believers to remember that they may honour
+God as much by patient suffering as they can by active work. It often
+shows more grace to sit still than it does to go to and fro, and perform
+great exploits. I entreat them to remember that Christ cares for them as
+much when they are sick as He does when they are well, and that the very
+chastisement they feel so acutely is sent in love, and not in anger.
+Above all, I entreat them to recollect the sympathy of Jesus for all His
+weak members. They are always tenderly cared for by Him, but never so
+much as in their time of need. Christ has had great experience of
+sickness. He knows the heart of a sick man. He used to see "all manner
+of sickness, and all manner of disease" when He was upon earth. He felt
+specially for the sick in the days of His flesh. He feels for them
+specially still. Sickness and suffering, I often think, make believers
+more like their Lord in experience, than health. "Himself took our
+infirmities, and bare our sicknesses." (Isaiah liii. 3; Matt. viii. 17.)
+The Lord Jesus was a "Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief." None
+have such an opportunity of learning the mind of a suffering Saviour as
+suffering disciples.
+
+(4) I conclude with a word of _exhortation_ to all believers, which I
+heartily pray God to impress upon their souls. I exhort you to keep up a
+habit of close communion with Christ, and never to be afraid of "going
+too far" in your religion. Remember this, if you wish to have "great
+peace" in your times of sickness.
+
+I observe with regret a tendency in some quarters to lower the standard
+of practical Christianity, and to denounce what are called "extreme
+views" about a Christian's daily walk in life. I remark with pain that
+even religious people will sometimes look coldly on those who withdraw
+from worldly society, and will censure them as "exclusive,
+narrow-minded, illiberal, uncharitable, sour-spirited," and the like. I
+warn every believer in Christ who reads this paper to beware of being
+influenced by such censures. I entreat him, if he wants light in the
+valley of death, to "keep himself unspotted from the world," to "follow
+the Lord very fully," and to walk very closely with God. (James i. 27;
+Num. xiv. 24.)
+
+I believe that the want of "thoroughness" about many people's
+Christianity is one secret of their little comfort, both in health and
+sickness. I believe that the "half-and-half,"--"keep-in-with-everybody"
+religion, which satisfies many in the present day, is offensive to God,
+and sows thorns in dying pillows, which hundreds never discover till too
+late. I believe that the weakness and feebleness of such a religion
+never comes out so much as it does upon a sick bed.
+
+If you and I want "strong consolation" in our time of need, we must not
+be content with a bare union with Christ. (Heb. vi. 18.) We must seek to
+know something of heart-felt, experimental _communion_ with Him. Never,
+never let us forget, that "union" is one thing, and "communion" another.
+Thousands, I fear, who know what "union" with Christ is, know nothing of
+"communion."
+
+The day may come when after a long fight with disease, we shall feel
+that medicine can do no more, and that nothing remains but to die.
+Friends will be standing by, unable to help us. Hearing, eyesight, even
+the power of praying, will be fast failing us. The world and its shadows
+will be melting beneath our feet. Eternity, with its realities, will be
+looming large before our minds. What shall support us in that trying
+hour? What shall enable us to feel, "I fear no evil"? (Psalm xxiii. 4.)
+Nothing, nothing can do it but close communion with Christ. Christ
+dwelling in our hearts by faith,--Christ putting His right arm under our
+heads,--Christ felt to be sitting by our side,--Christ can alone give us
+the complete victory in the last struggle.
+
+Let us cleave to Christ more closely, love Him more heartily, live to
+Him more thoroughly, copy Him more exactly, confess Him more boldly,
+follow Him more fully. Religion like this will always bring its own
+reward. Worldly people may laugh at it. Weak brethren may think it
+extreme. But it will wear well. At even time it will bring us light. In
+sickness it will bring us peace. In the world to come it will give us a
+crown of glory that fadeth not away.
+
+The time is short. The fashion of this world passeth away. A few more
+sicknesses, and all will be over. A few more funerals, and our own
+funeral will take place. A few more storms and tossings, and we shall be
+safe in harbour. We travel towards a world where there is no more
+sickness,--where parting, and pain, and crying, and mourning, are done
+with for evermore. Heaven is becoming every year more full, and earth
+more empty. The friends ahead are becoming more numerous than the
+friends astern. "Yet a little time and He that shall come will come, and
+will not tarry." (Heb. x. 37.) In His presence shall be fulness of joy.
+Christ shall wipe away all tears from His people's eyes. The last enemy
+that shall be destroyed is Death. But he shall be destroyed. Death
+himself shall one day die. (Rev. xx. 14.)
+
+In the meantime let us live the life of faith in the Son of God. Let us
+lean all our weight on Christ, and rejoice in the thought that He lives
+for evermore.
+
+Yes: blessed be God! Christ lives, though we may die. Christ lives,
+though friends and families are carried to the grave. He lives who
+abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light by the
+Gospel. He lives who said, "O death, I will be thy plagues: O grave, I
+will be thy destruction." (Hos. xiii. 14.) He lives who will one day
+change our vile body, and make it like unto His glorious body. In
+sickness and in health, in life and in death, let us lean confidently on
+Him. Surely we ought to say daily with one of old, "Blessed be God for
+Jesus Christ!"
+
+
+
+
+XVI
+
+
+THE FAMILY OF GOD
+
+     "_The whole family in heaven and earth._"--Ephes. iii. 15.
+
+
+The words which form the title of this paper ought to stir some feelings
+in our minds at any time. There lives not the man or woman on earth who
+is not member of some "family." The poorest as well as the richest has
+his kith and kin, and can tell you something of his "family."
+
+Family gatherings at certain times of the year, such as Christmas, we
+all know, are very common. Thousands of firesides are crowded then, if
+at no other time of the year. The young man in town snatches a few days
+from business, and takes a run down to the old folks at home. The young
+woman in service gets a short holiday, and comes to visit her father and
+mother. Brothers and sisters meet for a few hours. Parents and children
+look one another in the face. How much there is to talk about! How many
+questions to be asked! How many interesting things to be told! Happy
+indeed is that fireside which sees gathered round it at Christmas "the
+whole family!"
+
+Family gatherings are natural, and right, and good. I approve them with
+all my heart. It does me good to see them kept up. They are one of the
+very few pleasant things which have survived the fall of man. Next to
+the grace of God, I see no principle which unites people so much in
+this sinful world as family feeling. Community of blood is a most
+powerful tie. It was a fine saying of an American naval officer, when
+his men insisted on helping the English sailors in fighting the Taku
+forts in China,--"I cannot help it: blood is thicker than water." I have
+often observed that people will stand up for their relations, merely
+because they _are_ their relations,--and refuse to hear a word against
+them,--even when they have no sympathy with their tastes and ways.
+Anything which helps to keep up family feeling ought to be commended. It
+is a wise thing, when it can be done, to gather together at Christmas
+"the whole family."
+
+Family gatherings, nevertheless, are often sorrowful things. It would be
+strange indeed, in such a world as this, if they were not. Few are the
+family circles which do not show gaps and vacant places as years pass
+away. Changes and deaths make sad havoc as time goes on. Thoughts will
+rise up within us, as we grow older, about faces and voices no longer
+with us, which no Christmas merriment can entirely keep down. When the
+young members of the family have once begun to launch forth into the
+world, the old heads may long survive the scattering of the nest; but
+after a certain time, it seldom happens that you see together "the whole
+family."
+
+There is one great family to which I want all the readers of this paper
+to belong. It is a family despised by many, and not even known by some.
+But it is a family of far more importance than any family on earth. To
+belong to it entitles a man to far greater privileges than to be the son
+of a king. It is the family of which St. Paul speaks to the Ephesians,
+when he tells them of the "whole family in heaven and earth." It is the
+family of God.
+
+I ask the attention of every reader of this paper while I try to
+describe this family, and recommend it to his notice. I want to tell you
+of the amazing benefits which membership of this family conveys. I want
+you to be found one of this family, when its gathering shall come at
+last,--a gathering without separation, or sorrow, or tears. Hear me
+while, as a minister of Christ, and friend to your soul, I speak to you
+for a few minutes about "the whole family in heaven and earth:"--
+
+
+    I. First of all, _what is this family_?
+
+    II. Secondly, _what is its present position_?
+
+    III. Thirdly, _what are its future prospects_?
+
+
+I wish to unfold these three things before you, and I invite your
+serious consideration of them. Our family gatherings on earth must have
+an end one day. Our last earthly Christmas must come. Happy indeed is
+that Christmas which finds us prepared to meet God!
+
+
+I. _What is that family_ which the Bible calls "the whole family in
+heaven and earth"? Of whom does it consist?
+
+The family before us consists of all real Christians,--of all who have
+the Spirit,--of all true believers in Christ,--of the saints of every
+age, and Church, and nation, and tongue. It includes the blessed company
+of all faithful people. It is the same as the election of God,--the
+household of faith,--the mystical body of Christ,--the bride,--the
+living temple,--the sheep that never perish,--the Church of the
+first-born,--the holy Catholic Church. All these expressions are only
+"the family of God" under other names.
+
+Membership of the family before us does not depend on any earthly
+connection. It comes not by natural birth, but by new birth. Ministers
+cannot impart it to their hearers. Parents cannot give it to their
+children. You may be born in the godliest family in the land, and enjoy
+the richest means of grace a Church can supply, and yet never belong to
+the family of God. To belong to it you must be born again. None but the
+Holy Ghost can make a living member of His family. It is His special
+office and prerogative to bring into the true Church such as shall be
+saved. They that are born again are born, "not of blood, nor of the will
+of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (John i. 13.)
+
+Do you ask the reason, of this name which the Bible gives to the company
+of all true Christians? Would you like to know why they are called "a
+family"? Listen and I will tell you.
+
+(_a_) True Christians are called "a family" because they have all _one
+Father_. They are all children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. They are
+all born of one Spirit. They are all sons and daughters of the Lord
+Almighty. They have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby they cry,
+Abba Father. (Gal. iii. 26; John iii. 8; 2 Cor. vi. 18; Rom. viii. 15.)
+They do not regard God with slavish fear, as an austere Being, only
+ready to punish them. They look up to Him with tender confidence, as a
+reconciled and loving parent,--as one forgiving iniquity, transgression,
+and sin, to all who believe on Jesus,--and full of pity even to the
+least and feeblest. The words, "Our Father which art in heaven," are no
+mere form in the mouth of true Christians. No wonder they are called
+God's "family."
+
+(_b_) True Christians are called "a family," because they all _rejoice
+in one name_. That name is the name of their great Head and Elder
+Brother, even Jesus Christ the Lord. Just as a common family name is the
+uniting link to all the members of a Highland clan, so does the name of
+Jesus tie all believers together in one vast family. As members of
+outward visible Churches they have various names and distinguishing
+appellations. As living members of Christ, they all, with one heart and
+mind, rejoice in one Saviour. Not a heart among them but feels drawn to
+Jesus as the only object of hope. Not a tongue among them but would
+tell you that "Christ is all." Sweet to them all is the thought of
+Christ's death for them on the cross. Sweet is the thought of Christ's
+intercession for them at the right hand of God. Sweet is the thought of
+Christ's coming again to unite them to Himself in one glorified company
+for ever. In fact, you might as well take away the sun out of heaven, as
+take away the name of Christ from believers. To the world there may seem
+little in His name. To believers it is full of comfort, hope, joy, rest,
+and peace. No wonder they are called "a family."
+
+(_c_) True Christians, above all, are called "a family" because there is
+so strong _a family likeness_ among them. They are all led by one
+Spirit, and are marked by the same general features of life, heart,
+taste, and character. Just as there is a general bodily resemblance
+among the brothers and sisters of a family, so there is a general
+spiritual resemblance among all the sons and daughters of the Lord
+Almighty. They all hate sin and love God. They all rest their hope of
+salvation on Christ, and have no confidence in themselves. They all
+endeavour to "come out and be separate" from the ways of the world, and
+to set their affections on things above. They all turn naturally to the
+same Bible, as the only food of their souls and the only sure guide in
+their pilgrimage toward heaven: they find it a "lamp to their feet, and
+a light to their path." (Psa. cxix. 105.) They all go to the same throne
+of grace in prayer, and find it as needful to speak to God as to
+breathe. They all live by the same rule, the Word of God, and strive to
+conform their daily life to its precepts. They have all the same inward
+experience. Repentance, faith, hope, charity, humility, inward conflict,
+are things with which they are all more or less acquainted. No wonder
+they are called "a family."
+
+This family likeness among true believers is a thing that deserves
+special attention. To my own mind it is one of the strongest indirect
+evidences of the truth of Christianity It is one of the greatest proofs
+of the reality of the work of the Holy Ghost. Some true Christians live
+in civilized countries, and some in the midst of heathen lands. Some are
+highly educated, and some are unable to read a letter. Some are rich and
+some are poor. Some are Churchmen and some are Dissenters. Some are old
+and some are young. And yet, notwithstanding all this, there is a
+marvellous oneness of heart and character among them. Their joys and
+their sorrows, their love and their hatred, their likes and their
+dislikes, their tastes and their distastes, their hopes and their fears,
+are all most curiously alike. Let others think what they please, I see
+in all this the finger of God. His handiwork is always one and the same.
+No wonder that true Christians are compared to "a family."
+
+Take a converted Englishman and a converted Hindoo, and let them
+suddenly meet for the first time. I will engage, if they can understand
+one another's language, they will soon find common ground between them,
+and feel at home. The one may have been brought up at Eton and Oxford,
+and enjoyed every privilege of English civilization. The other may have
+been trained in the midst of gross heathenism, and accustomed to habits,
+ways, and manners as unlike the Englishman's as darkness compared to
+light. And yet now in half an hour they feel that they are friends! The
+Englishman finds that he has more in common with his Hindoo brother than
+he has with many an old college companion or school-fellow! Who can
+account for this? How can it be explained? Nothing can account for it
+but the unity of the Spirit's teaching. It is "one touch" of grace (not
+nature) "that makes the whole world kin." God's people are in the
+highest sense "a family."
+
+This is the family to which I wish to direct the attention of my readers
+in this paper. This is the family to which I want you to belong. I ask
+you this day to consider it well, if you never considered it before. I
+have shown you the Father of the family,--the God and Father of our Lord
+Jesus Christ. I have shown you the Head and Elder Brother of the
+family,--the Lord Jesus Himself. I have shown you the features and
+characteristics of the family. Its members have all great marks of
+resemblance. Once more I say, consider it well.
+
+Outside this family, remember, there is no salvation. None but those who
+belong to it, according to the Bible, are in the way that leads to
+heaven. The salvation of our souls does not depend on union with one
+Church or separation from another. They are miserably deceived who think
+that it does, and will find it out to their cost one day, except they
+awake. No! the life of our souls depends on something far more
+important. This is life eternal, to be a member of "the whole family in
+heaven and earth."
+
+
+II. I will now pass on to the second thing which I promised to consider.
+_What is the present position_ of the whole family in heaven and earth?
+
+The family to which I am directing the attention of my readers this day
+is divided into two great parts. Each part has its own residence or
+dwelling-place. Part of the family is in heaven, and part is on earth.
+For the present the two parts are entirely separated from one another.
+But they form one body in the sight of God, though resident in two
+places; and their union is sure to take place one day.
+
+Two places, be it remembered, and two only, contain the family of God.
+The Bible tells us of no third habitation. There is no such thing as
+purgatory, whatever some Christians may think fit to say. There is no
+house of purifying, training, or probation for those who are not true
+Christians when they die. Oh no! There are but two parts of the
+family,--the part that is seen and the part that is unseen, the part
+that is in "heaven" and the part that is on "earth." The members of the
+family that are not in heaven are on earth, and those that are not on
+earth are in heaven. Two parts, and two only! Two places, and two only!
+Let this never be forgotten.
+
+Some of God's family are safe _in heaven_. They are at rest in that
+place which the Lord Jesus expressly calls "Paradise." (Luke xxiii. 43.)
+They have finished their course. They have fought their battle. They
+have done their appointed work. They have learned their lessons. They
+have carried their cross. They have passed through the waves of this
+troublesome world and reached the harbour. Little as we know about them,
+we know that they are happy. They are no longer troubled by sin and
+temptation. They have said good-bye for ever to poverty and anxiety, to
+pain and sickness, to sorrow and tears. They are with Christ Himself,
+who loved them and gave Himself for them, and in His company they must
+needs be happy. (Phil. i. 23.) They have nothing to fear in looking back
+to the past. They have nothing to dread in looking forward to things to
+come. Three things only are lacking to make their happiness complete.
+These three are the second advent of Christ in glory, the resurrection
+of their own bodies, and the gathering together of all believers. And of
+these three things they are sure.
+
+Some of God's family are still _upon earth_. They are scattered to and
+fro in the midst of a wicked world, a few in one place and a few in
+another. All are more or less occupied in the same way, according to the
+measure of their grace. All are running a race, doing a work, warring a
+warfare, carrying a cross, striving against sin, resisting the devil,
+crucifying the flesh, struggling against the world, witnessing for
+Christ, mourning over their own hearts, hearing, reading, and praying,
+however feebly, for the life of their souls. Each is often disposed to
+think no cross so heavy as his own, no work so difficult, no heart so
+hard. But each and all hold on their way,--a wonder to the ignorant
+world around them, and often a wonder to themselves.
+
+But, however divided God's family may be at present in dwelling-place
+and local habitation, it is still one family. Both parts of it are still
+one in character, one in possessions, and one in relation to God. The
+part in heaven has not so much superiority over the part on earth as at
+first sight may appear. The difference between the two is only one of
+degree.
+
+(_a_) Both parts of the family love the same Saviour, and delight in the
+same perfect will of God. But the part on earth loves with much
+imperfection and infirmity, and lives by faith, not by sight.--The part
+in heaven loves without weakness, or doubt, or distraction. It walks by
+sight and not by faith, and sees what it once believed.
+
+(_b_) Both parts of the family are saints. But the saints on earth are
+often poor weary pilgrims, who find the "flesh lusting against the
+spirit and the spirit lusting against the flesh, so that they cannot do
+the things they would." (Gal. v. 17.) They live in the midst of an evil
+world, and are often sick of themselves and of the sin they see around
+them.--The saints in heaven, on the contrary, are delivered from the
+world, the flesh, and the devil, and enjoy a glorious liberty. They are
+called "the spirits of just men made perfect." (Heb. xii. 23.)
+
+(_c_) Both parts of the family are alike God's children. But the
+children in heaven have learned all their lessons, have finished their
+appointed tasks, have begun an eternal holiday.--The children on earth
+are still at school. They are daily learning wisdom, though slowly and
+with much trouble, and often needing to be reminded of their past
+lessons by chastisement and the rod. Their holidays are yet to come.
+
+(_d_) Both parts of the family are alike God's soldiers. But the
+soldiers on earth are yet militant. Their warfare is not accomplished.
+Their fight is not over. They need every day to put on the whole armour
+of God.--The soldiers in heaven are all triumphant. No enemy can hurt
+them now. No fiery dart can reach them. Helmet and shield may both be
+laid aside. They may at last say to the sword of the Spirit, "Rest and
+be still." They may at length sit down, and need not to watch and stand
+on their guard.
+
+(2) Last, but not least, both parts of the family are alike safe and
+secure. Wonderful as this may sound, it is true. Christ cares as much
+for His members on earth as His members in heaven. You might as well
+think to pluck the stars out of heaven, as to pluck one saint, however
+feeble, out of Christ's hand. Both parts of the family are alike secured
+by "an everlasting covenant ordered in all things and sure." (2 Sam.
+xxiii. 5.) The members on earth, through the burden of the flesh and the
+dimness of their faith, may neither see, nor know, nor feel their own
+safety. But they are safe, though they may not see it. The whole family
+is "kept by the power of God, through faith unto salvation." (1 Peter i.
+5.) The members yet on the road are as secure as the members who have
+got home. Not one shall be found missing at the last day. The words of
+the Christian poet shall be found strictly true:--
+
+    "More happy, but not more secure,
+    The glorified spirits in heaven."
+
+Before I leave this part of my subject, I ask every reader of this paper
+to understand thoroughly the present position of God's family, and to
+form a just estimate of it. Learn not to measure its numbers or its
+privileges by what you see with your eyes. You see only a small body of
+believers in this present time. But you must not forget that a great
+company has got safe to heaven already, and that when all are assembled
+at the last day they will be "a multitude which no man can number."
+(Rev. vii. 9.) You only see that part of the family which is struggling
+on earth. You must never forget that the greater part of the family has
+got home and is resting in heaven.--You see the militant part, but not
+the triumphant. You see the part that is carrying the cross, but not the
+part which is safe in Paradise. The family of God is far more rich and
+glorious than you suppose. Believe me, it is no small thing to belong to
+the "whole family in heaven and earth."
+
+
+III. I will now pass on to the last thing which I promised to
+consider.--_What are the future prospects_ of the whole family in heaven
+and earth?
+
+The future prospects of a family! What a vast amount of uncertainty
+these words open up when we look at any family now in the world! How
+little we can tell of the things coming on any of us! What a mercy that
+we do not know the sorrows and trials and separations through which our
+beloved children may have to pass, when we have left the world! It is a
+mercy that we do not know "what a day may bring forth," and a far
+greater mercy that we do not know what may happen in twenty years.
+(Prov. xxvii. 1.) Alas, foreknowledge of the future prospects of our
+belongings would spoil many a family gathering, and fill the whole party
+with gloom!
+
+Think how many a fine boy, who is now the delight of his parents, will
+by and by walk in the prodigal's footsteps, and never return home! Think
+how many a fair daughter, the joy of a mother's heart, will follow the
+bent of her self-will after a few years, and insist on some miserably
+mistaken marriage! Think how disease and pain will often lay low the
+loveliest of a family circle, and make her life a burden and weariness
+to herself, if not to others! Think of the endless breaches and
+divisions arising out of money matters! Alas, there is many a life-long
+quarrel about a few pounds, between those who once played together in
+the same nursery! Think of these things. The "future prospects" of many
+a family which meets together every Christmas are a solemn and serious
+subject. Hundreds, to say the least, are gathering together for the last
+time: when they part, they will never meet again.
+
+But, thank God, there is one great family whose "prospects" are very
+different. It is the family of which I am speaking in this paper, and
+commending to your attention. The future prospects of the family of God
+are not uncertain. They are good, and only good,--happy, and only happy.
+Listen to me, and I will try to set them in order before you.
+
+(_a_) The members of God's family shall all be _brought safe home_ one
+day. Here upon earth they may be scattered, tried, tossed with tempests,
+and bowed down with afflictions. But not one of them shall perish. (John
+x. 28.) The weakest lamb shall not be left to perish in the wilderness:
+the feeblest child shall not be missing when the muster-roll is brought
+out at the last day. In spite of the world, the flesh, and the devil,
+the whole family shall get home. "If, when we were enemies, we were
+reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled,
+we shall be saved by His life." (Rom. v. 10.)
+
+(_b_) The members of God's family _shall all have glorious bodies_ one
+day. When the Lord Jesus Christ comes the second time, the dead saints
+shall all be raised and the living shall all be changed. They shall no
+longer have a vile mortal body, full of weaknesses and infirmities: they
+shall have a body like that of their risen Lord, without the slightest
+liability to sickness and pain. They shall no longer be clogged and
+hindered by an aching frame, when they want to serve God: they shall be
+able to serve Him night and day without weariness, and to attend upon
+Him without distraction. The former things will have passed away. That
+word will be fulfilled, "I make all things new." (Rev. xxi. 5.)
+
+(_c_) The members of God's family shall all be _gathered into one
+company_ one day. It matters nothing where they have lived or where they
+have died. They may have been separated from one another both by time
+and space. One may have lived in tents, with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
+and another travelled by railway in our own day. One may have laid his
+bones in an Australian desert, and another may have been buried in an
+English churchyard. It makes no difference. All shall be gathered
+together from north and south, and east and west, and meet in one happy
+assembly, to part no more. The earthly partings of God's family are only
+for a few days. Their meeting is for eternity. It matters little where
+we live. It is a time of scattering now, and not of gathering. It
+matters little where we die. All graves are equally near to Paradise.
+But it does matter much whether we belong to God's family. If we do we
+are sure to meet again at last.
+
+(_d_) The members of God's family shall all be _united in mind and
+judgment_ one day. They are not so now about many little things. About
+the things needful to salvation there is a marvellous unity among them.
+About many speculative points in religion, about forms of worship and
+Church government, they often sadly disagree. But there shall be no
+disagreement among them one day. Ephraim shall no longer vex Judah, nor
+Judah Ephraim. Churchmen shall no more quarrel with Dissenters, nor
+Dissenters with Churchmen. Partial knowledge and dim vision shall be at
+an end for ever. Divisions and separations, misunderstandings and
+misconstructions, shall be buried and forgotten. As there shall only be
+one language, so there shall only be one opinion. At last, after six
+thousand years of strife and jangling, perfect unity and harmony shall
+be found. A family shall at length be shown to angels and men in which
+all are of one mind.
+
+(_e_) The members of God's family shall all be _perfected in holiness_
+one day. They are not literally perfect now, although "complete in
+Christ." (Col. ii. 10.) Though born again, and renewed after the image
+of Christ, they offend and fall short in many things. (James iii, 2.)
+None know it better than they do themselves. It is their grief and
+sorrow that they do not love God more heartily and serve Him more
+faithfully. But they shall be completely freed from all corruption one
+day. They shall rise again at Christ's second appearing without any of
+the infirmities which cleave to them in their lives. Not a single evil
+temper or corrupt inclination shall be found in them. They shall be
+presented by their Head to the Father, without spot, or wrinkle, or any
+such thing,--perfectly holy and without blemish,--fair as the moon, and
+clear as the sun. (Eph. v. 27; Cant. v. 10.) Grace, even now, is a
+beautiful thing, when it lives, and shines, and flourishes in the midst
+of imperfection. But how much more beautiful will grace appear when it
+is seen pure, unmixed, unmingled, and alone! And it shall be seen so
+when Christ comes to be glorified in His saints at the last day.
+
+(_f_) Last, but not least, the members of God's family shall all be
+_eternally provided for_ one day. When the affairs of this sinful world
+are finally wound up and settled, there shall be an everlasting portion
+for all the sons and daughters of the Lord almighty. Not even the
+weakest of them shall be overlooked and forgotten. There shall be
+something for everyone, according to his measure. The smallest vessel of
+grace, as well as the greatest, shall be filled to the brim with glory.
+The precise nature of that glory and reward it would be folly to pretend
+to describe. It is a thing which eye has not seen, nor mind of man
+conceived. Enough for us to know that each member of God's family, when
+he awakes up after His Master's likeness, shall be "satisfied." (Psalm
+xvii. 15.) Enough, above all, to know that their joy, and glory, and
+reward shall be for ever. What they receive in the day of the Lord they
+will never lose. The inheritance reserved for them, when they come of
+age, is "incorruptible, undefiled, and fadeth not away." (1 Peter i. 4.)
+
+These prospects of God's family are great realities. They are not vague
+shadowy talk of man's invention. They are real true things, and will be
+seen as such before long. They deserve your serious consideration.
+Examine them well.
+
+Look round the families of earth with which you are acquainted, the
+richest, the greatest, the noblest, the happiest. Where will you find
+one among them all which can show prospects to compare with those of
+which you have just heard. The earthly riches, in many a case, will be
+gone in a hundred years hence. The noble blood, in many a case, will not
+prevent some disgraceful deed staining the family name. The happiness,
+in many a case, will be found hollow and seeming. Few, indeed, are the
+homes which have not a secret sorrow, or "a skeleton in the closet."
+Whether for present possessions or future prospects, there is no family
+so well off as "the whole family in heaven and earth." Whether you look
+at what they have now, or will have hereafter, there is no family like
+the family of God.
+
+
+My task is done. My paper is drawing to a close. It only remains to
+close it with a few words of practical application. Give me your
+attention for the last time. May God bless what I am going to say to the
+good of your soul!
+
+(1) I ask you a plain question. Take it with you to every family
+gathering which you join at any season of the year. Take it with you,
+and amidst all your happiness make time for thinking about it. It is a
+simple question, but a solemn one,--_Do you yet belong to the family of
+God_?
+
+To the family of God, remember! This is the point of my question. It is
+no answer to say that you are a Protestant, or a Churchman, or a
+Dissenter. I want to hear of something more and better than that. I want
+you to have some soul-satisfying and soul-saving religion,--a religion
+that will give you peace while you live, and hope when you die. To have
+such peace and hope you must be something more than a Protestant, or a
+Churchman, or a Dissenter. You must belong to "the family of God."
+Thousands around you do not belong to it, I can well believe. But that
+is no reason why you should not.
+
+If you do not yet belong to God's family, I invite you this day to join
+it without delay. Open your eyes to see the value of your soul, the
+sinfulness of sin, the holiness of God, the danger of your present
+condition, the absolute necessity of a mighty change. Open your eyes to
+see these things, and repent this very day.--Open your eyes to see the
+great Head of God's family, even Christ Jesus, waiting to save your
+soul. See how He has loved you, lived for you, died for you, risen again
+for you, and obtained complete redemption for you. See how He offers you
+free, full, immediate pardon, if you will believe in Him. Open your eyes
+to see these things. Seek Christ at once. Come and believe on Him, and
+commit your soul to His keeping this very day.
+
+I know nothing of your family or past history. I know not where you go
+to spend your leisure weeks, or what company you are going to be in. But
+I am bold to say, that if you join the family of God you will find it
+the best and happiest family in the world.
+
+(2) If you really belong to the whole family in heaven and earth, count
+up your privileges, and _learn to be more thankful_. Think what a mercy
+it is to have something which the world can neither give nor take
+away,--something which makes you independent of sickness or
+poverty,--something which is your own for evermore. The old family
+fireside will soon be cold and tenantless. The old family gatherings
+will soon be past and gone for ever. The loving faces we now delight to
+gaze on are rapidly leaving us. The cheerful voices which now welcome us
+will soon be silent in the grave. But, thank God, if we belong to
+Christ's family there is a better gathering yet to come. Let us often
+think of it, and be thankful!
+
+The family gathering of all God's people will make amends for all that
+their religion now costs them. A meeting where none are missing,--a
+meeting where there are no gaps and empty places,--a meeting where there
+are no tears,--a meeting where there is no parting,--such a meeting as
+this is worth a fight and a struggle. And such a meeting is yet to come
+to "the whole family in heaven and earth."
+
+In the meantime let us strive to live worthy of the family to which we
+belong. Let us labour to do nothing that may cause our Father's house to
+be spoken against. Let us endeavour to make our Master's name beautiful
+by our temper, conduct, and conversation. Let us love as brethren, and
+abhor all quarrels. Let us behave as if the honour of "the family"
+depended on our behaviour.
+
+So living, by the grace of God, we shall make our calling and election
+sure, both to ourselves and others. So living, we may hope to have an
+abundant entrance, and to enter harbour in full sail, whenever we change
+earth for heaven. (2 Peter i. 11.) So living, we shall recommend our
+Father's family to others, and perhaps by God's blessing incline them to
+say, "We will go with you."
+
+
+
+
+XVII
+
+
+OUR HOME!
+
+     "_Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations._"
+
+     Psalm xc. 1.
+
+
+There are two reasons why the text which heads this paper should ring in
+our hearts with special power. It is the first verse of a deeply solemn
+Psalm,--the first bar of a wondrous piece of spiritual music. How others
+feel when they read the ninetieth Psalm I cannot tell. It always makes
+me lean back in my chair and think.
+
+For one thing, this ninetieth Psalm is the only Psalm composed by
+"Moses, the man of God."[12] It expresses that holy man's feelings, as
+he saw the whole generation whom he had led forth from Egypt, dying in
+the wilderness. Year after year he saw that fearful judgment fulfilling,
+which Israel brought on itself by unbelief:--"Your carcases shall fall
+in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your
+whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured
+against Me, doubtless ye shall not come into the land." (Num. xiv. 29.)
+One after another he saw the heads of the families whom he had led forth
+from Egypt, laying their bones in the desert. For forty long years he
+saw the strong, the swift, the wise, the tender, the beautiful, who had
+crossed the Red Sea with him in triumph, cut down and withering like
+grass. For forty years he saw his companions continually changing,
+consuming, and passing away. Who can wonder that he should say, "Lord,
+Thou art our dwelling-place." We are all pilgrims and strangers upon
+earth, and there is none abiding. "Lord, Thou art our home."
+
+  12: I am quite aware that I have no direct authority for this
+  statement, except the prefatory heading at the beginning of the
+  Psalm. However ancient those headings may be, it is agreed among
+  learned men that they were not given by inspiration, and must not be
+  regarded as a part of God's Word. There is, nevertheless, a curious
+  amount of agreement among critics, that in the case of this
+  ninetieth Psalm the tradition about its authorship is not without
+  foundation.
+
+For another thing, the ninetieth Psalm forms part of the Burial Service
+of the Church of England. Whatever fault men may find with the
+Prayer-book, I think no one can deny the singular beauty of the Burial
+Service. Beautiful are the texts which it puts into the minister's mouth
+as he meets the coffin at the churchyard gate, and leads the mourners
+into God's house. Beautiful is the chapter from the first Epistle to the
+Corinthians about the resurrection of the body. Beautiful are the
+sentences and prayers appointed to be read as the body is laid in its
+long home. But specially beautiful, to my mind, are the Psalms which are
+selected for reading when the mourners have just taken their places in
+church. I know nothing which sounds so soothing, solemnizing,
+heart-touching, and moving to man's spirit, at that trying moment, as
+the wondrous utterance of the old inspired law-giver: "Lord, Thou hast
+been our dwelling-place." "Lord, Thou art our home."
+
+I want to draw from these words two thoughts that may do the readers of
+this paper some good. An English home is famous all over the world for
+its happiness and comfort. It is a little bit of heaven left upon earth.
+But even an English home is not for ever. The family nest is sure to be
+taken down, and its inmates are sure to be scattered. Bear with me for
+a few short minutes, while I try to set before you the best, truest, and
+happiest home.
+
+
+I. The first thought that I will offer you is this:--I will show you
+_what the world is_.
+
+It is a beautiful world in many respects, I freely admit. Its seas and
+rivers, its sunrises and sunsets, its mountains and valleys, its
+harvests and its forests, its fruits and its flowers, its days and its
+nights, all, all are beautiful in their way. Cold and unfeeling must
+that heart be which never finds a day in the year when it can admire
+anything in nature! But beautiful as the world is, there are many things
+in it to remind us that it is not home. It is an inn, a tent, a
+tabernacle, a lodging, a training school. But it is not home.
+
+(_a_) It is a _changing_ world. All around us is continually moving,
+altering, and passing away. Families, properties, landlords, tenants,
+farmers, labourers, tradesmen, all are continually on the move. To find
+the same name in the same dwelling for three generations running is so
+uncommon, that it is the exception and not the rule. A world so full of
+change cannot be called home.
+
+(_b_) It is a _trying and disappointing_ world. Who ever lives to be
+fifty years old and does not find to his cost that it is so? Trials in
+married life and trials in single life,--trials in children and trials
+in brothers and sisters,--trials in money matters and trials in
+health,--how many they are! Their name is legion. And not the tenth part
+of them perhaps ever comes to light. Few indeed are the families which
+have not "a skeleton in the closet." A world so full of trial and
+disappointment cannot be called home.
+
+(_c_) It is a _dying_ world. Death is continually about us and near us,
+and meets us at every turn. Few are the family gatherings, when
+Christmas comes round, in which there are not some empty chairs and
+vacant places. Few are the men and women, past thirty, who could not
+number a long list of names, deeply cut for ever in their hearts, but
+names of beloved ones now dead and gone. Where are our fathers and
+mothers? Where are our ministers and teachers? Where are our brothers
+and sisters? Where are our husbands and wives? Where are our neighbours
+and friends? Where are the old grey-headed worshippers, whose reverent
+faces we remember so well, when we first went to God's house? Where are
+the boys and girls we played with when we went to school? How many must
+reply, "Dead, dead, dead! The daisies are growing over their graves, and
+we are left alone." Surely a world so full of death can never be called
+a home.
+
+(_d_) It is a _scattering and dividing_ world. Families are continually
+breaking up, and going in different directions. How rarely do the
+members of a family ever meet together again, after the surviving parent
+is laid in the grave! The band of union seems snapped, and nothing welds
+it again. The cement seems withdrawn from the parts of the building, and
+the whole principle of cohesion is lost. How often some miserable
+squabble about trinkets, or some wretched wrangle about money, makes a
+breach that is never healed, and, like a crack in china, though riveted,
+can never be quite cured! Rarely indeed do those who played in the same
+nursery lie down at length in the same churchyard, or keep peace with
+one another till they die. A world so full of division can never be
+home.
+
+These are ancient things. It is useless to be surprised at them. They
+are the bitter fruit of sin, and the sorrowful consequence of the fall.
+Change, trial, death, and division, all entered into the world when Adam
+and Eve transgressed. We must not murmur. We must not fret. We must not
+complain. We must accept the situation in which we find ourselves. We
+must each do our best to lighten the sorrows, and increase the comforts
+of our position. We must steadily resolve to make the best of everybody
+and everything around us. But we must never, never, never, forget that
+the world is not home.
+
+Are you young? Does all around and before you seem bright, and cheerful,
+and happy? Do you secretly think in your own mind that I take too gloomy
+a view of the world? Take care. You will not say so by and by. Be wise
+betimes. Learn to moderate your expectations. Depend on it, the less you
+expect from people and things here below the happier you will be.
+
+Are you prosperous in the world? Have death, and sickness, and
+disappointment, and poverty, and family troubles, passed over your door
+up to this time, and not come in? Are you secretly saying to yourself,
+"Nothing can hurt me much. I shall die quietly in my bed, and see no
+sorrow." Take care. You are not yet in harbour. A sudden storm of
+unexpected trouble may make you change your note. Set not your affection
+on things below. Hold them with a very loose hand, and be ready to
+surrender them at a moment's notice. Use your prosperity well while you
+have it; but lean not all your weight on it, lest it break suddenly and
+pierce your hand.
+
+Have you a happy home? Are you going to spend Christmas round a family
+hearth, where sickness, and death, and poverty, and partings, and
+quarrellings, have never yet been seen? Be thankful for it: oh, be
+thankful for it! A really happy Christian home is the nearest approach
+to heaven on earth. But take care. This state of things will not last
+for ever. It must have an end; and if you are wise, you will never
+forget that--"the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have
+wives be as though they had none; and they that weep, as though they
+wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they
+that buy, as though they possessed not; and they that use this world, as
+not abusing it; for the fashion of this world passeth away." (1 Cor.
+vii. 29--31.)
+
+
+II. The second thought that I will offer you is this: I will show you
+_what Christ is, even in this life, to true Christians_.
+
+Heaven, beyond doubt, is the final home in which a true Christian will
+dwell at last. Towards that he is daily travelling: nearer to that he is
+daily coming. "We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were
+dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands,
+eternal in the heavens." (2 Cor. v. 1.) Body and soul united once more,
+renewed, beautified, and perfected, will live for ever in the Father's
+great house in heaven. To that home we have not yet come. We are not yet
+in heaven.
+
+But is there meanwhile no home for our souls? Is there no spiritual
+dwelling-place to which we may continually repair in this desolate
+world, and, repairing to it, find rest and peace? Thank God, there is no
+difficulty in finding an answer to that question. There is a home
+provided for all labouring and heavy-laden souls, and that home is
+Christ. To know Christ by faith, to live the life of faith in Him, to
+abide in Him daily by faith, to flee to Him in every storm of
+conscience, to use Him as our refuge in every day of trouble, to employ
+Him as our Priest, Confessor, Absolver, and spiritual Director, every
+morning and evening in our lives,--this is to be at home spiritually,
+even before we die. To all sinners of mankind who by faith use Christ in
+this fashion, Christ is in the highest sense a dwelling-place. They can
+say with truth, "We are pilgrims and strangers on earth, and yet we have
+a home."
+
+Of all the emblems and figures under which Christ is set before man, I
+know few more cheering and comforting than the one before us. Home is
+one of the sweetest, tenderest words in the English language. Home is
+the place with which our pleasantest thoughts are closely bound up. All
+that the best and happiest home is to its inmates, that Christ is to
+the soul that believes on Him. In the midst of a dying, changing,
+disappointing world, a true Christian has always something which no
+power on earth can take away. Morning, noon, and night, he has near him
+a living Refuge,--a living home for his soul. You may rob him of life,
+and liberty, and money; you may take from him health, and lands, and
+house, and friends; but, do what you will, you cannot rob him of his
+home. Like those humblest of God's creatures which carry their shells on
+their backs, wherever they are, so the Christian, wherever he goes,
+carries his home. No wonder that holy Baxter sings,--
+
+    "What if in prison I must dwell,
+       May I not then converse with Thee?
+     Save me from sin, Thy wrath, and hell,--
+       Call me Thy child, and I am free!"
+
+(_a_) No home like Christ! In Him there is _room for all_, and room for
+all sorts. None are unwelcome guests and visitors, and none are refused
+admission. The door is always on the latch, and never bolted. The best
+robe, the fatted calf, the ring, the shoes are always ready for all
+comers. What though in time past you have been the vilest of the vile, a
+servant of sin, an enemy of all righteousness, a Pharisee of Pharisees,
+a Sadducee of Sadducees, a publican of publicans? It matters nothing:
+there is yet hope. All may be pardoned, forgiven, and forgotten. There
+is a home and refuge where your soul may be admitted this very day. That
+home is Christ. "Come unto Me," He cries: "Knock, and it shall be opened
+unto you." (Matt. xi. 28; vii. 7.)
+
+(_b_) No home like Christ! In Him there is boundless and unwearied
+_mercy for all_, even after admission. None are rejected and cast forth
+again after probation, because they are too weak and bad to stay. Oh,
+no! Whom He receives, them He always keeps. Where He begins, there He
+makes a good end. Whom He admits, them He at once fully justifies. Whom
+He justifies, them He also sanctifies. Whom He sanctifies, them He also
+glorifies. No hopeless characters are ever sent away from His house. No
+men or women are ever found too bad to heal and renew. Nothing is too
+hard for Him to do who made the world out of nothing. He who is Himself
+the Home, hath said it, and will stand to it: "Him that cometh unto Me,
+I will in no wise cast out." (John vi. 37.)
+
+(_c_) No home like Christ! In Him there is unvarying _kindness_,
+_patience_, _and gentle dealing for all_. He is not "an austere man,"
+but "meek and lowly in heart." (Matt. xi. 29.) None who apply to Him are
+ever treated roughly, or made to feel that their company is not welcome.
+A feast of fat things is always provided for them. The holy Spirit is
+placed in their hearts, and dwells in them as in a temple. Leading,
+guiding, and instruction are daily provided for them. If they err, they
+are brought back into the right way; if they fall, they are raised
+again; if they transgress wilfully, they are chastised to make them
+better. But the rule of the whole house is love.
+
+(_d_) No home like Christ! In Him there is _no change_. From youth to
+age He loves all who come to Him, and is never tired of doing them good.
+Earthly homes, alas, are full of fickleness and uncertainty. Favour is
+deceitful. Courtesy and civility are often on men's lips, while inwardly
+they are weary of your company and wish you were gone. You seldom know
+how long your presence is welcome, or to what extent your friends really
+care to see you. But it is not so with Christ. "He is the same
+yesterday, and to-day, and for ever." (Heb. xiii. 8.)
+
+(_e_) No home like Christ! Communion once begun with Him shall _never be
+broken off_. Once joined to the Lord by faith, you are joined to Him for
+an endless eternity. Earthly homes always come to an end sooner or
+later: the dear old furniture is sold and dispersed; the dear old heads
+of the family are gathered to their fathers; the dear old nest is pulled
+to pieces. But it is not so with Christ. Faith will at length be
+swallowed up in sight: hope shall at last be changed into certainty. We
+shall see one day with our eyes, and no longer need to believe. We shall
+be moved from the lower chamber to the upper, and from the outer court
+to the Holy of Holies. But once in Christ, we shall never be out of
+Christ. Once let our name be placed in the Lamb's book of life, and we
+belong to a home which shall continue for evermore.
+
+(1) And now, before I conclude, let me ask every reader of this paper a
+plain question. _Have you got a home for your soul?_ Is it safe? Is it
+pardoned? Is it justified? Is it prepared to meet God? With all my heart
+I wish you a happy home. But remember my question. Amidst the greetings
+and salutations of home, amidst the meetings and partings, amidst the
+laughter and merriment, amidst the joys and sympathies and affections,
+think, think of my question,--Have you got a home for your soul?
+
+Our earthly homes will soon be closed for ever. Time hastens on with
+giant strides. Old age and death will be upon us before many years have
+passed away. Oh, seek an abiding home for the better part of you,--the
+part that never dies! Before it be too late seek a home for your soul.
+
+Seek Christ, that you may be safe. Woe to the man who is found outside
+the ark when the flood of God's wrath bursts at length on a sinful
+world!--Seek Christ, that you may be happy. None have a real right to be
+cheerful, merry, light-hearted, and at ease, excepting those who have
+got a home for their souls. Once more I say, Seek Christ without delay.
+
+(2) If Christ is the home of your soul, _accept a friendly caution_.
+Beware of being ashamed of your home in any place or company.
+
+The man who is ashamed of the home where he was born, the parents that
+brought him up when a baby, the brothers and sisters that played with
+him,--that man, as a general rule, may be set down as a mean and
+despicable being. But what shall we say of the man who is ashamed of Him
+who died for him on the cross? What shall we say of the man who is
+ashamed of his religion, ashamed of his Master, ashamed of his home?
+
+Take care that you are not that man. Whatever others around you please
+to think, do you never be ashamed of being a Christian. Let them laugh,
+and mock, and jest, and scoff, if they will. They will not scoff in the
+hour of death and in the day of judgment. Hoist your flag; show your
+colours; nail them to the mast. Of drinking, gambling, lying, swearing,
+Sabbath-breaking, idleness, pride, you may well be ashamed. Of
+Bible-reading, praying, and belonging to Christ, you have no cause to be
+ashamed at all. Let those laugh that win. A good soldier is never
+ashamed of his Queen's colours, and his uniform. Take care that you are
+never ashamed of your Master. Never be ashamed of your home.
+
+(3) If Christ is the home of your soul, _accept a piece of friendly
+advice_. Let nothing tempt you to stray away from home.
+
+The world and the devil will often try hard to make you drop your
+religion for a little season, and walk with them. Your own flesh will
+whisper that there is no danger in going a little with them, and that it
+can do you no mighty harm. Take care, I say: take care when you are
+tempted in this fashion. Take care of looking back, like Lot's wife.
+Forsake not your home.
+
+There are pleasures in sin no doubt, but they are not real and
+satisfactory. There is an excitement and short-lived enjoyment in the
+world's ways, beyond all question, but it is joy that leaves a bitter
+taste behind it. Oh, no! wisdom's ways alone are ways of pleasantness,
+and wisdom's paths alone are paths of peace. Cleave to them strictly
+and turn not aside. Follow the Lamb whithersoever He goes. Stick to
+Christ and His rule, through evil report and good report. The longer you
+live the happier you will find His service: the more ready will you be
+to sing, in the highest sense, "There is no place like home."
+
+(4) If Christ is the home of your soul, _accept a hint about your duty_.
+Mind that you take every opportunity of telling others about your
+happiness. Tell them THAT, wherever you are. Tell them that you have a
+happy home.
+
+Tell them, if they will hear you, that you find Christ a good Master,
+and Christ's service a happy service. Tell them that His yoke is easy,
+and His burden is light. Tell them that, whatever the devil may say, the
+rules of your home are not grievous, and that your Master pays far
+better wages than the world does! Try to do a little good wherever you
+are. Try to enlist more inmates for your happy home. Say to your friends
+and relatives, if they will listen, as one did of old, "Come with us,
+and we will do you good; for the Lord hath spoken good concerning
+Israel." (Numbers x. 29.)
+
+
+
+
+XVIII
+
+
+HEIRS OF GOD
+
+     "_As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of
+     God._
+
+     "_For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear;
+     but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry,
+     Abba, Father._
+
+     "_The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we
+     are the children of God_:
+
+     "_And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs
+     with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be
+     also glorified together._"--(Romans viii. 14--17.)
+
+
+The people of whom St. Paul speaks in the verses before our eyes are the
+richest people upon earth. It must needs be so. They are called "heirs
+of God, and joint heirs with Christ."
+
+The inheritance of these people is the only inheritance _really worth
+having_. All others are unsatisfying and disappointing. They bring with
+them many cares. They cannot cure an aching heart, or lighten a heavy
+conscience. They cannot keep off family troubles. They cannot prevent
+sicknesses, bereavements, separations, and deaths. But there is no
+disappointment among the "heirs of God."
+
+The inheritance =I= speak of is the only inheritance _which can be kept
+for ever_. All others must be left in the hour of death, if they have
+not been taken away before. The owners of millions of pounds can carry
+nothing with them beyond the grave. But it is not so with the "heirs of
+God." Their inheritance is eternal.
+
+The inheritance I speak of is the only inheritance _which is within
+every body's reach_. Most men can never obtain riches and greatness,
+though they labour hard for them all their lives. But glory, honour, and
+eternal life, are offered to every man freely, who is willing to accept
+them on God's terms. "Whosoever will," may be an "heir of God, and joint
+heir with Christ."
+
+If any reader of this paper wishes to have a portion of this
+inheritance, let him know that he must be a member of that one family on
+earth to which it belongs, and that is the family of all true
+Christians. You must become one of God's children on earth, if you
+desire to have glory in heaven. I write this paper in order to persuade
+you to become a child of God this day, if you are not one already. I
+write it to persuade you to make sure work that you are one, if at
+present you have only a vague hope, and nothing more. None but true
+Christians are the children of God! None but the children of God are
+heirs of God! Give me your attention, while I try to unfold to you these
+things, and to show the lessons contained in the verses which head this
+page.
+
+
+    I. Let me show _the relation of all true Christians to God. They are
+    "sons of God._"
+
+    II. Let me show _the special evidences of this relation_. True
+    Christians are "_led by the Spirit_." They have "_the Spirit of
+    adoption_." They have the "_witness of the Spirit_." They "_suffer
+    with Christ_."
+
+    III. Let me show _the privileges of this relation_. True Christians
+    are "_heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ_."
+
+
+I. First let me show _the relation of all true Christians to God_. They
+are God's "Sons."
+
+I know no higher and more comfortable word that could have been chosen.
+To be servants of God,--to be subjects, soldiers, disciples,
+friends,--all these are excellent titles; but to be the "sons" of God is
+a step higher still. What says the Scripture? "The servant abideth not
+in the house for ever, but the Son abideth ever." (John viii. 35.)
+
+To be son of the rich and noble in this world,--to be son of the princes
+and kings of the earth,--this is commonly reckoned a great temporal
+advantage and privilege. But to be a son of the King of kings, and Lord
+of lords,--to be a son of the High and Holy One, who inhabiteth
+eternity,--this is something far higher. And yet this is the portion of
+every true Christian.
+
+The son of an earthly parent looks naturally to his father for
+affection, maintenance, provision, and education. There is a home always
+open to him. There is a love which, generally speaking, no bad conduct
+can completely extinguish. All these are things belonging even to the
+sonship of this world. Think then how great is the privilege of that
+poor sinner of mankind who can say of God, "He is my Father."
+
+But HOW can sinful men like ourselves become sons of God? When do we
+enter into this glorious relationship? We are not the sons of God by
+nature. We were not born so when we came into the world. No man has a
+natural right to look to God as his Father. It is a vile heresy to say
+that he has. Men are said to be born poets and painters,--but men are
+never born sons of God. The Epistle to the Ephesians tells us, "Ye were
+by nature children of wrath, even as others." (Ephes. ii. 3.) The
+Epistle of St. John says, "The children of God are manifest, and the
+children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God."
+(1 John iii. 10.) The Catechism of the Church of England wisely follows
+the doctrine of the Bible, and teaches us to say, "By nature we are
+born in sin, and children of wrath." Yes: we are all rather children of
+the devil, than children of God! Sin is indeed hereditary, and runs in
+the family of Adam. Grace is anything but hereditary, and holy men have
+not, as a matter of course, holy sons. How then and when does this
+mighty change and translation come upon men? When and in what manner do
+sinners become the "sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty?" (2 Cor vi.
+18.)
+
+Men become sons of God in the day that the Spirit leads them to believe
+on Jesus Christ for salvation, and not before.[13] What says the Epistle
+to the Galatians? "Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ
+Jesus." (Gal. iii. 26.) What says the first Epistle to the Corinthians?
+"Of Him are ye in Christ Jesus." (1 Cor. i. 30.) What says the Gospel of
+John? "As many as received Christ, to them gave He power (or privilege)
+to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name." (John
+i. 12.) Faith unites the sinner to the Son of God, and makes him one of
+His members. Faith makes him one of those in whom the Father sees no
+spot, and is well-pleased. Faith marries him to the beloved Son of God,
+and entitles him to be reckoned among the sons. Faith gives him
+"fellowship with the Father and the Son." (1 John i. 3.) Faith grafts
+him into the Father's family, and opens up to him a room in the Father's
+house. Faith gives him life instead of death, and makes him, instead of
+being a servant, a son. Show me a man that has this faith, and, whatever
+be his church or denomination, I say that he is a son of God.
+
+  13: The reader will of course understand that I am not speaking now
+  of children who die in infancy, or of persons who live and die
+  idiots.
+
+This is one of those points we should never forget. You and I know
+nothing of a man's sonship _until he believes_. No doubt the sons of God
+are foreknown and chosen from all eternity, and predestinated to
+adoption. But, remember, it is not till they are called in due time, and
+believe,--it is not till then that you and I can be certain they are
+sons. It is not till they repent and believe, that the angels of God
+rejoice over them. The angels cannot read the book of God's election:
+they know not who are "His hidden ones" in the earth. (Ps. lxxxiii. 3.)
+They rejoice over no man till he believes. But when they see some poor
+sinner repenting and believing, then there is joy among them,--joy that
+one more brand is plucked from the burning, and one more son and heir
+born again to the Father in heaven. (Luke xv. 10.) But once more I say,
+you and I know nothing certain about a man's sonship to God _until he
+believes on Christ_.
+
+I warn you to beware of the delusive notion that all men and women are
+alike children of God, whether they have faith in Christ or not. It is a
+wild theory which many are clinging to in these days, but one which
+cannot be proved out of the Word of God. It is a perilous dream, with
+which many are trying to soothe themselves, but one from which there
+will be a fearful waking up at the last day.
+
+That God in a certain sense is the universal Father of all mankind, I do
+not pretend to deny. He is the Great First Cause of all things. He is
+the Creator of all mankind, and in Him alone, all men, whether
+Christians or heathens, "live and move and have their being." All this
+is unquestionably true. In this sense Paul told the Athenians, a poet of
+their own had truly said, "we are His offspring." (Acts xvii. 28.) But
+this sonship gives no man a title to heaven. The sonship which we have
+by creation is one which belongs to stones, trees, beasts, or even to
+the devils, as much as to us. (Job i. 6.)
+
+That God loves all mankind with a love of pity and compassion, I do not
+deny. "His tender mercies are over all His works."--"He is not willing
+that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."--"He
+has no pleasure in the death of him that dieth." All this I admit to the
+full. In this sense our Lord Jesus tells us, "God so loved the world,
+that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him
+should not perish, but have eternal life." (Ps. cxlv. 9; 2 Peter iii. 9;
+Ezek. xviii. 32; John iii. 16.)
+
+But that God is a reconciled and pardoning Father to any but the members
+of His Son Jesus Christ, and that any are members of Jesus Christ who do
+not believe on Him for salvation,--this is a doctrine which I utterly
+deny. The holiness and justice of God are both against the doctrine.
+They make it impossible for sinful men to approach God, excepting
+through the Mediator. They tell us that God out of Christ is "a
+consuming fire." (Heb. xii. 29.) The whole system of the new Testament
+is against the doctrine. That system teaches that no man can claim
+interest in Christ unless he will receive Him as his Mediator, and
+believe on Him as his Saviour. Where there is no faith in Christ it is a
+dangerous error to say that a man may take comfort in God as his Father.
+God is a reconciled Father to none but the members of Christ.
+
+It is unreasonable to talk of the view I am now upholding as
+narrow-minded and harsh. The Gospel sets an open door before every man.
+Its promises are wide and full. Its invitations are earnest and tender.
+Its requirements are simple and clear. "Only believe on the Lord Jesus
+Christ, and, whosoever thou art, thou shalt be saved." But to say that
+proud men, who will not bow their necks to the easy yoke of Christ, and
+worldly men who are determined to have their own way and their sins,--to
+say that such men have a right to claim an interest in Christ, and a
+right to call themselves sons of God, is to say what never can be proved
+from Scripture. God offers to be their Father; but He does it on certain
+distinct terms:--they must draw near to Him through Christ. Christ
+offers to be their Saviour; but in doing it He makes one simple
+requirement:--they must commit their souls to Him, and give Him their
+hearts. They refuse the _terms_, and yet dare to call God their Father!
+They scorn the _requirement_, and yet dare to hope that Christ will save
+them! God is to be their Father,--but on their own terms! Christ is to
+be their Saviour,--but on their own conditions! What can be more
+unreasonable? What can be more proud? What can be more unholy than such
+a doctrine as this? Let us beware of it, for it is a common doctrine in
+these latter days. Let us beware of it, for it is often speciously put
+forward, and sounds beautiful and charitable in the mouth of poets,
+novelists, sentimentalists, and tender-hearted women. Let us beware of
+it, unless we mean to throw aside our Bible altogether, and set up
+ourselves to be wiser than God. Let us stand fast on the old Scriptural
+ground: _No sonship to God without Christ! No interest in Christ without
+faith!_
+
+I would to God there was not so much cause for giving warnings of this
+kind. I have reason to think they need to be given clearly and
+unmistakably. There is a school of theology rising up in this day, which
+appears to me most eminently calculated to promote infidelity, to help
+the devil, and to ruin souls. It comes to us like Joab to Amasa, with
+the highest professions of charity, liberality, and love. God is all
+mercy and love, according to this theology:--His holiness and justice
+are completely left out of sight! Hell is never spoken of in this
+theology:--its talk is all of heaven! Damnation is never mentioned:--it
+is treated as an impossible thing:--all men and women are to be saved!
+Faith, and the work of the Spirit, are refined away into nothing at all!
+"Everybody who believes anything has faith! Everybody who thinks
+anything has the Spirit! Everybody is right! Nobody is wrong! Nobody is
+to blame for any action he may commit! It is the result of his position.
+It is the effect of circumstances! He is not accountable for his
+opinions, any more than for the colour of his skin! He must be what he
+is! The Bible is a very imperfect book! It is old-fashioned! It is
+obsolete! We may believe just as much of it as we please, and no
+more!"--Of all this theology I warn men solemnly to beware. In spite of
+big swelling words about "liberality," and "charity," and "broad views,"
+and "new lights," and "freedom from bigotry," and so forth, I do believe
+it to be a theology that leads to hell.
+
+(_a_) _Facts_ are directly against the teachers of this theology. Let
+them visit Mesopotamia, and see what desolation reigns where Nineveh and
+Babylon once stood. Let them go to the shores of the Dead Sea, and look
+down into its mysterious bitter waters. Let them travel in Palestine,
+and ask what has turned that fertile country into a wilderness. Let them
+observe the wandering Jews, scattered over the face of the world,
+without a land of their own, and yet never absorbed among other nations.
+And then let them tell us, if they dare, that God is so entirely a God
+of mercy and love that He never does and never will punish sin.
+
+(_b_) _The conscience of man_ is directly against these teachers. Let
+them go to the bedside of some dying child of the world, and try to
+comfort him with their doctrines. Let them see if their vaunted theories
+will calm his gnawing, restless anxiety about the future, and enable him
+to depart in peace. Let them show us, if they can, a few
+well-authenticated cases of joy and happiness in death without Bible
+promises,--without conversion,--and without that faith in the blood of
+Christ, which old-fashioned theology enjoins. Alas! when men are leaving
+the world, conscience makes sad work of the new systems of these latter
+days. Conscience is not easily satisfied, in a dying hour, that there is
+no such thing as hell.
+
+(_c_) _Every reasonable conception that we can form of a future state_
+is directly against these teachers. Fancy a heaven which should contain
+all mankind! Fancy a heaven in which holy and unholy, pure and impure,
+good and bad, would be all gathered together in one confused mass! What
+point of union would there be in such a company? What common bond of
+harmony and brotherhood? What common delight in a common service? What
+concord, what harmony, what peace, what oneness of spirit could exist?
+Surely the mind revolts from the idea of a heaven in which there would
+be no distinction between the righteous and the wicked,--between Pharaoh
+and Moses, between Abraham and the Sodomites, between Paul and Nero,
+between Peter and Judas Iscariot, between the man who dies in the act of
+murder or drunkenness, and men like Baxter, George Herbert, Wilberforce,
+and M'Cheyne! Surely an eternity in such a miserably confused crowd
+would be worse than annihilation itself! Surely such a heaven would be
+no better than hell!
+
+(_d_) The _interests of all holiness and morality_ are directly against
+these teachers. If all men and women alike are God's children, whatever
+is the difference between them in their lives,--and all alike going to
+heaven, however different they may be from one another here in the
+world,--where is the use of labouring after holiness at all? What motive
+remains for living soberly, righteously, and godly? What does it matter
+how men conduct themselves, if all go to heaven, and nobody goes to
+hell? Surely the heathen poets and philosophers of Greece and Rome could
+tell us something better and wiser than this! Surely a doctrine which is
+subversive of holiness and morality, and takes away all motives to
+exertion, carries on the face of it the stamp of its origin. It is of
+earth, and not of heaven. It is of the devil, and not of God.
+
+(_e_) _The Bible_ is against these teachers from first to last. Hundreds
+of texts might be quoted which are diametrically opposed to their
+theories. These texts must be rejected summarily, if the Bible is to
+square with their views. There may be no reason why they should be
+rejected,--but to suit the theology I speak of they must be thrown away!
+At this rate the authority of the whole Bible is soon at an end. And
+what do men give us in its place? Nothing,--nothing at all! They rob us
+of the bread of life, and do not give us in its stead so much as a
+stone.
+
+Once more I warn all into whose hands this volume may fall to beware of
+this theology. I charge you to hold fast the doctrine which I have been
+endeavouring to uphold in this paper. Remember what I have said, and
+never let it go. No inheritance of glory without sonship to God! No
+sonship to God without an interest in Christ! No interest in Christ
+without your own personal faith! This is God's truth. Never forsake it.
+
+Who now among the readers of this paper _desires to know whether he is a
+son of God_? Ask yourself this question, and ask it this day,--and ask
+it as in God's sight, whether you have repented and believed. Ask
+yourself whether you are experimentally acquainted with Christ, and
+united to Him in heart. If not you may be very sure you are no son of
+God. You are not yet born again. You are yet in your sins. Your Father
+in creation God may be, but your reconciled and pardoning Father God is
+not. Yes! though Church and world may agree to tell you to the
+contrary,--though clergy and laity unite in flattering you,--your
+sonship is worth little or nothing in the sight of God. Let God be true
+and every man a liar. Without faith in Christ you are no son of God: you
+are not born again.
+
+Who is there among the readers of this paper who _desires to become a
+son of God_? Let that person see and feel his sins, and flee to Christ
+for salvation, and this day he shall be placed among the children.--Only
+acknowledge thine iniquity, and lay hold on the hand that Jesus holds
+out to thee this day, and sonship, with all it privileges, is thine
+own. Only confess thy sins, and bring them unto Christ, and God is
+"faithful and just to forgive thee thy sins, and cleanse thee from all
+unrighteousness." (1 John i. 9.) This very day old things shall pass
+away, and all things become new. This very day thou shalt be forgiven,
+pardoned, "accepted in the Beloved." (Ephes. i. 6.) This very day thou
+shalt have a new name given to thee in heaven. Thou didst take up this
+book a child of wrath. Thou shalt lie down to night a child of God. Mark
+this, if thy professed desire after sonship is sincere,--if thou art
+truly weary of thy sins, and hast really something more than a lazy wish
+to be free,--there is real comfort for thee. It is all true. It is all
+written in Scripture, even as I have put it down. I dare not raise
+barriers between thee and God. This day I say, Believe on the Lord Jesus
+Christ, and thou shalt be "a son," and be saved.
+
+Who is there among the readers of this paper that _is a son of God
+indeed_? Rejoice, I say, and be exceeding glad of your privileges.
+Rejoice, for you have good cause to be thankful. Remember the words of
+the beloved apostle: "Behold what manner of love the Father hath
+bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God." (1 John
+iii. 1.) How wonderful that heaven should look down on earth,--that the
+holy God should set His affections on sinful man, and admit him into His
+family! What though the world does not understand you! What though the
+men of this world laugh at you, and cast out your name as evil! Let them
+laugh if they will. God is your Father. You have no need to be ashamed.
+The Queen can create a nobleman. The Bishops can ordain clergymen. But
+Queen, Lords, and Commons,--bishops, priests, and deacons,--all together
+cannot, of their own power, make one son of God, or one of greater
+dignity than a son of God. The man that can call God his Father, and
+Christ his elder brother,--that man may be poor and lowly, yet he never
+need be ashamed.
+
+
+II. Let me show, in the second place, _the special evidences of the true
+Christians relation to God_.
+
+How shall a man make sure work of his own sonship? How shall he find out
+whether he is one that has come to Christ by faith and been born again?
+What are the marks and signs, and tokens, by which the "sons of God" may
+be known? This is a question which all who love eternal life ought to
+ask. This is a question to which the verses of Scripture I am asking you
+to consider, like many others, supply an answer.
+
+(1) The sons of God, for one thing, are all _led by His Spirit_. What
+says the Scripture which heads this paper? "As many as are led by the
+Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." (Rom. viii. 14.)
+
+They are all under the leading and teaching of a power which is
+Almighty, though unseen,--even the power of the Holy Ghost. They no
+longer turn every man to his own way, and walk every man in the light of
+His own eyes, and follow every man his own natural heart's desire. The
+Spirit leads them. The Spirit guides them. There is a movement in their
+hearts, lives, and affections, which they feel, though they may not be
+able to explain, and a movement which is always more or less in the same
+direction.
+
+They are led away from sin,--away from self-righteousness,--away from
+the world. This is the road by which the Spirit leads God's children.
+Those whom God adopts He teaches and trains. He shows them their own
+hearts. He makes them weary of their own ways. He makes them long for
+inward peace.
+
+They are led to Christ. They are led to the Bible. They are led to
+prayer. They are led to holiness. This is the beaten path along which
+the Spirit makes them to travel. Those whom God adopts He always
+sanctifies. He makes sin very bitter to them. He makes holiness very
+sweet.
+
+It is the Spirit who leads them to Sinai, and first shows them the law,
+that their hearts may be broken. It is He who leads them to Calvary, and
+shows them the cross, that their hearts may be bound up and healed. It
+is He who leads them to Pisgah, and gives them distinct views of the
+promised land, that their hearts may be cheered. When they are taken
+into the wilderness, and taught to see their own emptiness, it is the
+leading of the Spirit. When they are carried up to Tabor or Hermon, and
+lifted up with glimpses of the glory to come, it is the leading of the
+Spirit. Each and all of God's sons is the subject of these leadings.
+Each and every one is "willing in the day of the Spirit's power," and
+yields himself to it. And each and all is led by the right way, to bring
+him to a city of habitation. (Ps. cx. 3; cvii. 7.)
+
+Settle this down in your heart, and do not let it go. The sons of God
+are a people "led by the Spirit of God," and always led more or less in
+the same way. Their experience will tally wonderfully when they compare
+notes in heaven. This is one mark of sonship.
+
+(2) Furthermore, all the sons of God _have the feelings of adopted
+children towards their Father in heaven_. What says the Scripture which
+heads this paper? "Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to
+fear, but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry Abba
+Father." (Rom. viii. 15.)
+
+The sons of God are delivered from that slavish fear of God which sin
+begets in the natural heart. They are redeemed from that feeling of
+guilt which made Adam "hide himself in the trees of the garden," and
+Cain "go out from the presence of the Lord." (Gen. iii. 8; iv. 16.) They
+are no longer afraid of God's holiness, and justice, and majesty. They
+no longer feel as if there was a great gulf and barrier between
+themselves and God, and as if God was angry with them, and must be angry
+with them, because of their sins. From these chains and fetters of the
+soul the sons of God are delivered.
+
+Their feelings towards God are now those of peace and confidence. They
+see Him as a Father reconciled in Christ Jesus. They look on Him as a
+God whose attributes are all satisfied by their great Mediator and
+Peacemaker, the Lord Jesus,--as a God who is "just, and yet the
+Justifier of every one that believeth on Jesus." (Rom. iii. 26.) As a
+Father, they draw near to Him with boldness: as a Father, they can speak
+to Him with freedom. They have exchanged the spirit of bondage for that
+of liberty, and the spirit of fear for that of love. They know that God
+is holy, but they are not afraid: they know that they are sinners, but
+they are not afraid. Though holy, they believe that God is completely
+reconciled: though sinners, they believe they are clothed all over with
+Jesus Christ. Such is the feeling of the sons of God.
+
+I allow that some of them have this feeling more vividly than others.
+Some of them carry about scraps and remnants of the old spirit of
+bondage to their dying day. Many of them have fits and paroxysms of the
+old man's complaint of fear returning upon them at intervals. But very
+few of the sons of God could be found who would not say, if
+cross-examined, that since they knew Christ they have had very different
+feelings towards God from what they ever had before. They feel as if
+something like the old Roman form of adoption had taken place between
+themselves and their Father in heaven. They feel as if He had said to
+each one of them, "Wilt thou be my son?" and as if their hearts had
+replied, "I will."
+
+Let us try to grasp this also, and hold it fast. The sons of God are a
+people who feel towards God in a way that the children of the world do
+not. They feel no more slavish fear towards Him: they feel towards Him
+as a reconciled parent. This, then, is another mark of sonship.
+
+(3) But, again, the sons of God _have the witness of the Spirit in their
+consciences_. What says the Scripture which heads this paper? "The
+Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children
+of God." (Rom. viii. 16.)
+
+The sons of God have got something within their hearts which tells them
+there is a relationship between themselves and God. They feel something
+which tells them that old things are passed away, and all things become
+new: that guilt is gone, that peace is restored, that heaven's door is
+open, and hell's door is shut. They have, in short, what the children of
+the world have not,--a felt, positive, reasonable hope. They have what
+Paul calls the "seal" and "earnest" of the Spirit. (2 Cor. i. 22; Eph.
+i. 13.)
+
+I do not for a moment deny that this witness of the Spirit is
+exceedingly various in the extent to which the sons of God possess it.
+With some it is a loud, clear, ringing, distinct testimony of
+conscience: "I am Christ's, and Christ is mine." With others it is a
+little, feeble, stammering whisper, which the devil and the flesh often
+prevent being heard. Some of the children of God speed on their course
+towards heaven under the full sails of assurance. Others are tossed to
+and fro all their voyage, and will scarce believe they have got faith.
+But take the least and lowest of the sons of God. Ask him if he will
+give up the little bit of religious hope which he has attained? Ask him
+if he will exchange his heart, with all its doubts and conflicts, its
+fightings and fears,--ask him if he will exchange that heart for the
+heart of the downright worldly and careless man? Ask him if he would be
+content to turn round and throw down the things he has got hold of, and
+go back to the world? Who can doubt what the answer would be I? "I
+cannot do that," he would reply. "I do not know whether I have faith, I
+do not feel sure I have got grace; but I have got something within me I
+would not like to part with." And what is that "_something_"? I will
+tell you.--It is the witness of the Spirit.
+
+Let us try to understand this also. The sons of God have the witness of
+the Spirit in their consciences. This is another mark of sonship.
+
+(4) One thing more let me add. All the sons of God _take part in
+suffering with Christ_. What says the Scripture which heads this paper?
+"If children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if
+so be that we suffer with Him." (Rom. viii. 17.)
+
+All the children of God have a cross to carry. They have trials,
+troubles, and afflictions to go through for the Gospel's sake. They have
+trials from the world,--trials from the flesh,--and trials from the
+devil. They have trials of feeling from relations and friends,--hard
+words, hard treatment, and hard judgment. They have trials in the matter
+of character;--slander, misrepresentation, mockery, insinuation of false
+motives,--all these often rain thick upon them. They have trials in the
+matter of worldly interests. They have often to choose whether they will
+please man and lose glory, or gain glory and offend man. They have
+trials from their own hearts. They have each generally their own thorn
+in the flesh,--their own home-devil, who is their worst foe. This is the
+experience of the sons of God.
+
+Some of them suffer more, and some less. Some of them suffer in one way,
+and some in another. God measures out their portions like a wise
+physician, and cannot err. But never, I believe, was there one child of
+God who reached paradise without a cross.
+
+Suffering is the diet of the Lord's family. "Whom the Lord loveth He
+chasteneth."--"If ye be without chastisement, then are ye bastards, and
+not sons."--"Through much tribulation we must enter the kingdom of
+God."--"All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer
+persecution." (Heb. xii. 6, 8; Acts xiv. 22; 2 Tim. iii. 12.) When
+Bishop Latimer was told by his landlord that he had never had a trouble,
+"Then," said he, "God cannot be here."
+
+Suffering is a part of the process by which the sons of God are
+sanctified. They are chastened to wean them from the world, and make
+them partakers of God's holiness. The Captain of their salvation was
+"made perfect through suffering," and so are they. (Heb. ii. 10; xii.
+10.) There never yet was a great saint who had not either great
+afflictions or great corruptions. Well said Philip Melancthon: "Where
+there are no cares there will generally be no prayers."
+
+Let us try to settle this down into our hearts also. The sons of God
+have all to bear a cross. A suffering Saviour generally has suffering
+disciples. The Bridegroom was a man of sorrows. The Bride must not be a
+woman of pleasures and unacquainted with grief. Blessed are they that
+mourn! Let us not murmur at the cross. This also is a sign of sonship.
+
+I warn men never to suppose that they are sons of God except they have
+the scriptural marks of sonship. Beware of a sonship without evidences.
+Again I say, Beware. When a man has no leading of the Spirit to show me,
+no spirit of adoption to tell of, no witness of the Spirit in his
+conscience, no cross in his experience,--is this man a son of God?
+Whatever others may think I dare not say so! His spot is "not the spot
+of God's children." (Deut. xxxii. 5.) He is no heir of glory.
+
+Tell me not that you have been baptized and taught the catechism of the
+Church of England, and therefore must be a child of God. I tell you that
+the parish register is not the book of life. I tell you that to be
+styled a child of God, and called regenerate in infancy by the faith and
+charity of the Prayer-book, is one thing; but to be a child of God in
+deed, another thing altogether. Go and read that catechism again. It is
+the "death unto sin and the new birth unto righteousness," which makes
+men _children of grace_. Except you know these by experience, you are no
+son of God.
+
+Tell me not that you are a member of Christ's Church, and so must be a
+son. I answer that the sons of the Church are not necessarily the sons
+of God. Such sonship is not the sonship of the eighth of Romans. That is
+the sonship you must have if you are to be saved.
+
+And now, I doubt not some reader of this paper will want to know if he
+may not be saved without the witness of the Spirit.
+
+I answer, If you mean by the witness of the Spirit, the full assurance
+of hope,--You may be so saved, without question. But if you want to know
+whether a man can be saved without _any_ inward sense, or knowledge, or
+hope of salvation, I answer, that ordinarily He cannot. I warn you
+plainly to cast away all indecision as to your state before God, and to
+make your calling sure. Clear up your position and relationship. Do not
+think there is anything praiseworthy in always doubting. Leave that to
+the Papists. Do not fancy it wise and humble to be ever living like the
+borderers of old time, on the "debateable ground." "Assurance," said old
+Dod, the puritan, "may be attained: and what have we been doing all our
+lives, since we became Christians, if we have not attained it?"
+
+I doubt not some true Christians who read this paper will think their
+evidence of sonship is too small to be good, and will write bitter
+things against themselves. Let me try to cheer them. Who gave you the
+feelings you possess? Who made you hate sin? Who made you love Christ?
+Who made you long and labour to be holy? Whence did these feelings come?
+Did they come from nature? There are no such products in a natural man's
+heart.--Did they come from the devil? He would fain stifle such feelings
+altogether.--Cheer up, and take courage. Fear not, neither be cast down.
+Press forward, and go on. There is hope for you after all. Strive.
+Labour. Seek. Ask. Knock. Follow on. You shall yet see that you are
+"sons of God."
+
+
+III. Let me show, in the last place, _the privileges of the true
+Christian's relation to God_.
+
+Nothing can be conceived more glorious than the prospects of the sons of
+God. The words of Scripture which head this paper contain a rich mine of
+good and comfortable things. "If we are children," says Paul, "we are
+heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ,--to be glorified
+together with Him." (Rom. viii. 17.)
+
+True Christians then are "heirs."--Something is prepared for them all
+which is yet to be revealed.
+
+They are "heirs of God."--To be heirs of the rich on earth is something.
+How much more then is it to be son and heir of the King of kings!
+
+They are "joint heirs with Christ." They shall share in His majesty, and
+take part in His glory. They shall be glorified together with Him.
+
+And this, we must remember, is for _all_ the children. Abraham took care
+to provide for all his children, and God takes care to provide for His.
+None of them are disinherited. None will be cast out. None will be cut
+off. Each shall stand in his lot, and have a portion, in the day when
+the Lord brings many sons to glory.
+
+Who can tell the full nature of the inheritance of the saints in light?
+Who can describe the glory which is yet to be revealed and given to the
+children of God? Words fail us. Language falls short. Mind cannot
+conceive fully, and tongue cannot express perfectly, the things which
+are comprised in the glory yet to come upon the sons and daughters of
+the Lord Almighty. Oh, it is indeed a true saying of the Apostle John:
+"It doth not yet appear what we shall be." (1 John iii. 2.)
+
+The very Bible itself only lifts a little of the veil which hangs over
+this subject. How could it do more? We could not thoroughly understand
+more if more had been told us. Our mental constitution is as yet too
+earthly,--our understanding is as yet too carnal to appreciate more if
+we had it. The Bible generally deals with the subject in negative terms
+and not in positive assertions. It describes what there will not be in
+the glorious inheritance, that thus we may get some faint idea of what
+there will be. It paints the _absence_ of certain things, in order that
+we may drink in a little the blessedness of the things _present_. It
+tells us that the inheritance is "incorruptible, undefiled, and fadeth
+not away." It tells us that "the crown of glory fadeth not away." It
+tells us that the devil is to be "bound," that there shall be "no more
+night and no more curse," that "death shall be cast into the lake of
+fire," that "all tears shall be wiped away," and that the inhabitant
+shall no more say, "I am sick." And these are glorious things indeed. No
+corruption!--No fading!--No withering!--No devil!--No curse of sin!--No
+sorrow!--No tears!--No sickness!--No death! Surely the cup of the
+children of God will indeed run over! (1 Pet. i. 4; v. 4; Rev. xx. 2;
+xxi. 25; xxii. 3; xx. 14; xxi. 4; Is. xxxiii. 24.)
+
+But there are positive things told us about the glory yet to come upon
+the heirs of God, which ought not to be kept back. There are many sweet,
+pleasant, and unspeakable comforts in their future inheritance, which
+all true Christians would do well to consider. There are cordials for
+fainting pilgrims in many words and expressions of Scripture, which you
+and I ought to lay up against time of need.
+
+(_a_) Is _knowledge_ pleasant to us now? Is the little that we know
+of God and Christ, and the Bible precious to our souls, and do we
+long for more? We shall have it perfectly in glory. What says the
+Scripture? "Then shall I know even as also I am known." (1 Cor.
+xiii. 12.) Blessed be God, there will be no more disagreements among
+believers! Episcopalians and Presbyterians,--Calvinists and
+Arminians,--Millennarians and Anti-millennarians,--friends of
+Establishments and friends of the Voluntary system,--advocates of
+infant baptism and advocates of adult baptism,--all will at length
+see eye to eye. The former ignorance will have passed away. We shall
+marvel to find how childish and blind we have been.
+
+(_b_) Is _holiness_ pleasant to us now? Is sin the burden and bitterness
+of our lives? Do we long for entire conformity to the image of God? We
+shall have it perfectly in glory. What says the Scripture? "Christ gave
+Himself for the Church," not only that He might sanctify it on earth,
+but also "that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not
+having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing." (Ephes. v. 27.) Oh, the
+blessedness of an eternal good-bye to sin! Oh, how little the best of
+us do at present! Oh, what unutterable corruption sticks, like birdlime,
+to all our motives, all our thoughts, all our words, all our actions!
+Oh, how many of us, like Naphtali, are goodly in our words, but, like
+Reuben, unstable in our works! Thank God, all this shall be changed.
+(Gen. xlix. 4, 21.)
+
+(_c_) Is _rest_ pleasant to us now? Do we often feel "faint though
+pursuing?" (Judges viii. 4.) Do we long for a world in which we need not
+to be always watching and warring? We shall have it perfectly in glory.
+What saith the Scripture? "There remaineth a rest for the people of
+God." (Heb. iv. 9.) The daily, hourly conflict with the world, the
+flesh, and the devil, shall at length be at an end. The enemy shall be
+bound. The warfare shall be over. The wicked shall at last cease from
+troubling. The weary shall at length be at rest. There shall be a great
+calm.
+
+(_d_) Is _service_ pleasant to us now? Do we find it sweet to work for
+Christ, and yet groan being burdened by a feeble body? Is our spirit
+often willing, but hampered and clogged by the poor weak flesh? Have our
+hearts burned within us, when we have been allowed to give a cup of cold
+water for Christ's sake, and have we sighed to think what unprofitable
+servants we are? Let us take comfort. We shall be able to serve
+perfectly in glory, and without weariness. What saith the Scripture?
+"They serve Him day and night in His temple." (Rev. vii. 15.)
+
+(_e_) Is _satisfaction_ pleasant to us now? Do we find the world empty?
+Do we long for the filling up of every void place and gap in our hearts?
+We shall have it perfectly in glory. We shall no longer have to mourn
+over cracks in all our earthen vessels, and thorns in all our roses, and
+bitter dregs in all our sweet cups. We shall no longer lament with Jonah
+over withered gourds. We shall no longer say with Solomon, "All is
+vanity and vexation of spirit." We shall no longer cry with aged David,
+"I have seen an end of all perfection." What saith the Scripture? "I
+shall be satisfied when I awake with Thy likeness." (Eccles. i. 14; Ps.
+cxix. 96; xvii. 15.)
+
+(_f_) Is _communion with the saints_ pleasant to us now? Do we feel that
+we are never so happy as when we are with the "excellent of the earth?"
+Are we never so much at home as in their company? (Ps. xvi. 3.) We shall
+have it perfectly in glory. What saith the Scripture? "The Son of man
+shall send His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all they
+that offend, and them which work iniquity." "He shall send His angels
+with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His
+elect from the four winds." (Matt. xiii. 41; xxiv. 31.) Praised be God!
+We shall see all the saints of whom we have read in the Bible, and in
+whose steps we have tried to walk. We shall see apostles, prophets,
+patriarchs, martyrs, reformers, missionaries, and ministers, of whom the
+world was not worthy. We shall see the faces of those we have known and
+loved in Christ on earth, and over whose departure we shed bitter tears.
+We shall see them more bright and glorious than they ever were before.
+And, best of all, we shall see them without hurry and anxiety, and
+without feeling that we only meet to part again. In the coming glory
+there is no death, no parting, no farewell.
+
+(_g_) Is _communion with Christ_ pleasant to us now? Do we find His
+name precious to us? Do we feel our hearts burn within us at the thought
+of His dying love? We shall have perfect communion with Him in glory.
+"We shall ever be with the Lord." (1 Thess. iv. 17.) We shall be with
+Him in paradise. (Luke xxiii. 43.) We shall see His face in the kingdom.
+These eyes of ours will behold those hands and feet which were pierced
+with nails, and that head which was crowned with thorns. Where He is,
+there will the sons of God be. When He comes, they will come with Him.
+When He sits down in His glory, they shall sit down by His side. Blessed
+prospect indeed! I am a dying man in a dying world. All before me is
+dark. The world to come is a harbour unknown. But Christ is there, and
+that is enough. Surely if there is rest and peace in following Him by
+faith on earth, there will be far more rest and peace when we see Him
+face to face. If we have found it good to follow the pillar of cloud and
+fire in the wilderness, we shall find it a thousand times better to sit
+down in our eternal inheritance, with our Joshua, in the promised land.
+
+If any one among the readers of this paper is not yet among the sons and
+heirs, I do pity you with all my heart! How much you are missing! How
+little true comfort you are enjoying! There you are, struggling on, and
+toiling in the fire, and wearying yourself for mere earthly
+ends,--seeking rest and finding none,--chasing shadows and never
+catching them,--wondering why you are not happy, and yet refusing to see
+the cause,--hungry, and thirsty, and empty, and yet blind to the plenty
+within your reach. Oh, that you were wise! Oh, that you would hear the
+voice of Jesus, and learn of Him!
+
+If you are one of those who are sons and heirs, you may well rejoice and
+be happy. You may well wait, like the boy Patience in Pilgrim's
+Progress: your best things are yet to come. You may well bear crosses
+without murmuring: your light affliction is but for a moment. "The
+sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the
+glory which is to be revealed."--"When Christ our life appears, then you
+also shall appear with Him in glory." (Rom. viii. 18; Colos. iii. 4.)
+You may well not envy the transgressor and his prosperity. You are the
+truly rich. Well said a dying believer in my own parish: "I am more rich
+than I ever was in my life." You may say as Mephibosheth said to David:
+"Let the world take all, my king is coming again in peace." (2 Sam. xix.
+30.) You may say as Alexander said when he gave all his riches away, and
+was asked what he kept for himself: "I have hope." You may well not be
+cast down by sickness: the eternal part of you is safe and provided for,
+whatever happens to your body. You may well look calmly on death: it
+opens a door between you and your inheritance. You may well not sorrow
+excessively over the things of the world,--over partings and
+bereavements, over losses and crosses: the day of gathering is before
+you. Your treasure is beyond reach of harm. Heaven is becoming every
+year more full of those you love, and earth more empty. Glory in your
+inheritance. It is all yours if you are a son of God: "If we are
+children, then we are heirs."
+
+(1) And now, in concluding this paper, _let me ask every one who reads
+it Whose child are you_? Are you the child of nature or the child of
+grace? Are you the child of the devil or the child of God? You cannot be
+both at once. Which are you?
+
+Settle the question without delay, for you must die at last either one
+or the other. Settle it, for it can be settled, and it is folly to leave
+it doubtful. Settle it, for time is short, the world is getting old, and
+you are fast drawing near to the judgment seat of Christ. Settle it, for
+death is nigh, the Lord is at hand, and who can tell what a day might
+bring forth? Oh, that you would never rest till the question is
+settled! Oh, that you may never feel satisfied till you can say, "I have
+been born again: I am a son of God!"
+
+(2) _If you are not a son and heir of God, let me entreat you to become
+one without delay._ Would you be rich? There are unsearchable riches in
+Christ. Would you be noble? You shall be a king. Would you be happy? You
+shall have a peace which passeth understanding, and which the world can
+never give and never take away. Oh, come out, and take up the cross and
+follow Christ! Come out from among the thoughtless and worldly, and hear
+the word of the Lord: "I will receive you, and will be a Father unto
+you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord almighty." (2
+Cor. vi. 18.)
+
+(3) _If you are a son of God, I beseech you to walk worthy of your
+Father's house._ I charge you solemnly to honour Him in your life; and
+above all to honour Him by implicit obedience to all His commands, and
+hearty love to all His children. Labour to travel through the world like
+a child of God and heir to glory. Let men be able to trace a family
+likeness between you and Him that begat you. Live a heavenly life. Seek
+things that are above. Do not seem to be building your nest below.
+Behave like a man who seeks a city out of sight, whose citizenship is in
+heaven, and who would be content with many hardships till he gets home.
+
+Labour _to feel like a son of God_ in every condition in which you are
+placed. Never forget you are on your Father's ground so long as you are
+here on earth. Never forget that a Father's hand sends all your mercies
+and crosses. Cast every care on Him. Be happy and cheerful in Him. Why
+indeed art thou ever sad if thou art the King's son? Why should men ever
+doubt, when they look at you, whether it is a pleasant thing to be one
+of God's children?
+
+Labour _to behave towards others like a son of God_. Be blameless and
+harmless in your day and generation. Be a "peacemaker among all =you=
+know." (Matt. v. 9.) Seek for your children sonship to God, above
+everything else: seek for them an inheritance in heaven, whatever else
+you do for them. No man leaves his children so well provided for as he
+who leaves them sons and heirs of God.
+
+Persevere in your Christian calling, if you are a son of God, and press
+forward more and more. Be careful to lay aside every weight, and the sin
+which most easily besets you. Keep your eyes steadily fixed on Jesus.
+Abide in Him. Remember that without Him you can do nothing, and with Him
+you can do all things. (John xv. 5; Philip. iv. 13.) Watch and pray
+daily. Be steadfast, unmoveable, and always abounding in the work of the
+Lord. Settle it down in your heart that not a cup of cold water given in
+the name of a disciple shall lose its reward, and that every year you
+are so much nearer home.
+
+"Yet a little time and He that shall come will come, and will not
+tarry." (Heb. x. 37.) Then shall be the glorious liberty, and the full
+manifestation of the sons of God. (Rom. viii. 19, 21.) Then shall the
+world acknowledge that they were the truly wise. Then shall the sons of
+God at length come of age, and be no longer heirs in expectancy, but
+heirs in possession. Then shall they hear with exceeding joy those
+comfortable words: "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom
+prepared for you from the foundation of the world." (Matt. xxv. 34.)
+Surely that day will make amends for all!
+
+
+
+
+XIX
+
+
+THE GREAT GATHERING
+
+     "_Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus
+     Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him._"--2 Thess. ii.
+     1.
+
+
+The text which heads this page contains an expression which deserves no
+common attention. That expression is,--"Our gathering together."
+
+"Our gathering together!" Those three words touch a note which ought to
+find a response in every part of the world. Man is by nature a social
+being: he does not like to be alone. Go where you will on earth, people
+generally like meeting together, and seeing one another's faces. It is
+the exception, and not the rule, to find children of Adam who do not
+like "gathering together."
+
+For example, Christmas is peculiarly a time when English people "gather
+together." It is the season when family meetings have become almost a
+national institution. In town and in country, among rich and among poor,
+from the palace to the workhouse, Christmas cheer and Christmas parties
+are proverbial things. It is the one time in the twelvemonth with many
+for seeing their friends at all. Sons snatch a few days from London
+business to run down and see their parents; brothers get leave of
+absence from the desk to spend a week with their sisters; friends accept
+long-standing invitations, and contrive to pay a visit to their
+friends; boys rush home from school, and glory in the warmth and comfort
+of the old house. Business for a little space comes to a standstill: the
+weary wheels of incessant labour seem almost to cease revolving for a
+few hours. In short, from the Isle of Wight to Berwick-on-Tweed, and
+from the Land's End to the North Foreland, there is a general spirit of
+"gathering together."
+
+Happy is the land where such a state of things exists! Long may it last
+in England, and never may it end! Poor and shallow is that philosophy
+which sneers at Christmas gatherings. Cold and hard is that religion
+which pretends to frown at them, and denounces them as wicked. Family
+affection lies at the very roots of well-ordered society. It is one of
+the few good things which have survived the fall, and prevent men and
+women from being mere devils. It is the secret oil on the wheels of our
+social system which keeps the whole machine going, and without which
+neither steam nor fire would avail. Anything which helps to keep up
+family affection and brotherly love is a positive good to a country. May
+the Christmas day never arrive in England when there are no family
+meetings and no gatherings together!
+
+But earthly gatherings after all have something about them that is sad
+and sorrowful. The happiest parties sometimes contain uncongenial
+members: the merriest meetings are only for a very short time. Moreover,
+as years roll on, the hand of death makes painful gaps in the family
+circle. Even in the midst of Christmas merriment we cannot help
+remembering those who have passed away. The longer we live, the more we
+feel to stand alone. The old faces will rise before the eyes of our
+minds, and the old voices will sound in our ears, even in the midst of
+holiday mirth and laughter. People do not talk much of such things; but
+there are few that do not feel them. We need not intrude our inmost
+thoughts on others, and especially when all around us are bright and
+happy. But there are not many, I suspect, who reach middle age, who
+would not admit, if they spoke the truth, that there are sorrowful
+things inseparably mixed up with a Christmas party. In short, there is
+no unmixed pleasure about any earthly "gathering."
+
+But is there no better "gathering" yet to come? Is there no bright
+prospect in our horizon of an assembly which shall far outshine the
+assemblies of Christmas and New Year,--an assembly in which there shall
+be joy without sorrow, and mirth without tears? I thank God that I can
+give a plain answer to these questions; and to give it is the simple
+object of this paper. I ask my readers to give me their attention for a
+few minutes, and I will soon show them what I mean.
+
+
+I. There is a "gathering together" of true Christians which is to come.
+_What is it, and when shall it be?_
+
+The gathering I speak of shall take place at the end of the world, in
+the day when Christ returns to earth the second time. As surely as He
+came the first time, so surely shall He come the second time. In the
+clouds of heaven He went away, and in the clouds of heaven He shall
+return. Visibly, in the body, He went away, and visibly, in the body, He
+will return. And the very first thing that Christ will do will be to
+"gather together" His people. "He shall send His angels with a great
+sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the
+four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." (Matt. xxiv. 31.)
+
+The _manner_ of this "gathering together" is plainly revealed in
+Scripture. The dead saints shall all be raised, and the living saints
+shall all be changed. It is written, "The sea shall give up the dead
+which are in it, and death and hell shall give up the dead that are in
+them."--"The dead in Christ shall rise first. Those which are alive and
+remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the
+Lord in the air."--"We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
+in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the
+trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we
+shall be changed." (Rev. xx. 13; 1 Thess. iv. 16, 17; 1 Cor. xv. 51,
+52.) And then, when every member of Christ is found, and not one left
+behind, when soul and body, those old companions, are once more
+reunited, then shall be the grand "gathering together."
+
+The _object_ of this "gathering together" is as clearly revealed in
+Scripture as its manner. It is partly for the final reward of Christ's
+people: that their complete justification from all guilt may be declared
+to all creation; that they may receive the "crown of glory which fadeth
+not away," and the "kingdom prepared before the foundation of the
+world;" that they may be admitted publicly into the joy of their
+Lord.--It is partly for the safety of Christ's people, that, like Noah
+in the ark and Lot in Zoar, they may be hid and covered before the storm
+of God's judgment comes down on the wicked; that when the last plagues
+are falling on the enemies of the Lord, they may be untouched, as
+Rahab's family in the fall of Jericho, and unscathed as the three
+children in the midst of the fire. The saints have no cause to fear the
+day of gathering, however fearful the signs that may accompany it.
+Before the final crash of all things begins, they shall be hidden in the
+secret place of the Most High. The grand gathering is for their safety
+and their reward. "Fear not ye," shall the angel-reapers say, "for ye
+seek Jesus which was crucified."--"Come, my people," shall their Master
+say: "enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide
+thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be
+overpast." (Matt. xxviii. 5; Isa. xxvi. 20.)
+
+(_a_) This gathering will be a _great_ one. All children of God who have
+ever lived, from Abel the first saint down to the last born in the day
+that our Lord comes,--all of every age, and nation, and church, and
+people, and tongue,--all shall be assembled together. Not one shall be
+overlooked or forgotten. The weakest and feeblest shall not be left
+behind. Now, when "scattered," true Christians seem a little flock;
+then, when "gathered," they shall be found a multitude which no man can
+number.
+
+(_b_) This gathering will be a _wonderful_ one. The saints from distant
+lands, who never saw each other in the flesh, and could not understand
+each other's speech if they met, shall all be brought together in one
+harmonious company. The dwellers in Australia shall find they are as
+near heaven, and as soon there, as the dwellers in England. The
+believers who died five thousand years ago, and whose bones are mere
+dust, shall find their bodies raised and renewed as quickly as those who
+are alive when the trumpet sounds. Above all, miracles of grace will be
+revealed. We shall see some in heaven who we never expected would have
+been saved at all. The confusion of tongues shall at length be reversed,
+and done away. The assembled multitude will cry with one heart and in
+one language, "What hath God wrought!" (Num. xxiii. 23.)
+
+(_c_) This gathering shall be a _humbling_ one. It shall make an end of
+bigotry and narrow-mindedness for ever. The Christians of one
+denomination shall find themselves side by side with those of another
+denomination. If they would not tolerate them on earth, they will be
+obliged to tolerate them in heaven. Churchmen and Dissenters, who will
+neither pray together nor worship together now, will discover to their
+shame that they must praise together hereafter to all eternity. The very
+people who will not receive us at their ordinances now, and keep us back
+from their Table, will be obliged to acknowledge us before our Master's
+face, and to let us sit down by their side. Never will the world have
+seen such a complete overthrow of sectarianism, party spirit,
+unbrotherliness, religious jealousy, and religious pride. At last we
+shall all be completely "clothed with humility." (1 Pet. v. 5.)
+
+This mighty, wonderful "gathering together," is the gathering which
+ought to be often in men's thoughts. It deserves consideration: it
+demands attention. Gatherings of other kinds are incessantly occupying
+our minds, political gatherings, scientific gatherings, gatherings for
+pleasure, gatherings for gain. But the hour comes, and will soon be
+here, when gatherings of this kind will be completely forgotten. One
+thought alone will swallow up men's minds: that thought will be, "Shall
+I be gathered with Christ's people into a place of safety and honour, or
+be left behind to everlasting woe?" LET US TAKE CARE THAT WE ARE NOT
+LEFT BEHIND.
+
+
+II. _Why is this "gathering together" of true Christians a thing to be
+desired?_ Let us try to get an answer to that question.
+
+St. Paul evidently thought that the gathering at the last day was a
+cheering object which Christians ought to keep before their eyes. He
+classes it with that second coming of our Lord, which he says elsewhere
+believers love and long for. He exalts it in the distant horizon as one
+of those "good things to come," which should animate the faith of every
+pilgrim in the narrow way. Not only, he seems to say, will each servant
+of God have rest, and a kingdom, and a crown; he will have besides a
+happy "gathering together." Now, where is the peculiar blessedness of
+this gathering? Why is it a thing that we ought to look forward to with
+joy, and expect with pleasure? Let us see.
+
+(1) For one thing, the "gathering together" of all true Christians will
+be a _state of things totally unlike their present condition._ To be
+scattered, and not gathered, seems the rule of man's existence now. Of
+all the millions who are annually born into the world, how few continue
+together till they die! Children who draw their first breath under the
+same roof, and play by the same fireside, are sure to be separated as
+they grow up, and to draw their last breath far distant from one
+another.--The same law applies to the people of God. They are spread
+abroad like salt, one in one place and one in another, and never allowed
+to continue long side by side. It is doubtless good for the world that
+it is so. A town would be a very dark place at night if all the lighted
+candles were crowded together into one room.--But, good as it is for the
+world, it is no small trial to believers. Many a day they feel desolate
+and alone; many a day they long for a little more communion with their
+brethren, and a little more companionship with those who love the Lord!
+Well, they may look forward with hope and comfort. The hour is coming
+when they shall have no lack of companions. Let them lift up their heads
+and rejoice. There will be a "gathering together" by and by.
+
+(2) For another thing, the gathering together of all true Christians
+will be _an assembly entirely of one mind_. There are no such assemblies
+now. Mixture, hypocrisy, and false profession, creep in everywhere.
+Wherever there is wheat there are sure to be tares. Wherever there are
+good fish there are sure to be bad. Wherever there are wise virgins
+there are sure to be foolish. There is no such thing as a perfect Church
+now. There is a Judas Iscariot at every communion table, and a Demas in
+every Apostolic company; and wherever the "sons of God" come together
+Satan is sure to appear among them. (Job i. 6.) But all this shall come
+to an end one day. Our Lord shall at length present to the Father a
+perfect Church, "having neither spot nor wrinkle, nor any such thing."
+(Eph. v. 27.) How glorious such a Church will be! To meet with
+half-a-dozen believers together now is a rare event in a Christian's
+year, and one that cheers him like a sunshiny day in winter: it makes
+him feel his heart burn within him, as the disciples felt on the way to
+Emmaus. But how much more joyful will it be to meet a "multitude that no
+man can number!" To find too, that all we meet are at last of one
+opinion and one judgment, and see eye to eye,--to discover that all our
+miserable controversies are buried for ever, and that Calvinists no
+longer hate Arminians, nor Arminians Calvinists, Churchmen no longer
+quarrel with Dissenters, nor Dissenters with Churchmen,--to join a
+company of Christians in which there is neither jarring, squabbling, nor
+discord,--every man's graces fully developed, and every man's besetting
+sins dropped off like beech-leaves in spring,--all this will be
+happiness indeed! No wonder that St. Paul bids us look forward.
+
+(3) For another thing, the gathering together of true Christians will be
+_a meeting at which none shall be absent_. The weakest lamb shall not be
+left behind in the wilderness: the youngest babe that ever drew breath
+shall not be overlooked or forgotten. We shall once more see our beloved
+friends and relatives who fell asleep in Christ, and left us in sorrow
+and tears,--better, brighter, more beautiful, more pleasant than ever we
+found them on earth. We shall hold communion with all the saints of God
+who have fought the good fight before us, from the beginning of the
+world to the end. Patriarchs and Prophets, Apostles and Fathers, Martyrs
+and Missionaries, Reformers and Puritans, all the host of God's elect
+shall be there. If to read their words and works has been pleasant, how
+much better shall it be to see them! If to hear of them, and be stirred
+by their example, has been useful, how much more delightful to talk with
+them, and ask them questions! To sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and
+Jacob, and hear how they kept the faith without any Bible,--to converse
+with Moses, and Samuel, and David, and Isaiah, and Daniel, and hear how
+they could believe in a Christ yet to come,--to converse with Peter, and
+Paul, and Lazarus, and Mary, and Martha, and listen to their wondrous
+tale of what their Master did for them,--all this will be sweet indeed!
+No wonder that St. Paul bids us look forward.
+
+(4) In the last place, the gathering of all true Christians shall be _a
+meeting without a parting_. There are no such meetings now. We seem to
+live in an endless hurry, and can hardly sit down and take breath before
+we are off again. "Good-bye" treads on the heels of "How do you do?" The
+cares of this world, the necessary duties of life, the demands of our
+families, the work of our various stations and callings,--all these
+things appear to eat up our days, and to make it impossible to have long
+quiet times of communion with God's people. But, blessed be God, it
+shall not always be so. The hour cometh, and shall soon be here, when
+"good-bye" and "farewell" shall be words that are laid aside and buried
+for ever. When we meet in a world where the former things have passed
+away, where there is no more sin and no more sorrow,--no more poverty
+and no more money,--no more work of body or work of brains,--no more
+need of anxiety for families,--no more sickness, no more pain, no more
+old age, no more death, no more change,--when we meet in that endless
+state of being, calm, and restful, and unhurried,--who can tell what the
+blessedness of the change will be? I cannot wonder that St. Paul bids us
+look up and look forward.
+
+
+I lay these things before all who read this paper, and ask their serious
+attention to them. If I know anything of a Christian's experience, I am
+sure they contain food for reflection. This, at least, I say
+confidently: the man who sees nothing much in the second coming of
+Christ and the public "gathering" of Christ's people,--nothing happy,
+nothing joyful, nothing pleasant, nothing desirable,--such a man may
+well doubt whether he himself is a true Christian and has got any grace
+at all.
+
+(1) _I ask you a plain question._ Do not turn away from it and refuse
+to look it in the face. Shall you be gathered by the angels into God's
+home when the Lord returns, or shall you be left behind?
+
+One thing, at any rate, is very certain. There will only be two parties
+of mankind at the last great day: those who are on the right hand of
+Christ, and those who are on the left;--those who are counted righteous,
+and those who are wicked;--those who are safe in the ark, and those who
+are outside;--those who are gathered like wheat into God's barn, and
+those who are left behind like tares to be burned. Now, what will your
+portion be?
+
+Perhaps you do not know yet. You cannot say. You are not sure. You hope
+the best. You trust it will be all right at last: but you won't
+undertake to give an opinion. Well! I only hope you will never rest till
+you do know. The Bible will tell you plainly who are they that will be
+gathered. Your own heart, if you deal honestly, will tell you whether
+you are one of the number. Rest not, rest not, till you know!
+
+How men can stand the partings and separations of this life if they have
+no hope of anything better,--how they can bear to say "good-bye" to sons
+and daughters, and launch them on the troublesome waves of this world,
+if they have no expectation of a safe "gathering" in Christ at
+last,--how they can part with beloved members of their families, and let
+them journey forth to the other side of the globe, not knowing if they
+shall ever meet happily in this life or a life to come,--how all this
+can be, completely baffles my understanding. I can only suppose that the
+many never think, never consider, never look forward. Once let a man
+begin to think, and he will never be satisfied till he has found Christ
+and is safe.
+
+(2) _I offer you a plain means of testing your own soul's condition_, if
+you want to know your own chance of being gathered into God's home. Ask
+yourself what kind of gatherings you like best here upon earth? Ask
+yourself whether you really love the assembling together of God's
+people?
+
+How could that man enjoy the meeting of true Christians in heaven who
+takes no pleasure in meeting true Christians on earth? How can that
+heart which is wholly set on balls, and races, and feasts, and
+amusements, and worldly assemblies, and thinks earthly worship a
+weariness--how can such a heart be in tune for the company of saints,
+and saints alone? The thing is impossible. It cannot be.
+
+Never, never let it be forgotten, that our tastes on earth are a sure
+evidence of the state of our hearts; and the state of our hearts here is
+a sure indication of our position hereafter. Heaven is a prepared place
+for a prepared people. He that hopes to be gathered with saints in
+heaven while he only loves the gathering of sinners on earth is
+deceiving himself. If he lives and dies in that state of mind he will
+find at last that he had better never have been born.
+
+(3) If you are a true Christian, _I exhort you to be often looking
+forward_. Your good things are yet to come. Your redemption draweth
+nigh. The night is far spent. The day is at hand. Yet a little time, and
+He whom you love and believe on will come, and will not tarry. When He
+comes, He will bring His dead saints with Him and change His living
+ones. Look forward! There is a "gathering together" yet to come.
+
+The morning after a shipwreck is a sorrowful time. The joy of
+half-drowned survivors, who have safely reached the land, is often sadly
+marred by the recollection of shipmates who have sunk to rise no more.
+There will be no such sorrow when believers gather together round the
+throne of the Lamb. Not one of the ship's company shall be found absent.
+"Some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship,--all will get
+safe to shore at last." (Acts xxvii. 44.) The great waters and raging
+waves shall swallow none of God's elect. When the sun rises they shall
+be seen all safe, and "gathered together."
+
+Even the day after a great victory is a sorrowful time. The triumphant
+feelings of the conquerors are often mingled with bitter regrets for
+those who fell in action, and died on the field. The list of "killed,
+wounded, and missing," breaks many a heart, fills many a home with
+mourning, and brings many a grey head sorrowing to the grave. The great
+Duke of Wellington often said, "there was but one thing worse than a
+victory, and that was a defeat." But, thanks be to God, there will be no
+such sorrow in heaven! The soldiers of the great Captain of our
+salvation shall all answer to their names at last. The muster-roll shall
+be as complete after the battle as it was before. Not one believer shall
+be "missing" in the great "gathering together."
+
+Does Christmas, for instance, bring with it sorrowful feelings and
+painful associations? Do tears rise unbidden in your eyes when you mark
+the empty places round the fireside? Do grave thoughts come sweeping
+over your mind, even in the midst of your children's mirth, when you
+recollect the dear old faces and much loved voices of some that sleep in
+the churchyard? Well, look up and look forward! The time is short. The
+world is growing old. The coming of the Lord draweth nigh. There is yet
+to be a meeting without parting, and a gathering without separation.
+Those believers whom you laid in the grave with many tears are in good
+keeping: you will yet see them again with joy. Look up! I say once more.
+Lay hold by faith on the "coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our
+gathering together unto Him." Believe it, think of it, rest on it. It is
+all true.
+
+Do you feel lonely and desolate as every December comes round? Do you
+find few to pray with, few to praise with, few to open your heart to,
+few to exchange experience with? Do you learn increasingly, that heaven
+is becoming every year more full and earth more empty? Well, it is an
+old story. You are only drinking a cup which myriads have drunk before.
+Look up and look forward. The lonely time will soon be past and over:
+you will have company enough by and by. "When you wake up after your
+Lord's likeness you shall be satisfied." (Ps. xvii. 15.) Yet a little
+while and you shall see a congregation that shall never break up, and a
+sabbath that shall never end. "The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
+our gathering together unto Him," shall make amends for all.
+
+
+
+
+XX
+
+
+THE GREAT SEPARATION
+
+     "_Whose fan is in His hand, and He will throughly purge His
+     floor, and gather His wheat into the garner; but He will burn
+     up the chaff with unquenchable fire._"--Matt. iii. 12.
+
+
+The verse of Scripture which is now before our eyes contains words which
+were spoken by John the Baptist. They are a prophecy about our Lord
+Jesus Christ, and a prophecy which has not yet been fulfilled. They are
+a prophecy which we shall all see fulfilled one day, and God alone knows
+how soon.
+
+I invite every reader of this paper to consider seriously the great
+truths which this verse contains. I invite you to give me your
+attention, while I unfold them, and set them before you in order. Who
+knows but this text may prove a word in season to your soul? Who knows
+but this text may help to make this day the happiest day in your life?
+
+
+I. Let me show, in the first place, _the two great classes into which
+mankind may be divided_.
+
+There are only two classes of people in the world in the sight of God,
+and both are mentioned in the text which begins this paper. There are
+those who are called _the wheat_, and there are those who are called
+_the chaff_.
+
+Viewed with the eye of man, the earth contains many different sorts of
+inhabitants. Viewed with the eye of God it only contains two. Man's eye
+looks at the outward appearance:--this is all he thinks of. The eye of
+God looks at the heart:--this is the only part of which He takes any
+account. And tried by the state of their hearts, there are but two
+classes into which people can be divided:--either they are wheat, or
+they are chaff.
+
+_Who are the wheat in the world?_ This is a point which demands special
+consideration.
+
+The wheat means all men and women who are believers in the Lord Jesus
+Christ,--all who are led by the Holy Spirit,--all who have felt
+themselves sinners, and fled for refuge to the salvation offered in the
+Gospel,--all who love the Lord Jesus and live to the Lord Jesus, and
+serve the Lord Jesus,--all who have taken Christ for their only
+confidence, and the Bible for their only guide, and regard sin as their
+deadliest enemy, and look to heaven as their only home. All such, of
+every Church, name, nation, people, and tongue,--of every rank, station,
+condition, and degree,--all such are God's "wheat."
+
+Show me people of this kind anywhere, and I know what they are. I know
+not that they and I may agree in all particulars, but I see in them the
+handiwork of the King of kings, and I ask no more. I know not whence
+they came, and where they found their religion; but I know where they
+are going, and that is enough for me. They are the children of my Father
+in heaven. They are part of His "wheat."
+
+All such, though sinful and vile, and unworthy in their own eyes, are
+the precious part of mankind. They are the sons and daughters of God the
+Father. They are the delight of God the Son. They are the habitation of
+God the Spirit. The Father beholds no iniquity in them:--they are the
+members of His dear Son's mystical body: in Him He sees them, and is
+well-pleased. The Lord Jesus discerns in them the fruit of His own
+travail and work upon the cross, and is well satisfied. The Holy Ghost
+regards them as spiritual temples which He Himself has reared, and
+rejoices over them. In a word, they are the "wheat" of the earth.
+
+_Who are the chaff in the world?_ This again is a point which demands
+special attention.
+
+The chaff means all men and women who have no saving faith in Christ,
+and no sanctification of the Spirit, whosoever they may be. Some of them
+perhaps are infidels, and some are formal Christians. Some are sneering
+Sadducees, and some self-righteous Pharisees. Some of them make a point
+of keeping up a kind of Sunday religion, and others are utterly careless
+of everything except their own pleasure and the world. But all alike,
+who have the two great marks already mentioned--_no faith and no
+sanctification_,--all such are "chaff." From Paine and Voltaire to the
+dead Churchman who can think of nothing but outward ceremonies,--from
+Julian and Porphyry to the unconverted admirer of sermons in the present
+day,--all, all are standing in one rank before God: all, all are
+"chaff."
+
+They bring no glory to God the Father. "They honour not the Son, and so
+do not honour the Father that sent Him." (John v. 23.) They neglect that
+mighty salvation which countless millions of angels admire. They disobey
+that Word which was graciously written for their learning. They listen
+not to the voice of Him who condescended to leave heaven and die for
+their sins. They pay no tribute of service and affection to Him who gave
+them "life, and breath, and all things." And therefore God takes no
+pleasure in them. He pities them, but He reckons them no better than
+"chaff."
+
+Yes! you may have rare intellectual gifts and high mental attainments:
+you may sway kingdoms by your counsel, move millions by your pen, or
+keep crowds in breathless attention by your tongue; but if you have
+never submitted yourself to the yoke of Christ, and never honoured His
+Gospel by heartfelt reception of it, you are nothing in His sight.
+Natural gifts without grace are like a row of cyphers without an unit
+before them: they look big, but they are of no value. The meanest insect
+that crawls is a nobler being than you are: it fills its place in
+creation, and glorifies its Maker with all its power, and you do not.
+You do not honour God with heart, and will, and intellect, and members,
+which are all His. You invert His order and arrangement, and live as if
+time was of more importance than eternity, and body better than soul.
+You dare to neglect God's greatest gift,--His own incarnate Son. You are
+cold about that subject which fills all heaven with hallelujahs. And so
+long as this is the case you belong to the worthless part of mankind.
+You are the "chaff" of the earth.
+
+Let this thought be graven deeply in the mind of every reader of this
+paper, whatever else he forgets. Remember there are only two sorts of
+people in the world. There are wheat, and there are chaff.
+
+There are many nations in Europe. Each differs from the rest. Each has
+its own language, its own laws, its own peculiar customs. But God's eye
+divides Europe into two great parties,--the wheat and the chaff.
+
+There are many classes in England. There are peers and
+commoners,--farmers and shopkeepers,--masters and servants,--rich and
+poor. But God's eye only takes account of two orders,--the wheat and the
+chaff.
+
+There are many and various minds in every congregation that meets for
+religious worship. There are some who attend for a mere form, and some
+who really desire to meet Christ,--some who come there to please others,
+and some who come to please God,--some who bring their hearts with them
+and are not soon tired, and some who leave their hearts behind them, and
+reckon the whole service weary work. But the eye of the Lord Jesus only
+sees two divisions in the congregation,--the wheat and the chaff.
+
+There were millions of visitors to the Great Exhibition of 1851. From
+Europe, Asia, Africa, and America,--from North and South, and East and
+West,--crowds came together to see what skill and industry could do.
+Children of our first father Adam's family, who had never seen each
+other before, for once met face to face under one roof. But the eye of
+the Lord only saw two companies thronging that large palace of
+glass,--the wheat and the chaff.
+
+I know well the world dislikes this way of dividing professing
+Christians. The world tries hard to fancy there are _three_ sorts of
+people, and not _two_. To be very good and very strict does not suit the
+world:--they cannot, will not be saints. To have no religion at all does
+not suit the world:--it would not be respectable.--"Thank God," they
+will say, "we are not so bad as that." But to have religion enough to be
+saved, and yet not go into extremes,--to be sufficiently good, and yet
+not be peculiar,--to have a quiet, easy-going, moderate kind of
+Christianity, and go comfortably to heaven after all,--this is the
+world's favourite idea. There is a third class,--a safe middle
+class,--the world fancies, and in this middle class the majority of men
+persuade themselves they will be found.
+
+I denounce this notion of a middle class, as an immense and soul-ruining
+delusion. I warn you strongly not to be carried away by it. It is as
+vain an invention as the Pope's purgatory. It is a refuge of lies,--a
+castle in the air,--a Russian ice-palace,--a vast unreality,--an empty
+dream. This middle class is a class of Christians nowhere spoken of in
+the Bible.
+
+There were two classes in the day of Noah's flood, those who were inside
+the ark, and those who were without;--two in the parable of the
+Gospel-net, those who are called the good fish, and those who are called
+the bad;--two in the parable of the ten virgins, those who are described
+as wise, and those who are described as foolish;--two in the account of
+the judgment day, the sheep and the goats;--two sides of the throne, the
+right hand and the left;--two abodes when the last sentence has been
+passed, heaven and hell.
+
+And just so there are only two classes in the visible Church on
+earth,--those who are in the state of nature, and those who are in the
+state of grace,--those who are in the narrow way, and those who are in
+the broad,--those who have faith, and those who have not faith,--those
+who have been converted, and those who have not been converted,--those
+who are with Christ, and those who are against Him,--those who gather
+with Him, and those who scatter abroad,--those who are "wheat," and
+those who are "chaff." Into these two classes the whole professing
+Church of Christ may be divided. Beside these two classes there is none.
+
+See now what cause there is for self-inquiry. Are you among the wheat,
+or among the chaff? Neutrality is impossible. Either you are in one
+class, or in the other. Which is it of the two?
+
+You attend church, perhaps. You go to the Lord's table. You like good
+people. You can distinguish between good preaching and bad. You think
+Popery false, and oppose it warmly. You think Protestantism true, and
+support it cordially. You subscribe to religious Societies. You attend
+religious meetings. You sometimes read religious books. It is well: it
+is very well. It is good: it is all very good. It is more than can be
+said of many. But still this is not a straightforward answer to my
+question.--Are you wheat or are you chaff?
+
+Have you been born again? Are you a new creature? Have you put off the
+old man, and put on the new? Have you ever felt your sins, and repented
+of them? Are you looking simply to Christ for pardon and life eternal?
+Do you love Christ? Do you serve Christ? Do you loathe heart-sins, and
+fight against them? Do you long for perfect holiness, and follow hard
+after it? Have you come out from the world? Do you delight in the Bible?
+Do you wrestle in prayer? Do you love Christ's people? Do you try to do
+good to the world? Are you vile in your own eyes, and willing to take
+the lowest place? Are you a Christian in business, and on week-days, and
+by your own fireside? Oh, think, think, think on these things, and then
+perhaps you will be better able to tell the state of your soul.
+
+I beseech you not to turn away from my question, however unpleasant it
+may be. Answer it, though it may prick your conscience, and cut you to
+the heart. Answer it, though it may prove you in the wrong, and expose
+your fearful danger. Rest not, rest not, till you know how it is between
+you and God. Better a thousand times find out that you are in an evil
+case, and repent betimes, than live on in uncertainty, and be lost
+eternally.
+
+
+II. Let me show, in the second place, _the time when the two great
+classes of mankind shall be separated_.
+
+The text at the beginning of this paper foretells a separation. It says
+that Christ shall one day do to His professing Church what the farmer
+does to his corn. He shall winnow and sift it. He "shall throughly purge
+His floor." And then the wheat and the chaff shall be divided.
+
+There is no separation yet. Good and bad are now all mingled together in
+the visible Church of Christ. Believers and unbelievers,--converted and
+unconverted,--holy and unholy,--all are to be found now among those who
+call themselves Christians. They sit side by side in our assemblies.
+They kneel side by side in our pews. They listen side by side to our
+sermons. They sometimes come up side by side to the Lord's table, and
+receive the same bread and wine from our hands.
+
+But it shall not always be so. Christ shall come the second time with
+His fan in His hand. He shall purge His Church, even as He purified the
+temple. And then the wheat and the chaff shall be separated, and each
+shall go to its own place.
+
+(_a_) Before Christ comes _separation is impossible_. It is not in man's
+power to effect it. There lives not the minister on earth who can read
+the hearts of every one in his congregation. About some he may speak
+decidedly;--he cannot about all. Who have oil in their lamps, and who
+have not,--who have grace as well as profession,--and who have
+profession only and no grace,--who are children of God, and who of the
+devil,--all these are questions which in many cases we cannot accurately
+decide. The winnowing fan is not put into our hands.
+
+Grace is sometimes so weak and feeble, that it looks like nature. Nature
+is sometimes so plausible and well-dressed, that it looks like grace. I
+believe we should many of us have said that Judas was as good as any of
+the Apostles; and yet he proved a traitor. I believe we should have said
+that Peter was a reprobate when he denied his Lord; and yet he repented
+immediately, and rose again. We are but fallible men. "We know in part
+and we prophesy in part." (1 Cor. xiii. 9.) We scarcely understand our
+own hearts. It is no great wonder if we cannot read the hearts of
+others.
+
+But it will not always be so. There is One coming who never errs in
+judgment, and is perfect in knowledge. Jesus shall purge His floor.
+Jesus shall sift the chaff from the wheat. I wait for this. Till then I
+will lean to the side of charity in my judgments. I would rather
+tolerate much chaff in the Church than cast out one grain of wheat. He
+shall soon come "who has His fan in His hand," and then the certainty
+about every one shall be known.
+
+(_b_) Before Christ comes it is useless to _expect to see a perfect
+Church_. There cannot be such a thing. The wheat and the chaff, in the
+present state of things, will always be found together. I pity those who
+leave one Church and join another, because of a few faults and unsound
+members. I pity them, because they are fostering ideas which can never
+be realized. I pity them, because they are seeking that which cannot be
+found. I see "chaff" everywhere. I see imperfections and infirmities of
+some kind in every communion on earth. I believe there are few tables of
+the Lord, if any, where all the communicants are converted. I often see
+loud-talking professors exalted as saints. I often see holy and contrite
+believers set down as having no grace at all. I am satisfied if men are
+too scrupulous, they may go fluttering about, like Noah's dove, all
+their days, and never find rest.
+
+Does any reader of this paper desire a perfect Church? You must wait for
+the day of Christ's appearing. Then, and not till then, you will see a
+"glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing." (Eph.
+v. 27.) Then, and not till then, the floor will be purged.
+
+(_c_) Before Christ comes it is vain to _look for the conversion of the
+world_. How can it be, if He is to find wheat and chaff side by side in
+the day of His second coming? I believe some Christians expect that
+missions will fill the earth with the knowledge of Christ, and that
+little by little sin will disappear, and a state of perfect holiness
+gradually glide in. I cannot see with their eyes. I think they are
+mistaking God's purposes, and sowing for themselves bitter
+disappointment. I expect nothing of the kind. I see nothing in the
+Bible, or in the world around me, to make me expect it. I have never
+heard of a single congregation entirely converted to God, in England or
+Scotland, or of anything like it.--And why am I to look for a different
+result from the preaching of the Gospel in other lands? I only expect to
+see a few raised up as witnesses to Christ in every nation, some in one
+place and some in another. Then I expect the Lord Jesus will come in
+glory, with His fan in His hand. And when He has purged His floor, and
+not till then, His kingdom will begin.
+
+_No separation and no perfection till Christ comes!_ This is my creed. I
+am not moved when the infidel asks me why all the world is not
+converted, if Christianity is really true. I answer, It was never
+promised that it would be so in the present order of things. The Bible
+tells me that believers will always be few,--that corruptions and
+divisions and heresies will always abound, and that when my Lord returns
+to earth He will find plenty of chaff.
+
+_No perfection till Christ comes!_ I am not disturbed when men say, "Make
+all the people good Christians at home before you send missionaries to
+the heathen abroad." I answer, If I am to wait for that, I may wait for
+ever. When we have done all at home, the Church will still be a mixed
+body,--it will contain some wheat and much chaff.
+
+But Christ will come again. Sooner or later there shall be a separation
+of the visible Church into two companies, and fearful shall that
+separation be. The wheat shall make up one company. The chaff shall make
+up another. The one company will be all godly. The other company will be
+all ungodly. Each shall be by themselves, and a great gulf between, that
+none can pass. Blessed indeed shall the righteous be in that day! They
+shall shine like stars, no longer obscured with clouds. They shall be
+beautiful as the lily, no longer choked with thorns. (Cant. ii. 2.)
+Wretched indeed will the ungodly be! How corrupt will corruption be when
+left without one grain of salt to season it! How dark will darkness be
+when left without one spark of light! Ah, it is not enough to respect
+and admire the Lord's people! You must belong to them, or you will one
+day be parted from them for ever. There will be no chaff in heaven.
+Many, many are the families where one will be taken and another left.
+(Luke xvii. 34.)
+
+Who is there now among the readers of this paper that loves the Lord
+Jesus Christ in sincerity? If I know anything of the heart of a
+Christian, your greatest trials are in the company of worldly
+people,--your greatest joys in the company of the saints. Yes! there are
+many weary days, when your spirit feels broken and crushed by the
+earthly tone of all around you,--days when you could cry with David,
+"Woe is me that I dwell in Mesech, and have my habitation in the tents
+of Kedar." (Ps. cxx. 5.) And yet there are hours when your soul is so
+refreshed and revived by meeting some of God's dear children, that it
+seems like heaven on earth. Do I not speak to your heart? Are not these
+things true? See then how you should long for the time when Christ shall
+come again. See how you should pray daily that the Lord would hasten His
+kingdom, and say to Him, "Come quickly, Lord Jesus." (Rev. xxii. 20.)
+Then, and not till then, shall be a pure unmixed communion. Then, and
+not till then, the saints shall all be together, and shall go out from
+one another's presence no more. Wait a little. Wait a little. Scorn and
+contempt will soon be over. Laughter and ridicule shall soon have an
+end. Slander and misrepresentation will soon cease. Your Saviour shall
+come and plead your cause. And then, as Moses said to Korah, "the Lord
+will show who are His,"[14] (Num. xvi. 5.)
+
+  14: "This is certain,--when the elect are all converted, then Christ
+  will come to judgment. As he that rows a boat stays till all the
+  passengers are taken into his boat, and then he rows away; so Christ
+  stays till all the elect are gathered in, and then He will hasten
+  away to judgment."--_Thomas Watson._ 1660
+
+Who is there among the readers of this paper that knows his heart is not
+right in the sight of God? See how you should fear and tremble at the
+thought of Christ's appearing. Alas, indeed for the man that lives and
+dies with nothing better than a cloak of religion! In the day when
+Christ shall purge His floor, you will be shown up and exposed in your
+true colours. You may deceive ministers, and friends, and
+neighbours,--but you cannot deceive Christ. The paint and varnish of a
+heartless Christianity will never stand the fire of that day. The Lord
+is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed. You will find
+that the eye which saw Achan and Gehazi, has read your secrets, and
+searched out your hidden things. You will hear that awful word, "Friend,
+how camest thou in hither, not having a wedding garment?" (Matt. xxii.
+12.) Oh, tremble at the thought of the day of sifting and separation!
+Surely hypocrisy is a most losing game. Surely it never answers to act a
+part. Surely it never answers, like Ananias and Sapphira, to pretend to
+give God something, and yet to keep back your heart. It all fails at
+last. Your joy is but for a moment. Your hopes are no better than a
+dream. Oh, tremble, tremble: tremble and repent!
+
+
+III. Let me show, in the third place, _the portion which Christ's people
+shall receive when He comes to purge His floor_.
+
+The text at the beginning of this paper tells us that, in good and
+comfortable words. It tells us that Christ shall "gather His wheat into
+the garner."
+
+When the Lord Jesus comes the second time, He shall collect His
+believing people into a place of safety. He will send His angels and
+gather them from every quarter. The sea shall give up the dead that are
+in it, and the graves the dead that are in them, and the living shall be
+changed. Not one poor sinner of mankind who has ever laid hold on Christ
+by faith shall be wanting in that company. Not one single grain of wheat
+shall be missing and left outside, when judgments fall upon a wicked
+world. There shall be a garner for the wheat of the earth, and into that
+garner all the wheat shall be brought.
+
+It is a sweet and comfortable thought, that "the Lord taketh pleasure in
+His people" and "careth for the righteous." (Ps. cxlix. 4; 1 Pet. v. 7.)
+But how much the Lord cares for them, I fear is little known, and dimly
+seen. Believers have their trials, beyond question, and these both many
+and great. The flesh is weak. The world is full of snares. The cross is
+heavy. The way is narrow. The companions are few. But still they have
+strong consolations, if their eyes were but open to see them. Like
+Hagar, they have a well of water near them, even in the wilderness,
+though they often do not find it out. Like Mary, they have Jesus
+standing by their side, though often they are not aware of it for very
+tears. (Gen. xxi. 19; John xx. 14.)
+
+Bear with me while I try to tell you something about Christ's care for
+poor sinners that believe in Him. Alas, indeed, that it should be
+needful! But we live in a day of weak and feeble statements. The danger
+of the state of nature is feebly exposed. The privileges of the state of
+grace are feebly set forth. Hesitating souls are not encouraged.
+Disciples are not established and confirmed. The man out of Christ is
+not rightly alarmed. The man in Christ is not rightly built up. The one
+sleeps on, and seldom has his conscience pricked. The other creeps and
+crawls all his days, and never thoroughly understands the riches of his
+inheritance. Truly this is a sore disease, and one that I would gladly
+help to cure. Truly it is a melancholy thing that the people of God
+should never go up to mount Pizgah, and never know the length and
+breadth of their possessions. To be brethren of Christ, and sons of God
+by adoption,--to have full and perfect forgiveness, and the renewing of
+the Holy Ghost,--to have a place in the book of life, and a name on the
+breast-plate of the Great High Priest in heaven,--all these are glorious
+things indeed. But still they are not the whole of a believer's portion.
+They are upper springs indeed, but still there are nether springs
+beside.
+
+(_a_) The Lord _takes pleasure in His believing people_. Though black in
+their own eyes, they are comely and honourable in His. They are all
+fair. He sees "no spot" in them. (Cant. iv. 7.) Their weaknesses and
+short-comings do not break off the union between Him and them. He chose
+them, knowing all their hearts. He took them for his own, with a perfect
+understanding of all their debts, liabilities, and infirmities, and He
+will never break His covenant and cast them off. When they fall, He will
+raise them again. When they wander, He will bring them back. Their
+_prayers_ are pleasant to Him. As a father loves the first stammering
+efforts of his child to speak, so the Lord loves the poor feeble
+petitions of His people. He endorses them with His own mighty
+intercession, and gives them power on high. Their _services_ are
+pleasant to Him. As a father delights in the first daisy that his child
+picks up and brings him, even so the Lord is pleased with the weak
+attempts of His people to serve Him. Not a cup of cold water shall lose
+its reward. Not a word spoken in love shall ever be forgotten. The Holy
+Ghost inspired St. Paul to tell the Hebrews of Noah's faith, but not of
+his drunkenness,--of Rahab's faith, but not of her lie. It is a blessed
+thing to be God's wheat!
+
+(_b_) The Lord _cares for His believing people in their lives_. Their
+dwelling-place is well known. The street called "straight," where Judas
+dwelt, and Paul lodged,--the house by the sea-side, where Peter prayed,
+were all familiar to their Lord. None have such attendants as they
+have:--angels rejoice when they are born again; angels minister to them;
+and angels encamp around them. None have such food;--their bread is
+given them and their water is sure, and they have meat to eat of which
+the world knows nothing. None have such company as they have: the Spirit
+dwelleth with them; the Father and the Son come to them, and make their
+abode with them. (John xiv. 23.) Their steps are all ordered from grace
+to glory: they that persecute them persecute Christ Himself, and they
+that hurt them hurt the apple of the Lord's eye. Their trials and
+temptations are all measured out by a wise Physician:--not a grain of
+bitterness is ever mingled in their cup that is not good for the health
+of their souls. Their temptations, like Job's, are all under God's
+control.--Satan cannot touch a hair of their head without their Lord's
+permission, nor even tempt them above that which they shall be able to
+bear. "As a father pitieth his own children, so does the Lord pity them
+that fear Him." He never afflicts them willingly. (Ps. ciii. 13; Lam.
+iii. 33.) He leads them by the right way. He withholds nothing that is
+really for their good. Come what will, there is always a "needs-be."
+When they are placed in the furnace, it is that they may be purified.
+When they are chastened, it is that they may become more holy. When they
+are pruned, it is to make them more fruitful. When they are transplanted
+from place to place, it is that they may bloom more brightly. All things
+are continually working together for their good. Like the bee, they
+extract sweetness even out of the bitterest flowers.
+
+(_c_) The Lord _cares for His believing people in their deaths_. Their
+times are all in the Lord's hand. The hairs of their heads are all
+numbered, and not one can ever fall to the ground without their Father.
+They are kept on earth till they are ripe and ready for glory, and not
+one moment longer. When they have had sun and rain enough, wind and
+storm enough, cold and heat enough,--when the ear is perfected,--then,
+and not till then, the sickle is put in. They are all immortal till
+their work is done. There is not a disease that can loosen the pins of
+their tabernacle, until the Lord gives the word. A thousand may fall at
+their right hand, but there is not a plague that can touch them till the
+Lord sees good. There is not a physician that can keep them alive, when
+the Lord gives the word. When they come to their death-bed, the
+everlasting arms are round about them, and make all their bed in their
+sickness. When they die, they die like Moses, "according to the word of
+the Lord," at the right time, and in the right way. (Deut. xxxiv. 5.)
+And when they breathe their last, they fall asleep in Christ, and are at
+once carried, like Lazarus, into Abraham's bosom. Yes! it is a blessed
+thing to be Christ's wheat! When the sun of other men is setting, the
+sun of the believer is rising. When other men are laying aside their
+honours, he is putting his on. Death locks the door on the unbeliever,
+and shuts him out from hope. But death opens the door to the believer,
+and lets him into paradise.
+
+(_d_) And the Lord _will care for His believing people in the dreadful
+day of His appearing_. The flaming fire shall not come nigh them. The
+voice of the Archangel and the trump of God shall proclaim no terrors to
+their ears. Sleeping or waking, quick or dead, mouldering in the coffin,
+or standing at the post of daily duty,--believers shall be secure and
+unmoved. They shall lift up their heads with joy when they see
+redemption drawing nigh. They shall be changed, and put on their
+beautiful garments in the twinkling of an eye. They shall be "caught up
+to meet the Lord in the air." (1 Thess. iv. 17.) Jesus will do nothing
+to a sin-laden world till all his people are safe. There was an ark for
+Noah when the flood began. There was a Zoar for Lot when the fire fell
+on Sodom. There was a Pella for early Christians when Jerusalem was
+besieged. There was a Zurich for English reformers when Popish Mary came
+to the throne. And there will be a garner for all the wheat of the earth
+in the last day. Yes! it is a blessed thing to be Christ's wheat!
+
+I often wonder at the miserable faithlessness of those among us who are
+believers. Next to the hardness of the unconverted heart, I call it one
+of the greatest wonders in the world. I wonder that with such mighty
+reasons for confidence we can still be so full of doubts. I marvel,
+above all things, how any can deny the doctrine that Christ's people
+persevere unto the end, and can fancy that He who loved them so as to
+die for them upon the cross, will ever let them be cast away. I cannot
+think so. I do not believe the Lord Jesus will ever lose one of His
+flock. He will not let Satan pluck away from Him so much as one sick
+lamb. He will not allow one bone of His mystical body to be broken. He
+will not suffer one jewel to fall from His crown. He and His bride have
+been once joined in an everlasting covenant, and they shall never, never
+be put asunder. The trophies won by earthly conquerors have often been
+wrested from them, and carried off; but this shall never be said of the
+trophies of Him who triumphed for us on the cross. "My sheep," He says,
+"shall never perish." (John x. 28.) I take my stand on that text. I know
+not how it can be evaded. If words have any meaning, the perseverance of
+Christ's people is there.
+
+I do not believe, when David had rescued the lamb from the paws of the
+lion, that he left it weak and wounded to perish in the wilderness. I
+cannot believe when the Lord Jesus has delivered a soul from the snare
+of the devil that He will ever leave that soul to take his chance, and
+wrestle on in his own feebleness, against sin, the devil, and the world.
+
+I dare be sure, if you were present at a shipwreck, and seeing some
+helpless child tossing on the waves were to plunge into the sea and save
+him at the risk of your own life,--I dare be sure you would not be
+content with merely bringing that child safe to shore. You would not lay
+him down when you had reached the land, and say, "I will do no more. He
+is weak,--he is insensible,--he is cold: it matters not. I have done
+enough,--I have delivered him from the waters: he is not drowned." You
+would not do it. You would not say so. You would not treat that child in
+such a manner. You would lift him in your arms; you would carry him to
+the nearest house; you would try to bring back warmth and animation; you
+would use every means to restore health and vigour: you would never
+leave him till his recovery was a certain thing.
+
+And can you suppose the Lord Jesus Christ is less merciful and less
+compassionate? Can you think He would suffer on the cross and die, and
+yet leave it uncertain whether believers in Him would be saved? Can you
+think He would wrestle with death and hell, and go down to the grave for
+our sakes, and yet allow our eternal life to hang on such a thread as
+our poor miserable endeavours.
+
+Oh, no: He does not do so! He is a perfect and complete Saviour. Those
+whom He loves, He loves unto the end. Those whom He washes in His blood
+He never leaves nor forsakes. He puts His fear into their hearts, so
+that they shall not depart from Him. Where He begins a work, there He
+also finishes. All whom He plants in His "garden inclosed" on earth, He
+transplants sooner or later into paradise. All whom He quickens by His
+Spirit He will also bring with Him when He enters His kingdom. There is
+a garner for every grain of the wheat. All shall appear in Zion before
+God.
+
+From false grace man may fall, and that both finally and foully. I never
+doubt this. I see proof of it continually. From true grace men never do
+fall totally. They never did, and they never will. If they commit sin,
+like Peter, they shall repent and rise again. If they err from the right
+way, like David, they shall be brought back. It is not any strength or
+power of their own that keeps them from apostacy. They are kept because
+the power, and love, and promises of the Trinity are all engaged on
+their side. The election of God the Father shall not be fruitless; the
+intercession of God the Son shall not be ineffectual; the love of God
+the Spirit shall not be labour in vain. The Lord "shall keep the feet of
+His saints." (1 Sam. ii. 9) They shall all be more than conquerors
+through Him that loved them. They all shall conquer, and none die
+eternally.[15]
+
+  15: "Blessed for ever and ever be that mother's child whose faith
+  hath made him the child of God. The earth may shake, the pillars of
+  the world may tremble under us, the countenance of the heaven may be
+  appalled, the sun may lose his light, the moon her beauty, the stars
+  their glory: but concerning the man that trusteth in God,--what is
+  there in the world that shall change his heart, overthrow his faith,
+  alter his affection towards God, or the affection of God to
+  him?"--_Richard Hooker_, 1585.
+
+If you have not yet taken up the cross and become Christ's disciple, you
+little know what privileges you are missing. Peace with God now and
+glory hereafter,--the everlasting arms to keep you by the way, and the
+garner of safety in the end,--all these are freely offered to you
+without money and without price. You may say that Christians have
+tribulations;--you forget that they have also consolations. You may say
+they have peculiar sorrows;--you forget they have also peculiar joys.
+You see but half the Christian life. You see not all. You see the
+warfare;--but not the meat and the wages. You see the tossing and
+conflict of the outward part of Christianity; you see not the hidden
+treasures which lie deep within. Like Elisha's servant, you see the
+enemies of God's children; but you do not, like Elisha, see the chariots
+and horses of fire which protect them. Oh, judge not by outward
+appearances! Be sure that the least drop of the water of life is better
+than all the rivers of the world. Remember the garner and the crown. Be
+wise in time.
+
+If you feel that you are a weak disciple, think not that weakness shuts
+you out from any of the privileges of which I have been speaking. Weak
+faith is true faith, and weak grace is true grace; and both are the gift
+of Him who never gives in vain. Fear not, neither be discouraged. Doubt
+not, neither despair. Jesus will never "break the bruised reed, nor
+quench the smoking flax." (Isa. xlii. 3.) The babes in a family are as
+much loved and thought of as the elder brothers and sisters. The tender
+seedlings in a garden are as diligently looked after as the old trees.
+The lambs in the flock are as carefully tended by the good shepherd as
+the old sheep. Oh, rest assured it is just the same in Christ's family,
+in Christ's garden, in Christ's flock! All are loved. All are tenderly
+thought of. All are cared for. And all shall be found in His garner at
+last.
+
+
+IV. Let me show, in the last place, the _portion which remains for all
+who are not Christ's people_.
+
+The text at the beginning of this paper describes this in words which
+should make our ears tingle: Christ shall "burn up the chaff with fire
+unquenchable."
+
+When the Lord Jesus Christ comes to purge His floor, He shall punish all
+who are not His disciples with a fearful punishment. All who are found
+impenitent and unbelieving,--all who have held the truth in
+unrighteousness,--all who have clung to sin, stuck to the world, and set
+their affections on things below,--all who are without Christ,--all such
+shall come to an awful end. Christ shall "burn up the chaff."
+
+Their punishment shall be _most severe_. There is no pain like that of
+burning. Put your finger in the candle for a moment, if you doubt this,
+and try. Fire is the most destructive and devouring of all elements.
+Look into the mouth of a blast-furnace, and think what it would be to be
+there. Fire is of all elements most opposed to life. Creatures can live
+in air, and earth, and water; but nothing can live in fire. Yet fire is
+the portion to which the Christless and unbelieving will come. Christ
+will "burn up the chaff with fire."
+
+Their punishment shall be _eternal_. Millions of ages shall pass away,
+and the fire into which the chaff is cast shall still burn on. That fire
+shall never burn low and become dim. The fuel of that fire shall never
+waste away and be consumed. It is "unquenchable fire."
+
+Alas, these are sad and painful things to speak of! I have no pleasure
+in dwelling on them. I could rather say with the Apostle Paul, as I
+write, "I have great heaviness and continual sorrow." (Rom. ix. 2.) But
+they are things written for our learning, and it is good to consider
+them. They are a part of that Scripture which is "all profitable," and
+they ought to be heard. Painful as the subject of hell is, it is one
+about which I dare not, cannot, must not be silent. Who would desire to
+speak of hell-fire if God had not spoken of it? When God has spoken of
+it so plainly, who can safely hold his peace?
+
+I dare not shut my eyes to the fact that a deep-rooted infidelity lurks
+in men's minds on the subject of hell. I see it oozing out in the utter
+apathy of some: they eat, and drink, and sleep, as if there was no wrath
+to come. I see it creeping forth in the coldness of others about their
+neighbours' souls: they show little anxiety to pluck brands from the
+fire. I desire to denounce such infidelity with all my might. Believing
+that there are "terrors of the Lord," as well as the "recompense of
+reward," I call on all who profess to believe the Bible, to be on their
+guard.
+
+(_a_) I know that some do not believe there is any hell at all. They
+think it impossible there can be such a place. They call it inconsistent
+with the mercy of God. They say it is too awful an idea to be really
+true. The devil of course rejoices in the views of such people. They
+help his kingdom mightily. They are preaching up his own favourite
+doctrine: "Ye shall not surely die." (Gen. iii. 4.)
+
+(_b_) I know, furthermore, that some do not believe that hell is
+eternal. They tell us it is incredible that a compassionate God will
+punish men for ever. He will surely open the prison doors at last. This
+also is a mighty help to the devil's cause. "Take your ease," he
+whispers to sinners: "if you do make a mistake, never mind, it is not
+for ever." A wicked woman was overheard in the streets of London saying
+to a bad companion, "Come along: who is afraid? Some parsons say there
+is no hell."
+
+(_c_) I know also that some believe there is a hell, but never allow
+that anybody is going there. All people, with them, are good as soon as
+they die,--all were sincere,--all meant well,--and all, they hope, got
+to heaven. Alas, what a common delusion is this! I can well understand
+the feeling of the little girl who asked her mother where all the wicked
+people were buried, "for she found no mention on the grave-stones of any
+except the good."
+
+(_d_) And I know very well that some believe there is a hell, and never
+like it to be spoken of. It is a subject that should always be kept
+back, in their opinion. They see no profit in bringing it forward, and
+are rather shocked when it is mentioned. This also is an immense help to
+the devil. "Hush, hush!" says Satan, "say nothing about hell." The
+fowler wishes to hear no noise when he lays his snares. The wolf would
+like the shepherd to sleep while he prowls round the fold. The devil
+rejoices when Christians are silent about hell.
+
+All these notions are the opinions of man. But what is it to you and me
+what man thinks in religion? Man will not judge us at the last day.
+Man's fancies and traditions are not to be our guide in this life. There
+is but one point to be settled: "What says the Word of God?"
+
+(_a_) Do you believe the Bible? Then depend upon it, _hell is real and
+true_. It is true as heaven,--as true as justification by faith,--as
+true as the fact that Christ died upon the cross,--as true as the Dead
+Sea. There is not a fact or doctrine which you may not lawfully doubt if
+you doubt hell. Disbelieve hell, and you unscrew, unsettle, and unpin
+everything in Scripture. You may as well throw your Bible away at once.
+From "no hell" to "no God" there is but a series of steps.
+
+(_b_) Do you believe the Bible? Then depend upon it, _hell will have
+inhabitants_. The wicked shall certainly be turned into hell, and all
+the people that forget God. "These shall go away into everlasting
+punishment." (Matt. xxv. 46.) The same blessed Saviour who now sits on a
+throne of grace, will one day sit on a throne of judgment, and men will
+see there is such a thing as "the wrath of the Lamb." (Rev. vi. 16.) The
+same lips which now say, "Come: come unto Me!" will one day say,
+"Depart, ye cursed!" Alas, how awful the thought of being condemned by
+Christ Himself, judged by the Saviour, sentenced to misery by the Lamb!
+
+(_c_) Do you believe the Bible? Then depend upon it, _hell will be
+intense and unutterable woe_. It is vain to talk of all the expressions
+about it being only figures of speech. The pit, the prison, the worm,
+the fire, the thirst, the blackness, the darkness, the weeping, the
+gnashing of teeth, the second death,--all these may be figures of speech
+if you please. But Bible figures mean something, beyond all question,
+and here they mean something which man's mind can never fully conceive.
+The miseries of mind and conscience are far worse than those of the
+body. The whole extent of hell, the present suffering, the bitter
+recollection of the past, the hopeless prospect of the future, will
+never be thoroughly known except by those who go there.
+
+(_d_) Do you believe the Bible? Then depend upon it, _hell is eternal_.
+It must be eternal, or words have no meaning at all. For ever and
+ever--everlasting--unquenchable--never-dying,--all these are expressions
+used about hell, and expressions that cannot be explained away. It must
+be eternal, or the very foundations of heaven are cast down. If hell has
+an end, heaven has an end too. They both stand or fall together.--It
+must be eternal, or else every doctrine of the Gospel is undermined. If
+a man may escape hell at length without faith in Christ, or
+sanctification of the Spirit, sin is no longer an infinite evil, and
+there was no such great need for Christ making an atonement. And where
+is there warrant for saying that hell can ever change a heart, or make
+it fit for heaven?--It must be eternal, or hell would cease to be hell
+altogether. Give a man hope, and he will bear anything. Grant a hope of
+deliverance, however distant, and hell is but a drop of water. Ah, these
+are solemn things! Well said old Caryl: "FOR EVER is the most solemn
+saying in the Bible." Alas, for that day which will have no
+to-morrow,--that day when men shall seek death and not find it, and
+shall desire to die, but death shall flee from them! Who shall dwell
+with devouring fire? Who shall dwell with everlasting burnings? (Rev.
+ix. 6; Isa. xxxiii. 14.)
+
+(_e_) Do you believe the Bible? Then depend upon it, _hell is a subject
+that ought not to be kept back_. It is striking to observe the many
+texts about it in Scripture. It is striking to observe that none say so
+much about it as our Lord Jesus Christ, that gracious and merciful
+Saviour; and the apostle John, whose heart seems full of love. Truly it
+may well be doubted whether we ministers speak of it as much as we
+ought. I cannot forget the words of a dying hearer of Mr. Newton's:
+"Sir, you often told me of Christ and salvation: why did you not oftener
+remind me of hell and danger?"
+
+Let others hold their peace about hell if they will;--I dare not do so.
+I see it plainly in Scripture, and I must speak of it. I fear that
+thousands are on that broad way that leads to it, and I would fain
+arouse them to a sense of the peril before them. What would you say of
+the man who saw his neighbour's house in danger of being burned down,
+and never raised the cry of "Fire"? What ought to be said of us as
+ministers, if we call ourselves watchmen for souls, and yet see the
+fires of hell raging in the distance, and never give the alarm? Call it
+bad taste, if you like, to speak of hell. Call it charity to make things
+pleasant, and speak smoothly, and soothe men with a constant lullaby of
+peace. From such notions of taste and charity may I ever be delivered!
+My notion of charity is to warn men plainly of danger. My notion of
+taste in the ministerial office is to declare all the counsel of God. If
+I never spoke of hell, I should think I had kept back something that was
+profitable, and should look on myself as an accomplice of the devil.
+
+I beseech every reader of this paper, in all tender affection, to beware
+of false views of the subject on which I have been dwelling. Beware of
+new and strange doctrines about hell and the eternity of punishment.
+Beware of manufacturing a God of your own,--a God who is all mercy, but
+not just,--a God who is all love, but not holy,--a God who has a heaven
+for everybody, but a hell for none,--a God who can allow good and bad to
+be side by side in time, but will make no distinction between good and
+bad in eternity. Such a God is an idol of your own, as really as Jupiter
+or Moloch,--as true an idol as any snake or crocodile in an Egyptian
+temple,--as true an idol as was ever moulded out of brass or clay. The
+hands of your own fancy and sentimentality have made him. He is not the
+God of the Bible, and besides the God of the Bible there is no God at
+all. Your heaven would be no heaven at all. A heaven containing all
+sorts of characters indiscriminately would be miserable discord indeed.
+Alas, for the eternity of such a heaven! there would be little
+difference between it and hell. There is a hell! There is a fire for the
+chaff! Take heed lest you find it out, to your cost, too late.
+
+Beware of being wise above that which is written. Beware of forming
+fanciful theories of your own, and then trying to make the Bible square
+in with them. Beware of making selections from your Bible to suit your
+taste,--refusing, like a spoilt child, whatever you think
+bitter,--seizing, like a spoilt child, whatever you think sweet. What is
+all this but taking Jehoiakim's penknife? (Jer. xxxvi. 23.) What does it
+amount to but telling God, that you, a poor short-lived worm, know what
+is good for you better than He. It will not do: it will not do. You must
+take the Bible as it is. You must read it all, and believe it all. You
+must come to the reading of it in the spirit of a little child. Dare not
+to say, "I believe this verse, for I like it. I reject that, for I do
+not like it. I receive this, for I can understand it. I refuse that, for
+I cannot reconcile it with my views." Nay, but, O man, "who art thou
+that repliest against God?" (Rom. ix. 20.) By what right do you talk in
+this way? Surely it were better to say over every chapter in the Word,
+"Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth."--If men would do this, they
+would never deny hell, the chaff, and the fire.
+
+
+And now, let me say four things in conclusion, and then I have done. I
+have shown the two great classes of mankind, the wheat and the chaff.--I
+have shown the separation which will one day take place.--I have shown
+the safety of the Lord's people.--I have shown the fearful portion of
+the Christless and unbelieving.--I commend these things to the
+conscience of every reader of this paper, as in the sight of God.
+
+(1) First of all, settle it down in your mind that the things of which I
+have been speaking are _all real and true_.
+
+I do believe that many never see the great truths of religion in this
+light. I firmly believe that many never listen to the things they hear
+from ministers as realities. They regard it all, like Gallio, as a
+matter of "names and words," and nothing more; a huge shadow,--a formal
+part-acting,--a vast sham. The last novel, the latest news from France,
+India, Australia, Turkey, or New York,--all these are things they
+realize: they feel interested and excited about them. But as to the
+Bible, and heaven, and the kingdom of Christ, and the judgment
+day,--these are subjects that they hear unmoved: they do not really
+believe them. If Layard had dug up at Nineveh anything damaging the
+truth and authority of the Old Testament Scriptures, it would not have
+interfered with their peace for an hour.
+
+If you have unhappily got into this frame of mind, I charge you to cast
+it off for ever. Whether you mean to hear or forbear, awaken to a
+thorough conviction that the things I have brought before you are real
+and true. The wheat, the chaff, the separation, the garner, the
+fire,--all these are great realities,--as real as the sun in heaven,--as
+real as the paper which your eyes behold. For my part, I believe in
+heaven, and I believe in hell. I believe in a coming judgment. I believe
+in a day of sifting. I am not ashamed to say so. I believe them all, and
+therefore write as I do. Oh, take a friend's advice,--live as if these
+things were true.
+
+(2) Settle it down in your mind, in the second place, that the things of
+which I write _concern yourself_. They are your business, your affair,
+and your concern.
+
+Many, I am satisfied, never look on religion as a matter that concerns
+themselves. They attend on its outward part, as a decent and proper
+fashion. They hear sermons. They read religious books. They have their
+children christened. But all the time they never ask themselves, "What
+is all this to me?" They sit in our churches like spectators in a
+theatre or court of law. They read our writings as if they were reading
+a report of an interesting trial, or of some event far away. But they
+never say to themselves, "I am the man."
+
+If you have this kind of feeling, depend upon it it will never do. There
+must be an end of all this if ever you are to be saved. You are the man
+I write to, whoever you may be who reads this paper. I write not
+specially to the rich. I write not specially to the poor. I write to
+everybody who will read, whatever his rank may be. It is on your soul's
+account that I am pleading, and not another's. You are spoken of in the
+text that begins this paper. You are this very day either among the
+"wheat" or among the "chaff." Your portion will one day either be the
+garner or the fire. Oh, that men were wise, and would lay these things
+to heart! Oh, that they would not trifle, dally, linger, live on
+half-and-half Christians, meaning well, but never acting boldly, and at
+last awake when it is too late!
+
+(3) Settle it down in your mind, in the third place, that if you are
+willing to be one of the wheat of the earth, _the Lord Jesus Christ is
+willing to receive you_.
+
+Does any man suppose that Jesus is not willing to see His garner filled?
+Do you think He does not desire to bring many sons to glory? Oh, but you
+little know the depth of His mercy and compassion, if you can think such
+a thought! He wept over unbelieving Jerusalem. He mourns over the
+impenitent and the thoughtless in the present day. He sends you
+invitations by my mouth this hour. He invites you to hear and live, to
+forsake the way of the foolish and go in the paths of understanding. "As
+I live," He says, "I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth.
+Turn ye, turn ye: why will ye die?" (Ezek. xviii. 32.)
+
+Oh, if you never came to Christ for life before, come to Him this very
+day! Come to Him with the penitent's prayer for mercy and grace. Come to
+Him without delay. Come to Him while the subject of this paper is still
+fresh on your mind. Come to Him before another sun rises on the earth,
+and let the morning find you a new creature.
+
+If you are determined to have the world, and the things of the
+world,--its pleasures and its rewards,--its follies and its sins;--if
+you must have your own way, and cannot give up anything for Christ and
+your soul;--if this be your case, there is but one end before you. I
+fairly warn you,--I plainly tell you:--You will sooner or later come to
+the unquenchable fire.
+
+But if any man is willing to be saved, the Lord Jesus Christ stands
+ready to save him. "Come unto Me," He says, "weary soul, and I will give
+you rest. Come, guilty and sinful soul, and I will give you free pardon.
+Come, lost and ruined soul, and I will give you eternal life." (Matt.
+xi. 28.)
+
+Let that passage be a word in season. Arise and call upon the Lord. Let
+the angels of God rejoice over one more saved soul. Let the courts of
+heaven hear the good tidings that one more lost sheep is found.
+
+(4) Settle it down in your mind, last of all, that if you have committed
+your soul to Christ, _Christ will never allow that soul to perish_.
+
+The everlasting arms are round about you. Lean back in them and know
+your safety. The same hand that was nailed to the cross is holding you.
+The same wisdom that framed the heavens and the earth is engaged to
+maintain your cause. The same power that redeemed the twelve tribes from
+the house of bondage is on your side. The same love that bore with and
+carried Israel from Egypt to Canaan is pledged to keep you. Yes! they
+are well kept whom Christ keeps! Our faith may repose calmly on such a
+bed as Christ's omnipotence.
+
+Take comfort, doubting believer. Why are you cast down? The love of
+Jesus is no summer-day fountain: no man ever yet saw its bottom. The
+compassion of Jesus is a fire that never yet burned low: the cold, grey
+ashes of that fire have never yet been seen. Take comfort. In your own
+heart you may find little cause for rejoicing. But you may always
+rejoice in the Lord.
+
+You say your faith is so small. But where is it said that none shall be
+saved except their faith be great? And after all, "Who gave thee any
+faith at all?" The very fact that you have any faith is a token for
+good.
+
+You say your sins are so many. But where is the sin, or the heap of
+sins, that the blood of Jesus cannot wash away? And after all, "Who
+told thee thou hadst any sins?" That feeling never came from thyself.
+Blessed indeed is that mother's child who really knows and feels that he
+is a sinner.
+
+Take comfort, I say once more, if you have really come to
+Christ. Take comfort, and know your privileges. Cast every care
+on Jesus. Tell every want to Jesus. Roll every burden on Jesus:
+sins,--unbelief,--doubts,--fears,--anxieties,--lay them all on
+Christ. He loves to see you doing so. He loves to be employed as
+your High Priest. He loves to be trusted. He loves to see His
+people ceasing from the vain effort to carry their burdens for
+themselves.
+
+
+I commend these things to the notice of every one into whose hands this
+volume may fall. Only be among Christ's "wheat" now, and then, in the
+great day of separation, as sure as the Bible is true, you shall be in
+Christ's "garner" hereafter.
+
+
+
+
+XXI
+
+
+ETERNITY!
+
+     "_The things which are seen are temporal; but the things which
+     are not seen are eternal._"--2 Cor. iv. 18.
+
+
+A subject stands out on the face of this text which is one of the most
+solemn and heart-searching in the Bible. That subject is _eternity_.[16]
+
+  16: The following pages contain the _substance_ of a sermon which I
+  preached, by invitation, in the nave of Peterborough Cathedral, on
+  the fourth Sunday in Advent, 1877,--the _substance_ and not the
+  precise words. The plain truth is, that the sermon was not intended
+  for publication. It was preached from notes, and was one of those
+  popular addresses which will not bear close reporting. A style of
+  language which satisfies the ear when listened to, will seldom
+  satisfy the mind when read. On receiving a manuscript report from
+  the publisher, I soon found that it would require far more labour to
+  condense, correct, paragraph, punctuate, and prepare the sermon for
+  the press, than to write it out roughly from my own notes and
+  recollection. From want of time I had no alternative but to adopt
+  this course, or to object altogether to publication. The result is
+  that the reader has before him the matter, order, heads,
+  arrangement, and principal thoughts of my sermon, but not, I repeat,
+  the precise words.
+
+The subject is one of which the wisest man can only take in a little. We
+have no eyes to see it fully, no line to fathom it, no mind to grasp it;
+and yet we must not refuse to consider it. There are star-depths in the
+heavens above us, which the most powerful telescope cannot pierce; yet
+it is well to look into them and learn something, if we cannot learn
+everything. There are heights and depths about the subject of eternity
+which mortal man can never comprehend; but God has spoken of it, and we
+have no right to turn away from it altogether.
+
+The subject is one which we must never approach without the Bible in our
+hands. The moment we depart from "God's Word written," in considering
+eternity and the future state of man, we are likely to fall into error.
+In examining points like these we have nothing to do with preconceived
+notions as to what is God's character, and what _we think_ God ought to
+be, or ought to do with man after death.[17] We have only to find out
+what is written. What saith the Scripture? What saith the Lord? It is
+wild work to tell us that we ought to have "noble thoughts about God,"
+independent of, and over and above, Scripture. Natural religion soon
+comes to a standstill here. The noblest thoughts about God which we have
+a right to hold are the thoughts which He has been pleased to reveal to
+us in His "written Word."
+
+  17: "What sentence can we expect from a judge, who at the same time
+  that he calls in witnesses and pretends to examine them, makes a
+  declaration that however, let them say what they will, the cause is
+  so absurd, is so unjust, that no evidence will be sufficient to
+  prove it?"--_Horbery_, vol. ii. p. 137.
+
+I ask the attention of all into whose hands this paper may fall, while I
+offer a few suggestive thoughts about eternity. As a mortal man I feel
+deeply my own insufficiency to handle this subject. But I pray that God
+the Holy Ghost, whose strength is made perfect in weakness, may bless
+the words I speak, and make them seeds of eternal life in many minds.
+
+
+I. The first thought which I commend to the attention of my readers is
+this:--_We live in a world where all things are temporal and passing
+away_.
+
+That man must be blind indeed who cannot realize this. Everything around
+us is decaying, dying, and coming to an end. There is a sense no doubt
+in which "matter" is eternal. Once created, it will never entirely
+perish. But in a popular practical sense, there is nothing undying about
+us except our souls. No wonder the poet says:--
+
+    "Change and decay in all around I see:
+     O Thou that changest not, abide with me!"
+
+We are all going, going, going, whether high or low, gentle or simple,
+rich or poor, old or young. We are all going, and shall soon be gone.
+
+Beauty is only temporal. Sarah was once the fairest of women, and
+the admiration of the Court of Egypt; yet a day came when even
+Abraham, her husband, said, "Let me bury my dead out of my sight."
+(Gen. xxiii. 4.)--Strength of body is only temporal. David was once
+a mighty man of valour, the slayer of the lion and the bear, and the
+champion of Israel against Goliath; yet a day came when even David
+had to be nursed and ministered to in his old age like a
+child.--Wisdom and power of brain are only temporal. Solomon was
+once a prodigy of knowledge, and all the kings of the earth came to
+hear his wisdom; yet even Solomon in his latter days played the fool
+exceedingly, and allowed his wives to "turn away his heart."
+(1 Kings xi. 2.)
+
+Humbling and painful as these truths may sound, it is good for us all to
+realize them and lay them to heart. The houses we live in, the homes we
+love, the riches we accumulate, the professions we follow, the plans we
+form, the relations we enter into,--they are only for a time. "The
+things seen are temporal." "The fashion of this world passeth away."
+(1 Cor. vii. 31.)
+
+The thought is one which ought to rouse every one who is living only for
+this world. If his conscience is not utterly seared, it should stir in
+him great searchings of heart. Oh, take care what you are doing! Awake
+to see things in their true light before it be too late. The things you
+live for now are all temporal and passing away. The pleasures, the
+amusements, the recreations, merry-makings, the profits, the earthly
+callings, which now absorb all your heart and drink up all your mind,
+will soon be over. They are poor ephemeral things which cannot last. Oh,
+love them not too well; grasp them not too tightly; make them not your
+idols! You cannot keep them, and you must leave them. Seek first the
+kingdom of God, and then everything else shall be added to you. "Set
+your affections on things above, not on things on the earth." Oh, you
+that love the world, be wise in time! Never, never forget that it is
+written, "The world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that
+doeth the will of God abideth for ever." (Col. iii. 2; 1 John ii. 17.)
+
+The same thought ought to cheer and comfort every true Christian. Your
+trials, crosses, and conflicts, are all temporal. They will soon have an
+end; and even now they are working for you "a far more exceeding and
+eternal weight of glory." (2 Cor. iv. 17.) Take them patiently: bear
+them quietly: look upward, forward, onward, and far beyond them. Fight
+your daily fight under an abiding conviction that it is only for a
+little time, and that rest is not far off. Carry your daily cross with
+an abiding recollection that it is one of the "things seen" which are
+temporal. The cross shall soon be exchanged for a crown, and you shall
+sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of God.
+
+
+II. The second thought which I commend to the attention of my readers is
+this:--_We are all going towards a world where everything is eternal_.
+
+That great unseen state of existence which lies behind the grave, is for
+ever. Whether it be happy or miserable, whether it be a condition of joy
+or sorrow, in one respect it is utterly unlike this world,--it is for
+ever. _There_ at any rate will be no change and decay, no end, no
+good-bye, no mornings and evenings, no alteration, no annihilation.
+Whatever there is beyond the tomb, when the last trumpet has sounded,
+and the dead are raised, will be endless, everlasting, and eternal. "The
+things unseen are eternal."
+
+We cannot fully realize this condition. The contrast between now and
+then, between this world and the next, is so enormously great that our
+feeble minds will not take it in. The consequences it entails are so
+tremendous, that they almost take away our breath, and we shrink from
+looking at them. But when the Bible speaks plainly we have no right to
+turn away from a subject, and with the Bible in our hands we shall do
+well to look at the "things which are eternal."
+
+Let us settle it then in our minds, for one thing, that the _future
+happiness_ of those who are saved is eternal. However little we may
+understand it, it is something which will have no end: it will never
+cease, never grow old, never decay, never die. At God's "right hand are
+pleasures for evermore." (Ps. xvi. 11.) Once landed in paradise, the
+saints of God shall go out no more. The inheritance is "incorruptible,
+undefiled, and fadeth not away." They shall "receive a crown of glory
+that fadeth not away." (1 Pet. i. 4; v. 4.) Their warfare is
+accomplished; their fight is over; their work is done. They shall hunger
+no more, neither thirst any more. They are travelling on towards an
+"eternal weight of glory," towards a home which shall never be broken
+up, a meeting without a parting, a family gathering without a
+separation, a day without night. Faith shall be swallowed up in sight,
+and hope in certainty. They shall see as they have been seen, and know
+as they have been known, and "be for ever with the Lord." I do not
+wonder that the apostle Paul adds, "Comfort one another with these
+words." (1 Thess. iv. 17, 18.)
+
+Let us settle it, for another thing, in our minds, that the _future
+misery_ of those who are finally lost is eternal. This is an awful
+truth, I am aware, and flesh and blood naturally shrink from the
+contemplation of it. But I am one of those who believe it to be plainly
+revealed in Scripture, and I dare not keep it back in the pulpit. To my
+eyes eternal future happiness and eternal future misery appear to stand
+side by side. I fail to see how you can distinguish the duration of one
+from the duration of the other. If the joy of the believer is for ever,
+the sorrow of the unbeliever is also for ever. If heaven is eternal, so
+likewise is hell. It may be my ignorance, but I know not how the
+conclusion can be avoided.
+
+I cannot reconcile the non-eternity of punishment with the _language of
+the Bible_. Its advocates talk loudly about love and charity, and say
+that it does not harmonize with the merciful and compassionate character
+of God. But what saith the Scripture? Who ever spoke such loving and
+merciful words as our Lord Jesus Christ? Yet His are the lips which
+three times over describe the consequence of impenitence and sin, as
+"the worm that never dies and the fire that is not quenched." He is the
+Person who speaks in one sentence of the wicked going away into
+"everlasting punishment" and the righteous into "life eternal." (Mark
+ix. 43--48; Matt. xxv. 46.)[18]--Who does not remember the Apostle
+Paul's words about charity? Yet he is the very Apostle who says, the
+wicked "shall be punished with everlasting destruction." (2 Thess. i.
+9.)--Who does not know the spirit of love which runs through all St.
+John's Gospel and Epistles? Yet the beloved Apostle is the very writer
+in the New Testament who dwells most strongly, in the book of
+Revelation, on the reality and eternity of future woe. What shall we say
+to these things? Shall we be wise above that which is written? Shall we
+admit the dangerous principle that words in Scripture do not mean what
+they appear to mean? Is it not far better to lay our hands on our mouths
+and say, "Whatever God has written must be true." "Even so, Lord God
+Almighty, true and righteous are Thy judgments." (Rev. xvi. 7.)
+
+  18: "If God had intended to have told us that the punishment of
+  wicked man shall have no end, the languages wherein the Scriptures
+  are written do hardly afford fuller and more certain words than
+  those that are used in this case, whereby to express a duration
+  without end; and likewise, which is almost a peremptory decision of
+  the thing, the duration of the punishment of wicked men is in the
+  very same sentence expressed by the very same word which is used for
+  the duration of happiness of the righteous."--_Archbishop Tillotson
+  on Hell Torments._ See _Horbery_, vol. ii. p. 42.
+
+I cannot reconcile the non-eternity of punishment with the _language of
+our Prayer-book_. The very first petition in our matchless Litany
+contains this sentence, "From everlasting damnation, good Lord, deliver
+us."--The Catechism teaches every child who learns it, that whenever we
+repeat the Lord's Prayer we desire our Heavenly Father to "keep us from
+our ghostly enemy and from everlasting death."--Even in our Burial
+Service we pray at the grave side, "Deliver us not into the bitter pains
+of eternal death."--Once more I ask, "What shall we say to these
+things?" Shall our congregations be taught that even when people live
+and die in sin we may hope for their happiness in a remote future?
+Surely the common sense of many of our worshippers would reply, that if
+this is the case Prayer-book words mean nothing at all.
+
+I lay no claim to any peculiar knowledge of Scripture. I feel daily that
+I am no more infallible than the Bishop of Rome. But I must speak
+according to the light which God has given to me; and I do not think I
+should do my duty if I did not raise a warning voice on this subject,
+and try to put Christians on their guard. Six thousand years ago sin
+entered into the world by the devil's daring falsehood,--"Ye shall not
+surely die." (Gen. iii. 4.) At the end of six thousand years the great
+enemy of mankind is still using his old weapon, and trying to persuade
+men that they may live and die in sin, and yet at some distant period
+may be finally saved. Let us not be ignorant of his devices. Let us walk
+steadily in the old paths. Let us hold fast the old truth, and believe
+that as the happiness of the saved is eternal, so also is the misery of
+the lost.[19]
+
+  19: "There is nothing that Satan more desires than that we should
+  believe that he does not exist, and that there is no such a place as
+  hell, and no such things as eternal torments. He whispers all this
+  into our ears, and he exults when he hears a layman, and much more
+  when he hears a clergyman, deny these things, for then he hopes to
+  make them and others his victims."--_Bishop Wordsworth's Sermons on
+  Future Rewards and Punishments_, p. 36.
+
+(_a_) Let us hold it fast _in the interest of the whole system of
+revealed religion_. What was the use of God's Son becoming incarnate,
+agonizing in Gethsemane, and dying on the cross to make atonement, if
+men can be finally saved without believing on Him? Where is the
+slightest proof that saving faith in Christ's blood can ever begin after
+death? Where is the need of the Holy Ghost, if sinners are at last to
+enter heaven without conversion and renewal of heart? Where can we find
+the smallest evidence that any one can be born again, and have a new
+heart, if he dies in an unregenerate state? If a man may escape eternal
+punishment at last, without faith in Christ or sanctification of the
+Spirit, sin is no longer an infinite evil, and there was no need for
+Christ making an atonement.
+
+(_b_) Let us hold it fast _for the sake of holiness and morality_. I can
+imagine nothing so pleasant to flesh and blood as the specious theory
+that we may live in sin, and yet escape eternal perdition; and that
+although we "serve divers lusts and pleasures" while we are here, we
+shall somehow or other all get to heaven hereafter! Only tell the young
+man who is "wasting his substance in riotous living" that there is
+heaven at last even for those who live and die in sin, and he is never
+likely to turn from evil. Why should he repent and take up the cross, if
+he can get to heaven at last without trouble?
+
+(_c_) Finally, let us hold it fast, _for the sake of the common hopes of
+all God's saints_. Let us distinctly understand that every blow struck
+at the eternity of punishment is an equally heavy blow at the eternity
+of reward. It is impossible to separate the two things. No ingenious
+theological definition can divide them. They stand or fall together. The
+same language is used, the same figures of speech are employed, when the
+Bible speaks about either condition. Every attack on the duration of
+hell is also an attack on the duration of heaven.[20] It is a deep and
+true saying, "With the sinner's fear our hope departs."
+
+  20: "If the punishment of the wicked is only temporary, such will
+  also be the happiness of the righteous, which is repugnant to the
+  whole teaching of Scripture; but if the happiness of the righteous
+  will be everlasting (who will be equal to the angels, and their
+  bodies will be like the body of Christ), such also will be the
+  punishment of the wicked."--_Bishop Wordsworth's Sermon on Future
+  Rewards and Punishments, p. 31._
+
+I turn from this part of my subject with a deep sense of its
+painfulness. I feel strongly with Robert M'Cheyne, that "it is a hard
+subject to handle lovingly." But I turn from it with an equally deep
+conviction that if we believe the Bible we must never give up anything
+which it contains. From hard, austere, and unmerciful theology, good
+Lord, deliver us! If men are not saved it is because they "will not come
+to Christ." (John v. 40.) But we must not be wise above that which is
+written. No morbid love of liberality, so called, must induce us to
+reject anything which God has revealed about eternity. Men sometimes
+talk exclusively about God's mercy and love and compassion, as if He had
+no other attributes, and leave out of sight entirely His holiness and
+His purity, His justice and His unchangeableness, and His hatred of sin.
+Let us beware of falling into this delusion. It is a growing evil in
+these latter days. Low and inadequate views of the unutterable vileness
+and filthiness of sin, and of the unutterable purity of the eternal God,
+are fertile sources of error about man's future state. Let us think of
+the mighty Being with whom we have to do, as he Himself declared His
+character to Moses, saying, "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and
+gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping
+mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, and transgression and sin." But
+let us not forget the solemn clause which concludes the sentence: "And
+_that will by no means clear the guilty_." (Exod. xxxiv. 6, 7.)
+Unrepented sin is an eternal evil, and can never cease to be sin; and He
+with whom we have to do is an eternal God.
+
+The words of Psalm cxlv. are strikingly beautiful: "The Lord is
+gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. The
+Lord is good to all: and His tender mercies are over all His works.--The
+Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed
+down.--The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His works.
+The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon
+Him in truth.--The Lord preserveth all them that love Him." Nothing can
+exceed the mercifulness of this language! But what a striking fact it is
+that the passage goes on to add the following solemn conclusion, "_All
+the wicked will He destroy_." (Psalm cxlv. 8-20.)
+
+
+III. The third thought which I commend to the attention of my readers is
+this:--_Our state in the unseen world of eternity depends entirely on
+what we are in time_.
+
+The life that we live upon earth is short at the very best, and soon
+gone. "We spend our days as a tale that is told."--"What is our life? It
+is a vapour: so soon passeth it away, and we are gone." (Psalm xc. 9;
+James iv. 14.) The life that is before us when we leave this world is an
+endless eternity, a sea without a bottom, and an ocean without a shore.
+"One day in Thy sight," eternal God, "is as a thousand years, and a
+thousand years as one day." (2 Pet. iii. 8.) In that world time shall be
+no more.--But short as our life is here, and endless as it will be
+hereafter, it is a tremendous thought that eternity hinges upon time.
+Our lot after death depends, humanly speaking, on what we are while we
+are alive. It is written, God "will render to every man according to his
+deeds: to them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory
+and honour and immortality, eternal life: but to them that are
+contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness,
+indignation and wrath." (Rom. ii. 6, 7.)
+
+We ought never to forget, that we are all, while we live, in a state of
+probation. We are constantly sowing seeds which will spring up and bear
+fruit, every day and hour in our lives. There are eternal consequences
+resulting from all our thoughts and words and actions, of which we take
+far too little account. "For every idle word that men speak they shall
+give account in the day of judgment." (Matt. xii. 36.) Our thoughts are
+all numbered, our actions are weighed. No wonder that St. Paul says, "He
+that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that
+soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." (Gal.
+vi. 8.) In a word, what we sow in life we shall reap after death, and
+reap to all eternity.
+
+There is no greater delusion than the common idea that it is possible to
+live wickedly, and yet rise again gloriously; to be without religion in
+this world, and yet to be a saint in the next. When the famous
+Whitefield revived the doctrine of conversion last century, it is
+reported that one of his hearers came to him after a sermon and
+said,--"It is all quite true, sir. I hope I shall be converted and born
+again one day, but not till after I am dead." I fear there are many like
+him. I fear the false doctrine of the Romish _purgatory_ has many secret
+friends even within the pale of the Church of England! However
+carelessly men may go on while they live, they secretly cling to the
+hope that they shall be found among the saints when they die. They seem
+to hug the idea that there is some cleansing, purifying effect produced
+by death, and that, whatever they may be in this life, they shall be
+found "meet for the inheritance of the saints" in the life to come. But
+it is all a delusion.[21]
+
+  21: "The Scripture never represents the state of future misery, as a
+  state of purgation and purification, or anything like analogous to a
+  state of trial, where men may fit and qualify themselves for some
+  better state of existence: but always as a state of retribution,
+  punishment, and righteous vengeance, in which God's justice (a
+  perfection of which some men seem to render no account) vindicates
+  the power of His majesty, His government, and His love, by punishing
+  those who have despised them."--_Horbery_, vol. ii. p. 183.
+
+    "Life is the time to serve the Lord,
+     The time to insure the great reward."
+
+The Bible teaches plainly, that as we die, whether converted or
+unconverted, whether believers or unbelievers, whether godly or ungodly,
+so shall we rise again when the last trumpet sounds. There is no
+repentance in the grave: there is no conversion after the last breath is
+drawn. Now is the time to believe in Christ, and to lay hold on eternal
+life. Now is the time to turn from darkness unto light, and to make our
+calling and election sure. The night cometh when no man can work. As the
+tree falls, there it will lie. If we leave this world impenitent and
+unbelieving, we shall rise the same in the resurrection morning, and
+find it had been "good for us if we had never been born."[22]
+
+  22: "This life is the time of our preparation for our future state.
+  Our souls will continue for ever what we make them in this world.
+  Such a taste and disposition of mind as a man carries with him out
+  of this life, he shall retain in the next. It is true, indeed,
+  heaven perfects those holy and virtuous dispositions which are begun
+  here; but the other world alters no man as to his main state. He
+  that is filthy will be filthy still; and he that is unrighteous will
+  be unrighteous still."--_Archbishop Tillotson's Sermon on Phil. iii.
+  20._ (See _Horbrey_, vol. ii. p. 133.)
+
+I charge every reader of this paper to remember this, and to make a good
+use of time. Regard it as the stuff of which life is made, and never
+waste it or throw it away. Your hours and days and weeks and months and
+years have all something to say to an eternal condition beyond the
+grave. What you sow in life you are sure to reap in a life to come. As
+holy Baxter says, it is "now or never." Whatever we do in religion must
+be done now.
+
+Remember this in your use of all the means of grace, from the least to
+the greatest. Never be careless about them. They are given to be your
+helps toward an eternal world, and not one of them ought to be
+thoughtlessly treated or lightly and irreverently handled. Your daily
+prayers and Bible-reading, your weekly behaviour on the Lord's day, your
+manner of going through public worship,--all, all these things are
+important. Use them all as one who remembers eternity.
+
+Remember it, not least, whenever you are tempted to do evil. When
+sinners entice you, and say, "It is only a little one,"--when Satan
+whispers in your heart, "Never mind: where is the mighty harm? Everybody
+does so,"--then look beyond time to a world unseen, and place in the
+face of the temptation the thought of eternity. There is a grand saying
+recorded of the martyred Reformer, Bishop Hooper, when one urged him to
+recant before he was burned, saying, "Life is sweet and death is
+bitter." "True," said the good Bishop, "quite true! But eternal life is
+more sweet, and eternal death is more bitter."
+
+
+IV. The last thought which I commend to the attention of my readers is
+this:--_The Lord Jesus Christ is the great Friend to whom we must all
+look for help, both for time and eternity_.
+
+The purpose for which the eternal Son of God came into the world can
+never be declared too fully, or proclaimed too loudly. He came to give
+us hope and peace while we live among the "things seen, which are
+temporal," and glory and blessedness when we go into the "things unseen,
+which are eternal." He came to "bring life and immortality to light,"
+and to "deliver those who, through fear of death, were all their
+life-time subject to bondage." (2 Tim. i. 10; Heb. ii. 15.) He saw our
+lost and bankrupt condition, and had compassion on us. And now, blessed
+be His name, a mortal man may pass through "things temporal" with
+comfort, and look forward to "things eternal" without fear.
+
+These mighty privileges our Lord Jesus Christ has purchased for us at
+the cost of His own precious blood. He became our Substitute, and bore
+our sins in His own body on the cross, and then rose again for our
+justification. "He suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He
+might bring us unto God." He was made sin for us who knew no sin, that
+we poor sinful creatures might have pardon and justification while we
+live, and glory and blessedness when we die. (1 Peter ii. 24; iii. 18; 2
+Cor. v. 21.)
+
+And all that our Lord Jesus Christ has purchased for us He offers freely
+to every one who will turn from his sins, come to Him, and believe. "I
+am the light of the world," He says: "he that followeth Me shall not
+walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."--"Come unto Me, all
+ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."--"If any
+man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink."--"Him that cometh unto Me
+I will in no wise cast out."--And the terms are as simple as the offer
+is free: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be
+saved."--"Whosoever believeth on Him shall not perish but have eternal
+life." (John viii. 12; Matt. xi. 28; John vii. 37; vi. 37; Acts xvi. 31;
+John iii. 16.)
+
+He that has Christ, has life. He can look round him on the "things
+temporal," and see change and decay on every side without dismay. He has
+got treasure in heaven, which neither rust nor moth can corrupt, nor
+thieves break through and steal. He can look forward to the "things
+eternal," and feel calm and composed. His Saviour has risen, and gone to
+prepare a place for him. When he leaves this world he shall have a crown
+of glory, and be for ever with his Lord. He can look down even into the
+grave, as the wisest Greeks and Romans could never do, and say, "Oh,
+death, where is thy sting? oh, grave, where is thy victory? oh,
+eternity, where are thy terrors?" (1 Cor. xv. 55.)
+
+Let us all settle it firmly in our minds that the only way to pass
+through "things seen" with comfort, and look forward to "things unseen"
+without fear, is to have Christ for our Saviour and Friend, to lay hold
+on Christ by faith, to become one with Christ and Christ in us, and
+while we live in the flesh to live the life of faith in the Son of God.
+(Gal. ii. 20.) How vast is the difference between the state of him who
+has faith in Christ, and the state of him who has none! Blessed indeed
+is that man or woman who can say, with truth, "I trust in Jesus: I
+believe." When Cardinal Beaufort lay upon his death-bed, our mighty poet
+describes King Henry as saying, "He dies, but gives no sign." When John
+Knox, the Scotch Reformer, was drawing to his end, and unable to speak,
+a faithful servant asked him to give some proof that the Gospel he had
+preached in life gave him comfort in death, by raising his hand. He
+heard; and raised his hand toward heaven three times, and then
+departed. Blessed, I say again, is he that believes! He alone is rich,
+independent, and beyond the reach of harm. If you and I have no comfort
+amidst things temporal, and no hope for the things eternal, the fault is
+all our own. It is because we "will not come to Christ, that we may have
+life." (John v. 40.)
+
+
+I leave the subject of eternity here, and pray that God may bless it to
+many souls. In conclusion, I offer to every one who reads this volume
+some food for thought, and matter for self-examination.
+
+(1) First of all, how are you _using your time_? Life is short and very
+uncertain. You never know what a day may bring forth. Business and
+pleasure, money-getting and money-spending, eating and drinking,
+marrying and giving in marriage,--all, all will soon be over and done
+with for ever. And you, what are you doing for your immortal soul? Are
+you wasting time, or turning it to good account? Are you preparing to
+meet God?
+
+(2) Secondly, where _shall you be in eternity_? It is coming, coming,
+coming very fast upon us. You are going, going, going very fast into it.
+But where will you be? On the right hand or on the left, in the day of
+judgment? Among the lost or among the saved? Oh, rest not, rest not till
+your soul is insured! Make sure work: leave nothing uncertain. It is a
+fearful thing to die unprepared, and fall into the hands of the living
+God.
+
+(3) Thirdly, would you be _safe for time and eternity_? Then seek
+Christ, and believe in Him. Come to Him just as you are. Seek Him while
+He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. There is still a throne
+of grace. It is not too late. Christ waits to be gracious: He invites
+you to come to Him. Before the door is shut and the judgment begins,
+repent, believe, and be saved.
+
+(4) Lastly, _would you be happy_? Cling to Christ, and live the life of
+faith in Him. Abide in Him, and live near to Him. Follow Him with heart
+and soul and mind and strength, and seek to know Him better every day.
+So doing you shall have great peace while you pass through "things
+temporal," and in the midst of a dying world shall "never die." (John
+xi. 26.) So doing, you shall be able to look forward to "things eternal"
+with unfailing confidence, and to feel and "know that if our earthly
+house of this tabernacle be dissolved we have a building of God, a house
+not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." (2 Cor. v. 1.)
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+P. S.
+
+Since preaching the above Sermon I have read Canon Farrar's volume,
+"Eternal Hope." With much that this book contains I cannot at all agree.
+Anything that comes from the pen of such a well-known writer of course
+deserves respectful consideration. But I must honestly confess, after
+reading "Eternal Hope," that I see no reason to withdraw anything I have
+said in my Sermon on "Eternity," and that I laid down the volume with
+regret and dissatisfaction, unconvinced and unshaken in my opinions.
+
+I can find nothing new in Canon Farrar's statements. He says hardly
+anything that has not been said before, and refuted before. To all who
+wish to examine fully the subject of the reality and eternity of future
+punishment, I venture to recommend some works which are far less known
+than they ought to be, and which appear to me far sounder, and more
+Scriptural, than "Eternal Hope." These are "_Horbery's Enquiry into the
+Scripture Doctrine of the Duration of Future Punishment_,"
+"_Girdlestone's Dies Irae_," the Rev. C. F. Childe's "_Unsafe Anchor_"
+and the Rev. Flavel Cook's "_Righteous Judgment_." "_Bishop Pearson on
+the Creed_," under the head "Resurrection," and "_Hodge's Systematic
+Theology_," vol. iii. p. 868. will also repay a careful perusal.
+
+The plain truth is, that there are vast difficulties bound up with the
+subject of the future state of the wicked, which Canon Farrar seems to
+me to leave untouched. The amazing mercifulness of God, and the
+awfulness of supposing that many around us will be lost eternally, he
+has handled fully and with characteristic rhetoric. No doubt the
+compassions of God are unspeakable. He is "not willing that any should
+perish." He "would have all men to be saved." His love in sending Christ
+into the world to die for sinners is an inexhaustible subject.--But this
+is only one side of God's character, as we have it revealed in
+Scripture. His character and attributes need to be looked at all round.
+The infinite holiness and justice of an eternal God,--His hatred of
+evil, manifested in Noah's flood and at Sodom, and in the destruction of
+the seven nations of Canaan,--the unspeakable vileness and guilt of sin
+in God's sight,--the wide gulf between natural man and his perfect
+Maker,--the enormous spiritual change which every child of Adam must go
+through, if he is to dwell for ever in God's presence,--and the utter
+absence of any intimation in the Bible that this change can take place
+after death,--all, all these are points which seem to me comparatively
+put on one aside, or left alone, in Canon Farrar's volume. My mind
+demands satisfaction on these points before I can accept the views
+advocated in "Eternal Hope," and that satisfaction I fail to find in the
+book.
+
+The position that Canon Farrar has taken up was first formally advocated
+by Origen, a Father who lived in the third century after Christ. He
+boldly broached the opinion that future punishment would be only
+temporary; but his opinion was rejected by almost all his
+contemporaries. Bishop Wordsworth says,--"The Fathers of the Church in
+Origen's time and in the following centuries, among whom were many to
+whom the original language of the New Testament was their mother tongue,
+and who _could not be misled by translations_, examined minutely the
+opinion and statements of Origen, and agreed for the most part in
+rejecting and condemning them. Irenaeus, Cyril of Jerusalem, Chrysostom,
+Basil, Cyril of Alexandria, and others of the Eastern Church, and
+Tertullian, Cyprian, Lactantius, Augustine, Gregory the Great, Bede, and
+many more of the Western Church, were unanimous in teaching that the
+joys of the righteous and the punishments of the wicked will not be
+temporary, but everlasting."
+
+"Nor was this all. The Fifth General Council, held at Constantinople
+under the Emperor Justinian, in 553, A.D. examined the tenets of Origen,
+and passed a synodical decree condemnatory of them. And for a thousand
+years after that time there was an unanimous consent in Christendom in
+this sense." (Bishop Wordsworth's "Sermons," p. 34.)
+
+Let me add to this statement the fact that the eternity of future
+punishment has been held by almost all the greatest theologians from the
+time of the Reformation down to the present day. It is a point on which
+Lutherans, Calvinists, and Arminians, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, and
+Independents have always, with a few exceptions, been of one mind.
+Search the writings of the most eminent and learned Reformers, search
+the works of the Puritans, search the few literary remains of the men
+who revived English Christianity in the eighteenth century, and, as a
+rule, you will always get one harmonious answer. Within the last few
+years, no doubt, the "non-eternity of future punishment" has found
+several zealous advocates. But up to a comparatively modern date, I
+unhesitatingly assert, the supporters of Canon Farrar's views have
+always been an extremely small minority among orthodox Christians. That
+fact is, at any rate, worth remembering.
+
+As to the _difficulties_ besetting the old or common view of future
+punishment, I admit their existence, and I do not pretend to explain
+them. But I always expect to find many mysteries in revealed religion,
+and I am not stumbled by them. I see other difficulties in the world
+which I cannot solve, and I am content to wait for their solution. What
+a mighty divine has called, "The mystery of God, the great mystery of
+His suffering vice and confusion to prevail,"--the origin of evil,--the
+permission of cruelty, oppression, poverty, and disease,--the allowed
+sickness and death of infants before they know good from evil,--the
+future prospects of the heathen who never heard the Gospel,--the times
+of ignorance which God has winked at,--the condition of China,
+Hindostan, and Central Africa, for the last 1800 years,--all these
+things are to my mind great knots which I am unable to untie, and depths
+which I have no line to fathom. But I wait for light, and I have no
+doubt all will be made plain. I rest in the thought that I am a poor
+ignorant mortal, and that God is a Being of infinite wisdom, and is
+doing all things well. "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right."
+(Gen. xviii. 25.) It is a wise sentence of Bishop Butler: "All shadow of
+injustice, and indeed all harsh appearances in the various economy of
+God, would be lost, if we would keep in mind that every merciful
+allowance shall be made, and no more shall be required of any one, than
+what might have been equitably expected of him from the circumstances in
+which he was placed, and not what might have been expected from him had
+he been placed in other circumstances." ("Analogy," part ii. ch. vi. p.
+425. Wilson's edition.) It is a grand saying of Elihu, in Job, "Touching
+the Almighty, we cannot find Him out: He is excellent in power, and in
+judgment, and in plenty of justice: He will not afflict." (Job xxxvii.
+23.)
+
+It may be perfectly true that many Romish divines, and even some
+Protestants, have made extravagant and offensive statements about the
+bodily sufferings of the lost in another world. It may be true that
+those who believe in eternal punishment have occasionally misunderstood
+or mistranslated texts, and have pressed figurative language too far.
+But it is hardly fair to make Christianity responsible for the mistakes
+of its advocates. It is an old saying that "Christian errors are infidel
+arguments." Thomas Aquinas, and Dante, and Milton, and Boston, and
+Jonathan Edwards were not inspired and infallible, and I decline to be
+answerable for all they may have written about the physical torments of
+the lost. But after every allowance, admission, and deduction, there
+remains, in my humble opinion, a mass of Scripture evidence in support
+of the doctrine of eternal punishment, which can never be explained
+away, and which no revision or new translation of the English Bible will
+ever overthrow.[23] That there are degrees of misery as well as degrees
+of glory in the future state, that the condition of some who are lost
+will be far worse than that of others, all this is undeniable. But that
+the punishment of the wicked will ever have an end, or that length of
+time alone can ever change a heart, or that the Holy Spirit ever works
+on the dead, or that there is any purging, purifying process beyond the
+grave, by which the wicked will be finally fitted for heaven, these are
+positions which I maintain it is utterly impossible to prove by texts of
+Scripture. Nay, rather, there are texts of Scripture which teach an
+utterly different doctrine. "It is surprising," says Horbery, "if hell
+be such a state of purification, that it should always be represented in
+Scripture as a place of punishment." (Vol. ii. p. 223.) "Nothing," says
+Girdlestone, "but clear statements of Scripture could justify us in
+holding, or preaching to ungodly men, the doctrine of repentance after
+death; and not one clear statement on this subject is to be found."
+("Dies Irae," p. 269.) If we once begin to invent doctrines which we
+cannot prove by texts, or to refuse the evidence of texts in Scripture
+because they land us in conclusions we do not like, we may as well throw
+aside the Bible altogether, and discard it as the judge of controversy.
+
+  23: Horbery alone alleges and examines no less than one hundred and
+  three texts, on his side, in his reply to Whiston.
+
+The favourite argument of some, that no religious doctrine can be
+true which is rejected by the "common opinion" and popular feeling
+of mankind,--that any texts which contradict this common popular
+feeling must be wrongly interpreted,--and that therefore eternal
+punishment cannot be true, because the inward feeling of the
+multitude revolts against it,--this argument appears to me alike
+most dangerous and unsound. It is _dangerous_, because it strikes a
+direct blow at the authority of Scripture as the only rule of faith.
+Where is the use of the Bible, if the "common opinion" of mortal man
+is to be regarded as of more weight than the declarations of God's
+Word?--It is _unsound_, because it ignores the great fundamental
+principle of Christianity,--that man is a fallen creature, with a
+corrupt heart and understanding, and that in spiritual things his
+judgment is worthless. There is a veil over our hearts. "The natural
+man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are
+foolishness to him." (1 Cor. ii. 14.) To say, in the face of such a
+text, that any doctrine which the majority of men dislike, such as
+eternal punishment, _must_ therefore be untrue, is simply absurd!
+The "common opinion" is more likely to be wrong than right! No doubt
+Bishop Butler has said, "If in revelation there be found any passage
+the seeming meaning of which is contrary to natural religion, we may
+most certainly conclude such seeming meaning not to be the real
+one." But those who triumphantly quote these words would do well to
+observe the sentence which immediately follows: "But it is not any
+degree of a presumption against an interpretation of Scripture, that
+such an interpretation contains a doctrine which the light of nature
+cannot discover." ("Analogy," part i. chap. ii. p. 358. Wilson's
+edition.)
+
+After all, what the "common feeling" or opinion of the majority of
+mankind is about the duration of future punishment, is a question which
+admits of much doubt. Of course we have no means of ascertaining: and it
+signifies little either way. In such a matter the only point is, What
+saith the Scripture? But I have a strong suspicion, if the world could
+be polled, that we should find the greater part of mankind believed in
+eternal punishment! About the opinion of the Greeks and Romans at any
+rate there can be little dispute. If anything is clearly taught in the
+stories of their mythology it is the endless nature of the sufferings of
+the wicked. Bishop Butler says, "Gentile writers, both moralist and
+poetic, speak of the future punishment of the wicked, both as to
+duration and degree, in a like manner of expression and description as
+the Scripture does." ("Analogy," part i. chap. ii. p. 218.) The strange
+and weird legends of Tantalus, Sisyphus, Ixion, Prometheus, and the
+Danaides, have all one common feature about them. In each case the
+punishment is eternal! This is a fact worth noticing. It is worth what
+it is worth. But it shows, at all events, that the opponents of eternal
+punishment should not talk too confidently about the "common opinion of
+mankind."
+
+As to the doctrine of the _Annihilation of the Wicked_, to which many
+adhere, it appears to me so utterly irreconcilable with our Lord Jesus
+Christ's words about "the resurrection of damnation," and "the worm that
+never dies, and the fire that is not quenched," and St. Paul's words
+about "the resurrection of the unjust" (John v. 29; Mark ix. 43-48; Acts
+xxiv. 15), that until those words can be proved to form no part of
+inspired Scripture it seems to me mere waste of time to argue about it.
+
+The favourite argument of the advocates of this doctrine, that "death,
+dying, perishing, destruction," and the like, are phrases which can only
+mean "cessation of existence," is so ridiculously weak that it is
+scarcely worth noticing. Every Bible reader knows that God said to Adam,
+concerning the forbidden fruit, "In the day thou eatest thereof thou
+shalt surely _die_." (Gen. ii. 17.) But every well-taught Sunday scholar
+knows that Adam did not "cease to exist," when he broke the commandment.
+He died spiritually, but he did not cease to be!--So also St. Peter says
+of the flood: "The world that then was, being overflowed with water,
+_perished_." (2 Peter iii. 6.) Yet, though temporarily drowned, it
+certainly did not cease to be; and when the water was dried up Noah
+lived on it again.
+
+It only remains for me now to add one more last word, by way of
+information. Those who care to investigate the meaning of the words
+"eternal" and "everlasting," as used in Scripture, will find the subject
+fully and exhaustively considered in _Girdlestone's "Old Testament
+Synonyms_," ch. 30, p. 495; and in the same writer's "_Dies Irae_," ch.
+10 and 11, p. 128.
+
+
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+   p.8 thing changed to think
+   p.38 the burden o changed to the burden of
+   p.77 beecome changed to become
+   p.148 still remain to be changed to still remains to be
+   p.241 Aphorisims changed to Aphorisms
+   p.320 all lasses changed to all classes
+   p.335 thorougly changed to thoroughly
+   p.469 still fresh on you mind changed to still fresh on your mind
+   Hyphenation of words is inconsistent and has been left as in the
+   original.
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PRACTICAL RELIGION***
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