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LESSONS AT THE CROSS.








LESSONS AT THE CROSS:
OR
SPIRITUAL TRUTHS
FAMILIARLY EXHIBITED IN THEIR RELATIONS TO CHRIST.
BY
SAMUEL HOPKINS.
WITH AN INTRODUCTION,
BY
REV. GEORGE W. BLAGDEN, D. D.
EIGHTH EDITION.
BOSTON:
GOULD AND LINCOLN,
59 WASHINGTON STREET.
NEW YORK: SHELDON AND COMPANY.
CINCINNATI: GEORGE S. BLANCHARD.
1864.




Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852, by
S. K. WHIPPLE  &  Co.,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts




ADVERTISEMENT.
THE following papers were written at different times, and without any reference to
each other. I gather them  from  a multitude
of others almost at random, and in their
original form; making a little volume which,
as such, has no pretensions to unity.  Consequently, similar aspects of some particular
truth occasionally recur in illustration of different, but analogous, subjects; which in a
consecutive work would be a faulty repetition
If, however, I secure the Christian sympathy of the reader, and conduce to his spiritual profit, a few  imperfections of method
or of style will not interfere with my chief
object in the issue of these pages.
S. H.
January, 1852.








CONTENTS.
PAGB
INTRODUCTION...  X
1. SPIRITUAL LIFE,- ITS NATURE AND METHOD   9
II. SPIRITUAL LIFE, - ITS GROWTH...   27
III. DAILY FAITH IN CHRIST...      42
IV. THE CONDITIONS OF SALVATION.:63
V. PEACE OF MIND.....        77
VI. DIVINE GRACE COMMENSURATE WITH MAN'S
NECESSITY....85
VII. RELIGIOUS DESPONDENCY....   99
VIII. THE EXCELLENCE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF
CHUIIST......                  116
IX. THxE WEALTH OF THE BELIEVER.. 154
X. THE RECOGNITION OF CHRIST'S GRACE, -A
DUTY...                       185
XI. THE BELIEVER'S DEBT TO CHRIST..   222
XII. SERVICE THE REQUIREMENT OF CHRIST. 238
XIII. THE RESULTS OF THE CHRISTIAN'S AFFLICTIONS...  253








INTRODUCTION.
THE manuscript copy of this volume has
been submitted to my perusal; and I have
been animated and strengthened in my own
religious principles by reading it. It is, perhaps, a fair inference, that others who peruse
it will be equally benefited.  It is luminous
with Christ; and therefore it may be conscientiously and unreservedly recommended.
In some cases there may be found expressions which the reader would not desire to
adopt as his own. Possibly, too, in some instances, an eye that looks for any thing like
theological flaws may be able to discover
something to expose. But it will find Christ;
and that object may well draw away its vision from any real or imaginary defects. Why




X             4INTRODUCTION.
should we not read, and be delighted, to find
Him; and be little concerned whether it shall
please Him to come to us in the bright and
glorious raiment of the Mount of Transfiguration, or in the garments in which He
walked over the hills and valleys of Judea?
But this book needs no apology. It is well
and naturally written. No Christian can read
it without being helped by it in walking the
strait and narrow  path. With its comprehensive view of the extent of the grace of
God in Christ Jesus I have been particularly pleased; while its whole tenor is such
as to make it wear the appearance of one
who comes to the Christian pilgrim as he is
wearily treading through the "wilderness of
this world," - like Greatheart, in the beautiful
allegory of Bunyan, - to inspire him with renewed courage, and cheer him on in his way.
We want words of cheer, in this our devious
journey.  Amid the ponderous theological
works that some of us may read, and the
philosophical views of religious truth in which
we may love to indulge, we are in some dan



INTRODUCTION.             xi
ger of becoming too theoretic and cold. But
a practical work like this quickens our somewhat languid feelings, and strengthens us in
doing the will of God.
I have spoken of the prominence it gives,
in one or more of its chapters, to the comprehensiveness of the grace of God in Christ
Jesus. It extends the influence of this grace
to the blessings we receive from the works
and providence of God, as well as to favors
essentially spiritual.
Are we not in some danger of failing to
notice this, in the distinction we very properly
make between providence and grace?  And
on account of this failure do we not lose
something of that glow of gratitude and felt
obligation for the multitudinous blessings we
receive from God, that we should otherwise
experience? Do we not ask with less fervor,
" What shall I render unto the Lord for all
his benefits?"
The close connection there is between God's
dispensations of providence and grace, —including, as I would wish to do, for my pres



Xii           INTRODUCTION.
ent purpose, in our idea of his ways of providence, his works also in nature, - is so intimate, that we may make continual use of one
of these departments of his blessed government in illustrating the other.  Particularly
may we thus use His works of nature and
ways in providence, to illustrate the revealed
truths of His grace.
We know that this is continually done, to
some extent, perhaps, by all who " believe that
God is, and that he is the rewarder of them
that diligently seek him."  But may it not
be done more intelligently, as well as constantly, than it has been done, by many of
us?  And with the Bible as our guide, may
we not use them in a more positive form, for
the enforcement of religious truth, than many
are accustomed to do?
Butler has used the analogies between
them, with great power and success, to answer
objections to the general truths of revealed
religion. And the Rev. Mr. Barnes, of Philadelphia, has shown with much clearness and
force, in an interesting and able review of




INTRODUCTION.           Xiii
Butler's immortal work, that the principle of
his reasoning may be happily employed in
replying to the objections often urged against
each one of the principal doctrines of Evangelical religion.
But may we not make more use than we
have done of these analogies, in positively illustrating these doctrines, as well as in answering objections against them? and this too
without running into any of the extravagances of what has been called " spiritualizing"
every object and event, without any regard to
Scriptural authority for doing so?
I shall not attempt to introduce here any
examples of the forms in which I think this
might be done; inasmuch as this notice is
only introductory to what is before the reader,
in a volume written by another; and in performing such a service it would be inappropriate to present any particular sentiments or
theories of my own. Let me only, then, call
the attention of some of my fellow-travellers
through time to eternity to this little work;
and venture to introduce it to them, as to a




XiV            INTRODUCTION.
fellow-passenger, who, judging from my own
experience, will both help and encourage them
on their way.  Meanwhile, as allusion has
been already made to the beautiful allegory
of John Bunyan, it may not be amiss to take
leave of the reader, in the last line of his own
"Apology for his Book":" 0, then come hither!
And lay " this " book, thy head, and heart together."
G. W. B




LESSONS AT THE CROSS.
I.
SPIRITUAL LIFE,-ITS NATURE AND METHOD
THE vague ideas which, it is to be feared,
prevail respecting spiritual or eternal life are
dangerous.  They are hurtful.  Oftentimes
they are fatal.
Many think themselves in the high-road to
heaven who would at once see that they are
in the road to death could you divest them of
their false ideas of what heaven is, and of
what spiritual life is. Many a darling hope of
heaven would explode, like a child's bubble, if
the false disciple of Christ should only see
what spiritual life is. Many a proud worldling, now wrapped in false security, would
tremble like an aspen-leaf in the tempest,
should he only see what spiritual life is.
Many a man would find his refuges of lies




10    SPIRITUAL LIFE, —ITS NATURE.
crumbling over his head, if he only saw the
palpable, eternal contrariety between spiritual
life and his own every-day demeanor. And
many a Christian, now  half fed, faint, and
sickly, would put on gladness and beauty
like a garment, had he a distinct, living, abiding perception of the mode and nature of spiritual life.
He who thinks that it is merely a state of
enjoyment after death, is wrong. He who
fancies it to be a state of enjoyment to which
nothing but the power, the love, and the grace
of God are necessary, is wrong, - absurdly
wrong. He who views it as a state of enjoyment which may be secured merely by the
deeds of outward obedience, in conjunction
with God's power and love, is also absurdly
wrong. He who thinks that it is a state of
enjoyment for the inheritance of which faith
and repentance are needless, or necessary
only as the terms of an arbitrary stipulation,
is wrong.  And such wrong views lead to
corresponding errors in one's every-day course;
to self-delusion; to false consolation; to false
confidence; to false hope; to eternal death.
By Life, we understand something more
than the perfect organization or structure of




SPIRITUAL LIFE, -ITS NATURE.    11
that which has existence. We meet with a
plant perfect in its parts, but without vital action. It has no life. We meet with another
which has vital action; but the action is impaired, it is weakened, it is sluggish. There
is perfect organization, it may be; but there is
not life, in the full meaning of the word. So
the Scripture speaks in reference to the soul;
representing men whose souls were in existence, and in action, as spiritually dead.
By life, we understand, and  so do the
Scriptures, the thrift, the healthy, happy, action, of any thing which has existence. Thus
vegetable life is the thrift, the well-being, the
good or happy state, of the plant.  Animal
life is the thriving, healthy, happy state of the
body.  When it is full of thrift; when its
functions are performed without impediment;
when its food nourishes; when its senses are
quick and keen and true; when, thus, every
beauteous and good thing around it is tributary to its enjoyment; and when it seems to
inhale enjoyment to the full extent of its powers,- we say it is full of life. Death is the
consummation of bodily woe; the lowest,
most fearful condition to which the body can
be reduced.  So the fulness of life -life being the opposite of death -is the body full
2




12     SPIRITUAL LIFE, —-ITS NATURE,
of enjoyment; the best and highest condition
to which the body can be raised.
And thus, too, by spiritual life we mean,
and the Bible means, something over and
above spiritual existence; something over and
above the soul's perfect construction.  By spiritual death, the Bible does not mean, that the
soul ceases to be; nor that it has ceased to
act; nor that it is bereft of any of its faculties
of action.  And so by the soul's life the Bible
does not mean merely that the soul is existing; or that it is acting; or that it is endowed with ability for all action; for all this
is comprised in that condition which the Bible calls the soul's death.  Something more
than this, then, is distinctive of the soul's life.
In one word it is - happiness.  WVhen the action of the soul is a happy action; when its
thoughts are happy thoughts; when the impressions which it receives from external objects are gladsome impressions; when its affections are happy affections, - then the soul
has life.  And when every successive thought,
and action, and impression, and affection, is
happy; when every truth and event and object upon which it looks seems clad in beauty;
when nothing can come in to darken, or affright, or ruffle it, -that is fulness, perfection,




SPIRITUAL LIFE -— ITS NATURE.    13
of life, because it is fulness, perfection, of enjoyment.
But more.  This life of the soul, when it
exists in renewed man, is enduring.  Adam
had originally spiritual life in its highest degree.  So had the angels who left their first
estate. They sinned, and thereby their spiritual life became extinct; spiritual death succeeded.  But wherever this life is found
among men since the Fall, it never expires.
That it can expire, - that true happiness may
cease, and cease for ever, though the soul's existence never should, —is true.  The soul's
existence can -at least for aught we know
- come to an end; but -it never will.  And
so the soul's life, or happiness, can come to an
end; but- it never will.  We know that we
shall exist for ever, because God declares it.
And we know that, if we once have spiritual
life, it will endure for ever, because God declares that. He says, that it is life eternal. He
declares that he will maintain it, so that, although it can, it never will fail.
But if spiritual life is the happiness of the
soul, then it is not necessarily something
which pertains only to a future state of being.
Its perfect happiness -fulness of life - may
not be found here; but its happiness or life in




14     SPIRITUAL LIFE,- ITS NATURE.
some measure may be, and is. It is as capa
ble of happiness to-day as it will be to-morrow, or after the death of the body. It has
the same capacities for enjoyment, the same
faculties of perception and of joyous action,
now, that it ever will have or ever can have.
It is perfect in its construction, perfect in its
endowments; and thus it can be no more capable of life in another condition, than in its
present; no more, in eternity than at this moment.  Its life may begin here, and does, and
without any alteration of the soul's construction; though that life is matured and perfected only in heaven.  And so says the Bible. "God hath given us"- hath already
given us - "eternal life."  " He that hath
the Son hath life."  "He that believeth on
him  that sent me," says our Saviour, "hath
everlasting life,..   is passed from  death
unto life."
But we have said very little about spiritual
life, or that life of the soul which is eternal,
when we have said, that it is the soul's happiness. The question comes up, What is the
soul's happiness?
The immortal spirit which has enslaved itself to the body; which has sold itself to serve




SPIRITUAL LIFE, - ITS NATURE.    15
the body's appetites and pleasures; which, as
the Bible expresses it, "walks after the flesh,"
- has its petty pleasures, its mongrel delights;
but is it happy?  The man who tasks body
and mind, who devotes his highest, his immortal energies to the toils, the anxieties, the perplexities of getting wealth, has his moments
of pleasure. But has he happiness? The deluded man who is spurred along through the
highways and by-ways of gayety and frivolity,
of fashion and dissipation, has his hours of
laughter and wild intoxication.  But has he
happiness?  He who drinks at better fountains; who finds his highest wish answered in
the quietness and brightness of his own fireside, in the unchecked outgoings of his heart
there, has his pleasures. But is he a happy
man?  Is he satisfied?  In each of these
cases, — is it well with the soul?  Is it fed?
Is it thriving?  Is it at peace?  Has it life?
Has it no sensations of famine, —-of faintness, - of dissatisfaction, - of disturbance, -
to which it finds no antidote?
No; these sparkling fountains of pleasure
do not give life.  The soul may glean up
many good things along its pilgrimage.  It
may taste many transient sweets.  And yet it
may have no happiness, no life, no earnest of
immortal bliss.




16     SPIRITUAL LIFE, — ITS NATURE.
Spiritual life is -the soul acting according
to its law.
The whole universe is subject to laws. The
system of worlds is subject to laws. If these
laws are observed, the beauty, the order, the
harmony, the well-being, of the whole are preserved. If these laws are disturbed, the balance of the system is gone, and its utter wreck
ensues.  Every tree and plant is subject to
laws. If they are fulfilled, vegetable thrift and
life are the result. If those laws are not fulfilled, sickness and death follow. Animal existence is subject to laws. Every pain, every
disease, every disturbance, is because those
laws, in some respect, are disregarded. The
body is so made that it cannot maintain ease
and enjoyment, if its several functions are interrupted.  Every infringement of its laws
brings evil.  It was made to find happiness
only in their observance; and without that ob
servance, it cannot find happiness.
The soul also is subject to law. It is de
signed to act according to the law. It is so
made, that, if its operations accord with its law,
it is happy.  To observe its law  is its only
possible method of happiness.  Every woe
springs up out of its deviation from law; just
as the plant springs up from the seed; just as




SPIRITUAL LIFE, —-I'S NATURE.    17
the fruit springs forth from the branch. Every
deviation from its law brings woe, just as surely, just as necessarily, as a deviation from the
body's law brings the body's woe.  This is
because the soul is so made, or constituted.
Lawlessness is its death; obedience, its life,
its happiness, - necessarily. It is going contrary to nature; it is doing violence to itself;
it is disarranging, upturning, confounding, its
own elements, - when it is acting contrary to
its law.  We might as well expect the body
to live beneath the waves of the sea; the flesh
to glow with pleasure in a furnace; the heart
to pulsate full and gladly under the knife, -
as to expect the soul to be happy while disobeying its law. Let its thoughts go forth as
that law prescribes; let its will acquiesce in
that law; let it act as it was made to act, 
then, and only then, is it happy. Its happiness is just as dependent upon its right action,
as upon its existence. Upon its acting as it
was made to act; upon its loving what it was
made to love; upon its serving what it was
made to serve; upon its confiding in that in
which it was made to confide, -the soul's
happiness is as dependent upon these, as upon
the will, the power, the love, or the grace of
its Creator. If you are going wrong; if you




18     SPIRITUAL LIFE,-ITS NATURE.
are loving, confiding, hoping, willing, in defi
ance of your law, you must change your very
spiritual constitution, and thus adapt it to
some other law (which is absurd); or you must
change the method of your spiritual conduct;
or you must for ever die, - you must be for
ever a stranger to spiritual happiness. When
its affections move in accordance with its law,
the soul moves in beauty; it moves in harmony; it moves in peace; and thus to move
is life. When they do not, then it " is like the
troubled sea when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt." It is in tumult.
It is in tempest. And this is —death.
But what is the soul's law? How was it
made to act?
To devote its powers and affections to God.
To exist in the steady and affectionate perception of God.  This is its law. This is the
mode in which it was made and fitted to employ its powers. This is its life. This is its
happiness. It must have God, or it dies. It
must perceive God as he is, and put forth its
chief affection toward him, or it is a fountain
of sorrow to itself, - a sea of tossing and tempest, - a chaos of terrific elements, - a sapless branch broken from the vine of its nativ



SPIRITUAL LIFE — ITS NATURE.       19
ity,- a wandering star darting from its orbit
and speeding on to the blackness of darkness.
GoD is the soul's life; God loved, God
adored, God as the focal point of all its outgoings, God as the centre, the end, of all its
affections. For God, the soul was made. For
the enjoyment of God, all its powers were
framed and fitted.  With its eye open to the
affectionate perception of God; with all its
affections harmonized, balanced, sanctified, by
God's will, —it is full of life. It is full of
happiness because it responds and moves, looks
and loves, according to its law.  It is full of
happiness because it is full of God.
But God is known only through the Son.
"No man knoweth the Father but the Son,
and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal
him."   Christ is the manifestation of God.
" The knowledge of the glory of God is given
in the face of Jesus Christ."  There-is " the
brightness of the Father's glory." There -is
"the express image of his person."   There
-is the true God.  There —is eternal life.
" Christ is the bread of life."  What food is to
the body, such is Christ to the soul. " He
that hath the Son hath life."  In the outgoings of our souls to him, -in our affectionate




20     SPIRITUAL IIFE, —-ITS NATURE.
perception of his excellence, —in our eager
searchings into his glory,   we find life.  We
have been constructed for this; in every part
and member.  Our spiritual vision is adapted
to that beauty.  Our spiritual appetite is ordained and proportioned to that bread.  Our
affections are dependent for satisfaction upon
that fulness.  Turn away from  Christ as the
supreme object of our love, and we perish.
" He that hath not the Son hath not life."
Turn toward him  as the central point of our
affections, and we live.
Would you see what is spiritual life in
heaven?  Would you know  what is happiness there?  Would you learn what makes
heaven?  There - Christ is the manifestation
of God.  There - he is the brightness of the
Father's glory.  There —he is the bread of
life.  Saint and angel are looking upon " the
throne of God and of the Lamb."  Their love
goes out to Christ.  Their confidence is in
Christ. Their song is of Christ. Their life,
their bliss, their heaven, is - Christ; Christ, in
the fulness of his glory; Christ, all glorious
with redeeming love; Christ, all grace; Christ,
all gracious to their praise and love. The soul
there has - life. The soul there has - Christ.
The soul there has its life in Christ; attuning




SPIRITUAL LIFE, —ITS NATURE.    2
its affections to his will; bathing itself in the
fulness of his glory; and drinking of the waters
which flow from beneath his throne.
So the soul here that lives, lives upon Christ,
Its happiness comes from  him.  It is made
glad in proportion to, and by, its perception of
him.  Its chief joy is the ingathering of his
excellent glory. Its subordinate joys are the
quiet, peaceful movements of its subordinate
affections according to the will and pattern of
Christ. Its life is sustained in the closet by
its " fellowship with the Father, and his Son
Jesus Christ."  The spring-tide of its life is
when it seats itself beneath the cross, and
looks at the amazing glory of the Godhead in
the sufferings of Redeeming Love. Its richest,
purest joys are when it is so filled with its
views of Christ, that it longs for an angel's
harp and a seraph's tongue to celebrate his
praise. This - is Life. And this is life which
outward troubles cannot touch. This is a tide
of bliss which worldly adversity and poverty
and bereavement only swell to a higher mark;
because they impel the sufferer, with the more
eagerness and thankfulness and closeness, to
Christ; because they impel him  to fresh and
larger draughts from the fountain of Christ's
sympathy, fellowship, and love.




22     SPIRITUAL LIFE, —ITS NATURE.
Happiness is the right action of the soul toward Christ. Where this right action is, there
are ten thousand thousand streams of happiness
flowing in upon it. Wherever, and in whatever,
it discerns any trace or interpretation of Christ,
it gains a foretaste of heaven. Every memento
of him, —every proof of his power, his presence, or his love, - whether in the Word, in
the doctrine of Atonement, in the election of
grace, in the typical ordinances of the Gospel,
in the events of providence, or in the beauty
and bounty of nature, —is a tributary stream
of blessing. It is a drop of " honey out of the
Rock." It is a fresh draught to a thirsty soul
from  "the spiritual rock that followeth him,
and that rock is Christ." It is a taste of
"angels' food."  It is a gleaning of the manna
of heaven. "He that hath the Son hath life,
and he that hath not the Son of God hath not
life." " Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of
man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in
you. Whoso eateth his flesh and drinketh his
blood hath eternal life. For his flesh is meat
indeed, and his blood is drink indeed."
This is the method of spiritual life; this and
this only. Thus spiritual life is not mere enjoyment.  It is the soul enjoying Christ in the
exercise of its affections toward him. It is the




SPIRITUAL LIFE, - ITS NATURE.    23
soul acting as it was made to act; the soul
letting out its affections toward Christ rightly;
putting the seal of Christ's proprietorship upon
its every member, upon every affection, upon
every power. Perfect life, perfect bliss, is the
movement of all its powers, in unison with
its law, around " the brightness of the Father's
glory," perfectly, truly, unceasingly.  There
every thought and every affection and every
passion, every object and event and truth, is
tributary to its happiness; because the water
which Christ gives is within it " a well of water
springing up into everlasting life."
This consecration of the soul's powers, this
employment of them, is the law  of our conduct, the method of spiritual life. But this
law is not something which God has devised
to show  his sovereignty withal.  This law,
that the happiness of the soul shall be found
only in affectionate intercourse with Christ, is
not something which God has ordained merely
because he pleased to ordain it; or because of
our peculiar condition as sinners; or because
he could and had a right to make such terms
of life with us sinners as he had a mind to
make.  No such thing. It is our law, because
we are constituted as we are; because it is the
only mode of happiness, the only mode of




24     SPIRITUAL LIFE, -ITS NATURE.
spiritual life, possible for creatures with such
endowments as ours; because it must be our
law while we remain in respect to our spiritual
constitution as we were made.  And it must
for ever be our law, because our endowments
and our wants can never be changed. Circumstances will change. Situation will change.
Every thing to which change is possible may
change; but the soul's relation to  Christ,
never; the soul's dependence upon Christ,
never; the soul's high-born faculties, and its
tremendous necessities, never, -never. This
law is the soul's law everywhere; on earth, in
heaven, in hell, in time, in eternity. It is man's
law. It is the saint's law. It is the angel's
law.  It is the law of all.  Obeyed, it yields
life. Disregarded, it yields death,- death to
the deathless soul.
The life of the soul cannot be sustained except by the right exercise of its affections
heavenward, Godward, Christward; therefore
it will not do to suppose that nothing more is
necessary for us than the forth-putting energy
of Divine love, power, grace. Something more
is necessary; as much so as what there is in
God. " He that hath the Son hath life. He
that hath not the Son of God hath not life."
The life of the soul cannot be sustained ex



SPIRITUAL LIFE, —ITS NATURE.    25
cept by the right exercise of its affections toward Christ; therefore to say that warm affections and spotless honesty toward our fellowmen will insure our salvation, is absurd. " ie
that hath not the Son of God hath not life."
The life of the soul cannot be sustained except by the right exercise of its affections toward Christ; therefore for the Christian to
think to find enjoyment, or to be clad in
beauty, or to bring forth fruit, or to glorify
God before men, while his eye is riveted elsewhere than on Christ, is absurd.  " He that
hath not the Son of God hath not life."
The life of the soul cannot be sustained except by the right exercise of its affections toward Christ; therefore to suppose faith and
repentance to be merely terms upon which
God has arbitrarily stipulated to  make us
happy, is absurd.  " He that believeth on the
Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth
not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of
God abideth on him."  " This is eternal life,
to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ."
Is it irksome to you to think of Christ?  Do
you let out your best affections somewhere
else than toward him?  Do you find no spiritual refreshment in praying to him? in reading




26     SPIRITUAL LIFE, —-ITS NATURE.
of him? in hearing of him? in seeing him in
the atonement, in the sacrament, in the events
of his providence, and in the works of his hands,
in the moon and the stars which he has ordained? Then your soul is wrong,- all wrong;
not only guilty, but acting wrong, - acting in
defiance of its very law. And because so acting, and in so acting, it is all disarranged,- it
is all upturned.  You are doing violence to
your own soul; using it as it was never made
to be used. You have " no life in you." You
are dead, - plucked up by the roots,- withering, famishing, fruitless, joyless, hopeless. You
are going down to your grave all unfit for
heaven; all ripening for the second death.




II.
SPIRITUAL LIFE,-ITS GROWTH.
WE never can enter heaven unless our souls
are spotless. We must bear the perfect image
of Christ. " Every thought must be brought
into captivity to the obedience of Christ";
every motion of the affections must be in exact
accordance with the law  and will of God;
every disposition to do wrong must be slain;
every feature of the inner man must be just
like an angel's, just like Christ's,- or we shall
not enter into rest; we shall surely lie down
in sorrow.  VWe must first "come unto the
measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ."
There must be glory upon us like Christ's glory.
There must be beauty upon us like Christ's
beauty.- There must be perfectness within us
like Christ's perfectness.  We must be " without spot or blemish or any such thing."
No truth is more clearly revealed in the Bible than this.
Heaven is the soul's perfect happiness; and
heaven is the soul's perfect holiness. There is
no heaven without a perfect likeness to Christ,
3




28     SPIRITUAL LIFE,  ITS GROWTH.
any more than there is heaven without perfect
happiness.  And this is so, not because God
has said it shall be so, but because he has
made us such that it must be so.  It is so, not
merely because God must disconnect happiness and sin, or else wink at sin; not merely
because he must deny heaven to the imperfect
in order to be consistent as a governor, - an
administrator of law; but because perfect holiness is essential, in itself, to perfect happiness;
and that, too, irrespective of Divine consistency. There is necessity for perfect holiness as
a condition of heaven here,-here,e  in the
very wants and capacities of the soul itself.
Hence the necessity of moral renovation to
those who are " dead in trespasses and sins ";
the necessity of turning about from the lawless misuse of our faculties to that use of them
for which we were made; the necessity of becoming " new creatures in Christ Jesus."  And
inasmuch as the sinner is "fully set to do evil 
with his faculties, hence the necessity that this
moral renovation, if effected at all, be effected
by the Holy Spirit.  There must be a beginning of holiness. There must be a beginning
of resemblance to Christ.  There must be a
beginning to that life of the soul which is by
the birth through the Holy Spirit, as well as




SPIRITUAL LIFE, — ITS GROWTH.    29
to that natural life which is by the birth of the
body.  There must be a first right emotion of
the soul Godward and Christward in order to
spiritual life, as well as a first filling of the
lungs, or a first throb of the heart, in order to
the life of the body.
But the commencement of spiritual life is
not its perfection. That exercise of the affections toward Christ which constitutes the life
of the soul, does not constitute fitness for
heaven.  Love to Christ is not always perfect
love.  Resemblance to Christ is not always
perfect resemblance. There is a wide difference between  spiritual life in heaven, and
spiritual life on earth.  There is a wide difference between the joy which fills the heart of
an angel, and that which first beats in the
heart of a new-born soul on earth. A difference not in kind, but in degree; not in nature,
but in strength, in vigor, in fulness.  But all
this difference must cease.  The intermediate
ground between the holiness of the new-born
convert and the glorified saint must all be
passed over.  The babe must "come unto a
perfect man " before he can stand side by side
with the patriarch or the angel above.
The difference between spiritual life and spir



30     SPIRITUAL LIFE, -ITS GROWTH.
itual death is this,   when dead, the soul's
affections are employed without reference to
God's law.  The man loves what he pleases
to love, and as he pleases to love; he does what
he pleases to do, and as he pleases to do; without stopping to ask, - " What is God's will? 7
"What is right?"   What is wrong?  "How
has God made me? " "For what has God made
me? " He just throws himself upon the objects
around him, and loves them, and serves them,
and lets alone the objects above him, -God, his
Creator, his Saviour.  Alive, the soul lets out
its chief affection to Him  who made it; asks
for God's will, for God's glory, for God's law,
in the direction and in the measure of its emotions; loves what God pleases it should love,
and strives to love as God pleases it should love.
Dead, it so directs and proportions its affections, that it gathers as many sorrows as it does
pleasures, as many griefs as it does delights; it
so behaves, that it is dependent solely upon the
restraints of Divine grace, and upon the mushroom objects of this present state, for its present
exemption from perfect misery. Alive, its efforts to control its affections aright are efforts
each tributary to its happiness. So far as it
succeeds, so far it finds happiness.  All its
emotions which are in accordance with its rule




SPIRITUAL LIFE,-ITS GROWTH.    31
of action are heavenly and blissful, —its emotions toward God, its emotions toward the
world.
Its first efforts are feeble. Its first delights are
feeble. Its first efforts are imperfect, —very, very
imperfect; and so are its first delights. The first
outflowings of its love toward Christ, though
they may flash and sparkle like the mountain
spring in the sunbeam, are but a little rippling
stream; though they may leap and bound with
gladness, they are still small; though they may
seem clear as crystal, and all-beauteous in their
pureness, yet they are shallow and of a span's
breadth.  But as they go on, they swell; they
deepen; they widen.  They may have less of
sprightliness, but they have more of strength.
They may have less of clearness, but it is because they have more of depth. In other words,
spiritual life is progressive in this respect, - the
love for Christ is becoming stronger and stronger; the heart is devoted to him with more fervor
and with less fluctuation; its affections toward
earthly objects,- towards wealth and kindred,
— are becoming more chaste and heaven-like,
and tranquil; " the issues of life," the conversation, the conduct, are more and more like Christ's.
Of course spiritual enjoyment is proportionally
augmenting; the enjoyment of Christ is more




32     SPIRITUAL LIFE, — ITS GROWTH.
and more; the enjoyment of Christ's outward
blessings is more and more; and thus the soul
goes on from obedience to obedience, from love
to love, from grace to grace, from strength to
strength, from gladness to gladness; till it gets
the victory over the last corruption, attains to
spiritual maturity, wakes up in the perfect likeness of Christ and to " fulness of joy."
There are slips in  the Christian course.
There are sad, sinful, shameful relapses from
the onward, upward tendency of spiritual life.
There are many wanton and presumptuous
exposures to temptation, which  bring their
cursing blights upon the soul's holy growth,
and shroud it in darkness, and buffet it with
tempests. But still it advances. It recovers
what it has lost, and then rises to higher holiness and richer joys. By and by, it becomes
steadfast in its love; perfect in its efforts; perfect in its glories; perfect in its enjoyments;
ripe for heaven. But it reaches this point, it
surmounts the world, it gains the summit of
perfection, it ascends unto fulness of joys, step
by step.
The little bird, just fledged, flutters from its
nest with chirping and gladness.  But it must
warble many a solitary, broken note; it must
take many a blundering, devious flight from




SPIRITUAL LIFE, — I'S GROWTH.    33
bush to bush, from field to field; and then, it
can go upwards; then, it can wing its way
straight and strong; then, it can utter its song
rich and clear. So the soul, just brought into
"newness of life," must make many an effort
in unpractised weakness, and glean up many
imperfect and fluctuating joys, and sing many
a broken, faltering note, ere it can be attuned
fully to the new song, matured to the stature
and strength of an angel, and able to " mount
up with wings as eagles."
But I drop this course of thought. I have
said enough preliminary to my object. Let
me (will you?) take you aside, my Christian
brother, and whisper a word or two in your
private ear in reference to what I have now
stated.
Are you a weak and trembling believer in
Christ?  Is there a feeble, fluttering motion of
spiritual life within you?  Does it sometimes
seem good and reviving to you to get a twilight perception of Christ's excellence? so good
that you long for the full disclosures of eternal
day?  Does it seem to you that you would
like to twine your affections strongly, steadily,
upon him?  Yes. There is sweetness to your
ear in the sound of his name. The mention




34    SPIRITUAL LIFE, -ITS GROWTH.
of his love quickens the beatings of your heart,
and the light of your eye. Your emotions towards him are sometimes discernible and happy.
But they are so faint, so few, so far between, -
they are so different from what they should be,
that you point to these'very feelings as witnesses against yourself. Yes, you are affrighted because you lack the vigor, the completeness,
the sympathy, of spiritual manhood.  You sit
down to look at the feeble, fitful affections of
your heart toward Christ; you sit down and
mark the great difference between yourself and
what you ought to be,-the vast difference
between yourself and those who have " sat at
Christ's feet" for years, between your knowledge of Christ and theirs,- and you are frightened.
Frightened at what?  Because you are not
strong in faith. Because, as you are not strong
in faith, and strong in hope, and strong in spiritual joys, it seems to you that you have no
faith and no hope and no happiness. You
argue, that because you are weak, therefore you
are dead; that because you have not yet been
able to point to your own abundant fruits, therefore you bear neither blossom nor bud; that because vour joys have not been strong and rich
adl steady, therefore you have no union to




SPIRITUAL LIFE- ITS GROWTH.    35
Christ,- no spiritual life at all. Why! my
brother beloved, your reasoning is a babe's'reasoning! Your judgment is a babe's judgment.
You talk and think very like a babe in Christ
Jesus; yes, - I repeat it, - like a babe in Christ
Jesus. You admit, - you cannot deny, - that
there is something like attraction between you
and Christ; some faint yearning within you to
go and "sit at his feet"; some feeling like this,that you would love to hold communion with
him if you dared, or if you could, or if you knew
how to,- that it would be to you a sweet
privilege to discover his excellence and love if
you might.... What is all this within you?
What is it but the infant motion of spiritual
life?  What is it but the fruit of the spirit?
Would the natural heart, would the man "dead
in trespasses and sins," sigh for the perception
of Christ?  Never; never. Therefore I say,
that, if those feelings are your's, you are a babe
in Christ. But you infer, that because of their
littleness you have no ground to hope that you
"have passed from death unto life."
Let me tell you, - infancy comes before
childhood; childhood, before manhood.  He
who would become a saint in heaven must first
be a babe in Christ. The beginning of spiritual
life is always infantile, weak, unsteady, small.




36    SPIRITUAL LIFE, —ITS GROWTH.
Is it right, is it rational even, for you to suppose
that the new-born child of God should, at the
first pulsation of spiritual life, overleap all the
weakness and timidity of childhood, and stand
forth at once in all the strength of perfect manhood,-"in the measure of the stature of the
fulness of Christ "? Is it right, is it reasonable,
for you to suppose that spiritual life of a day's
duration should be as strongly marked as that
of a year's duration? that that of a year's, or of
three or five years' duration, should approach as
near maturity as that of " an old disciple "? Is
it reasonable for you to say, that, as you have
not the spiritual vigor and the spiritual comfort
of one who has been long in Christ's school,
therefore you have none?  Why! it is just
as though I should find a stripling of half a
score of years trembling under the awful ap.
prehension that he had none of the elements
of manhood, because, forsooth, he fell short ot
manhood in stature, and strength, and wisdom.
Surely, the only comfort I could give him would
be to tell him that he was a child,    a foolish
child indeed; but a very child, pushing upward,
day by day, to a better stature and a better
understanding. The only comfort I could give
him would be to tell him that he was a child;
and that in his childhood was his hope and
promise of manhood.




SPIRITUAL LIFE,-ITS GROWTH.    37
And so I would tell you,i my brother. The
smallness of your affection for Christ is the
hope and the promise of maturity in Christ.
The feebleness of your faith is the groundwork
of a strong faith. The faintness of your spiritual perception is evidence that you see. The
tremulousness of your spiritual enjoyments is
an earnest of eternal life.  Spiritual life is progressive.  Therefore its beginnings must be
small, and weak, and imperfect, and fluctuating.
Again.  Is there within you, my brother, a
little, feeble outgoing of your affections to
Christ? a little, feeble effort to conform yourself within and without to him? a little, feeble
measure of delight as you think or read or hear
of him who died for you? alittle, feeble warming of your soul as you seek him betimes in
your closet?  How came these things there?Who gave them birth? What are they? The
least such feeling within, - be it so small even
that you can scarcely discern it, - the least such
feeling within you is of the work of God. It
is the feeble beginning of eternal life. It is a
matter in which you ought to rejoice.  It is
something which ought to fill you with gratitude.  It is something which ought to quicken
you to outbursting praise. It is of grace. It




38     SPIRITUAL LIFE,- ITS GROWTH.
is of God. It is all of grace.  It is of pure
grace. It is the budding of spiritual life in the
heart of one who was bound and cursed with
spiritual death. It is a bow of promise arching over a dark and polluted heart.  And for
that, -yes, for that imperfect, feeble, infantile
motion of your feelings towards Christ, - you
ought to utter praise; unblushing, open praise.
For that, —little as it is, - you ought to receive the seal of Christ's covenant, and utter
the open vow of consecration, and pledge him
your soul and body in the cup of the sacrament.
And more.  That motion of your feelings
towards Christ; that inclination to weep with
penitence and joy as you think of his dying
love; that melting tenderness of spirit which
you sometimes feel toward him, gentle and.child-like as it is,-is God's work.  It is a
work of grace. It is ground for hope that you
" have the Son of God"; that you have Life.
It is the first swelling of a little seed which
shall sprout and shoot up and grow unto per
feet Life. But it is a small and feeble, though
a precious thing; therefore watch it; guard
it; cherish it; culture it. Go with it to the
mercy-seat.  Go with it to the cross.  Go
with it, day by day, to the closet; that there it




SPIRITUAL LIFE, — ITS GROWTH.    39
may be nourished by your communirgs, by
your tender and tearful and confidential fellowship, with your Redeemer.  It is a small and
feeble thing to-day; therefore take care, -
take precious care, - lest something  overwhelm it and stunt it to the bitter sorrow of
your soul. There it is.  God has implanted
it. Deal well with it, for it is an earnest of
his grace; it is the purchase of Redeeming
blood; it is the germ of your soul's immortal
life; it is the only pledge of your salvation.
Spiritual life is progressive. Its beginnings
are small and tender.  They must not be despised.  They must not be neglected.  They
must have tender nursing and care.  They
umust be trained and guarded by prayer, by
truth, by Christian sympathy, by Christian fellowship, by all - all - the means of spiritual
culture. " Work out your own salvation,.....
for it is God that worketh in you."
Once more.  Is there within you, my brother in covenant, - is there within you a little,
feeble outgoing  of your affection  toward
Christ? a little, feeble, fluttering pulsation of
spiritual life?  And how  long has it been
there?  Ten, fifteen, twenty years?  What!
and is it yet feeble? yet faint? yet small?
Are you yet a babe?  yet a babe in your




40    SPIRITUAL LIFE, —-ITS GROWTHI.
knowledge, in your love, in your hope, in your
faith, in the pureness and beauty of your outward life?  Shame! shame! Sin! sin!
And did you care only to be " born again"?
only to be adopted? only to get the signetmark of salvation? only to have a little, weak,
infant hope of heaven, - a something that you
could turn to and cling to in trouble?  Why,
" you ought to be a teacher, and now you have
need that one teach you again which be the
first principles of the oracles of God"!  And,
at this rate, when will you be ready to depart?
when will you be fit for heaven? when will
your spirit be in perfect unison with Christ,
with saints, with angels?  At this rate, -
when? Remember, spiritual life is progressive. And it has remained in its infancy in
you because it has had no nourishment. And
it has had no nourishment because you have
not eaten freely of " the bread of life "; because you have not lived in close and daily
fellowship with Christ; because you have neglected the fellowship of his saints. It is your
shame. It is your sin, my brother. Not your
shame and your sin, that you have these
symptoms of spiritual life, or that you are a
babe in Christ; but that you have been a
babe so long; that you have not grozwn in ho



SPIRITUAL LIFE,-ITS GROWTH.    41
liness, in hope, in faith, in strength, in spiritual
happiness. Remember, spiritual life is progressive. You must " come unto a perfect
man, unto the measure of the stature of the
fulness of Christ."  You must. You must, or
you cannot enter his courts; you cannot see
his glory; you cannot wear your crown; youl
cannot take your harp. Then drop your sin;
drop your shame.  " Put away the childish
things" of spiritual life. Give yourself to the
work of its culture; so that, when he comes,
you may meet your Lord in peace. Make
haste, - make haste to ripen for heaven. " The
day is far spent."  The work is a great work,
and it must  it must be done.




III.
DAILY FAITH IN CHRIST.
ST. PAUL was a Christian. He was Christ's.
He was the property of Christ in the fullest
sense, -in a peculiar sense. He was Christ's
by consecration; Christ's by service.  He had
baptized his every member unto Christ.  He
had stamped the signet-mark of voluntary
surrender to Christ upon every bodily power;
upon every power of thought; upon every inward affection.  Christ was his Lord, his Master; he, Christ's humble, happy, devoted, steadfast servant.
He had not always been Christ's property
in this sense.  Once he was "a blasphemer,
and a persecutor, and injurious."  The life
which he once lived in the flesh was against
Christ, wholly and  bitterly.  But the life
which he lived when he wrote to the Galatian
church was another life. It was for Christ.
It was by Christ. It was with Christ. It was
in Christ.  Speaking of himself and his Christian associates, he says: — " None of us liveth
to himself, and no man dieth to himself; foi




DAILY FAITH IN CHRIST.         43
whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and
whether we die, we die unto the Lord; whether we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord's."
Such was the life of the chief of the Apostles. Not a life devoted to himself, or to his
kindred, or to the Church; but a life devoted
to Christ; tributary to his own good, to the
good of his kindred, to the good of the Church,
on.l as they were Christ's, - only for Christ's
sake, — only in the way of serving Christ.
What Paul did  as Christ's servant, we
ought to do. What Paul was as Christ's,
we ought to be.  The life which he lived, we
ought to live.  We ought to be as much, as
steadfastly, as happily, devoted to Christ as
Paul was.  Christ has loved us as truly as he
loved Paul.  He has given himself for us as
well as for Paul.  We have as truly lived
against Christ, as Paul did. And we have the
means of sustaining a Christian life, -a consistent, uniform, beauteous Christian life,as well as Paul.  Our obligations are no less
than his.  Our ingratitude and perverseness
have been no less.  Our means of grace are
no less.  Our outward temptations, and our
inward corruptions, are no greater.
Paul maintained the consistency and beauty
of his course " by faith in Christ Jesus." " The
4




44        DAILY FAITH IN CHRIST.
life whicn I now live in the flesh, said he, "
live by the faith of the Son of God."  When
he bore the taunts and buffetings of the Sanhedrim with a bold, but meek spirit, it was
" by the faith of the Son of God."  When he
stood up alone before the supreme court of
Athens, and spake against the religion of their
fathers, it was "by the faith of the Son of
God."  When he made Felix tremble, and
woke Agrippa to compunction, it was "by the
faith of the Son of God."  When he overcame
temptation; when he fought against his indwelling sin and against wild beasts in the
theatre; when he counted worldly things but
loss; when he bore up, under full joy, against
the maddened tide of persecution; when he
was led to crucifixion glorying in the prospect
of a martyr's death, and singing hymns of
thanksgiving and victory,-it was "by -the
faith of the Son of God." This was the spring
of his Christian life. This was the secret of his
Christian consistency.  This was the means
of his Christian triumphs. All his devotedness to Christ was sustained by faith in Christ.
His devotedness to Christ was an every-da'
devotedness.. Of course the faith by which it
was sustained was an every-day faith.




DAILY FAITH IN CHRIST.         45
There is much Christian faith, - true, saving faith, —which is not in motion. In other
words, there are- many (and to their shame be
it said) who have been taught of the Spirit to
exercise faith in Christ, who have within them
the elements of faith, yet are not believing.
They know how to confide in Christ as their
strength.  They know how.to confide in his
blood of atonement.  They know how to confide in him as their bosom friend.  And they
do so confide in him  sometimes; and sometimes they do not.  When they do not, they
are believers, it is true; but they are not believing' believers.  Faith exists, and it is a
faith which will work; which must work;
which will work by love; which will purify
the heart; which will overcome the world.
But to-day it is slumbering.  The man goes
forth to his business; he comes across temptations; he feels the irruptions of indwelling sin;
he bows beneath the burdens of care and vexation of spirit, of petty and of solemn afflictions; he quivers under the fiery darts of the
adversary; he groans under a sense of weariness, and desertion, and spiritual restlessness,
and gloom; - but he does not rest upon Christ.
He does not exercise his faith.  To-day, he
does not gather up his troubles, - his fears, -




46         DAILY FAITH IN CHRIST.
his questions of duty, -  his dangers, - his
sins,- his corruptions, - and spread them all
out before Christ.
But a lively faith is something more. It is
faith - in action.  It is the heart actually going out towards Christ. It is the eye actually
perceiving his excellence, his love, his sufficiency, his grace, his glory. It is the soul actually awake to its immense necessities as a sinner, to its every-day necessities; awake to the
precious truth that Christ is fitted to those
necessities, in all their number, length, and
breadth.  "~ He is worthy to be loved.  He is
worthy to be trusted with any thing,-with
every thing.  I see his love, his power, his
grace, his glory.  There they shine, in the
firmament.  There they shine, in providence.
Here they shine in my own existence; in my
endowments; in my history.  And there, —
there, -I see them, in subduing and unrivalled brightness, in his suffering of death. I
will seat myself beneath his cross, and look, and
love, and trust, and praise.  The Son of God
loved me.  He gave himself for me.  He cares
for me. Trust him I ought, - I must, - I will,
- Ido." Such is the language of a lively faith.
But it does not stop here. It does not stop
with mere perceptions.  A  faith which sits




DAILY FAITH IN CHRIST.          47
down to read the love upon the cross, and
looks up to praise it, corresponds with him who
bled thereon.  Its perceptions impel it.  They
impel it to fellowship.  A lively discerning of
Christ leads the beholder to a lively confiding
in Christ.  And thus when the eye and the
heart are open to what Christ is, and to the
soul's dependence upon Christ as he is, the believer believes. He points to his sins, and trusts
Christ for their pardon. He speaks to Christ
of his corruptions, and trusts him for the aid
necessary to their subjection.  He tells Christ
of his own weakness, and  trusts him  for
strength. He lays open the imperfection of
his services, and yet trusts' him for acceptance.
He counts over his exposures to sin from the
influences of a seductive world, and trusts in
Christ for protection.  He numbers and describes the troubles and conflicts of his soul,
and trusts Christ for support and sympathy.
Every matter which is dear to him, every matter of solicitude, he commends to Christ, and
leaves with him.  Under a daily perception of
his Redeemer's love, he unbosoms himself to
him fully.  He who sees what Christ is, what
he has done, what he can do, what he is willing to do for every individual sinner, has something to say to him. He has his tribute of




48         DAILY FAITH IN CHRIST.
praise and thanksgiving to render. He has his
tale of wants, and fears, and hopes, and sins,
to tell over.
This is a lively faith; a faith which is perceiving something; a faith which is perceiving
" the truth as it is in Jesus "; a faith which is
doing something; a faith which is commending the soul's necessities, without reserve and
without misgivings, to Him who cares for it.
But it does not stop here.  It is a lively
faith. It is an untiring faith. It is an everyday faith. Every day it studies Christ. Every
day it ponders his excellence. Every day it
sits beneath the cross.  Every day it is awake;
awake to the fulness and preciousness of the
Son of God.  Yes; and every day it leads the
believer to the mercy-seat; to the place of communion and fellowship with his Redeemer. It
never thinks of doing enough in the way of
intercourse with Christ to-day to suffice for the
wants and emergencies of the soul to-morrow.
It never thinks of communing so much with
him to-day, that it will not need to return tomorrow.  To-day, it spreads out the wvants
and burdens of to-day; to-morrow, the wants
and burdens of to-morrow. It is as much alive
to the soul's necessities and dependence, as to
the sufficiency and love of Christ. And while




DAILY FAITH IN CHRIST.         4O
it cannot suffer the believer to think that to.
day's communion with Christ will answer the
purposes of to-morrow, so it does not suffer hinr
to think that he can live to-day on the strength
of communion yesterday, or on the intention of
communion for to-morrow.  A lively faith in
Christ reveals our dependence as an every-day
dependence. It shows us that our circumstances are shifting daily; that our necessities are
changing daily; and that, of course, we have
something to commit to Christ daily. It shows
us that we cannot steadily progress in the
Christian life without every-day ministrations
of grace; that we cannot get our every-day
ministrations except by every-day fellowship.
And thus, while it keeps us awake to Christ's
fulness, awake to our wants, and awake to our
dependence, it impels us daily to a throne of
grace to rehearse our troubles, our wants, our
dangers, in the ear of Him who can help us.
A'ively faith is a faith moving within us,
and, noving us daily.  This is its peculiarity;
it r')ves, it is awake, it does not rest, it does
not lumber.  It shows us Christ's excellence
eye. r day; it draws us into his presence every
da.'  It impels us every day, not only to confit  in him, but to confide to him and to confide
f Pry thing to him.




50          DAILY FAITH IN CHRIST.
But a lively faith in Christ produces fruits
It produces the same fruits in all cases.  It
produces the same sort of results in the life of
the believer now that it produced in the life of
the Apostle Paul.
It sustains the believer in his devotedness to
Christ.  Paul expressly declares that it was so
with him.  His was a life of uniform devotedness to the Lord.  All that he did, he did for
Christ.  All that he suffered, he suffered for
Christ.  Whether he ate or drank, whether he
preached the Gospel or wrought as a tentmaker, he did  all for  Christ.   And  what
prompted him  to this devotedness?  What
sustained him in this, through perils and reproaches  and  temptations  and  sufferings?
Why, it Was, his faith; his faith in exercise;
his daily confiding in Christ and to Christ.  It
was his strong conviction of Christ's love for
him; his daily confidence in Christ's strength;
his daily confiding of his wants, his perils, his
all, to Christ.
And so it is with every Christian disciple.
An acting, lively faith will produce the same
results in him.  He will do all for Christ.  He
will labor, and suffer, and teach, and eat, and
drink, and go about his daily business, be it in
a sail-loft, or in a counting-room, for Christ.




DAILY FAITH IN CHRIST.        51
How can it be otherwise?  When a poor,
guilty, rescued sinner opens his eyes upon the
sufferings of the cross, can he help leaping onward in the service of Him who suffered there?
When he looks back to the pit whence he has
been digged; when he remembers the wormwood and the gall of his spiritual bondage;
when he looks upon the cross and can say, as
Paul did, and with full perception of the truth,
" The Son of God loved me and gave himself
for me," - can he refrain from doing what he
can for that Son of God? When he is believing- that he is " bought with a price," with that
price, can he feel that he is his own?  When
he is believing that he is brought from death to
life, from darkness to light, from hopelessness
to hope, from the gate of hell to the gate of
heaven, - and this, too, by grace, by that grace,
by the grace of the cross, - can he leap amid
the eddies of worldly business and forget it?
Can he sit down amid the vintage and the olive
plants of his own household, and forget who has
bought and who bestowed them? Can he help
conducting his worldly business as Christ
would have him? Can he help attempering hi;s
social enjoyments as Christ would have him?
Can he help doing all things for Christ? What!
a man go away in the morning from the saic



52        DAILY FAITH IN CHRIST.
tuary of his closet; from a season of close corn
munion with Christ; from  a distinct and refleshing perception of redeeming love; from
the business of committing his way for the
day to the supervision and care and sustaining
grace of his spiritual Shepherd, -go away from
all this, and then live that day for himself, not
for Christ! What! go from the fountain-head
of living water thirsting for the muddy, brackish pools of the world!  What! go away from
the precious whisperings of a Saviour's love to
be charmed by the glittering and chinking of
silver and gold! No.  That lively perception
of Christ, - that lively committal of one's ways
to him, - that lively reposing of one's self upon
the care, the grace, the strength, the protection,
the salvation, the covenant oath of Christ, - is
not something which passes off with the shadows and dews of the morning.  It controls the
believer's conduct, it sanctifies his motives,
through the day. It makes him live for Christ.
In his getting of gain he remembers Christ.
That faith impels him to the simple, but happy
devotion of time, strength, property, children,
body, soul, all, to the wishes and service of
Christ.  It must be so.  The case needs only
to be stated, -the natural force of the most
sacred, the most impulsive, of all influences




DAILY FAITH IN CHRIST.         53
to which the soul can be subjected needs only
to be apprehended, -and we see that it must
be so.
But on this point-the productiveness of
lively Christian faith - another thought.
Under all the casualties of life, under all the
lying and affrighting suggestions of Satan,
under the consciousness of ill-desert and indwelling sin to which the believer in Christ is
subjected, this faith will make him happy - in
Christ. The faith of Paul was lively when he
was beaten; when he was hunted from city to
city; when he was shipwrecked; when he
was condemned to crucifixion.  And under
all, he was happy in Christ. Satan buffeted
him; but still he was happy in Christ.  He
knew that he deserved "everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord "; he knew
that there was "sin dwelling in him "; but
still he was happy in Christ.  It was his
livelyfaith in Christ which made him so.
The same faith does the same thing for
every believer.  A  wordly affliction comes.
This faith keeps the eye open, still, to the perception of Christ. And while the believer is
surveying his fulness of love, of tenderness, of
grace, to this fountain-head he comes.  He




54         DAILY FAITH IN CHRIST.
comes instinctively. He comes, with his gushing heart, for support and sympathy.  He has
lost a worldly comfort; the warmer, therefore,
is his appeal to Christ for heavenly comfort.
He draws nearer.to him, for now he has more
to deposit with him. He has more to disclose,
more to ask; and so his hour of fellowship is
more full of trust, of earnestness, of gladness.
He is shut out from the sunshine of worldly
solace and prosperity. Yet is his eye open to
the precious love and sympathy of Christ; and
to Christ he flees, like a weary bird to its nest;
like the way-worn traveller to his couch; like
the shipwrecked mariner to the bosom  of
friends and the comforts of his fireside; the
more happy in his place of refuge because of
the darkness and terrors and sharpness of his
adversity.  He sees and feels that all around
him "is vanity and vexation of spirit."  Yes;
and this too he sees,- like a light shining in
darkness,  like the gushing of a fountain in
the desert, -that Christ is full of riches, full
of grace, full of love; that Christ is a treasure
for him, a treasure "the same yesterday, to-day,
and for ever." And thus troubles, afflictions,
bereavements, are tributary to his purest happiness through the transmuting influence of
lively faith,




DAILY FAITH IN CHRIST.          55
In like manner, when Satan mutters about
the deceitfulness of the heart, about the multitude of sins, about the conditions of grace,
about the few that are saved, a lively faith
says, " What if I may not trust my heart? I
will trust Christ. What if my sins are many
What if there are conditions of grace? Wha
if there are few that are saved? I will trust my
self with Christ. He has love, and power, and
grace, and of each an overflowing fulness. In
him I may and will confide.  And thus, while
the believer is trusting' in Christ, while his
faith is lively, he baffles the adversary and is
kept in peace. " Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stcyed on thee."
And so, too, when he looks in upon the
startling corruptions of his heart, a lively faith
still displays the tenderness and sufficiency of
Christ; so that in him  he is the more glad,
and for him the more grateful, because of the
very extent of his sins and the very hatefulness
of his corruptions.
If faith in Christ is lively, nothing can exclude buoyancy of heart.  The perceiving of
Christ,- the confiding in Christ, -the con
fiding of troubles, of sins, of life, of death, of
soul, of all, to Christ, - overpower afflictions,
temptations, the fear of the law, and the fear
of t;n.




56         DAILY FAITH IN CHRIST.
But yet more; this lively faith in Christ will
make the believer a consistent Christian.
It appeals to Christ for strength. It appeals
to him  for protection from  the evil of the
world.  It appeals to him  for grace to surtnount and subdue indwelling sin.  It casts
the soul entirely and boldly upon Christ for
protection through the surrounding perils of
the hour.  It is not the way of our precious
Saviour to withhold his help from those who
are trusting. him thus.  He never did it.  He
never will do it.  He never can do it.  That
appeal of a lively faith must be suspended,
that cry must cease, that imploring look must
pass away, or the grace must be given.  There
is too much love in Christ, too much tenderness, too clear a remembrance of his own temptations, too much fidelity to his own covenant
oath, for him to withhold this grace when it is
thus sought.  Lively faith secures it.  It is
granted " according to the proportion of faith."
It comes down from  above as steadily, as
largely, as faith goes up to ask it.  He whose
faith in Christ is in exercise never trips, nevei
staggers, never falters in his course.  The
charmer may charm ever so wisely; the grace
of Christ is his and is sufficient.  Snares may
be spread ever so abundantly and ever so skil.




DAILY FAITH IN CHRIST.          57
fully, - the grace of Christ guides him. The
world may smile, or scoff, or promise, or cajole,
but the grace of Christ keeps him; the arm of
Christ is under him; the Spirit of Christ is
with him; the power of Christ is imparted to
him.  He may be in the thickest perils, but he
is upheld.  And for aught the world can do,
his visible life, while his faith is lively, will be
upright and spotless.  None can say of him
that he breaks his oath; none, that he is false
to his Lord.
Besides, a lively faith is a lively perception
of Christ's exceeding loveliness. In the eye of
faith the glory of Christ is pictured in brighter
colors than the fading and fitful beauties of
the world.  Christ is imaged upon the heart
by an acting faith so as to eclipse them.  The
friendship of the world is contemptible in contrast with that of Christ. The loving-kindness
of life's best relation - a mother's loving-kindness -is tame, is tasteless, is low, is cold, is
powerless, in contrast with that of Redeeming
Grace.  The pleasures of fleshly indulgence
are stale, their enticing power is crippled, to
him  whose lively faith has just led him  to
communion with Christ, and has just prompted him  to thanksgiving for Redeeming Love.
With a lively faith, —a faith faithfully por



~58     DAILY FAITH IN CHRIST.
traying Christ's glory, and warming us with
gratitude for Redemption, - wherever duty
calls we can go unharmed; be it amid ever so
many enticements; be it upon a sea of care
and business ever so wide or tumultuous.
A lively faith is a security against temptation; it is a guaranty of a consistent, beautiful, uniform Christian life; because it appropriates the sufficiency, the nourishment, the
impelling and controlling influence of Redeeming Love.
But methinks some one will say, " This is
fancy; this is the poetry of piety. The pie-.
ture does not tally with facts. It does not answer to piety in real life. It might have been
so with Paul.  His was a life devoted to
Christ.  He was happy in Christ.  He was
consistent as a Christian.  The life which he
led was by the faith of the Son of God. But
where do we see such faith producing such
fruits now?  Are Christians here, upon our
right hand and upon our left, steadfast in their
devotion to Christ? Are they happy in Christ?
Are their lives beauteous with consistency?
Where is their Christian zeal?  Where their
Christian conversation?  Where their eagerness for Christian worship? Where their diligent use of the means of grace? Where their




DAILY FAITH IN CHRIST.        59
spirituality of life?  We see them abound in
indolence, in stupidity, in worldly-mindedness,
in worldly business, in heaviness of heart; but
where can we find these wondrous influences
which you ascribe to Christian faith?"
And you yourself, my Christian brother, are
ready to echo the words and say, -"-  Where
are these wondrous influences? where is my
devotedness? where my joy in Christ? where
my consistency of life?"
There they are, - there they are, where
your Christian faith is; laid aside, - out of
sight, - asleep, - to all intents and purposes,
gone.  Suppose that you are truly a disciple
of Christ, - your faith has gone to rest. You
have checked its lively outgoings. Yesterday,
-last year, —you believed in Christ. And
when you put forth your faith,-when you
drank in the goodness of Christ,-then you
lived for him; then you was happy in him;
then your light shone; and you labored and
spake and behaved like one who belonged to
Christ. But now your faith has paused.  It
does not move. And therefore you have ceased
to produce these precious fruits of faith. Remember,  I have not said that every believer
is devoted and happy and consistent. I have
spoken only of the believingl believer; of a
5




60        DAILY FAITH IN CHRIST.
lively faith; of a faith which is moving -- every
day. Your slumbering faith, for present purposes, is trash. To-day it is of no avail. And
-what is worse-it is not invigorated, refresh ed, by its slumbering. Wake it up. Wake
it up. Fill your thoughts and your heart with
Christ.  Come back to your habits of warmhearted fellowship. Come and seat yourself,
day by day, beneath the droppings of his blood.
Come and study, day by day, the wonder, the
price, the grace of your redemption. Come, open
the eye, open the ear, open the heart, to Christ;
and see if you do not recover your devotedness, your gladness, your consistency, your
Christian influence. See if you do not regain
your power with God and prevail. See if you
do not become a daily blessing to those who
are bone of your bone and flesh of your flesh,
and who are ready to perish in sin. Come,
and see if you cannot shame the cavils of those
who question the power and the blessedness
of Christian faith.
Your heaviness of heart, your spiritual apathy, your deficiencies of life, your fluctuations,
are not because you have a lively faith in
Christ, but because you have not. They are
because you have suspended the heavenly employment of beholding Him who is your Life,




DAILY FAITH IN CHRIST.        61
and of trusting him, -day by day.   Was
you ever gloomy when your faith was lively?
Never. It was when you had lost your perception of Christ, It was when you had lost
your access to Christ. It was when the heavens were as brass over you because of yourunbelief.*  It was when you did not go and
spread out your sorrows to Christ with all the
fulness and freeness of whole-hearted trust.
Was you ever weary of doing all things for
Christ, of laboring devotedly for his kingdom
and glory, when you was full of a confiding
perception of his dying love? Never. It was
when you had shut your eye, or turned it
away from the cross, and filled it with some
other thing. It was not when you was believin,. Was you ever entrapped by a worldly seduction when the excellence of Christ was
full in view? when your heart was on fire with
your musings about his loveliness and tenderness and truth?  Never. It was when, for a
day or an hour, you forgot him. It was when
you failed to drink deep at the fountain of living waters. It was on some day when you
gave your faith a respite.
And how is it with you now, my brother
* The unbelief of a believer! "Lord, I believe; help thou
mine unbelief." Mark ix. 24.




62        DAILY FAITH IN CHRIST.
beloved? Heavy-hearted,- gloomy, - sleepy
-inconsistent, - to-day? And where is your
faith? Out of sight. Out of service. Inactive. And therefore you go along slumbering
and sorrowing and staggering in your course.
A life of beautiful, happy, consistent devotedness to Christ is " by the faith of the Son of
God."  It is by a faith which will show you,
and make you feel in your very soul, that he
loved you, and gave himself for you. Look at
this. Look at this. Let your heart move, and
leap, and melt away in gratitude and penitence. Let your faith act, - daily, - and I
will venture you in a tornado of afflictions and
temptations. Forget this, - fail to get a lively,
subduing perception of Christ's love for you, -
a single day,- I say, a single day,- and a
breath of wind, which would not move an aspen-leaf, will prostrate you in shame and sorrow and sin. If there come the least trial of
your earthly affections, the least form of temptation, you are gone; you are overcome; you
are fallen.




IV.
THE CONDITIONS OF SALVATION.
UNLESS the Bible is an impertinent directory
in spiritual affairs, it is evident that God has
annexed certain conditions to his offers of salvation by Christ. Although they are couched
in various forms of language, they may be
summarily expressed in two words,-" Repentance" and " Faith."
Yet God has declared as plainly as words
can declare it,-he has proved as clearly as
deeds can prove it,-that he has no pleasure
in the death of the sinner. He has obviated
the great difficulty of remitting the penalty of
sin and yet maintaining the honor of his Law,
by sending his Son to make atonement for
us, so that he can justify the sinner and yet be
just.  These things being so, it seems at first
view strange that God should dictate terms to
those whom he loves; to those for whose sins
innocent blood has been shed.  It seems a
strange thing for a Father, infinite in grace
and tenderness, to take advantage of his errFng
child's dependence and necessity, and bargain




-64      CONDITIONS OF SALVATION.
with him for pardon and loving-kindness. It
seems a strange posture for a yearning father
to assume, -to sit down over against a child
clad in rags and perishing for bread, and make
a contract with him for food and raiment and
home; strange - for such an one to say, " If
you will do so and so, I will help you; but if
you refuse, I will not help you." And such a
course seems passing strange on the part of
our Heavenly Father, when he might bless
(because of the sacrifice of Christ) without
losing one particle of his honor; without abating one principle of his holy government;
without repealing one tittle of his Law.
Yet this is the fact, - God does propound
conditions of salvation. Strange, or not strange,
— consistent, or not consistent, - God does
say, that if we accede to these conditions we
shall have eternal life; that if we do not, we
shall go into everlasting punishment. Let us
examine this fact, - Jesus Christ has made an
ample atonement for sins, and still God offers
salvation upon conditions.
The popular notion of salvation is suffciently correct. Being sinners, we are exposed to
punishment, i. e. suffering. If, either because
it would be unjust, or because the tender




CONDITIONS OF SALVATION.         65
love of God must compel him to preclude suffering, or for any cause whatever, we are not
exposed to punishment, then the notion of salvation is absurd.  It is a wild conceit.  There 
is no such thing as salvation.  But again; being sinners, we are exposed to punishment or
suffering hereafter.  We are not saved from
punishment, i. e. we are not exempt from suffering,  here; and if there is no danger of
our suffering there, then there is no salvation
at all.
If, then, we steer clear of downright absurdity while we talk about salvation, we understand that we are justly exposed to suffering
beyond this present life.  We do so, because
we understand that the salvation which God
offers us in the Gospel is deliverance from evil
hereafter.
The common, and the common-sense idea
of salvation, embraces so much as this at least,
-a freedom from  all suffering after we leave
this world; from suffering to which, under the
constituted order of things, we are verily liable
as sinners. In other words, salvation is eternal happiness in the stead of eternal misery.
Now the conditions of this salvation areRepentance and Faith.  What connection is




66       CONDITIONS OF SALVATION.
there between salvation and the performance
of these conditions?  To state the question in
different terms, - What influence, if any, have
Repentance and Faith upon our happiness
hereafter?'Watch the influence of any feeling, or of
any act which God has forbidden, upon our
happiness even in the present life. What is
it?  Good, or ill?  Call to mind your own.
experience.  When you have been angry,
when you have been peevish, when you have
been envious, have you been happy? If you
have ever allowed yourself in any form of vice,
have you had a quiet mind? When you have
centred  all your expectations upon some
worldly good; when you have wedded all
your Zaffections to some earthly object; have
those things so filled your mind, - have they
so met, and responded to, your heart's desire,
- that you could honestly say, -' I have
enough"?  Have they so tallied with the necessities of your soul as to quell its cravings
and hush its fears? When you have " loved
the creature more than the Creator"; when
you have devoted your thoughts, and your
strength, and your time, and your all, to something here on earth, rather than to God; have
you been so void of fear, so free from inward




CONDITIONS OF SALVATION.        67
disquietude, so exempt from  the rebukes of
conscience, that you were a happy man? Did
"not a wave of trouble roll across your peaceful breast"?  Was there no restless craving
for something more and for something better?
no bitter thought that you and your idols must
part? no disturbing consciousness that you
was doing wrong -to God?
Your experience, -my experience, -the experience of the world,- go to show, that the
allowance of any wrong passion, of any "inordinate affection," is in itself evil. Of itself,
it brings unhappiness. Here are wants within
us which are in no wise met by the things
"which perish with the using." Here are susceptibilities within us which are in no wise at
ease, while we are tossed with passions, and
stimulated by "inordinate affections." Here
is a conscience within us which is by no
means clean, while we thus depart from the
law of God. But this is impenitence; persisting in disobedience of God.
Again. Here is a man whose heart rises up
against some mishap in his worldly affairs.
God has sent it upon him, and he knows it.
But he is unreconciled to the dispensation.
His mind does not coincide with God's mind.
Is he happy?  He goes to the Bible. He is




68       CONDITIONS OF SALVATION.
told there that " God will work and none can
hinder it"; that God controls all things, all
men, all hearts, as he pleases; that he " will
have mercy on whom he will have mercy, and
whom he will he hardeneth."  This testimony
of the Bible touching God's sovereignty grates
upon his ear like a note of discord. It wakens
no response of childlike confidence from his
heart. God's sovereignty rises up before him,
and his will rises up against it. Is he happy?
The Law of God is spread before him, with
its demand of perfect, eternal obedience;
with its commands respecting his most secret
thought and wish; with its fearful penalty of
death to the soul that sinneth.  There it
stands. It speaks. It threatens. It presses
upon his life; upon his speech; upon his
thoughts; upon his accountability; upon his
destiny. IHe clashes with it. His heart rises
up against the commandment,- against the
penalty. Is he happy?
There is God's law; there is God's sovereignty; there is God's providence; and they
do not meet his views, - they do not chord
with his heart, - they do not agree with his
will. He cannot trust God for a Law; he
cannot trust God with the absolute disposal of
the universe; he cannot trust God for the daily




CONDITIONS OF SALVATION.       69
dispensation of providence. Hence the disagreement between him  and what God ordains. Hence, and hence only, his unhappiness. But all this is —unbelief.
On the other hand, we find Repentance
and Faith in God closely associated with happiness. In their best estate on earth, they are
imperfect. But so far as they exist, they yield
the fruits of blessedness.
If we restrain our passions, if we temper
our earthly affections, if we regulate our words
and our daily conduct according to the rules
which God gives us, we contribute so much to
our own enjoyment.  So far as we feel right
and act right, so far we are happy. So far we
have peace. So far we have the approval of
our consciences.  And this is - Repentance.
Again, what is more obviously productive
of peace and joy than confidence in God?
When a man can look upon all the mysteries
of providence, and upon all his personal afilictions, with a full, a lively, a steadfast, conviction that He who has dispensed them  has
done right; when he can say, with the spirit
of a child, " Even so, Father "; when he can
thus throw himself with a placid temper upon
the current of God's dispensations; under the
blackest clouds, under the rudest tempest,




70       CONDITIONS OF SALVATION.
adrift upon the wildest billows, he is happy.
And this is- Faith.
When he can look upon the dazzling doctrine of God's absolute, universal supremacy
with a steady eye; when he can turn to this
truth with an unwavering assurance, that every decree and every decision, that every apportionment, both of Grace and Justice, will be
right; when, thus trusting in God, he can acquiesce in every particular of his government;
under every mystery, he is happy. All things
-all things - are done according to his will;
for God's will is his, -his will is God's. And
this is - Faith.
And when a poor sinner, in full view of the
terrors and strictness of the Law; in full view
of his own sins and ill-desert; in full view of
his own helplessness; can trust in the promises of God through Christ; when he can feel
that in the blood of the Lamb there is a sacrifice for his sins; when he can thus leave himself quietly with God, and wait and look for
salvation; surely this is happiness. Yet this,
too, is- Faith.
When a child of sorrows, overwhelmed with
hardships and stripped of earthly comforts, can
go to Him who has smitten him  and kiss the
rod; when he can say, " Though thou slay




CONDITIONS OF SALVATION.         71
me, yet will I trust in thee"; when he can
filrd his way to the place of secret communion
to recite his griefs and to ask for sympathy;
when he can go to the throne of grace for consolation; though his troubles have been like a
flood, and the cup of his adversity like wormwood, yet there, in that man's breast, - in that
torn and bleeding heart, - peace gushes up like
a fountain and the happiness of heaven like a
reviving stream. But this is another form ofFaith.
Thus we find, upon the most superficial reflection, that impenitence and unbelief are the
very fountains of spiritual wretchedness.  Ve
find also that repentance and faith are the wellsprings of spiritual happiness. Now transfer
the operation of these different tempers to the
coming state of existence. In this life, the
passions are in their infancy; in the next, in
their maturity.  Here, our inordinate affections are checked; there, let loose. Here, our
thoughts are diverted, in a thousand ways,
from the truths and the government and the
Law of God,   by cares, by business, by social
pleasures, by the passing events of a bustling
world; there, these things will have no place.
Here we get but a glimpse, as it were, of God's
Majesty, of his Sovereignty, of his Law, of his




72       CONDITIONS OF SALVATION.
system  of Grace, - " we see through a glass
darkly," — but there it will be eye to eye,
" face to face."  Is it possible for you to be
happy - there - if you are still in sin? Is it
possible,  when the revelations of eternity
will make your soul as truly naked to your
own view as it is " to the eyes of Him  with
whom you have to do "?  Is it possible, —
when your " refuges of lies" will all be gone?
Is it possible, —when your covering of selfrighteousness will be stripped off? Is it possible,-when your paltry sophistries about
your own uncleanness will have vanished like
the dew   for ever?
If you are unhappy in one degree when the
wrong feelings of your heart move within you
here, under all the restraints of grace, under all
the diversions of a busy life, you may be sure
that, when these restraints and diversions are
gone, and those wrong feelings leap up within
you like a giant loosed from his bands, your
cup of misery will be full. It must be.
If you are unhappy now, when you get only
a twilight view of the Law, and the Government, and the Sovereignty of God, what will
be the measure of your unhappiness then, when
(the same unbelief in your heart) that Law,
and Government, and Sovereignty rise up be



CONDITIONS OF SALVATION.       73
fore you- ever before you - clear, and bright,
and terrible as God can show them?  What
must it be?
If the whispered rebukes of a conscience
wellnigh stifled, - if the transient twinges of a
conscience wellnigh seared by abuse, - harrow
up your soul here, what will be its damning
power when it shall recover its might, and its
right, and take its vengeance - there?
But-should you stand before God a penitent-every thought, every wish, every employment, in perfect unison with his will; enmity changed for love; rebellion, for submission,-should you stand there staying yourself'upon him in the spirit of a pure and perfect faith, - then, under the cloudless light of
his Law, his Sovereignty, his Gospel, you
would find Life such as angels have, and
blessedness such as God's. Faith and holiness would bind you to God for ever. They
would make your will commingle with God's
will, as kindred elements commingle. They
would open to you the fountains of God.
They would yield to you the full fellowship of
God. And the clearer and the brighter the
purposes, the deeds, the justice, the sovereignty of God should beam before you,- the higher would be the influx of your enjoyments, -




74       CONDITIONS OF SALVATION.
the louder the outgoings of your praise.  And
thus, while the successive disclosures of eternity would wake you to fresh emotions of.
faith and obedience, gladness would succeed
to gladness, - song to song, - Life to Life, -
for ever and for ever.
But, if these things are true, then God is not
presenting himself before you, and styling himself your Father, yet playing with the miseries
of your sinful state by presenting to you arbitrary conditions of salvation. He is not bargaining with you for the blessings of his grace.
He is not asking of you something without
which he might give you salvation. It is not
true, that he might save you in impenitence
and unbelief, but will not.  It is not true,
that he might make you happy while you are
what you are, yet does not choose to do it.
Your sin and your unbelief are to the soul
what fire and famine are to the body. They
are to your soul what rottenness is to the
bones. They are to your soul what pestilence
is to health. It is not true that Repentance
and Faith are necessary to salvation just because God commands them. God commands
them  because they are necessary.  Salvation
is not hampered by superfluous articles of




CONDITIONS OF SALVATION.       75
compromise.  It is as free as air.  " The
promise is unto you and to your children."
" Ho! every one that thirsteth." " Whosoever
will, let him come."  "Come unto me, all ye
that labor and are heavy-laden."  Such are the
overtures of grace.  Such are the messages of
Divine Love.
True, atonement has been made by Christ;
an atonement without which there could have
been no salvation; an atonement on the basis
of which free grace is proclaimed. But that
atonement was not more essential to salvation
than repentance and faith are. And though it
be, that all power is in God; though it be,
that he " delighteth not in the death of the
sinner "; though it be, that he crieth after you,
" How can I give thee up?" - yet it is also
true, and as plainly true, that salvation cannot
be effected save in the very way which God
has prescribed. Power cannot accomplish it.
Blood cannot. Grace cannot.
God has done his part. God has done what
you could never do. God has provided an
atonement.  And now he calls upon you, and
all, to do your part. He calls upon you to do
what he cannot do for you, -to repent, - to
believe. He calls for this simply because this
is Life; this is happiness; simply because the
6




76       CONDITIONS OF SALVATION.
refusal thereof is itself death and woe. His
conditions of salvation, therefore, are - simply
those affections of heart which constitute salvation.  He offers you happiness on this only
condition,-that you will be happy.




V.
PEACE OF MIND.
ALL men seek after happiness. It is natural. It is right. It is duty. We were made
to be happy. It was the design of our Creator; and, to this design, he has accurately and
wisely fitted the various endowments of our
souls and the circumstances of our outward
condition. That which will contribute to our
happiness he approves. That which will prevent it-and that only —he condemns. In
seeking, and in making effort, to be happy,
therefore, we do but coincide with God. So
far, we fall in with one great object for which
he made us.
But God, when he framed us, made us to
be happy in a certain way. He so framed us
that we can be happy only in one certain way.
And we differ from God, from  the law of
God, from all the high purposes of God, the
moment we pursue any other way.
Most men do pursue another way. They
want happiness. But they seek it where it is
not to be found. They go up and down in




78           PEACE OF MIND.
life, paying court and tithes and homage to
a thousand worldly objects; tossed by a thousand waves; lured to and fro by a thousand
phantoms; and then -go down to their graves
worn and wearied, disappointed and emptyhanded.
We are surrounded by numberless sources
of disquietude; that is to say, there is, perhaps, nothing which is not capable of making
us unhappy. The prosperity and ill-behavior
of the wicked may do it. The events of providence may do it. Our sins, -our liability to
evil, temporal or eternal,- may do it. God's
Law, - his character, - his sovereignty, - his
method of grace, - may do it. All these things
may excite within us thoughts and feelings
utterly preventive of enjoyment. They may
awaken within us fear, or anger, or remorse, or
some other emotion of a like nature; and thus
induce inward tumult, from the lowest point
of restlessness to the highest pitch of distress
and frenzy.
On the other hand, we may look upon these
things without disturbance. We can suffer
wrong from men without passion. We can
meet disappointment and adversity without
a single inward murmnur. We can part with
property and health; we can give up the




PEACE OF MIND.             79
objects dearest to our hearts; we can bury
all our earthly hopes, —without one wish to
question or to reverse the decisions of an adverse providence. We can survey the plan of
salvation; the pureness and the curses of the
Law; the character and the sovereignty of
God, - without one emotion of discontent.
We can think of our "sins that are past," and
of our ill-desert; we can look upon them just
as they appear under the clear light of the Bible; we can behold our vileness in its true deformity, our condemnation as sinners in all its
terrors, and death and judgment and eternity
with all their solemnity, -without fear and
without distress.  And this is peace. This is
peace of mind. This is "the peace of God
which passeth all understanding."
If our minds are disturbed, what does it
avail us that we are surrounded by the countless tokens of our Maker's goodness?  If we
are uneasy within, what to us are beauty and
profusion without?  What satisfaction do we
get from  wealth, from  honors, from  power,
from the fountains of domestic endearment,
while our "souls are disquieted within us"?
When we are fretful that we cannot get more;
when we are tossed with apprehension lest we
should lose what we have; when we are




80            PEACE OF MIND.
angry at some frowning providence; when we
feel this craving of our spirits for something
better than the world; when passion heats us;
when sins affright us; when conscience rebukes us, —the very cup of our earthly pleasures is dashed with bitterness. We get not
half the comfort we might get from the common blessings of life.
But if our minds are at peace, - then we
can behold, with open eyes and unclouded
vision, the beauties of God's handiwork; we
can drink with lively relish at the fountains
of domestic endearment.  We can taste the
sweets, we can feel the comforts, we can enjoy
the blessings, which God has provided for us.
If we are bereaved; if we are poor; if we are
sick; if we are despised, -we can find something to enjoy; the good things which remain
to us are not spoiled; the flowers still bloom,
and we can love them; the providence of God
is still around us, and we can rest upon it; the
Word of God still abideth, and we can rejoice
in it.
WVhat if temporal adversity does come like
a flood? What if hopes are dashed, and comforts torn away by thousands?  If we can
say, "Amen"; if we can say, " Even so,
Father; even so"; if we can look upon the




PEACE OF MIND.             81
seeming severity of our afflictions without a
doubt of their fitness or their rightness; if amid
all we can " sing both of mercies and of judgments"; we are happy-still.  And what
though it is declared to us that God is our Sovereign; that every event of providence, of grace,
of punitive justice, is according to the eternal
counsel of his will? What if it does appear,
that God will dispose of us, and of ours, and
of all things, just as he pleases and only as he
pleases?  If we have no quarrel with his sovereignty; if we can look with calmness upon
all the particulars of his government; if we acquiesce in his absolute supremacy; if we can
keep our minds at peace; we are happy - still.
And what if we do discover that we have not
yet attained unto perfection either of heart or
life?  What if we do behold that we have become obnoxious to a law whose penalty is
death; that we are speeding every hour to the
end of our probation and to the decisions of
the judgment-day?  If we can see all this
without remorse and without terror, if in view
of all we can be at peace, we are happy - still.
And when we come to die,-though we leave
behind those who cling to us for support and
protection and comfort,-though the question
is yet to be solved whether we awake to shame




82           PEACE OF MIND.
or to glory,  though the moment of our departure is the moment when our destinies are
sealed for ever,-if we can commit ourselves
to God without distrust; if we can thus keep
our minds at peace; we are happy - still.
Now this is worth more to us - by far —
than outward prosperity. It is better thanmoney. It is better than —adding field to
field. It is better than - the esteem of men.
It is better than - children, -than princedoms,
- than all the world can give. These cannot
serve us in the days of our adversity.  Thiscan. These cannot uphold us in the times of
our souls' necessities.  This - can.  These
cannot stay us up, and wake our hearts to
melody, when we think of God; of our sins;
of our day of reckoning; and when we come
to die. But this - can.
What you want is — peace of mind. You
need something more and something better
than the feverish exhilaration of mirth; something more and better than the wearying excitement of worldly enterprise; something
more and better than a self-righteous complacency; something more and better than wealth
and friends.  These things can never make
you happy. Place your hopes upon them, and




PEACE OF MIND.            83
you will reap a harvest of bitter disappointment. Search the world over,-there is nothing in it that can slake your thirst; nothing
that can fill your desires; nothing that can
give you rest. You want a quiet mind. That
guilty conscience must be purged. Those disturbing passions must be quelled. That restlessness must be subdued. Those " inordinate
affections " must be set in order. Those fears
about the morrow, - those flashing anxieties
about dying and about going into eternity, -
must be overcome. The moment your heart
rebels against the doings, or the doctrines, or
the government of God; the moment conscience upbraids you with unwashen sins; the
moment you feel that there is something unsettled between yourself and God; the moment there bursts up within you the conviction
of your soul's poverty and nakedness; —that
moment you are an unhappy man.
You must have such commotions stilled.
You must find peace. Else you cannot find
happiness.
I point you, then, to God. He can give
you peace. He can still your fears. He can
take away the sting of guilt. He can keep
you quiet under every hardship; in view of all
the terrors of a broken law; through all the
solemnities of a dying hour.




84            PEACE OF MIND.
"You need peace to give you happiness.
You need God to give you peace.
I pray you, then, go to God. Go, and establish a covenant with him. Go, and begin
fellowship  with him.  Go, and make his
throne of grace your daily refuge; his mercyseat your hiding-place.  When perils overhang your estate or your children; when disease and death threaten to dissolve your dearest ties; when false affection blights your
hopes; when the burdens of life press you;when trifles vex you, -go to God. When you
think of your sins; when you feel the motion
of your indwelling corruptions; when you
fluctuate between hope and fear touching the
question of your spiritual adoption, -go to God.
Go, - and tell him your troubles. Go, - cast
your care upon him. Go,-pour out your
soul. Go, -like a child to a father. Go,spread before Him your sins,- guilt, fears,
- burdens, - corruptions, - all.




VI.
DIVINE GRACE COMMENSURATE WITH MAYTS
NECESSITY.
THE Grace of God is the chief doctrine of
the Gospel. It is the great light of the spiritual universe.
It is not Divine Love simply; but Divine
Love going out beyond the abodes of holiness
to find recipients for its gifts. It is Divine
Love coming with overtures of blessing to the
sinner. It is the union, or partnership of Love
and Justice; in which both blend their glories
and unite their influence to save.
That God can forbear, that he can pardon,
that he can be gracious,- is our only hope.
It is a sufficient source of joy and peace; and
of incomparable preciousness.  Yet few  so
interweave themselves with the promises of
grace as to attain to the stability and peace
which they are designed to impart. Few so
far divest themselves of unbelief as to appropriate that spiritual encouragement which
grace affords. " All the promises of God in




86    DIVINE GRACE AND MAN'S NEED.
Christ are yea, and in him amen "; they are
sure, boundless, free; yet few partake of them
without trembling and feed upon them without restraint. How seldom are doubts silenced,
fears quelled, unbelief shamed, and the adversary foiled by the plea which David used," For thy name's sake, O Lord, pardon mine
iniquity, for-it is great."
" Canst thou by searching find out God?
Canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection?"   Are not the resources of Divine
grace equal to the extent of human sinfulness?
Are not the supplies of infinite fulness equal
to the greatness of human necessity? " Shall
not He who spared not his own Son with him
also freely give us all things?"  Why, then,
should our conception of his grace be diminutive? Why should we fear lest our measure
of it be beyond the truth?
One principle upon which Divine grace proceeds is, that its own fulness, or sufficiency
should be the most gloriously exhibited.
The display of God's grace is not made in
the announcement of what he might do, or
of what he intends to do. The display of
grace is made in the deed of grace. In proportion to the greatness of its deeds, is the
exhibition of its fulness. If its glory shines




DIVINE GRACE AND MAN S NEED.    87
bright and clear in the pardon of one transgression, how much more v-hen it freely cancels sins without number and of the deepest
dye.  If, for the purpose of explaining the
nature of his grace and its value, God forgives
one iniquity, will he not much more and for
the same purpose - 0 thou of little faith! 
answer a penitential prayer for the forgiveness
of a multitude of sins?  Will he not,- think
you,-when the illustration of his grace is the
greater and the more glorious because of the
very excess of sin? Indeed, if there is sin too
great to be pardoned when pardon is humbly
and earnestly sought; if there is a blessing so
great that it must be refused, though humbly
craved; if a sinner suing for mercy must perish because he is so great a sinner; and if a
needy suppliant must be denied because of the
greatness of his prayer,    then what is meant
by "the exceeding riches of God's grace 
which Paul so much extols?  If these things
are thus, what means Paul when he says," God hath quickened us....  that in the
ages to come he might shew the exceeding
riches of his grace"?  If these things are thus,
is not grace so reduced in its measure, so circumscribed and trammelled in its operations,
that it is palpably inadequate to its great ob



88     DIVINE GRACE AND MAN'S NEED.
ject. —the showing forth of the boundlessness
of God's goodness?
" For thy name's sake," says the Psalmist,
"pardon mine iniquity, for it is great."  He
pleads the greatness of his sin as the true reason for its forgiveness. He pleads that the
magnitude of sin affords the better opportunity
for the more glorious display of grace; that
the greater the act of pardon, the more honor
to the name of God; and that the greater the
sin, the greater the pardon.
In all our reflections upon the economy and
principles of grace, we should always keep in
view this grand truth, —that in the bestowment of pardon God always has an eye to the
most glorious exhibition of his own excellence.
Another principle which uniformly regulates
all the operations of Divine grace is this, - that
God herein seeks for the fullest exercise of his
infinite benevolence.
He delights in the highest good of his creatures; in their possession of that true, pure
happiness which results from  the consciousness of his approval, and from a conformity to
his character. But particularly in the dispensation of good to the sinner,- in visiting him




DIVINE GRACE AND MANSS NEED.    89
with hope, consolation, liberty, pardon, life, -
does God find ample field for the operations
of a kindness infinite in its exercise and immeasurable in its benefits. And if the exercise of such benevolence is his delight; if this
is one object of his grace, -then it is evident,
that the greater our need of his favors, the
greater is his readiness to grant them. Benevolence finds the widest range in the greatest
act of pardon. Ill-desert is not a barrier to the
bestowment of God's grace, but the very incentive to its exercise. Wretchedness is the
very occasion of his mercies. The greater the
sin, the greater his desire for its removal. The
greater the apostasy, and ingratitude, and illdesert, the greater his desire to reclaim and
bless.  Inasmuch as Divine grace is based
upon  Divine benevolence; inasmuch as the
only sphere of its operation is that of guilt and
unworthiness; inasmuch as it is an attribute
of an Infinite Mind,- we can imagine no debt
which it cannot cancel; no sin which it cannot bury; no wretchedness which it cannot
relieve; no want which it cannot supply.
There is no limit to its greatness; no end to
its bounties; no checking of its fulness; no
cessation, no weariness, no clog to its exercise.
It is an exhaustless fountain flowing forth for




90    DIVINE GRACE AND MAN S NEED.
all who will drink of its waters. It is an infinite good, covering and liquidating an infinite
evil, stretching on and accumulating through
infinite duration.  Thus he who receives its
offers in vain, who passes by its streams and
forfeits its benefits, must charge the consequences of his poverty to his own pride and
his own folly. He can in no wise impeach
the excellence, or disprove the sufficiency, of
the grace of God.
Now if these two things are true, -that the
putting forth of Divine grace is for the purpose
of its full exhibition, and for the complete exercise of Infinite benevolence, - then is it sure,
that human necessity, which  makes drafts
upon that grace and gives the widest field to
that benevolence, is the very object which God
would search out and relieve. So that Divine
grace is fitted to human need; and human
need is fitted to Divine grace. The principles
upon which it proceeds show us clearly, that
God's grace and man's need are precisely coincident, to whatever height, or depth, or
length, or breadth, that need may extend.
When I speak of man's need, I mean not
only his need of Divine forgiveness, but his
need of every spiritual blessing. The mere
pardon of the sinner is but the preface of Di



DIVINE GRACE AND MANDS NEED.    91
vine grace. It is only the starting forth of a
seed which is to grow; which is to grow on
earth, and to attain full beauty and maturity
in heaven. Divine grace is not completed in
the one act of reconciliation between the sinner and God. It seeks to bestow all blessings;
to dispense alike the most precious and the
least.  It would reclaim, it would sanctify, it
would comfort, it would sustain the sinner. It
would transfer him to pure glory in heaven.
It would bestow upon him joys without measure and without end.
Thus there is no limit to the bounteousness
of Divine grace.  And there is no limit to its
bestowment where the grace is earnestly sought.
I say, -where it is earnestly sought; for he
who seeks not, desires not; and he who desires not, takes not; and he who takes not the
gifts of grace, of necessity prevents their bestowment.  He makes them, to himself, as
though they were not.
Though the grace of God is without limit
in every case where penitential desire allows
of its exercise, yet there only is it extended.
To a sinner with sutch a temper it is free.
When he seeks it and importunes for it, it is
given in abundance.
7




92    DIVINE GRACE AND MAN S NEED.
But here I would advert again to the peculiar plea of the Psalmist David. At a human
tribunal it would insure condemnation, but at
the throne of grace it is the only one admissible.
That we are sinners, is the argument which
appeals directly and forcibly to those very principles upon which the dispensation of Divine
grace depends,-the glory of God and his infinite benevolence. It is the plea which calls
his grace into exercise; upon which its bestowment depends.  It was the plea of David.
It was the plea of the publican, through which
he "went down to his house justified."  It is
the plea which prevails. It bears on its front
the fundamental truth upon which every petition of ours must be based; that truth which
is the corner-stone of every provision, of every
promise, and every encouragement of grace.
A plea of good desert would be false.  It
would therefore be in vain, and impious. So
far from securing God's favor and blessing, it
would excite his indignation.  The publican
went down to his house justified rather than
the Pharisee; "for every one that hunbleth
himself shall be exalted."
Would we urge the plea that Christ has
died for us?  A  precious, valid, prevailing




DIVINE GRACE AND MAN9S NEED.    93
plea indeed. But for whom did Christ die?
What are we for whom  he died?  Sinner:.
If therefore we plead the death of Christ for
the bestowment of any good upon us, our plea
is nothing except as built upon the foundation
plea that we are sinners, -needy, helpless
ruined, desperate sinners.  When we seek
Divine grace, we must present- side by side
with the great truth  of Redemption —the
prominent, essential truth of our own guilt and
ruin.  The influence of Christ's death; the
gifts of the Holy Spirit, of pardon, of consolation; the promises; the proffer of assistance;
the invitations of love,-all provisions peculiar
to the Gospel,-are interwoven with, and presuppose, the cardinal truth, that we are - sinners.
If this truth do not qualify our prayers; if
it do not burn in our hearts; if it give not urgency, eloquence, and strength to all our appeals to our Father in heaven, we must turn
from his mercy-seat without his smile, - without the gifts of his grace.  We must cling to
the truth that we are sinners, -that our " iniquity is great, "- or we must let go the
promises of the Gospel and the hope of eternal life.  The argument of our sinfulness is
adapted to the character of God. It is a true




94      DIVINE GRACE AND MANrS NEED.
argument.  It is the argument which must be
urged, -  importunately, earnestly, confidently,
— or we are undone.
Now if God extends his favor to us, -  i he
makes us partakers of his grace,    only oni the
condition of our urging this plea, then our sinfulness, upon which the sense and truthfulness
of the plea are based, must be a reason for the
bestowment of grace.
Therefore, if the greatness of his iniquity be
the sinner's proper plea, if it is itself the reason
for the bestowment of grace, and if it creates
(as in truth it does) the sole occasion or opportunity for grace, - how can sin, confessed and
argued, furnish reason for sentence against the
supplicant for grace?   The supposition is a
contradiction to the very idea of grace, which
depends upon ill-desert for its exercise,* and
upon the plea of ill-desert for imparting its gifts.
If this is true, then the grace of God is coextensive with the sinner's iniquity; for the
greater the sin and the greater the consequent
necessity, the more power there is in the argument.
* Not, however, for its existence. Neither the existence of
sin, nor the sacrifice of Christ, was necessary to mnake God
gracious. On this point the common argument for the necessity of an atonement is grossly belied; and, I may say, caricatured.




DIVINE GRACE AND MANRS NEED.    95
The grace of God can reach as far as your
sins, my Christian brother.  It can cover them
all, dissolve them all, so completely that no
vestige of them shall ever more be seen.  It
can overreach all your iniquity; it can supply
all your necessity. This is the very purpose,
the very nature of grace. " Where sin hath
abounded, grace much more abounds."  Indeed, when you come to his mercy-seat with
the spirit of penitence and with the sinner's
plea, God does, as it were, challenge you to
tell him of your iniquities so great that his
grace through Christ cannot cancel them;
challenges you to show him your sins greater
than his grace. Not that grace furnishes reason for sin. God forbid. But sin furnishes
reason for grace.
Since these things are so, I ask you to look
at the Word of God, to look at the grand outline of the economy of grace, and say if it is
not a sin to exclaim, in face of the Bible, in
opposition to the full and generous principles
of God's grace, that we may not, cannot, dare
not, approach the throne of mercy, because of
the greatness of our necessity or the enormity
of our transgressions. Such language results
from a wicked, ideal limitation of God's grace;
from a perversion of the very principles upon




96    DIVINE GRACE AND MAN'S NEED.
which it proceeds. Sinfulness and necessity
are the indispensable conditions of its bestowment; but unbelief says, that sinfulness and
necessity are the reasons for its denial. By
this false doctrinemrany a conscience-stricken
sinner has been impelled farther in sin, and
shut out from the kingdom of God. By this
falsehood Christians have shrouded themselves
with distress, concealed the Divine light within them, groped in darkness, taken up with
wailings and tears when they ought to have
abounded in hymns of thanksgiving, and thus
puzzled and bewildered those who have been
watching for the correspondence of their lives
to the obvious principles of the Gospel.
Perhaps, my Christian brother, you are hardly aware how, when you have proper views of
your own sinfulness, you misuse yourself and
wrong others if you suffer that sinfulness to
eclipse the glorious radiance of the grace of
God.
You are often saying, that you cannot rely
upon Divine grace; that you cannot importune for God's aid and pardon; that you cannot step forward in the path of duty and responsibility, because your weakness, imperfection, and iniquity are so great. Thus, perhaps
you restrain prayer, and neglect duty, and




DIVINE GRACE AND MAN S NEED.    97
shrink from responsibility, and are tossed from
billow to billow, as the necessary consequence
of your unjust and absurd views of Divine
grace. Just as though that grace was contracted, -just as though it was less than your
weakness, and unworthiness, and sin!
For your own sake, -for the sake of God's
honor, — away for ever with such aspersions
of his grace. Come to the throne of grace.
Come habitually.  Come boldly, trustfully;
not with doubting, and misgiving, and halting,
and fear. Come because you are a sinner, -
because you are a great sinner.  Come for
the pardon of your iniquity, because it is so
great. Come for grace to help you, because
you are in need.
And then go on in the discharge of Christian duty, and in the joy of Christian faith;
trusting in the grace to which you have appealed for all your needed supplies. With
such trust, -with such cheering and reviving
views of God's grace,-you  may go  on
through temptations, trials, conflicts, duties,
emergencies, any thing and every thing, until
that grace shall make its most glorious display in your everlasting triumph and joy.
This one, earnest prayer, " Pardon mine
iniquity, 0 Lord, for it is great," will procure




98    DIVINE GRACE AND MAN S NEED.
for any one the free, copious grace of God;
that grace which shall guide him to everlasting
rest and emancipate him  eternally from sin
and from sorrow.
But woe unto him who distrusts that grace,
and counts it of less extent than his own transgressions.




VII.
RELIGIOUS DESPONDENCY.
TRUE Christians, who have not sunk into
spiritual apathy, often yield to a despondency
which the Gospel neither warrants, encourages,
or produces. Indeed, almost every one who
has been renewed by the power of God knows
more or less of spiritual depression, of the deep
gloom of spiritual darkness. Every one who
has watchfully studied Christian experience
knows, that the disciples of Christ very often
forget his parting injunction, " Be of good
cheer"; forget the apostolic injunction, " Rejoice in the Lord always "; forget the encouragements to the Christian life; forget the
promises of the Lord; forget the largeness, the
freeness, the occasion of Divine grace; forget
every thing save obstacles and dangers, enemies and corruptions; and thus give up to
fears, disquietudes, and sorrows.  How few
rejoice in the Lord! How few exult in Divine
Power and Grace! How few, in distrust of
themselves and with trust in God, bo dry defy
every spiritual foe till they have passerd tfrim




100       RELIGIOUS DESPONDENCY.
conquest to conquest, till they have entered
upon eternal triumph and rest! The harps of
God's people are too often upon the willows.
Their songs are too often faint, if not silenced.
Their spirit of praise and joy is too often languid, if not extinct. One day they chant anthems; the next, are cast down in the dust, and
abound in lamentations.
Why?  Why do not those who hope, and
with good reason, that they have been made
"joint-heirs with Christ," rejoice in his Redemption?  Why is it, that they do not magnify the grace of God?  Why is it, that they
do not illustrate the worth of his renewing
grace by apprehending joyfully the truths of
the Gospel?  Is there any evil from which he
will not deliver them? any danger from which
he will not protect them? any real plague
from which he will not free them?  Is there
any thing, in the whole range of spiritual
truths or spiritual accidents, which they need
to fear? " The Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord will give grace and glory; no good
thing will he withhold from them  that walk
uprightly."  He will in no wise cast out any
who believe in Christ.  He will impose no
burdens beyond what they can bear. " Like
as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord




RELIGIOUS DESPONDENCY.         101
pltieth them that fear him."  He "will redeem
them  fiom  all their iniquities," "purge away
their sins for his name's sake" and bring them
unto Mount" Zion with songs, and everlasting
joy upon their heads; they shall obtain joy
and gladness, and sorrow  and sighing shall
flee away."  Not one of them shall perish.
Why is it, then, that the children of God,
the heirs of immortal glory, should be carried
captive by the power of fear?  Is the Gospel
in fault? Is the influence of evangelical truth
the cause? Does the Holy Spirit, by his influences, beget despondency?  No; the Gospel is " glad tidings of great joy ";  the fruit
of the Spirit is love, joy, peace"; the author
of salvation is " the God of hope," - "the God
of all comfort."  He seeks to " fill" his people
" with all joy and peace in believing, that they
may abound in hope through the power of
the Holy Ghost."  "The kingdom  of God is
righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy
Ghost."
No; the fault is in Christians themselves.
To account for our religious despondency,
we are usually told of our neglect of specific
Christian duties; of our sluggishness in the
Christian life; of our backwardness in furthering the plans of Christian enterprise; of our




102       RELIGIOUS DESPONDENCY.
deficiency in spiritual meditation; of the manner in which we approach the throne of grace.
We are assured, and with truth too, that unless we bear ourselves with carefulness and
scrupulousness and uniformity in these particulars, we shall inevitably induce darkness and
sorrow.  These are important truths.  But I
pass them over with a mere allusion. There
are other causes of spiritual gloom which I
wish particularly to designate.
One is, limited views of the grace of God.
Every one who has been renewed in Christ
Jesus is conscious of his own sinfulness.  He
looks upon it with abhorrence. He turns his
eye upon his own heart, and upon his own
past life, and there he sees sin, - sin, - sin.
The more he is taught by the Spirit, and the
nearer he approaches to perfection, and the
more he learns of holiness, so much the more
does he discern the evil of his life and the corruptions of his heart. The growth of Christian character necessarily produces a growing
conception of the exceeding sinfulness of sin;
of its contrariety to God; of its opposition to
happiness; of its contempt of threatenings, of
entreaties, of obligations, of Grace. Such, I
say, is the necessary result of the advancement of Christian character.




RELIGIOUS DESPONDENCY.        103
Now with all this knowledge of sin, and
with the knowledge that we ourselves are sinners, and with the knowledge of what we deserve as sinners, if there is not a corresponding and counterbalancing view of the grace of
God specially provided for us, then this perception of our personal demerit becomes a
necessary and an active source of disturbing
apprehension.  So far as it goes, here is a
proper view  of sin.  Suppose in the same
mind there is a contracted view of the antidote
to sin. Suppose it is forgotten, that sin is the
very occasion of grace. Suppose it is kept out
of mind, that operating grace could not exist
but for sin.  Suppose it is kept out of mind,
that as sin rises up in defiance of God and in
defiance of grace, so grace rises up the more
earnestly in its plenitude and glory to surmount and liquidate sin.  Suppose, while sin
is beheld as great, grace is considered as
small; that while the conception of sin is extended, the view of grace is limited. In such
a case, are gloom and heaviness of heart avoidable? While sin stands before the mind's eye
in its true, naked, revolting deformity; while
we thus recognize it as affixed to ourselves;
while memory recites the history of our wrongs
toward God; must we not tremble, can we




104       RELIGIOUS DESPONDENCY.
help being affrighted at our own  portrait
if we forget that grace is coextensive with sin?
if we forget that it is the very ofice of grace to
forgive and to cleanse, and that it is the very
odiousness of sin which excites grace? Here
is a partial conception of Divine grace; a misapprehension of it; a hiding of its glory; a
forgetting of its freeness and sufficiency; a
wrong view of its very nature and purpose, -
by all which it seems other than it is. Thus,
when we imagine ourselves to be contemplating the grace of God, we are truly contemplating something else; something not adapted to
our necessities.  And so we bear up against
this overwhelming, yet true, conception of sin,
- alone, unsupported.  We ponder the blackness of our character, the terribleness of our
deserts, without a counterbalancing view of
the richness, the light, the consolation, of Divine provisions.  Ascribing  an  unfounded,
ideal limitation to Divine grace, we grapple
helplessly and hopelessly with the consciousness of our guilt. Can we, thus, bear up joyfully?  No;-we must despond, we must
sink.  Worldly pleasures cannot relieve us.
Worldly inventions, - man's wisdom, - have
no fitness to our case; they have no power to
raise us up, to fill us with peace. Yet, let the




RELIGIOUS DESPONDENCY.         105
conception of sin be extended ever so far; let
memory rehearse our transgressions with exact
fidelity; let the representations of the Bible,
the transactions on Calvary, the approaching
judgment, the terrors of eternal death, illustrate with all their force the exceeding sinfulness of sin, -if we apprehend the exceeding
riches of Divine grace,- if we canvass its nature, its purpose, its occasion, its greatness, its
freeness,  then we shake off  despondency,
and rejoice with exceeding joy. Our conception of sin, our consciousness of its aggravating circumstances, lose all their power to
depress.
The more we understand and abhor sin, its
power, its curse,-the greater will our exultation be, when we see the purpose, the fulness,
the freeness of God's grace.  When, in the
light of the Gospel, we behold that grace ready
to supply all our necessities, to remove every
curse, to shield from every danger, to purge
from  every corruption, to wash away all guilt,
- nothing can depress us,- nothing can rob
us of joy.
But another cause of spiritual gloom - and
one, I think, but little suspected -is a wrong
method of searching the heart; or, rather, hav



106       RELIGIOUS DESPONDENCY.
ing a wrong object in view when searching the
heart.
Self-examination is a duty. Its purpose is,
that we may see " whether we are in the
faith."
Some Christians examine themselves by
looking at other objects,- sinful objects, for
example,-and then noticing what are their
feelings towards them; or again, at holy objects, and then noticing what are their feelings
towards them, -and thus judging' whether
they are in the faith," whether they have the
affections required in the Gospel.
Others examine themselves by looking in
upon themselves; and that not so much for
the purpose of ascertaining whether they possess Christian faith, as for the purpose of finding what of evil may be in them. They do it
with the distinct expectation of finding sin
there, with the distinct intention of detecting
there the forms, movements, and disguises of
sin, that so they may guard against and uproot it.
Others, again, scrutinize themselves not simply for the purpose of detecting and eradicating
sin, and not simply for the purpose of judging
" whether they are in the faith"; but in the
hope of finding something good there in which




RET'.I0vUS DESPONDENCY.     107
they may guiry, —being of a different mind
from Paul, who " most gladly gloried in his
infirmity, that the power of Christ might rest
upon him." Or they look in upon their hearts
in the hope of finding righteousness there in
which they may rejoice; being again of a different mind from  Paul, who sought to be
" found in Christ not having his own righteousness, but..... the righteousness which is of
God by faith."
The consequence of such examination of the
heart is any thing but satisfaction. Its direct
and necessary result, if we are honest and
faithful in the work, is despondency.
What is there in ourselves?   Any thing
which should afford us pleasure? Any thing
which should be a matter of exultation? Any
thing for which we are commendable?  Any
thing of which we may boast?  0, no! nothing!  If, then, we exclude other objects from
view and fix our vision upon our own hearts,
we have before us nothing but imperfection,
- sin, - the very thing we most loathe. Thus
employed, -especially if we are hoping to find
goodness within ourselves, —we, of course,
experience bitter disappointment; for we find
the very opposite of goodness.  Can a child
of God rejoice while unfolding his own heart?
8




108       RELIGIOUS DESPONDENCY.
Can one who hates sin rejoice while discovering it in his very self? How can he rejoice at
such discovery when he has just opened the
door of his heart with the vain, foolish, fond
hope of finding something good there?  No;
so long as he gazes there; so long as he ruminates upon what he finds there; so long as
he revolves its particulars, and analyzes its
properties, and observes its daily influences,
and shuts his eye against every other view, -
he must be heavy-hearted, he must be discouraged; he cannot but cry out for bitterness of
soul. It is absurd for a sinful man to look in
upon himself honestly, and searchingly, for
consolation.  We have no right to do so. It
is not the object for which we are bidden to
examine ourselves.  Nor are we told to look
upon ourselves exclusively for any purpose, or
at any time. But we are told never to turn
our eyes away from Christ. And when we,
so intently and exclusively, and with a purpose so absurd, gaze upon our own hearts, we
do turn our eyes from Christ.  And we thus
disobey the Gospel. What wonder, that in
the very act of disobedience we are given over
to despondency?  It is our duty to look to
Christ; to drink in the delightful displays of
his loveliness and sufficiency. WVhen we do




RELIGIOUS DESPONDENCY.        109
otherwise, our spirits must faint, our hearts
must ache.  We are out of the way of duty.
WVe are away from the fountain of consolation,
and joy, and life.  We avert our eyes and
exclude the brightness of Divine glory as it
shines in the face of Jesus Christ.  We are
drinking at the very fountain of bitterness and
sorrow.
What is it which sometimes pours such a
flood of light and joy upon the soul of one
just " turned from the power of Satan unto
God"?  The contemplation of himself? No;
it is the apprehension of his Saviour. And
what is it which always gives the Christian
his seasons of joy?  In what is his chief delight? It is in fixing his eye upon the excellence, the loveliness, the sufficiency, the preciousness of his Lord; not in riveting his eye
upon the realities of his own heart, and tracing
out the repulsive features of his own charac
ter.  Self can afford no satisfaction to the
Christian.  The contemplation of self can
never fill him with joy. There will be no happiness from such a source, even when we are
perfected. David said, " I shall be satisfied
when I awake" - satisfied with what? -
" with thy likeness."  Think you that glorified
saints are vain of their robes?  Do they look




110       RELIGIOUS DESPONDENCY,
into the pure fountains of heaven with pleasure merely because they see reflected their
own symmetry and glory?  What! when all
their perfectness is the work of Christ! when
their apparel is all borrowed from the vestry
of Divine grace! Pure as they are, is self
their chief delight? their great source of happiness? their great object of contemplation?
Precious as their purity is to themselves, their
happiness -is in Christ. They are happy not
only in the exercise of gratitude to him for
what they are, but chiefly in the unwearying
employment of getting larger and still larger
views of his glory. The throne of the Lamb,
-the glory that is thereon, —is the grand
focus of their thought and their affection. Every mouth is sounding forth his praise. Every eye is dwelling upon his glory.  Every
heart is panting for his smile. Every foot is
pressing with rapturous devotion to be near
to him.  There, happiness is in perfection;
despondency is unknown.  Why?  Because
there all are engaged in contemplating Him
who has " redeemed them  to God by his
blood," and washed them  therein.  Because
there Christ is the absorbing object of thought,
of love, of praise.
And shall we,-corrupt, imperfect men,



RELIGIOUS DESPONDENCY.       113
so far beneath the saints in pureness; we, in
whom God's work —if begun at all —is but
just begun; shall we be gazing upon ourselves and turning our eyes from  Christ?
What have we to do with ourselves as means
of comfort? or as sources of satisfaction? We
have to deal with ourselves only in the way of
culture. For our model, our glory, our joy, we
must look to Christ. If we would be free
from despondency, we must let ourselves alone,
except as we strive cheerfully, and patiently,
to bring ourselves, by Divine aid, into a sweet
similitude to Jesus. And this is to be done
only by beholding him.  " We shall be like
him when we see him as he is."  Every reviving spiritual impulse must be given to us by
some fresh emanation from him. Such impulse cannot come from self; from the energy
or the contemplation of self. It must be given
by imbibing his radiance and contemplating
his glory; just as the tender shrub receives
reviving impulse from  the light of the returning sun. Sin will annoy us, because it
will reside in us, so long as we abide here.
But if we look to Christ, trust him, feed upon
him as "the bread of life," then sin, with all
its accursing power, will prove only like the
chrysalis's web which the sunlight penetrates.




112       RELIGIOUS DESPONDENCY.
It will soon burst.  It will soon be cast off
Our souls will then rise to heaven in full glory
not for the display of themselves to themselves;
not for the display of themselves to others;
but to  be humble witnesses to Redeeming
Love, to  chant for ever their Redeemer's
praise, to dwell for ever upon their Redeemer's
excellence.
Where is the source of true happiness?  In
the creature? or in the Creator? In a fountain of uncleanness? or in the fountain of Divine excellence? Here,- in my heart, for me?
in your heart, for you? or there,- in heaven?
in the perceptible glory of God in Christ?
O! it is surely —there; for you, for me, for
saints, for angels, for all. God, as revealed in
the person of Jesus Christ, - he is the source
of all happiness; of all strength; of all excellence. When, therefore, you or I or any other
one turns his eye upon self, excluding heavenly objects, each will be constrained to exclaim,
" 0, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from  the body of this death!"  To
this we must necessarily be driven, because
we fix our gaze upon that which is odious,
and in the same act turn away from the only
object which can revive and rejoice us. We
look upon ourselves, we look away from Christ.




RELIGIOUS DESPONDENCY.         113
Where, then, is the cause of Christian despondency?  Is it the legitimate influence of
the Gospel?  Is it a necessary consequence
of being a Christian?  Is it a fruit of the
Spirit? Is it a part of Christian life? Is it
an essential peculiarity of a Christian? As
well might we suppose it to be an essential
peculiarity of heaven. No. The truths of the
Gospel, and the influences of the Spirit, produce brokenness of heart, hatred of sin, and an
understanding of self.  But when the Gospel
tells of sin, it points also to grace; when it
speaks of condemnation, it also proclaims, —
" Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners."  And when the Holy Spirit unveils the
sinfulness of sin and the sinfulness of one's
self, - without exception, -he seeks to direct
us, at the same time, to the glory, excellence,
and preciousness of Christ; so that, by looking
thereon, we may be more and more like him.
Even " the Law  is our schoolmaster to bring
us to Christ."  And if we do not heed the
Spirit of God; if, while conscious of sinfulness, we do not also behold and trust in
Christ, and are thus cast down, - where is the
fault? In the Spirit of God? In the Gospel?
In the nature of piety?  No; but in our own
error of vision; in our misdirected vision. We




114        RELIGIOUS DESPONDENCY.
can only be happy, peaceful, when we believe,
only when we behold sin and grace; only
when  we look upon self and Christ; only
when we can commit sin to grace, and self to
Christ.  Sin without grace is fearful; but
even in view of sin we can rejoice, if we behold the exceeding riches and the sole purpose
of grace. So self without Christ is a fearful
object of contemplation; but self in Christ,
and Christ in self, and self lost in Christ, —
this is a view in which we may exult. And
this is the view which the Gospel (glad tidings)
presents.
Learn, then, Christian brother, how to rejoice. Learn how to glorify God in your joy.
And, 0! cease to bring suspicion upon the
Gospel; cease to teach men to look upon vital
piety with dread.  Cease,   by allowing piety
to have its natural growth and to perform its
legitimate work.  Cease, - by allowing to the
Gospel its proper, uninterrupted influence upon
you; by allowing the Spirit of God, —the
Spirit of grace, - the Spirit of consolation, -
to lead, to guide, to influence you, just as He
would do.
"So shall your walk be close with God,
Calm and serene your frame;
And clearer light shall mark the road
That leads you to the Lamb."




RELIGIOUS DESPONDENCY.       115
Learn how to rejoice. Learn to contemplate Divine grace just as it is set forth in the
Gospel; to contemplate Christ just as he is
set forth there. Though your faith be but an
infant faith, yet why be heavy-hearted when
there is so much to make you happy in " the
unsearchable riches of Christ"?  " Though
your sins be as scarlet," and rise toward
heaven like mountains, yet, 0! why be heavyhearted when there is grace, full grace, free
grace, willing grace, grace enough, with God,
to cover them  all up, to blot them  all out?
"Why art thou cast down," 0 believer! and
why is your " soul disquieted" within you?
"Hope thou in God," and you shall then
" praise him for the help of his countenance."




VIII.
THE EXCELLENCE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF
CHRIST.
THE true knowledge of Christ is an excellent knowledge. The Apostle Paul, who had
received "abundance of revelations," and whose
judgment in this matter was formed under the
special tuition of the Holy Spirit, declares it
to be the most excellent knowledge. He says,
"Yea, doubtless, I count all thing's loss for the
excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord."  When he wrote these words, he
would rather have known Christ, than to have
been rich, or honored, or learned, or beloved,
or "a Hebrew of the Hebrews"; rather than
to have had any thing or to have been any
thing which men naturally esteem.  Like
Mary, he would rather sit at Jesus's feet, and
look up at Jesus's face, and learn of Him who
is meek and lowly of heart, - he would rather
have had " the light of the knowledge of the
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ," —
than to have had any other teacher, or any
other object of admiration, or the light of any




THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.    117
other glory in the universe. " Yea, doubtless,"
now he would say, " I count all things loss for
the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord."  "Yea, doubtless," even the splendors of the golden city are nothing to him;
and the glories of archangels, nothing; and
the discourse of archangels, nothing; and the
fellowship and melody of his fellow-martyrs,
nothing; and his own crown of glory, nothing;
and thrones, and dominions, and principalities,
and powers, nothing,- except as " Christ is
all and in all." Upon every face and diadem;
upon every pearl and precious stone; upon
every mansion, and arbor, and fountain in
the New Jerusalem, - there is some testimony
of Jesus.  All things there are bright and
beautiful only because " the glory of God doth
lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof."
And thus the knowledge of Christ is the
charm of heaven; the key to its beauties; the
secret of its holiness, of its harmony, of its fellowship, of its happiness.
The knowledge of Christ includes, evidently, a correct idea of him.
We must have a correct idea of his conduct.
We must understand to what trials and temptations he was subjected.  We must under



118     THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.
stand the truth that he went through all without one evil feeling, or impure thought, or
word, or act, toward God or toward man. We
must understand also that he maintained
through all every right feeling, and all right
behavior, in word and deed, toward God and
man, from the manger to the cross; and this,
too, while possessed of all the susceptibilities
and properties of a human soul. In short, we
must have a familiar understanding both of
his temper and his life as a man; of their
wonderful and spotless beauty.
Again, we must have a correct idea of him
as " both Lord and Christ"; as " Lord both of
the dead and living."  We must understand
that, "all things being delivered unto him of
the Father," "all power being given unto him
in heaven and in earth," he holds the reins
of universal government; that the impulses of
his hand are concerned in every movement
and in every breath of the whole creation, in
every event of universal providence, in heaven
and earth and air and sea. We must recognize his right to homage and faith and obedience, as King and Governor of all things.
And yet more; we must have a correct idea
of his Love. It is a Love beyond every other
Love.  It bore him  on through persecution




THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.    119
and poverty and the hidings of the Father's
face and the chastisement of the Father's rod,
through the mysterious sufferings of his soul
upon the cross where he was hung and smitten and bruised as the sacrifice for sin.  It is a
Love which has yearned over us since the
hour when he cried, " It is finished "; through
all our ingratitude, contempt, guilt, foolhardiness, idolatry.  It is a Love which has boug'ht
us; -    with a price ";- with the price of
blood; with the price of more than blood. It
is a Love which has bought for us, and offers
to us,- heaven.  It is a Love which has
bought for us, and gives to us, our day of
grace and our means of grace.  It is a Love
which has given us food, and raiment, and
health, and homes, and domestic enjoyments,
and each particular blessing which has ever
gladdened our hearts and cheered the path
of our pilgrimage. It is the Love of a Shepherd, and Bishop, and Friend; ever ready
to help us, to strengthen us, to guide us, to
protect us, to comfort us. It is a Love ready
to befriend us against sin; against the Law;
against temptation; against the adversary;
aye, ready and able and longring to do it.  It
is a Love ever reaching after us,- yes, after
all of us, -that it may bear our burdens, and




120     THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.
carry our sorrows, and dry our tears, and bind
up our wounds, be our troubles what they
may, - spiritual or worldly, - great or trivial;
a Love for all who are careworn and wayworn; for all, yea all, who "labor and are
heavy-laden." It is a Love, - 0 for a tongue
that could tell it!  0  for a hand that could
depict it!  My brother! my  fellow-sinner!
beloved of Him who bled upon the cross! I
am lost, - lost, - here! It is a tide which
rises, - and rises, - and never ebbs. It is a
sea,-" without a bottom  or a shore."  No
line can fathom  it.  No eye can measure it.
No supplications can tire it. No drafts of the
needy on earth or in heaven, for time or for
eternity, can exhaust it.  It is matchless;
munificent; unsought; unmerited; unlimited
Love.  It passeth  knowledge.  It passeth
knowledge.
Now, to know  Christ, we must know  his
Love.  We must understand its sacrifices; its
condescension; its grace; its fulness; its sympathy; its sufficiency; its perfect fitness to
all our wants.
Yet this is not all that is included in the
knowledge of Christ.  It is not merely a correct idea of his conduct as a man; of his supremacy as Lord; of his love as Saviour and




THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.    121
Shepherd, and Friend. It is something more.
It is a knowledge of him which exists in the
heart as well as in the head. It is a knowledge which comes from feeling what he is, as
well as from perceiving it.
When we can sit down, with the Gospels
before us, and trace out all the particulars of
his weary life, -his humility, his gentleness,
his meekness, his filial devotedness to the
Father's glory, his filial resignation to the
Father's will; when we think of his lovely deportment toward the widow and the childless;
when we think of him at the grave of Lazarus,
among the faint and hungry, among the liersin-wait for his blood, in the wilderness, in the
garden, in the hall of judgment, on the cross;
when we so look at these things that "our
hearts burn within us " toward his spotless holiness; we have a clearer conception, a different
and a better knowledge of him than when we
read or think of his life without emotion.
And when we so think of his exaltation to
the throne of the Father, that we feel that
his hand is in every event, that his authority
is prefixed to every commandment, and that
his power controls a wicked world, we have
a clearer perception, a far different and a
better knowledge of him, than when we think




122     THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.
of his supremacy, but do not apply it and
feel it.
So also is the knowledge of his Love. The
sinner who looks at his cross, convinced of
his own ruin and helplessness; who looks and
feels the preciousness of that atonement; who
looks and welcomes it; who looks and melts
beneath it; who looks and casts himself upon
it, - knows something more about a Saviour's
love than is seen with the eye of the mind.
So does he also, when his heart recognizes and
feels a Saviour's love in his daily mercies and
afflictions. So also, when he feels the Saviour's sufficiency and watchfulness and tenderness as his Shepherd; and his fidelity as his
Bishop; and his sympathy and support and
peace-giving influence as a Friend in the fellowship of the closet.
Yes, wheresoever and in whomsoever the
character and government and love of Christ
have touched the heart, there is a knowledge
to which a mere reader or hearer of the Truth
could not attain for ever. Without this, had
we the intellectual eye of a seraph and a
place under the clear sunlight of the third
heaven and the lessons of " ten thousand instructors in Christ" through successive ages,
we should not know so much of him as the




THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.    123
spiritual babe knows whose heart is just opened to feel the mystery of the cross.  Our
knowledge —ever so correct intellectually —
would be essentially void both of Life and of
Truth.
But I have said, in concurrence with  St.
Paul, that this knowledge of Christ is of unequalled excellence or value.
A tree is known by its fruits.  If the fruit
be excellent, then is the tree excellent. If its
fruit be most precious, so also is the tree.
What, then, are the fruits of this knowledge
of Christ? What effects does it produce? Are
they valuable?  Are they above value?  So,
then, is the knowledge whence they grow.
Observe the influence of this knowledge
upon the several parts of Christian character.
Here is a man who lives daily in view of
Christ. His Saviour is the chief object of his
contemplation.  He loves, in the morning, to
betake himself to the study of Christ.  He
loves to do it through the business of the day.
He loves to do it at evening, and in the watches
of the night; in the house; by the way; at
home; abroad.  He is daily discovering some
new beauty in his Saviour's character; some
new feature of his Love, or his power, or his
providence, or his practical holiness. Christ
9




124     THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.
is the companion of his thoughts, the friend oi
his bosom, the confidant of his doubts and
fears and joys and troubles. He is seeking and
finding some new interpretation of Christ in all
the history and in all the doctrines of the Bible,
- in the scenes of Calvary, - in the terrors of
Sinai, -in the works of nature, - in the events
of providence.  In other words, he is living
under the light of his Saviour's countenance,
under the influence of his Saviour's example,
under the sound of his Saviour's voice, under
the sweet influences of his Saviour's fellowship.
Thus he has that knowledge of Christ which
comes from intimacy, — from affectionate intimacy; and in this knowledge he grows.
What is the result?  The result! Why!
man and man do not more surely assimilate
under the influence of daily and friendly and
long-continued intercourse, than do man and
Christ. The spirit and the habits of an affectionate child are not more surely moulded
after the pattern of its mother, by whose side
it lives and upon whose bosom  it is wont to
rest and whose virtues and discretion it is
wont to inspect and admire, - than the spirit
and habits of such a Christian are moulded
after the pattern of his Lord and Friend. He
is familiar with the meekness of Christ, and




THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.    125
has an eye to appreciate its beauty; and it
begets meekness in himself.  IHe perceives
distinctly the gentleness of Christ, and has a
heart to feel its excellence; and it begets gentleness of spirit, of conversation, of conduct.
Hle studies the tender kindness of Christ toward the poor, and the sick, and the widow,
and the mourner, and has a heart to feel its
loveliness; and it opens his heart, and his
hand, and his words of comfort, to the sons
and daughters of sorrow.  IHe discovers more
and more of his Saviour's love as it is betokened in his suffering of death, - in the works of
his hand,-in the bounties of his providence,
- in his promises, —in his consolations,- in
his sympathy,-in his fellowship; and his
heart is impelled to new and stronger emotions
of Faith.  He lifts up his eye and reads the
proofs of Christ's sufficiency- as High-Priest,
and as Bishop, and as Advocate, and as Shepherd; he lifts up his eye and beholds the Supremacy of Christ, " far above all principality
and power and might and dominion and every
name that is named"; and again his heart is
impelled to Faith,- yes, and to Hope, and to
Courage, and to Patience, and to Love, and to
Obedience.
In like manner the knowledge of Christ op



126     THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.
erates to the culture of every branch of Christian virtue; toward man and God; toward
holiness and sin; toward the good and the
wicked; —of thought, of feeling, of devotion.
of word, of business, of charity.
But enough of illustration.  Hear one word
of testimony. " His divine power," says an
inspired Christian, " hath given unto us all
things that pertain unto life and godliness."
How?  By what means?  " Through the
knowledge of him that hath called us to glory
and virtue."  And again, " We all, with open
face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the
Lord, are changed into the same image from
glory to glory."
And thus, by the knowledge of Christ, the
Christian grows; grows in his Master's likeness; grows in his Master's glory and beauty;
grows in every grace; grows in the form and
symmetry and power of godliness.  It is so in
heaven, my brother. It is to be so when
Christ shall appear in his glory. " We shall
be like him, for we shall see him  as he is."
And if it be so in heaven, must it not be so on
earth?  If his saints are wrought more and
more into his likeness by the knowledge of
him there, will they not be wrought into his
likeness by means of the knowledge of him
here?




THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.    127
But, 0 brother! if what I say, and if what
the Scripture says, upon this point, fail to
waken within you a lively conviction of its
truth, go to some disciple who has been taught
by long experience; to some one who is versed
in the mystery of godliness; to some one who
bears about the tokens of a rich and fruitful
piety; and ask him where his heart has burned
most with Faith and Love and Hope and every
other Christian affection. Ask him where the
evil inclinations of his heart have been most
subdued.  Ask him where he has been most
impelled to holiness of outward life. H-e will
say, at the foot of the cross; in the closet;
where he has seen the most of Christ; where
he has heard the most of him; where he has
felt the most of him; where he has grown the
most in the knowledge of him. Yes; and he
would say too, " Live thou also under the light
of his glory; grow thou in the knowledge of
Christ, if thou wouldst grow in grace."
But there is another result of the knowledge
of Christ.  While it pushes the Christian
graces, of heart and life, toward perfection, it
has set in motion graces which, in their turn,
bear fruit also. " If these things be in you and
abound, they make you that ye shall be neither




128     THE KNOWLEDGE OF CIIRIST.
barren nor unifruitful in the knowledge of out
Lord Jesus Christ."
Set Christian affections to work, and you
have set the Christian to work.  If he has
slept before, he sleeps no longer.  If he has
been a loiterer and an eyesore in the vineyard
of his Lord, he is so no longer.  No Christian
can keep alive a hearfe ltt knowledge of Christ,
no Christian can be sensible of the excellence
and glory of Christ, without imbibing the
spirit and the habits of his Master.  " The
love of Christ constraineth us."  It impels us.
When we perceive what he is, and feel it;
when thus we are infused with the life of
piety; we take up forthwith the business of
piety.  We go about doing good.  We employ our talents in the service of our Lord.
They are no longer in a napkin, - out of sight,
out of use.  We are on our feet.  We are
at our posts. We cannot help it. The knowledge of Christ constrains us, -impels us,"bears us away like a strong and resistless
torrent."' WVe are bringing something to pass,
-in  the family,-in the church,-in  the
street; something for Christ; something for
him  who loved us; something for him  who
* Docldridge's Expositor, on 2 Cor. v. 14, and on lPhil. i. 23,
note.




THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.    129
hath called us, and baptized us, and communed with us, and comforted us. We are
doing it by prayer, interceding for our households. We are doing it by instruction, teaching our households.  We are doing it in our
intercourse with our brethren; by exhortation;
by counsel; by sympathy; by encouragement;
by prayer.
0, who can be a neuter,-a drone,-a
grovelling gatherer of the muck and straw and
tinsel of this world,  or a puling craver for
the mere nosegays or philosophy of religion,when the knowledge of Christ is lively within
him; when  Christ dwelleth in his heart;
when Christ is formed in him -the hope of
glory?
But the enlivening of Christian graces by
the knowledge of Christ brings yet another result. Not only does the tree produce fruit, but
the fruit produces seed, and the seed produces
fruit again.  The knowledge of Christ rouses
piety; and piety impels to consistency; and
consistency goes abroad, with her robes of
modesty and her voice of eloquence, like an
angel, among the scoffers and the hard-hearted.
Yes, like an angel, she can win her way to
many a haunt of vice, to many a hovel of
jealous and ignorant poverty, where a Phari



130     THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.
see, with his phylacteries and his tithes and
his long prayers and his widow's spoils, would
not go if he could, and could not go if he
dared.  Yes, like an angel, she can win her
way to ears that are deaf as adders' to others;
she, by the blessing of God, can still tongues
which spit derision like serpents at others;
and charm them, too; and teach them to extol
religion.  She, by God's blessing, can speak
of Christ's love, and touch the heart of the
stupid and worldly-minded, when a halting,
fitful, inconsistent disciple will leave no blessing behind him in the day of his death; but
his "remembrance shall perish," and his " name
shall rot." 
0 for a piety which shall disperse itself!
0 for a piety, —a noiseless, gentle, unpretending piety, -which men may recognize as
my gift from  heaven; which shall leave the
softening impress of its influence upon other
hearts, and be whispered by other tongues
when this heart and this tongue are awaiting
the resurrection! 0, then, for the knowledge
of my Redeemer!  0 for a clear and growing
and impelling discovery of the glory of Him
who died upon the cross 
But, brother beloved, follow me a step far



THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.    131
ther, for my heart is in this matter. Look at
the influence of the knowledge of Christ upon
the Christian's happiness.
There is such a thing as peace of mind.
There is such a thing as sweet peace, -" perfeet peace." Yes, -here in this vale of tears,
-- here, amid all the distractions and changes
and responsibilities of a wicked world.  There
is such a thing as a mind " quiet from the fear
of evil."  There is such a thing as eying the
rising cloud of a temporal affliction, as looking
upon the cup of bitterness which Providence
is mingling, and yet saying with a peaceful,
blissful spirit, " Thy will be done!"  There is
such a thing as baring ourselves to the rod
without a fear of one stripe more than is needful, or of one stroke which shall cut too deep.
Nay, more.  There is such a thing as sweet
and perfect peace, even under the testimony of
the Law.  We can be conscious of our past
sins; we can perceive much of their enormity;
we can be conscious of present imperfection;
we can be vividly aware of the terrors of the
second death, and of our own personal inability to escape it; we can lie down to die, and
bid adieu to husband, wife, children, to all that
are bound to our hearts here; we can step
down into the river which alone separates us




132        THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF CHRIST.
from  the solemnities and decisions of eternity
and yet be at peace.*
And  there is such a thing as being comforted when we mourn.  There is such a thing as
having a wounded heart healed, - a throbbing
heart  soothed, -an  aching  heart consoled.
There is such a thing as getting " the oil of
joy  for mourning; the  garment of praise for
the  spirit of heaviness"; —a  different thing,
very, from   healing  the  hurt, slightly, with
amusement,  or  business, or  philosophy   so
called.   There is  such  a  thing  as  affliction
itself being turned into blessing; mourning
itself into  rejoicing; lamentations themselves
into praises. The very death and burial of an
earthly hope — an occasion to-day of the bitterest grief —may  be to-morrow  a source of
the purest blessing. The very time and place
* When Bishop Butler lay on his death-bed, he called for his
chaplain, and said, " Though I have endeavored to avoid sin
and to please God to the utmost of my power, yet, from the
consciousness of perpetual infirmities, I am still afraid to die."
"My lord," said the chaplain,' you have forgotten that Jesus
Christ is a Saviour." " True," was the answer, " but how shall
I know that he is a Saviour for me?"  " My lord, it is written,'Ile that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.' "
"True," said the Bishop, " and I am surprised, that, though I
have read that Scripture a thousand times over, I never felt its
virtue till this moment. And now I die happy." —N. Y.
Observer, May, 1840.




THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.    133
of its death may be the birthplace and the
birthday of a better.  The tomb where we
bury it may be the very spot of resurrection
for another and a better.  From its very ashes
there may spring to life a new one, — a better
one, -- yea, one "full of immortality."
These things are very precious blessings.
Neither their reality nor their value can be
questioned.  Both have been proved by the
actual experience of thousands. But how do
they spring into life?  How  do they become
the portion of men? Whence flows this peace
in view of evils temporal and of evils spiritual?
Whence this comfort under the most severe
tribulations of life?
I answer, —through the knowledge of Christ.
Yes; let the Christian but open his eye and
his heart to the character of his Saviour; let
him but perceive andfeel the truth that Jesus
governs; then he can foresee the coming tempest; then he can watch the iiingling of his
cup; then he can look at the uplifted rod; —
suzte that he needs them; sure that they will
be meted to him in tenderness.  Then he can
trust, and trust, and be at peace.
Let him but perceive and feel Christ's sufficiency as his Sacrifice; his fidelity and ability




134     THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.
and love as his Shepherd; his power as his
Advocate; and what though he has sinned?
what if the Law do thunder? what if the adversary do roar? what if temptations and
tempters do beset him? what if there are unslain corruptions within him? what if he be
helpless?  There is blood enough for his
sprinkling; grace enough for his pardon 
power enough for his purging; and Love
enough for his surety.  Then-he can rest
himself in peace.  He can quietly, yet humbly
and obediently, leave himself, for acquittal and
salvation, with the faithful Shepherd of Israel.
Let him  but know the sympathy and fellowship of Christ; let him but know them by
having tested them in the way of confidential
communion; and then, when the cloud of
grief bursts, when bereavement strips him,
when some creature staff fails him, he will
find his way, like the pelted bird, to his place
of refuge, like the hunted hart to his covert.
He will throw himself upon Christ as a bosom
Friend.  He will show him his wounds.  He
will tell him  his grief.  And He who has
stricken will heal.  Thus life will coime to
him from death; hope from darkness.  Trouble impels him  to his Saviour; and there,




THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.         135
upon his bosom, receiving his consolations,
he gains a peculiar and precious foretaste of
heaven, and an earnest of salvation.
"The men of grace have found
Glory begun below.
Celestial fruits, on earthly ground,
From Faith and Hope, may grow."
But do you ask yet again, Whence flows
this peace? and whence this comfort?  Then
I answer again,-not in my own words," Acquaint now thyself with him  and be at
peace; thereby good shall come unto thee."
" Grace and peace [shall] be multiplied unto
you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ our Lord."
Now, then, can either you or I compute the
value of this knowledge  of Christ?   Can
either you or I compute the excellency of its
fruits?  Well, -well might Paul exclaim,
"I count all things loss for the excellency
of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord."
And  well may we echo  his  exclamation.
Well may we plead  continually with this
prayer upon our lips,-" Lord, Lord, evermore give us this bread."
Is there any equivalent for this knowledge?
Is there any thing else which will " yield us the




136     THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.
peaceable fruits of righteousness"? any thing
else which will train us up to the fulness of
the stature of perfection in Christ? any thing
else which will invigorate hope, faith, love,
obedience, meekness, brotherly kindness, charity, every other virtue? any thing else which
will impel us to fidelity, to steadfastness, to
labor, to self-denial, to consistency? any thing
else which can fill us with peace? which can
open to us the fountain of God's consolation
in our days of trial?  What?
As for the world, -the things of the world,
and the friendship of the world, - they are
powerless. They are not to berecloned. They
have no more intrinsic fitness to the soul's
wants, than the doctrines of the Bible have to
the body's wants. But go to the Bible. What
else is there even there which can do these
things for us?  "The Law is weak through
the flesh."  " The Law is our schoolmaster"
only "to bring us to Christ."  Look, then, at
the Gospel.  But what is there there which
can thus serve us? Why I Christ is the Alpha
and the Omega of the Gospel. All the Gospel's doctrines are both senseless and powerless save as they teach us Christ.
O, it is in vain to hope for growth in grace, for
sanctification of heart, for holiness of life, for the




THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST,    137
influence of consistent example, for peace, foi
comfort, for any thing by which we may adorn
the doctrine of our Lord, do good, overcome
the world, and ripen for heaven, - without the
knowledge of Christ!  This is the great secret
of piety.  Tlis is the secret of its growth.
Tlhis is the great antidote to sin; to spiritual
slumber; to stupidity; to the seductions of the
world; to an unquiet mind; to a bleeding
heart.  It is  this, brother.  Nothing else,
whether in heaven above or the earth beneath.
Do you say, " There is the Holy Spirit;
He is to sanctify; He is to guide; He is to
comfort; I wait for Him to come and revive
me"?   Show  me —show  me-a  single
evidence that the Holy Spirit ever sanctifies,
ever revives, ever makes useful or happy, save
through the truth,- the knowledge of the truth,
-the knowledge of the "truth as it is in vJesus,"- and your reference to the Spirit will
hold good.  But, my brother, not till then.
No; no. Were you as well taught as Paul
in the doctrine of election, or in the doctrine of
regeneration, or in the doctrine of the Holy
Spirit's agency, or in the nature and necessity
of personal holiness, or in the terrors of a
broken Law, —the blessings which I have




138     THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.
specified cannot accrue to you in their fulness,
and some of them not at all, unless you maintain
an intimate, endearing knowledge of Christ.
They cannot be yours unless, like Paul, you
make all these doctrines your conductors to
the cross, your interpreters of Jesus.
How easy it is, now, to discern the great
and lamentable cause of the deficiencies of
Christian  experience, -  ignorance of Jesus
Christ.  It is this - which makes Christians
tire in their course. It is this — which clogs
their feet. It is this- which makes them reel
and fall and go to sleep. It makes them heavyhearted, and unsteady, and faint, and fearful,
and desponding, andworldly-minded. It betrays
them into by-paths. It clouds their hopes. It
silences their songs. It unbalances their graces.
It unnerves their arms.  It makes them false
witnesses of the grace of God. It withers all
those beauties and blessings which the knowledge of Christ imparts. It is not the world
that does all this.  It is not the adversary.
No. It is ignorance of Christ.  Were he in
lively remembrance in their hearts daily; if
they did but keep his excellence imaged upon
the mirror of their affections; think you they
would be entrapped by a paltry world? think
you they would not resist the Devil? think you




THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.    139
they would not keep chains and fetters upon
indwelling sin? think you they would go
mourning all the day?
I have known two aged Christians. WThey
had passed their threescore years and ten, and
most of that time they had worn the badge
of Christ. Of their Christian histories I cannot testify, but in one particular. One has
fallen asleep in Jesus. The other still lingers
here, - I doubt not because she must yet learn
more of Christ ere she will be meet for heaven.
She who died, stood for a long time upon the
brink of Jordan; expecting the coming of her
ministering angels. She seemed to understand
well those words,-" 40 death! where is thy
sting?  0  grave! where is thy victory?"
And what gave her courage and  peace?
What strengthened her so long under the very
shadow  of dissolution?  It was her knowledge of Christ. Her eye and heart were filled
with him. Her tongue could speak his name,
and talk of his love, and utter his promises,
and mention his cross. That -was the secret
of her serenity. It solved the mystery of her
peaceful departure.
The other has been starved, her whole life,
upon polemic divinity.  She has hung upon
the skirts of every battle which has been fought
10




140    THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.
between religious partisans for half a century.
She has been filled with "free agency," and
"decrees," and " Trinity," and "baptism," and
"terms of communion "; while scarce a crumb
has fallen to her from  the table of Christ;
scarce a ray has she caught from his glory.
And now there she stands upon the brink of
the river, shivering and fearing to depart, - because she sees not and feels not the presence
and fulness of Christ.
Brother in Christ, the bones of many such
a disciple are mementos of the sad results of
ignorance of Christ. They are bleaching beacons for your warning. Had they tongues,
every one of them would cry out to confirm
the truth which I have tried to illustrate.
Nay more, my brother.  The names of
many of your own generation have been hung
up before you on the scroll of infamy. The
ministers at the altar have fallen. And the
warning has been rung in your ears and mine,
from amid the noise and consternation of their
apostasy, -" Count all things loss,- count all
things loss, - for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus your Lord."
Progression is as much a law of spiritual as
of animal life. The oak does not burst with




THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.    141
a sudden explosion from  the acorn.  The
flower does not expand itself forthwith from
the parent seed.  The lark does not burst from
its shell, and fly up toward heaven all fledged
and strong, piping its clear melody, at once, to
God. The man does not leap up from  his
swaddling-clothes, passing with one convulsive
stride from weak and whining infancy to the
full glory of bearded and muscular maturity.
Neither does the child of God leap up at once
to the fulness of the stature of perfection in
Christ Jesus. He also is first a babe; then,
a child; then, step by step, a full-grown man.
It is so with Christian knowledge. It is so
with the knowledge of Christ.  It would be
more rational to suppose that the mind of a
young pupil could at once stride from  the
multiplication-table to all the mysteries and
involutions of the higher mathematics, than to
suppose that he whose spiritual eye is but just
opened can comprehend at a glance all the
glory of Him  who hath "set down with the
Father on his throne"; before whom angels
bow and seraphs cover their faces.
" The bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride."
He has much to tell you about the pearl
which he has found and won. He thinks 
poor man -that he knows the worth of his




142     THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.
treasure now. But go to him when the cares
and the checkered alternations of life have furrowed his cheek and bared his brow  and
bleached his locks.  Go to him when he has
tested the wife of his youth through joys and
through troubles; when he has drunk deep at
the fountain of her sympathy, and seen her
constancy unharmed in many a furnace;
and he will laugh at the simplicity and boasting and praises of his bridal days. He will
tell you, that he knew not whereof he affirmed
in the times of his first exultation.  He will
tell you, that, - though time has worn out
youth, and cares have faded beauty,-yet
time and cares both have brought to light
many a better grace, and bound many a dearer
cord of union about him and the wife of his
bosom.
So it is with the Christian in his discovery
of the fulness of Christ. In the day of his
espousal he thinks that he knows his treasure.
Something of it he does know. Something of
it he does feel. It is indeed Christ upon whom
he leans. It is indeed his voice that he hears.
It is indeed of his beauty and loveliness that
he is enamored. I say, —he thinks that he'knows his Saviour.  But, 0, how  little he
knows! Go to him when years of fellowship




THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.    143
and sympathy have taught him  wisdom;
when he has tested the constancy of Christ
through many a sea of trouble; when he has
sat at the feet of Christ and studied his glory
through many a storm. Go to him when he
has almost passed over the journey of his pilgrimage; and he will smile at the remermbrance of his spiritual infancy,- not because
his knowledge of Christ was then untrue or
insipid, but because he tlhought, in his unfledged youth, that he understood the excellence of Christ.  True, in his spiritual childhood the knowledge of Christ was reviving
and clear. Yet he will speak of it now as
only the knowledge of his spiritual alphabet;
as the A B C of his Christian wisdom.
The love of a young disciple is like a stream
at its fountain-head.  True, it goes down
the mountain-side by leaps. It laughs, and
sparkles, and babbles in the sunshine, like a
thing of perfect life and gladness. But it has
not half the depth, nor breadth, nor speed, nor
power, as when it has reached the valley; as
when it has taken tributary waters to its
bosom; as when it flows noiselessly along,
clothing a thousand meadows and hamlets
with verdure and fatness.  So, I say, is the
love of a Christian for Christ; buoyant and




144     THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.
sprightly in its youth, but mighty and large and
rich its manhood.  And the secret of its increase is this,. —that in its youth the knowledge of Christ was comparatively small; in
manhood, that knowledge has multiplied a
thousand-fold.
It being true, then, that love to Christ is
progressive, and that the knowledge of Christ
(which is the aliment of that love) is progressive also, it is an interesting point of inquiry,
by what means this knowledge may be increased.
Evidently it must be by means of effort.
We must take pains to grow in the knowledge
of Christ, as well as to grow in any other
knowledge. Mere wishing and sighing for it
will not bring it. Mere mourning over our ignorance will not bring it. Why is it, that the
schoolboy, with all his drilling, is sometimes a
bungling stammerer over his book? Does he
not wish to read? to read with ease? to read
with accuracy?  Certainly he does. But he
hates the cost. He wants a royal road to
knowledge. He wants to dodge the toil.  Of
course, he is a bungler. Why is it that the
man of strong health and strong sinews is
poor; his wife in rags, his children hungry?
Does he not wish to have the means of liveli



THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.    145
hood?  Does he not wish for wealth? Does
he not mourn over his poverty?  Does he not
sincerely sigh for a better lot? Most certainly
he does. But he hates the cost, the toil of
wealth. He loves to turn himself in his bed
and cry, " A little more sleep, — a little more
sleep." He loves to lounge at the corners of
the streets. Of course, he is poor. Of course,
— although he has health and strength.  Of
course,-although both neighbor and nature
would pay as good bounty for his labor as for
that of others.
It is a law which God has established, that
blessings shall come by price. He who would
eat must work.  He who would be rich must
wcork. He who would be well versed in natural science must study.  And so, he who
would be proficient in religious knowledge -
in the knowledge of Christ - must labor for
it. The alternative is before him; either be
indolent and take the consequences of an unhappy and shameful ignorance, or be diligent
in the study of Christ and reap the blessed rewards of his knowledge.  There is no other
course. Wishing, for piety, and enjoyment,
and consistency, and peace, will never bring
them.  Wishing for a familiar knowledge of
the fulness and grace of Christ will never




146     THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.
bring it, nor those its blissful fruits.  Never
Never.  Mourning over your religious ignorance, my brother, and over the bitter consequences of that ignorance,-I grant it may be
sincere and hearty, - but it will never mend
matters with you.  Ten thousand sluggish
tears, and sighs, and groans, will never draw
down upon you one beam  of light,- one
smile, -one sweet manifestation,-from the
face of Jesus Christ.  Never.  Never.
There are schools where you may be taught
of Christ.  There are "instructors in Christ."
Do you ever take pains to watch the events of
providence?  Do you ever piously, seriously,
earnestly, count over the blessings of your life,
and its afflictions? Do you ever notice obstacles which sometimes spring up to keep you
from sin and temptation?  Do you ever dwell
upon the truth that the hand of your Redeemer
is in all these things? and his loving-kindness?
and his grace? Do you ever sit down to look
at them, and admire them, and enjoy them, as
fruits of his sufferings, as the purchases of his
blood?  Do you ever thus hear and regard
their sweet testimony of Jesus?  If you do
not, no wonder if you are ignorant of Christ as
they declare him; no wonder if you do not
find daily teachers of his grace in the events




THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.    147
of your life; no wonder if you do not grow in
the knowledge of Christ. You ought to sit
and hearken to the whisperings of his Providence; to the music of his works and deeds.
This you ought to do, if you would learn Hil
who loved you and died for you.  This you
ought to do if you would reap the precious
fruits which grow upon the.tree of the knowledge of Christ.
Do you ever take pains to study the testimony of Scripture concerning Christ?  I do
not ask you if you read your Bible. Do you
search it? eagerly? prayerfully? habitually?
Do you search out Christ in it?  0, how fully
the Scriptures testify of Him! Precious words
there about his love; about his value; about
his power; about his blood! Every doctrine
speaks of him; every prophecy; every type
and shadow; every historical fact, from the
creation to the destruction of the holy city.
There are a thousand tongues there which
make melody in praise of Jesus. Brother, are
you wont to go and hear their music?  Are
you wont to go and hear until your heart is
touched and fired, and your own tongue impelled to join the chorus?  If not, I do not
wonder if you are ignorant of Christ. I do
not wonder if you are barren and unfruit




148     THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.
ful and joyless.  It must be so.  It must
be so.
Do you love the sanctuary?  Do you love
the assemblies of his saints? Do you love to
go wherever Christ's name is uttered and his
goodness explained?  Do you go?  Do you
hear? Do you watch and strive there to learn
something of Christ? Brother, it hath pleased
God to give efficacy to preaching, yea, to "the
foolishness of preaching."  It hath pleased
Christ to manifest himself in the assemblies of
his saints; even where but two or three are
gathered together in his name. And if you
lightly esteem, and needlessly slight these
means of grace, I do not wonder at your ignorance, and your barrenness, your feeble faith,
your half-expiring love.  A coal of fire will go
out if alone. It will burn brighter and brighter
with others. And your joy and light and fervor will go out without the aliment of Christian fellowship. Do you say that you lightly
esteem these means of grace because you have
but little spirituality?  Nay, nay, the other
way.  You have little spirituality because you
lightly esteem these means of grace; because
you do not prize them and use them as teachers of Jesus.
Do you, or do you not, keep Christ's words?




THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.    149
One of his disciples once said to him, when on
earth, " Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?
Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man
love me, he will keep my words," -and Christ's
words concern the sanctuary, the Scriptures,
the government of his hands, and our daily
life in all things;- " he will keep my words,
and my Father will love him, and we will
come unto him, and make our abode  vith
him."
And how is it with your closet?  There
Jesus manifests himself peculiarly. It is in
the hour of secret appeal, when the business
and friends of the world are excluded, in the
hour when we cast ourselves upon his love,
when we lay the secrets of our hearts before
him with affectionate and trustful ingenuousness, that Christ most preciously manifests
and communicates himself. Not by visible
presence, not by audible voice, but by awaking
us to new and fresh perceptions of himself, by
bringing into conscious and vigorous vibration
those cords of endearment which subsist between himself and us; as verily and as effectually as if by vision or by speech. The actual
sympathy, the active communion, between
Christ and his beloved here in no wise depend




150     THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.
upon organs of sense.  The spirit of Christ,
and the spirit of his closet-worshipper, are as
free of sense as though the one had no glorified
body, and the other no fleshly.  The hour of
their exclusive spiritual intercourse is one of
spiritual and real interchange. The disciple
expounds himself to Christ, and Christ to the
disciple. The weak goes thence strengthened;
the timid, emboldened; the wavering, believing; the afflicted, consoled; the desolate, conscious of a Friend; - each acquisition being
the result of new and timely perceptions of
Christ, and each perception the result of his
direct manifestation.  Such has ever been
Christian experience; and such ever will be.
There must you go; thus must you deport
yourself, if you would grow in the knowledge
of your Saviour; if you would gather the
most richly of " the true bread from heaven."
Do YOU?
Do you ever, or never, give up business or
diversion or ease for the sake of going to the
closet, to the sanctuary, to the more private
fellowship of Christ's people; for the sake of
using any and every means which can increase
your knowledge of your Redeemer?  How is
it?  If you do not, is Christ to you " the chiefest among ten thousand," the one " altogether




THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.    151
lovely "? And if he is not, are you his? And
if you are not his, are you safe? Is your hope
good? Will it anchor you in the day of your
dissolution?
By your obligations to glorify the Lord,by the brevity and value of your life, -I beseech you to know  Christ more, and more,
and more.  Study him. Use the means -all
the means -of searching his " unsearchable
riches." Otherwise you will not be a growing,
happy Christian; you will not meet your obligations to Christ, your precious Saviour. If
the knowledge of Christ is the charm of heaven,
it is the charm of the Christian on earth. If
this is the secret of the Church's holiness, of
its harmony, of its fellowship there, it is the
secret of its holiness, and happiness, and fellowship here. " Grace and peace" must "be
multiplied unto you through the knowledge of
God and of Jesus our Lord."
I am aware that I have given but an outline of this subject. I am aware that I have
not fully done even this. I am aware that I
have not noticed the fundamental truth, that
this knowledge of Christ is itself the constituent
element of eternal life; that I have not attempted to illustrate the declaration of our




152     THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.
Saviour, " This is Life eternal, that they might
know thee the only true God, and Jesus Chrisl
whom thou hast sent "; neither that significant
word of the prophet, "By his knowledg'e shall
my righteous servant justify many."  What I
have said is but suggestive, and feebly suggestive. But will you, my Christian brother,
seize upon whatever of truth I have sketched,
and use it as a stimulant to your own heart?
As you lay aside this little volume, will you
retain in your memory, and cherish for prayerful meditationl, "the knowledge of Christ" in
all its phases and bearings?  If you will, I
shall have been his instrument for your profit,
to your joy, to your usefulness, to your greater
measure of spiritual Life. If you will, my object is attained.  To nothing higher do I herein aspire. I point you to Christ. I commend
him  to you.  I commend you to him.  I
leave you at his feet, for his fellowship. I
would also "bow my knees unto the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole
family in heaven and earth is named, that he
would grant you according to the riches of his
glory, to be strengthened with might by his
Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell
in your heart by faith; that, being rooted and
grounded in love, you may be able to compre



THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.    153
hend, with all saints, what is the breadth, and
length, and depth, and height; and to know
the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge,
that you may be filled with all the fulness of
God."




IX.
THE WEALTH OF THE BELIEVER.
DID I wish to laugh to scorn the creed of
Christians, I would not point to the doctrines
of miracles and everlasting perdition. I would
not point to the twofold nature of Christ, as
metaphysically absurd; nor to the unmixed
humanity of Christ, as involving the Scriptures
in self-contradiction; nor to vicarious atonement, as grossly inconsistent with Divine justice; nor to the sufferings, without atonement,
of one who knew no sin, as doubly inconsistent
with justice.  I would simply point to these
words of Paul, addressed to his contemporaries at Corinth, " All things are yours."
Compare this with other assertions of the
Bible.  Where any thing else so startling, so
staggering to faith? Not only the Son given
as a sacrifice for the guilty, as a Redeemer of
the lost, but "all things" else beside!  Not
only the greatest, but the greatest and the
least! Not only the choicest gem in the coffer,
not the priceless, peerless treasure only, but
the coffer itself and all its stores! Not only




THE BELIEVER'S WEALTH.         155
bounty without similitude, but bounty without
measure and without end!
And yet as Christians we would point to
these same words with exultation. We would
point to this wondrous heirship and say, " Here
is brilliance which seems like heaven's; here is
bounty which looks like God's. If you would
know what He is in whom  we trust; if you
would know the boundless grace in which we
rejoice; if you would know the portion which
we choose; man of doubts, of little faith, look
herie. Look at this charter of our inheritance,
and tell us who is a God like unto our
God."
Yes; it needs a towering faith to receive
this assurance as a very truth. It needs an
eye which can bear a dazzling glory, to survey
it. But when received and when surveyed, it
becomes a precious and peculiar tie between
the soul and God. It is so great that it is
hardly to be believed; and yet because it is so
great, it is beyond value to the believer. It is
so vast and so full of splendor, that it may
confound the sceptic. But the Christian sees
in its very brightness and vastness the impress,
the seal, the signature of God; and holds it,
and believes it, and glories in it, because it
is so full of God-like richness and God-like
grace.




156       THE BELIEVER'S WEALTH.' They are not all Israel which are of Israel;
neither because they are the seed of Abraham
are they all children."  "He is not a Jew who
is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision
which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew
who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that
of the heart, in the spirit and not in the letter."
So they are not all Christ's who are of Christ.
Many adopt his name; many wear his badge;
many speak his language,- who are not his.
Who, then, are his?  Who belong to him?
Who are his people?  What is it to be
Christ's?
Suppose we adopt the sinful habits of the
world, and its sickening and soulless frivolities.
We pitch our tents beside its fountains of impure pleasure.  We leap amid its eddies of
delirious and noisy mirth.  We put the cup
to our neighbor's lips and wring out to the
wife of his youth its dregs of wormwood and
gall.  Is this being Christ's?  Why! Jesus
Christ says, " Follow  me."  Is this treading
where he has trodden?  Are the prints of his
footsteps - here?  Where?  And if we do
not " follow " Christ, are we his?
But suppose less.  We are habitually neglectful of spiritual duties. We are not wont
to praise and honor God before men. We




THE BELIEVER'S WEALTH.        157
have no dear communion with him.  We
have no altar where we burn the sweet incense of secret devotion. Is this being Christ's?
Is this following his steps?   his steps who
shaped his life and bore his cross for the honor
of his Father?  And if we do not " follow"
him, are we Christ's?
But suppose still less. We are habitually
neglectful of moral duties. We give no oil
and no wine and no place of rest to him who
has been wounded by thieves. We have no
ministrations for the sick; no bounty for the
poor; no good sympathy for the afflicted and
bereaved.  We are rough, or uncourteous, or
repulsive in our ordinary transactions. We
are harsh, or selfish, or sullen, at our homes.
We ruffle the temper, we disturb the peace, of
friends, of children, of parents, or we thwart
their plans for enjoyment or duty. I ask, Is
this treading in the steps of Christ?  I ask,
Is this " following" him?  Is this being his?
No. No. " If we have not the spirit of Christ,
we are none of his."  We cannot serve two
masters. We cannot serve God and Mammon.  We cannot be Belial's and Christ's.
If we are the world's in our habits; if we are
the world's in despising the honor and fellowship of God; if we are the world's in our dis



158      THE BELIEVER'S WEALTH.
positions, then we are not Christ's.  We may
be, we are, we must be, his, just as " every
beast of the forest is his, and the cattle upon a
thousand hills"; but we are not his chosen
ones,- his beloved,- his espoused.
What, then, is it to be Christ's?  It is this.
To live for him. To be his property in the
best sense; his devoted ones. To be his by
oath, by covenant, by service.  To " present
ourselves a living sacrifice,"- body, - soul, —
all,- to Christ. To write his name upon every power and upon every member. To bring
the outward life and the inward spirit to his
baptism. To open the eye and the heart to
the touching testimonials of his love, to the
exciting beauties of his face, to the enlivening
glories of his Divine grace; till the outbursting tribute of the soul shall be, " Here, Lord, I
give myself away."  It is to have toward
Christ such a spirit that " none of us liveth to
himself, and no man dieth to himself"; that
" whether we live, we live unto the Lord, and
whether we die, we die unto the Lord"; that
" whether we live, therefore, or die" hereby,herein, -" we are the Lord's."
Who, then, are devoted to Christ?  Who
have the spirit of entire consecration to their
Lord? Who are striving to mould their out



THE BELIEVER'S WEALTH.         159
ward deeds, their speech, their habits, their inward dispositions, after the pattern of Christ?
Whoever they are,- although their steps are
feeble, - although their garments are not yet
purged to perfect whiteness, -although you
may detect many a blemish in their deportment, - yet, having this spirit of devotedness
to Christ, they are hereby his.  Yes; and if
Christ's, then "joint heirs with Christ."  If
Christ's, then heirs with him who is " heir of
all things."   These  are they to whom  all
wealth is given.  These are they to whom  all
things are wealth. So says the inspired writer,
"All things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death,
or things present, or things to come, - all are
yours."  And who are they?  " And ye are
Christ's."
But are all things property to those who are
Christ's?-the ministry, with its blemishes, its
strifes, and its defections? as well as the ministry with its graces, its eloquence, and its
piety? Are all things their property? Have
they wealth in all things, even in the world
with its scorn and its hatred? in life with its
wants, its unceasing  fluctuations, and  its
plagues? in death with its unreported terrors?
in things present, in gold, in silver, in luxury,




160      THE BELIEVER'S  WEALTH.
in the unceasing tide of events which is rolling
on from year to year? in things to come, -in
the dreadful doom of judgment as well as in
its acquittal? in hell as well as in heaven?
Yes; property in all. Yes, every thing that
now is, is tributary to their profit; and every
thing that is to come, shall be. Every thing
-willing.or unwilling, high or low, good or
bad-is moved and removed, and lives and
grows and acts and ceases, for their highest
and purest bliss. Every thing is theirs and is
laboring for their good; and every thing, without exception, shall; and none can hinder it.
Yes; in the very ragings of a troubled world;
in the most fearful shapes of depravity you
can name; in the noisy surgings of the lake
of woe; they have ministering servants, -
property, - more, better, richer, surer property,
ye men of earthly pleasures and earthly riches,
than ye have in your mirth and laughter, in
your merchandise and gold.
All things are theirs; not in their possession,
but in their service; not controlled by them,
but controlled for them. Paul and Apollos,
and Cephas and Judas; the whole line of the
ministry, good and bad, true and false; sincere men and hypocrites; saints and castaways; have not touched a single spring of




THE BELIEVER'S WEALTH.        161
influence,- have not set in motion a single
train of events,  without bringing blessings
upon those who are Christ's.  All things are
in the hand of their Lord. " Unto the Son, all
things are delivered of the Father." And he
shall overrule alland overturn all, so that, in
every event and by every agent, the purposes
of God shall be accomplished, and the glory of
God - without a shade, without a veil, without a cloud - shall be revealed.
What are the chief desires of those who are
Christ's?  Those which were, and ever will
be, his,-" that the Father may be glorified in
the Son "; that " they may behold his glory";
that they may be purged clean without spot
or blemish.  And he who overrules and overturns, - he who holds the winds and the seas
and thoughts and hearts and all things,- shall
guide and govern all for the accomplishment
of these objects.
Thus every influence of the ministry; and
every wave, and burden, and bubble upon the
tide of time; every object; every form of sin,
and every trophy of grace; every day of sunshine, and every night of storm; every ministration of affliction, and every one of prosperity,- shall all serve for the full development
of our Redeemer's glory, and for the prepara



162       THE BELIEVER9S WEALTH.
tion of his people for his courts. The men of
the world are thus overruled and overturned.
Their schemes, their wisdom, their enterprise,
their opposition to the truth, their silver and
their gold, their rise and their fall, their birth
and their death, and their perdition, —are all
but make-weights in the balances of God's
purposes. In each, and in the use of each, and
in the remotest influence of each, is a preparation-work for the coming of his kingdom; a
purifying work upon the hearts of his people;
and a key to the unsearchable riches of his excellence.  They are " hewers of wood and
drawers of water for the house of the Lord."
They polish and arrange the members of his
spiritual temple, -unwittingly, unwillingly;
but verily and perfectly.  And even in the
death of the body and the death of the soul,
they unveil the brilliant mystery both of Grace
and of Justice.
So, too, are the life and the death of the
Christian himself overturned and overruled.
Every particular of comfort and of trial, of
conflict and deliverance, of hope and darkness,
of poverty and abundance; every buffeting of
Satan; every thorn in the flesh; the time, the
place, the particulars of his dissolution; all are
made tributary to the same ends, - the perfee



THE BELIEVER9S WEALTH.        163
tion of the soul, the spread of the Gospel, and
the display of God's glory.
So, too, with things present.  The rise and
fall of empires; the strifes and cruelties of
men; every thing which transpires from the
rising to the setting sun; each is made to
give in its contribution to the same great
ends.
And so with things to come. In the destruction of the world; in the resurrection of
the dead; in the decisions of the judgment;
in the bliss of heaven, and in the hopeless woe
of hell; in pardon and in condemnation; in
each shall be a fresh and distinct and peculiar
development of the boundless glory of God.
In each, and by each, shall " the Father be
glorified in the Son."
See now the bearing of these things upon
those who are Christ's.  See how  all things
are theirs. See how all things are bringing
tributary offerings to their feet. See how all
things, and all events, and all men, and all
eternity, are their ministering servants. Every
thing is fulfilling the desires of their hearts.
Every thing is working for that which is their
pleasure. Every one is giving impulse to the
operations of grace. Every one hereafter shall
reveal the story of its influence. Every story




164      THE BELIEVER'S WEALTH.
shall reveal Redeemirrg Love. Every new disclosure of Redeeming Love shall give new
rapture to the admiring, adoring saint. Thus
every thing is ministering to his blessedness.
Every thing is culturing the vintage which he
shall pluck in heaven. Every thing is making
ready the cluster and the cup for his banquet
in the Father's kingdom. Every thing is preparing him for his inheritance; and his inheritance for him.
0 ye men of worldly hopes! do you despise the Christian?  Do you look upon his
lot as pitiful, because he is a man of secret
burdens and many imperfections? because he
denies himself where you give the rein to indulgence? because he passes by the fountains
of pleasure at which you drink to fulness and
satiety?  Look at his boundless, endless heritage. Look at the inventory of his limitless
possessions. Look! it covers all things. It
covers you - and yours. Are you rich? Your
silver and your gold are - his. Are you free,
and do you boast of liberty? Your bodies are
- his. Your souls are-his. Your very members and thoughts, your hearts, your passions,
the noontide of your lives, the heyday of your
prosperity, the gathering twilight of your de



THE BELIEVER'S WEALTH.         165
dining sun, the coming darkness of your starless midnight, all-all —are his.  In each
there is, or is to be, some disclosure of those
depths of Grace or Justice which are the sea
of his enjoyments, the light and the life of his
heaven.  You are bringing sheaves into his
storehouse. You are paying tribute-money into
his treasury.  Your very pride, your scorn,
your jest, your cutting accusations of inconsistency, are the smelting-furnace of his spirit.
They are the fire and the fuel with which.
his Purifier is purging out his dross to bring
him to the brilliant splendor and the beauteous
pureness of the virgin silver. It is not His
will that any one of all such shall perish.
They are in his keepingin the midst of their
troubles. It is his will, that all things shall
be theirs; you, - yours, - your life, with its
every word, and deed, and influence; your
death with its every terror; and your eternity,
- if ye go there, what ye now are, the servants
of the world, -your eternity, with its every
woe.
Such is the wealth of those who are Christ's.
It is wealth beyond computation, - without
limit and without exhaustion. It is theirs by
covenant; theirs by oath; theirs to-day; and




166       THE BELIEVER'S WEALTH.
theirs for ever. It is theirs, for they are Christ's
It is theirs, for they are the fruits of his suffer
ings, the travail of his soul, and the children
of his love.  It is theirs, for it is his.  It is
theirs, for they and he are one; they in him,
and he in them.  It is theirs, for his glory is
their glory; his interests are their interests;
and his heirship is their heirship. It is theirs,
for as the Father loveth the Son, so the Son
loveth them who are his; and as the Father
hath delivered all things unto the Son for his
control and gift, so the Son hath given all
things unto them for their present and endless
reward.
Let me state this whole matter in a more
concise form.
All things are devoted to those who are devoted to the Lord Jesus Christ.  If we are his
servants, then every object and event is made
our servant. If we seek to be productive of
his highest glory, then he seeks to make every
thing productive of our highest enjoyment; and
every thing is so, in very deed; every thing
without exception; every thing  great and
small, good and evil, past, present, and to
come, spiritual and temporal, here and there
and everywhere.   In what other sense all




THE BELIEVER'S WEALTH.       167
things can be said to belong to those who belong to Christ, - in what other sense all things
can be theirs, - it is difficult to conceive. If
we are indeed Christ's in the best sense, if we
were to become his as purely and as steadily
as the angels in heaven,-would all things
become ours in the way of possession; or
rather, of control?  How was it with the Corinthian church? They had no control of the
wealth of the world, nor of the men of the
world, nor of the gifts of the ministry of the
Gospel, nor of their own life or death, nor of
things present, nor of things to come. Yet all
things were theirs. In what sense? Evidently in the only remaining sense, -devoted to
them; their servants; controlled for them;
overruled each, and all, and evermore, for their
best and enduring happiness; overruled so that,
out of every object and every event, something
should be educed tributary, not only to their
spiritual perfection, but to their enjoyment.
From every mystery of Divine government, as
from a deep sea, should come up for them
some beauteous pearl; from  every lurkingplace of sin, as from the bowels of a mine,
some precious stone; and from behind every
cloud of judgment and retribution, even, some
enrapturing form of wondrous glory.




168      THE BELIEVER'S WEALTH.
But to avoid misapprehension of this truth
let us look at it a little more closely.
Jesus Christ as God manifest; as the only
communication or display of the Divine Being;
aside from  whom  the Divine Excellence is
"unapproachable," and  unperceivable, and
mantled with "clouds and darkness";-I say,
Jesus Christ, as the manifestation of God, is
the " bread of Life."  He is the aliment of the
soul. In other words, the affectionate perception of the excellence of the Godhead shining
in him is the only method of happiness for any
created soul. To behold clearly and with perfect love, the fulness of God in the Son -is
heaven. Every fresh display of this Divine
fulness is an increase of heavenly enjoyment.
Every thing which is a means of this display,
is a means of new enjoyment to the soul who
is beholding that fulness with affection. Now
every thing shall be a means of unfolding " the
glory of God, as it shines in the face of Jesus
Christ."  In some way, every thing shall illustrate the excellence of God; every thing, shall
furnish proof of the goodness of Him who orders and overrules every thing. Every thing
does so; so far as it is understood by the creature. Every thing, therefore, being an interpreter of God's goodness, is a ministering ser



THE BELIEVER'S WEALTH.         169
vant to him  who loves that goodness; and
must be; and shall he; and shall ever be.
And he who is " Christ's," who is devoted to
him, does love that boundless goodness shining
out in him; loves it more than all things else.
It is his bread. It is his soul's aliment. It is
his heaven. Every thing shall interpret to
him that goodness. Every thing shall whisper
to him some moving proof of Christ's glory.
Every thing shall be as a cloud to distil upon
his table the manna and the dew of spiritual
Life, to impart to his soul thrift, and vigor,
and enjoyment.
But —shall he feed and thrive upon the
story of men's woes from generation to generation! Shall he delight in the abomination of
his own and of others' sins! Shall the groans
and the curses of hell be his gladness! Shall
he revel in the smoke of others' torment  If
so, where would be his delight in that God
who hateth sin, and hath no pleasure in the
death of the sinner?  If so, —while God is
what he is, - where would be his heaven?
No.  No. Impossible.  Absurd.
Yet every thing is a ministering servant to
those who are Christ's. In what way, then?
In this way.  The terrific things which you
find in the history of the world, which you




170       THE BELIEVER S WEALTH.
will find in the woes of hereafter,  without
bating one jot of their terrors, without waking
one pulsation of pride or exultation or brutal
passion, - will so interpret God, will so unfold
his holiness, will so lay open the unfathomed
depths of his glory, that they who are Christ's
shall be taught the more fully of the glories of
their Redeemer by every tale of terror, by every bellowing wave of retribution, by every
ebb and flow of depravity.  There is no delight for them in others' guilt or woe. All
their delight, and all their heaven, is - God
shining forth in Christ; God interpreted by
every terror as truly and as clearly as by every
blessing.  Thus it is that, to Christ's people,
all things yield enjoyment; not as beauteous
or delightful in themselves always, but as interpreters of God; as giving explanation or illustration, in some way, of that most wondrous
Divine glory,-the work of Redemption by
the Son.
In this wealth of the believer, what Grace!
Here is the Grace of God going out in one
ceaseless flow; expanding into one vast and
beautiful ocean without a shore.  0, it is all
grace! it is all grace! Look at it; look at it,
Christian believer; look at it and adore. If




THE BELIEVER'S WEALTH.       171
you are Christs, —and, if a believer in him,
you are, -if you have in sincerity brought
yourself to his baptism; if you are trying to
use your time and your privileges and your
talents in his service, -then "all things are
yours"; pledged to you; given to you; made
and shaped and overruled to be tributaries to
your purest and endless enjoyment. Every
thing is to become a hewn stone in the fabric
of your heavenly mansion; or a polished jewel
in your crown of glory; or a savory viand in
your banquet-house of Love.
How is it to-day?  When you look upon
the verdure of the fields; when you walk
abroad under the bright and gladdening light
of the sun; when you are compassed about
by the heavenly stillness and the choice comforts of successive Sabbaths; when you see
your children, as olive-plants, about your table,
clad, and fed, and cared for, and bright with
health, and hope, and promise; when you
slake your thirst and refresh your spirit at
earthly fountains opening and streaming all
around you; and when you pluck the rich
lusters of your common bounties, is there not
in each, for you, some foretaste of heaven?
Has not each, for you, a relish unknown to
those who know  not Christ?  When you
12




172      THE BELIEVER'S WEALTH.
think of Him  who is the Giver; when you
look upon them as borne to you by his hand,
as ministered to you by his love, is it not with
subduing and blissful emotions?  Therethere — you recognize in every beauty and
bounty of Nature, in the sacred rest of every
Sabbath, in every precious tie of kindred, in
short, in every good thing, something more
than its own blessing, and its own loveliness
There, in each, you behold mirrored, and mapped out, before you the loving-kindness of
God. They stir up your heart to gladness,
not because of their own richness only, but
because in each you have a smile from heaven,
-- a token of remembrance, - a word of fellowship. They gladden you because they are
good; but they gladden you more because
they teach you, and prove to you, the goodness of God. Each new blessing, and each
new day of blessings, gives you a new and
deeper and clearer insight into his excellence.
So with the dark and gloomy things of life.
When you think of His overruling power, you
can hear, and you do hear, for your peace and
comfort, a voice in every tempest, you see a
handwriting upon every cloud,  " It is I,it is I, —be not afraid."  And when the wind
has passed and the cloud overblown, you have




THE BELIEVER'S WEALTH.      173
found some spot upon your surrounding landscape, or upon your wayward heart, which
has drunk a blessing; some spot whose brightness and newness of life have betokened the
goodness of your God.
And how will it be with you hereafter?
Why! if Paul's words are true, -just so then.
No, - not just so then.  Now - all things
show you God so far as you study them and
understand them.  Then -all things shall
show you God in the face of Jesus Christ
without fail; for look at all, and understand
all, you will.  Then —all things shall unfold to you your God and your Saviour, just
as some things, in your most precious and
heavenly hours, do now. The same work
which is wrought in you when the good things
of providence, of the Gospel, and of the cross
reveal to you anew the beauties of Christ, and
knit your heart to him anew, - the same gladness, the same near access to the mercy-seat,
the same dearness of communion, — shall
hereafter be wrought in you by all things.
Yes,-by all that have been, or are, or are to
be.  Now - you taste the cup; then - you
shall drink at the fountain.  Now - you
hear sometimes a solitary note of melody
sounding your Redeemer's goodness; but




174      THE BELIEVER'S WEALTH.
then —all things shall blend together in one
ceaseless, rapturous chorus to make known his
glory.
Who are ye, —to whom  all things shall
minister? Who are ye, - to whom all things
shall interpret the glory of your best beloved?
for whose service and bliss all things are enrolled and enlisted and pledged? Has never
an impure breath ruffled the surface of your
spirits? Have they always imaged the likeness of your God?  Has never a thought, a
wish, a passion, throbbed there, but with the
sanction of the Law?  Has never an affection
moved with undue, unbalanced, forbidden
strength? Has your best love always been
for heaven? for God?  Have your lives always been devoted to him? your bodies? your
souls? Are you deserving of good at his
hands, that he has made over to you this store
of wealth, - all things? Deserving  of good!
What say your consciences? What said the
law when it served as your schoolmaster?
when it taught you its lessons, and gave you
experience of its scourgings? What say you,
as you call to remembrance the wormwood
and the gall?  What say you, as you look
now upon your hearts? Deserving- of good
- at the hands of the Lord! Deserving - of




THE BELIEVER'S WEALTH.      175
all this! Why! brethren beloved, if you and
I are Christ's, we were not always his. No, -
0, no! We have thought, and spoken, and
felt, and loved, not with deference to the law
and the will of God, - but as we have pleased
We let the law  go. And we let God go.
We loved pleasures and our fellow-creatures
rather than God.  And thus we sold ourselves to sin; broke the whole law; became
corrupted through  and through; stamped,
dyed, leavened with sin; the very opposite of
God. And we went on so; and we went on;
and we would go on; against all the warnings
of heaven; against all the arguments, and appeals, and provisions of Redeeming Love;
against ten thousand admonitions and remonstrances of conscience; against the repeated
rebukes and strivings of the Holy Spirit. We
were " desperately wicked." Are WE deserving
of good at the hand of the Lord? Are we
deserving of " all things" as our inheritance?
We are deserving enough; but it is of wrath,
not of kindness; of everlasting beggary, not of. riches; of hell, not of heaven. And we have
felt this: in our very souls we have been
taught it. We are not deserving of good; not
of the least good; not of a moment of quietude; not of a crumb from the table of provi



176      THE BELIEVER'S WEALTH.
dence; not of a drop of refreshing mercy; not
of a ray of hope.
Yet "all things" are ours.  How? By
what means? By what tenure? It is of God.
It is of grace. It is by the grace of God. It
is all of the grace of God. Witness the sins
of our lives, - back — back — to childhood.
Witness the domineering, lawless corruptions
of our hearts. This wealth given to us is of
grace in every part and portion, and in every
moment of its duration.  The vast fabric of
our inheritance is written all over, from cornerstone to key-stone, with — " Grace - grace -
unto it."  And such grace! It is amazing! It
is measureless! It is - matchless!
But this is not a dumb doctrine. It speaks.
It speaks as with a thousand tongues. It
speaks with all the eloquence and emphasis
of heaven. It speaks; and its words are echoed from world to world, from congregation
to congregation, by every thing that hath life,
or form, or name, where the Spirit of God has
brooded, or the purpose of God has been
known. It calls aloud for our tribute. It calls
upon those who are Christ's to make some return to him who has covenanted with them
and for them. It is, as it were, the finger of




THE BELIEVER'S WEALTH.        177
God pointing to the signet-mark upon the
charter of Redemption, and to all things that
are, and that are to be; to the magnificence
of Divine bounty, to every fluttering hope, and
every gushing enjoyment of the Christian's
experience, appealing by all and in the name
of all to the heir of these riches, and urging
him to proper acknowledgments of his infinite
obligations.
The wealth bestowed so richly, so freely,
upon Christ's people, is reason for their rejoicing. Here indeed is cause for gladness.
Here are I durable riches."  And here, in this
very bestowment, is distinct and surpassing
proof of what God is. Here, in this very fact,
is a fresh interpreter of God; gathering the
separate testimony of all things into one; into
one focal point of burning and overpowering
glory.
But the doctrine of this rich inheritance argues for something more than joy. It argues
for the tribute unto God of a lowly mind.
Should we be puffed up as we look at the
largeness and richness of his bounty to usward?  Should we be puffed up because he
has pledged to us all things?  He has not
done it because we are good. He has not
done it because we are the least among sin



178      THE BELIEVER'S WEALTH.
ners. In this bounty there is no proof, no inti.
mation of good desert in us. No. Here is
-grace.  Its glory is- its grace.  Here, then
in this bestowment of all things is something
which points us, not only to the fulness and
glory of God, but to the pollution in which he
found us; to the hole of the pit whence he
digged us; to our low estate and misery, when
"by adoption" he made us heirs. "Where
is boasting then? It is excluded"; excluded
by that which is the very glory of our inheritance, -its grace.  Thus, while we look at
its splendor, while we are lost in surveying its
wonders, we are forbidden by it to glory save
in the Lord. We are commanded and compelled by it to bow with self-abasement, while
we rejoice in the riches of grace. If these riches are ours, and if they are of grace, then our
proper place is in the dust;'our proper spirit
is that of deep and eternal humility. The
moment we look upon this inheritance with
an emotion of self-glorying; the moment we
make it an occasion of high looks or haughty
thoughts, —we pervert it. It was given indeed for our enjoyment. But it was also given
to make known and magnify, perpetually, the
riches of God's grace. And while we look at
this gift of " all things," if we do forget the




THE BELIEVER'S WEALTH.        179
guilt and the beggary in which he found us,
we honor neither the gift nor the Giver. And
is this a right return when the gift is all grace?
Is this right, when its grace is its very peculiar glory?  Why! its purpose, and argument,
and very meaning, are all set aside except we
see and own our vileness. Shall we do this?
We who have come (we hope) to such an
heirship!  We whom  God (we hope) has
brought thither!  Shall we?  Can we?  No.
We must have our eyes and hearts open
always, not only to the splendor and fulness
of our inheritance, but to the wonder and
glory of its grace; to the deeds and ill-desert
of our fearful and desperate depravity upon
which that grace is based and upreared.
But we owe to God another duty in return,
service.  We always should have owed
him this, had he never pitied, had he never
redeemed, had he never sought us. Had he
never shed upon us the blessings of his forbearance, of his tender providence, of his restraining grace; had he never given us one
token of loving-kindness; we should have
owed him  entire and eternal service. Hlow
much more do we owe it now! How much
more, - when he has pitied, and redeemed,
and found, and blessed! 0, how much more




180      THE BELIEVER'S WEALTH.
when he has bound us to Christ by renewing
grace! How much more when he has bound
all things in our service  when he has bidden
all things to be our ministers! when he has
opened for us fountains of living waters everywhere 
O my brother in Christ, —look!  The argument of this bounty, the pealing argument
of all this grace, is for service. Every thing is
given to you! Yes, - and every thing adjures
you to be wholly the Lord's. Shall such bounty, shall such grace, be powerless? You are
beholden for steadfast, untiring, and unreserved
service; not for a fitful, sluggish, wavering effort in the service of Christ. You are beholden
for your time, for the vigor of your body, for
the vigor of your mind, for the fervent love
and obedience of your soul. You are told so
by the precious truth before us. You are told
so by every enjoyment of God which Nature,
and Providence, and the Bible, and the Holy
Spirit, and your closet, give you. You are
told so in the name of every thing which can
and shall display God's goodness; in the
name of every thing which is to meet you in
heaven as an interpreter of his glory. And
will you waver in your love and devotedness
to Christ!  Will you divide your service be



THE BELIEVER S WEALTH.         181
tween him  and the world!  Will you allow
the dross, and the trash, and the lying vanities
of life, to make you forget his loveliness and
loving-kindness and grace!  Will you be a
stupid, slumbering, dronish disciple!  You!
before whom  Christ has placed the sacred
pledges of his redeeming, his covenanting, his
unchanging love! written upon every thing
that is, or has been, or shall be!  You! an
heir of God! a "joint heir with Christ"! an
heir of " all things"!  You! only yesterday a
beggar, -a sinner,  an heir of death,- a' child of wrath"! to-day, with the priceless
legacy of Almighty Grace in your hand! "Is
this the kind return, are these the thanks, you
owe?"  Back,- back,  again I say, -look
back to your nakedness and to your filthy
state before your adoption.  Compare what
you were, with what you are"; your hope of
to-day, with your desert of damnation yesterday; the curse of your spiritual death, with
the blessing of your spiritual resurrection; the
midnight of your condemnation, with your
present morning of unclouded grace!  Does
all this argue for a partial or a feeble service
of your Redeemer?  Is all this a plea or an
apology for worldly-mindedness?
No. No. In the name of grace,- in the




182      THE BELIEVER9S WEALTH.
name of that grace which is busy for you everywhere and for ever, which is culturing and
culling enjoyments for you upon every spot
where God reigneth,-in the name of your
hope and your inheritance, -I adjure you be
the Lord's wholly, steadily, cheerfully, for ever.
This is your duty.  This is the argument of
the precious truth before you.
But give him more. Praise him.  Speak of
his wondrous grace. Sing; of his boundless
gifts. Be joyful in God, all ye his people;
and let your joy break forth into songs. Let
the harp be struck to-day; for the dayspring
of your salvation has already come. Let his
name be magnified and his grace be proclaimed by all who are the Lord's. Let it be
done openly, loudly, always.  0, give him
this!  Surely such grace has claim to such
return. Surely goodness and bounty which
go out without limit and without end should
be sung on earth as well as in heaven. Praise
the Lord, then, before all people. Let all men
know that you adore him. Never let a blush
be found upon your cheek; never let a denial
come up to pollute your lips; when you are
charged with belonging to Jesus of Nazareth.
But commend him, praise him, for his grace,
for his bounty, for his gifts to you, - a sinner.




THE BELIEVER'S WEALTH.        183
It is the least you can do, to praise him with
your lips, to praise him by the integrity and
holiness of your life. And you are told to do
it; told to, by the broad and sacred and solemn
pledges of his outbursting love; told to, in the
very words, " All thing's are yours."
0, look, brother! The fulness of his grace
is mirrored to you everywhere! The tokens
of his love are sparkling in every fountain of
your earthly relations. They are warming you
and gladdening you in every sunbeam. They
are smiling to you in every beauty of nature.
They are beckoning to you mutely, but eloquently, in every twinkling star above you.
Perhaps you do not hear and see to-day, but
you will hereafter.  Then these things, and
other things, and " all things," will come up
before you in memory or by revelation; and
they will make heavenly music, each and all,
in proof and praise of your Redeemer's kindness.  Out of every event shall come something to make hint manifest, and to make you
full of heavenly rapture.
Now, then, with riches pledged to you in
" all things," -with all the treasures of your
beloved before you as the dowry of your espousals,- give him what you can and ought.
Give him the beautiful offering of a humble




184          THE  BELIEVER'S WEALTH.
spirit.  Give him  constancy in love and servicl
Give him open praise.
"Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise him, all creatures here below;
Praise him above, ye heavenly host, -
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost."




THE RECOGNITION OF CHRIST'S GRACE,-A
DUTY.
EVERY thing which contributes to our comfort, whether an intrinsic good, or merely a
preventive of evil, is of grace.  Are we " born
of God"?  Are we enjoying the various privileges of adoption? Do our worldly interests,
the institutions of the Gospel, or more direct
Divine influences, suppress the fearful tendencies of our unrenewed hearts? Are we cheered
by our domestic relations? Are we fed, and
clothed, and sheltered? Do we enjoy health,
and light, and air, and ten thousand objects of
sense? Is there any thing - however minute
-which exempts us from perfect misery? In
each and all these things we receive " the manifold grace of God." To draw a single breath
without pain, to experience the meanest sensation of fleshly delight, is as truly a matter of
Divine grace, as to be "renewed in the spirit
of our minds."
Having sinned, we deserve no blessing. Every blessing which we do receive is —grace.




186  THE RECOGNITION OF CHRIST'S GRACE.
Whether it be spiritual or temporal; whether
special or common; whether great or trivial;
it is unmerited,-it is forfeited,-it is of
grace.  Yet it is commonly understood that
grace is concerned only in such blessings as
regeneration, sanctification, salvation, and their
several accompaniments.  Men who talk loud
and fervently of grace in these things, are often
blind and dumb and dead to it as displayed in
the little mercies of every day. They can see
its glory in the cross, but do not detect it in
the flower, in the dew, in the hour of peaceful
repose or social fellowship. To some it would
seem frivolous, if not profane, to apply so high
an attribute of God to the painting of a flower,
to the music of a bird, or to the texture of a
garment.> Yet it is wrong to confine our idea
of God's grace to blessings pertaining to the
soul.  It is wrong; for, if it was grace which
shone on the cross, if it is grace which is
displayed in salvation, then it is grace which
shines and speaks, and calls for praise in all
the mercies of all the world.
Men readily acknowledge the more conspicuous truths of the Bible as articles of credence.
They recognize, speculatively at least, the holiness and supremacy of God.  The believer
in Christ apprehends the severity and justice




THE RECOGNITION OF CHRIST'S GRACE. 187
of the Law, and the fulness of the Redeemer,
and the grace and glory and value of Redemption, -so far, at least, as the great sacrifice of
atonement is concerned; and he anticipates
with cheering hope the heavenly income of
that Redemption.  But where do you find a
man, even among the most devout, who has
uncovered, and studied, and revelled in, this
truth, that " of the fulness of Jesus Christ
have all we received, and grace for grace," i. e.
grace upon grace?  How many disciples of
Jesus are there who think and feel that they
are recipients of "his fulness" in any other
way than as joint proprietors of atoning blood,
and heirs apparent of a felicitous inheritance?
How many who remember and feel that they
receive " of the fulness" of their Redeemer,
that they pluck and eat the fruits of his sufferings, that they are gladdened and refreshed by
the ministrations of his hands, every day and
hour and moment?  How  many, think you,
are there in this wide world, -in this ransomed world,- who see the footprints of Jesus
in their pathway? who catch the voice of
his benediction in the events of their histories?
who discern the impress of his hand, and the
badges of his love, and the memorials of his
baptism: in all things?
13




188  THE RECOGNITION OF CHRIST'S GRACE.
Countless, ceaseless, are the gifts of his
grace to all the tenants of this world of
hope. And countless are the gifts of his grace
which are taken, and enjoyed, and eagerly
consumed, without a thought of their sacredness, or an acknowledgment of their source.
They are rich.  They are profuse.  They are
omnipresent. They are, as it were, an innumerable  company of angels, declaring his
goodness, unfolding his love, and chanting his
praises, to whose voices scarcely an ear is
turned or a tongue responds.
Is this right? Do we quit ourselves of duty
when we overlook and slight an evidence, a
fruit, or a memorial of Redeeming Love?  Is
it right to slight the testimony of Jesus in the
Bible?  Is it right to disregard the fountain of
Redeeming blood?  Is it right to turn our
backs upon the sacramental board?  Where,
and what, is the gift of Christ, — where, and
what, is that one thing, great or small, which
comes to us in his name and from his hand,
yet deserves no recognition as a token of hid
Love?
Grace through Christ is our choicest treasure. It is a sacred treasure. It is as sacred
in the eye of God as his own name, and
honor, and. integrity.  And while he watches




TIHE RECOGNITION OF CHRISTSS GRACE. 189
with jealousy its reception by us, can we
meet it and take it and use it unmindful
of its value and its origin, yet do no wrong?
We have no more right to draw a veil over
God's most glorious attribute when displayed
in that which is least, than when displayed
in that which is greatest.   We have no
more right to spurn it in a petty providence,
than in the matchless deed of Redemption.
No! whatever form  that grace may assume,
we are bound to recognize it; to recognize it
as the grace of Christ. Whether it be reflected
to us from Sinai, or from Calvary, or from a
thousand inferior things, matters nothing. In
any kindness which God shows us, we ought
to detect his agency. We should receive such
a blessing,-no matter what it is,-feeling
that it is his gift; feeling that it is undeserved,
that, being undeserved, it is a gift of his grace.
Not only should we know and remember that
it is from his hand, but we should do so with
emotion.  It should be received  devoutly.
While we detect his superscription upon it,
we should do so with filial hearts. We should
delight in it, not so much for the gift's sake as
for the Giver's; not so much in the blessing
as in the grace of the blessing. Let us enjoy
it. Let us be ravished with it, if we will. But




190 THE RECOGNITION OF CHRIST'S GRACE.
through the blessing let us discern the grace
-humbly, heartily, affectionately,-and in
the grace behold the image of the Giver, and
trace his precious care and love. "It is a gift,
-a gift from  heaven, —a gift of grace," —
should be the tribute of our lips, the fervent
acknowledgment of our hearts.  Thus should
we receive the gift; thus recognize the grace.
But as such gifts are repeated, our recognition of grace should be repeated.  We should
render this tribute habitually; for the blessings
of to-day, - for the blessings of to-morrow,for the blessings of yesterday. If grace assume a thousand forms, and write its name
upon ten thousand objects, -then a thousand
and ten thousand times should we perform
this duty. Let not one blessing slip by without welcoming it in the name, and as the
grace, of heaven. Taste not a cup of mercy,
- nay, not a drop thereof, - without relishing
the love and the grace which commingle in it.
And when the cup is drained, when the gush
of enjoyment is over, let the grateful memory
of it be cherished. If we would fully recognize the grace which blesses us, we must
treasure up the past; we must keep a catalogue of our mercies; we must hallow that
catalogue in our hearts.




THE RECOGNITION OF CHRISTSS GRACE. 191
It is neither fit to overlook grace as it passes
before us, nor to forget it when it is past.
I have said that we receive grace to an extent coequal with our blessings.  What, then,
are our blessings? and are they all of grace?
There are blessings peculiar to the believer.
Christian  brother, - you love God.  Yes,
though that love be faint and flickering, yet -
if your name be not a false one - you love
God. But have you always loved him?  No.
But a little while ago you shut your heart
against him.  You cringed and bowed at the
altar of some earthly idol. You " worshipped
and served the creature more than the Creator." But a little while ago, and you was a
doubter of God. You did not and would not
confide in his Word, or his Sovereignty, or
his dealings. Your feet were upon his statutebook.  Your heart was full of evil.  You
nursed your corruptions; and they grew. You
so tutored your depravity that you could
quench the Holy Spirit, and withstand Redeeming Love. But the veil is removed from your
heart. You have felt the infusion of a new
principle.  This hatred of a holy God has
passed away. Your lips have sung praises,




192 THE RECOGNITION OF CHRIST'S GRACE.
and your heart has melted beneath the cross
of Christ. Have you forgotten the love of
your espousals?  Have you forgotten the
wormwood and the gall?  Have you forgotten your deliverance?
And are you pardoned?  Are you a new
creature? Do you bear the image of God?
Is the seal of Redemption upon your soul?
upon yours, where but yesterday was the peculiar sin of despising and rejecting Christ?
Yesterday greedy for husks, and chaff, and
vanity, - now with a " hope full of immortality"! Yesterday gazing, with idolatrous delight, upon the sparkling frailties which will
be burned up to-morrow, - now with your eye
upon a crown of life! Yesterday a " child of
perdition," - to-day a child of God! Yesterday a slave of sin, - now an heir of glory!
And to what privileges are you admitted?
To the privilege of endearing fellowship with
Christ; of communing with him  as friend
communeth with friend; of feeling' the presence and sympathy and consolations of your
best beloved; of thus having on earth a foretaste of heaven.  To the privilege of that
" hope which is as an anchor to the soul." To
the privilege of that faith which is Life eternal. To the privilege of " the peace of God




THE RECOGNITION OF CHRIST S GRACE. 193
which passeth all understanding."   To the
privilege of sanctified afflictions. All these are
yours, in proportion to your fidelity, and your
intimacy with Christ.
Precious, precious blessings! fitted to the
soul! to its helplessness,-its pollution,-its
wretchedness, - its immortality!
How  came-they yours?  Did  you earn
them?  Did you sow  their seed?  Did you
break up the soil on which they have grown?
Did you conquer the thorns and briers which
grew  in riot there before?  No.  Your seed
was the teeth of dragons; and the harvest
would have been after its kind.  Well; how
came you to be a new creature?  How came
such a one as you were to love God? to sit
at the foot of the cross? to taste Redeeming love? to enjoy the privileges consequent
upon spiritual adoption?  Was the  work
yours?  No, —no. Christ wrought it; not
you. " You love him because he first loved
you. "  "You did not choose  him, but he
chose you."
Then these spiritual blessings are gifts. But
were they merited?  Yes;- if sin  merits
blessings; if pollution merits the fellowship
and embrace of purity; if rebellion merits pardon; if depravity merits heaven; then you




194 THE RECOGNITION OF CHRIST9S GRACE.
have merited the privileges and heirship of
your adoption.
0, look at the comforts of a believer in
Christ! See them in all their forms of beauty.
Behold their subduing, heavenly influences.
Witness their effects through the vicissitudes
of life; through the conflict —that victorious
conflict- with death. Look at that spiritual
change of his, by which he is introduced to
these blessings. Look at what he was, - at
what he is. Surely they are not deserved.
Surely they are not earned. Every one of
them is of grace. In germ, in bud, in blossom,
in ripeness, in bestowment, in enjoyment, —they are each and all and altogether - grace.
There are blessings which believers and unbelievers receive in common.
Suppose, now, there were no verdant fields
throughout the world; and no flowers; and
no breath of wind to waft their fragrance;
and no pleasant sounds to greet our ears.
Suppose the sun were blotted out; and the
moon; and the stars.  Suppose there were no
form of beauty, and no source of bodily delight
around us. Suppose all the supeitfuities of
external nature were swept away, and nothing
left to us but the mere essentials of animal ex



THE RECOGNITION OF CHRIST'S GRACE. 195
istence. Are we aware how much enjoyment
we receive from the myriads of objects which
address our senses?  Are we aware how a
thousand neglected beauties, and ten thousand
unnoticed springs of comfort, are silently dropping their contributions of kindness upon our
hearts?  Rain, and sunshine, and pure air,
and the singing of birds, and the beauty of
flowers, and the mute splendor of the stars, are
little thought of. But men who have been
bereft of them   and such men there have
been —have thought much of them; and
have pined, and groaned, and cursed, and
died, in misery for the want of them.
But this is only one department of our temporal blessings. There is our table, spread to
nourish us. There is our raiment, to protect
us. There are our dwellings, to shelter us.
There are our fields and our flocks and our
herds, our silver and our gold, our beds, our
friends, our nights of rest, our mornings of vigor
and health. There are our family enjoyments;
parental, filial, fraternal, conjugal affection and
sympathy and communion,- with their unnumbered seasons of refreshing. There are our
providential bounties, of endless variety and of
hourly recurrence. Are all these things trivial?
Are they unworthy to be mentioned?  Let




196 THE RECOGNITION OF CHRIST'S GRACE.
them depart, - and there would come upon you
a night of desolation whose darkness would be
terrific. A blight would come over you whose
influence defies conception.
Here, then, is this bounteous furniture of
nature, - here are these countless ministrations of providence,- showering their precious
blessings upon us with the revolution of every
year and of every moment.  However we
may have labored to secure them, yet we know
that we have not earned them.  A wind, a
breath, the slightest accident, might defeat the
toil and labor and calculation of years. We
cannot guaranty to ourselves the slightest
blessing.  We cannot put our finger on a
single bounty and say,- "It is ours."  No;
they are gifts.  From some source or other, 
they are gifts.
Are they by right, or —by bounty?  Are
they by right, or- by grace?  Why! if we
have an angel's purity;' if we are unsullied by
a single breath of sin; if not a thought contrary to the law has crept over our hearts; —
then they are by rig/ht. But if one transgression be written against us, then they are of
grace. If one impure wish has left its traces
upon our souls, - it-was the forfeiture of all
blessing.




THlE RECOGNITION OF CHRIST'S GRACE. 197
Need I tell or prove our demerit?  It is
written on our consciences.  We know it.
We feel it.  Then I need not argue out the
grace which signalizes our blessings. I need
only say, that by every sin, and by every pollution within us, the grace which surrounds us,
which sanctifies the various good things of
life, is enhanced.  And if the grace be increased as demerit is increased, how great,
how  wondrous, how  magnificent, the grace
which creates and gives all this congregation
of mercies 
But there are also blessings peculiar to un
believers.
They are beset with influences whose direct
design and tendency is to turn them from the
misery and emptiness of a worldly mind, to
the peace and satisfaction of a spiritual mind;
from feverish, discontented unbelief, to healthful, happy faith. Such are their Bibles, —
their Sabbaths, -their sanctuary privileges,the strivings of the Spirit with their hearts.
These are the only stars of hope which glimner upon their future prospects.  If these prevail not over unbelief, the sinner is beyond
help.
But more; that unbelief is the compreheq




198  THE RECOGNITION OF CHRIST'S GRACE.
sive element of utter woe. Joined with it, -
corrbined with it, —there are attributes of
character and faculties of soul whose full development is perfect ruin. Look at unbelief,
- that spirit of distrust toward God, that disagreement with God's will, that chafing dislike of his government. It has a demoniac
power.  It has power to scathe the soul with
unutterable torments. To-day, - it only murmurs against God.  It is only a little restive
when the Law rebukes it.  It is only a little
fretful when it feels God's sovereignty. It is
only slightly moved when the providence of
God thwarts its plans and cuts off its worldly
hopes.  But these light ripplings of unbelief
mar the sinner's peace.  And if these mar
his peace, what, - what, I ask, would be the
spiritual havoc of that same unbelief, should it
reign in all its despotic might and fury?  Let
it come in contact with the will of God at every point; let it feel the supremacy and power
of God at every turn; let it cross the purposes
of God at every moment; let it contend
against the plans and deeds of God perpetually and with all its might; and the unbeliever's whole experience would be frenzy, madness, despair.  This is not supposition only.
Unbelief-like every other habit of the soul,




THE RECOGNITION OF CHRIST'S GRACE. 199
whether good or bad - is capable of indefinite
progression and indefinite power.
Add to this development of unbelief, the
power of a guilty conscience. In all his impotent conflicts with God's will and might, let
the unbeliever see God's holiness; let him feel
that God is right and he is wrong; let him
feel that all his history has been black with
guilt from the first pulsation of his unbelief
onward, - and here are a thousand  stings
darting their venom upon his soul perpetually,
and without an antidote.
0, there are fire and fuel in the unbeliever's
heart which only a breath would fan into a
devouring flame; which need the influence of
only a breath to consume every semblance of
enjoyment, to silence every profession of peace,
to lick up every vestige of pride, - for ever!
Such are the unbeliever's inbred curses; the
elements of death which are in ambush in his
heart.  But what are his blessings?  His
blessings! The checks which restrain these
curses.   Wily does unbelief now  work  so
slightly?  Why does conscience now whisper
so gently?  They are held back. For mercy's
sake, their power is fettered. They struggle
against God, they war against the sinner's
peace, as much as they can.  They urge him




200  THE RECOGNITION OF CHRISTSS GRACE.
as near to perfect depravity and to perfect
misery as they can.  But there are barriers
around  them  which they cannot overleap.
These barriers alone interpose between the
unbeliever and despair.
Who has raised them  up?  The sinner?
No.  They are blessings.  They are gifts,put there by some one who knows his depravity, and desires his good, and dreads his misery, more than the unbeliever does.
0, what grace is restraining grace!  The
only separation-wall between unbelief and hell!
All the influences at work for his conversion, and all the checks upon his depravity,
come within the proper catalogue of the sinner's peculiar blessings. And they are each
and all of grace. The very stigma of his unbelief proves them all of grace.
To what extent, then, is grace dispensed to
us in our present state?  To every possible
extent.  It stretches its span, and diffuses its
gifts, over the whole field of our existence.
Grace! it beams in every blessing.. It sparkles
in every cup of delight. It sits at everytable.
It smiles in every family of love. It is found
in every spiritual enjoyment. It adorns every
beauty of nature, and every bounty of provi



THE RECOGNITION OF CHRIST'S GRACE. 201
deuce.  Its signet-mark is on the Sabbath,
and on every Gospel privilege. And its strong
seal is upon every impediment of unbelief. It
is everywhere, where there is a comfort for
the human heart, or an abatement of human
sorrow.
Then it should be recognized - everywhere.
We should see it, and praise it, and enjoy it,
in all our mercies; on every hand; at every
step; in every hour.
But why should we recognize this grace as
Christ's?
Because it is his. Because the savor of his
Love, and the print of his finger, are upon
every blessing.
Who is their source? Whose hand arched
the heavens, and lit their lamps, and made and
clothed the world?  Who filled the mines of
Nature with their exhaustless stores? Do you
not know   who?  He who "was in the beginning with God. All things were made by
him; and without him  was not any thing
made that was made."  He who " was made
flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and
truth."
I ask again, Who is Head over all things?
Christ "is the head of all principality and




202  THE RECOGNITION OF CHRIST'S GRACE.
power."  He " is gone into heaven, and is on
the right hand of God; angels and authorities
and powers being made subject unto him."
" All things are under his feet."  " All things
are delivered unto him of the Father."  It is
Jesus Christ, then, who controls the wheels of
Nature. It is Jesus Christ who arranges all our
circumstances in life; who allots to us providences, spiritual restraints, spiritual comforts.
But let it never, never, be forgotten, —we
are sinners. It is our sin which makes our
blessings - grace.   From  our first sin we
were obnoxious to punishment; we were deservin.^  of nothing else.  Justice demanded
-righteously  demanded-curses upon our
heads.  But —we have been reprieved from
punishment. Nay,- reprieve is not all. Reprieve has been one ceaseless, bounteous harvest-season of precious mercies. The tenderness of Christ has not had reference merely to
our exposure to retribution. He has grasped
at blessings, too; not merely at a blessing here
and another there, but at blessings for us all
along; at profusion of gifts; at the best of
gifts. Is here no wrong to Justice? Can the
Law, and government, and righteousness of
God be'"magnified and made honorable,"can  his character be without blemish, 




fTHE RECOGNITION OF CHRIST'S GRACE. 203
while such blessings are bestowed upon sinners?
Brother, — the answer is in the cross of
Christ.  On that cross was made a sacrifice
for sin. But for that sacrifice, Justice must
have been wronged; God's government must
have been impeached; his character must have
been marred; by any deed of kindness towards
us.  Consequently, -had it not been for
Christ's death, the anguish of his soul, the bitterness of his cup; had it not been that he trod
"the winepress of the wrath of God," that he
was "wounded for our transgressions and
bruised for our iniquities," - not a deed of
mercy, not a moment's respite from wrath, not
an hour of blessing, not a beam of hope, not a
smile of enjoyment, could have been given us.
Justice must have cut us off, not only from
spiritual blessing, but from carnal; not only
from fellowship with God hereafter, but here;
not only from the brightness of heaven, but
from all brightness, all cheerfulness, all sources
of enjoyment, in this world.
Has Christ, then, made all things which are
fitted to our enjoyment, and which we do enjoy from day to day?  Has he the sovereign
control of all things which are made? and of
us?  Has he the management of every wind,
14




204  THE RECOGNITION OF CIRIST'S GRACE.
and the dispensation of every good?  Does he
give us life and breath and all things? Does
he cheer the believer?  Does he adorn the
world around us? Does he give with his own
hand every providential blessing?  Does he
restrain the depravity of unbelief? Yes.
But where gets he his warrant?  Whence
comes his right?  He bought it.  He bought
it at the hand of Justice. He paid for it a
price,-the highest price the universe could
furnish. It was not silver. It was not goldl.
It was his own precious blood. It was " his
soul, - an offering for sin."
Brother,    the cross of Christ is the source
of our blessings.  The cross of Christ- is the
fountain-head of all grace. The anguish of its
Sacrifice was the price of our gifts.
Well, then; the impress of that cross is
upon every good thing.  The gifts of Nature,
of Providence, the Bible, the Sabbath, the
Sanctuary, the privileges of adoption, the manifold checks upon depravity, all —all - are
the purchases of Redemption.  Not a comfort
do you enjoy; not a moment do you consume;
not a form  of beauty do you behold; not a
glow of health do you feel; you have not a
night of rest, not a day of brightness, not a
child, not a garment, not a dollar; but it is a




THE RECOGNITION OF CHRIST9S GRACE. 205
memorial of Redeeming Love. The name of
Christ, —the love of Christ, —the death of
Christ, -are portrayed before you everywhere.
The signet-mark of Redemption is on your
tables, your cups, your furniture, your doorposts, your fireside, your harvests, your family
fellowship.
We ought, also, to recognize as Christ's the
grace displayed in all our mercies; because
such recognition makes all things our servants.
It makes them  peculiarly tributary to our
enjoyment. It matters not how slender is your
purse, how mean your table, or how humble
your home. Look upon each as the gift of
Christ; look upon each as better than you deserve; look upon each as procured for you by
the high price of atonement; look upon each
as a memorial of Redeeming Love; look upon
each as a mercy for which praise and gratitude
are due, and feel the gratitude and speak the
praise; and every individual bounty will fill
your heart with life. You will welcome home,
and food, and income, not for their own sakes
only, but because they bear the image and
superscription of Divine affection, of iRedeem
ing Grace.




206  THE RECOGNITION OF CHRIST'S GRACE.
Have you not something in your possession
which is associated in your mind with the
memory of an absent, or a departed friend?
Something which a parent gave you? or a
brother? or a sister? or a husband? or a
wife? I ask not whether it be a fortune, or a
trinket. It is a gift of affection. It is a memorial of one who is gone. Yes; and because
it is a memorial, - because it reminds you of
the kindness and the virtues of one whom you
esteem and love, - because it revives that particular image in your mind, - it is a treasure.
Be it a diamond, or be it a bawble, it is a
treasure; it is a source of enjoyment.
Such  are all the blessings of life-the
greatest and the least alike —to him  who,
with an affectionate heart, recognizes them as
the gifts of Christ. They are memorials of
your Redeemer.  They are tokens of his love.
Look upon them  as such,  welcome them,
prize them, as such,-sufer them  to remind
you of his grace, of his unspeakable love, of
his " suffering of death,"-then  they  are
doubly precious; precious for their own sakes,
but above all precious for his sake.  They
cheer you as blessings; but, above all, as reviving JrA your heart the image of that boundless love and matchless glory which reside in




THE RECOGNITION OF CHRIST'S GRACE. 207
the person of your Redeemer. You cannot
but rejoice in the relish of every fruit, in the
beauty of every flower, in the dispensation of
every good, if you truly perceive therein the
grace and love of Christ. In your home, in
your table, in your civil institutions, in your
garden, in your field, in earth and sky, in day
and night, in the Sabbath, in the sanctuary,
and in all the orderings of providence, you will
have sources of enjoyment which the purblind
worldling knows nothing of. All these things
will bestir in your heart those fervent emotions
whose very exercise is happiness, - whose perfect exercise is heaven.  The very reverses
and bereavements which affect you will oe
channels of enjoyment, for you will perceive
how they are attempered by grace; you will
feel that, with all their sharpness, they are
gentler than you deserve, and are made so by
Redeeming Love.
I envy not the man who eats up the blessings of life as an ox does the grass of the
field; with no relish beyond that r-  ieir
sweetness.  I envy not the man who tastes
nothing upon his table but food; who sees
nothing in the stars but light, and nothing in
the revolutions of providence but changes of
good or ill. He has his enjoyments, to be




208  THE RECOGNITION OF CHRIST'S GRACE.
sure; but they are low, and narrow, and evanescent. But enjoyments such as he gathers
who humbly and affectionately detects the irnpress of a Saviour's grace, and hears the whisperings of a Saviour's love, in every passing
providence and in every object of nature, I do
covet.  Such are the enjoyments of heaven
where all things are relished only as interpreters of Christ; where every angel and every pavement is brilliant only because "the
glory of God doth lighten them, and the Lamb
is the light thereof."  Such enjoyments may
be coveted by an earthly pilgrim.
But again, this recognition of Christ's grace
" makes all things our servants," because it
makes all things fortify us against temptation.
There is no object of sense which may not
seduce us to sin. Yet the power resides not
in the object, but in the subject. That blessings and beauties are mea.s of transgression,
is not because there is inherent evil in them,
but because the heart which looks upon them
is in an evil mood.  Correct the heart, - hold
that in a right attitude and frame, - and you
dissipate the temptation.
It is not when you are filled with a devout
perception of the glory of Christ, that you are
excited by any external thing to murmuring,




THE RECOGNITION OF CHRIST'S GRACE. 209
or envying, or anger, or fraud. It is not when
your heart is throbbing in gratitude and amazement in view of Redeeming Love; it is not
when you are studying and adoring the unsearchable riches of grace, - that you give
place to error of heart or behavior. It is when
you forget these things. Read them, then,
upon all things; make all things -mementos
of Christ; hear their testimony of his love;
detect their relation to his cross; do this habitually; make the Bible, and the sanctuary, and
providence, and nature, and hardships, and
comforts, things high and things low, conduct
your thoughts and heart to Him who arranges
them all; look upon all things, and all events,
as parts of a great and beauteous temple
which He has reared, and wherein He dwells
" full of grace and truth "; and you may walk
the world over in safety.
Can you revile him who reviles you, if then
that very wrong reminds you of the grace of
Him  who " reviled not again"?  Can you
covet your neighbor's goods, and overreach
him in trade, when youfeel that Christ makes
you to differ, and that Christ has given you
already more of goods than you deserve?
Can you rail at a wicked man if his wickedness wakes you to a grateful remembrance of




210  THE RECOGNITION OF CHRIST'S GRACEo
One who died alike for him. and for you?
Can you misuse your property, or grudge to
use it for good, while you feel, thankfully and
humbly, that you hold it by grace? and that
it is a product of Christ's death?  Can you
murmur and repine, that you have only a cottage for shelter, and only a crust for food, while
in these very things you recognize the grace of
Christ?
To suppose that you can do these things, is
absurdity. It is supposing the same breath to
utter blessing and cursing. It is supposing
the same feeling to be good and evil.
No, brother beloved, - so far as you devoutly recognize that grace which characterizes all the morcies of life, just so far you neutralize the power of temptation. And if you
thus recognize it everywhere and always, you
clear your path of snares; so far as it affects
you, you purge the whole world of temptation.
But yet again; this recognition of Christ's
grace " makes all things our servants," because
it makes all things tributary to our perfection.
The Gospel of the cross is " the power of God
unto salvation."  The " truth as it is in Jesus'
is the grand, efficacious means by which sinners are converted and sanctified. And though




THE RECOGNITION OF CHRIST'S GRACE. 211
the preaching of the Truth stands preeminent
in the system of means, yet it is only preeminent. In whatsoever way the truth in Christ
is shadowed forth, - whether in baptism, or
the Lord's supper, or providence, - that way
is adapted to fit men for heaven. And in
whatever object or event we recognize that
truth devoutly, in that we have an aid to sanetification.  That object, and that event, promote our holiness.
Now, then, the hand of Christ is in every
natural object, and in every occurrence of life.
In each, the dying love of Christ is concerned.
Each speaks, then, of the truth as it is in him.
Each brings you some lesson interpretative of
the cross. You behold the object, or the event,
and therein you also behold the Truth.  You
behold it devoutly, teachably. It has made its
impression upon you.  But what impression?
It has wakened you to holy affections. It has
given impulse, strength, growth, to those affections. And in the same degree it has weakened the power of indwelling sin. In other
words, - by recognizing the grace of Christ in
things around you, you have made them vehicles of Gospel truth, and therefore tributary
to your ultimate perfection.
But look at the mode of this operation.




212 THE RECOGNITION OF CHRIST'S GRACE.
You sit down at your table to refresh your
body with the bounty of Providence. As you
receive the gift,-as you consider the cheerfulness and comfort of those who share your
board, —as you enjoy the pleasures of domestic fellowship, - you remember that these
comforts are the gifts of Christ. You call to
mind that He has created the world and given
it its increase; that He, overruling every event
of providence, has spread that table, and ordained that family circle. You call to mind
the truth, that, had not He interfered in your
behalf by sacrifice, by blood, that hour of blessing would never have been your allotment,
that therefore it is of grace and the purchase
of his Love.  Your thoughts and your heart
go up from the gifts to the Giver, - from the
things purchased to the price,-from the fleshly blessings to the cross; and thus with a
spirit of fervent Christian gratitude you eat
your bread, and drink your cup, and enjoy
your social board. You have met Christ there.
And the blessings before you have not been
refreshment for the body merely, but for the
soul. Recognizing the grace of Christ there,
your heart has been impelled to heavenly
emotions. You have been quickened in Di —
vine life. You have been made to advance
We




THE RECOGNITION OF CHRIST S GRACE. 213
toward the fulness of the stature of perfection
in Christ.
Use any other blessing in the same way,
and the same influence is experienced. Use
all things in the same way, and all things become tributary to your spotless resemblance
to God.
But we ought also to recognize as Christ's
the grace displayed in all our mercies, because
if we do not, we sin.
Whether God speak to us, as to his people
of old, by an audible voice, or in the silent
language of the written Word, if we do not
hear and heed and revere the voice, we sin.
Whether he display himself by the visible
symbol of the Shekinah, or by the visible
glory of the natural heavens, if we do not
reverently recognize that memorial of God, we
sin.  The Law is   God's.  The heavens are
God's.  The world and-the fulness thereof
are- God's. They speak in His name. They
declare His glory. " In Christ's stead," they
call upon us-to respond, joyously and reverently,
to their declarations.- If we shut the ear, and
lock up the heart, and give back no response;
if we overlook this testimony of Christ; we
trifle with his messengers and lightly esteem
his glory.




214 THE RECOGNITION OF CHRIST'S GRACE.
Were we to pass through a host of angels,
every one of whom  had some different thing
to say about the power and wisdom and holiness of " God in Christ"; and should we
simply scan their forms and graces and vestments, but give no heed to their words, -surely we should sin; we should despise the revelation of Divine glory. But what matters it
whether we pass thus listless and careless
through a throng of preaching angels, such as
bow and praise in heaven, or through a throng
of angels, such as preach to us in the VWord,
in Providence, in Nature?  What matters it
how Christ is preached?  What matters it by
whom?  (Philipp. i. 18.)  If we spurn the
sermon, do we not spurn the testimony? And
if we spurn the testimony of Jesus, do we not
sin?
But we were speaking of the grace of
Christ. Now if it be a sin to overlook a manifestation of his power, or his holiness, or his
wisdom, or his justice, much more is it a sin
to treat lightly a manifestation of his grace.
Grace is his highest glory.  Grace is his most
sacred attribute.  Grace is the attribute in
which all his other attributes converge. And
when we look sleepily upon any memorial of
his grace, we contemn the whole assemblage of




THE RECOGNITION OF CHRIST'S GRACE. 215
his glories. If, then, we overlook the grace of
Christ as displayed in His common mercies,
we do so at our peril; we incur a fearful guilt.
But more; if we overlook the grace of
Christ as displayed in our mercies, " we sin "
by putting the mercy in the place of the Giver.
You sit down and enjoy food and raiment
and home and wealth and friends.  You walk
abroad cheered by the light of the sun, refreshed by the air of heaven, delighted by the fruits
and flowers of the garden, or by the sparkling
glories of an evening sky. You enjoy these
things, but do not enjoy the grace which they
portray. You open your heart to them, but
not to their Creator and gracious Giver. You
delight in them, but not as the gifts and memorials of grace.  Yes, —and thereby you
have installed the creature in the sanctuary of
your affections, and have shut out the Creator.
You have burned your incense upon the altar
of the world, and withholden it from the altar
of the Lord. You have embraced and appropriated, enjoyed and consumed, the blessing;
unmindful, neglectful, of the Giver. The outgoings of your heart have stopped at the very
point whence they should have risen up to
Christ.  The blessing is substituted for the
Benefactor; the creature, for its Maker; the




216 THE RECOGNITION OF CHRIST'S GRACE.
world, for God. The token of grace is converted into an idol. The sanctuary of your
heart —where Christ ought to be-is polluted and desecrated. He is rifled of his dues,
by the godless, graceless welcome which you
have lavished on his bounty.
But this is,not all. If you overlook his
grace in your mercies, you pervert it. Those
mercies, as the fruits of his grace, have their
specific errand and design over and above
your sensual comfort. They are not ordained
and dispensed for the flesh merely. They are
designed and fitted to be clews to the grace
which they embody.  They are intended as so
many mediums of intercourse between yourself and your Redeemer; as so many ladders
by which you should climb, as it were, to
heaven; as so many telescopes through which
you should spy out the manifold glory of
Christ. They come to preach to you the Gospel.
They come to remind you of the cross. They
come as pledges of Redeeming Love. They
come as remembrancers of Him who loved you
before the world was.  They come so to
quicken your heart to love and devotion, so to
attune it to grateful praise, that it shall be
fitted for the harmony of heaven. Overlook
their grace, —pass them  by, just as though




THE RECOGNITION OF CHRIST'S GRACE. 217
they had nothing to say or to show of Christ,
meet them  just as though they were not
the fruits of a Redeemer's sufferings, — and
what do you do?  You use grace as a tool
for sin. You do not pass its blessings by.
You do not simply let alone its monumental
mercies. You pervert them. You take that
which was meant for your spiritual good, and
make it an instrument of spiritual pollution.
The vessels of the Lord's temple are profaned
at the altar of idolatry.
Are you afraid to come to the sacramental
table because, if you " eat and drink not discerning the Lord's body," i. e. not recognizing his grace in Redemption, "you eat and
drink damnation to yourself"?  Brother, if
you discern not his redeeming grace in your
common blessings, you eat and drink damnation  (condemnation, judgment) to yourself.
The beauties of the external world and the
events of providence are as truly memorials of
a crucified Redeemer, as the sacramental bread
and wine. These are special memorials; those
are common.  These are typical of atonement
itself; those are products of atonement. This
is the only difference.  All are designed as
remembrances of the grace of Christ. To be
blind to his grace in one thing is as verily a
sin, as to be blind to it in any other thing.




218 THE RECOGNITION OF CHRIST S GRACE.
Behold, then, the reasons for a grateful,
humble, hearty recognition of the grace of
Christ in the common things and common
events of life.
Every blessing is his gift; for he made and
distributes all.
Every blessing has been bought for youat the cost of his crucifixion.
To be alive to their testimony will make
them fountains of heaven-like enjoyment.
It will shield you against sin.
It will make every mercy of life tributary to
your sanctification.
If you recognize not the grace of Christ in
your blessings, you sin; you sin, by lightly
esteeming that grace; you sin, by making the
blessings of grace your gods; you sin, by
wresting grace to your own destruction.
My dear brother, — you are not a brute.
Brutish enjoyments are not enough for you.
You want those which are fitted to your soul.
You need all possible consolations in such a
world as this. You have sins enough already,
and need every possible safeguard against new
sins. You have corruptions enough already,
and need every possible help to sanctification.
I beseech you, then, look not upon the world




THE RECOGNITION OF CHRIST'S GRACE. 219
and the things of the world as a brute does
Reckon not the enjoyments which are spiritual
by the scale of a brutish judgment. Weigh
not the pollutions of your heart in the balances
of the flesh.  But - with all the energy and
earnestness of an immortal spirit, roused to a
sense of its perils and its wants - search out
the fountains of spiritual blessing, and the preventives of spiritual evil, which everywhere
abound.
" Of Christ's fulness have all we received,
and grace upon grace."  His grace is everywhere; in the Bible; in the Sabbath; in the
sanctuary; in the sacraments; in prayer; in
the events of your life; in all the monuments
of his power and skill and goodness which are
around you. Go to every one for instruction.
Go to every one, hungering and thirsting for
spiritual bread and for living water. Go and
unlock every casket of Divine glory. Go and
search out, and recognize, and  adore, the
matchless grace of your Redeemer, wherever it
is displayed. Pass no mercy and no beauty
by, as though it were dumb and barren. Every one has its testimony of Jesus. And if
you will but open your eye and your heart to
all the disclosures of his grace, you will find
all the world a book of revelation.  You will
15




220 THE RECOGNITION OF CHRIST'S GRACE.
find all Nature and all Providence chanting
one perpetual anthem to his praise. You will
find the universe an orchestra where ten thousand thousand tongues are singing of the
wonders of the cross, and of the riches of its
grace.
And if you devoutly recognize their speech,
if you give daily, hearty heed to their varied
testimony, you will make the world your servant, - you will make temptation your captive, -you will make the "forlorn-hope" of
Satan a ministering angel to your soul.
But if you slight the revelation of your Saviour's grace which is brought to you in your
daily mercies, -if you walk through this vast
storehouse of his memorial gifts, unmoved by
their testimony, - you must meet hereafter a
condemning witness in every individual blessing. And when those witnesses tell how they
appealed to you in vain, —how they could
never touch your heart by their display of
grace, - then will the Judge say, with fearful
emphasis, and with fearful justice, too,-" I
have called, but you have refused. I have
stretched out my hand, but you have not regarded. Therefore I laugh at your calamity;
I mock when your fear cometh."  And, in the
light of such testimony, of all the universe




THE RECOGNITION OF CHRIST'S GRACE. 221
wvho bear Christ's image, none will gainsay
the sentence; but every lip will cry, and every
heart will echo back, -" Amen and Amen! "
0, then recognize grace in all things! in
every star, and flower, and sunbeam; in every
portion of bread; in every cruse of water.
And, 0, recognize their grace as Christ's! as
the product of his power; as the gift of his
hand; as the pledge of his love; as the purchase of his sufferings. Do not walk blindfold
through this living host of Christ's witnesses.
Do not hurry through these omnipresent memorials of Redeeming Love, —these dearbought, hard-earned, sacred memorials of Redeeming Love,  with your ear deaf to their
testimony, and your heart senseless to their
appeals; for, as the light of the sun in the firmament doth gild and beautify every object
in Nature, so do the power and operation of
Christ-the light, and love, and overflowing
grace of his cross —beam  from  the most
trivial events of our lives.




XI.
THE BELIEVER'S DEBT TO CHRIST.
I KNOW not where or when we can stop, in
numbering the glories of our Redeemer.  I
know not where or when we can stop in surveying the riches of his grace. I know not
where or when we can stop in counting the
number of his tender mercies, or in measuring
the depths of his Love. I know not where or
when we could stop, were we simply to undertake to show what he has done for those
whom he has chosen out of the world. We
need the noonday revelations of hereafter; we
need to stand, with quickened vision, before
the very Throne; we need to behold, face to
face, eye to eye, the glory of Him who sitteth
thereon; we need to behold and understand
the sinfulness of sin, the pureness, the kindness, and the curse of the Law; we need to
learn the mixture of that "cup of the winepress of the wrath of God"'; we need to read
the histories of those who shall be saved;before we can have surveyed the outlines of
His grace toward them. We want Eternity




THE BELIEVER'S DEBT.        223
to tell the story, to describe the grace, and to
utter equal praise.
Yes, brethren in Christ Jesus, -ye who
were sometime without Christ, " strangers
from  the covenants of promise, having no
hope, without God, who were far off but now
are made nigh by the blood of Christ," — in
counting and describing what he has done for
you, you might go on, and go on, from point
to point, from view to view, from wonder to
wonder, from praise to praise, and your theme
would never fail; its beauties, its glories, its
wonders, would never - never - never fade.
Come, then, and let us look at our personal
obligations to Christ. You are in debt to him.
You are indebted to him for many, for peculiar, for precious blessings; indebted to him
for more than they who have not obtained like
precious faith with you; indebted to him for
distinguishing and inestimable favors.  We
cannot weigh, and understand, their multitude
or magnitude. But do let us look; do let us
-meditate; do let us revolve those favors; do
let us stand under the light of his loving-kindnesses; till our sluggish hearts beat once more
with the fervor of our first love, with the subdued emotions of the day of our espousals.
For what are you indebted to Christ? For




224        THE BELIEVER'S DEBT.
what are you indebted to him as a believer?
How are you indebted to him more than they
who believe not?  Their obligations to him
are beyond estimate; but yours are yet greater.
Theirs are such, that every moment's refusal
to praise and serve him is fearful sin; but
yours are more and greater.
You are indebted to Christ for Redemption.
"He is the Saviour of all men; specially of
them  that believe."  His sacrifice was sufficient for all; and, in many precious ways,
available to all; but it is efficacious - spiritually, savingly efficacious - in you. It was for
you " especially " that he left his glory. It was
for you " especially " that he was despised and
rejected.  It was for you " especially" that he
entered into covenant with the Father.  It
was for you as a sinner. It was for you as a
violator of his Law.  It was for you as an
enemy of God.  It was for you as one who
could neither make nor procure a recompense
for your transgressions. But for his sacrifice
there never could have been reconciliation between you and God. But for his sacrifice
there never could have been a respite for you
from the curse of the Law. But for his sacrifice there never could have been a hiding-place
for your soul, or a fountain for the liquidation




THE BELIEVER'S DEBT.        225
of your guilt. But for his sacrifice, your doom
would have been sealed, your perdition would
have been sure.  There was no price, elsewhere, sufficient for your salvation.  He came
and made his sacrifice-for whom?  For
you.   He came and paid the price-for
whom?  For you; for you, who believe. Just
before he gave himself to death, he consecrated
himself by prayer as the Lamb of God.  He
consecrated himself —for you. " Father," said
he, "neither pray I for these alone, but for
them  also who shall believe on me through
their word."  And with your name upon the
charter of Redemption; with your future faith
full before his view; pointing the Father
"' specially " to the terrible record which would
be made of your sins; with the precious and
solemn prayer for your soul upon his lips; —
he went away to the garden; he went out and
trod the winepress; he went forth to shame, 
to death,-to sacrifice.
0, yes! you were in his eye, my believing
brother. You were in his eye; you were on his
heart, - in that night of terror, - in that hall
of judgment,   in that hour when God forsook him. He bore your griefs. He carried
your sorrows.  He was wounded for your
transgressions.  He was bruised for your in



226        THE BELIEVER'S DEBT.
iquities. He was buffeted,- it was "specially'
for you. He was mocked, - it was " specially" for you. He was reviled in the hour of his
crucifixion, - it was " specially " for you. His
soul was darkened, and stricken, and desolate,
and crushed. The. cry went forth from the
Throne of thrones, " Awake, O sword! against
my Shepherd, against the man that is my fellow!"  And the response went up from the
cross, " My God! my God!"  And the blow
was struck; the blood was poured out; the
sacrifice was made; and all, and each and
every part, - each drop of blood, - each cry,
- each stripe, - was specially -" specially"
- for you.
He made a sure provision for your pardon.
He " finished the work which was given him
to do."  The Redemption was full. The price
was enough. The Sacrifice was perfect; without spot,- without blemish.  WVhen he suffered and shed his blood, with you in his eye,
with your name upon his lip, with your sins
upon his soul, he effected Redemption. He
laid the only possible foundation for your salvation; and he laid it broad, and deep, and
sure. It was done for you expressly, and it
was enough for you fully.
Estimate, now, the preciousness of the soul,




THE BELIEVER'S DEBT.        227
the greatness of your sins, the worth and the
price of your redemption. Then, and not till
then, can you estimate your debt to Christ for
his suffering of death. Ye are redeemed! Ye
are redeemed   But know ye, - remember ye,
— ye were not redeemed with corruptible
things, as silver and gold,..... but with the
precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without
blemish and without spot,..... manifest.... for you who by him  do believe in
God."
Here is something more than you can weigh.
Yet this is only a part of your indebtedness to
Christ.
You.are indebted to him for personal grace.
WVhat is this personal grace? Look and see.
You did not choose Christ, but he chose you.
The work of grace which has been wrought in
you, he has wrought; he to whom " all things
are delivered of the Father."
You were a wanderer from  God, and he
sought you. You were a stranger, and he
found you. You were a sinner, and he hedged
you about with the means of grace.  You
were a cumberer of the ground, ready and fit
to be cut down; he plead for you, and cultured
you. You were perverse, but he would nol




228        THE BELIEVER'S DEBT.
give you up. You were in all the filth of un
purged, unwashen, accumulated iniquity, but
he would not pass you by. He came and
pursued you, and beset you, and wrought
upon you, and wrought in you by his Spirit.
Christian brethren, whence are ye brought?
Whither are ye brought?   What change
has been made in you? in your condition?
in your prospects?  Where were you once?
What were you?  Where are you now?
and what are you?  Why! you " were far
off" from  God; " alienated  and enemies
in your mind by wicked works"; now "ye
are made nigh."  You were polluted,  you
were polluted in every member and in every thought,- there was no good thing in
you; you were under condemation. " But ye
are washed, ye are sanctified, ye are justified
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by
the Spirit of our God."  Ye " were children of
wrath even as others"; but now are ye" children of the living God"; children of his dear
love. Ye were heirs of perdition; but now
are ye "joint heirs with Christ."  Ye were
poor bond-slaves, sold under sin; but now are
ye " the Lord's freemen."  Ye were " in the
gall of bitterness "; but now ye drink of the
waters of the river of life. Ye were " like the




THE BELIEVER'S DEBT.        229
troubled sea when it cannot rest"; but now
ye have been made to taste of peace. Ye
were rushing onwards, blinded and deceived,
in the road to the second death; but now ye
are with your faces heavenward.  You were
upon the very brink of destruction, your " feet
were upon slippery places; but now you are
upon a Rock of Safety, you are beneath a
Refuge of Almighty Love.  There was no
bond of union, no oath of betrothal (Hos. ii.
19) between you and God; but now, from his
love and care and covenant, " neither death,
nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor
powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature,
shall be able to separate you."
You were poor. You had no surety of a
single blessing. Your treasures were motheaten.  The things which you loved most
were taking to themselves wings. But now
" all things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death,
or things present, or things to come; all are
yours, and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's."
What is there which is evil, and fearful, and
accursing, which did not pertain to you?
What is there which is good and precious,
which is not now secured to you?




230        THE BELIEVER'S DEBT.
What has been wrought in you? What has
been wrought for you?  Resurrection! spiritual resurrection!  Whence-whither  have
ye been brought? " From darkness to light" I
From  bondage to liberty! From  beggary to
riches!  From  death to life!  " From  the
power of Satan unto God" 
And it is Christ's work. It is all his work.
It is his work, because he laid the foundation
for it in his blood. It is his work, because he
covenanted with the Fatherfor you. It is his
work, because he has overruled every influence,
earthly and heavenly, human and divine, outward and inward, providential and spiritual,
by which it has been accomplished. It is his
work. It is all his. Ye " love him because he
first loved you."
It is Christ's work. It is a wondrous work.
It is a precious work. But —it is all a work
of grace.  It is of pure grace. It is of free
grace. It is of sovereign grace. It has not
been wrought because ye were good, for ye
were evil; nor because ye were worthy, for
you had no particle of good desert; nor because you had more claim  to blessing than
others, for both you and they had no claim.
Christ has wrought it, not because he must,
but because he would; not because in any




THE BELIEVERSS DEBT.       231
sense he was compelled, but of his own free,
sovereign  pleasure —purely; not for your
sakes, but for his own name's sake. (1 John
ii. 12; Ephes. ii. 7.)
Look, —look, —my brother in covenant.
See whereon you stand to-day! See to whom
you are bound! See where and what you
are!  Look unto the rock whence you are
hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence you
are digged,- add this to the cost and the
sureness of your Redemption, - and then scan
the amount of your debt to Christ.
But' this is not all.  You are indebted
to Christ for special and wonderful forbearance.
His forbearance toward those who believe
not in him is wonderful indeed. But, if I mistake not, it is slight compared with his forbearance toward you and toward me.
0, my brother, what a story is that of our
Christian discipleship! a story of unfaithfulness, of ingratitude, of inconstancy, of departure, of fluctuating love, of spiritual treacheries,
the very mention of which should make us
ashamed; a story at which heaven might
shudder were it not a brilliant comment on
the grace of God; such a story that it must
drive us back — back — to despair, were it




232        THE BELIEVER'S DEBT.
not for the measureless efficacy, the matchless
sufficiency, of the blood of Christ.
Why! when we were washen in that blood
of atonement; when Christ came to us and
whispered, " Son, - daughter, —thy sins are
forgiven, go in peace"; when he came to us
in the midnight darkness of our conviction, as
we stood pale and trembling at the foot of the
mount that thundered and flashed and shook
with tempests, and said, "It is I, be not
afraid," —we said we would be his. We said
so in secret places. We came to his altar and
said so there.  WVe made our vows in his
sanctuary.  We took upon us the seal of his
covenant.  We declared, - we published, —
that to us he was the chief among ten thousand, and the one altogether lovely. * * * And
how has it been with us since?  Where have
we been?  What have we been?  How have
we kept our vows?  What return have we
made for his Redeeming Love? What return
for his special, electing, renewing grace?
What return for the precious hope of immortal life? What return for deliverance from
the lashings of the Law, and the lashings of
conscience?  What return for our precious
seasons of closet fellowship?  What return!
Why, - we forgot him! We forgot him   I




THE BELIEVER'S DEBT.       233
say,-we FORGOT him  The thunders of the
Law were hushed; the smart of our scourgings subsided; the flashing of the fire that
burneth passed away; our wounds were healed,
- yes! by his stripes, by his blood, -- and we
forgot our Deliverer!
The tempter spread his charms before us;
the world smiled; subtle enticers begged us
to taste the cup of enchantment; and we were
snared,    we yielded, - we tasted. The smile
of fleshly indulgence seduced us from the smile
of Jesus Christ, and we plunged —with his
seal upon us, with his vows upon us, with his
blood upon us —amid the buzz and the tumult of worldly business and relationships.
We put him, who brought us salvation, to
open shame. We wounded him in the house
of his friends.  The love of our espousals
has cooled.  The fervor of our purpose has
abated.  We have been treacherous to our
beloved.  We have broken our vows.  We
have forgotten our purposes and our obligations.
Where have been our fruits? our good
fruits?  What have been our labors for
Christ?  What have been our self-denials for
Christ? Where has been our spiritual-mindedness?  Where has been the brightness of




234        THE BELIEVER'S DEBT.
our piety?  Who can tell-where? Who
can tell-what?
And our neglects of duty,-how many?
And our indulgences in sin, —how  many?
The occasions which we have given to others
to despise spiritual religion — how  many?
The times in which we have made our profession a by-word and a contempt, - how
many?
Do you say that this picture is too dark for
you?  Do you doubt whether it be not overwrought?  For me, my brother, it is not. I
know it is not for me; and I verily believe it is
not for you. I believe that by and by it will
appear that this is not half the truth.
But enough of this. How has it been with
our Lord all this while? Has his love cooled?
No.  Has his covenant-oath been forgotten?
No. Have his purposes of grace and kindness
faltered? No. No. Through the whole —
he has loved us still. Through the whole 
he has borne with us. He is still kind, — still
gracious. He has watched for our return. His
eye has followed us in all our wanderings.
Every day, - every night, - in every hour of
treachery, - in every scene of inconsistent indulgence,-he has been with us. All along,
he has been shaping his providences, shap



THE BELIEVER'S DEBT.        235
ing his blessings, shaping and tempering and
timing his chastisements, precisely and accurately for our good; busy, watchful, earnest,
to make all things " work out for us an exceeding weight of glory." And now to-day, 
it matters not where we are; it matters not
what we are; it matters not how far we have
gone in declension and apostasy and treachery; it matters not how low we have sunken in
shame, -he is ready to receive us back again
to his arms, to his love, to his fellowship, to his
consolations, to his forgiveness.
0  the  forbearance, —the forbearance of
Christ towards us!  0 the greatness of our
debt to him for this 
But - his Redemption for you, — his special grace to you, with all its wonders, - and
his forbearance, -these are only items in the
account of his favors. I have said nothing of the
precious works of his hands, - nothing of the
bounteous ministrations of his providence,nothing of how he has blessed you with health
and with sickness, with abundance and with
bereavement, with joy and with afflictions,nothing of his gift of Hope, -nothing of the
grace of his fellowship,- nothing of his ministrations for you in heaven, - nothing of the
16




236       THE BELIEVER'S DEBT.
mission of angels which he has established for
your protection and comfort, - nothing of the
crown of glory, or the inheritance of bliss and
love and perfect grace, which he keeps in store.
Come, brother, think of your debt to Christ;
your peculiar debt. Think of the wonders he
has wrought for you, and in you. Think of
his sufferings.  Think of his forbearance.
Think of his ceaseless, precious favors ever
since the day of your covenant. Remember -
by the blood of your Ransom, by the agony of
your Sacrifice, I adjure you to remember —
these things; what you were, what you are.
Remember by whom, and through whom; and
how you are what you are. Remember the
chains and the bondage, the darkness and the
curse, the wormwood and the gall; the beauty
and the preciousness of your dawning hope.
Remember Jesus Christ; all that he has been
to you; all that he means to be to you. Remember what he is doing. Your crown, he
is shaping it. Your harp, he is tuning it.
Your seat of princedom and of priesthood, (for
"ye shall be kings and priests unto God,")
he is preparing it. Remember, -" Sometime'
you were far off, an alien from the commonwealth of Israel, a stranger from the covenants
of promise."  He sought you. He found you,




THE BELIEVER'S DEBT.        237
He drew you. And now you "are made nigh
by -his blood."  Matchless - matchless -
grace!
What are you going to render back for it?
What are you going to render back for it?
A little more indolence? A little more stupidity?  A little more languid love?  A little
more backsliding?  A little more sleep, and a
little more slumber?
What! you, a redeemed one! redeemed by
blood! by the Son of God!  You, a subject of
his transforming power! You, who "were
dead in trespasses and sins"!  You, " whom
lie hath quickened" by his sovereign grace!
Brother in covenant, what are you going to
do?  What are you going to render back to
Christ?  From  henceforth, - from  this moment, evermore, - what will you render back
to Christ?  Love for love? heart for heart?
oath for oath? constancy for constancy? - or
not?
See! the heaven-wide, amazing difference
between what you are and what you were!
Look at it.  It is your Redeemer's work.
Look.  Say, - will you, - will you render
back to him oath for oath, love for love, heart
for heart, henceforth, - or not?




XII.
SERVICE THE REQUIREMENT OF CHRIST.
THERE are two opposite errors respecting
the requirements of Christ which are common
among those who have received his Gospel.
The one is, that he requires only those duties
which concern our social relations, - such as
truth, honesty, kindness, gentleness; the other,
that he requires some exercises of heart which
are either so mystical that we cannot understand them, or so high and holy that we cannot yield them.
These, I say, are errors. The first results
from a very narrow and worldly idea of the
Christian religion; the other from an idea so
attenuated, flighty, and vague, as to overlook
and overfly those practical traits of piety which
are its essential beauties. Both these errors
are evils. They are each misconceptions of
the Gospel.  They are each entangled with
false views of Christ. They each lead to respective errors in practice; drawing us away
from that "holiness without which no man




SERVICE THE REQUIREMENT OF CHRIST. 239
can see the Lord." I think of no one passage
of Scripture having more appropriate reference to these errors than the simple injunction of our Saviour, that we should' take his
yoke upon us."  In this command are comprised, I conceive, all the requirements of
Christ.  If we do what he here enjoins, we
are Christians.  If we refuse, we are not
Christians.
The directions of the Gospel are clothed in
a variety of terms.  Sometimes we are told
"to repent"; sometimes " to believe"; sometimes, " to come unto Christ." These several
directions evidently involve each other;-i. e.
Faith is always hand in hand with Repentance, and with coming unto Christ.  They
are exercises of mind which cannot exist separately.  So that it is a matter of indifference
to which particular one the sinner is pointed,
or with which particular one his eye is occupied; for, if he is persuaded to one, he does
necessarily yield to all. It is so with the requirement that we should take upon ourselves
the yoke of Christ.  Whoever complies with
it does, as a matter of course, comply with
these other directions of the Gospel.  And
thus this one does truly cover the whole
ground of Christian duty.




240 SERVICE THE REQUIREMENT OF CHRIST.
" Repent" is a plain command.  So is "Believe."  So is " Come unto me."  And yet so
much have men compassed these directions
about with the clouds and mists of speculative
theology, that the language " take my yoke"
may gain more easy access to our understanding and conscience than, perhaps, any other
exhortation of Christ. It is simple. It is direct. It is obviously and purely practical. It
is difficult to understand how one can blunder
respecting the nature of Christian virtue; it is
difficult to understand how one can fall into
the errors which I have named; it is difficult
to understand how  one need be kept from
eternal life, - the wiles, and snares, and lies of
Satan notwithstanding, -if this one command
of Christ, so express, so simple, so practical,
be kept before the mind.
The yoke has always been an emblem of
service. Our Saviour, therefore, evidently calls
upon us to enlist in his service; to hold ourselves, henceforth, subject to his direction; to
acknowledge him  openly and practically as
our Master. The most superficial reader of
the Bible cannot be ignorant that this is demanded by Christ of all whom  he came to
redeem. He claims the right to impose upon
us such commands as he pleases, and to receive our obedience of those commands.




SERVICE THE REQUIREMENT OF CHRIST. 241
But what is it to render obedience to
Christ's commands?   What is it to take
upon ourselves Christ's yoke?  What is it to
acknowledge him as our Master?
Do we do it when we sit down and cull
from his statute-book one class of his directions for our reverence and adoption, and
leave another class untouched, - unstudied, -
uncared for, - unpractised,-dishonored? Am
I a Christian just because I pray; just because I confess Christ at his table; just because, so far forth, my conduct happens to correspond with his commands, - when, all the
while, I neglect a score of others?  By no
means. No more a Christian for doing this,
than I should be a Jev for abhorring swine's
flesh, or a Mussulman for refusing wine.
Well, - vary the question.  Am I a Christian just because I am honest, or good-natured,
or meek, or gentle, or of amiable feelings and
deportment in my domestic life? just because,
in these things, I chance to tally with the
laws of Christ, - when, in fifty others, I pay
no manner of regard to his laws? Again the
answer is clear and prompt from every one
who has half an eye to see, - By no means, -
no more a Christian than a moral pagan is;
no more than Satan is, when he steals the




242 SERVICE THE REQUIREMENT OF CHRIST.
garb and apes the deportment of an angel of
light.
Vary the question again. Am I a Christian
just because I have passed through a certain
amount, or a certain kind, of religious experience, - such as fears or compunctions, - or
just because I have been, or am, subject to
pleasurable religious excitements; when all
the while I decline the practical injunctions of
Christ?  No. No.
Though a man does " make long prayers,' he
is no Christian if he " devour widows' hou.'xs."
Though a man does pay "tithes of rint,
anise, and cummin," he is no Christian if he
" omit judgment, mercy, and faith."  Though
a man do "compass sea and land to miake one
proselyte," he is no Christian if he " make him
twofold a child of hell." And though a man
be " beautiful outwardly," - moral, sanctimonious, a very Daniel in the sight of men, -he is
no Christian if there are excess and iniquity un-.
touched, uncontrolled within. Prayer, receiving
the eucharist, and baptism, do not make a man
a Christian, if he be a knave. Neither do hoiiesty, and sobriety, and truth, and amiableneas,
if he neglect the sacraments and prayer. TNIither do devotion and religious ceremonies, if
he neglect the practical duties of life. Nay, -




SERVICE THE REQUIREMENT OF CHRIST. 243
he may observe the whole, and yet be no
Christian. He may observe the whole, and
yet not take the yoke of Christ. He may observe the whole, and yet not obey Christ.
But how so?  Because, while Christ's commands touch upon these things, they go further. While they concern the outward life,
they concern the heart. While they concern
the heart, they concern its feelings both toward
man and toward God; toward man and toward God alike and equally.
We are not serving Christ,-we are not
acknowledging him  as our Master, —when
we choose one half of his rules and pass by
the other half as though their words were like
the babbling of a stream, or the whistling of
the wind; no matter which half we choose,
nor which half we reject. No, - no more than
a soldier serves his country by shouldering his
musket and taking the field, while he plots
treason with the enemy. No more than a
child serves his father in obeying him to-day,
while he thwarts and defies him to-morrow.
Taking Christ's yoke signifies serving him.
" Serving " him signifies holding ourselves subject to his directions. And his directions cover
the whole field of actions; outward as well as
inward, — inward as well as outward; toward




244 SERVICE THE REQUIREMENT OF CHRIST.
God as well as toward man,   toward man as
well as toward God. This is its evident and
comprehensive signification.
But, let it oe observed, there is a peculiar
significance in the command to " take Christ's
yoke," to which we have not yet alluded. If
we do adopt his Word as our rule of conduct;
if we do set out, and go on, to render obedience to his commands; if we do undertake
to regulate both life and heart, - our affections
toward man and our affections toward God,in the manner which he prescribes; after all,
we may not serve Christ in what we do. We
may be serving ourselves in our religion.  We
may rush to the commandments of the Gospel
in a fit of fear and merely because we would
be safe.  We may turn to religion in a fit of
ascetic disappointment, because the world has
cheated us, or conscience has plagued us, and
we want to get peace. Now if this is all, — I
say, if this is all; for Christ does not forbid us
to desire and seek our own good, -if this is
all for which we undertake the duties of
Christ's kingdom, we do but serve ourselves in
our religion. Christ asks for something more.
He requires us in all our religion to serve hinz.
In other words, - he expects of us, that in all
which we do we should seek his interests more




SERVICE THE REQUIREMENT OF CHRIST. 245
than those of any other one.  He expects of
us to be more desirous of his honor, of his
pleasure, of the prosperity of his kingdom, of
the triumph of his grace, than we are for our
own profit, either here or hereafter. He expects, evidently, -not indeed that we should
be careless of ourselves; not indeed that we
should not pant for our own salvation, -but
that, while we adopt his laws, while we take
his yoke, the great reason why we do so should
be our love and gratitude to him.
It may be that, as your eye glances over
these pages, you are conscious that you are
not, spiritually, a Christian. It may be, also,
that you are really desirous, and that you even
seek, to become a Christian. You are convinced, perhaps, of your peril; convinced, perhaps, of your exceeding guilt as a sinner
against God; but you are benighted,  you
are perplexed. You have sought, you say, but
you have not found; you have desired, but
you have not obtained.  Perhaps all this is
true.  Yes,-and something more is true.
You have tried to meet the Gospel's directions. You have tried "to repent," —i. e. you
have tried to urge yourself up to a certain
pitch of emotion about your sins; but you




246 SERVICE THE REQUIREMENT OF CHRIST.
could not reach it; after all, repentance would
not come. And you have tried " to believe," —
i. e. you have tried to kindle within yourself
such feelings toward Christ as he commands;
but after all, the fire would not burn, -your
heart is dead, and cold, and icy. And now
you think that there is something mysterious,
- something inexplicable, - something beyond
your reach, — in this matter of becoming a
Christian. Or you say, that "you must sit
down and wait, - idle, passive, patient, - until God comes (if he shall please to come) and
make you a Christian; that you cannot regenerate yourself; that God must do that; that if
he does not, you must perish."
But —what have you sought?  For what
have you tried? To regenerate yourself? To
make yourself repent? But that is something
which you cannot do.  That is something
over and above your duty. That is something
which you cannot find in the directions of
Christ. Your Saviour does not tell you to do
what only God can do. Your labor has indeed been in vain, because you have mistaken
your duty - utterly.
There is another thing to be considered, too.
Christ does not insist upon perfect obedience.
That is to say,  he does not require that you




SERVICE THE REQUIREMENT OF CHRIST. 247
shall keep entirely and uniformly every one of
his commandments in order to pardon and acceptance. If he did, the Gospel-the way of
salvation by Christ -would be no better than
the Law; for the Gospel is as broad as the
Law. Christ " came not to destroy the Law,
but to fulfil." He does not, " through grace,
make void the Law" in the matter of one jot
or one tittle; contrarywise, he " establishes the
Law."  And if you have thought that you
mlust be pure in heart and pure in life before
you could be a Christian; and if you have
aimed at this as the means of becoming a
Christian, —there again you have mistaken
what Christ requires; there again you have
" spent your labor in vain."
What, then, must you do?  Just keep in
mind what you are not to do. Just keep in
mind that you are not to do God's work; that
you are not to regenerate your own heart;
that you are not to make yourself perfect; and
that you are not to sit still, in the midst of
your tremendous perils and responsibilities,
doing nothing, —.and I will tell you. In one
word,- take C/irist's yoke.  Begin, - begin
his service. Go to your closet,- go out under the vault of heaven, -go anywhere you
will, and make a covenant with Christ, that




248  SERVICE THE REQUIREMENT OF CHRIST.
whatsoever he tells you to do, that you will do.
And, then, begin and do it.
Now, my beloved, but bewildered, fellowsinner, how simple a thing this is! There is
no metaphysical mummery about it.  There
is no clashing, no jargon, of inconsistencies in
this.  There is no mist and darkness.  It is
sunshine; sunshine because it is clear, - sunshine because, if you core to it, it will cheer
your soul, it will gladden your eye. It will
warm  you with the glow  of life that angels
feel. It will reveal to you the glories which
an angel sees.  It will move your heart to
such melody as an angel makes in heavenCome, -away from your halting-place; away
from that miserable position where doubts and
fancies becloud and scare you like the mists
and howlings of a tempest. Come, - take the
yoke of Christ upon you.  This is all you
have to do. Begin his service.  Make yourself over to him, -body and soul.
But you ask, — Is this all?  Is this Scriptural? Must I not first " repent? must I not
first " believe"? must I not first " come unto
Christ"?  My dearreader,-no. Take Christ's
yoke.  Adopt his service.  This is -" repentance."  This is -" faith."  This  is "coming unto Christ."  And, all the while, you




SERVICE THE REQUIREMENT OF CHRIST. 249
have been trying after faith and repentance
just as though they were something different.
And that has been your snare.  That has
been your stumbling-block. And if you cleave
to that, you will be bound hand and foot by
your own doctrines; you will be dashed to
pieces, and ground to powder, by your own
devices.
Your path is plain. Your duty is simple,
however much it may involve. Take the yoke
of Christ.  Serve him.  Serve him. Begin
to-day. Begin now.
But perhaps you belong to a different class.
You may think yourself to' be something in
Christ's estimation, when in truth you are
nothing. You may call yourself a Christian,
- you may think yourself good, -while it is
not so. Test yourself by the Word.  Test
yourself by the simple command which we
have pointed out. Test yourself by these, -
for by these you must be tested.
You - are crying to your soul, -" Peace";
because you have been the subject of religious
impressions, or have experienced certain religious pleasures. You flatter yourself on this
ground that you are a Christian. At the same
time, you neglect prayer; or you neglect the
sacraments; or you neglect your social duties;




250 SERVICE THE REQUIREMENT OF CHRIST.
or, your temper; or, your tongue. You take
no more heed to some score or two of Christ's
commandments than though they had no existence. Well, -are you a Christian?  Are
you Christ's?  Are you subject to his direction?  What  when you throw his directions to the winds -every day? Impossible.
But you - are one who goes current in the
church for a pattern of piety. You come up
promptly to visible religious duties.  You
make prayers. You talk to the wicked. You
rebuke your brethren. You ride upon the top
wave of religious enterprises. You give alms
to the poor. You are what is called " an active Christian "; no drone,- no sleeper. But,
- my brother, - what of it? Here is indeed
something which looks like a corner of the
garment of piety, -but what of it? Have
you the whole?  Have you  the garment?
How is it with you in your ordinary business?
Do you aim to conduct all your contracts, all
your negotiations, all your payments,-just
as Christ would have you?  How is it with
you in your private relations? Do you strive
to behave at home as Christ would have you?
as a parent, - as a child, - as a husband, -
as a wife? How is it with your temper? Do
you bring that under the rules of Christ?




SERVICE THE REQUIREMENT OF CHRIST. 251
How is it with your tongue?  Do you bring
that under the rules of Christ?  Now if you
do pass over these things; if you do neglect to
guide yourself by Christ's rules in these; with
all your prayers,- with all your religious zeal,
- with all your high reputation for piety,you are " as sounding brass, as a tinkling eymbal."  You are not yielding your neck to the
yoke of Christ.
But I think I hear another say, —  Right, but
I pay my tithes; Ido justice; I love mercy;
I am exemplary and scrupulous in the street,
and at home." Yes,-yes,-but do you " ztalk
- humbly - with your God "? Heart and life
echo to the claims of neighbor and kindred.
You wrong no man. You are the light and
the life of your family circle. You have the
orphan's love and the widow's blessing.  But
-in the name of your soul - are you a C/lristian?  Where is your piety towzard God? Do
heart and life echo to his claims, as well as to
your neighbor's?  Do you strive against inwaerd sins?  Remember,-the commands of
Christ sweep over the whole of your relations.
They point you to God as well as to man; to
your heart as well as to your life.
To all who are living in the neglect of any
class, or of any one, of Christ's commanlds, 1
17




252 SERVICE THE REQUIREMENT OF CHRIST.
say, - Take heed. You -  Christians!  You
- good men! good women! good children!
What! when you refuse the yoke of Christ!
when you do not subject yourselves to his
commands! when you adopt one half, and reject one half! No,-no. If you refuse his
yoke, if you decline his service, Christ is not
your Master. And then, — 0 the foundation
of your soul! it is a quicksand!  The fabric
of your hope, -it is a bubble! With all your
orality, - with all your religion, - with all
your religious experience, —if you take not
Christ's yoke, your bright visions of salvation
will vanish, like the mists of the morning,
when the light of another world shall reveal
the nakedness of your soul.
" Be not deceived; God is not mocked."
Are you Christ's?  Do you wear his yoke?
This,- this is the question.




XIII.
THE RESULTS OF THE CHRISTIAN'S
AFFLICTIONS.
HE who loves and trusts God derives peculiar satisfaction from the thought that all
events, without exception, are under God's
control. He loves to dwell upon this truth,
especially when he observes the intricacy,
and the mystery, and the seeming confusion
and contradiction of things around him. A
thousand facts transpire, whose reasons, whose
tendency, whose righteousness, he can in no
wise understand. But it is enotugh for him to
know, that "not a sparrow  falleth  to the
ground without his Heavenly Father."  Nay,
-a thousand things transpire which seem
positively productive of evil; the wicked prevail,    the Truth is ineffectual, -a host of inventions spring up in the hearts of those who
care not for God. But it is enough for such a
a believer that " the wrath of man shall praise
God, and that the remainder of wrath he will
restrain."




254     THE RESULTS OF AFFLICTIONS.
But let us select, for special inspection, a
particular branch of the general truth of God's
universal superintendence.  While he is controlling all events, he is controlling them for
the good of those who trust him.
Yes; this "we know, that all things work
together for good to them that love God;all things, - the greatest and the least, - the
brightest and the darkest, -far and near,past, present, future; all things, - plenty and
famine, - health and pestilence, - every revolution and convulsion of governments, - every
discovery and invention of man, - the working of every press, and the labor of every engine,-all are under the sway of God, and
they all serve God; not only for the ultimate
triumph of his grace, but for the full and perfect joy of all his saints.
If all things work together for good to them
who love God, then surely the troubles of life
do. Every thing which befalls them is ordered
in love. Every thing which causes them grief
is timed and measured to them in tender mercy,-every thing; whether the suffering and
departure of wife, husband, children; or the
unkindness, or treachery, or brutality of those
whom  they have trusted; or pecuniary re~erses; or poverty; or the most transient diffi.




THE RESULTS OF AFFLICTIONS.    255
culty of common life. If we love God, each
and all are ordered for our good, and productive of our good.
Formal proof of this is needless. It is distinctly declared in the Holy Scriptures, and
has been abundantly illustrated by the experience of the whole Church. Let me simply
specify, for the consideration of my reader,
some of the more prominent benefits which
flow to God's people through the trials of their
pilgrimage.
They who love God, love to go to him.
They love prayer. They love that intercourse
which is sustained between the soul and God
at the mercy-seat.  They love it at all times.
But at no time does the Christian go to God
with such eagerness as when he is in trouble.
When the heart is aching and bleeding, —
when it throbs with grief, almost to bursting,
0, how good that refuge! How good the
overshadowing of the mercy-seat! It is as
grateful for him to go there when he is worried
with cares, or dangers, or bereavements, as for
the hunted deer to hide himself in the depths
of the forest and to cool himself in its living
fountains; as grateful as for the frighted bird
to alight safely in its quiet nest; as grateful as




256    THE RESULTS OF AFFLICTIONS.
for the wearied, terror-stricken child to leap to
its mother's arms. It is as grateful; it is as
natural.  And there,  before God,-in the
day of his adversity, it is with a full, and fervent, and eloquent heart, that the child of God
pours out his troubles and his wants. There
is no coldness, no formality, about his devotions then. There is no want of words, no
stammering, upon his tongue. He comes under
the impulse of a beating heart. He comes in
earnest. He comes with boldness. He plunges into the fountain. He lays hold upon the
Almighty arm  with his whole strength. He
must,- for to none else can he go. He nmust,
-for none else can know his heart's bitterness. He vmust, — for nothing else can suit his
case; nothing else can touch the spot of pain
within him.  And thus he is brought into
close, earnest communion  with God.  He
throws himself, as it were, upon the very arms
of his Father; lays his throbbing head upon
his very bosom; lifts up his tearful eyes and
drinks in the very light of his countenance.
A little bird sitting amid the foliage of a
tree is frightened by some noise beneath. IHe
flies to a higher branch.  Again, — and he
leaps to a higher. Again, —to the topmost
bough. Again, — and he soars away toward




THE RESULTS OF AFFLICTIONS.    257
heaven. Just so with the Christian; jtst so.
Disturbed by the commotions, and terrors, and
troubles of things beneath, his first impulse is
to leap vpward. Again,- to ascend higher
and still higher; and at last, to fly away toward heaven, - toward his God, —where, for
the time, no distress or adversity can reach
him; to the sure place of refuge, the free expanse of undisturbed communion with  his
Father.
I need not explain how this is; though to
do so would be very simple.  It is sufficient
that such is the fact.
But there is another natural effect of worldly trouble upon the Christian. The same spiritual instinct which impels him, in a day or an
hour of darkness, to flee to God for fellowship,
also impels him to look about him and examine afresh the tokens of God's character and
the features of God's government.  God has
smitten him.  God has made him drink the
cup of bitterness.  This is his first thought.
But what is his second?  To see if he cannot
find some argument in the grief which has befallen him wherewith to impeach the character
and government of Him  who has smitten?
No. He casts about him, instantly, to strengthen his faith.  He wants to gather together the




258     THE RESULTS OF AFFLICTIONS.
glowing evidences of God's goodness.  He
wants to bring them before his eye in one blazing constellation of beauty and glory.  He
wants to gather them  together in one living
assemblage to pour their melting eloquence
upon his heart anew, so that his spontaneous
response shall be,- " Though thou slay me, yet
will I trust in thee; though the fig-tree shall
not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines;
the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields
shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off
from the fold and there shall be no herd in the
stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord and joy in
the God of my salvation."
And thus he brings up before himself the
character and the government of God as they
are declared in the Word, as they are interpreted in the mystery of the cross of Christ, in
Providence, in Nature, in all things. He finds
that they abide the scrutiny. Nay, the closer
he inspects the more he finds to admire, the
more to adore, the more to trust. He finds
that the very smartings of his fleshly state
have brought him to clearer and dearer views
of the God of his fathers,-the adorable God
of his covenant;.
I have only to add on.this point, that the
natural and necessary influence of these two




THE RESULTS OF AFFLICTIONS.    259
things- communion with God, and the inspection of his character and governmentis to quicken the exercise of every Christian
grace. In other words, to lead the Christian
to new faith, to new love, to new hope, to new
consecration.  Here are nearer and clearer
views of God gained under the operation of
trials.  A new view of God, a new season of
communion, are only new  incentives to the
gracious affections of the Christian's heart.
But these affections grow by exercise. They
are strengthened, matured, perfected, by action,
just like any other affection or power.  And
thus, while afflictions drive the Christian to
the resources of God, and bring him to more
intimate acquaintance with God, and excite
anew  his affections toward God, they areplainly —special, efficacious, precious means
of his growth in holiness.
Another benefit which I specify as accruing
to God's people from their afflictions is - spiritual comfort.
The Apostle Paul, who not only wrote under
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but from
the teachings of his own experience also, holds
such language as this: " Blessed be God, even
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father




260    THE RESULTS OF AFFLICTIONS.
of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who
comforleth us in all our tribulation;.
for as the sufferings of Christ abound in us,
so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ."
And he also says to the Corinthian Christians,' Our hope of you is steadfast, knowing, that,
as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall
ye be also of the consolation."
One who is not a child of God by adoption,
when he meets with trouble, receives no spiritual ministrations from above. His heart is
shut against them.  Unbelief sits at the door,
effectually keeping away every angel of mercy
which a God of comfort sends.  Affliction
either preys upon his life, and makes the whole
world to him a world of gloom, or he drowns
his trouble in the waves of business or pleasure.
But God has ways of comforting his afflicted
children which the world neither know  nor
understand.  While the heart of the believer,
in trouble, turns itself toward Him, He turns
himself toward it.  While the child flees to
the Father, the Father smiles and embraces
the child.  While the cry of grief is uttered
to Him, the ministration of Divine grace is
poured out.  It is as when the Spirit of God
moved upon the face of the waters. It is as
the voice of Jesus upon the sea, " Peace, be




THE RESULTS OF AFFLICTIONS.    261
still "; as the voice of the Master to his disciples, " It is I; be not afraid."
Such is the work which God effects for his
people in the days of their tribulation.  He
gives them " the oil of joy for mourning; the
garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness."
He softens the anguish of their grief. He
sweetens its bitterness. He tempers its sharpness. He soothes its tumults.  And after the
first gust of agitation is spent, he sheds abroad
in the heart a spirit so like that of angels, that
you can see there the plastic influence of the
same hand which has strung the harps, and
given the peace, of heaven.
I thank God that in my brief life I have seen
such proofs of his grace; that I have seen the
difference which he makes between the righteous and the wicked in their times of trouble.
I have witnessed many scenes of distress. I
have seen a godless man, in convulsive agony,
beside the grave of some buried hope. I have
seen his body and soul almost riven asunder
by  the tempest; the world — his darling
world —black as very midnight; and his
heavens sheeted with one vast cloud of comfortless indignation.  I have watched him
when thus stricken to the earth; and in a fit
of reckless anguish he has gathered himself up,




262    THE RESULTS OF AFFLICTIONS.
and then launched out, without a single dispensation of God's mercy to his soul, upon
the wild waters of worldly care and diversion,
-that he might forget the day and the bitterness of his affliction; that he might sear and
harden the heart which could find no comfort.
But I have seen others into whose souls the
iron had also entered, —who had felt it as
keenly too,-placid and gentle under the
stroke; "behaving themselves and quieting
themselves as a child that is weaned of his
mother."  The blast had passed over them,
and they had bent beneath it; but they arose
again, and, like the bruised reed, struck forth
their roots the more eagerly for the moisture
which the blast had scattered, and looked upward the more earnestly for warmth and
brightness to the very heavens whence came
their tribulation.  Yes, -I have seen them
brighter Christians; better, - happier. I have
heard their tremulous hymns of praise to Him
who had tried them. I have heard them testify, that "as the sufferings of Christ had
abounded in them, so their consolation also
had abounded by Christ."
But there is a benefit which accrues here.




THE RESULTS OF AFFLICTIONS.   263
after to God's people from their worldly troubles.
The Psalmist seems to express in very
marked language the idea which I would here
present. He says, " Make us glad according
to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and
the years wherein we have seen evil. Let thy
work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory
unto their children."  As though he was expecting future joy in precise proportion to past
affliction; as though he was expecting that
joy to come in connection with - as the result
of-those afflictions. Nay, mere,-as though
he was expecting that God's " work" in those
afflictions would hereafter be all unravelled;
the mystery, the reasons, the kindness, the operation of it all made plain; and that thus the
"glory" of God in his dispensation of trials
would be made to " appear," not only to the
afflicted, but to others also.
The future world (the Bible warrants us in
saying it) is to be a world of revelation. The
great map of God's dealings is to be unrolled,
and we are to study it and understand it. We
are to trace out the hidden mysteries of Redemption; the untold sufferings of Christ upon
the cross; the overruling influence of God in
all the convulsions, and sins, and miseries of a




264    THE RESULTS OF AFFLICTIONS.
ruined world; the precise bearings of all which
God has here brought about upon the grand
result of the world's regeneration.  We shall
have made clear to us all the particulars of the
world's history, and see how God's finger was
secretly and discreetly arranging and managing
the whole.  We shall see their reasons; their
influences; how they have all moved on, under the control of Him  who ruleth over all,
harmoniously, admirably, unerringly; each
tributary (whether designingly or undesigningly, willingly or unwillingly), each tributary, in
its time and measure, to the production of
those ends for which God in goodness and
righteousness has made and upheld the world.
Of course there will be unrolled before us the
particulars of our personal histories.  The
child of God will review his career step by
step, point by point, from the cradle onward.
Forgotten events, - events at the very time of
their occurrence almost unnoticed,-all will be
brought up before him in heaven, and all their
reasons and their subtle influences disclosed.
The bearings of every connection and relation
in life, and of their character, and of their rupture, will stand out before him with perfect
distinctness. He will see how God led him
into them  all, and arranged them  all, and




THE RESULTS OF AFFLICTIONS.    265
timed them  all, and managed them  all. Iie
will see also how they served, each one in its
own place and measure, to secure his salvation,
to mould and perfect his spirit in the likeness of
God.  The necessity of his afflictions, therefore, will appear.  He will see their gentleness, their wisdom, their perfect fitness to his
wants, their productive influence upon his
heavenly glory.  He will see how  each one
did something in the precious work of attuning his heart to the heavenly song, - of fitting
his brow for the heavenly crown. He will see
how every secret sigh, and tear, and weariness,
was allotted to him for the express purpose
of his preparation for glory; and how they
wrought out that purpose; and how for that
purpose they could not have been spared.
And as he traces out all these particulars, -
as the " work of God appears " herein, - how
like a flood will be the disclosure of God's
wondrous glory   How  enrapturing will be
the demonstration of God's tender mercy, of
his accurate loving-kindness, in the whole!'This is the fountain of the "gladness" of the
saints, - the outflowing revelation of the goodness and holiness of Him who sitteth on the
throne; of Him whom  they love and adore.
And as each specific trouble of their weary pil



266    THII RESULTS OF AFFLICTIONS.
grimage comes up before them with its interpretation, and as each interpretation thereof
elicits a new radiance from  the character of
God, so will a new thrill of blissful emotions
inspire the saint who sees, and a new anthem
of praise from  his burning lips will swell upward unto Him who hath redeemed by blood
"It is the Lord whose matchless skill
Can from afflictions raise
Matter eternity to fill
With ever-growing praise."
Thus most truly, most emphatically, most
wondrously, will the saints be "made glad"
precisely "according to the days wherein God
has afflicted them, and the years wherein they
have seen evil."  Thus most wondrously are
their present afflictions working together for
their good.
When you go out at the opening of the
morning, the dews lie beneath your feet so
pure, so fresh, so brilliant, that you might almost think "an angel had scattered pearls
from heaven " to cheer you with a sweet token
of his unseen ministry, or with a pure memorial of his own home. But they are gone.
They have gathered themselves together in the
cloud, and come back to you with thunder
and lightning and tempest.  They veil the




THE RESULTS OF AFFLICTIONS.   267
light of the sun and fill you with agitation.
But you look again, and behold! there they are,
set before you in all the glory of the bow of
promise stretching itself over the heavens, and
again filling you with wonder and gladness,
-again displaying to you the goodness of
God.
Just so the worldly beauties in which the
Christian delights are ravished from him; and
there gather about him the clouds of distress
and affliction. But lo! when this is finished,
a glory is revealed from the very sources of
his disappointment brighter than the blessing
of the morning.  In the very events which
ministered his affliction he shall behold a display of God's glory yielding him infinite compensation for the bitterness of his trial.
Times of trouble are times of honesty.
Then men act without art. The prevailing
temper of the spirit is developed. The lover
of the world will turn to the world for relief.
The lover of God, to God. When the heart
most feels its weakness and dependence, then
it yearns most sensibly after that in which it
trusts. And never does it feel its weakness
and dependence more than in the days of its
tribulation. If, now, it is true that afflictions
18




268    THE RESULTS OF AFFLICTIONS.
work together for good to them that love God
and if it is true that special intercourse with
God and special comforts are - to such - the
sure fruits of afflictions, then it is plain that
they who experience these blessings love God,
and that they who do not experience them do
not love him.
Does a man in the hour of sorrow betake
himself to the throne of grace? Does he go
there in the spirit of confidential fellowship?
Does he throw himself upon God with the
spirit of a sorrowing, affectionate, trustful
child? Does he find that the hour of trouble
is an hour when he cries," Abba, Father," with
unwonted emotion? when his soul seems
melted within him by the lively fervor of his
secret communion? Does he thus grow in
grace?
Does he find that there is an unseen arm
buoying him up amid the billows? that there
is a soothing balm  upon his wounds? that
there seems to be another fountain opened
within him of peace and quietness mingling
with the fountain df his grief? Does he find
that " the secret of the Almighty is with him"?
and the witness of the Spirit? and a sweet
concord of thoughts and feelings and affections
blending themselves with the decrees and al



THE RESULTS OF AFFLICTIONS.   269
lotments of God?  Does he thus find comfort
from God?
Surely that man must love God. Surely
there must be a medium of communication, a
bond of union, between him and God, which
cannot exist without love.
Again, -does a man go through trouble
without fleeing to the mercy-seat? or, if he
goes there, is it without nearness of access?
Does his affliction excite him to no exercise
of trust in God, or of the spirit of adoption?
Does his heart ache and throb, and ache and
throb without consolation? Is his grief exhausted rather than soothed?  Is he conscious
that there is something which might befit his
case which he has not? that there is a spot
within him which no balm as yet has reached?
Is it thus evident that he gets no good, either
of grace or of comfort, fjom  his trouble?
How plain it is, — how very plain,- if the
testimony of Scripture is true, that that man
does not love God.  Why! either there is an
error of doctrine in the Bible, or there is an
error in his heart. Either there is an error of
doctrine in the Bible, or he is in an error if he
thinks that he loves a holy God.
Perhaps you have been bowed under the
rod of your Heavenly Father.  You  have




270    THE RESULTS OF AFFLICTIONS.
buried children or parents, husband or wife,
brother or sister.  Many a cord which has
wound tightly about you has been torn asunder.  Many a melancholy breach has been
made in the circle of your domestic affections.
The arrows of the Almighty have entered
deep into your spirit. Go back now, and call
up the memory of your wounds. Bring to
mind the seasons of your by-gone griefs. Did
they do you good? Did they impel you to
God? Did they urge you to those exercises
of heart which are the graces of the Holy
Spirit?  Did they prove to you seasons of
consolation? seasons when the voice of God,
and the name of God, and the promises of
God, were life and spirit to you? And now,
as you open your wounds afresh, —as you
think of the love and endearment of those who
lie waiting for you. in the grave, - what is the
influence thereof upon you?  Fresh grief,fresh tears, - I know. But what is the influence otherwise? Do they do you good nowu?
With the memory of your bereavements, does
there also steal over your agitated heart something like the light of God's countenance?
something like the subduing, tranquillizing influence of the Holy Spirit?  Or was it different with you when the rod smote you?  And
is it different now?




THE RESULTS OF AFFLICTIONS.   271
One thought more. We are born to trouble. Go through life without it, we cannot.
This world is not our home. It is not our
rest. And even those who, " in their lifetime,
received their good things," bear many a burden; meet many a bereavement; give up
many a darling blessing before they go down
to their graves. Are you "without God in
the world"?  However bright your prospects,
however strong the towers of your expectations, however sanguine your worldly hopes,
you will find them all changed. Your prospects will grow dark. Your towers will crumble, piecemeal, to their foundations. Your
hopes will fade away and depart, like the hope
of the hypocrite, like the giving up of the
ghost. Take to your bosom a companion for
your journey; the tie which binds you to her
is like the spider's web. Rejoice in the children around your board; death covets them
for their very loveliness, and spreads his toils
to catch them. If you live to the full age of
man, you will part with many a worldly comfort; you will follow in the funeral train of
many whom you love; you will feel many an
arrow enter your heart. Nay, it may be that,
when you come to stand upon the last limit
of your pilgrimage, you will stand there like




272    THE RESULTS OF AFFLICTIONS.
the tree of the forest whose fellows have fallen
around it; alone, - blighted; to mock, by the
decrepitude and imbecility and friendlessness
of old age, the pride and glory and expectation
of man. And then must come the last day of
your distress, of your weakness, of your necessity; the day when you must go to meet your
misdeeds and your God.
It will be a bitter thing for you if you encounter the successive evils of life, and get no
good from them. It will be hard for you to
bury your worldly blessings, and part with
your worldly hopes, if with these afflictions
you get no blessing. If the seasons of your
troubles do not impel you to God to let out
your heart before him like a child; if they do
not quicken you to the work of searching " the
unsearchable riches of Christ"; if they do not
prove to you the occasions and the channels
of God's comforting ministrations; then it will
be terribly hard to endure them; it will be indeed a weary thing to live and a bitter thing
to die. And this will be your lot, - this must
be your lot, — if you do not turn unto God.
Sanctified afflictions are the portion of those
only who love God; of "them who are the
called according to his purpose."
Now, then, there is a distinct and thrilling




THE RESULTS OF AFFLICTIONS.   273
argument in every contingency of life, in every
earthly peril which besets you. There is a
voice speaking to you from every point of hope
and promise which is before you, pleading
with you to enter into covenant with God, so
that - upon whatsoever spot of life you may
happen to stand, amid whatever desolations
and griefs you may happen to be cast-the
Spirit of God shall be with you there for your
comfort and sanctification; and the angels of
God, with their affectionate ministrations; -
so that, however wide and drear the wilderness where you may happen to pitch your
tent, the grace of God shall make it bud and
blossom as the rose; -so that, however fearful the fire into which perchance you may be
thrown, it shall purge you to the beauty and
glory of an angel of light.
I beseech you, then, by the mercies of the
Lord; by the mercies which he is able and
willing to dispense to you in the days of your
coming want; by all the necessity and the
piteous helplessness of a soul when it is
stricken by the hand of God; that you present
yourself unto him a living sacrifice, soul and
body. Give him your heart. Give him your
love. Give him your confidence. Give him
your fellowship. Else he will never give you




274    TIE RESULTS OF AFFLICTIONS.
his confidence, nor his fellowship, nor his
love. Else he will leave you - he must- to
buffet with the surges of your adversities alone,
comfortless. Else he will never turn them
to the profit of your soul. Else he will make
them interpreters of himself before your eyes
hereafter, not to your joy and glory, but to
your shame and everlasting contempt. Else
you will go down to your grave and to your
retribution, accountable for all the offered comforts of God, and for all the lessons of. your
days of affliction.
THE END.