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THE ATTRACTIVE CHRIST

ANDOTHER SE

HE AT TRACTIVE CHRIS T

AND O THER SERMONS

ROBERT STUART MACARTHUR

I think I understand somewhat of human nature , and I

tell you that j esus Christ was more than

man . aqlexander , Caesar , Charlemagne , and

myself, founded great empires ; but upon whatdid the creations of our genius depend' Upon

force . j esus alonefounded h is empire upon love ,and to this very day millions would die for h im .

—<7‘Cap01eon

‘Bonaparte

Philadelphia

Bmertcan JEaptist p ub lication S ociety:MDCCCXCVDI

Copyrigh t 1 898 by th eAME RICAN BAPTIST PUBL ICATION SOCIE TY

f rom the S ociety’s own p ress

PREFACE

MOST of the sermons contained in th is volum e

were preach ed in the Calvary Bap t ist Church , New

York, on con secutive Sundaymorn ings during the

last few months . The discourses preached on

Sunday evenings during the same period , and

during a few addit ional months , will be publ i shed

under the t itl e, “ Sunday Night Lectures on th e

Land and the Book .

It is the s in cere desire and prayer of the au

thor that al l readers may experience the power of“ The Attract ive Christ , and may at last rej oice

in “The Beat ific Vis ion Of the King in h is

beauty.

ROBE RT STUART MACARTHUR.

CAL VARY STUDY , Jam ,1 898 .

S E RMON

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CONTENTS

PAGE

ATTRACTIVE CHRIST

HEALING LORD

DIVINE TRUSTEE

SANCTIFYING TRUTH

BURNING BUSH

ALLOTTED TASK .

COMPREHENS IVE DES IRE

MANIFOLD KEEPING

GREATER WORKS

E VERLASTING ARMS

MASTICATED WORD

WONDERFUL E NGRAVING

INSTRUCTIVE E AGLE

RIGHTEOUS GARMENTS

INTREPI D STATESMAN

ROYAL PENITENT

PRACTICAL THINKE R

E MPTY TOMB

FULFILLED PENTECOST

BEATIFIC V IS ION

THE ATTRACT IVE CHRIST

BSUS CHRIST is the most attract ive Personagethe world has ever known . This truth was

clearly indicated even at the dawn of human hisstory. H e i s the Shiloh in Genesis ; the I Am in

Exodus ; and the Star and Sceptre in Numbers .In Deuteronomy he is our Rock ; in J oshua he isthe Captain of the Lord ’ s Host ; and in Job he isthe Redeemer. H e was David

’ s Shepherd and

Lord ; and in the Song of Solomon he is the Beloved . In I saiah he is the Wonderful, Counsellor,th e Mighty God

,the Everlasting Father and the

Prince of Peace . In J eremiah , he is the Lord our

R ighteousness ; in Daniel he is th e Messiah ; inZechariah he is the Branch ; and in Haggai he isth e Des ire of all nat ions .

'

In Malach i he is theMessenger of the Covenant and the Sun Of R ighteousne ss . He is J ohn the Bapt ist ’ s Lamb Of God,and John the Evangel ist ’ s Vine, Way, Truth , Life,Light . The Apostl e Peter speaks of him as theShepherd and Bishop of soul s ; and in the book of

Revelat ion he is the Alpha and Omega, and al sothe Morning Star . These are but a few of theat tract ive t itl es appl ied to Christ on the page ofinspirat ion . He was the world

’

s desire as indicatedby the longing and h Oping Of the world

’

s greatestthinkers . He was the p erfect man of Plato

’

s idealI I

1 2 THE ATTRACT IVE CHR IST

concept ion . He was the dream of poet s, the hope

of philosophers, and the inspirat ion Of painters

and sculptors . He is our hope in l ife, our support

in death , and he will b e the theme of our t ri

um ph an t song in et ern ity, when we shal l crownh im with many crowns . At the t ime in his earthly

life to wh ich our text refers, he proved his att ractiveness in a remarkable way. Much is said in our

day as to the importance of securing preachersand pastors who can “ draw but no pulpit can

truly have drawing power except Christ be upl iftedtherein .

There has been considerable difference ofOpin ion

as t o the t ime in our Lord ’

s l ife when the words

of the text were Spoken . Some affirm that the

vis it of the Greeks took place on the day of our

Lord ’ s triumphal entry into Jerusalem , and othersthat it was lat er in the Passion week . The Vi s it orswere not Hellen ist ic Jews . There is reason tobel ieve that they were Gentiles wh o had become

proselyt es t o righteousness and these are dist in

guished from proselytes Of the gat e. Even heathen

writers mention the fact that so many Gent iles

had adopted part s of the Jew ish worship that Juda

ism was extended through all parts of the c ivil

ized world .

These men came to Philip . Phil ip hes itates at

once to present them to Christ . He thereforetell s h is friend Andrew, and they together impart

to Christ the desire expressed by the Greeks . Inthe approach of these Gent iles, wh o were hunger

THE ATTRACTIVE CHR IST I 3

ing after salvat ion , Christ sees the first -fru it s of

the great harvest which would be reaped after h iscrucifixion and ascension . He sees now the great

possib ili t ies which are soon to be secured when

his gospel shall have been preached to all nat ions .St ier has said These men from the West at the

end of the l ife Of Jesus, se t forth the same as themagi from the East at it s beginning ; but they

came to the cross of the King, as those to hiscradle .Our Lord in the text shows h ow th e grand con

summat ion to be brought about by the preachingof his gospel i s to be accomplished . Satan is to

be cast out of. the realm where he had so l ong

reigned, and Christ is to be t riumphant as the

ruler over the heart s of men . Only as the cornof wheat fal l s int o the ground and dies, can it , by

a fundamental law of nature, bring forth much

fruit . Not otherwise is it with Christ h imself.He must give h is l ife as a vicarious sacrifice that

h is gospel may be preached and that many may

be saved . A similar law appl ies to the l ife andwork of all h is disciples ; only as they die to the

lower l ife can they l ive for the h igher and diviner

l ife. Already our Lord ’ s soul is passing into th e

darkness of the last terribl e struggl e . But in the

midst of this unspeakable sorrow there comes avoice from heaven assuring him that the name of

God would be glorified again as it had been glorified in h is Obedience in the past . At h is bapt ismthe heavenly voic e came

,giving him cheer and in

I4. THE ATTRACTIVE CHR IST

Spirat ion ; on the mount of Transfiguration thevoice of the Father again was heard, expressinghis pleasure in the Obedience of the beloved Son ;and now , as another stage in h is earthly career is

begun , that same voice i s once more and for theth ird t ime heard . The great cr isis in the hi story

of the race is at hand . Our Lord sees the triumphsof h is compl eted work . He is to be recognized as

king when the rebel empire is overthrown . Hissoul is l ifted up from it s sorrowful depths to height s

of ecstat ic j oy. He appears before us in th ewonderful attract iveness of his vicarious work as

the subst itute for s inners, and as the triumphantking Of glory, who Opens the kingdom of heaven

to al l bel ievers . Let us learn the characterist ics ofthe wonderful drawing here described, the element s

Of Christ ’ s att ract iveness when he is l ifted up tothe cross and t o the throne .

I . Th is is a p ersonal draw ing . Christ draws allmen and draws all men unto h imself. I t is re

markable when we pause to reflect on the sublimeegot ism found here

,and so Often elsewhere in the

l ife of our Lord . N o other than he might so use

th e first personal pronoun ; there is no sense of

unfitne ss in his u se of that pronoun . He is con

sc iou s of imperial power as he utters these words ;and w e seem to be conscious of h is absolut e right

t o the possession of that power and to the utter

ance of this form of speech . There is a kinglymaj esty in our Lord ’ s words, even when spoken in

the lowl iest place which he occupied when upon

THE ATTRACT IVE CHR IST I S

earth . There is no feeling Of incongruity on our

part between the words which he uttered and thecharacter which he possessed . We feel that on el iving the l ife he l ived rightfully might Speak the

words which he employed . There is here an

almost unconsciou s argument on h is part for h isfull , his ab solut e, and glorious divin ity . Were a

mere man to speak as did he, he would prove him

self to . be hopelessly insane . Such a thought,

however, never occurs to us when w e are studying

the subl ime and divine egot ism of the Son of God .

This consciousness of imperial dignity and this em

ployment of kingly speech belong by divine rightto the Son of God . We read th e messages Of

kings and queen s in our own day as they address

their parliaments, and their use of the first per

sonal pronoun in speaking Of armies, navies, parliam ent s, and foreign courts may create a smil e ;but we recognize the convent ional appropriatenessof their language when we consider the theory of

their governments . But in l ist en ing to the egot ism of Jesus Christ we feel at once that it is notegot ism in the ordinary acceptat ion of the term ,

but the appropriat e language of h im whose ex

alted mission and charact er gave him a divineright so to Speak . His language is the more

striking when we reflect that he was the captainOf our salvat ion without an army or a soldier, and

the king of glory without a court ier, and that hewas now march ing in subl ime self-sacrifice to the

cros s to die for the world ’

s redempt ion . I t i s true

I 6 THE ATTRACTIVE CHR IST

that el sewhere the evangel ist John speaks of th isdrawing power as possessed by the Father alone

,

but here it is ascribed to the Son . Before the

glorificat ion of the Son this spec ial d ivine workwas attributed to the Father, but after that glorification the Son him self draws t o h imself. Thereis this co -working between the Father and theSon ; there is prom inence given now to the act

of the one and now to the act of the other.2 . We observe, also, that th is is conditional draw

ing . We are not, however, to suppose that our

word “ if expresses here any doubt o r uncertaintythat Christ Should be l ift ed up from the earth .

The word is el sewhere used to sign ify certainty

rather than doubt . What is the real meaning ofthe words, “ be l ifted up ”'We are quite sure

that th ey represent our Lord ’ s being lifted up on

the cross . All doubt on that point i s removed bythe language of the verse fol lowing the text :“This he said, signifying what death he shoulddie .

” This is the primary meaning Of the language

here u sed by Christ . He was l ifted on the crossas a spectacle to men and angels . He hung

thereon between earth and heaven, as if unworthy

of both . Ch riSlfiSr/CI‘ OSS was in a real sense h is

throne of power . He sways a sceptre tod ay of

spiritual domin ion over men because once he died

on the cross, the vicarious sacrifice for the sin Of

the world . His enemies supposed that when they

lifted h im to the cross they had forever destroyedhis power as their foe and his influence as the

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1 8 THE ATTRACT IVE CHR IST

are to wear the crown . The Holy Spirit came asChrist ’ s ascens ion gift ; he was t o take the things

of Christ and to Show them unto men . But for

the ascension and enthronement of J esus Christ ,we could not have had the descent and manifesta

t ion of the Holy Ghost .The language of Christ will al so include his ex

altat ion in th e preach ing Of h is word . No pulpit

can have genuine power except it manifest ly pre

sent s Ch rist cruc ified t o worsh iping assemblies .He so uplifted is st i ll the might iest magnet to

draw men and women from self and S in to hol i

ness and heaven . We se e how wonderfully thegospel won it s t riumphs after the descent of the

Spirit on the day of Pentecost . Christ ’ s exal tat ion was then complet e and the manifestat ion Of

his power was glorious and divine . Wh‘

en upon

the earth he fed a few thousands with the bread

that perisheth ; but after his exaltation to thethrone he commissions h is servants to give the

bread Of l ife to every creature under heaven .

Duringhis earthly ministry he was l im ited to theJewish peopl e ; but after h is cruc ifixion and ascen

S ionhe Offers h is salvat ion to all men irrespect ive

of nat ional ity, country, or clime .

3 . We observe tha t th is was a lso certain draw ing:

The condition Of Christ ’ s exaltation having been

met , the power of Christ ’ s at tract iveness was

made absolutely certain . We are here informedthat he “ will draw all men .

” There is no doubtas t o the power going out from Christ when ex

THE ATTRACT IVE CHR IST 1 9

alted to h is throne . There was a mythologicalfable that Jupiter had a golden chain which he

could at any t ime let down from heaven , and by it

draw the earth , with all it s inhabitants, to himself.This chain, it is supposed by the interpreters of

mythologies, represented the un ion of earth andheaven , that it represented the government Of

both by the chain of causes and effect s . It wascal led a golden chain to express the b e neficence

of providence in it s drawing power upon the earth

and it s peoples . What is here vaguely set forthin legend is l iterally taught in the text

,regarding

the power of the exalted Son of God . While tosome his cros s was a stone of stumbl ing, it was to

others a lodestone of irres ist ibl e attract ion . Thereis to th is hour, and there will be forever, a mys

t e rious, maj est ic, ineffable, att ract ive influenceemanat ing from the cross and the throne of Jesu sChrist . All men must recognize the uniquenessof h is place in human history . Even now in

many parts Of our country assembl ies of soc ial i st s

and anarchist s, wh o hate the name of the church ,cheer the name of Christ . To them the church

is the symbol Of a cold and unchrist ian Christ ian

ity ; and to them at the same time the name of

Chri st is synonymous with gentleness, helpfulness ,lowl iness

,grac iousness

,and brotherly kindness .

J esus Christ is the wonder of the world ’ s h istory . His cross stood at the confluence of three

streams of civil izat ion . On the mount Of Transfigurat ion Moses, as the representat ive Of l aw, and

20 THE ATTRACT IVE CHR IST

El ij ah , as the representat ive Of prophecy, disappeared in th e Shadows of the l ight emanat ing from

Jesus Christ ; so that the apostles looking up “saw

no man save Jesus only.

” All men, whatever their

creeds and characters may be, must reverence theblended human ity and divinity which were man i

fe st ed in the Son Of God . H is name is tod aythe might iest name to move men to th e noblest

deeds, and to inspire them with divIn est aspirat ion s which human lips f

can pronounce . We need

not fear that the exalte/d Christ wil l ever lose h is

power . Whatever changes may come in Christ ian

thought and creed , in church form and life, J esus

Christ will st il l be in his . divine at tractivenes s

the same yesterday, to-day, and forever . Be

neath his cross I take my place tod ay without

doubt and with h Op e , without depression but

with enthusiasm, knowing well that h is gospel isst il l the power of God unto salvat ion to every one

that bel ieveth . The power emanat ing from the

exalted Christ, exalted to the cross, to the throne,and in the pulp it, overthrew the most ancient syst ems Of heath en ph ilosophy and mythology, and inthe ever-brightening future it will achieve s imilar

triumphs,and Shintoism , Brahminism, Buddhism ,

and every unchrist ian “ i sm, with all their priest s

and votaries,will yet bow the knee to the Son of

God ; and every tongue throughout earth’ s re

m o t e st bound shall proclaim h im to be Lord to

the glory of God the Father.

4 . The attractiveness of Ch ris t is a lso a g en tle

THE ATTRACT IVE CHR IST 2 1

draw ing . This thought is suggested by the wordhere translated “will draw . I t signifies here a

gentle rather than a forceful drawing. I t is not

the word that would be employed to suggest drawing by violence. Christ draws ; he does not drag .

Chris t wins ; he does no t force . Christ draws bythe “ cords of a man . I t may st ill be said of thosewh o are sweetly drawn by the power Of Christ

that , “ Thy people shall be wil l ing in the day of

thy power . ” God ’ s power is manifested in draw

ing men to Christ , in harmony with the laws ofour nature which God himself has conferred .

Christ is represented as standing at the door Ofthe heart and knocking for admiss ion . With one

blow Of his resist les s hand he might shatter thedoor, but that blow he will n ot infl ict . He has

made man free as a moral agent ; were man no t

free he could not be responsible for his moral act s .Freedom is an inal ienable attribut e of manhood .

That attribut e God respect s in his approaches to

men and in his appeals to their intell igence and

conscience . God may drive the brut e creat ion ;but God will draw the creatures made in h is own

image . There is a divine drawing constantly Operat ing upon human hearts . God appeal s to men in

the providences of l ife ; in the st il l small voice Of

his Spirit ; and in the threaten ings, commands, and

promises Of his divine word . Oh, let us bewarehow w e t reat God in his gentle appeals to our

heart s' I t is one Of the profoundest solemnit iesof l ife that the creature may in a sense resist the


Creator ; that man may defy God ; that man in h iswicked rebell ion may hasten h is own dest ruct ion .

Oh, quench not the Spirit to-day' Oh,grieve not

the gentle, wooing, beseeching Spirit of God, as

he would now draw you in loving Obed ience to theheart of Jesu s Chri st'

5 . Th is is a comp reh ensive draw ing . Will draw

all men . The word “men ”is not expressed, but

as the word “ all ” i s mascul ine in the original,it

clearly refers to person s . We are not , however,to understand these words as teach ing universalsalvat ion . We must understand that the gospel i sO ffered to all men without d ist inct ion of race or

creed . I t is certain that Christ here includes Gent ile as well as Jew. The coming of these Greeks toh im suggested the enlargement Of the offer of sal

vat ion which would be made after his glorificat ion .

All men of every class were to have the Opportumity Of becoming the subj ect s of his glorious sal

vat ion ; all men without dist inct ion were to receivethe invitat ion s which hi s messengers were to ex

tend . His death would make an atonement sufficient for the sins of men Of every race and every

degree of guilt . That atonement Opened the wayfor a universal offer of redempt ion through the

death,resurrect ion

,and glorificat ion Of the Son of

God . The Scriptures everywhere teach the en

l argement of the sphere of redeeming grace in thet imes Of the Messiah . Jesu s was to be exalted as

an ensign of th e people and to him the Gent iles

would come . Some would l imit the language here

THE ATTRACT IVE CHR IST 3

t o those whom they call th e elect ; others wouldgo t o the Opposite extreme and find here the doc

trine Of universal salvat ion . But the words em

ployed do not necessarily mean effectual cal ling.

They do not teach that this drawing is irres ist ible .

NO affirmation is here made as to the extent t o

which the overtures Of th e gospel will be accepted .

Wh il e w e know that the provisions Of the gospel

are suffi cient for all S inners, we know also that

they are efli cien t only for those who believe in theLord Jesus Christ . It is not here affirmed thatall will actually embrace the Offers Of salvat ion and

receive Christ as their Redeemer and Lord . Infact, w e know from Scripture and we know from

Observat ion , that all men who hear the gospel donot receive it to the salvat ion of their soul s .The fulfil lment Of this promise is st ill going for

ward ; it is worldwide, and it i s constantly finding

it s real ization . Tod ay Japan stands on t iptoe with

the light Of th e gospel fall ing on her upturned

face ; tod ay China is arousing herself from the

conservat ism of centuri es and receiving or opposing the truth as it i s in Jesus ; to-day India with

it s t eeming populat ion s is Shaking Off the bondage of her heathenism , and like the Greeks wh o

came to Phil ip, i s saying to the m issionary Of the

cross, Sir, we would see Jesus . ” TO-day Africa

is'

reach ing out her hands and crying unto God fordel iverance from the superst it ion s Of centuries, andis l onging for the l ight and l iberty which comealone from Jesus Christ . The day is coming when


the final goal wil l be reached, and from sea to sea,

from the rivers to the ends Of the earth, from pole

to pole, there will be one flock under one shepherd ,and Christ shall se e Of the travail of h is soul andshall be sat isfied .

6 . Th is is , in th e last p lace, an evange lica l draw

ing . Will draw all men unto me Some have

supposed that all th ings as well as men are to be

included here. There is a t ruth, doubtless, in the

suggest ion that all agencies, all resources, all forms

Of wealth , all k inds Of polit ical power, all invent ions, all discoveries, all railroads, telegraphs, and

telephones , are in a sen se t o be drawn to J esus

Christ . They are to be used in h is service ; they

are to contribute to the salvat ion of men and to

the greater exaltat ion Of Christ . But the special

reference is, Of course, to men , and they are to bedrawn to himself. The word “me i s l iterally“myself . The crucified Christ is the great Obj ectOf faith , the supreme attraction for lost men . He

himself draws all men unto himself— men of all

classes and cl imes , Of al l interest s and characters .

The drawing will not be discont inued unt il men

actually come to the living Lord as their personalSaviour . I t is not enough that they be drawn tothe adopt ion of formal and lifeless creeds ; not

enough that they come into the fellowship Of thevisib le church ; not enough that they adopt theexternal moral it ies Of Christ ian faith . The draw

ing here is not simply to bapt ism and to church

fel lowship and to the Lord ’ s Supper. If men are

THE HEAL I NG LORD

And jesus saith unto h im ,

8 7.

60771 8

HE Evangel ist Luke places th is int erest ing

miracle immediately aft er the Sermon on

the Plain . There is, however, no contradict ion

between the order which he gives and that Ob

served by Matthew . Matthew here gives us ex

amples Of our Lord’ s earl ier miracles without strict

regard to chronological order . H is language does

no t necessar ily connect this miracle closely with

that which precedes . The prominence of the c enturion whose servant was healed probably led to

the select ion Of this m iracle from others wh ich

might have been recorded, and the healing with

out touch ing or seeing the person affl icted m ay

al so have influenced the evangel ist in sel ect ing

this miracle and in giving it it s position in the in

Spired narrat ive . Capernaum had now becomeChri st ’ s principal residence . It was also the cen

ter of h is operat ion s in that vic in ity. After h ispreaching tours he went back to Capernaum as h ish ome . On on e occasion as he entered the towna centurion came t o him preferring a request forh is boy or servant , o r more strict ly, h is slave . A

centurion was a Rom an Officer commanding one

hundred men . This part icular centurion was

probably stat ioned at Capernaum as it was an important provincial town , and the center Of con

29

30 THE HEALI NG LORD

side rable traffic on the sea Of Gal ilee . He wasprobably in the service Of Herod Antipas and h ispresence and that of h is soldiers might be required

in that vic in ity to preserve order . Let u s study,for a litt le t ime

,th e prom ise which was here given .

It is worthy of notice that it was a p rom ise

m ade in answ er to p rayer. We do not know withcertainty whether the centurion approached himpersonally or through th e instrumental ity ofothers .The centurion knew well that in the j udgment Ofthe J ews all heathen were without the covenant

and SO without the pale Of mercy. He knew wel l

that a m iddle wall Of part it ion separated between

the children Of Abraham and all Gent iles . Per

haps he did not therefore personally approach

Christ, but sent others, entreat ing him that h ewould come and heal h is servant . From the narrat ive in Matthew it would seem that he had comehimself, but perhaps we are to take the expressionwith a somewhat broader meaning as taught in theparallel passage in Luke . There it would seem

that the elders Of the Jews were employed on this

errand ; i t would al so seem that they were very

will ing messengers . They pleaded for him as one

who deserved a favor at their hands, and they add ,“ for he loveth our nat ion , and he hath built us asynagogue .

” Perhaps,indeed

,both he and the

elders came at different t imes . The truth t o be

emphasized at th is point is that the promise was

made in an swer to prayer . Had the centurion not

prayed, the Saviour had not prom i sed . That we

THE HEALI NG LORD 3 1

may receive bless ings from God our minds must

be prepared for their recept ion . Our heart s mustbe on the same key as God

’

s heart . Two pianosor harps in a room will give appropriat e response

when a chord on either is struck . There is somesubtle affinity between the l ightn ing and it s COn

ductor There is evermore a relat ion, doubtless

along the l ines of stric t natural law, if only we

were able t o understand the law, between theprayers w e Offer, the prom ises God makes, and the

bless ings w e receive . Prayer i s the nerve which

moves the muscles Of omnipotence ; prayer is the

muscle which moves the arm of the Almighty.

All earthly blessings are in some way related to

earnest prayers . I t has been well said that it was

in Luther’

s closet that the Reformation was born .

Constant ine was right when he refused to havehi s statue taken standing and insist ed that it be

taken kneel ing, as it was by kneel ing in prayert o God that he had risen to eminence among

men . We kn ow that before the del ivery of Pres ident Edwards ’ great sermon On

“ Sinners in the

Hands Of an Angry God,” which so might ily

moved his congregat ion,certain earnest Christ ian s

had spent the preceding night in prayer . I t isalso affirmed that a company of bel ievers Spent the

night in prayer b efore the del ivery Of John Livingston

’

s sermon , which resulted in the convers ion of

hundreds Of soul s and started a revival movementwhich swept with irresist ibl e power over parts Of

Scotland and Ireland . The Scriptures abound in

3 2 THE HEALI NG LORD

il lustrat ions Of immediate and direct an swers to

prayers . Noble as were the achievements of mod

ern sc ience when the American cont inent was

girdled by telegraphs, and st il l nobler when the

Old world and the new were SO unit ed, a st il l more

remarkable Spiritual t elegraph exist s . Abrahamsaid unto God, Oh, that I shmael might l ive beforethee '” and the immediat e answer came, “ A S forI shmael , I have heard thee .

” In crit ical C ircum

stances David asked Of the Lord, “ Shall I go and

smite these Phili st ines And the answer Of God

immediately came, GO, and smit e the Phil ist ine s .Similar examples might be greatly mult ipl ied show

ing that man may talk t o God, and that God im

mediately repl ies to man in answer to h is prayer .Indeed

,the l ives OfMoses, Isaiah , Hezekiah, El ij ah,

Daniel, and thou sands in the h istory Of the Chris

t ian church , would be utterly inexplicable butfor the blessed t ruth that God hears and answers

prayer . The day may come when it will b e seenthat th is spiritual t elegraph from earth to heaven

is as fully in harmony with great laws Of the phys

ical and Spiritual un iverse, as it is now seen that

telegraphs and telephones are in harmony with

the laws Of God, which -w e usually call the laws Of

nature .

’

We are warranted in saying that if Stephen

had not prayed Paul had not been converted . IS

there not a S im ilar relat ion between the prayers of

thousands Of parent s, t eachers, and other Christ ians

,and the conversion Of thousands ofmen now

in our pulpit s and t ens Of thousands in the pews .

34 THE HEALING LORD

this man was the Son ofGod We also have the

case of Cornel ius, wh o had renounced idolatry andhad become a worshiper of J ehovah before he

had received a knowledge of the gospel . His

case marks a dist inct epoch in the earl ier h istoryOf the church . He feared God , he gave alms,and he had a good reputat ion among the J ews .His prayers for fuller l ight were graciously

answered, unt il at l ength he was honored as thefirst Gent ile convert received into the church, insuch a way as t o prove that Christ

’

s rel igion was

intended for al l and was not l imited by the rites

of Judaism . We also have the case of Julius, wh o

was the keeper of the Apostle Paul on his j ourney

to Rome . This centur ion was a m odel of courtesy

and kindness . He was a man of noble element s

of character even before he became a Christ ian .

His conversion added Christ ian graces to h is

original and rare endowments . Indeed these centurions seem to have preserved in their character

and conduct some of the virtues of the earl ier andpurer Romans “ in the brave days of Old .

That Gentiles Should find light and l ife in Juda

ism was quite inharmony with al l the promises ofthe Old Testament regarding the Messiah . I t was

dist inct ly said in connect ion with our Lord ’ s pre

sentat ion in th e temple that he should be “ a l ightt o l ighten the Gent iles

,and the glory of thy

people I srael . ” This statement is in harmonywith the prophecy that “ in h is name Shal l theGent iles t rust . I t was in harmony with his own

THE HEALING LORD 5

words,

“ Him that cometh u nto me I will in no

wise cast ou t . I t is in harmony also with the

t each ings of the Apostle Paul, when he said, “ Forthere is no difference between the Jew and theGreek ; for the same Lord over al l is rich unto al lthat call upon him .

” Christ ianity was needed by,intended for, and adapted to, all nat ions of all

cl imes and in al l centuries . I t i s the only rel igion

ever promulgat ed among men that was intended

for all nat ion s, irrespect ive of color or condit ion .

In th is respect Christ ian ity is un ique among the

religions of the earth . Jesus Christ was the only

founder of a faith that was intended to becomeuniversal . Such a concept ion marks h im as the

foremost th inker of the world . Such a concept ion

as this never dawned upon the minds Of the sages

of Greece or Rome, and never suggested it selft o th e dreamiest imaginat ion of the dreamiest

Oriental ph ilosopher.We see al so that this is a p rom ise made to a

Gen tile for a s lave . The word tran slated “ serv

ant ,”in the n inth verse, means a bondman or a

s lave, although it is al so u sed to express a serviceth at is voluntary. We know that in the days of

Christ slavery was almost un iversal among heathennat ions . Such a request on the part of the cen

turion was an evidence of great considerat ion and

condescension . Slaves then had no rights which

freemen were bound to respect . Even Cicero

deemed it needful to excuse h imself for feel ingsorrowful

,Over the death of a domest ic servant in


his household . One has only to pronounce thenames Of Domit ius, Octavius, and others in similar posit ions, t o be rem inded of their unspeakable

brutal ity toward slaves . The l ives of these slaves

were not m ore valuable in their s ight than the

lives of in sign ificant domest ic animals . The hum ility and condescen sion of the centurion are

worthy Of all praise . He counted himself guilty

of presumpt ion to have asked the presence of

Ch rist under h is roof . Not only did he feel h isunworth iness as a heathen , but h is spiritual unworthiness as a S inner, in asking for the presence

of th e King of I srael and the Lord of glory in h ishome . He asked, therefore, s imply that Christ

should speak the word, and he knew that his Serv

ant would be healed. All the indicat ions of this

man ’ s character, as brought out in the narrative,commend him to our considerat ion . He was one

of those true ch ildren of God out side the fellow

ship of a recognized faith . The manner in wh ich

he spoke of h imself as “ a man under authority,

Showed his conc ep t ion of Christ’

s posit ion and

power . If it were true that he, occupying so

much lower a place than Christ, had those wh oobeyed him

,how much more certain was it that

Christ ’ s word would be powerful over,

men, dis

eases,and devil s . He recognized the fact that

Christ was Prince over angel s and spirit s . He

therefore could,without going to the centurion ’ s

house,give h is command, and it would be speedily

executed by the messengers of his will .

THE HEALI NG LORD 37

The centurion here evidences a concept ion Of

Christ ’ s relat ion to the kingdom ofearth and heaven ,as beaut iful as it is original, and as truthful as it isSpiritual . This servant was a paralyt ic . He suf

fered from an abnormal relaxat ion of the nerves,and from the loss Of sensat ion and th e power ofvoluntary mot ion . I t seemed as if he was on the

very border Of death . It is not wonderful thatChrist marveled at the centurion ’ s beaut iful un ion

Of childlike faith and profound humility ; it is no t

wonderful that Christ said, “Ver ily I sayunto you

I have not found SO great faith , no, not in I srael .

Christ did not rej ect those who came to him on

their own account ; neither did he rej ect those who

came on behalf of others . I t is a wonderful bless

ing which comes to our own soul s when we are

anxious for the conversion.

Of the soul s Of our fellow -men . We are told that, “ the Lord turned thecapt ivity of Job, when he p rayed for his friends .Would to God that we all experienced deep anxietyfor the conversion of those about u s'Men on

every hand are suffering from Spiritual paralysis,

and only Christ can heal them . Let us go on

their behalf to Christ with ful l purpose of heart asdid the elders o r the centurion on behalf of the

domest ic servant . Let u s carry them , as did thosewh o l et down the sick man through the roof at the

feet of Christ, to the great Physician . There is n o

selfi shness in true rel igion .

'

Th e more we give

away, the more we keep ; the less we bestow, theless w e possess . When our heart s are warm with

3 8 THE HEALI NG LORD

th e love of Christ, we cannot rest sat isfied un t ilwe bring all about us to the heart of Christ , thatthey also may be saved with an everlasting salvation .

It is further to be remarked that th is is a p rom iseofm ore than was ashed ; for in the prayer that was

offered, the centurion left all with Christ , andChrist answered, “ I wil l come and heal him .

The mothers brought their littl e children to Jesusthat he might t ouch them ; J esus took them up,folded them in his arm s, and blessed them . Christ

always gives us more than we deserve, and usually

more than we ask . We receive not more because

we ask so l itt l e . We are not to dictat e to God ,but w e are to ask God to bestow b lessings in harmony with h is own right eou s will . The centurionsimply informed Christ that h is servant lay at

home s ick of the palsy ; then Jesu s made h isgrac iou s promise . But J esu s did even more than

he promised . We also are d iseased . The case ofmen everywhere is desperat e because of the diseaseof s in . For them the world has no t sure promiseof rel ief ; for them philosophy gives no panacea .

For the ill s of l ife and the diseases Of sin humanwisdom has no remedy. Whither shall men go for

rel ief' Thank God, there is a balm in Gilead, andthere is a physic ian there . Thank God , Christ i s

able to save unto the uttermost all who come untoGod by him . Thank God , that the Son of Man

is come t o seek and to save that which was lost . ”

Gracious was the act ion of Christ in connect ion

THE HEALI NG LORD 39

with the heal ing of th is servant . He said to thecenturion , or h is messengers, Go thy way, and as

thou hast bel ieved, so be it done unto thee” And

w e are permitted to read, “And h is servan t washealed in the selfsame hour Not only was theforce of the dis ease broken, but the disease it selfwas ent irely removed . Wonderful is the conde

scension of J esu s Christ' He loves to bestow thetreasures of h is grace upon needy souls . He waits

here to day to answer those who ask for the for

givene ss of sin and for the heal ing of their soul s .This l eads us to observe, in the last place, that

this is a p rom ise wh ich was imm ediatelyfulfi lled.

We have already seen that in the selfsame hourthe servant was healed . Moses prayed, “ I beseech

Thee, Show me thy glory, and immediately th e

answer came, “ I will make al l my goodness pass

before thee .

” Wonderful i s it that God Often an

swe rs SO promptly and so ful ly . He fulfil l s h isown promise, While they are yet speaking I will

answer . ” We have in the account of the heal ingOf th e c enturion ’ s servant the first in stance of faith

in Christ ’s power to heal at a distance, and w e

have al so seen that thi s great faith was no t exe r

cised by some favored I srael ite, but by an outcastGent ile. I have read that a Brit i sh soldier in Indiawas lying near to death . He had long neglected,and often had reviled, religion ; but now that h ewas dying, he wished that some one m ight t el l

h im h ow he m ight be saved . Soon he though t ofa Christ ian friend living at a d istance of one


hundred and sixty miles, and to him he sent th is

telegraphic message : “ I am dying ; what Shall l

do t o be saved'” Instantly the reply came backto h im ,

“ Bel ieve on the Lord Jesu s Christ,and

thou shal t be saved. He laid hold of the truth

thus commun icated by telegraph . The words were

received in an honest and trustful heart, and soonhe died with the hope of salvation in h is soul .

Thank God, that as Christ was able to heal at a '

distance,he is able from his throne in heaven at

this moment to send saving grace to every sin- S ick

soul . TO-day parent s, t eachers, and pastor are

praying for some of you . Will you trample over

a kneel ing mother and a praying father, as you

press al ong the downward road to everlast ing perdit ion' Stop' I beseech you, stop now,

and re

ce ive the salvat ion which Jesus offers . I would beto day the centurion going to Jesus on your behalf .I now communicate t o you his will ingnes s t o say,

I will come and heal h im . Are you will ing t o

be healed' DO not tell me that you need no

heal ing . DO not claim that you are only sl ightly

diseased . The leprosy of sin i s deadly . There isonly on e Physic ian who can cure the sin -S ick soul ;there is only one balm that can heal this t erriblew ound . Here and now I l ift before you Jesus

Christ as th e Saviour of the lost . Hear me,rather

hear God wh o speaks in h is word and through mylips

,saying, Look unto me, and be ye saved, all

the ends of the earth ; for I am God, and there is

none else .

”

For I hnow wh om I hav e be liev ed, am p ersuaded

that h e is able to h e ep tha t w h ich I hav e comm itted unto

h im aga inst that day. Tim . I 1 2 .

OD is th e absolutely faithful trustee . Stewards must be faithful o r they are unworthy

of their name. God must be j ust or he wouldcease to be God. Perhaps good and God are not

etymologically one ; but goodness and godlinessare practically one and the same thing. Godhood

and falsehood are incompat ible ideas ; an unj ustGod we cannot for a moment consider possible.One unj ust act on the part of God would leave thethrone of the world vacant , and the whol e world

godless . God i s the able, stable, rel iable trusteeof al l the interest s of immortal beings for t ime andfor et ernity.

These great t ruths th e Apost l e Paul fully ap

preciat ed when he wrote the words chosen as thetext . These words were wri tt en in prison inRome . This fact Seems apparent everywhere

throughout the Epistle, although there i s some

doubt as to whether it was writt en during theapostle ’ s firs t or Second imprisonment . I t is,however, almost the unanimous Opinion of scholars

that it was written at Rome, and while the apostl ewas there imprisoned . The words belong to whatis probably the last Epistle which the great apostle

ever wrote . He was then nearing the end of hisj ourney, await ing his almost certain martyrdom .

43

44 THE DIV I NE TRUSTEE

The Epistle is, therefore, invested with the

deepest and tenderest interest . I t contains the

dying counsel s of the m ost eminent apostle t o ayoung man whom he greatly loved and wh o was

then j ust entering upon his m inisterial l ife . This

young man , Timothy, was the apost le’ s son in the

gospel . Over the early years of his Christ ian l ifethe apostle watched with paternal sol ic itude

, and

now that he has entered upon his publ ic career,the apostl e st ill counsels him with fatherly wisdom

and motherly affect ion . We have here the glori

ous words Of t riumphant assurance which the

matchless Paul speaks to h is beloved disciple . Ifever Paul ’ s heart voiced itself in deep emotion

,it i s

in th is Epistle ; if ever he Spoke as a dying man

to dying men,it is throughout these chapters .

Timothy ’ s presence the apostle greatly desired,especially because nearly all others in whom he

might have reposed confidence had deserted him

in h is hour of need . Only Luke was with h im ,

and he desired that Timothy also might be near in

his t ime of trial , as well as to aid in the work Of

the minist ry. The apostle ’ s last words to Timothyare spoken as suredly as the result of profound con

viction . Here we sit at this great man ’ s feet and

hear h is part ing counsel s . Soon he may have to

stand before Nero soon he may receive the sen

tence of condemnat ion soon the headsman ’ s sword

may sever hi s head from his body ; and soon he

may stand in the presence of the Judge of thequick and the dead . All these fact s the apostle

THE D IVI NE TRUSTEE 4 5

well knew ; but nowhere in th is letter is there a

tone of defeat . The letter is a bugle note ; it is a

shout of triumph ; it is a paean of V ictory. How

glorious is th e Christ ian faith when it supports th eapostl e in scenes l ike these' This Epistle shouldbe read with the deepest int erest . We are always

supposed to attach much Significance to th e words

of a dying man ; then, if ever, we feel that the

man will speak the absolute truth regarding the

things that lie nearest his deepest heart . To all

Christ ians, and especially Christ ian min isters, th is

Epist le is invaluable . I t t enderly touches our

heart s ; it in spires our hopes ; it brightens our

prospects . The text epitom izes much of the Epis

t le ; it has been a benedict ion to th ousands of

soul-s . I t assures the doubting, confirms the wavering, and inspires the hopeless .In studying the text , w e not ice, in the first

place , the apost le’ s comm ittal that which I have

committed unto h im against that day.

” This com

mittal possesses some striking characterist ic s . I t

is a personal c ommittal . It i s interest ing to not ice

the pronouns, I, whom , h e , and h im , as they appearin this text . The apostle came into personal rela

t ion s with the Lord Jesu s ; he knew that no onebut himself could make th is committal for himself.Rel igion is a personal matter between the individualsoul and God . No man can bel ieve by proxy ; noman can obey by proxy. In the strict sense of th eword no m an can be sponsor fo r his fellow-man .

Personal ity is eternal ; a wall as high as heaven

4 6“

THE DIV I NE TRUSTEE

and as deep as hell, divides every man in his deepestrel igious relat ion s from every other man . NO rite,no t rad it ion, no ordinance ought to be allowed tocome between the soul and God . I t i s said thatWhen the learned Dr . Alexander was dying, aChrist ian friend undertook to quote

,at his bed

side, the verse now used as the text, but in repeat

ing it , said , “ I know in whom I have believed .

The dying man roused h imself and interrupted his

friend,saying, Let not even a preposit ion come

between me and my blessed Saviour . TOO Often

we have let whole creeds, anc ient t radit ion s, un

scriptural rit es and groundless superst it ions comebetween us and our divine Redeemer . There is

much of heathen superst it ion in many Christ ian

creeds . It is most unfortunat e for the church of

Christ that so many th ings have come between theseeking soul and the seeking Saviour. It is to be

feared, that oft en at the beds ide of the dying theordinance of the Lord ’

s Supper has been thrust

between the soul asking for Christ and Christ wh owaits to del iver the penit ent and trust ing sinner .The apostle ’ s committal was in the deepest and

broadest and fullest sense a personal committal .I t was al so a un iversal committal . He com

m it ted to Christ all h is bodily interest s . He knew

not what might shortly befall h is body. Bondsand affl ic t ion s might await him death could not ,at longest , be far d istant . He knew that alreadyh is body had suffered much on behalf of hi s Lord .

He in writ ing to the Galat ians reminded them

THE DIV I NE TRUSTEE 4 7

that he bore in hi s body the marks of the Lord

J esus ; he referred to this fact with a tendernessand delicacy which deeply touch our heart s as w eread his words . He well knew that all forms Of

suffering had been endured, and he might well

expect still greater sufferings, if that were possible,in the near future . But here and now he commit s

all the interest s O f his phys ical being for s ickness

or health, for j oy or sorrow, for l ife or death , intothe keeping of h is glorious Lord .

He committed al so all the concerns of his professional l ife to the Lord Jesus. There were

,

doubtl ess, those who bel ieved that the Apostl ePaul had made a great mistake when he becamethe disciple of Jesus Of Nazareth . The apostlemight well have cherished high professional ambi

t ion s he doubtless would have taken high rank asa learned rabbi . He might have stood at the headof some famous school Of rabbinical l earn ing ; he

might have been known throughout the learned

world of his day as a leader of ph iIOSOph ic

thought . With his great powers of mind, with

his vast and varied erudit ion , he might have takenrank with the orators, scholars, and statesmen of

h is day. But all these possibil it ies, eminently b ecoming and des irable in themselves, he countedbut dross for th e excel lence of the knowledge andservice of Jesus Christ . He was will ing t o be

noth ing that Christ might b e everything ; he waswilling to lose h is life for Christ ’ s sake ; andthereby he found h is truer, nobler, and diviner

‘

4 8 THE DIV I NE TRUSTEE

life. But for h is consecrat ion to Christ compara

t ive ly few in the world to day would have ever

heard his name . His indifference to earthly re

nown has secured for him a renown otherwiseutterly impossible . His whole-hearted service for

God, irrespect ive of reputat ion or fame, has

crowned h im with glory which t ime shall not dim,

and fame which will increase with the passing

generations . The same law holds t rue to-day.

The will ingness of Carey to spend and be spent

among th e heathen in India, has made his name

synonymous with the m iss ionary enterprise round

t h e g l obe. I n h is consuming zeal for the lost

souls of the heathen, Judson was wil ling to sacri

fice home, country, fame, and l ife ; and in the

heroism of that sacrifice h e h as written his name

among the immortal s . But for h is heroic sacrifice

he might have been merely a successful pastor in

a quiet American parish , inst ead of being on e of

the brightest stars in the missionary firm am ent .

God help us al l to learn this lesson , and to lay

ourselves in j oyous and complete consecrat ion

upon the altar of Jesu s Christ .I t was al so an et ernal committal . I t reach ed

past t ime and entered etern ity. The apostl e com

m it t ed h is soul for t ime and etern ity to the keeping of h is Lord ; “ against that day ” was the l imit

of the committal,as he here describes it . In so

speaking the apostle had in mind the great day of

j udgment . When language l ike that Of the textis employed, th e j udgmen t day, “ the day for

SO TH E DIVINE TRUSTEE

h is Christ ian service . He believed that h is l ifewas immortal unt il h is work was accomplished .

He was ful ly convin ced that his soul was ent irely

safe from the domin ion of sin,the fear of death ,

and the terror of the j udgment . N O man can

have any higher interest in l ife, or more solemn

duty in preparing for eternity, than to commit h is

soul with al l its interest s t o the keeping of the

Son of God. Religion largely consists in themaking Of such a committal, and in the enj oyment of the certain persuasion wh ich result s from

so trust ing J esus Christ . What shall we do with

th is great , th is invaluable treasure ' We take ourvaluables now to the safe deposit company ; we are

persuaded that that company is able to keep insafety what we commit t o it s t rusted Officers . The

committal is actually made, and our comfort in the

knowledge of the strength and charact er Of thecompany is complet e . We are asked indirect ly,by the example of th e apostle, to make such a

committal of the soul to the Lord Jesus now.

Out of the knowledge of that committal will comethe certain and j oyous persuas ion which the apostl e here experienced .

I t was al so a j oyous persuasion . NO man can

know true j oy unt il h e cherishes a genuine Christ ian faith . Those wh o have never known this j oy

have never known the greatest blessedness wh ichhuman l ife can experience . If the soul be safe

we need not be disturbed by the insecurity of anyearthly t reasure . All earthly interests, however

THE DIV I NE TRUSTEE 5 I

important in themselves, are but secondary com

pared with the interests of the soul and Of eter

n ity. These interest s far outnumber and outweigh

all t emporal concern s, earthly j oys, and sublunary

ach ievement s . The man wh o h as not made thissurrender t o the Lord Jesu s is an enemy to all h isown higher interests both here and hereafter . Better l ive in a prison than in a palace on earth cherish

ing the hope of a j oyous et ernity, than to live amid

the greatest luxuries, l iving without God and dying

without hope . The apostle ’ s convict ion gave him

peace amid all the trial s of life, s ecurity in the

presence of h is bitterest foes, and triumph in the

prospect of an ignom in iou s death .

H is persuasion was experimental . I t was foundedupon a broad and varied experience . The apost lewas a poet, a ph ilosopher, a prophet, a preacher,a Christ ian . He was as truly the apost le of

logic as he was the apostl e of love . The nobl est

poet s are the ablest prophet s . Tennyson was a

true int erpreter Of the highest thoughts of our

t ime. The Apost le Paul was not surpassed intenderness of feel ing

,clearness Of thinking

,vigor

Of act ion , and breadth of thought , by any man of

h is t ime or of our t ime . H is words in th is t extare no t the words of the fanat ic, the recluse, orthe te in know ledge ofmen and of affairs . Fewmen at any t ime had an experience more variedthan was h is ; and few men mingl ed more freelywith

:

soldiers , scholars , thinkers, and actors in

every phase of life, than did the matchless Paul .

5 2 THE DIVI NE TRUSTEE

H is convict ion is based on a wide and accurateknowledge of the principles and m ot ives usually

considered valuable and dominant among men .

We are listening to the words of a scholar, philos

opher,and devoted disc iple. NO more competent

was Solomon to speak authoritat ively on the vani

t ies Of l ife than was th e kingly Apostl e Paul to

speak authoritat ively on the verit ies of faith and

hope . We list en to his words as to those Of age,experience

,character

,and deepest convict ion . This

is the test imony which he gives as he confront s

death , as the darkness of the tomb and the bright

ness of the throne cast their blended shadows and

lights upon h is upturned face . Glorious apost le'Authoritat ive witness, devout disc iple, heroic mar

tyr' We receive thy words as words Spoken

almost amid the solemnities of the eternal world .

We not ice, in the last place, the apost le’ s hnow l

edg e of th e t ruths which he here affirm s—“ I know

whom I have bel ieved . He had exercised a sweet

and unquest ioning faith ; he had reposed a firm

and unwavering trust in J esu s Christ as h is Sav

iour . Of th is fact he possesses absolut e knowledge . His know ledge rest s on a sol id foundat ion ;it rests upon the faith which he had reposed in

Jesus Christ . He knew whom he believed . H is

knowledge was personal,both as relat ed to himself

as the subj ect of faith, and as relat ed to Jesus

Christ as the Obj ect of faith . Faith never is Op

posed to knowledge ; faith is knowledge of theh ighest kind . We cl imb the ladder Of reason to

THE DIVI NE TRUSTEE 5 3

it s t opmost round, and, being unable to go farther

,w e reach ou t our hand into the space beyond

but there is no one to grasp the outstretched hand,and there is no foundat ion for the upl ift ed foot ,until faith permit s us to place our hand in the

hand of Jesus and our foot on a pavement firm asadamant . Faith is knowledge raised to the highestpower ; faith is knowledge rest ing on a blessed ex

pe rien ce ;“ faith is assurance of things hoped for,

convict ion Of th ings not seen . Reason rightlyunderstood is not Opposed to faith . Reason andfaith are twin s isters . He is no t worthy the name

of rat ionalist wh o refuses to exercise faith in’

Je sus

Christ as a personal Saviour. He is an irrat ion

al ist wh o so refu ses . Rat ional ism has been degraded by being placed in oppos it ion t o intelligent

faith . Rat ional ism ought never to be opposed tothe teaching of revelat ion and to the deepest exp erience s of the Spiritual l ife . He is a true rat ionalistwh o s it s in lowly obedience as a disc iple at the feetof the Lord ’ s Christ . The school of Christ is the

noblest univers ity the world has ever known . He

can best walk the dizzy height s of intellectualgreatness who has j ust risen from kneel ing at the

pierced feet of the Son of God .

There is a sweet personal ity in the apost le’

s

knowledge . It may be permitted to cal l attentionagain to his use of the pronoun s and whom inthis connection . He believed for himself and no t

for another ; and as there was a marked personal ity in the subj ect

, so there was in the obj ect of

5 4 THE DIV I NE TRUSTEE

the bel ief described . He did not bel ieve simplyin a doctrin e, but in a person ; not s imply in a

teaching, but in a t eacher ; not s im ply in a redempt ion , but in a redeemer ; not simply in a del iver

ance, but in a del iverer. He call s attent ion emphat ically to the fact that it is no t what, but wh omhe bel ieves . There is here an important dist inct ion, a d ist inct ion which we have too Often forgot

ten . The creed t o be Vital must lay hold of a

person rather than s imply a doctrine . Spiritual

faith in its deepest s ign ificance is a mighty grip

upon God. One may, parrot - l ike, rec it e creeds bythe yard ; but these creeds will be powerless except

they lay hold with a firm grasp upon the l iving,

loving, and unchanging‘

God. One obj ect in allthe revelat ion s of the Bible is to lead us up t o a

d ivine person ; that person is J esus Christ , the

divine Lord and Redeemer. Except our creeds

lead the heart to God in the person Of his Son

Jesus Christ,these creeds must be powerless and

may become hurtful . Beaut iful ly, as already suggested

,does the apostl e cal l our attent ion here to

the whom rather than the what of his knowledge

and faith . He saw Jesu s Christ clearly se t forth

as crucified for him and as now S itt ing at the right

hand of God as his personal Lord and Saviour.

The apostle ’ s knowledge was therefore certainknowledge. There was in his thought no doubt

whatever regarding the faith he exercised, the

committal he had made,and al l the blessed hopes

which now he was perm itted to cherish . Doubt

THE DIV I NE TRUSTEE 5 5

cut s the nerv e of power in the Christ ian l ife ;doubt paralyzes the arm of service in our Christ ian

activity . Doubt is the infancy of Christ ian expe

rience ; faith is the manhood of Christ ian attain

ment . Doubt is the gray dawn of the morning ;faith is the splendor of the noonday sun . Ourfaith is too largely expressing it self with “ ifs, per

hapse s, and peradventures .” The spirit of subtle

agnost ic ism is abroad in the land . Many speak asif agnost ic ism were synonymous with intellectual

acumen ; they teach that implic it faith is indica

t ive of shallow thought . Never was a greater mis

take made than this . Agnost ic ism , with apparentmodesty, says, “ I know almost noth ing .

” But inso saying the typical agnost ic virtual ly means, “ Ifully know everything . There is a blessed gnos

t icism in the Bible and in Christ ian experience.The sect Of Gnost ic philosophers that rose in the

first ages of Christ ian ity, were guilty Of assuming

that they only had the true knowledge of th e

Christ ian faith . The sect of agnost ic philosophers

that has arisen in these later days pretends to

know everyth ing, both Of science and of rel igion .

Thank God, there i s a true gnost icism, a gnost ic ism that recogn izes it s own l imitations, and readily

admit s the propriety Of agnost ic ism regarding many

things, but which holds firmly, unquest ioningly, andsubl imely to it s faith regarding certain other things .We thank God for the “ knows ”

of the Bible .

One ’ s heart i s st irred as he hears ringing down theages the voice of Job saying, For I know that my

56 THE DIV I NE TRUSTEE

Redeemer l iveth , and that he shal l stand at the

latter day upon the earth ” the voice of the blindman wh o was healed by Christ , saying, “ Onething I know, that whereas I was bl ind now I see

”

;

the voice of the beloved John , saying, We know

that we have passed from death unto l ife, becausewe love the brethren ”

; the voice of the Apost lePaul in the text , saying, “ I know whom I have

bel ieved and th e voice of the Son of God himself,saying, “We speak that we do know, and test ify

that w e have seen .

Blessed are they wh o know that they have passedfrom death unto l ife, who know that they areheirs of God and j oint-heirs with J esus Christ .TO-day Christ Offers to be the t rustee Of al l our

most sacred int erest s for t ime and for eternity .

He will receive our poor, sinful hearts and brokenl ives and he will tran sform the one and re -create

the other, making us h is redeemed children .

Come to-day and trust Paul ’ s Saviour ; never has

he denied acceptance to any penitent sinner . To

day with a whole -hearted confidence you maymake th is great committal t o J esu s Christ t o-day

you may exerc ise th is blessed persuasion ; to-day

you may rej oice in the glorious knowledge that

you have committed your soul , your l ife, your al l

for t ime and etern ity to Jesu s Christ ; and nopower on earth or in hell can pluck out of his

hand that wh ich you “ have committed unto him

against th at day.

”

john 1 7

thy word is

N the fifteenth verse of this chapter our Lordprayed that the disc iples might not be taken

out of the world , but kept from the evil that isin the world . That pet it ion is both appropriate

and beaut iful , but it was negat ive, in form at

least, and a broader pet it ion Seems necessary.

A s our Lord did not leave h is work unt il it wasfinished, so he would not have h is disciples leave

the world unt il they also had fin ished their work .

The world needs Christ ian s to il lustrate the spirit

Of Christ, as it needed Christ to perform his uniquework of redempt ion .

Our Lord now passes , in the t ext, t o the posit iveform of the pet it ion . He des ired much more than

that they should be preserv ed from evil s imply ;they were to be wholly consecrated to good . Hetherefore here prays posit ively for th e blessing

which in the former pet it ion he had negat ively invoked. There is

,of course

,perfect harmony b e

tween these two form s of prayer . To preservefrom evil is, partly at l east , to sanct ify to good.

Preservat ion from moral defilem en t is in it self a

form Of sanct iflcat ion to moral good . We find inthis suggestive pet it ion three divine th ings .

F irst, th ere is h e re m en tioned a div ine g race

sanctifi cation . This grace the d isciples already

5 9

60 THE SANCT IFYI NG TRUTH

partially possessed . They were already se t apartby an external separat ion or consecrat ion to the

apostol ic Office ; but the word means vastly morethan external separation . They were also part ially

sanct ified in their inward l ife ; but the word here

means a cont inuous and progress ive sanct ificat ion

in heart and life . We know that the word sanct ified means, in it s primary significance, to se t apartor to devote to a religious purpose . In this sen se

the word would apply to the brut e creat ion , to the

sett ing apart of sacred vessel s, and t o other inani

mate obj ect s , for concern ing them hol iness, in it s

deepest meaning, cannot be affirmed . The term

may be used al so in thi s pr imary sense of ent irely

holy beings, for as already holy they cannot be se tapart , or sanct ified, in the sense of increas ing their

hol iness . The deeper mean ing of the word is to

make holy. This thought leads us, of course, to

very much h igher ground than mere ceremonial

clean s ing, purificat ion , or con secrat ion . This mean

ing leads us in the text far above the mere separat ion of the disc iples to an Official work . I t refersto internal hol iness

,and not simply to ext ernal

consecrat ion . Christ ian men and women need for

Christ ian service san ct ificat ion in both th ese senses .

Those wh o are outwardly consecrated to the serv

ice of God need internal hol iness to m ake theiroutward consecrat ion serviceable to God and help

ful to men . In Christ ian experience, therefore,both meanings of the word are appropriately united .

The meaning in this text , without any doubt , i s

THE SANCTIFYI NG TRUTH 6 I

to m ah e holy in the high spiritual sense of th eterm . The apost les already had the outward con

secrat ion they now needed inward and increasing

holiness . All Christ ian men and women need to

be separated more and more from the world, andbe more and more consecrated to God in body,soul , and spirit . They need a personal faith inthe crucified Christ, and a daily renunciat ion of

sin . True bel ievers already possess thi s grace,but they long for it s ful ler manifestat ion . They

hunger and thirst after righteousness ; they long

to become like their Lord and Master, Jesus

Christ and they can never be sat isfied with their

present attainments . The man wh o bel ieves that

he has attained to perfect san ct ificat ion shows bythat bel ief that he has very inadequate ideas of

what perfect sanct ificat ion means . However h ighhis attainment s in the Christ ian l ife are to day,th e true Christ ian longs to make them higher tomorrow. Like the Apostle Paul , he does not

presume to have already attained nor to be alreadyperfect ; but, l ike him also, forgett ing the th ings

that are beh ind, he presses forward toward the

mark for the prize of the h igh call ing of God inChrist J esus . If any one might claim perfect ion

in Christ ian character, that man surely was the

Apostl e Paul . He is a bold man who will layclaim to a degree of hol iness which the ApostlePaul did not claim to have attained . Who mayexpect t o surpass h im in glowing love

,in fervent

zeal, and in a whole-hearted consecrat ion to the

62 THE SAN CT IFYI NG TRUTH

service Of Jesu s Christ' Who may c laim to havemore exalted views of God and to l ive nearer to

God than this same apostle ' Men wh o claim to

have attained to perfect ion are in great danger Of

lowering the standard Of perfect ion . Th is they

are m uch more l ikely to do than to exalt theirown character to the l ikeness Of Christ ’ s .We thus see that san ct ificat ion i s a progress ive

grace. Justificat ion is a complet ed act ; sanct ifi

cat ion is a progress ive experience . The moment

we bel ieve in J esu s Christ w e are j ust ified by faithin h im ; and simultaneously with the act of j u st ificat ion the grace of sanct ificat ion begins . I t wil l

cont inue throughout l ife . One m ay not say to

what heights it is pos sible for a true bel iever toattain even while on th e earth . He becomes a

partaker of the divine nature, as the Scripture

d ist inctly affi rms ; but th e day is coming when he

shal l se e Christ as he is, and be made like unto

him in all the glory of his perfect character andspotles s hol iness . Christ ’s prayer in thi s pet it ion

is that th e grace Of san ct ificat ion already begunmay be cont inued, confirmed, and completed . A s

Chri st i s the author of the goodwork, so he will

also be the finisher of the perfect character . He

will gloriou sly complet e that which he has gra

c iously begun . No t t o advance in the Christ ian

l ife is to retrograde ; no duty therefore is more im

pe rat ive than that Of making progress . Standingst ill is absolutely impossibl e . Every Christ ian is

l ike a man on a b icycle— h e must go on or go Off,

THE SANCTIFY I NG TRUTH 63

and that very soon . To grow in grace i s both a

duty and a privil ege. The man wh o stops growing intellectually, immediat ely begin s to die intel

lect ually. The same law holds t rue in the spirituall ife . All the figures appl ied by Christ and theapost les to the Christ ian l ife imply growth therein ,

as the on e conclusive evidence of the existence of

the Christ ian l ife . In this glorious springtime, if

there is a tree which gives no S ign whatever ofpul sing life or bud or l eaf, w e are warranted in af

firming that it has no l ife . Growth is a proof of

l ife . One difference between a l iving tree and apost is that the tree grows, the post does not .When our Lord spoke Of the leaven and the

meal,and of the grain of mustard seed, th e idea

of growth and enlargement was as fully accepted

as inherent l ife was assumed .

This thought gives sign ificance to the exhortat ion t o young bel ievers to desire th e s incere milk

of the word . I t is affirmed that they are to grow

thereby. The t im e will come when they will de

sire the st rong meat Of the word . The idea of

growth also underl ies the striking comparison of

the path of the j ust to the sh in ing l ight . Thatl ight sh ines more and more ; it grows brighter and

brighter even unto perfect day. All the figuresused by the Apostle Paul and drawn from the

race-course and from the various athlet i c games,t each th e same lesson Of growth . Thank God,the day will come when the l ight will reach it s

meridian splendor ; th e day will come when God

64 THE SANCTIFYI NG TRUTH

will crown our struggl ing Christ ian l ives with the

perfect ion and beauty of holiness . He will n o tleave uncompleted the glorious work which he has

lovingly begun . A S it i s God wh o j u st ifies,so it

is God who sanct ifie s . We are to soar upward

and stil l upward, unt il we se e Christ as he is andare made like unto h im in all the glory of h is

divine humanity,in al l the at tainments of his in

t elle ctuality, and in all the immaculate hol iness Of

his pure and heavenly character.We thus plainly see that our sanct ificat ion i s to

be a perfected grace . This thought i s found

throughou t our Lord ’ s wonderful prayer, Of which

this text is a pet it ion . That prayer i s the true

Lord ’ s Prayer . What we so Often cal l by th at

name is,st rict ly speaking, the discipl e

’ s prayer.Our Lord does no t here pray to the Father in our

sen se of the term . He makes no confession Ofs in ; he had no sin s to confess . His prayer is the

expression of h is will t o his Father on t erms Of

con scious equal ity, rather than the pet it ion of an

inferior to hi s superior . Marvelou s is the prayer,taken as a whole it l eads u s to the heart Of God .

I t flows on in language as simple and plain as it i sprofound and lofty. I t introduces u s into the very

holy of hol ies of th e gospel history . Throughouth is prayer for his people Christ clearly impl ies that

he desires them to be cl eansed from every stain Ofmoral impurity . They are yet to be without spot

or wrinkle o r any such th ing ; he is t o presentthem blameless unto h is Father and ours . Even

66 THE SANCT IFY I NG TRUTH

forever pres s onward and upward toward the high

est poss ible attainments in the Christ ian life .We have , in th e secondp lace, in th is tex t a divine

ins trum enta lity, or m edium Thy tru th .

” Chris

t ians are to be sanct ified through God ’ s truth, or

perhaps w e ought to translate the clause, “ in thytruth . If we adopt th is latter rendering the ideawill be that the word Of God is the element or

medium , the atmosphere, in'

wh ich th is sanct ifying

process takes place . True Christ ians are repre

sented here as l iving and moving in the word Of

God for the growth of their spiritual l ife, as theyl ive in and breathe the natural air for the growthof their phys ical l ife. God

’

s word is thus a

medium or mean s of sanct ificat ion . God ’s t ruth

transforms the character of those who incorporate

that truth into their l ife and soul . I t i s a blessed

thing for Chri st ians to l ive in the atmosphere or

environment of divin e t ruth . God has unexhausted

and inexhaust ible resources ; he i s not limited to

any one instrum ental ity for the growth of his chil

dren in l ikenes s to h imself . He is not lim ited in

the use of means, but in h is infinit e wisdom he

has chosen to employ means to accompl ish hi s

purposed ends . We may be sure that the meanshe employs are the

“

best adapted for the accom

plishm ent of the ends which he designs . God

never wastes power ; he never needless ly multipl ies m iracles. There is evermore a close relation

between the means h e employs and our deepestneeds which he intends to supply. His word

THE SANCT IFYI NG TRUTH 67

must b e incorporated into our souls ; i t must bemast icated by our spiritual natures ; it must b e

come assim ilated t o our spiritual bone, blood, and

marrow . In thi s wayw e receive the thoughts of

God int o our thoughts,the life of God into our

l ife, and the very heart and soul of God, if one

may so speak, into the center of our mental andmoral natures .I t is a marvelou s

,almost an ineffable

,thought

that sinful men and women can come into th is

close relat ion and divine fellowsh ip with the pure

and holy God . Our blessed Lord has emphas izedth e possib il ity of th is int imat e and vital unlon .

He is the divine and heavenly vine ; we are the

human but genuine branches from the divin e

stem ; and the divine sap and life pass t o the t ipof every leaf for the ripening of th e lusc ious fruit .Separated from the l iving vine we become lifeless

united to this vine we ourselves become the

possessors of a divine and eternal life . God ’s

word is the channel or medium , the in strument,by which true sanct ificat ion i s to be received by usand to be manifested through u s unto the world .

We must bear in mind that while the word is theinstrument which the Spirit commonly employs

,

the word of it self cannot sanct ify us to the service

of God or to l ikeness to his character . The word

rightly underst ood is the seed Of the new b irth ;it is the food Of the new life in Christ . The wordis the incarnat ion of the thought of God ; whenwe truly receive the word, w e receive th e thought

68 THE SANCTIFYING TRUTH

which it embodies . Community Of thought withGod result s in l ikeness of character with God.

All true Christ ians know by a blessed experience

that the word properly understood is efficient in

producing likeness to God in our character andl ife . The psalmist affirms that he h id God

’ s word

in his heart that he might not s in against God ;and in so doing he put the best th ing in the best

place and for the best purpose. All t rue student s

Of the Bible have found that it was a compass to

guide th em over the sea of l ife, however numerous

were the rocks and however dense the fogs .Neglecters of th e Bible could add their test imony

showing how much they lose by Opposit ion , or even

indifference, to the thought of God as revealed in

the word of God. The Bible is a self -evidencing

power which al l it s t rue students con stantly ex

p erience . If the l ight of God ’ s Holy Spirit shines

upon God ’ s Holy word, God’ s thoughts will b e

seen in all th e tenderness of their love, in all the

grandeur of their maj esty,and in much Of th e

divinity of their d ivine author . Happy are w e

when God ’

s word is the channel through which

God Speaks to us in direct ion and command, and

through which w e speak to God in supplicat ion

and confession , in prayer and in praise . Let us

feed on th is divine manna ; let our soul s rej oice in

this channel of communication between sinful men

and a Holy God, and let the voice of God eversound through his revealed word

,rebuking our sins

and calm ing our fears, increasing our faith, multi

THE SANCTI FYI NG TRUTH 69

plying our hopes, and quickening our zeal for the

salvat ion of men and for the honor of Christ .We have h ere , in th e las t p lace, a div ine defi n i

tion Thy w ord is tru th This is a blesseddefinit ion . Perhaps the disc iples , and perhaps al so

J esus, had in mind the sad condit ion out of whichsprang the sneering inquiry of Pilat e, “What ist ruth ' Jesus therefore, adds, “ thy word istruth . The literal translat ion is st ill more force

ful, “ The word that is thine is t ruth .

” Christ

must mean j u st what he said when he utteredthese words . Christ is the soul of t ruth as a

revelat ion from God, and as the chief Obj ect of

desire among men . All men should desire truthabove all besides . The quest ion with us ought

not to be concerning the new theology or the old

theology, but only concern ing the true theology.

Truth is the daughter of God ; t ruth i s the child

of et ern ity ; t ruth is the inheritor of eternal l ife .

I t matters not by what messenger it is brought or

from what source it come, t ruth is t ruth forever

more . Truth ought to be welcomed by us even

though it destroys our tradit ions and shatters our

convent ional bel iefs . Truth never can contradict

it self . What God has spoken in on e department

of revelat ion must harmon ize with what God .

speaks in al l other forms of revelat ion . God ’ s

truth is the end of all strife . More than truth no

man can ask with les s than truth no man ought

to be sat isfied . Doubtless the language of Christhere refers to the word of God as given in the

70 THE SANCT I FY I NG TRUTH

Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments . The

Holy Scriptures are the ful lest revelat ion of the

truth of God that the world has received . God ’ s

thoughts are made known in hi s works as t ruly

but not as clearly as in h is word . Creat ion and

revelat ion are but different books in the one great

volume . God ’ s thoughts are written in earth andair and sea and sky ; but they are written with theutmost fullness, clearness, and blessedness in the

book which the world calls, because of it s super

lat ive excellence, th e Bible . This book speaksoft en of God

’ s t ruth and will, of which it is an

embodiment . I t frequently refers to the power

ful influence of the truth which it reveal s . In the

on e hundred and n ineteenth Psalm, that psalmwhich through one hundred and seventy-six verses

repeat s, in various forms of expression , blessed

th ings of the law of God, we have i llustrat ion s Ofthe power of God ’ s truth to guide us in l ife ’ s per

plexities and to glorify God in all h is providences .The reference here is thus no t st rictly to th e

personal Logos or Word as a t it le of Jesus Christ ;it is rather to the truth or teaching of God as

found in the written word— truth communicated by

men and st ill more ful ly by Christ himself . But

in it s h ighest s ignificance the reference i s to Jesus

Christ as the incarnat e Word . He is the em b odi

ment of truth ; he is king in the realm of t ruth .

This statement i s based on his own language as

Spoken to Pilate . J esus Christ did not deny thathe was a king ; he was not a king in the sen se in

THE SANCT IFY I NG TRUTH 7 1

which Pilat e understood the words, but in the vastrealm of truth he is king, and to us he is the incar

nat ion Of truth and of God.

The t ext gives us not only a t rue defin it ion but

a choice definit ion Of t ruth . Thousands are askingto day as Pilat e asked

,in h is day, what is t ruth '

Sometimes they are ready to give up the quest in

despair ; sometimes they mult iply fal s it ies in their

mistaken endeavors t o discover the verit ies Of

God’

s revelat ion to men . One is never sadderthan when he sees men giving up the search aftertruth and sinking into indifference, hopelessness,and fal sity. Thank God, there is a t ruth th at isenduring, pure, and divine . Thank God that

Jesu s Christ has made h imself known as the way,the t ruth , and the l ife . We are told that the poet

Tennyson in the pavement Of the entrance hall t o

one of his homes had in encaust ic t iles th is motto“ Truth against the world . This motto is Older

far than the days of Tennyson . I t i s worthy of

being writt en on the page of every volume, at the

head of every sermon, and over the door of everyheart . Happy are th ey who seek and who find

truth . F inely did Pythagoras say :“ That if God

were t o render himself vi sible to men , he wouldchoose l ight for his body and truth for his soul .Jesus Christ is the word ; Jesus Christ is the truth ;th ey wh o accept h im as their Prophet to instruct

them, their Priest to atone for them , and theirKing t o command them , shall walk in t ruth

’ s highway . They shall have the best of guides

,and the

72 THE SANCTIFYI NG TRUTH

best of compan ions, and they shall at the last reachthe gate of that c ity of which it is said : “And thereShall in no wise enter into it anything that defile th ,neither whatsoever worketh abominat ion, or maketha lie ; but they which are writt en in the Lamb

’ s

book of l ife.

And th e Ange l of th e L ord app eared unto h im in afl am e

offi re out of th e m idst of a bush and h e looh ed, and, be

th e bush burned w ith fi re , and th e bush w as not con

sum ed. 3 2 .

OR long and weary years the Oppress ion of

I srael had been in progress . Doubtless it

somet imes seemed to the people of God that Godwas deaf

,or blind, or even dead ; to them the

heavens seemed brass and the earth iron . But

the t ime had now come for God to reveal himselfto his people . The darkest hour was before thedawn . During these weary years the del ivererwasgrowing up and was receiving divine training for

hi s heroic career .The l ife of Moses is divided into three equal

part s of forty years each . The first of , th ese periods was spent at'the court of Pharaoh receivingtraining in al l the learning of Egypt ; the secondwas spent in the w ilderness of Midian and theth ird in leading the ch ildren of I srael from

Egypt ian bondage to the confines of the land of

Canaan .

But l ittl e i s said in Scripture regarding theforty years spent in the land of Midian . Moses

himself is the narrator of the event s of that period,and he does not give us th e detail s of h is l ifeduring his humble ret irement . He was simply a

shepherd during this period of forty years ; hisdays, doubtless, passed quiet ly away in the per

form ance of his rout ine duties , and in what men

75

76 THE BURN I NG BUSH

ordinarily j udge a lowly occupat ion . H is shepherd

l ife was in marked contrast with his l ife in Egypt .Then he was a court ier, famil iar with the ways ofkings ; now he was a shepherd, familiar with flocks

and pastures . Then he was surrounded by all the

Splendors of royalty ; now he walked amid the

rough places of th e desert . Then he was honoredby his superiors and served by his infer iors now

he was exposed to heat and cold and lived on the

coarsest fare . Then he was the companion of

prin ces ; now his companions were shepherds andsheep . He voluntarily made the change ; he hero

ically chose th e reproach of Christ rather than thepleasures of S in . Never was he so happy in tread

ing the marble palaces of Egypt a s he was in

travers ing the rocky desert s of Midian . He slept

better on the ground under the shelter of a t ent

than he d id on couches Of stat e in palaces of

marbl e .

In desert places God has Often spoken hissweetest and subl imest t ruth s to h is servants .

Our hurried l ives give u s too few opportunit ies forquiet thought and for divine fel lowsh ip .

“A lodge

in some vast wilderness ” may be a school for ac

qu iring divin e knowledge and sanct ified wisdom .

Many a man has found the ret iremen t which a

sl ight illness necessitat es, to be one of the mostfruitful experien ces Of h is l ife . Dr . Francis Wayland tell s us that he never learned so much ofGod ’ s word

,and never rej oiced so greatly in it s

truth s as when he studied it on a bed of i llness .

THE BURN ING BUSH 77

I t seems to be on e of God ’

s methods of train ing

h is great servants that they Should have a period ofret irement t o study themselves and to study himself.John Knox found such opportun it ies for study when

he was a prisoner in the French galleys . Luther

found it in the monastery and the Wartburg when

he learn ed both th e weakness and the strength ofthe system of Rom anism which he was so largelyto destroy. Will iam the S ilent, at the court of

Phil ip the Second, went th rough an experience

no t unlike that of Luther. The Apostl e Paul had

to spend three years in Arabia before he was ready

for his great work . El ij ah found his ret irementat Cherith and later in Horeb . John the Bap

t ist came forth from the wildernes s as a forerunner

Of J esus the Christ .Moses learned wonderful les son s during those

S ilent years . He communed with God face to

face ; he was l ift ed above all mean and selfish

mot ives he l ived in a heavenly atmosphere . Thebarren desolat ion was to him an invaluable school ,in the s ilence of this solitude God ’ s voice alone

could be heard . Some th ink that at this t ime hewrot e the n inetieth Psalm . He certainly was a

poet as well as a statesman, lawgiver, and prophet .

The archaic maj esty of the psalm is in ent ire harmony with it s Mosaic authorship

,but it is more

l ikelythat he wrote it near the close of the pilgrimage in the wilderness .Moses learned more in many pract ical ways

during h is soj ourn in Midian than during h is forty


years in Egypt . He acquired hardihood of body,self-rel iance of soul, mastery ofh imself, and sublime

t rust in God . This period of enforced ret irement ,however, was not without it s t rial s . The years

were passing, and health and vigor would soon

decl in e . Is th i s the only l ife that God int ends for

th is heroic soul ' Had God no other meaning in

the long training at the court Of Egypt ' Was he

trained at that court s imply that he might keep

sheep''uest ions l ike these must have agitat edth e soul of Moses but for long

.

years the silencewas unbroken by any voice from above call ing h im

to nobler work . But that work was now to be assigned him by God . God was t rain ing him for

the foremost place in the leadership of I srael .God was t raining him for the foremost place in the

whole h istory of the I srael it i sh nat ion . God wast rain ing him to be on e of the greatest men the

world has ever produced . Perhaps David is th e

greatest hero of I srael to Israel it es ; but Moses iscertainly to th e oth er nations the most command

ing figure I srael has presented to the - world .

Among his other el ement s of greatness was the

meeknes s which he showed in the wilderness, and

which he wil l now Show when God ’

s call comes .Moses endured as seeing him wh o i s invis ible ;on ly the man who sees the invisible can do the

impossible. The pat ience ofMoses was a markedelement of his power. Pat ience i s genius . His

modesty was as beautiful as h is endurance washeroic .

THE BU RN ING BUSH 79

But the t ime is now coming when Moses must

ent er a larger Sphere of duty . The second period

of forty years is drawing t o a close . He now

comes to the back side of the desert . This was,doubtless

,a place of good pasturage perhaps that

was the chief thought in the mind of Moses at themoment . I t is sublime to see a man move all un

con sciously,but st il l under divine gu idance, to the

gateway of a marvelou s opportun ity, Of a sublime

history,and of a glorious immortal ity. Oftener

than we know w e stand at some such door, but

are unfit ted by charact er and train ing to enter thepossibly rough, but certainly noble pathway. Thetradit ional spot of the great experience in the l ifeOf Moses is in the vale of Hobab on the north

s ide of Jebel Musa the conven t of St . Catherinenow stands on the supposed place, and the altar issaid to be on the site of the burning bush . Per

haps, as Josephus says, it was the loft iest of al l

the mountains in that region . There was a popular

bel ief that this mountain was the dwelling-place ofthe deity, and it i s said that the sh epherds feared

t o approach it . On th is mountain was an acaciat ree, a thorn t ree, of the desert . It was but alowly tree ; it s tangled branches spread out over

the rocky ground . Moses approaches this sacred

spot . The rocky ground becomes holy ; the shepherd must remove h is sandal s ; he must comport

h imself as if on the threshold of a palace or Of a

temple . Immediately the bush i s seen t o beaflam e ; already the mount is called the Mount of

80 THE BURN ING BUSH

God,from the s ignal displays of divine power

about to be narrated . The first effect of flame is

to consume, but this fire although wrapping th e

l owly shrub in a garment of flame does not burn .

It i s th is fact that so arrest s the attention of Moses .

He must turn aside to see what is th e’

m eaning of

this “ great sight . ”

I t was no t a created angel wh o now communicated

with Moses in this marvelous way . He is called

the Lord, or as it is in the original, “ Jehovahand later in the chapter some of the most expres

s ive attribut es of deity are applied to him . He is

an angel simply in the sense of being a messenger .He was the messenger Of the covenant , and this

mes senger was none other than Jesu s Christ the

leader Of I srael and the Redeemer of all believers .F ire was among the Hebrews a symbol Of deity.

God accompanied the I srael it es afterward as apillar Of fire by n ight, and a sword of fire guarded

the gates of Eden . In a chariot of fire E lij ahwent up to glory and to God . Probably the pillar

of‘ fire which accompanied I srael became the sym

bOl of God between the cherubim in the Holy of

Holies . This idea of fire as represent ing deity

was illustrated on the day of Pentecost in the

tongues Of fire that rested over the heads of th edisc iples . Applied to spiritual th ings the fuel for

fire is moral evil . Spiritual fire does not creat e

but reveals purity. This idea l ies at the bottom

Of the whole system of Zoroaster . The Parsees

affirm that they do not worship fire, but regard it

8 2 THE BURN ING BUSH

stately palm tree, no graceful Olive t ree, but a l ittle

thorn o r acacia. I t glows with flame, but it i s not

burned . We listen with sacred awe to the divinevoice which Moses heard . Th e Lord announceshis great name . He does not make himself knownas the God of Levi, of Kohath, or of Amram , the

immediat e progenitors of Moses, but he makes

himself known as the God Of Abraham , of Isaac,and of Jacob . Wonderful are th e revelat ions

which he now makes to Moses of h is Observance

of all the affl ict ions of h is people . God is not

dead ; God is not blind ; God is no t deaf ; God

heard their cries, h e saw their sorrows, and he has

now come in mighty power and great glory for

their del iverance. No wonder Moses hid h is fac e

and was afraid to look upon God. Let us learn

some of the les sons which Moses learned, and

which these striking in ciden t s~so fully teach us .Firs t, w e learn thatfi re is an em blem of th e de ity.

This thought we have already touched upon as

related to I srael and to some other nat ion s . There

is a sen se in which God is st ill a con suming fire .

He destroys moral evil with the consum ing flame

of h is purity and power. He st il l put s h is chosenones into the fiery furnace that their dross may be

consumed and their gold refined . The purity of

his law is st il l as fire as it was at Mt . Sinai in it sOpposit ion to sin and all it s works . There st ill

comes a fire out from before the Lord to consumeevil and it s deadly fruit s . God st il l put s h is

chosen into the furnace of t rial heated seven t imes

THE BURN I NG BUSH 8 3

hot , but he never desert s hi s chosen ; he designst o bring us into sweet conformity to his holy and

righteous wil l . We shall learn to saywith the b eloved Whitt ier, even when passing through fiery

trial s

Iffrom thy ordeal’

s h eated b ars

Our fee t are seam ed w i th crim son scars,

Thyw ill b e done .

S econd, th e burn ing bush was a sym bol of th e

opp ress ions , and th efl am ing fi re of th e opp ressors ,

of God’

s p eop le . The bush was it self a lowlyon e ; that fact is no t without sign ificance . God ’ s

people in Egypt were lowly in th e esteem of their

Egyptian taskmasters . The bush was burn ing, but

it was not burned ; although lambent tongues of

flame licked its branches,these branches were not

consumed . This tree aflam e finely set s forth the

condit ion of I srael in Egypt . The people wereafl‘lict ed by the Violence of their foes, but they

were not thereby destroyed . They were Oppressed,affl icted , and tormented with cruel bondage, but

they st il l mult ipl ied ; though but as a briar orbramble or thorn bush

,they st il l l ived and grew.

Naturally th e fire would immediately dest roy th is

lowly shrub ; as in the case before Moses the fact

that the bush was not burned arrested his attent ion,

SO the symbol before us ought t o arrest our at

tent ion . We, l ike Moses, should manifest a sanct ified curios ity. We, l ike Moses, Should desire tobe taught of God the les son s which the symbol is


intended to set forth . God is often near u s, butwe se e him not he speaks

,but we do not recognize

his voice . Such a manifestat ion as th is i s intended

to emphas ize great moral truths and dut ies . God

spoke to Jacob to encourage h im to go down into

Egypt . Now after two hundred years he speaks

to Moses to encourage h im to go to Egypt to

bring h is peopl e out of bondage . We have sinned

and God ’ s wrath must flame ou t against us , but

God speaks to u s in the gospel, informing us of the

great Deliverer . As God walked with h is th reefaithful servant s in the fiery furnace, and they

were not con sumed, so he st ill walks with h is peo

ple for their protect ion and del iverance . His

church Often s ince h as been in the flames of fierce

persecut ion . He permitted the fires Of pagan

and papal Rome to be kindled against h is believingpeople, but the Lollards, the Albigenses, the

Huguenot s, and the Covenanters were not dest royedby the fierce flame . Noble souls t rod the valleys

and cl imbed the hill s of Scotland, somet imes

wrapped by God in the mist s of the mountains tohide them from their savage foes . Beautiful i s

the motto chosen by the Church of Scotland, and

suggest ed by the flaming bush seen by Moses '

N ec tam en consum ebatur.

”

Th ird, th is bush of flam e is th e sym bol of th e

ch ildren of Israel even to th is day. They have

been despised and persecut ed by every nat ionunder heaven

,but they st ill l ive and prosper .

They are strangers in foreign lands they have no

THE BURN ING BUSH 8 5

flag, no government , no country, except the flags ,the governments, and the countries under which

and in which they find a home . One would havesaid that long ago they wou ld perish from the earth

or become amalgamated with those about them .

But not so ; they stil l l ive as a separate people

among many peoples . They still maintain dis

t inct ive characterist ics of face and faith ; theyhave survived the lapse of ages ; and they have

performed important part s in the h ist ory,the l it era

ture,and the civil izat ion Of the world . They have

long been burn ing, but are st ill unburned . God

undoubtedly has yet some great design for his

chosen people . Assuredly they are yet t o be

grafted into their own Olive tree. Perhaps they

have neither thought nor desire of going back to

the land of I srael . Those in America find theirpromised land in the enj oyment of the l iberty

granted to al l nat ions under our flag. We cann ot

but bel ieve that God is st il l with them that God

st ill remembers his covenant with their fathers andthat he will fulfil l h is great purposes in the case Of

his people . This symbol finds it s il lustrat ion alsoin the case of ind ividual believers they have been

tempted and t ried in all the years of their history,

but they st il l l ive as witnesses Of God’

s su staining

grace . God ’ s church will never be destroyed thegates of hel l shall not prevail against her ; sh ehas Often been in the wilderness ; sh e has Oftenprophesied in sackcloth ; sh e has Often su fferedbonds and imprisonment as a witness for Christ

,

86 THE BURN ING BUSH

but God is in the m idst of his church, sh e shall

not be moved . When thou passest through the

waters, I will be with thee and through the r ivers,they shall not overflow thee ; when thou walkestthrough the fire, thou shal t not be burned ; neithershall th e flame kindle upon thee . ”

Fourth , w e may learn sw eet lessons from th e

g reat nam e wh ich God gave h imself in h is com

m unication to Moses am tha t I am .

” I t was

necessary that Moses should' have authority for the

great mission on which he was to enter ; and he

must be able to c it e that authority as the just ificat ion for his appeal to Pharaoh . God has made

himself known in h is word by many names .When he appeared to Abraham he called himself

E l Shaddai, God Almighty. This name indicated

that he was infinitely able to fulfill the promisemade to Abraham of a son in hi s old age. Onother occasions he called h imself the Most H igh

,

the Ancient Of Days, J ehovah, and by stil l other

t it les equal ly sign ificant . These names were pre

cursors of a fuller revelat ion of God ’ s charact er ;each new t it le brought out a new element in God ’ s

character appropriate to the exist ing necess ity ofh is people .

He now gives a definite answer to the definitequest ion asked by Moses . The lit eral t ranslat ionis “ I will be that I will be He thu s reveal s

himself as the Exist ing One, as the Et ernal , wh ois without beginn ing of l ife or end of days . Thisnew t itle thus denotes the underived, eternal, and

THE BURN I NG BUSH 87

unchangeable existence of the great Being to

whom it is applied . I t also set s forth God, whoeternally is in opposit ion to the pretended deit ies

Of the Egyptians . They were vanity, they were

a nonent ity he is a real ity, he is an eternal truth .

As such he can fulfill every promise made to

Abraham,to I saac , and to Jacob, and now to

Moses . With marvelou s power this name must

have come to Pharaoh , as sett ing forth a self

existent and immutabl e God, in opposit ion to theidols Of Egypt . The future tense in this name

has the force of a cont inuous present . There

may be, strictly speaking, a grammatical anomaly

in the name ; but when God reveal s h is name, he

may well al so reveal a new grammatical law. This

is h is memorial name unt o al l generat ion s . Beaut i

fully is the truth Oi th i s name brought out in the

words of the psalm :“ Thy name , O Jehovah ,

endureth forever, and thy memorial, O J ehovah ,unto all generations . ”

These words would give alarm to Pharaoh, j oy

to I srael, and assurance to Moses . The God wh oever l ived would ever be m indful of his chosen .

Moses was now armed with a name of potencyand maj esty . He now could speak with theauthor ity of the Almighty . In that same mightyname we find refuge. The Lord Christ took upthe thought of th is name when he said : “ Before

Abraham was, I AM and “ Lo, I AM with youunto the end of the world . The Jesu s p f theNew Testament is the Jehovah , the great I AM


of the Old Testament . May w e ever find bysweet experience the blessedness of those to whomthe name Of the Lord is a strong tower, and whorunning to him are saved forevermore '

This name of God i s full Of instruct ion for u s,as u sed by our Lord to prove the doctrine of ourimmortal ity . He taught us that God was theGod , not of the dead, but of the l iving ; and in

proving that point he described him as the God of

Abraham, of I saac, and of Jacob . This is a won

derfully subl ime name ; th is is a gloriou sly beaut i

ful doctrine . In that name let us sweetly rest ;the name of our Prophet, Priest , and King ; thename of him wh o i s our deliverer from bondage

worse than that Of Egypt ; the name of him who

pit ieth l ike a father and comforteth like a mother.May we ever be ready with a holy curiosity toturn aside, l ike Moses, to se e the presence and to

hear the voic e of God even in the ordinary dut iesof life Then shall we find that every lowly bushon l ife

’ s highway is aflam e with the glory of Godand voiceful with it s command of God to h is

obedient discip l es.

H IS text teaches u s clearly that God has aplan for every life . Far back in the coun

c il s of etern ity the life-work of each man and

woman was appointed . Each life is taken up into

the thoughts and purposes of God . Between each

man and all others there is a d ividing line that isdeep, high, and broad . Personal ity is immortal .To every man h is work ”— not your work, not

my work, but h is work— is God’s law. Each man

must do his own work, or that work must remain

undone to all etern ity. No other man can do it .Each day has it s own duty ; so has each person

for each day and each hour . Christ dist inctly

said, “ I must work the works of him that sent

me, while it is day ; th e n ight cometh , when no

man can work .

”As there is a special work for

each man, so there i s a spec ial t ime in whichth at work must be done, and when that special

t ime has passed the work cannot be done . Permit me to specify some of those whose allotted

task is easily understood by us all .I . To the pastor God g ives h is w orh . God has

called him to an exalted sphere of service . No

sphere is higher ; no labor is nobler . Angels

would feel honored in being perm itted to preach

the glorious gospel of the blessed God . Gabriel

9 1

9 2 THE ALLOTTED TASK

would will ingly come t o any pulpit in this c ity,did

God so command or permit . The Apostle Paul

magnified his office . Every true pastor may andought to be in th is form of apostol ic succession .

While we are not unduly to exalt the work of the

ministry, we may truthfully say, that no other

work gives great er j oy t o the worker, or greater

glory to God. The tru e pastor is not t o be simply

a man Of soc iety ; he is not to be simply a man

of affairs . He is in the world and has to do with

its various obl igat ions as a Christ ian c it izen . These

obligat ions he dare not neglect without being disloyal to h is country, his church, and h is God. Butall the while he must realiz e that he is above the

world, while he is in it and is discharging its obliga

t ions .

The true pastor is not to be simply a great

scholar. A scholar he must be, if h e i s a loyal

pupil in the school ofChrist but whatever scholarship he possesses he holds in trust for the great er

honor of Christ and the better service of men .

His scholarship i s to be sanct ified to the honor Of

h is Lord and the salvat ion of the souls Of men .

Everything that he h as and does must be held anddone under the inspirat ion of the con strain ing love

of Christ, and for the salvat ion of the lost . He

preaches not himself, but his Lord ; he seeks no tmen ’ s th ings, but their souls . He is to strive tobuild them up into the l ikeness of his Lord and

Master, and to present them at the last withoutspot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, in the presence

THE ALLOTTED TASK 9 3

of God and to the glory Of Christ . Beaut ifu l aswere the cups which the Spanish art ist placed in

h is paint ing Of th e Last Supper, they became anObj ect of disfigurement when they diverted the

attention of the spectator from the Lord himself .Then th e cups were no longer ornamental but

det rimental . The art ist was right when he seized

hi s brush and blotted these cups from the canvas,

that the figure of Christ might be the only Obj ect

of att ract ion . 'uaintly and rightly has it beensaid that Christ must be the diamond t o shine onthe bosom of all our sermons .

2 . God g ives to th e p rofess ional scholar his p e r

sonal w orh . The tru e scholar loves and seeks for

truth . He is t ruth’ s will ing and j oyous slave . He

welcomes t ruth from whatever quarter it comes and

by whatsoever messenger it i s brought . Truth is

the daughter of God, and the prophetess Of all t rue

progress in the world . Never is man so great and

so free as when he bows in lowly reverence at thefeet Of Jesus Christ wh o i s king in the vast realm

of t ruth . Noth ing i s more certain than that inthe end truth shall prevail over every form of eviland error . Truth is a great st ronghold erected

and fort ified by God, and no enemy shall be able

long to hold it . Scholarship is always a power . I tmay indeed somet imes be a power for evil rather

than for good ; but we must st rive constantly t omake scholarship the handmaid of t ruth and so

th e servant of God. San ct ified scholarship is aninest imable power for God among men . All the

94 THE ALLOTTED TASK

discover ies of modern sc ience are making it easierthan ever before to bel ieve in God . We ought

never t o speak of science as opposed to revelat ion .

Science is a part Of revelat ion . God ’

s t est imonies

in his great book of nature can never contradicth is t est imon ies in h is greater book of revelat ion, if

only we rightly understand the t est imonies in both

books . Our interpretat ions may be in confl ict ;but God ’ s revelat ion s must ever be in sweetest

harmony. If a man can writ e in Paris and h iswrit ing be instantly reproduced in London, three

hundred and twelve miles away ; if a man can

talk in New York and h is words be instantly heardin Chicago

,in round numbers one thousand miles

away, who wil l dare say that a man cannot writeor speak on the earth so that the great God shall

see the written and hear the spoken words' Ifman can answer man one thou sand miles awaywithout the violat ion of any law Of nature, but in

harmony with laws of nature which unt il recently

we did not know, wh o will dare say that we cannot

talk to God and God to us without the Violat ion Of

laws of nature, but simply in harmony with higher

laws, whose full Operat ion we do not yet under

stand ' All true scholarsh ip will yet lay it s honors

at the pierced feet of Jesu s Christ . Science and

revelat ion will yet march j oyously in st ep t o the

mu sic of Christ ’ s name and shall yet cast their

crowns before h im as Lord and Master.An educat ed man is higher than an uneducated

man . He reaches up to difficult t ruths, takes

THE ALLOTTED TASK 9 5

them down , simplifies them and places them b e

fore weaker minds . It is h is busines s to S impl ify

not to myst ify truth . He is only a half-educated

man who cannot talk to plain people. The thor

oughly educated man has so mastered difficult

t ruths that he can take them out of their technicalt erminology and give them in s implest forms toplaines t minds . Some men get a reputation forbeing profound when they are only muddy. Youcan look twenty feet into clear water, but you cannot l ook one quarter Of an inch into mud . To

profess ional scholars the cause of truth is greatlyindebted . At t imes churchmen have made utter

mistakes in manifest ing tendencies in Opposit iont o t rue scholarsh ip . Our Oppos it ion is direct edright ly again st sc ience fal sely so called but against

a true science no true Christ ianity can ever obj ect .Some evangel ist s and other good Christians say,

Let us study simply the English Bible ” They

talk against the use of commentaries and sc ient ifictheological study ; but such men know not whereof

they speak . They are indebted to th e broad b ib lical scholarship, which they attempt to bel itt le, forthe ’ part ial b ibl ical learn ing which they possess .There would have been no Engl ish Bible for us

but for the Hebrew and Greek scholarship of

earl ier days . We need expert and sc ient ific , but

always consecrated,knowledge in every depart

ment of inquiry. To the professional scholaralong every l ine my text appl ies To every manh is work .

”

96 THE ALLOTTED TASK

3 . Th e teach er a lso has h is sp ecial w arh . I in

olude the teacher in our secular as well as in our

Sunday-school s . The teachers in our public school soccupy an important and respons ible posit ion .

Too seldom do w e think Of them with sympathy

and appreciat ion ; too seldom do w e pray for themwith int ell igence and earnestness . In a c ity like

New York the public school is a m ighty power .Thousands of children are rec eiving in our publ ic

school s t o-day their preparat ion for l ife. Into the

formation Of their characters the teaching and

even the atmosphere Of the public school largely

enter . I r ightly say atmosphere, for that word is

suggest ive of important truth s . Very much de

pends on th e atmosphere wh ich a teacher creates.I t is possible to read the Bible and to Offer prayers

in our public school s without producing much, ifany

,rel igiou s impress ion . The reading and the

praying may be in a cold, mechan ical , and utt erlyperfunctory spirit ; but some teachers, even though

they never read or pray, may yet put the spirit of

Christ into their instruct ion , even though they

be teachers Of mathemat ics, and other seemingly

purely secular studies . All scientific studies ought

to be conducted as revelation s of the though t s Of

God . Taught in th is spirit, angles and t riangles,S ines and cosines, are part s of a divine revelat ion ;taught in th i s spirit chemical affinit ies and repul

sion s are truly revelat ions of divine des ign and of

piritual purpose .

These truths have a st il l h igher appl icat ion to


to find able pastors . We have made too broad a

dist inct ion between secular and sacred duties .Strictly speaking; such a dist inct ion is imaginary,and not real . To a true ch ild Of God nothing in

his Father ’ s universe i s profane or secular. Thereought to be no line of cleavage between sacred

and profane h istory. All history is sacred . God

has never been absent from his universe. His

hand is now on it s great helm . He is as t ruly

present to day in the great affairs of all th e nat ions

,in gu iding czars, kings, emperors, and presi

dents, as he was in the days of Moses , Joshua,David

,or Solomon . H is hand may have been

more plainly seen in that early day than now, but

it is present now as t ruly as it was at that t ime .

We must not th ink of rel igion as belonging to

Sundays and sanctuaries, and business as belong

ing exclusively to weekdays and count ing houses .The Apost le Paul in writ ing to the Romans C learlytaught us that we were to be dil igent in business,and at the same t ime earnest in the service of the

Lord . We do no t put on our rel igion l ike a garment on Sunday, and then lay it Off when Sunday

has ended . If you cannot take your rel igion with

you into your bus iness, you must have a very bad

business, or a very poor rel igion , or both . In a

true sense,every desk and counter may, in it s

place and for its purpose, be as sacred as a pulpit .

In its place and for it s purpose , every family table

may be in some sense the Lord’

s table . Our re

ligion is not to be left in the church when our

THE ALLOTTED TASK 99

prayers are offered and our hymns are chanted .

Rel igion is not a monk or a nun to be shut awayin a Cl oi ster . God wants men, not monks . J esus

prayed that h is people should not be taken out of

the world, but s imply that they should be kept

from the evil . The world would be a sad place if

God’

s people were al l taken from it ; it would goto destruction utterly with in a month . Real estat ewas not worth much in Sodom or Gom orrah when

God held over it the cloud charged with fire and

brimstone. Rel igion is a beaut iful daughter, anoble wife, a consecrat ed mother . A s such she

walks out among men, causing the flowers of

beauty, of innocence, and of fragrance to blossomwherever she sheds her influence, and causing the

flowers of bigotry, immoral ity, and sin Of everykind to wither wherever sh e plant s her feet . I f

the salt Of the gospel i s t o save the meat of the

world, it will not do to put the salt and the meat

into separate barrel s . The whole system Of monast icism in it s various phases is unchrist ian, i sevil and only evil, and that cont inually. O busi

ness and profess ional men , I summon you to day

t o consecrat e all your professional powers , al l your

business ach ievement s, al l your social relat ion s, tothe service of h im wh o has died for you,

and wh ol ives to c rown you as h is victoriou s followers hereand forever hereafter .

5 . To th e w orh ingman and dom es tic servant

Ch ris t says To every one h is warh .

” God givesappropriate dut ies t o men of every class and con


dit ion . The usual soc ial dist inctions are not to be

Observed in the house of God . At God ’ s altar

none are rich, n one are poor, none are high , none

are low. All there are on the same level Of un

w orthiness in themselves, and of blessedness in

their divine Redeemer. The workingman has b e

come a tremendous power in Great Britain , in the

United Stat es, and throughout the world , during

the clos ing decade of the n ineteenth century .

We have unduly l imited the term workingman .

Men wh o work with their brain and pen are ast ruly workingmen as those wh o work with pick or

shovel, with hammer or plane, with axe or adze .

In this s en se, as in other senses , Jesus Christ wasa workingman . He stood at the carpenter

’

s bench

and toiled through the long hours . The sweat

beads of honest toil were on his brow and the

hardness Of manly toil was on his hands . Work

ingm en commit the greatest conceivable mistakewhen they turn away from Jesus Christ . He wastheir best friend ; he is their best friend st il l . He

sympath izes with every tru e workingman and

workingwoman . He reaches out t o them the hand

Of tenderness and offers them the heart of affe ct ion . He will be to them as the shadow Of a

great rock in a weary land and under a burning

sun . He promises them food and raiment . Mar

ve lous i s the thought that Jesus Christ was poorand friendles s. He said with an infinite t ender

ness that,

Foxes have holes, and birds of the airhave nest s ; but th e Son of Man hath not where

1 0 2 THE ALLOTTED TASK

and glory . The dist inct ion often made among

men in these regards is purely arbit rary . When

we enter upon our work as for God, and not formen , that work becomes radiant with heavenly

beauty and prophet ic of heavenly glory . In our

humblest servic e the beautiful words Of the saintlyGeorge Herbert may have their ful l real izat ion

A servan t w ith th is clause ,Make s drudgery div ine

Wh o sweeps a room , as for thy laws,

Makes th at and th e act ion fine .

THE COMPREHENS IVE DES I RE

Bre th ren , my h eart’

s desire andprayer to

is, that th ey m ight be sav ed. 1 0 I .

I 06 THE COMPREHENSIVE DESIRE

apostate . Since h is convers ion to Christ ianity he

had opposed the princ iples wh ich once he hadpreached , and he had rebuked the spirit of pride

and self-righteousnes s of'

l

t h e J ewish people . He

charged them in effect with the crime of cruc ify

ing their own Messiah . He forsook all that they

valued in the gorgeous rit es of their temple and in

the t radit ional faith of their fathers . He had gone

everywhere preaching the gospel of Christ . They

could not doubt the sincerity of h is new profe ss ion

,however b itterly they might Oppose th e

'

doc

t rine which h e'

preach ed. It was most important

that he should not arouse their opposit ion , but

convince them by cool argument and w in them by

genuine affect ion . By nature he was t ender and

kind ; but in order to be loyal to the t ruth he must

rebuke his brethren for their Opposit ion to Christ,and warn them of the condemnation which theirunbel ief would certainly bring .

He was obl iged to pour out his heart in rebuke,but now he could no longer contain h is fervent andtender affect ion . While he muses the fire burns,and at length his loving heart burst s forth in thetext in the expression of th i s glowing desire for the

salvat ion of his brethren . I t is most instructivet o watch the confl ict of emot ions as illustrated in

the text and it s context . No one can read these

words without feel ing the throb of the apost le’

s

heart acros s the interven ing cont inent s and cen

turie s . Let us examine the characterist ic s of thisdesire as they are given in the text .

THE COMPREHENS IVE DES IRE 1 07

I . It is afra ternal des ire Bre th ren , my heart’ s

desire and prayer t o God for I srael is that they

might be saved .

” The Apost le Paul was a cos

m opolitan . He was also especially the apostle to

the Gent il es, but he always gave in h is preaching the first Opportunity to the J ew to receive the

blessings of the gospel . He was a Hebrew of theHebrews, and there is much , as w e al l know,

in

blood . The Apostl e Paul l oved hi s nat ion with

the fervor of a true bel iever and a genuine patriot,

but he real ized that the Christ ian is the t rue Jew .

Strictly speaking, there is no contradict ion between

a true Judaism and Christ ianity. I t is a fal se

Judaism that Opposes Christ ian ity ; all t rue J ewswere wait ing for the coming of the Messiah . The

Apostle Paul might be cal led, if I may coin a word,a Me ssiah ian but a Messiah ian i s simply a Chris

t ian . The former word is Hebrew , the latter is

Greek, and both mean prec isely the same thing .

The true J ews are Me ssiah ians ; and, if they butknew it , in so affirming they affirm also that theyare Christ ians . The Apostle Paul longed fo r thecoming of the Christ ; he glorified in the hope of

the Messiah ; and he never meant to be disloyal

to that hope . He Opposed Jesus of Nazareth b ecause he did not understand him to be the Messiah

of God ; but when stricken down under the blinding light on the Damascus h ighway, he learned in

answer to h is quest ion , “Who art thou, Lord '”

that the Lord wh om he persecuted was Jesus , and

he gave him immediate submission and reverence .

1 0 8 THE COMPREHENSIVE DESIRE

Judaism is the root ; Christ ian ity is the flowerand the fruit . Judai sm is s imply undeveloped

Christianity . Judaism is the gray dawn of the

morning ; Christ ian ity is the splendor of noonday.

True Judaism must pass on in to acknowledged

Christ ianity . J udaism is the ch ildhood of faith ;Christ ian ity is it s manhood . When the Apostle

Paul became a Christ ian he real ized the hope to

ward wh ich he had always been st riving . He now

longs for the conversion of h is brethren . He wh o

has come into the true l ight cannot be sat isfied tohave hi s brethren remain in darkness . Perh aps

the insert ion Of the word “ I srael in the t ext i s

not warranted by the most authoritat ive manu

scripts but the fraternity of the apostl e ’ s desire is

fully emphasized in h is use of the word bre th ren ,

with which the text begins . There is a sanct ified

patriot ism ; and to that patr iot ism w e have a rightto appeal in urging the claims Of the gospel Of

Christ . The apost le in making th is affect ionate

appeal to h is brethren, wishes to destroy any un

favorable impression which h is plain words might

have produced . He felt h imself to be fu lly under

the power ofnat ional feeling and ofChrist ian affec

t ion . This is a sentiment which all t rue manhoodappreciat es and desires t o possess and to manifest .We may well appeal in our Home Mission workto a genuine American patriotism as an incent ivet o aggressive Christ ian endeavor. North Amer

ica fo r Christ ,”is a noble motto . We must use

every right endeavor t o make thi s motto a l iteral

1 1 0 THE COMPREHENS IVE DESIRE

Paul rose far above any personal advantage or profe ssional ambit ion when he poured Out his heart

in the affect ionate words of the text . Out of his

heart ’s des ire his pen wrot e in this l etter to the

Romans . I t is because h is words came from the

heart that after the lapse of these c enturies they

st il l reach the h earts of his readers . Heart ever

more responds to heart . All Christ ian workers

must be right in their heart s with God, and theywill not be wrong in their effort s with men .

There may be,al so

,simply a duteous des ire for

the conversion Of men . This desire may spring

from a higher mot ive than that of profess ional am

b it ion . I t is the duty Of those who are teachers

and preachers to seek for appropriate fru its in

their Christ ian labors . Th ey cannot be indifferent

to result s— such indifference would be culpable in

the extreme . The duteous act is performed under

the real ization of what is due, ofwhat the pos it ionproperly requires ; it is that which is enj oined by

duty or by the pos it ion which one may occupy . I t

is bett er that on e should des ire the conversion Of

men from th is motive than be indifferent to their

spiritual welfare,but it is a great gain when we

pass over from that which duty requires, in the mer

legal sense of the t erm,t o the j oy in service which

love always secures . I do not w ish, however, to

make l ight of th e importance Of performing our

duty irrespect ive Of result s . We must ever remem

ber that dut ies are ours, events are God’

s . Wehave too Often in the Christ ian l ife been governed

THE COM PREHENSIVE DES IRE I I I

s imply by feel ing, by emot ion , by impulse . We

never read in Scripture that men are saved by

feel ing ; we always read that they are saved by

faith .

_

One cannot help wish ing at t imes that theword “ feel ing ” were st ricken out of our religious

vocabulary . Many neglect all forms of religious

duty because they are govern ed by feel ing ratherthan by the h igher law of Obedience t o Christ, nomatter what their feel ings are . If right feel ing

comes we may welcome it , but in any case wemust move forward in the faithfu l performance of

our duty . If duty be faithfully done,right feel

ing will not long be want ing ; but blessed are theywh o rise above the con sciousnes s of perform ing

duty for duty ’ s sake and wh o know that they are

constrained by Christ ian love .There may al so be a mere intellectual desire

for the convers ion Of our breth ren . The intel lectof the Apost le Paul was act ive as the int ellect Offew men ever has been but h is int ellectual act ivit ies were sweetly submiss ive to the constrain inglove of Christ . When th e l ight flashed upon h imon his way to Damascus

,new meaning was given

to all h is previou s reasoning . He saw , as neverbefore, the meaning of the O ld Testament in it sprophec ies concern ing the Christ ; he saw that all

the ways of God’ s revelat ion converged toward

the cross of Christ . He real ized that if you takeaway the cross the Old Testament is largely meaningle ss ; he saw that the cross of Calvary i s thecenter Of the Bible ; he real ized that it is the

I I Z THE COMPREHENSIVE DESIRE

pivotal point around which all the event s of theworld ’ s h istory revolve . As a student of secular

hi story as t ruly as of sacred story, he saw that he

must build his study on Calvary. Christ ianityquickened, directed, and ennobled all h is in tellect

ual act ivit ies . He was t ruly the apostle of logic ;he was equally the apostle of love . He wrote

under divine inspirat ion the masterpieces of logicalreason ing which are found in the Epist le to the

Romans ; but it was he also, under divine in spirat ion, who wrote the thirteenth chapter of first Corinth ians, which has been finely called “The New

Testament Psalm of Love.” Doubtless from a

p urely int el lectual point of V iew the apostle desired to convince others , as he had himself been

convinced, that Jesus was the Christ ; but the desire of his heart , as expressed in the t ext, rose far

above a mere int ell ectual victory. He was under

the influence of the gentl e and yet mighty love of

Christ . This pure and heavenly des ire gave h iswords almost irresist ible power. This desire gives

u s similar power to -day . Love has a logic of its

own ; love has a brogue that never can be imitated

by unloving heart s . Love evokes love . The

writ er of poetry and of music must writ e with the

heart if the highest result s are to be secured .

The same law appl ies t o art of every sort ; if

the heart is want ing, power is want ing. More

men are reached through the heart than throughthe head . Many men put their heart s into the

ton e of the voice, into the glance of the eye, and

1 1 4 THE COMPREHENSIVE DESIRE

mighty in appropriate pet it ions . True prayermust come from warm heart s cold h earts seldom

pray, and seldomer pray aright . Somet imes theshort est way to reach men ’ s heart s is by way ofGod ’s throne . When Paul and Silas were in the

prison at Phil ippi, we are told that they “ sang

praises unto God ; and the prisoners heard them”

;

l iterally the word s mean that “ praying, they

hymned Go d.

” Perhaps they could not directly

have addressed their fellow-prisoners, but they

prayed while s inging a hymn to God, and the voice

of prayer and praise ascended to God and de

scended upon men . We could Oftener m ight ily

move men if we were mightly moved toward God

on their behalf. We are greatly instructed in our

effort s for the convers ion of men by th e union of

effort and of prayer so beaut ifully given in the

t ext,to secure that result . The apost le could not

be sat isfied with simply cherishing a des ire fo r the

conversion of his brethren ; that des ire he expresses in prayer to God himself, and also in writ

ing to the brethren . He tell s them of h is desire

and of h is prayer t o God on their behalf . The

mere t el ling them Of this prayerful desire would

have it s influence in securing their submiss ion to

Christ,and so in an swering the prayer which he

had already Offered . He had no pleasure in de

claring the severe t ruths wh ich he had j ust an

nounced, but the announcement was made not in

anger but in love ; he bapt ized h is warnings in

heartfel t prayer. This union Of prayer and preach

THE COMPREHENSIVE DESIRE I I S

ing is an example fo r all Christ ian workers to thishour We cannot afford to d ispense with any

elements of power which the apostle manifested ,and which God may permit u s to possess and toemploy. There should be definit eness in our de

si res as we approach God in prayer, and equal

defin it en e ss in our purpose as we approach men to

w in them to Jesus Christ The moment ourheart s go out in true desire for the convers ion Of

our fellow-men, that moment in consc ious weak

ness our heart s wil l go up t o God that h is Spirit

may apply the t ruths we utter and bless the

effort s we make . We thank God and the noble

apostle for this illust rat ion of the union of humaneffort and divine power in Christ ian labor .

4 . We notice a lso tha t th is was an evang elica l

des ire on th e part of the Apos tle Paul Thatthey might be saved. What is the apostle ’ s

thought in the express ion of this desire ' Does he

mean s imply to labor and t o pray that his kindredmay be saved from temporal di sas ter' Doubtlesstheir temporal welfare was dear t o h is manly andloving heart ; but it is quite certain that he does

not l imit h is desire to their salvat ion from temporal

or nat ional disaster. He m ay have known by di

vine intuition , or by careful study of nat ional t en

dencie s, and by the pos it ion of the people in rela

t ion to oth er nat ions, that t emporal disaster was

soon to come . As a true patriot he undoubtedlydesired to save his brethren from nat ional ru in ;but he means much more in this prayerful desire“

1 1 6 THE COMPREHENS IVE DES IRE

than preservat ion from nat ional destruct ion or any

form of earthly sorrow . He prays and labors thatthey may be saved with an eternal salvat ion ; he

desires that they may be convicted of sin and converted to God . He could not cons istently pray

that they might be saved so long as they remainedin unbel ief. If their eternal salvat ion were secured

they could bet ter endure the temporal calamit ies

which were certainly soon to come . Noth ing short

of their redemption from sin here and from death

forever hereafter, could sat isfy th e apostle’

s desire

nothing less than this ought to sat i sfy our desire s

as Christ ian men and women in our relat ion t o ourfellow-men . The example of the apostle is help

ful to us as parents and as patriots he recognizes

th e t ies Of blood and Of nat ional ity ; so ought we .

Are we ourselves saved ' Have w e a good hope

through faith in Christ Have we passed from death

unto l ife ' Are our names written in the Lamb’ s

book Of l ife ' If so,we ought then most ear

n e stly to desire the salvat ion of our kindred, espe

ciallyour own flesh and blood in the tenderest relat ion s of fam ily l ife . Can we be indifferent t o the

welfare of our children , both for th is world and for

that which is to come '

I appeal to you ,t eachers, on behalf of the chil

dren committed t o your care in our Sunday-schools .

Have you a fraternal and cordial and prayerfuldes i re for their salvat ion ' Such a desire did the

Apostl e Paul cherish toward h is kinsmen , his

brethren in the flesh . Have we wh o are preach

THE MAN IFOLD KEEP ING

1 22 THE MAN IFOLD KEEPI NG

l iteral though t clearly in our minds . There is inthe original a remarkab le strength in the wordsemployed . The exact rendering of the Hebrew

is,“Keep me as the l ittl e man— the daughter— of

the eye .

” I t is readily seen that there is here acurious confusion of genders, but a littl e famil iarity w ith the Hebrew idioms will clarify our con

cept ion of the meaning. The apple of the eyemeans the pupil of the eye, the small open ing in

the iris through which the rays of l ight pass to

the ret ina . The Hebrew word 'shon , renderedapple

,means “ l itt l e man ,

” because in th is part of

the eye on e sees his own image in greatly reduced

proport ions ; and this fact account s fo r our wordt erm

,pupil . The expression “ daughter Of the

eye ” means that which is dependent on or con

ne ct ed with the eye. I t i s customary to call a

smal l town or village, when dependent on a c ity,

“ the daughter of the c ity.

” The prayer,there

fore, i s that God would guard the psalmist as thetenderest part of one ’ s eye is guarded . The pupil

i s the type of that which is most prec ious,and

most easily inj ured . The psalm is t ruly preciou s .

to all God’

s ch ildren . Perhaps no part Of the

Psalter has been more Oft en sung than this psalmin some one Of it s many vers ions . When we pray

that God will keep us as th e apple of the eye it isneces sary for u s to know how God does keep theapple of the eye, that w e may fully apprec iate theprayer that we Offer .I . God h eep s th e app le of th e eye cons titu tion

THE MAN IFOLD KEEPI NG 1 23

a lly ; and we therefore pray that God may so con

trol us in our const itut ional qual it ies and desires

that through them he may keep us for h is service

here and for his glory hereafter. God as our

Creator has marvelously guarded the eye . He

h as placed it in a well-prot ected pos it ion ; not

more ruly was Jerusalem encircled by mountains

than i s the eye protect ed by appropriate guards .He has placed it in a deep

,bony socket, composed

it is said, of “ seven different bones hollowed at

their edges . ” He has made the forehead and the

cheek bones its ramparts . He has caused th e eye

to rest with in it s socket on a bed of fatty sub

stance the best adapted for it s repose as well as itsm ot ion . He has also sheltered it by the eye

brows ; they are an arch Of hair form ing a hedge

to prevent the moisture of the forehead from go

ing into the eye . He has al so given it the curtainof th e

'

eye lids, and prot ected it by the brushl ikeeyelashes . They sweep it clean from the various

dangerous substances which might prove inj uriou s .The eyel id defends, wipes, and finally closes theeye in s l eep . The eyel ids are real ly close-fit t ingshutt ers to screen the light ; their inner side is

l ined with a membrane that is exceedingly sen si

t ive ; it thus aids In prot ect ing the eye from irrit at ing sub stances . Within the lashes are O il glands

which lubricate the edges of the l ids . I t would bedifficult t o find any apparatu s more appropriate init s organism for it s useful purpose . In order thatthe eye may be moist and clean , God h as supplied

1 24 TH E MAN IFOLD KEEPI NG

i t with a secret ion which excellently washes itfrom all foreign substances . He has al so so made

it that th e superfluous brine i s carried to the nostril through a sk illful perforat ion in the bone . The

ball itself is covered by three coat ings . The first

i s a horny casing which helps t o give the eye it sbeaut iful shape ; the second is really a black l ining

which absorbs the superfluous l ight ; the third is a

membrane in which the fibers of the Opt ic nerveexpand .

I t would be easy to go int o much fuller detailregarding the construct ion of the eye as showing

divine wisdom , and as illust rat ing the prayer Of

the psalmist , but w e catch his thought suffic ient ly

for the spiritual lesson w e des ire t o teach . We

ought earnestly to pray that our whole nature may

be so const ituted as to be a guard against evi l in

thought, in word, and in act . Sin i s a disturbing

and d isorganizing element in our nature. Ournature s

’

ough t t o b e in perfect harmony with the

wil l Of God,but sin comes in as a j arring note in

the melody of l ife . Our natures ought to guardus against evil in the world about u s, but sin

breaks down the protect ing walls and leaves us

exposed to the assault s Of the enemy . Most earn e stly ought we to pray that God would guard us

const itut ional ly as he has guarded the apple of the

eye . Reason , imaginat ion, desire , and duty areOften at war with one another ; antagonist ic forcesdisturb our mental repose and our moral peace .

No t until the heart i s brought int o the Obedience

I 26 THE MAN IFOLD KEEPI NG

make . In the mot ion of the eyelash in winkingthere is a gentle flow of t ears over the eyeball

,

keeping it moist and clearing it of dust . When

danger is near the Opt ic nerve announces that fact

to the brain ; the brain then sends a messagethrough some of the motor nerves to the muscle

of the eyel id,and that muscle immediately receives

the message and instantly act s upon it,shutt ing

down the eyelid . Winking not only protects the

eyebal l by shutt ing it in, but by a divine con t riv

ance it moves the eye back a lit t le way in the

socket . At the same t ime the muscles of the eye

brow and of the face below the eye are drawn

together, and thus they make a sort of cush ionwhich saves the bone from being fractured

,even

though a somewhat heavy blow should fall upon it .No one can study the eye without being profoundly

impressed with the provident ial arrangem ent s forit s protect ion and use . I t has been Oft en affirmed

that the examinat ion of the eye, even though otherpart s of the body were not under cons iderat ion ,would be a cure for atheism .

In Offering the prayer of the psalmist we pray

that God would enable us to adapt our m oral

nature to our environment as he has adapted thedel icate pupil to it s environment . Circumstances

may help or hinder us in the Christ ian l ife . Circum stan ce s may make or mar men in their earthly

relat ions . Circums tances alone do not make menif they did there would be more men made .

There certainly are c ircumstances enough . The

THE MAN IFOLD KEEPI NG 1 27

man of genius i s he who mast ers even unfavorablec ircumstances SO as to make them conduce to his

earthly advancement . The door of opportunity

wil l always Open at the touch Of the finger of

industry but only the eye of t rue genius sees theOpportunity when it is presented . So in theChri st ian l ife our environment may make or mar

us . All depends upon our relat ion to it and the

advantage w e take of it . In a bright light the

iris expands so as t o make the pupil smaller, astoo much l ight would give pain to the nerves butin the dark the iri s shrinks and enlarges the pupil

so as to admit more light . God by his wonderful

pre—arrangement s thus enables the eye to adapt

it self to it s varying circumstances . When irritat

ing substances enter the eye their presence gen

e rat e s a fluid which struggles to wash them out ;

but when this cannot be done these and other substances qu ickly strive to dissolve these irritat ing

intruders . The prayer of th is text is that w e mayhave equal wisdom in our moral relat ion s t o ourunfavorable circumstances in l ife . Every man hashis besett ing sin every man has his weak places— unless

,indeed

, h e i s weak all over. We are to

guard ourselves at these exposed point s we are to

adapt ourselves to our circumstances, so that w e

shall use them as helps t o higher things in the

Ch rist Ian l ife . Many a man has made h is m isfortune the means Of making h is fortune ; many a

man has developed power by th e adverse condit ions of h is l ife . What wind is to the wings of a


bird, SO misfortune has Oft en been to the wings ofmanly courage and Christ ian faith . The boyswithout a chance have Often risen to be the men

of great power and superb achievement . Let uspray that God may teach us to triumph over everyform of adversity, and to turn evil, real and seeming, into the h ighest form of good .

3 . Th e psalm is t also p rayed that God w ou ld

guard h im ins tinctively wh en h e offered th e p rayer,Keep me as the apple Of the eye .

” This thought

we have somewhat t ouched upon , but it is worthy

of addit ional explanat ion . God ’

s ch ildren are

always dear t o h im as the apple of the eye is t o

us . He has himself affirmed that he wh o touches

u s,touches the apple of h is eye . We protect our

eye inst inct ively. It i s most interest ing to se e

h ow constantly this is done . Going into a dark

room where dangers m ight come to the eye, our

hands go up w ithout a thought to act as protectors .

Just as the l id comes down inst inct ively when

danger is near, so inst in ct ively the hand goes up

for the same cause and to accompl ish the same

purpose . God has so made us that the telegraph

ing Of danger to th e brain and it s communicat ion

to variou s port ion s of the body, instruct ing themto protect the eye

,will al l go on inst inct ively and

instantaneously . The brain receives the announce

ment of the danger, and immediately impart s thenecessary in struction t o the defenders of the eye,without any consc iou sness on our part of des ign

ing t o communicat e to the brain or to employ the

1 30 THE MAN IFOLD KEEPING

to God . The whole del icate apparatus of themoral eye is seriou sly d isturbed ; the eye loses it ssensit iveness foreign substances wh ich ought toirritate do not irritat e ; sub stances which oughtimmediately to be driven out are allowed to re

main in the eye . There is Often in our own eye a

great “ beam ” and of it s presence we are entirely

unconsciou s, but somehow we are remarkably sen

sit ive to the mere mote ” that is in our brother ’ seye . Many men are extremely anxious about their

brother ’ s mot e, but strangely indifferent to their

own beam . I t is wonderful what tricks we can

play upon our moral nature . We can make evil

seem t o be good and good evil . We are often

affl ict ed with a disease which prevent s us from

dist inguishing between moral colors . We see the

color we wish to see ; w e ut terly refu se to see the

color we are no t will ing to se e . NO prayer can be

more appropriate than that God would make ourconsc iences quick , even as he has made the apple

of th e eye ; that he would arouse our soul s to see

sin when it is near, as he has formed the eye

promptly t o se e and in st inct ively to guard it self

when danger is n ear .

4 . Th e psa lm is t thus p rayed that God wou ld

h eep h im cons tan tly. The eye in it s normal con

dit ion i s constantly protect ing it self, and the whole

body hastens to render n eeded ass ist ance . No

on e can study the eye without being profoundlyimpressed by the excess ive pains taken by thedivine Creator to ensure it s protect ion from danger

THE MAN IFOLD KEEPI NG 1

and it s due performance of it s appropriat e func

t ions . There is j u st as much evidence ofmechan

ical contrivance in the eye as in the tel escope ;the eye was made for vision , the telescope to assistthe eye in the purpose of its creat ion ; both areperfectly adapted to the laws of l ight . The eye

cannot for a moment be Off it s guard ; all it s part s

must co -operate for the accompl ishment of the

purpose for which it is bestow ed . I t i s most in

struct ive to se e how it s muscular tendons perform

offices similar to the various mechanical part s of

the telescope . Indeed, it is vastly more completethan any Opt ical instrument . No inst rument is so

perfect in design, so exquisit e in it s parts, and so

effi cient in it s results ; but it never can allow it

self to be indifferent to the dangers wh ich m enace

it . I t must be kept con stantly .

Not otherwise is it with our spiritual natures .The Christ ian man is never Off duty ; he can never

afford to make light of the claims of God upon hiswhole being . In the physical realm seeing i s not

done by the eye but by the brain . The eye simplymakes the image and the appropriate nerve carriesthe fact and form of the image t o the brain . The

nerve simply tell s the brain that the image isformed on the ret ina . The nerve of each eye

ought to tell the sam e story to the brain ; so thecon science must receive report s from every partof our moral nature . We cannot afford ever to

have our conscience unfit t ed for immediat e service .

NO man can speak correctly from a grammatical

1 3 2 THE MAN IFOLD KEEPI NG

point of V iew, when cal led upon in an emergency,if he is not accurate and grammat ical at al l t imes

and in all mental states ; so the conscience must

be kept sweet , cl ean , pure, and ful l of l igh t at all

t imes, that it may possess these charact erist ics insome great cris is when called upon to give an

authoritat ive decis ion . Evidently our moral na

tures are capable of vast improvement with ad

vancing years and increased knowledge in the

Christ ian l ife . The eyes of near-s ighted persons

become better as they grow older SO the spiritual

eyes of many Christ ians improve as they walk

more fully in the light of God .

5 . Th e p rayer, th erefore , is in its f ullness , that

w e may be hep t comp le tely in our rela tions to one

anoth er and to th e w orld. There are no more

diseases Of the phys ical eye than of the Spiritual,and the diseases of the spiritual eye are equally

dangerous . Some men suffer from spiritual cata

ract ; they are in danger of s inking into absolute

darkness ; they do not see God and truth and duty,because they will not . After a l itt le t ime w ill not

becomes cannot . If a man lives long in a dark

cave he will soon lose the power ofvision . In caves

there are var ious kinds Of fish wh ich have no eyes .

In course of t ime the organ Of Vis ion being utt erlyunused ent irely disappears . Changes in phys icalstructure are constantly going on in men and

animal s according to the variou s u ses t o which theysubj ec t the different part s and organs Of theirbodies . The arm unused

,soon lose s it s power of


J esus Christ is th e great Opt ic ian ; he is thed ivine oculist he is the un iversal physician . He

can cure strab ismus ; he can remove cataract, taking away ent irely the opacity of the crystall ine

lens . Thank God, he can cure those born spirit

ually bl ind even as he cured the phys ically and thespiritually bl ind when he was upon earth . Come

to h im now in your darkness and blin dness . He

will give you sight . He will remove all defe cts of

vision, so that you shall not se e men as t rees

walking, so that you shall no t see right as wrong

and wrong as right , but so that you shall se e him ,

th e King in hi s beauty, and finally shall behold the

land that is very far Off. God in heaven, cure usOf spiritual bl indness, and then keep us as theapple of the eye'

THE GREATER WORKS

1 say un to you ,

I sh a ll

do , be cause I go

be liev e th on m e ,

and

I 3 8 THE GREATER WORKS

he did of whom divin ity had j u st been affi rmed .

One cannot but be start led as he con templatesthis remarkabl e stat ement . How could any one

perform such works a s he had performed' How

can the great est of men hope to perform miracles

such as Jesus had performed during his earthlyl ife' Th e statement startles us even now. Does

this remarkable promise of power t o them weaken

the argument which Christ had drawn from h is

works to prove h is own d ivinity' Certainly no t ,when the real meaning of Christ

’

s words is understood . Rightly understood, his words strengthenrather than weaken the argument for h is d ivinity

as drawn from his works . He had said that men

should bel ieve on h im for th e very work ’ s sake,

and now he affirms that h is discipl es should do

what he had done, and even greater works thanhis own . Let u s bear in mind, however, that themiracl es which they wrought were wrought not intheir own name

,but in his . Let us emphasize the

t ruth that it was st il l Christ and not they who didthe works the great er their works, therefore, thegreater h is honor. I t is important that we shouldhold this truth most clearly in our minds .Not only did Chri st work m iracles when among

us in the flesh,but also after hi s ascension ; he then

gave power to others to work miracles in his name .

He was abl e t o delegat e th is power ; he did delegate this power. I t was in his name, as dist inct ly

affi rmed by Peter and John , that the lame man washealed at the Beautiful Gate of th e t emple . They

THE GREATER WORKS I 39

claimed no honor for themselves in the perform

ance of that m iracle . Peter dist in ctly said, “ Inthe name of Jesu s Christ of Nazareth , rise up and

walk . Did Christ when upon earth direct ly healthe sick , clean se the lepers, and raise the dead '

After his ascen sion he cont inued to perform these

miracles, his power working through the disc iples .All that is recorded in the book of the Acts isst il l the work Of Christ as truly as when he was

upon the earth . The t it le, The Act s of the

Apostles, i s not inspired . A better t it le t o thebook would b e , “The Act s of the Lord . In the

Gospel s we have a record “of all that J esus began

both to do and teach unt il the day in which he wastaken up . I n the Acts of th e Apostles we have

a record of what Jesu s cont inued to do and teach .

He is st il l the mighty worker ; the discipl es are

s imply the channel through which hi s power flows .He is st ill the divine author of all power ; the disciple s are simply his in struments . Did Christ

draw sin-sick soul s to himself when upon earth '

By his power his d isciples should st il l cont inue todraw men and women to him as the risen Lord .

Though leaving the disciples, so far as h is physical

presence is concerned, the work should not cease .

He goes up to h is vacant throne the bet ter tocontrol the work of his servants , and the morespeedily to secure the tr iumph of h is kingdom .

The promise contained in the text is abundantlyverified in the Acts of th e Apostl es . The sug

gest ions already made as to the relat ion between

1 40 THE GREATER WORKS

the Gospels and the Act s is profoundly suggestive .Christ is st il l the worker. He stil l doeth mira

cles, and he is pleased to use his disciples as h is

instruments in performing his miracles . We

therefore look beyond the channel through which

the power flows to its l ofty and divine source inJ esus Christ h imself.

But our t ext t ell s u s that the disc iples shoulddo even greater works than those which Chris t

did . We here take a long step in advance of thepoint we have considered . I t is not surprisingthat this stat ement has puzzled and well-nigh con

founded many earnest Christ ian students . How

could the disciples do greater works than those

which Christ h imself had done'What can begreater than the rais ing of the dead ' If the

disc ipl es could do greater works than he had done,does not his argument for h is equal ity with theFather on the ground of his miraculous works loseit s ent ire force'We have already explained thatChrist was st i ll the worker, and these disc iples

were only the instrument s which in h is divine wis

dom he chose to employ . Their works, therefore,were in the full sense his works, although he wason the throne d irect ing all their movements and

giving them all necessary power.

Is it l it erally tru e that the disc iples did greaterworks than Christ h imself did when in the flesh'The true form of th is quest ion i s, Did Christchoose to do through the disciples greater worksthan he chose to do in h is own personal presence

1 4 2 THE GREATER WORKS

the triumph of the Christ ian faith . This miracl e

is greater than any mere phys ical m iracl e which

was or which could be performed . I ndeed theevident ial value of miracles, in the ordinary sense

of the term , i s great ly lessened in our day. ManyChrist ian apologist s would prefer t o have the

number of miracles recorded in Holy Scripture

reduced rather than increased] I t is difficul t to

draw the l ine between the working Of What wecal l natural laws and the introduct ion of divine

power . I t i s in the Spiritual, rather than in thenatural , realm that the greatest miracles, both of

Christ and the discipl es, were performed . In this

realm the promise of our Lord is emphatically

true , “ and greater works than these shall ye do.

In the rapid propagation of the gloriou s gospelth is prom ise has its most important application .

Deny the resurrect ion and divinity of Jesus Christ ,and you cannot explain the existence of the church

of J esus Christ . Y ou can safely challenge any

student of hist ory and philosophy to account forthe existence of the church if he denies the resurre ct ion of it s Founder . The existence Of the

church is really the most wonderful of miracles it

is simply a matter of history that under the preach

ing of the apostles the gospel secured great er victories than under Christ ’ s personal ministry. As

already explained,the victory was st ill Christ ’ s,

the power st il l went out from him as the enthronedKing in Zion and Saviour of men . He himselfsaid a short t ime before h is cruc ifixion : “ And I

THE GREATER WORKS I4 3

if I be l ifted up from the earth Will draw all menunto me. ” He was now l ift ed up upon the cross,lifted up to the throne, and lifted up in the preach

ing of the apostles . H is own promise is now se

cure Of glorious fulfil lment . He is drawing men

of all classes and condit ions to h imself. Theyare acknowledging his gloriou s kingship and divine

lordship . That power and those “ greater works

were espec ially manifested in the conversion of

his enemies, in the extens ion of his kingdom,in

the plant ing of churches, and in carrying the gospel to the Gentil es ofmany names and nat ions .The convers ion Of a soul is st il l a greater miracle

than the heal ing of a body ; in a sense it is asgreat a miracl e as rais ing the dead . The power

which could t ransform a persecutor l ike Saul of

Tarsus into a disciple l ike Paul the apostle, is

miraculous and divine. I t is more wonderful far

t o open the eyes of a soul bl ind and dead in sin,

than the eyes of a body bl ind from birth . Ourblessed Lord did both . At the t ime of our Lord ’ s

ascen s ion , as far as the record goes , there wereonly six hundred and twenty disc iples in the world—five hundred in Galilee and one hundred and

twenty in Jerusalem . We are indeed warranted inbel ieving that there were many more or less secret

disciples but these are the numbers that are Clearly

given . On the glorious day of Pentecost,wh en

the Holy Spirit came in mighty power as Christ’

s

ascen sion gift , th e miracl e of the tongues was

wrought ; the Apostl e Peter preaches, and three


thousand are convert ed to faith in J esus Christ asthe immediate result of that sermon . A short

t ime before, Jesu s had died the death of a mal e

factor ; he died amid the j eers and taunt s of theJerusalem mob, and now these J eru salem sinners

are convicted in heart and converted to Christ .

The Holy Spirit is now in the world as never b efore ; h is dispensat ion in th e economy of the reve

lat ion of the blessed Trinity has begun . On thisday in a real sense the church was founded, and in

the founding of the church the greatest of conce ivab le miracles was wrought . We now see that

the gospel spread with aston ishing rapidity ; it is

difficult fo r u s to real ize how gloriou s were the tri

umphs of the apost les when endued with the powerof the Spir it, for whose com ing they had tarried

and prayed in J erusalem . The success of their

preaching far t ran scended that Of their divine Lord

and Master. Now the Spirit gave their preach ing

power and enabled them to win numerou s t rophiesfor their crucified and ascended Lord . We learn

that soon five thousand more became obedien t t othe faith of Jesus Christ, and soon the writer gives

up the count regarding numbers . The places

where the disc ipl es and their hearers met were

shaken by the power Of God, and all the people

were filled with the Holy Ghost as the apostl esspoke the word of God with great boldness . These

were wonderful days' This was a glorious harvest ; Christ was the sower, the apost les were thereapers.


Lord ’s promise and its l it eral fulfillment in the his

tory and work of h is apostles .We have al so, in the text , a statement of the

reason of the accomplishment of greater works onthe part of the disciples because I go unto myFather. This reason has been impl ied in th e

remarks already made . The coming Of the Comforter depended on the departure of J esu s Christ in

h is physical presence . Christ ’ s spiritual presence

could no t be granted until he had entered on hisglorified state . While with the disciples he was

their Comforter, their Paraclet e in all the bles sed

meaning of th is suggest ive tit le . He promised that

upon his departure “ another Comforter ” should

come . It was expedient for them that he shou ld go

away in order that the other Comforter might come .

While with hi s disciples h is presence was local if

with them in one city, he could no t be with them in

his physical presence in another city. Our Lordgave up much of h is glory by h is voluntary humil ia

t ion in becoming a man . The cloud of humanity

came across the face of the sun of his divin ity. He

accepted humanity with many of it s condit ion s and

limitat ion s, although he did not become stainedwith it s s infulness but having finished h is earthly

work he entered upon the glory which he had with

the Father before the world was . His return to

the Father was followed by the descent of theSpirit and that desc ent is here given as the rea

son why his disc iples should perform these greaterworks . The Spirit ’ s presence now in a fuller

THE GREATER WORKS 1 4 7

sense than ever before was manifested among

men . Each Person in the blessed Trinity has h isappropriate part to perform in the work of human

redempt ion . Christ’

s absence made the presenceof the Comforter the more necessary ; his presencewith the Father made it poss ible

,in harmony w ith

the divine plan , fo r the Spirit to be gloriously

present on the earth .

The Spirit was in a measure present from thedawn of human history ; he brooded over chaosin the morning of creat ion . The psalmist rec

ognized the blessedness of the Spirit’ s presence

,

and prayed against the danger of his withdrawal .With the coming of the promised Comforter came

the best owal of the promised power . When Christ“ ascended on high he led capt ivity capt ive, andgave gift s unto men . This power came because

Christ was exalted and crowned with glory and

honor at the right hand of God . We are now

l iving,in a spec ial sense, in the dispensat ion of

the Spirit . There was a fullness of time in the

coming of Christ ; so th e re was a fullness of timein the completer manifestation of the Spirit on the

day of Pentecost . Christ had tabernacl ed amongmen frequently before h is in carnat ion as the child

ofMary and h is birth in the manger at Bethlehem ;but he then came in a fuller sense than before ;and he then came to dwell for a long period in theflesh . In l ike manner th e Spirit was present pre

viou s to the day of Pentecost ; but he then came

in larger measure,in sublimer manifestat ion, and

1 4 8 THE GREATER WORKS

in the accomplishment of a diviner work in the

conversion of men to God .

Th e church h as too oft en forgott en to give dueprominence to the Spirit ’ s m ighty man ifestat ion s

on the day of Pentecost,and his abode in the

church from that day to the present . As Christwas incarnat ed in th e ch ild of Mary, so the Holy

Spirit i s in carnated in al l the ch ildren of God .

The Apost le Paul in writ ing to the Corinthians dis

t inct lyaffirms that the bodies of t rue bel ievers arethe temples of the Holy Ghost . This is a mar

velous thought ; th is i s a blessed real izat ion .

Christ dwel t as in a t ent or tabernacle ; but theSpirit dwells in u s as in a t emple ; he is to ab idewith his people even unto the end . From thosewho are true bel ievers the Spirit wil l never take

his departure . He is here as the advocat e of Godthe Father with men , as Christ is present on highas the advocat e of men with God the Father .We should rej oice in the glorious s ign ificance of

the name given to the third person of th e

Trin ity, as the Paraclet e. Our word Comforter istoo narrow a word to cover the broad and blessed

significance of the heavenly Paraclete . He is our

helper, adviser, and comforter. Doubtless the

word comforter comes from the Latin conforto,meaning to s treng th en m uch , but we have now re

strict ed the meaning of the word . In the Refor

mat ion period the Spirit was especially the I llu

m inator of God’

s word to God ’

s people . In later

times,especially the t imes of Wesley and Whit


be opened as never before, to be the spheres inwhich the divine Spirit should achieve the triumphs

of divine grace' God hast en the day when hischurch shall arise, girding herself with his power,putt ing on her beaut iful garments, and marching

forth “ clear as the sun , fair as the moon , and

terrib le as an army with banners , to bring th is

reb ell iou s world into sweet submission at thepierced feet of Jesu s Christ .

THE EVERLAST I NG ARMS

Th e e ternal God is thy refuge , and underneath are th e

and h e shall thrust out th e enemyfrom

before the e and shall say, Deut. 27.

1 54 TH E EVERLAST I NG ARMS

and twenty years of age, but h is eye is not dimand his natural strength is not abated . Joshua

has been appointed h is successor ; the law has

been writt en out and ordered to be deposited inthe ark . The song and the bless ing of the tribesconclude the lon g and last farewell . Soon the

mysterious close wil l come . Up Pisgah’

s height s

Moses cl imbed ; here he surveyed the four greatmasses of Palest in e west of the Jordan, so far asit could be seen from that posit ion . The last

farewell s are said, and Moses in mystery and maj

esty goes up to glory and to God. With h is last

earthly breath he will magnify the I srael of God

and the God of Israel .Three of God ’ s relat ions to us are here beaut i

fully se t forth . It will be profitable for u s to study

these relat ions and truths which they so ful ly and

so t enderly suggest .

1 . God is h ere p resented to us as a refug e the

e ternal God is thy refuge .

” The word tran slated

refuge conveys much in struct ion to every care

ful reader . When we look down into the heart Of

the word w e see that it really means that God isour house, our home, our habitat ion or, as it hasbeen rendered, our mansion-house .

”Every true

bel iever has his home in God ; and h is soul was

houseless and homeless unt il it found rest in God .

God is the heart’ s comfort, and the Spirit

’

s h idingplace . Moses in the n inet ieth Psalm speaks of

God “ as our dwelling-plac e in al l generat ion s .”

Atheism makes the h eart an orphan in God’

s great

THE EVERLAST I NG ARMS 1 5 5

universe ; atheism robs us of our God, of our help,of our home, and of our hope . I t leaves a man

without God and without hope . Long ago in incomparable words did Augustine say :

“ Thou,O

God, hast made us for thyself, and our heart i srestless unt il it reposes in thee ” and J ean Inge

low, taking the psalmist’ s thought , s ings

Th ou art wh at I wan t

I am ath irst for God, th e liv ing God.

Thousands have s ince realized the truth of theselongings, and they have al so sweetly experienced

the blessedness of finding their home in God . I tis man ’ s h ighest honor and greatest glory that

noth ing Sh ort of th e eternal God can sat isfy the

longings of the soul . Things may sat isfy the

wants of the beast s that perish ; but th ings cannever fi ll th e ach ing void in human heart s . A liv

ing man needs a l iving God . Were it possible for

u s to be possessors of half the world, w e should

be dissat isfied unt il we had the other half and ifw e had both halves we should st il l be dissat isfied,for only as w e possess God can we know peace

,

j oy, and genuine blessedness . The rich fool ofwhom our Lord speaks, was a fool indeed ; he

thought he could sat isfy the longings of h is soul

because he had much goods laid up in his barnfor many years . But soul s cannot l ive on grain ;they need the spiritual food which only God can

supply.

God is a refuge to th e soul when men become

1 56 TH E EVERLAST I NG ARMS

consc ious of the bondage of sin . When I srael

groaned under the oppressions ofEgyptian slavery,

their heart s went up in a longing cry unto God .

Neither did they cry unto God in vain . He heard

the voice of their prayer and he made bare h isarm for their del iverance . God

’ s greatness is most

gloriously seen when he incl ines h is ear t o the cry

of h is feeblest ch ild . God does not wrap himself

in clouds of mystery, nor in garment s Of unap

p roachab le glory . God does not enthrone himself

in remote quarters of the universe, and remain indifferent to the sufferings and suppl icat ions of h ischildren . Never is his glory so glorious as when

he reveal s his power to save h is people . So greatis God that he metes out heaven with a span , but

he takes h is whole arm for the protect ion of one

of the lambs of h is flock . I srael in Egypt is st il l

God ’ s I srael ; and God in heaven is st il l I srael’ s

God . When I srael realized her bondage and

longed for del iverance, God prepared the deliverer

to accompl ish the del iverance . So when men andwomen t o-day are consciou s of sin and cry unto

God he will give th em his peace when they give

h im their trust . When they long to overcome sin

and Satan , God is ready to interpose his power

and to give them the vict ory . When th ey areconsciou s Of their t ran sgress ions again st h is holy

and righteous law God is ready to say, “ I , even I ,am he that blotteth ou t thy transgression s for

mine own sake,and will not remember thy sins . ”

God is a refuge when in the Christ ian path our

1 5 8 THE EVERLASTING ARMS

and be safe now, as did h is p raying and fight ing

saint s in that early day .

In the deep glens and up the rough hill s ides

Of Scotland, God again and again proved h imselft o be a refuge to his endangered people . He

sometimes wrapped them around with clouds of

mist to hide them from their Satanic foes . He

somet imes made the dens and caves in the moun

tains h is pavilion, into which these endangeredw itnesses might run and be safe . He became

their h igh tower, their st rong fortress, their inaccessible and impregnable munition of rocks .God has never forsaken h is people in their hourof danger . All through the Reformation , andother crucial periods in the history of the

church,he has been round about h is saints for

their del iverance . They have been abl e triumph

ant ly to say with the psalmist ,“ The Lord is my

l ight and my salvat ion,whom shall I fear ; the

Lord is the strength of my l ife, of whom shall Ibe afraid '” No body of peopl e can more fully

testify to these truths than our own Bapt istbrotherhood. They have borne witness for Christ

in almost every land . Some have bedewed thesoil in the valleys with their blood, and others

have stained the snow on the mountains with the

crimson t ide . But they and thousands more have

ever found that God was their refuge and strength .

Well might glorious John Milton , as secretary of

Cromwell,when the duke of Savoy so t erribly per

se cuted the Prot estant people in the Alps, S ing

THE EVERLAST I NG ARMS 1 59

Avenge , O L ord, thy slaugh tered sain ts, wh ose bo nesL ie scattered on th e Alp ine m oun tains cold,

E ven th em wh o ke p t thy tru th so pure ofOld,

Wh en all our fath ers worsh iped stocks and stones,

Forge t no t in thy b ook.

God proved himself to be the supply of I srael ’s

need and refuge from heat and hunger and thirst

during all their wilderness j ourney . He brought

water in gush ing streams from flin ty rocks and he

sent manna as miraculous food from heaven to

supply the wants of h is peopl e . N o t otherwisedoes God prove h imself t o his people to-day .

They who t rust h im are never brought to shame .He has marvelous ways of supplying the wants ofhis people . All the forces of nature and grace

are at h is command . He can make cyclones his

servant s, storm s his messengers, and peaceful

season s h is gentl e benedict ions . His love is as

unexhausted as h is power i s unl imited ; his grace

is as abundant as his wisdom is profound and his

might omn ipotent . His heart is the heart of amother, whil e hi s arm is that of J ehovah . Happy

,

thrice happy, are they who lean upon his heart

and wh o t rust h is arm . Travelers on the h igher

Alps have often told u s that they sometimes riseto heights so great that they see beneath them theclouds roll ing, the lightn ing flash ing, and the rain

fal l ing in torrent s . They hear the thunder roll asthe very arti llery ofGod ; but the mountain peakson which they stand are above th e storm and arebathed in the glory of unclouded sunshine . The

1 60 THE EVERLASTI NG ARMS

peace of God dwell s in that lofty region , and only

beneath are the storms of earth . Such is the ex

pe rience of those who make God their refuge .

They dwell in unbroken l ight, in undisturbed

peace, and in unfai l ing j oy. The eternal God istheir refuge, and underneath are the everlast ing

arms .2 . God is rep resen ted to us in th is tex t as a sup

port underneath are the everlas ting arm s .

” In

th is part of the text the figure presented to us in

the former part is changed ; an addit ional and

beaut iful thought is int roduced . We know that

the arm is a symbol of power, and power in act iveexercise . Numerou s passages of Scripture bring

out this thought . We have here a most beaut ifuland instruct ive figure . God

’ s power is fully pledged

for the deliverance of his people . This figure

teaches u s that God is a support appropriat elyplaced “ underneath . This is the posit ion in

which a support is r ightly located . God is such a

support when his children sink in their conscious

humiliat ion and weakness ; when they are con

sciously humbled , they are then divinely exalted .

Wh en they have confessed their weakness, thenthey are truly st rong . When they feel their need

of God as a refuge and support , they are best pre

pared to run to him as a protector and to lean uponhim as a helper. They need the support beneaththem al so when they sink under their heavy bur

dens . God h as no t promised that h is ch ildrensh all not bear the cross ; cross-bearing i s in sep

1 62 THE EVERLAST I NG ARMS

are the everlasting arms, and with these words in

h i s heart and on h is l ips he went out into theworld that i s so near and yet so far. You shall belaid low one day in the grave, but no grave is sodeep but that beneath you therein are th e

'

ever

last ing arms ; and God shall one day raise you up

again by his almighty power . Blessed symbol ofGod ’ s loving might' Glorious truth Of God ’ s omn ipot ent power'Who would not be upheld andencircled by these st rong, these everlasting arms'I t is interest ing al so to observe that this is an

enduring support . I t is the “ eternal God wh ois our refuge ; and the arms underneath are “ ever

last ing .

” I offic iated not long ago at the funeralof a young m other . While the services were inprogress her babe was c rying for her in tones sopathet ic that th e hearts of us all were touched .

But her ear was heavy that sh e could not hear, and

her arm was powerless that it could not protect

her child . Blessed be God, his ear i s never heavy

and his arm is never weary . I t is an everlasting

arm . Such a support we need in th is changefulworld of ours . The friend of t o-day may forget us

to -morrow ; our benefic iaries of yesterday may beour Opponents to day. To do some men a kind

ness is to make them hereafter our cold friends orour Open enemies . But not so with God ; h is covenant i s an everlast ing covenant . His consolations,l ike h is covenants, are everlast ing ; and h is arms,l ike h is covenant s and consolat ions, are everlast ingarms. Let us never, never doubt our God .

THE EVERLAST I NG ARMS 1 63

God is a tender as well as an enduring supportthis thought is suggested by the word “ arm . No

earthly father or mother is half so gentle as i s God .

If father be an endearing appellat ion on earth, God

permits us to call h im father . I f the word m other

touches the tenderest springs of human affect ion,God permits us to use that name as illustrative of

h is l ove .

“ I should have been a French atheist ,”

said Randolph , “ had it not been for one re collec

t ion,and that was when my departed mother used

to take my l ittl e hands in hers and cause me on

my knees to say, Our Father, wh o art in heaven .

’

Well may he say that there is more eloquence insuch words l isped by the feeblest child than ever

came from the l ip s of th e most eloquent orators

the world has ever known . Often in our t imes

of weakness and weariness the words of the nowsainted laureat e,

But oh , fofth e touch of a van ish ed h and,

And th e sound ofa vo ice th at is st ill

come to our l ips as a hopeless prayer . Then immediately above all such earthly loves the heartgoes up to God, wh o is both father and mother toevery tru st ing child .

3 . And in the las t p lace, th is tex t teaches us tha t

God is a leader— “H e sha ll th rus t ou t the enemy

from before th ee and shall say, Des troy th em . God

leads the van . He ever goeth before h is people .

When Israel went through the wilderness he wentbefore them as a pillar of cloud by day and of fire


by night . When they entered the promised landhe made the Jordan flee before them

,made cit ies

fal l down at their feet , and made enemies flee attheir approach . Wellington est imated the presence

of Napoleon as equal to an addit ional force of fiftythousand men to the French . Who shal l est imate

the numbers for which God ’s presence stands as

the leader of h is conquering host s ' Who can

stand before the d ivine wisdom and unl imit ed

power of the mighty God of Jacob ' He is the

Lord of hosts, the God of Sabaoth . Ours is at riumphant contest ; ours is an assured vict ory ;ours i s an unspeakable t riumph . Forward

,ye

hosts of God, under h is divine leadership . Fearn either earth nor hell , neither man nor devil, with

God as your leader, for you shall gloriously over

come every enemy .

God as a leader goes before his people for a defin ite purpose He shall thrust out th e enemy.

”

At the very beginn ing of our Lord ’ s minist ry he

had to come into contact with his enemy and ours .That was a fierce confl ic t in the wildernes s betw een

Christ and Satan . Satan had overcome the first

Adam . Shall h e overcome the second'The confl iet began in the wilderness immediately fol lowingthe baptism in the Jordan . At that baptism Christhad been recognized as God ’ s beloved Son . Th e

temptat ion also followed the long period of fast ing.

Terrible was the confl ict ; but glorious was thevictory . Christ refused all the blandishments of

Satan . He rebukes and repels ; he humil iates and


dren of I srael to take possession of th e land of

Canaan . God i ssues a S imilar command to h is

children to-day . This world of ours does not b el ong to Satan . When he promised to deliver the

kingdom to Christ if Christ should worsh ip him inthe wilderness

,he was a l iar

,and such he has been

from the beginn ing . Even if Christ had yielded

to the t emptat ion,Satan could not have performed

the contract . The pierced hand of Jesus Christ is

on th e helm of this universe . Satan is an intruder,an int erloper

,a rebel . He is to be utterly cast out .

Bel ievers are to be more than conquerors over all

their spiritual foes . J esu s Christ as the Captainof our Salvation has thru st out the enemy and

overcome the world . His cross was really his

throne , and thereon he spoiled principal it ie s and

powers . All about us in our c ity to day are abodes

of sin, houses of shame, saloons and their degrading

influences . The word of God from the throne of

God is “ Destroy them .

” God has been our refuge

in al l the past of our nat ional life . He was the

God of our fathers, he i s our God, and he will be

the God of our children . Almighty God utters to

day concerning all the evil s about us, th is old com

mand,Destroy them . 0 men and women, t ru st

God as your refuge, lean upon him as your support

,follow him as your leader ; and through life,

across the river of death , through the gat es of

pearl,and along the st reet s of gold he will be your

“ all and in all in t ime and in etern ity.

THE MAST ICATED WORD

Thy w e re found, and I ea t th em and thy

w ord w as m e th e and rejoicing of m ine h eart :

for I am ca lled by thy nam e , 0 L ord God of hosts.

1 6.

1 70 THE MASTI CATED WORD

stay the downward tendency of h is infatuatedcountrymen . In a spirit of l oyalty to God and of

patrioti sm to h is country and people he himself

shared in the sorrows w hich h is earnest appeal s

and solemn warnings could not avert . One element of h is strength in the performance of h is

t rying duties was his personal exper ience of the

prec iousness of the word of God. He could not

but declare to others the t ruth which had been so

b lessed to h is own soul . No man can real ly preach

above his own experience . No man can power

fully move others by the word of God who has not

been himself powerfully moved by that same word .

The min ister wh o is cold and official can never

subdue and constrain the heart s of the hearers .Only he who has known God as a personal friendand Saviour can recommend him as such to others .

J eremiah received the word into his own heart, and

out of th e fullness of his own heart h i s l ips spoke .

The heart must unit e with the head if the pulpit

i s to be a throne of power . Heartless preach ing

of the word of God can quickly be discovered even

by those who are themselves heartl ess in the serv

ic e of God. The mast icat ion of the word is the

very heart of th is text but it gives other helpfultruth s and suggest ive h int s in our relat ion to the

discovery and declarat ion of the word of God .

1 . We have in th e s tudy of th is tex t th e word dis

covered Thy w ord was found. In Jeremiah’

s

case,the finding of the w ord was h is convict ion

that the message which he received was t ruly from

THE MAST I CATED WORD I 71

God . I t was of the utmost value to him to knowthat the voice which he heard was the voice of

God. He had to t ry the voices, as we are in

structed to try the spirit s . He seems to have

had divine discrim inat ion enabl ing him to dist inguish between the voice of h is own heart, the

voic e of false prophets; and the voice of God . The

man wh o l ives near to God will be l ikely to know

h is Father ’s voice . The heart that is responsive

to the call of God will quickly d ist ingu ish betweenthe cal l of man and the cal l of God . Only hewh o has mountains in hi s brain can rightly ap

pre ciat e the everlast ing hill s ; only he wh o has

oceans in h is soul can fully enj oy the waves andmusic of the shoreless sea. SO, rightly to see and

to hear God we must have the appropriate faculty .

The pure in heart se e God here and now ; the

obedient in soul hear God’

s voice, and immediatelyrecogn ize it as the voic e of God and not of man .

Jeremiah lived in an atmosphere charged with the

presence of God ; he therefore readily, spontaneously, and j oyously,

“ found the word of God.

In the sense“

in which he found God ’ s word w eare not to make that discovery . He had to dis

t inguish between the voice of man and the voice

of God. We have the in spired volume in our

hands, but there is st ill a real sen se in which w ealso are t o discover God ’ s word . The Bible is

never truly God ’ s message to us unt il it comes tous as if addressed to us alone . God

’ s book of revelation, l ike h is book Of creat ion

,is spread out

1 72 THE MASTI CATED WORD

before us ; b ut both books must be studied b efore they will give up their deep secret s . God ’ s

thoughts are writ t en on rocks and trees, in rivers

and flowers but only the attent ive student inter

pre t s the d ivine thought in these manifold revelat ions . No t otherwise is it in the higher, fuller,and diviner revelat ion which we call the Bible .

There is no contradict ion between God ’ s thoughts

in the volume of nature,and in the book of insp i

rat ion ; both are from his mighty hand and h is

loving heart . Nowhere does the Bible Oppose oreven depreciate the teach ing of God in creat ion .

Science and revelat ion cannot be opposed to eachother ; all t rue sc ience i s revelat ion within its

own realm of thought . The word Of God gives

it s deepest mean ing only to careful and prayerful

student s We must be in sympathy with it s

thought in order fully to mast er it s thought . Thestudent of music must be musical in taste andstudious of purpose . We ask no more of the

student of the Bible in th is respect than w e do ofal l students of any scienc e or art . The Bible

i s God ’ s ful lest revelat ion t o the children Of men .

We too Oft en read it in a fragmentary manner ;detached text s oft en lose the meaning which they

possess in their original posit ion . Our study of

the Bible has too Often violated al l laws of careful interpretation . No man could understand a

play of Shakespeare simply by studying a few l ines

out of their connect ion . In this way texts fromany author could be made to mean almost anything

1 74 TH E MAST I CATED WORD

Let the same method be appl ied to an Epistle,

as for example, the Epist l e to the Philippians, andI venture to say that it will be a new chapter inthis matchless volume, ever after it has been so

studied . Mr . Moody recommends the topical study

of the Bible ; he would have us take such a topic

as faith, hope, j oy, peace , l ight , love, and study itin different books, carefully discovering its mean

ing in it s varied relations This method has it s

advantages, but it is not without it s disadvantages

as well . The constant effort should be to get the

writer ’ s thought as it is revealed in any port ion ofthe inspired volume .

The Bible i s not one volume, but it is a wholel ibrary ; in it are contained all the treasures of

wisdom and learn ing, as they were no t found in

the l ibrary ofAlexandria in the olden t ime, nor arefound in the l ibraries ofGermany, France, England,and America, in our own t ime. The word of Godis a torch in our dark night and a lamp in our l ife

j ourney. It i s the book of books, and h as survivedthe l it erature of many centuries and cl imes, in har

mony with the law of the survival of the fitt est .I t is a book of greater ant iquity than any other.I t is the oldest history of the oldest event s ; itcomes to us with th e loft iest pretensions and demands for it s message an absolute acceptance .

There is no kind of history so difficult to write

as biography. Had the Bible b een writt en by un

inspired m en it would have denied, or at l east

m in imized,the vices of it s heroes ; it would have

THE MASTI CATED WORD 1 75

magnified, or created , their virtues ; but it dares totell the truth . In this respect it differs from al lother books ; i t nothing conceal s, it nothing exag

gerat es, it set s down naught in malice . There is

then a true sense in which we, as well as J eremiah ,may d iscover the word of God . I urge you to

study most dil igently its in spired pages ; read theseraphic prophecies of I saiah until your own soul

shall glow with their heavenly ardor ; the glowing

lyrics of David until heavenly poet ry shall sing

it self in your own heart s ; and the rugged h istoriesof the olden t ime until the even ts narrated shal ll ive again in your own experience ; and thus shall

you discover God ’ s word, and know that you have

found God ’ s word because God’

s word has found

you in the deepest experiences of your own souls .2 . We have th e word approp riated—

“ l did eat

th em . The word of Godwill do us but l ittl e goodexcept it become a part of our own soul s ; ahungry man may make a chemical analysis of breadand starve while carrying on this chemical process .Bread cannot impart nutrit ion , except it be eaten,and thus become a part of bone, s inew, and blood .

Jeremiah might have rej ected the word of God ;many rej ect it to this day . Many wish to obey itonly so far as its t ruths harmon ize with their owndesires . They pract ical ly make themselves supe

rior to the fullest revelat ion of God.

The Bible asks no favors from the crit ics ; itsimply demands fair treatment at their hands . I t

is wil ling to be subj ected to every form of j ust

1_76 THE MASTICATED WORD

crit ic ism . I t has passed through the fires of criticism when they were heated seven t imes hotter

than they have ever been heated for test ing anyother book, and it has come out of the trial without the smel l of fire upon it s pages . Moses will

l ive when all h i s crit ic s are utterly forgotten and

the same is true l ikewise of others among thewriters of the sacred book whose works have beendiscredit ed . Man may t ilt against the stars, but

they sh in e on undisturbed from their inaccess ible

heights and in their unapproachable beauty .

But even the literary endorsement of the Biblewill not give us the best result s which it is intended

to impart . The as similat ive proces s suggested by

the text must take place, el se the heavenly manna

wil l not fully cheer our faint ing spirit s . The di

vine word is t o be eat en its Spirit is to be takeninto our inner l ife ; w e must mast icat e, digest, and

incorporat e th e h eavenly truth before it will bring

forth its appropriate fruit s in our daily l ife . This

is'

a remarkable expression here employed to set

fo rth the completeness of this assimilative process .

We must actually,spiritually, experimental ly, chew,

masticate, and digest the l iving bread, that it maytruly nourish our l iving souls . In the large and

d ivine sense, Jesu s Christ is the true Word of God

and the true Bread of heaven . He himself taught

u s that in th is figurat ive and spiritual sense he was

to be eaten by us, that he might impart to u s truespiritual l ife. In our hurried l ives we do not med

itate sufli cien tly upon the word of God . If it

1 78 THE MAST I CATED WORD

the soul, as a plac id lake m irrors the rocks and

trees on it s banks . Never did any merely human

harp give forth such lyric sweetness as came fromthe harp of David and fill ed the glens of Judah

with their undying echoes . Nowhere el se can nobler specimen s of history, biography, poetry, and

logic be found than are within the l ids of the Bible .

Some of the chapt ers of the Apostle Paul in his

Epistl e to the Romans have been studied by stu

dents of law as models of syllogist ic reasoning.

The day will come, and that before long, when

the Bible will be a text -book in all the colleges of

America . I t s l iterary merit s alone ent itl e it toth is recogn it ion . Why should we study He roditus

and no t Moses, wh o i s the true father of history '

Why should we study Homer and not I saiah,who

surpasses the epic poets of Greece ' Why should

we study Aristotl e and neglect the noble Paul '

God ’ s word brings God and the soul int o a

wonderful nearness, and into a bles sed onenes s ;coming from God, the Bibl e leads to God it s divineauthor. I t i s the ripe product of ripe m inds under

divine inspirat ion . It s bards stood with uncoveredhead in the presence of God and sang to the world

the songs taugh t them by heaven . They were

consc ious of the immediat e presence of God, giv

ing in spiration to their thoughts and eloquence to

their words . They l ived over again the thoughts

of the Et ernal . As we appropriat e God ’ s word

we too m ay l ive over these thoughts unti l theybecome a part of our mental and moral nature .

THE MASTI CATED WORD 1 79

We may hold large port ions of the word of God insolut ion in our minds . No one could hear the

prayers of the late Mr . Spurgeon without appre

ciating the fact that the thoughts of God colored

all h is own thought s as he drew near t o God in

prayer. The atmosphere of God was diffused

from h is pulpit, especially as he approached thethrone of the heavenly grace . The same remarkwill apply in part to the sermons and prayers ofboth his sons . We may so l ive with certain writers

as t o catch their spirit and largely re -l ive theirl ives .Alexander the Great made the Homeric h e

roes hi s ideals he carried a Copy of the “ I l iadwith h im on h is marches and into his battles , and

incarnated the poet ’s heroic concept ion s in h is

own daring life . I t is possibl e for a man to sit

in h is l ibrary and hold communion with the mighty

dead whose thoughts st ill breathe and burn in the

volumes on h is shelves . It is marvelous that a

man can thus l ive with the spirit s of the immortalswh o have long passed from time to eternity. Hecan mast er their thought s

,breathe their atmos

ph ere , and in a measure reproduce their l ives .He may thus enj oy their fellowship as if he l ivedin their t ime and walked in their company. Y ou

can somet imes discover by the man himself what

books he reads, what ideal s he im itates, and whoseinspirat ion s are h is aspirat ions . A m an ’ s l ife is thereproduct ion and interblending ofmany l ives Whose

st reams flow into h is own soul . How much more

1 80 THE MAST I CATED WORD

of God as he is revealed in his word we might en

joy' One scarcely dares say how much of God itis possible for a human life t o possess . If we are

born of God, w e are, as the Apostle Paul affirms,“ partakers of the divine nature .

” We are to be

filled with God we are to share in h is divine ful l

ness of l ife and love . This is the b eat ificat ion of

human experience ; it i s a foretast e of our divine

glorificat ion , when we shal l see Jesus as he is and

be sat isfied as we awake in h is l ikeness .

4 . We notice , and in the las t p lace, God’

s w ord

achnow ledg ed For I am called by thy nam e, 0

L ord God of h os ts .

” J eremiah came, in some

measure, to possess and to man ifest the characterof God . We are told that Scip io Africanus washardly ever without a copy ofXenophon ’

s writ ings .He came to possess and to manifest much of the

character of the author so studied and l ived . I t issaid that Bishop Jewell could recit e al l of the

poems of Horace, and that those poems greatly

shaped his thought and speech . It is also affirmed

that Beza, when over eighty, could repeat al l theEpist les of Paul in the original Greek, and all of

Psalms in the original Hebrew. That fact alone

would explain much in h is own l ife as t o his clear

ness of th inking and correctness of writ ing. Oncoming into th is clo se relat ion with the revealed ,and especially with the incarnate Word of God, w e

shall so partake of the character Of God, that we

m ay be known by the world as men of God . In

thi s way it came t o pass that those who knew

1 8 2 THE MASTI CATED WORD

you can l ive the heavenly life ; if so , you have

meat to eat of which the world knows noth ing .

Have you enj oyed this heavenly word ' If not,

your h ighest enj oyment thus far h as been but a

ch ild ’ s experience compared with the fuller enj oy

men t which await s you . Have you acknowledged

th is heaven ly word by the publ ic profess ion of

your faith in J esus Christ ' With the heart weare to bel ieve unto righteousness , and with themouth confession is made unto salvat ion .

Blessed are they wh o have tasted that the Lordis grac ious, who are even now living the heavenly

life whil e they are upon the earth, for they at last

shal l see Jesus face to face, and shall be sat isfied

by awak ing in his glorious character, h is heavenlybeauty, and his perfect l ikeness .

THE WONDERFUL ENGRAV I NG

Behold, 'hav e grav en thee upon th e palms of my hands.

1 86 THE WONDERFUL ENGRAV I NG

This t ext , therefore, is for every child of God .

I t is for you, it is for me, if th is morning you and

I by a S imple, l oving, loyal faith are trust ing inJesus Christ as our personal Lord and Saviour .Permit me to call your attent ion to some of theCharac terist ic s of this wonderful engraving

, as thesecharacterist ic s are suggested in the text .I . Th is eng raving is wonderfu l, in th efi rs t p lace ,

because of th e p ersona lity of th e eng raver Behold

I have graven thee on the palms of my hands .

The engraver is the eternal Jehovah . God conde

scends to engrave h is people upon th e palms of h is

hands' No wonder that the text.

is introduced

with the word “ behold, a word express ive of great

wonder . The stat ement wh ich follows this word

is so wonderful that it may wel l challenge the

thoughts of devil s , men, and angels. It i s so wonderful that God properly introduces it to men withthe word behold . If I may say so with b ecoming reverence, it i s so wonderful that it exc ites the

admirat ion of God himself. It is one of the wonders, not of earth alone, but of heaven as well ; it

mu st create surpr ise among saint s and seraphs b efore God ’ s great throne . The personal ity of theengraver always adds great ly to the value of anengraving

,if the engraver be famous You may

remember that in the Museo Real, the royal picturegallery ofMadr id, the museum which is said to con

tain more wealth in pictures than any other gall eryon the Cont inent , great importance is attached tothe paintings bear ing the names of the great

THE WONDERFUL ENGRAV I NG I87

art i st s . The numbers of paint ings are given : t en

by Raphael , forty-six by Muri llo, and S ixty-two by

Velasquez, and other immortal paint ers . He re theworks of Velasquez are seen in al l th eir glory. He

and Murillo are the masters of the Spanish school

of painters . The marks of genius associated with

the names of the art ist s give unique value to theirwork . It s genu in eness is it s charm . What adds

value to many documents is the s ignature . Why

do we st il l t alk of s igning ” our name . We say,“ S ign your name

, not write your name ; and inthat fact is wrapped up an interest ing bit of medi

eval history. The Old barons, brave soldiers, chiv

alrous knights, and powerful kings, Often could not

write their names . They could fight , but theycould not writ e . They had, therefore, their S ign,and they stamped it on Official papers ; sometimesth is sign was a cross, sometimes some other des ign ;somet imes it was part of the hil t of the sword, andsometimes it was part of a ring or seal, hence thes ignificanc e of the name— S ignet ring, a ring con

tain ing a S ignet or private seal . Thus w e have

this curiou s b it of history in our modern phrase

ology, even though few stop to think of it , as often

as we speak of s ign ing our name . I t is a wonder

ful thought that the sign -manual of God is on this

marvelous engraving. I t is that s ign-manual thatadds so great ly to it s value The great est autograph collector now l iving has recently offered an

enorm ous sum for a supposed letter of Shakespeare . The forgery of Shakespeare

’ s name would


dest roy the value of the letter ; it is in the real ityof the signature that the value consist s . The signmanual of the cross of the Son Of God is on thisdivine engraving.

God is the greatest of paint ers . He hangs,

morning by morning and evening byevening, inthe sky marvelous product ions of his del icate hand

and h is divine heart . We traverse sea and cont inent to find the masterpieces of great sculptors andpainters, and w e do well . Twice, at least, in my life

have I been able without guide or guide- book topick out masterpieces in two galleries . Coming unexpectedly upon the Venus de Milo in the Louvre

,

and suddenly upon Murillo’

s masterpiece, the Madonna, in Madrid, I fel t the inspirat ion of geniu s

before stopping to th ink who th e art ists were orwhat were the subj ect s of their art ist ic skill . We

do well t o recognize gen ius In man . But whydowe pass over the masterpieces ofGod ' Earth and

air, sea and sky, are fill ed with God, if only our

heart s are Open to hear h is voice and our eyes to

se e h is handiwork .

We thus se e that the personality of the engraver

adds great ly to the value of th e engraving and thepersonal ity in the text al so shows the lovingkind

ness and unwavering faithfulness of God. My textis God ’ s answer to Zion ’ s complaint as given in thefourteenth verse of this chapter : The Lord hath

forsaken me,and my Lord hath forgotten me .

During their great trial s many of the people

thought God had forgotten them ; to them , th ere


God, and that he is our eternal husband . Godfurthermore represent s himself as a father

, say

ing : Like as a father pit ieth his children , so the

Lord pit ieth them that fear h im .

” He also speaksof himself as a m other, saying : “ As on e whomh is mother comforteth , so will I comfort you .

”

He speaks of himself in the text of this morning

as going far beyond a mother ’ s love, fo r no mother

has graven her child upon the palms of her hands .

Why should we ever doubt God ’

s l ove ' We may

well be surprised and ashamed at our faithless

ness,while we are surprised, humil iat ed, and

blessed with God ’ s lovingkindness . His love is

th e wonder of wonders . In order to banish our

fears and comfort our hearts he gives us strand

aft er strand wound together in thi s cable of b eavenly love. Here is assurance made doubly sure.

God ’ s unchanging, immeasurable, eternal love . Let

us sing it ; let u s rej oice in it let u s t el l it out t o

all about us . God ’ s unmerited, matchless, bound

less love . Glory forever be to his great name .

2 . Bu t I ash you to notice , in th e secondp lace , tha t

th e eng rav ing itself is w onderful Behold I have

g raven ,” etc . Let us l ook at it s significan ce .

Variou s interpretat ions are given to the language

of the t ext . Some suppose that it refers to thecustom of plac ing a st ring on th e finger, or on the

wrist,or some other part of the hand, to remind

us of something which otherwise might be for

gotten . The latter part of the verse may al lude

to the custom of architects, then as now,of mak

THE WONDERFUL ENGRAV I NG 1 9 1

ing drawings of th e form and proport ion s of abuilding before it s erect ion has been begun . The

idea would be that God had drawn a plan of Jerusalem on h is hands long before the city had

been founded, so that it became, so to speak, apart of his own personalityu Others have sup

posed that the reference i s to a design on a S ignetring worn on the finger ; but it seems better st i ll

to bel ieve that the allusion is to some pract ice ofmaking marks on the hands and arms by means

of punctures and indel ibl e ink . These punctures

at t imes were signs or representat ions of thet emple, to Show the personal loyalty of devotees

t o their ancient faith . I t was once, and st ill is to

some degree, a custom in many parts of th e East,especially on the part of pilgrims to the Holy

Sepulchre, to mark part s of the body in this way.

These various marks are called “ the sign s of

Jerusalem ”

; and the pilgrims bearing these marks

show them with pride to their relat ives in far-dis

tant countries . These marks conclusively provethat those bearing them have visited the Holy

Sepulchre ; they thus become sacred souvenirsand meritorious s ign s . Just as travelers makemarks upon their alpen stocks t o indicate that they

have cl imbed certain mountains, SO these pilgrims

mark themselves to Show that they have kept somevow, or performed some other act of spec ial devo

t ion . In many part s of Palest ine Arab women

may be seen with marks about the face, especiallyon th e ch in and on the sides of the mouth, to t ell

1 9 2 THE WONDERFUL ENGRAV I NG

certain facts in their history,certain relat ions in

their social l ife, and perhaps with the strangely

mistaken idea of adding to their beauty . In India .

travelers se e large numbers of Hindu pilgrimswith var iou s marks on the forehead indicating the

caste to which they belong, and also serving other

purposes which it is difficult for us ful ly to under

st and .

It is in terest ing to see how God takes advantageof these l ocal custom s in order to set forth in

stronger terms his heavenly truth . This engraving abides . God i s it s author,h is ch ild is it s sub

j ect . God makes no mistakes in his engravings .N O foe of our soul s can reach God

’ s palms to blotout or deface God ’ s engraving there . Socrates , in

the night of pagan darknes s, dared to th ink of the

gods as loving men even as a mother love sl

h er

ch ild . This Grec ian sage longed for fuller l ight .Addressing himself on one occasion to his dis

ciple s he bore testimony to the overrul ing providence of God, endorsing the allu s ion s in the in

comparable Homer,when he l ikens the deity to a

mother wh o with gent le hand fan s the fl ies from

her babe ’ s face ; so th is heathen sage represented

God as driving away difficult ies from before hisch ildren . Among the disc ipl es of Socrates was

Crit ias, the traitor, wh o afterward condemnedSocrates to death , and he laughed and mocked at

the comparison,con sidering it dishonoring in the

deity to be concerned in matters so trifl ing . So

crates rebuked him,reminding him that this


of a humming bird, or form and perfume to aflower . God

’

s greatness in dyeing a feather o r

shading the petal of a rose is as t ruly divine as inholding the planet s in their orbit s . Preservat ion

is only another form of creat ion . God ’ s greatnessis t ruly manifest ed in his care for what we weaklycall l itt le things ; with God nothing is l it tl e andnothing is great .I do not know but that the microscope shows

more of God ’ s wisdom and power than does thetel escope . I do not know but that the student of

botany sees more of God th an does the student

of astronomy. Away, away with the idea that

you honor God when you enthrone him in some

dreamy exist ence l ike that imputed to Buddha by

his followers,wh o make him in many ways indif

feren t to the call of his worsh ipers . God bends

his ear t o the feeble cry of h is weakest child . Ihonor that concept ion of God which gives him

the heart of a mother and the arm of divinity.

O wondrous God, thou art in tendernes s fatherand mother both to those wh o trust thee and yet

thou hast an arm for th e protect ion of thy saint s

that can hurl the thunderbolts of heaven, and

stop the stars in their courses, making them figh tagain st thy foes .

3 . N otice now ,in th e th ird p lace, that the w on

der of th is engrav ing is m uch increased wh en w e re

m em ber its subj ect Behold I have graven th ee .

”

Thee,my brother

,thee

,my S ister, thee, my litt le

girl,thee

,my l ittle b oy

“ behold I have engraven

THE WONDERFUL ENGRAV I NG I 9 5

thee . There is a wonderful personal ity in al lGod ’ s relat ions to the children of men . We

stand each before God as if each man and woman

were the only person in the ent ire universe . Je

sus showed a most d iscrim inat ing sympathy with

men and women . He loved them in masses b e

cause he loved them as individual s . He loved all

because he loved each with a personal affect ion .

I wonder how it came to pass that the angel at

the empty tomb on the morn ing of the re surre ct ion, said to the women ' “ Tell h is disciples andPe ter.

” Who told the angel to give that messageto the women' Jesus amid all th e glory of that

resurrect ion morn , going forth leading death andh ell in capt ivity, doubtles s spec ial ly remembered

and named the poor repentant and broken -hearted

Peter— “ Tell h is disc iples and Peter.” Think of

th is discriminat ing love'Who told Jesus of thetest Thomas had proposed ' A week passes, and

so far as I know, none of the disc iples had seen

Jesus during that t ime . Now th ey meet and

Thomas is with them , and Jesus immediately saysto Thomas, “ Reach hither

‘

thy finger, and beholdmy hands and reach hither thy hand and thrust it

into my s ide ; and be not faithless but bel ieving .

”

In a moment Thomas is saying, “ My Lord and

my God .

” Oh , the individual ity, th e personal ity,th e discriminateness of the love of Jesus Christ'Then there is the case of Zac ch eus, the l it tl efellow, so short of stature that he cannot se e Jesus except by resort ing to a method which

,to say

1 96 THE WONDERFUL ENGRAVI NG

th e least,seems l ikely to compromise his standing

am ong the men of h is class . He cl imbs a treel ike a boy. He will hide himself beh ind the leafyscreen of the sycamore

’

s branches ; but J esuslooked up into the tree and said, Zacch eus, com e

down He does not wait for the subj ect to in

vite the king , but l ike a t rue king, in royal conde

scension , he invites himself t o the home of a sub

j e ct . See that woman, t imid, hesitat ing, shrink

ing, going through the crowd and pushing herhand forward unt il her fingers touch ed the tassel

or fringe of Christ ’ s rob e. N ow sh e would shrink

away with her stolen blessing which , if unac

knowledged,would be only half a blessing . Who

touched me ' The disciples were aston ished

that Christ sh ould ask thi s quest ion , because the

mult itude was thronging him . But Jesu s had an

inward consc iousness that virtue, or power, had

gone out of him . Others touched him , but theirswas no t the touch of faith . Her touch reached

beyond the fringe Of his mantl e, it went to h is di

vine heart and soul . So Jesus said, “ Somebodyhath touched me .

”

0 men and women , let u s

touch h im with the finger of our faith to-day .

Touch his garment with the finger of your n e ce ssity ; t ouch h is heart w ith your earnest prayer .He will bend from his throne to say, somebodyhath touched me Thank God

,we have an h igh

priest wh o can be touched with the feel ing of our

infirm it ie s .

It would be unspeakably wonderful if your

I 98 THE WONDERFUL ENGRAVI NG

Mr . Spurgeon, in comment ing on this thought,

call s attent ion to the fact that the engraving is not

on God’ s works, but on h is hands The works

shall perish ; they shal l be rolled together as ascrol l . We know that the Falls of Niagara are

receding slowly but surely, and if the final day be

long enough postponed, the fall s may entirely disappear. Nothing in creat ion is really permanent .The pyramids are not so high as once they were ;they are yielding t o the tooth of t ime . The very

obj ect for which they were built is not certainly

known . They are crumbling slowly away . The

great mountain s are constantly pulverizing .

Streams from glac iers carry thousands upon thou

sands of tons of powdered gran ite yearly into the

valley of Cham ounix. Thank God, th is engrav

ing is not on the works of his hands, but on his

hands . Truly this is wonderful' I beg you toob serve that it i s on the palms of h is hands ; and

when God shut s his hands he protect s, and when

God opens his hands he observes the engraving .

I t i s thus on the sensit ive part of h is hands, the

place of observat ion, the place of protect ion , theplace of tenderness . Wonderful i s th is t ruth . 0

men and women, go to God to day as your Redeemer . Why have you so long refused his offers

of mercy' You treat no other friend so i ll as youare treat ing God . If you go to him as your Re

deemer,th en trust him as your Protector. I think

I shall never doubt God so readily again since mymeditat ion on th is t ext . I t is not s im ply a nug

THE WONDERFUL ENGRAV I NG 1 99

get of gold— it is a bottomless mine of gold . Ihave only scrat ched the surface ; you can dig deeper

as you meditat e on this prec ious t ruth . TrustGod as your Protector . N O earthly father lovesl ike God ; no earthly mother is half so gentle asGod . I would that I could pillow my head on h isbosom ; I would that I could feel the embrace

ment of his fatherly love, until I meet him in h isimmediat e presence . I t seems to me to day thatI never can doubt him again .

Learn of God as your t eacher ; sit at h is feet .The school of Christ is the greatest of all un ivers it ies . J esus Chri st was the greatest of al lteachers . Never man spake like th is man . 0

blessed Christ , l et u s sit at thy pierced feet, lookup into thy face, and learn of thee forever . Letus sweetly know to day that w e , in all our interest sfor t ime and etern ity, are graven on the palms ofthy dear hands, once pierced with the cruel nailsfor us .

As an up h er nest, fi uttere th ov er h er

abroad h e r th em ,beare th

th em on h er w ings — Dent. 3 2 1 1 .

E have in this t ext and context part of thesong which Moses sang near the C lose of

his heroic career, recounting the great th ings which

God had done for I srael . The t ext is as suggestive spiritually as it is beaut iful rhetorical ly . I t

direct s our minds at once to the hab its of theeagle. We know that what the l ion is t o thebeast s of the forest , that the eagle is to the b irdsof the air. God has made all the an imal creat ion ca

pab le Of t each ing us useful lesson s in the Christ ian

l ife,if we but l isten to the voices which they utt er.

All God ’

s creat ion is b eaut iful to the attent ive eye,

and voiceful to the l ist en ing ear .1 . In s tudying th is tex t w e have se t before us , in

th e fi rs t p lace , th e ex ercise of a wholesom e disci

pline—“ As an eagle st irreth up her nest .

” Weknow that the eagle select s the lofty height and

the inaccess ibl e eyrie as the place for it s nest .But sh e has remarkabl e maternal in st inct s ; and in

Obedience to these inst inct s sh e knows how to proteet her young securely in their nest s unt il the

t ime comes for them t o fly grandly into the upper

region s of the sky. We are told that sh e somet ime s builds her nest a yard square ; and that intoit s structure go great pieces ofwood, bunches ofgrass, and quant it ies of mountain heather . She

203

204 THE I NSTRUCT IVE EAGLE

knows full well when the t ime comes when theeaglet s ought to fly abroad . They were not madealways to l ie in a warm and soft nest . She wishes

at the proper t ime t o st ir up the spirit of the eaglewhich sh e well knows is latent in her t imid brood .

She,therefore, begins to make the nest uncom

fortab le for her young . She first removes it s soft

and warm lin ing. She thus exposes it s hard frame

work which sh e has put t ogether with remarkable

care and almost human skil l. But st ill the broodare unwill ing t o attempt to fly . They disl ike to

l eave their safe couch ; th ey look out from the side

of the nest into the yawning abyss below, and then

shrink back into the nest with not unnatural terror.Within them , it is t rue, are some strivings toward

the real izat ion of their lofty possibil it ies as thechildren of th e cloud and the storm ; but without

are the awful dangers suggested by the lofty cragand the deep abyss .What next shall the mother eagle do' Shall

sh e in fal se pity for the fears of her brood aban

don all the plans which her maternal inst inct ssuggest' Shall sh e see her young refuse theirt it l e t o be the king of birds, and to spend their

l ives in idle repose and unnatural cowardic e ' This

is by no means her thought . We are told that

she next begin s t o tear the framework of thenest ; part is dislodged from part , and piece afterpiece fall s with a thundering sound among; thec rags

,and the eaglets flutter in their alarm and

expres s their fears in their cries . They seek ref

206 THE I NSTRU CT IVE EAGLE

they be unworthy of their high birth and theirposs ible dest iny' The mother is determined thatthey shall leave their nest, cleave the air with

mighty wing,and ris e above cloud and storm with

brave heart and undimmed eye .

In like manner God drove I srael out of Egypt .God made their t asks extremely bitte

'

r in that landofwealth and beauty. The Egyptians t ransformed

God ’

s people into the slaves of Pharaoh . Pharaoh

made their tasks increas ingly severe . F inally b eobliged them to furnish their tal e ofbricks although

they were not provided with straw. God perm itted

them to mult iply rapidly although they were op

pres sed great ly. God caused them to suffer when

their nest s were disturbed, and he led them to

aspire after higher and diviner things . There is a

noble discontent among men even now, and this

discontent is no t all of evil i t has in it subl ime pos

sib ilit ies for the exaltat ion of the race . Sat isfac

t ion with degradat ion is it self an element of deepestdegradat ion . I t is always an element of hope

when men are reach ing out after higher and better

things for themselves and their children . God

looked upon his chosen in their t ime of sorrow,

and he l ist ened to their cries in thei r periods of

mingled despair and aspirat ion . He longed for

h is brood in their Egypt ian nests and their nightof despair was follow ed by a morning of h Ope .

The knel l of their l iberty was quickly succeeded

by the paean of their vict ory . God cared for

them in their long j ourney as deeply and tenderly

TH E I NSTRUCT IVE EAGLE 207

as a man does for the safety of hi s eyesight . God

man ifested a fatherly protect ion toward them and

an amazing condescension for the ir welfare ; for it

is said,He kept them as the apple of his eye .

Similar principles are il lustrated to th is hour in

our family l ife . Obstacl es often make men . Thegreatest misfortune that could have happened to

many men was t o be born rich the greatest bles sing to other men is that they were born poor .The hard soil and the ch ill atmosphere of NewEngland have largely made America the land of

progress and power that sh e i s tod ay. But forthe d ifficult ies which he encountered in boyhood

Dan iel Webst er would never have ach ieved the

sublime success which is synonymous with h is

great name . But for his loyalty to God, and the

cruelty of the Church of England, Bunyan would

never have been imprisoned and the world wouldnot have had his immortal allegory, The Pilgrim

’

s

Progress . From h is prison cell his pilgrim hasgone forth t o walk through the world, exhort ing

men and wom en to enter upon th e narrow path

way and to march to the cel estial c ity . We aretold that Bunyan w rote th is remarkable book on

pieces of paper used to cork the bottles of milkwhich formed part of h is daily food . Gifford wrote

his first copy of h is m athemat ical work on scrapsof leather which he secured for th is purpose whil e

he was a shoemaker ’ s apprent ice . R itt enhousecalculated ecl ipses on the handle of his plow as

he rested for a l itt le at the end of the furrow.

208 THE INSTRU CT IVE EAGLE

Michael Angelo struggled against poverty while his

gen ius was pluming itself for it s fl ight to the stars .

Opposing circumstances rightly encount ered dev e lop conquering element s of character. There

are men born t o wealth who never truly l ive ; they

simply exist . They have contributed nothing

wh at ever to the world ’ s wealth in l it erature, in

science, in discovery, or in philanthropy ; th ey are

plants ; they are vegetables . I f their nest hadbeen thoroughly destroyed and they themselves

shaken by the winds of adversity, they might havedeveloped power and have taken their places amongthe immortal s .Many a man says, “ I will die in my nest but

God has better things in store for him . A m an

may put h is bu siness between his heart and h isduty to God ; a man may put h is w ife and h ischildren on the throne of h is heart and give them

the love and devot ion due to God alone . We can

not love our famil ies too much if we love them as

God ’s gift,and look past the gift to the great Giver .

But if God is dethroned and any creature is en

throned in hi s place, we need not be surpris ed thatour homes are shaken and our idol s broken . Fromyour arms and heart God may take those you love

the most,if you give them the love which is due

to h im alon e. In so doing God will be renderingthe greatest possible service to you as his child .

Let u s be sure that God is conferring the richestbless ing possibl e upon us in giving us needed dis

cipline . Men slumber on the edge of a precip ice ;

2 1 0 THE I NSTRUCTIVE EAGLE

‘

sent the rocks thundering down the cliff and nowmother- love gives encouragement as only a mother

can give it, with equal ingenuity, pat ience, and

tenderness .Similar encouragement i s given us in the word

of God. Often the fault s and fail ings of thesaint s Of the Olden t ime have in them an elementof encouragement for us in our struggles . Job ’ s

subl im e pat ience, without Job’ s occasional impa

t ience , might utterly di scourage us amid life’ s

t rials . David ’ s kingl iness among men and h isfil ial spirit toward God, might dampen al l our enth u siasm and discourage our endeavors, were it

not for his great weakness, cowardliness, and sin

fulnes s toward both God and man at one crisis in

his heroic career. There is to u s an element of

comfort in the fact that the Apostl e Paul had athorn in the flesh , and that it remained, even

though he prayed earnestly for it s removal . The

charact er of J esus gives us our st rongest encouragem ent in st ruggl ing against the evil s in our

earthly pilgrimage . He places before u s a high

standard ; he exhort s us to be perfect even as h is

Father in heaven i s perfect . He incarnates in h is

own spotles s l ife the perfect precept s which hetaught t o men but h is holy example does not re

pel, but sweetly attracts . There are lives that are

beautiful as the frost on a window-pane, and they

are as cold as they are beaut iful .’

There is astately sanct ity wh ich is as repellent as it i s com

placent . Far otherwise was the perfect character

THE I NSTRU CT IVE EAGLE 1 1

of the Lord J esu s . When Moses came downfrom the mount with the glory Of the Lord st ill

sh ining from h is face, men were repelled ; when

Jesus came from his mount of Transfiguration

men were attracted . H is whole earthly careerhas in it an element of wonderful encourage

ment for us in our struggles toward the h igher l ife .

His incarnat ion was to some degree an eclipsing of

his glory as the Son of God ; the C loud of h is hu

manity veiled the dazzl ing splendor of his divin ity .

He laid aside h is glory lest he migh t awe and re

pel u s when he would sweetly invite and lovingly

attract u s t o himself. For our encouragement

Christ did not consider equal ity with God as a pos

session to be retained ; but he empt ied h imself, he

became man,he humbled h imself as a man, finally

dying the death of the cro ss . Marvelously does

he thus en courage us to bear our cros s, that wel ike h im may finally be h igh ly exalted because of

our l owliness in service, our loyalty in obedience,and our l ikenes s to him in character .

In the ceil ing of the Palazzo Rosp igliosi, in

Rom e , there is a paint ing by Guido Ren i represent ing Aurora strew ing flowers before the chariot

of the god of the'

sun , wh o is surrounded by dan

cing hora . By many th is is con sidered to be thisart ist ’s masterpiece . The coloring is especiallyskillful

,the brightest l ight being thrown on the

figure of Apol lo . All the colors are thus shadedOff so as to harmonize w ith that of the cent ralfigure and the dun -colored horses and the clouds

2 1 2 THE I NSTRU CTIVE EAGLE

in the background . The eye of the beholder b ecomes weary in the effort to study th is paint ingon the ceil ing ; and the considerate guardians have

placed Opposite the entrance a mirror in which thepaint ing may be conveniently studied . The visitorlooks downward rather than upward, resting neck

and eye as he studies the perfect forms and har

m onious colors of th is historic paint ing . The h u

manity of Christ was the m irror of h is divinity ;in it we can se e him as the beaut iful child, th e

noble youth, th e perfect man, and the divine

human Redeemer . In all these relat ions of l ifehe hovers over us as the eagle flutt ers over her

young,giving us needed encouragement . May

we watch the inspirat ion of h is presence and feel

the upl ift of h is influence' Oftener ought w e togive needed encouragement to others . John B .

Gough stood lean ing upon a lamp-post, broken in

body and wretched in soul the l ight of his l ife had

gone out and there seemed to be no h ope for h im

in t ime and no light in eternity. A gentle hand was

laid on his shoulder, a kindly word spoken to ear andheart , and a new life then and there was begun .

The eloquent words of Gough , spoken on hundredsof platforms on both sides of the Atlant ic, words

which thril led unnumbered thousands,were but

the echo of the kindly words spoken on the street s

Of New York by this inspired man wh o, under

God,became Gough ’ s del iverer . May God help

us to give encouragement to some struggling soul

to-day'May there be kindl ines s in the glance of

2 1 4 THE I NSTRUCT IVE EAGLE

welcome her ; their l ittle heart s beat high . What

pride they have in their mother'What ambit ionsare stirr ing in their eagle soul s Shal l they ever

accompl ish such a fl igh t as that of their strong

mother of whom they are so proud' Greatthoughts, such as eagles may have, are fi ll ing

their breast s they never before saw such a fl ightas that of their dauntless mother . S h e has

aroused the ambit ion of the eagle soul which willlead them to surmount cloud and storm unt il they

reach the calm upper air, where no cloud float s but

where the sun ever shines . The spirit of the king

of birds i s evoked, and nothing will ever sat isfythe eagle heart within unt il a s imilar fl igh t is madeby each wondering eaglet .

So God gave a p ract ical example to I srael in

Egypt and at the Red Sea. God made bare h isarm to destroy Pharaoh , his court iers, and h is sol

diers . He made Pharaoh and his people will ing

to let I srael go . He surpas sed all the powers of

this m ighty king by displaying power might ier

than Pharaoh had ever before seen . I srael fled ;they are gathered on the shore of the Red Sea .

Never before were a people in so evil a case ; b efore them were the waters of the sea ; to the rightof them and to the left of them rose lofty mountain s, and behind them were the soldiers ofEgypt .But one way was Open— the way upward, the way

to God ’ s throne and heart . That way no foe of

God or man can ever obstruct . By that way our

prayers may ever ascend and God’

s del iverances

THE I NSTRUCT IVE EAGLE 2 1 5

ever descend . Marvelously did the sea flee beforethem so al so did th e Jordan on their behalf stop init s onward flow ; so al so did the wall s of J ericho falldown so al so were the nat ions smitten with fear .God went before h is people for their del iverancefrom their foes . So Christ goes before us to-day ;he is st il l th e Good Shepherd wh o calleth his sheepby name and leadeth them out . His voice is full

of cheer , of hope, and of inspiration ; w e se e h is

footprint s and there we place our own . He makes

every t rial encouragement for an addit ional vict ory. The Sandwich I slanders bel ieved that whenthey slew a fierce foe his heroic virtues and daunt

less bravery passed over into the heart s of the

Slayers . So Chri st enables u s to conquer sin and

Satan , and to get from every vanquished evil,courage

,fort itude, and inspirat ion to vanqu ish re

main ing evil s . One ounce of example is worth apound of precept . Christ ’ s precept s he translatedinto daily examples . Never can w e be sat isfied

with our low attainments when we see his lofty

achievements . O blessed Christ, put around usthy strong arms, l ift ing us when we fal l, holding uswhen we faint, and making us hero ic and victoriousin every encounter with Satan and h is hosts .

4 . We notice , in th e last p lace, the eag le giving

h elp in ex trem ity— she taketh them , beareth them

on her wings . ” The eaglet s cat ch the inspi rat ion ofher fearless fl igh t and so strike out boldly for themselves . Perhaps in some cases sh e may be obligedto carry them out on her own strong wings . If

2 10 THE I NSTRUCT IVE EAGLE

so , sh e wil l then throw them off in order that theymay learn how to exercise their own wings . See

them as they flutter, fly, and begin to fal l'Abovethem are the clouds and the storms ; beneath them

are the fearful depths of the terrible abyss . How

their h eart s beat and their wings flutter' Perhapsalso, they are exposed at t imes to the arrow of thearcher that m aypierce their bodies . See h er now,

as sh e sweeps under them, takes them on her own

strong, t ireles s form , and strikes back for the nest .Most beaut iful i s thi s il lustrat ion of God ’ s help,protect ion and salvat ion for h is people .

Let us never be discouraged, and let u s neverbe sat isfied with low attainments in the Christ ianl ife. We live too often in the porter ’ s lodge, whenwe might dwell in the king’ s palace . We are too

often sat isfied with the crumb s that fall from theMaster ’ s table, when we might eat a full meal .L e t u s remember, as th e Apostle Paul has t aughtus, to be fil led with all the fullnes s of God . May

God drive us from our nest if thereby he may drawus to h imself'May God empty us of self that hemay fil l us with himself Let u s show to thechurch and to the world what God can make of

men and women who are wholly surrendered tohim . We may rise to as lofty a height as that at

tained by any of the saint s of God in the past .Let us strike out grandly to-day for a sublimer

fl ight . Let us be enterpris ing for God . Can wenot mark out a n ew pathway of service for God

and man' God ’ s everlast ing arm will ever be b e

THE RIGHTEOUS GARMENTS

I w illgreatly rejoice in th e L ord, my soul shall be joyfulin my God for h e hath cloth ed m e w ith th e gar ments ofsa lv a tion,

h e hath cov ered m e w ith th e robe

ness, as a bridegroom de ch e th him se lf w ith ornam ents, and

as a bride adorne th herself w ith h erjew els. Isa. 61 1 0 .

222 TH E R IGHTEOUS GARMENTS

But all true Christ ians in our day are as really

the people of God as were the saints in the days

of I saiah, and they can make th is language theirown . They, more truly than God

’ s people of that

earl ier day, can rej oice in the grace of God in theirown heart s, and in the spread of th e kingdom of

God throughout the world . The world never wasSO small, so far as the means of reach ing all it s

part s are concerned, as it is to-day. All the inv ent ions and discoveries of the hour are contributing to th e spread of the gospel and to the establish

ment of th e kingdom of God . Telephones andtelegraphs have made the world a whispering gal

lery to echo the story of redeeming love . St eam

ships and’

railways in carrying God ’ s messengers

are inst ruments for the spread of the gospel and

for the salvat ion of the race . Never before mightthe church so rej oice in the glory of God ’s grace

as to -day.

In looking more closely at this text we see thatit give s . us it s sal ient thoughts with great clearness and with equal beauty.

I . It con tains a j oyous resolu tion— “ l w ill

g rea tly rej oice in the L ord, and my soul shall be

j oyfu l in my God. The j oy spoken of here is described as great . Those wh o rej oice in God have

cause to rej oice greatly . NO other j oy can be half

so j oyful ; no other j oy is worthy of the name.

The j oy of th is world perishes even while it is

used ; but the j oy which comes from heavenly

things increases with the u sing, and it wil l be e h

THE R IGHTEOUS GARMENTS 223

j oyed more fully in heaven than upon the earth .

In speaking of th is heavenly j oy extravagance is

impossible ; in att empt ing adequately to representit s greatness economy in stat em ent i s sinful . If

our j oy is in God we cannot rej oice too much .

Well might the psalmist say, in the second verse

of the thirty-fourth Psalm , My soul shal l make her

boast in the Lord . Boast ing in God is not only

j ust ifiable, but it s absence is unpardonable . The

psalmist recognized God as the fountain whenceh is j oy sprang in a ful l and cont inuous stream .

No man can boast too much when he forget s h imself and exalt s only God as the obj ect of h is t rust

and the subj ect of h is boast . If our j oy i s in God

w e may rest assured that God, in the perfect ion of

his character and in the preciousness of h is love,will be in our j oy. Only as God i s in our j oy can

joy be truly j oy .

The first gospel song which earth ever heardwas a song of ineffable j oy. In that moment oft remulous exc it ement when there came to theheart of the Hebrew maiden the real izat ion Of

all the honor that was t o come t o her, and all

the blessing that through her was to come to

the world, she burst forth in a song of holy ec

stasy. The lofty words of the lowly Hannah camespontaneously t o her l ips . Her soul was saturatedwith the glowing lyric s Of the earlier saint s ; she

was imbued with their spirit,and her thought s

natural ly t ook the form of th is glorious Old Testament poetry . And so the gentle maiden sang

,

224 THE R IGHTEOUS GARMENTS

My soul doth magn ify th e Lord, and my spirithath rej oiced in God my Saviour . ” And theMagnificat of Mary h as echoed through lOyalhearts ever since, and has found express ion on the

l ips of men and women under the spell of it s lyricimpulse and it s rel igious emot ion . The “ Benedictus

” of Zacharias was the natural echo of theMagnificat

”of Mary ; and soon the “ Gloria in

Excel sis of the angels i s heard . The birth of the

Lord gave them , as wel l as u s, new cause for j oy.

Over the plains of Bethlehem rang their voices

making night melodious with heavenly music .The birth of Chri st was cause for j oy to saint s andseraphs in heaven, as well as to all pure heart s

and noble souls on earth . Indeed the whole atmos

ph ere was t remulous with song at the t ime of the

Lord’

s birth . Never before did loving heart s soutt er themselves in lofty song as then . We are

not surpri sed at the Nunc Dimitt is of Simeonafter we have l ist ened to the other strains ofmusic

evoked by the rapturou s emot ion of that marvelou s

time . NO wonder that S imeon , as he takes the

divine babe into h is arms, finds h imself utt ering

strain s of music which h ad long been shut up in

his own reverent heart .The noble Paul drank in the true spirit of Chris

t ian j oy. He says, Rej oice evermore,” and else

where, Rej o ice in the Lord always and again,I

say, rej oice .

” The apostle shows us that j oy in

the Lord is not simply a privilege but a duty .

The apostl e but echoes the words of the Old Tes


ternal condit ion s ; it springs from internal posses

s ions . I t is not something which haps t o one,but som ething which springs up from hidden

sources with in . Joy, therefore, i s a much greater

possession than mere happiness . Happiness comesor goes according to the frowns or smiles of ex

ternal fortune ; but j oy rem ains because it has it s

origin within rather than without , and because it

springs up from deep and inexhaust ible sources

w ith in the soul it self . All without may be dark

as deepest m idnight,but all within may be bright

as clearest noonday ; without may be only the

world ’ s harsh discords,but With in there may be

celest ial harmonies . This j oy was the blessed

gift of Christ to his foll owers before hi s crucifixion

and after h is resurrection it was also his part ing

legacy as he went back to take his place on h is

Father ’ s throne . This is the blessed peace which

the world can neither give nor take away .

I t i s to be observed,further, that th is is a res

olut ion Of divine j oy— it is “ j oy in the Lord .

”

This thought w e have already expressed, but it ishere brought out with greater fullness of mean ing.

This is beautiful language ; and the experience

h ere suggested is a proper subj ect for the j oy

here declared . We can never exhaust the j oy

wh ich has God for it s source . The l ife that is

hid with Christ in God is a charmed l ife. I t drawsupon an unending fountain of bless ing and ex

hau stle ss source of del ight . All the other streams

may become dry ; th is st ream cannot know dimi

THE R IGHTEOUS GARMENTS 2 27

nution . Like a river with constantly mult iplyingtributaries

,it flows on widen ing and deepening in

it s progres s . One day this enlarged stream willpour it self into the ocean of eternity. All the

world ’ s fountains are not really fountains, but

simply cisterns, and broken c isterns which can

hold no water. When our l ips are parched with

thirst we reach the hand for some cup of earthly

j oy,and w e find that it is cracked , and that it con

tains no water ; but at it s bottom we find only

poisonous sediment . Thrice happy is the man

whose soul can be j oyful in the Lord' That soulcan be j oyful in adversity as in prosperity, in dark

ness as in l ight , in shadow as in sunsh ine, in deathas in l ife, and in etern ity vastly more than in t ime'In the forty-fourth Psalm and the eighth verse

w e have the thought expressed in the words, “ In

God we boast all the day long .

” Here no t a m o

mentary j oy is described, but a continual and in

creasing j oy is expressed . Every true bel iever

may have such j oy here and now . We live far

below our privileges when we are sat isfied with

dwell ing in the porter ’ s lodge rather than in theKing ’ s palace . We walk in the valley s inging

j eremiads, when w e might leap on the hillt ops

s inging halleluj ahs ; t oo often we ins ist upon call

ing ourselves servant s when God proclaims us to

be sons . Jesu s Christ is our Immanuel— God with

us . He is perfect man and perfect God ; he is

th e Son of Mary and the Son of God ; he is the

Child of the manger and the Ancien t of days . In

228 THE R IGHTEOUS GARM ENTS

God let our soul s make their boast with him on

our side we can defy the world and the devil . Let

us shout h is praise and have even here sweet foretastes of the ful ler j oy we shall experience and

the grander victory w e shal l achieve in h is immediate presence .

2 . We have , in th e second p lace , in th is tex t, a

sufiicien t reasonfor such a resolu tion For h e ha th

cloth ed m e w ith the garm en ts of salvation ,

” etc .

God reveals to the soul it s need of cloth ing. Dr .Bushnell , in his suggest ive discourse on “ Putt ing

on Christ ,” reminds u s that the highest dist inct ion

ofman , con sidered as an animal among animal s, is

not in h is two-handedness nor in h is erect figure,

but in h i s necess ity and right of dress . The lower

animals have no opt ion regarding their figure and

appearance . Their dress is a part of their organi

zat ion it grows upon them as their bones grow

with in them . This is t rue whether their dress befeathers , fur, hair, or wool ; but man shows his

superior dign ity by the necessity of addit ional

clothing and th e high prerogat ive which he may

exerc ise regarding it s character . This remark is

as t rue morally as it is physically . When the firstpair sinned

,th e garment of purity which had been

on their soul was lost ; they therefore t ried to

subst itu te fo r i t external garments of their own

devising . Their act unconsc iously declared their

S in . Many men and women st ill follow their ex

ample . Educat ion,refinement, culture, and many

other graces of manner, are manufactured cover


sible to cover the soul in this way. Y ou must puton Christ

’

s robes, or you will no t -b e suitably at

t ired for the wedding feast otherwise you wil l not

have on the wedding garment . 'uaintly has someone said that “ The filthy rags of th e first Adam

must not be j oined to the princely robes of thesecond Adam .

We know, inde ed,‘

that Christ ’ s righteousness

Is Imparted as wel l as imputed ; and when so

imputed and imparted, all men take knowledge

of it s possessor that he has been with Jesus .Christ in the heart makes h is presence seen

in the life . He cannot be hid . A rose in our

bosom will fil l th e atmosphere about us with it s

fragrance ; so does Christ , th e Rose of Sharon .

In the robe of h is righteousness there is no seam

and no stain . Even the eye of infinite holiness

and purity cannot se e any defect in that perfect

robe . Self-righteousness is no righteousness .Impurity cannot purify it self . Our prayers needto be prayed for ; our very tears need washing.

As well might a man lean for support on h isshadow as for a guilty sinner to seek comfort and

hope in his own goodness . A s a ground of ac

c eptance with God, our own righteousness is only

sink ing sand . Christ will not share w ith us the

glory of his finished work as a part of our j u st ify

ing righteousness .

We are told that Phidias, the great sculptor,was employed by the Athenians t o make a statueof the goddess Diana, and he produced a master

THE R IGHTEOUS GARMENTS 23 1

piece. I t elic ited h is own adm irat ion ; it fil ledh is soul with artist ic enthusiasm . But self -glory

took the place of devot ion to h is art and the

place of reverence for the subj ect of his artist ic

labors and genius ; and being anxiou s to handh is name down to post erity, we are told that he

secretly engraved it in one of the folds Of the

drapery. When the Athenians discovered hi sclumsy dupl icity, his unpatriot ic ambit ion and un

art ist ic selfishness, they indignantly banished the

man who had polluted the sanct ity of their god

dess . Self-righteous s inners to -day act the part

of this ancient sculptor ; they would add their ownname t o Chris t ’ s in h is robe of perfect righteous

ness . The true Christ ian is clothed with the gar

ment s of salvat ion and the robes of righteousness .The cloth ing is actually on his soul here and now .

The gospel armor is u seless except it be put on ;the bread of l ife is worthles s except it be eaten ;and Christ is powerles s to save, except by a living faith he be received into the soul .Why should w e have in the t ext both garments

of salvat ion and a robe of righteousness' Somehave suggested that w e have here an instance ofHebrew parallelism ; but I c ertainly think w e

have here more than a mere rhetorical form . The

garments may refer to the soul ’ s need of grace

and mercy, and the robe to the beauty and glory ofrel igion . The soul is no t only prot ected

,but it is

ornamented . The princely robe that was thrownover the shoulder was an article of beauty ; i t

THE R IGHTEOUS GARMENTS

manifested the dignity, the royalty, and the son

ship of the wearer . We have here then the gar

ment s Of the divine nupt ials we have the flowing

robes of the heavenly kingdom . They can be

made whit e only in the blood of the Lamb . Be

hold the redeemed in glory Whence came they '

See their flowing robes of spot less white' Marve lous mystery of redeeming love, these robes are

made white by the cleans ing power of blood. Oh,prec ious truth ' Oh, blessed gospel'Oh, mightySaviour'While the Roman soldiers at the footof the cross were cast ing lot s for Christ ’ s seamless

robe, he was preparing for you and me a seamless ,spotless

,and s in les s robe of righteousness . That

robe by h is grace I now offer you . I t will h ide

your deform it ies . I t wil l make you a son ,a daugh

t er of the Lord of l ife and glory . It will be the

wedding garment for the King’ s feast . I t will be

the flowing robe of heaven’ s redeemed and t rium

phant inhabitant s . Will you put it on ' Will you

receive Christ now ' Then he wil l be your wisdom , your righteousness, and your redempt ion

now and forevermore .

3 . We have a lso h e re , in th e th ird and last p lace ,

a s trih ing comparison As a brideg room dech e th

h im self w ith ornam en ts , and as a bride adorne th

h erself w ith h er j ew els .

” We see that Christ ians

thus att ired are compared to a bridegroom decked

with the priestly crown . It is a st range combinat ion of ideas

,but a combinat ion which the original

words clearly suggest . The allusion, doubtless, is


marriage proces sion . This custom incarnates a uni

versal thought and expresses an appropriate honor .I n every country, if the bride have wealth sh e

takes from her j ewel case rare ornament s for her

adornment . Beloved, the church is Christ ’ s re

deemed, b eat ified, and b eaut ified bride . He came

from heaven to woo and to win her ; he soughtand found her ; he redeemed, exalted, and glori

fied her ; he loves her with an everlasting love.She marches triumphantly through the wilderness

,

leaning j oyfully and trustful ly on the arm of her

Beloved . She is going up to take her place by h iss ide and his throne . His throne is large enough

t o welcome to h is side all h is redeemed ; they are

to share in h is glory and t o rej oice in h is victory.

Will you accept th e honors which he offers to

those wh o become kings’

and priests unto him

and j oint-heirs with him to hi s cross and throne'O gloriou s bride Of Christ, redeemed by his

grace, adorned by his robe, glorified by h is pres

ence,march through this world singing already the

first notes of that song which shall fi l l heaven ’ s

arches with it s melod ious music when the bride

shall be seated with the heavenly Bridegroom on

h is glorious throne.

THE I NTREP ID STATESMAN

N ow w h en Dan ie l hnew th a t th e w r iting w as signed, h e

w ent in to h is h ouse ; and,h is w indow s be ing in h is

cham be r tow ard je rusa lem ,h e h ne e led up on h is h ne es th re e

a day, and prayed, and gave thanh s before h isas h e did afore tim e .

— Dan . 6 1 0 .

23 8 THE INTREPI D STATES MAN

and to serve the people of God by remaining in

that distant land, than by returning to h is earlyhome. Daniel was descended from on e of the

highest famil ies of Judah, if no t one of royal blood .

The more noble a man ’s birth the more solemn

h is position .

“ N oblesse oblig e , says the Frenchproverb the higher a man ’ s b irth the more b inding

are h is obligat ion s to l ive a right l ife . A doctrineof devils has been promulgated to the effect that

great abil ity, lofty pos it ion , and noble b irth absolve

men from the duty of developing and maintain ing

a worthy character . Never was there a more

Satanic doc trine .

“

A man ’ s respons ibil ity is the

greater because of h is greater ability and loft ierposit ion or attainment .Daniel

’

s birthplace was probably Jeru salem .

We know that he with other noble Hebrew youthswas carried away capt ive by Nebuchadnezzar into

Babylon , probably between the ages of fourt eenand six teen . We know

,al so

,that he rose by

degrees from the pos it ion of a capt ive boy to bethe h ighest ruler in the realm . There is a most

str iking and beaut iful sim ilarity between the life of

Daniel and that of Joseph . I know of no two

charact ers of sacred history between whose l ives a

parallel can more appropriat ely be inst ituted . A s

Joseph rose to great prominence in the court ofPharaoh, so rose to corresponding prominence in

the court of Belshazzar this noble Daniel . Both

of these young men,without their consent , were

exiled from their nat ive land ; and both became

THE I NTREPI D STATESMAN 2 39

great statesmen by personal worth in the land oftheir exile . Both preserved their rel igiou s faith

and their personal purity in lands of idolat ry and

Of gross corrupt ion and both rose from slavery to

the highest c ivic honors . Both were loyal t o their

God,and both were abundantly blessed of God

and honored of men . At this t ime, however, I

do not des ign to cont inue this parallel , nor t o speak

of th e l ife of Daniel as a whole, but rather to con

fine your at tent ion to the spec ial inc ident in thatl ife suggested by the text chosen for th e morning .

1 . 'n th efi rs t p lace let m e ca ll your a tten tion to

Dan iel’

s dang er. He was in danger of losm g h is

l ife The princes conspired against him,and theyperverted the mind of the king . They were in

sanely j ealou s of Daniel . Especially were they

embit tered against h im because he was a Hebrew

capt ive. They were envious of him because of

the Character wh ich he had maintained, and the

influence which he exercised . They felt them

selves outst ripped by his ability and overshadowed

by his success . J ealousy is born of perdit ion , and

it constantly l eads t o the place of its b irth . Success almost inevitably exc it es j ealousy . There isno man in bus iness whose success is marked, wh o

does not exc ite host il ity on the part of other menin the same l ine of bus iness . There is no man of

mark in the gospel min ist ry wh o does no t excit e

the j ealousy of l ittl e-souled men wh o are capableof no noble impulses but only of narrow prej udices .Shakespeare utt ers a universal truth when he says

240 THE I NTREPI D STATESMAN

Be th ou ch aste as ice , as pure as snow ,

Th ou sh alt n o t e scap e calum ny.

And Pope, in h is Essay on Crit icism,has said

with equal truth

E nvywill m eri t, as its sh ade , pursue

But like a sh adow , proves th e sub stan ce true .

The men assoc iated with Daniel were actuat ed

by th is bitt er and Satan ic spirit . I do not knowof any more beaut iful compl iment than these

wicked men were obl iged to pay to Daniel ; for

they frankly acknowledged that as regarded th e

matters of the kingdom they could find no fault

with him , and that the only crit ic i sm they could

make was because of h is loyalty to his God .

Daniel had not been gu ilty of malversat ion in of

fice ; he had not sought personal aggrandizement ;he had no t been guilty of the abuse of power, as is

so common in Oriental countries . There was on

his part no lack of devot ion t o the int erest s of the

king or the kingdom . Happy are men in h igh

office when their pol it ical foes are obliged to pay

them such a compliment as these pol itical foes Of

Daniel paid him Happy are we, as members ofth e church of God, when men can say of us that

their only point of crit ic ism is because of our de

vo t ion t o God' Noble, happy Daniel' Faultl esseven in the j udgment of h is foes except as re

garded his rel igion ; guil ty in the esteem of h is

crit ics only because of his devout heart and pure

life ' I would to God that our crit ic s might find

24 2 THE I NTREPI D STATESMAN

have used to save h is l ife “ I s it no t better forme j ust to shave my rel igious convict ions a l itt l e

,

t o pare them down here and there ' Is it notbett er for me to omit prayer rather than to incur

the danger of death ' May I no t pray in secret '

Need I kneel to pray ' I s not my posit ion most

important at th is cris is fo r God ’ s honor, and forthe good of my countrymen , and perhaps for the

salvat ion of the heathen king ' So he might

have reasoned ; so some of us do reason ; so some

of us by a tone, by a shrug, by a look deny Jesusand deny our faith . Thank God, Daniel wasnot such a man . Mr . Spurgeon tell s us of a curi

ou s blunder which a print er made in print ing a

port ion of the story of Daniel . In stead of saying,

Daniel had an excell ent sp irit, the printer made

the types say, “ Daniel had an excel lent spine .

”

This was no t much of a mistake . Thank God for

Dan iel ’ s spine' That printer was quite right .Would to God we had men with excellent spines

,

men who could stand for t ruth and God'Weneed men wh o can stand even though the lion s

growl ; men wh o are fi rm even though they se e

the gleam of the knife or hear the noise of the

rack ; men wh o would gladly die rather than lose

their integrity'He was in danger of l os ing h is soul . When

a man del iberately put s h is selfi sh interest s beforehis duty

,he risks all that is sacred in life

,and all

that is blessed in etern ity. He violat es the veryfirst commandment of the law ; he has made self

THE INTREPI D STATESMAN 24 3

h is god, putt ing hi s cowardly wish before thewill of the Almighty Jehovah . We all are brought

in some form into similar trial s ; w e are all at

t imes in danger of lo sing our l ife, our integrity,and our soul . We cannot escape such trial s per

haps we ought no t to des ire t o escape them . Weneed not seek crosses but w e must not shun them .

We ought to walk t rustful ly along the path of duty,not asking for crosses to come upon us , no t asking

that crosses be taken from us, but s imply doing

every duty in the fear of God, and bearing every

cross which comes with brave and true hearts .

2 . N otice, in th e second p lace , Dan iel’

s deci s ion .

I t was marked by certain most interest ing charact e ristics . In the first place, it

“

was a prompt dec i

sion ; h is duty was not a matter of discu ss ion .

There was no Opportunity for differences of Opin

ion as to what he ought t o do neither was there

any ostentat ion in h is conduct . I w ould not endorse Daniel if he had taken special pain s to go

up to the housetop to attract att ent ion,t o chal

l enge crit icism , and to draw the fire of h is foes .Nothing of that sort , however, did he do . He

simply “ prayed, and gave thanks before h is God

as he did aforet ime . He changed h is methods in

no part icular he moved quietly along the l ine of

his u sual and exalted duty . He did not take counsel with flesh and blood . I t was a matter not Open

for discussion . In this respect his conduct isworthy of praise . The moment a man parleyswith the devil, that moment he h as part ial ly yielded

24 4 THE I NTREPID STATESMAN

to the devil . The moment a man hesitat es aboutdoing right

,when the difference betw een right

and wrong is clearly put before him , that moment

he has done wrong . We ought to be so cour

age ous that we would not hes itat e a moment when

th e dist inct ion between right and wrong is put

before us . We ought to go st raight up to the l ine

of duty,the line of obedience, the l ine of righ t b e

fore God and before men . Promptness alw ays

disarms the tempter . A young boy left home for

college,and among h is experiences were sol ic ita

t ions t o drink intoxicat ing l iquors . “ Come and

have someth ing,

” said h is companion s . His reply

was,“ Gent lemen

,I never drink . We are to be

associated for four years ; I hope you will find me

a good fel low,but I w il l never drink .

” If he had

hesitated,if he had sh il ly-sh allied, if h e had said

a weak “ no,there being a “

ye s” wrapped up in

it , there would have come repet it ions of their in

vitation ,and perhaps yielding on his part . But

there was no “ yes in the no ” i t was a courte

ous“no i t was a “ no express ive of appre cia

t ion of their intended but m istaken court esy, butit was a NO wh ich rang ou t like the crack of a

rifle on a frosty morning . N O gentleman willurge a young man the second t ime if he says“ no in that fashion . He wh o cont inues t o so

l ic it,after such a refusal , is not a gent leman . I

would that that same spirit might characterize all

our acts . I would that all young men , and Older

men,who hear me to-day might be able to say

24 6 THE I NTREPI D STATESMAN

knew that the law was signed , and he acted intelligen t ly, calmly, and courageously. Brave Daniel

Noble Daniel'There was no exc it ement in h is manner. He

was calm in spirit as he walked to h is place of

prayer . The windows were open toward Jerusalem, in the usual manner . In the warm climate

of Babylon they were naturally open . Daniel of

fe red up his prayers with his face toward Jerusa

lem , as became an exiled Hebrew . Courage i scontagious . A young man wh o dares to do right

becomes a leader . The consc ience of every other

young man is on his side Th e ir words m ay beweak and cowardly, but their consc iences are on

the side of the man who does right . FrederickRobertson said

,when perplexed by doubt , when

walking at t imes in darkness, One thing I know ;it must be right to do right .

” Did you ever think

of the origin of our word “ wrong ” ' Wrong is

something that is wrung ; it i s properly the part i

ciple of wring, alth ough it occurs as a noun as

early as 1 1 24 it is what is twisted, what is wrung

or wrested from the right or ordered l ine of con

duct ; it is wrong because it is wrung. R ight isrectus , straight , th e part ic ipl e of th e Lat in verb

reg ere, to order, to command ; and so“ right

is what is ordered, commanded, laid down in the

laws of eternal j ust ice, the laws of th e eternal

God. R igh t wert thou , 0 Scott ish poet, im

mortal S ir Walter,right wert thou, when thou

didst say

THE I NTREPI D STATESMAN 24 7

Oh wh at a tangled web we weave

Wh en first we pract ise to de ce iv e .

In the meshes of that web a man wil l be em

tangled unt il he loses al l that i s dear to a t ru e

man, and all that is preciou s in the s ight of high

heaven . Oh, let u s not pract ise to deceive, andthus make such a web'

3 . 'n th e las t p lace, emphas ize Dan iel’

s deliver

ance . Poss ibly a certain sort of faith in God made

even the heathen king believe that God would de

l iver Daniel . The king suffered greatly when he

found it necessary to punish Daniel . He hadplainly violated the law, and in this respect h is

guilt was unden iable but the king doubtles s wasmuch displeased w ith himself for having framed

such a decree. He saw that this law was un

worthy of him as the king of a great people he

saw al so that it had involved in techn ical guilt a

man of unsull ied charact er and the first officer in

the realm . But he knew of no way by which he

could evade the penalty which the law decreed ,notwithstanding h is heart was se t on del iveringDaniel .The enemies of Daniel most skillfully urged

h is punishment, reminding the king that he wasone of the capt ive J ews and suggest ing that he

had shown an Open contem pt of the royal auth ority, and the king found no way by which he

could abrogate the law. The law of th e Medesand Persians was unchangeable . The sun wentdown while he was earnest ly laboring to devise

24 8 THE I NTREPID STATESMAN

some means by which the integrity of the lawcould be preserved and yet the punishment decreed

be remitted . But the law was clear and it s viola

t ion was undeniable, and there seemed no way of

escape but that it should take it s course . Theking finally was obl iged to command that Danielbe cast into the den of l ions . Recent discoveriesamong the ruin s of Babylon prove that th is mode

of punishment was no t uncommon in that city and

country. The king st il l cherished the hope that

the God of Daniel would in some way interposefor his del iverance . He had absolute confidence

in the integrity of Daniel and a vague hope thatthe God of heaven would display h is power for the

protect ion of his loyal servant . But the stone is

brought and laid upon the mouth of the den and

the king sealed it with h is own S ignet . He then

went to h is own palace, not to eat , drink, and be

merry,but to spend the night in fast ing. No in

st rum en t s of music cheered h is disconsolate heart .

He passed the night supperless and sleepless .

With the dawn of the mornin g he arose, his deepanxiety making him haste unto the de n of l ions .

With a voice of deep sol icitude he cal led for Daniel,the servant of the l iving God. To his del ight h is

call is answered by Dan iel’

s prompt and loyalreply. Daniel assures h im that God had senth is angel and had shut the mouth s of the lions .

Daniel bel ieved that th is result was accomplishedby a miracl e . The occasion was fitt ing for a di

vine interposit ion . Daniel assert s h is innocency

2 50 THE INTREPI D STATESMAN

ger can come to any of us while w e are in the

path of duty .

What are the names of the men who cast God ’s

children into the fiery furnace You do not know .

No one knows . They were never recorded . The

memory of th e wicked perisheth, but the righteous

are in everlast ing remembrance . Daniel ’ s name

shines in the firmam ent of bibl ical h istory as a star

of b righ e st l ight and greatest magnitude but the

names of his foes are unrecorded . Let us stand

for duty, for truth, for God . All h is enemies and

ours shall peri sh . But as we read in the same

book,They that be wise shall sh ine as the bright

ness of the firm am ent ; and they that turn manyto righteousness, as the stars forever and ever .

”

THE ROYAL PEN ITENT

R estore un to m e th e j oy of salva tion ; and up hold m e

Th en w ill I teach transgressors thyways ; and sinne rs sh all be conv e rted un to th e e . 5 1

1 2 , 1 3 .

2 5 4 THE ROYAL PEN ITENT

psalm is David’ s great confess ion ; that psalm is

the record of the forgiveness which he obtained .

I t has been well said that in th is psalm he is theprodigal saying, “ Father, I have sinned, and inthe thirty- second psalm he is a son restored to h isFather ’ s heart l ooking up into his Father ’ s l ovingface and saying, “ Thou art my hiding-place .

”

1 . We have , in th efi rs t p lace , in th e tex t, David’

s

prayer. This prayer impl ies that the royal pet i

t ione r had lost the j oy of salvat ion . The l iteral

t ranslat ion of h is words is, Cause the j oy of thy

salvat ion to return .

”’

The first verb i s a causat ivein Hebrew, and it cl early impl ies that he previ

ously had possession of that for whose return henow prays . His communion with God had been

interrupted by the s in s which he had committed,

and the j oy of salvat ion was imposs ible when spiritual communion was interrupted . Unfortunatelythe absence of j oy as the result of sin is no t an

unknown experience in the Christ ian l ife . I t may

be caused by open and continuous sin against God

as our Father and Saviour . Bel ievers will thenlose the j oy of their first love ; they will lose the

peace which comes from loving obedience to Christ ;their soul will then be sunless, j oyless, and at t imes

hopeless . The joy of salvat ion may be lost by aSpirit ofworldl iness Often when there is no marked

act of disobedience against God . The world is

not the friend of J esus Christ . J esus Christ overcame the world and we in him may w in a l ike vict ory. He clearly taught u s that there is and ever

THE ROYAL PEN ITENT 2 5 5

must be opposit ion between the spirit of worldli

ness and the spirit of godliness . The world creeps

in upon us as a slow but deadly paralysis . I t ad

ministers to us a soothing but dangerou s Opiate ;it wraps us in an anaesthet ic s lumber wh ich wil l

prove to be our spiritual death if we are notspeedily aroused. There is in Brazil a plant

known as the “ ma tador or murderer, which

creeps along the ground and finally cl imbs a tree

which it will hold fast in it s embrace unt il the tree

actual ly dies . The armlike tendril s surround th e

t ree as the “ matador ” rises h igher and higher

and its l igatures grow larger and c lasp the t ree

more t ightly. The paras it e finally sends ou t a

flowering h ead above the struggl ing and dying

tree, and its seeds later drop into the ground, again

to do their work of death for other trees . What

this deadly plant i s t o the trees Of the forest,

worldl iness often is to Christ ians growing in the

vineyard of ‘ the Lord . We must guard against itw ith the utmost watchfulnes s . I t may destroy us

as it did Demas, as it did Judas, and as it has de

stroyed thousands s ince the early days of thechurch . There can be no real j oy in the Lordwhile this spir it of worldl in ess is in the heart s of

bel ievers .The absence of j oywill al so be caused by the

neglect of duty. Duty well done is product ive ofincreasing j oy in Christ ian service . God demandsnothing of his children which their best interestshere and hereafter do no t incline them to give in

2 56 THE ROYAL PEN ITENT

response to God’ s demand . Neglect of duty must

assuredly bring darkness , sorrow, and death into

the soul . There may come with temporal blessings leanness in the spiritual l ife there may comedarkness in the spiritual l ife whil e the l ight of

earthly prosperity shines upon our pathway . Happyare they wh o guard against the danger of neglect ;happy are they whose consciences are pricked withthe remembrance of broken vows and neglected

dut ies in the Chri st ian l ife . God has made pain

the m essenger of danger which might threat en

the body . Pain gives it s warning and declares th e

need of an appropriat e remedy. In the spiritual

l ife we shall al so feel the prick of neglected duty

if our consc iences are sensit ive and our heart s are

warm . One element of hOpe in a j oyl ess Christ ian life i s the real ization of it s j oyl essness, and

the earnest prayer that the absent j oy may be re

st ored . Nothing is sadder than that men dying

of hunger somet imes have vision s of tables spreadbount iful ly with all that taste can des ire ; nothing

sadder than that men wh o are perishing with cold

become benumbed with slumber,are conscious of

neither discomfort nor danger, and wish only to

l ie down and sleep what will becom e the sleep of

death . May God help u s to remember that our

first love may be restored and our early j oy may

be increasedThis thought l eads u s to another el ement iii

David ’ s prayer, the expression of desire to havethe j oy of salvat ion restored . I t is most impor

2 5 8 THE ROYAL PEN ITENT

the reference is to David’ s spir it as acted on by

the Spirit of God . The words “ th at thy ” areadded by the translators . The word rendered“ free properly means will ing

, spon taneous,prompt, voluntary, and then noble and princely .

David had acted an utt erly unworthy, unsoldierly,unmanly, unprincely, and ungodly part . He did

well to be ashamed of the course which he had pur

sued . N ow he prays to be upheld in an altogether

different Spirit . He prays that God would give

h im a w i ll ing, noble, manly spirit that God wouldenabl e him to preserve and to manifest the spirit

of will ing and ready obedience to al l the commands

of God . He prayed for grace that he might stand

firm and strong in the service of his divine King .

This is always a proper obj ect of des ire and prayer .The incons ist ent man is always a weak man . How

can he rebuke sin while he l ives in sin ' How

can he recommend hol iness while he l ives in the

neglect of hol iness'What he builds up with on e

hand he destroys with the other hand . What he

teaches with h is l ip he den ies with h is l ife. Theman who l ives cons i st ent ly before God will l ive

influent ially before men . This was eminently anappropriate element in David ’ s prayer ; it is a

qual ity fitt ing in the prayers of God ’ s people t oday. Good men have fallen ; the best man , if

neglectful of God and unwatchful of Satan , may

fall . We have great need to l isten to the divineexhortat ion

,Let him that th inketh he standeth ,

take heed l est he fall . We must daily, hourly,

THE ROYAL PEN ITENT 2 59

watch and pray,lest w e be led into temptat ion .

Let us to -day make this part of David’

s prayer our

own,praying that we may be upheld in a will ing,

prompt, generous, noble, and obedient spirit before

God and men .

2 . We have , in th e secondp lace , Dav id’

sp rom ise .

As an express ion of grat itude to God, h e promises

that he will teach t ransgressors God’ s ways . I t i s

interest ing to see how the personal element is here

introduced into this promise . He himself will em

gage in thi s bl es sed work . No on e was now more

fit for that work than he . He had wandered

away from noble and manly conduct he hads inned against a brave and loyal soldier ; he had

sinned against womanhood he had sinned against

himself ; and he had sinned against God. But

when the sense of forgiveness and the joy Of sal

vat ion came into his soul, he was ready to use his

painful experience to teach others the wayof peni

ten ce and peace . Men must themselves be pardon ed before they can tell others of h im wh o willpardon th eir s ins . The bl ind cannot safely l ead

the bl ind . Men need to be taught by their fellowmen ; and all who are taught of God should bew il l ing to become teachers of men . David was aking, he was at the head Of great armies ; st ill he

was w ill ing to be th e t eacher of great sinners .The best we have should be given to our fel lowmen in service for J esus wh o has redeemed usw ith h is preciou s blood . David could now show

to those about h im the fearful consequences of

260 THE ROYAL PEN ITENT

sin ; he could al so beaut ifully explain the nature

of t ru e repentance, and he could eloquently de

scribe the full and free forgiveness which God

promises to the t ruly penitent . After the Apostle

Peter had fallen under the power of temptat ion ,and then had turned back from the evil way, -theSaviour said t o him ,

“ And when thou art con

verted strengthen thy brethren . A similar duty

rest s upon each of us . When we have been pro

t e ct ed from any evil and have been made the rec ip ient s of any good , we are to give others the

benefit of our two -fold experience. There is noth

ing selfish in rel igion the more we give away the

more we have . The more we strive to keep for

ourselves the l es s we have for ourselves or for

others . There is a profound phil osophy in all thecommands of God to his ch ildren, and in al l th e ex

p eriences of men in their efforts t o keep God ’ s

commandments .David promises to t each tran sgressors . All

men are in some sense t ransgressor s of the law of

God . The more men transgress the more they

ought t o be taught by those who are able to impart spiritual gift s . The possess ion of spiritual

gift s i s God ’ s cal l t o us for their bestowal. The

need of Spirit ual gift s is man ’ s call t o us to give

them needed help . Deep call s unto deep,the

depth of sin in men to the depth of m ercy in God .

David will al so teach tran sgressors the very be st

of t ruths— h e will t each them God’

s ways . What

part icular ways of God shall he most appropriately

262 THE ROYAL PE N ITE NT

Of th is result David now had no doubt . He waspersuaded that he would reach and influence sin

ners . There was now, in some sense, a bond of

sympathy between h im and transgressors ; theywould learn from his example the misery of sin

and the manner in which divine mercy might be

found . Having turned to God himself and having

experienced divin e forgiveness he is now able to

warn and to W in other soul s from sin to God. He

was fully persuaded that through his inst rum en ~

tal ity t ransgressors would be moved t o act ion . The

word translated “ shall be converted is no t a

passive verb ; it i s an act ive form of the verb ex

pressing the idea, shall turn or return . He b elieved that rebel s, traitors , and apostates should

now return to the Lord whom they had neglected,opposed, and despised . I t is important t o callatt ent ion to the fact that th is i s the act ive and notthe passive verb . The work of turning has to be

done by transgressors themselves they are not to

wait unt il God turns them ; they are themselves

to turn . Having walked away from God they are

now to turn and walk toward God . This is theend to be sought in al l conversions . Men have

been wandering from God they must now return

to God . Our labors on behalf of t ransgressors

are comparat ively worthless unless th is sublimeresu lt is secured . We may no t cease in our endeavors on their behalf unt il they have actually

abandoned their evil ways, returned unto God, and

received h is abundant pardon .

THE ROYAL PEN ITENT 263

This end David fel t sure would be accompl ished

in the effort s he promised t o make ; he bel ieved

that the return of t ransgressors would be com

ple t e ; that they Should indeed return unto God.

I f they stopped short of coming thus unto God,their return or convers ion would be but part ial and

so practical ly worthles s . I t i s well that m en be

moved toward reformat ion ; but w e must not besat isfied with part ial or even apparently complete

reformat ion . Regeneration and not mere reformation is to be sought by us on their behalf and bythemselves on their own behalf. This is the subl ime and glorious end at which we and they areconstantly to aim .

These are, indeed, remarkab le words which wehave been studying . Too many of u s, i t is to befeared, l ike David may have lost the j oy of salva

t ion . Many start out with enthusiasm and vigor

in the Christ ian l ife and run well for a season ;they then drop out ofthe Christ ian race and seldomfrequent the ways of Zion . Their conduct is one

of the greatest sorrows in pastoral l ife . Were apastor to look only on that s ide of h is work h isheart would break with it s cont inuous aching .

He would feel disposed to surrender his commission

,and never to counsel his younger brethren to

enter the Christ ian min istry. But w e ough t nott o look only on that side of Christ ian l ife and

work . Others begin well, cont inue loyal, and endthe Christ ian course in triumph . Doubtless

,how

ever, there are those present this morn ing wh o are

264 THE ROYAL PEN ITENT

walking in gloom . They remember w ith a welldefined longing the j oy of their first love. They

dwell occasionally with sadness upon the j oy which

they experienced in the day of their espousal toChrist

,and occasionally they pray as does the psalm

ist , that the j oy of salvat ion might be restored .

This is an appropriate prayer . Is there on e pres

ent from whom the l ight of God’

s countenance iswithdrawn ' There really i s no mystery in this

experience ; there is here a relat ion between causeand effect which is as invariable as in other relat ion s in l ife . The cause of our spirit ual darkness

may readily be dis covered, and it may be wholly

removed . Be frank with yourself be honest with

God ; face the matter in a genuine and manly way .

With a deep sense both of privilege and duty re

move the cause ; no Christ ian can have j oy who

l ives away from God . As well might a man ex

pe ct l ight and heat from the sun while he ins ist ed

upon l iving in a dark cave . How unreasonable he

would be to complain of the dampness, darkness,and death wh ich he would experience, while he re

solut e lyrefused t o come out of the cave into God’ s

sun sh ine . 0 man , the l ight of God’ s reconciled

countenance may be l ift ed upon thee ; let that

l ight fall now upon thine own upturned face . Come

out of the dark cave of self and sin ; let the sun

sh ine Of God give thee a bapt ism of bless ing inl ight and warmth to -day. Never did father waitfor the return of his prodigal son with the gentle

ness and loving-kindness with which God will re

THE PRACT ICAL TH I NKER

'thought on my ways, and turned myfeet unto thy testi

m onies. Ps. 1 1 9 5 9 .

270 THE PRACT I CAL TH I NKER

conversion and perhaps it is a descript ion of the

author ’ s own rel igiou s experience . The first st ep

in a true rel igiou s l ife he took when he began to

reflect on the course he was pursuing and thecharact er he was forming. Then he paused

,as

did the prodigal son, wh o reflect ed on his former

life and h is present condit ion . Such reflect ion al

most invariably precedes the return to duty and

to God . There is hope for a man when he comes

earne sty to look at the tendency of h is l ife, and

at th e consequences which must inevitably follow

disobedience t o God . A s a result of the refle c

t ion suggested in the fifty-n inth verse

,w e have

the actual obedience described in the sixt ieth

verse, and the confession in the fifty- seventh verse .

Let us notice the truth s t aught in the text in the

order of their presentat ion .

1 . We have th e fact of earnest though t— “ I

though t”on my w ays . The power of thought is

man ’ s royal prerogat ive ; it all ies him to angelsand to God . It is one of the evidences that he

was created in the image of God and for compan

ionsh ip with God ; God recognizes the glory and

divin ity of t his superb endowment and he appeal s

to th is angel ic possess ion . We therefore have GodSpeaking to us through I saiah , saying, “ Come

now, and l et us reason together, saith the Lord ;though your sins . be as scarlet , they shall be as

White as snow ; though they be red l ike crimson,they shall be as wool . God does not hes itat e t o

submit h is claims to the considerat ion of thought

THE PRACTI CAL TH I N KER 27 1

ful men and women . In another passage in

I saiah w e are rem inded of the dist inct ion betweenGod ’ s thought s and ours : “ For my thoughts are

not your thoughts, neither are your ways my

ways,saith the Lord . For as the heavens are

higher than the earth, so are my ways h igher than

your ways, and my thought s than your thoughts .”

I t i s the glory of man that he should th ink God ’ s

thoughts . When science is studied with a t ruly

reverent spirit , whether . it be astronomy, geology,botany, or any other natural sc ience, the student is

really th inking God ’ s thoughts . He is to some

degree l iving over again God ’ s life. All great ad

vancem en t s in invent ion are but the incarnat ions

of thought . The whole world was once a thought

in the mind of God ; the world to-day is that

thought materialized . The Corl i ss engine was

once a thought in the mind of it s inventor . Tel e

graphs, t elephones, and phonograph s were once

thoughts, dreams, ideas ; they are now these

thoughts , dreams, and ideas tran slat ed into vis ible, l egible, audible, and pract ical forms . Much

has already been accomplished in the way of in

t e lle ctual development , when men are induced to

think . Great thought s sometimes come plowing

their way through the soul , bringing al iment tothe brain ; such thoughts mark a blessed epoch inhuman experience . For such experiences as these,men ought to be profoundly grateful such thoughtsl ift u s to a higher plane of l ife and enable us more

fully to apprec iat e our kinship with God.

272 THE PRACT I CAL TH I N KER

But thought i s too seldom exerc ised in regardto divine things . One of th e charges which Godbrought against his people in ancient t imes wastheir want of thought concerning his claim s andtheir own duties . He was obliged to say

,

“ The

ox knoweth h is owner, and the ass his master ’ s

crib ; but I srael doth not know,my people doth

not consider. ” His people would not understandh is purposes regarding them and their privileges

t oward -him . They often exh ibit ed the dullness

and insens ib il ity of animal s rather than the re

sponsive affection of children . The same thoughtwas more than once in the m ind of the great

Teacher . He echoed in h is Sermon on the Mount

the Charge made in I saiah hundreds of years b e

fore . There is no lack o f Opportun it ies of thought

if men will but keep their eyes,ears

,and hearts

open . The whol e world is voiceful of God ’s

thoughts t o him who is attent ive to the heavenly

speech . Christ made the l il ies of th e field preach

ers to unduly anxiou s h eart s Cons ider the l il ies

Of the field how they grow, said the teacher who

spake as never man spake . He found a text in

every inc ident of l ife, however famil iar . To him

the whol e earth was a vast cathedral, resonant

with the voice and radiant with the glory of God .

The stars,the flowers

,the seasons, providences ,

and varied exper iences, all declare God’ s presence

and reveal h is purpose,if w e are but obedient to

their inst ruct ion . But men disl ike to think on re

ligious things . They do not dare to go with a

274 THE PRACT I CAL TH I N KE R

like a man in a dream he was l ike a man wh o had

been stunned, l ike a man wh o was paralyzed, l ike

a man wh o was hypnot ized . There was hope forhim the moment h e fully real ized h is wretched

condit ion . The moment that on e comes to h is true

self he comes to God ; and when he comes t o God

he also finds a st ill higher self ofwhich previously

he had been ignorant . When the fascinat ing spell

of s in i s broken , we may expect t o se e the liberated

soul turn to God .

2 . We notice th e subj ect of thoug h t on th e part

of the psalm is t on my ways .

” This certainlywas a very personal subj ect of thought . I t is easy

enough t o think upon the ways of other men, but

extremely difficult to think on our own ways when

they are evil ways . Love of evil bl inds u s to the

nature of evil ; l ove of evil warps our j udgment

and thu s vit iates it s decis ions . There is n o diffi

culty in finding many men wh o are greatly con

cerned regarding the doubtful ways of otherpeople . They earnestly inqu ire, what shall

others do' They are able to give instruct ion t o

others , but are unwill ing to apply the same in

st ruct ion to their own sinfu l courses . I t is humil

iating th at we are so oft en ready to se e th e mote in

our brother ’ s eye when w e are utterly ignorant of

the beam in our own eye . We can readily set up

a standard of conduct for other church -members

t o which w e are utterly unwill ing to conform our

own l ives .

'

The Apost le Peter was great ly con

cerned regarding the future of the Apostle John .

THE PRACT I CAL TH I N KER 275

We need not charge Peter with mere curios itywhen in regard to John he asked the quest ion

,

Lord,and what shall th is man do' Christ had

j ust predicted the sort of death which Peter shouldundergo ; and now Peter becomes extremely curious as t o the manner in which John should die .

We may well bel ieve that h is quest ion arose from

motives of t rue friendsh ip, rather than was

prompted by mere cu rios ity or by unfraternal

j ealousy . Nevertheless the answer of Christ was,“What is that to thee ; fol low thou me .

” The

rebuke implied in our Lord ’ s an swer we ought all

t o feel when we neglect our own duty because of

inquiries regarding the dut ies of other men . I t isso easy to condemn in our brother what we con

done in ourselves .I t is t o be observed al so that our ways is a very

broad subj ect of thought . It touches our l ife at

many points ; our “ ways in this sense would include our ent ire l ife What subj ect s of thoughtw e have in our ways of neglect of divine dut ies'We must with sham e often reflect on our ways of

Open , willful , and cont inuous transgress ion . Wehave sinned against l ight and opportunity. We

have disobeyed God when h is will was clearly re

vealed and our duty was strongly emphasized .

We have broken our own most sol emn promisesto God and our frequent pledges to ourselves . We

have earnestly det ermined to abandon certain

courses of conduct, and yet we have found ourselves return ing to them

, not-withstanding our


promises and our prayers . The language of theApostle Paul

,O wretched man that I am wh o

shal l del iver me from the body of this death '”

has often been the most appropriate vehicle of

our emot ion s . Reflect ion on our “ ways ” in al l

these respect s may well bring the b lush of shameto our cheeks . I t would be easy to speak withseverity of others were it not that consciencerebukes us for s imilar forms of disobedience . We

ought also to think of our ways in their rela

t ion to God ’ s mercy . How long-suffering God has

been toward us' How pat ient in the midst of

our neglect of him and our open violat ion of h is

commands' The memory of h is goodness oughtto lead us to deep repentance . Let us returnagain unto God from our numerous wanderings .Reflect ion on our ways is also a very humiliating

subj ect of thought . The psalmist turned his

ways upside down when they became the subj ect

of earnest reflect ion , becau se previou s to that

t ime they had been wrong side up . The word

impl ies that he deeply pondered them , that he

viewed h is conduct on al l it s s ides ; and that h edwelt upon the course he had pursued with fixed,abiding

,and penetrat ing thought . Some suppose

that there is a referen ce here t o the work of em

broidering,where the figure must appear the same

on both sides The work must be very exact,

every flaw must be covered or removed, and inorder that the work may be carefully done, thecloth must be turned on each side as often as the

278 THE PRACTI CAL TH I N KER

and he will have mercy upon him and to our God,for he will abundantly pardon .

” To get out of

self is t o get into God. To act withou t duethought is fool i shness ; bu t to th ink without rightact ion is s infulness . This turn ing is indeed byGod ’ s loving help, for without him we can do noth

ing . But let it never be forgotten that it is manwho turns, man who repents , man wh o changes,and man wh o returns unto God whom he

“

had long

neglected.

I t i s observable, also, that this is a practicalturn ing. We are told that the psalmist turned his

feet unto God ’ s test imonies . He was not sat isfiedwith turning h is hands ; the hand can be turned

when the body is not moved. He was not sat is

fied with turn ing the eye the eye may be turned

when even the head is but l itt l e moved . He turnedhis heart toward God and then h is feet moved in

obedience to the will of God. The desire of his

soul was toward God ’ s test imonies, and then h is

outward act ion corresponded with his inward de

cision . To turn the feet is to return the wholebody . Strictly speaking, there is a difference b etween conversion and regenerat ion . Regenerat ionis the inward experience ; conversion is the out

ward express ion . Regenerat ion is the act of

God ’ s Spirit working through th e t ruth on theheart ; conversion is the obedience of that heartto the wil l of God as made known by the wordand Spirit of God. We are , while enemies t oGod

,walking with our backs toward him and our

THE PRACTI CAL TH I N KER 279

faces toward evil ; when w e l isten aright to thedivine voice w e “ right about face, turn ing our

backs to sin and our faces t oward t ruth, purity,God, and heaven . Convers ion is a most practical

act in our ent ire being . When it really takes

place it cannot be misunderstood by any intel l igentobserver . May God help al l to day wh o have not

yet turned toward God, to “ right about face at

this moment , to reverse the course of their l ives,

and t o walk in the narrow path which leads toeverlast ing life

This was al so a prompt as well as a personal and

a pract ical turn ing ; for the psalmist made h ast eand delayed not to turn his feet unto God ’ s test imonies . All t rue reformation implies regenerat ion .

Regenerat ion reveal s it self in convers ion . Doubt

les s the psalmist had often hesitat ed, previous to

the conversion described in the text and context ;but now there was no delay. He offered noexcuse . Procrast inat ion i s not only the th ief Oft ime

,but the murderer of souls . He did not

defer duty t il l “ a more conven ient season .

Neither ought we . I never will urge unconverted

m en and women to go home, to read the Bible,and t o pray ; they may not l ive t o reach their

homes . N ow i s the day of salvat ion ; now is the

accepted t ime . Instant and uncondit ional surrender t o God is the duty and privil ege of every un

converted man and woman . I dare not compro

mise with you at this point . If all convicted sin

ners immediately turned to God with their whole


heart s, they would be immediately converted .

The trouble with men is that they delay, that theywill not break away from their sin s, that they

excuse themselves for their evil courses and thusrefuse to seek God . Like Fel ix, they are ask ingfor a more “ convenient season . Conversion oughtto begin in serious considerat ion, and such con sid

e rat ion we may h Ope will end in true conversion .

Most suggest ive are the words of the sixt iethverse . The original which is t ranslated “ delayed

not”is more emphat ic than can well be expressed

in Engl ish speech . The psalmist really says,I

did not stand “ what , what , what t ing. The

thought is often expressed by us when we saythatwe were not guilty of shilly shallying.

” Would

to God that al l who hear me th is day would so act

that the language, descript ive of the psalmist ’ s

course, could be t ruthfully appl ied to their con

duct ' Behold the Father whom you have so

l ong despised and disobeyed' He stands wait ing,O prodigal, to welcome thee home . He has come

out to meet thee. He is ready to fall upon thy

neck with the kiss of love and the words of for

given ess . I beseech you al l to come hom e today. Think on your ways ; turn your feet unto

God ’ s test imonies ; make haste and delay not tokeep his commandments ; and as God l ives, his

peace shall c ome into your heart , his j oy into yourl ife, and the assurance of acceptance with him

now and of dwell ing forever with him hereaft er,will be your sweet experience .

XVIII

NCE more we greet w ith garland, song, andprayer, our risen, victorious, and ever-blessed

Redeemer. We prostrate ourselves at h is feet ,while his All hail salutes our ear. Every Sunday is the Lord ’ s Day

,and commemorates h is re s

urre ct ion ; but it i s fitt ing that once a year we

should earnestly and tenderly emphas ize this glorious fact .The sign ificance of Easter it is difl‘icult to over

est imate . It is the Christ ian Passover, and thegreatest of all the holy days of th e Christ ian

church .

I t was long bel ieved that Christ would on East ermorning come again in power and in great glory.

In the Russ ian Church , after impress ive cerem o

nies during the night, the day begins with thej ub ilant salutat ion , The Lord is risen

” and the

j oyous response i s made, “ He is risen indeed .

To-day angels m ight well sing anew thei r songs of

praise to their Lord and our Redeemer ; to day theF irst Begotten from the dead comes forth from thecOnflict crowned with victory ; to -day hell and thegrave are defeated ; to-day th e kingdom of dark

ness is spoiled ; to day the Son ofMan is declared

with power to be the Son of God ; tod ay the churchwears the robes and crown of royalty and glory.

283

284 THE EMPTY TOMB

All hail the day when our divine King marches

forth bearing in h is girdle the keys of death and

hell, and wearing on his brow the crown of tran

scenden t victory'This morn ing I shall ask you tovisit the emp ty tomb of our Lord and Redeemer.We shall find there much of interest and instruct ion, and much to suggest thoughts of grat itude and

love, thought s of certain triumph and of blessed

victory.

I t will be profitable for us to meditat e for a l it

t l e on the invitat ion given in this passage . I t isin teresting to observe at the out set that it is theinvitat ion of an angel . The angels were our Lord ’ s

devout worshipers before he left the bosom of the

Father and the courts of heaven to become the

Saviour of men . Angel s followed him on his

downward j ourney from the throne of God to th emanger in Bethlehem . They made, In solo and in

chorus, celest ial music on the n ight when the

Christ was born . Doubtles s they were Often with

h im during his earthly soj ou rn . We may well

believe that they honored the scene of his baptismby their seraphic presence. We know that they

ministered unto h im amid the trials, the humil iat ions

,and the agon ies of Gethsemane ; and now

we find them keeping watch at hi s grave . Onewas at the head and the other at th e foot of the

place where the Lord had lain . An angel rolled

back the stone from the door and'

sat upon it ;an angel whose countenance was l ike l ightning,and whose raiment was whit e as snow . No w on

286 THE EMPTY TOMB

ofd ivinity and human ity, as i s the tomb of J esus

Christ . Tell us no t of Palest ine’ s tomb s of the

Rings, no t of India ’ s glorious Taj , not of I taly’

s

Campo Santo, not of Russ ia’ s tombs of the Czars,

not of France ’ s Pere la Chai se, no t of Scotland’ s

Necropol is nor of her Greyfriars ’ churchyard,no t

of England ’ s Frogm ore and Westminst er Abbey,Joseph ’

s t omb is th e tomb Of humanity and the

tomb of divinity . I t is the unique tomb of the

world .

The world is now beginn ing to recognize Christ

as it s profoundest thinker, it s wisest l eader, and

its divinest su fferer . He is rul ing the thoughts of

men to day with a kingly sceptre and with an ir

res ist ibl e power. The world will n ever go beyond

the Sermon on the Mount either for breadth of

thought,clearness of vision , tenderness of state

ment , or d ivineness of spir it . Christ rules to-day

as king on the throne because once h e died as a

sacrifice on the cross . This is the tomb of theworld ’ s greatest man . Compared with him all

other great men shrink into in significance , and the

lustre of their geniu s is lost in darkness . Whywill m en worsh ip heroes , and refuse to give the

homage of their heart s to J esu s Christ Why will

men glorify th e dest royers of l ife, and refu se to

give their love to h im wh o came not t o dest roy,but t o save ' Why will they glorify weak and sin

ful men , and refuse to give glory t o h im whoseperfect ion as man is without spot , and whose di

vin ity is clearly proved by his perfect human ity'

THE EMPTY TOMB 287

This is a sweet and blessed spot . We cannotaccept this invitat ion l iteral ly to-day, because the

hand of t ime, the hand ofthe infidel, and the hand of

the vandal has so obscured the place that we can

not be sure of its l ocat ion . Little did the angelswh o first gave that invitation know that it wouldsound through the ages t o come, and would finally

reach our ears in this far-off country and in th isdistant century . The invitat ion i s sweet to our

ears, notwithstanding the uncertaint ies regarding

the local ity and the changes in its charact erist ics .Never was grave so charmful as that of the Sonof God. He has perfumed it by his presence .

Sweeter breath than that borne upon the gales of

Ceylon salutes u s as w e are con scious of the holyfragrance of that blessed tomb . Our divine Lordnever saw corrupt ion . Sweet and blessed is th is

tomb . Voiceful is i t in it s silence, and eloquentin it s emptiness, as with the loving women w e

draw near to it th is morning in Obedience t o the

invitat ion of the angel s .Standing beside th is empty tomb there is much

Of int erest that w e may Observe . The now saintedSpurgeon , in on e of h is earl ier sermon s

,called at

t ent ion to the fact that it i s a costly tomb . Hewas quit e right in emphasizing this fact . No com

mon grave was that of our divine Lord . His wasnot the grave of a pauper ; he was buried in nopotter ’s field ; his was truly the tomb of a king.

The prophecy was m ade seven hundred years b efore that h e should make “ his grave with the

288 THE EM PTY TOM B

wicked,and with the rich in h is death . Nothing

apparently could be more unlikely of fulfillment

than this ancient prophecy ; but it was fulfilled to

the very letter. A princely tomb was the tomb of

the Prince of Life . This fact is the more wonder

ful when we remember that in l ife he had not

where to lay h is head . No sumptuous palace was

his, no crown of gold, no sandals of s ilver were h is .Why does h e not fi ll a pauper ’ s grave'Whyshould he be with the r ich in h is death 'Whyshould many difficult ies in the fulfi llment of that

ancient proph ecy be overcome‘ that our divin e Lord

might sleep in a new and costly tomb ' I s there

not here a sweet suggest ion for every t rue bel iever'If J esus is to be buried, the rich Joseph of Arim ath ea and Nicodemus of the Sanhedrin shall as

s i st in that burial . His work of expiat ion is nowfinished . No more shall shame, buffet ing, and

reproach be visited upon h is sacred person . When

he said,

“ I t i s finished,h is experience of con

tempt , contumely, and ignominy from men is ended .

His body wil l be embalmed with precious spicery

and robed in costly shroud for the tomb of honor,

and no t the tomb of disgrace . Courtly hands will

bear the sacred head, and w omanly tenderness w ill

wipe the pierced brow ; and thus with love and

reverence wil l th e sacred body be laid in the n ew

hewn sepulchre . Loving hearts will follow as

mourners,and the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea

will become the tomb of J esus the King .

We Observe also that thi s t omb is in a garden .

290 T HE EM PTY TOMB

If we observe more closely w e shal l s ee that thegrave clothes are arranged in order, and the napkin

is laid in a place by it self. These fact s are full of

suggest ion to every thoughtful m ind. We see

clearly that th is t omb was not rifled,that Christ

d id not hast ily arise,and that loving hands disposed

of the cerement s of the grave,and folded by itself

the napkin that was around h is thorn -pierced brow.

Doubtles s our Lord Showed in th is way h is appre

ciat ion of order and propriety, and thus taught le sson s of homely in struction while he was proving

t ruths ofhighest and divinest importance . Clumsywas the story told by the soldiers that his disciples

stole him away while they sl ept . Th e condit ion

of the t omb was it self a contradict ion to their fool

ish affi rmat ion . Glorious was the rising from the

grave,and amid it s maj est ic element s was regard

for the propriet ies of l ife in these humble detail s .No human eye saw Christ rise ; th e angels did not

say that they saw him rise . Evermore in s ilence

are God ’ s subl imest deeds wrought . Perhaps wh en

the angel rol led away the st one and sat upon it,the divine Lord came forth without haste

,without

conq Ion , in the calmness of consc ious power, and

in the maj esty Of divin e achievement .All th e surroundings of the tomb are ful l of

suggest ion . I t was cut in a rock, as was fit t ingfor the temporary rest ing-place of him wh o i s the

Rock of Ages . I t was a new tomb , as became

h im of virgin mother born , and of unique l ife as

well as unique bi rth . Had another ever been

THE EMPTY TOM B 29 1

buried in that tomb it m ight have been claimed,as in the case of the man wh o touched E l isha

’ s

bones, that so Christ arose from the dead ; but

none other ever slept in that tomb . I t was re

served for th e exclus ive use of the mighty m on

arch of death ’ s domain as of earth ’ s domin ion .

We may wel l bless God for all the c ircumstancesof that wondrous burial, th at costly t omb , and th is

glorious resurrect ion . Joseph intended the tomb

for h is own family ; but it b ecame the tomb of

heaven ’ s king, and so is immortal among thetombs of earth .

We observe al so, and ch iefly, that th is is now

an empty tomb . The angels invit e the women to

come that they may behold the place where the

Lord lay, not where the Lord lies . This is the

greatest and sublimest truth ever taught the ch il

dren of men . The doctrine of our Lord ’ s resur

rect ion is the foundat ion stone of th e Christ ian

church, and that st one is laid in the empty graveof J esus Christ . Nothing i s more certain than

that Jesu s Christ was truly dead . In that rocky

tomb , mot ionless and dead, the mighty Redeemerlay ; and nothing is more certain than that this

dead Christ arose from the grave t o d ie no more .

As well might we attempt to deny the existence of

Caesar or Napoleon as the resurrect ion of Jesus

Christ than that no h istorical even t is more certain . He burst Caesar ’ s seal , and proved that therocky walls of Joseph ’s tomb could not imprisonthe Lord of l ife and glory .

29 2 THE EM PTY TOMB

The resurrect ion of Christ h as changed the

l iterature, the sculpture, the paint ing, and themusic of the church and of the world . I t t eachesu s great lessons, some of which we do well to em

phasize as we stand to—day bes ide this empty tomb .

We here receive conclusive proofs of the divinenature of the Redeemer . Proofs enough h e gave

during his l ifet ime that he was t ruly the Son of

God and the Saviour of men . But h is words were

misunderstood, misint erpret ed , and rej ected . H is

resurrect ion , however, must convince al l candid

inquirers and at least s il ence al l capt iou s cavilers .This effect it seems to have produced when the

apostles first went forth to declare the mighty fact .

Christ had himself rested all h is claims to be the

Son of God upon the subl ime fact of his re surre ct ion . Had he not been truly the Son of God he

never would have come forth from the tomb of

Joseph . When challenged to give a proof of h isclaims

,he referred to h is own resurrect ion from

the dead . His resurrect ion was, therefore, a ful

fillm en t of h is own prophecies, as well as the

working of the great est of miracles .

His resurrect ion is also a proof that his work

of atonement was accepted by God the Father .I t was the Father ’ s seal upon the atoning work ofthe Son . Not on the cross, but rather in the

tomb,did that work reach it s complet ion . In the

tomb the great batt le was fully fought and thesubl ime victory gloriou sly won . Then it was that

the Son of David was declared with power to be

294 THE EMPTY TOMB

Who can so bel ieve' Deny the resurrect ion andyou cannot account for the church . This fact

any man may safely affirm in the presence of anystudent of history . Y ou may safely challenge anym an who denies the resurrect ion of Christ toaccount for th e existence of the church . N o

sen s ible man wil l accept the chal lenge . Nothing

is more logical or sublime than the Apostle Paul ’sreasoning in 1 Cor. 1 5 , when he says that “ if

Christ be no t ri sen, then is our preach ing vain,and your faith i s al so vain . But he glor iously

affirms that Christ is ri sen , and he exult s in thefact that our faith i s no t vain .

One other and more personal lesson we maylearn as we stand bes ide thi s empty grave . Christ ’ s

resurrect ion is a prophecy and proof ofour re surre ct ion . He is the only one instance of a complete

vict ory over death in his own person . He met death

in his own domain , and won in that dark territory

h is glorious victory. Hitherto death was an in exorable tyrant

,never bribed by tears and never melted

by beauty . He st ruck h is deadly blow and hu

man i ty fell before h is power. Enoch and E l ij ah

really won no victory over death, for they neverreally grappled with th is foe . They were t ranslated without meet ing h im on the field of confl ict .

There is proof that the ruler ’ s daughter, the wid

ow ’ s son,and Lazarus

,were rescued for a t ime

from the power of death ; but death afterwardclaimed them for his own . Christ alone of womanborn

,ever grappled with the mighty wrestler death ,

THE EMPTY TOMB 29 5

and overcame h im in h is own dark domain . Death

never before had such a vis itant in h is silent realms .Jesus wrenched the sceptre of empire from his

hand, and took the crown of domin ion from h is

brow. Jesus won a full and final victory leavingthe sepulchre that morning to return no more forever . Nothing but that empty tomb remained to

tell that once the Son ofGod slept on this rocky

bed .

We thus have a sweet ly personal interest in thisvictory . Christ won it n ot for himself alone . A s

he died for us, so he rose for us. Our re surre c

t ion depends upon h is . Fast as th e grave seemsn ow to shut in our beloved, it is doomed to relax

it s grasp . When men say that the sc ient ific ob

j ect ion s are such that they cannot bel ieve in the

doctrine of the resurrect ion , we have simply to ask

them, Did Jesu s rise ' This is a quest ion of fact .I s it t rue' There are, all admit, difficult ies in thedoctrine of our resurrect ion . They are inexplicable ; but were there not also difficult ies in the

resurrect ion of Christ'The difficult ies in the caseof a general resurrect ion are not great er, from astrictly scient ific point of View, than those in the

case of the resurrect ion of Jesu s . To bel ieve thathe died and rose again is scient ifically as difficultas t o bel ieve that we die and may ris e again . Hewh o denies that the dead can rise must also denythat Christ did rise. But now is Chris t r isen .

Then w e t oo may arise . Empty as was Joseph ’st omb , so em pty shal l al l the tombs of the world be

296 THE EMPTY TOMB

when the archangel ’ s trump shall sound . All hail,then , thou risen Jesus' Thou art he wh o oncewas dead

,but who now liveth forevermore . At

thy girdle are the keys of death and hell . March

forward,thou mighty Conqueror, in thy subl ime

victory' Let all th e bell s of heaven ring on thisglad Easter morn ing . With Christ w e bear the

cross with h im we shall be buried in the grave

with h im w e shall r i se in t riumph ; and with h im

w e shall s it on the throne to die no more but to

rej oice forever in the triumphs thou hast won

thou Christ of God, blessed forevermore.

And when th e day of Pen te cost w asfully co'

m e , they w ere

a ll w ith one accord in one p lace . And suddenly th ere cam e

a sound from h eav en as of a rush ing w ind, and it

fi lled all th e h ouse w here they A cts 2

E to-day celebrate with appropriate serviceswhat is known in some churches as Whit

sunday. I t is well known that this name refers t o

the white garment s worn by candidates for bap

t ism , or worn by those who had been recentlybapt ized . I t is a fest ival of the church in com

memorat ion of the descent of the Holy Ghost onthe day of Pentecost . Although not observed very

early in the church , it came to be one of th e most

prominent of all the sacred feasts . In the early

church, in some instances, the ent ire peri od from

Easter to Pentecost was Observed as a j oyous occa

sion . I t was a t ime of thanksgiving, because of

the exaltat ion of Christ to the right hand of God .

In some port ion s of the church this period wasconsidered as a cont inuous Sunday . I t was al so

marked by an absence of fast ing, and of kneel ing

at all the public prayers . I t was considered at ime of holy j ubilat ion .

We must not allow ourselves to suppose that

the Holy Spirit was not in the world unt il thisPentecost . From the very beginning of creat ionthe Spirit was active, both in the c reat ion of theuniverse and in the re creat ion ofmen . But whenPentecost was fully come the Spirit came withgreater fullness of l ife than ever before . He has

299

300 THE PULPI LLED PENTECOST

dwelt in the church ever s ince . This is,in a

spec ial sense, the dispen sat ion of the Holy Ghost .Christ promised to send another Comforter, as one

of h is ascension gift s . The work of God the

Father was especial ly marked previous to the incarnat ion of the Son . The work of God the Soncont inues now at the right hand of God S ince h is

ascension and enthronement , and the work of God

the Spirit , on the day of Pentecost , marked anew era in the divine manifestat ion and economy .

There is in the divine plan a fullness of t ime for

the manifestat ion of each person in the blessed

Trin ity .

The day of Pentecost is the beginning of thesecond period in the New Testament d ispensat ion .

We speak of Chri stmas as th e b irthday of the

Lord w e may speak of Pentecost as th e birthday

of his church . A s the birthday of Christ was proclaimed by angelic voices chant ing his praises

,so

the birthday of th e church was proclaimed by

human vo ices chant ing h is praises in the various

tongues of earth . Christmas marked the incarna

t ion of the Son ; and Pentecost the incarnat ion of

the Spirit . Ever s ince bel ievers have been his

temple .

1 . In the study of this subj ect it is wel l for us,in the fi rst plac e, t o emphasize the tim e of the

Spirit ’ s coming . We have every reason to bel ieve

that the Spirit came on the first day of the week .

Honor was thus for th e second t ime done to thisday . Not only did it mark the resurrect ion of our

30 2 TH E FULF I LLED PE NTE COST

suppl icat ion , Mary the moth er of Jesus being one

of th e number . On some former occasion s therehad been j ealousies and envyings among the dis

ciple s but these are now ent irely gone . There are

now no schisms , no Opposing interests, no discord

ant ambit ions . There is here a beaut iful p icture

of earnest devot ion and of un ited suppl icat ion .

Mary the mother of Jesus has cast in her lot with

the apostles and is also a suppliant at the feet of

her divine S on and Lord . We have here one of

the finest examples of earnest prayer wh ich the

word of God anywhere gives u s . The disciples

h ad fol lowed their Master to the eastern decl ivity

of the mount of O lives . While the words “ t o the

uttermost part of the earth are on h is l ips he is

parted from them . They steadily watch him as

with uplift ed hands he pronounces h is bless ing, andth en they se e him moving subl imely upward , all th e

laws of gravitat ion submitt ing to h is higher au

th ority. The everlast ing doors lift up their heads

and the King of glory triumphantly enters . Within

the veil he receives the worsh ip which is his due,and on the earth his disc iples l ift up their prayers

and praises in h is name This was a wonderful

experience even for the disc iples . They now un

de rstand what he meant when he said , “Whatso

ever ye shal l ask the Father in my name, he willgive it you .

” During the forty days he spent upon

the earth he Opened to them the Scriptures theynow saw as n ever before what hi s death meant ,and that there was to be no more t empl e and no

TH E FULF I LLED PENTECOST 303

more altar. Perhaps they expected that the Spiritwould come almost immediately upon the Lord ’ s

departure ; but day after day passes unt il a week

is gone . Not many days,” said the Mast er

,and

so they wait and pray and pray and wait .Never had such prayers ascended from earth t o

heaven as these . E ight days are gone ; t en days

are gone' I s the promise t o be broken ' Whatdid Christ mean when he said, “ Tarry ye in thec ity of J eru salem, unt il ye be endued with power

from on high But God ’ s children never wait

and never pray in vain . The promise is near the

fulfi llment ; the day of Pentecost is dawning ; the

longing of their heart s will be fully met . There

is some work for them during the interval of ten

days between the ascension of Christ and the effusion of the Spirit . An apostle is to be elected inth e room of J udas wh o had fallen . This work

done, they cont inue to wait for the Spirit as theywh o wait for the morning . They are sure of h iscoming, but they wil l not relax their earnest prayersand will not cease their continuou s wait ing . Per

severing prayer and unity of purpose are divinely

appointed means for Opening the heaven s . Throughthe cloud

,which shut out the ascending Lord from

the strained eyes of th e disciples, the incen se of

prayer may rise and the dews of blessing may fall .Thus they wait and thus they pray .

The chief note of t ime, however, for the com ingof the Spirit is that the day of Pentecos t was fullycome . We know that the word Pentecost l iterally

304 THE FULF I LLED PENTECOST

means the fift ieth of something ; but the Greekadj ect ive finally came to be used as a substant ive

and is so used in th i s connect ion . I t was appl iedto the fest ival which occurred fifty days after the

Passover. We know that this feast was also called

the feast ofweeks,” and the feast of harvest , or

first -fruit s . Noth ing could be more importantthan that the Spirit should descend on the occa

sion of the historic feast . According to the Jewish t radit ion , as we learn from Maimonides , th is

feast commemorated the giving of the law on

Mount Sinai, which event occurred on the fift ieth

day after the departure of Israel from Egypt . I twas the fift ieth day after the s ixteenth of Nisan ,and was bel ieved to be the very day on which the

law was given on Mount Sinai. Pentecost was

on e of the three yearly feast s prescribed in the

Mosai c law . The select ion of these three periods

was not arb it rary, but in strict harmony with nat ional events and with the changing seasons .

Noth ing could be more beaut iful than the connect ion between the descent of th e Spirit and the cru

c ifixion of Christ on th e - one hand, and the relat ion

between the feast of the Passover and the feast of

Pentecost on the other hand . F ifty days after thepaschal lamb was slain God came in fire and flame

on Mount S inai inaugurat ing a new dispensat ion ,and fifty days after the t ru e Paschal Lamb was

slain God came again in fire and flame and inaugurated the dispensat ion of the Spirit . I t i s im pos

s ible to fail t o se e th e connect ion between these

306 THE FULF I LLED PENTECOST

scent of the Spirit, one appeal ing to the sense ofhearing, th is st range sound the other appeal ing

to the sense of sight , the tongues of flame. We

stand in awe of this mysterious sound . Whencecame it ' What m eans it ' IS it not the Lord

breathing upon his people ' Was not th is a supernatural s ign Of the divine presence ' Was no t thisinvisible witnes s m ight ily test ifying t o the presence

of the Holy Ghost'Was not this sound emblem

at ic of the mighty power of the d ivine Spirit '

May we not well imagine that the head of each

discipl e bowed reverent ly as th is strange soundwas heard ' Who among them could res is t the

convict ion that the mighty Spirit of the l iving God

was breathed upon them in fullness of bless ing

and in the maj esty of God himself'We are not surprised to l earn that th i s sound

fi lled al l the place where they were sitt ing. We

are to refer this expression to the sound rather

than t o th e wind, for i t i s not even affirmed that

there was any wind blowing . Far more terrificthan a tempest was th is windless sound . A sound

of wind when no wind was bl ow ing might well fillevery soul with holy awe. We are to bel ieve that

they were meet ing in a private dwelling rather

than in any part of the templ e . This sound was

symbolic of the presence of the all—pervading Spirit .Cyril of Jerusalem h as said , For as he wh o sinksdown into the waters and is baptized and is sur

rounded on all s ides by the waters, so al so they

were completely bapt ized by Spirit . Oh , mys

THE FULFI LLED PENTECOST 307

t e rious and blessed baptism'N ow the disc ipleswere receiving the divine enduement of power for

which they were to tarry in Jerusalem . Now they

will go forth with irresist ibl e power to declare the

story of redeeming love . Only as men are enduedwith power from on high can they so declare theglorious gospel that Christ shall be honored and

souls shall be redeemed .

The vis ible S ign of the Spirit ’ s presence wascloven tongues l ike as of fire .

” The word trans

lated cloven i s more correctly rendered by theword distributed .

” Painters have represent ed

these tongues as divided into two or more port ions

the form of the pope’

s cap was derived from an incorrect interpretat ion of this passage . The tongues

were not themselves cloven , but each tongue was

separated from a mass of seeming flame . Flamesnaturally assume the form of tongues , and so w e

have the expression , common in many l iteratures ,“ a lambent flame .

” These tongues were no t offire, but were “ l ike as of fi re ”

; they possessed

the brightness Without the burning of fire . OneOf the tongues sat on each of those present . Weknow that fire has ever been regarded as a striking

emblem Of deity . Thus God is said to have re

vealed h imself to Moses in the bu sh which burned,

bu t was no t consumed ; thus on Mount Sinai Goddescended in the midst of thunder, l ightning, smoke,and fire, st riking emblem s of h is presence and

power ; thu s startl ingly God is described as Consum ing F ire . We are famil iar also with the fact

30 8 THE FULF I LLED PENTECOST

that th e most famou s class ic writers frequent ly

represent their deit ies by fire and flame in various

form s . It was especially fitt ing that the Holy

Spirit should be so represented . The predictionof John the Bapt ist was, “ He shal l bapt ize with

the H oly Ghost and with fire . The purity and

the purifying power of the Spirit were thus strikingly set forth .

We cannot, however, fail t o observe the special

form of this flame. I t migh t naturally assume theform of a tongue ; and frequently reference is

made to “ the tongue of fire, suggest ing the thin ,long

,narrow point which flames naturally assume .

But in this in stance w e are warranted in seeing a

degree of s ignificance in the tongue-l ike form of

the flame . Not a shapeless flame is here presentedto our View, not Abraham

’ s lamp,nor the coal of

I saiah , but a tongue comes before u s . Over thehead of each one of that h onored group rest s a

tongue of flame . There i s a sense in which the

t ongue was to be the symbol of the dispensat ionnow inaugurat ed . Any form of fire would have

suggested the presence of God,but it s part icular

form taught an addit ional t ruth . Well has Will iam

Arthur said,Christ ian ity was to be a tongue of

fire . N ot by the printed page, mighty as it may

be for good and for God,but by the l iving voice

of the l iving preacher is the glorious gospel t o be

proclaimed . A tongue se t on fire Of the Holy

Ghost is a power neither man nor devil can resist .

The tongue,when consecrated to God, is the

3 1 0 TH E PULPI LLED PENTECOST

E l i sabeth, Zacharias, and John th e Baptist . There

were special and transient occasions o n which w ehear of persons be ing filled with the Holy Ghost .Now he is t o be the permanent indweller in God ’

s

people . His abiding presence is their j oyful privi

l ege . Previous to this the apostl es had enj oyed

only the ordinary influence of the Spirit, but now

his indwell ing in the largest measure . Now God ’ s

Spirit is put into al l h is people . In the early daythe Spirit of God strove with men both before

and after the flood ; but it was only when the S on

of God came to earth that the Spirit of God re

turned to earth in fullness . In the second Adamhe dwelt without measure, and now he sends down

the Spirit t o dwel l in this larger form with the dis

cip le s whom he left upon the earth . As vessel s

they were long prepared for . this infilling, and whenthe Spirit came on the day of Pentecost these pre

pared vessel s were fi lled to overflowing.

We read al so that they “ began to speak with

other tongues . How can we explain so wonder

ful an event' There have been many attemptsmade to deny or to modify thi s m i racle Some

have said that the m iracl e was not in the speaking

of the apostl es, but in the hearing of the people

but this cannot be, as the use of the tongues was

manifest ed before the hearers were met together.

Noth ing can be more certain from what follows

than that these discipl es actually spoke with other

tongues . We know that they did not merely speakin different dial ect s of the Greek language, for the

THE FULF I LLED PENTECOST 3 1 1

people were met from many lands and were of

many tongues . We here see that the disaster ofBabel was more than remedied by the bless ings

of Pentecost . Sin separated man from God andman from man . Salvat ion comes to unite men t oon e another and all men to God . Pentecost is the

divine remedy for Babel . The nat ive tongue of

many of the people was the barbarous dialect of

Gal ilee . Some indeed were acquainted with Greek

and Latin ; but there is no reason to th ink thatany were acquainted with the divers languages

represented on th is occasion . The natural meaning of the passage is that these disc ipl es . were

endued by the power of the Holy Ghost to speak

foreign languages . This abil ity was predicted in

the,

Old Testament ; it was also promised by theLord Jesus when b e commissioned his disc iples .

I t was vast ly important on th is occasion that the

gospel should be proclaimed in the languages of

those present at th is feast . We do no t , h owever,suppose that the disc iples used thi s miraculou sgift in their ordinary work . The Greek tongue

was so general throughout the Roman Empire thatthey could ordinar ily use it in their preaching ; but

the ability to speak in various languages minist eredmarvelously to the rapid spread of the gospel at

the pentecostal feast . The abil ity to speak inthese varied tongues on this occas ion carried the

gospel t o more people than could have beenreached by the ordinary ministrat ions of the wordfor a series of years . Pentecost was a great hill

3 I 2 THE FULF I LLED PENTECOST

top, and kindling the l ight thereon it shone out

across many lands and for the illuminat ion of

many peoples . I t i s glorious that these first disciple s were thus able to speak as the Spirit gavethem utterance, gl orious that each man could hearthe gospel in the language in which he was born .

I t is st ill th e duty of the ch urch to give the gospel to al l peoples, not only in the tongues of the

learned, but in the language of daily speech andof the common people . Oh , for the pentecostalbapt ism ' Oh, for the tongue of fire' Oh, forthe consc ious power of the Spirit as the culmina

t ion of the hopes of the past , and as the prophecy

of a glorious Pentecost as the n inet eenth centurycloses and the twent ieth century dawns'

H e sh a ll dw e ll on high h is p lace of defence sh all be th e

m un itions of rochs ; bread sha ll be g iv en h im ; h is w a ters

sha ll be sure . Th ine eyes sha ll se e th e King in h is beauty ;

th ey shall behold th e land th at is v e ryfar of: Isa . 3 3 1 6,

1 7.

RUE believer s need Oftener to contemplatetheir happy condit ion s and thei r bright

prospect s . They live on t oo low a plain ; theyforget their exalted posit ion as heirs of God and

j oint -heirs with J esus Chri st . They need to bereminded of the contrast between themselves andthe s inners in Zion

,

” even in the world that nowis, and espec ially so as they contemplate the worldbeyond . In the fourt eenth verse of this chapterw e are reminded that “ the sinners in Zion ” are

afraid, and that the hypocr ites are fi lled withalarm . This fear and alarm were produced by a

view of the j udgment of God on the army of

Sennacherib when , in a s ingle night by the blow

of the Almighty, one hundred and eighty-five

thousand men were slain . How then could thatwrath be borne forever ' In the fifteenth verse

the prophet p resent s to us a suggest ive contrastbetween the confidence of the righteous and the

fearfulness of the wicked . He al so gives us somestriking characterist ics of the righteous man . He

lives righteously ; he speaketh uprightly h is words

and act s are in perfect harmony with one another.He is no t false , s landerous , or impure in speech .

Another mark which he bears is h is abhorrence ofthe gain of fal se dealing in business . Stil l an

3 1 5

3 1 6 THE BEATIF I C V IS ION

other is that as a magistrate he wil l not stretchout h is hands for bribes, but wil l adj udge all causes

according to inherent j ust ice . St ill another is

that he will not will ingly l isten to proposals tocommit viol ence of any sort

,and w il l even shut

h is eyes from beholding the committal of viol ence

by others . In a word,he keeps himself from all

in iqu ity,lives a manly, honest , and godly l ife.

We then have in th e t ext a statement of God’

s

regard for men who live righteous lives, as those

l ives are set before us in the fifteenth verse . I t

is a matt er of great in terest to know h ow God

regards such men . I s he indifferent t o them '

Does he t reat them otherwise than as he treat s“ the s inners in Zion Many Christ ian men and

women at t imes feel that there is no profi t in serv

ing God . They se e th e righteous in bus iness

troubles,in family bereavements, and in physical

sufferings . Wicked men often spread themselves

as green bay t rees and it seems sometimes, as if

all that they do prospers . The psalmist was

carried away for a t ime by that thought ; and h is

experience is that of many consc ient iou s Chris

t ian s in our own day . But the p salmist saw that

the t ime came when the wicked passed away and

could not be found . He saw the t ransgressors

dest royed together,and then he l earned not to

fret because of evil-doers . He sweetly experienced

also the fact that those who wait upon the Lord

shall inherit th e earth . Th is l es son is beaut ifully

b rought out in our t ext and it s context .

3 I 8 THE BEATI FI C V IS ION

and crowns _them with unspeakable dign ity andglory.

The bel iever ’ s posit ion is a high one , when we

consider h is pecul iar bles sings . He is in the

world , but not of it ; he is pas-sing through it t ofairer and nobler worlds on high . He is God ’ s

beloved among the children of men . H is name

is writt en on the palms of God ’ s hands, so that

when the hand is Open God s ees the name, and

when the hand is closed God protect s h is child .

Young was right when he said, “A Christ ian isthe highest styl e of man . The Scriptures represent h im as flourish ing l ike the palm t ree

,as grow

ing l ike a cedar in Lebanon, and as fat and flour

ish ing even in old age . If Christ ians fully under

stood the glory which they have in possession,and

the greater glory which they have in promise, theywould be unable to conceal their j oy as they walk

among men . Their faces would ever smil e, theireyes ever sparkle, and the glory of the celest ial

c ity would flood their path with its heavenly l ight .There is a real sense in which w e may say, withbecoming humil ity, but with l iteral t ruth, that

every Christ ian is, in his measure, Christ to the

world . He shows more of the character of Godthan any other being this s ide the throne of God.

He h as t o do with the affairs of th is world, for heis a man among men ; but he is conscious of h is

inherent dignity and of h is inherited honor. H e

asks no favors of men because he is a Christ ian .

He does not abandon the world because he is a

THE BEAT I FI C V ISION 3 1 9

Christ ian to abandon the world is a coward’

s act .

He does not yield to the world ; to yield to the

world is a traitor ’ s part . He overcomes the world ;to overcome the world is a true Christ ian

’ s part .Others may be sat isfied with the dros s of earth ,but the Christ ian wants the gold of heaven ; others

may be sat isfied to look downward , but the Chris

t ian looks upward, onward, heavenward, Godward .

God is his father and heaven is his home .

2 . We Observe, in the second plac e, the b elieve r

’

s p rotection His place of defence shall be themunition s of rocks . Literal ly translated weshould have the express ion , “ the strongholds of

the rocks shal l be hi s fort ress . These are st irring words . The strongholds of the rocks were

often the fortress for David and other heroic H e

brews in the t ime of c ivil st rife and foreign inva

sion .

“The cleft s of the rocks, and the tops of

the ragged rocks, were oft en the home of brave

pat riots in Palest ine and in many other lands . In

the Highlands of Scotland and among the ruggedrocks of Spain courageous defenders remained un

conquered and unconqu erable notwithstanding the

fiercest onset s of the most formidable foes . Rockshave occupied a prominent place in the h istory of

the church . Here brave Covenanters found a

refuge when hunted by Claverhouse and his fierce

dragoons . Often the valleys of Scotland wereholy cathedral s, echoing the voices of heroes and

martyrs as they sang the psalms of David, exh ort ed the people, and prayed to God for strength

3 20 THE BEAT IF I C V IS ION

in their hours of trial . The world will never for

get the men wh o thus risked l ife and all that made

l ife dear rather than be disloyal to consc ience and

to God . The church will always be grateful that

God sometimes wrapped the mists and the clouds

of those rugged hill s around his saints to hide them

from their Satan ic foes . They found it to be

l it erally true that their plac e of defense was the

munit ions of rocks .Bel ievers may find it equal ly t rue even to th is

day . All God ’ s attributes are st rongholds for h ischildren . His omnipotence

,omnipresence, beney

olence , j ust ice, and hol iness, are places of defense

to his penitent , t rustful, and obedient children .

The elements in God ’s character which give alarm

to the S inners in Zion and to the fearful hypocrit es,are sources of comfort t o h is loving and loyal ch il

dren . We read in Prov . 1 8 1 0 ,

“The name ofthe Lord is a strong tower the righteous runneth

into it and is safe .

” God is a sanctuary to the

righteous when they are pursued by their foes .All his t it les and attributes, and all h is covenant s

and promises,const itute a tower, impenet rable, im

pregnable,and invincibl e . All his saint s know

that their security is in their God. May God help

us to find in h im , now and always, our sure pro tec

t ion from all our enemies'

3 . In the th ird place, w e not ice the believer’

s

p rov ision“ bread shall be given him , his waters

shall be sure .

” This promise has been l iteral lyfulfil led in the case of the maj ority of God

’

s

3 2 2 THE BEATIF I C V IS ION

Heaven , and the Water of Life . Apart from God

there is no true source of supply for the wants ofthe soul . Men wh o refuse to eat of this spir itual

food starve their soul s in the l ife that now is,and

utterly dest roy them for the l ife that i s to come .

It is unspeakably sad that they wil l st rive to feedupon the husks which are s imply the food of

swine, and will refuse the bread of heaven of

which angel s eat . God ’ s supply of temporal mercies i s but the suggest ion of our need and his supply of spiri tual l ife . The new-born soul des ires

the s incere milk of the word,that it may grow

thereby. I t afterward hungers for the bread of

heaven , the strong meat of faith, and the water

of l ife . The soul can no more l ive and thrive

without Spiritual food than can the body withoutnatural food . God has promised to give us our

spiritual meat in due season , as truly as our daily

bread . His grace wil l b e suffic ient for u s in every

hour of need, however great that need may be.He gives u s h is holy word to be the guide of our

l ives and the food of o ur soul s . He gives us thecommunicat ions of h is Spirit that we may under

stand the teachings of th e divine word and apply

them aright t o our spiritual necessit ies . Nothing

is more certain than that he will give us strengthaccording to our day ; than that he will strengthen

us with might in the inner man than that he will

su stain us in our spiritual confl ict s and bring us off

at the last more than victorious over all our spiritual foes .

THE BEAT IFI C V IS ION 3 23

4 . We have, in the last place , the bel iever’

s

p rosp ection— “ thin e eyes shall see the King in

h is beauty ; they shall behold the land that is

very far Off. I use the word prospect ion rather

than prospect ; the idea intended to be taught ineludes the outward view and

‘

th e inward app re cia

t ion of the ext ernal prospect . Some suppose thatthe reference here is to the Assyrian king, and

that he should be seen at the walls of Jerusalem

that is t o say, that he should be overthrown .

Others bel ieve that primarily the reference may beto Hezekiah . The sense then would be that the

people should be defended from the army of ~ the

Assyrian foe ; that they should be permitted to

l ive during the peaceful and prosperous reign of

th e ir cown king ; that they should look to the re

m o te st part of the land of Judea as delivered

from their enemies and under the control of their

own sovereign ; that they should not be confined

with in the wall s of Jerusalem , but the empire oftheir king should ext end over a wide dominion

,

and they should occupy as their own the territory

now under the control of the Assyrian s . But, al

though the primary reference may be to Hezekiah,

we are warranted in saying that a greater thanHezekiah i s here, and that a more goodly land

than the land of Canaan is spread out t o our gaze .

The true King in hi s beauty is the King of kingsand the Lord of l ords ; th e t rue land that is afaroff i s the land of the heavenly Canaan with itsunbroken peace, it s undimmed l ight , and its un in

3 24 THE BEATI F I C V IS ION

terrupted j oy. The believer is permitted at t imesto look ou t on that goodly land . J ust as the spies

brought back from the land of Canaan the rich

clusters of Eshcol , indicat ive of the abundant

fruit s which there grew, so to u s now are brought

the fru it s of paradise in prec ious prom ises and in

blessed real izat ions . The bel iever has m uch in

possession , but he has vast ly more in prospect .He stands at t imes as Moses stood, and looks outon the magnificent prospect whose glories bl ind

the gaze, whose beaut ies intoxicate the soul, and

whose blessedness no language can describe . But

unlike Moses,he will c ross the river and enter the

goodly land . We cannot think of the inhabitant s

of heaven as idl ing by it s purl ing streams and in

the enj oyment of it s balmy airs . We think of

heaven as a place of ceaseles s, but t ireless act iv

ity. Shall no t David there strike h is harp to

sweeter songs th an he ever sang on earth Shal l

not I saiah speak of the glory and maj esty of God

in nobler word s and loft ier st rain s than marked

his divinest earthly prophecies' Shall not Paulthere glow with a holy enthus iasm compared withwhich his h ighest earthly vis ions were cold and

dark ' Shall not ten thousand godly martyrs,preachers

,philosophers

,poets, scient ist s, and un

lettered saint s,there ris e to heights of ach ieve

ment and poss ib il ity such as no language can now

express and no thought now conceive . Even here,as the Apostl e John hath said, “ Now are w e th e

sons of God,and it doth not ye t appear what we

3 26 THE BEATIFI C V IS ION

splendor shall be ours, world without end . For

assuredly his own t ender, yearn ing prayer regard

ing h is people shall be sweetly fulfill ed Father,

I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, bewith me where I am ; that they may behold my

glory which thou hast given me for thou lovedst

me before the foundation of the world .

This prayer is t ender and beaut iful in the ex

treme . Our Lord clearly implies that h is own

happiness would not be complete unt il h is saint s

were with h im in glory. I t was foretold of him

that , He shall see of the travail of his soul and

shall be sat isfied . The psalm regarding himself,says, “ I shall be sat isfied when I awake in thy

l ikeness . Christ’

s sat isfact ion consist s in part inthe presence of his people ; and the sat isfact ionof h is people consists in awaking in his l ikeness .Each i s sat i sfied with the other ; neither can be

sat isfied without the other . As he looks forward

to his glorificat ion in heaven , our Lord longs for

the presence of those whom he died to redeem .

There is wonderful humanness as well as divine

ness in this prayer ; indeed the divine and the

human in the prayer and in the Lord himself mar

velously and t enderly blend . He looks forward

here at once to h is exaltat ion in heaven when his

work of atonement shall have been completed .

He looks st ill farther forward t o the t ime when all

his redeemed shall be with h im in glory . Perhaps

we do not with suffic ient frequency think of heavenand it s b eatific vis ion . I n health and in the midst

TH E BEAT IF I C V ISION 3 27

of present dut ies our thought s cl ing to earth and

earthly things , but when s ickness, disappointment ,and bereavement come there is wonderful comfort

and inspirat ion in the thought of the eternal peace,fel icity, and blessed companionship of Christ andhis peopl e in glory .

This t ext h as cheered and comforted t ens of

thousands of God’

s people in various periods of

the world’

s h istory . They have rej oiced with j oy

unspeakable as they have real ized their exalted

posit ion as bel ievers in the Lord Jesus . They

have rested with unquest ion ing trust in the prot e ct ion wh ich God supplies to his people, to whom

he is a “ place of defense and the munit ionsof rocks . They have looked into an unknown

future w ith unquest ion ing faith and with j oyous

confidence as they have accepted the d ivine provis ion , claiming the promise, bread shall be given

him,his waters shall be sure .

” And they have

rej oiced with a j oy that is ful l of glory, as they

have in the long vista of th e future enj oyed th e

bel iever’s prospect ion, cl inging to the promise,Thine eyes shall se e the King in his beautythey shall behold the land that is very far Off.

May that happy real izat ion be ours through JesusChrist our Lord .

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