Part 13
2. The sense in which ministers are the organs of the Holy Ghost. 1st. They are to speak only what is contained in the word of God, which is the record of the teachings of the Holy Ghost; not human wisdom, not human speculations about divine things. The matter of their preaching must be what the Spirit has revealed. 2d. The manner or form, the mode of presentation, must be spiritual; that is, not metaphysical, or rhetorical, but scriptural. 3d. Hence, negatively, they are not to seek either the matter or the manner of their preaching from themselves, but by diligent study of the word of God; acting as the organs of the Spirit in communicating his messages to men. The command not to premeditate includes, (a.) prohibition of self-reliance, and, (b.) a command to rely on the Spirit. 4th. Hence, also, they are to seek and cherish the indwelling of the Spirit, for his teaching is both external by the word, and internal by his grace. 5th. Hence, further, they must not only seek the indwelling of the Spirit as a teacher, but as a sanctifier. To be the organ of the Holy Ghost as the efficient and successful agent in communicating this truth, we must be full of faith and of the Holy Ghost.
III. There are three things then, brethren, included in being the organs of the Spirit, which constitute the three great elements of a successful ministry. 1. Derive the matter of your preaching from the word. 2. Let the form or manner of exhibition be scriptural, i.e., that which is taught by the Spirit. 3. Be yourselves full of the Holy Ghost. This last is the most important. 1st. Because it secures the others. 2d. Because the others without it must be comparatively ineffectual. 3d.
Because it is the ordinance of God to make the living the channels of life. This is proved from Scripture and from experience. No false fire or fictitious zeal can supply the place of the Spirit. The holiness which flows from the presence of the Spirit gives, (a.) Assurance of zeal. (b.) Wisdom and skill. (c.) Benevolence and love. (d.) Forbearance and perseverance. (e.) Peculiar power over the heart and consciences of men.
CCXII. Ministers Soldiers of Christ
No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this world.—2 Tim. 2:4
[March 16th, 1856.]
I. What it is to be a soldier.
The soldier's life is the hardest life in the world.
I. It involves more labor. 2. More privation. 3. More exposure. 4. More exertion of the faculties, i.e., in watchfulness and in combat, than any other vocation.
II. It therefore requires,
1. Great strength of mind or body, according to the nature of the warfare, i.e., strength of purpose. 2. Great patience. 3. Great activity and diligence. 4. Entire devotedness; freedom from other cares, and consecration to his work. No man can be a soldier and a farmer, or a merchant.
III. The Christian is called a soldier, and so is the minister.
What does Paul mean to teach concerning the ministerial office, in calling ministers soldiers?
1. That the work in which they are engaged is an arduous one, calling for the exertion of all their powers. They have many enemies to overcome, within and without.
Within, a. Sloth. b. Languor. c. Want of faith. d. Despondency. e. Desire of ease. f. Desire of fame. g. Love of money, love of power.
Without, a. Error. b. Infidelity. c. Disregard of the truth. d. Ignorance. e. Vice in all its forms. f. Malice and detraction. g. Satan and his emissaries.
The work is not only arduous because of opponents to be overcome, but also because of the work to be done. a. To teach the gospel. b. To instruct the young. c. To guide the inquiring. d. To comfort and edify the people of God. e. To visit the sick, the poor, and the prisoner. f. To propagate the gospel.
2. Paul means to teach that his work demands a man's whole time and strength. He may not (a.) Entangle himself with the affairs of the world. He has no right to engage in any secular occupation, except so far as it may be necessary for the prosecution of his work; he may not be a farmer, mechanic, merchant, teacher.
(b.) He may not allow other pursuits to distract his attention. Literature, science, politics, even general enterprises of benevolence, are all to be made subservient to his one great work—of making disciples.
3. Paul teaches that the minister, in the discharge of his duties, is to exhibit all soldierly qualities. a. Endurance. b. Alertness. c. Courage. d. Patience. e. Indomitable perseverance.
4. He teaches that the minister, like the soldier, should be animated by a spirit of loyalty. The proper motive in a soldier is loyalty to his sovereign or to his country. This is the characteristic motive. The justice of his cause, the important interests at stake, and other motives may have, and should have, their proper influence; but the
great motive is his allegiance to his sovereign. So in the case of the minister, loyalty to Christ, zeal for his glory, love for his person, the desire to establish and extend his kingdom, because it is his, is the distinctive and proper motive. There are other motives, as the good of men, their improvement, happiness and salvation; but these are all insufficient and subordinate. It is the overwhelming sense of the glory of Christ, and of our obligations to him, which can alone either qualify a man for this work, or sustain him under it.
5. Paul means to teach that passive obedience is the duty of the minister. He is not the judge where he is to go, or what he is to do. He has nothing to do, but to go where he is ordered, and to do what he is required.
6. He teaches that the soldier is responsible for the faithful discharge of his duties, and for success. It is only the general who is held accountable for results. So the minister, like the private soldier, is not responsible.
7. He teaches that a crown of glory, a crown of righteousness, awaits the minister, and that crown is given only to the faithful.
CCXIII. Be thou faithful until death, and I
will give you a crown of life. Rev. 2:10
[April 26th, 1863.]
Ministers are often represented as those to whom a special trust has been committed. Paul says, (πεπίστευμαι οίκονομίαν, τὸ ευαγγέλιον), 1 Cor. 9:7. Gal. 2:7. 1 Thess. 2:4. 1 Timothy 2:11. Two things included in fidelity. First, the safe custody of what is committed, "keep that which I have committed unto thee." Second, strict adherence to our obligations and assiduous performance of our duties. A treasurer is faithful who keeps safely the treasure confided to him. A subject, or servant is faithful, who is true in his allegiance
and assiduous in the performance of his duties. In the case of stewards both these ideas are included. The property of their masters is entrusted to them; and they are charged with its due administration and the guidance and government of the household. In like manner ministers are called upon to exercise fidelity in both these forms. To them a treasure has been committed for safe custody; and they are the servants of a king and master to whom they owe allegiance and devotion.
I. The trust committed to them. That is, ή παραθήκη. This is said to be "the mysteries of God;" "the gospel;" "the word of God;" "this treasure," 2 Cor. 4:7. The thing therefore committed to the Church, and especially to ministers, is the truth—not scientific, historical, philosophical truth—but the truth of God as revealed in his holy word.
Of this treasure it is to be remarked, 1. That it is of infinite value, i.e., it has a value to which it is impossible to set any limit, and of which we have no measure. It is incommensurable. Gold, silver, precious stones can no more be compared to it than light can be compared with sound. There is no standard of comparison. The truth of God stands in a category by itself. It has an intrinsic value altogether apart from its effects. There are three kinds of value. (a.) That which is purely fictitious and conventional. The value of rarity. As of gems, rare plants or books. (b.) The value of utility. (c.) Intrinsic worth. All these combined in the gospel. It is by itself. Its utility is beyond estimate. And its intrinsic worth is infinite. There is a sense in which the knowledge of God or of Christ is God or Christ, as blank ignorance is equivalent to the non-existence of the object of knowledge. The truths of Scripture are therefore of the highest order of truths. They relate to the highest class of subjects which can come under the cognizance of men or angels. Secondly, these truths are of infinite value measured by the standard of utility. They are essential to our own salvation; to the salvation of the world; to the best interests of society and of civilization. They are necessary to pardon; to holiness, to morality; to eternal life. No substitute can be provided
for them. They and they only are the power of God, i.e., the only channels through which his saving power is manifested and exercised. This infinite treasure on which so much depends is committed to you. And it is committed to you exclusively so far as your own souls are concerned, and mainly so far as your people are concerned. This therefore is a fearful responsibility.
2. It is a treasure which it is very hard to keep. Gold and silver may be put in safes or buried in the earth. But this cannot be so disposed of. It must be unconfined. The difficulty of this task is plain from the fact, that the church has so generally failed. The Greek, Latin, Protestant. (a.) It is committed to earthen vessels; to very feeble hands. It will not do for us to trust to our strength, or to our watchfulness. (b.) It is exposed to numerous enemies. Our own hearts, our own understandings, the traditions of men; the force of public opinion; the speculations of philosophy; the assaults of false teachers; the machinations of Satan.
You must therefore feel that you have not only a great task; but a most difficult one to perform. The only thing for you to do is, first, to have a clear conception of what you have to do, not to discover truth, but simply to ascertain what is revealed as truth and to hold it fast, without adulteration; second, to determine that you will be faithful to this trust and resist all these enemies of the truth whether inward or outward; and then, look to God constantly for help, knowing that your sufficiency is of Him.
II. The only form of fidelity is allegiance and devotion to Christ as our King and Master.
This includes, 1. A right state of mind towards him. In pure love; consuming gratitude; entire submission; and zeal for his glory. These are motives which secure fidelity, and without which it is impossible. 2. The renunciation of any other master. You cannot serve God and mammon; Christ and Belial; the world and your Saviour. 3. Assiduity
and diligence in the discharge of all your duties to yourself, to your people, to the Church and to the world.
This fidelity must be unto death. Some are very faithful for a while and then become false. How was it with Judas. With Arnold. With thousands in the world and in the Church. It is only those who persevere unto the end who are saved. Remember that your work and your danger end only in the grave, etc.
III. The reward. I will give you a crown of life.
"I," i.e., the eternal Son of God clothed in our nature. The giver is Christ. The gift a crown of life. A crown is an ornament, a dignity and a symbol of power. This crown is one of life, not only living but consisting in life, spiritual and eternal, the highest kind of life. Imperishable, which renders beautiful; which exalts; which gives power.
CCXIV. Thy Kingdom Come
[Jan. 7th, 1866.]
The kingdom of God or of Christ in the New Testament, means in general that kingdom of the Messiah which the prophets in the Old Testament predicted should be established. John the Baptist, therefore, as the forerunner of Christ, announced that the kingdom of God was at hand. Christ's kingdom was then established, and is frequently spoken of as consisting of those who recognized Christ as their king. As this recognition was either cordial or merely outward, and when cordial was also outward, the phrase came to designate the community of true believers as such, and the community of professed believers, consisting of the sincere and the insincere. As the kingdom of Christ, however, in this world is imperfect; or, in other words, as the authority of Christ is both limited in extent here on earth, and is only partially recognized even by his true disciples,
the Scriptures often speak of the kingdom of Christ as still future; that is, as the time being still future, when his royal authority shall be universally recognized, and when it shall extend over the whole earth. According to one view, this is to take place before the resurrection and general judgment; according to another, it shall be after these events. Those again who adopt the former view are of two classes. First, those who look for a universal Church, a millennial prosperity of true religion, under the present dispensation of the Spirit; who think that the heathen are to be converted, the Jews restored, and religion universally to prevail, in the use of the means of grace now in force. Second, those who hold that this dispensation of the Spirit is merely preparatory; that little will be accomplished towards the conversion of the world until Christ shall come the second time. This second advent is personal and visible. He will establish his throne in Jerusalem; the Jews shall return to their own land, and acknowledge him as their Messiah; all nations shall be converted, and the Jews with Christ shall reign over all the earth in great external splendor and prosperity for a thousand years. This is the kingdom of Christ for whose coming they wait and pray. According to the common Church doctrine, what we pray for when we say Thy kingdom come, is that the authority of Jesus Christ as king shall be universally recognized, and his control over all hearts shall be absolute, and all evil be banished, and that consummation be reached which is called the kingdom of glory. That is, they pray for the state described by Paul when he says that all enemies shall be put under his feet.
The recognition of Christ as king includes, 1. So far as we are concerned, his absolute proprietorship in us and sovereignty over us as God manifest in the flesh; a proprietorship and sovereignty founded, 1st. On the right of creation. 2d. On the right of gift. 3d. On the right of redemption. This includes authority over the reason, the conscience, the affections, and the life.
2. Subjection to his will, or obedience to his laws, whether relating to moral, religious, social or political duties.
3. Devotion to his service; loyalty to him, i.e., love for his person, zeal for his honor, and consecration to the promotion of his kingdom, is the characteristic principle of those who constitute his true subjects.
4. Reliance on his protection, his ability to subdue all his and our enemies and to secure the best interests of all his subjects. To doubt his power or his willingness thus to protect and bless, is disloyalty. Now when Christ's kingdom comes in the individual soul, he is saved; when it is established in the souls of those constituting any community, they have attained all the benefits of his reign, which are to be enjoyed in this life. And when all nations shall be subdued, and Christ's reign established over all people and in every heart, the work of redemption will be accomplished, and the everlasting kingdom of our Lord shall be inaugurated in all its blessedness and glory. The great end of life, therefore, the only thing worth living for is, to secure the reign of Christ in our own souls, and to bring others to call him Lord.
CCXV. Domestic Missions
[Feb. 3d, 1867.]
I. The object of domestic missions is to supply the destitute portions of our own population with the institutions of the gospel. There are two methods of doing this. The one is by itinerant preachers. This method was the one originally adopted in our church, and continued until a recent period of our history. The object of such itinerants was partly, to preach to the scattered population who had no opportunity to attend any place of stated worship; and partly, to organize new churches by gathering scattered members and ordaining officers over them, and thus to put them in the way of getting a minister for themselves. The other method of conducting the work of missions is to aid feeble churches in sustaining a pastor. This method, with us, has almost superseded the other. There is no reason why they should not be combined. Neither, of itself, is sufficient. Dr. C. C. Jones,
when secretary of the Board of Missions, acted on the plan of aiding a church for a few years, and then abandoning it, if it did not become self-supporting. This was a disastrous policy. There are great practical difficulties in this work, because no central Board can know the necessities of every locality, and the judgment of presbyteries is often influenced by special regard to their own field and neglect of the wants of other portions of the country; they are influenced also by natural sympathy with their own members.
II. Who are to perform this work? Whose duty is it to see that the gospel is sustained among the people? There are two different principles on which the Church has been divided. The one is that the duty of sustaining the gospel in any one place, rests on the people of that place. This is natural, or at least plausible. The support of the municipal officers of a town or borough rests exclusively on the people of the town. It is their concern, and the concern of no one else. The same is true also of the poor. It seems unreasonable that people of one town should contribute to the support of the minister of another. This principle would be the right one provided, 1. The people felt the necessity for a minister as they do that of municipal officers, and 2. Provided the interests at stake were those of the people of that place exclusively. But neither of these things are true, and, therefore, this plan if rigorously carried out would be destructive. The other principle is that the obligation to sustain the gospel rests upon the Church as a whole. The command is to preach the gospel, i.e., secure its being known, everywhere. This is the true principle, 1. Because all the considerations, except those which are personal and family, which bind us to support the gospel in one place, apply to all others. The gospel is necessary everywhere. Men will perish without the knowledge of it. The honor of Christ is promoted by the conversion of souls everywhere. The interests of morality, religion, and social order, and national prosperity are as much concerned in having the gospel in one place as in another. 2. The gospel cannot spread, and will not be sustained on the other plan. People will not send for it, nor support it. 3. The Church acts on this principle among the heathen. 4. The most aggressive and
prosperous denominations act on it. 5. The state has been forced to act on it in matters of education. 6. The permanence, power and spiritual welfare of our church is deeply concerned in this.
III. Reasons why we should devote more energy to Domestic Missions.
1. The general reasons of the command of Christ, the value of the soul, and the necessity of religion to social and national prosperity.
2. The special reason of the greatness of the work. Compare this work in England and Scotland with the work here. The extent of the country and the sparseness of the population render it specially difficult, and therefore demanding zeal.
3. The rapid increase of our population; it is outrunning the means of supply.
4. The certainty that error and vice will prevail, if the gospel be not preached and sustained.
5. The importance of the forming period of a nation's life, and the permanency of the original type. Illustrations.
6. All other good enterprises depend on this.
CCXVI. The Knowledge of the Gospel necessary to the Salvation of the Heathen
[October 7th, 1855.]
Introductory remarks.
We must be in harmony with the Bible in order to understand the Bible. A knowledge of sin and of God as sovereign is necessary to a right apprehension of God's dealings with sinners. The origin of evil,
the prevalence of error and vice, the fewness of the saved, the perishing condition of the heathen, are all mysteries, which we cannot deny, and must receive on the evidence on which they rest. As to the perishing condition of the heathen, it is to be remarked,—
I. That justice does not demand their salvation, or that they should have the means of it. The contrary assumption has led some to assume that the light of nature is sufficient; and others, that the gospel will be preached to them hereafter. That these assumptions are unfounded is proved,
1. From the fact that justice requires only, 1st. That men should be judged according to their works, and, 2d. According to their light. This, the Scriptures teach, will be the case with the heathen.
2. Because the Scriptures teach that salvation is a matter of grace. God was not bound to provide salvation for our race. To deny this is to deny the whole gospel, and make the work of Christ a matter of debt.
3. Hence if God is not bound to provide for the salvation of any, he is not bound to provide for the salvation of all, if he chooses to save some.
4. God has ever acted on this principle, and therefore it must be right.
II. In point of fact the heathen cannot be saved without the gospel.
1. Because the Bible declares the light of nature to be insufficient.
2. Because it has declared faith in Christ to be necessary.
3. Because it has commanded the gospel to be preached to all nations as the means of saving them.
4. Because it has declared holiness to be necessary, and the heathen are not holy.
5. Such is and ever has been the faith of the Church. The reproach is often cast upon evangelical churches that they are uncharitable; but Greeks, Romanists and High Churchmen restrict salvation to an external body, we restrict it only to the good. All the holy will be saved.
III. Inferences.
1. We should be humbled under a sense of insensibility and want of faith. We exhibit the same unbelief respecting ourselves and others. It is a great sin.
2. Truths should assume in us the form of principles, and not depend on feeling. We should act under the conviction that the gospel is necessary.
3. We should consecrate ourselves to this work. We waste our lives if they are devoted to any other object.
CCXVII. Call to the Work of Foreign
Missions
[October 12th, 1856.]
I. What is the work of missions? II. What is a call to that work?
I. The work of foreign missions is not a distinct part of the general work of the Church. The commission under which the Church acts has equal reference to all parts of the field. The work of the missionary is therefore not different from the work of a minister. A man who enlists as a soldier, does not enlist for any one field. He is to go wherever he is sent.
II. A call to the work of missions, therefore, can only be analogous to the question whether a minister is to be settled in one place rather than another. How is a man to know whether he is called to settle in a city or in the country, in the east or in the west? There is no difference between these questions and the question whether he is called to go abroad or to remain at home. The question assumes that the Lord has a purpose with regard to the location of his ministers; that he makes that purpose known; and that they may ascertain what that purpose is.
1. The Lord has a purpose with regard to the location of his ministers. 1st. This is to be inferred from the general doctrine of providence, which teaches that God's purposes extend to all things, and that he overrules all things to the accomplishment of that purpose. Nothing is fortuitous. The place of our birth, of our education, our profession, and of the field of labor are all included in the plan. 2d. It is to be inferred from the doctrine of Christ's headship over the Church, and of his continual guidance of it by his Spirit, by which he gives gifts to each one according to his will and leads all his people in the way in which they should go. 3d. It follows from his peculiar relation to ministers. They are stars in his hand, and he assigns to each his sphere. They are his ambassadors, and he sends each on his own mission. They are his laborers, etc. We find therefore, that he sent Jonah to Nineveh, Paul to the heathen, Peter to the circumcision. Christ has a purpose with regard to us.
2. He makes that purpose known. 1st. This must be inferred from the nature of the case. We are rational creatures and are governed by rational means. If God has a design for us to accomplish, he must make it known or we cannot, in this matter, fulfill his will. 2d. As a matter of experience we find that God does make known his purpose. He did so, as we have seen, with regard to the prophets and the apostles, and he does so with regard to ordinary ministers. It is not to be inferred, however, that this is always done in such a way as to preclude all investigation on our part; nor so as to prevent any danger of mistake. A man may mistake, and go counter to the will of
God; and the consequences are disastrous. We ought therefore to give the question a careful consideration.
3. How does God reveal his will to his ministers, as to where they should labor? He does it first, by his inward dealings with them, and secondly, by his outward dispensations. First, as to his inward dealings. 1st. He furnishes them with the gifts requisite to some special field of labor. 2d. He addresses their understandings. He presents to them the wants of the different parts of the great field; the facilities for usefulness; the demand for laborers. 3d. He addresses their conscience. 4th. He addresses their hearts, awakens an interest in particular portions of the field, and infuses into them an earnest desire for the work.
Secondly, as to his outward dispensations. 1st. He removes obstacles out of the way, such as want of health, obligations to dependent parents, and other hindrances of a like nature. 2d. He sends messages to them by friends. 3d. He sometimes stirs up the church to call them here or there.
The duty of candidates for the ministry.
1. To feel that they are bound to go wherever God may call them; that it is not for them to choose.
2. To feel perfectly submissive, and say, Lord what wilt thou have me to do.
3. To investigate the subject; not to dismiss it, but to examine conscientiously.
4. To use all the means to come to an intelligent decision, and to keep their minds open to conviction.
The work of missions is a blessed work. 1. Because its results are so glorious. 2. Because it is so peculiarly unearthly. 3. Because the
promises of God are so abundant to those who forsake houses, and lands, and friends, etc., for his sake.
CCXVIII. The harvest truly is plenteous,
but the laborers are few.—Matt. 9:37
[April 30th, 1854.]
I. What is the harvest? It is the mass of human souls. It is called a harvest, 1. Because intrinsically valuable. 2. Because designed to be saved. 3. Because it must be reaped. If let alone it will perish. 4. Because it is prepared, or ready for the sickle.
II. This harvest is plenteous.
The number of human beings now living on the earth, and accessible more or less to the gospel, is 800,000,000 or 900,000,000. The harvest includes not the men of this country only, nor of Europe, but of Asia, of Africa, of India, of China, and of the Islands of the sea. All these need the gospel, all are capable of salvation, all are accessible.
III. The duty of reaping the harvest, rests, 1. On the whole Church. 2. Specially on the ministers. 3. On each individual minister.
IV. In what part of the field each should labor, depends,
1. Not on the wishes of the individual, but on the will of God.
2. His will is to be determined in relation to each, first, by general considerations, and, second, by special considerations.
First, the general considerations which should determine our personal duty are such as these: 1st. The relative size of the different portions of the field. 2d. The relative proportion of laborers in those fields. 3d. Their relative importance in reference to the whole. 4th. Their accessibility and state of readiness for the gospel. 5th. The
relation in which they stand to us. We have a greater duty to the people of this country than to others, just as a man is under greater obligations to provide for his own family than for others.
Second, the special considerations are, 1st. Those which relate to our qualifications. 2d. To our constitution or health. 3d. To our domestic or social obligations. 4th. To the dealings of God's providence and Spirit.
V. Motives which should induce us to give ourselves up to this work, to go where God may send us.
1. The command of Christ, which is explicit and obligatory, and is addressed to us as truly as though we were specially named in the commission. Disobedience as to going at all, or as to going where we ought to go, is certain to entail the greatest evils on our own soul.
2. Love to Christ and gratitude for the benefits of redemption. The special motive is love to the Redeemer, founded on his glorious excellence as God manifested in the flesh, on his love to us, and on the benefits which we receive from him. The force of this motive is seen in all the apostles and martyrs and missionaries whom God has sent and blessed.
3. The absolute necessity of the gospel to the salvation of the heathen. This is clearly the doctrine of the Bible and of the Church. If they do not hear, they cannot believe; and if they do not believe, they cannot be saved.
Let this subject, therefore, come before you in all its solemn importance, and let it weigh constantly on your minds.
CCXIX. Preparation for the Lord's Supper
[Date not given.]
The Lord's Supper is presented under various aspects in the Scriptures.
I. It is presented primarily as a commemoration of the death of Christ. As the design of his death was the redemption of man, or rather of his people, to commemorate his death is to render public thanksgiving for our redemption. As redemption is deliverance from the power and condemnation of sin, preparation for this thankoffering must include, 1. A sense of sin. 2. A desire to be delivered from it, and a purpose to forsake it. 3. Belief that Christ's death is available to our deliverance, and trust in it for that purpose. 4. Gratitude and love for so infinite a blessing.
II. It is presented as the seal of the covenant of grace, and as the acknowledgment of our acceptance of that covenant and appropriation of its benefits. Preparation for it in this view implies, 1. A knowledge of the covenant of grace or plan of salvation. 2. An acquiescence in it, or acceptance of it for our own salvation, with all its promises and obligations; and as God therein promises for Christ's sake to be our God, we therein accept him as our God and portion; and as we promise to be his people, we therein consecrate ourselves to the service and glory of God in Christ. 3. All the sentiments of humility, faith, gratitude and love which such a transaction requires, and when intelligently and, sincerely performed, of necessity excites.
III. It is presented as an act of communion with Christ. The cup which we bless is the communion of his blood; the bread which we break is the communion of his body. That is, in receiving the bread and wine as the memorials of Christ, we receive his body and blood— i.e., their sacrificial and saving virtue—and thus become one with him. We receive and appropriate him as our sacrifice, and as the Saviour of our souls; and he gives himself to us. It is therefore an act of intimate communion. Preparation for the Lord's Supper in this aspect requires, 1. The intelligent apprehension of the nature and design of the sacrament as the communion of the body and blood of
Christ. 2. Faith in it as a means of grace, i.e., as a divinely appointed channel of communicating to us Christ and his benefits. 3. The desire for this great spiritual blessing, a hungering and thirsting after this spiritual meat and drink; and, when at the table, the actual appropriation of the offered blessings to ourselves. This is feeding on him. 4. The humility, gratitude and love again, which those must feel who are thus admitted to the presence of the Lord, and receive from his own hand this spiritual food.
IV. It is presented as an act of communion with our fellow Christians. All who ate of the Jewish altars professed to be Jews, and to regard all other Jews as their brethren. All who frequented the temple of idols were united as joint worshippers of demons. Thus, the apostle says, all who come to the Lord's table are one body. They are one united company of worshippers of the same Saviour, each united to him as the living head, and therefore united to the others as members of the same body. Preparation for the Lord's Supper in this aspect requires, of course, 1. The recognition of the fact that all Christians are brethren, and that their intimate union with each other in virtue of their common union with Christ, is signified and professed in coming to the Lord's table. 2. The exclusion, on the one hand, of all feelings inconsistent with this fellowship of saints, of all malice, envying, bitterness, &c.; and on the other hand, the exercise of the opposite sentiments of love, mutual confidence and consideration, and sympathy. 3. The fixed purpose always to act towards our fellow Christians as towards those to whom we are united by the tenderest, most intimate, and most enduring bonds.
These various aspects of the ordinance of course are consistent, and preparation for it in one form involves preparation for it under all its other aspects. Its essential idea, however, is thanksgiving for redemption, and therefore requires true views of the glory of the Redeemer as the eternal Son of God clothed in our nature, proper sentiments towards him as our divine Saviour, gratitude for his work, and devotion to his service and glory. Any man who sincerely desires to thank the Lord Jesus for his redemption, and who
purposes to live in obedience to his commands, is authorized and bound to come to the table of the Lord, and aid in proclaiming and perpetuating the knowledge of his death.
CCXX. The Lord's Supper as a Means of
Grace. (No. 1)
[September 11th, 1859.]
I. The Lord's Supper has ever been regarded as a source of power.
1. Some attribute to it nothing more than the moral power of a rite, significant of divine truth.
2. Others, on the opposite extreme, attribute to it an inherent, divine or supernatural power. Some attribute this supernatural power to the elements themselves; others, to the divine word or promise which is connected with the ordinance. These views agree, 1st. In denying that the efficacy is due to the ab extra influence of the Spirit. 2d. That it is not conditioned by the inward state of the communicant.
3. The doctrine of our church is, First, That the effect intended is not regeneration, nor justification. But it is, 1st. The renewed application of the blood of Christ. 2d. Our spiritual nourishment and growth in grace. Secondly. That these effects are not due to any supernatural power in the elements, or in the rite, or in him who administers it, but solely to the blessing of Christ and the operations of his Spirit. Thirdly. That the condition of this power, on our part, is faith. That is, if we have faith, we experience the power of the sacrament; if we have it not, we do not experience it.
II. By faith here is not meant, 1. The general belief of the gospel, or plan of salvation as revealed in the Scriptures; nor 2. Does it mean saving faith. It is not true that every true believer receives Christ, feeds upon him to his spiritual nourishment at the Lord's table, any
more than it is true that every such believer is always spiritually edified by prayer or the reading of the Scriptures.
3. But it is faith in what the Scriptures teach concerning this ordinance. 1st. That it is a divine appointment, not a human device. 2d. That it is designed to commemorate the death of Christ. 3d. That it is a means of communion with the Lord Jesus Christ, i.e., first, a means of communicating to us the benefits of his death; and, second, a means or occasion of intercourse with our souls. Hence this includes, (a.) Faith in his presence in the ordinance. (b.) Faith that he is what he is, the Son of God in our nature, our prophet, priest and king. (c.) Faith that he loves us. This is indispensable. 4th. That it is a means of uniting all believers as one body. They become one by their joint participation of the same head. This is the faith requisite for profitable communion.
III. The reason is, that without it we are not in a proper state to receive the benefits of the ordinance, and with it we are. It constitutes the receptivity. If informed that a parent whom we had not seen for a long time was in a room awaiting us, it is plain, 1, that if we did not believe that he was there; or, 2, if we believed that the person really there was not our father; or, 3, that, although our father, he did not love us or acknowledge us as his child, then we should not be prepared to meet him. But if we believed all these three points, it would constitute our preparation, and we would not fail of being delighted by the interview. So of the Lord's Supper, if we believe that Christ is there; that he is our God and Saviour; that he loves us, then we are sure of the benefits of his presence.
CCXXI. The Lord's Supper as a Means of
Grace. (No. 2)
[October 8th, 1865.]
I. By means of grace is meant the means of divine appointment for the purpose of conveying grace.
By grace is meant, 1. Some divine gift. 2. Divine or supernatural influence of the Holy Spirit. Where there are no such means of grace, their saving gifts, so far as we know, are not conferred. To those to whom God does not send his word, he does not send salvation.
II. The Lord's Supper is a means of grace. What is the special gift and the special nature of the divine influence which it is intended to convey?
The Roman Catholic doctrine on this subject is,—
1. That each sacrament has its own special grace connected with it. 2. That that grace can be obtained in no other way. The benefits conveyed by baptism can be obtained only by baptism; so of orders, penance, extreme unction, &c. 3. That this gift, or the effect produced, is indelible, like the impression of a seal. Truth and error are here mixed. The error is, (1.) In asserting that the gifts conveyed by the sacraments can be obtained in no other way. (2.) In making certain rites sacraments, which are not such. (3.) In making the gift or impression indelible. The truth is, that there is a difference between baptism and the Lord's Supper. The former symbolizes the washing of the soul from guilt and pollution by the blood and Spirit of Christ; and these are the gifts specially conveyed. The latter while it (1.) sets forth the death of Christ as a sacrifice for sins, and (2.) involves an appropriation of this sacrifice to the souls of believers, is (3.) specially designed as the expression of our union with Christ and with one another. The special benefit, therefore, which it is designed to convey, is this fellowship with Christ and his people. And the special divine influence or inward grace, with which it is attended, is the consciousness of such union.
This is proved from what Paul says to the Corinthians, from the 6th chapter of John, although not directly referring to the Lord's Supper,
and from the general faith of the Church manifested in calling the Lord's Supper a Communion. Hence we should specially expect and pray for this special grace when we go to the Lord's table, and we should come away cherishing the feeling that we and Christ and his people are one. Hence also it is called a feast of love, and animosities between brethren are considered a special hindrance in this ordinance.
III. How is this grace conveyed?
1. Not by any inherent virtue in it. 2. Not by the supernatural power of the administrator. 3. Therefore not uniformly, nor to all. Some fail entirely of the blessing; some receive far more at one time than at another. 4. But it is conveyed to believers, and to those only; that is, to those who believe, 1st. In Christ and his gospel. 2d. In the special promise of God in connection with this ordinance. 3d. To those, therefore, who appropriate its blessings by faith.
5. As faith is the subjective condition, so the Spirit is the efficient cause. It is by his working in those who by faith receive the sacraments; thus their benefits are conveyed.
In this there is an analogy with the word. 1. It does not benefit all. 2. It does not benefit the believer always in the same way or measure. 3. Its sanctifying benefit is to those who by faith receive it. 4. This faith is the fruit of the Holy Spirit, by which also all its saving fruits are produced.
1. We should greatly value the Holy Supper. Protestants are apt to go to an extreme in opposition to Catholics.
2. We should be careful in our preparation for the communion.
3. And we should see to it that we are the better, and not the worse for our attendance on the Lord's table.
CCXXII. Christian Fellowship as
Expressed in the Lord's Supper
[January 13th, 1861.]
The meaning of words in Scripture is often best understood by adverting to their literal signification. Thus, κοινωνία, communion, means having things in common, from κοινός, common; and οἵ κοινωνόι are those who have things, or something in common. We are said to have communion by the cup, to take part in, to partake of the blood of Christ, and by the bread to be made partakers of his body; and hence, since the bread is one, we are κοινωνόι, we have in common, we jointly partake of one and the same body, and thus become one body. There is an intimate and real union effected by this joint participation. What is it that Christians have in common in the Lord's Supper, which makes them one? The answer to this question has split churches and caused rivers of blood to flow.
1. Some say it is the real body and blood of Christ. They say either that the bread and wine are transubstantiated into the body and blood, or, that while the bread and wine retain their own nature, the body and blood of Christ are really and locally present in, with and under them, and are received by the mouth.
2. Calvin said that what believers have in common in the Lord's Supper is the power of Christ's glorified humanity, which is miraculously communicated, being received, not by the mouth, but by faith.
3. The Reformed say that what they have in common is the sacrificial virtue of Christ's body and blood. They all partake of the benefits of his death, and of his life, and in virtue of this communion they have fellowship one with another. They are united, 1st. Not outwardly only by the profession of the same religion. 2d. Not merely as a society under one head, and one organization. 3d. Nor as a family, fold, or
kingdom is united as the objects of the same care, and recipients of the same benefits. But, 4th. Inwardly and really, as partaking of the same life, clothed in the same righteousness, and animated by the same Spirit; and, therefore, 5th. They are united as members of the same body.
Concerning this fellowship of Christians, the Scriptures teach, 1. That it depends on union with Christ. It is because every believer is a partaker of Christ, is united to him, as a branch to the vine, that they are united to each other. 2. That this union is the most intimate and lasting which can exist among men. It is more intimate than the family relations, and outlasts them. I do not say that it has such a hold on the affections, but that it has its roots deeper in our nature. The family relations belong to our social and earthly life. This is a union which belongs to our spiritual and eternal life. 3. It is a catholic union. It has nothing to do with church distinctions. It underlies the differences of ecclesiastical organizations. Greeks, Latins, Lutherans and Reformed, if one with Christ, are one body; and this we are bound to recognize. It is a great sin against Christ and against his body, if we refuse to recognize as a fellow-Christian, or refuse Christian fellowship to any true Christian because he differs from us in anything whatever.
This union is Catholic, not only as uniting Christians of all denominations, but of all ages, rich and poor, learned and unlearned, barbarian, Scythians, bond and free. These distinctions are real. They are not to be ignored, but they are all superficial, outward and transient. Underneath them all is this majestic bond of union, which unites all these classes as one body in Christ Jesus.
4. This inward mystical union reveals itself in the consciousness. 1st. In a common faith. 2d. In common love, reverence and devotion to Jesus Christ. 3d. In mutual love. 4th. In common experience, hopes and aspirations.
5. It reveals itself in the conduct. 1st. By mutual recognition. 2d. By intercommunion. 3d. By mutual forbearance, and by acts of charity and benevolence.
CCXXIII. The Lord's Supper in Relation
to Christ's Death
[March 17th, 1861.]
I. The Lord's Supper is a proof of the fact that Christ died. Any commemoration of an historical fact, when such commemoration dates back to the time immediately subsequent to the event, involves of necessity the truth of the fact. As this commemoration has been uninterrupted and universal, it is the testimony of each succeeding generation to the great fact in question. We should so regard it. It is one important end to be accomplished by the ordinance, and it is a great honor to be of the number of those appointed to keep alive the knowledge of the fact.
II. It is a continued proof that the death of Christ was the culminating point of his work. Had it been simply designed to keep Christ in mind, it might have been his birth, or his life, or his history that it commemorated. So it has been with other great benefactors of our race. But the fact that his death was selected by Christ himself to be perpetually celebrated, shows that his death was his great work. He came into the world to die. All else was subordinate to this. He was to be remembered not as teacher or healer, but as dying.
III. The Lord's Supper commemorates the manner and nature of Christ's death. It was not an ordinary death, brought about by sickness or decay; but it was a death in which his body was broken and his blood shed. Neither was it a death by lawless violence, only a casualty, but a death judicially inflicted. He was condemned to die, by the man who had the power of life and death in his hands. But this mere human judgment was only the form and instrumentality under
and by which a divine judgment was pronounced. It was by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God that he was crucified and slain. This is true not only in the sense in which all things come to pass according to the counsel of the divine will, but also in the sense that God delivered him up. He laid on him the iniquity of us all. Christ regarded his sufferings and death as imposed by the hand of God. It was to him that he looked. We are to regard the death of Christ as the offering up of his Son by the Father for the sins of the world.
IV. It sets Christ's death forth as voluntary. He was led, but he was led unresistingly. He laid down his life of himself. He had power to lay it down and power to take it again. Thus he is exhibited in the prophets and thus also in the evangelists.
V. It sets forth his death in the twofold light of a sin offering and a federal offering. The latter is the former, but the former is not always the latter.
1. As the victim bore the sins of the offerer, so Christ bore our sins.
2. As the death of the victim took the place of that of the offerer, so Christ's death was vicarious.
3. As the effect of a sacrifice was expiation and propitiation, so was Christ's death. It removed our guilt; it renders God propitious.
4. As the offerer was certainly pardoned and restored, so is the death of Christ certainly efficacious. It not merely renders salvation possible, but certain.
As a federal offering, 1. It ratifies the covenant. It is the pledge on the part of God that he will fulfill his promise. 2. Therefore it secures for the believer all the benefits of the covenant of grace.
VI. As it sets forth Christ's death under these two aspects, or as Christ's death was in fact both a sin offering and a federal offering, so
the Lord's Supper is a commemoration of his death as a sin offering and as a federal offering. It is so to the Church, to the spectators, and to the world. It is a continued testimony to all men that Christ died for the sins of the world, the just for the unjust; that his blood is sacrificial and cleanses from all sin.
VII. But to the believing communicant it is more than this. It is the actual reception of the body and blood of Christ, i.e., of their sacrificial benefits. He then and there, as he receives the bread and wine, receives Christ, and all his benefits for his spiritual nourishment and growth in grace. This act of appropriation is not an emotional act; it does not imply any special elevation of devout feeling, however desirable that may be; it is not an act of the understanding merely; but it is an act of faith, i.e., believing, 1. That Christ died. 2. That he died a death of pain and blood. 3. That he died judicially. 4. That he died by the appointment of God. 5. That he died for the sins of men, as a sacrifice, and has been accepted as such. 6. That we are partakers of the benefits of his death. We receive them as freely offered.
CCXXIV. Retrospect of the Lord's Supper
[March 13th, 1853.]
I. Importance of this ordinance.
I. It is a historical fact that the Lord's Supper is the middle point of the Christian life. Proof of this: 1. In its very perversion in so large a part of the Church. 2. In the practice of the purest churches, and in the experience of Christians. The reason for it is found in the fact that communion with Christ is the sum of Christian piety, and in the fact that such communion is more intimate and palpable in this service than anywhere else, 1. Because of its divine appointment for that end. 2. Because it is a conspicuous outward act, expressive and declarative of our union with the Lord Jesus as his worshippers, and
as the members of his body. It is like the day of one's espousals. It is the public celebration of our union with Christ.
II. Its nature appears from what has been said.
The Lord's Supper is not a didactic service. Its primary design is not to instruct. It is like the ancient sacrifices in this respect. Instruction is involved in it, but in the act of offering the state of mind required is that of a worshipper. He comes to do, and not to learn. But it is a liturgical service; not a service for the people, but by the people. It is a mistake, therefore, when the minister puts the people in a passive relation, and addresses them as the spectators or attendants. He is but the leader of their act of worship, in which they remember Christ, lay hold of his promise, and devote themselves to him. All parts of the service should bear this character. Hence, 1. The introductory prayer should not be general, but specific. 2. The administration of the elements is a simple act, not to be connected with exhortations or instructions. How inappropriate is it to dwell at a feast on the proper mode of eating, or on the theory of digestion. 3. The concluding prayer also should be a thanksgiving for redemption. After the service, exhortations may be given.
III. Its benefits.
As the Lord's Supper is a κοινωνία (koinonia) or communion, and as communion implies reciprocal action between two or more parties, there is a three-fold aspect of the service, or three parties engaged and present in this ordinance. 1. Christ. 2. Believers. 3. FellowChristians. These are all parties, and are essential to the service.
1. Christ gives himself, his righteousness, his Spirit, and his salvation.
2. The believer receives Christ as the Son of God, as the incarnate God, as his wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. He engages, (a.) To renounce sin. (b.) To obey Christ. (c.) To devote himself to his service.
3. He communes with his fellow Christians, (a.) Recognizing them as Christians. (b.) Recognizing his union with them as joint members of Christ. (c.) Recognizing all the obligations of mutual love, forbearance and assistance arising out of this relation.
Topics to consider:—1. Importance or value of this sacrament. 2. Motives to live according to our engagements
CCXXV. Revivals of Religion
[February 28th, 1858.]
Their nature; their reality; their importance; their dangers.
I. The nature of a revival; or, what is meant by a revival of religion. It is a familiar fact that religion in the soul is sometimes in a lower and sometimes in a higher state. The passage from the one to the other is more or less rapid. So in a church or community. There are periods of decline and periods of refreshing. So under the Old Testament dispensation. So in the times of Christ. So in the time of the Reformation, in the time of Edwards and since. The phrase has here acquired a conventional sense. It is confined to a sudden change from general inattention to a general attention to religion, to those seasons in which the zeal of Christians is manifestly increased, and in which large numbers of persons are converted to God.
II. The reality of any such experience in the Church is denied, 1. By Rationalists and all who deny the supernatural operations of the Spirit of God. 2. By those who deny that the converting influences of the Spirit are ever exerted except in connection with the sacraments. 3. By those whose theory of religion does not admit of instantaneous or rapid conversions; who hold that the germ of piety implanted in baptism is by an educational process to be nurtured into conversion. 4. By those who, while admitting the facts of the Bible on the subject, seem disposed to regard them as belonging rather to the class of
miracles than of the normal state of the Church. Granting the facts of supernatural divine influence, there is no objection to the theory of revivals. That is, there is nothing in them inconsistent with the nature of religion or with the modes of divine operation. It is a question of fact. These, of course, from Scripture and history are decisive.
The question of reality may be viewed in another light. That is, Whether any given religious excitement is a genuine revival or not? 1. It is of course not to be taken for granted that every such excitement is a work of God. It may be nothing but the product of acts and eloquence of men, and consist in the excitement of mere natural feelings. Much no doubt which passes for revival is more or less of that character. 2. The criteria for the decision between true and false revivals are the same as those for deciding between true and false religion. These are, First, their origin. Are they due to the preaching of the truth? Secondly, their character. Is the excitement humble, reverential, peaceful, benevolent, holy; or is the feeling manifested proud, censorious, malicious, denunciatory, schismatical, irreverent? Thirdly, their permanent fruits. This is the only certain test. The case of Beaufort, S. C. 3. Perfection not to be expected in revivals any more than in the religion of individuals. Such excitements are not to be condemned because of some evils, and those often great ones.
III. Their importance. This may be estimated, proximately, in two ways. 1. By the importance of the end which they are assumed to answer. The salvation of many souls and the elevation of the piety of the Church. 2. Historically, i.e., by a reference to the effects which they have produced. The day of Pentecost. The Reformation. The times of Wesley in England and the times of Whitefield and the Tennants, Edwards and others in this country. Estimated by these standards, their importance is incalculable.
IV. False views of their importance.
1. That they are the only way in which religion can be promoted. Many say they are the hope of the Church. Many so rely upon them that they expect little or nothing except during such periods. They lie on their oars. They do little, and sink in person and zeal. 2. Another false view is that they are the best way. They are great mercies, but there are greater. When there have been years of famine a superabundant harvest is a great blessing. But it had been better had each harvest been good. There is a better state as well as a greater amount of good in the latter than in the former case. A regular normal increase is better than violent alternations. General permanent health is better than exuberant joyousness alternating with depression.
V. Dangers. These may be learned in two ways. 1. From their nature, or à priori. 2. From experience, or à posteriori.
1. From their nature. Excitement in proportion to its intensity in an individual or in a community calls into vigorous exercise both the good and bad elements which may be extant. It makes the selfrighteous, the censorious, the vain, more so. It calls up and calls out all the evil elements in the Church. It sets them on new, unauthorized or improper means of promoting religion. The evil elements often mingle with the good, so as to be far more apparent than the good. The desolations of the thunder-storm or the flood are often more apparent than their benefits.
2. From experience we find that the following evils are apt to attend revivals, (a.) False teachers, false doctrines, false or improper measures, as in the Apostolic age. (b.) False views of religion, fanaticism, enthusiasm. (c.) Contempt of the ordinary means of grace, and neglect of them. (d.) Disparagement of religion in the eyes of serious, reflecting men. (e.) Denunciation and schisms. (f.) False views of the proper kind of preaching and neglect of the instruction of the young.
CCXXVI. Evidences of a Work of Grace.—
John 3:3
[No date given.]
I. As in all other cases, the test laid down by Christ applies here also. That is, by their fruits ye shall know them. Men do not gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles. A good tree bringeth forth good fruit. The only evidence of the indwelling of the Spirit is the fruit of the Spirit. Narratives of experience are comparatively of little account.
1. Life in all its forms, when fully developed and in lively exercise, manifests itself beyond dispute. A tree in the spring putting forth its leaves, and in the autumn laden with fruit, every one sees is alive. It is easy to see that wheat in a field, when green and flourishing, is alive; but no microscopic inspection will enable us to decide in many cases which of two grains of wheat will grow. Life, when only in the germ, does not reveal itself with certainty.
2. Although in many cases it is impossible to determine whether life be present or not, it is commonly easy to decide whether death is. Death reveals itself even more speedily and certainly than life. The evidence of spiritual death is in many cases so clear as to preclude all necessity of asking the question, Have we spiritual life? (a.) Heresy, or deliberate rejection of any fundamental doctrine of the Scriptures, is declared to be decisive evidence of spiritual death. (b.) So also is deliberate sinning. Not occasional transgressions, but the purpose to live in sin in any form. Be not deceived; neither fornicators nor idolaters, nor covetous, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God. (c.) Hatred of Christians. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar.
3. The Scriptures assume that a man may be deceived as to his spiritual condition. They make it his duty to examine himself, and they lay down the tests of Christian character. This question cannot
be decided by any analysis of our affections. Unless they are so decided as to need no examination, they cannot be distinguished as spurious or genuine by merely looking at them. The love of God, repentance, faith, are not only ambiguous as words and phrases, but the states of mind which they express are so complex that it is next to impossible to determine certainly on their character. Hence those who are always poring over their feelings and affections, to decide whether they are regenerated or not, never get any satisfaction.
The three great evidences of grace given in the Scriptures are, First, the accordance of our inward apprehensions and convictions as to truth with the word of God. The natural man discerneth not the things of the Spirit. The spiritual man discerneth all things. He sees, 1. That what the Scriptures teach concerning the guilt and pollution is true. He does not inwardly dissent from it, but acquiesces in it, in its application to himself. 2. He recognizes the truth and excellence of the doctrines of the Scripture concerning God, his being, perfections, government and sovereignty; the righteousness of his law, etc. He is glad God reigns. 3. He especially acquiesces and his whole heart accords with the truth of what is said of our Lord. He is seen by the renewed to be indeed the Son of God; God manifest in the flesh, the chiefest among ten thousand. The heart goes out to him in reverence, admiration, gratitude and devotion. 4. He acquiesces gladly in what is revealed of the plan of salvation. He sees that it is suited to his case. He knows that a gratuitous method of salvation, through a righteousness and strength not his own, is what he needs.
The second test relates to the purposes of the heart. These are more easily determined than the feelings. 1. There is a deliberate purpose not to live in sin, to strive against it in all its forms. 2. A purpose to endeavor to grow in grace, to become more and more holy, and to this end to be diligent in the use of all divinely appointed means. 3. The purpose to devote ourselves to the service and glory of Christ. That is, the true Christian determines that neither himself nor the world shall be the ultimate end for which he lives. Such is his
purpose, and therefore he determines that not his own will or interest, but the will of Christ shall be the rule of his conduct.
The third test is the outward fruits of holiness. If the tree be good the fruit will be good. 1. There will be kindness, justice, forbearance, benevolence in our dealing with others. 2. There will be strict morality in all that regards our duties to ourselves. 3. There will be a religious life, i.e., a life of prayer, of Christian fellowship and worship, and of effort to promote religion.
CCXXVII. Method of dealing with
Inquirers
[February 9th, 1862.]
Every Christian, and especially every minister, will have this work to do. It is a very responsible work. It is a very difficult work.
I. General principles suited to all cases. The directions given will be determined by the views we entertain of the nature of religion.
1. Rationalists endeavor to suppress all concern.
2. Romanists teach men to submit to the church, and practice religious duties and penance.
3. Protestants direct inquirers to come directly to God in the way appointed in the gospel. But this general direction is modified by the peculiar views of those who give it.
1. Some place the essence of religion in submission to God, and hence the general directions to submit.
2. Some place it in the choice of God as a source of happiness, and hence the direction, "Choose God as your portion."
3. Some again place it in a volition to make the happiness of the universe the end of our being.
4. Others, in the return of the soul to God through Christ, and by faith in him. Hence the general direction to "believe."
This is the proper direction, (a.) Because faith is declared to be the condition of salvation. Believers are saved. Unbelievers are lost. (b.) Because this is the apostolic direction. (c.) Because neither pardon nor sanctification is otherwise to be obtained. (d.) Because Christ is the Alpha and Omega of the gospel.
But what is faith? What is the precise thing to be done? The exercise of this involves immediate conviction of sin.
II. Special directions.
1. As to sceptical doubts. (a.) Do not rely on speculative arguments mainly. Whether in dealing with heathen, philosophers, or errorists or Romanists, the true place of speculative arguments is simply to remove difficulties, to show that the truth is not inconsistent with reason or fact. They are not to be used to prove the truth, i.e., to afford its positive evidence. (b.) But rely upon the exhibition of the truth, and upon pressing it on the conscience. (1.) Because the ground of faith is the witness of the Spirit with the truth. (2.) Because the truth is self-evidencing. (3.) Because arguments are human, while truth is divine.
2. As to Fatalists, who say nothing can be done. They plead the doctrine of election. (1.) Here again moral considerations should direct our effort. The intellectual difficulty is not first to be removed. (2.) The sinner should be urged to act as he does in other cases.
3. As to those who rely on the excuse of inability, or feel they can do nothing. (1.) It is vain to tell men they are able. (2.) This is not necessary to produce a sense of guilt.
4. The true method is to admit the fact and fall as the leper at the feet of Jesus.
5. As to those who plead hardness of heart, want of conviction of sin. Show the true place of conviction.
DEATH,
AND THE CONSUMMATION OF
REDEMPTION
CCXXVIII. Time
[Dec. 31st, 1854.]
I. What it is. II. How it should be improved. III. Means to that end. IV. Motives to enforce the duty.
I. Time is duration as measured by succession. Without succession there could be no time. To a large extent our conception of time arises from the imperfection of our nature. To us the distinction between the past, present and future is palpable. But suppose that the past was as vivid as the present. It would then be present. And, with clear foresight of the future, it also would be present, and we should exist in an unmoving state.
Time has reference to our present mode of existence. We are said to stand on the borders of eternity. The departed are said to be in eternity. In German idiom, the familiar expression for the dead is, those rendered eternal.
Time then, so far as we are concerned, is that portion of our existence which we pass in this world. The flow of time is equable. It never moves either faster or slower. To our consciousness it is, however, variable. Sometimes it is swift, when we are so occupied
that we pay no attention to its progress; sometimes slow, when we are constantly watching its motion, or when many distinct events, usually widely separated, are crowded into a short period.
The flow of time is ceaseless. It waits for no man. It is irrevocable. The past is gone for ever. As time is that in which events and acts are performed, its due improvement is our primary duty.