,,sermons ,,to ,,the ,,natural ,,man4 ,,by ,,william ,g4 ,t4 ,,shedd1 ,d4 ,d41 ,,author ,,of ,a ,,history ,,of ,,christian ,,doctrine1 ,,homiletics ,,and ,,pastoral4 ,,theology1 ,,discourses ,,and ,,essays1 ,,philosophy ,,of ,,history1 ,,etc4 ,,new ,,york3 ,,charles ,,scribner ,,co41 #fed ,,broadway4 #ahga4 ,,preface4 ,it is with a solemn feeling of responsibility that ,i send forth this volume of ,sermons4 ,the ordinary emotions of authorship have little place in the experience1 when one remembers that what he says will be either a means of spiritual life1 or an occasion of spiritual death4 ,i believe that the substance of these ,discourses will prove to accord with ,god's revealed truth1 in the day that will try all truth4 ,the title indicates their general aim and tendency4 ,the purpose is psychological4 ,i would1 if possible1 anatomize the natural heart4 ,it is in vain to offer the gospel unless the law has been applied with clearness and cogency4 ,at the present day1 certainly1 there is far less danger of erring in the direction of religious severity1 than in the direction of religious indulgence4 ,if ,i have not preached redemption in these sermons so fully as ,i have analyzed sin1 it is because it is my deliberate conviction that just now the first and hardest work to be done by the preacher1 for the natural man1 is to produce in him some sensibility upon the subject of sin4 ,conscience needs to become consciousness4 ,there is considerable theoretical unbelief respecting the doctrines of the ,new ,testament2 but this is not the principal difficulty4 ,theoretical skepticism is in a small minority of ,christendom1 and always has been4 ,the chief obstacle to the spread of the ,christian religion is the practical unbelief of speculative believers4 ,thou sayest1--says ,john ,bunyan1--thou dost in deed and in truth believe the ,scriptures4 ,i ask1 therefore1 ,wast thou ever killed stark dead by the law of works contained in the ,scriptures8 ,killed by the law or letter1 and made to see thy sins against it1 and left in an helpless condition by the law8 ,for1 the proper work of the law is to slay the soul1 and to leave it dead in an helpless state4 ,for1 it doth neither give the soul any comfort itself1 when it comes1 nor doth it show the soul where comfort is to be had2 and therefore it is called the 'ministration of condemnation1' the 'ministration of death4' ,for1 though men may have a notion of the blessed ,word of ,god1 yet before they be converted1 it may be truly said of them1 ,ye err1 not knowing the ,scriptures1 nor the power of ,god4 ,if it be thought that such preaching of the law can be dispensed with1 by employing solely what is called in some quarters the preaching of the gospel1 ,i do not agree with the opinion4 ,the benefits of ,christ's redemption are pearls which must not be cast before swine4 ,the gospel is not for the stupid1 or for the doubter1--still less for the scoffer4 ,christ's atonement is to be offered to conscious guilt1 and in order to conscious guilt there must be the application of the decalogue4 ,john ,baptist must prepare the way for the merciful ,redeemer1 by legal and close preaching4 ,and the merciful ,redeemer ,himself1 in the opening of ,his ministry1 and before ,he spake much concerning remission of sins1 preached a sermon which in its searching and self-revelatory character is a more alarming address to the corrupt natural heart1 than was the first edition of it delivered amidst the lightnings of ,sinai4 ,the ,sermon on the ,mount is called the ,sermon of the ,beatitudes1 and many have the impression that it is a very lovely song to the sinful soul of man4 ,they forget that the blessing upon obedience implies a curse upon disobedience1 and that every mortal man has disobeyed the ,sermon on the ,mount4 ,god save me1--said a thoughtful person who knew what is in the ,sermon on the ,mount1 and what is in the human heart1--,god save me from the ,sermon on the ,mount when ,i am judged in the last day4 ,when ,christ preached this discourse1 ,he preached the law1 principally4 ,think not1--,he says1--that ,i am come to destroy the law or the prophets4 ,i am not come to destroy1 but to fulfil4 ,for verily ,i say unto you1 ,till heaven and earth pass1 one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled4 ,john the ,baptist describes his own preaching1 which was confessedly severe and legal1 as being far less searching than that of the ,messiah whose near advent he announced4 ,i indeed baptize you with water unto repentance3 but he that cometh after me is mightier than ,i1 whose shoes ,i am not worthy to bear3 he shall baptize you with the ,holy ,ghost and with fire2 whose fan is in his hand1 and he will thoroughly purge his floor1 and gather his wheat into the garner2 but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire4 ,the general burden and strain of the ,discourse with which the ,redeemer opened ,his ministry is preceptive and mandatory4 ,its keynote is3 ,thou shalt do this1 and1 ,thou shalt not do that2 ,thou shalt be thus1 in thine heart1 and1 ,thou shalt not be thus1 in thine heart4 ,so little is said in it1 comparatively1 concerning what are called the doctrines of grace1 that it has often been cited to prove that the creed of the ,church has been expanded unduly1 and made to contain more than the ,founder of ,christianity really intended it should4 ,the absence1 for example1 of any direct and specific statement of the doctrine of ,atonement1 in this important section of ,christ's teaching1 has been instanced by the ,socinian opponent as proof that this doctrine is not so vital as the ,church has always claimed it to be4 ,but1 ,christ was purposely silent respecting grace and its methods1 until he had spiritualized ,law1 and made it penetrate the human consciousness like a sharp sword4 ,of what use would it have been to offer mercy1 before the sense of its need had been elicited8 and how was this to be elicited1 but by the solemn and authoritative enunciation of law and justice8 ,there are1 indeed1 cheering intimations1 in the ,sermon on the ,mount1 respecting the ,divine mercy1 and so there are in connection with the giving of the ,ten ,commandments4 ,but law1 rather than grace1 is the main substance and burden of both4 ,the great intention1 in each instance1 is to convince of sin1 preparatory to the offer of clemency4 ,the ,decalogue is the legal basis of the ,old ,dispensation1 and the ,sermon on the ,mount is the legal basis of the ,new4 ,when the ,redeemer1 in the opening of ,his ministry1 had provided the apparatus of conviction1 then ,he provided the apparatus of expiation4 ,the ,great ,high-,priest1 like the ,levitical priest who typified ,him1 did not sprinkle atoning blood indiscriminately4 ,it was to bedew only him who felt and confessed guilt4 ,this legal and minatory element in the words of ,jesus has also been noticed by the skeptic1 and an argument has been founded upon it to prove that ,he was soured by ill-success1 and1 like other merely human reformers who have found the human heart too hard1 for them1 fell away from the gentleness with which ,he began ,his ministry1 into the anger and denunciation of mortified ambition with which it closed4 ,this is the picture of ,jesus ,christ which ,rnan presents in his apocryphal ,gospel4 ,but the fact is1 that the ,redeemer began with law1 and was rigorous with sin from the very first4 ,the ,sermon on the ,mount was delivered not far from twelve months from the time of ,his inauguration1 by baptism1 to the office of ,messiah4 ,and all along through ,his ministry of three years and a half1 ,he constantly employs the law in order to prepare his hearers for grace4 ,he was as gentle and gracious to the penitent sinner1 in the opening of ,his ministry1 as he was at the close of it2 and ,he was as unsparing and severe towards the hardened and self-righteous sinner1 in ,his early ,judaean1 as ,he was in ,his later ,galilean ministry4 ,it is sometimes said that the surest way to produce conviction of sin is to preach the ,cross4 ,there is a sense in which this is true1 and there is a sense in which it is false4 ,if the ,cross is set forth as the cursed tree on which the ,lord of ,glory hung and suffered1 to satisfy the demands of ,eternal ,justice1 then indeed there is fitness in the preaching to produce the sense of guilt4 ,but this is to preach the law1 in its fullest extent1 and the most tremendous energy of its claims4 ,such discourse as this must necessarily analyze law1 define it1 enforce it1 and apply it in the most cogent manner4 ,for1 only as the atonement of ,christ is shown to completely meet and satisfy all these legal demands which have been so thoroughly discussed and exhibited1 is the real virtue and power of the ,cross made manifest4 ,but if the ,cross is merely held up as a decorative ornament1 like that on the breast of ,belinda1 which ,jews might kiss and infidels adore2 if it be proclaimed as the beautiful symbol of the ,divine indifference and indulgence1 and there be a studious avoiding of all judicial aspects and relations2 if the natural man is not searched by law and alarmed by justice1 but is only soothed and narcotized by the idea of an ,epicurean deity destitute of moral anger and inflicting no righteous retribution1--then1 there will be no conviction of sin4 ,whenever the preaching of the law is positively objected to1 and the preaching of the gospel is proposed in its place1 it will be found that the gospel means that good-nature and that easy virtue which some mortals dare to attribute to the ,holy and ,immaculate ,godhead6 ,he who really1 and in good faith1 preaches the ,cross1 never opposes the preaching of the law4 ,still another reason for the kind of religious discourse which we are defending is found in the fact that multitudes are expecting a happy issue of this life1 upon ethical as distinguished from evangelical grounds4 ,they deny that they deserve damnation1 or that they need ,christ's atonement4 ,they say that they are living virtuous lives1 and are ready to adopt language similar to that of ,mr4 ,mill spoken in another connection3 ,if from this position of integrity and morality we are to be sent to hell1 to hell we will go4 ,this tendency is strengthened by the current light letters1 in distinction from standard literature4 ,a certain class1 through ephemeral essays1 poems1 and novels1 has been plied with the doctrine of a natural virtue and an innate goodness1 until it has become proud and self-reliant4 ,the manhood of paganism is glorified1 and the childhood of the gospel is vilified4 ,the graces of humility1 self-abasement before ,god1 and especially of penitence for sin1 are distasteful and loathed4 ,persons of this order prefer to have their religious teacher silent upon these themes1 and urge them to courage1 honor1 magnanimity1 and all that class of qualities which imply self-consciousness and self-reliance4 ,to them apply the solemn words of the ,son of ,god to the ,pharisees3 ,if ye were blind1 ye should have no sin3 but now ye say1 ,we see1 therefore your sin remaineth4 ,it is1 therefore1 specially incumbent upon the ,christian ministry1 to employ a searching and psychological style of preaching1 and to apply the tests of ethics and virtue so powerfully to men who are trusting to ethics and virtue1 as to bring them upon their knees4 ,since these men are desiring1 like the foolish ,galatiana1 to be saved by the law1 then let the law be laid down to them1 in all its breadth and reach1 that they may understand the real nature and consequences of the position they have taken4 ,tell me1 says a preacher of this stamp1--tell me1 ye that desire to be under the law1 do ye not hear the law1--do ye not hear its thundering1--cursed is every one that continueth not in ,,all things that are written in the law1 to do them6 ,virtue must be absolutely perfect and spotless1 if a happy immortality is to be made to depend upon virtue4 ,if the human heart1 in its self-deception and self-reliance1 turns away from the ,cross and the righteousness of ,god1 to morals and the righteousness of works1 then let the ,christian thinker follow after it like the avenger of blood4 ,let him set the heights and depths of ethical perfection before the deluded mortal2 let him point to the inaccessible cliffs that tower high above1 and bid him scale them if he can2 let him point to the fathomless abysses beneath1 and tell him to descend and bring up perfect virtue therefrom2 let him employ the very instrument which this virtuoso has chosen1 until it becomes an instrument of torture and self-despair4 ,in this way1 he is breaking down the manhood that confronts and opposes1 and is bringing in the childhood that is docile1 and recipient of the kingdom4 ,these ,sermons run the hazard of being pronounced monotonous1 because of the pertinacity with which the attempt is made to force self-reflection4 ,but this criticism can easily be endured1 provided the attempt succeeds4 ,religious truth becomes almighty the instant it can get within the soul2 and it gets within the soul1 the instant real thinking begins4 ,as you value your peace of mind1 stop all scrutiny into your personal character1 is the advice of what ,milton denominates the sty of ,epicurus4 ,the discouraging religious condition of the present age is due to the great lack1 not merely in the lower but the higher classes1 of calm1 clear self-intelligence4 ,men do not know themselves4 ,the ,delphic oracle was never less obeyed than now1 in this vortex of mechanical arts and luxury4 ,for this reason1 it is desirable that the religious teacher dwell consecutively upon topics that are connected with that which is within man1--his settled motives of action1 and all those spontaneous on-goings of his soul of which he takes no notice1 unless he is persuaded or impelled to do so4 ,some of the old painters produced powerful effects by one solitary color4 ,the subject of moral evil contemplated in the heart of the individual man1--not described to him from the outside1 but wrought out of his own being into incandescent letters1 by the fierce chemistry of anxious perhaps agonizing reflection1--sin1 the one awful fact in the history of man1 if caused to pervade discourse will always impart to it a hue which1 though it be monochromatic1 arrests and holds the eye like the lurid color of an approaching storm-cloud4 ,with this statement respecting the aim and purport of these ,sermons1 and deeply conscious of their imperfections1 especially for spiritual purposes1 ,i send them out into the world1 with the prayer that ,god the ,spirit will deign to employ them as the means of awakening some souls from the lethargy of sin4 ,union ,theological ,seminary1 ,new ,york1 ,february #ag1 #ahga4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,contents4 ,i4 ,,the ,,future ,,state ,a ,,self-,,conscious ,,state ,,ii4 ,,the ,,future ,,state ,a ,,self-,,conscious ,,state 7continued7 ,,iii4 ,,god',s ,,exhaustive ,,knowledge ,,of ,,man ,,iv4 ,,god',s ,,exhaustive ,,knowledge ,,of ,,man 7continued7 ,v4 ,,all ,,mankind ,,guilty2 ,,or1 ,,every ,,man ,,knows ,,more ,,than ,,he ,,practises ,,vi4 ,,sin ,,in ,,the ,,heart ,,the ,,source ,,of ,,error ,,in ,,the ,,head ,,vii4 ,,the ,,necessity ,,of ,,divine ,,influences ,,viii4 ,,the ,,necessity ,,of ,,divine ,,influences 7continued7 ,,ix4 ,,the ,,impotence ,,of ,,the ,,law ,x4 ,,self-,,scrutiny ,,in ,,god',s ,,presence ,,xi4 ,,sin ,,is ,,spiritual ,,slavery ,,xii4 ,,the ,,original ,,and ,,the ,,actual ,,relation ,,of ,,man ,,to ,,law ,,xiii4 ,,the ,,sin ,,of ,,omission ,,xiv4 ,,the ,,sinfulness ,,of ,,original ,,sin ,,xv4 ,,the ,,approbation ,,of ,,goodness ,,is ,,not ,,the ,,love ,,of ,,it ,,xvi4 ,,the ,,use ,,of ,,fear ,,in ,,religion ,,xvii4 ,,the ,,present ,,life ,,as ,,belated ,,to ,,the ,,future ,,xviii4 ,,the ,,exercise ,,of ,,mercy ,,optional ,,with ,,god ,,xix4 ,,christianity ,,requires ,,the ,,temper ,,of ,,childhood ,,xx4 ,,faith ,,the ,,sole ,,saving ,,act ,,sermons4 ,,the ,,future ,,state ,a ,,self-,,conscious ,,state4 #a ,cor4 xiii4 #ab4--,now ,i know in part2 but then shall ,i know even as also ,i am known4 ,the apostle ,paul made this remark with reference to the blessedness of the ,christian in eternity4 ,such assertions are frequent in the ,scriptures4 ,this same apostle1 whose soul was so constantly dilated with the expectation of the beatific vision1 assures the ,corinthians1 in another passage in this epistle1 that eye hath not seen1 nor ear heard1 neither have entered into the heart of man the things which ,god hath prepared for them that love ,him4 ,the beloved disciple ,john1 also1 though he seems to have lived in the spiritual world while he was upon the earth1 and though the glories of eternity were made to pass before him in the visions of ,patmos1 is compelled to say of the sons of ,god1 ,it doth not yet appear what we shall be4 ,and certainly the common ,christian1 as he looks forward with a mixture of hope and anxiety to his final state in eternity1 will confess that he knows but in part1 and that a very small part1 concerning it4 ,he endures as seeing that which is invisible1 and cherishes the hope that through ,christ's redemption his eternity will be a condition of peace and purity1 and that he shall know even as also he is known4 ,but it is not the ,christian alone who is to enter eternity1 and to whom the exchange of worlds will bring a luminous apprehension of many things that have hitherto been seen only through a glass darkly4 ,every human creature may say1 when he thinks of the alteration that will come over his views of religious subjects upon entering another life1 ,now ,i know in part2 but then shall ,i know even as also ,i am known4 ,i am now in the midst of the vapors and smoke of this dim spot which men call earth1 but then shall ,i stand in the dazzling light of the face of ,god1 and labor under no doubt or delusion respecting my own character or that of my ,eternal ,judge4 ,a moment's reflection will convince any one1 that the article and fact of death must of itself make a vast accession to the amount of a man's knowledge1 because death introduces him into an entirely new state of existence4 ,foreign travel adds much to our stock of ideas1 because we go into regions of the earth of which we had previously known only by the hearing of the ear4 ,but the great and last journey that man takes carries him over into a province of which no book1 not even the ,bible itself1 gives him any distinct cognition1 as to the style of its scenery or the texture of its objects4 ,in respect to any earthly scene or experience1 all men stand upon substantially the same level of information1 because they all have substantially the same data for forming an estimate4 ,though ,i may never have been in ,italy1 ,i yet know that the soil of ,italy is a part of the common crust of the globe1 that the ,apennines are like other mountains which ,i have seen1 that the ,italian sunlight pours through the pupil like any other sunlight1 and that the ,italian breezes fan the brow like those of the sunny south the world over4 ,i understand that the general forms of human consciousness in ,europe and ,asia1 are like those in ,america4 ,the operations of the five senses are the same in the ,old ,world that they are in the ,new4 ,but what do ,i know of the surroundings and experience of a man who has travelled from time into eternity8 ,am ,i not completely baffled1 the moment ,i attempt to construct the consciousness of the unearthly state8 ,i have no materials out of which to build it1 because it is not a world of sense and matter1 like that which ,i now inhabit4 ,but death carries man over into the new and entirely different mode of existence1 so that he knows by direct observation and immediate intuition4 ,a flood of new information pours in upon the disembodied spirit1 such as he cannot by any possibility acquire upon earth1 and yet such as he cannot by any possibility escape from in his new residence4 ,how strange it is1 that the young child1 the infant of days1 in the heart of ,africa1 by merely dying1 by merely passing from time into eternity1 acquires a kind and grade of knowledge that is absolutely inaccessible to the wisest and subtlest philosopher while here on earth6#a ,the dead ,hottentot knows more than the living ,plato4 ,but not only does the exchange of worlds make a vast addition to our stores of information respecting the nature of the invisible realm1 and the mode of existence there1 it also makes a vast addition to the kind and degree of our knowledge respecting ourselves1 and our personal relationships to ,god4 ,this is by far the most important part of the new acquisition which we gain by the passage from time to eternity1 and it is to this that the ,apostle directs attention in the text4 ,it is not so much the world that will be around us1 when we are beyond the tomb1 as it is the world that will be within us1 that is of chief importance4 ,our circumstances in this mode of existence1 and in any mode of existence1 are arranged by a ,power above us1 and are1 comparatively1 matters of small concern2 but the persons that we ourselves verily are1 the characters which we bring into this environment1 the little inner world of thought and feeling which is to be inclosed and overarched in the great outer world of forms and objects1--all this is matter of infinite moment and anxiety to a responsible creature4 ,for the text teaches1 that inasmuch as the future life is the ultimate state of being for an immortal spirit1 all that imperfection and deficiency in knowledge which appertains to this present life1 this ignorant present time1 must disappear4 ,when we are in eternity1 we shall not be in the dark and in doubt respecting certain great questions and truths that sometimes raise a query in our minds here4 ,voltaire now knows whether there is a sin-hating ,god1 and ,david ,hume now knows whether there is an endless hell4 ,i may1 in certain moods of my mind here upon earth1 query whether ,i am accountable and liable to retribution1 but the instant ,i shall pass from this realm of shadows1 all this skepticism will be banished forever from my mind4 ,for the future state is the final state1 and hence all questions are settled1 and all doubts are resolved4 ,while upon earth1 the arrangements are such that we cannot see every thing1 and must walk by faith1 because it is a state of probation2 but when once in eternity1 all the arrangements are such that we cannot but see every thing1 and must walk by sight1 because it is the state of adjudication4 ,hence it is1 that the preacher is continually urging men to view things1 so far as is possible1 in the light of eternity1 as the only light that shines clearly and without refractions4 ,hence it is1 that he importunes his hearers to estimate their duties1 and their relationships1 and their personal character1 as they will upon the death-bed1 because in the solemn hour of death the light of the future state begins to dawn upon the human soul4 ,it is very plain that if a spiritual man like the apostle ,paul1 who in a very remarkable degree lived with reference to the future world1 and contemplated subjects in the light of eternity1 was compelled to say that he knew but in part1 much more must the thoughtless natural man confess his ignorance of that which will meet him when his spirit returns to ,god4 ,the great mass of mankind are totally vacant of any just apprehension of what will be their state of mind1 upon being introduced into ,god's presence4 ,they have never seriously considered what must be the effect upon their views and feelings1 of an entire withdrawment from the scenes and objects of earth1 and an entrance into those of the future state4 ,most men are wholly engrossed in the present existence1 and do not allow their thoughts to reach over into that invisible region which revelation discloses1 and which the uncontrollable workings of conscience sometimes force upon their attention for a moment4 ,how many men there are1 whose sinful and thoughtless lives prove that they are not aware that the future world will1 by its very characteristics1 fill them with a species and a grade of information that will be misery unutterable4 ,is it not the duty and the wisdom of all such1 to attempt to conjecture and anticipate the coming experience of the human soul in the day of judgment and the future life1 in order that by repentance toward ,god and faith in the ,lord ,jesus ,christ they may be able to stand in that day8 ,let us then endeavor to know1 at least in part1 concerning the eternal state4 ,the latter clause of the text specifies the general characteristic of existence in the future world4 ,it is a mode of existence in which the rational mind knows even as it is known4 ,it is a world of knowledge1--of conscious knowledge4 ,in thus unequivocally asserting that our existence beyond the tomb is one of distinct consciousness1 revelation has taught us what we most desire and need to know4 ,the first question that would be raised by a creature who was just to be launched out upon an untried mode of existence would be the question3 ,shall ,i be conscious8 ,however much he might desire to know the length and breadth of the ocean upon which his was to set sail1 the scenery that was to be above him and around him in his coming history1--nay1 however much he might wish to know of matters still closer to himself than these2 however much he might crave to ask of his ,maker1 ,with what body shall ,i come8 all would be set second to the simple single inquiry3 ,shall ,i think1 shall ,i feel1 shall ,i know8 ,in answering this question in the affirmative1 without any hesitation or ambiguity1 the apostle ,paul has in reality cleared up most of the darkness that overhangs the future state4 ,the structure of the spiritual body1 and the fabric of the immaterial world1 are matters of secondary importance1 and may be left without explanation1 provided only the rational mind of man be distinctly informed that it shall not sleep in unconsciousness1 and that the immortal spark shall not become such stuff as dreams are made of4 ,the future1 then1 is a mode of existence in which the soul knows even as it is known4 ,but this involves a perception in which there is no error1 and no intermission4 ,for1 the human spirit in eternity is known by the omniscient ,god4 ,if1 then1 it knows in the style and manner that ,god knows1 there can be no misconception or cessation in its cognition4 ,here1 then1 we have a glimpse into the nature of our eternal existence4 ,it is a state of distinct and unceasing knowledge of moral truth and moral objects4 ,the human spirit1 be it holy or sinful1 a friend or an enemy of ,god1 in eternity will always and forever be aware of it4 ,there is no forgetting in the future state2 there is no dissipation of the mind there2 and there is no aversion of the mind from itself4 ,the cognition is a fixed quantity4 ,given the soul1 and the knowledge is given4 ,if it be holy1 it is always conscious of the fact4 ,if it be sinful1 it cannot for an instant lose the distressing consciousness of sin4 ,in neither instance will it be necessary1 as it generally is in this life1 to make a special effort and a particular examination1 in order to know the personal character4 ,knowledge of ,god and ,his law1 in the future life1 is spontaneous and inevitable2 no creature can escape it2 and therefore the bliss is unceasing in heaven1 and the misery is unceasing in hell4 ,there are no states of thoughtlessness and unconcern in the future life1 because there is not an instant of forgetfulness or ignorance of the personal character and condition4 ,in the world beyond this1 every man will constantly and distinctly know what he is1 and what he is not1 because he will be known by the omniscient and unerring ,god1 and will himself know in the same constant and distinct style and manner4 ,if the most thoughtless person that now walks the globe could only have a clear perception of that kind of knowledge which is awaiting him upon the other side of the tomb1 he would become the most thoughtful and the most anxious of men4 ,it would sober him like death itself4 ,and if any unpardoned man should from this moment onward be haunted with the thought1 ,when ,i die ,i shall enter into the light of ,god's countenance1 and obtain a knowledge of my own character and obligations that will be as accurate and unvarying as that of ,god himself upon this subject1 he would find no rest until he had obtained an assurance of the ,divine mercy1 and such an inward change as would enable him to endure this deep and full consciousness of the purity of ,god and of the state of his heart4 ,it is only because a man is unthinking1 or because he imagines that the future world will be like the present one1 only longer in duration1 that he is so indifferent regarding it4 ,here is the difficulty of the case1 and the fatal mistake which the natural man makes4 ,he supposes that the views which he shall have upon religious subjects in the eternal state1 will be very much as they are in this1--vague1 indistinct1 fluctuating1 and therefore causing no very great anxiety4 ,he can pass days and weeks here in time without thinking of the claims of ,god upon him1 and he imagines that the same thing is possible in eternity4 ,while here upon earth1 he certainly does not know even as also he is known1 and he hastily concludes that so it will be beyond the grave4 ,it is because men imagine that eternity is only a very long space of time1 filled up1 as time here is1 with dim1 indistinct apprehensions1 with a constantly shifting experience1 with shallow feelings and ever diversified emotions1 in fine1 with all the variety of pleasure and pain1 of ignorance and knowledge1 that pertains to this imperfect and probationary life1--it is because mankind thus conceive of the final state1 that it exerts no more influence over them4 ,but such is not its true idea4 ,there is a marked difference between the present and the future life1 in respect to uniformity and clearness of knowledge4 ,now ,i know in part1 but then shall ,i know even as also ,i am known4 ,the text and the whole teaching of the ,new ,testament prove that the invisible world is the unchangeable one2 that there are no alterations of character1 and consequently no alternations of experience1 in the future life2 that there are no transitions1 as there are in this checkered scene of earth1 from happiness to unhappiness and back again4 ,there is but one uniform type of experience for an individual soul in eternity4 ,that soul is either uninterruptedly happy1 or uninterruptedly miserable1 because it has either an uninterrupted sense of holiness1 or an uninterrupted sense of sin4 ,he that is righteous is righteous still1 and knows it continually2 and he that is filthy is filthy still1 and knows it incessantly4 ,if we enter eternity as the redeemed of the ,lord1 we take over the holy heart and spiritual affections of regeneration1 and there is no change but that of progression1--a change1 consequently1 only in degree1 but none of kind or type4 ,the same knowledge and experience that we have here in part we shall have there in completeness and permanency4 ,and the same will be true1 if the heart be evil and the affections inordinate and earthly4 ,and all this1 simply because the mind's knowledge is clear1 accurate1 and constant4 ,that which the transgressor knows here of ,god and his own heart1 but imperfectly1 and fitfully1 and briefly1 he shall know there perfectly1 and constantly1 and everlastingly4 ,the law of constant evolution1 and the characteristic of unvarying uniformity1 will determine and fix the type of experience in the evil as it does in the good4 ,such1 then1 is the general nature of knowledge in the future state4 ,it is distinct1 accurate1 unintermittent1 and unvarying4 ,we shall know even as we are known1 and we are known by the omniscient and unerring ,searcher of hearts4 ,let us now apply this general characteristic of cognition in eternity to some particulars4 ,let us transfer our minds into the future and final state1 and mark what goes on within them there4 ,we ought often to enter this mysterious realm1 and become habituated to its mental processes1 and by a wise anticipation become prepared for the reality itself4 ,i4 ,the human mind1 in eternity1 will have a distinct and unvarying perception of the character of ,god4 ,and that one particular attribute in this character1 respecting which the cognition will be of the most luminous quality1 is the ,divine holiness4 ,in eternity1 the immaculateness of the ,deity will penetrate the consciousness of every rational creature with the subtlety and the thoroughness of fire4 ,god's essence is infinitely pure1 and intensely antagonistic to sin1 but it is not until there is a direct contact between it and the human mind1 that man understands it and feels it4 ,i have heard of ,thee by the hearing of the ear1 but now mine eye seeth ,thee1 and ,i abhor myself4 ,even the best of men know but in part concerning the holiness of ,god4 ,yet it is noticeable how the apprehension of it grows upon the ripening ,christian1 as he draws nearer to the time of his departure4 ,the vision of the cherubim themselves seems to dawn upon the soul of a ,leighton and an ,edwards1 and though it does not in the least disturb their saintly and seraphic peace1 because they are sheltered in the clefts of the ,rock of ,ages1 as the brightness passes by them1 it does yet bring out from their comparatively holy and spiritual hearts the utterance1 ,behold ,i am vile2 infinite upon1 infinite is my sin4 ,but what shall be said of the common and ordinary knowledge of mankind1 upon this subject6 ,except at certain infrequent times1 the natural man does not know even in part1 respecting the holiness of ,god1 and hence goes on in transgression without anxiety or terror4 ,it is the very first work of prevenient grace1 to disclose to the human mind something of the ,divine purity2 and whoever1 at any moment1 is startled by a more than common sense of ,god's holy character1 should regard it and cherish it as a token of benevolence and care for his soul4 ,now1 in eternity this species of knowledge must exist in the very highest degree4 ,the human soul will be encircled by the character and attributes of ,god4 ,it cannot look in any direction without beholding it4 ,it is not so here4 ,here1 in this life1 man may and does avert his eye1 and refuse to look at the sheen and the splendor that pains his organ4 ,he fastens his glance upon the farm1 or the merchandise1 or the book1 and perseveringly determines not to see the purity of ,god that rebukes him4 ,and here he can succeed4 ,he can and does live days and months without so much as a momentary glimpse of his ,maker1 and1 as the apostle says1 is without ,god in this world4 ,and yet such men do have1 now and then1 a view of the face of ,god4 ,it may be for an instant only4 ,it may be merely a thought1 a gleam1 a flash2 and yet1 like that quick flash of lightning1 of which our ,lord speaks1 that lighteneth out of the one part of heaven1 and shineth unto the other part1 that cometh out of the ,east and shineth even unto the ,west1--like that swift momentary flash which runs round the whole horizon in the twinkling of an eye1 this swift thought and gleam of ,god's purity fills the whole guilty soul full of light4 ,what spiritual distress seizes the man in such moments1 and of what a penetrating perception of the ,divine character is he possessed for an instant6 ,it is a distinct and an accurate knowledge1 but1 unlike the cognition of the future state1 it is not yet an inevitable and unintermittent one4 ,he can expel it1 and become again an ignorant and indifferent being1 as he was before4 ,he knows but in part at the very best1 and this only temporarily4 ,but carry this rational and accountable creature into eternity1 denude him of the body of sense1 and take him out of the busy and noisy world of sense into the silent world of spirits1 and into the immediate presence of ,god1 and then he will know upon this subject even as he is known4 ,that sight and perception of ,god's purity which he had here for a brief instant1 and which was so painful because he was not in sympathy with it1 has now become everlasting4 ,that distinct and accurate knowledge of ,god's character has now become his only knowledge4 ,that flash of lightning has become light1--fixed1 steady1 permanent as the orb of day4 ,the rational spirit cannot for an instant rid itself of the idea of ,god4 ,never for a moment1 in the endless cycles1 can it look away from its ,maker2 for in ,his presence what other object is there to look at8 ,time itself1 with its pursuits and its objects of thought and feeling1 is no longer1 for the angel hath sworn it by ,him who liveth for ever and ever4 ,there is nothing left1 then1 to occupy and engross the attention but the character and attributes of ,god2 and1 now1 the immortal mind1 created for such a purpose1 must yield itself up to that contemplation which in this life it dreaded and avoided4 ,the future state of every man is to be an open and unavoidable vision of ,god4 ,if he delights in the view1 he will be blessed2 if he loathes it1 he will be miserable4 ,this is the substance of heaven and hell4 ,this is the key to the eternal destiny of every human soul4 ,if a man love ,god1 he shall gaze at him and adore2 if he hate ,god1 he shall gaze at him and gnaw his tongue for pain4 ,the subject1 as thus far unfolded1 teaches the following lessons3 #a4 ,in the first place1 it shows that a false theory of the future state will not protect a man from future misery4 ,for1 we have seen that the eternal world1 by its very structure and influences1 throws a flood of light upon the ,divine character1 causing it to appear in its ineffable purity and splendor1 and compels every creature to stand out in that light4 ,there is no darkness in which man can hide himself1 when he leaves this world of shadows4 ,a false theory1 therefore1 respecting ,god1 can no more protect a man from the reality1 the actual matter of fact1 than a false theory of gravitation will preserve a man from falling from a precipice into a bottomless abyss4 ,do you come to us with the theory that every human creature will be happy in another life1 and that the doctrine of future misery is false8 ,we tell you1 in reply1 that ,god is holy1 beyond dispute or controversy2 that ,he cannot endure the sight of sin2 and that in the future world every one of ,his creatures must see ,him precisely as ,he is1 and know ,him in the real and eternal qualities of ,his nature4 ,the man1 therefore1 who is full of sin1 whose heart is earthly1 sensual1 selfish1 must1 when he approaches that pure ,presence1 find that his theory of future happiness shrivels up like the heavens themselves1 before the majesty and glory of ,god4 ,he now stands face to face with a ,being whose character has never dawned upon him with such a dazzling purity1 and to dispute the reality would be like disputing the fierce splendor of the noonday sun4 ,theory must give way to fact1 and the deluded mortal must submit to its awful force4 ,in this lies the irresistible power of death1 judgment1 and eternity1 to alter the views of men4 ,up to these points they can dispute and argue1 because there is no ocular demonstration4 ,it is possible to debate the question this side of the tomb1 because we are none of us face to face with ,god1 and front to front with eternity4 ,in the days of ,noah1 before the flood came1 there was skepticism1 and many theories concerning the threatened deluge4 ,so long as the sky was clear1 and the green earth smiled under the warm sunlight1 it was not difficult for the unbeliever to maintain an argument in opposition to the preacher of righteousness4 ,but when the sky was rent with lightnings1 and the earth was scarred with thunder-bolts1 and the fountains of the great deep were broken up1 where was the skepticism8 where were the theories8 where were the arguments8 ,when ,god teaches1 ,where is the wise8 where is the scribe8 where is the disputer of this world8 ,they then knew as they were known2 they stood face to face with the facts4 ,it is this inevitableness of the demonstration upon which we would fasten attention4 ,we are not always to live in this world of shadows4 ,we are going individually into the very face and eyes of ,jehovah1 and whatever notions we may have adopted and maintained must all disappear1 except as they shall be actually verified by what we shall see and know in that period of our existence when we shall perceive with the accuracy and clearness of ,god ,himself4 ,our most darling theories1 by which we may have sought to solace our souls in reference to our future destiny1 if false1 will be all ruthlessly torn away1 and we must see what verily and eternally is4 ,all mankind come upon one doctrinal platform when they enter eternity4 ,they all have one creed there4 ,there is not a skeptic even in hell4 ,the devils believe and tremble4 ,the demonstration that ,god is holy is so irrefragable1 so complete and absolute1 that doubt or denial is impossible in any spirit that has passed the line between time and eternity4 #b4 ,in the second place1 this subject shows that indifference and carelessness respecting the future life will not protect the soul from future misery4 ,there may be no false theory adopted1 and yet if there be no thoughtful preparation to meet ,god1 the result will be all the same4 ,i may not dispute the ,newtonian theory of gravitation1 yet if ,i pay no heed to it1 if ,i simply forget it1 as ,i clamber up mountains1 and walk by the side of precipices1 my body will as surely be dashed to pieces as if ,i were a theoretical skeptic upon the subject of gravitation4 ,the creature's indifference can no more alter the immutable nature of ,god1 than can the creature's false reasoning1 or false theorizing4 ,that which is settled in heaven1 that which is fixed and eternal1 stands the same stern1 relentless fact under all circumstances4 ,we see the operation of this sometimes here upon earth1 in a very impressive manner4 ,a youth or a man simply neglects the laws and conditions of physical well-being4 ,he does not dispute them4 ,he merely pays no attention to them4 ,a4 few years pass by1 and disease and torturing pain become his portion4 ,he comes now into the awful presence of the powers and the facts which the ,creator has inlaid in the world1 of physical existence4 ,he knows now even as he is known4 ,and the laws are stern4 ,he finds no place of repentance in them1 though he seek it carefully with tears4 ,the laws never repent1 never change their mind4 ,the principles of physical life and growth which he has never disputed1 but which he has never regarded1 now crush him into the ground in their relentless march and motion4 ,precisely so will it be in the moral world1 and with reference to the holiness of ,god4 ,that man who simply neglects to prepare himself to see a holy ,god1 though he never denies that there is such a ,being1 will find the vision just as unendurable to him1 as it is to the most determined of earthly skeptics4 ,so far as the final result in the other world is concerned1 it matters little whether a man adds unbelief to his carelessness1 or not4 ,the carelessness will ruin his soul1 whether with or without skepticism4 ,orthodoxy is valuable only as it inspires the hope that it will end in timely and practical attention to the concerns of the soul4 ,but if you show me a man who you infallibly know will go through life careless and indifferent1 ,i will show you a man who will not be prepared to meet ,god face to face1 even though his theology be as accurate as that of ,st4 ,paul himself4 ,nay1 we have seen that there is a time coming when all skeptics will become believers like the devils themselves1 and will tremble at the ocular demonstration of truths which they have heretofore denied4 ,theoretical unbelief must be a temporary affair in every man2 for it can last only until he dies4 ,death will make all the world theoretically orthodox1 and bring them all to one and the same creed4 ,but death will not bring them all to one and the same happy experience of the truth1 and lave of the creed4 ,for those who have made preparation for the vision of ,god and the ocular demonstration of ,divine truth1 these will rise upon their view with a blessed and glorious light4 ,but for those who have remained sinful and careless1 these eternal truths and facts will be a vision of terror and despair4 ,they will not alter4 ,no man will find any place of repentance in them1 though1 like ,esau1 he seek it carefully and with tears4 #c4 ,in the third place1 this subject shows that only faith in ,christ and a new heart can protect the soul from future misery4 ,the nature and character of ,god cannot be altered1 and therefore the change must be wrought in man's soul4 ,the disposition and affections of the heart must be brought into such sweet sympathy and harmony with ,god's holiness1 that when in the next world that holiness shall be revealed as it is to the seraphim1 it will fall in upon the soul like the rays of a vernal sun1 starting every thing into cheerful life and joy4 ,if the ,divine holiness does not make this impression1 it produces exactly the contrary effect4 ,if the sun's rays do not start the bud in the spring1 they kill it4 ,if the vision of a holy ,god is not our heaven1 then it must be our hell4 ,look then directly into your heart1 and tell us which is the impression for you4 ,can you say with ,david1 ,we give thanks and rejoice1 at the remembrance of ,thy holiness8 ,are you glad that there is such a pure and immaculate ,being upon the throne1 and when ,his excellence abashes you1 and rebukes your corruption and sin1 do you say1 ,let the righteous ,one smite me1 it shall be a kindness8 ,do you love ,god's holy character8 ,if so1 you are a new creature1 and are ready for the vision of ,god1 face to face4 ,for you1 to know ,god even as you are known by ,him will not be a terror1 but a glory and a joy4 ,you are in sympathy with ,him4 ,you have been reconciled to ,him by the blood of atonement1 and brought into harmony with ,him by the washing of regeneration4 ,for you1 as a believer in ,christ1 and a new man in ,christ ,jesus1 all is well4 ,the more you see of ,god1 the more you desire to see of ,him2 and the more you know of ,him1 the more you long to know4 ,but if this is not your experience1 then all is ill with you4 ,we say experience4 ,you must feel in this manner toward ,god1 or you cannot endure the vision which is surely to break upon you after death4 ,you must love this holiness without which no man can see the ,lord4 ,you may approve of it1 you may praise it in other men1 but if there is no affectionate going out of your own heart toward1 the holy ,god1 you are not in right relations to ,him4 ,you have the carnal mind1 and that is enmity1 and enmity is misery4 ,look these facts in the eye1 and act accordingly4 ,make the tree good1 and his fruit good1 says ,christ4 ,begin at the beginning4 ,aim at nothing less than a change of disposition and affections4 ,ask for nothing less1 seek for nothing less4 ,if you become inwardly holy as ,god is holy2 if you become a friend of ,god1 reconciled to ,him by the blood of ,christ2 then your nature will be like ,god's nature1 your character like ,god's character4 ,then1 when you shall know ,god even as you are known by ,him1 and shall see ,him as ,he is1 the knowledge and the vision will be everlasting joy4 ,footnote #a3 ,she has seen the mystery hid1 ,under ,egypt's pyramid2 ,by those eyelids pale and close1 ,now she knows what ,rhamses knows4 ,,elizabeth ,,browning3 ,on the ,death of a ,child4 ,,the ,,future ,,state ,a ,,self-,,conscious ,,state4 #a ,,cor4 xiii4 #ab4--,now ,i know in part2 but then shall ,i know even as also ,i am known4 ,in the preceding discourse1 we found in these words the principal characteristic of our future existence4 ,the world beyond the tomb is a world of clear and conscious knowledge4 ,when1 at death1 ,i shall leave this region of time and sense and enter eternity1 my knowledge1 the apostle ,paul tells me instead of being diminished or extinguished by the dissolution1 of the body1 will not only be continued to me1 but will be even greater and clearer than before4 ,he assures me that the kind and style of my cognition will be like that of ,god himself4 ,i am to know as ,i am known4 ,my intelligence will coincide with that of ,deity4 ,by this we are not to understand that the creature's knowledge1 in the future state1 will be as extensive as that of the ,omniscient ,one2 or that it will be as profound and exhaustive as ,his4 ,the infinitude of things can be known only by the ,infinite ,mind2 and the creature will forever be making new acquisitions1 and never reaching the final limit of truths and facts4 ,but upon certain moral subjects1 the perception of the creature will be like that of his ,maker and ,judge1 so far as the kind or quality of the apprehension is concerned4 ,every man in eternity1 for illustration1 will see sin to be an odious and abominable thing1 contrary to the holy nature of ,god1 and awakening in that nature the most holy and awful displeasure4 ,his knowledge upon this subject will be so identical with that of ,god1 that he will be unable to palliate or excuse his transgressions1 as he does in this world4 ,he will see them precisely as ,god sees them4 ,he must know them as ,god knows them1 because he will know even as he is known4 ,,ii4 ,in continuing the examination of this solemn subject1 we remark as a second and further characteristic of the knowledge which every man will possess in eternity1 that he will know himself even as he is known by ,god4 ,his knowledge of ,god we have found to be direct1 accurate1 and unceasing2 his knowledge of his own heart will be so likewise4 ,this follows from the relation of the two species of cognition to each other4 ,the true knowledge of ,god involves the true knowledge of self4 ,the instant that any one obtains a clear view of the holy nature of his ,maker1 he obtains a clear view of his own sinful nature4 ,philosophers tell us1 that our consciousness of ,god and our consciousness of self mutually involve and imply each other#a2 in other words1 that we cannot know ,god without immediately knowing ourselves1 any more than we can know light without knowing darkness1 any more than we can have the idea of right without having the idea of wrong4 ,and it is certainly true that so soon as any being can intelligently say1 ,god is holy1 he can and must say1 ,i am holy1 or1 ,i am unholy1 as the fact may be4 ,indeed1 the only way in which man can truly know himself is to contrast himself with his ,maker2 and the most exhaustive self-knowledge and self-consciousness is to be found1 not in the schools of secular philosophy but1 in the searchings of the ,christian heart1--in the ,confessions of ,augustine2 in the labyrinthine windings of ,edwards ,on the ,affections4 ,hence the frequent exhortations in the ,bible to look at the character of ,god1 in order that we may know ourselves and be abased by the contrast4 ,in eternity1 therefore1 if we must have a clear and constant perception of ,god's character1 we must necessarily have a distinct and unvarying knowledge of our own4 ,it is not so here4 ,here in this world1 man knows himself but in part4 ,even when he endeavors to look within1 prejudice and passion often affect his judgment2 but more often1 the fear of what he shall discover in the secret places of his soul deters him from making the attempt at self-examination4 ,for it is a surprising truth that the transgressor dares not bring out into the light that which is most truly his own1 that which he himself has originated1 and which he loves and cherishes with all his strength and might4 ,he is afraid of his own heart6 ,even when ,god forces the vision of it upon him1 he would shut his eyes2 or if this be not possible1 he would look through distorting media and see it with a false form and coloring4 ,but 'tis not so above2 ,there is no shuffling2 there the action lies ,in his true nature3 and we ourselves compelled1 ,even to the teeth and forehead of our faults1 ,to give in evidence4#b ,the spirit that has come into the immediate presence of ,god1 and beholds ,him face to face1 cannot deceive ,him1 and therefore cannot deceive itself4 ,it cannot remain ignorant of ,god's character any longer1 and therefore cannot remain ignorant of its own4 ,we do not sufficiently consider and ponder the elements of anguish that are sleeping in the fact that in eternity a sinner must know ,god's character1 and therefore must know his own4 ,it is owing to their neglect of such subjects1 that mankind so little understand what an awful power there is in the distinct perception of the ,divine purity1 and the allied consciousness of sin4 ,lord ,bacon tells us that the knowledge acquired in the schools is power2 but it is weakness itself1 if compared with that form and species of cognition which is given to the mind of man by the workings of conscience in the light of the ,divine countenance4 ,if a transgressor knew clearly what disclosures of ,god's immaculateness and of his own character must be made to him in eternity1 he would fear them1 if unprepared1 far more than physical sufferings4 ,if he understood what capabilities for distress the rational spirit possesses in its own mysterious constitution1 if when brought into contact with the ,divine purity it has no sympathy with it1 but on the contrary an intense hostility2 if he knew how violent will be the antagonism between ,god's holiness and man's sin when1 the two are finally brought together1 the assertion that there is no external source of anguish in hell1 even if it were true1 would afford him no relief4 ,whoever goes into the presence of ,god with a corrupt heart carries thither a source of sorrow that is inexhaustible1 simply because that corrupt heart must be distinctly known1 and perpetually understood by its possessor1 in that ,presence4 ,the thoughtless man may never know while upon earth1 even in part1 the depth and the bitterness of this fountain1--he may go through this life for the most part self-ignorant and undistressed1--but he must know in that other1 final1 world the immense fulness of its woe1 as it unceasingly wells up into everlasting death4 ,one theory of future punishment is1 that our globe will become a penal orb of fire1 and the wicked with material bodies1 miraculously preserved by ,omnipotence1 will burn forever in it4 ,but what is this compared with the suffering soul8 ,the spirit itself1 thus alienated from ,god's purity and conscious that it is1 wicked1 and knowing that it is wicked1 becomes an orb of fire4 ,it is1--says ,john ,howe1 who was no fanatic1 but one of the most thoughtful and philosophic of ,christians1--it is a throwing hell into hell1 when a wicked man comes to hell2 for he was his own hell before4#c ,it must ever be borne in mind1 that the principal source and seat of future torment will be the sinner's sin4 ,we must never harbor the thought1 or fall into the notion1 that the retributions of eternity are a wanton and arbitrary infliction upon the part of ,god4 ,some men seem to suppose1 or at any rate they represent1 that the woes of hell are a species of undeserved suffering2 that ,god1 having certain helpless and innocent creatures in ,his power1 visits them with wrath1 in the exercise of an arbitrary sovereignty4 ,but this is not ,christ's doctrine of endless punishment4 ,there is no suffering inflicted1 here or hereafter1 upon any thing but sin1--unrepented1 incorrigible sin1--and if you will show me a sinless creature1 ,i will show you one who will never feel the least twinge or pang through all eternity4 ,death is the wages of sin4 ,the substance of the wretchedness of the lost will issue right out of their own character4 ,they will see their own wickedness steadily and clearly1 and this will make them miserable4 ,it will be the carrying out of the same principle that operates here in time1 and in our own daily experience4 ,suppose that by some method1 all the sin of my heart1 and all the sins of my outward conduct1 were made clear to my own view2 suppose that for four-and-twenty hours continuously ,i were compelled to look at my wickedness intently1 just as ,i would look intently into a burning furnace of fire2 suppose that for this length of time ,i should see nothing1 and hear nothing1 and experience nothing of the world1 about me1 but should be absorbed in the vision of my own disobedience of ,god's good law1 think you that 7setting aside the work of ,christ7 ,i should be happy8 ,on the contrary1 should ,i not be the most wretched of mortals8 ,would not this self-knowledge be pure living torment8 ,and yet the misery springs entirely out of the sin4 ,there is nothing arbitrary or wanton in the suffering4 ,it is not brought in upon me from the outside4 ,it comes out of myself4 ,and1 while ,i was writhing under the sense and power of my transgressions1 would you mock me1 by telling me that ,i was a poor innocent struggling in the hands of omnipotent malice2 that the suffering was unjust1 and that if there were any justice in the universe1 ,i should be delivered from it8 ,no1 we shall suffer in the future world only as we are sinners1 and because we are sinners4 ,there will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth1 only because the sinful creature will be compelled to look at himself2 to know his sin in the same manner that it is known by the ,infinite ,intelligence4 ,and is there any injustice in this8 ,if a sinful being cannot bear the sight of himself1 would you have the holy ,deity step in between him and his sins1 so that he should not see them1 and so that he might be happy in them8 ,away with such folly and such wickedness4 ,for it is the height of wickedness to desire that some method should be invented1 and introduced into the universe of ,god1 whereby the wages of sin shall be life and joy2 whereby a sinner can look into his own wicked heart and be happy4 ,,iii4 ,a third characteristic of the knowledge which every man will possess in eternity will be a clear understanding of the nature and wants of the soul4 ,man has that in his constitution1 which needs ,god1 and which cannot be at rest except in ,god4 ,a state of sin is a state of alienation and separation from the ,creator4 ,it is1 consequently1 in its intrinsic nature1 a state of restlessness and dissatisfaction4 ,there is no peace saith my ,god to the wicked2 the wicked are like the troubled sea4 ,in order to know this1 it is only necessary to bring an apostate creature1 like man1 to a consciousness of the original requirements and necessities of his being4 ,but upon this subject1 man while upon earth most certainly knows only in part4 ,most men are wholly ignorant of the constitutional needs of a rational spirit1 and are not aware that it is as impossible for the creature1 when in eternity1 to live happily out of ,god1 as it is for the body to live at all in the element of fire4 ,most men1 while here upon earth1 do not know upon this subject as they are known4 ,god knows that the whole created universe cannot satisfy the desires of an immortal being1 but impenitent men do not know this fact with a clear perception1 and they will not until they die and go into another world4 ,and the reason is this4 ,so long as the worldly natural man lives upon earth1 he can find a sort of substitute for ,god4 ,he has a capacity for loving1 and he satisfies it to a certain degree by loving himself2 by loving fame1 wealth1 pleasure1 or some form of creature-good4 ,he has a capacity for thinking1 and he gratifies it in a certain manner by pondering the thoughts of other minds1 or by original speculations of his own4 ,and so we might go through with the list of man's capacities1 and we should find1 that he contrives1 while here upon earth1 to meet these appetences of his nature1 after a sort1 by the objects of time and sense1 and to give his soul a species of satisfaction short of ,god1 and away from ,god4 ,fame1 wealth1 and pleasure2 the lust of the flesh1 the lust of the eye1 and the pride of life2 become a substitute for the ,creator1 in his search1 for happiness4 ,as a consequence1 the unregenerate man knows but in part respecting the primitive and constitutional necessities of his being4 ,he is feeding them with a false and unhealthy food1 and in this way manages to stifle for a season their true and deep cravings4 ,but this cannot last forever4 ,when a man dies and goes into eternity1 he takes nothing with him but his character and his moral affinities4 ,we brought nothing into this world1 and it is certain that we can carry nothing out4 ,the original requirements and necessities of his soul are not destroyed by death1 but the earthly objects by which he sought to meet them1 and by which he did meet them after a sort1 are totally destroyed4 ,he still has a capacity for loving2 but in eternity where is the fame1 the wealth1 the pleasure upon which he has hitherto expended it8 ,he still has a capacity for thinking2 but where are the farm1 the merchandise1 the libraries1 the works of art1 the human literatures1 and the human philosophies1 upon which he has heretofore employed it8 ,the instant you cut off a creature who seeks his good in the world1 and not in ,god1 from intercourse with the world1 you cause him to know even as he is known respecting the true and proper portion of his soul4 ,deprived of his accustomed and his false object of love and support1 he immediately begins to reach out in all directions for something to love1 something to think of1 something to trust in1 and finds nothing4 ,like that insect in our gardens which spins a slender thread by which to guide itself in its meanderings1 and which when the clew is cut thrusts out its head in every direction1 but does not venture to advance1 the human creature who has suddenly been cut off by death from his accustomed objects of support and pleasure stretches out in every direction for something to take their place4 ,and the misery of his case is1 that when in his reachings out he sees ,god1 or comes into contact with ,god1 he starts back like the little insect when you present a coal of fire to it4 ,he needs as much as ever1 to love some being or some thing4 ,but he has no heart to love ,god and there is no other being and no other thing in eternity to love4 ,he needs1 as much as ever1 to think of some object or some subject4 ,but to think of ,god is a distress to him2 to reflect upon divine and holy things is weariness and woe4 ,he is a carnal1 earthly-minded man1 and therefore cannot find enjoyment in such meditations4 ,before he can take relish in such objects and such thinking1 he must be born again2 he must become a new creature4 ,but there is no new-birth of the soul in eternity4 ,the disposition and character which a man takes along with him when he dies remains eternally unchanged4 ,the constitutional wants still continue4 ,the man must love1 and must think4 ,but the only object in eternity upon which such capability can be expended is ,god2 and the carnal mind1 saith the ,scripture1 is enmity against ,god1 and is not subject to the law of ,god1 neither indeed can be4 ,now1 whatever may be the course of a man in this life2 whether he becomes aware of these created imperatives1 and constitutional necessities of his immortal spirit or not2 whether he hears its reproaches and rebukes because he is feeding them with the husks of earth1 instead of the bread of heaven1 or not2 it is certain that in the eternal world they will be continually awake and perpetually heard4 ,for that spiritual world will be fitted up for nothing but a rational spirit4 ,there will be nothing material1 nothing like earth1 in its arrangements4 ,flesh and blood cannot inherit either the kingdom of ,god or the kingdom of ,satan4 ,the enjoyments and occupations of this sensuous and material state will be found neither in heaven nor in hell4 ,eternity is a spiritual region1 and all its objects1 and all its provisions1 will have reference solely to the original capacities and destination of a spiritual creature4 ,they will1 therefore1 all be terribly reminiscent of apostasy2 only serving to remind the soul of what it was originally designed to be1 and of what it has now lost by worshipping and loving the creature more than the ,creator4 ,how wretched then must man be1 when1 with the awakening of this restlessness and dissatisfaction of an immortal spirit1 and with the bright pattern of what he ought to be continually before his eye1 there is united an intensity of self-love and enmity toward ,god1 that drives him anywhere and everywhere but to his ,maker1 for peace and comfort4 ,how full of woe must the lost creature be1 when his immortal necessities are awakened and demand their proper food1 but cannot obtain it1 because of the aversion of the heart toward the only ,being who can satisfy them4 ,for1 the same hatred of holiness1 and disinclination toward spiritual things1 which prevents a man from choosing ,god for his portion here1 will prevent him hereafter4 ,it is the bold fancy of an imaginative thinker1#d that the material forces which lie beneath external nature are conscious of being bound down and confined under the crust of the earth1 like the giant ,enceladus under ,mt4 ,etna1 and that there are times when they roar from the depths where they are in bondage1 and call aloud for freedom2 when they rise in their might1 and manifest themselves in the earthquake and the volcano4 ,it will be a more fearful and terrific struggle1 when the powers of an apostate being are roused in eternity2 when the then eternal sin and guilt has its hour of triumph1 and the eternal reason and conscience have their hour of judgment and remorse2 when the inner world of man's spirit1 by this schism and antagonism within it1 has a devastation and a ruin spread over it more awful than that of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions4 ,we have thus1 in this and the preceding discourse1 considered the kind and quality of that knowledge which every human being will possess in the eternal world4 ,he will know ,god1 and he will know himself1 with a distinct1 and accurate1 and unceasing intelligence like that of the ,deity4 ,it is one of the most solemn and startling themes that can be presented to the human mind4 ,we have not been occupied with what will be around a creature1 what will be outside of a man1 in the life to come2 but we have been examining what will be within him4 ,we have been considering what he will think of beyond the tomb2 what his own feelings will be when he meets ,god face to face4 ,but a man's immediate consciousness determines his happiness or his misery4 ,as a man thinketh in his heart so is he4 ,we must not delude ourselves with the notion1 that the mere arrangements and circumstances of the spiritual world will decide our weal or our woe1 irrespective of the tenor of our thoughts and affections2 that if we are only placed in pleasant gardens or in golden streets1 all will be well4 ,as a man thinketh in his heart1 so will he be in his experience4 ,this vision of ,god1 and of our own hearts1 will be either the substance of heaven1 or the substance of hell4 ,the great future is a world of open vision4 ,now1 we see through a glass darkly1 but then1 face to face4 ,the vision for every human creature will be beatific1 if he is prepared for it2 will be terrific1 if he is unprepared4 ,does not the subject1 then1 speak with solemn warning to every one who knows that he is not prepared for the coming revelations that will be made to him when he dies2 for this clear and accurate knowledge of ,god1 and of his own character8 ,do you believe that there is an eternal world1 and that the general features of this mode of existence have been scripturally depicted8 ,do you suppose that your present knowledge of the holiness of ,god1 and of your own sinful nature1 is equal to what it will be when your spirit returns to ,god who gave it8 ,are you prepared for the impending and inevitable disclosures and revelations of the day of judgment8 ,do you believe that ,jesus ,christ is the ,eternal ,son of ,god1 who came forth from eternity eighteen centuries since1 and went back into eternity1 leaving upon record for human instruction an unexaggerated description of that invisible world1 founded upon the personal knowledge of an eye-witness8 ,whoever thus believes1 concerning the record which ,christ and ,his apostles have left for the information of dim-eyed mortals who see only through a glass darkly1 and who know only in part1 ought immediately to adopt their descriptions and ponder them long and well4 ,we have already observed1 that the great reason why the future state exerts so little influence over worldly men lies in the fact1 that they do not bring it into distinct view4 ,they live absorbed in the interests and occupations of earth1 and their future abode throws in upon them none of its solemn shadows and warnings4 ,a clear luminous perception of the nature and characteristics of that invisible world which is soon to receive them1 would make them thoughtful and anxious for their souls2 for they would become aware of their utter unfitness1 their entire lack of preparation1 to see ,god face to face4 ,still1 live and act as sinful men may1 eternity is over and around them all1 even as the firmament is bent over the globe4 ,if theirs were a penitent and a believing eye1 they would look up with adoration into its serene depths1 and joyfully behold the soft gleam of its stars1 and it would send down upon them the sweet influences of its constellations4 ,they may shut their eyes upon all this glory1 and feel only earthly influences1 and continue to be of the earth1 earthy4 ,but there is a time coming when they cannot but look at eternity2 when this firmament will throw them into consternation by the livid glare of its lightnings1 and will compel them to hear the quick rattle and peal of its thunder2 when it will not afford them a vision of glory and joy1 as it will the redeemed and the holy1 but one of despair and destruction4 ,there is only one shelter from this storm2 there is only one covert from this tempest4 ,he1 and only he1 who trusts in ,christ's blood of atonement1 will be able to look into the holy countenance of ,god1 and upon the dread record of his own sins1 without either trembling or despair4 ,the merits and righteousness of ,christ so clothe the guilty soul1 that it can endure the otherwise intolerable brightness of ,god's pure throne and presence4 ,jesus6 ,thy blood and righteousness1 ,my beauty are1 my glorious dress2 ,mid flaming worlds1 in these arrayed1 ,with joy shall ,i lift up my head4 ,amidst those great visions that are to dawn upon every human creature1 those souls will be in perfect peace who trust in the ,great ,propitiation4 ,in those great tempests that are to shake down the earth and the sky1 those hearts will be calm and happy who are hid in the clefts of the ,rock of ,ages4 ,flee then to ,christ1 ye prisoners of hope4 ,make preparation to know even as you are known1 by repentance toward ,god and faith in the ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,a voice comes to you out of the cloud1 saying1 ,this is my beloved ,son1 in whom ,i am well pleased2 hear ye ,him4 ,remember1 and forget not1 that this knowledge of ,god and your own heart is inevitable4 ,at death1 it will all of it flash upon the soul like lightning at midnight4 ,it will fill the whole horizon of your being full of light4 ,if you are in ,christ ,jesus1 the light will not harm you4 ,but if you are out of ,christ1 it will blast you4 ,no sinful mortal can endure such a vision an instant1 except as he is sprinkled with atoning blood1 and clothed in the righteousness of the great ,substitute and ,surety for guilty man4 ,flee then to ,,christ1 and so be prepared to know ,god and your own heart1 even as you are known4 ,footnote #a3 ,noverim me1 noverim ,te4--,,bernard4 ,footnote #b3 ,shakespeare3 ,hamlet1 ,act ,,iii41 ,sc4 #d4 ,footnote #c3 ,howe3 ,on ,regeneration4 ,sermon xliii4 ,footnote #d3 ,bookschammer3 ,on the ,will4 ,,god',s ,,exhaustive ,,knowledge ,,of ,,man4 ,,psalm cxxxix4 ,i-#f4--,o ,lord1 thou hast searched me1 and known me4 ,thou knowest my down-sitting and mine uprising1 thou understandest my thought afar off4 ,thou compassest my path and my lying down1 and art acquainted with1 all my ways4 ,for there is not a word in my tongue1 but1 lo1 ,o ,lord1 thou knowest it altogether4 ,thou1 hast beset me behind and before1 and laid thine hand upon me4 ,such knowledge is too wonderful for me2 it is high1 ,i cannot attain unto it4 ,one of the most remarkable characteristics of a rational being is the power of self-inspection4 ,the brute creation possesses many attributes that are common to human nature1 but it has no faculty that bears even the remotest resemblance to that of self-examination4 ,instinctive action1 undoubtedly1 approaches the nearest of any to human action4 ,that wonderful power by which the bee builds up a structure that is not exceeded in accuracy1 and regularity1 and economy of space1 by the best geometry of ,athens or of ,rome2 by which the beaver1 after having chosen the very best possible location for it on the stream1 constructs a dam that outlasts the work of the human engineer2 by which the faithful dog contrives to perform many acts of affection1 in spite of obstacles1 and in the face of unexpected discouragements1--the instinct1 we say1 of the brute creation1 as exhibited in a remarkably wide range of action and contrivance1 and in a very varied and oftentimes perplexing conjuncture of circumstances1 seems to bring man and beast very near to each other1 and to furnish some ground for the theory of the materialist1 that there is no essential difference between the two species of existences4 ,but when we pass beyond the mere power of acting1 to the additional power of surveying or inspecting an act1 and of forming an estimate of its relations to moral law1 we find a faculty in man that makes him differ in kind from the brute4 ,no brute animal1 however high up the scale1 however ingenious and sagacious he may be1 can ever look back and think of what he has done1 his thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing him4 ,the mere power of performance1 is1 after all1 not the highest power4 ,it is the superadded power of calmly looking over the performance1 and seeing what has been done1 that marks the higher agency1 and denotes a loftier order of existence than that of the animal or of material nature4 ,if the mere ability to work with energy1 and produce results1 constituted the highest species of power1 the force of gravitation would be the loftiest energy in the universe4 ,its range of execution is wider than that of any other created principle4 ,but it is one of the lower and least important of agencies1 because it is blind4 ,it is destitute of the power of self-inspection4 ,it does not know what it does1 or why4 ,man1 says ,pascal1#a is but a reed1 and the weakest in all nature2 yet he is a reed that thinks4 ,the whole material universe does not need to arm itself1 in order to crush him4 ,a vapor1 a drop of water is enough to destroy him4 ,but if the whole universe of matter should combine to crush him1 man would be more noble than that which destroyed him4 ,for he would be conscious that he was dying1 while1 of the advantage which the material universe had obtained over him1 that universe would know nothing4 ,the action of a little child is altogether nothing and vanity compared with the energy of the earthquake or the lightning1 so far as the exhibition of force and the mere power to act is concerned2 but1 on the other hand1 it is more solemn than centuries of merely natural processes1 and more momentous than all the material phenomena that have ever filled the celestial spaces1 when we remember that it is the act of a thinking agent1 and a self-conscious creature4 ,the power to survey the act1 when united with the power to act1 sets mind infinitely above matter1 and places the action of instinct1 wonderful as it is1 infinitely below the action of self-consciousness4 ,the proud words of one of the characters in the old drama are strictly true3 ,i am a nobler substance than the stars1 ,or are they better since they are bigger8 ,i have a will and faculties of choice1 ,to do or not to do2 and reason why ,i do or not do this3 the stars have none4 ,they know not why they shine1 more than this taper1 ,nor how they1 work1 nor what4#b ,but this characteristic of a rational being1 though thus distinctive and common to every man that lives1 is exceedingly marvellous4 ,like the air we breathe1 like the light we see1 it involves a mystery that no man has ever solved4 ,self-consciousness has been the problem and the thorn of the philosophic mind in all ages2 and the mystery is not yet unravelled4 ,is not that a wonderful process by which a man knows1 not some other thing but1 himself8 ,is not that a strange act by which he1 for a time1 duplicates his own unity1 and sets himself to look at himself8 ,all other acts of consciousness are comparatively plain and explicable4 ,when we look at an object other than ourselves1--when we behold a tree or the sky1--the act of knowledge is much more simple and easy to be explained4 ,for then there is something outside of us1 and in front of us1 and another thing than we are1 at which we look1 and which we behold4 ,but in this act of self-inspection there is no second thing1 external1 and extant to us1 which we contemplate4 ,that which is seen is one and the same identical object with that which sees4 ,the act of knowledge which in all other instances requires the existence of two things1--a thing to be known and a thing to know1--in this instance is performed with only one4 ,it is the individual soul that sees1 and it is that very same individual soul that is seen4 ,it is the individual man that knows1 and it is that very identical man that is known4 ,the eyeball looks at the eyeball4 ,and when this power of self-inspection is connected with the power of memory1 the mystery of human existence becomes yet more complicated1 and its explanation still more baffling4 ,is it not exceedingly wonderful1 that we are able to re-exhibit our own thoughts and feelings2 that we can call back what has gone clear by in our experience1 and steadily look at it once more8 ,is it not a mystery that we can summon before our mind's eye feelings1 purposes1 desires1 and thoughts1 which occurred in the soul long years ago1 and which1 perhaps1 until this moment1 we have not thought of for years8 ,is it not a marvel1 that they come up with all the vividness with which they first took origin in our experience1 and that the lapse of time has deprived them of none of their first outlines or colors8 ,is it not strange1 that we can recall that one particular feeling of hatred toward a fellow-man which1 rankled in the heart twenty years ago2 that we can now eye it1 and see it as plainly as if it were still throbbing within us2 that we can feel guilty for it once more1 as if we were still cherishing it8 ,if it were not so common1 would it not be surprising1 that we can reflect upon acts of disobedience toward ,god which we committed in the days of childhood1 and far back in the dim twilights of moral agency2 that we can re-act them1 as it were1 in our memory1 and fill ourselves again with the shame and distress that attended their original commission8 ,is it not one of those mysteries which overhang human existence1 and from which that of the brute is wholly free1 that man can live his life1 and act his agency1 over1 and over1 and over again1 indefinitely and forever1 in his self-consciousness2 that he can cause all his deeds to pass and re-pass before his self-reflection1 and be filled through and through with the agony of self-knowledge8 ,truly such knowledge is too wonderful for me2 it is high1 ,i cannot attain unto it4 ,whither shall ,i go from my own spirit1 and whither shall ,i flee from my own presence4 ,if ,i ascend up into heaven1 it is there looking at me4 ,if ,i make my bed in hell1 behold it is there torturing me4 ,if ,i take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea1 even there must ,i know myself1 and acquit or condemn myself4 ,but if that knowledge whereby man knows himself is mysterious1 then certainly that whereby ,god knows him is far more so4 ,that act whereby another being knows my secret thoughts1 and inmost feelings1 is most certainly inexplicable4 ,that cognition whereby another person understands what takes place in the corners of my heart1 and sees the minutest movements of my spirit1 is surely high2 most surely ,i cannot attain unto it4 ,and yet1 it is a truth of revelation that ,god searches the heart of man2 that ,he knows his down-sitting and uprising1 and understands his thought afar off2 that ,he compasses his path and his lying-down1 and is acquainted with all his ways4 ,and yet1 it is a deduction of reason1 also1 that because ,god is the creator of the human mind1 ,he must perfectly understand its secret agencies2 that ,he in whose ,essence man lives and moves and has his being1 must behold every motion1 and feel every stirring of the human spirit4 ,he that planted the ear1 shall ,he not hear8 ,he that formed the eye1 shall ,he not see8 ,let us1 then1 ponder the fact of ,god's exhaustive knowledge of man's soul1 that we may realize it1 and thereby come under its solemn power and impression4 ,for all religion1 all holy and reverential fear of ,god1 rises and sets1 as in an atmosphere1 in the thought3 ,thou ,god seest me4 ,i4 ,in analyzing and estimating the ,divine knowledge of the human soul1 we find1 in the first place1 that ,god accurately and exhaustively knows all that man knows of himself4 ,every man in a ,christian land1 who is in the habit of frequenting the house of ,god1 possesses more or less of that self-knowledge of which we have spoken4 ,he thinks of the moral character of some of his own thoughts4 ,he reflects upon the moral quality of some of his own feelings4 ,he considers the ultimate tendency of some of his own actions4 ,in other words1 there is a part of his inward and his outward life with which he is uncommonly well acquainted2 of which he has a distinct perception4 ,there are some thoughts of his mind1 at which he blushes at the very time of their origin1 because he is vividly aware what they are1 and what they mean4 ,there are some emotions of his heart1 at which he trembles and recoils at the very moment of their uprising1 because he perceives clearly that they involve a very malignant depravity4 ,there are some actings of his will1 of whose wickedness he is painfully conscious at the very instant of their rush and movement4 ,we are not called upon1 here1 to say how many of a man's thoughts1 feelings1 and determinations1 are thus subjected to his self-inspection at the very time of their origin1 and are known in the clear light of self-knowledge4 ,we are not concerned1 at this point1 with the amount of this man's self-inspection and self-knowledge4 ,we are only saying that there is some experience such as this in his personal history1 and that he does know something of himself1 at the very time of action1 with a clearness and a distinctness that makes him start1 or blush1 or fear4 ,now we say1 that in reference to all this intimate self-knowledge1 all this best part of a man's information respecting himself1 he is not superior to ,god4 ,he may be certain that in no particular does he know more of himself than the ,searcher of hearts knows4 ,he may be an uncommonly thoughtful person1 and little of what is done within his soul may escape his notice1--nay1 we will make the extreme supposition that he arrests every thought as it rises1 and looks at it1 that he analyzes every sentiment as it swells his heart1 that he scrutinizes every purpose as it determines his will1--even if he should have such a thorough and profound self-knowledge as this1 ,god knows him equally profoundly1 and equally thoroughly4 ,nay more1 this process of self-inspection may go on indefinitely1 and the man may grow more and more thoughtful1 and obtain an everlastingly augmenting knowledge of what he is and what he does1 so that it shall seem to him that he is going down so far along that path which the vulture's eye hath not seen1 is penetrating so deeply into those dim and shadowy regions of consciousness where the external life takes its very first start1 as to be beyond the reach of any eye1 and the ken of any intelligence but his own1 and then he may be sure that ,god understands the thought that is afar off1 and deep down1 and that at this lowest range and plane in his experience ,he besets him behind and before4 ,o1 this man1 like the most of mankind1 may be an unreflecting person4 ,then1 in this case1 thoughts1 feelings1 and purposes are continually rising up within his soul like the clouds and exhalations of an evaporating deluge1 and at the time of their rise he subjects them to no scrutiny of conscience1 and is not pained in the least by their moral character and significance4 ,he lacks self-knowledge altogether1 at these points in his history4 ,but1 notice that the fact that he is not self-inspecting at these points cannot destroy the fact that he is acting at them4 ,the fact that he is not a spectator of his own transgression1 does not alter the fact that he is the author of it4 ,if this man1 for instance1 thinks over his worldly affairs on ,god's holy day1 and perhaps in ,god's holy house1 with such an absorption and such a pleasure that he entirely drowns the voice of conscience while he is so doing1 and self-inspection is banished for the time1 it will not do for him to plead this absence of a distinct and painful consciousness of what his mind was actually doing in the house of ,god1 and upon the ,lord's day1 as the palliative and excuse of his wrong thoughts4 ,if this man1 again1 indulges in an envious or a sensual emotion1 with such an energy and entireness1 as for the time being to preclude all action of the higher powers of reason and self-reflection1 so that for the time being he is not in the least troubled by a sense of his wickedness1 it will be no excuse for him at the eternal bar1 that he was not thinking of his envy or his lust at the time when he felt it4 ,and therefore it is1 that accountableness covers the whole field of human agency1 and ,god holds us responsible for our thoughtless sin1 as well as for our deliberate transgression4 ,in the instance1 then1 of the thoughtless man2 in the case where there is little or no self-examination2 ,god unquestionably knows the man as well as the man knows himself4 ,the ,omniscient ,one is certainly possessed of an amount of knowledge equal to that small modicum which is all that a rational and immortal soul can boast of in reference to itself4 ,but the vast majority of mankind fall into this class4 ,the self-examiners are very few1 in comparison with the millions who possess the power to look into their hearts1 but who rarely or never do so4 ,the great ,god our ,judge1 then1 surely knows the mass of men1 in their down-sitting and uprising1 with a knowledge that is equal to their own4 ,and thus do we establish our first position1 that ,god knows all that the man knows2 ,god's knowledge is equal to the very best part of man's knowledge4 ,in concluding this part of the discussion1 we turn to consider some practical lessons suggested by it4 #a4 ,in the first place1 the subject reminds us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made4 ,when we take a solar microscope and examine even the commonest object--a bit of sand1 or a hair of our heads-we are amazed at the revelation that is made to us4 ,we had no previous conception of the wonders that are contained in the structure of even such ordinary things as these4 ,but1 if we should obtain a corresponding view of our own mental and moral structure2 if we could subject our immortal natures to a microscopic self-examination2 we should not only be surprised1 but we should be terrified4 ,this explains1 in part1 the consternation with which a criminal is filled1 as soon as he begins to understand the nature of his crime4 ,his wicked act is perceived in its relation to his own mental powers and faculties4 ,he knows1 now1 what a hazardous thing it is to possess a free-will2 what an awful thing it is to own a conscience4 ,he feels1 as he never did before1 that he is fearfully and wonderfully made1 and cries out3 ,o that ,i had never been born6 ,o that ,i had never been created a responsible being6 these terrible faculties of reason1 and will1 and conscience1 are too heavy for me to wield2 would that ,i had been created a worm1 and no man1 then1 ,i should not have incurred the hazards under which ,i have sinned and ruined myself4 ,the constitution of the human soul is indeed a wonderful one2 and such a meditation as that which we have just devoted to its functions of self-examination and memory1 brief though it be1 is enough to convince us of it4 ,and remember1 that this constitution is not peculiar to you and to me4 ,it belongs to every human creature on the globe4 ,the imbruted pagan in the fiery centre of ,africa1 who never saw a ,bible1 or heard of the ,redeemer2 the equally imbruted man1 woman1 or child1 who dwells in the slime of our own civilization1 not a mile from where we sit1 and hear the tidings of mercy2 the filthy savage1 and the yet filthier profligate1 are both of them alike with ourselves possessed of these awful powers of self-knowledge and of memory4 ,think of this1 ye earnest and faithful laborers in the vineyard of the ,lord4 ,there is not a child that you allure into your ,sabbath ,schools1 and your ,mission ,schools1 that is not fearfully and wonderfully made2 and whose marvellous powers you are doing much to render to their possessor a blessing1 instead of a curse4 ,when ,sir ,humphrey ,davy1 in answer to an inquiry that had been made of him respecting the number and series of his discoveries in chemistry1 had gone through with the list1 he added3 ,but the greatest of my discoveries is ,michael ,faraday4 ,this ,michael ,faraday was a poor boy employed in the menial services of the laboratory where ,davy made those wonderful discoveries by which he revolutionized the science of chemistry1 and whose chemical genius he detected1 elicited1 and encouraged1 until he finally took the place of his teacher and patron1 and acquired a name that is now one of the influences of ,england4 ,well might he say3 ,my greatest discovery was when ,i detected the wonderful powers of ,michael ,faraday4 ,and never will you make a greater and more beneficent discovery1 than when1 under the thick scurf of pauperism and vice1 you detect the human soul that is fearfully and wonderfully made2 than when you elicit its powers of self-consciousness and of memory1 and1 instrumentally1 dedicate them to the service of ,christ and the ,church4 #b4 ,in the second place1 we see from the subject1 that thoughtlessness in sin will never excuse sin4 ,there are degrees in sin4 ,a deliberate1 self-conscious act of sin is the most intense form of moral evil4 ,when a man has an active conscience2 when he distinctly thinks over the nature of the transgression which he is tempted to commit2 when he sees clearly that it is a direct violation of a command of ,god which he is about to engage in2 when he says1 ,i know that this is positively forbidden by my ,maker and ,judge1 but ,i will do it1--we have an instance of the most heaven-daring sin4 ,this is deliberate and wilful transgression4 ,the servant knows his lord's will and does it not1 and he shall be beaten with many stripes1 says ,christ4 ,but1 such sin as this is not the usual form4 ,most of human transgressions are not accompanied with such a distinct apprehension1 and such a deliberate determination4 ,the sin of ignorance and thoughtlessness is the species which is most common4 ,men1 generally1 do not first think of what they are about to do1 and then proceed to do it2 but they first proceed to do it1 and then think nothing at all about it4 ,but1 thoughtlessness will not excuse sin2 though1 it is a somewhat less extreme form of it1 than deliberate transgression4 ,under the ,levitical law1 the sin of ignorance1 as it was called1 was to be expiated by a somewhat different sacrifice from that offered for the wilful and deliberate sin2 but it must be expiated4 ,a victim must be offered for it4 ,it was guilt before ,god1 and needed atonement4 ,our ,lord1 in ,his prayer for ,his murderers1 said1 ,father forgive them1 for they know not what they do4 ,the act of crucifying the ,lord of glory was certainly a sin1 and one of an awful nature4 ,but the authors of it were not fully aware of its import4 ,they did not understand the dreadful significance of the crucifixion of the ,son of ,god1 as we now understand it1 in the light of eighteen centuries4 ,our ,lord alludes to this1 as a species of mitigation2 while yet ,he teaches1 by the very prayer which ,he puts up for them1 that this ignorance did not excuse ,his murderers4 ,he asks that they may be forgiven4 ,but where there is absolutely no sin there is no need of forgiveness4 ,it is one of our ,lord's assertions1 that it will be more tolerable for ,sodom and ,gomorrah1 in the day of judgment1 than it will be for those inhabitants of ,palestine who would not hear the words of ,his apostles1--because the sin of the former was less deliberate and wilful than that of the latter4 ,but ,he would not have us infer from this1 that ,sodom and ,gomorrah are not to be punished for sin4 ,and1 finally1 ,he sums up the whole doctrine upon this point1 in the declaration1 that he who knew his master's will and did it not shall be beaten with many stripes2 but he who knew not his master's will and did it not shall be beaten with few stripes4 ,the sin of thoughtlessness shall be beaten with fewer stripes than the sin of deliberation1--but it shall be beaten1 and therefore it is sin4 ,the almost universal indifference and thoughtlessness with which men live on in a worldly and selfish life1 will not excuse them in the day of accurate accounts4 ,and the reason is1 that they are capable of thinking upon the law of ,god2 of thinking upon their duties2 of thinking upon their sins4 ,they possess the wonderful faculties of self-inspection and memory1 and therefore they are capable of bringing their actions into light4 ,it is the command of ,god to every man1 and to every rational spirit everywhere1 to walk in the light1 and to be a child of the light4 ,we ought to examine ourselves2 to understand our ruling motives and abiding purposes2 to scrutinize our feelings and conduct4 ,but if we do little or nothing of this1 we must not expect that in the day of judgment we can plead our thoughtless ignorance of what we were1 and what we did1 here upon earth1 as an excuse for our disobedience4 ,god expects1 and demands1 that every one of ,his rational creatures should be all that he is capable of being4 ,he gave man wonderful faculties and endowments1--ten talents1 five talents1 two talents1--and ,he will require the whole original sum given1 together with a faithful use and improvement of it4 ,the very thoughtlessness then1 particularly under the ,gospel dispensation1--the very neglect and non-use of the power of self-inspection1--will go in to constitute a part of the sin that will be punished4 ,instead of being an excuse1 it will be an element of the condemnation itself4 #c4 ,in the third place1 even the sinner himself ought to rejoice in the fact that ,god is the ,searcher of the heart4 ,it is instinctive and natural1 that a transgressor should attempt to conceal his character from his ,maker2 but next to his sin itself1 it would be the greatest injury that he could do to himself1 should he succeed in his attempt4 ,even after the commission of sin1 there is every reason for desiring that ,god should compass our path and lying down1 and be acquainted with all our ways4 ,for1 ,he is the only being who can forgive sin2 the only one who can renew and sanctify the heart4 ,there is the same motive for having the disease of the soul understood by ,god1 that there is for having the disease of the body examined by a skilful physician4 ,nothing is gained1 but every thing is lost1 by ignorance4 ,the sinner1 therefore1 has the strongest of motives for rejoicing in the truth that ,god sees him4 ,it ought not to be an unwelcome fact even to him4 ,for how can his sin be pardoned1 unless it is clearly understood by the pardoning power8 ,how can his soul be purified from its inward corruption1 unless it is searched by the ,spirit of all holiness8 ,instead1 therefore1 of being repelled by such a solemn truth as that which we have been discussing1 even the natural man should be allured by it4 ,for it teaches him that there is help for him in ,god4 ,his own knowledge of his own heart1 as we have seen1 is very imperfect and very inadequate4 ,but the ,divine knowledge is thoroughly adequate4 ,he may1 therefore1 devolve his case with confidence upon the unerring ,one4 ,let him take words upon his lips1 and cry unto ,him3 ,search me1 ,o ,god1 and try me2 and see what evil ways there are in me1 and lead me in the way everlasting4 ,let him endeavor to come into possession of the ,divine knowledge4 ,there is no presumption in this4 ,god desires that he should know himself as ,he knows him2 that he should get possession of ,his views upon this point2 that he should see himself as ,he sees him4 ,one of the principal sins which ,god has to charge upon the sinner is1 that his apprehensions respecting his own character are in conflict with the ,divine4 ,nothing would more certainly meet the approbation of ,god1 than a renunciation of human estimates of human nature1 and the adoption of those contained in the inspired word4 ,endeavor1 therefore1 to obtain the very same knowledge of your heart which ,god ,himself possesses4 ,and in this endeavor1 ,he will assist you4 ,the influences of the ,holy ,spirit to enlighten are most positively promised and proffered4 ,therefore be not repelled by the truth2 but be drawn by it to a deeper1 truer knowledge of your heart4 ,lift up your soul in prayer1 and beseech ,god to impart to you a profound knowledge of yourself1 and then to sprinkle all your discovered guilt1 and all your undiscovered guilt1 with atoning blood4 ,this is salvation2 first to know yourself1 and then to know ,christ as your ,prophet1 ,priest1 and ,king4 ,footnote #a3 ,,pens,,es3 ,grandeur de l'homme1 #f4 ,ed4 ,wetstein4 ,footnote #b3 ,,chapman3 ,byron's ,conspiracy4 ,,god',s ,,exhaustive ,,knowledge ,,of ,,man4 99continued ,,psalm cxxxix4 #a--f4--,o ,lord1 thou hast searched me1 and known me4 ,thou knowest my down-sitting and mine uprising2 thou understandest my thought afar off4 ,thou compassest my path and my lying down1 and art acquainted with all my ways4 ,for there is not a word in my tongue1 but lo1 ,o ,lord1 thou knowest it altogether4 ,thou hast beset me behind and before1 and laid thy hand upon me4 ,such knowledge is too wonderful for me2 it is high1 ,i cannot attain unto it4 ,in the preceding discourse upon this text1 we directed attention to the fact that man is possessed of the power of self-knowledge1 and that he cannot ultimately escape from using it4 ,he cannot forever flee from his own presence2 he cannot1 through all eternity1 go away from his own spirit4 ,if he take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the earth1 he must1 sooner or later1 know himself1 and acquit or condemn himself4 ,our attention was then directed to the fact1 that ,god's knowledge of man is certainly equal to man's knowledge of himself4 ,no man knows more of his own heart than the ,searcher of hearts knows4 ,up to this point1 certainly1 the truth of the text is incontrovertible4 ,god knows all that man knows4 ,,ii4 ,we come now to the second position3 ,that ,god accurately and exhaustively knows all that man might1 but does not1 know of himself4 ,although the ,creator designed that every man should thoroughly understand his own heart1 and gave him the power of self-inspection that he might use it faithfully1 and apply it constantly1 yet man is extremely ignorant of himself4 ,mankind1 says an old writer1 are nowhere less at home1 than at home4 ,very few persons practise serious self-examination at all2 and none employ the power of self-inspection with that carefulness and sedulity with which they ought4 ,hence men generally1 and unrenewed men always1 are unacquainted with much that goes on within their own minds and hearts4 ,though it is sin and self-will1 though it is thought and feeling and purpose and desire1 that is going on and taking place during all these years of religious indifference1 yet the agent himself1 so far as a sober reflection upon the moral character of the process1 and a distinct perception of the dreadful issue of it1 are concerned1 is much of the time as destitute of self-knowledge as an irrational brute itself4 ,for1 were sinful men constantly self-examining1 they would be constantly in torment4 ,men can be happy in sin1 only so long as they can sin without thinking of it4 ,the instant they begin to perceive and understand what they are doing1 they begin to feel the fang of the worm4 ,if the frivolous wicked world1 which now takes so much pleasure in its wickedness1 could be forced to do here what it will be forced to do hereafter1 namely1 to eye its sin while it commits it1 to think of what it is doing while it does it1 the billows of the lake of fire would roll in upon time1 and from gay ,paris and luxurious ,vienna there would instantaneously ascend the wailing cry of ,pandemonium4 ,but it is not so at present4 ,men here upon earth are continually thinking sinful thoughts and cherishing sinful feelings1 and yet they are not continually in hell4 ,on the contrary1 they are not in trouble as other men are1 neither are they plagued like other men4 ,their eyes stand out with fatness2 they have more than heart could wish4 ,this proves that they are self-ignorant2 that they know neither their sin nor its bitter end4 ,they sin without the consciousness of sin1 and hence are happy in it4 ,is it not so in our own personal experience8 ,have there not been in the past ten years of our own mental history long trains of thought1--sinful thought1--and vast processions of feelings and imaginings1--sinful feelings and imaginings1--that have trailed over the spaces of the soul1 but which have been as unwatched and unseen by the self-inspecting eye of conscience1 as the caravans of the ,african desert have been1 during the same period1 by the eye of our sense8 ,we have not felt a pang of guilt every single time that we have thought a wrong thought2 yet we should have felt one inevitably1 had we scrutinized every such single thought4 ,our face has not flushed with crimson in every particular instance in which we have exercised a lustful emotion2 yet it would have done so had we carefully noted every such emotion4 ,a distinct self-knowledge has by no means run parallel with all our sinful activity2 has by no means been co-extensive with it4 ,we perform vastly more than we inspect4 ,we have sinned vastly more than we have been aware of at the time4 ,even the ,christian1 in whom this unreflecting species of life and conduct has given way1 somewhat1 to a thoughtful and vigilant life1 knows and acknowledges that perfection is not yet come4 ,as he casts his eye over even his regenerate and illuminated life1 and sees what a small amount of sin has been distinctly detected1 keenly felt1 and heartily confessed1 in comparison with that large amount of sin which he knows he must have committed1 during this long period of incessant action of mind1 heart1 and limbs1 he finds no repose for his misgivings with respect to the filial examination and account1 except by enveloping himself yet more entirely in the ample folds of his ,redeemer's righteousness2 except by hiding himself yet more profoundly in the cleft of that ,rock of ,ages which protects the chief of sinners from the unsufferable splendors and terrors of the ,divine glory and holiness as it passes by4 ,even the ,christian knows that he must have committed many sins in thoughtless moments and hours1--many sins of which he was not deliberately thinking at the time of their commission1--and must pray with ,david1 ,cleanse thou me from secret faults4 ,the functions and operations of memory evince that such is the case4 ,are we not sometimes1 in our serious hours when memory is busy1 convinced of sins which1 at the time of their commission1 were wholly unaccompanied with a sense of their sinfulness8 ,the act in this instance was performed blindly1 without self-inspection1 and therefore without self-conviction4 ,ten years1 we will say1 have intervened1--years of new activity1 and immensely varied experiences4 ,and now the magic power of recollection sets us back1 once more1 at that point of responsible action1 and bids do what we did not do at the time1--analyze our performance and feel consciously guilty1 experience the first sensation of remorse1 for what we did ten years ago4 ,have we not1 sometimes1 been vividly reminded that upon such an occasion1 and at such a time1 we were angry1 or proud1 but at the time when the emotion was swelling our veins were not filled with1 that clear and painful sense of its turpitude which now attends the recollection of it8 ,the re-exhibition of an action in memory1 as in a mirror1 is often accompanied with a distinct apprehension of its moral character that formed no part of the experience of the agent while absorbed in the hot and hasty original action itself4 ,and when we remember how immense are the stores of memory1 and what an amount of sin has been committed in hours of thoughtlessness and moral indifference1 what prayer is more natural and warm than the supplication3 ,search me ,o ,god1 and try me1 and see what evil ways there are within me1 and lead me in the way everlasting4 ,but the careless1 unenlightened man1 as we have before remarked1 leads a life almost entirely destitute of self-inspection1 and self-knowledge4 ,he sins constantly4 ,he does only evil1 and that continually1 as did man before the deluge4 ,for he is constantly acting4 ,a living self-moving soul1 like his1 cannot cease action if it would4 ,and yet the current is all one way4 ,day after day sends up its clouds of sensual1 worldly1 selfish thoughts4 ,week after week pours onward its stream of low-born1 corrupt1 unspiritual feelings4 ,year after year accumulates that hardening mass of carnal-mindedness1 and distaste for religion1 which is sometimes a more insuperable obstacle to the truth1 than positive faults and vices which startle and shock the conscience4 ,and yet the man thinks nothing about all this action of his mind and heart4 ,he does not subject it to any self-inspection4 ,if he should1 for but a single hour1 be lifted up to the eminence from which all this current of self-will1 and moral agency1 may be seen and surveyed in its real character and significance1 he would start back as if brought to the brink of hell4 ,but he is not thus lifted up4 ,he continues to use and abuse his mental and his moral faculties1 but1 for most of his probation1 with all the blindness and heedlessness of a mere animal instinct4 ,there is1 then1 a vast amount of sin committed without self-inspection2 and1 consequently1 without any distinct perception1 at the time1 that it is sin4 ,the ,christian will find himself feeling guilty1 for the first time1 for a transgression that occurred far back in the past1 and will need a fresh application of atoning blood4 ,the sinner will find1 at some period or other1 that remorse is fastening its tooth in his conscience for a vast amount of sinful thought1 feeling1 desire1 and motive1 that took origin in the unembarrassed days of religious thoughtlessness and worldly enjoyment4 ,for1 think you that the insensible sinner is always to be thus insensible1--that this power of self-inspection is eternally to rust unused8 ,what a tremendous revelation will one day be made to an unreflecting transgressor1 simply because he is a man and not a brute1 has lived a human life1 and is endowed with the power of self-knowledge1 whether he has used it or not6 ,what a terrific vision it will be for him1 when the limitless line of his sins which he has not yet distinctly examined1 and thought of1 and repented of1 shall be made to pass in slow procession before that inward eye which he has wickedly kept shut so long6 ,tell us not of the disclosures that shall be made when the sea shall give up the dead that are in it1 and the graves shall open and surrender their dead2 what are these material disclosures1 when compared with the revelations of self-knowledge6 ,what is all this external display1 sombre and terrible as it will be to the outward eye1 when compared with all that internal revealing that will be made to a hitherto thoughtless soul1 when1 of a sudden1 in the day of judgment1 its deepest caverns shall heave in unison with the material convulsions of the day1 and shall send forth to judgment their long slumbering1 and hidden iniquity2 when the sepulchres of its own memory shall burst open1 and give up the sin that has long lain buried there1 in needless and guilty forgetfulness1 awaiting this second resurrection6 ,for 7to come back to the unfolding of the subject1 and the movement of the argument71 ,god perfectly knows all that man might1 but does not1 know of himself4 ,though the transgressor is ignorant of much of his sin1 because at the time of its commission he sins blindly as well as wilfully1 and unreflectingly as well as freely2 and though the transgressor has forgotten much of that small amount of sin of which he was conscious1 and by which he was pained1 at the time of its perpetration2 though on the side of man the powers of self-inspection and memory have accomplished so little towards the preservation of man's sin1 yet ,god knows it all1 and remembers it all4 ,he compasseth man's path1 and his lying-down1 and is acquainted with all his ways4 ,there is nothing covered1 therefore1 that shall not be revealed1 neither hid that shall not be known4 ,whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light2 and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the house-tops4 ,the ,creator of the human mind has control over its powers of self-inspection1 and of memory2 and when the proper time comes ,he will compel these endowments to perform their legitimate functions1 and do their appointed work4 ,the torturing self-survey will begin1 never more to end4 ,the awful recollection will commence1 endlessly to go on4 ,one principal reason why the ,biblical representations of human sinfulness exert so little influence over men1 and1 generally speaking1 seem to them to be greatly exaggerated and untrue1 lies in the fact that the ,divine knowledge of human character is in advance of the human knowledge4 ,god's consciousness and cognition upon this subject is exhaustive2 while man's self-knowledge is superficial and shallow4 ,the two forms of knowledge1 consequently1 when placed side by side1 do not agree1 but conflict4 ,there would be less difficulty1 and less contradiction1 if mankind generally were possessed of even as much self-knowledge as the ,christian is possessed of4 ,there would be no difficulty1 and no contradiction1 if the knowledge of the judgment-day could be anticipated1 and the self-inspection of that occasion could commence here and now4 ,but such is not the fact4 ,the ,bible labors1 therefore1 under the difficulty of possessing an advanced knowledge2 the difficulty of being addressed to a mind that is almost entirely unacquainted with the subject treated of4 ,the ,word of ,god knows man exhaustively1 as ,god knows him2 and hence all its descriptions of human character are founded upon such a knowledge4 ,but man1 in his self-ignorance1 does not perceive their awful truth4 ,he has not yet attained the internal correspondent to the ,biblical statement1--that apprehension of total depravity1 that knowledge of the plague of the heart1 which always and ever says yea to the most vivid description of human sinfulness1 and amen to ,god's heaviest malediction upon it4 ,nothing deprives the ,word of its nerve and influence1 more than this general lack of self-inspection and self-knowledge4 ,for1 only that which is perceived to be true exerts an influence upon the human mind4 ,the doctrine of human sinfulness is preached to men1 year after year1 to whom it does not come home with the demonstration of the ,spirit and with power1 because the sinfulness which is really within them is as yet unknown1 and because not one of a thousand of their transgressions has ever been scanned in the light of self-examination4 ,but is the ,bible untrue1 because the man is ignorant8 ,is the sun black1 because the eye is shut8 ,however ignorant man may be1 and may desire and strive to be1 of himself1 ,god knows him altogether1 and knows that the representations of ,his word1 respecting the character and necessities of human nature1 are the unexaggerated1 sober1 and actual fact4 ,though most of the sinner's life of alienation from ,god1 and of disobedience1 has been a blind and a reckless agency1 unaccompanied with self-scrutiny1 and to a great extent passed from his memory1 yet it has all of it been looked at1 as it welled1 up from the living centres of free agency and responsibility1 by the calm and dreadful eye of retributive ,justice1 and has all of it been indelibly written down in the book of ,god's sure memory1 with a pen of iron1 and the point of a diamond4 ,and here1 let us for a moment look upon the bright1 as well as the dark side of this subject4 ,for if ,god's exhaustive knowledge of the human heart waken dread in one of its aspects1 it starts infinite hope in another4 ,if that ,being has gone down into these depths of human depravity1 and seen it with a more abhorring glance than could ever shoot from a finite eye1 and yet has returned with a cordial offer to forgive it all1 and a hearty proffer to cleanse it all away1 then we can lift up the eye in adoration and in hope4 ,there has been an infinite forbearance and condescension4 ,the worst has been seen1 and that too by the holiest of ,beings1 and yet eternal glory is offered to us6 ,god knows1 from personal examination1 the worthlessness of human character1 with a thoroughness and intensity of knowledge of which man has no conception2 and yet1 in the light of this knowledge1 in the very flame of this intuition1 ,he has devised a plan of mercy and redemption4 ,do not think1 then1 because of your present ignorance of your guilt and corruption1 that the incarnation and death of the ,son of ,god was unnecessary1 and that that costly blood of atonement which you are treading under foot wet the rocks of ,calvary for a peccadillo4 ,could you1 but for a moment only1 know yourself altogether and exhaustively1 as the ,author of this ,redemption knows you1 you would cry out1 in the words of a far holier man than you are1 ,i am undone4 ,if you could but see guilt as ,god sees it1 you would also see with ,him that nothing but an infinite ,passion can expiate it4 ,if you could but fathom the human heart as ,god fathoms it1 you would know as ,he knows1 that nothing less than regeneration can purify its fountains of uncleanness1 and cleanse it from its ingrain corruption4 ,thus have we seen that ,god knows man altogether1--that ,he knows all that man knows of himself1 and all that man might but does not yet know of himself4 ,the ,searcher of hearts knows all the thoughts that we have thought upon1 all the reflections that we have reflected upon1 all the experience that we have ourselves analyzed and inspected4 ,and ,he also knows that far larger part of our life which we have not yet subjected to the scrutiny of self-examination1--all those thoughts1 feelings1 desires1 and motives1 innumerable as they are1 of which we took no heed at the time of their origin and existence1 and which we suppose1 perhaps1 we shall hear no more of again4 ,whither then shall we go from ,god's spirit8 or whither shall we flee from ,his presence and ,his knowledge8 ,if we ascend up into heaven1 ,he is there1 and knows us perfectly4 ,if we make our bed in hell1 behold ,he is there1 and reads the secret thoughts and feelings of our heart4 ,the darkness hideth not from ,him2 our ignorance does not affect ,his knowledge2 the night shineth as the day2 the darkness and the light are both alike to ,him4 ,this great truth which we have been considering obtains a yet more serious emphasis1 and a yet more solemn power over the mind1 when we take into view the character of the ,being who thus searches our hearts1 and is acquainted with all our ways4 ,who of us would not be filled with uneasiness1 if he knew that an imperfect fellow-creature were looking constantly into his soul8 ,would not the flush of shame often burn upon our cheek1 if we knew that a sinful man like ourselves were watching all the feelings and thoughts that are rising within us8 ,should we not be more circumspect than we are1 if men were able mutually to search each other's hearts8 ,how often does a man change his course of conduct1 when he discovers1 accidentally1 that his neighbor knows what he is doing4 ,but it is not an imperfect fellow-man1 it is not a perfect angel1 who besets us behind and before1 and is acquainted with1 all our ways4 ,it is the immaculate ,god himself4 ,it is ,he before whom archangels veil their faces1 and the burning seraphim cry1 ,holy4 ,it is ,he1 in whose sight the pure cerulean heavens are not clean1 and whose eyes are a flame of fire devouring all iniquity4 ,we are beheld1 in all this process of sin1 be it blind or be it intelligent1 by infinite ,purity4 ,we are not1 therefore1 to suppose that ,god contemplates this our life of sin with the dull indifference of an ,epicurean deity2 that ,he looks into our souls1 all this while1 from mere curiosity1 and with no moral emotion towards us4 ,the ,god who knows us altogether is the ,holy ,one of ,israel1 whose wrath is both real1 and revealed1 against all unrighteousness4 ,if1 therefore1 we connect the holy nature and pure essence of ,god with all this unceasing and unerring inspection of the human soul1 does not the truth which1 we have been considering speak with a bolder emphasis1 and acquire an additional power to impress and solemnize the mind8 ,when we realize that the ,being who is watching us at every instant1 and in every act and element of our existence1 is the very same ,being who revealed himself amidst the lightenings of ,sinai as hating sin and not clearing the thoughtless guilty1 do not our prospects at the bar of justice look dark and fearful8 ,for1 who of the race of man is holy enough to stand such an inspection8 ,who of the sons of men will prove pure in such a furnace8 ,are we not1 then1 brought by this truth close up to the central doctrine of ,christianity1 and made to see our need of the atonement and righteousness of the ,redeemer8 ,how can we endure such a scrutiny as ,god is instituting into our character and conduct8 ,what can we say1 in the day of reckoning1 when the ,searcher of hearts shall make known1 to us all that ,he knows of us8 ,what can we do1 in that day which shall reveal the thoughts and the estimates of the ,holy ,one respecting us8 ,it is perfectly plain1 from the elevated central point of view where we now stand1 and in the focal light in which we now see1 that no man can be justified before ,god upon the ground of personal character2 for that character1 when subjected to ,god's exhaustive scrutiny1 withers and shrinks away4 ,a man may possibly be just before his neighbor1 or his friend1 or society1 or human laws1 but he is miserably self-deceived who supposes that his heart will appear righteous under such a scrutiny and in such a ,presence as we have been considering4#a ,however it may be before other tribunals1 the apostle is correct when he asserts that every mouth1 must be stopped1 and the whole world plead guilty before ,god4 ,before the ,searcher of hearts1 all mankind must appeal to mere and sovereign mercy4 ,justice1 in this reference1 is out of the question4 ,now1 in this condition of things1 ,god so loved the world that ,he gave ,his only-begotten ,son1 that whosoever believeth in ,him might not perish1 but have everlasting life4 ,the ,divine mercy has been manifested in a mode that does not permit even the guiltiest to doubt its reality1 its sufficiency1 or its sincerity4 ,the argument is this4 ,if when1 we were yet sinners1 and known to be such1 in the perfect and exhaustive manner that has been described1 ,christ died for us1 much more1 being now justified by ,his blood1 shall we be saved from ,wrath through ,him4 ,appropriating this atonement which the ,searcher of hearts has ,himself provided for this very exigency1 and which ,he knows to be thoroughly adequate1 no man1 however guilty1 need fear the most complete disclosures which the ,divine ,omniscience will have to make of human character in the day of doom4 ,if the guilt is infinite upon infinite1 so is the sacrifice of the ,god-man4 ,who is he that condemmeth8 it is the ,son of ,god that died for sin4 ,who shall lay anything to ,god's elect8 it is ,god that justifieth4 ,and as ,god shall1 in the last day1 summon up from the deep places of our souls all of our sins1 and bring us to a strict account for everything1 even to the idle words that we have spoken1 we can look ,him full in the eye1 without a thought of fear1 and with love unutterable1 if we are really relying upon the atoning sacrifice of ,christ for justification4 ,even in that awful ,presence1 and under that ,omniscient scrutiny1 there is no condemnation to them that are in ,christ ,jesus4 ,the great lesson1 then1 taught by the text and its unfolding1 is the importance of attaining self-knowledge here upon earth1 and while there remaineth a sacrifice for sins4 ,the duty and wisdom of every man is1 to anticipate the revelations of the judgment day2 to find out the sin of his soul1 while it is an accepted time and a day of salvation4 ,for we have seen that this self-inspection cannot ultimately be escaped4 ,man was made to know himself1 and he must sooner or later come to it4 ,self-knowledge is as certain1 in the end1 as death4 ,the utmost that can be done1 is to postpone it for a few days1 or years4 ,the article of death and the exchange of worlds will pour it all in1 like a deluge1 upon every man1 whether he will or not4 ,and he who does not wake up to a knowledge of his heart1 until he enters eternity1 wakes up not to pardon but to despair4 ,the simple question1 then1 which1 meets us is3 ,wilt thou know thyself here and now1 that thou mayest accept and feel ,god's pity in ,christ's blood1 or wilt thou keep within the screen1 and not know thyself until beyond the grave1 and then feel ,god's judicial wrath8 ,the self-knowledge1 remember1 must come in the one way or the other4 ,it is a simple question of time2 a simple question whether it shall come here in this world1 where the blood of ,christ freely flows1 or in the future world1 where there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin4 ,turn the matter as we will1 this is the sum and substance1--a sinful man must either come to a thorough self-knowledge1 with a hearty repentance and a joyful pardon1 in this life2 or he must come to a thorough1 self-knowledge1 with a total despair and an eternal damnation1 in the other4 ,god is not mocked4 ,god's great pity in the blood of ,christ must not be trifled with4 ,he who refuses1 or neglects1 to institute that self-examination which leads to the sense of sin1 and the felt need of ,christ's work1 by this very fact proves that he does not desire to know his own heart1 and that he has no wish to repent of sin4 ,but he who will not even look at his sin1--what does not he deserve from that ,being who poured out ,his own blood for it8 ,he who refuses even to open his eyes upon that bleeding ,lamb of ,god1--what must not he expect from the ,lion of the tribe of ,judah1 in the day of judgment8 ,he who by a life of apathy1 and indifference to sin1 puts himself out of all relations to the ,divine pity1--what must he experience in eternity1 but the operations of stark1 unmitigated law8 ,find out your sin1 then4 ,god will forgive all that is found4 ,though your sins be as scarlet1 they shall be as white as snow4 ,the great ,god delights to forgive1 and is waiting to forgive4 ,but1 sin must be seen by the sinner1 before it can be pardoned by the ,judge4 ,if you refuse at this point2 if you hide yourself from yourself2 if you preclude all feeling and conviction upon the subject of sin1 by remaining ignorant of it2 if you continue to live an easy1 thoughtless life in sin1 then you cannot be forgiven1 and the measure of ,god's love with which ,he would have blessed you1 had you searched yourself and repented1 will be the measure of ,god's righteous wrath with which ,he will search you1 and condemn you1 because you have not4 ,footnote #a3 ,it is easy1--says one of the keenest and most incisive of theologians1--for any one in the cloisters of the schools to indulge himself in idle speculations on the merit of works to justify men2 but when he comes into the presence of ,god1 he must bid farewell to these amusements1 for there the business is transacted with seriousness4 ,to this point must our attention be directed1 if we wish to make any useful inquiry concerning true righteousness3 ,how we can answer the celestial ,judge when ,he shall call us to an account8 ,let us place that ,judge before our eyes1 not according to the inadequate imaginations of our minds1 but according to the descriptions given of him in the ,scriptures1 which represent him as one whose refulgence eclipses the stars1 whose purity makes all things appear polluted1 and who searches the inmost soul of his creatures1--let us so conceive of the ,judge of all the earth1 and every one must present himself as a criminal before ,him1 and voluntarily prostrate and humble himself in deep solicitude concerning2 his absolution4 ,,calvin3 ,institutes1 iii4 #ab4 ,,all ,,mankind ,,guilty2 ,,or1 ,,every ,,man ,,knows ,,more ,,than ,,he ,,practises4 ,,romans i4 #bd4--,when they knew ,god1 they glorified him not as ,god4 ,the idea of ,god is the most important and comprehensive of all the ideas of which the human mind is possessed4 ,it is the foundation of religion2 of all right doctrine1 and all right conduct4 ,a correct intuition of it leads to correct religious theories and practice2 while any erroneous or defective view of the ,supreme ,being will pervade the whole province of religion1 and exert a most pernicious influence upon the entire character and conduct of men4 ,in proof of this1 we have only to turn to the opening chapters of ,st4 ,paul's ,epistle to the ,romans4 ,here we find a profound and accurate account of the process by which human nature becomes corrupt1 and runs its downward career of unbelief1 vice1 and sensuality4 ,the apostle traces back the horrible depravity of the heathen world1 which he depicts with a pen as sharp as that of ,juvenal1 but with none of ,juvenal's bitterness and vitriolic sarcasm1 to a distorted and false conception of the being and attributes of ,god4 ,he does not1 for an instant1 concede that this distorted and false conception is founded in the original structure and constitution of the human soul1 and that this moral ignorance is necessary and inevitable4 ,this mutilated idea of the ,supreme ,being was not inlaid in the rational creature on the morning of creation1 when ,god said1 ,let us make man in our image1 after our likeness4 ,on the contrary1 the apostle affirms that the ,creator originally gave all mankind1 in the moral constitution of a rational soul and in the works of creation and providence1 the media to a correct idea of ,himself1 and asserts1 by implication1 that if they had always employed these media they would have always possessed this idea4 ,the wrath of ,god1 he says1 is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness2 because that which may be known of ,god is manifest in them1 for ,god hath shewed it unto them4 ,for the invisible things of him1 even his eternal power and ,godhead1 are clearly seen from the creation of the world1 being understood by the things that are made1 so that they are without excuse2 because that when they knew ,god1 they glorified him not as ,god 7,rom4 i4 #ah-ba74 ,from this1 it appears that the mind of man has not kept what was committed to its charge4 ,it has not employed the moral instrumentalities1 nor elicited the moral ideas1 with which it has been furnished4 ,and1 notice that the apostle does not confine this statement to those who live within the pale of ,revelation4 ,his description is unlimited and universal4 ,the affirmation of the text1 that when man knew ,god he glorified him not as ,god1 applies to the ,gentile as well as to the ,jew4 ,nay1 the primary reference of these statements was to the pagan world4 ,it was respecting the millions of idolaters in cultivated ,greece and ,rome1 and the millions of idolaters in barbarous ,india and ,china1--it was respecting the whole world lying in wickedness1 that ,st4 ,paul remarked3 ,the invisible things of ,god1 even his eternal power and ,godhead1 are clearly seen from the creation of the world down to the present moment1 being understood by the things that are made2 so that they are without excuse4 ,when ,napoleon was returning from his campaign in ,egypt and ,syria1 he was seated one night upon the deck of the vessel1 under the open canopy of the heavens1 surrounded by his captains and generals4 ,the conversation had taken a skeptical direction1 and most of the party had combated the doctrine of the ,divine existence4 ,napoleon had sat silent and musing1 apparently taking no interest in the discussion1 when suddenly raising his hand1 and pointing at the crystalline firmament crowded with its mildly shining planets and its keen glittering stars1 he broke out1 in those startling tones that so often electrified a million of men3 ,gentlemen1 who made all that8 ,the eternal power and ,godhead of the ,creator are impressed by the things that are made1 and these words of ,napoleon to his atheistic captains silenced them4 ,and the same impression is made the world over4 ,go to-day into the heart of ,africa1 or into the centre of ,new ,holland2 select the most imbruted pagan that can be found2 take him out under a clear star-lit heaven and ask him who made all that1 and the idea of a ,superior ,being1--superior to all his fetishes and idols1--possessing eternal power and supremacy 7,greek3 theotaes7 immediately emerges in his consciousness4 ,the instant the missionary takes this lustful idolater away from the circle of his idols1 and brings him face to face with the heavens and the earth1 as ,napoleon brought his captains1 the constitutional idea dawns again1 and the pagan trembles before the unseen ,power4#a ,but it will be objected that it is a very dim1 and inadequate idea of the ,deity that thus rises in the pagan's mind1 and that therefore the apostle's affirmation that he is without excuse for being an idolater and a sensualist requires some qualification4 ,this imbruted creature1 says the objector1 does not possess the metaphysical conception of ,god as a ,spirit1 and of all his various attributes and qualities1 like the dweller in ,christendom4 ,how then can he be brought in guilty before the same eternal bar1 and be condemned to the same eternal punishment1 with the nominal ,christian8 ,the answer is plain1 and decisive1 and derivable out of the apostle's own statements4 ,in order to establish the guiltiness of a rational creature before the bar of justice1 it is not necessary to show that he has lived in the seventh heavens1 and under a blaze of moral intelligence like that of the archangel ,gabriel4 ,it is only necessary to show that he has enjoyed some degree of moral light1 and that he has not lived up to it4 ,any creature who knows more than he practises is a guilty creature4 ,if the light in the pagan's intellect concerning ,god and the moral law1 small though it be1 is yet actually in advance of the inclination and affections of his heart and the actions of his life1 he deserves to be punished1 like any and every other creature1 under the ,divine government1 of whom the same thing is true4 ,grades of knowledge vary indefinitely4 ,no two men upon the planet1 no two men in ,christendom1 possess precisely the same degree of moral intelligence4 ,there are men walking the streets of this city to-day1 under the full light of the ,christian revelation1 whose notions respecting ,god and law are exceedingly dim and inadequate2 and there are others whose views are clear and correct in a high degree4 ,but there is not a person in this city1 young or old1 rich or poor1 ignorant or cultivated1 in the purlieus of vice or the saloons of wealth1 whose knowledge of ,god is not in advance of his own character and conduct4 ,every man1 whatever be the grade of his intelligence1 knows more than he puts in practice4 ,ask the young thief1 in the subterranean haunts of vice and crime1 if he does not know that it is wicked to steal1 and if he renders an honest answer1 it is in the affirmative4 ,ask the most besotted soul1 immersed and petrified in sensuality1 if his course of life upon earth has been in accordance with his own knowledge and conviction of what is right1 and required by his ,maker1 and he will answer ,no1 if he answers truly4 ,the grade of knowledge in the ,christian land is almost infinitely various2 but in every instance the amount of knowledge is greater than the amount of virtue4 ,whether he knows little or much1 the man knows more than he performs2 and therefore his mouth must be stopped in the judgment1 and he must plead guilty before ,god4 ,he will not be condemned for not possessing that ethereal vision of ,god possessed by the seraphim2 but he will be condemned because his perception of the holiness and the holy requirements of ,god was sufficient1 at any moment1 to rebuke his disregard of them2 because when he knew ,god in some degree1 he glorified him not as ,god up to that degree4 ,and this principle will be applied to the pagan world4 ,it is so applied by the apostle ,paul4 ,he himself concedes that the ,gentile has not enjoyed all the advantages of the ,jew1 and argues that the ungodly ,jew will be visited with a more severe punishment than the ungodly ,gentile4 ,but he expressly affirms that the pagan is under law1 and knows that he is2 that he shows the work of the law that is written on the heart1 in the operations of an accusing and condemning conscience4 ,but the knowledge of law involves the knowledge of ,god in an equal degree4 ,who can feel himself amenable to a moral law1 without at the same time thinking of its ,author8 ,the law and the ,lawgiver are inseparable4 ,the one is the mirror and index of the other4 ,if the eye opens dimly upon the commandment1 it opens dimly upon the ,sovereign2 if it perceives eternal right and law with clear and celestial vision1 it then looks directly into the face of ,god4 ,law and ,god are correlative to each other2 and just so far1 consequently1 as the heathen understands the law that is written on the heart does he apprehend the ,being who sitteth upon the circle of the heavens1 and who impinges ,himself upon the consciousness of men4 ,this being so1 it is plain that we can confront the ungodly pagan with the same statements with which we confront the ungodly nominal ,christian4 ,we can tell him with positiveness1 wherever we find him1 be it upon the burning sands of ,africa or in the frozen home of the ,esquimaux1 that he knows more than he puts in practice4 ,we will concede to him that the quantum of his moral knowledge is very stinted and meagre2 but in the same breath we will remind him that small as it is1 he has not lived up to it2 that he too has come short2 that he too1 knowing ,god in the dimmest1 faintest degree1 has yet not glorified him as ,god in the slightest1 faintest manner4 ,the ,bible sends the ungodly and licentious pagan to hell1 upon the same principle that it sends the ungodly and licentious nominal ,christian4 ,it is the principle enunciated by our ,lord ,christ1 the judge of quick and dead1 when he says1 ,he who knew his master's will clearly1 and did it not1 shall be beaten with many stripes2 and he who knew not his master's will clearly1 but knew it dimly1 and did it not1 shall be beaten with few stripes4 ,it is the just principle enunciated by ,st4 ,paul1 that as many as have sinned without written law shall also perish without written law4#b ,and this is right and righteous2 and let all the universe say1 ,amen4 ,the doctrine taught in the text1 that no human creature1 in any country or grade of civilization1 has ever glorified ,god to the extent of his knowledge of ,god1 is very fertile in solemn and startling inferences1 to some of which we now invite attention4 #a4 ,in the first place1 it follows from this affirmation of the apostle ,paul1 that the entire heathen world is in a state of condemnation and perdition4 ,he himself draws this inference1 in saying that in the judgment every mouth must be stopped1 and the whole world become guilty before ,god4 ,the present and future condition of the heathen world is a subject that has always enlisted the interest of two very different classes of men4 ,the ,church of ,god has pondered1 and labored1 and prayed over this subject1 and will continue to do so until the millennium4 ,and the disbeliever in ,revelation has also turned his mind to the consideration of this black mass of ignorance and misery1 which welters upon the globe like a chaotic ocean2 these teeming millions of barbarians and savages who render the aspect of the world so sad and so dark4 ,the ,church1 we need not say1 have accepted the ,biblical theory1 and have traced the lost condition of the pagan world1 as the apostle ,paul does1 to their sin and transgression4 ,they have held that every pagan is a rational being1 and by virtue of this fact has known something of the moral law2 and that to the extent of the knowledge he has had1 he is as guilty for the transgression of law1 and as really under its condemnation1 as the dweller under the light of revelation and civilization4 ,they have maintained that every human creature has enjoyed sufficient light1 in the workings of natural reason and conscience1 and in the impressions that are made by the glory and the terror of the natural world above and around him1 to render him guilty before the ,everlasting ,judge4 ,for this reason1 the ,church has denied that the pagan is an innocent creature1 or that he can stand in the judgment before the ,searcher of hearts4 ,for this reason1 the ,church has believed the declaration of the apostle ,john1 that the whole world lieth in wickedness 7#a ,john v4 #ai71 and has endeavored to obey the command of ,him who came to redeem pagans as much as nominal ,christians1 to go and preach the gospel to every creature1 because every creature is a lost creature4 ,but the disbeliever in ,revelation adopts the theory of human innocency1 and looks upon all the wretchedness and ignorance of paganism1 as he looks upon suffering1 decay1 and death1 in the vegetable and animal worlds4 ,temporary evil is the necessary condition1 he asserts1 of all finite existence2 and as decay and death in the vegetable and animal worlds only result in a more luxuriant vegetation1 and an increased multiplication of living creatures1 so the evil and woe of the hundreds of generations1 and the millions of individuals1 during the sixty centuries that have elapsed since the origin of man1 will all of it minister to the ultimate and everlasting weal of the entire race4 ,there is no need therefore1 he affirms1 of endeavoring to save such feeble and ignorant beings from judicial condemnation and eternal penalty4 ,such finiteness and helplessness cannot be put into relations to such an awful attribute as the eternal nemesis of ,god4 ,can it be1--he asks1--that the millions upon millions that have been born1 lived their brief hour1 enjoyed their little joys and suffered their sharp sorrows1 and then dropped into the dark backward and abysm of time1 have really been guilty creatures1 and have gone down to an endless hell8 ,but what does all this reasoning and querying imply8 ,will the objector really take the position and stand to it1 that the pagan man is not a rational and responsible creature8 that he does not possess sufficient knowledge of moral truth1 to justify his being brought to the bar of judgment8 ,will he say that the population that knew enough to build the pyramids did not know enough to break the law of ,god8 ,will he affirm that the civilization of ,babylon and ,nineveh1 of ,greece and ,rome1 did not contain within it enough of moral intelligence to constitute a foundation for rewards and punishments8 ,will he tell us that the people of ,sodom and ,gomorrah stood upon the same plane with the brutes that perish1 and the trees of the field that rot and die1 having no idea of ,god1 knowing nothing of the distinction between right and wrong1 and never feeling the pains of an accusing conscience8 ,will he maintain that the populations of ,india1 in the midst of whom one of the most subtile and ingenious systems of pantheism has sprung up with the luxuriance and involutions of one of their own jungles1 and has enervated the whole religious sentiment of the ,hindoo race as opium has enervated their physical frame1--will he maintain that such an untiring and persistent mental activity as this is incapable of apprehending the first principles of ethics and natural religion1 which1 in comparison with the complicated and obscure ratiocinations of ,boodhism1 are clear as water1 and lucid as atmospheric air8 ,in other connections1 this theorist does not speak in this style4 ,in other connections1 and for the purpose of exaggerating natural religion and disparaging revealed1 he enlarges upon the dignity of man1 of every man1 and eulogizes the power of reason which so exalts him in the scale of being4 ,with ,hamlet1 he dilates in proud and swelling phrase3 ,what a piece of work is man6 ,how noble in reason6 how infinite in faculties6 in form and moving1 how express and admirable6 in action how like an angel6 in apprehension how like a god6 the beauty of the world6 the paragon of animals6 ,it is from that very class of theorizers who deny that the heathen are in danger of eternal perdition1 and who represent the whole missionary enterprise as a work of supererogation1 that we receive the most extravagant accounts of the natural powers and gifts of man4 ,now if these powers and gifts do belong to human nature by its constitution1 they certainly lay a foundation for responsibility2 and all such theorists must either be able to show that the pagan man has made a right use of them1 and has walked according to this large amount of truth and reason with which1 according to their own statement1 he is endowed1 or else they consign him1 as ,st4 ,paul does1 to the wrath of ,god which is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness1 and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness4 ,if you assert that the pagan man has had no talents at all committed to him1 and can prove your assertion1 and will stand by it1 you are consistent in denying that he can be summoned to the bar of ,god1 and be tried for eternal life or death4 ,but if you concede that he has had one talent1 or two talents1 committed to his charge2 and still more1 if you exaggerate his gifts and endow him with five or ten talents1 then it is impossible for you to save him from the judgment to come1 except you can prove a perfect administration and use of the trust4#c #b4 ,in the second place1 it follows from the doctrine of the text1 that the degraded and brutalized population of large cities is in a state of condemnation and perdition4 ,there are heathen near our own doors whose religious condition is as sad1 and hopeless1 as that of the heathen of ,patagonia or ,new ,zealand4 ,the vice and crime that nestles and riots in the large cities of ,christendom has become a common theme1 and has lost much of its interest for the worldly mind by losing its novelty4 ,the manners and way of life of the outcast population of ,london and ,paris have been depicted by the novelist1 and wakened a momentary emotion in the readers of fiction4 ,but the reality is stern and dreadful1 beyond imagination or conception4 ,there is in the cess-pools of the great capitals of ,christendom a mass of human creatures who are born1 who live1 and who die1 in moral putrefaction4 ,their existence is a continued career of sin and woe4 ,body and soul1 mind and heart1 are given up to earth1 to sense1 to corruption4 ,they emerge for a brief season into the light of day1 run their swift and fiery career of sin1 and then disappear4 ,dante1 in that wonderful ,vision which embodies so much of true ethics and theology1 represents the wrathful and gloomy class as sinking down under the miry waters and continuing to breathe in a convulsive1 suffocating manner1 sending up bubbles to the surface1 that mark the place where they are drawing out their lingering existence4#d ,something like this1 is the wretched life of a vicious population4 ,as we look in upon the fermenting mass1 the only signs of life that meet our view indicate that the life is feverish1 spasmodic1 and suffocating4 ,the bubbles rising to the dark and turbid surface reveal that it is a life in death4 ,but this1 too1 is the result of sin4 ,take the atoms one by one that constitute this mass of pollution and misery1 and you will find that each one of them is a self-moving and an unforced will4 ,not one of these millions of individuals has been necessitated by ,almighty ,god1 or by any of ,god's arrangements1 to do wrong4 ,each one of them is a moral agent1 equally with you and me4 ,each one of them is self-willed and self-determined in sin4 ,he does not like to retain religious truth in his mind1 or to obey it in his heart4 ,go into the lowest haunt of vice and select out the most imbruted person there2 bring to his remembrance that class of truths with which he is already acquainted by virtue of his rational nature1 and add to them that other class of truths taught in ,revelation1 and you will find that he is predetermined against them4 ,he takes sides1 with all the depth and intensity of his being1 with that sinfulness which is common to man1 and which it is the aim of both ethics and the gospel to remove4 ,this vicious and imbruted man loves the sin which is forbidden1 more than he loves the holiness that is commanded4 ,he inclines to the sin which so easily besets him1 precisely as you and ,i incline to the bosom-sin which so easily besets us4 ,we grant that the temptations that assail him are very powerful2 but are not some of the temptations that beset you and me very powerful8 ,we grant that this wretched slave of vice and pollution cannot break off his sins by righteousness1 without the renewing and assisting grace of ,god2 but neither can you or ,i4 ,it is the action of his own will that has made him a slave4 ,he loves his chains and his bondage1 even as you and ,i naturally love ours2 and this proves that his moral corruption1 though assuming an outwardly more repulsive form than ours1 is yet the same thing in principle4 ,it is the rooted aversion of the human heart1 the utter disinclination of the human will1 towards the purity and holiness of ,god2 it is the carnal mind which is enmity against ,god2 for it is not subject to the law of ,god1 neither indeed can be 7,rom4 viii4 #g74 ,but there is no more convincing proof of the position1 that the degraded creature of whom we are speaking is a self-deciding and unforced sinner1 than the fact that he resists efforts to reclaim him4 ,ask these faithful and benevolent missionaries who go down into these dens of vice and pollution1 to pour more light into the mind1 and to induce these outcasts to leave their drunkenness and their debauchery1--ask them if they find that human nature is any different there from what it is elsewhere1 so far as yielding to the claims of ,god and law is concerned4 ,do they tell you that they are uniformly successful in inducing these sinners to leave their sins8 that they never find any self-will1 any determined opposition to the holy law of purity1 any preference of a life of licence with its woes here upon earth and hereafter in hell1 to a life of self-denial with its joys eternal8 ,on the contrary1 they testify that the old maxim upon which so many millions of the human family have acted3 ,enjoy the present and jump the life to come1 is the rule for this mass of population1 of whom so very few can be persuaded to leave their cups and their orgies4 ,like the people of ,israel1 when expostulated with by the prophet ,jeremiah for their idolatry and pollution1 the majority of the degraded population of whom we are speaking1 when endeavors have been made to reclaim them1 have said to the philanthropist and the missionary3 ,there is no hope3 no2 for ,i have loved strangers1 and after them ,i will go 7,jer4 ii4 #be74 ,there is not a single individual of them all who does not love the sin that is destroying him1 more than he loves the holiness that would save him4 ,notwithstanding all the horrible accompaniments of sin--the filth1 the disease1 the poverty1 the sickness1 the pain of both body and mind1--the wretched creature prefers to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season1 rather than come out and separate himself from the unclean thing1 and begin that holy warfare and obedience to which his ,god and his ,saviour invite him4 ,this1 we repeat1 proves that the sin is not forced upon this creature4 ,for if he hated his sin1 nay if he felt weary and heavy laden in the least degree because of it1 he might leave it4 ,there is a free grace1 and a proffered assistance of the ,holy ,ghost1 of which he might avail himself at any moment4 ,had he the feeling of the weary and penitent prodigal1 the same father's house is ever open for his return2 and the same father seeing him on his return1 though still a great way off1 would run and fall upon his neck and kiss him4 ,but the heart is hard1 and the spirit is utterly selfish1 and the will is perverse and determined1 and therefore the natural knowledge of ,god and his law which this sinner possesses by his very constitution1 and the added knowledge which his birth in a ,christian land and the efforts of benevolent ,christians have imparted to him1 are not strong enough to overcome his inclination1 and his preference1 and induce him to break off his sins by righteousness4 ,to him1 also1 as well as to every sin-loving man1 these solemn words will be spoken in the day of final adjudication3 ,the wrath of ,god is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness1 and unrighteousness1 of men who hold down 7,greek3 katechein7 the truth in unrighteousness2 because that which may be known of ,god is manifest within them2 for ,god hath shewed it unto them4 ,for the invisible things of him1 even his eternal power and ,godhead1 are clearly seen from the creation of the world1 being understood by the things that are made2 so that they are without excuse1 because that when they knew ,god4 they glorified him not as ,god4 #c4 ,in the third and last place1 it follows from this doctrine of the apostle ,paul1 as thus unfolded1 that that portion of the enlightened and cultivated population of ,christian lands who have not believed on the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 and repented of sin1 are in the deepest state of condemnation and perdition4 ,behold thou art called a ,jew1 and restest in the law1 and makest thy boast of ,god1 and knowest his will1 and approvest the things that are more excellent1 being instructed out of the law1 and art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind1 a light of them which are in darkness3 an instructor of the foolish1 a teacher of babes3 which hast the form of knowledge1 and of the truth1 in the law3 thou therefore that teachest another teachest thou not thyself8 thou that makest thy boast of the law1 through breaking the law dishonored thou ,god8 ,if it be true that the pagan knows more of ,god and the moral law than he has ever put in practice2 if it be true that the imbruted child of vice and pollution knows more of ,god and the moral law than he has ever put in practice2 how much more fearfully true is it that the dweller in a ,christian home1 the visitant of the house of ,god1 the possessor of the written ,word1 the listener to prayer and oftentimes the subject of it1 possesses an amount of knowledge respecting his origin1 his duty1 and his destiny1 that infinitely outruns his character and his conduct4 ,if eternal punishment will come down upon those classes of mankind who know but comparatively little1 because they have been unfaithful in that which is least1 surely eternal punishment will come down upon that more favored class who know comparatively much1 because they have been unfaithful in that which is much4 ,if these things are done in the green tree1 what shall be done in the dry8 ,the great charge that will rest against the creature when he stands before the final bar will be1 that when he knew ,god1 he glorified ,him not as ,god4 ,and this will rest heaviest against those whose knowledge was the clearest4 ,it is a great prerogative to be able to know the infinite and glorious ,creator2 but it brings with it a most solemn responsibility4 ,that blessed ,being1 of right1 challenges the homage and obedience of ,his creature4 ,what he asks of the angel1 that he asks of man2 that he should glorify ,god in his body and spirit which are ,his1 and should thereby enjoy ,god forever and forever4 ,this is the condemnation1 under which man1 and especially enlightened and cultivated man1 rests1 that while he knows ,god he neither glorifies ,him nor enjoys ,him4 ,our ,redeemer saw this with all the clearness of the ,divine ,mind2 and to deliver the creature from the dreadful guilt1 of his self-idolatry1 of his disposition to worship and love the creature more than the ,creator1 ,he became incarnate1 suffered and died4 ,it cannot be a small crime1 that necessitated1 such an apparatus of atonement and ,divine influences as that of ,christ and ,his redemption4 ,estimate the guilt of coming short of the glory of ,god1 which is the same as the guilt of idolatry and creature-worship1 by the nature of the provision that has been made to cancel it4 ,if you do not actually feel that this crime is great1 then argue yourself towards a juster view1 by the consideration that it cost the blood of ,christ to expiate it4 ,if you do not actually feel that the guilt is great1 then argue yourself towards a juster view1 by the reflection that you have known ,god to be supremely great1 supremely good1 and supremely excellent1 and yet you have never1 in a single feeling of your heart1 or a single thought of your mind1 or a single purpose of your will1 honored ,him4 ,it is honor1 reverence1 worship1 and love that ,he requires4 ,these you have never rendered2 and there is an infinity of guilt in the fact4 ,that guilt will be forgiven for ,christ's sake1 if you ask for forgiveness4 ,but if you do not ask1 then it will stand recorded against you for eternal ages3 ,when he1 a rational and immortal creature1 knew ,god1 he glorified ,him not as ,god4 ,footnote #a3 ,the early ,fathers1 in their defence of the ,christian doctrine of one ,god1 against the objections of the pagan advocate of the popular mythologies1 contend that the better pagan writers themselves agree with the new religion1 in teaching that there is one ,supreme ,being4 ,,lactantius 7,institutiones i4 #e71 after quoting the ,orphic poets1 ,hesiod1 ,virgil1 and ,ovid1 in proof that the heathen poets taught the unity of the ,supreme ,deity1 proceeds to show that the better pagan philosophers1 also1 agree with them in this4 ,aristotle1 he says1 although he disagrees with himself1 and says many things that are self-contradictory1 yet testifies that one ,supreme ,mind rules over the world4 ,plato1 who is regarded as the wisest philosopher of them all1 plainly and openly defends the doctrine of a divine monarchy1 and denominates the ,supreme ,being2 not ether1 nor reason1 nor nature1 but1 as he is1 ,god2 and asserts that by him this perfect and admirable world was made4 ,and ,cicero follows ,plato1 frequently confessing the ,deity1 and calls him the ,supreme ,being1 in his treatise on the ,laws4 ,,tertullian 7,de ,test4 ,an4 c4 #a2 ,adv4 ,marc4 i4 #aj2 ,ad4 ,scap4 c4 #b2 ,apol4 c4 #ag71 than whom no one of the ,christian ,fathers was more vehemently opposed to the philosophizing of the schools1 earnestly contends that the doctrine of the unity of ,god is constitutional to the human mind4 ,god1 he says1 proves himself to be ,god1 and the one only ,god1 by the very fact that ,he is known to all nations2 for the existence of any other deity than ,he would first have to be demonstrated4 ,the ,god of the ,jews is the one whom the souls of men call their ,god4 ,we worship one ,god1 the one whom ye all naturally know1 at whose lightnings and thunders ye tremble1 at whose benefits ye rejoice4 ,will ye that we prove the ,divine existence by the witness of the soul itself1 which1 although confined by the prison of the body1 although circumscribed by bad training1 although enervated by lusts and passions1 although made the servant of false gods1 yet when it recovers itself as from a surfeit1 as from a slumber1 as from some infirmity1 and is in its proper condition of soundness1 calls ,god by this name only1 because it is the proper name of the true ,god4 ',great ,god1' 'good ,god1' and ',god grant' deus1 not dii1 are words in every mouth4 ,the soul also witnesses that ,he is its judge1 when it says1 ',god sees1' ',i commend to ,god1' ',god shall recompense me4' ,o testimony of a soul naturally ,christian i4e41 monotheistic6 ,finally1 in pronouncing these words1 it looks not to the ,roman capitol1 but to heaven2 for it knows the dwelling-place of the true ,god3 from ,him and from thence it descended4 ,,calvin 7,inst4 i4 #aj7 seems to have had these statements in his eye1 in the following remarks3 ,in almost all ages1 religion has been generally corrupted4 ,it is true1 indeed1 that the name of one ,supreme ,god has been universally known and celebrated4 ,for those who used to worship a multitude of deities1 whenever they spake according to the genuine sense of nature1 used simply the name of ,god in the singular number1 as though they were contented with one ,god4 ,and this was wisely remarked by ,justin ,martyr1 who for this purpose wrote a book ',on the ,monarchy of ,god1' in which he demonstrates1 from numerous testimonies1 that the unity of ,god is a principle universally impressed on the hearts of men4 ,tertullian 7,de ,idololatria7 also proves the same point1 from the common phraseology4 ,but since all men1 without exception1 have become vain in their understandings1 all their natural perception of the ,divine ,unity has only served to render them inexcusable4 ,in consonance with these views1 the ,presbyterian ,,confession ,,of ,,faith 7ch4 i47 affirms that the light of nature1 and the works of creation and providence1 do so far manifest the goodness1 wisdom1 and power of ,god1 as to leave men inexcusable4 ,footnote #b3 ,the word ,greek3 apolountai1 in ,rom4 ii4 #ab1 is opposed to the ,greek3 sotaeria spoken of in ,rom4 i4 #af1 and therefore signifies eternal perdition1 as that signifies eternal salvation4-,those theorists who reject revealed religion1 and remand man back to the first principles of ethics and morality as the only religion that he needs1 send him to a tribunal that damns him4 ,tell me1 says ,st4 ,paul1 ye that desire to be under the law1 do ye not hear the law8 ,the law is not of faith1 but the man that doeth them shall live by them4 ,circumcision verily profiteth if thou keep the law2 but if thou be a breaker of the law1 thy circumcision is made uncircumcision4 ,if man had been true to all the principles and precepts of natural religion1 it would indeed be religion enough for him4 ,but he has not been thus true4 ,the entire list of vices and sins recited by ,st4 ,paul1 in the first chapter of ,romans1 is as contrary to natural religion1 as it is to revealed4 ,and it is precisely because the pagan world has not obeyed the principles of natural religion1 and is under a curse and a bondage therefor1 that it is in perishing need of the truths of revealed religion4 ,little do those know what they are saying1 when they propose to find a salvation for the pagan in the mere light of natural reason and conscience4 ,what pagan has ever realized the truths of natural conscience1 in his inward character and his outward life8 ,what pagan is there in all the generations that will not be found guilty before the bar of natural religion8 ,what heathen will not need an atonement1 for his failure to live up even to the light of nature8 ,nay1 what is the entire sacrificial cultus of heathenism1 but a confession that the whole heathen world finds and feels itself to be guilty at the bar of natural reason and conscience8 ,the accusing voice within them wakes their forebodings and fearful looking-for of ,divine judgment1 and they endeavor to propitiate the offended ,power by their offerings and sacrifices4 ,footnote #c3 ,infidelity is constantly changing its ground4 ,in the #ahth century1 the skeptic very generally took the position of ,lord ,herbert of ,cherbury1 and maintained that the light of reason is very clear1 and is adequate to all the religious needs of the soul4 ,in the #aith century1 he is now passing to the other extreme1 and contending that man is kindred to the ape1 and within the sphere of paganism does not possess sufficient moral intelligence to constitute him responsible4 ,like ,luther's drunken beggar on horseback1 the opponent of ,revelation sways from the position that man is a god1 to the position that he is a chimpanzee4 ,footnote #d3 ,,dante3 ,inferno1 vii4 #ajj-acj4 ,,sin ,,in ,,the ,,heart ,,the ,,source ,,of ,,error ,,in ,,the ,,head ,,romans i4 #bh4--;,as they did not like to retain ,god in their knowledge1 ,god gave them over to a reprobate mind4 ,in the opening of the most logical and systematic treatise in the ,new ,testament1 the ,epistle to the ,romans1 the apostle ,paul enters upon a line of argument to demonstrate the ill-desert of every human creature without exception4 ,in order to this1 he shows that no excuse can be urged upon the ground of moral ignorance4 ,he explicitly teaches that the pagan knows that there is one ,supreme ,god 7,rom4 i4 #bj72 that ,he is a spirit 7,rom4 i4 #bc72 that ,he is holy and sin-hating 7,rom4 i4 #ah72 that ,he is worthy to be worshipped 7,rom4 i4 #ba1 #be72 and that men ought to be thankful for ,his benefits 7,rom4 i4 #ba74 ,he affirms that the heathen knows that an idol is a lie 7,rom4 i4 #be72 that licentiousness is a sin 7,rom4 i4 #bf1 #cb72 that envy1 malice1 and deceit are wicked 7,rom4 i4 #bi1 #cb72 and that those who practise such sins deserve eternal punishment 7,rom4 i4 #cb74 ,in these teachings and assertions1 the apostle has attributed no small amount and degree of moral knowledge to man as man1--to man outside of ,revelation1 as well as under its shining light4 ,the question very naturally arises3 ,how comes it to pass that this knowledge which ,divine inspiration postulates1 and affirms to be innate and constitutional to the human mind1 should become so vitiated8 ,the majority of mankind are idolaters and polytheists1 and have been for thousands of years4 ,can it be that the truth that there is only one ,god is native to the human spirit1 and that the pagan knows this ,god8 ,the majority of men are earthly and sensual1 and have been for thousands of years4 ,can it be that there is a moral law written upon their hearts forbidding such carnality1 and enjoining purity and holiness8 ,some theorizers argue that because the pagan man has not obeyed the law1 therefore he does not know the law2 and that because he has not revered and worshipped the one ,supreme ,deity1 therefore he does not possess the idea of any such ,being4 ,they look out upon the heathen populations and see them bowing down to stocks and stones1 and witness their immersion in the abominations of heathenism1 and conclude that these millions of human beings really know no better1 and that therefore it is unjust to hold them responsible for their polytheism and their moral corruption4 ,but why do they confine this species of reasoning to the pagan world8 ,why do they not bring it into nominal ,christendom1 and apply it there8 ,why does not this theorist go into the midst of ,european civilization1 into the heart of ,london or ,paris1 and gauge the moral knowledge of the sensualist by the moral character of the sensualist8 ,why does he not tell us that because this civilized man acts no better1 therefore he knows no better8 ,why does he not maintain that because this voluptuary breaks all the commandments in the decalogue1 therefore he must be ignorant of all the commandments in the decalogue8 that because he neither fears nor loves the one only ,god1 therefore he does not know that there is any such ,being8 ,it will never do to estimate man's moral knowledge by man's moral character4 ,he knows more than he practises4 ,and there is not so much difference in this particular between some men in nominal ,christendom1 and some men in ,heathendom1 as is sometimes imagined4 ,the moral knowledge of those who lie in the lower strata of ,christian civilization1 and those who lie in the higher strata of ,paganism1 is probably not so very far apart4 ,place the imbruted outcasts of our metropolitan population beside the ,indian hunter1 with his belief in the ,great ,spirit1 and his worship without images or pictorial representations2#a beside the stalwart ,mandingo of the high table-lands of ,central ,africa1 with his active and enterprising spirit1 carrying on manufactures and trade with all the keenness of any civilized worldling2 beside the native merchants and lawyers of ,calcutta1 who still cling to their ancestral ,boodhism1 or else substitute ,french infidelity in its place2 place the lowest of the highest beside the highest of the lowest1 and tell us if the difference is so very marked4 ,sin1 like holiness1 is a mighty leveler4 ,the dislike to retain ,god in the consciousness1 the aversion of the heart towards the purity of the moral law1 vitiates the native perceptions alike in ,christendom and ,paganism4 ,the theory that the pagan is possessed of such an amount and degree of moral knowledge as has been specified has awakened some apprehension in the minds of some ,christian theologians1 and has led them1 unintentionally to foster the opposite theory1 which1 if strictly adhered1 to1 would lift off all responsibility from the pagan world1 would bring them in innocent at the bar of ,god1 and would render the whole enterprise of ,christian missions a superfluity and an absurdity4 ,their motive has been good4 ,they have feared to attribute any degree of accurate knowledge of ,god and the moral law1 to the pagan world1 lest they should thereby conflict with the doctrine of total depravity4 ,they have mistakenly supposed1 that if they should concede to every man1 by virtue of his moral constitution1 some correct apprehensions of ethics and natural religion1 it would follow that there is some native goodness in him4 ,but light in the intellect is very different from life in the heart4 ,it is one thing to know the law of ,god1 and quite another thing to be conformed to it4 ,even if we should concede to the degraded pagan1 or the degraded dweller in the haunts of vice in ,christian lands1 all the intellectual knowledge of ,god and the moral law that is possessed by the ruined archangel himself1 we should not be adding a particle to his moral character or his moral excellence4 ,there is nothing of a holy quality in the mere intellectual perception that there is one ,supreme ,deity1 and that ,he has issued a pure and holy law for the guidance of all rational beings4 ,the mere doctrine of the ,divine ,unity will save no man4 ,thou believest1 says ,st4 ,james1 that there is one ,god2 thou doest well1 the devils also believe and tremble4 ,satan himself is a monotheist1 and knows very clearly all the commandments of ,god2 but his heart and will are in demoniacal antagonism with them4 ,and so it is1 only in a lower degree1 in the instance of the pagan1 and of the natural man1 in every age1 and in every clime4 ,he knows more than he practises4 ,this intellectual perception therefore1 this inborn constitutional apprehension1 instead of lifting up man into a higher and more favorable position before the eternal bar1 casts him down to perdition4 ,if he knew nothing at all of his ,maker and his duty1 he could not be held responsible1 and could1 not be summoned to judgment4 ,as ,st4 ,paul affirms3 ,where there is no law there is no transgression4 ,but if1 when he knew ,god in some degree1 he glorified him not as ,god to that degree2 and if1 when the moral law was written upon the heart he went counter to its requirements1 and heard the accusing voice of his own conscience2 then his mouth must be stopped1 and he must become guilty before his ,judge1 like any and every other disobedient creature4 ,it is this serious and damning fact in the history of man upon the globe1 that ,st4 ,paul brings to view1 in the passage which we have selected as the foundation of this discourse4 ,he accounts for all the idolatry and sensuality1 all the darkness and vain imaginations of paganism1 by referring to the aversion of the natural heart towards the one only holy ,god4 ,men1 he says1--these pagan men--did not like to retain ,god in their knowledge4 ,the primary difficulty was in their affections1 and not in their understandings4 ,they knew too much for their own comfort in sin4 ,the contrast between the ,divine purity that was mirrored in their conscience1 and the sinfulness that was wrought into their heart and will1 rendered this inborn constitutional idea of ,god a very painful one4 ,it was a fire in the bones4 ,if the ,psalmist1 a renewed man1 yet not entirely free from human corruption1 could say3 ,i thought of ,god and was troubled1 much more must the totally depraved man of paganism be filled with terror when1 in the thoughts of his heart1 in the hour when the accusing conscience was at work1 he brought to mind the one great ,god of gods whom he did not glorify1 and whom he had offended4 ,it was no wonder1 therefore1 that he did not like to retain the idea of such a ,being in his consciousness1 and that he adopted all possible expedients to get rid of it4 ,the apostle informs us that the pagan actually called in his imagination to his aid1 in order to extirpate1 if possible1 all his native and rational ideas and convictions upon religious subjects4 ,he became vain in his imaginations1 and his foolish heart as a consequence was darkened1 and he changed the glory of the incorruptible ,god1 the spiritual unity of the ,deity1 into an image made like to corruptible man1 and to birds1 and four-footed beasts1 and creeping things 7,rom4 i4 #ba-bc74 ,he invented idolatry1 and all those gay religions full of pomp and gold1 in order to blunt the edge of that sharp spiritual conception of ,god which was continually cutting and lacerating his wicked and sensual heart4 ,hiding himself amidst the columns of his idolatrous temples1 and under the smoke of his idolatrous incense1 he thought like ,adam to escape from the view and inspection of that ,infinite ,one who1 from the creation of the world downward1 makes known to all men his eternal power and godhead2 who1 as ,st4 ,paul taught the philosophers of ,athens1 is not far from anyone of his rational creatures 7,acts xvii4 #bg72 and who1 as the same apostle taught the pagan ,lycaonians1 though in times past he suffered all nations to walk in their own ways1 yet left not himself without witness1 in that he did good1 and gave them rain from heaven1 and fruitful seasons1 filling their hearts with food and gladness4 7,acts xiv4 #af1 #ag74 ,the first step in the process of mutilating the original idea of ,god1 as a unity and an unseen ,spirit1 is seen in those pantheistic religions which lie behind all the mythologies of the ancient world1 like a nebulous vapor out of which the more distinct idols and images of paganism are struggling4 ,here the notion of the ,divine unity is still preserved2 but the ,divine personality and holiness are lost4 ,god becomes a vague impersonal ,power1 with no moral qualities1 and no religious attributes2 and it is difficult to say which is worst in its moral influence1 this pantheism which while retaining the doctrine of the ,divine unity yet denudes the ,deity of all that renders him an object of either love or reverence1 or the grosser idolatries that succeeded it4 ,for man cannot love1 with all his mind and heart and soul and strength1 a vast impersonal force working blindly through infinite space and everlasting time4 ,and the second and last stage in this process of vitiating the true idea of ,god appears in that polytheism in the midst of which ,st4 ,paul lived1 and labored1 and preached1 and died2 in that seductive and beautiful paganism1 that classical idolatry1 which still addresses the human taste in such a fascinating manner1 in the ,venus de ,medici1 and the ,apollo ,belvidere4 ,the idea of the unity of ,god is now mangled and cut up into the gods many and the lords many1 into the thirty thousand divinities of the pagan pantheon4 ,this completes the process4 ,god now gives his guilty creature over to these vain imaginations of naturalism1 materialism1 and idolatry1 and to an increasingly darkening mind1 until in the lowest forms of heathenism he so distorts and suppresses the concreated idea of the ,deity that some speculatists assert that it does not belong to his constitution1 and that his ,maker never endowed him with it4 ,how is the gold become dim6 ,how is the most fine gold changed6 ,but it will be objected that all this lies in the past4 ,this is the account of a process that has required centuries1 yea millenniums1 to bring about4 ,a hundred generations have been engaged in transmuting the monotheism with which the human race started1 into the pantheism and polytheism in which the great majority of it is now involved4 ,how do you establish the guilt of those at the end of the line8 ,how can you charge upon the present generation of pagans the same culpability that ,paul imputed to their ancestors eighteen centuries ago1 and that ,noah the preacher of righteousness denounced1 upon the antediluvian pagan8 ,as the deteriorating process advances1 does not the guilt diminish8 and now1 in these ends of the ages1 and in these dark habitations of cruelty1 has not the culpability run down to a minimum1 which ,god in the day of judgment will wink at8 ,we answer ,no3 ,because the structure of the human mind is precisely the same that it was when the ,sodomites held down the truth in unrighteousness1 and the ,roman populace turned up their thumbs that they might see the last drops of blood ebb slowly from the red gash in the dying gladiator's side4 ,man1 in his deepest degradation1 in his most hardened depravity1 is still a rational intelligence2 and though he should continue to sin on indefinitely1 through cycles of time as long as those of geology1 he cannot unmake himself2 he cannot unmould his immortal essence1 and absolutely eradicate all his moral ideas4 ,paganism itself has its fluctuations of moral knowledge4 ,the early ,roman1 in the days of ,numa1 was highly ethical in his views of the ,deity1 and his conceptions of moral law4 ,varro informs us that for a period of one hundred and seventy years the ,romans worshipped their gods without any images2#b and ,sallust denominates these pristine ,romans religiosissimi mortales4 ,and how often does the missionary discover a tribe or a race1 whose moral intelligence is higher than that of the average of paganism4 ,nay1 the same race1 or tribe1 passes from one phase of polytheism to another2 in one instance exhibiting many of the elements and truths of natural religion1 and in another almost entirely suppressing them4 ,these facts prove that the pagan man is under supervision2 that he is under the righteous despotism of moral ideas and convictions2 that ,god is not far from him2 that he lives and moves and has his being in his ,maker2 and that ,god does not leave himself without witness in his constitutional structure4 ,therefore it is1 that this sea of rational intelligence thus surges and sways in the masses of paganism2 sometimes dashing the creature up the heights1 and sometimes sending him down into the depths4 ,but while this subject has this general application to mankind outside of ,revelation2 while it throws so much light upon the question of the heathens' responsibility and guilt2 while it tends to deepen our interest in the work of ,christian missions1 and to stimulate us to obey our ,redeemer's command to go and preach the gospel to them1 in order to save them from the wrath of ,god which abideth upon them as it does upon ourselves2 while this subject has these profound and far-reaching applications1 it also presses with sharpness and energy upon the case1 and the position1 of millions of men in ,christendom4 ,and to this more particular aspect of the theme1 we ask attention for a moment4 ,this same process of corruption1 and vitiation of a correct knowledge of ,god1 which we have seen to go on upon a large scale in the instance of the heathen world1 also often goes on in the instance of a single individual under the light of ,revelation itself4 ,have you never known a person to have been well educated in childhood and youth respecting the character and government of ,god1 and yet in middle life and old age to have altered and corrupted all his early and accurate apprehensions1 by the gradual adoption of contrary views and sentiments8 ,in his childhood1 and youth1 he believed that ,god distinguishes between the righteous and the wicked1 that he rewards the one and punishes the other1 and hence he cherished a salutary fear of his ,maker that agreed well with the dictates of his unsophisticated reason1 and the teachings of nature and revelation4 ,but when1 he became a man1 he put away these childish things1 in a far different sense from that of the ,apostle4 ,as the years rolled1 along1 he succeeded1 by a career of worldliness and of sensuality1 in expelling this stock of religious knowledge1 this right way of conceiving of ,god1 from his mind1 and now at the close of life and upon the very brink of eternity and of doom1 this very same person is as unbelieving respecting the moral attributes of ,jehovah1 and as unfearing with regard to them1 as if the entire experience and creed of his childhood and youth were a delusion and a lie4 ,this rational and immortal creature in the morning of his existence looked up into the clear sky with reverence1 being impressed by the eternal power and godhead that are there1 and when he had committed a sin he felt remorseful and guilty2 but the very same person now sins recklessly and with flinty hardness of heart1 casts sullen or scowling glances upward1 and says3 ,there is no ,god4 ,compare the ,edward ,gibbon whose childhood expanded under the teachings of a beloved ,christian matron trained in the school of the devout ,william ,law1 and whose youth exhibited unwonted religions sensibility1--compare this ,edward ,gibbon with the ,edward ,gibbon whose manhood was saturated with utter unbelief1 and whose departure into the dread hereafter was1 in his own phrase1 a leap in the dark4 ,compare the ,aaron ,burr whose blood was deduced from one of the most saintly lineages in the history of the ,american church1 and all of whose early life was embosomed in ancestral piety1--compare this ,aaron ,burr with the ,aaron ,burr whose middle life and prolonged old age was unimpressible as marble to all religious ideas and influences4 ,in both of these instances1 it was the aversion of the heart that for a season 7not for eternity1 be it remembered7 quenched out the light in the head4 ,these men1 like the pagan of whom ,st4 ,paul speaks1 did not like to retain a holy ,god in their knowledge1 and ,he gave them over to a reprobate mind4 ,these fluctuations and changes in doctrinal belief1 both in the general and the individual mind1 furnish materials for deep reflection by both the philosopher and the ,christian2 and such an one will often be led to notice the exact parallel and similarity there is between religious deterioration in races1 and religious deterioration in individuals4 ,the dislike to retain a knowledge already furnished1 because it is painful1 because it rebukes worldliness and sin1 is that which ruins both mankind in general1 and the man in particular4 ,were the heart only conformed to the truth1 the truth never would be corrupted1 never would be even temporarily darkened in the human soul4 ,should the pagan1 himself1 actually obey the dictates of his own reason and conscience1 he would find the light that was in him growing still clearer and brighter4 ,god himself1 the author of his rational mind1 and the ,light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world1 would reward him for his obedience by granting him yet more knowledge4 ,we cannot say in what particular mode the ,divine providence would bring it about1 but it is as certain as that ,god lives1 that if the pagan world should act up to the degree of light which they enjoy1 they would be conducted ultimately to the truth as it is in ,jesus1 and would be saved by the ,redeemer of the world4 ,the instance of the ,roman centurion ,cornelius is a case in point4 ,this was a thoughtful and serious pagan4 ,it is indeed very probable that his military residence in ,palestine had cleared up1 to some degree1 his natural intuitions of moral truth2 but we know that he was ignorant of the way of salvation through ,christ1 from the fact that the apostle ,peter was instructed in a vision to go and preach it unto him4 ,the sincere endeavor of this ,gentile1 this then pagan in reference to ,christianity1 to improve the little knowledge which he had1 met with the ,divine approbation1 and was crowned with a saving acquaintance with the redemption that is in ,christ ,jesus4 ,peter himself testified to this1 when1 after hearing from the lips of ,cornelius the account of his previous life1 and of the way in which ,god had led him1 he opened his mouth and said1 ,of a truth ,i perceive that ,god is no respecter of persons3 but in every nation1 he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him 7,acts x4 #cd1 #ce74c ,but such instances as this of ,cornelius are not one in millions upon millions4 ,the light shines in the darkness that comprehends it not4 ,almost without an exception1 so far as the human eye can see1 the unevangelized world holds the truth in unrighteousness1 and does not like to retain the idea of a holy ,god1 and a holy law1 in its knowledge4 ,therefore the knowledge continually diminishes2 the light of natural reason and conscience grows dimmer and dimmer2 and the soul sinks down in the mire of sin and sensuality1 apparently devoid of all the higher ideas of ,god1 and law1 and immortal life4 ,we have thus considered the truth which ,st4 ,paul teaches in the text1 that the ultimate source of all human error is in the character of the human heart4 ,mankind do not like to retain ,god in their knowledge1 and therefore they come to possess a reprobate mind4 ,the origin of idolatry1 and of infidelity1 is not in the original constitution with which the ,creator endowed the creature1 but in that evil heart of unbelief by which he departed from the living ,god4 ,sinful man shapes his creed in accordance with his wishes1 and not in accordance with the unbiased decisions of his reason and conscience4 ,he does not like to think of a holy ,god1 and therefore he denies that ,god is holy4 ,he does not like to think of the eternal punishment of sin1 and therefore he denies that punishment is eternal4 ,he does not like to be pardoned through the substituted sufferings of the ,son of ,god1 and therefore he denies the doctrine of atonement4 ,he does not like the truth that man is so totally alienated from ,god that he needs to be renewed in the spirit of his mind by the ,holy ,ghost1 and therefore he denies the doctrines of depravity and regeneration4 ,run through the creed which the ,church has lived by and died by1 and you will discover that the only obstacle to its reception is the aversion of the human heart4 ,it is a rational creed in all its parts and combinations4 ,it has outlived the collisions and conflicts of a hundred schools of infidelity that have had their brief day1 and died with their devotees4 ,a hundred systems of philosophy falsely so called have come and gone1 but the one old religion of the patriarchs1 and the prophets1 and the apostles1 holds on its way through the centuries1 conquering and to conquer4 ,can it be that sheer imposture and error have such a tenacious vitality as this8 ,if reason is upon the side of infidelity1 why does not infidelity remain one and the same unchanging thing1 like ,christianity1 from age to age1 and subdue all men unto it8 ,if ,christianity is a delusion and a lie1 why does it not die out1 and disappear8 ,the difficulty is not upon the side of the human reason1 but of the human heart4 ,skeptical men do not like the religion of the ,new ,testament1 these doctrines of sin and grace1 and therefore they shape their creed by their sympathies and antipathies2 by what they wish to have true2 by their heart rather than by their head4 ,as the ,founder of ,christianity said to the ,jews1 so he says to every man who rejects ,his doctrine of grace and redemption3 ,ye will not come unto me that ye might have life4 ,it is an inclination of the will1 and not a conviction of the reason1 that prevents the reception of the ,christian religion4 ,among the many reflections that are suggested by this subject and its discussion1 our limits permit only the following3 #a4 ,it betokens deep wickedness1 in any man1 to change the truth of ,god into a lie1--to substitute a false theory in religion for the true one4 ,woe unto them1 says the prophet1 that call evil good1 and good evil2 that put darkness for light1 and light for darkness2 that put bitter for sweet1 and sweet for bitter4 ,there is no form of moral evil that is more hateful in the sight of ,infinite ,truth1 than that intellectual depravity which does not like to retain a holy ,god in its knowledge1 and therefore mutilates the very idea of the ,deity1 and attempts to make him other than he is4 ,there is no sinner that will be visited with a heavier vengeance than that cool and calculating man1 who1 because he dislikes the unyielding purity of the moral law1 and the awful sanctions by which it is accompanied1 deliberately alters it to suit his wishes and his self-indulgence4 ,if a person is tempted and falls into sin1 and yet does not change his religious creed in order to escape the reproaches of conscience and the fear of retribution1 there is hope that the orthodoxy of his head may result1 by ,god's blessing upon his own truth1 in sorrow for the sin and a forsaking thereof4 ,a man1 for instance1 who amidst all his temptations and transgressions still retains the truth taught him from the ,scriptures1 at his mother's knees1 that a finally impenitent sinner will go down to eternal torment1 feels a powerful check upon his passions1 and is often kept from outward and actual transgressions by his creed4 ,but if he deliberately1 and by an act of will1 says in his heart3 ,there is no hell2 if he substitutes for the theory that renders the commission of sin dangerous and fearful1 a theory that relieves it from all danger and all fear1 there is no hope that he will ever cease from sinning4 ,on the contrary1 having brought his head into harmony with his heart2 having adjusted his theory to his practice2 having shaped his creed by his passions2 having changed the truth of ,god into a lie2 he then plunges into sin with an abandonment and a momentum that is awful4 ,in the phrase of the prophet1 he draws iniquity with cords of vanity1 and sin as it were with a cart-rope4 ,it is here that we see the deep guilt of those1 who1 by false theories of ,god and man and law and penalty1 tempt the young or the old to their eternal destruction4 ,it is sad and fearful1 when the weak physical nature is plied with all the enticements of earth and sense2 but it is yet sadder and more fearful1 when the intellectual nature is sought to be perverted and ensnared by specious theories that annihilate the distinction between virtue and vice1 that take away all holy fear of ,god1 and reverence for ,his law1 that represent the everlasting future either as an everlasting elysium for all1 or else as an eternal sleep4 ,the demoralization1 in this instance1 is central and radical4 ,it is in the brain1 in the very understanding itself4 ,if the foundations themselves of morals and religion are destroyed1 what can be done for the salvation of the creature8 ,a heavy woe is denounced against any and every one who tempts a fellow-being4 ,temptation implies malice4 ,it is ,satanic4 ,it betokens a desire to ruin an immortal spirit4 ,when therefore the siren would allure a human creature from the path of virtue1 the inspiration of ,god utters a deep and bitter curse against her4 ,but when the cold-blooded ,mephistopheles endeavors to sophisticate the reason1 to debauch the judgment1 to sear the conscience2 when the temptation is addressed to the intellect1 and the desire of the tempter is to overthrow the entire religious creed of a human being1--perhaps a youth just entering upon that hazardous enterprise of life in which he needs every jot and tittle of eternal truth to guide and protect him1--when the enticement assumes this purely mental form and aspect1 it betokens the most malignant and heaven-daring guilt in the tempter4 ,and we may be certain that the retribution that will be meted out to it1 by ,him who is true and ,the ,truth2 who abhors all falsehood and all lies with an infinite intensity2 will be terrible beyond conception4 ,woe unto you ye blind guides6 ,ye serpents1 ye generation of vipers1 how can ye escape the damnation of hell6 ,if any man shall add unto these things1 ,god shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book4 ,and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy1 ,god shall take away his part out of the book of life1 and out of the holy city1 and from the things that are written in this book4 #b4 ,in the second place1 we perceive1 in the light of this subject1 the great danger of not reducing religious truth to practice4 ,there are two fatal hazards in not obeying the doctrines of the ,bible while yet there is an intellectual assent to them4 ,the first is1 that these doctrines shall themselves become diluted and corrupted4 ,so long as the affectionate submission of the heart is not yielded to their authority2 so long as there is any dislike towards their holy claims2 there is great danger that1 as in the instance of the pagan1 they will not be retained in the knowledge4 ,the sinful man becomes weary of a form of doctrine that continually rebukes him1 and gradually changes it into one that is less truthful and restraining4 ,but a second and equally alarming danger is1 that the heart shall become accustomed to the truth1 and grow hard and indifferent towards it4 ,there are a multitude of persons who hear the word of ,god and never dream of disputing it1 who yet1 alas1 never dream of obeying it4 ,to such the living truth of the gospel becomes a petrifaction1 and a savor of death unto death4 ,we urge you1 therefore1 ye who know the doctrines of the law and the doctrines of the gospel1 to give an affectionate and hearty assent to them both4 ,when the divine ,word asserts that you are guilty1 and that you cannot stand in the judgment before ,god1 make answer3 ,it is so1 it is so4 ,practically and deeply acknowledge the doctrine of human guilt and corruption4 ,let it no longer be a theory in the head1 but a humbling salutary consciousness in the heart4 ,and when the divine ,word affirms that ,god so loved the world that he gave his ,only-,begotten ,son to redeem it1 make a quick and joyful response3 ,it is so1 it is so4 ,instead of changing the truth of ,god into a lie1 as the guilty world have been doing for six thousand years1 change it into a blessed consciousness of the soul4 ,believe what you know2 and then what you know will be the wisdom of ,god to your salvation4 ,footnote #a3 ,there are no profane words in the 7,iowa7 ,indian language3 no light or profane way of speaking of the ',great ,spirit4'--,,foreign ,,missionary3 ,may1 #ahfc1 p4 #ccg4 ,footnote #b3 ,,plutarch3 ,numa1 #h2 ,,augustine3 ,de ,civitate1 iv4 #ca4 ,footnote #c3 ,it should be noticed that ,cornelius was not prepared for another life1 by the moral virtue which he had practised before meeting with ,peter1 but by his penitence for sin and faith in ,jesus ,christ1 whom ,peter preached to him as the ,saviour from sin 7,acts x4 #dc74 ,good works can no more prepare a pagan for eternity than they can a nominal ,christian4 ,epictetus and ,marcus ,aurelius could no more be justified by their personal character1 than ,saul of ,tarsus could be4 ,first1 because the virtue is imperfect1 at the best3 and1 secondly1 it does not begin at the beginning of existence upon earth1 and continue unintermittently to the end of it4 ,a sense of sin is a far more hopeful indication1 in the instance of a heathen1 than a sense of virtue4 ,the utter absence of humility and sorrow in the ,meditations of the philosophic ,emperor1 and the omnipresence in them of pride and self-satisfaction1 place him out of all relations to the ,divine mercy4 ,in trying to judge of the final condition of a pagan outside of revelation1 we must ask the question3 ,was he penitent8 rather than the question3 ,was he virtuous8 ,,the ,,necessity ,,of ,,divine ,,influences4 ,,luke xi4 #ac4--;,if ye then1 being evil1 know how to give good gifts unto your children2 how much more shall your heavenly ,father give the ,holy ,spirit to them that ask him8 ,the reality1 and necessity1 of the operation of the ,holy ,spirit upon the human heart1 is a doctrine very frequently taught in the ,scriptures4 ,our ,lord1 in the passage from which the text is taken1 speaks of the third ,person in the ,trinity in such a manner as to convey the impression that ,his agency is as indispensable1 in order to spiritual life1 as food is in order to physical2 that sinful man as much needs the influences of the ,holy ,ghost as he does his daily bread4 ,if a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father1 will he give him a stone8 ,if this is not at all supposable1 in the case of an affectionate earthly parent1 much less is it supposable that ,god the heavenly ,father will refuse renewing and sanctifying influences to them that ask for them4 ,by employing such a significant comparison as this1 our ,lord implies that there is as pressing need of the gift in the one instance as in the other4 ,for1 he does not compare spiritual influences with the mere luxuries of life1--with wealth1 fame1 or power1--but with the very staff of life itself4 ,he selects the very bread by which the human body lives1 to illustrate the helpless sinner's need of the ,holy ,ghost4 ,when ,god1 by his prophet1 would teach ,his people that he would at some future time bestow a rich and remarkable blessing upon them1 ,he says3 ,i will pour out my ,spirit upon all flesh4 ,when our ,saviour was about to leave his disciples1 and was sending them forth as the ministers of his religion1 he promised them a direct and supernatural agency that should reprove the world of sin1 of righteousness1 and of judgment4 ,and the history of ,christianity evinces both the necessity and reality of ,divine influences4 ,god the ,spirit has actually been present by a special and peculiar agency1 in this sinful and hardened world1 and hence the heart of flesh and the spread of vital religion4 ,god the ,spirit has actually been absent1 so far as concerns his special and peculiar agency1 and hence the continuance of the heart of stone1 and the decline1 and sometimes the extinction of vital religion4 ,where the ,holy ,spirit has been1 specially and peculiarly1 there the true ,church of ,christ has been1 and where the ,holy ,spirit has not been1 specially and peculiarly1 there1 the ,church of ,christ has not been2 however carefully1 or imposingly1 the externals of a church organization may have been maintained4 ,but there is no stronger1 or more effective proof of the need of the presence and agency of the ,holy ,spirit1 than that which is derived from the nature of the case1 as it appears in the individual4 ,just in proportion as we come to know our own moral condition1 and our own moral necessities1 shall we see and feel that the origin and growth of holiness within our earthly and alienated souls1 without the agency of ,god the ,holy ,spirit1 is an utter impossibility4 ,let us then look into the argument from the nature of the case1 and consider this doctrine of a direct ,divine operation1 in its relations to ourselves personally4 ,why1 then1 does every man need these influences of the ,holy ,spirit which are so cordially offered in the text8 #a4 ,he needs them1 in the first place1 in order that he may be convinced of the reality of the eternal world4 ,there is such a world4 ,it has as actual an existence as ,europe or ,asia4 ,though not an object for any one of the five senses1 the invisible world is as substantial as the great globe itself1 and will be standing when the elements shall have been melted with fervent heat1 and the heavens are no more4 ,this eternal world1 furthermore1 is not only real1 but it is filled with realities that are yet more solemn4 ,god inhabits it4 ,the judgment-seat of ,christ is set up in it4 ,heaven is in it4 ,hell is in it4 ,myriads of myriads of holy and happy spirits are there4 ,myriads of sinful and wretched spirits are there4 ,nay1 this unseen world is the only real world1 and the objects in it the only real objects1 if we remember that only that which is immutable deserves the name of real4 ,if we employ the eternal as the measure of real being1 then all that is outside of eternity is unreal and a vanity4 ,this material world acquires impressiveness for man1 by virtue of the objects that fill it4 ,his farm is in it1 his houses are upon it1 solid mountains rise up from it1 great rivers run through it1 and the old rolling heavens are bent over it4 ,but what is the transient reality of these objects1 these morning vapors1 compared with the everlasting reality of such beings as ,god and the soul1 of such facts as holiness and sin1 of such states as heaven and hell8 ,here1 then1 we have in the unseen and eternal world a most solemn and real object of knowledge2 but where1 among mankind1 is the solemn and vivid knowledge itself8 ,knowledge is the union of a fact with a feeling4 ,there may be a stone in the street1 but unless ,i smite it with my foot1 or smite it with my eye1 ,i have no knowledge of the stone4 ,so1 too1 there is an invisible world1 outstanding and awfully impressive2 but unless ,i feel its influences1 and stand with awe beneath its shadows1 it is as though it were not4 ,here is an orb that has risen up into the horizon1 but all eyes are shut4 ,for1 no thoughtful observer fails to perceive that an earthly1 and unspiritual mode of thought and feeling is the prevalent one among men4 ,no one who has ever endeavored to arrest the attention of a fellow-man1 and give his thoughts an upward tendency towards eternity1 will say that the effort is easily and generally successful4 ,on the contrary1 if an ethereal and holy inhabitant of heaven were to go up and down our earth1 and witness man's immersion in sense and time1 the earthliness of his views and aims1 his neglect of spiritual objects and interests1 his absorption in this existence1 and his forgetfulness of the other1 it would be difficult to convince him that he was among beings made in the image of ,god1 and was mingling with a race having an immortal destination beyond the grave4 ,in this first feature of the case1 then1 as we find it in ourselves1 and see it in all our fellow-men1 we have the first evidence of the need of awakening influences from on high4 ,since man1 naturally1 is destitute of a solemn sense of eternal things1 it is plain that there can be no moral change produced in him1 unless he is first wakened from this drowze4 ,he cannot become the subject of that new birth without which he cannot see the kingdom of ,god1 unless his torpor respecting the ,unseen is removed4 ,entirely satisfied as he now is with this mode of existence1 and thinking little or nothing about another1 the first necessity in his case is a startle1 and an alarm4 ,difficult as he now finds it to be1 to bring the invisible world before his mind in a way to affect his feelings1 he needs to have it loom upon his inward vision with such power and impressiveness that he cannot take his eye off1 if he would4 ,lethargic as he now is1 respecting his own immortality1 it is impossible for him to live and act with constant reference to it1 unless he is wakened to its significance4 ,is it not self-evident1 that if the sinner's present indifference towards the invisible world1 and his failure to feel its solemn reality1 continues through life1 he will certainly enter that state of existence with his present character8 ,looking into the human spirit1 and seeing how dead it is towards ,god and the future1 must we not say1 that if this deadness to eternity lasts until the death of the body1 it will certainly be the death of the soul8 ,but1 in what way can man be made to realize that there is an eternal world1 to which he is rapidly tending1 and realities there1 with which1 by the very constitution of his spirit1 he is forever and indissolubly connected either for bliss or woe8 ,how shall thoughtless and earthly man1 as he treads these streets1 and transacts all this business1 and enjoys life1 be made to feel with misgiving1 foreboding1 and alarm1 that there is an eternity1 and that he must soon enter it1 as other men do1 either as a heaven or a hell for his soul8 ,the answer to this question1 so often asked in sadness and sorrow by the preacher of the word1 drives us back to the throne of ,god and to a mightier agency than that of man4 ,for one thing is certain1 that this apathy and deadness will never of itself generate sensibility and life4 ,satan never casts out ,satan4 ,if this slumberer be left to himself1 he is lost4 ,should any man be given over to the natural inclination of his heart1 he would never be awakened4 ,should his earthly mind receive no check1 and his corrupt heart take its own way1 he would never realize that there is another world than this1 until he entered it4 ,for1 the worldly mind and the corrupt heart busy themselves solely and happily with this existence4 ,they find pleasure in the things of this life1 and therefore never look beyond them4 ,worldly men do not interfere with their own present actual enjoyment4 ,who of this class voluntarily makes himself unhappy1 by thinking of subjects that are gloomy to his mind8 ,what man of the world starts up from his sweet sleep and his pleasant dreams1 and of his own accord looks the stern realities of death and the judgment in the eye8 ,no natural man begins to wound himself1 that he may be healed4 ,no earthly man begins to slay himself1 that he may be made alive4 ,even when the natural heart is roused and wakened by some foreign agency2 some startling providence of ,god or some ,divine operation in the conscience1 how soon1 if left to its own motion and tendency1 does it relapse into its old slumber and sleep4 ,the needle has received a shock1 but after a slight trembling and vibration it soon settles again upon its axis1 ever and steady to the north4 ,it is plain1 that the sinner's worldly mind and apathetic nature will never conduct him to a proper sense of ,divine things4 ,the awakening1 then1 of the human soul1 to an effectual apprehension of eternal realities1 must take its first issue from some other ,being than the drowzy and slumbering creature himself4 ,we are not speaking of a few serious thoughts that now and then fleet across the human mind1 like meteors at midnight1 and are seen no more4 ,we are speaking of that permanent1 that everlasting dawning of eternity1 with its terrors and its splendors1 upon the human soul1 which allows it no more repose1 until it is prepared for eternity upon good grounds and foundations2 and with reference to such a profound consciousness of the future state as this1 we say with confidence1 that the awakening must proceed from some ,being who is far more alive to the solemnity and significance of eternal duration than earthly man is4 ,without impulses from on high1 the sinner never rouses up to attend to the subject of religion4 ,he lives on indifferent to his religious interests1 until ,god1 who is more merciful to his deathless soul than he himself is1 by ,his providence startles him1 or by ,his ,spirit in his conscience alarms him4 ,never1 until ,god interferes to disturb his dreams1 and break up his slumber1 does he profoundly and permanently feel that he was made for another world1 and is fast going into it4 ,how often does ,god say to the careless man3 ,arise1 ,o sleeper1 and ,christ shall give thee light2 and how often does he disregard the warning voice6 ,how often does ,god stimulate his conscience1 and flare light into his mind2 and how often does he stifle down these inward convictions1 and suffer the light to shine in the darkness that comprehends it not6 ,these facts in the personal history of every sin-loving man show1 that the human soul does not of its own isolated action wake up to the realities of eternity4 ,they also show that ,god is very merciful to the human soul1 in positively and powerfully interfering for its welfare2 but that man1 in infinite folly and wickedness1 loves the sleep1 and inclines to remain in it4 ,the ,holy ,spirit strives1 but the human spirit resists4 ,,ii4 ,in the second place1 man needs the influences of the ,holy ,spirit that he may be convinced of sin4 ,man universally is a sinner1 and yet he needs in every single instance to be made aware of it4 ,there is none good1 no1 not one2 and yet out of the millions of the race how very few feel this truth6 ,not only does man sin1 but he adds to his guilt by remaining ignorant of it4 ,the criminal in this instance also1 as in our courts of law1 feels and confesses his crime no faster than it is proved to him4 ,through what blindness of mind1 and hardness of heart1 and insensibility of conscience1 is the ,holy ,spirit obliged to force ,his way1 before there is a sincere acknowledgment of sin before ,god6 ,the careful investigations1 the persevering questionings and cross-questionings1 by which1 before a human tribunal1 the wilful and unrepenting criminal is forced to see and acknowledge his wickedness1 are but faint emblems of that thorough work that must be wrought by the ,holy ,ghost1 before the human soul1 at a higher tribunal1 forsaking its refuges of lies1 and desisting from its subterfuges and palliations1 smites upon the breast1 and cries1 ,god be merciful to me a sinner6 ,think how much of our sin has occurred in total apathy1 and indifference1 and how unwilling we are to have any distinct consciousness upon this subject4 ,it is only now and then that we feel ourselves to be sinners2 but it is by no means only now and then that we are sinners4 ,we sin habitually2 we are conscious of sin rarely4 ,our affections and inclinations and motives are evil1 and only evil1 continually2 but our experimental knowledge that they are so comes not often into our mind1 and what is worse stays not long1 because we dislike it4 ,the conviction of sin1 with what it includes and leads to1 is of more worth to man than all other convictions4 ,conviction of any sort1--a living practical consciousness of any kind1--is of great value1 because it is only this species of knowledge that moves mankind4 ,convince a man1 that is1 give him a consciousness1 of the truth of a principle in politics1 in trade1 or in religion1 and you actuate him politically1 commercially1 or religiously4 ,convince a criminal of his crime1 that is1 endue him with a conscious feeling of his criminality1 and you make him burn with electric fire4 ,a convicted man is a man thoroughly conscious2 and a thoroughly conscious man is a deeply moved one4 ,and this is true1 with emphasis1 of the conviction of sin4 ,this consciousness produces a deeper and more lasting effect than all others4 ,convince a community of the justice or injustice of a certain class of political principles1 and you stir it very deeply1 and broadly1 as the history of all democracies clearly shows2 but let society be once convinced of sin before the holy and righteous ,god1 and deep calleth unto deep1 all the waters are moved4 ,never is a mass of human beings so centrally stirred1 as when the ,spirit of ,god is poured out upon it1 and from no movement in human society do such lasting and blessed consequences flow1 as from a genuine revival of religion4 ,but here again1 as in reference to the eternal state1 there is no realizing sense4 ,conviction of sin is not a characteristic of mankind at large4 ,men generally will acknowledge in words that they are sinners1 but they wait for some far-distant day to come1 when they shall be pricked in the heart1 and feel the truth of what they say4 ,men generally are not conscious of the dreadful reality of sin1 any more than they are of the solemn reality of eternity4 ,a deep insensibility1 in this respect also1 precludes a practical knowledge of that guilt in the soul1 which1 if unpardoned and unremoved1 will just as surely ruin it as ,god lives and the soul is immortal4 ,since1 then1 if man be left to his own inclination1 he never will be convinced of sin1 it is plain that some ,agent who has the power must overcome his aversion to self-knowledge1 and bring him to consciousness upon this unwelcome subject4 ,if any one of us1 for the remainder of our days1 should be given over to that ordinary indifference towards sin with which we walk these streets1 and transact business1 and enjoy life2 if ,god's truth should never again in this world stab the conscience1 and ,god's ,spirit should never again make us anxious2 is it not infallibly certain that the future would be as the past1 and that we should go through this accepted time and day of salvation unconvicted and therefore unconverted8 ,but besides this destitution of the experimental sense of sin1 another ground of the need of ,divine agency is found in the blindness of the natural mind4 ,man's vision of spiritual things1 even when they are set before his eyes1 is dim and inadequate4 ,the ,christian ministry is greatly hindered1 because it cannot illuminate the human understanding1 and impart the power of a keen spiritual insight4 ,it is compelled to present the objects of sight1 but it cannot give the eye to see them4 ,vision depends altogether upon the condition of the organ4 ,the eye sees only what it brings the means of seeing4 ,the scaled eye of a worldling1 or a debauchee1 or a self-righteous man1 cannot see that sin of the heart1 that spiritual wickedness1 at which men like ,paul and ,isaiah stood aghast4 ,these were men whose character compared with that of the worldling was saintly2 men whose shoes' latchets the worldling is not worthy to stoop down and unloose4 ,and yet they saw a depravity within their own hearts which he does not see in his2 a depravity which he cannot see1 and which he steadily denies to exist1 until he is enlightened by the ,holy ,ghost4 ,but the preacher has no power to impart this clear spiritual discernment4 ,he cannot arm the eye of the natural man with that magnifying and microscopic power1 by which hatred shall be seen to be murder1 and lust1 adultery1 and the least swelling of pride1 the sin of ,lucifer4 ,he is compelled1 by the testimony of the ,bible1 of the wise and the holy of all time1 and of his own consciousness1 to tell every unregenerate man that he is no better than his race2 that he certainly is no better than the ,christian ,church which continually confesses and mourns over indwelling sin4 ,the faithful preacher of the word is obliged to insist that there is no radical difference among men1 and that the depravity of the man of irreproachable morals but unrenewed heart is as total as was that of the great preacher to the ,gentiles1--a man of perfectly irreproachable morals1 but who confessed that he was the chief of sinners1 and feared lest he should be a cast-away4 ,but the preacher of this unwelcome message has no power to open the blind eye4 ,he cannot endow the self-ignorant and incredulous man before him1 with that consciousness of the plague of the heart which says yea to the most vivid description of human sinfulness1 and amen to ,god's heaviest malediction upon it4 ,the preacher's position would be far easier1 if there might be a transfer of experience2 if some of that bitter painful sense of sin with which the struggling ,christian is burdened might flow over into the easy1 unvexed1 and thoughtless souls of the men of this world4 ,would that the consciousness upon this subject of sin1 of a ,paul or a ,luther1 might deluge that large multitude of men who doubt or deny the doctrine of human depravity4 ,the materials for that consciousness1 the items that go to make up that experience1 exist as really and as plentifully in your moral state and character1 as they do in that of the mourning and self-reproaching ,christian who sits by your side1--your devout father1 your saintly mother1 or sister1--whom you know1 and who you know is a better being than you are4 ,why should they be weary and heavy-laden with a sense of their unworthiness before ,god1 and you go through life indifferent and light-hearted8 ,are they deluded in respect to the doctrine of human depravity1 and are you in the right8 ,think you that the deathbed and the day of judgment will prove this to be the fact8 ,no6 if you shall ever know anything of the ,christian struggle with innate corruption2 if you shall ever1 in the expressive phrase of ,scripture1 have your senses exercised as in a gymnasium #a to discern good and evil1 and see yourself with self-abhorrence2 your views will harmonize most profoundly and exactly with theirs4 ,and1 furthermore1 you will not in the process create any new sinfulness4 ,you will merely see the existing depravity of the human heart4 ,you will simply see what is1--is now1 in your heart1 and in all human hearts1 and has been from the beginning4 ,but all this is the work of a more powerful and spiritual agency than that of man4 ,the truth may be exhibited with perfect transparency and plainness1 the hearer himself may do his utmost to have it penetrate and tell2 and yet1 there be no vivid and vital consciousness of sin4 ,how often does the serious and alarmed man say to us3 ,i know it1 but ,i do not feel it4 ,how long and wearily1 sometimes1 does the anxious man struggle after an inward sense of these spiritual things1 without success1 until he learns that an inward sense1 an experimental consciousness1 respecting religious truth1 is as purely a gift and product of ,god the ,spirit as the breath of life in his nostrils4 ,considering1 then1 the natural apathy of man respecting the sin that is in his own heart1 and the exceeding blindness of his mental vision1 even when his attention has been directed to it1 is it not perfectly plain that there must be the exertion of a ,divine agency1 in order that he may pass through even the first and lowest stages of the religious experience8 ,in view of the subject1 as thus far unfolded1 we remark3 #a4 ,first1 that it is the duty of every one1 to take the facts in respect to man's character as he finds them4 ,nothing is gained1 in any province of human thought or action1 by disputing actual verities4 ,they are stubborn things1 and will not yield to the wishes and prejudices of the natural heart4 ,this is especially true in regard to the facts in man's moral and religious condition4 ,the testimony of ,revelation is explicit1 that the carnal mind is enmity against ,god1 for it is not subject to the law of ,god1 neither indeed can be2 and also1 that the natural man receiveth not the things of the ,spirit1 neither can he know them1 because they are spiritually discerned4 ,according to this ,biblical statement1 there is corruption and blindness together4 ,the human heart is at once sinful1 and ignorant that it is so4 ,it is1 therefore1 the very worst form of evil2 a fatal disease unknown to the patient1 and accompanied with the belief that there is perfect health2 sin and guilt without any just and proper sense of it4 ,this is the testimony1 and the assertion1 of that ,being who needs not that any should testify to ,him of man1 for he knows what is in man4 ,and this is the testimony1 also1 of every mind that has attained a profound self-knowledge4 ,for it is indisputable1 that in proportion as a man is introspective1 and accustoms himself to the scrutiny of his motives and feelings1 he discovers that the whole head is sick1 and the whole heart is faint4 ,it is1 therefore1 the duty and wisdom of every one to set to his seal that ,god is true1--to have this as his motto4 ,though1 as yet1 he is destitute of a clear conviction of sin1 and a godly sorrow for it1 still he should presume the fact of human depravity4 ,good men in every age have found it to be a fact1 and the infallible ,word of ,god declares that it is a fact4 ,what1 then1 is gained1 by proposing another than the ,biblical theory of human nature8 ,is the evil removed by denying its existence8 ,will the mere calling men good at heart1 and by nature1 make them such8 ,who can hold a fire in his hand1 ,by thinking on the frosty ,caucasus8 ,or cloy the hungry edge of appetite1 ,by bare imagination of a feast8 ,or wallow naked in ,december snow1 ,by thinking on fantastic summer heat8#b #b4 ,in the second place1 we remark that it is the duty of every one1 not to be discouraged by these facts and truths relative to the moral condition of man4 ,for1 one fact conducts to the next one4 ,one truth prepares for a second4 ,if it is a solemn and sad fact that men are sinners1 and blind and dead in their trespasses and sin1 it is also a cheering fact that the ,holy ,spirit can enlighten the darkest understanding1 and enliven the most torpid and indifferent soul2 and it is a still further1 and most encouraging truth and fact1 that the ,holy ,spirit is given to those who ask for it1 with more readiness than a father gives bread to his hungry child4 ,here1 then1 we have the fact of sin1 and of blindness and apathy in sin2 the fact of a mighty power in ,god to convince of sin1 of righteousness1 and of judgment2 and the blessed fact that this power is accessible to prayer4 ,let us put these three facts together1 all of them1 and act accordingly4 ,then we shall be taught by the ,spirit1 and shall come to a salutary consciousness of sin2 and then shall be verified in our own experience the words of ,god3 ,i dwell in the high and holy place1 and with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit1 to revive the spirit of the humble1 and to revive the heart of the contrite ones4 ,footnote #a3 ,greek3 ,ta aisthaeria gegurasmena4 ,heb4 v4 #ad4 ,footnote #b3 ,,shakspeare3 ,richard ,,ii4 ,act i4 ,sc4 #c4 ,,the ,,necessity ,,of ,,divine ,,influences4 99continued ,luke xi4 #ac4--;,if ye1 then1 being evil1 know how to give good gifts unto your children2 how much more shall your heavenly ,father give the ,holy ,spirit to them that ask him4 ,in expounding the doctrine of these words1 in the preceding discourse1 the argument for the necessity of ,divine influences had reference to the more general aspects of man's character and condition4 ,we were concerned with the origin of seriousness in view of a future life1 and the production of a sense of moral corruption and unfitness to enter eternity4 ,we have now to consider the work of the ,spirit1 in its relations1 first1 to that more distinct sense of sin which is denominated the consciousness of guilt1 and secondly1 to that saving act of faith by which the atonement of ,christ is appropriated by the soul4 ,i4 ,sin is not man's misfortune1 but his fault2 and any view that falls short of this fact is radically defective4 ,sin not only brings a corruption and bondage1 but also a condemnation and penalty1 upon the self-will that originates it4 ,sin not only renders man unfit for rewards1 font also deserving of punishment4 ,as one who has disobeyed law of his own determination1 he is liable not merely to the negative loss of blessings1 but also to the positive infliction of retribution4 ,it is not enough that a transgressor be merely let alone2 he must be taken in hand and punished4 ,he is not simply a diseased man2 he is a criminal4 ,his sin1 therefore1 requires not a removal merely1 but also an expiation4 ,this relation and reference of transgression to law and justice is a fundamental one2 and yet it is very liable to be overlooked1 or at least to be inadequately apprehended4 ,the sense of ill-desert is too apt to be confused and shallow1 in the human soul4 ,man is comparatively ready to acknowledge the misery of sin1 while he is slow to confess the guilt of it4 ,when the word of ,god asserts he is poor1 and blind1 and wretched1 he is comparatively forward to assent2 but when1 in addition1 it asserts that he deserves to be punished everlastingly1 he reluctates4 ,mankind are willing to acknowledge their wretchedness1 and be pitied2 but they are not willing to acknowledge their guiltiness1 and stand condemned before law4 ,and yet1 guilt is the very essence of sin4 ,extinguish the criminality1 and you extinguish the inmost core and heart of moral evil4 ,we may have felt that sin is bondage1 that it is inward dissension and disharmony1 that it takes away the true dignity of our nature1 but if we have not also felt that it is iniquity and merits penalty1 we have not become conscious of its most essential quality4 ,it is not enough that we come before ,god1 saying3 ,i am wretched in my soul2 ,i am weary of my bondage2 ,i long for deliverance4 ,we must also say1 as we look up into that holy ,eye3 ,i am guilty2 ,o my ,god ,i deserve thy judgments4 ,in brief1 the human mind must recognize all the ,divine attributes4 ,the entire ,divine character1 in both its justice and its love1 must rise full-orbed before the soul1 when thus seeking salvation4 ,it is not enough1 that we ask ,god to free us from disquietude1 and give us repose4 ,before we do this1 and that we may do it successfully1 we must employ the language of ,david1 while under the stings of guilt3 ,o ,lord rebuke me not in thy wrath3 neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure4 ,be merciful unto me1 ,o ,god be merciful unto me4 ,what is needed is1 more consideration of sin in its objective1 and less in its subjective relations2 more sense of it in its reference to the being and attributes of ,god1 and less sense of it in its reference to our own happiness or misery1 or even to the harmony of our own powers and faculties4 ,the adorable being and attributes of ,god are of more importance than any human soul1 immortal though it be2 and what is required in the religious experience is1 more anxiety lest the ,divine glory should be tarnished1 and less fear that a worm of the dust be made miserable by his transgressions4 ,and whatever may be our theory of the matter1 to this complexion must we come at last1 even in order to our own peace of mind4 ,we must lose our life1 in order to find it4 ,even in order to our own inward repose of conscience and of heart1 there must come a point and period in our mental history1 when we do actually sink self out of sight1 and think of sin in its relation to the character and government of the great and holy ,god1--when we do see it to be guilt1 as well as corruption4 ,for guilt is a distinct1 and a distinguishable quality4 ,it is a thing by itself1 like the ,platonic idea of ,beauty4#a ,it is sin stripped of its accompaniments1--the restlessness1 the dissatisfaction1 and the unhappiness which it produces1--and perceived in its pure odiousness and ill-desert4 ,and when thus seen1 it does not permit the mind to think of any thing but the righteous law1 and the ,divine character4 ,in the hour of thorough conviction1 the sinful spirit is lost in the feeling of guiltiness3 wholly engrossed in the reflection that it has incurred the condemnation of the ,best ,being in the universe4 ,it is in distress1 not because an ,almighty ,being can make it miserable but1 because a ,holy and ,good ,being has reason to be displeased with it4 ,when it gives utterance to its emotion1 it says to its ,sovereign and its ,judge3 ,i am in anguish1 more because ,thou the ,holy and the ,good art unreconciled with me1 than because ,thou the ,omnipotent canst punish me forever4 ,i refuse not to ,the punished2 ,i deserve the inflictions of ,thy justice2 only forgive1 and ,thou mayest do what ,thou wilt unto me4 ,a soul that is truly penitent has no desire to escape penalty1 at the expense of principle and law4 ,it says with ,david3 ,thou desirest not sacrifice2 such atonement as ,i can make is inadequate2 else would ,i give it4 ,it expresses its approbation of the pure justice of ,god1 in the language of the gentlest and sweetest of ,mystics3 ,thou hast no lightnings1 ,o ,thou ,just6 ,or ,i their force should know2 ,and if ,thou strike me into dust1 ,my soul approves the blow4 ,the heart that values less its ease1 ,than it adores ,thy ways2 ,in ,thine avenging anger1 sees ,a subject of its praise4 ,pleased ,i could lie1 concealed and lost1 ,in shades of central night2 ,not to avoid ,thy wrath1 ,thou know'st1 ,but lest ,i grieve ,thy sight4 ,smite me1 ,o ,thou whom ,i provoke6 ,and ,i will love ,thee still2 ,the well deserved and righteous stroke ,shall please me1 though it kill4#b ,now1 it is only when the human spirit is under the illuminating1 and discriminating influences of the ,holy ,ghost1 that it possesses this pure and genuine sense of guilt4 ,worldly losses1 trials1 warnings by ,god's providence1 may rouse the sinner1 and make him solemn2 but unless the ,spirit of ,grace enters his heart he does not feel that he is ill-deserving4 ,he is sad and fearful1 respecting the future life1 and perhaps supposes that this state of mind is one of true conviction1 and wonders that it does not end in conversion1 and the joy of pardon4 ,but if he would examine it1 he would discover that it is full of the lust of self4 ,he would find that he is merely unhappy1 and restless1 and afraid to die4 ,if he should examine the workings of his heart1 he would discover that they are only another form of self-love2 that instead of being anxious about self in the present world1 he has become anxious about self in the future world2 that instead of looking out for his happiness here1 he has begun to look out for it hereafter2 that in fact he has merely transferred sin1 from time and its relations1 to eternity and its relations4 ,such sorrow as this needs to be sorrowed for1 and such repentance as this needs to be repented of4 ,such conviction as this needs to be laid open1 and have its defect shown4 ,after a course of wrongdoing1 it is not sufficient for man to come before the ,holy ,one1 making mention of his wretchedness1 and desire for happiness1 but making no mention of his culpability1 and desert of righteous and holy judgments4 ,it is not enough for the criminal to plead for life1 however earnestly1 while he avoids the acknowledgment that death is his just due4 ,for silence in such a connection as this1 is denial4 ,the impenitent thief upon the cross was clamorous for life and happiness1 saying1 ,if thou be the ,christ1 save thyself and us4 ,he said nothing concerning the crime that had brought him to a malefactor's death1 and thereby showed that it did not weigh heavy upon his conscience4 ,but the real penitent rebuked him1 saying3 ,dost thou not fear ,god1 seeing thou art in the same condemnation8 ,and we indeed justly2 for we receive the due reward of our deeds4 ,and then followed that meek and broken-hearted supplication3 ,lord remember me1 which drew forth the world-renowned answer3 ,this day shalt thou be with me in paradise4 ,in the fact1 then1 that man's experience of sin is so liable to be defective upon the side of guilt1 we find another necessity for the teaching of the ,holy ,spirit2 for a spiritual agency that cannot be deceived1 which pierces to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit1 and is a discerner of the real intent and feeling of the heart4 ,,ii4 ,in the second place1 man needs the influences of the ,holy ,spirit1 in order that he may actually appropriate ,christ's atonement for sin4 ,the feeling of ill-desert1 of which we have spoken1 requires an expiation1 in order to its extinction1 precisely as the burning sensation of thirst needs the cup of cold water1 in order that it may be allayed1 the sense of guilt is awakened in its pure and genuine form1 by the ,holy ,spirit's operation1 the soul craves the atonement1--it wants the dying ,lamb of ,god4 ,we often speak of a believer's longings after purity1 after peace1 after joy4 ,there is an appetency for them4 ,in like manner1 there is in the illuminated and guilt-smitten conscience an appetency for the piacular work of ,christ1 as that which alone can give it pacification4 ,contemplated from this point of view1 there is not a more rational doctrine within the whole ,christian system1 than that of the ,atonement4 ,anything that ministers to a distinct and legitimate craving in man is reasonable1 and necessary4 ,that theorist1 therefore1 who would evince the unreasonableness of the atoning work of the ,redeemer1 must first evince the unreasonableness of the consciousness of guilt1 and of the judicial craving of the conscience4 ,he must show the groundlessness of that fundamental and organic feeling which imparts such a blood-red color to all the religions of the globe2 be they ,pagan1 ,jewish1 or ,christian4 ,whenever1 therefore1 this sensation of ill-desert is elicited1 and the soul feels consciously criminal before the ,everlasting ,judge1 the difficulties that beset the doctrine of the ,cross all vanish in the craving1 in the appetency1 of the conscience1 for acquittal through the substituted sufferings of the ,son of ,god4 ,he who has been taught by the ,spirit respecting the iniquity of sin1 and views it in its relations to the ,divine holiness1 has no wish to be pardoned at the expense of justice4 ,his conscience is now jealous for the majesty of ,god1 and the dignity of ,his government4 ,he now experimentally understands that great truth which has its foundation in the nature of guilt1 and consequently in the method of ,redemption1--the great ethical truth1 that after an accountable agent has stained himself with crime1 there is from the necessity of the case no remission without the satisfaction of law4 ,but it is one thing to acknowledge this in theory1 and even to feel the need of ,christ's atonement1 and still another thing to really appropriate it4 ,unbelief and despair have great power over a guilt-stricken mind2 and were it not for that ,spirit who takes of the things of ,christ and shows them to the soul1 sinful man would in every instance succumb under their awful paralysis4 ,for1 if the truth and ,spirit of ,god should merely convince the sinner of his guilt1 but never apply the atoning blood of the ,redeemer1 hell would be in him and he would be in hell4 ,if ,god1 coming forth as ,he justly might only in ,his judicial character1 should confine ,himself to a convicting operation in the conscience1--should make the transgressor feel his guilt1 and then leave him to the feeling and with the feeling1 forevermore1--this would be eternal death4 ,and if1 as any man shall lie down upon his death-bed1 he shall find that owing to his past quenching of the ,spirit the illuminating energy of ,god is searching him1 and revealing him to himself1 but does not assist him to look up to the ,saviour of sinners2 and if1 in the day of judgment1 as he draws near the bar of an eternal doom1 he shall discover that the sense of guilt grows deeper and deeper1 while the atoning blood is not applied1--if this shall be the experience of any one upon his death-bed1 and in the day of judgment1 will he need to be told what he is and whither he is going8 ,now it is with reference to these disclosures that come in like a deluge upon him1 that man needs the aids and operation of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,ordinarily1 nearly the whole of his guilt is latent within him4 ,he is1 commonly1 undisturbed by conscience2 but it would be a fatal error to infer that therefore he has a clear and innocent conscience4 ,there is a vast amount of undeveloped guilt within every impenitent soul4 ,it is slumbering there1 as surely as magnetism is in the magnet1 and the electric fluid is in the piled-up thunder-cloud4 ,for there are moments when the sinful soul feels this hidden criminality1 as there are moments when the magnet shows its power1 and the thunder-cloud darts its nimble and forked lightnings4 ,else1 why do these pangs and fears shoot and flash through it1 every now and then8 ,why does the drowning man instinctively ask for ,god's mercy8 ,were his conscience pure and clear from guilt1 like that of the angel or the seraph1--were there no latent crime within him1--he would sink into the unfathomed depths of the sea1 without the thought of such a cry4 ,when the traveller in ,south ,america sees the smoke and flame of the volcano1 here and there1 as he passes along1 he is justified in inferring that a vast central fire is burning beneath the whole region4 ,in like manner1 when man discovers1 as he watches the phenomena of his conscience1 that guilt every now and then emerges like a flash of flame into consciousness1 filling him with fear and distress1--when he finds that he has no security against this invasion1 but that in an hour when he thinks not1 and commonly when he is weakest and faintest1 in his moments of danger or death1 it stings him and wounds him1 he is justified in inferring1 and he must infer1 that the deep places of his spirit1 the whole potentiality of his soul is full of crime4 ,now1 in no condition of the soul is there greater need of the agency of the ,comforter 7,o well named the ,comforter71 than when all this latency is suddenly manifested to a man4 ,when this deluge of discovery comes in1 all the billows of doubt1 fear1 terror1 and despair roll over the soul1 and it sinks in the deep waters4 ,the sense of guilt1--that awful guilt1 which the man has carried about with him for many long years1 and which he has trifled with1--now proves too great for him to control4 ,it seizes him like a strong-armed man4 ,if he could only believe that the blood of the ,lamb of ,god expiates all this crime which is so appalling to his mind1 he would be at peace instantaneously4 ,but he is unable to believe this4 ,his sin1 which heretofore looked too small to be noticed1 now appears too great to be forgiven4 ,other men may be pardoned1 but not he4 ,he despairs of mercy2 and if he should be left to the natural workings of his own mind2 if he should not be taught and assisted by the ,holy ,ghost1 in this critical moment1 to behold the ,lamb of ,god2 he would despair forever4 ,for this sense of ill-desert1 this fearful looking-for of judgment and fiery indignation1 with which he is wrestling1 is organic to the conscience1 and the human will has no more power over it than it has over the sympathetic nerve4 ,only as he is taught by the ,divine ,spirit1 is he able with perfect calmness to look up from this brink of despair1 and say3 ,there is no condemnation to them that are in ,christ ,jesus4 ,the blood of ,jesus ,christ cleanseth from all sin4 ,therefore1 being justified by faith we have peace with ,god through our ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,i know whom ,i have believed1 and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which ,i have committed unto him against that day4 ,in view of the truths which we have now considered1 it is worthy of observation3 #a4 ,first1 that the ,holy ,spirit constitutes the tie1 and bond of connection1 between man and ,god4 ,the third ,person in the ,godhead is very often regarded as more distant from the human soul1 than either the ,father or the ,son4 ,in the history of the doctrine of the ,trinity1 the definition of the ,holy ,spirit1 and the discrimination of ,his relations in the economy of the ,godhead1 was not settled until after the doctrine of the first and second ,persons had been established4 ,something analogous to this appears in the individual experience4 ,god the ,father and ,god the ,son are more in the thoughts of many believers1 than ,god the ,holy ,ghost4 ,and yet1 we have seen that in the economy of ,redemption1 and from the very nature of the case1 the soul is brought as close to the ,spirit1 as to the ,father and ,son4 ,nay1 it is only through the inward operations of the former1 that the latter are made real to the heart and mind of man4 ,not until the third ,person enlightens1 are the second and first ,persons beheld4 ,no man1 says ,st4 ,paul1 can say that ,jesus is the ,lord1 but by the ,holy ,ghost4 ,the sinful soul is entirely dependent upon the ,divine ,spirit1 and from first to last it is in most intimate communication with ,him during the process of salvation4 ,it is enlightened by ,his influence2 it is enlivened by ,him2 it is empowered by ,him to the act of faith in ,christ's ,person and ,work2 it is supported and assisted by ,him1 in every step of the ,christian race2 it is comforted by ,him in all trials and tribulations2 and1 lastly1 it is perfected in holiness1 and fitted for the immediate presence of ,god1 by ,him4 ,certainly1 then1 the believer should have as full faith in the distinct personality1 and immediate efficiency1 of the third ,person1 as he has in that of the first and second4 ,his most affectionate feeling should centre upon that ,blessed ,agent1 through whom he appropriates the blessings that have been provided for sinners by the ,father and ,son1 and without whose influence the ,father would have planned the ,redemptive scheme1 and the ,son have executed it1 in vain4 #b4 ,in the second place1 it is deserving of very careful notice that the influences of the ,holy ,spirit may be obtained by asking for them4 ,this is the only condition to be complied with4 ,and this gift1 furthermore1 is peculiar1 in that it is invariably bestowed whenever it is sincerely implored4 ,there are other gifts of ,god which may be asked for with deep and agonizing desire1 and it is not certain that they will be granted4 ,this is the case with temporal blessings4 ,a sick man may turn his face to the wall1 with ,hezekiah1 and pray in the bitterness of his soul1 for the prolongation of his life1 and yet not obtain the answer which ,hezekiah received4 ,but no man ever supplicated in the earnestness of his soul for the influences of the ,holy ,spirit1 and was ultimately refused4 ,for this is a gift which it is always safe to grant4 ,it involves a spiritual and everlasting good4 ,it is the gift of righteousness1 of the fear and love of ,god in the heart4 ,there is no danger in such a bestowment4 ,it inevitably promotes the glory of ,god4 ,hence our ,lord1 after bidding his hearers to ask1 to seek1 and to knock1 adds1 as the encouraging reason why they should do so3 ,for1 every one that asketh receiveth2 and he that seeketh1 always findeth2 and to him that knocketh1 it shall certainly be opened4 ,this is a reason that cannot be assigned in the instance of other prayers4 ,our ,lord commands his disciples to pray for their daily bread2 and we know that the children of ,god do generally find their wants supplied4 ,still1 it would not be true that every one who in the sincerity of his soul has asked for daily bread has received it4 ,the children of ,god have sometimes died of hunger4 ,but no soul that has ever hungered for the bread of heaven1 and supplicated for it1 has been sent empty away4 ,nay more3 ,whoever finds it in his heart to ask for the ,holy ,spirit may know1 from this very fact1 that the ,holy ,spirit has anticipated him1 and has prompted the very prayer itself4 ,and think you that ,god will not grant a request which ,he himself has inspired8 ,and therefore1 again1 it is1 that every one who asks invariably receives4 #c4 ,the third remark suggested by the subject we have been considering is1 that it is exceedingly hazardous to resist ,divine influences4 ,quench not the ,spirit is one of the most imperative of the ,apostolic injunctions4 ,our ,lord1 after saying that a word spoken against ,himself is pardonable1 adds that he that blasphemes against the ,holy ,ghost shall never be forgiven1 neither in this world nor in the world to come4 ,the ,new ,testament surrounds the subject of ,divine influences with very great solemnity4 ,it represents the resisting of the ,holy ,ghost to be as heinous1 and dangerous1 as the trampling upon ,christ's blood4 ,there is a reason for this4 ,we have seen that in this operation upon the mind and heart1 ,god comes as near1 and as close to man1 as it is possible for ,him to come4 ,now to grieve or oppose such a merciful1 and such an inward agency as this1 is to offer the highest possible affront to the majesty and the mercy of ,god4 ,it is a great sin to slight the gifts of ,divine providence1--to misuse health1 strength1 wealth1 talents4 ,it is a deep sin to contemn the truths of ,divine ,revelation1 by which the soul is made wise unto eternal life4 ,it is a fearful sin to despise the claims of ,god the ,father1 and ,god the ,son4 ,but it is a transcendent sin to resist and beat back1 after it has been given1 that mysterious1 that holy1 that immediately ,divine influence1 by which alone the heart of stone can be made the heart of flesh4 ,for1 it indicates something more than the ordinary carelessness of a sinner4 ,it evinces a determined obstinacy in sin1--nay1 a ,satanic opposition to ,god and goodness4 ,it is of such a guilt as this1 that the apostle ,john remarks3 ,there is a sin unto death2 ,i do not say that one should pray for it4#c ,again1 it is exceedingly hazardous to resist ,divine influences1 because they depend wholly upon the good pleasure of ,god1 and not at all upon any established and uniform law4 ,we must not1 for a moment1 suppose that the operations of the ,holy ,spirit upon the human soul are like those of the forces of nature upon the molecules of matter4 ,they are not uniform and unintermittent1 like gravitation1 and chemical affinity4 ,we may avail ourselves of the powers of nature at any moment1 because they are steadily operative by an established law4 ,they are laboring incessantly1 and we may enter into their labors at any instant we please4 ,but it is not so with supernatural and gracious influences4 ,god's awakening and renewing power does not operate with the uniformity of those blind natural laws which ,he has impressed upon the dull clod beneath our feet4 ,god is not one of the forces of nature4 ,he is a ,person and a ,sovereign4 ,his special and highest action upon the human soul is not uniform4 ,his ,spirit1 ,he expressly teaches us1 does not always strive with man4 ,it is a wind that bloweth when and where it listeth4 ,for this reason1 it is dangerous to the religious interests of the soul1 in the highest degree1 to go counter to any impulses of the ,spirit1 however slight1 or to neglect any of ,his admonitions1 however gentle4 ,if ,god in mercy has once come in upon a thoughtless mind1 and wakened it to eternal realities2 if ,he has enlightened it to perceive the things that make for its peace2 and that mind slights this merciful interference1 and stifles down these inward teachings1 then ,god withdraws1 and whether ,he will ever return again to that soul depends upon ,his mere sovereign volition4 ,he has bound himself by no promise to do so4 ,he has established no uniform law of operation1 in the case4 ,it is true that ,he is very pitiful and of tender mercy1 and waits and bears long with the sinner2 and it is also true1 that ,he is terribly severe and just1 when ,he thinks it proper to be so1 and says to those who have despised ,his ,spirit3 ,because ,i have called and ye refused1 and have stretched out my hand1 and no man regarded1 ,i will laugh at your calamity1 and mock when your fear cometh4 ,let no one say3 ,god has promised to bestow the ,holy ,ghost to every one who asks3 ,i will ask at some future time4 ,to ask for the ,holy ,spirit implies some already existing desire that ,he would enter the mind and convince of sin1 and convert to ,god4 ,it implies some craving1 some yearning1 for ,divine influences2 and this implies some measure of such influence already bestowed4 ,man asks for the ,holy ,spirit1 only as he is moved by the ,holy ,spirit4 ,the ,divine is ever prevenient to the human4 ,suppose now1 that a man resists these influences when they are already at work within him1 and says3 ,i will seek them at a more convenient season4 ,think you1 that when that convenient season comes round1--when life is waning1 and the world is receding1 and the eternal gulf is yawning1--think you that that man who has already resisted grace can make his own heart to yearn for it1 and his soul to crave it8 ,do men at such times find that sincere desires1 and longings1 and aspirations1 come at their beck8 ,can a man say1 with any prospect of success3 ,i will now quench out this seriousness which the ,spirit of ,god has produced in my mind1 and will bring it up again ten years hence4 ,i will stifle this drawing of the ,eternal ,father of my soul which ,i now feel at the roots of my being1 and it shall re-appear at a future day4 ,no6 ,while it is true that any one who asks1 who really wants a spiritual blessing1 will obtain it1 it is equally true that a man may have no heart to ask1--may have no desire1 no yearning1 no aspiration at all1 and be unable to produce one4 ,in this case there is no promise4 ,whosoever thirsts1 and only he who thirsts1 can obtain the water of life4 ,cherish1 therefore1 the faintest influences and operations of the ,comforter4 ,if ,he enlightens your conscience so that it reproaches you for sin1 seek to have the work go on4 ,never resist any such convictions1 and never attempt to stifle them4 ,if the ,holy ,spirit urges you to confession of sin before ,god1 yield instantaneously to ,his urging1 and pour out your soul before the ,all-,merciful4 ,and when ,he says1 ,behold the ,lamb of ,god1 look where ,he points1 and be at peace and at rest4 ,the secret of all spiritual success is an immediate and uniform submission to the influences of the ,holy ,ghost4 ,footnote #a3 ,greek3 ,anto1 kath anto1 meth anton1 monoeides4--,,plato3 ,convivium1 p4 #bdg1 ,ed4 ,bipont4 ,footnote #b3 ,guyon3 translated by ,cowper4 is expressed by ,,vaughan in ,works ,,iii4 #he4--;,a similar thought ,the ,eclipse4 ,thy anger ,i could kiss1 and will2 ,but ,o ,thy grief1 ,thy grief doth kill4 ,footnote #c3 ,the sin against the ,holy ,ghost is unpardonable1 not because there is a grade of guilt in it too scarlet to be washed white by ,christ's blood of atonement but1 because it implies a total quenching of that operation of the third ,person of the ,trinity which is the only power adequate to the extirpation of sin from the human soul4 ,the sin against the ,holy ,ghost is tantamount1 therefore1 to everlasting sin4 ,and it is noteworthy1 that in ,mark iii4 #bi the reading ,greek3 amartaemartos1 instead of ,greek3 kriseos1 is supported by a majority of the oldest manuscripts and versions1 and is adopted by ,lachmann1 ,tischendorf1 and ,tregelles4 ,he that shall blaspheme against the ,holy ,ghost4444 is in danger of eternal sin4 ,,the ,,impotence ,,of ,,the ,,law4 ,,hebrews vii4 #ai4--;,for the law made nothing perfect1 but the bringing in of a better hope did2 by the which we draw nigh to ,god4 ,it is the aim of the ,epistle to the ,hebrews1 to teach the insufficiency of the ,jewish ,dispensation to save the human race from the wrath of ,god and the power of sin1 and the all-sufficiency of the ,gospel ,dispensation to do this4 ,hence1 the writer of this ,epistle endeavors with special effort to make the ,hebrews feel the weakness of their old and much esteemed religion1 and to show them that the only benefit which ,god intended by its establishment was1 to point men to the perfect and final religion of the ,gospel4 ,this he does1 by examining the parts of the ,old ,economy4 ,in the first place1 the sacrifices under the ,mosaic law were not designed to extinguish the sense of guilt1--for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sin1--but were intended merely to awaken the sense of guilt1 and thereby to lead the ,jew to look to that mercy of ,god which at a future day was to be exhibited in the sacrifice of his eternal ,son4 ,the ,jewish priesthood1 again1 standing between the sinner and ,god1 were not able to avert the ,divine displeasure1--for as sinners they were themselves exposed to it4 ,they could only typify1 and direct the guilty to1 the great ,high ,priest1 the ,messiah1 whom ,god's mercy would send in the fulness of time4 ,lastly1 the moral law1 proclaimed amidst the thunderings and lightnings of ,sinai1 had no power to secure obedience1 but only a fearful power to produce the consciousness of disobedience1 and of exposure to a death far more awful than that threatened against the man who should touch the burning mountain4 ,it was1 thus1 the design of ,god1 by this legal and preparatory dispensation1 to disclose to man his ruined and helpless condition1 and his need of looking to ,him for everything that pertains to redemption4 ,and he did it1 by so arranging the dispensation that the ,jew might1 as it were1 make the trial and see if he could be his own ,redeemer4 ,he instituted a long and burdensome round of observances1 by means of which the ,jew might1 if possible1 extinguish the remorse of his conscience1 and produce the peace of ,god in his soul4 ,god seems by the sacrifices under the law1 and the many and costly offerings which the ,jew was commanded to bring into the temple of the ,lord1 to have virtually said to him3 ,thou art guilty1 and ,my wrath righteously abides within thy conscience1--yet1 do what thou canst to free thyself from it2 free thyself from it if thou canst2 bring an offering and come before ,me4 ,but when thou hast found that thy conscience still remains perturbed and unpacified1 and thy heart still continues corrupt and sinful1 then look away from thy agency and thy offering1 to ,my clemency and ,my offering1--trust not in these finite sacrifices of the lamb and the goat1 but let them merely remind thee of the infinite sacrifice which in the fulness of time ,i will provide for the sin of the world1--and thy peace shall be as a river1 and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea4 ,but the proud and legal spirit of the ,jew blinded him1 and he did not perceive the true meaning and intent of his national religion4 ,he made it an end1 instead of a mere means to an end4 ,hence1 it became a mechanical round of observances1 kept up by custom1 and eventually lost the power1 which it had in the earlier and better ages of the ,jewish commonwealth1 of awakening the feeling of guilt and the sense of the need of a ,redeemer4 ,thus1 in the days of our ,saviour's appearance upon the earth1 the chosen guardians of this religion1 which was intended to make men humble1 and feel their personal ill-desert and need of mercy1 had become self-satisfied and self-righteous4 ,a religion designed to prompt the utterance of the greatest of its prophets3 ,woe is me6 ,i am a man of unclean lips1 and ,i dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips1 now prompted the utterance of the ,pharisee3 ,i thank ,thee that ,i am not as other men are4 ,the ,jew1 in the times of our ,saviour and his ,apostles1 had thus entirely mistaken the nature and purpose of the ,old dispensation1 and hence was the most bitter opponent of the ,new4 ,he rested in the formal and ceremonial sacrifice of bulls and goats1 and therefore counted the blood of the ,son of ,god an unholy thing4 ,he thought to appear before ,him in whose sight the heavens are not clean1 clothed in his own righteousness1 and hence despised the righteousness of ,christ4 ,in reality1 he appealed to the justice of ,god1 and therefore rejected the religion of mercy4 ,but1 this spirit is not confined to the ,jew4 ,it pervades the human race4 ,man is naturally a legalist4 ,he desires to be justified by his own character and his own works1 and reluctates at the thought of being accepted upon the ground of another's merits4 ,this ,judaistic spirit is seen wherever there is none of the publican's feeling when he said1 ,god be merciful to me a sinner4 ,all confidence in personal virtue1 all appeals to civil integrity1 all attendance upon the ordinances of the ,christian religion without the exercise of the ,christian's penitence and faith1 is1 in reality2 an exhibition of that same legal unevangelic spirit which in its extreme form inflated the ,pharisee1 and led him to tithe mint anise and cummin4 ,man's so general rejection of the ,son of ,god as suffering the just for the unjust1 as the manifestation of the ,divine clemency towards a criminal1 is a sign either that he is insensible of his guilt1 or else that being somewhat conscious of it he thinks to cancel it himself4 ,still1 think and act as men may1 the method of ,god in the ,gospel is the only method4 ,other foundation can no man lay than is laid4 ,for it rests upon stubborn facts1 and inexorable principles4 ,god knows that however anxiously a transgressor may strive to pacify his conscience1 and prepare it for the judgment-day1 its deep remorse can be removed only by the blood of incarnate ,deity2 that however sedulously he may attempt to obey the law1 he will utterly fail1 unless he is inwardly renewed and strengthened by the ,holy ,ghost4 ,he knows that mere bare law can make no sinner perfect again1 but that only the bringing in of a better hope can1--a hope by the which we draw nigh to ,god4 ,the text leads us to inquire3 ,why cannot the moral law make fallen man perfect8 ,or1 in other words3 ,why cannot the ten commandments save a sinner8 ,that we may answer this question1 we must first understand what is meant by a perfect man4 ,it is one in whom there is no defect or fault of any kind1--one1 therefore1 who has no perturbation in his conscience1 and no sin in his heart4 ,it is a man who is entirely at peace with himself1 and with ,god1 and whose affections are in perfect conformity with the ,divine law4 ,but fallen man1 man as we find him universally1 is characterized by both a remorseful conscience and an evil heart4 ,his conscience distresses him1 not indeed uniformly and constantly but1 in the great emergencies of his life1--in the hour of sickness1 danger1 death1--and his heart is selfish and corrupt continually4 ,he lacks perfection1 therefore1 in two particulars2 first1 in respect to acquittal at the bar of justice1 and secondly1 in respect to inward purity4 ,that1 therefore1 which proposes to make him perfect again1 must quiet the sense of guilt upon valid grounds1 and must produce a holy character4 ,if the method fails in either of these two respects1 it fails altogether in making a perfect man4 ,but how can the moral law1 or the ceremonial law1 or both united1 produce within the human soul the cheerful1 liberating1 sense of acquittal1 and reconciliation with ,god's justice8 ,why1 the very function and office-work of law1 in all its forms1 is to condemn and terrify the transgressor2 how then can it calm and soothe him8 ,or1 is there anything in the performance of duty1--in the act of obeying law1--that is adapted to produce this result1 by taking away guilt8 ,suppose that a murderer could and should perform a perfectly holy act1 would it be any relief to his anguished conscience1 if he should offer it as an oblation to ,eternal ,justice for the sin that is past8 if he should plead it as an offset for having killed a man8 ,when we ourselves review the past1 and see that we have not kept the law up to the present point in our lives1 is the gnawing of the worm to be stopped1 by resolving to keep it1 and actually keeping it from this point8 ,can such a use of the law as this is1--can the performance of good works1 imaginary or real ones1 imperfect or perfect ones1--discharge the office of an atonement1 and so make us perfect in the forum of conscience1 and fill us with a deep and lasting sense of reconciliation with the offended majesty and justice of ,god8 ,plainly not4 ,for there is nothing compensatory1 nothing cancelling1 nothing of the nature of a satisfaction of justice1 in the best obedience that was ever rendered to moral law1 by saint1 angel1 or seraph4 ,because the creature owes the whole4 ,he is obligated from the very first instant of his existence1 onward and evermore1 to love ,god supremely1 and to obey him perfectly in every act and element of his being4 ,therefore1 the perfectly obedient saint1 angel1 and seraph must each say3 ,i am an unprofitable servant1 ,i have done only that which it was my duty to do2 ,i can make no amends for past failures2 ,i can do no work that is meritorious and atoning4 ,obedience to law1 then1 by a creature1 and still less by a sinner1 can never atone for the sins that are past2 can never make the guilty perfect in things pertaining to conscience4 ,and if a man1 in this indirect and roundabout manner1 neglects the provisions of the gospel1 neglects the oblation of ,jesus ,christ1 and betakes himself to the discharge of his own duty as a substitute therefor1 he only finds that the flame burns hotter1 and the fang of the worm is sharper4 ,if he looks to the moral law in any form1 and by any method1 that he may get quit of his remorse and his fears of judgment1 the feeling of unreconciliation with justice1 and the fearful looking-for of judgment is only made more vivid and deep4 ,whoever attempts the discharge of duties for the purpose of atoning for his sins takes a direct method of increasing the pains and perturbations which he seeks to remove4 ,the more he thinks of law1 and the more he endeavors to obey it for the purpose of purchasing the pardon of past transgression1 the more wretched does he become4 ,look into the lacerated conscience of ,martin ,luther before he found the ,cross1 examine the anxiety and gloom of ,chalmers before he saw the ,lamb of ,god1 for proof that this is so4 ,these men1 at first1 were most earnest in their use of the law in order to re-instate themselves in right relations with ,god's justice4 ,but the more they toiled in this direction1 the less they succeeded4 ,burning with inward anguish1 and with ,god's arrows sticking fast in him1 shall the transgressor get relief from the attribute of ,divine justice1 and the qualities of law8 ,shall the ten commandments of ,sinai1 in any of their forms or uses1 send a cooling and calming virtue through the hot conscience8 ,with these kindling flashes in his guilt-stricken spirit1 shall he run into the very identical fire that kindled them8 ,shall he try to quench them in that ,tophet which is ordained of old2 which is made deep and large2 the pile of which is fire and much wood1 and the breath of the ,lord like a stream of brimstone doth kindle it8 ,and yet such is1 in reality1 the attempt of every man who1 upon being convicted in his conscience of guilt before ,god1 endeavors to attain peace by resolutions to alter his course of conduct1 and strenuous endeavors to obey the commands of ,god1--in short by relying upon the law in any form1 as a means of reconciliation4 ,such is the suicidal effort of every man who substitutes the law for the gospel1 and expects to produce within himself the everlasting peace of ,god1 by anything short of the atonement of ,god4 ,let us fix it1 then1 as a fact1 that the feeling of culpability and unreconciliation can never be removed1 so long as we do not look entirely away from our own character and works to the mere pure mercy of ,god in the blood of ,christ4 ,the transgressor can never atone for crime by anything that he can suffer1 or anything that he can do4 ,he can never establish a ground of justification1 a reason why he should be forgiven1 by his tears1 or his prayers1 or his acts4 ,neither the law1 nor his attempts to obey the law1 can re-instate him in his original relations to justice1 and make him perfect again in respect to his conscience4 ,the ten commandments can never silence his inward misgivings1 and his moral fears2 for they are given for the very purpose of producing misgivings1 and causing fears4 ,the law worketh wrath4 ,and if this truth and fact be clearly perceived1 and boldly acknowledged to his own mind1 it will cut him off from all these legal devices and attempts1 and will shut him up to the ,divine mercy and the ,divine promise in ,christ1 where alone he is safe4 ,we have thus seen that one of the two things necessary in order that apostate man may become perfect again1--viz41 the pacification of his conscience1--cannot be obtained in and by the law1 in any of its forms or uses4 ,let us now examine the other thing necessary in order to human perfection1 and see what the law can do towards it4 ,the other requisite1 in order that fallen man may become perfect again1 is a holy heart and will4 ,can the moral law originate this8 ,that we may rightly answer the question1 let us remember that a holy will is one that keeps the law of ,god spontaneously and that a perfect heart is one that sends forth holy affections and pure thoughts as naturally as the sinful heart sends forth unholy affections and impure thoughts4 ,a holy will1 like an evil will1 is a wonderful and wonderfully fertile power4 ,it does not consist in an ability to make a few or many separate resolutions of obedience to the divine law1 but in being itself one great inclination and determination continually and mightily going forth4 ,a holy will1 therefore1 is one that from its very nature and spontaneity seeks ,god1 and the glory of ,god4 ,it does not even need to make a specific resolution to obey2 any more than an affectionate child needs to resolve to obey its father4 ,in like manner1 a perfect and holy heart is a far more profound and capacious thing than men who have never seriously tried to obtain it deem it to foe4 ,it does not consist in the possession of a few or many holy thoughts mixed with some sinful ones1 or in having a few or many holy desires together with some corrupt ones4 ,a perfect heart is one undivided agency1 and does not produce1 as the imperfectly sanctified heart of the ,christian does1 fruits of holiness and fruits of sin1 holy thoughts and unholy thoughts4 ,it is itself a root and centre of holiness1 and nothing but goodness springs up from it4 ,the angels of ,god are totally holy4 ,their wills are unceasingly going forth towards ,him with ease and delight2 their hearts are unintermittently gushing out emotions of love1 and feelings of adoration1 and thoughts of reverence1 and therefore the song that they sing is unceasing1 and the smoke of their incense ascendeth forever and ever4 ,such is the holy will1 and the perfect heart1 which fallen man must obtain in order to be fit for heaven4 ,to this complexion must he come at last4 ,and now we ask3 ,can the law generate all this excellence within the human soul8 ,in order to answer this question1 we must consider the nature of law1 and the manner of its operation4 ,the law1 as antithetic to the gospel1 and as the word is employed in the text1 is in its nature mandatory and minatory4 ,it commands1 and it threatens4 ,this is the style of its operation4 ,can a perfect heart be originated in a sinner by these two methods8 ,does the stern behest1 ,do this or die1 secure his willing and joyful obedience8 ,on the contrary1 the very fact that the law of ,god comes up before him coupled thus with a threatening evinces that his aversion and hostility are most intense4 ,as the ,apostle says1 ,the law is not made for a righteous man2 but for the lawless and disobedient1 for the ungodly and for sinners4 ,were man1 like the angels on high1 sweetly obedient to the ,divine will1 there would be no arming of law with terror1 no proclamation of ten commandments amidst thunderings and lightnings4 ,he would be a law unto himself1 as all the heavenly host are1--the law working impulsively within him by its own exceeding lawfulness and beauty4 ,the very fact that ,god1 in the instance of man1 is compelled to emphasize the penalty along with the statute1--to say1 ,keep my commandments upon pain of eternal death1--is proof conclusive that man is a rebel1 and intensely so4 ,and now what is the effect of this combination of command and threatening upon the agent8 ,is he moulded by it8 ,does it congenially sway and incline him8 ,on the contrary1 is he not excited to opposition by it8 ,when the commandment comes1 loaded down with menace and damnation1 does not sin revive1 as the ,apostle affirms8#a ,arrest the transgressor in the very act of disobedience1 and ring in his ears the ,thou shalt not of the decalogue1 and does he find that the law has the power to alter his inclination1 to overcome his carnal mind1 and make him perfect in holiness8 ,on the contrary1 the more you ply him with the stern command1 and the more you emphasize the awful threatening1 the more do you make him conscious of inward sin1 and awaken his depravity4 ,the law1--as ,st4 ,paul affirms in a very remarkable text1--is the strength of sin1#b instead of being its destruction4 ,nay1 he had not even 7,greek3 te7 known sin1 but by the law3 for he had not known lust1 except the law had said1 ,thou shalt not lust4 ,the commandment stimulates instead of extirpating his hostility to the ,divine government2 and so long as the mere command1 and the mere threat1--which1 as the hymn tells us1 is all the law can do1--are brought to bear1 the depravity of the rebellious heart becomes more and more apparent1 and more and more intensified4 ,there is no more touching poem in all literature than that one in which the pensive and moral ,schiller portrays the struggle of an ingenuous youth who would find the source of moral purification in the moral law2 who would seek the power that can transform him1 in the mere imperatives of his conscience1 and the mere struggling and spasms of his own will4 ,he represents him as endeavoring earnestly and long to feel the force of obligation1 and as toiling sedulously to school himself into virtue1 by the bare power1 by the dead lift1 of duty4 ,but the longer he tries1 the more he loathes the restraints of law4 ,virtue1 instead of growing lovely to him1 becomes more and more severe1 austere1 and repellant4 ,his life1 as the ,scripture phrases it1 is under law1 and not under love4 ,there is nothing spontaneous1 nothing willing1 nothing genial in his religion4 ,he does not enjoy religion1 but he endures religion4 ,conscience does not1 in the least1 renovate his will1 but merely checks it1 or goads it4 ,he becomes wearied and worn1 and conscious that after all his self-schooling he is the same creature at heart1 in his disposition and affections1 that he was at the commencement of the effort1 he cries out1 ,o ,virtue1 take back thy crown1 and let me sin4#c ,the tired and disgusted soul would once more do a spontaneous thing4 ,was1 then1 that which is good made death unto this youth1 by a ,divine arrangement8 ,is this the original and necessary relation which law sustains to the will and affections of an accountable creature8 ,must the pure and holy law of ,god1 from the very nature of things1 be a weariness and a curse8 ,god forbid4 ,but sin that it might appear sin1 working death in the sinner by that which is good1--that sin by the commandment might become1 might be seen to be1 exceeding sinful4 ,the law is like a chemical test4 ,it eats into sin enough to show what sin is1 and there stops4 ,the lunar caustic bites into the dead flesh of the mortified limb2 but there is no healing virtue in the lunar caustic4 ,the moral law makes no inward alterations in a sinner4 ,in its own distinctive and proper action upon the heart and will of an apostate being1 it is fitted only to elicit and exasperate his existing enmity4 ,it can1 therefore1 no more be a source of sanctification1 than it can be of justification4 ,of what use1 then1 is the law to a fallen man8--some one will ask4 ,why is the commandment enunciated in the ,scriptures1 and why is the ,christian ministry perpetually preaching it to men dead in trespasses and sins8 ,if the law can subdue no man's obstinate will1 and can renovate no man's corrupt heart1--if it can make nothing perfect in human character1--then1 wherefore serveth the law8 ,it was added because of transgressions1--says the ,apostle in answer to this very question4#d ,it is preached and forced home in order to detect sin1 but not to remove it2 to bring men to a consciousness of the evil of their hearts1 but not to change their hearts4 ,for1 continues the ,apostle1 if there had been a law given which could have given life--which could produce a transformation of character1--then verily righteousness should have been by the law1 ,it is not because the stern and threatening commandment can impart spiritual vitality to the sinner1 but because it can produce within him the keen vivid sense of spiritual death1 that it is enunciated in the word of ,god1 and proclaimed from the ,christian pulpit4 ,the ,divine law is waved like a flashing sword before the eyes of man1 not because it can make him alive but1 because it can slay him1 that he may then be made alive1 not by the law but by the ,holy ,ghost1--by the ,breath that cometh from the four winds and breathes on the slain4 ,it is easy to see1 by a moment's reflection1 that1 from the nature of the case1 the moral law cannot be a source of spiritual life and sanctification to a soul that has lost these4 ,for law primarily supposes life1 supposes an obedient inclination1 and therefore does not produce it4 ,it is not the function of any law to impart that moral force1 that right disposition of the heart1 by which its command is to be obeyed4 ,the ,state1 for example1 enacts a law against murder1 but this mere enactment does not1 and cannot1 produce a benevolent disposition in the citizens of the commonwealth1 in case they are destitute of it4 ,how often do we hear the remark1 that it is impossible to legislate either morality or religion into the people4 ,when the ,supreme ,governor first placed man under the obligations and sovereignty of law1 ,he created him in ,his own image and likeness3 endowing him with that holy heart and right inclination which obeys the law of ,god with ease and delight4 ,god made man upright1 and in this state he could and did keep the commands of ,god perfectly4 ,if1 therefore1 by any subsequent action upon their part1 mankind have gone out of the primary relationship in which they stood to law1 and have by their apostasy lost all holy sympathy with it1 and all affectionate disposition to obey it1 it only remains for the law 7not to change along with them1 but7 to continue immutably the same pure and righteous thing1 and to say1 ,obey perfectly1 and thou shalt live2 disobey in a single instance1 and thou shalt die4 ,but the text teaches us1 that although the law can make no sinful man perfect1 either upon the side of justification1 or of sanctification1 the bringing in of a better hope can4 ,this hope is the evangelic hope1--the yearning desire1 and the humble trust1--to be forgiven through the atonement of the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 and to be sanctified by the indwelling power of the ,holy ,ghost4 ,a simple1 but a most powerful thing6 ,does the law1 in its abrupt and terrible operation in my conscience1 start out the feeling of guiltiness until ,i throb with anguish1 and moral fear8 ,i hope1 ,i trust1 ,i ask1 to be pardoned through the blood of the ,eternal ,son of ,god my ,redeemer4 ,i will answer all these accusations of law and conscience1 by pleading what my ,lord has done4 ,again1 does the law search me1 and probe me1 and elicit me1 and reveal me1 until ,i would shrink out of the sight of ,god and of myself8 ,i hope1 ,i trust1 ,i ask1 to be made pure as the angels1 spotless as the seraphim1 by the transforming grace of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,this confidence in ,christ's ,person and ,work is the anchor1--an anchor that was never yet wrenched from the clefts of the ,rock of ,ages1 and never will be through the aeons of aeons4 ,by this hope1 which goes away from self1 and goes away from the law1 to ,christ's oblation and the ,holy ,spirit's energy1 we do indeed draw very nigh to ,god1--heart to heart1 spirit to spirit1 life to life4 #a4 ,the unfolding of this text of ,scripture shows1 in the first place1 the importance of having a distinct and discriminating conception of law1 and especially of its proper function in reference to a sinful being4 ,very much is gained when we understand precisely what the moral law1 as taught in the ,scriptures1 and written in our consciences1 can do1 and cannot do1 towards our salvation4 ,it can do nothing positively and efficiently4 ,it cannot extinguish a particle of our guilt1 and it cannot purge away a particle of our corruption4 ,its operation is wholly negative and preparatory4 ,it is merely a schoolmaster to conduct us to ,christ4 ,and the more definitely this truth and fact is fixed in our minds1 the more intelligently shall we proceed in our use of law and conscience4 #b4 ,in the second place1 the unfolding of this text shows the importance of using the law faithfully and fearlessly within its own limits2 and in accordance with its proper function4 ,it is frequently asked what the sinner shall do in the work of salvation4 ,the answer is nigh thee1 in thy mouth1 and in thy heart4 ,be continually applying the law of ,god to your personal character and conduct4 ,keep an active and a searching conscience within your sinful soul4 ,use the high1 broad1 and strict commandment of ,god as an instrumentality by which all ease1 and all indifference1 in sin shall be banished from the breast4 ,employ all this apparatus of torture1 as perhaps it may seem to you in some sorrowful hours1 and break up that moral drowze and lethargy which is ruining so many souls4 ,and then cease this work1 the instant you have experimentally found out that the law reaches a limit beyond which it cannot go1--that it forgives none of the sins which it detects1 produces no change in the heart whose vileness it reveals1 and makes no lost sinner perfect again4 ,having used the law legitimately1 for purposes of illumination and conviction merely1 leave it forever as a source of justification and sanctification1 and seek these in ,christ's atonement1 and the ,holy ,spirit's gracious operation in the heart4 ,then sin shall not have dominion over you2 for you shall not be under law1 but under grace4 ,after that faith is come1 ye are no longer under a schoolmaster4 ,for ye are then the children of ,god by faith in ,christ ,jesus4#e ,how simple are the terms of salvation6 ,but then they presuppose this work of the law1--this guilt-smitten conscience1 and this wearying sense of bondage to sin4 ,it is easy for a thirsty soul to drink down the draught of cold water4 ,nothing is simpler1 nothing is more grateful to the sensations4 ,but suppose that the soul is satiated1 and is not a thirsty one4 ,then1 nothing is more forced and repelling than this same draught4 ,so is it with the provisions of the gospel4 ,do we feel ourselves to be guilty beings2 do we hunger1 and do we thirst for the expiation of our sins8 ,then the blood of ,christ is drink indeed1 and his flesh is meat with emphasis4 ,but are we at ease and self-contented8 ,then nothing is more distasteful than the terms of salvation4 ,christ is a root out of dry ground4 ,and so long as we remain in this unfeeling and torpid state1 salvation is an utter impossibility4 ,the seed of the gospel cannot germinate and grow upon a rock4 ,footnote #a3 ,rom4 vii4 #i-ab4 ,footnote #b3 #a ,cor4 xv4 #ef4 ,footnote #c3 ,,schiller3 ,der ,kampf4 ,footnote #d3 ,galatians iii4 #ai4 ,footnote #e3 ,galatians iii4 #be1 #bf4 ,,self-,,scrutiny ,,in ,,god',s ,,presence4 ,,isaiah1 i4 #aa4--;,come now1 and let us reason together1 saith the ,lord2 though your sins be as scarlet1 they shall be as white as snow2 though they be red like crimson1 they shall be as wool4 ,these words were at first addressed to the ,church of ,god4 ,the prophet ,isaiah begins his prophecy1 by calling upon the heavens and the earth to witness the exceeding sinfulness of ,god's chosen people4 ,hear1 ,o heavens1 and give ear ,o earth3 for the ,lord hath spoken2 ,i have nourished and brought up children1 and they have rebelled against me4 ,the ox knoweth his owner1 and the ass his master's crib3 but ,israel doth not know1 my people doth not consider4 ,such ingratitude and sin as this1 he naturally supposes would shock the very heavens and earth4 ,then follows a most vehement and terrible rebuke4 ,the elect people of ,god are called ,sodom1 and ,gomorrah4 ,hear the word of the ,lord ye rulers of ,sodom3 give ear unto the law of our ,god ye people of ,gomorrah4 ,why should ye be stricken1 any more8 ye will revolt more and more4 ,this outflow of holy displeasure would prepare us to expect an everlasting reprobacy of the rebellious and unfaithful ,church1 but it is strangely followed by the most yearning and melting entreaty ever addressed by the ,most ,high to the creatures of ,his footstool3 ,come now1 and let us reason together1 though your sins be as scarlet1 they shall be as white as snow2 though they be red like crimson1 they shall be as wool4 ,these words have1 however1 a wider application2 and while the unfaithful children of ,god ought to ponder them long and well1 it is of equal importance that the aliens from the commonwealth of ,israel should reflect upon them1 and see their general application to all transgressors1 so long as they are under the ,gospel dispensation4 ,let us1 then1 consider two of the plain lessons taught1 in these words of the prophet1 to every unpardoned man4 ,i4 ,the text represents ,god as saying to the transgressor of his law1 ,come and let us reason together4 ,the first lesson to be learned1 consequently1 is the duty of examining our moral character and conduct1 along with ,god4 ,when a responsible being has made a wrong use of his powers1 nothing is more reasonable than that he should call himself to account for this abuse4 ,nothing1 certainly1 is more necessary4 ,there can be no amendment for the future1 until the past has been cared for4 ,but that this examination may be both thorough and profitable1 it must be made in company with the ,searcher of hearts4 ,for there are always two beings who are concerned with sin2 the being who commits it1 and the ,being against whom it is committed4 ,we sin1 indeed1 against ourselves2 against our own conscience1 and against our own best interest4 ,but we sin in a yet higher1 and more terrible sense1 against ,another than ourselves1 compared with whose majesty all of our faculties and interests1 both in time and eternity1 are altogether nothing and vanity4 ,it is not enough1 therefore1 to refer our sin to the law written on the heart1 and there stop4 ,we must ultimately pass beyond conscience itself1 to ,god1 and say1 ,against ,thee have ,i sinned4 ,it is not the highest expression of the religious feeling1 when we say1 ,how can ,i do this great wickedness1 and sin against my conscience8 ,he alone has reached the summit of vision who looks beyond all finite limits1 however wide and distant1 beyond all finite faculties however noble and elevated1 and says1 ,how can ,i do this great wickedness1 and sin against ,god8 ,whenever1 therefore1 an examination is made into the nature of moral evil as it exists in the individual heart1 both parties concerned should share in the examination4 ,the soul1 as it looks within1 should invite the scrutiny of ,god also1 and as fast as it makes discoveries of its transgression and corruption should realize that the ,holy ,one sees also4 ,such a joint examination as this produces a very keen and clear sense of the evil and guilt of sin4 ,conscience indeed makes cowards of us all1 but when the eye of ,god is felt to be upon us1 it smites us to the ground4 ,when ,thou with rebukes1--says the ,psalmist1--dost correct man for his iniquity1 ,thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth4 ,one great reason why the feeling which the moralist has towards sin is so tame and languid1 when compared with the holy abhorrence of the regenerate mind1 lies in the fact that he has not contemplated human depravity in company with a sin-hating ,jehovah4 ,at the very utmost1 he has been shut up merely with a moral sense which he has insulated from its dread ground and support1--the personal character and holy emotions of ,god4 ,what wonder is it1 then1 that this finite faculty should lose much of its temper and severity1 and though still condemning sin 7for it must do this1 if it does anything71 fails to do it with that spiritual energy which characterizes the conscience when ,god is felt to be co-present and co-operating4 ,so it is1 in other provinces4 ,we feel the guilt of an evil action more sharply1 when we know that a fellow-man saw us commit it1 than when we know that no one but ourselves is cognizant of the deed4 ,the flush of shame often rises into our face1 upon learning accidentally that a fellow-being was looking at us1 when we did the wrong action without any blush4 ,how much more criminal1 then1 do we feel1 when distinctly aware that the pure and holy ,god knows our transgression4 ,how much clearer is our perception of the nature of moral evil1 when we investigate it along with ,him whose eyes are a flame of fire4 ,it is1 consequently1 a very solemn moment1 when the human spirit and the ,eternal ,mind are reasoning together about the inward sinfulness4 ,when the soul is shut up along with the ,holy ,one of ,israel1 there are great searchings of heart4 ,man is honest and anxious at such a time4 ,his usual thoughtlessness and torpidity upon the subject of religion leaves him1 and he becomes a serious and deeply-interested creature4 ,would that the multitudes who listen so languidly to the statements of the pulpit1 upon these themes of sin and guilt1 might be closeted with the ,everlasting ,judge1 in silence and in solemn reflection4 ,you who have for years been told of sin1 but are1 perhaps1 still as indifferent regarding it as if there were no stain1 upon the conscience1--would that you might enter into an examination of yourself1 alone with your ,maker4 ,then would you become as serious1 and as anxious1 as you will be in that moment when you shall be informed that the last hour of your life upon earth has come4 ,another effect of this reasoning together with ,god1 respecting our character and conduct1 is to render our views discriminating4 ,the action of the mind is not only intense1 it is also intelligent4 ,strange as it may sound1 it is yet a fact1 that a review of our past lives conducted under the eye of ,god1 and with a recognition of ,his presence and oversight1 serves to deliver the mind from confusion and panic1 and to fill it with a calm and rational fear4 ,this is of great value4 ,for1 when a man begins to be excited upon the subject of religion1--it may be for the first time1 in his unreflecting and heedless life1--he is oftentimes terribly excited4 ,he is now brought suddenly into the midst of the most solemn things4 ,that sin of his1 the enormity of which he had never seen before1 now reveals itself in a most frightful form1 and he feels as the murderer does who wakes in the morning and begins to realize that he has killed a man4 ,that holy ,being1 of whose holiness he had no proper conception1 now rises dim and awful before his half-opened inward eye1 and he trembles like the pagan before the unknown ,god whom he ignorantly worships4 ,that eternity1 which he had heard spoken of with total indifference1 now flashes penal flames in his face4 ,taken and held in this state of mind1 the transgressor is confusedly as well as terribly awakened1 and he needs first of all to have this experience clarified1 and know precisely for what he is trembling1 and why4 ,this panic and consternation must depart1 and a calm intelligent anxiety must take its place4 ,but this cannot be1 unless the mind turns towards ,god1 and invites ,his searching scrutiny1 and ,his aid in the search after sin4 ,so long as we shrink away from our ,judge1 and in upon ourselves1 in these hours of conviction1--so long as we deal only with the workings of our own minds1 and do not look up and reason together with ,god1--we take the most direct method of producing a blind1 an obscure1 and a selfish agony4 ,we work ourselves1 more and more1 into a mere phrenzy of excitement4 ,some of the most wretched and fanatical experience in the history of the ,church is traceable to a solitary self-brooding1 in which1 after the sense of sin had been awakened1 the soul did not discuss the matter with ,god4 ,for the character and attributes of ,god1 when clearly seen1 repress all fright1 and produce that peculiar species of fear which is tranquil because it is deep4 ,though the soul1 in such an hour1 is conscious that ,god is a fearful object of sight for a transgressor1 yet it continues to gaze at ,him with an eager straining eye4 ,and in so doing1 the superficial tremor and panic of its first awakening to the subject of religion passes off1 and gives place to an intenser moral feeling1 the calmness of which is like the stillness of fascination4 ,nothing has a finer effect upon a company of awakened minds1 than to cause the being and attributes of ,god1 in all their majesty and purity1 to rise like an orb within their horizon2 and the individual can do nothing more proper1 or more salutary1 when once his sin begins to disquiet him1 and the inward perturbation commences1 than to collect and steady himself1 in an act of reflection upon that very ,being who abhors sin4 ,let no man1 in the hour of conviction and moral fear1 attempt to run away from the ,divine holiness4 ,on the contrary1 let him rush forward and throw himself down prostrate before that ,dread ,presence1 and plead the merits of the ,son of ,god1 before it4 ,he that finds his life shall lose it2 but he that loses his life shall find it4 ,except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die1 it remains a single unproductive corn of wheat2 but if it die1 it germinates and brings forth much fruit4 ,he who does not avoid a contact between the sin of his soul and the holiness of his ,god1 but on the contrary seeks to have these two things come together1 that each may be understood in its own intrinsic nature and quality1 takes the only safe course4 ,he finds that1 as he knows ,god more distinctly1 he knows himself more distinctly2 and though as yet he can see nothing but displeasure in that holy countenance1 he is possessed of a well-defined experience4 ,he knows that he is wrong1 and his ,maker is right2 that he is wicked1 and that ,god is holy4 ,he perceives these two fundamental facts with a simplicity1 and a certainty1 that admits of no debate4 ,the confusion and obscurity of his mind1 and particularly the queryings whether these things are so1 whether ,god is so very holy and man is so very sinful1 begin to disappear1 like a fog when disparted and scattered by sunrise4 ,objects are seen in their true proportions and meanings2 right and wrong1 the carnal mind and the spiritual mind1 heaven and hell1--all the great contraries that pertain to the subject of religion1--are distinctly understood1 and thus the first step is taken towards a better state of things in the soul4 ,let no man1 then1 fear to invite the scrutiny of ,god1 in connection with his own scrutiny of himself4 ,he who deals only with the sense of duty1 and the operations of his own mind1 will find that these themselves become more dim and indistinct1 so long as the process of examination is not conducted in this joint manner2 so long as the mind refuses to accept the ,divine proposition1 ,come now1 and let us reason together4 ,he1 on the other hand1 who endeavors to obtain a clear view of the ,being against whom he has sinned1 and to feel the full power of ,his holy eye as well as of ,his holy law1 will find that his sensations and experiences are gaining a wonderful distinctness and intensity that will speedily bring the entire matter to an issue4 ,,ii4 ,for then1 by the blessing of ,god1 he learns the second lesson taught in the text3 viz41 that there is forgiveness with ,god4 ,though1 in this process of joint examination1 your sins be found to be as scarlet1 they shall be as white as snow2 though they be discovered to be red like crimson1 they shall be as wool4 ,if there were no forgiveness of sins1 if mercy were not a manifested attribute of ,god1 all self-examination1 and especially all this conjoint divine scrutiny1 would be a pure torment and a pure gratuity4 ,it is wretchedness to know that we are guilty sinners1 but it is the endless torment to know that there is no forgiveness1 either here or hereafter4 ,convince a man that he will never be pardoned1 and you shut him up with the spirits in prison4 ,compel him to examine himself under the eye of his ,god1 while at the same time he has no hope of mercy1--and there would be nothing unjust in this1--and you distress him with the keenest and most living torment of which a rational spirit is capable4 ,well and natural was it1 that the earliest creed of the ,christian ,church emphasized the doctrine of the ,divine ,pity2 and in all ages the ,apostolic ,symbol has called upon the guilt-stricken human soul to cry1 ,i believe in the forgiveness of sins4 ,we have the amplest assurance in the whole written ,revelation of ,god1 but nowhere else1 that there is forgiveness with ,him1 that ,he may be feared4 ,whoso confesseth and forsaketh his sins shall find mercy2 and only with such an assurance as this from ,his own lips1 could we summon courage to look into our character and conduct1 and invite ,god to do the same4 ,but the text is an exceedingly explicit assertion of this great truth4 ,the very same ,being who invites us to reason with ,him1 and canvass the subject of our criminality1 in the very same breath1 if we may so speak1 assures us that ,he will forgive all that is found in this examination4 ,and upon such terms1 cannot the criminal well afford to examine into his crime8 ,he has a promise beforehand1 that if he will but scrutinize and confess his sin it shall be forgiven4 ,god would have been simply and strictly just1 had ,he said to him3 ,go down into the depths of thy transgressing spirit1 see how wicked thou hast been and still art1 and know that in my righteous severity ,i will never pardon thee1 world without end4 ,but instead of this1 ,he says3 ,go down into the depths of thy heart1 see the transgression and the corruption all along the line of the examination1 confess it into my ear1 and ,i will make the scarlet and crimson guilt white in the blood of my own ,son4 ,these declarations of ,holy ,writ1 which are a direct verbal statement from the lips of ,god1 and which specify distinctly what ,he will do and will not do in the matter of sin1 teach us that however deeply our souls shall be found to be stained1 the ,divine pity outruns and exceeds the crime4 ,for as the heavens are high above the earth1 so great is his mercy towards them that fear him4 ,he that spared not his own ,son1 but delivered him up for us all1 how shall he not with him also freely give us all things8 ,here upon earth1 there is no wickedness that surpasses the pardoning love of ,god in ,christ4 ,the words which ,shakspeare puts into the mouth of the remorseful1 but impenitent1 ,danish king are strictly true3 ,what if this cursed hand ,were thicker than itself with brother's blood8 ,is there not rain enough in the sweet heavens ,to wash it white as snow8 ,whereto serves mercy1 ,but to confront the visage of offence8#a ,anywhere this side of the other world1 and at any moment this side of the grave1 a sinner1 if penitent 7but penitence is not always at his control71 may obtain forgiveness for all his sins1 through ,christ's blood of atonement4 ,he must not hope for mercy in the future world1 if he neglects it here4 ,there are no acts of pardon passed in the day of judgment4 ,the utterance of ,christ in that day is not the utterance1 ,thy sins are forgiven thee1 but1 ,come ye blessed1 or ,depart ye cursed4 ,so long1 and only so long1 as there is life there is hope1 and however great may be the conscious criminality of a man while he is under the economy of ,redemption1 and before he is summoned to render up his last account1 let him not despair but hope in ,divine grace4 ,now1 he who has seriously reasoned together with ,god1 respecting his own character1 is far better prepared to find ,god in the forgiveness of sins1 than he is who has merely brooded over his own unhappiness1 without any reference to the qualities and claims of his ,judge4 ,it has been a plain and personal matter throughout1 and having now come to a clear and settled conviction that he is a guilty sinner1 he turns directly to the great and good ,being who stands immediately before him1 and prays to be forgiven1 and is forgiven4 ,one reason why the soul so often gropes days and months without finding a sin-pardoning ,god lies in the fact1 that its thoughts and feelings respecting religious subjects1 and particularly respecting the state of the heart1 have been too vague and indistinct4 ,they have not had an immediate and close reference to that one single ,being who is most directly concerned1 and who alone can minister to a mind diseased4 ,the soul is wretched1 and there may be some sense of sin1 but there is no one to go to1--no one to address with an appealing cry4 ,oh that ,i knew where ,i might find him1 is its language4 ,oh that ,i might come even to his seat4 ,behold ,i go forward1 but he is not there2 and backward1 but ,i cannot perceive him4 ,but this groping would cease were there a clear view of ,god4 ,there might not be peace and a sense of reconciliation immediately2 but there would be a distinct conception of the one thing needful in order to salvation4 ,this would banish all other subjects and objects4 ,the eye would be fixed upon the single fact of sin1 and the simple fact that none but ,god can forgive it4 ,the whole inward experience would thus be narrowed down to a focus4 ,simplicity and intensity would be introduced into the mental state1 instead of the previous confusion and vagueness4 ,soliloquy would end1 and prayer1 importunate1 agonizing prayer1 would begin4 ,that morbid and useless self-brooding would cease1 and those strong cryings and wrestlings till day-break would commence1 and the kingdom of heaven would suffer this violence1 and the violent would take it by force4 ,when ,i kept silence2 my bones waxed old1 through my roaring all the day long4 ,for day and night thy hand was heavy upon me2 my moisture was turned into the drought of summer4 ,i acknowledged my sin unto thee1 and mine iniquity ,i no longer hid4 ,i said1 ,i will confess my transgressions unto the ,lord2 and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin4 ,for this1--because this is ,thy method of salvation1--shall every one that is godly pray unto thee1 in a time when thou mayest be found4 7,ps4 xxxii4 #c-f47 ,self-examination1 then1 when joined with a distinct recognition of the ,divine character1 and a conscious sense of ,god's scrutiny1 paradoxical as it may appear1 is the surest means of producing a firm conviction in a guilty mind that ,god is merciful1 and is the swiftest way of finding ,him to be so4 ,opposed as the ,divine nature is to sin1 abhorrent as iniquity is to the pure mind of ,god1 it is nevertheless a fact1 that that sinner who goes directly into this ,dread ,presence with all his sins upon his head1 in order to know them1 to be condemned and crushed by them1 and to confess them1 is the one who soonest returns with peace and hope in his soul4 ,for1 he discovers that ,god is as cordial and sincere in ,his offer to forgive1 as ,he is in ,his threat to punish2 and having1 to his sorrow1 felt the reality and power of the ,divine anger1 he now to his joy feels the equal reality and power of the ,divine love4 ,and this is the one great lesson which every man must learn1 or perish forever4 ,the truthfulness of ,god1 in every respect1 and in all relations1--,his strict fidelity to ,his word1 both under the law and under the gospel1--is a quality of which every one must have a vivid knowledge and certainty1 in order to salvation4 ,men perish through unbelief4 ,he that doubteth is damned4 ,to illustrate4 ,men pass through this life doubting and denying ,god's abhorrence of sin1 and ,his determination to punish it forever and ever4 ,under the narcotic and stupefying influence of this doubt and denial1 they remain in sin1 and at death go over into the immediate presence of ,god1 only to discover that all ,his statements respecting ,his determination upon this subject are true1--awfully and hopelessly true4 ,they then spend an eternity1 in bewailing their infatuation in dreaming1 while here upon earth1 that the great and holy ,god did not mean what he said4 ,unbelief1 again1 tends to death in the other direction1 though it is far less liable to result in it4 ,the convicted and guilt-smitten man sometimes doubts the truthfulness of the ,divine promise in ,christ4 ,he spends days of darkness and nights of woe1 because he is unbelieving in regard to ,god's compassion1 and readiness to forgive a penitent2 and when1 at length1 the light of the ,divine countenance breaks upon him1 he wonders that he was so foolish and slow of heart to believe all that ,god himself had said concerning the multitude of his tender mercies4 ,christian and ,hopeful lay long and needlessly in the dungeon of ,doubting ,castle1 until the former remembered that the key to all the locks was in his bosom1 and had been all the while4 ,they needed only to take ,god at his word4 ,the anxious and fearful soul must believe the ,eternal ,judge implicitly1 when he says3 ,i will justify thee through the blood of ,christ4 ,god is truthful under the gospel1 and under the law2 in ,his promise of mercy1 and in ,his threatening of eternal woe4 ,and if we believe not1 yet ,he abideth faithful2 ,he cannot deny ,himself4 ,he hath promised1 and ,he hath threatened2 and1 though heaven and earth pass away1 one jot or one tittle of that promise shall not fail in the case of those who confidingly trust it1 nor shall one iota or scintilla of the threatening fail in the instance of those who have recklessly and rashly disbelieved it4 ,in respect1 then1 to both sides of the revelation of the ,divine character1--in respect to the threatening and the promise1--men need to have a clear perception1 and an unwavering belief4 ,he that doubteth in either direction is damned4 ,he who does not believe that ,god is truthful1 when ,he declares that ,he will punish iniquity1 transgression and sin1 and that those upon the left hand shall go away into everlasting punishment1 will persist in sin until he passes the line of probation and be lost4 ,and he who does not believe that ,god is truthful1 when ,he declares that ,he will forgive scarlet and crimson sins through the blood of ,christ1 will be overcome by despair and be also lost4 ,but he who believes both ,divine statements with equal certainty1 and perceives both facts with distinct vision1 will be saved4 ,from these two lessons of the text1 we deduce the following practical directions3 #a4 ,first3 ,in all states of religious anxiety1 we should betake ourselves instantly and directly to ,god4 ,there is no other refuge for the human soul but ,god in ,christ1 and if this fails us1 we must renounce all hope here and hereafter4 ,if this fail1 ,the pillared firmament is rottenness1 ,and earth's base built on stubble4#b ,we are1 therefore1 from the nature of the case1 shut up to this course4 ,suppose the religious anxiety arise from a sense of sin1 and the fear of retribution4 ,god is the only ,being that can forgive sins4 ,to whom1 then1 can such an one go but unto ,him8 ,suppose the religious anxiety arises from a sense of the perishing nature of earthly objects1 and the soul feels as if all the foundation and fabric of its hope and comfort were rocking into irretrievable ruin4 ,god is the only ,being who can help in this crisis4 ,in either or in any case1--be it the anxiety of the unforgiven1 or of the child of ,god1--whatever be the species of mental sorrow1 the human soul is by its very circumstances driven to its ,maker1 or else driven to destruction4 ,what more reasonable course1 therefore1 than to conform to the necessities of our condition4 ,the principal part of wisdom is to take things as they are1 and act accordingly4 ,are we1 then1 sinners1 and in fear for the final result of our life8 ,though it may seem to us like running into fire1 we must nevertheless betake ourselves first and immediately to that ,being who hates and punishes sin4 ,though we see nothing but condemnation and displeasure in those holy eyes1 we must nevertheless approach them just and simply as we are4 ,we must say with king ,david in a similar case1 when he had incurred the displeasure of ,god3 ,i am in a great strait2 yet let me fall into the hand of the ,lord1 for very great are his mercies 7#a ,chron4 xx4 #ac74 ,we must suffer the intolerable brightness to blind and blast us in our guiltiness1 and let there be an actual contact between the sin of our soul and the holiness of our ,god4 ,if we thus proceed1 in accordance with the facts of our case and our position1 we shall meet with a great and joyful surprise4 ,flinging ourselves helpless1 and despairing of all other help1--rashly1 as it will seem to us1 flinging ourselves off from the position where we now are1 and upon which we must inevitably perish1 we shall find ourselves1 to our surprise and unspeakable joy1 caught in everlasting1 paternal arms4 ,he who loses his life1--he who dares to lose his life1--shall find it4 #b4 ,secondly3 ,in all our religious anxiety1 we should make a full and plain statement of everything to ,god4 ,god loves to hear the details of our sin1 and our woe4 ,the soul that pours itself out as water will find that it is not like water spilt upon the ground1 which cannot be gathered up again4 ,even when the story is one of shame and remorse1 we find it to be mental relief1 patiently and without any reservation or palliation1 to expose the whole not only to our own eye but to that of our ,judge4 ,for1 to this very thing have we been invited4 ,this is precisely the reasoning together which ,god proposes to us4 ,god has not offered clemency to a sinful world1 with the expectation or desire that there be on the part of those to whom it is offered1 such a stinted and meagre confession1 such a glozing over and diminution of sin1 as to make that clemency appear a very small matter4 ,he well knows the depth and the immensity of the sin which ,he proposes to pardon1 and has made provision accordingly4 ,in the phrase of ,luther1 it is no painted sinner who is to be forgiven1 and it is no painted ,saviour who is offered4 ,the transgression is deep and real1 and the atonement is deep and real4 ,the crime cannot be exaggerated1 neither can the expiation4 ,he1 therefore1 who makes the plainest and most child-like statement of himself to ,god1 acts most in accordance with the mind1 and will1 and gospel of ,god4 ,if man only be hearty1 full1 and unreserved in confession1 he will find ,god to be hearty1 full1 and unreserved in absolution4 ,man is not straitened upon the side of the ,divine mercy4 ,the obstacle in the way of his salvation is in himself2 and the particular1 fatal obstacle consists in the fact that he does not feel that he needs mercy4 ,god in ,christ stands ready to pardon1 but man the sinner stands up before ,him like the besotted criminal in our courts of law1 with no feeling upon the subject4 ,the ,judge assures him that ,he has a boundless grace and clemency to bestow1 but the stolid hardened man is not even aware that he has committed a dreadful crime1 and needs grace and clemency4 ,there is food in infinite abundance1 but no hunger upon the part of man4 ,the water of life is flowing by in torrents1 but men have no thirst4 ,in this state of things1 nothing can be done1 but to pass a sentence of condemnation4 ,god cannot forgive a being who does not even know that he needs to be forgiven4 ,knowledge then1 self-knowledge1 is the great requisite2 and the want of it is the cause of perdition4 ,this reasoning together with ,god1 respecting our past and present character and conduct1 is the first step to be taken by any one who would make preparation for eternity4 ,as soon as we come to a right understanding of our lost and guilty condition1 we shall cry3 ,be merciful to me a sinner2 create within me a clean heart1 ,o ,god4 ,without such an understanding1--such an intelligent perception of our sin and guilt1--we never shall1 and we never can4 ,footnote #a3 ,,shakspeare3 ,hamlet1 ,act iii4 ,sc4 #d4 ,footnote #b3 ,,milton3 ,comus1 #eig-eii4 ,,sin ,,is ,,spiritual ,,slavery ,john viii4 #cd4--;,jesus answered them1 ,verily1 verily ,i say unto you1 whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin4 ,the word ,greek3 doulos which is translated servant1 in the text1 literally signifies a slave2 and the thought which our ,lord actually conveyed to those who heard ,him is1 ,whosoever committeth sin is the slave of sin4 ,the apostle ,peter1 in that second ,epistle of his which is so full of terse and terrible description of the effects of unbridled sensuality upon the human will1 expresses the same truth4 ,speaking of the influence of those corrupting and licentious men who have eyes full of adultery1 and that cannot cease from sin1 he remarks that while they promise their dupes liberty1 they themselves are the servants slaves of corruption3 for of whom a man is overcome1 of the same is he brought in bondage4 ,such passages as these1 of which there are a great number in the ,bible1 direct attention to the fact that sin contains an element of servitude1--that in the very act of transgressing the law of ,god there is a reflex action of the human will upon itself1 whereby it becomes less able than before to keep that law4 ,sin is the suicidal action of the human will4 ,it destroys the power to do right1 which is man's true freedom4 ,the effect of vicious habit in diminishing a man's ability to resist temptation is proverbial4 ,but what is habit but a constant repetition of wrong decisions1 every single one of which reacts upon the faculty that put them forth1 and renders it less strong and less energetic1 to do the contrary4 ,has the old debauchee1 just tottering into hell1 as much power of active resistance against the sin which has now ruined him1 as the youth has who is just beginning to run that awful career8 ,can any being do a wrong act1 and be as sound in his will and as spiritually strong1 after it1 as he was before it8 ,did that abuse of free agency by ,adam1 whereby the sin of the race was originated1 leave the agent as it found him1--uninjured and undebilitated in his voluntary power8 ,the truth and fact is1 that sin in and by its own nature and operations1 tends to destroy all virtuous force1 all holy energy1 in any moral being4 ,the excess of will to sin is the same as the defect of will to holiness4 ,the degree of intensity with which any man loves and inclines to evil is the measure of the amount of power to good which he has thereby lost4 ,and if the intensity be total1 then the loss is entire4 ,total depravity carries with it total impotence and helplessness4 ,the more carefully we observe the workings of our own wills1 the surer will be our conviction that they can ruin themselves4 ,we shall indeed find that they cannot be forced1 or ruined from the outside4 ,but1 if we watch the influence upon the will itself1 of its own wrong decisions1 its own yielding to temptations1 we shall discover that the voluntary faculty may be ruined from within2 may be made impotent to good by its own action2 may surrender itself with such an intensity and entireness to appetite1 passion1 and self-love1 that it becomes unable to reverse itself1 and overcome its own wrong disposition and direction4 ,and yet there is no compulsion1 from first to last1 in the process4 ,the man follows himself4 ,he pursues his own inclination4 ,he has his own way and does as he pleases4 ,he loves what he inclines to love1 and hates what he inclines to hate4 ,neither ,god1 nor the world1 nor ,satan himself1 force him to do wrong4 ,sin is the most spontaneous of self-motion4 ,but self-motion has consequences as much as any other motion4 ,because transgression is a self-determined act1 it does not follow that it has no reaction and results1 but leaves the will precisely as it found it4 ,it is strictly true that man was not necessitated to apostatize2 but it is equally true that if by his own self-decision he should apostatize1 he could not then and afterwards be as he was before4 ,he would lose a knowledge of ,god and divine things which he could never regain of himself4 ,and he would lose a spiritual power which he could never again recover of himself4 ,the bondage of which ,christ speaks1 when ,he says1 ,whosoever committeth sin is the slave of sin1 is an effect within the soul itself of an unforced act of self-will1 and therefore is as truly guilt as any other result or product of self-will1--as spiritual blindness1 or spiritual hardness1 or any other of the qualities of sin4 ,whatever springs from will1 we are responsible for4 ,the drunkard's bondage and powerlessness issues from his own inclination and self-indulgence1 and therefore the bondage and impotence is no excuse for his vice4 ,man's inability to love ,god supremely results from his intense self-will and self-love2 and therefore his impotence is a part and element of his sin1 and not an excuse for it4 ,if weakness may excuse1 ,what murderer1 what traitor1 parricide1 ,incestuous1 sacrilegious1 may not plead it8 ,all wickedness is weakness4#a ,the doctrine1 then1 which is taught in the text1 is the truth that sin is spiritual slavery2 and it is to the proof and illustration of this position that we invite attention4 ,the term spiritual is too often taken to mean unreal1 fanciful1 figurative4 ,for man is earthly in his views as well as in his feelings1 and therefore regards visible and material things as the emphatic realities4 ,hence he employs material objects as the ultimate standard1 by which he measures the reality of all other things4 ,the natural man has more consciousness of his body1 than he has of his soul2 more sense of this world1 than of the other4 ,hence we find that the carnal man expresses his conception of spiritual things1 by transferring to them1 in a weak and secondary signification1 words which he applies in a strong and vivid way only to material objects4 ,he speaks of the joy of the spirit1 but it is not such a reality for him as is the joy of the body4 ,he speaks of the pain of the spirit1 but it has not such a poignancy for him as that anguish which thrills through his muscles and nerves4 ,he knows that the death of the body is a terrible event1 but transfers the word death to the spirit with a vague and feeble meaning1 not realizing that the second death is more awful than the first1 and is accompanied with a spiritual distress compared with which1 the sharpest agony of material dissolution would be a relief4 ,he understands what is meant by the life of the body1 but when he hears the eternal life of the spirit spoken of1 or when he reads of it in the ,bible1 it is with the feeling that it cannot be so real and lifelike as that vital principle whose currents impart vigor and warmth to his bodily frame4 ,and yet1 the life of the spirit is more intensely real than the life of the body is2 for it has power to overrule and absorb it4 ,spiritual life1 when in full play1 is bliss ineffable4 ,it translates man into the third heavens1 where the fleshly life is lost sight of entirely1 and the being1 like ,st4 ,paul1 does not know whether he is in the body or out of the body4 ,the natural mind is deceived4 ,spirit has in it more of reality than matter has2 because it is an immortal and indestructible essence1 while matter is neither4 ,spiritual things are more real than visible things2 because they are eternal1 and eternity is more real than time4 ,statements respecting spiritual objects1 therefore1 are more solemnly true than any that relate to material things4 ,invisible and spiritual realities1 therefore1 are the standard by which all others should be tried2 and human language when applied to them1 instead of expressing too much1 expresses too little4 ,the imagery and phraseology by which the ,scriptures describe the glory of ,god1 the excellence of holiness1 and the bliss of heaven1 on the one side1 and the sinfulness of sin with the woe of hell1 on the other1 come short of the sober and actual matter of fact4 ,we should1 therefore1 beware of the error to which in our unspirituality we are specially liable2 and when we hear ,christ assert that whosoever committeth sin is the slave of sin1 we should believe and know1 that these words are not extravagant1 and contain no subtrahend1--that they indicate a self-enslavement of the human will which is so real1 so total1 and so absolute1 as to necessitate the renewing grace of ,god in order to deliverance from it4 ,this bondage to sin may be discovered by every man4 ,it must be discovered1 before one can cry1 ,save me or ,i perish4 ,it must be discovered1 before one can feelingly assent to ,christ's words1 ,without me ye can do nothing4 ,it must be discovered1 before one can understand the ,christian paradox1 ,when ,i am weak1 then am ,i strong4 ,to aid the mind1 in coming to the conscious experience of the truth taught in the text1 we remark3 ,i4 ,sin is spiritual slavery1 if viewed in reference to man's sense of obligation to be perfectly holy4 ,the obligation to be holy1 just1 and good1 as ,god is1 rests upon every rational being4 ,every man knows1 or may know1 that he ought to be perfect as his ,father in heaven is perfect1 and that he is a debtor to this obligation until he has fully met it4 ,hence even the holiest of men are conscious of sin1 because they are not completely up to the mark of this high calling of ,god4 ,for1 the sense of this obligation is an exceeding broad one1--like the law itself which it includes and enforces4 ,the feeling of duty will not let us off1 with the performance of only a part of our duty4 ,its utterance is3 ,verily ,i say unto you1 till heaven and earth pass1 one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled4 ,law spreads itself over the whole surface and course of our lives1 and insists imperatively that every part and particle of them be pure and holy4 ,again1 this sense of obligation to be perfect as ,god is perfect1 is exceedingly deep4 ,it is the most profound sense of which man is possessed1 for it outlives all others4 ,the feeling of duty to ,god's law remains in a man's mind either to bless him or to curse him1 when all other feelings depart4 ,in the hour of death1 when all the varied passions and experiences which have engrossed the man his whole lifetime are dying out of the soul1 and are disappearing1 one after another1 like signal-lights in the deepening darkness1 this one particular feeling of what he owes to the ,divine and the ,eternal law remains behind1 and grows more vivid1 and painful1 as all others grow dimmer and dimmer4 ,and therefore it is1 that in this solemn hour man forgets whether he has been happy or unhappy1 successful or unsuccessful1 in the world1 and remembers only that he has been a sinner in it4 ,and therefore it is1 that a man's thoughts1 when he is upon his death-bed1 do not settle upon his worldly matters1 but upon his sin4 ,it is because the human conscience is the very core and centre of the human being1 and its sense of obligation to be holy is deeper than all other senses and sensations1 that we hear the dying man say what the living and prosperous man is not inclined to say3 ,i have been wicked2 ,i have been a sinner in the earth4 ,now it might seem1 at first sight1 that this broad1 deep1 and abiding sense of obligation would be sufficient to overcome man's love of sin1 and bring him up to the discharge of duty1--would be powerful enough to subdue his self-will4 ,can it be that this strong and steady draft of conscience1--strong and steady as gravitation1--will ultimately prove ineffectual8 ,is not truth mighty1 and must it not finally prevail1 to the pulling down of the stronghold which ,satan has in the human heart8 ,so some men argue4 ,so some men claim1 in opposition to the doctrine of ,divine influences and of regeneration by the ,holy ,ghost4 ,we are willing to appeal to actual experience1 in order to settle the point4 ,and we affirm in the outset1 that exactly in proportion as a man hears the voice of conscience sounding its law within his breast1 does he become aware1 not of the strength but1 of the bondage of his will1 and that in proportion as this sense of obligation to be perfectly holy rises in his soul1 all hope or expectation of ever becoming so by his own power sets in thick night4 ,in our careless unawakened state1 which is our ordinary state1 we sin on from day to day1 just as we live on from day to day1 without being distinctly aware of it4 ,a healthy man does not go about1 holding his fingers upon his wrist1 and counting every pulse2 and neither does a sinful man1 as he walks these streets and transacts all this business1 think of and sum up the multitude of his transgressions4 ,and yet1 that pulse all the while beats none the less2 and yet1 that will all the while transgresses none the less4 ,so long as conscience is asleep1 sin is pleasant4 ,the sinful activity goes on without notice1 we are happy in sin1 and we do not feel that it is slavery of the will4 ,though the chains are actually about us1 yet they do not gall us4 ,in this condition1 which is that of every unawakened sinner1 we are not conscious of the bondage of corruption4 ,in the phrase of ,st4 ,paul1 we are alive without the law4 ,we have no feeling sense of duty1 and of course have no feeling sense of sin4 ,and it is in this state of things1 that arguments are framed to prove the mightiness of mere conscience1 and the power of bare truth and moral obligation1 over the perverse human heart and will4 ,but the ,spirit of ,god awakens the conscience2 that sense of obligation to be perfectly holy which has hitherto slept now starts up1 and begins to form an estimate of what has been done in reference to it4 ,the man hears the authoritative and startling law3 ,thou shalt be perfect1 as ,god is4 ,and now1 at this very instant and point1 begins the consciousness of enslavement1--of being1 in the expressive phrase of ,scripture1 sold under sin4 ,now the commandment comes1 shows us first what we ought to be and then what we actually are1 and we die4#b ,all moral strength dies out of us4 ,the muscle has been cut by the sword of truth1 and the limb drops helpless by the side4 ,for1 we find that the obligation is immense4 ,it extends to all our outward acts2 and having covered the whole of this great surface1 it then strikes inward and reaches to every thought of the mind1 and every emotion of the heart1 and every motive of the will4 ,we discover that we are under obligation at every conceivable point in our being and in our history1 but that we have not met obligation at a single point4 ,when we see that the law of ,god is broad and deep1 and that sin is equally broad and deep within us2 when we learn that we have never thought one single holy thought1 nor felt one single holy feeling1 nor done one single holy deed1 because self-love is the root and principle of all our work1 and we have never purposed or desired to please ,god by any one of our actions2 when we find that everything has been required1 and that absolutely nothing has been done1 that we are bound to be perfectly holy this very instant1 and as matter of fact are totally sinful1 we know in a most affecting manner that whosoever committeth sin is the slave of sin4 ,but suppose that after this disheartening and weakening discovery of the depth and extent of our sinfulness1 we proceed to take the second step1 and attempt to extirpate it4 ,suppose that after coming to a consciousness of all this obligation resting upon us1 we endeavor to comply with it4 ,this renders us still more painfully sensible of the truth of our ,saviour's declaration4 ,even the regenerated man1 who in this endeavor has the aid of ,god1 is mournfully conscious that sin is the enslavement of the human will4 ,though he has been freed substantially1 he feels that the fragments of the chains are upon him still4 ,though the love of ,god is the predominant principle within him1 yet the lusts and propensities of the old nature continually start up like devils1 and tug at the spirit1 to drag it down to its old bondage4 ,but that man who attempts to overcome sin1 without first crying1 ,create within me a clean heart1 ,o ,god1 feels still more deeply that sin is spiritual slavery4 ,when he comes to know sin in reference to the obligation to be perfectly holy1 it is with vividness and hopelessness4 ,he sees distinctly that he ought to be a perfectly good being instantaneously4 ,this point is clear4 ,but instead of looking up to the hills whence cometh his help1 he begins1 in a cold legal and loveless temper1 to draw upon his own resources4 ,the first step is to regulate his external conduct by the ,divine law4 ,he tries to put a bridle upon his tongue1 and to walk carefully before his fellow-men4 ,he fails to do even this small outside thing1 and is filled with discouragement and despondency4 ,but the sense of duty reaches beyond the external conduct1 and the law of ,god pierces like the two-edged sword of an executioner1 and discerns the thoughts and motives of the heart4 ,sin begins to be seen in its relation to the inner man1 and he attempts again to reform and change the feelings and affections of his soul4 ,he strives to wring the gall of bitterness out of his own heart1 with his own hands4 ,but he fails utterly4 ,as he resolves1 and breaks his resolutions2 as he finds evil thoughts and feelings continually coming up from the deep places of his heart2 he discovers his spiritual impotence1--his lack of control over what is deepest1 most intimate1 and most fundamental in his own character1--and cries out3 ,i am a slave1 ,i am a slave to myself4 ,if then1 you would know from immediate consciousness that whosoever committeth sin is the slave of sin1 simply view sin in the light of that obligation to be perfectly pure and holy which necessarily1 and forever1 rests upon a responsible being4 ,if you would know that spiritual slavery is no extravagant and unmeaning phrase1 but denotes a most real and helpless bondage1 endeavor to get entirely rid of sin1 and to be perfect as the spirits of just men made perfect4 ,,ii4 ,sin is spiritual slavery1 if viewed in reference to the aspirations of the human soul4 ,theology makes a distinction between common and special grace1--between those ordinary influences of the ,divine ,spirit which rouse the conscience1 and awaken some transient aspirations after religion1 and those extraordinary influences which actually renew the heart and will4 ,in speaking1 then1 of the aspirations of the human soul1 reference is had to all those serious impressions1 and those painful anxieties concerning salvation1 which require to be followed up by a yet mightier power from ,god1 to prevent their being entirely suppressed again1 as they are in a multitude of instances1 by the strong love of sin and the world4 ,for though man has fallen into a state of death in trespasses and sins1 so that if cut off from every species of ,divine influence1 and left entirely to himself1 he would never reach out after anything but the sin which he loves1 yet through the common influences of the ,spirit of ,grace1 and the ordinary workings of a rational nature not yet reprobated1 he is at times the subject of internal stirrings and aspirations that indicate the greatness and glory of the heights whence he fell4 ,under the power of an awakened conscience1 and feeling the emptiness of the world1 and the aching void within him1 man wishes for something better than he has1 or than he is4 ,the minds of the more thoughtful of the ancient pagans were the subjects of these impulses1 and aspirations2 and they confess their utter inability to realize them4 ,they are expressed upon every page of ,plato1 and it is not surprising that some of the ,christian ,fathers should have deemed ,platonism1 as well as ,judaism1 to be a preparation for ,christianity1 by its bringing man to a sense of his need of redemption4 ,and it would stimulate ,christians in their efforts to give revealed religion to the heathen1 did they ponder the fact which the journals of the missionary sometimes disclose1 that the ,divine ,spirit is brooding with ,his common and preparatory influence over the chaos of ,paganism1 and that here and there the heathen mind faintly aspires to be freed from the bondage of corruption1--that dim stirrings1 impulses1 and wishes for deliverance1 are awake in the dark heart of ,paganism1 but that owing to the strength and inveteracy of sin in that heart they will prove ineffectual to salvation1 unless the gospel is preached1 and the ,holy ,spirit is specially poured out in answer to the prayers of ,christians4 ,now1 all these phenomena in the human soul go to show the rigid bondage of sin1 and to prove that sin has an element of servitude in it4 ,for when these impulses1 wishes1 and aspirations are awakened1 and the man discovers that he is unable to realize them in actual character and conduct1 he is wretchedly and thoroughly conscious that whosoever committeth sin is the slave of sin4 ,the immortal1 heaven-descended spirit1 feeling the kindling touch of truth and of the ,holy ,ghost1 thrills under it1 and essays to soar4 ,but sin hangs heavy upon it1 and it cannot lift itself from the earth4 ,never is man so sensible of his enslavement and his helplessness1 as when he has a wish but has no will4#c ,look1 for illustration1 at the aspirations of the drunkard to be delivered from the vice that easily besets him4 ,in his sober moments1 they come thick and fast1 and during his sobriety1 and while under the lashings of conscience1 he wishes1 nay1 even longs1 to be freed from drunkenness4 ,it may be1 that under the impulse of these aspirations he resolves never to drink again4 ,it may be1 that amid the buoyancy that naturally accompanies the springing of hope and longing in the human soul1 he for a time seems to himself to be actually rising up from his wallowing in the mire1 and supposes that he shall soon regain his primitive condition of temperance4 ,but the sin is strong2 for the appetite that feeds it is in his blood4 ,temptation with its witching solicitation comes before the will1--the weak1 self-enslaved will4 ,he aspires to resist1 but will not2 the spirit would soar1 but the flesh will creep2 the spirit has the wish1 but the flesh has the will2 the man longs to be sober1 but actually is and remains a drunkard4 ,and never1--be it noticed1--never is he more thoroughly conscious of being a slave to himself1 than when he thus ineffectually aspires and wishes to be delivered from himself4 ,what has been said of drunkenness1 and the aspiration to be freed from it1 applies with full force to all the sin and all the aspirations of the human soul4 ,there is no independent and self-realizing power in a mere aspiration4 ,no man overcomes even his vices1 except as he is assisted by the common grace of ,god4 ,the self-reliant man invariably relapses into his old habits4 ,he who thinks he stands is sure to fall4 ,but when1 under the influence of ,god's common grace1 a man aspires to be freed from the deepest of all sin1 because it is the source of all particular acts of transgression1--when he attempts to overcome and extirpate the original and inveterate depravity of his heart1--he feels his bondage more thoroughly than ever4 ,if it is wretchedness for the drunkard to aspire after freedom from only a single vice1 and fail of reaching it1 is it not the depth of woe1 when a man comes to know the plague of his heart1 and his utter inability to cleanse and cure it8 ,in this case1 the bondage of self-will is found to be absolute4 ,at first sight1 it might seem as if these wishes and aspirations of the human spirit1 faint though they be1 are proof that man is not totally depraved1 and that his will is not helplessly enslaved4 ,so some men argue4 ,but they forget1 that these aspirations and wishes are never realized4 ,there is no evidence of power1 except from its results4 ,and where are the results8 ,who has ever realized these wishes and aspirations1 in his heart and conduct8 ,the truth is1 that every unattained aspiration that ever swelled the human soul is proof positive1 and loud1 that the human soul is in bondage4 ,these ineffectual stirrings and impulses1 which disappear like the morning cloud and the early dew1 are most affecting evidences that whosoever committeth sin is the slave of sin4 ,they prove that apostate man has sunk1 in one respect1 to a lower level than that of the irrational creation4 ,for1 high ideas and truths cannot raise him4 ,lofty impulses result in no alteration1 or elevation4 ,even ,divine influences leave him just where they find him1 unless they are exerted in their highest grade of irresistible grace4 ,a brute surrenders himself to his appetites and propensities1 and lives the low life of nature1 without being capable of aspirations for anything purer and nobler4 ,but man does this very thing1--nay1 immerses himself in flesh1 and sense1 and self1 with an entireness and intensity of which the brute is incapable1--in the face of impulses and stirrings of mind that point him to the pure throne of ,god1 and urge him to soar up to it6 ,the brute is a creature of nature1 because he knows no better1 and can desire nothing better2 but man is as the beasts that perish1 in spite of a better knowledge and a loftier aspiration6 ,if then1 you would know that whosoever committeth sin is the slave of sin1 contemplate sin in reference to the aspirations of an apostate spirit originally made in the image of ,god1 and which1 because it is not eternally reprobated1 is not entirely cut off from the common influences of the ,spirit of ,god4 ,never will you feel the bondage of your will more profoundly1 than when under these influences1 and in your moments of seriousness and anxiety respecting your soul's salvation1 you aspire and endeavor to overcome inward sin1 and find that unless ,god grant you ,his special and renovating grace1 your heart will be sinful through all eternity1 in spite of the best impulses of your best hours4 ,these upward impulses and aspirations cannot accompany the soul into the state of final hopelessness and despair1 though ,milton represents ,satan as sometimes looking back with a sigh1 and a mournful memory1 upon what he had once been1#d--yet if they should go with us there1 they would make the ardor of the fire more fierce1 and the gnaw of the worm more fell4 ,for they would help to reveal the strength of our sin1 and the intensity of our rebellion4 ,,iii4 ,sin is spiritual slavery1 if viewed in reference to the fears of the human soul4 ,the sinful spirit of man fears the death of the body1 and the ,scriptures assert that by reason of this particular fear we are all our lifetime in bondage4 ,though we know that the bodily dissolution can have no effect upon the imperishable essence of an immortal being1 yet we shrink back from it1 as if the sentence1 ,dust thou art1 and unto dust thou shalt return1 had been spoken of the spirit1--as if the worm were to feed sweetly upon the soul1 and it were to be buried up in the dark house of the grave4 ,even the boldest of us is disturbed at the thought of bodily death1 and we are always startled when the summons suddenly comes3 ,set thy house in order1 for thou must die4 ,again1 the spirit of man fears that fearful something after death1 that eternal judgment which must be passed upon all4 ,we tremble at the prospect of giving an account of our own actions4 ,we are afraid to reap the harvest1 the seed of which we have sown with our own hands4 ,the thought of going to a just judgment1 and of receiving from the ,judge of all the earth1 who cannot possibly do injustice to any of ,his creatures1 only that which is our desert1 shocks us to the centre of our being6 ,man universally is afraid to be judged with a righteous judgment6 ,man universally is terrified by the equitable bar of ,god6 ,again1 the apostate spirit of man has an awful dread of eternity4 ,though this invisible realm is the proper home of the human soul1 and it was made to dwell there forever1 after the threescore and ten years of its residence in the body are over1 yet it shrinks back from an entrance into this untried world1 and clings with the desperate force of a drowning man to this bank and shoal of time4 ,there are moments in the life of a guilty man when the very idea of eternal existence exerts a preternatural power1 and fills him with a dread that paralyzes him4 ,never is the human being stirred to so great depths1 and roused to such intensity of action1 as when it feels what the ,scripture calls the power of an endless life4 ,all men are urged by some ruling passion which is strong4 ,the love of wealth1 or of pleasure1 or of fame1 drives the mind onward with great force1 and excites it to mighty exertions to compass its end4 ,but never is a man pervaded by such an irresistible and overwhelming influence as that which descends upon him in some season of religious gloom1--some hour of sickness1 or danger1 or death1--when the great eternity1 with all its awful realities1 and all its unknown terror1 opens upon his quailing gaze4 ,there are times in man's life1 when he is the subject of movements within that impel him to deeds that seem almost superhuman2 but that internal ferment and convulsion which is produced when all eternity pours itself through his being turns his soul up from the centre4 ,man will labor convulsively1 night and day1 for money2 he will dry up the bloom and freshness of health1 for earthly power and fame2 he will actually wear his body out for sensual pleasure4 ,but what is the intensity and paroxysm of this activity of mind and body1 if compared with those inward struggles and throes when the overtaken and startled sinner sees the eternal world looming into view1 and with strong crying and tears prays for only a little respite1 and only a little preparation6 ,millions for an inch of time1--said the dying ,english ,queen4 ,o ,eternity6 ,eternity6 how shall ,i grapple with the misery that ,i must meet with in eternity1--says the man in the iron cage of ,despair4 ,this finite world has indeed great power to stir man1 but the other world has an infinitely greater power4 ,the clouds which float in the lower regions of the sky1 and the winds that sweep them along1 produce great ruin and destruction upon the earth1 but it is only when the windows of heaven are opened that the fountains of the great deep are broken up1 and all in whose nostrils is the breath of life die1 and every living substance is destroyed which is upon the face of the ground4 ,when fear arises in the soul of man1 in view of an eternal existence for which he is utterly unprepared1 it is overwhelming4 ,it partakes of the immensity of eternity1 and holds the man with an omnipotent grasp4 ,if1 now1 we view sin in relation to these great fears of death1 judgment1 and eternity1 we see that it is spiritual slavery1 or the bondage of the will4 ,we discover that our terror is no more able to deliver us from the bondage of corruption1 than our aspiration is4 ,we found that in spite of the serious stirrings and impulses which sometimes rise within us1 we still continue immersed in sense and sin2 and we shall also find that in spite of the most solemn and awful fears of which a finite being is capable1 we remain bondmen to ourselves1 and our sin4 ,the dread that goes down into hell can no more ransom us1 than can the aspiration that goes up into heaven4 ,our fear of eternal woe can no more change the heart1 than our wish for eternal happiness can4 ,we have1 at some periods1 faintly wished that lusts and passions had no power over us2 and perhaps we have been the subject of still higher aspirings4 ,but we are the same beings1 still4 ,we are the same self-willed and self-enslaved sinners1 yet4 ,we have all our lifetime feared death1 judgment1 and eternity1 and under the influence of this fear we have sometimes resolved and promised to become ,christians4 ,but we are the very same beings1 still2 we are the same self-willed and self-enslaved sinners yet4 ,oh1 never is the human spirit more deeply conscious of its bondage to its darling iniquity1 than when these paralyzing fears shut down upon it1 like night1 with a horror of great darkness4 ,when under their influence1 the man feels most thoroughly and wretchedly that his sin is his ruin1 and yet his sinful determination continues on1 because whosoever committeth sin is the slave of sin1 ,has it never happened that1 in the visions of the night when deep sleep falleth upon men1 a spirit passed before your face1 like that which stood still before the ,temanite2 and there was silence1 and a voice saying1 ,man6 ,man6 thou must die1 thou must be judged1 thou must inhabit eternity8 ,and when the spirit had departed1 and while the tones of its solemn and startling cry were still rolling through your soul1 did not a temptation to sin solicit you1 and did you not drink in its iniquity like water8 ,have you not found out1 by mournful experience1 that the most anxious forebodings of the human spirit1 the most alarming fears of the human soul1 and the most solemn warnings that come forth from eternity1 have no prevailing power over your sinful nature1 but that immediately after experiencing them1 and while your whole being is still quivering under their agonizing touch1 you fall1 you rush1 into sin8 ,have you not discovered that even that most dreadful of all fears1--the fear of the holy wrath of almighty ,god1--is not strong enough to save you from yourself8 ,do you know that your love of sin has the power to stifle and overcome the mightiest of your fears1 when you are strongly tempted to self-indulgence8 ,have you no evidence1 in your own experience1 of the truth of the poet's words3 ,the ,sensual and the ,dark rebel in vain1 ,slaves by their own compulsion4 ,if1 then1 you would know that whosoever committeth sin is the slave of sin1 contemplate sin in relation to the fears which of necessity rest upon a spirit capable1 as yours is1 of knowing that it must leave the body1 that it must receive a final sentence at the bar of judgment1 and that eternity is its last and fixed dwelling-place4 ,if you would know with sadness and with profit1 that sin is the enslavement of the will that originates it1 consider that all the distressing fears that have ever been in your soul1 from the first1 have not been able to set you free in the least from innate depravity3 but1 that in spite of them all your will has been steadily surrendering itself1 more and more1 to the evil principle of self-love and enmity to ,god4 ,call to mind the great fight of anguish and terror which you have sometimes waged with sin1 and see how sin has always been victorious4 ,remember that you have often dreaded death1--but you are unjust still4 ,remember that you have often trembled at the thought of eternal judgment1--but you are unregenerate still4 ,remember that you have often started back1 when the holy and retributive eternity dawned like the day of doom upon you1--but you are impenitent still4 ,if you view your own personal sin in reference to your own personal fears1 are you not a slave to it8 ,will or can your fears1 mighty as they sometimes are1 deliver you from the bondage of corruption1 and lift you above that which you love with all your heart1 and strength1 and might8 ,it is perfectly plain1 then1 that whosoever committeth sin is the slave of sin1 whether we have regard to the feeling of obligation to be perfectly holy which is in the human conscience2 or to the ineffectual aspirations which sometimes arise in the human spirit2 or to the dreadful fears which often fall upon it4 ,sin must have brought the human will into a real and absolute bondage1 if the deep and solemn sense of indebtedness to moral law2 if the thoughts that wander through eternity2 if the aspirations that soar to the heaven of heavens1 and the fears that descend to the very bottom of hell1--if all these combined forces and influences cannot free it from its power4 ,it was remarked in the beginning of this discourse1 that the bondage of sin is the result of the reflex action of the human will upon itself4 ,it is not a slavery imposed from without1 but from within4 ,the bondage of sin is only a particular aspect of sin itself4 ,the element of servitude1 like the element of blindness1 or hardness1 or rebelliousness1 is part and particle of that moral evil which deserves the wrath and curse of ,god4 ,it1 therefore1 no more excuses or palliates1 than does any other self-originated quality in sin4 ,spiritual bondage1 like spiritual enmity to ,god1 or spiritual ignorance of ,him1 or spiritual apathy towards ,him1 is guilt and crime4 ,and in closing1 we desire to repeat and emphasize this truth4 ,whoever will enter upon that process of self-wrestling and self-conflict which has been described1 will come to a profound sense of the truth which our ,lord taught in the words of the text4 ,all such will find and feel that they are in slavery1 and that their slavery is their condemnation4 ,for the anxious1 weary1 and heavy-laden sinner1 the problem is not mysterious1 because it finds its solution in the depths of his own self-consciousness4 ,he needs no one to clear it up for him1 and he has neither doubts nor cavils respecting it4 ,but1 an objection always assails that mind which has not the key of an inward moral struggle to unlock the problem for it4 ,when ,christ asserts that whosoever committeth sin is the slave of sin1 the easy and indifferent mind is swift to draw the inference that this bondage is its misfortune1 and that the poor slave does not deserve to be punished1 but to be set free4 ,he says as ,st4 ,paul did in another connection3 ,nay verily1 but let them come themselves1 and fetch us out4 ,but this slavery is a self-enslavement4 ,the feet of this man have not been thrust into the stocks by another4 ,this logician must refer everything to its own proper author1 and its own proper cause4 ,let this spiritual bondage1 therefore1 be charged upon the self that originated it4 ,let it be referred to that self-will in which it is wrapped up1 and of which it is a constituent element4 ,it is a universally received maxim1 that the agent is responsible for the consequences of a voluntary act1 as well as for the act itself4 ,if1 therefore1 the human will has inflicted a suicidal blow upon itself1 and one of the consequences of its own determination is a total enslavement of itself to its own determination1 then this enslaving result of the act1 as well the act itself1 must all go in to constitute and swell the sum-total of human guilt4 ,the miserable drunkard1 therefore1 cannot be absolved from the drunkard's condemnation1 upon the plea that by a long series of voluntary acts he has1 in the end1 so enslaved himself that no power but ,god's grace can save him4 ,the marble-hearted fiend in hell1 the absolutely lost spirit in despair1 cannot relieve his torturing sense of guilt1 by the reflection that he has at length so hardened his own heart that he cannot repent4 ,the unforced will of a moral being must be held responsible for both its direct1 and its reflex action2 for both its sin1 and its bondage in sin4 ,the denial of guilt1 then1 is not the way out4 ,he who takes this road kicks against the goads4 ,and he will find their stabs thickening1 the farther he travels1 and the nearer he draws to the face and eyes of ,god4 ,but there is a way out4 ,it is the way of self-knowledge and confession4 ,this is the point upon which all the antecedents of salvation hinge4 ,he who has come to know1 with a clear discrimination1 that he is in a guilty bondage to his own inclination and lust1 has taken the very first step towards freedom4 ,for1 the ,redeemer1 the ,almighty ,deliverer1 is near the captive1 so soon as the captive feels his bondage and confesses it4 ,the mighty ,god walking upon the waves of this sinful1 troubled life1 stretches out ,his arm1 the very instant any sinking soul cries1 ,lord save me4 ,and unless that appeal and confession of helplessness is made1 ,he1 the ,merciful and the ,compassionate1 will let the soul go down before ,his own eyes to the unfathomed abyss4 ,if the sinking ,peter had not uttered that cry1 the mighty hand of ,christ would not have been stretched forth4 ,all the difficulties disappear1 so soon as a man understands the truth of the ,divine affirmation3 ,o ,israel thou hast destroyed thyself1--it is a real destruction1 and it is thy own work1--but in ,,me is thy help4 ,footnote #a3 ,,milton3 ,samson ,agonistes1 #hcb-hcd4--,one key to the solution of the problem1 how there can be bondage in the very seat of freedom1--how man can be responsible for sin1 yet helpless in it1--is to be found in this fact of a reflex action of the will upon itself1 or1 a reaction of self-action4 ,philosophical speculation upon the nature of the human will has not1 hitherto1 taken this fact sufficiently into account4 ,the following extracts corroborate the view presented above4 ,my will the enemy held1 and thence had made a chain for me1 and bound me4 ,for1 of a perverse will comes lust2 and a lust yielded to becomes custom2 and custom not resisted becomes necessity4 ,by which links1 as it were1 joined together as in a chain1 a hard bondage held me enthralled4 ,,augustine3 ,confessions1 ,,viii4 v4 #aj4 ,every degree of inclination contrary to duty1 which is and must be sinful1 implies and involves an equal degree of difficulty and inability to obey4 ,for1 indeed1 such inclination of the heart to disobey1 and the difficulty or inability to obey1 are precisely one and the same4 ,this kind of difficulty or inability1 therefore1 always is great according to the strength and fixedness of the inclination to disobey2 and it becomes total and absolute inability1 when the heart is totally corrupt and wholly opposed to obedience4444 ,no man can act contrary to his present inclination or choice4 ,but who ever imagined that this rendered his inclination and choice innocent and blameless1 however wrong and unreasonable it might be4 ,,samuel ,,hopkins3 ,works1 ,i4 #bcc-bce4 ,moral inability is the being unable to be willing4 ,,edwards3 ,freedom of the ,will1 ,part ,i1 sect4 iv4 ,propensities1--says a writer very different from those above quoted1--that are easily surmounted lead us unresistingly on2 we yield to temptations so trivial that we despise their danger4 ,and so we fall into perilous situations from which we might easily have preserved ourselves1 but from which we now find it impossible to extricate ourselves without efforts so superhuman as to terrify us1 and we finally fall into the abyss1 saying to the ,almighty1 ',why hast ,thou made me so weak8' ,but notwithstanding our vain pretext1 ,he addresses our conscience1 saying1 ',i have made thee too weak to rise from the pit1 because ,i made thee strong enough not to fall therein4 ,,rousseau3 ,confessions1 ,book ,,ii4 ,footnote #b3 ,romans vii4 #i-aa4 ,footnote #c3 ,some of the ,schoolmen distinguished carefully between the two things1 and denominated the former1 velleitas1 and the latter1 voluntas4 ,footnote #d3 ,,milton3 ,paradise ,lost1 ,,iv4 #bc-be2 #ce-fa4 ,,the ,,original ,,and ,,the ,,actual ,,relation ,,of ,,man ,,to ,,law4 ,,romans vii4 #aj4--,the commandment which1 was ordained to life1 ,i found to be unto death4 ,the reader of ,st4 ,paul's ,epistles is struck with the seemingly disparaging manner in which he speaks of the moral law4 ,in one place1 he tells his reader that the law entered that the offence might abound2 in another1 that the law worketh wrath2 in another1 that sin shall not have dominion over the believer because he is not under the law2 in another1 that ,christians are become dead to the law2 in another1 that they are delivered from the law2 and in another1 that the strength of sin is the law4 ,this phraseology sounds strangely1 respecting that great commandment upon which the whole moral government of ,god is founded4 ,we are in the habit of supposing that nothing that springs from the ,divine law1 or is in any way connected with it1 can be evil or the occasion of evil4 ,if the law of holiness is the strength of sin2 if it worketh wrath2 if good men are to be delivered from it2 what then shall be said of the law of sin8 ,why is it1 that ,st4 ,paul in a certain class of his representations appears to be inimical to the ten commandments1 and to warn ,christians against them8 ,is the law sin8 is a question that very naturally arises1 while reading some of his statements2 and it is a question which he himself asks1 because he is aware that it will be likely to start in the mind of some of his readers4 ,and it is a question to which he replies3 ,god forbid4 ,nay ,i had not known sin1 but by the law4 ,the difficulty is only seeming1 and not real4 ,these apparently disparaging representations of the moral law are perfectly reconcilable with that profound reverence for its authority which ,st4 ,paul felt and exhibited1 and with that solemn and cogent preaching of the law for which he was so distinguished4 ,the text explains and resolves the difficulty4 ,the commandment which was ordained to life1 ,i found to be unto death4 ,the moral law1 in its own nature1 and by the ,divine ordination1 is suited to produce holiness and happiness in the soul of any and every man4 ,it was ordained to life4 ,so far as the purpose of ,god1 and the original nature and character of man1 are concerned1 the ten commandments are perfectly adapted to fill the soul with peace and purity4 ,in the unfallen creature1 they work no wrath1 neither are they the strength of sin4 ,if everything in man had remained as it was created1 there would have been no need of urging him to become dead to the law1 to be delivered from the law1 and not be under the law4 ,had man kept his original righteousness1 it could never be said of him that the strength of sin is the law4 ,on the contrary1 there was such a mutual agreement between the unfallen nature of man and the holy law of ,god1 that the latter was the very joy and strength of the former4 ,the commandment was ordained to life1 and it was the life and peace of holy ,adam4 ,the original relation between man's nature and the moral law was precisely like that between material nature and the material laws4 ,there has been no apostasy in the system of matter1 and all things remain there as they were in the beginning of creation4 ,the law of gravitation1 this very instant1 rules as peacefully and supremely in every atom of matter1 as it did on the morning of creation4 ,should material nature be delivered from the law of gravitation1 chaos would come again4 ,no portion of this fair and beautiful natural world needs to become dead to the laws of nature4 ,such phraseology as this is inapplicable to the relation that exists between the world of matter1 and the system of material laws1 because1 in this material sphere1 there has been no revolution1 no rebellion1 no great catastrophe analogous to the fall of ,adam4 ,the law here was ordained to life1 and the ordinance still stands4 ,and it shall stand until1 by the will of the ,creator1 these elements shall melt with fervent heat1 and these heavens shall pass away with a great noise2 until a new system of nature1 and a new legislation for it1 are introduced4 ,but the case is different with man4 ,he is not standing where he was1 when created4 ,he is out of his original relations to the law and government of ,god1 and therefore that which was ordained to him for life1 he now finds to be unto death4 ,the food which in its own nature is suited to minister to the health and strength of the well man1 becomes poison and death itself to the sick man4 ,with this brief notice of the fact1 that the law of ,god was ordained to life1 and that therefore this disparaging phraseology of ,st4 ,paul does not refer to the intrinsic nature of law1 which he expressly informs us is holy just and good1 nor to the original relation which man sustained to it before he became a sinner1 let us now proceed to consider some particulars in which the commandment is found to be unto death1 to every sinful man4 ,the law of ,god shows itself in the human soul1 in the form of a sense of duty4 ,every man1 as he walks these streets1 and engages in the business or pleasures of life1 hears occasionally the words3 ,thou shalt2 them shalt not4 ,every man1 as he passes along in this earthly pilgrimage1 finds himself saying to himself3 ,i ought1 ,i ought not4 ,this is the voice of law sounding in the conscience2 and every man may know1 whenever he hears these words1 that he is listening to the same authority that cut the ten commandments into the stones of ,sinai1 and sounded that awful trumpet1 and will one day come in power and great glory to judge the quick and dead4 ,law1 we say1 expresses itself for man1 while here upon earth1 through the sense of duty4 ,a sense of duty pursues us ever1 said ,webster1 in that impressive allusion to the workings of conscience1 in the trial of the ,salem murderers4 ,this is the accusing and condemning sensation1 in and by which the written statute of ,god becomes a living energy1 and a startling voice in the soul4 ,cut into the rock of ,sinai1 it is a dead letter2 written and printed in our ,bibles1 it is still a dead letter2 but wrought in this manner into the fabric of our own constitution1 waylaying us in our hours of weakness1 and irresolution1 and secrecy1 and speaking to our inward being in tones that are as startling as any that could be addressed to the physical ear1--undergoing this transmutation1 and becoming a continual consciousness of duty and obligation1 the law of ,god is more than a letter4 ,it is a possessing spirit1 and according as we obey or disobey1 it is a guardian angel1 or a tormenting fiend4 ,we have disobeyed1 and therefore the sense of duty is a tormenting sensation2 the commandment which was ordained to life1 is found to be unto death4 ,i4 ,in the first place1 to go into the analysis1 the sense of duty is a sorrow and a pain to sinful man1 because it places him under a continual restraint4 ,no creature can be happy1 so long as he feels himself under limitations4 ,to be checked1 reined in1 and thwarted in any way1 renders a man uneasy and discontented4 ,the universal and instinctive desire for freedom1--freedom from restraint1--is a proof of this4 ,every creature wishes to follow out his inclination1 and in proportion as he is hindered in so doing1 and is compelled to work counter to it1 he is restless and dissatisfied4 ,now the sense of duty exerts just this influence1 upon sinful man4 ,it opposes his wishes2 it thwarts his inclination2 it imposes a restraint upon his spontaneous desires and appetites4 ,it continually hedges up his way1 and seeks to stop him in the path of his choice and his pleasure4 ,if his inclination were only in harmony with his duty2 if his desires and affections were one with the law of ,god2 there would be no restraint from the law4 ,in this case1 the sense of duty would be a joy and not a sorrow1 because1 in doing his duty1 he would be doing what he liked4 ,there are only two ways1 whereby contentment can be introduced into the human soul4 ,if the ,divine law could be altered so that it should agree with man's sinful inclination1 he could be happy in sin4 ,the commandment having become like his own heart1 there would1 of course1 be no conflict between the two1 and he might sin on forever and lap himself in ,elysium4 ,and undoubtedly there are thousands of luxurious and guilty men1 who1 if they could1 like the ,eastern ,semiramis1 would make lust and law alike in their decree2#a would transmute the law of holiness into a law of sin2 would put evil for good1 and good for evil1 bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter2 in order to be eternally happy in the sin that they love4 ,they would bring duty and inclination into harmony1 by a method that would annihilate duty1 would annihilate the eternal distinction between right and wrong1 would annihilate ,god himself4 ,but this method1 of course1 is impossible4 ,there can be no transmutation of law1 though there can be of a creature's character and inclination4 ,heaven and earth shall pass away1 but the commandment of ,god can never pass away4 ,the only other mode1 therefore1 by which duty and inclination can be brought into agreement1 and the continual sense of restraint which renders man so wretched be removed1 is to change the inclination4 ,the instant the desires and affections of our hearts are transformed1 so that they accord with the ,divine law1 the conflict between our will and our conscience is at an end4 ,when ,i come to love the law of holiness and delight in it1 to obey it is simply to follow out my inclination4 ,and this1 we have seen1 is to be happy4 ,but such is not the state of things1 in the unrenewed soul4 ,duty and inclination are in conflict4 ,man's desires appetites and tendencies are in one direction1 and his conscience is in the other4 ,the sense of duty holds a whip over him4 ,he yields to his sinful inclination1 finds a momentary pleasure in so doing1 and then feels the stings of the scorpion-lash4 ,we see this operation in a very plain and striking manner1 if we select an instance where the appetite is very strong1 and the voice of conscience is very loud4 ,take1 for example1 that particular sin which most easily besets an individual4 ,every man has such a sin1 and knows what it is1 ,let him call to mind the innumerable instances in which that particular temptation has assailed him1 and he will be startled to discover how many thousands of times the sense of duty has put a restraint upon him4 ,though not in every single instance1 yet in hundreds and hundreds of cases1 the law of ,god has uttered the1 ,thou shalt not1 and endeavored to prevent the consummation of that sin4 ,and what a wearisome experience is this4 ,a continual forth-putting of an unlawful desire1 and an almost incessant check upon it1 from a law which is hated but which is feared4 ,for such is the attitude of the natural heart toward the commandment4 ,the carnal mind is enmity against the law of ,god4 ,the two are contrary to one another2 so that when the heart goes out in its inclination1 it is immediately hindered and opposed by the law4 ,sometimes the collision between them is terrible1 and the soul becomes2 an arena of tumultuous passions4 ,the heart and will are intensely determined to do wrong1 while the conscience is unyielding and uncompromising1 and utters its denunciations1 and thunders its warnings4 ,and what a dreadful destiny awaits that soul1 in whom this conflict and collision between the dictates of conscience1 and the desires of the heart1 is to be eternal6 for whom1 through all eternity1 the holy law of ,god1 which was ordained to life peace and joy1 shall be found to be unto death and woe immeasurable6 ,,ii4 ,in the second place1 the sense of duty is a pain and sorrow to a sinful man1 because it demands a perpetual effort from him4 ,no creature likes to tug1 and to lift4 ,service must be easy1 in order to be happy4 ,if you lay upon the shoulders of a laborer a burden that strains his muscles almost to the point of rupture1 you put him in physical pain4 ,his physical structure was not intended to be subjected to such a stretch4 ,his ,creator designed that the burden should be proportioned to the power1 in such a manner that work should be play4 ,in the garden of ,eden1 physical labor was physical pleasure1 because the powers were in healthy action1 and the work assigned to them was not a burden4 ,before the fall1 man was simply to dress and keep a garden2 but after the fall1 he was to dig up thorns and thistles1 and eat his bread in the sweat of his face4 ,this is a curse1--the curse of being compelled to toil1 and lift1 and put the muscle to such a tension that it aches4 ,this is not the original and happy condition of the body1 in which man was created4 ,look at the toiling millions of the human family1 who like the poor ant for one small grain1 labor1 and tug1 and strive2 see them bending double1 under the heavy weary load which they must carry until relieved by death2 and tell me if this is the physical elysium1 the earthly paradise1 in which unfallen man was originally placed1 and for which he was originally designed4 ,no1 the curse of labor1 of perpetual effort1 has fallen upon the body1 as the curse of death has fallen upon the soul2 and the uneasiness and unrest of the groaning and struggling body is a convincing proof of it4 ,the whole physical nature of man groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now1 waiting for the adoption1 that is the redemption of the body from this penal necessity of perpetual strain and effort4 ,the same fact meets us when we pass from the physical to the moral nature of man1 and becomes much more sad and impressive4 ,by creation1 it was a pleasure and a pastime for man to keep the law of ,god1 to do spiritual work4 ,as created1 he was not compelled to summon his energies1 and strain his will1 and make a convulsive resolution to obey the commands of his ,maker4 ,obedience was joy4 ,holy ,adam knew nothing of effort in the path of duty4 ,it was a smooth and broad pathway1 fringed with flowers1 and leading into the meadows of asphodel4 ,it did not become the straight and narrow way1 until sin had made obedience a toil1 the sense of duty a restraint1 and human life a race and a fight4 ,by apostasy1 the obligation to keep the ,divine law perfectly1 became repulsive4 ,it was no longer easy for man to do right2 and it has never been easy or spontaneous to him since4 ,hence1 the attempt to follow the dictates of conscience always costs an unregenerate man an effort4 ,he is compelled to make a resolution2 and a resolution is the sign and signal of a difficult and unwelcome service4 ,take your own experience for an illustration4 ,did you ever1 except as you were sweetly inclined and drawn by the renewing grace of ,god1 attempt to discharge a duty1 without discovering that you were averse to it1 and that you must gather up your energies for the work1 as the leaper strains upon the tendon of ,achilles to make the mortal leap4 ,and if you had not become weary1 and given over the effort2 if you had entered upon that sad but salutary passage in the religious experience which is delineated in the seventh chapter of ,romans2 if you had continued to struggle and strive to do your duty1 until you grew faint and weak1 and powerless1 and cried out for a higher and mightier power to succor you2 you would have known1 as you do not yet1 what a deadly opposition there is between the carnal mind and the law of ,god1 and what a spasmodic effort it costs an unrenewed man even to attempt to discharge the innumerable obligations that rest upon him4 ,mankind would know more of this species of toil and labor1 and of the cleaving curse involved in it1 if they were under the same physical necessity in regard to it1 that they lie under in respect to manual labor4 ,a man must dig up the thorns and thistles1 he must earn his bread in the sweat of his face1 or he must die4 ,physical wants1 hunger and thirst1 set men to work physically1 and keep them at it2 and thus they well understand what it is to have a weary body1 aching muscles1 and a tired physical nature4 ,but they are not under the same species of necessity1 in respect to the wants and the work of the soul4 ,a man may neglect these1 and yet live a long and luxurious life upon the earth4 ,he is not driven by the very force of circumstances1 to labor with his heart and will1 as he is to labor with his hands4 ,and hence he knows little or nothing of a weary and heavy-laden soul2 nothing of an aching heart and a tired will4 ,he well knows how much strain and effort it costs to cut down forests1 open roads1 and reduce the wilderness to a fertile field2 but he does not know how much toil and effort are involved1 in the attempt to convert the human soul into the garden of the ,lord4 ,now in this demand for a perpetual effort which is made upon the natural man1 by the sense of duty1 we see that the law which was ordained to life is found to be unto death4 ,the commandment1 instead of being a pleasant friend and companion to the human soul1 as it was in the beginning1 has become a strict rigorous task-master4 ,it lays out an uncongenial work for sinful man to do1 and threatens him with punishment and woe if he does not do it4 ,and yet the law is not a tyrant4 ,it is holy1 just1 and good4 ,this work which it lays out is righteous work1 and ought to be done4 ,the wicked disinclination and aversion of the sinner have compelled the law to assume this unwelcome and threatening attitude4 ,that which is good was not made death to man by ,god's agency1 and by a ,divine arrangement1 but by man's transgression4#b ,sin produces this misery in the human soul1 through an instrument that is innocent1 and in its own nature benevolent and kind4 ,apostasy1 the rebellion and corruption of the human heart1 has converted the law of ,god into an exacting task-master and an avenging magistrate4 ,for the law says to every man what ,st4 ,paul says of the magistrate3 ,rulers are not a terror to good works1 but to the evil4 ,wilt thou1 then1 not be afraid of the power8 ,do that which is good1 and thou shalt have praise of the same4 ,for he is the minister of ,god to thee for good3 but if thou do that which is evil1 be afraid4 ,if man were only conformed to the law2 if the inclination of his heart were only in harmony with his sense of duty2 the ten commandments would not be accompanied with any thunders or lightnings1 and the discharge of duty would be as easy1 spontaneous1 and as much without effort1 as the practice of sin now is4 ,thus have we considered two particulars in which the ,divine law1 originally intended to render man happy1 and intrinsically adapted to do so1 now renders him miserable4 ,the commandment which was ordained to life1 he now finds to be unto death1 because it places him under a continual restraint1 and drives him to a perpetual effort4 ,these two particulars1 we need not say1 are not all the modes in which sin has converted the moral law from a joy to a sorrow4 ,we have not discussed the great subject of guilt and penalty4 ,this violated law charges home the past disobedience and threatens an everlasting damnation1 and thus fills the sinful soul with fears and forebodings4 ,in this way1 also1 the law becomes a terrible organ and instrument of misery1 and is found to be unto death4 ,but the limits of this discourse compel us to stop the discussion here1 and to deduce some practical lessons which are suggested by it4 #a4 ,in the first place1 we are taught by the subject1 as thus considered1 that the mere sense of duty is not ,christianity4 ,if this is all that a man is possessed of1 he is not prepared for the day of judgment1 and the future life4 ,for the sense of duty1 alone and by itself1 causes misery in a soul that has not performed its duty4 ,the law worketh wrath1 in a creature who has not obeyed the law4 ,the man that doeth these things shall indeed live by them2 but he who has not done them must die by them4 ,there have been1 and still are1 great mistakes made at this point4 ,men have supposed that an active conscience1 and a lofty susceptibility towards right and wrong1 will fit them to appear before ,god1 and have1 therefore1 rejected ,christ the ,propitiation4 ,they have substituted ethics for the gospel2 natural religion for revealed4 ,i know1 says ,immanuel ,kant1 of but two beautiful things2 the starry heavens above my head1 and the sense of duty within my heart4#c ,but1 is the sense of duty beautiful to apostate man8 to a being who is not conformed to it8 ,does the holy law of ,god overarch him like the firmament1 tinged with a blue of heavenly dye1 and starred with sparkling gold8 ,nay1 nay4 ,if there be any beauty in the condemning law of ,god1 for man the transgressor1 it is the beauty of the lightnings4 ,there is a splendor in them1 but there is a terror also4 ,not until ,he who is the end of the law for righteousness has clothed me with ,his panoply1 and shielded me from their glittering shafts in the clefts of the ,rock1 do ,i dare to look at them1 as they leap from crag to crag1 and shine from the east even unto the west4 ,we do not deny that the consciousness of responsibility is a lofty one1 and are by no means insensible to the grand and swelling sentiments concerning the moral law1 and human duty1 to which this noble thinker gives utterance4#d ,but we are certain that if the sense of duty had pressed upon him to the degree that it did upon ,st4 ,paul2 had the commandment come to him with the convicting energy that it did to ,st4 ,augustine1 and to ,pascal2 he too would have discovered that the law which was ordained to life is found to be unto death4 ,so long as man stands at a distance from the moral law1 he can admire its glory and its beauty2 but when it comes close to him2 when it comes home to him2 when it becomes a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart2 then its glory is swallowed up in its terror1 and its beauty is lost in its truth4 ,then he who was alive without the law becomes slain by the law4 ,then this ethical admiration of the decalogue is exchanged for an evangelical trust in ,jesus ,christ4 #b4 ,and this leads us to remark1 in the second place1 that this subject shows the meaning of ,christ's work of ,redemption4 ,the law for an alienated and corrupt soul is a burden4 ,it cannot be otherwise2 for it imposes a perpetual restraint1 urges up to an unwelcome duty1 and charges home a fearful guilt4 ,christ is well named the ,redeemer1 because ,he frees the sinful soul from all this4 ,he delivers it from the penalty1 by assuming it all upon ,himself1 and making complete satisfaction to the broken law4 ,he delivers it from the perpetual restraint and the irksome effort1 by so renewing and changing the heart that it becomes a delight to keep the law4 ,we observed1 in the first part of the discourse1 that if man could only bring the inclination of his heart into agreement with his sense of duty1 he would be happy in obeying1 and the consciousness of restraint and of hateful effort would disappear4 ,this is precisely what ,christ accomplishes by ,his ,spirit4 ,he brings the human heart into harmony with the ,divine law1 as it was in the beginning1 and thus rescues it from its bondage and its toil4 ,obedience becomes a pleasure1 and the service of ,god1 the highest ,christian liberty4 ,oh1 would that by the act of faith1 you might experience this liberating effect of the redemption that is in ,christ ,jesus4 ,so long as you are out of ,christ1 you are under a burden that will every day grow heavier1 and may prove to be fixed and unremovable as the mountains4 ,that is a fearful punishment which the poet ,dante represents as being inflicted upon those who were guilty of pride4 ,the poor wretches are compelled to support enormous masses of stone which bend them over to the ground1 and1 in his own stern phrase1 crumple up their knees into their breasts4 ,thus they stand1 stooping over1 every muscle trembling1 the heavy stone weighing them down1 and yet they are not permitted to fall1 and rest themselves upon the earth4#e ,in this crouching posture1 they must carry the weary heavy load without relief1 and with a distress so great that1 in the poet's own language1 it seemed ,as he1 who showed most patience in his look1 ,wailing exclaimed3 ,i can endure no more4#f ,such is the posture of man unredeemed4 ,there is a burden on him1 under which he stoops and crouches4 ,it is a burden compounded of guilt and corruption4 ,it is lifted off by ,christ1 and by ,christ only4 ,the soul itself can never expiate its guilt2 can never cleanse its pollution4 ,we urge you1 once more1 to the act of faith in the ,redeemer of the world4 ,we beseech you1 once more1 to make the redemption that is in ,christ ,jesus your own4 ,the instant you plead the merit of ,christ's oblation1 in simple confidence in its atoning efficacy1 that instant the heavy burden is lifted off by an ,almighty hand1 and your curved1 stooping1 trembling1 aching form once more stands erect1 and you walk abroad in the liberty wherewith ,christ makes the human creature free4 ,footnote #a3 ,she in vice ,of luxury was so shameless1 that she made ,liking to be lawful by promulged decree1 ,to clear the blame she had herself incurr'd4 ,,dante3 ,inferno1 v4 #ef4 ,footnote #b3 ,romans vii4 #ac1 #ad4 ,footnote #c3 ,,kant3 ,kritik der ,praktischen ,vernunft 7,beschlusz74--,de ,stael's rendering1 which is so well known1 and which ,i have employed1 is less guarded than the original4 ,footnote #d3 ,compare the fine apostrophe to ,duty4 ,,praktische ,,vernunft1 p4 #bad1 7,ed4 ,rosenkranz47 ,footnote #e3 ,let their eyes be darkened1 that they may not see1 and bow down their back alway4 ,rom4 xi4 #aj4 ,footnote #f3 ,,dante3 ,purgatory x4 #abf-abh4 ,,the ,,sin ,,of ,,omission4 ,matthew xix4 #bj4--,the young man saith unto him1 ,all these things have ,i kept from my youth up3 what lack ,i yet8 ,the narrative from which the text is taken is familiar to all readers of the ,bible4 ,a wealthy young man1 of unblemished morals and amiable disposition1 came to our ,lord1 to inquire ,his opinion respecting his own good estate4 ,he asked what good thing he should do1 in order to inherit eternal life4 ,the fact that he applied to ,christ at all1 shows that he was not entirely at rest in his own mind4 ,he could truly say that he had kept the ten commandments from his youth up1 in an outward manner2 and yet he was ill at ease4 ,he was afraid that when the earthly life was over1 he might not be able to endure the judgment of ,god1 and might fail to enter into that happy paradise of which the ,old ,testament ,scriptures so often speak1 and of which he had so often read1 in them4 ,this young man1 though a moralist1 was not a self-satisfied or a self-conceited one4 ,for1 had he been like the ,pharisee a thoroughly blinded and self-righteous person1 like him he never would have approached ,jesus of ,nazareth1 to obtain ,his opinion respecting his own religious character and prospects4 ,like him1 he would have scorned to ask our ,lord's judgment upon any matters of religion4 ,like the ,pharisees1 he would have said1 ,we see1#a and the state of his heart and his future prospects would have given him no anxiety4 ,but he was not a conceited and presumptuous ,pharisee4 ,he was a serious and thoughtful person1 though not a pious and holy one4 ,for1 he did not love ,god more than he loved his worldly possessions4 ,he had not obeyed that first and great command1 upon which hang all the law and the prophets1 conformity to which1 alone1 constitutes righteousness3 ,thou shalt love the ,lord thy ,god with all thy heart1 and all thy soul1 and all thy mind1 and all thy strength4 ,he was not right at heart1 and was therefore unprepared for death and judgment4 ,this he seems to have had some dim apprehension of4 ,for why1 if he had felt that his external morality was a solid rock for his feet to stand upon1 why should he have betaken himself to ,jesus of ,nazareth1 to ask3 ,what lack ,i yet8 ,it was not what he had done1 but what he had left undone1 that wakened fears and forebodings in this young ruler's mind4 ,the outward observance of the ten commandments was right and well in its own way and place2 but the failure to obey1 from the heart1 the first and great command was the condemnation that rested upon him4 ,he probably knew this1 in some measure4 ,he was not confidently certain of eternal life2 and therefore he came to the ,great ,teacher1 hoping to elicit from ,him an answer that would quiet his conscience1 and allow him to repose upon his morality while he continued to love this world supremely4 ,the ,great ,teacher pierced him with an arrow4 ,he said to him1 ,if them wilt be perfect1 go and sell that thou hast1 and give to the poor1 and thou shalt have treasure in heaven3 and come and follow me4 ,this direction showed him what he lacked4 ,this incident leads us to consider the condemnation that rests upon every man1 for his failure in duty2 the guilt that cleaves to him1 on account of what he has not done4 ,the ,westminster ,catechism defines sin to be any want of conformity unto1 or any transgression of1 the law of ,god4 ,not to be conformed1 in the heart1 to the law and will of ,god1 is as truly sin1 as positively to steal1 or positively to commit murder4 ,failure to come up to the line of rectitude is as punishable1 as to step over that line4 ,god requires of ,his creature that he stand squarely upon the line of righteousness2 if therefore he is off that line1 because he has not come up to it1 he is as guilty as when he transgresses1 or passes across it1 upon the other side4 ,this is the reason that the sin of omission is as punishable as the sin of commission4 ,in either case alike1 the man is off the line of rectitude4 ,hence1 in the final day1 man will be condemned for what he lacks1 for what he comes short of1 in moral character4 ,want of conformity to the ,divine law as really conflicts with the ,divine law1 as an overt transgression does1 because it carries man off and away from it4 ,one of the ,greek words for sin ,greek3 7amurtanein7 signifies1 to miss the mark4 ,when the archer shoots at the target1 he as really fails to strike it1 if his arrow falls short of it1 as when he shoots over and beyond it4 ,if he strains upon the bow with such a feeble force1 that the arrow drops upon the ground long before it comes up to the mark1 his shot is as total a failure1 as when he strains upon the bow-string with all his force1 but owing to an ill-directed aim sends his weapon into the air4 ,one of the ,new ,testament terms for sin contains this figure and illustration1 in its etymology4 ,sin is a want of conformity unto1 a failure to come clear up to1 the line and mark prescribed by ,god1 as well a violent and forcible breaking over and beyond the line and the mark4 ,the lack of holy love1 the lack of holy fear1 the lack of filial trust and confidence in ,god1--the negative absence of these and other qualities in the heart is as truly sin and guilt1 as is the positive and open violation of a particular commandment1 in the act of theft1 or lying1 or ,sabbath-breaking4 ,we propose1 then1 to direct attention to that form and aspect of human depravity which consists in coming short of the aim and end presented to man by his ,maker1--that form and aspect of sin which is presented in the young ruler's inquiry3 ,what lack ,i yet8 ,it is a comprehensive answer to this question to say1 that every natural man lacks sincere and filial love of ,god4 ,this was the sin of the moral1 but worldly1 the amiable1 but earthly-minded1 young man4 ,endow him1 in your fancy1 with all the excellence you please1 it still lies upon the face of the narrative1 that he loved money more than he loved the ,lord ,god ,almighty4 ,when the ,son of ,god bade him go and sell his property1 and give it to the poor1 and then come and follow ,him as a docile disciple like ,peter and ,james and ,john1 he went away sad in his mind2 for he had great possessions4 ,this was a reasonable requirement1 though a very trying one4 ,to command a young man of wealth and standing immediately to strip himself of all his property1 to leave the circle in which he had been born and brought up1 and to follow the ,son of ,man1 who had not where to lay ,his head1 up and down through ,palestine1 through good report and through evil report1--to put such a burden upon such a young man was to lay him under a very heavy load4 ,looking at it from a merely human and worldly point of view1 it is not strange that the young ruler declined to take it upon his shoulders2 though he felt sad in declining1 because he had the misgiving that in declining he was sealing his doom4 ,but1 had he loved the ,lord ,god with all his heart2 had he been conformed unto the first and great command1 in his heart and affections2 had he not lacked a spiritual and filial affection towards his ,maker2 he would have obeyed4 ,for1 the circumstances under which this command was given must be borne in mind4 ,it issued directly from the lips of the ,son of ,god ,himself4 ,it was not an ordinary call of ,providence1 in the ordinary manner in which ,god summons man to duty4 ,there is reason to suppose that the young ruler knew and felt that ,christ had authority to give such directions4 ,we know not what were precisely his views of the person and office of ,jesus of ,nazareth2 but the fact that he came to ,him seeking instruction respecting the everlasting kingdom of ,god and the endless life of the soul1 and the yet further fact that he went away in sadness because he did not find it in his heart to obey the instructions that he had received1 prove that he was at least somewhat impressed with the ,divine authority of our ,lord4 ,for1 had he regarded ,him as a mere ordinary mortal1 knowing no more than any other man concerning the eternal kingdom of ,god1 why should ,his words have distressed him8 ,had this young ruler taken the view of our ,lord which was held by the ,scribes and ,pharisees1 like them he would never have sought instruction from ,him in a respectful and sincere manner2 and1 like them1 he would have replied to the command to strip himself of all his property1 leave the social circles to which he belonged1 and follow the despised ,nazarene1 with the curling lip of scorn4 ,he would not have gone away in sorrow1 but in contempt4 ,we must assume1 therefore1 that this young ruler felt that the person with whom he was conversing1 and who had given him this extraordinary command1 had authority to give it4 ,we do not gather from the narrative that he doubted upon this point4 ,had he doubted1 it would have relieved the sorrow with which his mind was disturbed4 ,he might have justified his refusal to obey1 by the consideration that this ,jesus of ,nazareth had no right to summon him1 or any other man1 to forsake the world and attach himself to ,his person and purposes1 if any such consideration had entered his mind4 ,no1 the sorrow1 the deep1 deep sorrow and sadness1 with which he went away to the beggarly elements of his houses and his lands1 proves that he knew too well that this wonderful ,being who was working miracles1 and speaking words of wisdom that never man spake1 had indeed authority and right to say to him1 and to every other man1 ,go and sell that thou hast1 and give to the poor1 and thou shalt have treasure in heaven3 and come and follow me4 ,though the command was indeed an extraordinary one1 it was given in an extraordinary manner1 by an extraordinary ,being4 ,that young ruler was not required to do any more than you and ,i would be obligated to do1 in the same circumstances4 ,it is indeed true1 that in the ordinary providence of ,god1 you and ,i are not summoned to sell all our possessions1 and distribute them to the poor1 and to go up and down the streets of this city1 or up and down the high-ways and by-ways of the land1 as missionaries of ,christ4 ,but if the call were extra-ordinary1--if the heavens should open above our heads1 and a voice from the skies should command us in a manner not to be doubted or disputed to do this particular thing1 we ought immediately to do it4 ,and if the love of ,god were in our hearts2 if we were inwardly conformed unto the ,divine law2 if there were nothing lacking in our religious character2 we should obey with the same directness and alacrity with which ,peter and ,andrew1 and ,james and ,john1 left their nets and their fishing-boat1 their earthly avocations1 their fathers and their fathers' households1 and followed ,christ to the end of their days4 ,in the present circumstances of the church and the world1 ,christians must follow the ordinary indications of ,divine ,providence2 and though these do unquestionably call upon them to make far greater sacrifices for the cause of ,christ than they now make1 yet they do not call upon them to sell all that they have1 and give it to the poor4 ,but they ought to be ready and willing to do so1 in case ,god by any remarkable and direct expression should indicate that this is ,his will and pleasure4 ,should our ,lord1 for illustration1 descend again1 and in ,his own person say to ,his people1 as ,he did to the young ruler3 ,sell all that ye have1 and give to the poor1 and go up and down the earth preaching the gospel1 it would be the duty of every rich ,christian to strip himself of all his riches1 and of every poor ,christian to make himself yet poorer1 and of the whole ,church to adopt the same course that was taken by the early ,christians1 who had all things common1 and sold their possessions and goods and parted them to all men1 as every man had need4 ,the direct and explicit command of the ,lord ,jesus ,christ to do any particular thing must be obeyed at all hazards1 and at all cost4 ,should ,he command any one of ,his disciples to lay down his life1 or to undergo a severe discipline and experience in ,his service1 ,he must be obeyed4 ,this is what ,he means when ,he says1 ,if any man come to me1 and hate not his father1 and mother1 and wife1 and children1 and brethren1 and sisters1 yea and his own life also1 he cannot be my disciple4 ,and whosoever doth not bear his cross1 and come after me1 cannot be my disciple 7,luke xiv4 #bf1 #bg74 ,the young ruler was subjected to this test4 ,it was his privilege1--and it was a great privilege1--to see the ,son of ,god face to face2 to hear ,his words of wisdom and authority2 to know without any doubt or ambiguity what particular thing ,god would have him do4 ,and he refused to do it4 ,he was moral2 he was amiable2 but he refused point-blank to obey the direct command of ,god addressed to him from the very lips of ,god4 ,it was with him as it would be with us1 if the sky should open over our heads1 and the ,son of ,god should descend1 and with ,his own lips should command us to perform a particular service1 and we should be disobedient to the heavenly vision1 and should say to the ,eternal ,son of ,god3 ,we will not4 ,think you that there is nothing lacking in such a character as this8 ,is this religious perfection8 ,is such a heart as this conformed unto the law and will of ,god8 ,if1 then1 we look into the character of the young ruler1 we perceive that there was in it no supreme affection for ,god4 ,on the contrary1 he loved himself with all his heart1 and soul1 and mind1 and strength4 ,even his religious anxiety1 which led him to our ,lord for ,his opinion concerning his good estate1 proved to be a merely selfish feeling4 ,he desired immortal felicity beyond the tomb1--and the most irreligious man upon earth desires this1--but he did not possess such an affection for ,god as inclined1 and enabled1 him to obey ,his explicit command to make a sacrifice of his worldly possessions for ,his glory4 ,and this lack of supreme love to ,god was sin4 ,it was a deviation from the line of eternal rectitude and righteousness1 as really and truly as murder1 adultery1 or theft1 or any outward breach of any of those commandments which he affirmed he had kept from his youth up4 ,this coming short of the ,divine honor and glory was as much contrary to the ,divine law1 as any overt transgression of it could be4 ,for love is the fulfilling of the law4 ,the whole law1 according to ,christ1 is summed up and contained1 in these words3 ,thou shall love the ,lord thy ,god with all thy heart1 and thy neighbor as thyself4 ,to be destitute of this heavenly affection is1 therefore1 to break the law at the very centre and in the very substance of it4 ,men tell us1 like this young ruler1 that they do not murder1 lie1 or steal1--that they observe all the commandments of the second table pertaining to man and their relations to man1--and ask1 ,what lack we yet8 ,alexander ,pope1 in the most brilliant and polished poetry yet composed by human art1 sums up the whole of human duty in the observance of the rules and requirements of civil morality1 and affirms that an honest man is the noblest work of ,god4 ,but is this so8 ,has religion reached its last term1 and ultimate limit1 when man respects the rights of property8 ,is a person who keeps his hands off the goods and chattels of his fellow-creature really qualified for the heavenly state1 by reason of this fact and virtue of honesty8 ,has he attained the chief end of man8#b ,even if we could suppose a perfect obedience of all the statutes of the second table1 while those of the first table were disobeyed2 even if one could fulfil all his obligations to his neighbor1 while failing in all his obligations to his ,maker2 even if we should concede a perfect morality1 without any religion2 would it be true that this morality1 or obedience of only one of the two tables that cover the whole field of human duty1 is sufficient to prepare man for the everlasting future1 and the immediate presence of ,god8 ,who has informed man that the first table of the law is of no consequence2 and that if he only loves his neighbor as himself1 he need not love his ,maker supremely8 ,no6 ,affection in the heart towards the great and glorious ,god is the sum and substance of religion1 and whoever is destitute of it is irreligious and sinful in the inmost spirit1 and in the highest degree4 ,his fault relates to the most excellent and worthy ,being in the universe4 ,he comes short of his duty1 in reference to that ,being who more than any other one is entitled to his love and his services4 ,we say1 and we say correctly1 that if a man fails of fulfilling his obligations towards those who have most claims upon him1 he is more culpable than when he fails of his duty towards those who have less claims upon him4 ,if a son comes short of his duty towards an affectionate and self-sacrificing mother1 we say it is a greater fault1 than if he comes short of his duty to a fellow-citizen4 ,the parent is nearer to him than the citizen1 and he owes unto her a warmer affection of his heart1 and a more active service of his life1 than he owes to his fellow-citizen4 ,what would be thought of that son who should excuse his neglect1 or ill-treatment1 of the mother that bore him1 upon the ground that he had never cheated a fellow-man and had been scrupulous in all his mercantile transactions6 ,this but feebly illustrates the relation which every man sustains to ,god1 and the claim which ,god has upon every man4 ,our first duty and obligation relates to our ,maker4 ,our fellow-creatures have claims upon us2 the dear partners of our blood have claims upon us2 our own personality1 with its infinite destiny for weal or woe1 has claims upon us4 ,but no one of these2 not all of them combined2 have upon us that first claim1 which ,god challenges for ,himself4 ,social life1--the state or the nation to which we belong1--cannot say to us3 ,thou shalt love me with all thy heart1 and soul1 and mind1 and strength4 ,the family1 which is bone of our bone1 and flesh of our flesh1 cannot say to us3 ,thou shalt love us1 with all thy soul1 mind1 heart1 and strength4 ,even our own deathless and priceless soul cannot say to us3 ,thou shalt love me supremely1 and before all other beings and things4 ,but the infinite and adorable ,god1 the ,being that made us1 and has redeemed us1 can of right demand that we love and honor ,him first of all1 and chiefest of all4 ,there are two thoughts suggested by the subject which we have been considering1 to which we now invite candid attention4 #a4 ,in the first place1 this subject convicts every man of sin4 ,our ,lord1 by his searching reply to the young ruler's question1 ,what lack ,i yet8 sent him away very sorrowful2 and what man1 in any age and country1 can apply the same test to himself1 without finding the same unwillingness to sell all that he has and give to the poor1--the same indisposition to obey any and every command of ,god that crosses his natural inclinations8 ,every natural man1 as he subjects his character to such a trial as that to which the young ruler was subjected1 will discover as he did that he lacks supreme love of ,god1 and like him1 if he has any moral earnestness2 if he feels at all the obligation of duty2 will go away very sorrowful1 because he perceives very plainly the conflict between his will and his conscience4 ,how many a person1 in the generations that have already gone to the judgment-seat of ,christ1 and in the generation that is now on the way thither1 has been at times brought face to face with the great and first command1 ,thou shall love the ,lord thy ,god with all thy heart1 and by some particular requirement has been made conscious of his utter opposition to that great law4 ,some special duty was urged upon him1 by the providence1 or the word1 or the ,spirit of ,god1 that could not be performed unless his will were subjected to ,god's will1 and unless his love for himself and the world were subordinated to his love of his ,maker4 ,if a young man1 perhaps he was commanded to consecrate his talents and education to a life of philanthropy and service of ,god in the gospel1 instead of a life devoted to secular and pecuniary aims4 ,god said to him1 by ,his providence1 and by conscience1 ,go teach my gospel to the perishing2 go preach my word1 to the dying and the lost4 ,but he loved worldly ease pleasure and reputation more than he loved ,god2 and he refused1 and went away sorrowful1 because this poor world looked very bright and alluring1 and the path of self-denial and duty looked very forbidding4 ,or1 if he was a man in middle life1 perhaps he was commanded to abate his interest in plans for the accumulation of wealth1 to contract his enterprises1 to give attention to the concerns of his soul and the souls of his children1 to make his own peace with ,god1 and to consecrate the remainder of his life to ,christ and to human welfare2 and when this plain and reasonable course of conduct was dictated to him1 he found his whole heart rising up against the proposition4 ,our ,lord1 alluding to the fact that there was nothing in common between ,his spirit1 and the spirit of ,satan1 said to ,his disciples1 ,the prince of this world cometh1 and hath nothing in me 7,john xiv4 #cj74 ,so1 when the command to love ,god supremely comes to this man of the world1 in any particular form1 it hath nothing in him4 ,this first and great law finds no ready and genial response within his heart1 but on the contrary a recoil within his soul as if some great monster had started up in his pathway4 ,he says1 in his mind1 to the proposition3 ,anything but that2 and1 with the young ruler1 he goes away sorrowful1 because he knows that refusal is perdition4 ,is there not a wonderful power to convict of sin1 in this test8 ,if you try yourself1 as the young man did1 by the command1 ,thou shalt not kill1 ,thou shalt not steal1 ,thou shalt not commit adultery1 you may succeed1 perhaps1 in quieting your conscience1 to some extent1 and in possessing yourself of the opinion of your fitness for the kingdom of ,god4 ,but ask yourself the question1 ,do ,i love ,god supremely1 and am ,i ready and willing to do any and every particular thing that ,he shall command me to do1 even if it is plucking out a right eye1 or cutting off a right hand1 or selling all my goods to give to the poor8 try yourself by this test1 and see if you lack anything in your moral character4 ,when this thorough and proper touch-stone of character is applied1 there is not found upon earth a just man that doeth good and sinneth not4 ,every human creature1 by this test is concluded under sin4 ,every man is found1 lacking in what he ought to possess1 when the words of the commandment are sounded in his ear3 ,thou shalt love the ,lord thy ,god with all thy heart1 and all thy soul1 and all thy mind1 and all thy strength4 ,this sum and substance of the ,divine law1 upon which hang all the other laws1 convinces every man of sin4 ,for there is no escaping its force4 ,love of ,god is a distinct and definite feeling1 and every person knows whether he ever experienced it4 ,every man knows whether it is1 or is not1 an affection of his heart2 and he knows that if it be wanting1 the foundation of religion is wanting in his soul1 and the sum and substance of sin is there4 #b4 ,and this leads to the second and concluding thought suggested1 by the subject1 namely1 that except a man be born again1 he cannot see the kingdom of ,god4 ,if there be any truth in the discussion through which we have passed1 it is plain and incontrovertible1 that to be destitute of holy love to ,god is a departure and deviation from the moral law4 ,it is a coming short of the great requirement that rests upon every accountable creature of ,god1 and this is as truly sin and guilt as any violent and open passing over and beyond the line of rectitude4 ,the sin of omission is as deep and damning as the sin of commission4 ,forgive1--said the dying archbishop ,usher1--forgive all my sins1 especially my sins of omission4 ,but1 how is this lack to be supplied8 ,how is this great hiatus in human character to be filled up8 ,how shall the fountain of holy and filial affection towards ,god be made to gush up into everlasting life1 within your now unloving and hostile heart8 ,there is no answer to this question of questions1 but in the ,person and ,work of the ,holy ,ghost4 ,if ,god shall shed abroad ,his love in your heart1 by the ,holy ,ghost which is given unto you1 you will know the blessedness of a new affection2 and will be able to say with ,peter1 ,thou knowest all things2 thou knowest that ,i love thee4 ,you are shut up to this method1 and this influence4 ,to generate within yourself this new spiritual emotion which you have never yet felt1 is utterly impossible4 ,yet you must get it1 or religion1 is impossible1 and immortal life is impossible4 ,would that you might feel your straits1 and your helplessness4 ,would that you might perceive your total lack of supreme love of ,god1 as the young ruler perceived his2 and would that1 unlike him1 instead1 of going away from the ,son of ,god1 you would go to ,him1 crying1 ,lord create within me a clean heart1 and renew within me a right spirit4 ,then the problem would be solved1 and having peace with ,god through the blood of ,christ1 the love of ,god would be shed abroad in your hearts1 through the ,holy ,ghost given unto you4 ,footnote #a3 ,john ix4 #da4 ,footnote #b3 ,even if we should widen the meaning of the word honest1 in the above-mentioned dictum of ,pope1 and make it include the ,latin honestum1 the same objection would lie against dictum4 ,honor and high-mindedness towards man is not love and reverence towards ,god4 ,the spirit of chivalry is not the spirit of ,christianity4 ,,the ,,sinfulness ,,of ,,original ,,sin4 ,,matthew xix4 #bj4--,the young man saith unto him1 ,all these things have ,i kept from my youth up3 what lack ,i yet8 ,in the preceding discourse from these words1 we discussed that form and aspect of sin which consists in coming short of the ,divine ,law2 or1 as the ,westminster ,creed states it1 in a want of conformity unto it4 ,the deep and fundamental sin of the young ruler1 we found1 lay in what he lacked4 ,when our ,lord tested him1 he proved to be utterly destitute of love to ,god4 ,his soul was a complete vacuum1 in reference to that great holy affection which fills the hearts of all the good beings before the throne of ,god1 and without which no creature can stand1 or will wish to stand1 in the ,divine presence4 ,the young ruler1 though outwardly moral and amiable1 when searched in the inward parts was found wanting in the sum and substance of religion4 ,he did not love ,god2 and he did love himself and his possessions4 ,what man has omitted to do1 what man is destitute of1--this is a species of sin which he does not sufficiently consider1 and which is weighing him down to perdition4 ,the unregenerate person when pressed to repent of his sins1 and believe on the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 often beats back the kind effort1 by a question like that which ,pilate put to the infuriated ,jews3 ,why1 what evil have ,i done8 ,it is the subject of his actual and overt transgressions that comes first into his thoughts1 and1 like the young ruler1 he tells his spiritual friend and adviser that he has kept all the commandments from his youth up4 ,the conviction of sin would be more common if the natural man would consider his failures2 if he would look into his heart and perceive what he is destitute of1 and into his conduct and see what he has left undone4 ,in pursuing this subject1 we propose to show1 still further1 the guiltiness of every man1 from the fact that he lacks the original righteousness that once belonged to him4 ,we shall endeavor to prove that every child of ,adam is under condemnation1 or1 in the words of ,christ1 that the wrath of ,god abides upon him 7,john iii4 #cf71 because he is not possessed of that pure and perfect character which1 his ,maker gave him in the beginning4 ,man is culpable for not continuing to stand upon the high and sinless position1 in which he was originally placed4 ,when the young ruler's question is put to the natural man1 and the inquiry is made as to his defects and deficiency1 it is invariably discovered that he lacks the image of ,god in which he was created4 ,and for a rational being to be destitute of the image of ,god is sin1 guilt1 and condemnation1 because every rational being has once received this image4 ,god has the right to demand from every one of his responsible creatures1 all that the creature might be1 had he retained possession of the endowments which he received at creation1 and had he employed them with fidelity4 ,the perfect gifts and capacities originally bestowed upon man1 and not the mutilated and damaged powers subsequently arising from a destructive act of self-will1 furnish the proper rule of measurement1 in estimating human merit or demerit4 ,the faculties of intelligence and will as unfallen1 and not as fallen1 determine the amount of holiness and of service that may be demanded1 upon principles of strict justice1 from every individual4 ,all that man comes short of this is so much sin1 guilt1 and condemnation4 ,when the great ,sovereign and ,judge looks down from ,his throne of righteousness and equity1 upon any one of the children of men1 ,he considers what that creature was by creation1 and compares his present character and conduct with the character with which he was originally endowed1 and the conduct that would naturally have flowed therefrom4 ,god made man holy and perfect4 ,god created man in his own image 7,gen4 i4 #bf71 endued with knowledge1 righteousness1 and true holiness1 having the law of ,god written in his heart1 and power to fulfil it4 ,this is the statement of the ,creed which we accept as a fair and accurate digest of the teachings of ,revelation1 respecting the primitive character of man1 and his original righteousness4 ,and all evangelical creeds1 however they may differ from each other in their definitions of original righteousness1 and their estimate of the perfections and powers granted to man by creation1 do yet agree that he stood higher when he came from the hand of ,god than he now stands2 that man's actual character and conduct do not come up to man's created power and capacities4 ,solemn and condemning as it is1 it is yet a fact1 that inasmuch as every man was originally made in the holy image of ,god1 he ought1 this very instant to be perfectly holy4 ,he ought to be standing upon a position that is as high above his actual position1 as the heavens are high above the earth4 ,he ought to be possessed of a moral perfection without spot or wrinkle1 or any such thing4 ,he ought to be as he was1 when created in righteousness and true holiness4 ,he ought to be dwelling high up on those lofty and glorious heights where he was stationed by the benevolent hand of his ,maker1 instead of wallowing in those low depths where he has fallen by an act of apostasy and rebellion4 ,nothing short of this satisfies the obligations that are resting upon him4 ,an imperfect holiness1 such as the ,christian is possessed of while here upon earth1 does not come up to the righteous requirement of the moral law2 and certainly that kind of moral character which belongs to the natural man is still farther off from the sum-total that is demanded4 ,let us press this truth1 that we may feel its convicting and condemning energy4 ,when our ,maker speaks to us upon the subject of ,his claims and our obligations1 ,he tells us that when we came forth from nonentity into existence1 from ,his hand1 we were well endowed1 and well furnished4 ,he tells us distinctly1 that ,he did not create us the depraved and sinful beings that we now are4 ,he tells us that these earthly affections1 this carnal mind1 this enmity towards the ,divine law1 this disinclination towards religion and spiritual concerns1 this absorbing love of the world and this supreme love of self1--that these were not implanted or infused into the soul by our wise1 holy1 and good ,creator4 ,this is not ,his work4 ,this is no part of the furniture with which mankind were set up for an everlasting existence4 ,god saw everything that he had made1 and behold it was very good4 7,gen4 i4 #ca74 ,we acknowledge the mystery that overhangs the union and connection of all men with the first man4 ,we know that this corruption of man's nature1 and this sinfulness of his heart1 does indeed1 appear at the very beginning of his individual life4 ,he is conceived in sin1 and shapen in iniquity 7,ps4 li4 #e74 ,this selfish disposition1 and this alienation of the heart from ,god1 is native depravity1 is inborn corruption4 ,this we know both from ,revelation1 and observation4 ,but we also know1 from the same infallible ,revelation1 that though man is born a sinner from the sinful ,adam1 he was created a saint in the holy ,adam4 ,by origin he is holy1 and by descent he is sinful2 because there has intervened1 between his creation and his birth1 that offence of one man whereby all men were made sinners 7,rom4 v4 #ah1 #ai74 ,though we cannot unravel the whole mystery of this subject1 yet if we accept the revealed fact1 and concede that ,god did originally make man in ,his own image1 in righteousness and true holiness1 and that man has since unmade himself1 by the act of apostasy and rebellion1#a--;if we take this as the true and correct statement of the facts in the case1 then we can see how and why it is1 that ,god has claims upon ,his creature1 man1 that extend to what this creature originally was and was capable of becoming1 and not merely to what he now is1 and is able to perform4 ,when1 therefore1 the young ruler's question1 ,what lack ,i8 is asked and answered upon a broad scale1 each and every man must say3 ,i lack original righteousness2 ,i lack the holiness with which ,god created man2 ,i lack that perfection of character which belonged to my rational and immortal nature coming fresh from the hand of ,god in the person of ,adam2 ,i lack all that ,i should now be possessed of1 had that nature not apostatized from its ,maker and its ,sovereign4 ,and when ,god forms ,his estimate of man's obligations2 when ,he lays judgment to the line1 and righteousness to the plummet2 ,he goes back to the beginning1 ,he goes back to creation1 and demands from ,his rational and immortal creature that perfect service which1 he was capable of rendering by creation1 but which now he is unable to render because of subsequent apostasy4 ,for1 ,god cannot adjust ,his demands to the alterations which sinful man makes in himself4 ,this would be to annihilate all demands and obligations4 ,a sliding-scale would be introduced1 by this method1 that would reduce human duty by degrees to a minimum1 where it would disappear4 ,for1 the more sinful a creature becomes1 the less inclined1 and consequently the less able does he become to obey the law of ,god4 ,if1 now1 the ,eternal ,judge shapes ,his requisitions in accordance with the shifting character of ,his creature1 and lowers ,his law down just as fast as the sinner enslaves himself to lust and sin1 it is plain that sooner or later all moral obligation will run out2 and whenever the creature becomes totally enslaved to self and flesh1 there will no longer be any claims resting upon him4 ,but this cannot be so4 ,for the kingdom of heaven1--says our ,lord1--is as a man travelling into a far country1 who called his own servants and delivered unto them his goods4 ,and unto one he gave five talents1 and to another two1 and to another one2 and straightway took his journey4 ,when the settlement was made4 ,each and every one of the parties was righteously summoned to account for all that had originally been intrusted to him1 and to show a faithful improvement of the same4 ,if any one of the servants had been found to have lacked a part1 or the whole1 of the original treasure1 because he had culpably lost it1 think you that the fact that it was now gone from his possession1 and was past recovery1 would have been accepted as a valid excuse from the original obligations imposed upon him8 ,in like manner1 the fact1 that man cannot reinstate himself in his original condition of holiness and blessedness1 from which he has fallen by apostasy1 will not suffice to justify him before ,god for being in a helpless state of sin and misery1 or to give him any claims upon ,god for deliverance from it4 ,god can and does pity him1 in his ruined and lost estate1 and if the creature will cast himself upon ,his mercy1 acknowledging the righteousness of the entire claims of ,god upon him for a sinless perfection and a perfect service1 he will meet and find mercy4 ,but if he takes the ground that he does not owe such an immense debt as this1 and that ,god has no right to demand from him1 in his apostate and helpless condition1 the same perfection of character and obedience which holy ,adam possessed and rendered1 and which the unfallen angels possess and render1 ,god will leave him to the workings of conscience1 and the operations of stark unmitigated law and justice4 ,the kingdom of heaven1--says our ,lord1--is likened unto a certain king which would take account of his servants4 ,and when he had begun to reckon1 one was brought unto him which owed him ten thousand talents2 but forasmuch as he had not to pay1 his lord commanded him to be sold1 and his wife1 and children1 and all that he had1 and payment to be made4 ,the servant therefore fell down1 and worshipped him1 saying1 ,lord1 have patience with me1 and ,i will pay thee all4 ,then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion1 and loosed him1 and forgave him the debt 7,matt1 xviii4 #bh-bg74 ,but suppose that that servant had disputed the claim1 and had put in an appeal to justice instead of an appeal to mercy1 upon the ground that inasmuch as he had lost his property and had nothing to pay with1 therefore he was not obligated to pay1 think you that the king would have conceded the equity of the claim8 ,on the contrary1 he would have entered into no argument in so plain a case1 but would have delivered him to the tormentors1 till he should pay all that was due unto him4 ,so likewise shall the heavenly ,father do also unto you1 and to every man1 who attempts to diminish the original claim of ,god to a perfect obedience and service1 by pleading the fall of man1 the corruption of human nature1 the strength of sinful inclination and affections1 and the power of earthly temptation4 ,all these are man's work1 and not that of the ,creator4 ,this helplessness and bondage grows directly out of the nature of sin4 ,whosoever committeth sin is the slave of sin4 ,know ye not1 that to whom ye yield yourselves slaves to obey1 his slaves ye are to whom ye obey2 whether of sin unto death1 or of obedience unto righteousness8 7,john viii4 #cd2 ,rom4 vi4 #af74 ,in view of the subject as thus discussed1 we invite attention to some practical conclusions that flow directly out of it4 ,for1 though we have been speaking upon one of the most difficult themes in ,christian theology1 namely man's creation in holiness and his loss of holiness by the apostasy in ,adam1 yet we have at the same time been speaking of one of the most humbling1 and practically profitable1 doctrines in the whole circle of revealed truth4 ,we never shall arrive at any profound sense of sin1 unless we know and feel our guilt and corruption by nature2 and we shall never arrive at any profound sense of our guilt and corruption by nature1 unless we know and understand the original righteousness and innocence in which we were first created4 ,we can measure the great depth of the abyss into which1 we have fallen1 only by looking up to those great heights in the garden of ,eden1 upon which our nature once stood beautiful and glorious1 the very image and likeness of our ,creator4 #a4 ,we remark then1 in the first place1 that it is the duty of every man to humble himself on account of his lack of original righteousness1 and to repent of it as sin before ,god4 ,one of the articles of the ,presbyterian ,confession of ,faith reads thus3 ,every sin1 both original and actual1 being a transgression of the righteous law of ,god1 and contrary thereunto1 doth1 in its own nature1 bring guilt upon the sinner1 whereby he is bound over to the wrath of ,god1 and curse of the law1 and so made subject to death1 with all miseries spiritual1 temporal1 and eternal4#b ,the ,creed which we accept summons us to repent of original as well as actual sin2 and it defines original sin to be the want of original righteousness1 together with the corruption of the whole nature4 ,the want of original righteousness1 then1 is a ground of condemnation1 and therefore a reason for shame1 and godly sorrow4 ,it is something which man once had1 ought still to have1 but now lacks2 and therefore is ill-deserving1 for the very same reason that the young ruler's lack of supreme love to ,god was ill-deserving4 ,if we acknowledge the validity of the distinction between a sin of omission and a sin of commission1 and concede that each alike is culpable1#c we shall find no difficulty with this demand of the ,creed4 ,why should not you and ,i mourn over the total want of the image of ,god in our hearts1 as much as over any other form and species of sin8 ,this image of ,god consists in holy reverence4 ,when we look into our hearts1 and find no holy reverence there1 ought we not to be filled with shame and sorrow8 ,this image of ,god consists in filial and supreme affection for ,god1 such as the young ruler lacked2 and when we look into our hearts1 and find not a particle of supreme love to ,god in them1 ought we not to repent of this original1 this deep-seated1 this innate depravity8 ,this image of ,god1 again1 which was lost in our apostasy1 consisted in humble constant trust in ,god2 and when we search our souls1 and perceive that there is nothing of this spirit in them1 but on the contrary a strong and overmastering disposition to trust in ourselves1 and to distrust our ,maker1 ought not this discovery to waken in us the very same feeling that ,isaiah gave expression to1 when he said that the whole head is sick1 and the whole heart is faint2 the very same feeling that ,david gave expression to1 when he cried3 ,behold ,i was shapen in iniquity1 and in sin did my mother conceive me8 ,this is to repent of original sin1 and there is no mystery or absurdity about it4 ,it is to turn the eye inward1 and see what is lacking in our heart and affections2 and not merely what of outward and actual transgressions we have committed4 ,those whose idea of moral excellence is like that of the young ruler2 those who suppose holiness to consist merely in the outward observance of the commandments of the second table2 those who do not look into the depths of their nature1 and contrast the total corruption that is there1 with the perfect and positive righteousness that ought to be there1 and that was there by creation1--all such will find the call of the ,creed to repent of original sin as well as of actual1 a perplexity and an impossibility4 ,but every man who knows that the substance of piety consists in positive and holy affections1--in holy reverence1 love and trust1--and who discovers that these are wanting in him by nature1 though belonging to him by creation1 will mourn in deep contrition and self-abasement over that act of apostasy by which this great change in human character1 this great lack was brought about4 #b4 ,in the second place1 it follows from the subject we have discussed1 that every man must1 by some method1 recover his original righteousness1 or be ruined forever4 ,without holiness no man shall see the ,lord4 ,no rational creature is fit to appear in the presence of his ,maker1 unless he is as pure and perfect as he was originally made4 ,holy ,adam was prepared by his creation in the image of ,god1 to hold blessed communion with ,god1 and if he and his posterity had never lost this image1 they would forever be in fellowship with their ,creator and ,sovereign4 ,holiness1 and holiness alone1 enables the creature to stand with angelic tranquillity1 in the presence of ,him before whom the heavens and the earth flee away4 ,the loss of original righteousness1 therefore1 was the loss of the wedding garment2 it was the loss of the only robe in which the creature could appear at the banquet of ,god4 ,suppose that one of the posterity of sinful ,adam1 destitute of holy love reverence and faith1 lacking positive and perfect righteousness1 should be introduced into the seventh heavens1 and there behold the infinite ,jehovah4 ,would he not feel1 with a misery and a shame that could not be expressed1 that he was naked8 that he was utterly unfit to appear in such a ,presence8 ,no wonder that our first parents1 after their apostasy1 felt that they were unclothed4 ,they were indeed stripped of their character1 and had not a rag of righteousness to cover them4 ,no wonder that they hid themselves from the intolerable purity and brightness of the ,most ,high4 ,previously1 they had felt no such emotion4 ,they were not ashamed1 we are told4 ,and the reason lay in the fact that1 before their apostasy1 they were precisely as they were made4 ,they were endowed with the image of ,god2 and their original righteousness and perfect holiness qualified them to stand before their ,maker1 and to hold blessed intercourse with ,him4 ,but the instant they lost their created endowment of holiness1 they were conscious that they lacked that indispensable something wherewith to appear before ,god4 ,and precisely so is it1 with their posterity4 ,whatever a man's theory of the future life may be1 he must be insane1 if he supposes that he is fit to appear before ,god1 and to enter the society of heaven1 if destitute of holiness1 and wanting the ,divine image4 ,when the spirit of man returns to ,god who gave it1 it must return as good as it came from ,his hands1 or it will be banished from the ,divine presence4 ,every human soul1 when it goes back to its ,maker1 must carry with it a righteousness1 to say the very least1 equal to that in which it was originally created1 or it will be cast out as an unprofitable and wicked servant4 ,all the talents entrusted must be returned2 and returned with usury4 ,a modern philosopher and poet represents the suicide as justifying the taking of his own life1 upon the ground that he was not asked in the beginning1 whether he wanted life4 ,he had no choice whether he would come into existence or not2 existence was forced upon him2 and therefore he had a right to put an end to it1 if he so pleased4 ,to this1 the reply is made1 that he ought to return his powers and faculties to the ,creator in as good condition as he received them2 that he had no right to mutilate and spoil them by abuse1 and then fling the miserable relics of what was originally a noble creation1 in the face of the ,creator4 ,in answer to the suicide's proposition to give back his spirit to ,god who gave it1 the poet represents ,god as saying to him3 ,is't returned as 'twas sent8 ,is't no worse for the wear8 ,think first what you are6 ,call to mind what you were6 ,i gave you innocence1 ,i gave you hope1 ,gave health1 and genius1 and an ample scope4 ,return you me guilt1 lethargy1 despair8 ,make out the invent'ry2 inspect1 compare6 ,then die1--if die you dare6#d ,yes1 this is true and solemn reasoning4 ,you and ,i1 and every man1 must by some method1 or other1 go back to ,god as good as we came forth from ,him4 ,we must regain our original righteousness2 we must be reinstated in our primal relation to ,god1 and our created condition2 or there is nothing in store for us1 but the blackness of darkness4 ,we certainly cannot stand in the judgment clothed with original sin1 instead of original righteousness2 full of carnal and selfish affections1 instead of pure and heavenly affections4 ,this great lack1 this great vacuum1 in our character1 must by some method be filled up with solid1 and everlasting excellencies1 or the same finger that wrote1 in letters of fire1 upon the wall of the ,babylonian monarch1 the awful legend3 ,thou art weighed in the balance1 and art found wanting1 will write it in letters of fire upon our own rational spirit4 ,there is but one method1 by which man's original righteousness and innocency can be regained2 and this method you well know4 ,the blood of ,jesus ,christ sprinkled by the ,holy ,ghost1 upon your guilty conscience1 reinstates you in innocency4 ,when that is applied1 there is no more guilt upon you1 than there was upon ,adam the instant he came from the creative hand4 ,there is no condemnation to them that are in ,christ ,jesus4 ,who is he that condemneth1 when it is ,christ that died1 and ,god that justifies8 ,and when the same ,holy ,spirit enters your soul with renewing power1 and carries forward ,his work of sanctification to its final completion1 your original righteousness returns again1 and you are again clothed in that spotless robe with which your nature was invested1 on that sixth day of creation1 when the ,lord ,god said1 ,let us make man in our image1 and after our likeness4 ,ponder these truths1 and what is yet more imperative1 act upon them4 ,remember that you must1 by some method1 become a perfect creature1 in order to become a blessed creature in heaven4 ,without holiness you cannot see the ,lord4 ,you must recover the character which you have lost1 and the peace with ,god in which you were created4 ,your spirit1 when it returns to ,god1 must by some method be made equal to what it was when it came forth from ,him4 ,and there is no method1 but the method of redemption by the blood and righteousness of ,christ4 ,men are running to and fro after other methods4 ,the memories of a golden age1 a better humanity than they now know of1 haunt them2 and they sigh for the elysium that is gone4 ,one sends you to letters1 and culture1 for your redemption4 ,another tells you that morality1 or philosophy1 will lift you again to those paradisaical heights that tower high above your straining vision4 ,but miserable comforters are they all4 ,no golden age returns2 no peace with ,god or self is the result of such instrumentality4 ,the conscience is still perturbed1 the forebodings still overhang the soul like a black cloud1 and the heart is as throbbing and restless as ever4 ,with resoluteness1 then1 turn away from these inadequate1 these feeble methods1 and adopt the method of ,god ,almighty4 ,turn away with contempt from human culture1 and finite forces1 as the instrumentality for the redemption of the soul which is precious1 and which ceaseth forever if it is unredeemed4 ,go with confidence1 and courage1 and a rational faith1 to ,god ,almighty1 to ,god the ,redeemer4 ,he hath power4 ,he is no feeble and finite creature4 ,he waves a mighty weapon1 and sweats great drops of blood2 travelling in the greatness of ,his strength4 ,hear ,his words of calm confidence and power3 ,come unto me1 all ye that labor and are heavy-laden1 and ,i will give you rest4 ,footnote #a3 ,the ,augustinian doctrine1 that the entire human species was created on the sixth day1 existed as a nature 7not as individuals7 in the first human pair1 acted in and fell with them in the first transgression1 and us thus fallen and vitiated by an act of self-will has been procreated or individualized1 permits the theologian1 to say that all men are equally concerned in the origin of sin1 and to charge the guilt of its origin upon all alike4 ,footnote #b3 ,,confession ,,of ,,faith4 ,,vi4 vi4 ,footnote #c3 ,one of the points of difference between the ,protestant and the ,papist1 when the dogmatic position of each was taken1 related to the guilt of original sin1--the former affirming1 and the latter denying4 ,it is also one of the points of difference between ,calvinism and ,arminianism4 ,footnote #d3 ,coleridge2 ,works1 ,,vii4 #bie4 ,,the ,,approbation ,,of ,,goodness ,,is ,,not ,,the ,,love ,,of ,,it4 ,,romans ii4 #ba--bc4--,thou therefore which1 teachest another1 teachest ,thou not thyself8 thou that preachest a man should not steal1 dost thou steal8 thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery1 dost thou commit adultery8 thou that abhorrest idols1 dost thou commit sacrilege8 thou that makest thy boast of the law1 through1 breaking the law dishonorest thou ,god8 ,the apostle ,paul is a very keen and cogent reasoner4 ,like a powerful logician who is confident that he has the truth upon his side1 and like a pureminded man who has no sinister ends to gain1 he often takes his stand upon the same ground with his opponent1 adopts his positions1 and condemns him out of his own mouth4 ,in the passage from which the text is taken1 he brings the ,jew in guilty before ,god1 by employing the ,jew's own claims and statements4 ,behold thou art called a ,jew1 and restest in the law1 and makest thy boast of ,god1 and knowest his will1 and approvest the things that are more excellent1 and art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind1 a light of them which are in darkness1 an instructor of the foolish4 ,thou therefore which teachest another1 teachest thou not thyself8 thou that preachest that a man should not steal1 dost thou steal8 thou that makest thy boast of the law1 through breaking the law dishonorest thou ,god8 ,as if he had said3 ,you claim to be one of ,god's chosen people1 to possess a true knowledge of ,him and ,his law2 why do you not act up to this knowledge8 why do you not by your character and conduct prove the claim to be a valid one8 ,the apostle had already employed this same species of argument against the ,gentile world4 ,in the first chapter of this ,epistle to the ,romans1 ,st4 ,paul demonstrates that the pagan world is justly condemned by ,god1 because1 they too1 like the ,jew1 knew more than they practised4 ,he affirms that the ,greek and ,roman world1 like the ,jewish people1 when they knew ,god1 glorified him not as ,god1 neither were thankful2 that as they did not like to retain ,god in their knowledge1 ,god gave them over to a reprobate mind2 and that knowing the judgment of ,god1 that they which commit such things as he had just enumerated in that awful catalogue of pagan vices are worthy of death1 not only do the same1 but have pleasure in them that do them4 ,the apostle does not for an instant concede1 that the ,gentile can put in the plea that he was so entirely ignorant of the character and law of ,god1 that he ought to be excused from the obligation to love and obey ,him4 ,he expressly affirms that where there is absolutely no law1 and no knowledge of law1 there can be no transgression2 and yet affirms that in the day of judgment every mouth must be stopped1 and the whole world must plead guilty before ,god4 ,it is indeed true1 that he teaches that there is a difference in the degrees of knowledge which the ,jew and the ,gentile respectively possess4 ,the light of revealed religion1 in respect to man's duty and obligations1 is far clearer than the light of nature1 and increases the responsibilities of those who enjoy it1 and the condemnation of those who abuse it2 but the light of nature is clear and true as far as it goes1 and is enough to condemn every soul outside of the pale of ,revelation4 ,for1 in the day of judgment1 there will not be a single human creature who can look his ,judge in the eye1 and say3 ,i acted up to every particle of moral light that ,i enjoyed2 ,i never thought a thought1 felt a feeling1 or did a deed1 for which my conscience reproached me4 ,it follows from this1 that the language of the apostle1 in the text1 may be applied to every man4 ,the argument that has force for the ,jew has force for the ,gentile4 ,thou that teachest another1 teachest thou not thyself8 thou that preachest that a man should not steal1 dost thou steal8 ,you who know the character and claims of ,god1 and are able to state them to another1 why do you not revere and obey them in your own person8 ,you who approve of the law of ,god as pure and perfect1 why do you not conform your own heart and conduct to it8 ,you who perceive the excellence of piety in another1 you who praise and admire moral excellence in your fellow-man1 why do you not seek after it1 and toil after it in your own heart8 ,in paying this tribute of approbation to the character of a ,god whom you do not yourself love and serve1 and to a piety in your neighbor which you do not yourself possess and cultivate1 are you not writing down your own condemnation8 ,how can you stand before the judgment-seat of ,god1 after having in this manner confessed through your whole life upon earth that ,god is good1 and ,his law is perfect1 and yet through that whole life have gone counter to your own confession1 neither loving that ,god1 nor obeying that law8 ,to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not1 to him it is sin4 7,james iv4 #ag47 ,the text then1 together with the chains of reasoning that are connected with it1 leads us to consider the fact1 that a man may admire and praise moral excellence without possessing or practising it himself2 that the approbation of goodness is not the same as the love of it4#a ,i4 ,this is proved1 in the first place1 from the testimony of both ,god and man4 ,the assertions and reasonings of the apostle ,paul have already been alluded to1 and there are many other passages of ,scripture which plainly imply that men may admire and approve of a virtue which they do not practise4 ,indeed1 the language of our ,lord respecting the ,scribes and ,pharisees1 may be applied to disobedient mankind at large3 ,whatsoever they bid you observe1 that observe and do2 but do ye not after their works3 for they say1 and do not4 7,matt1 xxiii4 #c47 ,the testimony of man is equally explicit4 ,that is a very remarkable witness which the poet ,ovid bears to this truth4 ,i see the right1--he says1--and approve of it1 but ,i follow and practise the wrong4 ,this is the testimony of a profligate man of pleasure1 in whom the light of nature had been greatly dimmed in the darkness of sin and lust4 ,but he had not succeeded in annihilating his conscience1 and hence1 in a sober hour1 he left upon record his own damnation4 ,he expressly informed the whole cultivated classical world1 who were to read his polished numbers1 that he that had taught others had not taught himself2 that he who had said that a man should not commit adultery had himself committed adultery2 that an educated ,roman who never saw the volume of inspiration1 and never heard of either ,moses or ,christ1 nevertheless approved of and praised a virtue that he never put in practice4 ,and whoever will turn to the pages of ,horace1 a kindred spirit to ,ovid both in respect to a most exquisite taste and a most refined earthliness1 will frequently find the same confession breaking out4 ,nay1 open the volumes of ,rousseau1 and even of ,voltaire1 and read their panegyrics of virtue1 their eulogies of goodness4 ,what are these1 but testimonies that they1 too1 saw the right and did the wrong4 ,it is true1 that the eulogy is merely sentimentalism1 and is very different from the sincere and noble tribute which a good man renders to goodness4 ,still1 it is valid testimony to the truth that the mere approbation of goodness is not the love of it4 ,it is true1 that these panegyrics of virtue1 when read in the light of ,rousseau's sensuality and ,voltaire's malignity1 wear a dead and livid hue1 like objects seen in the illumination from phosphorus or rotten wood2 yet1 nevertheless1 they are visible and readable1 and testify as distinctly as if they issued from elevated and noble natures1 that the teachings of man's conscience are not obeyed by man's heart1--that a man may praise and admire virtue1 while he loves and practises vice4 ,,ii4 ,a second proof that the approbation of goodness is not the love of it is found in the fact1 that it is impossible not to approve of goodness1 while it is possible not to love it4 ,the structure of man's conscience is such1 that he can commend only the right2 but the nature of his will is such1 that he may be conformed to the right or the wrong4 ,the conscience can give only one judgment2 but the heart and will are capable of two kinds of affection1 and two courses of action4 ,every rational creature is shut up1 by his moral sense1 to but one moral conviction4 ,he must approve the right and condemn the wrong4 ,he cannot approve the wrong and condemn the right2 any more than he can perceive that two and two make five4 ,the human conscience is a rigid and stationary faculty4 ,its voice may be stifled or drowned1 for a time2 but it can never be made to titter two discordant voices4 ,it is for this reason1 that the approbation of goodness is necessary and universal4 ,wicked men and wicked angels must testify that benevolence is right1 and malevolence is wrong2 though they hate the former1 and love the latter4 ,but it is not so with the human will4 ,this is not a rigid and stationary faculty4 ,it is capable of turning this way1 and that way4 ,it was created holy1 and it turned from holiness to sin1 in ,adam's apostasy4 ,and now1 under the operation of the ,divine ,spirit1 it turns back again1 it converts from sin to holiness4 ,the will of man is thus capable of two courses of action1 while his conscience is capable of only one judgment2 and hence he can see and approve the right1 yet love and practise the wrong4 ,if a man's conscience changed along with his heart and his will1 so that when he began to love and practise sin1 he at the same time began to approve of sin1 the case would be different4 ,if1 when ,adam apostatised from ,god1 his conscience at that moment began to take sides with his sin1 instead of condemning it1 then1 indeed1 neither ,ovid1 nor ,horace1 nor ,rousseau1 nor any other one of ,adam's posterity1 would have been able to say3 ,i see the right and approve of it1 while ,i follow the wrong4 ,but it was not so4 ,after apostasy1 the conscience of ,adam passed the same judgment upon sin that it did before4 ,adam heard its terrible voice speaking in concert with the voice of ,god1 and hid himself4 ,he never succeeded in bringing his conscience over to the side of his heart and will1 and neither has any one of his posterity4 ,it is impossible to do this4 ,satan himself1 after millenniums of sin1 still finds that his conscience1 that the accusing and condemning law written on the heart1 is too strong for him to alter1 too rigid for him to bend4 ,the utmost that either he1 or any creature1 can do1 is to drown its verdict for a time in other sounds1 only to hear the thunder-tones again1 waxing longer and louder like the trumpet of ,sinai4 ,having thus briefly shown that the approbation of goodness is not the love of it1 we proceed to draw some conclusions from the truth4 #a4 ,in the first place1 it follows from this subject1 that the mere workings of conscience are no proof of holiness4 ,when1 after the commission of a wrong act1 the soul of a man is filled with self-reproach1 he must not take it for granted that this is the stirring of a better nature within him1 and is indicative of some remains of original righteousness4 ,this reaction of conscience against his disobedience of law is as necessary1 and unavoidable1 as the action of his eyelids under the blaze of noon1 and is worthy neither of praise nor blame1 so far as he is concerned4 ,it does not imply any love for holiness1 or any hatred of sin4 ,nay1 it may exist without any sorrow for sin1 as in the instance of the hardened transgressor who writhes under its awful power1 but never sheds a penitential tear1 or sends up a sigh for mercy4 ,the distinction between the human conscience1 and the human heart1 is as wide as between the human intellect1 and the human heart4#b ,we never think of confounding the functions and operations of the understanding with those of the heart4 ,we know that an idea or a conception1 is totally different from an emotion1 or a feeling4 ,how often do we remark1 that a man may have an intellectual perception1 without any correspondent experience or feeling in his heart4 ,how continually does the preacher urge his hearers to bring their hearts into harmony with their understandings1 so that their intellectual orthodoxy may become their practical piety4 ,now1 all this is true of the distinction between the conscience and the heart4 ,the conscience is an intellectual faculty1 and by that better elder philosophy which comprehended all the powers of the soul under the two general divisions of understanding and will1 would be placed in the domain of the understanding4 ,conscience is a light1 as we so often call it4 ,it is not a life2 it is not a source of life4 ,no man's heart and will can be renewed or changed by his conscience4 ,conscience is simply a law4 ,conscience is merely legislative2 it is never executive4 ,it simply says to the heart and will3 ,do thus1 feel thus1 but it gives no assistance1 and imparts no inclination to obey its own command4 ,those1 therefore1 commit a grave error both in philosophy and religion1 who confound the conscience with the heart1 and suppose that because there is in every man self-reproach and remorse after the commission of sin1 therefore there is the germ of holiness within him4 ,holiness is love1 the positive affection of the heart4 ,it is a matter of the heart and the will4 ,but this remorse is purely an affair of the conscience1 and the heart has no connection with it4 ,nay1 it appears in its most intense form1 in those beings whose feelings emotions and determinations are in utmost opposition to ,god and goodness4 ,the purest remorse in the universe is to be found in those wretched beings whose emotional and active powers1 whose heart and will1 are in the most bitter hostility to truth and righteousness4 ,how1 then1 can the mere reproaches and remorse of conscience be regarded as evidence of piety8 #b4 ,but1 we may go a step further than this1 though in the same general direction1 and remark1 in the second place1 that elevated moral sentiments are no certain proof of piety toward ,god and man4 ,these1 too1 like remorse of conscience1 spring out of the intellectual structure1 and may exist without any affectionate love of ,god in the heart4 ,there is a species of nobleness and beauty in moral excellence that makes an involuntary and unavoidable impression4 ,when the ,christian martyr seals his devotion to ,god and truth with his blood2 when a meek and lowly disciple of ,christ clothes his life of poverty1 and self-denial1 with a daily beauty greater than that of the lilies or of ,solomon's array2 when the poor widow with feeble and trembling steps comes up to the treasury of the ,lord1 and casts in all her living2 when any pure and spiritual act is performed out of solemn and holy love of ,god and man1 it is impossible not to be filled with sentiments of admiration1 and oftentimes1 with an enthusiastic glow of soul4 ,we see this in the impression which the character of ,christ universally makes4 ,there are multitudes of men1 to whom that wonderful sinless life shines aloft like a star4 ,but they do not imitate it4 ,they admire it1 but they do not love it4#c ,the spiritual purity and perfection of the ,son of ,god rays out a beauty which really attracts their cultivated minds1 and their refined taste2 but when ,he says to them3 ,take my yoke upon you1 and learn of me1 for ,i am meek and lowly of heart2 take up thy cross daily and follow me2 they turn away sorrowful1 like the rich young man in the ,gospel1--sorrowful1 because their sentiments like his are elevated1 and they have a certain awe of eternal things1 and know that religion is the highest concern2 and sorrowful1 because their hearts and wills are still earthly1 there is no divine love in their souls1 self is still their centre1 and the self-renunciation that is required of them is repulsive4 ,religion is submission1--absolute submission to ,god1--and no amount of mere admiration of religion can be a substitute for it4 ,as a thoughtful observer looks abroad over society1 he sees a very interesting class who are not far from the kingdom of ,god2 who1 nevertheless1 are not within that kingdom1 and who1 therefore1 if they remain where they are1 are as certainly lost as if they were at an infinite distance from the kingdom4 ,the homely proverb applies to them3 ,a miss is as good as a mile4 ,they are those who suppose that elevated moral sentiments1 an aesthetic pleasure in noble acts or noble truths1 a glow and enthusiasm of the soul at the sight or the recital of examples of ,christian virtue and ,christian grace1 a disgust at the gross and repulsive forms and aspects of sin1--that such merely intellectual and aesthetic experiences as these are piety itself4 ,all these may be in the soul1 without any godly sorrow over sin1 any cordial trust in ,christ's blood1 any self-abasement before ,god1 any daily conflict with indwelling corruption1 any daily cross-bearing and toil for ,christ's dear sake4 ,these latter1 constitute the essence of the ,christian experience1 and without them that whole range of elevated sentiments and amiable qualities1 to which we have alluded1 only ministers to the condemnation instead of the salvation of the soul4 ,for1 the question of the text comes home with solemn force1 to all such persons4 ,thou that makest thy boast of the law1 through breaking of the law1 dishonorest thou ,god8 ,if the beauty of virtue1 and the grandeur of truth1 and the sublimity of invisible things1 have been able to make such an impression upon your intellects1 and your tastes1--upon that part of your constitution which is fixed and stationary1 which responds organically to such objects1 and which is not the seat of moral character1--then why is there not a corresponding influence and impression made by them upon your heart8 ,if you can admire and praise them1 in this style1 why do you not love them8 ,why is it1 that when the character of ,christ bows your intellect1 it does not bend your will1 and sway your affections8 ,must there not be an inveterate opposition and resistance in the heart8 in the heart which can refuse submission to such high claims1 when so distinctly seen8 in the heart which can refuse to take the yoke1 and learn of a ,teacher who has already made such an impression upon the conscience and the understanding8 ,the human heart is1 as the prophet affirms1 desperately wicked1 desperately selfish4 ,and perhaps its self-love is never more plainly seen1 than in such instances as those of that moral and cultivated young man mentioned in the ,gospel1 and that class in modern society who correspond to him4 ,nowhere is the difference between the approbation of goodness1 and the love of it1 more apparent4 ,in these instances the approbation is of a high order4 ,it is refined and sublimated by culture and taste4 ,it is not stained by the temptations of low life1 and gross sin4 ,if there ever could be a case1 in which the intellectual approbation of goodness would develop and pass over into the affectionate and hearty love of it1 we should expect to find it here4 ,but it is not found4 ,the young man goes away1--sorrowful indeed1--but he goes away from the ,redeemer of the world1 never to return4 ,the amiable1 the educated1 the refined1 pass on from year to year1 and1 so far as the evangelic sorrow1 and the evangelic faith are concerned1 like the dying ,beaufort depart to judgment making no sign4 ,we hear their praises of ,christian men1 and ,christian graces1 and ,christian actions2 we enjoy the grand and swelling sentiments with which1 perhaps1 they enrich the common literature of the world2 but we never hear them cry3 ,god be merciful to me a sinner2 ,o ,lamb of ,god1 that takest away the sin of the world1 grant me thy peace2 ,thou1 ,o ,god1 art the strength of my heart1 and my portion forever4 #c4 ,in the third place1 it follows from this subject1 that in order to holiness in man there must be a change in his heart and will4 ,if our analysis is correct1 no possible modification of either his conscience1 or his intellect1 would produce holiness4 ,holiness is an affection of the heart1 and an inclination of the will4 ,it is the love and practice of goodness1 and not the mere approbation and admiration of it4 ,now1 suppose that the conscience should be stimulated to the utmost1 and remorse should be produced until it filled the soul to overflowing1 would there be in this any of that gentle and blessed affection for ,god and goodness1 that heartfelt love of them1 which is the essence of religion8 ,or1 suppose that the intellect merely were impressed by the truth1 and very clear perceptions of the ,christian system and of the character and claims of its ,author were imparted1 would the result be any different8 ,if the heart and will were unaffected2 if the influences and impressions were limited merely to the conscience and the understanding2 would not the seat of the difficulty still be untouched8 ,the command is not3 ,give me thy conscience1 but1 ,give me thy heart4 ,hence1 that regeneration of which our ,lord speaks in his discourse with ,nicodemus is not a radical change of the conscience1 but of the will and affections4 ,we have already seen that the conscience cannot undergo a radical change4 ,it can never be made to approve what it once condemned1 and to condemn what it once approved4 ,it is the stationary legislative faculty1 and is1 of necessity1 always upon the side of law and of ,god4 ,hence1 the apostle ,paul sought to commend the truth which he preached1 to every man's conscience1 knowing that every man's conscience was with him4 ,the conscience1 therefore1 does not need to be converted1 that is to say1 made opposite to what it is4 ,it is indeed greatly stimulated1 and rendered vastly more energetic1 by the regeneration of the heart2 but this is not radically to alter it4 ,this is to develop and educate the conscience2 and when holiness is implanted in the will and affections1 by the grace of the ,spirit1 we find that both the conscience and understanding are wonderfully unfolded and strengthened4 ,but they undergo no revolution or conversion4 ,the judgments of the conscience are the same after regeneration1 that they were before2 only more positive and emphatic4 ,the convictions of the understanding continue1 as before1 to be upon the side of truth2 only they are more clear and powerful4 ,the radical change1 therefore1 must be wrought in the heart and will4 ,these are capable of revolutions and radical changes4 ,they can apostatise in ,adam1 and be regenerated in ,christ4 ,they are not immovably fixed and settled1 by their constitutional structure1 in only one way4 ,they have once turned from holiness to sin2 and now they must be turned back again from sin to holiness4 ,they must become exactly contrary to what they now are4 ,the heart must love what it now hates1 and must hate what it now loves4 ,the will must incline to what it now disinclines1 and disincline to what it now inclines4 ,but this is a radical change1 a total change1 an entire revolution4 ,if any man be in ,christ ,jesus1 he is a new creature1 in his will and affections1 in his inclination and disposition4 ,while1 therefore1 the conscience must continue to give the same old everlasting testimony as before1 and never reverse its judgments in the least1 the affections and will1 the pliant1 elastic1 plastic part of man1 the seat of vitality1 of emotion1 the seat of character1 the fountain out of which proceed the evil thoughts or the good thoughts1--this executive1 emotive1 responsible part of man1 must be reversed1 converted1 radically changed into its own contrary4 ,so long1 therefore1 as this change remains to be effected in an individual1 there is and can be no holiness within him1--none of that holiness without which no man can see the ,lord4 ,there may be within him a very active and reproaching conscience2 there may be intellectual orthodoxy and correctness in religious convictions2 he may cherish elevated moral sentiments1 and many attractive qualities springing out of a cultivated taste and a jealous self-respect may appear in his character2 but unless he loves ,god and man out of a pure heart fervently1 and unless his will is entirely and sweetly submissive to the ,divine will1 so that he can say3 ,father not my will1 but thine be done1 he is still a natural man4 ,he is still destitute of the spiritual mind1 and to him it must be said1 as it was to ,nicodemus3 ,except a man be born again1 he cannot see the kingdom of ,god4 ,the most important side of his being is still alienated from ,god4 ,the heart with its affections2 the will with its immense energies1--the entire active and emotive portions of his nature1--are still earthly1 unsubmissive1 selfish1 and sinful4 #d4 ,in the fourth1 and last place1 we see from this subject the necessity of the operation of the ,holy ,spirit1 in order to holiness in man4 ,there is no part of man's complex being which is less under his own control1 than his own will1 and his own affections4 ,this he discovers1 as soon as he attempts to convert them2 as soon as he tries to produce a radical change in them4 ,let a man whose will1 from centre to circumference1 is set upon self and the world1 attempt to reverse it1 and set it with the same strength and energy upon ,god and heaven1 and he will know that his will is too strong for him1 and that he cannot overcome himself4 ,let a man whose affections cleave like those of ,dives to earthly good1 and find their sole enjoyment in earthly pleasures1 attempt to change them into their own contraries1 so that they shall cleave to ,god1 and take a real delight in heavenly things1--let a carnal man try to revolutionize himself into a spiritual man1--and he will discover that the affections and feelings of his heart are beyond his control4 ,and the reason of this is plain4 ,the affections and will of a man show what he loves1 and what he is inclined to4 ,a sinful man cannot1 therefore1 overcome his sinful love and inclination1 because he cannot make a beginning4 ,the instant he attempts to love ,god1 he finds his love of himself in the way4 ,this new love for a new object1 which he proposes to originate within himself1 is prevented by an old love1 which already has possession4 ,this new inclination to heaven and ,divine things is precluded by an old inclination1 very strong and very set1 to earth and earthly things4 ,there is therefore no starting-point1 in this affair of self-conversion4 ,he proposes1 and he tries1 to think a holy thought1 but there is a sinful thought already in the mind4 ,he attempts to start out a ,christian grace1--say the grace of humility1--but the feeling of pride already stands in the way1 and1 what is more1 remains in the way4 ,he tries to generate that supreme love of ,god1 of which he has heard so much1 but the supreme love of himself is ahead of him1 and occupies the whole ground4 ,in short1 he is baffled at every point in this attempt radically to change his own heart and will1 because at every point this heart and will are already committed and determined4 ,go down as low as he pleases1 he finds sin1--love of sin1 and inclination to sin4 ,he never reaches a point where these cease2 and therefore never reaches a point where he can begin a new love1 and a new inclination4 ,the late ,mr4 ,webster was once engaged in a law case1 in which he had to meet1 upon the opposing side1 the subtle and strong understanding of ,jeremiah ,mason4 ,in one of his conferences with his associate counsel1 a difficult point to be managed came to view4 ,after some discussion1 without satisfactory results1 respecting the best method of handling the difficulty1 one of his associates suggested that the point might after all1 escape the notice of the opposing counsel4 ,to this1 ,mr4 ,webster replied3 ,not so2 go down as deep as you will1 you will find ,jeremiah ,mason below you4 ,precisely so in the case of which we are speaking4 ,go down as low as you please into your heart and will1 you will find your self below you2 you will find sin not only lying at the door1 but lying in the way4 ,if you move in the line of your feelings and affections1 you will find earthly feelings and affections ever below you4 ,if you move in the line of your choice and inclination1 you will find a sinful choice and inclination ever below you4 ,in chasing your sin through the avenues of your fallen and corrupt soul1 you are chasing your horizon2 in trying to get clear of it by your own isolated and independent strength1 you are attempting 7to use the illustration of ,goethe1 who however employed it for a false purpose7 to jump off your own shadow4 ,this1 then1 is the reason why the heart and will of a sinful man are so entirely beyond his own control4 ,they are preoccupied and predetermined1 and therefore he cannot make a beginning in the direction of holiness4 ,if he attempts to put forth a holy determination1 he finds a sinful one already made and making1--and this determination is his determination1 unforced1 responsible and guilty4 ,if he tries to start out a holy emotion1 he finds a sinful emotion already beating and rankling1--and this emotion is his emotion1 unforced1 responsible1 and guilty4 ,there is no physical necessity resting upon him4 ,nothing but this love of sin and inclination to self stands in the way of a supreme love of ,god and holiness2 but it stands in the way4 ,nothing but the sinful affection of the heart prevents a man from exercising a holy affection2 but it prevents him effectually4 ,an evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit2 a sinful love and inclination cannot convert itself into a holy love and inclination2 ,satan cannot cast out ,satan4 ,there is need therefore of a ,divine operation to renew1 to radically change1 the heart and will4 ,if they cannot renew themselves1 they must be renewed2 and there is no power that can reach them but that mysterious energy of the ,holy ,spirit which like the wind bloweth where it listeth1 and we hear the sound thereof1 but cannot tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth4 ,the condition of the human heart is utterly hopeless1 were it not for the promised influences of the ,holy ,ghost to regenerate it4 ,there are many reflections suggested by this subject2 for it has a wide reach1 and would carry us over vast theological spaces1 should we attempt to exhaust it4 ,we close with the single remark1 that it should be man's first and great aim to obtain the new heart4 ,let him seek this first of all1 and all things else will be added unto him4 ,it matters not how active your conscience may be1 how clear and accurate your intellectual convictions of truth may be1 how elevated may be your moral sentiments and your admiration of virtue1 if you are destitute of an evangelical experience4 ,of what value will all these be in the day of judgment1 if you have never sorrowed for sin1 never appropriated the atonement for sin1 and never been inwardly sanctified8 ,our ,lord says to every man3 ,either make the tree good1 and its fruit good2 or else make the tree corrupt1 and its fruit corrupt4 ,the tree itself must be made good4 ,the heart and will themselves must be renewed4 ,these are the root and stock into which everything else is grafted2 and so long as they remain in their apostate natural condition1 the man is sinful and lost1 do what else he may4 ,it is indeed true1 that such a change as this is beyond your power to accomplish4 ,with man it is impossible2 but with ,god it is a possibility1 and a reality4 ,it has actually been wrought in thousands of wills1 as stubborn as yours2 in millions of hearts1 as worldly and selfish as yours4 ,we commend you1 therefore1 to the ,person and ,work of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,we remind you1 that ,he is able to renovate and sweetly incline the obstinate will1 to soften and spiritualize the flinty heart4 ,he saith3 ,i will put a new spirit within you2 and ,i will take the stony heart out of your flesh1 and will give you an heart of flesh2 that ye may walk in my statutes1 and keep mine ordinances1 and do them2 and ye shall be my people1 and ,i will be your ,god4 ,do not listen to these declarations and promises of ,god supinely2 but arise and earnestly plead them4 ,take words upon your lips1 and go before ,god4 ,say unto ,him3 ,i am the clay1 be thou the potter4 ,behold thou desirest truth in the inward parts1 and in the hidden parts thou shalt make me to know wisdom4 ,i will run in the way of thy commandments1 when thou shalt enlarge my heart4 ,create within me a clean heart1 ,o ,god1 and renew within me a right spirit4 ,seek for the new heart4 ,ask for the new heart4 ,knock for the new heart4 ,for1 if ye1 being evil1 know how to give good gifts unto your children1 how much more shall your heavenly ,father give the ,holy ,spirit to them that ask him4 ,and in giving the ,holy ,spirit1 ,he gives the new heart1 with all that is included in it1 and all that issues from it4 ,footnote #a3 ,see1 upon this whole subject of conscience as distinguished from will1 and of amiable instincts as distinguished from holiness1 the profound and discriminating views of ,,edwards3 ,the ,nature of ,virtue1 ,chapters v4 vi4 vii4 ,footnote #b3 ,compare1 on this distinction1 the ,,author',s' ,discourses and ,essays1 p4 #bhd sq4 ,footnote #c3 ,the reader will recall the celebrated panegyric upon ,christ by ,rousseau4 ,,the ,,use ,,of ,,fear ,,in ,,religion4 ,,proverbs ix4 #aj4--,the fear of the ,lord is the beginning of wisdom4 ,luke xii4 #d1 #e4--;,and ,i say unto you1 my friends1 ,be not afraid of them that kill the body1 and after that have no more that they can do4 ,but ,i will forewarn you whom ye shall fear3 ,fear him1 which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell2 yea1 ,i say unto you1 ,fear him4 ,the place which the feeling of fear ought to hold in the religious experience of mankind is variously assigned4 ,theories of religion are continually passing from one extreme to another1 according as they magnify or disparage this emotion4 ,some theological schools are distinguished for their severity1 and others for their sentimentalism4 ,some doctrinal systems fail to grasp the mercy of ,god with as much vigor and energy as they do the ,divine justice1 while others melt down everything that is scriptural and self-consistent1 and flow along vaguely in an inundation of unprincipled emotions and sensibilities4 ,the same fact meets us in the experience of the individual4 ,we either fear too much1 or too little4 ,having obtained glimpses of the ,divine compassion1 how prone is the human heart to become indolent and self-indulgent1 and to relax something of that earnest effort with which it had begun to pluck out the offending right eye4 ,or1 having felt the power of the ,divine anger2 having obtained clear conceptions of the intense aversion of ,god towards moral evil2 even the child of ,god sometimes lives under a cloud1 because he does not dare to make a right use of this needed and salutary impression1 and pass back to that confiding trust in the ,divine pity which is his privilege and his birth-right1 as one who has been sprinkled with atoning blood4 ,it is plain1 from the texts of ,scripture placed at the head of this discourse1 that the feeling and principle of fear is a legitimate one4#a ,in these words of ,god himself1 we are taught that it is the font and origin of true wisdom1 and are commanded to be inspired by it4 ,the ,old ,testament enjoins it1 and the ,new ,testament repeats and emphasizes the injunction2 so that the total and united testimony of ,revelation forbids a religion that is destitute of fear4 ,the ,new ,dispensation is sometimes set in opposition to the ,old1 and ,christ is represented as teaching a less rigid morality than that of ,moses and the prophets4 ,but the mildness of ,christ is not seen1 certainly1 in the ethical and preceptive part of ,his religion4 ,the ,sermon on the ,mount is a more searching code of morals than the ten commandments4 ,it cuts into human depravity with a more keen and terrible edge1 than does the law proclaimed amidst thunderings and lightnings4 ,let us see if it does not4 ,the ,mosaic statute simply says to man3 ,thou shalt not kill4 ,but the re-enactment of this statute1 by incarnate ,deity1 is accompanied with an explanation and an emphasis that precludes all misapprehension and narrow construction of the original law1 and renders it a two-edged sword that pierces to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit4 ,when the ,hebrew legislator says to me3 ,thou shalt not kill1 it is possible for me1 with my propensity to look upon the outward appearance1 and to regard the external act alone1 to deem myself innocent if ,i have never actually murdered a fellow-being4 ,but when the ,lord of glory tells me that whosoever is angry with his brother is in danger of the judgment1 my mouth is stopped1 and it is impossible for me to cherish a conviction of personal innocency1 in respect to the sixth commandment4 ,and the same is true of the seventh commandment1 and the eighth commandment1 and of all the statutes in the decalogue4 ,he who reads1 and ponders1 the whole ,sermon on the ,mount1 is painfully conscious that ,christ has put a meaning into the ,mosaic law that renders it a far more effective instrument of mental torture1 for the guilty1 than it is as it stands in the ,old ,testament4 ,the lightnings are concentrated4 ,the bolts are hurled with a yet more sure and deadly aim4 ,the new meaning is a perfectly legitimate and logical deduction1 and in this sense there is no difference between the ,decalogue and the ,sermon1--between the ethics of the ,old and the ethics of the ,new ,testament4 ,but1 so much more spiritual is the application1 and so much more searching is the reach of the statute1 in the last of the two forms of its statement1 that it looks almost like a new proclamation of law4 ,our ,lord did not intend1 or pretend1 to teach a milder ethics1 or an easier virtue1 on the ,mount of ,beatitudes1 than that which ,he had taught fifteen centuries before on ,mt4 ,sinai4 ,he indeed pronounces a blessing2 and so did ,moses1 ,his servant1 before ,him4 ,but in each instance1 it is a blessing upon condition of obedience2 which1 in both instances1 involves a curse upon disobedience4 ,he who is meek shall be blest2 but he who is not shall be condemned4 ,he who is pure in heart1 he who is poor in spirit1 he who mourns over personal unworthiness1 he who hungers and thirsts after a righteousness of which he is destitute1 he who is merciful1 he who is the peace-maker1 he who endures persecution patiently1 and he who loves his enemies1--he who is and does all this in a perfect manner1 without a single slip or failure1 is indeed blessed with the beatitude of ,god4 ,but where is the man8 ,what single individual in all the ages1 and in all the generations since ,adam1 is entitled to the great blessing of these beatitudes1 and not deserving of the dreadful curse which they involve8 ,in applying such a high1 ethereal test to human character1 the ,founder of ,christianity is the severest and sternest preacher of law that has ever trod upon the planet4 ,and he who stops with the merely ethical and preceptive part of ,christianity1 and rejects its forgiveness through atoning blood1 and its regeneration by an indwelling ,spirit1--he who does not unite the fifth chapter of ,matthew1 with the fifth chapter of ,romans1--converts the ,lamb of ,god into the ,lion of the tribe of ,judah4 ,he makes use of everything in the ,christian system that condemns man to everlasting destruction1 but throws away the very and the only part of it that takes off the burden and the curse4 ,it is not1 then1 a correct idea of ,christ that we have1 when we look upon ,him as unmixed complacency and unbalanced compassion4 ,in all aspects1 ,he was a complex personage4 ,he was ,god1 and ,he was man4 ,as ,god1 ,he could pronounce a blessing2 and ,he could pronounce a curse1 as none but ,god can1 or dare4 ,as man1 ,he was perfect2 and into ,his perfection of feeling and of character there entered those elements that fill a good being with peace1 and an evil one with woe4 ,the ,son of ,god exhibits goodness and severity mingled and blended in perfect and majestic harmony2 and that man lacks sympathy with ,jesus ,christ who cannot1 while feeling the purest and most unselfish indignation towards the sinner's sin1 at the same time give up his own individual life1 if need be1 for the sinner's soul4 ,the two feelings are not only compatible in the same person1 but necessarily belong to a perfect being4 ,our ,lord breathed out a prayer for ,his murderers so fervent1 and so full of pathos1 that it will continue to soften and melt the flinty human heart1 to the end of time2 and ,he also poured out a denunciation of woes upon the ,pharisees 7,matt1 xxiii471 every syllable of which is dense enough with the wrath of ,god1 to sink the deserving objects of it plumb down1 ten thousand fathoms deep1 to bottomless perdition in adamantine chains and penal fire4 ,the utterances1 ,father forgive them1 for they know not what they do3 ,ye serpents1 ye generation of vipers6 how can ye escape the damnation of hell8 both fell from the same pure and gracious lips4 ,it is not surprising1 therefore1 that our ,lord often appeals to the principle of fear4 ,he makes use of it in all its various forms1--from that servile terror which is produced by the truth when the soul is just waked up from its drowze in sin1 to that filial fear which ,solomon affirms to be the beginning of wisdom4 ,the subject thus brought before our minds1 by the inspired ,word1 has a wide application to all ages and conditions of human life1 and all varieties of human character4 ,we desire to direct attention to the use and value of religious fear1 in the opening periods of human life4 ,there are some special reasons why youth and early manhood should come under the influence of this powerful feeling4 ,i write unto you young men1--says ,st4 ,john1--because ye are strong4 ,we propose to urge upon the young1 the duty of cultivating the fear of ,god's displeasure1 because they are able to endure the emotion2 because youth is the springtide and prime of human life1 and capable of carrying burdens1 and standing up under influences and impressions1 that might crush a feebler period1 or a more exhausted stage of the human soul4 ,i4 ,in the first place1 the emotion of fear ought to enter into the consciousness of the young1 because youth is naturally light-hearted4 ,childhood and youth1 saith the ,preacher1 are vanity4 ,the opening period in human life is the happiest part of it1 if we have respect merely to the condition and circumstances in which the human being is placed4 ,he is free from all public cares1 and responsibilities4 ,he is encircled within the strong arms of parents1 and protectors4 ,even if he tries1 he cannot feel the pressure of those toils and anxieties which will come of themselves1 when he has passed the line that separates youth from manhood4 ,when he hears his elders discourse of the weight1 and the weariness1 of this working-day world1 it is with incredulity and surprise4 ,the world is bright before his eye1 and he wonders that it should ever wear any other aspect4 ,he cannot understand how the freshness1 and vividness1 and pomp of human life1 should shift into its soberer and sterner forms2 and he will not1 until the ,shades of the prison-house begin to close ,upon the growing ,boy4#b ,now there is something1 in this happy attitude of things1 to fill the heart of youth with gayety and abandonment4 ,his pulses beat strong and high4 ,the currents of his soul flow like the mountain river4 ,his mood is buoyant and jubilant1 and he flings himself with zest1 and a sense of vitality1 into the joy and exhilaration all around him4 ,but such a mood as this1 unbalanced and untempered by a loftier one1 is hazardous to the eternal interests of the soul4 ,perpetuate this gay festal abandonment of the mind2 let the human being1 through the whole of his earthly course1 be filled with the sole single consciousness that this is the beautiful world2 and will he1 can he1 live as a stranger and a pilgrim in it8 ,perpetuate that vigorous pulse1 and that youthful blood which runs tickling up and down the veins2 drive off1 and preclude1 all that care and responsibility which renders human life so earnest2 and will the young immortal go through it1 with that sacred fear and trembling with which he is commanded to work out his salvation8 ,yet1 this buoyancy and light-heartedness are legitimate feelings4 ,they spring up1 like wild-flowers1 from the very nature of man4 ,god intends that prismatic hues and auroral lights shall flood our morning sky4 ,he must be filled with a sour and rancid misanthropy1 who cannot bless the ,creator that there is one part of man's sinful and cursed life which reminds of the time1 and the state1 when there was no sin and no curse4 ,there is1 then1 to be no extermination of this legitimate experience4 ,but there is to be its moderation and its regulation4 ,and this we get1 by the introduction of the feeling and the principle of religious fear4 ,the youth ought to seek an impression from things unseen and eternal4 ,god1 and ,his august attributes2 ,christ1 and ,his awful ,passion2 heaven1 with its sacred scenes and joys2 hell1 with its just woe and wail1--all these should come in1 to modify1 and temper1 the jubilance that without them becomes the riot of the soul4 ,for this1 we apprehend1 is the meaning of our ,lord1 when ,he says1 ,i will forewarn you whom ye shall fear3 ,fear him1 which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell2 yea1 ,i say unto you1 ,fear him4 ,it is not so much any particular species of fear that we are shut up to1 by these words1 as it is the general habit and feeling4 ,the fear of hell is indeed specified1--and this proves that such a fear is rational and proper in its own place1--but our ,lord would not have us stop with this single and isolated form of the feeling4 ,he recommends a solemn temper4 ,he commands a being who stands continually upon the brink of eternity and immensity1 to be aware of his position4 ,he would have the great shadow of eternity thrown in upon time4 ,he desires that every man should realize1 in those very moments when the sun shines the brightest and the earth looks the fairest1 that there is another world than this1 for which man is not naturally prepared1 and for which he must make a preparation4 ,and what ,he enjoins upon mankind at large1 ,he specially enjoins upon youth4 ,they need to be sobered more than others4 ,the ordinary cares of this life1 which do so much towards moderating our desires and aspirations1 have not yet pressed upon the ardent and expectant soul1 and therefore it needs1 more than others1 to fear and to stand in awe4 ,,ii4 ,secondly1 youth is elastic1 and readily recovers from undue depression4 ,the skeptical ,lucretius tells us that the divinities are the creatures of man's fears1 and would make us believe that all religion has its ground in fright4#c ,and do we not hear this theory repeated by the modern unbeliever8 ,what means this appeal to a universal1 and an unprincipled good-nature in the ,supreme ,being1 and this rejection of everything in ,christianity that awakens misgivings and forebodings within the sinful human soul8 ,why this opposition to the doctrine of an absolute1 and therefore endless punishment1 unless it be that it awakens a deep and permanent dread in the heart of guilty man8 ,now1 we are not of that number who believe that thoughtless and lethargic man has been greatly damaged by his moral fears4 ,it is the lack of a bold and distinct impression from the solemn objects of another world1 and the utter absence of fear1 that is ruining man from generation to generation4 ,if we were at liberty1 and had the power1 to induce into the thousands and millions of our race who are running the rounds of sin and vice1 some one particular emotion that should be medicinal and salutary to the soul1 we would select that very one which our ,lord had in view when ,he said3 ,i will forewarn you whom ye shall fear3 ,fear him1 which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell2 yea1 ,i say unto you1 ,fear him4 ,if we were at liberty1 and had the power1 we would instantaneously stop these human souls that are crowding our avenues1 intent only upon pleasure and earth1 and would fill them with the emotions of the day of doom2 we would deluge them with the fear of ,god1 that they might flee from their sins and the wrath to come4 ,but while we say this1 we also concede that it is possible for the human soul to be injured1 by the undue exercise of this emotion4 ,the bruised reed may be broken1 and the smoking flax may be quenched2 and hence it is the very function and office-work of the ,blessed ,comforter1 to prevent this4 ,god's own children sometimes pass through a horror of great darkness1 like that which enveloped ,abraham2 and the unregenerate mind is sometimes so overborne by its fears of death1 judgment1 and eternity1 that the entire experience becomes for a time morbid and confused4 ,yet1 even in this instance1 the excess is better than the lack4 ,we had better travel this road to heaven1 than none at all4 ,it is better to enter into the kingdom of ,god with one eye1 than having two eyes to be cast into hell-fire4 ,when the saints from the heavenly heights look back upon their severe religious experience here on earth1--upon their footprints stained with their own blood1--they count it a small matter that they entered into eternal joy through much tribulation4 ,and if we could but for one instant take their position1 we should form their estimate2 we should not shrink1 if ,god so pleased1 from passing through that martyrdom and crucifixion which has been undergone by so many of those gentle spirits1 broken spirits1 holy spirits1 upon whom the burden of mystery once lay like night1 and the far heavier burden of guilt lay like hell4 ,there is less danger1 however1 that the feeling and principle of fear should exert an excessive influence upon youth4 ,there is an elasticity1 in the earlier periods of human life1 that prevents long-continued depression4 ,how rare it is to see a young person smitten with insanity4 ,it is not until the pressure of anxiety has been long continued1 and the impulsive spring of the soul has been destroyed1 that reason is dethroned4 ,the morning of our life may1 therefore1 be subjected to a subduing and repressing influence1 with very great safety4 ,it is well to bear the yoke in youth4 ,the awe produced by a vivid impression from the eternal world may enter into the exuberant and gladsome experience of the young1 with very little danger of actually extinguishing it1 and rendering life permanently gloomy and unhappy4 ,,iii4 ,thirdly1 youth is exposed to sudden temptations1 and surprisals into sin4 ,the general traits that have been mentioned as belonging to the early period in human life render it peculiarly liable to solicitations4 ,the whole being of a healthful hilarious youth1 who feels life in every limb1 thrills to temptation1 like the lyre to the plectrum4 ,body and soul are alive to all the enticements of the world of sense2 and in certain critical moments1 the entire sensorium1 upon the approach of bold and powerful excitements1 flutters and trembles like an electrometer in a thunder-storm4 ,all passionate poetry breathes of youth and spring4 ,most of the catastrophes of the novel and the drama turn upon the violent action of some temptation1 upon the highly excitable nature of youth4 ,all literature testifies to the hazards that attend the morning of our existence2 and daily experience and observation1 certainly1 corroborate the testimony4 ,it becomes necessary1 therefore1 to guard the human soul against these liabilities which attend it in its forming period4 ,and1 next to a deep and all-absorbing love of ,god1 there is nothing so well adapted to protect against sudden surprisals1 as a profound and definite fear of ,god4 ,it is a great mistake1 to suppose that apostate and corrupt beings like ourselves can pass through all the temptations of this life unscathed1 while looking solely at the pleasant aspects of the ,divine ,being1 and the winning forms of religious truth4 ,we are not yet seraphs2 and we cannot always trust to our affectionateness1 to carry us through a violent attack of temptation4 ,there are moments in the experience of the ,christian himself1 when he is compelled to call in the fear of ,god to his aid1 and to steady his infirm and wavering virtue by the recollection that the wages of sin is death4 ,by the fear of the ,lord1 men1--and ,christian men too1--depart from evil4 ,it will not always be so4 ,when that which is perfect is come1 perfect love shall cast out fear2 but1 until the disciple of ,christ reaches heaven1 his religious experience must be a somewhat complex one4 ,a reasonable and well-defined apprehensiveness must mix with his affectionateness1 and deter him from transgression1 in those severe passages in his history when love is languid and fails to draw him4 ,says an old ,english divine3 ,the fear of ,god's judgments1 or of the threatenings of ,god1 is of much efficiency1 when some present temptation presseth upon us4 ,when conscience and the affections are divided2 when conscience doth withdraw a man from sin1 and when his carnal affections draw him forth to it2 then should the fear of ,god come in4 ,it is a holy design for a ,christian1 to counterbalance the pleasures of sin with the terrors of it1 and thus to cure the poison of the viper by the flesh of the viper4 ,thus that admirable saint and martyr1 ,bishop ,hooper1 when he came to die1 one endeavored to dehort him from death by this3 ,o sir1 consider that life is sweet and death is bitter2 presently he replied1 ,life to come is more sweet1 and death to come is more bitter1 and so went to the stake and patiently endured the fire4 ,thus1 as a ,christian may sometimes outweigh the pleasures of sin by the consideration of the reward of ,god1 so1 sometimes1 he may quench the pleasures of sin by the consideration of the terrors of ,god4#d ,but much more is all this true1 in the instance of the hot-blooded youth4 ,how shall he resist temptation1 unless he has some fear of ,god before his eyes8 ,there are moments in the experience of the young1 when all power of resistance seems to be taken away1 by the very witchery and blandishment of the object4 ,he has no heart1 and no nerve1 to resist the beautiful siren4 ,and it is precisely in these emergencies in his experience1--in these moments when this world comes up before him clothed in pomp and gold1 and the other world is so entirely lost sight of1 that it throws in upon him none of its solemn shadows and warnings1--it is precisely now1 when he is just upon the point of yielding to the mighty yet fascinating pressure1 that he needs to feel an impression1 bold and startling1 from the wrath of ,god4 ,nothing but the most active remedies will have any effect1 in this tumult and uproar of the soul4 ,when the whole system is at fever-heat1 and the voice of reason and conscience is drowned in the clamors of sense and earth1 nothing can startle and stop but the trumpet of ,sinai4#e ,it is in these severe experiences1 which are more common to youth than they are to manhood1 that we see the great value of the feeling and principle of fear4 ,it is1 comparatively1 in vain for a youth under the influence of strong temptations1--and particularly when the surprise is sprung upon him1--to ply himself with arguments drawn from the beauty of virtue1 and the excellence of piety4 ,they are too ethereal for him1 in his present mood4 ,such arguments are for a calmer moment1 and a more dispassionate hour4 ,his blood is now boiling1 and those higher motives which would influence the saint1 and would have some influence with him1 if he were not in this critical condition1 have little power to deter him from sin4 ,let him therefore pass by the love of ,god1 and betake himself to the anger of ,god1 for safety4 ,let him say to himself1 in this moment when the forces of ,satan1 in alliance with the propensities of his own nature1 are making an onset1--when all other considerations are being swept away in the rush and whirlwind of his passions1--let him coolly bethink himself and say3 ,if ,i do this abominable thing which the soul of ,god hates1 then ,god1 the ,holy and ,immaculate1 will burn my spotted soul in ,his pure eternal flame4 ,for1 there is great power1 in what the ,scriptures term the terror of the ,lord1 to destroy the edge of temptation4 ,a wise man feareth and departeth from evil4 ,fear kills out the delight in sin4 ,damocles cannot eat the banquet with any pleasure1 so long as the naked sword hangs by a single hair over his head4 ,no one can find much enjoyment in transgression1 if his conscience is feeling the action of ,god's holiness within it4 ,and well would it be1 if1 in every instance in which a youth is tempted to fling himself into the current of sin that is flowing all around him1 his moral sense might at that very moment be filled with some of that terror1 and some of that horror1 which breaks upon the damned in eternity4 ,well would it be1 if the youth in the moment of violent temptation could lay upon the emotion or the lust that entices him1 a distinct and red coal of hell-fire4#f ,no injury would result from the most terrible fear of ,god1 provided it could always fall upon the human soul in those moments of strong temptation1 and of surprisals1 when all other motives fail to influence1 and the human will is carried headlong by the human passions4 ,there may be a fear and a terror that does harm1 but man need be under no concern lest he experience too much of this feeling1 in his hours of weakness and irresolution1 in his youthful days of temptation and of dalliance4 ,let him rather bless ,god that there is such an intense light1 and such a pure fire1 in the ,divine ,essence1 and seek to have his whole vitiated and poisoned nature penetrated and purified by it4 ,have you never looked with a steadfast gaze into a grate of burning anthracite1 and noticed the quiet intense glow of the heat1 and how silently the fire throbs and pulsates through the fuel1 burning up everything that is inflammable1 and1 making the whole mass as pure1 and clean1 and clear1 as the element of fire itself8 ,such is the effect of a contact of ,god's wrath with man's sin2 of the penetration of man's corruption by the wrath of the ,lord4 ,,iv4 ,in the fourth place1 the feeling and principle of fear ought to enter into the experience of both youth and manhood1 because it relieves from all other fear4 ,he who stands in awe of ,god can look down1 from a very great height1 upon all other perturbation4 ,when we have seen ,him from whose sight the heavens and the earth flee away1 there is nothing1 in either the heavens or the earth1 that can produce a single ripple upon the surface of our souls4 ,this is true1 even of the unregenerate mind4 ,the fear in this instance is a servile one1--it is not filial and affectionate1--and yet it serves to protect the subject of it from all other feelings of this species1 because it is greater than all others1 and like ,aaron's serpent swallows up the rest4 ,if we must be liable to fears1--and the transgressor always must be1--it is best that they should all be concentrated in one single overmastering sentiment4 ,unity is ever desirable2 and even if the human soul were to be visited by none but the servile forms of fear1 it would be better that this should be the terror of the ,lord4 ,if1 by having the fear of ,god before our eyes1 we could thereby be delivered from the fear of man1 and all those apprehensions which are connected with time and sense1 would it not be wisdom to choose it8 ,we should then know that there was but one quarter from which our peace could be assailed4 ,this would lead us to look in that direction2 and1 here upon earth1 sinful man cannot look at ,god long1 without coming to terms and becoming reconciled with ,him4 ,v4 ,the fifth and last reason which we assign for cherishing the feeling and principle of fear applies to youth1 to manhood1 and to old age1 alike3 ,the fear of ,god conducts to the love of ,god4 ,our ,lord does not command us to fear ,him1 who after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell1 because such a feeling as this is intrinsically desirable1 and is an ultimate end in itself4 ,it is1 in itself1 undesirable1 and it is only a means to an end4 ,by it1 our torpid souls are to be awakened from their torpor2 our numbness and hardness of mind1 in respect to spiritual objects1 is to be removed4 ,we are never for a moment1 to suppose that the fear of perdition is set before us as a model and permanent form of experience to be toiled after1--a positive virtue and grace intended to be perpetuated through the whole future history of the soul4 ,it is employed only as an antecedent to a higher and a happier emotion2 and when the purpose for which it has been elicited has been answered1 it then disappears4 ,perfect love casteth out fear2 for fear hath torment1 7#a ,john iv4 #ah4g7 ,but1 at the same time1 we desire to direct attention to the fact that he who has been exercised with this emotion1 thoroughly and deeply1 is conducted by it into the higher and happier form of religious experience4 ,religious fear and anxiety are the prelude to religious peace and joy4 ,these are the discords that prepare for the concords4 ,he1 who in the ,psalmist's phrase has known the power of the ,divine anger1 is visited with the manifestation of the ,divine love4 ,the method in the thirty-second psalm is the method of salvation4 ,day and night ,god's hand is heavy upon the soul2 the fear and sense of the ,divine displeasure is passing through the conscience1 like electric currents4 ,the moisture1 the sweet dew of health and happiness1 is turned into the drought of summer1 by this preparatory process4 ,then the soul acknowledges its sin1 and its iniquity it hides no longer4 ,it confesses its transgressions unto the ,lord1--it justifies and approves of this wrath which it has felt1--and ,he forgives the iniquity of its sin4 ,it is not a vain thing1 therefore1 to fear the ,lord4 ,the emotion of which we have been discoursing1 painful though it be1 is remunerative4 ,there is something in the very experience of moral pain which brings us nigh to ,god4 ,when1 for instance1 in the hour of temptation1 ,i discern ,god's calm and holy eye bent upon me1 and ,i wither beneath it1 and resist the enticement because ,i fear to disobey1 ,i am brought by this chapter in my experience into very close contact with my ,maker4 ,there has been a vivid and personal transaction between us4 ,i have heard him say3 ,if thou doest that wicked thing thou shalt surely die2 refrain from doing it1 and ,i will love thee and bless thee4 ,this is the secret of the great and swift reaction which often takes place1 in the sinner's soul4 ,he moodily and obstinately fights against the ,divine displeasure4 ,in this state of things1 there is nothing but fear and torment4 ,suddenly he gives way1 acknowledges that it is a good and a just anger1 no longer seeks to beat it back from his guilty soul1 but lets the billows roll over while he casts himself upon the ,divine pity4 ,in this act and instant1--which involves the destiny of the soul1 and has millenniums in it1--when he recognizes the justice and trusts in the mercy of ,god1 there is a great rebound1 and through his tears he sees the depth1 the amazing depth1 of the ,divine compassion4 ,for1 paradoxical as it appears1 ,god's love is best seen in the light of ,god's displeasure4 ,when the soul is penetrated by this latter feeling1 and is thoroughly sensible of its own worthlessness1--when1 man knows himself to be vile1 and filthy1 and fit only to be burned up by the ,divine immaculateness1--then1 to have the ,great ,god take him to ,his heart1 and pour out upon him the infinite wealth of ,his mercy and compassion1 is overwhelming4 ,here1 the ,divine indignation becomes a foil to set off the ,divine love4 ,read the sixteenth chapter of ,ezekiel1 with an eye purged with euphrasy and rue1 so that you can take in the full spiritual significance of the comparisons and metaphors1 and your whole soul will dissolve in tears1 as you perceive how the great and pure ,god1 in every instance in which ,he saves an apostate spirit1 is compelled to bow ,his heavens and come down into a loathsome sty of sensuality4#h ,would it be love of the highest order1 in a seraph1 to leave the pure cerulean and trail his white garments through the haunts of vice1 to save the wretched inmates from themselves and their sins8 ,o then what must be the degree of affection and compassion1 when the infinite ,deity1 whose essence is light itself1 and whose nature is the intensest contrary of all sin1 tabernacles in the flesh upon the errand of redemption6 ,and if the pure spirit of that seraph1 while filled with an ineffable loathing1 and the hottest moral indignation1 at what he saw in character and conduct1 were also yearning with an unspeakable desire after the deliverance of the vicious from their vice1--the moral wrath1 thus setting in still stronger relief the moral compassion that holds it in check1---what must be the relation between these two emotions in the ,divine ,being6 ,is not the one the measure of the other8 ,and does not the soul that fears ,god in a submissive manner1 and acknowledges the righteousness of the ,divine displeasure with entire acquiescence and no sullen resistance1 prepare the way1 in this very act1 for an equally intense manifestation of the ,divine mercy and forgiveness8 ,the subject treated of in this discourse is one of the most important1 and frequent1 that is presented in the ,scriptures4 ,he who examines is startled to find that the phrase1 fear of the ,lord1 is woven into the whole web of ,revelation from ,genesis to the ,apocalypse4 ,the feeling and principle under discussion has a ,biblical authority1 and significance1 that cannot be pondered too long1 or too closely4 ,it1 therefore1 has an interest for every human being1 whatever may be his character1 his condition1 or his circumstances4 ,all great religious awakenings begin in the dawning of the august and terrible aspects of the ,deity upon the popular mind1 and they reach their height and happy consummation1 in that love and faith for which the antecedent fear has been the preparation4 ,well and blessed would it be for this irreverent and unfearing age1 in which the advance in mechanical arts and vice is greater than that in letters and virtue1 if the popular mind could be made reflective and solemn by this great emotion4 ,we would1 therefore1 pass by all other feelings1 and endeavor to fix the eye upon the distinct and unambiguous fear of ,god1 and would urge the young1 especially1 to seek for it as for hid treasures4 ,the feeling is a painful one1 because it is a preparatory one4 ,there are other forms of religious emotion which are more attractive1 and are necessary in their place2 these you may be inclined to cultivate1 at the expense of the one enjoined by our ,lord in the text4 ,but we solemnly and earnestly entreat you1 not to suffer your inclination to divert your attention from your duty and your true interest4 ,we tell you1 with confidence1 that next to the affectionate and filial love of ,god in your heart1 there is no feeling or principle in the whole series that will be of such real solid service to you1 as that one enjoined by our ,lord upon ,his disciples first of all4 ,you will need its awing and repressing influence1 in many a trying scene1 in many a severe temptation4 ,be encouraged to cherish it1 from the fact that it is a very effective1 a very powerful emotion4 ,he who has the fear of ,god before his eyes is actually and often kept from falling4 ,it will prevail with your weak will1 and your infirm purpose1 when other motives fail4 ,and if you could but stand where those do1 who have passed through that fearful and dangerous passage through which you are now making a transit2 if you could but know1 as they do1 of what untold value is everything that deters from the wrong and nerves to the right1 in the critical moments of human life2 you would know1 as they do1 the utmost importance of cherishing a solemn and serious dread of displeasing ,god4 ,the more simple and unmixed this feeling is in your own experience1 the more influential will it be4 ,fix it deeply in the mind1 that the great ,god is holy4 ,recur to this fact continually4 ,if the dread which it awakens casts a shadow over the gayety of youth1 remember that you need this1 and will not be injured by it4 ,the doctrine commends itself to you1 because you are young1 and because you are strong4 ,if it fills you with misgivings1 at times1 and threatens to destroy your peace of mind1 let the emotion operate4 ,never stifle it1 as you value your salvation4 ,you had better be unhappy for a season1 than yield to temptation and grievous snares which will drown you in perdition4 ,even if it hangs dark and low over the horizon of your life1 and for a time invests this world with sadness1 be resolute with yourself1 and do not attempt to remove the feeling1 except in the legitimate way of the gospel4 ,remember that every human soul out of ,christ ought to fear1 for he that believeth not on the ,son1 the wrath of ,god abideth on him4 ,and remember1 also1 that every one who believes in ,christ ought not to fear2 for there is no condemnation to them that are in ,christ ,jesus1 and he that believeth on the ,son hath everlasting life4 ,and with this thought would we close4 ,this fear of ,god may and should end in the perfect love that casteth out fear4 ,this powerful and terrible emotion1 which we have been considering1 may and ought to prepare the soul to welcome the sweet and thrilling accents of ,christ saying1 ,come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden1 with your fears of death1 judgment1 and eternity1 and ,i will give you rest4 ,faith in ,christ lifts the soul above all fears1 and eventually raises it to that serene world1 that blessed state of being1 where there is no more curse and no more foreboding4 ,serene will be our days1 and bright1 ,and happy will our nature be1 ,when love is an unerring light1 ,and joy its own security4 ,footnote #a3 ,the moral and healthful influence of fear is implied in the celebrated passage in ,aristotle's ,poetics1 whatever be the interpretation4 ,he speaks of a cleansing ,greek3 7katharsin7 of the mind1 by means of the emotions of pity and terror ,greek3 7phobos7 awakened by tragic poetry4 ,most certainly1 there is no portion of ,classical literature so purifying as the ,greek ,drama4 ,and yet1 the pleasurable emotions are rarely awakened by it4 ,righteousness and justice determine the movement of the plot1 and conduct to the catastrophe2 and the persons and forms that move across the stage are1 not ,venus and the ,graces but1 ghostly ,shapes ,to meet at noontide2 ,death the ,skeleton ,and ,time the ,shadow4 ,all literature that tends upward contains the tragic element2 and all literature that tends downward rejects it4 schylus and ,dante assume a world of retribution1 and employ for the purposes of poetry the fear it awakens4 ,lucretius and ,voltaire would disprove the existence of such a solemn world1 and they make no use of such an emotion4 ,footnote #b3 ,,wordsworth3 ,intimations of ,immortality4 ,footnote #c3 ,,lucretius3 ,de ,rerum ,natura1 ,,iii4 #ihi sq42 ,v4 #aafj sq4 ,footnote #d3 ,,bates3 ,discourse of the ,fear of ,god4 ,footnote #e3 ,praise be to ,thee1 glory to ,thee1 ,o ,fountain of mercies3 ,i was becoming more miserable and ,thou becoming nearer1 ,thy right hand was continually ready to pluck me out of the mire1 and to wash me thoroughly1 and ,i knew it not2 nor did anything call me back from a yet deeper gulf of carnal pleasures1 but the fear of death1 and of ,thy judgment to come2 which1 amid all my changes1 never departed from my breast4 ,,augustine3 ,confessions1 vi4 #af41 7,shedd's ,ed41 p4 #adb47 ,footnote #f3 ,si te luxuria tentat1 objice tibi memoriam mortis tuae1 propone tibi futuruin judicium1 reduc ad memoriam futura tormenta1 propone tibi acterna supplicia2 et etiaim propone aute oculos tuos perpetuosignes infernorum2 propone tibi horribiles poenas gehennae4 ,memoria ardoris gehennae extinguat in te ardorem luxuriane4 ,,bernard3 ,de ,modo ,bene ,vivendi4 ,sermo lxvii4 ,footnote #g3 ,,baxter 7,narrative1 ,part ,i47 remarks that fear1 being an easier and irresistible passion1 doth oft obscure that measure of love which is indeed within us2 and that the soul of a believer groweth up by degrees from the more troublesome and safe operation of fear1 to the more high and excellent operations of complacential love4 ,footnote #h3 ,thus saith the ,lord ,god unto ,jerusalem1 thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of ,canaan2 thy father was an ,amorite1 and thy mother an ,hittite4 ,thou wast cast out in the open field1 to the loathing of thy person1 in the day that thou wast born4 ,and when ,i passed by thee and saw thee polluted in thy own blood1 ,i said unto thee when1 thou wast in thy blood1 ,live2 yea ,i said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood1 ,live4 ,ezekiel xvi4 #a1 #e1 #f4 ,,the ,,present ,,life ,,as ,,related ,,to ,,the ,,future4 ,,luke xvi4 #be4--;,and ,abraham said1 ,son remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things1 and likewise ,lazarus evil things2 but now he is comforted1 and thou art tormented4 ,the parable of ,dives and ,lazarus is one of the most solemn passages in the whole ,revelation of ,god4 ,in it1 our ,lord gives very definite statements concerning the condition of those who have departed this life4 ,it makes no practical difference1 whether we assume that this was a real occurrence1 or only an imaginary one1--whether there actually was such a particular rich man as ,dives1 and such a particular beggar as ,lazarus1 or whether the narrative was invented by ,christ for the purpose of conveying the instruction which he desired to give4 ,the instruction is given in either case2 and it is the instruction with which we are concerned4 ,be it a parable1 or be it a historical fact1 our ,lord here teaches1 in a manner not to be disputed1 that a man who seeks enjoyment in this life as his chief end shall suffer torments in the next life1 and that he who endures suffering in this life for righteousness' sake shall dwell in paradise in the next1--that he who finds his life here shall lose his life hereafter1 and that he who loses his life here shall find it here after4 ,for1 we cannot for a moment suppose that such a ,being as ,jesus ,christ merely intended to play upon the fears of men1 in putting forth such a picture as this4 ,he knew that this narrative would be read by thousands and millions of mankind2 that they would take it from ,his lips as absolute truth2 that they would inevitably infer from it1 that the souls of men do verily live after death1 that some of them are in bliss and some of them are in pain1 and that the difference between them is due to the difference in the lives which they lead here upon earth4 ,now1 if ,christ was ignorant upon these subjects1 ,he had no right to make such representations and to give such impressions1 even through a merely imaginary narrative4 ,and still less could ,he be justified in so doing1 if1 being perfectly informed upon the subject1 ,he knew that there is no such place as that in which ,he puts the luxurious ,dives1 and no such impassable gulf as that of which ,he speaks4 ,it will not do1 here1 to employ the ,jesuitical maxim that the end justifies the means1 and say1 as some teachers have said1 that the wholesome impression that will be made upon the vicious and the profligate justifies an appeal to their fears1 by preaching the doctrine of endless retribution1 although there is no such thing4 ,this was a fatal error in the teachings of ,clement of ,alexandria1 and ,origen4 ,god threatens1--said they1--and punishes1 but only to improve1 never for purposes of retribution2 and though1 in public discourse1 the fruitlessness of repentance after death be asserted1 yet hereafter not only those who have not heard of ,christ will receive forgiveness1 but the severer punishment which befalls the obstinate unbelievers will1 it may be hoped1 not be the conclusion of their history4#a ,but can we suppose that such a sincere1 such a truthful and such a holy ,being as the ,son of ,god would stoop to any such artifice as this8 that ,he who called ,himself ,the ,truth would employ a lie1 either directly or indirectly1 even to promote the spiritual welfare of men8 ,he never spake for mere sensation4 ,the fact1 then1 that in this solemn passage of ,scripture we find the ,redeemer calmly describing and minutely picturing the condition of two persons in the future world1 distinctly specifying the points of difference between them1 putting words into their mouths that indicate a sad and hopeless experience in one of them1 and a glad and happy one in the other of them1--the fact that in this treatment of the awful theme our ,lord1 beyond all controversy1 conveys the impression that these scenes and experiences are real and true1--is one of the strongest of all proofs that they are so4 ,the reader of ,dante's ,inferno is always struck with the sincerity and realism of that poem4 ,under the delineation of that luminous1 and that intense understanding1 hell has a topographic reality4 ,we wind along down those nine circles as down a volcanic crater1 black1 jagged1 precipitous1 and impinging upon the senses at every step4 ,the sighs and shrieks jar our own tympanum2 and the convulsions of the lost excite tremors in our own nerves4 ,no wonder that the children in the streets of ,florence1 as they saw the sad and earnest man pass along1 his face lined with passion and his brow scarred with thought1 pointed at him and said3 ,there goes the man who has been in hell4 ,but how infinitely more solemn is the impression that is made by these thirteen short verses1 of the sixteenth chapter of ,luke's gospel1 from the lips of such a ,being as ,jesus ,christ6 ,we have here the terse and pregnant teachings of one who1 in the phrase of the early ,creed1 not only descended into hell1 but who hath the keys of death and hell4 ,we have here not the utterances of the most truthful1 and the most earnest of all human poets1--a man who1 we may believe1 felt deeply the power of the ,hebrew ,bible1 though living in a dark age1 and a superstitious ,church1--we have here the utterances of the ,son of ,god1 very ,god1 of very ,god1 and we may be certain that ,he intended to convey no impression that will not be made good in the world to come4 ,and when every eye shall see ,him1 and all the sinful kindreds of the earth shall wail because of ,him1 there will not be any eye that can look into ,his and say3 ,thy description1 ,o ,son of ,god1 was overdrawn2 the impression was greater than the reality4 ,on the contrary1 every human soul will say in the day of judgment3 ,we were forewarned2 the statements were exact2 even according to ,thy fear1 so is ,thy wrath 7,ps4 xc4 #aa74 ,but what is the lesson which we are to read by this clear and solemn light8 ,what would our merciful ,redeemer have us learn from this passage which ,he has caused to be recorded for our instruction8 ,let us listen with a candid and a feeling heart1 because it comes to us not from an enemy of the human soul1 not from a ,being who delights to cast it into hell1 but from a friend of the soul2 because it comes to us from ,one who1 in ,his own person and in ,his own flesh1 suffered an anguish superior in dignity and equal in cancelling power to the pains of all the hells1 in order that we1 through repentance and faith1 might be spared their infliction4 ,the lesson is this3 ,the man who seeks enjoyment in this life1 as his chief end1 must suffer in the next life2 and he who endures suffering in this life1 for righteousness' sake1 shall be happy in the next4 ,son1 remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things1 and likewise ,lazarus evil things2 but now he is comforted1 and thou art tormented4 ,it is a fixed principle in the ,divine administration1 that the scales of justice shall in the end be made equal4 ,if1 therefore1 sin enjoys in this world1 it must sorrow in the next2 and if righteousness sorrows in this world1 it must enjoy in the next4 ,the experience shall be reversed1 in order to bring everything to a right position and adjustment4 ,this is everywhere taught in the ,bible4 ,woe unto you that are rich6 for ye have received your consolation4 ,woe unto you that are full6 for ye shall hunger4 ,woe unto you that laugh now6 for ye shall mourn and weep4 ,blessed are ye that hunger now2 for ye shall be filled4 ,blessed are ye that weep now2 for ye shall laugh 7,luke vi4 #ba1 #bd1 #be74 ,these are the explicit declarations of the ,founder of ,christianity1 and they ought not to surprise us1 coming as they do from ,him who expressly declares that ,his kingdom is not of this world2 that in this world ,his disciples must have tribulation1 as ,he had2 that through much tribulation they must enter into the kingdom of ,god2 that whosoever doth not take up the cross daily1 and follow ,him1 cannot be ,his disciple4 ,let us notice some particulars1 in which we see the operation of this principle4 ,what are the good things which ,dives receives here1 for which he must be tormented hereafter8 and what are the evil things which ,lazarus receives in this world1 for which he will be comforted in the world to come8 ,i4 ,in the first place1 the worldly man derives a more intense physical enjoyment from this world's goods1 than does the child of ,god4 ,he possesses more of them1 and gives himself up to them with less self-restraint4 ,the majority of those who have been most prospered by ,divine ,providence in the accumulation of wealth have been outside of the kingdom and the ark of ,god4 ,not many rich and not many noble are called4 ,in the past history of mankind1 the great possessions and the great incomes1 as a general rule1 have not been in the hands of humble and penitent men4 ,in the great centres of trade and commerce1--in ,venice1 ,amsterdam1 ,paris1 ,london1--it is the world and not the people of ,god who have had the purse1 and have borne what is put therein4 ,satan is described in ,scripture1 as the prince of this world 7,john xiv4 #cj72 and his words addressed to the ,son of ,god are true3 ,all this power and glory is delivered unto me1 and to whomsoever ,i will1 ,i give it4 ,in the parable from which we are discoursing1 the sinful man was the rich man1 and the child of ,god was the beggar4 ,and how often do we see1 in every-day life1 a faithful1 prayerful1 upright1 and pure-minded man1 toiling in poverty1 and so far as earthly comforts are concerned enjoying little or nothing1 while a selfish1 pleasure-seeking1 and profligate man is immersed in physical comforts and luxuries4 ,the former is receiving evil things1 and the latter is receiving good things1 in this life4 ,again1 how often it happens that a fine physical constitution1 health1 strength1 and vigor1 are given to the worldling1 and are denied to the child of ,god4 ,the possession of worldly good is greatly enhanced in value1 by a fine capability of enjoying it4 ,when therefore we see wealth joined1 with health1 and luxury in all the surroundings and appointments combined with taste to appreciate them and a full flow of blood to enjoy them1 or access to wide and influential circles1 in politics and fashion1 given to one who is well fitted by personal qualities to move in them1--when we see a happy adaptation existing between the man and his good fortune1 as we call it1--we see not only the good things1 but the good things in their gayest and most attractive forms and colors4 ,and how often is all this observed in the instance of the natural man2 and how often is there little or none of this in the instance of the spiritual man4 ,we by no means imply1 that it is impossible for the possessor of this world's goods to love mercy1 to do justly1 and to walk humbly2 and we are well aware that under the garb of poverty and toil there may beat a murmuring and rebellious heart4 ,but we think that from generation to generation1 in this imperfect and probationary world1 it will be found to be a fact1 that when merely earthly and physical good is allotted in large amounts by the providence of ,god2 that when great incomes and ample means of luxury are given2 in the majority of instances they are given to the enemies of ,god1 and not to ,his dear children4 ,so the ,psalmist seems to have thought4 ,i was envious1--he says1--when ,i saw the prosperity of the wicked4 ,for there are no bands in their death2 but their strength is firm4 ,they are not in trouble as other men2 neither are they plagued like other men4 ,therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain2 violence covereth them as a garment4 ,their eyes stand out with fatness2 they have more than heart could wish4 ,behold these are the ungodly who prosper in the world2 they increase in riches4 ,verily ,i have cleansed my heart in vain1 and washed my hands in innocency4 ,for all day long have ,i been plagued1 and chastened every morning 7,ps4 lxxiii74 ,and it should be carefully noticed1 that the ,psalmist1 even after further reflection1 does not alter his statement respecting the relative positions of the godly and the ungodly in this world4 ,he sees no reason to correct his estimate1 upon this point4 ,he lets it stand4 ,so far as this merely physical existence is concerned1 the wicked man has the advantage4 ,it is only when the ,psalmist looks beyond this life1 that he sees the compensation1 and the balancing again of the scales of eternal right and justice4 ,when ,i thought to know this1--when ,i reflected upon this inequality1 and apparent injustice1 in the treatment of the friends and the enemies of ,god1--it was too painful for me1 until ,i went into the sanctuary of ,god1--until ,i took my stand in the eternal world1 and formed my estimate there1--then understood ,i their end4 ,surely thou didst set them in slippery places3 thou castedst them down to destruction4 ,how are they brought into desolation as in a moment6 ,they are utterly consumed with terrors4 ,dives passes from his fine linen and sumptuous fare1 from his excessive physical enjoyment1 to everlasting perdition4 ,,ii4 ,in the second place1 the worldly man derives more enjoyment from sin1 and suffers less from it1 in this life1 than does the child of ,god4 ,the really renewed man cannot enjoy sin4 ,it is true that he does sin1 owing to the strength of old habits1 and the remainders of his corruption4 ,but he does not really delight in it2 and he says with ,st4 ,paul3 ,what ,i would1 that do ,i not2 but what ,i hate1 that do ,i4 ,his sin is a sorrow1 a constant sorrow1 to him4 ,he feels its pressure and burden all his days1 and cries3 ,o wretched man1 who shall deliver me from the body of this death4 ,if he falls into it1 he cannot live in it2 as a man may fall into water1 but it is not his natural element4 ,again1 the good man not only takes no real delight in sin1 but his reflections after transgression are very painful4 ,he has a tender conscience4 ,his senses have been trained and disciplined to discern good and evil4 ,hence1 the sins that are committed by a child of ,god are mourned over with a very deep sorrow4 ,the longer he lives1 the more odious does sin become to him1 and the more keen and bitter is his lamentation over it4 ,now this1 in itself1 is an evil thing4 ,man was not made for sorrow1 and sorrow is not his natural condition4 ,this wearisome struggle with indwelling corruption1 these reproaches of an impartial conscience1 this sense of imperfection and of constant failure in the service of ,god1--all this renders the believer's life on earth a season of trial1 and tribulation4 ,the thought of its lasting forever would be painful to him2 and if he should be told that it is the will of ,god1 that he should continue to be vexed and foiled through all eternity1 with the motions of sin in his members1 and that his love and obedience would forever be imperfect1 though he would be thankful that even this was granted him1 and that he was not utterly cast off1 yet he would wear a shaded brow1 at the prospect of an imperfect1 though a sincere and a struggling eternity4 ,but the ungodly are not so4 ,the worldly man loves sin2 loves pleasure2 loves self4 ,and the love is so strong1 and accompanied with so much enjoyment and zest1 that it is lust1 and is so denominated in the ,bible4 ,and if you would only defend him from the wrath of ,god2 if you would warrant him immunity in doing as he likes2 if you could shelter him as in an inaccessible castle from the retributions of eternity2 with what a delirium of pleasure would he plunge into the sin that he loves4 ,tell the avaricious man1 that his avarice shall never have any evil consequences here or hereafter2 and with what an energy would he apply himself to the acquisition of wealth4 ,tell the luxurious man1 full of passion and full of blood1 that his pleasures shall never bring down any evil upon him1 that there is no power in the universe that can hurt him1 and with what an abandonment would he surrender himself to his carnal elysium4 ,tell the ambitious man1 fired with visions of fame and glory1 that he may banish all fears of a final account1 that he may make himself his own deity1 and breathe in the incense of worshipers1 without any rebuke from ,him who says3 ,i am ,god1 and my glory ,i will not give to another1-assure the proud and ambitious man that his sin will never find him out1 and with what a momentum will he follow out his inclination4 ,for1 in each of these instances there is a hankering and a lust4 ,the sin is loved and revelled in1 for its own deliciousness4 ,the heart is worldly1 and therefore finds its pleasure in its forbidden objects and aims4 ,the instant you propose to check or thwart this inclination2 the instant you try to detach this natural heart from its wealth1 or its pleasure1 or its earthly fame2 you discover how closely it clings1 and how strongly it loves1 and how intensely it enjoys the forbidden object4 ,like the greedy insect in our gardens1 it has fed until every fibre and tissue is colored with its food2 and to remove it from the leaf is to tear and lacerate it4 ,now it is for this reason1 that the natural man receives good things1 or experiences pleasure1 in this life1 at a point where the spiritual man receives evil things1 or experiences pain4 ,the child of ,god does not relish and enjoy sin in this style4 ,sin in the good man is a burden2 but in the bad man it is a pleasure4 ,it is all the pleasure he has4 ,and when you propose to take it away from him1 or when you ask him to give it up of his own accord1 he looks at you and asks3 ,will you take away the only solace ,i have8 ,i have no joy in ,god4 ,i take no enjoyment in divine things4 ,do you ask me to make myself wholly miserable8 ,and not only does the natural man enjoy sin1 but1 in this life1 he is much less troubled than is the spiritual man with reflections and self-reproaches on account of sin4 ,this is another of the good things which ,dives receives1 for which he must be tormented2 and this is another of the evil things which ,lazarus receives1 for which he must be comforted4 ,it cannot be denied1 that in this world the child of ,god suffers more mental sorrow for sin1 in a given period of time1 than does the insensible man of the world4 ,if we could look into the soul of a faithful disciple of ,christ1 we should discover that not a day passes1 in which his conscience does not reproach him for sins of thought1 word1 or deed2 in which he does not struggle with some bosom sin1 until he is so weary that he cries out3 ,oh that ,i had wings like a dove1 so that ,i might fly away1 and be at rest4 ,some of the most exemplary members of the ,church go mourning from day to day1 because their hearts are still so far from their ,god and ,saviour1 and their lives fall so far short of what they desire them to be4#b ,their experience is not a positively wretched one1 like that of an unforgiven sinner when he is feeling the stings of conscience4 ,they are forgiven4 ,the expiating blood has soothed the ulcerated conscience1 so that it no longer stings and burns4 ,they have hope in ,god's mercy4 ,still1 they are in grief and sorrow for sin2 and their experience1 in so far1 is not a perfectly happy one1 such as will ultimately be their portion in a better world4 ,if in this life only1--says ,st4 ,paul1--we have hope in ,christ1 we are of all men most miserable 7#a ,cor4 xv4 #ai74 ,but the stupid and impenitent man1 a luxurious ,dives1 knows nothing of all this4 ,his days glide by with no twinges of conscience4 ,what does he know of the burden of sin8 ,his conscience is dead asleep2 perchance seared as with a hot iron4 ,he does wrong without any remorse2 he disobeys the express commands of ,god1 without any misgivings or self-reproach4 ,he is alive1 without the law1-as ,st4 ,paul expresses it4 ,his eyes stand out with fatness2 and his heart1 in the ,psalmist's phrase1 is as fat as grease 7,ps4 cxix4 #gj74 ,there is no religious sensibility in him4 ,his sin is a pleasure to him without any mixture of sorrow1 because unattended by any remorse of conscience4 ,he is receiving his good things in this life4 ,his days pass by without any moral anxiety1 and perchance as he looks upon some meek and earnest disciple of ,christ who is battling with indwelling sin1 and who1 therefore1 sometimes wears a grave countenance1 he wonders that any one should walk so soberly1 so gloomily1 in such a cheery1 such a happy1 such a jolly world as this4 ,it is a startling fact1 that those men in this world who have most reason to be distressed by sin are the least troubled by it2 and those who have the least reason to be distressed are the most troubled by it4 ,the child of ,god is the one who sorrows most2 and the child of ,satan is the one who sorrows least4 ,remember that we are speaking only of this life4 ,the text reads3 ,thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things1 and likewise ,lazarus evil things4 ,and it is unquestionably so4 ,the meek and lowly disciple of ,christ1 the one who is most entitled by his character and conduct to be untroubled by religious anxiety1 is the very one who bows his head as a bulrush1 and perhaps goes mourning all his days1 fearing that he is not accepted1 and that he shall be a cast-a-way2 while the selfish and thoroughly irreligious man1 who ought to be stung through and through by his own conscience1 and feel the full energy of the law which he is continually breaking1--this man1 who of all men ought to be anxious and distressed for sin1 goes through a whole lifetime1 perchance1 without any convictions or any fears4 ,and now we ask1 if this state of things ought to last forever8 ,is it right1 is it just1 that sin should enjoy in this style forever and forever1 and that holiness should grieve and sorrow in this style forevermore8 ,would you have the ,almighty pay a bounty upon unrighteousness1 and place goodness under eternal pains and penalties8 ,ought not this state of things to be reversed8 ,when ,dives comes to the end of this lifetime2 when he has run his round of earthly pleasure1 faring sumptuously every day1 clothed in purple and fine linen1 without a thought of his duties and obligations1 and without any anxiety and penitence for his sins1--when this worldly man has received all his good things1 and is satiated and hardened by them1 ought he not then to be tormented8 ,ought this guilty carnal enjoyment to be perpetuated through all eternity1 under the government of a righteous and just ,god8 ,and1 on the other hand1 ought not the faithful disciple1 who1 perhaps1 has possessed little or nothing of this world's goods1 who has toiled hard1 in poverty1 in affliction1 in temptation1 in tribulation1 and sometimes like ,abraham in the horror of a great darkness1 to keep his robes white1 and his soul unspotted from the world1--when the poor and weary ,lazarus comes to the end of this lifetime1 ought not his trials and sorrows to cease8 ought he not then to be comforted in the bosom of ,abraham1 in the paradise of ,god8 ,there is that within us all1 which answers1 ,yea1 and ,amen4 ,such a balancing of the scales is assented to1 and demanded by the moral convictions4 ,hence1 in the parable1 ,dives himself is represented as acquiescing in the eternal judgment4 ,he does not complain of injustice4 ,it is true1 that at first he asks for a drop of water1--for some slight mitigation of his punishment4 ,this is the instinctive request of any sufferer4 ,but when his attention is directed to the right and the wrong of the case2 when ,abraham reminds him of the principles of justice by which his destiny has been decided2 when he tells him that having taken his choice of pleasure in the world which he has left1 he cannot now have pleasure in the world to which he has come2 the wretched man makes no reply4 ,there is nothing to be said4 ,he feels that the procedure is just4 ,he is then silent upon the subject of his own tortures1 and only begs that his five brethren1 whose lifetime is not yet run out1 to whom there is still a space left for repentance1 may be warned from his own lips not to do as he has done1--not to choose pleasure on earth as their chief good2 not to take their good things in this life4 ,dives1 the man in hell1 is a witness to the justice of eternal punishment4 #a4 ,in view of this subject1 as thus discussed1 we remark in the first place1 that no man can have his good things1 in other words1 his chief pleasure1 in both worlds4 ,god and this world are in antagonism4 ,for all that is in the world1 the lust of the flesh1 the lust of the eyes1 and the pride of life1 is not of the ,father1 but is of the world4 ,if any man love the world1 the love of the ,father is not in him 7#a ,john i4 #ae1 #af74 ,it is the height of folly1 therefore1 to suppose that a man can make earthly enjoyment his chief end while he is upon earth1 and then pass to heaven when he dies4 ,just so far as he holds on upon the good things of this life1 he relaxes his grasp upon the good things of the next4 ,no man is capacious enough to hold both worlds in his embrace4 ,he cannot serve ,god and ,mammon4 ,look at this as a matter of fact4 ,do not take it as a theory of the preacher4 ,it is as plain and certain that you cannot lay up your treasure in heaven while you are laying it up upon earth1 as it is that your material bodies cannot occupy two portions of space at one and the same time4 ,dismiss1 therefore1 all expectations of being able to accomplish an impossibility4 ,put not your mind to sleep with the opiate1 that in some inexplicable manner you will be able to live the life of a worldly man upon earth1 and then the life of a spiritual man in heaven4 ,there is no alchemy that can amalgamate substances that refuse to mix4 ,no man has ever yet succeeded1 no man ever will succeed1 in securing both the pleasures of sin and the pleasures of holiness1--in living the life of ,dives1 and then going to the bosom of ,abraham4 #b4 ,and this leads to the second remark1 that every man must make his choice whether he will have his good things now1 or hereafter4 ,every man is making his choice4 ,every man has already made it4 ,the heart is now set either upon ,god1 or upon the world4 ,search through the globe1 and you cannot find a creature with double affections2 a creature with two chief ends of living2 a creature whose treasure is both upon earth and in heaven4 ,all mankind are single-minded4 ,they either mind earthly things1 or heavenly things4 ,they are inspired with one predominant purpose1 which rules them1 determines their character1 and decides their destiny4 ,and in all who have not been renewed by ,divine grace1 the purpose is a wrong one1 a false and fatal one4 ,it is the choice and the purpose of ,dives1 and not the choice and purpose of ,lazarus4 #c4 ,hence1 we remark in the third place1 that it is the duty and the wisdom of every man to let this world go1 and seek his good things hereafter4 ,our ,lord commands every man to sit down1 like the steward in the parable1 and make an estimate4 ,he enjoins it upon every man to reckon up the advantages upon each side1 and see for himself which is superior4 ,he asks every man what it will profit him1 if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul2 or1 what he shall give in exchange for his soul4 ,we urge you to make this estimate1--to compare the good things which ,dives enjoyed1 with the torments that followed them2 and the evil things which ,lazarus suffered1 with the comfort that succeeded them4 ,there can be no doubt upon which side the balance will fall4 ,and we urge you to take the evil things now1 and the good things hereafter4 ,we entreat you to copy the example of ,moses at the court of the ,pharaohs1 and in the midst of all regal luxury1 who chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of ,god1 than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season2 esteeming the reproach of ,christ1 greater riches than the treasures in ,egypt3 for he had respect unto the recompense of reward4 ,take the narrow way4 ,what though it be strait and narrow2 you are not to walk in it forever4 ,a few short years of fidelity will end the toilsome pilgrimage2 and then you will come put into a wealthy place4 ,we might tell you of the joys of the ,christian life that are mingled with its trials and sorrows even here upon earth4 ,for1 this race to which we invite you1 and this fight to which we call you have their own peculiar1 solemn1 substantial joy4 ,and even their sorrow is tinged with glory4 ,in a higher1 truer sense than ,protesilaus in the poem says it of the pagan elysium1 we may say even of the ,christian race1 and the ,christian fight1 ,calm pleasures there abide--majestic pains4#c ,but we do not care1 at this point1 to influence you by a consideration of the amount of enjoyment1 in this life1 which you will derive from a close and humble walk with ,god4 ,we prefer to put the case in its baldest form1--in the aspect in which we find it in our text4 ,we will say nothing at all about the happiness of a ,christian life1 here in time4 ,we will talk only of its tribulations4 ,we will only say1 as in the parable1 that there are evil things to be endured here upon earth1 in return for which we shall have good things in another life4 ,there is to be a moderate and sober use of this world's goods2 there is to be a searching sense of sin1 and an humble confession of it before ,god2 there is to be a cross-bearing every day1 and a struggle with indwelling corruption4 ,these will cost effort1 watchfulness1 and earnest prayer for ,divine assistance4 ,we do not invite you into the kingdom of ,god1 without telling you frankly and plainly beforehand what must be done1 and what must be suffered4 ,but having told you this1 we then tell you with the utmost confidence and assurance1 that you will be infinitely repaid for your choice1 if you take your evil things in this life1 and choose your good things in a future4 ,we know1 and are certain1 that this light affliction which endures but for a moment1 in comparison with the infinite duration beyond the tomb1 will work out a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory4 ,we entreat you to look no longer at the things which are seen1 but at the things which are not seen2 for the things that are seen are temporal1 but the things that are not seen are eternal4 ,learn a parable from a wounded soldier4 ,his limb must be amputated1 for mortification and gangrene have begun their work4 ,he is told that the surgical operation1 which will last a half hour1 will yield him twenty or forty years of healthy and active life4 ,the endurance of an evil thing1 for a few moments1 will result in the possession of a good thing1 for many long days and years4 ,he holds out the limb1 and submits to the knife4 ,he accepts the inevitable conditions under which he finds himself4 ,he is resolute and stern1 in order to secure a great good1 in the future4 ,it is the practice of this same principle1 though not in the use of the same kind of power1 that we would urge upon you4 ,look up to ,god for grace and help1 and deliberately forego a present advantage1 for the sake of something infinitely more valuable hereafter4 ,do not1 for the sake of the temporary enjoyment of ,dives1 lose the eternal happiness of ,lazarus4 ,rather1 take the place1 and accept the evil things1 of the beggar4 ,look up to ,god for grace and strength to do it1 and then live a life of contrition for sin1 and faith in ,christ's blood4 ,deny yourself1 and take up the cross daily4 ,expect your happiness hereafter4 ,lay up your treasure above4 ,then1 in the deciding day1 it will be said of you1 as it will be of all the true children of ,god3 ,these are they which came out of great tribulation1 and have washed their robes1 and made them white in the blood of the ,lamb4 ,footnote #a3 ,,shedd3 ,history of ,doctrine1 ,,ii41 #bcd sq4 ,footnote #b3 ,the early religious experience of ,john ,owen furnishes a striking illustration4 ,for a quarter of a year1 he avoided almost all intercourse with men2 could scarcely be induced to speak2 and when he did say anything1 it was in so disordered a manner as rendered him a wonder to many4 ,only those who have experienced the bitterness of a wounded spirit can form an idea of the distress he must have suffered4 ,compared with this anguish of soul1 all the afflictions which befall a sinner on earth are trifles4 ,one drop of that wrath which shall finally fill the cup of the ungodly1 poured into the mind1 is enough to poison all the comforts of life1 and to spread mourning1 lamentation1 and woe over the countenance4 ,though the violence of ,owen's convictions had subsided after the first severe conflict1 they still continued to disturb his peace1 and nearly five years elapsed from their commencement before he obtained solid comfort4 ,,orme3 ,life of ,owen1 ,chap4 ,i4 ,footnote #c3 ,,wordsworth3 ,laodamia4 ,,the ,,exercise ,,of ,,mercy ,,optional ,,with ,,god4 ,,romans ix4 #ae4--;,for ,he saith to ,moses1 ,i will have mercy on whom ,i will have mercy1 and ,i will have compassion on whom ,i will have compassion4 ,this is a part of the description which ,god himself gave to ,moses1 of ,his own nature and attributes4 ,the ,hebrew legislator had said to ,jehovah3 ,i beseech thee show me thy glory4 ,he desired a clear understanding of the character of that ,great ,being1 under whose guidance he was commissioned to lead the people of ,israel into the promised land4 ,god said to him in reply3 ,i will make all my goodness pass before thee1 and ,i will proclaim the name of the ,lord before thee2 and ,i will be gracious to whom ,i will be gracious1 and will shew mercy on whom ,i will shew mercy4#a ,by this1 ,god revealed to ,moses1 and through him to all mankind1 the fact that ,he is a merciful being1 and directs attention to one particular characteristic of mercy4 ,while informing ,his servant1 that ,he is gracious and clement towards a penitent transgressor1 ,he at the same time teaches him that ,he is under no obligation1 or necessity1 to shew mercy4 ,grace is not a debt4 ,i will have mercy on whom ,i will have mercy1 and ,i will have compassion on whom ,i will have compassion4 ,the apostle ,paul quotes this declaration1 to shut the mouth of him who would set up a claim to salvation2 who is too proud to beg for it1 and accept it as a free and unmerited favor from ,god4 ,in so doing1 he endorses the sentiment4 ,the inspiration of his ,epistle corroborates that of the ,pentateuch1 so that we have assurance made doubly sure1 that this is the correct enunciation of the nature of mercy4 ,let us look into this hope-inspiring attribute of ,god1 under the guidance of this text4 ,the great question that presses upon the human mind1 from age to age1 is the inquiry3 ,is ,god a merciful ,being1 and will ,he show mercy8 ,living as we do under the light of ,revelation1 we know little of the doubts and fears that spontaneously rise in the guilty human soul1 when it is left solely to the light of nature to answer it4 ,with the ,bible in our hands1 and hearing the good news of ,redemption from our earliest years1 it seems to be a matter of course that the ,deity should pardon sin4 ,nay1 a certain class of men in ,christendom seem to have come to the opinion that it is more difficult to prove that ,god is just1 than to prove that ,he is merciful4#b ,but this is not the thought and feeling of man when outside of the pale of ,revelation4 ,go into the ancient pagan world1 examine the theologizing of the ,greek and ,roman mind1 and you will discover that the fears of the justice far outnumbered the hopes of the mercy2 that ,plato and ,plutarch and ,cicero and ,tacitus were far more certain that ,god would punish sin1 than that ,he would1 pardon it4 ,this is the reason that there is no light1 or joy1 in any of the pagan religions4 ,except when religion was converted into the worship of ,beauty1 as in the instance of the later ,greek1 and all the solemn and truthful ideas of law and justice were eliminated from it1 every one of the natural religions of the globe is filled with sombre and gloomy hues1 and no others4 ,the truest and best religions of the ancient world were always the sternest and saddest1 because the unaided human mind is certain that ,god is just1 but is not certain that ,he is merciful4 ,when man is outside of ,revelation1 it is by no means a matter of course that ,god is clement1 and that sin shall be forgiven4 ,great uncertainty overhangs the doctrine of the ,divine mercy1 from the position of natural religion1 and it is only within the province of revealed truth that the uncertainty is removed4 ,apart from a distinct and direct promise from the lips of ,god ,himself that ,he will forgive sin1 no human creature can be sure that sin will ever be forgiven4 ,let us1 therefore1 look into the subject carefully1 and see the reason why man1 if left to himself and his spontaneous reflections1 doubts whether there is mercy in the ,holy ,one for a transgressor1 and fears that there is none1 and why a special revelation is consequently required1 to dispel the doubt and the fear4 ,the reason lies in the fact1 implied in the text1 that the exercise of justice is necessary1 while that of mercy is optional4 ,i will have mercy on whom ,i please to have mercy1 and ,i will have compassion on whom ,i please to have compassion4 ,it is a principle inlaid in the structure of the human soul1 that the transgression of law must be visited with retribution4 ,the pagan conscience1 as well as the ,christian1 testifies that the ,soul that sinneth it shall die4 ,there is no need of quoting from pagan philosophers to prove this4 ,we should be compelled to cite page after page1 should we enter upon the documentary evidence4 ,take such a tract1 for example1 as that of ,plutarch1 upon what he denominates the slow vengeance of the ,deity2 read the reasons which he assigns for the apparent delay1 in this world1 of the infliction of punishment upon transgressors2 and you will perceive that the human mind1 when left to its candid and unbiassed convictions1 is certain that ,god is a holy ,being and will visit iniquity with penalty4 ,throughout this entire treatise1 composed by a man who probably never saw the ,scriptures of either the ,new or the ,old ,dispensation1 there runs a solemn and deep consciousness that the ,deity is necessarily obliged1 by the principles of justice1 to mete out a retribution to the violator of law4 ,plutarch is engaged with the very same question that the apostle ,peter takes up1 in his second ,epistle1 when he answers the objection of the scoffer who asks3 ,where is the promise of ,god's coming in judgment8 ,the apostle replies to it1 by saying that for the ,eternal ,mind one day is as a thousand years1 and a thousand years as one day1 and that therefore the ,lord is not slack concerning ,his promise1 as some men count slackness2 and ,plutarch answers it in a different manner1 but assumes and affirms with the same positiveness and certainty that the vengeance will ultimately come4 ,no reader of this treatise can doubt for a moment1 that its author believed in the future punishment of the wicked1--and in the future endless punishment of the incorrigibly wicked1 because there is not the slightest hint or expectation of any exercise of mercy on the part of this ,divinity whose vengeance1 though slow1 is sure and inevitable4#c ,some theorists tell us that the doctrine of endless punishment contradicts the instincts of the natural reason1 and that it has no foundation in the constitution of the human soul4 ,we invite them to read and ponder well1 the speculations of one of the most thoughtful of pagans upon this subject1 and tell us if they see any streaks or rays of light in it2 if they see any inkling1 any jot or tittle1 of the doctrine of the ,divine pity there4 ,we challenge them to discover in this tract of ,plutarch the slightest token1 or sign1 of the ,divine mercy4 ,the author believes in a hell for the wicked1 and an elysium for the good2 but those who go to hell go there upon principles of justice1 and those who go to elysium go there upon the same principles4 ,it is justice that must place men in ,tartarus1 and it is justice that must place them in ,elysium4 ,in paganism1 men must earn their heaven4 ,the idea of mercy1--of clemency towards a transgressor1 of pity towards a criminal1--is entirely foreign to the thoughts of ,plutarch1 so far as they can be gathered from this tract4 ,it is the clear and terrible doctrine of the pagan sage1 that unless a man can make good his claim to eternal happiness upon the ground of law and justice1--unless he merits it by good works1--there is no hope for him in the other world4 ,the idea of a forgiving and tender mercy in the ,supreme ,being1 exercised towards a creature whom justice would send to eternal retribution1 nowhere appears in the best pagan ethics4 ,and why should it8 ,what evidence or proof has the human mind1 apart from the revelations made to it in the ,old and ,new ,testaments1 that ,god will ever forgive sin1 or ever show mercy8 ,in thinking upon the subject1 our reason perceives1 intuitively1 that ,god must of necessity punish transgression2 and it perceives with equal intuitiveness that there is no corresponding necessity that ,he should pardon it4 ,we say with confidence and positiveness3 ,god must be just2 but we cannot say with any certainty or confidence at all3 ,god must be merciful4 ,the ,divine mercy is an attribute which is perfectly free and optional1 in its exercises1 and therefore we cannot tell beforehand whether it will or will not be shown to transgressors4 ,we know nothing at all about it1 until we hear some word from the lips of ,god ,himself upon the point4 ,when ,he opens the heavens1 and speaks in a clear tone to the human race1 saying1 ,i will forgive your iniquities1 then1 and not till then1 do they know the fact4 ,in reference to all those procedures which1 like the punishment of transgression1 are fixed and necessary1 because they are founded in the eternal principles of law and justice1 we can tell beforehand what the ,divine method will be4 ,we do not need any special revelation1 to inform us that ,god is a just ,being1 and that ,his anger is kindled against wickedness1 and that ,he will punish the transgressor4 ,this class of truths1 the ,apostle informs us1 are written in the human constitution1 and we have already seen that they were known and dreaded in the pagan world4 ,that which ,god must do1 ,he certainly will do4 ,he must be just1 and therefore ,he certainly will punish sin1 is the reasoning of the human mind1 the-world over1 and in every age4#d ,but1 when we pass from the punishment of sin to the pardon of it1 when we go over to the merciful side of the ,divine ,nature1 we can come to no certain conclusions1 if we are shut up to the workings of our own minds1 or to the teachings of the world of nature about us4 ,picture to yourself a thoughtful pagan1 like ,solon the legislator of ,athens1 living in the heart of heathenism five centuries before ,christ1 and knowing nothing of the promise of mercy which broke faintly through the heavens immediately after the apostasy of the first human pair1 and which found its full and victorious utterance in the streaming1 blood of ,calvary4 ,suppose that the accusing and condemning law written1 upon his conscience had shown its work1 and made him conscious of sin4 ,suppose that the question had risen within him1 whether that ,dread ,being whom he ignorantly worshipped1 and against whom he had committed the offence1 would forgive it2 was there anything in his own soul1 was there anything in the world around him or above him1 that could give him an affirmative answer8 ,the instant he put the question3 ,will ,god punish me for my transgression8 the affirming voices were instantaneous and authoritative4 ,the soul that sinneth it shall die was the verdict that came forth from the recesses of his moral nature1 and was echoed and re-echoed in the suffering1 pain1 and physical death of a miserable and groaning world all around him4 ,but when he put the other question to himself3 ,will the ,deity pardon me for my transgression8 there was no affirmative answer from any source of knowledge accessible to him4 ,if he sought a reply from the depths of his own conscience1 all that he could hear was the terrible utterance3 ,the soul that sinneth it shall die4 ,the human conscience can no more promise1 or certify1 the forgiveness of sin1 than the ten commandments can do so4 ,when1 therefore1 this pagan1 convicted of sin1 seeks a comforting answer to his anxious inquiry respecting the ,divine clemency towards a criminal1 he is met only with retributive thunders and lightnings2 he hears only that accusing and condemning law which is written on the heart1 and experiences that fearful looking-for of judgment and fiery indignation which ,st4 ,paul describes1 in the first chapter of ,romans1 as working in the mind of the universal pagan world4 ,but we need not go to ,solon1 and the pagan world1 for evidence upon this subject4 ,why is it that a convicted man under the full light of the gospel1 and with the unambiguous and explicit promise of ,god to forgive sins ringing in his ears1--why is it1 that even under these favorable circumstances a guilt-smitten man finds it so difficult to believe that there is mercy for him1 and to trust in it8 ,nay1 why is it that he finds it impossible fully to believe that ,jehovah is a sin-pardoning ,god1 unless he is enabled so to do by the ,holy ,ghost8 ,it is because he knows that ,god is under a necessity of punishing his sin1 but is under no necessity of pardoning it4 ,the very same judicial principles are operating in his mind that operate in that of a pagan ,solon1 or any other transgressor outside of the revelation of mercy4 ,that which holds back the convicted sinner from casting himself upon the ,divine pity is the perception that ,god must be just4 ,this fact is certain1 whether anything else is certain or not4 ,and it is not until he perceives that ,god can be both just and the justifier of him that believeth in ,jesus2 it is not until he sees that1 through the substituted sufferings of ,christ1 ,god can punish sin while at the same time ,he pardons it1--can punish it in the ,substitute while ,he pardons it in the sinner1--it is not until he is enabled to apprehend the doctrine of vicarious atonement1 that his doubts and fears respecting the possibility and reality of the ,divine mercy are removed4 ,the instant he discovers that the exercise of pardon is rendered entirely consistent with the justice of ,god1 by the substituted death of the ,son of ,god1 he sees the ,divine mercy1 and that too in the high form of self-sacrifice1 and trusts in it1 and is at peace4 ,these considerations are sufficient to show1 that according to the natural and spontaneous operations of the human intellect1 justice stands in the way of the exercise of mercy1 and that therefore1 if man is not informed by ,divine ,revelation respecting this latter attribute1 he can never acquire the certainty that ,god will forgive his sin4 ,there are two very important and significant inferences from this truth1 to which we now ask serious attention4 #a4 ,in the first place1 those who deny the credibility1 and ,divine authority1 of the ,scriptures of the ,old and ,new ,testaments shut up the whole world to doubt and despair4 ,for1 unless ,god has spoken the word of mercy in this written ,revelation1 ,he has not spoken it anywhere2 and we have seen1 that unless ,he has spoken such a merciful word somewhere1 no human transgressor can be certain of anything but stark unmitigated justice and retribution4 ,do you tell us that ,god is too good to punish men1 and that therefore it must be that ,he is merciful8 ,we tell you1 in reply1 that ,god is good when ,he punishes sin1 and your own conscience1 like that of ,plutarch1 re-echoes the reply4 ,sin is a wicked thing1 and when the ,holy ,one visits it with retribution1 ,he is manifesting the purest moral excellence and the most immaculate perfection of character that we can conceive of4 ,but if by goodness you mean mercy1 then we say that this is the very point in dispute1 and you must not beg the point but must prove it4 ,and now1 if you deny the authority and credibility of the ,scriptures of the ,old and ,new ,testaments1 we ask you upon what ground you venture to affirm that ,god will pardon man's sin4 ,you cannot demonstrate it upon any a priori and necessary principles4 ,you cannot show that the ,deity is obligated to remit the penalty due to transgression4 ,you can prove the necessity of the exercise of justice1 but you cannot prove the necessity of the exercise of mercy4 ,it is purely optional with ,god1 whether to pardon or not4 ,if1 therefore1 you cannot establish the fact of the ,divine clemency by a priori reasoning1--if you cannot make out a necessity for the exercise of mercy1--you must betake yourself to the only other method of proof that remains to you1 the method of testimony4 ,if you have the declaration and promise of ,god1 that ,he will forgive iniquity1 transgression1 and sin1 you may be certain of the fact1--as certain as you would be1 could you prove the absolute necessity of the exercise of mercy4 ,for ,god's promise cannot be broken4 ,god's testimony is sure4 ,but1 by the supposition1 you deny that this declaration has been made1 and this promise has been uttered1 in the written ,revelation of the ,christian ,church4 ,where then do you send me for the information1 and the testimony8 ,have you a private revelation of your own8 ,has the ,deity spoken to you in particular1 and told you that ,he will forgive your sin1 and my sin1 and that of all the generations8 ,unless this declaration has been made either to you or to some other one1 we have seen that you cannot establish the certainty that ,god will forgive sin4 ,it is a purely optional matter with ,him1 and whether ,he will or no depends entirely upon ,his decision1 determination1 and declaration4 ,if ,he says that ,he will pardon sin1 it will certainly be done4 ,but until ,he says it1 you and every other man must be remanded to the inexorable decisions of conscience which thunder out3 ,the soul that sinneth it shall die4 ,whoever1 therefore1 denies that ,god in the ,scriptures of the ,old and ,new ,testaments has broken through the veil that hides eternity from time1 and has testified to the human race that ,he will forgive sin1 and has solemnly promised to do so1 takes away from the human race the only ground of certainty which they possess1 that there is pity in the heavens1 and that it will be shown to sinful creatures like themselves4 ,but this is to shut them up again1 to the doubt and hopelessness of the pagan world1--a world without ,revelation4 #b4 ,in the second place1 it follows from this subject1 that mankind must take the declaration and promise of ,god1 respecting the exercise of mercy1 precisely as ,he has given it4 ,they must follow the record implicitly1 without any criticisms or alterations4 ,not only does the exercise of mercy depend entirely upon the will and pleasure of ,god1 but1 the mode1 the conditions1 and the length of time during which the offer shall be made1 are all dependent upon the same sovereignty4 ,let us look at these particulars one by one4 ,in the first place1 the method by which the ,divine clemency shall be manifested1 and the conditions upon which the offer of forgiveness shall be made1 are matters that rest solely with ,god4 ,if it is entirely optional with ,him whether to pardon at all1 much more does it depend entirely upon ,him to determine the way and means4 ,it is here that we stop the mouth of him who objects to the doctrine of forgiveness through a vicarious atonement4 ,we will by no means concede1 that the exhibition of mercy through the vicarious satisfaction of justice is an optional matter1 and that ,god might have dispensed with such satisfaction1 had ,he so willed4 ,we believe that the forgiveness of sin is possible even to the ,deity1 only through a substituted sacrifice that completely satisfies the demands of law and justice1--that without the shedding of expiating blood there is no remission of sin possible or conceivable1 under a government of law4 ,but1 without asking the objector to come up to this high ground1 we are willing1 for the sake of the argument1 to go down upon his low one2 and we say1 that even if the metaphysical necessity of an atonement could not be maintained1 and that it is purely optional with ,god whether to employ this method or not1 it would still be the duty and wisdom of man to take the record just as it reads1 and to accept the method that has actually been adopted4 ,if the ,sovereign has a perfect right to say whether ,he will or will not pardon the criminal1 has ,he not the same right to say how ,he will do it8 ,if the transgressor1 upon principles of justice1 could be sentenced to endless misery1 and yet the ,sovereign ,judge concludes to offer him forgiveness and eternal life1 shall the criminal1 the culprit who could not stand an instant in the judgment1 presume to quarrel with the method1 and dictate the terms by which his own pardon shall be secured8 ,even supposing1 then1 that there were no intrinsic necessity for the offering of an infinite sacrifice to satisfy infinite justice1 the ,great ,god might still take the lofty ground of sovereignty1 and say to the criminal3 ,my will shall stand for my reason2 ,i decide to offer you amnesty and eternal joy1 in this mode1 and upon these terms4 ,the reasons for my method are known to myself4 ,take mercy in this method1 or take justice4 ,receive the forgiveness of sin in this mode1 or else receive the eternal and just punishment of sin4 ,can ,i not do what ,i will with mine own8 ,is thine eye evil because ,i am good8 ,god is under no necessity to offer the forgiveness of sin to any criminal upon any terms2 still less is ,he hedged up to a method of forgiveness prescribed by the criminal himself4 ,again1 the same reasoning will apply to the time during which the offer of mercy shall be extended4 ,if it is purely optional with ,god1 whether ,he will pardon my sin at all1 it is also purely optional with ,him to fix the limits within which ,he will exercise the act of pardon4 ,should ,he tell me1 that if ,i would confess and forsake my sins to-day1 ,he would blot them out forever1 but that the gracious offer should be withdrawn tomorrow1 what conceivable ground of complaint could ,i discover8 ,he is under no necessity of extending the pardon at this moment1 and neither is ,he at the next1 or any future one4 ,mercy is grace1 and not debt4 ,now it has pleased ,god1 to limit the period during which the work of ,redemption shall go on4 ,there is a point of time1 for every sinful man1 at which there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin 7,heb4 x4 #bf74 ,the period of ,redemption is confined to earth and time2 and unless the sinner exercises repentance towards ,god and faith in the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 before his spirit returns to ,god who gave it1 there is no redemption for him through eternal ages4 ,this fact we know by the declaration and testimony of ,god2 in the same manner that we know that ,god will exercise mercy at all1 and upon any conditions whatever4 ,we have seen that we cannot establish the fact that the ,deity will forgive sin1 by any a priori reasoning1 but know it only because ,he has spoken a word to this effect1 and given the world ,his promise to be gracious and merciful1 ,in like manner1 we do not establish the fact that there will be no second offer of forgiveness1 in the future world1 by any process of reasoning from the nature of the case1 or the necessity of things4 ,we are willing to concede to the objector1 that for aught that we can see the ,holy ,ghost is as able to take of the things of ,christ1 and show them to a guilty soul1 in the next world1 as ,he is in this4 ,so far as almighty power is concerned1 the ,divine ,spirit could convince men of sin1 and righteousness1 and judgment1 and incline them to repentance and faith1 in eternity as well as in time4 ,and it is equally true1 that the ,divine ,spirit could have prevented the origin of sin itself1 and the fall of ,adam1 with the untold woes that proceed therefrom4 ,but it is not a question of power4 ,it is a question of intention1 of determination1 and of testimony upon the part of ,god4 ,and ,he has distinctly declared in the written ,revelation1 that it is ,his intention to limit the converting and saving influences of ,his ,spirit to time and earth4 ,he tells the whole world unequivocally1 that ,his spirit shall not always strive with man1 and that the day of judgment which occurs at the end of this ,dispensation of grace1 is not a day of pardon but of doom4 ,christ's description of the scenes that will close up this ,redemptive ,economy1--the throne1 the opened books1 the sheep on the right hand and the goats on the left hand1 the words of the ,judge3 ,come ye blessed1 depart ye cursed1--proves beyond controversy that now is the accepted time1 and now is the day of salvation4 ,the utterance of our ,redeeming ,god1 by ,his servant ,david1 is3 ,to-day if ye will hear ,his voice harden not your hearts4 ,st4 ,paul1 in the ,epistle to the ,hebrews1 informs the world1 that as ,god sware that those ,israelites who did not believe and obey ,his servant ,moses1 during their wanderings in the desert1 should not enter the earthly ,canaan1 so those1 in any age and generation of men1 who do not believe and obey ,his ,son ,jesus ,christ1 during their earthly pilgrimage1 shall1 by the same ,divine oath1 be shut out of the eternal rest that remaineth for the people of ,god 7,hebrews iii4 #g-ai74 ,unbelieving men1 in eternity1 will be deprived of the benefits of ,christ's redemption1 by the oath1 the solemn decision1 the judicial determination of ,god4 ,for1 this exercise of mercy1 of which we are speaking1 is not a matter of course1 and of necessity1 and which therefore continues forever and forever4 ,it is optional4 ,god is entirely at liberty to pardon1 or not to pardon4 ,and ,he is entirely at liberty to say when1 and how1 and how long the offer of pardon shall be extended4 ,he had the power to carry the whole body of the people of ,israel over ,jordan1 into the promised land1 but ,he sware that those who proved refractory1 and disobedient1 during a certain definite period of time1 should never enter ,canaan4 ,and1 by ,his apostle1 ,he informs all the generations of men1 that the same principle will govern ,him in respect to the entrance into the heavenly ,canaan4 ,the limiting of the offer of salvation to this life is not founded upon any necessity in the ,divine ,nature1 but1 like the offer of salvation itself1 depends upon the sovereign pleasure and determination of ,god4 ,that pleasure1 and that determination1 have been distinctly made known in the ,scriptures4 ,we know as clearly as we know anything revealed in the ,bible1 that ,god has decided to pardon here in time1 and not to pardon in eternity4 ,he has drawn a line between the present period1 during which ,he makes salvation possible to man1 and the future period1 when ,he will not make it possible4 ,and ,he had a right to draw that line1 because mercy from first to last is the optional1 and not the obligated agency of the ,supreme ,being4 ,therefore1 fear lest1 a promise being left us of entering into ,his rest1 any of you should seem to come short of it4 ,for unto you is the gospel preached1 as well as unto those ,israelites2 but the word1 did not profit them1 not being mixed with faith in them that heard it4 ,neither will it profit you1 unless it is mixed with faith4 ,god limiteth a certain day1 saying in ,david1 ,to-day1 after so long a time1--after these many years of hearing and neglecting the offer of forgiveness1--to-day1 if ye will hear ,his voice1 harden not your hearts4 ,labor1 therefore1 now1 to enter into that rest1 lest any man fall1 after the same example of unbelief1 with those ,israelites whom the oath of ,god shut out of both the earthly and the heavenly ,canaan4 ,footnote #a3 ,compare1 also1 the very full announcement of mercy as a ,divine attribute that was to be exercised1 in ,exodus xxxiv4 #f1 #g4 ,this is the more noteworthy1 as it occurs in connection with the giving of the law4 ,footnote #b3 ,their creed lives in the satire of ,,young 7,universal ,passion4 ,satire ,,vi471--as full of sense1 truth1 and pungency now1 as it was one hundred years ago4 ,from atheists far1 they steadfastly believe ,god is1 and is ,almighty--to forgive4 ,his other excellence they'll not dispute2 ,but mercy1 sure1 is ,his chief attribute4 ,shall pleasures of a short duration chain ,a lady's soul in everlasting pain8 ,will the great ,author us poor worms destroy1 ,for now and then a sip of transient joy8 ,no1 ,he's forever in a smiling mood2 ,he's like themselves2 or how could ,he be good8 ,and they blaspheme1 who blacker schemes suppose4 ,devoutly1 thus1 ,jehovah they depose1 ,the ,pure6 the ,just6 and set up in ,his stead1 ,a deity that's perfectly well-bred4 ,footnote #c3 ,plutarch supposes a form of punishment in the future world that is disciplinary4 ,if it accomplishes its purpose1 the soul goes into ,elysium1--a doctrine like that of purgatory in the ,papal scheme4 ,but in case the person proves incorrigible1 his suffering is endless4 ,he represents an individual as having been restored to life1 and giving an account of what he had seen4 ,among other things1 he informed his friend1 how that ,adrastia1 the daughter of ,jupiter and ,necessity1 was seated in the highest place of all1 to punish all manner of crimes and enormities1 and that in the whole number of the wicked and ungodly there never was any one1 whether great or little1 high or low1 rich or poor1 that could ever by force or cunning escape the severe lashes of her rigor4 ,but as there are three sorts of punishment1 so there are three several ,furies1 or female ministers of justice1 and to every one of these belongs a peculiar office and degree of punishment4 ,the first of these was called ,greek3 ,poinae or ,pain2 whose executions are swift and speedy upon those that are presently to receive bodily punishment in this life1 and which she manages after a more gentle manner1 omitting the correction of slight offences1 which need but little expiation4 ,but if the cure of impiety require a greater labor1 the ,deity delivers those1 after death1 to ,greek3 ,dikae or ,vengeance4 ,but when ,vengeance has given them over as altogether incurable1 then the third and most severe of all ,adrastia's ministers1 ,greek3 ',erinys or ,fury1 takes them in hand1 and after she has chased and coursed them from one place to another1 flying yet not knowing where to fly for shelter and relief1 plagued and tormented with a thousand miseries1 she plunges them headlong into an invisible abyss1 the hideousness of which no tongue can express4 ,,plutarch3 ,morals1 ,vol4 ,,iv4 p4 #baj4 ,ed4 #afid4 ,,plato 7,gorgias #ebe4 c4d4 ,ed4 ,bip4 ,,iv4 #afi7 represents ,socrates as teaching that those who have committed the most extreme wickedness1 and have become incurable through such crimes1 are made an example to others1 and suffer forever 7,greek3 paschontas ton aei chronon7 the greatest1 most agonizing1 and most dreadful punishment4 ,and ,socrates adds that ,homer 7,odyssey xi4 #ege7 also bears witness to this2 for he represents kings and potentates1 ,tantalus1 ,sysiphus1 and ,tityus1 as being tormented forever in ,hades 7,greek3 en adon ton aei chronon timoronmenos74-,in the ,aztec or ,mexican theology1 the wicked1 comprehending the greater part of mankind1 were to expiate their sin in a place of everlasting darkness4 ,,prescott3 ,conquest of ,mexico1 ,vol4 ,i4 p4 #fb4 ,footnote #d3 ,it may be objected1 at this point1 that mercy also is a necessary attribute in ,god1 like justice itself1--that it necessarily belongs to the nature of a perfect ,being1 and therefore might be inferred a priori by the pagan1 like other attributes4 ,this is true2 but the objection overlooks the distinction between the existence of an attribute and its exercise4 ,omnipotence necessarily belongs to the idea of the ,supreme ,being1 but it does not follow that it must necessarily be exerted in act4 ,because ,god is able to create the universe of matter and mind1 it does not follow that he must create it4 ,the doctrine of the necessity of creation1 though held in a few instances by theists who seem not to have discerned its logical consequences1 is virtually pantheistic4 ,had ,god been pleased to dwell forever in the self-sufficiency of ,his ,trinity1 and never called the ,finite into existence from nothing1 ,he might have done so1 and ,he would still have been omnipotent and blessed forever4 ,in like manner1 the attribute of mercy might exist in ,god1 and yet not be exerted4 ,had ,he been pleased to treat the human race as ,he did the fallen angels1 ,he was perfectly at liberty to do so1 and the number and quality of his immanent attributes would have been the same that they are now4 ,but justice is an attribute which not only exists of necessity1 but must be exercised of necessity2 because not to exercise it would be injustice4-,for a fuller exposition of the nature of justice1 see ,,shedd3 ,discourses and ,essays1 pp4 #bia-cjj4 ,,christianity ,,requires ,,the ,,temper ,,of ,,childhood4 ,,mark x4 #ae4--,verily ,i say unto you1 whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of ,god as a little child1 he shall not enter therein4 ,these words of our ,lord are very positive and emphatic1 and will1 therefore1 receive a serious attention from every one who is anxious concerning his future destiny beyond the grave4 ,for1 they mention an indispensable requisite in order to an entrance into eternal life4 ,whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of ,god as a little child1 he shall not enter therein4 ,the occasion of their utterance is interesting1 and brings to view a beautiful feature in the perfect character of ,jesus ,christ4 ,the ,redeemer was deeply interested in every age and condition of man4 ,all classes shared in ,his benevolent affection1 and all may equally partake of the rich blessings that flow from it4 ,but childhood and youth seem to have had a special attraction for ,him4 ,the ,evangelist is careful to inform us1 that ,he took little children in ,his arms1 and that beholding an amiable young man ,he loved him1--a gush of feeling went out towards him4 ,it was because ,christ was a perfect man1 as well as the infinite ,god1 that such a feeling dwelt in ,his breast4 ,for1 there has never been an uncommonly fair and excellent human character1 in which tenderness and affinity for childhood has not been a quality1 and a quality1 too1 that was no small part of the fairness and excellence4 ,the best definition that has yet been given of genius itself is1 that it is the carrying of the feelings of childhood onward into the thoughts and aspirations of manhood4 ,he who is not attracted by the ingenuousness1 and trustfulness1 and simplicity1 of the first period of human life1 is certainly wanting in the finest and most delicate elements of nature1 and character4 ,those who have been coarse and brutish1 those who have been selfish and ambitious1 those who have been the pests and scourges of the world1 have had no sympathy with youth4 ,though once young themselves1 they have been those in whom the gentle and generous emotions of the morning of life have died out4 ,that man may become hardhearted1 skeptical and sensual1 a hater of his kind1 a hater of all that is holy and good1 he must divest himself entirely of the fresh and ingenuous feeling of early boyhood1 and receive in its place that malign and soured feeling which is the growth1 and sign1 of a selfish and disingenuous life4 ,it is related of ,voltaire1--a man in whom evil dwelt in its purest and most defecated essence1--that he had no sympathy with the child1 and that the children uniformly shrank from that sinister eye in which the eagle and the reptile were so strangely blended4 ,our ,saviour1 as a perfect man1 then1 possessed this trait1 and it often showed itself in ,his intercourse with men4 ,as an omniscient ,being1 ,he indeed looked with profound interest1 upon the dawning life of the human spirit as it manifests itself in childhood4 ,for ,he knew as no finite being can1 the marvellous powers that sleep in the soul of the young child2 the great affections which are to be the foundation of eternal bliss1 or eternal pain1 that exist in embryo within2 the mysterious ideas that lie in germ far down in its lowest depths1--,he knew1 as no finite creature is able1 what is in the child1 as well as in the man1 and therefore was interested in its being and its well-being4 ,but besides this1 by virtue of ,his perfect humanity1 ,he was attracted by those peculiar traits which are seen in the earlier years of human life4 ,he loved the artlessness and gentleness1 the sense of dependence1 the implicit trust1 the absence of ostentation and ambition1 the unconscious modesty1 in one word1 the child-likeness of the child4 ,knowing this characteristic of the ,redeemer1 certain parents brought their young children to ,him1 as the ,evangelist informs us1 that ,he should touch them2 either believing that there was a healthful virtue1 connected with the touch of ,him who healed the sick and gave life to the dead1 that would be of benefit to them2 or1 it may be1 with more elevated conceptions of ,christ's person1 and more spiritual desires respecting the welfare of their offspring1 believing that the blessing 7which was symbolized by the touch and laying on of hands7 of so exalted a ,being would be of greater worth than mere health of body4 ,the disciples1 thinking that mere children were not worthy of the regards of their ,master1 rebuked the anxious and affectionate parents4 ,but1--continues the narrative1--when ,jesus saw it he was much displeased1 and said unto them1 ,suffer the little children to come unto me1 and forbid them not1 for of such is the kingdom of ,god2 and then immediately explained what ,he meant by this last assertion1 which is so often misunderstood and misapplied1 by adding1 in the words of the text1 ,verily ,i say unto you1 whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of ,god as a little child that is with a child-like spirit1 he shall not enter therein4 ,for our ,lord does not here lay down a doctrinal position1 and affirm the moral innocence of childhood4 ,he does not mark off and discriminate the children as sinless1 from their parents as sinful1 as if the two classes did not belong to the same race of beings1 and were not involved in the same apostasy and condemnation4 ,he merely sets childhood and manhood over-against each other as two distinct stages of human life1 each possessing peculiar traits and tempers1 and affirms that it is the meek spirit of childhood1 and not the proud spirit of manhood1 that welcomes and appropriates the ,christian salvation4 ,he is only contrasting the general attitude of a child1 with the general attitude of a man4 ,he merely affirms that the trustful and believing temper of childhood1 as compared with the self-reliant and skeptical temper of manhood1 is the temper by which both the child and the man are to receive the blessings of the gospel which both of them equally need4 ,the kingdom of ,god is represented in the ,new ,testament1 sometimes as subjective1 and sometimes as objective2 sometimes as within the soul of man1 and sometimes as up in the skies4 ,our text combines both representations2 for1 it speaks of a man's receiving the kingdom of ,god1 and of a man's entering the kingdom of ,god2 of the coming of heaven into a soul1 and of the going of a soul into heaven4 ,in other passages1 one or the other representation appears alone4 ,the kingdom of ,god1--says our ,lord to the ,pharisees1--cometh not with observation4 ,neither shall they say1 ,lo here1 or lo there3 for behold the kingdom of ,god is within you4 ,the apostle ,paul1 upon arriving at ,rome1 invited the resident ,jews to discuss the subject of ,christianity with him4 ,and when they had appointed him a day1 there came many to him into his lodging1 to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of ,god1--to whom he explained the nature of the ,christian religion1--persuading them concerning ,jesus1 both out of the law of ,moses1 and out of the prophets1 from1 morning till evening4 ,the same apostle teaches the ,romans1 that the kingdom of ,god is not meat and drink2 but righteousness1 and peace1 and joy in the ,holy ,ghost2 and tells the ,corinthians1 that the kingdom of ,god is not in word1 but in power4 ,in all these instances1 the subjective signification prevails1 and the kingdom of ,god is simply a system of truth1 or a state of the heart4 ,and all are familiar with the sentiment1 that heaven is a state1 as well as a place4 ,all understand that one half of heaven is in the human heart itself2 and1 that if this half be wanting1 the other half is useless1--as the half of a thing generally is4 ,isaac ,walton remarks of the devout ,sibbs3 ,of this blest man1 let this just praise be given1 ,heaven was in him1 before he was in heaven4 ,it is only because that in the eternal world the imperfect righteousness of the renewed man is perfected1 and the peace of the anxious soul becomes total1 and the joy that is so rare and faint in the ,christian experience here upon earth becomes the very element of life and action1--it is only because eternity completes the excellence of the ,christian 7but does not begin it71 that heaven1 as a place of perfect holiness and happiness1 is said to be in the future life1 and we are commanded to seek a better country even a heavenly4 ,but1 because this is so1 let no one lose sight of the other side of the great truth1 and forget that man must receive the kingdom as well as enter it4 ,without the right state of heart1 without the mental correspondent to heaven1 that beautiful and happy region on high will1 like any and every other place1 be a hell1 instead of a paradise4#a ,a distinguished writer represents one of his characters as leaving the ,old ,world1 and seeking happiness in the ,new1 supposing that change of place and outward circumstances could cure a restless mind4 ,he found no rest by the change2 and in view of his disappointment says3 ,i will return1 and in my ancestral home1 amid my paternal fields1 among my own people1 ,i will say1 ,here1 or nowhere1 is ,america4#b ,in like manner1 must the ,christian seek happiness in present peace and joy in the ,holy ,ghost1 and must here in this life strive after the righteousness that brings tranquillity4 ,though he may look forward with aspiration to the new heavens and the new earth wherein dwelleth a perfected righteousness1 yet he must remember that his holiness and happiness there is merely an expansion of his holiness and happiness here4 ,he must seek to receive the kingdom of ,god1 as well as to enter it2 and when tempted to relax his efforts1 and to let down his watch1 because the future life will not oppose so many obstacles to spirituality as this1 and will bring a more perfect enjoyment with it1 he should say to himself3 ,be holy now1 be happy here4 ,here1 or nowhere1 is heaven4 ,such being the nature of the kingdom of ,god1 we are now brought up to the discussion of the subject of the text1 and are prepared to consider3 ,in what respects1 the kingdom of ,god requires the temper of a child as distinguished from the temper of a man1 in order to receive it1 and in order to enter it4 ,the kingdom of ,god1 considered as a kingdom that is within the soul1 is tantamount to religion4 ,to receive this kingdom1 then1 is equivalent to receiving religion into the heart1 so that the character shall be formed by it1 and the future destiny be decided by it4 ,what1 then1 is the religion that is to be received8 ,we answer that it is the religion that is needed4 ,but1 the religion that is needed by a sinful man is very different from the religion that is adapted to a holy angel4 ,he who has never sinned is already in direct and blessed relations with ,god1 and needs only to drink in the overflowing and everflowing stream of purity and pleasure4 ,such a spirit requires a religion of only two doctrines3 ,first1 that there is a ,god2 and1 secondly1 that ,he ought to be loved supremely and obeyed perfectly4 ,this is the entire theology of the angels1 and it is enough for them4 ,they know nothing of sin in their personal experience1 and consequently they require in their religion1 none of those doctrines1 and none of those provisions1 which are adapted to the needs of sinners4 ,but1 man is in an altogether different condition from this4 ,he too knows that there is a ,god1 and that ,he ought to be loved supremely1 and obeyed perfectly4 ,thus far1 he goes along with the angel1 and with every other rational being made under the law and government of ,god4 ,but1 at this point1 his path diverges from that of the pure and obedient inhabitant of heaven1 and leads in an opposite direction4 ,for he does not1 like the angels1 act up to his knowledge4 ,he is not conformed to these two doctrines4 ,he does not love ,god supremely1 and he does not obey ,him perfectly4 ,this fact puts him into a very different position1 in reference to these two doctrines1 from that occupied by the obedient and unfallen spirit4 ,these two doctrines1 in relation to him as one who has contravened them1 have become a power of condemnation2 and whenever he thinks of them he feels guilty4 ,it is no longer sufficient to tell him4 that religion consists in loving ,god1 and enjoying ,his presence1--consists in holiness and happiness4 ,this is very true1--he says1--but ,i am neither holy nor happy4 ,it is no longer enough to remind him that all is well with any creature who loves ,god with all his heart1 and keeps ,his commandments without a single slip or failure4 ,this is very true1--he says again1--but ,i do not love in this style1 neither have ,i obeyed in this manner4 ,it is too late to preach mere natural religion1 the religion of the angels1 to one who has failed to stand fully and firmly upon the principles of natural religion4 ,it is too late to tell a creature who has lost his virtue1 that if he is only virtuous he is safe enough4 ,the religion1 then1 that a sinner needs1 cannot be limited to the two doctrines of the holiness of ,god1 and the creature's obligation to love and serve ,him1--cannot be pared down to the precept3 ,fear ,god and practise virtue4 ,it must be greatly enlarged1 and augmented1 by the introduction of that other class of truths which relate to the ,divine mercy towards those who have not feared ,god1 and the ,divine method of salvation for those who are sinful4 ,in other words1 the religion for a transgressor is revealed religion1 or the religion of ,atonement and ,redemption4 ,what1 now1 is there in this species of religion that necessitates the meek and docile temper of a child1 as distinguished from the proud and self-reliant spirit of a man1 in order to its reception into the heart8 ,i4 ,in the first place1 the ,new ,testament religion offers the forgiveness of sins1 and provides for it4 ,no one can ponder this fact an instant1 without perceiving that the pride and self-reliance of manhood are excluded1 and that the meekness and implicit trust of childhood are demanded4 ,pardon and justification before ,god must1 from the nature of the case1 be a gift1 and a gift cannot be obtained unless it is accepted as such4 ,to demand or claim mercy1 is self-contradictory4 ,for1 a claim implies a personal ground for it2 and this implies self-reliance1 and this is manhood in distinction from childhood4 ,in coming1 therefore1 as the religion of the ,cross does1 before man with a gratuity1 with an offer to pardon his sins1 it supposes that he take a correspondent attitude4 ,were he sinless1 the religion suited to him would be the mere utterance of law1 and he might stand up before it with the serene brow of an obedient subject of the ,divine government2 though even then1 not with a proud and boastful temper4 ,it would be out of place for him1 to plead guilty when he was innocent2 or to cast himself upon mercy1 when he could appeal to justice4 ,if the creature's acceptance be of works1 then it is no more of grace1 otherwise work is no more work4 ,but if it be by grace1 then it is no more of works 7,rom4 xi4 #f74 ,if the very first feature of the ,christian religion is the exhibition of clemency1 then the proper and necessary attitude of one who receives it is that of humility4 ,but1 leaving this argument drawn from the characteristics1 of ,christianity as a religion of ,redemption1 let us pass into the soul of man1 and see what we are taught there1 respecting the temper which he must possess in order to receive this new1 revealed kingdom of ,god4 ,the soul of man is guilty4 ,now1 there is something in the very nature of guilt that excludes the proud1 self-conscious1 self-reliant spirit of manhood1 and necessitates the lowly1 and dependent spirit of childhood4 ,when conscience is full of remorse1 and the holy eye of law is searching us1 and fears of eternal banishment and punishment are rakeing the spirit1 there is no remedy but simple confession1 and childlike reliance upon absolute mercy4 ,the sinner must be a softened child and not a hard man1 he must beg a boon and not put in a claim1 if he would receive this kingdom of ,god1 this ,new ,testament religion1 into his soul4 ,the slightest inclination to self-righteousness1 the least degree of resistance to the just pressure of law1 is a vitiating element in repentance4 ,the muscles of the stout man must give way1 the knees must bend1 the hands must be uplifted deprecatingly1 the eyes must gaze with a straining gaze upon the expiating ,cross1--in other words1 the least and last remains of a stout and self-asserting spirit must vanish1 and the whole being must be pliant1 bruised1 broken1 helpless in its state and condition1 in order to a pure sense of guilt1 a godly sorrow for sin1 and a cordial appropriation of the atonement4 ,the attempt to mix the two tempers1 to mingle the child with the man1 to confess sin and assert self-righteousness1 must be an entire failure1 and totally prevent the reception of the religion of ,redemption4 ,in relation to the ,redeemer1 the sinful soul should be a vacuum1 a hollow void1 destitute of everything holy and good1 conscious that it is1 and aching to be filled with the fulness of ,his peace and purity4 ,and with reference to ,god1 the ,being whose function it is to pardon1 we see the same necessity for this child-like spirit in the transgressor4 ,how can ,god administer forgiveness1 unless there is a correlated temper to receive it8 ,his particular declarative act in blotting out sin depends upon the existence of penitence for sin4 ,where there is absolute hardness of heart1 there can be no pardon1 from the very nature of the case1 and the very terms of the statement4 ,can ,god say to the hardened ,judas3 ,son be of good cheer1 thy sin is forgiven thee8 ,can ,he speak to the traitor as ,he speaks to the ,magdalen8 ,the difficulty is not upon the side of ,god4 ,the ,divine pity never lags behind any genuine human sorrow4 ,no man was ever more eager to be forgiven than his ,redeemer is to forgive him4 ,no contrition for sin1 upon the part of man1 ever yet outran the readiness and delight of ,god to recognize it1 and meet it with a free pardon4 ,for1 that very contrition itself is always the product of ,divine grace1 and proves that ,god is in advance of the soul4 ,the father in the parable saw the son while he was a great way off1 before the son saw him1 and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him4 ,but while this is so1 and is an encouragement to the penitent1 it must ever be remembered that unless there is some genuine sorrow in the human soul1 there can be no manifestation of the ,divine forgiveness within it4 ,man cannot beat the air1 and ,god cannot forgive impenitency4 ,,ii4 ,in the second place1 the ,new ,testament religion proposes to create within man a clean heart1 and to renew within him a right spirit4 ,christianity not only pardons but sanctifies the human soul4 ,and in accomplishing this latter work1 it requires the same humble and docile temper that was demanded in the former instance4 ,holiness1 even in an unfallen angel1 is not an absolutely self-originated thing4 ,if it were1 the angel would be worthy of adoration and worship4 ,he who is inwardly and totally excellent1 and can also say3 ,i am what ,i am by my own ultimate authorship1 can claim for himself the glory that is due to righteousness4 ,any self-originated and self-subsistent virtue is entitled to the hallelujahs4 ,but1 no created spirit1 though he be the highest of the archangels1 can make such an assertion1 or put in such a claim4 ,the merit of the unfallen angel1 therefore1 is a relative one2 because his holiness is of a created and derived species4 ,it is not increate and self-subsistent4 ,this being so1 it is plain that the proper attitude of all creatures in respect to moral excellence is a recipient and dependent one4 ,but this is a meek and lowly attitude2 and this is1 in one sense1 a child-like attitude4 ,our ,lord knew no sin2 and yet ,he himself tells us that ,he was meek and lowly of heart1 and we well know that ,he was4 ,he does not say that ,he was penitent4 ,he does not propose himself as our exemplar in that respect4 ,but1 in respect to the primal1 normal attitude which a finite being must ever take in reference to the infinite and adorable ,god1 and the absolute underived ,holiness2 in reference to the true temper which a holy man or a holy angel must possess2 our ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 in ,his human capacity1 sets an example to be followed by the spirits of just men made perfect1 and by all the holy inhabitants of heaven4 ,in other words1 ,he teaches the whole universe that holiness in a creature1 even though it be complete1 does not permit its possessor to be self-reliant1 does not allow the proud spirit of manhood1 does not remove the obligation to be child-like1 meek1 and lowly of heart4 ,but if this is true of holiness among those who have never fallen1 how much more true is it of those who have1 and who need to be lifted up out of the abyss4 ,if an angel1 in reference to ,god1 must be meek and lowly of heart2 if the holy ,redeemer must in ,his human capacity be meek and lowly of heart2 if the child-like temper1 in reference to the infinite and everlasting ,father and the absolutely ,good1 is the proper one in such exalted instances as these2 how much more is it in the instance of the vile and apostate children of ,adam6 ,besides the original and primitive reason growing out of creaturely relationships1 there is the superadded one growing out of the fact1 that now the whole head is sick and the whole heart is faint1 and from the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in human nature4 ,hence1 our ,lord began ,his ,sermon on the ,mount in these words3 ,blessed are the poor in spirit2 for theirs is the kingdom of heaven4 ,blessed are they that mourn2 for they shall be comforted4 ,blessed are the meek2 for they shall inherit the earth4 ,blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness2 for they shall be filled4#c ,the very opening of this discourse1 which ,he intended should go down through the ages as a manifesto declaring the real nature of ,his kingdom1 and the spirit which ,his followers must possess1 asserts the necessity of a needy1 recipient1 asking mind1 upon the part of a sinner4 ,all this phraseology implies destitution2 and a destitution that cannot be self-supplied4 ,he who hungers and thirsts after righteousness is conscious of an inward void1 in respect to righteousness1 that must be filled from abroad4 ,he who is meek is sensible that he is dependent for his moral excellence4 ,he who is poor in spirit is1 not pusillanimous as ,thomas ,paine charged upon ,christianity but1 as ,john of ,damascus said of himself1 a man of spiritual cravings1 vir desideriorum4 ,now1 all this delineation of the general attitude requisite in order to the reception of the ,christian religion is summed up again1 in the declaration of our text3 ,whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of ,god as a little child1 he shall not enter therein4 ,is a man1 then1 sensible that his understanding is darkened by sin1 and that he is destitute of clear and just apprehensions of divine things8 ,does his consciousness of inward poverty assume this form8 ,if he would be delivered from his mental blindness1 and be made rich in spiritual knowledge1 he must adopt a teachable and recipient attitude4 ,he must not assume that his own mind is the great fountain of wisdom1 and seek to clear up his doubts and darkness by the rationalistic method of self-illumination4 ,on the contrary1 he must go beyond his mind and open a book1 even the ,book of ,revelation1 and search for the wisdom it contains and proffers4 ,and yet more than this4 ,as this volume is the product of the ,eternal ,spirit himself1 and this ,spirit conspires with the doctrines which ,he has revealed1 and exerts a positive illuminating influence1 he must seek communion therewith4 ,from first to last1 therefore1 the darkened human spirit must take a waiting posture1 in order to enlightenment4 ,that part of the clean heart and the right spirit which consists in the knowledge of divine things can be obtained only through a child-like bearing and temper4 ,this is what our ,lord means1 when ,he pronounces a blessing upon the poor in spirit1 the hungry and the thirsting soul4 ,men1 in their pride and self-reliance1 in their sense of manhood1 may seek to enter the kingdom of heaven by a different method2 they may attempt to speculate their way through all the mystery that overhangs human life1 and the doubts that confuse and baffle the human understanding2 but when they find that the unaided intellect only spots a thicker gloom instead of pouring a serener ray1 wearied and worn they return1 as it were1 to the sweet days of childhood1 and in the gentleness1 and tenderness1 and docility of an altered mood1 learn1 as ,bacon did in respect to the kingdom of nature1 that the kingdom of heaven is open only to the little child4 ,again1 is a man conscious of the corruption of his heart8 ,has he discovered his alienation from the life and love of ,god1 and is he now aware that a total change must pass upon him1 or that alienation must be everlasting8 ,has he found out that his inclinations1 and feelings1 and tastes1 and sympathies are so worldly1 so averse from spiritual objects1 as to be beyond his sovereignty8 ,does he feel vividly that the attempt to expel this carnal mind1 and to induce in the place thereof the heavenly spontaneous glow of piety towards ,god and man1 is precisely like the attempt of the ,ethiopian to change his skin1 and the leopard his spots8 ,if this experience has been forced upon him1 shall he meet it with the port and bearing of a strong man8 ,shall he take the attitude of the old ,roman stoic1 and attempt to meet the exigencies of his moral condition1 by the steady strain and hard tug of his own force8 ,he cannot long do this1 under the clear searching ethics of the ,sermon on the ,mount1 without an inexpressible weariness and a profound despair4 ,were he within the sphere of paganism1 it might1 perhaps1 be otherwise4 ,a ,marcus ,aurelius could maintain this legal and self-righteous position to the end of life1 because his ideal of virtue was a very low one4 ,had that high-minded pagan felt the influences of ,christian ethics1 had the ,sermon on the ,mount searched his soul1 telling him that the least emotion of pride1 anger1 or lust1 was a breach of that everlasting law which stood grand and venerable before his philosophic eye1 and that his virtue was all gone1 and his soul was exposed to the inflictions of justice1 if even a single thought of his heart was unconformed to the perfect rule of right1--if1 instead of the mere twilight of natural religion1 there had flared into his mind the fierce and consuming splendor of the noonday sun of revealed truth1 and ,new ,testament ethics1 it would have been impossible for that serious-minded emperor to say1 as in his utter self-delusion he did1 to the ,deity3 ,give me my dues1--instead of breathing the prayer3 ,forgive me my debts4 ,christianity elevates the standard and raises the ideal of moral excellence1 and thereby disturbs the self-complacent feeling of the stoic1 and the moralist4 ,if the law and rule of right is merely an outward one1 it is possible for a man sincerely to suppose that he has kept the law1 and his sincerity will be his ruin4 ,for1 in this case1 he can maintain a self-reliant and a self-satisfied spirit1 the spirit of manhood1 to the very end of his earthly career1 and go with his righteousness which is as filthy rags1 into the presence of ,him in whose sight the heavens are not clean4 ,but1 if the law and rule of right is seen to be an inward and spiritual statute1 piercing to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit1 and becoming a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart1 it is not possible for a candid man to delude himself into the belief that he has perfectly obeyed it2 and in this instance1 that self-dissatisfied spirit1 that consciousness of internal schism and bondage1 that war between the flesh and the spirit so vividly portrayed in the seventh chapter of ,romans1 begins1 and instead of the utterance of the moralist3 ,i have kept the everlasting law1 give me my dues1 there bursts forth the self-despairing cry of the penitent and the child3 ,o wretched man that ,i am46 who shall deliver me8 ,father ,i have sinned against heaven and before thee4 ,when1 therefore1 the truth and ,spirit of ,god1 working in and with the natural conscience1 have brought a man to that point where he sees that all his own righteousness is as filthy rags1 and that the pure and stainless righteousness of ,jehovah must become the possession and the characteristic of his soul1 he is prepared to believe the declaration of our text3 ,whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of ,god as a little child1 he shall not enter therein4 ,the new heart1 and the right spirit1--the change1 not in the mere external behavior but1 in the very disposition and inclination of the soul1--excludes every jot and tittle of self-assertion1 every particle of proud and stoical manhood4 ,such a text as this which we have been considering is well adapted to put us upon the true method of attaining everlasting life4 ,these few and simple words actually dropped1 eighteen hundred years ago1 from the lips of that august ,being who is now seated upon the throne of heaven1 and who knows this very instant the effect which they are producing in the heart of every one who either reads or hears them4 ,let us remember that these few and simple words do verily contain the key to everlasting life and glory4 ,in knowing what they mean1 we know1 infallibly1 the way to heaven4 ,i tell you1 that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which we see1 and have not seen them3 and to hear those things which we hear1 and have not heard them4 ,how many a thoughtful pagan1 in the centuries that have passed and gone1 would in all probability have turned a most attentive ear1 had he heard1 as we do1 from the lips of an unerring ,teacher1 that a child-like reception of a certain particular truth1--and that not recondite and metaphysical1 but simple as childhood itself1 and to be received by a little child's act1--would infallibly conduct to the elysium that haunted and tantalized him4 ,that which hinders us is our pride1 our manhood4 ,the act of faith is a child's act2 and a child's act1 though intrinsically the easiest of any1 is relatively the most difficult of all4 ,it implies the surrender of our self-will1 our self-love1 our proud manhood2 and never was a truer remark made than that of ,ullmann1 that in no one thing is the strength of a man's will so manifested1 as in his having no will of his own4#d ,christianity1--says ,jeremy ,taylor1--is the easiest and the hardest thing in the world4 ,it is like a secret in arithmetic2 infinitely hard till it be found out by a right operation1 and then it is so plain we wonder we did not understand it earlier4 ,how hard1 how impossible without that ,divine grace which makes all such central and revolutionary acts easy and genial to the soul1--how hard it is to cease from our own works1 and really become docile and recipient children1 believing on the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 and trusting in ,him1 simply and solely1 for salvation4 ,footnote #a3 ,concerning the object of felicity in heaven1 we are agreed that it can be no other than the blessed ,god himself1 the all-comprehending good1 fully adequate to the highest and most enlarged reasonable desires4 ,but the contemperation of our faculties to the holy1 blissful object1 is so necessary to our satisfying fruition1 that without this we are no more capable thereof1 than a brute of the festivities of a quaint oration1 or a stone of the relishes of the most pleasant meats and drinks4 ,,howe3 ,heaven a ,state of ,perfection4 ,footnote #b3 ,,goethe3 ,wilhelm ,meister1 ,book ,,vii41 ch4 iii4 ,footnote #c3 ,compare ,isaiah lxi4 #a4 ,footnote #d3 ,,ullmann3 ,sinlessness of ,jesus1 ,pt4 ,i41 ,ch4 iii41 #b4 ,,faith ,,the ,,sole ,,saving ,,act4 ,,john vi4 #bh1 #bi4--,then said they unto him1 ,what shall we do1 that we might work the works of ,god8 ,jesus answered and said unto them1 ,this is the work of ,god1 that ye believe on him whom he hath sent4 ,in asking their question1 the ,jews intended to inquire of ,christ what particular things they must do1 before all others1 in order to please ,god4 ,the works of ,god1 as they denominate them1 were not any and every duty1 but those more special and important acts1 by which the creature might secure the ,divine approval and favor4 ,our ,lord understood their question in this sense1 and in ,his reply tells them1 that the great and only work for them to do was to exercise faith in ,him4 ,they had employed the plural number in their question2 but in ,his answer ,he employs the singular4 ,they had asked1 ,what shall we do that we might work the works of ,god1--as if there were several of them4 ,his reply is1 ,this is the work of ,god1 that ye believe on ,him whom ,he hath sent4 ,he narrows down the terms of salvation to a single one2 and makes the destiny of the soul to depend upon the performance of a particular individual act4 ,in this1 as in many other incidental ways1 our ,lord teaches ,his own divinity4 ,if ,he were a mere creature2 if ,he were only an inspired teacher like ,david or ,paul2 how would ,he dare1 when asked to give in a single word the condition and means of human salvation1 to say that they consist in resting the soul upon ,him8 ,would ,david have dared to say3 ,this is the work of ,god1--this is the saving act1--that ye believe in me8 ,would ,paul have presumed to say to the anxious inquirer3 ,your soul is safe1 if you trust in me8 ,but ,christ makes this declaration1 without any qualification4 ,yet ,he was meek and lowly of heart1 and never assumed an honor or a prerogative that did not belong to ,him4 ,it is only upon the supposition that ,he was very ,god of very ,god1 the ,divine ,redeemer of the children of men1 that we can justify such an answer to such a question4 ,the belief is spontaneous and natural to man1 that something must be done in order to salvation4 ,no man expects to reach heaven by inaction4 ,even the indifferent and supine soul expects to rouse itself up at some future time1 and work out its salvation4 ,the most thoughtless and inactive man1 in religious respects1 will acknowledge that thoughtlessness and inactivity if continued will end in perdition4 ,but he intends at a future day to think1 and act1 and be saved4 ,so natural is it1 to every man1 to believe in salvation by works2 so ready is every one to concede that heaven is reached1 and hell is escaped1 only by an earnest effort of some kind2 so natural is it to every man to ask with these ,jews1 ,what shall we do1 that we may work the works of ,god8 ,but mankind generally1 like the ,jews in the days of our ,lord1 are under a delusion respecting the nature of the work which must be performed in order to salvation4 ,and in order to understand this delusion1 we must first examine the common notion upon the subject4 ,when a man begins to think of ,god1 and of his own relations to ,him1 he finds that he owes ,him service and obedience4 ,he has a work to perform1 as a subject of the ,divine government2 and this work is to obey the ,divine law4 ,he finds himself obligated to love ,god with all his heart1 and his neighbor as himself1 and to discharge all the duties that spring out of his relations to ,god and man4 ,he perceives that this is the work given him to do by creation1 and that if he does it he will attain the true end of his existence1 and be happy in time and eternity4 ,when therefore he begins to think of a religious life1 his first spontaneous impulse is to begin the performance of this work which he has hitherto neglected1 and to reinstate himself in the ,divine favor by the ordinary method of keeping the law of ,god4 ,he perceives that this is the mode in which the angels preserve themselves holy and happy2 that this is the original mode appointed by ,god1 when ,he established the covenant of works2 and he does not see why it is not the method for him4 ,the law expressly affirms that the man that doeth these things shall live by them2 he proposes to take the law just as it reads1 and just as it stands1--to do the deeds of the law1 to perform the works which it enjoins1 and to live by the service4 ,this we say1 is the common notion1 natural to man1 of the species of work which must be performed in order to eternal life4 ,this was the idea which filled the mind of the ,jews when they put the question of the text1 and received for answer from ,christ1 ,this is the work of ,god1 that ye believe on him whom he hath sent4 ,our ,lord does not draw out the whole truth1 in detail4 ,he gives only the positive part of the answer1 leaving ,his hearers to infer the negative part of it4 ,for the whole doctrine of ,christ1 fully stated1 would run thus3 ,no work of the kind of which you are thinking can save you2 no obedience of the law1 ceremonial or moral1 can reinstate you in right relations to ,god4 ,i do not summon you to the performance of any such service as that which you have in mind1 in order to your justification and acceptance before the ,divine tribunal4 ,this is the work of ,god1--this is the sole and single act which you are to perform1--namely1 that you believe on ,him whom ,he hath sent as a propitiation for sin4 ,i do not summon you to works of the law1 but to faith in ,me the ,redeemer4 ,your first duty is not to attempt to acquire a righteousness in the old method1 by doing something of yourselves1 but to receive a righteousness in the new method1 by trusting in what another has done for you4 ,i4 ,what is the ground and reason of such an answer as this8 ,why is man invited to the method of faith in another1 instead of the method of faith in himself8 ,why is not his first spontaneous thought the true one8 ,why should he not obtain eternal life by resolutely proceeding to do his duty1 and keeping the law of ,god8 ,why can he not be saved by the law of works8 ,why is he so summarily shut up to the law of faith8 ,we answer3 ,because it is too late for him to adopt the method of salvation by works4 ,the law is indeed explicit in its assertion1 that the man that doeth these things shall live by them2 but then it supposes that the man begin at the beginning4 ,a subject of government cannot disobey a civil statute for five or ten years1 and then put himself in right relations to it again1 by obeying it for the remainder of his life4 ,can a man who has been a thief or an adulterer for twenty years1 and then practises honesty and purity for the following thirty years1 stand up before the seventh and eighth commandments and be acquitted by them8 ,it is too late for any being who has violated a law even in a single instance1 to attempt to be justified by that law4 ,for1 the law demands and supposes that obedience begin at the very beginning of existence1 and continue down uninterruptedly to the end of it4 ,no man can come in at the middle of a process of obedience1 any more than he can come in at the last end of it1 if he proposes to be accepted upon the ground of obedience4 ,i testify1 says ,st4 ,paul1 to every man that is circumcised1 that he is a debtor to do the whole law 7,gal4 v4 #c74 ,the whole1 or none1 is the just and inexorable rule which law lays down in the matter of justification4 ,if any subject of the ,divine government can show a clean record1 from the beginning to the end of his existence1 the statute says to him1 ,well done1 and gives him the reward which he has earned4 ,and it gives it to him not as a matter of grace1 but of debt4 ,the law never makes a present of wages4 ,it never pays out wages1 until they are earned1---fairly and fully earned4 ,but when a perfect obedience from first to last is rendered to its claims1 the compensation follows as matter of debt4 ,the law1 in this instance1 is itself brought under obligation4 ,it owes a reward to the perfectly obedient subject of law1 and it considers itself his debtor until it is paid4 ,now to him that worketh1 is the reward not reckoned of grace1 but of debt4 ,if it be of works1 then it is no more grace3 otherwise work is no more work 7,rom4 iv4 #d2 xi4 #f74 ,but1 on the other hand1 law is equally exact and inflexible1 in case the work has not been performed4 ,it will not give eternal life to a soul that has sinned ten years1 and then perfectly obeyed ten years1--supposing that there is any such soul4 ,the obedience1 as we have remarked1 must run parallel with the entire existence1 in order to be a ground1 of justification4 ,infancy1 childhood1 youth1 manhood1 old age1 and then the whole immortality that succeeds1 must all be unintermittently sinless and holy1 in order to make eternal life a matter of debt4 ,justice is as exact and punctilious upon this side1 as it is upon the other4 ,we have seen1 that when a perfect obedience has been rendered1 justice will not palm off the wages that are due as if they were some gracious gift2 and on the other hand1 when a perfect obedience has not been rendered1 it will not be cajoled into the bestowment of wages as if they had been earned4 ,there is no principle that is so intelligent1 so upright1 and so exact1 as justice2 and no creature can expect either to warp it1 or to circumvent it4 ,in the light of these remarks1 it is evident that it is too late for a sinner to avail himself of the method of salvation by works4 ,for1 that method requires that sinless obedience begin at the beginning of his existence1 and never be interrupted4 ,but no man thus begins1 and no man thus continues4 ,the wicked are estranged from the womb2 they go astray as soon as they be born1 speaking lies 7,ps4 lviii4 #c74 ,man comes into the world a sinful and alienated creature4 ,he is by nature a child of wrath 7,eph4 ii4 #c74 ,instead of beginning life with holiness1 he begins it with sin4 ,his heart at birth is apostate and corrupt2 and his conduct from the very first is contrary to law4 ,such is the teaching of ,scripture1 such is the statement of the ,creeds1 and such is the testimony of consciousness1 respecting the character which man brings into the world with him4 ,the very dawn of human life is clouded with depravity2 is marked by the carnal mind which is at enmity with the law of ,god1 and is not subject to that law1 neither indeed can be4 ,how is it possible1 then1 for man to attain eternal life by a method that supposes1 and requires1 that the very dawn of his being be holy like that of ,christ's1 and that every thought1 feeling1 purpose1 and act be conformed to law through the entire existence8 ,is it not too late for such a creature as man now is to adopt the method of salvation by the works of the law8 ,but we will not crowd you1 with the doctrine of native depravity and the sin in ,adam4 ,we have no doubt that it is the scriptural and true doctrine concerning human nature2 and have no fears that it will be contradicted by either a profound self-knowledge1 or a profound metaphysics4 ,but perhaps you are one who doubts it2 and therefore1 for the sake of argument1 we will let you set the commencement of sin where you please4 ,if you tell us that it begins in the second1 or the fourth1 or the tenth year of life1 it still remains true that it is too late to employ the method of justification by works4 ,if you concede any sin at all1 at any point whatsoever1 in the history of a human soul1 you preclude it from salvation by the deeds of the law1 and shut it up to salvation by grace4 ,go back as far as you can in your memory1 and you must acknowledge that you find sin as far as you go2 and even if1 in the face of ,scripture and the symbols of the ,church1 you should deny that the sin runs back to birth and apostasy in ,adam1 it still remains true that the first years of your conscious existence were not years of holiness1 nor the first acts which you remember1 acts of obedience4 ,even upon your own theory1 you begin with sin1 and therefore you cannot be justified by the law4 ,this1 then1 is a conclusive reason and ground for the declaration of our ,lord1 that the one great work which every fallen man has to perform1 and must perform1 in order to salvation1 is faith in another's work1 and confidence in another's righteousness4 ,if man is to be saved by his own righteousness1 that righteousness must begin at the very beginning of his existence1 and go on without interruption4 ,if he is to be saved by his own good works1 there never must be a single instant in his life when he is not working such works4 ,but beyond all controversy such is not the fact4 ,it is1 therefore1 impossible for him to be justified by trusting in himself2 and the only possible mode that now remains1 is to trust in another4 ,,ii4 ,and this brings us to the second part of our subject4 ,this is the work of ,god1 that ye believe on him whom ,he hath sent4 ,it will be observed that faith is here denominated a work4 ,and it is so indeed4 ,it is a mental act2 and an act of the most comprehensive and energetic species4 ,faith is an active principle that carries the whole man with it1 and in it1--head and heart1 will and affections1 body soul and spirit4 ,there is no act so all-embracing in its reach1 and so total in its momentum1 as the act of faith in the ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,in this sense1 it is a work4 ,it is no supine and torpid thing2 but the most vital and vigorous activity that can be conceived of4 ,when a sinner1 moved by the ,holy ,ghost the very source of spiritual life and energy1 casts himself in utter helplessness1 and with all his weight1 upon his ,redeemer for salvation1 never is he more active1 and never does he do a greater work4 ,and yet1 faith is not a work in the common signification of the word4 ,in the ,pauline ,epistles1 it is generally opposed to works1 in such a way as to exclude them4 ,for example3 ,where is boasting then8 ,it is excluded4 ,by what law8 of works8 ,nay1 but by the law of faith4 ,therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith1 without the deeds of the law4 ,knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by the faith of ,jesus ,christ1 even we have believed in ,jesus ,christ1 that we might be justified1 by the faith of ,christ and not by the works of the law4 ,received ye the ,spirit1 by the works of the law1 or by the hearing of faith8#a ,in these and other passages1 faith and works are directly contrary to each other2 so that in this connection1 faith is not a work4 ,let us examine this point1 a little in detail1 for it will throw light upon the subject under discussion4 ,in the opening of the discourse1 we alluded to the fact that when a man's attention is directed to the subject of his soul's salvation1 his first spontaneous thought is1 that he must of himself render something to ,god1 as an offset for his sins2 that he must perform his duty by his own power and effort1 and thereby acquire a personal merit before his ,maker and ,judge4 ,the thought of appropriating another person's work1 of making use of what another being has done in his stead1 does not occur to him2 or if it does1 it is repulsive to him4 ,his thought is1 that it is his own soul that is to be saved1 and it is his own work that must save it4 ,hence1 he begins to perform religious duties in the ordinary use of his own faculties1 and in his own strength1 for the purpose1 and with the expectation1 of settling the account which he knows is unsettled1 between himself and his ,judge4 ,as yet1 there is no faith in another ,being4 ,he is not trusting and resting in another person2 but he is trusting and resting in himself4 ,he is not making use of the work or services which another has wrought in his behalf1 but he is employing his own powers and faculties1 in performing these his own works1 which he owes1 and which1 if paid in this style1 he thinks will save his soul4 ,this is the spontaneous1 and it is the correct1 idea of a work1--of what ,st4 ,paul so often calls a work of the law4 ,and it is the exact contrary of faith4 ,for1 faith never does anything in this independent and self-reliant manner4 ,it does not perform a service in its own strength1 and then hold it out to ,god as something for ,him to receive1 and for which ,he must pay back wages in the form of remitting sin and bestowing happiness4 ,faith is wholly occupied with another's work1 and another's merit4 ,the believing soul deserts all its own doings1 and betakes itself to what a third person has wrought for it1 and in its stead4 ,when1 for illustration1 a sinner discovers that he owes a satisfaction to ,eternal ,justice for the sins that are past1 if he adopts the method of works1 he will offer up his endeavors to obey the law1 as an offset1 and a reason why he should be forgiven4 ,he will say in his heart1 if he does not in his prayer3 ,i am striving to atone for the past1 by doing my duty in the future2 my resolutions1 my prayers and alms-giving1 all this hard struggle to be better and to do better1 ought certainly to avail for my pardon4 ,or1 if he has been educated in a superstitious ,church1 he will offer up his penances1 and mortifications1 and pilgrimages1 as a satisfaction to justice1 and a reason why he should be forgiven and made blessed forever in heaven4 ,that is a very instructive anecdote which ,st4 ,simon relates respecting the last hours of the profligate ,louis ,,xiv4 ,one day1--he says1--the king recovering from loss of consciousness asked his confessor1 ,pere ,tellier1 to give him absolution for all his sins4 ,pere ,tellier asked him if he suffered much4 ',no1' replied the king1 'that's what troubles me4 ,i should like to suffer more1 for the expiation of my sins4' ,here was a poor mortal who had spent his days in carnality and transgression of the pure law of ,god4 ,he is conscious of guilt1 and feels the need of its atonement4 ,and now1 upon the very edge of eternity and brink of doom1 he proposes to make his own atonement1 to be his own redeemer and save his own soul1 by offering up to the eternal nemesis that was racking his conscience a few hours of finite suffering1 instead of betaking himself to the infinite passion and agony of ,calvary4 ,this is a work2 and1 alas1 a dead work1 as ,st4 ,paul so often denominates it4 ,this is the method of justification by works4 ,but when a man adopts the method of justification by faith1 his course is exactly opposite to all this4 ,upon discovering that he owes a satisfaction to ,eternal ,justice for the sins that are past1 instead of holding up his prayers1 or alms-giving1 or penances1 or moral efforts1 or any work of his own1 he holds up the sacrificial work of ,christ4 ,in his prayer to ,god1 he interposes the agony and death of the ,great ,substitute between his guilty soul1 and the arrows of justice4#b ,he knows that the very best of his own works1 that even the most perfect obedience that a creature could render1 would be pierced through and through by the glittering shafts of violated law4 ,and therefore he takes the shield of faith4 ,he places the oblation of the ,god-man1--not his own work and not his own suffering1 but another's work and another's suffering1--between himself and the judicial vengeance of the ,most ,high4 ,and in so doing1 he works no work of his own1 and no dead work2 but he works the work of ,god2 he believes on ,him whom ,god hath set forth to be a propitiation for his sins1 and not for his only but for the sins of the whole world4 ,this then is the great doctrine which our ,lord taught the ,jews1 when they asked ,him what particular thing or things they must do in order to eternal life4 ,the apostle ,john1 who recorded the answer of ,christ in this instance1 repeats the doctrine again in his first ,epistle3 ,whatsoever we ask1 we receive of ,him1 because we keep ,his commandment1 and do those things that are pleasing in ,his sight4 ,and this is ,his commandment1 that we should believe on the name of ,his ,son ,jesus ,christ 7#a ,john iii1 #bb1 #bc74 ,the whole duty of sinful man is here summed up1 and concentrated1 in the duty to trust in another person than himself1 and in another work than his own4 ,the apostle1 like his ,lord before him1 employs the singular number3 ,this is ,his commandment1--as if there were no other commandment upon record4 ,and this corresponds with the answer which ,paul and ,silas gave to the despairing jailor3 ,believe on the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1--do this one single thing1--and thou shalt be saved4 ,and all of these teachings accord with that solemn declaration of our ,lord3 ,he that believeth on the ,son hath everlasting life2 and he that believeth not the ,son shall not see life2 but the wrath of ,god abideth on him4 ,in the matter of salvation1 where there is faith in ,christ1 there is everything2 and where there is not faith in ,christ1 there is nothing4 #a4 ,and it is with this thought that we would close this discourse1 and enforce the doctrine of the text4 ,do whatever else you may in the matter of religion1 you have done nothing until you have believed on the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 whom ,god hath1 sent into the world to be the propitiation for sin4 ,there are two reasons for this4 ,in the first place1 it is the appointment and declaration of ,god1 that man1 if saved at all1 must be saved by faith in the ,person and ,work of the ,mediator4 ,neither is there salvation in any other3 for there is none other name under heaven given among men1 whereby we must be saved 7,acts iv4 #ab74 ,it of course rests entirely with the ,most ,high ,god1 to determine the mode and manner in which ,he will enter into negotiations with ,his creatures1 and especially with ,his rebellious creatures4 ,he must make the terms1 and the creature must come to them4 ,even1 therefore1 if we could not see the reasonableness and adaptation of the method1 we should be obligated to accept it4 ,the creature1 and particularly the guilty creature1 cannot dictate to his ,sovereign and ,judge respecting the terms and conditions by which he is to be received into favor1 and secure eternal life4 ,men overlook this fact1 when they presume as they do1 to sit in judgment upon the method of redemption by the blood of atonement and to quarrel with it4 ,in the first ,punic war1 ,hannibal laid siege to ,saguntum1 a rich and strongly-fortified city on the eastern coast of ,spain4 ,it was defended with a desperate obstinacy by its inhabitants4 ,but the discipline1 the energy1 and the persistence of the ,carthaginian army1 were too much for them2 and just as the city was about to fall1 ,alorcus1 a ,spanish chieftain1 and a mutual friend of both of the contending parties1 undertook to mediate between them4 ,he proposed to the ,saguntines that they should surrender1 allowing the ,carthaginian general to make his own terms4 ,and the argument he used was this3 ,your city is captured1 in any event4 ,further resistance will only bring down upon you the rage of an incensed soldiery1 and the horrors of a sack4 ,therefore1 surrender immediately1 and take whatever ,hannibal shall please to give4 ,you cannot lose anything by the procedure1 and you may gain something1 even though it be little4#c ,now1 although there is no resemblance between the government of the good and merciful ,god and the cruel purposes and conduct of a heathen warrior1 and we shrink from bringing the two into any kind of juxtaposition1 still1 the advice of the wise ,alorcus to the ,saguntines is good advice for every sinful man1 in reference to his relations to ,eternal ,justice4 ,we are all of us at the mercy of ,god4 ,should ,he make no terms at all2 had ,he never given ,his ,son to die for our sins1 and never sent ,his ,spirit to exert a subduing influence upon our hard hearts1 but had let guilt and justice take their inexorable course with us2 not a word could be uttered against the procedure by heaven1 earth1 or hell4 ,no creature1 anywhere can complain of justice4 ,that is an attribute that cannot even be attacked4 ,but the ,all-,holy is also the ,all-,merciful4 ,he has made certain terms1 and has offered certain conditions of pardon1 without asking leave of ,his creatures and without taking them into council1 and were these terms as strict as ,draco1 instead of being as tender and pitiful as the tears and blood of ,jesus1 it would become us criminals to make no criticisms even in that extreme case1 but accept them precisely as they were offered by the ,sovereign and the ,arbiter4 ,we exhort you1 therefore1 to take these terms of salvation simply as they are given1 asking no questions1 and being thankful that there are any terms at all between the offended majesty of ,heaven and the guilty criminals of earth4 ,believe on ,him whom ,god hath sent1 because it is the appointment and declaration of ,god1 that if guilty man is to be saved at all1 he must be saved by faith in the ,person and ,work of the ,mediator4 ,the very disposition to quarrel with this method implies arrogance in dealing with the ,most ,high4 ,the least inclination to alter the conditions shows that the creature is attempting to criticise the ,creator1 and1 what is yet more1 that the criminal has no true perception of his crime1 no sense of his exposed and helpless situation1 and presumes to dictate the terms of his own pardon6 #b4 ,we might therefore leave the matter here1 and there would be a sufficient reason for exercising the act of faith in ,christ4 ,but there is a second and additional reason which we will also briefly urge upon you4 ,not only is it the ,divine appointment1 that man shall be saved1 if saved at all1 by the substituted work of another2 but there are needs1 there are crying wants1 in the human conscience1 that can be supplied by no other method4 ,there is a perfect adaptation between the ,redemption that is in ,christ ,jesus1 and the guilt of sinners4 ,as we have seen1 we could reasonably urge you to ,believe in ,him whom ,god hath sent1 simply because ,god has sent ,him1 and because ,he has told you that ,he will save you through no other name and in no other way1 and will save you in this name and in this way4 ,but we now urge you to the act of faith in this substituted work of ,christ1 because it has an atoning virtue1 and can pacify a perturbed and angry conscience2 can wash out the stains of guilt that are grained into it2 can extract the sting of sin which ulcerates and burns there4 ,it is the idea of expiation and satisfaction that we now single out1 and press upon your notice4 ,sin must be expiated1--expiated either by the blood of the criminal1 or by the blood of his ,substitute4 ,you must either die for your own sin1 or some one who is able and willing must die for you4 ,this is founded and fixed in the nature of ,god1 and the nature of man1 and the nature of sin4 ,there is an eternal and necessary connection between crime and penalty4 ,the wages of sin is death4 ,but1 all this inexorable necessity has been completely provided for1 by the sacrificial work of the ,son of ,god4 ,in the gospel1 ,god satisfies ,his own justice for the sinner1 and now offers you the full benefit of the satisfaction1 if you will humbly and penitently accept it4 ,what compassion can equal the words of ,god the ,father addressed to the sinner condemned to eternal punishment1 and having no means of redeeming himself3 ',take my ,only-,begotten ,son1 and make ,him an offering for thyself2' or the words of the ,son3 ',take ,me1 and ransom thy soul8' ,for this is what both say1 when they invite and draw man to faith in the gospel4#d ,in urging you1 therefore1 to trust in ,christ's vicarious sufferings for sin1 instead of going down to hell and suffering for sin in your own person2 in entreating you to escape the stroke of justice upon yourself1 by believing in ,him who was smitten in your stead1 who was wounded for your transgressions and bruised for your iniquities2 in beseeching you to let the ,eternal ,son of ,god be your ,substitute in this awful judicial transaction2 we are summoning you to no arbitrary and irrational act4 ,the peace of ,god which it will introduce into your conscience1 and the love of ,god which it will shed abroad through your soul1 will be the most convincing of all proofs that the act of faith in the great ,atonement does no violence to the ideas and principles of the human constitution4 ,no act that contravenes those intuitions and convictions which are part and particle of man's moral nature could possibly produce peace and joy4 ,it would be revolutionary and anarchical4 ,the soul could not rest an instant4 ,and yet it is the uniform testimony of all believers in the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 that the act of simple confiding faith in ,his blood and righteousness is the most peaceful1 the most joyful act they ever performed1--nay1 that it was the first blessed experience they ever felt in this world of sin1 this world of remorse1 this world of fears and forebodings concerning judgment and doom4 ,is the question1 then1 of the ,jews1 pressing upon your mind8 ,do you ask1 ,what one particular single thing shall ,i do1 that ,i may be safe for time and eternity8 ,hear the answer of the ,son of ,god ,himself3 ,this is the work of ,god1 that ye believe on ,him whom ,he hath sent4 ,footnote #a3 ,romans iii4 #bg1 #bh2 ,galatians ii4 #af1 iii4 #b4 ,footnote #b3 ,the religious teacher is often asked to define the act of faith1 and explain the way and manner in which the soul is to exercise it4 ,how shall ,i believe8 is the question with which the anxious mind often replies to the gospel injunction to believe4 ,without pretending that it is a complete answer1 or claiming that it is possible1 in the strict meaning of the word1 to explain so simple and so profound an act as faith1 we think1 nevertheless1 that it assists the inquiring mind to say1 that whoever asks in prayer for any one of the benefits of ,christ's redemption1 in so far exercises faith in this redemption4 ,whoever1 for example1 lifts up the supplication1 ,o ,lamb of ,god who takest away the sins of the world1 grant me thy peace1 in this prayer puts faith in the atonement1 ,he trusts in the atonement1 by pleading the atonement1--by mentioning it1 in his supplication1 as the reason why he may be forgiven4 ,in like manner1 he who asks for the renewing and sanctifying influences of the ,holy ,ghost exercises faith1 in these influences4 ,this is the mode in which he expresses his confidence in the power of ,god to accomplish a work in his heart that is beyond his own power4 ,whatever1 therefore1 be the particular benefit in ,christ's redemption that one would trust in1 and thereby make personally his own1 that he may live by it and be blest by it1--be it the atoning blood1 or be it the indwelling ,spirit1--let him ask for that benefit4 ,if he would trust in the thing1 let him ask for the thing4 ,since writing the above1 we have met with a corroboration of this view1 by a writer of the highest authority upon such points4 ,faith is that inward sense and act1 of which prayer is the expression2 as is evident1 because in the same manner as the freedom of grace1 according to the gospel covenant1 is often set forth by this1 that he that believes1 receives2 so it also oftentimes is by this1 that he that asks1 or prays1 or calls upon ,god1 receives4 ',ask and it shall be given you2 seek and ye shall find2 knock and it shall be opened unto you4 ,for every one that asketh1 receiveth2 and he that seeketh1 findeth2 and to him that knocketh1 it shall be opened4 ,and all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer1 believing1 ye shall receive 7,matt4 vii4 #g1 #h2 ,mark xi4 #bd74 ,if ye abide in me and my words abide in you1 ye shall ask what ye will1 and it shall be done unto you' 7,john xv4 #g74 ,prayer is often plainly spoken of as the expression of faith4 ,as it very certainly is in ,romans x4 #aa-ad3 ',for the ,scripture saith1 ,whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed4 ,for there is no difference between the ,jew and the ,greek3 for the same ,lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him2 for whosoever shall call upon the name of the ,lord shall be saved4 ',how then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed4' ,christian prayer is called the prayer of faith 7,james v4 #ae74 ',i will that men everywhere lift up holy hands1 without wrath and doubting 7#a ,tim4 ii4 #h74 ,draw near in full assurance of faith' 7,heb4 x4 #bb74 ,the same expressions that are used1 in ,scripture1 for faith1 may well be used for prayer also2 such as coming to ,god or ,christ1 and looking to ,him4 ',in whom we have boldness and access with confidence1 by the faith of him' 7,eph4 iii4 #ab74 ,,edwards3 ,observations concerning ,faith4 ,footnote #c3 ,livius3 ,historia1 ,lib4 xxi4 #ab4 ,footnote #d3 ,,anselm3 ,cur ,deus ,homo8 ,,ii4 #bj4