S E R MO N S
PREACHED IN THE
i$trfnb    VI ur,    oart tsrfr,
BY
JAMES H. MEANS.
goston 0,
PRINTED BY ALFRED MUDGE AND SON.
1865.








I. THE OFFICE OF FEAR IN RELIGION...         7
II. THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL.... 23
III. CHRISTIAN'ASSURANCE......   39
IV. PERSISTENCY OF PIETY...... 55
V. THE BOOK OF PSALMS..                           71
VI. RELIGION AND OUR SECULAR DUTIES.... 88
VII. THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE PRESENT AND
THE FUTURE LIFE.                        103








TO THE SECOND CHURCH AND SOCIETY,
DORCHESTER:
IT is the wish of your Pastor to place upon your
tables this little volume, to speak for him while for a
season his voice is silent.  It is made up of a few
sermons, selected for no special excellence, but simply
as presenting practical truths, adapted to different
classes, and  such as a Pastor would desire those
committed to his spiritual charge to keep in mind.
The first may remind the unconverted of their
danger.  The second and the third may help them
to understand the way of escape, and also show to
Christians that glorious fulness of Divine grace which
the writer has never wearied of declaring. The fourth
may indicate the spirit in which all should live
and labor for Christ, even when cheered with but
little apparent success.  The fifth is an attempt to
illustrate the beauty and power of the inspired Word;
a volume which ever grows more dear, and unfolds
a richer meaning the longer it is studied.  The sixth




vi
is addressed to all, as a persuasive to interweave
religion with the whole business of this life; while
the last carries the thoughts from the present to that
higher life which is to come, to which all the
truths and ordinances of the Gospel are intended to
lead.
There is no peculiar novelty in the treatment of
these themes, and they are offered only to those
bound to the writer by friendly ties; especially to
those, affection to whom has sprung up during a
happy Pastorate of sixteen and a half years, and has
been deepened by most kind and generous favors
recently shown.
Precious memories of joys and sorrows, which we
have shared, and common hopes reaching on into
eternity, bind us together; and though separated for
a time, if, as I have been assured, I shall have your
"prayers, fervent and faithful," and your " eyes will
wander with" me, "and wishfully await" my "coming," no less earnest shall be my supplications for
your prosperity, -no less glad to me the hour which
permits me again to speak to you of the inexhaustible
wonders and glories of "the truth as it is in Jesus."
J. H. M.
Dorchester, January, 1865.




(be nOffit  of AtRr in Ndltgon.
KNOWING, THEREFORE, THE TERROR OF THE LORD, WE
PERSUADE MEN. II. Corinthians, v.: 11.
THERE IS NO FEAR IN LOVE, BUT PERFECT LOVE CASTETH
OUT FEAR. I. John, iv.: 18.
HE truth is often best stated in paradoxes.
It has two  sides, and the right impression
A   comes from  seeing both.  The fulness of the
Scripture is often thus exhibited, and there are
passages which seem contradictory because the
view given of the truth is so complete.
Paul and James are often arrayed against each
other on the subject of faith and works.  Their
words are  directly at variance.  One says, "A
man is not justified by the works of the law,
but by the faith of Christ;" the other, "Ye see




8             THE  OFFICE  OF
that by works a man is justified, and not by faith
only." Yet both are right; the one having chief
regard to the ground of justification, the other to
its evidence; and the truth is seen full-orbed,
by the combination of the two.
So in our texts, it is possible to array Paul
and John in opposition. The former recognizes
"the terror of the Lord" as a constraining motive which he felt, and which he used. The other,
exalting love, seems even to reproach those who
are led by fear; declares that love casts it out,
and that "he that feareth is not made perfect in
love."
Yet again we say, both speak truly. The impulse of fear in our religious life is legitimate
and necessary; yet there is a stage of Christian
development in which we are lifted above it and
swayed by a higher principle.
Let me now endeavor to illustrate these positions.
In the outset, it is to be observed that the
influence of fear, or the apprehension of evil,
largely regulates the daily course of all.  How
constantly does this underlie and prompt the
activities of life. That foresight, prudence, caution, essential to a well-regulated course, what is
it but a watchful forecasting of possible dangers
and labor to avert them?




FEAR  IN  RELIGION.               9
It is an original impulse of nature, without
which the mind is defective, and one is unable to
plan rightly. It is a motive continually appealed
to in lesser and in great emergencies.  It keeps
us busy at our daily toil; and when the greatest
power of citizenship is to be exercised, and one
chosen to hold the destinies of a nation in his
hand, on both sides the effort is to awaken fear
as to the results which would follow the election
of the candidate opposed. Thus universal is this
sentiment, as a principle of action among men.
Now notice further how steadily it is appealed
to in the Bible. We should expect it would be.
How could a book designed to affect the conduct
of men, fail to touch one of the most strongly
vibrating chords in the human breast? From the
opening chapters to those which close the Revelation, we find men addressed on this side of
their sensibilities.  When man sinned, the first
voice that broke harshly on the peacefulness of
Eden was a summons to judgment: "Where art
thou? What is this that thou hast done?  Then
followed that curse upon the man, the woman, and
the earth, which has never been taken off, and
beneath which we toil and groan to-day.
I need but remind you how large a portion of
the messages of the prophets were rebukes and
threatenings; hIow the lurid flames of Sinai ever




10            THE  OPFFICE  OF
burn and flash behind them, and Jehovah is seen
going forth wrapped in the clouds of a terrible
and avenging majesty.  Nor is it otherwise in
the New Testament. Divine grace is made more
prominent, but the sterner attributes are not hidden, still less denied.  "God is love," we read;
and yet, also, "He is a consuming fire."  "It is
a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."  The New Testament not only maintains the old declarations of the Divine holiness,
and justice, and omniscience, and human accountability, with unabated force, but it brings out
more distinctly, it enforces more impressively, with
greater vividness of imagery, and the direct authority of the Son of God himself, the fact of a day
of judgment, and of future retribution.
The principle of fear, then, has unmistakably
its place among the motives of the Gospel; it
belongs to the new as well as the old dispensation. Christ appealed to it; and it is enough for
the disciple to' be as his Lord.  In regard to
these highest interests of the soul, we are to use
that forecast which belongs to all rational action,
and to despise that presumption which mocks at
the thought of danger.
But this leads to another point worthy of more
full consideration.   What is the precise use and




FEAR  IN RELIGION.               11
efficacy of this motive of fear in religion?   Let
us trace its operations.
First, it arouses men. It must be remembered
that the state in which we all are found is not a
condition of moral soundness, but of disease. Sin
has infected us, and courses like a poison through
our frames.  One of the most marked symptoms
of this disorder of the soul is a lethargy, insensibility, somnolence. We hear the most animating,
startling truths as though we heard them not. The
Gospel must therefore be presented in its most
forcible form, with images most distinct, and facts
most impressive.  Soft words are pleasant, but
they lull to a deeper slumber. The sleeper needs
to be awakened, and we must break in upon him,
even rudely, with the cry of danger.  If he sleep
on, he dies.
These alarming truths, which are so objected
to, are the means God has given to wake up the
careless and the presumptuous.  One skilled in
mental analysis has given this challenge: "I ask
for a solitary, decisive instance of conversion, in
which no influence of God's threatenings has been
felt."  He would not deny the efficacy of the Divine goodness; but the deepest conviction of this
springs from a view of the deserved judgments
which have been turned aside.  It is grace triumphing over wrath, which melts and subdues.




12            THE  OFFICE  OF
In the Scriptural examples of conversion, certainly, the power of this motive is manifest.  It
was when the jailer trembled that he asked " the
great question"; it was when the three thousand
were "pricked in their hearts," that the blessing
of Pentecost came.  This was the beginning of
the work of God in their souls, as it has been in
the souls of uncounted thousands since.
There never was a revival in which the sterner
attributes of God and the fearfiulness of the sinner's just doom were not plainly revealed.  This
may not be all that is needed, but it is an essential part. The carelessly secure must be aroused,
attention drawn to those things which concern
their peace, the veil by which their eyes are
blinded must be torn away, and their ears unstopped to hear the alarm-bell of the clock of
destiny.
Again, these awakening truths are needed to
restrain men.  Sinners are rushing to destruction;
we would hold them back. How? By speaking
smoothly; by dwelling only on the mercy and
love of God; by declaring the fulness of the
Saviour's expiation and the freeness of the Spirit's
grace?   These truths, glorious as they are, are
often perverted; and men thinking to repent and
tfind acceptance at any time are at ease in sinal[ the while plunging deeper ill guilt and stray



FEAR IN RELIGION.               13
ing farther upon God. You must have something
else to restrain them.
Let God, therefore, be seen upon His high
and glorious throne, watching each one whom He
has made, searching the heart and its real hidden
motives, remembering every offence He sees, abhorring, from the necessity of His pure nature,
all manner' of evil.  Let the day be anticipated,
when each one must stand before that holy and
just God and give account of all his deeds; when
there shall be nothing hidden, and no sin lightly
esteemed; when the irreversible sentence shall be
pronounced, and guilt unrepented of and unforgiven must be the ruin of the soul.
Here is what will balance the attractions of
sin. Man is called to weigh the momentary pleasure of self-indulgence against this prolonged
misery.  Even one given up to selfishness may
well ask whether, while seeking so eagerly earthly
goods, he is not perilling interests and sacrificing
good far greater. It is the old question renewed,
"What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole
world and lose his own soul?"  Nay, we seem
to hear the echo of a still more ancient warning: " Rejoice, 0 young man, in thy youth, and
let thine heart cheer thee in the days of thy
youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and
in the sight of thine eyes; but know thou that




14            THE  OFFICE  OF
for all these things God will bring thee into
judgment."
Is there no power in this to check even the
ebullition of passion?  Are those things to be
chosen or hated, which drag after them such fearful ruin? Is that a path of pleasure which leads
to endless woe? If such truths- if Divine warnings against unbelief and impenitence, as leading
to sure destruction, cannot restrain, what barrier
can be set up to stay the rush of the multitudes
in the broad and downward path?
Further, these  stern  truths are fitted to impress deeply a sense of the evil of sin.  Indeed,
without them,' I see not how any such impression
could be produced. That which we treat lightly
cannot be made to seem very bad.  In the family, you may lecture daily on the enormity of
disobedience, but unless you deal with it as a
grave offence, your words go for nothing. In the
state, the public conscience is trained by the
penalties attached to crime.  The fact that the extreine sentence of the law follows murder, hedges
human life around with peculiar sacredness in the
view of all.  The man tempted to destroy it is
not merely afraid  of being hung, —he feels a
dread of the deed, the heinousness of which can
only be expressed by such a penalty.  The idea
is driven into his obtuse understanding by the




FEAR  IN  RELIGION.             15
terror of the law, that shedding man's blood is
a fearful sin.
So, under the government of God, there is a
necessity for a stern system of judgment and
penalties; or transgressions, even of the highest
law, will appear trivial.  A gently treated rebellion, whether against man or God, is a legalized
rebellion. How can you convince one that in
wandering away from God and setting up his will
against the Divine authority, he is doing what is
a foul offence, if the very Being offended is ready
to pass it by almost unnoticed?  Man is inclined
to make light of his sin; the world will not
judge him harshly: what shall wake his conscience
to the needed work of contrition and repentance,
but the threatening voice of God?
He hears it, demanding, What is this which
thou hast done? and the startling question echoes
through all the chambers of the soul. He wakes
to a consciousness that he has defied supreme
power, insulted and injured infinite grace, trampled on a law of perfect holiness, broken up the
order of the universe, — has, as far as his own
act could do it, dethroned God.
At the same time he is made to feel the hopelessness of resistance. God and man stand in opposition; but what a contrast.  On the one side,
might; on the other, impotence.  The thing formed




16            THE  OFFICE  OF
defying Him who formed it.  What hope is there,
save in submission?   The Omnipotent can crush
his foes; the All-Holy and Just will uphold His
government and throne, though worlds sink in
ruin.  Sin is not only heinous; it is mad presumption,-evil in its nature, only evil in its
consequences.
Nothing but these truths of accountability and
judgment can thus turn his thoughts to the enormity of his guilt; nothing but the holding up of
each offence before God, and in the light of eternity, can make its true, foul character appear.
This can, as thousands of broken hearts call testify.  "By the law is the knowledge of sin."
But this is by no means all that the soul
needs.  Out of these convictions of guilt and illdesert, rise longings for deliverance.  The distressed sinner looks anxiously for relief; and thus
fear accomplishes its final and highest office, in
shutting men up to to the Gospel; leading them to the
entrance of that path, where it is itself lost in love.
Oftentimes, this result is reached through the
efforts to which men are stimulated to escape the
consequences of sin.  In the outset, these take
the form of labors of penance and self-righteousness.  Be it so.  If one, self-condemned, wishes
to try the experiment of saving himself, let him.




FEAR  IN RELIGION.               17
If he thinks that reformation in his own strength
is better than repentance and renewal by the
Spirit, let him see how long it will take to bring
his heart and life into exact conformity to the
will of God.
There can be but one issue to such a trial
with any truly earnest and candid man. He will
be constantly coming short and ever dissatisfied.
He may grow attenuated as a shadow through his
penances, but he will find, like Luther in the convent, that this is not the way of peace. He may
surmount one evil, and another, but as he presses
on, "Alps on Alps still rise "; one elevation gained
only shows higher and more difficult summits unscaled before him, and he sees that strength will
give out, and life will end, before the height he
aims at is reached.  What shall he do?  Unable
to save himself, he needs a Saviour; can such be
found?
Here the Gospel comes in.  The penalties of
the law are threatened, not yet inflicted; nay, understand this also, He who threatens does not
desire to inflict them. A way of escape has been
provided. The innocent comes from heaven to suffer for the guilty. Christ takes our sins upon him
that whosoever believeth may be freely forgiven.
How this changes the position of men. There
is hope for the guiltiest.  Those terrors, which




18           THE OFFICE  OF
alone would arouse enmity, or drive to despair.
now humble and convict, yet soften and subdue.
While God invites, they urge to the acceptance
of the invitation. The Divine countenance, stern
with the awful majesty of holiness, yet now irradiated by the smile of reconciliation, becomes unutterably attractive.  The soul, already convinced
of sin, melts before the power of the Divine tenderness.  It was needful that there should have
been a work of alarm and conviction; but if the
humbled heart has been thus prepared to embrace
a Saviour, the law may silence its thunders, and
the Gospel whisper peace.
Thus love springs up under the combined power
of the severity and goodness of God, both nedded
for the effect. It is the sign of a new life of
reconciliation and friendship. There is no fear in
it; our guilt, which alone made God terrible to
us, is removed and cancelled when we believe in
Christ; the happy child rests in confidence in his
Father's arms; and "perfect love casteth out fear."
The bow of promise arches over the departing
clouds.
These truths teach us the benevolence of those
threatenings and stern doctrines, of which so many
are unwilling to hear. Why has God made known
the responsibilities and the perils of sinners? Is it




FEAR  IN  RELIGION.             19
not because this is the very way -the only way -
to rouse men to avoid them? Suppose He had
left them to all the natural delusions of flattering
hearts, to live and die unwarned; and then had
confronted them with the undeclared consequences.
How impossible such a course must have been to
a God of mercy.
And what is the dictate of kindness, as to our
own duty?  Loving our neighbors, shall we declare the truth plainly to them, or keep silent?
What matters it what they wish to hear? Shall
we let the drunkard drink because the cup is
pleasant, and snatch not the knife from the hand
of the suicide because he wishes to use it? Can
we, then, suffer men to destroy their soul's life
through ignorance of the truth? It is love which
opens the lips to reason of sin and a judgment;
and the warmer the love, the more faithful the
unveiling of the whole truth.
If we shrink from the duty; if the parent
dreads to  warn his children plainly-if the
preacher is tempted not to "mention hell to ears
polite" and fastidious, let our affection for those
endangered banish the weak cowardice, and make
us honest with them and true to their souls.
We also learn the proper way in which these
warnings should be received.  They are to be




20           THE OFFICE  OF
welcomed, not evaded or denied.  Let us know
what our situation really is. Let us know the worst,
for then we shall see what we have to do.  If the
evil were past remedy, it might be said, Torment
us not before the time; but, thank God, while there
is life there is hope, —One mighty to save; and
we want to see the very opening of the abyss, that
our sluggish steps may be quickened in the path
of safety.
But some have said, We will not be frightened
into religion.  Is it, then, unmanly to see real
dangers and provide against them?  A timorous
trouble about imaginary evils may be foolish; but
if a house were burning, and the flames encircling
your chamber, and consuming the stairway, would
you refuse to be frightened into leaving?
It is simply rational, -the highest reason and
the truest manhood, - to look facts in the face; to
take well-grounded warning; to provide against all
threatening perils, and most carefully against the
worst. Therefore, we hold up these truths, and call
on you who are every day commendably watching
against calamity, with equal foresight and wisdom
to seek pardon and eternal life.
Let each one now ask himself: What is the influence of the warnings and threatenings of God's
word upon me?




FEAR IN RELIGION.              21
You may be a Christian. Still you need to
keep constantly in mind what sin is, and to have an
ever-deepening sense of its heinousness.  The discipline of those truths which humble and abase is
needed every day you live. Never ought any of us
to forget from what we have been delivered. We
read the curses of the law, and if through abounding grace no more we tremble, the louder let our
exultant thanksgivings ascend, and the more hearty
and entire be our consecration. We read them;
and while we rejoice in deliverance, we feel that
the place which belongs to us is at God's feet;
we are not worthy to be called His children - let
Him use us as servants to do His bidding.
Thus, too, shall we be led to magnify with
fullest appreciation the grace of God in Jesus
Christ. They love the most, who feel that they
have had much forgiven.
If you are not accepted and pardoned through
the Redeemer, can you sit quietly, exposed to the
just wrath of God? Is there a charm in the pleasures of the world, which may end so soon? Is
seeming wealth and prosperity aught but a delusive
and fleeting show? Can you be indifferent to these
threatenings, as though God spake in vain? Did He
drive out our fallen parents from Eden; did lie
come down in the flaming clouds of Sinai; did
He send tile long line of warning prophets and




22   OFFICE  OF FEAR  IN RELIGION.
apostles, aye, and his only begotten Son, speaking
plainer and more fearful words than any other, and
does your insensible heart resist every appeal?
Time rolls on. Never, — never stood you so
near to the judgment as at this hour; never, therefore, had you so much reason to listen to the expostulation sounding from God's word, "Turn ye, turn
ye, for why will ye die?"
"i~~~~'""~i~~~~~~e~:7~5




AND, AS HE JOURNEYED, HE CrAME NEAR DAMASCUS: AND
SUDDENLY THERE SHINED ROUND ABOUT HIM A LIGHT FROM
HEAVEN; AND HE FELL TO THE EARTH, AND HEARD A VOICE
SAYING UNTO HIM, SAUL, SAUL, WHY PERSECUTEST THOU ME?
AND HE SAID, WHO ART THOU, LORD? AND THE LORD SAID,
I AM JESUS, WHOM THOU PERSECUTEST: IT IS HARD FOR THEE
TO KICK AGAINST THE PRICKS.  AND HE, TREMBLING AND
ASTONISHED, SAID, LORD, WHAT WILT THOU HAVE ME TO DO?
Acts, ix.: 3-6.
THERE is no conflict going on upon the earth
~   so momentous as that between good and evil
in the human soul, and no victory so blessed
is ever won as when holiness triumphs there.
The great change by which one passes from
death to life is the more worthy of thought and
inquiry, because it must, according to our Saviour's teaching, be experienced by all before they
can be prepared for heaven. "Except a man be
born again, he can not see the kingdom of God."




24         THE  CONVERSION  OF
This change is, in its inner nature and essence,
the same in all. Heart answereth to heart. All
have been smitten down in the same corruption and
ruin; all ransomed by one Redeemer, and needing
renewal from the same Spirit: so that we may take
one case like this of the apostle Paul, and use it to
illustrate the nature of all true conversions.
The circumstances may be peculiar, the succession of feelings different from what it has been in
others, the manifestations of a changed heart different also; in all these outward respects there is an
endless variety, and new converts may not safely
make the experience of others a standard for their
own; but when we look beneath at the real nature
of the change, we find it always essentially the
same.  We need the same renewal of heart which
Paul experienced. The Spirit who regenerated him
must awaken us to a new life, and that life must be
to us as it was to him, -— a life of submission, and
prayer, and love.
Let us, then, carefully examine the story of
Paul's conversion, presented in the text and the
connected Scriptures, as illustrating the nature of
this spiritual change.
Thus viewed, it reminds us, First, that the conversion of the soul is effected by the power of God.
The first and the deepest impression made by the
narrative is of the supernatural agency exerted.




ST. PAUL.                  25
The flashing light, the heavenly voice, the vision
of glory; these make the scene most solemn and
grand. No one reads the record believingly without
feeling that God came very near to that traveller
to Damascus; that it was a Divine hand which
arrested, and Omnipotence which subdued him. It
was, we are told, the accomplishment of a Divine
purpose.  "He is a chosen vessel unto me to bear
my name before the Gentiles."
Now, in this Paul's case was not peculiar. The
interposition of God was not more real than in any
other case, though it was more plainly seen.  Surely
God can come in the darkness, as well as in the
light; with silence, in the still hour, as well as with
the trembling and roar of the thunder. At times
He reveals himself visibly, but certainly not to lead
us to deny His invisible presence. He chose to
give a striking demonstration of His'agency in the
conversion of this eminent believer, that when He
was not so clearly seen at such a crisis in life, men
might still believe and feel Him to be near.
The Scripture constantly ascribes this change to
His power.  "Born of the Spirit " is the phrase our
Saviour was pleased to use; "born, not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man,
but of God," is the discriminating statement we find
elsewhere.
Experience also confirms this.  We need not
3




26         THE CONVERSION  OF
ask for light and sounds from heaven, and visions
which smite blind and destroy all power, to tell us
of a present God.  When the conscience cannot
rest, when sins long forgotten throng back to
view, when no pleasures can charm, and no force
of will keep the mind steady, when the strong
man writhes as in the grasp of a stronger, when
he feels as he never felt before, speaks as he never
spoke, prays, turns to his neglected Bible, tastes not
his wonted food; what matters it, whether God
appeared to Him in the way, or only makes His
presence felt instead of seen?
Not always, indeed, are these tokens of God so
marked; but they are so with sufficient frequency
to confirm the teaching of the Word, that conversion is always a change accompanied by Divine
agency; that he who' would receive the grace must
look upward, and in all his strivings seek and
depend upon heavenly aid.
This, however, is not the whole truth; and the
narrative before us teaches, Secondly, that conversion
includes the flee and earnest activity of man.  The
influences to which Paul was subjected were overpowering, but they did not destroy reason or will.
He trembled and was astonished, but was not
smitten into inaction.
On the contrary, we believe his mind never
acted with such sublime force and determination.




ST. PAUL.                  27
His greatness was seen in his self- possession.
There were no passionate outcries. He faced the
mystery of that vision, and calmly asked its meaning. "Who art thou, Lord?"  What entire selfcommand the inquiry showed.  And  when the
answer came: "I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest,"
that great soul, whose energies were only driven to
a focus by the appalling revelations around, centred
the decision of a lifetime in one mighty act of selfsurrender; and asking " What wilt thou have me to
do?" laid itself down at the feet of the Redeemer,
at once and forever.
Notwithstanding all the signs of supernatural
agency which attended the change, never has there
been a convert who more certainly turned himself
to the Lord, and was active in the momentous
hour.
So when he prayed, and when in that three days'
fasting and darkness, he communed with himself,
reviewed the past, anticipated the future, repeated
his consecration; was there ever a time, think you,
when he was more earnest in thought, emotion, purpose?  The outward eye was closed, that the
inward vision might be the clearer; and the entire
crowded years of his wonderful ministry were but
the acting out of the vows of those silent hours.
Let us not think that God will do our work for
us. He holds to a division of labor. He makes




28        THE CONVERSION OF
all the objects of creation to fulfil some office-not,
indeed, in independence of Himself, but with His
cooperation. Even the plant works in raising and
distributing the sap, inhaling the atmosphere, nourishing and ripening its seed. Man, in his relations
to this world, must sow and reap, must hew the
wood and build the house, and fashion his raiment;
or he will go hungry, and shelterless, and naked.
God provides, —God helps continually, but leaves
him his own work.
So in spiritual things. No heavenly warning or
aid, though it transcend all common experience,
though it be by special revelation, can supersede the
activity of man. The awakened, convicted sinner
must repent, believe, obey, by his own act; God
working in him, while he works. The manifestation
of God may prostrate him to the earth; but it is
possible for him to lie there hardening his heart,
resisting the truth, and to rise unsubmissive and
unsubdued. Those who yield become trophies of
God's mercy; those who will not yield, monuments
of his wrath.
This explains the contest we sometimes see.
The battle rages, it waxes hot.  God is pressing
with motives and mysterious influences — man resists. God will not let him go - he struggles to be
free.  Deeper, more tender becomes the beseeching voice, more piercing his distress; he must




ST. PAUL.                  29
submit, that will end the strife - God is waiting for
that, to bless him with peace. Let him cast himself;
helpless, ruined, guilty, upon the free mercy of his
Saviour; let him devote himself to that Lord, in the
entire consecration of every power to His service,
and in that moment his new life begins; he is
accepted — he is saved.
In the third place, this history of Paul shows
us how speedily the work of conversion may be accomplished. Many associate with the passing of a soul
from death to life the idea of a prolonged struggle.
That such a conflict sometimes occurs cannot be
denied, but it is not necessary. Certainly we see
nothing like it here.  So sudden — so entirely
unexpected was the change in Paul, we can only
say it was as a dream.
He arose, on the morning of that most eventful
day, intent only on persecuting the saints of God.
He pressed on, unresting even under the noontide
rays of an Eastern sun, so eager was he to accomplish his errand of slaughter. Half the day had
been filled with threatenings and purposes of malignity; yet, ere that sun went down; which shone on
him in all the fierceness of his bigoted wrath, he
was to be numbered among the followers of Christ,
and his name written, never to be blotted out, in
the book of life.  Perhaps not an hour passed —
a close adherence to the record might even lead us




30         THE CONVERSION  OF
to think it only a few minutes —from the time
when he was arrested in his course, until he had
submitted, wholly and forever, to his new Master.
Nor is there anything in the nature of conversion which would be inconsistent with this view.
Of course, Paul had often heard of Jesus, of his
life, his miracles, his teachings, his death; he knew
how Stephen and others regarded Him —how the
dying martyr had committed to Him his soul, and
fallen asleep. It was only necessary that, renouncing his vain confidence in Judaism, he should show
the same faith in Christ; and the moment his eyes
were opened to see the Divine glory of this persecuted One, he could do this.
If salvation were of works, -if the requirement had been, that he should have presented
himself strong, tried, experienced, having attained,
having done some great thing, being what he afterwards became; - why then, indeed, poor Paul would
have had I know not how many struggles, or how
long delay; but since the terms were-as, thank
God, they still are - simply to believe, And take
grace as a gift; not. to make himself clean, but to
come in all his vileness and be cleansed, there
needed not a moment's preparation or a moment's
waiting-only the instantaneous assent of a needy,
trusting soul.
Can you see anything that Paul would have




ST. PAUL.                  31
gained, or how he would have been in any better
position to receive Christ, had he withheld that
submission on the road, and said, Lead me to
Damascus, then leave me; I will meditate on these
things, I will pray, I will confer with Christians
there, and then I will decide?
Yet this is what is often done.  Who thinks
of submitting at the first call in the sanctuary?
Those most moved are thinking of hastening home
to their closets, and there beginning the process of
giving their hearts to Christ.
But why not do it at once?  The Gospel always
presses to an immediate surrender.  Cast away the
weapons of your rebellion, as the defeated in a battle instantly yield.  There is no need of any other
place, or of any process of conversion whatever,believe, submit; even a moment's delay is dangerous, for it is continuance in sin.
It should be added here, that a distinction is
made between one's becoming a Christian, and
attaining the consciousness that he is one.  We
regard Paul as converted when he asked, "What
wilt Thou have me to do?" because the inquiry
showed the submissive spirit of a true disciple.
Whether he then thought of himself as a Christian,
may be doubted.  Those days in which his eyes
were blinded may have been days of darkness to
his spirit also, and the touch and cheering salutation




32         TIHE CONVERSION  OF
of Ananias may have carried light to both body and
soul.  We know from the writings of the apostle,
that at some time his sins, especially as a persecutor, were set in order before him.  He who called
himself chief among sinners, must have known the
horrors of a soul crushed by a sense of guilt; and
it may have been that while his submission was
instantaneous, and his acceptance with God, yet the
peace and hope, following a consciousness of that
acceptance, entered only by degrees into his soul.
We do not assert this - only say it may have been
-to remind you that conversion is one thing, and
the peace which follows it another; so that we are
not to be mainly anxious to find peace and joy, but
to do what God requires, -that is, trust in His
mercy in Christ, and give ourselves up to His
service forever.
In the fourth place, this narrative suggests that
one conrertsed will delight in commulnion with God,
and in doing His will.  There is nothing said here
about the feelings of Paul, concerning any distress
of mind, or any special relief; the evidence of his
conversion rests on other, - may I venture to say,
-better ground.
The first indication was in that docile and submissive call for guidance, of which, perhaps, enough
has been already said. It showed an humbling of
pride, a giving up of former plans, and of all self



ST. PAUL.                  33
will, and the choice of Christ to be master - which
marked, beyond all contradiction, a new era in
his soul's history. For when one is brought to
this state, and can in the same way put his soul, his
life, all his prospects and his plans, into the hands
of Christ, to do with all just what He sees best,
then has the man yielded as he is bidden, and
Christ takes the precious trust, to keep it unto
life eternal. That soul is safe, because none can
snatch it from the Saviour's hands.
But this was not the only evidence of Paul's
conversion. When Ananias was sent to him, the
description given of his state was in these words:
"Behold, he prayeth."  " Go seek out this Saul of
Tarsus — Behold, he prayeth."   Had the man
never prayed before? This scrupulous Hebrew of
the Hebrews, had not he often wershipped in the
temple?  Yes, as a Pharisee, he had thanked God
he was not as other men were; but now, the cry
which came with sobs, and groans, and vows, from
his broken and contrite spirit, was that other prayer,
"Be merciful to me a sinner." It was the cry of
one in earnest, the cry of one believing, of one
delighting to draw near to God; paying no tithe of
a commanded service, but freely pouring out his
whole heart before the Lord. So that it could be
said of him, in altogether a new sense, "Behold,
he prayeth."




34         THE CONVERSION OF
Thus every renewed sinner prays. He cannot
be a true convert unless he does pray. Conversion
is turning to God, and if one truly turns, his heart
and voice will speak.  "Prayer is the Christian's
vital breath," and where there is no breath, there is
no life.
This, then, is a most appropriate description of
one new  born in Christ; "he prayeth."  Child
of a pious household, he was early taught to pray,
and perhaps never ceased from the form, but now
there is a new spirit in that nightly devotion.
Father of a family, he thought little of being a
spiritual father; but now he kneels down with his
household around him, and his wondering children
hear his strange, tremulous tones as he pleads for
them. His oft-frequented closet, loved more and
more, and more dearly prized as a place of privilege and joy; the family altar, the place of social
Christian conference, the sanctuary where his form,
irreverently erect before, is bowed during the service of devotion, and his once wandering eyes are
closed: all witness to the change that has passed
upon him, and lead many to say, "he prayeth."
And they hear of it in heaven, and by that token
recognize, and rejoice over a prodigal found.
Lastly, we are here reminded that conversion
brings us into new relations to Christ's disciples.  Not
the least affecting among the scenes detailed in this




ST. PAUL.                  35
narrative is the inverview between Paul and that
" devout man," of whose previous history we know
nothing, but whom God sent to the new convert, on
an errand of sympathy and aid. Ananias seemed
at first afraid to go. He remonstrated, and told
the Lord, almost as if He knew it not before, what
a persecutor Saul had been. But when the story
of that wonderful vision of Jesus was rehearsed to
him, and the Lord's purposes revealed, not only did
his fears depart, but his very soul went forth in
tenderness, and, hastening on his way, he stood before the new convert, blind, enfeebled, helpless, and
spoke to him the first words of Christian love he
had ever heard: " Brother " -" Brother Saul."
Speak you of the joy of lovers - heart meeting
heart? It is precious. God be thanked for giving
us this solace in life's pilgrimage. But there is an
element of a purer and more heavenly bliss, when
gushing sympathy in Christ brings hearts together;
a deep and peaceful sense of a unity which God
approves, and which is never to be broken; visions
rise of sweet fellowship beyond the grave, in the
many mansions of our Father's house.
All Christians are one; all living Christians feel
themselves to be so when brought together.' Rescued from a common ruin, born of the same Spirit,
hastening to the same home, the name they give each
other, "brethren," is surely more than a name.




36         THE CONVERSION  OF
What a proof is our "Sabbath Hymn Book " of
the fact. There earnest souls have expressed their
deepest emotions; and if you open the volume, I
cannot tell whether you will come on the composition of Watts, the Congregationalist, or of the
Methodist, Wesley, or of some Baptist, or Churchman, or Moravian.  Nay, start not if some pious
Romanist, like Madame Guyon, speaks to you in
kindred tones; or even some canonized saint, like
Bernard, or Xavier. It may be a German hymn you
open to, or one of France, or Switzerland, or England, or possibly one from an old Greek father of
the third century. It matters not — all are one;
times, countries, sects are nothing in the presence
of those great, central, unchanging verities, which
are the chief topics in our praise.
Conversion brings one into this large and goodly
fellowship. No one was ever converted to Wesley,
or Calvin, or Luther. Who are these but ministers
by whom many have believed? They all point to
Christ. And when the followers of that one Lord
are assembled, and one takes up the heavenly theme,
if the refrain of the song, or the plea which rises
strong in prayer, or the thought which wails in the
expostulation is Christ's love, then all respond, and
are of one heart and one mind.  Or, when impartial
death comes, though it be a Prince in Windsor
Castle, on whom disease has laid a mortal hold, he




ST. PAUL.                  37
can find no other refuge than that which has been
the solace of many a peasant's death-bed,
"Rock of ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee,"and so, in a common need and common trust, the
peasant and the prince are one.
Blessed, then, is this change, which not only
brings one to a new individual life, but into new
sympathies, wide as the earth, pure as heaven,
lasting as eternity.
Such is conversion; and now a question arises
which we would address to each one individually:
Have you been converted?  Remember that the signs
of this change are marked. It implies submission
- the entire surrender of the heart and life to
God's control. It shows itself by frequent, earnest
prayer, and by love for all true Christians. It will
lead to a life, animated like the shining career of
Paul, by the mighty impulse of devotion to the Redeemer.  If such emotions are not felt, and such
signs do not appear, the conclusion must be that
your heart has not been renewed.
But what a conclusion is this, when Christ has
said, "Ye must be born again." How shall we
escape, if His word condemns us? He is the Judge,
and what hope is there, save in compliance with
His demands?




38  THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL.
We look forward to the day when a brighter
light than that which shone near Damascus will
burst upon us; when we shall look upon Christ
seated upon the burning throne, and hear His voice
as Paul heard it, demanding how we have treated
Him. Are we ready for that approaching scrutiny?
Will Christ then see in us those who have opposed,
or those who have loved and served him?




I KNOW WHOM I HAVE BELIEVED, AN'D AM PERSUADED THAT
HE IS ABLE TO KEEP THAT WHICH I HAVE COMMITTED UNTO
HIM AGAINST THAT DAY. II. Timothy, i.: 12.
HIS second epistle to Timothy has that peculiar
B   interest always belonging to the last words of
a departing friend.  Ties of peculiar tenderness and strength bound Paul to the young disciple
whom he had "begotten in the Gospel," and now
that he was "ready to be offered, and the time of
departure was at hand," he unveiled to him his
deepest and most sacred emotions.
Thus we know how a true-souled, mature follower of Christ felt in regard to his highest interests. Cheerfulness, hope, ardent love for Jesus,
appear in almost every line, and are especially manifest in the text — " I know whom I have believed,
and am persuaded that He is able to keep that




40       CHRISTIAN  ASSURANCE.
which I have committed unto Him against that
day."
This is (an expression of joyous confidence.  The
writer was at rest concerning his soul.  He had
given it into the keeping of another, who was
"mighty to save," and so hewas "persuaded" of
its safety.
The precise phrase here used is worthy of our
special notice. It would be well for us at times to
adopt it. If, instead of asking Christians whether
they had " assurance" of salvation, we should ask
whether they were "persuaded" of their soul's
safety, would not more be ready to give assent?
Assurance is thought to be equivalent to absolute
certainty, - a certainty such that the opposite is
impossible; and it seems like presumption in a fallible man, however strong his reasons for confidence,
to assert this. No kind of argument, save that
based on mathematical demonstration, gives such a
certainty. The presumption on which men act, on
which they rest with satisfaction, in the ordinary
affairs of life comes short of this.  We are not absolutely certain of accomplishing any enterprise which
we undertake; nor even, when we leave our homes,
of returning to them alive.  We are sure of success
only in the sense of being strongly persuaded of it.
This is a kind of assurance, and leads one to say
confidently, I know I shall do this or that, -- secure
this or that result.




CHRISTIAN  ASSURANCE.              41
If one is disposed to look on the dark side
(always a most unprofitable proceeding), he may
so exaggerate the uncertainty of life, he may find so
many reasons to distrust himself, he may conjure up
so many possibilities of failure in every undertaking, that he will not do anything, nor even attempt
to do. He may so distress himself with the fallibility of human reason, that he will believe nothing;
and so will utterly throw away his life and the
powers given to him. We must venture, if we
would achieve; we must be bold, if we would be
strong.
Thus is it in regard to spiritual things.  We
must act as Christians, believing that we are such,
or we can accomplish very little. It is a miserable abuse of life, opposed to all efficiency and
usefulness, to be forever doubting and weighing
evidences, and balancing for years between hope
and fear, not daring to assume the responsibilities
and do the work of Christians, for fear of being
deceived. It cannot be that God intends that one
should live thus. I will admit all you may say
concerning our frailty, and the deceitfulness of an
evil heart, but I cannot admit that there is no
deliverance from the danger, or that God will leave
any one, who honestly seeks light and trusts Him
for it, to delusion and the believing of a lie.
4




42      CHRISTIAN  ASSURANCE.
Doubtless the degree of evidence will vary.
There have been those who have had such revelations through the Spirit, such conscious fellowship
with God, that they have said that it was impossible
for them to doubt; yes, some have grown very bold,
and affirmed that they were as certain of their
acceptance with God as of their existence.
I do not say that all are to be expected to use
such language. With those of a naturally diffident
temper it would be an impossibility. But all may
certainly reach a position of firm, satisfying persuasion; not of hope merely, far more-of settled
confidence, excluding fear, excluding doubt.
Why not?  Paul so attained. Do you say, He
had visions and revelations for his encouragement?
But he did not rely on such evidences. He seldom
referred to them. Fourteen years passed after he
was "caught up into heaven" before he spoke of
it; and when he did so, in order to vindicate his
assailed apostleship, he apologized for it, saying,
"I am become a fool in glorying, but ye have
compelled me."
No, it was not on signs and wonders that his
confidence was built, but on those promises and
provisions of grace in which all have a common
share. Why, then, may we not attain the same
persuasion?




CHRISTIAN  ASSURANCE.               43
Before giving a full answer to this question, let
us look more carefully at the foundation on which the
confidence expressed in the text was based.  We shall
find it to be simply the character and power of the
Redeemer.  Many seem to think that when one
expresses any degree of assurance it must be from
a feeling of self-satisfaction, and that he must look
at his heart and life with much complacency.
Now nothing could be more opposed to the
apostle's way of thinking than such a spirit. He
was as far as possible from justifying himself, or
professing to be content with his spiritual attainments. He abhorred the thought of being his own
saviour. Let him speak for himself. " I know that
in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing."
"Not as though I had already attained, either were
already perfect." " I count not myself to have apprehended; but this one thing I do, forgetting those
things which are behind, and reaching forth unto
those things which are before, I press toward the
mark for the prize of the high calling of God in
Christ Jesus."  These were the words of a man
by no means satisfied with his own righteousness;
plainly conscious of remaining sin. And there has
been noticed a striking gradation in his expressions
of self-disparagement. At first he called himself
"the least of the apostles "; after five more years
of growth in grace, he was "less than the least of




44       CHRISTIAN  ASSURANCE.
all saints "; but at the end of his Christian course,
he could not speak even of sinners, without adding,
"of whom I am chief."
Yet this man was hopeful —was confident.
Standing on the verge of the grave, he could look
up through the dungeon's gloom and say, "Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give
me at that day."
We ask for the grounds of this exultant expectation; and the reply comes in the words before
us, "I know whom I have believed." He looked
constantly away from, and above himself. He felt
that his soul was not safe in his own keeping, and
so committed it to another, giving Him the charge
of defending its interests, pleading its cause, securing its pardon. As one whose honor is assailed or
property imperilled, looks to his advocate to protect his -name, and rescue his estate in court; so
had Paul become the client of the great Advocate
before the bar of God. And he knew that interests committed to such guardianship were safe
against all the world; safe against all the powers
of hell.
Two things are required in any one undertaking
such a charge, in order that we may rest fearlessly
upon him; fidelity and power. We must be assured
that he will be mindful of our cause, and do for us




CHRISTIAN  ASSURANCE.             45
all he can; and then that he is able to secure our
deliverance.
Can we doubt that when, conscious of our own
helplessness, we have committed our souls to the
Saviour, He will be faithful to the trust? I cannot
set myself to argue the trust-worthiness of our
Lord Jesus Christ. His name forbids a doubt or
fear. What associations cluster around it. The
very object of His advent was " to seek and to save
that which was lost." "Though He was rich, yet
for our sakes He became poor, that we through
His poverty might be rich." "HIe laid down His
life for us." What stronger proof could He give
of His desire to save?  Remember the feelings
towards sinners which He manifested daily by word
and deed. What crowds followed Him; and how
did He ever stand amid this throng of the helpless
and despairing, with hands outstretched, and countenance benign. From what suppliant did He ever
turn away? When the end of His course was
drawing nigh, we hear Him exulting before HIis
Father: " Those that Thou gavest me I have kept,
and none of them is lost."
Can we fear, then, to trust Him? He undertakes our cause, not reluctantly prevailed on by
entreaties, not purchased by a fee; scorn, and pain,
and death was what man paid Him; but He, himself, loved and longed for our souls, and is anxious




46       CHRISTIAN  ASSURANCE.
now to deliver us. "How  often would I," He
exclaims even to those unwilling to accept His
grace, "but ye would not."
If, then, His fidelity to the trust is certain, can
we doubt His power?  Listen. "All power is
given unto me, in Heaven and on earth."  "Thou
hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should
give eternal life to as many as thou hast given Him."
"They shall never perish, neither shall any man
pluck them out of my hand."  "I am He that hath
the keys of hell and death," -"that openeth, and
no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth."
While manifest on earth, He said, "Thy sins are
forgiven, go in peace "; and when they questioned
His authority to say this, He wrought a miracle
to prove that He had a Divine right to pardon sin.
Such is that Saviour, to whom the apostle committed his soul; to whom we commit ours. He has
lost none of His attributes; nay He is now exalted,
that He may complete this work of delivering
sinners. He died for them, and His recompence
is, to receive them when they turn in penitence, to
wash them from their sins in His blood, and welcome them to Heaven. Must we not be safe, with
such a helper?  How fitting the jubilant cry, "I
know whom I have believed; I am persuaded that
He is able to keep that which I have committed
unto Him against that day." While Paul had




CHRISTIAN  ASSURANCE.             47
before him the vision of that all- sufficient Redeemer,
how could he doubt?
We return to the question, Why may not we
exercise the same faith, and rejoice in the same assurance? Has Christ changed; His love grown cold;
His power been exhausted? Has He relinquished
the charge of perishing souls? Whence, then, all
these misgivings?
Perhaps the old difficulty comes up again: " We
are so unworthy." But is it not evident that this
pretext has no pertinence whatever? Acceptance
rests on a different ground. If a king should meet
a beggar in rags, and call him to the hall of
audience, would that beggar have any right to say,
"I cannot go, for my clothing is unfit?"  What
has he to do with his appearance, if the king, seeing
what it was, nevertheless called him? Would it
not be pride; would it not be contempt of majesty
for him to be thinking more of his rags, than of the
gracious invitation? Let him go, just as he is:
he may, perchance, come forth arrayed in fairer
apparel.
So, when the sinner is called to go to Jesus,
with all his weakness and all his guilt, is it for
him to dwell only on his unfitness, and hesitate and
fear?  Did not Christ know all, when He called
him? If He is willing to receive the outcast, and




48       CHRISTIAN  ASSURANCE.
cover his vileness with His own spotless robe, shall
the favor be refused?
Would that you might see that under the distrust
so often expressed, and so often, I fear, cherished as
akin to a becoming humility, there is lurking pride,
a subtle thought that our acceptance in some measure depends on our own goodness, and a contempt
for offered grace. We seem to be disparaging
ourselves, when in truth we are wronging Him who
seeks to save us.
Oh, there would be far fewer misgivings, and far
more confidence, if we could only have such low
views of ourselves, that we should entirely forget
ourselves, and see only that Saviour, through whom
the ungodly are justified. Could we but see Him
as he is, and hear His voice, so gentle, so loving;
could we but heartily believe in the blessed freeness and fulness of His grace; could we but
understand what it is really and entirely to commit
the soul to Him; how when that is done, all is
done; how He takes the soul with all its guilt, to
justify and cleanse it by His mighty power; could
we but be willing to let Him have the whole glory
of our salvation, not even thinking of obtaining any
for ourselves in any way; then should we come
far nearer than we do to the blessed simplicity of
the truth in Jesus, and find strong consolation, and
ever-shining hope. Losing ourselves, we should




CHRISTIAN  ASSURANCE.              49
be found in Christ. Giving up all for Him, we
should possess all in Him.
In concluding, I wish to press these truths upon
the attention, especially, of two classes found in
every congregation.
First, those who have long been under religious
impressions, but are still undecided. They are not
easy in sin; they have desires, real though perhaps
faint, to be Christians: sometimes they have hoped
they were; but nothing is fixed — nothing definite.
Time passes, possibly year after year, and when
they ought to be growing strong in the Lord, they
are still as babes.
The other class is that larger one of professed
followers of Christ, who hope tremblingly, doubtfully. They have no real religious enjoyment; they.
dare not speak confidently; they dare not venture
on those duties - of teaching and exhortation, for
example- which require one to feel satisfied as to
his own state. They have long lived so, and there
is a prospect of their dying so, unless, as perhaps
they hope, some special grace overtake them at the
last hour.
My heart is heavy as I speak these words. Not
to have such distressed inquirers, such timid disciples, did Christ die. The Gospel can do more
than this for sinners; it is "glad tidings of great




50       CHRISTIAN  ASSURANCE.
joy."  It has its stern doctrines and severe reproofs, which we may not hide; but grace- grace
is its characteristic. If we forget this, we pervert
the truth, and do injustice to a merciful God.
You may have read an account, recently published, of the last hours of an eminent divine, Dr.
Spring, of Newbury.  Said he to a ministerial
brother, "I have finished my work; I have tried
to preach the Gospel; I have been instrumental in
establishing the seminary at Andover; and now the
question is, Has my motive been right? If it has,
I shall receive my reward; if not, I shall lose it.
I hardly know what to believe about myself. But
it matters not. We are but atoms, and it is of little
consequence what becomes of us.  God will be
glorified in the result, whatever it may be."
We must feel the sublimity of such a state of
self-abnegation and supreme desire that God should
rule. But did not that holy man — for he was a
holy man — fail somewhat in his views of the sufficiency of Christ? Was he not scrutinizing his
motives, as if he were to enter heaven by his own
righteousness, when it would have been better for
him to have taken all his imperfections and sins and
cast them, as a load too heavy for himself to bear,
at the Saviour's feet, relying, in sweet and unquestioning confidence, on the plenteousness of His
grace?  Forgive me for seeming to censure one




CHRISTIAN  ASSURANCE.              51
truly worthy of veneration, but I must say it, a believer, with the Gospel in his hands, ought not so to
have died. That sovereign God, before whom he
abased himself so humbly, was not anxious to condemn, but to save. He was a God of mercy.
Thus would I have you regard these doubts, not
as necessary and becoming signs of humility, but as
blemishes in the Christian character.  "The blood
of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin," so that not
a spot remains. The robe of His righteousness
can cover the vilest offender; and in Him we are
wholly to trust.
We can see now more than ever how much significance there was in Christ's eating and drinking
with publicans and sinners. It shocked the Pharisees; but He meant to show to all ages that sinners
were welcome to approach Him. For the same
reason, He suffered a polluted woman to touch His
pure body. The natural Pharisaism of the human
heart still objects to such approaches; it talks of
being fit to go to Jesus, not knowing that
4"All the fitness He requires,
Is to feel our need of Him,"
and to have love for Him in our hearts.
Here let me say that real love may exist, even
while there is remaining sin. Some suppose that
while we offend we never can be sure that we love.




.52      CHRISTIAN  ASSURANCE.
But may not a man be truly, even devotedly, attached
to his wife, who, nevertheless, at times selfishly disregards her wishes, speaks angry words that have
a cut and sting in them, and bring tears to the eye?
Yet down beneath all these occasional excitements
are depths of pure, unalterable affection. So may
one truly love Christ, though because of the waywardness of a nature only partially sanctified, and
the pressure of temptation, he may be at times
unfaithful to that love.  Peter was a true disciple,
yet he denied his Lord.
Therefore, in judging of his state, one is not to
look only at his offences as evidences against himself, but is permitted to ask, Have I not reason to
think, notwithstanding all my inconsistencies, that I
do love Christ, and am loved by Him? Finding
such evidence, he is to cleave to his Saviour, venture
on His grace, go forth boldly in His service, and,
looking away from himself, to exclaim in the confidence of faith, "I know whom I have believed."
Do we not need more of this spirit?  Ye who
are halting and undecided, ye who are tossed between hope and fear are wronging your own souls.
You are depriving yourselves of attainable joy and
strength; you are famishing in the very presence of
the full table of God.
We desire no self-complacency, nor to have any
feel that they have attained; but would it not be




CHRISTIAN  ASSURANCE.              53
like a sun rising on our darkness, if more could
stand up and say, We have gained such views of
the sufficiency of Christ that all our fears are gone.
Never did we more plainly see our sinfulness nor
loathe it more; but through the Gospel we have
lost our dread of its condemning power; unworthy
as we are, we look confidently for salvation through
Him who loved us and gave Himself for us; we
shrink not from the conflicts of life nor the darkness of the valley of death, for neither life nor
death shall separate us from His love.
Then with what cheerfulness and ardor should
we speak of Christ, and labor for Christ, till the
unbelieving felt it, and believed also. Our firmness
of faith would give us access to all hearts. This
activity then, would, by its reflex influence, keep our
fears still further away. When Dr. Marshman, the
missionary, was a young man, his mind was often
darkened. After thirty years of labor in India he
returned to England, and William Jay said to him,
" Well, Doctor, how about those doubts and fears?"
"Haven't had time for them," was the reply. If
Christians here would be more active for their
Master, under the impulse of a heartier faith, would
not they also find less time for the gloomy thoughts
which now oppress them?
Shall we not seek a more confident and comforting trust? Believing that " God is love," clasping




54    CHRISTIAN ASSURANCE.
to our hearts the Gospel, with its " exceeding great
and precious promises," looking unto Jesus, "the
author and finisher of our faith," let us press
forward, saying ever:
"I stand on Zion's mount,
And view my starry crown;
No power on earth my hope can shake,
Nor hell can thrust me down.
The vaulted heavens shall fall,
Built by Jehovah's hands;
But firmer than the heavens, the Rock
Of my salvation stands."




CAST THY BREAD UPON THE WATERS; FOR THOU SHALT FIND
IT AFTER MANY DAYS. Ecclesiastes, xi.: 1.
HEN  the river has overflowed its banks and
deposited upon the broad fields on either
v   side its fertilizing slime, the Oriental ricesower scatters his seed. It will grow better, we
are told, if deposited before the inundation has
subsided, that is, literally "cast upon the waters ";
then, ere long, he may hope to see it springing up
luxuriantly, and in due season to receive a plentiful
return.
The text does not contain a maxim for husbandmen, but applies their experience to our spiritual
concerns. In these we are to act in faith; to labor
when there seems as little promise of any return
as when the water receives and hides the scattered




56      PERSISTENCY  OF  PIETY.
seed, and we shall find our recompense in the end.
It may not be at once; probably it will not be;
yet the blessing shall come "after many days."
We must expect often to wait, must be willing to
wait, and we shall receive it at last.
Thus viewed, this Scripture is a warning against
impatience —against the thought we are so prone
to indulge, that we are accomplishing nothing unless
we can see the immediate results.
That we may take this warning, let us consider,
First, how slowly God often moves in the accomplishment of His designs. He is never in haste.
Why should He be?  What is time to Him?  "A
thousand years in Thy sight are but as yesterday
when it is past, and as a watch in the night."
There are two causes of impatience with us,
which do not affect God. One is our inability to
see what is future. We are like those looking at a
curtain dropped — our vision limited. The result
must appear, become actual, or we cannot be sure
of it. But God "seeth the end from the beginning," and rejoices in results ages before they are
discerned by human eyes.
Again, we have the conviction that what we do,
must be done at once, or not at all. Life is short,
and quickly fleeting. But who shall measure - who
shall limit the lifetime of God?




PERSISTENCY OF PIETY.             57
Therefore He lays out plans on a vast scale,
extending over continents, requiring the cooperation
of successive generations. He gives a promise, and
waits till "the fulness of time" comes for its accomplishment. The changes of nature, and the events
of human life occur in accordance with His designs;
but His purposes concerning them were eternal, and
He is contented with the gradual evolution of those
purposes.
Let us look at one or two familiar illustrations
of this. Man began to exist about six thousand
years ago; the earth was furnished for his use; he
was intended to be, as he is, the head of this terrestrial creation. Now a human artificer, if we may
suppose him to have laid the foundations of the
earth, would have been eager to have completed
the creation without delay. The world would have
appeared to him intolerably desolate and solitary
until there existed here those capable of the intelligent enjoyment and use of the things which were
made.
Was it so with God?  We have abundant evidence that it was not. Thousands of years passed
- no one can say how many thousands - and the
earth was preparing, by convulsions, by the growth
and destruction of gigantic plants, and their consolidation into enormous beds of coal, by the submerging of continents, and the upheaval of mountain
5




58      PERSISTENCY  OF PIETY.
ridges: was thus preparing, age by age, to be the
world it is to-day, a full treasure-house of metal
and mineral; its climate regulated in part by these
mountain chains, made for that service; its surface
diversified, adapted for various productions, and to
sustain races with different habits and customs.
The process might have been hastened; and
if any ask, Why did not the Almighty put forth 
the full energies of His omnipotence, and accomplish these results more quickly? the answer to
be given is the same with which we may check
ourselves in regard to the Providential mysteries
of to-day: "My thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord."
Still more strange appears the slow unfolding
of Divine truth and mercy in the redemption of
the world. It must ever remain a mystery to us
why so long a period elapsed, after tile plan was
formed and announced, before its execution; why
the patriarchs and righteous men of old saw only
in types and shadows Him, who might even then
have appeared; why so many nations lived and
died in total ignorance of His coming; why, after
His advent, the Spirit, who like a rushing wind
shook the house at Jerusalem, and the hearts of
three thousand at once, did not sweep round the
circuit of the world, converting all tribes of men
before that first age had passed; why Omnipotence




PERSISTENCY  OF  PIETY.             59
has been restrained and Grace limited, and the
cause of salvation made slow progress even to our
day.
It is not merely because men have been unfaithful, for God himself, with reverence we say it, has
not exerted all His power, nor made the fullest
possible manifestation of His saving mercy.  He
has done all that was best, certainly far more than
we deserved; still His power has been restrained.
Holding fast to His purpose that the world shall be
filled with His glory, rejoicing over the salvation of
men and desiring the death of none, He has yet
suffered His cause to advance slowly. He has
often removed those who seemed to be effecting
most good, and given strange success to the schemes
of their enemies. As of old He waited ages before
He created man, so is He waiting other ages for
the recovery of the race from ruin.
Let us observe, Secondly, that as God himself
thus waits for the slow accomplishment of His
designs, He often, by the arrangements of His Providence, compels men to be contented with a gradual
progress and success. In our ordinary enterprises
we are continually restrained, our plans and wishes
ever outrunning our capacity of execution.
What a check upon us, for example, is the necessity of resting after a few hours of bodily or mental




60      PERSISTENCY  OF PIETY.
toil. How much more could we accomplish, were
it not that one third part of our existence must
be given up to slumber.  Napoleon Bonaparte
showed us what a sleepless man can do. When
environed by dangers, he repeatedly passed successive days and nighLts dictating to several secretaries
at once. Letters, bulletins, dispatches, poured from
his cabinet, like the flakes of the snow-storm; all
Europe was filled by his terrible presence, and
trembled.
Then the execution of our plans generally depends in part upon others, and thus obstacles and
delays arise. The sickness, detention, treachery of
one keeps back many, and they lose all their labor.
We must confide often in another's judgment, and
are liable to be baffled by his mistakes. Death
suddenly takes away one on whom we were depending, and his knowledge and experience perish
with him.
Seldom, in a word, is it possible for one to march
by a straight and short path to the goal of his
desires. Is he aiming at wealth, or office, or rerenown? It is only after reverses, and hope long
deferred, and many labors and anxieties that he
can obtain what he is seeking. Others will never
know by how many secret efforts he has advanced
to the attainment of his aims; how long that success he seems to have easily won has been the




PERSISTENCY  OF PIETY.             61
object of his constant aspirations, and of endeavors
hidden from the sight of all.
Thus has it been so arranged by God, that in
this world success must cost labor, anxiety, perseverance, patience, indomitable will. He who sets
his heart on immediate enjoyment will be disappointed, like the husbandman who should expect
the harvest just after he has planted.  He must
cast forth his seed, and he shall find it "after
many days."
We would now remark, Thirdly, that this law of
delay applies to spiritual things: to our efforts to
advance, in ourselves and among others, the cause
of piety.
Take, as one illustration, the work of preaching.
This is God's ordinance. He promises to bless it.
" My word shall not return unto me void," He says.
But how seldom do we see any immediate result.
The truth falls, according to our Saviour's comparison, like seed into the ground, and, like the seed,
it may be long in springing up. One may receive
it even unconsciously. A remark may enter the
mind, and the memory store it away unperceived.
It vanishes from sight, it would seem to have been
forgotten, but in the secret chambers of the mind it
is kept till its hour comes, and then it reappears, a
thought, barbed like the arrow to convict, or soft as
the sweet music of the harp to soothe and cheer.




62      PERSISTENCY  O'F PIETY.
Years may thus pass, ere the effect is produced.
So was it with a sermon of the godly Flavel. His
text was that solemn adjuration, "If'any man love
not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema."
As, at the close of the services, he rose to pronounce
the benediction, he hesitated and exclaimed, "How
can I bless those whom God hath pronounced
accursed?" A young man, about twenty years of
age, heard and turned away unmoved. He emigrated
to America; he settled in a town in Massachusetts;
God spared him in his sin until his hundredth birthday. On that day his thoughts went back to the
scenes of his youth. He saw the faithful preacher
again, heard the words uttered eighty years before,
and was overwhelmed at the thought that during
that whole century of an impenitent life, the curse
of God had been resting upon him. The seed was
found at last, and it bore fruit to eternal life.
Therefore, the preacher is to labor in confidence,
and to hope on even when no bright tokens of
success meet the eye. He serves One who forgets
not His promise, though its fulfilment may be
delayed.
Another example of the operation of this law
may be found in the effects of parental instruction.
Essential as this is, it is often discouraging. "Line
must be upon line, and precept upon precept." It
is a work of endless repetitions; it is never done.
When some impression seems to have been made,




PERSISTENCY  OF PIETY.             63
some habit to have been broken, some imperious
temper to have been subdued, just when we are
congratulating ourselves upon success, the old evil
starts up, vigorous as ever. I have heard of breaking the will " once for all." It is a beautiful theory;
but I have known of wills broken fifty times at
least, and having life in them still. And so many
a discouraged parent says that his labor has been
in vain.
But it is not so. Despite these failures, he is
wielding a mighty power. He is gradually attaining his end. One partial and temporary triumph
over evil is preparing the way for a more decisive
victory. His words are not all forgotten; they are
being laid by for the future. The tremulous accents
of a voice quivering with emotion in prayer, entreaty, admonition, the soft pressure of a loving
hand, may make impressions which will be remembered when that voice is silent and that hand is
cold.  The impalpable, indescribable power of
parental love and life may be moulding the character with resistless force, though the progress can
no more be measured than the daily growth of a
tree, advancing by imperceptible changes to its
beautiful blossoming and prolific fruitage.
The same principle regulates the influence of
seasons and occasions of prayer.  This also is an
appointment of God. When we call, He promises




64      PERSISTENCY  OF PIETY.
to hear.  But He has never pledged immediate
answers.  Some petitions, like those for deliverance from imminent peril, must be answered at
once, if at all; and then, while men are speaking
God doth hear. But most supplications admit of
delay; they are heard, are remembered; they are
"as a memorial before God"; it is determined that
the favor sought shall be granted, but in the time
and the way God sees best; and while the impatient and distrustful suppliants are complaining that
their breath is spent in vain, He is preparing to do
exceeding abundantly for them, beyond their utmost
thoughts.
There are instances on record in which Christians have made one request the burden of their
daily prayer for successive years, and though their
faith was tried, the reward of their unfainting perseverance came at last.
So as to the benefit resulting from seasons of
social prayer.  There is a disposition with some
always to judge of this by the emotions excited at
the time; especially, to make the degree of enjoyment felt the exponent of the good resulting. But
some other emotion may at certain times be more
fitting than exultation, and the graciousness of God
appear in humbling those who need to be brought
low; in making those dissatisfied who are to be
roused to fresh consecration and activity.




PERSISTENCY  OF  PIETY.               65
John Newton was narrating the experience of
many besides himself when he wrote:
~' I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith, and love, and every grace;
Might more of His salvation know,
And seek more earnestly His face.,'T was He who taught me thus to pray,
And He, I trust, has answered prayer;
But it has been in such a way,
As almost drove me to despair."
Now, as the individual is to pray on, though immediate encouragements are withheld, is not the
Church also to be persistent and importunate, waiting, yet looking ever to the Lord? As the clouds
sometimes hold the water for a long time, while
the parched earth lies thirsty beneath them, so do
clouds of blessing gather, and months pass by
before they break in gladdening streams. We are
to trust God; and to think that no benefit follows
our prayers and meetings which is not striking
and apparent, argues more zeal than knowledge,
more fervor than faith.
One more illustration in this connection must be
presented. It is afforded by the judgments passed
concerning what are called "the means of conversion."
When one has been brought to a knowledge of the
truth, reference is too often made to the immediate
agency in the awakening, while other accompanying




66      PERSISTENCY  OF PIETY.
influences are left out of sight. For example, it is
said that such a sermon, or reproof, or a particular
affliction, or such a book, was the instrument of the
conversion of the soul. Yet this is but part of
the truth. That instrument accomplished its work
only because other agencies had been operating
before.
Behold a flinty rock. A hundred workmen are
ranged in order, to break it.  The first heaves high
his ponderous hammer and strikes; it rings upon
the stone and sparks of fire fly out, but the stone
seems unaffected.  The second, the third, do the
same with the same result. After a while a crack
appears; probably it was not discovered at its
first existence.  The fissure widens under successive blows, till at last the hundredth man, weaker
than the rest, lifts his hammer, and the rock parts.
Did he do the work? The broken mass fell beneath his arm, but is it the truth to say that he
broke it?
Now, what is spoken of as the means of conversion, is often only this hundredth blow.  No one
but God can tell how many and what agencies are
efficient, by His blessing and cooperation, in saving
men. The prayers and instructions of parents; the
words of Scripture, of tracts, of memoirs, perhaps
of newspapers; words dropped accidentally, as we
say, in conversation; the voice of public worship




PERSISTENCY  OF  PIETY.             67
and preaching; joys, bereavements, losses; some
scene of piety in humble life; the sad end of some
bold transgressor; all, all the events, and voices,
and ministries of life God patiently uses; and the
momentous change, which in its real occurrence is
instantaneous, may have been prepared for through
long successive years. Many have contributed to it
who "cast their seed upon the waters"' and "'find it
after many days."
Thus, in all these instances, God has so arranged
events that results shall not follow efforts in quick
and rapid succession, but after a season of delay.
So He would train men to be patient like Himself,
waiting in confidence for the gradual accomplishment of their plans.
We are led, then, as the proper conclusion of
our theme, to this lesson: that in doing good, in
serving God, in striving to advance His cause, we are
to be calm, resolute, persevering, walking not by sight
but faith.  We are to be men who, through good
report and evil report, amid circumstances discouraging as well as animating, will hold on our
steady way:
"Like the star, unhasting;
Like the star, unresting."
Do not let me seem to be discouraging zeal: I
am pleading for zeal of the highest and most effec



68      PERSISTENCY  OF PIETY.
tive character; not fed by impulsive emotion, but
drawing life from the most fixed determination.
The character of the present Emperor of the
French is well known. He is not excitable, his
countenance never glows with emotion, he never
acts precipitately; but beneath that smooth, cold
surface are depths of resistless purpose. For many
years, when an exile and a prisoner, he kept his
eyes on the throne of France, predicting, when all
laughed at him, his present elevation. And now
he holds the sceptre with the tightest grasp, and
executes his inflexible will. Remonstrances, threatenings are lost upon him. Always he appears to
the public the same impassive, iron man; and opposition is awed by that calmness more than by the
most fierce and noisy resistance.
I speak of this to show that quietness may consist
with strength; that a Christian may be thoroughly
earnest, yet calm. I would not recommend such an
unmoved exterior- it is unnatural; but would that
we might have the same tenacity of purpose and
superiority to discouragements. We are to pray,
and preach, and struggle against sin; we are to
hold up the standard of the Church at home, and
go forth to meet her foes, with an unwavering purpose and hope. Never are we to check our desires
for any good, but to have desires so strong that we
shall be willing to labor, and labor on, though we
see no immediate results.




PERSISTENCY  OF PIETY.             69
Because we have warned a child faithfully, or
spoken once to an impenitent friend or Sabbath
School scholar, apparently in vain, we are not to
abandon the effort.  Because the Church is not
revived as we desire, we are not to say that God
has forsaken us. Because we cannot see what we
are accomplishing by efforts which we believe to be
in accordance with God's will, we are not to give
them up. "Behold, the husbandman waiteth for
the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long
patience for it, until he receive the early and the
latter rain. Be ye also patient, and stablish your
hearts."
It seems to be a law, that what is to endure long
shall be long in reaching perfection. A few hours
from the birth of an insect it rejoices in the full
maturity of its powers; but in a day or two it
perishes.  Man's lifetime is seventy years, and
through twenty of them he is immature. He can
bide his time, for, comparatively, he has long to
live. And shall not we be willing to toil on for
many years, helping forward a work so great and
lasting as this of the salvation of the immortal soul,
and the establishment of Christ's unchanging kingdom? We may die; but that soul, for which we
have yearned, will still live. We may die; but the
influence of the Church, for which we have prayed,
and which, by our connection with it, has been




70      PERSISTENCY  OF PIETY.
strengthened, will bless succeeding times. What
repetition of endeavor, what prolonged perseverance should we grudge, when such high ends are to
be attained?
If the law of the universe were, that cause and
effect should always be linked in direct sequence,
we might at times despond; but since God delays
His grandest works, since He retards man in almost
all his movements, even as He places an interval
between the sowing and the ripening of the seed,
what so befits us as a resolute, believing steadiness
in every religious work?
We know, by the word of God, that if we
abound in such labors they shall not be in vain.
The promise is to gladden us when we see no
visible encouragement.  Said one to Dr. Judson,
"How bright appear to you the prospects of the
world's conversion?"  "Just as bright as the
promises of God," was the noble reply.
Therefore, "cast your seed upon the waters."
Scatter it broadcast in the family, in the Church,
in all places of your social intercourse and of your
business activity, by word, by gift, by deed. Despond not though it disappear from sight; for the
word is as sure as though it blazed on the firmament in letters of stars: "Thou shall find it after
many days."




DAVID, THE SON OF JESSE, SAID, AND THE MAN WHO WAS
RAISED UP ON HIGH, THE ANOINTED OF THE GOD OF JACOB,
AND THE SWEET PSALMIST OF ISRAEL, SAID: THE SPIRIT OF
THE LORD SPAKE BY ME, AND HIS WORD WAS IN MY TONGUE.
II. Samuel, xxiii.: 1-2.
AMONG the canonical Scriptures which have
come to us with undisputed authority, honored by the Jews, always reverently spoken
of by the Messiah, and held in equal esteem by all
bodies of Christians, is the Book of Psalms.  This
book is unlike all others in the Bible in its style,
structure, and uses. It is a book of poetry, written
by various authors, at different times, conveying
practical instruction and doctrine in the form of
sacred lyrics, for the most part adapted to the
purposes of public worship.
Of these songs of praise, the son of Jesse, who
is so truly spoken of as " as a man raised on high,"




72       THE  BOOK  OF PSALMS.
"the sweet Psalmist of Israel," was the principal
author.  Seventy-three, mostly in the first part
of the book, are expressly ascribed to him, and
he doubtless composed several of those which are
anonymous; others have a later, and a few an
earlier origin. The ninetieth Psalm is designated,
in accordance with a most ancient tradition, "the
prayer of Moses "; others were written by Asaph,
by the sons of Korah, and one, or, as some think,
two, by Solomon.  These all breathe a comnion
sentiment; and we do not doubt that all the composers could say as David did, "the Spirit of the
Lord spake by me, and His Word was in my
tongue." The collection was probably arranged in
its present form by Ezra, about four hundred and
fifty years before Christ.
But the point of special interest to us in regard
to this book is, What are its present uses? Why
was such a collection of sacred poems included in
the Scriptures?
In the First place, we ought not to forget the
literary beauty of these Hebrew songs.  The Scriptures do far more, indeed, than minister to a cultivated taste, yet we are not to despise the Divine
wisdom, which has seen fit to communicate truth
in a form to commend it to the scholar as well as
the peasant. He who adapted the world to the




THE  BOOK  OF PSALMS.               B3
eye which seeks for the beautiful and sublime, with
the same kindness made the Bible attractive to the
sensitive and cultured mind, "a volume of heavenly doctrine, but withal of earthly adaptation."
Nor can we fail to regard it as in some measure a
triumph for the truth, that many who have shown
themselves averse to the morals of the book, have
been constrained to do homage to its grandeur, and
though they have disregarded its teachings, have
yet confessed, to their own condemnation, that it
was Divine.
The Psalms, we have said, are in the garb of
poetry.  They do not indeed flow in measured
numbers, nor in rhyme. Such is not the structure
of Hebrew verse. It is mainly distinguished by
a kind of correspondence, or parallelism, between
the clauses of each stanza: a double repetition of
the same idea.
The style of composition, also, which we can
judge of better than the form of the verse, is highly
poetic. It is elevated, stately, living, and dramatic:
full of pathos and sublimity.  To a remarkable
degree it is metaphorical.  The good man, for
example, as we read of him in the first Psalm, is
not described by his qualities; he is "like a tree
planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth
his fruit in his season." So the doctrine that God
will guard and supply us is not stated abstractly;
6




74       THE  B OOK  OF PSALMS.
but he moves before us a "Shepherd," who leadeth
His flock "in green pastures, and beside the still
waters." Again, in the eighteenth Psalm, it is not
formally declared that God's people were in distress, but He is entreated to look down upon "the
vine," which He brought from Egypt, and planted,
and caused to fill the land, till the hills were covered with its shadow, and its boughs were like
goodly cedars; but which had been broken down,
so that they which passed by plucked it, and the
wild beast devoured it.
The objects of nature, also, are depicted in the
most vivid manner.  The twenty-ninth Psalm  is
the description of a thunder storm, coming up over
the Mediterranean.  "The voice of the Lord is
upon the waters, powerful and full of majesty."
The storm rolls on over Lebanon; "the voice of
the Lord breaketh the cedars." It still advances;
" the Lord shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh."
Equally graphic is the one hundred and fourth
Psalm, which Humboldt speaks of as presenting a
picture of the entire Cosmos; adding, "We are
astonished to see within the compass of a poem
so brief, the universe, the heavens, and the earth,
drawn with a few grand strokes."
The poet Milman says: "In comparison with
the hymns of David, the sacred poetry of all other
nations sinks into insignificance." Campbell, also,




THE BOOK  OF PSALMS.               75
pays a similar tribute to the beauty of these songs;
adding, " The most inspired aspect of David's mind
presents itself when he looks abroad on the universe with the eye of a poet, and the heart of a
glad and grateful worshipper. When he looks up
to the starry firmament, his soul assimilates to its
splendor and serenity."  Then, speaking of the
same psalm which Humboldt so greatly admired,
he declares: "'The impression of that exquisite
ode dilates the heart with a pleasure too instinctive
and simple to be described."
It is true that all this is not necessarily homage
to David's Lord; there is no essential piety in such
emotions of pleasure. Yet, we may be thankful
that God has invested His Word with such charms;
and now, when the crowd of conceited scoffers is
increasing, and when the Old Testament is sneered
at as obsolete, we are glad to meet these free
thinkers with the challenge to show us in the
writings they most delight in, anything loftier or
more beautiful than God has given us in the Bible;
to meet the student, venerating the ancient strains
of the "Father of Poetry," and say, a greater than
Homer is here; lo, here is a sacred ode which was
sung six hundred years before he was born.
We would ask the unbeliever, also, to explain
how it has happened that, among a race in many
respects unpolished and unlearned, there arose




(6J      THE  BOOK  OF PSALMS.
bards surpassing, in the elevation and breadth of
their vision, and in the clear, pure dignity of their
hymns of praise, all that ever came from nations
renowned for wonders of art, and the highest
achievements of philosophy and eloquence. How
can this be accounted for, save by recognizing an
inspiration from above?
Let me remind you, Secondly, that the Psalms
are to be prized  for their doctrinal teachings.
Where else do we find such views of the perfection of God?  Very many of these songs are
devoted to the rehearsing of His attributes. What
reverence, and humble adoration, and grateful
praise breathe through them all. How generally
they end with God, with whatever they begin.
How are not only men, but everything which
hath breath, and even inanimate things, "snow
and vapors, mountains and all hills, fruitful trees
and all cedars," called on to praise Jehovah?
Take, as a single illustration, the description
of Divine Omniscience and Omnipresence in the
one hundred and thirty-ninth Psalm: "O Lord,
Thou hast searched me and known me. Whither
shall I go from Thy Spirit, or whither shall I flee
from Thy presence?"  Then the poor wanderer,
hiding from God, is tracked to every quarter of
the universe, to heaven, to hell, to the uttermost




THE  BOOK  OF  PSALMS.             77
parts of the sea, and everywhere God is found,
seeing and holding him. Even the darkness doth
not cover him, but " the night shineth as the day."
Can you conceive of a representation of these
attributes more impressive or complete?
With equal fidelity do the Psalms portray the
character of man; the uncertainty and vanity of
his life; above all, his moral frailty and guilt.
Not a few of them are penitential; and where, in
all the unveilings of the heart's inmost depths, do
you find such acknowledgments of the hatefulness
of sin, or self-condemnation more full and unsparing?  The fifty- first Psalm  has never had its
parallel among all the ejaculations of the heartbroken. There sin shows out the very secret of
its vileness, as committed against God: "Against
Thee, Thee only, have I sinned." There depravity
is traced to its source in hereditary corruption:
"behold, I was shapen in iniquity."  And there,
too, even there, shines amid the darkness the hope
of mercy: "a broken and a contrite heart, 0 Lord,
Thou wilt not despise."
Other Psalms, like the fifty-eighth, set forth the
guilt of transgressors without equivocation or disguise; and show impending over them the avenging
arm of a justly indignant God. Those which are
styled "imprecatory," are sublimely instructive on
this same point of the inherent evil of sin.  They




78       THE  BOOK  OF  PSALMS.
are not effusions of personal vindictiveness, but the
protests of a soul stirred to its depths against
stout-hearted  and defiant offenders.  They are
cries for just vengeance, such as Milton expressed
in his sonnet,
"Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered saints, whose bones
Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold;-"
and such as go up now from pure hearts in view of
audacious iniquity; God's voice of equity in the
breast, which cannot keep silence, which need not
always be suppressed.
Here, also, we have glimpses of that truth which
was to be the centre and the sum of the new revelation,  Christ, the incarnate, the suffering, the
conqueror.  Who can forget that He said: "All
things must be fulfilled, which are written in the
Psalms concerning me"?   Forty- eight passages
from this book are quoted in the New Testament.
David, like Abraham, rejoiced to see Christ's day
by faith. He testified through the Spirit, in the
second Psalm, of His Divine Sonship.  In the
twenty-second, he anticipated  His cries amid
sorrows and reproaches: "I am poured out like
water; all my bones are out of joint; the assembly
of the wicked have enclosed me; they pierced my
hands and my feet." " My God, my God, why hast
thou forsaken me? "




THE  3OOK  OF PSALMS.              79
At other times brighter visions rise, and the
harp of the psalmist is swept to joyful strains:
"My heart is inditing a good matter: Thou art
fairer than the children of men; Thy throne, O
God, is for ever and ever."  Then, again, the
future triumph of the Church is disclosed: " God
is the king of all the earth; God reigneth over
the heathen." The sublime, and as yet unfulfilled,
conception is given of One who shall rule with
perfect justice, the sceptre of whose kingdom is
"a right sceptre"; whose dominion shall extend
"to the ends of the earth"; who "shall spare the
poor and the needy"; whose glory shall fill the
earth, and whose name, with consenting voice, all
nations shall bless.
"0 scenes surpassing fable, and yet true! "
How has this mourning earth been waiting amid
the struggles of selfishness and pride, and the
ceaseless inhumanity of man to man, for this glorious empire of Right —of universal Fraternity and
universal Peace.
We think of these varied truths, which are
brought before us in this book, and of the climax
of all in the revelation of the person and triumphs
of Christ, and heartily say with Bishop Horne,
"This little volume, like the paradise of Eden,
affords us in perfection every thing that groweth




80       THE  BOOK  OF  PSALMS.
elsewhere, every tree pleasant to the sight and
good for food; and above all, what was there lost
but is here restored, the tree of life in the midst of
the garden."
But the chief and peculiar use of the Psalms
has not yet been considered. Let us notice, in the
Third place, their devotional character.  It is an instinct of the pious soul to worship; a necessity for
the heart overcharged with emotion to pour out its
full tribute of praise. Here is a model for us in
all such exercises; a heaven-built pathway, on
which our thoughts and desires may travel upward.
When we would know how to approach our God,
what pleas to urge, what boons to crave; when our
invention fails to give us fitting language to set
forth His glory or express our need, we have here
an inspired liturgy, rich in its variety of topic,
expressing every mood of the changing feelings,
and bearing us, as- on eagle's wings, up to the
throne of God.
Wonderfully was David prepared by a most
diversified experience to enter into and express the
emotions of men of every condition. The sheep
pastures, the camp, the palace, the temple, all contributed to his training. He walked on the high
places of prosperity, yet knew the keenest of human
woes. He was the friend of God, yet was suffered




THE  BOOK  OF PSALMS.             81
to fall into most debasing sin, and compelled to
struggle back through the rough paths of bereavement and penitence. His words, therefore, wake
an echo in the hearts of all; his songs enter into
the religious life of the whole world.
I wish to show by some quotations how Christians have prized them; yet out of the crowd of
waiting witnesses, I know not which to select.
Shall we hear Augustine, speaking from the fourth
century? " O, what accents did I utter unto Thee
in those Psalms, and how was I by them kindled
towards Thee and on fire to rehearse them through
the whole world, as a protest against the pride of
mankind.  How I would they had been near me
when I read the fourth Psalm, in that time of my
rest:'Hear me when I call, 0 God of my righteousness.' I trembled for fear, and again kindled
with hope, and with rejoicing in Thy mercy."
Luther also drew from this book no small portion of his courage.  He hung favorite extracts
from it around the walls of his chamber. And he
asks, in the confidence of one speaking from experience, and with that poetic sensitiveness which
adorned his rugged nature, like flowers growing
from the cleft rock, "Where do we find a sweeter
voice of joy than in these songs of praise? There
you look into the heart of the godly, as into a
garden, as into Paradise itself. What sweet blos



82       THE BOOK  OF PSALMS.
soms are there unfolding of all glad thoughts
towards God and His goodness.   The Psalter
forms a little book for all saints, in which each
shall find sentiments applicable to his own case, so
expressed as he could not express them himself,
nor find, nor even wish them better than they are."
Jeremy Taylor, speaking of his trials during a
time of civil war, and of the relief derived from
these writings, says: "I found so many admirable
promises, so rare variety of the expressions of
the mercies of God, the commemoration of so many
deliverances, that I began to be so confident as to
believe that there could come no affliction great
enough to spend so great a stock of comfort as
was laid up in this treasury."
So Dr. Richard Hooker asks: "What is there
necessary for man to know which the Psalms are
not able to teach?  Heroic magnanimity, exact
wisdom, repentance unfeigned, unwearied patience,
the mysteries of God, the comforts of grace, the
works of Providence over this world, and the
promised joys of the world to come, this one
celestial fountain yieldeth. The choice and flower
of all things profitable in other books, the Psalms
do both more briefly contain and more movingly
express."
These are voices of the past; and the present
repeats them. Never were these inspired lyrics




THE  BOOK  OF PSALMS.              83
more dear to the children of God than they are
to-day. They enter into the willing ears of childhood; they give tone and fervor to domestic and
social worship; they soften the heart to penitence;
they enlarge our minds with sublimer conceptions
of God; they bear up the depressed spirit to a
region of light and hope; all over the world congregations of worshippers repeat them, and they
fall like accents of home on the stranger in a
foreign land; and when the end of life draws
near, read in the palace and the cottage, they
give the same blessed peace. The dying statesman and the dying pauper repeat, "Though I
walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil."
They were first heard in the caves of Engedi
and on the hill-sides of Judea; the courts of the
temple, crowded with worshippers, next echoed
their jubilant strain; then they sounded westward,
and, as the nations received the truth, they learned
these songs. They came over to these shores in
the Mayflower, and to-day the Pacific coast is
ringing with their melody. We have sent them
to Asia, to Africa, to the islands of the sea, and
"they are yet to awaken the dumb millions of
China and Japan." " The sweet singer of Israel
has penetrated further than Alexander," and gained
victories more lasting.




84       THE  BOOK  OF PSALMS.
Besides, there are private associations connected with these Psalms which you can each
recall. In your old family Bibles, many of which
are legacies from the sainted dead, what pages
are more thumbed and worn than those of this
book? How affecting the story those pages could
tell. One psalm was read in a season of grief, or
of conflict, or of despondency - mayhap, upon the
bended knee; another, by the sick-bed; another,
at a funeral. There are the traces of tears upon
another, which the bereaved shed when he was
looking for consolation — nor looking in vain.
Myriads, innumerable as the redeemed, have thus
been quickened and comforted; and God's smile
has rested on them  as their affections have been
brought into unison with the deep, devotional
fervor of these holy songs.
If you will permit me to refer to my own experience, there is one Psalm, the sixty-third, thus
made peculiarly dear. My beloved father, in the
last interview I had with him, told me that when,
a half century before, this Psalm was read by his
father at family prayers, his own heart responded,
and he felt the first conscious emotions of love to
God. Then with a voice faltering through weakness, he repeated, "0 God, Thou art my God;
early will I seek thee. My soul thirsteth for Thee,
my flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land




THE  BOOK  OF PSALMS.              85
where no water is. Because Thy loving kindness
is better than life, my lips shall praise Thee. Because Thou hast been my help, therefore in the
shadow  of Thy wings will I rejoice."  "These
words," he added, " have been very precious to me.
Through them I have so often had sweet communion with God, that I feel I can trust Him
now."  It was his dying testimony, and you will
not wonder that I often read with a throbbing
heart this, which I venture to think of as "my
father's Psalm."
Suffer me, then, earnestly to commend to your
more constant reading and more diligent study,
this portion of the inspired Word.  A few verses
may be obscure without explanation; but by far
the greater portion needs only the commentary of
a pious heart, and a mind enlightened by the Spirit.
Read, to admire, if you will, the beauty of expression, the affluence of imagery, the vivacity of style;
but read, more carefully to learn of the glory of
God, and of His constant providence; of the universal kingdom of the Messiah, and of the wide
contrast between the character and the destiny of
the righteous and the wicked.
Above all, read to imbue your soul in the spirit
of the holy writers. God helping you, make their
words your own. Let their emotions be kindled




86        THE  BOOK  OF  PSALMS.
in your breast. On the wings of their faith, with
the fervor of their desire, with the animation of
their gratitude, with the clearness of their vision,
mount up to heaven. The effort will afford a trial
of your spiritual state.  "How  do you like the
one hundred and nineteenth Psalm? " was the
test-question which a devout Christian used to
put to those seeking admission to the Church.
All is not right within, if there is no response
felt to the tones of this sacred minstrelsy. The
heart unmoved by it, would be cold and silent
amid the songs of heaven.
It was a custom, we are told, of the early Christians, to learn this book by heart, that psalmody
might soften the fatigues and soothe the sorrows
of life. Nor is it adapted only for our hours of
reflection and grief. St. James gives good advice
when he says, "Is any merry?   Let him  sing
psalms."   They may sober, but will not sadden
us; they can exhilerate with a higher delight than
was ever felt when the brilliant drawing-room
has echoed to the trills of an Italian song.
And he who truly loves these Psalms shall
draw near to his end as the book itself closes, with
glad rejoicings. The last five, it has been noticed,
are "like the land Beulah," where the sun shineth
night and day. The Psalmists, having left all their
conflicts and troubles behind, seem to stand on a




THE  BOOK  OF PSALMS.            87
clear eminence, breaking forth into peans of uninterrupted joy, and calling on all above, below,
around, to join in their songs. Thus do they typify
the destiny of those who have followed them with
devout sympathy, and who shall themselves stand
forth at last, the hymns of sadness and penitence
to be repeated no more, shouting the notes of everlasting praise.




AND THE LORD SPAKE UNTO MOSES, SAYING, SEE, I HAVE
CALLED BY NAME BEZALEEL, THE SON OF UTRI, THE SON OF
HUR, OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH; AND I HAVE FILLED HIM WITH
THE SPIRIT OF GOD, IN WISDOM, AND IN UNDERSTANDING, AND
IN KNOWLEDGE, AND IN ALL MANNER OF WORKMANSHIP, TO
DEVISE CUNNING WORKS, TO WORK IN GOLD, AND IN SILVER,
AND IN BRASS. Exodus, xxxi.: 1-4.
~HE  peculiarity of this passage and the point
e  where we are to find lessons of instruction
is the fact the Spirit of God is recognized
as preparing Bezaleel to be a skilful worker in
gold, silver and brass.
This phrase, "Spirit of God," is indeed used
with wider latitude in the Old Testament than in
the New; still it always implies a direct Divine
influence -that God fills the man with His own
energy and life; that He comes down, as it were,
from  the height of His glory, breathes upon His




OUR  SECULAR  DUTIES.               89
creature, prepares him for a work beyond his
unaided wisdom and strength.
We are fond of making a division of our actions
into two classes, calling the one religious, the other
secular. To the first belong, for example, prayer,
worship, beneficence, words of Christian exhortation, and the various duties of the Sabbath; to
the other, our labors on other days, our words in
social intercourse, and our recreations. Now I do
not affirm that there is no ground for this distinction, and that it never ought to be made; but
I say it is made too broadly and too often, and
that the great truth is kept far too much out of
sight, that a cold heart may make these so-called
religious acts worse than secular, while a sanctified spirit may render our most common labors
religious.
The evil of insisting too rigidly on this distinction, is that it favors the idea that piety is to
concern itself with and be manifested in a certain
class of duties, instead of shedding its savor over
the whole life.  What we want is a full-orbed,
symmetrical development; and any idea which
limits our holy endeavors, or makes us unmindful
of God in any act, is defective and injurious.
Will you, then, consider the connection of what
are called our secular acts with piety, or, if I may so
express it, the religiousness of these acts?
7




90            RELIGION  AND
First, these actions are all performed under the eye
of God. "Thou God seest me."  "Whither shall
I go from thy Spirit, or whither shall I flee from
thy presence? Thou compassest my path and my
lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways."
God is thus omnipresent, not as an unconcerned
spectator; He cares for, He weighs every act of
each one of His creatures. We speak of Him as
dwelling in Zion, as listening to the praises of His
saints, as drawing near to us on these Sabbath
days; but there is no morning when He does not
come to us with the reviving dawn, no word of any
wicked man which He does not hear, and no house,
be it sanctuary or hovel, which He does not fill.
Yet is He not peculiarly present in a place, and
at an hour, like this? He is in a special manner
and for special purposes, just as we are present for
special services; but God is no more fully here,
than in any other spot on this wide world.
This is not a truth to be demonstrated, so much
as felt.  It needs no demonstration to him who
admits the infinitude of God. We need only to
make it a reality, that He beholds us day by day,
hour by hour.
Some of you have stood on the high mountaintop at the early dawn. When the first rays struck
into the window of the cottager, far down in the
valley, rousing him from his slumbers, your eye




OUR  SECULAR  DUTIES.            91
followed them. You noticed the first curl of the
smoke from the chimney. When he went forth to
the barn you watched him; heard the distant lowing of the cattle, and the bark of the house-dogs
as they welcomed their master.  With friendly
interest you saw him commence his labor in the
field. He did not notice you; he did not think
of looking up at the beetling crags high above his
head; yet there were many there, intent on all his
movements.
So, from a far higher elevation, commanding a
far wider prospect, with an eye which searcheth all
things, not in the faint haze of the morning, but as
in noon-day brightness, doth God look down on all
His creatures and note all their actions.  They
may not think of Him, but He seeth them, alike in
the gray dawn and shining midday, and resplendent
evening and black midnight; when they go out,
when they come in; in all their studies, their labors,
their bargains, their sorrows, and their joys; when
a new life begins, when weary age lays down its
burden, when manly strength summons itself for
any struggle. Aye, 0 man, whoever thou art, the
All-seeing Eye is upon thee always; God "understandeth thy thought afar off."
In this respect there is no distinction between
different classes of our actions, or our words, or
our thoughts; all alike are the objects of Divine
regard.




92            RELIGION  AND
Again: our secular acts, like those which we call
religious, are performed by the help of God. "Without Me, ye can do nothing."  "In Him we live,
and move, and have our being." These assertions
of Scripture know no exceptions.  You can no
more lift your hand without God, and put forth
your strength in your daily efforts to earn your
bread, than without His aid you can lift your
heart to Him acceptably in prayer. The influence
is not of the same kind in both cases; but in
both is it equally Divine, and to be recognized as
from God. Here the text comes in with the assertion, that it was through the~" Spirit of God"
that Bezaleel became skilful to work in gold,
silver, and brass.
Is not this often forgotten?  Are there not
many, even of those who call themselves Christians, who do not pray with any fervency —who
would feel under constraint in praying, that God
would be with them in the place of labor or
traffic, to put vigor in their right arms, or give
them clearness of financial discernment? It seems
to them as if in such matters they must depend
on their own strength and their own acuteness,
such as they may have; and are not to look for
any increase in these respects directly from God.
But is this to " acknowledge God in all our
ways, that He may direct our paths"?   These
powers, which we call our own; this foresight




OUR SECULAR  DUTIES.              93
and shrewdness, and every other similar endowment, are they not from Him, as well as the
loving, believing heart?  If He created these
powers, will He not reinforce them?  Why not,
then, ask Him to do so, when we are using
them innocently? We may not pray for cunning
to overreach another, but may we not for due
sagacity?  And if Christian men honored God
more by thus seeking His help while they put
forth their own best efforts, would they not
obtain more help, and be kept from many a disaster which now comes upon them?
It is a homely but true proverb, "Prayer and
provender hinder no man's journey." We may
extend it: prayer hinders no work of man, but
helps forward all. It is not certain that the man
who prays most over his daily business will grow
rich the fastest; for it may be for his real good
that he should not. Yet he will be more likely
to succeed; he will, in any event, conduct his
affairs on right principles, and will grow in grace
amid all their turmoil; and there will be constant
peace and gladness in his heart, such as no increase of riches could give.
We may not, then, shut God out from any
sphere of human activity. To limit His agency;
to say of one class of duties, these are religious,
we may seek God's aid in them, and pray over




94             RELIGION  AND
them; and then to say of another class, or even
to think it, those are secular, in them we must
depend upon ourselves alone, —is atheistic, dishonorable to God, enfeebling and disastrous to
man.
Further: for all our secular actions we are accountable to God, and our characters are tested in
them. Stated as an abstract truth, few will deny
this; but, practically, it is kept out of sight. How
many have a conscience of times and places: at
certain seasons and particular localities, very careful; at others, very easy and free. They remind
you of a Sabbath on the continent of Europe, occupied with apparently devout Church-going in the
morning, and most undevout merrymaking in the
afternoon.  Now, life should be uniform  in its
spirit, and conscience control every act.
When judging of the character, it is true we
generally appeal to such exercises as repentance,
and faith, and prayer; to the feelings cherished in
view of sin, of God, of the Bible, of the Cross of
Christ. And we do so, because in these the state
of the heart is most plainly manifested; these are
exercises and emotions wherein the Christian differs most widely from the unbeliever. But if we
could read the most secret workings of the mind
by a glance, as God does; if we could decide accu



OUR  SECULAR  DUTIES.             95
rately on the precise motive and spirit by which
every action is prompted, then could we say, on
viewing merely the conduct of any one at his daily
tasks, or hearing his ordinary conversation, what
manner of man he is.
Let the Bible instruct us on this point. It not
only rebukes men for those vices which are the
"works of the flesh," but, pointing to the scenes
of every-day life, declares, "The plowing of the
wicked is sin"; and in a great number of cases
aims its denunciations at offences connected with
ordinary and secular transactions. "The hire of
your laborers, who have reaped down your fields,
which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth; and
the cries of them which have reaped have entered
into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth."  "Shall I
count them pure with the wicked balances, and
with the bag of deceitful weights?"  "Woe unto
you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make
long prayers." There, emphatically, is the judgment on those divorcing religion from common
life. Their scrupulousness in acts of religious
service could not avail. It was worse than useless to attempt thus to disguise their guilt. God,
who cannot be mocked, - He, whose eye had
followed them away from the temple, would drag
to light all the transactions of those unconse



96            RELIGION  AND
crated hours when they thought so little of Him,
and these would prove their ruin.
So in that last judgment, when all these special
verdicts shall be reaffirmed, and the whole life
pass in review, not alone the hours passed in the
sanctuary, not merely the reception given to direct
warnings, shall be brought to light, but "every
secret thing," "all the deeds done in the body,"
and men shall give account "for every idle word."
How plain that the scrutiny is to be thorough,
universal, unlimited by the distinctions we foolishly set up; that as no act or thought can be
hidden from the knowledge of God, so none will
be excepted from the inspection and awards of
that solemn day.
Once more: our secular actions are all to be
performed in the remembrance of, and to the glory
of God.  This is a consideration which points
us down beneath the surface of things, and indicates what is to be the spirit of our lives, always
of far greater consequence than their form.
To some the idea of doing all things thus, may
need explanation. They see how a man can pray,
or worship in the house of God, or bestow his
goods on the perishing, for God's glory, but not
how he can labor or amuse himself to the same
end.




OUR SECULAR  DUTIES.              97
Precisely how, then, is a day-laborer, whose
work is digging a ditch, to honor and serve God
in that? He will go forth to his task acquiescing
in it as God's appointment. It is not a very pleasant work; he may feel that he is capable of something higher; but if Providence has shut him up to
it, he will accept the allotment cheerfully. He will
not be ashamed of his position, because God has
placed him in it, and, as he knows, will smile on
and reward his fidelity there.
Again, he will be faithful and diligent, that he
may please God. His piety will lead him to do
his best. He may be laboring with no overseer,
and might easily loiter and lengthen out his job,
but the thought of Him who watches all our toil,
will keep him from yielding to the temptation. Do
you not see how that man, though his clothes may
be as coarse and soiled as those of any of his companions, differs from them, and how his work is
rising in dignity to a holy service?
Read his thoughts further, and see how gratitude
to his Creator for the strength given, and a peaceful sense of the Divine presence fill his breast;
and when he rests from his labor and receives his
wages, they are devoted to such purposes as God
will approve.  A dependent family may claim the
largest share, and the Divine blessing humbly
sought will descend upon the household as they
eat the daily bread, earned by that honest toil.




98            RELIGION  AND
Has not that man been living religiously that
day, even if we leave out of view all outward acts
of devotion? Has he not been doing the will of
God, in the very use of the implements of labor,
as truly as he who may the same day have been
preaching Christ, or, after the example of his
Master, pouring balm into the wounds of suffering
humanity?
As in toil, so in recreation, which seems at first
to present a more difficult case. We settle it, in
the outset, that we need to unbend and amuse
ourselves, in order to keep the powers given us
in a healthy and vigorous state. This being so,
with a clear conscience we go to the play-ground
or gyminasium, or to the scene of social festivity;
out on the ocean to be rocked by its gentle undulations, or braced by its pure breezes; forth for
a ramble or a ride, through the woods or up the
mountain,- in all these employments believing
we have God's smile, and thankfully feeling our
indebtedness to Him for all our joy.
A day given up to amusement may thus be a
means of grace, a step towards the Christian's
highest activity and usefulness. The ultimate end
sought may be far beyond a passing joy, even the
glory of God.
My meaning must be plain now, in saying that
all secular actions are to be thus performed. So
may we honor God in everything we do. Not by




OUR  SECULAR  DUTIES.             99
a constrained service, not by tithing out to Him
hours, and portions, and acts; but by such a remembrance of Him, such seeking of His help and
blessing in everything, that our whole life shall be
sanctified and consciously become His life in us.
What actions are there which, in this view,
may not be called religious?  How  plain that
the divorcement of religion from things secular
is unwarranted and pernicious. Our whole life
is to be spent as under the eye of God, as a life
of constant and entire dependence, the whole tendency and aim of which is to glorify God, and
for which, in all its movements and all its details,
we are to give account.
I believe we suffer because such views as these
are not more generally entertained. Nothing, let
me say in conclusion, would more promote our
growth in grace than the endeavor to carry religion more fully into our every-day lives.  Do
not understand me as throwing any slight on the
more special and immediate acts of devotion and
piety. God forbid. My desire is only to raise
our other actions up nearer to their level; not
to unsanctify any work of man, but to consecrate
all.
Were this attained, we should not depend so
much on the Sabbath alone to bring us near to




100            RELIGION  AND
God, -one day's good influences to undo and overcome the evil which six days of a godless and
worldly life have wrought — alas, how disproportionate the odds!-but every place would be to
us full of God, every work bind us to Him, every
path lead heavenward.
"We need not bid, for cloistered cell,
Our neighbors and our work farewell,
Nor strive to wind ourselves too high
For sinful man beneath the sky:
"The trivial round, the common task,
Would furnish all we ought to ask;
Room to deny ourselves; a road
To bring us daily nearer God."
Such views would also prevent us from making
fidelity in worship and sacramental observances,
and such specific acts of piety, an excuse for a
worldly and irreligious course in our daily walk.
Are there not many who keep their conscience quiet
by the performance of half their duty?   They
would be uneasy if they omitted their morning
prayer; but having paid their tithe, they can be
selfish and irritable and ungenerous through the
day without concern.  They feel as if their Christian profession bound them to acts of devotion, to
the so-called religious acts, with a weight of obligation greater than presses on them in reference to
the ordinary transactions of life.




OUR  SECULAR  DUTIES.           101
But who has given authority to make any such
discrimination? It is as much a sin, according to
the Scriptures, to buy and sell in forgetfulness of
God, as to restrain prayer; to have no love for our
brother, as to be without love to God. When this
principle shapes our conduct, our halting, inconsistent lives will assume symmetry and strength.
Lastly, these truths bring the duty of living to
God close home to all.  How often we hear the
wretched excuse, "no time for religion."  The neglecter of duty and the backsliding Christian urge
that they are oppressed by cares, and seem to think
the plea sufficient. It supposes that religious duties
are wholly separate from secular, and so must have
a season divided off from the hours engrossed by
necessary labors. But all time, we now see, is for
religion. It takes no more time to lift the arm
laboring in the fear of God, than to do the same
in the service of Satan; and the first movement
of a new and consecrated life may be the most
common action of toil performed in a new spirit.
Now is always the accepted time; the place where
we are, God's presence-chamber for us.
How far are the best Christians from living
up to the true ideal of piety. They are chosen
to be partakers of the life of God, to have His
Spirit breathing upon them continually, to live in




102      OUR  SECULAR  DUTIES.
fellowship with Him. Yet, see them bearing their
cares and sorrows alone; distressed because of
sins, which He has already forgiven; looking for
visits from God, when He offers to abide with
them always. We are all half-infidels before the
amazing fulness of the promises, and our souls
but half-sanctified, because we dare not seek constant union with God.  We are troubled and
anxious about the form of our lives, and the kind
of labors we shall perform: when all this is of
no account, compared with the spirit in which we
act.
Be mindful concerning this. And as you have
asked God's help on the Sabbath, so seek it through
the week; regarding religion not as a preparation
for death, but for life; not as a burdensome duty
to be postponed as long as possible, but as the
very joy and free-play of the soul-as the life of
life.
r) X   5iSl
K_ iK~~(
A~q,P,,   7   ZMi'




i8t JortRsm   angofat ta     furt    Nift.
d      e I- t t
FOR THIS CORRUPTIBLE MUST PUT ON INCORRUPTION, AND
THIS MORTAL MUST PUT ON IMMORTALITY. I. Corinthians,
xv.: 53.
NE great benefit of our Saviour's advent is
v declared to be, that He has "brought life
v and immortality to light." Men had before
believed in an existence beyond the grave, but
their ideas had been vague and unsatisfying. Not
to mention now the self-contradicting conjectures
of the heathen sages, who hoped rather than believed, the views we find expressed in the Old
Testament Scriptures are, for the most part, far
from being either clear or animating. The future
world is a place of shades, of darkness, of inactivity.  " There is no wisdom, nor device, nor
knowledge in the grave whither thou goest." "The




104        THE  PRESENT. AND
grave cannot praise Thee, death cannot celebrate
Thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope
for Thy truth." Even David wrote, "In death there
is no remembrance of Thee; in the grave who shall
give Thee thanks? " Perhaps these words are not
to be taken in their literal and full force; but they
show how dark a shadow rested on the minds of
even good men as to the future world.
There was need of a fuller revelation. The
way of salvation -did not more require to be illuminated, than did the gloom of man's last resting place. The claim of the Gospel is to have
dispelled the darkness.  Christ hath "abolished
death "; through Him the grave has been despoiled
of its victory. But have Christians come into the
light and embraced the truth? Is not the prevailing idea, even now. that we can know but very
little concerning the life beyond the grave; that
it is a state of being so very different from this,
that any attempt to picture its scenes will surely
lead us astray? Are there not many who, on
principle, forbid themselves to form any conceptions concerning it, save the general one that it
will be a state of happiness and purity? Whence
that happiness will spring, how their piety will
employ itself, are questions they dare not ask.
Perverting and curtailing a passage of Scripture,
referring to provisions of mercy, beyond man's




THE  FUTURE  LIFE.              105
natural ken, but revealed through the Spirit, they
repeat concerning heaven, as if it were a precious
promise:  "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,
neither have entered the heart of man, the things
which God hath prepared for them that love Him."
They forget that it is added, "but God hath revealed them unto us through the Spirit."
As "all Scripture is profitable for instruction,"
so the neglect of any portion must be an injury;
and to this general indefiniteness of view we ascribe, in part at least, the sad and strange fact
that, while the doctrine of immortality is most
grand and impressive, it is so inoperative. Men
say that they believe that after death succeeds an
infinite eternity of joy or woe; yet they live as if
this world furnished the highest good, and banish
the future from their thoughts. Or, if they speak
of the glories of heaven, it is with a chilling apathy
which belies their words.
Not so was it with those of the primitive age.
Their "conversation was in heaven," from whence
they looked for the Saviour, who should, "change
their vile body, that it might be fashioned like
unto His glorious body." They were in an attitude of eager expectation, "hasting unto the coming of the day of God." While in this tabernacle
they "did groan, being  burdened "; "not for
that they would be unclothed, but clothed upon,
8




106         THE  PRESENT  AND
that mortality might be swallowed up of life."
The future was as real to them, and in many of
its aspects as vividly discerned, as this present
world.
If we would come back to their position, we
must dismiss the idea that we can know nothing
of the future except vaguely; we must not think
of the soul as breaking away at death from all
old habits, associations, pursuits, and modes of
existence, and starting afresh upon an independent course; we must keep in mind that we retain our identity, our bodies in a changed form,
our mental and moral powers, our past stores
of knowledge and experience, and the characters
which have been developed here. So that, to express the truth in a word, the future life is not
so much a new life as a continuation of the
present one: our existence being one connected
whole, from the birth-hour on earth to the endless ages of futurity.  Death is the extinction of
the life of the mortal body, but not even an interruption of the life of the soul.
We do not mean, of course, that the future state
is not in some respects different from this.  We
believe it a far more exalted and enlarged state of
being; yet the differences are not so great as to
destroy the undivided unity of our lives.  The
traveller may sail across an unknown sea and enter




THE  FUTURE  LIFE.               107
a land where the forms of nature and habits of
men may be very strange; he may learn a language
he never spoke before; he may change his dress,
and adopt new modes of living; a torrid climate
may bronze his complexion and crisp his hair; his
whole appearance may be altered; yet he will be
the same, linked by memory and consciousness to
his past life; and no outward changes, however
great, however prolonged, can sever his life in
twain. So in entering the world of spirits, we
cross a trackless sea, we change our dress, — for
the body is the covering of the soul, —our mode
of life is novel; but why suppose that in all this
we lose our identity, or are any more severed
from our former selves than is the traveller in
Asiatic or African wilds?
"The child's included in the man,
And part of him forever;
The Past still in the Future lives,
And basis to its being gives:
Not it, but of it ever."
But let us look more closely at some of the
points of contact between this and the future
life.
First, there is an intimate relation between these
natural bodies which now clothe us and the spiritual
bodies we shall have at the resurrection.  It is not
necessary to enter on the mysteries of this subject,




108         THE  PRESENT AND
nor to attempt an answer to the inquiries which
curiosity may suggest. We are not endeavoring
to draw any "physical theory of another life," but
to present the facts which the Scriptures make
known.
We stand, therefore, on the simple, explicit
declaration of Paul: "There is a natural body,
and there is a spiritual body." What that spiritual body is, what its form, what its functions,
what its glory, we need not say: but it is something. Even if we cannot describe it, we may
not think it indescribable — still less, regard it
as a nonentity.
"There is a spiritual body," and it has a close
connection with this body of flesh. Here, again,
we have direct testimony. The whole course of
thought in the fifteenth chapter of the first epistle
to the Corinthians, implies the reviving of that
which had died.  "This corruptible must put on
incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." "It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in
glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in
power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a
spiritual body."  Again, the same writer speaks
of the "changing" of "these vile bodies," and
the making them  "like unto  Christ's glorious
body." Notice, their changing, not their destruction, and the formation of a body entirely new.




THE  FUTURE  LIFE.             109
Other Scriptures declare that "all that are in
the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come
forth," and that "the sea" is to give up "the
dead that are in it."
Christ's resurrection is also represented as the
type and pledge of ours. He is the "first fruits."
"He which raised up the Lord Jesus, shall raise
up us also by Jesus." He came from the sepulchre
with the same body which was crucified; upon it
was visible still the print of the nails and the
spear; and that same body He bore upward with
Him when He ascended,- changed, probably, as
when, on the mount of transfiguration, "His face
did shine as the sun."
So shall these bodies of ours be transfigured.
We shall not, in the future, be unclothed spirits,
as, perhaps, the angels are; we shall have coverings, not gross, not fleshly, but spiritual, like a
raiment of light.  It is natural to believe that
they will be under the more perfect control of
the soul, capable of quicker motion, of a more
interior and, complete discernment, of unwearied
endurance: in a word, they shall be the fitting
vehicle and instrument of the expanding spirit.
The thought is animating. I am travelling to
eternity, not with my soul merely, but this flesh
shall be changed to an immortal substance. Though
this be a tenement of crumbling clay, the germ of




110         THE  PRESENT  AND
that which shall forever abide is hidden somewhere
here. Members that have fulfilled their office may
perish; but a body springing from this, and clothing the soul, is according to the eternal law of my
being.
Secondly, there is reason to believe that our mental
actions in the future state will be similar to what they
are here.
There may be some acts - those, for example,
connected with sensation — which must cease, or
be greatly modified; but, in general, the common
movements of the mind may go on. God delights
to carry one plan of action through all ages and all
worlds; and it is most like Him to perpetuate the
original laws of mental action, while the mind itself
endures.
Besides, there is no evidence that death has any
direct power over the mind.  Sometimes, indeed,
the faculties seem benumbed at its approach; but
at other times, and I think more frequently, the
soul works clearly, powerfully to the very end,
maintaining a full self-possession even after the
body is, in fact, partially dead.  Or when thd
clouds have gathered thickly, they suddenly part
for a moment; the eye of the dying, which we
thought was closed forever, brightens to life again,
and one last emphatic word shows us that behind




THE FUTURE LIFE.                     111
the clouds is the undimmed radiance of a deathless
spirit.*
Now we say, not only that death does not impair
the integrity of the soul but that it lives on with
the same faculties as before, working in the same
way, though, doubtless, with far augmented celerity
and power.
Take as an illustration of this, the faculty of
memory. It is common to us all, one of the most
peculiar and important of our powers, having
relations to our whole mind and life. It begins its
operations in our earliest days, and to the close
of our earthly course it is constantly collecting
and storing away innumerable facts and truths.
Sometimes its treasures are hidden for years, are
apparently lost and then suddenly brought to light,
* A striking confirmation of this is afforded in the recently
published narrative of the last hours of Dr. Hubbard Winslow. To a friend near his bedside, he said: I"I stand on the
verge of two worlds, with a clear consciousness of both. The
separation between the two seems like an undefinable and almost
undiscernible line. I am not certain that I shall be conscious
when I have passed it." Again: " Do not give me anything to
produce stupor, I want my mind clear. I want to be conscious
when death comes." At sunrise the next morning, the morning
of the day on which he died, he said, "Wheel me to the window,
that I may see this glorious sight once more. I want to take
the memory of these mountains into eternity with me." It
is added by the one who reports this, "He seemed, in fact,
to live equally in both worlds at the same time."




112         THE  PRESENT  AND
and so it holds them with firm tenacity to the
very end of life.
Now we go farther: memory carries all its
accumulations to the future world. There is no
evidence, even presumptive, to the contrary; there
is evidence, in what is revealed, that it will be so.
Recall what is said concerning the judgment. What
are those "secret things" that shall be "brought
to light," but the remembered scenes and transactions of earth?  How shall the award be approved by the conscience of each, save as the
actions of the past come back in all their original
distinctness?  "Son, remember," were the words
addressed to the condemned rich man in the narrative of Christ; and so from the memory will be
drawn the material for future joy or woe. With
power of recollection augmented, there will be
arrayed before us all the scenes, the deeds, the
emotions, the thoughts, of our whole lifetime. Every
day, every hour, will reappear. As now we walk
among the images of the past, so shall it be forever: memory will people the place of our eternal
sojourn with the forms we have grown familiar
with below.
We cannot refer to other faculties in detail; nor
is it necessary. As the bones of the skeleton
constitute a system, so that the anatomist having
one can infer and construct the whole; so is there




THE  FUTURE  LIFE.             113
such a relation among all the powers of the mind -
such symmetry of combination, that when one is
found to survive unchanged, unimpaired, we are
warranted in inferring that the rest are still joined
with it.
It is only needful to say in a word, therefore,
that all the scriptural representations of the future
state exhibit the operation of other powers and
emotions like those experienced here. The affections survive, and provision is made for the gratification of our social desires; they who come from
the east and the west " sit down with Abraham, and
Isaac and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven;" those
whom the earnest apostle has led to Christ are his
"crown of rejoicing " as they meet in heaven, and
the Redeemer is still the common object of love and
praise. So are we pointed on to that world where
the angels "desire to look into" the mysteries of
redemption for the gratification of that thirst for
knowledge which finds only a partial satisfaction
here; "now we see through a glass darkly, but
then face to face; now I know in part, but then shall
I know even as also I am known."  Gratitude,
reverence, devotion, submission speak out in the
chorus of the skies in earthly style, only with a
deeper emphasis. While much is hidden, enough is
revealed to make us feel that we shall be at home
amid the society and employments of heaven; that




114         THE  PRESENT  AND
our future life, though higher, intenser, will be a life
marked by movements similar in kind to those
familiar to us here. We shall be human still;
humanity will be exalted, quickened, but not
destroyed; as there is no transmigration so there
will be no transfusion of souls; we shall not be
mixed with beings of another race, but shall be
immortal as men.
Thirdly, the Scriptures teach that the character we
form here, will remain our characterforever.
This world is constantly presented as a place of
probation and of preparation for that which is to
come. After death is the judgment, when men shall
" give account of all the deeds done in the body "
and shall receive accordingly. We are taught that
there will be two classes in the future as in the
present world, the friends and the enemies of God;
and the conduct here will determine to which class
each shall belong, and with which each shall have
his eternal abode.  "He that is unjust, let him
be unjust still; he that is righteous, let him be
righteous still."
There may be a perfecting of the work of sanctification begun before; but there is not a single
promise of regeneration beyond the grave. As if
all depended on our present action, men are called
to choose life to-day, and warned against postpone



THE  FUTURE  LIFE.             115
ment; they are told of those who slumbered at the
bridegroom's calling, and afterwards found the
door shut, and cried in vain for its re-opening.
The whole stress of the Gospel is to lead men to
"work while the  day lasts, because the night
cometh, wherein no man can work."
The character, then, which we form on earth,
under the varied discipline of life and the gracious
influences which surround us, which we yield to, or
resist; this character, as to its essential features and
governing motive, we carry with us into the future
world. If we would enter heaven, we must here, by
the grace of God, become "meet for the inheritance
of the saints in light," by extirpating all base and
selfish passions and by cultivating those emotions
of purity and love, those aspirations after holiness
which ennoble the blessed. We must understand
also, that if here we give way to malignant desires
unchecked, then in the future, they will continue to
burn and rage, and so make our perdition sure.
The law of the future assignment is the law of
congeniality. Each goes " to his own place." Like
draws to like. We need suppose no arbitrary and
forced sundering of one from another: let each fall
by a moral gravitation to those of congenial temper,
and they who love God will be ranged with Him;
they who have never submitted will be found with
him who led the first rebellion.




116         THE  PRESENT  AND
Then restraints will be removed.  From  the
good, those impediments will be taken by which
their course was hindered, so that they seemed
faithless to Him whom they truly and supremely
loved; from the evil, those checks by which their
passions were kept down, and wickedness avoided,
into which, left to themselves, they would have
plunged. The character of each will sweep on to
its appropriate development in an entire and holy
consecration, or in an audacious and unqualified
defiance.
Thus, as was said at the commencement,
is the whole theory of another life wrapped up
in this one idea: the future, - a continuation of the
present.  Death changes the place, in some respects, the mode of existence, but not its nature.
We shall be the same, conscious of our personal
identity; bodies will still clothe and serve our
spirits; our minds will be active, our affections
glowing, our consciences watchful, our wills free,
as here; the scenes of the past will abide with
us, the character formed here be fixed and unchanging forever. Our life, divided by no chasm,
renovated by no re-creation, will flow on as the
stream  from  the fountain, broken by a sudden,
precipitous fall; but flowing on, the same stream,
its waters clear or perturbed beyond the fall according as they were clear or turbid before.




THE  FUTURE  LIFE.             117
In closing, we would indicate some of the advantages resulting from this view of the truth.
One is, that it makes the future state of the blessed
seem more real and more attractive. It is not necessary to repeat how far we have fallen away from
the ardor of desire, and eager anticipation of
heaven, cherished in the primitive age of Christianity.  Dr. Chalmers too truly describes the
common imagination of Paradise, as that of a
"region where the inmates float in ether, or are
mysteriously suspended upon nothing; where all
the warm and sensible accompaniments, which
give such an expression of strength and life and
coloring to our present habitation, are attenuated
into a sort of spiritual element, that is meagre
and imperceptible, and utterly uninviting; where
nothing is left, but unearthly scenes that have no
power of allurement, and certain unearthly ecstasies, with which it is impossible to sympathize."
Does not the Bible teach us more than this?
Did not the apostles, and may not we, behold
scenes of glory which have some definiteness and
reality?  We sing of a "happy land, far, far
away"; but, if the view we have been taking is
correct, heaven begins below, and celestial joy, in
its essential elements, is experienced here. The
sense of forgiven sin, of a conscience pacified, of
a will subdued; the glimpse of the face of a




118        THE  PRESENT  AND
reconciled Father; the confidence which anchors
the spirit when the billows roll; the rapturous
gush of thankfulness and love; the bliss of serving;
the delight of seeing the growing honors of our
King; the hope which springs exulting at the glorious prospect; the "peace which passeth understanding," that descends like a benediction from
God: are not these emotions heavenly?  Must
they not continue to bless the soul, and constitute
the riches of the heritage of the saints?  We
know the song which the redeemed sing above:
do we not rehearse it in our feebler way on
earth? When, with swelling heart and streaming
eyes, we praise Him who died for us, are not our
rejoicing and thanksgiving foretastes of that which
is to come?  And, as here we thus anticipate
heaven, shall we not there look back on these
glad hours as having been the dawning of that
immortal day?
Away, then, with that timidity, so fearful of
going beyond what is revealed that it loses the
comfort and strength God has provided. Let the
infidel speak of death as " a leap in the dark," but
let the Christian, feeling that the grave has lost its
victory, depart with the cheerfulness with which he
would cross the ocean, knowing that friends were
waiting on the farther shore; greater wonders than
he had ever seen were there to be disclosed; his




THE  FUTURE  LIFE.             119
powers find higher employment, and the longing of
his life-time be at last.fulfilled. Nay, death is not
*a distant voyage; it is stepping across a rill. In
one moment its work is done; and it is conceivable
that one should commence a song of praise on
earth and finish that same strain in the immediate
presence of God.
Another use of this view of truth is, to show the
reasonableness of the doctrine of future retribution.
As the bliss of heaven begins on earth, so have
transgressors also a foretaste of at least some of
the elements of the misery of hell. When we
would know what is their doom, we need not with
busy fancy conjure up imagined sufferings, unlike all
known below; but may think of the shame of detected sin, of the raging of unsatisfied desire,
of the upbraidings of an awakened conscience,
of the remorse which pursues the guilty, making the
day oppressive, and the night hideous; of that
agonizing, crushing sense, which some have felt,
of abandonment by God, when there seemed none
to hear and pity, and none to save; and by such
dreadful experiences, which not all the wealth or
glory of the world could render tolerable, we may
know what is the portion of those, to whom the
Judge will say, "Depart." Depart with all the




120         THE  PRESENT  AN D
burden of unforgiven sin; with all the memories of
the past to haunt you; with conscience active, and
no flattering voice to deny its accusations. Depart,
from the presence of all the good, from My smile
and favor, to dwell with those who are filled with
hatred and unrighteousness, in "the outer darkness."
There is nothing strange, nothing unnatural, in
such inflictions; suich are the normal consequences
of sin, to be expected, unless our nature, or our
characters are changed. God does thus visit men,
to show them of what suffering they are capable;
to warn them that perdition is near, that they carry
its germs in their own bosoms. The burden of
proof is on those who deny retribution. They are
to show some express declaration that the laws of
our being have been reversed; and that despite all
experience here, one can sin and still dwell in
peace.
Finally, this view invests all the actions and labors
of this life with peculiar interest and dignity. It is
not within our option whether or not we will prepare for the life to come: by the fixed laws of
our being, we must do so. We are to meet every
act of ours at the judgment: we shall retain in
our sensitive minds even the impression of every




THE  FUTURE  LIFE.             121
thought.  They who have sowed sparingly will
reap sparingly; while —
"The more our spirits are enlarged on earth,
The deeper draughts shall they receive of heaven."
No labor is lost; no step of real advancement is
in vain. There will be a personal individuality in
the future, as now. When one has enriched his soul
with generous sympathies, and feels an absorbing
interest in the progress of truth and the triumph
of right, he will be thus prepared to rejoice more
than others at the unfolding of the vast plans of
God.  He whose heart has expanded on earth
with the warmest love for Christ will gaze with
the liveliest rapture at His unveiled glory. May
not even one of sanctified and developed intellect
start on his future career with an advantage gained
firom his attainments below? Every mental, every
moral power given, we are to use in God's service: while these powers endure, He will find
them employment; and we may be sure, from the
analogy of His usual method, that no true development of them will be thrown away.
How strong a motive to fidelity in the use of
every power, every opportunity. Let not a day be
unimproved. By an inevitable law we are constantly shaping our future; every hour are storing
up material for unending joy or woe. That unseen
9




122  PRESENT  AND  FUTURE  LIFE.
world is not distant, it touches this. Why let our
vision be bounded by the narrow horizon of earth?
In the twinkling of an eye, at the lifting of a vail,
the stupendous scenes of eternity may appear; and
we, with mental and moral powers and characters
as now, remembering the past, unchanged as to our
essential being, shall stand before God.
C   #-        67
A,~en7




Go with a Pastor's blessing,
Tell of Redeeming love,
Speak to each weary pilgrim
Of rest and joy above.
Declare the Spirit's mission,
The burdened heart to cheer;
A heavenly peace He bringeth,
Relief from every fear.
Bid every fainting Christian
A sweet assurance seek;
Our Lord is all compassion,
He loves to aid the weak.
With holy zeal untiring,
Bid every child of God
Press onward in the pathway
His earnest Master trod.
O'er each day's life may Jesus
His hallowed influence shed;
With reverent, trustful spirit
The sacred Word be read;
Then sinless souls rejoicing,
Before the throne shall stand,
All care, all grief forgotten,
Safe in the better land.      c. A. I.