The Project Gutenberg EBook of Twenty-Four Short Sermons On The Doctrine
Of Universal Salvation, by John Bovee Dods
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Title: Twenty-Four Short Sermons On The Doctrine Of Universal Salvation
Author: John Bovee Dods
Release Date: November 21, 2005 [EBook #17122]
Language: English
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TWENTY-FOUR SHORT SERMONS ***
Produced by Sperry J. Russ
TWENTY-FOUR SHORT SERMONS ON THE DOCTRINE OF UNIVERSAL SALVATION
By John Bovee Dods Pastor of the First Universalist Society, in
Taunton, Massachusetts.
Boston: Printed By G. W. Bazin....Trumpet Office 1832.
********************************************************************
SERMON I
"What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days that he may
see good? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile;
depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it." Psalm
xxxiv:12-14.
Self-preservation and the desire of protracting the momentary span of
life is the first principle of our nature, or is at least so
intimately interwoven with our constitution as to appear inherent. So
powerful is this desire, that in defiance of pain and misery, it
seldom quits us to the last moments of our existence. To endeavor to
lengthen out our lives is not only desirable, but is a duty enjoined
upon us in the scriptures, and is most beautifully and forcibly
expressed in our text.
We might here introduce many observations of a philosophical character
on _air_ and _climate, meat_ and _drink, motion_ and _rest, sleeping_
and _watching, &c._ and show how sensibly they contribute to health;
and we might furnish many examples of long life, but we pass these,
and proceed to notice the affections of the mind upon which our text
is grounded.
The due regulation of the passions contributes more to health and
longevity than climate, or even the observance of any course of diet.
Our Creator has so constituted our natures, that _duty, health,
happiness_ and _longevity_ are inseparably blended in the same cup. To
suppress, and finally subdue all the passions of malice, anger, envy,
jealousy, hatred and revenge, and to exercise (till they become
familiar) all the noble passions of tenderness, compassion, love, hope
and joy, is a duty that heaven solemnly enjoins upon us, and in the
performance of which our years will be multiplied. But we must guard
not only our moral natures from the ravages of the corroding and
revengeful passions, but also our physical natures by observing the
strictest rules of temperance in _eating, drinking, cleanliness_ and
_exercise_.
The book of God commands us to "be temperate in all things." The
observance of this duty gives us a firm constitution, robust health,
and prepares us to participate in all the innocent and rational
enjoyments of life. Here we may witness the goodness of the Divine
Being in uniting our duty, happiness and interest in one; and so
firmly are they wedded together, and so absolutely does each depend
upon the other that they cannot exist alone. They are alike laid in
ruins the moment they are separated. If we trace this idea still
further, we witness the same wise arrangement, and the same
incomprehensible skill and goodness of the Author of our being in the
constitution of our mental natures. In these also he has wholly united
our duty, happiness and longevity in one. Jesus says, "Love your
enemies; bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and
pray for them that despitefully use you, and persecute you, that ye
may be the children of your Father in heaven." Paul says--"Let all
bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put
away from you, with all malice, and be ye kind one to another, tender
hearted, forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath
forgiven you."
Here then is our duty plainly pointed out. If we will exercise this
spirit of benignity to our enemies, subdue all our revengeful
passions, and indulge a spirit of love and friendship, of meekness and
cheerfulness towards our friends and neighbors, we shall not only be
happy as our natures can bear, not only revel in all the rational
enjoyments this life can impart, but we shall in the common course of
providence live to old age. All those, with very few exceptions, who
have lived to 80, 90, and 100 years, have been remarked for their
equanimity. They were mild spirited, kind, cheerful, and of such a
temperament, that neither misfortune, nor any outward circumstances,
that agitated the world, could disturb their heaven-born repose.
Thus we see that the path of duty, enjoined in the sacred scriptures,
is not only the path of peace and joy, but conducts to a good old age.
The goodness of the Divine Being is most strikingly exemplified in
uniting health and temperance, happiness and longevity, and our duty
to our fellow creatures, all in one.
Long life and good days, however, depend more upon the state of our
minds than upon almost any other circumstance. He who lives in fear
and trouble arising from any cause whatever; whether from
contemplation of endless misery in the future world, or from the
apprehension that his earthly prospects will be blasted and his
fortune laid in ruins--or if he is continually involved in quarrels,
broils and tumults with his neighbors, has but little prospect of
living to old age, and certainly no hope of seeing good days. He is in
a constant hell. Here then we see the beauty and propriety of our
text: "What man is he that desireth life and loveth many days that he
may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil and thy lips from speaking
guile; depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it."
The first _condition_ for a long life is, "keep thy tongue from evil
and thy lips from speaking guile." But the question arises, in what
sense can the violation of that _condition_ have any effect upon the
length of life? The answer is at hand--the slanderer is ever a busy
body in other men's matters. He is secretly endeavoring to injure his
neighbors. He circulates falsehoods about them from house to house.
One and another hears the reports put into circulation. They call upon
the author for an explanation of his conduct. Involved in trouble,
arising from fear, guilt and mortification, he tells a thousand
falsehoods to clear up one. All this preys upon his inmost vitals,
while perhaps with another, whom he has slandered, he is involved in a
quarrel, and it terminates in a settled hatred; and a third case
becomes an incurable distemper of rancour and revenge. Here is a man
who by slander has rendered his existence wretched. He is like the
troubled ocean whose waters find no rest.
There is but little hope of his reaching the common age of man.
Instead of seeing good days he is walking in the regions of night and
wo. Says the wise man, "where there is no fuel the fire goeth out, so
where there is no tattler, strife ceaseth." Yes, "where there is
envying and strife, there is confusion and every evil work."
Violent anger excites powerfully the caloric in the human system,
boils the blood, and in this state throws it suddenly upon the brain.
The powerful shock propels it instantly to the exterior surface, and
torrent-like contracts it back again in redoubled fury upon the brain,
and leaves the countenance pale and ghastly. It deranges in a great
measure the mind, and unfits it for useful action. It darts its
electric fire of vengeance along the optic nerve, expands the retina,
and gives to every object a magnified and false appearance, while the
very eye-balls by a wild and savage glare proclaim the dreadful storm
that is raging within, and pouring the poisonous streams of premature
death through all the healthful channels of existence! It suddenly
braces the nervous system, and then on the opposite extreme leaves it
depressed and weakened. It gradually brings on rheumatic complaints,
and lays the whole system open to the most formidable and painful
disorders that afflict the human race. It cannot have escaped medical
observation that fevers and consumptions are much more frequent among
persons who are very irritable and exercise little or no rule over
their passions, than among those who are of a mild temperament, either
naturally, or from early restraint and education.
There is a connexion between the mind and the body so subtle that it
has hitherto eluded the eagle-eye of Physiology, and will perhaps
remain inscrutible forever to human comprehension. But that this
connexion exists is fully demonstrated by medical experience, and
observation. Many bodily disorders derange the mind, and have in many
instances totally destroyed it. So on the other hand diseases of the
mind effect the body in return, and _grief, despair_ and _melancholy_
have so preyed upon the vitals as to emaciate the body, and bring it
to the grave. It is not uncommon that consumptions are brought on by
_trouble_ of mind, by _guilt_, and by _melancholy_ and _grief_. And
many instances have occurred, where persons in excessive violent anger
have dropped down dead. What is so dreadful, when carried to extreme,
must be very injurious to health, and long life, when indulged
frequently and even moderately.
There being then such an intimate connexion between the mind and body,
and so many thousands of ways in which one alternately acts upon, and
effects the other, and brings millions to an untimely grave, we see at
once the propriety of not only guarding our health by temperance in
eating and drinking, but more particularly by avoiding troubles of a
mental character. These are generally brought upon individuals,
families and neighborhoods, by the bad use of the tongue. Would you
live long that you may see good days? Then keep thy tongue from evil,
and thy lips from speaking guile, seek peace and pursue it. Avoid
every species of iniquity that would have a tendency to blast your own
or the peace of others. Avoid it as you would the poisonous
exhalations of the Bohon Upas, and fly it as you would the dreadful
Samiel of the Arabian desert.
SERMON II
"What man is he that desireth life and loveth many days that he may
see good? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile;
depart from evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it." Psalm
xxxiv:12-14.
We have shown in our last number that the truth of this text is based
upon philosophy, and verified by experience and observation: that
nothing is more destructive to health and longevity than to indulge in
the revengeful passions of our nature; and that constant fear, grief
and melancholy are also destructive to the human constitution, and
withering to the dearest joys of life. We have shown that violent
anger, revenge and most of the malignant passions originate from the
bad use of the tongue; and that if we would live long and see good, we
must give heed to our ways by following the injunctions of the text.
We now propose a further discussion of this subject, addressed
particularly to the young.
A single spark of fire has often wrapped a city in conflagration.
Great effects not unfrequently flow from small causes. The apostle
James says, see chap. iii--"Behold also the ships, which though they
be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet they are turned about
with a very small helm whithersoever the governor listeth. Even so the
tongue is a little member and boasteth great things. Behold how great
a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of
iniquity; so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the
whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature, and is set on
fire of hell. For every kind of beasts and of birds, and of serpents,
and of things in the sea is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind. But
the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly member full of deadly
poison." The apostle, in the above quotation, has reference to those
who have so long indulged in evil speaking that it has become, as it
were, an incurable habit. If any man makes a practice of slandering
his neighbors, and disturbing the peace of the community, it is
immaterial to what church he may belong, or what os-tentatious
professions he may make, he is, notwithstanding all this, destitute of
christianity.
It is a painful fact that the religion of the present day is too much
accommodated to the fashions and customs of the world. Let a man, for
instance, use profane language, or get intoxicated, and he will
readily be suspended from the communion of the church. But let him
slander his neighbors, and little or no notice is taken of his
conduct. And let him slander other denominations; and it becomes, as
it were, a virtue; whereas the fact is that the latter, according to
the book of God, is much the greatest crime. It is therefore wise to
lay, in early youth, a foundation for a tranquil, virtuous and long
life.
Thus you see my young friends that virtue and happiness, temperance,
prosperity and longevity are inseparably connected by the Author of
our being, who has made them to depend in a great measure upon our
conduct. You have also seen that sin and misery, intemperance in body,
and also intemperance in mind, such as evil speaking, violent anger,
commotions, griefs and troubles, and a premature grave, are likewise
inseparably and wisely connected.
And now, my young friends, which will you choose? If you love life and
desire to see many days, let me exhort you to choose the _former_, and
to drink freely out of that golden cup in which every earthly joy of
unbroken felicity is mingled by the unerring hand of divine mercy; and
let me warn you to reject the _latter_, for in it are mingled the
bitter drugs of misery. Be temperate in eating and drinking. Be
temperate in all your pursuits in life, and in all your desires. Be
temperate in your conduct; and (as an able writer observes) pitch upon
that course of life which is the most excellent, and habit will soon
render it the most delightful. Avoid not only every word and action
that may lead to discord and contention, but, as our text says, depart
from evil and _do good_, seek peace, and pursue it. Let us do good to
all our fellow creatures, and endeavor to overcome their hatred with
love, and their evil with good.
Yes, my young friends, affectionately and solemnly would I urge you to
begin early to curb your passions, and to study sweetness of
disposition. It will soon become to you perfectly natural, and thus
you will lay the foundation for a virtuous and tranquil old age. But,
asks the youth, shall I live longer for subduing my passions and doing
good, for seeking peace and pursuing it? Certainly. Our text teaches
this; so does philosophy, and the scriptures generally. Jesus Christ
says, "Blessed are the _meek_, for they shall inherit the earth." That
is, they shall long enjoy it. "Blessed are the peace-makers for they
shall be called the children of God." The fifth Commandment says,
"Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the
land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." By honoring our parents, we
are to understand a filial and submissive obedience to their precepts
by not departing from that way in which with many exhortations,
prayers and tears, they sought to train us up. In this case, honoring
them would of course require us to walk in the paths of virtue and
temperance, and to live an honest, quiet and peaceable life which
would ensure the promise, and give us many days.
Not only do the scriptures promise long life to the peaceable,
temperate and meek, but they on the other hand just as solemnly
declare that "the wicked shall not live out half their days." This
passage has occasioned much dispute among religious denominations; one
affirming that every man's time is appointed in the counsels of heaven
by the decree of God, who "declares the end from the beginning;" and
another affirming that _it is not_, for the above passage teaches that
the life of man may be shortened. But there is no occasion for dispute
on this point, for they are both right, as we have seen in the course
of our remarks. This passage is but the counterpart of our text. It is
the decree of God that the wicked, the abandoned shall not reach the
extreme of human life, because they indulge in those very crimes,
which, in the constitution of things, must inevitably carry them to an
early tomb. Of the truth of this we see thousands of instances in the
world. And God has decreed that the meek, the peaceable shall reach
the extreme of life, because they pitch upon that happy course of
conduct which naturally leads to it. All that we are to understand by
his _decree_, is that he has inseparably connected the _end_ with the
_means_ by so constituting our natures, and so ordering his providence
that _sin, dissipation, anger,_ and _revenge_ shall not only destroy
happiness, but shorten life, so certain as men pursue such a wretched
course. And that the opposite course of conduct shall not only
communicate happiness, but protract life so certain as they engage in
it.
Here then, my young friends, you may readily perceive how God punishes
vice and rewards virtue. He does not do it by any abstract law, or
arbitrary mode of procedure, but lie has in infinite wisdom
interwoven, the whole in the very constitution of our natures, so that
the wicked cannot go unpunished, nor the righteous unrewarded. To
teach that man can indulge in vice, and yet escape its punishment by
future repentance, is not only dangerous to the morals of society, but
is a direct impeachment of the divine administration, as it must in
such case, be defective. And to teach that men may live righteously
and godly and yet go unrewarded, is equally dangerous to the morals of
the community, as it is but discouraging them from engaging in a
virtuous course of conduct. To teach that men are to be rewarded in a
future world for their _goodness_ here, is but in substance saying
that virtue is attended with mental misery, and so far as it fails of
rewarding its possessor _here_, the balance is to be made up
_hereafter_. And to teach that men are to be punished in a future
state for their _badness_ here, is but in substance saying, that vice
is attended with some mental joys, and so far as it fails of punishing
its possessor _here_, the balance is to be made up _hereafter_.
It is readily granted that the righteous may suffer. But we ought ever
to make a plain distinction between afflictions and punishments, for
the Bible does this. It is impossible in the nature of things that
punishment can exist except in connexion with guilt. Paul and Silas
were cast into prison and fastened in the stocks, on account of their
religion. But nothing could disturb their mental peace--their heaven-born
repose. They joyfully sung psalms, and lifted up their voices in
prayer to God in the calm enjoyment of a pure unsullied conscience.
They suffered afflictions that were, under the government of God, to
work out for their good. There were no doubt others in that prison
justly suffering for their crimes. To them it was punishment. Because
the _former_ were suffering _affliction_, the _latter, punishment_.
The scriptures say, "Great peace have they that love thy law; and
nothing shall offend them." "There is no peace, saith my God, to the
wicked;" and he who says there _is_, contradicts Jehovah.
If you would, my young friends, avoid punishment, avoid sin. If you
would be happy, and enjoy a long and tranquil life, follow carefully
the directions of our text; for rest assured that a contrary course of
conduct will not only involve you in misery and wretchedness, but
bring you to a premature grave. Let us then take warning, and not
become our own executioners. Let us make the most of life we may, and
not turn our present existence, which is one of heaven's choicest
blessings, into a curse. Let us do good in our day and generation, and
render ourselves blessings to mankind, by living soberly, righteously
and peaceably in the world? Let us do justly, love mercy, and walk
humbly with God--visit the widow and the fatherless in their
affliction, and keep ourselves unspotted from the world.
SERMON III
"And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with
the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as
oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee until thou know that the
Most High ruleth in the kingdom of, men, and giveth it to whomsoever
he will." Daniel iv:32.
That reason, as well as revelation, teaches an overruling providence,
very few deny. There must exist in nature an omnipotent and benevolent
Being to keep all her works in harmony--to touch the most secret and
subtle springs of the vast machinery of the universe--to regulate seed
time and harvest, summer and winter, day and night; and to throw the
enrapturing charms of countless variety not only over the landscape,
but over all that we behold in the heavens above, or in the earth
beneath. Globes roll in the paths assigned them, and by some unseen
hand are wisely kept from interfering in their orbits, and disturbing
each other's motions. These facts demonstrate the existence of an
omniscient, omnipotent, and Benevolent Being; and every event,
transpiring in the government of the world, proclaims an omnipresent
Jehovah.
He not only works in the majesty of the lightning, and in the grandeur
of the storm regulating and directing the whole in its sublime career,
but he notices the fall of a sparrow, and numbers the very hairs of
our head. Events, the most trivial in their nature, are the objects of
his notice, as well as those of the most momentous character. Were not
this the case, universal disorder and ruin would soon find their way
into his works, break the chain of events, and reduce all, that we now
admire, from its present harmony and glory, down to its general
confusion and chaos. This conclusion is unavoidable, because some of
the greatest events that have transpired in the world, owe their
existence to something of a very trivial nature.
If God did not, in the general government of the world, direct also
_small events_, then he could not be the author of those great events
which flow from them. On this principle there might transpire
countless events of the greatest magnitude without the direction and
superintendance of Deity. The admission of _this_ is but practical
Atheism. It is acknowledging a God in words, but in works denying him.
It alike makes _chance_ the governor of the world to those who
acknowledge such a God, as to those who wholly deny his existence.
In our text a presiding Deity is solemnly recognized by the prophet
Daniel, and his supremacy over the affairs of men is throughout the
whole chapter most strikingly set forth before the Assyrian king. He
had dreamed a dream which none of the wise men of Babylon were able to
interpret. Daniel was called to him; who after making known to that
proud monarch his destiny involved in that dream, expostulates with
him on his conduct. He did not threaten him with endless punishment in
tile immortal world, but informed him that there was a God that ruled
the heavens, and presided over the affairs of men; and exhorted him to
forsake his iniquities. This is his language: "And whereas they
commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots, thy kingdom shall be
sure unto thee, after thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule.
Wherefore, O king! Let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break
off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by showing mercy
to the poor, if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity. All this
came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of twelve months, he
walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. The king spake, and
said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of my
kingdom, by the might of my power and for the honor of my majesty?
While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from
heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar! To thee it is spoken; the
kingdom is departed from thee. And they shall drive thee from men, and
thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field; they shall make
thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until
thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth
it to whomsoever he will."
Nebuchadnezzar was the Son of Nabopolasser, and the second king of
Assyria. He was Regent with his father in the Empire 607 years before
the birth of our Lord, and the next year, he raised a powerful army,
marched against Jerusalem, and took Jehoiakim, king of Judah,
prisoner. While making preparations to carry him and his subjects into
captivity, in Babylon, Jehoiakim solemnly promised submission, and
begged the privilege of holding his throne under the sceptre of
Nebuchadnezzar. This favor was granted, and he was permitted to remain
at Jerusalem. Three years after this, he made an unsuccessful attempt
to throw off the Assyrian yoke and regain his former independence.
This brought on the general captivity of the Jewish nation, which
lasted 70 years.
Nebuchadnezzar extended his conquests till he subjugated the
Ethiopians, Arabians, Idumeans, Philistines, Syrians, Persians, Medes,
Assyrians, and nearly all Asia to his sceptre. These splendid
conquests, and being now king of kings, lifted up his heart with
pride, that he caused a golden image to be reared on the plains of
Dura. He issued a royal edict, and commanded the princes and rulers of
all these nations as well as their principal subjects to assemble; and
being assembled, he commanded them to fall down and worship his golden
god. Daniel's companions refused to do this, and were cast into the
fiery furnace.
From this circumstance he was brought to acknowledge a Supreme Being,
and even issued a decree that any one who spoke amiss against the God
of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego should be cut in pieces. But as he
was gazing upon the massy walls of Babylon--a work of gigantic
achievement; as he was surveying, from the height of his palace, the
hanging gardens and lofty towers, (an aerial world!) as he was
admiring his own magnificence, by the sentence of that God whom he had
glorified, he was driven from men, and in the Hebrew style of
expression, is said to have eaten grass like oxen. By this we are to
understand that he was suddenly seized with a disease called by the
Greeks lycanthropy, and which is known among physicians at the present
day by the name of hypochondria. It is a species of madness that
causes persons to run into the fields and streets in the night, and
sometimes to suppose themselves to have the heads of oxen, horses,
dogs, or fancy themselves to be like some other animal, and doomed to
fare like them. And some have imagined themselves to be made of glass.
At the end of seven years Nebuchadnezzar's understanding returned to
him, and he was restored to his throne and glory. He died 562 years
before Christ in the 43rd year of his reign.
It is our intention to consider this text in a moral point of view, as
applicable to all men of all ages, and in all conditions in life.
While pursuing the various occupations to which our inclination, or
fancy may lead, we are too apt to lose sight of that Being who holds
our destinies in his hand; and more particularly so in seasons of
prosperity, when blest with health and other sublunary enjoyments.
Strange as it may seem, yet it is substantially true, that in
proportion as man is successful in the accomplishment of his plans, he
becomes arrogant and haughty in his feelings, and instead of
acknowledging his dependence on God, and feeling the bursts of
gratitude for the favors and enjoyments heaven scatters in his path,
he loses sight of the benign hand that blesses him, and, like the
proud Assyrian monarch, ascribes all his prosperity to his own plans,
and to the effect of his own peculiar management. He surveys the lands
he has purchased, the beautiful buildings he has erected, the wealth
he has accumulated, and in view of these achievements of his hand, as
he is floating on the full tide of prosperity, he is ready to breathe
out in exultation,--"is not this great Babylon which I have built for
the house of my kingdom, by the might of my power and for the honor of
my majesty."
When success becomes common, man forgets his dependence on Him who
rules in the armies of heaven, and over the affairs of men. It is our
duty as intelligent creatures to exercise our reason in viewing things
as they really are. He, who will not do this, but goes through life
thoughtless, so far resigns the man, and assumes the brute. Even some,
who bear the christian name, proclaim against reason, call her carnal,
and prostrate her as it were at the shrine of enthusiasm. They lean
upon certain frames and feelings of the animal nature. They are so far
driven from men. I say it is our duty as rational intelligences to
hold our station in the scale of being, and to exercise our reason in
viewing things as they are. We ought candidly and solemnly to weigh
the blessings of God, and consider the relation in which we stand to
him as our Creator and Benefactor. Who can tell the value of
existence, or number its countless joys? What a wonderful production
is man! He has given us the most beautiful symmetry of parts,--has
moulded our limbs with accuracy, and freely bestowed these admirable
lineaments of form! He has formed the ear for sound, and awakened in
its vocal chambers the flowing charms of music, the harmony of
rejoicing nature, the dear voices of parents and children, and the
sweet whisperings of love and friendship! He has moulded the
transparent eye, bedded it in its bony socket, and on its retina
painted the universe! He has bid it not only to disclose, all the
varied passions of the soul, but to roll with softness and affection
on the fond companion of our ways, on the countless beauties of
nature, and bid it with infinite ease sweep the entire vault of
heaven. He has set in motion the warm current of life that rolls
through our veins, pouring nourishment, health and animation through
all the channels of existence. It is he who throbs the heart, who
heaves the lungs, and who bids the ten thousand complicated parts of
this organized frame move on. In all this, his goodness is every
moment felt, and yet we are thoughtless of these manifestations of his
loving kindness. They are so common that we have ceased to prize them.
When sickness and distress come upon us, it is then we learn the value
of health and ease, and are often awakened to the reality that the
Most High rules.
In view of the trials incident to life, we hear the Psalmist exclaim
"Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now have I kept thy word."
This seems to be the lamentable condition of man. When rolling in the
calm tide of uninterrupted prosperity, and rejoicing in the vigor of
health, he forgets there is a God, or becomes thoughtless that the
heavens do rule, and begins, like the king of Babylon, to ascribe all
his success to his own power, foresight and management, and is
practically an atheist. But however thoughtless men may be, yet there
is a God who governs the world, and will so order and direct his
providence, that every one who goes counter to the principles of
rectitude is _doomed, inevitably_ doomed, to suffer the consequences.
There is too much practical atheism in the world. By this we mean that
there are too many of those who acknowledge a God in words, that deny
him in conduct. Every one, who lives upon the bounties of heaven, who
enjoys the sweets of existence, and remains thoughtless of God, is
practically an atheist. As saith Paul, "They profess that they know
God, but in works they deny him, being abominable and disobedient, and
unto every good work reprobate." He, who goes on in the ways of
transgression and multiplies his iniquities, must either believe there
is no God, or else conclude that he does not rule over the affairs of
men; and on this ground flatters himself that he shall escape
punishment. And not only so, but in opposition to the express
declaration of Jehovah, he believes that he shall enjoy a degree of
happiness in the indulgence of sin. All such are driven from those
rational reflections and moral principles, which virtually constitute
the man, and have yet to learn, "that the heavens do rule."
SERMON IV
"And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with
the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as
oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee until thou know that the
Most High ruleth in the kingdom of, men, and giveth it to whomsoever
he will." Daniel iv:32.
Every man, who believes that the path of virtue is thorny, and that of
vice is pleasurable, is not only deceived, but has not yet learned
that the Most High holds the reins of government, and dispenses to his
creatures their rewards and punishments. It is evident, if every man
solemnly believed that a course of sin would bring upon him certain
and unavoidable misery--and that every species of dishonesty would
lessen his fortune in the world, he would abandon his course, and turn
his feet to the testimonies of God. The transgressor is therefore
deceiving himself, is resting under a strong delusion, and is yet
ignorant that the Almighty rules throughout his vast dominions.
Certain it is that a wicked man was never happy while remaining in
that condition, and it is equally certain that no one ever yet went
unpunished.
To this point we intend to invite your serious attention in this
discourse. The expression in our text, "till thou know that the Most
High ruleth in the kingdom of men," does not only imply a knowledge of
the existence of a Supreme Intelligence, who governs the world, but an
obedience to the moral laws of his empire. On this proposition we
purpose to offer a few rational, and not only rational, but
irresistible arguments. We will first notice the condition of those
who are guilty of heinous crimes, and then come down to the common
walks of life, and bestow a few remarks on those who are indifferent
about their condition, and only guard their conduct so far as comports
with the customs and manners of that portion of the community, who
have no higher principle of action than to be considered respectable
among men.
Though we come before the public to defend the doctrines of Christ,
yet, my friends, you will bear in mind that it is also our duty to
enforce his precepts, and exhort to the obedience of the gospel. That
we should point out the road of sin, error and misery, and also
endeavor to throw the light of heavenly truth on the pathway of human
life.
We will begin with the murderer, who wantonly embrues his hands in the
blood of his fellow. So far as he has violated the laws of his
country, he is a subject for public execution, and has nothing to hope
for, at the tribunal of human justice. His misery, whether it arise
from the contemplation of an ignominious death, from the fear of
detection, or from the consciousness of having violated the moral
principles of his nature, is alike insupportable, as well as
indescribable.
Is he detected? Shut out from the world and confined in his loathsome
cell, he is left to his own reflections, and to all the horrors of the
gathering storm. But even admitting that he should escape detection,
and be left to his own meditations on his deed of blood, he would,
like Cain, breathe out in agony of soul, "my punishment is greater
than I can bear!" He might, indeed, mingle with the busy throng--he
might even smile, and wear a face of pleasure, but behind this mantled
mask he would conceal a heart of pain. He might, indeed, gaze upon the
landscape, listen to the songs of the grove, and contemplate the
glories of nature, but the charm, that once gave him ecstatic delight
and solid joy, is vanished from his sight; and all, that once was fair
and lovely, wears the frown of darkness and indignation. He gazes upon
little children, and hears their artless and innocent prattle,
reflects what he once was, and every joy, that sparkles in their eyes,
sends a dagger to his heart. The rustling of a leaf strikes him with
terror and alarm, and every passing breeze bears to his tormented soul
the groans of the dying man, and conscience forces him to listen to
the heart-rending tale of wo. Fain would he fly from himself, and
enjoy one hour's repose; but alas! That God, who rules in the kingdom
of men, has written a law in his heart, where he reads and feels his
condemnation, and where conscience sits on the judgment seat,
constantly holds him arraigned at her tribunal, and fans up in his
bosom the burning flames of hell! He may lie down on his pillow, but
spectres haunt his brain; and awake, asleep, at home, abroad, he finds
that he has rendered his own existence a curse. He lives in misery,
and in darkness expires.
Let us next notice the thief, who plunders our property. His crime is
of less magnitude than the above, but his guilt is in proportion. No
one by such means has ever enriched himself. He, who obtains property
by dishonorable means, is ignorant of its value, and will dishonorably
spend it. He has forgotten that God governs the world. Our
state-prisons and penitentiaries not only (so far as human laws are
concerned) reveal his fate, but speak his woes. But suppose he escape
detection, and is only exposed to the naked and fearful grandeur of
that law which God has written in the heart. He hears its thunders,
and he feels its fires. He his taken from some fellow being his hard
earnings; and sees him and perhaps his children mourning their
misfortune and suffering the miseries of adversity. Guilt takes
possession of his soul, and misery, which the hand of time cannot
extinguish, rolls its dark waves of damnation upon him, and drowns his
dearest joys, while poverty marks him for her own.
God has so constituted his plans in the government of the world that
the plunderer cannot prosper. Inward horrors and fears of detection
abstract his mind from the proper duties of life, so that misfortune
and defeat find their way into his plans, which might otherwise by
calm deliberation have succeeded, and disappointment and misery,
satiety and disgust, and all the evils that are the offspring of his
iniquity, commingling in a thousand ways, render his existence
wretched. Relying upon dishonesty for support, he becomes but a
midnight beggar. His slumbers are haunted by frightful dreams; and
fear of detection, prisons and dungeons are torturing his imagination
and incessantly sporting with his broken peace. He is a stranger to
those solid joys arising from the practice of virtue, is doomed to
encounter all the miseries that attend his ill-chosen career, and to
drink every drug of wormwood and gall that heaven has mingled in the
cup of dishonor. He lives a nuisance and pest to society, and dies
covered with infamy.
In all this we shall see the truth of our text exemplified, that God
rules in the kingdom of men, and brings punishment, not only upon a
haughty monarch seated on the throne of nations, but upon every
transgressor however obscure may be his condition in the walks of
private life. The sovereign decree of his empire is--"THOUGH HAND JOIN
IN HAND, YET SHALL THE WICKED NOT GO UNPUNISHED."
But we take our leave of flagitious crimes and proceed to notice men
in the common walks of life. Every man who makes riches, or public
honors the chief end of all his pursuits, and gives all his attention
to the attainment of his object, and over-reaches in bargains whenever
an opportunity offers, or sets various prices on his merchandise,
according to the person with whom he deals--such a man will never feel
himself filled with riches, nor satisfied with honors. The reasons are
obvious. He commences his career under the impression that happiness,
contentment and all the rational enjoyments of life consist in wealth,
and in human greatness. He soon finds himself in possession of as
large a fortune as he first supposed would make him happy. But his
desires for more, having imperceptibly expanded, he finds within an
increased restlessness, and even greater desires for _more_ than when
he first set out. He still believes, according to his original
impression, that happiness lies in gold; and that the only reason why
he has not obtained those solid joys in possession which he first
anticipated, is because he still needs more. But though wealth may
flow upon him in oceans, his cravings for more will ever swell beyond
what earth can give, and leave him a more wretched being than he was
at the commencement of his course. Here is his loss--here is his
punishment. God has not placed happiness in wealth. _"A competence is
all we can enjoy, O, be content where heaven can give no more."_
Or let him rise to that station of honor, which he now believes will
satisfy him, and his ambition would aspire to one more exalted. Let
him govern one kingdom, and he would desire to subjugate another till
the whole world bowed to his nod. And were every star an inhabited
world, and did he possess means to invade them, his ambition would
continue to soar till he ruled the universe, and were there no object
left to which he might still direct his ambition and continue to soar,
he would set down in despair, and, like Alexander the Great, weep and
sigh for more worlds to conquer.
All this restlessness and misery arise from false notions of:
happiness--from not realizing that the Most High rules in the kingdom
of men--and from a want of confidence in his word, which points the
rich and the poor alike to that noble path of virtue and religion,
where true happiness and unbroken peace forever reign. By men
embracing virtue, and in their feelings and actions ever acknowledging
the supremacy of Jehovah, inevitably leads to happiness and
contentment. But in doing this we are not to deprive ourselves of the
enjoyment of honest gotten wealth, nor of the rational pursuits and
interchanges of social and domestic life. Religion was not given to
deprive us of the common comforts and conveniences of life, but to
sweeten them. Our Redeemer says, "seek first the kingdom of God and
his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Sin
and misery in this world are inseparable: so are righteousness and
happiness. If they are not, then it remains for the advocates for a
future retribution to show how men are to be sufficiently rewarded and
punished in the future world.
There is my friends no solid happiness, no permanent satisfaction only
in the contemplation that God governs the world, and in the practice
of pure and rational piety. This you may know by studying your own
bosom. Have any of you thus far spent your days in striving to find
perfect bliss in the various pursuits of life? Have you aspired to one
object, abandoned it, and taken up another? If so, can you say that
you have found the happiness you anticipated, and so earnestly sought?
No! What is the reason? There is one thing needful. Whatever may be
your pursuit, if you are thoughtless that God governs the world, and
if instead of rendering him the homage of a grateful heart, you
blaspheme his name, or are selfish and regardless of the happiness of
your fellow creatures, you must, according to the established laws of
his empire, remain in that same restless and dissatisfied condition
till you know by experience that the heavens do rule--till you bow to
the sublime requirements of his word. _That dissatisfaction_ varied
according to the condition of moral character is the punishment God
sends upon us for our indifference. From this indifference we may rise
to that unquenchable thirst for riches, already noticed, and our
sufferings will receive new accessions according to our moral light.
And from this we may rise to a desire for honour and power, till we
are hurried on by ambition to conquest and slaughter where we are
doomed to suffer all the miseries a Buonaparte endured. From this we
may rise to dishonour, fraud and theft; and as we rise in crime, our
miseries increase in degree, till we imbrue our hands in innocent
blood, and thus render our bosoms a hell and our very existence a
burthen.
Every man is in a condition of uneasiness, suffering, guilt, hardness
of heart and blindness of mind exactly in proportion to his moral
conduct. Let us then be wise;--and if we desire happiness, let us seek
it in that course where the unerring word of God assures us it can
alone be found. Let us acknowledge "that the heavens do rule," and
rest assured that He, who notices the fall of a sparrow, will not wink
at our evil doings.
SERMON V
"For what if some did not believe, shall their unbelief make the faith
of God without effect? God forbid; yea let God be true, but every man
a liar." Romans iii:3, 4.
The doctrine of salvation by Jesus Christ, is worthy the solemn
consideration of all men. It is this, that rendered a revelation
necessary. It is this that kindled the flame of transport in celestial
bosoms, and raised that triumphant song, "glory to God in the highest,
on earth peace, good will towards men." Salvation is the doctrine of
the Bible, and ought ever to be the theme of the pulpit. Salvation is
the oracle of heaven around which all denominations assemble, receive
their instructions, and believe according to the force of evidence.
Prefaced with these remarks, we will now proceed to state what we
conceive to be the _law and gospel_--point out the distinction between
them, and defend the gospel doctrine of salvation of faith.
The law was a conditional covenant between God and man. It was
predicated on works. Under this covenant, if a man were strictly moral
in his external deportment--if he lived up to its letter, he was
considered righteous. This covenant was imperfect, because it could be
kept externally without reaching the heart. They could exclaim like
the young man, who came to Jesus--"all these things have I kept from
my youth up," and still lack the one great point, charity. Therefore
by the deeds of the law no flesh could be justified in the sight of
God. The law, being temporary in its nature, had nothing to do with
eternal things.
Paul says, "sin is the transgression of the law. Where there is no law
there is not the knowledge of sin." From this it appears that sin,
being a transgression of that law, which was given us for the
regulation of our conduct in this life, can receive no punishment in
the future world. If sin should be committed in the future state, then
in the future state it would be punished. The same argument will apply
to our obedience to the law, which can receive, for the same reason,
no reward in that world. "No flesh shall be justified by the deeds of
the law." "Eternal life is the gift of God." If so, then it cannot be
"of works, lest any man should boast." God, being infinite in wisdom,
could not have failed to enact a law so perfect, and so exactly
adapted to the nature of man, that _obedience_ would render him a rich
reward, and _disobedience_ a condign punishment. The wise man says
that "the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth; much more the
wicked and the sinner."
We now turn to the spirit of the law.--"To love the Lord thy God with
all thy heart, and thy neighbor as thyself is the fulfillment of the
law;" and if we are not to be saved by the law, then our _love_ to God
and each other cannot save us; for that is the law. By what then are
we to be saved? Answer: by the gospel, which is God's love manifested
to his creatures. The conclusion then is that we are not to be saved
by our _love_ to God, but by God's _love_ to us. This, I presume, no
one will dispute. Here then we discern the difference between the law
and the gospel. God's love is the _cause_ of salvation--human love is
the _effect_. "Herein (says John) is love; not that we loved God, but
that he loved us." "We love him _because_ he _first_ loved us." How
many did he love? He so loved the world who were dead in trespasses
and sins, that he freely delivered up his Son for us all--he by the
grace of God tasted death for every man. This is the gospel-love that
God commendeth towards us, and the love that will finally save us.
Many persons contend that we must love God and do certain duties, or
we cannot be saved. This is preaching ourselves. It is preaching the
love of man as the cause of his salvation, instead of the love of God.
And while thus preaching, they will perhaps at the same time tell the
sinner that God is his enemy. But will the sinner's love make God his
friend--will it cause his Creator to love him? No; right the reverse
of this is the doctrine of Christ. "We love God because he first loved
us." If we deny God's _first_ love to the sinner, we then destroy the
very _cause_ by which _alone_ the sinner can be made to love God. If
we make men believe that God is their enemy and hates them, then we
use all the means in our power to drive them from the bosom of their
Father, and keep them in darkness and sin.
The sinner, in this situation, can never be made to serve God, only by
being driven to it by terror, the same as some wretched slave is made
to cower and submit in fear and dread to some revengeful tyrant. But
this is not the service God requires. He requires a service which is
delightful, and in which his creature feels an abundant reward. We
grant that men, under the first covenant, were called upon to fear
God. The reason of this obvious, when we reflect that God had
covenanted to bestow certain blessings upon them, providing they would
do their duty. If they failed, then he would execute the temporal
judgments upon them, which the law points out, and threatens. Under
this covenant men had just as much reason to fear, as they were liable
to transgress it.
But when an angel announced the dawn of a better covenant; he said
"fear not, for behold I bring you glad tidings of great joy." In this
is nothing to be feared. All the fear lies in the first, and thunders
out to ever sinner, "cursed is every one that continueth not in all
things written in the law to do them?" But John, speaking in view of
the second covenant, says, "there is no fear in love; but perfect love
casteth out fear, because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not
made perfect in love." The _first_ covenant is founded on works, and
is _conditional_;--but the _second_ is founded on the immutable
promise of God, and is _unconditional_. In the law, we are commanded
_to do_ according to the reasonableness of its requirements; but in
the gospel we are exhorted _to believe_ in view of evidence and fact.
And as no man can believe, or disbelieve what he pleases, therefore
conditions are excluded.
What is the meaning of gospel? It is good tidings of great joy. It is
life and immortality brought to light at the appearing of our Lord and
Saviour, Jesus Christ, who has abolished death by giving us the
assurance of a resurrection from corruption to incorruption and glory.
It is news. In view of news, what is the first thing necessary?
Answer, _belief_. It is impossible to work news; therefore the gospel
is not of works. In the law, the first requirement is _to do_;--but in
the gospel the first requirement is _to believe_. The law-covenant is
therefore temporary, fallible and uncertain; but the gospel-covenant
is eternal, infallible, and in all things well ordered and sure. The
_first_ rests on the obedience of the creature, but the _second_ on
the promises of Jehovah. Paul therefore calls it a better covenant
established upon _better_ promises.
Perhaps someone may feel disposed to ask--whether faith is all that is
necessary? We reply that it is the cause which produces its effect.
Paul answers this question thus--"We conclude that a man is justified
by faith without the deeds of the law, Do we then make void the law
through faith? God forbid; yea we establish the law." Here let the
question be asked;--how do we establish the law by _faith_? Answer,
"Faith will have its perfect work." But what is that perfect work,
which faith produces? Ans. Faith works love in the soul; and if we
love God, we will keep his commandments. And _faith, love_ and
_keeping_ the commandments are the three exercises, that form the
christian character. Faith is the foundation; works are not. We cannot
begin to build on works. Instead of being the _first_, they are the
_last_ christian grace. They are the visible _effects_ of an inward,
living faith.
Faith and faith _only_ is the seed rooted and grounded in the truth,
and (to use a Bible figure) it becometh a tree, and produces all the
fruits of the spirit-love, joy, meekness, temperance, long-suffering,
forbearance. This is what the apostle calls the "righteousness of
faith" in contradistinction to "the righteousness of the law,"
produced by fear. Paul compares faith to a good olive tree. "The Jews
through unbelief were broken off," and "thou (the Gentile) standest by
faith." Jesus says; "if ye have faith as a grain of mustard-seed, ye
shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place, and it
shall remove." Here, in parable, faith is represented as removing
mountains of sin. He further says--"Thy _faith_ hath made thee
whole";--not thy works. Paul exclaims, "Faith works by love, purifies
the heart and overcomes the world." John says, "and this is the
victory that overcometh the world even our faith."
It is a certain fact, that none of these salutary effects are ascribed
to human works. The apostles in no instance say, that _works_ purify
the heart, or overcome the world--or that this is the victory, even
your _works_; The whole is ascribed to _faith_; because that is the
living tree on which the good fruits grow. Works are, in scripture,
called fruits. "By their _fruits_ ye shall know them"--that is by
their _works_. "A good tree cannot bring forth evil _fruit_." To carry
out this figure, we would remark that, fruit can have no existence
till the tree is first produced. Therefore in a gospel sense, no good
works, acceptable to God, can be produced without a true and living
faith. The apostle declares, "without faith it is impossible to please
God." The gospel being good tidings, or news, are you satisfied that
thing necessary? I presume all denominations will assent to the fact,
that faith is the first religious exercise of the creature. We shall
then obey the command of the apostle, and "contend earnestly for the
faith once delivered to the saints."
But asks the reader, what matter is it which is first in order,
whether _love, faith_ or _works_? I reply that it is a matter of vast
importance, and without understanding this fact, we cannot come to the
knowledge of the truth, even though we should be ever learning. If
these three christian graces _faith, love_ and _works_, are preached
in a confused and mixed manner, we cannot arrive at a true
understanding of a gospel salvation, neither can we tell the
difference between law and gospel. The law is of works, and the gospel
is of faith. And no man can fulfill the spirit of the law without
faith in the gospel. When the sinner exercises faith in the love and
goodness of God in freely giving him eternal life, which infinitely
transcends all other blessings--that moment faith works love in his
heart, and causes him to rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of
glory. He then loves God because God first loved him. And when the
sinner loves God, he is passed from death unto life, and that love is
the fulfillment of the law.
We are now led to see the consistency of faith being the first step.
It is the very _cause_ that produces _love_ to God, and _love_ induces
us to keep the commandments. "Faith works by love," and "if ye love
me," says Jesus, "ye will keep my commandments."
We will now introduce an example, which will plainly show the
distinction between the law and gospel and in what manner they affect
the sinner. Suppose a king sentences six of his subjects to
imprisonment during life, and commands them to spend their days in
hard labor. They are put in confinement, refuse to obey his commands--
refuse to labor, and in the midst of their miseries curse his name.
They are now in disobedience under the condemnation of the law.
The king says to his only Son, I love those subjects and I covenant
with you to set them free in three years. The Son says, Father I
delight to do thy will. Let me go and reveal to them, the glad tidings
of this covenant promise. The king answers--my Son, in the fullness of
time I will send you. Let them remain, one year, under the law. But
says the Son, they are now transgressing your law, and need
instruction. The king replies, I will send my servant to enforce that
law. Let him go and inform the prisoners, that I am angry with them
for their conduct; and if they will obey my commands, and labor
faithfully, they shall have excellent food and good clothing as a
reward. But if they will not comply, they shall be chained, and kept
on bread and water as a punishment for their disobedience.
The servant goes and delivers to them this message. Three of those
subjects, for fear of the punishment and in _hope_ of the reward, obey
the king, and outwardly respect his commands, but perhaps have little,
or no love for him. (Here we see the righteousness of the law which is
not acceptable to God.) They accordingly receive, day by day, the
promised reward. But the other three prisoners despise these
conditions and refuse to obey. They are chained, fed on bread and
water, and meet their deserts.
Here, then, are six prisoners laboring under the law, and groaning in
bondage with no hopes of deliverance. The law knows of no deliverance
--no redemption. It simply serves as a school master to teach them the
difference between right and wrong--to teach them the will of the
king, and thus prepare them to receive a better covenant, which is to
be revealed to them by the king's Son. But under the covenant they now
are, they have no motives to prompt them to obedience, but the _fear_
of punishment and the _hope_ of reward. In our next, this will be
fully illustrated.
SERMON VI
"For what if some did not believe, shall their unbelief make the faith
of God without effect? God forbid; yea let God be true, but every man
a liar." Romans iii:3, 4.
We resume the argument, in this discourse, concerning those prisoners
brought forward in our last. We left them in bondage under the
sentence of the law with no hopes of deliverance. The first year rolls
away. The king says, my son, the time has come--go, and reveal my love
to the prisoners by bringing the promise of their redemption to light.
The son flies on wings of love, enters the prison and exclaims--I
bring you good tidings of great joy. My father, the king, is your
friend. He loves you; and that love has induced him to proclaim your
liberation as a free gift. He has promised (and he cannot lie) that in
two years from this day you shall be free. This covenant, so far as
concerns its fulfillment, is unconditional. Believe, and you will be
saved, by faith in the promise, from your present fears, and
condemnation under the law.
Those stubborn prisoners see a sufficiency of evidence to believe the
promise. They exercise unshaken faith in this second covenant between
the father and son. This faith works by love in their hearts, and
purifies them from disobedience. Their souls melt in view of the love
and goodness of the king revealed to them by his son. In fine, they
love him because he first loved them. They are now saved by faith in
his promise from not only all their miseries and sorrows, but from
their disobedience, and look forward with joy to the day of
redemption. Here we perceive the "_righteousness of faith_," which far
exceeds the "_righteousness of the law_." They now delight to obey the
king because they are under the influence of love.
Here let the question be asked--are these three men to be let out of
prison at the appointed time because they believe the promise, or love
and obey the king? They are not. Their redemption depended on the
truth and faithfulness of the king's promise which he made to his son,
and that promise would have been fulfilled, even if it had not been
revealed to them till the day of their deliverance. They are not to be
set free as a reward for their _faith, love and obedience_. They have
great peace and joy in believing that promise. They are in the happy
enjoyment of a salvation by faith, and that is all the reward they
deserve, or have reason to expect. We here perceive that these three
men are made to establish the law of their king by faith in the good
news he sent them by his son, which is to them a gospel. We now see
the propriety of the apostle's language--"We conclude that a man is
justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Do we then make void
the law through faith? God forbid; yea we establish the law." We also
perceive that these three men are not to be liberated from prison
because they believe the promise, or love and obey the king. But on
the contrary it is the king's love and promise to them which sets them
free.
Let us now notice the other three prisoners. One says I do not believe
that we shall ever be released from prison. It is too good news to be
true. Well, shall his unbelief make the king's promise of none effect?
The king forbid; yea let the king be true, but that man a liar. But
let it be remembered that he cannot be proved a liar unless he is
liberated. Would you now go and tell that man-sir, because you will
not _believe_, you shall never come forth from prison? But do you not
perceive that by so doing you would give the king the lie? It would be
saying that his promise was good for nothing unless the man would
believe it. It would be contending that the unbelief of this prisoner
will make the king's promise of none effect.
The other two prisoners exclaim--we believe this _second_ covenant,
but it must bear some resemblance to the first which is conditional.
We believe that we shall get out of this prison if we continue to
serve the king as, we have heretofore, by keeping his commandments.--
Here are two men trusting in the _first covenant_ for deliverance.
They are trusting in the law. They are depending on their own _love
and faithfulness_ to the king for redemption, and not on the king's
_love, promise and faithfulness_ to them. Here then we see the
righteousness of the law in those two prisoners; in another we see the
effect of unbelief; and in those three who remained disobedient under
the first covenant, we see the righteousness which is of faith when
they heard the glad tidings of redemption in the second covenant.
At length the day of their redemption dawns. They are all brought to
the knowledge of the truth. Those three prisoners, who were saved by
faith in the promise during those two years of suspense, now find
their faith lost in certainty. Their salvation, by faith has come to
an end. And so has the unbelief, condemnation and doubtings of the
other three prisoners. In one word--the _belief and unbelief_ of the
six are lost in knowledge, and they burst out in songs of deliverance
So we perceive that a salvation by faith, and a condemnation in
unbelief can last no longer than till we come to the knowledge of the
truth.
Let us now apply this to the scriptures. Man sinned, and not only
involved himself in guilt and misery, but was sentenced to that very
death with which God threatened him--"Dust thou art and unto dust
shalt thou return." Here was the end of the first covenant, and the
termination of all the miseries of life. It is evident from revelation
as well as reason that man at death drops to a state of insensibility,
and knows no more till he is made alive in Christ, who is himself the
second covenant. The language of scripture is, the dead know not any
thing--they sleep--and the apostle (in 1 Cor. xv Chap.) reasons that
if there be no resurrection, then there will be no future existence--
that they which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished--that
preaching was vain--faith was also vain, and that the christians were
yet in their sins. On such language as this, I can put no other
construction than that the resurrection is our salvation and eternal
life, our deliverance from sin and imperfection. Under the first
covenant the resurrection in Christ was not revealed to the human
family, and they remained of course under the sentence of condemnation
with no hopes of a future existence. "By the offense of one judgment
came upon all men to condemnation." Obedience to the law was enforced
by threatenings on the one hand, and promises of temporal rewards on
the other, which were communicated to the fathers by the prophets.
But God has in these latter days spoken unto us by his Son, and
through him revealed the second covenant in which he "gave him the
heathen for an inheritance, and the utter most parts of the earth for
a possession," and declared him to be the resurrection and life of the
world. If in the divine counsels no Christ had been provided, the
human family it appears would have remained in eternal slumber. They
would have known but one covenant, which would have rewarded and
punished them according to their deeds, and consigned them to the
regions of the dead. "But since by man came death, by man came also
the resurrection of the dead."
God saw fit to keep the human family for four thousand years under the
first covenant, without the knowledge of eternal life through the
resurrection of the dead. But it was, at length, "made manifest by the
appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and
brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." Yes, he
first brought it to light, and through his apostle declared "In hope
of eternal life which God that cannot lie promised before the world
began, but hath in due time manifested his word through preaching."
This promise of eternal life, all men are called upon to believe. The
moment they believe, they are saved by faith, and are at peace; and
they that doubt are damned--they are already under condemnation. But
shall their unbelief make God's promise of eternal life of none
effect? God forbid; yea let God be true but every man a liar. "For he
hath concluded them all in unbelief that he might have mercy upon
all."
We have now noticed the two covenants--the _law and gospel_--have
pointed out the distinction between them--shown that all _conditions_
are confined to the law, and that the gospel is _unconditional_, and
justly requires our faith and confidence. We will now bring to view
the scripture doctrine of salvation by faith, and show that divine
truth must have an existence before we can be called upon to believe.
All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is based upon eternal
and unchanging truth. Truth is one of the attributes of Jehovah and
the unshaken pillar that supports the throne of eternity. In truth and
righteousness he governs the world, and by an omnipotent arm wields
the destinies of men. Truth is the sun of divine revelation pouring
its beams on intelligent creation and calling upon all men to believe.
If a man assert that which does exist, it is a truth; but if he assert
that which does not exist, it is a falsehood. Whatever has an
existence in the compass of reality is a truth to be believed, and
whatever has no such existence is a falsehood not to be believed. It
is beyond the power of man to create one solitary divine truth. All
that he can do is to declare the existence of that which may be hidden
from others, or relate some circumstances respecting that which does
absolutely exist. An absolute truth must, therefore, be presented to
the understandings of men before they can be called upon to believe
it, or before they can be called believers for embracing it, or
_unbelievers_ for rejecting it. No man can be an unbeliever for
rejecting that which does not exist.
We now commence plain argument by using great plainness of speech. In
preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ truth must be the foundation. If
then truth must exist before men can be called upon to believe, the
question arises what is that truth which the second covenant reveals
for the belief of mankind? Answer, it is the record God hath given of
his Son. But what is the _record_? Let John answer--"this is the
record, God hath given us _eternal life_, and this life is in his
Son." It then follows that we are to believe that God has given us
eternal life in his Son before the world began, and unchangeably
promised it. Paul says--"In hope of eternal life which God that cannot
lie promised before the world began." If we believe the record, we are
in the scriptures recognized as _believers_ and are saved by faith,
and will of course exhibit in our life and conversation the
righteousness of faith.
The great error of any who read the Bible, consists in supposing there
is but one salvation. But there are two. The _first_ is a special
salvation by belief in the promise, and the second is our eternal
salvation beyond the grave, where we shall be brought to the knowledge
of the truth involved in the promise, and to _know_ shall be life
eternal. Faith shall then be lost in certainty. Now if we disbelieve
the record will that make it false? No; our unbelief cannot alter the
fact. Let the record then be proclaimed to every creature--saying God
has promised and given you eternal life in Christ before the world
began, and calls upon all to believe it. But suppose they should all
reject it saying we do not believe one word of it, would their
_unbelief_ make the promise or record false? No. Would not then the
record prove true? It would. Then the whole world would, of course,
receive that eternal life which is promised and given them in Christ.
No, says the objector, they will not believe. But can their unbelief
make God's promise of none effect? Can it put that truth out of
existence and make it a falsehood? We would ask the objector, what
will they not believe? Answer; they will not believe that God has
given them eternal life in his Son. Very well,--then the whole amount
of the objection is that God has given them eternal life in Christ,
but they will not believe it, and because they will not believe it,
they never shall obtain it! Then we must contend (if they never obtain
it) that it was never given to them, and if not given, then the record
is false; because the record declares that God has given them eternal
life in his Son. It then follows that their unbelief can make the
faithfulness of God without effect by rendering the word, he has
given, false.
But says the objector it ought to be stated conditionally as follows--
God first calls upon men to believe, and if they will believe, then
Christ will become their Saviour, and then they will receive eternal
life in him and not before. But does not the objector see that he has
stated no fact for them to believe in order to make Christ their
Saviour? I ask what does God call upon them to believe? There must be
some truth presented before men can be called upon to believe. God
calls upon men to believe, what--That Christ is their Saviour? But you
said he was not their Saviour till after they believed. It then
follows, according to the objector's statement, that he is not the
Saviour of unbelievers. Now do you not perceive that if you should
call upon them to believe that he was their Saviour, you would call
upon them to believe a lie--that you would call upon them to believe
what did not exist? And what does not exist cannot be true. Grant says
the objector that he is the Saviour of the world, still as many as do
not believe in him shall never be saved. But how can he be the Saviour
of a man, he never saves? Two individuals are drowning in the water;
you exert all your power to save them, but fail. Can you call yourself
the saviour of those two men from temporal death? Impossible. In order
for Christ to be called the Saviour of the world, he must save the
world; otherwise there is not a shadow of propriety in giving him that
name. And John says "We have seen and do testify that the Father sent
the Son to be the Saviour of the world."--"We know, indeed, that this
is the Messiah the Saviour of the world."
In our next, we will conclude this subject, and trust we shall do it
to the satisfaction of our readers.
SERMON VII
"For what if some did not believe, shall their unbelief make the faith
of God without effect? God forbid; yea let God be true, but every man
a liar." Romans iii:3, 4.
We now resume the argument in reference to Christ the Saviour of men,
as we proposed in our last. We here inquire of the objector--do you
then grant that he is the Saviour of all men--the Saviour of the world
as the scriptures declare? If so, we assure you that, he will save the
number of whom he is declared to be the Saviour. But, replies the
objector, he is not the Saviour of any man till he believes. We ask--
till he believes what? Why, replies the objector, till he believes
that Christ is his Saviour--if he believes so, it will be so. Let us
understand this--you say _he is not_ the Saviour of an unbeliever,
still he must believe that he is, and that will make him so. Then he
must first believe a lie and that will create a truth. This is (as
Paul says) "turning the truth of God into a lie." But let us notice
the record. "This is the record, God hath given us eternal life, and
this life is in his Son." Do you grant, that God has given eternal
life in Christ to every man? No, says the objector. Very well, then
they cannot be called upon to believe it. Finally, says the objector,
grant that he has. This being granted, we would ask, whether they will
not come in possession of it, if God's promise stands? Certainly. But,
replies the objector, it is not theirs, till they believe. Then the
record is not true till they believe it; because, on this principle,
they must first believe, that they have eternal life in Christ before
it exists, and believing this lie will create it.
But, replies the objector, it is impossible that any man has eternal
life given him in Christ, till he believes. We then ask, what truth do
you wish him to believe, so that he may obtain this eternal life? The
fact is, there is none. He must believe _this truth_, itself because
it is the record, but this, you have taken from him. You cannot call
upon a man to believe, till you admit the existence of that very truth
you wish him to believe. In order fully to expose the inconsistency of
this conditional salvation, we will introduce an example. Suppose a
father tell his servant, I have a son in London, nineteen years of
age, who is in poverty and distress. I have given him in my will five
thousand dollars, and I promise that it shall be put into his
possession in two years. It is recorded and that record is true. Go my
servant, and proclaim to him glad tidings of great joy, and call upon
him to believe, so that he may enjoy a salvation by faith during those
two years of suspense, and be made happy even amidst his wants by
looking forward to when it shall be put into his possession.
The servant sets out on his mission, and believes that he understands
his errand. Being arrived, he addresses him as follows--Son, your
father is very rich, and he has not willed you five thousand dollars,
nor given it to you on record; and he never will, unless you _first
believe_ that he has. But, replies the son, according to your message,
if I should believe that he has given me five thousand dollars, I
should believe a lie. Let my father give the money, deposit it in some
bank; send me evidence of the fact, and with joy I will believe him.
Well replies the servant you are a disobedient, stubborn unbeliever!
Because, if you would only believe so, it would be so, and you would
have the money in two years.
You perceive (dear reader) that this servant has presented no truth
for this son to believe. He wishes to give this son the impression
that the obtaining of this fortune depends on his _believing_, and not
on the _testament record, and faithfulness_ of his father. In fact, he
denies the existence of the father's _will_, and the _record_, and
requires the son to believe a lie so as to create the truth. The
servant does not understand his message, and the son does not know on
what certainty to rest for the money.
In the same manner we are called upon to secure an _interest_--an
eternal life in the Saviour. They will not admit its existence till we
believe. Then _belief_ must create it. But may we spend our last
breath in convincing poor sinners that it is already secured in Christ
for them, so that they may believe, and live by faith on the son of
God.
This father sends another messenger. He tells this son of the goodness
of his father, and that he has _willed_ him five thousand dollars,
that the _will_ is put on record, and that this fortune will be put
into his possession in two years. The son does not believe it. Now he
is an unbeliever. But does his unbelief alter the truth of the _will_
or of the record. No. The certainty, of his obtaining the money, rests
on the faithfulness of his kind parent. This servant perseveres, uses
convincing arguments and the son at length believes he is saved by
faith from all his miseries, and he rejoices with joy unspeakable. But
his _believing_ does not make the record any more true than it was
before he believed it. It simply alters his present condition by
kindling in his bosom the joys arising from faith and anticipation.--
We have now answered the objections that would naturally be brought
forward by those who believe that our eternal salvation is predicated
on conditions. As _works_ are not the requirements of the gospel only
so far as they flow from faith in the truth, and as _faith_ must
precede works, therefore the truth of our eternal life in Christ, must
exist previous to our believing. Consequently all conditions are
excluded from the gospel covenant.
We will now meet the objector on the doctrine of election and
reprobation, the substance of which is as follows--After man fell, God
was pleased to provide a Saviour for a part of the human family. That
elect number he chose in Christ before the foundation of the world,
gave them eternal life in him, and for them only he tasted death. The
gospel is now to be preached to the whole world, and as long as they
reject it, they are unbelievers. But the elect shall sooner, or later,
all be brought to believe.
We will examine the foundation on which this statement rests. To bring
it clearly before you, we will take an example. Suppose there is a
congregation of one hundred persons. Fifty of them were elected to
everlasting life before the foundation of the world--were secured by a
Saviour, and the rest were reprobated to endless wo. For them no
Saviour was designed, and no eternal life ever has, or ever will be
given them in him. Suppose a sermon is preached to those one hundred;
and the fifty, who are elected, believe the record of their eternal
life, are brought to the obedience of faith, while the other fifty
remain unmoved. The preacher turns upon them and pronounces them
_unbelievers_. But In what sense are they unbelievers? There has been
no truth presented to them, which they disbelieve. Must they believe
that Christ is their Saviour, or that they have an eternal life in
him? But they would in such case believe a lie. If they believed right
the reverse of the elect,--_believed_ that God was their enemy and
that Christ was not their Saviour, they would be _believers_. But if
they believed what the fifty converts did, they would be
_unbelievers_. We here repeat one premise laid down in our last
discourse--viz. In order for any man to be styled a _believer or
unbeliever_, there must first be presented some truth for him to
embrace or reject.
Now either God has given us eternal life in Christ before the world
began, or he has not. If he has, then we are _unbelievers_ if we
reject it. If he has not given it, and should we still believe that he
has, we would then believe a lie. But neither our _belief, or
unbelief_ can ever alter the fact.
God has "chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world that
we should be holy and without blame before him in love; having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
himself according to the good pleasure of his will." * * * "Having
made known unto us the mystery of his will according to his good
pleasure which he hath purposed in himself; that in the dispensation
of the fullness of times, he might gather together, in one, all things
in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in
him." Some apply the above to the elect. But it embraces all things in
heaven and earth, which are to be gathered together in Christ, and be
new creatures. In addition to this we will introduce two more passages
"Who hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace which was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began." "In hope of eternal
life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began." In
these scriptures we are assured _first_, that God chose us in Christ,
before the foundation of the world--_second_, that he saved us
according to his own purpose and grace before the world began, and
_third_ that he promised eternal life before the world began. These
things being embraced in his original plan, and purpose, their
performance is therefore certain as that the whole plan of God will be
carried unto execution.
There is, in my humble opinion, a strange inconsistency in the common
doctrine. They contend that on account of the transgression of our
first parent, all mankind were fallen creatures and even came into
existence totally depraved. To show the justice of God in the
constitution of our nature, they contend that Adam was our covenant
head, and had he maintained his original purity, we would also have
stood perfect in holiness, and no one would have had any reason to
complain. Now since Adam has fallen, and involved us in ruin, it is
equally just in God that we should share the fate of our covenant head
in the one instance as in the other. But if we make use of this same
argument in relation to Christ, the second Adam--if we contend that he
was the covenant head of every man, that the covenant was not made for
_this_, but for the _future_ world--that this covenant of grace being
made between the Father and the Son, was to stand independent of man--
that eternal life was promised and given us in him before the world
began--that as our covenant head, he resisted all temptations, and
perfectly fulfilled the law--that he died, and appeared alive beyond
the tomb free from temptation, and in a holy and immortal
constitution. If we contend for this, making use of their own
arguments, saying that it is just as rational that we should appear in
the image of Christ in the future world as that we should come into
this world in the image of Adam, they will pronounce the argument so
far as applicable to Adam, _sound logic_, but so far as this same
argument of theirs is applied by Universalists to Christ, they
pronounce it perfect jargon.
But, says the objector, there is one point you have not settled, and I
will here rest the whole of my argument upon it. It is this--God has,
in no instance, promised eternal to _unbelievers_; and unless you can
prove that the promise does extend to them, your arguments must fall
like rottenness to the ground. We have certainly proved this, and to
attend to the objector's request would but be, in some measure, going
over the ground already occupied. We will, however, just touch this
point again. We will introduce the following words of Paul to Titus.
"In hope of eternal life which God that cannot lie promised before the
world began."
If God promised his creatures eternal life before the world began,
will they not obtain it? They will for this passage says that he
_cannot lie_. But says the objector, he has not promised it to the
unbeliever. We would then inquire, what is it that constitutes him an
_unbeliever_? Why do you call him an _unbeliever_? Do you say because
he disbelieves the truth of God's promise? Then you must, of course,
admit the truth of God's promise to him. If so, it must stand, for God
cannot lie. You cannot call upon a sinner to _believe_, until you
admit the existence of _that very truth_, you wish him to believe,
God's promise of eternal life in Christ, is the gospel we are called
upon to believe with a sincere heart. If you contend that it is
promised to an elect number only, and not to the reprobates, then if
they should all be brought to the knowledge of the truth, what would
they believe? Ans. The elect would believe the promise of eternal life
was made to them, the reprobates would believe right the reverse of
the elect, and all would be believers. No, says the objector, the
reprobates ought to believe just as the elect do. But in this case,
they would believe that they also have the promise of eternal life.
This would be believing a lie, because you say that God has not made
them that promise? How would you preach to such persons? If you called
upon them to believe the truth of the gospel, which is eternal life,
you would call upon them to believe a lie. How can you extricate
yourself from this difficulty? But inquires the objector, how do you
know that God has promised eternal life to all? Ans. Because the
scriptures do call all men either _believers_, or _unbelievers_, in
view of the promise that God has made. Take away that promise and
belief or unbelief respecting it can no longer have an existence--
_Believers and unbelievers_ would be no more.
But says the objector this is not proof that eternal life is promised
to an _unbeliever_. Well I am surprised at this assertion of my
opponent! First, I ask, what do you call a believer? Ans. One who
believes that God has promised, and given him eternal life in Christ
before the world began. Then, of course, an _unbeliever_ must be one,
to whom God has also promised and given eternal life in Christ before
the world, but will not believe it. But says the objector this cannot
be. I would then ask whether eternal life was not promised, and given
in Christ to the _believer_ before he believed it? Certainly. It must
have been the truth before he could believe. Well, what was he at that
time? An _unbeliever_ of course. Then eternal [life] is promised to
all, because it is the lack of faith in _that never failing promise_
of Jehovah that constitutes an unbeliever. But says the objector--a
man "must do so and so," or he cannot be saved. This is not correct;
he must _believe_, or he cannot be saved. We are saved by faith in the
promise and are permitted to look forward with satisfaction and joy to
an immortal existence where we shall be free from sin, sorrow and
pain. This faith and hope fill the soul with love to God, and induce
us to break off our sins by righteousness. So a salvation by faith can
only be enjoyed in this life, and is to end when faith and hope are
lost in certainty and in joy. Though only few are saved by faith, yet
all shall know the Lord from the greatest to the least, whom to know
is life eternal.
SERMON VIII
"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." John
iii. 3.
As we have in the last three sermons dwelt particularly on a salvation
by _faith_, we will take the liberty to introduce the subject of the
new birth next in order, as it will be, more readily, retained by the
reader, in this connexion than otherwise. Indeed, it hears a strong
resemblance to them so far as the subject of faith is concerned in our
present exposition. But whoever is a careful reader of the New
Testament, will discover that the subject of faith, and the genuine
repentance which that faith produces, is not of trivial moment.
There is no subject of divine revelation, on which more has been said,
preached and written than the one, which we are now about to consider.
It has been brought forward by men of talents and erudition as an
insuperable barrier against Universal Salvation, and their several
adherents have taken it for granted, that it can never be explained in
harmony with the sentiment, that all men shall eventually obtain
eternal life through the Redeemer of men. But these impressions have
arisen from the fact, that they have taken their own views and
explanations to be scripturally correct, and from these premises, they
have drawn conclusions utterly opposed to the final holiness and
happiness of God's intelligent creation. They have supposed the new
birth to be some mysterious change produced by some mysterious
operation of the divine spirit on the mind, and that it is in
substance a miracle.
One denomination has contended that if a man once obtained this
change, he was safe, could never "finally fall from grace," but would
eventually land in the kingdom of immortal glory. Several other
denominations admit the new birth to be the same change already
noticed, but contend that the subject may fall from grace, and be
finally lost. Here then the man, who was, according to their views,
_born again_, might still never see the kingdom of God beyond the
grave. On this principle the new birth would be no security, that any
one would obtain heaven. According to this sentiment, a man might be
born again, fall away, and be born again "until seven times," and in
the end not see the kingdom of God. Those, who advocate this
sentiment, believe that _faith and repentance_ prerequisites to the
new birth, and also believe in the salvation of infants.
This being so, it will come to pass that half of the world will be
saved, inasmuch as about that number die in what may be, justly termed
an infant state. But of those, who come to years of accountability,
they believe but few will be saved. So the greater proportion of
those, who will finally surround the throne of God, will be those, who
have never been born again according to their views. It will not, I
presume, be contended, that infants who, they believe, are totally
depraved, ever exercise _faith_, or experience the _new birth_ in this
life.
From the above views, I shall take the liberty to dissent, and may
probably differ some from the expositions given by others. It is
evident that Jesus Christ in his instructions frequently brought
forward some natural facts plainly understood by those whom he
addressed, in order more clearly to illustrate his subject, and then
made his illustrations so nearly resemble that natural fact, that no
man could possible misunderstand him, unless he had been led into
tradition by blind guides. In the context, he makes allusion to
natural birth, of which every man knows the meaning, and says to
Nicodemus, "that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which
is born of the spirit is spirit."
Natural birth pre-supposes the perfect formation of the human body by
that secret energy of nature, God only can comprehend. But that
formation, itself, is not birth. Birth is that operation, that
introduced us into this world. We are now flesh and blood, which
cannot inherit the kingdom. What is born of the flesh is flesh. We
must now be born again from mortal to immortality, otherwise we could
not see the kingdom of God.
Must not man be born of a woman in order to see this world? Can he
look upon the beautiful objects of creation, or contemplate these
countless wonders of the Almighty before he is born into being? He
cannot. All without exception will admit, that it is impossible for
any man to enter this natural world, in which we live, without birth.
So it is equally impossible to enter the kingdom of God without being
born _again_ in the strictest sense of the word. A man cannot "be born
again" ten, or twenty years, nor even _one day_ before he sees the
kingdom of God, any more than he could be born twenty days before he
came forth out of the womb. As natural birth cannot take place any
given time before we enter this world, but is the _circumstance_ that
introduces us, so a _second birth_ cannot take place any given time
before we enter the kingdom of God in the next world but is the _very
thing_, that shall introduce us into it; and the moment we are born
again, we shall see it,--we shall be spirit, and beyond the dominion
of death and sin. He that is born of the flesh, _is flesh_, so long as
he lives; and he that is born of the spirit _is spirit_. As we now
"bear the image of the earthly" through a _natural_ birth, "so we
shall also bear the image of the heavenly" through a _spiritual_
birth. And as no man in this world is a spirit, so no man has in
reality passed the new birth. When we were born into this world, we
were brought from insensibility to an existence entirely new. So in
order to enter the kingdom of God, which is not of this world, we must
be born again from the insensibility of death into a new and happy
existence beyond the grave.
The question now arises, when does this new birth take place? We reply
when this mortal puts on immortality through a resurrection. When we
shall be aroused from the sleep of death to a precipient existence in
heaven--when we shall awake satisfied with the likeness of God. Paul,
in the xv. Chap. 1 Cor. Plainly states that the spiritual body is
prepared and put on after death. Birth then must _follow_, not
_precede_ that spiritual body. It is impossible that birth should take
place, till the body is first prepared. Man's natural body is
organized in the womb, and then born into this world. He drops to a
state of insensibility in death, a reorganization of the spiritual
body takes place to the natural eye imperceptible, and its nature
indestructible. It is gradually brought forward through a resurrection
similar to the grain of wheat to which Paul compares it, is awakened
to a conscious existence, and bears the image of the heavenly as it
once bore the image of the earthy. The resurrection is therefore every
moment progressing, and every man is raised in his own order of time.
But says the reader, if the resurrection be the new birth, then
Christ, himself must have been born again, in order to enter the
kingdom of God! Certainly. But inquires the reader, where do the
scriptures teach that Christ was ever born again? In Colossians chap.
i:15. are these words--"Who [Christ] is the image of the invisible
God, the _first born_ of every creature." This cannot mean that he was
the first born into this state of existence; but he was the first one
whom human eyes ever saw alive beyond the destruction of death to die
no more, and the only one that mortal eye will ever see, for he arose
in his natural body, (being the only true witness, appointed of God,)
to bring life and immortality to light through the gospel.
But that passage, says the reader, does not satisfy me, that Christ
was born again. Then listen once more--verse 18--"who is the
beginning, the _first born_ from the dead that in all things he might
have the pre-eminence." Rev. chap. i. 5. "Jesus Christ the faithful
witness, and the _first begotten_ from the dead." Here it is plainly
stated that he is the "first born from the dead" "the _first begotten_
from the dead" These scriptures in connexion with several others, that
might be quoted, prove that Christ was born again, and that the
resurrection is called birth.
It is evident that man falls to a state of insensibility in death, and
remains in sleep while the spiritual body is forming out of those
subtle materials, that at death pass into _hades_; and when the
reorganization is completed, the new being is born into the kingdom of
immortal glory. A drowning man, we know, falls to a state of
unconsciousness. Fainting--yes, even a night's sleep proves that the
mind is susceptible of falling into insensibility, or suspending its
mental operations, and disproves the notion of its entering a future
state, only through a resurrection of the dead. This fact is not only
substantiated by reason, but it is the doctrine of Revelation. The
wise man says, "the dead know not any thing." Paul, in the xv. Chap. 1
Cor. Predicates the truth of our resurrection on the fact that Christ
rose from the dead; and on this ground he reasons, that if there be no
resurrection, then preaching is vain, faith is also vain, the
christians were yet in their sins, and they that were fallen asleep in
Christ were perished, and concludes by saying, "let us eat, drink, for
tomorrow we die." Suppose a christian should this moment die, and,
according to common opinion, enter immediately on an immortal
existence. Could we now say--if there be no resurrection, he is fallen
asleep in Christ and perished? No, because, instead of being perished,
i.e. _Annihilated_, he would remain in infinite happiness and glory,
even if there should, never, be any resurrection. So you perceive that
Paul did not believe any one could enter eternity only through a
resurrection. He believed, they would fall asleep in Christ, and in
that sleep remain till in Christ they were made alive. He embraces the
whole in the following words--"Since by man came death, by man came
also the resurrection of the dead."
When the sentence of death was pronounced upon Adam, which was to pass
upon all men, the promise of a Saviour then made, was, it appears, not
understood. Their posterity looked forward for a temporal king, and
had no idea of an immortal existence beyond the "narrow house." Death
the king of terrors, was not yet disarmed of his sting by the
resurrection of our triumphant Redeemer. This truth was not yet
revealed to men. Here the human family were without hope, and
trembling at the darkness--the seven fold darkness of the tomb. No ray
of light and joy beamed from that cheerless mansion to ease the aching
heart, or dispel that melancholy gloom, which pervaded the parental
bosom when gazing for the last time upon the struggles of a dying
child.
Here was a world born into existence under the certain sentence of
death, and groaning in the bondage of corruption, without any hope of
being delivered from it, by an immortal birth, "into the glorious
liberty of the children of God." In this period of anxiety and
distress, the glad tidings were proclaimed to the shepherds on the
plains of Judea, announcing the birth of the Saviour of the world. A
new birth, which is not mentioned in the old Testament, was at length
proclaimed by a Saviour in the _new_. He died on the cross, and was
"the first born from the dead."
He is the head of every man, by the grace of God tasted death for
every man, and rose again for their justification. The scriptures
declare that "we shall be saved by his life" that he is "the bread of
God that cometh down from heaven and giveth life to the world." He is
our way, our truth and life, and "because he lives we shall live
also." "As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made
alive," or born from the dead. And he that is made alive in Christ is
a new creature, old things are passed away--all things are become new.
But says the reader, though the resurrection of Jesus is set forth by
a birth from death, yet the resurrection of the human family is never
so represented. You mistake. Out of the many passage that might be
adduced, we have room, in this discourse, for only one. It shall,
however, be satisfactory. In Romans, 8th chapter, Paul says, "Because
the creature itself also, shall be delivered from the bondage of
corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God; for we
know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together
until now." [We would remark, that the word _creature, is ktisis_ in
the Greek, and is the same that is rendered _creation_ in the next
verse.] In this quotation, you perceive, that Paul represents the
whole creation as groaning in travail pains, and declares that the
whole creation shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into
the glorious liberty of the sons of God. He compares them to a woman
in pain ready for delivery; and that they are delivered from
corruption to incorruption at the resurrection is certain. [See 1 Cor.
xv:42.]
You now understand what I mean by the new birth. It is to pass from
death to life and immortality, in Christ, beyond the grave, where
flesh and blood can never enter. For that which is born of the flesh
is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.
We have now pointed out the new birth, and shown that it bears some
resemblance to the natural birth, with which Jesus compared it. And
how truly sublime and cheering the thought, that the great family of
man, who are all born into existence under the certain sentence of
death, are to receive a second birth into an existence entirely new,
and the whole of his dying family are to be made the children of Jesus
Christ by adoption.
In our next, we shall notice the change we experience in this life,
called in scripture the new birth, and explain the term, "kingdom of
God."
SERMON IX
"Jesus answered and said unto him, verily, verily, I say unto thee,
except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." John
iii. 3.
In our last, we have shown, that the _spiritual_ birth bears some
resemblance to a natural birth with which Jesus compared it--and as
the _first_ introduces us into this world, so the _second_ will
introduce us into the future and immortal world at the resurrection,
where we shall be as the angels of God in heaven, and "be the
_children_ of God _being the children of the resurrection_." There we
shall be completely free from sin and pain. There the gushing tear of
sorrow shall cease to flow, and the brow of disconsolate humanity be
ruffled no more.
We will now attend to the present effects that the truth of this birth
has upon us here, and notice at the same the phrase, "_kingdom of
God_."
The question now arises; do not some experience the new birth in this
life? They do. But in what sense do they experience it? Ans. By
_faith_. In this world we pass from death to life: not that we have
actually been in the grave and brought to life beyond it; but the
believer experiences this by faith. And _this faith_ has a most
powerful and happifying influence on his affections, and consequently
on his life and conduct. All, that God has revealed for the salvation
of the world--our justification, our sanctification, our new birth,
our heaven, our all--yes, all these important and heavenly changes are
summed up, and embraced in our immortal resurrection, will actually
take place through death; and while in this world we can embrace them,
_only by faith_.
The scriptures declare that "we walk by faith and, not by sight." Paul
says, "the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of
the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." Paul knew that
he had eternal life given him in Christ, before the world began, and
faith in that glorious truth produced a happiness--a divine life in
his heart, called the kingdom of God within. Let us notice these
several points.
1. First; "Christ rose again for our justification." Our justification
then exists in our resurrection state, and will _there_ in all its
reality take place. But cannot a man be justified _here_? Yes; he can
be justified _through faith_ in that truth.
2. Second; "By the which will, we are _sanctified_ through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." Our
_sanctification_ then, by the will of God, will take place through
death. But cannot a man be _sanctified_ while _here_? Yes; he can be
sanctified _through faith in that truth!_
3. Third; Christ was "put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the
spirit." So in his resurrection he passed from death to life, and thus
revealed the truth that we shall also pass from death to life by the
power of God, and be like him who is the "first fruits." But cannot a
man pass from death to life while on earth? Yes; he can pass from
death to life _through faith in that truth_. Jesus says--"He that
heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting
life and shall not come into condemnation but is passed from death
unto life."
4. Fourth; our eternal life will be realized beyond death. "The things
that are not seen are spiritual and eternal." But can we not enjoy it
_here_? Yes; "He that believeth on the Son _hath_ everlasting life;"--
that is, he enjoys it faith.
5. Fifth; Christ was the "first born from the dead." So we also shall
pass the reality of the new birth by faith. But can we not enjoy it
here? John says--"For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world,
and this is the victory that overcometh world _even our faith_."
Thus it is evident that a man may in this life be _justified,
sanctified_, pass from _death to life, may enjoy eternal life_, and be
_born again_ through faith in _these several correspondent facts_. His
faith, however, can make them no more _certain_; because they _must
exist_, and be solemn and unalterable facts before he can be called
upon to believe them. The truth of the above _five facts_, we
perceive, are embraced in our resurrection. If we are not, in our
resurrection, to be _justified, sanctified, born again_, and obtain
eternal life, then we cannot be _justified, sanctified or born again
here_ through faith in those truths;--because there would be no such
truths in existence for us to exercise faith in. If the objector will
not allow these facts unalterably to exist _previous_ to believing,
what then will he call upon us to believe? Will he call upon us to
believe that we have an eternal life in Christ when no such fact
exists, and contend that our believing this lie will create the fact?
This would be the most ridiculous absurdity.
But the truth exists, and the believer by faith enjoys it before hand.
He enjoys it by anticipation, not in _reality_. It can be brought to
his understanding or experience no other way, only through the gospel
medium of faith. I challenge the objector to show me between the lids
of the new Testament, any regeneration, new birth, justification, or
sanctification, that has already taken place in any other sense than
through faith. All these things in their _reality_ are to take place
in our resurrection, when we shall be like the angels of God and by
faith we bring them present to our minds and enjoy them _here_. Dr.
Watts says--"Faith brings distant prospects home, Of things a thousand
years ago, Or thousand years to come." Paul, therefore, exhorts us to
forget the things that are behind, and reach forward to those that are
before--to press to the mark &c. because the reality--the object of
our faith lies before us. But persons, who do not understand the
operations of faith on the mind in view of its correspondent truth,
and who honestly believe that the new birth has in reality already
taken place with them, are always looking back to the time they were
born again, and telling over their "old experiences" Now this is right
in them, if they have passed through the _reality_; for every man
ought to look to the substance in which he exercises faith and hope.
But certainly the scriptures exhort us to look forward, and anchor our
faith and hope within the vail, where our forerunner hath for us
entered. It is therefore certain that the reality exists there, and is
yet to come. Such persons then, in looking back to their experience,
are mistaking the birth produced by faith for the real birth itself.
This is just as unreasonable as it would be to suppose that the
foretaste, we sometimes enjoy of immortal life, was that life itself.
It is true we at times enjoy a heaven on earth. But as it respects the
kingdom of immortal glory, "eye hath not seen, ear heard, neither hath
it entered into the heart of man to conceive the glory that shall be
revealed in us." The reality is therefore yet to come, and by faith we
receive only an antepast of its joys.
From the above observation we infer that, the resurrection is the only
gospel faith and hope of a future, happy conscious state of being.
When our minds are enlightened to see the mighty changes, that we
mortals are represented, in the scriptures of truth, as destined to
experience by being raised in a holy and deathless constitution, we
are then led to consider the resurrection of embracing all those
realities that we are called upon by Jesus Christ and his apostles to
embrace by faith and enjoy in this life. So great and sublime is the
gift of God, and so far surpassing thought does it magnify the
perfections of the divine character, and in so amiable a light does it
manifest his love to the children of men, that a living faith in its
reality cannot but obtain a salutary influence on our life and
conversation. So much stress did the apostles lay upon its importance,
that they went every where preaching the resurrection of the dead, as
the gospel of Christ.
There is one point we will here notice. All denominations acknowledge
that for any man _by faith_ to pass from death to life is a change for
the better. If so, then the _reality_, namely to pass from the sleep
of death to an immortal existence, must be a change for the better.
Because it is by believing that future reality we are said to have
passed from death to life here. The conclusion is unavoidable that the
_reality_ must correspond with its antepast _by faith_. To understand
this let us reverse it. Suppose it should be an established law in the
nature and constitution of things that all mankind should pass from
death to immortal misery in the future world. Let this be revealed and
proclaimed as an unchanging truth. As many as believed it would of
course pass from death to immortal misery in _faith_, which would lead
them to curse the being who made them, and destined them to this
unhappy end. It would be a change for the worse.
Our subject is now so far plain (according to our views) that the
phrase "_kingdom of God_" will be readily understood. Though it has,
by different writers, been made to bear many different significations,
yet we shall take the liberty to contend that it simply means as
follows--1. First an immortal existence beyond the grave brought to
light by the resurrection of Christ;--and 2. Second a belief in _that
reality_ is the kingdom of God we here enter and enjoy _by faith_.
Into this kingdom, infants, idiots and heathen and unbelievers do not
enter, because faith is the only condition. This is the kingdom of
heaven that men, blind leaders of the blind, shut up. They neither
enter themselves, nor suffer those that would enter to go in. They
keep the evidence of the reality out of sight so that men cannot look
beyond the vail to its brighter glories and enjoy its peaceful reign
in their hearts by faith. When faith is lost in certainty, _then_ this
kingdom will be delivered up, and to know shall be life eternal. This
definition we believe will hold good, and apply to any passage in the
New Testament where it may occur. Though some contend that it very
seldom has reference to an immortal existence, yet we strenuously
contend that there is no propriety in the phrase only in connexion
with such an existence. We cannot enter or be born into the kingdom of
God by faith, unless we admit the reality in the first place to have
an existence, any more than we could, by faith, enjoy eternal life
unless there is such a reality as eternal life beyond the grave. The
above, the reader will please to fix in his mind.
We now perceive that man drops into the sleep of death, and that the
resurrection, or new birth is his only hope of a future happy state of
existence, and is the only change that can free him from imperfection,
and sin, and make him a new creature in a new and immortal existence
beyond the grave.
We will here introduce an example to make our argument so far plain.
Suppose you were now in ignorance respecting the doctrine of life and
immortality through a resurrection. You know you must die, and
sincerely think that death will terminate your existence forever. You
see your children one after another laid upon their dying bed, and
with distraction shake the farewell hand of eternal separation, and
with the most solemn melancholy and wo, look forward to the period
when you must follow them down to the chambers of eternal silence, and
cease to be.
In this moment of dread solemnity and gloom, suppose some kind angel
should appear at the bed-side of your expiring child, and kindly
inquire, why are you troubled? You answer, because my children have
fallen!--the last of my infant train lies panting for breath, and the
dreadful hour has come when all those silken affections, that build
our hearts love, must be rent assunder, and in the awful bosom of
death, be extinguished forever!--Suppose your guardian angel smiling
over the ruins of death, should point you far beyond these changing
scenes, and with rapture exclaim, you shall meet this darling child
again and commingle with your little fallen flock in glory! You and
they and all mankind shall be born from the dead into the kingdom of
God, and be new creatures free from sin and pain, and "be the children
of God being the children of the resurrection." Jesus your Lord "was
the first born from the dead," and you shall pass from death to life
and live forever.
Now suppose you positively believed his words; could you not say in
the scripture form of the expression that through faith you was
already "passed from death to life?"--that you was born of faith, and
by faith was in the kingdom of God? You certainly could, and it would
in every sense of the word be true. Through faith, you would be
justified, through faith sanctified; through faith you would enjoy
eternal life--in fine, through faith you would be saved. This faith
would give love unmeasured to your Creator, and fill your soul with
joy unspeakable and full of glory. "Faith works by love, purifies the
heart and overcomes the world."
Reader, do you not love the Lord for his wonderful goodness to his
children? What glorious hopes are here! "and he that hath this hope in
him purifieth himself even as he is pure"--you now see why the gospel
rings with the word _faith_ from one end to the other.
The world previous to the coming of Jesus Christ had no knowledge of
immortality through a resurrection, into the kingdom of God. The
phrase "_born again_" is not mentioned in the Old Testament, and of
course means something more than a _conversion_. This subject will be
continued in our next.
SERMON X
"Jesus answered and said unto him, verily, verily, I say unto thee,
except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." John
iii. 3.
The literal rendering of this passage seems to be--"_except a man be
born above_." The word _above_ being substituted for _again_ more
forcibly demonstrates the correctness of my views in the two former
discourses.
Many charge the Universalists with denying the necessity of a new
birth, or regeneration. But take from me my faith and hope in that
glorious truth, and I must at that moment resign the salvation of
every human being. Convince me that not another child will be born
into this world, and you will at once convince me that this world will
shortly be destitute of a solitary inhabitant. Convince me that a man
will not be born again, and you will not only convince me that no one
will ever enter the kingdom of God, but that the many worlds, that
have already passed from the stage of mortal being, and those that
shall hereafter follow, will alike be consigned to eternal silence!
Endless misery is out of the question. That could have had no
existence even had there been no resurrection in _Him_ who is the life
of the world; but death would have terminated the existence of all.
Such a punishment is not threatened in all the writings of Moses and
the prophets. And we cannot reasonably suppose, if such were a
principal truth in revelation, that God would suffer four thousand
years to elapse without warning his creatures of such an awful doom.
Upon our first parents, for transgressing the law, he pronounced all
the miseries of life, and uttered the closing sentence, "Dust thou art
and unto dust shalt thou return." Here the doctrine of endless misery
(if that be the sentence of the violated law) ought to have been
clearly stated to the "covenant head" of our race, so that the same
sentence might pass upon all that have sinned, unless they complied
with the conditions set before them.
But we leave this point, and will notice the 5th verse which may,
perhaps, be considered as an objection to my views, and urged as proof
that the new birth is wholly confined to this life. "Except a man be
born of _water_, and of the spirit," &c. What is here meant by
"_water_"? Ans. Baptism by immersion. This, instead of being an
objection to my views, will strengthen them. Baptism in water is
nothing more than a _figure_ of our death and resurrection, by _which_
we manifest our _faith_ in the resurrection of the dead, by which
_faith_ our hearts are baptized into the spirit and truth of the
gospel of Christ.
Paul says, I Cor. xv:29 "Else what shall they do, which are baptized
for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized
for the dead?" Baptism being only a _figure_ of our death and
resurrection, is perhaps, in a gospel sense, of but little consequence
to christians in the present day.
Christ went to John and was baptized of him in Jordan. His being put
under water signified his death, when the condemning power of the law
under the first dispensation should lose its force--and his being
raised out of the water signified his resurrection from the cold
Jordan of death to immortal life in the kingdom of God, where the
victory shall be sung over _death and sin_; and over the _law_ which
"is the strength of sin." Having passed in figure through his own
death and resurrection, and having manifested to man that he was
baptized by the Holy Spirit into the faith and "powers of the world to
come," he perfectly lived up to his obligation, by never committing
one sin. He went through life free from transgression as though he
were already in eternity. When his crucifixion hour approached, he
said, [Luke xii:50] "I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am
I straitened" [Greek--pained] "till it be accomplished." Here he had
reference to his being buried in death, (which was to be attended with
extreme sufferings) and rising again from it, which would be the
_reality_ of which his baptism in Jordan was but a _figure_.
To be put under water signifies our _death_, and to be raised out
again signifies our _resurrection_. A person, who is baptized, ought
therefore, to endeavor, as much as in him lies, to live as though he
were already in his resurrection state. Enjoying in faith the baptism
of the "Holy Spirit and of fire," he ought to consider himself as dead
to the world and alive to God walking in newness of life.
Let us introduce Rom. vi:3, 4. "Know ye not that so many of us as were
baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into _his death_? Therefore
we are buried with him by baptism into death; that like as Christ was
raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also
should walk in newness of life." Here we perceive they were baptized
into his death, and were rejoicing in hope of the _resurrection_,
having their hearts purified faith in the reality, Acts xxii. 16 And
now why tarriest thou? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins,
&c. Now, it is not only a scripture doctrine, but all denominations
acknowledge, that baptism in water is an _emblem_ of the washing away
of our sins. We then ask--are our sins to be wished in a stream of
water? No. Where then? The objector says, our sins are taken away _in
this life_ by the baptism of the "Holy Spirit and with fire." This
cannot be; because Paul told the believers that if there were no
resurrection, their faith was vain, and they were _yet in their sins_.
[See I. Cor. xv. 17.] This proves that believers receive the
forgiveness of their sins in this life _by faith only_, not in
_reality_.
The question returns, are our sins washed away in a stream of water?
No. Where then? Ans. Through death and the resurrection, for that is
the real baptism. And it is certain that the _reality_ must embrace
all that the _figure_ in water teaches. We then solemnly ask the
reader,--if baptism in water is a _figure_ of our death and
resurrection, and if _that water baptism_ signifies the washing away
of our sins, will not then our sins be washed away through death and
the resurrection? Yes; otherwise the figure in water has no meaning.
Thus we perceive that being born of the water is no objection to our
views of the new birth, but affords them an unshaken support. If any
one contend that the sins of our race are not to be taken away through
death, we would then ask, where will the christian's sins be washed
away? The scriptures declare that there is not a just man upon earth
that doeth good and sinneth not,--and if there is no change through
death then there will not be a just man beyond the grave that doeth
good and sinneth not. But the baptism "with the Holy Spirit and with
fire" in all its solemn and interesting reality will take place in
death and the resurrection, and to exercise a living faith in that
truth, so as to influence our life and conduct according to the spirit
of the gospel, is what the scriptures term being baptized with the
spirit and with fire in this life. But this present enjoyment is not
the _reality_, but an antepast of _that reality_; because "we walk by
faith and not by sight." It is immaterial whether the scripture speaks
of _pardon, of justification; of sanctification, of redemption, of
regeneration, or baptism_ "with the Holy Spirit and with fire," it
simply means that those facts in the divine counsels unchangeably
exist, and will burst upon the whole groaning creation in the
resurrection world, while the believer only enjoys them in this state
of being through faith, which baptizes him into the spirit of Christ.
But if there be no resurrection, and nought is presented to our
anticipation but the dreary prospect of a beamless eternity, then
"preaching is vain," "faith is also vain," "christians are yet in
their sins," "and they that are fallen asleep in Christ are perished."
The taking away the sin of the world by the Lamb of God, who is the
resurrection and the life, is through death. Through death, to our
faith and hope, he has destroyed "him who hath the power of death,
that is the devil." The washing away of all sin, by the power of God,
is through death and the resurrection. _Then_ and not till then shall
the song of triumph be sung by redeemed millions--"O death! Where is
thy sting? O grave! Where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin,
and the strength of sin is the law", &c.
All the figures of baptism point to _death_--all the sacrifices for
sin, slain under the law for 4000 years, point to death, declaring
that without the shedding of blood there is no remission. There the
reality lies. There we are called upon to anchor our faith and hope
even within the veil. And it must be a _certain truth_ that our sins
are to be washed away through the Jordan of death, before we can be
called upon to believe it. It must be a _certain reality_ that sin is
there to be purged away, before we could, with any propriety, use
baptism in water as a shadow of it; because the _shadow_ cannot create
the _substance_.
We have now shown that as man is naturally born into this world, so he
shall be spiritually born into the kingdom of God. We have shown by
comparison that except a man be born of a woman, he cannot see this
world; and as this does not mean that he must be born twenty days
before he comes forth from the womb, as a preparation for entering
this world, so the expression, "except a man be born again he cannot
see the kingdom of God," does not mean that he must be born twenty
days before death as a preparation for entering a future existence.
The new birth, no more means a _reality_ that is to transpire _here_,
than natural birth means some change we underwent prior to our being
brought forth into life.
I believe in all the reformation or new birth here that others do, and
believe in much more to come. That change _here_, which they call the
new birth, I call the new birth in faith, or being born of faith,
while the solemn reality is yet to transpire, and that is to be born
from the dead in Christ our head. These facts we will now make plain
to every reader by the following example, so that our views on this
subject may not be misrepresented.
Suppose that before we were born, we had been able to conceive ideas.
And suppose it had been spoken to us by the Son of God--except you are
born of the flesh, you cannot see the natural world, which is most
beautiful to to behold, having sun, moon, and stars, and songsters,
fields and groves. It has never entered your heart to conceive the
glory to be revealed in you. Now suppose some of us had believed this
revelation, we would that moment, have been born of faith, and
rejoiced in hope of the glory to be revealed in us; and by faith have
looked forward to the reality. This, however, would not have made our
birth any more certain, because it must have been an absolute truth
before we could have, with any propriety, believed it. Suppose,
further, that some of us had rejected it; would this circumstance have
prevented our being born? Certainly not. All of us, who believed,
would have been born of faith, having an earnest of the reality, and
the unbelievers would have come short of that enjoyment by faith; but
their unbelief could in no sense make the truth of none effect. The
moment we were born, belief and unbelief would be lost in certainty.
Now suppose that some of had said--the Son of God has declared "except
we are born of the flesh, we cannot see the natural world." This must
mean some great change we are to experience in the womb--we must be
born some number of days before we enter the natural world, as a
preparation, otherwise we can never see it.
We now ask the reader, whether it would not be folly to give to the
word _birth_ such an explanation? The Conclusion is unavoidable. We
then ask, whether it does not involve the same folly to contend, in
view of our text, ("except a man be born again, he cannot enter into
the kingdom of God") that it means, he must be born again in this
world, as a preparation for another? It certainly does.
We once more repeat it--that as natural birth was the _very thing_
that introduced us all into this world of imperfection, sorrow and
pain; so the spiritual birth will be the _very thing_, that shall
introduce us all into another, where, imperfection, sorrow and pain
shall be no more.
The poor heathen, and infants, and all, will therefore be born again
into the kingdom of God, and "be equal unto the angels, die no more,
and be the children of God, _being the children of the resurrection_."
The only advantage we enjoy above them is, that we have heard the good
news, believed it, are "born again, not of corruptible seed, but of
incorruptible, by the word of God which liveth and abideth forever,"
and "have entered into rest." We are rejoicing in hope of the glory of
God to be revealed in us, while they are groping in darkness,
inasmuch, as they cannot believe in him of whom they have not heard.
In our next, we shall close this subject by urging the importance of
the new birth through faith in the truth.
SERMON XI
"Jesus answered and said unto him, verily, verily, I say unto thee,
except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." John
iii. 3.
In our last three discourses we have endeavoured to lay our views of
the new birth thus far plainly before the reader, and wish him to bear
in mind that the three sermons, preceding those on the new birth, are
also to be read, and carefully kept in view, so that, from the whole
connexion, the gospel doctrine of salvation by _faith_ may be made
clear to his understanding. We dwelt so long, and laid so much stress
upon _faith_, because it is the _first_ christian grace, we are
exhorted to put on, and is the _first_ assent of the mind to the great
and interesting _truth_ revealed in the gospel of Jesus Christ, which
is _life and immortality_ for the human family.
We have shown that the new birth has a higher signification than
simply to be converted from the evil of our doings, as was required
under the first dispensation. The new birth, so far as it concerns the
present existence, embraces not only _conversion_, but the whole
spiritual life of the christian's soul, denominated the kingdom of
heaven within. This mental felicity--this "weight of glory," cannot be
enjoyed, but by the exercise of a living faith in Christ. Such a faith
begets a sincere obedience in our life and conversation. It is a faith
"that works by love, purifies the heart and overcomes the world." The
great apostle to the Gentiles exclaims--"the life that I now live in
the flesh, I live by the _faith_ of Son of God, who loved me and gave
himself for me." We therefore "walk by _faith_, not by _sight."_
We have shown that Christ was the _"first born_ from the dead" to show
light to the people and to the Gentiles, and that the whole creation
is groaning in travail-pains, and that it shall be delivered from the
bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of
God, and that we shall then be as the angels of God in heaven. We have
shown that all mankind--infants, idiots and heathen, shall be brought
to realize this birth, and that the believer, only, can only enjoy it
in this state of existence through _faith_ in the truth, and that this
_faith_ has a most powerful influence on his life and conversation,
"being born of incorruptible seed by the word of God that liveth and
abideth forever." We have shown that neither this birth, nor any of
the spiritual changes, can be experienced in this life only through
_faith_ in their correspondent truths, even as they are revealed to us
in the gospel of Christ. We have shown that by the phrase, "kingdom of
heaven" we were to understand, _first_, a holy, happy and immortal
existence "beyond the grave, incorruptible, undefiled and that fadeth
not away, reserved for us in heaven," and which, with all its
perfections and joys, was revealed to us by Jesus Christ; and
_second_, a sincere and living _faith_ in this interesting _reality_,
produced that divine enjoyment, called "the kingdom of heaven within
us," the kingdom of heaven among men, &c. This kingdom the Pharisees
"shut up"--they "neither entered it themselves, nor suffered those
that were entering to go in." That is--they prevented the people from
_believing_ those interesting _realities_--those sublime doctrines of
a future world that their Messiah had brought to light through the
gospel for the present happiness of men.
We have shown that water baptism is but a _figure, a shadow_ of our
death and resurrection, or of the washing of regeneration and renewing
of the Holy Spirit, and that this figure is of but little consequence
to us in this present day. In fine we have shown that if there were no
future existence--if nought were held up to man but the dreary
prospect of a beamless eternity, he could not be justified,
sanctified, born again, pass from death to life or enter the kingdom
of God through faith, because in such case the _objects_ of his _faith
and hope_ would be annihilated, his faith would be vain, he would be
yet in his sins. In this view of our subject, we perceive that Christ
is but "the author and finisher of our faith," having been ordained of
God "to bring life and immortality to light," to set us an example for
our imitation and happiness here below--and to die and rise in
attestation of the truth involved in his mission. Consequently his
kingdom will be delivered up when _faith and hope_ shall be lost in
certainty and joy.
It now remains that we urge the importance of the _new birth_ through
faith in the truth. And here we shall probably meet with one objection
from the reader, viz. As we argued in sermons, No. 5, 6, and 7, that
faith was the first exercise of the creature, and that no one could
_believe or disbelieve_ what he pleased, the reader may then ask, what
necessity is there of urging the importance of the new birth through
faith in the truth, in as much as faith cannot be exercised at the
_pleasure_ or simply at the _will_ of man? And here we would remark--
that the guilt of unbelief does not consist in rejecting a fact after
patient investigation, by collecting all the evidences in our reach,
but it consists in rejecting a fact without examination of its truth.
For instance; let the gospel be preached to a heathen, who rejects it
without attempting to acquaint himself with the evidences upon which
its truth is based. He is condemned for not believing, because he
neglects the only means by which he might be convinced of the truth.
He declines searching for evidence. Of the truth of this remark we
have a striking instance in the scriptures. Paul preached at
Thessalonica, but they heeded not his words. He preached also at
Berea, and the inspired penman says, "These were more noble than those
in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of
mind, and searched the scriptures daily whether these things were so."
It is our duty to search the scriptures prayerfully and "labor to
enter into that rest that remains to the people of God, lest any of us
through unbelief should seem to come short of it." It is our duty to
search for evidence of the fact, at least on all subjects relating to
our present happiness, and particularly those that appertain to the
future world. They are too momentous to be treated with indifference.
There is nothing more important than that we should exercise a living
_faith_ in a future and happy existence beyond the grave. This alone
can afford the mind "joy unspeakable and full of glory." There is in
every human bosom an unceasing uneasiness, an aching void that nothing
on earth can satisfy or fill. Old and young, ignorant and learned,
heathen and christian feel the same dissatisfaction with the objects
of momentary duration. The heathen, in the midst of all his
self-denials and self-tortures to appease his gods, and in the
conscientious discharge of all his devotional duties, is still a
dissatisfied and miserable being. God has so constituted the human
mind that it cannot repose in error, however sincere may be the faith
it exercises. There is still a growing vacuum within that nothing but
the powers of truth can fill. Philosophy has endeavoured to search out
that system of moral duties, in the rigid performance of which, that
happiness, peace and joy might be found, for which all mortal beings
pant with the same aspirations of strong desire, but has sought in
vain. From the earliest ages, one system after another has been
invented, and in succession abandoned, but all have come short of
discovering any thing solid on which to rest their hopes of earthly
felicity.
Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith, has alone
accomplished what all the penetration of Pythagoras and all the moral
lessons of Seneca and Socrates failed to discover. With a bold, firm
and untrembling hand he has drawn aside the curtains of the tomb, and
pointed the human family to a second birth from the dark womb of death
into mansions of incorruptible felicity in the kingdom of God, where
they shall die no more, and where all the inquietudes, appertaining to
this fleeing existence, shall be unknown. This future state of being,
he has not only revealed, but has demonstrated its certainty by those
incontestable evidences, which can never be shaken by all the powers
of infidelity combined. He has burst the icy bands of death and risen
triumphant beyond its solemn shade, and begot in us those lively
hopes, those fond desires, that ease the aching heart--that
communicate unbroken peace amidst the various ills of life, and afford
it divine consolation and joy in the trying moment of death. In those
interesting truths the believer confides, and in every condition in
life is enabled to rejoice in the hope that when "this earthly
tabernacle is dissolved, he has a building of God, a house not made
with hands eternal in the heavens." In this faith, man's countless
wants are satisfied, inasmuch as God has secured his dearest interest.
In this faith the believer is entered into rest, is born of God, and
is translated into his kingdom. He _knows_ that by faith he has passed
from death unto life, for his soul is filled with love to God and man.
This love, this divine enjoyment, is the natural effect of _faith_,
inasmuch as it works by love, purifies the heart and overcomes, the
world. He is not only at rest respecting himself, but at rest
respecting his children and dear friends, whom he may be called to
follow to the land of silence and the shadow of death. He stands at
their dying bed and whispers to them consolation, in the joyful
assurance, that he shall meet them again beyond the dominion of death
and pain in the regions of glory. His bosom is the mansion of those
pure and holy affections and of those sublime hopes, that none can
know but those who are thus born into the kingdom of God.
Reader, you must die. How important then that you should faithfully
and prayerfully examine the scriptures so that tormenting fears,
distraction and despair may not in that solemn moment rend the peace
of your bosom to atoms. A sweet peace and composure of soul in that
trying hour, are of incalculable worth. It is enough to struggle with
physical pain without the addition of mental woes, which present
neglect, and your ignorance of the truth and consolations of the
gospel of Christ, are sure to bring upon you. Perhaps you are a
father, and may be called to stand at the death-bed of a beloved
child. That child may call upon you as a parent to administer
consolation to its departing spirit. He clings to life, or ardently
desires to live forever in the mansions of rest beyond the grave. But
what consolation can you impart, if you are yourself ignorant of the
doctrines of the gospel of Christ? The heart-rending prospect of
endless wo, or the gloomy horrors of annihilation, could afford no
consolation to that mind, which has the principles of glory deeply
rooted in its nature and which nothing but the continuance of
existence can rationally satisfy. As you value unbroken peace in the
hour of dissolution, and as you value the happiness of these dear
pledges heaven has lent you, study for the evidence of christian
truth, search the scriptures, and labor to enter into that rest that
remains here to the believing people of God, who are born again and
_specially_ saved through _faith_ in the truth.
This labor is not only important in view of the solemn hour of death,
but important in view of the life you here live in the flesh.
Happiness is the ultimate pursuit of all mortal beings. They vainly
imagine that it can be found in riches, honors and titles--yes, even
imagine that it can be found in the hard ways of the transgressor.
Though sensible that worlds before them have failed, and gone down to
the grave with the pangs of disappointed hope, yet man is so strangely
inconsistent as still to believe, that these earthly pursuits contain
some hidden charm which he flatters himself he shall find even though
all before him have failed. Here is the delusion, kind reader, of
which you are cautioned to beware. There is no happiness but in the
path where the hand of mercy has sown it--no happiness but in the
objects where God has placed it. It is no where to be found but in the
enjoyment of the religion of Christ. This will sweeten every earthly
pursuit, make every burden light, afford solid enjoyment in life and
divine consolation in the hour of death. Flatter not yourself that
there is any happiness beneath the sun aside from this. "There is no
peace saith my God to the wicked," and, he who says there is,
contradicts Jehovah, and is yet "in the gall of bitterness and in the
bond of iniquity." A speculative faith is of but little consequence,
so long as it does not influence our life and conversation for the
better. We must believe to the saving of the soul from the evil of the
world. "Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy
righteousness shall go before thee, and the glory of the Lord shall be
thy reward."
SERMON XII
"A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving
favor rather than silver and gold." Prov. xxii:1.
A good name involves all that can render man exalted and amiable, or
life desirable. The good opinion of mankind has, in all ages, been
considered as a blessing of the first magnitude, and has, in various
ways, been sought for by all. There is no man so dishonest, but what
labors to impress upon others the conviction of his honesty; no man so
deceptive, but what wishes to be considered sincere; nor cowardly, but
desires to be reputed brave; and no man is so abandonedly vicious, but
what desires to be considered virtuous by his fellow creatures. All
choose a good name in preference to a bad one. This being a fact the
appearance of virtue is kept up where the reality is wanting, and the
shadow is often mistaken for the substance.
There are many, that are, at heart, insincere and false, who pass in
society generally for persons of sincerity, candor and virtue, while
their real principles are known only in their own families and among
their confidential friends. They desire a good name and outwardly
maintain it, while they in reality but little deserve it. In order to
know what a man really is, we must be acquainted, not only with his
public, but his private character. In his own family, every man
appears what he really is. There the heart, word and action art in
unison. They embrace each other. In public, they too often separate;
and the word, or action, speaks what its divorced companion, the heart
does not feel.
Such not only literally choose, but often bear a good name. But this
is not the choice suggested by the text. All men, even the most
vicious, in some sense or other, choose a good name. But the passage
under consideration has a higher, a nobler aim, than a mere choice
unconnected with virtuous principle and action. It has a higher aim,
than to encourage men to be rotten at heart, and by an outward,
hypocritical maneuver, maintain a good name among their fellow
creatures. By the text, we are to understand, that a man should early
cultivate, in his heart, a virtuous principle, as the pure source from
which all those outward actions spring that justly merit the esteem of
mankind, force approbation even from the vicious, and thus entitle him
to that good name which is far above all price. This will not only
afford its possessor unbroken peace arising from the inward
consolations and joys of virtuous sincerity, but it will also open to
him another rich fountain of felicity, arising from the consideration,
that he enjoys the confidence and esteem of the great and the good,
with whom he is conversant in life, of his intimate friends, of his
companion and children, and above all the smiles of kind heaven and
the approbation of his God. His life is calm; his sleep is sweet and
associated with golden dreams. No fearful spectres haunt his brain,
but the kind angel of mercy is ever at his side. He looks forward to
death undismayed, yes, with satisfaction and composure looks beyond
that dark scene, to brighter worlds and more substantial joys. He
feels the assurance, that even when he shall be here no more, his name
shall live in the hearts of those he left behind, be embalmed in the
memory of the just, and that it is beyond the power of rolling ages to
sully it. This is what we understand by choosing a good name as stated
in our text.
Of the truth of this, there can arise no misapprehension when we
compare it with the subsequent phrase with which it is contrasted--"a
good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor
than silver and gold." By the choosing of riches, we are to
understand, not only a desire to obtain them, but that this desire
shall be sufficiently strong to prompt us to use all the honorable and
efficient means in our power to accumulate them. The wise man did not
mean that every man had the offer of a fortune, and could possess
himself of it by simply making choice of it independent of means. No--
his choice must be manifested by industry and economy. The means must
be used to secure the end. Just so in acquiring a good name. The
person desirous of obtaining it, must pursue that upright and virtuous
course of conduct, which alone could insure it. And just as well might
a man expect riches by being indolent and extravagant, as to expect a
good name by indulging in every species of vice. We are therefore to
understand our text thus--A good name, through pursuing a virtuous
course of conduct, is rather to be chosen than great riches, through
the plans and means by which they are obtained.
Man is a being of many wants, and to supply them he is too much
inclined to forsake the path of virtue and resort to dishonorable
means to obtain wealth.
In view of this master-passion for earthly splendor and greatness,
Solomon uttered the words of our text to recall the giddy mind from
its chase of shadows, sad turn it to the only source of unmingled
felicity in the pursuit of virtue. This would afford the mind those
rational delights that wealth, with all its dazzling splendors, cannot
impart. It does not possess the charm to convey unbroken peace to the
heart.
But there is a strong inducement to engage in a virtuous course,
because it is the surest road to wealth and honor. The thief and
robber were never rich, nor nor could they be happy if they were. An
excellent writer, observes--the importance of a good character in the
commerce of life, seems to be universally acknowledged. To those who
are to make their own way either to wealth or honors, a good character
is as necessary as address and ability. Though human nature is often
degenerate, and corrupts itself by many inventions, yet it usually
retains to the last an esteem for excellence. But even if we arrive at
such an extreme degree of depravity as to have lost our native
reverence for virtue, yet a regard to our own interest and safety will
lead us to apply for aid, in all important transactions, to men whose
integrity is unimpeached. When we choose an assistant or a partner,
our first inquiry is concerning his character. When we have occasion
for a counsellor, an attorney, or a physician, whatever we may be
ourselves, we always choose to trust our property and lives to men of
the best character. When we fix on the tradesman, who is to supply us
with necessaries, we are we are influenced by fair reputation and
honorable dealing. Young men, therefore, whose characters are yet
unfixed, and who consequently may render them just such as they wish,
ought to pay great attention to the first steps they take on entrance
into life. They are usually careless and inattentive to this object.
They pursue their own plans with ardor, and neglect the opinions which
others entertain of them. By some thoughtless action or expression,
they suffer a mark to be impressed upon them, which no subsequent
merit can entirely erase. Every man will find some persons who, though
they are not professed enemies, yet view him with an eye of envy, and
who would gladly revive any tale to which truth has given the
slightest foundation.
Though a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and is
the surest road to wealth, yet there are thousands, who pay but little
attention to possess themselves of so valuable a treasure. They turn a
deaf ear to that hallowed voice, which pleads with them in behalf of
their dearest interest, and take the downward road to dissipation and
vice, and, by their wretched example, lead other thousands to the dark
abodes of sorrow, grief and pain. Enchanted by the siren voice of
false and fleeting pleasure, they hurry to the tremendous precipice,
where reputation and fortune lie in broken ruins. There they drag out
a wretched existence in disappointed hope, satiety and disgust. They
pay their devotions at the shrine of ignominy, where the dark and
stagnant waters of guilt and condemnation roll. There the sweet voice
of heaven-born peace was never heard, and the beauteous feet of
religion never trod. There dwells the family of pain--there is the
hell we are cautioned to avoid. This is not an illusion of fancy--it
is no reverie of the brain, but a reality too visible in the pathway
of human life.
Thousands, in this condition, are hurrying to a premature grave, and
go down to that dark abode covered with infamy, having robbed
themselves of all the substantial joys, that a virtuous conduct, and a
good unsullied name are calculated to awaken in the heart. Dissipation
darkens the brightest prospects of life. It rolls its floods of misery
indiscriminately over the dearest earthly hopes of companions,
children and friends, and paralyzes every pulse of joy that beats in
the human bosom. Many a child has been spurned from the presence of
its brutal father, and been beaten for asking bread to satisfy its
hunger. Intemperance stupefies man to the moral impressions of the
gospel, and hardens the heart with the touch of its benumbing powers.
It is the giant of human wo that slays his thousands and prostrates
the happiness of man. This champion of human war draws his sword of
vengeance against the balmy repose of public and private life, and his
fatal touch withers the brightest flowers of domestic hope and joy,
and mingles the poisonous bowl with the bitter drugs of misery. His
government is absolute monarchy, and his subjects the most
contemptible slaves. When he lays upon them his cursed hand, they reel
to the ground. When he strikes the stunning blow, they drop insensibly
to the earth. The oppressions and scourges of the most wretched slave
are enviable in comparison with those severe wounds inflicted by this
merciless tyrant, this infernal scourge of the human race.
Intemperance is a monster that may well be personified. He frolicks
through the blood, preys upon the vitals, ploughs up the brain,
dethrones reason and laughs at the feeble resistance of the best
constitution, and finally bears down all opposition before him. Like
the devouring flame, he presses on with irresistible force, urging his
deadly siege, till he consumes all that is fair and lovely in the eye
of virtue. His present gifts are poverty misery and distress, and his
capital prize, a premature grave.
This champion is ravaging our beloved country, and seducing her sons
of freedom to the disgraceful ranks of slavery and oppression.
Intemperance is that tyrant that has under his control many formidable
evils that infest the world. His boasted labor is to hurry on
thousands of victims to the commission of crime, and bring down upon
them the many misfortunes that attend man in this mutable world.
Intemperance involves public broils, tumults and disturbances, and
domestic discord, misery and strife.
We trust the number among our readers is small, who are so regardless
of a good name as to have abandoned themselves to the intoxicating
bowl, or who have sundered all the ties of moral obligation,
determined to tread the downward path of vice to a disgraceful tomb.
We hope they have a higher regard to the invaluable worth of a good
name; and we pray that they may venerate its price far above the
momentary glitter of silver and gold. That shall live, when wealth
shall have lost its lustre, and flourish immortal, when gold shall
have corroded to dust.
Blasphemy is another unreasonable vice against which the public
speaker or writer should raise his voice. And let no one flatter
himself because we believe in the universal and unbounded goodness of
God, that a man may go on as he please. So long as a Being of infinite
wisdom is enthroned in the heavens and governs the universe, so long
he can never fail to measure out to every offence its adequate
punishment, and has all the means at his disposal to bring it
unavoidably upon the head of every transgressor. He, who flatters
himself that he can sin with impunity, is ignorant of the government
of his God, and has never reflected upon human life in all its varied
lights and shades. Do you profess to be a Universalist, and yet treat
with irreverence the name of HIM who made you, and whom you
acknowledge to be a faithful Creator--an indulgent Father? Your
professions are nothing. "He that hath this hope in him purifieth
himself even as he is pure." That very breath by which he inflates the
lungs, can you breathe it back in blasphemies against his holy name,
which angels never pronounce but with veneration and awe? Choose, O
choose a good name, which can only be obtained by choosing a virtuous
course of conduct. However lightly you may treat your own station in
life, or however much you may disregard the dignity of your nature,
yet remember the station you hold, however obscure, is stamped with
responsibility. You are surrounded by a generation of youth, among
whom are your own children, ready to imitate your example. Do you wish
them well! Then guard your heart and life by setting a reasonable
value on a good name, and remember you cannot move without touching
some string that may vibrate long after your head rests on its cold
pillow of earth.
SERMON XIII
"A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving
favor rather than silver and gold." Prov. xxii:1.
In this discourse we shall more fully show why "a good name is rather
to be chosen than great riches."
Though wealth is desirable, and in many instances conducive to human
happiness, because it puts it in our power to relieve the wants and
distresses of our fellow creatures, yet it does not possess the charm
to convey unbroken peace or solid joy to any bosom. The value, of
anything within the range of human action, is to be estimated by its
usefulness in promoting the happiness of man. That, which pours the
most numerous and refined enjoyments into the soul, is to be
considered of the greatest worth; and that, which has a tendency to
bring upon us the most alarming miseries, misfortunes and woes, is of
course the most worthless. The one is to be fondly chosen and pursued
in proportion to its worth in administering to our enjoyments, and the
other is to be avoided in proportion to its unhappy effects in
multiplying our sorrows. This being an undeniable fact, the
superlative value of a good name, procured by a virtuous course of
conduct, appears, at once, to transcend all other considerations: A
pure unsullied conscience before heaven is the most permanent bliss
that a rational being can enjoy, and is of that enduring nature which
no earthly power or misfortune can destroy. It supports us in the hour
of adversity and trial; it comforts us in the dark hour of sorrow; it
remains unmoved amids the storms of life, and lights up the smile of
satisfaction on the lips of the dying.
Nor is this all. It affords us other unruffled streams of unmingled
felicity in the common intercourse of life. The approbation of the
wise and the good, the confidence and esteem of our friends and
associates, and the good opinion even of the vicious, are
considerations of no ordinary moment. They awaken emotions in the
heart of the most pleasing gratification, and open in the soul all the
avenues of heaven-born felicity, imparting that peace, which this
world can neither give nor take away. But as it respects _wealth_, we
would remark, that though it may communicate happiness by enabling us
to relieve the wants of our fellow creatures, and afford us many joys
in the indulgence of our benevolence, yet it cannot of itself
communicate happiness, but virtue can. A wicked and unprincipled man
is wretched, though he roll in all the wealth and splendors that earth
can give. He feels in his bosom a _burning flame_, that all the
streams of wealth can never quench, and a _craving desire_, that
nought on earth can gratify. If his "great riches" afford him any
enjoyments, yet these are by no means permanent and lasting. The
desolating flame may lay them in ruins--the storms on the ocean may
sink them in its waves--the famine or blighting mildew may wither them
forever, and leave him stript of all his fancied joys. But nothing of
this can happen to virtue. That remains forever unharmed amidst the
shocks of earth. A good name is, therefore, of inconceivably more
value than riches and rather to be chosen than silver and gold.
We are formed for society. God in beginning said, "it is not good that
man should be alone." This being a fact, which all past experience,
and the history of our whole race demonstrate, it is, therefore,
equally true, that our dearest enjoyments flow from the social
affections and from a sincere cultivation of the social intercourse of
life. There is, perhaps, not a human being in existence, who would
accept of all the wealth of the Indies on the condition that he should
not be respected by a single individual on earth. This circumstance
shows us, in noonday light, the superior value of a good name above
all the glittering appendages of wealth. Every man is beloved and
esteemed in proportion to his goodness and usefulness in the world,
particularly by those with whom he associate in life. If then to _love
and be beloved_ depend on our conduct in the world, and if at the same
time, our happiness is derived from the exercise of reciprocal
affection, we see the importance of pitching upon that course of life,
which alone can secure those solid pleasures resulting from a well
spent life.
Too many persons suppose, they can be happy in sin; yes, even in
criminal indulgence. But that transgressor was never yet found, who
could point to a single wicked act in his life, the remembrance of
which ever imparted one solitary gleam of joy to his heart. They may
fancy there is happiness in sin; but here is the deception. It is
immaterial what some may preach about _the pleasures of sin_, and _the
satisfaction the transgressor often takes in a wicked course_, yet all
this amounts to nothing so long as the voice of heaven declares,
"THERE IS NO PEACE, SAITH MY GOD, TO THE WICKED." Infinite wisdom
_must know_, and infinite wisdom, _has given_ the decision, and that
decision is stamped with immortality, and from it there is no appeal.
If we impress the sinner with the idea that he is not punished and
rewarded _here_, but that the whole is to be settled in the future
world, then we, in the same proportion, weaken the force of virtue and
_strengthen_ the cause of vice. And this is one obvious reason, why
men continue in sin, as long as they dare, expecting at some future
day to repent and escape _all punishment_. They go on from day to day,
and from year to year, with all the thunders of endless and immortal
pain sounded in their ears, and even believing it true, yet continue
to indulge in sin. Would they run such an awful risk, unless, by a
certain course of education, they had been made to believe that there
was happiness in transgression? No. If they believed that sin had
nought to impart but misery, they would abandon it for its _own sake_;
because happiness is the object of all men. They have, therefore, by
some means or other, been led to the strange infatuation, that sin
possesses some secret charm to communicate that happiness to the soul,
for which every bosom throbs. This fancied happiness, they vainly
imagine, they can obtain by wallowing in the dark waters of iniquity,
be happy _here_, then repent at last, and be happy _hereafter_. As
they pass along in their wretched career, expecting every moment to
grasp the fancied pleasure, yet the fond, anticipated phantom flies
from their embrace and leaves them in the ruin of their joy. Though
disappointed again and again, yet firmly believing that there is
happiness in sin, they again push on, and thus far attribute their
want of success to some miscalculation. Insensible of the nature of
sin, blinded and self-deceived, they go on in pursuit of pleasure,
while golden dreams of false felicity fire their imaginations, till at
last, age places them on the verge of the grave; their object no
nearer attained than it was the day they set out, while habit has
fixed them in a course, that has yielded them nothing but sorrow and
pain, and vanity and vexation of spirit. Stung with remorse, and
pierced through with many sorrows, they breathe a repentance, which,
the nature of their condition, forces upon them, are perhaps
pronounced _converted_, and they sink into the darkness of death!
Their names, covered with infamy, are soon blotted from the
remembrance of the living!
We observed, a moment ago, that the idea, of holding up a retribution
in the future world, weakens the force of virtue, and strengthens the
cause of vice. This has, perhaps, been abundantly shown in the
arguments already offered as being manifest in the daily conduct of
men; yet we will, in a word, bring the subject plainly before you. To
persuade a sinner that he is to be punished in the _future_ world for
his sins in _this_, is plainly saying that sin has many pleasures and
conveniences _here_, and so far as it failed of rendering him his due
desert, the balance is to be made up in another state of being.
Because the balance of punishment due him _there_, is to make up the
_deficiency_ of punishment, which sin did not pay him here. And
certainly, so far as sin did not pay him _here_, he must have been
happy in its commission. And the _expectation_, that he should be
happy in it _here_, was the _very cause_ that induced him to continue
in transgression, with the expectation of repenting and escaping
punishment _hereafter_. Thus he flattered himself, that he could sin
with impunity, and escape its punishment in this world and the world
to come.
And to satisfy a man that he is to be rewarded in the _future_ world
for his righteousness in _this_ but persuading him, that virtue is
attended with misery, and that so far as it failed to reward _here_,
the balance is to be made up _hereafter_. Because the balance of
happiness due to him _there_, is to make up the deficiency of
happiness which virtue did not pay him _here_. And so far as virtue
did not pay him here, must have been miserable in its practice. And
the impression that sin is productive of many enjoyments, and that
righteousness is attended with misery, has a tendency to make him
choose the _former_ and reject the _latter_, and trust to a future
repentance.
We often hear it proclaimed by those, who profess to be the guardians
of the public morals, that the righteous have a hard course in warring
against the corruptions of their heart, in the service of God, while
the sinner goes on unconcerned and easy in the pleasures of sin. In
doing this they defeat the very object, they are striving to obtain,
which is the _conversion_ of the sinner. These very impressions are
one obvious reason why so many continue in sin and reject the path of
righteousness and peace, which alone conducts to a good name, that is
of more worth than great riches, and more durable than silver and
gold.
As then there is no happiness in vice, as all its allurements are
deceptive and vain, how important that we should shun it, and pursue
that bright path of virtue and peace, which will lead to the
invaluable possession of a good name. Engaging in the cultivation of
all the better affections of the heart, we shall by habit so refine
our natures, that "loving favor" will take entire possession of our
minds, and mould them into the spotless image of heaven. _This_ loving
favor is rather to be chosen than silver and gold, for these will
corrupt, and at last crumble into dust, while _this_ shall survive the
ruins of death, and flourish in those peaceful realms, where our
felicity will be unbroken and perpetual.
Flatter not yourselves with the vain hope, that there is one solitary
thrill of joy in the indulgence of sin. He, who indulges in
dissipation and vice--he, who slanders his neighbor, who wrongs his
fellow men, or even utters one oath against the unsullied name of his
Maker, is a most profound unbeliever in the sentiment we proclaim. He,
who possesses a hope so full of immortality as to believe, that God
will finally save from sin, and bless him and all his fellow men, will
cleanse his hands and wash them in innocency. Tell me not that you are
a Universalist, when the very oceans of God's goodness do not affect
your heart, nor lead you to repentance. He, who is satisfied that
there is no happiness in sin, will abandon it. He, who deliberately
pursues a vicious course, expects to find happiness in it; and it is
impossible that he believes in God's _universal grace_. It is
absolutely impossible in the very nature of things, that he can be a
UNIVERSALIST. A salvation from sin is the doctrine of the Bible, and
holiness itself heaven. He, who believes such a salvation to be
happifying, will abandon sin, as the enemy of his peace, and seek
righteousness, which alone can afford him tranquillity. Jesus says,
the kingdom of heaven is righteousness and peace. If you wish to
satisfy men that you _really_ desire the whole human family to meet in
heaven, then show your sincerity by being righteous yourself.
A sincere Universalist believes sin to be the cause of many mental
woes that darken the world, and the principal cause of the greater
proportion of sufferings that fall to the lot of man. He believes that
a virtuous course of conduct, guided by the burning lamp of
revelation, leads to those joys that time cannot sully, nor the hand
of death extinguish. A conviction of this truth leads him to hate sin,
to forsake its dark dominions, and enter those fields of felicity,
where the brilliant beams of virtue shed a cloudless day. Here he
walks and enjoys an antepast of heaven. Its paths are the paths of
peace. All its ways are pleasantness and delight. Its crystal streams
are pure and sweet; its breezes healthful and its fruits delicious. He
believes God to be the father of his creatures--that he governs the
world in wisdom and mercy--that he created with a benevolent
intention, and that he is not disappointed in the workmanship of his
hand, but presides over just such a world as he designed it should be.
He believes that this order of things, though dark to him, is designed
for good, and shall terminate in the happiness of all. He believes
that all rewards and punishments are instituted for some benevolent
end, and that this end, will be brought about in such a manner as to
manifest to all, the divine perfections in the clearest light, and
shed unfading glory on the supreme Majesty of heaven. This faith gives
him confidence in his heavenly Father, and fills his heart with
gratitude and veneration. It leads him to look upon the human family
as his brethren, and to do them good. He seeks their happiness, and
thus chooses and merits a good name.
At peace with all mankind, his mind irradiated with light and enlarged
with the most noble conceptions of the divine character and
government, bout, he at length lies down in peace and composure upon
his dying bed, and gently breathes out--
"Farewell conflicting joys and fears,
Where light and shade alternatedwell;
A brighter, purer scene appears,
Farewell inconstant world, farewell!"
He sweetly sinks to rest, and leaves behind him a good name, that can
never die, and an example, for others to imitate, worth more than
fortunes in gold. His memory shall survive, when the tomb, on which it
is inscribed, shall crumble into ruin, and his example be a light to
future generations.
SERMON XIV
"Be of the same mind one towards another. Mind not high things, but
condescend to men of low estate." Romans xii. 16.
That mysterious and incomprehensible Being, who gave us existence, has
sown in our nature the seeds of mortality. By the irresistible _laws_
of his empire which he has, from the beginning, _established_ for the
regulating of the animal creation, we are soon to be carried to the
silent grave. All, without exception, are formed out of equal clay,
are subject to the same hopes and fears, joys and sorrows while on
earth, and are all destined to the slumbers of death, where we must
exhibit the emblem of perfect equality. Immaterial how far one may
exalt himself above another while passing through this momentary
existence--immaterial how far he may rise above his fellow men in the
scale of intellect and refinement--immaterial how exalted the station
he may have obtained--how brilliant the powers of his imagination may
sparkle, or how soft and sublime his eloquence may flow--immaterial
how nobly soever he may dazzle in the sunny smiles of fortune, or how
secure he may repose in the fond embrace of friends, yet it is a
melancholy truth, that he must, sooner or later, resign the whole, let
go his eager grasp on all those pleasing joys, bid an everlasting
farewell to those exalted splendors, and descend to the dark shades of
death, where the rich and the poor, the servant and his master, the
oppressor and oppressed, all lie mouldering and forgotten together.
This solemn consideration, it seems, when forcibly presented to the
mind, ought to be sufficient to check the levity of man--to soften his
bosom to his fellow beings--to moderate his desire in pursuit of
wealth and greatness, and completely to unarm him of all hostile
feelings towards those with whom he associates, and with whom he is so
soon to lie down in death. This, it seems, is sufficient to make us of
one heart and mind in promoting each other's happiness and welfare in
the world, and to make us obedient to the exhortation of the text, not
to mind the high things of earth, but to condescend to men of low
estate. But such is the strange infatuation of man, that he acts as
though his residence on earth were eternal, and as though the whole
errand of life consisted in providing for an eternity below.
We are capacitated for enjoyments of a higher and more perfect nature
than we can attain to on earth. Of this we are sensible from the fact,
that there is no condition in which we can be placed here below, that
is so adapted to our nature as to afford us permanent satisfaction.
Uninterrupted felicity is not a plant of earth. It cannot flourish in
a clime where the blighting storms of malice and envy wither all that
is fair, sweet and blooming. And though we are sensible that such is
the fact, yet, deaf to all that experience, example and observation
conspire to teach, we are exerting all our powers to obtain it here
below, where the united voice of earth and heaven assure us it cannot
be found. We cast our eyes around us, and see the human family in
every varied condition of life from the beggar on his bed of straw, up
to the king in regal splendor on the throne of nations; but in
defiance of this immense distinction, they alike breathe the deep sigh
of discontent. We also cast our eyes over the historic page, and scan
the general fate of man in by-gone ages; but here too, we learn the
same lesson, that no _external condition_ has ever added to the
rational enjoyments of the soul. We see the same uneasiness, the same
longing desires pervade every bosom. Our object is happiness; and
amidst all the various pursuits of life, what is the reason so many
fail of obtaining it? The answer is readily given. We make riches,
honors and the high things of the earth our chief pursuit and aim, and
fondly imagine that our happiness lies in them. Here is our error. Man
is destined to a world of mental felicity, where those external
pursuits of fortune will be unknown; where all that he here pursues
with so much eagerness will be removed from his desires forever, and
where all the channels of the soul will be opened to the true fountain
of felicity and completely ravished in its flowing streams. In order,
therefore, to enjoy that happiness, in this momentary state of being,
which God has placed within our reach, we must make mental felcity the
main pursuit of life, and the riches and conveniences of earth our
secondary pursuit. We must completely reverse our conduct in order to
obtain those rational enjoyments, that flow from the virtuous habits
and dispositions. We must, as Jesus says, "seek first the kingdom of
God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto
you."
Food and raiment are all that we can enjoy of the external comforts of
life. All other enjoyments must be of a mental character. Secure first
your mental joys, a pure unsullied conscience in the punctual
discharge of all your social and relative duties to mankind, and be
you rich or poor, you will be happy. The righteous discharge of this
first great duty will not embarrass you in obtaining the comforts of
life, but on the contrary aid you. A peaceable and honest course of
conduct towards others--a condescension to men of low estate--a due
respect for the opinions and rights of others, will endear you to all,
and not only foster in your bosom the seeds of peace and contentment,
but will conduct you in the surest path to wealth and honor. The
mental powers of the soul are all that exalt our capacity for
happiness above a brutal creation. And if our chief happiness lies in
gold, which can only minister to our animal wants, then the brutes can
vie with us in all the solid enjoyments of life. In fact, they can go
beyond us. They graze the turf, and drink the unmingled stream free
from anxiety and care. While man, the lord of this lower creation, has
to toil and gain the same enjoyments by the sweat of his brow.
But what a groveling thought to bring our exalted natures and
capacities for happiness down to a level with theirs! On this
principle, he who is the most wealthy is the most happy. Virtue is but
a name, and all the exalted principles of noble and godlike action are
but the reveries of fancy, and to practice them is but a visionary
dream. No, my friends, wealth supplies our animal wants, and if virtue
be wanting, it leaves our minds in wretched starvation and our
brightest joys in night! Happiness is equally attainable by the rich
and the poor. It consists in a union of heart among mankind, in a
union of action in the pursuit of virtue, and in the kindlier feelings
of our nature. In fine, it consists in a willing obedience to the
exhortations of our text: "Be of the same mind one towards another.
Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate."
To each of these exhortations, we will give a candid and solemn
consideration. In this sermon, we will attend to the exhortation--"_Be
of the same mind one towards another_." By this, we are not to
understand that men are to be of one heart and mind in pursuing the
same occupation or profession in life, but of one mind in endeavoring
to promote each other's happiness in every condition in which they may
be placed--of one mind in the practice of christian duty, and in the
exercise of charity. Selfishness produces many jarring interests among
mankind, bursts the bands of brotherhood asunder, and weakens the
strength of that nation, society or family among which it exists, and
in proportion to the opposition it produces among its individual
members. "United, we stand, divided we fall," is a maxim full of
wisdom, and is not only applicable to nations, but to communities,
societies, and even to families.
A family in discord is a sight over which angels might weep, but when
united in one heart and mind, it is a picture over which heaven
smiles. The fond and doating father, the tender and affectionate
mother, and obedient children, all united in peace and harmony,
present to the mind those pleasing conceptions of the reconciled
family immortal, that cause us to feel all the burning emotions of
which the heart is susceptible. In such society as this, are enjoyed
the happiest moments of our existence--moments unmingled with the
bitterness of regret, unsullied by the corroding hand of time,
unruffled by the perplexing cares of life, and undarkened by the
tempests of indisposition. Is such a father absent--far distant on
land or ocean where duty calls? The heart of his family goes with him,
and he too leaves his heart lingering behind. His companion counts the
moments as they slowly roll--is faithful to his interests--makes
preparation to receive him--sighs for his safe return, and welcomes
him home with those emotions of ecstatic joy, that cause him to forget
his past labors, toils and dangers. Is he stretched upon a bed of
pain? Unwearied she sits beside him, hushes every sound that might
interrupt his broken slumbers, and watches every breath he draws. She
whispers to him the soothing words of encouragement and consolation--
gives neither sleep to her eyes, nor slumber to her eyelids, but is
the guardian angel of his pillow.
When all human aid has failed--when the pulse beats faint--the once
sparkling eye grows dim and rolls faint and languid in its socket, she
stands mute and pensive at his dying bed. Her whole soul is absorbed
in the interest of the scene and rent with agony. She wipes the cold
sweat of death from his face, gazes with exquisite anxiety till the
last dreadlful struggle is over, and breathes to the throne of mercy
the prayer of affection for the repose of his spirit. And so feels the
kind husband over his companion, indulgent parents over their dying
children, and dutiful children over their parents.
But it is a lamentable circumstance, a painful consideration, that
there are too many unhappy divisions in the domestic circle. Yes, it
is a painful consideration indeed, that those, who are so nearly
allied to each other, should, even for one moment, indulge in feelings
of acrimony. It is but a short time, at longest, that we can be
together, and such unhappy divisions must render the parting scene, at
the bed of death, doubly painful. Thoughtless, giddy or oppressive as
we may be to those, who are near to us in life, while blooming health
is their lot, yet righteous heaven has so constituted our natures,
that the most painful reminiscences will force themselves upon the
mind when the injured object, to whom we have given distress, is upon
a dying bed. Every unkind word, every harsh treatment, the whole dark
picture our ungenerous conduct will present itself to the imagination
in all its naked woes. And be that dying one a parent, a companion, a
child, their very silence, as thy turn upon us a languid eye fading in
death, will harrow up every painful recollection. O! if we wish to
tread upon their graves with an unsullied conscience before heaven,
let us be of one mind, live in peace, and discharge, to them, those
sacred duties of kindness and affection, which the ties, that bind
them to us, enjoin.
This world is too much made up of appearances. Many a family, which we
suppose to be the abode of union, peace and joy, is distracted with
the voice of discord, and is dragging out an existence in secret,
concealed grief. Many a husband and wife, who, we suppose, are of one
heart and mind and passing their days in the sunshine of peace and
love, are torn by secret broils, and whose mansion stands overcast
with the dark shadows of discontent and misery. Little do we dream of
the secret woes, that rend many a worthy heart concealed behind a
smiling countenance. The husband is perhaps stern and unrelenting--and
will, in no case, yield to the wishes of his companion. Discouragement
and anger may perhaps at times take possession of the heart. In such a
case, instead of treating her kindly, he rouses into a passion
himself, and a private contention ensues. This is a wretched practice,
for instead of extinguishing the flame, it adds fuel to the fire, and
consumes all that is fair and lovely in matrimonial and domestic life.
Much misery might be avoided by observing the following rule. When the
one is melancholy, let the other be rationally cheerful, and endeavor
to divert the attention from the subject that causes gloom. When the
one is angry, let the other keep a perfect equanimity and a benign
composure of countenance. Then watch the opportunity, and in some
future day, when the offended one is most cheerful and kind, then
bring forward the subject, and expostulate most feelingly on the
impropriety of indulging a wrathful spirit to a bosom friend. Speak of
the shortness of life and point each other to the silent grave and to
the parting scene, and vengeance, anger and discontent will soon be
strangers in your habitation. Your dear children, from the very
dawnings of intellect, will take the example, grow up in harmony and
affection with perfect rule over their spirit, and thus you will not
only secure your own domestic peace, but will bequeath those sacred
enjoyments to your posterity--enjoyments that infinitely outweigh a
thousand fortunes in gold! Let others toil to leave their offspring
wealth, we ours the joy to bequeath them this. We ask no more.
We are not only to be of the same mind one towards another in our
families but in our religious societies. Here all selfishness ought to
be discarded, all private interests sacrificed, all hostile feelings
subdued, and the whole offered on the altar of genuine good, and thus
the harmony, peace and prosperity of the whole body consulted. The
permanent security of these depend on the individual conduct of the
members. By uniting ourselves in a religious body, we express the
necessity of living a sober life, maintaining a union of heart and a
respectful conversation towards all with whom we associate in life.
Let us not dream that heaven will prosper us above others, if we also
blaspheme the name of Him who gave us life and sustains us in being.
Let us lay aside every evil, that has a tendency to disunion, and live
soberly and righteously in the world, doing good unto all as we have
opportunity.
[The reader will find this subject continued in our next number.]
SERMON XV
"Be of the same mind one towards another. Mind not high things, but
condescend to men of low estate." Romans xii. 16.
Having from the commencement of these sermons confined myself to
prescribed limits, I had no room in my last to pursue the first
division of my subject so far as I intended. I will therefore here
resume it.
"_Be of the same mind, one towards another_." We have thus far
confined our attention to family union, and have just glanced at the
necessity of union in religious societies. This is a day of inquiry
and light when the most keen and searching glances are sent into every
creed. Many denominations that have walked together heart and hand for
many years, each repelling the assaults of those, who attempted to
extinguish their ism, have at length been separated by internal
divisions and formed two opposing parties, even though they once
believed the _same creed_, and advocated the _same church government_.
The present is a trying period, and it stands us in hand to endeavor
to "keep the unity of the spirit in the bonds of peace." Let us not
dream of religious union, and prosperity, unless we allow each one to
think for himself in matters of scripture interpretation. Nor let us
dream of prosperity, if there is among us more theory than practice.
It is true, Universalists are as moral as any other denomination; but
this is not enough. They ought in _kindness and benevolence_ to
transcend other denominations as far, as their doctrine of universal
beniguity transcends the doctrine of unending wo.
Neither are we to dream of religious union and prosperity, unless we
raise our united voices against those who revel over the flowing cup
of intoxication, which pours so many streams of misery and disunion on
the world. Let no one fancy to himself that the drunkards toast,
"_here is health and success to us_!" has any charm to avert his ruin,
or to stay the judgment of heaven. The more frequently that toast has
been uttered, while smiling upon the cup of inebriation held in a
trembling hand, the farther have health and success been removed from
the deluded victim, and the more swift and deadly have misfortune,
sickness, distress and pain fallen upon him. Intemperance is a demon,
that sows the seeds of discord among all ranks, orders and conditions
of men. Beneath his crushing hand creation reels, and fortunes fall in
broken ruins! And peace the sweet angel of mercy flies these turbulent
skies, and lights on realms unmoved by the hand of commotion and
discord. At his approach, blooming health is driven back from its warm
abode and the fairest flowers of domestic love, hope and joy are
withered forever! Let this frightful foe of discord and confusion be
barred from our sacred heritage and peace be within our borders.
We are not only to be of one heart and one mind in resisting profanity
and intemperance, but in resisting tale-bearing. Let us not speak evil
of others. This is beneath the character of a gentleman, and certainly
beneath that of a christian: consequently no gentleman or christian
will indulge in it. It is the employment of _low, ill-bred minds_, and
therefore none will engage in it, but those who are destitute of
reputation themselves. This vice has no excuse, and must therefore
originate in the _basest_ motives. They intend to bring their fellow
creatures down to a level with themselves, and thus lessen them in the
good opinion of others, and destroy their peace. And though they may
effect their object so far as the good opinion of the virtuous is
calculated to give us happiness, yet the approbation of a good
conscience, arising from the conviction of innocency, can never he
rooted from the heart of its possessor by all the calumnies of earth.
_This_ God has secured in all the secret chambers of the soul, and
forever barred it against the breath of slander. There he takes up his
abode and holds communion with the contrite spirit. The real merits
and consolations of virtue are secured to its possessor by the
impartial legislation of righteous heaven. Intemperance in its
effects, compared with slandering, is harmless; at least so far as
producing discord is concerned. The peaceable drunkard, compared even
with that church member, who is continually sowing discord in society,
is an angel. Slander is but the infectious breath or a foul spirit,
that poisons the healthful atmosphere wherever it is breathed, and
breaks the quiet repose--the calm serenity of neighborhoods and
families, as it were, with an electric shock.
Political slander is as infectious and destructive to the harmony of
the nation, and the security of our government, as private slander is
to neighborhoods and societies. No sooner is a candidate held up for
office, than all the party dogs of war on both sides are let loose and
set to barking. Immaterial how fair may be his character, how
inviolable his veracity, or how unsullied his honor and integrity,
they will make him appear to be an outcast from society, covered with
the darkest blots of infamy. Immaterial how great may be his
qualifications, or how splendid his talents, they will, by that
species of logic for which slanderers are famous, prove him to be a
fool. These dissentions do not expire when the candidates are elected.
They are carried to the capitol of our common country and blown out in
more than wordy war. There, we have reason to fear, the volcano is
gathering, and that the day is not distant when it will disembogue in
more than the thunders of Etna, wrap our political heavens in a blaze,
and melt its elements with fervent heat. Anarchy and confusion will
seize the reins of government, and drive us to the oblivious shades of
departed empires. If we continue to go on in our political slanders as
a nation, losing sight of our common welfare, and sacrificing the
_general_, on the altar of _partial_ interest, the day of our ruin is
not remote. Its awful morn, has, already, it seems, dawned with
streaks of malignant _light_, and (like ill fated Troy) ominous of the
purple streams, the crimson blood, that watered the Trojan plains
where mighty Sarpedon fell, where Hector lay slain by the sword of
Achilles. Heaven forbid that our national sun, that rose so fair,
should go down in blood, and shroud our temple of Liberty in
everlasting night! To avert such a catastrophe let us reform, and do
our duty as individuals. The safety of any body politic depends on the
conduct of the individuals that compose it. And God grant that these
dissentions may cease, that political peace and harmony may become
perfect, and our government may stand immoveable on its basis, like
the rock that remains unshaken by the furious storms that agitate the
ocean. May we, as a nation, be of one mind in resisting every species
of immorality, in studying the happiness of our fellow creatures--of
one mind in obtaining a knowledge of the character of our Creator, in
studying his parental and benign government, and his divine attributes
and unchanging perfections--and be of one mind in acquainting
ourselves with his beautiful works that swarm around us and afford us
so many rational delights. Let us store our minds with useful
knowledge, practice the precept of Christ, labor for mental
emancipation, and contentment and peace will be our lot.
In the great duties of religious obligation, let us be of one heart
and mind. Let us live like brethren, not only among ourselves, but
among other denominations. It is not long that we are to be together.
We are fading like the flower of the field, and ought to bear in mind
that death will soon lay our heads equally low in the dust, and the
worms shall cover us. We glitter for a moment like the bubbles borne
on the bosom of the ocean; they break and mingle again with the parent
fountain. We toil and heap up wealth, pass like empty shadows over the
plain and vanish forever! Generations, that covered the earth, are
gone, and unremembered by the living. They strove to gather wealth and
honors--they met each other in the hostile field--rolled garments in
blood, bedewed the widow's and the orphan's cheek with tears, and
filled their peaceful habitations with the voice of lamentation and
wo. Thousands lived in clamors and discord, and one seemed destined to
be oppressed by another. But the fields of war are still, the noise of
battle is hushed, and the voice of lamentation and wo is heard no
more! Hark! All is still as the chambers of eternal silence! Where are
they? In the shades of death! Kind reader, this is the doom of us all!
And so it will soon be said of you and me! Let us then be of one mind.
Let us do good by visiting the fatherless in their affliction and
keeping ourselves unspotted from the world.
We have now considered the fact, that real felicity consists in mental
pleasures and gratifications, and that these alone exalt our nature
and capacity for happiness above the brute creation, and have directed
your attention to virtue and peace as the only condition in which that
happiness can be found. We have brought to view the propriety of being
of one heart and mind towards each other in our families, in our
religious societies, in the community and in our national concerns. We
have set before you the evils resulting from intemperance, and from
private and political slander.
We will now, in the _second_ place, take into consideration the
_negative and affirmative_ consequence resulting from them on the
morals of the community so far as the causes leading to _intemperance
and crime_ are concerned.
Many discourses have been delivered, during the three past years, on
intemperance pointing out its ruinous effects on the morals of
society, while but few discourses have been put into the hands of the
public pointing out the causes leading to this destructful vice, and
those few have not in my humble opinion traced it to its _true
source_. Much has also been said about intemperance leading to crime,
which in many respects is true. But all this is not coming to the
fountainhead from whence these turbid streams flow. We will take the
liberty to differ on this subject with all that has as yet fallen upon
our ear, and independently give our opinion, as to what we conceive to
be the original cause from whence these baneful effects spring. We
will endeavor to show that _the poorer class of society are driven to
intemperance and crime by the conduct of the rich (those whom the
fashion of the world calls respectable and great) yes, by the conduct
of too many, who are even attempting to reform them_.
First, then we would remark; that man is a creature of want, which is
the first cause of all action. Had he no wants, he would never seek to
supply them, either by _honorable or dishonorable_ means. To this
self-evident proposition, all will without hesitation assent. We will
now attend to our general character as a nation, for it will be
admitted, on all hands, that actions speak louder than words. As a
nation, we enjoy much liberty; but public opinion, either of a
political or religious character, may become so popular as to erect
itself into an engine of oppression, and so formidable, that many an
honest man dare not dissent, nor independently raise his voice in
defence of what he believes to be truth, but will tamely submit
himself a slave to the opinions and doctrines of others. This is
probably the case with the greater proportion of the American people.
Again, though we profess to value every man by his integrity or moral
worth, yet it is a fact, that in conduct we make a man's reputation
depend principally on his purse. I yield the point without controversy
that in books, in news-papers, in preaching and in words, we profess
to esteem a man and rate his standing in society by his integrity. But
what do words and books, and news-papers and preaching amount to,
while mankind in conduct practice right the contrary of all these
ostentatious professions? They amount to nothing but hypocrisy, or
ridiculous nonsense. Does a man's standing, in these days, depend on
his conduct! By no means. Let us introduce an example. Suppose there
were two individuals of equal talents, and both possessed an equal
education. Their moral characters are the same. But one of them falls
in possession of an immense fortune, while the other is poor indeed.
Now will public conduct place them on an equality? No. Will they both
move in the same social circle? No. Will they both be treated with the
same politeness and attention by their neighbors? No. Should they
propose a public measure for the good of the town, would the one be
listened to, with the same attention as the other? No. Would he
possess so much influence in society? No. Well, what can be assigned
as the reason, why this rich man stands so far above the other in the
public opinion? Ans. It is because his character is measured by the
length of his purse, and the weight of his influence is determined by
the weight of his gold.
It is not a thing of rare occurrence, that the rich are thus
distinguished from the poor, but it is a fact so notorious that it has
long since passed into a proverb. This being the course of conduct
which men practice, the impression has therefore become general that
reputation, influence and power depend on wealth. Hence the great
inquiry, uppermost in every mind, is "how shall I get rich, so that I
may stand high in the estimation of men, and exert a powerful
influence in society, and be numbered among those who move in the
higher circles of life?" Concluded in our next.
SERMON XVI
"Be of the same mind one towards another. Mind not high things, but
condescend to men of low estate." Romans xii:12.
Even a man, who is in many things unprincipled, if he is at the same
time wealthy, takes a station in the higher circles of life, where the
poor, but honest man, would not be admitted. This course of conduct is
not only practised by what are called men of the world, but by
professors of religion of about all denominations, by both preachers
and people.
The middling, and the poor class, seeing no encouragement, or even
possibility, of rising so as to associate with those, who move in the
higher circles of life, by any virtuous conduct they may pursue, and
sensible that wealth alone possesses the charm to give them virtue and
notice in the world, they are thus driven to various, dishonorable
means to obtain it. Multitudes are driven to the crimes of
counterfeiting, theft, and even robbery and piracy. They commence
their wretched course, with the intention to abandon it, as soon as a
competent fortune is obtained. Other thousands are driven to gambling;
and even those, who are called respectable, take every possible
advantage in trade and bargaining. Their pursuits are various, but
their object is one and the same--viz: to gain wealth, so that they
may obtain a high standing and influence in society. Thousands thus
driven into crime, are detected, lose their reputation, and abandon
themselves to intemperance. Their evil example has a pernicious
influence on the morals of those children and youth, who may, by
various circumstances, be placed in their society, and thus the
pestilence, in all its frightful horrors, gathers force and spreads.
There are thousands of virtuous persons, whom poverty excludes from
the higher ranks of life, who are doomed to seek the converse of
those, who are in a measure corrupted, and, by associating with them
on public occasions, often in taverns and alehouses, are soon involved
in habits of dissipation and obscenity. Man is a social being, loves
society, and, rather than spend his life in solitude, will seek the
converse of the vicious.
If we would obey the injunction of the text--"Mind not high things,
but condescend to men of low estate," these evils would be in a great
measure removed. If we, as a community, would strip away the fancied
reputation, which wealth attaches to the human character, and,
independent of property, place every man on an equal footing,
according to their moral and mental worth, and let their power and
influence in society, be according to their conduct, it would give a
noble tone to public feeling and moral grandeur.
By the "_high things_," mentioned in our text, we are to understand
that vain popularity which one man wishes to enjoy above another, in a
religious or political sense. It is one of the ruling passions of the
day, in which we live, to be considered of high standing among our
fellow creatures, and to possess a larger share of influence over the
minds and opinions of men, than those whom we consider our rivals.
Those, who possess this desire, and at the same time feel a haughty
spirit towards those, whom they consider in the humble walks of life,
are certainly not the men, who are entitled to our esteem, nor are
they to be looked up to, as examples of magnanimity. So far from
possessing true greatness of soul, or being entitled to veneration,
they are certainly below those whom they affect to despise. A truly
great and good man has no desire to dazzle, but to be useful in the
world. He sees the miseries under which thousands groan, and desires
to relieve them, but with no wish to be considered great for
discharging those duties of kindness and humanity. But it is a
lamentable consideration, that too many, in performing those acts of
mercy, seek to stand on an eminence above the crowd they wish to
benefit, and proclaim their intentions to men through the loud
sounding trumpet of fame, but, at the same time, will not even stoop
to converse with the very beings they profess such a warm desire to
aid. Every thing must be done on a high scale, and in the manner they
dictate, otherwise they have no wish it should be done at all. It is a
matter of regret, that this spirit, so desirous of minding high
things, has been carried into the sanctuary--in fact, has been carried
to the solemn gates of death--yes, even into eternity.
We have witnessed what are commonly called "revivals of religion," in
which two or more denominations united, apparently, heart and hand.
They publicly declared, that as they saw their fellow creatures
exposed to the burning wrath of God in the future world, they had no
motive in view, but their conversion and escape from that awful doom--
that it was, to them, a matter of indifference with what church they
united themselves, provided, they would only repent and turn to God.
All this passed on well till the reformation ceased. The next thing,
to be determined, was, what doctrine do you believe, and what church
will you join? This was a trying point, and its settlement filled them
with animosity towards each other. And why? Because each desired the
honor of converting them to their faith, and of bringing them into
their church, or else, that they should not be converted at all.
Though this has been done by some, yet it is no evidence, that all
will do this, or even approve it. There are those, who, we believe,
are actuated by nobler motives than in the cause of truth, and who are
not aspiring to stand high, nor striving "who shall be greatest." One
denomination has labored to assume the entire honor of reforming the
public morals--has labored to become incorporated by an act of
Legislature into an American Temperance Society, and were unwilling to
admit Universalists and Unitarians to co-operate with them in this
work of reform. This is but aspiring after high things, instead of
manifesting the meek and lowly spirit of Christ.
But we would more particularly remark that, it is this very course of
conduct of any man, or class of men exalting themselves above others
in account of their _wealth, or external circumstances_, that
discourages the poor, who are not only called, but treated as the
lower order of society, and drives thousands of them to the
intoxicating cup, as a relief from the mortifications of poverty, and
drives other thousands into crime, as the only means to obtain that
wealth by the omnipotence of which, they alone can rise to eminence,
respectability, and influence among men. Preachers of the gospel, as
well as others, give sanction by their conduct to these false notions
of respectability and greatness. They will seek the society, and court
the favor of the rich in preference to the poor, even though the
_latter_ may exceed the _former_ in integrity and moral worth. This,
we say, is the most powerful incentive to drive men into a state of
encouragement, intemperance and crime. It is a fearful precipice on
which we stand, as a religious community. Instead of estimating a
man's standing by his virtuous principles, it is too much estimated by
his dollars.
So did not Jesus Christ our great example. He mingled with the lowest
class of society. He associated with, and visited most among those he
wished to reform, so that his meek, mild and heavenly example might
exert a salutary influence upon their hearts, and cast a restraint
upon their conduct. He was a friend to publicans and sinners, and ate
and drank with them. He went among them, as a physician, to give them
life and health, to conduct them by encouragement and persuasion to
the paths of righteousness and peace. His presence was not needed
among those who were whole. He was of course seldom found in their
society. He did not desire to rank with the rich, self-righteous
pharisee. So ought those, who profess to be the servants of Christ, to
go among them, who are most in need of their aid. "The servant is not
above his Master." They ought, therefore, to condescend to men of low
estate, and visit the abodes of poverty and want.
But instead of this, they stand aloof, even from the respectable,
because they are poor, and instead of visiting those, who indulge in
dissipation and vice, and trying to lead them to the paths of virtue
and peace, are heaping upon them the most opprobrious epithets. By
esteeming the rich and associating with them, they practice a course
of conduct, which has rooted the impression deep in every mind, that
to be esteemed, and to rank with them in the social circle, they must
be rich. This has driven many a virtuous man into crime, many into bad
company, and finally into discouragement and intoxication. This no one
can deny. What, we ask, is the reason, that there is so large a
proportion of the middle and lower class of society, compared with the
rich, who indulge in _crimes and intemperance_? Why is it when
misfortune falls upon the rich, that they, so often, resort to the
intoxicating draught? The mystery can only be unriddled in the
stubborn fact, that wealth, more than virtue, gives a man a reputation
in the world, and this destructive vice involves thousands in ruin.
If every man were assured that, be he _rich or poor_, he could
associate with those who are wealthy and respected, and move in the
higher ranks of life, if he only maintained his integrity, and that he
would be esteemed in proportion to his moral virtues and mental
acquirements, every man would be induced to merit a good name; and
their good opinion would operate as a constant check upon his conduct.
Every man, by early attention to his deportment, can become
respectable, but every man cannot become wealthy.
Did the rich esteem the poor, and admit them into their social circle
_solely_ on the ground of moral worth, there would be but little
danger of these poor ever forfeiting their standing, by plunging into
the floods of intemperance and crime. And did they reject from their
circle the rich, who were vicious until reformed--in fine, did they
only strip away from wealth its fancied charm, to make them either
respectable, or influential, did they confine it to its due limits, as
being only necessary to satisfy our animal wants, and did they with
one consent declare that an improved mind and virtuous worth should be
the only criterion by which men should take their stations in social
life, intemperance and crime would soon cease. Men would then be as
much engaged in striving to merit a fair reputation, as they are how
in striving to obtain wealth. It is, therefore, the conduct of the
great by falsely attaching character and influence to wealth, that is
driving their fellow creatures into crimes to obtain it, and other
thousands into discouragement and intemperance. From this charge
preachers are not exempt. They too respect, and visit the rich more
than the poor, and thus indirectly lend their influence to drive them
from virtuous life to a course of dissipation and crime. And when once
they get them there, then they wish to devise some _great means_ to
bring them back to the paths of sobriety and virtue. Do they endeavor
to effect this, by ceasing to mind high things, and by condescending
to men of low estate? No--but instead of going among them, and taking
this unhappy class of our fellow creatures by the hand, and leading
them by encouragement and persuasion to the paths of temperance and
reformation, they have, in substance, said, "stand by thyself, I am
holier than thou." They have minded high things, by placing themselves
on an elevation above them, and made them out to be worse than
murderers, thieves and robbers, by ascribing all the crimes, that are
committed, to the use of rum! This has discouraged and exasperated
many, and made them feel that reformation would be of no avail to
raise them to be the associates of those, who appeared so anxious to
reform them. Their language has, in substance, been--you must reform,
give us the credit, but must stand where you are in the lower circles
of life, obey our exhortations, and look up to us as your benefactors,
but you cannot expect to rank with us, because you have no cash to
introduce yourselves into our circles. And as all men desire society,
they have remained with their companions in iniquity.
For any class of society to take a station above others, and endeavor
to force men to abandon the cup by passing votes or enacting by-laws,
that no spirits shall be sold them, is but exciting their rage, and
causing the intemperate to drink the more out of revenge, and causing
those, that are already temperate, to increase the quantity as an act
of defiance. It is a fearful precipice on which we stand as a
religious community. Estimating a man's standing in society by his
immense wealth, or learned profession, rather than by his integrity
and virtue, is attended with the most dangerous circumstances, as we
have already noticed. Men cannot be reformed by force, nor by
declaiming what a low, mean, unworthy, degraded part of the human race
they are.
There is too much pride in our world. We ought to bear in mind that
death will soon lay our heads equally low in the dust, and "the worms
shall cover us!" O the folly of human pretensions to greatness! Let us
not mind high things, but condescend to men of low estate. By
preachers and people of all denominations obeying the exhortations of
our text, mankind would, in a great measure, be restrained from crime,
and certainly from being openly intemperate. If then, we sincerely
desire to reform them, and to hold a powerful check upon their
conduct, and prove ourselves the benefactors of our race, let us begin
the work, by adhering most scrupulously to our text, which exhorts us
to be of the same mind one towards another, to mind not high things,
but to condescend to men of low estate.
It is the duty of preachers, in particular, to be meek and lowly in
spirit--to be humble and watch over the moral maladies of mankind--to
break down the arrogant distinctions, which the fashions and riches of
the world have set up--to esteem men purely for their moral and
intellectual worth, independent of the gifts of fortune, and to visit
those, who are given to intemperance, and, by gentle persuasive
measures, endeavor to lead them to habits of sobriety. And when this
is effected, treat them according to that respect, which their virtues
merit. God is kind to the evil and to the unthankful, and ought we to
be unkind to them? Heaven forbid.
We have now set before you, what we conceive to be the _principal
cause_ leading to _intemperance, dishonesty, and crime_. True, there
may be some exceptions to this, but we are conscious, that it is the
conduct of those very men, who are declaiming against _intemperance
and crime_, that first drives their fellow creatures into those
deplorable haunts of vice. They do this _indirectly_, and perhaps
_innocently_. They do it by giving too much reputation and influence
to the wealthy class of the community, by paying too much homage and
respect to gold, and by withholding, from the virtuous poor, that
respect which their conduct merits. We cannot set this truth before
you in a more forcible light, than by relating, from memory, an
anecdote of Dr. Franklin, with which we will conclude. The rich
merchants and professional men in Philadelphia proposed to form
themselves into a social circle from which all _mechanics_ were to be
excluded. The paper, drawn up for the purpose, was presented to Dr.
Franklin for his signature. On examining its contents, he remarked
that he could not consent to unite his name inasmuch as by excluding
mechanics from their circle, they had excluded God Almighty, who was
the greatest mechanic in the universe!
SERMON XVII
"And be ye kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another,
even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Ephesians iv. 32.
A tender heart is the kind boon of heaven, and forgiveness is a virtue
too little exercised in the common intercourse of life. Men are too
apt to be in character Pharisees. They are too apt to love those that
love them, and hate their enemies. Retaliation is inconsistent with
the spirit of the gospel, and is a vice deeply to be stigmatized and
deprecated by all lovers of peace and morality. By retaliation, we are
to understand the injuring of another because he has injured us. This
spirit of revenge betrays a contracted mind in which the feelings of
compassion and forbearance never found a permanent abode. A man of a
peevish, irritable and revengeful temperament, is to be pitied,
instead of being injured in return. By retaliating the evil he may
have done, you involve yourself in the same condition of meanness, and
in your turn become the injurer.
All those men, whose names are rendered illustrious and immortal, have
been distinguished for a spirit of forbearance, kindness and mercy.
Were there no examples of rashness--no failings and imperfections
among men, there would, then, be no opportunity to distinguish
ourselves by a spirit of forgiveness. God has so constituted the
present existence of his creatures, that the perfections of his divine
character might be manifested to them in the unchanging exercise of
his paternal compassion and forgiveness; and thus afford them an
opportunity to imitate himself in the exercise of those exalted
feelings, which emanate from heaven.
We are not, however, to understand that tenderness of heart and
forgiveness are to be exercised to the utter exclusion of the
principles of honor and justice. If our children offend, or our
dearest earthly friend do wrong, we are to manifest the feelings of
tenderness and forgiveness, but these ought not to induce us to
overlook their crimes or faults, by remaining silent in regard to
their vices. This would be suffering our compassion to degenerate into
weakness. It would in fact be hardness of heart. It would betray a
spirit of indifference to their dearest interest, as by our silence,
they might remain in blindness to the demerit of their deeds, and
hurry on to the ruin of their reputation, and consequently, of their
earthly happiness. True tenderness of heart makes us watchful over the
conduct of those we love, and with whom we are connected in life--
moves us to lay naked before them their faults, so that they may early
correct them, and thus inspires their hearts with tenderness, and
prompts them to regard the happiness, feelings and welfare of others.
It is immaterial how near and dear your friend may be, you should, by
the feelings of mercy, be induced to tell him his faults, however much
it may wound his heart. The wise man says "the wounds of a friend are
faithful; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful." Too many parents,
for want of determination of character, and for suffering their
compassion to degenerate into weakness and remaining blind to the
faults of their children, having seen them come to some disgraceful
end--a state prison, or even the gallows. This, instead of being true
tenderness of heart, was infatuation and the worst species of hardness
and insensibility to the welfare of their offspring. On the other
hand, we ought never to suffer a spirit of revengeful indignation to
slumber in our bosoms, ready on every trivial occasion to awake into
resentment and retaliation. In fine, we ought to imitate our God in
feelings and conduct towards each other, as it is expressed in our
text. But many suppose that God is filled with feelings of revengeful
indignation towards his creatures, and that the period is rolling on
when he will cease to be merciful, and will commence torturing us in
the future world for the sins committed in this, and that too, when
punishment can do no good to the sufferer--when reformation will be
out of his reach. To torment a frail dependent creature, under such
circumstances, would be the most degrading species of revenge. And if
this is the conduct of God, then we must practice the same, because we
are commanded to imitate him. Our text says--"Be yea kind one to
another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another; even as God for
Christ's sake hath forgiven you."
In this passage, our Father in heaven is held up to the world as the
model of _kindness tenderness and forgiveness_, that mortals are to
imitate. God is the moral standard to which every bosom ought to
aspire. The highest perfection and loveliness of man fall infinitely
short of the intrinsic loveliness and divine perfection's of Jehovah.
If he is the standard of moral excellence which we are to imitate,
then we must admit that the copy far exceeds the imitation. If man is
called upon to act like God in order to improve his character and
affections, then God is better than man, and every opposing objection
must, forever, fall to the ground. Perhaps it may be said, that all
denominations of men allow him to be so. This is not correct. It is
true, they _say this_ in so many words. But words are one thing, and
what a doctrine involves is quite _another_. I might believe, and most
rigidly maintain, that an earthly father had prepared a palace of
comfort for his five _obedient_ children, and a furnace of fire to
torture his five _disobedient_ children; and suppose he had dealt with
his ten children as above stated;--with what propriety could I step
before the public, and contend that he was the best man in America?
Even were I persuaded, in my own mind, and firmly believed him to be
the best man in existence, would either my _belief or acknowledgment_
make it a fact? No; every man of common sense, and common humanity
would think me deranged. My saying that he was good, and even
believing him so, could not alter the awful reality, but would be an
evidence of my want of consistency and propriety. He would still be a
bad unfeeling man, and in no comparative sense so good as that father,
who should punish his children in mercy, and for their future
amendment and benefit.
But what is all this compared with the character that thousands
ascribe to the God, who rules above? It is no more than the drop to
the unmeasured ocean: because those five children would soon cease to
suffer; but God, they contend, will torture without mercy or end,
millions on millions of his poor dependent creatures for the sins of a
short life! The most abandoned, and unrelenting savage, that roams the
American forest--the worst wretch in human form would not do this, but
release, at length, the sufferer from pain. And those, who contend
that God will not release, but on the contrary involve the victim of
his ire deeper in who, attribute to him a character infinitely worse,
than the most cruel and degraded of our race, and no argument, to the
contrary, can be for one moment maintained. If a man desire the
holiness and happiness of all his fellow creatures, and would bring
them to a glorified state of beatitude in heaven, had he the power,
and still contends that God will not, it is elevating his goodness far
above the goodness of God. And for any man to come forward with this
acknowledgment on his lips, and yet address the benignant Parent of
all, and, in prayer, acknowledge him to be the best of all beings, is
only using words without propriety or meaning. There is no sense, no
reason in such logic. It completely contradicts itself, and what is
contradictory cannot be true.
Would you save all men from sin and its attendant misery if you could?
O yes, is the answer, I would, and carry them all in the arms of
unbounded benevolence to glory. Well, has God the power to do it? Yes,
is the reply. But do you believe that he will exert his power so as to
accomplish it? No says the objector, I believe that he will sentence a
large portion of his erring offspring to endless and inconceivable wo.
Very well; then you are the best being of the two. And it is a
melancholy circumstance to these unfortunate beings, that you are not
on the throne of the universe. If this be so, then our text ought to
be reversed. God ought to copy your tenderness, and forgive men as you
do! We are certainly called upon to conform our conduct to the best
standard, and to imitate the _best_ being. If you are the _best_, then
God and man ought to be called upon, and _entreated_ to imitate you!
No; says the objector, God is superlatively the best being in the
universe. You may talk, and tell me so, till the morning sun sinks
beyond the western hills, and yet your _creed_ will contradict every
word you utter. What you have just acknowledged, unchangeably stares
you in the face. You say, that you would forgive all, save them from
sin, and raise them to a blessed eternity, if you had the power. This
power, you say, God possesses, and yet you _believe_, and that he will
not do it. It is certainly an unfortunate circumstance to the human
family, if their Father in heaven is destitute of that goodness which
you feel! From whom did you receive all those compassionate feelings
of heart? Why says the objector, God gave them to me. But how can God
give you what he has not himself? If you possess more benevolence than
God, you could not have received it from him; because on this
principal he did not have it in possession to give. Surely he could
not communicate to you, or any other being, what he did not originally
possess. From what source, then, did you derive so much tenderness and
love? There must, certainly, be some being in the universe in whose
bosom is rooted as much benevolence and love as you feel, or how could
it have been communicated to you from another? Now, where did you get
it? God gave it to me, says the objector. This cannot be, because your
doctrine proves, that you have more love than the God who made you! If
you insist that he has given it to you, has he not in such case, given
you more than he originally possessed? He has. If so, endless misery
may be true; for on this principle he has none left!
The scriptures teach that "God is love"; and all his works speak the
same language--saying, "the Lord is good, and his mercies endure
forever." But how good is he? The doctrine of endless wrath says, he
is not as good as you. You are but a small stream from an infinite
ocean of love; and yet this little stream is greater than the ocean
from which it issues, and rises far above its fountain head! Can this
be true? Impossible. O, do you not perceive how your own feelings,
which you daily experience, contradict your creed! You feel, desire,
and pray for the salvation of all men, and if you had the power, all
your feelings, prayers and desires would be carried into execution.
And yet your doctrine denies, that God, the fountain, in which all
your affections originate and live, will do it;--and at the same time
you say, that you have no love only what he gave you! What
inconsistencies, contradictions and blindness are here! Man, a small
drop, from the benevolent fountain God, is willing to do, what the
source from whence he came is unwilling to do! Then a drop of love, in
the human bosom, is more tender and benevolent than an ocean in the
God, who placed it there!
We all know, that the fountain must be more extensive than the stream
it sends forth--yea, larger, than all its running streams put
together. This we know to be correct, as well as we know, that the sun
enlightens the world. Let us then collect these little streams into
one. Bring, if you please, into one body, the love and benevolence of
men and angels, of cherubim and seraphim--stretch your thoughts to
unnumbered worlds, extract the love from countless bosoms, and
condense the whole into one being. How great, lovely, and adorable,
would that creature be! Then, let the question be put to him--from
whence did you derive all those noble qualities of love, mercy and
goodness? He replies, _from my Father God_! Now, we must grant, that
God far exceeds him in goodness, because this noble creature is but an
emanation from him--and the good desires of this creature would be
equal to the good desires of the countless millions of men and angels
in all worlds; and could have no other intentions only those, which
goodness and mercy dictate--and goodness itself can do nothing
contrary to its own nature, any more than ice can burn or fire freeze.
This creature would desire the happiness of all; and yet even he is
but a small rivulet flowing from the crystal fountain of life and
being! This creature would institute a government _perfectly
merciful_; and mercy would, of course, require, that the _disobedient_
should be punished to bring them to _obedience_, and perfect them in
the same state of glorification and love with that being itself.
"God is _love_," and it, therefore, follows that he is _love_ to every
creature he has made, and it is utterly impossible that he can do any
thing contrary to his own nature. "He cannot deny himself." He will,
therefore, do all that love dictates. It is consistent with parental
love to punish for the good of its offspring, but not to punish
unmercifully. But inquires the objector, does God punish for the good
of his creatures? We will let Paul settle this question--Heb. Xii.
Chap. "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son
whom he receiveth. But if ye be without chastisement, whereof _all_
are partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons. Furthermore, we have
had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them
reverence; shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father
of spirits and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after
their own pleasure, but he for our profit that we might be partakers
of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be
joyous, but grievous; nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceably
fruit of righteousness unto them that are exercised thereby." Now show
us, if you can, any punishment which God inflicts, that contradicts
his paternal goodness. It cannot be done. He has threatened and
inflicted _everlasting punishment_ upon nations, as such, but not a
solitary passage can be produced from Genesis to Revelations, where he
has threatened any individual with _everlasting_ punishment.
God is the adorable fountain of all tenderness, love, and compassion,
and no mother's son was imbued in the fount of mercy like his, who was
"the brightness of his glory and the express image of his
perfections." True, her yearnings over the babe of her bosom are
great; still they bear but little comparison to him who breathed those
feelings there. God compares himself to the mother. "Can a woman
forget her sucking child"? Woman, being of a more delicate formation
than man, possesses a mind susceptible of more fine, deep, and lasting
impressions than his. The affections of her soul, when fully roused
into action, and fixed upon their object, are deeper than those of
man, extend far beyond the compass line of his, and nobly range those
sequestered haunts--those delightful fields of mental felicity, where
his finest affections never penetrated. Let her heart once become
fixed upon its darling object, and it is immaterial in what situation
in life we contemplate her--whether prosperous or adverse, we behold
the same unshaken constancy, the same bright and burning flame. Her
love to her children is pure as the dew-drops of the morning, high as
the heavens and unchanging as the sun. It scorns dictation, bids
defiance to oppression, and never for one moment loses sight of its
object. No disappointments that cross her path, no scenes of adverse
fortune that darken her sky, can wrench it from her grasp, obscure it
from her vision, or tear assunder the silken cord that binds it to her
heart.
The truth of these remarks we see verified in that unwearied
watchfulness and care, which she exercises over her children in
supplying their countless, and ever varied little wants; in allaying
their little griefs, in soothing their tender hearts by the soft
whispers of encouragement and love; in hushing them to repose and in
watching over the slumbers of their pillow. Are her children exposed
to danger, and full in her view? Then no devouring flame, that wraps
her dwelling in destruction--no rolling surges that lash the foaming
main, can, in such a moment of peril, over-awe her spirit, or deter
her from rushing into the very jaws of death to save them. Are they
sick? Sleepless she sits beside their bed, and watches every breath
they draw. Are they racked with pain? Her soul inhales the pang; and
freely drinks at the same fount of agony, and breathes over them the
prayer of mercy. Love is that _attribute_ in her nature to which all
the _others_ are subservient. It is the _shrine_ at which they all
bow, the _centre_ to which they all gravitate. If her children do
wrong, she freely forgives.
Has God given the mother all these noble affections, and does he feel
less to his helpless, sinful and erring children? Let God answer--"Can
a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion
on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will not I forget
thee."
[Concluded in our next.]
SERMON XVIII
"And be ye kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another,
even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Ephesians iv. 32.
In our last, we showed that that compassion, tenderness, and love of
our Father in heaven, are the origin of all the sublime affections in
the human bosom, and from this acknowledged fact, have shown that he
is infinitely more regardful of the welfare of his offspring than the
tender mother, with whom he compares himself; is of the welfare of her
sucking child. We now resume the subject.
In our text, we are called upon to forgive one another, as God has
forgiven us. In examining this point, we are to be guided by what he
has revealed. The question here arises, how many does God command us
to forgive? He commands us to forgive _all_, even our enemies. This
then must be forgiving them as he does. He therefore forgives all. He
commands us to bless them that curse us, and to pray for them that
despitefully use us, and persecute us, that we may be the children of
our Father in heaven. Does God command us to do more than he is
willing to do himself? No, he lives up to his own command. If God
requires us to forgive, even as he does, and then commands us to love
and forgive _all_, then he loves, and forgives _all_, otherwise he
would violate his own command; and then there would be no resemblance
between his forgiveness and ours. Even as God, for Christ's sake hath
forgiven you, so ought ye also to forgive one another.
Would you forgive all, and bring them home to glory? Yes. Will God?
No, says the objector, he will not forgive his enemies, but his
friends only. Then you must not forgive all. Do you ask why not?
Because you are to forgive, _even_ as God. He is the standard you are
to imitate. If you forgive more than God, you are better than he. He
cannot command you to do different from himself. If God requires you
to love and forgive _all_, while he himself will forgive only a part,
then God acts contrary to his own command. We are exhorted in the text
_to be kind, tender-hearted and forgiving even as he is_. Do your
kindness, tenderness, and forgiveness extend to all, and desire the
happiness of the universe? Yes. Then also does that of God, or else
you are, in every sense of the word, better than he. You differ from,
instead of imitating God. If so, you are doing wrong, because you are
violating the text. He commands you to be kind, tender, and forgiving
_only as he is_;--and you contend that his kindness, tenderness and
forgiveness, extend to a part only, and that all the rest he will
torture world without end.
But, says the objector, God is now kind, tender, forgiving, and
merciful to all; but he will not be so, when they enter eternity, for
"the doors of mercy will then be shut." How do you know that--who told
you so? Will God change in some future day? If he change, he will not
be the same being, he is now. I thought, he was the same yesterday,
today, and forever, without variableness or even the shadow of
turning. I thought he was the same Jehovah in all worlds. Do you
intend to make him kind, tender, and forgiving _here_, but unkind,
unforgiving, and hard-hearted to a part of his offspring _hereafter_?
If you intend to change both the nature and character of the Almighty
in the future world, then you and myself are done arguing. That
doctrine is, certainly in a pitiful condition, which drives its
advocate to the necessity of changing the Almighty wholly into another
being to support it. "God so loved the world, even when dead in
trespasses and sins," as to deliver up his Son to "taste death for
every man." And being unchangeable, he could never hate them. In our
text, God commands us to forgive as he has forgiven. How many does God
forgive? Ans. As many as he commands you to forgive. How many is that?
_All, even your enemies--to bless and curse not_.
We will now introduce the question--If God has not forgiven a man
today, will he ever forgive him? I answer no, for he is unchangeable.
We are to apt to think that our Creator is altogether such an one as
ourselves--that he loves one day, and hates the next--that he is in
reality angry one hour, and pleased the next--or that he holds a
grudge one moment and forgives the next, if we will only ask him to do
so. But all such ideas are calculated for children--for babes in
Christ. The scriptures come down to the weakest capacity; but this is
no reason we should always continue children, but rise in knowledge to
the strength of manhood. We ought not to be "ever learning and never
able to come to the knowledge of the truth." Paul said to his brethren
"when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one
teach you" &c. "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood
as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away
childish things."
The Scriptures are calculated for every capacity--for a child as well
as a philosopher. We must rise from one degree of glory to another. We
are not to fasten our minds down on the inventions of men, and live
and die children. No--we must "forget the things that are behind, and
reach forward to those that are before." As full grown men, we are not
to suppose that prayer of any mortal can move the Almighty to pardon
him. But says the objector, if we sincerely ask God to do thus and so,
he will certainly grant our request. Very well, admit this for a
moment. God, you say, will answer every _sincere_ prayer. Now suppose
two armies are to meet in battle, one from France and the other from
Holland. The hour when the engagement is to commence is precisely one
month from tomorrow noon. Every day, there are millions of sincere
prayers offered to God to give them the day. Holland, with one voice,
prays for victory and for the preservation of her subjects; and
France, with united supplication, prays right the contrary. How, we
ask, are all those _sincere_ opposing petitions to be answered?
Impossible. Again--one denomination prays for the prosperity of its
cause, and the destruction of error. And as each believes all others
to be in error, of course pray for their downfall. If the Lord
answered their petitions, all denominations, of course, of course
would fall! One man prays far rain, and another, that it may not rain.
If God answered all these petitions, he would be as changeable, not as
_one man_, but as the whole human family together.
As it respects God's pardoning the human race, I contend that this
pardon existed from the beginning. Do not the Scriptures declare that
God chose us _in Christ_ before the foundation of the world? Yes, for
"he calleth those things which be not as though they were." Well,
could we be chosen _in Christ_ without being pardoned? No, for the
apostle says, "he that is _in Christ_ is a new creature;" and,
certainly, a man cannot be a new creature _in Christ_ without being
pardoned in the mind of Deity. If then in the omniscient mind of God,
to whom there is no future, they were chosen _in Christ_ before the
foundation of the world, then in his mind, they must also have been
pardoned before the world began. God never does a new act. By _pardon_
we are not to understand the clearing of a guilty man from deserved
punishment, but an entire deliverance from a disposition to sin. The
period, when we are to be released from sin, is through death, where
the earthly nature, with all its wants and temptations to sin, falls,
and the heavenly nature rises in incorruption and glory through a
resurrection from the dead. Is not this the day of redemption when we
are set free? Yes, so saith the Scripture. Well do not _redemption,
remission, and forgiveness_ mean the same thing? They do. Then our
_pardon, remission_ or redemption will be _realized_ through death and
the resurrection. We will produce the Scriptures "in whom we have
_redemption_ through his blood, even the _forgiveness_ of sins
according to the riches of his grace." Here forgiveness and redemption
are used synonymous, and are declared to be _through the blood of
Christ_--that is, through his death, as a sacrifice for sin. Sin
cannot exist beyond the sacrifice designed to take it away. He is
represented as taking away the sin of the world under the figure of a
_Lamb_. Sin will come to a finish, under the first covenant, exactly
where Christ said "it is finished," at which moment the vail,
concealing the "holy of holies," will be rent in twain, and the second
covenant be opened. If we step beyond what Christ has said, we may as
well give up the Scriptures, and trust to our own vain imaginations.
There sin will end; and that is _dismission_, pardon or redemption
from it. "O death! Where is thy sting? O grave! Where is thy victory?
The _sting_ of death is _sin_, and the _strength_ of sin is the _law_
--but thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory, through our Lord
Jesus Christ."
Now, here it is represented, that our victory, over _sin and death_,
is _when_ we rise to immortal glory. Our _victory_ over sin is at the
_same instant_ with our victory over _death_; and who will deny that
our _victory over death_ will be at the resurrection? The objector may
as well deny our victory over _death_ at the resurrection, as to deny
our _victory over sin_ at that period. The whole is said to be
"through Christ." He was our "forerunner" and "first fruits" to
represent our condition _there_. When he expired, he was free from
_pain_, and when he arose, he was free from _temptation_. So when we
pass the same scene, we shall be like _him_, who is our "resurrection
and life," otherwise the harvest will not be like "the first fruits."
God, then pardoned the human race, _in Christ_, when he made them.
How? Ans. By ordering their existence in such a manner, that they
should be freed from sin through death and the resurrection. That is
the day of our final discharge--the day, when the prisoner shall be
set free--the day, when our redemption shall come. But asks the
objector, are we not to _realize_ our pardon in this world? Ans. Only
_through faith_ in the _reality_. We look forward, and anchor our hope
within the veil of death, and enjoy our pardon, or redemption, only by
an eye of faith. This "faith works by love and purifies the heart." It
causes us, in a great measure, to break off our sins by righteousness.
But this has no influence, whatever, over the sins already committed.
For _them_, we must still continue to feel miserable. Punishment is
_certain_. From the sins that are committed, we only enjoy our pardon
or redemption from them through faith in Christ the resurrection. Paul
told the believers, that if there were no resurrection, their faith
was vain, they were yet in their sins. This proves that they only
enjoyed the pardon of their sins through faith in the resurrection,
otherwise I see no force in his language.
But inquires, the reader, why do you pray that God would pardon our
sins? Ans. I do not pray to turn the Almighty from his will and
purpose; but humbly trust, that I spend my days in searching out what
"that perfect will of God is," and then pray in reconciliation to his
revealed will. It is wicked to pray what we do not believe.
"Whatsoever is not of faith is sin." I believe that God pardoned us
from the beginning, and that this pardon will be realized through
death and the resurrection. And when I pray that God would pardon our
sins, I mean that he would grant us an evidence of that pardon, which
unchangeably existed in his eternal mind, by enlightening our
understanding in the Scriptures of truth, and giving us correct views
of his character as a Being of tenderness and compassion to the
children of men. So when we say, God has pardoned us, we do not mean
that he has been moved by our petitions to do a new act; but that
through the appointed means, he has so far enlightened our minds, that
we have received an evidence of that pardon which existed with him
from the beginning, and by faith we look forward, believing it will
take place through death and the resurrection, as Christ has proved.
By this faith we perceive the love of God, and break off our sins by
righteousness. But while in the flesh, we feel a thorn--a hell of
conscious guilt for the sins we have committed, and though the
penitent may beseech God, that this messenger of satan, buffeting him,
may depart from him, yet the answer will be, "my grace is sufficient
for thee."
We now perceive how God pardons sin, and yet punishes us for it. The
misery, sin brings upon us, is our just punishment, and to be released
from it, by the free grace of God, through death and the resurrection,
is our pardon and redemption--For example--we say, in a cloudy day,
"the sun does not shine;" but still he does. The clouds, just above
our heads, prevent his rays from shining upon us. The change is not in
the sun. The clouds disperse, and we say, "the sun shines," while in
fact he is ever the same. The Scriptures say, "our God is a sun." He
is unchangeably the same in all his brilliant perfections. "Sin like a
cloud, and transgression like a thick cloud," rise over the mind and
darken the understanding. Through this dark medium we look up to God,
and think he has changed--that he is angry, and thunders are rolling
from his hand, while in fact the whole change is in us. The moment our
minds are enlightened by the beams of truth we rejoice, and say God
has forgiven us. We receive an evidence of pardon, and enjoy it
through faith, while God has remained unchangeably the same.
While we are children in christianity, we speak and act like children;
and think if we join together, and pray as loud as we can as though
the Lord were "deaf, or all asleep or on a journey," that we can
prevail, and make him do as we wish. And while we are children, if we
sin, we think the Lord is our enemy, and is angry. Now, this is all
well enough for those whose experience has gone no further. We are not
to "despise the day of small things," but kindly receive such an one
as a babe in Christ, and feed him with milk. But still it does appear
to be a pity that thousands, under the gospel, should live and die
children.
"Be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another,
even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Now, we are to
forgive as God does. How is that--To hold a grudge one day, and if
they ask our pardon, to forgive them the next? No, we must uniformly
possess a kind, tender-hearted, forgiving spirit, laying up nought
against any one. Forgiveness does not consist in laying up a store of
malice and vengeance, till our enemy come, and formally ask our
forgiveness. No--he might never come, and then we could never forgive
him. We are commanded to love and forgive our enemies whether they ask
it, or not. So did our Saviour on the cross, and we are to exercise
the same spirit of benevolence and meekness. We must, as our context
says--put away all malice, wrath, and evil speaking from among us, and
be kind, tender-hearted and forgiving.
Our Father in heaven is the most lovely and adorable of all beings!
Under the light of his character, every uncomfortable thought
vanishes, and the dawn of a blessed eternity bursts upon us in a flood
of glory. By faith we penetrate the veil of immortality, and read our
pardon, and justification in letters of blood. Within that veil, we
anchor our hope. Faith triumphs over the ruins of death, smiles at the
darkness of the tomb, and through Christ within, the hope of glory,
bids defiance to the crushing hand of death, and lights up its dreary
mansions with the cheering beams of immortal day.
SERMON XIX
"For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God;
and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey
not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where
shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" 1 Peter iv:17, 18.
Upon this passage, the believers in endless misery lean for the
support of that sentiment, and on many occasions it is quoted with an
air of triumph as though the passage itself, without comment, were
sufficient to silence all objections. Here they have one advantage of
Universalists; and of this advantage they do not forget to avail
themselves--viz: the prejudices of early education. But we sincerely
call their application of this passage in question, and shall stand
forth in defense of the triumphs of Jesus Christ over all sin, and
pain and death, fully believing that the hand of heaven "shall wipe
tears from off all faces." We will attempt to show,--
First--What we are to understand by _judgment_ beginning at the house
of God.
Second--Who were the _righteous_, and in what sense they were scarcely
saved.
Third--Show who were the _ungodly_, and where they appeared.
_First--What we are to understand by judgment beginning at the house
of God_. Jesus Christ chose him twelve disciples and commenced the
great work the Father sent him to do. To them he disclosed many
events, that God would in a future day bring upon the world. He
pointed them forward with more than human accuracy into the
approaching revolutions of time, and painted out in noon-day light
those astonishing disasters that would one day burst like a
thunderclap on the thoughtless nations. He marked their certainty, and
warned them accordingly. Among the many things, that lay buried in the
vista of future years, was the destruction of Jerusalem. This was a
point that most solemnly concerned the disciples of Jesus. It was no
less than the destruction of their nation.
Christ was with his disciples in the temple, that splendid edifice
which was forty and six years in building, and, in their presence and
for the last time, addressed the stubborn Jews. He pointed out the
many crimes of which they and their fathers had been guilty in
shedding the blood of the prophets, and persecuting those who were
sent unto them as the messengers of Jehovah. They had also made void
the law of God through their traditions. While pointing out these
things, and setting them home like a thunderbolt to their hearts, he
pronounced them hypocrites, blind guides, devourers of widows' houses,
and declared that all the righteous blood shed upon the earth should
be required of of that generation. While rehearsing these things to
them, Jesus had a perfect view of all their approaching sufferings.
Many of them were to be starved to death. He saw by a prophetic eye
the indulgent father and fond mother weeping over their infant train,
who were begging for bread, but no way to procure it. Eleven hundred
thousand he saw in a state of starvation, who were to fall by famine,
sword and pestilence. He saw their cruel enemies surround the walls of
their city, who would allow no sustenance to be given them, but
determined to reduce them by hunger and sword to one common grave. All
these things, that were coming upon them, rushed at once upon the mind
of the compassionate Redeemer of the world. The affecting scene moved
so strongly upon his heavenly feelings, that he dropped the the
melancholy subject and burst into a flood of tears. He beheld the city
and wept over it--"O Jerusalem! Jerusalem! Thou that killest the
prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I
have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her
chickens under her wings, but ye would not!" He then left the temple
for the last time; but as he was departing from it, his disciples,
astonished at his denunciation, and regretting that such a magnificent
edifice should be destroyed, exclaimed--"Master, see what manner of
stones and what buildings are here!" And he said unto them "there
shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown
down." The disciples immediately asked him saying, "tell us when shall
these things be, and what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the
end of the world?" By the end of the _world_ we are to understand the
end of the Jewish _age_. As they asked him the _signs_ portending this
terrible destruction, so that they might know when it was nigh at
hand, he immediately proceeded to point them out, and warned them to
flee to the mountains of Judea for safety.
The signs are as follows--many false Christs should arise, there
should be wars and rumors of wars, nation should rise against nation,
kingdom against kingdom, and there should be famines, pestilences and
earthquakes in diverse places. Then shall they deliver you up to be
afflicted, and shall kill you, and ye shall be hated of all nations
for my name sake. Then shall there be great tribulation such as was
not since the beginning of the world to this time, no nor ever shall
be. The most prominent _sign_ he gave them, and one that more
immediately concerned his disciples, was that they should deliver them
up to be afflicted, and they should be brought before kings and
governors for his name's sake. "But, (says Jesus) when they persecute
you in one city, then flee ye to another."
Christ gave his disciples plainly to understand, that when the Jews
began their persecutions against his followers, then the destruction
of Jerusalem was nigh at hand. After giving these instructions to his
disciples, he laid down his life, and on the third day he arose,
triumphing over death and leading captivity captive. His disciples
soon after commenced the spread of the gospel of peace, and waived the
banners of the cross over kings and subjects, calling upon them to bow
to the reign of Jesus Christ, who was King of kings, and Lord of
lords. They proclaimed a religion so contrary to the partial notions
of the Jews and the traditions of the Elders, that it began at length
to meet with violent opposition. The disciples agreeably to the
direction of Jesus fled for safety from city to city, till the tumult
and opposition became general. Christianity gathered force and
popularity so rapidly, that the Romans, it appears, gave permission to
the Jews to imprison and take life. The disciples and christians had
now no place of safety to flee to, from the gathering storm of
persecution and death. Amidst these disastrous scenes, Peter called to
mind the _warnings and signs_ his risen Lord had pointed out as a
solemn premonition that the destruction of Jerusalem and of their
persecutors, was nigh at hand, and in view of the approaching calamity
over which Jesus wept, Peter exclaims, "The time is come that judgment
must begin at the house of God, and if it begin first at us, what
shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?" Thus we,
see that what is meant by _judgment_ beginning at the _house_ of God,
is _persecution_ beginning at the _christians_, which persecution was
a _sign_ to them that the destruction of that nation was nigh at hand.
The reader will perceive that what the apostle calls "_house of God_,"
he afterwards calls "_us_," in the same sentence, and must refer to
the christians, who are in many scriptures called the _house, temple,
and building_ of God. [See Heb. iii:6. Eph. ii:21, 22.] That the
persecutions were stated by Christ as a _sign_ of the impending
judgment of God upon the Jews, is evident from the words of Paul, 2
Thess. i:5, where he calls them "a manifest _token_ of the righteous
judgment of God" upon the unbelieving Jews, the persecutors of the
christians.
_Second--Who were the righteous, and in what sense they were scarcely
saved_. The righteous, mentioned in the 18th verse, mean the same
persons called "_the house of God_," and "_us_," in verse 17th, and
has reference to those christians _only_, who lived previous to the
destruction of the temple, and not to any christians that lived
subsequent to that event, much less does it refer to all the righteous
that have ever existed or shall hereafter exist, as common opinion
asserts.
Under this head, we were also to show in what sense these righteous
were _scarcely_ saved. It could not mean that their salvation in the
future world was _scarce_ or uncertain; for it is _certain_ in the
counsels of God, and in all things well ordered and _sure_. He has
given to his Son the heathen for an inheritance and the uttermost
parts of the earth for a possession. And all the Father hath given him
shall come unto him, and he will raise them up the last day. He is
mighty to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him; and no
one will deny that the righteous come unto him. How then can their
eternal salvation be denominated _scarce_? Impossible. How then are
the scriptures to be reconciled with our text, when they declare
eternal life to be the gift of God--that we are saved by grace--that
help is laid upon one mighty to save--that his arm is not shortened
that it cannot save; and that the power of God is to be exerted at the
resurrection in making them equal unto the angels? The answer is
easily given--our text has no reference whatever to the immortal
world, to a judgment at the end of time, nor to the final condition of
the human family; but simply refers to the narrow escape of the
christians from the destruction of Jerusalem, when they fled with
their lives in their hands to the mountains of Judea for safety.
In the 24th chapter of Matthew Jesus clearly describes the dreadful
scene. He says--"Then let them which be in Judea flee into the
mountains. Let him which is on the house top not come down to take any
thing out of his house. And woe unto them that are with children and
to them that give suck in those days!" [Why? Because they could not
remain in the mountains during the period that the city was besieged
by the Romans.] "But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter
neither on the Sabbath day." [Why? Because in the winter you would
perish with cold--and if your flight from the city be on the Sabbath
day, the Jews will stone you to death for traveling more than three
miles.] "For there shall be great tribulation, such as was not since
the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And
except those days should be shortened there should no flesh be saved;"
[Saved from what? Ans. From death.] "but for the elect's sake those
days shall be shortened." That is, for the sake of the christians who
fled to the mountains, God shortened the days of the siege. Let us
hear Dr. Adam Clarke, a Methodist Commentator, on this--"Josephus
computes the number of those who perished in the siege at eleven
hundred thousand, besides those who were slain in other places; and if
the Romans had gone on destroying in this manner, the whole nation of
the Jews would in a short time have been entirely extirpated [destroy
completely, as if down to the roots]; but for the sake of the elect,
the Jews, that _they_ might not be utterly destroyed, and for the
christians particularly, the days were shortened. These partly through
the fury of the zealots on the one hand, and the hatred of the Romans
on the other; and partly through the difficulty of subsisting in the
mountains without houses or provisions, would in all probability, have
all been destroyed, either by sword or famine, if the days had not
been shortened."
Let us hear Clarke explain how these christians were _scarcely_ saved.
"But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." "It
is very remarkable that not a single christian perished in the
destruction of Jerusalem, though there were many there when Cestius
Gallus invested the city; and had he persevered in the siege, he would
soon have rendered himself master of it; but when he unexpectedly and
unaccountably raised the siege, the christians took that opportunity
to escape." Clarke says "_unto the end_" means "to the destruction of
the Jewish polity." Therefore when Peter says, the righteous are
_scarcely saved_, he had reference to the dreadful judgment which was
coming upon "the wicked and ungodly" inhabitants of Jerusalem for
shedding the blood of the righteous, and from this destruction the
christians escaped with their lives in their hands to the mountains of
Judea for safety as Jesus had directed them. They but just escape--
they were _scarcely_ saved.
The christians also suffered persecution from the Jews; and Peter
draws this inference from it--If we, who obey the gospel of God, have
to endure so many persecutions from the Jews--if this judgment begins
at us, how much sorer punishment will our enemies have to endure, who
obey not the gospel of God? And if we the righteous are scarcely saved
from this long-predicted destruction, where will the ungodly and the
sinner appear? But how did Peter know that it was at hand? Because the
persecutions, which Jesus had given them as a "_sign" or "token_" had
then commenced at the house of God. The reader will now perceive that
Peter was not speaking of a judgment at the end of time, because the
judgment of which he was speaking had then commenced--"_The time is
come_." Neither was he speaking of christians generally, nor of
salvation in the future world; but of those christians _only_ who
lived previous to the destruction of the Jewish polity, and of their
being saved with _difficulty_ by watching the _signs_ and fleeing to
the mountains of Judea as Jesus had forewarned them.
Luke records the language of Christ more plainly to be comprehended
than that of Matthew. "In your patience possess ye your souls. And
when ye shall see Jerusalem encompassed with armies, then know that
the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which be in Judea flee
into the mountains, and let them which are in the midst of it depart
out," &c. We should be led to suppose that, after the walls of the
city were surrounded by an army, it would then have been too late for
the christians to save themselves. But Christ as a prophet knew that
Cestius Gallus would raise the siege, and fall back to make
preparations for a more decisive attack, and thus afford the
christians an opportunity to escape. It is evident to every candid
reader that Luke expresses in chap. 21st, all that Matthew does in
chap 24th and 25th. And that Luke does not refer to a judgment at the
end of time is certain from the manner in which he concludes, which is
as follows: "And take heed lest at any time your hearts be overcharged
with surfeiting and drunkenness, and the cares of this life, and so
that day come upon you unawares * * * Watch ye, therefore, and pray
always that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that
shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of man." Here we
perceive that not the least allusion is made to a judgment at the end
of time; because there would be no propriety in warning his disciples
not to be _drunk or overcharged with the cares of life_ at a judgment
day thousands of years after their death. The day when the christians
were "to stand before the Son of man" was at the destruction of the
Jewish polity, and it was to take place in the life time of some of
the disciples. Christ says, "there be some standing here that shall
not taste of death till they see the Son of man coming in his
kingdom." The day of Christ was therefore at hand, and the apostles
were warned to keep it in view, and watch the signs that were to
precede it. Peter was faithful to these warnings, and when he saw the
_signs_, presaging its near approach, he exclaimed--"_The time is
come_," &c. This was the day of tribulation, when the christians were
scarcely saved from the dreadful fate that overtook their own
countrymen, who remained blind till the things that made for their
peace as a nation were hidden from their eyes.
[Concluded in our next.]
SERMON XX
"For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God;
and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey
not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where
shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" 1 Peter iv:17, 18.
In our last we have attended to the first two divisions of our
subject--viz: what we were to understand by judgment beginning at the
house of God, and who were the righteous, and in what sense they were
scarcely saved. We now invite the attention of the reader to the
remaining division of the subject. _Third--who were the ungodly, and
where they appeared_. By the _ungodly_ and the _sinner_, we are to
understand the unbelieving Jews, the murderers of Christ and the
persecutors of his followers. It has _exclusive_ reference to them and
not to the ungodly who lived subsequent to the destruction of
Jerusalem, much less does it refer to all the wicked that have ever
existed, or shall hereafter exist, as common opinion asserts. This
needs no further explanation.
Under this head, we were also to show _where the ungodly and the
sinner appeared_. We have already had occasion to state, that Peter in
our text refers to the destruction coming upon the Jews. The time was
come when that judgment of persecution, which began at the christians,
was to be returned upon the heads of their persecutors in seven fold
vengeance and suffering. Their city and nation were to be destroyed,
and their magnificent temple, where their devotions were offered, was
to be laid even with the ground. Not one stone was to be left upon
another, but the whole become one general heap of ruins. Then
according to the prediction of Jesus, was there to "be great
tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this
time, no, nor ever shall be." Then was "wrath to come upon them to the
uttermost." Then was he to "take vengeance on them that know not God,
and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." Then were "the
children of the kingdom to be cast out into outer darkness where there
was wailing and gnashing of teeth." Then, as a nation, were "they to
go away into everlasting punishment;" for "these were the days of
vengeance when all things, that were written, might be fulfilled," and
"all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of Abel
to the blood of Zacharias, should come upon that generation."
Titus led the Roman army against them, surrounded the walls of the
city on the day of the Passover, where a great part of the Jewish
nation were then assembled, and to which others had fled for refuge,
being driven by the terror of his arms like chaff before the
whirlwind. Here they appeared! Husbands and wives, parents and
children, brothers and sisters, (one promiscuous throng) were gazing
in breathless solicitude, while consternation and dismay were depicted
in every countenance, and fearful expectation pervaded every bosom!
Death, a long lingering death, was gathering around them in all its
horrors! Old men and young, maidens, matrons and little children
poured forth their lamentations to heaven, invoking the protection of
the God of Israel. But, alas! "the things, that made for their peace
(as Jesus forewarned them) were hidden from their eyes!" Their hour
was come, and the triumphant shouts of the enemy were heard around
their stubborn walls, which (massy as they were) dropped to the ground
under the subduing power of the battering-rams of war. With these
massive engines of destruction, they laid the two first walls in ruin!
But the third and last wall it was not in the power of the enemy to
gain. The Jews fought with desperation, and by valiant exertions kept
the enemy at bay, and for a while seemed to triumph in the fond hope
of victory over the foe. The Roman army was driven to great extremity,
and even to hesitation, while many of their most valiant men fell in
action, and impending victory seemed to hang doubtful. In this moment
of suspense, they came to a determination to make no further attack
upon the city, but guard it and reduce its inhabitants to submission
by famine. All supplies were accordingly cut off, and every avenue
blocked up by the vigilant Romans. In addition to this, intestine
divisions, civil wars and pestilence raged within the walls of the
city. Having no employment in fighting the enemy, they fell to
butchering each other. These things proved their ruin, and their
national sun went down in blood. Every day thousands closed their eyes
in death through famine and pestilence; and thousands by endeavoring
to escape to the enemy and surrender themselves up as prisoners for
safety and protection, were either cut down by the Roman sword, or met
the same fate from their own countrymen. Here they appeared! All hopes
of life cut off, nothing presented itself to their view, to end their
woes, but the certain prospect of an untimely tomb! Fathers, mothers,
brothers, sisters, gazing upon each other in silent expectation, saw
death gradually advancing in all its horrors. They were driven to the
most dreadful extremities, until (is Josephus informs us) "they
devoured whatever came in their way; mice, rats, serpents, lizards,
even to the spider"--and lastly mothers were driven to eat the flesh
of their own children! Here were lamentation and wo indeed! Such
tribulation as our Saviour says never was, and never will be. In
imagination the mind runs back to the period, and to the fatal spot.
It surveys the painful scene, characterized by nought but moral and
physical woes--madness and revenge, cruelty and carnage, pestilence
and famine, and all the mingled horrors of war! It surveys the
starving child clinging to the maternal bosom for help and protection,
but alas! That bosom becomes its grave. Here the ungodly and the
sinner appeared in deep despair! Unfeeling mortal, do you say that
their punishment and sufferings were not sufficiently great, without
adding that of immortal pain in the future world? Are you not
satisfied without arguing that they ought to suffer endless misery in
addition to their woes? Look with an unjaundiced eye over this scene
of distress; and as you gaze let justice (if not compassion) once more
take the throne of the heart, and then pronounce the shocking sentence
of your creed if you can.
That their sufferings were overwhelming is evident from scripture as
well as from history. In Lam. iv. The prophet Jeremiah says--"The
hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children, they were
their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people." In Lev.
Xxvi. Moses describes their sufferings as follows--"And I will bring a
sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when
ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the
pestilence among you, that shall make you few in number; and ye shall
be delivered into the hand of the enemy. And when I have broken the
staff of your bread ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and
they shall deliver you your bread again by weight; and ye shall eat
and not be satisfied. And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me
but walk contrary unto me; then I will walk contrary unto you also in
fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins. And
ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters
shall ye eat." This did come upon the sinner and the ungodly, and it
was "according to their sins." Moses, Jeremiah, and Jesus spake
particularly of the sufferings of the Jews in the destruction of their
city and they all agree in concluding their chapters. Moses in
conclusion says, "and they shall accept of the punishment of their
iniquities, even because they despised my judgments, and because their
soul abhorred my statutes; and yet for all that I will not cast them
away neither will I abhor them to destroy them utterly and to break my
covenant with them, for I am the Lord their God." And Jeremiah, after
describing their sufferings in the 4th chapter of Lamentations
concludes with these words--"The punishment of thine iniquity is
accomplished, O daughter of Zion," &c. And Jesus, after denouncing
upon them the judgments of heaven in Matt. xxiii. Concludes thus: "For
I say unto you, ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say,
blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." Thus we see that
they agree in testifying to the same fact, that the punishment of the
ungodly and the sinner, which mean, no other than the Jewish nation in
their overthrow and dispersion as we have already noticed, shall end.
I see therefore no arguments, that can be drawn from our text, to
prove a future judgment or endless misery in the immortal world. If
the objector can see a shadow of evidence in this passage to support
such a sentiment, yet I must frankly acknowledge that, for myself, I
cannot. There is certainly no word in the text, that has the most
distant allusion to the final condition of man. The _judgment_ began
at the apostles and christians. But is the _"last judgment"_ to begin
at them? Certainly not. But admit that it is; we would further
inquire, did the last judgment begin as early as the days of Peter?
Impossible. Then he could certainly not have had any allusion to such
a day, for he exclaims: "_the time is come_ that judgment must begin
at the house of God." Here the judgment to which he refers had
commenced, or at least the _signs_ portending it had commenced, and it
was to end upon the ungodly inhabitants of Jerusalem. This fact is
evident from the context--"Beloved, think it not strange concerning
the _fiery trial_ which is to try you, as though some strange thing
had happened unto you; but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of
Christ's sufferings, that when his glory shall be revealed ye may be
glad also with exceeding joy." From this quotation there can arise no
misapprehension as to Peter's application of the text, nor of the
persons it involves. They were the persecutors of the christians, and
no one will dispute that these were the Jews.
If then this judgment was at hand, it cannot of course refer to a
period at the end of time; and it is in this case equally certain,
that the _scarce salvation_ of the christians can have no reference to
the immortal world. These facts being irresistible, the argument must
be wholly given up that "the ungodly and the sinner" were to appear in
a state of inconceivable torment beyond the grave, because the
_condition_ of "the ungodly" stands in contrast with the _scarce
salvation_ of the righteous, and this _salvation or deliverance_ was
to be in a day nigh at hand, and from a tribulation or judgment in
which their adversaries and persecutors were to be involved, and the
_signs_, by which the apostle was admonished of its proximity, had
already appeared when he wrote the words of our text. The meaning of
his words, I humbly conceive, is simply this--The time _is come_ when
the persecutions, predicted by Christ as a _sign_ of the approaching
destruction of Jerusalem, must begin at us. And if we the righteous
who are innocent, have to endure so many "fiery trials," what will the
dreadful punishment be of our disobedient persecutors? And if we are
_scarcely saved_ from this impending destruction, by fleeing to the
mountains of Judea, where will our thoughtless and sinful appear? We
have endeavored to show you where they appeared--have pointed out the
narrow escape of the christians, who were "scarcely saved," and
referred you to the _signs_ by which Peter knew this judgment was at
hand. It is therefore unnecessary to offer any thing further in
defense of our views, as the text is, no doubt, plainly understood by
every reader.
We close this discourse by noticing one very common objection, made by
our religious opposers, to our application of several scriptures. I do
this, because I am not aware that it has been done by any Universalist
as a _designed_ answer to the objection. The substance of the
objection is this:--
_There is not a passage in the New Testament which speaks of a day of
judgment, of the end of the world and of the coming of Christ, but
what Universalists apply to the destruction of Jerusalem. Then, they
contend, "every man was rewarded according to his works," consequently
all subsequent nations are not to be rewarded, nor are they to
experience a day of judgment_.
In reply to this objection I would remark, that we are not answerable
for the many passages which the Saviour and his apostles applied to
that event. But if we make a wrong application of any scripture, why
do not our opposers point out the error? We will now show why the
apostles wrote so much in reference to that period. They do not so
frequently speak of that event merely on account of the destruction of
their temple city and nation, (though that might justify their
frequent reference to it) but there were circumstances of a more
imposing and momentous character to attract their attention to that
catastrophe. These were the abrogation of the Mosaic rituals and the
introduction of a new order of things by Jesus Christ of whom Moses
and the prophets wrote. This was a period when every christian was to
be delivered from the persecution of the Jews, and the spread of the
gospel was to be retarded no longer by their opposition. The Jews as a
nation were to be punished for their deeds of blood, and that
_spiritual reign or judgment_ commence which should pass upon all
subsequent generations of men, rewarding every man according to his
works.
The _gospel reign_ is called "the _judgment of the world_" by Jesus
Christ, in the same sense that Moses judged the world two thousand
years by the law. Jesus says, "Think not that I will accuse you to the
Father, for there is one that _judgeth_ you even Moses in whom ye
trust." From this it is evident that Moses was then judging the Jews.
But this covenant was abolished at the destruction of Jerusalem. Paul
says, "he taketh away the _first_ that he may establish the _second_."
The word of God, in this covenant, is spiritual and sharper than any
two-edged sword--it is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the
heart, while that of Moses was outward, and took cognizance of the
conduct only. The objections of our opposers are therefore unsound.
And though we apply those passages, which speak of a judgment, to the
destruction of the Jews, yet that judgment or reign of Christ which
then commenced, is yet going on, and will continue till all are
subdued to himself. He then came in his kingdom, and will continue to
reward every man according to his deeds till his kingdom ends. So we
this day experience the effects of his coming, and of his judgment or
reign, and are justified or condemned according as we embrace or
reject the words of everlasting life. We see therefore the propriety
of the apostles dwelling so much upon that great event, which should
witness the passing away of the types and shadows and the
establishment of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
SERMON XXI
"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." 1
Cor. xv:20.
The death and resurrection of all mankind are a theme of no ordinary
moment, and have given birth to many theories and speculations among
the advocates of Christianity. The common opinion is that one portion
of our race will be raised to immortal life and glory in the future
world, and the other to immortal damnation and dishonor--that at the
same instant the living will be changed and that the whole human
family will, in this condition, be arraigned before the "Judge of
quick and dead," and receive their irrevocable sentence for endless
joy or endless wo. Others believe, in opposition to these limited
views of the divine character, that the resurrection is the closing
scene of the great plan of salvation, and that no judgment is to
succeed it. This resurrection, they believe, will introduce the
numerous posterity of Adam into the same condition of immortal glory
and honor, being made, by the power of God, "equal unto the angels,
and be the children of God being the children of the resurrection." As
to the _judgment day_, they do not believe, that the whole human
family will be congregated in one amazing throng at one period of
time, but that the judgment of the world, by Jesus Christ, commenced
at the destruction of Jerusalem, when the Mosaic dispensation, with
all its imposing rituals, passed away, and that this _judgment_, or in
other words, this _gospel reign_ of Christ, is still progressing, and
will completely terminate before the resurrection takes place.
Notwithstanding this view of the day of judgment, yet they suppose
that the _resurrection day_ is a designated period when the cerement
of the dead shall burst, and all the slumbering nations,
simultaneously, start up from their beds of clay, the living at the
same instant be changed to immortal beings, and this countless throng,
in one unbroken strain, shout--"O death! Where is thy sting? O grave!
Where is thy victory"?
Though this scene would be full, and immortally sublime, and disclose
a grandeur which a seraph's eloquence never can describe, yet I take
the liberty to dissent from this long and fondly cherished opinion,
and will humbly endeavor to present you my views on the immortal
resurrection of the human dead. The ideas I have advanced in my
sermons on the _new birth_, require me to do this. And no one has more
occasion to rejoice than myself, that we are bound by no creeds, and
that the preachers of our order encourage and cherish free
investigation. Among such able and benevolent theologians, I feel
conscious, if I err, that they will endeavor, in the spirit of
meekness, to set me right. I therefore hold no one responsible for the
ideas I am now about to advance. I am by no means in favor of new
theories built upon mere human speculations, nor do I deem it an
enviable task to make innovations on the long and universally
established opinions of the christian community. I shall simply appeal
to the scriptures to sustain me in my present exposition, and by that
standard I am willing my views should be tried, for by that alone,
they must ultimately stand or fall.
From the text we have selected, it might, perhaps, be expected, that
we should proceed to prove the final holiness and happiness of the
human family by showing, that he who is "made alive in Christ is a new
creature"; but as this has, heretofore been done so often and so ably,
we shall confine our attention, principally, to the different
scripture accounts of the resurrection of the dead, and endeavor to
ascertain whether it is indeed, to take place at the end of time and
be general, or whether it is continually transpiring as gradual as the
successive deaths of our race in Adam.
And here I would distinctly remark, that the dead are represented as
being raised at the coming of Christ. This is admitted and believed by
all. But where, I ask, is there in the Book of God _one passage_ to
prove any coming of Christ after the destruction of the Jewish polity
when he commenced his _gospel reign_, called the _judgment of the
world_? This was his _second_ coming; but where but where is there a
_scrap_ of scripture to prove his _third_ coming at the end of time?
For one, I have searched in vain for such testimony. That Christ came
in his kingdom, during the life time of the persons he addressed, and
then commenced the judgment of the world, is certain. This is not,
however, admitted to be that coming of Christ when the dead will be
raised immortal. Where then is revealed that _third_ coming of our
Lord, at the end of time, to raise the dead? I think it will be an
unsuccessful task for any man to search it out and bring it forward.
I would not be understood to say, that no destruction will attend this
earth. On the contrary philosophy seems to warrant the idea. But the
scriptures no not, in my apprehension, reveal such a catastrophe, nor
a _third_ coming of Christ, nor a general resurrection at that period.
The reader may, perhaps, here inquire whether the scriptures do not
clearly describe the resurrection of all mankind to be at one instant
of time? I answer, no more than they describe the judgment of all
mankind to be at the same instant. But, says the reader, the
resurrection is to be at the coming of Christ, which must be at some
designated period. Very well; the judgment was to be at the coming of
Christ to the destruction of the Jewish state, and does not this
designate some particular period? If so, how are we judged in the
present day? If the judgment day, which _then_ commenced, has not yet
ended, why may not the resurrection day be still progressing? If you
contend, that the dead were all to rise at once, then by the same mode
of scripture interpretation, I can prove that all the living were to
be judged at once. Acts xvii. 31. "Because he hath appointed A DAY in
the which, he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom
he hath ordained, whereof he hath given this assurance unto all men,
in that he hath raised him from the dead." 2 Cor. v.10. "For we must
all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may
receive the things in body, according to that he hath done, whether
good or bad."
Though this event is represented as transpiring in _one day_, and as
though all men were literally arraigned at the same instant, still all
Universalist admit, that it commenced at the destruction of Jerusalem,
has passed upon succeeding generations, and will continue from the
present down to subsequent ages, so long as human beings shall have a
habitation on earth. This is called the _last day_. Jesus says--"the
word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the _last day_."
So I contend, that though the resurrection is also called the last
day, and represented as raising all mankind at one instant of time,
still simply means, that the doctrine of Christ (viz. The judgment and
resurrection) should, at his coming in his kingdom, be fully revealed
to the living by their seeing his prophesies fulfilled in the
abrogation of the ceremonial law, and this doctrine of life and
immortality be permanently established and commence its sway over the
living, as the last and best system of God to man, and this
_resurrection day_ continue down to all subsequent generations of
slumbering dead, raising every man in incorruption and glory. The
judgment and resurrection of the world are therefore both progressing,
for these two constitute the gospel reign of Christ. He is "the
resurrection and life of the world," as well as "judge of quick and
dead." Both are to be accomplished in the _last day_, and that day is
now progressing. A _general_ resurrection, at the last vibrating
pendulum of time, cannot I humbly conceive, be substantiated by the
oracles of truth, any more than a _general_ judgment. I am rather
inclined to think that _the judgment of the world by Jesus Christ
expresses the whole, including the resurrection and all; even as the
high priest, clothed with the breastplate of judgment on the day of
atonement, closed his services by raising the nation into the holy of
holies, "which was a pattern of things in the heavens_."
If the Scriptures afford us any evidence of the _third_ coming of
Christ, to raise the dead, for one, I must acknowledge my utter
ignorance of the fact. In John (chap. vi.) Jesus several times uses
the expression, "and I will raise him up at the last day." If others
contend that this has reference to "_the last day of the last
generation of the human race on the earth_," yet I must candidly
acknowledge, that I cannot see a shadow of evidence to prove this
position. The _last day_ in this instance, refers to the gospel
dispensation, which commenced at the destruction of the temple, and
involves the whole reign of Christ. It is synonymous with the "day of
Christ" and the "day of the Lord" mentioned in several places by the
apostles. Nor do I conceive it means, that Christ would raise them up
by his own immediate power, but that God would raise the dead
according to that doctrine, which he sent his Son to reveal to men,
and this would be fully established in the world, and be believed and
felt by Jew and Gentile Christians at the coming of Christ in his
kingdom, at the end of that dispensation. _Then_ and not till _then_
were the predictions of Christ fulfilled, and then were those
Christians, who had not seen Jesus after his resurrection, "made
perfect in faith."
The dead are to be raised at the _last_ trump; by which I understand
the _seventh_, for no other _last_ is revealed. This trump is
mentioned by our Saviour (Matt. xxiv. 31.) and is the gospel trump
which was to commence its sound at the destruction of Jerusalem. In
Rev. chap. viii, seven trumpets were given to seven angels, who are
represented as sounding them in succession, and increasing woes
following, till the sixth trumpet sounded. But when the seventh angel
sounded and the last dreadful wo passed away, a very different order
of things followed. Rev. x. 7. "But in the days of the voice of the
seventh angel when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should
be finished as he hath declared to his servants the prophets." Rev.
xi. 15. "And the seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices in
heaven, saying, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of
our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever." Now
compare these woes and this subsequent order of things with the
tribulations Christ described in Matt xxiv chap. And the subsequent
life the righteous entered into, and you will readily perceive that
both refer to the destruction of Jerusalem and the commencement of
Christ's auspicious reign. (The Revelations were certainly written
before that event.) When the seventh angel sounded, Christ came in his
kingdom and began his reign; and that he began his reign when the
trumpet sounded, and the woes recorded in Matt. Xxiv. And xxv.
Chapters took place, will not be denied. This settles the point that
the _seventh or last_ trump was not to sound at the close of Christ's
reign, but at its commencement. And under this last sounding trump the
dead were to be raised immortal, and those who were alive when it
commenced its sound, were to be suddenly changed in their
circumstances and feelings as described in the context. It was the day
of their redemption from all their trials and persecutions, and doubts
and fears.
That this was the period when the Christians entered the _resurrection
day_ as well as the _judgment day_ under Christ is certain. They
entered into the full enjoyment of that most sublime of all doctrines
in the faith of which they not only saw the dead raised immortal and
free from pain, but felt themselves new beings. They were exalted from
the dust to high and "heavenly places in Christ," were "caught up to
meet the Lord in the air," were seated "on thrones and made priests
and kings to God and reigned with Christ." There "they shone like the
brightness of the firmament and the stars forever and ever,"
recognized the goodness of God in redeeming love, and sang the song of
_certain victory_ over death and Hades. Then "the kingdom and dominion
and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven was given to
the saints of the MOST HIGH," and in this "kingdom of their Father
they shone forth like the sun." The above promiscuous quotations from
Scripture justify the expression, that the living were "changed in a
moment at the last trump," which announced to the world the immortal
resurrection of the dead. That this trump, whose sound proclaims the
resurrection of all mankind, is the gospel trump, the doctrine of
Christ, we cannot doubt.
That the change of the living, in the context, has any reference to
changing them into immortal beings, I cannot admit without further
evidence. It is contrary to the whole tenor of revelation--it is
contrary to our text, which declares that all, who are made alive in
Christ first die in Adam. As the change of the living is an important
point in our present investigation, we will give it further attention.
That the Christians were to experience a great and sudden change at
the destruction of Jerusalem is certain. They were to be delivered
from all their trials and persecutions, and be raised into the full
and felicitous enjoyment of the reign of Christ. Those Christians, who
had not seen our Saviour alive from the dead, who had believed on the
testimony of his apostles and of the "five hundred brethren," were
delivered from all their doubts and fears on seeing his predictions
fulfilled, were perfected in faith, and their "hearts established
unblamable in holiness." This was to them a resurrection day, not only
in reviving their faith and hope in the doctrine of the immortal
resurrection of all that died in Adam, but in delivering them from
their sufferings, and raising them into the sublime enjoyments of the
reign of Christ. In reference to this period, Jesus says, "thou shalt
be recompensed at the resurrection of the just." And Paul says, "If by
any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead, not as
though I had already attained, either were already perfect." What
sense would there be in his saying--if by any means I might, by my
exertions, become an immortal being, not as though I had already
attained to immortal existence? No sense at all. But the apostles
meaning is clear, if we render it thus--If by any means I might
continue faithful unto the end, and obtain a crown of life in the
first resurrection at that day when Christ shall come in his kingdom
to destroy his enemies and to deliver and elevate Christians to honor.
We shall notice this more particularly in our next when we come to
comment on Philippians iii. Chap. Again he says--"Who concerning the
truth have erred, saying the resurrection is past already, and
overthrow the faith of some." That is, to make the Christians believe
that their promised deliverance was past, while they were yet in the
midst of their sufferings, was calculated to overthrow their faith. We
will notice the change of the living still further. Jesus says, that
those, who were in their graves, and had done good, should come forth
to the resurrection of life. And Daniel says, that many of them who
sleep in the dust of the earth should awake to everlasting life, and
those, who were wise, should shine as the brightness of the firmament,
and they that turned many to righteousness as the stars forever and
ever. Here Daniel and Jesus represent the low, suffering, and
distressed condition of the Christians previous to the destruction of
Jerusalem, and their final deliverance and exaltation at that period,
by sleeping in the dust, being dead in their graves, and suddenly
coming forth to life and shining like the brightness of the firmament
and the stars forever and ever. This is equivalent with being "caught
up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air."
The above changes are as great and as in instantaneous, as the apostle
represents in the context,--"We shall all be changed in a moment, in
the twinkling of an eye at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound
and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed."
As if he had said we shall suddenly enter into the full fruition of
that glorious gospel kingdom, whose trump shall then begin, and
continue to sound down to the remotest periods of that "_last day_"
proclaiming the incorruptible resurrection of all the dead, and at the
same time changing the living from the low, sorrowful, and groveling
thoughts of earth to the sublime and joyful contemplations of "life
and immortality brought to light through the gospel." So the _last
day_, in which the last trump sounds, and the dead are raised,
embraces the whole gospel reign of Christ. The _resurrection_ is
coeval in duration with the _judgment_ of the world; for both are
called the last day, and both are represented as involving all mankind
in one assemblage to be judged and in one assemblage to be raised.
[To be continued.]
SERMON XXII
"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." 1
Cor. xv:20.
We have already shown that the _judgment_ of the world is called the
"_last day_," in which all human beings are to stand at the Judgment
Seat of Christ, and receive according to their deeds. We have shown,
that this day commenced at the end of the Jewish age, and is to
continue down to all succeeding generations, so long as human beings
shall have a habitation on earth. We have shown that the
_resurrection_ is also called the "_last day_," in which all the dead
are to be raised immortal. We have shown that, as a doctrine of God,
it was permanently established in the world at the end of the Jewish
dispensation--that the last or gospel trump then commenced its sound,
proclaiming the immortal resurrection of all who "die in Adam," and at
the same time changed those who were then alive--and that it shall
continue to sound to the remotest periods of this last day,
proclaiming the resurrection of the dead and changing or reforming the
living. We have shown that the _judgment and resurrection_ constitute
the gospel doctrine of Christ, and, as such, both were established in
the world at the same time, and are both called the "_last day_," in
which all men are in succession to be judged, and raised immortal. The
apostle Paul, when discussing to his hearers, either the judgment or
the resurrection, looked forward to that interesting period, when they
were to be established in the world, and, with a giant effort, grasped
in one view, the beginning and end of this brilliant, sublime, and
everlasting DAY, and presented it in mental vision to his persecuted
and almost desponding brethren as one instantaneous, transporting and
triumphant event, in which the world was to be judged, the living
changed, the dead raised immortal and incorruptible, and the rapturous
song of final victory was to be sung over death, its sting and the
grave.
We will now proceed to notice those passages, which are applied to the
immortal and general resurrection of the dead, point out their
misapplication, and reconcile them with the views we have advanced. We
will _first_ notice our context. And here it will be necessary to
ascertain the condition of those whom Paul addresses. He introduces
the chapter by referring to the many witnesses of Christ's
resurrection, and commences his argument in proof of this fact, and
against those christians, who had not been eye-witnesses, but who had
professed faith in his resurrection _merely_ on the testimony of the
apostles. These christians were suffering persecution, and were, of
all men most "miserable" if Christ were not risen from the dead; as in
such case, their future deliverance and exaltation at his predicted
coming, were but a visionary dream. And as their Lord seemed to delay
his coming, "some among them (being discouraged) began to say, there
was no resurrection of the dead." The great evidence, to which they
were looking for the final proof of his being the true Messiah was the
fulfillment of all which the prophets had written of "the daily
sacrifice being taken away, the holy people being scattered" and of
the glory of the Messiah's kingdom and reign, and of all, which Jesus
himself had predicted of his coming to destroy their persecutors, to
put an end to the Mosaic dispensation, and to raise them to a state of
exaltation in his kingdom. They had not seen Jesus alive from the dead
as had the apostles; and however much they might be inclined to credit
their testimony, yet their severe persecutions and sufferings, and the
protracted period of his coming would, very naturally, create, in
their hearts many doubts and fears as to its truth.
These are the persons, whom Paul addresses in our context, and labors
to keep them in the faith by presenting the _whole weight_ of
testimony in favor of the resurrection of Christ, on which he hinged
the resurrection of man. He summons before them more than five hundred
eye-witnesses, of whom himself was one, to satisfy them of the fact,
and summons all the powers of philosophy in nature. He refers them to
grain sown in the earth, and its coming forth in a new body. He refers
them to all the various species of flesh, of men, beasts and birds on
the earth, and to the glory of the sun, moon and stars in the heavens
--all differing from one another--to prove that God is able to prepare
an immortal body, differing from all these, and raise man immortal! As
he passes on, reveling in the greatness of his strength, and absorbed
in the immensity of his theme, his argument gathers force, till earth
and heaven appear to be in motion before him! He ranges the universe,
summons to his aid the power of God, lays his masterly hand upon every
fact, gathers them in his grasp, condenses them before his hearers,
and, in one overwhelming burst of eloquence, makes the whole bear upon
the resurrection of Christ and of man! He refers them to the coming of
his Lord, at which time will be the end of the Jewish age. Then their
sufferings and persecutions terminate, their darkness, fears and
doubts will be removed, they will be ushered into the glorious reign
of Christ, behold this _last_ and brightest day, hear the _last_
joyful trump sounding, see the dead by an eye of faith arising, and
themselves as living men changed. These would be Christ's at his
coming. Then he would receive his kingdom and begin his auspicious
reign.
No fact is more certain than that Christ was to commence his reign at
the sound of the _last trump_. Not an instance can be produced, where
Jesus has revealed to his apostles, that any trump was to sound
subsequent to the one, which announced his coming in his kingdom at
the end of the Jewish age. If any one can produce scripture authority
where a trump is to sound at the close of his reign, or at the end of
time, or even produce testimony to prove the end of time, I will
publicly and gratefully acknowledge the favor. Perhaps the 24th verse
of the context will be brought forward for this purpose: "Then cometh
the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the
Father; when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority, and
power." This, as it reads, is no objection to my views; but I contend
that this is not a correct rendering of the passage. Every careful
reader will perceive, that it stands in perfect contradiction with
verse 28th: "And when (notice the word when) all things shall be
subdued unto him, then shall the Son himself also be subject unto him
that put all things under him, that God may be all in all." This verse
teaches a future reign and future subjection, after the kingdom is
delivered up to God. What propriety is there in saying, "_when all
things are subdued unto him_," after he has resigned his kingdom? What
has he to subdue, after the kingdom is delivered "up to God, even the
Father". Certainly nothing. I readily grant, that in the modern
edition of the Greek Testament I have before me, it is rendered in the
dative case, "_teen basileian to Theo kai Patri;" "the kingdom to God
even the Father_." But I perused, several years since, a short
criticism by an English writer (whose name I cannot recall, nor the
periodical which contained it) on this very phrase in which the author
stated that in an early Greek manuscript, he had in his possession, it
was rendered in the nominative case, "_teen basileian ho Theos kai
Pater_." This would reverse the present translation, and cause it to
read--"_Then cometh the end when God even the Father shall deliver to
him (Christ) the kingdom_." The writer however argued, that as the
chapter referred to the general resurrection at the end of time, it
seemed to read far better as Christ's mediatoriol kingdom would then
terminate. This is mere assertion founded upon preconceived opinions.
I will, however, produce direct authority to support my views. I will
here present the reader with Wakefield's translation of this passage,
whose scholarship will be doubted by none:
"_Then will the end be, when God the Father delivereth up the kingdom
to him, during which he will destroy all dominion, and all authority
and power; for he will reign till he hath put every enemy under his
feet; and so the enemy death will be destroyed at last_."
Here, then, we perceive that instead of its referring to the end of
time, and to the Son's delivering up the kingdom to the Father, it
simply refers to the end of the Jewish dispensation, when the Father
delivered to his Son a kingdom, and when he _commenced_ his reign.
This gives harmony, strength and consistency, to the whole connection
closing with the 28th verse, and is in perfect agreement with the
whole tenor of revelation, which no where speaks of the end of time.
But according to the received translation, he first delivers up the
kingdom to God, then commences his reign, subdues all things, destroys
death, and is then subject to the Father! Let it be distinctly noticed
that this "_end_" is at Christ's coming. But where, I again ask, is
revealed a _third_ coming of our Saviour?
But again--The Ethiopic version also supports this rendering of the
above passage, in agreement with Wakefield, which I consider as
sufficient authority to settle the question, at least in my own mind.
But even were there no other authority, than the general tenor of
revelation, I should feel justified in my present exposition. To
contend for a _general_ resurrection, we are in the same predicament
with the orthodox in contending for a _general_ judgment.
The above harmonizes (in my apprehension) with every other part of
divine revelation, which embraces the testimony of the prophets, and
of Jesus Christ and his apostles, who all speak of the _end_ as
referring _exclusively_ to the termination of the Jewish age, at which
time he should come in his kingdom and commence his reign. They also
speak of the glory which should follow, and of the success that should
attend it. But not _an instance can be produced, where they speak of
the end of time_. He is to destroy the last enemy _death_; and this
work is effected progressively in this _last day_, as individuals are
in _succession_ raised from death, and established in their final and
blissful condition affording us no revelation when this order of
things will terminate. If it is a fact, that God the Father, at the
sound of the "last trump," delivered to his Son the kingdom--if this
be the correct rendering of the passage, as the whole tenor of
revelation seems to justify, then it was at the commencement of his
reign; and our views of the _resurrection day_ are irresistible. The
apostle grasps, in mental vision, the whole subject, and represents it
as one great and interesting event, big with sentiments of light and
life, in the same sense that he does the judgment of the world, which
revolved in his capacious soul as but one single day. The sudden and
interesting change he represents as taking place in the living, has
reference to the unexpected manner in which this sublime scene would
burst on the world. In this he but follows the example of his Lord,
who declared he would come as a "thief in the night"--that he would
"come quickly," and in an hour they were not aware, and exhorted his
disciples to watch.
We will notice one more passage in the context, which may be urged as
an objection. "Behold I show you a _mystery_; we shall not all sleep,
but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at
the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be
raised incorruptible and we shall be changed." The _mystery_, here
mentioned, refers to the change of those, who should be found alive at
the coming of Christ in his kingdom, produced by the full revelation
and establishment of that doctrine, which proclaims the immortal
resurrection of all mankind _by being made alive in Christ_. It is the
fulfillment of the following scriptures--Eph. i 9,10--"Having made
known unto us the _mystery of his will_--that in the dispensation of
the fullness of times he might gather together in one _all things in
Christ_, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in
him." This mystery was _then finished_ in the full revelation of his
will to the doubting christians, whom Paul addresses in the context.
This is evident from Rev. x:7--"But in the days of the voice of the
_seventh angel_ when he _shall begin to sound_, the _mystery_ of God
_should be finished_, as he hath declared to his servants the
prophets." And that he began his reign when the mystery was finished
is certain from Rev. xi. 15--And the seventh angel sounded; and there
were great voices in heaven saying the kingdoms of this world are
become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ, "and he shall reign
forever and ever." Here we perceive that this _mystery of God's will_
was to be finished at the sound of the _seventh or last_ trump, which
will is, to gather or make alive all things in Christ. And at this
time he was to receive his kingdom and reign forever and ever. _"We
shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,"_ has reference to
those persecuted christians, who were not to "taste of death till they
saw the Son of man coming in his kingdom."
Phil. iii:20, 2l--"For our conversation is in heaven, from whence we
look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change our vile
body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body according
to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto
himself." That this passage has reference to changing our _natural
into immortal bodies_ at the resurrection, I see not a shadow of
evidence to prove, either in established in their final and blissful
condition the passage itself, nor in the context. The context we have
already noticed by pointing out the resurrection to which Paul desired
to attain. Chap. i:6--"He, that hath begun a good work in you, will
perform it until _the day of Jesus Christ."_ Chap. iv:5--"Let your
moderation be known unto all men. _The Lord is at hand_." "The day of
Jesus Christ" and "the Lord is at hand" refer to his coming at the end
of the Jewish age, and not to a resurrection at the end of time. Paul
gave the Philippians notice of no other coming of Christ. The passage
has reference to the change the living were to experience, at this
coming of our Lord in his kingdom, by being delivered from their
persecutions, doubts and fears, perfected in faith, and "established
unblamable in holiness before God," so as to resemble in a moral and
exalted sense those immortal beings in heaven who are here called the
"glorious body" of Christ. The body to be changed embraces both Jew
and Gentile christians, who were at that time to be raised from their
lowly condition into his gospel kingdom and "shine forth like the
sun." This is evident from the manner in which he commences: "For our
conversation is in _heaven_, from _whence_ we look for the Saviour,
the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our _lowly body_ that it maybe
fashioned like unto his glorious body." He contrasts the low and
oppressed condition of the whole christian body with what will be
their exalted condition at the coming of Christ, and that exalted
condition will assemble that glorified body of beings in _heaven_ who
died in his cause, and with whom they had their conversation, and from
_whence_ they were expecting the Saviour. It has reference, I
conceive, to the body in which Christ arose. The church is the body of
Christ, and it is to be presented to himself a _glorious body_, not
having spot, wrinkle, or any such thing. The Greek word _tapeinos_
rendered "vile," should be rendered _lowly or humble_.
It will be noticed, by the reader, that the word _body_ is used in the
_singular_ number and not in the plural, as some have quoted it in
their writings. But if it refer to individual _forms_, it ought to be
rendered in the _plural_--"who shall change our vile _bodies."_ But it
means the whole church or body of believers--a collective body of
individuals. In this sense the Greek word, _soma_, here rendered
_body_ is frequently used in the New Testament. That the apostle does
not refer to all mankind is evident from the fact, that after the vile
body is changed according to the working, he adds--whereby he is able
_even_ to subdue all things unto himself--That is, able _even_ to
subdue all things as well as to change that body. If the passage refer
to an immortal and general resurrection, or rather to the change of
all the living into immortal beings, then there would be none to
subdue after that period. But if we apply it to the coming of Christ
in that generation, and to the change of the whole christian body,
then all is plain and in perfect agreement with the preceding and
succeeding context; also with 1 Cor. 15th chapter, and with the whole
tenor of revelation, which speaks of but _one coming_ of our Saviour
in his kingdom, and which shows that the work of subjection commenced
after the change of the living at the last trump, whose sound
announced the commencement of his reign. The word _kai_, rendered
_even_, should probably have been rendered _also_. "Who shall change
our lowly body--according to the working whereby he is able also to
subdue all things to himself." The whole context, however, justifies
the above exposition because the christians were looking for the
coming of Christ at the end of that age, and exclaimed, "the Lord is
at hand."
[To be continued.]
SERMON XXIII
"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." 1
Cor. xv:20.
In our last we noticed the context, and also taken into consideration
the language of Paul on the coming of Christ and the change of the
living in Phil. iii:20, 21. This, we have shown, has no reference to
the mortal bodies of men being changed to immortal bodies, so as to
resemble the personal form of Jesus Christ. If it refer to Jesus,
still the resemblance would be _moral, not personal_, for no where do
the scriptures teach, that we are in our personal appearance to be
like our Saviour. But in a _moral_ sense, "we shall be like him, for
we shall see him as he is." I do not say, that there will be no
_personal_ resemblance between immortal beings and Christ. I fully
believe there will be; but I mean that this personal resemblance is
more a matter of course, than a doctrine of divine revelation. I do
not read of the "glorious body" of Jesus in his immortal resurrection
state. But the scriptures do compare the moral body of Christians on
earth with the glorified body of holy beings in heaven, Heb. xii:22,
23--"But ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living
God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an in-numerable company of angels
to the general assembly and church of the first-born, which are
written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of
just men made made perfect." So far as the Christians were
"established unblamable in holiness before God even our Father at the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints" so far as they
were elevated to "shine as the brightness of the firmament and as the
stars forever" so far as their moral condition and enjoyments were
improved and enlarged, thus far, of course, the _lowly body_ of the
church on earth would be changed into a moral resemblance of that
"glorious body" of Christ, who were praising him in heaven. In
_heaven_ the Christians had their conversation, from whence they were
looking for the Saviour, as shortly to come, and fashion them into a
moral resemblance of those saints above, who had died in his cause,
and who were to come with him. From the whole context, the conclusion
is irresistible that this change of the "vile body" was at the coming
of the Lord _then_ at hand, and not at the end of time, as some
imagine.
Another scripture commonly applied to the _general_ resurrection of
the dead, and a change of all the living is recorded in 1 Thess.
iv:15, 16, 17--"For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that
we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not
_be before_ them that are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the
trump of God; and the _dead in Christ_ shall rise first. Then we which
are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the
clouds to meet the Lord in air, and so we shall be evermore with the
Lord." That Paul here refers to the coming of Christ in his kingdom to
establish his reign, and to elevate the Christians who were alive at
that period, the _preceding_ and _succeeding_ contexts fully justify.
And so I must understand his language, till some one can prove a third
coming of Christ, and an _eighth_ sounding trump at the end of time.
In the two preceding chapters, he dwells largely upon the persecutions
of the Christians, exhorts them to be faithful, expresses his desire
"to perfect that which is lacking in their faith," and concludes by
saying--"To the end he may establish your hearts unblamable in
holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ _with all his saints."_ No one will deny that this has
reference to his coming at the end of the Jewish age. Now would it not
be doing injustice to this powerful and cogent reasoner to say, that
he suddenly drops this subject without giving his brethren any
warning, and runs off to the end of time, speaks of another coming of'
Christ at which he is to raise, at the same instant, all the dead and
change the living to immortal beings? And that he should again, as
suddenly, drop this subject, and hasten right back to the coming of
Christ at the destruction of Jerusalem? To charge him with this is
certainly ungenerous.
After stating that Christ should descend with a shout, with the voice
of the archangel and the trump of God to exalt the dead and living, he
adds--"But of the times and seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I
write for yourselves perfectly know that the day of the Lord so cometh
as a thief in the night. For when they shall say peace and safety then
sudden destruction cometh upon them, and they shall not escape." There
is no resisting the conclusion, that _"the day of the Lord"_ in this
passage refers to the same period when "_the Lord himself shall
descend from heaven_" in the passage above; which must be at the
destruction of Jerusalem. He quotes Christ's own language, Matt.
xxiv:43. See also 2 Peter iii:10. In both places, the sudden coming of
Jesus is compared to a "thief in the night." But where is a _general_
resurrection, at the end of time, clearly stated, that he had no need
to inform them of the times and seasons, because they already
perfectly knew? Where is sudden destruction to come upon any in that
day? For one, I find no such revelation.
Though the doctrine of immortal resurrection of all mankind was fully
revealed, and established in the world at the coming of Christ in his
kingdom; yet that particular point is not argued by the apostle in the
scripture on which we are commenting. He is not speaking of all
mankind, nor of the immortal resurrection; but as in Phil. iii:20, 21,
so _here_ he is speaking of the Christians _only_ who should be alive
when that scene burst and of those dead _only_ who had died in the
cause of Christ. "The dead in Christ" cannot possibly include those
who died previous to his birth, but those only who died in the faith
of his doctrine previous to his coming in his kingdom. We might reason
this point at large, but deem it unnecessary till some one proves how
those, who never heard of a Saviour, could be said to die in Christ,
or to be dead in him. I would, however, remark that the Greek
preposition _en_ may be rendered, _on account of_. The phrase would
then read thus--_the dead on account of Christ_. Wakefield renders it
thus--"_they who have died in the cause of Christ_." That this is its
true sense, I have not a doubt.
Let one thing here be distinctly noticed: Paul says--"For this we say
unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain,"
&c. Now where has our Lord ever said, when speaking of the immortal
resurrection, that some would be alive, and be changed to immortal
beings? Nowhere. This single circumstance ought to make every man
pause before he asserts such a change to be true. Read Christ's
language in all three of the Evangelists where he addresses the
Sadducees; and he speaks only of the dead being raised, but not of any
one being changed. Read his language, John vi:39--"And this is the
Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I
should lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last day." Nothing
is here said about changing the living to immortal beings. The Father
has given all into the hands of his Son; and if he is to _raise_ them
up at the last day, then all must die, for the _change_ of the living
is not the _resurrection_ of the dead. How then could Paul tell his
brethren, "by the word of the Lord," that they were to be thus
changed? He could not because there is not a "thus saith the Lord" to
support it. But Paul had the word of the Lord support the change in
the living which we have pointed out. Christ said, "the righteous
should go into life eternal," they "that endured unto the end should
be saved" that "they should shine like the sun in the kingdom of their
Father," and that "they should be recompensed at the resurrection of
the just."
But, inquires the reader, were those who died in the cause of Christ
raised immortal at his coming? No, they were not. It simply means that
they were in that day to receive their elevated stations of glory and
and honor in the gospel kingdom, so much so, as if they had been
alive. The living Christians, in this respect, were not to be before
them. Having suffered and died in the cause of Christ, they were in
the minds of the living to "shine as the stars forever and ever" in
the kingdom of Christ, because they had turned many to righteousness.
The Lord had, as it were, delayed his coming, and many had given up
faith in Christ's resurrection, and were sorrowing without hope over
their friends who had fallen asleep in his cause. They of course had
no faith in the immortal resurrection of their friends, nor in the
fulfillment of Christ's predicted coming to raise their names to
unfading honor for having labored and died in his cause. We are not to
understand that those departed saints were _literally_ exalted to
elevated stations in Christ's kingdom on earth, any more than Christ
_literally_ came. But as Jesus was _in that day_, at the end of the
Jewish age, "crowned with glory and honor," as king on the mediatorial
throne of the universe, so were his apostles elevated on thrones of
glory with him. Jesus says, "when the Son of man shall sit on his
throne of glory, ye also shall also sit upon twelve thrones, judging
the twelve tribes of Israel."
Now certain it is, that Jesus did take his throne, when he came in his
glory, at the destruction of the temple. Then it is equally certain,
that the apostles and martyrs also took their's at the same period and
in the same sense. _Then_ Christ came and "his holy angels" and all
the saints came with him; not literally, but in the same sense that he
himself came. Luke ix:26, 27--"For whosoever shall be ashamed of me
and of my words, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he shall
come in his own glory and of his Father's and of the holy angels; but
I tell you of a truth there be some standing here which shall not
taste death till they see the kingdom of God." I Thess. iii:13--"To
the end he may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before God
our Lord even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with
all his saints." Here we perceive, that he was to come "_with all his
saints and holy angels_." By his _holy angels_, we are to understand
his gospel messengers or martyred apostles and by _his_ saints, those
who had died in his cause. These are the persons who are said to be
_dead in Christ, and asleep in Jesus_. By the words _dead and asleep_
we are not to understand their present extinction of existence in
contrast with their immortal resurrection, but the supposed _low and
disgraceful_ cause in which they died, or for which they were put to
death by their persecutors, as malefactors. This _disgraceful
condition_, in which their murderers viewed them as unchangeably
sleeping, stands in contrast with their _triumphant exaltation_ at the
coming of Christ. Their enemies would _then_ look upon them as having
come forth from the dust of the earth and shining as the brightness of
the firmament and as the stars forever and ever, and not as sleeping
in perpetual infamy and dishonor. [See Daniel xii 2, 3, and John v:28,
29.] Their enemies (whether dead or alive) were to come forth to
_shame, contempt, and condemnation_, which stand in contrast with the
_glory and honor_ to which the Christians (whether dead or alive in
Christ) were to be raised in the minds of the living even to
succeeding generations.
Let it be distinctly noticed that _these dead in Christ_ are not said
to be raised _incorruptible and immortal_, but only caught up with the
living Christians in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air--not
_literally_, but in the same sense that the living saw the Son of man
coming in the clouds of heaven, so should they see his saints and holy
angels raised from the slumber of infamy, and, together with the
Christians who remained alive at that day, be exalted with him in the
air. [See Matt. xxiv:30, 31--Mark xiii:26, 27--Luke xxi:27, 28, and
Rev. i:7.] In these passages he is represented as "coming in the
_clouds_ with his angels," who "gathered, with a great sound of the
trumpet, his elect," and raised them to honor in his kingdom. And let
me add--this is all the _change_ Christ has ever said should take
place in the living at the sound of the Trumpet. I have no doubt that
the Apostle had his eye upon the above words of our Lord when he said,
"we shall be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." It
will here be plainly seen in what sense those who had died in the
cause of Christ were _first_ raised. They are represented as coming
with him at the destruction of the temple, and after that event the
whole "body" was exalted together. The "vile body" of Christians on
earth (vile indeed in the eyes of their enemies) was then "fashioned
like unto his glorious body" of saints and angels in heaven who had
died in his cause.
That we have given a correct exposition of 1 Thess. iv:15, 16, 17, is
evident from Paul's words 2 Tim. iv:7, 8--"I have fought the good
fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth
there is laid up for me a _crown of righteousness_, which the Lord,
the righteous Judge shall give me at _that day_," &c. The phrase
"_that day_" means not the day of Paul's death, but the day Christ
should appear in the clouds of heaven at the end of the Jewish age.
His _crown was merited_ for having "fought the good fight and kept the
faith." The crown means that exalted honor he should then receive for
having "turned many to righteousness." And not only himself, but all,
"who love the appearing of Christ," should shine as the brightness of
the firmament and as the stars forever and ever in his gospel kingdom
among men. We this day look upon the martyrs and apostles as the
lights of the Christian world and as occupying, on the sacred page,
stations far more exalted than any ever conferred upon the greatest
men of the universe. They are "made priests and kings to God" for
dying in his cause, and thus establishing the truth of Christianity.
This was the "first resurrection," and these were the persons who had
a part in it, which no subsequent christians can ever can have. Rev.
xx:6--"Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first
resurrection, on such the second death hath no power, but they shall
be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand
years." But if Christ had not come in his kingdom at the end of the
Jewish age, as the prophets and himself had declared, then the whole
Christian system must have fallen and the names of its martyrs and
apostles remained buried in perpetual infamy as a set of deluded men
and impostors. But, blessed be God, it is not so. They, by their
faithfulness, have attained unto the "first resurrection" and thus
broken the dark chains of infidelity into fragments. This is the
_resurrection and change_ referred to in Phil. iii:20, 21, and 1
Thess. iv:15, 16, 17, on which we have commented.
We have intentionally omitted till now Phil. iii:11, 12, as our ideas
will be more readily comprehended here than in our introductory
discourse, where we simply adverted to these words of Paul--"If by any
means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead--Not as though
I had already attained either were already perfect," &c. Here we
perceive that the resurrection unto which he desired to attain
depended on his exertions in the cause of Christ, and being faithful
unto the end. He says (verse 14)--"I press towards the mark for the
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." But what prize was
this? Ans. It was a _part_ in the _first resurrection_ to which he
desired to attain (verse 11) and he was not "perfect," he feared "lest
after having preached to others himself might be a cast-away." He
feared that he might not endure faithful unto the end. He was well
aware that the promise was--"Be thou faithful unto death and I will
give thee a crown of life." To obtain this crown of life in the first
resurrection, was the _highest prize_, the _highest calling of God_,
ever suspended upon human merits! Paul did continue faithful, and as
he was led to the thought of death, with composure and satisfaction
exclaimed--"For I am now ready to be offered; and the time of my
departure" is at hand. "I have fought the good fight, I have finished
my course, I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a
_crown of righteousness_, which the Lord the righteous Judge shall
give me at that day, and not to me only, but unto all them also, that
love his appearing." Here we perceive that Paul had continued
faithful, and was entitled to the promised crown, which was awarded to
him, and to all "the dead in Christ," who, on account of their
faithfulness, had a part in the first resurrection--when he came in
the clouds of heaven to establish his kingdom. It has nothing to do
with the immortal resurrection of the dead, for that is not the reward
of merit, but the gift of God. To _that_ all shall attain who die in
Adam. But in the _first_ resurrection none had a part except those who
died in the cause of Christ, and the living who continued faithful to
the day of his appearing. On them and _them only_ devolved the honor
of establishing the truth of Christianity for the happiness of future
generations, by not only testifying that they had seen Jesus alive
from the dead, but by cheerfully submitting to death, and showing
themselves miracles of suffering in his cause. Both the departed and
those that remained alive, attained to the first resurrection, were
glorified together, and their crowns shall shine in the gospel heavens
with undiminished splendor long after those of kings and tyrants shall
be dimmed and lost in the vortex of revolutions.
He concludes the chapter by noticing the change of the "vile body"
which we have explained. Here then is no evidence of a general
resurrection, nor of the end of time. The _context_, the _silence_ of
Jesus about the change of the living into immortal beings, and the
_whole tenor_ of revelation combine to set it at defiance. Of one
thing I am satisfied; that no man ever _has_, and I believe, no man
ever _can reconcile_ the change of the living and the resurrection of
the dead recorded in Philippians and 1 Thessalonians with their
respective contexts, so as to prove a general and immortal
resurrection at the end of time. As I have traveled in an untrodden
path, I do not know but that I may have erred in some minor points,
but am satisfied that my general positions are sound and tenable.
[To be continued.]
SERMON XXIV
"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." 1
Cor. xv:20.
We have now come to that point in our subject where it will be
necessary to cite a few passages to prove that the immortal
resurrection is _successive, not general_, and will conclude by
considering some of the principal texts, which may be urged as
objections.
We have already shown that the resurrection of the dead was to be at
the sound of the last trump. And as that trump commenced sounding at
the end of the Jewish age, when Christ came in his kingdom, I deem it
sufficient to establish the fact that the dead are continually rising
in this _last, this gospel day_. But the question presents itself--
were any of the human family raised immortal before that period? To
this question I give an affirmative answer. I firmly believe, that the
dead have been rising immortal from Adam to the present day, for God
has never changed the established order of the universe. I believe
that the dead are raised without any _miracle_, in the common
acceptance of that term, as much as I believe that we are born, and
die, not by a _miracle_, but according to that constitution of things
which God has immutably established from the beginning. I believe this
doctrine of Christ to be founded upon the unchanging principles of
philosophy but so mysterious, that man in his present existence cannot
comprehend the subtle causes and effects by which he shall put on
immortality. It was, therefore, necessary that this sublime truth
should be established in the world by the miracles Jesus wrought and
by the miraculous power of God in raising him from death. The first
man Adam was made by a miracle, while his posterity are naturally born
into life, according to that constitution of things which God has
established. So Christ, the second Adam, was born from the dead by a
miracle, while mankind from the beginning, have, in succession, been
born from the dead according to that constitution of things which he
has established.
On this principle, it may be stated as an objection, that as none of
Adam's posterity could be born till their parent was created by a
miracle, so none of the human family could be born from the dead, till
Christ the second Adam were raised immortal by the miraculous power of
God. This objection is futile unless it can be proved that Christ
_creates_ life and immortality. In fact, it would even then fail;--
because Christ, as our sacrifice, was slain from the foundation of the
world in the offerings made to God in his stead. The atonement, made
by the high priest throughout the whole Mosaic dispensation, concluded
by raising the Jewish nation in figure on his "breast-plate of
judgment" into the holy of holies, which was a pattern of things in
the heavens. The atonement always involved the resurrection. The
judgment of the Jews, for two thousand years, by Moses only pointed
out the resurrection of man in _figure_, but Christ proved the
_reality_ by a tangible _fact_, and thus revealed it to the living as
the doctrine of God of which the world had been ignorant. So what the
_judgment_ of the world by Moses taught in _figure, the judgment_ of
the world by Christ teaches in _reality_. My limits will not allow me
to argue this point at large. I have already remarked, that I believe
_"the judgment of the world"_ expresses the whole reign of Christ
including the resurrection.
We now proceed to notice the Scriptures. Matt. xxii. 31, 32.
"_But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that
which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, the
God of Isaac and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but
of the living_."
To this Luke adds, "_for all live unto him_." In order to make these
words of Jesus refer to a general resurrection at the end of time, all
writers have availed themselves of this last clause in Luke (on which
Matthew and Mark are silent) and contend that it means--all live unto
God who in his counsels views the future resurrection as present. But
this exposition by no means satisfies my mind. If Abraham, Issac and
Jacob are not raised--if they are yet wrapped in the insensibility of
death, then God during that period is not their God.
To illustrate this, we would remark, that Jehovah could not be Creator
till something were created by him. He could not be Father till he had
an offspring. He could not be Lord till he possessed property;--
neither could he be God till there were a worshipper. _Jehovah_ is the
only abstract name he could possess, were he solitary and without a
universe. All the other names ascribed to him are relative. The name
God as much pre-supposes the actual existence of a _worshipper_ as
that of father does the actual existence of a _child_. Remove the
_child_, and the once doating parent is no longer to him a father. God
is not, therefore, the God of the dead, for as such, they could not
worship him. He is, however, Lord of both the dead and the living
claiming them as his property. Abraham, Issac and Jacob were therefore
alive, and worshipping him when those words were spoken to Moses, for
in no other sense could he have been their God any more than he was
before they were born. The phrase "_for all live unto him_," may, in
this instance, embrace only the three patriarchs, as no others are
involved in the quotation. The Sadducees believed in the writings of
Moses only, and it is not at all probable, that Jesus referred to any
persons, not mentioned by Moses, as it would have been no proof to the
Sadducees. His argument is, to prove that the three patriarchs, _are
raised_ according to their own writings, not _shall be raised_. Now
that the _dead are raised_ Moses showed at the bush when he called God
the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Here we perceive that "_the
dead_" refers to the three persons whom Moses showed were raised. He
then adds--for he is not the God of the _dead_ but of the _living_,
for all live unto him--that is, the three patriarchs _all_ live to
him. If the phrase embrace any others, it must be the living in
eternity, not the living in the flesh nor the dead as such. It would
make Jesus contradict himself in the same breath. "He is not the God
of the _dead_, but of the _living_; for _all_ live unto him." To whom
does this "_all_" refer? To the "_living_"; not the "_dead_," for in
that case he would be the God of the dead.
Luke ix. 30. "_And behold there talked with him two men, which were
Moses and Elias_." The transfiguration of our Lord is recorded also by
both Matthew and Mark, and it is plainly stated that the disciples
"saw his glory and the two men that stood with him." If Moses and
Elias were dead, their bodies crumbled to dust, and their minds in a
state of insensibility, then they were not Moses and Elias who talked
with him. Even if God had represented those two persons by other
forms, they could no more have been Moses and Elias than Adam and
Noah. It is _consciousness and memory_ which constitute personal
identity; and if a conversation was carried on with Jesus by any means
that human ingenuity can invent, while Moses and Elias were wrapped in
as profound insensibility as the dust with which their bodies mingled,
then it could not have been Moses and Elias who conversed with Jesus
any more than if they had never had an existence. Perhaps it may be
said that, as it is called a _vision_ by Matthew, it might have been
nothing _real_. But as the word _horama_ means a _sight_ as well as
_vision_, and as the other Evangelists do represent it as an actual
appearance and nothing visionary, it is to be taken in this sense. Was
it not a _reality_ that the three disciples saw Jesus transfigured,
and though in that condition was it not still their _identical_ Lord?
Certainly. Then the vision was so far _real_, and I see no ground on
which the other personages can be considered phantoms. Mark says, "he
charged them that they should tell no man _what things they had
seen_," &c. See also Luke ix. 36. Here it is made certain that it was
not an appearance in a dream, but a real and visible sight of three
persons whose names are given. Consequently Moses and Elias were there
as certain as was Jesus Christ. If so, they must have been raised from
the dead, for man can have no conscious existence hereafter in a
disembodied state. The scriptures teach that the resurrection is our
only hope of a future conscious state of being. As to the translation
of Elijah we shall not here notice it.
Phil. i. 23, 24. "_For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire
to depart and be with Christ which is far better; nevertheless to
abide in the flesh is more needful for you_." To depart and be with
Christ must, I conceive, mean in the resurrection world, for in no
other sense could he be with Christ so as to render his condition "far
better." Nothing can be _good or bad_ for a man in a state of perfect
insensibility, any more than for a man unborn--Neither could he be
with Christ in such a State, any more than before he existed. Between
the condition of a man in non-existence [pardon the expression] and in
life, no comparison as to enjoyment or suffering can possibly be
drawn. The apostle therefore draws a comparison between his present
condition of conscious existence with his brethren, and his future
condition of conscious existence with Christ which was far better.
That Paul has reference, in the above, to an immortal existence in the
resurrection, is evident from 2 Cor. v. 1, 2, 3, 4.
"_For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were
dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands
eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be
clothed upon with our house which is from heaven. If so be that being
clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this
tabernacle do groan, being burdened, not for that we would be
unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of
life_."
If the above do not prove that the apostle expected to be clothed upon
with his house from heaven shortly after his earthly tabernacle were
dissolved, then I must acknowledge my ignorance of his meaning. He
desires not to be unclothed so as to be found naked at the coming of
Christ. By this I understand that between death and the resurrection
there is a state of insensibility of several days duration, while the
spiritual body is putting on, and if he died so near the coming of
Christ, that the process was not completed, and mortality not
swallowed up of life, he would be found naked, i.e. In the state of
the dead. He therefore expresses no desire to be found unclothed at
that period but clothed upon and present with Christ. This is evident
from verses 6, and 7.
"_Therefore we are always confident, knowing that whilst we are at
home in the body we are absent from the Lord. We are confident, I say,
and willing rather to be absent from the body and present with the
Lord_."
While in the body, though they had many consolations in the faith of
Christ, though "he was with them always even unto the end of the age,"
though "to live was Christ," yet this condition he terms being
_absent_ from the Lord in comparison to being _present_ with him,
which cannot mean in the unclothed state of insensibility, but where
"mortality is swallowed up of life."
Let it be distinctly noticed, that the apostle is speaking of three
states--
1st. as being in this earthly house or body where they were absent
from the Lord--
2nd. as being unclothed and found naked at his coming for which they
had no desire--
3rd. As being absent from the body and present with the Lord where
they should be clothed upon with their house from heaven that
mortality might be swallowed up of life, for which they had a desire.
Verse 9. "_Wherefore we labor that whether present or absent we may be
accepted of him_." Here we perceive that they did not labor to obtain
entrance into his presence, because the immortal resurrection is the
gift of God. But they labored, whether _alive_ on earth or _immortal_
in heaven, that they might be accepted among those, who were worthy to
obtain a crown of righteousness in the first resurrection for having
continued faithful unto the end--that they might be worthy to form a
part of that glorious body of witnesses in heaven who were slain for
the testimony of Jesus. And the body of christians on earth, who
continued faithful to the coming of Christ, were to be fashioned like
those above, and receive the same exalted honor in his gospel kingdom,
and the whole compose one bright body of infallible witnesses, whose
testimony can never be shaken by all the powers infidelity. "To depart
and be with Christ which is far better" must mean in an immortal
existence.
We cannot, for want of room, argue this part of our subject at large;
--but the above is in perfect agreement with the philosophy of St.
Paul, (1 Cor. 15,) where he compares the raising of the spiritual body
to a grain of wheat sown in the earth. I would not be understood to
say that this natural body of flesh and blood is ever to rise. No one,
I presume, will contend that infants, youth and decrepid age, and
those who are born deformed will be raised in that condition and all
retain their various complexions. I believe, however, that there are
those subtle materials in the natural body which, when extricated from
the earthly tenement, and completely developed, shall produce the
immortal being; and that these are as perfect in the infant as in the
man.
We will now conclude by anticipating and answering one or two
principal objections. It may be objected that, if any one arose
immortal before Christ, he could not have been "the first-born from
the dead" as stated in Col. i. 18. This does not mean _first_ in the
order of time, but in _rank_. It means _principal_, and is explained
by the connecting phrase--"that in all things he might have the
_pre-eminence_." It is more particularly explained in Rev. i. 5. "Jesus
Christ the faithful witness and the first-begotten of the dead and the
Prince of the kings of the earth." In connexion with this, we will
introduce 1 Cor. xv. 20. "But now is Christ risen from the dead and
become _first-fruits_ of them that slept." This also has reference to
_rank_ and not to _first_ in the order of time. In evidence of this,
we will quote Cruden,--"The day after the feast of the Passover, they
brought a sheaf into the temple the _first-fruits_ of the barley-harvest.
The sheaf was threshed in the court, and of the grain that
came out they took a full homer; i.e. About three pints. After it had
been well winnowed, parched and bruised, they sprinkled over it a log
of oil; i.e. Near a pint. They added to it a handful of incense; and
the priest that received this offering shook it before the Lord
towards the four quarters of the world; he cast part of it upon the
altar and the rest was his own. After this every one might begin their
harvest. This was offered in the name of the whole nation, and by
_this_ the harvest was sanctified unto them."
Here let the question be asked--Was this sheaf called the
_first-fruits_ because it was ripe before the whole harvest? No; it was not
cut till the harvest was ripe. Was it called _first_ because the
harvest would be _second_ in following it to the temple to be
presented to God, by the priest, in the presence of the people? No; it
was not to be carried to the temple, nor would the priest or the
people ever see the whole harvest thus dedicated to God. But it was
called "the _first_ of the ripe fruits," because it was offered to God
in the presence of the people as an evidence of the consecration of
the whole harvest throughout the nation. It was _first_ in
distinction, or _importance_ without any allusion whatever to _first_
in the order of time.
So "Christ was the _chosen_ of God, the _elect precious_, and the
_Son_ consecrated forevermore." He was "the chief among ten thousand"
and proved to be the Son of God with power by a resurrection from the
dead without seeing corruption. In this condition he was presented to
the people as an evidence of the resurrection and consecration of all
mankind. In this he was _first and last_--that is, the _principal_,
the _chief, the head_, and in _this_ he never _has had_, and never
_will have a second_ in the order of time. This is no evidence
therefore that he was the first one who ever rose to an immortal
existence. We have positive proof that Moses and Elias were raised
from the dead, an in a state of conscious existence for they conversed
with our Lord in the presence of three of his disciples. They appeared
in glory, and were two as real personages on the one part, as was our
Saviour on the other.
Acts xxvi. 23. _"That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the
first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light to the
people and to the Gentiles."_ This passage contains, perhaps, as
plausible an objection against my views as any that can be produced.
But this passage means, that Christ should be the _first_ who should
show light to the Jews and Gentiles through a resurrection from the
dead. The Greek word, here rendered "_should rise_," is _anastaseos_
from _anastasis_. It is a _substantive_, not a _verb_. Professor
Leusden, in his Latin Testament, renders it "_ex resurrectione
mortuorum"--by a resurrection from the dead_. The verb, _to raise, is
egeiro_, and is six times applied to the raising of Christ from the
dead in 1 Cor xv. _Anistemi_ also means _to rise_ and is applied to
raising the dead to life. But neither--anistemi nor egeiro_ are used
in the verse, but _anastaseos_--Consequently it cannot _literally_ be
rendered "_should rise_," but _resurrection_. Wakefield translates it
thus--"That Christ would suffer death and would be the _first_ to
proclaim salvation to this people and the Gentiles _by a resurrection
from the dead_." This is evidently the real sense of the passage, and
I shall offer upon it no further comment.
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Doctrine Of Universal Salvation, by John Bovee Dods
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