,transcriber's note3    ,text enclosed  
by underscores is in italics 7italics74 
,small capital text has been replaced   
with all capitals4           99       99
       99       99       99             
,illustration3 ,cover    ,illustration3 
titlepage          ,the ,world's ,great 
,sermons    ,,volume ,,iv    ,l4        
,,beecher ,,to ,,bushnell               
,,the    ,,world',s    ,,great          
,,sermons      ,,compiled ,,by          
,,grenville ,,kleiser    ,formerly of   
,yale ,divinity ,school ,faculty2       
,author of ,how to ,speak    in ,public1
 ,etc4      ,with ,assistance from ,many
 of the ,foremost    ,living ,preachers 
and ,other ,theologians                 
,,introduction ,,by    ,,lewis ,o4      
,,brastow1 ,d4,d4    ,professor         
,emeritus of ,practical ,theology    in 
,yale ,university      ,,in ,,ten       
,,volumes      ,,volume ,,iv ,l4        
,,beecher ,,to ,,bushnell      ,,funk   
,,wagnalls ,,company    ,,new ,,york and
 ,,london            ,,copyright1 #aijh1

 ,,by    ,,funk  ,,wagnalls ,,company   
,printed in the ,united ,states of      
,america          ,,contents            
,,volume ,,iv      ,,lyman ,,beecher    
7#agge-ahfc74             ,page         
,the ,government of ,god ,desirable     
#a      ,,channing 7#aghj-ahdb74        
,the ,character of ,christ              
#bg      ,,chalmers 7#aghj-ahdg74       
,the ,expulsive ,power of a ,new        
,affection   #ec      ,,alexander       
,,campbell 7#aghh-ahff74      ,the      
,missionary ,cause                      
#gi      ,,irving 7#agib-ahcd74         
,preparation for ,consulting the        
,oracles      of ,god                   
#aja      ,,arnold 7#agie-ahdb74        
,alive in ,god                          
#aca      ,,wayland 7#agif-ahfe74       
,a ,day in the ,life of ,jesus of       
,nazareth  #ade      ,,vinet            
7#agig-ahdg74      ,the ,mysteries of   
,christianity           #aga            
,,summerfield 7#agih-ahbe74      ,the   
,heavenly ,inheritance                  

#ahi      ,,newman 7#ahja-ahij74        
,god's ,will the ,end of ,life          
#bjg      ,,bushnell 7#ahjb-ahgf74      
,unconscious ,influence                 
#bcc          ,,lyman ,,beecher    ,,the
 ,,government ,,of ,,god ,,desirable    
,,biographical ,,note      ,,lyman      
,,beecher was born in ,new ,haven1      
,conn41 in #agge4 ,he graduated  from   
,yale in #agig1 and in #agih took charge
 of the ,presbyterian  ,church at       
,easthampton1 ,long ,island4 ,he first  
attracted attention  by his sermon on   
the death of ,alexander ,hamilton1 and  
in #ahaj  became pastor of the          
,congregational ,church at ,litchfield1 
,conn4 ,in  the course of a pastorate of
 #af years1 he preached a remarkable    
series of sermons on temperance and     
became recognized as one of  the        
foremost pulpit orators of the country4 
,in #ahbf he went to  ,boston as pastor 
of the ,hanover ,street ,congregational 
,church4 ,six  years later he became    
president of the ,lane ,theological     

,seminary in  ,ohio1 an office he       
retained for twenty years4 ,in #aheb he 
returned  to ,boston and subsequently   
retired to the house of his son1 ,henry 
,ward ,beecher1 where he died in #ahfc4 
,his public utterances1 whether         
platform or pulpit1 were carefully      
elaborated4 ,they were delivered        
extemporaneously and sparkled with wit1 
were convincing by their  logic1 and    
conciliating by their shrewd common     
sense4          ,,lyman ,,beecher       
#agge-ahfc    ,,the ,,government ,,of   
,,god ,,desirable    ,thy will be done  
in earth as it is in heaven4--,matthew  
vi41 #aj4      ,in this passage we are  
instructed to pray that the world may be
  governed1 and not abandoned to the    
miseries of unrestrained sin2  that ,god
 ,himself would govern1 and not another2
 and that ,god would  administer the    
government of the world1 in all         
respects1 according  to ,his own        
pleasure4 ,the passage is a formal      
surrender to ,god of  power and dominion

 over the earth1 as entire as ,his      
dominion is in  ,his heaven4 ,the       
petition1 therefore1 ,thy will be done1 
contains  the doctrine3    ,that it is  
greatly to be desired that ,god should  
govern the world1  and dispose of men1  
in all respects1 entirely according to  
,his own  pleasure4    ,the truth of    
this doctrine is so manifest1 that it   
would seem to  rank itself in the number
 of self-evident propositions1 incapable
 of  proof clearer than its own light1  
had not experience taught that1 of  all 
truths1 it is the most universally and  
bitterly controverted4  ,plain as it is1
 it has occasioned more argument than   
any other  doctrine1 and1 by argument   
merely1 has gained fewer proselytes2 for
  it is one of those controversies in   
which the heart decides wholly1  and    
argument1 strong or feeble1 is alike    
ineffectual4    ,this consideration     
would present1 on the threshold1 a      
hopeless  impediment to further         
progress1 did we not know1 also1 that   

arguments a thousand times repeated1 and
 as often resisted1 may  at length      
become mighty through ,god1 to the      
casting down of  imaginations1 and every
 high thing that exalteth itself against
  the knowledge of ,god4 ,i shall1      
therefore1 suggest several              
considerations1 to confirm this most    
obvious truth1 that it is  desirable    
that ,god should govern the world       
entirely according to ,his  own good    
pleasure4    #a4 ,it is desirable that  
,god should govern the world1 and       
dispose of  all events1 according to    
,his pleasure1 because ,he knows        
perfectly in  what manner it is best    
that the world should be governed4      
,the best way of disposing of men and   
their concerns is that which  will      
effectually illustrate the glory of     
,god4 ,the glory of ,god is  ,his       
benevolence1 and ,his natural attributes
 for the manifestation  of it1 and sun  
of the moral universe1 the light and    
life of ,his  kingdom4 ,all the         

blessedness of the intelligent creation 
arises1  and ever will arise1 from the  
manifestation and apprehension of the   
glory of ,god4 ,it was to manifest this 
glory that the worlds were  created4 ,it
 was that there might be creatures to   
behold and enjoy  ,god1 that ,his       
dominions were peopled with intelligent 
beings4 ,and  it is that ,his holy      
subjects may see and enjoy ,him1 that   
,he upholds  and governs the universe4  
,the entire importance of our world1    
therefore1 and of men and their         
concerns1 is relative1 and is great  or 
small only as we are made to illustrate 
the glory of ,god4 ,how  this important 
end shall be most effectually           
accomplished none but  ,himself is able 
to determine4 ,he1 only1 knows how so to
 order things  as that the existence of 
every being1 and every event1 shall     
answer  the purpose of its creation1 and
 from the rolling of a world to the     
fall of a sparrow shall conspire to     
increase the exhibitions of the  divine 

character1 and expand the joy of the    
holy universe4    ,an inferior          
intelligence at the helm of government  
might conceive  very desirable purposes 
of benevolence1 and still be at a loss  
as to the means most fit and effectual  
to accomplish them4 ,but1  with ,god1   
there is no such deficiency4 ,in ,him1  
the knowledge which  discovered the end 
discovers also1 with unerring wisdom1   
the most  appropriate means to bring it 
to pass4 ,he is wise in heart2 ,he hath 
established the world by ,his wisdom and
 stretched out the heavens by  ,his     
discretion4 ,and is ,he not wise enough 
to be intrusted with the  government of 
the world8 ,who1 then1 shall be ,his    
counsellor8 ,who  shall supply the      
deficiencies of ,his skill8 ,oh1 the    
presumption of  vain man6 and1 oh6 the  
depths both of the wisdom and knowledge 
of  ,god6    #b4 ,it is desirable that  
,god should govern the world according  
to ,his  own pleasure1 because ,he is   
entirely able to execute ,his purposes4 

,a wise politician perceives1 often1    
both the end and the means2 and  is     
still unable to bring to pass his       
counsels1 because the means1  though    
wise1 are beyond his control4 ,but ,god 
is as able to execute  as ,he is to     
plan4 ,having chosen the end1 and       
selected the means1 his  counsels stand4
 ,he is the ,lord ,god omnipotent4 ,the 
whole universe  is a storehouse of      
means2 and when ,he speaks every        
intelligence  and every atom flies to   
execute ,his pleasure4 ,the omnipotence 
of  ,god1 in giving efficacy to ,his    
government1 inspires and perpetuates    
the ecstasy of heaven4 ,and a voice came
 out from the throne1  saying1 ,praise  
our ,god4 ,and ,i heard as it were the  
voice of a great  multitude1 and as the 
voice of many waters1 and as the voice  
of many  thunderings1 saying ,alleluia1 
the ,lord ,god omnipotent reigneth4     
,what will that man do in heaven1 who is
 afraid and reluctant to  commit to ,god
 the government of the earth8 ,and what 

will become  of those who1 unable to    
frustrate ,his counsels1 murmur and     
rebel  against ,his providence8    #c4  
,it is desirable that ,god should govern
 the world according to ,his  pleasure1 
because the pleasure of ,god is always  
good4    ,the angels who kept not their 
first estate1 and many wicked men1  have
 great knowledge1 and skill1 and power3 
and yet1 on these  accounts1 are only   
the more terrible2 because they employ  
these  mighty faculties to do evil4 ,and
 the government of ,god1 were ,he a     
being of malevolence1 armed as ,he is   
with skill and power1 would  justly fill
 the universe with dismay4 ,but1 as it  
is1 brethren1 let  not your hearts be   
troubled4 ,with ,god there is no        
perversion of  attributes4 ,he is as    
good as ,he is wise and powerful4 ,god  
is love6  ,love is that glory of ,god   
which ,he has undertaken to express to  
,his  intelligent creation in ,his      
works4 ,the sole object of the          
government  of ,god1 from beginning to  

end1 is1 to express ,his benevolence4   
,his eternal decrees1 of which so many  
are afraid1 are nothing  but the plan   
which ,god has devised to express ,his  
benevolence1  and to make ,his kingdom  
as vast and as blest as ,his own        
infinite  goodness desires4 ,it was to  
show ,his glory--to express1 in action1 
,his benevolence--that ,he created all  
the worlds that roll1 and  rejoice1 and 
speak ,his name1 through the regions of 
space4 ,it is to  accomplish the same   
blest design1 that ,he upholds1 and     
places under  law1 every intelligent    
being1 and directs every event1 causing 
every  movement1 in every world1 to fall
 in1 in its appointed time and  place1  
and to unite in promoting the grand     
result--the glory of ,god1  and the     
highest good of ,his kingdom4 ,and is   
there a mortal1 who1  from this great   
system of blest government1 would wish  
this earth to  be an exception8 ,what   
sort of beings must those be who are    
afraid of  a government administered by 

infinite benevolence1 to express1 so    
far as it can be expressed1 the infinite
 goodness of ,god8 ,i repeat  the       
question1--,what kind of characters must
 those be who feel as if  they had good 
reason to fear a government the sole    
object of which  is to express the      
immeasurable goodness of ,god8    #d4   
,it is greatly to be desired that ,god  
should govern the world  according to   
,his pleasure1 because it is ,his       
pleasure to rule as a  moral governor4  
,a moral government is a government     
exercised over free agents1  accountable
 beings2 a government of laws1          
administered by motives4    ,the        
importance of such a government below is
 manifest from the  consideration1 that 
it is in ,his moral government1 chiefly1
 that the  glory of ,god is displayed4  
,the superintendence of an empty world1 
or a world of mere animals1  would not  
exhibit1 at all1 the moral character of 
,god4 ,the glory  of ,god1 shining in   
,his law1 could never be made manifest1 

and the  brighter glory of ,god1 as     
displayed in the gospel1 must remain    
forever hid2 and all that happiness of  
which we are capable1 as  moral beings1 
the joys of religion below1 and the     
boundless joys of  heaven above1 would  
be extinguished1 in a moment1 by the    
suspension  of the divine moral         
government4    ,will any pretend that   
the ,almighty cannot maintain a moral   
government on earth1 if ,he governs     
according to ,his own pleasure8  ,can   
,he wield the elements1 and control1 at 
,his pleasure1 every work  of ,his      
hands1 but just the mind of man8 ,is the
 most noble work of  ,god--that which is
 the most worthy of attention1 and in   
reference to  which all beside is upheld
 and governed--itself wholly            
unmanageable8  ,has ,omnipotence formed 
minds1 which1 the moment they are made1 
escape from ,his hands1 and defy the    
control of their ,maker8 ,has the       
,almighty erected a moral kingdom which 
,he cannot govern without  destroying   

its moral nature8 ,can ,he only watch1  
and mend1 and  rectify1 the lawless     
wanderings of mind8 ,has ,he filled the 
earth  with untamed and untamable       
spirits1 whose wickedness and rebellion 
,he can merely mitigate1 but cannot     
control8 ,does ,he superintend a  world 
of madmen1 full of darkness and         
disorder1 cheered and blest by  no      
internal pervading government of ,his   
own8 ,are we bound to submit  to all    
events1 as parts of the holy providence 
of ,god2 and yet1 is  there actually no 
hand of ,god controlling the movements  
of the moral  world8 ,but if the        
,almighty can1 and if he does1 govern   
the earth as  a part of ,his moral      
kingdom1 is there any method of         
government more  safe and wise than that
 which pleases ,god8 ,can there be a    
better  government8 ,we may safely pray1
 then1 ,thy will be done in earth as  it
 is in heaven1 without fearing at all   
the loss of moral agency2  for all the  
glory of ,god1 in ,his ,law and ,gospel1

 and all the eternal  manifestations of 
glory to principalities and powers in   
heavenly  places1 depend wholly upon the
 fact1 that men1 though living under    
the government of ,god1 and controlled  
according to ,his pleasure1 are  still  
entirely free1 and accountable for all  
the deeds done in the  body4 ,there     
could be no justice in punishment and no
 condescension1  no wisdom1 no mercy1 in
 the glorious gospel1 did not the       
government  of ,god1 though administered
 according to ,his pleasure1 include and
  insure the accountable agency of man4 
,seeing1 therefore1 that all the glory  
of ,god1 which ,he ever proposes  to    
manifest to the intelligent creation1 is
 to be made known by  the ,church1 and  
is to shine in the face of ,jesus       
,christ1 and is to  depend upon the     
perfect consistency of the moral        
government of ,god  with human freedom1 
we have boundless assurance that1 among 
,his  absolute1 immutable1 eternal      
purposes1 one1 and a leading one1 is1   

so to govern the world according to ,his
 counsels1 that1 if men sin1  there     
shall be complete desert of punishment1 
and boundless mercy  in their           
redemption4    #e4 ,it is greatly to be 
desired that ,god should rule in the    
earth  according to ,his pleasure1      
because it is ,his pleasure to govern   
the  world in mercy1 by ,jesus ,christ4 
,the government is in the hand of a     
,mediator1 by whom ,god is  reconciling 
the world to ,himself1 not imputing     
their trespasses  to them that believe4 
,mercy is the bestowment of pardon upon 
the  sinful and undeserving4 ,now1      
mankind are so eminently sinful1 that   
no government but one administered in   
infinite mercy1 could afford  the least 
consolation4 ,had any being but the ,god
 of mercy sat upon  the throne1 or any  
will but ,his will prevailed1 there     
would have  been no plan of redemption1 
and no purposes of election1 to perplex 
and alarm the wicked4 ,there would have 
been but one decree1 and  that would    

have been1 destruction to the whole race
 of man4 ,are  any reluctant to be      
entirely in the hands of ,god8 ,are they
 afraid  to trust ,him to dispose of    
soul and body1 for time and eternity8   
,let them surrender their mercies1 then1
 and go out naked from that  government 
which feeds1 protects and comforts them4
 ,let them give  up their ,bibles1 and  
relinquish the means of grace1 and the  
hopes  of glory1 and descend and make   
their bed in hell1 where they have  long
 since deserved to be1 and where they   
long since would have  been1 if ,god had
 not governed the world according to    
,his own good  pleasure4 ,if they would 
escape the evils which they fear from   
the  hand of ,god1 let them abandon the 
blessings they receive from it1  and    
they will soon discover whether the     
absolute dominion of ,god1  and their   
dependence upon ,him1 be1 in reality1 a 
ground of murmuring  and alarm4 ,our    
only hope of heaven arises from being   
entirely in  the hands of ,god4 ,our    

destruction could not be made more      
certain  than it would be were we to be 
given up to our own disposal1 or  to the
 disposal of any being but ,god4 ,would 
sinful mortals change  their own hearts8
 ,could the combined universe1 without  
,god1 change  the depraved affections of
 men8 ,surely1 then1 we have cause for  
unceasing joy1 that we are in the hands 
of ,god2 seeing ,he is a  ,god of mercy1
 and has decreed to rule in mercy1 and  
actually is  administering the          
government of the world in mercy1 by    
,jesus ,christ4    ,we have nothing to  
fear1 from the entire dominion of ,god1 
which we  should not have cause equally 
to fear1 as outcasts from the divine    
government2 but we have everything to   
hope1 while ,he rules the earth         
according to ,his most merciful         
pleasure4 ,the ,lord reigneth2 let the  
earth rejoice1 let the multitude of the 
isles be glad4 ,it is of the  ,lord's   
mercies that we are not consumed1       
because ,his compassions  fail not4     

#f4 ,it is greatly to be desired that   
,god should dispose of mankind          
according to ,his pleasure1 because1 if 
,he does so1 it is certain  that there  
will be no injustice done to anyone4    
,he will do no injustice to ,his holy   
kingdom by any whom ,he saves4  ,he will
 bring none to heaven who are not holy1 
and prepared for  heaven4 ,he will bring
 none there in any way not consistent   
with ,his  perfections1 and the best    
good of ,his kingdom2 none in any way   
but  that prescribed in the gospel1 the 
way of faith in ,jesus ,christ1 of      
repentance for sin1 and of good works as
 the constituted fruit and  evidence of 
faith4    ,earthly monarchs have their  
favorites1 whom1 if guilty of a         
violation of the laws1 they will often  
interpose to save1 although  the welfare
 of the kingdom requires their          
punishment4 ,but ,god has  no such      
favorites--,he is no respecter of       
persons3 ,he spared not the  angels3 and
 upon the earth distinctions of         

intellect1 or wealth1 or  honor1 will   
have no effect2 he only that believeth  
shall be saved4  ,the great and the     
learned shall not be obtruded upon      
heaven without  holiness because they   
are great or learned2 and the humble and
  contrite shall not be excluded because
 they are poor1 or ignorant1  or        
obscure4 ,god has provided a way for all
 men to return to ,him4  ,he has opened 
the door of their prison1 and set open  
before them a  door of admission into   
the kingdom of ,his dear ,son2 and      
commanded  and entreated them to abandon
 their dreary abode1 and come into  the 
glorious liberty of the sons of ,god4   
,but all1 with one consent1  refuse to  
comply4 ,each prefers his own loathsome 
dwelling to the  building of ,god1 and  
chooses1 stedfastly1 the darkness of his
 own  dungeon1 to the light of ,god's   
kingdom4 ,but1 as ,god has determined   
that the redemption of ,his ,son shall  
not be unavailing through human         
obstinacy1 so ,he hath chosen1 in       

,christ1 multitudes which no man  can   
number1 that they should be holy and    
without blame before ,him  in love4 ,and
 in bringing these sons and daughters to
 glory1 through  sanctification of the  
,spirit1 and belief of the truth1 ,he   
will  introduce not one whom all the    
inhabitants of heaven will not hail     
joyfully1 as the companion of their     
glory4 ,and if ,god does in the  earth  
just as ,he pleases1 ,he will make      
willing1 and obedient1 and  bring to    
heaven1 just those persons who it was   
most desirable should  come4 ,and ,he   
will bring just as many obstinate rebels
 to abandon  their prison1 and enter    
cheerfully ,his kingdom1 as infinite    
wisdom1  goodness1 and mercy1 see fit   
and desire4 ,he will not mar ,his glory1
  or the happiness of ,his kingdom1 by  
bringing in too many1 nor by  omitting  
to bring in enough4 ,his redeemed       
kingdom1 as to the number  and the      
persons who compose it1 and the         
happiness included in it1  will be such 

as shall be wholly satisfactory to ,god1
 and to every  subject of ,his kingdom4 
,and if ,god governs according to ,his  
pleasure1 ,he will do no  injustice to  
,his impenitent enemies4 ,he will send  
to misery no  harmless animals without  
souls--no mere machines--none who have  
done1 or even attempted to do1 as well  
as they could4 ,he will leave  to walk  
in their own way none who do not deserve
 to be left2 and  punish none for       
walking in it who did not walk therein  
knowingly1  deliberately and with wilful
 obstinacy4 ,he will give up to death   
none who did not choose death1 and      
choose it with as entire freedom  as    
,himself chooses holiness2 and who did  
not deserve eternal  punishment as truly
 as ,himself deserves eternal praise4   
,he will  send to hell none who are not 
opposed to ,him1 and to holiness1  and  
to heaven2 none who are not1 by         
voluntary sin and rebellion1  unfitted  
for heaven1 and fitted for destruction1 
as eminently as  saints are prepared for

 glory4 ,he will consign to perdition no
 poor1  feeble1 inoffensive beings1     
sacrificing one innocent creature to    
increase the happiness of another4 ,he  
will cause the punishment of  the wicked
 to illustrate ,his glory1 and thus     
indirectly to promote  the happiness of 
heaven4 ,but ,god will not illumine     
heaven with ,his  glory1 and fill it    
with praise1 by sacrificing helpless1   
unoffending  creatures to eternal       
torment2 nor will ,he doom to hell one  
whom  ,he will not convince also1 that  
he deserves to go thither4 ,the  justice
 of ,god1 in the condemnation of the    
impenitent1 will be as  unquestionable1 
as ,his infinite mercy will be in the   
salvation of  the redeemed4    ,if the  
will of ,god is done on earth1 among    
men1 there will be no  more injustice   
done to the inhabitants of the earth    
than there is  done to the blessed in   
heaven4 ,was it ever known--did any ever
  complain--was it ever conceived--that 
,god was a tyrant1 in heaven8  ,why1    

then1 should we question the justice of 
,his government on  earth8 ,is ,he not  
the same ,god below as above8 ,are not  
all ,his  attributes equally employed8  
,does ,he not govern for the same end1  
and will not ,his government below      
conspire to promote the same  joyful end
 as ,his government above8    #g4 ,it is
 greatly to be desired that ,god should 
govern the world  according to ,his     
pleasure1 because ,his own infinite     
blessedness1 as  well as the happiness  
of ,his kingdom1 depends upon ,his      
working all  things according to the    
counsel of ,his own will4    ,could the 
,almighty be prevented from expressing  
the benevolence  of ,his nature1        
according to ,his purposes1 ,his present
 boundless  blessedness would become the
 pain of ungratified desire4 ,god is    
love1 and ,his happiness consists in the
 exercise and expression  of it1        
according to ,his own eternal purpose1  
which ,he purposed in  ,christ ,jesus   
before the world began4 ,it is therefore

 declared1  ,the ,lord hath made all    
things for himself2 that is1 to express 
and gratify ,his infinite benevolence4  
,the moral excellence of ,god  does not 
consist in quiescent love1 but in love  
active1 bursting  forth1 and abounding4 
,nor does the divine happiness arise    
from  the contemplation of idle         
perfections1 but from perfections which 
comprehend boundless capacity1 and      
activity in doing good4    ,from what   
has been said1 we may be led to         
contemplate with  satisfaction the      
infinite blessedness of ,god4    ,god is
 love6 ,this is a disposition which1    
beyond all others1 is  happy in its own 
nature4 ,he is perfect in love2 there   
is1 therefore1  in ,his happiness no    
alloy4 ,his love is infinite2 and1 of   
course1  ,his blessedness is unbounded4 
,if the little holiness existing in     
good men1 though balanced by remaining  
sin1 occasions1 at times1  unutterable  
joy1 how blessed must ,god be1 who is   
perfectly and  infinitely holy6 ,it is  

to be remembered1 also1 that the        
benevolence  of ,god is at all times    
perfectly gratified4 ,the universe which
 ,god  has created and upholds1         
including what ,he has done1 and what   
,he  will yet do1 will be brought into a
 condition which will satisfy ,his      
infinite benevolence4 ,the great plan of
 government which ,god has  chosen1 and 
which ,his power and wisdom will        
execute1 will embrace as  much good as  
in the nature of things is possible4 ,he
 is not1 like  erring man1 straitened   
and perplexed1 through lack of knowledge
 or  power4 ,there is in ,his plan no   
defect1 and in ,his execution no        
failure4 ,god1 therefore1 is infinitely 
happy in ,his holiness1 and in  the     
expression of it which it pleases ,him  
to make4    ,the revolt of angels1 the  
fall of man1 and the miseries of sin1   
do not1 for a moment1 interrupt the     
blessedness of ,god4 ,they  were not1 to
 ,him1 unexpected events1 starting up   
suddenly while  the watchman of ,israel 

slumbered4 ,they were foreseen by ,god  
as  clearly as any other events of ,his 
government1 and have occasioned  neither
 perplexity nor dismay4 ,with infinite  
complacency ,he beholds  still ,his     
unshaken counsels1 and with almighty    
hand rolls on ,his  undisturbed decrees4
 ,surrounded by unnumbered millions1    
created  by ,his hand1 and upheld by    
,his power1 ,he shines forth1 ,god over 
all1 blest for ever4 ,what an object of 
joyful contemplation1 then1  is the     
blessedness of ,god6 ,it is infinite2   
,his boundless capacity  is full4 ,it is
 eternal2 ,he is ,god blest forever4    
,the happiness of  the created universe 
is but a drop--a drop to the mighty     
ocean of  divine enjoyment4 ,how        
delightful the thought1 that in ,god    
there is  such an immensity of joy1     
beyond the reach of vicissitude6 ,when  
we  look around below1 a melancholy     
sensation pervades the mind4 ,what      
miserable creatures6 ,what a wretched   
world6 ,but when1 from this  scene of   

darkness and misery1 we look up to the  
throne of ,god1 and  behold ,him1 high  
above the darkness and miseries of sin1 
dwelling  in light inaccessible and full
 of glory1 the prospect brightens4 ,if  
a few rebels1 who refuse to love and    
participate in ,his munificence1  are   
groping in darkness on ,his footstool1  
,god is light1 and in ,him  there is no 
darkness at all4    ,those who are      
opposed to the decrees of ,god1 and to  
,his sovereignty1  as displayed in the  
salvation of sinners1 are enemies of    
,god4    ,they are unwilling that ,his  
will should be done in earth as it is   
in heaven2 for the decrees of ,god are  
nothing but ,his choice as  to the      
manner in which ,he will govern ,his own
 kingdom4 ,he did not  enter upon ,his  
government to learn wisdom by           
experience4 ,before  they were yet      
formed1 ,his vast dominion lay open to  
,his view2 and  before ,he took the     
reins of created empire1 ,he saw in what
 manner it  became ,him to govern4 ,his 

ways are everlasting4 ,known unto ,god  
are  all ,his works from the beginning4 
,to be opposed to the decrees of  ,god1 
therefore1 is to be unwilling that ,god 
should have any choice  concerning the  
government of the world4 ,and can those 
be willing  that ,god should govern the 
world entirely according to ,his        
pleasure  who object to ,his having any 
pleasure upon the subject8 ,to object   
to the choice of ,god1 with respect to  
the management of the world1  because it
 is eternal1 is to object to the        
existence of ,god4 ,a ,god  of eternal  
knowledge1 without an eternal will or   
choice1 would be a  ,god without moral  
character4    ,to suppose that ,god did 
not know what events would exist in     
,his kingdom1 is to divest ,him of      
omniscience4 ,to suppose that  ,he did  
know1 and did not care1--had no choice1 
no purpose1--is  to blot out ,his       
benevolence1 to nullify ,his wisdom and 
convert  ,his power into infinite       
indolence4 ,to suppose that ,he did     

know1  and choose1 and decree1 and that 
events do not accord with ,his          
purposes1 is to suppose that ,god has   
made a world which ,he can  not govern2 
has undertaken a work too vast2 has     
begun to build1  but is not able to     
finish4 ,but to suppose that ,god did1  
from the  beginning1 behold all things  
open and naked before ,him1 and that    
,he did choose1 with unerring wisdom and
 infinite goodness1 how to  govern ,his 
empire1--and yet at the same time1 to   
employ heart1  and head1 and tongue1 in 
continual opposition to this great and  
blessed truth1--is1 most clearly1 to    
cherish enmity to ,god and ,his         
government4    ,to object to the choice 
of ,god because it is immutable1 is to  
cavil  against that which constitutes   
its consummating excellence4 ,caprice   
is a most alarming feature in a bad     
government2 but in a government         
absolutely perfect1 none1 surely1 can   
object to its immutability1  but those1 
who1 if able1 would alter it for the    

worse4    ,to say that1 if ,god always  
knew how to govern so as to display ,his
  glory1 and bless ,his kingdom1 and    
always chooses thus to govern1  there   
can be1 therefore1 no accountable agency
 in the conduct of  ,his creatures1 is  
to deny the possibility of a moral      
government1  to contradict the express  
testimony of ,god2 and this1 too1 at the
  expense of common sense1 and the      
actual experience of every subject  of  
,his moral government on earth4    ,from
 the character of ,god1 and the nature  
of ,his government1 as  explained in    
this discourse1 may be inferred1 the    
nature and  necessity of unconditional  
submission to ,god4    ,unconditional   
submission is an entire surrender of the
 soul to  ,god1 to be disposed of       
according to ,his pleasure1--occasioned 
by  confidence in ,his character as     
,god4    ,there are many who would trust
 the ,almighty to regulate the rolling  
of worlds1 and to rule in the armies of 
heaven1 just as ,he pleases2  and devils

 they would consign to ,his disposal1   
without the least  hesitation2 and their
 own nation1 if they were sure that ,god
 would  dispose of it according to their
 pleasure2 even their own temporal      
concerns they would risk in the hands of
 ,god1 could they know that  all things 
would work together for their good2     
their souls1 also1  they would          
cheerfully trust to ,his disposal1 for  
the world to come1  if ,god would       
stipulate1 at all events1 to make them  
happy4    ,and to what does all this    
amount8 ,truly1 that they care much     
about  their own happiness1 and their   
own will1 but nothing at all about  the 
will of ,god1 and the welfare of ,his   
kingdom4 ,he may decree1  and execute   
,his decrees1 in heaven1 and may turn   
its inhabitants  into machines1 or      
uphold their freedom1 as ,he pleases2   
and apostate  spirits are relinquished  
to their doom1 whether just or unjust4  
,it  is only when the government of ,god
 descends to particulars1 and  draws    

near and enters their own selfish       
enclosures1 and claims a  right to      
dispose of them1 and extends its        
influence to the unseen  world1 that    
selfishness and fear take the alarm4    
,has ,god determined  how to dispose of 
my soul8 ,ah6 that alters the case4 ,if 
,he can1  consistently with freedom1    
govern angels1 and devils1 and nations1 
how can ,he govern individuals8 ,how can
 ,he dispose of me according to  ,his   
eternal purpose and ,i be free8 ,here   
reason1 all-penetrating1 and            
all-comprehensive1 becomes weak2 the    
clouds begin to collect1 and  the       
understanding1 veiled by the darkness of
 the heart1 can find no  end1 in        
wandering mazes lost4    ,but if ,god   
has purposes of mercy in reserve for the
 sinner1 he is  convinced1 at length1 of
 his sin1 and finds himself in an evil  
case4  ,he reforms1 prays1 weeps1       
resolves1 and re-resolves1 regardless   
of the righteousness of ,christ1 and    
intent only to establish a              

righteousness of his own4 ,but1 through 
all his windings1 sin cleaves  to him1  
and the law1 with its fearful curse1    
pursues him4 ,whither  shall he flee8   
,what shall he do8 ,a rebel heart1 that 
will not bow1  fills him with despair4  
,an angry ,god1 who will not clear the  
guilty1  fills him with terror4 ,his    
strength is gone1 his resources fail1   
his mouth is stopped4 ,with restless    
anxiety1 or wild amazement1  he surveys 
the gloomy prospect4 ,at length1 amidst 
the wanderings  of despair1 the         
character of ,god meets his eye4 ,it is 
new1 it is  amiable1 and full of glory4 
,forgetful of danger1 he turns aside  to
 behold this great sight2 and while he  
gazes1 new affections  awake in his     
soul1 inspiring new confidence in ,god1 
and in ,his  holy government4 ,now ,god 
appears qualified to govern1 and now he 
is willing that ,he should govern1 and  
willing himself to be in the  hands of  
,god1 to be disposed of according to    
,his pleasure4 ,what is  the occasion of

 this change8 ,has the divine character 
changed8 ,there  is no variableness with
 ,god4 ,did he1 then1 misapprehend the  
divine  character8 ,was all this glory  
visible before8 ,or has a revelation  of
 new truth been granted8 ,there has been
 no new revelation4 ,the  character now 
admitted is the same which just before  
appeared so  gloomy and terrible4 ,what1
 then1 has produced this alteration8    
,has  a vision of angels appeared1 to   
announce that ,god is reconciled8  ,has 
some sudden light burst upon him1 in    
token of forgiveness8 ,has  ,christ been
 seen upon the cross1 beckoning the     
sinner to come  to ,him8 ,has heaven    
been thrown open to his admiring eyes8  
,have  enrapturing sounds of music      
stolen upon the ear1 to entrance the    
soul8 ,has some text of ,scripture been 
sent to whisper that his  sins are      
forgiven1 tho no repentance1 nor faith1 
nor love1 has  dawned in his soul8 ,and 
does he now submit1 because ,god has    
given  him assurance of personal safety8

 ,none of these4 ,considerations of     
personal safety are1 at the time1 out of
 the question4 ,it is the  uncreated1   
essential excellence of ,god1 shining in
 upon the heart1  which claims the      
attention1 fixes the adoring eye1 and   
fills the  soul with love1 and peace1   
and joy2 and the act of submission is   
past1 before the subject begins to      
reflect upon his altered views1  with   
dawning hope of personal redemption4    
,the change produced1 then1 is the      
effect of benevolence1 raising  the     
affections of the soul from the world1  
and resting them upon  ,god4 ,holiness  
is now most ardently loved4 ,this is    
seen to dwell in  ,god and ,his kingdom1
 and to be upheld and perfected by ,his 
moral  government4 ,it is the treasure  
of the soul1 and all the attributes  of 
,god stand pledged to protect it4 ,the  
solicitude1 therefore1 is  not merely1  
,what will become of me8 but1 ,what1 ,o 
,lord1 will become  of ,thy glory1 and  
the glory of ,thy kingdom8 ,and in the  

character  of ,god1 these inquiries are 
satisfactorily answered4 ,if ,god be    
glorified1 and ,his kingdom upheld and  
made happy1 the soul is  satisfied4     
,there is nothing else to be anxious    
about2 for individual  happiness is     
included in the general good1 as the    
drop is included  in the ocean4         
,,channing    ,,the ,,character ,,of    
,,christ          ,,biographical ,,note 
,,william ,,ellery ,,channing1 the      
famous ,unitarian divine1 was born  at  
,newport1 ,r4 ,i41 in #aghj4 ,he took   
his degree at ,harvard in  #agih1       
studied theology and was ordained pastor
 of the ,federal  ,street ,church in    
,boston1 #ahjc4 ,he has been called the 
,apostle of  ,unitarianism1 because he  
was first among the orthodox divines of 
,new ,england to give ,unitarianism a   
clear1 dogmatic expression1 as  he did  
in a sermon preached at the ordination  
of ,jared ,sparks1 in  opposition to the
 current ,calvinism of the day4 ,but he 
hated the  controversy in which the     

publication of his views involved him   
and  professed in #ahda1 ,i am little of
 a ,unitarian and stand aloof  from all 
but those who strive and pray for       
clearer light4 ,he had  made the        
acquaintance of ,wordsworth and         
,coleridge on his visit to  ,england1   
and the latter justly described him as  
one who had the  love of wisdom and the 
wisdom of love4 ,he was a voluminous    
writer  on theological and literary     
subjects and what he wrote was vigorous1
  of fastidious taste and fired with    
moral earnestness4 ,he died in  #ahdb4  
,,channing    #aghj-ahdb    ,,the       
,,character ,,of ,,christ    ,this is my
 beloved ,son1 in whom ,i am well       
pleased4--,matthew xvii41  #e4      ,the
 character of ,christ may be studied for
 various purposes4 ,it  is singularly   
fitted to call forth the heart1 to      
awaken love1  admiration1 and moral     
delight4 ,as an example it has no rival4
 ,as  an evidence of ,his religion      
perhaps it yields to no other proof2    

perhaps no other has so often conquered 
unbelief4 ,it is chiefly to  this last  
view of it that ,i now ask your         
attention4 ,the character  of ,christ is
 a strong confirmation of the truth of  
,his religion4  ,as such ,i would now   
place it before you4 ,i shall not1      
however1  think only of confirming your 
faith2 the very illustrations which ,i  
shall adduce for this purpose will show 
the claims of ,jesus to our  reverence1 
obedience1 imitation1 and fervent love4 
,the more we contemplate ,christ's      
character as exhibited in the  gospel1  
the more we shall be impressed with its 
genuineness and  reality4 ,it was       
plainly drawn from the life4 ,the       
narratives of  the evangelists bear the 
marks of truth perhaps beyond all other 
histories4 ,they set before us the most 
extraordinary being who ever  appeared  
on earth1 and yet they are as artless as
 the stories of  childhood4 ,the authors
 do not think of themselves4 ,they have 
plainly  but one aim1 to show us their  

,master2 and they manifest the deep     
veneration which ,he inspired by leaving
 ,him to reveal ,himself1 by  giving us 
,his actions and sayings without        
comment1 explanation1 or  eulogy4       
,you see in these narratives no         
varnishing1 no high coloring1 no        
attempts to make ,his actions striking  
or to bring out the beauties  of ,his   
character4 ,we are never pointed to any 
circumstance as  illustrative of ,his   
greatness4 ,the evangelists write with a
 calm  trust in ,his character1 with a  
feeling that it needed no aid from      
their hands1 and with a deep veneration1
 as if comment or praise of  their own  
were not worthy to mingle with the      
recital of such a life4    ,it is the   
effect of our familiarity with the      
history of ,jesus that  we are not      
struck by it as we ought to be4 ,we read
 it before we are  capable of           
understanding its excellence4 ,his      
stupendous works become  as familiar to 
us as the events of ordinary life1 and  

,his high  offices seem as much matters 
of course as the common relations which 
men bear to each other4    ,on this     
account it is fit for the ministers of  
religion to do what  the evangelists did
 not attempt1 to offer comments on      
,christ's  character1 to bring out its  
features1 to point men to its higher    
beauties1 to awaken their awe by        
unfolding its wonderful majesty4        
,indeed1 one of our most important      
functions as teachers is to  give       
freshness and vividness to truths which 
have become worn1 ,i  had almost said   
tarnished1 by long and familiar         
handling4 ,we have  to fight with the   
power of habit4 ,through habit men look 
on this  glorious creation with         
insensibility1 and are less moved by the
  all-enlightening sun than by a show of
 fireworks4 ,it is the duty of  a moral 
and religious teacher almost to create a
 new sense in men1  that they may learn 
in what a world of beauty and           
magnificence they  live4 ,and so in     

regard to ,christ's character2 men      
become used to it  until they imagine   
that there is something more admirable  
in a great  man of their own day1 a     
statesman or a conqueror1 than in ,him  
the  latchet of whose shoes statesmen   
and conquerors are not worthy to        
unloose4    ,in this discourse ,i wish  
to show that the character of ,christ1  
taken  as a whole1 is one which could   
not have entered the thoughts of man1   
could not have been imagined or feigned2
 that it bears every mark of            
genuineness and truth2 that it ought    
therefore to be acknowledged as  real   
and of divine origin4    ,it is         
all-important1 my friends1 if we would  
feel the force of this  argument1 to    
transport ourselves to the times when   
,jesus lived4 ,we  are very apt to think
 that ,he was moving about in such a    
city as  this1 or among a people        
agreeing with ourselves in modes of     
thinking  and habits of life4 ,but the  
truth is1 he lived in a state of society

  singularly remote from our own4    ,of
 all the nations the ,jewish was the    
most strongly marked4 ,the ,jew  hardly 
felt himself to belong to the human     
family4 ,he was accustomed  to speak of 
himself as chosen by ,god1 holy1 clean2 
whilst the  ,gentiles were sinners1     
dogs1 polluted1 unclean4 ,his common    
dress1  the phylactery on his brow or   
arm1 the hem of his garment1 his food1  
the ordinary circumstances of his life1 
as well as his temple1 his  sacrifices1 
his ablutions1 all held him up to       
himself as a peculiar  favorite of ,god1
 and all separated him from the rest of 
the world4  ,with other nations he could
 not eat or marry4 ,they were unworthy  
of his communion4 ,still1 with all these
 notions of superiority he  saw himself 
conquered by those whom he despised4 ,he
 was obliged to  wear the shackles of   
,rome1 to see ,roman legions in his     
territory1 a  ,roman guard near his     
temple1 and a ,roman tax-gatherer       
extorting1 for  the support of an       

idolatrous government and an idolatrous 
worship1  what he regarded as due only  
to ,god4 ,the hatred which burned in the
  breast of the ,jew toward his foreign 
oppressor perhaps never glowed  with    
equal intenseness in any other conquered
 state4    ,he had1 however1 his secret 
consolation4 ,the time was near1 the    
prophetic age was at hand1 when ,judea  
was to break her chains and  rise from  
the dust4 ,her long-promised king and   
deliverer was near1  and was coming to  
wear the crown of universal empire4     
,from ,jerusalem  was to go forth ,his  
law1 and all nations were to serve the  
chosen  people of ,god4 ,to this        
conqueror the ,jews indeed ascribed the 
office  of promoting religion2 but the  
religion of ,moses1 corrupted into  an  
outward service1 was to them the        
perfection of human nature4  ,they clung
 to its forms with the whole energy of  
their souls4 ,to  the ,mosaic           
institution they ascribed their         
distinction from all  other nations4 ,it

 lay at the foundation of their hopes of
 dominion4  ,i believe no strength of   
prejudice ever equalled the intense     
attachment of the ,jew to his peculiar  
national religion4 ,you may  judge of   
its power by the fact of its having been
 transmitted  through so many ages1     
amidst persecution and sufferings which 
would  have subdued any spirit but that 
of a ,jew4 ,you must bring these  things
 to your mind4 ,you must place          
yourselves in the midst of this         
singular people4    ,among this singular
 people1 burning with impatient         
expectation1  appeared ,jesus of        
,nazareth4 ,his first words were1       
,repent1 for  the kingdom of heaven is  
at hand4 ,these words we hear with      
little  emotion2 but to the ,jews1 who  
had been watching for this kingdom for  
ages1 and who were looking for its      
immediate manifestation1 they  must have
 been awakening as an earthquake4       
,accordingly we find ,jesus  thronged by
 multitudes which no building could     

contain4 ,he repairs  to a mountain1 as 
affording him advantages for addressing 
the crowd4  ,i see them surrounding ,him
 with eager looks1 and ready to drink in
  every word from ,his lips4 ,and what  
do ,i hear8 ,not one word of ,judea1  of
 ,rome1 of freedom1 of conquest1 of the 
glories of ,god's chosen  people1 and of
 the thronging of all nations to the    
temple on ,mount  ,zion4    ,almost     
every word was a death-blow to the hopes
 and feelings  which glowed through the 
whole people1 and were consecrated under
  the name of religion4 ,he speaks of   
the long-expected kingdom of  heaven2   
but speaks of it as a felicity promised 
to1 and only to be  partaken of by1 the 
humble and pure in heart4 ,the          
righteousness of  the ,pharisees1 that  
which was deemed the perfection of      
religion1  and which the new deliverer  
was expected to spread far and wide1    
,he pronounces worthless1 and declares  
the kingdom of heaven1 or of  the       
,messiah1 to be shut against all who do 

not cultivate a new1  spiritual1 and    
disinterested virtue4    ,instead of war
 and victory ,he commands ,his impatient
 hearers to  love1 to forgive1 to bless 
their enemies2 and holds forth this     
spirit of benignity1 mercy1 peace1 as   
the special badge of the  people of the 
true ,messiah4 ,instead of national     
interests and  glories1 he commands them
 to seek first a spirit of impartial    
charity and love1 unconfined by the     
bounds of tribe or nation1 and          
proclaims this to be the happiness and  
honor of the reign for which  they      
hoped4 ,instead of this world's riches1 
which they expected  to flow from all   
lands into their own1 ,he commands them 
to lay up  treasures in heaven1 and     
directs them to an incorruptible1       
immortal  life1 as the true end of their
 being4    ,nor is this all4 ,he does   
not merely offer himself as a spiritual 
deliverer1 as the founder of a new      
empire of inward piety and  universal   
charity2 ,he closes with language       

announcing a more  mysterious office4   
,many will say unto ,me in that day1    
,lord1  ,lord1 have we not prophesied in
 ,thy name1 and in ,thy name done  many 
wonderful works8 ,and then will ,i      
profess unto them1 ,i never  knew you2  
depart from ,me1 ye that work iniquity4 
,here ,i meet  the annunciation of a    
character as august as it must have been
  startling4 ,i hear ,him foretelling a 
dominion to be exercised in the  future 
world4 ,he begins to announce1 what     
entered largely into ,his  future       
teaching1 that ,his power was not       
bounded to this earth4 ,these  words ,i 
better understand when ,i hear ,him     
subsequently declaring  that1 after a   
painful death1 ,he was to rise again and
 ascend to  heaven1 and there1 in a     
state of preeminent power and glory1 was
 to  be the advocate and judge of the   
human race4    ,such are some of the    
views given by ,jesus1 of ,his character
 and  reign1 in the ,sermon on the      
,mount4 ,immediately afterwards ,i hear 

another lesson from ,him1 bringing out  
some of these truths still  more        
strongly4 ,a ,roman centurion makes     
application to ,him for the  cure of a  
servant whom he particularly valued2 and
 on expressing1  in a strong manner1 his
 conviction of the power of ,jesus to   
heal at  a distance1 ,jesus1 according  
to the historian1 marvelled1 and said   
to those that followed1 ,verily ,i say  
unto you1 ,i have not found so  great   
faith in ,israel2 and ,i say unto you1  
that many shall come from  the east and 
west1 and shall sit down with ,abraham1 
and ,isaac1 and  ,jacob in the kingdom  
of heaven2 but the children of the      
kingdom  7that is1 the ,jews7 shall be  
cast out4    ,here all the hopes which  
the ,jews had cherished of an exclusive 
or  peculiar possession of the          
,messiah's kingdom were crushed2 and the
  reception of the despised ,gentile    
world to all ,his blessings1 or1 in     
other words1 the extension of ,his pure 
religion to the ends of the  earth1     

began to be proclaimed4    ,here ,i     
pause for the present1 and ,i ask you   
whether the character  of ,jesus be not 
the most extraordinary in history1 and  
wholly  inexplicable on human           
principles4 ,review the ground over     
which we  have gone4 ,recollect that ,he
 was born and grew up a ,jew in the     
midst  of ,jews1 a people burning with  
one passion1 and throwing their whole   
souls into the expectation of a national
 and earthly deliverer4  ,he grew up    
among them in poverty1 seclusion1 and   
labors fitted to  contract ,his         
thoughts1 purposes1 and hopes2 and yet  
we find ,him  escaping every influence  
of education and society4 ,we find ,him 
as  untouched by the feelings which     
prevailed universally around ,him1      
which religion and patriotism concurred 
to consecrate1 which the  mother        
breathed into the ear of the child1 and 
which the teacher of  the synagog       
strengthened in the adult1 as if ,he had
 been brought up  in another world4 ,we 

find ,him conceiving a sublime purpose1 
such  as had never dawned on sage or    
hero1 and see ,him possessed with a     
consciousness of sustaining a relation  
to ,god and mankind1 and of  being      
invested with powers in this world and  
the world to come1 such  as had never   
entered the human mind4 ,whence now1 ,i 
ask1 came the  conception of this       
character8    ,will any say it had its  
origin in imposture2 that it was a      
fabrication of a deceiver8 ,i answer1   
the character claimed by ,christ        
excludes this supposition by its very   
nature4 ,it was so remote  from all the 
ideas and anticipations of the times1 so
 unfit to  awaken sympathy1 so          
unattractive to the heathen1 so         
exasperating  to the ,jew1 that it was  
the last to enter the mind of an        
impostor4  ,a deceiver of the dullest   
vision must have foreseen that it would 
expose him to bitter scorn1 abhorrence1 
and persecution1 and that he  would be  
left to carry on his work alone1 just as

 ,jesus always stood  alone and could   
find not an individual to enter into    
,his spirit and  design4 ,what          
allurements an unprincipled1            
self-seeking man could  find to such an 
enterprise1 no common ingenuity can     
discover4    ,i affirm next that the    
sublimity of the character claimed by   
,christ forbids us to trace it to       
imposture4 ,that a selfish1  designing1 
depraved mind could have formed the idea
 and purpose  of a work unparalleled in 
beneficence1 in vastness1 and in moral  
grandeur1 would certainly be a strange  
departure from the laws of  the human   
mind4 ,i add1 that if an impostor could 
have lighted on  the conception of so   
sublime and wonderful a work as that    
claimed  by ,jesus1 he could not1 ,i    
say1 he could not have thrown into his  
personation of it the air of truth and  
reality4 ,the part would have  been too 
high for him4 ,he would have overacted  
it or fallen short  of it perpetually4  
,his true character would have rebelled 

against  his assumed one4 ,we should    
have seen something strained1 forced1   
artificial1 awkward1 showing that he was
 not in his true sphere4 ,to  act up to 
a character so singular and grand1 and  
one for which no  precedent could be    
found1 seems to me utterly impossible   
for a man  who had not the true spirit  
of it1 or who was only wearing it as a  
mask4    ,now1 how stands the case with 
,jesus8 ,bred a ,jewish peasant or      
carpenter1 ,he issues from obscurity1   
and claims for ,himself a divine        
office1 a superhuman dignity1 such as   
had not been imagined2 and in  no       
instance does ,he fall below the        
character4 ,the peasant1 and still  more
 the ,jew1 wholly disappears4    ,we    
feel that a new being1 of a new order of
 mind1 is taking a part  in human       
affairs4 ,there is a native tone of     
grandeur and authority  in ,his         
teaching4 ,he speaks as a being related 
to the whole human  race4 ,his mind     
never shrinks within the ordinary limits

 of human  agency4 ,a narrower sphere   
than the world never enters ,his        
thoughts4  ,he speaks in a natural1     
spontaneous style1 of accomplishing the 
most  arduous and important change in   
human affairs4 ,this unlabored manner   
of expressing great thoughts is         
particularly worthy of attention4  ,you 
never hear from ,jesus that swelling1   
pompous1 ostentatious  language1 which  
almost necessarily springs from an      
attempt to  sustain a character above   
our powers4 ,he talks of ,his glories as
 one  to whom they were familiar1 and of
 ,his intimacy and oneness with ,god  as
 simply as a child speaks of his        
connection with his parents4  ,he speaks
 of saving and judging the world1 of    
drawing all men to  ,himself1 and of    
giving everlasting life1 as we speak of 
the ordinary  powers which we exert4 ,he
 makes no set harangues about the       
grandeur  of ,his office and character4 
,his consciousness of it gives a hue to 
,his whole language1 breaks out in      

indirect1 undesigned expressions1       
showing that it was the deepest and most
 familiar of ,his convictions4    ,this 
argument is only to be understood by    
reading the ,gospels with  a wakeful    
mind and heart4 ,it does not lie on     
their surface1 and it  is the stronger  
for lying beneath it4 ,when ,i read     
these books with  care1 when ,i trace   
the unaffected majesty which runs       
through the  life of ,jesus1 and see him
 never falling below ,his sublime claims
  amidst poverty1 and scorn1 and in ,his
 last agony1 ,i have a feeling  of the  
reality of ,his character which ,i can  
not express4 ,i feel that  the ,jewish  
carpenter could no more have conceived  
and sustained this  character under     
motives of imposture than an infant's   
arm could  repeat the deeds of          
,hercules1 or his unawakened intellect  
comprehend  and rival the matchless     
works of genius4    ,am ,i told that the
 claims of ,jesus had their origin not  
in  imposture1 but in enthusiasm2 that  

the imagination1 kindled by  strong     
feeling1 overpowered the judgment so far
 as to give ,him the  notion of being   
destined to some strange and            
unparalleled work8 ,i  know that        
enthusiasm1 or a kindled imagination1   
has great power2  and we are never to   
lose sight of it1 in judging of the     
claims of  religious teachers4 ,but ,i  
say first1 that1 except in cases where  
it  amounts to insanity1 enthusiasm     
works1 in a greater or less degree1     
according to a man's previous           
conceptions and modes of thought4    ,in
 ,judea1 where the minds of men were    
burning with feverish  expectation of a 
messiah1 ,i can easily conceive of a    
,jew imagining  that in himself this    
ardent conception1 this ideal of glory1 
was to  be realized4 ,i can conceive of 
his seating himself in fancy on the     
throne of ,david1 and secretly pondering
 the means of his appointed  triumphs4  
,but that a ,jew should fancy himself   
the ,messiah1 and at  the same time     

should strip that character of all the  
attributes  which had fired his youthful
 imagination and heart--that he should  
start aside from all the feelings and   
hopes of his age1 and should  acquire a 
consciousness of being destined to a    
wholly new career1  and one as unbounded
 as it was now--this is exceedingly     
improbable2  and one thing is certain   
that an imagination so erratic1 so      
ungoverned1 and able to generate the    
conviction of being destined to  work so
 immeasurably disproportioned to the    
power of the individual1  must have     
partaken of insanity4    ,now1 is it    
conceivable that an individual1 mastered
 by so wild and  fervid an imagination1 
should have sustained the dignity       
claimed by  ,christ1 should have acted  
worthily the highest part ever assumed  
on  earth8 ,would not his enthusiasm    
have broken out amidst the peculiar     
excitements of the life of ,jesus1 and  
have left a touch of madness  on his    
teaching and conduct8 ,is it to such a  

man that we should look  for the        
inculcation of a new and perfect form of
 virtue1 and for the  exemplification of
 humanity in its fairest form8    ,the  
charge of an extravagant1 self-deluding 
enthusiasm is the last  to be fastened  
on ,jesus4 ,where can we find the traces
 of it in ,his  history8 ,do we detect  
them in the calm authority of ,his      
precepts2 in  the mild1 practical and   
beneficial spirit of ,his religion2 in  
the  unlabored simplicity of the        
language with which ,he unfolds ,his    
high  powers and the sublime truths of  
religion2 or in the good sense1 the     
knowledge of human nature1 which ,he    
always discovers in ,his estimate  and  
treatment of the different classes of   
men with whom ,he acted8  ,do we        
discover this enthusiasm in the singular
 fact that1 whilst ,he  claimed power in
 the future world1 and always turned    
men's minds to  ,heaven1 ,he never      
indulged ,his own imagination or        
stimulated that of  ,his disciples by   

giving vivid pictures or any minute     
description of  that unseen state8      
,the truth is1 that1 remarkable as was  
the character of ,jesus1 it was         
distinguished by nothing more than by   
calmness and self-possession4  ,this    
trait pervades ,his other excellences4  
,how calm was ,his piety6  ,point me1 if
 you can1 to one vehement1 passionate   
expression of  ,his religious feelings4 
,does the ,lord's ,prayer breathe a     
feverish  enthusiasm8 ,the habitual     
style of ,jesus on the subject of       
religion1  if introduced into many      
churches of ,his followers at the       
present  day1 would be charged with     
coldness4 ,the calm and the rational    
character of ,his piety is particularly 
seen in the doctrine which ,he  so      
earnestly inculcates1 that disinterested
 love and self-denying  service to our  
fellow creatures are the most acceptable
 worship we  can offer to our ,creator4 
,his benevolence1 too1 tho singularly   
earnest and deep1 was composed  and     

serene4 ,he never lost the possession of
 ,himself in ,his sympathy  with others2
 was never hurried into the impatient   
and rash  enterprises of an enthusiastic
 philanthropy2 but did good with the    
tranquility and constancy which mark the
 providence of ,god4 ,the  depth of this
 calmness may best be understood by     
considering the  opposition made to ,his
 claims4    ,his labors were everywhere 
insidiously watched and industriously   
thwarted by vindictive foes who had even
 conspired to compass1  through ,his    
death1 the ruin of ,his cause4 ,now1 a  
feverish  enthusiasm which fancies      
itself to be intrusted with a great work
 of  ,god is singularly liable to       
impatient indignation under furious and 
malignant opposition4 ,obstacles        
increase its vehemence2 it becomes  more
 eager and hurried in the accomplishment
 of its purposes1 in  proportion as they
 are withstood4    ,be it therefore     
remembered that the malignity of        
,christ's foes1  tho never surpassed1   

and for the time triumphant1 never      
robbed  ,him of self-possession1 roused 
no passion1 and threw no vehemence  or  
precipitation into ,his exertions4 ,he  
did not disguise from  ,himself or ,his 
followers the impression made on the    
multitude by  ,his adversaries4 ,he     
distinctly foresaw the violent death    
towards  which ,he was fast approaching4
 ,yet1 confiding in ,god and in the     
silent progress of ,his truth1 ,he      
possest ,his soul in peace4 ,not  only  
was ,he calm1 but ,his calmness rises   
into sublimity when we  consider the    
storms which raged around ,him and the  
vastness of the  prospects in which ,his
 spirit found repose4 ,i say then that  
serenity  and self-possession were      
peculiarly the attributes of ,jesus4 ,i 
affirm that the singular and sublime    
character claimed by ,jesus  can be     
traced neither to imposture nor to an   
ungoverned1 insane  imagination4 ,it can
 only be accounted for by its truth1 its
 reality4    ,i began with observing how

 our long familiarity with ,jesus blunts
  our minds to ,his singular excellence4
 ,we probably have often  read of the   
character which ,he claimed1 without a  
thought of its  extraordinary nature4   
,but ,i know nothing so sublime4 ,the   
plans and  labors of statesmen sink into
 the sports of children when compared   
with the work which ,jesus announced1   
and to which ,he devoted ,himself  in   
life and death with a thorough          
consciousness of its reality4    ,the   
idea of changing the moral aspect of the
 whole earth1 of  recovering all nations
 to the pure and inward worship of one  
,god  and to a spirit of divine and     
fraternal love1 was one of which we     
meet not a trace in philosopher or      
legislator before ,him4 ,the human  mind
 had given no promise of this extent of 
view4 ,the conception of  this          
enterprise1 and the calm1 unshaken      
expectation of success in  one who had  
no station and no wealth1 who cast from 
,him the sword  with abhorrence1 and who

 forbade ,his disciples to use any      
weapons  but those of love1 discover a  
wonderful trust in the power of ,god    
and the power of love2 and when to this 
we add that ,jesus looked not  only to  
the triumph of ,his pure faith in the   
present world1 but to  a mighty and     
beneficent power in ,heaven1 we witness 
a vastness of  purpose1 a grandeur of   
thought and feeling so original1 so     
superior  to the workings of all other  
minds1 that nothing but our familiarity 
can prevent our contemplation of it with
 wonder and profound awe4 99  99 99     
,here is the most striking view of      
,jesus4 ,this combination of the  spirit
 of humanity1 in its lowliest1 tenderest
 form1 with the  consciousness of       
unrivaled and divine glories1 is the    
most wonderful  distinction of this     
wonderful character4 ,here we learn the 
chief  reason why ,he chose poverty and 
refused every peculiarity of manner  and
 appearance4 ,he did this because ,he   
desired to come near to the  multitude  

of men1 to make ,himself accessible to  
all1 to pour out  the fulness of ,his   
sympathy upon all1 to know and weep over
 their  sorrows and sins1 and to        
manifest ,his interest in their         
affections  and joys4    ,i can offer   
but a few instances of this sympathy of 
,christ with  human nature in all its   
varieties of character and condition4   
,but  how beautiful are they6 ,at the   
very opening of ,his ministry we find   
,him present at a marriage to which ,he 
and ,his disciples had been  called4    
,among the ,jews this was an occasion of
 peculiar exhilaration  and festivity2  
but ,jesus did not therefore decline it4
 ,he knew what  affections1 joys1       
sorrows1 and moral influences are bound 
up in this  institution1 and ,he went to
 the celebration1 not as an ascetic1 to 
frown on its bright hopes and warm      
congratulations1 but to sanction  it by 
,his presence and to heighten its       
enjoyments4    ,how little does this    
comport with the solitary dignity which 

we  should have pronounced most         
accordant with ,his character1 and what 
a spirit of humanity does it breathe6   
,but this event stands almost  alone in 
,his history4 ,his chief sympathy was   
not with them that  rejoice1 but with   
the ignorant1 sinful1 sorrowful2 and    
with these we  find ,him cultivating an 
habitual intimacy4 ,tho so exalted in   
thought  and purpose1 ,he chose         
uneducated men to be ,his chief         
disciples2 and  ,he lived with them1 not
 as a superior1 giving occasional and   
formal  instruction1 but became their   
companion traveled with them on foot1   
slept in their dwellings1 sat at their  
tables1 partook of their  plain fare1   
communicated to them ,his truth in the  
simplest form2 and  tho they constantly 
misunderstood ,him and never perceived  
,his full  meaning1 ,he was never       
wearied with teaching them4    ,so      
familiar was ,his intercourse that we   
find ,peter reproving ,him  with an     
affectionate zeal for announcing ,his   

approaching death1 and  we find ,john   
leaning on ,his bosom4 ,of ,his last    
discourse to these  disciples ,i need   
not speak4 ,it stands alone among all   
writings for  the union of tenderness   
and majesty4 ,his own sorrows are       
forgotten  in ,his solicitude to speak  
peace and comfort to ,his humble        
followers4    ,the depth of ,his human  
sympathies was beautifully manifested   
when  children were brought ,him4 ,his  
disciples1 judging as all men would     
judge1 thought that ,he was sent to wear
 the crown of universal  empire1 had too
 great a work before ,him to give ,his  
time and  attention to children1 and    
reproved the parents who brought them2  
but ,jesus1 rebuking ,his disciples1    
called to ,him the children4  ,never1 ,i
 believe1 did childhood awaken such deep
 love as at that  moment4 ,he took them 
in ,his arms and blest them1 and not    
only said  that of such was the kingdom 
of heaven1 but added1 ,he that          
receiveth a little child in ,my name1   

receiveth ,me2 so entirely did  ,he     
identify ,himself with this primitive1  
innocent1 beautiful form of  human      
nature4    ,there was no class of human 
beings so low as to be beneath ,his     
sympathy4 ,he not merely taught the     
publican and sinner1 but1 with  all ,his
 consciousness of purity1 sat down and  
dined with them1 and1  when reproved by 
the malignant ,pharisee for such        
companionship1  answered by the touching
 parables of the ,lost ,sheep and the   
,prodigal  ,son1 and said1 ,i am come to
 seek and to save that which was lost4  
,no personal suffering dried up this    
fountain of love in ,his breast4  ,on   
,his way to the cross ,he heard some    
women of ,jerusalem bewailing  ,him1 and
 at the sound1 forgetting ,his own      
grief1 ,he turned to  them and said1    
,women of ,jerusalem1 weep not for ,me1 
but weep for  yourselves and your       
children4 ,on the cross1 whilst ,his    
mind was  divided between intense       
suffering and the contemplation of the  

infinite blessings in which ,his        
sufferings were to issue1 ,his eye      
lighted on ,his mother and ,john1 and   
the sensibilities of a son and  a friend
 mingled with the sublime consciousness 
of the universal  ,lord and ,savior4    
,never before did natural affection find
 so tender  and beautiful an utterance4 
,to ,his mother ,he said1 directing her 
to  ,john1 ,behold thy son2 ,i leave ,my
 beloved disciple to take ,my place1  to
 perform ,my filial offices1 and to     
enjoy a share of that affection  with   
which you have followed ,me through     
life2 and to ,john ,he said1  ,behold   
thy mother2 ,i bequeath to you the      
happiness of ministering  to ,my dearest
 earthly friend4 ,nor is this all4 ,the 
spirit of  humanity had one higher      
triumph4 ,whilst ,his enemies surrounded
  ,him with a malignity unsoftened by   
,his last agonies1 and1 to give  the    
keenest edge to insult1 reminded ,him   
scoffingly of the high  character and   
office which ,he had claimed1 ,his only 

notice of them  was the prayer1 ,father1
 forgive them1 they know not what they  
do4    ,thus ,jesus lived with men2 with
 the consciousness of unutterable       
majesty ,he joined a lowliness1         
gentleness1 humanity1 and sympathy1     
which have no example in human history4 
,i ask you to contemplate  this         
wonderful union4 ,in proportion to the  
superiority of ,jesus to  all around    
,him was the intimacy1 the brotherly    
love1 with which ,he  bound ,himself to 
them4 ,i maintain that this is a        
character wholly  remote from human     
conception4 ,to imagine it to be the    
production  of imposture or enthusiasm  
shows a strange unsoundness of mind4 ,i 
contemplate it with a veneration second 
only to the profound awe  with which ,i 
look up to ,god4 ,it bears no mark of   
human invention4 ,it  was real4 ,it     
belonged to and it manifested the       
beloved ,son of ,god4    ,but ,i have   
not done4 ,may ,i ask your attention a  
few moments more8  ,we have not yet     

reached the depth of ,christ's          
character4 ,we have  not touched the    
great principle on which ,his wonderful 
sympathy was  founded1 and which        
endeared to ,him ,his office of         
universal ,savior4  ,do you ask what    
this deep principle was8 ,i answer1 it  
was ,his  conviction of the greatness of
 the human soul4 ,he saw in man the     
impress and image of the ,divinity1 and 
therefore thirsted for his  redemption1 
and took the tenderest interest in him1 
whatever might  be the rank1 character1 
or condition in which he was found4     
,this  spiritual view of man pervades   
and distinguishes the teaching of       
,christ4    ,jesus looked on men with an
 eye which pierced beneath the material 
frame4 ,the body vanished before ,him4  
,the trappings of the rich1 the  rags of
 the poor1 were nothing to ,him4 ,he    
looked through them1 as  tho they did   
not exist1 to the soul2 and there1      
amidst clouds of  ignorance and         
plague-spots of sin1 ,he recognized a   

spiritual and  immortal nature1 and the 
germs of power and perfection which     
might  be unfolded forever4 ,in the most
 fallen and depraved man ,he saw a      
being who might become an angel of      
light4    ,still more1 ,he felt that    
there was nothing in ,himself to which  
men  might not ascend4 ,his own lofty   
consciousness did not sever ,him from   
the multitude2 for ,he saw in ,his own  
greatness the model of what men  might  
become4 ,so deeply was ,he thus imprest 
that1 again and again1  in speaking of  
,his future glories1 ,he announced that 
in these ,his  true followers were to   
share4 ,they were to sit on ,his throne 
and  partake of ,his beneficent power4  
,here ,i pause1 and indeed ,i know not  
what can be added to heighten  the      
wonder1 reverence1 and love which are   
due to ,jesus4 ,when ,i  consider ,him1 
not only as possest with the            
consciousness of an  unexampled and     
unbounded majesty1 but as recognizing a 
kindred  nature in human beings1 and    

living and dying to raise them to a     
participation of ,his divine glories2   
and when ,i see ,him under these  views 
allying ,himself to men by the tenderest
 ties1 embracing them  with a spirit of 
humanity which no insult1 injury1 or    
pain could  for a moment repel or       
overpower1 ,i am filled with wonder as  
well  as reverence and love4 ,i feel    
that this character is not of human     
invention1 that it was not assumed      
through fraud1 or struck out  by        
enthusiasm2 for it is infinitely above  
their reach4 ,when ,i add  this         
character of ,jesus to the other        
evidences of ,his religion1 it  gives to
 what before seemed so strange a new and
 a vast accession of  strength2 ,i feel 
as if ,i could not be deceived4    ,the 
,gospels must be true2 they were drawn  
from a living original2  they were      
founded on reality4 ,the character of   
,jesus is not a  fiction2 ,he was what  
,he claimed to be1 and what ,his        
followers  attested4 ,nor is this all4  

,jesus not only was1 ,he is still the   
,son  of ,god1 the ,savior of the world4
 ,he exists now2 ,he has entered  that  
heaven to which ,he always looked       
forward on earth4 ,there ,he  lives and 
reigns4 ,with a clear1 calm faith ,i see
 ,him in that state  of glory2 and ,i   
confidently expect1 at no distant       
period1 to see  ,him face to face4 ,we  
have indeed no absent friend whom we    
shall so  surely meet4    ,let us then1 
my hearers1 by imitation of ,his virtues
 and obedience  to ,his word1 prepare   
ourselves to join ,him in those pure    
mansions  where ,he is surrounding      
,himself with the good and pure of our  
race1  and will communicate to them     
forever ,his own spirit1 power1 and joy4
          ,,chalmers    ,,the           
,,expulsive ,,power ,,of ,a ,,new       
,,affection      ,,biographical ,,note  
,,thomas ,,chalmers1 theologian1        
preacher and philanthropist1 was  born  
at ,anstruther1 near ,st4 ,andrews1     
,scotland1 in #aghj4 ,in his            

thirty-fifth year he experienced a      
profound religious change and  became a 
pronounced1 tho independent1 evangelical
 preacher4 ,on being  appointed to the  
,tron ,church in ,glasgow1 he set about 
to face what  he called the home        
heathenism4 ,during the week days he    
delivered  his series of ,astronomical  
,discourses1 in which he endeavored  to 
bring science into harmony with         
,christianity4 ,his ,commercial         
,discourses were designed to            
,christianize the principles of trade4  
,but he reduced pauperism chiefly by    
fighting against intemperance in        
,glasgow4 ,on being transferred to ,st4 
,john's ,parish1 the largest1 but       
poorest in the city1 he made ,edward    
,irving his assistant4 ,in #ahbh he  was
 called to the chair of theology in     
,edinburgh ,university4    ,but it was  
as a preacher that he exerted most      
influence by bringing  the evangelical  
message into relations with the science1
 the  culture1 the thinking of his age4 

,in doing this he carried his  hearers  
away by the blazing force of his        
eloquence4 ,many times in  his preaching
 he was in an agony of earnestness1 and 
one of his  hearers speaks of that      
voice1 that face1 those great1 simple1  
living thoughts1 those floods of        
resistless eloquence1 that  piercing1   
shattering voice6 ,he died in #ahdg4    
,,chalmers    #aghj-ahdg    ,,the       
,,expulsive ,,power ,,of ,a ,,new       
,,affection    ,love not the world1     
neither the things that are in the      
world4 ,if  any man love the world1 the 
love of the ,father is not in him4--#a  
,john ii41 #ae4      ,there are two ways
 in which a practical moralist may      
attempt to  displace from the human     
heart its love of the world2 either by a
  demonstration of the world's vanity1  
so as that the heart shall  be prevailed
 upon simply to withdraw its regards    
from an object  that is not worthy of   
it2 or1 by setting forth another object1
  even ,god1 as more worthy of its      

attachment2 so as that the heart  shall 
be prevailed upon1 not to resign an old 
affection which  shall have nothing to  
succeed it1 but to exchange an old      
affection  for a new one4 ,my purpose is
 to show1 that from the constitution  of
 our nature1 the former method is       
altogether incompetent and              
ineffectual--and that the latter method 
will alone suffice for the  rescue and  
recovery of the heart from the wrong    
affection that  domineers over it4      
,after having accomplished this purpose1
 ,i shall  attempt a few practical      
observations4    ,love may be regarded  
in two different conditions4 ,the first 
is when  its object is at a distance1   
and when it becomes love in a state of  
desire4 ,the second is when its object  
is in possession1 and then it  becomes  
love in a state of indulgence4 ,under   
the impulse of desire1  man feels       
himself urged onward in some path or    
pursuit of activity  for its            
gratification4 ,the faculties of his    

mind are put into busy  exercise4 ,in   
the steady direction of one great and   
engrossing  interest1 his attention is  
recalled from the many reveries into    
which it might otherwise have wandered2 
and the powers of his body  are forced  
away from an indolence in which it else 
might have  languished2 and that time is
 crowded with occupation1 which but for 
some object of keen and devoted         
ambition1 might have driveled along  in 
successive hours of weariness and       
distaste--and tho hope does  not always 
enliven1 and success does not always    
crown the career  of exertion1 yet in   
the midst of this very variety1 and with
 the  alternations of occasional        
disappointment1 is the machinery of the 
whole man kept in a sort of congenial   
play1 and upholden in that  tone and    
temper which are most agreeable to it2  
insomuch that1 if  through the          
extirpation of that desire which forms  
the originating  principle of all this  
movement1 the machinery were to stop1   

and to  receive no impulse from another 
desire substituted in its place1 the    
man would be left with all his          
propensities to action in a state of    
most painful and unnatural abandonment4 
,a sensitive being suffers1  and is in  
violence1 if1 after having thoroughly   
rested from his  fatigue1 or been       
relieved from his pain1 he continue in  
possession  of powers without any       
excitement to these powers2 if he       
possess a  capacity of desire without   
having an object of desire2 or if he    
have  a spare energy upon his person1   
without a counterpart1 and without a    
stimulus to call it into operation4 ,the
 misery of such a condition  is often   
realized by him who is retired from     
business1 or who is  retired from law1  
or who is even retired from the         
occupations of the  chase1 and of the   
gaming-table4 ,such is the demand of our
 nature for  an object in pursuit1 that 
no accumulation of previous success can 
extinguish it--and thus it is1 that the 

most prosperous merchant1  and the most 
victorious general1 and the most        
fortunate gamester1  when the labor of  
their respective vocations has come to a
 close1  are often found to languish in 
the midst of all their acquisitions1  as
 if out of their kindred and rejoicing  
element4 ,it is quite in  vain1 with    
such a constitutional appetite for      
employment in man1 to  attempt cutting  
away from him the spring or the         
principle of one  employment1 without   
providing him with another4 ,the whole  
heart  and habit will rise in resistance
 against such an undertaking4 ,the  else
 unoccupied female1 who spends the hours
 of every evening at  some play of      
hazard1 knows as well as you1 that the  
pecuniary gain1  or the honorable       
triumph of a successful contest1 are    
altogether  paltry4 ,it is not such a   
demonstration of vanity as this that    
will  force her away from her dear and  
delightful occupation4 ,the habit  can  
not so be displaced as to leave nothing 

but a negative and  cheerless vacancy   
behind it--tho it may be so supplanted  
as to be  followed up by another habit  
of employment1 to which the power of    
some new affection has constrained her4 
,it is willingly suspended1  for        
example1 on any single evening1 should  
the time that is wont to  be allotted to
 gaming be required to be spent on the  
preparations of  an approaching         
assembly4    ,the ascendant power of a  
second affection will do what no        
exposition1 however forcible1 of the    
folly and worthlessness of the  first1  
ever could effectuate4 ,and it is the   
same in the great world4  ,you never    
will be able to arrest any of its       
leading pursuits by a  naked            
demonstration of their vanity4 ,it is   
quite in vain to think of  stopping one 
of these pursuits in any way else but by
 stimulating  to another4 ,in attempting
 to bring a worthy man1 intent and      
busied  with the prosecution of his     
objects1 to a dead stand1 you have not  

merely to encounter the charm which he  
annexes to these objects1  but you have 
to encounter the pleasure which he feels
 in the very  prosecution of them4 ,it  
is not enough1 then1 that you dissipate 
the charm by your moral and eloquent and
 affecting exposure of  its             
illusiveness4 ,you must address to the  
eye of his mind another  object1 with a 
charm powerful enough to dispossess the 
first of its  influence1 and to engage  
him in some other prosecution as full of
  interest and hope and congenial       
activity as the former4 ,it is this     
which stamps an impotency on all moral  
and pathetic declamation  about the     
insignificance of the world4 ,a man will
 no more consent  to the misery of being
 without an object1 because that object 
is  a trifle1 or of being without a     
pursuit1 because that pursuit           
terminates in some frivolous or fugitive
 acquirement1 than he will  voluntarily 
submit himself to the torture1 because  
that torture  is to be of short         

duration4 ,if to be without desire and  
without  exertion altogether is a state 
of violence and discomfort1 then the    
present desire1 with its correspondent  
train of exertion1 is not to  be got rid
 of simply by destroying it4 ,it must be
 by substituting  another desire1 and   
another line or habit of exertion in its
 place1  and the most effectual way of  
withdrawing the mind from one object  is
 not by turning it away upon desolate   
and unpeopled vacancy1 but  by          
presenting to its regards another object
 still more alluring4    ,these remarks 
apply not merely to love considered in  
its state of  desire for an object not  
yet obtained4 ,they apply also to love  
considered in its state of indulgence1  
or placid gratification1  with an object
 already in possession4 ,it is seldom   
that any of  our tastes are made to     
disappear by a mere process of natural  
extinction4 ,at least1 it is very seldom
 that this is done through  the         
instrumentality of reasoning4 ,it may be

 done by excessive  pampering1 but it is
 almost never done by the mere force of 
mental determination4 ,but what can not 
be thus destroyed1 may be               
dispossest--and one taste may be made to
 give way to another1 and  to lose its  
power entirely as the reigning affection
 of the mind4  ,it is thus that the boy 
ceases1 at length1 to be the slave of   
his  appetite2 but it is because a      
manlier taste has now brought it into   
subordination1 and that the youth ceases
 to idolize pleasure2 but  it is because
 the idol of wealth has become the      
stronger and gotten  the ascendency1 and
 that even the love of money ceases to  
have  the mastery over the heart of many
 a thriving citizen2 but it is  because1
 drawn into the whirl of city politics1 
another affection  has been wrought into
 his moral system1 and he is now lorded 
over  by the love of power4 ,there is   
not one of these transformations  in    
which the heart is left without an      
object4 ,its desire for one  particular 

object may be conquered2 but as to its  
desire for having  some one object or   
other1 this is unconquerable4 ,its      
adhesion to  that on which it has       
fastened the preference of its regards1 
can not  willingly be overcome by the   
rending away of a simple separation4    
,it can be done only by the application 
of something else1 to which  it may feel
 the adhesion of a still stronger and   
more powerful  preference4 ,such is the 
grasping tendency of the human heart1   
that  it must have a something to lay   
hold of--and which1 if wrested away     
without the substitution of another     
something in its place1 would  leave a  
void and a vacancy as painful to the    
mind as hunger is to  the natural       
system4 ,it may be dispossest of one    
object1 or of any1  but it can not be   
desolated of all4 ,let there be a       
breathing and  a sensitive heart1 but   
without a liking and without affinity to
  any of the things that are around it1 
and in a state of cheerless             

abandonment1 it would be alive to       
nothing but the burden of its  own      
consciousness1 and feel it to be        
intolerable4 ,it would make no          
difference to its owner1 whether he     
dwelt in the midst of a gay and  a      
goodly world1 or1 placed afar beyond the
 outskirts of creation1 he  dwelt a     
solitary unit in dark and unpeopled     
nothingness4 ,the heart  must have      
something to cling to--and never1 by its
 own voluntary  consent1 will it so     
denude itself of all its attachments    
that there  shall not be one remaining  
object that can draw or solicit it4     
,the misery of a heart thus bereft of   
all relish for that which is  wont to   
minister enjoyment1 is strikingly       
exemplified in those  who1 satiated with
 indulgence1 have been so belabored1 as 
it were1  with the variety and the      
poignancy of the pleasurable sensations 
that they have experienced1 that they   
are at length fatigued out  of all      
capacity for sensation whatever4 ,the   

disease of ennui is  more frequent in   
the ,french metropolis1 where amusement 
is more  exclusively the occupation of  
higher classes1 than it is in the       
,british metropolis1 where the longings 
of the heart are more  diversified by   
the resources of business and politics4 
,there are the  votaries of fashion1    
who1 in this way1 have at length become 
the  victims of fashionable excess2 in  
whom the very multitude of their        
enjoyments has at last extinguished     
their power of enjoyment2 who1  with the
 gratifications of art and nature at    
command1 now look upon  all that is     
around them with an eye of              
tastelessness2 who1 plied  with the     
delights of sense and of splendor even  
to weariness1 and  incapable of higher  
delights1 have come to the end of all   
their  perfection1 and1 like ,solomon of
 old1 found it to be vanity and         
vexation4 ,the man whose heart has thus 
been turned into a desert  can vouch for
 the insupportable languor which must   

ensue1 when one  affection is thus      
plucked away from the bosom1 without    
another  to replace it4 ,it is not      
necessary that a man receive pain from  
anything1 in order to become miserable4 
,it is barely enough that he  looks with
 distaste to everything1 and in that    
asylum which is the  repository of minds
 out of joint1 and where the organ of   
feeling  as well as the organ of        
intellect has been impaired1 it is not  
in  the cell of loud and frantic        
outcries where you will meet with the   
acme of mental suffering2 but that is   
the individual who outpeers  in         
wretchedness all his fellows1 who       
throughout the whole expanse  of nature 
and society meets not an object that has
 at all the power  to detain or to      
interest him2 who neither in earth      
beneath1 nor in  heaven above1 knows of 
a single charm to which his heart can   
send  forth one desirous or responding  
movement2 to whom the world1 in  his eye
 a vast and empty desolation1 has left  

him nothing but his  own consciousness  
to feed upon1 dead to all that is       
without him1  and alive to nothing but  
to the load of his own torpid and       
useless  existence4    ,we know not a   
more sweeping interdict upon the        
affections of nature1  than that which  
is delivered by the apostle in the verse
 before  us4 ,to bid a man into whom    
there is not yet entered the great  and 
ascendant influence of the principle of 
regeneration1 to bid  him withdraw his  
love from all the things that are in the
 world1  is to bid him give up all the  
affections that are in his heart4  ,the 
world is the all of a natural man4 ,he  
has not a taste1 nor a  desire1 that    
points not to a something placed within 
the confines  of its visible horizon4   
,he loves nothing above it1 and he cares
 for  nothing beyond it2 and to bid him 
love not the world is to pass a         
sentence of expulsion on all the inmates
 of his bosom4 ,to estimate  the        
magnitude and the difficulty of such a  

surrender1 let us only  think that it   
were just as arduous to prevail on him  
not to love  wealth1 which is but one of
 the things in the world1 as to prevail 
on him to set wilful fire to his own    
property4 ,this he might do  with sore  
and painful reluctance1 if he saw that  
the salvation of  his life hung upon it4
 ,but this he would do willingly if he  
saw  that a new property of tenfold     
value was instantly to emerge from  the 
wreck of the old one4 ,in this case     
there is something more than  the mere  
displacement of an affection4 ,there is 
the overbearing of  one affection by    
another4 ,but to desolate his heart of  
all love  for the things of the world   
without the substitution of any love  in
 its place1 were to him a process of as 
unnatural violence as to  destroy all   
the things he has in the world1 and give
 him nothing in  their room4 ,so if to  
love not the world be indispensable to  
one's  ,christianity1 then the          
crucifixion of the old man is not too   

strong  a term to mark that transition  
in his history1 when all old things  are
 done away1 and all things are become   
new4    ,the love of the world can not  
be expunged by a mere demonstration  of 
the world's worthlessness4 ,but may it  
not be supplanted by  the love of that  
which is more worthy than itself8 ,the  
heart can  not be prevailed upon to part
 with the world1 by a simple act of     
resignation4 ,but may not the heart be  
prevailed upon to admit into  its       
preference another1 who shall           
subordinate the world1 and bring  it    
down from its wonted ascendency8 ,if the
 throne which is placed  there must have
 an occupier1 and the tyrant that now   
reigns has  occupied it wrongfully1 he  
may not leave a bosom which would rather
  detain him than be left in desolation4
 ,but may he not give way to  the lawful
 ,sovereign1 appearing with every charm 
that can secure  ,his willing           
admittance1 and taking unto ,himself    
,his great power to  subdue the moral   

nature of man1 and to reign over it8 ,in
 a word1 if  the way to disengage the   
heart from the positive love of one     
great  and ascendant object is to fasten
 it in positive love to another1  then  
it is not by exposing the worthlessness 
of the former1 but by  addressing to the
 mental eye the worth and excellence of 
the latter1  that all old things are to 
be done away1 and all things are to     
become new4    ,this1 we trust1 will    
explain the operation of that charm     
which  accompanies the effectual        
preaching of the gospel4 ,the love of   
,god1 and the love of the world1 are two
 affections1 not merely  in a state of  
rivalship1 but in a state of enmity1 and
 that so  irreconcilable that they can  
not dwell together in the same bosom4   
,we have already affirmed how impossible
 it were for the heart1  by any innate  
elasticity of its own1 to cast the world
 away from  it1 and thus reduce itself  
to a wilderness4 ,the heart is not so   
constituted1 and the only way to        

dispossess it of an old affection  is by
 the expulsive power of a new one4      
,nothing can exceed the  magnitude of   
the required change in a man's          
character--when bidden1  as he is in the
 ,new ,testament1 to love not the world2
 no1 nor any  of the things that are in 
the world--for this so comprehends all  
that is dear to him in existence as to  
be equivalent to a command  of          
self-annihilation4 ,but the same        
revelation which dictates so  mighty an 
obedience places within our reach as    
mighty an instrument  of obedience4 ,it 
brings for admittance1 to the very door 
of our  heart1 an affection which1 once 
seated upon its throne1 will either     
subordinate every previous inmate1 or   
bid it away4 ,beside the world  it      
places before the eye of the mind ,him  
who made the world1 and  with this      
peculiarity1 which is all its own--that 
in the gospel do  we so behold ,god as  
that we may love ,god4 ,it is there1 and
 there  only1 where ,god stands revealed

 as an object of confidence to          
sinners--and where our desire after ,him
 is not chilled into apathy  by that    
barrier of human guilt which intercepts 
every approach  that is not made to ,him
 through the appointed ,mediator4 ,it is
 the  bringing in of this better hope1  
whereby we draw nigh unto ,god--and  to 
live without hope is to live without    
,god1 and if the heart be  without ,god 
the world will then have all the        
ascendency4 ,it is ,god  apprehended by 
the believer as ,god in ,christ who     
alone can dispost  it from this         
ascendency4 ,it is when ,he stands      
dismantled of the  terrors which belong 
to ,him as an offended lawgiver1 and    
when we  are enabled by faith1 which is 
,his own gift1 to see ,his glory in  the
 face of ,jesus ,christ1 and to hear    
,his beseeching voice1 as it  protests  
good-will to men1 and entreats the      
return of all who will  to a full       
pardon1 and a gracious acceptance--it is
 then that a love  paramount to the love

 of the world1 and at length expulsive  
of it1  first arises in the regenerating
 bosom4 ,it is when released from  the  
spirit of bondage1 with which love can  
not dwell1 and when  admitted into the  
number of ,god's children1 through the  
faith that  is in ,christ ,jesus1 the   
spirit of adoption is poured upon us--it
  is then that the heart1 brought under 
the mastery of one great and            
predominant affection1 is delivered from
 the tyranny of its former  desires1 and
 in the only way in which deliverance is
 possible4 ,and  that faith which is    
revealed to us from heaven1 as          
indispensable to  a sinner's            
justification in the sight of ,god1 is  
also the instrument  of the greatest of 
all moral and spiritual achievements on 
a  nature dead to the influence1 and    
beyond the reach of every other         
application4    ,let us not cease then  
to ply the only instrument of powerful  
and  positive operation1 to do away from
 you the love of the world4 ,let  us try

 every legitimate method of finding     
access to your hearts for  the love of  
,him who is greater than the world4 ,for
 this purpose  let us1 if possible1     
clear away that shroud of unbelief which
 so  hides and darkens the face of      
,deity4 ,let us insist on ,his claims to
  your affection2 and whether in the    
shape of gratitude1 or in the  shape of 
esteem1 let us never cease to affirm    
that in the whole of  that wondrous     
economy1 the purpose of which is to     
reclaim a sinful  world unto ,himself1  
,he1 the ,god of love1 so sets ,himself 
forth in  characters of endearment that 
naught but faith1 and naught but        
understanding are wanting1 on your part1
 to call forth the love of  your hearts 
back again4    ,and here let me advert  
to the incredulity of a worldly man when
  he brings his own sound and secular   
experience to bear upon the  high       
doctrines of ,christianity1 when he     
looks on regeneration as  a thing       
impossible1 when1 feeling1 as he does1  

the obstinacies  of his own heart on the
 side of things present1 and casting an 
intelligent eye1 much exercised perhaps 
in the observation of  human life1 on   
the equal obstinacies of all who are    
around him1 he  pronounces this whole   
matter about the crucifixion of the old 
man1  and the resurrection of a new man 
in his place1 to be in downright        
opposition to all that is known and     
witnessed of the real nature of         
humanity4 ,we think that we have seen   
such men1 who1 firmly trenched  in their
 own vigorous and home-bred sagacity1   
and shrewdly regardful  of all that     
passes before them through the week1 and
 upon the  scenes of ordinary business1 
look on that transition of the heart  by
 which it gradually dies unto time1 and 
awakens in all the life  of a new-felt  
and ever-growing desire toward ,god1 as 
a mere ,sabbath  speculation2 and who   
thus1 with all their attention engrossed
 upon  the concerns of earthliness1     
continue unmoved1 to the end of their   

days1 among the feelings1 and the       
appetites1 and the pursuits of          
earthliness4 ,if the thought of death1  
and another state of being  after it1   
comes across them at all1 it is not with
 a change so  radical as that of being  
born again that they ever connect the   
idea  of preparation4 ,they have some   
vague conception of its being quite     
enough that they acquit themselves in   
some decent and tolerable  way of their 
relative obligations2 and that1 upon the
 strength of  some such social and      
domestic moralities as are often        
realized by  him in whose heart the love
 of ,god has never entered1 they will be
  transplanted in safety from this      
world1 where ,god is the ,being with    
whom1 it may almost be said that1 they  
have had nothing to do1 to  that world  
where ,god is the ,being with whom they 
will have mainly  and immediately to do 
throughout all eternity4 ,they will     
admit all  that is said of the utter    
vanity of time1 when taken up with as  a

 resting-place4 ,but they resist every  
application made upon the  heart of man1
 with the view of so shifting its       
tendencies that it  shall not henceforth
 find in the interests of time all its  
rest  and all its refreshment4 ,they1 in
 fact1 regard such an attempt as  an    
enterprise that is altogether           
aerial--and with a tone of secular      
wisdom1 caught from the familiarities of
 every day of experience1  do they see a
 visionary character in all that is said
 of setting  our affections on the      
things that are above2 and of walking by
  faith2 and of keeping our hearts in   
such a love of ,god as shall shut  out  
from them the love of the world2 and of 
having no confidence  in the flesh2 and 
of so renouncing earthly things as to   
have our  conversation in heaven4       
,now1 it is altogether worthy of being  
remarked of those men who  thus         
disrelish spiritual ,christianity1 and1 
in fact1 deem it an  impracticable      
acquirement1 how much of a piece their  

incredulity  about the demands of       
,christianity1 and their incredulity    
about the  doctrines of ,christianity1  
are with one another4 ,no wonder that   
they  feel the work of the ,new         
,testament to be beyond their strength1 
so  long as they hold the words of the  
,new ,testament to be beneath their     
attention4 ,neither they nor anyone else
 can dispossess the heart  of an old    
affection1 but by the impulsive power of
 a new one--and1  if that new affection 
be the love of ,god1 neither they nor   
anyone  else can be made to entertain   
it1 but on such a representation of  the
 ,deity as shall draw the heart of the  
sinner toward ,him4 ,now  it is just    
their belief which screens from the     
discernment of  their minds this        
representation4 ,they do not see the    
love of ,god  in sending ,his ,son into 
the world4 ,they do not see the         
expression  of ,his tenderness to men1  
in sparing ,him not1 but giving ,him up 
unto the death for us all4 ,they do not 

see the sufficiency of the  atonement1  
or of the sufferings that were endured  
by ,him who bore  the burden that       
sinners should have borne4 ,they do not 
see the  blended holiness and compassion
 of the ,godhead1 in that ,he passed  by
 the transgressions of ,his creatures1  
yet could not pass them by  without an  
expiation4 ,it is a mystery to them how 
a man should pass  to the state of      
godliness from a state of nature--but   
had they only  a believing view of ,god 
manifest in the flesh1 this would       
resolve  for them the whole mystery of  
godliness4 ,as it is1 they can not get  
quit of their old affections1 because   
they are out of sight from  all those   
truths which have influence to raise a  
new one4 ,they are  like the children of
 ,israel in the land of ,egypt1 when    
required to  make bricks without straw  
they cannot love ,god1 while they want  
the  only food which can aliment this   
affection in a sinner's bosom--and      
however great their errors may be1 both 

in resisting the demands of  the gospel 
as impracticable1 and in rejecting the  
doctrines of the  gospel as             
inadmissible1 yet there is not a        
spiritual man 7and it is  the           
prerogative of him who is spiritual to  
judge all men7 who will  not perceive   
that there is a consistency in these    
errors4    ,but if there be a           
consistency in the errors1 in like      
manner1 is  there a consistency in the  
truths which are opposite to them8 ,the 
man who believes in the peculiar        
doctrines will readily bow to  the      
peculiar demands of ,christianity4 ,when
 he is told to love ,god  supremely1    
this may startle another1 but it will   
not startle him  to whom ,god has been  
revealed in peace1 and in pardon1 and in
 all  the freeness of an offered        
reconciliation4 ,when told to shut out  
the world from his heart1 this may be   
impossible with him who has  nothing to 
replace it--but not impossible with him 
who has found  in ,god a sure and       

satisfying portion4 ,when told to       
withdraw his  affections from the things
 that are beneath1 this were laying  an 
order of self-extinction upon the man1  
who knows not another  quarter in the   
whole sphere of his contemplation to    
which he could  transfer them1 but it   
were not grievous to him whose view had 
been  opened to the loveliness and glory
 of the things that are above1  and can 
there find1 for every feeling of his    
soul1 a most ample and  delighted       
occupation4 ,when told to look not to   
the things that are  seen and temporal1 
this were blotting out the light of all 
that is  visible from the prospect of   
him in whose eye there is a wall of     
partition between guilty nature and the 
joys of eternity--but he who  believes  
that ,christ has broken down this wall  
finds a gathering  radiance upon his    
soul1 as he looks onward in faith to the
 things  that are unseen and eternal4   
,tell a man to be holy--and how can he  
compass such a performance1 when his    

fellowship with holiness is a           
fellowship of despair8 ,it is the       
atonement of the cross reconciling  the 
holiness of the lawgiver with the safety
 of the offender1 that  hath opened the 
way for a sanctifying influence into the
 sinner's  heart1 and he can take a     
kindred impression from the character of
  ,god now brought nigh1 and now at     
peace with him4 ,separate the demand    
from the doctrine1 and you have either a
 system of righteousness  that is       
impracticable1 or a barren orthodoxy4   
,bring the demand and  the doctrine     
together1 and the true disciple of      
,christ is able to  do the one1 through 
the other strengthening him4 ,the motive
 is  adequate to the movement2 and the  
bidden obedience to the gospel is  not  
beyond the measure of his strength1 just
 because the doctrine of  the gospel is 
not beyond the measure of his           
acceptance4 ,the shield  of faith1 and  
the hope of salvation1 and the ,word of 
,god1 and the  girdle of truth1 these   

are the armor that he has put on2 and   
with  these the battle is won1 and the  
eminence is reached1 and the man  stands
 on the vantage ground of a new field   
and a new prospect4 ,the  effect is     
great1 but the cause is equal to it1 and
 stupendous as  this moral resurrection 
to the precepts of ,christianity        
undoubtedly  is1 there is an element of 
strength enough to give it being and    
continuance in the principles of        
,christianity4    ,the object of the    
gospel is both to pacify the sinner's   
conscience  and to purify his heart2 and
 it is of importance to observe1 that   
what mars the one of these objects mars 
the other also4 ,the best  way of       
casting out an impure affection is to   
admit a pure one2 and  by the love of   
what is good to expel the love of what  
is evil4 ,thus  it is1 that the freer   
gospel1 the more sanctifying is the     
gospel2  and the more it is received as 
a doctrine of grace1 the more will  it  
be felt as a doctrine according to      

godliness4 ,this is one of the  secrets 
of the ,christian life1 that the more a 
man holds of ,god as  a pensioner1 the  
greater is the payment of service that  
,he renders  back again4 ,on the venture
 of ,do this and live1 a spirit of      
fearfulness is sure to enter2 and the   
jealousies of a legal bargain  chase    
away all confidence from the intercourse
 between ,god and man2  and the creature
 striving to be square and even with his
 creator  is1 in fact1 pursuing all the 
while his own selfishness instead  of   
,god's glory2 and with all the          
conformities which he labors to         
accomplish1 the soul of obedience is not
 there1 the mind is not  subject to the 
law of ,god1 nor indeed under such an   
economy ever can  be4 ,it is only when1 
as in the gospel1 acceptance is bestowed
 as a  present1 without money and       
without price1 that the security which  
man feels in ,god is placed beyond the  
reach of disturbance1 or that  he can   
repose in ,him as one friend reposes in 

another2 or that any  liberal and       
generous understanding can be           
established betwixt them1  the one party
 rejoicing over the other to do him     
good1 the other  finding that the truest
 gladness of his heart lies in the      
impulse  of a gratitude by which it is  
awakened to the charms of a new moral   
existence4 ,salvation by                
grace--salvation by free                
grace--salvation  not of works1 but     
according to the mercy of ,god1         
salvation on such a  footing is not more
 indispensable to the deliverance of our
 persons  from the hand of justice than 
it is to the deliverance of our hearts  
from the chill and the weight of        
ungodliness4 ,retain a single shred  or 
fragment of legality with the gospel1   
and you raise a topic of  distrust      
between man and ,god4 ,you take away    
from the power of the  gospel to melt   
and to conciliate4 ,for this purpose the
 freer it is  the better it is4 ,that   
very peculiarity which so many dread as 

the  germ of ,antinomianism1 is1 in     
fact1 the germ of a new spirit and a    
new inclination against it4 ,along with 
the lights of a free gospel  does there 
enter the love of the gospel1 which1 in 
proportion as you  impair the freeness1 
you are sure to chase away4 ,and never  
does the  sinner find within himself so 
mighty a moral transformation as when1  
under the belief that he is saved by    
grace1 he feels constrained  thereby to 
offer his heart a devoted thing1 and to 
deny ungodliness4    ,to do any work in 
the best manner1 you would make use of  
the fittest  tools for it4 ,and we trust
 that what has been said may serve in   
some degree for the practical guidance  
of those who would like to  reach the   
great moral achievement of our text1 but
 feel that the  tendencies and desires  
of nature are too strong for them4 ,we  
know  of no other way by which to keep  
the love of the world out of our  heart 
than to keep in our hearts the love of  
,god--and no other way  by which to keep

 our hearts in the love of ,god1 than by
 building  ourselves on our most holy   
faith4 ,that denial of the world which  
is not possible to him that dissents    
from the gospel testimony1 is  possible1
 even as all things are possible1 to him
 that believeth4  ,to try this without  
faith is to work without the right tool 
or  the right instrument4 ,but faith    
worketh by love2 and the way of         
expelling from the heart the love that  
transgresseth the law is to  admit into 
its receptacles the love which          
fulfilleth the law4    ,conceive a man  
to be standing on the margin of this    
green world1 and  that1 when he looked  
toward it1 he saw abundance smiling upon
 every  field1 and all the blessings    
which earth can afford scattered in     
profusion throughout every family1 and  
the light of the sun sweetly  resting   
upon all the pleasant habitations1 and  
the joys of human  companionship        
brightening many a happy circle of      
society2 conceive  this to be the       

general character of the scene upon one 
side of his  contemplation1 and that on 
the other1 beyond the verge of the      
goodly  planet on which he was situated1
 he could descry nothing but a dark  and
 fathomless unknown4 ,think you that he 
would bid a voluntary  adieu to all the 
brightness and all the beauty that were 
before  him upon earth1 and commit      
himself to the frightful solitude away  
from it8 ,would he leave its peopled    
dwelling places1 and become a  solitary 
wanderer through the fields of          
nonentity8 ,if space offered  him       
nothing but a wilderness1 would he for  
it abandon the home-bred  scenes of life
 and cheerfulness that lay so near1 and 
exerted such  a power of urgency to     
detain him8 ,would not he cling to the  
regions  of sense1 and of life1 and of  
society8 ,shrinking away from the       
desolation that was beyond it1 would not
 he be glad to keep his firm  footing on
 the territory of this world1 and to    
take shelter under  the silver canopy   

that was stretched over it8    ,but if1 
during the time of his contemplation1   
some happy island of  the blest had     
floated by1 and there had burst upon his
 senses the  light of surpassing        
glories1 and its sounds of sweeter      
melody1 and  he clearly saw there a     
purer beauty rested upon every field1   
and a  more heartfelt joy spread itself 
among all the families1 and he  could   
discern there a peace1 and a piety1 and 
a benevolence which  put a moral        
gladness into every bosom1 and united   
the whole society  in one rejoicing     
sympathy with each other1 and with the  
beneficent  ,father of them all4 ,could 
he further see that pain and mortality  
were there unknown1 and above all1 that 
signals of welcome were hung  out1 and  
an avenue of communication was made     
before him--perceive  you not that what 
was before the wilderness1 would become 
the land  of invitation1 and that now   
the world would be the wilderness8      
,what unpeopled space could not do1 can 

be done by space teeming  with beatific 
scenes1 and beatific society4 ,and let  
the existing  tendencies of the heart be
 what they may to the scene that is near
  and visible around us1 still if       
another stood revealed to the  prospect 
of man1 either through the channel of   
faith or through  the channel of his    
senses--then1 without violence done to  
the  constitution of his moral nature1  
may he die unto the present world1  and 
live to the lovelier world that stands  
in the distance away from  it4          
,,campbell    ,,the ,,missionary ,,cause
      ,,biographical ,,note             
,,alexander ,,campbell1 prominent in the
 body known as ,disciples or            
,christians1 was born in ,ireland in    
#aghh1 and received his education  in   
,glasgow ,university4 ,in #ahji he      
emigrated to the ,united ,states  and   
took charge of a ,presbyterian          
congregation in ,bethany1 ,va4 ,he  did 
not long remain in this pastorate1 but  
proceeded to institute a  society based 

upon the abolition of all confessions   
and formularies  and the acknowledgment 
of the text of the ,holy ,scriptures as 
the  sole creed of the ,church4 ,in     
#ahda he founded ,bethany ,college      
7,bethany1 ,va471 and remained its      
president until his death in #ahff4  ,in
 #ahbc he founded the ,christian        
,baptist1 changed its name in #ahbi  to 
the ,millennial ,harbinger1 but         
abandoned it three years before  his    
death4 ,he was a prolific controversial 
writer and published over  fifty        
volumes1 among which were hymn books and
 a translation of the  ,new ,testament4 
,,campbell    #aghh-ahff    ,,the       
,,missionary ,,cause#a      #a          
,delivered to the ,american ,christian  
,missionary ,society1    ,cincinnati1   
,october1 #ahfj4    ,he that winneth    
souls is wise4--,prov4 xi41 #cj4        
,the missionary cause is older than the 
material universe4 ,it was  celebrated  
by ,job--the oldest poet on the pages of
 time4    ,jehovah challenges ,job to   

answer ,him a few questions on the      
institutions of the universe4 ,gird up  
now thy loins1 said ,he2 and  ,i will   
demand of thee a few responses4 ,where  
wast thou when ,i laid  the foundations 
of the earth8 ,declare1 if thou hast    
understanding4  ,who has fixt the       
measure thereof8 ,or who has stretched  
the line upon  it8 ,what are the        
foundations thereof8 ,who has laid the  
corner-stone  thereof when the morning  
stars sang together1 and all the sons of
  ,god shouted for joy8 ,who shut up the
 sea with doors when it burst  forth    
issuing from the womb of eternity--when 
,i made a cloud its  garment1 and thick 
darkness its swaddling band8 ,i         
appointed its  limits1 saying1 ,thus far
 shalt thou come1 but no farther2 and   
here  shall the pride of thy waves be   
stayed4    ,has the rain a father8 ,who 
has begotten the drops of the dew8 ,who 
was the mother of the ice8 ,and the     
hoar-frost of heaven1 who has  begotten 
it8 ,can mortal man bind the bands of   

the ,seven ,stars1 or  loose the cords  
of ,orion8 ,can he bring forth and      
commission the  twelve signs of the     
,zodiac1 or bind ,arcturus with his     
seven sons8    ,knowest thou1 oh man1   
the missionaries of the starry heavens8 
,canst  thou lift up thy voice to the   
clouds1 that abundance of waters may    
cover thee8 ,canst thou command the     
lightnings1 so that they may say  to    
thee1 ,here we are8 ,who can number the 
clouds in wisdom8 ,or who  can pour out 
the bottles of heaven upon the thirsty  
fields8    ,if such be a single page in 
the volume of ,god's physical           
missionaries1 what must be its contents 
could we1 by the telescope  of an angel1
 survey one single province of the      
universe1 of  universes1 which occupy   
topless1 bottomless1 boundless space6   
,we have data in the ,bible1 and1 in the
 phenomena of the material  universe1   
sufficient to authorize the assumption  
that the missionary  idea circumscribes 
and permeates the entire area of        

creations4    ,need we inquire into the 
meaning of a celestial title given to   
the  tenantries of the heaven of        
heavens8 ,but you all1 my ,christian    
brethren1 know it4 ,you anticipate me4  
,the sweet poet of ,israel told  you    
long since1 in his sixty-eighth ode1    
that the chariots of ,god  are about    
twenty thousand of angels4#b      #b    
,this is an exact literal version of    
,rebotayim alphey shenan4    ,the       
,targum says1 ,the chariots of ,god are 
two myriads--and two    thousand angels 
draw them4 ,a myriad is #aj1jjj--two    
myriads #bj1jjj4    ,to know this1 ,adam
 ,clarke says1 we must die4    ,and what
 is an angel but a messenger1 a         
missionary8 ,hence the seven  angels of 
the seven churches in ,asia were seven  
missionaries1 or  messengers1 sent to   
,john in his exile2 and by these ,john  
wrote  letters to the seven             
congregations in ,asia4                 
,figuratively1 ,god makes the winds and 
lightnings his angels1 his  messengers  

of wrath or of mercy1 as the case may   
be4    ,but we are a missionary         
society--a society assembled from all   
points  of the compass1 assembled1 too1 
we hope1 in the true missionary  spirit1
 which is the spirit of ,christianity in
 its primordial  conception4 ,god       
,himself instituted it4 ,moses is the   
oldest  missionary whose name is        
inscribed on the rolls of time4    ,he  
was the first divine missionary1 and1 if
 we except ,john the  ,baptist1 he was  
the second in rank and character to the 
,lord ,messiah  ,himself4    ,angels and
 missionaries are rudimentally but two  
names for the same  officers4 ,but of   
the incarnate ,word1 ,god's only        
begotten ,son1 ,he  says1 ,thou art my  
son1 the beloved1 in whom ,i delight4   
,and ,he  commands the world of humanity
 to hearken to ,him4 ,he was1 indeed1   
,god's own special ambassador1 invested 
with all power in heaven  and on        
earth--a true1 a real1 an everlasting   
plenipotentiary1  having vested in ,him 

all the rights of ,god and all the      
rights of  man4 ,and were not all the   
angels of heaven placed under ,him as   
,his  missionaries1 sent forth to       
minister to the heirs of salvation8     
,his commission1 given to the twelve    
apostles1 is a splendid and  glorious   
commission4 ,its preamble is wholly     
unprecedented--,all  authority in heaven
 and on earth is given to me4 ,in       
pursuance  thereof1 he gave commission  
to ,his apostles1 saying1 ,go1 convert  
all the nations1 immersing them into the
 name of the ,father1 and  of the ,son1 
and of the ,holy ,spirit2 teaching them 
to observe all  things whatever ,i have 
commanded you2 and1 lo1 ,i am with you  
always1  even to the end of the world4  
,angels1 apostles and evangelists  were 
placed under this command1 and by ,him  
commissioned as ,his  ambassadors to the
 world4    ,the missionary institution1 
we repeat1 is older than ,adam--older   
than our earth4 ,it is coeval with the  
origin of angels4    ,satan had been    

expelled from heaven before ,adam was   
created4 ,his  assault upon our mother  
,eve1 by an incarnation in the most     
subtle  animal in ,paradise1 is positive
 proof of the intensity of his          
malignity to ,god and to man4 ,he1 too1 
has his missionaries in the  whole area 
of humanity4 ,michael and his angels1 or
 missionaries1  are1 and long have been1
 in conflict against the devil and his  
missionaries4 ,the battle1 in this our  
planet1 is yet in progress1  and        
therefore missionaries are in perpetual 
demand4 ,hence the  necessity incumbent 
on us to carry on this warfare as loyal 
subjects  of the ,hero of our           
redemption4    ,the ,christian armory is
 well supplied with all the weapons     
essential  to the conflict4 ,we need    
them all4 ,we wrestle not against flesh 
and blood1 but against principalities1  
against powers1 against the  rulers of  
the darkness of this world1 against     
wicked spirits in the  regions of the   
air4 ,hence the need of having our loins

 girded with  the truth2 having on the  
breastplate of righteousness1 our feet  
shod with the preparation to publish the
 gospel of peace1 taking  the shield of 
faith1 the helmet of salvation and the  
sword of the  ,spirit1 the ,word of     
,god1 always praying and making         
supplication for  our                   
fellow-missionaries and for all saints4 
,the missionary fields are numerous and 
various4 ,they are both  domestic and   
foreign4 ,the harvest is great in both4 
,the laborers are  still few1           
comparatively very few1 in either of    
them4    ,the supply is not a tithe of  
the demand4 ,the ,macedonians cry1 ,come
  over and help us2 ,send us an         
evangelist2 ,send us missionaries2  ,the
 fields are large1 the people are       
desirous1 anxious1 to hear  the original
 gospel4 ,what can you do for us8       
,nothing6 ,nothing6 ,my  brethren1 ought
 this so to be8    ,schools for the     
prophets are wanting4 ,but there is a   
too general  apathy or indifference on  

the subject4 ,we pray to the ,lord of   
the  harvest to send our reapers to     
gather it into ,his garner4 ,but what   
do we besides praying for it8 ,do we    
work for it8 ,suppose a farmer  should  
pray to the ,lord for an abundant       
harvest next year1 and  should never1 in
 seed-time1 turn over one furrow or     
scatter one  handful of seed3 what would
 we think of him8 ,would not his        
neighbors  regard him as a monomaniac or
 a simpleton8 ,and wherein does he excel
  such a one in wisdom or in prudence   
who prays to the ,lord to send  out     
reapers--missionaries1 or               
evangelists--to gather a harvest of     
souls1 when he himself never gives a    
dollar to a missionary1 or the  value of
 it1 to enable him to go into the field8
 ,can such a person  be in earnest1 or  
have one sincere desire in his heart to 
effect  such an object or purpose8 ,we  
must confess that we could have no      
faith either in his head or in his      
heart4    ,the heavenly missionaries    

require neither gold nor silver1 neither
  food nor raiment4 ,not so the earthly 
missionaries4 ,they themselves1  their  
wives and children1 demand both food and
 clothing1 to say  nothing of houses and
 furniture4 ,their present home is not  
,the gorgeous city1 garnish'd like a    
bride1         ,where ,christ for spouse
 expected is to pass1       ,the walls  
of jasper compass'd on each side1       
,and streets all paved with gold1 more  
bright than glass4    ,if such were the 
missionary's home on earth1 he might1   
indeed1  labor gratuitously all the days
 of his life4 ,in an humble             
cottage--rather an unsightly cabin--we  
sometimes see the wife of  his youth1 in
 garments quite as unsightly as those of
 her children1  impatiently waiting     
their sire's return1 to climb to his    
knees the  envied kiss to share4 ,but1  
when the supper table is spread1 what a 
beggarly account of almost empty plates 
and dishes6 ,whose soul would  not      
sicken at such a sight8 ,i have twice1  

if not thrice1 in days  gone by1 when   
travelling on my early missionary       
tours--over not the  poorest lands nor  
the poorest settlements1                
either--witnessed some  such cases1 and 
heard of more4    ,i was then my own    
missionary1 with the consent1 however1  
of one  church4 ,i desired to mingle    
with all classes of religious society1  
that ,i might personally and truthfully 
know1 not the theories1 but  the facts  
and the actualities1 of the ,christian  
ministry and the  so-called ,christian  
public4 ,i spent a considerable portion 
of my  time during the years #ahab1     
'#ac1 '#ad1 '#ae1 '#af1 traveling       
throughout  western ,virginia1          
,pennsylvania1 and ,ohio4    ,i then    
spent seven years in reviewing my past  
studies1 and in  teaching the languages 
and the sciences--after which ,i        
extended my  evangelical labors into    
other ,states and communities1 that ,i  
might  still more satisfactorily        
apprehend and appreciate the status1  or

 the actual condition1 of the nominally 
and profest religious or  ,christian    
world4    ,having shortly after my      
baptism connected myself with the       
,baptist  people1 and attending their   
associations as often as ,i could1 ,i   
became more and more penetrated with the
 conviction that theory  had usurped the
 place of faith1 and that consequently1 
human  institutions had been1 more or   
less1 substituted for the apostolic  and
 the divine4    ,during this period of  
investigation ,i had the pleasure of    
forming an  intimate acquaintance with  
sundry ,baptist ministers1 ,east and    
,west1  as well as with the ministry of 
other denominations4 ,flattering        
prospects of usefulness on all sides    
began to expand before me  and to       
inspire me with the hope of achieving a 
long-cherished  object--doing some good 
in the advocacy of the primitive and    
apostolic gospel--having in the year    
#ahbj a discussion on the  subject of   
the first positive institution enacted  

by the ,lord  ,messiah1 and in ,a4 ,d4  
#ahbc another on the same subject--the  
former  more especially on the subject  
and action of ,christian baptism1  the  
latter more emphatically on the design  
of that institution tho  including the  
former two4    ,these discussions1 more 
or less1 embraced the rudimental        
elements  of the ,christian institution1
 and gave to the public a bold relief   
outline of the whole genius1 spirit1    
letter and doctrine of the  gospel4     
,its missionary spirit1 tho not formally
 propounded1 was yet  indicated1 in     
these discussions2 because this         
institution was the  terminus of the    
missionary work4 ,it was a component    
element of  the gospel1 as clearly seen 
in the commission of the enthroned      
,messiah4 ,its preamble is the          
superlative fact of the whole ,bible4   
,we regret1 indeed1 that this most      
sublime preamble has been so much  lost 
sight of even by the present living     
generation4 ,if we ask when  the ,church

 of ,jesus ,christ began or when the    
reign of the ,heavens  commenced1 the   
answer1 in what is usually called       
,christendom1 will  make it either to be
 contemporaneous with the ministry of   
,john the  ,harbinger1 or with the birth
 of the ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,we will  
find one of these two opinions almost   
universally entertained4  ,the ,baptists
 are generally much attached to ,john   
the ,baptist2 the  ,pedobaptists1 to the
 commencement of ,christ's public       
ministry4  ,john the ,baptist was the   
first ,christian missionary with a very 
considerable class of living ,baptists2 
the birth of ,christ is the  most       
popular and orthodox theory at the      
respective meridians of  ,lutheranism1  
,calvinism1 and ,arminianism4    ,but1  
by the more intelligent1 the            
resurrection1 or the ascension  of the  
,lord ,jesus ,christ1 is generally      
regarded as the definite  commencement  
of the ,christian age or institution4   
,give us ,paul's or ,peter's testimony1 

against that of all  theologians1 living
 or dead4 ,let us look at the facts4    
,did not the ,savior teach ,his personal
 pupils1 or disciples1 to  pray1 ,thy   
kingdom--more truthfully1 ,thy          
reign--come8 ,does any  king's reign or 
kingdom commence with his birth8 ,still 
less with his  death8 ,did not our      
,savior ,himself1 in person1 decline the
 honors of  a worldly or temporal       
prince8 ,did ,he not declare that ,his  
kingdom  is not of this world8 ,did ,he 
not say that ,he was going hence1 or    
leaving this world1 to receive or obtain
 a kingdom8 ,and were not the  keys of  
the kingdom first given to ,peter to    
open1 to announce it8  ,and did he not1 
when in ,jerusalem1 on the first        
,pentecost1 after the  ascension of the 
,lord ,jesus1 make a public             
proclamation1 saying1  ,let all the     
house of ,israel know assuredly that    
,god has made 7or  constituted7 the     
identical ,jesus of ,nazareth1 the son  
of ,mary1 both  the ,lord and the       

,christ1 or the anointed ,lord8    ,do  
kings reign before they are crowned8    
,before they are anointed8  ,there was  
not a ,christian ,church on earth1 or   
any man called a  ,christian1 until     
after the consecration and coronation of
 ,jesus of  ,nazareth as the ,christ of 
,god4    ,the era of a son's birth was  
never1 since the world began1 the era   
of his reign or of the commencement of  
it4 ,it is a strange fact1  to me a     
wonderful fact1 and1 considering the age
 in which we live1  an overwhelming     
fact1 that we1 as a community1 are the  
only people  on the checkered map of all
 ,christendom1 ,greek1 ,roman1 ,anglican
 or  ,american1 that preach and teach   
that the commonly called ,christian  era
 is not the era or the commencement of  
the ,christian ,church or  kingdom of   
the ,lord ,jesus the ,christ4    ,the   
kingdom of the ,christ could not        
antedate ,his coronation4  ,hence       
,peter1 in announcing ,his coronation1  
after ,his ascension1  proclaimed1      

saying1 ,let all the house of ,israel   
know assuredly  that ,god has           
made--touton ton ,ieesoun--the same1 the
 identical  ,jesus whom you have        
crucified1 both ,lord and ,christ2 or1  
in other  words1 has crowned ,him the   
legitimate ,lord of all4 ,then indeed   
,his  reign began4 ,then was verified   
the oracle uttered by the royal  bard of
 ,israel1 ,jehovah said to my           
,jehovah--or1 the ,lord said  to my     
,lord1--,sit thou on my right hand till 
,i make thy foes thy  footstool4        
,hence ,he could say1 and did say1 to   
,his apostles1 ,all authority in  the   
heavens and on the earth is given to me4
 ,in pursuance thereof1  ,go you into   
all the world1 proclaim the gospel to   
the whole  creation2 assuring them that 
everyone who believes this proclamation 
and is immersed into the name of the    
,father1 and of the ,son1 and of  the   
,holy ,spirit1 shall be saved4    ,here1
 then1 the missionary field is declared 
to be the whole  world--the broad earth4

 ,they were1 as we are afterwards       
informed1  to begin at the first capital
 in the land of ,judea1 then to proceed 
to ,samaria1 the capital of the ten     
tribes1 and thence to the last  domicile
 of man on earth4    ,there was1 and    
there is still1 in all this arrangement1
 a gracious  and a glorious propriety4  
,the ,jews had murdered the ,messiah    
under the false charge of an  impostor4 
,was it not1 then1 divinely grand and   
supremely glorious to  make this awfully
 bloodstained capital the beginning1 the
 fountain1  of the gospel age and       
mission8 ,hence it was decreed that all 
the  earth should be the parish1 and all
 the nations and languages  of earth the
 objects1 and millions of them the      
subjects1 of the  redeeming grace and   
tender mercies of our ,savior and our   
,god4    ,what an extended and still    
extending area is the missionary field6 
,there are the four mighty realms of    
,pagandom1 of ,papaldom1 of             
,mohammedandom and of ecclesiastic      

,sectariandom4 ,these are1 one and  all1
 essentially and constitutionally1 more 
or less1 not of the  apostolic          
,christendom4    ,the divinely inspired 
constitution of the ,church contains    
only  seven articles4 ,these are the    
seven hills1 not of ,rome1 but of the   
true ,zion of ,israel's ,god4 ,paul's   
summary of them is found in the         
following words3 ,one body1 one spirit1 
one hope1 one ,lord1 one  faith1 one    
baptism1 and one ,god and ,father of    
all4    ,the clear perception1 the      
grateful reception1 the cordial         
entertainment of these seven divinely   
constructed and instituted  pillars1 are
 the alone sufficient1 and the          
all-sufficient1  foundation--the        
indestructible basis--of ,christ's      
kingdom on this  earth1 and of man's    
spiritual and eternal salvation in the  
full  enjoyment of himself1 his         
,creator1 his ,redeemer1 and the whole  
universe of spiritual intelligence      
through all the circles and  the cycles 

of an infinite1 an everlasting future of
 being and of  blessedness4    ,the     
missionary spirit is1 indeed1 an        
emanation of the whole ,godhead4  ,god  
the ,father sent ,his ,son1 ,his only   
begotten ,son1 into our world4  ,the    
,son sent the ,holy ,spirit to bear     
witness through ,his twelve             
missionaries1 the consecrated and       
,heaven-inspired apostles4 ,they        
proclaimed the glad tidings of great joy
 to all people--to the  ,jews1 to the   
,samaritans1 to the ,gentiles1 of all   
nations1 kindreds  and tongues4 ,they   
gave in solemn charge to others to sound
 out and  proclaim the glad tidings of  
great joy to all people4 ,and need we   
ask1 is not the ,christian ,church      
itself1 in its own institution and      
constitution1 virtually and essentially 
a missionary institution8  ,does not    
,paul formally state to the             
,thessalonians in his first  epistle    
that from them sounded out the ,word of 
the ,lord not only in  ,macedonia and in

 ,achaia1 but in every place8    ,no man
 can really or truthfully enjoy the     
spiritual1 the  soul-stirring1 the      
heart-reviving honors and felicities of 
the  ,christian institution and kingdom1
 who does not intelligently1  cordially 
and efficiently espouse the missionary  
cause4    ,in other words1 he must feel1
 he must have compassion for his  fellow
 man2 and1 still further1 he must       
practically sympathize  with him in     
communicating to his spiritual          
necessities as well  as to his physical 
wants and infirmities4 ,the true ideal  
of all  perfection--our blest and       
blissful ,redeemer--went about          
continually  doing good--to both the    
souls and the bodies of his fellow men2 
healing all that were1 in body1 soul or 
spirit1 opprest by ,satan1  the enemy of
 ,god and of man4    ,to follow his     
example is the grand climax of humanity4
 ,it is not  necessary to this end that 
he should occupy the pulpit4 ,there are1
  as we conceive1 myriads of ,christian 

men in the private walks  of life1 who  
never aspired to the sacred desk1 that  
will far  outshine1 in eternal glory and
 blessedness1 hosts of the reverend1    
the boasted and the boastful right      
reverend occupants of the sacred  desks 
of this our day and generation4    ,but 
,solomon has furnished our motto3--,he  
that winneth or taketh  souls is wise   
7,prov4 xi4 #cj74 ,was he not the wisest
 of men1 the  most potent and the       
richest of kings1 that ever lived8 ,he  
had1  therefore1 all the means and      
facilities of acquiring what we call    
knowledge--the knowledge of men and     
things2 and1 consequently1 the  value of
 men and things was legitimately within 
the area of his  understanding2 or1 in  
this case1 we might prefer to say1 with 
all  propriety1 within the area of his  
comprehension4    ,need ,i say that     
comprehension incomparably transcends   
apprehension8  ,simpletons may          
apprehend1 but only wise men can        
comprehend  anything4 ,solomon's rare   

gift was1 that both his apprehension and
  his comprehension transcended those of
 all other men1 and gave him  a         
perspicacity and promptitude of decision
 never before or since  possest by any  
man4 ,his oracles1 indeed1 were the     
oracles of ,god4  ,but ,god especially  
gave to him a power and opportunity of  
making  one grand experiment and        
development for the benefit of his      
living  contemporaries1 and of all      
posterity1 to whom ,god presents his    
biography1 his ,proverbs and his        
,ecclesiastes4    ,the winning of souls 
is1 therefore1 the richest and best     
business1 trade or calling1 according to
 ,solomon1 ever undertaken  or          
prosecuted by mortal man4 ,paul was     
fully aware of this1 and  therefore had 
always in his eye a triple crown--a     
crown of  righteousness1 a crown of     
life1 a crown of glory4 ,and even in    
this life he had a crown of rejoicing1  
in prospect of an exceeding  and eternal
 weight of glory1 imperishable in the   

heavens4    ,there is1 too1 a present   
reward1 a present pleasure1 a present   
joy  and peace which the wisdom1 and the
 riches1 and the dignity1 and  the      
glory1 and the honors of this world     
never did1 never can1 and  consequently 
never will1 confer on its most devoted  
and persevering  votaries4    ,there is1
 indeed1 a lawful and an honorable      
covetousness1 which any  and every      
,christian1 man and woman1 may cultivate
 and cherish4    ,paul himself justifies
 the poetic license1 when he says1      
,covet  earnestly the best gifts4       
,the best gifts in his horizon1 however1
 were those which1 when  duly cultivated
 and employed1 confer the greatest      
amount of profit  and felicity upon     
others4 ,we should1 indeed1 desire1 even
 covet1  the means and the opportunities
 of beatifying and aggrandizing one     
another with the true riches1 the honors
 and the dignities that  appertain to   
the spiritual1 the heavenly and the     
eternal inheritance4    ,but we need not

 propound to your consideration or      
inquiry the  claims--the paramount1 the 
transcendent claims--which our          
enjoyment of the gospel and its         
soul-cheering1 soul-animating1          
soul-enrapturing influences present to  
us as arguments and motives  to extend  
and to animate its proclamation by every
 instrumentality  and means which we can
 legitimately employ1 to present it in  
all its  attractions and claims upon the
 understanding1 the conscience and  the 
affections of our contemporaries1 in our
 own country and in all  others1 as far 
as our most gracious and bountiful      
,benefactor affords  the means and the  
opportunities of co-operating with ,him1
 in the  rescue and recovery of our     
fellow men1 who1 without such means and 
efforts1 must forever perish1 as aliens 
and enemies1 in heart and  in life1 to  
,god and to ,his divinely-commissioned  
ambassador1 the  glorious ,messiah4     
,we plead for the original apostolic    
gospel and its positive  institutions4  

,if the great apostles ,peter and       
,paul--the former to  the ,jews and the 
latter to the ,gentiles--announced the  
true gospel  of the grace of ,god1 shall
 we hesitate a moment on the propriety  
and the necessity1 divinely imposed upon
 us1 of preaching the same  gospel which
 they preached1 and in advocating the   
same institutions  which they           
established1 under the plenary          
inspiration and direction  of the ,holy 
,spirit8 ,can we improve upon their     
institutions and  enactments8 ,what     
means that singular imperative          
enunciated by the  evangelical prophet  
,isaiah 7,isa4 viii471 ,bind up the     
testimony1  seal the law among my       
disciples8 ,what were its antecedents8  
,hearken6 ,the prophet had just         
foretold4 ,he1 the subject of this      
oracle1 viz3 ,the desire of all nations1
 was coming to be a  sanctuary2 but not 
a sanctuary alone1 but for a stone of   
stumbling  and a rock of offense 7as at 
this day7 to both the houses of         

,israel--for a gin and for a snare to   
the inhabitants of ,jerusalem4    ,the  
,church1 therefore1 of right is1 and    
ought to be1 a great  missionary        
society4 ,her parish is the whole earth1
 from sea to sea1  and from the         
,euphrates to the last domicile of man4 
,but the crowning and consummating      
argument of the missionary  cause has   
not been fully presented4 ,there is but 
one word1 in the  languages of earth1   
that fully indicates it4 ,and that word 
indicates  neither less nor more than   
what is represented--literally1 exactly1
  perspicuously represented--by the word
 philanthropy4 ,but this being  a ,greek
 word needs1 perhaps in some cases1 an  
exact definition4  ,and to make it      
memorable we will preface it with the   
statement of  the fact that this word is
 found but twice in the ,greek original 
,new ,testament 7,acts xxviii41 #b1 and 
,titus iii41 #d474 ,in the first        
passage this word is1 in the common     
version1 translated kindness1  and in   

the second1 love toward man4 ,literally 
and exactly1 it  signifies the love of  
man1 objectively2 but1 more fully       
exprest1 the  love of one to another4   
,the love of ,god to man is one form of 
philanthropy2 the love of  angels to one
 man is another form of philanthropy2   
and the love of  man to man1 as such1 is
 the true philanthropy of the law4 ,it  
is  not the love of one man to another  
man1 because of favors received  from   
him2 this is only gratitude4 ,it is not 
the love of one man to  another man1    
because of a common country3 this is    
mere patriotism4  ,it is not the love of
 man to man1 because of a common        
ancestry3  this is mere natural         
affection4 ,but it is the love of man to
 man1  merely because he is a man4 ,this
 is pure philanthropy4 ,such was the    
love of ,god to man as exhibited in the 
gift of ,his dearly beloved  ,son as a  
sin-offering for him4 ,this is the name 
which the inspired  writers of the ,new 
,testament give it4 ,so ,paul uses it1  

,titus iii4  and iv4 ,it should have    
been translated1 ,after that the        
kindness and  philanthropy of ,god our  
,savior appeared4 ,again1 ,acts xxviii41
 #b1  ,the barbarous people of the      
,island of ,melita showed us no little  
philanthropy4#c ,they kindled a fire for
 us on their island1  because of the    
impending rain and the cold4      #c ,so
 we have always translated this term1 in
 this passage4    ,there are1 indeed1   
many forms and demonstrations of        
philanthropy4  ,for one good man another
 good man might presume to die4 ,but the
  philanthropy of ,god to man           
incomparably transcends all other forms 
of philanthropy known on earth or       
reported from heaven4    ,while we were 
sinners1 in positive and actual         
rebellion against our  ,father and our  
,god1 ,he freely gave up ,his only      
begotten and dearly  beloved ,son1 as a 
sin-offering for us1 and laid upon ,him1
 or placed  in ,his account1 the sin1   
the aggregate sin1 of the world4 ,he    

became  in the hand of ,his ,father and 
our ,father a sin-offering for us4 ,he  
took upon ,himself1 and ,his ,father    
laid upon him1 the iniquity of us  all4 
,was ever love like this8 ,angels of all
 ranks1 spirits of all  capacities1     
still contemplate it with increasing    
wonder and delight4    ,this gospel     
message is to be announced to all the   
world1 to men of  every nation under    
heaven4 ,and this1 too1 with the promise
 of the  forgiveness of sins and of a   
life everlasting in the heavens1 to     
everyone who will cordially accept and  
obey it4          ,,irving              
,,preparation ,,for ,,consulting ,,the  
,,oracles ,,of ,,god      ,,biographical
 ,,note    ,,edward ,,irving was born at
 ,annan1 ,dumfriesshire1 ,scotland1 in  
#agib4  ,he was an early friend and     
lover of ,jane ,welsh1 who afterwards   
married ,thomas ,carlyle4 ,he showed    
ability at school1 but had also a  taste
 for the preaching of extreme           
,presbyterian seceders from the  ,church

 of ,scotland4 ,after graduating at the 
,university of ,edinburgh1  in #ahji1 he
 began life by teaching school1 but     
obtained a license  to preach in #ahae4 
,he became assistant to ,chalmers at    
,glasgow in  #ahai1 where1 great        
preacher as he was1 he felt himself     
eclipsed by  ,chalmers1 and in #ahbb    
accepted the pulpit at a chapel in      
,hatton  ,garden1 ,london4 ,here he     
leapt into fame4 ,his melodious and     
resonant  voice1 his noble presence and 
the beauty of his features1 enhanced    
the eloquence of his language4          
,eventually he became unbalanced  by the
 adulation of the aristocratic and      
intellectual crowd that  listened to    
him4 ,they1 however1 grew tired of his  
prophecies and  denunciations1 and his  
eccentricities of judgment finally led  
to disruption1 and after a few years of 
futile but splendid  evangelization1 he 
died a broken-hearted man1 tender and   
true to the  last1 altho the victim of  
unsubstantial religious vagaries4       

,carlyle  wrote a touching memoir of his
 life4 ,he died in #ahcd4               
,,irving    #agib-ahcd    ,,preparation 
,,for ,,consulting ,,the ,,oracles ,,of 
,,god    ,search the scriptures4--,john 
v41 #ci4      ,there was a time when    
each revelation of the word of ,god had 
an  introduction into this earth1 which 
neither permitted men to doubt  whence  
it came1 nor wherefore it was sent4 ,if 
at the giving of each  several truth a  
star was not lighted up in heaven1 as at
 the birth  of the ,prince of ,truth1   
there was done upon the earth a wonder1 
to  make her children listen to the     
message of their ,maker4 ,the ,almighty 
made bare ,his arm2 and1 through mighty 
acts shown by ,his holy  servants1 gave 
demonstration of ,his truth1 and found  
for it a sure  place among the other    
matters of human knowledge and belief4  
,but now the miracles of ,god have      
ceased1 and nature1 secure and          
unmolested1 is no longer called on for  
testimonies to her ,creator's  voice4   

,no burning bush draws the footsteps to 
,his presence chamber2  no invisible    
voice holds the ear awake2 no hand      
cometh forth from  the obscurity to     
write ,his purposes in letters of flame4
 ,the vision  is shut up1 and the       
testimony is sealed1 and the ,word of   
the ,lord is  ended1 and this solitary  
volume1 with its chapters and verses1 is
  the sum total of all for which the    
chariot of heaven made so many  visits  
to the earth1 and the ,son of ,god      
,himself tabernacled and  dwelt among   
us4    ,the truth which it contains once
 dwelt undivulged in the bosom of  ,god2
 and1 on coming forth to take its place 
among things revealed1  the heavens and 
the earth1 and nature1 through all her  
chambers1  gave reverent welcome4       
,beyond what it contains1 the mysteries 
of the  future are unknown4 ,to gain it 
acceptation and currency1 the noble     
company of martyrs testified unto the   
death4 ,the general assembly of  the    
first-born in heaven made it the        

day-star of their hopes1 and  the       
pavilion of their peace4 ,its every     
sentence is charmed with the  power of  
,god1 and powerful to the everlasting   
salvation of souls4    ,having our minds
 filled with these thoughts of the      
primeval divinity  of revealed wisdom   
when she dwelt in the bosom of ,god1 and
 was of  ,his eternal ,self a part1 long
 before ,he prepared the heavens1 or    
set a compass upon the face of the deep2
 revolving also how1 by  the space of   
four thousand years1 every faculty of   
mute nature did  solemn obeisance to    
this daughter of the ,divine mind1      
whenever ,he  pleased to commission her 
forth to the help of mortals2 and       
further  meditating upon the delights   
which she had of old with the sons of   
men1 the height of heavenly temper to   
which she raised them1 and the          
offspring of magnanimous deeds which    
these two--the wisdom of ,god1  and the 
soul of man--did engender between       
themselves--meditating1 ,i  say1 upon   

these mighty topics1 our soul is smitten
 with grief and  shame to remark how in 
this latter day she hath fallen from her
 high  estate2 and fallen along with her
 the great and noble character of  men4 
,or1 if there be still a few names1 as  
of the missionary martyr1  to emulate   
the saints of old--how to the commonalty
 of ,christians  her oracles have fallen
 into a household commonness1 and her   
visits  into a cheap familiarity2 while 
by the multitude she is mistaken  for a 
minister of terror sent to oppress poor 
mortals with moping  melancholy1 and    
inflict a wound upon the happiness of   
human kind4    ,for there is now no     
express stirring up the faculties to    
meditate  her high and heavenly         
strains--there is no formal             
sequestration  of the mind from all     
other concerns1 on purpose for her      
special  entertainment--there is no     
house of solemn seeking and solemn      
waiting for a spiritual frame1 before   
entering and listening to  the voice of 

the ,almighty's wisdom4 ,who feels the  
sublime dignity  there is in a saying1  
fresh descended from the porch of       
heaven8 ,who  feels the awful weight    
there is in the least iota that hath    
dropped  from the lips of ,god8 ,who    
feels the thrilling fear or trembling   
hope there is in words whereon the      
destinies of himself do hang8  ,who     
feels the swelling tide of gratitude    
within his breast1 for  redemption and  
salvation1 instead of flat despair and  
everlasting  retribution8 ,yea1 that    
which is the guide and spur of all duty1
  the necessary aliment of ,christian   
life1 the first and the last  of        
,christian knowledge and ,christian     
feeling1 hath1 to speak the  best1      
degenerated in these days to stand1 rank
 and file1 among  those duties whereof  
it is parent1 preserver1 and commander4 
,and1  to speak not the best1 but the   
fair and common truth1 this book1  the  
offspring of the ,divine mind1 and the  
perfection of heavenly  wisdom1 is      

permitted to lie from day to day1       
perhaps from week to  week1 unheeded and
 unperused1 never welcome to our happy1 
healthy1  and energetic moods2 admitted1
 if admitted at all1 in seasons of      
sickness1 feeble-mindedness1 and        
disabling sorrow4 ,yes1 that which  was 
sent to be a spirit of ceaseless joy and
 hope within the heart  of man1 is      
treated as the enemy of happiness1 and  
the murderer of  enjoyment2 and eyed    
askance1 as the remembrancer of death1  
and the  very messenger of hell4    ,oh6
 if books had but tongues to speak their
 wrongs1 then might this  book well     
exclaim3 ,hear1 ,o heavens6 and give    
ear1 ,o earth6 ,i came  from the love   
and embrace of ,god1 and mute nature1 to
 whom ,i brought  no boon1 did me       
rightful homage4 ,to men ,i come1 and my
 words were  to the children of men4 ,i 
disclosed to you the mysteries          
hereafter1  and the secrets of the      
throne of ,god4 ,i set open to you the  
gates  of salvation1 and the way of     

eternal life1 hitherto unknown4         
,nothing in heaven did ,i withhold from 
your hope and ambition2 and  upon your  
earthly lot ,i poured the full horn of  
,divine providence  and consolation4    
,but ye requited me with no welcome1 ye 
held no  festivity on my arrival2 ye    
sequester me from happiness and heroism1
  closeting me with sickness and        
infirmity3 ye make not of me1 nor use   
me for1 your guide to wisdom and        
prudence1 but put me into a place  in   
your last of duties1 and withdraw me to 
a mere corner of your  time2 and most of
 ye set me at naught and utterly        
disregard me4 ,i  come1 the fulness of  
the knowledge of ,god2 angels delighted 
in my  company1 and desired to dive into
 my secrets4 ,but ye1 mortals1 place    
masters over me1 subjecting me to the   
discipline and dogmatism of  men1 and   
tutoring me in your schools of learning4
 ,i came1 not to be  silent in your     
dwellings1 but to speak welfare to you  
and to your  children4 ,i came to rule1 

and my throne to set up in the hearts of
  men4 ,mine ancient residence was the  
bosom of ,god2 no residence will  ,i    
have but the soul of an immortal2 and if
 you had entertained me1  ,i should have
 possest you of the peace which ,i had  
with ,god1 when  ,i was with ,him and   
was daily ,his delight1 rejoicing always
 before  ,him4 ,because ,i have called  
you and ye have refused1 ,i have        
stretched  out my hand and no man       
regarded2 but ye have set at naught all 
my  counsel and would none of my        
reproof2 ,i also will laugh at your     
calamity1 and mock when your fear cometh
 as desolation1 and your  destruction   
cometh as a whirlwind1 when distress and
 anguish cometh  upon you4 ,then shall  
they cry upon me1 but ,i will not       
answer2 they  shall seek me early1 but  
they shall not find me4    ,from this   
cheap estimation and wanton neglect of  
,god's counsel1  and from the terror of 
the curse consequent thereon1 we have   
resolved1 in the strength of ,god1 to do

 our endeavor to deliver this           
congregation of ,his intelligent and    
worshiping people--an endeavor  which we
 make with a full perception of the     
difficulties to be  overcome on every   
side1 within no less than without the   
sacred pale2  and upon which we enter   
with the utmost diffidence of our       
powers1  yet with the full purpose of   
straining them to the utmost1 according 
to the measure with which it hath       
pleased ,god to endow our mind4 ,and  do
 ,thou1 ,o ,lord1 from whom cometh the  
perception of truth1 vouchsafe  to ,thy 
servant an unction from ,thine own      
,spirit1 who searcheth all  things1 yes1
 the deep things of ,god2 and vouchsafe 
to ,thy people  the hearing ear and the 
understanding heart1 that they may hear 
and understand1 and their souls may     
live6    ,before the ,almighty made ,his
 appearance upon ,sinai1 there were     
awful precursors sent to prepare ,his   
way2 while ,he abode in sight1  there   
were solemn ceremonies and a strict     

ritual of attendance2  when ,he         
departed1 the whole camp set itself to  
conform unto ,his  revealed will4       
,likewise1 before the ,savior appeared1 
with ,his  better law1 there was a noble
 procession of seers and prophets1 who  
decried and warned the world of ,his    
coming2 when ,he came there were  solemn
 announcements in the heavens and on the
 earth2 ,he did not  depart without due 
honors2 and then followed1 on ,his      
departure1 a  succession of changes and 
alterations which are still in progress1
  and shall continue in progress till   
the world's end4 ,this may serve  to    
teach us1 that a revelation of the      
,almighty's will makes demand  for these
 three things1 on the part of those to  
whom it is revealed3  ,a due preparation
 for receiving it2 a diligent attention 
to it while  it is disclosing2 a strict 
observance of it when it is delivered4  
,in the whole book of the ,lord's       
revelations you shall search in  vain   
for one which is devoid of these        

necessary parts4 ,witness the  awestruck
 ,isaiah1 while the ,lord displayed     
before him the sublime  pomp of ,his    
presence2 and1 not content with         
overpowering the frail  sense of the    
prophet1 dispatched a seraph to do the  
ceremonial of  touching his lip with    
hallowed fire1 all before ,he uttered   
one word  into his astonished ear4      
,witness the majestic apparition to     
,saint  ,john1 in the ,apocalypse1 of   
all the emblematical glory of the ,son  
of  ,man1 allowed to take silent effect 
upon the apostle's spirit1 and  prepare 
it for the revelation of things to come4
 ,these heard with  all their absorbed  
faculties1 and with all their powers    
addrest them  to the bidding of the     
,lord4 ,but1 if this was in aught       
flinched from1  witness1 in the         
persecution of the prophet ,jonah1 the  
fearful issues  which ensued4 ,from the 
presence of the ,lord he could not flee4
 ,fain  would he have escaped to the    
uttermost parts of the earth2 but in    

the mighty waters the terrors of the    
,lord fell upon him2 and when  engulfed 
in the deep1 and entombed in the monster
 of the deep1 still  the ,lord's word   
was upon the obdurate prophet1 who had  
no rest1  not the rest of the grave1    
till he had fulfilled it to the very    
uttermost4    ,now1 judging that every  
time we open the pages of this holy     
book1 we  are to be favored with no less
 than a communication from on high1  in 
substance the same as those whereof we  
have detailed the three  distinct and   
several parts1 we conceive it due to the
 majesty of ,him  who speaks1 that we1  
in like manner1 discipline our spirits  
with a  due preparation1 and have them  
in proper frame1 before we listen  to   
the voice2 that1 while it is disclosing 
to us the important  message1 we be     
wrapt in full attention2 and that1 when 
it hath  disburdened itself into our    
opened and enlarged spirits1 we proceed 
forthwith to the business of its        
fulfilment1 whithersoever and to        

whatsoever it summon us forth4 ,upon    
each of these three duties1  incumbent  
upon one who would not forego the       
benefit of a heavenly  message1 we will 
discourse apart1 addressing ourselves in
 this  discourse to the first-mentioned 
of the three4    ,the preparation for   
the announcement4--,when ,god uttereth  
,his  voice1 says the ,psalmist1 coals  
of fire are kindled2 the hills  melt    
down like wax2 the earth quakes2 and    
deep proclaims itself  unto hollow deep4
 ,these sensible images of the ,creator 
have now  vanished1 and we are left     
alone1 in the deep recesses of the      
meditative mind1 to discern ,his coming 
forth4 ,no trump of heaven  now speaketh
 in the world's ear4 ,no angelic        
conveyance of ,heaven's  will taketh    
shape from the vacant air2 and having   
done his errand1  retireth into his airy
 habitation4 ,no human messenger putteth
 forth  his miraculous hand to heal     
nature's unmedicable wounds1 winning    
for his words a silent and astonished   

audience4 ,majesty and might  no longer 
precede the oracles of ,heaven4 ,they   
lie silent and  unobtrusive1 wrapt up in
 their little compass1 one volume among 
many1 innocently handed to and fro1     
having no distinction but that  in which
 our mustered thoughts are enabled to   
invest them4 ,the want  of solemn       
preparation and circumstantial pomp1 the
 imagination  of the mind hath now to   
supply4 ,the presence of the ,deity1 and
  the authority of ,his voice1 our      
thoughtful spirits must discern4        
,conscience must supply the terrors that
 were wont to go before ,him2  and the  
brightness of ,his coming1 which the    
sense can no longer  behold1 the heart1 
ravished with ,his word1 must feel4     
,for the solemn vocation of all her     
powers1 to do her ,maker honor and  give
 ,him welcome1 it is1 at the very least1
 necessary that the soul  stand absolved
 from every call4 ,every foreign        
influence or authority  arising out of  
the world1 or the things of the world1  

should be  burst when about to stand    
before the fountain of all authority2   
every argument1 every invention1 every  
opinion of man forgot1 when  about to   
approach to the ,father and oracle of   
all intelligence4  ,and as subjects1    
when their honors1 with invitations1 are
 held  disengaged1 tho preoccupied with 
a thousand appointments1 so1 upon  an   
audience1 fixt and about to be holden   
with the ,king of ,kings1 it  will      
become the honored mortal to break loose
 from all thraldom of  men and things1  
and be arrayed in liberty of thought and
 action to  drink in the rivers of ,his 
pleasure1 and to perform the mission of 
,his lips4    ,now far otherwise it hath
 appeared to us1 that ,christians as    
well  as worldly men come to this most  
august occupation of listening  to the  
word of ,god2 preoccupied and           
prepossest1 inclining to it a  partial  
ear1 and straitened understanding1 and a
 disaffected will4    ,the ,christian   
public are prone to preoccupy themselves

 with the  admiration of those opinions 
by which they stand distinguished as  a 
,church or sect from other ,christians1 
and instead of being quite  unfettered  
to receive the whole counsel of the     
,divinity1 they are  prepared to welcome
 it no further than it bears upon1 and  
stands  with opinions which they already
 favor4 ,to this pre-judgment  the early
 use of catechisms mainly contributes1  
which1 however  serviceable in their    
place1 have the disadvantage of         
presenting  the truth in a form         
altogether different from what it       
occupies  in the world itself4 ,in the  
one it is presented to the intellect    
chiefly 7and in our catechisms to an    
intellect of a very subtle  order71 in  
the other it is presented more          
frequently to the heart1  to the        
affections1 to the emotions1 to the     
fancy1 and to all the  faculties of the 
soul4 ,in early youth1 which is so      
applied to  those compilations1 an      
association takes place between religion

  and intellect1 and a divorcement of   
religion from the other powers  of the  
inner man4 ,this derangement1 judging   
from observation  and experience1 it is 
exceedingly difficult to put to rights  
in  afterlife2 and so it comes to pass1 
that in listening to the  oracles of    
religion1 the intellect is chiefly      
awake1 and the  better parts of the     
message--those which address the heart  
and its  affections1 those which dilate 
and enlarge our admiration of the       
,godhead1 and those which speak to the  
various sympathies of our  nature--we   
are1 by the injudicious use of these    
narrow epitomes1  disqualified to       
receive4    ,in the train of these comes
 controversy with its rough voice and   
unmeek aspect1 to disqualify the soul   
for a full and fair audience  of its    
,maker's word4 ,the points of the faith 
we have been called  on to defend1 or   
which are reputable with our party1     
assume1 in  our esteem1 an importance   
disproportionate to their importance  in

 the ,word1 which we come to relish     
chiefly when it goes to  sustain them1  
and the ,bible is hunted for arguments  
and texts  of controversy1 which are    
treasured up for future service4 ,the   
solemn stillness which the soul should  
hold before his ,maker1 so  favorable to
 meditation and rapt communion with the 
throne of ,god1  is destroyed at every  
turn by suggestions of what is orthodox 
and  evangelical--where all is orthodox 
and evangelical2 the spirit of  such    
readers becomes lean1 being fed with    
abstract truths and formal              
propositions2 their temper uncongenial1 
being ever disturbed with  controversial
 suggestions2 their prayers undevout    
recitals of their  opinions2 their      
discourse technical announcements of    
their faith4  ,intellect1 old intellect1
 hath the sway over heavenward devotion 
and holy fervor4 ,man1 contentious man1 
hath the attention which the            
unsearchable ,god should undivided have2
 and the fine1 full harmony  of heaven's

 melodious voice1 which1 heard apart1   
were sufficient  to lap the soul in     
ecstasies unspeakable1 is jarred and    
interfered  with1 and the heavenly spell
 is broken by the recurring conceits1   
sophisms1 and passions of men4 ,now     
truly an utter degradation it is  of the
 ,godhead to have ,his word in league   
with that of man1 or any  council of    
men4 ,what matter to me whether the     
,pope1 or any work of  any mind1 be     
exalted to the quality of ,god8 ,if any 
helps are to be  imposed for the        
understanding1 or safeguarding1 or      
sustaining of  the word1 why not the    
help of statues and pictures of my      
devotions8  ,therefore1 while the warm  
fancies of the ,southerns have given    
their  idolatry to the ideal forms of   
noble art1 let us ,northerns beware we  
give not our idolatry to the cold and   
coarse abstractions of human  intellect4
    ,for the preoccupations of worldly  
minds1 they are not to be reckoned  up1 
being manifold as their favorite        

passions and pursuits4 ,one  thing only 
can be said1 that before coming to the  
oracles of ,god  they are not           
preoccupied with the expectation and    
fear of ,him4 ,no  chord in their heart 
is in unison with things unseen2 no     
moments are  set apart for religious    
thought and meditation2 no anticipations
  of the honored interview2 no prayer of
 preparation like that of  ,daniel      
before ,gabriel was sent to teach him2  
no devoutness like  that of ,cornelius  
before the celestial visitation2 no     
fastings like  that of ,peter before the
 revelation of the glory of the         
,gentiles6  ,now to minds which are not 
attuned to holiness1 the words of ,god  
find no entrance1 striking heavy on the 
ear1 seldom making way  to the          
understanding1 almost never to the      
heart4 ,to spirits hot  with            
conversation1 perhaps heady with        
argument1 uncomposed by  solemn thought1
 but ruffled and in uproar from the     
concourse of  worldly interests1 the    

sacred page may be spread out1 but its  
accents are drowned in the noise which  
hath not yet subsided in  the breast4   
,all the awe1 and pathos1 and awakened  
consciousness  of a ,divine approach1   
imprest upon the ancients by the        
procession  of solemnities1 is to       
worldly men without a substitute4 ,they 
have  not yet solicited themselves to be
 in readiness4 ,in a usual mood  and    
vulgar frame they come to ,god's word as
 to other compositions1  reading it     
without any active imaginations about   
,him who speaks2  feeling no awe of a   
sovereign ,lord1 nor care of a tender   
,father1  nor devotion to a merciful    
,savior4 ,nowise deprest themselves out 
of their wonted dependence1 nor         
humiliated before the ,king of          
,kings--no prostrations of the soul1 nor
 falling at ,his feet as  dead--no      
exclamation1 as of ,isaiah1 ,wo is me1  
for ,i am of unclean  lips6--no request 
,send me--nor fervent ejaculation of    
welcome1 as  of ,samuel1 ,lord1 speak1  

for ,thy servant heareth6 ,truly they   
feel  toward ,his word much as to the   
word of an equal4 ,no wonder it shall   
fail of happy influence upon the spirits
 which have1 as it were1 on  purpose1   
disqualified themselves for its benefits
 by removing from  the regions of       
thought and feeling which it accords    
with1 into other  regions1 which it is  
of too severe dignity to affect1        
otherwise  than with stern menace and   
direful foreboding6 ,if they would have 
it bless them and do them good1 they    
must change their manner of  approaching
 it1 and endeavor to bring themselves   
into that prepared1  and collected1 and 
reverential frame which becomes an      
interview with  the ,high and ,holy ,one
 who inhabiteth the praises of eternity4
    ,having thus spoken without         
equivocation1 and we hope without       
offense1 to the contradictoriness and   
preoccupation with which  ,christians   
and worldly men are apt to come to the  
perusal of the  ,word of ,god1 we shall 

now set forth the two master-feelings   
under  which we shall address ourselves 
to the sacred occupation4    ,it is a   
good custom1 inherited from the hallowed
 days of ,scottish  piety1 and in our   
cottages still preserved1 tho in our    
cities  generally given up1 to preface  
the morning and evening worship of  the 
family with a short invocation of       
blessing from the ,lord4 ,this  is in   
unison with the practise and            
recommendation of pious men1  never to  
open the ,divine ,word without a silent 
invocation of the  ,divine ,spirit4 ,but
 no address to heaven is of any virtue1 
save as  it is the expression of certain
 pious sentiments with which the  mind  
is full and overflowing4 ,of those      
sentiments which befit the  mind that   
comes into conference with its ,maker1  
the first and most  prominent should be 
gratitude for ,his ever having          
condescended to  hold commerce with such
 wretched and fallen creatures4         
,gratitude  not only expressing itself  

in proper terms1 but possessing the mind
  with one abiding and over-mastering   
mood1 under which it shall sit  imprest 
the whole duration of the interview4    
,such an emotion as  can not utter      
itself in language--tho by language it  
indicates its  presence--but keeps us in
 a devout and adoring frame1 while the  
,lord  is uttering ,his voice4    ,go   
visit a desolate widow with consolation1
 and help1 and fatherhood  of her orphan
 children--do it again and again--and   
your presence1  the sound of your       
approaching footstep1 the soft utterance
 of  your voice1 the very mention of    
your name1 shall come to dilate  her    
heart with a fulness which defies her   
tongue to utter1 but  speaking by the   
tokens of a swimming eye1 and clasped   
hands1 and  fervent ejaculations to     
heaven upon your head6 ,no less copious 
acknowledgment of ,god1 the author of   
our well-being1 and the ,father  of our 
better hopes1 ought we to feel when ,his
 ,word discloseth to  us the excess of  

,his love4 ,tho a veil be now cast over 
the ,majesty  which speaks1 it is the   
voice of the ,eternal which we hear1    
coming  in soft cadences to win our     
favor1 yet omnipotent as the voice of   
the thunder1 and overpowering as the    
rushing of many waters4 ,and tho  the   
evil of the future intervene between our
 hand and the promised  goods1 still are
 they from ,his lips who speaks1 and it 
is done1  who commands1 and all things  
stand fast4 ,with no less emotion1      
therefore1 should this book be opened1  
than if1 like him in the  ,apocalypse1  
you saw the voice which spake2 or1 like 
him in the  trance1 you were into the   
third heaven translated1 companying and 
communing with the realities of glory   
which the eye hath not seen1  nor ear   
heard1 nor the heart of man conceived4  
,far and foreign from such an opened and
 awakened bosom is that cold  and formal
 hand which is generally laid upon the  
sacred volume2  that unfeeling and      
unimpressive tone with which its accents

 are  pronounced2 and that listless and 
incurious ear into which its  blessed   
sounds are received4 ,how can you1 thus 
unimpassioned1  hold communion with     
themes in which everything awful1 vital1
 and  endearing meet together8 ,why is  
not curiosity1 curiosity ever  hungry1  
on edge to know the doings and          
intentions of ,jehovah1 ,king  of       
,kings8 ,why is not interest1 interest  
ever awake1 on tip-toe  to hear the     
future destiny of itself8 ,why is not   
the heart1 that  panteth over the world 
after love and friendship1 overpowered  
with  the full tide of the divine acts  
and expressions of love8 ,where is      
nature gone when she is not moved with  
the tender mercy of ,christ8  ,methinks 
the affections of men are fallen into   
the yellow leaf4 ,of  the poets which   
charm the world's ear1 who is he that   
inditeth a  song unto his ,god8 ,some   
will tune their harps to sensual        
pleasure1  and by the enchantment of    
their genius well-nigh commend their    

unholy themes to the imagination of     
saints4 ,others1 to the high  and noble 
sentiments of the heart1 will sing of   
domestic joys and  happy unions1 casting
 around sorrow the radiancy of virtue1  
and  bodying forth1 in undying forms1   
the short-lived visions of joy6  ,others
 have enrolled themselves the           
high-priests of mute nature's  charms1  
enchanting her echoes with their        
minstrelsy1 and peopling  her solitudes 
with the bright creatures of their      
fancy4 ,but when1  since the days of the
 blind master of ,english song1 hath any
 poured  forth a lay worthy of the      
,christian theme8 ,nor in philosophy1   
the  palace of the soul1 have men been  
more mindful of their ,maker4  ,the     
flowers of the garden and the herbs of  
the field have their  unwearied         
devotees1 crossing the ocean1 wayfaring 
in the desert1 and  making devout       
pilgrimages to every region of nature   
for offerings  to their patron muse4    
,the rocks1 from their residences among 

the  clouds to their deep rests in the  
dark bowels of the earth1 have  a bold  
and most venturous priesthood1 who see  
in their rough and  flinty faces a more 
delectable image to adore than in the   
revealed  countenance of ,god4 ,and the 
political warfare of the world is a very
  ,moloch1 who can at any time command  
his hecatomb of human victims4  ,but the
 revealed suspense of ,god1 to which the
 harp of ,david1 and  the prophetic lyre
 of ,isaiah were strung1 the prudence of
 ,god1 which  the wisest of men coveted 
after1 preferring it to every gift which
  heaven could confer1 and the eternal  
intelligence ,himself in human  form1   
and the unction of the ,holy ,one which 
abideth--these the  common heart of man 
hath forsaken1 and refused to be charmed
 withal4    ,i testify1 that there      
ascendeth not from earth a hosanna of   
her  children to bear witness in the ear
 of the upper regions to the  wonderful 
manifestations of her ,god6 ,from a few 
scattered hamlets  in a small portion of

 her territory a small voice ascendeth1 
like  the voice of one crying in the    
wilderness4 ,but to the service of our  
general ,preserver there is no          
concourse1 from ,dan unto ,beersheba1   
of our people1 the greater part of whom1
 after two thousand years  of apostolic 
commission1 have not the testimonials of
 our ,god2 and  the multitude of those  
who disrespect or despise them6    ,but1
 to return from this lamentation1 which 
may ,god hear1 who  doth not disregard  
the cries of ,his afflicted people6     
,with the  full sense of obligation to  
the giver1 combine a humble sense of    
your own incapacity to value and to use 
the gift of ,his oracles4  ,having no   
taste whatever for the mean estimates   
which are made1  and the coarse         
invectives that are vented1 against     
human nature1  which1 tho true in the   
main1 are often in the manner so        
unfeeling  and triumphant1 as to reveal 
hot zeal rather than tender and deep    
sorrow1 we will not give in to this     

popular strain4 ,and yet it is a  truth 
by experience1 revealed1 that tho there 
be in man most noble  faculties1 and a  
nature restless after the knowledge and 
truth of  things1 there are toward ,god 
and ,his revealed will an indisposition 
and a regardlessness1 which the most    
tender and enlightened  consciences are 
the most ready to acknowledge4 ,of our  
emancipated  youth1 who1 bound after the
 knowledge of the visible works of ,god1
  and the gratification of the various  
instincts of nature1 how few  betake    
themselves at all1 how few absorb       
themselves with the study  and obedience
 of the ,word of ,god6 ,and when1 by    
,god's visitation1 we  address ourselves
 to the task1 how slow is our progress  
and how  imperfect our performance6 ,it 
is most true that nature is unwilling   
to the subject of the ,scriptures4 ,the 
soul is previously possest  with adverse
 interests2 the world hath laid an      
embargo on her  faculties1 and          
monopolized them to herself2 old habit  

hath perhaps  added to his almost       
incurable callousness2 and the enemy of 
,god and  man is skilful to defend what 
he hath already won4 ,so circumstanced1 
and every man is so circumstanced1 we   
come to the audience of  the ,word of   
,god1 and listen in the worse tune than 
a wanton to a  sermon1 or a hardened    
knave to a judicial address4 ,our       
understanding  is prepossest with a     
thousand idols of the world--religious  
or  irreligious--which corrupt the      
reading of the ,word into a straining   
of the text to their service1 and when  
it will not strain1 cause it  to be     
skimmed1 and perhaps despised or hated4 
,such a thing as a free  and unlimited  
reception of all parts of the ,scripture
 into the mind1  is a thing most rare to
 be met with1 and when met with will be 
found  the result of many a sore        
submission of nature's opinions as well 
as  of nature's likings4    ,but the    
,word1 as hath been said1 is not for the
 intellect alone1  but for the heart1   

and for the will4 ,now if any one be so 
wedded  to his own candor as to think he
 doth accept the divine truth  unabated1
 surely no one will flatter himself into
 the belief that  his heart is attuned  
and enlarged for all divine             
commandments4  ,the man who thus        
misdeems of himself must1 if his        
opinions were  just1 be like a sheet of 
fair paper1 unblotted and unwritten on2 
whereas all men are already occupied1 to
 the very fulness1 with  other opinions 
and attachments and desires than the    
,word reveals4  ,we do not grow         
,christians by the same culture by which
 we grow men1  otherwise what need of   
divine revelation1 and divine           
assistance8  ,but being unacquainted    
from the womb with ,god1 and attached to
 what  is seen and felt1 through early  
and close acquaintance1 we are  ignorant
 and detached from what is unseen and   
unfelt4 ,the ,word is  a novelty to our 
nature1 its truths fresh truths1 its    
affections  fresh affections1 its       

obedience gathered from the apprehension
  of nature and the commerce of the     
worldly life4 ,therefore there  needeth1
 in one that would be served from this  
storehouse opened  by heaven1 a         
disrelish of his old acquisitions1 and a
 preference  of the new1 a simple1      
child-like teachableness1 an allowance  
of  ignorance and error1 with whatever  
else beseems an anxious learner4        
,coming to the ,word of ,god1 we are    
like children brought into the          
conversations of experienced men2 and we
 should humbly listen and  reverently   
inquire2 or we are like raw rustics     
introduced into high  and polished life1
 and we should unlearn our coarseness1  
and copy  the habits of the station2 nay
 we are like offenders caught1 and  for 
the moment committed to the bosom of    
honorable society1 with  the power of   
regaining our lost condition and        
inheriting honor and  trust--therefore  
we should walk softly and tenderly1     
covering our  former reproach with      

modesty and humbleness1 hasting to      
redeem our  reputation by distinguished 
performances1 against offense doubly    
guarded1 doubly watchful for dangerous  
and extreme positions to  demonstrate   
our recovered goodness4    ,these two   
sentiments--devout veneration of ,god   
for ,his unspeakable  gift1 and deep    
distrust of our capacity to estimate and
 use it  aright--will generate in the   
mind a constant aspiration after the    
guidance and instruction of a higher    
power2 the first sentiment of  goodness 
remembered1 emboldening us to draw near 
to ,him who first  drew near to us1 and 
who with ,christ will not refuse us any 
gift2  the second sentiment1 of weakness
 remembered1 teaching us our need1  and 
prompting us by every interest of       
religion and every feeling of           
helplessness to seek of ,him who hath   
said1 ,if any one lack wisdom  let him  
ask ,god1 who giveth liberally and      
upbraideth not4 ,the soul  which under  
these two master-feelings cometh to     

read1 shall not  read without profit4   
,every new revelation1 feeding his      
gratitude  and nourishing his former    
ignorance1 will confirm the emotions he 
is under1 and carry them onward to an   
unlimited dimension4 ,such  a one will  
prosper in the way2 enlargement of the  
inner man will  be his portion and the  
establishment in the truth his exceeding
  great reward4 ,in the strength of the 
,lord shall his right hand get          
victory--even in the name of the ,lord  
of ,hosts4 ,his soul shall also         
flourish with the fruits of             
righteousness from the seed of the word1
  which liveth and abideth forever4     
,thus delivered from prepossessions of  
all other masters1 and arrayed  in the  
raiment of humility and love1 the soul  
should advance to the  meeting of her   
,god2 and she should call a muster of   
her faculties  and have all her poor    
grace in attendance1 and anything she   
knows  of ,his excellent works and      
exalted ways she should summon up to    

her remembrance2 her understanding she  
should quicken1 her memory  refresh1 her
 imagination stimulate1 her affections  
cherish1 and her  conscience arouse4    
,all that is within her should be       
stirred up1 her  whole glory should     
awake and her whole beauty display      
itself for the  meeting of her ,king4   
,as ,his hand-maiden she should meet    
,him2 ,his own  handiwork1 tho sore     
defaced1 yet seeking restoration2 ,his  
humble1  because offending1 servant--yet
 nothing slavish1 tho humble--nothing   
superstitious1 tho devout--nothing tame1
 tho modest in her demeanor2  but quick 
and ready1 all addrest and wound up for 
her ,maker's will4    ,how different the
 ordinary proceeding of ,christians1    
who1 with  timorous1 mistrustful        
spirits1 with an abeyance of intellect1 
and a  dwarfish reduction of their      
natural powers1 enter to the conference 
of the ,word of ,god6 ,the natural      
powers of man are to be mistrusted1     
doubtless1 as the willing instruments of

 the evil one2 but they  must be honored
 also as the necessary instruments of   
the ,spirit of  ,god1 whose operation is
 a dream1 if it be not through          
knowledge1  intellect1 conscience1 and  
action4 ,now ,christians1 heedless of   
the  grand resurrection of the mighty   
instruments of thought and action1  at  
the same time coveting hard after holy  
attainment1 do often  resign the mastery
 of themselves1 and are taken into the  
counsel  of the religious               
world--whirling around the eddy of some 
popular  leader--and so drifted1 ,i will
 not say from godliness1 but drifted    
certainly from that noble1 manly and    
independent course1 which1  under       
steerage of the ,word of ,god1 they     
might safely have pursued  for the      
precious interests of their immortal    
souls4 ,meanwhile these  popular        
leaders1 finding no necessity for       
strenuous endeavors  and high science in
 the ways of ,god1 but having a         
gathering host  to follow them1 deviate 

from the ways of deep and penetrating   
thought--refuse the contest with the    
literary and accomplished  enemies of   
the faith--bring a contempt upon the    
cause in which  mighty men did formerly 
gird themselves to the combat--and so   
cast  the stumbling-block of a mistaken 
paltryness between enlightened  men and 
the cross of ,christ6 ,so far from this 
simple-mindedness 7but  its proper name 
is feeble-mindedness71 ,christians      
should be--as  aforetime in this island 
they were wont to be--the princes of    
human  intellect1 the lights of the     
world1 the salt of the political and    
social state4 ,till they come forth from
 the swaddling-bands1 in  which foreign 
schools have girt them1 and walk boldly 
upon the  high places of human          
understanding1 they shall never obtain  
that  influence in the upper regions of 
knowledge and power1 of which1          
unfortunately1 they have not the        
apostolic unction to be in quest4  ,they
 will never be the master and commanding

 spirit of the time1  until they cast   
off the wrinkled and withered skin of an
 obsolete  old age1 and clothe          
themselves with intelligence as with a  
garment1  and bring forth the fruits of 
power and love and of a sound mind4     
,mistake us not1 for we steer in a      
narrow1 very narrow channel1 with  rocks
 of popular prejudice on every side4    
,while we thus invocate  to the reading 
of the ,word1 the highest strains of the
 human soul1  mistake us not as         
derogating from the office of the       
,spirit of ,god4  ,far be it from any   
,christian1 much further from any       
,christian  pastor1 to withdraw from    
,god the honor which is everywhere ,his 
due2  but there most of all ,his due    
where the human mind labored alone  for 
thousands of years1 and labored with no 
success--viz41 the  regeneration of     
itself1 and its restoration to the last 
semblance  of the divinity6 ,oh6 let him
 be reverently inquired after1  devoutly
 meditated on1 and most thankfully      

acknowledged in every  step of progress 
from the soul's fresh awakening out of  
her dark1  oblivious sleep--even to her 
ultimate attainment upon earth and  full
 accomplishment for heaven4 ,and there  
may be a fuller choir  of awakened men  
to advance ,his honor and glory here on 
earth1 and  hereafter in heaven above2  
let the saints bestir themselves like   
angels and the ministers of religion    
like archangels strong6 ,and  now at    
length let us have a demonstration made 
of all that is  noble in thought1 and   
generous in action1 and devoted in      
piety1  for bestirring this lethargy1   
and breaking the bonds of hell1 and     
redeeming the whole world to the service
 of its ,god and ,king6                 
,,arnold    ,,alive ,,in ,,god          
,,biographical ,,note      ,thomas      
,arnold1 schoolmaster and preacher1 was 
born at ,west ,cowes1  ,isle of ,wight1 
in #agie4 ,he was educated at ,oxford1  
and after his  graduation taught as     
fellow of ,oriel ,college1 until in     

#ahbj he  removed to ,laleham near      
,haines and took pupils to prepare for  
the  universities4 ,in #ahbg he was     
elected to the head mastership of       
,rugby1 and took priest's orders before 
entering upon his duties4  ,at ,rugby he
 remained till his death in #ahdb4 ,his 
great work as an  educator consisted in 
teaching boys the duty of               
self-government1  self-control and      
freedom of intellectual judgement4 ,his 
sermons in  the school chapel were      
distinguished by simplicity and profound
  moral and religious earnestness4      
,,arnold    #agie-ahdb    ,,alive ,,in  
,,god    ,god is not the ,god of the    
dead1 but of the living4--,matt4 xxii41 
#cb4      ,we hear these words as a part
 of our ,lord's answer to the           
,sadducees2  and as their question was  
put in evident profaneness1 and the     
answer  to it is one which to our minds 
is quite obvious and natural1 so we  are
 apt to think that in this particular   
story there is less than  usual that    

particularly concerns us4 ,but it so    
happens that our ,lord  in answering the
 ,sadducees has brought in one of the   
most universal  and most solemn of all  
truths1--which is indeed implied in many
  parts of the ,old ,testament1 but     
which the ,gospel has revealed to us  in
 all its fulness1--the truth contained  
in the words of the text1  that ,god is 
not the ,god of the dead1 but of the    
living4    ,i would wish to unfold a    
little what is contained in these words 
which we often hear1 even1 perhaps1     
without quite understanding  them1 and  
many times oftener without fully        
entering into them4 ,and  we may take   
them1 without fully entering into them4 
,and we may take  them1 first1 in their 
first part1 where they say that ,god is 
not  the ,god of the dead4    ,the word 
dead1 we know1 is constantly used in    
,scripture in a  double sense1 as       
meaning those who are dead spiritually  
as well as  those who are dead          
naturally4 ,and in either sense the     

words are  alike applicable3 ,god is not
 the ,god of the dead4    ,god's not    
being the ,god of the dead signifies two
 things3 that they  who are without ,him
 are dead1 as well as that they who are 
dead are  also without ,him4 ,so far as 
our knowledge goes respecting inferior  
animals they appear to be examples of   
this truth4 ,they appear to  us to have 
no knowledge of ,god2 and we are not    
told that they have  any other life than
 the short one of which our senses      
inform us4  ,i am well aware that our   
ignorance of their condition is so great
  that we may not dare to say anything  
of them positively2 there may  be a     
hundred things true respecting them     
which we neither know nor  imagine4 ,i  
would only say that according to that   
most imperfect  light in which we see   
them the two points of which ,i have    
been  speaking appear to meet in them3  
we believe that they have no            
consciousness of ,god1 and we believe   
that they will die4 ,and so far1        

therefore1 they afford an example of the
 agreement1 if ,i may so  speak1 between
 these two points2 and were intended1   
perhaps1 to be  to our view a continual 
image of it4 ,but we had far better     
speak of  ourselves4 ,and here1 too1 it 
is the case that ,god is not the ,god of
  the dead4 ,if we are without ,him we  
are dead1 and if we are dead we  are    
without ,him2 in other words1 the two   
ideas of death and absence  from ,god   
are in fact synonymous4    ,thus1 in the
 account given of the fall of man1 the  
sentence of death  and of being cast out
 of ,eden go together2 and if any one   
compares  the description of the second 
,eden in the ,revelation1 and recollects
  how especially it is there said that  
,god dwells in the midst of it1  and is 
its light by day and night1 he will see 
that the banishment  from the first     
,eden means a banishment from the       
presence of ,god4  ,and thus1 in the day
 that ,adam sinned he died2 for he was  
cast out  of ,eden immediately1 however 

long he may have moved about afterward  
upon the earth where ,god was not4 ,and 
how very strong to the same  point are  
the words of ,hezekiah's prayer1 ,the   
grave cannot praise  ,thee1 ,death      
cannot celebrate ,thee2 they that go    
down into the pit  cannot hope for ,thy 
truth2 words which express completely   
the  feeling that ,god is not the ,god  
of the dead4 ,this1 too1 appears to  be 
the sense generally of the expression   
used in various parts of  the ,old      
,testament1 ,thou shalt surely die4     
,it is1 no doubt1 left purposely        
obscure2 nor are we ever told in  so    
many words all that is meant by death2  
but1 surely1 it always  implies a       
separation from ,god1 and the           
being--whatever the notion  may extend  
to--the being dead to ,him4    ,thus1   
when ,david had committed his great sin 
and had expressed his  repentance for   
it1 ,nathan tells him1 ,the ,lord also  
hath put away  thy sin2 thou shalt not  
die2 which means most expressively1 thou

  shalt not die to ,god4    ,in one     
sense ,david died1 as all men die2 nor  
was he by any means  freed from the     
punishment of his sin2 he was not1 in   
that sense1  forgiven1 but he was       
allowed still to regard ,god as his     
,god2 and  therefore his punishments    
were but fatherly chastisements from    
,god's  hand1 designed for his profit   
that he might be partaker of ,god's     
holiness4    ,and thus altho ,saul was  
sentenced to lose his kingdom1 and altho
 he  was killed with his sons on ,mount 
,gilboa1 yet ,i do not think that  we   
find the sentence passed upon him1 ,thou
 shalt surely die2 and  therefore we    
have no right to say that ,god had      
ceased to be his ,god  altho ,he visited
 him with severe chastisements and would
 not allow  him to hand down to his sons
 the crown of ,israel4 ,observe also the
  language of the eighteenth chapter of 
,ezekiel1 where the expressions  occur  
so often1 ,he shall surely live1 and ,he
 shall surely die4    ,we have no right 

to refer these to a mere extension on   
the one  hand1 or a cutting short on the
 other1 of the term of earthly          
existence4 ,the promise of living long  
in the land or1 as in  ,hezekiah's case1
 of adding to his days fifteen years1 is
 very  different from the full and      
unreserved blessing1 ,thou shalt surely 
live4 ,and we know1 undoubtedly1 that   
both the good and the bad to  whom      
,ezekiel spoke died alike the natural   
death of the body4 ,but  the peculiar   
force of the promise and of the threat  
was1 in the  one case1 ,thou shalt      
belong to ,god2 in the other1 ,thou     
shalt cease  to belong to ,him2 although
 the veil was not yet drawn up which    
concealed the full import of those      
terms1 belonging to ,god1 and  ceasing  
to belong to ,him3 nay1 can we venture  
to affirm that it is  fully drawn aside 
even now8    ,i have dwelt on this at   
some length1 because it really seems to 
place the common state of the minds of  
too many amongst us in a  light which is

 exceedingly awful2 for if it be true1  
as ,i think  the ,scripture implies1    
that to be dead and to be without ,god  
are  precisely the same thing1 then can 
it be denied that the symptoms of  death
 are strongly marked upon many of us8   
,are there not many who  never think of 
,god or care about ,his service8 ,are   
there not many  who live1 to all        
appearance1 as unconscious of ,his      
existence1 as we  fancy the inferior    
animals to be8    ,and is it not quite  
clear that to such persons ,god cannot  
be said  to be their ,god8 ,he may be   
the ,god of heaven and earth1 the ,god  
of  the universe1 the ,god of ,christ's 
,church2 but ,he is not their ,god1  for
 they feel to have nothing at all to do 
with ,him2 and therefore1  as ,he is not
 their ,god1 they are1 and must be      
according to the  ,scripture1 reckoned  
among the dead4    ,but ,god is the ,god
 of the living4 ,that is1 as before1 all
 who are  alive live unto ,him2 all who 
live unto ,him are alive4 ,god said1 ,i 

am the ,god of ,abraham1 and the ,god of
 ,isaac1 and the ,god of ,jacob2  and   
therefore1 says our ,lord1 ,abraham1 and
 ,isaac1 and ,jacob are not  and cannot 
be dead4 ,they cannot be dead1 because  
,god owns them3 ,he  is not ashamed to  
be called their ,god2 therefore they are
 not cast  out from ,him2 therefore1 by 
necessity1 they live4    ,wonderful1    
indeed1 is the truth here implied1 in   
exact agreement1 as  we have seen1 with 
the general language of ,scripture2     
that1 as she  who but touched the hem of
 ,christ's garment was in a moment      
relieved  from her infirmity1 so great  
was the virtue which went out from ,him2
  so they who are not cast out from     
,god1 but have anything whatever to  do 
with ,him1 feel the virtue of ,his      
gracious presence penetrating  their    
whole nature2 because ,he lives1 they   
must live also4    ,behold1 then1 life  
and death set before us2 not remote 7if 
a few  years be1 indeed1 to be called   
remote71 but even now present before    

us2 even now suffered or enjoyed4 ,even 
now1 we are alive unto ,god1  or dead   
unto ,god2 and1 as we are either the one
 or the other1 so we  are1 in the       
highest possible sense of the terms1    
alive or dead4 ,in  the highest possible
 sense of the terms2 but who can tell   
what that  highest possible sense of the
 terms is8 ,so much has1 indeed1 been   
revealed to us1 that we know now that   
death means a conscious and  perpetual  
death1 as life means a conscious and    
perpetual life4    ,but greatly1 indeed1
 do we deceive ourselves1 if we fancy   
that1  by having thus much told us1 we  
have also risen to the infinite         
heights1 or descended to the infinite   
depths1 contained in those  little      
words1 life and death4 ,they are far    
higher1 and far deeper1  than ever      
thought or fancy of man has reached to4 
,but1 even on the  first edge of either1
 at the visible beginnings of that      
infinite  ascent or descent1 there is   
surely something which may give us a    

foretaste of what is beyond4 ,even to us
 in this mortal state1 even  to you1    
advanced but so short a way on your very
 earthly journey1  life and death have a
 meaning3 to be dead unto ,god1 or to be
 alive  to ,him1 are things perceptibly 
different4    ,for1 let me ask of those 
who think least of ,god1 who are most   
separate from ,him1 and most without    
,him1 whether there is not now          
actually1 perceptibly1 in their state1  
something of the coldness1  the         
loneliness1 the fearfulness of death8 ,i
 do not ask them whether  they are made 
unhappy by the fear of ,god's anger2 of 
course they are  not3 for they who fear 
,god are not dead to ,him1 nor ,he to   
them4    ,the thought of ,him gives them
 no disquiet at all2 this is the very   
point we start from4 ,but ,i would ask  
them whether they know what  it is to   
feel ,god's blessing4 ,for instance3 we 
all of us have our  troubles of some    
sort or other1 our disappointments1 if  
not our  sorrows4 ,in these troubles1 in

 these disappointments1--,i care not    
how small they may be1--have they known 
what it is to feel that  ,god's hand is 
over them2 that these little annoyances 
are but  ,his fatherly correction2 that 
,he is all the time loving us1 and      
supporting us8 ,in seasons of joy1 such 
as they taste very often1  have they    
known what it is to feel that they are  
tasting the  kindness of their heavenly 
,father1 that their good things come    
from  ,his hand and are but an          
infinitely slight foretaste of ,his     
love8  ,sickness1 danger2 ,i know that  
they come to many of us but rarely2  but
 if we have known them1 or at least     
sickness1 even in its lighter  form1 if 
not in its graver1--have we felt what it
 is to know that we  are in our         
,father's hands1 that ,he is with us1   
and will be with us  to the end2 that   
nothing can hurt those whom ,he loves8  
,surely1 then1 if we have never tasted  
anything of this3 if in  trouble1 or in 
joy1 or in sickness1 we are left wholly 

to ourselves  to bear as we can and     
enjoy as we can2 if there is no voice   
that  ever speaks out of the heights and
 the depths around us to give any       
answer to our own2 if we are thus left  
to ourselves in this vast  world1--there
 is in this a coldness and a loneliness2
 and whenever  we come to be1 of        
necessity1 driven to be with our own    
hearts alone1  the coldness and the     
loneliness must be felt4 ,but consider  
that the  things which we see around us 
cannot remain with us nor we with  them4
 ,the coldness and loneliness of the    
world1 without ,god1 must  be felt more 
and more as life wears on2 in every     
change of our own  state1 in every      
separation from or loss of a friend1 in 
every more  sensible weakness of our own
 bodies1 in every additional experience 
of the uncertainty of our own           
counsels1--the deathlike feeling will   
come upon us more and more strongly3 we 
shall gain more of that  fearful        
knowledge which tells us that ,god is   

not the ,god of the  dead4    ,and so1  
also1 the blessed knowledge that ,he is 
the ,god of the  living grows upon those
 who are truly alive4 ,surely ,he is not
 far  from every one of us4 ,no occasion
 of life fails to remind those who  live
 unto ,him that ,he is their ,god and   
that they are ,his children4  ,on light 
occasions or on grave ones1 in sorrow   
and in joy1 still the  warmth of ,his   
love is spread1 as it were1 all through 
the atmosphere  of their lives2 they    
forever feel ,his blessing4 ,and if it  
fills  them with joy unspeakable even   
now1 when they so often feel how  little
 they deserve it2 if they delight still 
in being with ,god1 and  in living to   
,him1 let them be sure that they have in
 themselves the  unerring witness of    
life eternal3 ,god is the ,god of the   
living1 and  all who are with ,him must 
live4    ,hard it is1 ,i well know1 to  
bring this home in any degree to the    
minds of those who are dead2 for it is  
of the very nature of the  dead that    

they can hear no words of life4 ,but it 
has happened that1  even whilst writing 
what ,i have just been uttering to you1 
the news  reached me that one who two   
months ago was one of your number1 who  
this very half-year has shared in all   
the business and amusements of  this    
place1 is passed already into that state
 where the meanings of  the terms life  
and death are become fully revealed4 ,he
 knows what it  is to live unto ,god and
 what it is to die to ,him4 ,those      
things which  are to us unfathomable    
mysteries are to him all plain3 and yet 
but  two months ago he might have       
thought himself as far from attaining   
this knowledge as any of us can do4     
,wherefore it is clear that these       
things1 life and death1 may hurry their 
lesson upon us sooner than  we deem of1 
sooner than we are prepared to receive  
it4 ,and that  were indeed awful1 if1   
being dead to ,god1 and yet little      
feeling it  because of the enjoyments of
 our worldly life1 those enjoyments     

were on a sudden to be struck away from 
us1 and we should find then  that to be 
dead to ,god was death indeed1 a death  
from which there is  no waking1 and in  
which there is no sleeping forever4     
,,wayland    ,a ,,day ,,in ,,the ,,life 
,,of ,,jesus ,,of ,,nazareth            
,,biographical ,,note      ,francis     
,wayland1 preacher and philosopher1 was 
born in ,new ,york1  in #agif4 ,he      
graduated at ,union ,college in #ahac   
and in #ahaf entered  ,hudson           
,theological ,seminary4 ,his first      
charge was the ,first  ,baptist ,church 
in ,boston4 ,here he established his    
reputation as an  able and vigorous     
pulpit orator4 ,five years later he     
accepted a  chair in ,union ,college1   
but in #ahbg entered upon an incumbency 
of  twenty-eight years as ,president of 
,brown ,university1 ,providence4  ,this 
institution he built up on a broad and  
liberal basis1 quite  emancipating it   
from narrow sectarianism4 ,in #ahee he  
became pastor  of the ,first ,baptist   

,church in ,providence and died in      
#ahfe4          ,,wayland    #agif-ahfe 
,a ,,day ,,in ,,the ,,life ,,of ,,jesus 
,,of ,,nazareth    ,and the apostles1   
when they were returned1 told him all   
that they  had done4 ,and he took them1 
and went aside privately into a desert  
place1 belonging to the city called     
,bethsaida4 ,and the people  when they  
knew it1 followed him3 and he received  
them1 and spake  unto them of the       
kingdom of ,god1 and healed them that   
had need of  healing4 ,and when the day 
began to wear away1 then came the       
twelve1  and said unto him1 ,send the   
multitude away1 that they may go into   
the towns and country round about1 and  
lodge and get victuals3 for  we are here
 in a desert place4 ,but he said unto   
them1 ,give ye them  to eat4 ,and they  
said1 ,we have no more but five loaves  
and two  fishes2 except we should go and
 buy meat for all this people4 ,for     
they were about five thousand men4 ,and 
he said to his disciples1  ,make them   

sit down by fifties in a company4 ,and  
they did so1 and  made them all sit     
down4 ,then he took the five loaves and 
the two  fishes and looking up to       
heaven1 he blessed them and brake1 and  
gave  to the disciples to set before the
 multitude4 ,and they did eat1 and  were
 all filled3 and there was taken up of  
fragments that remained  to them twelve 
baskets4--,luke ix41 #aj-ag4      ,it   
was the sagacious opinion of1 ,i think1 
the late ,professor  ,porson1 that he   
would rather see a single copy of a     
daily newspaper  of ancient ,athens1    
than read all the commentaries upon the 
,grecian tragedies that have ever been  
written4 ,the reason for  this          
preference is obvious4 ,a single sheet1 
similar to our daily  newspapers1       
published in the time of ,pericles1     
would admit us at  once to a knowledge  
of the habits1 manners1 modes of        
opinion1  political relations1 social   
condition1 and moral attainments of  the
 people1 such as we never could gain    

from the study of all the  writers that 
have ever attempted to illustrate the   
nature of ,grecian  civilization4       
,the same remark is true in respect to  
our knowledge of the character  of      
individuals who have lived in a former  
age4 ,what would we not1  at the present
 day1 give for a few pages of the       
private diary of  ,julius ,cesar1 or    
,cicero1 or ,brutus1 or ,augustus2 or   
for the minute  reminiscences of any one
 who had spent a few days in the company
 of  either of these distinguished men8 
,what a flood of life would the         
discovery of such a manuscript throw    
upon ,roman life1 but especially  upon  
the private opinions1 the motives1 the  
aspirations1 the moral  estimates of the
 men whose names have become household  
words  throughout the world6 ,a few such
 pages might1 perchance1 dissipate  the 
authority of many a bulky folio on which
 we now rely with  implicit confidence4 
,not only would the characters of these 
heroes  of antiquity stand out in bolder

 relief than they have ever done        
before1 but the individuals themselves  
would be brought within the  range of   
our personal sympathy2 and we should    
seem to commune with  them as we do with
 an intimate acquaintance4    ,it is    
worthy of remark1 that we are favored   
with a larger portion  of this kind of  
information1 respecting ,jesus of       
,nazareth1 than  almost any other       
distinguished person that has ever      
lived4 ,he left  no writings ,himself2  
hence all that we know of ,him has been 
written  by others4 ,the narrators1     
however1 were the personal attendants1  
and  not the mere auditors or pupils of 
their master4 ,the apostles were        
members of the family of ,jesus2 they   
traveled with ,him1 on foot1  throughout
 the length and breadth of ,palestine2  
they partook with  ,him of his frugal   
meals1 and bore with ,him the trial of  
hunger1  weariness1 and want of shelter2
 they followed ,him through the lonely  
wilderness and the crowded street2 they 

saw ,his miracles in every  variety of  
form1 and listened to ,his discourses in
 public as well  as to ,his explanations
 in private4 ,hence their whole         
narrative is  instinct with life2 a     
vivid picture of ,jewish manners and    
customs1  rendered more definite and    
characteristic by the moral light which 
then1 for the first time1 shone upon it4
 ,hence it is that these few  pages are 
replete with moral lessons that never   
weary us in the  perusal1 and which have
 been the source of unfailing           
illumination to  all succeeding ages4   
,the verses which ,i have read1 as the  
text of this discourse1 may  well be    
taken as an illustration of all that ,i 
have here said4 ,they  may1 without     
impropriety1 be styled a day in the life
 of ,jesus of  ,nazareth4 ,by observing 
the manner in which our blessed ,lord   
spent a  single day1 we may form some   
conception of the kind of life which    
,he ordinarily led2 and we may1         
perchance1 treasure up some lessons     

which it were well if we should         
exemplify in our daily practice4    ,the
 place at which these events occurred   
was near the head of the  ,sea of       
,galilee1 where it receives the waters  
of the upper ,jordan4  ,this was one of 
the ,savior's favorite places of resort4
 ,capernaum1  ,chorazin1 and ,bethsaida1
 all in this immediate vicinity1 are    
always  spoken of in the gospels as     
towns which enjoyed the largest share of
  ,his ministerial labors1 and were     
distinguished most frequently with  the 
honor of ,his personal presence4 ,the   
scenery of the neighborhood  is wild and
 romantic4 ,to the north and west1 the  
eye rests on the  lofty summits of      
,lebanon and ,hermon4 ,to the south1    
there opens upon  the view the blue     
expanse of the lake1 enclosed by        
frowning rocks1  which here and there   
jut over far into the waters1 and then  
again  retire towards the land1 leaving 
a level beach to invite the labors  of  
the fishermen4 ,the people1 removed at a

 considerable distance  from the        
metropolis of ,judea1 cultivated those  
rural habits with  which the simple     
tastes of the ,savior would most readily
 harmonize4  ,near this spot was also   
one of the most frequented fords of the 
,jordan1 on the road from ,damascus to  
,jerusalem2 and thus1 while  residing   
here1 ,he enjoyed unusual facilities for
 disseminating  throughout this whole   
region a knowledge of those truths which
 ,he  came on earth to promulgate4      
,some weeks previous to the time in     
which the events spoken of in  the text 
occurred1 our ,lord had sent ,his       
disciples to announce the  approach of  
the kingdom of heaven1 in all the cities
 and villages  which ,he ,himself       
proposed to visit4 ,he conferred on them
 the power  to work miracles1 in        
attestation of their authority1 and of  
the  divine character of ,him by whom   
they were sent4 ,he imposed upon them   
strict rules of conduct1 and directed   
them to make known to every  one who    

would hear them the good news of the    
coming dispensation4  ,as soon as ,he   
sent them forth1 ,he ,himself went      
immediately abroad  to teach and to     
preach in their cities4 ,as their       
,master and ,lord1  ,he might reasonably
 have claimed exemption from the        
personal  toil and the rigid            
self-denials to which they were by      
necessity  subjected4 ,but ,he had laid 
no claim to such exemption4 ,he         
commenced  without delay the performance
 of the very same duties which ,he  had 
imposed upon them4 ,he felt himself     
under obligation to set an  example of  
obedience to ,his own rules4 ,the ,son  
of ,man1 said ,he1  came not to be      
ministered unto1 but to minister1 and to
 give ,his  life a ransom for many4     
,which1 said ,he1 is greater1 he that   
sitteth at meat1 or he that serveth8 but
 ,i am among you as ,he that  serveth4  
,would it not be well1 if1 in this      
respect1 we copied more  minutely the   
example of our ,lord1 and held ourselves

 responsible  for the performance of the
 very same duties which we so willingly 
impose upon our brethren8 ,we best prove
 that we believe an act  obligatory1    
when we commence the performance of it  
ourselves4 ,many  zealous ,christians   
employ themselves in no other labor than
 that  of urging their brethren to      
effort4 ,our ,savior acted otherwise4   
,in this respect1 ,his example is       
specially to be imitated by ,his        
ministers4 ,when they urge upon others a
 moral duty1 they must be  the first to 
perform it4 ,when they inculcate an act 
of self-denial1  they themselves must   
make the noblest sacrifice4 ,can we     
conceive  of anything which could so    
much increase the moral power of the    
ministry1 and rouse to a flame the      
dormant energy of the churches1  as     
obedience to this teaching of ,christ by
 the preachers of ,his  gospel8    ,it  
seems that the ,savior had selected a   
well-known spot1 at the  head of the    
lake1 for the place of meeting for his  

apostles1 after  this their first       
missionary tour had been completed4 ,the
 apostles  gathered themselves unto     
,jesus1 and told ,him all things1 both  
what they had done1 and what they had   
taught4 ,there is something  delightful 
in this filial confidence which these   
simple-hearted  men reposed in their    
almighty ,redeemer4 ,they told ,him of  
their  success and their failure1 of    
their wisdom and their folly1 of  their 
reliance and their unbelief4 ,we can    
almost imagine ourselves  spectators of 
this meeting between ,christ and them1  
after this  their first separation from 
each other4 ,the place appointed was    
most probably some well-known locality  
on the shore of the lake1  under the    
shadow of its overhanging rocks1 where  
the cool air from  the bosom of the     
water refreshed each returning laborer1 
as he came  back beaten out with the    
fatigues of travel1 under the burning   
sun  of ,syria4 ,you can imagine the joy
 with which each drew near to the       

,master1 after this temporary absence2  
and the honest greetings with  which    
every newcomer was welcomed by those who
 had chanced to arrive  before him4 ,we 
can seem to perceive the ,savior of men 
listening with  affectionate earnestness
 to the recital of their various        
adventures2  and interposing1 from time 
to time1 a word either of encouragement 
or of caution1 as the character and     
circumstances of each narrator  required
 it4 ,the bosom of each was unveiled    
before the ,searcher of  ,hearts1 and   
the consolation which each one needed   
was bestowed upon  him abundantly4 ,the 
toilsomeness of their journey was no    
longer  remembered1 as each one received
 from the ,son of ,god the smile  of    
,his approbation4 ,that was truly a     
joyful meeting4 ,of all that  company   
there is not one who has forgotten that 
day2 nor will he  forget it ever4 ,with 
unreserved frankness they told ,jesus of
 all  that they had done1 and what they 
had taught2 of all their acts1  and all 

their conversations4 ,would it not be   
better for us1 if we  cultivated more   
assiduously this habit of intimate      
intercourse with  the ,savior8 ,were we 
every day to tell ,jesus of all that we 
have  done and said2 did we spread      
before ,him our joys and our sorrows1   
our faults and our infirmities1 our     
successes and our failures1 we  should  
be saved from many an error and many a  
sin4 ,setting the ,lord  always before  
us1 ,he would be on our right hand1 and 
we should not  be moved4 ,he that       
dwelleth in the secret place of the most
 ,high  shall abide under the shadow of 
the ,almighty4    ,the ,savior perceived
 that the apostles needed much          
instruction which  could not be         
communicated in a place where both ,he  
and they were so  well known4 ,they had 
committed many errors1 which ,he        
preferred to  correct in private4 ,by   
doing ,his will1 they had learned to    
repose  greater confidence in ,his      
wisdom1 and were prepared to receive    

from  ,him more important instruction4  
,but these lessons could not be         
delivered in the hearing of a           
promiscuous audience4 ,nor was this     
all4 ,he perceived that the apostles    
were worn out with their labors1  and   
needed repose4 ,surrounded as they were 
by the multitude1 which  had already    
begun to collect about them1 rest and   
retirement were  equally impossible4    
,there were many coming and going1 and  
they had  no leisure1 even so much as to
 eat4 ,he therefore said to them1  ,come
 ye yourselves apart into a desert      
place1 and rest a while4  ,for this     
purpose1 ,he took ship1 and crossed over
 with his disciples  alone1 and went    
into a desert place belonging to        
,bethsaida4    ,the religion of ,christ 
imposes upon us duties of retirement1 as
  well as duties of publicity4 ,the     
apostles had been for some time  past   
before the eyes of all men1 preaching   
and working miracles4  ,their souls     
needed retirement4 ,solitude1 said      

,cecil1 is my great  ordinance4 ,they   
would be greatly improved by private    
communion both  with ,him and with each 
other4 ,it was for the purpose of       
affording  them such a season of moral  
recreation1 that our ,lord withdrew them
  from the public gaze into a desert    
place4 ,nor was this all4 ,their  labor 
for some weeks past had been severe4    
,they had traveled on foot  under a     
tropical sun1 reasoning with            
unbelievers1 instructing the  ignorant1 
and comforting the cast-down4 ,called   
upon1 at all hours1  both of the day and
 night1 to work cures on those that were
 opprest  with diseases1 their bodies1  
no less than their spirits1 needed      
rest4 ,our ,lord saw this1 and ,he made 
provision for it4 ,he withdrew  them    
from labor1 that they might find1 tho it
 were but for a day1  the repose which  
their exhausted natures demanded4 ,the  
religion of  ,christ is ever merciful1  
and ever consistent in its benevolence4 
,it is thoughtful of the benefactor as  

well as the recipient4 ,it  requires of 
us all labor and self-sacrifice1 but to 
these it affixes  a limit4 ,it never    
commands us to ruin our health and      
enfeeble our  minds by unnatural        
exhaustion4 ,it teaches us to obey the  
laws of  our physical organization1 and 
to prepare ourselves for the labors  of 
to-morrow by the judiciously conducted  
labors of to-day4 ,it was  on this      
principle that our ,lord conducted ,his 
intercourse with ,his  disciples4 ,he   
knew their frame1 and remembered that   
they were dust4    ,may we not from this
 incident derive a lesson of practical  
instruction8 ,i well know that there are
 persons who are always  sparing        
themselves1 who1 while it is difficult  
to tell what they do1  are always       
complaining of the crushing weight of   
their labors1 and  who are rather       
exhausted with the dread of what they   
shall do1 than  with the experience of  
what they have actually done4 ,it is not
 of  those that we speak4 ,those who do 

not labor have no need of rest4 ,it  is 
to the honest1 the painstaking1 the     
laborious1 that we address  the example 
in the text4 ,we sometimes meet with the
 industrious1  self-denying servant of  
,christ1 in feeble health1 and with an  
exhausted nature1 bemoaning his         
condition1 and condemning himself       
because he can accomplish no more1 while
 so much yet remains to be  done4 ,to   
such a one we may safely present the    
example of the blessed  ,savior4 ,when  
,his apostles had done to the utmost of 
their strength1  altho the harvest was  
great1 and the laborers few1 ,he did not
 urge  upon them additional labor1 nor  
tell them that because there was so     
much to be done they must never cease   
from doing4 ,no2 ,he tells them  to turn
 aside and rest for a while4 ,it is as  
tho ,he had said1 ,your  strength is    
exhausted2 you cannot be qualified for  
subsequent duty  until you be refreshed4
 ,economize1 then1 your power1 that you 
may  accomplish the more4 ,the ,savior  

addresses the same language to us  now4 
,when we are worn down in ,his service1 
as in any other1 ,he would  have us     
rest1 not for the sake of               
self-indulgence1 but that we may  be the
 better prepared for future effort4 ,we 
do nothing at variance  with ,his will1 
when we1 with a good conscience1 use the
 liberty  which he has thus conceded to 
us4    ,jesus1 with ,his disciples1     
crossed the water1 and entered the      
desert2 that is1 the sparsely inhabited 
country of ,bethsaida4  ,desert1 or     
wilderness1 in the ,new ,testament1 does
 not mean an arid  waste1 but pasture   
land1 forest1 or any district to which  
one could  retire for seclusion4 ,here1 
in the cool and tranquil neighborhood   
of the lake1 he began to instruct ,his  
disciples1 and1 without  interruption1  
make known to them the mysteries of the 
kingdom4 ,it  was one of those seasons  
that the ,savior ,himself rarely        
enjoyed4  ,everything tended to repose3 
the rustling leaves1 the rippling       

waves1 the song of the birds1 heard more
 distinctly in this rural  solitude1 all
 served to calm the spirit ruffled by   
the agitations of  the world1 and       
prepared it to listen to the truths     
which unveil to  us eternity4 ,here our 
,lord could unbosom ,himself1 without   
reserve1  to ,his chosen few1 and hold  
with them that communion which ,he was  
rarely permitted to enjoy during ,his   
ministry on earth4    ,soon1 however1   
the whole scene is changed4 ,the        
multitude1 whom he  had so recently     
left1 having observed the direction in  
which ,he had  gone1 have discovered the
 place of ,his retreat4 ,an immense     
crowd  approaches1 and the little       
company is surrounded by a dense mass of
  human beings pressing upon them on    
every side4 ,these are1 however1  only  
the pioneers4 ,at last1 five thousand   
men1 besides women and  children1 are   
beheld thronging around them4    ,some  
of these suitors present most           
importunate claims4 ,they are in  search

 of cure for diseases which have baffled
 the skill of the  medical profession1  
and1 as a last resort1 they have come to
 the  ,messiah for aid4 ,here was a     
parent bringing a consumptive child4    
,there were children bearing on a couch 
a paralytic parent4 ,here  was a sister 
leading a brother blind from his birth1 
while her  supplications were drowned by
 the shout of a frenzied lunatic who    
was standing by her side4 ,every one1   
believing his own claim to be  the most 
urgent1 prest forward with selfish      
importunity4 ,each one1  caring for no  
other than himself1 was striving to     
attain the front  rank1 while those     
behind1 disappointed1 and fearing to    
lose this  important opportunity1 were  
eager to occupy the places of those more
  fortunate than themselves4 ,the       
necessary tumult and disorder of such  a
 scene you can better imagine than ,i   
can describe4    ,this was1 doubtless1  
by no means a welcome interruption4 ,the
  apostles needed the time for rest2 for

 they were worn out in  the public      
service4 ,they wanted it for            
instruction2 for such  opportunities of 
intercourse with ,christ were rare4 ,but
 what did  they do8 ,did our ,lord      
inform the multitude that this day was  
set  apart for their own refreshment and
 improvement1 and that they could  not  
be interrupted8 ,as ,he beheld them     
approaching1 did ,he quietly  take to   
,his boat1 and leave them to go home    
disappointed8 ,did ,he  plead ,his own  
convenience1 or ,his need of repose1 as 
any reason for  not attending to the    
pressing necessities of ,his fellow men8
    ,no1 my brethren1 very far from it4 
,that providence of ,god had  brought   
these multitudes before ,him1 and that  
same providence  forbade ,him to send   
them away unblest4 ,he at once broke up 
the  conference with ,his disciples and 
addrest ,himself to the work  before    
,him4 ,his instructions were of         
inestimable importance2 but  ,i doubt if
 even they were as important as the     

example of deep  humility1 exhaustless  
kindness1 and affecting compassion which
 ,he  here exhibited4 ,when the ,master 
places work before us which can be  done
 at no other time1 our convenience must 
yield to other men's  necessities4 ,the 
,son of ,man came not to be ministered  
unto1 but  to minister4 ,you can imagine
 to yourself the ,savior rising from    
,his seat1 in the midst of ,his         
disciples1 and presenting ,himself  to  
the approaching multitudes4 ,his calm   
dignity awes into silence  this         
tumultuous gathering of the people4     
,those who came out to  witness the     
tricks of an empiric1 or listen to the  
ravings of a  fanatic1 find themselves1 
unexpectedly1 in a presence that repels 
every emotion but that of profound      
veneration4 ,the light-hearted  and     
frivolous are awestruck by the unearthly
 majesty that seems  to clothe the      
,messiah as with a garment4 ,and yet it 
was a majesty  that shone forth         
conspicuous1 most of all1 by the        

manifestation of  unparalleled goodness4
 ,every eye that met the eye of the     
,savior  quailed before ,him2 for it    
looked into a soul that had never       
sinned2 and the spirit of the sinner    
felt1 for the first time1 the  full     
power of immaculate virtue4    ,thus the
 ,savior passed among the crowd1 and    
healed all that had  need of healing4   
,the lame walked1 the lepers were       
cleansed1  the blind received their     
sight1 the paralytic were restored to   
soundness1 and the bloom of health      
revisited the cheeks of those  that but 
just now were sick unto death4    ,the  
work to be done for the bodies of men   
was accomplished1 and  there yet        
remained some hours of the summer's day 
unconsumed4 ,the  power and goodness    
displayed in this miraculous healing    
would  naturally predispose the people  
to listen to the instructions of  the   
,savior4 ,this was too valuable an      
opportunity to be lost4 ,our  ,lord     
therefore proceeded to speak to them of 

the things concerning  the kingdom of   
,god4 ,we can seem to perceive the      
,savior seeking  an eminence from whence
 ,he could the more conveniently address
  this vast assembly4 ,you hear ,him    
unfold the laws of ,god's moral         
government4 ,he unmasks the hypocrisy of
 the ,pharisees2 ,he rebukes  the       
infidelity of the ,sadducees2 ,he       
exposes the folly of the  frivolous1 as 
well as of the selfish worldling2 ,he   
speaks peaceably  to the humble         
penitent2 ,he encourages the meek1 and  
comforts those  that be cast down4 ,the 
intellect and the conscience of this    
vast  assembly are swayed at ,his will4 
,the soul of man bows down in  reverence
 in the presence of its ,creator4 ,he   
stilleth the noise of  the seas1 the    
noise of their waves1 and the tumult of 
the people4  ,as ,he closes ,his        
address1 every eye is moistened with    
compunction  for sin4 ,every soul       
cherishes the hope of amendment4 ,every 
one is  conscious that a new moral light

 has dawned upon his soul1 and that  a  
new moral universe has been unveiled to 
his spiritual vision4 ,as  the closing  
words of the ,savior fell upon their    
ears1 the whole  multitude stood for a  
while unmoved1 as tho transfixt to the  
earth  by some mighty spell2 until1 at  
last1 the murmur is heard from          
thousands of voices1 ,never man spake   
like this man4    ,but the shades of    
evening are gathering around them4 ,the 
multitude  have nothing to eat4 ,to send
 them away fasting would be inhuman1    
for divers of them came from far1 and   
many were women and children1  who could
 not perform their journey homeward     
without previous  refreshment4 ,to      
purchase food in the surrounding towns  
and villages  would be difficult2 but   
even were this possible1 whence could   
the necessary funds be provided8 ,a     
famishing multitude was thus            
unexpectedly cast upon the bounty of our
 ,lord4 ,he had not tempted  ,god by    
leading them into the wilderness4 ,they 

came to ,him of  themselves1 to hear    
,his words and to be healed of their    
infirmities4  ,he could not send them   
away fasting1 lest they should faint by 
the  way4 ,in this dilemma1 what was to 
be done8 ,he puts this question to  ,his
 disciples1 and they can suggest no     
means of relief4 ,the little  stock of  
provisions which they had brought with  
them was barely  sufficient for         
themselves4 ,they can perceive no means 
whatever by  which the multitude can be 
fed1 and they at once confess it4       
,the ,savior1 however1 commands the     
twelve to give them to eat4 ,they       
produce their slender store of          
provisions1 amounting to five loaves    
and two small fishes4 ,he commands the  
multitude to sit down by  companies on  
the grass4 ,as soon as silence is       
obtained1 ,he lifts  up ,his eyes to    
heaven1 and supplicates the blessing of 
,god upon  their scanty meal4 ,he begins
 to break the loaves and fishes1 and    
distribute them to ,his disciples1 and  

,his disciples distribute them  to the  
multitude4 ,he continues to break and   
distribute4 ,basket after  basket is    
filled and emptied1 yet the supply is   
undiminished4 ,food  is carried in      
abundance to the famishing thousands4   
,company after  company is supplied with
 food1 but the five loaves and two      
fishes  remain unexhausted4 ,at last1   
the baskets are returned full1 and  it  
is announced that the wants of the      
multitude are supplied4 ,the  miracle   
then ceases1 and the multiplication of  
food is at an end4    ,but even here the
 provident care of the ,savior is       
manifested4 ,altho  this food has been  
so easily provided1 it is not right that
 it be  lightly suffered to perish4     
,christ wrought no miracles for the     
sake of teaching men wastefulness4 ,that
 food1 by what means soever  provided1  
was a creature of ,god1 and it were sin 
to allow it to  decay without           
accomplishing the purposes for which it 
was created4  ,gather up the fragments1 

said the ,master of the feast1 that     
nothing be lost4 ,and they gathered up  
the fragments that remained1  twelve    
baskets full4    ,dissimilar as are our 
circumstances to those of our ,lord1 we 
may  learn from this latter incident a  
lesson of instruction4    ,in the first 
place1 as ,i have remarked1 the ,savior 
did not lead  the multitude into the    
wilderness without making provision for 
their sustenance4 ,this would have been 
presumption4 ,they followed  ,him       
without ,his command1 and ,he found     
,himself with them in this  necessity4  
,he had provided for ,his own wants1 but
 they had not  provided for theirs4 ,the
 providence of ,god had1 however1 placed
  ,him in ,his present circumstances1   
and ,he might therefore properly  look  
to providence for deliverance4 ,this    
event1 then1 furnishes  the rule by     
which we are to be governed4 ,when we   
plunge ourselves  into difficulty1 by a 
neglect of the means or by a misuse of  
the  faculties which ,god has bestowed  

upon us1 it is to be expected  that ,he 
will leave us to our own devices4 ,but  
when1 in the honest  discharge of our   
duties1 we find ourselves in            
circumstances beyond  the reach of human
 aid1 we may then confidently look up to
 ,god for  deliverance4 ,he will always 
take care of us while we are in the     
spot where ,he has placed us4 ,when ,he 
appoints for us trials1 ,he  also       
appoints for us the means of escape4    
,the path of duty1 tho it  may seem     
arduous1 is ever the path of safety4 ,we
 can more easily  maintain ourselves in 
the most difficult position1 ,god being 
our  helper1 than in apparent security  
relying on our own strength4    ,the    
,savior1 in full reliance upon ,god1    
with only five loaves and  two fishes1  
commenced the distribution of food      
amongst the vast  multitude4 ,tho ,his  
whole store was barely sufficient to    
supply  the wants of ,his immediate     
family1 ,he began to share it with the  
thousands who surrounded ,him4 ,small as

 was ,his provision at the              
commencement1 it remained unconsumed    
until the deed of mercy was  done1 and  
the wants of the famished host supplied4
 ,nor were the  disciples losers by this
 act of charity4 ,after the multitude   
had  eaten and were satisfied1 twelve   
baskets full of fragments remained1  a  
reward for their deed of benevolence4   
,from this portion of the narrative1 we 
may1 ,i think1 learn that  if we act in 
faith1 and in the spirit of ,christian  
love1 we may  frequently be justified in
 commencing the most important good     
work1 even when in possession of        
apparently inadequate means4 ,if  the   
work be of ,god1 ,he will furnish us    
with helpers as fast as they  are       
needed4 ,in all ages1 ,god has rewarded 
abundantly simple trust  in ,him1 and   
has bestowed upon it in the highest     
honor4 ,we must1  however1 remember the 
conditions upon which alone we may      
expect ,his  aid1 lest we be led into   
fanaticism4 ,the service which we       

undertake  must be such as ,god has     
commanded1 and ,his providence must     
either  designate us for the work1 or1  
at least1 open the door by which we     
shall enter upon it4 ,it must be ,god's 
work1 and not our own2 for the  good of 
others1 and not for the gratification of
 our own passions2  and1 in the doing of
 it1 we must1 first of all1 make        
sacrifice of  ourselves1 and not of     
others4 ,under such circumstances1 there
 is  hardly a good design which we may  
not undertake with cheerful hopes  of   
success1 for ,god has promised us ,his  
assistance4 ,if ,god be for  us1 who can
 be against us8 ,the calculations of the
 men of this  world are of small account
 in such a matter4 ,it would have       
provoked  the smile of an infidel to    
behold the ,savior commencing the work  
of feeding five thousand men with a     
handful of provisions4 ,but the  supply 
increased as fast as it was needed1 and 
it ceased not until  all that ,he had   
prayed for was accomplished4            

,perhaps1 also1 we may learn from this  
incident another lesson4 ,if  ,i mistake
 not1 it suggests to us that in works of
 benevolence we  are accustomed to rely 
too much on human1 and too little on    
divine1  aid4 ,when we attempt to do    
good1 we commence by forming large      
associations1 and suppose that our      
success depends upon the number  of men 
whom we can unite in the promotion of   
our undertaking4 ,every  one is apt thus
 to forget his own personal duty1 and   
rely upon the  labor of others1 and it  
is well if he does not put his          
organization  in the place of ,god      
,himself4 ,would it not be better if we 
made  benevolence much more a matter    
between ,god and our own souls1 each    
one doing with his own hands1 in firm   
reliance on divine aid1 the  work which 
,providence has placed directly before  
him8 ,our ,lord did  not send to the    
villages round to organize a general    
effort to  relieve the famishing4 ,in   
reliance upon ,god1 ,he set about to    

work  ,himself1 with just such means as 
,god had afforded ,him4 ,all the        
miracles of benevolence have1 if ,i     
mistake not1 been wrought in the  same  
manner4 ,the little band of disciples in
 ,jerusalem accomplished  more for the  
conversion of the world than all the    
,christians of the  present day united4 
,and why8 ,because every individual     
,christian felt  that the conversion of 
the world was a work for which he       
himself1  and not an abstraction that he
 called the ,church1 was responsible4   
,instead of relying on man for aid1     
every one looked up directly to  ,god1  
and went forth to the work4 ,god was    
thus exalted1 the power  was confest to 
be ,his own1 and1 in a few years1 the   
standard of the  ,cross was carried to  
the remotest extremities of the then    
known  world4    ,such has1 ,i think1   
been the case ever since4 ,every great  
moral  reformation has proceeded upon   
principles analogous of these4 ,it  was 
,luther1 standing up alone in simple    

reliance upon ,god1 that  smote the     
,papal hierarchy2 and the effects of    
that blow are now  agitating the nations
 of ,europe4 ,roger ,williams1 amid     
persecution  and banishment1 held forth 
that doctrine of soul-liberty which1  in
 its onward march1 is disenthralling a  
world4 ,howard1 alone1  undertook the   
work of showing mercy to the prisoner1  
and his example  is now enlisting the   
choicest minds in ,christendom in this  
labor of  benevolence4 ,clarkson1       
unaided1 a young man1 and without       
influences1  consecrated himself to the 
work of abolishing the slave trade2 and1
  before he rested from his labor1 his  
country had repented of and  forsaken   
this atrocious sin4 ,raikes saw the     
children of ,gloucester  profaning the  
,sabbath day2 he set on foot a ,sabbath 
school on his  own account1 and now     
millions of children are reaping the    
benefit of  his labors1 and his example 
has turned the attention of the whole   
world to the religious instruction of   

the young4 ,with such facts  before us1 
we surely should be encouraged to       
attempt individually  the accomplishment
 of some good design1 relying in        
humility and  faith upon ,him who is    
able to grant prosperity to the feeblest
  effort put forth in earnest reliance  
on ,his almightiness4    ,such were the 
occupations that filled up a day in the 
life of ,jesus  of ,nazareth4 ,there was
 not an act done for ,himself2 all was  
done  for others4 ,every hour was       
employed in the labor which that hour   
set before ,him4 ,private kindness1 the 
relief of distress1 public  teaching1   
and ministration to the wants of the    
famishing1 filled  up the entire day4   
,let ,his disciples learn to follow ,his
 example4  ,let us1 like ,him1 forget   
ourselves1 our own wants1 and our own   
weariness1 that we may1 as he did1      
scatter blessings on every side1  as we 
move onward in the pathway of our daily 
life4 ,if such were the  occupations of 
the ,son of ,god1 can we do more wisely 

than to imitate  ,his example8 ,every   
disciple would then be as a city set    
upon a hill1  and men1 seeing our good  
works1 would glorify our ,father who is 
in  heaven4 ,then would our             
righteousness go forth as brightness1   
and  our salvation as a lamp that       
burneth4          ,,vinet    ,,the      
,,mysteries ,,of ,,christianity         
,,biographical ,,note      ,,alexander  
,,vinet1 the eminent ,swiss divine and  
author1 was born at  ,ouchy1 ,canton1 in
 #agig4 ,he was professor of theology at
 ,lausanne  7#ahcg-de71 where he gained 
reputation as a preacher1 a philosopher1
  and a writer4 ,he was tolerant tho    
critical1 and many of his  utterances   
are marked by rare brilliancy4 ,his     
supreme and intense  faith led him to   
say3 ,the gospel is believed when it has
 ceased  to be to us an external and has
 become an internal truth1 when it  has 
become a fact in our consciousness4     
,christianity is conscience  raised to  
its highest exercise4 ,he died in #ahdg4

          ,,vinet    #agig-ahdg    ,,the
 ,,mysteries ,,of ,,christianity        
,things which have not entered into the 
heart of man4--#a ,cor4 ii41  #i4       
,i do not comprehend1 therefore ,i do   
not believe4 ,the gospel is  full of    
mysteries1 therefore ,i do not receive  
the gospel3--such is  one of the        
favorite arguments of infidelity4 ,to   
see how much is made  of this1 and what 
confidence it inspires1 we might believe
 it solid1  or1 at least1 specious2 but 
it is neither the one nor the other2  it
 will not bear the slightest attention1 
the most superficial  examination of    
reason2 and if it still enjoys some     
favor in the  world1 this is but a proof
 of the lightness of our judgments upon 
things worthy of our most serious       
attention4    ,upon what1 in fact1 does 
this argument rest8 ,upon the claim of  
comprehending every thing in the        
religion which ,god has offered or      
could offer us--a claim equally unjust1 
unreasonable1 useless4 ,this  we proceed

 to develop4    #a4 ,in the first place1
 it is an unjust claim4 ,it is to demand
 of ,god  what ,he does not owe us4 ,to 
prove this1 let us suppose that ,god has
  given a religion to man1 and let us   
further suppose that religion to  be the
 gospel3 for this absolutely changes    
nothing to the argument4  ,we may       
believe that ,god was free1 at least1   
with reference to us1  to give us or not
 to give us a religion2 but it must be  
admitted  that in granting it ,he       
contracts engagements to us1 and that   
the  first favor lays ,him under a      
necessity of conferring other favors4   
,for this is merely to say that ,god    
must be consistent1 and that ,he        
finishes what ,he has begun4 ,since it  
is by a written revelation  ,he         
manifests ,his designs respecting us1 it
 is necessary ,he should  fortify that  
revelation by all the authority which   
would at least  determine us to receive 
it2 it is necessary ,he should give us  
the  means of judging whether the men   

who speak to us in ,his name are  really
 sent by ,him2 in a word1 it is         
necessary we should be assured  that the
 ,bible is truly the ,word of ,god4     
,it would not indeed be necessary that  
the conviction of each of  us should be 
gained by the same kind of evidence4    
,some shall be  led to ,christianity by 
the historical or external arguments2   
they  shall prove to themselves the     
truth of the ,bible as the truth of  all
 history is proved2 they shall satisfy  
themselves that the  books of which it  
is composed are certainly those of the  
times and  of the authors to which they 
are ascribed4 ,this settled1 they  shall
 compare the prophecies contained in    
these ancient documents  with the events
 that have happened in subsequent ages2 
they shall  assure themselves of the    
reality of the miraculous facts related 
in  these books1 and shall thence infer 
the necessary intervention of  divine   
power1 which alone disposes the forces  
of nature1 and can  alone interrupt or  

modify their action4 ,others1 less      
fitted for  such investigations1 shall  
be struck with the internal evidence  of
 the ,holy ,scriptures4 ,finding there  
the state of their souls  perfectly     
described1 their wants fully exprest1   
and the true  remedies for their        
maladies completely indicated2 struck   
with a  character of truth and candor   
which nothing can imitate2 in fine1     
feeling themselves in their inner nature
 moved1 changed1 renovated1  by the     
mysterious influence of these holy      
writings1 they shall  acquire1 by such  
means1 a conviction of which they can   
not always  give an account to others1  
but which is not the less legitimate1   
irresistible1 and immovable4 ,such is   
the double road by which an  entrance is
 gained into the asylum of faith4 ,but  
it was due from the  wisdom of ,god1    
from ,his justice1 and1 we venture to   
say it1 from  the honor of ,his         
government1 that ,he should open to man 
this double  road2 for1 if ,he desired  

man to be saved by knowledge1 on the    
same  principle ,he engaged ,himself to 
furnish him the means of knowledge4     
,behold1 whence come the obligations of 
the ,deity with reference  to us1 which 
obligations ,he has fulfilled4 ,enter on
 this double  method of proof4          
,interrogate history1 time and places1  
respecting  the authenticity of the     
,scriptures2 grasp all the difficulties1
  sound all the objections2 do not      
permit yourselves to be too easily      
convinced2 be the more severe upon that 
book1 as it professes to  contain the   
sovereign rule of your life1 and the    
disposal of your  destiny2 you are      
permitted to do this1 nay1 you are      
encouraged  to do it1 provided you      
proceed to the investigation with the   
requisite capacities and with pure      
intentions4 ,or1 if you prefer  another 
method1 examine1 with an honest heart1  
the contents of the  ,scriptures2       
inquire1 while you run over the words of
 ,jesus1 if ever  man spake like this   

,man2 inquire if the wants of your soul1
 long  deceived1 and the anxieties of   
your spirit1 long cherished in vain1  do
 not1 in the teaching and work of       
,christ1 find that satisfaction  and    
repose which no wisdom was ever able to 
procure you2 breathe1  if ,i may thus   
express myself1 that perfume of truth1  
of candor and  purity1 which exhales    
from every page of the gospel2 see1 if1 
in all  these respects1 it does not bear
 the undeniable seal of inspiration  and
 divinity4 ,finally1 test it1 and if the
 gospel produces upon you  a contrary   
effect1 return to the books and the     
wisdom of men1 and  ask of them what    
,christ has not been able to give you4  
,but if1 neglecting these two ways1 made
 accessible to you1  and trodden by the 
feet of ages1 you desire1 before all1   
that  the ,christian religion should1 in
 every point1 render itself             
comprehensible to your mind1 and        
complacently strip itself of all        
mysteries2 if you wish to penetrate     

beyond the veil1 to find there1  not the
 aliment which gives life to the soul1  
but that which would  gratify your      
restless curiosity1 ,i maintain that you
 raise against  ,god a claim the most   
indiscreet1 the most rash and unjust2   
for ,he  has never engaged1 either      
tacitly or expressly1 to discover to you
  the secret which your eye craves2 and 
such audacious importunity is  fit to   
excite ,his indignation4 ,he has given  
you what ,he owed you1  more indeed than
 ,he owed you2 the rest is with         
,himself4    ,if a claim so unjust could
 be admitted1 where1 ,i ask you1 would  
be  the limit of your demands8 ,already 
you require more from ,god than ,he  has
 accorded to angels2 for these eternal  
mysteries which trouble  you1 the       
harmony of the divine prescience with   
human freedom1 the  origin of evil and  
its ineffable remedy1 the incarnation of
 the  eternal ,word--the relations of   
the ,god-man with ,his ,father--the     
atoning virtue of ,his sacrifice1 the   

regenerating efficacy of the            
,spirit-comforter1 all these things are 
secrets1 the knowledge of  which is     
hidden from angels themselves1 who1     
according to the word  of the ,apostle1 
stoop to explore their depths1 and can  
not4    ,if you reproach the ,eternal   
for having kept the knowledge of  these 
divine mysteries to ,himself1 why do you
 not reproach ,him  for the thousand    
other limits ,he has prescribed for you8
 ,why not  reproach ,him for not having 
given you wings like a bird1 to visit   
the regions1 which1 till now1 have been 
scanned only by your eyes8  ,why not    
reproach ,him for not giving you1       
besides the five senses  with which you 
are provided1 ten other senses which ,he
 has perhaps  granted to other          
creatures1 and which procure for them   
perceptions  of which you have no idea8 
,why not1 in fine1 reproach ,him for    
having  caused the darkness of night to 
succeed the brightness of day           
invariably on the earth8 ,ah6 you do not

 reproach ,him for that4 ,you  love that
 night which brings rest to so many     
fatigued bodies and  weary spirits2     
which suspends in so many wretches1 the 
feeling of  grief2 that night1 during   
which orphans1 slaves1 and criminals    
cease  to be1 because over all their    
misfortunes and sufferings it spreads1  
with the opiate of sleep1 the thick veil
 of oblivion2 you love that  night      
which1 peopling the deserts of the      
heavens with ten thousand  stars1 not   
known to the day1 reveals the infinite  
to our ravished  imagination4    ,well1 
then1 why do you not1 for a similar     
reason1 love the night  of divine       
mysteries1 night1 gracious and salutary1
 in which reason  humbles itself1 and   
finds refreshment and repose2 where the 
darkness  even is a revelation2 where   
one of the principal attributes of ,god1
  immensity1 discovers itself much more 
fully to our mind2 where1 in  fine1 the 
tender relations ,he has permitted us to
 form with ,himself1  are guarded from  

all admixture of familiarity by the     
thought that  the ,being who has humbled
 ,himself to us1 is1 at the same time1  
the inconceivable ,god who reigns before
 all time1 who includes in  ,himself all
 existences and all conditions of       
existence1 the center  of all thought1  
the law of all law1 the supreme and     
final reason  of every thing6 ,so that1 
if you are just1 instead of reproaching 
,him for the secrets of religion1 you   
will bless ,him that ,he has  enveloped 
you in mysteries4    #b4 ,but this claim
 is not only unjust toward ,god2 it is  
also in  itself exceedingly             
unreasonable4    ,what is religion8 ,it 
is ,god putting ,himself in             
communication with  man2 the ,creator   
with the creature1 the infinite with the
 finite4  ,there already1 without going 
further1 is a mystery2 a mystery  common
 to all religions1 impenetrable in all  
religions4 ,if1 then1  every thing which
 is a mystery offends you1 you are      
arrested on the  threshold1 ,i will not 

say of ,christianity1 but of every      
religion2  ,i say1 even of that religion
 which is called natural1 because it    
rejects revelation and miracles2 for it 
necessarily implies1 at  the very least1
 a connection1 a communication of some  
sort between  ,god and man--the contrary
 being equivalent to atheism4 ,your     
claim  prevents you from having any     
belief2 and because you have not been   
willing to be ,christians1 it will not  
allow you to be deists4    ,it is of no 
consequence1 you say1 we pass over that 
difficulty2  we suppose between ,god and
 us connections we can not conceive2 we 
admit them because they are necessary to
 us4 ,but this is the only  step we are 
willing to take3 we have already yielded
 too much to  yield more4 ,say more1 say
 you have granted too much not to grant 
much more1 not to grant all6 ,you have  
consented to admit1 without             
comprehending it1 that there may be     
communications from ,god to you1  and   
from you to ,god4 ,but consider well    

what is implied in such a  supposition4 
,it implies that you are dependent1 and 
yet free3 this  you do not comprehend2  
it implies that the ,spirit of ,god can 
make  itself understood by your spirit3 
this you do not comprehend2 it  implies 
that your prayers may exert an influence
 on the will of  ,god3 this you do not  
comprehend4 ,it is necessary you should 
receive  all these mysteries1 in order  
to establish with ,god connections the  
most vague and superficial1 and by the  
very side of which atheism  is placed4  
,and when1 by a powerful effort with    
yourselves you have  done so much as to 
admit these mysteries1 you recoil from  
those  of ,christianity6 ,you have      
accepted the foundation1 and refuse the 
superstructure6 ,you have accepted the  
principle and refuse the  details6 ,you 
are right1 no doubt1 so soon as it is   
proved to you1  that the religion which 
contains these mysteries does not come  
from  ,god2 or rather1 that these       
mysteries contain contradictory ideas4  

,but you are not justified in denying   
them1 for the sole reason that  you do  
not understand them2 and the reception  
you have given to the  first kind of    
mysteries compels you1 by the same rule1
 to receive  the others4    ,this is not
 all4 ,not only are mysteries an        
inseparable part1 nay1  the very        
substance of all religion1 but it is    
absolutely impossible  that a true      
religion should not present a great     
number of mysteries4  ,if it is true1 it
 ought to teach more truths respecting  
,god and  divine things than any other1 
than all others together2 but each  of  
these truths has a relation to the      
infinite1 and by consequence  borders on
 a mystery4 ,how should it be otherwise 
in religion1 when  it is thus in nature 
itself8 ,behold ,god in nature6 ,the    
more ,he  gives us to contemplate1 the  
more ,he gives to astonish us4 ,to each 
creature is attached some mystery4 ,a   
grain of sand is an abyss6  ,now1 if the
 manifestations which ,god has made of  

,himself in nature  suggest to the      
observer a thousand questions which can 
not be  answered1 how will it be1 when  
to that first revelation1 another  is   
added2 when ,god the ,creator and       
,preserver reveals ,himself under  new  
aspects as ,god the ,reconciler and     
,savior8 ,shall not mysteries  multiply 
with discoveries8 ,with each new day    
shall we not see  associated a new      
night8 ,and shall we not purchase each  
increase of  knowledge with an increase 
of ignorance8 ,has not the doctrine of  
grace1 so necessary1 so consoling1 alone
 opened a profound abyss1  into which1  
for eighteen centuries1 rash and        
restless spirits have  been constantly  
plunging8    ,it is1 then1 clearly      
necessary that ,christianity should1    
more  than any other religion1 be       
mysterious1 simply because it is  true4 
,like mountains1 which1 the higher they 
are1 cast the larger  shadows1 the      
gospel is the more obscure and          
mysterious on account  of its sublimity4

 ,after this1 will you be indignant that
 you do  not comprehend every thing in  
the gospel8 ,it would1 forsooth1 be  a  
truly surprising thing if the ocean     
could not be held in the  hollow of your
 hand1 or uncreated wisdom within the   
limits of your  intelligence6 ,it would 
be truly unfortunate if a finite being  
could  not embrace the infinite1 and    
that1 in the vast assemblage of things  
there should be some idea beyond its    
grasp6 ,in other words1 it would  be    
truly unfortunate if ,god ,himself      
should know something which man  does   
not know6    ,let us acknowledge1 then1 
how insensate is such a claim when it is
  made with reference to religion4      
,but let us also recollect how much1 in 
making such a claim1 we  shall be in    
opposition to ourselves2 for the        
submission we dislike  in religion1 we  
cherish in a thousand other things4 ,it 
happens to us  every day to admit things
 we do not understand1 and to do so     
without  the least repugnance4 ,the     

things1 the knowledge of which is       
refused  us1 are much more numerous than
 we perhaps think4 ,few diamonds are    
perfectly pure2 still fewer truths are  
perfectly clear4 ,the union  of our soul
 with our body is a mystery--our most   
familiar emotions  and affections are a 
mystery--the action of thought and of   
will is  a mystery--our very existence  
is a mystery4 ,why do we admit these    
various facts8 ,is it because we        
understand them8 ,no1 certainly1 but    
because they are self-evident1 and      
because they are truths by which  we    
live4 ,in religion we have no other     
course to take4 ,we ought to  know      
whether it is true and necessary2 and   
once convinced of these  two points1 we 
ought1 like the angels1 to submit to the
 necessity of  being ignorant of some   
things4 ,and why do we not submit       
cheerfully  to a privation which1 after 
all1 is not one8    #c4 ,to desire the  
knowledge of mysteries is to desire what
 is utterly  useless2 it is to raise1 as

 ,i have said before1 a claim the most  
vain and idle4 ,what in reference to us 
is the object of the gospel8  ,evidently
 to regenerate and save us4 ,but it     
attains this end wholly  by the things  
it reveals4 ,of what use would it be to 
know those it  conceals from us8 ,we    
possess the knowledge which can         
enlighten our  consciences1 rectify our 
inclinations1 renew our hearts2 what    
should  we gain if we possest other     
knowledge8 ,it infinitely concerns us to
  know that the ,bible is the ,word of  
,god2 does it equally concern us  to    
know in what way the holy men that wrote
 it were moved by the  ,holy ,ghost8 ,it
 is of infinite moment to us to know    
that ,jesus ,christ  is the ,son of     
,god2 need we know precisely in what way
 the divine and  human natures are      
united in ,his adorable person8 ,it is  
of infinite  importance for us to know  
that unless we are born again we can not
  enter the kingdom of ,god1 and that   
the ,holy ,spirit is the author of  the 

new birth2 shall we be further advanced 
if we know the divine  process by which 
that wonder is performed8 ,is it not    
enough for us  to know the truths that  
save8 ,of what use1 then1 would it be to
 know  those which have not the         
slightest bearing on our salvation8 ,tho
  ,i know all mysteries1 says ,st4      
,paul1 and have not charity1 ,i am      
nothing4 ,st4 ,paul was content not to  
know1 provided he had charity2  shall   
not we1 following his example1 be       
content also without  knowledge1        
provided that1 like him1 we have        
charity1 that is to say1  life8    ,but 
some one will say ,if the knowledge of  
mysteries is really  without influence  
on our salvation1 why have they been    
indicated to  us at all8 ,what if it    
should be to teach us not to be too     
prodigal  of our wherefores6 if it      
should be to serve as an exercise of our
  faith1 a test of our submission6 ,but 
we will not stop with such a  reply4    
,observe1 ,i pray you1 in what manner   

the mysteries of which you  complain    
have taken their part in religion4 ,you 
readily perceive  they are not by       
themselves1 but associated with truths  
which have  a direct bearing on your    
salvation4 ,they contain them1 they     
serve  to develop them2 but they are not
 themselves the truths that save4  ,it  
is with these mysteries as it is with   
the vessel that contains  a medicinal   
draft--it is not the vessel that cures1 
but the draft2  yet the draft could not 
be presented without the vessel4 ,thus  
each  truth that saves is contained in a
 mystery1 which1 in itself1 has  no     
power to save4 ,so the great work of    
expiation is necessarily  attached to   
the incarnation of the ,son of ,god1    
which is a mystery2  so the sanctifying 
graces of the new covenant are          
necessarily  connected with the         
effluence of the ,holy ,spirit1 which is
 a mystery2  so1 too1 the divinity of   
religion finds a seal and an attestation
  in the miracles1 which are mysteries4 

,everywhere the light is born  from     
darkness1 and darkness accompanies the  
light4 ,these two orders  of truths are 
so united1 so interlinked1 that you can 
not remove  the one without the other1  
and each of the mysteries you attempt to
  tear from religion would carry with it
 one of the truths which bear  directly 
on your regeneration and salvation4     
,accept the mysteries1  then1 not as    
truths that can save you1 but as the    
necessary  conditions of the merciful   
work of the ,lord in your behalf4       
,the true point at issue in reference to
 religion is this3--,does  the religion 
which is proposed to us change the      
heart1 unite to  ,god1 prepare for      
heaven8 ,if ,christianity produces these
 effects1  we will leave the enemies of 
the cross free to revolt against its    
mysteries1 and tax them with absurdity4 
,the gospel1 we will say to  them1 is   
then an absurdity2 you have discovered  
it4 ,but behold what  a new species of  
absurdity that certainly is which       

attaches man to  all his duties1        
regulates human life better than all the
 doctrines  of sages1 plants in his     
bosom harmony1 order1 and peace1 causes 
him joyfully to fulfil all the offices  
of civil life1 renders him  better      
fitted to live1 better fitted to die1   
and which1 were it  generally received1 
would be the support and safeguard of   
society6  ,cite to us1 among all human  
absurdities1 a single one which produces
  such effects4 ,if that foolishness we 
preach produces effects like  these1 is 
it not natural to conclude that it is   
truth itself8 ,and if  these things have
 not entered the heart of man1 it is not
 because  they are absurd1 but because  
they are divine4    ,make but a single  
reflection4 ,you are obliged to confess 
that none  of the religions which man   
may invent can satisfy his wants1 or    
save his soul4 ,thereupon you have a    
choice to make4 ,you will either  reject
 them all as insufficient and false1 and
 seek for nothing  better1 since man can

 not invent better1 and then you will   
abandon  to chance1 to caprice of       
temperament or of opinion1 your moral   
life  and future destiny2 or you will   
adopt that other religion which some    
treat as folly1 and it will render you  
holy and pure1 blameless in  the midst  
of a perverse generation1 united to ,god
 by love1 and to  your brethren by      
charity1 indefatigable in doing good1   
happy in  life1 happy in death4         
,suppose1 after all this1 you shall be  
told  that this religion is false2 but  
meanwhile1 it has restored in you  the  
image of ,god1 reestablished your       
primitive connections with  that great  
,being1 and put you in a condition to   
enjoy life and the  happiness of heaven4
 ,by means of it you have become such   
that at the  last day1 it is impossible 
that ,god should not receive you as ,his
  children and make you partakers of    
,his glory4 ,you are made fit for       
paradise1 nay1 paradise has commenced   
for you even here1 because you  love4   

,this religion has done for you what all
 religions propose1 and  what no other  
has realized4 ,nevertheless1 by the     
supposition1 it is  false6 ,and what    
more could it do1 were it true8 ,rather 
do you not  see that this is a splendid 
proof of its truth8 ,do you not see that
  it is impossible that a religion which
 leads to ,god should not come  from    
,god1 and that the absurdity is         
precisely that of supposing that  you   
can be regenerated by a falsehood8      
,suppose that afterward1 as at the      
first1 you do not comprehend4 ,it  seems
 necessary1 then1 you should be saved by
 the things you do not  comprehend4 ,is 
that a misfortune8 ,are you the less    
saved8 ,does it  become you to demand   
from ,god an explanation of an obscurity
 which  does not injure you1 when1 with 
reference to every thing essential1  ,he
 has been prodigal of light8 ,the first 
disciples of ,jesus1 men  without       
culture and learning1 received truths   
which they did not  comprehend1 and     

spread them through the world4 ,a crowd 
of sages and  men of genius have        
received1 from the hands of these poor  
people1  truths which they comprehended 
no more than they4 ,the ignorance of    
the one1 and the science of the other1  
have been equally docile4  ,do1 then1 as
 the ignorant and the wise have done4   
,embrace with  affection those truths   
which have never entered into your      
heart1  and which will save you4 ,do not
 lose1 in vain discussions1 the time    
which is gliding away1 and which is     
bearing you into the cheering  or       
appalling light of eternity4 ,hasten to 
be saved4 ,love now2 one  day you will  
know4 ,may the ,lord ,jesus prepare you 
for that period of  light1 of repose1   
and of happiness6          ,,summerfield
    ,,the ,,heavenly ,,inheritance      
,,biographical ,,note      ,,john       
,,summerfield was born in ,england in   
#agih1 and came to ,new ,york  in #ahba1
 where he soon became one of the most   
popular and eloquent  preachers of that 

day4 ,he belonged to the ,methodist     
,communion  and his name is still       
perpetuated in the names of many        
,methodist  churches4 ,he was unusually 
simple and modest in his tastes and     
habits1 but when he spoke from the      
pulpit he produced a great  impression  
by the force and daring of his style4   
,he gave promise  of equaling           
,whitefield as a pulpit orator1 but he  
was subject to  delicate health and     
prematurely died in #ahbe1 twenty-seven 
years of  age4          ,,summerfield   
#agih-ahbe    ,,the ,,heavenly          
,,inheritance    ,for so an entrance    
shall be ministered unto you abundantly 
into the  everlasting kingdom of our    
,lord and ,saviour ,jesus ,christ4--#b  
,peter  i41 #aa4      ,of all the causes
 which may be adduced to account for the
  indifference which is so generally    
manifested toward those great  concerns 
of eternity1 in which men are so awfully
 interested1 none  appears to me so     
likely to resolve the mystery1 as that  

unbelief  which lies at the core of     
every heart1 hindering repentance1 and  
so making faith impossible4 ,men hear   
that there is a hell to shun1  a heaven 
to win2 and1 though they give their     
assent to both these  truths1 they never
 impress them on their mind4 ,it is     
plain that1  whatever their lips may    
confess1 they never believed with the   
heart1 otherwise some effect would have 
been produced in the life4  ,the germ of
 unbelief lies within1 and discovers    
itself in all that  indifference which  
is displayed1 in the majority of that   
class of  beings whose existence is to  
be perpetuated throughout eternity4  ,if
 these thoughts do sometimes obtrude    
themselves on their serious  attention1 
they are immediately banished from their
 minds2 and the  dying exclamation of   
,moses may be taken up with tears by    
every lover  of perishing sinners3 ,o6  
that they were wise1 that they          
understood  this1 that they would       
consider their latter end6 ,when ,god1  

by ,his  prophet ,isaiah1 called the    
,israelites to a sense of their awful   
departure from ,him1 ,his language was1 
,my people do not know3 ,my  people do  
not consider4 ,how few are there like   
,mary1 who ponder  those things in their
 heart1 who are willing to look at      
themselves1  to pry into eternity1 to   
put the question home1        ,shall ,i 
be with the damn'd cast out1       ,or  
numbered with the bless'd8    ,this     
question must sooner or later have a    
place in your minds1 or  awful will be  
your state indeed2 let it reach your    
hearts to-day2  and if you pray to the  
,father of light1 you will soon be      
enabled in  ,his light to discern so    
much of yourselves as will cause you to 
cry1  ,what shall ,i do to be saved8    
,while we shall this morning attempt  to
 point out some of the privileges of the
 sons of ,god1 oh6 may your  hearts     
catch the strong desire to be conformed 
to the living ,head1  that so an        
abundant entrance may be administered   

unto you also1 into  the everlasting    
kingdom of our ,lord and ,savior1 ,jesus
 ,christ4    ,the privilege to which our
 text leads us1 is exclusively          
applicable  to those to whom that       
question has been solved by the ,spirit 
of  ,god2 those who have believed to the
 saving of their souls2 who have        
experienced redemption through ,his     
blood1 and the forgiveness of  sins2 and
 who are walking in the fear of the     
,lord and in the comfort  of the ,holy  
,ghost4    ,i4 ,the state to which we   
look forward3 the everlasting kingdom of
  our ,lord and ,savior4    #a4 ,it is a
 kingdom4 ,by this figurative expression
 our ,lord has  described the state of  
grace here and of glory hereafter2 our  
happiness in time and our happiness in  
eternity4 ,they were wisely so  called3 
,jesus has said1 as well as done1 all   
things well2 for these  two states      
differ not in kind1 but in degree2 the  
one is merely a  preparative for the    
other1 and he who has been a subject of 

the  former kingdom will be a subject of
 the latter4 ,grace is but the  seed of 
glory1 glory is the maturity of grace2  
grace is but the bud  of glory1 glory is
 grace full blown2 grace is but the     
blossom of  glory1 glory is the ripe    
fruit of grace2 grace is but the infant 
of  glory1 glory is the perfection of   
grace4 ,hence our hymn beautifully      
says1 ,the men of grace have found glory
 begun below1 agreeing with  our ,lord's
 own words1 ,he that believeth hath     
everlasting life2 he  feels even here   
its glories beginning--a foretaste of   
its bliss4    ,now the propriety with   
which these two states are called       
kingdoms  is manifest from the analogy  
which might be traced between them and  
the model of a human sovereignty4 ,two  
or three of the outlines of  this model 
will be sufficient4    ,in the idea of a
 kingdom it is implied that in some part
 of its  extent there is the residence  
of a sovereign2 for this is essential   
to constitute it4 ,now in the kingdom of

 grace the heart of the  believer is    
made the residence of the ,king         
invisible6 ,know ye not  that your body 
is the temple of the ,holy ,ghost which 
is in you8  ,such know what that promise
 means1 ,i will dwell in them1 and they 
shall be my people4 ,st4 ,paul          
exultingly cries1 ,christ liveth in  me4
    ,again1 it is essential that the    
inhabitants of a kingdom be under  the  
government of its laws4 ,an empire      
without laws is no sovereignty  at all2 
it ceases to be such1 for every         
inhabitant has an equal  right to do    
that which seems good in his own eyes4  
,now the subjects  of ,christ's kingdom 
of grace are not without law1 but are   
under a  law to ,christ2 they do ,his   
righteous will6    ,lastly1 it is       
essential that the subjects of a kingdom
 be under the  protection of the        
presiding monarch1 and that they repose 
their  confidence in him4 ,to the       
subjects of the kingdom of grace1       
,christ  imparts ,his kingly protection2

 this is their heritage3 ,no weapon     
formed against them shall prosper2 nay1 
,he imparts to them of ,his  royal      
bounty1 and they enjoy all the blessings
 of an inward heaven4    ,but how great 
the perfection of the kingdom of glory  
mentioned in  our text6 ,does ,he make  
these vile bodies ,his residence here8  
,how  much more glorious is ,his temple 
above6 how splendid the court of        
heaven6 ,there1 indeed1 he fixes ,his   
throne1 and they see ,him as ,he  is4   
,does ,he exercise ,his authority here  
and rule ,his happy subjects  by the    
law1 the perfect law of love8 ,how much 
more in heaven6 ,he  reigns there       
forever over them2 ,his government is   
there wholly by  ,himself2 ,he knows    
nothing of a rival there2 ,his rule is  
sole and  perfect3 there they serve ,him
 day and night4 ,are ,his subjects here 
partakers of ,his kingly bounty8 ,much  
more in heaven6 ,he calls them  to a    
participation of all the joys1 the      
spiritual joys which are at  ,his right 

hand1 and the pleasures which are there 
forevermore4 ,yet1  after all our       
descriptions of that glory1 it is not   
yet revealed1  and1 therefore1          
inconceivable4 ,but who would not hail  
such a ,son of  ,david8 who would not   
desire to be swayed by such a ,prince of
 ,peace8  ,whose heart would not ascend 
with the affections of our poet1 ,o6    
that with yonder sacred throng1 we at   
,his feet may fall8    #b4 ,but it is an
 everlasting kingdom6 ,here it rises in 
the scale of  comparison4 ,weigh the    
kingdoms of this world in this balance1 
and  they are found wanting2 for on many
 we read their fatal history1  and ere  
long we shall see them all branded with 
the writing of the  invisible ,agent1   
,the kingdom is taken from thee1 and    
given to a  nation bringing forth the   
fruits thereof2 ,for the kingdoms of    
this world have become the kingdoms of  
our ,lord and of his ,christ2  they will
 be absorbed and swallowed up in the    
fulness of eternity1  and leave not a   

wrack behind6 ,every thing here is      
perishable6 ,the  towering diadem of    
,caesar has fallen from his head and    
crumbled  into dust2 and that kingdom   
whose scepter once swayed the world1    
betwixt whose colossal stride all       
nations were glad to creep to  find     
themselves dishonored graves1 is now    
forgotten1 or1 if its  recollection be  
preserved1 its history is emphatically  
called ,the  ,decline and ,fall4    ,but
 bring the matter nearer home2 apply it 
not to multitudes of  subjects1 but to  
your individual experience1 and has not 
that good  teacher instructed you in    
this sad lesson8 ,we tremble to look at 
our earthly possessions and employments1
 lest we should see them  in motion1    
spreading their wings to fly away6 ,how 
many are there  already who1 in talking 
of their comforts1 are obliged to go    
back  in their reckoning6 ,would not    
this be the language of some of you3  ,i
 had--,i had a husband1 the sharer of my
 joys1 the soother of my  sorrows2 but  

he is not6 ,i had a wife1 a helpmeet for
 me2 but where  is she8 ,i had children 
to whom ,i looked up as my support and  
staff in the decline of life1 while     
passing down the hill2 but ,i  am       
bereaved of my children6 ,i had health1 
and ,i highly prized its  wealth2 but   
now my emaciated frame1 my shriveled    
system1 and the  pains of nature bespeak
 that comfort fled6 ,i had1 or fondly   
thought  ,i had1 happiness in           
possession6 ,then ,i said with ,job1 ',i
 shall die  in my nest6' but ah6 an     
unexpected blast passed over me1 and now
 my  joys are blighted6 ',they have fled
 as a shadow1 and continued not4'  ,yes6
 time promised you much6 perhaps it     
performed a little2 but it  can not do  
any thing for you on which it can grave 
eternal4 ,its  name is mortal1 its      
nature is decay2 it was born with man1  
and when  the generations of men shall  
cease to exist1 it will cease also3     
,time shall be no longer6 ,we know      
concerning these that1 ,all flesh  is as

 grass1 and all the glory of man as the 
flower of grass4 ,the  grass withereth1 
and the flower fadeth1 but the word of  
the ,lord  endureth forever4 ,yes6 ,his 
kingdom is an everlasting kingdom2 glory
  can not corrupt6 the crown of glory   
can not fade6 ,why8 ,death will  be     
destroyed2 ,christ will put this last   
enemy under ,his feet1 and  all will    
then be eternal life6 ,oh1 happy1 happy 
kingdom2 nay1 thrice  happy he who shall
 be privileged to be its subject6    #c4
 ,it is the everlasting kingdom of our  
own ,lord and ,savior ,jesus  ,christ4  
,it is ,his by claim3 ,him hath ,god the
 ,father highly  exalted2 yea1 ,him hath
 ,he appointed to be the judge of quick 
and  dead2 for tho by the sufferings of 
death ,he was made a little  lower than 
the angels1 yet immediately after ,his  
resurrection ,he  declares that now ,all
 power is given unto him in heaven and  
in  earth6 ,the ,father hath committed  
all judgment unto the ,son1 and ,he  has
 now the disposal of the offices and    

privileges of the empire  among ,his    
faithful followers4 ,this is the idea   
that the penitent  dying thief had on   
the subject3 ,lord1 remember me when    
thou comest  into thy kingdom2 and ,st4 
,paul expresses the same when he says to
  ,timothy in the confidence of faith1  
,the ,lord shall deliver me and         
preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom4  
,oh6 how pleasing the thought  to the   
child of ,god1 that his ruler to all    
eternity will be his  elder ,brother2   
for ,he who sanctifieth and they who are
 sanctified  are all of one2 and though 
,he is heir of all things1 yet we1 as   
younger branches of the same heavenly   
family1 shall be joint heirs1           
fellow-heirs of the same glorious       
inheritance4 ,how great will be  our joy
 to behold ,him who humbled ,himself for
 us to death1 even the  death of the    
cross1 now exalted ,god over all1 blest 
for evermore2  and while contemplating  
,him under the character of our ,lord   
and  ,savior ,jesus ,christ1 how great  

the relish which will be given to  that 
feeling of the redeemed which will      
constrain them to cry1  ,thou alone art 
worthy to receive glory1 and honor1 and 
power4    ,,ii4 ,but the apostle reminds
 us of the entrance into this kingdom6  
#a4 ,the entrance into this kingdom is  
death3 ,by one man sin entered  into the
 world1 and death by sin3        ,death1
 like a narrow sea1 divides       ,that 
heavenly land from ours6    ,a messenger
 is sent to bring us to ,god1 but it is 
the ,king of  ,terrors4 ,we enter the   
land flowing with milk and honey1 but it
 is  through the valley of the shadow of
 death4 ,yet fear not1 ,o thou  child of
 ,god6 there is no need that thou1      
through the fear of death1  shouldst be 
all thy lifetime subject to bondage4    
#b4 ,no2 hear the apostle3 the entrance 
is ministered unto thee6  ,death is but 
,his minister2 he can not lock his      
ice-cold hand in  thine till ,he permit4
 ,our ,jesus has the keys of hell and   
death2 and  till ,he liberates the      

vassal to bring thee home1 not a hair of
 thy  head can fall to the ground6 ,fear
 not1 thou worm6 ,he who minds the      
sparrows appoints the time for thy      
removal3 fear not2 only be thou  always 
ready1 that1 whenever the messenger     
comes to take down the  tabernacle in   
which thy spirit has long made her      
abode1 thou mayest  be able to exclaim1 
,amen6 even so1 ,lord ,jesus1 come      
quickly4  ,death need have no terrors   
for thee2 he is the vassal of thy ,lord1
  and1 however unwilling to do ,him     
reverence1 yet to ,him that sits  at    
,god's right hand shall even death pay1 
if not a joyful1 yet a  trembling       
homage2 nay1 more3        ,to ,him shall
 earth and hell submit1         ,and    
every foe shall fall1       ,till death 
expires beneath ,his feet1         ,and 
,god is all in all4    ,christ has      
already had one triumph over death2 ,his
 iron pangs could  not detain the       
,prince who has life in himself2 and in 
,his strength  thou shalt triumph1 for  

the power of ,christ is promised to rest
 upon  thee6 ,he has had the same       
entrance2 ,his footsteps marked the way1
  and ,his cry to thee is1 ,follow thou 
me4 ,my sheep1 says ,he1 hear  my voice1
 and they do follow me2 they follow ,me 
gladly1 even into  this gloomy vale2 and
 what is the consequence8 ,they shall   
never  perish1 neither shall any man    
pluck them out of my hand4    #c4 ,it is
 ministered unto you abundantly4        
,perhaps the apostle means  that the    
death of some is distinguished by       
indulgences and honors  not vouchsafed  
to all4 ,in the experience of some1 the 
passage  appears difficult2 in others it
 is comparatively easy2 they gently     
fall asleep in ,jesus4 ,but we not only 
see diversities in the mortal           
agony--this would be a small thing4444  
,some get in with sails full  spread and
 carrying a rich cargo indeed1 while    
others arrive barely  on a single plank4
 ,some1 who have long had their         
conversation in  heaven1 are anxious to 

be wafted into the celestial haven2     
while  others1 who never sought ,god    
till alarmed at the speedy approach of  
death1 have little confidence1          
,and linger shivering on the brink1     
,and fear to launch away4    ,this      
doctrine must have been peculiarly      
encouraging to the early  converts to   
whom ,st4 ,peter wrote4 ,from the tenor 
of both of his  epistles it is clear    
that they were in a state of severe     
suffering1  and in great danger of      
apostatizing through fear of            
persecution4 ,he  reminds them that if  
they hold fast their professions1 an    
abundant  entrance will be administered 
unto them4 ,the death of the martyr  is 
far more glorious than that of the      
,christian who concealed his  profession
 through fear of man4 ,witness the case 
of ,stephen3 he  was not ashamed of     
being a witness for ,jesus in the face  
of the  violent death which awaited him1
 and which crushed the tabernacle  of   
his devoted spirit2 his ,lord reserved  

the highest display of ,his  love and of
 ,his glory for that awful hour6        
,behold6 says he to his  enemies1 while 
gnashing on him with their teeth1       
,behold6 ,i see  heaven opened1 and the 
,son of man standing on the right hand  
of  ,god2 then1 in the full triumph of  
faith1 he cries out1 ,lord ,jesus6      
receive my spirit6    ,but did these    
things apply merely to the believers to 
whom ,st4  ,peter originally wrote8 ,no2
 you are the men to whom they equally   
apply2 according to your walk and       
profession of that gospel will be  the  
entrance which will be ministered unto  
you4 ,some of you have  heard1 in       
another of our houses1 during the past  
week1 the dangerous  tendency of the    
spirit of fear1 the fear of man4 ,i     
would you had  all heard that discourse3
 alas6 many who have a name and a place 
among us are becoming mere ,sabbath-day 
worshipers in the courts of  the ,lord1 
and lightly esteem the daily means of   
grace4 ,i believe  this is one cause at 

least why many are weak and sickly among
 us in  divine things4 ,the inner man   
does not make due increase2 the world   
is stealing a march unawares upon us4   
,may ,god revive among us the  spirit of
 our fathers6    ,these things1 then1 ,i
 say1 equally apply to you4 ,behold the 
strait1  the royal1 the king's highway6 
,are you afraid of the reproach of      
,christ8        ,ashamed of ,jesus1 that
 dear ,friend1       ,on whom our hopes 
of heaven depend8    ,how soon would the
 world be overcome if all who profess   
that faith  were faithful to it6 ,wo to 
the rebellious children who compromise  
truth with the world1 and in effect deny
 their ,lord and ,master6 ,who  hath    
required this at their hands8 ,do they  
not follow with the crowd  who cry1     
,lord1 ,lord6 and yet do not the things 
which ,he says8  ,will they have the    
adoption and the glory8 ,will they aim  
at the  honor implied in these words1   
,ye are my witnesses8 ,will ye indeed   
be sons8 ,then see the path wherein ,his

 footsteps shine6 ,the way is  open6 see
 that ye walk therein6 ,the false       
apostles1 the deceitful  workers shall  
have their reward2 the same that those  
of old had1  the praise and esteem of   
men2 while the faith of those who truly 
call ,him ,father and ,lord1 and who    
walk in the light as ,he is in the      
light1 who submit1 like ,him and ,his   
true followers1 to be counted as  the   
filth of the world1 and the offscouring 
of all things1 shall  be found unto     
praise1 and honor1 and glory6    ,the   
true ,christian does not seek to hide   
himself in a corner2 he  lets his light 
shine before men1 whether they will     
receive it or  not2 and thereby is his  
,father glorified4 ,having thus served1 
by  the will of ,god1 the hour of his   
departure at length arrives4 ,the       
angels beckon him away2 ,jesus bids him 
come2 and as he departs this  life he   
looks back with a heavenly smile on     
surviving friends1 and  is enabled to   
say1 ,whither ,i go1 ye know1 and the   

way ye know4 ,an  entrance is ministered
 unto him abundantly into the           
everlasting  kingdom of his ,lord and   
,savior4    ,,iii4 ,having considered   
the state to which we look1 and the mode
 of  our admission1 let us consider the 
condition of it4 ,this is implied  in   
the word so4 ,for so an entrance shall  
be ministered unto you4  ,in the        
preceding part of this chapter1 the     
apostle has pointed out  the meaning of 
this expression1 and in the text merely 
sums it all  up in that short mode of   
expression4    ,the first condition he  
shows to be1 the obtaining like precious
  faith with him1 through the           
righteousness of ,god and our ,savior   
,jesus ,christ4 ,not a faith which      
merely assents to the truths of the     
gospel record1 but a faith which applies
 the merits of the death  of ,christ to 
expiate my individual guilt2 which lays 
hold on ,him  as my sacrifice1 and      
produces1 in its exercises1 peace with  
,god1 a  knowledge of the divine favor1 

a sense of sin forgiven1 and a full     
certainty1 arising from a divine        
impression on the heart1 made by  the   
,spirit of ,god1 that ,i am accepted in 
the ,beloved and made a  child of ,god4 
,if those who profess the ,gospel of    
,christ were but half as zealous  in    
seeking after this enjoyment as they are
 in discovering  creaturely objections  
to its attainment1 it would be enjoyed  
by  thousands who at present know       
nothing of its happy reality4 ,such     
persons1 unfortunately for themselves1  
employ much more assiduity  in searching
 a vocabulary to find out epithets of   
reproach to attach  to those who        
maintain the doctrine than in searching 
that volume  which declares that if you 
are sons1 ,god has sent forth the       
,spirit  of his ,son into your hearts1  
crying ,abba1 ,father2 and that he that 
believeth hath the witness in himself4  
,in whatever light a scorner  may view  
this doctrine now1 the time will come   
when1 being found  without the wedding  

garment1 he will be cast into outer     
darkness4    ,o sinner6 cry to ,god this
 day to convince thee of thy need of    
this  salvation1 and then thou wilt be  
in a condition to receive it3           
,shalt know1 shalt feel thy sins        
forgiven1       ,bless'd with this      
antepast of heaven4    ,but1 besides    
this1 the apostle requires that we then 
henceforth  preserve consciences void of
 offense toward ,god and toward man4    
,this faith which obtains the           
forgiveness of sin unites to ,christ1   
and by this union we are made1 as ,st4  
,peter declares1 partakers  of the      
divine nature3 and as ,he who has called
 you is holy1 so  you are to be holy in 
all manner of conversation4 ,for yours  
is a  faith which not only casts out    
sin1 but purifies the heart--the        
conscience having been once purged by   
the sprinkling of the blood  of ,christ1
 you are not to suffer guilt to be again
 contracted2 for  the salvation of      
,christ is not only from the penalty1   

but from the  very stain of sin2 not    
only from its guilt1 but from its       
pollution2  not only from its           
condemnation1 but from its very         
in-being2 ,the  blood of ,jesus ,christ 
cleanseth from all sin2 and ,for this   
purpose  was the ,son of ,god           
manifested1 that he might destroy the   
works of  the devil4 ,you are therefore 
required by ,st4 ,peter1 to escape the  
corruption that is in the world through 
lust1 and thus to perfect  holiness in  
the fear of the ,lord6    ,finally1 live
 in progressive and practical godliness4
 ,not only  possess1 but practise1 the  
virtues of religion2 not only practise1 
but increase therein1 abounding in the  
work of the ,lord6 ,lead up1  hand in   
hand1 in the same delightful chorus1 all
 the graces which  adorn the ,christian 
character4 ,having the divine nature1   
possessing  a new and living principle1 
let diligent exercise reduce it to      
practical holiness2 and you will be     
easily discerned from those  formal     

hypocrites1 whose faith and religion are
 but a barren and  unfruitful           
speculation4    ,to conclude3 live to   
,god--live for ,god--live in ,god2 and  
let your  moderation be known unto all  
men--the ,lord is at hand3 ,therefore   
giving all diligence1 add to your faith 
virtue2 and to virtue1  knowledge2 and  
to knowledge1 temperance2 and to        
temperance1  patience2 and to patience1 
godliness2 and to godliness1 brotherly  
kindness2 and to brotherly kindness1    
charity4          ,,newman    ,,god',s  
,,will ,,the ,,end ,,of ,,life          
,,biographical ,,note      ,,john       
,,henry ,,newman was born in ,london in 
#ahja4 ,he won high honors at  ,oxford1 
and in #ahbh was appointed vicar of the 
,university ,church1  ,st4 ,mary's1 and 
with ,keble and ,pusey headed the       
,oxford ,movement4  ,in the pulpit of   
,st4 ,mary's he soon showed himself to  
be a power4  ,his sermons1 exquisite1   
tho simple in style1 chiefly deal with  
various phases of personal religion     

which he illustrated with a  keen       
spiritual insight1 a sympathetic glow1  
an exalted earnestness  and a breadth of
 range1 unparalleled in ,english pulpit 
utterances  before his time4 ,his       
extreme views on questions of           
catholicity1  sacerdotalism and the     
sacraments1 as well as his craving for  
an  infallible authority in matters of  
faith1 shook his confidence in  the     
,church of ,england and he went over to 
,rome in #ahde4 ,he was made  ,cardinal 
in #ahgi and died in #ahij4             
,,newman    #ahja-ahij    ,,god',s      
,,will ,,the ,,end ,,of ,,life    ,i    
came down from heaven not to do mine own
 will but the will of him  that sent    
me4--,john vi41 #ch4      ,i am going to
 ask you a question1 my dear brethren1  
so trite1 and  therefore so             
uninteresting at first sight1 that you  
may wonder why  ,i put it1 and may      
object that it will be difficult to fix 
the mind  on it1 and may anticipate that
 nothing profitable can be made of it4  

,it is this3 ,why were you sent into the
 world8 ,yet1 after all1 it  is perhaps 
a thought more obvious than it is       
common1 more easy than  it is familiar2 
,i mean it ought to come into your      
minds1 but it does  not1 and you never  
had more than a distant acquaintance    
with it1  tho that sort of acquaintance 
with it you have had for many years4    
,nay1 once or twice1 perhaps you have   
been thrown across the thought  somewhat
 intimately1 for a short season1 but    
this was an accident  which did not     
last4 ,there are those who recollect the
 first time1  as it would seem1 when it 
came home to them4 ,they were but little
  children1 and they were by themselves1
 and they spontaneously asked           
themselves1 or rather ,god spake in     
them1 ,why am ,i here8 how came  ,i     
here8 who brought me here8 ,what am ,i  
to do here8 ,perhaps it was  the first  
act of reason1 the beginning of their   
real responsibility1  the commencement  
of their trial2 perhaps from that day   

they may date  their capacity1 their    
awful power1 of choosing between good   
and  evil1 and of committing mortal sin4
 ,and so1 as life goes on1 the  thought 
comes vividly1 from time to time1 for a 
short season across  their conscience2  
whether in illness1 or in some anxiety1 
or at some  season of solitude1 or on   
hearing some preacher1 or reading some  
religious work4 ,a vivid feeling comes  
over them of the vanity and             
unprofitableness of the world1 and then 
the question recurs1 ,why  then am ,i   
sent into it8    ,and a great contrast  
indeed does this vain1 unprofitable1 yet
  overbearing world present with such a 
question as that4 ,it seems  out of     
place to ask such a question in so      
magnificent1 so imposing  a presence1 as
 that of the great ,babylon4 ,the world 
professes to  supply all that we need1  
as if we were sent into it for the sake 
of being sent here1 and for nothing     
beyond the sending4 ,it is a  great     
favor to have an introduction to this   

august world4 ,this is  to be our       
exposition1 forsooth1 of the mystery of 
life4 ,every man  is doing his own will 
here1 seeking his own pleasure1 pursuing
 his  own ends2 that is why he was      
brought into existence4 ,go abroad  into
 the streets of the populous city1      
contemplate the continuous  outpouring  
there of human energy1 and the countless
 varieties  of human character1 and be  
satisfied6 ,the ways are thronged1      
carriage-way and pavement2 multitudes   
are hurrying to and fro1 each  on his   
own errand1 or are loitering about from 
listlessness1 or from  want of work1 or 
have come forth into the public         
concourse1 to see  and to be seen1 for  
amusement or for display1 or on the     
excuse of  business4 ,the carriages of  
the wealthy mingle with the slow wains  
laden with provisions or merchandise1   
the productions of art or the  demands  
of luxury4 ,the streets are lined with  
shops1 open and gay1  inviting          
customers1 and widen now and then into  

some spacious square  or place1 with    
lofty masses of brickwork or of stone1  
gleaming in  the fitful sunbeam1 and    
surrounded or fronted with what         
simulates  a garden's foliage4 ,follow  
them in another direction1 and you  find
 the whole groundstead covered with     
large buildings1 planted  thickly up and
 down1 the homes of the mechanical arts4
 ,the air is  filled1 below1 with a     
ceaseless1 importunate1 monotonous din1 
which  penetrates even to your innermost
 chamber1 and rings in your ears  even  
when you are not conscious of it2 and   
overhead1 with a canopy  of smoke1      
shrouding ,god's day from the realms of 
obstinate1 sullen  toil4 ,this is the   
end of man6    ,or stay at home1 and    
take up one of those daily prints1 which
  are so true a picture of the world2   
look down the columns of                
advertisements1 and you will see the    
catalog of pursuits1 projects1  aims1   
anxieties1 amusements1 indulgences which
 occupy the mind of  man4 ,he plays many

 parts3 here he has goods to sell1 there
 he wants  employment2 there again he   
seeks to borrow money1 here he offers   
you  houses1 great seats or small       
tenements2 he has food for the million1 
and luxuries for the wealthy1 and       
sovereign medicines for the  credulous1 
and books1 new and cheap1 for the       
inquisitive4 ,pass on  to the news of   
the day1 and you will learn what great  
men are doing  at home and abroad3 you  
will read of wars and rumors of wars2 of
  debates in the legislature2 of rising 
men1 and old statesmen going  off the   
scene2 of political contests in this    
city or that country2  of the collision 
of rival interests4 ,you will read of   
the money  market1 and the provision    
market1 and the market for metals2 of   
the  state of trade1 the call for       
manufactures1 news of ships arrived  in 
port1 of accidents at sea1 of exports   
and imports1 of gains and  losses1 of   
frauds and their detection4 ,go forward1
 and you arrive at  discoveries in art  

and science1 discoveries 7so-called7 in 
religion1  the court and royalty1 the   
entertainments of the great1 places of  
amusement1 strange trials1 offenses1    
accidents1 escapes1 exploits1           
experiments1 contests1 ventures4 ,oh1   
this curious restless1  clamorous1      
panting being1 which we call life6--and 
is there to be  no end to all this8 ,is 
there no object in it8 ,it never has an 
end1  it is forsooth its own object6    
,and now1 once more1 my brethren1 put   
aside what you see and what  you read of
 the world1 and try to penetrate into   
the hearts1 and to  reach the ideas and 
the feelings of those who constitute it2
 look  into them as closely as you can2 
enter into their houses and private     
rooms2 strike at random through the     
streets and lanes3 take as they  come1  
palace and hovel1 office or factory1 and
 what will you find8  ,listen to their  
words1 witness1 alas6 their works2 you  
will find in  the main the same lawless 
thoughts1 the same unrestrained desires1

  the same ungoverned passions1 the same
 earthly opinions1 the same  wilful     
deeds1 in high and low1 learned and     
unlearned2 you will find  them all to be
 living for the sake of living2 they one
 and all seem  to tell you1 ,we are our 
own center1 our own end4 ,why are they  
toiling8 why are they scheming8 for what
 are they living8 ,we live  to please   
ourselves2 life is worthless except we  
have our own way2  we are not sent here 
at all1 but we find ourselves here1 and 
we are  but slaves unless we can think  
what we will1 believe what we will1     
love what we will1 hate what we will1 do
 what we will4 ,we detest  interference 
on the part of ,god or man4 ,we do not  
bargain to be rich  or to be great2 but 
we do bargain1 whether rich or poor1    
high or  low1 to live for ourselves1 to 
live for the lust of the moment1 or1    
according to the doctrine of the hour1  
thinking of the future and  the unseen  
just as much or as little as we please4 
,oh1 my brethren1 is it not a shocking  

thought1 but who can deny its  truth8   
,the multitude of men are living without
 any aim beyond this  visible scene2    
they may from time to time use religious
 words1 or  they may profess a communion
 or a worship1 as a matter of course1   
or of expedience1 or of duty1 but1 if   
there was sincerity in such  profession1
 the course of the world could not run  
as it does4 ,what  a contrast is all    
this to the end of life1 as it is set   
before us  in our most holy faith6 ,if  
there was one among the sons of men1 who
  might allowably have taken his        
pleasure1 and have done his own will    
here below1 surely it was ,he who came  
down on earth from the bosom  of the    
,father1 and who was so pure and        
spotless in that human nature  which ,he
 put on ,him1 that ,he could have no    
human purpose or aim  inconsistent with 
the will of ,his ,father4 ,yet ,he1 the 
,son of ,god1  the ,eternal ,word1 came1
 not to do ,his own will1 but ,his who  
sent  ,him1 as you know very well is    

told us again and again in ,scripture4  
,thus the ,prophet in the ,psalter1     
speaking in ,his person1 says1 ,lo1  ,i 
come to do thy will1 ,o ,god4 ,and ,he  
says in the ,prophet ,isaiah1  ,the     
,lord ,god hath opened mine ear1 and ,i 
do not resist2 ,i have  not gone back4  
,and in the gospel1 when ,he hath come  
on earth1  ,my food is to do the will of
 him that sent me1 and to finish his    
work4 ,hence1 too1 in ,his agony1 ,he   
cried out1 ,not my will1 but  thine1 be 
done2 and ,st4 ,paul1 in like manner1   
says1 that ,christ  pleased not himself2
 and elsewhere1 that1 tho he was ,god's 
,son1  yet learned he obedience by the  
things which he suffered4 ,surely  so it
 was2 as being indeed the eternal       
coequal ,son1 ,his will was  one and the
 same with the ,father's will1 and ,he  
had no submission  of will to make2 but 
,he chose to take on ,him man's nature  
and the  will of that nature2 he chose  
to take on ,him affections1 feelings1   
and inclinations proper to man1 a will  

innocent indeed and good1  but still a  
man's will1 distinct from ,god's will2 a
 will1 which1  had it acted simply      
according to what was pleasing to its   
nature1  would1 when pain and toil were 
to be endured1 have held back from an   
active cooperation with the will of     
,god4 ,but1 tho ,he took on ,himself    
the nature of man1 ,he took not on ,him 
that selfishness1 with which  fallen man
 wraps himself round1 but in all things 
,he devoted ,himself  as a ready        
sacrifice to ,his ,father4 ,he came on  
earth1 not to take  ,his pleasure1 not  
to follow ,his taste1 not for the mere  
exercise  of human affection1 but simply
 to glorify ,his ,father and to do ,his 
will4 ,he came charged with a mission1  
deputed for a work2 ,he looked  not to  
the right nor to the left1 ,he thought  
not of ,himself1 ,he  offered ,himself  
up to ,god4    ,hence it is that ,he was
 carried in the womb of a poor woman1   
who1 before ,his birth1 had two journeys
 to make1 of love and of  obedience1 to 

the mountains and to ,bethlehem4 ,he was
 born in a  stable1 and laid in a       
manger4 ,he was hurried off to ,egypt to
 sojourn  there2 then ,he lived till ,he
 was thirty years of age in a poor way1 
by a rough trade1 in a small house1 in a
 despised town4 ,then1 when  ,he went   
out to preach1 ,he had not where to lay 
,his head2 ,he wandered  up and down the
 country1 as a stranger upon earth4 ,he 
was driven out  into the wilderness1 and
 dwelt among the wild beasts4 ,he       
endured  heat and cold1 hunger and      
weariness1 reproach and calumny4 ,his   
food was coarse bread1 and fish from the
 lake1 or depended on the  hospitality  
of strangers4 ,and as ,he had already   
left ,his ,father's  greatness on high1 
and had chosen an earthly home2 so      
again1 at  that ,father's bidding1 ,he  
gave up the sole solace given ,him in   
this  world1 and denied ,himself ,his   
mother's presence4 ,he parted with her  
who bore ,him2 ,he endured to be strange
 to her2 ,he endured to call  her coldly

 woman1 who was ,his own undefiled one1 
all beautiful1  all gracious1 the best  
creature of ,his hands1 and the sweet   
nurse of  ,his infancy4 ,he put her     
aside1 as ,levi1 ,his type1 merited the 
sacred  ministry1 by saying to ,his     
parents and kinsmen1 ,i know you not4   
,he exemplified in ,his own person the  
severe maxim1 which ,he gave to  ,his   
disciples1 ,he that loveth more than me 
is not worthy of me4  ,in all these many
 ways ,he sacrificed every wish of ,his 
own2 that we  might understand1 that1 if
 ,he1 the ,creator1 came into ,his      
world1 not  for ,his own pleasure1 but  
to do ,his ,father's will1 we too have  
most  surely some work to do1 and have  
seriously to bethink ourselves what     
that work is4    ,yes1 so it is2 realize
 it1 my brethren2--every one who        
breathes1  high and low1 educated and   
ignorant1 young and old1 man and woman1 
has a mission1 has a work4 ,we are not  
sent into this world for  nothing2 we   
are not born at random2 we are not here1

 that we may go  to bed at night1 and   
get up in the morning1 toil for our     
bread1 eat  and drink1 laugh and joke1  
sin when we have a mind1 and reform when
  we are tired of sinning1 rear a family
 and die4 ,god sees every one  of us2   
,he creates every soul1 ,he lodges it in
 the body1 one by one1  for a purpose4  
,he needs1 ,he deigns to need1 every one
 of us4 ,he has  an end for each of us2 
we are all equal in ,his sight1 and we  
are  placed in our different ranks and  
stations1 not to get what we can  out of
 them for ourselves1 but to labor in    
them for ,him4 ,as ,christ  had ,his    
work1 we too have ours2 as ,he rejoiced 
to do ,his work1 we  must rejoice in    
ours also4    ,st4 ,paul on one occasion
 speaks of the world as a scene in a    
theater4 ,consider what is meant by     
this4 ,you know1 actors on a stage  are 
on an equality with each other really1  
but for the occasion they  assume a     
difference of character2 some are high1 
some are low1 some  are merry1 and some 

sad4 ,well1 would it not be simple      
absurdity  in any actor to pride himself
 on his mock diadem1 or his edgeless    
sword1 instead of attending to his part8
 ,what1 if he did but gaze at  himself  
and his dress8 what1 if he secreted1 or 
turned to his own  use1 what was        
valuable in it8 ,is it not his business1
 and nothing  else1 to act his part     
well8 ,common sense tells us so4 ,now we
 are  all but actors in this world2 we  
are one and all equal1 we shall be      
judged as equals as soon as life is     
over2 yet1 equal and similar in         
ourselves1 each has his special part at 
present1 each has his work1  each has   
his mission1--not to indulge his        
passions1 not to make  money1 not to get
 a name in the world1 not to save       
himself trouble1  not to follow his     
bent1 not to be selfish and self-willed1
 but to do  what ,god puts on him to do4
    ,look at the poor profligate in the 
gospel1 look at ,dives2 do you  think he
 understood that his wealth was to be   

spent1 not on himself1  but for the     
glory of ,god8--yet forgetting this1 he 
was lost for  ever and ever4 ,i will    
tell you what he thought1 and how he    
viewed  things3 he was a young man1 and 
had succeeded to a good estate1  and he 
determined to enjoy himself4 ,it did not
 strike him that his  wealth had any    
other use than that of enabling him to  
take his  pleasure4 ,lazarus lay at his 
gate2 he might have relieved ,lazarus2  
that was ,god's will2 but he managed to 
put conscience aside1 and  he persuaded 
himself he should be a fool1 if he did  
not make the  most of this world1 while 
he had the means4 ,so he resolved to    
have  his fill of pleasure2 and feasting
 was to his mind a principal part  of   
it4 ,he fared sumptuously every day2    
everything belonging to  him was in the 
best style1 as men speak2 his house1 his
 furniture1  his plate of silver and    
gold1 his attendants1 his               
establishments4  ,everything was for    
enjoyment1 and for show1 too2 to attract

 the  eyes of the world1 and to gain the
 applause and admiration of his  equals1
 who were the companions of his sins4   
,these companions were  doubtless such  
as became a person of such pretensions2 
they were  fashionable men2 a collection
 of refined1 high-bred1 haughty men1    
eating1 not gluttonously1 but what was  
rare and costly2 delicate1  exact1      
fastidious in their taste1 from their   
very habits of  indulgence2 not eating  
for the mere sake of eating1 or drinking
 for  the mere sake of drinking1 but    
making a sort of science of their       
sensuality2 sensual1 carnal1 as flesh   
and blood can be1 with eyes1  ears1     
tongue steeped in impurity1 every       
thought1 look1 and sense1  witnessing or
 ministering to the evil one who ruled  
them2 yet1 with  exquisite correctness  
of idea and judgment1 laying down rules 
for  sinning2--heartless and selfish1   
high1 punctilious1 and disdainful  in   
their outward deportment1 and shrinking 
from ,lazarus1 who lay at  the gate1 as 

an eye-sore1 who ought for the sake of  
decency to be  put out of the way4      
,dives was one of such1 and so he lived 
his short  span1 thinking of nothing but
 himself1 till one day he got into a    
fatal quarrel with one of his godless   
associates1 or he caught some  bad      
illness2 and then he lay helpless on his
 bed of pain1 cursing  fortune and his  
physician that he was no better1 and    
impatient that  he was thus kept from   
enjoying his youth1 trying to fancy     
himself  mending when he was getting    
worse1 and disgusted at those who would 
not throw him some word of comfort in   
his suspense1 and turning more          
resolutely from his ,creator in         
proportion to his suffering2--and  then 
at last his day came1 and he died1 and  
7oh6 miserable67 was  buried in hell4   
,and so ended he and his mission4       
,this was the fate of your pattern and  
idol1 oh1 ye1 if any of you  be present1
 young men1 who1 tho not possest of     
wealth and rank1 yet  affect the        

fashions of those who have them4 ,you1  
my brethren1 have  not been born        
splendidly1 or nobly2 you have not been 
brought up  in the seats of liberal     
education2 you have no high connections2
  you have not learned the manners nor  
caught the tone of good  society2 you   
have no share of the largeness of mind1 
the candor1 the  romantic sense of      
honor1 the correctness of taste1 the    
consideration  for others1 and the      
gentleness which the world puts forth as
 its  highest type of excellence2 you   
have not come near the courts of the    
mansions of the great2 yet you ape the  
sin of ,dives1 while you are  strangers 
to his refinement4 ,you think it the    
sign of a gentleman  to set yourselves  
above religion2 to criticize the        
religious and  professors of religion2  
to look at ,catholic and ,methodist with
  impartial contempt2 to gain a         
smattering of knowledge on a number of  
subjects2 to dip into a number of       
frivolous publications1 if they  are    

popular2 to have read the latest novel2 
to have heard the singer  and seen the  
actor of the day2 to be well up with the
 news2 to know  the names and1 if so be1
 the persons of public men1 to be able  
to  bow to them2 to walk up and down the
 street with your heads on high1  and to
 stare at whatever meets you2 and to say
 and do worse things1  of which these   
outward extravagances are but the       
symbol4 ,and this  is what you conceive 
you have come upon the earth for6 ,the  
,creator  made you1 it seems1 oh1 my    
children1 for this work and office1 to  
be a bad imitation of polished          
ungodliness1 to be a piece of tawdry    
and faded finery1 or a scent which has  
lost its freshness1 and does  not but   
offend the sense6 ,o6 that you could see
 how absurd and base  are such pretenses
 in the eyes of any but yourselves6 ,no 
calling of  life but is honorable2 no   
one is ridiculous who acts suitably to  
his calling and estate2 no one1 who has 
good sense and humility1  but may1 in   

any state of life1 be truly well-bred   
and refined2  but ostentation1          
affectation1 and ambitious efforts are1 
in every  station of life1 high or low1 
nothing but vulgarities4 ,put them      
aside1 despise them yourselves4 ,oh1 my 
very dear sons1 whom ,i love1  and whom 
,i would fain serve2--oh1 that you could
 feel that you have  souls6 oh1 that you
 would have mercy on your souls6 oh1    
that1 before  it is too late1 you would 
betake yourselves to ,him who is the    
source  of all that is truly high and   
magnificent and beautiful1 all that is  
bright and pleasant and secure what you 
ignorantly seek1 in ,him whom  you so   
wilfully1 so awfully despise6    ,he1   
alone1 the ,son of ,god1 the brightness 
of the ,eternal ,light1 and  the        
spotless mirror of ,his ,majesty1 is the
 source of all good and  all happiness  
to rich and poor1 high and low4 ,if you 
were ever so  high1 you would need ,him2
 if you were ever so low1 you could     
offend  ,him4 ,the poor can offend ,him2

 the poor man can neglect his divinely  
appointed mission as well as the rich4  
,do not suppose1 my brethren1  that what
 ,i have said against the upper or the  
middle class will  not1 if you happen to
 be poor1 also lie against you4 ,though 
a man  were as poor as ,lazarus1 he     
could be as guilty as ,dives4 ,if you   
were resolved to degrade yourselves to  
the brutes of the field1  who have no   
reason and no conscience1 you need not  
wealth or rank  to enable you to do so4 
,brutes have no wealth2 they have no    
pride  of life2 they have no purple and 
fine linen1 no splendid table1 no       
retinue of servants1 and yet they are   
brutes4 ,they are brutes by the  law of 
their nature2 they are the poorest among
 the poor2 there is  not a vagrant and  
outcast who is so poor as they2 they    
differ from  him1 not in their          
possessions1 but in their want of a     
soul1 in that  he has a mission and they
 have not1 he can sin and they can not4 
,oh1  my brethren1 it stands to reason1 

a man may intoxicate himself with  a    
cheap draft1 as well as with a costly   
one2 he may steal another's  money for  
his appetites1 though he does not waste 
his own upon them2  he may break through
 the natural and social laws which      
encircle him1  and profane the sanctity 
of family duties1 tho he be not a child 
of  nobles1 but a peasant or            
artisan1--nay1 and perhaps he does so   
more  frequently than they4 ,this is not
 the poor's blessedness1 that he  has   
less temptations to self-indulgence1 for
 he has as many1 but  that from his     
circumstances he receives the penances  
and corrections  of self-indulgence4    
,poverty is the mother of many pains and
 sorrows  in their season1 and these are
 ,god's messengers to lead the soul  to 
repentance2 but1 alas6 if the poor man  
indulges his passions1  thinks little of
 religion1 puts off repentance1 refuses 
to make an  effort1 and dies without    
conversion1 it matters nothing that he  
was poor in this world1 it matters      

nothing that he was less daring  than   
the rich1 it matters not that he        
promised himself ,god's favor1  that he 
sent for the priest when death came1 and
 received the last  sacraments2 ,lazarus
 too1 in that case1 shall be buried with
 ,dives in  hell1 and shall have had his
 consolation neither in this world nor  
in the world to come4    ,my brethren1  
the simple question is1 whatever a man's
 rank in life  may be1 does he in that  
rank perform the work which ,god has    
given  him to do8 ,now then1 let me turn
 to others1 of a very different         
description1 and let me hear what they  
will say1 when the question  is asked   
them4 ,why1 they will parry it thus3    
,you give us no  alternative1 they will 
say to me1 except that of being sinners 
or  saints4 ,you put before us our      
,lord's pattern1 and you spread before  
us the guilt and ruin of the deliberate 
transgressor2 whereas we  have no       
intention of going so far one way or the
 other2 we do not  aim at being saints1 

but we have no desire at all to be      
sinners4 ,we  neither intend to disobey 
,god's will1 nor to give up our own4    
,surely  there is a middle way1 and a   
safe one1 in which ,god's will and our  
will may both be satisfied4 ,we mean to 
enjoy both this world and the  next4 ,we
 will guard against mortal sin2 we are  
not obliged to guard  against venial2   
indeed it would be endless to attempt   
it4 ,none but  saints do so2 it is the  
work of a life2 we need have nothing    
else  to do4 ,we are not monks1 we are  
in the world1 we are in business1  we   
are parents1 we have families2 we must  
live for the day4 ,it is a  consolation 
to keep from mortal sin2 that we do1 and
 it is enough  for salvation4 ,it is a  
great thing to keep in ,god's favor2    
what  indeed can we desire more8 ,we    
come at due time to the sacraments2     
this is our comfort and our stay2 did we
 die1 we should die in  grace1 and      
escape the doom of the wicked4 ,but if  
we once attempted  to go further1 where 

should we stop8 how will you draw the   
line  for us8 ,the line between mortal  
and venial sin is very distinct2  we    
understand that2 but do you not see     
that1 if we attended to our  venial     
sins1 there would be just as much reason
 to attend to one as  to another8 ,if we
 began to repress our anger1 why not    
also repress  vainglory8 ,why not also  
guard against niggardliness8 ,why not   
also  keep from falsehood1 from         
gossiping1 from idling1 from excess in  
eating8 ,and1 after all1 without venial 
sin we never can be1 unless  indeed we  
have the prerogative of the ,mother of  
,god1 which it would  be almost heresy  
to ascribe to any one but her4 ,you are 
not asking  us to be converted2 that we 
understand2 we are converted1 we were   
converted a long time ago4 ,you bid us  
aim at an indefinite vague  something1  
which is less than perfection1 yet more 
than obedience1  and which1 without     
resulting in any tangible advantage1    
debars us  from the pleasures and       

embarrasses us in the duties of this    
world4    ,this is what you will say2   
but your premises1 my brethren1 are     
better than your reasoning1 and your    
conclusions will not stand4  ,you have a
 right view why ,god has sent you into  
the world2 viz41 in  order that you may 
get to heaven2 it is quite true also    
that you  would fare well indeed if you 
found yourselves there1 you could       
desire nothing better2 nor1 it is true1 
can you live any time  without venial   
sin4 ,it is true also that you are not  
obliged to aim  at being saints2 it is  
no sin not to aim at perfection4 ,so    
much  is true and to the purpose2 but it
 does not follow from it that  you1 with
 such views and feelings as you have    
exprest1 are using  sufficient exertions
 even for attaining purgatory4 ,has your
 religion  any difficulty in it1 or is  
it in all respects easy to you8 ,are you
  simply taking your own pleasure in    
your mode of living1 or do you  find    
your pleasure in submitting yourself to 

,god's pleasure8 ,in a  word1 is your   
religion a work8 ,for if it be not1 it  
is not religion  at all4 ,here at once1 
before going into your argument1 is a   
proof  that it is an unsound one1       
because it brings you to the conclusion 
that1 whereas ,christ came to do a work1
 and all saints1 nay1 nay1  and sinners 
to do a work too1 you1 on the contrary1 
have no work to  do1 because1 forsooth1 
you are neither sinners nor saints2 or1 
if  you once had a work1 at least that  
you have despatched it already1  and you
 have nothing upon your hands4 ,you have
 attained your  salvation1 it seems1    
before your time1 and have nothing to   
occupy  you1 and are detained on earth  
too long4 ,the work days are over1  and 
your perpetual holiday is begun4 ,did   
then ,god send you1 above  all other    
men1 into the world to be idle in       
spiritual matters8 ,is  it your mission 
only to find pleasure in this world1 in 
which you  are but as pilgrims and      
sojourners8 ,are you more than sons of  

,adam1  who1 by the sweat of their brow1
 are to eat bread till they return  to  
the earth out of which they are taken8  
,unless you have some  work in hand1    
unless you are struggling1 unless you   
are fighting  with yourselves1 you are  
no followers of those who through many  
tribulations entered into the kingdom of
 ,god4 ,a fight is the very  token of a 
,christian4 ,he is a soldier of ,christ2
 high or low1 he is  this and nothing   
else4 ,if you have triumphed over all   
mortal sin1  as you seem to think1 then 
you must attack your venial sins2 there 
is no help for it2 there is nothing else
 to do1 if you would be  soldiers of    
,jesus ,christ4 ,but1 oh1 simple souls6 
to think you have  gained any triumph at
 all6 ,no2 you cannot safely be at peace
 with  any1 even the least malignant1 of
 the foes of ,god2 if you are at  peace 
with venial sins1 be certain that in    
their company and under  their shadow   
mortal sins are lurking4 ,mortal sins   
are the children  of venial1 which1 tho 

they be not deadly themselves1 yet are  
prolific of death4 ,you may think that  
you have killed the giants who  had     
possession of your hearts1 and that you 
have nothing to fear1  but may sit at   
rest under your vine and under your     
fig-tree2 but the  giants will live     
again1 they will rise from the dust1    
and1 before  you know where you are1 you
 will be taken captive and slaughtered  
by  the fierce1 powerful1 and eternal   
enemies of ,god4    ,the end of a thing 
is the test4 ,it was our ,lord's        
rejoicing in ,his  last solemn hour1    
that ,he had done the work for which ,he
 was sent4  ,i have glorified thee on   
earth4 ,he says in ,his prayer1 ,i have 
finished the work which thou gavest me  
to do2 ,i have manifested  thy name to  
the men whom thou hast given me out of  
the world4 ,it  was ,st4 ,paul's        
consolation also1 ,i have fought the    
good fight1 ,i  have finished the       
course1 ,i have kept the faith2         
henceforth there  is laid up for me a   

crown of justice1 which the ,lord shall 
render  to me in that day1 the just     
judge4 ,alas6 alas6 how different will  
be our view of things when we come to   
die1 or when we have passed  into       
eternity1 from the dreams and pretenses 
with which we beguile  ourselves now6   
,what will ,babel do for us then8 ,will 
it rescue our  souls from the purgatory 
or the hell to which it sends them8 ,if 
we  were created1 it was that we might  
serve ,god2 if we have ,his gifts1  it  
is that we may glorify ,him2 if we have 
a conscience1 it is that  we may obey   
it2 if we have the prospect of heaven1  
it is that we  may keep it before us2 if
 we have light1 that we may follow it1  
if  we have grace1 that we may save     
ourselves by means of it4 ,alas6  alas6 
for those who die without fulfilling    
their mission2 who were  called to be   
holy1 and lived in sin2 who were called 
to worship  ,christ1 and who plunged    
into this giddy and unbelieving world2  
who  were called to fight1 and who      

remained idle2 who were called to be    
,catholics1 and who did but remain in   
the religion of their birth6  ,alas for 
those who have had gifts and talent1 and
 have not used1 or  have misused1 or    
abused them2 who have had wealth1 and   
have spent  it on themselves2 who have  
had abilities1 and have advocated what  
was sinful1 or ridiculed what was true1 
or scattered doubts against  what was   
sacred2 who have had leisure1 and have  
wasted it on wicked  companions1 or evil
 books1 or foolish amusements6 ,alas6   
for those of  whom the best can be said 
is1 that they are harmless and naturally
  blameless1 while they never have      
attempted to cleanse their hearts  or to
 live in ,god's sight6    ,the world    
goes on from age to age1 but the ,holy  
,angels and ,blessed  ,saints are always
 crying ,alas1 alas6 and ,wo1 wo6 over  
the loss of  vocations1 and the         
disappointment of hopes1 and the scorn  
of ,god's  love1 and the ruin of souls4 
,one generation succeeds another1 and   

whenever they look down upon earth from 
their golden thrones1 they  see scarcely
 anything but a multitude of guardian   
spirits1 downcast  and sad1 each        
following his own charge1 in anxiety1 or
 in terror1  or in despair1 vainly      
endeavoring to shield him from the      
enemy1  and failing because he will not 
be shielded4 ,times come and go1  and   
man will not believe1 that that is to be
 which is not yet1 or  that what now is 
only continues for a season1 and is not 
eternity4  ,the end is the trial2 the   
world passes2 it is but a pageant and a 
scene2 the lofty palace crumbles1 the   
busy city is mute1 the ships  of        
,tarshish have sped away4 ,on heart and 
flesh death is coming2 the  veil is     
breaking4 ,departing soul1 how hast thou
 used thy talents1  thy opportunities1  
the light poured around thee1 the       
warnings given  thee1 the grace inspired
 into thee8 ,oh1 my ,lord and ,savior1  
support  me in that hour in the strong  
arms of ,thy sacraments1 and by the     

fresh fragrance of ,thy consolations4   
,let the absolving words be said  over  
me1 and the holy oil sign and seal me1  
and ,thy own body be my  food1 and ,thy 
blood my sprinkling2 and let my sweet   
mother ,mary  breathe on me1 and my     
angel whisper peace to me1 and my       
glorious  saints1 and my own dear       
father1 ,philip1 smile on me2 that in   
them  all1 and through them all1 ,i may 
receive the gift of perseverance1  and  
die1 as ,i desire to live1 in ,thy      
faith1 in ,thy ,church1 in ,thy         
service1 and in ,thy love4              
,,bushnell    ,,unconscious ,,influence 
,,biographical ,,note      ,,horace     
,,bushnell was born at ,litchfield1     
,connecticut1 in #ahjb4  ,graduated at  
,yale #ahbg4 ,in #ahcc he became pastor 
of the ,north  ,congregational ,church1 
,hartford1 ,conn41 resigned in #ahei and
 died  in #ahgf4 ,he wrote many         
theological works4 ,among them          
,christian  ,nurture 7#ahdg71 a book now
 looked upon as of classical authority4 

,considerable discussion among          
,calvinists was aroused by his ,nature  
and the ,supernatural1 and his ,the     
,vicarious ,sacrifice 7#ahfe7 as  being 
out of accord with the accepted creeds  
of the ,congregational  churches4 ,he   
lacked the sympathy and dramatic        
instinct necessary  to great oratorical 
achievement1 but his sermons prove by   
their  profound suggestiveness that he  
was a man of keen spiritual insight1    
and preached with force and             
impressiveness4 ,his influence upon the 
ministers of ,america in modifying      
theology and remolding the general  type
 of preaching is fairly comparable with 
that of ,robertson4          ,,bushnell 
#ahjb-ahgf    ,,unconscious             
,,influence#d      #d ,from ,sermons for
 the ,new ,life1 published by ,charles  
,scribner's    ,sons4    ,then went in  
also that other disciple4--,john xx41   
#h4      ,in this slight touch or turn  
of history1 is opened to us1 if we scan 
closely1 one of the most serious and    

fruitful chapters of ,christian         
doctrine4 ,thus it is that men are ever 
touching unconsciously the  springs of  
motion in each other2 thus it is that   
one man1 without  thought or intention1 
or even a consciousness of the fact1 is 
ever  leading some other after him4     
,little does ,peter think1 as he comes  
up where his doubting brother is looking
 into the sepulcher1 and  goes straight 
in1 after his peculiar manner1 that he  
is drawing in  his brother apostle after
 him4 ,as little does ,john think1 when 
he  loses his misgivings1 and goes into 
the sepulcher after ,peter1 that  he is 
following his brother4 ,and just so1    
unaware to himself1 is  every man1 the  
whole race through1 laying hold of his  
fellow-man1 to  lead him where otherwise
 he would not go4 ,we overrun the       
boundaries  of our personality--we flow 
together4 ,a ,peter leads a ,john1 a    
,john  goes after ,peter1 both of them  
unconscious of any influence exerted  or
 received4 ,and thus our life and       

conduct are ever propagating            
themselves1 by a law of social          
contagion1 throughout the circles and   
times in which we live4    ,there are1  
then1 you will perceive1 two sorts of   
influence belonging  to man2 that which 
is active or voluntary1 and that which  
is  unconscious--that which we exert    
purposely or in the endeavor  to sway   
another1 as by teaching1 by argument1 by
 persuasion1 by  threatenings1 by offers
 and promises1 and that which flows out 
from  us1 unaware to ourselves1 the same
 which ,peter had over ,john when  he   
led him into the sepulcher4 ,the        
importance of our efforts to do  good1  
that is of our voluntary influence1 and 
the sacred obligation  we are under to  
exert ourselves in this way1 are often  
and seriously  insisted on4 ,it is thus 
that ,christianity has become1 in the   
present  age1 a principle of so much    
greater activity than it has been for   
many centuries before2 and we fervently 
hope that it will yet become  far more  

active than it now is1 nor cease to     
multiply its industry1  till it is seen 
by all mankind to embody the beneficence
 and the  living energy of ,christ      
,himself4    ,but there needs to be     
reproduced1 at the same time1 and partly
 for  this object1 a more thorough      
appreciation of the relative importance 
of that kind of influence or beneficence
 which is insensibly  exerted4 ,the     
tremendous weight and efficacy of this1 
compared with  the other1 and the sacred
 responsibility laid upon us in regard  
to  this1 are felt in no such degree or 
proportion as they should be2  and the  
consequent loss we suffer in character1 
as well as that  which the ,church      
suffers in beauty and strength1 is      
incalculable4  ,the more stress1 too1   
needs to be laid on this subject of     
insensible  influence1 because it is    
insensible2 because it is out of mind1  
and1  when we seek to trace it1 beyond a
 full discovery4    ,if the doubt occur 
to any of you1 in the announcement of   

this  subject1 whether we are properly  
responsible for an influence which  we  
exert insensibly2 we are not1 ,i reply1 
except so far as this  influence flows  
directly from our character and conduct4
 ,and this  it does1 even much more     
uniformly than our active influence4 ,in
  the latter we may fail of our end by a
 want of wisdom or skill1 in  which case
 we are still as meritorious1 in ,god's 
sight1 as if we  succeeded4 ,so1 again1 
we may really succeed1 and do great good
 by  our active endeavors1 from motives 
altogether base and hypocritical1  in   
which case we are as evil1 in ,god's    
sight1 as if we had failed4  ,but the   
influences we exert unconsciously will  
almost never disagree  with our real    
character4 ,they are honest influences1 
following our  character1 as the shadow 
follows the sun4 ,and1 therefore1 we are
  much more certainly responsible for   
them1 and their effects on the  world4  
,they go streaming from us in all       
directions1 tho in channels  that we do 

not see1 poisoning or healing around the
 roots of  society1 and among the hidden
 wells of character4 ,if good ourselves1
  they are good2 if bad1 they are bad4  
,and1 since they reflect so  exactly our
 character1 it is impossible to doubt   
our responsibility  for their effects on
 the world4 ,we must answer not only for
 what  we do with a purpose1 but for the
 influence we exert insensibly4  ,to    
give you any just impressions of the    
breadth and seriousness of  such a      
reckoning ,i know to be impossible4 ,no 
mind can trace it4 ,but  it will be     
something gained if ,i am able to awaken
 only a suspicion  of the vast extent   
and power of those influences1 which are
 ever  flowing out unbidden upon        
society1 from your life and character4  
,in the prosecution of my design1 let me
 ask of you1 first of all1 to  expel the
 common prejudice that there can be     
nothing of consequence  in unconscious  
influences1 because they make no report1
 and fall on  the world unobserved4     

,histories and biographies make little  
account  of the power men exert         
insensibly over each other4 ,they tell  
how  men have led armies1 established   
empires1 enacted laws1 gained  causes1  
sung1 reasoned1 and taught--always      
occupied in setting forth  what they do 
with a purpose4 ,but what they do       
without purpose1 the  streams of        
influence that flow out from their      
persons unbidden on  the world1 they can
 not trace or compute1 and seldom even  
mention4  ,so also the public laws make 
men responsible only for what they  do  
with a positive purpose1 and take no    
account of the mischiefs  or benefits   
that are communicated by their noxious  
or healthful  example4 ,the same is true
 in the discipline of families1         
churches1  and schools2 they make no    
account of the things we do1 except we  
will them4 ,what we do insensibly passes
 for nothing1 because no  human         
government can trace such influences    
with sufficient certainty  to make their

 authors responsible4    ,but you must  
not conclude that influences of this    
kind are  insignificant1 because they   
are unnoticed and noiseless4 ,how is it 
in the natural world8 ,behind the mere  
show1 the outward noise and  stir of the
 world1 nature always conceals her hand 
of control1 and  the laws by which she  
rules4 ,who ever saw with the eye1 for  
example1  or heard with the ear1 the    
exertions of that tremendous astronomic 
force1 which every moment holds the     
compact of the physical universe        
together8 ,the lightning is1 in fact1   
but a mere firefly spark in  comparison2
 but1 because it glares on the clouds1  
and thunders so  terribly in the ear1   
and rives the tree or the rock where it 
falls1  many will be ready to think that
 it is a vastly more potent agent  than 
gravity4    ,the ,bible calls the good  
man's life a light1 and it is the nature
  of light to flow out spontaneously in 
all directions1 and fill the  world     
unconsciously with its beams4 ,so the   

,christian shines1 it  would say1 not so
 much because he will1 as because he is 
a luminous  object4 ,not that the active
 influence of ,christians is made of no 
account in the figure1 but only that    
this symbol of light has its  propriety 
in the fact that their unconscious      
influence is the chief  influence1 and  
has the precedence in its power over the
 world4 ,and  yet1 there are many who   
will be ready to think that light is a  
very  tame and feeble instrument1       
because it is noiseless4 ,an earthquake1
  for example1 is to them a much more   
vigorous and effective agency4  ,hear   
how it comes thundering through solid   
foundations of nature4  ,it rocks a     
whole continent4 ,the noblest works of  
man--cities1  monuments1 and            
temples--are in a moment leveled to the 
ground1 or  swallowed down the opening  
gulfs of fire4 ,little do they think    
that the light of every morning1 the    
soft1 and genial1 and silent  light1 is 
an agent many times more powerful4 ,but 

let the light of  the morning cease and 
return no more1 let the hour of morning 
come1  and bring with it no dawn2 the   
outcries of a horror-stricken world     
fill the air1 and make1 as it were1 the 
darkness audible4 ,the beasts  go wild  
and frantic at the loss of the sun4 ,the
 vegetable growths  turn pale and die4  
,a chill creeps on1 and frosty winds    
begin to howl  across the freezing      
earth4 ,colder1 and yet colder1 is the  
night4  ,the vital blood1 at length1 of 
all creatures1 stops congealed4  ,down  
goes the frost toward the earth's       
center4 ,the heart of the sea  is       
frozen2 nay1 the earthquakes are        
themselves frozen in1 under  their fiery
 caverns4 ,the very globe itself1 too1  
and all the fellow  planets that have   
lost their sun1 are become mere balls of
 ice1  swinging silent in the darkness4 
,such is the light1 which revisits  us  
in the silence of the morning4 ,it makes
 no shock or scar4 ,it  would not wake  
an infant in his cradle4 ,and yet it    

perpetually new  creates the world1     
rescuing it each morning1 as a prey1    
from night  and chaos4 ,so the          
,christian is a light1 even the light of
 the  world1 and we must not think that1
 because he shines insensibly or        
silently1 as a mere luminous object1 he 
is therefore powerless4 ,the  greatest  
powers are ever those which lie back of 
the little stirs  and commotion of      
nature2 and ,i verily believe that the  
insensible  influences of good men are  
much more potent than what ,i have      
called  their voluntary1 or active1 as  
the great silent powers of nature are   
of greater consequence than her little  
disturbances and tumults4 ,the  law of  
human influences is deeper than many    
suspect1 and they lose  sight of it     
altogether4 ,the outward endeavors made 
by good men or  bad to sway others1 they
 call their influence2 whereas1 it is1  
in  fact1 but a fraction1 and1 in most  
cases1 but a very small fraction1  of   
the good or evil that flows out of their

 lives4 ,nay1 ,i will even  go further4 
,how many persons do you meet1 the      
insensible influence  of whose manners  
and character is so decided as often to 
thwart  their voluntary influence2 so   
that1 whatever they attempt to do1  in  
the way of controlling others1 they are 
sure to carry the exact  opposite of    
what they intend6 ,and it will generally
 be found that1  where men undertake by 
argument or persuasion to exert a power1
 in  the face of qualities that make    
them odious or detestable1 or only  not 
entitled to respect1 their insensible   
influence will be too  strong for them4 
,the total effect of the life is then of
 a kind  directly opposite to the       
voluntary endeavor1 which1 of course1   
does  not add so much as a fraction to  
it4    ,i call your attention1 next1 to 
the twofold powers of effect  and       
expression by which man connects with   
his fellow man4 ,if we  distinguish man 
as a creature of language1 and thus     
qualified to  communicate himself to    

others1 there are in him two sets or    
kinds  of language1 one which is        
voluntary in the use1 and one that  is  
involuntary2 that of speech in the      
literal sense1 and that  expression of  
the eye1 the face1 the look1 the gait1  
the motion1 the  tone of cadence1 which 
is sometimes called the natural language
 of  the sentiments4 ,this natural      
language1 too1 is greatly enlarged by   
the conduct of life1 that which1 in     
business and society1 reveals  the      
principles and spirit of men4 ,speech1  
or voluntary language1 is  a door to the
 soul1 that we may open or shut at will2
 the other is  a door that stands open  
evermore1 and reveals to others         
constantly1  and often very clearly1 the
 tempers1 tastes1 and motives of their  
hearts4 ,within1 as we may represent1 is
 character1 charging the  common        
reservoir of influence1 and through     
these twofold gates  of the soul pouring
 itself out on the world4 ,out of one it
 flows  at choice1 and whensoever we    

purpose to do good or evil to men4  ,out
 of the other it flows each moment1 as  
light from the sun1 and  propagates     
itself in all beholders4    ,then if we 
go to others1 that is1 to the subjects  
of influence1 we  find every man endowed
 with two inlets of impression2 the ear 
and  the understanding for the reception
 of speech1 and the sympathetic  powers1
 the sensibilities or affections1 for   
tinder to those sparks  of emotion      
revealed by looks1 tones1 manners and   
general conduct4  ,and these sympathetic
 powers1 tho not immediately rational1  
are yet  inlets1 open on all sides1 to  
the understanding and character4 ,they  
have a certain wonderful capacity to    
receive impressions1 and catch  the     
meaning of signs1 and propagate in us   
whatsoever falls into  their passive    
molds from others4 ,the impressions they
 receive do not  come through verbal    
propositions1 and are never received    
into verbal  propositions1 it may be1 in
 the mind1 and therefore many think     

nothing of them4 ,but precisely on this 
account are they the more  powerful1    
because it is as if one heart were thus 
going directly  into another1 and       
carrying in its feelings with it4       
,beholding1 as in  a glass1 the feelings
 of our neighbor1 we are changed into   
the same  image1 by the assimilating    
power of sensibility and fellow-feeling4
  ,many have gone so far1 and not       
without show1 at least1 of reason1 as   
to maintain that the look or expression1
 and even the very features  of         
children1 are often changed by exclusive
 intercourse with nurses  and           
attendants4 ,furthermore1 if we         
carefully consider1 we shall  find it   
scarcely possible to doubt1 that simply 
to look on bad and  malignant faces1 or 
those whose expressions have become     
infected by  vice1 to be with them and  
become familiarized to them1 is enough  
permanently to affect the character of  
persons of mature age4 ,i do  not say   
that it must of necessity subvert their 

character1 for the  evil looked upon may
 never be loved or welcomed in practise2
 but it  is something to have these bad 
images in the soul1 giving out their    
expressions there1 and diffusing their  
odor among the thoughts1 as  long as we 
live4 ,how dangerous a thing is it1 for 
example1 for a  man to become accustomed
 to sights of cruelty8 ,what man1       
valuing  the honor of his soul1 would   
not shrink from yielding himself to     
such an influence8 ,no more is it a     
thing of indifference to become         
accustomed to look on the manners1 and  
receive the bad expression of  any kind 
of sin4    ,the door of involuntary     
communication1 ,i have said1 is always  
open4  ,of course we are communicating  
ourselves in this way to others at      
every moment of our intercourse or      
presence with them4 ,but how  very      
seldom1 in comparison1 do we undertake  
by means of speech to  influence others6
 ,even the best ,christian1 one who most
 improves  his opportunities to do good1

 attempts but seldom to sway another  by
 voluntary influence1 whereas he is all 
the while shining as a  luminous object 
unawares1 and communicating of his heart
 to the  world4    ,but there is yet    
another view of this double line of     
communication  which man has with his   
fellow-men1 which is more general1 and  
displays the import of the truth yet    
more convincingly4 ,it is  by one of    
these modes of communication that we are
 constituted  members of voluntary      
society1 and by the other1 parts of a   
general  mass1 or members of involuntary
 society4 ,you are all1 in a certain    
view1 individuals1 and separate as      
persons from each other2 you  are also1 
in a certain other view1 parts of a     
common body1 as  truly as the parts of a
 stone4 ,thus if you ask how it is that 
you  and all men came without your      
consent to exist in society1 to be      
within its power1 to be under its laws1 
the answer is1 that while  you are a    
man1 you are also a fractional element  

of a larger and  more comprehensive     
being1 called society--be it the family1
 the  church1 the state4 ,in a certain  
department of your nature1 it is  open2 
its sympathies and feelings are open4   
,on this open side  you will adhere     
together1 as parts of a larger nature1  
in which  there is a common circulation 
of want1 impulse1 and law4 ,being  thus 
made common to each other voluntarily1  
you become one mass1  one consolidated  
social body1 animated by one life4 ,and 
observe  how far this involuntary       
communication and sympathy between the  
members of a state or a family is       
sovereign over their character4 ,it     
always results in what we call the      
national or family spirit2 for  there is
 a spirit peculiar to every state and   
family in the world4  ,sometimes1 too1  
this national or family spirit takes a  
religious or  an irreligious character1 
and appears almost to absorb the        
religious  self-government of           
individuals4 ,what was the national     

spirit of  ,france1 for example1 at a   
certain time1 but a spirit of           
infidelity8  ,what is the religious     
spirit of ,spain at this moment1 but a  
spirit  of bigotry1 quite as wide of    
,christianity and destructive of        
character as the spirit of falsehood8   
,what is the family spirit in  many a   
house1 but the spirit of gain1 or       
pleasure1 or appetite1  in which        
everything that is warm1 dignified1     
genial1 and good in  religion1 is       
visibly absent8 ,sometimes you will     
almost fancy that  you see the shapes of
 money in the eyes of children4 ,so it  
is that  we are led on by nations1 as it
 were1 to good or bad immortality4  ,far
 down in the secret foundations of life 
and society there lie  concealed great  
laws and channels of influence1 which   
make the race  common to each other in  
all the main departments or divisions of
  the social mass1 laws which often     
escape our notice altogether1 but  which
 are to society as gravity to the       

general system of ,god's works4    ,but 
these are general considerations1 and   
more fit1 perhaps1 to  give you a       
rational conception of the modes of     
influence and their  relative power1    
than to verify that conception1 or      
establish its  truth4 ,i now proceed to 
add1 therefore1 some miscellaneous      
proofs of  a more particular nature4    
,and ,i mention1 first of all1 the      
instinct of imitation in children4  ,we 
begin our mortal experience1 not with   
acts grounded in judgment  or reason1 or
 with ideas received through language1  
but by simple  imitation1 and1 under the
 guidance of this1 we lay our           
foundations4  ,the child looks and      
listens1 and whatsoever tone of feeling 
or  manner of conduct is displayed      
around him1 sinks into his plastic1     
passive soul1 and becomes a mold of his 
being ever after4 ,the very  handling of
 the nursery is significant1 and the    
petulance1 the  passion1 the gentleness1
 the tranquillity indicated by it1 are  

all  reproduced in the child4 ,his soul 
is a purely receptive nature1  and that 
for a considerable period1 without      
choice or selection4  ,a little further 
on he begins voluntarily to copy        
everything he  sees4 ,voice1 manner1    
gait1 everything which the eye sees1 the
 mimic  instinct delights to act over4  
,and thus we have a whole generation  of
 future men1 receiving from us their    
beginnings1 and the deepest  impulses of
 their life and immortality4 ,they watch
 us every moment1  in the family1 before
 the hearth1 and at the table2 and when 
we are  meaning them no good or evil1   
when we are conscious of exerting no    
influence over them1 they are drawing   
from us impressions and molds  of habit1
 which1 if wrong1 no heavenly discipline
 can wholly remove2  or1 if right1 no   
bad associations utterly dissipate4 ,now
 it may be  doubted1 ,i think1 whether1 
in all the active influence of our      
lives1  we do as much to shape the      
destiny of our fellow-men as we do in   

this single article of unconscious      
influence over children4    ,still      
further on1 respect for others takes the
 place of imitation4  ,we naturally     
desire the approbation or good opinion  
of others4 ,you  see the strength of    
this feeling in the article of fashion4 
,how few  persons have the nerve to     
resist a fashion6 ,we have fashions1    
too1  in literature1 and in worship1 and
 in moral and religious doctrine1       
almost equally powerful4 ,how many will 
violate the best rules of  society1     
because it is the practise of the       
circle6 ,how many reject  ,christ       
because of friends or acquaintance1 who 
have no suspicion of  the influence they
 exert1 and will not have1 till the last
 days  show them what they have done6   
,every good man has thus a power in  his
 person1 more mighty than his words and 
arguments1 and which  others feel when  
he little suspects it4 ,every bad man1  
too1 has a  fund of poison in his       
character1 which is tainting those      

around him1  when it is not in his      
thoughts to do them injury4 ,he is read 
and  understood4 ,his sensual tastes and
 habits1 his unbelieving spirit1  his   
suppressed leer at religions1 have all a
 power1 and take hold of  the heart of  
others1 whether he will have it so or   
not4    ,again1 how well understood is  
it that the most active feelings and    
impulses of mankind are contagious4 ,how
 quick enthusiasm of any sort  is to    
kindle1 and how rapidly it catches from 
one to another1 till a  nation blazes in
 the flame6 ,in the case of the         
,crusades you have an  example where the
 personal enthusiasm of one man put all 
the states  of ,europe in motion4       
,fanaticism is almost equally           
contagious4 ,fear  and superstition     
always infect the mind of the circle in 
which they  are manifested4 ,the spirit 
of war generally becomes an epidemic of 
madness1 when once it has got possession
 of a few minds4 ,the spirit  of party  
is propagated in a similar manner4 ,how 

any slight operation  in the market may 
spread1 like a fire1 if successful1 till
 trade  runs wild in a general          
infatuation1 is well known4 ,now1 in all
 these  examples1 the effect is         
produced1 not by active endeavor to     
carry  influence1 but mostly by that    
insensible propagation which follows1   
when a flame of any kind is once more   
kindled4    ,it is also true1 you may   
ask1 that the religious spirit          
propagates  itself or tends to propagate
 itself in the same way8 ,i see no      
reason to question that it does4 ,nor   
does anything in the doctrine  of       
spiritual influences1 when rightly      
understood1 forbid the  supposition4    
,for spiritual influences are never     
separated from the  laws of thought in  
the individual1 and the laws of feeling 
and  influence in society4 ,if1 too1    
every disciple is to be an epistle      
known and read of all men1 what shall we
 expect1 but that all men  will be      
somehow affected by the reading8 ,or if 

he is to be a light  in the world1 what 
shall we look for1 but that others1     
seeing his  good works1 shall glorify   
,god on his account8 ,how often is it   
seen1  too1 as a fact of observation1   
that one or a few good men kindle at    
length a holy fire in the community in  
which they live1 and become  the leaven 
of general reformation6 ,such men give a
 more vivid proof  in their persons of  
the reality of religious faith than any 
words or  arguments could yield4 ,they  
are active2 they endeavor1 of course1   
to exert a good voluntary influence2 but
 still their chief power  lies in their 
holiness and the sense they produce in  
others of their  close relation to ,god4
    ,it now remains to exhibit the very 
important fact1 that where the  direct  
or active influence of men is supposed  
to be great1 even  this is due1 in a    
principal degree1 to that insensible    
influence  by which their arguments1    
reproofs1 and persuasions are secretly  
invigorating4 ,it is not mere words     

which turn men2 it is the heart         
mounting1 uncalled1 into the expression 
of the features2 it is the  eye         
illuminated by reason1 the look beaming 
with goodness2 it is  the tone of the   
voice1 that instrument of the soul1     
which changes  quality with such amazing
 facility1 and gives out in the soft1   
the tender1 the tremulous1 the firm1    
every shade of emotion and  character4  
,and so much is there in this1 that the 
moral stature and  character of the man 
that speaks are likely to be well       
represented  in his manner4 ,if he is a 
stranger1 his way will inspire          
confidence  and attract good will4 ,his 
virtues will be seen1 as it were1       
gathering round him to minister words   
and forms of thought1 and  their voices 
will be heard in the fall of his        
cadences4 ,and the  same is true of bad 
men1 or men who have nothing in their   
character  corresponding to what they   
attempt to do4 ,if without heart or     
interest you attempt to move another1   

the involuntary man tells what  you are 
doing in a hundred ways at once4 ,a     
hypocrite1 endeavoring to  exert a good 
influence1 only tries to convey by words
 what the lying  look1 and the faithless
 affectation1 or dry exaggeration of his
  manner perpetually resists4 ,we have  
it for a fashion to attribute  great or 
even prodigious results to the voluntary
 efforts and labors  of men4 ,whatever  
they effect is commonly referred to     
nothing but  the immediate power of what
 they do4 ,let us take an example1 like 
that of ,paul1 and analyze it4 ,paul was
 a man of great fervor and  enthusiasm4 
,he combined1 withal1 more of what is   
lofty and morally  commanding in his    
character1 than most of the very        
distinguished men  of the world4 ,having
 this for his natural character1 and his
 natural  character exalted and made    
luminous by ,christian faith1 and the   
manifest indwelling of ,god1 he had of  
course an almost superhuman  sway over  
others4 ,doubtless he was intelligent1  

strong in argument1  eloquent1 active1  
to the utmost of his powers1 but still  
he moved  the world more by what he was 
than by what he did4 ,the grandeur and  
spiritual splendor of his character were
 ever adding to his active  efforts an  
element of silent power1 which was the  
real and chief  cause of their efficacy4
 ,he convinced1 subdued1 inspired1 and  
led1  because of the half-divine        
authority which appeared in his conduct1
  and his glowing spirit4 ,he fought the
 good fight1 because he kept  the faith1
 and filled his powerful nature with    
influences drawn from  higher worlds4   
,and here ,i must conduct you to a yet  
higher example1 even that  of the ,son  
of ,god1 the light of the world4 ,men   
dislike to be  swayed by direct1        
voluntary influence4 ,they are jealous  
of such  control1 and are therefore best
 approached by conduct and feeling1  and
 the authority of simple worth1 which   
seem to make no purposed  onset4 ,if    
goodness appears1 they welcome its      

celestial smile2 if  heaven descends to 
encircle them1 they yield to its        
sweetness2 if  truth appears in the     
life1 they honor it with a secret       
homage2 if  personal majesty and glory  
appear1 they bow with reverence1 and    
acknowledge with shame their own        
vileness4 ,now it is on this side  of   
human nature that ,christ visits us1    
preparing just that kind  of influence  
which the spirit of truth may wield with
 the most  persuasive and subduing      
effect4 ,it is the grandeur of ,his     
character  which constitutes the chief  
power of ,his ministry1 not ,his        
miracles  or teachings apart from ,his  
character4 ,miracles were useful1 at    
the time1 to arrest attention1 and ,his 
doctrine is useful at all  times as the 
highest revelation of truth possible in 
speech2 but  the greatest truth of the  
gospel1 notwithstanding1 is ,christ     
,himself--a human body becomes the organ
 of the divine nature1 and  reveals1    
under the conditions of an earthly life1

 the glory of  ,god6 ,the ,scripture    
writers have much to say1 in this       
connection1  of the image of ,god2 and  
an image1 you know1 is that which simply
  represents1 not that which acts1 or   
reasons1 or persuades4 ,now it  is this 
image of ,god which makes the center1   
the sun itself1 of the  gospel4 ,the    
journeyings1 teachings1 miracles1 and   
sufferings of  ,christ1 all had their   
use in bringing out this image1 or what 
is the  same1 in making conspicuous the 
character and feelings of ,god1 both    
toward sinners and toward sin4 ,and here
 is the power of ,christ--it  is that   
,god's beauty1 love1 truth1 and justice 
shines through ,him4  ,it is the        
influence which flows unconsciously and 
spontaneously  out of ,christ1 as the   
friend of man1 the light of the world1  
the  glory of the ,father1 made visible4
 ,and some have gone so far as to       
conjecture that ,god made the human     
person1 originally1 with a view  to its 
becoming the organ or vehicle by which  

,he might reveal ,his  communicable     
attributes to other worlds4 ,christ1    
they believe1 came  to inhabit this     
organ1 that ,he might execute a purpose 
so sublime4  ,the human person is       
constituted1 they say1 to be a mirror of
 ,god2  and ,god1 being imaged in that  
mirror1 as in ,christ1 is held up to    
the view of this and other worlds4 ,it  
certainly is to the view of  this2 and  
if the ,divine nature can use the organ 
so effectively to  express itself unto  
us1 if it can bring itself1 through the 
looks1  tones1 motions1 and conduct of a
 human person1 more close to our        
sympathies than by any other means1 how 
can we think that an organ  so          
communicative1 inhabited by us1 is not  
always breathing our  spirit and        
transferring our image insensibly to    
others8    ,i have protracted the       
argument on this subject beyond what ,i 
could  have wished1 but ,i can not      
dismiss it without suggesting a few     
thoughts necessary to its complete      

practical effect4    ,one very obvious  
and serious inference from it1 and the  
first which  ,i will name1 is1 that it  
is impossible to live in this world and 
escape responsibility4 ,it is not that  
they alone1 as you have seen1  who are  
trying purposely to convert or corrupt  
others1 who exert an  influence2 you can
 not live without exerting influence4   
,the doors  of your soul are open on    
others1 and theirs on you4 ,you inhabit 
a house which is well-nigh transparent2 
and what you are within1  you are ever  
showing yourself to be without1 by signs
 that have no  ambiguous expression4 ,if
 you had the seeds of a pestilence in   
your  body1 you would not have a more   
active contagion than you have in  your 
tempers1 tastes1 and principles4 ,simply
 to be in this world1  whatever you are1
 is to exert an influence--an influence1
 too1  compared with which mere language
 and persuasion are feeble4 ,you  say   
that you mean well2 at least1 you think 
you mean to injure no  one4 ,do you     

injure no one8 ,is your example         
harmless8 ,is it ever on  the side of   
,god and duty8 ,you can not reasonably  
doubt that others  are continually      
receiving impressions from your         
character4 ,as  little you can doubt    
that you must answer for these          
impressions4 ,if  the influence you     
exert is unconsciously exerted1 then it 
is only  the most sincere1 the truest   
expression of your character4 ,and for  
what can you be held responsible1 if not
 for this8 ,do not deceive  yourselves  
in the thought that you are at least    
doing no injury1 and  are1 therefore1   
living without responsibility2 first1   
make it sure  that you are not every    
hour infusing moral death insensibly    
into  your children1 wives1 husbands1   
friends1 and acquaintances4 ,by a  mere 
look or glance1 not unlikely1 you are   
conveying the influence  that shall turn
 the scale of some one's immortality4   
,dismiss1  therefore1 the thought that  
you are living without responsibility2  

that is impossible4 ,better is it       
frankly to admit the truth2 and if  you 
will risk the influence of a character  
unsanctified by duty and  religion1     
prepare to meet your reckoning manfully1
 and receive the  just recompense of    
reward4    ,the true philosophy or      
method of doing good is also here       
explained4  ,it is1 first of all and    
principally1 to be good--to have a      
character  that will of itself          
communicate good4 ,there must and will  
be active  effort where there is        
goodness of principle2 but the latter we
  should hold to be the principal thing1
 the root and life of all4  ,whether it 
is a mistake more sad or more           
ridiculous1 to make mere  stir          
synonymous with doing good1 we need not 
inquire2 enough1 to  be sure that one   
who has taken up such a notion of doing 
good1 is  for that reason a nuisance to 
the ,church4 ,the ,christian is called  
a light1 not lightning4 ,in order to act
 with effect on others1 he  must walk in

 the ,spirit1 and thus become the image 
of goodness2 he  must be so akin to     
,god1 and so filled with ,his           
dispositions1 that  he shall seem to    
surround himself with a hallowed        
atmosphere4 ,it is  folly to endeavor to
 make ourselves shine before we are     
luminous4  ,if the sun without his beams
 should talk to the planets1 and argue  
with them till the final day1 it would  
not make them shine2 there  must be     
light in the sun itself2 and then they  
will shine1 of  course4 ,and this1 my   
brethren1 is what ,god intends for you  
all4  ,it is the great idea of ,his     
gospel1 and the work of ,his spirit1  to
 make you lights in the world4 ,his     
greatest joy is to give you  character1 
to beautify your example1 to exalt your 
principles1 and  make you each the      
depository of ,his own almighty grace4  
,but in order  to do this1 something is 
necessary on your part--a full surrender
  of your mind to duty and to ,god1 and 
a perpetual desire of this  spiritual   

intimacy2 having this1 having a         
participation thus of the  goodness of  
,god1 you will as naturally communicate 
good as the sun  communicates his beams4
    ,our doctrine of unconscious and    
undesigning influence shows how  it is1 
also1 that the preaching of ,christ is  
often unfruitful1  and especially in    
times of spiritual coldness4 ,it is not 
because  truth ceases to be truth1 nor1 
of necessity1 because it is preached  in
 a less vivid manner1 but because there 
are so many influences  preaching       
against the preacher4 ,he is one1 the   
people are many2  his attempt to        
convince and persuade is a voluntary    
influence2  their lives1 on the other   
hand1 and especially the lives of those 
who profess what is better1 are so many 
unconscious influences  ever streaming  
forth upon the people1 and back and     
forth between  each other4 ,he preaches 
the truth1 and they1 with one consent1  
are  preaching the truth down2 and how  
can he prevail against so many1  and by 

a kind of influence so unequal8 ,when   
the people of ,god are  glowing with    
spiritual devotion to ,him1 and love to 
men1 the case  is different2 then they  
are all preaching with the preacher1 and
  making an atmosphere of warmth for his
 words to fall in2 great is  the company
 of them that publish the truth1 and    
proportionally great  its power4 ,shall 
,i say more8 ,have you not already felt1
 my brethren1  the application to which 
,i would bring you8 ,we do not exonerate
  ourselves2 we do not claim to be      
nearer to ,god or holier than you2  but1
 ah6 you know how easy it is to make a  
winter about us1 or  how cold it feels6 
,our endeavor is to preach the truth of 
,christ  and ,his cross as clearly and  
as forcefully as we can4 ,sometimes  it 
has a visible effect1 and we are filled 
with joy2 sometimes  it has no effect1  
and then we struggle on1 as we must1 but
 under  great oppression4 ,have we none 
among you that preach against us  in    
your lives8 ,if we show you the light of

 ,god's truth1 does it  never fall on   
banks of ice2 which if the light shows  
through1 the  crystal masses are yet as 
cold as before8 ,we do not accuse you2  
that  we leave to ,god1 and to those who
 may rise up in the last day to  testify
 against you4 ,if they shall come out of
 your own families2  if they are the    
children that wear your names1 the      
husband or wife  of your affections2 if 
they declare that you1 by your example1 
kept  them away from ,christ's truth and
 mercy1 we may have accusations to  meet
 of our own1 and we leave you to acquit 
yourselves as best you  may4 ,i only    
warn you1 here1 of the guilt which our  
,lord ,jesus ,christ  will impute to    
them that hinder ,his gospel4           
99       99       99       99       99  
,transcriber's note3    ,minor          
typographical errors have been corrected
 without note4    ,page #bjc3 the filth 
of the world1 and the offscouring of all
  things1 shall be found unto praise1   
and honor1 and glory6--,the  transcriber

 has supplied the missing closing       
quoteation mark4    ,page #bjf3 not only
 from its condemnation1 but from its    
very  in-being2--,the transcriber has   
supplied the opening quotation mark4