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1^* PRINCETON, N. J. ^J 



Presented by 



rr£/5\Ae/n\ VzaWoo. 



BT 77 .P6 

Plumer, William S. 1802- 

1880. 

Truths for the people 



TRUTHS 



FOR THE PEOPLE: 



OR, 



SEVERAL POINTS IN THEOLOGY 



PLAINLY STATED, FOR BEGINNERS. 



> 



BY WILLIAM S. PLUMER, D. D. 



AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 

150 NASSAU STREET, NEW YORK 



IV. 



COPYRIGHT, 

AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 

1875. 



I Ml/ 



~^L~S ^~h 







■*- 



CHAPTER I. 

Theology -- page 7 

CHAPTER II. 

Reason and Revelation - r 4 

CHAPTER III. 

Divine Truth Excellent, though often Mysterious 20 

CHAPTER IV. 

Short Explanations of Some Terms 26 

CHAPTER V. 

The Word of God - 3 2 

CHAPTER VI. 

Names and Titles of God - 39 

CHAPTER VII. 

The Attributes of God 45 



4 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Divine Attributes — Continued - 52 

CHAPTER IX. 

Divine Attributes — Continued 59 

CHAPTER X. 

The Trinity - 66 

CHAPTER XL 

Creation — 72 

CHAPTER XII. 

Providence - - - -- 7& 

CHAPTER XI II. 

Man a Sinner- - -- 84 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Though man is a Sinner, yet he may be Saved 90 

CHAPTER XV 

Christ the Son of God and the Son of Man -- 96 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Christ the Mediator 103 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Christ a Prophet, Priest, and King 109 

CHAPTER XVIII 

The Glory of Christ in his Offices - 1*5 



CONTENTS. 5 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Men must accept Christ and believe the Gospel 121 

CHAPTER XX. 

Repentance - - — ■ 128 

CHAPTER XXI. 

A Change of Heart - 135 

CHAPTER XXII 

Justification 143 

CHAPTER XXIII 

Sanctification -- - 150 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Prayer - - 157 

CHAPTER XXV. 

God's Law 164 

CHAPTER XX VL 

God's Law— Second Table 172 

CHAPTER XXVII 

A Profession of Religion--- - 179 

CHAPTER XXVIII 

How Saints are kept - - 1S6 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

Death 193 

1* 



6 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXX. 

The Resurrection -- -- - 200 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

The Judgment 207 

CHAPTER XXXII. 

Heaven 2I 4 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 

Hell 221 



TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 



CHAPTER I. 

THEOLOGY. 

I. The word theology means a discourse con- 
cerning God. It is not found in the Scriptures. 
We have there "the word of God," "good doc- 
trine," "sound doctrine," "form of doctrine," "doc- 
trine of God," "doctrine of Christ," "form of sound 
words," "the Scriptures," and such like phrases. 
Theology is divinity, as a theologian is a divine. 
Theology treats of the being and perfections of 
God, of his relations to us, his purposes towards 
us, his promises made to us, his will concerning 
us, and the right way of pleasing him. 

II. We cannot learn theology from other 
sources than those which God himself opens to 
our minds. These are the volume of nature and 
the volume of revelation. The volume of nature 
is made up of all God's works. What we learn 



8 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

from it is called Natural Theology. In studying 
God's works we make use of our reason and of all 
true science, searching out all that we may know. 
Natural Theology is the foundation of all true 
religion. David says, "The heavens declare the 
glory of God, and the firmament showeth his 
handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and 
night unto night showeth knowledge. There is 
no speech nor language where their voice is not 
heard. Their line is gone out through all the 
earth, and their words to the end of the world." 
Psa. 19: 1-4. Paul says, "That which may be 
known of God is manifest in them, for God hath 
showed it unto them. For the invisible things of 
him from the creation of the world are clearly 
seen, being understood by the things that are 
made, even his eternal power and Godhead." 
Rom. 1:19, 20. The Psalmist says, " The works 
of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that 
have pleasure therein." Psa. 111:2. Many parts 
of Scripture say a great deal about Gods works of 
creation and providence. 

III. The other volume from which we learn 
theology is the Bible. This is the very word of 
God. 1 Thess. 2:13. It is the word of the living 
God, that abideth for ever. 1 Pet. 1:23. In this 
volume God makes himself known to us in a new 



THEOLOGY. 9 

and special manner for our salvation. It draws 
out at length many of the lessons of natural the- 
ology, and tells us very clearly many things which 
nature taught us but dimly. Its peculiar glory is 
that it teaches the way of salvation to sinners. 
What we thus learn is called Revealed Theology. 
IV. The knowledge of God possessed by an- 
gels and by the spirits of just men made perfect 
in heaven, is very different in degree from that 
possessed by even good and able men on earth. 
Here all men are liable to err, and all men do err. 
No man on earth is without some wrong view, or 
some ignorance, which mars his knowledge. This 
is no reason for sloth or discouragement ; but it is 
a good reason why we should be humble and care- 
ful and teachable, and pray for light and divine 
guidance. It is far different in heaven. There 
they do always behold the face of God. Matt. 
18: 10. They do not hope for anything, for they 
already possess all good. Rom. 8 : 24. " Now we 
see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face : 
now I know in part, but then shall I know even 
as also I am known." 1 Cor. 13:12. Knowledge 
without any mixture of error belongs only to the 
heavenly state. Yet a great part of the knowledge 
which the inhabitants of heaven have concerns the 
very things which good men are learning in this 



io TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

world. Those above know perfectly what we 
know in parcels only. 

V. Natural theology teaches enough to make 
us guilty for not loving and obeying God. It 
condemns us, but it cannot save us. It leaves us 
without excuse, but it also leaves us without hope. 
Rom. i : 20. It oives us clear information that 

o 

there is something wrong in us, but it does not 
tell us how things may be put right. Natural 
conscience convinces of sin, and human misery 
shows that we have displeased God. But nowhere 
among the works of God do we read of mercy to 
the lost or pardon to the guilty. " When the Gen- 
tiles, which have not the law, do by nature the 
things contained in the law, these, having not the 
law, are a law unto themselves : which show the 
work of the law written in their hearts, their con- 
science also bearing witness, and their thoughts 
meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another." 
Rom. 2 : 14, 15. God never leaves himself with- 
out witness, in that he does good, and gives us 
rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our 
hearts with food and gladness. Acts 14: 17. Men 
ought to know, and if their hearts were not blind 
they would know, that God made the world and 
all things therein, and that he is Lord of heaven 
and earth, and that they should seek the Lord, for 



THEOLOGY. n 

in him they live and move and have their being. 
Acts 17 : 24-28. 

VI. Revealed theology takes for granted and 
confirms all the truths taught by God's works. 
The volume of revelation never contradicts the 
volume of nature. He who speaks to us by his 
works is as surely the God of truth as he who 
speaks to us in Holy Scripture. God can neither 
deny nor contradict himself. Even Balaam's the- 
ology went so far as to admit that God cannot lie. 
Numb. 23: 19. The divine sincerity is proclaimed 
in all worlds and by all God does. If man had 
never sinned, nature would have taught him 
enough to make him an acceptable worshipper. 
But now that he has lost the favor and fellowship 
of God, and knows not where to turn, there is 
need of a guide from heaven — a new lesson both 
as to the matter and manner of serving God. The 
light of nature does not avail to salvation. The 
wisest of the heathen have declared their belief in 
the need of a great teacher with new light from 
heaven. 

VII. This want is supplied by Jesus Christ, 
his prophets, and his apostles. He said, " My doc- 
trine is not mine, but his that sent me." John 
7: 16. The prophets were moved to write by the 
spirit of Christ. 1 Pet. 1 : 11, 12. Indeed, all the 



12 



TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 



holy men who wrote the Scriptures spake as they 
were moved by the Holy Ghost. 2 Pet. 1:21; 
2 Tim. 3: 16. In Scripture are the best lessons 
of heavenly wisdom. The word of God is very 
plain. But the human mind is very weak, and 
sadly darkened. So that "the natural man re- 
ceiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for 
they are foolishness unto him; neither can he 
know them, because they are spiritually discerned." 
1 Cor. 2: 14. Yet "the law of the Lord is per- 
fect, converting the soul; the testimony of the 
Lord is sure, making wise the simple." Psa. 19; 7. 
The Scripture was given that the man of God (the 
minister of Christ) might be perfect, thoroughly 
furnished unto every good work. 2 Tim. 3: 17. 
If any man would be a good minister of Christ, 
let him "hold fast the faithful word as he hath 
been taught, that he may be able by sound doc- 
trine both to exhort and to convince the gainsay- 
ers." Tit. 1 : 9. The word of God is wholly un- 
erring. Its authority is perfect. No flaw has ever 
yet been discovered in it. It leads the soul back 
to God, whom we have wickedly forsaken. 

VIII. The end of all God has done and spo- 
ken is his own glory. " The Lord hath made all 
things for himself; yea, even the wicked for the 
day of evil." Prov. 16:4. " Thou art worthy, O 



THEOLOGY. 13 

Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for 
thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure 
they are and were created." Rev. 4:11. But the 
peculiar excellence of God's word is that it is suit- 
ed to lead men to salvation. " These things are 
written that ye might believe that Jesus is the 
Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye 
might have life through his name." John 20: 31. 
God's word is savingly applied to his people, that 
they should show forth the praises of him who 
hath called them out of darkness into his marvel- 
lous light. 1 Pet. 2 : 9- 



i 4 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 



CHAPTER II. 

REASON AND REVELATION. 

I. If man could not reason he would be no 
better than a brute. When he will not reason he 
is no better than a fool. He who gave us souls 
gave us our reason. We are guilty when we 
refuse rightly to use all our powers of mind. 
The stronger our faculties are the better, if direct- 
ed to a right end. The ox knows his owner, and 
the ass his master's crib; let us know the God 
that keeps and feeds us always. Brutes have in- 
stincts ; men have reason. Let them think often, 
earnestly, wisely. 

II. We may have a deep sense of our wants; 
but we are not fit to tell God in what he should 
instruct us. Nor can we judge of truths of which 
we are wholly ignorant. But by using our reason 
aright we may learn whether God has indeed spo- 
ken to us in the Bible. In the same way we may, 
by his blessing, learn what his word means. Yet 
men are not saved by their wit nor by their logic. 
Some seem inclined to put reason in the place of 
the Almighty, and worship it. They speak great 
swelling words of vanity. They say that they 



REASON AND RE VELA Tl ON. 1 5 

have too good an opinion of God to believe that 
he will do such and such things; when he has 
often said he will do them, and when he is doing 
them every day. The human mind is very weak. 
It is liable to many prejudices. He who would 
find truth must love truth. Candor is always 
called for. He who would find truth must search 
for it as for hid treasure. 

III. Reason cannot believe an absurdity. No 
contradiction is a truth. Men sometimes say that 
they believe things absurd, but they are mistaken. 
No lie is of the truth. It has not its nature nor 
its marks. If we knew all about it, we should see 
how absurd it is. A thing may be very strange, 
and yet it may be true. "Wonder is broken 
knowledge." God never wonders, because his 
knowledge is infinitely perfect. 

IV. For a long time men sought to know God 
by reason alone, but they utterly failed. For ages 
the world by wisdom attempted to know God, but 
it- knew him not. 1 Cor. 1:21. The more com- 
pletely men were left without divine teaching, the 
orosser was their ignorance. A revelation there- 
fore was clearly necessary. In lands where the 
word of God was not, the more the arts and sci- 
ences have been cultivated, the more have false 
gods been multiplied. The Chinese know many 



1 6 TRUTHS TOR THE TEOPLE. 

useful and ornamental arts, and have much litera- 
ture, yet they have gods by the million. The 
more ancient Rome extended her conquests, the 
more gods did she worship in the Pantheon. The 
Athenians worshipped all the gods they knew, 
and then to be sure they omitted none, they erect- 
ed an altar to the unknown god. Acts 17:23. 
Left to itself, reason will but grope its way to the 
judgment through the thickest darkness. " What- 
ever the lisfht of nature could do for man before 

o 

reason was depraved, it is evident it has done little 
for man since." 

V. Why should it be thought incredible that 
He who made man should speak to him? The 
heathen tell us that their gods wrap themselves 
up in the mantle of their dignity, and retire from 
human affairs. But while the true God is in the 
heavens, he is also upon earth. To the teachable 
the volume of nature is constantly telling its se- 
crets. Why may not He that knows all things, 
tell us something about himself, and the right way 
of pleasing him? He knows all things; why 
should not he tell us those things which greatly 
concern both his honor and our welfare ? " He 
that planted the ear, shall he not hear ? He that 
formed the eye, shall lie not see ? He that teach- 
eth man knowledge, shall not he know?" Psalm 



REASON AND RE VELA TION 1 7 

94:9, 10. It is perverseness to deny that God can 
make known his mind if he chooses to do it. He 
who knows all things can teach us whatever it is 
important for us to know. 

VI. A revelation, not accompanied with suffi- 
cient evidences of its being from God, would avail 
us nothing. If it were unfriendly to truth, justice, 
honor, kindness, or piety, we might know that it 
did not come from God. If it contained false- 
hoods or contradictions ; if it rested on the mere 
assertion of some man who said God had spoken 
to him; if it were accompanied with no power 
over the human heart and conscience ; if its doc- 
trines were unworthy of even a good man; if it 
were accompanied with no signs, or wonders, such 
as God only can give ; if its aim was not holiness ; 
if those who walked most according to its spirit 
and precepts were vile and bad men ; in short, if 
it promoted ungodliness and malignity, we could 
not regard it as a communication from a good 
God. So, if the men who testified of the life, 
character, doctrines, and miracles of Jesus Christ, 
had been greedy of filthy lucre, anxious for human 
applause, or earnest in seeking for sensual gratifi- 
cations, and by their stories had succeeded in 
these base plans, we could not have credited what 
they told us. But none of them ever accumulated 

2* 



1 8 TRUTHS FOR THE TEOPLE. 

wealth. Instead of pleasure, they had torture. 
Instead of honor or applause, they were esteemed 
the offscouring of all things. They were account- 
ed as sheep for the slaughter all the day long- 
They were always delivered unto death. Yet they 
never swerved from their testimony, but they con- 
stantly affirmed the truth of all they had spoken. 
Every kind of appropriate evidence accompanies 
the revelation which God has given us. 

VII. When we open the Bible we find its 
statements calm, sober, reasonable; its doctrines 
searching and humbling to the pride of man ; its 
precepts pure, just, and comprehensive ; its prom- 
ises plain and well suited to cheer the heart of 
good men ; its threatening^ awful, and suited to 
deter the vicious from their courses; in short, it 
says nothing hurtful to man or unworthy of God ; 
but it greatly encourages good men in their right 
ways, and God is by it more honored than by all 
other books ever written. The only people who 
cheerfully submit all to God, are those who firmly 
believe the Bible. 

VIII. This book has authority over the human 
mind and conscience. Such is its power, that 
when two noted and ingenious infidels of former 
days undertook to read it through in order to find 
faults in it, they were both converted, and both 



REASON AND RE VELA TION 1 9 

wrote in its favor. Its words are life and spirit. 
In a day of God's power they entirely transformed 
three thousand of Christ's murderers into his 
adoring worshippers. It still converts, purines, 
and comforts the hearts of all who truly receive it. 
IX. This word of God is intended for all. 
Even infidels, who know it and reject it, shall be 
judged by it. So said Christ, who will judge the 
world: " He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not 
my words, hath one that judgeth him ; the word 
that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in 
the last day." John 12:48. By searching the 
Scriptures David was made wiser than his ene- 
mies. He had more understanding than all his 
teachers. He understood more than the ancients. 
Psa. 119:98-100. He that hath ears to hear, let 
him hear all that God says. He that hath 
eyes to read, let him read all God's word. To a 
great mass of people, some of them enemies and 
opposers, Jesus said, " Search the Scriptures; for 
in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they 
are they which testify of me." John 5 : 39. It is 
a sad error in any church to discourage the read- 
ing and study of God's word by the people. Such 
take away the key of knowledge. Luke 11:52. 
God's word is a lamp to our feet and a light unto 
our path. Psa. 119: 105. 



2o TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 



CHAPTER III. 

DIVINE TRUTH EXCELLENT, THOUGH OFTEN 

MYSTERIOUS, 

I. Truth is in its very nature excellent. Reli- 
gious truth has the highest excellence. As mind 
is above matter, as eternity is more lasting than 
time, as heaven is better than earth, as God is 
greater than his works; so religious truth excels 
all other truth. The fear and knowledge of God 
are the beginning of wisdom. He, who has them, 
has light and understanding. " Divinity is the 
haven and Sabbath of all man's contemplations." 
The subjects, of which it treats, surpass all others 
in worth and practical usefulness. It opens to us 
the glorious fountain of all being, and of all bless- 
edness. It tells us whence all creatures come. It 
gives the true theory of human nature. It teaches 
man correct views of himself, and of the moral 
government under which he lives. It settles the 
doctrine of an endless life beyond the bounds of 
time. Its truths make <dad all the most virtuous 
of every generation. It cheers and guides poor 
wanderers through the wilderness of this world. 
It purifies men's hearts. For power, for sublimity, 



DIVINE TRUTH EXCELLENT. 21 

for refreshment, for purity, nothing can compare 
with its lessons. They humble without debasing. 
They elevate without puffing up. They beget 
modesty without cowardice. They embolden with- 
out impudence. They at once inspire salutary 
fears and animating hopes. They give joy without 
levity. They make men to sorrow after a godly 
sort, and yet they greatly multiply the sources of 
happiness. To these ends they have a fitness in 

themselves. 

II. To those who seek him with all the heart 
God makes his truth efficacious by special divine 
influences. Even a heart dead in sin will revive 
under the energies of truth in the hands of the 
great Sanctiner. " The first creature of God, in the 
work of the days, was the light; and his Sabbath 
work ever since is the illumination of his Spirit. 1 ' 
Therefore we ought to seek unto God by prayer. 
Often did David cry: "Teach me thy statutes." 
« Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold won- 
drous things out of thy law;" "Teach me good 
judgment and knowledge." We ought to be will- 
ing even to suffer affliction if it may but enlighten 
us in divine truth. The Psalmist said: "It is 
good for me that I have been afflicted; that I 
might learn thy statutes." Psa. 119:71. It is the 
very office work of God's Spirit to lead the soul in 



22 TRUTHS FOB THE PEOPLE. 

the way of life. All the understanding we have 
comes from him. Job 32 : 8. A man may have a 
sun-dial, but he cannot tell the time of day unless 
the sun shines upon it. So he may have the 
blessed Bible, but unless God's Spirit shines upon 
it, he will not gain the light of the knowledge of 
the glory of God. 

III. If the study of divine things is not a bless- 
ing to any one, it is because he is " sensual, having 
not the Spirit." He is blind, and cannot see afar 
off, and yet is too proud to submit to divine teach- 
ing. If men will not believe the truth that comes 
before them with proper evidence, they must con- 
tinue ignorant of the greatest truths. And if men 
will not practise what they do know, they will 
make but slow progress in learning what they do 
not know. David learned much because he de- 
lighted himself in God's commandments. Psa. 
119:47. The promise is, "If any of you lack 
wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men 
liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given 
him." James 1:5. A disobedient spirit is wholly 
opposed to good progress in knowledge. Jesus 
said, " If any man will do his will, he shall know 
of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether 
I speak of myself." John 7:17. All this is true. 

IV. Yet many truths have mysterious aspects. 



DIVINE TRUTH EXCELLENT. 23 

God himself is the greatest mystery in the universe. 
His gospel is a mystery of love, and grace, and 
wisdom. We can believe a mystery — that which 
we do not fully comprehend, which is above the 
power of our natural reason, or which we never 
could have known if God had not revealed it to us. 
We cannot believe anything which is absurd; but 
he who believes nothing except what he fully 
comprehends, will have a very short creed. Absurd 
things are not true. But many truths are myste- 
rious. Man himself is known perfectly to none 
but Jehovah. All God's works are inscrutable. 
The greatest man on earth cannot tell how the 
grass grows; how soil, and air, and water, and 
seed, and light, produce a plant. Nor do we know 
how bread, and meat, and milk, and honey, are 
turned into blood, and so made to nourish our 
bodies. 

V. If God were no greater than ourselves how 
could we adore him? To worship one who is 
known to be in all respects an equal, or an inferior, 
is contrary to all right reason. Therefore those 
do greatly err, who think that God is altogether 
such a one as themselves; or who think that the 
Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, 
graven by art and man's device. Acts 17:29. 

VI. A mysterious doctrine may be very im- 



24 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

portant to us. " The most mysterious of all are, 
in reality, the most important; not because they 
are mysterious, but because they relate to things 
divine, which must of course be mysterious to 
weak mortals, and, perhaps, to all creatures what- 
ever." 

VII. If it were our business to govern the 
world, it would be very important to us to know 
all things, and the reasons of them, as well as the 
modes of their working. But our work is far 
different. We must obey, submit, be learners, and 
have the spirit of little children. 

VIII. The truths of revealed religion are most 
mysterious, as they respect the gospel plan. As 
far as the truths of natural religion are concerned, 
they are as plainly stated in Scripture as any- 
where else. But when the question is, How shall 
sinners be saved? reason gives no answer, and 
nature teaches no lesson. The law of nature says, 
Do and live, disobey and die. But the gospel 
plan is for saving the guilty, and bringing back 
lost souls to God. Here was a great work to be 
done, and none but God could do it. Moreover, 
none but God knew how it could be done. 

IX. It would be a great wonder if poor, blind, 
feeble men knew all about God, or could under- 
stand his wonderful ways. Augustine determined 



DIVINE TRUTH EXCELLENT. 25 

to give three days and nights in succession to 
prayer and meditation that he might know all 
about the mystery of the trinity. On the third night 
he was overcome with sleep, and dreamed he was 
walking on the seashore. There he saw a little 
child, who was scooping a hole in the sand, and 
filling it with sea-water from a shell. " What are 
you doing, my child?" said Augustine. The an- 
swer was, " I am going to put all the sea in this 
hole." Augustine said, " You can never do that." 
The child looked up, light beaming in his eyes, and 
said, " I can do it, Augustine, as easily as thou 
canst comprehend the subject of thy thoughts." 

X. The errors into which men have fallen re- 
specting mysteries are two. Some count every- 
thing false or doubtful which is mysterious. 
Others pretend to explain everything so as to 
make it comprehensible. The former are infidels, 
the latter are vain pretenders. The right way is 
to receive all the truth we can acquire respecting 
mysteries, and humbly leave the rest till God shall 
see fit to explain it to us. Thus, I know that God 
gave his Son to live and die for sinners, because 
he says so ; but I know not how a holy and infinite 
God could stoop so low. If Jehovah hides himself, 
he is still Jehovah. 

Truths for 'ha People. 3 



26 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 



CHAPTER IV. 

SHORT EXPLANATIONS OF SOME TERMS. 

Quite a number of words are used in theology 
which deserve some explanation. 

I. One of these is Religion. This word points 
to the most important matter which can claim the 
attention of mortals. Sometimes it denotes the 
whole body of truth, which has God for its subject. 
Sometimes it points to that class of affections and 
that course of life, which have God for their hieh- 
est object. Sometimes it seems to embrace all 
these. If men are right in their religion, other 
errors are reparable. If here they err, every step 
will be towards ruin. Religion is either true or 
false. There can be but one true religion. But 
the number of false religions may be countless. 
If Christianity is true, Hindooism, Buddhism, and 
Mohammedanism are false. If either of them is 
true, Christianity is false. But where a religion in 
the main is true, some of the forms of it may have 
much error mingled up with considerable truth. 
This mixture of error may be so great that the 
system may differ but little from some of the forms 
of false religion. Some think the word " religion" is 



EXPLANATIONS OF SOME TERMS. 27 

derived from a Latin word which means to review, 
or to reconsider. If this is the sense, it denotes a 
study of all that pertains to our duty to God. 
But most writers derive religion from a word which 
means to bind fast. If this is the sense, then 
religion is the same as obligation in regard to 
moral subjects. These may well employ the high- 
est powers of the noblest creatures God has made. 
No man can slight them without loss and injury 
to his mind and heart. If these deserve no atten- 
tion, life is an utter vanity. And if they deserve 
any attention, it is clear that they deserve our 
supreme attention. The foundation of all religion 
rests on the belief of the existence of God. 

II. Another word requiring some explanation 
is Worship. Sometimes the word is used general, 
ly, very much in the same sense as religion. But 
when we speak exactly, by worship we mean su- 
preme religious homage paid to God alone under a 
sense of our moral obligations to him. The seat 
of acceptable worship is the soul. All sincere 
worship engages both the understanding and the 
affections. It must be hearty. " The true wor- 
shippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in 
truth : for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 
God is a spirit: and they that worship him must 
worship him in spirit and in truth." John 4:23, 24. 



2 3 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

The better we know God, the more capable are we 
of worshipping him aright. It is sad indeed when 
it can be truly said of men, " Ye worship ye know 
not what." John 4:22. "I will pray with the 
spirit, and I will pray with the understanding 
also: I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with 
the understanding also : In understanding be men." 
1 Cor. 14:15, 20. Into all worship pleasing to 
God must enter faith, love, reverence, humility 
uprightness, and knowledge. Insincere worship 
is highly offensive to God. Worship is either 
private or public. Private worship ought to be ab 
secret as our circumstances will allow. Matt. 
6: 5, 6. Public worship cannot be laid aside with- 
out the o-reatest loss to the cause of truth and 
piety. All worship ought to be solemn, free from 
vanity and levity, in act, word, or spirit. It ought 
also to be free from vain forms and idle ceremonies. 
It oueht not to be morose, nor surly, but cheerful 
and animated. It ought to be pure from supersti- 
tion and fanaticism. 

III. What is the knowledge of God? Some- 
times we use the phrase "knowledge of God" as 
meaning the whole of true religion. But common- 
ly we attach a more exact idea to it. 1. There is a 
speculative or theoretical knowledge of God. This 
is sometimes quite extended, embracing one's 



EXPLANATIONS OF SOME TERMS. 29 

views respecting the existence, perfections, and 
will of God. But it has ffo power over the heart 
and conduct. He who has it lives like an atheist 
or an infidel. He holds much truth, but he holds 
it in unrighteousness. His knowledge, because 
not used aright, increases his guilt in the sight of 
God. "To him that knoweth to do good, and 
doeth it not, to him it is sin." James 4:17. 
2. There is a saving knowledge of God. This 
affects the heart and controls the conduct. It is 
eminently practical and experimental. This is 
that spoken of by Jesus Christ when he says, 
" This is life eternal, that they might know thee 
the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou 
hast sent." John 17:3. This knowledge is ac- 
companied by love to God and man, and by true 
faith in the Redeemer and in the Father who sent 
him. It humbles the soul, and yet it sustains it in 
great trials. We should all have more knowledge 
of God if we put a higher estimate upon its value ; 
if we had a deeper sense of our own ignorance, 
errors, and weaknesses ; if we sought for knowledge 
with more earnestness, and especially if our prayers 
were more fervent. The great hindrances to bur 
growth in divine knowledge are pride, self-conceit, 
a trifling levity of mind, sloth or a want of diligence, 
the indulgence of whims and fancies, calling men 



3* 



3 o TRUTHS TOR THE PEOPLE. 

our masters, or believing things upon human 

authority. 

IV. Who is a theist? He is one who believes 
in God. All Christians are theists. Originally 
the word theist meant the same as the word deist, 
and pointed to a believer in the divine existence. 
But for a long time the word deist has denoted 
modern infidels, who, professing to believe in the 
existence of God, denied that he had ever revealed 
his will to men. Commonly the writings and the 
lives of deists have been as contrary to good morals 
as they have been hostile to piety. All who believe 
in God are theists. 

V. An atheist is one who is without God. 
Atheists are of three classes : First, such as do not 
think the existence of God is sufficiently proven ; 
second, such as think there is some proof that there 
really is a God, but in their hearts wish there 
was none; and third, such as live and act just as 
they would if they believed there was no God. 
These all agree in this, that to all good ends and 
purposes they are "' without God in the world? 
Men have been willing to lay down their lives 
rather than believe in the divine existence. Atheism 
helps nobody. If it could be proven to be true, it 
would make no man less wretched, less vicious, or 
less foolish; but on the contrary it would make 



EXPLANATIONS OF SOME TERMS. 31 

him every way less fit to live. It teaches no good 
lessons. It begets no solid hopes. 

VI. Atheism is not very widly separated from 
pantheism. Men easily pass from one of these 
errors to the other. He who says that there is no 
God, and he who says that everything is God, have 
each a theory well suited to the most brutal knowl- 
edge, and to the lowest depravity. There have 
long been professed Pantheists in the world. 
Modern Pantheists are greatly given to contempt 
of the rest of mankind. They love to talk in a 
learned gibberish, which no one understands, not 
even themselves. 

VII. Anti-theism asserts positively that there 
is no God. This is the rashest assertion any man 
ever made. It can never be proven either to be 
true or probable. A poor creature limited to a 
small part of our world asserts what none but an 
infinite mind could intelligently declare, if it were 
true, viz., that there is no God. No man can 
elevate his character, or improve the knowledge or 
the virtue of his race by making assertions respect- 
ing a point on which his information does not bear 
some just proportion to the extent of the proposi- 
tion which he lays down. None but a "fool" could 
or would say, " There is no God." 



32 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE WORD OF GOD. 

I. In the Bible are sixty-six books. Of these 
thirty-nine are in the Old Testament, and twenty- 
seven in the New. In the New Testament the 
books of the Old Testament are sometimes spo- 
ken of in three classes, as Moses, the Prophets, 
and the Psalms, Luke 24:44; sometimes in two, 
as Moses and the Prophets, Luke 16:29, 31; 
oftener as simply the Scriptures. It cannot be 
certainly proven that there ever were any sacred 
books which we have not now; but if any had 
been lost, that should not weaken our confidence 
in those we have. The Old Testament is quoted 
more than two hundred and seventy times in the 
New. The New Testament is at least once quo- 
ted in itself. Compare 1 Tim. 5:18, and Luke 
10: 7. 

II. In Scripture is a wonderful variety of com- 
position. In both Testaments we have historical 
books. The oldest epic poem in the world is the 
book of Job. The oldest lyric poems are the 
Psalms. In the Scriptures we also have parables, 
precepts, promises, threatenings, reproofs, warn- 



THE WORD OF GOD. 33 

ings, encouragements, invitations, sermons, pray- 
ers, and arguments. The four Gospels contain 
the Life of Christ. The book of Acts is a won- 
derful piece of church history. The Old Testa- 
ment has much more poetry than the New ; but 
the New has much more epistolary writing than 
the Old. Indeed, of its twenty-seven books, twen- 
ty-one are in the form of epistles. 

III. The Scriptures were written by God's 
command. " Write this for a memorial in a book." 
Exod. 17 : 14. " Take thee a great roll, and write 
in it with a man's pen." Isa. 8:1. "Write the 
things which thou hast seen, and the things which 
are, and the things which shall be hereafter." Rev. 
1:19. In both Testaments God directs us to look 
at the words thus written : " To the law and to the 
testimony." Isa. 8 : 20. " Search the Scriptures." 
John 5 : 39. Nor are we referred to them as of 
doubtful authority, but as of binding force. " All 
Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is 
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, 
for instruction in righteousness." 2 Tim. 3:16. 

IV. The Scriptures are, therefore, the word 
of God. He would not inspire men to utter false- 
hood. " The words of the Lord are pure words ; 
as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven 
times." Psa. 12:6. The inspiration granted to 



34 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

the sacred writers was above nature, and was full, 
infallibly preserving them from error. The asser- 
tion that the writers of Scripture were not in- 
spired to write the very words they gave us is not 
true. The Bible is the word of God. If God did 
not give us the very words of the Bible, then we 
may alter it as we please. The Scriptures claim 
verbal inspiration in such phrases as these: " Thus 
saith the Lord ;" " Hear the word of the Lord ;" 
" I have put my words in thy mouth ;" " Words 
which the Holy Ghost teacheth." 

V. The Hebrew of the Old Testament and 
the Greek of the New Testament, are the very 
words of God, and must be taken as the final 
authority. But it is lawful to translate the Scrip- 
tures. Christ and his apostles freely quoted a 
translation of the Old Testament made into the 
Greek language nearly three hundred years before 
Christ was born. So we have in English an ex- 
cellent translation. Take it all in all it is perhaps 
the best translation made. It is a wonderful fact 
that every translation yet made, except a very few 
given to the world by gross errorists, and held in 
general contempt, have pointed out the way of 
life, so that an honest and intelligent mind need 
not be misled. 

VI. The Scriptures are a sufficient rule of faith 



THE WORD OF GOD. 35 

and practice. So Christ himself taught, in the 
parable of the rich man and Lazarus : " They 
have Moses and the prophets; let them hear 
them. ... If they hear not Moses and the proph- 
ets, neither will they be persuaded, though one 
rose from the dead." Luke 16:29, 31. "All 
things that I have heard of my Father I have 
made known unto you." John 15:15. The Be- 
reans were commended as noble because " they 
received the word with all readiness of mind, and 
searched the Scriptures daily." Acts 17:11. The 
same doctrine is taught in the Old Testament: 
" These words which I command thee this day, 
shall be in thy heart; and thou shalt teach them 
diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them 
when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walk- 
est by the way, and when thou liest dorvn, and 
when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them 
for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be as 
frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt 
write them upon the posts of thy house, and on 
thy gates." Deut. 6 : 6-9. 

VII. It should be remembered that the division 
of the Scriptures into chapters and verses is not of 
divine authority. They often aid us in finding a 
place ; but they are sometimes awkward, and im- 
properly break the sense. Neither is there any- 



3 6 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

thins: binding in the order in which the books are 
bound up in the Bible. Because of its subject 
matter Genesis naturally comes first; and in the 
New Testament the Gospels fitly enough are 
placed first, because they are the beginning of all 
that Christ said and did. Mark i : i ; Acts i : i. 

VIII. Though the Scriptures were not intend- 
ed to teach us physical science, yet they teach 
nothing contrary to any science truly so called. 
They speak of the sun rising and going down just 
as the common people do now; just as Sir Isaac 
Newton and learned men did. But no one is thus 
misled. 

IX. The Scriptures are very deep and rich in 
meaning. How could it be otherwise ? They 
treat of the deep things of God. And yet they 
are plain and intelligible. Therefore the good 
• man's " delight is in the law of the Lord ; and in His 
law T doth he meditate day and night." Psa. i : 2. 
By the word of God the Christian is called upon 
to prove himself, to prove his own work, yea, to 
prove all things, and to hold fast that which is 
good. 2 Cor. 13:5; Gal. 6:4; 1 Thess. 5:21. 
The Scriptures are very bold, and say : " If our 
Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost." 
2 Cor. 4:3. " We have a more sure word of 
prophecy ; whercunto ye do well that ye take heed." 



THE WORD OF GOD. 37 

2 Peter 1:19. The early preachers of the gospel 
did not shun to declare all the counsel of God. 

Acts 20: 27. 

X. Over a revelation transmitted by oral tra- 
dition, a written revelation has these advantages: 
1 It is more clear to those at a distance ; 2. It is 
more permanent ; 3. It enables us to correct er- 
rors ; 4. We can carry it with us wherever we go, 
and refer to it as often as may be necessary. For 
a long time the brevity of human life has been 
such as to render oral tradition very vague. Then 
human depravity is so great that men are often 
tempted to change the truth of God into a lie. 

XI. The great means of understanding the 
Scriptures are! 1. Earnest, fervent prayers for di- 
vine illumination. Psa. 119:18- 2. Devout medi- 
tation on the great truths therein revealed. _ Psa. 
llg . g7 . 3. Earnest and honest inquiry, with a 
readiness to do the will of God when known. Acts 
8:31-38. 4. Comparing Scripture with Scrip- 
ture. 1 Cor. 2:13. All documents are, as far as 
possible, to be explained by themselves— the dark 
by the more luminous parts. The Bible, to an 
unusual extent, is a self-interpreting book. _It is 
delightful to witness the progress of a diligent 
student of God's word. " The hand of the dili- 
gent maketh rich." Chalmers says: "Many a 



38 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

cottage patriarch, with no other medium than his 
mother-tongue, becomes a greater proficient in the 
wisdom and doctrines of the Bible, than the most 
accomplished linguist or grammarian." 

XII. Some truths are fundamental and some 
are not. He who denies a God, subverts all reli- 
gion. He who denies Christ, subverts the gospel. 
The Bible ought all to be believed. But the hu- 
man mind is weak and erring. Let us hold fast 
all the truth we know. Let us love all truth. If 
no truth is fundamental, the gospel is but a fable. 
If all truth is essential, who can be saved ? for no 
man on earth either knows or embraces all truth. 



NAMES AND TITLES OF GOD. 39 



CHAPTER VI. 

NAMES AND TITLES OF GOD. 

I. Names are often things. They often make 
very deep impressions for good or for evil.^ In 
early times the names of men were sometimes 
given by inspiration. In almost every case they 
seem to have been intended to express some hope 
or commemorate some event. All the names of 
God found in Scripture are given by inspiration 
of God. When we translate the Scriptures into 
any language, we ought to select such words as 
will most clearly convey the correct ideas found 
in the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures. God's 
names belong to him as a person. But in Scrip- 
ture the word name, when applied to God, is taken 
to include all by which he is known— his titles, 
Exod. 3:13, 14; perfections, Exod. 33 :I 9*> word > 
Psa. 1 38 : 2 ; worship, 1 Kings, 5:5; Psa. 76:1; 
and sometimes for God himself, Prov. 18:10. 
The true design of a name is to make known to 
us better than we before knew the nature of him 
who is spoken of. 

II. A title has much the same design as a 
name, and it is sometimes used interchangeably 



4 o TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

with it. But, strictly speaking, the title arises from 
the office, rank, or dignity of one to whom it is given. 

III. The names of God are many, as Lord, 
God, the Almighty, the Most High. Very often 
an epithet is attached to the name of God, as the 
great God, God only wise. In like manner the 
titles of God are many, as Father, Master, Shep- 
herd, King, Governor, High Tower, Man of War, 
Refuge, Portion, Reward, etc. Here also epithets 
are sometimes attached, as " The King, eternal, 
immortal, invisible," " Good Shepherd," etc. 

IV. In the Old Testament the most common 
name for the Supreme Being in the Hebrew is 
Jehovah ; in the English commonly rendered Lord, 
and printed in small capitals. The Jews think the 
true pronunciation of this word is lost, and so 
when they come to it they either make a solemn 
pause or in its place use the Hebrew word for 
God. But this is superstition. Numb. 6:24-27. 
The word Jehovah teaches Gods self-existence, 
independence, eternity, and unchangeableness. He 
has life in himself. He depends on no one for 
anything. He inhabits eternity. He is the same 
for ever and ever. One could almost wish that 
wherever this word occurs it were given us en- 
tire — Jehovah. Many works have been written 
on this word. They do not edify the common 



NAMES AND TITLES OE GOD. 41 

people. The word Jah, Psa. 68 : 4, is a poetic 
abbreviation of the word Jehovah. Another name 
of the same import is found in Exod. 3:14, and is 
rendered I am that I am. The name Jehovah is 
incommunicable. It is never fitly given to any 
creature. Isa. 42 : 8 ; Hos. 12:5. 

V. In the Old Testament the next most com- 
mon name for the Almighty is rendered God. It 
is found in the first verse of Genesis. Some think 
it chiefly refers to God as Creator. It is com- 
monly found in the plural number. This name 
expresses the excellence of God's nature and 
authority. It is not incommunicable, for in Psa. 
82 : 6 it is applied to magistrates, and in Psa. 97: 7 
to angels. Compare Heb. 1 : 6. 

VI. There is another word applied to God, 
sometimes rendered Lord, as in Psa. no: 1; but 
then it is not printed in capitals. It means Mas- 
ter or Owner. There are several other names 
given to God in the Old Testament, but it is per- 
haps not necessary now to explain them. 

VII. In the New Testament we have the word 

Lord as one of the names of God. It is there 

often used as the translation of the w r ord Jehovah. 

Rom. 10:13. The Greek word from which it 

comes expresses dominion, right of possession, 

right of property, authority, excellence. 

4* 



42 TRUTHS I OR THE PEOPLE. 

VIII. The word rendered God in the New 
Testament probably comes from a word which 
means to build: "He that built all things is God." 
Some, however, give to the word a much more 
extended signification. 

IX. No language has a better word for the 
name of the Supreme Being than the English. 
God is an abbreviation of the word good, which was 
formerly written with but three letters. This name 
is beautifully expressive of correct ideas of Jeho- 
vah. Jesus said, " There is none good but one, 
that is God." The meaning is, there is none inde- 
pendently, originally, and infinitely good but one. 
God is good so as no one else is. This name 
expresses with great force the harmony and love- 
liness of the divine character : " God is love." 

X. Sometimes two or more names of Jehovah 
are joined together, as the Lord God, Lord God 
Almighty. And that we may know historically 
what sort of a being God is, he is spoken of as 
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God 
of Jacob, the God of our fathers, the Lord God of 
Elijah. So also God is called the Father of spir- 
its, the Father of mercies, the God of peace, the 
God of all comfort, the God of love, etc. 

XI. While we ought carefully to avoid all 
superstition respecting the names and titles of 



NAMES AND TITLES OF GOD. 43 

God, and ought to employ them whenever truth 
and edification require, we ought on the other 
hand carefully to guard against all profane and 
irreverent use of divine names and titles. As to 
any man that which he most highly esteems is for 
a god, so his idols and his appetites are called gods. 
1 Cor. 8:5; Phil. 3: 19. Even the devil is called 
the 2fod of this world. 2 Cor. 4 : 4. 

XII. It ought not to hinder us from studying 
the character of God to find that we cannot per- 
fectly comprehend his nature or his ways. That 
fact ought to make us modest, humble, and rever- 
ential. God does indeed dwell in light inaccessi- 
ble. No man has seen him, or can see him and 
live. And yet he has graciously revealed himself 
to us in many ways. To the question, " What is 
God ?" the best answer I have ever seen is, " God 
is a spirit, infinite, eternal, unchangeable in his 
being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, 
and truth." We know God by his names, titles, 
word, and works of creation and providence. We 
best know him as he is revealed to us by his Son. 
Matt. 11:27; Luke 10:22; John 14:9. 

XIII. When we say that God is a spirit, we 
speak justly. Our Saviour did the same. John 
4 : 24. We thereby intend to remove from our 
conceptions of him all idea of his having a body. 



4 4 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

He cannot have a material nature, else he would 
be visible somewhere. But the Scripture says he 
is invisible, i Tim. 1:17. If he had a material 
nature, and we knew what it was, we might law- 
fully make some likeness or image of him at least 
in our minds. But he expressly assigns as a rea- 
son why we shall not make any likeness of him, 
that we never saw any similitude of him. Deut. 

4- 12, 15, 16. 

XIV. When we say that God is a Spirit, we 
assert that he is a substance, not material indeed, 
but still possessing properties and attributes ; not 
imaginary, but real; not dead, but living; having 
beyond all other spirits understanding, will, and 
power. If there is anything real and living, God 
is. He is often and fitly styled the living God. 



THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD. 45 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD. 

I. All God's attributes are perfections; and 
all God's perfections are immutable, without bound, 
eternal, consistent with each other, and essential 
to his glorious character. Without any one of 
them he would not be God, nor could we adore 

him. 

II. Many attempts have been made to classify 
the attributes of God; nor would it be safe to 
assert that these have been of no service. Some 
have spoken of them as positive and negative; 
others as absolute and relative ; others as natural 
and moral ; and still others as communicable and 
incommunicable. Perhaps the latter of these has 
been as helpful as any other ; but none of them 
completely covers the whole case. When we look 
at a rainbow we see a variety of colors, yet blend- 
ed into one bow. So is the character of God one 
perfect whole, though he has 'various attributes. 
We cannot exactly define the limits of one color 
in the rainbow, and tell where it blends with an- 
other. In like manner there is a blending of one 
divine perfection with another, yet the whole is 



4 6 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

one infinitely beautiful and perfect character. 
There is nothing in excess ; there is nothing want- 
ing. We do not separate the rays of the bow, 
though we distinguish between them. Neither 
do we separate, but merely distinguish between 
the attributes of God. In the Bible the place 
given to the divine attributes is very large. The 
subject is vastly important. It ought to fill a 
large space in all our religious teachings and 
thoughts. Yet we cannot go beyond what we are 
taught from above. We know not God except as 
he reveals himself in his word and in his works. 

III. In forming our ideas of God's character 
we ascribe to him all that we esteem perfection, 
and refuse to ascribe to him anything that we 
esteem an imperfection. So that if we should 
learn of any excellence of which we are now igno- 
rant, we should at once,, if piously disposed, say 
that God had it. It is hardly possible for any one 
to value too highly the knowledge of God's perfec- 
tions. The best way of studying the subject is 
by comparing Scripture with Scripture. Beware 
of one error sometimes committed in studying 
God's character: never imagine that one of his 
perfections is in conflict with another. His justice 
perfectly agrees with his mercy. 

IV. In teaching us the nature of God the 



THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD. 47 

Scriptures often use two figures of speech. One 
is where they employ the parts of the human body 
to represent to us the acts or attributes of God. 
As men see with their eyes, so to teach us God's 
omniscience the Scriptures speak of the eyes of 
the Lord. And as men hear with their ears, so 
God's gracious attention to our prayers is spoken 
of as his ears being open. Sometimes we have 
both these figures in the same verse : " The eyes 
of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears 
are open unto their cry." Psa. 34 : 1 5 ; 1 Pet. 
3:12; 2 Chron. 6 : 40. Oftener perhaps they are 
spoken of separately : " The eyes of the Lord are 
in every place, beholding the evil and the good." 
Prpv. 15:3. Compare Amos 9:8. " Lord, hear 
my voice : let thine ears be attentive to the voice 
of my supplication." Psa. 130:2. Compare Psa. 
10: 17. In like manner we often read of the face 
of God, the hand of God, and the arm of the Lord. 
Isa. 51:9; Psa. 34 : 1 6 ; 1 Pet. 3:12; Deut. 5:15; 
Acts 3: 17. In like manner the earth is called 
God's footstool, as if he trod upon it ; and the sea 
is the path for his footsteps. Isa. 66 : 1 ; Acts 
7:49; Psa. yy: 19. The other figure of speech 
is where the feelings of the human heart are used 
to teach us the mind or nature of God. Thus the 
Most High is said to be pleased or displeased. 



4 8 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

i Kings 3:10; Isa. 53:10; Gen. 38:10; Psa. 
60: 1. So God is said to be wearied with the tire- 
some iniquity of men, Isa. 43 : 24; Mai. 2:17; and 
to be angered with men's sins, Psa. 106: 32. But 
none of these things need perplex any one. We 
have such forms of speech employed in pity to our 
weakness. They are intended to give us some 
idea of the nature of God, who has neither pas- 
sions nor bodily parts, and yet surely acts in a 
way pointed out by these figures. 

V. These attributes certainly belong to God: 
self-existence, independence, eternity, immutabil- 
ity, infinity, spirituality, simplicity, majesty, omnip- 
otence, omnipresence, omniscience, wisdom, truth, 
faithfulness, benevolence, holiness, justice, glory, 
happiness or blessedness, greatness, incomparable- 
ness, unsearchableness, and unit) 7 . In studying 
the divine character, it is very safe to follow the 
Scriptures and admit such distinctions as are made 
in his holy word. 

VI. The self-existence of God is his having 
life in himself. John 5 : 26. God owes not his 
existence to any other. He would exist if there 
were no other being in the universe. We live 
and move and have our being in God ; but he 
lives and acts and has his being in himself. He 
is never strengthened or weakened in his existence 



THE ATTRIBUTES OE GOD. 49 

by others. There is no greater mystery than 
God's self-existence. He is deathless, immortal. 
1 Tim. 1:17. 

VII. Of course he is independent. Were he 
not self-existent he would be dependent. He who 
holds his life by the will or power of another is in 
the highest degree dependent. But he who has 
his life without and beyond the will of others must 
be God, and must be independent in all his perfec- 
tions. He is far above his highest creatures. Of 
course creatures can lay God under no obligations. 
And it is both folly and wickedness to claim for 
ourselves or to ascribe to any creature indepen- 
dence of God. God often asserts his own inde- 
pendence, and devout men love to know that he is 
wholly beyond want or the help of man. Job 
15:15; Psa. 50:9-12; Isa. 40:13, 14; Rom. 

VIII. God is also eternal. A deaf mute beau- 
tifully said, " Eternity is the lifetime of God." 
And a great prophet more beautifully says of him, 
"He inhabiteth eternity." Isa. 57:15. In his 
sublime psalm Moses says, " Before the mountains 
were brought forth, or ever thou haclst formed the 
earth and the world, even from everlasting to 
everlasting thou art God." Psa. 90: 2. So in like 
manner the Morasthite says, " His goings forth 

Truths for tha People £) 



50 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

have been from of old, from everlasting." Micah 
5 : 2. God's existence is not measured by minutes, 
hours, days, years, or centuries. With the Lord 
one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand 
years as one day. God's eternity is matter of 
worship, not of curiosity. " An eternity past puz- 
zles all human comprehension." No less incom- 
prehensible is an eternity to come. 

IX. God is immutable in his nature, attributes, 
and purposes. Infinitude does not create a greater 
gulf between man and his Maker than does immu- 
tability. With the Most High is " no variableness 
neither shadow of turning." Jas. i : 17. All things 
else change, because they are finite or created. 
Not so with God. Psa. 102 : 26; Heb. 1:12. It 
is a great mercy to good men that they can change 
for the better; but it is a joy to them that the 
Most High changes not. 2 Cor. 3:18. The 
wicked often pervert this doctrine to the worst 
purposes, even to the restraining of prayer, but 
that is their folly and their sin. Every change in 
character is for the better or the worse. If God 
could change for the better, that would show that 
his character is not now perfect. If he could 
change for the worse, we could not adore an im- 
perfect being. "I am the Lord; I change not.' 
Mai. 3 : 6. 



THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD. s , 

X. God is also infinite. Both Gods unchange- 
ableness and infinitude relate to all his perfections 
and to his very being. In every sense God is 
unlimited. No wise being could limit himself, and 
none could limit the Almighty but himself, 'it is 
as clear as day that he who made all things must 
be boundless. The Scriptures expressly declare 
that in several of his perfections he is infinite. 
Psa. 16:2; 147:5; Isa. 6:2-6; Job 4:17, 18; 
Rom. 1: 20; Heb. 11:3. 



52 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 



CHAPTER VIII, 

DIVINE A TTRIBUTES —CONTINUED. 

I. God is a Spirit. We read of the Spirit of 
God in the second verse of Scripture, and often 
afterwards; but this refers to the third person of 
the Trinity. God's spirituality is implied in all 
the Old Testament Scriptures. But our Lord 
says expressly, " God is a Spirit, and they that 
worship him must worship him in spirit and in 
truth." John 4 : 24. While God's will is the rule 
of worship, his nature is the foundation of worship. 
When we say God is a Spirit, we reject all gross 
conceptions of him as possessed of bodily parts, 
or personally connected with matter. It is be- 
cause God is a Spirit that he is unchangeable, for 
matter is always changing. For the same reason 
he is the " uncorruptible God," as Paul calls him, 
Rom. 1:23. For the same cause he is "invisible." 
Rom. 1 : 20; 1 Tim. 1: 17; Heb. 11 : 27. Fie is 
alike imperceptible to all our senses. " No man 
hath seen God at any time." 1 John 4:12. The 
perfection of the character of God is essentially 
connected with his spirituality. God is not only 
a Spirit, but he is uncreated spirit. This is the 



THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD. S3 

great difference between God on the one side and 
angels and men on the other; so that the differ- 
ence between him and them must for ever be 
immeasurable. He is the Father of our spirits. 
Heb. 12:9. We are his offspring. Acts 17 : 28. 
But God is a Spirit existing for ever, uncaused, 
uncreated. No wonder God forbids men to wor- 
ship him by images. Exod. 20:4, 5. Augustine 
says, " Let not the worship of men's works be a 
religion unto us. For the workmen themselves 
that make such things are better; whom yet we 
ought not to worship." 

II. Because of the divine spirituality we must 
believe in the divine simplicity. God is an un- 
compounded essence. His attributes are all essen- 
tial. They all inhere in his infinite excellence. 
His nature is not complex, though his attributes 
are distinct. Not only is there no deceit, no sub- 
tilty in the divine mind, but everything is un- 
mixed, uncompounded in his being and nature. 

III. With God also is terrible majesty, une- 
qualled grandeur. An ancient king of Egypt rode 
in a chariot drawn by four conquered kings. But 
Jehovah " rideth upon the heavens of heavens, 
which were of old." Psa. 68 : ^ " Behold, the 
Lord rideth on a swift cloud." Isa, 19: 1. There 
are two passages of Scripture which evidently 

5* 



54 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

describe the same august scene. The first is 
2 Sam. 22 : 8-18; the other is Psa. 18:7-17. No 
good man can read either of these passages with- 
out being impressed with the awful majesty of 
God. There is another extended portion of Scrip- 
ture on the same subject which has been thought 
by some to be the sublimest part of the oracles of 
God. It is found in Hab. 3:3-16. Read it. 
" Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, 
and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty." 
1 Chron. 29: ji. "The voice of the Lord is full 
of majesty." Psa. 29:4. 

IV. God is omnipotent. The power of God 
is sufficient to effect whatever he is determined to 
do. This is called his ordinate power. It also 
could do whatever involves not a contradiction. 
This is called his absolute power. His ordinate 
power produced and sustains heaven and earth. 
By it he has wrought all his pleasure in all places 
of his dominion. By his absolute power he could 
have made more worlds and more orders of beings 
than he has made, if he had seen fit to do so. 
None can think of greater power than that by 
which something is made out of nothing. Yet 
out of nothing God has made all things. Nor do 
• any of his works cost him labor. He said, " Let 
there be light; and there was light." Gen. 1:3. 



THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD. 55 

" He spake, and it was done ; he commanded, and 
it stood fast." Psa. 33:9. He upholdeth all things 
by the word of his power. Heb. 1 : 3. "He 
stretcheth out the north over the empty place, 
and hangeth the earth on nothing." Job 26 : 7. 
" He bindeth up the water in his thick clouds, and 
the cloud is not rent under them." Job 26 : 8. 
" The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished 
at his reproof." Job 26: n. "He taketh up the 
isles as a very little thing." Isa. 40 : 1 5. " He weigh- 
eth the mountains in scales and the hills in a bal- 
ance." Isa. 40: 12. Lo, these are parts of his 
ways, but how little a portion is heard of him ! 
The thunder of his power who can understand? 
The stability of the universe depends upon the 
power of God. If any say that God cannot make 
a thing to be and not to be, at the same time and 
in the same sense, and thence argue that his power 
is limited, .the answer is, that we ascribe to God 
nothing but perfection. Absurdities are far from 
him. It was a great revelation which God made 
to the patriarch, " I am the Almighty God." 
Gen. 17:1. 

V. God is everywhere present. He fills im- 
mensity. He isa spirit, and cannot be divided; 
yet he is always present in every place with the 
whole of his being and nature. No limits can 



56 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

bound him. A good part of the one hundred and 
thirty-ninth Psalm is taken up in celebrating 
God's omnipresence. See especially verses 5-10. 
Nowhere does the Psalmist use more beautiful 
imagery than here. The sun is distant from the 
earth ninety-two millions of miles, and yet ninety- 
two millions of times ninety-two millions of miles 
beyond the sun in every direction God is as much 
present as in our earth. 

VI. God is also omniscient. His knowledge 
is infinite in kind and extent. It is wholly unde- 
rived. Job 21:22. There is no succession in 
God's knowledge. It is eternal. He knows all 
things past, present, and future ; all things that 
ever have been, are, or ever shall be. All actual 
existences are before his mind. " Known unto 
God are all his works from the beginning of the 
world." Acts 15:18. " His understanding is infi- 
nite." Psa. 147:5. "Neither is there any crea- 
ture that is not manifest in his sight; but all things 
are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with 
whom we have to do." Heb. 4: 13. "Hell is 
naked before him, and destruction hath no cover- 
ing." Job 26:6. To him the gates of death 
have been opened, and he hath seen the doors of 
the shadow of death. Job 38: 17. In heaven, 
earth, and hell, nothing is hid from his all-seeing 



THE ATTRIBUTES OE GOD. s7 

eye. God knows the hearts of all his creatures. 
Psa. 17:3; 139: 1-5. How this omniscience trou- 
bles the wicked many have felt and declared. The 
darkness hideth not from God, but the night shi- 
neth as the clay; the darkness and the light are 
both alike to him. Psa. 139 : 12. 

God also knows all things which ever could 
have been, could now be, or could hereafter be on 
any conceivable supposition. His intelligence 
embraces all plans, all truths, all systems. " Such 
knowledge is too wonderful for me ; it is high, I 
cannot attain unto it." Psa. 139:6. Ignorance 
is a great imperfection. God can neither learn 
nor forget anything. 

VII. Of course God is infinitely wise. He 
orders all things to a right end, even his own 
glory. In every part of creation his wisdom shines 
forth. " By wisdom he made the heavens." Psa. 
136: 5. "O Lord, how manifold are thy works; 
in wisdom hast thou made them all." Psa. 104: 24. 
Creation has sometimes been criticised. The 
result has been the folly of fools. Every muscle, 
fibre, joint, gland, vein, and artery of an animal 
frame is well fitted to the use for which it was 
intended. The blindness of men concernine the 
displays of God's wisdom is one of the firmest 
proofs of a sottish depravity. "The wisdom of 



58 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

this world is foolishness with God; for it is writ- 
ten, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. 
And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of 
the wise, that they are vain." i Cor. 3: 19, 20. 
Never did folly show itself more clearly than 
when Pharaoh said to his great men, " Come, let 
us deal wisely." The masterpiece of divine wis- 
dom is the plan of redemption, where "mercy and 
truth are met together, righteousness and peace 
have kissed each other." It is wiser for us to cry, 
" Oh, the depth," etc., Rom. 11:33, tnan to sa Y> 
" We are the men ; wisdom will die with us." 



THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD. 59 



CHAPTER IX. 

DIVINE ATTRIBUTES— CONTINUED. 

I. Jehovah is a God of truth. As he cannot 
die, so he cannot lie. He is infinitely removed 
from everything like insincerity or deception. God 
tempts no man, mocks no man, deceives no man. 
All his calls and offers and statements are sincere. 
"It is impossible for God to lie." Heb. 6:18. 
The truth of God is the basis of all our reasonings 
n natural religion. Admit that God will favor a 

lie, and miracles prove nothing in favor of any 
teaching. All that he has said is true. God's 
truth relates to all that he has spoken. 

II. The divine faithfulness, strictly speaking, 
relates to the divine promises, though in Scripture 
faithfulness and truth are sometimes used inter- 
changeably. Whatever God has engaged to do, 
he will certainly perform. " The Lord is not slack 
concerning his promise." 2 Pet. 3:9. " Thy 
counsels of old are faithfulness and truth." Isa. 
25: 1. His faithfulness reaches unto the clouds, 
yea, unto all generations. Psa. 36:5; 119:90. 
The hopes of the pious neither have nor need any 
firmer rock on which to rest than that found in 



60 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

the absolute certainty that God will make good all 
his engagements. 

III. Jehovah is a God of infinite benevolence. 
His good-will has no parallel. The terms used to 
express this divine perfection are such as love, 
pity, goodness, kindness, mercy, patience, forbear- 
ance, and long-suffering. That was a great reve- 
lation of himself which God made to Moses : " The 
Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long- 
suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 
keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity 
and transgression and sin, and that will by no 
means clear the guilty." Exod. 34 : 6. Because 
God is pure he has delight in all his holy crea- 
tures ; but because he is kind he pities the dis- 
tressed, is patient towards the rebellious, offers 
grace and life to the guilty, and is good to all. In 
any other being benevolence would be exhausted 
by the perversity and ingratitude of men. " It is 
of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed." 
Lam. 3:22. All creation is but the overflowing 
of his love. Jehovah is infinitely removed from 
all malice, ill-will, or evil intention. In creation, 
providence, and grace, are many and amazing 
wonders of love. The whole story of the divine 
kindness will never be told, though saints and 
angels will be telling it for ever. 



THE ATTRIBUTES OE GOD. 61 

IV. God is holy. In his nature is infinite rec- 
titude. It is for ever impossible that he should 
ever think or do any wrong, or approve of wrong 
thoughts or acts in others. He is glorious in holi- 
ness. He is so pure that the heavens are not 
clean in his sight. Job 15; 15. Every creature 
is such that but for God's care and support he 
might commit moral wrong. To say the same of 
God would be blasphemy. Men's views concern- 
ing God's holiness generally decide their whole 
system of religious doctrine. He who thinks 
lightly of the purity of his Maker thinks lightly of 
sin, and so has wrong views of all evangelical doc- 
trine. Jehovah himself calls sin a horrible thing 
and an abominable thing. Jer. 5 : 30 ; 44 : 4; Hos. 
6 : to. All good men admire God's holiness. The 
worship of heaven is not a little directed to this 
divine attribute. Isa. 6: 1-5. God's purity is the 
rule and the motive of our purity. Lev. 1 1 : 44 ; 
19: 2; 20: 7; Amos 3:351 Pet. 1:15. 

V. From the holiness of God necessarily flows 
his justice. Because God is just, he gives to all 
according to their deeds, whether they be good or 
evil. To do otherwise would be contrary to spot- 
less purity. "That be far from thee to do after 
this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked; 

and that the righteous should be as the wicked, 

G 



62 TRUTHS TOR THE TEOPLE. 

that be far from thee; shall not the Judge of all 
the earth do right?" Gen. 18: 25. Because God 
is just he cannot clear the guilty. His justice is 
inflexible. It surrenders nothing, compromises 
nothing, connives at nothing. It never fails. 
Nothing could prevail with God to infringe upon 
the demands of justice. This is clearly proven by 
the death of Christ. The blessed Saviour was 
always and perfectly holy; yet when by his own 
choice he stood in the place of sinners, and bore 
the curse of the law in their stead, justice turned 
not aside its flaming sword. The awful language 
of the Bible is : " God spared not his own Son." 
It is for a joy to all good men that righteousness 
and judgment are the habitation of God's throne. 
Psa. 97:2. Justice is an amiable perfection in God. 
The wrath, anger, indignation, vengeance, fury, 
and hot displeasure of God are nothing but his 
justice manifested against sin. 

VI. God is also glorious. Sometimes glory 
is taken in the sense of splendor or lustre. In 
this sense it differs little from majesty. At least 
it implies great grandeur. How glorious in this 
sense God is was wonderfully shown at Mount 
Sinai. So terrible was the sight that even Moses 
exceedingly feared and quaked. Heb. 12:21. 
The pillar of cloud and of fire was a display of this 



THE ATTRIBUTES OE GOD. 63 

brightness. The Lord is the "God of glory." 
The face of Moses in the mount with God con- 
tracted such brightness from the beams of the 
divine splendor around him, that when he came 
down the light of his face was painful to others to 
look upon. The glory of the Redeemer covered 
the eyes of Saul of Tarsus as with scales for days. 
There is a remarkable passage of Scripture found 
in Exod. 33:18-23. Let the reader turn to it. 
Sometimes the word glory means honor or renown. 
In this sense also God is glorious. Exod. 15:6; 
Psa. 66: 2; 145 : 5. 

VII. God is also infinitely happy. His bless- 
edness is without bound and underived. He has 
all and infinite resources in himself. No man can 
be profitable to him. Job 22:2, 3. He is the 
blessed or happy God. 1 Tim. 1 : 11. God can- 
not be unhappy. The divine blessedness flows 
from God's infinite perfections. 

VIII. God is great. He is great in his being 
and in all his perfections. " O Lord my God, 
thou art very great!" Psa. 104:1. "Great is 
the Lord, and greatly to be praised ; and his great- 
ness is unsearchable." Psa. 145 : 3. " Praise him 
according to his excellent greatness." Psa. 150 : 2. 
There is no absolutely little sin, because He 
against whom we sin is infinitely great. 



6 4 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

IX. God is incomparable. In his being, per- 
fections, works, and ways there is none like God. 
See Exod. 8 : i o ; 15:11; Psa. 86:8; 89:6; Isa. 
40 : 1 8 ; 46 : 9. To worship God by images or 
pictures is very offensive to him ; first, because he 
forbids it; second, because it degrades him. See 
Acts 17 : 29. 

X. God is unsearchable. He dwells in the 
light which no man can approach unto; whom no 
man hath seen, nor can see. 1 Tim. 6:16. " His 
pavilion round about him are dark waters and 
thick clouds of the skies." Psa. 18: 11. "Canst 
thou by searching find out G„od ? Canst thou find 
out the Almighty unto perfection? It is as high as 
heaven, what canst thou do ? deeper than hell, 
what canst thou know? The measure thereof is 
loneer than the earth and broader than the sea." 
Job 11: 7-9. Even in heaven they sing, " Great 
and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almigh- 
ty." Rev. 15:3. The unsearchableness of God 
is not cause of grief, but is matter of joy to all 
right-minded beings. 

XI. God is one. "Hear, O Israel: the Lord 
our God is one Lord." Deut. 6:4. " There is 
but one God ;" " There is none other God but 
one ;" " God is one ;" " There is one God." 1 Cor. 
8:5, 6; Gal. 3 : 20 ; 1 Tim. 2: 5. There are not 



THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD. 65 

three Gods, nor two Gods, but one God. God is 
one in the highest possible sense. All the gods of 
the heathen are vanities. We cannot define the 
unity of God, because unity is a simple idea. When 
we say that God is one, we assert that he is not 
two or more ; but we do not mean to say that he 
does not exist in three persons, for that would con- 
tradict the Scriptures. 



66 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 



CHAPTER X. 



THE TRINITY. 



I. The word trinity is not found in the Bible, 
but the doctrine of the trinity is there. The word 
trinity means the unity of three ; that is, the unity 
of the three divine persons. 

II. The word person, when used on this sub- 
ject, does not mean a separate individual, but a 
distinct subsistence. It denotes a distinction in 
the divine Being, real, but inexplicable. The doc- 
trine of the trinity has had many enemies. The 
Arians contended that the Son of God was totally 
and essentially distinct from the Father; and so 
in nature and dignity inferior to the Father. They 
also taught that the Holy Ghost was not God, but 
was created by the power of Jesus Christ. The 
Sabellians denied that there was more than one per- 
son in the Godhead, and said that the Son and the 
Spirit were mere virtues or functions of divinity. 
The Socinians taught that Christ was a mere man, 
and that the Holy Ghost was not a distinct sub- 
sistence. The Unitarians confine the glory and 
attributes of divinity to the Father. They do not 



THE TRINITY. 67 

allow Christ or the Holy Spirit to be truly divine. 
Still, the doctrine of the trinity has been held and 
is now held by the great body of Christians. 

III. The persons of the Trinity are clearly 
distinguished in the Scriptures as the Father, Son, 
and Holy Ghost, Matt. 28: 19; elsewhere as the 
Lord Jesus Christ, God, and the Holy Ghost, 
2 Cor. 13: 14. The first person of the Godhead 
is spoken of as one God, the Father, of whom are 
all things. The second is spoken of as one Lord 
Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by 
him. 1 Cor. 8 : 6. The third is spoken of as the 
Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, 
the Spirit of Christ, the Comforter sent to con- 
vince men of sin, of righteousness, and of judg- 
ment. 

IV. The Father is- neither begotten, nor does 
he proceed from the Son or the Spirit. The Son 
is begotten of the Father, the only-begotten of the 
Father. John 1 :i4; 3: 16. The Spirit is not 
begotten, but proceeds from the Father, is the 
Spirit of the Father, and is the Spirit of the Son, 
and is of the Son, and is sent by the Son. John 
15:26; Rom. 8:9, 14; 1 Pet. 1 : 1 1. But the 
words Father and Son, beget and begotten, are 
not to be overstrained. They are merely the fit- 
test words to convey to our dull minds some just 



68 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

idea of the relation existing between the first and 
second persons of the Godhead. 

V. No one denies the divinity of the Father. 
No one ought to deny the true and supreme divin- 
ity of the Son. Of him the Scripture says, "This 
is the true God and eternal life." i John 5: 20. 
He " is over all, God blessed for ever." Rom. 
9:5. " As the Father hath life in himself, so hath 
he given to the Son to have life in himself." John 
5 ; 26. Thomas worshipped him, calling him "my 
Lord and my God." John 20:28. The world 
was made by the Son. Col. 1:16. It shall be 
destroyed by the Son. Heb 1:12. All men shall 
be judged by the Son. John 5 : 22, 27. Stephen, 
dying, prayed to him. Acts 7:59. The very 
highest worship of heaven is offered to him. 
Rev. 5 ; 12, 13. So also the Spirit of God is truly 
God. In Acts 5 : 3, 4, the Holy Ghost is express- 
ly called God. The Spirit perfectly knows God, 
and so is God. 1 Cor. 2: 10, 11. He is joined 
with the Father and the Son in the form of bap- 
tism, and in the apostolic benediction. Matt. 
28 : 19; 2 Cor. 13 : 14. 

VI. This doctrine is never to be so taught as 
to lead men to suppose that there are three Gods. 
We do not deny the unity of God. We glory in 
it. Nor do we hold that God is three in the same 



THE TRINITY. 69 

sense in which he is one, for that would be a con- 
tradiction. But he is one in being, in nature, in 
essence ; and three in personality or subsistence. 
So that when we speak of the Father, we say he, 
his, him ; and when the Father speaks of himself, 
he says I, mine, me; and when we speak to him, 
we say thou, thine, thee. The same form of speech 
is also found in regard to the Son and the Spirit. 
When John baptized our Lord, all three persons 
of the Trinity were present ; " Lo, the heavens 
were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of 
God descending like a dove, and lighting upon 
him ; and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is 
my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." 
Matt. 3: 16, 17. So we find all three persons of 
the Godhead spoken of in John 14:26: "The 
Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the 
Father will send in my name, he shall teach you 
all things, and bring all things to - your remem- 
brance whatsoever I have said unto you." 

VII. As all three persons of the Godhead con- 
curred in man's creation, so do they all concur in 
man's redemption. The Father gave the only- 
begotten Son. John 3: 16. The Son laid down 
his life for his sheep. John 10:17, 18. The Spirit 
reproves the world of sin, and of righteousness, 
and of judgment, and guides God's people into all 



7 o TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

truth. John i6;8, 13. There is a wonderful and 
unspeakable communion of nature, attributes, and 
glory in the persons of the Godhead. Christ says 
of the Spirit: " He shall glorify me; for he shall 
receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. All 
things that the Father hath are mine; therefore 
said I that he shall take of mine, and shall show it 
unto you." John 16: 14, 15. It is the will of 
God that "all men should honor the Son as they 
honor the Father. He that honoreth not the 
Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent 
him." John 5:23. Now if men refuse to honor 
the Son, and worship only the Father, or if they 
honor the Son not as the Son of God, but merely 
as a creature, they do displease him who sent his 
Son into the world. We must worship the trin- 
ity in unity, and unity in trinity. The doctrine 
here maintained relates therefore to the object of 
religious worship. The orthodox hold that we are 
to worship the Father, the Son, and the Holy 
Ghost. All others worship God not as he is re- 
vealed in the Bible, but according to their own 
ideas. " This is life eternal, that they might know 
thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom 
thou hast sent." John 17:3. It is a remarkable 
fact, that men who hold the supreme divinity of 
Christ never deny the divinity of the Spirit. 



THE TRINITY. 7 x 

VIII. We have hints of this doctrine of the 
trinity in the oldest writings of Scripture. In the 
first verse of Genesis the word rendered God is in 
the plural form. So in Job 35 ; 10, the word Ma- 
ker in the Hebrew is plural. So in Eccles. 12:1, 
the word Creator is in the plural. So in Isa. 54 ; 5, 
the words Maker and Husband are both in the 
plural. So in Mai. 1 : 6, the word Master is in the 
plural. Not only are nouns but pronouns found 
in the plural. In Gen. 1:26 we read; "Let us 
make man in our image, after our likeness." See 
also Gen. 3:22. Many things like these are found 
in the Old Testament. Whatever arguments prove 
the divinity and personality of the Son and of the 
Holy Ghost, prove the doctrine of the trinity. For 
if each of these is a person, and each of them is 
divine, there is no more doubt of the trinity. 



72 TRUTHS TOR THE PEOPLE. 



CHAPTER XI. 



CRT A TION. 



I. " Through faith we understand that the 
worlds were framed by the word of God, so that 
things which are seen were not made of things 
which do appear." Heb. 11:3. This passage of 
Scripture settles these points: 1. The universe 
was made — the worlds were framed ; 2. This was 
done by the fiat of the Almighty — the word of God. 
Compare Psa. 33:6. 3. The world was not made 
out of pre-existent materials — the things which 
are seen were not made of things which do appear; 
4. We know all these things by faith. A fair 
inference from all this is that we are bound to own 
and to worship God as the Author of creation — 
the Maker of all things. 

II. The progress of science, either truly or 
falsely so called, has given us no better insight 
into the origin of the universe than that afforded 
by the first chapter in the Bible. On the first 
day of creation God said, " Let there be light, and 
there was light." The same day God divided the 
light from the darkness. On the second clay of 
creation God spread out the expanse or firmament 



CREATION. 73 



dividing the waters that flow on the earth from 
the waters which are held in the clouds and the 
atmosphere. On the third day he separated the 
waters of the earth from the dry land and pro- 
duced all kinds of grass, herbs, and trees having 
seed and fruit. On the fourth day he arranged 
the lights in the heavens and appointed them for 
signs and seasons, for days and years. On the 
fifth day God created all manner of fishes, and 
living creatures in the sea, and all creatures that 
fly in the open air and all fowls. On the sixth day 
God created creeping or prowling animals, beasts, 
and cattle. On the same day also he created man, 
male and female. One of the most remarkable 
statements respecting creation is that so often 
repeated, that when God reviewed his work, he 
declares that it was good— very good. 

III. Many idle and unprofitable questions can 
easily be raised respecting the creation, as well as 
some learned questions, which, if not wholly idle, 
are yet too deep for those for whom this work is 

written. 

IV. If any ask, How is it possible that some- 
thing could have been created out of nothing? 
the answer is that it could not but by the almighty 
power of God. There our faith must rest. Far- 
ther we cannot go. Farther we need not go. 



Truths for the People. 



74 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

Omnipotence can effect anything that is not 
absurd. 

V. We have no reason to suppose that there 
has been any change in the laws of nature since 
the creation was finished. Heavy substances have 
always fallen to the ground, water has always 
sought its own level, ascent has always been more 
difficult than descent, fire has always burned, and 
water has always put out fire ever since the world 
began, except when the laws of nature have been 
miraculously suspended. 

VI. The historic account of the creation is 
given in the first chapter of Genesis. We have a 
poetic account of the same wonderful event in the 
one hundred and fourth Psalm. In other parts 
of Scripture are found many short statements re- 
specting the same work. All of these take for 
granted the correctness of the historic account 
given by Moses. 

VII. The illustration of the divine perfections 
found in the work of creation is very instructive. 
The power, wisdom and goodness thus brought to 
view are truly admirable. In studying the divine 
attributes several of these passages have been 
already considered. Others can easily be found. 
The dispositions of men, as to piety or impiety, 
are often discovered by their sentiments respecting 



CREATION, 75 

creation. David was wonderfully stirred up by 
his thoughts concerning the heavens. A poet has 

said: . 

" An undevout astronomer is mad. 

Yet so brutish are some men in their knowledge 
that even astronomy and anatomy make them prate 
like fools. In the height of his bodily sufferings 
the pious Halyburton said, " I bless God that ever 
I was born." On the other hand the vain and 
giddy Voltaire, in the midst of the flatteries of 
kings and courtiers, said, " I wish I had never been 
born." Vile indeed is the heart, and dark indeed 
are the prospects of him who cannot give thanks 
for his own creation. 

VIII. In the whole work of creation God was 
both sovereign and free. He might have made 
more worlds, and more orders of beings, he might 
have created the world sooner or later, if he had so 
chosen. He acted according to the counsel of his 
own will. Whatever he has done has been the 
dictate of his own will and wisdom. 

IX. All creation was for the divine glory, and 
to the divine praise. " " Of him, and through him, 
and to him, are all things." Rom. 1 1 : 36. " Thou 
hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they 
are and were created." Rev. 4:11. 

X. The Scriptures use creation as a proof and 



7 6 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

illustration of the divinity of the Father, Son, and 
Holy Ghost. Thus spake the devout son of 
Hachaliah: "Thou, even thou, art Lord alone; 
thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, 
with all their host, the earth, and all things that 
are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and 
thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven 
worshipped! thee." Neh. 9 : 6. Compare Is. 45 : 7. 
Many parallel texts are easily found proving the 
divinity of the Father. John and Paul both estab- 
lish the divinity of the Son of God by the work of 
creation. "All things were made by him; and 
without him was not anything made that was 
made;" "By him were all things created, that are 
in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invis- 
ible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or 
principalities, or powers: all things were created 
by him and for him ;" " By him God made the 
worlds." John 1:3; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:2. The 
Scriptures as clearly ascribe creation to the Spirit. 
Thus spake Moses : " The Spirit of God moved 
upon the face of the waters;" " By his Spirit he hath 
garnished the heavens." Gen. 1:2; Job 26:13. 
Thus in the creative power and skill of the Father, 
Son, and Holy Ghost, we find a blessed foundation 
for all the worship and adoration which we offer 
to the triune God. 



CREATION. 77 

XI. Inspired writers and devout men alike 
unite in giving great prominence to the goodness 
of God manifested in creation. Not a creature 
nor organ of life has yet been found containing 
proofs of malignity in its Author. Surely this 
world was made by a benevolent Being, and should 
furnish songs of praises to its Creator. 

XII. The unity of design found in creation 
well illustrates the unity of God. Surely he who 
made the eye, made the light. Surely he who 
made the ear, made the air by whose vibrations 
sound is carried. Surely he who made the water 
made the tribes of creatures that live in it. There 
is one God. There is no need of more than one 
God. There is but one God. He is Lord of all. 

XIII. So far as we know, God has at no time 
made but two races of rational and accountable 
beings — angels and men. Angels were made 
before men, for they sang when this world was 
made. All the sons of God shouted for joy. Job 
38 : 7. Both angels and men are immortal. Man is 
lower than the angels. Psa. 8 : 5. Both races were 
made to glorify God. Some angels are greater 
than others. Eph. 1:21; 3:10. Some angels and 
all mere men become sinners. The lost angels 
are lost for ever. Matt. 25:41 ; 2 Pet. 2:4. 

7* 



73 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 



CHAPTER XII. 

PROVIDENCE. 

I. Providence is the care of God over his 
creatures. God's works of providence are his most 
holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing 
all his creatures and all their actions. 

II. To deny providence is as truly atheistic as 
to deny God's existence. One who neither sees, 
nor hears, nor knows, nor cares, nor helps, nor 
saves, is no God at all. No right-minded man 
could worship such a being. 

III. Both the Old and New Testaments de- 
clare with great frequency God's providence over 
the world. In the hand of the Lord is "the soul 
of every living thing, and the breath of all man- 
kind." " In him we live, and move, and have our 
being." "The Lord God omnipotent reigneth." 
Job 12:10; Acts 17:28; Rev. 19:6. Pious men 
of all ages have been very much agreed on the 
general doctrine of providence. They have felt 
that the world may as well be without a God as to 
have one who controls it not. 

IV. God's providence -partakes of his own 
excellent nature. Because he is supreme and holy 



PROVIDENCE. 79 

and just and good and wise and kind and almighty, 
his government is irresistible, kind, wise, good, just, 
holy, and over all. Nothing escapes the divine 
notice. Living creatures invisible to the naked 
eye as well as the great sea monsters alike evince 
his presence and his power. He never slumbers 
nor sleeps. He calls the stars by their names. 
That which is to us chance is to him matter of 
exact arrangement. Eccles. 9; 11 ; Prov. 16: 33. 
He makes the wrath of man to praise him, and 
the remainder of wrath he restrains. Psa. 76: 10. 
His providence is not extemporaneous and con- 
ducted by a plan formed from day to day, but by 
a plan fixed and settled according to a holy, wise, 
and eternal purpose. Eph. 1 ; 1 1 ; 3 ; 1 1 ; 2 Tim. 
1 ; 9. God does not change his plan : " My coun- 
sel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure." 

Isa. 46 : 10. 

V. Very remarkable is the long-suffering of 
God's providence. For their sins God might 
justly and instantly cut men down ; but his long- 
suffering prevails, and the guilty are spared so as 
to have time for repentance. 

VI. The Scriptures forewarn us that God's 
doings will often confound us : " Thy judgments 
are a great deep." " Thy way is in the sea, and 
thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are 



80 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

not known." Psa. 36:6; 77:19. God saves or 
he destroys, by few or by many, by the strong or 
by the weak, by friend or by foe. He is on the 
right hand, but we perceive him not. None are 
more surprised than wicked men when God brings 
their conduct to its natural end. Nor does he £ive 
account of any of his doings. Often he does not 
even give us notice when he is about to effect his 
greatest wonders. He hangs the earth upon noth- 
ing. He often seems to hang the destiny of 
empires upon a thing of naught. Both his means 
and his instruments are commonly such as man 
would reject. God sees order where we see but 
confusion, and light where we see but darkness. 
He has as perfect control over invisible agents as 
he has over things seen by men. " His kingdom 
ruleth over all." Many think it vastly strange that 
God takes the poor from the dunghill and sets 
them among princes, and pours contempt on birth 
and blood, on prowess and on princes. 

VII. There is something very wonderful in 
God's care of good men. They often speak of it 
here. They will oftener speak of it hereafter. 
" The steps of a good man are ordered by the 
Lord; and He delighteth in his way." Psa. 37: 23. 
There is a wonderful connection between the 
prayers of saints and the providence of God. For 



PROVIDENCE. 8 1 

thousands of years one good man after another 
has repeated the words of the Psalmist as applica- 
ble to himself : " This poor man cried, and the 
Lord heard him and saved him out of all his trou- 
bles." Psa. 34: 6. It does not at all diminish the 
wonder of God's care of his people that he pro- 
tects them without the interposition of miracles. 

VIII. All the argument brought against prov- 
idence from the apparent confusion in human 
affairs is easily enough answered. In this world 
nothing is finished, nothing is perfected. Let 
men wait till they see Lazarus in Abraham's 
bosom, and the rich sinner beyond the reach of 
hope, and they will not doubt that there is a God 
that judgeth in the earth. 

IX. In one respect providence is a continual 
exhibition of creative energy. " Thou sendest 
forth thy Spirit, they are created : and thou renew- 
est the face of the earth." Psa. 104: 30. Every 
man on earth is as truly the creature of God as 
was Adam in the garden of Eden. 

X. It seems strange that any should limit, or 
wish to limit the control of God over free agents. 
The Scriptures clearly show that God as much 
governs the free acts of malignant men as he does 
material causes. It is true that both Herod and 
Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people 



82 TRUTHS FOR THE TEOTZE. 

of Israel, were gathered together; but it was for 
to do whatsoever Gods hand and God's counsel 
determined before to be done. Acts 4:27, 28. 
No power had they against Jesus except as the 
Almighty lengthened their chain. John 19:11. 
" Our God is in the heavens : he hath done what- 
soever he hath pleased." Psa. 115:3. None can 
stay his hand. Dan. 4: 35. 

XI. Sometimes our minds dwell on great affairs 
and the vastness of the universe until we almost 
doubt whether the Most High cares for little 
things. But when we take the microscope and 
look at the vast numbers of little creatures too 
small to be perceived by the naked eye, we find 
his wisdom, power, and goodness to them as man- 
ifest as towards creatures of the greatest size and 
beauty. And when we look at the Scriptures the 
same doctrine is abundantly taught : " Are not two 
sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them 
shall not fall on the ground without your Father. 
But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 
Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than 
many sparrows." Matt. 10:29-31. Some have 
said that the care of so many things, great and 
small, could not be expected of God. They forget 
that to create and neglect would be indeed a blot 
on the divine character, and that it is no labor to 



PR O VIDE NCR. 8 3 

the Almighty to take infinite care of his creatures. 
" The Lord is good to all ; and his tender mercies 
are over all his works. The eyes of all wait upon 
thee ; and thou givest them their meat in due sea- 
son. Thou openest thy hand and satisfiest the 
desire of every living thing." Psa. 145:9, 15, 16. 

XII. This doctrine of providence cuts up by 
the roots the spirit of self-sufficiency and vain- 
boasting. " What hast thou that thou hast not 
received ?" " Every good gift and every perfect 
gift is from above, and cometh down from the 
Father of lights." " It is God which worketh in 
you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." 
1 Cor. 4:7; Jas. 1:17; Phil. 2:13. 

XIII. In the church below and in the church 
above, the doctrine of providence fills pious hearts 
with joy and pious mouths with praise. " Of him, 
and through him, and to him, are all things : to 
whom be glory for ever. Amen." " Alleluiah : 
For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth." Rom. 
11 : 36; Rev. 19:6. 



8 4 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



MAN A SINNER. 



I. Man is a creature of God. Reason proves 
this; Scripture asserts it. Gen. 1:27; 5:1; 
Eccles; 12 : 1, 7; Mai. 2 : 10 ; Zech. 12:1. These 
passages claim that God is not only the framer of 
our bodies, but the Father of our spirits. We are 
entirely the creatures of God. 

II. God made man pure in knowledge, right- 
eousness, and true holiness. Col. 3:10; Eph. 
4 : 24. " Lo, this only have I found, that God hath 
made man upright; but they have sought out many 
inventions." Eccles. 7 : 29. God made man in 
his own image, after his own likeness. Gen. 1 : 26, 
27; 5:1. The image of God and the likeness of 
God mean the same thing. They both denote a 
similitude. This likeness is either natural or moral. 
The natural image of God consists in intelligence. 
The moral image of God consists in holiness. 
Man has lost God's moral image, but retains 
somewhat of his natural image. Gen. 9 : 6. 

III. All men of whatever color or habit are of 
one race, and had a common origin. " God hath 
made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell 



MAN A SINNER. 85 

on all the face of the earth, and hath determined 
the times before appointed, and the bounds of their 
habitation." Acts 17: 26. Compare Gen. 3 : 20 ; 
9: 19; Rom. 5 : 12, 19; 1 Cor. 15: 22. 

IV. In creating our first parents, God made 
our father Adam before he made our mother Eve. 
This is noticed in the Scriptures as worthy of 
attention and instructive. 1 Cor. 1 1 : 8, 9 ; 1 Tim. 
2 : 13, 14. The woman was last made, but she was 
the first to sin. 

V. It seems to be God's plan to subject all the 
rational beings he has made to a trial or probation. 
Thus the angels were tried, and some of them 
fell. Thus man was tried, and he fell. His trial 
was very fair. It was as slight as it could be to be 
a test at all. It was simply abstaining from one 
kind of fruit in the garden. Of the rest he might 
eat. Gen. 2: 16, 17. How long man stood before 
he fell we do not know, and it is idle to inquire. 
By his fall man became liable to all penal evil, for 
that is the meaning of the word death when used 
on this subject. An immediate effect of man's 
sin was his expulsion from Paradise. But he was 
not driven out in a hopeless manner. He was 
allowed to carry with him two very important 
institutions, marriage and the Sabbath-day. He 
also had a gospel promise made him, " The seed 

8 



86 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

of the woman shall bruise the serpents head." 
Gen. 3:15. 

VI. The effects of the fall on the posterity of 
our first parents are just the same as on Adam 
and Eve. The earth still brings forth thorns and 
thistles. In the sweat of man's face he still eats 
his bread, and finally returns to the dust. Gen. 
3 : 18, 19. The sorrow of woman is just the same 
as that which came upon Eve. Gen. 3:16. 

VII. All men come into the world in a state 
of guilt, or exposure to wrath. Indeed the Bible 
says in so many words that we are " by nature the 
children of wrath even as others." Eph. 2 : 3. It 
says, " By one man sin entered into the world, 
and death by sin; and so death passed upon all 
men." It further says, that "through the offence 
of one many be dead." " The judgment was by 
one to condemnation." " By one man's offence 
death reigned by one." " By the offence of one 
judgment came upon all men to condemnation." 
" By one man's disobedience many were made sin- 
ners." Rom. 5:12, 15-19. Language can hardly 
be clearer or less liable to mistake. 

VIII. Another effect of the fall was the de- 
pravity of man's nature. So that there is none 
righteous, no, not one. Rom. 3:10. Bitterly 
does David bewail his own native depravity : " Be- 



MAN A SINNER. 87 

hold, I was shapen in iniquity ; and in sin did my 
mother conceive me." Psa. 51:5. Compare Job 
14:4; John 3:6; Gen. 6:5. On the universal 
depravity of the race the Bible speaks but one lan- 
guage. In Rom. 1 : 19-32, Paul proves the Gen- 
tiles to be sinners. In Rom. 2 : 11-29, he proves 
that the Jews are sinners; and in Rom. 3 : 10-23, 
he proves that the whole race of man is apostate 
from God. He relies on the prophets of the Old 
Testament. He might have quoted many more 
than he did. 

IX. In his natural state man is full of spiritual 
darkness. The very light that is in him is dark- 
ness. Matt. 6:23. " The natural man receiveth 
not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are 
foolishness unto him : neither can he know them, 
because they are spiritually discerned." 1 Cor. 
2:14. In order to salvation, man as much needs 
divine instruction as he does pardon or renewal; 
and it is great grace in' God to promise to teach 
all his children. Isa. 54 : 13. 

X. By nature man is in a state of misery; and 
yet he knows not that he is wretched, and misera- 
ble, and poor, and blind, and naked, and has need 
of all things. Rev. 3:17. All the sinful passions 
are in their nature tormenting. A guilty con- 
science is the worst scourge ever felt. Speaking 



88 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

of the wicked, God says, " Destruction and misery 
are in their ways." Even if a man's conscience is 
seared as with a hot iron, there is no telling when 
his tumults will be terrific. It was so with Bel- 
shazzar. Dan. 5:9. It was so with Herod. Matt. 
14:2. 

XI. By nature man is helpless. He cannot 
atone for a single sin. The redemption of the 
soul is precious. Psa. 49 : 8. It costs too much 
to be redeemed with silver and gold, with tears or 
human sacrifices, or with any corruptible things. 
It can be redeemed alone with the precious blood 
of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and with- 
out spot. 1 Pet. 1:19. Nor can man turn him- 
self to God by any power that is within him. We 
are expressly said to be " without strength," and to 
be " the servants of sin." Rom. 5 : 6 ; 6 : 1 7. " The 
carnal mind is not subject to the law of God, nei- 
ther indeed can be." By nature we are polluted in 
our blood. Ezek. 16:6. " Except a man be born 
again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." John 
3 : 3. The dead cannot raise themselves, and men 
are dead in trespasses and sins. Eph. 2:1. 

XII. The whole nature of man is affected by 
sin. The understanding is darkened ; the will is 
corrupt ; the conscience is defiled ; the memory is 
polluted; the imagination is depraved; the throat 



MAN A SINNER. 89 

is an open sepulchre ; the tongue is deceitful ; the 
poison of asps is under the lips ; the mouth is full 
of cursing and bitterness; the feet are swift to 
shed blood ; the eyes are full of adultery ; the 
heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately 
wicked. Men yield their members servants to 
uncleanness. The whole head is sick, and the 
whole heart is faint. See Isa. 1:6; Rom. 3 : 10-18 ; 
6:19. 

XIII. The very names given to sin should 
awaken in us uneasiness and alarm. Sin means a 
missing of the mark. It is transgression. It is 
want of conformity to law. It is iniquity. It is 
unrighteousness. It is evil. It is wrong. It is 
hateful to God. It deserves all the evil threat- 
ened against it or brought upon it. It has digged 
every grave. It fills hell with groans. 

XIV. Sin when finished brings forth death. 
Because Satan was a seducer he was a murderer. 
John 8 : 44. It is possible to sin beyond forgive- 
ness. Matt. 12 : 32. 



!* 



9-o TRUTHS FOR THE TEOPLE. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THOUGH MAX IS A SINNER, YET HE MAY BE 

SA FED. 

I. We have seen that man is by nature ruined. 
The Bible says he is lost. Matt. 15:24; Luke 
19:10; 2 Cor. 4:3. Men are sinners, wicked, 
ungodly, unrighteous, corrupt, deceitful, vile, un- 
grateful. The Bible calls them dross, Psa. 1 19:119; 
reprobate silver, that is, silver rejected after trial, 
Jer. 6 : 30 ; they are given over to a reprobate 
mind, Rom. 1 :28; they are the children of the 
wicked one, and his lusts will they do, John 8 : 44; 
they are the slaves of iniquity, Rom. 6 : 20; they 
are in error, Jas. 5 : 20; in darkness, 1 John 2:11; 
they are out of the way, Rom. 3:12; Heb. 5 : 2. 

II. Lost as men are, they may yet be saved. 
There is a way of life, a door of hope, a scheme of 
mercy, a plan of salvation. Jesus came into the 
world on the very errand of saving the lost. Matt. 
18: 11. Christ was anointed and set apart to pro- 
claim liberty to the captives, and the opening of 
the prison to them that are bound. God's device 
of mercy for rescuing the lost is set forth by vari- 
ous terms. Of these perhaps none is more fit 



MAN MA Y BE SA VED. 9 l 

than that of a covenant, commonly called the cov- 
enant of grace. When Jeremiah foretold gospel 
times, he said : " Behold, the days come, saith the 
Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the 
house of Israel, and with the house of Judah : not 
according to the covenant that I made with their 
fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand 
to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my 
covenant they brake, although I was a husband 
unto them, saith the Lord : but this shall be the 
covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; 
after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law 
in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts ; 
and will be their God, and they shall be my peo- 
ple. And they shall teach no more every man his 
neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know 
the^Lord: for they shall all know me, from the 
least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the 
Lord : for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will 
remember their sin no more." Jer. 31 : 3 I— 34- 
This way of presenting the plan of salvation is 
adopted by Paul also. Heb. 10 : 16, 17. 

III. The scheme for saving sinners is wholly 
from God. He devised it; he executed it; he 
applies it. So the Scriptures teach: "Salvation 
belongeth unto the Lord." " The salvation of the 
righteous is of the Lord." " He is the God of our 



9 2 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

salvation." " He that is our God is the God of 
salvation." He says, " Mine own arm brought 
salvation." " Salvation is of the Lord." Psa. 3:8; 

37 '■ 39; 6 5 : 55 68: ! 9> 20; Isa. 63: 5; Jonah 2 : 9. 
Very careful is God to let us know that there was 
nothing in us to merit his esteem : " I, even I, am 
he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine 
own sake, and will not remember thy sins." Isa. 
43: 25. Compare Isa. 48:9. Again, "Thus saith 
the Lord God ; I do not this for your sakes, O 
house of Israel, but for my holy name's sake. . . . 
Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord God, 
be it known unto you." Ezek. 36: 22, 32. 

IV. All this love and pity are wholly unde- 
served. No man has any claim on the score of 
his own deservings for any good things. On this 
point the Bible is very clear. It says : " God, who 
is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he 
loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath 
quickened us together with Christ; (by grace ye 
are saved ;) and hath raised us up together, and 
made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ 
Jesus : that in the ages to come he might show the 
exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward 
us, through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye 
saved, through faith ; and that not of yourselves : 
it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man 



MAN MA Y BE SA FED 93 

should boast." Eph. 2 : 4-9. It is the grace of 
God that bringeth salvation. The whole plan is 
" to the praise of the glory of his grace." Eph. 
1 : 6. Salvation is no debt due to any man. Rom. 
4:4, 16. Neither is it possible for a creature to 
have a good standing before God, partly on the 
ground of personal merit, and partly on the ground 
of undeserved kindness. The two schemes are en- 
tirely inconsistent. So Paul taught : " If by grace, 
then is it no more of works ; otherwise grace is no 
more grace ; but if it be of works, then is it no 
more grace ; otherwise work is no more work." 
Rom. 11:6. 

V. All this grace is in Christ, and in none 
else. God has given him "for a covenant of the 
people, for a light of the Gentiles ; to open the 
blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the 
prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the 
prison-house." Isa. 42 : 6, 7. Nor has he given 
any other to the same end and purpose. A great 
prophet says, " Rejoice greatly, O daughter of 
Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, 
thy King cometh unto thee : he is just, and hav- 
ing salvation ; lowly, and riding upon an ass." 
Zech. 9 : 9. He hath raised up a horn of salva- 
tion for us, in the house of his servant David: as 
he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which 



94 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

have been since the world began." Luke i : 69, 
70. " Neither is there salvation in any other : for 
there is none other name under heaven given 
among men, whereby we must be saved." Acts 
4: 12. Jesus himself says, "I am the Door: by 
me if any man enter in, he shall be saved." " I 
am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life : no 
man cometh unto the Father but by me." John 
10 : 9 ; 14 : 6. 

VI. This plan of salvation meets all the de- 
mands of law and justice. He who is at the head 
of it is the Lord our Righteousness. Jer. 23:6. 
So that every one who truly believes on Jesus 
Christ " shall receive the blessing from the Lord, 
and righteousness from the God of his salvation." 
Psa. 24 : 5. Christ is the end of the law for right- 
eousness to every one that believeth. God " hath 
made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin ; that 
we might be made the righteousness of God in 
him." 2 Cor. 5:21. 

VII. Some deliverances otherwise great are 
but temporary ; but the salvation secured to be- 
lievers is endless and boundless. " Israel shall be 
saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation : 
ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded, world 
without end." Isa 45:17. 

VIII. Another excellence of this whole scheme 



MAN MA Y BE SA VFD. 95 

is that it is freely, urgently, and indiscriminately 
offered to men, and pressed upon their considera- 
tion. All true ministers of the gospel are clothed 
with salvation. 2 Chron. 6:41; Psa. 132:16. 
The true heralds of the gospel scheme are de- 
scribed in the most beautiful language of inspired 
poetry. Isa. 52 : 7-9. All sorts of men are called 
to embrace the gospel. Isa. 55 : 1-9. 

IX. Surely men ought to rejoice in such mercy 
as is offered in the gospel. Psa. 35:9; 116:13; 
Isa. 25:9. The hope of this salvation is a very 
important part of the panoply of God. It is the 
helmet of the Christian soldier. Eph. 6:17; 

1 Thess. 5 : 8. 

X. The danger of despising this glorious 

scheme, this plan of salvation, must be exceedingly 

great. The error of the Israelites who perished 

in the wilderness was, that they forsook God and 

lightly esteemed the Rock of their salvation. 

Deut. 32:15. Daniel says, " Salvation is far from 

the wicked ; for they seek not thy statutes." Psa. 

1 19- 1 55- " He that believeth on the Son of God 

is not condemned; but he that believeth not is 

condemned already, because he hath not believed 

in the name of the only-begotten Son of God." 

John 3: 18. 



96 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 



CHAPTER XV. 

CHRIST THE SON OF GOD AND THE SON OF MAN. 

I. Christianity take its name from its author, 
the Lord Jesus Christ. A human frame without 
head o»r heart would not be more monstrous or 
useless than a system of religion designed for sin- 
ners without a Christ — an anointed Saviour. A 
"Christless Christianity' is an absurdity. To 
every man, therefore, these are solemn questions: 
" What think ye of Christ ? whose son is he ?" 
Matt. 22 : 42. 

II. Christ is both the Son of God and the Son 
of Man. This statement is not contradictory, for 
he is both God and man. He is the Son of God 
as to his divine nature, and the Son of Man as to 
his human nature. As the Son of God, he was in 
the bosom of the Father, John 1: 18; he was in 
heaven, John 3: 13; he is with all worshipping 
assemblies, Matt. 18: 20; he was before all things 
Col. 1:17. As the Son of Man, be was born, 
Matt. 2:1; he increased in stature and wisdom, 
Luke 2:52; he was sorrowful, Matt. 26:37; he 
died, Matt. 27:50; and rose again, Matt. 28:7. 
No good man denies that this union of Christ's 



CHRIST SON OF GOD AND SON OF MAN. 97 

natures is a great mystery; but then it is a mys- 
tery to be gloried in : " Without controversy great 
is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in 
the flesh, justified in [by] the Spirit, seen of angels, 
preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the 
world, received up into glory." 1 Tim. 3: 16. 

III. Christ is often called the Son, the Son of 
the Blessed, the Son of the Highest, the Son of 
God. He is called God's own Son, Rom. 8:32; 
God's dear Son, Col. 1 : 13; God's one Son, his 
well-beloved, Mark 12:6; his beloved Son, Matt. 
3:17; 17:5; Mark 1:11; 9:7; Luke 3:22; 
9:35; 2 Pet. 1:17. It would be easy to fill many 
pages with texts in which he is called the Son of 
God. By his miraculous birth he is proven to be 
the Son of God, Luke 1:35; by his resurrection 
he is powerfully declared to be the Son of God, 
Rom. 1:4; he is shown to be the Son of God by 
his glorious exaltation, Heb. 1 : 3-5. He existed 
as the Son of God before he' was born on earth, 
for " God sent forth his Son." Gal. 4:4. He did 
not become God's Son by being sent ; but being 
God's Son, he was sent. 

IV. Christ is God's Son in the highest possi- 
ble sense. Adam was God's son, because he was 
made by God without having any parents accord- 
ing to the flesh. Luke 3 : 38. Pious men are 

Truths for the Peoule. Q 



9 8 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

God's sons by a gracious adoption, i John 3:1. 
Holy angels arc God's sons, because they have no 
parents of their own nature. But Jesus Christ is 
God's Son, because God is his Father that begat 
him. Psa. 2:7; Heb. 1:5; 5:5. No less than 
five times is Christ declared to be the only begot- 
te7i Son of God. John 1 : 14, 18; 3: 16, 18; 1 John 
4 : 9. God is the Father of Christ in a sense in 
which he is the Father of none else. No mere 
creature has life in himself as the Son of God 
has life in himself. John 5 : 26. Nor does any 
creature know the Father as the Son knows 
him, nor does any know the Son but the Father. 
Luke 10:22. So that Christ's sonship is and 
should be confessed to be incomprehensible and 
ineffable. 

V. At least one gospel and one epistle were 
written for the very purpose of convincing men 
that Jesus Christ was the Son of God. John 
20 : 31 ; 1 John 5:13. A belief in Christ's sonship 
with God is an element in saving faith. 1 John 
5:5. If a man denies the Son, he dishonors him 
and his Father also : " Whoso denieth the Son, 
the same hath not the Father." 1 John 2:23. 

VI. The greatest and most happy effects flow 
from Christ being the Son of God, and from our 
belief of that truth. As Son he was manifested 



CHRIST SON OF GOD AND SON OF MAN. 99 

to destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 3 : 8. 
The greatness of Christ's priesthood consisted very 
much in his being the Son of God. Heb. 4: 14; 
7 : 28. So glorious is the Son that he counted it 
not robbery to be equal with God. Phil. 2:6. He 
declared it was right and a duty to honor the Son 
as we honor the Father. John 5:23. 

VII. But Christ is not only the true God and 
eternal life, 1 John 5 : 20, he is also truly the Son 
of Man. The Creator and the creature are united 
in the one person of Christ. Simeon saw and 
handled the infant of days, who was also the 
Father of eternity. " He is not only perfect God, 
but perfect man, of a reasonable soul and human 
flesh subsisting." Christ as God sought and formed 
a union with human nature. Christ's human na- 
ture had no personal subsistence by itself. His 
divine nature continues divine. His human nature 
cannot cease to be human. 

VIII. In man's constitution there is a soul and 
a body. In Christ's constitution there are two 
natures. These are not changed the one into the 
other; nor are they confounded, nor are they 
mixed, but remain distinct. And yet there is but 
one person of the Mediator. The condescension 
of the Son of God in becoming the Son of Man 
was indeed wonderful. The Scriptures celebrate 



ioo TRUTHS FOP THE PEOPLE. 

it: "Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he be- 
came poor, that ye through his poverty might be 
rich." 2 Cor. 8 : 9. 

IX. Christ's manner of taking human nature 
was miraculous. Prophecy required this : " Be- 
hold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and 
shall call his name Immanuel." Isa. 7: 14. The 
very first gospel promise ever made declared that 
the Redeemer should be " the Seed of the woman." 
Gen. 3:15. Christ had no father according to the 
flesh. He was the Seed of Abraham and the Seed 
of David in this sense, that his mother was de- 
scended from those ancient worthies. This is all 
that is there taught. 

X. Of Christ's being a man there is no doubt. 
The prophet Daniel styled him the Son of Man. 
Dan. 7:13. The New'Testament often calls him 
a man. More than sixty times does he call him- 
self the Son of Man. He had all the innocent 
infirmities of a man. He wept; he was hungry; 
he was sorrowful; he rejoiced; he was weary; he 
died. If Jesus Christ did not prove himself to be 
truly a man, having both a soul and a body, no 
one ever proved himself to be a man. 

XI. There is no more important truth than 
this, that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. This 



CHRIST SON OF GOD AND SON OF MAN 101 

truth makes glad millions of hearts in heaven and 
in earth. Upon it hang all the good hopes of man 
for eternal life. Christ becoming incarnate made 
sure to mortals the work of salvation. He is 
mighty to save ; he is able to save ; he is willing 
to save. 

XII. Let no one be offended at this great 
mystery. Simeon spoke by the Spirit the simple 
truth when he said : " This child is set for the fall 
and rising again of many in Israel ; and for a sign 
which shall be spoken against, that the thoughts of 
many hearts may be revealed." Luke 2 : 34. Unto 
them which believe he is precious; but unto them 
which be disobedient, the stone which the builders 
disallowed, the same is made the head of the cor- 
ner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence. 
1 Pet. 2 : 7, 8. As men regard and treat the Son 
of God, who is also the Son of Man, the Christ of 
God, so are they saved or lost. If they believe not 
in him, they shall die in their sins. John 8 : 24. 
The aversion of the natural man to the person and 
work of Jesus Christ is dreadful. John 5 : 40 ; 
6 : 44. Nothing is more foolish, yet nothing is 
more perverse or stubborn than unbelief. It is 
the master sin. It is the great damning sin of 
all who perish in a gospel land. 

XIII. This God-man, Christ Jesus, shall judge 

9* 



io2 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

the world. At his tribunal we must all stand. 
Rom. 14:10; 2 Cor. 5:10. The Father hath 
committed all judgment to the Son. John 5:22, 
27. In the sublime account Christ has given of 
the last day, the only Judge named is the Son of 
Man in his glory, called more than once the King. 
Matt. 25 : 31-46. He who is truly wise will make 
friends with the Judge before that great and terri- 
ble day. 



CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. 103 



CHAPTER XVI. 

CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. 

I. No one can read the Scriptures without see- 
ing that great prominence is given to Christ Jesus 
in the plan of salvation. He is there said to be 
the First and the Last, the Alpha and the Omega, 
the Author and Finisher of faith. He is the 
Bishop of souls, the Fountain of living waters, the 
Head of the church, the bright and morning Star, 
the Rose of Sharon, the chiefest among ten thou- 
sand, and altogether lovely. Paul was so taken 
with' him that he "determined not to know any- 
thing among you, [the Corinthians,] save Jesus 
Christ, and him crucified." 1 Cor. 2 ; 2. 

II. To the Old Testament church he was 
known by such names and titles as the Angel of 
the Covenant, the Angel of the Lord, Wonderful, 
Counsellor, the righteous Branch, the Messiah or 
Anointed. He is also there called the Mighty 
God, and the Lord of Hosts. Isa. 6 ; 3 ; 9 : 6. In 
the New Testament his personal name is Jesus, or 
Saviour. Matt. 1:21; Luke 2:21. His official 
name is Christ, or Anointed. He is also called 



io 4 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

Emmanuel, or God with us. He is often called 
God and Lord. 

III. A mediator is one that comes in between 
parties who are at variance, in order to reconcile 
them. Where there is no variance there can be 
no mediation. "A mediator is not the mediator 
of one ; but God is one." Gal. 3 ; 20. If there 
are no parties there can be no mediator. A medi- 
ator differs from an advocate, because the latter, 
strictly speaking, looks to the interest of one alone, 
while the former has a regard to both. Christ is 
called the Mediator of the new covenant, the Me- 
diator of a better covenant, and the Mediator of 
the New Testament. Heb. 8:6; 9:15; 1 2 : 24. 
In the Old Testament a mediator is called a days- 
man. 

IV. It is right and fit, perhaps it is necessary, 
that a mediator should be the equal of both par- 
ties. Jesus Christ has this fitness for his work. 
He can lay his hand both upon God and sinners. 
He knows God's will and God's rights. He knows 
man's sins and man's wants. He will not betray 
either party. It is no robbery for him to claim 
equality with God. Phil. 2 : 6. 

V. Strifes and controversies are of three kinds : 
1. Such as arise merely from mistakes; 2. Such as 
result from wrong on both sides ; 3. Such as come 



CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. 105 

from wrong on one side only. Man's controversy 
with God is of the last class. Man alone is to 
blame. Man alone has done wrong. The Lords 
ways are equal. It is man's ways that are not 
equal. Compare JEzek. 18:25, 29; 33: 17, 20. 

VI. Jesus Christ is the sole Mediator of the 
new covenant. So says Paul : " There is one God, 
and one Mediator between God and men, the Man 
Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, 
to be testified in due time." 1 Tim. 2 : 5, 6. If it 
is wicked to believe in two or more Gods, it is no 
less wicked to believe in two or more Mediators. 
Moses is once called a mediator. Gal. 3:19- Tne 
history of the event there referred to shows that 
the meaning is simply this, that he was a messen- 
ger to make known God's will to Israel, and to 
make known the desires of the people to God. 
The passage refers to the giving of the law, when 
the display of the divine majesty was so terrible 
that Israel said to Moses, " Speak thou with us, 
and we will hear ; but let not God speak with us, 
lest we die.' 1 Exod. 20 : 19. In mediation between 
God and sinners, so as to secure salvation, there is 
no Mediator but Christ. Acts 4:12; 1 Cor. 3:11. 
VII. The great end of Christ's mediation is 
the salvation of his people. So said the angel 
that announced his birth: "Thou shalt call his 



106 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

name Jesus; for he shall save his people from 
their sins." Matt. 1:21. "Christ is the head of 
church; and he is the Saviour of the body." Eph. 
5:23. As a Mediator he is no respecter of per- 
sons. Birth, blood, riches, honors, color, national- 
ity, are nothing with him. He utterly disregards 
all distinctions made by art or by man's device. 
" There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither 
bond nor free, there is neither male nor female ; 
for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." Gal. 3 ; 28. 
" In Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth 
anything, nor uncircumcision ; but faith which 
worketh by love." Gal. 5 : 6. 

VIII. The necessity for a mediator is found in 
the holiness and justice of God, and in the fears, 
guilt, and miseries of man. God is so holy that 
he cannot look upon iniquity. Hab. 1:13. And 
how can man, left to himself, be just with God ? 
Job 9:2. No two things are more contrary to 
each other than the vileness of man and the purity 
of God. 

IX. To the office of Mediator Jesus Christ was 
chosen by his Father. Isa. 42 : 1 ; 1 Pet. 2 : 4. 
Nor was any other ever chosen by God to the 
same work. He was no intruder into his office. 
His Father repeatedly declared himself well pleased 
in Christ and with his undertaking. His raising 



CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. 107 

him from the dead and exalting him at his own 
right hand, was the highest possible proof that in 
Christ he was well pleased. God greatly honored 
Moses when he buried. him in a secret place; but 
he never set Moses at his right hand. 

X. It is a great thing to live under Christ's 
mediation. Through him we have wonderful 
discoveries of the character and glory of God. 
Through him heavenly influences are sent down 
to draw us to God. Never were there so glorious 
proposals made to creatures as are found in the 
offers of life and salvation. To those who accept 
the mediation of Jesus Christ, the very richest 
blessings are given. Thus says Paul to believers: 
" All things are yours ; whether Paul, or Apollos, 
or Cephas^ or the world, or life, or death, or things 
present, or things to come ; all are yours ; and ye 
are Christ's; and Christ is God's." 1 Cor. 3:21-23. 
" Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 
But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass 
the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same 
image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit 
of the Lord." 2 Cor. 3:17,^- " We know that 
if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dis- 
solved, we have a building of God, a house not 
made with hands, eternal in the heavens." 2 Cor. 
5 ; 1. "I will receive you, and will be a Father 



ioS TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

unto you, and ye shall be my sens and daugh- 
ters, saith the Lord Almighty." 2 Cor. 6:17, 18. 
All these countless blessings are made sure to 
him who accepts the Lord Jesus Christ as all his 
hope and all his salvation. Eternity itself will not 
exhaust the unsearchable riches of Christ made 
sure to believers. 

XI. It is a solemn thing to live under the gos- 
pel. No man can despise the mediation of Jesus 
Christ without incurring the greatest guilt, and 
exposing himself to the greatest peril. " For if the 
word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every 
transgression and disobedience received a just 
recompense of reward ; how shall we escape, if we 
neglect so great salvation! which at the first be- 
gan to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed 
unto us by them that heard him ; God also bear- 
ing them witness both with signs and wonders, and 
with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, 
according to his own will." Heb. 2 : 2-4. There is 
nothing more sinful or dangerous than treading 
under foot the Son of God, treating his blood as 
an unholy thing, and doing despite to the Spirit 
of grace. Heb. 10:28, 29. 



CHRIST PR OPHET, PRIEST, AND KING. i 09 



CHAPTER XVII. 

CHRIST A PROPHET, PRIEST, A AH KING. 

I. The office work of Christ is commonly ex- 
pressed by three titles, Prophet, Priest, King. 
This distinction of*his work is not a human in- 
vention. It is made in the word of God. It helps 
us in forming clear ideas of the greatness of his 
salvation. In no other one mentioned in Scrip- 
ture are all these offices found united. The high 
priests of Israel were both priests and prophets. 
David was both a king and a prophet. Melchiz- 
edec was both a king and a priest. But Christ is 
Prophet, Priest, and King. 

II. Of old he was spoken of as a prophet. 
Moses said, " The Lord thy God will raise up "unto 
thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy 
brethren, like unto me ; unto him ye shall heark- 
en." And the Lord said : " I will raise them up a 
prophet from among their brethen, like unto 
thee, and will put my words in his mouth, etc. 
Deut. 18 : 15, 18. Jesus was a " prophet mighty in 
deed and word, before God, and all the people.'" 
Luke 24 : 19. He was eminently fitted to be a 

counsellor. Isa. 9:6. He was the "one Shep- 

10 



no TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

herd" of the great prophet by the river Chebar. 
Ezek. 34:23. It was his Spirit that taught the 
Old Testament church. 1 Pet. 1:11. It is he 
who also teaches the Christian church, sending 
his ministers to that end. Eph. 4:8-13. When 
he came he spoke with authority : " I say unto 
you ;" " I say unto thee." He was the Author of 
grace and truth. John 1:17. It is he that 
opens the heart so that men attend to the things 
of salvation. Acts 16:14. He teaches effect- 
ually. 

III. Christ is also a Priest, a great High Priest. 
He is made a priest by an oath, the oath of his 
Father. Psa. 110:4. To this office he was di- 
vinely called. " No man taketh this honor unto 
himself, but he that is called of God, as was 
Aaron. So also Christ glorified not himself to be 
made a high priest ; but He that said unto him, 
Thou art my Son, to-day have I begotten thee." 
Heb. 5:4,5. Great exaltation was predicted of 
Christ as a Priest : " He shall build the temple of 
the Lord ; and he shall bear the glory, and shall 
sit and rule upon his throne : and he shall be a 
Priest upon his throne." Zech. 6:13. For this 
great office Christ was wonderfully qualified : 
" Such a High Priest became us, who is holy, 
harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and 



CHRIST PROPHET, PRIEST, AND KING. 1 1 1 

made higher than the heavens; who needeth not 
daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice 
first for his own sins, and then for the people's; 
for this he did once when he offered up himself." 
Heb. 7 :26, 27. 

IV. Under the law the high priest w r as required 
to offer sacrifices, to intercede, and to bless. So 
our High Priest by once offering himself has ren- 
dered for ever unnecessary any other sacrifice for 
his people. " Christ was once offered to bear the 
sins of many." Heb. 9:28. " He is able also to 
save them to the uttermost that come unto God 
by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession 
for them." Heb. 7 : 25. His third work as priest is 
to bless his redeemed. This he will do in due 
time, for " unto them that look for him shall he 
appear the second time without sin unto salva- 
tion." Heb. 9:28. He has told us the very w T ords 
he will use on that august occasion : " Come, ye 
blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom pre- 
pared for you from the foundation of the world." 
Matt. 25 : 34. 

V. " This man was counted worthy of more 
glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath build- 
ed the house hath more honor than the house." 
Heb. 3 : 3. Upon this great exaltation of our High 
Priest is based the warning : " Take heed, breth- 



I 12 



TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 



ren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of un- 
belief, in departing from the living God." Heb. 
3:12. 

VI. Christ is also a King. A great King, 
Kinor of kings and Lord of lords. This is the 
name written on his vesture and on his thigh. 
Rev. 19:16. By the prophet David the Lord 
said, " I have set my King upon my holy hill of 
Zion." Psa. 2 : 6. When the wise men came from 
the East to Jerusalem, they said, "Where is he 
that was born King of the Jews ?" Matt. 2 : 2. 
He is also called a King, fairer than the children 
of men, with grace poured into his lips, and his 
throne is said to be for ever and ever. Psa. 
45: 1, 2, 6. In Solomon's Song he is also called a 
King. Cant. 1 : 4. One prophet within the space 
of a few verses calls him both Lord and Priest. 
Psa. 1 10: 1-4. 

VII. Such a Saviour was demanded by our 
sad necessities. Our ignorance called for a great 
teacher. It was very gracious in God to promise, 
" All thy children shall be taught of the Lord, and 
great shall be the peace of thy children." Isa. 
54:13. Our guilt called for just such a glorious 
sacrifice as that of Calvary. " By one offering he 
hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." 
Heb. 10:14. So we also needed a blessed king 



CHRIST PR OPHE T, PR /PS 2] AND KING. 1 1 3 

who should be able to subdue our corruptions. 
His people are willing in the day of his power, in 
the beauties of holiness. Psa. 110:3. Under him 
is fulfilled the promise to the church : " In right- 
eousness shalt thou be established : thou shalt 
be far from oppression ; for thou shalt not fear : 
and from terror ; for it shall not come near thee." 
Isa. 54: 14. 

VIII. Sometimes all the work of the Mediator 
is expressed under a single figure, that of a Shep- 
herd. Psa. 23: 1-4; John 10: 1-18. Sometimes his 
whole work is expressed in a single verse, as where 
it is said that Christ Jesus is of God " made unto 
us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, 
and redemption." 1 Cor. 1 ; 30. 

IX. Though we distinguish between the offi- 
ces of Christ, they are never separated. He is 
always Prophet, always Priest, and always King, 
and will be so for ever. So say the Scriptures: 
" The Lamb which is in the midst of the throne 
shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living 
fountains of waters." Rev. 7:17. There is the 
prophetic office of Christ executed to his people long 
after their conflicts on earth are ended. " Thou 
art a Priest for ever," says the oath of God in 
Psalm no 14. And Paul says that he is a Priest, 

" after the power of an endless life," and " that 

10* 



1 1 4 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

this man, because he continueth ever, hath an un- 
changeable priesthood." Heb. 7:16, 24. Nor is 
there the least change in his character and pur- 
poses. His resurrection and ascension to heaven 
made a creat change in his state : so that he can 
no longer be spit upon, nor crowned with thorns, 
nor crucified, nor buried. But in his nature and 
character he is still " Jesus Christ the same yes- 
terday, and to-day, and for ever." Heb. 13:8. 
His kingly office is alike perpetual: " Thy throne, 
O God, is for ever and ever : a sceptre of right- 
eousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou 
hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity ; there- 
fore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with 
the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And, thou, 
Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of 
the earth ; and the heavens are the works of thy 
hands : they shall perish ; but thou remainest : 
and they all shall wax old as doth a garment ; and 
as a vesture shalt thou fold them up and they shall 
be changed ; but thou art the same and thy years 
shall not fail." Heb. 1 :8-i2. Thanks be unto 
God for his unspeakable gift. 



THE GLORY OF CHRIST. 1 1 5 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE GLORY OF CHRIST IN HIS OFFICES. 

Having spoken of the offices of Christ as Medi- 
ator, let us consider his glory therein: 

I. His glory as a Prophet. He spoke with 
authority, and not as the scribes. He spoke with 
such power that the very men sent to arrest him 
were disarmed. When asked how this was, all 
they could answer was, " Never man spake like 
this man." John 7 : 46. Those who heard him 
felt that the Searcher of hearts was speaking to 
them. As he himself was truth, all he said was 
true, and he was its author. He was also the sub- 
stance of truth. He made known to us the true 
nature of God. He said, " He that hath seen 
me hath seen the Father." John 14: 9. Nor did 
any one else ever so reveal the true nature of God : 
" Neither knoweth any man the Father save the 
Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal 
him." Matt. 11 127. The reason why that which 
was spoken by the prophets was good and pure, 
was because they spake by the Spirit of Christ. 
1 Pet. 1 mi. " The words of the Lord are pure 
words : as silver tried in a furnace of earth, puri- 



n6 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

fled seven times." Psa. 12:6. As he that builds 
a house has more honor than the house, so Christ 
is more glorious than the greatest prophet, who 
was a mere man. Heb. 3:3. As a prophet 
Christ has great power. He savingly impresses 
his lessons by the "exceeding greatness of his 
power to us-ward who believe, according to the 
working of his mighty power." Eph. 1:19. As 
he said to Lazarus, Come forth, and the dead 
obeyed him ; so he says to the soul sunk in igno- 
rance and dead in trespasses and sins, and it hears 
the voice of the Son of God and lives. John 
5:25. As the great teacher of his church Christ 
transmits to others power to teach the same bless- 
ed truths with authority; and in his name greater 
things are done than were done by him in person. 
John 14: 12. There is also glorious fulness and 
completeness in the teachings of Christ. He keeps 
back nothing that is profitable for us. He calls 
us friends, and treats us as such : " All things that 
I have heard of my Father I have made known 
unto you." John 15:15. Christ has always been 
the Light of the world ; and his light is the life of 
men. John 1 : 4-9. To him gave all the prophets 
witness. His glory shone out illustriously in his 
first miracle. John 2:11. As a prophet Christ 
taught us by his example also. John 13 : 15. His 



THE GL OR } T OF CHRIST. 1 1 7 

example was faultless. It showed us what he 
meant by his words. It proved that he enjoined 
nothing that could not be done. In all dispensa- 
tions the power of Christ's truth has been made 
resistless by the Holy Ghost. 

II. Let us dwell a little on Christ's glory as a 
Priest. None so great ever filled that office before 
or since the Mediator held it. His person was 
most glorious, being truly divine. Never was such 
a sacrifice made as that made on Calvary. His 
whole person made the offering. None deny that 
he died on the cross. But prophecy required that 
his soul should be made an offering for sin, and 
have bitter travail. Isa. 53 : 10, 11. His soul was 
exceeding sorrowful, even unto death, even before 
he was brought into the judgment-hall. Matt. 
26 : 38. The reason was, he was treading the 
wine-press of his Father's wrath alone. None was 
so faultless as he. Heb. 7:26, 27. He magni- 
fied the law and made it honorable, as prophecy 
said he should. Isa. 42:21. His entire human 
nature was offered upon the altar of his divine na- 
ture, and thus his sacrifice was very glorious. It 
was a ransom — a full ransom-price for those whom 
he would redeem. Matt. 20:28; Mark 10:45; 
1 Tim. 2 : 6. He glorified his Father so as no 
one else ever honored God. The union of his na- 



nS TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

tures was so close that what he did and suffered 
in his human nature is spoken of as if it had been 
done and suffered in his divine nature. Acts 
20 : 28. We fitly speak of him as a divine suf- 
ferer, though we do not mean that his divinity 
suffered, but only that the Divine Redeemer suf- 
fered in his human nature. 

The effect of such a priestly offering we should 
expect to be great on those who believe in it ; and 
so it i$. " Be it known unto you therefore, men 
and brethren, that through this man is preached 
unto you the forgiveness of sins ; and by him all 
that believe are justified from all things, from 
which ye could not be justified by the law of Mo- 
ses." Acts 13 : 38, 39. The beloved disciple says, 
" The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us 
from all sin." 1 John 1 : 7. Other sacrifices never 
made perfect the worshipper as pertaining to the 
conscience. Heb. 9 : 9. All that the offerings 
made under the law of Moses did, was to purify » 
the flesh — to make men ceremonially fit worship- 
pers. " How much more shall the blood of Christ, 
who through the eternal Spirit offered himself 
without spot to God, purge your conscience from 
dead works to serve the living God ? And for 
this cause he is the Mediator of the New Testa- 
ment, that by means of death, for the redemption 



THE GLORY OF CHRIST. 1 1 9 

of the transgressions that were under the first 
testament, they which are called might receive 
the promise of eternal inheritance." Heb. 9 : 14, 15. 
It is by his spotless life and amazing death that 
believers have the righteousness of God without 
the law; even the righteousness of God, which is 
by faith of Jesus Christ unto all, and upon all them 
that believe. They are justified freely by his grace, 
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. 
Rom. 3 : 21-24. 

III. Let us view Christ's glory as King. He 
deserves all his royal honors. Isa. 52:13; 53:12- 
49 : 4. On this point Paul is very clear. He says 
of Christ, that "being in the form of God, he 
thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but 
made himself of no reputation, and took upon 
him the form of a servant, and was made in the 
likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a 
man, he humbled himself and became obedient 
unto death, even the death of the cross. Where- 
fore God also hath highly exalted him, and given 
him a name which is above every name ; that at 
the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of 
things in heaven, and things in earth, and things 
under the earth; and that every tongue should 
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of 
God the Father." Phil. 2 : 6-1 1. Christ's kingly 



120 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

power is vast. On his head are many crowns. 
Rev. 19: 12. Long ago his Father gave him the 
heathen for an inheritance, and the uttermost parts 
of the earth for his possession. Psa. 2:8. " He 
shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the 
river unto the ends of the earth." Psa. 72:8. 
Christ's kingdom is the more glorious because it 
is spiritual, and not carnal. He said to Pilate, 
" My kingdom is not of this world." John 18:36. 
Nor shall this kingdom ever fade away. " Thy 
throne, O God, is for ever and ever." Psa. 45 : 6- 
" I will establish the throne of his kingdom for 
ever." 2 Sam. 7:13. "And he shall reign over 
the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom 
there shall be no end." Luke 1 : 33. So glorious 
is Zion's King, that he makes all his people kings 
and priests unto God. Rev. 1:6. As head of the 
church he alone is King. 1 Cor. 8:6: Eph. 
1:22; 4:5. He shall never be superseded, but 
abideth ever over the house of God; Heb. 10: 21 
and is heir of all things. Heb. 1 : 2-4. 



MAN MUST A CCEPT CHRIST. 1 2 1 



CHAPTER. XIX. 

MEN MUST ACCEPT CHRIST AND RELIEVE THE 

GOSPEL. 

I. Every reader of the Bible will admit that 
the Scriptures say a great deal about believing. 
The faith which the Lord demands is wrought in 
the soul by the Holy Ghost. It believes whatever 
God has spoken. Saving faith chiefly regards 
Christ as the author of eternal life. It is as fatal 
to deny the Son as it is to deny the Father, i John 
2:23. 

II. The necessity of faith is taught in all the 
Scriptures. Against no sin does the word of God 
speak in stronger terms of condemnation than 
against the sin of unbelief. " The Lord said unto 
Moses, How long will this people provoke me? 
and how long will it be ere they believe me for all 
the signs which I have showed among them ?" 
Numb. 14: 11. "A fire was kindled against Ja- 
cob, and anger also came against Israel; because 
they believed not in God, and trusted not in his 
salvation." Psa. 78: 21, 22. To his captious ene- 
mies our Lord said, " John came unto you in the 
way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: 
but the publicans and the harlots believed him: 

Trutlm for the People. 1 "J 



122 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not after- 
ward, that ye might believe him." Matt. 21 : 32. 
" This is the condemnation, that light is come into 
the world, and men love darkness rather than 
light, because their deeds are evil." John 3: 19. 

III. Very urgently does the Scripture require 
men to believe. " The Lord said unto Moses, Lo 
I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people 
may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee 
for ever." Exod. 19:9. So Jehoshaphat said, 
" Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusa- 
lem ; Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be 
established." 2 Chron. 20 : 20. " Ye are my wit- 
nesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I 
have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, 
and understand that I am he." Isa. 43 : 10. Many 
like phrases have we, such as, " Have faith in 
God;" " Put on the breastplate of faith ;" " Follow 
faith," etc. 

IV. Indeed, no greater question can be asked 
than this, " Dost thou believe on the Son of God ?" 
John 9: 35. Happy is he that can answer in the 
affirmative, "Lord, I believe." John 9:38. For 
" without faith it is impossible to please him: for 
he that cometh to God, must believe that he is, 
and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently 
seek him." Heb. 11:6. 



MAN MUST ACCEPT CHRIST. [23 

V. So clearly does the human conscience per- 
ceive that on proper evidence men ought to be- 
lieve, that Christ's bitterest enemies did not pretend 
that they were under no obligation to believe, but 
pleaded that they lacked evidence. Even when 
he was hanging on the cross, they said : " If he be 
the King of Israel, let him now come down from 
the cross, and we will believe him." Matt. 27:42. 
Compare Mark 15:32. If he had come down 
from the cross, the sins of men would not have 
been atoned. But he did a greater thing. He 
laid down his life, and thus put away sin, and then 
burst the bars of death, rising from the grave. 
Did they then believe him ? No. They gave 
large money to men to say that his disciples stole 
him away. The human conscience concurs with 
the Saviour in teaching that it is only fools who 
are slow of heart to believe. Luke 24 : 25. 

VI. The obligation to believe is announced 
throughout the Scriptures. " After John was put 
in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the 
gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The 
time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at 
hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel." Mark 
1 : 14, 15. Indeed, in so many words the beloved 
disciple says : " This is his commandment : That 
we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus 



t24 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

Christ, and love one another." i John 3:23. 
When men said to Jesus, " What shall we do, that 
we miffht work the works of God ? he answered 
and said unto them, This is the work of God, that 
ye believe on him whom he hath sent." John 
6 : 28, 29. 

VII. The common form of making a profes- 
sion of Christianity seems to have been a declara- 
tion of faith in Christ. Thus Peter: "Thou art 
the Christ, the Son of the living God." Matt. 
16: 16. Thus Martha: "Lord, I believe that thou 
art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come 
into the world." John 11 : 27. Thus the Ethio- 
pian: "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of 
God." Acts 8:37. 

VIII. True saving faith is the gift of God, and 
is wrought in the soul by the Holy Ghost. The 
disciples of Achaia, who helped Aquila and Pris- 
cilla so much, " had believed through grace." Acts 
18:27. In Gal. 5:22 faith is expressly said to be 
" the fruit of the Spirit." To the Philippians Paul 
says : " Unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ 
not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for 
his sake." Phil. 1 : 29. And when Peter made 
that blessed confession of Christ above cited, " Je- 
sus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, 
Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not 



MAN MUST A CCEPT CHRIST. 1 2 5 

revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in 
heaven." Matt. 16; 17. 

IX. Everywhere in Scripture faith is spoken of 
as essential to salvation: " He that believeth and 
is baptized shall be saved ; but he that believeth 
not shall be damned." Mark 16: 16. "Believe 
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, 
and thy house." Acts 16:31. "It pleased God 
by the foolishness of preaching to save them that 
believe." 1 Cor. 1:21. " We which have believed 
do enter into rest." Heb. 4:3. " We are of them 
that believe to the saving of the soul." Heb. 

10:39. 

X. The Scriptures were written to beget faith 
in Christ, and a hearty belief of the gospel.. John 
20:31; 1 John 5:13. If, on the evidence and 
aids given us, we fail to believe, the whole plan of 
the gospel is, as to us, in vain. 

XI. God has taken great care and used proper 
means to beget in men lively faith in Christ, the 
sum and author of the gospel. To this end he 
permitted Lazarus, the friend of Jesus, to die, and 
caused him to rise again that they might believe 
that God had sent his Son. John 1 1 : 42. To the 
same end the treachery of Judas was both permit- 
ted and predicted, that the disciples might believe 

that Jesus was the Christ. John 13:19- Tne 

11* 



126 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

Lord foretold his own death and resurrection to 
the same end. John 14 : 29. He also often called 
on men to have faith in him : " Ye believe in God, 
believe also in me." " Believe me that I am in the 
Father, and the Father in me." John 14: 1, 11. 
In the same connection he says that faith in him 
is the great cure for heart trouble. He prays for 
the unity of his people to the end that men may 
be convinced of his divine nature and mission. 

XII. True, firm faith has great efficacy in 
securing answers to prayer. Mark 11 124; John 
14 : 14. 

XIII. To all who truly believe, the Lord Jesus 
is very dear. 1 Pet. 2 : 7. 

XIV. Real, lively faith is very important to 
preachers who would intrepidly do their duty. 
" We having the same spirit of faith, according as 
it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spo- 
ken ; we also believe, and therefore speak." 2 Cor. 
4: 13. Without this faith, a preacher is a poor, 
useless creature — a reed shaken with the wind. 

XV. The hinderances to faith are all found in 
the depravity of the human heart, and in its fool- 
ish love of honor, wealth, or sinful pleasure. John 
5:44; 1 John 2 : 15; 5:5. 

XVI. True faith is very pleasing to God : 
" The Father himself loveth you, because ye have 



MAN MUST A CCEPT CHRIST. 1 2 7 

loved me, and have believed that I came out from 
God." John 16 : 27. Compare John 20 : 29. 

XVII. The most blessed effects accompany 
faith, such as adoption into God's family, John 
1:12; justification, Acts 1 3 : 39 ; Rom. 3 : 2 1-26 ; 
Gal. 3 : 6, and many places; and life, eternal life, 
Rom. 10 : 10; John 3 : 16, 36 ; 5 : 24; 6 : 40. 

XVIII. Not to believe is fatal to all good pros- 
pects for eternal happiness. John 3:18; Mark 
16:16; 1 John 5 : 10. 

XIX. Prayer for faith, for more faith, is a duty. 
Mark 9 : 24 ; Luke 17:5. 



123 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 



CHAPTER XX. 



REPENTANCE. 



I. In their very nature faith and repentance 
are closely united. One never exists without the 
other. " They shall look upon me whom they 
have pierced" — there is faith; "and they shall 
mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only 
son" — there is repentance. Zech. 12:10. Jesus 
in his preaching united these things : " Repent ye, 
and believe the gospel." Mark 1:15. So did 
his apostles. See Acts 20: 21. In the Scriptures 
both faith and repentance are required to salva- 
tion. Matt. 3:2; Acts 16:31. Repentance es- 
sentially belongs to the religion of sinners. With- 
out it there is no true piety on earth. Luke 

i3-3>5- 

II. Many good writers call both faith and re- 
pentance conditions of salvation. They do not 
mean that there is any merit in either of these 
graces. They do not deserve Gods favor. They 
are in no sense the price we pay for life and mercy. 
But without them we would not be saved; we 
could not please God. If the beggar would be 
nourished by the bread offered him, he must take 



REPENTANCE. 1 2 9 

it and eat it. If a title to an estate is offered to 
one, and he refuses to accept it, it is not his in fact 
or in law. The thirsty soul must not only know 
that there is water, but he must drink it, or his 
thirst will rage on. 

III. True repentance is not a transient act of the 
mind, nor a temporary emotion. It is a glorious 
habit of the soul. It implies a fixed principle in 
the renewed mind. It is the hypocrite and self- 
deceiver who repent and sin, and sin and repent. 
Genuine repentance produces a permanent change 
in men's characters. 

IV. In Scripture much is said of repentance. 
It is mentioned in that very ancient poem, the 
book of Job. There are as many as seven peni- 
tential Psalms, viz., the 6th, 32d, 38th, 51st, i02d, 
130th, and 143d. Indeed, some have thought that 
the 25th, 69th, and 86th, were also penitential 
Psalms. It is very much spoken of by the proph- 
ets, by Christ, by the evangelists and apostles. 

V. When repentance is genuine, it is always 
the work of God's Spirit, and comes to us through 
the mediation of Christ, who is placed on the hill of 
Zion a Prince and a Saviour to grant repentance 
and forgiveness of sins. Acts 5:31. When the 
Gentiles repented, it was by God's mercy and 
grace. Acts 11 : 18. The weeping prophet says, 



130 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

" Turn thou me, and I shall be turned : for thou 
art the Lord my God. Surely after that I was 
turned, I repented ; and after that I was instructed, 
I smote upon my thigh." Jer. 31:18, 19. In his 
repentance David felt so keenly his dependence 
on divine grace, that he cried very earnestly, 
" Take not thy Holy Spirit from me." Psa. 51:11. 
On that occasion his first expression of hope was 
this : " In the hidden part thou shalt make me to 
know wisdom." That is the best and last hope of 
any sinner, that he shall ever do better than he 
has done. 

VI. Two kinds of repentance are often spoken 
of, legal and evangelical. In legal repentance the 
motives are chiefly drawn from the law and the 
consequences of sin. In evangelical repentance, 
they are drawn from the gospel and the nature of 
sin. The latter would turn from sin, if there were 
no hell ; the former would sin on, if there was no 
fear of wrath. The goodness of God leads the 
latter to repentance; but the former despises the 
riches of His goodness, and forbearance, and long- 
suffering. Rom. 2 : 4. 

VII. True repentance embraces these things: 
1. A knowledge of sin. When Nathan convinced 
David of his sin, he cried for mercy. Men will 
not repent of sins of which they think themselves 



REPENTANCE. 1 3 1 

innocent. 2. Humility, deep and genuine abase- 
ment of soul before God. The penitent says : 
" Behold, I am vile ; what shall I answer thee ?" 
" O God, thou knowest my foolishness." Job 40 14; 
Psa. 69 : 5. True penitents " know every man the 
plague of his own heart." 1 Kings 8 : 38. 3. Sin- 
cere and hearty confession of sin. " He that 
covereth his sins shall not prosper; but whoso 
confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy." 
Prov. 28 : 13. "I said, I will confess my transgres- 
sions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the ini- 
quity of my sin." Psa. 32:5. Compare Psa. 51:3; 
Jer. 3:13; 1 John 1:9. 4. Shame belongs to 
genuine repentance. So said David : " Mine ini- 
quities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not 
able to look up." Psa. 40 : 12. So Ezra : " O my 
God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to 
thee." Ezra 9:6. Compare Ezek. 36:31, 32. 
Nor does the pious blush cease when pardon 
comes. Far from it. Ezek. 16:63. 5. With 
shame is joined sorrow, ingenuous grief for sin. 
" Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation 
not to be repented of." 2 Cor. 7:9, 10. To these 
are added, 6. Self-loathing, self-abhorrence. Job 
42 : 6 ; Ezek. 6:9; 20 : 43. Of course one thus 
exercised also has 7. Hatred of sin, sin in every 
form. Psa. 66:18; 97:10; 119:104, 128. All 



1 32 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

these exercises are accompanied with 8. Love of 
holiness — a delight in the law of God after the 
inner man. Rom. 7: 22; Psa. 119 : 140. Such a 
great change leads to 9. An amendment of life, a 
thorough reformation, works meet for repentance. 
Matt. 3:8. "HI have done iniquity, I will do no 
more." Job 34 : 32. 

VIII. Such repentance has rich and abundant 
promises made to it in all the Scriptures. It is 
called repentance unto life, because it ends in 
eternal happiness. Acts 11 : 18. It is more than 
once connected with the remission of sins. Mark 
1:4; Acts 3:19. " He looketh upon men, and if 
any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which 
was right, and it profited me not, he will deliver 
his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall 
see the light. Lo, all these things worketh God 
oftentimes with man." Job 33:27-29. "Wash 
you, make you clean ; put away the evil of your 
doings from before mine eyes ; cease to do evil ; 
learn to do well ; seek judgment, relieve the op- 
pressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. 
Come now, and let us reason together, saith 
the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they 
shall be as white as snow-; though they be red 
like crimson, they shall be as wool." Isa. 1 : 16-18. 
" Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabit- 



REPENTANCE. 133 

eth eternity, whose name is Holy ; I dwell in the 
high and holy place, with him also that is of a 
contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of 
the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite 
ones." Isa. 57:15. Indeed, the Scriptures de- 
clare that God is never better pleased with any- 
thing he sees upon earth than he is with godly 
sorrow for sin. " Thou desirest not sacrifice, else 
would I give it : thou delightest not in burnt offer- 
ing. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit : a 
broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not 
despise." Psa. 51:16, 17. In our Lords great 
sermon on the mount the first thing he said was : 
" Blessed are the poor in spirit : for theirs is the 
kingdom of heaven." The next thing he said was 
like it : " Blessed are they that mourn : for they 
shall be comforted." Matt. 5 : 3, 4. 

IX. Men cannot be in too much earnest in 
seeking repentance. Very tenderly does God call 
them to this work : " Let the wicked forsake his 
way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts : and 
let him return unto the Lord, and He will have 
mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will 
abundantly pardon." And lest any should doubt 
the divine readiness to forgive so flagrant sins, the 
Lord shows why we may expect remission, adding: 

" For my thoughts are not as your thoughts, nei- 

12 



134 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

ther are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For 
as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are 
my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts 
than your thoughts." Isa. 55 : 7-9. " Truly God is 
long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any 
should perish, but that all should come to repent- 
ance." 2 Pet. 3 : 9. 

X. Very few men intend or expect to live and 
die without repentance. The very thought of such 
an end would make them shudder. Why will they 
defer repentance ! Death is approaching. The 
Spirit is striving. Christ is inviting. Hell threat- 
ens. The gates of heaven are open. " Behold, 
now is the accepted time ; behold, now is the day 
of salvation." 



A CHANGE OF HEART. 135 



CHAPTER XXI. 

A CHANGE OF HEART. 

I. Faith and Repentance are proofs and prop- 
erties of a new nature. This is also true of hope, 
love, joy, peace, patience, forbearance, temperance, 
meekness, gentleness, goodness, courage, and all 
the Christian graces. But Faith and Repentance 
occupy so prominent a place in the beginning and 
in the whole history of the Christian life, that it 
was deemed proper to give to each of them a dis- 
tinct consideration. But this was done the better 
to open the way for the consideration of a change 

of heart. 

II. It is clear from many parts of God 's word 
that in the divine plan of mercy a change of heart 
is required in order to salvation. It is called by 
various names, but, when fairly considered, they 
all lead us to the same conclusions respecting its 
nature and necessity. Let us consider some of 
the forms of speech used in Scripture to instruct 
us on this great subject. 

III. Sometimes the great change we must un- 
dergo in order to salvation is expressed by God's 
pouring his Spirit upon us, putting his Spirit with. 



136 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

in us, thus anointing us to God, and thus ma- 
king us temples of God. Read and compare lsa. 
44:3-5; Ezek. 36:27; Joel 2:28; 1 Cor. 3:16, 
17 ; 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16. When this change takes 
place, it is as when at the dedication of the tem- 
ple " the glory of the Lord filled the house." 
1 Kings 8:11. That clay it became a temple, and 
must be treated as a holy place. If we regard the 
indwelling of God's Spirit as in a person, then 
that person was the Lord's, and should fearlessly 
and openly profess his love and fear of God. 

IV. As sin consists very much in want of con- 
formity to law, or in lawlessness towards God, so 
the change of heart is sometimes well represented 
by " writing the law of God on the heart," so as to 
give to men a love for God's holy precepts, and 
giving them a heart to remember and practise all 
it requires : " After those days, saith the Lord, I 
will put my law in their inward parts, and write 
it in their hearts ; and will be their God, and they 
shall be my people," Jer. 31:33; Heb. 8:10; 10:16. 
People thus wrought upon love to keep the com- 
mandments. Their aims and desires are holy. 

V. The very core of depravity is hardness of 
heart, a dreadful lack of right sensibility. So the 
change of heart required of men is sometimes ex- 
pressed by giving them true and proper tender- 



A CHANGE OF HEART. 137 

ness swaying their whole nature : " I will give them 
one heart, [not a heart and a heart as the Hebrew 
is for a divided heart,] and I will put a new spirit 
within you ; and I will take the stony [or unfeeling] 
heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart 
of flesh." Ezek. 1 1: 19. Compare Ezek. 36 : 26, 27. 

Jer. 32 : 39, 40, etc. 

VI. Often do the Scriptures compare the need- 
ful change of heart to circumcision. " Circumcise 
the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiff- 
necked." Deut. 10: 16. One of the promises is : 
"The Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart, 
and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy 
God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, 
that thou mayest live." Deut. 30:6. Compare 
Jer. 4:4. Now the use of circumcision was chief- 
ly'to teach us the spiritual truth that we must be 
changed in heart ; " For he is not a Jew, which is 
one outwardly ; neither is that circumcision, which 
is outward in the flesh : but he is a Jew, which is 
one inwardly ; and circumcision is that of the 
heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter ; whose 
praise is not of men, but of God." Rom. 2 ; 28, 29 ; 
compare 1 Cor. 7:19; Phil. 3:3. 

VII. Sometimes the needful change of heart 
is in Scripture spoken of as a transformation. 
u Be ve transformed by the renewing of your 

J 12* 



138 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

mind." Rom. 12:2. The word rendered trans- 
formed is in 2 Cor. 3:18 rendered changed — 
" changed into the same image from glory to glory, 
even as by the Spirit of the Lord." In Matt. 17:2, 
Mark 9 : 2, it is rendered transfigured. It expresses 
a thorough change. One of the Lexicons quotes 
a remarkable sentence from Seneca : " I see that 
I must not only be amended, but transfigured." 
The whole man must be changed. 

VIII. Sometimes the great change is spoken 
of as a renewal. " Be renewed in the spirit of your 
mind ;" ye " have put on the new man which is 
renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that 
created him." Eph. 4:23; Col. 3:10. Elsewhere 
Paul speaks expressly of " the renewing of the 
Holy Ghost," Tit. 3:5. Every one knows what 
it is to renovate, to take away all that is defective 
or wrong, and replace it with that which is sound 
and strong, thus making the thing as good as new. 

IX. At least once the great change is spoken 
of as a translation : " Who hath delivered us from the 
power of darkness, and hath translated us into the 
kingdom of his dear Son." Col. 1:13. The verb 
used conveys the idea of removal from one coun- 
try and settlement into another. Elijah was car- 
ried from earth, and thenceforward his home was 
in heaven. He was translated. Heb. 11:5. The 



A CHANGE QF HEART. 139 

verbs in the two cases are not the same in the 
Greek ; but they both may be fairly rendered trans- 
lated. In the great change issuing in salvation God 
thoroughly changes both man's state and man's 
heart, and brings him into the kingdom and under 
the government of the Son of his love. There is 
no change greater than this. 

X. Again, this change of heart is styled a call- 
ing. All converted persons are called to be saints. 
Rom. 1 : 7 ; 1 Cor. 1 : 2, 24. This calling is both 
holy and saving. 2 Tim. 1:9. It is heavenly. 
Heb. 3:1. It is from heaven. It is excellent. 
It is a call to heavenly bliss. It is unto God's 
eternal glory by Jesus Christ. 1 Pet. 5:10. See 
also 1 Thess. 2:12; 4:7. This saving calling is 
effectual. It changes the heart and life just as 
it did those of Saul of Tarsus. When Christ calls 
and gives grace to obey the call, heaven is secure. 

XI. Sometimes a change of heart is spoken of 
as a creation, or new creation. Thus David 
prayed : " Create in me a clean heart, O God ; 
and renew a right spirit within me." Psa. 51 : 10. 
It is essential to salvation, for "in Christ Jesus 
neither circumcision availeth anything, nor un- 
circumcision, but a new creature," or a new crea- 
tion. Gal. 6: 15. All real Christians are God's 
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good 



i 4 o TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

works ; and the new man is created in righteous- 
ness and holiness. Eph. 2: 10; 4:24. This cre- 
ation makes men new creatures indeed. It is 
marvellous to all ; to none more than to him who 
is the subject of it. 

XII. Sometimes the New Testament speaks 
of a change of heart as a passing from death unto 
life, or a resurrection from the dead. 1 John 3:14; 
Eph. 2 : 6. Jesus Christ used this form of speech 
in the boldest manner : " As the Father raiseth 
up the dead, and quickeneth them ; even so the 
Son quickeneth whom he will. . . . Verily, verily, 
I say unto you, the hour is coming and now is, 
when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of 
God : and they that hear shall live." John 

5 :2I > 2 5- 

XIII. Another name for a change of heart is 

the new birth, regeneration, or being born again. 
Our Lord declares it necessary to salvation, and 
says we should not wonder at his urging it. John 
3 : 3-7. It is certain that men will never believe 
on the name of Jesus, if they are not born of God. 
John 1 : 12, 13; 1 John 5:1. The washing of re- 
generation is the sure method adopted by the 
mercy of God to save us. Titus 3:5. In this 
great change much honor is put upon the word 
of God as the instrument. 1 Pet. 1 : 23. Who- 



A CHANGE OF HEART. 141 

ever is truly born of God has learned to despise 
the wealth, the honors, and the pleasures of the 
world as a portion, i John 5 : 4. Such a one hates 
sin and loves holiness. 1 John 5: 18. He longs 
after conformity to God. He never makes a trade 
of sin. 

XIV. All these modes of representing a change 
of heart show : 

1. That it is a great change — a change so 
great that every fit form of speech is used to mag- 
nify it. It is a change celebrated in heaven itself. 
Luke 15:7. It is the setting up of God's king- 
dom in a human soul, that shall live and exult 
for ever. Passing from earth to heaven is not a 
greater change in one's state, than is a passing 
from death to life in one's heart and character. 

2. A saving change of heart is internal. It is 
in the inmost soul. It is a writing of the law on 
the heart. It is not any outward reformation, nor 
submission to baptism. Simon Magus was bap- 
tized, but he was in the bond of iniquity and in 
the gall of bitterness still. Acts 8:23. 

3. It is not a partial change, but it is thorough 
and universal : " Old things are passed away ; be- 
hold, all things are become new." 2 Cor. 5:17. 
It changes men's aims, and hopes, and fears, and 
views, and lives. 



142 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

4. It is a change above nature. It is by the 
Holy Ghost, by the power of God, even " the ex- 
ceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who 
believe, according to the working of his mighty 
power." Eph. 1 : 19. 

5. It is a vital and essential change. With- 
out it there is no salvation. Men may be saved 
without money, without friends, without honor, 
but not without the new birth. John 3: 3, 5. 



JUSTIFICATION. 143 



CHAPTER XXII. 

JUSTIFICA TION. 

I. However much men are divided on the doc- 
trine of justification, they generally seem united 
in their views of its importance. The Scriptures 
say much on the subject. It is the leading doc- 
trine of the Epistle to the Romans, and of the Epis- 
tle to the Galatians. It is brought forward in the 
book of Genesis, in the Psalms, and in the last 
chapter of the Bible. 

II. All men are just or unjust. All are saints 
or sinners; all are godly or ungodly; all are the 
children of God or the children of the wicked one ; 
all are justified or condemned. All are now in 
favor with God, or they are out of his favor. 

III. I have never seen a better definition than 
this : " Justification is an act of God's free grace 
unto sinners, in which he pardoneth all their sin, 
accepteth and accounteth their persons righteous 
in his sight ; not for anything wrought in them or 
done by them, but only for the perfect obedience 
and full satisfaction of Christ, by God imputed to 
them, and received by faith alone." This is true 
and clear. 



144 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

IV. No man is by nature justified. We are 
all by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 
Eph. 2:3. " There is none righteous, no not 
one." Rom. 3 : 10. The law speaks as it does, 
" that every mouth may be stopped, and all the 
world may become guilty before God." Rom. 
3,19. So sad is our case, that "we are all as an 
unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as 
filthy rags ; and we all do fade as a leaf ; and our 
iniquities like the wind have taken us away." Isa. 
64 : 6. Such is the uniform testimony of God's 
word. 

V. Justification is the opposite of condemna- 
tion. Throughout the Scriptures these are spoken 
of as opposite states. Deut. 25 : 1 ; Job 9 : 20 ; 
Prov. 17:15; Matt. 12 : 37; Rom. 5:18. What- 
ever condemnation is, justification is the opposite; 
and every man is in one or other of these states. 

VI. As no man is justified by nature, so no 
man is justified by his own works. If any shall do 
all that is commanded them, they are still bound 
to say, " We are unprofitable servants : we have 
done that which was our duty to do." Luke 17:10. 
No man can do more than his duty, and so the 
exact performance of present duty cannot cover 
past sins. The Scripture is clear : " By the deeds 
of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his 



JUSTIFICATION. 145 

sio-ht." " A man is not justified by the works of 
the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ." " No 
man is justified by the law in the sight of God." 
Rom. 3:20; Gal. 2:16; 3:11. Angels never 
sinned. They are justified by law. Until man 
sinned he was justified by law. This way does 
not now suit us : " Cursed is every one that con- 
tinued not in all things which are written in the 
book of the law to do them." Gal. 3:10. 

VII. God alone justifies. None else can do 
it. None has power to do it. It is one of God's 
highest rights. It is his peculiar privilege. He is 
the Justifier. Rom 3 : 26. It is God that justifi- 
ed!. Rom. 8:33. God is Judge of all the earth. 
When he condemns, men are lost. When he jus- 
tifies, none can condemn. 

VIII. Man's justification is all of grace, unde- 
served kindness, unmerited mercy. "When we 
were yet without strength, in due time Christ died 
for the ungodly." Rom. 5:6. " God commend- 
eth his love toward us in that while we were yet 
sinners, Christ died for us." Rom. 5:8. " When 
we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by 
the death of his Son." Rom. 5:10. Paul says 
expressly that God " justifieth the ungodly." Rom. 
4 : 5. That is, in justifying a sinner, the Lord 
looks on him as in himself lost, guilty, undone. 

1'i'iitlis for the People. J.O 



i 4 6 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

No other scheme would suit us sinners, or be to us 
good news. 

IX. An essential part of justification is the 
pardon of sin — all sin, original, actual, sin of omis- 
sion, sin of commission, open sin, secret sin. Par- 
don and forgiveness are the same thing. By Jesus 
Christ "all that believe are justified from all things, 
from which ye could not be justified by the law 
of Moses." Acts 13:39. In God's Word much 
is said of the pardon of sin, such as casting it into 
the sea, casting it behind the back, blotting it out, 
burying it, washing it away, forgetting it, covering 
it, not imputing it, taking it away, etc. When 
pardon comes at all it is complete : " There is 
therefore now no condemnation to them which 
are in Christ Jesus." Rom. 8:1. The grace 
shown in the pardon of men's sins is without a 
parallel. 

X. Those who are pardoned are also accepted 
in the Beloved. Eph. 1 : 6. These two things are 
never separated, though we distinguish between 
them. The great prophet who foretold the finish- 
ing of transgression, making an end of sins, and 
making reconciliation for iniquity, also speaks of 
brin^ino: in everlasting riohteousness. Dan. 9 : 24. 
It was a chief desire of Paul that he might "win 
Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own 



JUSTIFICA TION. 1 47 

righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is 
through the faith of Christ." Phil. 3 : 8, 9. One of 
the prophetic names of Christ was, the Lord our 
Righteousness, Jer. 23:6. "By the obedience 
of one shall many be made righteous." Rom. 
5:19. Christ is "of God made unto us wisdom, 
and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemp- 
tion." 1 Cor. 1 : 30. God "hath made him to be 
sin for us, who knew no sin ; that we might be 
made the righteousness of God in him." 2 Cor. 
5 :2i. 

XI. Thus the justification of the believing sin- 
ner is complete. Very many times remission is 
said to be by his blood. Zech. 9:11; Matt. 26:28; 
Rom. 5 : 9 ; Eph. 1:7; 2:13; Heb, 9: 12, 14, 22; 
10:19, 20. Very often we are said to be accepted 
by the righteousness, the obedience of another. 
These two things are often happily united in Scrip- 
ture. Paul says, " Even as David also describeth 
the blessedness of the man unto whom God im- 
puteth righteousness without works, saying, Bless- 
ed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and 
whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to 
whom the Lord will not impute sin." Rom. 4: 6-8. 
This justification is complete and irrevocable, and 
is followed by salvation. Rom. 8 : 32-39. Christ's 
righteousness is imputed, counted, reckoned to his 



148 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

people for their justification before God. Rom. 
3 : 21, 22; 4: 3-6, 8-1 1. 

XII. We are made partakers of salvation, and 
are justified by the righteousness of Christ through 
faith ; even " the righteousness of God, which is 
by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all 
them that believe." Rom. 3:22. Compare Rom. 
4: 14, 16, 18, 24; 5: 1. 

XIII. The greatness of God's mercy in the 
justification of sinners is beyond all man's powers 
of estimation. It will be a theme of thanksgiving 
in the ages of eternity. It is celebrated in heaven 
itself. Rev. 5: 9-14. 

XIV. The wisest thing any sinner can do is to 
accept from the heart God's Son, and God's way 
of saving man. " For Christ is the end of the law 
for righteousness to every one that believeth." 
Rom. 10:4. And "other foundation can no man 
lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." 
1 Cor. 3:11. Oh that all would believe ! 

XV. If these things are so, some may ask, 
"Wherefore then serveth the law?" Gal. 3:19. 
The answers are clear: 1, By the law is the knowl- 
edge of sin. Rom. 3 : 20. 2. Justified men need 
a rule to direct their steps. 3. The law is in 
many cases useful in restraining men's corrup- 
tions. 4. Right views of the law show us our ill 



JUSTIFICATION. j 49 

desert, and so lead us to behave meekly and hum- 
bly under afflictions. 5. God has so arranged the 
plan of salvation that a loving obedience to the 
precepts of the law meets with divine acceptance 
and a gracious reward. " We know that the law 
is good, if a man use it lawfully." 1 Tim. 1 : 8. 



13* 



15c TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

SANCTIFICA TION. 

I. Justification and sanctification are often 
joined in Scripture, and always united in fact. 
The proofs are ample. " Blessed is he whose 
transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 
Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth 
not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile." 
Psa. 32:1,2. Compare Rom. 8:1; 2 Tim. 1:9; 
1 Thess. 4:7; Titus 2 : 14, and especially Phil. 
3 : 8-12. He who hopes for sanctification without 
justification, and he who hopes for the latter with- 
out the former, are trying to put asunder what 
God hath joined together. Both are sadly de- 
ceived. 

II. Sanctification widely differs from justifica- 
tion. In justification sin is pardoned ; in sanctifi 
cation sin is subdued. In justification grace se- 
cures acceptance; in sanctification grace gives 
strength to resist temptation, and victory over the 
world. In justification we are freed from wrath, 
and are regarded and treated as righteous; in sanc- 
tification we are freed from the reigning power of 
sin. Justification is an act; sanctification is a 



SANCTIFICATION. 151 

work. Justification is an act done in heaven ; 
sanctification is a work done in us. Justification 
gives a title to eternal happiness ; sanctification 
gives us meetness for the joys and services of 
heaven. Justification changes our state; sanctifi- 
cation changes our character. Justification is per- 
fect at once in all cases ; sanctification ordinarily 
is imperfect at first — a little leaven cast into three 
measures of meal. Sanctification proves justifi- 
cation ; but justification cannot prove sanctifica- 
tion. 

III. Sanctification differs from regeneration as 
the ripe or ripening corn differs from the tender 
blade at first put forth ; as the fruit-bearing tree 
differs from the little scion; as the strong man 
differs from the new-born babe. Regeneration is 
the beginning of sanctification ; sanctification is the 
completion of regeneration. In regeneration the 
seed is sown ; in sanctification the harvest comes 
on. Young converts, except that they have a real 
change of heart, seem often to differ but little from 
men of the world. 1 Cor. 3:1-3. 

IV. Very kindly has God promised that his 
people shall grow and advance in holiness : " Unto 
you that fear my name shall the Sun of Right- 
eousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye 
shall go forth, and grow r up as calves of the stall." 



1 52 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE, 

Mai. 4 : 2. Ample provision is made to this end 
by the bestowment of the Holy Ghost: "Fear not, 
O Jacob, my servant ; and thou, Jeshurun, whom I 
have chosen. For I will pour water upon him 
that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground. I 
will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my bless- 
ing upon thine offspring : and they shall spring up 
as among the grass, as willows by the water- 
courses." Isa. 44 : 2-4. 

V. It is a duty to advance in holiness : " This 
is the will of God, even your sanctification, that 
ye should abstain from fornication : that every one 
of you should know how to possess his vessel in 
sanctification and honor." 1 Thess, 4 : 3, 4. " Grow 
in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and 
Saviour Jesus Christ." 2 Pet. 3:18. "Follow 
peace with all men, and holiness, without which no 
man shall see the Lord." Heb. 12 : 14. 

VI. Like creation and providence, sanctifica- 
tion is a work of the Godhead : " I am the Lord 
which sanctify you." " I will make an everlasting 
covenant with them, that I will not turn away from 
them, to do them good : but I will put my fear in 
their hearts, that they shall not depart from me." 
Lev. 20: 8 ; Jer. 32 : 40. In Jude t, believers are 
said to be "sanctified by God the Father." In 
1 Cor, 1 : 30, it is said " Christ Jesus of God is 



SANCTIFICATION. 153 

made unto us sanctification." Compare Eph. 
5:26, 27. In 2 Thess. 2:13, Paul says, God 
" hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation, 
through sanctification of the Spirit." Compare 
Eph. 1:4; Matt. 3:11. 

VII. In this work God's children concur : " We 
are laborers together with God." " Having there- 
fore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse 
ourselves from all filth iness of the flesh and spirit, 
perfecting holiness in the fear of God." 1 Cor. 
3:9; 2 Cor. 7:1. This concurrence of God's 
people consists mainly in these things: 1. They 
consent to the law that it is good. 2. They greatly 
desire increase of holiness. 3. They pray and labor 
for it. 4. They deeply mourn and humble them- 
selves when they have it not. 

VIII. This sanctification is in the whole na- 
ture. Inspired writers use all the words necessary 
to teach this doctrine. Paul says : " The very 
God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God 
your whole spirit, and soul, and body, be preserved 
blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus 
Christ." 1 Thess. 5:23. Compare Ezek. 36: 
25-27; Eph. 4: 22-32. 

IX. The great means of promoting the sancti- 
fication of believers is the gospel, sometimes called 
the grace of God, because it is a great fruit of his 



j 54 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

undeserved kindness, as in Titus 2:11, 12: "For 
the erace of God that brin^eth salvation hath ap- 
peared to all men, teaching us that denying ungod- 
liness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, 
righteously, and godly in this present world." 
Compare Eph. 5 : 26 ; Phil. 1:6; Heb. 12:10. 

X. The sanctification of believers is in this 
life imperfect. The best of men are men at the 
best. " There is no man that sinneth not." " There 
is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and 
sinneth not." 1 Kings 8 : 46 ; Eccles. 7 : 20. Com- 
pare 1 Cor. 9: 27; 13:9, 10. So that "the flesh 
lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against 
the flesh : and these are contrary the one to the 
other; so that ye cannot do the things that ye 
would." Gal. 5:17. 

XL Because of these things we naturally ex- 
pect a warfare in the Christian life. Christian 
experience fulfils this expectation. In Romans 
7: 14-25, the apostle Paul gives us the details of 
such a conflict in his own case. Some indeed 
have said that he did not refer to himself at all. 
But more than twenty times he says he did mean 
himself, using the words /, mine, me. Some say 
that he refers to himself in an unconverted state. 
But he says he refers to himself at the time of 
writing. All the verbs are in the present tense, as 



SANCTIFICATION. I55 

am, do, allow, find, etc. Besides, no unconverted 
man ever "consents unto the law that it is good " 
nor " delights in the law of God after the inward 
man." Clearly the passage refers to Paul after his 
conversion. 

XII. Growth in grace is properly evidenced by 
increase of good works. " Every good tree bring- 
eth forth good fruit." " We are his workmanship, 
created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which 
God hath before ordained that we should walk in 
them." Matt. 7:17; Eph. 2 : 10. Compare Phil. 
4:8. 

XIII. There is one class of evidences of growth 
in holiness much insisted on in the Scriptures. It 
consists of what are commonly called the passive 
virtues, such as meekness, humility, gentleness, 
forbearance, forgiveness, self-denial, etc. The 
greater attainments Paul made, the humbler he 
was. Some time after his conversion he speaks of 
himself as "unworthy to be called an apostle." 
Still later he says he was " less than the least of 
all saints." He enters heaven with the cry, " I am 
the chief of sinners." 

XIV. The longer men live, and the more they 
live to the honor of their Master, the brighter 
shall be their crown in heaven. " They that be 
wise shall shine as the brightness of the firma- 



156 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

ment ; and they that turn many to righteousness, 
as the stars for ever and ever." Dan. 12:3. Com- 
pare Isa. 43 : 21 ; Matt. 5:12; Col. 3 : 24 ; 1 Cor. 
15:41. 

XV. Therefore let every man live wholly unto 
God. " Behold, I come quickly : hold that fast 
which thou hast, that no man take thy crown." 
Rev. 3:11 



PRAYER. 157 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

PR A YER. 

I. Atheism never worships. In practice mod- 
ern deism is atheistic. But there is no form of 
religion without prayer, and surely there is no sal- 
vation to those who restrain prayer. Our wants 
as creatures, and our necessities as sinners, can be 
supplied by Him who is infinite. Prayer is a duty 
taught by natural religion. 

II. In Scripture prayer is mentioned about 
five hundred times. It is spoken of in the first 
book of the Bible, Gen. 4:26; and in the last 
chapter of the sacred volume, Rev. 22 : 20. To 
speak of a prayerless Christian is as absurd as to 
talk of a living man who never breathes. As soon 
as Saul of Tarsus met with a change of heart, it 
was said, " Behold, he prayeth." Acts 9:11. 

III. Quite a variety of words and phrases are 
used in Scripture to express the act of praying, 
such as bowing down to God, serving him, calling 
upon his name, seeking him, entreating him, be- 
seeching him, inquiring of him, and, in one case, 
commanding him. In a single verse Paul speaks 
of supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving 

of thanks. 1 Tim. 2:1. 

14 



ir8 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 



j 



IV. By nature we are poor creatures. We are 
ot sufficient as of ourselves to think anything 

good, or right, or holy. 2 Cor. 3:5. Nor can we 
of ourselves ever offer a right prayer : " Likewise 
the Spirit helpeth our infirmities : for we know 
not what we should pray for as we ought : but the 
Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groan- 
ing which cannot be uttered. And he that search- 
eth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the 
Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the 
saints according to the will of God." Rom. 
8 : 26, 27. So that all prayer truly pleasing to 
God, is indited by the Holy Ghost, who is freely 
given by God to all who sincerely ask for so great 
a blessing. Luke 11 : 1 3. 

V. According to Scripture there is no one pos- 
ture, and no particular set of gestures, attitudes, 
or intonations, requisite to acceptance in praying. 
David sat and prayed. 1 Chron. 17:16. Com- 
pare Exod. 17: 12. The publican stood and pray- 
ed. Luke 18:13. Daniel kneeled and prayed. 
Dan. 6:10. Jonah lay in the whale's belly and 
prayed. Jonah 2:1. Hezekiah turned his face 
to the wall as he lay in his bed, and prayed. Isa. 
38 : 2. Our Lord prostrated himself with his face 
to the ground, and prayed. Matt. 26 : 39. Very 
often the ancients prayed with their hands and 



PRAYER, I59 

eyes directed to heaven. So Moses lifted his 
hands till from weariness he could hold them up 
no more, till Aaron and Hur stood and held them 
up. Exod. 17:11, 12. Compare Psa. 141:2. 
But the publican lifted not up even his eyes to 
heaven, yet he was accepted. Our whole beha- 
vior should suit the occasion, and should express 
reverence, trust, and humility. 

VI. Nor does the power of prayer depend upon 
the words used. The Pharisee used many words 
and was rejected. The publican used few words 
and was justified. Luke 18 : 10-14. Hannah mur- 
mured or whispered her good prayer. 1 Sam. 
1 : 1 3-1 7. When prayer is social or public, it should 
be in words understood by all who unite in the 
service. 1 Cor. 14 : 14-17. 

VII. Neither is the place nor the direction of 
the face towards anyplace of the least importance. 
The temple was once a very fit place of prayer. 
Isa. 56:7. Compare 1 Kings 8:29, 30; Dan. 
6 : 10. But prophecy required that all this should 
pass away : " For from the rising of the sun even 
unto the going down of the same, my name shall 
be great among the Gentiles ; and in every place 
incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure 
offering: for my name shall be great among the 
heathen, saith the Lord of hosts." Mai. 1:11. 



1 6 o TR UTHS FOR THE PE OPLE. 

Accordingly, when Christ came, he said to the 
woman of Samaria : " Believe me, the hour cometh, 
when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at 
Jerusalem, worship the Father." John 4:21. The 
Lord looketh on the heart, not on the place where 
we are, when we call upon his name. 

VIII. For whom shall we pray? Not for the 
dead. 2 Sam. 12:15-23; Luke 16-25, 26; Rev. 
14: 13. Again, living men may treat with such 
scorn and blasphemy sacred things, and especially 
the person and work of the Holy Ghost, that 
though they may be living and known to us, we 
shall not feel obliged or able to pray for such 
despisers. Compare 1 John 5:16; Mark 3:29. 
With these exceptions we are to pray for all men: 
for kino-s and rulers, 1 Tim. 2:1,2; for enemies, 
Matt. 5:44; Luke 6:27, 35; for unkind friends, 
who have wronged us, Job 42: 10; for the sick, 
Jas. 5 : 14-16 ; for the church, Psa. 122:6; for the 
afflicted, Psa. 50:15; Jas. 5:13; for mens souls 
and bodies, 3 John 2 ; for preachers of the gos- 
pel, 1 Thess. 5 : 25; for the wicked that they per- 
ish not, Jer. 31 17; in short, for all sorts of men. 
1 Tim. 2:1. Bad men are in perishing need of help 
and mercy. Good men are in the midst of trials 
and enemies, and require help from God. We 
should pray for ourselves. Psa. 90: 17. 



PRAYER. 161 

IX. We should pray often. Jesus spake two 
parables to this end, that men ought always to 
pray and not to faint. Luke n : 5-9 ; 18: 1-8. 
The Scriptures call on us to " continue instant in 
prayer." Rom. 12:12; to " pray always with all 
prayer and supplication in the Spirit, Eph. 6: 18; 
yea, to " pray without ceasing," 1 Thess. 5:17. 

X. It is required in all worship, in prayer par- 
ticularly, that it be intelligent. It is sad when it 
may be truly charged upon us, " Ye worship ye 
know not what." John 4: 22. In malice it is de- 
sirable that all be children, but in understanding 
let all be men. 1 Cor. 14 : 20. " What is it then? 
I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the 
understanding also : I will sing with the spirit, and 
I will sing with the understanding also." 1 Cor. 
14:15. 

XI. It is very important that all our worship 
should be offered in innocence and benevolence. 
It is shocking for men to come around the throne 
of grace with malice in their hearts and with stains 
upon their hands. That was a good resolution of 
David: " I will wash my hands in innocency : so 
will I compass thine altar, O Lord!" Psa. 26:6. 
And Paul says, " I will therefore that men pray 
everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath 

and doubting. 1 Tim. 2 : 8. And Peter exhorts us 

14* 



162 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

to " lay aside all malice, and all guile, and hypoc- 
risies, and envies, and all evil speakings." i Pet. 
2 : i. Compare Matt. 5 : 23, 24 ; 6 : 14, 15. 

XII. All prayer that God is bound to answer 
must be offered in faith. Without faith it is im- 
possible to please God. Heb. 11:6; Jas. 1 : 6, 7. 

XIII. All acceptable prayer must be fervent 
and earnest. " The effectual fervent prayer of a 
righteous man availeth much. Elias was a man 
subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed 
earnestly that it might not rain; and it rained not 
on the earth by the space of three years and six 
months. And he prayed again, and the heaven 
gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit." 
Jas. 5 : 16-18. 

XIV. In all prayer we must submit to the ulti- 
mate will of God. In this our divine Lord set us 
an example, which we should never forget. " O 
my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from 
me : nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." 
" O my Father, if this cup may not pass away 
from me except I drink it, thy will be done." Matt. 
26 :39, 42. 

XV. With prayer the Scriptures often unite 
alms-giving. To Cornelius the Lord said in a vis- 
ion, " Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for 
a memorial before God." Acts 10:4. It was Je- 



PRAYER. ^3 

sus who said, " It is more blessed to give than to 
receive." Acts 20 : 35. He also said, " Sell that 
ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags 
which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that 
faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither 
moth corrupteth." Luke 12 : 33. 

XVI. To prayer it is often proper to unite 
fasting. David says : " I humbled myself with 
fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own 
bosom." Psa. 35:13.. Daniel followed this ex- 
ample. Dan. 9 ; 3. Compare 1 Cor. 7 : 5. 

XVII. Both Christ and his apostles unite 
watching and prayer. In vain do we pray unless 
we watch. " Watch and pray, that ye enter not 
into temptation." Matt. 26:41; compare Mark 
^3^33\ 14:38; Eph. 6:18; Col. 4:2. 

XVIII. Such prayer as the Scriptures require 
is wondrously efficacious. Psa. 50:15; Matt. 
7:7, 8. There is no mightier influence exerted 
by creatures than that found in prayer. The his- 
tory of human salvation is a history of the power 
of prayer. It is God's memorial in every gener- 
ation, THAT HE HEARETH PRAYER. 



1 64 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 



CHAPTER XXV, 

GOD'S LA W. 

I. God is a Father, and teaches us to call 
him so. Mai. i : 6 ; Matt. 6 : 9. But he is also a 
Judge, Gen. 18:25; 2 Tim. 4:85 a Ruler, Mic. 
5:2; Zech. 6:13; a Governor, Psa. 22 ; 28; Matt. 
2:6; a King, Psa. 5:2; 10:16; a Lawgiver, Jas. 
4:12; Deut. 6 : 24. One of the highest preroga- 
tives of government is the power of making 

laws. 

II. If God makes laws for his rational crea- 
tures, they are bound to study them, and learn 
what they mean. This is implied in nearly every 
verse of the one hundred and nineteenth Psalm. 
Compare Deut. 6 : 6-9. No duty can be clearer. 
Men are as surely bound to obey them. Deut. 
13:4; Jer. 26:13; 42:6; Acts 5:29; Heb. 5 : 9. 

III. The law of God, as given from Mount 
Sinai, was in ten precepts, and is hence called the 
Decalogue, or the ten words, as the Hebrew ex- 
presses it. These ten precepts are statutes, ordi- 
nances, commandments. They claim and possess 
the highest authority. They are not given as 
advice, but as laws — laws of binding force. The 



GOD'S LA IV. 165 

same ten precepts were repeated just before Israel 
entered Canaan. 

IV. The law of God is by our Saviour given 
in a briefer form. When one asked him, "Which 
is the great commandment in the law ?" Jesus an- 
swered him : " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God 
with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with 
all thy mind. This is the first and great com- 
mandment. And the second is like unto it : Thou 
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two 
commandments hang all the law and the proph- 
ets." Matt. 22 : 36-40. Compare Mark 12 : 28-31. 

V. The apostle Paul gives even yet a more, 
brief summary of the law of God : "All the law is 
fulfilled in one word, Thou shalt love thy neighbor 
as thyself." Gal. 5:14. Again : " Love worketh 
no ill to his neighbor ; therefore love is the fulfill- 
ing of the law." Rom. 13: 10. While it is true 
that love is the essential element demanded by 
both tables of the law, it is right to say that the 
subject on which Paul is speaking in both of the 
places cited, is our duty to our neighbor. 

VI. A careful examination and comparison of 
Exod. 23 : 20, 21 ; Acts 7 : 30-38 ; and Heb. 
12 :25, 26, will show that in a very important 
sense the Son of God was the author of the moral 
law, was present when it was given, and has ex- 



1 66 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

pressed displeasure when it was broken. Christ is 
dishonored when men keep not the law. 

VII. The law has its binding force from the 
glorious character of the Lawgiver, and from his 
relations to his creatures. He is glorious in holi- 
ness. He is wonderful in working. He is Crea- 
tor, Preserver, and Redeemer. The law also binds 
from its own excellence. It is spiritual, Rom. 
7:14; it is perfect, Psa. 19:8; it is holy, just, and 
good, Rom. 7:12; it is unchangeable, Deut. 452; 
Isa. 5 : 20; 2 Tim. 3:16. It is of course eternal. 
It is so declared to be by Jesus Christ. Matt. 
5:17-19. One great object of the sermon on 
the mount, was to rescue this law from false 
glosses. 

VIII. This law was not only spoken by the 
mouth of God, but it was twice written by his 
finger. Deut. 4 : 33 ; 5:4, 22; Exod. 32:15, 16; 
34 : 1 ; Deut. 10 : 4, 5. 

IX. This law was at first on two tables of 
stone ; and it is yet fitly spoken of as in two ta- 
bles. The first of these consists of the first four 
precepts, directly relating to our duty to God. The 
second consists of six precepts, defining our duty 
to man. 

X. The first commandment is, " Thou shalt 
have no other gods before me." This clearly re- 



GOD'S LAW. jQj 

quires us to know God, i Chron. 28:9; and to 
confess him, Deut. 26:17; to own him and to 
honor him, Psa. 95 : 6, 7 ; to meditate upon his 
character, Psa. 63 : 6 ; to choose him, Josh. 24 : 22 ; 
to love and fear him, Deut. 6:5; to trust, Exod. 
14 : 31; Isa. 26 : 4; hope, Psa. 130 : 7, and delight 
m him, Psa. 37:4; to worship him in the way he 
appoints, Phil. 4 : 6 ; to study to please him, 1 Thess. 
4:1; to be humble before him, and sorry when 
we offend him, Mic. 6:8; Jer. 31:18. It also for- 
bids us to think, live, or act like atheists, Jer. 
2 : 27, 28; Psa. 81:11; to withhold from him any- 
thing that is his due, Isa. 43 : 22, 23 ; to be igno- 
rant or forgetful of him, Jer. 4:22; to have mean 
or vile thoughts concerning him, Acts 17 : 23, 29 ; 
to hate him, Rom. 1 : 30 ; to distrust him, Heb. 
3:12; to be vain or proud in his presence, Rom. 
1 : 30 ; to tempt him, Matt. 4:7; to restrain prayer 
before. him, Job 15:4; or to trust in ourselves or 
in any creature for effectual help or succor, Jer. 
2: 13. 

XI. The second commandment is, " Thou 
shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any 
likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or 
that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water 
under the earth : thou shalt not bow down thyself 
to them nor serve them ; for I the Lord thy God 



iCS TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers 
upon the children, unto the third and fourth gen- 
eration of them that hate me ; and showing mercy 
unto thousands of them that love me and keep my 
commandments." This law clearly requires that 
we should observe and keep pure all God's wor- 
ship, Deut. 32 146; Matt. 28; 20; we should pray 
and give thanks in the name of Christ, John 14:13; 
we should read, study, hear, and obey God's word, 
John 5 ; 39 ; Jas. 1:21, 22 ; observe the ordinances 
of his house, Matt. 28 : 19 ; vow, and pay our vows, 
Psa. 66: 13; and oppose all false worship, Micah 
6:16; 1 Kings 12:33. It forbids worship not 
commanded by God, Deut. 4 : 15-19 ; Acts 17 : 29; 
the making or using any image or likeness to repre- 
sent God, or to aid in worship, Rom. 1 121-25. 
It forbids all superstition, all sacrilege, all con- 
tempt and hindering of God's worship, Acts 17:22; 
Col. 2 : 21-23. There is an awful reason given 
for keeping this command : " For I the Lord thy 
God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the 
fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth 
generation of them that hate me : and showing 
mercy unto thousands of them that love me and 
keep my commandments." 

XII. The third commandment is: "Thou 
shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in 



GOD'S LAW. 169 

vain : for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that 
taketh his name in vain." This commandment 
requires us in thought, speech, and act, holily and 
reverently to use God's names, Matt. 6 : 9, titles, 
Psa. 68:4, attributes, Deut. 28:58, ordinances, 
Eccles. 5:1, word, Psa. 19:7, works and worship, 
Psa. 138:2, such as prayer, praise, vows, oaths, 
and lots, 1 Cor. 10:31; Phil. 1 : 27. It requires 
us to do all to the glory of God. 1 Pet. 2:12. 
And it forbids us to indulge in vain, profane, or 
superstitious use of anything pertaining to God. 
Acts 17:23; Jer. 7:4. It forbids blasphemy, 
Ex-od. 5:2, perjury, Zech. 5 : 4, profane oaths, 
Matt. 5 : 34-37, rash or wicked vows, Acts 23 : 12, 
14, bitter cursings, Rom. 12:14, murmurings 
against God, Rom. 9: 14-20, jesting with sacred 
things, Eph. 5 : 4, idle questions, 1 Tim. 6:4, 5, 
the use of charms, Deut. 18 : 10-14, hating of holy 
things, 2 Tim. 3:5, hypocrisy, Matt. 23 : 14, or in 
any way diminishing the fear of God in ourselves 
or others, Mark 8 : 38. The reason given is, " The 
Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his 
name in vain." 

XIII. The fourth commandment is : " Remem- 
ber the Sabbath-day to keep it holy. Six days 
shalt thou labor, and do all thy work : but the 
seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God : 

Truths for the People. LiS 



i 7 o TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy 
son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy 
maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that 
is within thy gates; for in six days the Lord made 
heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them 
is, and rested the seventh day : wherefore the 
Lord blessed the Sabbath-day and hallowed it." 
This precept requires us to keep holy all the time 
God has set apart for his service, expressly one 
whole day in seven. Gen. 2:3; 1 Cor. 16 : 1, 2. 
We are then to rest from all such works and em- 
ployments as are on other days lawful, Exod. 
16:25-29; Jer. 17:21, 22; and spend those .sa- 
cred hours in such thoughts, reading, hearing, 
praying, praising, and conversation, as are suited 
to glorify God. Isa. 58 : 13, 14. It is a great sin 
to be weary of the Sabbath-day, or to be idle on 
that day, or to engage in needless works, words, 
and thoughts about worldly matters. Luke 23 : 
54-56. This command is most reasonable. Exod. 
23 : 12. God gives us six days ; he claims but the 
seventh part of our time. He has set us an exam- 
ple in resting the seventh day from all his works. 
This commandment is very solemnly enacted, be- 
ginning with the word " Remember." According 
to his promise, he greatly blesses those who keep 
holy the Sabbath. Isa. 56 : 2-7. According to 



GOD'S LAW. 171 

his threatening, he sorely chastises those who pro- 
fane that sacred day. Jer. 17 : 27. 

" A Sabbath well spent 

Brings a week of content, 
And health for the toils of the morrow; 

But a Sabbath profaned, 

Whate'er may be gained, 
Is a sure forerunner of sorrow." 



172 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

GOD'S LA W— SECOND TABLE. 

I. We have already considered the first table 
of the law, which states our duty to God. We 
come now to consider the second table of the law, 
which regards our duty to man. The sum of it 
is, " Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." 
We as much need grace rightly to keep the sec- 
ond table as the first. 

II. The fifth commandment is, " Honor thy 
father and thy mother, that thy days may be long 
upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth 
thee." In the spirit of this law a father and a 
mother point not only to our parents according to 
the flesh, but to all who have authority over us, 
or are our superiors. We ought in heart, speech 
and act to honor and reverence our superiors, 
Prov. 16:31; pray for them, 1 Tim. 2 : 1-3 ; cheer- 
fully obey their lawful commands and good coun- 
sels, Eph. 6:1-7; be true and faithful to them, 
defend them, Tit. 2:9, 10; Rom. 13:6, 7; love 
them, and, as far as possible, hide their faults, 
Gen. 9:23. This commmand forbids us to envy 
our superiors, Numb. 11:28, 29; to despise them, 



GOD'S LAW— SECOND TABLE. 173 

Isa. 3:5; to rebel against just authority, Exod. 
21:15; to curse or mock them, Deut. 21 : 18-21 ; 
or try to put them to shame, Prov. 19:26. All 
this implies that parents and other superiors 
should love and pray for those under them, Eph. 
6:4; should instruct and counsel them, Deut. 
6:6, 7 ; defend them, Rom. 13:3; commend them, 
Esth. 6:3; and, when necessary, chastise them, 
Prov.. 29 : 15 ; but never to be bitter against them, 
Eph. 6:4. This precept also shows the sin of 
envying the gifts or grieving at the prosperity of ■ 
our equals. The promise added to this command- 
ment is, " That thy days may be long upon the 
land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." Com- 
pare Deut. 5:16; 1 Kings 8:25; Eph. 6:2, 3. 
It is a lovely sight to see a whole family or socie- 
ty ruled by the law of love. 

III. The sixth commandment is, "Thou shaft 
not kill." This requires a careful study and a 
lawful endeavor to preserve human life. 1 Sam. 
19:4, 5. It therefore requires us to subdue all 
malignant passions, Psa. 37:8, 11; Prov. 22 : 24, 
26 ; Eph. 4 : 26; and to be very careful in the use 
of food, drink, medicine, rest, and recreation, so 
as not to shorten life. Prov. 17:22; 23:20, 29, 30. 
It requires us to banish hatred, 1 John 3:15; 4:20, 
malice, envy, 1 Peter 2:1, unjust jealousy, Cant. 

15* 



174 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

8 : 6, needless disquietude, unholy anger, Jas. 
4 M ; Prov. 27:4; and to cherish love, pity, and 
kindness in our hearts, words and acts, 1 Cor. 
1 3 : 4-7 ; to forgive injuries, Matt. 6:14; 15; Rom. 
1 2 : 1 9, 20 ; and to help and defend the innocent, Prov. 
24 11; 31 : 8, 9; Matt. 25:35, 36. It forbids the 
needless, careless, unjust or cruel wasting of human 
life, irritating words, Prov. 12:18; 15 : 1 ; injustice, 
Exod. 22 : 2, quarrelling, striking, Isa. 3:15, wound- 
ing or insulting men, Prov. 28:17, so as to dis- 
tress their spirits, or to tempt them to deeds of 
violence. 

IV. The seventh commandment is, " Thou 
shalt not commit adultery." This requires purity 
in the mind, in the heart, in words, looks, and acts. 
It requires us to be chaste in body, 1 Thess. 4 : 4, 5 ; 
to avoid unchaste sights and unchaste company. 
Job 31 : 1 ; Prov. 5 : 3-10. It says nothing against 
lawful wedlock. "Marriage is honorable in all, 
and the bed undefined." Heb. 13:4. Our Saviour 
was present at a marriage. It forbids adultery, 
fornication, rape, incest, sodomy, all unclean 
thoughts and affections, all wantonness in looks, 
dress, or behavior. 1 Cor. 7:2; Tit. 2:4, 5 ; 
Matt. 5:28; Jer. 5:7; 1 Cor. 5:9; 1 Tim. 2:9. 
It allows no man to have more than one wife, and 
no woman to have more than one husband. Wc 



GOD'S LAW— SECOND TABLE. 175 

should avoid everything that begets in us or in 
others any want of purity or temperance. Eph. 
5 : 3, 4. Husbands ought to love their wives very 
tenderly, and very strongly, even as Christ loved 
the church. Eph. 5 : 29, 33. And wives should 
reverence their husbands and love them. Eph. 
5 : 33 ; Titus 2 14, 5. 

V. The eighth commandment is, " Thou shalt 
not steal." This clearly requires truth, justice, 
fairness, honor, and fidelity in trades and bargains 
between man and man. Psa. 15 : 2, 4. We should 
give to every man, and every body of men their 
dues. Rom. 13:7. It requires contentment with 
our own lot. 1 Tim. 6:8. It enjoins kindness to 
the poor and needy. Deut. 15:7, 8, 10; 1 Tim. 
6:17, 18. Every one ought to have some proper 
business, and be industrious in it. Rom. 12:11; 
Eph. 4:28. It is our duty to care for those de- 
pendent on us, particularly poor and aged rela- 
tives or neighbors. 1 Tim. 5 : 8. This precept 
forbids all stealing, all robbery, all cheating, false 
weights and measures, all oppression, extortion, 
usury, vexatious law-suits, covetousness, love of 
the world. 1 John 2:15, 16. It is wicked to 
waste our worldly goods, and it is wicked to hoard 
them up, or to receive stolen goods. Prov. 29; 24 ; 
Psa. 50 : 18 ; James 5:4; Eccl. 4 : 8. 



176 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

VI. The ninth commandment is, " Thou shalt 
not bear false witness against thy neighbor." A 
neighbor is any one to whom we can do good or 
harm, whether he lives near us or not. Luke 
10:30-37. This commandment requires us to 
think, feel, speak and act truly, Psa. 15:2, and sin- 
cerely, 2 Chron. 19:9, towards all our fellow-men. 
We should love and rejoice in their good name, 
3 John 4, in their gifts and graces, Rom. 1 : 8. 
We should defend the innocent. Psa. 82 : 3. We 
should take sides with the slandered. Psa. 15:3; 
Prov. 25:23. We should keep our word and 
study and practise all things that are true, honest, 
lovely, and of good report. Phil. 4 : 8, The sins 
against this commandment are many and heinous : 
such as telling lies, giving false evidence, Luke 
3 : 14; Prov. 19 : 5 ; asking other people to do so, 
calling evil good, and good evil, Isa. 5:20; forgery, 
back-biting, Psa. 15:3; Rom. 1:30; detracting, 
tale-bearing, whispering, Rom. 1:29; scoffing, 
Prov. 21:9; railing, 1 Tim. 6:4; reviling, 1 Cor. 
6:10; flattering, Prov. 20:19; boasting, Prov. 
20: 14; or encouraging others to do these things. 
We may not take sides with the rich or poor when 
we pass judgment. We must not "respect per- 
sons." We must not be glad when men do wrong 
or when they suffer wrong. Read James 2 : 1-18. 



GOD'S LAW—SECOND TABLE. 177 

VII. The tenth commandment is, "Thou 
shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt 
not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his man-servant, 
nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor 
anything that is thy neighbor's." Surely this re- 
quires contentment with our own lot, Heb. 13:5, 
and pleasure at the good success of our neighbor, 
Rom. 12:15. Surely it forbids all discontent, all 
envy, James 3:14, 16, all ill-will towards others, 
as well- as all vain-glory, Gal. 5 : 26, and all the 
pride of life, Prov. 8:13; 11:2. 

VIII. We should keep all these precepts. "Then 
shall I not be ashamed when I have respect unto 
all thy commandments." Psa. 119:6; Compare 
1 Cor. 7:19. In no other way can we prove our 
love to Christ. John 14:23. Nor is there any 
substitute for an honest, simple, earnest keeping 
of the law of God. Deut. 10 : 12, 13 ; 28:58,59; 

Micah 6 : 6-8. 

IX. The motives urged upon us for keeping 
God's commandments are, 1, it is our duty; 2, his 
commands are not grievous ; 3, we are under ob- 
ligations of Gratitude ; 4, God is worthy of all hon- 
or, and the highest honor we can give him is to 
obey him and imitate him. 

X. A right study of the law shows us that we 
are all sinners. " There is no man that sinneth 



178 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

not;" " There is not a just man upon earth that 
doeth good and sinneth not ;" " Who can say, I 
have made my heart clean, I am pure from my 
sin ?" " If we say that we have no sin we deceive 
ourselves, and the truth is not in us." i Kings 
8 : 46 ; Eccl. 7 : 20 ; Prov. 20 : 9 ; 1 John 1 : 8. 

XL It is a glorious truth that for the purposes 
of righteousness — complete justification — we are 
delivered from the law. Rom. 7 : 6. We are not 
under the law, but under grace. Rom. 6:14. The 
way of access to heaven by personal deservings is 
for ever closed against sinners. But thanks be to 
God for his unspeakable gift, Jesus Christ. The 
gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Rom. 6:23. 



A PROFESSION OF RELIGION. 179 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

A PROFESSION OF RELIGION 

I. The same word in the Greek Testament is 
translated both Confession and Profession. Both 
these words mean an avowal, an open declaration. 
To confess Christ is to avow friendship for him 
when it is considered dangerous to do so. To 
profess Christ is to avow the truth of his gospel 
and yield obedience to his precepts, whether men 
are pleased or displeased- Timothy " professed a 
good profession before many witnesses." " Christ 
Jesus before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good con- 
fession. 1 Tim. 6 : 12, 13. In the Greek we have 
the same word in both verses. 

II. A profession of religion may be made in 
words. Thus the Ethiopian said, " I believe that 
Jesus Christ is the Son of God." Acts 8 : 37. Or 
it may be made by deeds, as when Joseph of Ari- 
mathea begged the body of Jesus, and took it, and 
laid it in a new sepulchre. John 19 : 38-42. So 
Onesiphorus by noble acts professed his belief in 
Christianity, when he was not ashamed of Pauls 
chain, but diligently sought him, found him, and 
ministered to him. 2 Tim. 1 : 16-18. Paul tells 



t8o TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

us of some, who " profess that they know God : 
but in works they deny him." The best profes- 
sion is when both by words and deeds we own our 
Master and show our love to his cause. " All real 
Christians are professors, but all professors are not 
real Christians." Custom, conscience, education, 
vanity, novelty, lead many to a heartless profession. 
Study the case of Saul, John, Herod, the stony- 
ground hearers, and the foolish virgins. 

III. A good profession is, i. Intelligent. A 
man must know whereof he affirms, and have a 
reason of the hope that is in him. 2. It must be 
sincere. Hypocrisy spoils everything. An insin- 
cere profession of love is very odious to any right- 
minded man. It must be infinitely odious to God. 
3. It must be humble, not proud, not like those who, 
professing themselves wise, become fools. 4. It 
must be stable, not like that of some, who went 
back and walked no more with Him. John 6 : 66. 
" Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give 
thee a crown of life." Rev. 2:10. Nor is this all. 
5. A good profession must be made from love to 
Christ and his cause. It must flow from grati- 
tude. 6. It must contain an unreserved surrender 
of soul and body, time and talents, to God. We 
must keep back no part of the price. We must 
give him all. 7. Such a profession is necessary; 



A PROFESSION OF RELIGION. 1S1 

for " with the heart man believeth unto righteous- 
ness ; and with the mouth confession is made unto 
salvation." Rom. 10 : 10. 

IV. That it is a binding duty to profess Christ, 
and avow our love to him and his cause, is certain, 
i. No man lights a candle, and puts it under a 
bushel, but on a candlestick ; and it sfiveth li^ht 
unto all that are in the house. Let your light 
shine. Matt. 5 : 15, 16. 2. If we have found out 
a blessed secret, " the secret of the Lord," we 
ought to let others know what God has done for 
our souls. Psa. 66:16. The four leprous men, 
who found such abundance in the Syrian camp, 
rightly judged that they ought not to keep silence, 
when their brethren were perishing so near them. 
They w r ere afraid some mischief would come upon 
them, and they were right. 2 Kings 7 : 9. More- 
over, 3, Christ loved us openly, and why should 
we attempt to put him off with secret love ? He 
gave his back to the smiters, and his cheek to 
them that plucked off the hair: he hid not his 
face from shame and spitting. Isa. 50 : 6. Why 
should we study to avoid persecution by declining 
shame and reproach for Christ? 4. If all men 
should decline to profess love to Christ, he would 
soon have no known friends upon earth, and his 

church would become extinct. In the days of 

1C, 



1 32 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

Elijah there were a hundred prophets, but they 
were hid away in a cave, and could do nothing 
publicly for God. And there were seven thousand 
men which had not bowed the knee to Baal ; but, 
poor things, they were driven into silence. The 
power of their example was lost, except on a few 
who secretly knew their worth. 5. Then we have 
the command of God: "Come out from among 
them and be ye separate, and touch not the unclean 
thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father 
unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, 
saith the Lord Almighty." 2 Cor. 6:17, 18. We 
are bound to hold forth the word of life, Phil. 2:16, 
and to hold fast our profession. Heb. 4:14. 

V. The reasons why men do not profess love 
to Christ, and so espouse his cause, are such as 
these: 1. Some have no love to him; and they 
know that a profession of attachment to his cause 
would be sheer hypocrisy. And so it would. 
They have candor enough to say so, but they have 
not conscience enough to quit their sins and turn 
to God, and then make a true profession of love 
to him. 2. Some are restrained because they wish 
to indulge themselves in some course of conduct 
not consistent with a good profession. Herod was 
greatly affected with John's preaching, but there 
was one sin he would not give up. 3. Others do 



A P£OFESSIOA r OF RELIGION. 183 

not profess love to Christ because in their case it 
would make them unpopular, or bring upon them 
some reproach ; and they have no courage at all. 

4. Yet others do not avow love to Christ because 
a profession of his name involves a confession of 
his divinity; and they claim to have doubts on 
that subject. But why should they doubt ? " Who 
is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the 
Christ ?" " Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus 
Christ is come in the flesh is of God : and every 
spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come 
in the flesh is not of God." " Whosoever shall 
confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwell- 
eth in him, and he in God." 1 John 2:22; 
4 : 2, 3, 15. " Many deceivers are entered into the 
world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come 
in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist." 
2 John 7. It is only ungodly men who deny the 
only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. Jude 4.- 

5. Some men, who have a work of grace begun in 
their hearts, have yet too weak faith to come out 
openly on the Lord's side. But where the heart 
is substantially right, there will surely be an in- 
crease of courage and an open avowal of love for 
Christ. See John 19:38-42. Those cases of 
Joseph and Nicodemus are very different from 
those mentioned in John 12:42, 43. The latter 



1 84 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

did not truly love the Lord. They were also very 
different from that man and woman mentioned in 
John 9:22. These were mere evasive triflers. 
But we must profess our love to Christ, however 
perilous it may seem to be. Christ commended 
the church in Philadelphia, which with its little 
strength still kept his word. Rev. 3 : 8. 

VI. Well may saints be steadfast and intrepid 
in adhering to Christ Jesus because he is the High 
Priest of our profession. Heb. 3:1. " Let us 
hold fast the profession of our faith without wa- 
vering: for he is faithful that promised." Heb. 
10:23. We do not need, and we cannot have 
better support or encouragement than is thus 
given us through Jesus Christ. 

VII. Let us also think of the exceedingly glo- 
rious reward laid up for those who sincerely and 
steadily avow their love to Christ's person and 
cause. It is expressed in such terms as these: 
" Whosoever shall confess me before men, him will 
I confess also before my Father which is in heav- 
en." Matt. 10: 32 ; Luke 12:8. "He that over- 
cometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; 
and I will not blot out his name out of the book of 
life, but I will confess his name before my Father, 
and before his angels." Rev. 3 : 5. Compare Heb. 
2:ii; 1 1 : 16. 



A PROFESSION OF RELIGION. 185 

VIII. But oh, the dreadful doom of those who 
are ashamed of Christ: "Whosoever shall deny 
me before men, him will I also deny before my 
Father which is in heaven." Matt. 10:33; com- 
pare Mark 8:38; Luke 12:9. "If we suffer, 
[with him] we shall also reign with him; if we 
deny him, he also will deny us." 2 Tim. 2:12. 
Could words of greater terror be spoken ! To be 
denied by Christ at the last interview with him and 
his saints, and to be cast out for ever from the 
light of life, oh, horror of horrors ! 



lo* 



1 86 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

HOW SAINTS ARE KEPT. 

I. It cannot be denied that God's people have 
many enemies, and are surrounded with terrible 
dangers. There is the world, with its enchant- 
ments, riches, pleasures, and honors. Now " all 
that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the 
lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of "the 
Father, but is of the world." i John 2:16. Then 
there is the flesh — the natural corruption that is 
in man. " The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and 
the Spirit against the flesh : and these are contra- 
ry the one to the other; so that ye cannot do the 
things that ye would." Gal. 5:17. Then there 
is the great adversary, the devil, who, as a roaring 
lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. 
1 Pet. 5:8. 

II. No marvel, therefore, that self-deceivers, 
whose hearts have never been really changed, 
should often give up their profession. The Scrip- 
tures tell us of such people, and warn us to expect 
apostasies. The longest-lived apostle explains 
their case : " They went out from us, but they 
were not of us; for if they had been of us, they 



HOW THE SAINTS ARE KEPT. 1S7 

would no doubt have continued with us : but they 
went out that they might be made manifest that 
they were not all of us." 1 John 2: 19. Divine 
truth made no impression at all on the "wayside" 
hearers. Satan " immediately took away the word 
that was sown in their hearts." The stony-ground 
hearers were different. A pleasant impression was 
made on them, but they " had no root in themselves, 
and so endured but for a time." Still another 
class was impressed, but the " cares of this world, 
and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of 
other things entering in, choke the word." Mark 

4:i5-i9. 

III. A good man once said : " If through God's 
mercy I shall reach heaven, three things will great- 
ly surprise me : 1. I shall find some there of whose 
salvation on earth I had no hope. 2. I shall meet 
many there of whose salvation on earth I had 
many fears. 3. The greatest wonder of all will 
be to find myself there." Every good man regards 
himself as a miracle of grace. Even real saints 
are at first but babes in Christ. Matt. 11:25; 
1 Peter 2 : 2. The best men on earth confess 
their own weakness. 2 Cor. 12 : 10. Their safety 
very much consists in knowing their own weak- 
ness. So that all of us might despair of coming 
off conquerors. 



188 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

IV. Were it not for God's plan and gracious 
purpose so clearly revealed in the Scripture, all 
men might despair. But he has said : " The moun- 
tains shall depart, and the hills be removed ; but 
my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither 
shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith 
the Lord that hath mercy on thee." Isa. 54:10. 
" I have loved thee with an everlasting love;" " I 
will not turn away from them, to do them good ; 
but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they 
shall not depart from me." Jer. 31:3; 32:40. 
" This is the Father's will which hath sent me, 
that of all which he hath given me I shall lose 
nothing, but shall raise it up again at the last 
day." John 6:39; compare John 17:12; Rom. 
8:29, 30. 

V. God has set his hand to this work, and he 
is of one mind, and who can turn him ? Job 23 : 13. 
He never begins a work and gives it up because of 
difficulties. Paul was " confident of this very 
thing, that he which hath begun a good work in 
you, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." 
Phil. 1 : 6. 

VI. The saints are kept because God is their 
keeper. " How excellent is thy loving-kindness, 
O God ! therefore the children of men put their 
trust under the shadow of thy wings." " The Lord 



HOW THE SAINTS ARE KEPT. 1S9 

loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints ; they 
are preserved for ever." Psa. 36 : 7 ; 37: 28 ; com- 
pare John 17:11; Phil. 2:13; 1 Pet. 1 : 5. 

VII. Jesus says: "My sheep hear my voice, 
and I know them, and they follow me : and I give 
unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, 
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 
My Father, which gave them me, is greater than 
all ; and no man is able to pluck them out of my 
Father's hand. I and my Father are one." John 
10: 27-30. Christ and his Father are not divided 
in keeping the saints. When Paul was in great 
distress, did not Jesus say to him : " My grace is 
sufficient for thee : for my strength is made per- 
fect in weakness ?" Did not our Lord purchase 
his people at a great price, and shall he fail ? " Ye 
know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible 
things, as silver and gold, from your vain conver- 
sation received by tradition from your fathers ; but 
with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb 
without blemish and without spot." 1 Pet. 1 : 18, 19 
But Christ has not only bought his people ; he also 
intercedes for them, and him the Father heareth 
always. John 1 1 : 42. " Simon, Simon, behold, 
Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift 
you as wheat ; but I have prayed for thee, that thy 
faith fail not." Luke 22:31, 32. No wonder Pe- 



190 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

ter was brought to repentance under the power of 
such prayer. Compare John 17 : 1-24. Jesus "is 
able to save them to the uttermost that come unto 
God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make inter- 
cession for them." Heb. 7:25. 

VIII. God's word teaches that the Holy Ghost 
does keep and sustain Christ's people. He 
abides with them for ever. John 14:17. "The 
Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that 
we are the children of God." Rom. 8:16. Surely 
the Holy Ghost will not allow his witness to be 
falsified. All the saints are strengthened with 
might by the Spirit in the inner man. Eph. 3:16. 
And so they are warned not to grieve the Holy 
Spirit of God, whereby they are sealed unto the 
day of redemption. Eph. 4 : 30. 

IX. Some of the passages already cited prove 
that saints are kept by the might, the strength of 
Jehovah. Other Scriptures speak the same lan- 
guage. Of the weak brother, Paul says : " He 
shall be holden up : for God is able to make him 
stand." Rom. 14:4. Of the good man, David 
says : " Though he fall, he shall not be utterly 
cast down : for the Lord upholdeth him with his 
hand." Psa. 37:24. And Peter says, that saints 
" are kept by the power of God through faith unto 
salvation." 1 Pet. 1:5; compare Eph. 3:16. 



HOW THE SAINTS ARE KEPT 191 

X. In the preservation of the saints the word 
of God has its use, and does its part. " Now ye 
are clean through the word which I have spoken 
unto you." John 15:3. " Thy word is very pure." 
Psa. 1 19 : 140. " Sanctify them through thy truth : 
thy word is truth." John 17:17. 

XI. God also keeps his people by stirring up 
their hearts to " put on the whole armor of God, 
that they may be able to stand against the wiles 
of the devil." Eph. 6: 11. He commands us to 
keep ourselves pure, 1 Tim. 5:22; and to resist 
the devil," with the promise, "he will flee from 
you." James 4: 7. 

XII. In preserving his saints the Lord makes 
much use of the gospel ministry, and so he com- 
mands : " Obey them that have the rule over you, 
and submit yourselves: for they watch for your 
souls as they that must give account, that they 
may do it with joy, and not with grief." Heb. 

13:17. 

XIII. To the same end he employs the afflic- 
tions of his people. " He chastens us for our 
profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness." 
Heb. 12:10. Compare 1 Pet. 1 : 6, 7. 

XIV. It is by and through faith that God's 
people have their stability. " Whosoever is born 
of God overcometh the world: and this is the 



192 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

\ ictory that overcometh the world, even our faith." 
i John 5:4, 5. Compare Psa. 125:1, 2; 1 Peter 

1:5- 

XV. The blessed conclusion to which all 

these Scripture truths lead us, is abounding tri- 
umph in God through Jesus Christ. Find and 
read Rom. 8 : 35-39. 



DEATH. 193 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

DEA TH. 

I. We all must die. That is certain. The 
thing is fixed. " It is appointed unto men once to 
die." Heb. 9: 27. None but fools deny this. 

II. Death to men comes by sin. It is the fruit 
of transgression. A part of the sentence passed 
upon man for eating the forbidden fruit was, 
" Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." 
Gen. 3:19. The same is taught by Paul; "Death 
entered by sin." " By one man's offence death 
reigned by one." " The wages of sin is death." 
Rom. 5:12, 17 ; 6 : 23. 

III. No wonder then that death among men is 
often so painful, either to undergo or to behold. 
Brute animals die, sometimes in apparently great 
agony ; but even then there is no sign of the great 
distress often attending the death of men. 

IV. Nor can any one tell at what moment he 
must die, nor by what means he shall die. It may 
be with long and painful warning; or it may be 
without the least notice. 

V. The corruption of the body which soon 
follows death is very distressing. Even the most 

Truths for the People. X| 



94 



TRUTHS FOR THE FEOPLE. 



loving friend wishes his dead buried out of his 
sight. Gen. 23 : 4. We cannot divest ourselves 
of interest in the changes which our bodies un- 
dergo. It makes us sad that they must become 
loathsome. 

VI. We often spend time in thoughts upon 
the means used for removing men from the world. 
But God often strikes with death when we can see 
no means whatever. He has the keys of death 
and the grave. " Thou turnest man to destruc- 
tion." Psa. 90 : 3. 

VII. Death for ever ends the day of grace. 
" There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor 
wisdom in the grave whither thou goest." Eccles. 
9: 10. To those who die in sin mercy is never 
again offered. If men persist in wickedness till 
they leave this world, they will never have another 
call to light and life. 

VIII. Good men do not really die as the 
wicked. To them death has no sting. 1 Cor. 
15:56. The good man is taken away from the 
evil to come. Isa. 57:1. "Mark the perfect 
man, and behold the upright: for the end of that 
man is peace." " Blessed are the dead which die 
in the Lord." Psa. 37 : 37 : Rev. 14 : 13. 

IX. Seeing God is not angry with his people, 
why does he allow his children to die ? He did 



DEATH. I95 

not allow Enoch and Elijah to die: but every 
other good man has died or shall die. We may 
not know all the reasons why God allows his peo- 
ple to taste of death. But if all wicked men died, 
and all the righteous were taken to heaven without 
seeing death, there would be a great deal of dis- 
tress in this world ; for it would be known in this 
life who was saved and who was lost. Besides, it 
is very right that, as their Lord entered the grave 
and rose again, so his people should die^also. 
Their death is blessed. They sleep in Jesus, 
i Thess. 4:14. It is enough that the disciple be 
as his Lord. 

X. Death is not an everlasting sleep. The 
soul cannot sleep. " God is not the God of the 
dead but of the living." Matt. 22:32. When 
Lazarus died he was carried by the angels to Abra- 
ham's bosom. God has promised eternal life— 
a conscious, happy existence— to all who love his 
Son and keep his commandments. At death the 
spirits of just men are made perfect. Heb. 12 : 23. 
All Christ's people shall be like him, for they shall 
see him as he is. 1 John 3 : 2. Nor are the wick- 
ed without sense or thought after death. The 
rich man awaked in hell, being in torments. Luke 
16 : 23. At death the wicked pass into the pit of 
woe. Their doom is awful. Read Isa. 14:9-20. 



tq', TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 



? 



XI. Many have expressed great wonder that 
the mass of men, even in Christian countries, think 
so little about dying. Even some of the heathen 
seem to have thought a great deal on the subject. 
Xerxes wept in reviewing his great army, when he 
remembered that in a hundred years not a man of 
them would be living. Philip of Macedon, the 
father of Alexander the Great, required a servant 
to awake him every morning by crying at his 
chamber, " Philip, remember thou art mortal. 
Philip, remember thou art mortal. Philip, remem- 
thou art mortal." The more light one has respect- 
ing the immediate consequences of death on the 
soul, the less is he disposed to think of the matter 
at all, unless he is prepared or preparing to meet 
God. 

XII. Mere familiarity with the subject of death 
makes no man wiser or better. It is well known 
that public executioners and soldiers, who often 
witness death in its worst forms, are but little 
affected by it. 

XIII. There is also a strong and a strange 
delusion in many minds respecting one's own 
mortality. 

"All men think all men mortal but themselves." 

Very firm health often strengthens this foolish 
impression. Some men have such an even tenor 



DEATH. t 97 

to their lives that they vainly think it shall always 
be so. God has spared them a long time, and 
they say he will never call them to an account. 
" Because sentence against an evil work is not 
executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons 
of men is fully set in them to do evil." Eccles. 
8: ii. It is a great weakness in men to think 
that because all is calm now, there will never be a 
storm. They have good days now; but let them 
remember that the night cometh when no man 
can work. John 9:4. It is not wisdom, it is 
fool-hardiness to cry, " To-morrow shall be as this 
day, and more abundant." 

XIV. The thoughts of men as to what con- 
stitutes full preparation for death are very various. 
Some seem to think a few words of mournful 
prayer, when one is about to breathe his last, will 
be ample preparation. Others rely on their alms- 
giving. Many others intend to repent and change 
their course of life. A few, who are taught from 
heaven, believe that the whole heart must be 
changed, and the whole nature renewed in this 
world. Dying will not convert an enemy of God 
into a friend of God. It is not the bitterness but 
the holy nature of our repentance that will prove 
it to be saving. Lost men and lost angels weep 
and howl for vexation of spirit ; but they sin on. 

17* 



i 9 S TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

XV. No one can be fit to die who does not hate 
every false way, who does not turn from all sin, 
and lay fast hold on the merits of the Redeemer. 
Out of Christ God is a consuming fire. There is 
mercy for the chief of sinners who believes in 
Jesus. But there is no salvation for the proud, 
the self-righteous, the covetous, the envious, the 
malignant, the thief, the liar, or even for the de- 
cently moral man, to whom Jesus Christ is as a 
root out of a dry ground, without form or come- 
liness. To all who renounce themselves, their 
works and worth and will, and accept salvation as 
it is freely offered in Jesus Christ, eternal life is 
certain. 

XVI. One of the wonders in the plan of salva- 
tion is that by death Jesus Christ destroyed him 
that had the power of death. His death gave 
hope beyond death. It showed us the path of 
life — a life so blessed and so lasting, that it is one 
of the names given by inspired men to the immor- 
tal bliss which the Redeemed shall enjoy in the 
bosom of God for ever. 

XVII. The last enemy that shall be destroyed 
is death, i Cor. 15 : 26. He has tyrannized over 
the world for a long time, and his power will be 
more or less felt till death and hell shall be cast 
into the lake of fire. Thenceforth he shall have 



DEATH. j 9() 

no power even to mar the bliss of the saints 
Mighty is the power and wondrous is the grace 
of him who can destroy the tyrant who for centu- 
ries lias gone forth conquering and prostrating 
before him one generation after another. Blessed 
be God for Jesus Christ. 



200 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

THE RESURRECTION. 

I. The doctrine of the resurrection of the dead 
is purely a doctrine of revelation. It is learned 
from the Bible, not from nature. Those thought- 
ful heathen, who expressed a hope that the soul 
was immortal, never taught that the body would 
live again. 

II. The great mass of infidels in every age 
have hated this doctrine, reviled it, and ridiculed 
it. When Paul preached it at Athens "some 
mocked." Acts 17: 32. In the days of our Sav- 
iour, the Sadducees, in their pride and folly, did 
the same thing. They framed absurd arguments 
against it, and insisted upon them as though they 
were true and unanswerable. 

III. This doctrine has always been precious to 
the people of God, nor will they ever give it up. 
It is taiiQ-ht in the Old Testament, in the sermons 
of Jesus Christ, and in the writings of his apos- 
tles. It is found in the Creed of every evangelical 
church that is or ever has been upon earth. If 
God's word teaches it, it is true. 



THE RESURRECTION. 201 

IV. When we say that Christ will raise tiie 
dead, we do not mean that he will create new 
bodies for his people, but that he will "chancre 
our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto 
his glorious body, according to the working, where- 
by he is able to subdue all things unto himself." 
Phil. 3:21. He will raise up the same body, the 
same material frame, with which the soul was for- 
merly united. Paul expressly says that the Spirit 
of him that raised up Jesus from the dead, shall 
also quicken our " mortal bodies." Rom. 8:11. 

V. Against the doctrine of the resurrection 
there has never been urged any objection, which 
was of any considerable force. It involves no ab- 
surdities. God has infinite knowledge, so that he 
ever knows how the same body that lies in the 
grave may be raised. And he has all power, so 
that at his bidding the necessary energy shall go 
forth to raise the dead. So that with Paul we 
may boldly say : " Why should it be thought a 
thing incredible with you that God should raise 
the dead?" Acts 26:8. With God nothing; is 
impossible. Luke 1 : 37. From him nothing is 
hid. Matt. 10:26: Heb. 4:13; Job 26 : 6. 

VI. This doctrine has been the stay of God's 
people in all ages. The reason why Abraham was 
so upheld in offering Isaac was, that he " account- 



202 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

cd that God was able to raise him up even from 
the dead." Heb. 11:19. In the midst of his great 
trials Job said : " I know that my Redeemer liveth, 
and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the 
earth ; and though after my skin worms destroy 
this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom 
I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, 
and not another, though my reins be consumed 
within me." Job. 19 : 25-27. 

VII. Later writers of the Old Testament teach 
the same doctrine. Thus says the evangelical 
prophet : " Thy dead men shall live, together with 
my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, 
ye that dwell in dust : for thy dew is as the dew 
of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead." 
Isa. 26 : 19. Compare Hos. 13: 14. Still later 
the prophet Daniel says : " Many of them that 
sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to 
everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting 
contempt." Dan. 12:2. 

VIII. Our Lord Jesus Christ often spoke of 
the " resurrection ;" " the resurrection of the just ;" 
" the resurrection of life ;" " the resurrection of 
damnation ;" " the children of the resurrection," 
who cannot " die any more." Matt. 22 : 30; Luke 
14:14: 20 : 36 ; John 5 : 29. 

IX. Christ's apostles taught the same doctrine. 



THE RESURRECTION. 203 

They "preached through Jesus the resurrection 
from the dead." Acts 4:2; 1 7 ; 18, 32 ; 24 : 21. 

X. The Old Testament tells us of three, who 
were raised from the dead — the child of the widow 
of Sarepta, the Shunammite's child, and the man 
whose body was put into the sepulchre of Elisha. 
Our Lord Jesus raised from the dead the daughter 
of Jairus, the young man of Nain, and Lazarus. 
And after Christ's resurrection many saints arose 
and showed themselves alive. Matt. 27 : 52, 53. 

XI. The fullest discussion of the resurrection 
found in Scripture, is in the fifteenth chapter of 
first Corinthians. It is too long to be here insert- 
ed. The reader will please turn to it and read it. 
This great discussion clears up many difficulties. 
A few remarks are offered for the right under- 
standing of this chapter. 1. The key to the whole 
passage is found in the fact that Paul is writing to 
believers, and is mainly treating of the resurrection 
of the just. He is comforting believers, not warn- 
ing sinners. 2. The doctrine of the resurrection 
must be held and taught. It is essential. With- 
out it preaching is idle, and faith is vain. Verses 
14, 17. 3. The resurrection of Christ and that of 
his people are so connected, that he who denies 
the one subverts the other. Because Christ rose 
his people must rise. Verses 12, 13. 4. This 



2o 4 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

doctrine is very consolatory to the suffering peo. 
pie of God. Verses 19, 20. It always has been 
so. 5. Christ's work for his people would clearly 
be imperfect, if he did not raise them from the 
dead. Verses 21, 22. 6. Hard questions con- 
cerning the resurrection are foolish, and have not 
even the merit of being new. Verses 35, 36. They 
all proceed from ignorance. 7. Nature tells us of 
many things quite as far beyond explanation as 
the resurrection of the dead, such as the growth 
of grain. Verses 36-38. Yet who denies the 
facts in the case of the wheat ? and why should 
we deny the facts in the resurrection ? 8. It does 
not at all impair the doctrine of the resurrection 
that the body we shall then have will be very dif- 
ferent from the body we now have. Verse 39-41. 
That is just what the Christian hopes for. 9. Some 
of the pious dead shall be raised in more glory 
than others. Verses 41, 42. One of the old 
prophets taught the very same thing. Dan. 12:3. 
10. The resurrection body shall be fashioned by 
the Holy Ghost, and so shall be a spiritual body. 
Verse 44; compare Rom. 8:11. 11. On the sub- 
ject of the change effected 'by the resurrection, it 
is idle for us to indulge in conjecture. We can 
get no light on the subject beyond what is given 
in the Scripture. Verses 42-54. Wisdom will be 



THE RESURRECTION. 205 

content with what God there teaches us. 12. Be- 
cause the change wrought in the resurrection will 
be very glorious, therefore the saints greatly desire 
it as the day of their triumph. Verses 54, 55. Else- 
where Paul says, they are " waiting for the adop- 
tion, to wit, the redemption of the body." Rom. 
8:23. 13. This whole chapter in Paul's writings 
shows us how easy it is to fall into foolish mistakes 
and dangerous errors. Other Scriptures warn us 
directly on the subject. It is not easy to shun 
profane and vain babblings; for they naturally in- 
crease unto ungodliness. The errors of such eat 
like a cancer. 2 Tim. 2:16-18. 14. Paul's first 
inference from this doctrine is both logical and 
pleasing : " Thanks be to God, which giveth us the 
victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ." Verse 57. 
15. Another inference from the doctrine is no less 
fair or pleasing to the pious. It is this : " There- 
fore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmove- 
able, always abounding in the work of the Lord, 
forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in 
vain in the Lord." Verse 58. 

XII. If these things are so, then it follows : 
1. We ought not to mourn as those without hope 
for our friends who have died in the Lord. They 
sleep in Jesus. And if they so sleep, they do 

well. 2. If we are Christ's, our own flesh shall 

18 



2o6 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

rest in hope. Death cannot harm us. 3. Let us 
lay fast hold of this doctrine, as Paul did. Hear 
him : " I have hope toward God, which they them- 
selves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection 
of the dead, both of the just and unjust. And 
herein do I exercise myself, to have always a con- 
science void of offence toward God and toward 
men." Acts 24: 15, 16. 



THE JUDGMENT. z°*} 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

THE JUDGMENT. 

I. The doctrine of the judgment is very old. 
Enoch, the seventh from Adam, foretold it as 
clearly as any later prophet : " Behold, the Lord 
cometh with ten thousand of his saints, to execute 
judgment upon all, and to convince all that are 
ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds 
which they have ungodly committed, and of all 
their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have 
spoken against him." Jude 14, 15. 

II. David speaks of the judgment in Psa. 1 : 5. 
But Asaph gives a full and clear account of it in 
the fiftieth Psalm. There he speaks of the gran- 
deur of the event, of the Judge, of the persons to 
be judged, of the principles on which the judg- 
ment shall be conducted, and of the results of 
such judgment. 

III. Our blessed Lord is still more clear and 
minute in the account he gives us of this great 
event in Matt. 25 : 31-46 : "When the Son of man 
shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels 
with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his 
glory: and before him shall be gathered all na- 



2o8 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

tions : and he shall separate them one from anoth- 
er, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats : 
and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but 
the goats on the left. Then shall the King say 
unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of 
my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you 
from the foundation of the world : for I was a 
hungered, and ye gave me meat : I was thirsty, 
and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye 
took me in : naked, and ye clothed me : I was 
sick, and ye visited me : I was in prison, and ye 
came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer 
him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee a hungered, 
and fed thee ? or thirsty, and gave thee drink ? 
when saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? 
or naked, and clothed thee ? or when saw we thee 
sick, or in prison, and came unto thee ? And the 
King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I 
say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto 
one of the least of these my brethren, ye have 
done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto 
them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, 
into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his 
angels : For I was a hungered, and ye gave me 
no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 
I was a stranger, and ye took me not in : naked, 
and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and 



THE JUDGMENT. 209 

ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer 
him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee a hungered, 
or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in 
prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then 
shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto 
you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least 
of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go 
away into everlasting punishment : but the right- 
eous into life eternal." 

In this passage these things are notable : 
1. Men have seen Christ in his shame and suffer- 
ing. In the judgment they shall see him in his 
glory. Ver. 31. 2. On that day he shall be attend- 
ed by all the holy angels. Ver. 31. 3. Christ 
shall sit as a judge upon a throne. Once he stood, 
a poor, abused prisoner, at the bar of a weak crea- 
ture, Pontius Pilate. It is very different now. 
Ver. 31. Compare John 5:22; Acts 17:31. 
4. There never was such an assemblage of men as 
shall take place at the judgment. It shall consist 
of all nations. Ver. 32. Compare Rom. 14: 10; 
2 Cor. 5:10. 5. The last day will be a day of 
great and final separations. The sheep and goats 
will no longer herd together. Ver. 32, 33. 6. In 
the trial of saints, great prominence will be given 
to their deeds of love to Christ and his people. 

Ver. 35, 36. 7. It will then appear that real kind- 

18* 



210 TRUTHS TOR THE PEOPLE. 

ness to Christ's poor was as much esteemed by the 
Lord as if it had been shown to him in person. 
Ver. 40. 8. There is no more just ground of con- 
demnation than want of love to Christ. Ver. 42, 
43. Compare 1 Cor. 16:22. 9. When his people 
suffer, Christ makes common cause with them. 
Their insults are his insults. Ver. 45. 10. The 
last day shall surprise all the saints. Ver. 37-39. 
It will no less surprise the wicked. Ver. 44. The 
righteous know that they deserve nothing good, 
and when great blessings come, they freely admit 
they are not worthy of them. On the other hand, 
the wicked, in their self-righteousness, think they 
deserve well at the hand of their Maker. We 
often hear them say as much. 11. The saints will 
be well off at last. Nothing can harm them. All 
good things are theirs. Ver. 34. 1 2. Woe to the 
wicked; it shall be ill with him. He shall depart 
accursed. Ver. 41. 13. The consequences of the 
judgment, both to saints and sinners, shall be last- 
ing, most lasting, everlasting. Ver. 46. Compare 
Dan. 12:2. 

IV. One event of history is, and is declared to 
be, a figure of the last judgment. It is the de- 
struction of Jerusalem by the Romans, when there 
was great tribulation, such as never was before, nor 
since, nor ever shall be to the end of the world. If 



THE JUDGMENT. 211 

one would know something of the horrors of the 
last day, let him read Matthew 7 24 and Josephus' 
account of the destruction of the holy city. 

V. The time of the judgment will be the end 
of the world, immediately following the resurrec- 
tion. Matt. 1 3 : 39. The last transaction ever 
witnessed by earth will be the doom of the wicked. 

VI. Some have asked, How long will the 
judgment last ? It is called a day, the day, that 
day, the great day, the last day ; but the term day 
does not necessarily fix a definite period of time. 
In speaking of God's long-suffering towards sin- 
ners, Peter says, " One day is with the Lord as a 
thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." 
2 Pet. 3 : 8. From this some have inferred that 
the judgment will last a thousand years. But the 
words hardly warrant such an inference. It is 
enough for us to know that the judgment will not 
end till God's justice is fully displayed, and till he 
has brought forth the righteousness of his people 
as the light and their judgment as the noonday. 

VII. The matters judged of in the last day 
will be: 1. Men's thoughts. "The thoughts of 
the wicked are an abomination to the Lord." 
Prov. 15 : 26. " The thought of foolishness is sin." 
Prov. 24 : 9. Then indeed shall the thoughts of 
many hearts be revealed. Wicked thoughts are 



2i2 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

Christ's great enemies. They ought to be exposed. 
There is nothing hid that shall not be known. 
Matt. 10:26; Mark 4:22; Luke 8:17; 12:2. 

2. Men will be judged for their words, good and 
bad. The Bible is explicit : " By thy words thou 
shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be 
condemned." Matt. 12:37. Yea, "every idle 
word that men shall speak, they shall give account 
thereof in the day of judgment." Matt. 12: 36. 

3. Men shall be judged by and for their acts, both 
open and secret. " Some men's sins are open 
beforehand, going before to judgment : and some 
men they follow after. Likewise also the good 
works of some are manifest beforehand: and they 
that are otherwise cannot be hid." 1 Tim. 5:24, 
25. It must be so. It cannot be otherwise: for 
"all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of 
him with whom we have to do." Heb. 4:13. 
God "will render to every man according to his 
deeds." Rom. 2 : 6. This has always been the 
doctrine of God's prophets. Compare Psa. 28 : 4; 
Isa. 59: 18. If men receive the fruit of their own 
doings they have none to blame but themselves. 

VIII. On the last day "the heavens shall pass 
away with a great noise, and the elements shall 
melt with fervent heat, the earth' also and the 
works that ire therein shall be burned up." 2 Pet. 



THE JUDGMENT. 213 

3:10. God shall fold up the heavens as a vesture, 
and they shall be changed. Heb. 1 ; 12. No 
more place shall be found for any of the magnifi- 
cent structures or cities of earth. Rev. 20 : 1 1. 

IX. " Seeing that all these things shall be dis- 
solved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in 
all holy conversation and godliness, looking for 
and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, 
wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dis- 
solved, and the elements shall melt with fervent 
heat?" 2 Pet. 3 : 11,12. Oh that we all may be 
found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. 



2i4 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

HE A VEN. 

I. No man on earth knows much of heaven. 
Every living man is of the earth, earthy. None 
of us have ever seen any world but this. We are 
slow to believe spiritual truths relating to things 
that must be done on earth ; much more are we 
dull of understanding in regard to the world of 
glory. So Jesus said : " If I have told you of 
earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye 
believe if I tell you of heavenly things ?" John 
3: 12. 

II. And yet there is much intercourse between 
heaven and earth. But it is chiefly kept up by the 
angels. The ladder on which Jacob saw the angels 
of God ascending and descending has never been 
taken away, though we see it not. Gen. 28: 12. 
Jesus said no man hath ascended up to heaven. 
John 3:13. He thus taught us that no man then 
on earth had been to that bright world, and brought 
back a report of what he had seen and heard. 

III. After Christ said these things Lazarus 
spent about four clays in heaven, and came back 
to this world. But we have not any account of 



HE A VEN. 2 1 5 

what he learned by his short abode there. Paul 
had many visions of the heavenly world ; but what 
he tells us is chiefly negative : " I heard unspeak- 
able words, which it is not lawful for a man to 
utter." 2 Cor. 12:1-7. When Paul says it was 
not lawful, he means that it was contrary to the 
divine will, that it was not edifying, or that he 
could not bring his mind to speak of heavenly 
things in any terms known to men. John also 
had many visions of glory; yet he too seems at 
a loss for words to give us an adequate idea of 
heaven. 

IV. The Hebrews spoke of three heavens : 
1. The atmospheric heavens — so we read of the 
fowls of heaven. 2. The firmament through which 
the stars pass — and so we read of the stars of 
heaven, or host of heaven. 3. The holy heaven, 
where God shows his glory to his children. This 
they called the third heaven, or the heaven of 
heavens, or simply heaven, or the heavens. Heav- 
enly glory is spoken of as a crown, a crown of life, 
a crown of righteousness, an incorruptible crown, 
a crown of glory that fadeth not away. It is also 
called life, eternal life, everlasting life, a rest, glory, 
honor, immortality, a house not made with hands, 
our Father's house, the new heavens, the New 
Jerusalem, a heavenly country, a better country, 



216 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

etc. Of this blessed abode God's word tells us the 
following things: 

V. Heaven is a place. Jesus says so: "I go 
to prepare a place for you." John 14:2. It must 
be a place; for there are the glorified bodies of 
Enoch, of Elijah, and of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

VI. Heaven is a very large place. The lar- 
gest walled city of antiquity was fifteen miles 
square. But this great city is said to be fifteen 
hundred miles square. Rev. 21:16. We may 
regard this as figurative language, but the lesson 
is that heaven is not a little retired place in some 
remote corner of the universe. It is the largest 
city ever built, the greatest country ever heard of. 

VII. Heaven is a fixed place. It "hath foun- 
dations, and its builder and maker is God." Heb. 
11:10. The mountains shall melt, the sea be 
burnt up, the heavens pass away with a great noise, 
but heaven is as stable as the throne of God. 

VIII. Negatively we know a good deal of 
heaven. " There shall in no wise enter into it 
anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh 
abomination, or maketh a lie;" "there shall be no 
more curse;" "there shall be no night there;" 
"without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremon- 
gers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and ma- 
keth a lie." Rev. 21 : 27; 22 : 3, 5, 15. The Lord 



HEAVEN. 217 

of hosts will wipe away tears from off all faces, and 
for ever take away the rebuke of his people ; and 
there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor 
crying, neither shall there be any more pain. Isa. 
25 : 8; Rev. 7:17; 21:4. And there shall be no 
more sea. Rev. 21:1. That is, there will be no 
longer any risk or difficulty in the saints having 
intercourse with each other; or there will be no 
more swelling troubles, rising tumults, which are 
often compared to raging waves of the sea. 

IX. Great and good refreshments are there 
provided for the saints. There is the fountain 
of the water of life freely given to him that is 
athirst. Rev. 21:6. "He showed me a pure 
river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding 
out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In 
the midst of the street of it, and on either side of 
the river, was there the tree of life, which bare 
twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit 
every month : and the leaves of the tree were for 
the healing of the nations." Rev. 22:1,2. 

X. Then the society of the holy city is the 
very best. It is made up of the nations of them 
that are saved. Rev. 21 : 24. Not a choice spirit 
of earth shall fail to be there. " It is not the will of 
your Father which is in heaven that one of these 
little ones should perish." Matt. 18:14. To these 



Truths for the People. 



19 



2iS TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

shall be joined the "elect angels," i Tim. 5 : 21, 
cherubim, seraphim, principalities, powers, all our 
elder brethren who kept their first estate. 

XL In heaven great advances shall be made 
in knowledge. How could it be otherwise ? " Now 
we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to 
face : now I know in part ; but then shall I know 
even as also I am known." 1 Cor. 13: 12. 

XII. The church shall then be very glorious. 
" The King's daughter is all glorious within : her 
clothing is of wrought gold. She shall be brought 
unto the King in raiment of needlework : the 
virgins her companions that follow her shall be 
brought unto thee. With gladness and rejoicing 
shall they be brought: they shall enter into the 
King's palace." Psa. 45:13-15. Compare Eph. 
5 : 25-27. All this well suits what John saw — 
the church prepared as a bride adorned for her 
husband — the Lamb's wife. Rev. 21:2, 9. 

XIII. All Scripture represents the final state 
of the church as lovely and admirable. " The 
building of the wall of the city was of jasper : and 
the city was of pure gold, like unto clear glass. 
And the foundations of the wall of the city were 
garnished with all manner of precious stones." 
Much more is said to the same effect. See Rev. 
21 : 18-21. 



HE A FEN. 2I9 

XIV. Nothing can excel the blessed fellowship 
of the redeemed with God in glory. Even here it 
is very precious, i John i : 3. But there the " tab- 
ernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with 
them, and they shall be his people, and God him- 
self shall be with them and be their God." "And 
I saw no temple therein : for the Lord God Al- 
mighty and the Lamb are the temple of it." Rev. 






XV. Many Scriptures show that the Lord 
Jesus Christ is a very prominent object in heaven. 
He is the source of light and life and joy in that 
blessed world. There is a world of meaning: in 
that one phrase, " The Lamb is the light thereof." 
Rev. 21 : 23. Compare John 14 : 3; 17 : 24; Phil. 
1:23; 1 John 3:2; 1 Pet. 2:7. Without the 
presence of the glorified person of our Lord and 
Saviour no place would be heaven. 

XVI. Nor are God's children bold intruders 
into this heavenly bliss. They are welcome guests. 
They are not there in despite of truth and justice. 
They "have right to the tree of life," and so 
"enter in through the gates into the city." Rev. 
22 : 14. Compare John 1:12; 1 John 1:9; Rom. 
10 : 4 ; Eph. 2 : 19, 21. 

XVII. Let every one ask himself the questions: 
" Am I a Christian ? Am I fit for heaven ? If I 



2 2o TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

were to die to-day, would I go to Jesus ?" If you 
are Christ's, you are living unto righteousness. 
Has he brought you unto God? Has he changed 
your heart ? Has he redeemed you from all ini- 
quity, and purified you unto himself as one of his 
peculiar people, zealous of good works? Tit. 
2 : 14. "If any man have not the spirit of Christ 
he is none of his." Rom. 8:9. " If ye live after 
the flesh, ye shall die : but if ye through the Spirit 
do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live : for 
as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are 
the sons of God." Rom. 8:13, 14. All others 
are vain pretenders. 



HELL. 221 



-CHAPTER XXXIII. 

HELL. 

I. A belief in hell is not confined to Chris- 
tians. All nations, who have held to an existence 
beyond this life, have believed that there was a 
place of torment for the wicked. How the heathen 
came to hold this doctrine may be disputed. But 
Christians learned it from the Old and New Tes- 
taments, where it is very clearly taught. 

II. Hell is a place. It is so called—" this place 
of torment." Luke 16:28. It must be a place, 
for it is to be the abode of the wicked after their 
bodies shall be raised. Matt. 5:29, 30; 10:28; 
Luke 12 : 5. Yet we know not where this place 
is. It would do us no good to know that. Wild 
and bold assertions have been made as to the local- 
ity of hell, but some one says : " We must here 
confess our ignorance, and shall be much better 
employed in studying how we may avoid this place 
of horror, than in laboring to discover where it is." 

III. All the names given to this doleful place 
and to the sufferings there endured, are suited to 
nil us with dreadful apprehensions. It is called a 
prison. 1 Pet. 3:19; Rev. 20:7. There shall 

19« 



222 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

be confined all incorrigible criminals. It is called 
a pit — the bottomless pit. Rev. 20:3. Those 
who fall into it rise no more, but sink still lower 
for ever and ever. It is called outer darkness, 
where there shall be weeping and gnashing of 
teeth. Matt. 8:12. It is called the blackness of 
darkness, Jude, 13, where no ray of light or hope 
ever enters. It is the darkness outside. It is called 
the second death, which is explained as being the 
lake which burnetii with fire and brimstone, and 
for ever tosses on its angry billows the fearful, and 
unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, 
and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, 
and all liars. Rev. 21:8. It is called the place of 
torment. Luke 16:28. This cannot mean any- 
thing that can comfort, or calm, or quiet the soul. 
Perhaps there is not a more awful word in any 
language than our English word torment, unless 
it is its plural, torments, found in Luke 16 :23. 

IV. All the punishments inflicted on the wick. 
ed will be righteous. One of the most dreadful 
elements of their miseries will be their perfect 
justness. If the wicked could truly say that they 
had been unfairly dealt with, this would take away 
something, yea, much of the poignancy of their 
anguish. But because God is " a God of truth and 
without iniquity, just and right is he," Deut. 32:4; 



HELL. 223 



therefore all pleas of injustice will for ever be set 
aside. Sin is an evil of such magnitude as to de- 
serve all that God has ever threatened against it, 
or shall ever inflict upon it. 

V. Yet the Scriptures freely admit that there 
will be different degrees of punishment among the 
wicked. To those who heard his words and sinned 
still, Christ said, " It shall be more tolerable for Tyre 
and Sidon and the land of Sodom at the day of 
judgment, than for you." Matt. 11 :22, 24. The 
same doctrine is taught in Rom. 2:12; Heb. 

10: 28, 29. 

VI. The punishment of those who die in their 
sins shall be everlasting. So teaches the Old Tes- 
tament : " Many of them that sleep in the dust of 
the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and 
some to shame and everlasting contempt." Dan. 
12:2. So teaches the New Testament. The 
Lord of Life and glory says of the wicked : " These 
shall go away into everlasting punishment ; but the 
rio-hteous into life eternal." Matt. 25 : 46. In both 
these verses we have the same word to express un- 
ending duration in the case of the righteous and 
of the wicked. If they do not prove that the pun- 
ishment of sinners shall be eternal, they do not 
prove that the happiness of the righteous shall be 
everlasting. Thus we would take away all mean- 



224 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

ing from the word of God. By Paul God declares 
that the wicked shall be punished with everlasting 
destruction from the presence of the Lord and 
from the glory of his power. 2 Thess. 1 : 9. Of 
certain reckless men Judas (not Iscariot) says that 
they are "wandering stars, to whom is reserved 
the blackness of darkness for ever." Jude 13. Of 
others John says, " they shall be tormented day and 
night for ever." Rev. 20: 10. That these terms 
and phrases declare the punishment of the wicked 
to be unending, is very clear. Dwight says, " The 
phrase commonly rendered for ever and ever, is 
found in the New Testament eighteen times. In 
fifteen instances it is applied to the glory, perfec- 
tion, government, and praise of God. In one case 
(Rev. 22 : 5) it is said of the righteous in the future 
world, ' they shall reign for ever and ever.' " In 
the other two instances it is applied to the suffer- 
ings of wicked men, and once of wicked men as 
associated in misery with devils. Rev. 19:3; 
20: 10. 

VII. The same doctrine is taught by fair and 
legitimate inference. Of Judas Iscariot our Lord 
said, " It had been good for that man if he had 
never been born." Matt. 26:24; Mark 14:21. 
Now if Judas merely suffered remorse here, and 
a temporary punishment in the next life, and yet 



HELL. 



225 



at last attains to everlasting life in glory, it was 
good for him that he had been born. In this case 
it is certain that unending misery has followed 
transgression. 

VIII. Nor is this all. Our Saviour declared 
that the sin " against the Holy Ghost hath never 
forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damna- 
tion," and "that it shall not be forgiven neither 
in this world nor in the world to come." Matt. 
12 : 32 ; Mark 3 : 29 ; Luke 12:10. Language 
could not be clearer. If a sin has no forgiveness, 
the sinner is for ever under condemnation, and of 
course must be liable to endless punishment. 

IX. Speaking of the doom of the wicked, our 
Lord declared that in their misery, " their worm 
shall not die, nor their fire be quenched." Mark 
9:44, 46, 48. Is not this both clear and terrible? 

X. Nor is this all. The Scriptures say : " Be- 
hold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the 
day of salvation." 2 Cor. 6 : 2. But if the doc- 
trine of Restorationists is true, this is no more the 
accepted time and the day of salvation, than some 
hundreds or thousands of years hence will be. 

XI. When Jesus Christ was upon earth he said, 
" The night cometh when no man can work." John 
9:4. But if we are to believe the doctrines of 
some modern errorists, there is a great deal of 



226 TRUTHS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

work done in the grave; yea, some men do all 
their work after the night has come. Many other 
Scriptures might be quoted to the same effect. 

XII. Some men say God is too good to send 
them to hell for ever. But a God who is too good 
to do such a thing, is certainly too good to say 
that he would do it. And he has often said 
he will do it. Dare any say he is a false wit- 
ness ? Others in like manner declare their con- 
fidence in the divine mercy — the very mercy which 
they slight and abuse. Have they forgotten the 
awful words of the evangelical prophet ? " He that 
made them will not have mercy on them, and he 
that formed them will show them no favor." Isa. 
27: 11. Or have they forgotten the no less awful 
words of the apostle? "He shall have judgment 
without mercy, that hath showed no mercy." Jas. 
2: 13. 



CONCLUSION. 227 



CONCLUSION. 



1. Let all men beware of the leaven of false 
doctrine. To old and young, to wise and simple, 
its approaches are cunning. The enemies of the 
truth are full of guile. They boast. They flatter. 
They cozen. They have no mercy. 2. Sin is a 
dreadful thing. No wise man makes light of it. 
Its fruits are bitterness and death. If men would 
avoid eternal wailings, let them cease to do evil, 
and learn to clo well. 3. How glorious is the work 
of Christ. He saves from sin. He saves from 
wrath. He saves from an eternal hell. 4. What 
a mercy it is to be allowed to live in a gospel land, 
to hear the gospel call, and to know that hearty 
prayer will be heard. Soon it will be different, 
when once the Master of the house shall have 
risen up and shut to the door. Luke 13:23-28. 
5. No prospects are so dark or dismal as those of 
impenitent men. Oh that they were wise! 



