,transcribed from the #ahff ,john ,snow 
and ,co4 edition by ,david ,price1 email
  ccx#jgdpglaf4org            ,,the     
,,wesleyan ,,methodist ,,pulpit ,,in    
,,malvern4                              
,,sermons                               
,,preached ,,at                         
,,the ,,opening ,,services              
,,of ,,the                              
,,wesleyan ,,methodist ,,chapel1        
,,in #ahff1                             
,,at ,,malvern1                         
,,by                  ,,rev4 ,w4 ,m4    
,,punshon1           ,,rev4 ,w4         
,,arthur1                  ,,rev4 ,j4   
,h4 ,,james1             ,,rev4 ,c4     
,,prest1                  ,,rev4 ,j4    
,,priestley1            ,,rev4 ,g4      
,,smith1                                
,,rev4 ,g4 ,,wood4                      
,with a ,preface by ,knowles ,king4     
,,london3                               
,,john ,,snow  ,,co41 ,,ivy ,,lane1     
,,paternoster ,,row2                    
,,warren ,,hall  ,,co41 ,,camden ,,road4

                                        
#ahff4                                  
,,to                            ,,ralph 
,,barnes ,,grindrod1                    
,,of ,,malvern1               ,m4,d41   
,,ll4,d41 ,f4,l4,s41 ,f4,r4,g4,s41      
,f4,g4,s41 c41 c41                      
,this ,volume of ,sermons               
,,is ,,respectfully ,,inscribed1        
,,in ,,thankful ,,acknowledgment ,,of   
,,the ,,learned                         
,,doctor',s ,,great ,,gift ,,of         
,,healing2                  ,,but ,,more
 ,,especially ,,of ,,his ,,large        
,,charity1                        ,,and 
,,high ,,christian ,,character4         
,,preface4      ,the ,sermons which make
 up this volume were preached at        
,malvern1 in #ahff1  at1 and immediately
 after1 the opening services of the     
,wesleyan ,chapel  there4    ,this      
beautiful and commodious building owes  
its erection to the piety and  energy of
 the ,rev4 ,w4 ,m4 ,,punshon1 who1 in   
the year #ahfb1 proposed by  ,lectures1 

and otherwise1 to raise a fund for      
building ,wesleyan ,chapels in  places  
of summer resort4    ,this proposition  
was well responded to by ,mr4           
,,punshon',s friends1 and the  ,wesleyan
 public1 and forty thousand pounds have 
already been expended in  the erection  
of new ,chapels at ,ilfracombe1         
,dawlish1 the ,lizard1 ,brighton1       
,weymouth1 ,eastbourne1 ,walmer1        
,folkestone1 ,bournemouth1 ,blackpool1  
,lancing1 ,llandudus1 ,rhyl1 ,saltburn1 
,bray1 ,matlock1 ,malvern1 ,keswick1    
,bowness1 and the ,isle of ,wight4      
,others are in progress4    ,these      
,sermons are published with the consent 
of the several preachers1  but it must  
be stated that they were preached       
without any view to  publication1 and   
now appear in print1 nearly word for    
word1 as they were  delivered1          
extempore1 from the pulpit4  ,some of   
them1 indeed1 have never  been committed
 to writing by the authors2 for         
instance1 of the beautiful  sermon of   

,mr4 ,,arthur1 not a word was written by
 him either before or  since its        
delivery4    ,this will account for the 
fact that the subjects are not treated  
with any  degree of scientific          
exactness1 as essays might require2 but 
in a manner  intended to suggest useful 
thoughts to serious audiences4          
,although myself of the ,church of      
,england1 ,i have had many              
opportunities1  during the past         
thirty-five years1 of hearing discourses
 from ,wesleyan  ministers1 and making  
personal acquaintance with them2 and ,i 
believe the  following ,sermons are a   
fair specimen of the ,wesleyan teaching 
in this  country4    ,why should not the
 ,church of ,england and the great      
,wesleyan body be  united8              
,circumstances are entirely altered     
since ,wesley1 and his  coadjutors1 were
 compelled to run away from the ,church 
of ,england4  ,now1  thank ,god1 the    
majority of our clergy1 like the        
,wesleyan ministers1 are  zealous1 and  

energetic1 and evangelical men2 popular 
in the style of  their addresses1       
distinguished by the vigour of their    
pastoral  ministrations1 and incessant  
in them2 paternal in their care of the  
poor1  of broad and social ,christian   
sympathies1 and earnestly pursuing the  
secular and religious education of the  
young4  ,why should not the priests  of 
the ,church of ,england and the ordained
 ,wesleyan ministers be permitted  to   
exchange pulpits as they may think fit8 
,there is little danger that a          
,wesleyan minister would proclaim       
unsound doctrine4  ,such an evil is much
  more shortly and sharply rectified by 
,wesleyan discipline1 which the  ,courts
 of ,law uphold1 than by any mere legal 
action to which the ,church  of ,england
 is bound4    ,may it please ,god1 by   
,his ,holy ,spirit1 to make these       
,sermons effectual  for the spreading of
 ,his truth and the quickening of ,his  
people4                                 
,,knowles ,,king4    ,,sidmouth ,,house1

 ,,malvern1  ,december #c1 #ahff4       
99 99 99 99 99     ,if any profit shall 
accrue from this publication1 it will be
 given to                   the         
religious institutions at ,malvern4     
,,the ,,lively ,,stones4  ,,rev4 ,w4    
,,morley ,,punshon4          ,ye also1  
as lively stones1 are built up a        
spiritual house1 an holy                
priesthood1 to offer up spiritual       
sacrifices1 acceptable to ,god by       
,jesus ,christ4--#a ,,peter ii4 #e4     
,there is a manifest reference in the   
fourth verse to the personage  alluded  
to in ,psalm cxviii4 #bb1 #bc3 ,the     
stone which the builders refused  is    
become the head stone of the corner4    
,this is the ,lord's doing2 it is       
marvellous in our eyes4  ,and this      
passage is applied by ,christ to        
himself in ,matthew xxi4 #db3 ,jesus    
saith unto them1 ,did ye never read in  
the scriptures1 ,the stone which the    
builders rejected1 the same is become   
the head of the corner3 this is the     

,lord's doing1 and it is marvellous in  
our eyes4  ,the ,apostle therefore      
places the beginning of any connection  
with ,christianity in coming to ,christ1
 and assures believers that in  their   
union with ,him alone consists the      
fulness of their dignity and  privilege4
  ,and there is no truth that will more 
readily be acknowledged1  or receive a  
heartier acquiescence from the heart of 
a believer4  ,what  could we do without 
,jesus8  ,in our every necessity ,he is 
our refuge and  strength1 in our perils 
,he compasses us about with songs of    
deliverance1  his life is our perfect   
example1 his death is our perfect       
atonement4  ,well might the ,apostle    
interrupt the course of his argument    
with the  grateful apostrophe1 ,unto    
you1 therefore1 which believe1 ,he is   
precious2 and exhort them that ye should
 show forth the praises of ,him  who    
hath called you out of darkness into his
 marvellous light4  ,the text  presents 
us with topics of meditation worthy of  

our prayerful study1 as  it reveals to  
us--    ,i4--,,the ,,character4         
,,ii4--,,the ,,privilege4  ,,iii4--,,the
 ,,duty ,,of ,,believers4    ,i4  ,you  
observe that in the text believers are  
presented as a spiritual  house and a   
holy priesthood2 two different          
illustrations1 which1 if you  translate 
the word here rendered house by the more
 sacred word  temple1 will be found to  
have the same religious significance1   
and a  close connection with each other4
  ,coming to ,christ as the             
foundation-stone of the building1       
disallowed indeed of men1 but chosen  of
 ,god1 and precious1 the ,church rises  
into a spiritual temple4  ,from         
,christ1 the great ,high ,priest1       
consecrated after no carnal commandment1
  believers rise into a holy priesthood 
by a majestic investiture that is       
higher than the ordination of ,aaron4   
,there are two points in the  character 
of the ransomed ,church which are       
illustrated in these                    

words3--spirituality and holiness4      
,take the first thought1 spirituality4  
,they are lively or living stones1      
built up into a spiritual house4  ,any  
one who thoughtfully observes the       
successive ages of the world's history1 
will not fail to discover that  each    
generation of men has in some important 
particulars progressed upon  its        
predecessor4  ,there has been not only  
an accumulation of the  treasures of    
thought and knowledge but an increase of
 the capacity to  produce them4  ,hence 
in every age there has been a higher    
appreciation of  freedom1 a quickened   
enterprise of enquiry1 the stream of    
legislation has  refined and broadened  
in its flow1 improvement has extended   
its acreage  of enclosure1 and          
principles proved and gained have become
 part of the  property of the world4    
,our nature has had its mental          
childhood4  ,the  established laws of   
mind admit only of a gradual            
communication of  knowledge4  ,it was   

necessary1 therefore1 that men should be
 first stored  with elementary          
principles1 then advanced to axioms and 
syllables1 and  afterwards introduced   
into the fellowship of the mystery of   
,divine truth4  ,hence any reflective   
mind1 pondering upon the dealings of    
,god with men1  will discover a         
progressive development of revelation1  
adjusted with  careful adaptation to the
 preparedness of different ages of      
mankind4  ,in  the first ages ,god spake
 to men in sensible manifestations1 in  
visions of  the night1 by audible voice1
 in significant symbol4  ,as time       
advanced the  sensible manifestations   
became rarer1 and were reserved for     
great and  distinguishing occasions4    
,from the lips of a lawgiver1 in the    
seer's  vision1 and in the prophet's    
burden of reproof or consolation1 the   
,divine  spake1 and the people heard and
 trembled4  ,at length1 in the fulness  
of  time1 the appeal to the senses was  
altogether discarded2 the age of        

spirituality began1 and in the completed
 revelation men read1 as they  shall    
read for ever1 the ,divine will in the  
perfected and royal word4  ,and this    
progress1 which appears through all     
creation as an inseparable  condition of
 the works of ,god1 present in          
everything1 from the formation  of a    
crystal to the establishment of an      
economy1 is seen also in the  successive
 dispensations under which man has been 
brought into connection  with heaven4   
,you can trace through all dispensations
 the essential unity  of revealed       
religion4  ,there have never been but   
two covenants of ,god  with man--the    
covenant of works and the covenant of   
grace2 never but two  religions--the    
religion of innocence1 and the religion 
of mercy4  ,through  all economies there
 run the same invariable elements of    
truth4  ,the first  promise contains    
within itself the germ of all subsequent
 revelation--the  ,abrahamic covenant1  
the separation of ,israel1 all the rites

 and all the  prophecies1 are but the   
unfoldings of its precious meaning4     
,sacrifice  for the guilty1 mediation   
for the far-off and wandering1          
regeneration for  the impure1 salvation 
through the merit of another2 these are 
the inner  life of the words1 the seed  
of the woman shall bruise the serpent's 
head4  ,the gospel therefore was        
preached unto ,abraham4  ,moses felt the
  potent influence of the reproach of   
,christ4  ,david describeth the         
blessedness of the man unto whom ,god   
imputeth not iniquity4  ,of this        
salvation the prophets enquired and     
searched diligently4  ,christ was the   
one name of the world's constant memory1
 to ,him gave all the prophets  witness1
 and from the obscurest to the clearest 
revelation all testified  in tones which
 it was difficult to misunderstand4     
,neither is there  salvation in any     
other1 for there is no other name under 
heaven given  among men whereby we must 
be saved4  ,the patriarchal dispensation

 had no  elaborate furniture nor        
gorgeous ritualism4  ,the father was the
 priest of  the household1 and as often 
as the firstling bled upon the altar it 
typified the faith of them all in a     
better sacrifice to come4  ,then came   
the ,jewish dispensation with its array 
of services and external  splendour1    
with its expressive symbolism and its   
magnificent temple2 and  then1 rising   
into a higher altitude1 the fulness of  
time came1 and  ,christianity--the      
religion not of the sensuous but of the 
spiritual1 not  of the imagination awed 
by scenes of grandeur nor bewildered by 
ceremonies of terror1 but of the        
intellect yielding to evidence1 of the  
conscience smitten by truth1 of the     
heart taken captive by the  omnipotence 
of love--appeared for the worship of the
 world4  ,our ,saviour1  in his         
conversation with the ,samaritan woman1 
inaugurated1 so to speak1  the          
dispensation of the spiritual1 ,the hour
 cometh1 and now is1--there  is the     

moment of instalment1 when the great    
bell of time might have  pealed at once 
a requiem for the past and a welcome to 
the grander  future1 when the true      
worshippers shall worship the ,father in
 spirit and  in truth4  ,requiring      
spiritual worship1 it was natural that  
,god should  have built up a spiritual  
house1 wherein he should dwell in       
statelier  presence than in houses made 
with hands4  ,hence there is now rising 
upon earth1 its masonry unfinished1 but 
advancing day by day1 a spiritual       
temple more magnificent than the temple 
of ,solomon1 costlier than the  temple  
of ,herod4  ,destroy this temple1 said  
the ,saviour to his  wondering          
listeners1 and in three days ,i will    
raise it up4  ,forty and  six years was 
this temple in building1 and will thou  
rear it up in three  days8  ,but ,he    
spake of the temple of ,his body4       
,what1 know ye not  that your bodies are
 the members of ,christ8  ,yes6         
believers everywhere  are stones in the 

spiritual house1 broken perhaps into    
conformity1 or  chiselled into beauty by
 successive strokes of trial2 and       
wherever they  are1 in the hut or in the
 ancestral hall1 in the climates of the 
snow or  of the sun1 whether society    
hoot them or honour them1 whether they  
wrap  themselves in delicate            
apparelling1 or1 in rugged homespun1    
toil all day  for bread1 they are parts 
of the true temple which ,god esteems   
higher  than cloistered crypt or stately
 fane1 and the top stone of which shall 
hereafter be brought on with joy4       
,the second representation of a         
believer's character is holiness1 a     
holy priesthood4  ,in the ,jewish       
dispensation the word was understood  to
 mean no more than an outward and       
visible separation unto ,god2 the       
priests in the temple and the vessels of
 their ministry were said to be         
ceremonially holy4  ,but more is implied
 in the term as it occurs in the  text  
and kindred passages than a mere ritual 

and external sanctity4  ,it  consists in
 the possession of that mind which was  
also in ,christ ,jesus1  in the         
reinstatement in us of that image of    
,god which was lost by the  disobedience
 of the fall4  ,you will remember       
numerous scriptures in which  holiness1 
regarded as the supreme devotion of the 
heart and service to  ,god1 is brought  
out as at once a requirement and a      
characteristic of a  ,christian4  ,what 
manner of persons ought we to be in all 
holy  conversation and godliness8  ,be  
ye holy1 for ,i am holy1 as ,he which   
hath called you is holy1 so be ye holy  
in all manner of conversation4  ,god    
hath not called us to uncleanness but   
unto holiness4  ,having these  promises1
 dearly beloved1 let us cleanse         
ourselves from all filthiness of  the   
flesh and spirit1 perfecting holiness in
 the fear of ,god4  ,and it is          
absolutely necessary that this grace    
should be cultivated if we would  either
 fulfil the mission of our priesthood or

 abide in the ,divine  presence for     
ever4  ,holiness is requisite whether to
 see the ,lord or to  walk before men   
unto all well-pleasing2 and as living   
witnesses1  transcripts of ,his         
holiness1 enabled by his grace to       
maintain purity of  heart and life1 ,god
 has promised to establish those who put
 their trust  in ,him4  ,some           
,christians have been deterred from the 
search after this  blessing of heaven by
 the mistakes of those who have         
endeavoured to  expound it1 or by the   
hypocrisy of those who have assumed its 
profession  that they might the better  
sin4  ,it is marvellous how many        
different  views of it have at times    
obtained currency in the world4  ,by    
some it has  been resolved into a sort  
of refined ,hinduism1 a state in which  
the soul  is unearthed1 entranced1      
beatified by devout contemplation into a
  pietistic rapture2 others have deemed 
that the best way to secure it was  a   
retirement from the vexing world1 a     

recreant forsaking of the active  duties
 of life1 as if it consisted in immunity
 from temptation rather  than in victory
 over it4  ,others have placed it in    
surpliced observance  or in monastic    
vow2 an equivocal regard to patterns of 
things in the  heavens which common men 
mistake for idolatry4  ,others again1   
reversing  the old ,pythagorean maxim1  
and wearing the image of ,god upon their
 ring1  have expressed it by unworthy   
familiarity1 a continual adverting to   
the  gifts of the spirit1 and the       
experience of the soul in the flippancy 
of  ordinary conversation1 as did some  
of the fanatics of the ,commonwealth4   
,others have represented it as a        
perpetual austerity1 an investiture of  
our family circles with all the hues of 
the sepulchre1 and a flinging  upon the 
face of society the frown of a rebuking 
fretfulness1 which would  make the good 
of an archangel evil spoken of in this  
censorious world4  ,but the scriptural  
holiness which believers long for1 and  

which the  ,church is to spread through 
the land1 is not a necessary adjunct of 
any  or all of these4  ,it is not the   
acting of a part in a drama1 but the    
forth-putting of a character in life1   
the exhibition in harmonious action  of 
the humble love and filial fear with    
which men work out their  salvation4  ,a
 holy priesthood4  ,it is remarkable of 
this spiritual  priesthood that it      
descends in no particular succession1   
nor limits its  privileges to any       
exclusive genealogy4  ,the holiness     
which is at once its  distinctiveness   
and its hallowing comprehends and can   
sanctify all  relations of life4  ,let  
the minister have it1 and the love of   
,christ1 his  supremest affection1 will 
prompt his loathing of sin and his pity 
for  sinners2 will fire his zeal and    
make his words burn1 and will often urge
  him to cast himself upon the          
mercy-seat that his labours may not be  
in  vain4  ,let the merchant1 or the    
manufacturer1 or the man of business    

have  it1 and it need neither bate his  
diligence nor hold him back from riches2
  but it will smite down his avarice and
 restrain his greed of gold2 it  will   
make him abhor the fraud that is        
gainful1 and eschew the speculation     
that is hazardous1 and shrink from the  
falsehood that is customary1 and  check 
the competition that is selfish2 and it 
will utterly destroy the  deceptive     
hand-bill1 and the cooked accounts1 and 
the fictitious capital1  as well the    
enormous dishonesties as the little lies
 of trade4  ,let this  holiness actuate 
the parent1 and in his strong and gentle
 rule he will  mould the hearts of his  
children heavenward1 and train them in  
the  admonition of the ,lord1 until1 a  
commanded household1 comely in their    
filial love1 they shall reverence their 
,father who is in heaven4  ,let the     
child be impressed with holiness1 and he
 will have higher motives to  obedience 
than he can gather from the constraint  
of duty or from the  promptings of      

affection4  ,let the master be holy1 and
 while he upholds  authority he will    
dispense blessing4  ,let the servant be 
holy1 and  service will be rendered with
 cheerfulness1 not with eye-service as  
men-pleasers1 but in singleness of      
heart1 fearing ,god4  ,let the man be   
holy1 and vigorous health and lofty     
intellect and swaying eloquence and     
quenchless zeal will all be offered to  
,god4  ,let the woman be holy1 and      
patient prayer will linger round the    
cross1 and ardent hope will haunt  the  
envied sepulchre1 and pitying tenderness
 will wail on the way to  ,calvary1 and 
the deep heart-love will forget all     
selfish solicitudes in  the absorbing   
question1 ,where have they laid my      
,lord8  ,let the world be  holy6 and the
 millennium has come1 and wrong ceases  
for ever1 and the  tabernacle of ,god is
 with men1 and earth's music rivals     
heaven's4  ,brethren1 let us seek this  
blessing for ourselves4  ,there1 at the 
foot of  the ,throne1 let us plead the  

promise1 ,i will sprinkle clean water   
upon  you1 and you shall be clean4      
,imagination1 intellect1 memory1        
conscience1 will2--sanctify them all4   
,then will we teach transgressors  thy  
ways1 and sinners shall be converted    
unto ,thee4  ,it is done1 surely  it is 
done4  ,the hands are upon us now4  ,we 
kneel for the diviner  baptism1 for the 
effectual and blessed ordination4       
,listen1 the word has  spoken1 ,ye are  
an holy priesthood1 to offer up         
spiritual sacrifices  acceptable to ,god
 by ,jesus ,christ4    ,,ii4--,certain  
blessings are presented to us in the    
text as the heritage of  this spiritual 
and consecrated ,church4  ,increase and 
acceptance4  ,the  spiritual house is to
 be built up firm and consolidated on   
the true  foundation4  ,the services of 
the holy priesthood are to be acceptable
 to  ,god through ,jesus4  ,take the    
first thought4  ,ye are built up a      
spiritual house1 an holy priesthood1 to 
offer up spiritual sacrifices           

acceptable to ,god by ,jesus ,christ4   
,the fact of ,god's constant            
supervision over his ,church and care   
for its stability and extension is  one 
that is impressed with earnest          
repetition upon the pages of his word4  
,thine eyes shall see ,jerusalem a quiet
 habitation1 a tabernacle that  shall   
not be taken down2 not one of the stakes
 thereof shall ever be  removed1 neither
 shall any of the cords thereof be      
broken1 but there the  glorious ,lord   
will be unto us a place of broad rivers 
and streams4  ,then shall thou see and  
flow together1 and thine heart shall    
fear and be  enlarged1 because the      
abundance of the sea shall be converted 
unto thee1  the forces of the ,gentiles 
shall come unto thee4  ,then shall the  
mountain of the ,lord's house be        
established in the top of the mountains1
  and shall be exalted above the hills1 
and all nations shall flow unto  it4    
,as ,i live1 saith the ,lord1 thou shalt
 surely clothe thee with them  all as   

with an ornament1 and bind them on thee 
as a bride doeth4  ,from  these         
passages1 and many others breathing the 
same spirit1 we may  legitimately infer 
that it is the purpose of ,god that the 
kingdom of  ,messiah shall be universal2
 that the ,church shall increase in     
steady and  cumulative progression1 and 
realize in herself all the glorious     
things  which by the holy prophets were 
spoken of the city of ,god4  ,and in    
this  matter ,god has not left himself  
without a witness4  ,the present        
existence  of the ,church1 after it has 
encountered and outlived all varieties  
of  opposition1 is in itself a proof    
which even its enemies1 if they were not
  stupid and indocile learners1 might   
ere this have discovered1 that the      
eternal ,god is its refuge1 and that the
 ,highest will establish it for  ever4  
,from its institution it has had in the 
heart of every man a  natural and       
inveterate enemy4  ,the world has       
uniformly opposed it1 and it  has been  

unable to repel that opposition with    
weapons out of the world's  armoury2 for
 it is forbidden to rely upon the       
strength of armies or upon  the forces  
of external power4  ,fanatics have      
entered into unholy  combination4       
,herod and ,pilate have truced up a     
hollow friendship that  they might work 
against it together4  ,statesmen have   
elaborated their  policy1 and empires   
have concentrated their strength2 the   
banners of  battle have made hideous    
laughter with the wind2 the blood of    
many  sainted confessors has been shed  
like water1 and the vultures of the crag
  have scented the unburied witnesses   
and have been ready to swoop down  upon 
the slain4  ,and yet the ,church is     
living1 thriving1 multiplying2  while   
the names of its tyrants are forgotten1 
and their kingdoms1 like  snow-flakes on
 the wave1 have left no trace behind4   
,no inborn strength  will account for   
this mystery4  ,no advance of           
intelligence nor  philosophic           

enlightenment will explain this         
phenomenon4  ,the acute  observer1 if   
faith have cleared his eye or opened an 
inner one1 will go  back for the        
explanation to an old and unforgotten   
promise1 and will  exclaim when he sees 
the ,church struggling1 but triumphant1 
like the  fire-girdled bush at ,horeb1  
,god is in the midst of her1 she shall  
not be  moved2 ,god shall help her1 and 
that right early4  ,and not only in the 
preservation from her enemies but in her
 unfailing progress among men in  every 
age1 has ,god shown that his purpose is 
to build up the spiritual  house4  ,the 
rapid spread of the truth in primitive  
times was a marvel and  a mystery to    
those who saw not the arm which upheld  
it and the power  which bade it multiply
 and grow4  ,the whole history of gospel
 extension  is indeed a succession of   
wonders4  ,it began with a ,pentecost1  
local1 but  prophetic of a universal    
one1 when its sound shall have gone out 
into  all the earth and its words to the

 end of the world4  ,in the times of    
the ,apostles1 and of their immediate   
successors1 it overleaped the           
boundaries of nation after nation1      
acquired lodgment and proselytes in  the
 proudest cities1 subjugated the        
barbaric magnificence of ,asia ,minor1  
had its students in the schools of      
,greece1 and its servitors in the       
imperial household at ,rome4  ,in its   
triumphant course it attacked  idolatry 
in its strongholds1 and that idolatry1  
though fortified by habit  and          
prejudice1 and sanctioned by classic    
learning1 and entwined with the         
beautiful in architecture and song1 and 
venerable for its wondrous age1  and    
imperial in the dominion which it had   
exercised over a vassal world1  fell    
speedily1 utterly1 and for ever4  ,and  
in each succeeding age1  obscured       
sometimes by the clouds of persecution1 
and sometimes by the  mists of error1   
its progress has been gradual and sure4 
,if it has not  dissipated it has       

relieved the darkness4  ,it has stamped 
itself upon the  institutions of        
mankind1 and they reflect its image4    
,it has insinuated  its leavening spirit
 where its outward expressions are not1 
and there is  a vast amount of          
,christian and humanizing sentiment     
abroad1 a sort of  atmosphere breathed  
unconsciously by every man1 whose       
air-waves break  upon society with      
unfelt but influencing pressure1 but its
 source is in  the gospel of ,christ4   
,the building rises still6  ,in distant 
parts of the  great world-quarry stones 
of diverse hardness1 and of diverse hue1
 but  all susceptible of being wrought  
upon by the heavenly masonry1 are every 
day being shaped for the temple4        
,strikes among the workmen1 or frost in 
the air1 may suspend operations for     
awhile1 but the building rises6  ,often 
are the stones prepared in silence1 as  
in the ancient temple-pile1  with no    
sound of the chisel or the hammer4  ,the
 ,sanballats and ,tobiahs of            

discouragement and shame may deride the 
work and embarrass the labourers2  but  
one by one the living stones1 polished  
after the similitude of a  palace1 are  
incorporated into it4  ,yes6 the        
building rises1 and it shall  rise for  
ever4  ,god has promised increase to the
 ,church1 and her enemies  cannot       
gainsay it4  ,from the more effectual   
blessing on churches already  formed1   
from the reversal of the attainder1 and 
the bringing into his  patrimonial      
portion of the disinherited ,jew1 from  
the proclamation in all  lands of the   
message of mercy1 they shall throng into
 the city of our  solemnities until the 
waste and the desolate places1 and the  
land of her  destruction shall even now 
be too many1 by reason of the           
inhabitants1 and  they that swallowed   
thee up shall be far away4  ,what       
,christian heart1  looking for this     
promised blessing1 rejoices not with    
exceeding joy8  ,at  the foundation of  
the second temple1 amid the flare of    

trumpets and the  clang of cymbals1     
while the young men rent the air with   
gladness1 there  were choking memories  
in many a ,levite heart that chastened  
the solemn  joy and were relieved only  
by passionate tears2 but at the         
upbuilding of  the spiritual house the  
young and the old may feel an equal     
gladness1  or if some memories steal    
over the spirit of primitive days1 and  
of the  joys of a forfeited ,eden1 they 
may be stilled by the memory of the     
grander and abiding truth1 that--       
,in ,christ the tribes of ,adam boast1  
,more blessings than their father lost4 
,brethren1 have you this joy8  ,does it 
pleasure you that the building  rises8  
,do your hearts thrill with gladness as 
you hear of accessions to  the ,church  
and the conversion of sinners to ,god8  
,do you love the gates  of ,zion more   
than all the dwellings of ,jacob8  ,have
 a care if you feel  not this sympathy1 
for ye are none of his4  ,if it is      
within you a living1  earnest emotion1  

give it play4  ,let the children of     
,zion be joyful in  their ,king4    ,the
 second privilege is the acceptance of  
her service and sacrifice  through      
,jesus ,christ4--,to us1 who are mean   
and unworthy1 it is no small  privilege 
to be assured of welcome when we come to
 ,god4  ,to us1 who are  guilty and     
erring1 it is no small privilege that we
 can come by ,jesus  ,christ4  ,the hope
 of acceptance is necessary to sustain  
the heart of the  worshipper1 which     
without it would soon sink into despair4
  ,the apostle1  you perceive1 places   
the ground of the acceptance of our     
services upon  our union with ,jesus    
,christ4        ,vain in themselves     
their duties were1         ,their       
services could never please1      ,till 
join'd with thine1 and made to share    
,the merits of thy righteousness4    ,he
 is careful to impress upon us that in  
our holiest moments no less than  when  
we are wayward and criminal1 our trust  
for personal safety1 and our  only      

chance of blessing are from our exalted 
,daysman1 who can lay his  hand upon us 
both4  ,our praise would be unmeaning   
minstrelsy1 our prayers  a litany       
unheard and obsolete1 all our devotional
 service a bootless  trouble1 but that  
yonder the ,intercessor stands and pours
 his  all-prevailing prayer4  ,it is    
through ,him we both1 the ,jews who     
crucified ,him and the ,gentiles1 who by
 their persevering neglect of ,him      
crucify ,him afresh1 have access by one 
spirit unto the ,father4  ,the  words of
 promise touching the acceptance of the 
worship of the ,church are  explicit and
 numerous4  ,they shall come up with    
acceptance on mine  altar1 and ,i will  
glorify the house of my glory4  ,that ,i
 should be the  minister of ,jesus      
,christ to the ,gentiles1 ministering   
the gospel of ,god1  that the offering  
up of the ,gentiles might be acceptable1
 being  sanctified by the ,holy ,ghost4 
,in the place where my name is recorded1
  there will ,i accept4  ,in every      

nation he that feareth ,him1 and worketh
  righteousness1 is accepted with ,him4 
,oh1 comforting thought1 when ,i am     
convinced of my own sinfulness1 and     
restless and disquieted wander about  in
 distress1 and lie down in sorrow1 there
 is ,one who hears the stammered        
entreaty1 and smiles a pardon to my     
agonized cry1 ,god be merciful to me  a 
sinner4  ,when in my daily life ,i      
encounter a terrible temptation1 a      
temptation so strong that it tries my   
strength to the uttermost1 and  gives my
 heart a struggle and a bitterness which
 no stranger may know1  there is ,one   
who marks my resistance and counts my   
enduring faith for  righteousness1 and  
whispers me that by and bye1 he that    
overcometh shall  wear the conqueror's  
crown4  ,when in some moment of         
unguardedness ,i  grieve the good       
,spirit1 and become unwatchful1 and in  
remorseful  penitence ,i could almost   
weep my life away1 the offering of my   
contrition  is accepted1 and there is   

,one who heals my backsliding and       
soothes my  fretting sorrow4  ,my       
prayers offered in secret1 pleading for 
purity and  blessing1 my praises1 when  
the full heart1 attuned1 gives its note 
of  blessing to swell the choral        
harmony1 wherewith all ,god's works     
praise  ,him1 the active hand1 the ready
 tongue1 the foot swift and willing in  
his  cause1 the service of labour1 the  
service of suffering1--all these1 if ,i 
offer them rightly and reliantly1 are   
acceptable unto ,god by ,jesus  ,christ4
  ,there is no room for distrust or for 
misgiving4  ,i need not fear  that1     
after all my efforts1 ,i shall be met   
with an averted glance1 or  with a cold 
denial4  ,the promise standeth sure1 ,to
 that man will ,i  look4  ,oh1 if there 
had been a pause after this             
announcement1 how would  the eager      
solicitudes of men have gathered round  
it1 and waited for the  coming of the   
words4  ,where wilt thou direct thy look
 of favour8  ,to him  who is noble1 or  

wealthy1 or intelligent8  ,to him who   
with scrupulous  rigidness fasts twice  
in the week1 and gives tithes of all    
that he  possesses8  ,to him whose quick
 sensibility revels in all expressions  
of  the beautiful1 or whose graceful    
impulse moves him in all works of       
charity8  ,no1 to none of these1 but1   
,to him that is poor1 and of a  contrite
 spirit2 and that trembleth at my word4 
,,iii4--,if there be this assurance of  
acceptance1 how solemn and resistless   
is the call to duty1 ,to offer up       
spiritual sacrifices acceptable to ,god 
by ,jesus ,christ4  ,sacrifice1 properly
 speaking1 is the infliction of  death  
upon a living creature for the purposes 
of religious worship1 but  this         
sacrifice and offering1 happily1 ,god   
requires not at our hands4  ,no filleted
 firstling need now be led to the altar1
 the flocks of ,kedar  and the rams of  
,nebaioth may browse quietly in their   
pastures1 for the  ,great ,sacrifice has
 been offered1 and it abides--one       

sacrifice for  sins for ever1 needing no
 repetition1 one for ever6 unexhausted  
in its  virtue1 and unfailing in the    
blessing it confers4  ,but in a         
secondary  sense the recognized and     
fulfilled duties of the ,church are     
fitly called  sacrifices1 for they      
cannot be properly discharged without   
the alienation  from ourselves of       
something that was our own1 and its     
presentation1  whether time1 ease1      
property or influence1 to ,god4         
,brethren1 to this  duty you are called 
to-day4  ,the name you bear has bound   
you4  ,the holy  priesthood must offer  
up spiritual sacrifices4  ,suffered to  
become  ,christians1 permitted1 a race  
adulterous and dishonoured as you were1 
to  be united to ,christ and partakers  
of his precious grace1 the spell of     
these high privileges enforces every    
obligation1 and hallows every claim4    
,ye are not your own4  ,first offer     
yourselves upon the altar1 renew your   
covenant in this the house of our       

solemnities1 on this the instalment of  
our great ,christian festival4  ,it will
 be easy to devote the accessories1     
when the principal bestowment has been  
rendered4  ,i claim from you this       
sacrifice for ,god4  ,yourselves1 not a 
half-hearted homage1 not a  divided     
service1 not a stray emotion1 not a     
solitary faculty2  yourselves1 you all1 
and all of you2 your bodies1 with their 
appliances for service2 your souls1 with
 their ardour of affection2  intellect1 
with its grasp and power2 life1 with its
 activity and  earnestness2 endowment1  
with its manifold gifts2 influence1 with
 its  persuasive beseechings4  ,i claim 
them all4  ,i beseech you therefore1 by 
the mercies of ,god1 that ye present    
your bodies a living sacrifice1 holy1   
acceptable unto ,god1 which is your     
reasonable service4  ,this  consecration
 made1 all else will follow in the      
train2 litanies of earnest  supplication
 will rise from the full heart2 the     
prayer will be offered  as incense2 the 

lifting up of the hands as the evening  
sacrifice4  ,glad in its memory of the  
past1 and hopeful in its trust for the  
future1  the hosanna of gratitude will  
rise2 the sacrifice of praise           
continually2 the fruit of our lips      
giving thanks to his name4  ,the        
property received gratefully from heaven
 will be offered freely and  bountifully
 for ,christ2 and some outcast housed in
 a safe and friendly  shelter1 some     
emancipated slave or converted ,figian1 
some ,indian breaking  from his         
vassaldom of caste and ,shaster1 and    
longing to sit at ,jesus'  feet and hear
 his word1 will say rejoicingly of your 
liberality1 ,having  received of        
,epaphroditus the things which were sent
 from you1 an odour of  a sweet smell1 a
 sacrifice acceptable1 well-pleasing to 
,god4          ,,christ',s ,,work ,,of  
,,destruction ,,and ,,deliverance4      
,,rev4 ,,john ,h4 ,,james4              
,that through death ,he might destroy   
him that had the power of death1        

that is1 the devil2 and deliver them who
 through fear of death were      all    
their lifetime subject to               
bondage4--,,hebrews ii4 #ad1 #ae4       
,there is a special and ordained        
connection between the incarnation and  
the death of our blessed ,lord4  ,other 
men die in due course after they  are   
born2 he was born just that he might    
die4  ,he came not to be  ministered    
unto1 but to minister1 and to give his  
life a ransom for  many4  ,it is        
therefore evident that the theology     
which magnifies the  incarnation at the 
expense of the atonement is             
fundamentally1 fatally  defective4  ,the
 brotherhood of ,christ with every son  
of ,adam is a blessed  truth1 but it is 
by no means the whole truth1 nor can it 
be practically  available and           
influential apart from the offering of  
his body upon the  cross as a sacrifice 
for sin4  ,this is very clearly and     
strongly put in  the text4  ,the        
incarnation of the ,son of ,god is      

proved from the ,old  ,testament1 and   
shown to have had reference to his      
redeeming death4  ,many  purposes were  
answered by his becoming partaker of    
flesh and blood4  ,his  influence as a  
teacher1 the power of his spotless      
example1 his  identification with the   
needs and sorrows of humanity1 and the  
deep  sympathy resulting                
therefrom1--these and similar ends were 
contemplated  and fulfilled4  ,but the  
grand purpose was disclosed and         
accomplished on  the cross1 where ,god  
made his soul an offering for sin4      
,forasmuch then  as the children are    
partakers of flesh and blood1 ,he also  
himself  likewise took part of the same2
 that through death ,he might destroy   
him  that had the power of death1 that  
is1 the devil2 and deliver them who     
through fear of death were all their    
lifetime subject to bondage4    ,the    
death of ,jesus1 then1 and the end to be
 accomplished by it1  constitute the    
central1 vital1 culminating truth of    

,christianity4  ,the  apostle puts the  
death of ,christ in a striking point of 
view1--as a work  done1 rather than a   
calamity suffered4  ,and it was a double
 work1--a work  of destruction on the   
one hand1 and of deliverance on the     
other1--of  destruction in order to     
deliverance4  ,that is the conception of
 his  mission embodied in the first     
promise4  ,the bruising of the serpent's
  head by the bruised heel of the       
,saviour1 in order to repair the ruin   
wrought by the tempter1 suggests very   
significantly the truth which is so     
explicitly announced here4  ,and a      
similar combination runs through the    
ancient providential history4  ,the     
destruction of the old world in order   
to the salvation of the righteous1 and  
the fulfilment of the promise of        
redemption2 and the destruction of the  
first-born of ,egypt in order to  the   
deliverance of ,israel1 are instances in
 point4  ,but the death of  ,christ upon
 the cross in order to the emancipation 

of the slaves of ,satan  is the most    
glorious and perfect illustration4  ,let
 me ask your attention  to the work of  
,christ's death1    ,i4--,,as ,,it ,,is 
,a ,,work ,,of ,,destruction4           
,,ii4--,,as ,,it ,,is ,a ,,work ,,of    
,,deliverance4    ,i4  ,,as ,,it ,,is ,a
 ,,work ,,of ,,destruction4  ,that ,he  
might destroy him that had  the power of
 death1 that is1 the devil4    #a4      
,satan1 then1 is a person1 and the enemy
 of ,jesus1 who died  to destroy him4   
7i47  ,the personality of the devil is  
necessarily implied in the words of  the
 text4  ,the theory which seeks to      
divest all that is said about the  devil
 in ,scripture of everything like       
personality1 and to refine it away  into
 figurative representation of the       
principle of evil1 is as                
unphilosophical as it is unscriptural4  
,how can we conceive of moral evil  in  
the abstract8  ,how can we think of it  
apart from the depraved will of  some   
intelligent being8  ,whatever theories  

may be held respecting the  difficult   
question of the origin of evil1 it is   
surely inconceivable that  it should    
exist independently of some living1     
conscious1 intellectual  author4  ,no   
truer or more philosophical solution can
 be found than that  of the ,bible1     
which attributes it to the devil1--a    
being originally good1  who fell from   
his first estate1 broke his allegiance  
to the ,creator1 and  so became the     
leader of a vast and fearful rebellion  
against ,almighty  ,god4  ,the case of  
man shows us the possibility of a being 
existing in a  holy but mutable state1  
and lapsing1 under certain inducements1 
into sin4  ,what the inducements were in
 the instance of the prince of darkness 
we  are not told2 and thus the question 
of the origin of evil seems to be       
insoluble by us4  ,but the              
identification of it with the personal  
defection of ,satan is far more         
intelligible and reasonable than the    
attempt to treat it as a metaphysical   

abstraction4  ,all the  representations 
of the ,bible on the subject are        
instinct with the awful  personality of 
the devil4  ,he is our adversary2 he is 
the accuser2 he  is the ,god of this    
world2 he is the prince of the power of 
the air1  that wicked one that now      
worketh in the hearts of the children of
  disobedience2 he that hath blinded the
 minds of them that believe not2  he    
leadeth sinners captive at his will4    
,surely that is a bold and  unscrupulous
 theology which resolves all these clear
 and strong  expressions into the mere  
ideal impersonation of a principle4  ,o 
no6  ,satan is a being of subtle        
intelligence1 with a depraved1          
unconquerable1  malignant will2 a dread 
living power1 with whom we have         
continually to  do1 who desireth to have
 us1 that he may sift us as wheat1 and  
with  whom1 if we wish to get to heaven1
 we must be prepared to fight at every  
step of our way4    7ii47  ,and he is   
emphatically the enemy of ,jesus1 who   

came to destroy  him4  ,i will put      
enmity between thee and the woman1 and  
between thy seed  and her seed4  ,it was
 in pursuit of his designs against the  
living ,god  that ,satan persuaded our  
first parents to commit sin2 it was by  
lying  insinuations against ,god that he
 deceived her who was first in the      
transgression4  ,of course1 he is the   
enemy of man4  ,of course1 his  design  
is to inflict ruin and misery on men1   
and to bring them to his own  state and 
place of torment4  ,but he does this by 
seducing them into  rebellion against   
the ,most ,high4  ,hatred of ,god is the
 spring of all his  conduct1 the motive 
of every enterprise which he undertakes4
  ,and ,jesus1  the ,son of ,god1 the   
vindicator of the divine honour1 is     
necessarily the  sworn eternal foe of   
the devil2 and ,he has come into our    
world as into  the arena of a supreme   
conflict for the defeat and overthrow of
 ,satan2  has assumed the very nature   
which the foul fiend seduced and        

degraded1 in  order that1 in that same  
nature1 he might avenge the wrong done  
to the  being and government of ,god1   
and put an eternal end to the usurpation
 and  tyranny of his enemy4    #b4  ,the
 devil had the power of death4    7i47  
,we must not understand this as meaning 
that ,satan has direct1  independent1   
and absolute control over death1        
inflicting it how1 and  when1 and where1
 and on whom1 he will4  ,the later      
,jewish writers taught  the horrible    
doctrine that the fallen angels have    
power or authority  generally in        
reference to life and death4  ,but this 
never was the case4  ,death was the     
sentence pronounced by ,god upon man1   
and it could only be  inflicted by his  
appointment and concurrence4  ,the power
 of life and  death is necessarily in   
,god's hands1 and his only4    7ii47    
,but ,satan had the power of death1 in  
this sense2 namely1 that he  tempted man
 to commit the sin which brought death  
into the world1 and  all our woe4  ,he  

enticed ,eve to sin1 partly by denying  
that her offence  would be visited with 
the punishment of death4  ,ye shall not 
surely  die1 was the lie by which he    
contradicted and defied the ,god of     
truth1  and induced the woman to eat of 
the fruit of the tree of the knowledge  
of good and evil4  ,and so1 he was a    
murderer from the beginning4  ,god  made
 man to be immortal1 an image of his own
 eternity2 nevertheless1  through envy  
of the devil came death into the world4 
,in this sense1  then1 as the author and
 introducer of that sin whose wages is  
death1  ,satan had the power of death4  
7iii47  ,moreover1 it is the work of    
,satan to invest death with its chief   
terrors4  ,we shrink indeed from the    
humiliating prospect of corruption  and 
decay2 we cling fondly to those         
companionships1 associations1 and       
pleasures1 from which death for ever    
separates us2 we deprecate and dread    
the blighting of our earthly hopes1 and 
the ruthless frustration of our         

schemes4  ,these are very painful       
accessories of death2 but they are not  
its sting2 they do not make it a poison 
for the soul as well as for the  body4  
,the sting of death is sin4  ,that sting
 has been drawn for the  ,christian1 and
 death hath no terrors for him4  ,but1  
had the power of the  devil in death    
been unassailed and uncounteracted1 the 
dissolution of the  body and the eternal
 ruin of the soul would have been alike 
complete and  irrecoverable4  ,by the   
consciousness of guilt1 ,satan has      
infused an  element of insupportable    
terror into death4  ,for it is that     
consciousness  which makes death        
dreadful4  ,it is quite probable that1  
if man had not  sinned1 his body would  
have undergone some great change1 that  
it might be  fitted for that kingdom of 
,god1 which flesh and blood cannot      
inherit2  but such change would have    
inflicted no pain1 and involved no      
humiliation2 it would only have been a  
change from glory to glory2 and  would  

have been anticipated with no sentiments
 contrary to desire and  hope4  ,but    
death1 besides its own inherent         
ghastliness1 is rendered  dreadful      
through the malice of the devil1 and the
 guilty fear of the  penal hereafter    
which haunts all those who are in his   
power4    #c4  ,jesus died to destroy   
him that had the power of death4  ,he   
has  indeed provisionally destroyed     
death itself for all the sons of ,god4  
,death1 the last enemy1 shall be        
destroyed4  ,but it is not absolutely   
and immediately abolished4  ,the death  
of the body remains1 even for ,god's    
people1 as a sad and humiliating        
monument of the evil of sin2 but to them
  it is not now a punishment1 but the   
mode of their birth into a new and  more
 glorious life4        ,mortals cry1 ',a
 man is dead6'      ,angels sing1 ',a   
child is born6'    ,it may be truly said
 of the hour when a good man dies1 that 
it is the  hour when he enters into     
life4  ,and this is because ,jesus      

destroyed him  that had the power of    
death4  ,he did not annihilate him1 the 
word does  not mean that1 but ,he       
neutralized1 counteracted1 stripped him 
of his  power4  ,the whole design and   
effect of death1 when in the power of   
the  devil1 has been defeated and       
reversed by the death of ,christ4       
,though the  bodies of his people be    
consigned to the grave1 it is in sure   
and certain  hope of the resurrection to
 everlasting life4  ,that melancholy    
seed-time  in which we cast the dust of 
our beloved into the earth1 is the      
prelude  to a glorious harvest2 that    
when ,he giveth his beloved sleep1 is   
preparatory to their awaking to glory   
and immortality4  ,it is sown in        
corruption1 it is raised in             
incorruption2 it is sown in weakness1 it
 is  raised in power2 it is sown in     
dishonour1 it is raised in glory2 it is 
sown a natural body1 it is raised a     
spiritual body4  ,this is what          
,christ's death has done for the bodies 

of his people2 and is it not an  entire 
breaking of the power of the devil over 
death8  ,as to their souls1  death      
delivers them from the burden of the    
flesh1 that they may be in joy  and     
felicity with ,god4  ,absent from the   
body1 they are for ever  present with   
the ,lord4  ,death is no longer a dark  
and dreadful phantom1  rising from the  
abyss1 to drag down his victims and     
gorge himself upon  them4  ,he is an    
angel1 pure and bright1 sent to summon  
,god's beloved to  their ,father's house
 above4  ,that which men naturally dread
 as the crown  and climax of all evils1 
becomes an object of wistful longing1   
for ,god's  servants have a desire to   
depart and be with ,christ1 which is far
  better4  ,this stripping away of      
,satan's power1 this destruction of him 
that had the power of death1 is due to  
the death of ,jesus4  ,he thus  redeemed
 us from the debt of death1             
acknowledging the debt in the manner  in
 which he removed it4  ,christ1 by      

giving himself up to death1 has         
acknowledged the guilt1 and truly atoned
 for it2 ,he has1 in one act1  atoned   
for the sinner and judged the sin4  ,by 
dying for sins1 ,he  expiated that which
 gives to death its sting1 its power to 
injure and  to terrify4  ,he            
,entered the grave in mortal flesh1     
,and dwelt among the dead1    that ,he  
might put an end to ,satan's power in   
and over death4  ,some sound  and       
excellent divines are of opinion that1  
in the interval between his  death and  
resurrection ,he literally descended    
into hell1 and there1 in  personal      
conflict1 grappled with and overthrew   
the devil4  ,however this  may be1 it is
 certain that the bruising of his heel  
by ,satan was the  chosen means for his 
bruising of ,satan's head4  ,our enemy1 
who brought  death into the world1 is   
entirely baffled and defeated1 as to the
 purpose  and effect of that calamity1  
in the case of all who believe in the   
death  of ,christ4  ,their last act of  

faith gives them the victory through our
  ,lord ,jesus ,christ4  ,then the ,god 
of peace finally beats down ,satan      
under their feet4  ,death is swallowed  
up of life4  ,what power over  death has
 the devil in such a case8  ,is it not  
wholly counteracted8  ,is  not death a  
wholly different1 nay1 opposite thing to
 what he intended1  when by tempting and
 conquering our first parents he brought
 it into the  world8  ,the body of the  
good man is buried in peace1 and his    
soul is  blessed for evermore4  ,he     
shall never more1 through the long      
eternity of  bliss1 be assailed or      
injured by him that had the power of    
death3 nor  shall he see his enemy      
again1 unless it be to triumph openly   
over him1 in  that day when death1 and  
hell shall be cast into the lake that   
burneth  with fire and brimstone4  ,many
 good people are unduly afraid of the   
devil1 and especially they are in dread 
of his possible power in their  last    
moments4  ,but we may dismiss this fear 

as altogether needless and  unworthy4   
,christ has not only rendered our great 
enemy utterly powerless  for evil1 but  
has1 by his own most precious death1    
compelled even ,satan  into the service 
of the sons of ,god4  ,he has turned the
 supreme calamity  brought into the     
world by the arch-fiend into the supreme
 glory and joy  of all who believe in   
himself4  ,to all those who are by      
,jesus' death to  life restored1 the day
 of death is infinitely preferable to   
the day of  birth1 for then beginneth   
that new life which shall never die4  ,i
 know  whom ,i have believed1 and am    
persuaded that ,he is able to keep that 
which  ,i have committed unto ,him until
 that day4    ,,ii4  ,,let ,,us ,,now   
,,contemplate ,,the ,,work ,,of ,,jesus1
 ,,in ,,his ,,death1 ,,as ,a ,,work ,,of
  ,,deliverance4  ,and deliver them who1
 through fear of death1 were all  their 
lifetime subject to bondage4  ,if we    
ascertain the import of this            
description of those whom ,christ died  

to deliver1 we shall easily  understand 
the nature and mode of the deliverance  
wrought out for them4    #a4  ,they were
 in bondage4  ,they were in fact        
enslaved by him who had  the power of   
death4  ,this is a very fearful view of 
our natural state1  and one which       
contradicts all the conclusions of our  
own vanity and  self-complacency4       
,unconverted men believe that           
,christians are slaves1  fettered by    
doubts1 scruples1 self-accusations2     
bound in the bands of  moral routine1   
and able only to move in certain        
prescribed grooves2  afraid to do as    
they list4  ,according to their notion1 
true liberty  consists in throwing off  
religious restraints1 and following as  
much as  may be the devices and desires 
of our own hearts4  ,but this is a      
terrible delusion1 which only serves to 
show the depth and subtlety of  him who1
 besides having the power of death1 is  
also the father of  lies1 the great     
deceiver and ensnarer of mankind4       

,history is full of  analogous examples 
among men4  ,in how many instances have 
the most cruel  and remorseless tyrants 
made use of the passions and brute force
 of the  multitude to secure their own  
elevation to absolute power1 inducing   
their  victims to forge and rivet their 
own chains4  ,and it is so in this case4
  ,sinners are the slaves of ,satan2    
those evil desires and inclinations     
which they so recklessly obey are but   
the tools and bonds of the great        
oppressor4  ,the wicked man sells his   
soul to the devil for the price of      
indulgence in the pleasures of sin1     
which are but for a season4  ,there  is 
a very easy way of testing this question
 of freedom or bondage in sin4  ,if you 
are really free1 free to do as you like1
 you can do good as well  as evil2 you  
can give up your companionship with     
iniquity1 and break your  covenant with 
darkness1 as readily1 and with as little
 difficulty1 as you  made the compact4  
,let the man who rejoices in his liberty

 to sin try to  abandon iniquity2 he    
will surely find it an impossible task4 
,however  clearly he may discern the    
purity1 justice1 and goodness of ,god's 
law1  however passionately he may long1 
and however earnestly he may strive1 to 
regulate his life by it1 he will find   
himself carnal1 sold under sin2  he will
 find another law in his members warring
 against the law of his  mind1 and      
bringing him into captivity to the law  
of sin and death4  ,it  is easy to float
 with the stream1 and the stronger the  
current the more  buoyantly and         
exultingly it bears you on4  ,but try to
 breast the current4  ,you will soon    
find that you have undertaken a task    
which is impossible  with men1 and will 
sink exhausted and undone with the vain 
endeavour4  ,alas6 ,satan is in very    
truth the lord of every enslaved soul1  
not  rightfully1 only by virtue of the  
foulest usurpation2 but he is so in     
fact1 and he binds our captive souls    
fast in his slavish chains4  ,and  by   

this bondage unto sin he holds us       
captive to death4  ,his law is the  law 
of sin and death2 and till ,christ      
redeem and actually deliver us1 we  are 
bound over to endure the bitter pains of
 eternal death4  ,it is an  awful       
thought1 but it is as true as it is     
awful4  ,our cruel and  relentless      
jailer keeps us in the prison of sin1   
shut up under his power1  with a view to
 our everlasting death4  ,may we be made
 conscious of our  enslavement1 for till
 we become so1 we are not likely to seek
 for  deliverance6    #b4  ,the sure    
sign of bondage to ,satan is continual  
subjection1 or  rather liability1 to the
 fear of death4  ,it would scarcely be  
true to  say of the great mass of the   
unconverted1 that they are continually  
haunted and incommoded by the fear of   
death4  ,their general condition is  one
 of thoughtless and careless ease1 but  
they are always1 even through  their    
whole life1 liable to be thus haunted   
and incommoded4  ,whenever the  thought 

of death is brought home to them1 as in 
the course of events it  is ever and    
again sure to be1 they are appalled and 
terrified4  ,they then  feel that death 
has a sting1 and they have some         
foretaste of its  sharpness and venom4  
,they see nothing in death but the ruin 
of all their  earthly hopes and schemes1
 and nothing after death but a certain  
fearful  looking for of judgment and    
fiery indignation which shall devour the
  adversaries1 and when they seem to be 
themselves stricken by the hand of      
death1 how do the terrors of hell make  
them afraid6        ,o death1 how       
shocking must thy summons be1      ,to  
him that is at ease in his possessions6 
,there is a difference however1 and a   
very great one1 between the fear of     
death and the fear of dying4  ,many good
 people are often tormented by the      
latter kind of fear4  ,it is frequently 
the result of a sensitive  organization1
 or ill health1 or a naturally gloomy   
temperament2 and many  who have been    

much troubled by it through life have   
found it to vanish  completely when the 
supreme moment came4  ,but the fear of  
death is  founded on the consciousness  
of unpreparedness for it1 and on the    
anticipation of the punishments which it
 will bring4  ,every unsaved  sinner has
 abundant reason for the fear which1    
however he may laugh it  off1 will      
assuredly at times gain the mastery over
 him4  ,the brooding  sense of          
insecurity2 the secret sudden pang1     
stabbing him in the midst of  his       
wildest joys2 the desperate effort never
 to think1 and the resolute  refusal    
ever to speak of death2 tell their tale1
 and show that the slaves  of ,satan are
 always liable to the fear of death4    
,o1 if this be your  case1 it is high   
time to look to yourselves6  ,if you    
cannot bear the  thought of death2 if   
the great and solemn hereafter is       
haunted by images  that scare and       
threaten you2 if you put far away the   
evil day2 be sure  there is something   

radically wrong4  ,be sure1 by that     
token1 that you are  the slave of the   
devil4  ,be sure that you are in        
jeopardy every hour4  ,never rest1 never
 for a moment be satisfied1 till you can
 look death  calmly in the face1 and    
discern for yourself the life to come1  
and your  inheritance in heaven4    #c4 
,for we all may have deliverance from   
our bondage to ,satan1 and  from this   
characteristic effect and sign of it4   
,the death of ,jesus has  provided this 
deliverance for us4  ,by depriving      
,satan of his power over  death1 by     
expiating that sin which is the sting of
 death1 and so entirely  reversing and  
counteracting its penal efficacy1       
,christ hath wrought out  for us a great
 salvation4  ,and when we commit        
ourselves to ,him1 relying  on the      
efficacy of his atonement1 our chains   
are broken1 and our craven  fears are   
banished4  ,among the first words of    
newly-converted souls  none are more    
common or triumphant than these1 ,i am  

not afraid to die  now6  ,i have a hope 
beyond the grave6  ,it is indeed a      
mighty  deliverance4  ,what calm1 what  
security1 what blessed hope does it     
inspire6  ,to lose all fear of the last 
and greatest of human calamities2  to   
look into the face of that which was    
once an uncouth hideous thing1  and to  
find that through our ,saviour's death  
it hath become most fair  and full of   
grace2 to see no longer a dark and      
shrouded fiend arrayed in  mortal       
terrors1 and poising an envenomed dart  
for the purpose of laying  us low1 and  
compassing our lasting ruin2 but a      
shining and smiling  messenger from the 
,king of kings1 bidding us to an        
everlasting banquet in  his royal       
palace2 is not this true1 priceless1    
boundless liberty1--worth  toiling1     
striving1 suffering1 dying for8  ,this  
flower of immortal hope  blooms for each
 of us at the foot of the cross4  ,if by
 the death of ,jesus  we gain spiritual 
life1 we shall rejoice in hope of the   

glory of ,god1 and  shall look forward  
to the day of our death as the day of   
our eternal  marriage with the ,king of 
glory4  ,let us not lose this           
unspeakable  privilege6  ,let us1 by    
faith in the death of our ,lord1 secure 
our freedom  and our birthright6  ,and1 
as we think of our smitten friends1 let 
us  thank ,god for their final          
deliverance from the power of death1 and
 their  admission into everlasting life4
  ,finally1 let us more and more glory  
in  that cross whereby our ,saviour     
,christ hath abolished death1 and hath  
brought life and immortality to light4  
,,inconsideration ,,deplored4  ,,rev4   
,,joshua ,,priestley4          ,and they
 consider not in their hearts that ,i   
remember all their                      
wickedness4--,,hosea vii4 #b4    ,is it 
possible for any man to conceive of     
truths more fitted to arrest  the       
attention and impress the heart than are
 those contained in this  volume8  ,it  
has been said that if a blank book had  

been put into our  hands1 and every one 
of us had been asked to put into it the 
promises we  should like to find there1 
we could not have employed language so  
explicit1 so expressive1 and so suited  
to all our varied wants1 as is  here4   
,and may ,i not say that no facts and   
declarations and appeals could  be more 
fitted to rouse the conscience1 and to  
regulate the life1 than  those we here  
find4  ,alas6 however1 with what        
affecting appropriateness  may the      
,almighty say of ,englishmen as of      
,israelites--of persons living  eighteen
 centuries after ,christ's death1 as of 
those living eight  centuries before    
it--,they consider not in their hearts  
that ,i remember  all their wickedness4 
,this passage brings before us two      
parties4  ,one is the speaker1 the other
  the persons addressed4  ,it states a  
fact respecting each4  ,let us look at  
these facts3--    ,i4  ,i remember1 says
 ,jehovah1 all their wickedness4  ,what 
an idea  does this statement furnish of 

the unlimited vastness of the ,divine   
mind6  ,for if ,he remembered all the   
evil deeds of all the ,israelites1 ,he  
remembered the evil deeds of all other  
persons4  ,if ,he remembered all the    
evil deeds of all then living1 ,he      
remembered all the evil deeds of all    
who ever had lived4  ,and if ,he        
remembered all evil deeds1 assuredly ,he
  remembered all good ones4  ,the       
,scriptures declare this fact for the   
comfort of the righteous4  ,what a      
cheering declaration to a good man is   
that found in ,hebrews vi4 #aj1 ,for    
,god is not unrighteous to forget your  
work and labour of love1 which ye have  
showed toward ,his name1 in that ye     
have ministered to the saints1 and do   
minister4  ,what a vast number of       
incidents are included in the space of  
but one year in the history of  each one
 of us6  ,what a still vaster number in 
the whole period of life6  ,and when we 
think of the ten hundred millions of    
mankind now peopling our  globe2 when we

 add to these the almost countless      
millions that have  departed1 and       
realize the fact that every incident of 
every individual of  them is            
remembered--remembered as distinctly too
 as if one solitary  incident were all  
that memory was charged with1 what an   
idea is given us  of the vastness of the
 ,divine mind6  ,what can we do but     
wonder and adore6    ,my text says much1
 but like many others1 it means more    
than it says4  ,how  much of what       
,scripture intends to teach us shall we 
fail to learn1 if we  do not consider   
what is included and involved1 as well  
as what is  affirmed6  ,this declaration
 imports three things4  ,it imports--   
#a4  ,that ,god observes all our        
wickedness4  ,to remember a thing       
implies  knowledge of it4  ,this        
knowledge the ,scriptures frequently    
declare the  ,divine ,being to possess4 
,they tell us that ,his eyes run to and 
fro the  earth1 beholding the evil and  
the good2 that all things are naked and 

open to ,his eyes4  ,they go further4   
,they teach us that ,he is always       
present with us all1 that there is no   
part of this earth1 of the vast         
universe1 from which ,he is ever absent4
  ,david expresses himself  strikingly  
on this point--,whither shall ,i go from
 ,thy spirit8 says he1  or wither shall 
,i flee from ,thy presence8  ,if ,i     
ascend up into heaven1  ,thou art there3
 if ,i make my bed in hell 7hades71     
behold1 ,thou art there4  ,if ,i take   
the wings of the morning1 and dwell in  
the uttermost parts of  the sea1 even   
there shall ,thy hand lead me1 and ,thy 
right hand shall hold  me4  ,if ,i say1 
surely the darkness shall cover me1 even
 the night shall  be light about me4    
,yea1 the darkness hideth not from      
,thee2 but the night  shineth as the    
day3 the darkness and the light are both
 alike to ,thee4  ,psalm cxxxix4 #g-ab4 
,how certainly therefore does ,god      
observe all our  wickedness6  ,did we   
but constantly realize this fact what a 

restraining  power it would exert over  
us when we are tempted to evil4  ,a man 
left his  cottage very early one morning
 taking with him a sack1 and accompanied
 by  his son1 a little boy4  ,that boy  
was a ,sunday scholar1 and little       
suspected his father's errand4  ,after  
proceeding some distance the father     
entered a turnip field1 and throwing    
down his sack1 looked in this  direction
 and in that to see whether any one was 
observing him4  ,on  discovering the    
father's object1 the child said1        
,father1 there was one  way you did not 
look4  ,indeed1 replied he1 hastily2    
which was that8  ,you did not look      
upward1 was the rejoinder1 and ,god is  
observing you4  ,that was a word in     
season4  ,the father's arm was          
paralyzed4  ,he took up  his sack and   
returned home4  ,remember1 my friends1  
that the sleepless eye  of the          
,omnipresent ,one is upon you4  ,the man
 that goes forth at the  still1 dark1   
hour of midnight to plunder our         

habitations1 how startled  would he be  
if an inmate should noiselessly and     
suddenly present himself  before        
him--the servant that robs his master1  
the circulator of base  coin1 the man of
 fraud--would these practise their      
misdeeds if they  realized this truth3  
,thou ,god seest me8  ,would the        
slanderer1 or  backbiter1 or hypocrite1 
indulge their habits if they realized   
this  truth8  ,of what immense benefit  
would the realization of this truth be1 
both personally and socially6    #b4    
,when ,god says that ,he remembers all  
our wickedness1 ,he means us to         
understand that ,he will exhibit it all4
  ,why did ,he tell this people that    
,he remembered all their wickedness8    
,the ,scriptures answer that question4  
,they inform us that ,he intends to make
 use of the stores of which memory  is  
possessed1 and that ,he intends to make 
this use of them--to hold them  up to   
the gaze of the universe4  ,they teach  
us that the conduct of every  individual

 will be investigated and published4    
,for ,god shall bring  every work into  
judgment1 with every secret thing1      
whether it be good or  whether it be    
evil4  ,every idle word that men shall  
speak1 they shall  give account thereof 
in the day of judgment4  ,important     
purposes will he  answered by this4  ,a 
declaration will be made of the         
righteousness of ,god  in condemning the
 ungodly4  ,he will hold up to view the 
nature and extent  of the requirements  
,he made of us1 their reasonableness and
  beneficialness we shall all           
acknowledge4  ,he will then make known  
the  innumerable acts of goodness ,he   
bestowed--,his forbearance to inflict   
punishment1 and the various methods ,he 
employed to bring us to  repentance4    
,and by the side of all this ,he will   
exhibit our conduct  toward ,him--our   
ingratitude1 our disobedience1 our      
perverseness4  ,and  with what enormity 
will these things then appear invested6 
,so guilty  will thy conduct then       

appear1 ,o sinner1 that thou wilt be    
constrained to  exclaim3 ,thou art      
righteous1 ,o ,lord1 which art1 and     
wast1 and shall be1  because ,thou hast 
judged thus4  ,what an exhibition will  
he made on that  day6    #c4  ,when ,god
 says that ,he remembers all our        
wickedness1 ,he means us to  understand 
that ,he will punish for it all1 if it  
be not repented of4  ,the  maintenance  
of law and order in the universe require
 the ,divine ,being to  display ,his    
abhorrence of transgression4  ,and how  
can that abhorrence be  suitably        
displayed otherwise than by punishment8 
,and the punishment must  be of a degree
 to represent the guiltiness of the     
conduct4  ,it must be  impartial1 and be
 inflicted therefore on every           
transgressor4  ,the rich  man cannot buy
 exemption from it4  ,the man of mighty 
intellect1 or  powerful eloquence1      
cannot persuade himself1 not to say the 
righteous  ,judge1 into the belief that 
he ought to be exempt4  ,the man of good

  desires and pious resolutions1 he who 
was born of praying parents1 and  often 
bowed his knees at the footstool of his 
,maker1 but delayed to  surrender his   
heart1 cannot escape4  ,no1 my friends1 
the decree of the  ,almighty has gone   
forth1 it is irreversible--there is none
 more  righteous1 and none that will    
more certainly be fulfilled3 ,though    
hand  join in hand the wicked shall not 
be unpunished4  ,the wicked shall be    
driven away in his wickedness4  ,the    
wicked shall be turned into hell4  ,what
 a mercy that we are not receiving our  
merited punishment at this  moment6     
,and why are we not8  ,because the ,god 
whom we have so shamefully  and         
inexcusably resisted and provoked is    
long-suffering to us-ward1 not  willing 
that any should perish1 but that all    
should come to repentance4  ,opportunity
 is afforded for repentance4  ,he       
employs means to bring us to            
repentance4  ,how good1 how loving1 ,god
 is6  ,god is love4    ,can any of you  

still resist the strivings of his       
,spirit8  ,turn ye1 turn  ye1 why will  
ye die8    ,christ has died that you    
might live1 live with ,him in ,his      
kingdom of  glory for ever4  ,he shed   
for you ,his precious blood4  ,for you  
,he now  intercedes at the right hand of
 the ,majesty on high4  ,and if you come
 to  ,him1 however guilty you are1 truly
 sorry for your sins1 and believe ,his  
own gracious declaration1 that ,he came 
into the world to save sinners1 to  seek
 and to save that which was lost1 ,he   
will pardon and bless you4  ,if  we say 
that we have no sin1 we deceive         
ourselves1 and the truth is not in  us4 
,if we confess our sins1 ,he is faithful
 and just to forgive us our  sins1 and  
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness4 
,god remembers all our wickedness4  ,how
 much of it do you remember8  ,how      
little of it do any of us remember6     
,the past is to a large extent a  vague 
and dim expanse4  ,many of you have     
climbed these noble hills1 and  as you  

stood on the summit1 you observed that  
distinct as were the  objects near1     
those remote were quite indistinct4  ,it
 is but a few  conspicuous objects you  
can discern at any considerable         
distance4  ,just  so it is in reviewing 
our past lives4  ,we can call to mind a 
few things4  ,we can remember well--ah1 
we cannot forget1 we have often wished  
we  could1 an act of rebellion against  
our parents of which we were once       
guilty2 of obstinacy toward a master2 of
 ingratitude toward a benefactor2  of   
dishonourableness toward a friend1 or   
unkindness toward a neighbour4  ,there  
are several sad deeds in the life of    
every one of us which we  cannot forget1
 but how many which we have all forgot4 
,the things we can  remember are as the 
milestones to the weary traveller1 far1 
far apart4  ,yes1 we forget1 but ,god   
does not4  ,he remembers them all4      
,there is not a  single improper word we
 have ever uttered1 not a wrong feeling 
we have  cherished1 not an ungodly deed 

we have done1 not a duty we have        
neglected1 but ,god knew it1 will       
exhibit it1 and if unrepented of1 will  
punish for it4  ,hear it1 ponder it1    
hide it in the depths of your heart1    
,god remembers all our wickedness4      
,having considered the import of the    
declaration as it regards ,almighty     
,god1 we come now to consider--    ,,ii4
  ,the charge against the ,israelites4  
,they are not charged1 you  observe1    
with denying the truth the ,divine      
,being affirms respecting  ,himself1 or 
even with doubting it4  ,they admitted  
it1 believed it1 but it  was unpalatable
 to them1 and therefore they put it away
 from their  thoughts4  ,what a         
melancholy exhibition of character was  
this6  ,and yet  does not this          
declaration hold true of greatly more   
than one-half of the  population of this
 evangelized land8  ,does it not hold   
true of every  drunkard8  ,could he     
spend his hard-earned money in that     
which stupifies  his mind1 injures his  

body1 degrades his character1 shortens  
his life1  and destroys his soul2 and   
besides all this1 brings want and       
wretchedness  on his family1 and makes  
himself a scandal and reproach to       
humanity--could any man yield himself to
 the power of intoxicating liquor  that 
considered what is involved in such a   
course8    ,does not this charge hold   
true of every sensualist8  ,could any   
man  become the victim of degrading     
passions1 could he consent to sacrifice 
the mental and moral part of his        
nature--the man to the animal--if he    
considered what was due to himself1 to  
society1 and to ,god8    ,does not the  
charge hold true of the pleasure hunter8
  ,as a condiment1  as a relaxation1    
pleasure seeking1 if of the right sort1 
is not only  allowable but commendable4 
,he who gave life intended it to be a   
joy4  ,to  be always seeking after      
pleasure1 however1 exercises a          
dissipating and  debilitating influence 
on the mind1 and prevents the           

acquirement of true  nobleness and worth
 of character4  ,and would a creature1  
which is the  highest workmanship of    
,infinite ,excellence with which we are 
acquainted1  yield himself to this1 if  
given to the consideration of the fact  
the  ,almighty here states respecting   
himself8    ,to mention but one other   
class of character1 does not the charge 
hold  true of the fraudulent8  ,would a 
man rob his soul to enrich his pocket1  
would he narrow his heart to expand his 
purse1 would he build up a  character   
that is to endure for ever with such    
ill-tempered mortar as  falsehood2 would
 he be willing to encounter all the     
piercing looks and  accusing words with 
which those he wronged will one day     
assail him1 if he  had taken his        
relationship to ,god1 and man1 and      
eternity1 into  consideration8    ,what 
incalculable mischief and misery this   
neglect of consideration has  wrought in
 our world6  ,had our first parents     
considered the sad  consequences that   

would ensue to themselves and their     
posterity1 would  they have plucked the 
forbidden fruit8  ,through what a long  
and mournful  list of events that have  
happened from that day to this might ,i 
easily  go1 all of which would have been
 avoided if right consideration had been
  given6  ,every day during those six   
thousand years a multitude of such      
events have happened4  ,is there one of 
you but can recal deeds respecting      
which you say with bitterness of heart1 
,i wish ,i had given it                 
consideration--,i wish ,i had considered
 it more fully8    ,my young friends    
permit me to urge consideration upon    
you4  ,your welfare  for both worlds is 
largely in your own keeping4  ,you can  
secure it or  destroy it4  ,but to      
secure it1 consideration is essential4  
,if you don't  addict yourselves to     
reflection you will be largely at the   
mercy of  impulse1 be enticed probably  
by evil companions1 and get wrong       
perhaps in  a thousand ways4  ,reluctant

 as you may feel at first to engage in  
it--uninteresting as you may deem it1 do
 not1 as rational creatures1  prefer the
 pleasing to the right and good4  ,the  
young man of reflection  is more        
respected1 more valuable1 and           
unspeakably more happy1 than the        
frivolous and vain4  ,if you forget all 
else ,i say1 do not forget this--it  is 
the declaration of your loving ,father  
in heaven1 who wishes to welcome  you   
there1 but can welcome those only who   
yield to ,him a filial love--,i         
remember all their wickedness4          
,,the ,,friend ,,whose ,,years ,,do     
,,not ,,fail4  ,,rev4 ,w4 ,,arthur1     
,m4,a4          ,and thy years shall not
 fail4--,,hebrews i4 #ab4    ,you know  
that these words are taken from the     
hundred and second ,psalm4  ,there1 they
 are addressed to ,god the ,creator2    
here1 to ,christ the  ,redeemer4  ,in   
both cases they express the same truths4
  ,man finds himself  here1 looks out to
 what he can see around him1 and then in

 thought passes  on to what he cannot   
see4  ,he knows that a very little while
 ago he was  not here1 he was not       
anywhere4  ,he has an instinct within   
which tells him  that though it is so   
short a time since he was not the time  
will never  come when he will not be--an
 instinct that cries for a permanent    
foundation4  ,he is not such foundation 
himself--he feels that4  ,he stands     
upon the foundation of the earth3 he did
 not lay it2 it did not lay  itself4    
,those layers of rock were not their own
 framers4  ,but the  foundation was     
laid4  ,thou1 ,lord1 in the beginning   
didst lay the  foundation of the earth4 
,he is under a covering as well as on a 
foundation4  ,he did not pitch that     
canopy1 nor fix those lights1 nor hang  
those curtains by whose silent  closing 
and withdrawing the light is heightened 
or dimmed4  ,the heavens  are the work  
of thy hand4  ,but will these last8     
,will this earth that ,i  stand upon    
last8  ,no2 ,i see on it the marks of   

age and decay as on  myself4  ,like me  
it will perish4  ,and those heavens that
 are over me1  they shall perish--will  
all things perish8  ,will everything    
that is go  out of being8  ,thou        
remainest4  ,they shall wax old1 it is  
true1 but  that is only as if a garment 
waxed old2 ,as a vesture shalt thou fold
  them up and they shall be changed4    
,all this that the eye can see above1   
below1 around1 is to the great ,king but
 as the robe upon the ,sovereign to  his
 person1 and dominion1 and when he folds
 up that vesture and lays it  aside he  
will command another wherewith to show  
his glory to his  subjects4  ,they shall
 perish2 but thou remainest2 and they   
all shall wax  old as doth a garment2   
and as a vesture shalt thou fold them   
up1 and they  shall be changed3 but thou
 art the same1 and thy years shall not  
fail6    ,we have here a preacher1 a    
listener1 a subject3 changeful nature1  
mortal  man1 immutable ,godhead4        
,changeful nature is a perpetual        

preacher1 evermore proclaiming to us the
  twofold lesson1 our own mortality and 
,god's immutable glory and power4  ,thy 
years shall not fail4  ,what strange    
language applied to the ,divine         
,being--perfectly natural as applied to 
us--years6  ,our life is finite1  our   
life is measured1 our life is dealt out 
to us in parcels4  ,for us to  speak of 
our years is natural1 but when we look  
up to ,him that is  unmeasured1         
infinite1 eternal1 then this word years 
becomes but the  representative of our  
small transient life when trying to     
contrast itself  with his broad and     
,infinite ,being4  ,we are constantly   
speaking of two  things wherewith we    
find ourselves related--space and time3 
and what are  they8  ,we hardly know4   
,we know but something like this3 space 
is a  measured distance in infinity2    
time a measured duration in eternity4   
,we are launched in the midst of a sea  
of eternity1 and all the time that      
comes to us comes by solemn public      

measurement1 measurement conducted in   
the most formal and stately manner by   
the hand of the ,creator4  ,he made     
that heaven from which we can never shut
 our regard--we must see it2 and  in it 
,he set those lights for signs and for  
seasons and for days and for  years4    
,he might easily have given us a being  
that would have flowed on  evenly from  
its beginning to its close without      
anything to mark it off  into stages4   
,we may almost watch a sunbeam starting 
from the sun and  racing all the way to 
our world1 passing over it1 far on      
beyond it1 till  our eye and even our   
thought cannot follow it1 and never     
anything to  check or register its      
progress4    ,but not so the career that
 ,god has appointed to us4  ,everything 
is dealt  to us under an economy of     
measure1 of trust and of account4  ,for 
signs--,he set those things above us for
 signs4  ,cannot earth be a sign  to    
herself8  ,cannot man be his own        
directory8  ,cannot the seas and the    

mountains and the rivers and trees and  
houses be their own tokens8  ,try  this4
  ,let that ship at sea1 on which the   
fog has settled1 ask the waves  to say  
where is north1 south1 east or west2 and
 when the gale springs up  and the      
clouds cover the heavens let her ask the
 winds to tell how far  from port4  ,no1
 if the heavens give no signs she has   
none1 she cannot  tell where she is or  
whither she is going4    ,suppose you   
find yourself within a mile of the house
 in which you were  born3 you know1 as  
you think1 every step of the way as well
 as you know  your own bedroom2 but     
there is neither sun nor moon nor star1 
the heavens  are completely shut off and
 you are left to earth alone4  ,will the
 trees  tell you the way8  ,will the    
houses show themselves8  ,will the road 
be its  own exhibitor8  ,no1 if heaven  
fails you you cannot even see your own  
hand4  ,you are under the perpetual     
preaching of the sky1 that all your     
hours and all your movements are        

dependent upon heaven6    ,for seasons  
as well as for signs4  ,the ,lord might 
easily have  established our lifetime   
under a different economy2 might have   
given us  one perpetual summer1 or a    
perpetual spring1 or a uniform          
co-existence of  all the seasons1 the   
fruits being sown1 ripening and reaped  
simultaneously4  ,but not so4  ,he has  
settled two things so clearly that      
none1 even the most sordid worm that    
ever wriggled under the clay1  showing  
himself above it as little as possible1 
can help seeing them4  ,first a fixed   
order that nothing can change and that  
proclaims one ,lord1  one will1 one     
dominion1 one plan4  ,the seasons come  
in regular  succession4  ,every man     
living knows when the summer is gone    
that winter  is coming4  ,that will not 
and cannot be changed4  ,were the whole 
world to  conspire in one effort that   
spring should come next it would be     
unavailing4  ,the winter is coming4     
,but with this fixed order is           

established perpetual change1 variety1  
mutability1 so that although we  know   
the season that is coming we know not   
what kind of a season it shall  be1 and 
all our temporal interests hang upon    
that question4  ,when the  merchant has 
got his stock1 when the man of pleasure 
has fixed for his  party1 when the      
,general has planned his campaign1 when 
the ,admiral has  laid down the         
arrangements for the battle1 when the   
grand politician has  perfected the plot
 for a new crisis of the world1 what    
must they do8  ,not  look to what the   
earth but what the heaven will do4      
,everything depends  upon that4  ,they  
cannot decide the market price even of  
hard sovereigns1  they cannot foretell  
the value of their wheat1 they cannot   
determine the  life and health of their 
soldiers or the hours and effect of     
movements  independent of that one      
consideration1 what will the heavens do8
  ,three  days rain will change a whole 
campaign or a harvest4  ,by the         

arrangement  of the seasons we are      
constantly kept at the door of ,divine  
mercy1  begging ,give us this day our   
daily bread4  ,that eternal voice       
preaching  through all our temporal     
interests is to us the solemn1          
never-ceasing  protest against          
worldliness1 earthliness1 vanity1 living
 for time1 living  for the body2 and1   
above all1 against every impure or      
ungodly method of  attempting to secure 
our temporal aims4    ,for days as well 
as for seasons4  ,the season passes     
slowly1 but the  day--oh what a solemn  
appointment is that6  ,when the ,lord   
made the sun to  rule the day and the   
moon to rule the night it would have    
been very easy  for ,him to make two    
suns so that we should bask in perpetual
 daylight4  ,but no1 it was his will    
that our life should be cut into very   
short  lengths and that by a mark so    
deep1 broad1 black1 that the dullest man
  could not escape its impression4  ,the
 dark gulf that lies between the  dead  

day and the day unborn is the ever      
recurring remembrancer--,thy days  are  
numbered2 thy life is held under law2   
thy time is a measured current  of      
golden sands4  ,every particle as it    
comes may easily slip away1 if          
unwatched will slip1 and once past thy  
hand it will be borne off by the        
rushing river and thou shalt never see  
it again1 but if caught1 held and       
brought to the mint of the great ,king  
it will there be turned into  precious  
coin to serve in perpetuity the double  
purpose of enriching man  and recording 
the majesty of ,god4  ,seize upon thy   
days as they pass6  ,the  heavens tell  
thee to do it2 the dark and mantled     
earth tells thee2 thy  drowsy faculties 
tell thee2 thy weary limbs tell thee2   
all are saying  numbered1 numbered1     
numbered4  ,life is running away fast4  
,not only for days but for years4  ,the 
days1 as ,i have said1 are short2  they 
pass rapidly1 and we calculate that the 
days of our years are  threescore years 

and ten4  ,and when you come to multiply
 #gj by #cfe it  makes a very large     
number1 and if we have lost a few       
handfuls of days1  well1 cannot we make 
them up8  ,have we not been young1 and  
are we not in  this pleasant watering   
place1 where one must see life and have 
a little  pleasure1 and if we do throw  
away a few days1 why1 cannot we recover 
them8  ,can we say that of the years8   
,are the years so very  plentiful--such 
a large number assured to you that you  
can afford to  squander a few1 to turn  
them not only to useless purposes but to
 bad  ones4  ,can you8--the years6--oh  
is not it wonderful1 the way in which   
thy  ,lord and my ,lord1 thy ,creator   
and my ,creator1 marks out before our   
eye  the progress of the years8         
,perhaps you may remember in childhood  
watching the day as it grew and  spread 
itself out1 making conquests from the   
night and winning moments1  minutes1    
hours1 till you began to think the day  
was going to do away the  night4  ,you  

saw it stretching over the hours that   
once were dark till it  seemed as if the
 tips of the sunset touched the tips of 
the sunrise1 and  still the light was   
gaining so that in a little time the    
darkness would  be all driven away and  
it would be day the twenty-four hours   
round4  ,but  just then the night began 
to come back and the day grew shorter1  
dimmer1  colder1 and the darkness spread
 itself over the light till it seemed as
  if in its turn the day was going to be
 quenched and darkness to wrap up  the  
whole twenty-four hours4  ,but then the 
day returned4    ,was it an accident    
this first time8  ,would it ever occur  
again8  ,you  watched it3 just the same 
process and at the same time1 and you   
began to  feel--it is a wheel6 with its 
regulated1 measured appointed movement2 
steady1 by rule it rises to a certain   
point1 and then comes down to a  certain
 point1 then turns again and comes up4  
,it is a perfectly balanced  wheel1     
making its revolution steadily1         

steadily4  ,i did not fix those         
revolutions3 the great ,architect did6  
,he knows how many the wheel itself  can
 perform2 ,he knows what each revolution
 marks off and what it  accomplishes1   
and ,he knows too how many shall measure
 off my thread of  life4  ,i do not know
 the number1 you do not know2 but this  
we do know1 it  is marked upon the dial1
 and we are tolerably sure it is not    
more than  threescore and ten4  ,suppose
 you saw the dial of life before your   
eye as  plain as that dial is and the   
hand pointing twenty1 thirty1 forty1    
fifty  of the divisions gone--gone never
 to return6  ,suppose you felt that that
  hand was pressing forward and would   
point and point to successive lines     
till at last1 without a moment's        
warning1 the hour will strike and it is 
over1 no recall6  ,man of twenty1 proud 
of thy youth6 man of fifty1 proud  of   
thy maturity6 man of seventy1 proud of  
thy years6 are you prepared to  meet    
your ,god8  ,has your time been spent   

with a view to eternity8  ,has  the     
measure of your days been taken8  ,has  
the course of your years been  run in   
holiness8  ,if not1 by the deep voice of
 the heavens above thee2  that voice    
which evermore is speaking2 by the night
 and the day1 and the  season and the   
year1 ,i charge thee prepare to meet thy
 ,god4  ,for thy time  is passing and   
eternity at hand4    ,thy years shall   
not fail4  ,the thought of man never    
feels that it can  say this to nature4  
,he sees the stones themselves have     
marks of age and  decay--the very       
mountains1 the very seas tell of change 
and limit4  ,and  in the skies too far  
off for us to trace decay we trace      
something  else--measure4  ,everything  
is measured4  ,the moon goes by measure 
and the  sun by measure1 and the way of 
the stars is all measured4  ,there are  
clear tokens that not one of them is its
 own master or gives its own law4  ,one 
government moulds them all4  ,they say  
,we serve4  ,i take up the  blade of    

grass and at once feel ,he that made    
that grass made the light of  day1 the  
dew of the morning1 the beast that feeds
 upon it4  ,one law  pervades them all4 
,i take up the corn4  ,he that made that
 made the sun  that ripens it and the   
soil that fattens it1 and my blood that 
is my  life4  ,everywhere is one mind1  
one plan1 one hand1 one sceptre1 and all
  nature says ,i serve1 ,i serve4       
,there is a force external to myself4   
,i  am measured4  ,i move by rule4  ,i  
revolve1 says every wheel in the        
heaven1 ,i roll round by regular law4   
,measure always means  beginning4  ,that
 which is measured must have begun4     
,beginning always  suggests the         
possibility of end4  ,that which once   
was not hereafter may  not be4  ,nature 
fails to fill the mind of man in any one
 of the three  directions--the past1 the
 future1 the outward and the infinite4  
,it  cannot fill up this thought of ours
 that claims an eternity before1 an     
eternity coming1 an infinity on every   

side2 and we feel nature is like        
ourselves--a servant1 a creature1 a     
machine1 an organ1 and every part of  it
 proclaims a mind that lived before it4 
,then will all things fail8 all decay8  
,no--,thy years shall not fail4  ,we    
turn to ,him that made the law whereby  
the blade of grass grows1 that  whereby 
the sun statedly comes to it1 that      
whereby the animal feeds upon  it1 that 
whereby the man lives upon the animal1  
and that whereby the  human mind reigns 
over the animal1 cultivates the grass   
and makes use of  the light4  ,we come  
to that great ,being whom all these     
things indicate  and proclaim4  ,in ,him
 we find no external law or force       
compelling ,him4  ,at his footstool all 
say ,we serve1 and to all ,he says      
either ,be or  ,do or ,do not4  ,we find
 in ,him no internal decay4  ,years     
come1 ages  come1 worlds arise and      
worlds pass away1 but ,thou art the     
same--the  same in strength1 the same in
 youth1 the same in beauty1 the same in 

glory1 the same in wisdom4  ,never old1 
only ancient of days4  ,over  all1 ,god 
blessed for ever4  ,amen4    ,the years 
of his divine existence shall never     
fail1 the years of his  redeeming reign 
shall never fail4  ,as ,i said1 this    
,scripture is quoted  from the hundred  
and second ,psalm4  ,if you turn to it  
you will find in it  a contrast between 
man's perishing life and the eternal    
lifetime of the  ,lord2 and especially  
the glorious lifetime of his ,messiah   
and ,messiah's  kingdom4  ,my days are  
like a shadow that declineth1 ,i am     
withered like  grass4  ,the ,bible makes
 everything preach--it makes the sparrow
 preach  and the bush preach1 and the   
grass and the lily4  ,it makes even the 
very  shadows preach--,my days are like 
a shadow that declineth4  ,perhaps      
sometime in the morning you have stood  
and seen the great tree lying on  the   
east of the hill1 throwing its shadow   
broad and thick over the  hill-side as  
if it really was a substance4  ,but as  

the sun went up in the  sky that shadow 
gradually shrank down until it totally  
disappeared under  the leaves of the    
tree4  ,my days are like that           
shadow--perhaps not like  that only4    
,you may have seen in the very bright   
moonlight shadows lying  across the     
street till they looked solid as if they
 were something1 so  much so that the   
young colt started from them4  ,but a   
cloud passed over  the moon and where   
was the shadow8  ,my days are like that4
  ,but thou1 ,o  ,lord1 shalt endure for
 ever2 and thy remembrance unto all     
generations4  ,the remembrance of man is
 calling to mind those who are no more2 
the  remembrance of ,god is calling to  
mind ,him that is unseen4  ,thy         
remembrance shall endure unto all       
generations4  ,thou shalt arise and have
  mercy upon ,zion3 for the time to     
favour her1 yea1 the set time is come4  
,for thy servants take pleasure in her  
stones1 and favour the dust  thereof4   
,so the heathen shall fear the name of  

the ,lord1 and all the  kings of the    
earth thy glory4  ,not only will his    
days endure but his  kingdom will       
endure2 not only will it endure but it  
will go forward with  a perpetual       
progress4  ,thou shall arise and have   
mercy upon ,zion4  ,the  ,lord is       
building a city in the world1 a city    
that hath foundations1 a  city that is  
compacted together1 a city that has its 
families and houses  and companies1 its 
solemnities and social joys2 a city that
 is all one  brotherhood though composed
 of every nation and kindred and people4
  ,the  ,lord will arise in his strength
 to build this city and one of the signs
  for his time to favour her is when her
 children take pleasure in her  stones  
and favour the dust thereof4  ,we have  
that sign in our day4  ,god's  children 
are taking pleasure in the stones of    
,zion and favouring the dust  thereof4  
,let us then1 looking at the sign1 lift 
up our eye for the  fulfilment of the   
promise1 ,when the ,lord shall build up 

,zion1 ,he shall  appear in his glory4  
,we are trying to build ,zion and the   
,lord is  pleased to see it2 but let us 
call upon ,him--,appear in thy glory6   
,do  thou come and build6  ,give us the 
living stones1 bring them to us by thy  
power out of the rocks1 out of the      
heights and depths we cannot reach  unto
 wilt thou not bring living stones to   
thy temple8  ,call and ,he will  come   
and ,he will build1 and the heathen     
shall fear the name of the  ,lord4      
,you will say1 ,they have not heard it  
yet--but they shall4  ,you say many     
that have heard it do not fear it1 but  
they shall1 they shall fear the  name of
 the ,lord--and all the kings of the    
earth thy glory4  ,the kings  fear his  
glory6  ,they think of ancestral glory1 
courtly glory1 military  glory1         
political glory2 they do not think about
 ,christ and his glory4  ,but they      
shall1 they shall fear his glory4  ,the 
proudest kings in the  earth shall feel 
that the glory of ,jesus ,christ of     

,nazareth is to them  much as the sun is
 to that shadow ,i have spoken of upon  
the hill4  ,their  glory must pale and  
pass away4  ,it is but a little time    
ago1 only  nineteen centuries ago1 since
 ,christ had no kingdom in the earth1 no
  follower1 no temple1 no power4  ,now  
is there a monarch in the world will    
come out and say1 ,i shall sweep the    
name1 the law1 the love1 the power  of  
,christ out of the earth8  ,no1 of all  
powers now acknowledged there is  none  
so deep1 wide and mighty4    ,every day 
adds to that power2 every year opens to 
it new spheres1 new  languages1 new     
adherents1 and on will it go and on till
 the whole earth  is subdued under the  
power of the ,lord and his ,christ4     
,what is the  instrument of its         
progress8  ,he will regard the prayer of
 the destitute  and not despise their   
prayer4  ,not despise prayer6  ,why1 do 
not the wise  men of the world despise  
prayer8  ,do not many talkers tell us   
that prayer  is a thing not to be looked

 upon as a force in the light of        
elevated  reason8  ,you may despise it  
if you please and try to rear a kingdom 
over  human souls on a system that does4
  ,god will not despise it1 ,christ will
  not despise it4  ,there is a kingdom  
to be invoked by prayer1 with its       
throne and its crown and its sceptre4   
,all the powers of that kingdom are     
moved with the cry of a destitute heart4
  ,it is so1 and you cannot alter  it4  
,this shall be written for the          
generation to come1 how you go and      
write down that prayer is of no effect1 
and we will write ,he will not  despise 
their prayer1 and let the generation to 
come judge4  ,your  predecessors1       
eighteen hundred years ago1 wrote what  
you say--ours wrote  these words1 and   
see the kingdom of ,christ to-day6      
,this shall be  written for the         
generation to come3 and the people4     
,what people shall  praise the ,lord8   
,the people that are in ,jerusalem8     
,no4  ,in ,rome8 in  ,athens8  ,no4     

,what people8  ,the people that are not 
anywhere2 the people  that are neither  
in heaven nor in earth2 the people that 
shall be  created4  ,that shall be      
created--existences now not existing1   
beings  now not being1 offspring of ,god
 and members of the family of immortals 
not yet born--they shall praise the     
,lord4  ,coming up out of the dark of   
that great future they shall rise to    
obey the ,king we worship and to  praise
 the ,saviour we love4  ,for ,he hath   
looked down from the height of  his     
sanctuary3 from heaven did the ,lord    
behold the earth4  ,ay1 from that  holy 
place1 that sanctuary--from that high   
place1 that heaven--,he looked  to      
behold this earth1 this vile place1 this
 base place4  ,yet it was not  to curse 
it--,he looked to hear the groaning of  
the prisoner2 and to  loose those that  
are appointed to death4  ,here in every 
corner of the  world you will see a man 
who is appointed to death1 accused1     
guilty1 a  lawbreaker1 with witness     

heard and evidence taken and judgment   
recorded--the sentence is against him4  
,oh1 if we had an eye such as  looks    
from above how many might we see in this
 fair congregation who are  condemned to
 death4  ,you know it2 you are breakers 
of eternal law2 just  judgment is       
against you2 you are appointed to death1
 and unless you are  delivered from that
 condemnation die you shall1 die by a   
public execution  before all worlds in  
the great day4  ,but ,he comes to       
deliver them that  are appointed to     
death--to bring you pardon1 to bring yon
 salvation1 to  bring you mercy1 to make
 you a child of ,god1 to blot out all   
the sin that  you have committed4       
,christ died that you might be          
delivered2 reigns that  you may be      
delivered1 and this day ,he is speaking 
to thy heart that thou  mayest turn from
 thy sin1 seek mercy and follow ,him in 
the way of life4    ,so the ,psalmist   
goes on ever anticipating the growth and
 stability of  this kingdom4  ,he       

weakened my strength in the way2 ,he    
shortened my  days4  ,god does not make 
his ,church and work to depend upon the 
length  of any man's days4  ,i said1 ,o 
my ,god take me not away in the midst of
 my  days3 thy years are throughout all 
generations4  ,of old hast thou laid    
the foundation of the earth3 and the    
heavens are the work of thy hands4      
,they shall perish1 but thou shalt      
endure8 yea1 all of them shall wax old  
like a garment2 as a vesture shall thou 
change them1 and they shall be  changed2
 but thou art the same1 and thy years   
shall have no end4  ,ay1  and there is  
something else that has no end4  ,the   
heavens shall perish1  the earth shall  
perish4  ,god will endure4  ,and will   
nothing else endure4  ,yes1 ,the        
children of thy servants shall continue1
 and their seed shall  be established   
before thee4  ,the servants1 the        
children of ,god1 those  that are born  
again by the ,spirit's grace1 those that
 come to ,christ1 the  ,messiah1 and    

through ,him recover1 by adoption1 the  
place in the family of  ,god that was   
lost by sin1 they shall continue1 they  
shall be established4  ,what6 when the  
earth flees away8  ,yes1 when the earth 
flees away4  ,what6  when the heaven    
falls8  ,yes1 when the heaven falls2    
they shall be  established with the same
 immortality as their ,father in heaven4
  ,thy  years shall not fail4  ,god will
 not fail2 ,christ will not fail2 the   
,rock  of ,ages will not fail2 and all  
and every one that through ,christ is in
  ,god will never fail4  ,the world will
 pass away1 the word of ,god will not   
pass away1 and the child of ,god will   
not pass away4    ,take then this word  
to thy heart and say ,thy years shall   
not fail4  ,it  will give you a worthy  
fear4  ,man is always rightly or wrongly
 fearing  something4  ,one is afraid of 
a man that has him in his power4  ,he   
says1  ,if ,i offended him ,i should    
lose my bread2 it would be as much as my
  living is worth2 ,i must take care not

 to offend him2 and rather than  offend 
that man he will stain his conscience   
and offend his ,god4  ,come  back in    
twenty years and ask where that man is1 
and they will take you to  his grave1   
and that was what you were afraid of6   
,another fears this  bright1 witty1     
active young man1 whose word either cuts
 or flatters with  amazing power4  ,he  
feels as if he could not face him2 as if
 he could not  bear that he should look 
him in the face and call him a saint or 
tell him  he had been praying to ,god or
 been commending his soul for mercy to  
,christ4  ,if he said these things to   
him it would actually appear as if it   
was something against him1 something he 
ought to be ashamed of6  ,come  back in 
twenty years and enquire for            
him--perhaps you will find him in a     
mad-house1 perhaps in a gambling-house1 
perhaps in chains among convicts4       
,perhaps you will find a broken-hearted 
mother in black1 wishing that he  had   
never been born1 and that is what you   

are afraid of6  ,another is  afraid of  
the fashion4  ,every one does it1 and if
 he did not do it he  would be remarked4
  ,every one says there is no harm in   
it1 and if he  scrupled they would make 
fun of him1 and on this account he will 
do a  thing that he knows ought not to  
be done4  ,come back in two generations 
and enquire from the grandchildren of   
these people about this fashion and  you
 will find they are all laughing at the 
folly of their grandfathers  and        
grandmothers4  ,and that is what you are
 afraid of6  ,set the ,lord  alway      
before you4  ,say1 ,thy years shall not 
fail4  ,thou art worthy to be  feared4  
,i will fear thee4  ,thou hast          
power--power over my breath1 over  my   
body1 over my day1 over my night--power 
to destroy both body and soul  in hell2 
power to kill1 power to make alive2     
power to condemn1 power to  save2 power 
to cast me down1 power to lift me up to 
heaven--,i will fear  thee1 ,o ,god in  
,christ1 and be thou my only fear4      

,set the ,lord alway before you and     
there you will find a sure refuge4      
,nature is changing and decaying1 and we
 are changed faster than nature4  ,we   
are all passengers in a ship that is    
floating in an ocean and has fire  in   
her hold4  ,this air around us has an   
ocean in it1 an ocean of real  water1   
and did ,god will it a little change in 
the weight of the air would  bring a    
universal deluge4  ,this earth has fire 
in it1 stores of fire1 and  did ,god    
will a very little change in the        
chemistry of the air it would be  a     
universal blaze4  ,we are passengers1 ,i
 say1 in a ship sailing in an  ocean    
with fire in the hold1 and we know that 
the fire is to break out  and that the  
moment will come when the ship will be  
burnt up4  ,you and ,i  are pacing this 
deck with the fire beneath1 and the day1
 the hour1 the  moment1 that the signal 
will be given no man living can tell4   
,are we  prepared to meet our ,god8     
,can we look forth from this frail world

 unto  that infinite bosom of eternal   
rest and say1 ,thou art mine and ,i am  
thine to all eternity8  ,you may look to
 other refuges but they are not  secure1
 to other coverts but they are not safe4
  ,here is the ,rock of ,ages  and that 
rock is cleft for you4  ,god manifest in
 the flesh4  ,behold  ,christ crucified 
and flee to ,him1 flee for refuge1 flee 
to-day2 once in  ,christ you will know  
that you are safe4  ,let the storm come1
 let the  winds blow1 let the floods    
beat1 let the fires break out1 safe6    
safe6  safe6  ,nothing can move ,him and
 nothing can touch thee4  ,thou shalt   
dwell under the shadow of the ,most     
,high4    ,set the ,lord alway before   
thee and you will have an unfailing     
stay1 an  unfailing resource4  ,many    
things you may think will not fail4     
,here is  the old man1 and his friends  
tell him he does not fail1 and how he   
likes  to hear it6  ,thy years do not   
weigh thee down4  ,he goes on and it    
seems  as if to him the years come as   

the snow falls on the mountains1 not to 
enfeeble but to embellish4  ,he does not
 fail4  ,ay1 but he will fail and  be   
bowed down to the dust4  ,and the wiry  
woman that has gone through  enough to  
kill many and yet hath more spirit and  
energy than the young4  ,ay1 she shall  
fail too2 you will see her smitten and  
trodden under the  grass4  ,well ,i know
 ,i must fail1 one says1 ,i am failing1 
but then  there is my boy1 ,i shall     
never want some one to lean upon1 ,i can
 trust  him4  ,ah6 he may fail2 you may 
stand by the grave where they are       
saying1  ,dust to dust1 or you may with 
your hands over your eyes look upon a   
sadder grave where his character lies   
corrupting4  ,another says1 ,well1 ,i   
know ,i am failing1 but there is my     
daughter so good and sweet and true--,i 
shall never want a comforter for my old 
age4  ,ah1 you do not know1 she  may    
fail1 you may have to weep over her     
coffin or to blush over her  faults4    
,and another says1 ,well1 ,i have never 

depended upon anything but  my own      
honest industry4  ,i have something to  
rely upon4  ,mine is not  speculation1  
it is good steady business--,i can trust
 it4  ,can you8 can  you8  ,god may     
permit you by one mistake to undo the   
doing of a life4  ,but ,i am not        
depending upon the chances of           
business--my position is                
secure--settled property4  ,i shall not 
fail4  ,are you sure8  ,you know  not   
the ways by which earthly things can    
make themselves wings and flee  away2 or
 if they do not flee you may depart from
 them4  ,another says1  ,well1 ,i have  
never trusted to anything but my right  
hand and ,i shall not  want--wherever ,i
 go ,i can take care of myself4  ,ay1   
but suppose the  right hand should fail8
  ,as long as the strong arm and the    
strong will  work together it is well1  
but suppose a day should come when an   
invisible  knife should pass between the
 arm and the will3 and the will said1   
,stretch forth6 but the arm hung idle by

 the side4  ,it may fail4  ,well1  but  
my heart never fails me2 whatever goes  
wrong ,i can make the best of  it4  ,but
 suppose your heart should fail and that
 you became one of those  to whom the   
grasshopper was a burden1 one that made 
the worst of  everything1 that could    
look no difficulty in the face4  ,your  
heart may  fail1 your flesh may fail1   
your money may fail1 your employ may    
fail1  your friends may fail1 everything
 upon earth may fail4  ,if you have     
,christ for your friend you will never  
fail1 if you have ,god for your  ,father
 you have a shelter1 a home1 a comfort  
that will never fail4  ,if  you have not
 you have nothing that you can count    
upon4  ,then come this  day1 come and   
say to all the shadows1 ,i trample over 
you1 ,i clasp the  substance4  ,holy    
,god1 my ,eternal ,father1 let me be    
reconciled to thee6  ,be thou my ,god6  
,make me thy child6  ,give me a part and
 a lot in the  family of the holy6  ,for
 the sake of ,jesus1 who is the same    

yesterday1  to-day1 and for ever1 write 
my name in thy book of life and cover me
 from  the storm that is coming1 so that
 amid the change of life and the ruin of
  death1 the awe of the judgment-day1 my
 spirit may abide under an  everlasting 
shelter6 may look forward to the        
eternity that is to be and  say to it1  
',welcome--open all thy scenes--uncover 
thy deepest  secrets--world of the      
unknown1 bring out all that thou hast   
hidden1 for  all things are mine1 for ,i
 am ,christ's1 and ,christ is ,god's4'  
,amen and  ,amen4          ,,god',s     
,,controversy ,,with ,,man4  ,,rev4     
,,charles ,,prest4          ,therefore  
thus will ,i do unto thee1 ,o ,israel2  
and because ,i will do      this unto   
thee1 prepare to meet thy ,god1 ,o      
,israel4--,,amos iv4 #ab4    ,this      
chapter refers to the condition of      
,israel at the time of this  prophecy1  
and to the expostulation and threatened 
procedure of ,god  concerning the       
nation4  ,god's people had revolted from

 ,him2 they had sunk  into idolatry2    
they had been often reproved1 but had   
hardened their  necks1 and therefore the
 ,lord1 after recapitulating the        
calamities which  had befallen them1 and
 which all came in the way of fatherly  
chastisements for their recovery to     
righteousness1 and indicating that  his 
anger was not turned away1 says1 and    
because ,i will do this unto  thee--and 
because having done this repentance does
 not appear1 then  prepare to meet me4  
,that is1 meet me in battle4  ,if you   
will not submit1  then let the battle be
 fought2 if you will not bow down to    
these kind  modes of discipline--kindly 
intentioned1 however terrible in        
execution1  then prepare to meet me4    
,this expostulation proceeds upon a very
  intelligible principle--a principle1  
however1 which we sometimes sadly       
forget1 and which we are too much in the
 habit of neglecting--on the  principle 
that man is an accountable creature2 and
 secondly1 that ,god  will call him to  

account for his conduct4    ,god has a  
controversy with man1 with us--a        
controversy with us because of  our sin1
 our sin being an outrage against the   
divine love2 a controversy  with us     
because ,he is right and we are wrong2  
because ,he designs the  welfare of all1
 and the sin that we love is productive 
of universal  destruction2 a controversy
 with sinners that can only be          
terminated in  one of two ways--a       
controversy with every unconverted      
person here to-day4  ,do not deceive    
yourselves3 if you are strangers to the 
life of ,god1 you  are in opposition to 
,him1 and with you as sinners there is a
 controversy  only to be                
terminated--first1 by your submission1  
your repentance--and1  thank ,god1 ,he  
has prepared a perfect and suitable     
method for our  submission1 and for our 
repentance4  ,if ,he has a controversy  
with us1 ,he  wills it to be terminated 
in such a mode as shall secure the      
original  purpose of his great love1    

which our sin has outraged4  ,christ has
  appeared in our behalf1 and for this  
purpose has offered a full1 perfect1    
and sufficient sacrifice1 oblation1 and 
satisfaction for our sins4  ,for  this  
purpose the ,divine ,spirit waits in all
 our assemblies1 and now in  this place1
 that any of you who are now enemies to 
,him by wicked works1  being pricked in 
your hearts on account of your sins1 and
 groaning under  your condemnation1 may 
fly for refuge to the hope set before   
you in  ,christ ,jesus our ,lord4  ,so  
,god would have this controversy        
terminated4  ,so ,he invites you in his 
great mercy to terminate it4  ,and for  
this  purpose we are ministers of       
reconciliation1 and we pray you in      
,christ's  stead1 be ye reconciled to   
,god4    ,there is but one other way of 
terminating this controversy1 and that  
is  by our destruction4  ,if we will    
abide in our controversy1 if we will    
wage  the battle to the end1 this       
destruction must ensue1 here is no      

method  else--no escape any where       
between the one extreme and the other2  
it is  submission and life1 it is battle
 and death--death eternal4  ,o that     
death  eternal6  ,what is it8  ,not the 
annihilation of your souls4  ,what is   
the  death of a soul8  ,the loss of the 
life of ,god--the loss of communion with
  ,god4  ,the soul is made for such a   
communion3 this is its true life2 it    
has no satisfaction apart from this     
enjoyment4  ,there cannot be communion  
without love2 that is the soul of       
communion2 and if you renounce the      
reign of love1 and come under the       
dominion of enmity1 you cut yourselves  
off from the life of ,god1 you die1 and 
must endure the bitter pains of  eternal
 death4  ,i pray ,god that you may      
terminate this controversy1 and  thank  
,god that you may do so1 by the         
submission of your hearts to his        
merciful provision of salvation1 that so
 you may live in hallowed  ,christian   
blessedness here1 and inherit perfect   

fellowship and communion  with ,god     
hereafter4    ,we should humble         
ourselves in the presence of that great 
calamity which  has fallen upon our     
flocks and upon our herds4  ,i think it 
is well in  times of public calamity    
that public attention should be called  
to these  things2 and our attention has 
been called thereto--not1 it is true1 by
  the governing authorities of the      
country4  ,no matter for that4  ,it is  
right that we should listen to the      
admonition that we have received in  our
 own denomination1 and do all we can    
rightly to humble ourselves1 and  above 
all1 earnestly to pray to ,god that ,he 
would take away the evil from  us1 and  
that1 in taking away the evil1 ,he would
 render us the less liable  to promote  
the dire necessity of future visitation4
  ,let me then call  your attention to  
some general principles connected with  
,god's dealings  with the nations4      
,there is a national as well as an      
individual providence4  ,in the ancient 

government of ,god over the nations of  
the earth1 in his dealings with his  own
 people and with the heathen peoples    
about them1 his hand was clearly        
discerned on many occasions1 and his arm
 sometimes made bare4  ,there were  the 
predictions of certain events to come1  
and there was the recognised            
accomplishment of those predictions     
sometime afterwards4  ,then1 again1  you
 find miraculous interpositions of      
correction1 of punishment1 or of        
deliverance4  ,if you turn your         
attention to the history of ,god's      
,church1  you find all these things     
manifest2 you find ,israel in ,egypt2   
then the  command that they should be   
allowed to pass away from their bondage2
 you  find ,egypt resisting the command1
 and ,god sent among the people of      
,egypt  signs and wonders1 and plagues  
by the hand of ,moses1 but they         
submitted  not4  ,he called them to     
obedience1 but they rebelled4  ,by and  
bye1 ,he  slew their firstborn1 the     

chief of all their strength1 and then   
the  people came out with silver and    
with gold4  ,nations are not simply     
chastised in this world1 they are also  
punished4  ,every one of us shall  give 
an account of himself to ,god at the    
last great day1 and strictly  speaking1 
the punishment of separate individuals  
will not begin in this  life2 but       
nations cannot be judged collectively   
hereafter2 they are dealt  with here2   
and ,god's dealings with the nations    
stand out in his palpable  acts with    
these ,egyptians4  ,they saw the hand of
 ,god for a time1 but they  fell back   
into their ancient rebellion and pursued
 the ,israelites to the  ,red ,sea1 and 
,god made that sea a way for his        
ransomed and destroyed the  pursuing    
host4  ,go through the entire history of
 ,god's ancient people4  ,you find the  
,assyrians round about ,jerusalem1 you  
see the angel of ,god  going forth1 and 
that mighty host is destroyed4  ,go     
through all the  dealings of ,god with  

heathen nations1 and you find these     
physical  manifestations of ,god's      
power4  ,in our day there are no such   
manifestations as these4  ,in modern    
times the events of the divine          
government are not so authoritatively   
predicted1 and the exceedingly  foolish 
attempts of some people to interpret    
prophecy and to apply it  arbitrarily to
 passing events cannot be too severely  
condemned4  ,they  tend greatly to      
prejudice the proper interpretation of  
,scriptural  prophecy before the world1 
and deserve severe reprehension1 and    
should be  altogether discountenanced by
 all men of sound mind4  ,in our day we 
have  not these authoritative           
predictions of events4  ,but amid all   
this there  is a tendency to ignore the 
action of ,god in the government of the 
world  altogether4  ,instead of         
recognising his presence or             
acknowledging his  power1 the varied    
events--political1 social1 and          
otherwise--events like  the one to which

 ,i have just referred1 affecting the   
nation1 are denied  their true          
character2 and the view that ,i have    
ventured to place before  you in many   
places would be treated with ridicule4  
,men say1 when they  look at political  
events1 that they are to be traced to   
the conclusions  of well-directed       
political economy1 or to the failure of 
the application  of sound principles of 
government4  ,i know very well that if  
the  pestilence comes there are men who 
trace it to no higher than physical     
causes4  ,i know very well that if great
 calamities happen in storm or  tempest 
the physical cause is alone recognised4 
,and with reference to  the scourge of  
our cattle clever men look1 as they     
ought1 after the  physical causes4      
,they look1 as ,i think they are bound1 
to the  development of the evil         
influences leading to such a result4    
,but if men  now-a-days are ,christian  
enough to recognise ,god in the         
parliament of  this country there is no 

great response1 unless it be a response 
of  ill-concealed scorn2 and even among 
people who profess more of              
,christianity there is a danger of      
leaving the stern1 enlightened1 and     
faithful recognition of ,god which      
distinguished our fathers1 and of       
looking1 in some fancied superiority of 
our intellect--which is but a  fancy2   
for there were wise men before us--for  
explanation in something1  in anything  
oft-times1 rather than the recognition  
of ,god's power4    ,remember this1     
however1 brethren1 that the principles  
of ,god's government  in our day are the
 same which have inhered in that        
government in all  ages--that1 however  
human circumstances may differ1 however 
the nations  of this world may alter1   
however the powers of men may vary time 
after  time1 ,god's government is an    
immutable thing2 it changes not4  ,the  
perfect idea of a human government is   
this--,i do not say it is  realised--to 
have certain fixed principles that are  

to abide1 and then in  the application  
of those principles to find an          
elasticity which shall  meet every      
conceivable alteration of circumstances 
about us4  ,that is the  idea of a      
perfect human government2 but human     
governments do not attain  to it4  ,the 
government of ,god1 however1 is perfect4
  ,the great principle  is love--,god is
 love2 its great end1 the welfare of    
man2 the purpose of  that government1   
the spread of ,christianity for the     
welfare of mankind4    ,there is no     
expediency in this government1 as men   
understand it4  ,the  governments of    
this world are too much founded upon    
expediency--the  government of this     
country for the last sixty or seventy   
years lamentably  founded upon it4      
,there was a time when there was less of
 it here1 but  the disciples of         
expediency increase1 and it is now      
rather ,what is  convenient8 than ,what 
is right8  ,there is an expediency      
taught in the  ,bible1 but it is nothing

 more than the best way of doing the    
right thing4  ,it never truckles4  ,the 
government of ,god knows nothing of our 
human  expedients2 it knows a great deal
 of ,divine arrangements1 and ,god as   
truly governs as though in his          
government of the nations ,he should    
work  signs and wonders and divers      
miracles daily4    ,god has spoken in   
the history of our own country4  ,look  
at some of the  startling events of the 
last two hundred years4  ,you look at   
the act of  our noble1 intelligent1     
never-to-be-sufficiently-admired1 firm  
old  ,english ancestors1 in driving     
,james the ,second from his throne1 and 
working out the glorious ,revolution of 
#afhh4  ,well1 if you look at all  this 
politically1 you speak of their wisdom1 
their fortitude1 and their  indomitable 
spirit2 you speak too of storm and      
tempest all working in  their favour4   
,aye1 aye1 but the hand of ,god was     
there1 as much in  sending away that    
unworthy ,king as ,god's hand was in    

sending  ,nebuchadnezzar to feed among  
the oxen4  ,god's hand may not appear in
 our  modern times as in former days1   
but faith sees that hand in the common  
affairs of mankind4  ,but because we do 
not see the operation1 because the      
operation is not palpable to men's      
senses1 the agency of ,god is           
forgotten4  ,depend upon it1 it is a    
great mistake to imagine that if we     
could see1 now and then1 some great     
miracle wrought1 we should get into  the
 habit of recognising the power and     
wisdom of ,god4  ,the ,israelites  were 
fed in the desert by miracle1 and       
rebelled against ,god whilst they  ate  
the food miraculously given to them4    
,the wonder--the perfection of  the     
,divine operation is this1 that without 
disturbing in our little  individual    
history any of the common affairs which 
arise in every-day  life1 without       
working any miracle at all1 and whilst  
to the eyes of men  all things continue 
as they were from the beginning1 whilst 

there is  nothing observable in the     
method1 ,he works all things together   
for the  good of them that love ,him1   
combining opposing forces and blending  
together the elements of life and of    
death in one grand atmosphere of        
benediction for the welfare of the      
righteous1 and all this without         
disturbing the ordinary course of cause 
and effect4  ,the power of ,god         
impresses itself not merely through the 
lower links of the chain of             
providence--cause and effect1 but upon  
the higher part of that chain  which    
sends down its influence1 its           
intelligence1 its all-wise  benevolence1
 to work out the welfare of those that  
are the objects of his  love4    ,so it 
is with nations4  ,you will see public  
events rising up in  connection with    
ordinary causes1 but we ought to        
acknowledge the great  ,first-cause4    
,the principles of divine government    
which operated in the  old time are now 
as surely in operation as they were     

then4  ,they are not  antiquated3 they  
are not at all supplanted2 they operate 
in the same way1  to the same ends2 they
 operate to national and personal       
benefit1 to  national and personal      
reproof1 or1 in the neglect of such     
admonition1 to  national and personal   
punishment1 showing us that ,god's      
government is now  the government which 
it was in the ancient days1 and that    
though we see  no miracles in our day   
,god is as much in the midst of         
unthinking  multitudes as when men were 
startled by the visible interposition of
 his  ,almighty power4    ,let us look1 
then1 at the state of things about us   
now4  ,is there not  sufficient cause in
 this land to lead us to humble         
ourselves1 to improve  the admonition of
 our ,god2 that we should prepare to    
meet ,him1 in the  only way in which we 
can meet ,him to our profit1 by our     
personal  submission to a greater       
extent2 and if we love our country1 that
 we  should put ourselves into a        

position to bring the nation out of any 
state  of rebellion against ,god1 to    
lead it back to a more perfect          
reconciliation with ,him8  ,what evils  
have we now to deplore8  ,why1 a  great 
number4  ,it is a blessed land after    
all2 and there is more of  ,christianity
 found in it than in any other in the   
world4  ,there is  doubtless more of the
 direct influence of ,christianity in   
our population  than you will find      
elsewhere1 and certainly more of the    
indirect  influence upon the            
constitution of the nation1 upon our    
legislation1 upon  our national--aye1   
and upon our domestic habits4  ,there is
 a large amount  of the indirect        
influence of ,christianity in our midst1
 for which we have  cause to be         
thankful4  ,but then1 on the other hand1
 how much is there of  evil8  ,there is 
great evil in our midst4  ,there is     
first1 what really our  fathers had not 
so much to do with--there is the        
presence and power of a  subtle1 of a   

most ably-wrought and                   
powerfully-patronised ,popery1 about    
which we have been asleep for too long a
 time1 ,popery1 which is inimical  to   
the welfare of any nation1 and          
inconsistent with the political         
happiness1 prosperity and security of   
any people4  ,you have not far to go    
for the proof of this4  ,you have only  
to go to the present miserable          
condition of ,ireland to prove it4  ,it 
is all very well for disclaimers to     
arise from the men who created the      
disloyal element of this mischief1 but  
they must esteem the ,protestants of    
this country more credulous than ,i     
hope they will prove if they expect them
 to believe their present               
protestations4  ,what else have you8    
,you have the presence of this ,popery  
also where ,protestantism alone ought to
 be known4  ,you have it  dishonestly   
intruded into the temples of ,christian 
truth2 and you have  the pernicious     
nonsense of miserable and disgraceful   

antics obtruded into  what men call     
divine worship1 utterly beneath the     
dignity of sensible  men4  ,you have    
another thing4  ,you have infidelity1   
and in the pulpit  too--the pulpit in   
high places--infidelity in its worst    
form4  ,you have  all this1 and no      
power1 and very little inclination      
exists to correct it4  ,you have all    
this1 and multitudes love to have it so4
  ,that is one form  of evil1 leading to
 many other forms1 and causing all      
thoughtful men to  deplore the condition
 of churches cursed with a schism like  
this1 with a  false doctrine and heresy 
so utterly opposed to the truth and to  
the  salvation of men4  ,well1 then1    
look1 at the profanity of the people    
around us4  ,look at the ungodliness of 
decent people4  ,i am not here  to-day  
to call your attention simply1 as people
 sometimes do1 to the  lowest classes of
 society4  ,they are bad enough4  ,they 
are a festering  mass at the foundation 
of all the greatness of the nation2 they

 are a  mass which1 if not corrected in 
their tendencies1 may at any time be    
quickened into an activity that will    
utterly wreck the entire  superstructure
 of all that as ,christians and as      
,englishmen we hold dear4  ,but higher  
up1 where there is no profaneness or    
criminality1 or gross and  disgusting   
visible intemperance1 what other evils  
are there8  ,there is  decency1 but     
there is an absence of the recognition  
of ,god4  ,god is not  in men's         
thoughts4  ,and there is a fearful and  
fatal indifference as to  the claims of 
religion that has come over the nations4
  ,multitudes  neglect public worship4  
,i apprehend the least evidence that    
anybody can  give of religious          
impression1 or of recognition of the    
claims of  religion1 is that they should
 attend the public worship of ,almighty 
,god4  ,you find1 however1 hundreds of  
thousands in this nation who never      
attend  divine service4  ,if our        
churches and chapels in ,london were to 

be  attended next ,sunday by the usual  
number of persons1 and those besides    
who ought to attend were disposed to try
 to gain admission at any one  time     
during the day1 we have not half        
churches and chapels enough to hold     
them2 whilst1 as it is1 the room        
provided is not occupied4  ,this        
indifference is a fearful thing4  ,paul 
yearned over his countrymen1 but  in    
some respects our countrymen are worse  
than ,paul's4  ,i could wish1  said that
 glorious1 patriotic man--that grand old
 man1 that most blessed  and chief of   
all the ,apostles1 with heaven in his   
view1 his career  well-nigh ended1 his  
work done1 and ,churches rising up      
around him of  which he was the         
father--not churches built upon other   
men's  foundations--,i could wish myself
 accursed from ,christ for my brethren1 
my kinsmen according to the flesh4  ,yet
 ,i bear them record1 that they  have a 
zeal of ,god1 but not according to      
knowledge4  ,in ,england1 at this  day1 

there are multitudes of whom it may be  
said1 ,god is not in all  their         
thoughts4  ,and the heathenism spread   
about us is as bad in its  developments 
as in any other part of the world1 and  
more aggravated in  its character       
because of its immediate proximity with 
the light and truth  of our blessed     
,christianity4  ,there is in this land1 
too1 an absorbing of  men in            
worldliness3 this1 perhaps1 comes nearer
 to us4  ,in my time ,i have  seen      
worldliness not only enthralling        
obviously and professedly worldly  men4 
,i have seen worldliness come into the  
,church--aye1 among  ,methodists4  ,how 
many young men have ,i seen1 earnest1   
zealous1 devoted1  doing just that work 
for ,god which must be done by young men
 if the  population of this land is to  
be won to ,christ--they enter into      
business-life1 by-and-bye ,god prospers 
their industry1 and they begin to       
thrive in the world2 and what then8     
,oh1 then this fervour abates--they  get

 immersed in earthly things4  ,we lose  
their activities in the ,church2  the   
ungodly part of the world lose the      
influence of a blessed example and  of  
their ,christian teaching4  ,they are   
too busy to attend to the service  of   
,god at all on the week days1 they say  
to their ministers3 ,we will  find the  
money if you will send men to do the    
work among these poor  people4  ,find   
money to do it6  ,so they ought3 but do 
they think they  place the ,church under
 obligation by doing that8  ,not a whit4
  ,they ought  to be thankful to the    
,church1 and to the ,god of the ,church1
 that ,he will  have their money1 that  
,god permits them gratefully to         
recognise in this  way their            
stewardship2 but ,i say to every such   
person1 if you think you  can purchase  
exemption from personal devotion to     
,god1 and from such  devotion as shall  
lead you to spread the truth by your    
personal labour1  to the utmost extent  
of your ability1 you are greatly        

mistaken4  ,we can  have no such        
compositions of ,god's claim2 you must  
not dream of them4  ,there is a         
feebleness1 therefore1 of the ,church2  
oft-times arising from  this cause1 a   
feebleness we must seek to cure1 as it  
only can be cured1  by an increase of   
our own personal godliness4    ,but how 
do we stand just now8  ,god has         
sometimes admonished this nation  for   
its ungodliness4  ,i do not speak of the
 nation now as profane or  criminal4    
,take the best view of it4  ,and ,i     
remember that a great  theologian has   
said1 the true view of man's depravity  
is not that every  man is profane or    
intemperate or mischievous--the great   
proof of the  universal depravity of man
 is found in man's ungodliness--in his  
not  recognising the claims of ,god1 and
 not bowing to his love4  ,we have had  
admonition after admonition1 within our 
own lives1 most of us4  ,not long  since
 ,god sent a pestilence into our        
midst--on two remarkable occasions4     

,well do ,i remember the state of the   
people where ,i was labouring in one  of
 the large towns of this country1 with  
between three and four hundred  deaths1 
from cholera1 occurring every week4     
,the people were alarmed4  ,there was a 
national day of humiliation and prayer2 
our places of worship  were crowded4    
,the people were alarmed1 but they were 
not permanently  impressed4  ,god heard 
prayer2 yes1 he delights to hear prayer4
  ,god  answered it2 he delights to     
answer it4  ,the evil passed away2 the  
concern  passed with it2 and ,i shall   
never forget the contrast between the   
congregations on the day of humiliation1
 and when they were summoned to  thank  
,god for the removal of the scourge4    
,were there not ten cleansed8  but where
 are the nine8    ,it is only four years
 ago that another check came upon the   
nation--that  one of our great branches 
of national industry became suddenly    
paralysed2  and what mercy was there in 
that6  ,there was the good hand of ,god 

in the  administration of that          
chastisement1 in the conduct of the     
people under  such calamities1 and in   
the absence of mischievous1 designing   
men from  among them4  ,i have known the
 time when that population would have   
been  inflamed by a calamity of far less
 consequence to acts of the greatest    
violence4  ,god's hand was there4  ,he  
chastised the nation2 but ,he guided    
the chastisement4  ,and now again1      
another evil has come upon us--a        
greater evil1 perhaps1 than people      
imagined at first--this plague among    
our herds4  ,there will be great loss to
 individuals1 and no doubt there  will  
be great loss to all2 for it is         
impossible for so much wealth or        
money's worth to be destroyed in any    
nation without all the people in the    
nation feeling it more or less4  ,i     
think it right1 therefore1 that we  have
 been called to recognise the hand of   
,god therein--to look through  all      
external causes to his hand4  ,it is a  

very dangerous thing1 a thing ,i  have  
never done in my life1 and never would  
do1 to talk about the  providence of    
,god in its punitive power1 to talk     
about retribution in the  application of
 ,god's providence in individual cases4 
,it is very unwise  to do that1 and     
sometimes it may be most uncharitable4  
,it is different1  however1 in ,god's   
dealings with a nation4  ,we are        
admonished1 or  punished1 by a great    
national calamity that has stirred all  
classes of  men each in their own way1  
and has raised all their activities in  
order  to see if evils of this kind may 
not be checked in their operation4      
,this  evil is present with us4  ,and   
then1 as to other evils that may arise4 
,if  you look abroad into the world1 to 
the relations of this country to other  
nations1 you have peace just now2 but he
 would be a bold man who should  predict
 the continuation of this peace for any 
length of time4  ,no1 your  statesmen   
cannot keep the peace of nations2 and   

the folly of our boasting  about the    
peace-working power of our commercial   
relations has already be  seen4  ,we    
cannot give peace to the world4  ,who   
can tell how soon the  calamity of war  
may afflict this country8  ,not ,i trust
 on its shores2 but  what is this land  
that it has any right to expect a       
perpetual immunity  from the horrors of 
war in her midst8  ,do not say these    
things will pass  away4  ,do not say    
these things are remote4  ,they may     
quickly overtake us1  and we should be  
careful that we do not provoke our ,god 
to hasten any of  his judgments or to   
aggravate present ones4  ,if you are    
delivered from  calamity--if this great 
national calamity1 for such it is1 has  
not  touched you1 or at least not so    
touched you as to inconvenience you at  
all1 remember to give sympathy to those 
that are suffering from it2 and  let    
thankfulness for your present mercies   
manifest itself in that godly  amendment
 of life which shall prove your best    

contribution to the future  safety and  
the prosperity of the nation4  ,if we   
neglect this we place  ourselves in     
opposition to ,god's government1 and are
 in danger1 by our  opposition1 of being
 told to prepare to meet ,god in        
conflict4  ,individual  sinners do so   
who refuse repentance2 nations do so    
that will not submit  to ,god4  ,you    
that are living without ,god1 pray what 
prospect have you1  what prospect of    
victory8  ,the potsherd of the earth may
 strive with the  potsherd1 but woe to  
the man that strives with his ,maker4   
,the ,god whom  you are called upon to  
meet is the ,god that formeth the       
mountains1 that  createth the wind1 that
 declareth unto man what is his thought1
 that  maketh the morning darkness1 and 
treadeth upon the high places of the    
earth1 the ,lord1 the ,god of hosts1 is 
his name4    ,let the ungodliness of    
this land increase--and it will increase
 if we  neglect the manifestation of    
godliness in opposition to it--and what 

then8  ,there will be the culmination of
 national sin1 and there will be  the   
enactments of ,parliament against the   
law of ,god1 as on a former  memorable  
occasion in ,france2 let it come to     
that1 and let a crisis  arise2 and      
though your statesmen should be the most
 sagacious1 and have  all the ability   
which has ever distinguished the        
foremost men of the  ,government of this
 land2 let your ,parliament be          
intelligent and  patriotic2 let your    
sons be as brave on flood or field as   
their fathers2  let your commerce be    
ever so flourishing1 your arts ever so  
perfect1 your  literature ever so       
exalted--none of these things would save
 the  nation--none of these things would
 be an effectual shield against         
calamity2 and upon the wreck of this    
grand old realm--wrecked by its         
ungodliness1 made rotten at its base by 
sin--upon the wreck of this  nation     
which1 had it been godly1 would have    
borne the shock of all the  earth1 and  

dashed it back like foam--on the wreck  
of ,britain shall be  written1 ,the     
nation1 the kingdom1 that will not serve
 thee shall  perish4  ,that inscription 
has been often written upon empires as  
magnificent1 as powerful1 and as        
illustrious as this4    ,what1 then1 is 
our duty8  ,what have we to do with     
this8  ,we who are  gathered together in
 this chapel may say1 can we arrest the 
course of the  nation8  ,can we turn    
back the floods of ungodliness8  ,can we
 go out and  produce an influence that  
may avert these calamities8  ,i do not  
say that  you alone can do this2 but ,i 
do say1 that you are bound to contribute
  your utmost to the check of these     
evils1 with as perfect a heart1 and     
with as earnest a purpose1 and as free a
 will1 as though your hand could  dash  
back the evil and rescue the nation from
 its danger4    ,our immediate duty is  
repentance4  ,that is the duty of the   
nation4  ,but  the word nation is a     
comprehensive one2 we lose ourselves in 

it4  ,we may  do as we are in danger of 
doing with the word ,church1 lose sight 
of our  own individual responsibility in
 confused ideas of what the ,church     
collectively is to do4  ,god cannot     
yield in this conflict2 his             
righteousness forbids this4  ,the nation
 must yield and become obedient1  or the
 result indicated must follow4  ,if then
 the nation is to repent1  where is that
 repentance to begin8  ,why in this     
place to-day1 so far as  we are         
concerned4  ,in whose hearts must this  
repentance commence8  ,why in  the      
hearts of every one of you unconverted  
persons1 that are rather  contributing  
to the ungodliness of the country than  
to the increase of  its spiritual power4
  ,you may not be drunkards1 you may not
 be  profligate2 but if you are living  
without the recognition of ,god's love  
and the enjoyment of his favour1 you are
 ungodly2 and your first duty is  to    
repent4  ,there is no salvation without 
this repentance1 let some  modern       

preachers say what they will4  ,the     
,master of all preachers sent  the      
,apostles forth1 and they preached      
everywhere that men should repent4      
,there is a fashionable preaching1 ,i am
 told1 that has no repentance in  it4   
,so much the worse for the people that  
listen to such error4  ,there  is no    
merit in repentance2 the only           
meritorious cause of your salvation  is 
the blood-shedding and the present and  
perfect atonement of ,christ4  ,but the 
law is our schoolmaster to bring us to  
,christ4  ,the old  ,puritans were right
 who said1 that the soundest conversions
 were those  with which the law had most
 to do4  ,mount ,sinai exhibited proofs 
of ,god's  love1 and ,christ1 who died  
for us on ,calvary1 is the author and   
enforcer  of the whole law4  ,there must
 be the bowing down of your souls to the
  claims of the law1 the struggle for   
amendment1 the renunciation of sin1  the
 recognition of your own hopelessness1  
and the cry1 ,what must ,i do to  be    

saved8  ,who shall deliver me from the  
body of this death8  ,then  comes       
,christ1 and peace1 and joy2 a          
participation in the divine nature2  and
 a power to contribute practically to   
the repentance of the nation4  ,this is 
your duty4    ,you ,christian people1   
too1 are called upon to repent4  ,depend
 upon it as  we go through life an act  
of repentance1 once for all1 will not   
do3 we  shall need repentance daily4    
,when a man is admitted to the favour of
 ,god  it is that his mouth should be   
stopped1 it is that he should entertain 
penitential feeling as long as he       
lives--not the penitence of guilt1 but  
the penitence of gratitude4  ,the       
recollection1 ,i am a sinner1 will      
inspire and maintain such penitence2 and
 a blessed end that man will  make1 who 
in the full meaning of the words1 pours 
out the prayer at the  last1 ,god be    
merciful to me a sinner4  ,we need      
repentance--we all need  it4  ,let us   
turn our attention to ourselves1 and    

ascertain how much we  have contributed 
to the existing evils of the nation4    
,how much have we  contributed to the   
present state of things which in the    
judgment of sober  ,christian concern   
may be held to have provoked the anger  
of ,god8  ,we may  have contributed to  
these evils1 and ,i dare say we have1 in
 two ways3  first1 by neglect of duty4  
,there are sinners about you1 you need  
not go  far to find them--perhaps there 
are some ungodly people in your own     
houses4  ,what have you ever done to    
make them godly8  ,what effort have  you
 made1 what kind of an example have you 
set them in your words1 in  your        
tempers1 in your spiritual aspirations8 
,now tell yourselves  honestly4  ,you   
have been living with them up to this   
day1 living with  them during this day4 
,what have you said to them8  ,do your  
conduct and  your words condemn their   
sin1 and invite them to reconciliation  
with ,god8  ,what does conscience say to
 this8  ,what does the recollection of  

the past  few hours say to this8  ,there
 are wicked people about you3 some of   
you  have leisure2 what have you done   
for your ungodly neighbours8  ,what poor
  man's house have you visited8  ,what  
wretched sinner have you talked to8     
,you have passed along the streets1 and 
have seen sin abounding2 have you  ever 
tried to check it8  ,have you ever      
thought it worth while to follow  some  
half dozen people deeply immersed in    
sin1 and by patient1 earnest1  godly    
admonitions1 counsels1 and entreaties1  
have you sought the  salvation of their 
souls8  ,have you done this8  ,oh6 you  
busy men say1  we have not time4  ,i    
know better2 you must not tell practical
 men that2  they know that all of us    
waste a great deal more time than we    
want for  such a purpose4  ,it is not a 
question of time at all1 but a question 
of  inclination4  ,have we done so8     
,are evils abating by our               
instrumentality8  ,do not say1 ,i could 
do very little4  ,do what you can6  ,if 

,i could move  a multitude ,i would do  
it4  ,no1 that will not do4  ,you good  
women1 are  you doing all the good you  
can in your families8  ,do you mothers  
give  yourselves to the right training  
of your children8  ,fathers1 are you    
practically anxious for the spiritual   
good of your families8  ,do you help    
your wives to bring up a godly family1  
which shall prove a blessing to  the    
nation2 and not such an one as ,dr4     
,paley says1 as shall turn out wild     
beasts upon society4  ,you have little  
ability2 well1 if you have not ten      
talents1 do not bury the one talent4    
,paul did one thing1 and that was  the  
secret of all his greatness--he did his 
duty4  ,do you do yours8  ,there was a  
simplicity of purpose about him1 an     
earnestness of endeavour1  a            
thoroughness in the doing of it that    
made him what he was1 the greatest  of  
all apostles and the greatest man that  
the ,christian ,church has known4  ,take
 that simple rule1 you young people2    

strive to spread the influence  of a    
godly example among all about you3 do   
what you can1 in a way  consistent with 
your position in life1 and in a way     
consistent altogether  with modesty1    
humility1 and a deep devotion to ,god1  
and you will not  labour in vain4  ,we  
are guilty of sins of omission1 and we  
need  repentance4    ,but how have we   
contributed to the evils of the nation  
by our activities8  ,some of you were   
converted1 perhaps1 when you had lived  
to be twenty  years of age1 some of you 
thirty or forty1 some perhaps were      
older2 what  kind of lives had you led  
before that time8  ,how many of your    
former  companions did you injure by a  
godless example8 perhaps by foolish     
words1  perhaps by ungodly actions4     
,god has rescued you2 where are they8   
,what  has become of the seed you then  
planted in their minds8  ,if ,god drew  
out  the roots of vice by his grace from
 your hearts1 the influence of this     
evil remains elsewhere4  ,what mischief 

is often done by men prior to  their    
conversion in their families6  ,when you
 see there is so much  wickedness in the
 land1 then say1 ,what have ,i done to  
increase it8  ,and  ,i think we shall   
all find great need to repent2 great    
need to set an  example of repentance to
 all about us4    ,the first thing1     
then1 is this deep humiliation of heart 
that shall bring  us all to bow before  
,god1 and cause us to join in the       
prayer1 ,enter not  into judgment with  
thy servants1 ,o ,god1 for in thy sight 
shall no man  living be justified4      
,but1 then1 you ,christian professors   
must bestir  yourselves4  ,this         
repentance must not be a passing        
emotion1 not a  temporary influence1    
however powerful2 but there must be a   
correspondent  continued effort to      
promote it amongst your families and    
neighbours1 and  to the utmost extent of
 your power in the world2 engaging      
meanwhile in  earnest prayer2 and then  
consecrating yourselves more fully to   

this work  under the influence of two   
things1 a deep sense of personal        
responsibility and of the constraint of 
divine love4  ,submit1 then1 to  this   
will of ,god4  ,know the rod1 and ,him  
that hath appointed it4  ,if the        
multitudes about you do not know it you 
know it4  ,if ,god be not  recognised1  
let it be yours to recognise ,him amid  
the surrounding  worldliness1 and depend
 upon it your purity of heart shall     
increase1 and  you will see ,god in all 
things1 in all calamities1 and in all   
joys4  ,it  is a strange thing that     
nations and individuals see ,god more   
readily in  trouble than they do in     
their joys4  ,amid the immunities from  
ill which  ,christian people often enjoy
 how little they think of ,god4         
,trouble  comes1 calamity comes1 and we 
owe the quickening of our religious     
feelings1 strangely enough1 more to our 
fears than we to our gratitude4  ,and it
 will be well if we are so quickened by 
present calamity4    ,thus let us       

prepare ourselves to promote that       
condition of feeling in the  nation     
which shall lead us to meet ,god not in 
conflict but in the way of  his         
judgments1 to bow to his rule1 to abate 
our ungodliness1 and to  become as a    
nation wise and understanding4    ,one  
remark as to the popular interpretation 
of the text4  ,you will have  to meet   
,god speedily in your death4  ,you      
should prepare to meet ,him1 for  you   
cannot resist2 you cannot flee from     
,him4  ,let us prepare to meet ,him  by 
embracing the mercy which ,he offers1   
receiving the love which ,he            
communicates to us1 and devoting the    
rest of our lives to his service and    
glory4  ,you are called upon1 then1 and 
,i think for these reasons properly     
called upon1 to contribute to and to    
promote the humiliation of the  nation4 
,whatever other people do1 humble       
yourselves before ,god4  ,and let  not  
the impression be a temporary one1 but  
in the future seek that  practical love 

which constitutes the repentance        
necessary to the nation1  and necessary 
to you that you may prompt the          
repentance and reformation  of those    
about you1 and which can alone save the 
land of our fathers from  calamity and  
make her more fully what she ought to   
be1 a praise in the  earth4  ,amen6     
,,the ,,prophetic ,,theme4  ,,rev4      
,,gervase ,,smith4          ,of which   
salvation the prophets have enquired and
 searched      diligently1 who          
prophesied of the grace that should come
 unto you3      ,searching what1 or what
 manner of time1 the ,spirit of ,christ 
which      was in them did signify1 when
 it testified beforehand the sufferings 
of ,christ1 and the glory that should   
follow4--#a ,,peter i4 #aj1 #aa4        
,there is a peculiar interest attaching 
to the writer of this epistle4          
,although it was probably in old age1   
when a large experience of labour  and  
sorrow had chastened his spirit1 and in 
prospect of martyrdom1 that  he composed

 these chapters1 they bear unmistakable 
proofs of his own  vigour of thought1   
and suggest many reminiscences of his   
remarkable life4  ,whether you regard   
him as a man1 a ,christian1 or an       
apostle1 he presents  an illustrious    
subject for the student of these modern 
times4  ,his  history puts before us    
many and serious defects2 but there is  
much more  to approve and admire3 and   
while a feeling or sorrow lingers over  
the  one1 the other is so marked and    
prominent that it secures your sympathy1
  and you are drawn towards the man with
 an ineffable affection4  ,there is  a  
candour1 and honesty1 and generosity1   
and heroism1 which gives to his         
character a most healthy tone4  ,the    
qualities of his mind and heart1 when   
sanctified by grace1 become really      
noble2 and if it were right1 you would  
like to forget his failings in presence 
of so much that is both manly and  good4
    ,his two epistles are a precious    
legacy to the ,church4  ,the first is   

addressed to the scattered strangers3   
but whether this expression refer  to   
,jews1 or converted ,gentiles1 or both1 
or to the dispersed of the ten  tribes1 
there is no satisfactory evidence4  ,we 
are in similar doubt as to  the place   
from which it was written4  ,the ,church
 at ,babylon is named in  the last      
chapter2 but there was a ,babylon in    
,egypt1 and another in  ,assyria1 and   
,rome itself is thus figuratively       
designated4    ,the style of the        
apostle's writing is just what you would
 expect from the  man himself4          
,vehemence1 majesty1 and1 at the same   
time1 ease and  freedom1 are manifest in
 every page4    ,the chief design of    
this epistle is to administer comfort to
 those  already suffering2 and to       
prepare others for the affliction they  
were  about to endure4  ,the first      
chapter adduces several considerations  
to  uphold their constancy4  ,one is    
that they are the chosen of ,god2 ,elect
  according to the foreknowledge of ,god

 the ,father1 through sanctification  of
 the ,spirit1 unto obedience and        
sprinkling of the blood of ,jesus       
,christ3 grace unto you1 and peace1 be  
multiplied4  ,then1 as the elect of     
,god1 they had a good hope of heaven4   
,blessed be the ,god and ,father of  our
 ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 which according  
to his abundant mercy1 hath  begotten us
 again unto a lively hope1 by the       
resurrection of ,jesus ,christ  from the
 dead1 to an inheritance incorruptible1 
and undefiled1 and that  fadeth not     
away1 reserved in heaven for you1 who   
are kept by the power of  ,god through  
faith unto salvation1 ready to be       
revealed in the last time4  ,a third    
consideration is1 that though in the    
midst of trial1 their  ,saviour was with
 them1 and the end of their faith was   
sure4  ,whom having  not seen1 ye love2 
in whom1 though now ye see ,him not1 yet
 believing1 ye  rejoice with joy        
unspeakable1 and full of glory3         
receiving the end of  your faith1 even  

the salvation of your souls4  ,and1     
finally1 they were  to remember that    
this subject of their salvation had been
 matter of  earnest enquiry among the   
prophets1 whose labours are now made to 
contribute to their comfort4  ,of which 
salvation the prophets have  enquired   
and searched diligently1 who prophesied 
of the grace that should  come unto you3
 searching what1 or what manner of time1
 the ,spirit of  ,christ which was in   
them did signify1 when it testified     
beforehand the  sufferings of ,christ1  
and the glory that should follow4       
,i4--,,the ,,student1 ,,and             
,,ii4--,,his ,,theme4    ,i4  ,the      
prophets have enquired and searched     
diligently4    ,the term prophet is most
 properly applied to one who is divinely
  instructed as to future events1 and   
divinely inspired to make them known4   
,in an accommodated sense it is given to
 the apostles and public teachers  of   
the primitive ,church4  ,and now it is  
conventionally used to denote a         

somewhat less honourable class4  ,the   
prophets of our day are many4  ,from the
 positive style they have adopted1 you  
would suppose that the  gift of         
prescience had come upon them in a far  
more absolute form than  upon the       
prophets of old4  ,with more dogmatism  
and less authority do they  pronounce   
upon the times and seasons4  ,though    
failure on failure  happens1 this seems 
rather to nerve their confidence2 and   
every  successive mistake is followed by
 another guess with increased assurance4
    #a4  ,who are the prophets referred 
to in the text8  ,they are the men to   
whom the term is strictly applicable4   
,we do not forget such names as  ,moses 
and ,samuel1 and ,elijah and ,elisha1   
and others2 but their prophecies  are   
not given with the formality of those   
distinct books to which perhaps  ,st4   
,peter refers4  ,in point of time ,jonah
 comes just with his message of  woe to 
the city of ,nineveh4  ,amos the herdman
 and ,hosea his contemporary  follow4   

,then ,joel with his thunder1 and       
,isaiah with his evangelism2  ,micah    
with his earnestness2 ,nahum with his   
sublimity2 and ,zephaniah with  his     
severity1 take their place in about     
equal succession4  ,jeremiah then       
appears with all his weightiness of     
matter and solemnity of manner4         
,habakkuk in briefer form takes up the  
same subjects4  ,daniel with great      
grandeur of style dwells on the topics  
of the text4  ,obadiah stands  between  
him and ,ezekiel as though to make them 
both more prominent4  ,at a  later      
period come ,haggai and ,zechariah2 and 
then ,malachi closes the  illustrious   
train1 taking the last pen from the wing
 of inspiration1 or  putting the signet 
upon the scroll of prophecy4  ,some of  
these may be  especially referred to2   
but we include them all3 for to ,him    
give all the  prophets witness2 that in 
his name whosoever believeth in ,him    
shall have  forgiveness of sins4    7i47
  ,they were men2 not angels1 or        

belonging to some order of being        
superior to ourselves2 but they were    
members with us of the same human       
family1 and subject to like passions as 
we are4  ,they were sinners3  born with 
the old taint of corruption2 subject to 
hereditary guilt1  depravity1 and death1
 and exposed to all the evils to which  
flesh is  heir4  ,they were redeemed    
sinners1 included in that same covenant 
of  mercy of which we make our boast4   
,they were therefore personally         
interested in those truths which became 
the subject of their search4    ,the    
original promise belonged to them as    
well as to us4  ,they claimed an        
interest in the leading facts of        
patriarchal history1 and in the gorgeous
  ceremonial of the ,mosaic ,institute4 
,all the events of divine providence    
which were preparing the way for the    
,messiah's coming1 and the  predictions 
which they themselves uttered1 had some 
personal bearing4  ,they were not       
uninterested students of past history1  

of present  circumstances1 or of future 
events4  ,their own destinies were      
involved in  the truths they taught4    
7ii47  ,they were good men4  ,that the  
,divine ,being has sometimes made  false
 prophets means of carrying out his     
purposes there can be no  doubt4  ,but  
he is a daring man who would venture    
from this either to  justify or         
extenuate an impure ministry4           
,sanctuary services are too pure  and   
solemn to be performed by any but clean 
hands4  ,the instruments  which ,god    
ordains are holy4  ,with a miserable    
exception here and there1  even the     
enemies of truth have not denied to the 
ancient prophets the  crown of a good   
character4  ,try them by any recognised 
standard of  virtue1 and they will not  
be found wanting4  ,trace the minutest  
circumstances of their private life2    
their self denial2 their exposure to    
danger2 their fearlessness in denouncing
 sin2 their being proof against         
corruption2 their zeal2 their sympathy2 

their benevolence--and they  present a  
startling contrast with the priests of  
,paganism1 or the false  prophets among 
the ,jews4    ,call to mind the meekness
 of ,moses2 the heroism of ,elijah2 the 
gratitude  of ,david2 the sweetness of  
,hosea2 the fervour of ,isaiah2 the     
tenderness  of ,jeremiah2 the constancy 
of ,daniel2 the faithfulness of         
,ezekiel--and  you unhesitatingly       
endorse the inspired oracle1 that they  
were holy  men4  ,and although some of  
the prophets are remarkable for         
particular  features of character1 they 
are not wanting in all the others which 
are  requisite to constitute goodness4  
,but what a magnificent portrait could  
you present to the mind as you  review  
the whole6  ,the characteristics of     
these different men meet and  blend in  
the photograph2 and you look upon a     
being--human it is true1 but  sanctified
 by grace1 and fitted to exercise a more
 telling influence  upon the destines of
 the world1 than the mightiest          

statesman1 or the  profoundest          
philosopher1 or the noblest warrior of  
which history can  boast4  ,like the    
hues of the rainbow1 which in all their 
softness and  sweetness and sublimity1  
rejoice to span the heavens together1   
and make  up one token of the covenant1 
do the prophets stand before us as one  
class of men1 unfolding the covenant of 
mercy1 and offering light and  life to a
 dying and dark world4    7iii47  ,they 
were inspired good men4  ,and here is   
suggested one of the  most formidable   
dangers of the present day4  ,an attempt
 is being made to  dry up the most      
fruitful source of confidence which the 
,christian has in  the truth of his     
,bible3--viz41 its plenary inspiration4 
,we know that  this is not new2 but the 
lover of the ,book had charmed himself  
with the  hope that the controversy was 
over1 and the truth triumphant4  ,he is 
now1  however1 alarmed on finding that  
in addition to the old adversaries--the 
infidel1 the sceptic1 and the           

profane--he has to enter the lists with 
new  combatants altogether2 and among   
the rest1 the descendants of those      
glorious ,reformers1 who1 centuries ago1
 shook the papal power to its  centre2  
melted the ,bible's chain in the        
martyr's flame2 and liberated the  mind 
of a continent from the most crushing   
spiritual despotism the world  ever     
knew4  ,it is a distressing sound to    
hear those academic halls1 which  have  
been the greatness and the pride of     
,germany1 resounding with  pernicious   
error1 not to say1 positive blasphemy4  
,looking at the subject  in the light of
 heaven we gratefully and confidently   
say that the word  of the ,lord endureth
 for ever2 but humanly speaking1 the    
,bible is in  danger4  ,and we must be  
prepared to meet it with a zeal1 such as
 in the  martyr's glowed1 dying         
champions for their ,god4  ,the plenary 
inspiration  of the ,scriptures1 and    
therefore of the prophets--is our       
impregnable  stronghold1 and must never 

be abandoned4  ,the apostle says1 when  
referring to the ,old ,testament--,all  
,scripture is given by inspiration of   
,god1 and is profitable for doctrine1   
for reproof1 for correction1 for        
instruction in righteousness4  ,for the 
prophecy came not in old time by  the   
will of man2 but holy men of ,god spake 
as they were moved by the ,holy  ,ghost4
  ,and by this inspiration we do not    
merely mean that some general  ideas    
were poured into their minds1 which they
 clothed in their own  language1 and    
then published them to the world as a   
revelation from  heaven4  ,if the ,bible
 be inspired at all1 it is fully        
inspired4  ,otherwise1 you cannot tell  
where to make the distinction between   
what is  divine and what is human4  ,you
 must either maintain the truth of the  
whole book1 or abandon your conviction  
of its supreme authority4  ,we  adopt   
the statement that the prophets composed
 their works under so  plenary and      
immediate an influence of the ,holy     

,spirit that ,god may be  said to speak 
by them to man1 and not merely that they
 spoke to men in  the name of ,god1 and 
by his authority4  ,mark the wide       
distinction which  is here suggested4   
,take the case of an earnest and        
trustworthy minister4  ,he tells his    
congregation that he is anxious to give 
them the truth2 and  has been to ,god in
 his closet asking for light4  ,in      
answer to prayer he  believes that the  
,holy ,spirit has given him light2 and1 
confident that it  is the truth1 he     
announces it to the people4  ,but you   
would not say that  that man is         
inspired4  ,there may be much of what is
 fallible and human  with what is       
truthful and divine4  ,suppose1 however1
 that on some ,sabbath  morning1 he     
could with authority stand up and say   
that what is now about  to be declared  
is not his1 but ,god's--that he is in   
ignorance of what the  utterance will   
really be1 and that in simple fact1 ,god
 is to speak  through him1 using his    

lips only as the medium of              
communication2 you have  here an        
instance of what is meant by plenary    
inspiration4  ,and this we  say is the  
case with the prophets4  ,these holy men
 of ,god spake as  they were moved by   
the ,holy ,ghost4  ,not in the words    
which man's wisdom  teacheth1 but which 
the ,holy ,ghost teacheth4    #b4       
,their ,conduct4  ,they enquired and    
searched diligently4    7i47  ,what is  
implied in the search they made8  ,it   
would seem as if for  the moment the    
thought of their inspiration was        
dropped2 and like other  earnest        
students of the ,bible1 they now search 
to ascertain the meaning  of their own1 
and each other's prophecies4  ,there is 
here1 however1 an  incidental1 though   
strong proof of the justice of their    
claims4  ,the  predictions they uttered 
were not their own conceptions2 not the 
product  of their own reasoning2 and    
perhaps not even engraven on their own  
memory4  ,they gave expression to       

statements beyond themselves1 and the   
meaning of which at the time1 they did  
not understand4  ,and when 7if we  may  
so say7 the breath of inspiration had   
passed from them1 they sat down  to     
discover by diligent search the import  
of those utterances which they  had     
made4  ,they had written for the world3 
they now enquired for  themselves4      
,their predictions are by the grace of  
,god1 the property  of the ,church3     
their search is for their own personal  
benefit4  ,the  truths they proclaim1   
become the power of ,god to their own   
comfort and  purity4    ,the metaphor is
 taken from the employment of a miner   
who digs deeply into  the caverns of the
 earth that he may find its treasures2  
and by their  appropriation enrich      
himself4  ,the prophets were not        
satisfied with the  mere knowledge of   
the fact that the mine existed1 and that
 its contents  were more brilliant than 
any of ,golconda1 and beyond the price  
of rubies4  ,they went to dig for       

themselves2 and seizing the precious    
pearls of  truth1 they enriched and     
beautified and ennobled their own       
character1  until their shining became  
too glorious for earth3 they were then  
translated to heaven to sparkle amid    
eternal sunshine1 and burn in glory  for
 ever4  ,how solemnly does the ,great   
,teacher's injunction sound in our      
ears--,search the ,scriptures2 for in   
them ye think ye have eternal life2  and
 they are they which testify of ,me4    
7ii47  ,the earnestness of their search4
  ,they enquired and searched           
diligently4  ,this word is forceful and 
signifies to trace out or  explore      
thoroughly4  ,the idea which the apostle
 intends to convey is  thought to be    
this3 they perceived that in their      
communications there  were so great and 
glorious truths which they did not fully
 comprehend1  and they diligently       
employed their natural faculties to     
understand that  which they were        
appointed to impart to succeeding       

generations4  ,there is  much of        
simplicity and power in the account     
which ,daniel gives of his own  search4 
,in the first year of the reign of      
,darius--,i 7,daniel7  understood by    
books the number of the years1 whereof  
the word of the  ,lord came to          
,jeremiah1 the prophet1 that he would   
accomplish seventy  years in the        
desolations of ,jerusalem4  ,and ,i set 
my face 7marking  earnestness and       
diligence and resolve7 unto the ,lord   
,god to seek by  prayer and supplication
 the meaning of these things4  ,you are 
not  surprised at the visit of the man  
,gabriel1 who was caused to fly swiftly2
  and1 touching him at the time of the  
evening oblation1 said1 ,o ,daniel ,i   
am now come forth to give thee skill and
 understanding4  ,i will show thee  that
 which is noted in the ,scriptures of   
truth4    ,now1 if the prophets had thus
 with earnest diligence to search out   
the  meaning of their own predictions1  
what but our capacity should be the     

measure of our toil8  ,nor is this      
labour to be confined to the pulpit4    
,the secret of the ,lord is with them   
that fear ,him4  ,if you want to know   
the meaning of your ,bible1 you must    
prayerfully study it4  ,these in  ,berea
 were more noble than those in          
,thessalonica1 in that they received    
the word with all readiness of mind1 and
 searched the ,scriptures daily1        
whether those things were so4    ,here  
then is our ,student3 himself a study   
for all who are anxious to  comprehend  
this book4  ,there are only three orders
 of being by whom ,god  has spoken to   
the world3 ,christ2 the angels2 and men4
  ,and among these  men the prophets    
hold the first rank4  ,at an early      
period--the elements  of religion being 
already revealed--a new method of       
communicating truth  was employed2 and  
man rose from the position of an        
observer1 to the  dignity and majesty of
 the prophet4  ,in some instances he is 
removed at  once into this office       

without previous training4  ,but        
generally ,god walks  among the schools 
of the prophets2 and laying his hand    
upon the chosen  one1 ,he bids him go   
forth4  ,his very call seems to         
constitute him an  extraordinary man4   
,both his appearance and actions make   
him singular4  ,he stands alone4  ,the  
mountain or the sequestered vale is his 
abode2 and  he is only seen among men   
when he has some message from ,god4     
,clothed in  his sackcloth1 he appears  
at the court1 the city1 and the village2
 and  having pronounced the coming woe1 
or stated the imposed duty1 or offered  
pardon1 he mysteriously disappears2 and 
is seen no more1 till the burden  is    
again upon him1 and forces him to come  
forth and speak4  ,there is a  fire in  
his eye1 but it is inspiration1 not     
wildness4  ,there is a majesty  in his  
gait1 as though he is either great      
himself1 or is employed by one  who is4 
,there is a solemnity of countenance and
 a nobility of manner1  which say that  

he is not often among mortals1 but      
dwells in a higher  sphere4  ,in        
language which more fully pertains to us
 as ,christians1 his  conversation is in
 heaven4  ,carried up by the ,spirit    
perhaps to the  summit of the mountain  
which covers his retreat1 views of the  
future  break upon his vision4  ,his eye
 burns2 his lips quiver2 his bosom      
heaves4  ,and opening his mouth1 he     
pours forth in more than angelic        
cadences1 the  designs of ,god          
concerning men1 and kingdoms1 and the   
human race4  ,it may  be that to himself
 all this is a mystery4  ,he therefore  
gathers up every  utterance1 and carries
 them to his mountain home4  ,in that   
consecrated  cave he spreads out the    
panorama2 and lifting up his eyes to    
heaven for  light1 he traces the picture
 to see what the ,spirit of ,christ     
which was  in him did signify4          
,sweet is the harp of prophecy2 too     
sweet      ,not to be wronged by a mere 
mortal touch1      ,nor can the wonders 

it records be sung      ,to meaner      
music1 and not suffer loss4    ,,ii4    
,,the ,,theme4--,it is here presented in
 a twofold aspect4  ,first1 in its      
entirety3 and secondly1 in one of its   
branches4    #a4  ,the great subject of 
prophetic enquiry is salvation4  ,of    
which  salvation the prophets have      
enquired and searched diligently4       
7i47  ,in its nature4  ,is there a word 
in universal language which has  as much
 meaning in it as this word salvation8  
,it takes within its range  all time and
 all eternity4  ,though specially       
designed for man1 it has its  influence 
upon every order of being ,god has made1
 and presents the most  glorious        
manifestations of ,god himself which the
 world possesses4  ,it  glares upon sin 
with indignation1 but throws its arms of
 mercy around the  sinner2 offers to him
 a deliverance from the guilt and power 
and  pollution and inbeing of evil2     
gives him the favour and image of his   
,maker2 assures to him victory over his 

final adversary2 introduces him  to1 and
 acquits him before the great white     
throne2 and arrays him in all  the      
glories of an everlasting heaven4    ,to
 understand it fully comes not within   
the range of angelic intellect2  and yet
 it demands our highest regard1 as it   
has had the attention of  enquiring     
prophets4  ',tis true they had not the  
light upon it that a  better            
dispensation has given to us4  ,it is   
not to be expected that they  should be 
penetrated with its glory as we ought to
 be2 but they were so  impressed by its 
grandeur1 that their thoughts were      
raised above all  merely temporal       
deliverances1 and they felt that their  
own interests were  wrapped up in the   
theme4  ,and thus1 we are told1 did this
 sweet stream  of their doctrine1 as the
 rivers1 make its own banks fertile and 
pleasant  as it ran by1 and flowed still
 forward to after ages2 and by the      
confluence of more such prophecies1 grew
 greater as it went1 till it fell  in   

with the main current of the gospel in  
the ,new ,testament both acted  and     
preached by the ,great ,prophet himself 
whom they foretold as to come1  and     
recorded by his apostles and            
evangelists1 and thus united into one   
river clear as crystal4  ,this doctrine 
of salvation in the ,scriptures  hath   
refreshed the city of ,god1 his ,church 
under the gospel1 and still  shall do so
 till it empty itself into the ocean of 
eternity4    7ii47  ,this salvation in  
its provision1 is of grace4  ,who       
prophesied  of the grace that should    
come unto you4  ,the apostle does not   
mean to  say by this clause1 that there 
is something in the theme exclusively   
adapted to those to whom he wrote4  ,but
 we understand him to mean1 in  general 
terms1 that the ancient seers searched  
diligently into that  system of mercy1  
which should in after times1 and under  
the ,christian  dispensation1 be more   
fully revealed4    ,the word grace may  
have reference to the manner in which   

this scheme  should be made known2      
intimating that it was by divine favour 
that the  new economy supervened upon   
the old4  ,but we take it rather to     
denote  the gospel salvation itself4    
,it is altogether a system of grace4    
,in  its projection2 in its development2
 in its accomplishment2 in its          
application2 in its final consummation1 
it is all of grace4  ,by grace ye  are  
saved4    ,we are not among the number  
of those who doubt or deny the entire   
and  absolute fall of man4  ,whatever   
good there was in him was then          
destroyed2  whatever evil there is in   
him1 was then induced4  ,he is fallen in
 mind  and soul and body4  ,physically1 
morally1 spiritually1 he is a wreck4    
,but  was no vestage left of that divine
 image in which he was created8  ,not   
one4  ,no lingering desire to regain his
 glory and the position he had  lost8   
,none4  ,was he altogether dead to      
virtue and his ,maker's claims8  ,yes1  
altogether4  ,but was his nature so far 

polluted as that no trace of  his       
original purity could be discovered8    
,not a trace to be seen even by  an     
,omniscient eye4  ,and was there left to
 him no inherent power to do  that which
 is good8  ,none whatever4  ,from the   
sole of the foot even unto  the head    
there is no soundness in it2 but wounds1
 and bruises1 and  putrifying sores3    
they have not been closed1 neither bound
 up1 neither  mollified with ointment4  
,then see his position4  ,if his fall1  
which is so entire1 is his own act1  he 
is as much amenable to his ,maker as he 
was before4  ,the fact of his  fall will
 not lesson his obligations3 nor will it
 impose upon ,god any  necessity to show
 mercy4  ,he therefore stands before his
 ,judge a  condemned criminal2 and the  
course which the ,judge shall take is   
entirely  within himself4  ,there is    
nothing which can force ,him to show    
favour4  ,if  ,he say1 die1 ,he is as   
justly glorious as ,he was before4  ,if 
then1 there  is no obligation upon ,god 

to save3 and if ,he does determine to be
  gracious1 the salvation must be of    
grace4  ,oh1 is it possible to  conceive
 the solemnity of that moment when the  
destinies of untold  millions were in   
the balance8  ,can you picture the      
suspense of heaven and  hell when       
waiting ,jehovah's fiat8  ,surely for   
the moment the pulse of  nature throbbed
 not2 heaven's music ceased to flow1 and
 the howl of the  pit was hushed4  ,then
 ,god1 on his azure throne1 holding in  
one hand the  sword1 and in the other   
the sceptre1 stretched out the sceptre  
saying1  ,deliver him from going down to
 the pit2 ,i have found a ransom4       
,your salvation is of grace4  ,you are  
required to pray2 but you are  saved by 
grace4  ,you are required to believe2   
but you are saved by  grace4  ,you are  
required to labour2 but you are saved by
 grace4  ,you  are required to suffer2  
but you are saved by grace4  ,you will  
have to  die2 but when you stand a      
spirit glorified before the throne1 it  

will  be by grace4    7iii47  ,salvation
 in its object is the soul4  ,receiving 
the end of  your faith even the         
salvation of your souls4  ,by the soul  
we  understand the immaterial principle 
or spiritual part of man2 which  though 
united with the body1 is perfectly      
distinct from it4    ,as to its nature1 
it is possessed of intelligence1        
volition1 sensation4  ,it has capacities
 for enjoyment and suffering3 for both  
good and evil4  ,its immortality is     
assured to us by the mouth of ,god4  ,it
 may be lost4  ,with all its dignity and
 glory1 it may be for ever crushed by   
the divine  hand1 but never destroyed4  
,while1 however1 it may be lost1 it may 
be  saved4  ,the grace which can calm   
its fears1 and satisfy its hopes1 and   
purge its impurity1 and consummate its  
bliss is now manifested4  ,how          
insignificant does everything appear    
when compared with its salvation4  ,the 
blotting of the sun1 the desolation of  
an universe is a trifle when  put in the

 balance with an immortal spirit4  ,let 
the sceptic doubt its  immortality1 and 
the atheist deny1 and the scoffer jest2 
but let us look  forward to the         
judgment-seat and beyond it1 for the    
soul1 immortal as  its sire1 shall never
 die4    7iv47  ,salvation1 in its      
attainment1 is by faith4  ,the end of   
your  faith4    ,there is no article of 
our religion more plainly revealed than 
this--,by  grace are ye saved through   
faith2 and that not of yourselves3 it is
 the  gift of ,god4  ,believe on the    
,lord ,jesus ,christ1 and thou shalt be 
saved4  ,whosoever believeth in ,him    
shall not perish1 but hath eternal life4
  ,he  that believeth shall be saved4   
,faith is the simplest operation of the 
mind2 and may therefore strictly be said
 to be incapable of definition4  ,still 
it is easy to say what is meant by the  
term when applied to  personal          
salvation4  ,it means the trust of the  
heart on the atonement of  ,christ1 as  
the condition of pardon4  ,with the     

heart man believeth unto  righteousness4
  ,it is however of the highest         
importance that the thought  of its     
simplicity be made prominent4  ,let us  
not undervalue religious  knowledge2 for
 to some extent it is absolutely        
necessary4  ,but do not  mystify the    
plan of mercy1 and perplex the anxious  
seeker by requirements  which the gospel
 has not made prominent4  ,many a poor  
sinner exercises  faith in ,christ who  
cannot give a philosophical disquisition
 as to its  nature4  ,it is not         
necessary to be thoroughly acquainted   
with the science  of optics in order to 
see4  ,a man may look through a         
telescope before he  can define the     
refraction or reflection of light4  ,now
 all that is  included in the word      
salvation hangs on this simple          
condition4    ,the question may be      
regarded perhaps more nice than wise as 
to why such  a condition should have    
been appointed2 and yet it will         
sometimes force  itself upon the        

thoughtful mind4  ,the answer to it must
 in great measure  be conjectural1 but  
may we not suppose that one design of it
 was to do  away with the last vestige  
of self-righteousness in man8  ,if      
,moses had  struck the rock with        
something more powerful than the little 
rod1 the  gushing of the waters might   
have been attributed to his own         
strength4  ,if  ,jericho had been taken 
by a regular siege1 the glory of its    
conquest  would have been ascribed to   
military science and the prowess of     
arms4  ,if  some heavy conditions had   
been imposed upon the sinner1 he would  
have  claimed his pardon4        ,but1  
'how unlike the complex works of man1   
,heaven's easy1 artless1 unencumbered   
plan1      ,no meretricious graces to   
beguile1      ,no clustering ornaments  
to clay the pile4      ,from ostentation
 as from weakness free1      ,it stands 
like the cerulean arch we see1          
,majestic in its own simplicity4        
,inscribed above the portal from afar1  

,conspicuous as the brightness of a     
star1      ,legible only by the light   
they give1      ,stand the              
soul-quickening words--,believe and     
,live4'    #b4  ,the apostle next       
concentrates attention upon one leading 
branch of  this great theme4    ,having 
put the whole subject before us in the  
word salvation1 he now  fixes our       
thought upon the relation which ,christ 
sustains to it4  ,searching what1 or    
what manner of time1 the ,spirit of     
,christ which was  in them did signify1 
when it testified beforehand the        
sufferings of  ,christ1 and the glory   
that should follow4  ,the testimony     
which is here  said to be borne to      
,christ1 is by the ,spirit1 and the     
signification of  the ,spirit in the    
testimony is that which the prophets    
sought4  ,he who in  the text is called 
the ,spirit of ,christ1 in the following
 verse is  designated the ,holy ,ghost1 
so that there can be no doubt as to the 
person  referred to4  ,he is variously  

spoken of as the ,spirit of ,god--the   
,spirit of the ,father--the ,spirit of  
the ,son--the ,holy ,spirit1 and ,he  is
 the third person in the ,holy ,trinity4
  ,in the entire and undivided  unity of
 the ,godhead1 there is a ,trinity of   
personal subsistences2  consubstantial1 
co-equal1 and co-eternal4  ,it was this 
,spirit of  ,christ who inspired the    
prophets2 for these holy men of ,god    
spake as  they were moved by the ,holy  
,ghost4    7i47  ,they sought the       
signification of the ,spirit as to the  
,saviour's  person4  ,searching what4   
,this expression is said to mean either 
what time2 or what people2 or what      
person4  ,but looking at the  whole     
passage it seems most naturally to refer
 to ,him who is the subject  of these   
predictions4  ,they therefore diligently
 enquired as to who ,he  was1 of whom   
they1 under inspiration1 had been       
speaking4    7ii47  ,they also studied  
the prophecies as to the time of his    
coming3  ,what manner of time8  ,this   

phrase has a twofold application4  ,it  
may  refer to that particular period of 
the world's history when the ,saviour   
should come to endure his sufferings and
 enter into his glory4  ,so ,daniel     
reckoned up the number of the weeks1 and
 sought to understand the time4    ,it  
may also have reference to the character
 and condition of the age  when ,he     
should become incarnate4  ,what manner  
of time8    ,we are now brought to the  
testimony itself which the ,spirit      
beforehand  gave4    7iii47  ,the       
,saviour's sufferings1 in their relation
 to our salvation4  ,the sufferings of  
,christ4    ,we limit ourselves to two  
thoughts3 these sufferings were         
predicted1  and those predictions were  
fulfilled4  ,nearly the whole of the    
,old  ,testament has a connection with  
them4  ,they are predicted by the very  
page which records the fall4  ,and ,i   
will put enmity between thee and the    
woman1 and between thy seed and her     
seed3 it shall bruise thy head1 and     

thou shalt bruise his heel4  ,under the 
patriarchal economy there was a         
significant allusion to them in the     
offering up of ,isaac4  ,the ,mosaic    
types were prophecies4  ,the paschal    
lamb2 the smitten rock2 the brazen      
serpent2 and the scape-goat on the day  
of expiation1 exhibited this  feature of
 ,messiah's character4  ,well nigh every
 page of the prophets is  marked by     
blood and sorrow4  ,the ,psalmist1 in   
thrilling tone1 enquires1  ,my ,god1 my 
,god why hast thou forsaken ,me8  ,and  
in the last struggles of  death ,jesus  
quoted the passage in its application to
 himself4  ,the  fifty-third chapter of 
,isaiah is an unapproachable description
 of a  suffering person4  ,its reference
 to ,christ has been extorted from the  
,jew1 and is confidently believed by    
every ,christian4  ,the notion of two   
,messiahs--the one suffering and the    
other conquering--is an unworthy        
subterfuge1 and stands opposed to both  
fact and ,scripture4  ,daniel is  second

 only to ,isaiah in his minute and      
powerful description of the  ,redeemer's
 sufferings4  ,zechariah almost closes  
the book by the startling  cry1 ,awake1 
,o sword1 against my ,shepherd1 and     
against the man that is my  fellow1     
saith the ,lord of hosts3 smite the     
,shepherd1 and the sheep shall  be      
scattered2 and ,i will turn mine hand   
upon the little ones4    ,that these    
,scriptures have been fulfilled who can 
doubt that believes the  gospels8  ,just
 before the ,saviour's ascension1 and   
while yet partaking of  the valedictory 
feast with his disciples1 ,he said unto 
them1 these are  the words which ,i     
spake unto you1 while ,i was yet with   
you1 that all  things must be fulfilled 
which were written in the law of ,moses1
 and in  the ,prophets1 and in the      
,psalms concerning ,me4  ,then opened   
,he their  understanding that they might
 understand the ,scriptures1 and said   
unto  them1 thus it is written1 and thus
 it behoved ,christ to suffer1 and to   

rise from the dead the third day4  ,we  
pass by the pain and hunger and  thirst 
which are the attributes of humanity2   
but from his very  incarnation may it be
 said that his sufferings began4  ,mark 
the meanness  of his birth2 the poverty 
of his circumstances2 the persecution   
which  drove ,him from his infant-home1 
and think of his manner of life prior to
  the public announcement of his        
character1 and you say with the         
prophet--,a man of sorrows1 and         
acquainted with grief4    ,now look into
 ,gethsemane's innermost recess and you 
see an amount of  suffering unendurable 
except under heavenly strengthening2    
,and1 being in  an agony1 ,he prayed    
more earnestly3 and his sweat was as it 
were great  drops of blood falling down 
to the ground4  ,and there appeared an  
angel  unto ,him from heaven1           
strengthening ,him4  ,betrayed by a     
disciple1 ,he is  apprehended by the    
multitude with swords and staves3 then  
arraigned  before the high priest2 then 

before ,pilate3 then taken before ,herod
 and  clothed in the purple2 then bound 
and dragged again before ,pilate3 then  
smitten by the ruffianly attendants1 and
 forsaken by his followers ,he is       
condemned to die4  ,after the ,roman    
fashion ,he is led away bearing his own 
cross to the fated hill4  ,here is the  
consummation of their cruelty1 of  his  
suffering1 and of heaven's suspense4    
,the leader of an army to the           
battle-field looks with anxiety to that 
moment of the day which decides  the    
conflict2 and either covers him with a  
nation's glory1 or overwhelms  him in a 
nation's disgrace4  ,the fate of empires
 has hung on the actions  of an hour2   
and the liberties of a continent have   
trembled for an instant  in the balance4
  ,but the salvation of a world was     
hanging on ,calvary till  the ,sufferer 
exclaimed3 ,it is finished4    ,you will
 not suppose that we have exhibited all1
 or even a principal part  of the       
sufferings of ,christ4  ,we do not wish 

to underrate this bodily  distress2 but 
oh1 compare it not with the depth of the
 soul's agony4  ,the  hand of man which 
smote ,him was malignant and painful    
too2 but the hand  of ,god with the     
sword of justice in it1 fell in dreadful
 weight and  pierced his spirit4  ,his  
being betrayed and forsaken by the      
disciples was  a source of pain2 but it 
was when the ,father hid his face that  
his  sufferings were complete4  ,my     
,god1 my ,god1 why hast thou forsaken   
,me8    ,in addition to the general     
scope of prophecy1 there are many minute
 and  particular predictions of         
suffering which were fulfilled4  ,the   
,psalmist  says--,yea mine own familiar 
friend in whom ,i trusted1 which did eat
 of  my bread1 hath lifted up his heel  
against me4  ,and you call to mind the  
betrayal of our ,saviour4  ,david says  
again1 ,they pierced my hands and my    
feet4  ,and when ,he was crucified the  
nails were driven through these  parts  
of the body4  ,isaiah says1 ,he was     

numbered with the  transgressors2 and we
 know that ,he was crucified between two
 thieves4  ,prophecy says1 ,they part my
 garments among them1 and casts lots    
upon my  vesture4  ,history says1 ,and  
they crucified ,him1 and parted his     
garments  casting lots4  ,prophecy says1
 ,a bone of ,him shall not be broken4   
,history says that when the soldiers    
came to ,jesus and saw that ,he was     
dead already1 they brake not his legs4  
,prophecy says1 ,they gave me  also gall
 for my meat1 and in my thirst they gave
 me vinegar to drink4  ,history says1   
,they gave ,him vinegar to drink mingled
 with gall1 when ,he  said ,i thirst4   
,you are not surprised then1 that after 
the fulfilment  of so many and varied   
predictions1 ,jesus should have spoken  
to the two  doubting disciples with a   
somewhat sterner voice than was his     
wont3 ,o  fools1 and slow of heart to   
believe all that the prophets have      
spoken1  ought not ,christ to have      
suffered these things1 and to enter into

 his  glory4    7iv47  ,see the         
connection between this salvation and   
the ,saviour1 with  regard to the glory 
resulting from his passion and death4   
,and the  glory1 or glories1 that should
 follow4  ,we distract not your mind    
with  the many meanings of the word     
glory4  ,in the text it signifies the   
honour accruing to the ,redeemer        
himself1 and the benefit resulting to   
the  world from his sufferings4  ,it    
will apply to his resurrection2 for even
  of this the prophets had some         
knowledge4  ,thou wilt not leave my soul
 in  hell2 neither wilt thou suffer     
thine ,holy ,one to see corruption4  ,it
 has  also reference to the ,saviour's  
exaltation to and session at the right  
hand of the ,father3 for this is the    
result of his humiliation4  ,we see     
,jesus1 who was made a little lower than
 the angels for the suffering of  death1
 crowned with glory and honour2 that ,he
 by the grace of ,god should  taste     
death for every man4  ,but it has       

another meaning4  ,the glory  resulting 
from the sufferings of ,christ1 is to be
 seen in the carrying  out of his own   
scheme of mercy1 and the universal      
happiness of man4  ,nothing short of    
this can satisfy the scope of the text2 
the expectation  and claims of the      
,messiah2 or the call of the ,church4   
,it was no less an  object than         
this--the saving of a whole world--that 
brought ,christ from  heaven and raised 
up the ,church on earth4  ,if you look  
or labour for  anything short of this1  
you degrade your ,master and dishonour  
yourselves4  ,you have got too large a  
machinery at work for anything less than
 this4  ,you will cripple the energies  
and damp the ardour of our ,captain's   
embattled hosts1 if you are satisfied   
with anything short of the conquest  of 
a world4  ,the question therefore is1   
have we any fair prospect of1 and       
guarantee for1 universal glory8    ,the 
text itself affords ground of hope that 
in the ,scriptures we shall  find all we

 desire4  ,an intimation is given that  
the prophets themselves  not only       
predicted it1 but by their diligent     
search1 apprehended and  believed it4   
,and let us not suppose that our faith  
in a happy world  rests on a few dark or
 obscure expressions thinly scattered   
over the  ,bible1 and requiring more    
than ordinary penetration to find them  
at all4  ,science by gigantic strides   
seems almost to have reached its        
perfection4  ,we are told that by its   
light the philosopher can1 from a single
 bone put  into his hands1 discover the 
existence of a great wingless bird of   
another hemisphere1 and can construct   
its skeleton so exactly1 that when  all 
the bones arrive in this country the    
correspondence between them  and their  
conjectural portraits is complete2 that 
the astronomer is able  by his          
calculations to tell the existence of a 
planet1 which observation  proves to be 
strictly true4  ,but wonderful as is all
 this1 we are not  reduced to any such  

necessity with regard to the future of  
the gospel4  ,we have not to take a few 
dark sayings1 or enigmatical            
expressions1 or  hieroglyphic           
inscriptions1 and as we best may spell  
out the universal  spread of truth4  ,as
 with the light of a sunbeam1 or with   
the point of a  diamond1 is it revealed4
  ,he that runs may read4  ,abraham saw 
it3 ,and  in thy seed shall all the     
families of the earth be blessed4       
,jacob saw  it3 ,the sceptre shall not  
depart from ,judah1 nor a lawgiver from 
between  his feet1 until ,shiloh come2  
and unto ,him shall the gathering of the
  people be4  ,david saw it3 ,ask of    
,me1 and ,i will give thee the heathen  
for thine inheritance1 and the uttermost
 parts of the earth for thy  possession4
  ,isaiah saw it3 ,the wolf also shall  
dwell with the lamb1  and the leopard   
shall lie down with the kid2 and the    
calf1 and the young  lion1 and the      
fatling together2 and a little child    
shall lead them4  ,oh  what a state of  

security and peace6    ,lift up thine   
eyes round about1 and see2 all they     
gather themselves  together1 they come  
to thee2 thy sons shall come from far1  
and thy  daughters shall be nursed at   
thy side4  ,let the ,church no more hang
 down  her head with grief4  ,look up1  
and see what is approaching4  ,all they 
gather themselves together1 they come to
 thee3 thy sons shall come from  far1   
and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy
 side4  ,a general  confluence of the   
nations is at hand1 and all will flow   
into the church4  ,then thou shalt see1 
and flow together1 and thine heart shall
 fear1 and  be enlarged2 because the    
abundance of the sea shall be converted 
unto  thee1 the forces of the ,gentiles 
shall come unto thee4  ,the             
vast-swelling multitude with their      
wealth shall come and beg admission4    
,we have now to beg people to come into 
the church3 the day is coming  when they
 shall ask permission4  ,who are these  
that fly as a cloud1 and  as the doves  

to their windows8  ,who are these       
myriads making their way  to ,christ8   
,and as the doves to their windows8     
,there is a storm at  hand3 the people  
foresee it1 and run for refuge4  ,thy   
gates shall be  open continually2 they  
shall not be shut day or night2 that men
 may bring  unto thee the forces of the 
,gentiles1 and that their kings may be  
brought4  ,so constant is the pouring in
 that the doors must be kept  open4  ,it
 is now a rare thing to see a convert   
approaching2 but then the  stream will  
be continuous1 and the houses of prayer 
open night and day4    ,thou shalt also 
suck the milk of the ,gentiles1 and     
shalt suck the breast  of kings3 and    
thou shalt know that ,i the ,lord am thy
 ,saviour and thy  ,redeemer1 the mighty
 ,one of ,jacob4  ,the very wealth which
 is now in  heathen hands shall be      
consecrated to the further spread of the
 gospel4  ,and thou shalt suck the      
breast of kings3 for they shall become  
nursing  fathers and queens nursing     

mothers2 and the reign of the ,messiah  
shall  be one of peace4  ,violence shall
 no more be heard in thy land1 wasting  
nor destruction within thy borders3 but 
thou shalt call thy walls  ,salvation1  
and thy gates ,praise4  ,the sun shall  
be no more thy light by  day2 neither   
for brightness shall the moon give light
 unto thee3 but the  ,lord shall be unto
 thee an everlasting light1 and thy ,god
 thy glory4  ,thy  sun shall no more go 
down2 neither shall thy moon withdraw   
itself3 for  the ,lord shall be thine   
everlasting light1 and the days of thy  
mourning  shall be ended4  ,thy people  
also shall be all righteous2 they shall 
inherit the land for ever1 the branch of
 my planting1 the work of my  hands1    
that ,i may be glorified4  ,a little one
 shall become a thousand1  and a small  
one a strong nation3 ,i the ,lord will  
hasten it in his time4  ,do not say that
 this glorious chapter is exceptional4  
,it is only a  sample1 and the bulk is  
equal in beauty4  ,if the ,bible1 then1 

be true1 a  redeemed universe is        
hastening upon us4  ,paradise created   
even cannot put  before us the glory of 
paradise restored4  ,all the events     
which are  passing over us--even those  
which appear the most alarming--are     
under an  influence which will make them
 tributary to the final issue4  ,blessed
 be  the ,lord ,god1 the ,god of        
,israel1 who only doeth wondrous things1
 and  blessed be his glorious name for  
ever2 and let the whole earth be filled 
with his glory4  ,amen and ,amen4    #a4
  ,let us learn a lesson of veneration  
for the ,scriptures4  ,unless it  be the
 great doctrine of atonement1 there is  
no truth to which the  ,christian       
clings1 assailed with greater bitterness
 in our days than the  plenary authority
 of the ,bible4  ,moreover the low views
 on this question  which many professing
 ,christians hold and teach1 are most   
deplorable and  damaging4  ,we expect   
opposition from the avowed adversaries  
of the ,book2  but1 the source of truth 

is now imperilled by indifference and   
treachery4  ,the whole volume has a     
divine origin4  ,god who at sundry times
 and in  divers manners spake in times  
past by the prophets hath in these last 
days spoken to us by his ,son4    #b4   
,a lesson of love to the ,saviour4  ,he 
hath died for us1 the just  for the     
unjust1 that ,he might bring us to ,god4
  ,do not forget your  personal interest
 in those sufferings to which the text  
refers4  ,they are  in the strictest    
sense vicarious4  ,he suffered not for  
his own sins1  but for yours4  ,you may 
realise their saving efficacy1 and be   
made meet  for the inheritance of the   
saints in light4  ,how great are his    
claims  upon our affection and service6 
#c4  ,a lesson of duty to the world4    
,the salvation of the whole race is     
provided by the sufferings2 and is      
included in the glory4  ,a  sanctified  
universe is to be the result of the     
,saviour's cross3 and to a  large extent
 ,he has made the ,churches responsible 

for the conversion of  the world4  ,a   
weight of obligation rests upon each    
member which cannot be  put into        
language4  ,the wailings of a dying race
 call loudly for our  zeal4  ,the groans
 of the lost gather strength as they    
ascend the pit4  ,the voice of heaven1  
from angels1 saints1 and ,god1 urge us  
onward in the  discharge of duty4  ,oh1 
the wreck is on the billow2 hasten with 
the means  of safety4  ,the plague-spot 
is in the camp2 offer the incense of    
atonement4  ,and let all your efforts be
 put forth in faith1 and under a  deep  
impression of the truth of ,cecil's     
memorable words3 ,faith is the          
master-spring of a ,minister1 as well as
 of every ,christian4  ,hell is  before 
me1 and thousands of lost souls are shut
 up there in everlasting  agony4  ,jesus
 ,christ stands forth to save men from  
rushing into this  bottomless abyss4    
,he sends me to proclaim ,his ability   
and love4  ,i want  no fourth idea4     
,,the ,,mind ,,which ,,was ,,in ,,christ

 ,,jesus4  ,,rev4 ,,george ,,wood4      
,let this mind be in you1 which was also
 in ,christ ,jesus4      ,,philippians  
ii4 #e4    ,the ,saviour left ,his      
followers an example that they should   
tread in ,his  steps2 and ,his example  
in everything that appertains to ,his   
human nature1  is not only practicable  
but essential4  ,we cannot imitate ,his 
power1 or  ,his wisdom1 or ,his         
miracles1 or ,his sufferings1 or        
anything in which ,his  ,divine nature  
was manifested or employed2 but we can  
imitate ,his  meekness1 ,his patience1  
,his zeal1 ,his self-denial1 ,his       
superiority to  temptation1 ,his        
abandonment of the world1 ,his devotion 
to ,his ,father's  will1 in short1 all  
those habits of mind and life which     
distinguished ,his  earthly career4     
,and with this perfect example before   
us1 we need never  be in doubt or       
perplexity as to what is our duty2 we   
may test our motives  and our conduct by
 the teaching and example of ,christ1   

and if we possess  ,his mind we shall   
endeavour to copy ,his life--to walk as 
,christ also  walked--to be in this     
world as ,christ also was4    ,this     
,epistle was addressed by the ,apostle  
,paul to a ,church which he  tenderly   
loved1 and for whose prosperity he      
constantly prayed4  ,he had  suffered   
much in the establishment of            
,christianity at ,philippi1 and the     
,philippians had suffered much in the   
maintenance of their profession of      
faith1 chiefly from their               
fellow-citizens who continued heathen4  
,the  ,apostle was a prisoner at ,rome1 
with the prospect of martyrdom as the   
termination of his glorious career4     
,undaunted by the prospect1 he  declares
 his readiness--nay1 more--his desire to
 depart and be with  ,christ4  ,he      
exhorts the ,philippians to             
steadfastness1 fidelity1 and  patience  
amid the sufferings to which they were  
exposed from without2 and  to simplicity
 and lowliness of mind amongst          

themselves4  ,he sets before  them the  
conduct of ,christ in ,his              
condescension1 and the glory of ,christ 
in ,his exaltation2 and exhorts them to 
imitate the ,saviour's humility1  that  
they might share ,his triumph4  ,let    
this mind be in you1 which was  also in 
,christ ,jesus4    ,this text is of     
universal application4  ,it applies to  
us4  ,the highest  dignity attainable in
 this world is conformity to ,jesus     
,christ4  ,in what  then does conformity
 to ,jesus ,christ consist8  ,in other  
words1 what are  those elements of      
character and conduct which             
distinguished ,him1 and  which are to be
 copied by us in our daily life8    ,i4 
,the first which we mention1 and which  
is prominent throughout the  whole of   
,his history is meekness or humility4   
,dignified as was ,his  character1 high 
as were ,his claims1 glorious as was    
,his mission1 ,he was  never arrogant or
 boastful1 proud or ostentatious4  ,he  
neither sought the  homage of the       

multitude1 nor the society of the rich  
and the great4  ,he  accepted these if  
offered1 but ,he never sought them4  ,it
 is a fact that  ,christ never demanded1
 yet never declined the worship of men  
during ,his  earthly sojourn4  ,the     
,apostles shrunk from it1 ,angels       
rebuked it when  offered to them1       
,christ never did4  ,it was sometimes   
given1 it was never  declined4  ,he did 
not obtrude ,himself upon the attention 
of the multitude  as the ,saviour of the
 world2 but ate1 and drank1 and slept1  
and walked1  and lived amongst them1 and
 was in every respect a man with men4   
,he  sometimes escaped from the society 
of the rich1 that ,he might mitigate    
the sorrows1 and promote the interests  
of the poor4  ,he never sought  human   
applause1 and frequently retired from   
the scene of the most  astounding       
miracle1 charging the subject of ,his   
healing and ,his blessing  to tell no   
man of ,him4  ,he might have taken the  
throne1 and reigned  ,king of the ,jews1

 in a political and worldly sense1 had  
,he been  covetous of regal honours1 or 
ambitious for worldly power4  ,but ,he  
had a  higher mission4  ,his kingdom was
 not of this world1 and ,he came not to 
be ministered unto1 but to minister4    
,it cannot1 however1 be asserted that   
,jesus was insensible1 or altogether    
indifferent1 to the temptations to      
popularity and power to which ,he was   
exposed2 if so1 ,his example is of no   
practical utility to us4  ,he did not   
feel as we feel1 and we can gather no   
instruction1 and no motives from  ,his  
history or experience4  ,but we believe 
that ,he was in all points  tempted like
 as we are2 that as a man ,he was the   
subject of all the  emotions1           
affections1 and impulses which we feel4 
,he could weep1 and  love1 and hate1 and
 fear1 and pure as ,his nature was1 ,he 
had to battle  with the various         
temptations of the world and the wicked 
one1 all the  more perhaps because of   
the sinlessness of ,his holy humanity4  

,great and frequent were the            
provocations of ,his enemies1 but ,he   
never  lost ,his temper--,he never      
forfeited the claim to be called the    
meek and  lowly ,jesus4  ,if you follow 
,him to the house of ,caiaphas the high 
priest1 to the judgment hall of ,herod  
or of ,pilate1 or to the ,cross         
itself--though ,he was buffetted1       
accused falsely1 condemned1 spit upon1  
crucified--,he passed through all the   
same calm1 humble1 holy ,being4  ,there 
was no retaliation1 no resentment4      
,there was majesty in ,his very         
meekness4  ,and this is an important    
element in the ,saviour's character  and
 conduct1 which as ,christians we must  
acquire and exhibit4    ,undue elevation
 in circumstances of prosperity and     
fame1 is as injurious  to our spiritual 
progress1 as irritation and depression  
are in  circumstances of adversity and  
trial2 and both are to be avoided4  ,the
  ,saviour left us an example--a bright 
and a beautiful example--,o how few  of 

us copy it in this respect4  ,when the  
voice of flattery and praise is         
heard--when we are raised to posts of   
influence and honour--when the sun      
shines brightly upon our daily          
pathway--how few of us keep our meekness
  and humility2 how few of us carry all 
our honours back to ,him who gave  them2
 how few of us so improve and sanctify  
our talents as that ,he shall  have the 
glory4  ,and on the other hand when     
fortune frowns upon us--when  the world 
despises us--when our own familiar      
friend1 in whom we trusted1  lifteth up 
his heel against us1 alas6 how few of us
 calmly sit on  tumult's wheel1 and     
leave events to ,god4  ,it is easier to 
sing and  preach about such a           
disposition than it is to acquire and   
exhibit it2 but  it is attainable and it
 is essential--,let this mind be in you 
which was  also in ,christ ,jesus4      
,,ii4  ,simplicity and unity distinguish
 the character and conduct of  ,christ4 
,in all ,his intercourse with friends   

and foes1 ,his adherence to  truth and  
righteousness is marked and constant4   
,he was criticised and  catechised and  
calumniated1 but ,his transparency of   
character was never  destroyed4  ,his   
enemies opposed and threatened1 but ,he 
never hesitated in  the path of duty1 or
 in ,his devotion to ,his ,father's     
will4  ,however  captious their         
questions1 and whether they related to  
political or  spiritual matters1 ,he    
invariably turned them against ,his     
opponents1 and  made them minister to   
the cause of truth and righteousness4   
,sometimes ,he  stood single-handed     
against a multitude of foes1 they were  
often  vacillating1 cowardly1 and       
inconsistent with themselves2 but not so
 the  ,saviour4  ,with what authority   
did ,he rebuke their selfishness1 their 
duplicity1 their sin2 and yet how       
confidently could ,he appeal to ,his    
bitterest opponents as to the simplicity
 and purity of ,his own character  and  
life--,which of you convinceth ,me of   

sin8  ,the proud and  supercilious      
,pharisees sought to entangle ,him in   
,his talk2 they charged  ,him with      
blasphemy1 with disregard for the       
,sabbath1 with breaking the  law1 and   
they disputed ,his authority to act as  
,he did2 but their cunning  could not   
ensnare1 their threatening could not    
intimidate4  ,satan sought  by a        
threefold temptation to turn ,him aside2
 he desired ,him to question1  in the   
first place1 the providence of ,god1    
then to tempt an interposition  of      
,providence by exposing ,himself to     
unnecessary danger1 and finally to  fall
 down and worship him2 but our ,lord    
indignantly repelled the tempter1  and  
maintained ,his purity2 and angels came 
and ministered unto ,him4  ,i  must work
 the works of ,him that sent me1 was the
 motto of ,his life--the  simple purpose
 of ,his mind2 nor did ,he shrink from  
any portion of that  work however       
hazardous and difficult4  ,my meat1 said
 ,he1 is to do the  will of ,him that   

sent me1 and to finish ,his work4    ,in
 this simple purpose of the ,saviour's  
mind and conduct we have a  beautiful   
example4  ,nothing is so difficult1 in  
days like these1 as the  maintenance of 
a pure and simple mind4  ,duplicity1    
deception1 and  selfishness pervade all 
ranks and conditions of men4  ,you find 
them in  the shop1 in the market-place1 
in the family1 and alas6 in the church  
itself2 and nothing but a resolute      
resistance1 directed and sustained by   
the grace of ,god1 can make the         
,christian proof against these evils4   
,o  imitate the ,saviour4  ,mark out for
 yourselves a definite line of conduct1 
consistent with your ,christian         
profession1 and adhere to it firmly1 in 
spite of custom or contempt1 and in the 
prospect of death itself4    ,simplicity
 produces unity4  ,there is nothing     
complex in the character and  life of   
,christ4  ,every part is in perfect     
keeping with the whole4  ,his  teaching1
 ,his miracles1 ,his conduct1 illustrate

 each other1 and combine  to prove ,his 
true ,messiahship1 and exhibit the      
perfection of ,his life4  ,if there were
 glaring inconsistencies in the history 
of ,jesus--if the  four ,evangelists had
 written documents which could not be   
harmonized--if  the moral teaching1 and 
the moral conduct of ,christ were at    
variance--if  ,his pretensions were not 
justified by ,his works--then we might  
deny ,his  ,messiahship1 and disregard  
,him as our ,great ,example4  ,but it is
 not so4  ,what ,he taught ,he          
practised2 what ,he promised he         
performed2 the work ,he  came from      
heaven to accomplish ,he actually       
finished1 even to the  shedding of ,his 
blood4  ,the cup which my ,father hath  
given me to drink1  said ,he1 shall ,i  
not drink it8  ,thus the example of     
,christ forbids all  fickleness and     
falsehood4  ,it condemns all false      
appearances2 and says to  all ,his      
followers1 with an authority and force  
which even the words  themselves do not 

contain1 ,let your communication be1    
,yea1 yea2 ,nay1  nay3 for whatsoever is
 more than these cometh of evil4  ,what 
a wonderful  and glorious change would  
the observance of such a rule effect in 
the  church1 and in the world6  ,let    
this mind be in you which was also in   
,christ ,jesus4    ,,iii4  ,the mind of 
,christ is distinguished by its sympathy
 and  ceaseless activity4  ,he could    
weep at the grave of ,lazarus1 before   
calling back ,his friend to life4  ,he  
could stop at the gate of ,nain1 to     
cheer the heart of a bereaved widow1 by 
restoring to life her only son4  ,he    
could condescend to touch the loathsome 
leper1 and thus make him  clean4  ,he   
could stoop to hold a conversation with 
a penitent  adulteress4  ,he could work 
a miracle to feed a hungry multitude4   
,he  could look conviction into ,peter's
 heart1 and thus send the faithless     
,apostle out of ,his presence weeping   
bitterly4  ,o there was nothing cold1   
ungenerous1 or selfish in the nature of 

,christ4  ,he was never too much        
occupied to listen to the tale of       
sorrow1 nor too dignified to afford     
relief4  ,he was never unapproachable4  
,the finest sensibilities1 the  purest  
affections1 the deepest sympathies were 
exhibited in actions1  which1 had there 
been no ultimate purpose in ,his        
mission1 would have  marked ,him as a   
benefactor of our race1 and carried down
 ,his name and ,his  fame to the latest 
posterity4  ,and this1 in a humbler     
degree1 we are  called upon to imitate4 
,how little like the ,saviour is the man
 whose  heart is hard1 whose temper is  
irritable1 and who has no bowels of     
compassion for the destitute and        
afflicted4  ,how little like the        
,saviour  is the man who prides himself 
upon superior extraction or superior    
position1 and looks down with contempt  
upon the poor and the penniless4  ,the  
,son of ,man came to seek1 and to save  
the lost3 and when ,john's  disciples   
asked ,him for evidence that ,he was    

,christ1 ,his reply was simply  this3   
,go tell your master the things which ye
 have seen and heard2 the  blind receive
 their sight1 and the lame walk1 the    
lepers are cleansed1  and the deaf hear1
 the dead are raised up1 and the poor   
have the ,gospel  preached unto them4   
,what an outline is this of the         
,redeemer's daily  toil6  ,how ,he went 
about doing good6  ,how ,he wandered    
among the cities  and villages of       
,judaea and ,samaria2 sharing the rough 
hospitality of  fishermen--the          
barley-bread of the poorest peasant2    
working miracles of  healing2 teaching  
doctrines of profoundest import2        
contending with ,his  enemies1 the      
,pharisees and ,scribes2 and conducting 
the minds and the  hearts of ,his       
disciples and the multitudes away from  
their superstitions  and their          
prejudices1 to the heart of ,his        
,father's love1 and the results  of ,his
 own suffering and sacrifice in their   
behalf3 nor did this sublime  and       

ceaseless activity terminate until ,he  
hung upon the cross--and then  only to  
be renewed in ceaseless intercession at 
,his ,father's throne4  ,and  again ,he 
left us an example4  ,this active       
sympathy is the very genius of  our holy
 religion--the spirit which it          
breathes--the life which it  lives--the 
pure and blessed element in which it    
grows and becomes  perfect4  ,happy is  
the man who thus imitates the           
,saviour--whose  weariness of life is   
gone1 by the employment of his talents  
and his  time in doing and receiving    
good4    ,,iv4  ,all these elements of  
character in ,christ were directed and  
sustained by the holiness of ,his       
nature4  ,this is undeniable ,his       
enemies being judges4  ,even devils     
testified to this--,we know ,thee1 who  
,thou art1 the holy one of ,god2 they   
could not resist ,his ,divine           
authority2 they could not impeach ,his  
human purity2 and in order to  secure   
,his condemnation at the last1 the      

chief-priests were compelled to  resort 
to bribery and falsehood4  ,and ever    
since the bitterest opponents  of ,his  
religion have been constrained to       
reiterate ,pilate's verdict with  regard
 to ,himself--,we find no fault in this 
man4    ,it is difficult to estimate    
aright the holiness of ,christ as an    
example  to us4  ,it is difficult to    
discover how far1 or whether at all1 the
  ,divinity of ,christ acted on the     
humanity in relation to ,his holiness4  
,we  believe1 however1 that the holiness
 of ,his humanity was altogether        
distinct from ,his ,godhead2 and though 
,he did no sin2 neither was guile  found
 in ,his mouth1 ,he was none the less   
exposed to temptation2 but amid  the    
vanity and vice which everywhere        
abounded and surrounded ,him1 ,he       
walked1 and worked1 and lived in the    
maintenance of that holiness which  we  
may imitate2 not a holiness resulting   
from the union of the ,divine  with the 
human1 but a holiness belonging only to 

the latter4  ,had ,he  yielded to       
temptation1 the whole of ,his mission   
would have failed1 ,his  teaching would 
have had no force1 ,his example would   
have perished with  ,his fame1 and ,his 
death would have had no saving merit    
whatsoever4  ,but  ,his holiness        
remained inviolate2 and now it is the   
ground and the pattern  of ours4  ,it is
 not enough that you be meek and lowly2 
it is not enough  that you be simple and
 ingenuous2 it is not enough that you be
  sympathetic and affectionate2 you must
 be holy4  ,jesu's is a  spotless mind4 
,brethren1 suffer me to urge the        
exhortation of the text4  ,o the        
dignity1  the blessedness of this       
conformity to ,christ6  ,will you seek  
it for  yourselves4  ,you and ,i are    
only ,christians so far as we resemble  
,christ1  not a bit farther4  ,jesus is 
,himself the perfect embodiment of ,his 
own  teaching1 the living1 acting       
example of all those elements of        
character  and conduct which fit        

intelligent and immortal spirits for the
 ,paradise  of ,god4  ,therefore1 let   
this mind be in you1 which was also in  
,christ  ,jesus4  ,seek it6 exhibit it66
             ,,warren ,,hall ,,and      
,,co41 ,,printers1 ,,camden ,,road1     
,,london1 ,n4,w4