{"1": {"fulltext": "", "height": "4526", "width": "2699", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0001.jp2"}, "2": {"fulltext": "", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0002.jp2"}, "3": {"fulltext": "", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0003.jp2"}, "4": {"fulltext": "", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0004.jp2"}, "5": {"fulltext": "DISCOURSES\\nON THE\\nCHRISTIAN REVELATION\\nVIEWED IN CONNEXION WITH THE\\nMODERN ASTRONOMY\\nWITH OTHERS OF A KINDRED CHARACTER.\\nCT THF LA.TK\\nTHOMAS CHALMERS, D.D. LLD.\\nEDINBURGH: THOMAS CONSTABLE AND CO.\\nLONDON HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO.\\nMDCCCLII.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0005.jp2"}, "6": {"fulltext": "J- LZS3\\nOS\\nis-sz\\nI DIICEURGH T. CONSTABLE. PU INTER TO HER tfAJ18T1", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0006.jp2"}, "7": {"fulltext": "3\\nPREFACE.\\nThe astronomical objection against the truth of the\\nGospel, does not occupy a very prominent place in\\nany of our Treatises of Infidelity. It is often, hoM\\never, met with in conversation and \\\\vc have known\\nit to be the cause of serious perplexity and alarm in\\nminds anxious for the solid establishment of their\\nreligious faith.\\nThere is an imposing splendour in the science of\\nAstronomy; and ii if not to be wondered at, if the\\nlight it throws, or appears to throw, oyer other tracks\\nof speculation than those which are properly its own.\\nshould at times dazzle and mislead an inquirer. Oh\\nthis account, we think it were a service to what we\\ndeem a true and a righteous cause, could we succeed\\nin dissipating this illusion, and in stripping I nlidelitv\\nof those pretensions to enlargement, and to a certain\\nair of philosophical greatness, by which it lias often\\nbecome so destructively alluring to the young, and\\nthe ardent, and the ambitious.\\nIn my first Discourse, I have attempted a sketch\\nof the Modern Astronomy nor have 1 wished in", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0007.jp2"}, "8": {"fulltext": "vi\\nPREFACE.\\nthrow any disguise over that comparative littleness\\nwhich belongs to our planet, and which gives to the\\nargument of Freethinkers all its plausibility.\\nThis argument involves in it an assertion and an\\ninference. The assertion is, that Christianity is a\\nreligion which professes to be designed for the single\\nbenefit of our world and the inference is, that God\\ncannot be the author of this religion, for He would\\nnot lavish on so insignificant a field, such peculiar\\nand such distinguishing attentions, as are ascribed\\nto Him in the Old and New Testaments.\\nChristianity makes no such profession. That it\\nis designed for the single benefit of our world is al-\\ntogether a presumption of the Infidel himself and\\nfeeling that this is not the only example of temerity\\nwhich can be charged on the enemies of our faith, I\\nhave allotted my second Discourse to the attempt of\\ndemonstrating the utter repugnance of such a spirit\\nwith the cautious and enlightened philosophy of mo-\\ndern times.\\nIn the course of this Sermon I have offered a tri-\\nbute of acknowledgment to the theology of Sir Isaac\\nNewton and in such terms, as if not farther ex-\\nplained, may be liable to misconstruction. The grand\\ncircumstance of applause in the character of this\\ngreat man, is, that unseduced by all the magnificence\\nof his own discoveries, he had a solidity of mind\\nwhich could resist their fascination, and keep him in\\nsteady attachment to that Book, whose general evi-", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0008.jp2"}, "9": {"fulltext": "PREFACE.\\nVll\\ndences stamped upon it the impress of a real com-\\nmunication from Heaven. This was the sole attri-\\nbute of his theology which I had in my eye when I\\npresumed to eulogize it. I do not think that, amid\\nthe distraction and the engrossment of his other\\npursuits, he has at all times succeeded in his inter-\\npretation of the Book else he would never, in my\\napprehension, have abetted the leading doctrine of\\na sect or a system, which has now nearly dwindled\\naway from public observation.\\nIn my third Discourse I am silent as to the asser-\\ntion, and attempt to combat the inference that is\\nfounded on it. I insist that upon all the analogies\\nof nature and of providence, we can lay no limit on\\nthe condescension of God, or on the multiplicity of\\nHis regards even to the very humblest departments\\nof creation and that it is not for us, who see the\\nevidences of divine wisdom and care spread in such\\nexhaustless profusion around us, to say, that the\\nDeity would not lavish all the wealth of His wondrous\\nattributes on the salvation even of our solitary species.\\nAt this point of the argument, I trust that the\\nintelligent reader may be enabled to perceive, in the\\nadversaries of the Gospel, a twofold dereliction from\\nthe maxims of the Baconian philosophy that, in\\nthe first instance, the assertion which forms the\\ngroundwork of their argument is gratuitously fetch-\\ned out of an unknown region, where they are utterly\\nabandoned by the light of experience and that, in", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0009.jp2"}, "10": {"fulltext": "VIII\\nPREFACE.\\nthe second instance, the inference they urge from it\\nis in the face of manifold and undeniable truths, all\\nlying within the safe and accessible field of human\\nobservation.\\nIn my subsequent Discourses, I proceed to the\\ninformations of the Record. The Infidel objection\\ndrawn from Astronomy may be considered as by this\\ntime disposed of and if we have succeeded in clear-\\ning it away, so as to deliver the Christian testimony\\nfrom all discredit upon this ground, then may we\\nsubmit, on the strength of other evidences, to be\\nguided by its information. We shall thus learn that\\nChristianity has a far more extensive bearing on the\\nother orders of creation, than the Infidel is disposed\\nto allow and whether he will own the authority of\\nthis information or not, he will at least be forced to\\nadmit, that the subject-matter of the Bible itself is\\nnot chargeable with that objection which he has at-\\ntempted to fasten upon it.\\nThus, had my only object been the refutation of\\nthe Infidel argument, I might have spared the last\\nDiscourses of the Series altogether. But the tracks\\nof Scriptural information to which they directed me,\\nI considered as worthy of prosecution on their own\\naccount and I do think that much may be gather-\\ned from these less observed portions of the field of\\nrevelation, to cheer, and to elevate, and to guide the\\nbeliever.\\nI tut in the management of such a discussion as this,", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0010.jp2"}, "11": {"fulltext": "PREFACE.\\nix\\nthough for a great degree of this effect it would re-\\nquire to be conducted in a far higher style than I\\nam able to sustain, the taste of the human mind may\\nbe regaled, and its understanding put into a state\\nof the most agreeable exercise. Now, this is quite\\ndistinct from the conscience being made to feel the\\nforce of a personal application nor could I either\\nbring this argument to its close in the pulpit, or offer\\nit to the general notice of the world, without advert-\\ning, in the last Discourse, to a delusion which I\\nfear is carrying forward thousands and tens of thou-\\nsands to an undone eternity.\\nI have closed the Series with an Appendix of\\nScriptural Authorities. I found that I could not\\neasily interweave them in the texture of the Work,\\nand have, therefore, thought fit to present them in a\\nseparate form. I look for a twofold benefit from this\\nexhibition first, to those more general readers who\\nare ignorant of the Scriptures, and of the richness\\nand variety which abound in them and, secondly,\\nto those narrow and intolerant professors, who take\\nan alarm at the very sound and semblance of phi-\\nlosophy, and feel as if there was an utterly irre-\\nconcilable antipathy between its lessons on the one\\nhand, and the soundness and piety of the Bible on\\nthe other. It were well, I conceive, for our cause\\nthat the latter could become a V ttle more indulgent\\non this subject that they gave up a portion of those\\nancient and hereditary prepossessions which go so", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0011.jp2"}, "12": {"fulltext": "X\\nPREFACE.\\nfar to cramp and to enthral them that they would\\nsuffer theology to take that wide range of argument\\nand of illustration which belongs to her and that,\\nless sensitively jealous of any desecration being-\\nbrought upon the Sabbath or the pulpit, they would\\nsuffer her freely to announce all those truths, which\\neither serve to protect Christianity from the contempt\\nof science, or to protect the teachers of Christianity\\nfrom those invasions which are practised both on the\\nsacredness of the office, and on the solitude of its\\ndevotional and intellectual labours.\\nTo these Astronomical Discourses, I have added\\nsome others, illustrative of the connexion between\\nTheology and General Science. The argument on\\nwhich we have ventured in one of these Discourses,\\nand by which we attempt to reconcile the efficacy\\nof prayer with the constancy of visible nature, was\\ncalled forth in opposition to the contemptuous treat-\\nment which certain members of the British Senate\\nthought fit to bestow on the proposal for a National\\nFast, at a time when the fearful epidemic of cholera\\nhad broken forth in various parts of the country.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0012.jp2"}, "13": {"fulltext": "CONTENTS.\\nDISCOURSE I.\\nA SKETCH OF THE MODERN ASTRONOMY.\\nWhen I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the\\nmoon and the stars, which thou hast ordained what is\\nman, that thou art mindful of him and the son of man,\\nthat thou visitest him Psalm viii. 3, 4, .15\\nDISCOURSE II.\\nTHE MODESTY OF TRUE SCIENCE.\\nAnd if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth\\nnothing yet as he ought to know. 1 Cor. viii. 2, .42\\nDISCOURSE III.\\nON THE EXTENT OF THE DIVINE CONDESCENSION.\\nWho is like unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high,\\nwho humbleth himself to behold the things that are in\\nheaven, and in the earth Psalm cxiii. 5, 6, .68\\nDISCOURSE IV.\\nON THE KNOWLEDGE OF MAN S MORAL HISTORY IN THE\\nDISTANT PLACES OF CREATION.\\nWhich things the angels desire to look into. 1 Pet. i. 12, 90\\nDISCOURSE V.\\nON THE SYMPATHY THAT IS FELT FOR MAN IN THE DISTANT\\nPLACES OF CREATION.\\nI say unto you, That likewise joy shall be in heaven over one\\nsinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just\\npersons, which need no repentance. Luke xv. 7, .113", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0013.jp2"}, "14": {"fulltext": "xii\\nCONTENTS.\\nDISCOURSE YX.\\nON THE CONTEST FOR AN ASCENDENCY OVER MAN AMONGST THE\\nHIGHER ORDERS OF INTELLIGENCE.\\nAnd having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show\\nof them openly, triumphing over them in it. Colossia:;s\\nii. 15, .132\\nDISCOURSE vn.\\nON THE SLENDER INFLUENCE OF MERE TASTE AND SENSIBILITY\\nIN MATTERS OF RELIGION.\\nAnd. lo thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that\\nhath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument\\nfor they hear thy words, but they do them not. Ezekiel\\nxxxiii. 32, .150\\nAppendix, 179\\nDISCOURSES OF A KINDRED CHARACTER WITH THE PRECEDING\\nDISCOURSE I.\\nTHE CONSTANCY OF GOD IN HIS WORKS AN ARGUMENT FOR THE\\nFAITHFULNESS OF GOD IN HIS WORD.\\nu For ever. Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. Thy faith-\\nfulness is unto all generations thou hast established the\\nearth, and it abideth. They continue this day according to\\nthine ordinances for all are thy servants. Psalm cxix.\\n89, 90, 91, 201\\nDISCOURSE II.\\nON THE CONSISTENCY BETWEEN THE EFFICACY OF PRAY BB\\nAND THE UNIFORMITY OF NATURE.\\nM Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days\\nscoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying. Where\\nis the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell\\nasleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning\\nOf the creation. 2 Peter iii. 3, 4, 232", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0014.jp2"}, "15": {"fulltext": "CONTENTS. Xlll\\nDISCOURSE III.\\nTHE TRANSITORY NATURE OF VISIBLE THINGS,\\nThe things which are seen are temporal. 2 Cor. iv. 18, 260\\nDISCOURSE IV.\\nON THE NEW HEAVENS AND THE NEW EARTH.\\nNevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new\\nheavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.\\n\u00e2\u0080\u00942 Peter iii. 13, 276\\nDISCOURSE V.\\nTHE NATURE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.\\n1 For the kingdom of God is not in word, bat in power.\\n1 Cor. iv. 20, 295\\nDISCOURSE VI.\\nHEAVEN A CHARACTER AND NOT A LOCALITY.\\nHe that is unjust, let him be unjust still and he which is\\nfilthy, let him be filthy still and he that is righteous, let\\nhim be righteous still and he that is holy, let him be holy\\nstill. Rev. xxii. 11, 314\\nDISCOURSE VII.\\nON THE REASONABLENESS OF FAITH.\\nBut before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up\\nunto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.\\nGalatians iii. 23, 333", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0015.jp2"}, "16": {"fulltext": "", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0016.jp2"}, "17": {"fulltext": "DISCOURSE I.\\nA SKETCH OF THE MODERN ASTRONOMY.\\n44 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon\\nand the stars, which thou hast ordained what is man, that thou\\nart mindful of him and the son of man, that thou visitest him\\nPsalm viii. 3, 4.\\nIn the reasonings of the Apostle Paul, we cannot\\nfail to observe, how studiously he accommodates his\\narguments to the pursuits or principles or prejudices\\nof the people whom he was addressing. He often\\nmade a favourite opinion of their own the starting\\npoint of his explanation and educing a dexterous\\nbut irresistible train of argument from some prin-\\nciple upon which each of the parties had a common\\nunderstanding, it was his practice to force them out\\nof all their opposition by a weapon of their own\\nchoosing, nor did he scruple to avail himself of a\\nJewish peculiarity, or a heathen superstition, or a\\nquotation from Greek poetry, by which he might\\ngain the attention of those whom he laboured to\\nconvince, and by the skilful application of which\\nhe might shut them up unto the faith.\\nNow, when Paul was thus addressing one class of\\nan assembly or congregation, another class might,\\nfor the time, have been shut out of all direct benefit", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0017.jp2"}, "18": {"fulltext": "16\\nSKETCH OF MODERN ASTRONOMY.\\nand application from his arguments. When lie wrote\\nan Epistle to a mixed assembly of Christianized\\nJews and Gentiles, he had often to direct such a\\nprocess of argument to the former, as the latter\\nwould neither require nor comprehend. Now, what\\nshould have been the conduct of the Gentiles at the\\nreading of that part of the Epistle which bore almost\\nan exclusive reference to the Jews Should it be\\nimpatience at the hearing of something for which\\nthey had no relish or understanding Should it be\\na fretful disappointment because every thing that\\nwas said w^as not said for their edification Should\\nit be angry discontent with the Apostle, because,\\nleaving them in the dark, he had brought forward\\nnothing for them through the whole extent of so\\nmany successive chapters Some of them may have\\nfelt in this way but surely it would have been\\nvastly more Christian to have sat with meek and\\nunfeigned patience, and to have rejoiced that the\\ngreat Apostle had undertaken the management of\\nthose obstinate prejudices, which kept back so many\\nhuman beings from the participation of the Gospel.\\nAnd should Paul have had reason to rejoice, that,\\nby the success of his arguments, he had reconciled\\none or any number of Jews to Christianity, then it\\nwas the part of these Gentiles, though receiving no\\ndirect or personal benefit from the arguments, to\\nhave blessed God, and rejoiced along with him.\\nConceive that Paul were at this moment alive,\\nand zealously engaged in the work of pressing the\\nChristian religion on the acceptance of the various\\nclasses of society. Should he not still have acted\\non the principle of being all things to all men", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0018.jp2"}, "19": {"fulltext": "SKETCH OF MODERN ASTRONOMY.\\n17\\nShould he not have accommodated his discussion to\\nthe prevailing taste and literature and philosophy\\nof the times Should he not have closed with the\\npeople, whom he was addressing, on some favourite\\nprinciple of their own and, in the prosecution of\\nthis principle, might he not have got completely be-\\nyond the comprehension of a numerous class of\\nzealous, humble, and devoted Christians Now,\\nthe question is not, how these would conduct them-\\nselves in such circumstances but, how should they\\ndo it Would it be right in them to sit with\\nimpatience, because the argument of the Apostle\\ncontained in it nothing in the way of comfort or\\nedification to themselves Should not the bene-\\nvolence of the Gospel give a different direction to\\ntheir feelings? And, instead of that narrow, ex-\\nclusive, and monopolizing spirit, which I fear is\\ntoo characteristic of the more declared professors of\\nthe truth as it is in Jesus, ought they not to be\\npatient, and to rejoice, when to philosophers, and to\\nmen of literary accomplishment, and to those who\\nhave the direction of the public taste among the\\nupper walks of society, such arguments are addressed\\nas may bring home to their acceptance also, the\\nwords of this life t* It is under the impulse of these\\nconsiderations that I have, with some hesitation,\\nprevailed upon myself to attempt an argument,\\nwhich I think fitted to soften and subdue those pre-\\njudices which lie at the bottom of what may be called\\nthe infidelity of natural science if possible to bring\\nover to the humility of the Gospel those who ex-\\npatiate with delight on the wonders and the sublimi-\\nties of creation, and to convince them that a loftier\\nB", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0019.jp2"}, "20": {"fulltext": "18\\nSKETCH OF MODERN ASTRONOMY\\nI\\nwisdom still than that even of their high and hon-\\nourable acquirements, is the wisdom of him who is\\nresolved to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him\\ncrucified.\\nIt is truly a most Christian exercise to extract\\na sentiment of piety from the works and the appear-\\nances of nature. It has the authority of the Sacred\\nWriters upon its side, and even our Saviour himself\\ngives it the w r eight and the solemnity of his ex-\\nample. Behold the lilies of the field they toil\\nnot, neither do they spin, yet your heavenly Father\\ncare tli for them. He expatiates on the beauty of\\na single flower, and draws from it the delightful\\nargument of confidence in Grod. He gives us to see\\nthat taste may be combined with piety, and that the\\nsame heart may be occupied with all that is serious\\nin the contemplations of religion, and be at the same\\ntime alive to the charms and the loveliness of\\nnature.\\nThe Psalmist takes a still loftier flight. He leaves\\nthe world, and lifts his imagination to that mighty\\nexpanse which spreads above it and around it. He\\nwings his way through space, and wanders in thought\\nover its immeasurable regions. Instead of a dark\\nand unpeopled solitude, he sees it crowded with\\nsplendour, and filled with the energy of the Divine\\npresence. Creation rises in its immensity before\\nhim and the world, with all which it inherits,\\nshrinks into littleness at a contemplation so vast and\\nso overpowering. He wonders that he is not over-\\nlooked amid the grandeur and the variety which are\\non every side of him and passing upward from the\\nmajesty of nature to the majesty of nature s Archi-", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0020.jp2"}, "21": {"fulltext": "SKETCH OF MODERN ASTRONOMY.\\n19\\ntect, he exclaims, What is man that thou art\\nmindful of him or the son of man that thou\\nshouldest deign to visit him it\\nIt is not for us to say, whether inspiration revealed\\nto the Psalmist the wonders of the modern astronomy.\\nBut even though the mind be a perfect stranger to\\nthe science of these enlightened times, the heavens\\npresent a great and an elevating spectacle an im-\\nmense concave reposing upon the circular boundary\\nof the world, and the innumerable lights which are\\nsuspended from on high, moving with solemn regu-\\nlarity along its surface. It seems to have been at\\nnight that the piety of the Psalmist was awakened\\nby this contemplation, when the moon and the stars\\nwere visible, and not when the sun had risen in his\\nstrength, and thrown a splendour around him, which\\nbore down and eclipsed all the lesser glories of the\\nfirmament. And there is much in the scenery of a\\nnocturnal sky, to lift the soul to pious contemplation.\\nThat moon, and these stars, what are they They\\nare detached from the world, and they lift us above\\nit. We feel withdrawn from the earth, and rise in\\nlofty abstraction from this little theatre of human\\npassions and human anxieties. The mind abandons\\nitself to reverie, and is transferred in the ecstasy of\\nits thoughts to distant and unexplored regions. It\\nsees nature in the simplicity of her great elements,\\nand it sees the God of nature invested with the hissk\\nattributes of wisdom and majesty.\\nBut what can these lights be The curiosity of\\nthe human mind is insatiable and the mechanism\\nof these wonderful heavens has, in all ages, been its\\nsubject and its employment It has been reserved", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0021.jp2"}, "22": {"fulltext": "20\\nSKF/TCII OF MODERN ASTKONOMY.\\nfor these latter times to resolve this great and in-\\nteresting question. The sublimest powers of philo-\\nsophy havebeen called to the exercise, and astronomy\\nmay now be looked upon as the most certain and\\nbest established of the sciences.\\nWe all know that every visible object appears less\\nin magnitude as it recedes from the eye. The lofty\\nvessel, as it retires from the coast, shrinks into little-\\nness, and at last appears in the form of a small speck\\non the verge of the horizon. The eagle, with its ex-\\npanded wings, is a noble object but when it takes\\nits flight into the upper regions of the air, it becomes\\nless to the eye, and is seen like a dark spot upon\\nthe vault of heaven. The same is true of all magni-\\ntude. The heavenly bodies appear small to the eye\\nof an inhabitant of this earth, only from the immen-\\nsity of their distance. When we talk of hundreds\\nof millions of miles, it is not to be listened to as in-\\ncredible. For remember that we are talking of those\\nbodies which are scattered over the immensity of\\nspace, and that space knows no termination. The\\nconception is great and difficult, but the truth is\\nunquestionable. By a process of measurement which\\nit is unnecessary at present to explain, we have as-\\ncertained first the distance, and then the magnitude\\nof some of those bodies which roll in the firmament\\nthat the sun which presents itself to the eye under\\nso diminutive a form, is really a globe, exceeding, by\\nmany thousands of times, the dimensions of the\\nearth which we inhabit that the moon itself has the\\nmagnitude of a world and that even a few of those\\nstars which appear like so many lucid points to the\\nunassisted eye of the observer, expand into large", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0022.jp2"}, "23": {"fulltext": "SKETCH OF MODERN ASTRONOMY. 21\\ncircles upon the application of the telescope, and are\\nsome of them much larger than the ball which we\\ntread upon, and to which we proudly apply the de-\\nnomination of the universe.\\nNow, what is the fair and obvious presumption\\nThe world in which we live is a round ball of a\\ndetermined magnitude, and occupies its own place\\nin the firmament. But when we explore the un-\\nlimited tracts of that space which is everywhere\\naround us, we meet with other balls of equal or\\nsuperior magnitude, and from which our earth would\\neither be invisible, or appear as small as any of\\nthose twinkling stars which are seen on the canopy\\nof heaven. Why then suppose that this little spot,\\nlittle at least in the immensity which surrounds it,\\nshould be the exclusive abode of life and of intelli-\\ngence What reason to think that those mightier\\nglobes which roll in other parts of creation, and\\nwhich w r e have discovered to be worlds in magnitude,\\nare not also worlds in use and in dignity? Why\\nshould we think that the great Architect of nature,\\nsupreme in wisdom as He is in power, would call\\nthese stately mansions into existence and leave them\\nunoccupied? When we cast our eye over the broad\\nsea, and look at the country on the other side, we\\nsee nothing but the blue land stretching obscurely\\nover the distant horizon. We are too far away to\\nperceive the richness of its scenery, or to hear the\\nsound of its population. Why not extend this prin-\\nciple to the still more distant parts of the universe?\\nWhat though, from this remote point of observation,\\nwe can see nothing but the naked roundness of yon\\nplanetary orbs Are we therefore to say, that they", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0023.jp2"}, "24": {"fulltext": "SKETCH OF MODERN ASTRONOMY.\\nare so many vast and unpeopled solitudes; that de-\\nsolation reigns in every part of the universe but\\nours that the whole energy of the divine attributes\\nis expended on one insignificant corner of these\\nmighty works and that to this earth alone belongs\\nthe bloom of vegetation, or the blessedness of life,\\nor the dignity of rational and immortal existence\\nBut this is not all. We have something more\\nthan the mere magnitude of the planets to allege in\\nfavour of the idea that they are inhabited. We know\\nthat this earth turns round upon itself and we ob-\\nserve that all those celestial bodies, which are acces-\\nsible to such an observation, have the same move-\\nment. We know that the earth performs a yearly\\nrevolution round the sun and we can detect, in all\\nthe planets which compose our system, a revolution\\nof the same kind, and under the same circumstances.\\nThey have the same succession of day and night.\\nThey have the same agreeable vicissitude of the\\nseasons. To them light and darkness succeed each\\nother and the gaiety of summer is followed by the\\ndreariness of winter. To each of them the heavens\\npresent as varied and magnificent a spectacle and\\nthis earth, the encompassing of which would require\\nthe labour of years from one of its puny inhabitants,\\nis but one of the lesser lights which sparkle in their\\nfirmament. To them, as well as to us, lias God\\ndivided the light from the darkness, and he lias\\ncalled the light day, and the darkness he has called\\nnight, lie has said, let there be lights in the fir-\\nmament of their heaven, to divide the day from\\nthe night and let them be for signs, and for sea-\\nsons, and for days, and for years; and let them be for", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0024.jp2"}, "25": {"fulltext": "SKETCH OF MODERN ASTRONOMY.\\n23\\nlights in the firmament of heaven, to give light up-\\non their earth and it was so. And God has also\\nmade to them great lights. To all of them he has\\ngiven the sun to rule the day and to many of them\\nhas he given moons to rule the night. To them he\\nhas made the stars also. And God has set them in\\nthe firmament of heaven, to give light upon their\\nearth and to rule over the day, and over the night,\\nand to divide the light from the darkness and God\\nhas seen that it was good.\\nIn all these greater arrangements of divine wis-\\ndom, we can see that God has done the same things\\nfor the accommodation of the planets that he has\\ndone for the earth which we inhabit. And shall\\nwe say that the resemblance stops here, because\\nwe are not in a situation to observe it Shall we\\nsay that this scene of magnificence has been called\\ninto being merely for the amusement of a few astro-\\nnomers Shall we measure the counsels of heaven\\nby the narrow impotence of the human faculties\\nor conceive, that silence and solitude reign through-\\nout the mighty empire of nature that the greater\\npart of creation is an empty parade and that not\\na worshipper of the Divinity is to be found through\\nthe wide extent of yon vast and immeasurable re-\\n\u00e2\u0080\u00a2il flMr? ohhma ifohfw airfoil jqss I erfl to ono jnd\\nIt lends a delightful confirmation to the argument,\\nwhen, from the growing perfection of our instru-\\nments, we can discover a new point of resemblance\\nbetween our earth and the other bodies of the\\nplanetary system. It is now ascertained, not merely\\nthat all of them have their day and night, and that\\nall of them have their vicissitudes of seasons, and", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0025.jp2"}, "26": {"fulltext": "24: SKETCH OF MODERN ASTRONOMY.\\nthat some of them have their moons to rule their\\nnight and alleviate the darkness of it we can see\\nof one, that its surface rises into inequalities, that\\nit swells into mountains and stretches into valleys\\nof another, that it is surrounded by an atmosphere\\nwhich may support the respiration of animals of\\na third, that clouds are formed and suspended over\\nit, which may minister to it all the bloom and luxu-\\nriance of vegetation and of a fourth, that a white\\ncolour spreads over its northern regions as its win-\\nter advances, and that on the approach of summer\\nthis whiteness is dissipated giving room to sup-\\npose, that the element of water abounds in it, that\\nit rises by evaporation into its atmosphere, that it\\nfreezes upon the application of cold, that it is precipi-\\ntated in the form of snow, that it covers the ground\\nwith a fleecy mantle, which melts away from the\\nheat of a more vertical sun and that other worlds\\nbear a resemblance to our own, in the same yearly\\nround of beneficent and interesting changes.\\nWho shall assign a limit to the discoveries of\\nfuture ages Who can prescribe to science her\\nboundaries, or restrain the active and insatiable\\ncuriosity of man within the circle of his present ac-\\nquirements We may guess with plausibility what\\nwe cannot anticipate with confidence. The day\\nmay yet be coming, when our instruments of obser-\\nvation shall be inconceivably more powerful. They\\nmay ascertain still more decisive points of resem-\\nblance. They may resolve the same question by\\nthe evidence of sense, which is now so abundantly\\nconvincing by the evidence of analogy. They may\\nlay open to us the unquestionable vestiges of art,", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0026.jp2"}, "27": {"fulltext": "SKETCH OF MODERN ASTRONOMY. 25\\nand industry, and intelligence. We may see sum-\\nmer throwing its green mantle over these mighty\\ntracts, and we may see them left naked and colour-\\nless after the flush of vegetation has disappeared.\\nIn the progress of years or of centuries, we may\\ntrace the hand of cultivation spreading a* new aspect\\nover some portion of a planetary surface. Perhaps\\nsome large city, the metropolis of a mighty empire,\\nmay expand into a visible spot by the powers of\\nsome future telescope. Perhaps the glass of some\\nobserver, in a distant age, may enable him to con-\\nstruct the map of another world, and to lay dow T n\\nthe surface of it in all its minute and topical varie-\\nties. But there is no end of conjecture and to\\nthe men of other times we leave the full assurance\\nof what we can assert with the highest probability,\\nthat yon planetary orbs are so many worlds, that\\nthey teem with life, and that the mighty Being who\\npresides in high authority over this scene of gran-\\ndeur and astonishment, has there planted the wor-\\nshippers of His glory.\\nDid the discoveries of science stop here, we have\\nenough to justify the exclamation of the Psalmist,\\nWhat is man that thou art mindful of him or the\\nson of man that thou shouldest deign to visit him\\nThey w r iden the empire of creation far beyond the\\nlimits which were formerly assigned to it. They\\ngive us to see that yon sun, throned in the centre\\nof his planetary system, gives light, and warmth, and\\nthe vicissitude of seasons, to an extent of surface\\nseveral hundreds of times greater than that of the\\nearth which we inhabit. They lay open to us a num-\\nberof worlds, rolling in their respective circles around", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0027.jp2"}, "28": {"fulltext": "26\\nSKETCH OF MODERN ASTRONOMY.\\nthis vast luminary and prove, that the ball which\\nwe tread upon, with all its mighty burden of oceans\\nand continents, instead of being distinguished from\\nthe others, is among the least of them and, from\\nsome of the more distant planets, would not occupy\\na visible point in the concave of their firmament.\\nThey let us know, that though this mighty earth,\\nwith all its myriads of people, were to sink into anni-\\nhilation, there are some worlds where an event so\\nawful to us would be unnoticed and unknown, and\\nothers where it would be nothing more than the dis-\\nappearance of a little star which had ceased from its\\ntwinkling. We should feel a sentiment of modesty\\nat this just but humiliating representation. We\\nshould learn not to look on our earth as the universe\\nof God, but one paltry and insignificant portion of it\\nthat it is only one of the many mansions which the\\nSupreme Being has created for the accommodation\\nof His worshippers, and only one of the many worlds\\nrolling in that flood of light which the sun pours\\naround him to the outer limits of the planetary\\nsystem.\\nBut is there nothing beyond these limits The\\nplanetary system has its boundary, but space has\\nnone and if we wing our fancy there, do we only\\ntravel through dark and unoccupied regions There\\nare only five, or at most six, of the planetary orbs\\nvisible to the naked eye. What, then, is that mul-\\ntitude of other lights which sparkle in our firmament,\\nand fill the whole concave of heaven with innumer-\\nable splendours The planets are all attached to\\nthe sun and, in circling around him, they do horn-\\ntetgfl to that influence which binds them to perpetual", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0028.jp2"}, "29": {"fulltext": "SKETCH OF MODEKN ASTRONOMY.\\n27\\nattendance on this great luminary. But the other\\nstars do not own his dominion. They do not circle\\naround him. To all common observation, they re-\\nmain immovable and each, like the independent\\nsovereign of his own territory, appears to occupy the\\nsame inflexible position in the regions of immensity.\\nWhat can we make of them Shall we take our\\nadventurous flight to explore these dark and un-\\ntravelled dominions What mean these innumerable\\nfires lighted up in distant parts of the universe\\nAre they only made to shed a feeble glimmering\\nover this little spot in the kingdom of nature or\\ndo they serve a purpose worthier of themselves, to\\nlight up other worlds, and give animation to other\\nsystems\\nThe first thing which strikes a scientific observer\\nof the fixed stars, is their immeasurable distance.\\nIf the whole planetary system were lighted up into\\na globe of fire, it would exceed, by many millions of\\ntimes, the magnitude of this world, and yet only\\nappear a small lucid point from the nearest of them.\\nIf a body were projected from the sun with the ve-\\nlocity of a cannon-ball, it would take hundreds of\\nthousands of years before it described that mighty\\ninterval which separates the nearest of the fixed\\nstars from our sun and from our system. If this\\nearth, which moves at more than the inconceivable\\nvelocity of a million and a half miles a day, were to\\nbe hurried from its orbit, and to take the same rapid\\nflight over this immense tract, it would not have\\narrived at the termination of its journey, after taking\\nall the time which has elapsed since the creation of\\nthe world. These are great numbers, and great", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0029.jp2"}, "30": {"fulltext": "SKETCH OF MODERN ASTRONOMY.\\ncalculations and the mind feels its own impotency\\nin attempting to grasp them. We can state them\\nin words. We can exhibit them in figures. We can\\ndemonstrate them by the powers of a most rigid and\\ninfallible geometry. But no human fancy can sum-\\nmon up a lively or an adequate conception can\\nroam in its ideal flight over this immeasurable large-\\nness can take in this mighty space in all its\\ngrandeur, and in all its immensity can sweep the\\nouter boundaries of such a creation or lift itself up\\nto the majesty of that great and invisible arm on\\nwhich all is suspended.\\nBut what can those stars be which are seated so\\nfar beyond the limits of our planetary system? They\\nmust be masses of immense magnitude, or they could\\nnot be seen at the distance of place which they\\noccupy. The light which they give must proceed\\nfrom themselves, for the feeble reflection of light\\nfrom some other quarter would not carry through\\nsuch mighty tracts to the eye of an observer. A\\nbody may be visible in two ways. It may be visible\\nfrom its own light, as the flame of a candle, or the\\nbrightness of a fire, or the brilliancy of yonder\\nglorious sun, which lightens all below, and is the\\nlamp of the world. Or it may be visible from the\\nlight which falls upon it, as the body which receives\\nits light from a taper or the whole assemblage of\\nobjects on the surface of the earth, which appear only\\nwhen the light of day rests upon them or the moon,\\nwhich, in that part of it that is towards the sun, gives\\nout a silvery whiteness to the eye of the observer,\\nwhile the other part forms a black and invisible space\\nin the firmament or as the planets, which shine only", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0030.jp2"}, "31": {"fulltext": "SKETCH OF MODERN ASTRONOMY. 29\\nbecause the sun shines upon them, and which, each\\nof them, present the appearance of a dark spot on\\nthe side that is turned away from it. Now apply\\nthis question to the fixed stars. Are they luminous\\nof themselves, or do they derive their light from the\\nsun, like the bodies of our planetary system? Think\\nof their immense distance, and the solution of this\\nquestion becomes evident. The sun, like any other\\nbody, must dwindle into a less apparent magnitude\\nas you retire from it. At the prodigious distance\\neven of the very nearest of the fixed stars, it must\\nhave shrunk into a small indivisible point. In short,\\nit must have become a star itself, and could shed no\\nmore light than a single individual of those glimmer-\\ning myriads, the whole assemblage of which cannot\\ndissipate and can scarcely alleviate the midnight\\ndarkness of our world. These stars are visible to us,\\nnot because the sun shines upon them, but because\\nthey shine of themselves, because they are so many\\nluminous bodies scattered over the tracts of immen-\\nsity in a word, because they are so many suns, each\\nthroned in the centre of his own dominions, and\\npouring a flood of light over his ow r n portion of these\\nunlimitable regions. Jfj h{v/ flm ohoh\\nAt such an immense distance for observation, it\\nis not to be supposed, that we can collect many points\\nof resemblance between the fixed stars, and the solar\\nstar which forms the centre of our planetary system.\\nThere is one point of resemblance, however, which\\nhas not escaped the penetration of our astronomers.\\nWe know that our sun turns round upon himself in\\na regular period of time. We also know that there\\nare dark spots scattered over his surface, which,\\n^ino smna ffoinw ^oiTBiq oHj n To TCiQTur m m nrvi", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0031.jp2"}, "32": {"fulltext": "30\\nSKETCH OF MODERN ASTRONOMY.\\nthough invisible to the naked eye, are perfectly\\nnoticeable by our instruments. If these spots ex-\\nisted in greater quantity upon one side than upon\\nanother, it would have the general effect of making\\nthat side darker; and the revolution of the sun must,\\nin such a case, give us a brighter and a fainter side,\\nby regular alternations. Now, there are some of the\\nfixed stars which present this appearance. They pre-\\nsent us with periodical variations of light. From\\nthe splendour of a star of the first or second magni-\\ntude, they fade away into some of the inferior magni-\\ntudes and one, by becoming invisible, might give\\nreason to apprehend that we had lost him altogether\\nbut we can still recognise him by the telescope, till\\nat length he reappears in his own place, and, after\\na regular lapse of so many days and hours, recovers\\nhis original brightness. Now, the fair inference\\nfrom this is, that the fixed stars, as they resemble*\\nour sun in being so many luminous masses of im-\\nmense magnitude, resemble him in this also, that\\neach of them turns round upon his own axis so\\nthat if any of them should have an inequality in\\nthe brightness of their sides, this revolution is ren-\\ndered evident, by the regular variations in th ede-\\ngree of light which it undergoes.\\nShall we say, then, of these vast luminaries, that\\nthey were created in vain? Were they called into\\nexistence for no other purpose than to throw a tide\\nof useless splendour over the solitudes of immensity\\nOur sun is only one of these luminaries, and we know\\nthat lie has worlds in his train. Why should we\\nstrip the rest of this princely attendance? Why\\nmay not each of them be the centre of his own sys-", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0032.jp2"}, "33": {"fulltext": "SKETCH OF MODERN ASTRONOMY. 31\\ntern, and give light to his own worlds It is true\\nthat we see them not but could the eye of man take\\nits flight into those distant regions, it would lose\\nsight of our little world before it reached the outer\\nlimits of our system the greater planets would dis-\\nappear in their turn before it had described a small\\nportion of that abyss which separates us from the\\nfixed stars, the sun would decline into a little spot,\\nand all its splendid retinue of worlds be lost in the\\nobscurity of distance he would at last shrink into\\na small indivisible atom, and all that could be seen\\nof this magnificent system, would be reduced to the\\nglimmering of a little star. Why resist any longer\\nthe grand and interesting conclusion Each of these\\nstars may be the token of a system as vast and as\\nsplendid as the one which we inhabit. Worlds roll\\nin these distant regions and these worlds must be\\nthe mansions of life and of intelligence. In yon\\ngilded canopy of heaven, we see the broad aspect\\nof the universe, where each shining point presents\\nus with a sun, and each sun with a system of worlds\\nwhere the Divinity reigns in all the grandeur of\\nHis attributes where He peoples immensity with\\nHis wonders and travels in the greatness of His\\nstrength through the dominions of one vast and\\nunlimited monarchy.\\nThe contemplation has no limits. If we ask the\\nnumber of suns and of systems, the unassisted eye\\nof man can take in a thousand, and the best tele-\\nscope which the genius of man has constructed can\\ntake in eighty millions. But why subject the domi-\\nnions of the universe to the eye of man, or to the\\npowers of his genius Fancy may take its flight far", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0033.jp2"}, "34": {"fulltext": "32\\nSKETCH OF MODERN ASTUONOMV.\\nbeyond the ken of eye or of telescope. It may ex-\\npatiate in the outer regions of all that is visible\\nand shall we have the boldness to say, that there is\\nnothing there that the wonders of the Almighty are\\nat an end, because we can no longer trace His foot-\\nsteps that his omnipotence is exhausted, because\\nhuman art can no longer follow Him that the crea-\\ntive energy of God has sunk into repose, because the\\nimagination is enfeebled by the magnitude of its\\nefforts, and can keep no longer on the wing through\\nthose mighty tracts, which shoot far beyond what\\neye hath seen, or the heart of man hath conceiv-\\ned which sweep endlessly along, and merge into an\\nawful and mysterious infinity\\nBefore bringing to a close this rapid and imperfect\\nsketch of our modern astronomy, it may be right to\\nadvert to two points of interesting speculation, both\\nof which serve to magnify our conceptions of the\\nuniverse, and, of course, to give us a more affecting\\nsense of the comparative insignificance of this our\\nworld. The first is suggested by the consideration,\\nthat if a body be struck in the direction of its centre,\\nit obtains, from this impulse, a progressive motion,\\nbut without any movement of revolution being at the\\nsame time impressed upon it. It simply goes for-\\nward, but docs not turn round upon itself. But,\\nagain, should the stroke not be in the direction of\\nthe centre should the line which joins the point of\\npercussion to the centre, make an angle with that\\nline in which the impulse was communicated, then\\nthe body is both made to go forward in space, and\\nalso to wheel upon its axis. In this way, each of\\nour planets may have had its compound motion com-", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0034.jp2"}, "35": {"fulltext": "SKETCH OF MODERN ASTRONOMY.\\n33\\nmunicated to it by one single impulse and, on the\\nother hand, if ever the rotatory motion be communi-\\ncated by one blow, then the progressive motion must\\ngo along with it. In order to have the first motion\\nwithout the second, there must be a two-fold force\\napplied to the body in opposite directions. It must\\nbe set a-going in the same way as a spinning-top, so\\nas to revolve about an axis, and to keep unchanged\\nits situation in space. The planets have both mo-\\ntions and, therefore, may have received them by one\\nand the same impulse. The sun, we are certain, has\\none of these motions. He has a movement of revolu-\\ntion. If spun round his axis by two opposite forces,\\none on each side of him, he may have this move-\\nment, and retain an inflexible position in space. But\\nif this movement was given him by one stroke, he\\nmust have a progressive motion along with a whirl-\\ning motion or, in other words, he is moving forward,\\nhe is describing a tract in space and, in so doing,\\nhe carries all his planets and all their secondaries\\nalong with him.\\nBut at this stage of the argument, the matter only\\nremains a conjectural point of speculation. The sun\\nmay have had his rotation impressed upon him by a\\nspinning impulse or, without recurring to secondary\\ncauses at all, this movement may be coeval with his\\nbeing, and he may have derived both the one and\\nthe other from an immediate fiat of the Creator.\\nBut there is an actually observed phenomenon of the\\nheavens, which advances the conjecture into a pro-\\nbability. In the course of ages, the stars in one\\nquarter of the celestial sphere are apparently reced-\\ning from each other and, in the opposite quarter,\\nc", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0035.jp2"}, "36": {"fulltext": "34\\nSKETCH OF MODERN ASTRONOMY.\\nthey are apparently drawing nearer to each other.\\nIf the sun be approaching the former quarter, and\\nreceding from the latter, this phenomenon admits of\\nan easy explanation and we are furnished with a\\nmagnificent step in the scale of the Creator s work-\\nmanship. In the same manner as the planets, with\\ntheir satellites, revolve round the sun, may the sun,\\nwith all his tributaries, be moving, in common with\\nother stars, around some distant centre, from which\\nthere emanates an influence to bind and to subordi-\\nnate them all. They may be kept from approaching\\neach other by a centrifugal force without which\\nthe laws of attraction might consolidate, into one\\nstupendous mass, all the distinct globes of which the\\nuniverse is composed. Our sun may, therefore, be\\nonly one member of a higher family taking his part,\\nalong with millions of others, in some loftier system\\nof mechanism by which they are all subjected to one\\nlaw and to one arrangement describing the sweep\\nof such an orbit in space, and completing the mighty\\nrevolution in such a period of time, as to reduce our\\nplanetary seasons and our planetary movements to\\na very humble and fractionary rank in the scale of\\na hio-her astronomv. There is room for all this in\\nimmensity, and there is even argument for all this\\nin the records of actual observation and from the\\nwhole of this speculation do we gather a new em-\\nphasis to the lesson, how minute is the place, and\\nhow secondary is the importance of our world, amid\\nthe glories of such a surrounding magnificence.\\nBut there is still another very interesting tract of\\nspeculation which has been opened up to us by the\\nmore recent observations of astronomy. What we", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0036.jp2"}, "37": {"fulltext": "SKETCH OF MODERN ASTRONOMY.\\n0r\\nallude to, is the discovery of the nebulce. We allow\\nthat it is but a dim and indistinct light which this\\ndiscovery lias thrown upon the structure of the uni-\\nverse but still it has spread before the eye of the\\nmind a field of very wide and lofty contemplation.\\nAnterior to this discovery, the universe might ap-\\npear to have been composed of an indefinite number\\nof suns, about equidistant from each other, uni-\\nformly scattered over space, and each encompassed\\nby such a planetary attendance as takes place in our\\nown system. But we have now reason to think,\\nthat instead of lying uniformly, and in a state of\\nequidistance from each other, they are arranged into\\ndistinct clusters that in the same manner as the\\ndistance of the nearest fixed stars so inconceivably\\nsuperior to that of our planets from each other, marks\\nthe separation of the solar systems, so the distance\\nof two contiguous clusters may be so inconceiv-\\nably superior to the reciprocal distance of those\\nfixed stars which belong to the same cluster, as to\\nmark an equally distinct separation of the clusters,\\nand to constitute each of them an individual mem-\\nber of some higher and more extended arrangement.\\nThis carries us upwards through another ascending-\\nstep in the scale of magnificence, and there leaves us\\nin the uncertainty, whether even here the wonder-\\nful progression is ended and, at all events, fixes the\\nassured conclusion in our minds, that, to an eye\\nwhich could spread itself over the whole, the man-\\nsion which accommodates our species, might be so\\nvery small as to lie wrapped in microscopical con-\\ncealment and in reference to the only Being who\\npossesses this universal eye, well might we S av", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0037.jp2"}, "38": {"fulltext": "36\\nSKETCH OF MODERN ASTRONOMY.\\nWhat is man, that thou art mindful of him or\\nthe son of man, that thou shouldest deign to visit\\nhim r\\nAnd, after all, though it be a mighty and diffi-\\ncult conception, yet who can question it What is\\nseen may be nothing to what is unseen for what is\\nseen is limited by the range of our instruments.\\nWhat is unseen has no limit and though all which\\nthe eye of man can take in, or his fancy can grasp,\\nwere swept away, there might still remain as ample\\na field over which the Divinity may expatiate, and\\nwhich He may have peopled with innumerable\\nworlds. If the whole visible creation were to dis-\\nappear, it would leave a solitude behind it but to\\nthe Infinite Mind that can take in the whole system\\nof nature, this solitude might be nothing a small\\nunoccupied point in that immensity which surrounds\\nit, and which he may have filled with the wonders\\nof his omnipotence. Though this earth were to be\\nburned up, though the trumpet of its dissolution\\nwere sounded, though yon sky were to pass away as\\na scroll, and every visible glory which the finger of\\nthe Divinity has inscribed on it, were to be put out\\nfor ever an event so awful to us and to every\\nworld in our vicinity, by which so many suns would\\nbe extinguished, and so many varied scenes of life\\nand of population would rush into forgctfulness\\nwhat is it in the high scale of the Almighty s work-\\nmanship a mere shred, which though scattered in-\\nto nothing, would leave the universe of God one\\nentire scene of greatness and of majesty. Though\\nthis earth, and these heavens, were to disappear,\\nthere are other worlds which roll afar; the light of", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0038.jp2"}, "39": {"fulltext": "SKETCH OF MODERN ASTRONOMY.\\n37\\nother suns shines upon them, and the sky which\\nmantles them is garnished with other stars. Is it\\npresumption to say, that the moral world extends\\nto these distant and unknown regions that they\\nare occupied with people that the charities of home\\nand of neighbourhood flourish there that the\\npraises of God are there lifted up, and his goodness\\nrejoiced in that piety has there its temples and its\\nofferings and the richness of the divine attributes\\nis there felt and admired by intelligent worship-\\npers?\\nAnd what is this world in the immensity which\\nteems with them and what are they who occupy\\nit The universe at large would suffer as little,\\nin its splendour and variety, by the destruction of\\nour planet, as the verdure and sublime magnitude\\nof a forest would suffer by the fall of a single leaf.\\nThe leaf quivers on the branch which supports it.\\nIt lies at the mercy of the slightest accident. A\\nbreath of wind tears it from its stem, and it lights\\non the stream of water which passes underneath.\\nIn a moment of time, the life which we know, by\\nthe microscope, it teems with, is extinguished and\\nan occurrence so insignificant in the eye of man,\\nand on the scale of his observation, carries in it, to\\nthe myriads which people this little leaf, an event\\nas terrible and as decisive as the destruction of a\\nworld. Now, on the grand scale of the universe,\\nwe, the occupiers of this ball, which performs its\\nlittle round among the suns and the systems that\\nastronomy has unfolded we may feel the same\\nlittleness and the same insecurity. We differ from\\nthe leaf only in this circumstance, that it would", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0039.jp2"}, "40": {"fulltext": "38\\nSKETCH OF MODERN ASTRONOMY.\\nrequire tlie operation of greater elements to destro\\nus. But these elements exist. The fire which rage\\nwithin, may lift its devouring energy to the surface\\nof our planet, and transform it into one wide and\\nwasting volcano. The sudden formation of elastic\\nmatter in the bowels of the earth and it lies within\\nthe agency of known substances to accomplish this\\nmay explode it into fragments. The exhala-\\ntion of noxious air from below may impart a viru-\\nlence to the air that is around us it may affect the\\ndelicate proportion of its ingredients and the whole\\nof animated nature may wither and die under the\\nmalignity of a tainted atmosphere. A blazing\\ncomet may cross this fated planet in its orbit, and\\nrealize all the terrors, which superstition has con-\\nceived of it. We cannot anticipate with precision\\nthe consequences of an event which every astrono-\\nmer must know to lie within the limits of chance\\nand probability. It may hurry our globe towards\\nthe sun or drag it to the outer regions of the\\nplanetary system or give it a new axis of revolu-\\ntion and the effect, which I shall simply announce,\\nwithout explaining it, would be to change the place\\nof the ocean, and bring another mighty flood upon\\nour islands and continents. These are changes\\nwhich may happen in a single instant of time, and\\nagainst which nothing known in the present system\\nof things provides us with any security. They\\nmight not annihilate the earth, but they would\\nunpeople it and we who tread its surface with\\nsuch firm and assured footsteps, are at the mercy\\nof devouring elements, which, if let loose upon us\\nby the hand of the Almighty, would spread solitude", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0040.jp2"}, "41": {"fulltext": "SKETCH OF MODERN ASTRONOMY.\\n39\\nand silence and death over the dominions of the\\nworld.\\nNow, it is this littleness, and this insecurity, which\\nmake the protection of the Almighty so dear to us,\\nand bring, with such emphasis, to every pious bosom,\\nthe holy lessons of humility and gratitude. The God\\nwho sitteth above, and presides in high authority\\nover all worlds, is mindful of man and though at\\nthis moment His energy is felt in the remotest\\nprovinces of creation, we may feel the same security\\nin His providence, as if we were the objects of his\\nundivided care. It is not for us to bring our minds\\nup to this mysterious agency. But such is the in-\\ncomprehensible fact, that the same Being, whose eye\\nis abroad over the whole universe, gives vegetation\\nto every blade of grass, and motion to every particle\\nof blood which circulates through the veins of the\\nminutest animal that though His mind takes into\\nits comprehensive grasp, immensity and all its\\nwonders, I am as much known to Him as if I were\\nthe single object of His attention that He marks\\nall my thoughts that He gives birth to every feel-\\ning and every movement within me and that with\\nan exercise of power which I can neither describe\\nnor comprehend, the same God who sits in the\\nhighest heaven, and reigns over the glories of\\nthe firmament, is at my right hand, to give me\\nevery breath which I draw, and every comfort which\\nI enjoy.\\nBut this very reflection has been appropriated to\\nthe use of Infidelity, and the very language of the\\ntext has been made to bear an application of hostility\\nto the faith. What is man, that God should be", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0041.jp2"}, "42": {"fulltext": "40\\nSKETCH OF MODERN ASTROXOMT.\\nmindful of him or the son of man, that he should\\ndeign to visit him Is it likely, says the Infidel,\\nthat God would send His eternal Son to die for the\\npuny occupiers of so insignificant a province in the\\nmighty field of his creation Are we the befitting\\nobjects of so great and so signal an interposition\\nDoes not the largeness of that field which astronomy\\nlays open to the view of modern science, throw a\\nsuspicion over the truth of the gospel history and\\nhow shall we reconcile the greatness of that wonder-\\nful movement which was made in heaven for the\\nredemption of fallen man, with the comparative\\nmeanness and obscurity of our species\\nThis is a popular argument, against Christianity,\\nnot much dwelt upon in books, but, we believe, a\\ngood deal insinuated in conversation, and having\\nno small influence on the amateurs of a superficial\\nphilosophy. At all events, it is right that every\\nsuch argument should be met and manfully con-\\nfronted nor do we know a more discreditable sur-\\nrender of our religion, than to act as if she had\\nanything to fear from the ingenuity of her most\\naccomplished adversaries. The author of the follow-\\ning treatise engages in his present undertaking\\nunder the full impression that a something may be\\nfound with which to combat Infidelity in all its\\nforms that the truth of God and of His message\\nadmits of a noble and decisive manifestation, through\\nevery mist which the pride or the prejudice or the\\nsophistry of man may throw around it and elevated\\nas the wisdom of him may be who has ascended the\\nheights of science, and poured the light of demon-\\nstration over the most wondrous of nature s mys-", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0042.jp2"}, "43": {"fulltext": "SKETCH OF MODERN ASTRONOMY.\\n41\\nteries, that even out of his own principles it may be\\nproved, how much more elevated is the wisdom of\\nhim who sits with the docility of a little child to\\nhis Bible, and casts down to its authority all his\\nlofty imaginations.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0043.jp2"}, "44": {"fulltext": "42\\nHIE MODESTY OF TRUE SCIENCE.\\nDISCOURSE IX\\nTHE MODESTY OF TRUE SCIENCE.\\nAnd if any man think that he knoweth any thing, lie knoweth\\nnothing yet as he ought to know. 1 Corinthians viii 2.\\nThere is much profound and important wisdom\\nin that proverb of Solomon, where it is said, that\\nthe heart knoweth its own bitterness/ It forms\\npart of a truth still more comprehensive, that every\\nman knoweth his own peculiar feelings and diffi-\\nculties and trials, far better than he can get any of\\nhis neighbours to perceive them. It is natural to\\nus all, that we should desire to engross, to the utter-\\nmost, the sympathy of others with what is most\\npainful to the sensibilities of our own bosom, and\\nwith what is most aggravating in the hardships of\\nour own situation. But, labour as we may, we can-\\nnot, with every power of expression, make an ade-\\nquate conveyance, as it were, of all our sensations,\\nand of all our circumstances, into another s under-\\nstanding. There is a something in the intimacy of\\na man s own experience, which he cannot make to\\npass entire into the heart and mind even of his most\\nfamiliar companion, and thus it is, that he is so\\noften defeated in his attempts to obtain a full and\\na cordial possession of his sympathy. lie is mor-", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0044.jp2"}, "45": {"fulltext": "THE MODESTY OF TRUE SCIENCE.\\n43\\ntitled, and he wonders at the obtuseness of the people\\naround him and that he cannot get them to enter\\ninto the justness of his complainings nor to feel the\\npoint upon which turn the truth and the reason of\\nhis remonstrances nor to give their interested\\nattention to the case of his peculiarities and of his\\nwrongs nor to kindle, in generous resentment, along\\nwith him, when he starts the topic of his indignation.\\nHe does not reflect, all the while, that with every\\nhuman being he addresses, there is an inner man\\nwhich forms a theatre of passions and of interests\\nas busy, as crowded, and as fitted as his own to en-\\ngross the anxious and the exercised feelings of a\\nheart which can alone understand its own bitterness,\\nand lay a correct estimate on the burden of its own\\nvisitations. Every man we meet carries about with\\nhim, in the unperceived solitude of his bosom, a\\nlittle world of his own and we are just as blind,\\nand as insensible, and as dull, both of perception\\nand of sympathy, about his engrossing objects, as\\nhe is about ours and did we suffer this observa-\\ntion to have all its weight upon us, it might serve\\nto make us more candid and more considerate of\\nothers. It might serve to abate the monopolizing\\nselfishness of our nature. It might serve to soften\\ndown all the malignity which comes out of those\\nenvious contemplations that we are so apt to cast on\\nthe fancied ease and prosperity which are around\\nus. It might serve to reconcile every man to his\\nown lot, and dispose him to bear with thankfulness\\nhis own burden and if this train of sentiment were\\nprosecuted with firmness and calmness and impar-\\ntiality, it would lead to the conclusion, that each", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0045.jp2"}, "46": {"fulltext": "44\\nTHE MODESTY OF TRUE SCIENCE.\\nprofession in life has its own peculiar pains, and its\\nown besetting inconveniences that from the very\\nbottom of society up to the golden pinnacle which\\nblazons upon its summit, there is much in the shape\\nof care and of suffering to be found that through-\\nout all the conceivable varieties of human condition,\\nthere are trials which can neither be adequately\\ntold on the one side, nor fully understood on the\\nother that the ways of God to man are as equal in\\nthis as in every department of his administration\\nand that, go to whatever quarter of human experi-\\nence we may, we shall find that he has provided\\nenough to exercise the patience and to accomplish\\nthe purposes of a wise and a salutary discipline upon\\nall his children.\\nI have brought forward this observation, that it\\nmay prepare the way for a second. There are per-\\nhaps no two sets of human beings who comprehend\\nless the movements and enter less into the cares and\\nconcerns of each other, than the wide and busy\\npublic on the one hand, and on the other, those men\\nof close and studious retirement, whom the world\\nnever hears of, save when, from their thoughtful soli-\\ntude, there issues forth some splendid discovery to\\nset the world on a gaze of admiration. Then will\\nthe brilliancy of a superior genius draw every eye\\ntowards it and the homage paid to intellectual\\nsuperiority will place its idol on a loftier eminence\\nthan all wealth or than all titles can bestow and\\nthe name of the successful philosopher will circulate,\\nin his own age, over the whole extent of civilized\\nsociety, and be borne down to posterity in the\\ncharacters of ever-during remembrance and thus it", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0046.jp2"}, "47": {"fulltext": "THE MODESTY OF TRUE SCIENCE.\\n45\\nis, that, when we look back on the days of Newton,\\nwe annex a kind of mysterious greatness to him,\\nwho, by the pure force of his understanding, rose to\\nsuch a gigantic elevation above the level of ordinary\\nmen and the kings and warriors of other days sink\\ninto insignificance around him and he, at this\\nmoment, stands forth to the public eye, in a prouder\\narray of glory than circles the memory of all the\\nmen of former generations and while all the vulgar\\ngrandeur of other days is now mouldering in forget*\\nfulness, the achievements of our great astronomer are\\nstill fresh in the veneration of his countrymen, and\\nthey carry him forward on the stream of time, with\\na reputation ever gathering, and the triumphs of a\\ndistinction that will never die.\\nNow, the point that I want to impress upon you\\nis, that the same public, who are so dazzled and\\noverborne by the lustre of all this superiority, are\\nutterly in the dark as to what that is which confers\\nits chief merit on the philosophy of Newton. They\\nsee the result of his labours, but they know not how\\nto appreciate the difficulty or the extent of them.\\nThey look on the stately edifice he has reared, but\\nthey know not what he had to do in settling the\\nfoundation which gives to it all its stability nor\\nare they aware what painful encounters he had to\\nmake, both with the natural predilections of his own\\nheart, and with the prejudices of others, when em-\\nployed on the work of laying together its unperishing\\nmaterials. They have never heard of the contro-\\nversies w T hich this man, of peaceful unambitious\\nmodesty, had to sustain with all that was proud and\\nall that was intolerant in the philosophy of the age.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0047.jp2"}, "48": {"fulltext": "46\\nTHE MODESTY OF TRUE SCIENCE.\\nThey have never, in thought, entered that closet\\nwhich was the scene of his patient and profound ex-\\nercises nor have they gone along with him, as he\\ngave his silent hours to the labours of the midnight\\noil, and plied that unwearied task to which the\\ncharm of lofty contemplation had allured him nor\\nhave they accompanied him through all the workings\\nof that wonderful mind, from which, as from the re-\\ncesses of a laboratory, there came forth such gleams\\nand processes of thought as shed an effulgency over\\nthe whole amplitude of nature. All this the public\\nhave not done for of this the great majority, even\\nof the reading and cultivated public, are utterly in-\\ncapable and therefore is it that they need to be\\ntold what that is, in which the main distinction of\\nhis philosophy lies that when labouring in other\\nfields of investigation, they may know how to borrow\\nfrom his safe example, and how to profit by that\\nsuperior wisdom which marked the whole conduct\\nof his understanding.\\nLet it be understood, then, that they are the\\npositive discoveries of Newton, which in the eye of\\na superficial public, confer upon him all his reputa-\\ntion. He discovered the mechanism of the planetary\\nsystem. He discovered the composition of light.\\nHe discovered the cause of those alternate move-\\nments which take place on the waters of the ocean.\\nThese form his actual and his visible achievements.\\nThese are what the world look to as the monuments\\nof his greatness. These are doctrines by which he\\nhas enriched the field of philosophy and thus it is,\\nthat the whole of his merit is supposed to lie in\\nhaving had the sagacity to perceive, and the vigour", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0048.jp2"}, "49": {"fulltext": "TUK MODESTY OF TRUE SCIENCE.\\n47\\nto lay hold of the proofs, which conferred upon these\\ndoctrines all the establishment of a most rigid and\\nconclusive demonstration.\\nBut while he gets all his credit, and all his ad-\\nmiration for those articles of science which he has\\nadded to the creed of philosophers, he deserves as\\nmuch credit and admiration for those articles which\\nhe kept out of this creed, as for those which he in-\\ntroduced into it. It was the property of his mind\\nthat it kept a tenacious hold of every one position\\nwhich had proof to substantiate it but it forms a\\nproperty equally characteristic, and which, in fact,\\ngives its leading peculiarity to the whole spirit and\\nstyle of his investigations, that he put a most de-\\ntermined exclusion on every one position that was\\ndestitute of such proof. He would not admit the\\nastronomical theories of those who went before him,\\nbecause they had no proof. He would not give in\\nto their notions about the planets wheeling their\\nrounds in whirlpools of ether for he did not see\\nthis ether he had no proof of its existence and,\\nbesides, even supposing it to exist, it would not\\nhave impressed on the heavenly bodies such move-\\nments as met his observation. He would not\\nsubmit his judgment to the reigning systems of the\\nday for, though they had authority to recommend\\nthem, they had no proof and thus it is, that he\\nevinced the strength and the soundness of his phi-\\nlosophy, as much by his decisions upon those\\ndoctrines of science which he rejected, as by his\\ndemonstration of those doctrines of science which\\nhe was the first to propose, and which now stand\\nout to the eye of posterity as the only monu-", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0049.jp2"}, "50": {"fulltext": "48\\nTHE MODEST i OF TRUE SCIENCE.\\nments to the force and superiority of his under-\\nstanding.\\nHe wanted no other recommendation for any\\none article of science, than the recommendation of\\nevidence and with this recommendation he opened\\nto it the chamber of his mind, though authority\\nscowled upon it, and taste was disgusted by it, and\\nfashion was ashamed of it, and all the beauteous\\nspeculation of former days was cruelly broken up by\\nthis new announcement of the better philosophy,\\nand scattered like the fragments of an aerial vision,\\nover which the past generations of the world had\\nbeen slumbering their profound and their pleasing\\nreverie. But, on the other hand, should the article\\nof science w T ant the recommendation of evidence, he\\nshut against it all the avenues of his understanding\\nand though all antiquity lent their suffrages to it,\\nand all eloquence had thrown around it the most\\nattractive brilliancy, and all habit had incorporated\\nit with every system of every seminary in Europe,\\nand all fancy had arrayed it in graces of the most\\ntempting solicitation yet was the steady and in-\\nflexible mind of Newton proof against this whole\\nweight of authority and allurement, and casting his\\ncold and unwelcome look at the specious plausibility,\\nhe rebuked it from his presence. The strength of\\nhis philosophy lay as much in refusing admittance\\nto that which wanted evidence, as in giving a place\\nand an occupancy to that which possessed it. In\\nthat march of intellect which led him onwards\\nthrough the rich and magnificent field of his dis-\\ncoveries, he pondered every step and while he\\nadvanced with a firm and assured movement, where-", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0050.jp2"}, "51": {"fulltext": "THE MODESTY OF TRUE SCIENCE.\\never the light of evidence carried him, he never\\nsuffered any glare of imagination or of prejudice to\\nseduce him from his path.\\nCertain it is, that, in the prosecution of his won-\\nderful career, he found himself on a way beset with\\ntemptation upon every side of him. It Avas not\\nmerely that he had the reigning taste and philosophy\\nof the times to contend with. But he expatiated on\\na lofty region, where, in all the giddiness of success,\\nhe might have met with much to solicit his fancy,\\nand tempt him to some devious speculation. Had\\nhe been like the majority of other men, he would\\nhave broken free from the fetters of a sober and\\nchastised understanding, and, giving wing to his\\nimagination, had done what philosophers have done\\nafter him been carried away by some meteor of\\ntheir own forming, or found their amusement in\\nsome of their own intellectual pictures, or palmed\\nsome loose and confident plausibilities of their own\\nupon the world. But Newton stood true to his\\nprinciple, that he would take up with nothing which\\nwanted evidence, and he kept by his demonstrations,\\nand his measurements, and his proofs and if it be\\ntrue that he who ruleth his own spirit is greater\\nthan he who taketh a city, there was won, in the\\nsolitude of his chamber, many a repeated victory\\nover himself, which should give a brighter lustre to\\nhis name than all the conquests he has made on the\\nfield of discovery, or than all the splendour of his\\npositive achievements.\\nI trust you understand, that, though it be one of\\nthe maxims of the true philosophy, never to shrink\\nfrom a doctrine which has evidence on its side, it is\\n7 D", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0051.jp2"}, "52": {"fulltext": "50\\nTHE MODESTY OF TRUE SCIENCE.\\nanother maxim, equally essential to it, never to\\nharbour any doctrine when this evidence is wanting.\\nTake these two maxims along with you, and you\\nwill be at no loss to explain the peculiarity which,\\nmore than any other, goes both to characterize and\\nto ennoble the philosophy of Newton. What I al-\\nlude to is, the precious combination of its strength\\nand of its modesty. On the one hand, what greater\\nevidence of strength than the fulfilment of that\\nmighty enterprise, by which the heavens have been\\nmade its own, and the mechanism of unnumbered\\nworlds has been brought within the grasp of the\\nhuman understanding Now, it was by walking\\nin the light of sound and competent evidence, that\\nall this was accomplished. It was by the patient,\\nthe strenuous, the unfaltering application of the\\nlegitimate instruments of discovery. It was by\\ntouching that which was tangible, and looking to\\nthat which was visible, and computing that which\\nwas measurable, and, in one word, by making a\\nright and a reasonable use of all that proof which\\nthe field of nature around us has brought within the\\nlimit of sensible observation. This is the arena on\\nwhich the modern philosophy has won all her vic-\\ntories, and fulfilled all her wondrous achievements,\\nand reared all her proud and enduring monuments,\\nand gathered all her magnificent trophies, to that\\npower of intellect with which the hand of a bounte-\\nous heaven has so richly gifted the constitution of\\nour species.\\nBut, on the other hand, go beyond the limits of\\nsensible observation, and from that moment the\\ngenuine disciples of this enlightened school cast all", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0052.jp2"}, "53": {"fulltext": "THE MODESTY OF TRUE SCIENCE.\\n51\\ntheir confidence and all their intrepidity away from\\nthem. Keep them on the firm ground of experi-\\nment, and none more bold and more decisive in their\\nannouncements of all that they have evidence for\\nbut, off this ground, none more humble, or more cau-\\ntious of any thing like positive announcements, than\\nthey. They choose neither to know, nor to believe, nor\\nto assert, where evidence is wanting, and they will\\nsit, with all the patience of a scholar to his task, till\\nthey have found it. They are utter strangers to that\\nhaughty confidence with which some philosophers\\nof the day sport the plausibilities of unauthorized\\nspeculation, and by which, unmindful of the limit\\nthat separates the region of sense from the region\\nof conjecture, they make their blind and their im-\\npetuous inroads into a province which does not\\nbelong to them. There is no one object to which\\nthe exercised mind of a true, Newtonian disciple\\nis more familiarized than this limit, and it serves as\\na boundary by which he shapes, and bounds, and\\nregulates all the enterprises of his philosophy. All\\nthe space which lies within this limit he cultivates\\nto the uttermost and it is by such successive la-\\nbours, that every year which rolls over the world\\nis witnessing some new contribution to experimental\\nscience, and adding to the solidity and aggrandize-\\nment of this wonderful fabric. But if true to their\\nown principle, then, in reference to the forbidden\\nground which lies without this limit, those very men,\\nwho, on the field of warranted exertion, evinced all\\nthe hardihood and vigour of a full-grown under-\\nstanding, show, on every subject where the light of\\nevidence is withheld from them, all the modesty of", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0053.jp2"}, "54": {"fulltext": "52\\nTHE MODESTY OF TRUE SCIENCE.\\nchildren. They give us positive opinion only when\\nthey have indisputable proof but when they have\\nno such proof, then they have no such opinion. The\\nsingle principle of their respect to truth secures\\ntheir homage for every one position where the evi-\\ndence of truth is present, and at the same time be-\\ngets an entire diffidence about every one position\\nfrom which this evidence is disjoined. And thus\\nwe may understand how the first man in the accom-\\nplishments of philosophy, which the world ever saw,\\nsat at the book of nature in the humble attitude of\\nits interpreter and its pupil how all the docility of\\nconscious ignorance threw a sweet and softening-\\nlustre around the radiance even of his most splendid\\ndiscoveries and, while the flippancy of a few super-\\nficial acquirements is enough to place a philosopher\\nof the day on the pedestal of his fancied elevation,\\nand to vest him with an assumed lordship over the\\nwhole domain of natural and revealed knowledge,\\nwe cannot forbear to do honour to the unpretend-\\ning greatness of Newton, than whom we know not\\nif there ever lighted on the face of our world, one in\\nthe character of whose admirable genius so much\\nforce and so much humility were more attractively\\nblended.\\nI iioav propose to carry you forward, by a few\\nsimple illustrations, to the argument of this day.\\nAll the sublime truths of the modern astronomy lie\\nwithin the field of actual observation, and have the\\nfirm evidence to rest upon of all that information\\nwhich is conveyed to us by the avenue of the senses.\\nSir Isaac Newton never went beyond this field\\nwithout a reverential impression upon his mind of", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0054.jp2"}, "55": {"fulltext": "THE MODESTY OF TRUE SCIENCE.\\n53\\nthe precariousness of the ground on which he was\\nstanding. On this ground he never ventured a\\npositive affirmation but, resigning the lofty tone\\nof demonstration, and putting on the modesty of\\nconscious ignorance, he brought forward all he had\\nto say in the humble form of a doubt, or a conjecture,\\nor a question. But what he had not confidence\\nto do, other philosophers have done after him and\\nthey have winged their audacious way into forbidden\\nregions and they have crossed that circle by which\\nthe field of observation is enclosed and there have\\nthey debated and dogmatized with all the pride of\\na most intolerant assurance.\\nNow, though the case be imaginary, let us con-\\nceive, for the sake of illustration, that one of these\\nphilosophers made so extravagant a departure from\\nthe sobriety of experimental science, as to pass on\\nfrom the astronomy of the different planets, and to\\nattempt the natural history of their animal and vege-\\ntable kingdoms. He might get hold of some vague\\nand general analogies, to throw an air of plausibility\\naround his speculation. He might pass from the bo-\\ntany of the different regions of the globe that we\\ninhabit, and make his loose and confident applica-\\ntions to each of the other planets, according to its\\ndistance from the sun, and the inclination of its axis\\nto the plane of its annual revolution and out of\\nsome such slender materials, he might work up an\\namusing philosophical romance, full of ingenuity,\\nand having, withal, the colour of truth and of con-\\nsistency spread over it.\\nI can conceive how a superficial public might be\\ndelighted by the eloquence of such a composition,", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0055.jp2"}, "56": {"fulltext": "54\\nTHE MODESTY OF TRUE SCIENCE.\\nand even be impressed by its arguments but were\\nI asked, which is the man of all the ages and coun-\\ntries in the world, who would have the least respect\\nfor this treatise upon the plants which grow on the\\nsurface of Jupiter, I should be at no loss to answer\\nthe question. I should say, that it would be he who\\nhad computed the motions of Jupiter that it would\\nbe he who had measured the bulk and the density\\nof Jupiter that it would be he who had estimated\\nthe periods of Jupiter that it would be he whose\\nobservant eye and patiently calculating mind, had\\ntraced the satellites of Jupiter through all the rounds\\nof their mazy circulation, and unravelled the intri-\\ncacy of all their movements. He would see at once\\nthat the subject lay at a hopeless distance beyond\\nthe field of legitimate observation. It would be\\nquite enough for him, that it was beyond the range\\nof his telescope. On this ground, and on this ground\\nonly, would he reject it as one of the puniest imbe-\\ncilities of childhood. As to any character of truth\\nor of importance, it would have no more effect on\\nsuch a mind as that of Newton, than any illusion of\\npoetry and from the eminence of his intellectual\\nthrone, would he cast a penetrating glance at the\\nwhole speculation, and bid its gaudy insignificance\\naway from him.\\nBut let us pass onward to another case, which,\\nthough as imaginary as the former, may still serve\\nthe purpose of illustration.\\nThis same adventurous philosopher may be con-\\nceived to shift his speculation from the plants of\\nanother world, to the character of its inhabitants.\\nEe may avail himself of some slender corresponden-", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0056.jp2"}, "57": {"fulltext": "THE MODESTY OF TREE SCIENCE.\\n55\\ncies between the heat of the sun and the moral tem-\\nperament of the people it shines upon. He may\\nwork up a theory, which carries on the front of it\\nsome of the characters of plausibility; but surely it\\ndoes not require the philosophy of Newton to demon-\\nstrate the folly of such an enterprise. There is not\\na man of plain understanding, who does not perceive\\nthat this ambitious inquirer has got without his\\nreach that he has stepped beyond the field of ex-\\nperience, and is now expatiating on the field of ima-\\ngination that he has ventured on a dark unknown,\\nwhere the wisest of all philosophy is the philosophy\\nof silence, and a profession of ignorance is the best\\nevidence of a solid understanding that if he thinks\\nhe knows anything on such a subject as this, he\\nknoweth nothing yet as he ought to know/ He\\nknows not what Newton knew, and what he kept a\\nsteady eye upon throughout the whole march of his\\nsublime investigations. He knows not the limit of\\nhis own faculties. He has overleaped the barrier\\nwhich hems in all the possibilities of human attain-\\nment. He has wantonly flung himself off from the\\nsafe and firm field of observation, and got on that\\nundiscoverable ground, where, by every step he takes,\\nhe widens his distance from the true philosophy, and\\nby every affirmation he utters, he rebels against the\\nauthority of all its maxims.\\nI can conceive it to be your feeling, that I have\\nhitherto indulged in a vain expense of argument,\\nand it is most natural for you to put the question,\\nWhat is the precise point of convergence to which\\nI am directing all the light of this abundant and\\nseemingly superfluous illustration", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0057.jp2"}, "58": {"fulltext": "56\\nTHE MODESTY OF TRUE SCIENCE.\\nIn the astronomical objection which Infidelity has\\nproposed against the truth of the Christian revelation,\\nthere is first an assertion, and then an argument.\\nThe assertion is, that Christianity is set up for the\\nexclusive benefit of our minute and solitary world.\\nThe argument is, that God would not lavish such a\\nquantity of attention on so insignificant a field.\\nEven though the assertion were admitted, I should\\nhave a quarrel with the argument. But the futility\\nof the objection is not laid open in all its extent, un-\\nless we expose the utter want of all essential evidence\\neven for the truth of the assertion. How do infidels\\nknow that Christianity is set up for the single bene-\\nfit of this earth and its inhabitants How are they\\nable to tell us, that if you go to other planets, the\\nperson and the religion of Jesus are there unknown\\nto them We challenge them to the proof of this\\nannouncement. We see in this objection the same\\nrash and gratuitous procedure, which was so appa-\\nrent in the two cases that we have already advanced\\nfor the purpose of illustration. We see in it the same-\\nglaring transgression on the spirit and the maxims\\nof that very philosophy which they profess to idolize.\\nThey have made their argument against us, out of\\nan assertion which has positively no ascertained fact\\nto rest upon an assertion which they have no means\\nwhatever of verifying an assertion, the truth or the\\nfalsehood of which can only be gathered out of some\\nsupernatural message, for it lies completely beyond\\nthe range of human observation. It is willingly ad-\\nmitted, that by an attempt at the botany of other\\nworlds, the true method of philosophizing is trampled\\non for this is a subject that lies beyond the range", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0058.jp2"}, "59": {"fulltext": "THE MODEST Y OF TRUE SCIENCE.\\n57\\nof actual observation, and every performance upon\\nit must be made up of assertions without proofs. It\\nis also willingly admitted, that an attempt at the\\ncivil and political history of their people, would be\\nan equally extravagant departure from the spirit of\\nthe true philosophy for this also lies beyond the\\nfield of actual observation and all that could pos-\\nsibly be mustered up on such a subject as this, would\\nstill be assertions without proofs. Now, the theo-\\nlogy of these planets is, in every way, as inaccessible\\na subject as their politics or their natural history\\nand therefore it is, that the objection, grounded on\\nthe confident assumption of those infidel astronomers,\\nwho assert Christianity to be the religion of this one\\nworld, or that the religion of these other worlds is\\nnot our very Christianity, can have no influence on\\na mind that has derived its habits of thinking from\\nthe pure and rigorous school of Newton for the\\nwhole of this assertion is just as glaringly destitute\\nof proof, as in the two former instances.\\nThe man who could embark in an enterprise so\\nfoolish and so fanciful, as to theorize on the details\\nof the botany of another world, or to theorize on the\\nnatural and moral history of its people, is just making\\nas outrageous a departure from all sense, and all\\nscience, and all sobriety, when he presumes to specu-\\nlate, or to assert on the details or the methods of\\nGod s administration among its rational and account-\\nable inhabitants. He wings his fancy to as hazard-\\nous a region, and vainly strives a penetrating vision\\nthrough the mantle of as deep an obscurity. All\\nthe elements of such a speculation are hidden from\\nhim. For any thing he can tell, sin has found its", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0059.jp2"}, "60": {"fulltext": "58\\nTHE MODESTY OF TRUE SCIENCE.\\nway into these other worlds. For any thing lie can\\ntell, their people have banished themselves from\\ncommunion with God. For any thing he can tell,\\nmany a visit has been made to each of them, on the\\nsubject of our common Christianity, by commissioned\\nmessengers from the throne of the Eternal. For\\nany thing he can tell, the redemption proclaimed to\\nus is not one solitary instance, or not the whole of\\nthat redemption which is by the Son of God but\\nonly our part in a plan of mercy, equal in magnifi-\\ncence to all that astronomy has brought within the\\nrange of human contemplation. For any thing he\\ncan tell, the moral pestilence, which walks abroad\\nover the face of our world, may have spread its deso-\\nlations over all the planets of all the systems which\\nthe telescope has made known to us. For any thing\\nhe can tell, some mighty redemption has been de-\\nvised in heaven, to meet this disaster in the whole\\nextent and malignity of its visitations. For any\\nthing he can tell, the wonder-working God, who has\\nstrewed the field of immensity with so many wprlds,\\nand spread the shelter of His omnipotence over\\nthem, may have sent a message of love to each, and\\nre-assured the hearts of its despairing people by some\\noverpowering manifestation of tenderness. For any\\nthing he can tell, angels from paradise may have\\nsped to every planet their delegated way, and sung,\\nfrom each azure canopy, a joyful annunciation, and\\nsaid, Peace be to this residence, and goodwill to\\nall its families, and glory to Him in the highest, who,\\nfrom the eminency of his throne, has issued an act\\nof grace so magnificent, as to carry the tidings of\\nlife and of acceptance to the unnumbered orbs of a", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0060.jp2"}, "61": {"fulltext": "THE MODESTY OF TRUE SCIENCE.\\n59\\nsinful creation/ For any thing he can tell, the\\nEternal Son, of whom it is said, that by Him the\\nworlds were created, may have had the government\\nof many sinful worlds laid upon His shoulders and\\nby the power of His mysterious word, have awoke\\nthem all from that spiritual death, to which they\\nhad sunk in lethargy as profound as the slumbers of\\nnon-existence. For any thing he can tell, the one\\nSpirit who moved on the face of the waters, and\\nwhose presiding influence it was that hushed the\\nwild war of nature s elements, and made a beauteous\\nsystem emerge out of its disjointed materials, may\\nnow be working with the fragments of another chaos;\\nand educing order, and obedience, and harmony, out\\nof the wrecks of a moral rebellion, which reaches\\nthrough all these spheres, and spreads disorder to\\nthe uttermost limits of our astronomy.\\nBut here I stop nor shall I attempt to grope\\nfurther my dark and fatiguing way, among such\\nsublime and mysterious secrecies. It is not I who am\\noffering to lift this curtain. It is not I who am\\npitching my adventurous flight to the secret things\\nwhich belong to God, away from the things that are\\nrevealed, and which belong to us, and to our chil-\\ndren. It is the champion of that very Infidelity\\nwhich I am now combating. It is he who props his\\nunchristian argument, by presumptions fetched out\\nof those untravelled obscurities which lie on the\\nother side of a barrier that I pronounce to be im-\\npassable. It is he who transgresses the limits which\\nNewton forbore to enter because, with a justness\\nwhich reigns throughout all his inquiries, he saw the\\nlimit of his own understanding, nor would he venture", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0061.jp2"}, "62": {"fulltext": "60\\nTHE MODESTY OF TRUE SCIENCE.\\nhimself beyond it. It is he who has borrowed from\\nthe philosophy of this wondrous man a few dazzling\\nconceptions, which have only served to bewilder\\nhim while, an utter stranger to the spirit of this\\nphilosophy, he has carried a daring and an ignorant\\nspeculation far beyond the boundary of its prescribed\\nand allowable enterprises. It is he who has mus-\\ntered against the truths of the Gospel, resting as it\\ndoes on evidence within the reach of his faculties,\\nan objection, for the truth of which he has no evi-\\ndence whatever. It is he who puts away from him\\na doctrine, for which he has the substantial and the\\nfamiliar proof of human testimony and substitutes\\nin its place, a doctrine, for which he can get no other\\nsupport than from a reverie of his own imagination.\\nIt is he who turns aside from all that safe and cer-\\ntain argument, that is supplied by the history of\\nthis world, of which he knows something and who\\nloses himself in the work of theorizing about other\\nworlds, of the moral and theological history of which\\nhe positively knows nothing. Upon him, and not\\nupon us, lies the folly of launching his impetuous\\nway beyond the province of observation of letting\\nhis fancy afloat among the unknown of distant and\\nmysterious regions and, by an act of daring, as\\nimpious as it is unphilosophical, of trying to un-\\nwrap that shroud, which, till drawn aside by the\\nhand of a messenger from heaven, will ever veil, from\\nhuman eye, the purposes of the Eternal.\\nIf you have gone along with us in the preceding\\nobservations, you will perceive how they arc cal-\\nculated to disarm of all its point, and of all its\\nenergy, that flippancy of A r oltairc when, in the", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0062.jp2"}, "63": {"fulltext": "THE MOPE STY OF TRUE SCIENCE.\\n6]\\nexamples he gives of the dotage of the human un-\\nderstanding, he tells us of Bacon having believed\\nin witchcraft, and Sir Isaac Newton having writ-\\nten a commentary on the Book of Revelation.\\nThe former instance we shall not undertake to\\nvindicate but, in the latter instance, we perceive\\nwhat this brilliant and specious, but withal super-\\nficial apostle of Infidelity, either did not see, or\\nrefused to acknowledge. We see in this intellec-\\ntual labour of our great philosopher, the working\\nof the very same principles which carried him\\nthrough the profoundest and the most successful\\nof his investigations and how he kept most sa-\\ncredly and most consistently by those very maxims,\\nthe authority of which he, even in the full vigour\\nand manhood of his faculties, ever recognised.\\nWe see in the theology of Newton, the very spirit\\nand principle which gave all its stability, and all\\nits sureness, to the philosophy of Newton. We\\nsee the same tenacious adherence to every one\\ndoctrine, that had such valid proof to uphold it, as\\ncould be gathered from the field of human expe-\\nrience and we see the same firm resistance of\\nevery one argument, that had nothing to recom-\\nmend it, but such plausibilities as could easily be\\ndevised by the genius of man, when he expatiated\\nabroad on those fields of creation which the eye\\nnever witnessed, and from which no messenger ever\\ncame to us with any credible information. Now,\\nit was on the former of these two principles that\\nNewton clung so determinedly to his Bible, as the\\nrecord of an actual annunciation from God to the\\ninhabitants of this world. When he turned his", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0063.jp2"}, "64": {"fulltext": "THE MODESTY OF TRUE SCIENCE.\\nattention to this book, he came to it with a mind\\ntutored to the philosophy of facts and when lie\\nlooked at its credentials, he saw the stamp and the\\nimpress of this philosophy on every one of them.\\nHe saw the fact of Christ being a messenger from\\nheaven, in the audible language by which it was\\nconveyed from heaven s canopy to human ears.\\nHe saw the fact of his being an approved ambas-\\nsador of God, in those miracles which carried their\\nown resistless evidence along with them to human\\neyes. He saw the truth of this whole history\\nbrought home to his own conviction, by a sound\\nand substantial vehicle of human testimony. He\\nsaw the reality of that supernatural light, which\\ninspired the prophecies he himself illustrated, by\\nsuch an agreement with the events of a various\\nand distant futurity as could be taken cognizance\\nof by human observation. He saw the wisdom of\\nGrod pervading the whole substance of the written\\nmessage, in such manifold adaptations to the cir-\\ncumstances of man, and to the whole secrecy of\\nhis thoughts, and his affections, and his spiritual\\nwants, and his moral sensibilities, as even in the\\nmind of an ordinary and unlettered peasant, can\\nbe attested by human consciousness. These formed\\nthe solid materials of the basis on which our experi-\\nmental philosopher stood and there was nothing\\nin the whole compass of his own astronomy, to\\ndazzle him away from it and he was too well\\naware of the limit between what lie knew, and\\nwhat lie did not know, to be seduced from the\\nground he had taken, by any of those brilliancies,\\nwhich have since led so many of his humbler sue-", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0064.jp2"}, "65": {"fulltext": "THE MODESTY OF TRUE SCIENCE.\\n60\\ncessors into the track of Infidelity. He had mea-\\nsured the distances of these planets. He had cal-\\nculated their periods. He had estimated their\\nfigures, and their bulk, and their densities, and he\\nhad subordinated the whole intricacy of their move-\\nments to the simple and sublime agency of one\\ncommanding principle. But he had too much of\\nthe ballast of a substantial understanding about\\nhim, to be thrown afloat by all this success among\\nthe plausibilities of wanton and unauthorized spe-\\nculation. He knew the boundary which hemmed\\nhim. He knew that he had not thrown one par-\\nticle of light on the moral or religious history of\\nthese planetary regions. He had not ascertained\\nwhat visits of communication they received from\\nthe God who upholds them. But he knew that\\nthe fact of a real visit made to this planet, had\\nsuch evidence to rest upon, that it was not to be\\ndisposted by any aerial imagination. And when\\nI look at the steady and unmoved Christianity of\\nthis wonderful man, so far from seeing any symp-\\ntom of dotage and imbecility, or any forgetfulness\\nof those principles on which the fabric of his phi-\\nlosophy is reared do I see, that in sitting down\\nto the work of a Bible commentator, he hath given\\nus their most beautiful and most consistent ex-\\nemplification.\\nI did not anticipate such a length of time, and\\nof illustration, in this stage of my argument. But\\nI will not regret it, if I have familiarized the minds\\nof any of my readers to the reigning principle of\\nthis Discourse. We are strongly disposed to think,\\nthat it is a principle which might be made to apply", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0065.jp2"}, "66": {"fulltext": "64\\nTHE MODEST T OF TRUE SCIENCE.\\nto every argument of every unbeliever and so to\\nserve not merely as an antidote against the Infi-\\ndelity of astronomers, but to serve as an antidote\\nagainst all Infidelity. We are all aware of the\\ndiversity of complexion which Infidelity puts on.\\nIt looks one thing in the man of science and of\\nliberal accomplishment. It looks another thing\\nin the refined voluptuary. It looks still another\\nthing in the commonplace railer against the arti-\\nfices of priestly domination. It looks another thing\\nin the dark and unsettled spirit of him, whose every\\nreflection is tinctured with gall, and who casts his\\nenvious and malignant scowl at all that stands\\nassociated with the established order of society.\\nIt looks another thing in the prosperous man of\\nbusiness, who has neither time nor patience for\\nthe details of the Christian evidence but who,\\namid the hurry of his other occupations, has gath-\\nered so many of the lighter petulancies of the in-\\nfidel writers, and caught from the perusal of them\\nso contemptuous a tone towards the religion of\\nthe New Testament, as to set him at large from\\nall the decencies of religious observation, and to\\ngive him the disdain of an elevated complacenc}^\\nover all the follies of what he counts a vulgar su-\\nperstition. And, lastly for Infidelity has now got\\ndown amongst us to the humblest walks of life,\\nmay it occasionally be seen lowering on the forehead\\nof the resolute and hardy artificer, who can lift his\\nmenacing voice against the priesthood, and, look-\\ning on the Bible as a jugglery of theirs, can bid\\nstout defiance to all its denunciations. Now, under\\nall these varieties, we think that there might be", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0066.jp2"}, "67": {"fulltext": "THE MODESTY OF TRUE SCIENCE.\\n05\\ndetected the one and universal principle which we\\nhave attempted to expose. The something, what-\\never it is, which has dispossessed all these people\\nof their Christianity, exists in their minds, in the\\nshape of a position, which they hold to be true,\\nbut which, by no legitimate evidence, they have\\never realized and a position, which lodges within\\nthem as a wilful fancy or presumption of their own,\\nbut which could not stand the touchstone of that\\nwise and solid principle, in virtue of which the fol-\\nlowers of Newton give to observation the prece-\\ndence over theory. It is a principle altogether\\nworthy of being laboured as, if carried round in\\nfaithful and consistent application amongst these\\nnumerous varieties, it is able to break up all the\\nexisting Infidelity of the world.\\nBut there is one other most important conclusion\\nto which it carries us. It carries us, with all the\\ndocility of children, to the Bible and puts us down\\ninto the attitude of an unreserved surrender of\\nthought and understanding, to its authoritative in-\\nformation. Without the testimony of an authentic\\nmessenger from Heaven, I know nothing of Heaven s\\ncounsels. I never heard of any moral telescope that\\ncan bring to my observation the doings or the de-\\nliberations which are taking place in the sanctuary\\nof the Eternal. I may put into the registers of my\\nbelief, all that comes home to me through the senses\\nof the outer man, or by the consciousness of the\\ninner man. But neither the one nor the other can\\ntell me of the purposes of God can tell me of the\\ntransactions or the designs of His sublime monarchy\\ncan tell me of the goings forth of Him who is from\\n7 E", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0067.jp2"}, "68": {"fulltext": "66\\nTHE MODESTY OF TRUE SCIENCE.\\neverlasting unto everlasting can tell me of the\\nmarch and the movements of that great administra-\\ntion which embraces all worlds, and takes into its\\nwide and comprehensive survey the mighty roll of\\ninnumerable ages. It is true that my fancy may\\nbreak its impetuous way into this lofty and in-\\naccessible field and, through the devices of my heart,\\nwhich are many, the visions of an ever -shifting theo-\\nlogy may take their alternate sway over me but\\nthe counsel of the Lord, it shall stand. And I repeat\\nit, that if true to the leading principle of that\\nphilosophy which has poured such a flood of light\\nover the mysteries of nature, we shall dismiss every\\nself-formed conception of our own, and wait, in all\\nthe humility of conscious ignorance, till the Lord\\nhimself shall break His silence, and make His coun-\\nsel known by an act of communication. And now,\\nthat a professed communication is before me, and\\nthat it has all the solidity of the experimental\\nevidence on its side, and nothing but the reveries\\nof a daring speculation to oppose it, what is the con-\\nsistent, what is the rational, what is the philosophical\\nuse that should be made of this document, but to\\nset me down like a school-boy to the work of turn-\\ning its pages, and conning its lessons, and submitting\\nthe every exercise of my judgment to its information\\nand its testimony We know that there is a su-\\nperficial philosophy which casts the glare of a most\\nseducing brilliancy around it and spurns the Bible,\\nwith all the doctrine and nil the piety of the Bible,\\naway from it and has infused the spirit of Anti-\\nchrist into many of the literary establishments of\\nthe age but it is not the solid, the profound, the", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0068.jp2"}, "69": {"fulltext": "THE MODESTY OF TRUE SCIENCE.\\nG7\\ncautious spirit of that philosophy which has done so\\nmuch to ennoble the modern period of our world\\nfor the more that this spirit is cultivated and under-\\nstood, the more will it be found in alliance with\\nthat spirit in virtue of which all that exalteth itself\\nagainst the knowledge of God is humbled, and all\\nlofty imaginations are cast down, and every thought\\nof the heart is brought into the captivity of the\\nobedience of Christ.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0069.jp2"}, "70": {"fulltext": "68\\nTHE EXTENT OF THE\\nDISCOURSE III.\\nON THE EXTENT OF THE DIVINE CONDESCENSION\\nWho is like unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high, who\\nhumbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in\\nthe earth Psalm cxiii. 5, 6.\\nIn our last Discourse, we attempted to expose the\\ntotal want of evidence for the assertion of the infidel\\nastronomer and this reduces the whole of our re-\\nmaining controversy with him to the business of\\narguing against a mere possibility. Still, however,\\nthe answer is not so complete as it might be, till\\nthe soundness of the argument be attended to, as\\nwell as the credibility of the assertion or, in other\\nwords, let us admit the assertion, and take a view of\\nthe reasoning which has been constructed upon it.\\nWe have already attempted to lay before you the\\nwonderful extent of that space, teeming with un-\\nnumbered worlds, which modern science has brought\\nwithin the circle of its discoveries. We even ven-\\ntured to expatiate on those tracts of infinity which\\nlie on the other side of all that eye or that telescope\\nhath made known to us to shoot afar into those\\nulterior regions which are beyond the limits of our\\nastronomy to impress you with the rashness of the\\nimagination, that the creative energy of God had\\nsunk exhausted by the magnitude of its efforts, at", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0070.jp2"}, "71": {"fulltext": "DIVINE CONDESCENSION.\\n69\\nthat very line, through which the art of man, lavished\\nas it has been on the work of perfecting the instru-\\nments of vision, has not yet been able to penetrate\\nand upon all this we hazarded the assertion, that\\nthough all these visible heavens were to rush into\\nannihilation, and the besom of the Almighty s wrath\\nwere to sweep from the face of the universe those\\nmillions and millions more of suns and of systems\\nwhich lie within the grasp of our actual observation\\nthat this event, which, to our eye, would leave so\\nwide and so dismal a solitude behind it, might be\\nnothing in the eye of Him who could take in the\\nwhole, but the disappearance of a little speck from\\nthat field of created things, which the hand of His\\nomnipotence had thrown around him.\\nBut to press home the sentiment of the text, it is\\nnot necessary to stretch the imagination beyond the\\nlimit of our actual discoveries. It is enough to\\nstrike our minds with the insignificance of this world,\\nand of all wdio inhabit it, to bring it into measure-\\nment with that mighty assemblage of worlds which\\nlie open to the eye of man, aided as it has been by\\nthe inventions of his genius. When we told you\\nof the eighty millions of suns, each occupying his\\nown independent territory in space, and dispensing\\nhis own influences over a clusterof tributary worlds\\nthis world could not fail to sink into littleness in the\\neye of him, who looked to all the magnitude and\\nvariety which are around it. We gave you but a\\nfeeble image of our comparative insignificance, when\\nwe said, that the glories of an extended forest would\\nsuffer no more from the fall of a single leaf, than\\nthe glories of this extended universe would suffer", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0071.jp2"}, "72": {"fulltext": "70\\nTHE EXTENT OF THE\\nthough the globe we tread upon, and all that it\\ninherits, should dissolve/ And when we lift our\\nconceptions to Him who has peopled immensity\\nwith all these wonders who sits enthroned on the\\nmagnificence of His own works, and by one sublime\\nidea can embrace the whole extent of that boundless\\namplitude, which He has filled with the trophies of\\nHis divinity we cannot but resign our whole heart\\nto the Psalmist s exclamation of What is man,\\nthat thou art mindful of him or the son of man,\\nthat thou shouldst deign to visit him I 3\\nNow, mark the use to which all this has been\\nturned by the genius of Infidelity. Such an humble\\nportion of the universe as ours could never have\\nbeen the object of such high and distinguishing at-\\ntentions as Christianity has assigned to it. God\\nwould not have manifested Himself in the flesh for\\nthe salvation of so paltry a world. The monarch\\nof a whole continent would never move from his\\ncapital, and lay aside the splendour of royalty, and\\nsubject himself for months, or for years, to perils,\\nand poverty, and persecution, and take up his abode\\nin some small islet of his dominions, which, though\\nswallowed by an earthquake, could not be missed\\namid the glories of so wide an empire and all this\\nto regain the lost affections of a few families upon\\nits surface. And neither would the eternal Son of\\nGod He who is revealed to us as having made all\\nworlds, and as holding an empire, amid the splen-\\ndours of which the globe that we inherit is shaded\\nin insignificance neither would He strip Himself\\nof the glory He had with the Father before the world\\nwas, and light on this lower scene for the purpose", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0072.jp2"}, "73": {"fulltext": "DIVINE CONDESCENSION.\\n71\\nimputed to Him in the New Testament. Impossible,\\nthat the concerns of this puny ball, which floats its\\nlittle round among an infinity of larger worlds, should\\nbe of such mighty account in the plans of the Eternal,\\nor should have given birth in heaven to so wonder-\\nful a movement, as the Son of Grod putting on the\\nform of our degraded species, and sojourning amongst\\nus, and sharing in all our infirmities, and crowning\\nthe whole scene of humiliation by the disgrace and\\nthe agonies of a cruel martyrdom.\\nThis has been started as a difficulty in the way of\\nthe Christian Revelation and it is the boast of\\nmany of our philosophical Infidels, that, by the light\\nof modern discovery, the light of the New Testament\\nis eclipsed and overborne and the mischief is not\\nconfined to philosophers, for the argument has got\\ninto other hands, and the popular illustrations that\\nare now given to the sublimest truths of science,\\nhave widely disseminated all the Deism that has\\nbeen grafted upon it and the high tone of a decided\\ncontempt for the Gospel is now associated with the\\nflippancy of superficial acquirements and while\\nthe venerable Newton, whose genius threw open\\nthose mighty fields of contemplation, found a fit ex-\\nercise for his powers in the interpretation of the\\nBible, there are thousands and tens of thousands,\\nwho, though walking in the light which he holds out\\nto them, are seduced by a complacency which he\\nnever felt, and inflated by a pride which never en-\\ntered into his pious and philosophical bosom, and\\nwhose only notice of the Bible is to depreciate, and\\nto deride, and to disown it.\\nBefore entering into what we conceive to be the", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0073.jp2"}, "74": {"fulltext": "72\\nTHE EXTENT OF THE\\nright answer to this objection, let us previously ob-\\nserve, that it goes to strip the Deity of an attribute\\nwhich forms a wonderful addition to the glories of\\nhis incomprehensible character. It is indeed a\\nmighty evidence of the strength of His arm, that so\\nmany millions of worlds are suspended on it but\\nit would surely make the high attribute of His power\\nmore illustrious, if, while it expatiatedat large among\\nthe suns and the systems of astronomy, it could, at\\nthe very same instant, be impressing a movement\\nand a direction on all the minuter wheels of that\\nmachinery which is working incessantly around us.\\nIt forms a noble demonstration of His wisdom, that\\nHe gives unremitting operation to those laws which\\nuphold the stability of this great universe but it\\nwould go to heighten that wisdom inconceivably, if,\\nwhile equal to the magnificent task of maintaining\\nthe order and harmony of the spheres, it was la-\\nvishing its inexhaustible resources on the beauties,\\nand varieties, and arrangements, of every one scene,\\nhowever humble, of everyone field, however narrow,\\nof the creation He had formed. It is a cheering\\nevidence of the delight He takes in communicating\\nhappiness, that the whole of immensity should be so\\nstrewed with the habitations of life and of intelli-\\ngence but it would surely bring home the evidence\\nwith a nearer and a more affecting impression to\\nevery bosom, did we know, that at the very time His\\nbenignant regard took in the mighty circle of created\\nbeings, there was not a single family overlooked by\\nHim, and that every individual in every corner of\\nHis dominions was as effectually scon to, as if the\\nobject of an exclusive and undivided care. It is our", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0074.jp2"}, "75": {"fulltext": "DIVINE CONDESCENSION.\\n73\\nimperfection, that we cannot give our attention to\\nmore than one object at one and the same instant\\nof time but surely it would elevate our every idea\\nof the perfections of God, did we know, that while\\nHis comprehensive mind could grasp the whole am-\\nplitude of nature, to the very outermost of its\\nboundaries, He had an attentive eye fastened on the\\nvery humblest of its objects, and pondered every\\nthought of my heart, and noticed every footstep of\\nmy goings, and treasured up in His remembrance\\nevery turn and every movement of my history.\\nAnd, lastly, to apply this train of sentiment to\\nthe matter before us, let us suppose that one among\\nthe countless myriads of worlds should be visited\\nby a moral pestilence, which spread through all its\\npeople, and brought them under the doom of a law\\nwhose sanctions were unrelenting and immutable\\nit were no disparagement to God, should He, by an\\nact of righteous indignation, sweep this offence away\\nfrom the universe which it deformed nor should\\nwe wonder, though, among the multitude of other\\nworlds, from which the ear of the Almighty was re-\\ngaled with the songs of praise, and the incense of a\\npure adoration ascended to His throne, He should\\nleave the strayed and solitary world to perish in the\\nguilt of its rebellion. But, would it not throw the\\nsoftening of a most exquisite tenderness over the\\ncharacter of God, should we see Him putting forth\\nHis every expedient to reclaim to Himself those\\nchildren who had wandered away from Him and,\\nfew as they were when compared with the host of\\nHis obedient worshippers, would it not just impart\\nto his attribute of compassion the infinity of the", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0075.jp2"}, "76": {"fulltext": "74\\nTHE EXTENT OF THE\\nGodhead, that rather than lose the single world\\nwhich had turned to its own way, He should send\\nthe messengers of peace to woo and to welcome it\\nback again and, if justice demanded so mighty a\\nsacrifice, and the law behoved to be so magnified and\\nmade honourable, would it not throw a moral sublime\\nover the goodness of the Deity, should He lay upon\\nHis own Son the burden of its atonement, that He\\nmight again smile upon the world, and hold out the\\nsceptre of invitation to all its families\\nWe avow it, therefore, that this infidel argument\\ngoes to expunge a perfection from the character of\\nGod. The more we know of the extent of nature,\\nshould not we have the loftier conception of Him\\nwho sits in high authority over the concerns of so\\nwide a universe But is it not adding to the bright\\ncatalogue of his other attributes, to say, that while\\nmagnitude does not overpower Him, minuteness can-\\nnot escape Him, and variety cannot bewilder Him,\\nand that, at the very time while the mind of the\\nDeity is abroad over the whole vastness of creation,\\nthere is not one particle of matter, there is not one\\nindividual principle of rational or of animal exist-\\nence, there is not one single world in that expanse\\nwhich teems with them, that His eye does not dis-\\ncern as constantly, and His hand does not guide as\\nunerringly, and His Spirit does not watch and care\\nfor as vigilantly, as if it formed the one and exclu-\\nsive object of His attention?\\nThe thing is inconceivable to us, whose minds are\\nso easily distracted by a number of objects, and this\\nis the secret principle of the whole Infidelity I am\\nnow alluding to. To bring God to the level of our", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0076.jp2"}, "77": {"fulltext": "DIVINE CONDESCENSION.\\n75\\nown comprehension, we would clothe him in the im-\\npotency of a man. We would transfer to his won-\\nderful mind all the imperfection of our own faculties.\\nWhile we are taught by astronomy, that He has\\nmillions of worlds to look after, and thus add in one\\ndirection to the glories of His character we take\\naway from them in another, by saying, that each of\\nthese worlds must be looked after imperfectly. The\\nuse that we make of a discovery, which should\\nheighten our every conception of God, and humble\\nus into the sentiment, that a Being of such mysteri-\\nous elevation is to us unfathomable, is to sit in judg-\\nment over Him, and to pronounce such a judgment\\nas degrades Him, and keeps Him down to the stand-\\nard of our own paltry imagination We are intro-\\nduced by modern science to a multitude of other suns\\nand of other systems and the perverse interpretation\\nwe put upon the fact, that God can diffuse the bene-\\nfits of His power and of His goodness over such a\\nvariety of worlds, is, that He cannot, or will not,\\nbestow so much goodness on one of those worlds, as\\na professed revelation from Heaven has announced\\nto us. While we enlarge the provinces of His em-\\npire, we tarnish all the glory of this enlargement, by\\nsaying, He has so much to care for, that the care of\\nevery one province must be less complete, and less\\nvigilant, and less effectual, than it would otherwise\\nhave been. By the discoveries of modern science,\\nwe multiply the places of the creation but along\\nwith this, we would impair the attribute of His eye\\nbeing in every place to behold the evil and the good\\nand thus, while we magnify one of His perfections,\\nwe do it at the expense of another and, to bring", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0077.jp2"}, "78": {"fulltext": "76\\nTHE EXTENT OF THE\\nHim within the grasp of our feeble capacity, we\\nwould deface one of the glories of that character,\\nwhich it is our part to adore, as higher than all\\nthought, and as greater than all comprehension.\\nThe objection we are discussing, I shall state again\\nin a single sentence. Since astronomy has unfold-\\ned to us such a number of worlds, it is not likely\\nthat God would pay so much attention to this one\\nworld, and set up such wonderful provisions for its\\nbenefit, as are announced to us in the Christian\\nRevelation. This objection will have received its\\nanswer, if we can meet it by the following position\\nthat God, in addition to the bare faculty of dwell-\\ning on a multiplicity of objects at one and the same\\ntime, has this faculty in such wonderful perfection,\\nthat He can attend as fully, and provide as richly,\\nand manifest all His attributes as illustriously, on\\nevery one of these objects, as if the rest had no exist-\\nence, and no place whatever in His government or\\nin His thoughts.\\nFor the evidence of this position, we appeal, in the\\nfirst place, to the personal history of each individual\\namong you. Only grant us, that God never loses\\nsight of any one thing He has created, and that no\\ncreated thing can continue either to be, or to act\\nindependently of Him and then, even upon the face\\nof this world, humble as it is on the great scale of\\nastronomy, how widely diversified, and how multi-\\nplied into many thousand distinct exercises, is the\\nattention of God His eye is upon every hour of\\nmy existence. His spirit is intimately present with\\nevery thought of my heart. His inspiration gives\\nbirth to every purpose within me. His hand im-", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0078.jp2"}, "79": {"fulltext": "DIVINE CONDESCENSION.\\n77\\npresses a direction on every footstep of my goings.\\nEvery breath I inhale, is drawn by an energy which\\nGod deals out to me. This body, which, upon the\\nslightest derangement, would become the prey of\\ndeath, or of woful suffering, is now at ease, because\\nHe at this moment is warding off from me a thou-\\nsand dangers, and upholding the thousand move-\\nments of its complex and delicate machinery. His\\npresiding influence keeps by me through the whole\\ncurrent of my restless and everchanging history.\\nWhen I walk by the wayside, He is along with me.\\nWhen I enter into company, amid all my forgetful-\\nness of Him, He never forgets me. In the silent\\nwatches of the night when my eyelids have closed,\\nand my spirit has sunk into unconsciousness, the\\nobservant eye of Him who never slumbers is upon\\nme. I cannot fly from His presence. Go where I\\nwill, He tends me, and watches me, and cares for\\nme and the same Being who is now at work in the\\nremotest domains of Nature and of Providence, is also\\nat my right hand to eke out to me every moment of\\nmy being, and to uphold me in the exercise of all\\nmy feelings, and of all my faculties.\\nNow, what God is doing with me, He is doing\\nwith every distinct individual of this world s popu-\\nlation. The intimacy of His presence, and atten-\\ntion, and care, reaches to one and to all of them.\\nWith a mind unburdened by the vastness of all its\\nother concerns, He can prosecute, without distrac-\\ntion, the government and guardianship of every\\none son and daughter of the species. And is it\\nfor us in the face of all this experience, ungrate-\\nfully to draw a limit around the perfections of God", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0079.jp2"}, "80": {"fulltext": "78\\nTHE EXTENT OF THE\\nto aver, that the multitude of other worlds has\\nwithdrawn any portion of His benevolence from\\nthe one we occupy or that He, whose eye is upon\\nevery separate family of the earth, would not lavish\\nall the riches of His unsearchable attributes on\\nsome high plan of pardon and immortality in behaf\\nof its countless generations\\nBut, secondly, were the mind of God so fatigued,\\nand so occupied with the care of other worlds, as\\nthe objection presumes Him to be, should we not\\nsee some traces of neglect or of carelessness in\\nHis management of ours Should we not behold,\\nin many a field of observation, the evidence of its\\nmaster being over-crowded with the variety of His\\nother engagements A man oppressed by a mul-\\ntitude of business, would simplify and reduce the\\nwork of any new concern that was devolved upon\\nhim. Now, point out a single mark of God being\\nthus oppressed. Astronomy has laid open to us\\nso many realms of creation, which were before un-\\nheard of, that the world we inhabit shrinks into\\none remote and solitary province of His wide\\nmonarchy. Tell us then, if, in any one field of\\nthis province which man has access to, you witness\\na single indication of God sparing Himself of\\nGod reduced to languor by the weight of His\\nother employments of God sinking under the\\nburden of that vast superintendence which lies\\nupon him of God being exhausted, as one of our-\\nselves would be, by any number of concerns, how-\\never great, by any variety of them, however mani-\\nfold and do you not perceive, in that mighty\\nprofusion of wisdom and of goodness, which is", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0080.jp2"}, "81": {"fulltext": "DIVINE CONDESCENSION.\\n79\\nscattered everywhere around us, that the thoughts\\nof this unsearchable Being are not as our thoughts,\\nnor his ways as our ways\\nMy time does not suffer me to dwell on this\\ntopic, because, before I conclude, I must hasten\\nto another illustration. But when I look abroad\\non the wondrous scene that is immediately before\\nme and see that in every direction it is a scene\\nof the most various and unwearied activity and\\nexpatiate on all the beauties of that garniture by\\nwhich it is adorned, and on all the prints of design\\nand of benevolence which abound in it and think\\nthat the same God who holds the universe with its\\nevery system in the hollow of His hand, pencils\\nevery flower, and gives nourishment to every blade\\nof grass, and actuates the movements of every liv-\\ning thing, and is not disabled, by the weight of\\nHis other cares, from enriching the humble depart-\\nment of nature I occupy with charms and accom-\\nmodations of the most unbounded variety then,\\nsurely if a message, bearing every mark of authen-\\nticity, should profess to come to me from God,\\nand inform me of His mighty doings for the happi-\\nness of our species, it is not for me, in the face of\\nall this evidence, to reject it as a tale of imposture,\\nbecause astronomers have told me that He has so\\nmany other worlds and other orders of beings to\\nattend to, and, when I think that it were a depo-\\nsition of Him from His supremacy over the crea-\\ntures He has formed, should a single sparrow fall\\nto the ground without His appointment, then let\\nscience and sophistry try to cheat me of my com-\\nfort as they may I will not let go the anchor of", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0081.jp2"}, "82": {"fulltext": "80\\nTHE EXTENT OF THE\\nmy confidence in God I will not be afraid, for I\\nam of more value than many sparrows.\\nBut, thirdly, it was the telescope, that, by pier-\\ncing the obscurity which lies between us and distant\\nworlds, put Infidelity in possession of the argument\\nagainst which we are now contending. But, about\\nthe time of its invention, another instrument was\\nformed which laid open a scene no less wonderful,\\nand rewarded the inquisitive spirit of man with a\\ndiscovery which serves to neutralize the whole of\\nthis argument. This was the microscope. The one\\nled me to see a system in every star. The other\\nleads me to see a world in every atom. The one\\ntaught me, that this mighty globe, with the whole\\nburden of its people and of its countries, is but a\\ngrain of sand on the high field of immensity. The\\nother teaches me, that every grain of sand may\\nharbour within it the tribes and the families of a\\nbusy population. The one told me of the insigni-\\nficance of the world I tread upon. The other re-\\ndeems it from all its insignificance for it tells me\\nthat in the leaves of every forest, and in the flowers\\nof every garden, and in the waters of every rivulet,\\nthere are worlds teeming with life, and numberless\\nas are the glories of the firmament. The one has\\nsuggested to me, that beyond and above all that\\nis visible to man, there may lie fields of creation\\nwhich sweep immeasurably along, and carry the\\nimpress of the Almighty s hand to the remotest\\nscenes of the universe. The other suggests to me,\\nthat within and beneath all that minuteness which\\nthe aided eye of man lias been able to explore,\\nthere may lie a region of invisibles and that, could", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0082.jp2"}, "83": {"fulltext": "DIVINE CONDESCENSION.\\n81\\nwe draw aside the mysterious curtain which shrouds\\nit from our senses, we might there see a theatre\\nof as many wonders as astronomy has unfolded, a\\nuniverse within the compass of a point so small,\\nas to elude all the powers of the microscope, but\\nwhere the wonder-working God finds room for\\nthe exercise of all His attributes, where He can\\nraise another mechanism of worlds, and fill and\\nanimate them all with the evidences of His glory.\\nNow, mark how all this may be made to meet the\\nargument of our infidel astronomers. By the tele-\\nscope, they have discovered that no magnitude, how-\\never vast, is beyond the grasp of the Divinity. But\\nby the microscope, we have also discovered that no\\nminuteness, however shrunk from the notice of the\\nhuman eye, is beneath the condescension of His re-\\ngard. Every addition to the powers of the one in-\\nstrument, extends the limit of His visible dominions.\\nBut by every addition to the powers of the other in-\\nstrument, we see each part of them more crowded\\nthan before with the wonders of His unwearying\\nhand. The one is constantly widening the circle of\\nHis territory. The other is as constantly filling up\\nits separate portions w T ith all that is rich and vari-\\nous and exquisite. In a word, by the one I am told\\nthat the Almighty is now at work in regions more\\ndistant than geometry has ever measured, and among\\nworlds more manifold than numbers have ever\\nreached. But, by the other, I am also told, that\\nwith a mind to comprehend the whole, in the vast\\ncompass of its generality, He has also a mind to\\nconcentrate a close and a separate attention on each\\nand on all of its particulars and that the same\\n7 p", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0083.jp2"}, "84": {"fulltext": "82\\nTHE EXTENT OF THE\\nGod, who sends forth an upholding influence among\\nthe orbs and the movements of astronomy, can fill\\nthe recesses of every single atom with the intimacy\\nof His presence, and travel, in all the greatness of\\nHis unimpaired attributes, upon every one spot\\nand corner of the universe He has formed. They,\\ntherefore, who think that God will not put forth\\nsuch a power, and such a goodness, and such a con-\\ndescension in behalf of this world, as are ascribed to\\nHim in the New Testament, because He has so\\nmany other w r orlds to attend to, think of Him as a\\nman. They confine their view to the informations\\nof the telescope, and forget altogether the informa-\\ntions of the other instrument. They only find room\\nin their minds for His one attribute of a large and\\ngeneral superintendence and keep out of their re-\\nmembrance the equally impressive proofs we have for\\nHis other attribute, of a minute and multiplied\\nattention to all that diversity of operations, where\\nit is He that worketh all in all. And when I think\\nthat as one of the instruments of philosophy has\\nheightened our every impression of the first of\\nthese attributes, so another instrument has no less\\nheightened our impression of the second of them\\nthen I can no longer resist the conclusion, that it\\nwould be a transgression of sound argument, as well\\nas a daring of impiety, to draw a limit around the\\ndoings of this unsearchable God and should a pro-\\nfessed revelation from heaven tell mc of an act of\\ncondescension in behalf of some separate world, so\\nwonderful that angels desired to look into it, and\\nthe Eternal Son had to move from His scat of glory\\nto carry it into accomplishment, all I ask is the cvi-", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0084.jp2"}, "85": {"fulltext": "DIVINE CONDESCENSION.\\ndence of such a revelation for, let it tell me as\\nmuch as it may of God letting himself down for the\\nbenefit of one single province of His dominions, this\\nis no more than what I see lying scattered, in\\nnumberless examples before me and running\\nthrough the whole line of my recollections and\\nmeeting me in every walk of observation to which I\\ncan betake myself and, now that the microscope\\nhas unveiled the wonders of another region, I see\\nstrewed around me, with a profusion which baffles\\nmy every attempt to comprehend it, the evidence\\nthat there is no one portion of the universe of God\\ntoo minute for His notice, nor too humble for the\\nvisitations of His care.\\nAs the end of all these illustrations, let me bestow\\na single paragraph on what I conceive to be the\\nprecise state of this argument.\\nIt is a wonderful thing that God should be so\\nunencumbered by the concerns of a whole universe,\\nthat He can give a constant attention to every\\nmoment of every individual in this world s popu-\\nlation. But, wonderful as it is, you do not hesitate\\nto admit it as true, on the evidence of your own re-\\ncollections. It is a wonderful thing that He, whose\\neye is at every instant on so many worlds, should\\nhave peopled the world we inhabit with all the traces\\nof the varied design and benevolence which abound\\nin it. But great as the wonder is, you do not allow\\nso much as the shadow of improbability to darken\\nit, for its reality is what you actually witness, and\\nyou never think of questioning the evidence of ob-\\nservation. It is wonderful, it is passing wonderful,\\nthat the same God, whose presence is diffused", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0085.jp2"}, "86": {"fulltext": "84\\nTHE EXTENT OF THE\\nthrough immensity, and who spreads the ample\\ncanopy of His administration over all its dwelling\\nplaces, should, with an energy as fresh and as unex-\\npended, as if He had only begun the work of creation,\\nturn Him to the neighbourhood around us, and\\nlavish on its every hand-breadth all the exuberance\\nof His goodness, and crowd it with the many thou-\\nsand varieties of conscious existence. But, be the\\nwonder incomprehensible as it m y, you do not\\nsuffer in your mind the burden of a single doubt to\\nlie upon it, because you do not, question the report\\nof the microscope. You do not refuse its informa-\\ntion, nor turn away from it as an incompetent channel\\nof evidence. But to bring it still nearer to the\\npoint at issue, there are many who never looked\\nthrough a microscope, but who rest an implicit faith\\nin all its revelations and upon what evidence, I\\nwould ask Upon the evidence of testimony upon\\nthe credit they give to the authors of the books they\\nhave read, and the belief they put in the record of\\ntheir observations. Now, at this point I make my\\nstand. It is wonderful that God should be so in-\\nterested in the redemption of a single world, as to\\nsend forth his well-beloved Son upon the errand\\nand He, to accomplish it, should, mighty to save,\\nput forth all His strength, and travail in the great-\\nness of it. But such wonders as these have already\\nmultiplied upon you and when evidence is given\\nof their truth, you have resigned your every judg-\\nment of the unsearchable God, and rested in the\\nfaith of them. I demand, in the name of sound and\\nconsistent philosophy, that you do the same in the\\nmatter before us and take it up as a question of", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0086.jp2"}, "87": {"fulltext": "DIVINE CONDESCENSION.\\n85\\nevidence and examine that medium of testimony\\nthrough which the miracles and informations of the\\nGospel have come to your door and go not to admit\\nas argument here, what would not be admitted as\\nargument in any of the analogies of nature and ob-\\nservation and take along with you in this field of in-\\nquiry, a lesson which you should have learned upon\\nother fields even the depth of the riches both of the\\nwisdom and the knowledge of God, that His judgments\\nare unsearchable, and His ways are past finding out.\\nI do not enter at all into the positive evidence for\\nthe truth of the Christian Revelation, my single aim\\nat present being to dispose of one of the objections\\nwhich is conceived to stand in the way of it. Let\\nme suppose then, that this is done to the satisfaction\\nof a philosophical inquirer and that the evidence\\nis sustained and that the same mind that is\\nfamiliarized to all the sublimities of natural science,\\nand has been in the habit of contemplating God in\\nassociation with all the magnificence which is around\\nhim, shall be brought to submit its thoughts to the\\ncaptivity of the doctrine of Christ. Oh with what\\nveneration, and gratitude, and wonder, should he\\nlook on the descent of Him into this lower world,\\nwho made all these things, and without whom was\\nnot any thing made that was made. What a\\ngrandeur does it throw over every step in the re-\\ndemption of a fallen world, to think of its being done\\nby Him who unrobed Him of the glories of so wide\\na monarchy, and came to this humblest of its pro-\\nvinces, in the disguise of a servant, and took upon\\nHim the form of our degraded species, and let Him-\\nself down to sorrows and to sufferings and to death", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0087.jp2"}, "88": {"fulltext": "THE EXTENT OF THE\\nfor us In this love of an expiring Saviour to those\\nfor whom in agony He poured out His soul, there is\\na height, and a depth, and a length, and a breadth,\\nmore than I can comprehend and let me never\\nfrom this moment neglect so great a salvation, or\\nlose my hold of an atonement, made sure by Him\\nwho cried that it was finished, and brought in an\\neverlasting righteousness. It was not the visit of\\nan empty parade that He made to us. It was for\\nthe accomplishment of some substantial purpose\\nand if that purpose is announced, and stated to\\nconsist in His dying the just for the unjust, that He\\nmight bring us unto God, let us never doubt of our\\nacceptance in that way of communication with our\\nFather in heaven, which He hath opened and made\\nknown to us. In taking to that way, let us follow\\nHis every direction, with that humility which a sense\\nof all this wonderful condescension is fitted to inspire.\\nLet us forsake all that He bids us forsake. Let\\nus do all that He bids us do. Let us give ourselves\\nup to His guidance with the docility of children over-\\npowered by a kindness that we never merited, and\\na love that is unquelled by all the perverseness\\nand all the ingratitude of our stubborn nature for\\nwhat shall we render unto Him for such mysterious\\nbenefits to him who has thus been mindful of us\\nto him who thus has deigned to visit us?\\nBut the whole of this argument is not yet exhaust-\\ned. We have scarcely entered on the defence that\\nis commonly made against the plea which Infidelity\\nrests on the wonderful extent of the universe of God,\\nand the insignificancy of our assigned portion of it.\\nHie way in which we have attempted to dispose of", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0088.jp2"}, "89": {"fulltext": "DIVINE CONDESCENSION.\\n87\\nthis plea, is by insisting on the evidence that is every-\\nwhere around ns of God combining, with the large-\\nness of a vast and mighty superintendence, which\\nreaches the outskirts of creation, and spreads over-\\nall its amplitudes the faculty of bestowing as much\\nattention, and exercising as complete and manifold\\na wisdom, and lavishing as profuse and inexhaustible\\na goodness, on each of its humblest departments, as\\nif it formed the whole extent of His territory.\\nIn the whole of this argument we have looked\\nupon the earth as isolated from the rest of the uni-\\nverse altogether. But, according to the way in which\\nthe astronomical objection is commonly met, the\\nearth is not viewed as in a state of detachment from\\nthe other worlds, and the other orders of being which\\nGod has called into existence. It is looked upon\\nas the member of a more extended system. It is\\nassociated with the magnificence of a moral empire,\\nas wide as the kingdom of nature. It is not merely\\nasserted, what in our last Discourse has been already\\ndone, that for any thing we can know by reason, the\\nplan of redemption may have its influences and its\\nbearings on those creatures of God who people other\\nregions, and occupy other fields in the immensity\\nof His dominions that to argue, therefore, on this\\nplan being instituted for the single benefit of the\\nworld we live in, and of the species to which we be-\\nlong, is a mere presumption of the Infidel himself\\nand that the objection he rears on it must fall to the\\nground, when the vanity of the presumption is ex-\\nposed. The Christian apologist thinks he can go\\nfarther than this that he can not merely expose\\nthe utter baselessness of the Infidel assertion, but", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0089.jp2"}, "90": {"fulltext": "88\\nTHE EXTENT OF THE\\nthat he has positive ground for erecting an opposite\\nand a confronting assertion in its place and that,\\nafter having neutralized their position, by showing\\nthe entire absence of all observation in its behalf, he\\ncan pass on to the distinct and affirmative testimony\\nof the Bible.\\nWe do think that this lays open a very interesting\\ntract, not of wild and fanciful, but of most legitimate\\nand sober-minded speculation. And anxious as we\\nare to put every thing that bears upon the Christian\\nargument into all its lights and fearless as we feel\\nfor the result of a most thorough sifting of it and\\nthinking as we do think it, the foulest scorn that any\\npigmy philosopher of the day should mince his am-\\nbiguous scepticism to a set of giddy and ignorant\\nadmirers, or that a half-learned and superficial public\\nshould associate with the Christian priesthood, the\\nblindness and the bigotry of a sinking cause with\\nthese feelings we are not disposed to shun a single\\nquestion that may be started on the subject of the\\nChristian evidences. There is not one of its parts\\nor bearings which needs the shelter of a disguise\\nthrown over it. Let the priests of another faith ply\\ntheir prudential expedients, and look so wise and so\\nwary in the execution of them. But Christianity\\nstands in a higher and a firmer attitude. The de-\\nfensive armour of a shrinking or timid policy does\\nnot suit her. Hers is the naked majesty of truth\\nand with all the grandeur of age, but with none of\\nits infirmities, has she come down to us, and gather-\\ned new strength from the battles she has won in the\\nmany controversies of many generations. With such\\na religion as this there is nothing to hide. All should", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0090.jp2"}, "91": {"fulltext": "DIVINE CONDESCENSION.\\n89\\nbe above boards. And the broadest light of day\\nshould be made fully and freely to circulate through-\\nout all her secrecies. But secrets she has none. To\\nher belong the frankness and the simplicity of con-\\nscious greatness and whether she has to contend\\nwith the pride of philosophy, or stand in fronted op-\\nposition to the prejudices of the multitude, she does\\nit upon her own strength, and spurns all the props\\nand all the auxiliaries of superstition away from her.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0091.jp2"}, "92": {"fulltext": "90\\nKNOWLEDGE OF MA^ s MORAL HISTORY\\nDISCOURSE IV.\\nON THE KNOWLEDGE OF MAN S MORAL HISTORY IN THE\\nDISTANT PLACES OF CREATION.\\nWhich things the angels desire to look into. 1 Peter i. 12.\\nThere is a limit, across which man cannot carry\\nany one of his perceptions, and from the ulterior of\\nwhich he cannot gather a single observation to guide\\nor to inform him. While he keeps by the objects\\nwhich are near, he can get the knowledge of them\\nconveyed to his mind through the ministry of seve-\\nral of the senses. He can feel a substance that is\\nwithin reach of his hand. He can smell a flower\\nthat is presented to him. He can taste the food that\\nis before him. He can hear a sound of certain pitch\\nand intensity and, so much does this sense of hear-\\ning widen his intercourse with external nature, that,\\nfrom the distance of miles, it can bring him in an\\noccasional intimation.\\nBut of all the tracts of conveyance which God has\\nbeen pleased to open up between the mind of man,\\nand the theatre by which he is surrounded, there is\\nnone by which he so multiplies his acquaintance with\\nthe rich and the varied creation on every side of him,\\nas by the organ of the eye. It is this which gives to\\nman his loftiest command over the scenery of nature.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0092.jp2"}, "93": {"fulltext": "m THE DISTANT PLACES OF CREATION.\\n91\\nIt is this by which so broad a range of observation\\nis submitted to him. It is this which enables him,\\nby the act of a single moment, to send an exploring\\nlook over the surface of an ample territory, to crowd\\nhis mind with the whole assembly of its objects, and\\nto fill his vision with those countless hues which di-\\nversify and adorn it. It is this which carries him\\nabroad over all that is sublime in the immensity of\\ndistance which sets him as it were on an elevated\\nplatform, from whence he may cast a surveying\\nglance over the arena of innumerable worlds which\\nspreads before hini so mighty a province of contem-\\nplation, that the earth he inhabits only appears to\\nfurnish him with the pedestal on which he may stand,\\nand from which he may descry the wonders of all\\nthat magnificence which the Divinity has poured so\\nabundantly around him. It is by the narrow outlet\\nof the eye that the mind of man takes its excursive\\nflight over those golden tracks, where, in all the ex-\\nhaustlessness of creative wealth, lie scattered the\\nsuns and the systems of astronomy. But how good\\na thing it is, and how becoming well, for the philo-\\nsopher to be humble even amid the proudest march\\nof human discovery, and the sublimest triumphs of\\nthe human understanding, when he thinks of that\\nunsealed barrier, beyond which no power, either of\\neye or of telescope, shall ever carry him when he\\nthinks that, on the other side of it, there is a height,\\nand a depth, and a length, and a breadth, to which\\nthe whole of this concave and visible firmament dwin-\\ndles into the insignificancy of an atom and above\\nall, how ready should he be to cast every lofty imagi-\\nnation away from him, when he thinks of the God", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0093.jp2"}, "94": {"fulltext": "92 KNOWLEDGE OF MAN S MORAL HISTORY\\nwho, on the simple foundation of His word, has rear-\\ned the whole of this stately architecture, and, by the\\nforce of His preserving hand, continues to uphold it\\nand should the word again come out from Him, that\\nthis earth shall pass away, and a portion of the hea-\\nvens which are around it, shall fall back into the\\nannihilation from which he at first summoned them\\nwhat an impressive rebuke does it bring on the\\nswelling vanity of science, to think that the whole\\nfield of its most ambitious enterprises may be swept\\naway altogether, and still there remain before the\\neye of Him who sitteth on the throne, an untravelled\\nimmensity, which He hath filled with innumerable\\nsplendours, and over the whole face of which he hatli\\ninscribed the evidence of His high attributes, in all\\ntheir might, and in all their manifestation.\\nBut man has a great deal more to keep him\\nhumble of his understanding, than a mere sense of\\nthat boundary which skirts and which terminates\\nthe material field of his contemplations. He ought\\nalso to feel, how, within that boundary, the vast\\nmajority of things is mysterious and unknown to\\nhim that even in the inner chamber of his own\\nconsciousness, where so much lies hidden from the\\nobservation of others, there is also to himself a little\\nworld of incomprehensibles that if stepping beyond\\nthe limits of this familiar home, he look no farther\\nthan to the members of his family, there is much\\nin the cast and the colour of every mind that is\\nabove his powers of divination that in proportion as\\nhe recedes from the centre of his own personal ex-\\nperience, there is a cloud of ignorance and secrecy\\nwhich spreads, and thickens, and throws a deep and", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0094.jp2"}, "95": {"fulltext": "IN THE DISTANT PLACES OF CREATION.\\n98\\nimpenetrable veil over the intricacies of every one\\ndepartment of human contemplation that of all\\naround him, his knowledge is naked and superficial,\\nand confined to a few of those more conspicuous\\nlineaments which strike upon his senses that the\\nwhole face, both of nature and of society, presents\\nhim with questions which he cannot unriddle, and\\ntells him that beneath the surface of all that the\\neye can rest upon, there lies the profoundness of a\\nmost unsearchable latency and should he in some\\nlofty enterprise of thought, leave this world, and\\nshoot afar into those tracks of speculation which\\nastronomy has opened, should he, bafHed by the\\nmysteries which beset his footsteps upon earth,\\nattempt an ambitious flight towards the mysteries\\nof heaven let him go, but let the justness of a\\npious and philosophical modesty go along with him,\\nlet him forget not, that from the moment his\\nmind has taken its ascending way for a few little\\nmiles above the world he treads upon, his every sense\\nabandons him but one that number, and motion,\\nand magnitude, and figure, make up all the bare-\\nness of its elementary informations that these orbs\\nhave sent him scarce another message than told by\\ntheir feeble glimmering upon his eye, the simple\\nfact of their existence that he sees not the land-\\nscape of other worlds that he knows not the moral\\nsystem of any one of them nor athwart the long\\nand trackless vacancy which lies between, does there\\nfall upon his listening ear the hum of their mighty\\npopulations.\\nBut the knowledge which he cannot fetch up\\nhimself from the obscurity of this wondrous but un-", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0095.jp2"}, "96": {"fulltext": "94\\nKNOWLEDGE OF Man s MORAL HISTORY\\ntravelled scene, by the exercise of any one of his\\nown senses, might be fetched to him by the testi-\\nmony of a competent messenger. Conceive a native\\nof one of these planetary mansions to light upon\\nour world, and all we should require would be, to\\nbe satisfied of his credentials, that we may give our\\nfaith to every point of information he had to offer\\nus. With the solitary exception of what we have\\nbeen enabled to gather by the instruments of astro-\\nnomy, there is not one of his communications about\\nthe place he came from, on which we possess any\\nmeans at all of confronting him and therefore,\\ncould he only appear before us invested with the\\ncharacters of truth, we should never think of any\\nthing else than taking up the whole matter of his\\ntestimony just as he brought it to us.\\nIt were well had a sound philosophy schooled its\\nprofessing disciples to the same kind of acquiescence\\nin another message, which has actually come to the\\nworld and has told us of matters still more remote\\nfrom every power of unaided observation and has\\nbeen sent from a more sublime and mysterious\\ndistance, even from that God of whom it is said that\\nclouds and darkness are the habitation of his\\nthrone 3 and treating of a theme so lofty and so\\ninaccessible, as the counsels of that Eternal Spirit,\\nwhose goings forth are of old, even from ever-\\nlasting/ challenges of man that he should submit\\nhis every thought to the authority of this high com-\\nmunication. Oh had the philosophers of the day\\nknown as well as their great master, how to draw\\nthe vigorous land-mark which verges the field of\\nlegitimate discovery, they should have seen when it", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0096.jp2"}, "97": {"fulltext": "IN THE DISTANT PLACES OF CREATION.\\n9,5\\nis that philosophy becomes vain, and science is\\nfalsely so called and how it is, that when philo-\\nsophy is true to her principles, she shuts up her\\nfaithful votary to the Bible, and makes him willing\\nto count all but loss, for the knowledge of Jesus\\nChrist, and of Him crucified.\\nBut let it be well observed, that the object of this\\nmessage is not to convey information to us about\\nthe state of these planetary regions. This is not the\\nmatter with which it is fraught. It is a message\\nfrom the throne of God to this rebellious province\\nof His dominions and the purpose of it is, to reveal\\nthe fearful extent of our guilt and of our danger,\\nand to lay before us the overtures of reconciliation.\\nWere a similar message sent from the metropolis of\\na mighty empire to one of its remote and revo-\\nlutionary districts, we should not look to it for much\\ninformation about the state or economy of the in-\\ntermediate provinces. This were a departure from\\nthe topic on hand though still there may chance to\\nbe some incidental allusions to the extent and re-\\nsources of the whole monarchy, to the existence of a\\nsimilar spirit of rebellion in other quarters of the\\nland, or to the general principle of loyalty by which\\nit was pervaded. Some casual references of this\\nkind may be inserted in such a proclamation, or\\nthey may not and it is with this precise feeling of\\nambiguity that we open the record of that embass\\\\ r\\nwhich has been sent us from heaven, to see if we can\\ngather any thing there, about other places of the\\ncreation, to meet the objections of the infidel as-\\ntronomer. But, while we pursue this object, let us\\nbe careful not to push the speculation beyond the", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0097.jp2"}, "98": {"fulltext": "90\\nKNOWLEDGE OF MAN S MORAL HISTORY\\nlimits of the written testimony; let us keep a just\\nand a steady eye on the actual boundary of our\\nknowledge, that, throughout every distinct step of\\nour argument, we might preserve that chaste and\\nunambitious spirit, which characterizes the philo-\\nsophy of him who explored these distant heavens,\\nand, by the force of his genius, unravelled the\\nsecret of that wondrous mechanism which upholds\\nthem.\\nThe informations of the Bible upon this subject,\\nare of two sorts that from which we confidently\\ngather the fact, that the history of the redemption\\nof our species is known in other and distant places\\nof the creation and that from which we indistinctly\\nguess at the fact, that the redemption itself may\\nstretch beyond the limits of the world we occupy.\\nAnd here it may shortly be adverted to, that,\\nthough we know little or nothing of the moral and\\ntheological economy of the other planets, we are\\nnot to infer, that the beings who occupy these widely\\nextended regions, even though not higher than we\\nin the scale of understanding, know little of ours.\\nOur first parents, ere they committed that act by\\nwhich they brought themselves and their posterity\\ninto the need of redemption, had frequent and fami-\\nliar intercourse with God. He walked with them\\nin the garden of paradise, and there did angels hold\\ntheir habitual converse and, should the same un-\\nblotted innocence which charmed and attracted\\nthese superior beings to the haunts of Eden, be per-\\npetuated in every planet but our own, then might\\neach of them be the scene of high and heavenly\\ncommunications, and an open way for the messengers", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0098.jp2"}, "99": {"fulltext": "IN DISTANT PLACES OF CREATION.\\n07\\nof God be kept up with them all, and their inhabi-\\ntants be admitted to a share in the themes and con-\\ntemplations of angels, and have their spirits exer-\\ncised on those things, of which we are told that the\\n\u00e2\u0099\u00a6angels desired to look into them and thus, as we\\ntalk of the public mind of a city, or the public mind\\nof an empire by the well-frequented avenues of a\\nfree and ready circulation, a public mind might be\\nformed throughout the whole extent of God s sinless\\nand intelligent creation\u00e2\u0080\u0094 and just as we often read\\nof the eyes of all Europe being turned to the one\\nspot where some affair of eventful importance is\\ngoing on, there might be the eyes of a whole uni-\\nverse turned to the one world, where rebellion\\nagainst the Majesty of heaven had planted its\\nstandard and for the readmission of which within\\nthe circle of His fellowship, God, whose justice was\\ninflexible, but whose mercy He had, by some plan\\nof mysterious wisdom, made to rejoice over it, was\\nputting forth all the might, and travailing in all\\nthe greatness of the attributes which belonged to\\nHim.\\nBut, for the full understanding of this argument\\nit must be remarked, that while in our exiled habi-\\ntation, where all is darkness, and rebellion, and\\nenmity, the creature engrosses every heart, and our\\naffections, when they shift at all, only wander from\\none fleeting vanity to another, it is not so in the\\nhabitations of the unfallen. There, every desire\\nand every movement is subordinated to God. He is\\nseen in all that is formed, and in all that is spread\\naround them\u00e2\u0080\u0094 and, amid the fulness of that delight\\nwith which they expatiate over the good and the", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0099.jp2"}, "100": {"fulltext": "98\\nKNOWLEDGE OF MAN*S MORAL HISTORY\\nfair of this wondrous universe, the animating charm\\nwhich pervades their every contemplation, is, that\\nthey behold, on each visible thing, the impress of the\\nmind that conceived, and of the hand that made\\nand that upholds it. Here, God is banished from\\nthe thoughts of every natural man, and, by a firm\\nand constantly maintained act of usurpation, do the\\nthings of sense and of time wield an entire ascend-\\nency. There, God is all in all. They walk in His\\nlight. They rejoice in the beatitudes of his pre-\\nsence. The veil is from off their eyes and they see\\nthe character of a presiding Divinity in every scene,\\nand in every event to which the Divinity has given\\nbirth. It is this which stamps a glory and an im-\\nportance on the whole field of their contemplations\\nand when they see a new evolution in the history of\\ncreated things, the reason they bend towards it so\\nattentive an eye, is, that it speaks to their under-\\nstanding some new evolution in the purposes of God\\nsome new manifestation of His high attributes-\\nsome new and interesting step in the history of His\\nsublime administration.\\nNow, we ought to be aware how it takes off, not\\nfrom the intrinsic weight, but from the actual im-\\npression of our argument, that this devotedness to God\\nwhich reigns in other places of the creation this in-\\nterest in Him as the constant and essential principle\\nof all enjoyment this concern in the untainfcedness\\nof his glory this delight in the survey of His per-\\nfections and His doings, are what the men of our\\ncorrupt and darkened world cannot sympathize with.\\nBut however little we may enter into it, the Bible\\ntells us, by many intimations, that amongst those", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0100.jp2"}, "101": {"fulltext": "IN DISTANT PLACES OF CREATION.\\n99\\ncreatures who have not fallen from their allegiance,\\nnor departed from the living God, God is their all\\nthat love to him sits enthroned in their hearts,\\nand fills them with all the ecstasy of an overwhelming\\naffection that a sense of grandeur never so elevates\\ntheir souls, as when they look at the might and\\nmajesty of the Eternal that no field of cloudless\\ntransparency so enchants them by the blissfulness of\\nits visions, as when, at the shrine of infinite and un-\\nspotted holiness, they bend themselves in raptured\\nadoration that no beauty so fascinates and attracts\\nthem, as does that moral beauty which throws a\\nsoftening lustre over the awfulness of the Godhead\\nin a word, that the image of His character is ever\\npresent to their contemplations, and the unceasing\\njoy of their sinless existence lies in the knowledge\\nand the admiration of Deity.\\nLet us put forth an effort, and keep a steady hold of\\nthis consideration, for the deadness of our earthly im-\\naginations makes an effort necessary and we shall\\nperceive, that though the world we live in were the\\nalone theatre of redemption, there is a something in\\nthe redemption itself that is fitted to draw the eye\\nof an arrested universe towards it. Surely, where\\ndelight in God is the constant enjoyment, and the\\nearnest intelligent contemplation of God is the\\nconstant exercise, there is nothing in the whole com-\\npass of nature or of history, that can so set His\\nadoring myriads upon the gaze, as some new and\\nwondrous evolution of the character of God. Now\\nthis is found in the plan of our redemption nor do\\nwe see how, in any transaction between the great\\nFather of existence, and the children who have", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0101.jp2"}, "102": {"fulltext": "100\\nKNOWLEDGE OF MAN S MORAL HISTORY\\nsprung from Him, the moral attributes of the Deity\\ncould, if we may so express ourselves, be put to so\\nsevere and so delicate a test. It is true, that the\\ngreat matters of sin and of salvation fall without\\nimpression on the heavy ears of a listless and alien-\\nated world. But they who, to use the language of\\nthe Bible, are light in the Lord, look otherwise at\\nthese things. They see sin in all its malignity, and\\nsalvation in all its mysterious greatness. And it\\nwould put them on the stretch of all their faculties,\\nwhen they saw rebellion lifting up its standard\\nagainst the Majesty of heaven, and the truth\\nand the justice of God embarked on the threat-\\nenings He had uttered against all the doers of\\niniquity, and the honours of that august throne,\\nwhich has the firm pillars of immutability to resl\\nupon, linked with the fulfilment of the law that had\\ncome out from it and when nothing else was\\nlooked for, but that God by putting forth the power\\nof His wrath, should accomplish His every denun-\\nciation, and vindicate the inflexibility of His govern-\\nment, and, by one sweeping deed of vengeance assert,\\nin the sight of all His creatures, the sovereignty\\nwhich belonged to Him with what desire must they\\nhave pondered on His ways, when, amid the urgency\\nof all those demands which looked so high and so\\nindispensable, they saw the unfoldings of the attri-\\nbute of mercy and that the supreme Lawgiver was\\nbending upon His guilty creatures an eye of tender-\\nness and that, in His profound and unsearchable\\nwisdom, He was devising for them some plan of\\nrestoration and that the eternal Son had to move\\nfrom His dwelling-place in heaven, to carry it for-", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0102.jp2"}, "103": {"fulltext": "IS DISTANT PLACES OF CREATION. 1 i\\nward through all the difficulties by which it was en-\\ncompassed and that, after by the virtue of His\\nmysterious sacrifice He had magnified the glory of\\nevery other perfection, He made mercy rejoice over\\nthem all, and threw open a way by which we sinful\\nand polluted wanderers might, with the whole lustre\\nof the Divine character untarnished, be re-admitted\\ninto fellowship with God, and be again brought back\\nwithin the circle of His loyal and affectionate family.\\nNow, the essential character of such a transac-\\ntion, viewed as a manifestation of God, does not hang\\nupon the number of worlds over which this sin and\\nthis salvation may have extended. We know that\\nover this one world such an economy of wisdom and\\nof mercy is instituted and, even should this be the\\nonly world that is embraced by it, the moral display\\nof the Godhead is mainly and substantially the\\nsame, as if it reached throughout the whole of that\\nhabitable extent which the science of astronomy\\nhas made known to us. By the disobedience of this\\none world, the law was trampled on and, in the\\nbusiness of making truth and mercy to meet, and\\nhave a harmonious accomplishment on the men of\\nthis world, the dignity of God was put to the same\\ntrial the justice of God appeared to lay the same\\nimmovable barrier the wisdom of God had to clear\\na way through the same difficulties the forgiveness\\nof God had to find the same mysterious conveyance\\nto the sinners of a solitary world, as to the sinners\\nof half a universe. The extent of the field upon\\nwhich this question was decided, has no more in-\\nfluence on the question itself, than the figure or the\\ndimensions of that field of combat on which some", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0103.jp2"}, "104": {"fulltext": "102\\nKNOWLEDGE OF MAN S MORAL HISTORY\\ngreat political question was fought, has on the im-\\nportance or on the moral principles of the contro-\\nversy that gave rise to it. This objection about the\\nnarrowness of the theatre, carries along with it all\\nthe grossness of materialism. To the eye of spiritual\\nand intelligent beings, it is nothing. In their view,\\nthe redemption of a sinful world derives its chief\\ninterest from the display it gives of the mind and\\npurposes of the Deity and, should that world be\\nbut a single speck in the immensity of the works of\\nGod, the only way in which this affects their estimate\\nof Him is to magnify His loving-kindness who,\\nrather than lose one solitary world of the myriads\\nHe has formed, would lavish all the riches of His\\nbeneficence and of His wisdom on the recovery of\\nits guilty population.\\nNow, though it must be admitted that the Bible\\ndoes not speak clearly or decisively as to the proper\\neffect of redemption being extended to other worlds\\nit speaks most clearly and most decisively about the\\nknowledge of it being disseminated amongst other\\norders of created intelligence than our own. But\\nif the contemplation of God be their supreme en-\\njoyment, then the very circumstance of our redemp-\\ntion being known to them, may invest it, even\\nthough it be but the redemption of one solitary world,\\nw T ith an importance as wide as the universe itself.\\nIt may spread amongst the hosts of immensity a\\nnew illustration of the character of Him who is all\\ntheir praise and in looking towards whom every\\nenergy within them is moved to the exercise of a\\ndeep and delighted admiration. The scene of the\\ntransaction may be narrow in point of material ex-", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0104.jp2"}, "105": {"fulltext": "IN DISTANT PLACES OF CREATION.\\n103\\ntent while in the transaction itself there may be\\nsuch a moral dignity, as to blazon the perfections of\\nthe Godhead over the face of creation and, from\\nthe manifested glory of the Eternal, to send forth a\\ntide of ecstasy, and of high gratulation, throughout\\nthe whole extent of His dependent provinces.\\nWe shall not, in proof of the position, that the\\nhistory of our redemption is known in other and\\ndistant places of creation, and is matter of deep\\ninterest and feeling amongst other orders of created\\nintelligence we shall not put down all the quota-\\ntions which might be assembled together upon this\\nargument. It is an impressive circumstance, that\\nwhen Moses and Elias made a visit to our Saviour\\non the mount of transfiguration, and appeared in\\nglory from heaven, the topic they brought along\\nwith them, and with which they were fraught, was\\nthe decease He was going to accomplish at Jeru-\\nsalem. And however insipid the things of our\\nsalvation may be to an earthly understanding, we\\nare made to know, that in the sufferings of Christ,\\nand the glory which should follow, there is matter\\nto attract the notice of celestial spirits, for these\\nare the very things, says the Bible, which angels\\ndesire to look into. And however listlessly we, the\\ndull and grovelling children of an exiled family,\\nmay feel about the perfections of the Godhead, and\\nthe display of these perfections in the economy of\\nthe Gospel, it is intimated to us in the book of\\nGod s message, that the creation has its districts and\\nits provinces and we accordingly read of thrones\\nand dominions and principalities and powers and\\nwhether these terms denote the separate regions of", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0105.jp2"}, "106": {"fulltext": "ii)4 KNOWLEDGE OF MAN S MORAL HISTORY\\ngovernment, or the beings who, by a commission\\ngranted from the sanctuary of heaven, sit in dele-\\ngated authority over them even in their eyes the\\nmystery of Christ stands arrayed in all the splendour\\nof unsearchable riches for we are told that this\\nmystery was revealed for the very intent, that unto\\nthe principalities and powers, in heavenly places,\\nmight be made known by the church, the manifold\\nwisdom of God. And while we, whose prospect\\nreaches not beyond the narrow limits of the corner\\nwe occupy, look on the dealings of God in the world,\\nas carrying in them all the insignificancy of a\\nprovincial transaction God Himself, whose eye\\nreaches to places which our eye hath not seen, nor\\nour ear heard of, neither hath it entered into the\\nimagination of our heart to conceive, stamps a\\nuniversality on the whole matter of the Christian\\nsalvation, by such revelations as the following\\nThat he is to gather together in one all things in\\nChrist, both which are in heaven, and which are\\nin earth, even in him and that at the name of Jesus\\nevery knee should bow, of things in heaven, and\\nthings in earth, and things under the earth and\\nthat by him God reconciled all things unto himself,\\nwhether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.\\nWe will not say in how far some of these passages\\nextend the proper effect of that redemption which\\nis by Christ Jesus, to other quarters of the universe\\nof God but they at least go to establish a widely\\ndisseminated knowledge of this transaction amongst\\nthe other orders of created intelligence. And they\\ngive us a distant glimpse of something more ex-\\ntended. They present a faint opening, through", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0106.jp2"}, "107": {"fulltext": "IN DISTANT PLACES OF CREATION.\\n105\\nwhich may be seen some few traces of a wider and\\na nobler dispensation. They bring before us a dim\\ntransparency, on the other side of which the images\\nof an obscure magnificence dazzle indistinctly upon\\nthe eye and tell us, that in the economy of re-\\ndemption, there is a grandeur commensurate to all\\nthat is known of the other works and purposes of\\nthe Eternal. They offer us no details and man,\\nwho ought not to attempt a wisdom above that\\nwhich is written, should never put forth his hand\\nto the drapery of that impenetrable curtain which\\nGod, in his mysterious wisdom, has spread over\\nthose ways, of which it is but a very small portion\\nthat we in reality know. But certain it is, that we\\nknow so much of them from the Bible and the\\nInfidel, with all the pride of his boasted astronomy,\\nknows so little of them, from any power of observa-\\ntion that the baseless argument of his, on which\\nwe have dwelt so long, is overborne in the light of\\nall that positive evidence which God has poured\\naround the record of His own testimony, and even in\\nthe light of its more obscure and casual intimations.\\nThe minute and variegated details of the way in\\nwhich this wondrous economy is extended, God has\\nchosen to withhold from us but He has oftener than\\nonce made to us a broad and a general announcement\\nof its dignity. He does not tell us, whether the\\nfountain opened in the house of Judah, for sin and\\nfor uncleanness, sends forth its healing streams to\\nother worlds than our own. He does not tell us the\\nextent of the atonement. But He tells us that the\\natonement itself, known, as it is, among the myriads\\nof the celestial, forms the high song of eternity that", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0107.jp2"}, "108": {"fulltext": "106 KNOWLEDGE OF MAN*S MORAL HISTORY\\nthe Lamb who was slain, is surrounded by the ac-\\nclamations of one wide and universal empire that\\nthe might of His wondrous achievements spreads\\na tide of gratulation over the multitudes who are\\nabout his throne and that there never ceases to\\nascend from the worshippers of Him, who washed us\\nfrom our sins in His blood, a voice loud as from num-\\nbers without number, sweet as from blessed voices\\nuttering joy, when heaven rings jubilee, and loud\\nhosannas fill the eternal regions.\\nAnd I beheld, and I heard the voice of many\\nangels round about the throne and the number of\\nthem was ten thousand times ten thousand, and\\nthousands of thousands saying with a loud voice,\\nWorthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power,\\nand riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour,\\nand glory, and blessing. And every creature which\\nis in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth,\\nand such as are in the sea, and all that are in them,\\nheard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and\\npower, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and\\nunto the Lamb, for ever and ever/\\nA king might have the whole of his reign crowded\\nwith the enterprises of glory and by the might of\\nhis arms, and the wisdom of his counsels, might\\nwin the first reputation among the potentates of the\\nworld and be idolized throughout all his provinces,\\nfor the wealth and the security that he had spread\\naround them and still it is conceivable, that by the\\nact of a single day in behalf of a single family by\\nsome soothing visitation of tenderness to a poor and\\nsolitary cottage by some deed of compassion, which\\nconferred enlargement and relief on one despairing", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0108.jp2"}, "109": {"fulltext": "IN DISTANT PLACES OF CREATION.\\n107\\nsufferer by some graceful movement of sensibility\\nat a tale of wretchedness by some noble effort of\\nself-denial, in virtue of which he subdued his every\\npurpose of revenge, and spread the mantle of a gener-\\nous oblivion over the fault of the man who had in-\\nsulted and aggrieved him above all, by an exercise\\nof pardon so skilfully administered, as that, instead\\nof bringing him down to a state of defencelessness\\nagainst the provocation of future injuries, it threw\\na deeper sacredness over him, and stamped a more\\ninviolable dignity than ever on his person and charac-\\nter why, on the strength of one such performance,\\ndone in a single hour, and reaching no farther in its\\nimmediate effects than to one house, or to one indi-\\nvidual, it is a most possible thing, that the highest\\nmonarch upon earth might draw such a lustre around\\nhim, as would eclipse the renown of all his public\\nachievements and that such a display of mag-\\nnanimity, or of worth, beaming from the secrecy of\\nhis familiar moments, might waken a more cordial\\nveneration in every bosom, than all the splendour of\\nhis conspicuous history aye, and that it might pass\\ndown to posterity as a more enduring monument\\nof greatness, and raise him farther, by its moral\\nelevation, above the level of ordinary praise and\\nwhen he passes in review before the men of distant\\nages, may this deed of modest, gentle, unobtrusive\\nvirtue, be at all times appealed to as the most\\nsublime and touching memorial of his name.\\nIn like manner did the King eternal, immortal,\\nand invisible, surrounded as He is with the splen-\\ndours of a wide and everlasting monarchy, turn\\nHim to our humble habitation and the footsteps", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0109.jp2"}, "110": {"fulltext": "108 KNOWLEDGE OF MAN S MORAL HISTORY\\nof God manifest in the flesh, have been on the nar-\\nrow spot of ground we occupy and small though\\nour mansion be amid the orbs and the systems of\\nimmensity, hither hath the King of glory bent His\\nmysterious way, and entered the tabernacle of men,\\nand in the disguise of a servant did He sojourn for\\nyears under the roof which canopies our obscure\\nand solitary world. Yes, it is but a twinkling atom\\nin the peopled infinity of worlds that are around it\\nbut look to the moral grandeur of the transaction,\\nand not to the material extent of the field upon\\nwhich it was executed and from the retirement of\\nour dwelling-place, there may issue forth such a\\ndisplay of the Godhead, as will circulate the glories\\nof His name amongst all his worshippers. Here\\nsin entered. Here was the kind and universal\\nbeneficence of a Father repaid by the ingratitude\\nof a whole family. Here the law of God was dis-\\nhonoured, and that too in the face of its proclaimed\\nand unalterable sanctions. Here the mighty con-\\ntest of the attributes was ended and when justice\\nput forth its demands, and. truth called for the\\nfulfilment of its warnings, and the immutability of\\nGod would not recede by a single iota from any one\\nof its positions, and all the severities He had ever\\nuttered against the children of iniquity, seemed to\\ngather into one cloud of threatening vengeance on\\nthe tenement that held us did the visit of the only-\\nbegotten Son chase away all these obstacles to the\\ntriumph of mercy and humble as the tenement\\nmay be, deeply shaded in the obscurity of insigni-\\nficance as it is, among the statelier mansions which\\nare on every side of it yet will the recall of its", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0110.jp2"}, "111": {"fulltext": "IN DISTANT PLACES OF CREATION.\\n109\\nexiled family never be forgotten, and the illustration\\nthat has been given here of the mingled grace and\\nmajesty of God will never lose its place among the\\nthemes and the acclamations of eternity.\\nAnd here it may be remarked, that as the earthly\\nking who throws a moral aggrandizement around him\\nby the act of a single day, finds, that after its per-\\nformance he may have the space of many years for\\ngathering to himself the triumphs of an extended\\nreign so the King who sits on high, and with whom\\none day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years\\nas one day, will find, that after the period of that\\nspecial administration is ended, by which this stray-\\ned world is again brought back within the limits of\\nHis favoured creation, there is room enough along\\nthe mighty track of eternity, for accumulating upon\\nHimself a glory as wide and as universal as is the\\nextent of his dominions. You will allow the most\\nillustrious of this world s potentates, to give some\\nhour of his private history to a deed of cottage or of\\ndomestic tenderness and every time you think of\\nthe interesting story, you will feel how sweetly and\\nhow gracefully the remembrance of it blends itself\\nwith the fame of his public achievements. But still\\nyou think that there would not have been room\\nenough for these achievements of his, had much of\\nhis time been spent, either amongst the habitations\\nof the poor, or in the retirement of his own family\\nand you conceive, that it is because a single day\\nbears so small a proportion to the time of his whole\\nhistory, that he has been able to combine an in-\\nteresting display of private worth, with all that\\nbrilliancy of exhibition, which has brought him", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0111.jp2"}, "112": {"fulltext": "110 KNOWLEDGE OF MANS MORAL HISTORY\\ndown to posterity in the character of an august and\\na mighty sovereign.\\nNow apply this to the matter before us. Had the\\nhistory of our redemption been confined within the\\nlimits of a single day, the argument that Infidelity\\nhas drawn from the multitude of other worlds would\\nnever have been offered. It is true, that ours is but\\nan insignificant portion of the territory of God but\\nif the attentions by which He has signalized it, had\\nonly taken up a single day, this would never have\\noccurred to us as forming any sensible withdrawment\\nof the mind of the Deity from the concerns of His\\nvast and universal government. It is the time which\\nthe plan of our salvation requires, that startles all\\nthose on whom this argument has any impression.\\nIt is the time taken up about this paltry world, which\\nthey feel to be out of proportion to the number of\\nother worlds, and to the immensity of the surround-\\ning creation. Now, to meet this impression, we do\\nnot insist at present on what we have already brought\\nforward, that God, whose ways are not as our ways,\\ncan have His eye at the same instant on every place,\\nand can divide and diversify His attention into any\\nnumber of distinct exercises. What we have now to\\nremark is, that the Infidel who urges the astrono-\\nmical objection to the truth of Christianity, is only\\nlooking with half an eye to the principle on which\\nit rests. Carry out the principle, and the objection\\nvanishes. He looks abroad on the immensity of\\nspace, and tells us how impossible it is, that this nar-\\nrow corner of it can be so distinguished by the at-\\ntentions of the Deity. Why does he not also look\\nabroad on the magnificence of eternity and perceive", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0112.jp2"}, "113": {"fulltext": "IN DISTANT PLACES OF CREATION.\\nIll\\nhow the whole period of these peculiar attentions,\\nhow the whole time which elapses between the fall\\nof man and the consummation of the scheme of his\\nrecovery, is but the twinkling of a moment to the\\nmighty roll of innumerable ages The whole inter-\\nval between the time of Jesus Christ s leaving his\\nFather s abode to sojourn amongst us, to that time\\nwhen He shall have put all His enemies under His\\nfeet, and delivered up the kingdom to God even his\\nFather, that God may be all in all the whole of\\nthis interval bears as small a proportion to the whole\\nof the Almighty s reign, as this solitary world does\\nto the universe around it and an infinitely smaller\\nproportion than any time, however short, which an\\nearthly monarch spends on some enterprise of private\\nbenevolence, does to the whole walk of his public\\nand recorded history.\\nWhy then does not the man, who can shoot his\\nconceptions so sublimely abroad over the field of an\\nimmensity that knows no limits why does he not\\nalso shoot them forward through the vista of a suc-\\ncession that ever flows without stop and without ter-\\nmination He has burst across the confines of this\\nworld s habitation in space, and out of the field which\\nlies on the other side of it has he gathered an argu-\\nment against the truth of revelation. We feel that\\nwe have nothing to do but to burst across the confines\\nof this world s history in time, and out of the futu-\\nrity which lies beyond it can we gather that which\\nwill blow the argument to pieces, or stamp upon it\\nall the narrowness of a partial and mistaken calcu-\\nlation. The day is coming when the whole of this\\nwondrous history shall be looked back upon by the", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0113.jp2"}, "114": {"fulltext": "112 KNOWLEDGE OF MAN S MORAL HISTORY, ETC.\\neye of remembrance, and be regarded as one incident\\nin the extended annals of creation and, with all\\nthe illustration and all the glory it has thrown on\\nthe character of the Deity, will it be seen as a single\\nstep in the evolution of His designs and long as\\nthe time may appear, from the first act of our re-\\ndemption to its final accomplishment, and close and\\nexclusive as we may think the attentions of God\\nupon it, it will be found that it has left Him room\\nenough for all His concerns and that, on the high\\nscale of eternity, it is but one of those passing and\\nephemeral transactions which crowd the history of\\na never-ending administration.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0114.jp2"}, "115": {"fulltext": "THE SYMPATHY FELT FOE MAN, ETC.\\n113\\nDISCOURSE V.\\nON THE SYMPATHY THAT IS FELT FOR MAN IN THE\\nDISTANT PLACES OF CREATION.\\nI say unto you, That likewise joy shall be in heaven over one\\nsinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons,\\nwhich need no repentance. Luke xv. 7.\\nWe have already attempted at full length to es-\\ntablish the position, that the infidel argument of\\nastronomers goes to expunge a natural perfection\\nfrom the character of God, even that wondrous\\nproperty of His, by which He, at the same instant\\nof time, can bend a close and a careful attention on\\na countless diversity of objects, and diffuse the inti-\\nmacy of His power and of His presence, from the\\ngreatest to the minutest and most insignificant of\\nthem all. We also adverted shortly to this other\\ncircumstance, that it went to impair a moral attri-\\nbute of the Deity. It goes to impair the benevolence\\nof His nature. It is sajdng much for the benevolence\\nof God, to say, that a single world or a single system\\nis not enough for it that it must have the spread\\nof a mightier region, on which it may pour forth a\\ntide of exuberancy throughout all its provinces\\nthat as far as our vision can carry us, it has strewed\\nimmensity with the floating receptacles of life, and\\n7 h", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0115.jp2"}, "116": {"fulltext": "114\\nTHE SYMPATHY FELT FOR MAN\\nhas stretched over each of them the garniture of\\nsuch a sky as mantles our own habitation and that\\neven from distances which are far beyond the reach\\nof human eye, the songs of gratitude and praise may\\nnow be arising to the one God, who sits surrounded\\nby the regards of His one great and universal family.\\nNow it is saying much for the benevolence of\\nGod, to say, that it sends forth these wide and\\ndistant emanations over the surface of a territory\\nso ample, that the world we inhabit, lying imbed-\\nded, as it does, amidst so much surrounding great-\\nness, shrinks into a point that to the universal eye\\nmight appear to be almost imperceptible. But\\ndoes it not add to the power and to the perfection\\nof this universal eye, that at the very moment it is\\ntaking a comprehensive survey of the vast, it can\\nfasten a stead} and undistracted attention on each\\nminute and separate portion of it that at the very\\nmoment it is looking at all worlds, it can look most\\npointedly and most intelligently to each of them\\nthat at the very moment it sweeps the field of im-\\nmensity, it can settle all the earnestness of its re-\\ngards upon every distinct handbreadth of that field\\nthat at the very moment at which it embraces the\\ntotality of existence, it can send a most thorough\\nand penetrating inspection into each of its details,\\nand into every one of its endless diversities We\\ncannot fail to perceive how much this adds to the\\npower of the all-seeing eye. Tell us then, if it do\\nnot add as much perfection to the benevolence of\\nGod, that while it is expatiating over the vast field\\nof created things, there is not one portion of the field\\noverlooked by it; that while it scatters blessings", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0116.jp2"}, "117": {"fulltext": "IN DISTANT FLACES OF CREATION.\\n115\\nover the whole of an infinite range, it causes them\\nto descend in a shower of plenty on every separate\\nhabitation that while His arm is underneath and\\nround about all worlds, He enters within the pre-\\ncincts of every one of them, and gives a care and a\\ntenderness to each individual of their teeming po-\\npulation. Oh does not the God, who is said to be\\nlove, shed over this attribute of his its finest illus-\\ntration when, while He sits in the highest heaven,\\nand pours out His fulness on the whole subordinate\\ndomain of nature and of providence, He bows a\\npitying regard on the very humblest of His children,\\nand sends His reviving Spirit into every heart, and\\ncheers by His presence every home, and provides\\nfor the wants of every family, and watches every\\nsick-bed, and listens to the complaints of every\\nsufferer and while by his wondrous mind the\\nweight of universal government is borne, oh, is it\\nnot more wondrous and more excellent still, that\\nHe feels for every sorrow, and has an ear open to\\nevery prayer\\nIt doth not yet appear what we shall be/ says\\nthe apostle John, but we know that when he shall\\nappear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him\\nas he is/ It is the present lot of the angels, that\\nthey behold the face of our Father in heaven, and it\\nwould seem as if the effect of this was to form and\\nto perpetuate in them the moral likeness of Him-\\nself, and that they reflect back upon Him His own\\nimage, and that thus a diffused resemblance to the\\nGodhead is kept up amongst all those adoring wor-\\nshippers who live in the near and rejoicing contem-\\nplation of the Godhead. Mark then how that", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0117.jp2"}, "118": {"fulltext": "11 G\\nTHE SYMPATHY FELT FOR MAN\\npeculiar and endearing feature in the goodness of\\nthe Deity, which we have just now adverted to\\nmark how beauteously it is reflected downwards\\nupon us in the revealed attitude of angels. From\\nthe high eminences of heaven, are they bending a\\nwakeful regard over the men of this sinful world\\nand the repentance of every one of them spreads a\\njoy and a high gratulation throughout all its dwell-\\ning-places. Put this trait of the angelic character\\ninto contrast with the dark and lowering spirit of an\\nInfidel. He is told of the multitude of other worlds,\\nand he feels a kindling magnificence in the concep-\\ntion, and he is seduced by an elevation which he\\ncannot carry, and from this airy summit does he look\\ndown on the insignificance of the world we occupy,\\nand pronounces it to be unworthy of those visits and\\nof those attentions which we read of in the New\\nTestament, He is unable to wing his upward way\\nalong the scale, either of moral or of natural perfec-\\ntion and when the wonderful extent of the field is\\nmade known to him, over which the wealth of the\\nDivinity is lavished there he stops, and wilders,\\nand altogether misses this essential perception, that\\nthe power and perfection of the Divinity are not more\\ndisplayed by the mere magnitude of the field, than\\nthey are by that minute and exquisite filling u p,\\nwhich leaves not its smallest portions neglected\\nbut which imprints the fulness of the Godhead upon\\nevery one of them and proves, by every flower of\\nthe pathless desert, as well as by every orb of im-\\nmensity, how this unsearchable Being can care for\\nall, and provide for all, and, throned in mystery too\\nhigh for us, can, throughout every instant of time,", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0118.jp2"}, "119": {"fulltext": "IN DISTANT PLACES OF CREATION.\\n117\\nkeep His attentive eye on every separate thing that\\nHe has formed, and, by an act of His thoughtful and\\npresiding intelligence, can constantly embrace all.\\nBut God, compassed about as he is with light in-\\naccessible, and full of glory, lies so hidden from the\\nken and conception of all our faculties, that the spirit\\nof man sinks exhausted by its attempts to compre-\\nhend Him. Could the image of the Supreme be\\nplaced direct before the eye of the mind, that flood\\nof splendour, which is ever issuing from Him on all\\nwho have the privilege of beholding, would not only\\ndazzle, but overpower us. And therefore it is, that\\nwe bid you look to the reflection of that image, and\\nthus to take a view of its mitigated glories, and to\\ngather the lineaments of the Godhead in the face of\\nthose righteous angels, who have never thrown aw r ay\\nfrom them the resemblance in which they were\\ncreated and, unable as you are to support the grace\\nand the majesty of that countenance, before which\\nthe seers and the prophets of other days fell, and\\nbecame as dead men, let us, before we bring this\\nargument to a close, borrow one lesson of Him who\\nsitteth on the throne, from the aspect and the re-\\nvealed doings of those who are surrounding it.\\nThe Infidel, then, as he widens the field of his\\ncontemplations, would suffer its every separate object\\nto die away into forgetfulness these angels, expa-\\ntiating as they do, over the range of a loftier univer-\\nsality, are represented as all awake to the history of\\neach of its distinct and subordinate provinces. The\\nInfidel, with his mind afloat anions; suns and amono*\\nsystems, can find no place in his already occupied\\nregards, for that humble planet which lodges and", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0119.jp2"}, "120": {"fulltext": "118\\nTHE SYMPATHY FELT FOR 31 AN\\naccommodates our species the angels, standing on a\\nloftier summit, and with a mightier prospect of crea-\\ntion before them, are yet represented as looking down\\non this single world, and attentively marking the\\nevery feeling and the every demand of all its fami-\\nlies. The Infidel, by sinking us down to an tin-\\nnoticeable minuteness, would lose sight of our dwell-\\ning-place altogether, and spread a darkening shroud\\nof oblivion over all the concerns and all the interests\\nof men but the angels will not so abandon us and,\\nundazzled by the whole surpassing grandeur of that\\nscenery which is around them, are they revealed as\\ndirecting* all the fulness of their regard to this our\\nhabitation, and casting a longing and a benignant\\neye on ourselves and on our children. The Infidel\\nwill tell us of those worlds which roll afar, and the\\nnumber of which outstrips the arithmetic of the\\nhuman understanding and then, with the hardness\\nof an unfeeling calculation, will he consign the one\\nwe occupy, with all its guilty generations, to despair.\\nBut He who counts the number of the stars is set\\nforth to us as looking* at every inhabitant among the\\nmillions of our species, and by the word of the Gos-\\npel beckoning to him with the hand of invitation,\\nand on the very first step of his return, as moving\\ntowards him with all the eagerness of the prodigal s\\nfather, to receive him back again into that presence\\nfrom which he had wandered. And as to this world,\\nin favour of which the scowling Infidel will not per-\\nmit one solitary movement, all heaven is represented\\nas in a stir about its restoration and there cannot a\\nsingle son, or a single daughter, be recalled from sin\\nttnto righteousness, without an acclamation of joy", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0120.jp2"}, "121": {"fulltext": "IN DISTANT PLACES OF CREATION.\\n119\\namongst the hosts of Paradise. Aye, and we can say\\nit of the humblest and the unworthiest of you all,\\nthat the eye of angels is upon him, and that his re-\\npentance would, at this moment, send forth a wave of\\ndelighted sensibility throughout the mighty throng\\nof their innumerable legions.\\nNow, the single question we have to ask is, On\\nwhich of the two sides of this contrast do we see\\nmost of the impress of heaven Which of the two\\nwould be most glorifying to Grocl Which of them\\ncarries upon it most of that evidence which lies in\\nits having a celestial character? For if it be the\\nside of the Infidel, then must all our hopes expire\\nwith the ratifying of that fatal sentence, by which\\nthe world is doomed, through its insignificancy, to\\nperpetual exclusion from the attentions of the God-\\nhead. We have lono; been knocking at the door of\\nyour understanding, and have tried to find an ad-\\nmittance to it for many an argument. We now make\\nour appeal to the sensibilities of your heart and\\ntell us to whom does the moral feeling within it\\nyield its readiest testimony to the Infidel, who\\nwould make this world of ours vanish away into\\nabandonment or to those angels, who ring through-\\nout all their mansions the htfsannas of joy, over every\\none individual of its repentant population\\nAnd here we cannot omit to take advantage of\\nthat opening with which our Saviour has furnished\\nus, by the parables of this chapter, and by which he\\nadmits us, into a familiar view of that principle on\\nwhich the inhabitants of the heavens are so awake to\\nthe deliverance and the restoration of our species. To\\nillustrate the difference in the reach of knowledge and", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0121.jp2"}, "122": {"fulltext": "120\\nTHE SYMPATHY FELT FOR MAN\\nof affection, bet ween a man and an ano^el, let us think\\nof the difference of reach between one man and an-\\nother. You may often witness a man, who feels\\nneither tenderness nor care beyond the precincts of\\nhis own family but who, on the strength of those in-\\nstinctive fondnesses which nature has implanted in\\nhis bosom, may earn the character of an amiable\\nfather, or a kind husband, or a bright example of all\\nthat is soft and endearing in the relations of domestic\\nsociety. Now conceive him, in addition to all this, to\\ncarry his affections abroad, without, at the same time\\nany abatement of their intensity towards the objects\\nwhich are at home that, stepping across the limits\\nof the house he occupies, he takes an interest in the\\nfamilies which are near him that he lends his ser-\\nvices to the town or the district wherein he is placed,\\nand gives up a portion of his time to the thoughtful\\nlabours of a humane and public-spirited citizen. By\\nthis enlargement in the sphere of his attention, he\\nhas extended his reach and, provided he has not\\ndone so at the expense of that regard which is due\\nto his family, a thing which, cramped and confined\\nas we are, we are very apt, in the exercise of our\\nhumble faculties, to do I put it to you, whether by\\nextending the reach of his views and his affections,\\nhe has not extended his worth and his moral respec-\\ntability along with it\\nBut we can conceive a still farther enlargement.\\nWe can figure to ourselves a man, whose wakeful\\nsympathy overflows the field of his own immediate\\nneighbourhood to whom the name of country comes\\nwith all the omnipotence of a charm upon his heart,\\nand with all the urgency of a most righteous and re-", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0122.jp2"}, "123": {"fulltext": "IN DISTANT PLACES OF CREATION.\\n121\\nsistless claim upon his services who never hears the\\nname of Britain sounded in his ears, but it stirs up\\nall his enthusiasm in behalf of the worth and the\\nwelfare of its people who gives himself up, with all\\nthe devotedness of a passion, to the best and the\\npurest objects of patriotism and who, spurning away\\nfrom him the vulgarities of party ambition, separates\\nhis life and his labours to the fine pursuit of aug-\\nmenting the science, or the virtue, or the substantial\\nprosperity of his nation. Oh, could such a man re-\\ntain all the tenderness, and fulfil all the duties which\\nhome and which neighbourhood require of him, and\\nat the same time, expatiate in the might of his un-\\ntired faculties, on so wide a field of benevolent con-\\ntemplation would not this extension of reach place\\nhim still higher than before on the scale both of\\nmoral and intellectual gradation, and give him a\\nstill brighter and more enduring name in the records\\nof human excellence\\nAnd lastly, we can conceive a still loftier flight of\\nhumanity a man, the aspiring of whose heart for\\nthe good of man, knows no limitations whose long-\\nings and whose conceptions on this subject, overleap\\nall the barriers of geography who looking on him-\\nself as a brother of the species, links every spare\\nenergy which belongs to him, with the cause of its\\namelioration who can embrace within the grasp of\\nhis ample desires, the whole family of mankind\\nand who, in obedience to a heaven -born movement\\nof principle within him, separates himself to some\\nbig and busy enterprise, which is to tell on the moral\\ndestinies of the world. Oh, could such a man mix up\\nthe softenings of private virtue, with the habit of so", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0123.jp2"}, "124": {"fulltext": "122\\nTHE SYMPATHY FELT FOR MAN\\nsublime a comprehension if, amid those mag-\\nnificent darings of thought and of performance, the\\nmildness of his benignant eye could still continue to\\ncheer the retreat of his family, and to spread the\\ncharm and the sacredness of piety among all its\\nmembers could he even mingle himself in all the\\ngentleness of a soothed and a smiling heart, with\\nthe playfulness of his children\u00e2\u0080\u0094 and also find\\nstrength to shed the blessings of his presence and\\nhis counsel over the vicinity around him oh, would\\nnot the combination of so much grace with so much\\nloftiness, only serve the more to aggrandize him\\nWould not the one ingredient of a character so rare,\\ngo to illustrate and to magnify the other? And\\nw T oulcl not you pronounce him to be the fairest\\nspecimen of our nature, w T ho could so call out all\\nyour tenderness, while he challenged and compelled\\nall your veneration\\nNor can we proceed, at this point of our argument,\\nwithout adverting to the way in which this last and\\nthis largest style of benevolence is exemplified in\\nour own country where the spirit of the Gospel has\\ngiven to many of its enlightened disciples the im-\\npulse of such a philanthropy, as carries abroad their\\nwishes and their endeavours to the very outskirts\\nof human population a philanthropy, of which, if\\nyou asked the extent or the boundary of its field, we\\nshould answer in the language of inspiration, that\\nthe field is the world a philanthropy which over-\\nlooks all the distinctions of cast and of colour, and\\nspreads its ample regards over the whole brotherhood\\nof the species a philanthropy which attaches itself\\nto man in the general to man throughout all his", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0124.jp2"}, "125": {"fulltext": "IN DISTANT PLACES OF CREATION.\\nJ 23\\nvarieties to man as the partaker of one common\\nnature, and who, in whatever clime or latitude you\\nmay meet with him, is found to breathe the same\\nsympathies, and to possess the same high capabili-\\nties both of bliss and of improvement. It is true,\\nthat, upon this subject, there is often a loose and\\nunsettled magnificence of thought, which is fruitful\\nof nothing but empty speculation. But the men to\\nwhom we allude, have not imaged the enterprise in\\nthe form of a thing unknown. They have given it a\\nlocal habitation. They have bodied it forth in deed\\nand in accomplishment. They have turned the dream\\ninto a reality. In them, the power of a lofty gene-\\nralization meets with its happiest attemperment,\\nin the principle and perseverance, and all the chas-\\ntening and subduing virtues of the New Testament.\\nAnd, were we in search of that fine union of grace\\nand of greatness which we have now been insisting\\non, and in virtue of which, the enlightened Christian\\ncan at once find room in his bosom for the concerns\\nof universal humanity, and for the play of kindliness\\ntowards every individual he meets with we could\\nnowhere more readily expect to find it, than with .the\\nworthies of our own land the Howard of a former\\ngeneration, who paced it over Europe in quest of the\\nunseen wretchedness which abounds in it or in such\\nmen of our present generation, as Wilberforce, who\\nlifted his unwearied voice against the biggest out-\\nrage ever practised on our nature, till he wrought\\nits extermination and Clarkson, who plied his as-\\nsiduous task at rearing the materials of its impres-\\nsive history, and, at length carried, for this right-\\neous cause, the mind of Parliament and Carey, from", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0125.jp2"}, "126": {"fulltext": "124\\nTHE SYMPATHY FELT FOR MAN\\nwhose hand the generations of the East are now re-\\nceiving the elements of their moral renovation and,\\nin fine, those holy and devoted men, who count not\\ntheir lives dear unto them but, going forth every\\nyear from the island of our habitation, carry the mes-\\nsage of heaven over the face of the world and, in\\nthe front of severest obloquy, are now labouring in\\nremotest lands and are reclaiming another and an-\\nother portion from the wastes of dark and fallen huma-\\nnity and are widening the domains of gospel light\\nand gospel principle amongst them and are spread-\\ning a moral beauty around the every spot on which\\nthey pitched their lowly tabernacle and are at\\nlength compelling even the eye and the testimony of\\ngainsayers, by the success of their noble enterprise\\nand are forcing the exclamation of delighted sur-\\nprise from the charmed and the arrested traveller,\\nas he looks at the softening tints which they are\\nnow spreading over the wilderness, and as he hears\\nthe sound of the chapel bell, and as in those haunts\\nwhere, at the distance of half a generation, savages\\nw r ould have scowled upon his path, he regales him-\\nself with the hum of missionary schools, and the\\nlovely spectacle of peaceful and Christian villages.\\nSuch, then, is the benevolence, at once so gentle\\nand so lofty, of those men, who, sanctified by the\\nfaith that is in Jesus, have had their hearts visited\\nfrom heaven by a beam of warmth and of sacrcdness.\\nWhat, then, we should like to know, is the bene-\\nvolence of the place from whence such an influence\\ncometh How wide is the compass of this virtue\\nthere, and how exquisite is the feeling of its tender-\\nness, and how pure and how fervent arc its aspirings", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0126.jp2"}, "127": {"fulltext": "IN DISTANT PLACES OF CREATION.\\n125\\namong those unfallen beings who have no darkness,\\nand no encumbering weight of corruption to strive\\nagainst Angels have a mighter reach of contem-\\nplation. Angels can look upon this world and all\\nwhich it inherits, as the part of a larger family.\\nAngels were in the full exercise of their powers even\\nat the first infancy of our species, and shared in the\\ngratulations of that period, when, at the birth of\\nhumanity, all intelligent nature felt a gladdening im-\\npulse, and the morning stars sang together for joy.\\nThey loved us even with the love which a family on\\nearth bears to a younger sister and the very child-\\nhood of our tinier faculties did only serve the more\\nto endear us to them and though born at a later\\nhour in the history of creation, did they regard us as\\nheirs of the same destiny with themselves, to rise\\nalong with them in the scale of moral elevation, to\\nbow at the same footstool, and to partake in those\\nhigh dispensations of a parent s kindness and a\\nparent s care, which are ever emanating from the\\nthrone of the Eternal on all the members of a dute-\\nous and affectionate family. Take the reach of an\\nangel s mind, but, at the same time, take the sera-\\nphic fervour of an angel s benevolence along with\\nit how, from the eminence on which he stands, he\\nmay have an eye upon many worlds, and a remem-\\nbrance upon the origin and the successive concerns\\nof every one of them how he may feel the full force\\nof a most affecting relationship with the habitants\\nof each, as the offspring of one common Father; and\\nthough it be both the effect and the evidence of our\\ndepravity, that we cannot sympathize with these pure\\nand generous ardours of a celestial spirit how it", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0127.jp2"}, "128": {"fulltext": "126\\nTHE SYMPATHY FELT FOE MAN\\nmay consist with the lofty comprehension, and the\\never-breathing love of an angel, that he can bot h shoot\\nhis benevolence abroad over a mighty expanse of\\nplanets and of systems, and lavish a flood of tender-\\nness on each individual of their teeming population.\\nKeep all this in view, and you cannot fail to per-\\nceive how the principle, so finely and so copiously\\nillustrated in this chapter, may be brought to meet\\nthe infidelity we have thus long been employed in\\ncombating. It was nature, and the experience of\\nevery bosom will affirm it it was nature in the shep-\\nherd to leave the ninety and nine of his flock for-\\ngotten and alone in the wilderness, and betaking\\nhimself to the mountains, to give all his labour and\\nall his concern to the pursuit of one solitary wan-\\nderer. It was nature and we are told in the pas-\\nsage before us, that it is such a portion of nature\\nas belongs not merely to men but to angels when\\nthe woman, with her mind in a state of listlessness\\nas to the nine pieces of silver that were in secure\\ncustody, turned the whole force of her anxiety to\\nthe one piece which she had lost, and for which she\\nhad to light a candle, and to sweep the house, and\\nto search diligently until she found it. It was\\nnature in her to rejoice more over that piece than\\nover all the rest of them, and to tell it abroad among\\nfriends and neighbours, that they might rejoice along\\nwith her aye, and sadly effaced as humanity is, in all\\nher original lineaments, this is a part of our nature,\\nthe very movements of which arc experienced in\\nheaven, where there is more joy over one sinner that\\nrcpcntcth, than over ninety and nine just persons\\nwho need no repentance/ For anything we know,", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0128.jp2"}, "129": {"fulltext": "m DISTANT PLACES OF CREATION.\\n127\\nthe very planet that rolls in the immensity around\\nus may be a land of righteousness and be a member\\nof the household of God and have her secure dwell-\\ning-place within that ample limit, whicli embraces\\nHis great and universal family. But we know at least\\nof one wanderer and how wofully she has strayed\\nfrom peace and from purity and how in dreary\\nalienation from Him who made her, she has bewil-\\ndered herself amongst those many devious tracts,\\nwhich have carried her afar from the path of im-\\nmortality and how sadly tarnished all those beau-\\nties and felicities are, whicli promised, on that morn-\\ning of her existence when God looked on her, and\\nsaw that all was very good which promised so richly\\nto bless and to adorn her and how, in the eye of\\nthe whole unfallen creation, she lias renounced all this\\ngoodliness, and is fast departing away from them into\\nguilt, and wretchedness, and shame. Oh if there\\nbe any truth in this chapter, and any sweet or touch-\\ning nature in the principle which runs throughout\\nall its parables, let us cease to wonder though they\\nwho surround the throne of love should be looking\\nso intently towards us or though, in the way by\\nwhich they have singled us out, all the other orbs of\\nspace should, for one short season, on the scale of\\neternity, appear to be forgotten or though, for every\\nstep of her recovery, and for every individual who is\\nrendered back again to the fold from which he was\\nseparated, another and another message of triumph\\nshould be made to circulate amongst the hosts of\\nparadise or though, lost as we are, and sunk in de-\\npravity as we are, all the sympathies of heaven\\nshould now be awake on the enterprise of Him who", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0129.jp2"}, "130": {"fulltext": "128\\nTHE SYMPATHY FELT FOR MAN\\nhas travailed in the greatness of his strength to seek\\nand to save us.\\nAnd here we cannot but remark how fine a har-\\nmony there is between the law of sympathetic nature\\nin heaven, and the most touching exhibitions of it\\non the face of our world. When one of a numerous\\nhousehold droops under the power of disease, is not\\nthat the one to whom all the tenderness is turned,\\nand who, in a manner, monopolizes the inquiries of\\nhis neighbourhood, and the care of his family? When\\nthe sighing of the midnight storm sends a dismal\\nforeboding into the mother s heart, to whom of all\\nher offspring, we Avould ask, are her thoughts and\\nher anxieties then wandering Is it not to her\\nsailor boy whom her fancy has placed amid the rude\\nand angry surges of the ocean Does not this, the\\nhour of his apprehended danger, concentrate upon\\nhim the whole force of her wakeful meditations\\nAnd does not he engross, for a season, her every\\nsensibility, and her every prayer We sometimes\\nhear of shipwrecked passengers thrown upon a bar-\\nbarous shore and seized upon by its prowling in-\\nhabitants and hurried away through the tracks of\\na dreary and unknown wilderness and sold into\\ncaptivity and loaded with the fetters of irrecover-\\nable bondage and who, stripped of every other\\nliberty but the liberty of thought, feel even this to be\\nanother ingredient of wretchedness, for what can they\\nthink of but home? and as all its kind and tender\\nimagery comes upon their remembrance, how can\\nthey think of it but in the bitterness of despair\\nOh tell us, when the fame of all this disaster reaches\\nhis family, who is the member of it to whom is direct-", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0130.jp2"}, "131": {"fulltext": "IN DISTANT PLACES OF CREATION.\\n129\\ned the full tide of its griefs and of its sympathies?\\nWho is it that, for weeks and for months, usurps their\\nevery feeling, and calls out their largest sacrifices,\\na,nd sets them to the busiest expedients for getting\\nhim back again Who is it that makes them for-\\ngetful of themselves and of all around them and\\ntell us if you can assign a limit to the pains, and the\\nexertions, and the surrenders which afflicted parents\\nand weeping sisters would make to seek and to save\\nhim\\nNow conceive, as we are warranted to do by the\\nparables of this chapter, the principle of all these\\nearthly exhibitions to be in full operation around the\\nthrone of God. Conceive the universe to be one\\nsecure and rejoicing family, and that this alienated\\nworld is the only strayed, or only captive member\\nbelonging to it and we shall cease to wonder, that,\\nfrom the first period of the captivity of our species,\\ndown to the consummation of their history in time,\\nthere should be such a movement in heaven or that\\nangels should so often have sped their commissioned\\nway on the errand of our recovery or that the Son\\nof God should have bowed Himself down to the\\nburden of our mysterious atonement or that the\\nSpirit of God should now, by the busy variety of His\\nall-powerful influences, be carrying forward that dis-\\npensation of grace which is to make us meet for re-\\nadmittance into the mansions of the celestial. Only\\nthink of love as the reigning principle there of love,\\nas sending forth its energies and aspirations to the\\nquarter where its object is most in danger of being\\nfor ever lost to it, of love, as called forth by this single\\ncircumstance to its uttermost exertion, and the most\\n7 i", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0131.jp2"}, "132": {"fulltext": "130\\nSYMPATHY FELT FOR MAN\\nexquisite feeling of its tenderness and then shall we\\ncome to a distinct and familiar explanation of this\\nwhole mystery nor shall we resist, by our incre-\\ndulity, the gospel message any longer, though it tells\\nus, that throughout the whole of this world s history,\\nlong in our eyes, but only a little month in the high\\nperiods of immortality, so much of the vigilance, and\\nso much of the earnestness of heaven, should have\\nbeen expended on the recovery of its guilty popu-\\nlation.\\nThere is another touching trait of nature, which\\ngoes finely to heighten this principle,, and still more\\nforcibly to demonstrate its application to our present\\nargument. So long as the dying child of David was\\nalive, he was kept on the stretch of anxiety and of\\nsuffering with regard to it. When it expired, he\\narose and comforted himself. This narrative of King\\nDavid is in harmony with all that we experience of\\nour own movements and our own sensibilities. It is\\nthe power of uncertainty which gives them so active\\nand so interesting a play in our bosoms and which\\nheightens all our regards to a tenfold pitch of feeling\\nand of exercise and which fixes down our watch-\\nfulness upon our infant s dying bed; and which keeps\\nus so painfully alive to every turn and to every\\nsymptom in the progress of its malady and which\\ndraws out all our affections for it to a degree of in-\\ntensity that is quite unutterable and which urges\\nus on to ply our every effort and our every expedient,\\ntill hope withdraw its lingering beam, or till death\\nshut the eyes of our beloved in the slumber of its\\nlong and its last repose.\\nWe know not who of you have your names written", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0132.jp2"}, "133": {"fulltext": "IN DISTANT PLACES OF CREATION.\\n131\\nin the book of life nor can we tell if this be known\\nto the angels which are in heaven. While in the\\nland of living men, you are under the power and ap-\\nplication of a remedy, which, if taken as the Gospel\\nprescribes, will renovate the soul, and altogether pre-\\npare it for the bloom and the vigour of immortality.\\nWonder not then, that with this principle of un-\\ncertainty in such full operation, ministers should feel\\nfor you or angels should feel for you or all the\\nsensibilities of heaven should be awake upon the\\nsymptoms of your grace and reformation or the eyes\\nof those who stand upon the high eminences of the\\ncelestial world, should be so earnestly fixed on every\\nfootstep and new evolution of your moral history.\\nSuch a consideration as this should do something\\nmore than silence the Infidel objection. It should\\ngive a practical effect to the calls of repentance.\\nHow will it go to aggravate the whole guilt of our\\ninipenitency, should we stand out against the power\\nand the tenderness of these manifold applications\\nthe voice of a beseeching God upon us the word of\\nsalvation at our very door the free offer of strength\\nand of acceptance sounded in our hearing the spirit\\nin readiness with His agency to meet our every desire\\nand our every inquiry angels beckoning us to their\\ncompany and the very first movements of our\\nawakened conscience drawing upon us all their re-\\ngards and all their earnestness", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0133.jp2"}, "134": {"fulltext": "132\\nCONTEST FOR ASCENDENCY OVER MAN\\nDISCOURSE VI.\\nON THE CONTEST FOE AN ASCENDENCY OVER MAN\\nAMONGST THE HIGHER ORDERS OF INTELLIGENCE.\\nAnd having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show\\nof them openly, triumphing over them in it. Colossians ii. 15.\\nThough these Astronomical Discourses be now\\ndrawing to a close, it is not because we feel that much\\nmore might not be said on the subject of them, both\\nin the way of argument and of illustration. The\\nwhole of the Infidel difficulty proceeds upon the as-\\nsumption, that the exclusive bearing of Christianity\\nis upon the people of our earth that this solitary\\nplanet is in no way implicated with the concerns of\\na wider dispensation that the revelation we have of\\nthe dealings of God in this district of His empire,\\ndoes not suit and subordinate itself to a system of\\nmoral administration, as extended as is the whole of\\nHis monarchy. Or, in other words, because Infidels\\nhave not access to the whole truth, will they refuse\\na part of it, however well attested or well accredited\\nit may be because a mantle of deep obscurity rests\\non the government of God, when taken in all its eter-\\nnity and all its entireness, will they shut their eyes\\nagainst that allowance of light which has been made", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0134.jp2"}, "135": {"fulltext": "AMONG THE HIGHER INTELLIGENCES.\\n138\\nto pass downwards upon our world from time to time\\nthrough so many partial unfoldings and till they\\nare made to know the share which other planets\\nhave in these communications of mercy, will they turn\\nthem away from the actual message which has come\\nto their own door, and will neither examine its cre-\\ndentials, nor be alarmed by its warnings, nor be won\\nby the tenderness of its invitations\\nOn that day when the secrets of all hearts shall\\nbe revealed, there will be found such a wilful dupli-\\ncity and darkening of the mind in the whole of this\\nproceeding, as shall bring down upon it the burden\\nof a righteous condemnation. But even now does\\nit lie open to the rebuke of philosophy, when the\\nsoundness and the consistency of her principles are\\nbrought faithfully to bear upon it. Were the char-\\nacter of modern science rightly understood, it would\\nbe seen, that the very thing which gave such strength\\nand sureness to all her conclusions, was that humi-\\nlity of spirit which belonged to her. She promul-\\ngates all that is positively known but she main-\\ntains the strictest silence and modesty about all that\\nis unknown. She thankfully accepts of evidence\\nwherever it can be found nor does she spurn away\\nfrom her the very humblest contribution of such\\ndoctrine, as can be witnessed by human observation,\\nor can be attested by human veracity. But with\\nall this she can hold out most sternly against that\\npower of eloquence and fancy, which often throws\\nso bewitching a charm over the plausibilities of in-\\ngenious speculation. Truth is the alone idol of\\nher reverence and did she at all times keep by her\\nattachments, nor throw them away when theology", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0135.jp2"}, "136": {"fulltext": "134\\nCONTEST FOR ASCENDENCY OVER MAN\\nsubmitted to her cognizance its demonstrations and\\nits claims, we should not despair of witnessing as\\ngreat a revolution in those prevailing habitudes of\\nthought which obtain throughout our literary estab-\\nlishments, on the subject of Christianity, as that\\nwhich has actually taken place in the views which\\nobtain on the philosophy of external nature. This\\nis the first field on w T hich have been successfully\\npractised the experimental lessons of Bacon and\\nthey who are conversant w T ith these matters, know\\nhow great and how general a uniformity of doctrine\\nnow prevails in the science of astronomy, and me-\\nchanics, and chemistry, and almost all the other de-\\npartments in the history and philosophy of matter.\\nBut this uniformity stands strikingly contrasted with\\nthe diversity of our moral systems, with the restless\\nfluctuations both of language and of sentiment which\\nare taking place in the philosophy of mind, with\\nthe palpable fact, that every new course of instruc-\\ntion upon this subject has some new articles, or some\\nnew r explanations to peculiarize it and all this is to\\nbe attributed, not to the progress of the science, not\\nto a growing, but to an alternating movement, not\\nto its perpetual additions, but to its perpetual vibra-\\ntions.\\nWe mean not to assert the futility of moral science,\\nor to deny her importance, or to insist on the utter\\nhopelessness of her advancement. The Baconian\\nmethod will not probably push forward her disco-\\nveries with such a rapidity, or to such an extent, as\\nmany of her sanguine disciples have anticipated.\\nBut if the spirit and the maxims of this philosophy\\nwere at all times proceeded upon, it would certainly", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0136.jp2"}, "137": {"fulltext": "AMONG THE HIGHER INTELLIGENCES. 135\\ncheck that rashness and variety of excogitation, in\\nvirtue of which it may almost be said, that every\\nnew course presents us with a new system, and that\\nevery new teacher has some singularity or other to\\ncharacterize him. She may be able to make out an\\nexact transcript of the phenomena of mind, and in\\nso doing, she yields a most important contribution\\nto the stock of human acquirements. But, when she\\nattempts to grope her darkling way through the\\ncounsels of the Deity, and the futurities of His ad-\\nministration when, without one passing acknow-\\nledgment to the embassy which professes to have\\ncome from him, or to the facts and to the testimonies\\nby which it has so illustriously been vindicated, she\\nlaunches forth her own speculations on the character\\nof God, and the destiny of man when, though this\\nbe a subject on which neither the recollections of\\nhistory, nor the ephemeral experience of any single\\nlife, can furnish one observation to enlighten her,\\nshe will nevertheless utter her own plausibilities, not\\nmerely with a contemptuous neglect of the Bible^\\nbut in direct opposition to it then it is high time\\nto remind her of the difference between the reverie\\nof him who has not seen God, and the well-accredited\\ndeclaration of Him who was in the beginning with\\nGod, and was God and to tell her, that this, so far\\nfrom being the argument of an ignoble fanaticism,\\nis in harmony with the very argument upon which\\nthe science of experiment has been reared, and by\\nwhich it has been at length delivered from the influ-\\nence of theory, and purified of all its vain and vision-\\nary splendours.\\nIn our last Discourses, we have attempted to col-", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0137.jp2"}, "138": {"fulltext": "136\\nCONTEST FOR ASCENDENCY OVEli MAN\\nlect, from the records of God s actual communication\\nto the world, such traces of relationship between\\nother orders of being and the great family of man-\\nkind, as serve to prove that Christianity is not so\\npaltry and provincial a system as Infidelity presumes\\nit to be. And as we said before, we have not ex-\\nhausted all that may legitimately be derived upon\\nthis subject from the informations of Scripture. We\\nhave adverted, it is true, to the knowledge of our\\nmoral history which obtains throughout other pro-\\nvinces of the intelligent creation. We have asserted\\nthe universal importance which this may confer on\\nthe transactions even of one planet, in as much as it\\nmay spread an honourable display of the Godhead\\namongst all the mansions of infinity. We have at-\\ntempted to expatiate on the argument, that an event\\nlittle in itself, may be so pregnant with character, as\\nto furnish all the worshippers of heaven with a theme\\nof praise for eternity. We have stated that nothing\\nis of magnitude in their eyes, but that which serves\\nto endear to them the Father of their spirits, or to\\nshed a lustre over the glory of His incomprehensible\\nattributes and that thus, from the redemption even\\nof our solitary species, there may go forth such an\\nexhibition of the Deity, as shall bear the triumphs\\nof His name to the very outskirts of the universe.\\nWe have farther adverted to another distinct\\nScriptural intimation, that the state of fallen man\\nwas not only matter of knowledge to other orders of\\ncreation, but was also matter of deep regret and\\naffectionate sympathy; that agreeably to such laws\\nof sympathy as are most familiar even to human ob-\\nservation, the very wretchedness of our condition was", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0138.jp2"}, "139": {"fulltext": "AMONG THE HIGHER INTELLIGENCES.\\n1ST\\nfitted to concentrate upon us the feelings, and the\\nattentions, and the services of the celestial to single\\nus out for a time to the gaze of their most earnest\\nand unceasing contemplation to draw forth all that\\nwas kind and all that was tender within them and\\njust in proportion to the need and to the helpless-\\nness of us miserable exiles from the family of God\\nto multiply upon us the regards, and call out in our\\nbehalf the fond and eager exertions of those who had\\nnever wandered away from Him. This appears from\\nthe Bible to be the style of that benevolence which\\nglows and which circulates around the throne of\\nheaven. It is the very benevolence which emanates\\nfrom the throne itself, and the attentions of which\\nhave for so many thousand years signalized the in-\\nhabitants of our world. This may look a long period\\nfor so paltry a world. But how have Infidels come\\nto their conception that our world is so paltry By\\nlooking abroad over the countless systems of im-\\nmensity. But why then have they missed the con-\\nception, that the time of those peculiar visitations,\\nwhich they look upon as so disproportionate to the\\nmagnitude of this earth, is just as evanescent as the\\nearth itself is insignificant Why look they not\\nabroad on the countless generations of eternity and\\nthus come back to the conclusion, that after all, the\\nredemption of our species is but an ephemeral doing\\nin the history of intelligent nature that it leaves\\nthe Author of it room for all the accomplishments of\\na wise and equal administration and not to mention^\\nthat even during the progress of it, it withdraws not\\na single thought or a single energy of His, from\\nother fields of creation, that there remains time", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0139.jp2"}, "140": {"fulltext": "138\\nCONTEST FOR ASCENDENCY OVER MAN\\nenough to Him for carrying* round the visitations of\\nas striking and as peculiar a tenderness, over the\\nwhole extent of His great and universal monarchy\\nIt might serve still farther to incorporate the con-\\ncerns of our planet with the general history of moral\\nand intelligent beings, to state, not merely the know-\\nledge which they take of us, and not merely the com-\\npassionate anxiety which they feel for us; but to\\nstate the importance derived to our world from its\\nbeing the actual theatre of a keen and ambitious\\ncontest amongst the upper orders of creation. You\\nknow that for the possession of a very small and in-\\nsulated territory, the mightiest empires of the world\\nhave put forth all their resources and on some field\\nof mustering competition, have monarchs met, and\\nembarked for victory, all the pride of a country s\\ntalent, and all the flower and strength of a country s\\npopulation. The solitary island around which so\\nmany fleets are hovering, and on the shores of which\\nso many armed men are descending as to an arena\\nof hostility, may well wonder at its own unlooked-\\nfor estimation. But other principles are animating\\nthe battle and the glory of nations is at stake and\\na much higher result is in the contemplation of each\\nparty, than the gain of so humble an acquirement as\\nthe primary object of the war; and honour, dearer\\nto many a bosom than existenee, is now the interest\\non which so much blood and so much treasure is ex-\\npended and the stirring spirit of emulation has now\\ngot hold of the combatants and thus, amid all the\\ninsignificancy which attaches to the material ori-\\ngin of the contest, do both the eagerness and\\nthe extent of it, receive from the constitution of", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0140.jp2"}, "141": {"fulltext": "AMONG THE HIGHER INTELLIGENCES.\\n139\\nour nature, their most full and adequate explana-\\ntion.\\n~Now, if this be also the principle of higher natures\\nif, on the one hand, God he jealous of his honour;\\nand, on the other, there be proud and exalted spirits\\nwho scowl defiance at Him and at His monarchy\\nif, on the side of heaven, there be an angelic host\\nrallying around the standard of loyalty, who flee with\\nalacrity at the bidding of the Almighty, w T ho are de-\\nvoted to His glory, and feel a rejoicing interest in the\\nevolution of His counsels and if, on the side of hell,\\nthere be a sullen front of resistance, a hate and ma-\\nlice inextinguishable, an unquelled daring of revenge\\nto baffle the wisdom of the Eternal, and to arrest the\\nhand, and to defeat the purposes of Omnipotence-\\nthen let the material prize of victory be insignificant\\nas it may, it is the victory in itself which upholds\\nthe impulse of this keen and stimulated rivalry. If,\\nby the sagacity of one infernal mind, a single planet\\nhas been seduced from its allegiance, and been\\nbrought under the ascendency of him who is called\\nin Scripture, the god of this world and if the\\nerrand on which our Redeemer came was to destroy\\nthe works of the devil then let this planet have all\\nthe littleness which astronomy has assigned to it\\ncall it what it is, one of the smaller islets which float\\non the ocean of vacancy it has become the theatre\\nof such a competition, as may have all the desires\\nand all the energies of a divided universe embarked\\nupon it. It involves in it other objects than the\\nsingle recovery of our species. It decides higher\\nquestions. It stands linked with the supremacy of\\nGod, and will at length demonstrate the way in", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0141.jp2"}, "142": {"fulltext": "no\\nCONTEST FOR ASCENDENCY OVEU MAN\\nwhich He inflicts chastisement and overthrow upon\\nall His enemies. We know not if our rebellious\\nworld be the only stronghold which Satan is possess-\\ned of, or if it be but the single post of an extended\\nwarfare, that is now going on between the powers of\\nlight and of darkness. But be it the one or the\\nother, the parties are in array, and the spirit of the\\ncontest is in full energy, and the honour of mighty\\ncombatants is at stake and let us therefore cease\\nto wonder that our humble residence has been made\\nthe theatre of so busy ^n operation, or that the am-\\nbition of loftier natures has here put forth all its de-\\nsire and all its strenuousness.\\nThis unfolds to us another of those high and ex-\\ntensive bearings, which the moral history of our globe\\nmay have on the system of God s universal admini-\\nstration. Were an enemy to touch the shore of this\\nhigh-minded country, and to occupy so much as one\\nof the humblest of its villages, and there to seduce\\nthe natives from their loyalty, and to sit down along\\nwith them in entrenched defiance to all the threats,\\nand to all the preparations of an insulted empire\\noh how would the cry of wounded pride resound\\nthroughout all the ranks and varieties of our mighty\\npopulation and this very movement of indignancy\\nwould reach the king upon his throne and circulate\\namong those who stood in all the grandeur of chief-\\ntainship around him and be heard to thrill in the\\neloquence of Parliament and spread so resistless an\\nappeal to a nation s honour and a nation s patriot-\\nism, that the trumpet of war would summon to its\\ncall all the spirit and all the willing energies of our\\nkingdom and rather than sit down in patient en-", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0142.jp2"}, "143": {"fulltext": "AMONG THE HIGHER INTELLIGENCES.\\n141\\ndurance under the burning disgrace of such a viola-\\ntion, would the whole of its strength and resources\\nbe embarked upon the contest and never, never\\nwould we let down our exertions and our sacrifices,\\ntill either our deluded countrymen were reclaimed,\\nor till the whole of this offence were, by one right-\\neous act of vengeance, swept away altogether from\\nthe face of the territory it deformed.\\nThe Bible is always most full and most explan-\\natory on those points of revelation in which men are\\npersonally interested. But it does at times offer a\\ndim transparency, through which may be caught a\\npartial view of such designs and of such enterprises\\nas are now afloat among the upper orders of intelli-\\ngence. It tells us of a mighty struggle that is now\\ngoing on for a moral ascendency over the hearts of\\nthis world s population. It tells us that our race\\nwere seduced from their allegiance to God, by the\\nplotting sagacity r of one who stands pre-eminent\\nagainst Him among the hosts of a very wide and\\nextended rebellion. It tells us of the Captain of\\nsalvation, who undertook to spoil him of this\\ntriumph and throughout the whole of that magni-\\nficent train of prophecy which points to Him, does\\nit describe the work he had to do, as a conflict, in\\nwhich strength was to be put forth, and painful\\nsuffering to be endured, and fury to be poured upon\\nenemies, and principalities to be dethroned, and all\\nthose toils, and dangers, and difficulties to be borne,\\nwhich strewed the path of perseverance that was to\\ncarry him to victory.\\nBut it is a contest of skill as well as of strength\\nand of influence. There is the earnest competition", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0143.jp2"}, "144": {"fulltext": "112\\nCONTEST FOR ASCENDENCY OYER MAN\\nof angelic faculties embarked on this struggle for as-\\ncendency. And while in the Bible there is recorded\\n(faintly and partially, we admit) the deep and insi-\\ndious policy that is practised on the one side; we are\\nalso told, that, on the plan of our world s restoration,\\nthere are lavished all the riches of an unsearchable\\nwisdom upon the other. It would appear that, for\\nthe accomplishment of his purpose, the great enemy\\nof Grod and of man plied his every calculation and\\nbrought all the devices of his deep and settled ma-\\nlignity to bear upon our species and thought, that\\ncould he involve us in sin, every attribute of the\\nDivinity stood staked to the banishment of our race\\nfrom beyond the limits of the empire of righteous-\\nness and, thus did he practise his invasions on the\\nmoral territory of the unfallen and, glorying in his\\nsuccess, did he fancy and feel that he had achieved\\na permanent separation between the God who sitteth\\nin heaven, and one at least of the planetary mansions\\nwhich He had reared.\\nThe errand of the Saviour was to restore this sin-\\nful world, and have its people readmitted within the\\ncircle of heaven s pure and righteous family. But in\\nthe government of heaven, as well as in the govern-\\nment of earth, there are certain principles which can-\\nnot be compromised and certain maxims of admini-\\nstration which must never be departed from and a\\ncertain character of majesty and of truth, on which\\nthe taint even of the slightest violation can never be\\npermitted and a certain authority which must be up-\\nheld by the immutability of all its sanctions, and the\\nUnerring fulfilment of all its wise and righteous pro-\\nclamations. All this was in the mind of the arch-", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0144.jp2"}, "145": {"fulltext": "AMONG THE HIGHER INTELLIGENCES. 143\\nangel, and a gleam of malignant joy shot athwart him,\\nas he conceived his project for hemming our unfor-\\ntunate species within the bound of an irrecoverable\\ndilemma and as surely as sin and holiness could\\nnot enter into fellowship, so surely did he think, that\\nif man were seduced to disobedience, would the truth,\\nand the justice, and the immutability of God, lay\\ntheir insurmountable barriers on the path of his\\nfuture acceptance.\\nIt was only in that plan of recovery of which Jesus\\nChrist was the author and the finisher, that the great\\nadversary of our species met with a wisdom which\\novermatched him. It is true, that he had reared, in\\nthe guilt to which he seduced us, a mighty obstacle\\nin the way of this lofty undertaking. But when the\\ngrand expedient was announced, and the blood of\\nthat atonement, by which sinners are brought nigh,\\nwas willingly offered to be shed for us and the\\neternal Son, to carry this mystery into accomplish-\\nment, assumed our nature then was the prince of\\nthat mighty rebellion, in which the fate and the\\nhistory of our world are so deeply implicated, in vis-\\nible alarm for the safety of all his acquisitions nor\\ncan the record of this wondrous history carry forward\\nits narrative, without furnishing some transient\\nglimpses of a sublime and a superior warfare, in\\nwhich, for the prize of a spiritual dominion over our\\nspecies, we may dimly perceive the contest of loftiest\\ntalent, and all the designs of heaven in behalf of\\nman, met at every point of their evolution, by the\\ncounterworkings of a rival strength and a rival sa-\\ngacity.\\nWe there read of a struggle which the Captain of", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0145.jp2"}, "146": {"fulltext": "144 CONTEST FOR ASCENDENCY OVER MAN\\nour salvation had to sustain, when the lustre of the\\nGodhead lay obscured, and the strength of its omni-\\npotence was mysteriously weighed down under the\\ninfirmities of our nature how Satan singled Him\\nout, and dared Him to the combat of the wilderness\\nhow all his wiles and all his influences were resist-\\ned how he left our Saviour in ail the triumphs of\\nunsubdued loyalty how the progress of this mighty\\nachievement is marked by the every character of a\\nconflict how many of the gospel miracles were so\\nmany direct infringements on the power and empire of\\na great spiritual rebellion\u00e2\u0080\u0094 how, in one precious sea-\\nson of gladness among the few which brightened the\\ndark career of our Saviour s humiliation, He rejoiced\\nin spirit, and gave as the cause of it to His disciples\\nthat He saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven\\n\u00e2\u0080\u0094how the momentary advantages that were gotten\\nover Him, are ascribed to the agency of this infer-\\nnal being, who entered the heart of Judas, and\\ntempted the disciple to betray his Master and his\\nFriend. We know that we are treading on the con-\\nfines of mystery. We cannot tell what the battle\\nthat He fought. We cannot compute the terror or\\nthe strength of His enemies. Wc cannot say, for we\\nhave not been told, how it was that they stood in\\nmarshalled and hideous array against Him nor\\ncan wc measure how great the firm daring of His\\nsoul, when He tasted that cup in all its bitterness,\\nwhich He prayed might pass away from Him when,\\nwith the feeling that He was forsaken by His God,\\nHe trod the wine-press alone when He entered\\nsingle-handed upon that dreary period of agony, and\\ninsult, and death, in which, from the garden to the", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0146.jp2"}, "147": {"fulltext": "AMONG THE HIGHER INTELLIGENCES.\\n145\\ncross, He had to bear the burden of a world s atone-\\nment, We cannot speak in our own language, but\\nwe can say, in the language of the Bible, of the days\\nand the nights of this great enterprise, that it was\\nthe season of the travail of His soul that it was\\nthe hour and the power of darkness that the work\\nof our redemption, was a work accompanied by the\\neffort, and the violence, and the fury of a combat by\\nall the arduousness of a battle in its progress, and\\nall the glories of a victory in its termination and\\nafter He called out that it was finished, after He\\nwas loosed from the prison-house of the grave, after\\nHe had ascended up on high, He is said to have made\\ncaptivity captive and to have spoiled principalities\\nand powers and to have seen His pleasure upon His\\nenemies and to have made a show of them openly,\\nWe shall not affect a wisdom above that which is\\nwritten, by fancying such details of this warfare as\\nthe Bible has not laid before us. But surely it is no\\nmore than being wise up to that which is written, to\\nassert, that in achieving the redemption of our world,\\na warfare had to be accomplished that upon this\\nsubject there was, among the higher provinces of\\ncreation, the keen and the animated conflict of op-\\nposing interests that the result of it involved some-\\nthing grander and more affecting than even the\\nfate of this world s population that it decided a\\nquestion of rivalship between the righteous and ever^\\nlasting Monarch of universal being, and the prince\\nof a great and widely-extended rebellion, of which\\nwe neither know how vast is the magnitude, nor how\\nimportant and diversified are the bearings and\\nthus do w^e gather, from this consideration, another\\n7 K", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0147.jp2"}, "148": {"fulltext": "146\\nCONTEST FOR ASCENDENCY OVER MAN\\ndistinct argument, helping us to explain why, on the\\nsalvation of our solitary species, so much attention\\nappears to have been concentrated, and so much\\nenergy appears to have been expended.\\nBut it would appear from the Records of Inspira-\\ntion, that the contest is not yet ended that on the\\none hand the Spirit of God is employed in making,\\nfor the truths of Christianity, a way into the human\\nheart, with all the power of an effectual demonstra-\\ntion that on the other, there is a spirit now abroad,\\nwhich worketh in the children of disobedience that\\non the one hand, the Holy Ghost is calling men out\\nof darkness into the marvellous light of the Gospel;\\nand that on the other hand, he who is styled the\\ngod of this world, is blinding their hearts, lest the\\nlight of the glorious Gospel of Christ should enter\\ninto them that they who are under the dominion\\nof the one, are said to have overcome, because greater\\nis He that is in them than he that is in the world;\\nand that they who are under the dominion of the\\nother, are said to be the children of the devil, and\\nto be under his snare, and to be taken captive by him\\nat his will. How these respective powers do operate,\\nis one question the fact of their operation, is an-\\nother. We abstain from the former. We attach\\nourselves to the latter, and gather from it, that the\\nprince of darkness still walketli abroad amongst us;\\nthat he is still working his insidious policy, if not\\nwith the vigorous inspiration of hope, at least with\\nthe frantic energies of despair that while the over-\\ntures of reconciliation are made to circulate through\\nthe world, he is plying all his devices to deafen and\\nto extinguish the impression of them; or, in other", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0148.jp2"}, "149": {"fulltext": "AMONG THE HIGHER INTELLIGENCES.\\n147\\nwords, while a process of invitation and of argument\\nhas emanated from heaven, for reclaiming men to\\ntheir loyalty the process is resisted at all its points,\\nby one who is putting forth his every expedient, and\\nwielding a mysterious ascendency, to seduce, and to\\nenthral them.\\nTo an infidel ear, all this carries the sound of\\nsomething wild and visionary along with it. But\\nthough only known through the medium of revela-\\ntion after it is known, who can fail to recognise its\\nharmony with the great lineaments of human experi-\\nence Who has not felt the workings of a rivalry\\nwithin him, between the power of conscience and\\nthe power of temptation? Who does not remember\\nthose seasons of retirement, when the calculations\\nof eternity had gotten a momentary command over\\nthe heart and time, with all its interests and all its\\nvexations, had dwindled into insignificancy before\\nthem And who does not remember, how, upon his\\nactual engagement with the objects of time, they re-\\nsumed a control, as great and as omnipotent, as if all\\nthe importance of eternity adhered to them how\\nthey emitted from them such an impression upon\\nhis feelings, as to fix and to fascinate the whole man\\ninto a subserviency to their influence how in spite\\nof every lesson of their worthlessness, brought home\\nto him at every turn by the rapidity of the seasons,\\nand the vicissitudes of life, and the ever-moving\\nprogress of his own earthly career, and the visible\\nravages of death among his acquaintances around\\nhim, and the desolations of his family, and the con-\\nstant breaking up of his system of friendships, and the\\naffecting spectacle of all that lives and is in motion.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0149.jp2"}, "150": {"fulltext": "148\\nCONTEST FOR ASCENDENCY OVER MAN\\nwithering and hastening to the grave; oh! how\\ncomes it, that, in the face of all this experience, the\\nwhole elevation of purpose, conceived in the hour of\\nhis better understanding, should be dissipated and\\nforgotten Whence the might, and whence the mys-\\ntery of that spell, which so binds and so infatuates us\\nto the world What prompts us so to embark the\\nwhole strength of our eagerness and of our desires,\\nin pursuit of interests which we know a few little\\nyears will bring to utter annihilation Who is it\\nthat imparts to them all the charm and all the colour\\nof an unfailing durability? Who is it that throws\\nsuch an air of stability over these earthly tabernacles,\\nas makes them look to the fascinated eye of man,\\nlike resting-places for eternity Who is it that so\\npictures out the objects of sense, and so magnifies\\nthe range of their future enjoyment, and so dazzles\\nthe fond and deceived imagination, that, in looking\\nonward through our earthly career, it appears like\\nthe vista, or the perspective, of innumerable ages\\nHe who is called the god of this world. He who can\\ndress the idleness of its waking dreams in the garb of\\nreality. He who can pour a seducing brilliancy over\\nthe panorama of its fleeting pleasures and its vain\\nanticipations. He who can turn it into an in-\\nstrument of deceitfulness, and make it wield such\\nan absolute ascendency over all the affections,\\nthat man, become the poor slave of its idolatries\\nand its charms, puts the authority of conscience\\nand the warnings of the Word of God, and the\\noffered instigations of the Spirit of God, and all\\nthe lessons of calculation, and all the wisdom even of\\nhis own sound and sober experience, away from him.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0150.jp2"}, "151": {"fulltext": "AMONG THE HIGHER INTELLIGENCES.\\n149\\nBut this wondrous contest will come to a close.\\nSome will return to their loyalty, and others will\\nkeep by their rebellion; and, in the day of the wind-\\ning up of the drama of this world s history, there will\\nbe made manifest to the myriads of the various\\norders of creation, both the mercy and vindicated\\nmajesty of the Eternal. Oh! on that day, how vain\\nwill this presumption of the infidel astronomy ap-\\npear, when the affairs of men come to be exa mined in\\nthe presence of an innumerable company and beings\\nof loftiest nature are seen to crowd around the judg-\\nment-seat and the Saviour shall appear in our sky,\\nwith a celestial retinue, who have come with liim\\nfrom afar to witness all his doings, and to take a\\ndeep and solemn interest in all His dispensations\\nand the destiny of our species whom the Infidel\\nwould thus detach in solitary insignificance, from\\nthe universe altogether, shall be found to merge and\\nto mingle with higher destinies the good to spend\\ntheir eternity with angels the bad to spend their\\neternity with angels the former to be readmitted\\ninto the universal family of God s obedient worship-\\npers the latter to share in the everlasting pain\\nand ignominy of the defeated host of the rebellious\\nthe people of this planet to be implicated, through-\\nout the whole train of their never-ending history,\\nwith the higher ranks and the more extended\\ntribes of intelligence And thus it is, that the\\nspecial administration w r e now live under, shall be\\nseen to harmonize in its bearings, and to accord\\nin its magnificence, with all that extent of nature\\nand of her territories, which modern science has\\nunfolded.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0151.jp2"}, "152": {"fulltext": "150\\nSLENDER INFLUENCE OF TASTE\\nDISCOURSE VII.\\nON THE SLENDER INFLUENCE OF MERE TASTE AND\\nSENSIBILITY IN MATTERS OP RELIGION.\\nAnd, Io thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that\\nhath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they\\nhear thy words, but they do them not. Ezck. xxxiii. 32.\\nYou easily understand how a taste for music is one\\nthing, and a real submission to the influence of re-\\nligion is another how the ear may be regaled by\\nthe melody of sound, and the heart may utterly re-\\nfuse the proper impression of the sense that is con-\\nveyed by it how the sons and daughters of the world\\nmay, with their every affection devoted to its perish-\\nable vanities, inhale all the delights of enthusiasm,\\nas they sit in crowded assemblage around the deep\\nand solemn oratorio ay, and whether it be the humi-\\nlity of penitential feeling, or the rapture of grateful\\nacknowledgment, or the sublime of a contemplative\\npiety, or the aspiration of pure and of holy purposes,\\nwhich breathes throughout the words of the perform-\\nance, and gives to it all the spirit and all the ex-\\npression by which it is pervaded, it is a very pos-\\nsible thing, that the moral, and the rational, and the\\nactive man, may have given no en (ranee into his\\nbosom for any of these sentiments and yet so over-", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0152.jp2"}, "153": {"fulltext": "IN MATTERS OF RELIGION.\\n151\\npowered may he be by the charm of the vocal con-\\nveyance through which they are addressed to him,\\nthat he may be made to feel with such an emotion,\\nand to weep with such a tenderness, and to kindle\\nwith such a transport, and to glow with such an ele-\\nvation, as may one and all carry upon them the\\nsemblance of sacredness.\\nBut might not this semblance deceive him? Have\\nyou ever heard any tell, and with complacency too,\\nhow powerfully his devotion was awakened by an\\nact of attendance on the oratorio how his heart,\\nmelted and subdued by the influence of harmony,\\ndid homage to all the religion of which it was the\\nvehicle how he was so moved and overborne, as to\\nshed the tears of contrition, and to be agitated by\\nthe terrors of judgment, and to receive an awe upon\\nhis spirit of the greatness and the majesty of God\\nand that, wrought up to the lofty pitch of eternity,\\nhe could look down upon the world, and by the\\nglance of one commanding survey, pronounce upon\\nthe littleness and the vanity of all its concerns It is\\nindeed very possible that all this might thrill upon\\nthe ears of the man, and circulate a succession of\\nsolemn and affecting images around his fancy and\\nyet that essential principle of his nature, upon which\\nthe practical influence of Christianity turns, might\\nhave met with no reaching and no subduing efficacy\\nwhatever to arouse it. He leaves the exhibition,\\nas dead in trespasses and sins as he came to it\\nConscience has not wakened upon him. Repent-\\nance has not turned him. Faith has not made any\\npositive lodgement within him of her great and her\\nconstraining realities. He speeds him back to his", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0153.jp2"}, "154": {"fulltext": "152\\nSLENDER INFLUENCE OF TASTE\\nbusiness and to Lis family, and there he acts the old\\nman in all the entireness of his uncrucified temper,\\nand of his obstinate worldliness, and of all those\\nearthly and un sanctified affections which are found\\nto cleave to him with as great tenacity as ever.\\nHe is really and experimentally the very same man\\nas before and all those sensibilities which seemed\\nto bear upon them so much of the air and unction\\nof heaven, are found to go into dissipation, and be\\nforgotten with the loveliness of the song.\\nAmid all that illusion which such momentary\\nvisitations of seriousness and of sentiment throw\\naround the character of man, let us never lose sight\\nof the test, that by their fruits ye shall know them/\\nIt is not coming up to this test, that you hear and\\nare delighted. It is that you hear and do. This is\\nthe ground upon which the reality of your religion\\nis discriminated now and on the day of reckoning,\\nthis is the ground upon which your religion will be\\njudged then and that award is to be passed upon\\nyou, which will fix and perpetuate your destiny for\\never. You have a taste for music. This no more\\nimplies the hold and the ascendency of religion over\\nyou, than that you have a taste for beautiful scenery,\\nor a taste for painting, or even a taste for the sen-\\nsualities of epicurism. But music may be made to\\nexpress the glow and the movement of devotional\\nfeeling; and is it saying nothing to say that the heart\\nof him who listens with a raptured ear is, through\\nthe whole time of the performance, in harmony with\\nsuch a movement Why, it is saying nothing to the\\npurpose. Music may lift the inspiring note of pa-\\ntriotism; and the inspiration may be felt; and it may", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0154.jp2"}, "155": {"fulltext": "IN MATTERS OF RELIGION.\\n153\\nthrill over the recesses of the sou], to the mustering\\nup of all its energies; and it may sustain to the last\\ncadence of the song, the firm nerve and purpose of\\nintrepidity and all this may be realized upon him,\\nwho, in the day of battle, and upon actual collision\\nwith the dangers of it, turns out to be a coward. And\\nmusic may lull the feelings into unison with piety\\nand stir up the inner man to lofty determinations\\nand so engage for a time his affections, that, as if\\nweaned from the dust, they promise an immediate en-\\ntrance on some great and elevated career, which may\\ncarry him through his pilgrimage superior to all the\\nsordid and grovelling enticements that abound in it.\\nBut he turns him to the world, and all this glow aban-\\ndons him and the words which he had heard, he\\ndoeth them not and in the hour of temptation he\\nturns out to be a deserter from the law of allegi-\\nance and the test we have now specified looks hard\\nupon him, and discriminates him amid all the parad-\\ning insignificance of his fine but fugitive emotions,\\nto be the subject both of present guilt and of future\\nvengeance.\\nThe faithful application of this test would put to\\nflight a host of other delusions. It may be carried\\nround amongst all those phenomena of human char-\\nacter, where there is the exhibition of something\\nassociated with religion, but which is not religion\\nitself. An exquisite relish for music is no test of the\\ninfluence of Christianity; neither are many other\\nof the exquisite sensibilities of our nature. When\\na kind mother closes the eyes of her expiring babe,\\nshe is thrown into a flood of sensibility, and soothing\\nto her heart are the sympathy and the prayers of an", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0155.jp2"}, "156": {"fulltext": "1 )4 SLENDER INFLUENCE OF TASTE\\nattending- minister. When a gathering neighbour-\\nhood assemble to the funeral of an acquaintance,\\none pervading sense of regret and tenderness sits on\\nthe faces of the company and the deep silence,\\nbroken only by the solemn utterance of the man of\\nGod, carries a hind of pleasing religiousness along\\nwith it. The sacrednoss of the hallowed day, and all\\nthe decencies of its observation, may engage the\\naffections of him who loves to walk in the footsteps\\nof his father and every recurring Sabbath may\\nbring to his bosom the charm of its regularity and\\nits quietness. Religion has its accompaniments\\nand in these there may be a something to soothe and\\nto fascinate, even in the absence of the appropriate\\ninfluences of religion. The deep and tender impres-\\nsion of a family bereavement, is not religion. The\\nlove of established decencies, is not religion. The\\ncharm of all that sentimentalism which is associated\\nwith many of its solemn and affecting services, is not\\nreligion. They may form the distinct folds of its\\naccustomed drapery but they do not, any, or all of\\nthem put together, make up the substance of the\\nthing itself. A mothers tenderness may flow most\\ngracefully over the tomb of her departed little one\\nand she may talk the while of that heaven whither\\nits spirit has ascended. The man whom death had\\nwidowed of his friend, may abandon himself to the\\nmovements of that grief, which for a time will claim\\nan ascendency over him and, amongst the multi-\\ntude of his other reveries, may love to hear of the\\neternity, where sorrow and separation are alike un-\\nknown. He who has been trained from his infant\\ndays to remember the Sabbath, may love the holiness", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0156.jp2"}, "157": {"fulltext": "IN MATTERS OF RELIGION.\\n155\\nof its aspect, and associate himself with all its ob-\\nservances, and take a delighted share in the mechan-\\nism of its forms. But let not these think, because\\nthe tastes and the sensibilities which engross them,\\nmay be blended with religion, that they indicate\\neither its strength or its existence within them.\\nWe recur to the test. We press its imperious exac-\\ntions upon you. We call for fruit, and demand the\\npermanency of a religious influence on the habits\\nand the history. How many who take a flattering\\nunction to their souls, when they think of their\\namiable feelings, and their becoming observations,\\nwith whom this severe touchstone would, like the\\nhead of Medusa, put to flight all their complacency\\nThe afflictive dispensation is forgotten and he on\\nwhom it was laid, is practically as indifferent to God\\nand to eternity as before. The Sabbath services\\ncome to a close, and they are followed by the same\\nroutine of week-day worldliness as before. In neither\\nthe one case nor the other, do we see more of the\\nradical influence of Christianity, than in the sublime\\nand melting influence of sacred music upon the soul\\nand all this tide of emotion is found to die away\\nfrom the bosom, like the pathos or like the loveliness\\nof a song.\\nThe instances may be multiplied without number.\\nA man may have a taste for eloquence, and elo-\\nquence, the most touching or sublime, may lift her\\npleading voice on the side of religion. A man may\\nlove to have his understanding stimulated by the\\ningenuities or the resistless urgencies of an ar-\\ngument and argument the most profound and the\\nmost overbearing may put forth all the might of a", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0157.jp2"}, "158": {"fulltext": "156\\nSLENDER INFLUENCE OF TASTE\\nconstraining vehemence in behalf of religion. A\\nman may feel the rejoicings of a conscious elevation,\\nwhen some ideal scene of magnificence is laid before\\nhim and where are these scenes so readily to be\\nmet with, as when led to expatiate in thought over\\nthe track of eternity, or to survey the wonders of\\ncreation, or to look to the magnitude of those great\\nand universal interests which lie within the compass\\nof religion A man may have his attention rivetted\\nand regaled by that power of imitative description,\\nwhich brings all the recollections of his own experi-\\nence before him which presents him w T ith a faith-\\nful analysis of his own heart which embodies in\\nlanguage such intimacies of observation and of feel-\\ning, as have often passed before his eyes, or played\\nwithin his bosom, but had never been so truly or so\\nably pictured to the view of his remembrance. Now,\\nall this may be done in the work of pressing the\\nduties of religion in the work of instancing the\\napplications of religion in the work of pointing\\nthose allusions to life and to manners, which mani-\\nfest the truth to the conscience, and plant such a\\nconviction of sin, as forms the very basis of a sinner s\\nreligion. Now, in all these cases, we see other prin-\\nciples brought into action, and which may be in a\\nstate of most lively and vigorous movement, and be\\nyet in a state of entire separation from the principle\\nof religion. We will venture to say, on the strength\\nof these illustrations, that as much delight may\\nemanate from the pulpit on an arrested audience\\nbeneath it, as ever emanated from the boards of a\\ntheatre ay, and with as total a disjunction of mind\\ntoo, in the one case as in the other, from the essence or", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0158.jp2"}, "159": {"fulltext": "IN MATTERS OF RELIGION.\\n157\\nthe habit of religion. We recur to the test. We make\\nour appeal to experience and we put it to you all,\\nwhether your finding upon the subject do not agree\\nwith our saying about it, that a man may weep and\\nadmire, and have many of his faculties put upon\\nthe stretch of their most intense gratification his\\njudgment established, and his fancy enlivened, and\\nhis feelings overpowered, and his hearing charmed\\nas by the accents of heavenly persuasion, and all\\nwithin him feasted by the rich and varied luxuries\\nof an intellectual banquet Oh it is cruel to frown\\nunmannerly in the midst of so much satisfaction.\\nBut I must not forget that truth has her authority,\\nas well as her sternness and she forces me to affirm,\\nthat after all this has been felt and gone through,\\nthere might not be one principle which lies at the\\nturning-point of conversion, that has experienced a\\nsingle movement not one of its purposes be con-\\nceived not one of its doings be accomplished not\\none step of that repentance, which if we have not\\nwe perish, so much as entered upon not one an-\\nnouncement of that faith, by which we are saved,\\nadmitted into a real and actual possession by the\\ninner man. He has had his hour s entertainment,\\nand willingly does he award this homage to the per-\\nformer, that he hath a pleasant voice and can play\\nwell on an instrument but, in another hour it fleets\\naway from his remembrance, and goes all to nothing,\\nlike the loveliness of a song.\\nNow, in bringing these Discourses to a close, we\\nfeel it our duty to advert to this exhibition of char-\\nacter in man. The sublime and interesting topic\\nwhich has engaged us, however feebly it may have", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0159.jp2"}, "160": {"fulltext": "158\\nSLENDER INFLUENCE OF TASTE\\nbeen handled however inadequately it may have\\nbeen put in all its worth, and in all its magnitude\\nbefore you however short the representation of the\\nspeaker, or the conception of the hearers, may have\\nbeen of that richness, and that greatness, and that\\nloftiness, which belong to it possesses in itself a\\ncharm to fix the attention, and to regale the imagina-\\ntion, and to subdue the whole man into a delighted\\nreverence and, in a word, to beget such a solemnity\\nof thought and of emotion, as may occupy and en-\\nlarge the soul for hours together, as may waft it\\naway from the grossness of ordinary life, and raise\\nit to a kind of elevated calm above all its vulgarities\\nand all its vexations.\\nNow, tell us whether the whole of this effect upon\\nthe feelings may not be formed without the presence\\nof religion. Tell us whether there might not be\\nsuch a constitution of mind, that it may both want\\naltogether that principle, in virtue of which the\\ndoctrines of Christianity are admitted into the belief,\\nand the duties of Christianity arc admitted into a\\ngovernment over the practice and yet at the very\\nsame time, it may have the faculty of looking abroad\\nover some scene of magnificence, and of being\\nwrought up to ecstasy with the sense of all those\\nglories among which it is expatiating. We want\\nyou to see clearly the distinction between these two\\nattributes of the human character. They are, in\\ntruth, as different the one from the other, as a taste\\nfor the grand and the graceful in scenery differs\\nfrom the appetite of hunger and the one may both\\nexist and have a most intense operation within tho\\nbosom of that very individual, who entirely disowns", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0160.jp2"}, "161": {"fulltext": "IN MATTERS OF RELIGION.\\n159\\nand is entirely disgusted with the other. What\\nmust a man be converted, ere, from the most ele-\\nvated peak of some Alpine wilderness, he become\\ncapable of feeling the force and the majesty of those\\ngreat lineaments which the hand of nature has\\nthrown around him, in the varied forms of precipice,\\nand mountain, and the wave of mighty forests, and\\nthe rush of sounding waterfalls, and distant glimpses\\nof human territory, and pinnacles of everlasting snow,\\nand the sweep of that circling horizon, which folds\\nin its ample embrace the whole of this noble amphi-\\ntheatre Tell us whether, without the aid of Chris-\\ntianity, or without a particle of reverence for the\\nonly Name given under heaven whereby men can be\\nsaved, a man may not kindle at such a perspective\\nas this, into all the raptures, and into all the move-\\nments of a poetic elevation and be able to render\\ninto the language of poetry, the whole of that sublime\\nand beauteous imagery which adorns it? and, as if\\nhe were treading on the confines of a sanctuary\\nwhich he has not entered, may he not mix up with\\nthe power and the enchantment of his description,\\nsuch allusions to the presiding genius of the scene\\nor to the still but animating spirit of the solitude;\\nor to the speaking silence of some mysterious char-\\nacter which reigns throughout the landscape or,\\nin fine, to that Eternal Spirit, who sits behind\\nthe elements He has formed, and combines them\\ninto all the varieties of a wide and a wondrous crea-\\ntion? might not all this be said and sung with an\\nemphasis so moving as to spread the colouring of\\npiety over the pages of him who performs thus well\\nupon his instrument and yet, the performer himself", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0161.jp2"}, "162": {"fulltext": "IGO\\nSLENDER INFLUENCE OF TASTE\\nhave a conscience unmoved by a single warning of\\nGod s actual communication, and the judgment un-\\nconvinced, and the fears unawakened, and the life\\nunreformed by it\\nNow, what is true of a scene on earth, is also\\ntrue of that wider and more elevated scene which\\nstretches over the immensity around it, into a dark\\nand a distant unknown. Who does not feel an\\naggrandizement of thought and of faculty, when he\\nlooks abroad over the amplitudes of creation when,\\nplaced on a telescopic eminence, his aided eye can\\nfind a pathway to innumerable worlds when that\\nwondrous field, over which there had hung for many\\nages the mantle of so deep an obscurity, is laid open\\nto him, and, instead of a dreary and unpeopled soli-\\ntude, he can see over the whole face of it such an\\nextended garniture of rich and goodly habitations\\nEven the Atheist, who tells us that the universe is\\nself-existent and indestructible even he, who in-\\nstead of seeing the traces of a manifold wisdom in\\nits manifold varieties, sees nothing in them all but\\nthe exquisite structures and the lofty dimensions of\\nmaterialism even he, who would despoil creation\\nof its God, cannot look upon its golden suns, and\\ntheir accompanying systems, without the solemn im-\\npression of a magnificence that fixes and overpowers\\nhim. Now, conceive such a belief of God as you all\\nprofess to dawn upon his understanding. Let him\\nbecome as one of yourselves and so be put into the\\ncondition of rising from the sublime of matter to the\\nsublime of mind. Let him now learn to subordi-\\nnate the whole of this mechanism to the design\\nand authority of a great presiding Intelligence:", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0162.jp2"}, "163": {"fulltext": "IN MATTERS OF RELIGION.\\n161\\nand re-assembling all the members of the universe,\\nhowever distant, into one family, let him mingle with\\nhis formerconceptions of the grandeurwhich belonged\\nto it, the conception of that Eternal Spirit who sits\\nenthroned on the immensity of His own wonders, and\\nembraces all that He has made, within the ample\\nscope of one great administration. Then will the\\nimages and the impressions of sublimity come in upon\\nhim from a new quarter. Then will another avenue\\nbe opened, through which a sense of grandeur may\\nfind its way into his soul, and have a mightier influ-\\nence than ever to fill, and to elevate, and to expand it.\\nThen will be established a new and a noble associa-\\ntion, by the aid of which all that he formerly looked\\nupon as fair, becomes more lovely and all that he\\nformerly looked upon as great, becomes more magni-\\nficent. But will you believe us, that even with this\\naccession to his mind of ideas gathered from the con-\\ntemplation of the Divinity even with that pleasur-\\nable glow which steals over his imagination, when he\\nnow thinks of the majesty of God even with as much\\nof what you would call piety, as we fear is enough to\\nsoothe and to satisfy many of yourselves, and which\\nstirs and kindles within you when you hear the goings\\nforth of the Supreme set before you in the terms of\\na lofty representation even with all this, we say\\nthere may be as wide a distance from the habit and\\nthe character of godliness, as if God was still atheis-\\ntically disowned by him. Take the conduct of his\\nlife and the currency of his affections and you may\\nsee as little upon them of the stamp of loyalty to God,\\nor of reverence for any one of his authenticated\\nproclamations, as you may see in him who offers his\\n7 L", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0163.jp2"}, "164": {"fulltext": "162\\nSLENDER INFLUENCE OF TASTE\\npoetic incense to the genii, or weeps enraptured over\\nthe visions of a beauteous mythology. The sublime\\nof Deity has wrought up his soul to a pitch of con-\\nscious and pleasing elevation and yet this no more\\nargues the will of Deity to have a practical authority\\nover him, than does that tone of elevation which is\\ncaught by looking at the sublime of a naked materi-\\nalism. The one and the other have their little hour\\nof ascendency over him and when he turns him to\\nthe rude and ordinary world, both vanish alike from\\nhis sensibilities, as does the loveliness of a song.\\nTo kindle and be elevated by a sense of the\\nmajesty of God, is one thing. It is totally another\\nthing, to feel a movement of obedience to the will of\\nGod, under the impression of His rightful authority\\nover all the creatures whom He has formed. A\\nman may have an imagination all alive to the\\nformer, while the latter never prompts him to one\\nact of obedience never leads him to compare his\\nlife with the requirements of the Lawgiver never\\ncarries him from such a scrutiny as this, to the con-\\nviction of sin never whispers such an accusation to\\nthe ear of his conscience, as causes him to mourn,\\nand to be in heaviness for the guilt *of his hourly\\nand habitual rebellion never shuts him up to the\\nconclusion of the need of a Saviour never humbles\\nhim to acquiescence in the doctrine of that revelation\\nwhich comes to his door with such a host of evidence,\\nas even his own philosophy cannot bid away never\\nextorts a single believing prayer in the name of\\nChrist, or points a single look, either of trust or of\\nreverence, to His atonement never stirs any effec-\\ntive movement of conversion never sends an aspir-", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0164.jp2"}, "165": {"fulltext": "IN MATTERS OF RELIGION.\\n163\\ning energy into his bosom after the aids of that\\nSpirit, who alone can waken him out of his lethar-\\ngies, and by the anointing which remaineth, can\\nrivet and substantiate in his practice, those goodly\\nemotions which have hitherto plied him with the\\ndeceitfulness of their momentary visits, and then\\ncapriciously abandoned him.\\nThe mere majesty of God s power and greatness,\\nwhen offered to your notice, lays hold of one of the\\nfaculties within you. The holiness of God, with\\nHis righteous claim of legislation, lays hold of an-\\nother of these faculties. The difference between\\nthem is so great, that the one may be engrossed and\\ninterested to the full, while the other remains un-\\ntouched, and in a state of entire dormancy. Now,\\nit is no matter what it be that ministers delight to\\nthe former of these two faculties if the latter be\\nnot arrested and put on its proper exercise, you are\\nmaking no approximation whatever to the right\\nhabit and character of religion. There are a thou-\\nsand ways in which we may contrive to regale your\\ntaste for that which is beauteous and majestic. It\\nmay find its gratification in the loveliness of a vale,\\nor in the freer and bolder outlines of an upland\\nsituation, or in the terrors of a storm, or in the\\nsublime contemplations of astronomy, or in the\\nmagnificent idea of a God who sends forth the wake-\\nfulness of His omniscient eye, and the vigour of His\\nupholding hand, throughout all the realms of nature\\nand of providence. The mere taste of the human\\nmind may get its ample enjoyment in each and in\\nall of these objects, or in a vivid representation of\\nthem nor does it make any material difference.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0165.jp2"}, "166": {"fulltext": "164\\nSLENDER INFLUENCE OF TASTE\\nwhether this representation be addressed to you\\nfrom the stanzas of a poem, or from the recitations\\nof a theatre, or finally from the discourses and the\\ndemonstrations of a pulpit. And thus it is, that\\nstill on the impulse of the one principle only, people\\nmay come in gathering multitudes to the house of\\nGod and share with eagerness in all the glow and\\nbustle of a crowded attendance and have their\\nevery eye directed to the speaker and feel a re-\\nsponding movement in their bosom to his many\\nappeals and his many arguments and carry a solemn\\nand overpowering impression of all the services away\\nwith them and yet, throughout the whole of this\\nseemly exhibition, not one effectual knock may have\\nbeen given at the door of conscience. The other\\nprinciple may be as profoundly asleep, as if hushed\\ninto the insensibility of death. There is a spirit of\\ndeep slumber, it would appear, which the music of no\\ndescription, even though attuned to a theme so lofty\\nas the greatness and majesty of the Godhead, can\\never charm away. Oh it may have been a piece\\nof parading insignificance altogether the minister\\nplaying on his favourite instrument, and the people\\ndissipating away their time on the charm and idle\\nluxury of a theatrical emotion.\\nThe religion of taste is one thing. The religion\\nof conscience is another. We recur to the test\\nWhat is the plain and practical doing which ought\\nto issue from the whole of our argument If one\\nlesson come more clearly or more authoritatively out\\nof it than another, it is the supremacy of the Bible.\\nIf fitted to impress one movement rather than an-\\nother it is that movement of docility, in virtue of", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0166.jp2"}, "167": {"fulltext": "IN MATTERS OF RELIGION.\\n1G5\\nwhich, man, with the feeling that he has all to learn,\\nplaces himself in the attitude of a little child, before\\nthe book of the unsearchable God, who has deigned\\nto break His silence, and to transmit even to our age\\nof the world, a faithful record of his own communi-\\ncation. What progress then are you making in this\\nmovement Are you, or are you not, like new-\\nborn babes, desiring the sincere milk of the word,\\nthat you may grow thereby How are you coming\\non in the work of casting down your lofty imagina-\\ntions With the modesty of true science, which is\\nhere at one with the humblest and most peniten-\\ntiary feeling which Christianity can awaken, are you\\nbending an eye of earnestness on the Bible, and ap-\\npropriating its informations, and moulding your\\nevery conviction to its doctrines and its testimonies\\nHow long, w r e beseech you, has this been your habi-\\ntual exercise By this time do you feel the dark-\\nness and the insufficiency of nature Have you\\nfound your way to the need of an atonement Have\\nyou learned the might and the efficacy which are given\\nto the principle of faith Have you longed with all\\nyour energies to realize it Have you broken loose\\nfrom the obvious misdoings of your former history\\nAre you convinced of your total deficiency from the\\nspiritual obedience of the affections Have you\\nread of the Holy Ghost, by whom renewed in the\\nwhole desire and character of your mind, you are\\nled to run with alacrity in the way of the command-\\nments Have you turned to its practical use, the\\nimportant truth, that He is given to the believing\\nprayers of all, who really want to be relieved from\\nthe power both of secret and of visible iniquity", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0167.jp2"}, "168": {"fulltext": "166\\nSLENDER INFLUENCE OF TASTE\\nWe demand something more than the homage you\\nhave rendered to the pleasantness of the voice that\\nhas been sounded in your hearing. What we have\\nnow to urge upon you, is the bidding of the voice, to\\nread and to reform, and to pray, and, in a word, to\\nmake your consistent step from the elevations of\\nphilosophy, to all those exercises, whether of doing\\nor of believing, which mark the conduct of the\\nearnest, and the devoted, and the subdued, and the\\naspiring Christian.\\nThis brings under our view a most deeply in-\\nteresting exhibition of human nature, which may\\noften be witnessed among the cultivated orders of\\nsociety. When a teacher of Christianity addresses\\nhimself to that principle of justice within us, in vir-\\ntue of which we feel the authority of God to be a pre-\\nrogative which righteously belongs to Him, he is then\\nspeaking the appropriate language of religion, and\\nis advancing its naked and appropriate claim over\\nthe obedience of mankind. He is then urging that\\npertinent and powerful consideration, upon which\\nalone he can ever hope to obtain the ascendency of\\na practical influence over the purposes and the con-\\nduct of human beings. It is only by insisting on\\nthe moral claim of God to a right of government\\nover his creatures, that he can carry their loyal sub-\\nordination to the will of God. Let him keep by\\nthis single argument, and urge it upon the con-\\nscience, and then, without any of the other accom-\\npaniments of what is called Christian oratory, he\\nmay bring convincingly home upon his hearers all\\nthe varieties of Christian doctrine. He may estab-\\nlish within their minds the dominion of all that is", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0168.jp2"}, "169": {"fulltext": "IN MATTERS OF RELIGION. 167\\nessential in the faitli of the New Testament. He\\nmay, by carrying out this principle of God s autho-\\nrity into all its applications, convince them of sin.\\nHe may lead them to compare the loftiness and\\nspirituality of His law, with the habitual obstinacy\\nof their own worldly affections. He may awaken\\nthem to the need of a Saviour. He may urge them\\nto a faithful and submissive perusal of God s own\\ncommunication. He may thence press upon them\\nthe truth and the immutability of their Sovereign.\\nHe may work in their hearts an impression of this\\nemphatic saying, that God is not to be mocked\\nthat His law must be upheld in all the significancy\\nof its proclamations and that either its severities\\nmust be discharged upon the guilty, or in some\\nother way an adequate provision be found for its out-\\nraged dignity, and its violated sanctions. Thus may\\nhe lead them to flee for refuge to the blood of the\\natonement. And he may further urge upon his\\nhearers, that such is the enormity of sin, that it is\\nnot enough to have found an expiation for it that\\nits power and its existence must be eradicated from\\nthe hearts of all who are to spend their eternity in\\nthe mansions of the celestial that for this purpose,\\nan expedient is made known to us in the New Testa-\\nment that a process must be described upon earth,\\nto which there is given the appropriate name of\\nsanctification that, at the very commencement of\\nevery true course of discipleship, this process is en-\\ntered upon with a purpose in the mind of forsaking\\nall that nothing short of a single devotedness to the\\nwill of God, will ever carry us forward through the\\nsuccessive stages of this holy and elevated career", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0169.jp2"}, "170": {"fulltext": "168\\nSLENDER INFLUENCE OF TASTE\\nthat to help the infirmities of our nature, the Spirit\\nis ever in readiness to be given to those who ask it\\nand that thus the life of every Christian becomes a\\nlife of entire dedication to Him who died for us a\\nlife of prayer and vigilance, and close dependence\\non the grace of God and, as the infallible result of\\nthe plain but powerful and peculiar teaching of the\\nBible, a life of vigorous unwearied activity in the\\ndoing of all the commandments.\\nNow, this we should call the essential business of\\nChristianity. This is the truth as it is in Jesus, in\\nits naked and unassociated simplicity. In the work\\nof urging it, nothing more might have been done than\\nto present certain views, which may come with as\\ngreat clearness and freshness, and take as full posses-\\nsion of the mind of a peasant, as of the mind of a philo-\\nsopher. There is a sense of God, and of the right-\\nful allegiance that is due to Him. There are plain\\nand practical appeals to the conscience. There is a\\ncomparison of the state of the heart, with the require-\\nments of a law which proposes to take the heart\\nunder its obedience. There is the inward discern-\\nment of its coldness about God of its unconcern\\nabout the matters of duty and of eternity of its\\ndevotion to the forbidden objects of sense of its\\nconstant tendency to nourish within its own recep-\\ntacles, the very element and principle of rebellion,\\nand in virtue of this, to send forth the stream of an\\nhourly and accumulating disobedience over those\\ndoings of the outer man, which make up his visible\\nhistory in the world. There is such an earnest and\\noverpowering impression of all this, as will fix a man\\ndown to the single object of deliverance as will", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0170.jp2"}, "171": {"fulltext": "IN MATTERS OF RELIGION.\\n169\\nmake him awake only to those realities which have\\na significant and substantial bearing on the case that\\nengrosses him as will teach him to nauseate all the\\nimpertinences of tasteful and ambitious description\\nas will attach him to the truth in its simplicity as\\nwill fasten his every regard upon the Bible, w T here,\\nif he persevere in the work of honest inquiry, he will\\nsoon be made to perceive the accordancy between\\nits statements, and all those movements of fear, or\\nguilt, or deeply felt necessity, or conscious darkness,\\nstupidity, and unconcern about the matters of salva-\\ntion, which pass within his own bosom in a word,\\nas will endear to him that plainness of speech, by\\nwhich his own experience is set evidently before him,\\nand that plain phraseology of Scripture, which is\\nbest fitted to bring home to him the doctrine of re-\\ndemption, in all the truth and in all the preciousness\\nof its applications.\\nNow, the whole of this work may be going on,\\nand that too in the wisest and most effectual man-\\nner, without so much as one particle of incense\\nbeing offered to any of the subordinate principles of\\nthe human constitution. There may be no fascina-\\ntions of style. There may be no magnificence of\\ndescription. There may be no poignancy of acute\\nand irresistible argument. There may be a rivetted\\nattention on the part of those whom the Spirit of\\nGod hath awakened to seriousness about the plain\\nand affecting realities of conversion. Their con-\\nscience may be stricken, and their appetite be ex-\\ncited for an actual settlement of mind on those\\npoints about which they feel restless and uncon-\\nfirmed. Such as these are vastly too much engrossed", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0171.jp2"}, "172": {"fulltext": "170\\nSLENDER INFLUENCE OF TASTE\\nwith the exigencies of their condition, to be repelled\\nby the homeliness of unadorned truth. And thus it\\nis, that while the loveliness of the song has done so\\nlittle in helping on the influences of the gospel, our\\nmen of simplicity and prayer have done so much for it.\\nWith a deep and earnest impression of the truth\\nthemselves, they have made manifest that truth to the\\nconsciences of others. Missionaries have gone forth\\nwith no other preparation than the simple word\\nof the Testimony, and thousands have owned its\\npower, by being both the hearers of the word and\\nthe doers of it also. They have given us the experi-\\nment in a state of unmingled simplicity and we\\nlearn, from the success of their noble example, that\\nwithout any one human expedient to charm the ear,\\nthe heart may, by the naked instrumentality of the\\nWord of God, urged with plainness on those who\\nfeel its deceit and its worthlessness, be charmed to\\nan entire acquiescence in the revealed way of God,\\nand have impressed upon it the genuine stamp and\\ncharacter of godliness.\\nCould the sense of what is due to God be effec-\\ntually stirred up within the human bosom, it would\\nlead to a practical carrying of all the lessons of\\nChristianity. Now, to awaken this moral sense,\\nthere are certain simple relations between the crea-\\nture and the Creator, which must be clearly appre-\\nhended, and manifested with power unto the con-\\nscience. We believe, that however much philo-\\nsophers may talk about the comparative ease of\\nforming those conceptions which are simple, they\\nwill, if in good earnest after a right footing with God,\\nsoon discover in their own minds, all that darkness", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0172.jp2"}, "173": {"fulltext": "IN MATTERS OF RELIGION.\\n171\\nand incapacity about spiritual things, which are so\\nbroadly announced to us in the New Testament.\\nAnd oh it is a deeply interesting spectacle, to be-\\nhold a man, who can take a masterly and command-\\ning survey over the field of some human speculation,\\nwho can clear his discriminated way through all the\\nturns and ingenuities of some human r argument,\\nwho, by the march of a mighty and resistless de-\\nmonstration, can scale with assured footstep the\\nsublimities of science, and, from his firm stand on\\nthe eminence he has won, can descry some wondrous\\nrange of natural or intellectual truth spread out in\\nsubordination before him and yet this very man,\\nmay, in reference to the moral and authoritative\\nclaims of the Godhead, be in a state of utter apathy\\nand blindness All his attempts, either at the\\nspiritual discernment, or the practical impression of\\nthis doctrine, may be arrested and baffled by the\\nweight of some great inexplicable impotency. A\\nman of homely talents, and still homelier education,\\nmay see what he cannot see, and feel what he can-\\nnot feel and wise and prudent as he is, there may\\nlie the barrier of an obstinate and impenetrable con-\\ncealment, between his accomplished mind, and those\\nthings which are revealed unto babes.\\nBut while his mind is thus utterly devoid of what\\nmay be called the main or elemental principle of\\ntheology, he may have a far quicker apprehension,\\nand have his taste and his feelings much more\\npowerfully interested, than the simple Christian\\nwho is beside him, by what may be called the cir-\\ncumstantials of theology. He can throw a wider\\nand more rapid glance over the magnitudes of", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0173.jp2"}, "174": {"fulltext": "172\\nSLENDER INFLUENCE OF TASTE\\ncreation. He can be more delicately alive to the\\nbeauties and the sublimities which abound in it.\\nHe can, when the idea of a presiding God is sug-\\ngested to him, have a more kindling sense of His\\nnatural majesty, and be able, both in imagination\\nand in words, to surround the throne of the Divinity\\nby the blazonry of more great, and splendid, and\\nelevating images. And yet, with all those powers\\nof conception which he does possess, he may not\\npossess that on which practical Christianity hinges.\\nThe moral relation between him and God may\\nneither be effectively perceived, nor faithfully pro-\\nceeded on. Conscience may be in a state of the\\nmost entire dormancy, and the man be regaling\\nhimself with the magnificence of God, while he\\nneither loves God, nor believes God, nor obeys God.\\nAnd here I cannot but remark, how much effect\\nand simplicity go together in the annals of Moravi-\\nanism. The men of this truly interesting denomin-\\nation address themselves exclusively to that principle\\nof our nature on which the proper influence of\\nChristianity turns. Or, in other words, they take\\nup the subject of the gospel message that message\\ndevised by Him who knew what was in man, and\\nwho, therefore, knew how to make the right and the\\nsuitable application to man. They urge the plain\\nWord of the Testimony and they pray for a bless-\\ning from on high and that thick impalpable veil,\\nby which the god of this world blinds the hearts of\\nthem who believe not, lest the light of the glorious\\ngospel of Christ should enter in that veil, which\\nno power of philosophy can draw aside, gives way\\nto the demonstration of the Spirit and thus it is,", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0174.jp2"}, "175": {"fulltext": "IN MATTERS OF RELIGION.\\n173\\nthat a clear perception of scriptural truth, and all\\nthe freshness and permanency of its moral influ-\\nences, are to be met with among men who have just\\nemerged from the rudest and the grossest barbarity.\\nWhen one looks at the number and the greatness of\\ntheir achievements when he thinks of the change\\nthey have made on materials so coarse and so unpro-\\nmising when he eyes the villages they have formed\\nand around the whole of that engaging perspec-\\ntive by which they have chequered and relieved the\\ngrim solitude of the desert, he witnesses the love,\\nand listens to the piety of reclaimed savages who\\nwould not long to be in possession of the charm by\\nw T hich they have wrought this wondrous transforma-\\ntion who would not willingly exchange for it all\\nthe parade of human eloquence, and all the con-\\nfidence of human argument and for the wisdom of\\nwinning souls, who is there that would not rejoice\\nto throw the loveliness of the song, and all the insig-\\nnificancy of its passing fascinations away from him\\nAnd yet it is right that every cavil against Chris-\\ntianity should be met, and every argument for it be\\nexhibited, and all the graces and sublimities of its\\ndoctrine be held out to their merited admiration.\\nAnd if it be true, as it certainly is, that throughout\\nthe whole of this process a man may be carried re-\\njoicingly along from the mere indulgence of his taste,\\nand the mere play and exercise of his understand-\\ning while conscience is untouched, and the supre-\\nmacy of moral claims upon the heart and the con-\\nduct is practically disowned by him it is further\\nright that this should be adverted to and that such\\na melancholy unhingement in the constitution of", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0175.jp2"}, "176": {"fulltext": "174\\nSLENDER INFLUENCE OF TASTE\\nman should be fully laid open and that he should\\nbe driven out of the seductive complacency which he\\nis so apt to cherish, merely because he delights in the\\nloveliness of the song and that he should be urged\\nwith the imperiousness of a demand which still\\nremains unsatisfied, to turn him from the corrupt\\nindifference of nature, and to become personally a\\nreligious man and that he should be assured how\\nall the gratification he felt in listening to the word\\nwhich respected the kingdom of God, will be of no\\navail, unless that kingdom come to himself in power\\nthat it will only go to heighten the perversity of\\nhis character that it will not extenuate his real and\\npractical ungodliness, but will serve most fearfully\\nto aggravate its condemnation.\\nWith a religion so argumentable as ours, it may\\nbe easy to gather out of it a feast for the human un-\\nderstanding. With a religion so magnificent as ours,\\nit may be easy to gather out of it a feast for the\\nhuman imagination. But with a religion so hum-\\nbling, and so strict, and so spiritual, it is not easy\\nto mortify the pride, or to quell the strong enmity\\nof nature or to arrest the currency of the affections\\nor to turn the constitutional habits or to pour a\\nnew complexion over the moral history or to stem\\nthe domineering influence of things seen and things\\nsensible or to invest faith with a practical supre-\\nmacy or to give its objects such a vivacity of influ-\\nence as shall overpower the near and the hourly im-\\npressions, that are ever emanating upon man from a\\nseducing world. It is here that man feels himself\\ntreading upon the limit of his helplessness. It is\\nhere that lie sees where the strength of nature ends", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0176.jp2"}, "177": {"fulltext": "IN MATTERS OF RELIGION.\\nand the power of grace must either be put forth, or\\nleave him to grope his darkling way without one inch\\nof progress towards the life and the substance of\\nChristianity. It is here that a barrier rises on the\\ncontemplation of the inquirer\u00e2\u0080\u0094 the barrier of sepa-\\nration between the carnal and the spiritual, and on\\nwhich he may idly waste the every energy which\\nbelongs to him in the enterprise of surmounting it.\\nIt is here, that after having walked the round of\\nnature s acquisitions, and lavished upon the truth\\nall his ingenuities, and surveyed it in its every pal-\\npable character of grace and majesty, he will still\\nfeel himself on a level with the simplest and most\\nuntutored of the species. He needs the power of a\\nliving manifestation. He needs the anointing which\\nremaineth. He needs that which fixes and perpetu-\\nates a stable revolution upon the character, and in\\nvirtue of which he may be advanced from the state\\nof one who hears and is delighted, to the state of\\none who hears and is a doer. How strikingly is the\\nexperience even of vigorous and accomplished nature\\nat one on this point with the announcements of re-\\nvelation, that to work this change, there must be\\nthe putting forth of a peculiar agency and that it\\nis an agency, which, withheld from the exercise of\\nloftiest talent, is often brought down on an impressed\\naudience, through the humblest of all instrumentality,\\nwith the demonstration of the Spirit and with power.\\nThink it not enough, that you carry in your bosom\\nan expanding sense of the magnificence of creation.\\nBut pray for a subduing sense of the authority of\\nthe Creator. Think it not enough, that with the\\njustness of a philosophical discernment, you have", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0177.jp2"}, "178": {"fulltext": "176\\nSLENDER INFLUENCE OF TASTE\\ntraced that boundary which hems in all the possi-\\nbilities of human attainment, and have found that\\nall beyond it is a dark and fathomless unknown.\\nBut let this modesty of science be carried, as in con-\\nsistency it ought, to the question of revelation, and\\nlet all the antipathies of nature be schooled to acqui-\\nescence in the authentic testimonies of the Bible.\\nThink it not enough, that you have looked with\\nsensibility and wonder at the representation of God\\nthroned in immensity, yet combining, with the vast-\\nness of his entire superintendence, a most thorough\\ninspection into all the minute and countless diver-\\nsities of existence. Think of your own heart as one\\nof these diversities and that he ponders all its ten-\\ndencies and has an eye upon all its movements\\nand marks all its waywardness and, God of judg-\\nment as he is, records its every secret, and its every\\nsin, in the book of his remembrance. Think it not\\nenough, that you have been led to associate a gran-\\ndeur with the salvation of the New Testament, when\\nmade to understand that it draws upon it the regards\\nof an arrested universe. How is it arresting your\\nown mind What has been the earnestness of your\\npersonal regards towards it And tell us, if all its\\nfaith, and all its repentance, and all its holiness, are\\nnot disowned by you Think it not enough, that you\\nhave felt a sentimental charm when angels were pic-\\ntured to your fancy as beckoning you to their man-\\nsions, and anxiously looking to the every symptom\\nof your grace and reformation. Oh be constrained by\\nthe power of all this tenderness, and yield yourselves\\nup in a practical obedience to the call of the Lord\\nGod, merciful and gracious. Think it not enough,", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0178.jp2"}, "179": {"fulltext": "IN MATTERS OF RELIGION.\\n177\\nthat you have shared for a moment in the deep and\\nbusy interest of that arduous conflict which is now-\\ngoing on for a moral ascendency over the species.\\nRemember that the conflict is for each of you indi-\\nvidually and let this alarm you into a watchfulness\\nagainst the power of every temptation, and a cleav-\\ning dependence upon Him through whom alone you\\nwill be more than conquerors. Above all, forget not,\\nthat while you only hear and are delighted, you are\\nstill under nature s powerlessness and nature s con-\\ndemnation and that the foundation is not laid, the\\nmighty and essential change is not accomplished,\\nthe transition from death unto life is not undergone,\\nthe saving faith is not formed, nor the passage taken\\nfrom darkness to the marvellous light of the gospel,\\ntill you are both hearers of the word and doers also.\\nFor if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer,\\nhe is like unto a man beholding his natural face in\\na glass for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way,\\nand straightway forgetteth what manner of man he\\nM", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0179.jp2"}, "180": {"fulltext": "", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0180.jp2"}, "181": {"fulltext": "APPENDIX.\\n179\\nAPPENDIX.\\nThe writer of these Discourses has drawn up the following\\ncompilation of passages from Scripture, as serving to illustrate or\\nto confirm the leading arguments which have been employed in\\neach separate division of his subject.\\nDISCOURSE I.\\nIn the beginning God created the heaven and the\\nearth. Gen. i.\\nThus the heavens and the earth were finished, and\\nall the host of them. Gen. ii. 1.\\nBehold, the heaven, and the heaven of heavens, is\\nthe Lord s thy God, the earth also, with all that\\ntherein is. Deut. x. 14.\\nThere is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who\\nrideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his ex-\\ncellency on the sky. Deut. xxxiii. 26.\\nAnd Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said,\\nLord God of Israel, which dwellest between the\\ncherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all\\nthe kingdoms of the earth thou hast made heaven\\nand earth. 2 Kings xix. 15.\\nFor all the gods of the people are idols: but the\\nLord made the heavens. 1 Chron. xvi. 26.\\nThou, even thou, art Lord alone thou hast made\\nheaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host,", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0181.jp2"}, "182": {"fulltext": "180\\nAPPENDIX.\\nthe earth, and all things that are therein, the seas,\\nand all that is therein and thou preservest them all\\nand the host of heaven worshipped thee. Nehemiah\\nix. 6.\\nWhich alone spreadeth out the heavens, and tread-\\neth upon the waves of the sea which maketh Arc-\\nturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the\\nsouth. Job ix. 8, 9.\\nHe stretcheth out the north over the empty place,\\nand hangeth the earth upon nothing. Job xxvi. 7.\\nBy his Spirit he hath garnished the heavens.\\nJob xxvi. 13.\\nThe heavens declare the glory of God and the\\nfirmament showeth his handy-work. Psalm xix. 1.\\nBy the word of the Lord were the heavens made\\nand all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.\\nPsalm xxxiii. 6.\\nOf old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth\\nand the heavens are the work of thy hands. Psalm\\ncii. 25.\\nWho coverest thyself with light as with a gar-\\nment who stretchiest out the heavens like a curtain.\\nPsalm civ. 2.\\nHe appointed the moon for seasons the sun\\nknoweth his going down. Psalm civ. 1 9.\\nYe are blessed of the Lord, which made heaven\\nand earth. The heaven, even the heavens, are the\\nLord s but the earth hath he given to the children\\nof men. Psalm cxv. 15, 16.\\nMy help cometh from the Lord, which made\\nheaven and earth. Psalm exxi. 2.\\nOur help is in the name of the Lord, who made\\nheaven and earth. Psalm exxiv. 8.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0182.jp2"}, "183": {"fulltext": "APPENDIX.\\n181\\nThe Lord, that made heaven and earth, bless thee\\nout of Zion. Psalm cxxxiv. 3.\\nWhich made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all\\nthat therein is. Psalm cxlvi. 6.\\nThe Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth by\\nunderstanding hath he established the heavens.\\nProv. iii. 19.\\nWho hath measured the waters in the hollow of\\nhis hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and\\ncomprehended the dust of the earth in a measure,\\nand weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills\\nin a balance? Isa. xl. 12.\\nIt is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth,\\nand the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers\\nthat stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and\\nspreadcth them out as a tent to dwell in. Isa. xl. 22.\\nThus saith God the Lord, he that created the\\nheavens, and stretched them out he that spread\\nforth the earth, and that which cometh out of it\\nhe that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and\\nspirit to them that walk therein. Isa. xlii. 5.\\nThus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, and he that\\nformed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that\\nmaketh all things that stretcheth forth the heavens\\nalone that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself.\\nIsa. xliv. 24.\\nI have made the earth, and created man upon it\\nI, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens,\\nand all their host have I commanded. Isa. xlv. 12.\\nFor thus saith the Lord that created the heavens,\\nGod himself that formed the earth, and made it\\nhe hath established it, he created it not in vain, he\\nformed it to be inhabited. Isa. xlv. 18.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0183.jp2"}, "184": {"fulltext": "182\\nAPPENDIX.\\nMine hand also hath laid the foundation of the\\nearth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens\\nwhen I call unto them, they stand up together.-\\nIsa. xlviii. 13.\\nHe hath made the earth, by his power, he hath es-\\ntablished the world by his wisdom, and hath stretch-\\ned out the heavens by his discretion. Jer. x. 12.\\nAh Lord God behold, thou hast made the hea-\\nven and the earth by thy great power and stretched-\\nout arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee.\\nJer. xxxii. 17.\\nHe hath made the earth by his power, he hath\\nestablished the world by his wisdom, and hath\\nstretched out the heaven by his understanding.\\nJer. li. 1 5.\\nIt is he that buildeth his stories in the heaven,\\nand hath founded his troop in the earth he that\\ncalleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them\\nout upon the face of the earth: The Lord is his\\nname. Amos ix. 6.\\nWe also are men of like passions with you, and\\npreach unto you, that ye should turn from these\\nvanities unto the living God, which made heaven,\\nand earth, and the sea, and all things that are there-\\nin. Acts xiv. 15.\\nHath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son,\\nwhom lie hath appointed heir of all things, by whom\\nalso he made the worlds. Heb. i. 2.\\nThou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the founda-\\ntion of the earth and the heavens are the works of\\nthine hands. Heb. i. 10.\\nThrough faith we understand that the worlds were\\nframed by the word of God. Heb. xi. 3.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0184.jp2"}, "185": {"fulltext": "APPENDIX.\\n183\\nDISCOURSE II.\\nThe secret things belong unto the Lord our God\\nbut those things which are revealed belong unto us\\nand to our children for ever, that we may do all the\\nwords of this law. Deut. xxix. 29.\\nI would seek unto God, and unto God would I\\ncommit my cause which doeth great things and\\nunsearchable marvellous things without number.\\nJob v. 8, 9.\\nWhich doeth great things past finding out yea,\\nand wonders without number. Job ix. 10.\\nCanst thou by searching find out God? canst\\nthou find out the Almightv unto perfection Job\\nxi. 7.\\nHast thou heard the secret of God and dost thou\\nrestrain wisdom to thyself? Job xv. 8.\\nLo, these are parts of his ways but how little a\\nportion is heard of him but the thunder of his\\npower who can understand Job xxvi. 14.\\nBehold, God is great, and we know him not,\\nneither can the number of his years be searched out.\\nJob xxxvi. 26.\\nGod thundereth marvellously with his voice\\ngreat things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend.\\nJob xxxvii. 5.\\nTouching the Almighty, we cannot find him out\\nhe is excellent in power, and in judgment, and in\\nplenty of justice. Job xxxvii. 23.\\nThy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great\\nwaters, and thy footsteps are not known. Psalm\\nJxxvii. 19.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0185.jp2"}, "186": {"fulltext": "184\\nAPPENDIX.\\nGreat is the Lord, and greatly to be praised and\\nhis greatness is unsearchable. Psalm cxlv. 3.\\nFor my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither\\nare your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the\\nheavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways\\nhigher than your ways, and my thoughts than your\\nthoughts. Isa. lv. 8, 9.\\nVerily I say unto you, Except ye be converted,\\nand become as little children, ye shall not enter into\\nthe kingdom of heaven. Matt, xviii. 3.\\nVerily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive\\nthe kingdom of God as a little child, shall in nowise\\nenter therein. Luke xviii. 1 7.\\nthe depth of the riches both of the wisdom and\\nknowledge of God how unsearchable are his judg-\\nments, and his ways past finding out For who hath\\nknown the mind of the Lord or who hath been his\\ncounsellor? Rom. xi. 33, 34.\\nLet no man deceive himself. If any man among\\nyou seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become\\na fool, that he may be wise. 1 Cor. iii. 1 8.\\nFor if a man think himself to be something, when\\nhe is nothing, he deceiveth himself. Gal. vi. 3.\\nBeware lest any man spoil you through philosophy\\nand vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after\\nthe rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.\\nCol. ii. 8.\\nTimothy, keep that which is committed to thy\\ntrust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and op-\\npositions of science falsely so called. 1 Tim. vi. 20.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0186.jp2"}, "187": {"fulltext": "APPENDIX.\\n185\\nDISCOURSE III\\nBut will God indeed dwell on the earth Behold,\\nthe heaven, and heaven of heavens, cannot contain\\nthee how much less this house that I havebuilded\\nYet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant,\\nand to his supplication, Lord my God, to hearken\\nunto the cry and to the prayer which thy servant\\nprayeth before thee to-day that thine eyes may be\\nopen toward this house night and day, even toward\\nthe place of w 7 hich thou hast said, My name shall be\\nthere that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer\\nwhich thy servant shall make toward this place.\\n1 Kings viii. 27, 28, 29.\\nFor he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth\\nunder the whole heaven. Job xxviii. 24.\\nFor his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he\\nseeth all his goings. Job xxxiv. 21.\\nThough the Lord be high, yet hath he respect\\nunto the lowly. Psalm cxxxviii. 6.\\nLord, thou hast searched me, and known me.\\nThou knowest my down-sitting and mine up-rising\\nthou understandest my thought afar off. Thou com-\\npassest my path, and my lying down, and art ac-\\nquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word\\nin my tongue, but, lo, Lord, thou knowest it al-\\ntogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before,\\nand laid thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is\\ntoo wonderful for me it is high, I cannot attain unto\\nit. Whither shall I go from thy Spirit or whither\\nshall I flee from thy presence Psalm cxxxix. 1-7.\\nHow precious also are thy thoughts unto me,", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0187.jp2"}, "188": {"fulltext": "186\\nAPPENDIX.\\nGod how great is the sum of them If I should\\ncount them, they are more in number than the\\nsand when I awake, I am still with thee. Psalm\\nexxxix. 17, 18.\\nThe eyes of the Lord are in every place, behold-\\ning the evil and the good. Prov. xv. 3.\\nCan any hide himself in secret places that I shall\\nnot see him saith the Lord do not I fill heaven\\nand earth saith the Lord. Jer. xxiii. 24.\\nBehold the fowls of the air: for they sow not,\\nneither do they reap, nor gather into barns yet your\\nheavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much\\nbetter than they And why take ye thought for\\nraiment Consider the lilies of the field, how they\\ngrow they toil not, neither do they spin and yet\\nI say unto you, That even Solomon, in all his glory,\\nwas not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if\\nGod so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is,\\nand to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not\\nmuch more clothe you, ye of little faith Matt,\\nvi. 26, 28, 29, 30.\\nBut the very hairs of your head are all numbered.\\n\u00e2\u0080\u0094Matt. x. 30.\\nNeither is there any creature that is not manifest\\nin his sight but all things are naked and opened\\nunto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.\\nHeb. iv. 13.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0188.jp2"}, "189": {"fulltext": "APPENDIX.\\n137\\nDISCOURSE IV.\\nAnd he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on\\nthe earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and\\nbehold the angels of God ascending and descending\\non it. Gen. xxviii. 12.\\nFor a thousand years in thy sight are but as\\nyesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the\\nnight. Psalm xc. 4.\\nLift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon\\nthe earth beneath for the heavens shall vanish away\\nlike smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a gar-\\nment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like\\nmanner but my salvation shall be for ever, and my\\nrighteousness shall not be abolished. Isa. li. 6.\\nFor the Son of man shall come in the glory of his\\nFather, with his angels and then he shall reward\\nevery man according to his works. Matt. xvi. 27.\\nWhen the Son of man shall come in his glory, and\\nall the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon\\nthe throne of his glory. Matt. xxv. 31.\\nAlso I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me\\nbefore men, him shall the Son of man also confess\\nbefore the angels of God but he that denieth me\\nbefore men, shall be denied before the angels of\\nGod.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Luke xii. 8, 9.\\nAnd he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto\\nyou, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the\\nangels of God ascending and descending upon the\\nSon of man. John i. 51,\\nWe are made a spectacle unto the world, and to\\nangels and to men. 1 Cor. iv. 9.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0189.jp2"}, "190": {"fulltext": "188\\nAPPENDIX.\\nWherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and\\ngiven him a name which is above every name that\\nat the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of\\nthings in heaven, and things in earth, and things\\nunder the earth and that every tongue should con-\\nfess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God\\nthe Father.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Phil. ii. 9, 10, 11.\\nWhen the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from\\nheaven with his mighty angels. 2 Thess. i. 7.\\nAnd, without controversy, great is the mystery of\\ngodliness God was manifest in the flesh, justified\\nin the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the\\nGentiles, believed on in the world, received up into\\nglory. 1 Tim. iii. 16.\\nI charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus\\nChrist, and the elect angels, that thou observe these\\nthings.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 1 Tim. v. 21.\\nAnd a^ain, when he bringeth in the first-begotten\\ninto the world, he saith, And let all the angels of\\nGod worship him. Heb. i. 6.\\nBut ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the\\ncity of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and\\nto an innumerable company of angels, to the general\\nassembly and church of the first-born, which are\\nwritten in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and\\nto the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus\\nthe mediator of the new covenant. Heb. xii. 22,\\n23, 24.\\nBut, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing,\\nthat one day is with the Lord as a thousand years,\\nand a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not\\nslack concerning his promise, as some men count\\nslackness but is long-suffering to us-ward, not will-", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0190.jp2"}, "191": {"fulltext": "APPENDIX.\\n189\\ning that any should perish, but that all should\\ncome to repentance. But the day of the Lord will\\ncome as a thief in the night in the which the\\nheavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the\\nelements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also,\\nand the works that are therein, shall be burnt up.\\n2 Peter iii. 8, 9, 10.\\nAnd the angel which I saw stand upon the sea\\nand upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven,\\nand sware by him that liveth for evey and ever, who\\ncreated heaven, and the things that therein are, and\\nthe earth, and the things that therein are, and the\\nsea, and the things which are therein, that there\\nshould be time no longer. Rev. x. 5, 6.\\nAnd the third angel followed them, saying with\\na loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his\\nimage, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in\\nhis hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the\\nwrath of God, which is poured out without mixture,\\ninto the cup of his indignation and he shall be tor-\\nmented with fire and brimstone in the presence of\\nthe holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.\\nRev. xiv. 9, 10.\\nAnd I saw a great white throne, and him that\\nsat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven\\nfled away and there was found no place for them.\\nRev. xx. 11.\\nDISCOURSE V.\\nAnd Nathan departed unto his house and the\\nLord struck the child that Uriah s wife bare unto", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0191.jp2"}, "192": {"fulltext": "190\\nAPPENDIX.\\nDavid, and it was very sick. David therefore be-\\nsought God for the child and David fasted, and\\nwent in, and lay all night upon the earth. And the\\nelders of his house arose, and went to him, to raise\\nhim up from the earth but he would not, neither\\ndid he eat bread with them. And it came to pass\\non the seventh day, that the child died. And the\\nservants of David feared to tell him that the child\\nwas dead for they said, Behold, while the child was\\nyet alive, we. spake unto him, and he would not\\nhearken unto our voice how will he then vex him-\\nself, if we tell him that the child is dead But\\nwhen David saw that his servants whispered, David\\nperceived that the child was dead therefore David\\nsaid unto his servants, Is the child dead And\\nthey said, He is dead. Then David arose from\\nthe earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and\\nchanged his apparel, and came into the house of the\\nLord, and worshipped then he came to his own\\nhouse and when he required, they set bread before\\nhim, and he did eat. Then said his servants unto\\nhim, Wha t thing is this that thou hast done Thou\\ndidst fast and weep for the child while it was alive;\\nbut when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat\\nbread. And he said, While the child was yet alive,\\nI fasted and wept for I said, Who can tell whether\\nGod will be gracious to me, that the child may live\\nBut now he is dead, wherefore should I fast can I\\nbring him back again I shall go to him, but he\\nshall not return to me. 2 Sam. xii. 15-23.\\nThe angel of the Lord encampeth round about\\nthem that fear him, and delivereth them. Psalm\\nxxx i v. 7.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0192.jp2"}, "193": {"fulltext": "APPENDIX.\\n191\\nFor he shall give his angels charge over thee, to\\nkeep thee in all thy ways. Psalm xei. 11.\\nAnd he shall send his angels with a great sound\\nof a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect\\nfrom the four winds, from one end of heaven to the\\nother. Matt. xxiv. 31.\\nLikewise, I say unto you, There is joy in the\\npresence of the angels of God over one sinner that\\nrepenteth. Luke xv. 10.\\nAre they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to\\nminister for them who shall be heirs of salvation\\nHeb. i. 14.\\nDISCOURSE VI.\\nThen was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the\\nwilderness, to be tempted of the devil. Matt. iv. 1.\\nThe enemy that sowed them is the devil the\\nharvest is the end of the world and the reapers are\\nthe angels. The Son of man shall send forth his\\nangels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all\\nthings that offend, and them which do iniquity.\\nMatt. xiii. 39, 41.\\nThen shall he say also unto them on the left hand,\\nDepart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, pre-\\npared for the devil and his angels. Matt. xxv. 41.\\nAnd in the synagogue there was a man which had\\na spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a\\nloud voice, saying, Let us alone what have we to\\ndo with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth art thou come", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0193.jp2"}, "194": {"fulltext": "192\\nAPPENDIX.\\nto destroy us I know thee who thou art the Holy\\nOne of God. Luke iv. 33, 34.\\nThose by the way-side are they that hear then\\ncometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of\\ntheir hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.\\nLuke viii. 12.\\nBut he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them,\\nEvery kingdom divided against itself is brought to\\ndesolation and a house divided against a house\\nfalleth. If Satan also be divided against himself,\\nhow shall his kingdom stand because ye say that\\nI cast out devils through Beelzebub. Luke xi. 17,\\n18.\\nYe are of your father the devil, and the lusts of\\nyour father ye will do he was a murderer from the\\nbeginning, and abode not in the truth, because there\\nis no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he\\nspeaketh of his own for he is a liar and the father\\nof it. John viii. 44.\\nAnd supper being ended, (the devil having now\\nput into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon s son,\\nto betray him.) John xiii. 2.\\nBut Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled\\nthine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep\\nback part of the price of the land Acts v. 3.\\nTo open their eyes, and to turn them from dark-\\nness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God,\\nthat they may receive forgiveness of sins, and in-\\nheritance among them which are sanctified by faith\\nthat is in me. Acts xxvi. 18.\\nAnd the God of peace shall bruise Satan under\\nyour feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus\\nChrist be with you. Amen. Rom. xvi. 20.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0194.jp2"}, "195": {"fulltext": "APPENDIX.\\n193\\nLest Satan should get an advantage of us for we\\nare not ignorant of his devices. 2 Cor. ii. 11.\\nIn whom the god of this world hath blinded the\\nminds of them w T hich believe not, lest the light of\\nthe glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of\\nGod, should shine unto them. 2 Cor. iv. 4.\\nWherein in time past ye walked according to the\\ncourse of this world, according to the prince of the\\npower of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the\\nchildren of disobedience. Eph. ii. 2.\\nPut on the whole armour of God, that ye may be\\nable to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we\\nwrestle not against flesh and blood, but against prin-\\ncipalities, against powers, against the rulers of the\\ndarkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness\\nin high places. Eph. vi. 11, 12.\\nFor some are already turned aside after Satan.\\n1 Tim. v. 15.\\nForasmuch then as the children are partakers of\\nflesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of\\nthe same that through death he might destroy him\\nthat had the power of death, that is, the devil.\\nHeb. ii. 14.\\nSubmit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the\\ndevil, and he will flee from you. James iv. 7.\\nBe sober, be vigilant because your adversary the\\ndevil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom\\nhe may devour whom resist steadfast in the faith,\\nknowing that the same afflictions are accomplished\\nin your brethren that are in the world. 1 Pet. v.\\n8, 9.\\nHe that committeth sin is of the devil for the\\ndevil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose\\n7 N", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0195.jp2"}, "196": {"fulltext": "194\\nAPPENDIX.\\nthe Son of God was manifested, that lie might de-\\nstroy the works of the devil. In this the children\\nof God are manifest, and the children of the devil\\nwhosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God,\\nneither he that lovetli not his brother. 1 John iii.\\n8, 10.\\nYe are of God, little children, and have overcome\\nthem because greater is lie that is in you, than he\\nthat is in the world. 1 John iv. 4.\\nAnd the angels which kept not their first estate,\\nbut left their own habitation, lie hath reserved in\\neverlasting chains, under darkness, unto the judg-\\nment of the great day. Jude 6.\\nHe that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in\\nwhite raiment and I will not blot out his name out\\nof the book of life, but I will confess his name be-\\nfore my Father, and before his angels. Rev. iii. 5.\\nAnd there was war in heaven Michael and his\\nangels fought against the dragon and the dragon\\nfought and his angels and prevailed not neither\\nwas their place found any more in heaven. And\\nthe great dragon was cast out, that old serpent,\\ncalled the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the\\nwhole world he was cast out into the earth, and his\\nangels were cast out with him. Therefore rejoice,\\nye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the\\ninhabiters of the earth and of the sea for the devil\\nis come down unto you, having great wrath, because\\nhe knoweth that he hath but a short time. Rev.\\nxii. 7, 8, 9, 12.\\nAnd he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent\\nwhich is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a\\nthousand years. And when the thousand years are", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0196.jp2"}, "197": {"fulltext": "APPENDIX.\\n195\\nexpired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison.\\nAnd the devil that deceived them was cast into the\\nlake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the\\nfalse prophet are, and shall be tormented day and\\nnight for ever and ever. Rev. xx. 2, 7, 10.\\nDISCOURSE VII.\\nTherefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of\\nmine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise\\nman, which built his house upon a rock and the\\nrain descended, and the floods came, and the winds\\nblew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not for\\nit was founded upon a rock. And every one that\\nheareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not,\\nshall be likened unto a foolish man, which built\\nhis house upon the sand and the rain descended,\\nand the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat\\nupon that house and it fell and great was the fall\\nof it.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Matt. vii. 24-27.\\nAt that time Jesus answered and said, I thank\\nthee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because\\nthou hast hid these things from the wise and pru-\\ndent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Matt. xi.\\n25.\\nThen shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and\\ndrunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our\\nstreets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you\\nnot whence ye are depart from me, all ye workers\\nof iniquity. Luke xiii. 26, 27.\\nFor not the hearers of the law are just before God,", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0197.jp2"}, "198": {"fulltext": "IDG\\nAPPENDIX.\\nbut the doers of the law shall be justified. Rom.\\nii. 13.\\nAnd I, brethren, when I came to you, came not\\nwith excellency of speech, or of wisdom, declaring\\nunto you the testimony of God for I determined\\nnot to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ,\\nand him crucified. And my speech and my preach-\\ning was not with enticing words of man s wisdom,\\nbut in demonstration of the Spirit and of power\\nthat your faith should not stand in the wisdom of\\nmen, but in the power of God. Now we have re-\\nceived not the spirit of the world, but the spirit\\nwhich is of God that we might know the things\\nthat are freely given to us of God. Which things\\nalso we speak, not in the words which man s wisdom\\nteacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth com-\\nparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the na-\\ntural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of\\nGod for they are foolishness unto him neither can\\nhe know them, because they are spiritually discerned.\\n1 Cor. ii. 1, 2, 4, 5, 12, 13, J 4.\\nFor the wisdom of this world is foolishness with\\nGod.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 1 Cor. iii. 19.\\nFor the kingdom of God is not in word, but in\\npower. 1 Cor. iv. 20.\\nForasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be\\nthe epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not\\nwith ink, but with the Spirit of the living God not\\nin tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart.\\nNot that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any\\nthing as of ourselves but our sufficiency is of God\\nwho also hath made us able ministers of the New\\nTestament not of the letter, but of the spirit: for", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0198.jp2"}, "199": {"fulltext": "APPENDIX.\\n197\\nthe letter killeth, but the spirit givetli life. 2 Cor.\\niii. 3, 5, 6.\\nThat the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father\\nof glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and\\nrevelation in the knowledge of him the eyes of your\\nunderstanding being enlightened that ye may know\\nwhat is the hope of his calling, and what the riches\\nof the glory. of his inheritance in the saints, and\\nwhat is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-\\nw r ard who believe, according to the working of his\\nmighty power. Eph. i. 17, 18, 19.\\nAnd you hath he quickened, who were dead in\\ntrespasses and sins. For we are his workmanship,\\ncreated in Christ Jesus unto good works. Eph. ii.\\n1, 10.\\nFor our gospel came not unto you in word only,\\nbut also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in\\nmuch assurance. 1 Thess. i. 5.\\nOf his own will begat he us with the word of\\ntruth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his\\ncreatures. But be ye doers of the word, and not\\nhearers only, deceiving your ownselves. For if any\\nbe a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like\\nuntc a man beholding his natural face in a glass\\nfor he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and\\nstraightway forget teth what manner of man he was.\\nBut whoso looketh into the perfect law /of liberty,\\nand continueth therein, he beinir not a forgetful\\nhearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be\\nblessed in his deed.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 James i. 18, 22, 23, 24, 25.\\nBut ye are a chosen generation, a royal priest-\\nhood, an holy nation, a peculiar people that ye\\nshould show forth the praises of him who hath", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0199.jp2"}, "200": {"fulltext": "198\\nAPPENDIX.\\ncalled you out of darkness into his marvellous light.\\n1 Peter ii. 9.\\nBut ye have an unction from the Holy One, and\\nye know all things. But the anointing which ye\\nhave received of him abideth in you and ye need\\nnot that any man teach you but as the same\\nanointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth,\\nand is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye\\nshall abide in him. 1 John ii. 20, 27.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0200.jp2"}, "201": {"fulltext": "DISCOURSES\\nOF A\\nKINDRED CHARACTER WITH THE PRECEDING.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0201.jp2"}, "202": {"fulltext": "", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0202.jp2"}, "203": {"fulltext": "DISCOURSE I.\\nTHE CONSTANCY OF GOD IN HIS WORKS AN ARGUMENT\\nFOR THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD IN HIS WORD.\\nFor ever, Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. Thy faithful-\\nness is unto all generations thou hast established the earth, and it\\nabideth. They continue this day according to thine ordinances for\\nall are thy servants. Psalm cxix. 89, 90, 91.\\nIn these verses there is affirmed to be an analogy\\nbetween the word of God and the works of God. It\\nis said of His word, that it is settled in heaven, and\\nthat it sustains its faithfulness from one generation\\nto another. It is said of His works, and more espe-\\ncially of those that are immediately around us, even\\nof the earth which we inhabit, that as it was estab-\\nlished at the first so it abideth afterwards. And\\nthen, as if to perfect the assimilation between them,\\nit is said of both in the 91st verse, They continue\\nthis day according to thine ordinances, for all are thy\\nservants thereby identifying the sureness of that\\nword which proceeded from His lips, with the unfail-\\ning constancy of that Nature which was formed and\\nis upholden by His hands.\\nThe constancy of Nature is taught by universal\\nexperience, and even strikes the popular eye as the\\nmost characteristic of those features which have been\\nimpressed upon her. It may need the aid of philo-", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0203.jp2"}, "204": {"fulltext": "202\\nTHE CONSTANCY OF NATURE\\nsophy to learn how unvarying Nature is in all her\\nprocesses how even her seeming anomalies can be\\ntraced to a law that is inflexible how what might\\nappear at first to be the caprices of her waywardness,\\nare, in fact, the evolutions of a mechanism that\\nnever changes and that the more thoroughly she is\\nsifted and put to the test by the interrogations of\\nthe curious, the more certainly will they find that\\nshe walks by a rule which knows no abatement, and\\nperseveres with obedient footstep in that even course,\\nfrom which the eye of strictest scrutiny has never\\nyet detected one hair-breadth of deviation. It is no\\nlonger doubted by men of science, that every remain-\\ning semblance of irregularity in the universe is due,\\nnot to the fickleness of Nature, but to the ignorance\\nof man that her most hidden movements are con-\\nducted with a uniformity as rigorous as Fate that\\neven the fitful agitations of the weather have their\\nlaw and their principle that the intensity of every\\nbreeze, and the number of drops in every shower, and\\nthe formation of every cloud, and all the occurring\\nalternations of storm and sunshine, and the endless\\nshiftings of temperature, and those tremulous varie-\\nties of the air which our instruments have enabled\\nus to discover but have not enabled us to explain\\nthat still, they follow each other by a method of suc-\\ncession, which, though greatly more intricate, is yet\\nas absolute in itself as the order of the seasons, or\\nthe mathematical courses of astronomy. This is the\\nimpression of every philosophical mind with regard\\nto Nature, and it is strengthened by each new acces-\\nsion that is made to science. The more we are ac-\\nquainted with her, the more are we led to recognise", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0204.jp2"}, "205": {"fulltext": "AND FAITHFULNESS OF GOD.\\n203\\nher constancy and to view her as a mighty though\\ncomplicated machine, all whose results are sure, and\\nall whose workings are invariable.\\nBut there is enough of patent and palpable regu-\\nlarity in Nature, to give also to the popular mind the\\nsame impression of her constancy. There is a gross\\nand general experience that teaches the same lesson,\\nand that has lodged in every bosom a hind of secure\\nand steadfast confidence in the uniformity of her pro-\\ncesses. The very child knows and proceeds upon it.\\nHe is aware of an abiding character and property in\\nthe elements around him and has already learned\\nas much of the fire, and the water, and the food that\\nhe eats, and the firm ground that he treads upon,\\nand even of the gravitation by which he must regu-\\nlate his postures and his movements, as to prove,\\nthat, infant though he be, he is fully initiated in the\\ndoctrine, that Nature has her laws and her ordinances,\\nand that she continueth therein. And the proofs of\\nthis are ever multiplying along the journey of human\\nobservation insomuch, that when we come to man-\\nhood, we read of Nature s constancy throughout\\nevery department of the visible world. It meets us\\nwherever we turn our eyes. Both the day and the\\nnight bear witness to it. The silent revolutions of\\nthe firmament give it their pure testimony. Even\\nthose appearances in the heavens, at which super-\\nstition stood aghast, and imagined that Nature was\\non the eve of giving way, are the proudest trophies\\nof that stability which reigns throughout her pro-\\ncesses of that unswerving consistency wherewith she\\nprosecutes all her movements. And the lesson that\\nis thus held forth to us from the heavens above, is", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0205.jp2"}, "206": {"fulltext": "204\\nTHE CONSTANCY OF NATURE\\nresponded to by the earth below just as the tides\\nof ocean wait the footsteps of the moon, and, by an\\nattendance kept up without change or intermission\\nfor thousands of years, would seem to connect the\\nregularity of earth with the regularity of heaven.\\nBut, apart from these greater and simpler energies,\\nwe see a course and a uniformity everywhere. We\\nrecognise it in the mysteries of vegetation. We\\nfollow it through the successive stages of growth,\\nand maturity, and decay, both in plants and animals.\\nWe discern it still more palpably in that beautiful\\ncirculation of the element of water, as it rolls its way\\nby many thousand channels to the ocean and, from\\nthe surface of this expanded reservoir, is again up-\\nlifted to the higher regions of the atmosphere and\\nis there dispersed in light and fleecy magazines over\\nthe four quarters of the globe and at length accom-\\nplishes its orbit, by falling in showers on a world that\\nwaits to be refreshed by it. And all goes to impress\\nus with the regularity of Nature, which, in fact, teems\\nthroughout all its varieties, with power, and principle,\\nand uniform laws of operation and is viewed by us\\nas avast laboratory, all the progressions of which have\\na rigid and unfailing necessity stamped upon them.\\nNow, this contemplation has at times served to\\nfoster the atheism of philosophers. It has led them\\nto deify Nature, and to make her immutability stand\\nin the place of God. They seem imprest with the\\nimagination, that had the Supreme Cause been a\\nBeing who thinks, and wills, and acts as man does,\\non the impulse of a felt and a present motive, there\\nwould be more the appearance of spontaneous ac-\\ntivity, and less of mute and unconscious mechanism", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0206.jp2"}, "207": {"fulltext": "AND FAITHFULNESS OF GOD.\\n205\\nin the administrations of the universe. It is the\\nvery unchangeableness of nature, and the steadfast-\\nness of those great and mighty processes wherewith\\nno living power that is superior to Nature, and is\\nable to shift or to control her, is seen to interfere\\nit is this which seems to have imprest the notion of\\nsome blind and eternal fatality on certain men of\\nloftiest but deluded genius. And, accordingly, in\\nFrance, where the physical sciences have, of late,\\nbeen the most cultivated, have there also been the\\nmost daring avowals of atheism. The universe has\\nbeen affirmed to be an everlasting and indestructible\\neffect and from the abiding constancy that is seen\\nin Nature, through all her departments, have they\\ninferred, that thus it has always been, and that thus\\nit will ever be.\\nBut this atheistical impression that is derived\\nfrom the constancy of Nature is not peculiar to the\\ndisciples of philosophy. It is the familiar and the\\npractical impression of every-day life. The world\\nis apprehended to move on steady and unvarying\\nprinciples of its own and these secondary causes\\nhave usurped, in man s estimation, the throne of the\\nDivinity. Nature, in fact, is personified into God\\nand as we look to the performance of a machine\\nwithout thinking of its maker, so the very exact-\\nness and certainty, wherewith the machinery of\\ncreation performs its evolutions, has thrown a dis-\\nguise over the agency of the Creator. Should God\\ninterpose by miracle, or interfere by some striking\\nand special manifestation of providence, then man\\nis awakened to the recognition of Him. But he loses\\nsight of the Being who sits behind these visible", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0207.jp2"}, "208": {"fulltext": "206\\nTHE CONSTANCY OF NATURE\\nelements, while he regards those attributes of con-\\nstancy and power w T hich appear in the elements\\nthemselves. They see no demonstration of a God,\\nand they feel no need of Him, while such unchang-\\ning and such unfailing energy continues to operate\\nin the visible world around them and we need not\\ngo to the schools of ratiocination in quest of this\\ninfidelity, but may detect it in the bosoms of simple\\nand unlettered men, who, unknown to themselves,\\nmake a God of Nature, and just because of Nature s\\nconstancy having no faith in the unseen Spirit who\\noriginated all and upholds all, and that because all\\nthings continue as they were from the beginning of\\nthe Creation.\\nSuch has been the perverse effect of Nature s con-\\nstancy on the alienated mind of man but let us now\\nattend to the true interpretation of it. God has, in\\nthe first instance, put into our minds a disposition\\nto count on the uniformity of nature, insomuch that\\nwe universally look for a recurrence of the same\\nevent in the same circumstances. This is not merely\\nthe belief of experience, but the belief of instinct.\\nIt is antecedent to all the findings of observation,\\nand may be exemplified in the earliest stages of\\nchildhood. The infant who makes a noise on the\\ntable with his hand for the first time, anticipates a re-\\npetition of the noise from a repetition of the stroke,\\nwith as much confidence as lie who has witnessed,\\nfor years together, the unvariablcncss wherewith\\nthese two terms of the succession have followed each\\nother. Or, in other words, God, by putting this faith\\ninto every human creature, and making it a ne-\\ncessary part of his mental constitution, has taught", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0208.jp2"}, "209": {"fulltext": "AND FAITHFULNESS OF GOD.\\n207\\nhim at all times to expect the like result in the\\nlike circumstances. He has thus virtually told him\\nwhat is to happen, and what he has to look for in\\nevery given condition and by its so happening\\naccordingly, He just makes good the veracity of His\\nown declaration. The man who leads me to ex-\\npect that which he fails to accomplish, I would hold\\nto be a deceiver. God has so framed the machinery\\nof my perceptions, as that I am led irresistibly to ex-\\npect, that everywhere events will follow each other\\nin the very train in which I have ever been accus-\\ntomed to observe them and when God so sustains\\nthe uniformity of nature, that in every instance it\\nis rigidly so, He is just manifesting the faithfulness\\nof His character. Were it otherwise he would be\\npractising a mockery on the expectation which He\\nhimself had inspired. God may be said to have\\npromised to every human being, that Nature will be\\nconstant if not by the whisper of an inward voice\\nto every heart, at least by the force of an uncontrol-\\nlable bias which he has impressed on every constitu-\\ntion. So that when we behold Nature keeping by\\nits constancy, we behold the God of Nature keeping\\nby His faithfulness and the system of visible things,\\nwith its general laws, and its successions which are\\ninvariable, instead of an opaque materialism to in-\\ntercept from the view of mortals the face of the Di-\\nvinity, becomes the mirror which reflects upon them\\nthe truth that is unchangeable, the ordination that\\nnever fails.\\nConceive that it had been otherwise first, that\\nman had no faith in the constancy of Nature then\\nhow could all his experience have profited him? How", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0209.jp2"}, "210": {"fulltext": "208\\nTHE CONSTANCY OF NATURE\\ncould he have applied the recollections of his past,\\nto the guidance of his future history And what\\nwould have been left to signalize the wisdom of man-\\nkind above that of veriest infancy Or, suppose\\nthat he had the implicit faith in Nature s constancy,\\nbut that Nature was wanting in the fulfilment of\\nit that at every moment his intuitive reliance on\\nthis constancy was met by some caprice or way-\\nwardness of Nature, which thwarted him in all his\\nundertakings that, instead of holding true to her\\nannouncements, she held the children of men in most\\ndistressful uncertainty, by the freaks and the fal-\\nsities in which she ever indulged herself and that\\nevery design of human foresight was thus liable to\\nbe broken up, by ever and anon the putting forth of\\nsome new fluctuation. Tell us, in this wild misrule\\nof elements changing their properties, and events\\never flitting from one method of succession to an-\\nother, if man could subsist for a single day, when all\\nthe accomplishments without were thus at war with\\nall the hopes and calculations within. In such a\\nchaos and conflict as this, would not the foundations\\nof human wisdom be utterly subverted Would not\\nman, with his powerful and perpetual tendency to\\nproceed on the constancy of Nature, be tempted, at\\nall times, and by the very constitution of his being,\\nto proceed upon a falsehood It were the way, in\\nfact, to turn the administration of Nature into a\\nsystem of deceit. The lessons of to-day would be\\nfalsified by the events of to-morrow. He were in-\\ndeed the father of lies who could be the author of\\nsuch a regimen as this and well may we rejoice\\nin the strict order of the goodly universe which we", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0210.jp2"}, "211": {"fulltext": "AND FAITHFULNESS OF GOD.\\n209\\ninhabit, and regard it as a noble attestation to the\\nwisdom and beneficence of its great Architect.\\nBut it is more especially as an evidence of His\\ntruth that the constancy of Nature is adverted to\\nin our text. It is of his faithfulness unto all genera-\\ntions that mention is there made and for the growth\\nand the discipline of your piety, we know not a\\nbetter practical habit than that of recognising the\\nunchangeable truth of God, throughout your daily\\nand hourly experience of Nature s unchangeableness.\\nYour faith in it is of His working and what a con-\\ndition would you have been reduced to, had the\\nfaith which is within, not been met by an entire and\\nunexcepted accordancy with the fulfilments that are\\nwithout He has not told you what to expect by\\nthe utterance of a voice but He has taught you\\nwhat to expect by the leadings and the intimations\\nof a strong constitutional tendency and in virtue\\nof this, there is not a human creature who does not\\nbelieve, and almost as firmly as in his own existence,\\nthat fire will continue to bum, and water to cool,\\nand matter to resist, and unsupported bodies to fall,\\nand ocean to bear the adventurous vessel upon its\\nsurface, and the solid earth to uphold the tread of\\nhis footsteps and that spring will appear again in\\nher wonted smiles, and summer will glow into heat\\nand brilliancy, and autumn will put on the same\\nluxuriance as before, and winter, at her stated\\nperiods, revisit the world with her darkness and her\\nstorms. We cannot sum up these countless varieties\\nof Nature but the firm expectation is, that through-\\nout them all, as she has been established, so she will\\nabide to the day of her final dissolution. And we\\n7 o", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0211.jp2"}, "212": {"fulltext": "210\\nTHE CONSTANCY OF NATURE\\ncall upon you to recognise in Nature s constancy,\\nthe answer of Nature s God to this expectation. All\\nthese material agents are, in fact, the organs by\\nwhich He expresses His faithfulness to the world\\nand that unveering generality which reigns and con-\\ntinues everywhere, is but the perpetual demonstra-\\ntion of a truth that never varies, as well as of laws\\nthat never are rescinded. It is for us, that He up-\\nholds the world in all its regularity. It is for us, that\\nHe sustains so unviolably the march and the move-\\nment of those innumerable progressions which are\\ngoing on around us. It is in remembrance of His\\npromises to us, that He meets all our anticipations\\nof Nature s uniformity, with the evolutions of a law\\nthat is unalterable. It is because He is a God that\\ncannot lie, that He will make no invasion on that\\nwondrous correspondency which He himself hath in-\\nstituted between the world that is without, and our\\nlittle world of hopes, and projects, and anticipations\\nthat are within. By the constancy of Nature, He\\nhath imprinted upon it the lesson of His own con-\\nstancy and that very characteristic wherewith some\\nwould fortify the ungodliness of their hearts, is the\\nmost impressive exhibition which can be given of\\nGod, as always faithful, and always the same.\\nThis then, is the real character which the con-\\nstancy of Nature should lead us to assign to Him\\nwho is the Author of it. In every human under-\\nstanding, He hath planted a universal instinct, by\\nwhich all are led to believe, that Nature will perse-\\nvere in her wonted courses, and that each succession\\nof cause and effect which has been observed by us\\nin the time that is past, will, while the world", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0212.jp2"}, "213": {"fulltext": "AND FAITHFULNESS OF GOD.\\n211\\nexists, be kept up invariably, and recur in the very\\nsame order through the time that is to come. This\\nconstancy, then, is as good as a promise that He\\nhas made unto all men, and all that is around us\\non earth or in heaven, proves how inflexibly the\\npromise is adhered to. The chemist in his labora-\\ntory, as he questions Nature, may be almost said\\nto put her to the torture, when tried in his hottest\\nfurnace, or probed by his searching analysis, to her\\ninnermost arcana, she by a spark or an explosion,\\nor an effervescence, or an evolving substance, makes\\nher distinct replies to his investigations. And he\\nrepeats her answer to all his fellows in philosophy,\\nand they meet in academic state and judgment to\\nreiterate the question, and in every quarter of the\\nglobe her answer is the same so that, let the ex-\\nperiment, though a thousand times repeated, only be\\nalike in all its circumstances, the result which cometh\\nforth is as rigidly alike, without deficiency, and\\nwithout deviation. We know how possible it is for\\nthese worshippers at the footstool of science, to make\\na divinity of matter and that every new discovery\\nof her secrets, should only rivet them more devotedly\\nto her throne. But there is a God who liveth and\\nsitteth there, and these unvarying responses of\\nNature, are all prompted by himself, and are but\\nthe utterances of His immutability. They are the\\nreplies of a Grod who never changes, and who hath\\nadapted the whole materialism of creation to the\\nconstitution of every mind that He hath sent forth\\nupon it. And to meet the expectation which He\\nhimself hath given of Nature s constancy, is He at\\neach successive instant of time, vigilant and ready", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0213.jp2"}, "214": {"fulltext": "212\\nTHE CONSTANCY OF NATUKE\\nill every part of His vast dominions, to hold out to\\nthe eye of all observers, the perpetual and unfailing\\ndemonstration of it. The certainties of Nature and\\nof Science, are in fact the vocables by which God\\nannounces His truth to the world and when told\\nhow impossible it is that Nature can fluctuate, we\\nare only told how impossible it is that the God of\\nNature can deceive us.\\nThe doctrine that Nature is constant when thus\\nrelated, as it ought to be, with the doctrine that God\\nis true, might well strengthen our confidence in Him\\nanew with every new experience of our history.\\nThere is not an hour or a moment, in which we may\\nnot verify the one and, therefore, not an hour or a\\nmoment in which we may not invigorate the other.\\nEvery touch, and every look, and every taste, and\\nevery act of converse between our senses and the\\nthings that are without, brings home a new demon-\\nstration of the steadfastness of Nature, and along\\nwith it a new demonstration both of His steadfast-\\nness and of His faithfulness, who is the Governor of\\nNature. And the same lesson may be fetched from\\ntimes and from places, that are far beyond the limits\\nof our own personal history. It can be drawn from\\nthe retrospect of past ages, where from the un-\\nvaried currency of those very processes which we now\\nbehold, we may learn the stability of all His ways,\\nwhose goings forth are of old, and from everlasting.\\nIt can be gathered from the most distant extremities\\nof the earth, where Nature reigns with the same un-\\nwearied constancy as it does around us and where\\nsavages count as we do on a uniformity, from which\\nshe never falters. The lesson is commensurate", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0214.jp2"}, "215": {"fulltext": "AND FAITHFULNESS OF GOD.\\n213\\nwith the whole system of things and with an efful-\\ngence as broad as the face of creation, and as clear\\nas the light which is poured over it, does it at once\\ntell that Nature Is unchangeably constant, and that\\nGod is unchangeably true.\\nAnd so it is, that in our text there are presented\\ntogether, as if there was a tie of likeness between\\nthem that the same God who is fixed as to the or-\\ndinances of Nature, is faithful as to the declarations\\nof His word and as all experience proves how firmly\\nHe may be trusted for the one, so is there an argu-\\nment as strong as experience, to prove how firmly\\nHe may be trusted for the other. By His work in\\nus, He hath awakened the expectation of a constancy\\nin Nature, which He never disappoints. By His word\\nto us, should He awaken the expectation of a cer-\\ntainty in His declarations, this He will never dis-\\nappoint. It is because Nature is so fixed, that we\\napprehend the God of Nature to be so faithful. He\\nwho never falsifies the hope that hath arisen in every\\nbosom, from the instinct which He Himself hath\\ncommunicated, will never falsify the hope that shall\\narise in any bosom from the express utterance of\\nHis voice. Were He a God in whose hand the pro-\\ncesses of Nature were ever shifting, then might we\\nconceive Him a God from whose mouth the procla-\\nmations of grace had the like characters of variance\\nand vacillation. But it is just because of our re-\\nliance on the one, that we feel so much of repose in\\nour dependence upon the other and the same God\\nwho is so unfailing in the ordinances of His creation,\\ndo we hold to be equally unfailing in the ordinances\\nof His word.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0215.jp2"}, "216": {"fulltext": "214\\nTHE CONSTANCY OF NATURE\\nAnd it is strikingly accordant with these views,\\nthat Nature never has been known to recede from\\nher constancy, hut for the purpose of giving place\\nand demonstration to the authority of the word.\\nOnce, in a season of miracle, did the word take the\\nprecedency of Nature, but ever since hath Nature\\nresumed her courses, and is now proving by her\\nsteadfastness, the authority of that, which she then\\nproved to be authentic by her deviations. When the\\nword was first ushered in, Nature gave way for a\\nperiod, after which she moves in her wonted order,\\ntill the present system of things shall pass away,\\nand that faith which is now upholden by Nature s\\nconstancy, shall then receive its accomplishment at\\nNature s dissolution. And, oh how God magnifieth\\nHis word above all His name, when He tells that\\nheaven and earth shall pass away, but that His\\nword shall not pass away and that while His crea-\\ntion shall become a wreck, not one jot or one tittle of\\nHis testimony shall fail. The w r orld passeth away\\nbut the word endureth for ever and if the faithful-\\nness of God stand forth so legibly on the face of the\\ntemporary world, how surely may we reckon on the\\nfaithfulness of that word which has a vastly higher\\nplace in the counsels and fulfilments of eternity\\nThe argument may not be comprehended by all\\nbut it will not be lost, should it lead any to feel a\\nmore emphatic certainty and meaning than before\\nin the declarations of the Bible and to conclude,\\nthat He, who for ages hath stood so fixed to all His\\nplans and purposes in Nature, will stand equally\\nfixed to all that He proclaims, and to all that He\\npromises in Revelation. To be in the hands of such", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0216.jp2"}, "217": {"fulltext": "AND FAITHFULNESS OF GOD.\\n215\\na God, might well strike a terror into the hearts of\\nthe guilty and that unrelenting death which, with\\nall the sureness of an immutable law, is seen, before\\nour eyes, to seize upon every individual of every\\nspecies of our world, full well evinces how He, the\\nuncompromising Lawgiver, will execute every utter-\\nance that He has made against the children of ini-\\nquity. And on the other hand, how this very con-\\ntemplation ought to encourage all who are looking to\\nthe announcements of the same God in the Gospel,\\nand who perceive that there He has embarked the\\nsame truth, and the same unchangeableness, on the\\noffers of mercy. All Nature gives testimony to this,\\nthat He cannot lie and seeing that He has stamped\\nsuch enduring properties on the elements even of\\nour perishable world, never should I falter from\\nthat confidence which He hath taught me to feel,\\nwhen I think of that property wherewith the blood\\nwhich was shed for me, cleanseth from all sin and\\nof that property wherewith the body which was\\nbroken, beareth the burden of all its penalties. He\\nwho hath so nobly met the faith that He has given\\nunto all in the constancy of Nature, by a uniformity\\nwhich knows no abatement, will meet the faith that\\nHe has given unto any in the certainty of grace, by\\na fulfilment unto every believer, which knows no\\nexception.\\nAnd it is well to remark the difference that there\\nis between the explanation given in the text, of\\nNature s constancy, and the impression which the\\nmere students or disciples of Nature have of it. It\\nis because of her constancy that they have been led\\nto invest her, as it were, in properties of her own", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0217.jp2"}, "218": {"fulltext": "216\\nTHE CONSTANCY OF NATURE\\nthat they have given a kind of independent power\\nand stability to matter that in the various energies\\nwhich lie scattered over the field of visible contem-\\nplation, they see a native inherent virtue, which\\nnever for a single moment is slackened or suspended\\nand therefore imagine, that as no force from with-\\nout seems necessary to sustain, so as little, perhaps,\\nis there need for any such force from without to ori-\\nginate. The mechanical certainty of all Nature s\\nprocesses, as it appears in their eyes to supersede the\\ndemand for any upholding agency, so does it also\\nsupersede, in the silent imaginations of many, and\\naccording to the express and bold avowals of some,\\nthe demand for any creative agency. It is thus, that\\nNature is raised into a divinity, and has been made\\nto reign over all, in the state and jurisdiction of an\\neternal fatalism and proud Science, which by wis-\\ndom knoweth not God, hath, in her march of dis-\\ncovery, seized upon the invariable certainties of\\nNature, those highest characteristics of His authority\\nand wisdom and truth, as the instruments by which\\nto disprove and to dethrone him.\\nNow, compare this interpretation of monstrous and\\nmelancholy atheism, with that which the Bible gives,\\nwhy all things move so invariably. It is because\\nthat all are thy servants. It is because they are all\\nunder the bidding of a God who has purposes from\\nwhich He never falters, and hath issued promises\\nfrom which He never fails. It is because the ar-\\nrangements of His vast and capacious household are\\nalready ordered for the best, and all the elements of\\nNature are the ministers by which He fulfils them.\\nThat is the master who has most honour and obedi-", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0218.jp2"}, "219": {"fulltext": "AND FAITHFULNESS OF GOD*\\n217\\nence from his domestics, throughout all whose ordi-\\nnations there runs a consistency from which he never\\ndeviates and he best sustains his dignity in the\\nmidst of them, who, by mild but resistless sway, can\\nregulate the successions of every hour, and affix his\\nsure and appropriate service to every member of the\\nfamily. It is when we see all, in any given time, at\\ntheir respective places, and each distinct period of\\nthe day having its own distinct evolution of business\\nor recreation, that we infer the wisdom of the insti-\\ntuted government, and how irrevocable the sanctions\\nare by which it is upholden. The vexatious alter-\\nnations of command and of countermand the end-\\nless fancies of humour, and caprice, and waywardness,\\nwhich ever and anon break forth, to the total over-\\nthrow of system the perpetual innovations which\\nnone do foresee, and for w T hich none, therefore, can\\npossibly be prepared these are not more harassing\\nto the subject, than they are disparaging to the truth\\nand authority of the superior. It is in the bosom of\\na well-conducted family, where you witness the sure\\ndispensation of all the reward and encouragement\\nwhich have been promised, and the unfailing execu-\\ntion of the disgrace and the dismissal that are held\\nforth to obstinate disobedience. Now those very\\nqualities of which this uniformity is the test and the\\ncharacteristic in the government of any human so-\\nciety, of these also is it the test and the character-\\nistic in the government of Nature. It bespeaks the\\nwisdom, and the authority, and the truth of Him\\nwho framed and w T ho administers. Let there be a\\nKing eternal, immortal, and invisible, and let this\\nuniverse be His empire and in all the rounds of its", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0219.jp2"}, "220": {"fulltext": "218\\nTHE CONSTANCY OF NATURE\\ncomplex but unerring mechanism, do I recognise him\\nas the only wise God. In the constancy of Nature,\\ndo I read the constancy and truth of that great mas-\\nter Spirit, who hath imprinted His own character on\\nall that hath emanated from His power and when\\ntold that throughout the mighty lapse of centuries,\\nall the courses both of earth and of heaven, have\\nbeen upholden as before, I only recognise the foot-\\nsteps of Him who is ever the same, and whose faith-\\nfulness is unto all generations. That perpetuity, and\\norder, and ancient law of succession, which have sub-\\nsisted so long, throughout the wide diversity of\\nthings, bear witness to the Lord of hosts, as still at\\nthe head of His well-marshalled family. The present\\nage is only re-echoing the lesson of all past ages\\nand that spectacle, which has misled those who by\\nwisdom know not God, into dreary atheism, has en-\\nhanced every demonstration both of His veracity\\nand power to all intelligent worshippers. We\\nknow that all things continue as they were from\\nthe beginning of creation. We know that the whole\\nof surrounding materialism stands forth, to this very\\nhour, in all the inflexibility of her wonted characters.\\nWe know that heaven, and earth, and sea, still\\ndischarge the same functions, and subserve the very\\nsame beneficent processes. We know that astro-\\nnomy plies the same rounds as before, that the cycles\\nof the firmament move in their old and appointed\\norder, and that the year circulates, as it has ever\\ndone, in grateful variety, over the face of an expec-\\ntant world but only because all are of God, and\\nthey continue this day according to His ordinances\\nfor all are His servants.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0220.jp2"}, "221": {"fulltext": "AND FAITHFULNESS OF GOD.\\n219\\nNow it is just because the successions which take\\nplace in the economy of Nature, are so invariable,\\nthat we should expect the successions which take\\nplace in the economy of God s moral government to\\nbe equally invariable. That expectation which He\\nnever disappoints when it is the fruit of a univer-\\nsal instinct, He surely will never disappoint when\\nit is the fruit of his own express and immediate re-\\nvelation. If because God hath so established it, it\\ncometh to pass, then of whatsoever it may be affirm-\\ned that God hath so said it, it will come equally to\\npass. I should certainly look for the same charac-\\nter in the administrations of His special grace, that\\nI at all times witness in the administrations of His\\nordinary providence. If I see in the system of His\\nworld, that the law by which two events follow each\\nother, gives rise to a connexion between them that\\nnever is dissolved, then should He say in His word,\\nthat there are certain invariable methods of succes-\\nsion, in virtue of which, when the first term of it oc-\\ncurs, the second is sure at all times to follow, I should\\nbe very sure in my anticipations, that it will indeed\\nbe most punctually and most rigidly so. It is thus\\nthat the constancy of Nature is in fullest harmony\\nwith the authority of Revelation and that, when\\nfresh from the contemplation of the one, I would\\nlisten with most implicit faith to all the announce-\\nments of the other.\\nWhen we behold all to be so sure and settled in\\nthe works of God, then may we look for all being\\nequally sure and settled in the word of God. Philo-\\nsophy hath never yet detected one iota of deviation\\nfrom the ordinances of Nature and never, there-", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0221.jp2"}, "222": {"fulltext": "220 THE CONSTANCY OF NATURE\\nfore, may we conclude, shall the experience either of\\npast or future ages, detect one iota of deviation from\\nthe ordinances of Revelation. He who so pointedly\\nadheres to every plan that He hath established in\\ncreation, will as pointedly adhere to every procla-\\nmation that He hath uttered in Scripture. There is\\nnought of the fast and loose in any of His processes\\nand whether in the terrible denunciations of Sinai,\\nor those mild proffers of mercy that were sounded\\nforth upon the world through Messiah, who uphold-\\neth all things by the word of His power, shall we\\nalike experience that God is not to be mocked, and\\nthat with Him there is no variableness, neither\\nshadow of turning.\\nWith this certainty, then, upon our spirits, let us\\nnow look not to the successions which He hath insti-\\ntuted in Nature, but to the successions which He\\nhath announced to us in the word of His testimony\\nand let us, while so doing, fix and solemnize our\\nthoughts by the consideration, that as God hath said\\nit, so will He do it.\\nThe first of these successions, then, on which we\\nmay count infallibly, is that which He hath pro-\\nclaimed between sin and punishment. The soul\\nthat sinneth it shall die. And here there is a com-\\nmon ground on which the certainties of divine re-\\nvelation meet and are at one with the certainties\\nof human experience. We are told in the Bible\\nthat all have sinned, and that therefore death hath\\npassed upon all men. The connexion between these\\ntwo terms is announced in Scripture to be invariable\\nand all observation tells us, that it is even so.\\nSuch was the sentence uttered in the hearing of our", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0222.jp2"}, "223": {"fulltext": "AND FAITHFULNESS OF GOD.\\n221\\nfirst parents and all history can attest how God\\nhath kept by the word of His threatening and how\\nthis law of jurisprudence from heaven is realized be-\\nfore us upon earth, with all the certainty of a law of\\nNature. The death of man is just as stable and as\\nessential a part of his physiology, as are his birth,\\nor his expansion, or his maturity, or his decay. It\\nlooks as much a thing of organic necessity, as a thing\\nof arbitrary institution and here do we see blend-\\ned into one exhibition, a certainty of the divine word\\nthat never fails, and a constancy in Nature that\\nnever is departed from. It is indeed a striking ac-\\ncordancy that what in one view of it appears to be\\na uniform process of Nature, in another view of it,\\nis but the unrelenting execution of a dread utter-\\nance from the God of Nature. From this contem-\\nplation, may we gather, that God is as certain in all\\nHis words, as He is constant in all His ways. Men\\ncan philosophize on the diseases of the human sys-\\ntem and the laborious treatise can be written on\\nthe class, and the character, and the symptoms, of\\neach of them and in our halls of learning, the\\nample demonstration can be given, and disciples\\nmay be taught how to judge and to prognosticate,\\nand in what appearances to read the fell precursors\\nof mortality and death has so taken up its settled\\nplace among the immutabilities of Nature, that it is\\nas familiarly treated in the lecture-rooms of science,\\nas any other phenomena which Nature has to offer\\nfor the exercise of the human understanding. And,\\noh how often are the smile and the stoutness of in-\\nfidelity seen to mingle with this appalling contem-\\nplation and how little will its hardy professors bear", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0223.jp2"}, "224": {"fulltext": "222\\nTHE CONSTANCY OF NATURE\\nto be told, that what gives so dread a certainty to\\ntheir speculation is, that the God of Nature and the\\nGod of the Bible, are one that when they de-\\nscribe, in lofty nomenclature, the path of dying\\nhumanity, they only describe the way in which He\\nfulfils upon it His irrevocable denunciation that\\nHe is but doing now to the posterity of Adam what\\nHe told to Adam himself on his expulsion from para-\\ndise and that if the universality of death prove\\nhow every law in the physics of creation is sure, it\\njust as impressively proves, how every word of God s\\nimmediate utterance to man, or how every word of\\nprophecy is equally sure.\\nAnd in every instance of mortality which you are\\ncalled to witness, do we call upon you to read in it\\nthe intolerance of God for sin, and how unsparingly\\nand unrelentingly it is, that God carries into effect\\nHis every utterance against it. The connexion\\nwhich He hath instituted between the two terms of\\nsin and of death, should lead you from every appeal\\nthat is made to your senses by the one, to feel the\\nforce of an appeal to your conscience by the other.\\nIt proves the hatefulness of sin to God, and it also\\nproves with what unfaltering constancy God will\\nprosecute every threat, until He hath made an utter\\nextirpation of sin from His presence. There is\\nnought which can make more palpable the way in\\nwhich God keeps every saying in His perpetual re-\\nmembrance, and as surely proceeds upon it, than\\ndoth this universal plague wherewith He hath\\nsmitten every individual of our species, and carries\\noff its successive generations from a world that\\nsprung from His hand in all the bloom and vigour", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0224.jp2"}, "225": {"fulltext": "AND FAITHFULNESS OF GOD.\\n223\\nof immortality. When death makes entrance upon\\na family, and, perhaps, seizes on that one member of\\nit, all whose actual transgressions might be summed\\nup in the outbreakings of an occasional wayward-\\nness, wherewith the smiles of infant gaiety were\\nchequered still how it demonstrates the unbending\\npurposes of God against our present accursed nature,\\nthat in some one or other of its varieties, every\\nspecimen must die. And so it is, that from one\\nage to another, He makes open manifestation to the\\nworld, that every utterance which hath fallen from\\nhim is sure and that ocular proof is given to the\\ncharacter of Him who is a Spirit, and is invisible\\nand that sense lends its testimony to the truth of\\nGod, and the truth of His Scripture and that Na-\\nture, when rightly viewed, instead of placing its in-\\nquirers at atheistical variance with the Being who\\nupholds it, holds out to us the most impressive com-\\nmentary that can be given, on the reverence which\\nis due to all His communications, even by demon-\\nstrating, that faith in His word is at unison with the\\nfindings of our daily observation.\\nBut God hath further said of sin and of its con-\\nsequences, what no observation of ours has yet\\nrealized. He hath told us of the judgment that\\ncometh after death, and He hath told us of the two\\ndiverse paths which lead from the judgment-seat\\nunto eternity. Of these we have not yet seen the\\nverification, yet surely we have now seen enough to\\nprepare us for the unfailing accomplishment of every\\nutterance that cometh from the lips of God. The\\nunexcepted death which we know cometh upon all\\nmen, for that all have sinned, might well convince", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0225.jp2"}, "226": {"fulltext": "224\\nTHE CONSTANCY OF NATURE\\nus of the certainty of that second death which is\\nthreatened upon all who turn not from sin unto the\\nSaviour. There is an indissoluble succession here\\nbetween our sinning and our dying and we ought\\nnow to be so aware of God as a God of precise and\\nperemptory execution, as to look upon the succes-\\nsion being equally indissoluble, between our dying\\nin sin now, and rising to everlasting condemnation\\nhereafter. The sinner who wraps himself in delu-\\nsive security, and who, because all things continue\\nas they have done, does not reflect of this very char-\\nacteristic, that it is indeed the most awful proof of\\nGod s immutable counsels, and to himself the most\\ntremendous presage of all the ruin and wretched-\\nness which have been denounced upon him, the\\nspectacle of uniformity that is before his eyes, only\\ngoes to ascertain that as God hath purposed, so,\\nwithout vacillation or inconstancy, will He ever per-\\nform. He hath already given a sample, or an earn-\\nest of this, in the awful ravages of death and we\\nask the sinner to behold, in the ever-recurring spec-\\ntacle of moving funerals, and desolated families, the\\ntoken of that still deeper perdition which awaits him.\\nLet him not think that the God who deals His re-\\nlentless inflictions here on every son and daughter\\nof the species, will falter there from the work of ven-\\ngeance that shall then descend on the heads of the\\nimpenitent. Oh, how deceived then are all those un-\\ngodly, who have been building to themselves a safety\\nand an exemption on the perpetuity of Nature All\\nthe perpetuity which they have witnessed is the\\npledge of a God who is unchangeable and who, true\\nto His threatening as to every other utterance which", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0226.jp2"}, "227": {"fulltext": "AND FAITHFULNESS OF GOD.\\n225\\npasses his lips, hath said, in the hearing of men and\\nof angels, that the soul which is in sin shall perish.\\nBut, secondly, there is another succession an-\\nnounced to us in Scripture, and on the certainty of\\nwhieh we may place as firm a reliance as on any of\\nthe observed successions of Nature even that which\\nobtains between faith and salvation. He who be-\\nlieveth in Christ, shall not perish, but shall have\\nlife everlasting. The same truth which God hath\\nembarked on the declarations of his wrath against\\nthe impenitent, He hath also embarked on the de-\\nclarations of His mercy to the believer. There is a\\nlaw of continuity, as unfailing as any series of events\\nin Nature, that binds with the present state of an\\nobstinate sinner upon earth, all the horrors of his\\nfuture wretchedness in hell but there is also an-\\nother law of continuity just as unfailing, that binds\\nthe present state of him who putteth faith in Christ\\nhere, with the triumphs and the transports of his\\ncoming glory hereafter. And thus it is, that what\\nwe read of God s constancy in the book of Nature,\\nmay well strengthen our every assurance in the pro-\\nmises of the Gospel. It is not in the recurrence of\\nwinter alone, and its desolations, that God manifests\\nHis adherence to established processes. There are\\nmany periodic evolutions of the bright and the beau-\\ntiful along the march of His administrations as the\\ndawn of morn and the grateful access of spring,\\nwith its many hues, and odours, and melodies and\\nthe ripened abundance of harvest and that glorious\\narch of heaven, which Science hath now appropri-\\nated as her own, but which nevertheless is placed\\nthere by God as the unfailing token of a sunshine\\n7 p", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0227.jp2"}, "228": {"fulltext": "226\\nTHE CONSTANCY OF NATURE\\nalready begun, and a storm now ended all these\\ncome forth at appointed seasons, in a consecutive\\norder, yet mark the footsteps of a beneficent Deity.\\nAnd so the economy of grace has its regular suc-\\ncessions, which carry, however, a blessing in their\\ntrain. The faith in Christ, to which we are invited\\nupon earth, has its sure result, and its landing-place\\nin heaven and just with as unerring certainty as\\nwe behold in the courses of the firmament, will it be\\nfollowed up by a life of virtue, and a death of hope,\\nand a resurrection of joyfulness, and a voice of wel-\\ncome at the judgment-seat, and a bright ascent into\\nfields of ethereal blessedness, and an entrance upon\\nglory, and a perpetual occupation in the city of the\\nliving God.\\nTo all men hath He given a faith in the constancy\\nof Nature, and He never disappoints it. To some\\nmen hath He given a faith in the promises of the\\nGospel, and He is ready to bestow it upon all who\\nask, or to perfect that which is lacking in it and\\nthe one faith will as surely meet with its correspond-\\ning fulfilment as the other. The invariableness that\\nreigns throughout the kingdom of Nature, guaran-\\ntees the like invariableness in the kingdom of grace.\\nHe who is steadfast to all His appointments will be\\ntrue to all His declarations and those very exhibi-\\ntions of a strict and undeviating order in our uni-\\nverse, which have ministered to the irreligion of a\\nspurious philosophy, form a basis on which the be-\\nliever can prop a firmer confidence than before, in\\nnil the spoken and all the written testimonies of\\nGod.\\nWith a man of taste, and imagination, and science,", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0228.jp2"}, "229": {"fulltext": "AND FAITHFULNESS OF GOD.\\n227\\nand who is withal a disciple of the Lord Jesus, such\\nan argument as this must shed a new interest and\\nglory over his whole contemplation of visible things.\\nHe knows of his Saviour, that by Him all things\\nwere made, and that by Him too all things are up-\\nholden. The world, in fact, was created by that\\nBeing whose name is the Word and from the\\nfeatures that are imprinted on the one, may he\\ngather some of the leading characteristics of the\\nother. More expressly will he infer from that sure\\nand established order of Nature, in which the whole\\nfamily of mankind are comprehended, that the more\\nspecial family of believers are indeed encircled with-\\nin the bond of a sure and a well-ordered covenant.\\nIn those beauteous regularities by which the one\\neconomy is marked, will he be led to recognise the\\nyea and the amen which are stamped on the\\nother economy and when he learns that the cer-\\ntainties of science are unfailing, does he also learn\\nthat the sayings of Scripture are unalterable. Both\\nhe knows to emanate from the same source and\\nevery new experience of Nature s constancy, will\\njust rivet him more tenaciously than before to the\\ndoctrine and the declarations of his Bible. Fur-\\nnished with such a method of interpretation as this,\\nlet him go abroad upon Nature, and all that he sees\\nwill heighten and establish the hopes which Re-\\nvelation hath awakened. Every recurrence of the\\nsame phenomena as before, will be to him a distinct\\ntestimony to the faithfulness of God. The very\\nhours will bear witness to it. The lengthening\\nshades of even will repeat the lesson held out to\\nhim by the light of early day and when night un-", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0229.jp2"}, "230": {"fulltext": "228 THE CONSTANCY OF NATURE\\nveils to his eye the many splendours of the firma-\\nment, will every traveller on his circuit there, speak\\nto him of that mighty and invisible King, all whose\\nordinations are sure. And this manifestation from\\nthe face of heaven will be reflected to him by the\\npanorama upon earth. Even the buds which come\\nforth at their appointed season on the leafless\\nbranches and the springing up of the flowers and\\nthe herbage on the spots of ground from which they\\nhad disappeared and that month of vocal harmony\\nwherewith the mute atmosphere is gladdened as\\nbefore, with the notes of joyous festival and so,\\nthe regular march of the advancing year through all\\nits footsteps of revival, and progress, and maturity,\\nand decay these are to him but the diversified\\ntokens of a God whom he can trust, because of a\\nGod who changeth not. To his eyes, the world re-\\nflects upon the word the lesson of its own wondrous\\nharmony and his science, instead of a meteor that\\nlures from the greater light of Revelation serves\\nhim as a pedestal on which the stability of Scrip-\\nture is more firmly upholden.\\nThe man who is accustomed to view aright the\\nuniformity of Nature s sequences, will be more im-\\npressed with the certainty of that sequence, which\\nis announced in the Bible between faith and sal-\\nvation and he of all others should re-assure his\\nhopes of immortality, when he reads, that the end of\\nour faith is the salvation of our souls. In this secure\\nand wealthy place let him take up his rest, and re-\\njoice himself greatly with that God who has so multi-\\nplied upon him the evidences of His faithfulness.\\nLet him henceforth feel that he is in the hands of", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0230.jp2"}, "231": {"fulltext": "AND FAITHFULNESS OF GOD.\\n229\\none who never deviates, and who cannot lie and\\nwho, as He never by one act of caprice hath mocked\\nthe dependence that is built on the foundation of\\nhuman experience, so never by one act of treachery\\nwill He mock the dependence that is built on the\\nfoundation of the divine testimony. And more par-\\nticularly, let him think of Christ who hath all the\\npromises in His hand, that to him also all power has\\nbeen committed in heaven and in earth and that\\npresiding therefore, as he does, over that visible ad-\\nministration, of which constancy is the unfailing\\nattribute, He by this hath given us the best pledge\\nof a truth that abideth the same, to-day, and yester-\\nday, and for ever.\\nWe are aware, that no argument can of itself\\nwork in you the faith of the Gospel that words, and\\nreasons, and illustrations, may be multiplied without\\nend, and yet be of no efficacy that if the simple\\nmanifestation of the Spirit be withheld, the expound-\\ner of Scripture, and of all its analogies with Creation\\nor Providence, will lose his labour and while it is\\nhis part to prosecute these to the uttermost, yet\\nnought will he find more surely and experimentally\\ntrue, than that without a special interposition of\\nlight from on high, he runneth in vain, and wearieth\\nhimself in vain. It is for him to ply the instrument,\\nit is for God to give unto it the power which avail-\\neth. We are told of Christ on His throne of media-\\ntorship, that He hath all the energies of Nature at\\ncommand, and up to this hour do we know with\\nwhat a steady and unfaltering hand He hath wielded\\nthem. Look to the promise as equally steadfast, of\\nLo, I am with you always, even unto the, end of", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0231.jp2"}, "232": {"fulltext": "230\\nTHE CONSTANCY OF NATURE\\nthe world and come even now to His own appoint-\\ned ordinance in the like confidence of a fellowship\\nwith Him, as you would to any of the scenes or ordi-\\nnations of Nature, and in the confidence that there\\nthe Lord of Nature will prove himself the same that\\nHe has ever been.* The blood that was announced\\nmany centuries ago to cleanse from all sin, cleanseth\\nstill. The body which hath borne in all past ages\\nthe iniquity of believers, beareth it still. That faith\\nwhich appropriates Christ and all the benefits of His\\npurchase to the soul, still performs the same office.\\nAnd that magnificent economy of Nature which was\\nestablished at the first, and so abideth, is but the\\nsymbol of that higher economy of grace which con-\\ntinueth to this day according to all its ordinances.\\nWhosoever eateth my flesh, and drinketh my\\nblood/ says the Saviour, shall never die. When\\nyou sit down at His table, you eat the bread, and\\nyou drink the wine by which these are represented\\nand if this be done worthily, if there be a right\\ncorrespondence between the hand and the heart in\\nthis sacramental service, then by faith do you re-\\nceive the benefits of the shed blood, and the broken\\nbody and your so doing will as surely as any suc-\\ncession takes place in the instituted courses of\\nNature, be followed up by your blessed immortality.\\nAnd the brighter your hopes of glory hereafter, the\\nholier will you be in all your acts and affections here.\\nThe character even now will receive a tinge from\\nthe prospect that is before you and the habitual\\nanticipation of heaven will bring down both of its\\nThis Sermon was delivered on the morning of a Communion\\nSabbath.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0232.jp2"}, "233": {"fulltext": "AND FAITHFULNESS OF GOD.\\n231\\ncharity and its sacredness upon your heart. He\\nwho hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as\\nChrist is pure and even from the present, if a true\\napproach to the gate of His sanctuary, will you carry\\na portion of His spirit away with you. In par-\\ntaking of these His consecrated elements, you be-\\ncome partakers of His gentleness and devotion, and\\nunwearied beneficence and because like Him in\\ntime, you will live with Him through eternity.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0233.jp2"}, "234": {"fulltext": "232\\nEFFICACY OF PRAYER\\nDISCOURSE II.\\nON THE CONSISTENCY BETWEEN THE EFFICACY OF\\nPRAYER AND THE UNIFORMITY OF NATURE.\\nu Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers,\\nwalking after their own lusts,\u00e2\u0080\u0094 and saying, Where is the promise of\\nhis coming for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as\\nthey were from the beginning of the creation. 2 Peter iii. 3, 4.\\nThe infidelity spoken of in our text, had for its\\nbasis the stability of Nature, or rested on the imagina-\\ntion that her economy was perpetual and everlasting\\nand every day of Nature s continuance added to the\\nstrength and inveteracy of this delusion. In propor-\\ntion to the length of her past endurance, was there\\na firm confidence felt in her future perpetuity. The\\nlonger that Nature lasted, or the older she grew, her\\nfinal dissolution was held to be all the more impro-\\nbable till nothing seemed so unlikely to the atheis-\\ntical men of that period, as the intervention of a God\\nwith a system of visible things, which looked so un-\\nchanging and so indestructible. It was like the con-\\ntest of experience and faith, in which the former grew\\nevery day stronger and stronger, and the latter weaker\\nand weaker, till at length it was wholly extinguish-\\ned and men in the spirit of defiance or ridicule,\\nbraved the announcement of a Judge who should\\nappear at the end of the world, and mocked at the\\npromise of His coming.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0234.jp2"}, "235": {"fulltext": "AND UNIFORMITY OF NATURE.\\n233\\nBut there is another direction which infidelity\\noften takes, beside the one specified in our text. It\\nnot only perverts to its own argument, what experi-\\nence tells of the stability of Nature and so con-\\ncludes that we have nothing to fear from the man-\\ndate of a God laying sudden arrest and termination\\non its processes. It also perverts what experience\\ntells of the uniformity of Nature and so concludes\\nthat we have nothing either to hope or to fear from\\nthe intervention of a God during the continuance or\\nthe currency of these processes. Beside making\\nNature independent of God for its duration, which\\nthey hold to be everlasting, they would also make\\nNature to be independent of God for its course, which\\nthey hold to be unalterable. They tell us of the rigid\\nand undeviating constancy from w r hich Nature is\\nnever known to fluctuate and that in her immu-\\ntable laws in the march and regularity of her orderly\\nprogressions, they can discover no trace whatever of\\nany interposition by the finger of a Deity. It is not\\nonly that all things continue to be as they were\\nfrom the beginning of creation but that all things\\ncontinue to act as they did from the beginning of\\nthe creation causes and effects following each other\\nin w r onted and invariable succession, and the same\\ncircumstances ever issuing in the same consequents\\nas before. With such a system of things, there is\\nno room in their creed or in their imagination for\\nthe actings of a God. To their eye Nature pro-\\nceeds by the sure footsteps of a mute and uncon-\\nscious materialism; nor can they recognise in its\\nevolutions those characters of the spontaneous or the\\nwilful, which bespeak a living God to have had any", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0235.jp2"}, "236": {"fulltext": "234\\nEFFICACY OF PRAYER\\nconcern with it. He may have formed the mundane\\nsystem at the first He may have devised for matter\\nits properties and its laws: but these properties,\\nthey tell us, never change these laws never are re-\\nlaxed or receded from. And so we may as well bid\\nthe storm itself cease from its violence, as supplicate\\nthe unseen Being whom we fancy to be sitting aloft\\nand to direct the storm. This they hold to be a\\nsuperstitious imagination, which all their experi-\\nence of Nature and of Nature s immutability forbids\\nthem to entertain. By the one infidelity, they have\\nbanished a God from the throne of judgment. By\\nthe other infidelity, they have banished a God from\\nthe throne of providence. By the first, they tell us\\nthat a God has nought to do with the consummation\\nof Nature; or rather, that Nature lias no consumma-\\ntion. By the second, they tell us that a God has\\nnought to do with the history of Nature. The first\\ninfidelity would expunge from our creed the doc-\\ntrine of a coming judgment. The second would ex-\\npunge from it the doctrine of a present and a special\\nprovidence, and the doctrine of the efficacy of prayer.\\nNow this last, though not just the infidelity of the\\ntext yet being very much the same with it in prin-\\nciple we hold it sufficiently textual, though we\\nmake it, and not the other, the subject of our present\\nargument. We admit the uniformity of visible na-\\nture a lesson forced upon us by all experience. We\\nadmit that as far as our observation extends, Nature\\nhas always proceeded in one invariable order inso-\\nmuch that the same antecedents have, without ex-\\nception, been ever followed up by the same conse-\\nquents and that, saving the well accredited miracles", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0236.jp2"}, "237": {"fulltext": "AND UNIFORMITY OF NATURE.\\n235\\nof the Jewish and Christian dispensations, all things\\nhave so continued since the beginning of the creation.\\nWe admit that, never in our whole lives have we\\nwitnessed as the effect of man s prayer, any infringe-\\nment made on the known laws of the universe or\\nthat Nature by receding from her constancy, to the\\nextent that w r e have discovered it, has ever in one in-\\nstance yielded to his supplicating cry. We admit\\nthat by no importunity from the voice of faith, or from\\nany number and combination of voices, have we seen\\nan arrest or a shift laid on the ascertained courses,\\nwhether of the material or the mental economy or\\na single fulfilment of any sort, brought about in con-\\ntravention, either to the known properties of any\\nsubstance, or to the known principles of any estab-\\nlished succession in the history of Nature. These\\nare our experiences and we are aware the very ex-\\nperiences which ministered to the infidelity of our\\ntext, and do minister to the practical infidelity of thou-\\nsands in the present day yet, in opposition to, or\\nrather notwithstanding these experiences, universal\\nand unexcepted though they be, do we affirm the\\ndoctrine of a superintending providence, as various\\nand as special, as our necessities the doctrine of a\\nperpetual interposition from above, as manifoldly and\\nminutely special, as are the believing requests which\\nascend from us to Heaven s throne.\\nWe feel the importance of the subject, both in\\nits application to the judgment that now hangs over\\nus,* and to the infidelity of the present times. But\\nwe cannot hope to be fully understood without your\\nmost strenuous and sustained attention an atten-\\nThis sermon was preached during the prevalence of cholera.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0237.jp2"}, "238": {"fulltext": "236\\nEFFICACY OF PRAYER\\ntion, however, which we request may be kept up to\\nthe end, even though certain parts in the train of\\nobservation may not have been followed by you.\\nWhat some may lose in those passages, where the\\nsubject is presented in the form of a general argu-\\nment, may again be recovered, when we attempt to\\nestablish our doctrine by Scripture, or to illustrate it\\nby instances taken from the history of human affairs.\\nIn one way or other, you may seize on the reigning\\nprinciple of that explanation, by which we endeavour\\nto reconcile the efficacy of prayer with the uniformity\\nof experience. And our purpose shall have been ob-\\ntained, if we can at all help you to a greater confi-\\ndence in the reality of a superintending providence,\\nto a greater comfort and confidence in the act of\\nmaking your requests known unto God.\\nLet us first give our view in all its generality, in the\\nhope that any obscurity which may rest upon it in this\\nform will be dissipated or cleared up in the subse-\\nquent appeals that we shall make, both to the lessons\\nof the Bible, and to the lessons of human experience.\\nWe grant then, we unreservedly grant, the uni-\\nformity of visible nature and now let us compute\\nhow much, or how little, it amounts to. Grant of\\nall our progressions, that, as far as our eye can carry\\nus, they are invariable and then let us only reflect\\nhow short a way we can trace any of them upwards.\\nIn speculating on the origin of an event, we maybe\\nable to assign the one which immediately preceded,\\nand term it the proximate cause or even ascend by\\ntwo or three footsteps, till we have discovered some\\nanterior event which we term the remote cause.\\nBut how soon do we arrive at the limit of possible", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0238.jp2"}, "239": {"fulltext": "AND UNIFORMITY OF NATURE.\\n237\\ninvestigation, beyond which if we attempt to go, we\\nlose ourselves among the depths and the obscurities\\nof a region that is unknown Observation may con-\\nduct us a certain length backwards in the train of\\ncauses and effects but, after having done its utter-\\nmost, we feel, that, above and beyond its loftiest\\nplace of ascent, there are still higher steps in the\\ntrain, which we vainly try to reach, and find them\\ninaccessible. It is even so throughout all philo-\\nsophy. After having arrived at the remotest cause\\nwhich man can reach his way to, we shall ever find\\nthere are higher and remoter causes still, which dis-\\ntance all his powers of research, and so will ever re-\\nmain in deepest concealment from his view. Of this\\nhigher part of the train he has no observation. Of\\nthese remoter causes, and their mode of succession,\\nhe can positively say nothing. For aught he knows,\\nthey may be under the immediate control of higher\\nbeings in the universe or, like the upper part of a\\nchain, a few of whose closing links are all that is\\nvisible to us, they may be directly appended to the\\nthrone, and at all times subject to the instant plea-\\nsure of a prayer-hearing God. And it may be by a\\nresponsive touch at the higher, and not the low r er\\npart of the progression, that He answers our prayers.\\nIt may be not by an act of intervention among those\\nnear and visible causes, where intervention would be\\na miracle it may be by an unseen, but not less\\neffectual act of intervention, among the remote and\\ntherefore the occult causes, that He adapts Himself\\nto the various wants, and meets the various petitions\\nof His children. If it be in the latter way that He\\nconducts the affairs of His daily government then", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0239.jp2"}, "240": {"fulltext": "238 EFFICACT OF PRAYKR\\nm\\nmay He rule by a providence as special as are the\\nneeds and the occasions of His family and with an\\near open to every cry, might He provide for all, and\\nminister to all, without one infringement on the uni-\\nformity of visible nature. If the responsive touch\\nbe given at the lower part of the chain, then the\\nanswer to prayer is by miracle, or by a contravention\\nto some of the known sequences of Nature. But if\\nthe responsive touch be given at a sufficiently higher\\npart of the chain, then the answer is as effectually\\nmade, but not by miracle, and without violence to\\nany one succession of history or nature which philo-\\nsophy has ascertained because the reaction to the\\nprayer strikes at a place that is higher than the\\nhighest investigations of philosophy. It is not by a\\nvisible movement within the region of human obser-\\nvation, but by an invisible movement in the tran-\\nscendental region above it, that the prayer is met\\nand responded to. The Supernal Power of the Uni-\\nverse, the mighty and unseen Being who sits aloft,\\nand has been significantly styled the Cause of causes\\nHe, in immediate contact with the upper extremi-\\nties of every progression, there puts forth an over-\\nruling influence which tells and propagates down-\\nwards to the lower extremities and so, by an agency\\nplaced too remote either for the eye of sense or for\\nall the instruments of science to discover, may God,\\nin answer if He choose to prayer, fix and determine\\nevery series of events of which, nevertheless, all\\nthat man can see is but the uniformity of the closing\\nfootsteps a few of the last causes and effects follow-\\ning each other in their wonted order. It is thus\\nthat we reconcile all the experience which man has", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0240.jp2"}, "241": {"fulltext": "AND UNIFORMITY OF NATURE.\\n239\\nof Nature s uniformity, with the effect and significancy\\nof his prayers to the God of Nature. It is thus that\\nat one and the same time do we live under the care\\nof a presiding God, and among the regularities of a\\nharmonious universe.\\nThese views are in beautiful accordance with the\\nsimple and sublime theology unfolded to us in the\\nbook of Job where, whether in the movements of\\nthe animated kingdom below, or the great evolutions\\nthat take place in the upper regions, of the atmos-\\nphere, the phenomena and the processes of visible\\nnature are sketched with a masterly hand. It is in\\nthe midst of these scenes and impressive descriptions,\\nthat we are told Lo, these are parts of His ways/\\nThe translation does not say what parts; but the\\noriginal does. They are but the lower parts the\\nendings as it w r ere of the different processes the\\nlast and lowest footsteps, which are all that science\\ncan investigate and of which, throughout the whole\\nof her limited ascent, she has traced the uniformity.\\nBut she has traced it a very short way or, in the\\nlanguage of the patriarch, who estimates aright the\\nachievements of philosophy how little a portion is\\nheard of Him how few the known footsteps which\\nare beneath the veil to the unknown steps and work-\\nings which are above it and so, the thunder, or\\nrather the inward and secret movements of His power,\\nwho can understand\\nHe bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds\\nand the cloud is not rent under them. He holdeth\\nback the face of his throne, and spreadeth his cloud\\nupon it. He hath compassed the waters with bounds,\\nuntil the day and night come to an end. The pil-", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0241.jp2"}, "242": {"fulltext": "240\\nEFFICACY OF PRATER\\nlars of heaven tremble, and are astonished at his\\nreproof. He divideth the sea with his power, and\\nby his understanding he smiteth through the proud.\\nBy his Spirit he hath garnished the heavens his\\nhand hath formed the crooked serpent. Lo, these\\nare parts of his ways but how little a portion is\\nheard of him but the thunder of his power who\\ncan understand? Job xxvi. 8-14.\\nThe last sentence of this magnificent passage were\\nbetter translated thus These are the parts or the\\nlower endings of his ways but the secret working\\nof his power, who can understand\\nThat part of the economy of the divine adminis-\\ntration, in virtue of which God works, not without\\nbut by secondary causes, is frequently intimated in\\nthe book of Psalms.\\nci Who maketh his angels spirits, his ministers a\\nflaming fire/ Ps. civ. 4.\\nOr, as it might have been translated Who\\nmaketh the w r inds his messengers, and the flaming\\nfire his servant/\\nBut without the aid of any emendations in our\\nversion, this subserviency of visible nature to the in-\\nvisible God, is distinctly laid before us in the fol-\\nlowing passages.\\nThey that go down to the sea in ships, that do\\nbusiness in great waters these see the works of\\nthe Lord, and his wonders in the deep. For he com-\\nmandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth\\nup the waves thereof. They mount up to the heaven,\\nthey go down again to the depths their soul is\\nmelted because of trouble. They reel to and fro,\\nand stagger like a drunken man, and are at their", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0242.jp2"}, "243": {"fulltext": "AXD UNIFORMITY OF NATURE.\\n241\\nwit s end. Then they cry unto the Lord in their\\ntrouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.\\nHe maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves\\nthereof are still Then are they glad, because they\\nbe quiet so he bringeth them unto their desired\\nhaven. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for\\nhis goodness, and for his wonderful works to the\\nchildren of men/ Psalm evil 23-31.\\nHe raises the tempest not without the wind, but\\nby the wind. In the one way it would have been\\na miracle in the other way it is alike effectual, but\\nwithout any change in the properties or Jaws of\\nvisible nature without what we commonly under-\\nstand by a miracle. He does not bring the vessel\\nagainst the wind to its desired haven but He makes\\nthe storm a calm, and so the waves thereof are still.\\nOur Saviour also bade the winds into peace and the\\nmiracle there lay in the effect following on the heard\\nutterance of His voice. A voice no less effectual\\nthough unheard by us, overrules at all times the\\nworking of Nature s elements and brings the or-\\ndinary processes, as well as the marked and mira-\\nculous exception to them, under the control of a\\ndivine agency.\\nWhatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in\\nheaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep\\nplaces. He causeth the vapours to ascend from the\\nends of the earth he maketh lightnings for the\\nrain he bringeth the wind out of his treasuries.\\nPsalm exxxv. 6, 7.\\nHere, without any change of translation, we are\\ntold of the subserviency of the visible instruments,\\nto the invisible but real agency of Him who wields\\n7 Q", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0243.jp2"}, "244": {"fulltext": "242\\nEFFICACY OF PRAYER\\ntliem at his pleasure. In this passage, the winds\\nare plainly represented to us as the messengers of\\nGod, and the flaming fire as His servant. He changes\\nno properties, and no visible processes working, not\\nwithout the wind, but by it not without the electric\\nmatter, but by it not without the rain, but by it\\nnot without the vapour, but by it. Let the philo-\\nsopher tell how far back he can go, in exploring the\\nmethod and order of these respective agencies. Then\\nwe have only to point further back and ask on what\\nevidence he can tell, that the fiat and the finger\\nof a God are not there We grant the observed\\norder to be invariable, save when God chooses to in-\\nterpose by miracle. But whether He does or not\\nfrom that chamber of His hidden operations, which\\nphilosophy has not found its way to, can He so di-\\nrect all, so subordinate all, that whatever the Lord\\npleases, that does He in heaven and in earth, in the\\nseas, and all deep places.\\nPraise the Lord from the earth, ye dragons, and\\nall deeps Fire and hail snow and vapour stormy\\nwind fulfilling his word. Psalm cxlviii. 7, 8.\\nThe stormy wind fulfilleth His word.\\nOur last example shall be from the new Testa-\\nment. Nevertheless he left not himself without\\nwitness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from\\nheaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with\\nfood and gladness/ Acts xiv. 17.\\nThis last example will prepare you to go along with\\none of the particular instances we are just to bring for-\\nward, of a special prayer met by a special fulfilment.\\nWe are thus enabled to perceive what the respec-\\ntive provinces are of philosophy and faith. Every", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0244.jp2"}, "245": {"fulltext": "AND UNIFORMITY OF NATURE.\\n243\\nevent in Nature or history has a cause in some prior\\nevent that went before it, and that again in another,\\nand that again in another still higher than itself in\\nthis scale of precedency and so might we climb\\nour ascending way from cause to cause, from conse-\\nquent to antecedent till the investigation has been\\ncarried upwards, from the farthest possible verge of\\nhuman discovery. There it is that the domain of\\nobservation or of philosophy terminates but we mis-\\ntake, if we think that there the progression, whose\\nterms or whose footsteps we have traced thus far,\\nalso terminates. Beyond this limit we cannot track\\nthe pathway of causation not because the pathway\\nceases, but because we have lost sight of it having\\nnow retired from view among the depths and mys-\\nteries of an unknown region, which we, with our\\nbounded faculties, cannot enter. This may be termed\\nthe region of faith, placed as it were above the\\nregion of experience. The things which are done in\\nthe higher, have an overruling influence by lines of\\ntransmission on all that happens in the lower yet\\nwithout one breach or interruption to the uniformity\\nof visible nature. Whatever is done in the transcen-\\ndental region be it by the influence of prayer by\\nthe immediate finger of God by the ministry of\\nangels by the spontaneous movements, whether of\\ndispleasure or of mercy above, responding to the sins\\nor to the supplicating cries that ascend from earth s\\ninhabitants below that will pass by a descending\\ninfluence into the palpable region of sense and ob-\\nservation yet, from the moment it comes within its\\nlimits, will it proceed without the semblance of a\\nmiracle, but by the march and the movement of", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0245.jp2"}, "246": {"fulltext": "244\\nEFFJCACY OF PKATKR\\nNature s regularity, to its final consummation. God\\nhath in wisdom ordained a regimen of general laws\\nand that man might gather from the memory of the\\npast those lessons of observation which serve for the\\nguidance of the future, He hath enacted that all\\nthose successions shall be invariable which have\\ntheir place and their fulfilment within the world of\\nsensible experience. Yet God has not on that ac-\\ncount made the world independent of Himself. He\\nkeeps a perpetual hold on all its events and processes\\nnotwithstanding. He does not dissever Himself, for\\na single instant, from the government and the guar-\\ndianship of His own universe and can still, not-\\nwithstanding all we see of Nature s rigid uniformity,\\nadapt the forthgoings of His power to all the wants\\nand all the prayers of His dependent family. For\\nthis purpose, He does not need to stretch forth His\\nhand on the inferior and the visible links of any pro-\\ngression, so as to shift the known successions of ex-\\nperience or at all to intermeddle with the lessons\\nand the laws of this great schoolmaster. He may\\nwork in secret, and yet perform all His pleasure\\nnot bv the achievement of a miracle on Nature s\\nopen platform, but by the touch of one or other of\\nthose master-springs which lie within the recesses\\nof her inner laboratory. There, and at His place of\\nsupernal command by the fountain-heads of influ-\\nence, He *can turn whithersoever He will the\\nmachinery of our world, and without the possibility\\nby human eye of detecting the least infringement\\non any of its processes at once upholding the\\nregularity of visible nature, and the supremacy of\\nNature s invisible God.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0246.jp2"}, "247": {"fulltext": "AND UNIFORMITY OF NATURE.\\n245\\nBut we are glad to make our escape, and now to\\nmake it conclusively, from the obscurer part of our\\nreasoning on this subject although, most assuredly,\\nthese are not the times for passing it wholly by or\\nfor withholding aught which can make in favour of\\nthe much derided cause of humble and earnest piety.\\nBut, instead of propounding our doctrine in the\\nterms of a general argument, let us try the effect of\\na few special instances by which, perhaps, we might\\nmore readily gain the consent of your understanding\\nto our views.\\nWhen the sigh of the midnight storm sends fearful\\nagitation into a mother s heart as she thinks of her\\nsailor boy now exposed to its fury on the waters of\\na distant ocean these stern disciples of a hard and\\nstern infidelity would, on this notion of a rigid and\\nimpracticable constancy in nature, forbid her pray-\\ners holding them to be as impotent and vain, though\\naddressed to the God who has all the elements in\\nHis hand, as if lifted up with senseless importunity to\\nthe raving elements themselves. Yet Nature would\\nstrongly prompt the aspiration and, if there be\\ntruth in our argument, there is nothing in the con-\\nstitution of the universe to forbid its accomplishment.\\nGod might answer the prayer, not by unsettling the\\norder of secondary causes not by reversing any of\\nthe wonted successions that are known to take place\\nin the ever-restless, ever-heaving atmosphere not\\nby sensible miracle among those nearer footsteps\\nwhich the philosopher has traced but by the touch\\nof an immediate hand among the deep recesses of\\nmaterialism, which are beyond the ken of all his in-\\nstruments. It is thence that the Sovereign of", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0247.jp2"}, "248": {"fulltext": "216\\nEFFICACY OF PRAYER\\nNature might bid the wild uproar of the elements\\ninto silence. It is there that the virtue comes out\\nof Him, which passes like a winged messenger from\\nthe invisible to the visible and at the threshold of\\nseparation between these two regions, impresses the\\ndirection of the Almighty s will on the remotest\\ncause which science can mount her way to. From\\nthis point in the series, the path of descent along\\nthe line of nearer and proximate causes may be\\nrigidly invariable and in respect of the order, the\\nprecise undeviating order, wherewith they follow\\neach other, all things continue as they were from\\nthe beginning of the creation. The heat, and the\\nvapour, and the atmospherical precipitates, and the\\nconsequent moving forces by which either to raise a\\nnew tempest or to lay an old one all these may\\nproceed, and without one hair-breadth of deviation,\\naccording to the successions of our established philo-\\nsophy yet each be but the obedient messenger of\\nthat voice which gave forth its command at the\\nfountain-head of the whole operation which com-\\nmissioned the vapours to ascend from the ends of\\nthe earth, and made lightnings for the rain, and\\nbrought the wind out of His treasuries. These are\\nthe palpable steps of the process but an unseen in-\\nfluence behind the farthest limit of man s boasted\\ndiscoveries may have set them agoing. And that\\ninfluence may have been accorded to prayer the\\npower that moves Him, who moves the universe\\nand w r ho, without violence to the known regularities\\nof Nature, can either send forth the hurricane over\\nthe face of the deep, or recall it at His pleasure.\\nSuch is the joyful persuasion of faith, and proud", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0248.jp2"}, "249": {"fulltext": "AND UNIFORMITY OF NATURE.\\n247\\nphilosophy cannot disprove it. A woman s feeble\\ncry may have overruled the elemental war and\\nhushed into silence this wild frenzy of the winds and\\nthe waves and evoked the gentler breezes from the\\ncave of their slumbers and wafted the vessel of her\\ndearest hopes, and which held the first and fondest\\nof her earthly treasures, to its desired haven.\\nAnd so of other prayers. It is not without instru-\\nmentality, but by means of it, that they are answer-\\ned. The fulfilment is preceded by the accustomed\\nseries of causes and effects and preceded as far up-\\nward as the eye of man can trace the pedigree of\\nsensible causation. Were it by a break anywhere in\\nthe traceable part of this series that the prayer was\\nanswered, then its fulfilment would be miraculous.\\nBut without a miracle the prayer is answered as\\neffectually. Thus, for example, is met the cry of a\\npeople under famine for a speedy and plenteous\\nharvest not by the instant appearance of the ripen-\\ned grain at the bidding of a voice from heaven not\\npreternaturally cherished into maturity in the midst\\nof storms but ushered onwards by a grateful suc-\\ncession of shower and sunshine to a prosperous con-\\nsummation. An abundant harvest is granted to\\nprayer yet without violence either to the laws of\\nthe vegetable physiology, or to any of the known\\nlaws by which the alterations of the weather are de-\\ntermined. It must be acknowledged by every philo-\\nsopher, how soon it is that we arrive in both depart-\\nments on the confines of deepest mystery and let\\nthe constancy of patent and palpable Nature be as\\nunaltered and unalterable as it may, Grod reserves\\nto Himself the place of mastery and command,", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0249.jp2"}, "250": {"fulltext": "248\\nEFFICACY OF PRAYER\\nwhether among the arcana of vegetation or the\\ndepths of meteorology. He may at once permit a\\nmost rigid uniformity to the visible workings of Na-\\nture s mechanism while among its invisible, which\\nare also its antecedent workings, He retains that\\nstation of pre-eminence and power, whence He brings\\nall things to pass according to His pleasure. It is\\nnot by sending bread from the upper storehouses of\\nthe firmament that He answers this prayer. It is\\nby sending rain and fruitful seasons. The inter-\\nmediate machinery of Nature is not cast aside but\\npressed into the service and the prayer is answered\\nby a secret touch from the finger of the Almighty,\\nwhich sets all its parts and all its processes agoing.\\nWith the eye of sense man sees nothing but Nature\\nrevolving in her wonted cycles, and the months\\nfollowing each other in bright and beautiful succes-\\nsion. In the eye of faith, ay, and of sound philo-\\nsophy, every year of smiling plenty upon earth is a\\nyear crowned with the goodness of heaven.\\nBut to touch on that which more immediately\\nconcerns us, let us now instance prayer for health.\\nWe ask, if here philosophy has taken possession of\\nthe whole domain, and left no room for the preroga-\\ntives and the exercise of faith no hope for prayer\\nHas the whole intermediate space between the\\nfirst cause and the ultimate phenomena been so\\nthoroughly explored, and the rigid uniformity of\\nevery footstep in the series been so fixed and ascer-\\ntained by observation, as to preclude the rationality\\nof prayer, and leave it without a meaning, because\\nwithout the possibility of a fulfilment? Where is\\nthe physician or the physiologist who can tell that", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0250.jp2"}, "251": {"fulltext": "AND UNIFORMITY OF NATCKE.\\n249\\nhe lias made the ascent from one prognostic or one\\npredisposition to another till he reached even to the\\nprimary fount ain-head of that influence which either\\nmedicates or distempers the human frame, and\\nfound throughout an adamantine chain of necessity,\\nnot to be broken by the sufferer s imploring cry?\\nWe ask the guardians of our health, how far upon\\nthe pathway of causation the discoveries of medical\\nscience have carried them and whether, above and\\nbeyond their farthest look into the mysteries of our\\nframework, there are not higher mysteries, where a\\nGod may work in secret, and the hand of the Omni-\\npotent be stretched forth to heal or to destroy? It\\nis thence He may answer prayer. It is from this\\nsummit of ascendency that He may direct all the\\nprocesses of the human constitution yet without\\nviolating in any instance the uniformity of the few\\nlast and visible footsteps. Because science has\\ntraced, and so far determined this uniformity, she\\nhas not therefore exiled God from His own universe\\nShe has not forced the Deity to quit His hold of its\\nmachinery, or to forego by one iota the most per-\\nfect command of all its evolutions. His superintend-\\nence is as close and continuous and special, as if\\nall things were done by the visible intervention of\\nHis hand. Without superstition, with the fullest\\nrecognition of science in all its prerogatives and\\nall its glories\u00e2\u0080\u0094 might we feel our immediate de-\\npendence on God; and, even in this our philosophic\\nday, and notwithstanding all that philosophy has\\nmade known to us, might we still assert and vin-\\ndicate the higher philosophy of prayer asking of\\nGod, as patriarchs and holy men of old did before", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0251.jp2"}, "252": {"fulltext": "EFFICACY OF PRAYER\\nus, for safety and sustenance and health and all\\nthings.\\nAnd if ever in the dealings of God with the people\\nof the earth, if ever science had less of the territory\\nand faith had more of it, it is in that undisclosed\\nmystery which still hangs over us which now for\\nmany months has shed baleful influences on your\\ncrowded city and whereof no man can tell whether\\nin another day or another hour, it might not descend\\nwith fell swoop into the midst of his own family\\nentering there with rude unceremonious footstep,\\nand hurrying to one of its rapid and inglorious\\nfunerals the dearest of the inmates. Never on any\\nother theme did philosophy make more entire de-\\nmonstration of her own helplessness and perhaps\\nat the very first footstep of the investigation, or on\\nthe question of the proximate cause, the contro-\\nversy is loudest of all. But however justly of the\\nproximate cause discovery may be made, or how r ever\\nremotely among the anterior causes the investigation\\nmight be carried, never will proud philosophy be\\nable to annul the intervention of a God, or purchase\\nto herself the privilege of mocking at the poor man s\\nprayer. Indeed, amid the exuberance and variety\\nof speculation on this unsettled and unknown sub-\\nject, there was one remote cause assigned for this\\npestilent visitation, which, so far from shutting out,\\nrather suggests, and that most forcibly, the interven-\\ntion of a God immediately before it. And it shall\\ncome to pass in that day, that the Lord shall hiss for\\nthe fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers\\nof Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of\\nAssyria and they shall come, and shall rest all of", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0252.jp2"}, "253": {"fulltext": "AND UNIFORMITY OF NATURE.\\n251\\ntliem in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the\\nrocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes/\\nWe hope to have made it plain to you, let this or any\\nother cause be found the true one, that however\\nhigh the path of discovery may have been traced,\\nyet higher still there is place for the finger of a God\\nabove to regulate all the designs of a special provi-\\ndence, and to move in conformity with all the ac-\\ncepted prayers of His family below. But among the\\nscoffers of our latter day, even in the absence or the\\nwant of all discovery, the finger of a God is dis-\\nowned and it seems to mark how resolute and at\\nthe same time how hopeless is the infidelity of\\nmodern times, that just in proportion to our ignor-\\nance of all the secondary or the sensible causes, is\\nour haughty refusal of any homage to the first cause.\\nIt is passing strange of this disease, that after hav-\\ning baffled every attempt to find out its dependence\\non aught that is on earth, the idea of its dependence\\non the will of Heaven should of all others have been\\nlaughed most impiously to scorn. The voice of de-\\nrision and defiance was first heard in our high places\\nand thence it passed, as if by infection, into general\\nsociety. And so, many have disowned the power\\nand the will of the Deity in this visitation. They\\nmost unphilosophically, we think, as well as im-\\npiously, have spurned at prayer.\\nBut we cannot pass away from this part of our\\nsubject, without adverting to a recent event, the\\nthought of which is at present irresistibly obtruded\\non us, and by which this parish and congregation\\nbut a few weeks ago have been deprived of one of\\nIsaiah vii. 18, 19.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0253.jp2"}, "254": {"fulltext": "252\\nEFFICACY OF PRAYER\\nthe most conspicuous of our office-bearers one who\\nconstitutionally the kindest and most indulgent of\\nmen, was the most alive of all I ever knew to the\\nwants and the miseries of our common nature and\\nwho finely alive to all the impulses and soft touches\\nof humanity, laboured night and day in the vocation\\nof doing good continually. But instead of saying\\nthat he laboured, I should say that he luxuriated in\\nwell-doing for never was a heart more attuned to\\nready and responsive agreement with the calls of\\nbenevolence than his, and sooner would I believe of\\nNature that she had receded from her constancy,\\nthan of him that e er\\nHe looked unmoved on misery s languid eye,\\nOr heard her sinking voice without a sigh.\\nOf all the recollections which the friends either of\\nmy youth or of my manhood have left behind them\\nin this land of dying men, there is none more beauti-\\nfully irradiated whether I look back on the mild-\\nness of his Christian worth, or on those sensibilities\\nof an open and generous and finely attempered spirit,\\nwhich gives such a charm to human companionship.\\nAnd as the second great law is like unto the first\\nso that love of his which went forth so diffusively\\namongst his fellows upon earth, we humbly hope,\\nwas at once the indication and the consequent of a\\nlove that ascended with high and habitual aspiration\\nto God in heaven. It was through a brief and tre-\\nmendous agony that he was carried from the world\\nof sense to the world of spirits and yet it is a\\nhappiness to be told that the faith and hope of the\\nGospel lighted up a halo over his expiring moments,", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0254.jp2"}, "255": {"fulltext": "AND UNIFORMITY OF NATURE.\\n253\\nand that, ere death had closed his eyes he, through\\nnearly an hour of audible prayer gave his last testi-\\nmony to the truth as it is in Jesus.*\\nBut to recall ourselves from this theme of sadness,\\nAve trust you will now understand of every event in\\nNature or history, that each in the order of causa-\\ntion is preceded by a train which went before it,\\nand that man s observations can extend more or less\\na certain way along this train, till they are lost in\\nthe undiscovered and at length undiscoverable re-\\ncesses which are placed beyond the cognizance of the\\nhuman faculties. Now it is because of the higher\\nand unknown part which belongs to every such series,\\nthat we bid you respect the lessons of piety, for God\\nhath not so constructed the universe as to remove\\nit from the hold of His own special management\\nand superintendence and therefore, not in one thing\\nthe Bible tells us, but in every thing, we should\\nmake our requests known unto God. But again, it\\nis because of the lower and the known or ascertained\\nand strictly uniform part which belongs to every\\nseries, that Ave bid you respect the lessons of experi-\\nence for God did not so conduct the affairs of His\\nuniverse, as to thrust forth His invisible hand\\namong its visible successions but while fie keeps a\\nperpetual and ascendant hold among the springs of\\nthat machinery which is behind the curtain, He\\nleaves untouched all those wonted regularities, which\\non the stage of observat ion are patent to human eyes.\\nThis notice refers to John AVilson, Esq., silk merchant in Glas-\\ngow, who was Kirk-Treasurer of St. John s, and to the deep regret\\nof all who knew him, was carried off by cholera in the neighbour-\\nhood of Glasgow.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0255.jp2"}, "256": {"fulltext": "254\\nEFFICACY OF PRAYER\\nNow these are the respective domains of philosophy\\nand faith, and this is the use to be made of them.\\nLooking to the one, we learn the subordination of\\nall Nature. Looking to the other, we learn the con-\\nstancy of visible nature. These great truths har-\\nmonize and between the lessons which they give,\\nthere is the fullest harmony. He who is enlightened\\nand acts upon both is at one and the same time a\\nman of prudence and a man of prayer who never\\nloses his confidence in God, yet, as awake to the\\nmanifestations of experience as if they were the\\nmanifestations of the divine will, never counts upon a\\nmiracle. He holds perpetual converse with heaven\\nyet shapes his earthly conduct by his earthly cir-\\ncumstances. In his habits of diligence he proceeds\\non the uniformity of visible nature, and he does\\naccordingly. In his habits of devotion, he knows\\nthat there is a visible pow T er above which subordi-\\nnates all Nature, and he prays accordingly. He is\\nneither the mystic who will not act, nor is he the\\ninfidel who will not pray. He knows how to combine\\nboth, or how to combine wisdom with piety that\\nrare and beauteous combination unknown to the\\nworld at large, yet realized by many a cottage pa-\\ntriarch, who, without attempting, without being\\ncapable in fact of any profound or philosophical\\nadjustment between them, but on his simple under-\\nstanding alone of Scripture lessons and Scripture ex-\\namples, unites the most strenuous diligence in the\\nuse of means, with the strictest dependence upon\\nGod. Without the combination of these two, there\\nhas been nothing great, nothing effective in the\\nhistory of the church and, on the other hand, we", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0256.jp2"}, "257": {"fulltext": "AND UNIFORMITY OF NATURE.\\n255\\nfind that all the most illustrious, whether in philan-\\nthropy or in Christian patriotism, from the apostle\\nPaul to the highest names in the descending history\\nof the world, as Augustine and Luther and Knox\\nand Howard, that, superadding the wisdom of ex-\\nperience to a sense of deepest piety, they were at\\nonce men of performance and men of prayer.\\nBut let us look for a moment to the highest ex-\\nample of all, even that of our Saviour when on\\nearth for in the history of His temptation will the\\neye of the diligent observer recognise an application\\nand a moral, which serve, we think very finely, to\\nillustrate our whole argument.\\nThe first proposal of the adversary was, that, be-\\ncause an hungered by the abstinence of forty days\\nand forty nights in the wilderness, He should turn\\nstones into bread and the reply of our Saviour that\\nMan liveth not by bread alone, but by every word\\nwhich cometh out of the mouth of God/ bespoke His\\nconfidence in that Supreme Power which overrules\\nall Nature. Now, observe how T this is followed up by\\nthe tempter Since such His confidence, I may per-\\nhaps prevail upon Him to cast Himself from the\\npinnacle of the temple, employing the very argument\\nHe just has used, even the overruling power of that\\nGod who can bear Him up by the intervention of\\nangels, lest He dash His foot against a stone. The re-\\nply Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God/ tells\\nus, that the same Being who overrules all Nature,\\nnever interferes but for some worthy and great pur-\\npose to trrwart the established successions of visible\\nnature and that it is wrong, it is wanton, in any\\nof His creatures so to act, as if he counted upon", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0257.jp2"}, "258": {"fulltext": "256 EFFICACY OF PRAYER\\nsuch an interference. It is a noble lesson for us\\nnever to traverse or neglect the means which expe-\\nrience hath told us are effectual for good and never\\nto brave, but at the call of imperious duty, the ex-\\nposures which the same experience has told us, on\\nour knowledge or recollection of Nature s established\\nprocesses, are followed up by evil. Our Saviour\\nwould not in defiance to the law of gravitation,\\neast Himself off from that place of security which\\nupheld Him against its power. And neither should\\nwe ever, though in defiance but to the probable law\\nof contagion, or by what (to borrow a usual phrase)\\nmight well be termed a tempting of Providence, re-\\nfuse those places or cast away those measures of secu-\\nrity, that are found to protect us against the virulence\\nof this destroyer. In a word, between the wisdom of\\npiety and the wisdom of experience there is most\\nprofound harmony unknown to the infidel, and so\\nhe hath cast off prayer unknown to the fanatic, and\\nso he hath cast prudence away from him.\\nAnd we appeal to you, my brethren, if there be not\\nmuch in the state and recent history of our nation\\nto confirm these views. We rejoiced in the appoint-\\nment several months ago of a national fast, and\\nthat notwithstanding the contempt and annoyance\\nof the many infidel manifestations to which the ap-\\npointment had been exposed hoping, as we then\\ndid, that it would meet with a duteous and a gene-\\nral response from the people of the land and per-\\nceiving afterwards, in our limited sphere, the obvious\\nsolemnity, and we trust in a goodly number of in-\\nstances, the deep and heart-felt sacredness of its\\nobservation among our families. It is well that", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0258.jp2"}, "259": {"fulltext": "AND UNIFORMITY OF NATURE.\\n257\\nthere should be a public and a prayerful recognition\\nof God in the midst of us and we have failed in\\nour argument, we have failed, whether from the\\nobscurity of its illustrations or the obscurity of its\\nterms, in obtaining for it the sympathy of your\\nunderstandings if you perceive not, that, in the\\ndistinct relation of cause and effect, there is a real\\nsubstantive connexion between the supplications\\nwhich ascend for health and safety from the midst\\nof a land, and the actual warding off of disease and\\ndeath from its habitations. But in fullest harmony\\nwith this it is also well, I would go farther and say\\nthere is no infringement upon deepest piety in\\npronouncing it indispensable that while we in-\\nvoke the Heavenly Agent who sitteth above for\\nevery effectual blessing, all the earthly means and\\nearthly instruments should be in complete and\\norderly preparation. We are aware that in many\\nplaces and on many occasions, these have been re-\\nbelled against.* And it but enhances the lesson,\\nbeside carrying a most impressive rebuke, both to the\\nfanaticism of an ill-understood Christianity, and to\\nthe ignorant frenzy of an ill-educated, and, in re-\\nspect to the woful deficiency both of churches and\\nIn Edinburgh, the metropolis of medical science, a vigorous\\nsystem of expedients was instituted and nothing could exceed the\\npromptitude and the watchfulness and the activity, at a moment s\\ncall, wherewith the disease was met and repressed at every point\\nof its outbreakings. And we cannot imagine a more striking\\ndemonstration for the importance of human agency, diligently\\noperating on all the resources which Nature and experience have\\nplaced within our reach, than is furnished by a comparison between\\nthe perfection of our city arrangements, and the fewness of our\\ncity deaths.\\n7 B", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0259.jp2"}, "260": {"fulltext": "253\\nEFFICACY OF PRAYER\\nschools, we would say a neglected population that\\njust in those places where the offered help of the\\nphysician was most strenuously and most ungrate-\\nfully resisted, and at times indeed by violence over-\\nborne, that there it was where the disease reas-\\nserted its power, and as if with the hand of an\\navenger, shook menace and terror among the fami-\\nlies. As if the same God who bids us in His word\\nmake request unto Him in all things, would further-\\nmore tell us by His Providence, that, in no one\\nthing will He permit a heedless invasion on the\\nregularities of that course which He Himself has\\nestablished that with His own hand He ordained\\nthe footsteps of Nature, and He will chastise the\\npresumption of those wdio shall think to contravene\\nthe ordinance that experience is the schoolmaster\\nauthorized by Him for the government and guidance\\nof His family on earth, and that He will resent the\\noutrage done to her authority whenever her lessons\\nor her laws are wantonly violated.\\nIn conclusion, let us observe that, on the one\\nhand, we shall be glad if aught that has been said\\nwill help to conciliate our mere religionists to the\\nlessons of experience and of sound philosophy and,\\nin opposition to those senseless prejudices, by which\\nthey have often brought the most unmerited derision\\nand discredit on their own cause, we would remind\\nthem that it is not all philosophy which Scripture\\ndenounces, but only vain philosophy it is not all\\nscience which it deprecates, but only the science\\nfalsely so called. On the other hand, we should\\nrejoice in witnessing the mere philosopher or man\\nof secular and experimental wisdom, more con-", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0260.jp2"}, "261": {"fulltext": "AND UNIFORMITY OF NATUKE.\\n259\\nciliated than lie is to the lessons of Religion, and to\\nthat humble faith which is the great and actuating\\nspirit of its observations and its pieties and its\\nprayers. We have heard that the study of Natural\\nScience disposes to Infidelity. But we feel per-\\nsuaded that this is a danger only associated with a\\nslight and partial, never with a deep and adequate\\nand comprehensive view of its principles. It is very\\npossible that the conjunction between science and\\nscepticism may at present be more frequently rea-\\nlized than in former days but this is only be-\\ncause, in spite of all that is alleged about this our\\nmore enlightened day and more enlightened public,\\nour science is neither so deeply founded nor of such\\nfirm and thorough staple as it wont to be. We\\nhave lost in depth what w r e have gained in diffusion\\n\u00e2\u0080\u0094having neither the massive erudition, nor the\\ngigantic scholarship, nor the profound and well-\\nlaid philosophy of a period that has now gone by\\nand it is to this that infidelity stands indebted for\\nher triumphs among the scoffers and the super-\\nficialists of a half-learned generation.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0261.jp2"}, "262": {"fulltext": "260\\nTRANSITOKINESS OF VISIBLE THINGS.\\nDISCOURSE III.\\nTHE TRANSITORY NATURE OF VISIBLE THINGS,\\nThe things which are seen are temporal. 2 Con. iv. 18.\\nThe assertion that the things which are seen are\\ntemporal, holds true in the absolute and universal\\nsense of it. They had a beginning, and they will\\nhave an end. Should we go upward through the\\nstream of ages that are past, we come to a time\\nwhen they were not. Should we go onward through\\nthe stream of ages that are before us, we come to\\na time when they will be no more. It is indeed a\\nmost mysterious flight which the imagination ven-\\ntures upon, when it goes back to the eternity that\\nis behind us when it mounts its ascending way\\nthrough the millions and the millions of years that\\nare already gone through, and stop where it may,\\nit finds the line of its march always lengthening\\nbeyond it, and losing itself in the obscurity of as\\nfar removed a distance as ever. It soon reaches\\nthe commencement of visible things, or that point\\nin its progress when God made the heavens and\\nthe earth. They had a beginning, but God had\\nnone and what a wonderful field for the fancy to\\nexpatiate on, when we get above the era of created\\nworlds, and think of that period when, in respect\\nof all that is visible, the immensity around us was\\none vast and unpeopled solitude. But God was", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0262.jp2"}, "263": {"fulltext": "TRAXSITORINESS OF VISIBLE THINGS. 261\\nthere, in His dwelling-place, for it is said of Him,\\nthat He inhabits eternity and the Son of God was\\nthere, for we read of the glory which He had with\\nthe Father before the world was. The mind cannot\\nsustain itself under the burden of these lofty contem-\\nplations. It cannot lift the curtain which shrouds\\nthe past eternity of God. But it is good for the\\nsoul to be humbled under a sense of its incapacity.\\nIt is good to realize the impression which too often\\nabandons us, that He made us, and not we ourselves.\\nIt is good to feel how all that is temporal lies in\\npassive and prostrate subordination before the will\\nof the uncreated God. It is good to know how\\nlittle a portion it is that we see of Him and of His\\nmysterious ways. It is good to lie at the feet of\\nHis awful and unknown majesty and while secret\\nthings belong to Him, it is good to bring with us\\nall the helplessness and docility of children to those\\nrevealed lessons which belong to us and to our\\nchildren.\\nBut this is not the sense in which the temporal\\nnature of visible things is taken up by the Apostle.\\nIt is not that there is a time past in which they did\\nnot exist but that there is a time to come in which\\nthey will exist no more. He calls them temporal,\\nbecause the time and the duration of their existence\\nwill have an end. His eye is full upon futurity.\\nIt is the passing away of visible things in the time\\nthat is to come, and the ever during nature of invisi-\\nble things through the eternity that is to come,\\nwhich the Apostle is contemplating. Now, on this\\none point we say nothing about the positive anni-\\nhilation of the matter of visible things. There is", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0263.jp2"}, "264": {"fulltext": "262\\nTRAXSTTORINESS OF VISIBLE THINGS.\\nreason for believing, that some of the matter of our\\npresent bodies may exist in those more glorified and\\ntransformed bodies which we are afterwards to\\noccupy. And for any thing we know, the matter\\nof the present world and of the present system\\nmay exist in those new heavens and that new earth\\nwherein dwelleth righteousness. There may be a\\ntransfiguration of matter without a destruction of it\\nand therefore it is, that when we assert with the\\nApostle in the text how things seen are temporal,\\nwe shall not say more than that the substance of\\nthese things, if not consigned back again to the\\nnothing from which they had emerged, will be\\nemployed in the formation of other things totally\\ndifferent that the change will be so great as that\\nall old things may be said to have passed away, and\\nall things to become new that after the wreck of\\nthe last conflagration, the desolated scene will be\\nrepeopled with other objects the righteous will live\\nin another world, and the eye of the glorified body\\nwill open on another field of contemplation from\\nthat which is now visible around us.\\nNow, in this sense of the word temporal, the asser-\\ntion of my text may be carried round to all that is\\nvisible. Even those objects which men are most apt\\nto count upon as unperishable, because, without any\\nsensible decay they have stood the lapse of many\\nages, will not weather the lapse of eternity. This\\nearth will be burnt up. The light of yonder sun will\\nbe extinguished. These stars will cease from their\\ntwinkling. The heavens will pass away as a scroll\\nand as to those solid and enormous masses which,\\nlike the firm world we tread upon, roll in mighty", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0264.jp2"}, "265": {"fulltext": "TKANSIT0R1NESS OF VISIBLE THINGS. 263\\ncircuit through the immensity around us, it seems\\nthe solemn language of revelation of one and all of\\nthem, that from the face of Him who sitteth on the\\nthrone, the earth and the heavens will fly away, and\\nthere will be found no place for them.\\nEven apart from the Bible, the eye of observation\\ncan witness in some of the hardest and firmest ma-\\nterials of the present system, the evidence of its\\napproaching dissolution. What more striking, for\\nexample, than the natural changes which take place\\non the surface of the world, and which prove that\\nthe strongest of Nature s elements must, at last,\\nyield to the operation of time and of decay\u00e2\u0080\u0094 that\\nyonder towering mountain, though propped by the\\nrocky battlements which surround it, must at last\\nsink under the power of corruption that every year\\nbrings it nearer to its end that at this moment it\\nis wasting silently away, and letting itself down from\\nthe lofty eminence which it now occupies that the\\ntorrent which falls from its side never ceases to con-\\nsume its substance, and to carry it off in the form of\\nsediment to the ocean that the frost which assails\\nit in winter loosens the solid rock, detaches it in\\npieces from the main precipice, and makes it fall in\\nfragments to its base that the power of the weather\\nscales off the most flinty materials, and that the wind\\nof heaven scatters them in dust over the surrounding\\ncountry that even though not anticipated by the\\nsudden and awful convulsions of the day of God s\\nwrath, Nature contains within itself the rudiments of\\ndecay that every hill must be levelled with the\\nplains, and every plain be swept away by the con-\\nstant operation of the rivers which run through it", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0265.jp2"}, "266": {"fulltext": "264 TL^NSITORINESS OF VISIBLE THINGS.\\nand that, unless renewed by the hand of the\\nAlmighty, the earth on which we are now treading\\nmust disappear in the mighty roll of ages and of cen-\\nturies. We cannot take our flight to other worlds,\\nor have a near view of the changes to which they\\nare liable but surely if this world, which, with its\\nmighty apparatus of continents and islands, looks so\\nhealthful and so firm after the wear of many cen-\\nturies, is posting visibly to its end, we may be pre-\\npared to believe that the principles of destruction\\nare also at work in other provinces of the visible\\ncreation and that though of old God laid the foun-\\ndation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of\\nhis hands, yet they shall perish yea, all of them\\nshall wax old like a garment, and as a vesture shall\\nHe change them, and they shall be changed.\\nWe should be out of place in all this style of ob-\\nservation, did we not follow it up with the sentiment\\nof the Psalmist, These shall perish, but thou shalt\\nendure for thou art the same, and thy years have\\nno end/ What a lofty conception does it give us of\\nthe majesty of God, when we think how He sits\\nabove and presides in high authority over this\\nmighty series of changes when after sinking under\\nour attempts to trace Him through the eternity that\\nis behind, we look on the present system of things,\\nand are taught to believe that it is but a single step\\nin the march of His grand administrations through\\nthe eternity that is before us when we think of\\nthis goodly universe, summoned into being to serve\\nsome temporary evolution of His great and mysteri-\\nous plan when we think of the time when it shall\\nbe broken up, and out of its disordered fragments.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0266.jp2"}, "267": {"fulltext": "TEANSITOEINESS OF VISIBLE THINGS.\\n265\\nother scenes and other systems shall emerge- surely v\\nwhen fatigued with the vastness of these contempla-\\ntions, it well becomes us to do the homage of our re-\\nverence and wonder to the one Spirit which con-\\nceives and animates the whole, and to the one noble\\ndesign which runs through all its fluctuations.\\nBut there is another way in which the objects that\\nare seen are temporal. The object may not merely\\nbe removed from us, but we may be removed from\\nthe object. The disappearance of this earth and of\\nthese heavens from us, we look upon through the\\ndimness of a far-placed futurity. It is an event y\\ntherefore, which may regale our imagination which\\nmay lift our mind by its sublimity which may dis-\\nengage us in the calm hour of meditation from the\\nlittleness of life and of its cares and which may\\neven throw a clearness and a solemnity over our in-\\ntercourse with God. But such an event as this does\\nnot come home upon our hearts with the urgency of\\na personal interest. It does not carry along with it\\nthe excitement which lies in the nearness of an im-\\nmediate concern. It does not fall with such vivacity\\nupon our conceptions, as practically to tell on our\\npursuits or any of our purposes. It may elevate and\\nsolemnize us, but this effect is perfectly consistent\\nwith its having as little influence on the walk of the\\nliving, and the moving, and the acting man, as a\\ndream of poetry. The preacher may think that he\\nhas done great things with his eloquence and the\\nhearers may think that great things have been done\\nupon them for they felt a fine glow of emotion,\\nwhen they heard of God sitting in the majesty of\\nHis high counsels, over the progress and the destiny", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0267.jp2"}, "268": {"fulltext": "2 6 TRANSITORINESS OF VISIBLE THINGS.\\nof created things. But the truth is, that all this\\nkindling of devotion which is felt upon the contem-\\nplation of His greatness, may exist in the same\\nbosom with an utter distaste for the holiness of His\\ncharacter with an entire alienation of the heart and\\nof the habits from the obedience of His law and\\nabove all, with a most nauseous and invincible con-\\ntempt for the spiritualities of that revelation, in\\nwhich He has actually made known His will and His\\nways to us. The devotion of mere taste is one thing\\nthe devotion of principle is another. And as\\nsurely as a man may weep over the elegant sufferings\\nof poetry, yet add to the real sufferings of life by\\npeevishness in his family, and insolence among his\\nneighbours so surely may a man be wakened to\\nrapture by the magnificence of God, while his life is\\ndeformed by its rebellions, and his heart rankles with\\nall the foulness of idolatry against Him.\\nWell, then, let us try the other way of bringing\\nthe temporal Nature of visible things to bear upon\\nyour interests. It is true that this earth and these\\nheavens will at length disappear but they may\\noutlive our posterity for many generations. How-\\never, if they disappear not from us, we most certainly\\nshall disappear from them. They will soon cease\\nto be any thing to you and though the splendour\\nand variety of all that is visible around us, should\\nlast for thousands of centuries, your eyes will soon\\nbe closed upon them. The time is coming when\\nthis goodly scene shall reach its positive consum-\\nmation. But, in all likelihood, the time is coming\\nmuch sooner, when you shall resign the breath of\\nyour nostrils, and bid a final adieu to every thing", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0268.jp2"}, "269": {"fulltext": "TRANSITORINESS OF VISIBLE THINGS. 267\\naround you. Let this earth and these heavens\\nbe as enduring as they may, to you they are fugi-\\ntive as vanity. Time with its mighty strides, will\\nsoon reach a future generation, and leave the pre-\\nsent in death and in forgetfulness behind it. The\\ngrave will close upon every one of you, and that is\\nthe dark and the silent cavern where no voice is\\nheard, and the light of the sun never enters.\\nBut more than this. Though we live too short\\na time to see the great changes which are carrying\\non in the universe, we live long enough to see many\\nof its changes and such changes too as are best\\nfitted to warn and to teach us even the changes\\nwhich take place in society, made up of human\\nbeings as frail and as fugitive as ourselves. Death\\nmoves us away from many of those objects which\\nare seen and temporal but we live long enough\\nto see many of these objects moved away from us\\nto see acquaintances falling every year to see\\nfamilies broken up by the rough and unsparing hand\\nof death to see houses and neighbourhoods shifting\\ntheir inhabitants to see a new race and a new\\ngeneration and, whether in church or in market,\\nto see unceasing changes in the faces of the people\\nwho repair to them. We know well, that there is\\na poetic melancholy inspired by such a picture as\\nthis which is altogether unfruitful and that totally\\napart from religion, a man may give way to the\\nluxury of tears, when he thinks how friends drop\\naway from him how every year brings along with\\nit some sad addition to the registers of death\\nhow the kind and hospitable mansion is left with-\\nout a tenant and how, when you knock at a neigh-", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0269.jp2"}, "270": {"fulltext": "263\\nTRANSITORINESS OF VISIBLE THINGS.\\nhour s door, you find that he who welcomed you\\nand made you happy, is no longer there. that\\nwe could impress by all this a salutary direction\\non the fears and on the consciences of individuals\\nthat we could give them a living impression of\\nthat coming day when they shall severally share in\\nthe general wreck of the species when each of you\\nshall be one of the many whom the men of the next\\ngeneration may remember to have lived in yonder\\nstreet, or laboured in yonder manufactory when\\nthey shall speak of you just as you speak of the\\nmen of the former generation who when they died\\nhad a few tears dropped over their memory, and for\\na few years will still continue to be talked of. Oh\\ncould we succeed in giving you a real and living im-\\npression of all this and then may we hope to carry\\nthe lesson of John the Baptist with energy to your\\nfears, Flee from the coming wrath/ But there is\\nsomething so very deceiving in the progress of time.\\nIts progress is so gradual. To-day is so like yester-\\nday, that we are not sensible of its departure. We\\nshould make head against this delusion. We should\\nturn to personal account every example of change\\nor of mortality. When the clock strikes, it should\\nremind you of the dying hour. When you hear the\\nsound of the funeral bell, you should think that in\\na little time it will perform for you the same office.\\nWhen you wake in the morning, you should think\\nthat there has been the addition of another day to\\nthe life that is past, and the subtraction of another\\nday from the remainder of your journey. When the\\nshades of the evening fall around you, you should\\nthink of the steady and invariable progress of time", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0270.jp2"}, "271": {"fulltext": "TRANSITORINESS OF VISIBLE THING3. 2G9\\nhow the sun moves and moves till it will see you\\nout and how it will continue to move after you\\ndie, and see out your children s children to the latest\\ngenerations. Every thing around us should impress\\nthe mutability of human affairs. An acquaintance\\ndies you will soon follow him. A family moves\\nfrom the neighbourhood learn that the works of\\nman are given to change. New families succeed\\nsit loose to the world, and withdraw your affections\\nfrom its unstable and fluctuating interests. Time\\nis rapid, though we observe not its rapidity. The\\ndays that are past appear like the twinkling of a\\nvision. The days that are to come will soon have a\\nperiod, and will appear to have performed their\\ncourse with equal rapidity. We talk of our fathers\\nand our grandfathers, who figured their day in the\\ntheatre of the world. In a little time we will be\\nthe ancestors of a future age. Posterity will talk of\\nus as of the men that are gone and our remem-\\nbrance will soon depart from the face of the country.\\nWhen we attend the burial of an acquaintance, we\\nsee the bones of the men of other times in a few\\nyears our bodies will be mangled by the power of\\ncorruption, and be thrown up in loose and scattered\\nfragments among the earth of the newly made grave.\\nWhen we wander among the tombstones of the\\nchurch-yard, we can scarcely follow the mutilated\\nletters that compose the simple story of the inhabi-\\ntant below. In a little time, and the tomb that\\ncovers us will moulder by the power of the seasons\\nand the letters will be eaten away and the story\\nthat was to perpetuate our remembrance, will elude\\nthe gaze of some future inquirer.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0271.jp2"}, "272": {"fulltext": "270 TRANSITOR1NESS OF VISIBLE THINGS\\nWe know that time is short, but none of us knows\\nhow short. We know that it will not go beyond a\\ncertain limit of years but none of us knows how\\nsmall the number of years, or months, or days may\\nbe. For death is at work upon all ages. The fever\\nof a few days may hurry the likeliest of us all from\\nthis land of mortality. The cold of a few weeks\\nmay settle into some lingering but irrecoverable dis-\\nease. In one instant the blood of him who has the\\npromise of many years may cease its circulation.\\nAccident may assail us. A slight fall may precipi-\\ntate us into eternity. An exposure to rain may lay\\nus on the bed of our last sickness, from which we are\\nnever more to rise. A little spark may kindle the\\nmidnight conflagration, which lays a house and its\\ninhabitants in ashes. A stroke of lightning may\\narrest the current of life in a twinkling. A gust of\\nwind may overturn the vessel, and lay the unwary\\npassenger in a watery grave. A thousand dangers\\nbeset us on the slippery path of this world; no\\nage is exempted from them and from the infant\\nthat hangs on its mother s bosom, to the old man\\nwho sinks under the decrepitude of years, we see\\ndeath in all its woful and affecting varieties.\\nYou may think it strange but even still we fear\\nwe may have done little in the way of sending a\\nfruitful impression into your consciences. We are too\\nwell aware of the distinction between seriousness\\nof feeling and seriousness of principle, to think that\\nupon the strength of any such moving representation\\nas we are now indulging in, we shall be able to\\ndissipate that confounded spell which chains you\\nto the world, to reclaim your wandering affections,", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0272.jp2"}, "273": {"fulltext": "TRANSITORINESS OF VISIBLE THINGS.\\n271\\nor to send you back to your week-day business more\\npure and more heavenly. But sure we are you\\nought to be convinced, that all which binds you so\\ncleavingly to the dust is infatuation and vanity\\nthat there is something most lamentably wrong in\\nyour being carried away by the delusions of time\\nand this is a conviction which should make you feel\\nrestless and dissatisfied. We are well aware that it is\\nnot human eloquence or human illustration that can\\naccomplish a victory over the obstinate principles\\nof human corruption and therefore it is that we feel\\nas if we did not advance aright through a single\\nstep of a sermon, unless we look for the influences\\nof that mighty Spirit who alone is able to enlighten\\nand arrest you and may employ even so humble an\\ninstrument as the voice of a fellow-mortal to send\\ninto your heart the inspiration of understanding.\\nWe now shortly insist on the truth, that the things\\nwhich are not seen are eternal. No man hath seen\\nGod at any time, and He is eternal. It is said of\\nChrist, Whom having not seen, we love, and He is\\nthe same to-day, yesterday, and for ever/ It is said\\nof the Spirit, that, like the wind of heaven, He\\neludes the observation, and no man can tell of him\\nwhence He cometh, or whither He goeth and He is\\ncalled the Eternal Spirit, through whom the Son\\noffered Himself up without spot unto God. We are\\nquite aware that the idea suggested by the eternal\\nthings which are spoken of in our text, is heaven,\\nwith all its circumstances of splendour and enjoyment.\\nThis is an object which, even on the principles of\\ntaste, we take a delight in contemplating and it is\\nalso an object set before us in the Scriptures, though", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0273.jp2"}, "274": {"fulltext": "272 TRANSITORINESS OF VISIBLE THINGS.\\nwith a very sparing and reserved hand. All the de-\\nscriptions we have of heaven there are general, very\\ngeneral. We read of the beauty of the heavenly\\ncrown, of the unfading nature of the heavenly in-\\nheritance, of the splendour of the heavenly city and\\nthese have been seized upon by men of imagination,\\nwho, in the construction of their fancied paradise,\\nhave embellished it with every image of peace, and\\nbliss, and loveliness and, at all events, have thrown\\nover it that most kindling of all conceptions, the\\nmagnificence of eternity. Now, such a picture as\\nthis has the certain effect of ministering delight to\\nevery glowing and susceptible imagination. And\\nhere lies the deep-laid delusion which we have oc-\\ncasionally hinted at. A man listens, in the first in-\\nstance, to a pathetic and highly wrought narrative on\\nthe vanities of time and it touches him even to the\\ntenderness of tears. He looks, in the second instance,\\nto the fascinating perspective of another scene, rising\\nin all the glories of immortality from the dark ruins\\nof the tomb, and he feels within him all those ravish-\\nments of fancy, which any vision of united grandeur\\nand loveliness would inspire. Take these two to-\\ngether, and you have a man weeping over the tran-\\nsient vanities of an ever-shifting world, and mixing\\nwith all this softness, an elevation of thought and of\\nprospect, as he looks through the vista of a futurity,\\nlosing itself in the mighty range of thousands and\\nthousands of centuries. And at this point the de-\\nlusion comes in, that here is a man who is all that\\nreligion would have him to be a man weaned from\\nthe littleness of the paltry scene that is around him\\nsoaring high above all the evanescence of things", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0274.jp2"}, "275": {"fulltext": "TRANS1T0RINESS OF VISIBLE THINGS. 273\\npresent and things sensible and transferring every\\naffection of his soul to the durabilities of a pure and\\nimmortal region. It were better if this high state\\nof occasional impression on the matters of time and\\nof eternity, had only the effect of imposing the false-\\nhood on others, that the man who was so touched\\nand so transported, had on that single account the\\ntemper of a candidate for heaven. But the falsehood\\ntakes possession of his own heart. The man is\\npleased with his emotions and his tears and the in-\\nterpretation he puts upon them is, that they come\\nout of the fulness of a heart all alive to religion, and\\nsensibly affected with its charms, and its seriousness,\\nand its principle. Now, we venture to say, that\\nthere may be much of all this kind of enthusiasm\\nwith the very man who is not moving a single step\\ntowards that blessed eternity over which his fancy\\ndelights to expatiate. The moving representation of\\nthe preacher may be listened to as a pleasant song\\nand the entertained hearer return to all the inve-\\nterate habits of one of the children of this world. It\\nis this which makes us fear that a power of deceit-\\nfulness may accompany the eloquence of the pulpit\\nthat the wisdom of words may defeat the great\\nobject of a practical work upon the conscience that\\na something short of a real business change in the\\nheart and in the principles of acting, may satisfy\\nthe man who listens, and admires, and resigns his\\nevery feeling to the magic of an impressive descrip-\\ntion that, strangely compounded beings as we are,\\nbroken loose from God, and proving it by the habi-\\ntual voidness of our hearts to a sense of His authority\\nand of His will that blind to the realities of another\\n7 s", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0275.jp2"}, "276": {"fulltext": "274\\nTKANSITORINESS OF VISIBLE THINGS.\\nworld, and slaves to the wretched infatuation which\\nmakes us cleave with the full bent of our affections\\nto the one by which we are visibly and immediately\\nsurrounded that utterly unable, by nature, to live\\nabove the present scene, while its cares and its in-\\nterests are plying us every hour with their urgency\\nthat the prey of evil passions which darken and dis-\\ntract the inner man, and throw us at a wider distance\\nfrom the holy Being who forbids the indulgence of\\nthem and yet with all this weight of corruption\\nabout us, having a mind that can seize the vastness\\nof some great conception, and can therefore rejoice\\nin the expanding loftiness of its own thoughts, as it\\ndwells on the wonders of eternity and having hearts\\nthat can move to the impulse of a tender consider-\\nation, and can, therefore, sadden into melancholy at\\nthe dark picture of death, and its unrelenting cruel-\\nties and having fancies that can brighten to the\\ncheerful colouring of some pleasing and hopeful re-\\npresentation, and can, therefore, be soothed and ani-\\nmated when some sketch is laid before it of a pious\\nfamily emerging from a common sepulchre, and on\\nthe morning of their joyful resurrection, forgetting\\nall the sorrows and separations of the dark world\\nthat has now rolled over them.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Oh, my brethren, we\\nfear it, we greatly fear it, that while busied with\\ntopics such as these, many a hearer may weep or be\\nelevated, or take pleasure in the touching imagery\\nthat is made to play around him, while the dust of\\nthis perishable earth is all that his soul cleaves to\\nand its cheating vanities are all that his heart cares\\nfor, or his footsteps follow after.\\nThe thing is not merely possible but we see in", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0276.jp2"}, "277": {"fulltext": "tkansitorinp:ss of visible things. 275\\nit a stamp of likelihood to all that experience tells\\nus of the nature or the habitudes of man. Is there\\nno such thing as his having a taste for the beauties\\nof landscape, and at the same time turning with\\ndisgust from what he calls the methodism of peculiar\\nChristianity Might not he be an admirer of poetry,\\nand at the same time nauseate with his whole\\nheart the doctrine and the language of the JSew Tes-\\ntament Might not he have a fancy that can be re-\\ngaled by some fair and w T ell-formed vision of immor-\\ntality, and at the same time have no practical\\nhardihood whatever for the exercise of labouring in\\nthe prescribed way after the meat that endureth\\nSurely, surely, this is all very possible and it is just\\nas possible, and many we believe to be the instances\\nwe have of it in real life, when an eloquent descrip-\\ntion of heaven is exquisitely felt, and wakens in the\\nbosom the raptures of the sincerest admiration,\\namong those who feel an utter repugnancy to the\\nheaven of the Bible and are not moving a single\\ninch through the narrowness of the path which leads\\nto it.\\nIdiggoq", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0277.jp2"}, "278": {"fulltext": "27(]\\nNEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH.\\nDISCOURSE IV.\\nON THE NEW HEAVENS AND THE NEW EARTH.\\nNevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens\\narid a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. 2 Peter iii.\\nThere is a limit to the revelations of the Bible\\nabout futurity, and it were a mental or spiritual\\ntrespass to go beyond it. The reserve which it\\nmaintains in its informations, we also ought to main-\\ntain in our inquiries satisfied to know little on\\nevery subject, where it has communicated little, and\\nfeeling our way into regions which are at present\\nunseen, no farther than the light of Scripture will\\ncarry us.\\nBut while we attempt not to be wise above\\nthat which is written/ we should attempt, and that\\nmost studiously, to be wise up to that which is\\nwritten. The disclosures are very few and very\\npartial which are given to us of that bright and\\nbeautiful economy which is to survive the ruins of\\nour present one. But still there are such disclo-\\nsures and on the principle of the things that are\\nrevealed belonging unto us, we have a right to walk\\nup and down for the purpose of observation over\\nthe whole actual extent of them. What is made\\nknown of the details of immortality, is but small in", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0278.jp2"}, "279": {"fulltext": "NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH.\\n277\\nthe amount, nor are we furnished with the materials\\nof any thing like a graphical or picturesque exhi-\\nbition of its abodes of blessedness. But still some-\\nwhat is made known, and which, too, may be ad-\\ndressed to a higher principle than curiosity, being\\nlike every other Scripture, profitable both for\\ndoctrine and for instruction in righteousness/\\nIn the text before us, there are two leading points\\nof information which we should like successively\\nto remark upon. The first is, that in the new\\neconomy which is to be reared for the accommoda-\\ntion of the blessed, there will be materialism, not\\nmerely new heavens, but also a new earth. The\\nsecond is, that as distinguished from the present,\\nwhich is an abode of rebellion, it will be an abode\\nof righteousness.\\nI. W e know historically that earth, that a solid\\nmaterial earth, may form the dwelling of sinless\\ncreatures in full converse and friendship with the\\nBeing who made them that instead of a place of\\nexile for outcasts, it may have a broad avenue\\nof communication with the spiritual world for the\\ndescent of ethereal beings from on high that like\\nthe member of an extended family, it may share in\\nthe regard and attention of the other members, and\\nalong with them be gladdened by the presence of\\nHim who is the Father of them all. To inquire how\\nthis can be, were to attempt a wisdom beyond\\nScripture but to assert that this has been, and\\ntherefore may be, is to keep most strictly and mo-\\ndestly within the limits of the record. For we there\\nread, that God framed an apparatus of materialism,\\nwhich, on His own surveying, He pronounced to bo", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0279.jp2"}, "280": {"fulltext": "27$\\nNEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH.\\nall very good, and the leading features of wliicli\\nmay still be recognised among the things and the\\nsubstances that are around us and that He created\\nman with the bodily organs and senses which we\\nnow wear and placed him under the very canopy\\nthat is over our heads and spread around him a\\nscenery, perhaps lovelier in its tints, and more\\nsmiling and serene in the whole aspect of it, but\\ncertainly made up in the main of the same objects\\nthat still compose the prospect of our visible con-\\ntemplations and there, working with his hands in\\na garden, and with trees on every side of him, and\\neven with animals sporting at his feet, was this in-\\nhabitant of earth, in the midst of all those earthly\\nand familiar accompaniments, in full possession of\\nthe best immunities of a citizen of heaven sharing\\nin the delight of angels, and while he gazed on the\\nvery beauties which we ourselves gaze upon, rejoic-\\nincc in them most as the tokens of a present and\\npresiding Deity. It were venturing on the region\\nof conjecture to affirm, whether, if Adam had not\\nfallen, the earth that we now tread upon, would\\nhave been the everlasting abode of him and his pos-\\nterity. But certain it is, that man, at the first, had\\nfor his place this world, and at the same time, for\\nhis privilege, an unclouded fellowship with God,\\nand for his prospect, an immortality which death\\nwas neither to intercept nor put an end to. He was\\nterrestrial in respect of condition, and yet celestial\\nin respect both of character and enjoyment. His\\neye looked outwardly on a landscape of earth, while\\nhis heart breathed upwardly in the love of heaven.\\nAnd though he-trode the solid platform of our world,", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0280.jp2"}, "281": {"fulltext": "NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EAUTH.\\n279\\nand was compassed about with its horizon still\\nwas he within the circle of God s favoured creation,\\nand took his place among the freemen and the deni-\\nzens of the great spiritual commonwealth.\\nThis may serve to rectify an imagination, of which\\nwe think that all must be conscious as if the gross-\\nness of materialism was only for those who had de-\\ngenerated into the grossness of sin and that, when\\na spiritualizing process had purged away all our\\ncorruption, then by the stepping-stones of a death\\nand a resurrection, we should be borne away to\\nsome ethereal region, where sense, and body, and all\\nin the shape either of audible sound or of tangible\\nsubstance were unknown. And hence that strange-\\nness of impression which is felt by you, should the\\nsupposition be offered, that in the place of eternal\\nblessedness, there will be ground to walk upon or\\nscenes of luxuriance to delight the corporeal senses\\nor the kindly intercourse of friends talking famili-\\narly and by articulate converse together or, in short,\\nany thing that has the least resemblance to a local\\nterritory, filled with various accommodations, and\\npeopled over its whole extent by creatures formed\\nlike ourselves having bodies such as we now wear,\\nand faculties of perception, and thought, and mutual\\ncommunication, such as we now exercise. The\\ncommon imagination that we have of paradise on\\nthe other side of death, is, that of a lofty aerial\\nregion, where the inmates float in ether, or are\\nmysteriously suspended upon nothing where all\\nthe warm and sensible accompaniments which give\\nsuch an expression of strength, and life, and colour-\\ning to our present habitation, are attenuated into a", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0281.jp2"}, "282": {"fulltext": "280\\nNEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH.\\nsort of spiritual element, that is meagre, and imper-\\nceptible, and utterly uninviting to the eye of mortals\\nhere below where every vestige of materialism is\\ndone away, and nothing left but certain unearthly\\nscenes that have no power of allurement, and\\ncertain unearthly ecstasies, with which it is felt im-\\npossible to sympathize. The holders of this ima-\\ngination forget all the while, that really there is no\\nessential connexion between materialism and sin-\\nthat the world which we now inhabit had all the\\namplitude and solidity of its present materialism\\nbefore sin entered into it that God so far on that\\naccount from .looking slightly upon it, after it had re-\\nceived the last touch of His creating hand, reviewed\\nthe earth, and the waters, and the firmament, and\\nall the green herbage, with the living creatures, and\\nthe man whom He had raised in dominion over\\nthem, and He saw every thing that He had made,\\nand behold it was all very good. They forget that\\non the birth of materialism, when it stood out in\\nthe freshness of those glories which the great Archi-\\ntect of Nature had impressed upon it, that then\\nthe morning stars sang together, and all the sons\\nof God shouted for joy/ They forget the appeals\\nthat are made everywhere in the Bible to this ma-\\nterial workmanship and how from the face of these\\nvisible heavens, and the garniture of this earth that\\nwe tread upon, the greatness and the goodness of\\nGod are reflected on the view of His worshippers.\\nNo, my brethren, the object of the administration\\nwe sit under, is to extirpate sin, but it is not to\\nsweep away materialism. By the convulsions of the\\nlast day, it may be shaken and broken down from", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0282.jp2"}, "283": {"fulltext": "NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH. 281\\nits present arrangements, and thrown into such fit-\\nful agitations, as that the whole of its existing\\nframework shall fall to pieces and with a heat so\\nfervent as to melt its most solid elements, may it be\\nutterly dissolved. And thus may the earth again\\nbecome without form and void, but without one\\nparticle of its substance going into annihilation.\\nOut of the ruins of this second chaos, may another\\nheaven and another earth be made to arise and a\\nnew materialism, w r ith other aspects of magnificence\\nand beauty, emerge from the wreck of this mighty\\ntransformation and the world be peopled as before,\\nwith the varieties of material loveliness, and space\\nbe again lighted up into a firmament of material\\nsplendour.\\nWere our place of everlasting blessedness so purely\\nspiritual as it is commonly imagined, then the soul\\nof man, after, at death, having quitted his body,\\nw r ould quit it conclusively. That mass of materialism\\nwith which it is associated upon earth, and which\\nmany regard as a load and an encumbrance, would\\nhave leave to putrefy in the grave, without being\\nrevisited by supernatural power, or raised again out\\nof the inanimate dust into which it had resolved.\\nIf the body be indeed a clog and a confinement to\\nthe spirit instead of its commodious tenement, then\\nwould the spirit feel lightened by the departure it\\nhad made, and expatiate in all the buoyancy of its\\nemancipated powers over a scene of enlargement.\\nAnd this is, doubtless, the prevailing imagination.\\nBut why then, after having made its escape from\\nsuch a thraldom, should it ever recur to the prison-\\nhouse of its old materialism, if a prison-house it", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0283.jp2"}, "284": {"fulltext": "282 NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH.\\nreally be. Why should the disengaged spirit again\\nbe fastened to the drag of that grosser and heavier\\nsubstance, which many think has only the effect of\\nweighing down its activity, and infusing into the\\npure element of mind an ingredient which serves to\\ncloud and to enfeeble it I In other words, what is\\nthe use of a day of resurrection, if the union which\\nthen takes place is to deaden or to reduce all those\\nenergies that are commonly ascribed to the living\\nprinciple, in a state of separation But, as a proof\\nof some metaphysical delusion upon this subject,\\nthe product, perhaps, of a wrong though fashion-\\nable philosophy, it would appear, that to embody the\\nspirit is not the stepping-stone to its degradation,\\nbut to its preferment. The last day will be a day of\\ntriumph to the righteous because the day of the\\nre-entrance of the spirit to its much loved abode,\\nwhere its faculties, so far from being shut up into\\ncaptivity, will find their free and kindred develop-\\nment in such material organs as are suited to them.\\nThe fact of the resurrection proves, that, with man\\nat least, the state of a disembodied spirit is a state\\nof unnatural violence and that the resurrection of\\nhis body is an essential step to the highest perfec-\\ntion of which he is susceptible. And it is indeed\\nan homage to that materialism, which many are for\\nexpunging from the future state of the universe\\naltogether that ere the immaterial soul of man has\\nreached the ultimate glory and blessedness which\\nare designed for it, it must return and knock at that\\nvery grave where lie the mouldered remains of the\\nbody which it wore and there inquisition must be\\nmade for the flesh, and the sinews, and the bones,", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0284.jp2"}, "285": {"fulltext": "NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH.\\n?83\\nwhich the power of corruption has perhaps for cen\\nturies before assimilated to the earth that is around\\nthem and there the minute atoms must be re-\\nassembled into a structure that bears upon it the\\nform and the lineaments and the general aspect of\\na man and the soul passes into this material\\nframework, which is hereafter to be its lodging-place\\nfor ever and that, not as its prison, but as its\\npleasant and befitting habitation not to be tram-\\nmelled, as some would have it, in a hold of material-\\nism, but to be therein equipped for the services of\\neternity to walk embodied among the bowers of\\nour second paradise to stand embodied in the pre-\\nsence of our God.\\nThere will, it is true, be a change of personal\\nconstitution between a good man before his death,\\nand a good man after his resurrection not, however,\\nthat he will be set free from his body, but that he\\nwill be set free from the corrupt principle which is\\nin his body not that the materialism by which he\\nis now surrounded will be done away, but that the\\ntaint of evil by which this materialism is now per-\\nilled, will be done away. Could this be effected\\nwithout dying, then death would be no longer an\\nessential stepping-stone to paradise. But it would\\nappear of the moral virus which has been transmit-\\nted downwards from Adam, and is now spread\\nabroad over the whole human family it would ap-\\npear that to get rid of this, the old fabric must be\\ntaken down and reared anew and that not of\\nother materials, but of its own materials, only de-\\nlivered of all impurity, as if by a refining process in\\nthe sepulchre. It is thus, that what is sown in", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0285.jp2"}, "286": {"fulltext": "284\\nNEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH.\\nweakness, is raised in power and for this purpose,\\nit is not necessary to get quit of materialism, but to\\nget quit of sin, and so to purge materialism of its ma-\\nlady. It is thus that the dead shall come forth incor-\\nruptible and those, we are told, who are alive at this\\ngreat catastrophe, shall suddenly and mysteriously\\nbe changed. While we are compassed about with\\nthese vile bodies, as the Apostle emphatically terms\\nthem, evil is present, and it is well, if through the\\nworking of the Spirit of grace, evil does not prevail.\\nTo keep this besetting enemy in check is ,the task\\nand the trial of our Christianity on earth and it is\\nthe detaching of this poisonous ingredient which con-\\nstitutes that for which the believer is represented as\\ngroaning earnestly, even the redemption of the body\\nthat he now wears, and which will then be trans-\\nformed into the likeness of Christ s glorified body.\\nAnd this will be his heaven, that he will serve God\\nwithout a struggle, and in a full gale of spiritual\\ndelight because with the full concurrence of all the\\nfeelings and all the faculties of his regenerated\\nnature. Before death, sin is only repressed after\\nthe resurrection, sin will be exterminated. Here\\nhe has to maintain the combat with a tendency to\\nevil still lodging in his heart, and working a per-\\nverse movement among his inclinations but after\\nhis warfare in this world is accomplished, he will no\\nlonger be so thwarted and he will set him down in\\nanother world, with the repose and the triumph of\\nvictory for his everlasting reward. The great con-\\nstitutional plague of his nature will no longer\\ntrouble him and there will be the charm of a\\ngeneral affinity between the purity of his heart and", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0286.jp2"}, "287": {"fulltext": "NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH. tffS\\nthe purity of the element he breathes in. Still it\\nwill not be the purity of spirit escaped from materi-\\nalism, but of spirit translated into a materialism that\\nhas been clarified of evil. It will not be the purity\\nof souls unclothed as at death, but the purity of\\nsouls that have again been clothed upon at the re-\\nsurrection.\\nBut the highest homage that we know of to ma-\\nterialism, is that which God, manifest in the flesh,\\nhas rendered to it. That He, the Divinity, should\\nhave wrapt His unfathomable essence in one of its\\ncoverings, and expatiated amongst us in the palpable\\nform and structure of a man and that He should\\nhave chosen such a tenement, not as a temporary\\nabode, but should have borne it with Him to the\\nplace which He now occupies, and where He is now\\nemployed in preparing the mansions of His followers\\nthat He should have entered within the vail, and\\nbe now seated at the right hand of the Father, with\\nthe very body which was marked by the nails upon\\nHis cross, and wherewith he ate and drank after\\nHis resurrection that He who repelled the imagi-\\nnation of His disciples, as if they had seen a spirit,\\nby bidding them handle Him and see, and subjecting\\nto their familiar touch the flesh and the bones that\\nencompassed Him that He should now be throned\\nin universal supremacy, and wielding the whole\\npower of heaven and earth, have every knee to bow\\nat His name, and every tongue to confess, and yet\\nall to the glory of God the Father that humanity,\\nthat substantial and embodied humanity, should\\nthus be exalted, and a voice of adoration from every\\ncreature be lifted up to the Lamb for ever and ever", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0287.jp2"}, "288": {"fulltext": "286\\nNEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH.\\ndoes this look like the abolition of materialism,\\nafter the present system of it is destroyed or does\\nit not rather prove, that transplanted into another\\nsystem, it will be preferred to celestial honours, and\\nprolonged in immortality throughout all ages\\nIt has been our careful endeavour in all that we\\nhave said, to keep within the limits of the record,\\nand to offer no other remarks than those which may\\nfitly be suggested by the circumstance, that a new\\nearth is to be created, as well as a new heavens, for\\nthe future accommodation of the righteous. We\\nhave no desire to push the speculation beyond what\\nis written but it were, at the same time, well, that\\nin all our representations of the immortal state,\\nthere was just the same force of colouring, and the\\nsame vivacity of scenic exhibition, that there is in\\nthe New Testament. The imagination of a total\\nand diametric opposition between the region of sense\\nand the region of spirituality, certainly tends to\\nabate the interest with which we might otherwise\\nlook to the perspective that is on the other side of\\nthe grave and to deaden all those sympathies that\\nwe else might have with the joys and the exercises\\nof the blest in paradise. To rectify this, it is not\\nnecessary to enter on the particularities of heaven\\na topic on which the Bible is certainly most\\nsparing and reserved in its communications. But a\\ngreat step is gained, simply by dissolving the alliance\\nthat exists in the minds of many between the two\\nideas of sin and materialism or proving, that when\\nonce sin is done away, it consists with all w T e know\\nof God s administration, that materialism shall bo\\nperpetuated in the full bloom and vigour of immor-", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0288.jp2"}, "289": {"fulltext": "NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH.\\n287\\ntality. It altogether holds out a warmer and more\\nalluring picture of the elysium that awaits us, when\\ntold, that there will be beauty to delight the eye,\\nand music to regale the ear, and the comfort that\\nsprings from all the charities of intercourse between\\nman and man, holding converse as they do on earth\\nand gladdening each other with the benignant smiles\\nthat play on the human countenance, or the accents\\nof kindness that fall in soft and soothing melody\\nfrom the human voice. There is much of the inno-\\ncent, and much of the inspiring, and much to affect\\nand elevate the heart, in the scenes and the contem-\\nplations of materialism and we do hail the infor-\\nmation of our text, that after the dissolution of its\\npresent framework, it will again be varied and\\ndecked out anew in all the graces of its unfading\\nverdure and of its unbounded variety that in ad-\\ndition to our direct and personal view of the Deity,\\nwhen He comes down to tabernacle with men, we\\nshall also have the reflection of Him in a lovely\\nmirror of His own workmanship and that instead\\nof being transported to some abode of dimness and\\nof mystery, so remote from human experience as to\\nbe beyond all comprehension, we shall walk forever\\nin a land replenished with those sensible delights\\nand those sensible glories, which, we doubt not, will\\nlie most profusely scattered over the new heavens\\nand the new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness\\nII. But though a paradise of sense, it will not be\\na paradise of sensuality. Though not so unlike the\\npresent world as many apprehend it, there will be one\\npoint of total dissimilarity betwixt them. It is\\nnot the entire substitution of spirit for matter that", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0289.jp2"}, "290": {"fulltext": "288 NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH.\\nwill distinguish the future economy from the present.\\nBut it will be the entire substitution of righteous-\\nness for sin. It is this which signalizes the Chris-\\ntian from the Mahometan paradise not that sense,\\nand substance, and splendid imagery, and the glories\\nof a visible creation seen with bodily eyes are ex-\\ncluded from it, but that all which is vile in prin-\\nciple or voluptuous in impurity will be utterly\\nexcluded from it. There will be a firm earth as we\\nhave at present, and a heaven stretched over it as\\nwe have at present and it is not by the absence of\\nthese, but by the absence of sin, that the abodes of\\nimmortality will be characterized. There will both\\nbe heavens and earth, it would appear, in the next\\ngreat administration and with this specialty to\\nmark it from the present one, that it will be a\\nheavens and an earth, wherein dwelleth righteous-\\nness/\\nNow, though the first topic of information that\\nwe educed from the text, may be regarded as not\\nvery practical, yet the second topic on which we\\nnow insist, is most eminently so. Were it the great\\ncharacteristic of that spirituality which is to obtain\\nin a future heaven, that it was a spirituality of es-\\nsence then occupying and pervading the place from\\nwhich materialism had been swept away, we could\\nnot, by any possible method, approximate the con-\\ndition we are in at present to the condition we are\\nto hold everlastingly. We cannot cthcrcalizc the\\nmatter that is around us neither can we attenuate\\nour own bodies, nor bring down the slightest degree\\nof such a heaven to the earth that we now inhabit.\\nBut when we are told that materialism is to be kept", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0290.jp2"}, "291": {"fulltext": "NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH.\\nup, and that the spirituality of our future state lies\\nnot in the kind of substance which is to compose\\nits framework, but in the character of those who\\npeople it this puts, if not the fulness of heaven,\\nat least a foretaste of heaven, within our reach. We\\nhave not to strain at a thing so impracticable as\\nthat of diluting the material economy which is with-\\nout us we have only to reform the moral economy\\nthat is within us. We are now walking on a terres-\\ntrial surface, not more compact, perhaps, than the\\none we shall hereafter walk upon, and are now wear-\\ning terrestrial bodies, not firmer and more solid, per-\\nhaps, than those we shall hereafter wear. It is not\\nby working any change upon them, that we could\\nrealize to any extent our future heaven. And this\\nis simply done by opening the door of our heart for\\nthe influx of heaven s affections by bringing the\\nwhole man, as made up of soul, and spirit, and body,\\nunder the presiding authority of heaven s principles.\\nThis will make plain to you how it is that it\\ncould be said in the New Testament, that the\\nft kingdom of heaven was at hand and how, in\\nthat book, its place is marked out, not by locally\\npointing to any quarter, and saying, Lo, here, or lo,\\nthere, but by the simple affirmation that the king-\\ndom of heaven is within you and how, in defining\\nwhat it was that constituted the kingdom of heaven,\\nthere is an enumeration, not of such circumstances\\nas make up an outward condition, but of such feel-\\nings and qualities as make up a character, even\\nrighteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy\\nGhost and how the ushering in of the new dis-\\npensation is held equivalent to the introduction of\\ni T", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0291.jp2"}, "292": {"fulltext": "290\\nNEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH.\\nthis kingdom into the world all making it evident,\\nthat if the purity and the principles of heaven be-\\ngin to take effect upon our heart, what is essentially\\nheaven begins with us even in this world that in-\\nstead of ascending to some upper region for the pur-\\npose of entering it, it may descend upon us, and\\nmake an actual entrance of itself into our bosoms\\nand that so far, therefore, from that remote and\\ninaccessible thing which many do regard it, it may,\\nthrough the influence of the word which is nigh\\nunto you, and of the Spirit that is given to prayer,\\nbe lighted up in the inner man of an individual\\nupon earth, whose person may even here exemplify\\nits graces, and whose soul may even here realize a\\nmeasure of its enjoyments.\\nAnd hence one great purpose of the incarnation\\nof our Saviour. He came down amongst us in the\\nfull perfection of heaven s character, and has made\\nus see that it is a character which may be em-\\nbodied. All its virtues were, in His case, infused\\ninto a corporeal framework, and the substance of\\nthese lower regions was taken into intimate and\\nabiding association with the spirit of the higher.\\nThe ingredient which is heavenly, admits of being\\nunited with the ingredient which is earthly so\\nthat we, who by nature are of the earth and\\nearthly, could we catch of that pure and celes-\\ntial element which made the man Christ Jesus\\nto differ from all other men, then might we too be\\nformed into that character, by which it is that the\\nmembers of the family above differ from those of\\nthe outcast family beneath. Now, it is expressly\\nsaid of Him, that He is set before us as an exam-", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0292.jp2"}, "293": {"fulltext": "NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH.\\n291\\npie and we are required to look to that living ex-\\nhibition of Him, where all the graces of the upper\\nsanctuary are beheld as in a picture and instead\\nof an abstract, we have in His history a familiar\\nrepresentation of such worth, and piety, and ex-\\ncellence, as could they only be stamped upon our\\nown persons, and borne along with us to the place\\nwhere He now dwelleth instead of being shunned\\nas aliens, we should be welcomed and recognised\\nas seemly companions for the inmates of that place\\nof holiness. And, in truth, the great work of Christ s\\ndisciples upon earth, is a constant and busy process\\nof assimilation to their Master who is in heaven.\\nAnd we live under a special economy that has been\\nset up for the express purpose of helping it forward.\\nIt is for this, in particular, that the Spirit is pro-\\nvided. We are changed into the image of the\\nLord, even by the Spirit of the Lord. Nursed\\nout of this fulness, we grow up unto the stature of\\nperfect men in Christ Jesus and instead of heaven\\nbeing a remote and mysterious unknown, heaven\\nis brought near to us by the simple expedient of\\ninspiring us where we now stand, with its love, and\\nits purity, and its sacredness. We learn from\\nChrist, that the heavenly graces are all of them com-\\npatible with the wear of an earthly body, and the\\ncircumstances of an earthly habitation. It is not\\nsaid in how many of its features the new earth will\\ndiffer from or be like unto the present one but\\nwe, by turning from our iniquities unto Christ,\\npush forward the resemblance of the one to the\\nother, in the only feature that is specified, even that\\ntherein dwelleth righteousness.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0293.jp2"}, "294": {"fulltext": "2i)2\\nNEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH.\\nAnd had we only the character of heaven, we\\nshould not be long of feeling what that is which\\nessentially makes the comfort of heaven. Thou\\nloves t righteousness and hatest iniquity therefore,\\nGod thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of\\ngladness above thy fellows/ Let us but love the\\nrighteousness which He loves, and hate the iniquity\\nwhich He hateth and this, of itself, would so soften\\nand attune the mechanism of our moral nature, that\\nin all the movements of it there should be joy. It\\nis not sufficiently adverted to, that the happiness of\\nheaven lies simply and essentially in the well-going\\nmachinery of a well-conditioned soul and that ac-\\ncording to its measure, it is the same in kind with\\nthe happiness of God, who liveth for ever in bliss in-\\neffable, because He is unchangeable in being good\\nand upright and holy. There may be audible music\\nin heaven, but its chief delight will be in the music\\nof well-poised affections, and of principles in full and\\nconsenting harmony with the laws of eternal recti-\\ntude. There may be visions of loveliness there but\\nit will be the loveliness of virtue, as seen directly in\\nGod, and as reflected back again in family likeness\\nfrom all His children it will be this that shall give\\nits purest and sweetest transports to the soul. In a\\nAv r ord, the main reward of paradise is spiritual joy,\\nand that springing at once from the love and the\\npossession of spiritual excellence. It is such a joy\\nas sin extinguishes on the moment of its entering\\nthe soul and such a joy as is again restored to the\\nsoul, and that immediately on its being restored to\\nrighteousness.\\nIt is thus that heaven may be established upon", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0294.jp2"}, "295": {"fulltext": "NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH.\\n2J3\\nearth, and the petition of our Lord s prayer be ful-\\nfilled, (i Thy kingdom come/ This petition receives\\nits best explanation from the one which follows\\nThy will be done in earth as it is done in heaven/\\nIt just requires a similarity of habit and character\\nin the two places, to make out a similarity of enjoy-\\nment. Let us attend, then, to the way in which the\\nservices of the upper sanctuary are rendered not in\\nthe spirit of legality, for this gendereth to bondage\\nbut in the spirit of love, which gendereth to the\\nbeatitude of the affections, rejoicing in their best and\\nmost favourite indulgence. They do not work there\\nfor the purpose of making out the conditions of a\\nbargain. They do not act agreeably to the pleasure\\nof God, in order to obtain the gratification of any\\ndistinct will or distinct pleasure of their own in re-\\nturn for it. Their will is, in fact, identical with the\\nwill of God.. There is a perfect unison of t.aste and\\nof inclination between the creature and the Creator.\\nThey are in their element when they are feeling\\nrighteously and doing righteously. Obedience is not\\ndrudgery but delight to them and as much as there\\nis of the congenial between animal nature and the\\nfood that is suitable to it, so much is there of the\\ncongenial between the moral nature of heaven and\\nits sacred employments and services. Let the will\\nof God, then, be done here as it is done there, and\\nnot only will character and conduct be the same here\\nas there, but they will also resemble each other in\\nthe style though not in the degree of their blessed-\\nness. The happiness of heaven will be exemplified\\nupon earth along with the virtue of heaven for, in\\ntruth, the main ingredient of that happiness is not", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0295.jp2"}, "296": {"fulltext": "294\\nNEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH,\\ngiven them in payment for work but it lies in the\\nlove they bear to the work itself. A man is never\\nhappier than when employed in that which he likes\\nbest. This is all a question of taste: but should\\nsuch a taste be given as to make it a man s meat and\\ndrink to do the will of his Father, then is he in per-\\nfect readiness for being carried upwards to heaven,\\nand placed beside the pure river of water of life that\\nproceedeth out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.\\nThis is the way in which you may make a heaven\\nupon earth, not by heaping your reluctant oilers at\\nthe shrine of legality, but by serving God because\\nyou love Him and doing His will, because you\\ndelight to do Him honour.\\nAnd here we may remark, that the only possible\\nconveyance for this new principle into the heart, is\\nthe Gospel of Jesus Christ that in no other way\\nthan through the acceptance of its free pardon, sealed\\nby the blood of an atonement, which exalts the Law-\\ngiver, can the soul of man be both emancipated from\\nthe fear of terror, and solemnized into the fear of\\nhumble and holy reverence that it is only in con-\\njunction with the faith that justifies, that the love\\nof gratitude and the love of moral esteem are made\\nto arise in the bosom of regenerated man and,\\ntherefore, to bring down the virtues of heaven, as\\nwell as the peace of heaven, into this lower world,\\nwe know not what else can be done, than to urge\\nupon you the great propitiation of the New Testa-\\nment nor are we aware of any expedient by which\\nall the cold and freezing sensations of legality can\\nbe done away, but by your thankful and uncondi-\\ntional acceptance of Jesus Christ, and him crucified.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0296.jp2"}, "297": {"fulltext": "NATURE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.\\n295\\nDISCOURSE V.\\nTHE NATURE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.\\nFor the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.\\n1 Corinthians iv. 20.\\nThere is a most important lesson to be derived\\nfrom the variety of senses in which the phrases king-\\ndom of God and kingdom of heaven are evi-\\ndently made use of in the New Testament. If it at\\none time carry our thoughts to that place where God\\nsits in visible glory, and where, surrounded by the\\nfamily of the blessed, He presides in full and\\nspiritual authority it at another time turns our\\nthoughts inwardly upon ourselves, and instead of\\nleading us to say, Lo, here, or lo, there, as if to some\\nlocal habitation at a distance, it leads us, by the de-\\nclaration that the kingdom of God is within us/\\nto look for it into our own breast, and to examine\\nwhether heavenly affections have been substituted\\nthere in the place of earthly ones. Such is the tend-\\nency of our imagination upon this subject, that the\\nkingdom of heaven is never mentioned without our\\nminds being impelled thereby to take an upward\\ndirection to go aloft to that place of spaciousness,\\nand of splendour, and of psalmody, which forms the\\nresidence of angels and wdiere the praises both of\\nredeemed and unfallen creatures rise in one anthem", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0297.jp2"}, "298": {"fulltext": "296\\nNATURE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.\\nof gratulation to the Father, who rejoices over them\\nall. Now, it is evident, that in dwelling upon such\\nan elysium as this, the mind can picture to itself a\\nthousand delicious accompaniments, which, apart\\nfrom moral and spiritual character altogether, are\\nfitted to regale animal, and sensitive, and unrenewed\\nman. There may be sights of beauty and brilliancy\\nfor the eye. There may be sounds of sweetest melody\\nfor the ear. There may be innumerable sensations\\nof delight, from the adaptation which obtains between\\nthe materialism of surrounding heaven, and the ma-\\nterialism of our own transformed and glorified bodies.\\nThere may even be poured upon us, in richest abund-\\nance, a higher and a nobler class of enjoyments\\nand separate still from the possession of holiness,\\nof that peculiar quality, by the accession of which\\na sinner is turned into a saint, and the man who\\nbefore had an entire aspect of secularity and of\\nthe world, looks as if he had been cast over again\\nin another mould, and come out breathing godly\\ndesires, and aspiring, with a newly created fervour,\\nafter godly enjoyments. And so, without any such\\nconversion as this, heaven may still be conceived\\nto minister a set of very refined and intellectual\\ngratifications. One may figure it so formed as to\\nadapt itself to the senses of man, though he should\\npossess not one single virtue of the temple or of\\nthe sanctuary and one may figure it to be so\\nformed, as, though alike destitute of these virtues,\\nto adapt itself even to the spirit of man, and to\\nmany of the loftier principles and capacities of his\\nnature. His taste may find an ever-recurring\\ndelight in the panorama of its sensible glories and", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0298.jp2"}, "299": {"fulltext": "NATURE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.\\n297\\nhis fancy wander untired among all the realities and\\nall the possibilities of created excellence and his\\nunderstanding be feasted to ecstasy among those\\nendless varieties of truth which are ever pouring\\nin a rich flood of discovery upon his mind and\\neven his heart be kept in a glow of warm and kindly\\naffection among the cordialities of that benevolence\\nby which he is surrounded. All this is possible to\\nbe conceived of heaven and when we add its secure\\nand everlasting exemption from the agonies of hell,\\nlet us not wonder that such a heaven should b$\\nvehemently desired by those who have not advanced\\nby the very humblest degree of spiritual preparation\\nfor the real heaven of the New Testament who\\nhave not the least congeniality of feeling with that\\nwhich forms its essential and characteristic blessed-\\nness who cannot sustain on earth for a very short\\ninterval of retirement, the labour and the weariness\\nof communion with God who, though they could\\nrelish to the uttermost all the sensible and all the\\nintellectual joys of heaven, yet hold no taste of\\nsympathy whatever with its hallelujahs and its\\nsongs of raptured adoration and who, therefore,\\nif transported at this moment, or if transported\\nafter death, with the frame and character of soul\\nthat they have at this moment, to the New Jerusa-\\nlem, and the city of the living God, would positively\\nfind themselves aliens, and out of their kindred and\\nrejoicing element, however much they may sigh\\nafter a paradise of pleasure or a paradise of poetry.\\nIt may go to dissipate this sentimental illusion,\\nif we ponder well the meaning which is often\\nassigned to the kingdom of heaven in the Bible if", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0299.jp2"}, "300": {"fulltext": "298 NATURE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.\\nwe reflect, that it is often made to attach personally\\nto a human creature upon earth as well as to be\\nsituated locally in some distant and mysterious\\nregion away from us that to be the subjects of\\nsuch a kingdom, it is not indispensable that our\\nresidence be within the limits of an assigned\\nterritory, any more, in fact, than that the subject of\\nan earthly sovereign should not remain so, though\\ntravelling, for a time, beyond the confines of his\\nmaster s jurisdiction. He may, though away from\\nhis country in person, carry about with him in mind\\na full principle of allegiance to his country s\\nsovereign and may both, in respect of legal duty,\\nand of his own most willing and affectionate com-\\npliance with it, remain associated with him both\\nin heart and in political relationship. He is still a\\nmember of that kingdom in the domains of which\\nhe was born and in the very same way may a man\\nbe travelling the journey of life in this world, and\\nbe all the while a member of the kingdom of\\nheaven. The Being who reigns in supreme authority\\nthere, may, even in this land of exile and alienation,\\nhave some one devoted subject who renders to the\\nsame authority the deference of his heart and the\\nsubordination of his whole practice. The will of\\nGod may possess such a moral ascendency over his\\nwill, as that when the one commands, the other\\npromptly and cheerfully obeys. The character of\\nGod may stand revealed in such charms of perfec-\\ntion and gracefulness to the eye of his mind, that\\nby ever looking to Him, he both loves and is made\\nlike unto Him. A sense of God may pervade his\\nevery hour and every employment, even as it is", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0300.jp2"}, "301": {"fulltext": "NATURE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.\\n299\\nthe hand of God which preserves him continually,\\nand through the actual power of God that he lives\\nand moves as well as has his being. Such a man,\\nif such a man there be on the face of our world,\\nhas the kingdom of God set up in his heart. He\\nis already one of the children of the kingdom. He\\nis not locally in heaven, and yet his heaven is begun.\\nHe has in his eye the glories of heaven though as\\nyet he sees them through a glass darkly. He feels\\nin his bosom the principles of heaven though still\\nat war with the propensities of nature, they do not\\nyet reign in all the freeness of an undisputed ascend-\\nency. He carries in his heart the peace, and the\\njoy, and the love, and the elevation of heaven\\nthough under the encumbrance of a vile body, the\\nspiritual repast which is thus provided, is not with-\\nout its mixtures and without its mitigation. In a\\nword, the essential elements of heaven s reward,\\nand of heaven s felicity, are all in his possession.\\nHe tastes the happiness of heaven in kind, though\\nnot in its full and finished degree. When he gets\\nto heaven above, he will not meet there with a\\nhappiness differing in character from that which he\\nnow feels but only higher in gradation. There\\nmay be crowns of material splendour. There may\\nbe trees of unfading loveliness. There may be\\npavements of emerald and canopies of brightest\\nradiance and gardens of deep and tranquil security\\nand palaces of proud and stately decoration\\nand a city of lofty pinnacles, through which there\\nunceasing flows a river of gladness, and where\\njubilee is ever rung with the concord of seraphic\\nvoices. But these are only the accessories of", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0301.jp2"}, "302": {"fulltext": "NATURE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.\\nLeaven. They form not the materials of it?\\nsubstantial blessedness. Of this the man who toil\\nin humble drudgery an utter stranger to the delight?\\nof sensible pleasure, or the fascinations of sensible\\nglory, lias got already a foretaste in his heart. It\\nconsists not in the enjoyment of created good, nor\\nin the survey of created magnificence. It is drawn\\nin a direct stream through the channels of love\\nand of contemplation from the fulness of the Crea-\\ntor. It emanates from the countenance of God,\\nmanifesting the spiritual glories of His holy and\\nperfect character, on those whose characters are\\nkindred to His own. And if on earth there is no\\ntendency towards such a character no process of\\nrestoration to the lost image of the Grodhead no\\ndelight in prayer no relish for the sweets of inter-\\ncourse with our Father, now unseen, but then to be\\nrevealed to the view of His immediate worshippers\\nthen, let our imaginations kindle as they may\\nwith the beatitudes of our fictitious heaven, the true\\nheaven of the Bible is what we shall never reach,\\nbecause it is a heaven that we are not fitted to\\nenjoy.\\nBut such a view of the matter seems not merely\\nto dissipate a sentimental illusion which obtains\\nupon this subject. It also serves to dissipate a\\ntheological illusion. Ere we can enter heaven,\\nthere must be granted to us a legal capacity of\\nadmission and Christ by His atoning death and\\nperfect righteousness has purchased this capacity\\nfor those who believe and they, by the very act of\\nbelieving, are held to be in possession of it, just as\\na man by stretching out his hand to a deed or a", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0302.jp2"}, "303": {"fulltext": "NATURE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.\\n301\\npassport, becomes vested with all the privileges\\nwhich are thereby conveyed to the holder. Now,\\nin the zeal of controversialists, (and it is a point\\nmost assuredly about which they cannot be too\\nzealous) in their zeal to clear up and to demon-\\nstrate the ground on which the sinner s legal\\ncapacity must rest there has, with many, been a\\nsad overlooking of what is no less indispensable,\\neven his personal capacity. And yet even on the\\nlowest and grossest conceptions of what that is\\nwhich constitutes the felicity of heaven, it would be\\nno heaven, and no place of enjoyment at all,\\nwithout a personal adaptation on the part of its\\noccupiers to the kind of happiness which is current\\nthere. If that happiness consisted entirely in sights\\nof magnificence, of what use would it be to confer\\na title-deed of entry on a man who was blind To\\nmake it heaven to him, his eyes must be opened.\\nOr, if that happiness consisted in sounds of melody,\\nof what use would a passport be to the man who was\\ndeaf? To make out a heaven for him, a change\\nmust be made on the person which he wears, as well\\nas in the place which he occupies and his ears\\nmust be unstopped. Or, if that happiness consisted\\nin fresh and perpetual accessions of new and\\ndelightful truth to the understanding, what would\\nrights and legal privileges avail to him who was\\nsunk in helpless idiotism To provide him with\\na heaven, it is not enough that he be transported\\nto a place among the mansions of the celestial he\\nmust be provided with a new faculty and, as before,\\na change behoved to be made upon the senses so\\nnow, ere heaven can be heaven to its occupier, a", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0303.jp2"}, "304": {"fulltext": "302\\nNATURE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.\\nchange must be made upon his mind. And, in like\\nmanner, my brethren, if that happiness shall consist\\nin the love of God for His goodness, and in the love\\nof God for the moral and spiritual excellence which\\nbelongs to Him if it shall consist in the play and\\nexercise of affections directed to such objects as are\\nalone worthy of their most exalted regard if it shall\\nconsist in the movements of a heart now attracted\\nin reverence and admiration towards all that is\\nnoble and righteous and holy it is not enough to\\nconstitute a heaven for the sinner, that God is there\\nin visible manifestation, or that heaven is lighted up\\nto him in a blaze of spiritual glory. His heart\\nmust be made a fit recipient for the impression of\\nthat glory. Of what possible enjoyment to him is\\nheaven, as his purchased inheritance, if heaven be\\nnot also his precious and his much-loved home\\nTo create enjoyment for a man, there must be a\\nsuitableness between the taste that is in him and\\nthe objects that are around him. To make a\\nnatural man happy upon earth, we may let his taste\\nalone, and surround him with favourable circum-\\nstances with smiling abundance, and merry com-\\npanionship, and bright anticipations of fortune\\nor of fame, and the salutations of public respect,\\nand the gaieties of fashionable amusement, and\\nthe countless other pleasures of a world, which\\nyields so much to delight and to diversify the short-\\nlived period of its fleeting generations. To mnke\\nthe same man happy in heaven, it would suffice\\nsimply to transmit him there with the same taste,\\nand to surround him with the same circumstances.\\nBut God has not so ordered heaven. He will not", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0304.jp2"}, "305": {"fulltext": "NATURE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.\\n303\\nsuit the circumstances of heaven to the character of\\nman and therefore to make it, that man can be\\nhappy there, nothing remains but to suit the\\ncharacter of man to the circumstances of heaven\\nand therefore it is, that to bring about heaven to a\\nsinner, it is not enough that there be the preparation\\nof a place for him, there must be a preparation of\\nhim for the place it is not enough that he be meet\\nin law, he must be meet in person it is not enough\\nthat there be a change in his forensic relation\\ntowards God, there must be a change in the actual\\ndisposition of his heart towards Him and unless\\ndelivered from his earth-born propensities unless\\na clean heart be created, and a right spirit be\\nrenewed unless transformed into a holy and a\\ngodlike character, it is quite in vain to have put a\\ndeed of entry into his hands heaven will have no\\nqharm for him all its notes of rapture will fall with\\ntasteless insipidity upon his ear and justification\\nitself will cease to be a privilege.\\nLet us cease to wonder, then, at the frequent\\napplication, in Scripture, of this phrase to a state\\nof personal feeling and character upon earth and\\nrather let us press upon our remembrance the im-\\nportant lessons which are to be gathered from such\\nan application. In that passage where it is said,\\nthat the kingdom of God is not meat and drink,\\nbut righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy\\nGhost/ there can be no doubt that the reference\\nis altogether personal, for the Apostle is here con-\\ntrasting the man who in these things serveth Christ,\\nwith the man who eateth unto the Lord, or who\\neateth not unto the Lord. And in the passage now", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0305.jp2"}, "306": {"fulltext": ":]04 NATURE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.\\nbefore us, there can be as little doubt, that the re-\\nference is to the kingdom of God, as fixed and sub-\\nstantiated upon the character of the human soul.\\nHe was just before alluding to those who could talk\\nof the things of Christ, while it remained question-\\nable whether there was any change or any effect that\\ncould at all attest the power of these things upon\\ntheir person and character. This is the point which\\nhe proposed to ascertain on his next visit to them.\\nI will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and\\nwill know not the speech of them which are pufTed\\nup, but the power. For the kingdom of God is not\\nin word, but in power. It is not enough to mark\\nyou as the children of this kingdom or as those\\nover whose hearts the reign of God is established\\nor as those in whom a preparation is going on here\\nfor a place of glory and blessedness hereafter -that\\nyou know the terms of orthodoxy, or that you can\\nspeak its language. If even an actual belief in its\\ndoctrine could reside in your mind, without fruit and\\nwithout influence, this would as little avail you.\\nBut it is well to know, both from experience and\\nfrom the information of Him who knew what was in\\nman, that an actual belief of the Gospel is at all\\ntimes an effectual belief\u00e2\u0080\u0094 that upon the entrance of\\nsuch a belief the kingdom of God comes to us faith\\npower, being that which availeth, even faith working\\nby love, and purifying the heart, and overcoming\\nthe world.\\nOne of the simplest cases of the kingdom of God\\nin word and not in power is that of a child with\\nits memory stored in passages of Scripture, and in\\nail the answers to all the questions of a substantial", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0306.jp2"}, "307": {"fulltext": "NATURE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.\\n305\\nand well-digested catechism. In such an instance,\\nthe tongue may be able to rehearse the whole ex-\\npression of evangelical truth, while neither the mean-\\ning of the truth is perceived by the understanding,\\nnor of consequence, can the moral influence of the\\ntruth be felt in the heart. The learner has got\\nwords, but nothing more. This is the whole fruit of\\nhis acquisition nor would it make any difference in\\nas far as the effect at the time is concerned, though,\\ninstead of words adapted to the expression of Chris-\\ntian doctrine, they had been the words of a song, or\\na fable, or any secular narrative and performance\\nwhatever. This is all undeniable enough if we\\ncould only prevail on many men and many women\\nnot to deny its application to themselves if we\\ncould only convince our grown-up children of the\\nabsolute futility of many of their exercises if we\\ncould only arouse from their dormancy our listless\\nreaders of the Bible our men who make a mere\\npiece-work of their Christianity who, in making-\\nway through the Scriptures, do it by the page, and\\nin addressing prayers to their Maker, do it by the\\nsentence with whom the perusal of the sacred\\nvolume is absolutely little better than a mere ex-\\nercise of the lip or of the eye, and a preference for\\northodoxy is little better than a preference for certain\\nfamiliar and well-known sounds where the thinking\\nprinciple is almost never in contact with the matter\\nof theological truth, however conversant both their\\nmouths and their memories may be with the language\\nof it so that in fact the doctrine by the knowledge\\nof which, and the power of which, it is that we are\\nsaved, lies as effectually hidden from their minds, as", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0307.jp2"}, "308": {"fulltext": "306\\nNATURE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.\\nif it lay wrapt in hieroglyphical obscurity or as\\nif their intellectual organ was shut against all com-\\nmunication with any thing without them and thus\\nit is, that what is not perceived by the mental eye,\\nhaving no possible operation upon the mental feel-\\nings or mental purposes, the kingdom of Godcometh\\nto them iu word only, while not in power.\\nBut again, what is translated word in this verse,\\nis also capable of being rendered by the term reason.\\nIt may not only denote that which constitutes the\\nmaterial vehicle by which the argument conceived\\nin the mind of one man is translated into the mind\\nof another it may also denote the argument itself\\nand when rendered in this way, it offers to our notice\\na very interesting case of which there are not want-\\ning many exemplifications. In the case just now\\nadverted to, the mere word is in the mouth, without\\nits corresponding idea being in the mind but in\\nthe case immediately befoie us, ideas are present as\\nwell as words, and every intellectual faculty is at\\nits post for the purpose of entertaining them the\\nattention most thoroughly awake and the curiosity\\non the stretch of its utmost eagerness and the\\njudgment most busily employed in the work of com-\\nparing one doctrine and one declaration with an-\\nother and the reason conducting its long or its\\nintricate processes and, in a word, the whole ma-\\nchinery of the mind as powerfully stimulated by a\\ntheological as it ever can be by a natural or scien-\\ntific speculation and yet w,itl) this seeming ad-\\nvancement that it makes from the language of Chris-\\ntianity to the substance of Christianity, what shall\\nwe think of it if there be no advancement whatever", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0308.jp2"}, "309": {"fulltext": "NATURE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.\\n307\\nin the power of Christianity no accession to the\\nsoul of any one of those three ingredients, which,\\ntaken together, make up the Apostle s definition of\\nthe kingdom of God no augmentation either of its\\nrighteousness or its peace or its joy in the Holy\\nGhost the man, no doubt, very much engrossed\\nand exercised with the subject of divinity, but with\\nas little of the real spirit and character of divinity\\nthereby transferred into his own spirit and his own\\ncharacter as if he were equally engrossed and\\nequally exercised with the subject of mathematics\\nremaining in short, after all his doctrinal acquisi-\\ntions of the truth, an utter stranger to the moral\\ninfluence of the truth and proving in the fact of his\\nbeing practically and personally the very same man\\nas before, that if the kingdom of God is not in word,\\nit is as little in argument, but in power.\\nIf it be of importance to know, that a man may\\nlay hold by his memory of all the language of\\nChristianity, and yet not be a Christian it is also\\nof importance to know, that a man may lay hold by\\nhis understanding of all the doctrine of Christianity,\\nand yet not be a Christian. It is our opinion that\\nin this case the man has only an apparent belief\\nwithout having an actual belief that all the doctrine\\nis conceived by him without being credited by him\\nthat it is the object of his fancy without being\\nthe object of his faith and that, as on the one hand,\\nif the conviction be real, the consequence of another\\nheart and another character will be sure so on\\nthe other hand, and on the principle of by their\\nfruits shall ye know them/ if he want the fruit, it\\nis just because he is in want of the foundation if", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0309.jp2"}, "310": {"fulltext": "308 NATURE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.\\nthere be no produce, it is because there is no prin-\\nciple having experienced no salvation from sin\\nhere, he shall experience no salvation from the\\nabode of sinners hereafter. If faith were present\\nwith him, he would be kept by the power of it unto\\nsalvation, from both but destitute as he proves\\nhimself to be now of the faith which sanctifies, he\\nwill be found then, in the midst of all his semblances\\nand all his delusions, to have been equally destitute\\nof the faith which justifies.\\nAnd it is perhaps not so difficult to stir up in\\nthe mind of the learned controversialist and the\\ndeeply-exercised scholar the suspicion, that with\\nall his acquirements in the lore of theology, he is\\nin respect of its personal influence upon himself,\\nstill in a state of moral and spiritual unsoundness\\nit is not so difficult to raise this feeling of self-con-\\ndemnation in his mind, as it is to do it in the mind of\\nhim who has selected his one favourite article, and\\nthere resolved if die he must to die hard, has taken\\nup his obstinate and immovable position and re-\\ntinner within the entrenchment of a few verses of\\nthe Bible, will defy all the truth and all the thunder\\nof its remaining declarations and with an ortho-\\ndoxy which carries on all its play in his head with-\\nout one moving or one softening touch upon his\\nheart, will stand out to the eye of the world, both in\\navowed principle, and in its corresponding practice,\\na secure, sturdy, firm, impregnable Antinomian.\\nHe thinks that he will have heaven because he has\\nfaith. But if his faith do not bring the virtues of\\nheaven into his heart, it will never spread cither the\\nglory or the security of heaven around his person.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0310.jp2"}, "311": {"fulltext": "NATURE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.\\n309\\nThe region to whicli he vainly thinks of looking for-\\nward is a region of spirituality and he himself\\nmust be spiritualized ere it can prove to him a\\nregion of enjoyment. If he count on a different\\nparadise from this, he is as widely mistaken as they\\nwho dream of the luxury that awaits them in the\\nparadise of Mahomet. He misinterprets the whole\\nundertaking of Jesus Christ. He degrades the sal-\\nvation which He hath achieved, into a salvation\\nfrom animal pain. He transforms the heaven which\\nHe has opened, into a heaven of animal gratifica-\\ntions. He forgets that on the great errand of man s\\nrestoration, it is not more necessary to recall our de-\\nparted species to the heaven from which they had\\nwandered, than it is to recall to the bosom of man\\nits departed worth and its departed excellence.\\nThe one is wdiat faith will do on the other side of\\ndeath. But the other just as certainly faith must\\ndo on this side of death. It is here that heaven\\nbegins. It is here that eternal life is entered upon.\\nIt is here that man first breathes the air of immor-\\ntality. It is upon earth that he learns the rudiments\\nof a celestial character, and first tastes of celestial\\nenjoyments. It is here that the well of water is\\nstruck out in the heart of renovated man, and that\\nfruit is made to grow unto holiness, and then, in\\nthe end, there is life everlasting. The man whose\\nthreadbare orthodoxy is made up of meagre and un-\\nfruitful positions, may think that he walks in clear-\\nness, while he is only walking in the cold light of\\nspeculation. He walks in the feeble sparks of his\\nown kindling. Were it fire from the sanctuary, it\\nwould impart to his unregenerated bosom of the", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0311.jp2"}, "312": {"fulltext": "310\\nNATURE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.\\nheat, and spirit, and love of the sanctuary. This\\nis the sure result of the faith that is unfeigned\\nand all that a feigned faith can possibly make out,\\nwiH be a fictitious title-deed, which will not stand\\nbefore the light of the great day of final examina-\\ntion. And thus will it be found, I fear, in many\\ncases of marked and ostentatious professorship, how\\npossible a thing it is to have an appearance of the\\nkingdom of God in word, and the kingdom of God\\nin letter, and the kingdom of God in controversy\\nwhile the kingdom of God is not in power.\\nBut once more instead of laying a false security\\nupon one article, it is possible to have a mind\\nfamiliarized to all the articles to admit the need of\\nholiness, and to demonstrate the channel of influence\\nby which it is brought down from heaven upon the\\nhearts of believers to cast an eye of intelligence\\nover the whole symphony and extent of Christian\\ndoctrine to lay bare those ligaments of connexion\\nby which a true faith in the mind is ever sure to\\nbring a new spirit and a new practice along with it\\nand to hold up the lights both of Scripture and of\\nexperience over the whole process of man s regenera-\\ntion. It is possible for one to do all this, and yet\\nto have no part in that regeneration to declare\\nwith ability and effect the Gospel to others, and yet\\nhimself be a castaway to unravel the whole of that\\nspiritual mechanism by which a sinner is trans-\\nformed into a saint, while he docs not exemplify the\\nworking of that mechanism in his own person to\\nexplain what must be done, and what must be under-\\ngone in the process of becoming one of the children\\nof the kingdom, while he himself remains one of the", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0312.jp2"}, "313": {"fulltext": "NATURE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.\\n311\\nchildren of this world. To him the kingdom of God\\nhath come in word, and it hath come in letter, and\\nit hath come in natural discernment but it hath\\nnot come in powder. He may have profoundly studied\\nthe whole doctrine of the kingdom, and have con-\\nceived the various ideas of which it is composed, and\\nhave embodied them in words, and have poured them\\nforth in utterance and yet be as little spiritualized\\nby these manifold operations, as the air is spiritual-\\nized by its being the avenue for the sounds of his\\nvoice to the ears of his listening auditory. The\\nliving man may with all the force of his active in-\\ntelligence be a mere vehicle of transmission. The\\nHoly Ghost may leave the message to take its own\\nway through his mind and may refuse the acces-\\nsion of His influence, till it make its escape from the\\nlips of the preacher and may trust for its convey-\\nance to those aerial undulations by which the report\\nis carried forward to an assembled multitude and\\nmay only, after the entrance of hearing has been\\neffected for the terms of the message, may only, after\\nthe unaided powers of moral and physical nature\\nhave brought the matter thus far, may then, and not\\ntill then, add His own influence to the truths of\\nthe message, and send them with this impregnation\\nfrom the ear to the conscience of any whom He\\nlisteth. And thus from the workings of a cold and\\ndesolate bosom in the human expounder, may there\\nproceed a voice, which on its way to some of those\\nwho are assembled around him, shall turn out to\\nbe a voice of urgency and power. He may be the\\ninstrument of blessings to others, which have never\\ncome with kindly or effective influence upon his own", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0313.jp2"}, "314": {"fulltext": "312 NATURE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.\\nheart. He may inspire an energy which he does\\nnot feel, and pour a comfort into the wounded\\nspirit, the taste of which, and the enjoyment of\\nwhich, is not permitted to his own and nothing can\\nserve more effectually than this experimental fact to\\nhumble him, and to demonstrate the existence of a\\npower which cannot be wielded by all the energies\\nof Nature a power often refused to eloquence, often\\nrefused to the might and the glory of human wisdom\\noften refused to the most strenuous exertions of\\nhuman might and human talent, and generally met\\nwith in richest abundance among the ministrations\\nof the men of simplicity and prayer.\\nSome of you have heard of the individual who,\\nunder an oppression of the severest melancholy, im-\\nplored relief and counsel from his physician. The\\nunhappy patient was advised to attend the perform-\\nances of a comedian who had put all the world into\\necstasies. But it turned out that the patient was\\nthe comedian himself and that while his smile was\\nthe signal of merriment to all, his heart stood un-\\ncheered and motionless, amid the gratulations of an\\napplauding theatre and evening after evening did\\nhe kindle around him a rapture in which he could\\nnot participate a poor, helpless, dejected mourner,\\namong the tumults of that high-sounding gaiety\\nwhich he himself had created.\\nLet all this touch our breasts with the persuasion\\nof the nothingness of man. Let it lead us to with-\\ndraw our confidence from the mere instrument, and\\nto carry it upwards to Him who alone worketh all in\\nall. Let it reconcile us to the arrangements of His\\nprovidence, and assure our minds that He can do", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0314.jp2"}, "315": {"fulltext": "NATURE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.\\n313\\nwith one arrangement what we fondly anticipated\\nfrom another. Let us cease to be violently affected\\nby the mutabilities of a fleeting and a shifting world\\nand let nothing be suffered to have the power of\\ndissolving for an instant that connexion of trust\\nwhich should ever subsist between our minds and the\\nwill of the all-working Deity. Above all, let us\\ncarefully separate between our liking for certain ac-\\ncompaniments of the word, and our liking for the\\nword itself. Let us be jealous of those human pre-\\nferences which may bespeak some human and ad-\\nventitious influence upon our hearts, and be alto-\\ngether different from the influence of Christian truth\\nupon Christianized and sanctified affections. Let us\\nbe tenacious only of one thing not of holding by\\nparticular ministers not of saying, that I am of\\nPaul, or Cephas, or Apollos not of idolizing the\\nservant while the Master is forgotten, but let us\\nhold by the Head, even Christ. He is the source of\\nall spiritual influence and while the agents whom\\nHe employs can do no more than bring the kingdom\\nof God to you in word it lies w T ith him either to\\nexalt one agency, or to humble and depress another\\nand either w T ith or without such an agency, by the\\ndemonstration of that Spirit which is given unto\\nfaith, to make the kingdom of God come into your\\nhearts with power.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0315.jp2"}, "316": {"fulltext": "314\\nHEAVEN A CHARACTER\\nDISCOURSE VI.\\nHEAVEN A CHARACTER AND NOT A LOCALITY.\\nHe that is unjust, let him be unjust still and he which is filthy,\\nlet him be filthy still and he that is righteous, let him be righteous\\nstill and he that is holy, let him be holy still. Rev. xxii. 11.\\nOur first remark on this passage of Scripture is,\\nhow very palpably and nearly it connects time with\\neternity. The character wherewith we sink into the\\ngrave at death, is the very character wherewith we\\nshall re-appear on the day of resurrection. The\\ncharacter which habit has fixed and strengthened\\nthrough life, adheres, it would seem, to the disem-\\nbodied spirit through the mysterious interval which\\nseparates the day of our dissolution from the day of\\nour account when it will again stand forth the very\\nimage and substance of what it was, to the inspection\\nof the Judge and the awards of the judgment-seat.\\nThe moral lineaments which be graven on the tablet\\nof the inner man, and which every day of an uncon-\\nverted life makes deeper and more indelible than\\nbefore, will retain the very impress they have gotten\\nunaltered and uneffaced by the transition from our\\npresent to our future state of existence. There will\\nbe a dissolution, and then a reconstruction of the\\nbody from the sepulchral dust into which it had\\nmouldered. But there will be neither a dissolution", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0316.jp2"}, "317": {"fulltext": "AND NOT A LOCALITY.\\n315\\nnor a renovation of the spirit, which, indestructible\\nboth in character and essence, will weather and re-\\ntain its identity on the mid-way passage between\\nthis world and the next so that at the time of quit-\\nting its earthly tenement we may say, that, if unjust\\nnow it will be unjust still, if filthy now it will be\\nfilthy still, if righteous now it will be righteous still,\\nand if holy now it will be holy still.\\nOur second remark, suggested by the Scripture now\\nunder consideration, is, that there be many analogies\\nof nature and experience which even death itself\\ndoes not interrupt. There is nought more familiar\\nto our daily observation than the power and invete-\\nracy of habit insomuch that any vicious propensity\\nis strengthened by every new act of indulgence any\\nvirtuous principle is more firmly established than\\nbefore by every new act of resolute obedience to its\\ndictates. The law which connects the actings of\\nboyhood or of youth with the character of manhood,\\nis the identical the unrepealed law which connects\\nour actings in time with our character through eter-\\nnity. The way in which the moral discipline of youth\\nprepares for the honours and the enjoyments of a\\nvirtuous manhood, is the very way in which the\\nmoral and spiritual discipline of a whole life prepares\\nfor a virtuous and happy immortality. And on the\\nother hand, the succession, as of cause and effect,\\nfrom a profligate youth or a dishonest manhood to\\na disgraced and worthless old age is just the suc-\\ncession, also of cause and effect, between the misdeeds\\nand the depravities of our history on earth, and an\\ninheritance of worthlessness and wretchedness for\\never. The law of moral continuity between the dif-", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0317.jp2"}, "318": {"fulltext": "316\\nHEAVEN A CHARACTER\\nferent stages of human life, is also the law of con-\\ntinuity between the two worlds which even the\\ndeath that intervenes does not violate. Be he a\\nsaint or a sinner, each shall be filled with the fruit\\nof his ow r n ways so that when translated into their\\nrespective places of fixed and everlasting destination,\\nthe one shall rejoice through eternity in that pure\\nelement of goodness which here beloved and aspired\\nafter the other, a helpless, a degraded victim of\\nthose passions which lorded over him through life,\\nshall be irrevocably doomed to that worst of torments\\nand that worst of tyranny the torment of his own\\naccursed nature, the inexorable tyranny of evil.\\nOur third remark, suggested by this Scripture, is,\\nthat it affords no very dubious perspective of the fu-\\nture heaven and the future hell of the New Testa-\\nment. We are aware of the material images employ-\\ned in Scripture, and by which it bodies forth its\\nrepresentation of both of the fire, and the brimstone,\\nand the lake of living agony, and the gnashing of\\nteeth, and the wailings, the ceaseless wailings of dis-\\ntress and despair unutterable, by which the one is\\nset before us in characters of terror and most revolt-\\ning hideousness of the splendour, the spaciousness,\\nthe music, the floods of melody and sights of surpass-\\ning loveliness, by which the other is set before us in\\ncharacters of bliss and brightness unperishable; with\\nall that can regale the glorified senses of creatures\\nrejoicing for ever in the presence and before the\\nthrone of God. We stop not to inquire, and far less\\nto dispute, whether these descriptions in the plain\\nmeaning and very letter of them are to be realized.\\nBut we hold that it would purge theology from many", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0318.jp2"}, "319": {"fulltext": "AND NOT A LOCALITY.\\n317\\nof its errors, and that it would guide and enlighten\\nthe practical Christianity of many honest inquirers\\nif the moral character both of heaven and hell\\nwere more distinctly recognised, and held a more\\nprominent place in the regards and contemplations\\nof men. If it indeed be true that the moral, rather\\nthan the material, is the main ingredient, whether of\\nthe coming torment or the coming ecstasy then the\\nhell of the wicked may be said to have already begun,\\nand the heaven of the virtuous may be said to have\\nalready begun. The one, in the bitterness of an un-\\nhinged and dissatisfied spirit, has a foretaste of the\\nwretchedness before him the other, in the peace and\\ntriumphant complacency of an approving conscience,\\nhas a foretaste of the happiness before him. Each\\nis ripening for his own everlasting destiny and\\nwhether in the depravities that deepen and accumu-\\nlate on the character of the one, or in the graces that\\nbrighten and multiply upon the other we see ma-\\nterials enough, either for the worm that dieth not,\\nor for the pleasures that are for evermore.\\nBut again, it may be asked, will spiritual elements\\nalone suffice to make up either the intense and\\nintolerable wretchedness of a hell, or the intense\\nbeatitude of a heaven For an answer to this\\nquestion, let us first turn your attention to the\\nformer of these receptacles. And we ask you to\\nthink of the state of that heart in respect to sensa-\\ntion, which is the seat of a concentrated and all-\\nabsorbing selfishness, which feels for no other in-\\nterest than its own, and holds no fellowship of\\ntruth or honesty or confidence with the fellow-\\nbeings around it. The owner of such a heart may", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0319.jp2"}, "320": {"fulltext": "318\\nHE A YEN A CHARACTER\\nlive in society but, cut off as he is by his own\\nsordid nature from the reciprocities of honourable\\nfeeling and good faith, he may be said to live an\\nexile in the midst of it. He is a stranger to the\\nday-light of the moral world; and instead of\\nwalking abroad on an open platform of free and\\nfearless communion w T ith his fellows, he spends a\\ncold and heartless existence in the hiding-place of\\nhis own thoughts. You mistake it, if you think\\nof this creeping and ignoble creature that he knows\\naught of the real truth or substance of enjoyment\\nor however successful he may have been in the\\nwiles of his paltry selfishness, that a sincere or a\\nsolid satisfaction has been the result of it, On the\\ncontrary, if you enter his heart, you will there find\\na distaste and disquietude in the lurking sense of\\nits ow T n worthlessness and that dissevered from\\nthe respect of society without, it finds no refuge\\nw r ithin where he is abandoned by the respect of his\\nown conscience. It does not consist with moral\\nnature, that there should be internal happiness or\\ninternal harmony, when the moral sense is made\\nto suffer perpetual violence. A man of cunning\\nand concealment, however dexterous, however tri-\\numphant in his worthless policy, is nqt at ease.\\nThe stoop, the downcast regards, the dark and\\nsinister expression, of him who cannot lift up his\\nhead among his fellow-men, or look his companions\\nin the face, are the sensible proofs that he who\\nknows himself to be dishonest feels himself to be\\ndegraded and the inward sense of dishonour which\\nhaunts and humbles him here, is but the commence-\\nment of that shame and everlasting contempt to", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0320.jp2"}, "321": {"fulltext": "AND NOT A LOCALITY.\\n319\\nwhich he shall awaken hereafter. This, you will\\nobserve, is a purely moral chastisement and apart\\naltogether from the infliction of violence or pain on\\nthe sentient economy, is enough to overwhelm the\\nspirit that is exercised thereby. Let him then that\\nis unjust now be unjust still and in stepping from\\ntime to eternity, he bears in his own distempered\\nbosom the materials of his coming vengeance along\\nwith him. The character itself will be the execu-\\ntioner of its own condemnation and when, instead\\nof each suffering apart, the unrighteous are con-\\ngregated together as in the parable of the tares,\\nwhere, instead of each plant being severally\\ndestroyed, the order is given to bind them up in\\nbundles and burn them we may be well assured,\\nthat, where the turbulence and disorder of an\\nunrighteous society are superadded to those suf-\\nferings which prey in secrecy and solitude within\\nthe heart of each individual member, a tenfold\\nfiercer and more intolerable agony will ensue from\\nit. The anarchy of a state, when the authority of\\nits government is for a time suspended, forms but\\na feeble representation of that everlasting an-\\narchy when the unrighteous of all ages are let\\nloose to act and react with unmitigated violence on\\neach other. In this conflict of assembled myriads\\nthis fierce and fell collision between the outrages of\\ninjustice on the one side, and the outcries of\\nresentment on the other and though no pain\\nwere inflicted in this war of passions and of pur-\\nposes, the passion and purpose of violence in one\\nquarter calling forth the passion and the purpose\\nof keenest vengeance back again though no", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0321.jp2"}, "322": {"fulltext": "320\\nHEAVEN A CHARACTER\\nmaterial or sentient agony were felt though a war\\nof disembodied spirits yet in the wild tempest of\\nemotions alone the hatred, the fury, the burning\\nrecollection of injured rights, and the brooding\\nthoughts of yet unfulfilled retaliation in these,\\nand these alone, do we behold the materials enough\\nof a dire and dreadful pandemonium and apart\\nfrom corporeal suffering altogether, may we behold,\\nin the full and final developments of character\\nalone, enough for imparting all its corrosion to the\\nworm that dieth not, enough for sustaining in all\\nits fierceness the fire that is not quenched.\\nBut there is another moral ingredient in the\\nfuture sufferings of the wicked beside the one of\\nwhich we have now spoken suggested to us by\\nthe second clause of our text and from which we\\nlearn, that not only will the unjust man carry his\\nfalsehoods and his frauds along with him to the\\nplace of condemnation, but that also the voluptuary\\nwill carry his unsanctifiecl habits and unhallowed\\npassions thitherward. Let him that is filthy be\\nfilthy still/ We would here take the opportunity\\nof exposing, what we fear is a frequent delusion in\\nsociety who give their respect to the man o\\nhonour and integrity and he does not. forfeit thai\\nrespect, though known at the same time to be v\\nman of dissipation. Not that we think any one oj\\nthe virtues which enter into the composition of a\\nperfect character can suffer without all the othei\\nvirtues suffering along with it. We believe that i\\\\\\nconjunction between a habit of unlawful pleasure\\nand the maintenance of a strict resolute exaltec 1\\nequity and truth, is very seldom, we could almos;", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0322.jp2"}, "323": {"fulltext": "AND NOT A LOCALITY.\\n321\\nsay, is never realized. The man of forbidden in-\\ndulgence in the prosecution of his objects has a\\nthousand degrading fears to encounter, and many\\nconcealments to practise perhaps low and un-\\nworthy artifices to which he must descend and\\nhow can either his honour or his humanity be said\\nto survive, if at length, in his heedless and impetu-\\nous career, he shall trample on the dearest rights\\nand the most sacred interests of families With\\nus it has all the authority of a moral aphorism,\\nthat the sobrieties of human virtue can never be\\ninvaded without the equities of human virtue also\\nbeing invaded. The moralities of human life are\\ntoo closely linked and interwoven with each other,\\nas that though one should be detached, the others\\nmight be left uninjured and entire and so no one\\ncan cast his purity away from him, without a vio-\\nlence being done to the general moral structure\\nand consistency of his whole character. But be\\nthis as it may, we have the authority of the text,\\nand the oft reiterated affirmations of the New\\nTestament, for saying of the voluptuary, that if\\nthe countenance of the world be not withdrawn\\nfrom him, the gate of heaven is at least shut against\\nhim that nothing unclean or unholy can enter\\nthere and that carrying his uncrucified affec-\\ntions into the place of condemnation, he will find\\nthem to be the ministers of wrath, the executioners\\nof a still sorer vengeance. The loathing, the re-\\nmorse, the felt and conscious degradation, the\\ndreariness of heart that follow in the train of guilty\\nindulgence here these form but the beginning of\\nhis sorrows, and are but the presages and the pre-\\n7 x", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0323.jp2"}, "324": {"fulltext": "HEAVEN A CHARACTER\\ncursors of that deeper wretchedness, which, by the\\nunrepealed laws of moral nature, the same character\\nwill entail on its possessors in another state of\\nexistence. They are but the penalties of vice in\\nembryo, and they may give at least the conception\\nof what are these penalties in full. It will add it\\nwill add inconceivably, to the darkness and disorder\\nof that moral chaos in which the impenitent shall\\nspend their eternity when the uproar of the bac-\\nchanalian and the licentious emotions is thus super-\\nadded to the selfish and malignant passions of our\\nnature and when the frenzy of unsated desire,\\nfollowed up by the languor and the compunction of\\nits worthless indulgence, shall make up the sad\\nhistory of many an unhappy spirit. We need not\\nto dwell on the picture, though it brings out into\\nbolder relief the all-important truth, that there is\\nan inherent bitterness in sin that by the very\\nconstitution of our nature, moral evil is its own\\ncurse and its own worst punishment that the\\nwicked on the other side of death, but reap what\\nthey sow on this side of it and that whether we\\nlook to the tortures of a distempered spirit, or to\\nthe countless ills of a distempered society, we may\\nbe very sure that to the character of its inmates a\\ncharacter which they have fostered upon earth, and\\nwhich now remains iixed on them through eternity\\nthe main wretchedness of hell is owing.\\nBefore quitting this part of the subject, we have\\nbut one remark more to offer. It may be felt as if\\nwe had overstated the owcr of mere character to\\nbeget a wretchedness at all approaching to the\\nwretchedness of hell seeing that the character is", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0324.jp2"}, "325": {"fulltext": "AND NOT A LOCALITY.\\n323\\noften realized in this world, without bringing along\\nwith it a distress or a discomfort w 7 hich is at all in-\\ntolerable. Neither the unjust man of our text, nor\\nthe licentious man of our text, is seen to be so un-\\nhappy here, in virtue of the moral characteristics\\nwhich respectively belong to them, as to justify the\\nimagination that there these characteristics will be\\nof power to effectuate such anguish and disorder of\\nspirit as we have now been representing. But it is\\nforgotten, first, that the world presents in its busi-\\nness, its amusements, and its various gratifications,\\na refuge from the mental agonies of reflection and\\nremorse and, secondly, that the governments of the\\nworld offer a restraint against ther outbreaking^ of\\nviolence which would keep up a perpetual anarchy\\nin the species. Let us simply conceive of these two\\nsecurities against our having even now a hell upon\\nearth, that they are both taken down that there is\\nno longer such a w T orld as ours, affording to each\\nindividual spirit innumerable diversions from the\\nburden of its own thoughts and no longer such a\\nhuman government as ours, affording to general\\nsociety a powerful defence against the countless\\nvariety of ills that would otherwise rage and tumul-\\ntuate within its borders then, as sure as that a\\nsolitary prison is felt by every criminal to be the\\nmost dreadful of all punishments and as sure as\\nthat on the authority of law being suspended, the\\nreign of terror would commence, and the unchained\\npassions of humanity would go forth over the face\\nof the land to raven and to destroy so surely, out\\nof moral elements and influences alone might an\\neternity of utter wretchedness and despair be en-", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0325.jp2"}, "326": {"fulltext": "324\\nHEAVEN A CHARACTER\\ntailed on the rebellious. And only let all the un-\\njust and all the licentious of our text be formed into\\na community by themselves, and the Christianity\\nwhich now acts as a purifying and preserving salt\\nupon the earth be wholly removed from them and\\nthen it will be seen that the picture has not been\\novercharged, but that the wretchedness is intense\\nand universal, just because the wickedness reigns\\nuncontrolled, without mixture and without mitiga-\\ntion.\\nBut we now exchange this appalling for a delight-\\nful contemplation. The next clause of our text\\nsuggests to us the moral character of heaven. We\\nlearn from it, that on the universal principle u as a\\ntree falleth so it lies/ the righteous now will be\\nrighteous still. We no more dispute the material\\naccompaniments of heaven, than we dispute the\\nmaterial accompaniments in the place of condem-\\nnation. But still we must affirm of the happiness\\nthat reigns and holds unceasing jubilee there that\\nmainly and pre-eminently it is the happiness of\\nvirtue that the joy of the eternal state is not so\\nmuch a sensible or a tasteful or even an intellectual\\nas it is a moral and spiritual joy that it is a thing\\nof mental infinitely more than it is a thing of cor-\\nporeal gratification and to convince us how much\\nthe former has the power and predominance over\\nthe latter, we bid you reflect, that even in this\\nworld, with all the defect and disorder of its ma-\\nterialism, the curse upon its ground inflicting the\\nnecessity of sore labour, and the angry tempest\\nfrom its sky after destroying or sweeping off the\\nfruits of it, the infirmity of their feeble and distem-", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0326.jp2"}, "327": {"fulltext": "AND NOT A LOCALITY.\\n325\\npered frames, after the pining sickness and at times\\nthe sore agony yet, in spite of these, we ask\\nwhether it would not hold nearly if not universally\\ntrue, that if all men were righteous then all men\\nwould be happy Just imagine for a moment, that\\nhonour and integrity and benevolence were perfect\\nand universal in the world; that each held the pro-\\nperty and right and reputation of his neighbour to\\nbe dear to him as his own that the suspicions and\\nthe jealousies and the heart-burnings, whether of\\nhostile violence or envious competition, were alto-\\ngether banished from human society; that the emo-\\ntions, at all times delightful, of goodwill on the one\\nside, were ever and anon calling the emotions no\\nless delightful of gratitude back again that truth\\nand tenderness held their secure abode in every\\nfamily and on stepping forth among the wider\\ncompanionships of life, that each could confidently\\nrejoice in every one he met with as a brother and a\\nfriend we ask if on this simple change, a change\\nyou will observe in the morale of humanity, though\\nwinter should repeat its storms as heretofore, and\\nevery element of Nature were to abide unaltered\\nyet, in virtue of a process and a revolution altogether\\nmental, would not our millennium have begun, and\\na heaven on earth be realized? Now let this contem-\\nplation be borne aloft as it were to the upper sanc-\\ntuary, where we are told there are the spirits of just\\nmen made perfect, or where those who were once\\nthe righteous on earth are righteous still. Let it be\\nremembered, that nothing is admitted there which\\nworketh wickedness or maketh a lie and that\\ntherefore, with every feculence of evil detached and", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0327.jp2"}, "328": {"fulltext": "326\\nHEAVEN A CHARACTER\\ndissevered from the mass, there is nought in heaven\\nhut the pure the transparent element of goodness\\nits unbounded love, its tried and unalterable faithful-\\nness, its confiding sincerity. Think of the expres-\\nsive designation given to it in the Bible, the land of\\nuprightness. Above all think, that, revealed in\\nvisible glory, the righteous God, who loveth right-\\neousness, there sitteth upon His throne in the midst\\nof a rejoicing family Himself rejoicing over them,\\nbecause formed in His own likeness, they love what\\nHe loves, they rejoice in what He rejoices. There\\nmay be palms of triumph there may be crowns of\\nunfading lustre there may be pavements of eme-\\nrald, and rivers of pleasure, and groves of surpassing\\nloveliness, and palaces of delight, and high arches\\nin heaven which ring with sweetest melody but,\\nmainly and essentially, it is a moral glory which is\\nlighted up there it is virtue which blooms and is\\nimmortal there it is the goodness by which the\\nspirits of the holy are regulated here, it is this which\\nforms the beatitude of eternity. The righteous now,\\nwho, when they die and rise again, shall be right-\\neous still, have heaven already in their bosoms and\\nwhen they enter within its portals, they carry the\\nvery being and substance of its blessedness along\\nwith them the character which is itself the whole\\nof heaveii s worth, the character which is the very\\nessence of heaven s enjoyments.\\nLet him that is holy, be holy Still The two\\nclauses descriptive of the character in the place of\\ncelestial blessedness, are counterparts to the clauses\\ndescriptive of the character in the place of infernal\\nwo. He that is righteous in the one stands con-", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0328.jp2"}, "329": {"fulltext": "AND NOT A LOCALITY.\\n327\\ntrasted with liim that is unjust in the other. He\\nthat is holy in the one stands contrasted with him\\nthat is licentious in the other. But we would have\\nyou attend to the full extent and significance of the\\nterm iC holy/ It is not abstinence from the outward\\ndeeds of profligacy alone. It is not a mere recoil\\nfrom impurity in action. It is a recoil from impurity\\nin thought. It is that quick and sensitive delicacy\\nto which even the very conception of evil is offensive\\na virtue which has its residence within which\\ntakes guardianship of the heart, as of a citadel or\\nunviolated sanctuary in which no wrong or worthless\\nimagination is permitted to dwell. It is not purity\\nof action that is all which we contend for. It is\\nexalted purity of sentiment the ethereal purity of\\nthe third heavens, which if once settled in the heart,\\nbrings the peace and the triumph and the unutter-\\nable serenity of heaven along with it. In the main-\\ntenance of this there is a curious elevation there is\\nthe complacency, we had almost said the pride, of a\\ngreat moral victory over the infirmities of an earthly\\nand accursed nature there is a health and harmony\\nto the soul a beauty of holiness, which though it\\neffloresces on the countenance and the manner and\\nthe outward path, is itself so thoroughly internal, as\\nto make purity of heart the most distinctive evidence\\nof a work of grace in time, the most distinct and\\ndecisive evidence of a character that is ripening and\\nexpanding for the glories of eternity. Blessed are\\nthe pure in heart, for they shall see God/ With-\\nout holiness no man shall see God. Into the holy\\ncity nothing which defileth or worketh an abomina-\\ntion shall enter. These are distinct and decisive", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0329.jp2"}, "330": {"fulltext": "HEAVEN A CHARACTER\\npassages, and point to that consecrated way through\\nwhich alone the gate of heaven can be opened to\\nus. On this subject, there is a remarkable harmony\\nbetween the didactic sayings of various books in the\\nNew Testament, and the descriptive scenes which\\nare laid before us in the book of Revelation. How-\\never partial and imperfect the glimpses there afford-\\ned of heaven may be, one thing is palpable as day,\\nthat holiness is its very atmosphere. It is the only\\nelement which its inmates breathe, and which it is\\ntheir supreme and ineffable delight to breathe in.\\nThey luxuriate therein as in their best-loved and\\nmost congenial element. Holiness is their oil of\\ngladness the elixir, if we may use the expression,\\nthe moral elixir of glorified spirits. And in their\\njoyful hosannas, w T hether of Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord\\nGod Almighty/ or of Just and true are thy ways,\\nthou King of Saints/ we may read, that as virtue\\nin the Godhead is the theme of their adoration, so\\nvirtue in themselves is the very treasure they have\\nlaid up in heaven the wealth as well as the orna-\\nment of their now celestial natures.\\nWe would once more advert to a prevalent delusion\\nthat obtains in society. We are aware of nothing\\nmore ruinous than the acquiescence of whole multi-\\ntudes in a low standard of qualifications for Heaven.\\nThe distinct aim is to be righteous now, that after\\nthe death and the resurrection you may be righteous\\nstill to be holy now, that you may be holy still.\\nBut hold it not enough that you are free from the\\ndishonesties which would forfeit the mere respect and\\nconfidence of the world, or from the profligacies which\\neven the world itself would hold to be disgraceful.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0330.jp2"}, "331": {"fulltext": "AND NOT A LOCALITY.\\n329\\nThere is a certain amount of morality which is in\\ndemand upon earth, but which is miserably short of\\nthe requisite preparation for Heaven the holiness\\nindispensable there, is a universal, an unspotted, and\\nwithal a mental and spiritual holiness. It is this\\nwhich distinguishes the morality of a regenerated and\\naspiring saint from the morality of a respectable\\ncitizen, who still is but a citizen of the world, with\\nhis conversation not in heaven, with neither his\\nheart nor his treasure there. The righteous of our\\ntext would recoil from the least act of unfaithfulness,\\nfrom being unfaithful in the least as from being un-\\nfaithful in much. The holy of our text w r ould shrink\\nin sensitive aversion and alarm from the first ap-\\nproaches of evil, from the incipient contaminations\\nof thought and fancy and feeling, as from the foul\\nand final contaminations of the outward history.\\nBoth are diligent to be found of Christ without spot\\nand blameless in the great day of account glorify-\\ning the Lord with their soul and spirit as well as\\nwith their bodies aspiring after those graces which,\\nunseen by every earthly eye, belong to the hidden\\nman of the heart, and in the sight of heaven are of\\ngreat price and so proceeding onward from strength\\nto strength on this lofty path of obedience, till they\\nappear perfect before God in Zion.\\nWe feel that we have not nearly exhausted the\\nsubject of our text by these brief and almost mis-\\ncellaneous observations. The truth is, it is a great\\ndeal too unwieldy for any single address, and we shall\\ntherefore conclude with the notice of one specimen,\\nthat might be alleged for the importance of the view\\nthat we have just given, in purging theology from", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0331.jp2"}, "332": {"fulltext": "330\\nHEAVEN A CHARACTER\\nerror. If the moral character then of these future\\nstates of existence were distinctly understood and\\nconsistently applied, it would serve directly and de-\\ncisively to extinguish antinomianism. It would, in\\nfact, reduce that heresy to a contradiction in terms.\\nThere is no sound and scriptural Christian who ever\\nthinks of virtue as the price of heaven. It is some-\\nthing a great deal higher, it is heaven itself the\\nvery essence, as we have already said, of heaven s\\nblessedness. It occupies therefore a much higher\\nplace than the secondary and the subordinate one\\nascribed to it even by many of the writers termed\\nevangelical who view it mainly as a token or an\\nevidence that heaven will be ours. Instead of which\\nit is the very substance of heaven a sample on hand\\nof the identical good which, in larger measure and\\npurer quality, is afterwards awaiting us an entrance\\non the path which leads to heaven or rather an\\nactual lodgement of oursejves within that line of de-\\nmarcation which separates the heaven of the New\\nTestament from the hell of the New Testament. For\\nheaven is not so much a locality as a character and\\nwe, by a moral transition from the old to the new\\ncharacter, have in fact crossed the threshold, and are\\nnow rejoicing within the confines of God s spiritual\\nfamily. By the doctrine of justification through\\nfaith, we understand that Christ purchased our right\\nof admittance into heaven or opened its door for\\nus. Is there aught antinomian in this The\\nobstacle, the legal obstacle, between us and a life of\\nprosperous and never-ending virtue, is now broken\\ndown and is it upon that event that we are to re-\\nlinquish the patli which has just been opened to wel-", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0332.jp2"}, "333": {"fulltext": "AND NOT A LOCALITY.\\n331\\ncome and invite our advancing footsteps The\\ndoctrine of justification by faith is not an ob-\\nstacle to virtue it is but an introduction to it.\\nIt is in truth the removal of an obstacle the un-\\nfastening of that drag which before held us in\\napathy and despair and restrained us from break-\\ning forth on that career of obedience in which,\\nwith the hope of glory before us we purify ourselves\\neven as Christ is pure. The purpose of His death\\nwas not to supersede, but to stimulate our obedi-\\nence. He gave himself for us to redeem us from\\nall iniquity, and purify to himself a peculiar people\\nzealous of good works. The object of His pro-\\nmises is not to lull our indolence, but rouse us to\\nactivity. Having received these promises, there-\\nfore, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from\\nall filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holi-\\nness in the fear of Grod.\\nWe expatiate no further but shall be happy, if,\\nas the fruit of these imperfect observations, you can\\nbe made to recognise how distinctly practical a\\nbusiness the work of Christianity is. It is simply to\\ndestroy one character, and to build up another in its\\nroom to resist the temptations which vitiate and\\ndebase, and make all the graces and moralities which\\nenter into the composition of perfect virtue the ob-\\njects of our most strenuous cultivation. In the ex-\\npediting of this mighty transformation, on the com-\\npletion of which there hinges our eternity, we have\\nneed of believing prayer a thorough renunciation\\nof all dependence on our own strength a thorough\\nreliance on the proffered strength and aid of the\\nupper sanctuary a deep sense of our infirmities, and", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0333.jp2"}, "334": {"fulltext": "3o2 HEAVEN A CHARACTER AND NOT A LOCALITY.\\nconstant application for that Spirit who has promised\\nto help them that, in the language of the Apostle,\\nwe may strive mightily, according to the grace which\\nworketh in us mightily.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0334.jp2"}, "335": {"fulltext": "THE REASONABLENESS OF FAITH.\\n3o3\\nDISCOURSE VII.\\nON THE REASONABLENESS OF FAITH.\\nBut before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up\\nunto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Galatianb\\niii. 23.\\nShut up unto the faith. This is the expression\\nwhich we fix upon as the subject of our present\\ndiscourse and to let you more effectually into the\\nmeaning of it, it may be right to state, that in the\\npreceding clause, kept under the law, the term\\nkept is, in the original Greek, derived from a word\\nwhich signifies a sentinel. The mode of conception\\nis altogether military. The law is made to act the\\npart of a sentry, guarding every avenue but one\\nand that one leads those who are compelled to take\\nit to the faith of the Gospel. They are shut up to\\nthis faith as their only alternative like an enemy\\ndriven by the superior tactics of an opposing general\\nto take up the only position in which they can main-\\ntain themselves, or fly to the only town in which\\nthey can find a refuge or a security. This seems to\\nhave been a favourite style of argument with Paul,\\nand the way in which he often carried on an intel-\\nlectual warfare with the enemies of His Master s\\ncause. It forms the basis of that masterly and\\ndecisive train of reasoning which we have in his", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0335.jp2"}, "336": {"fulltext": "334\\nTHE REASONABLENESS OF FAITH.\\nEpistle to the Romans. By the operation of a skil-\\nful tactics, he (if we may be allowed the expression)\\nmanoeuvred them, and (shut them up to the faith of\\nthe Gospel It gave prodigious effect to his argu-\\nment when he reasoned with them, as he often does,\\nupon their own principles, and turned them into in-\\nstruments of conviction against themselves. With\\nthe Jews he reasoned as a J ew. He made a full con-\\ncession to them of the leading principles of Judaism,\\nand this gave him possession of the vantage-ground\\nupon which these principles stood. He made use\\nof the Jewish law as a sentinel to shut them out of\\nevery other refuge, and to shut them up to the refuge\\nlaid before them in the Gospel. He led them to\\nChrist by a schoolmaster which they could not refuse\\nand the lesson of this schoolmaster, though a very\\ndecisive, was a very short one. Cursed be he that\\ncontinueth not in all the words of this law to do\\nthem/ But in point of fact they had not done them.\\nTo them then belonged the curse of the violated\\nlaw. The awful severity of its sanctions was upon\\nthem. They found the faith and the free offer of\\nthe Gospel to be the only avenue open to receive\\nthem. They were shut up unto this avenue and\\nthe law, by concluding them all to be under sin, left\\nthem no outlet but the free act of grace and of mercy\\nlaid before us in the New Testament.\\nBut this is not the only example of that peculiar\\nway in which St. Paul has managed his discussions\\nwith the enemies of the faith. He carried the prin-\\nciple of being all things to all men into his very\\nreasonings. He had Gentiles as well as Jews to\\ncontend with and he often made some sentiment", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0336.jp2"}, "337": {"fulltext": "THE REASONABLENESS OF FAITH.\\n335\\nor conviction of their own, the starting point of his\\nargument. In this same epistle to the Romans, he\\npleaded with the Gentiles the acknowledged law of\\nnature and of conscience. In his speech to the men\\nof Athens, he dated his argument from a point in\\ntheir own superstition. In this way he drew converts\\nboth from the ranks of Judaism and the ranks of\\nidolatry and whether it was the school of Gamaliel\\nin Jerusalem, or the school of poetry and philosophy\\nin countries of refinement, that he had to contend\\nwith, his accomplished mind was never at a loss for\\nprinciples by which he bore down the hostility of\\nhis adversaries, and shut them up unto the faith.\\nBut there is a fashion in philosophy as well as in\\nother things. In the course of centuries, new\\nschools are formed and the old, with all their doc-\\ntrines, and all their plausibilities, sink into oblivion.\\nThe restless appetite of the human mind for specu-\\nlation must have novelties to feed upon and after\\nthe countless fluctuations of two thousand years,\\nthe age in which we live has its own taste and its\\nown style of sentiment to characterize it. If Paul,\\nvested with a new apostolical commission, were to\\nmake his appearance amongst us, we should like to\\nknow how he would shape his argument to the reign-\\ning taste and philosophy of the times. We should\\nlike to confront him with the literati of the day,\\nand hear him lift his intrepid voice in our halls and\\ncolleges. In his speech to the men of Athens, lie\\nrefers to certain of their own poets. We should like\\nto hear his references to the poetry and the publi-\\ncations of modern Europe and while the science\\nof this cultivated age stood to listen in all the pride", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0337.jp2"}, "338": {"fulltext": "336\\nTHE REASONABLENESS OF FAITH.\\nof academic dignity, we should like to know the\\narguments of him who was determined to know\\nnothing save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.\\nBut all this is little better than the indulgence\\nof a dream. St. Paul has already fought the good\\nfight, and his course is finished. The battles of\\nthe faith are now in other hands and though the\\nwisdom, and the eloquence, and the inspiration of\\nPaul have departed from among us, yet he has left\\nbehind him the record of his principles. With this\\nfor our guide, w T e may attempt to do what he him-\\nself calls upon us to do. We may attempt to be\\nfollowers of him. We may imitate him in the in-\\ntrepid avowal of his principles and we may try,\\nhowever humbly and imperfectly, to imitate his style\\nof defending them. We may accommodate our\\nargument to the reigning principles of the day. We\\nmay be all things to all men and out of the leading-\\nvarieties of taste and of sentiment which obtain in\\nthe present age, and in the present country, we\\nmay try if we can collect something which may be\\nturned into an instrument of conviction for reclaim-\\ning men from their delusions, and shutting them up\\nunto the faith.\\nThere is first, then, the school of Natural Reli-\\ngion a school founded on the competency of the\\nhuman mind to know God by the exercise of its\\nown faculties to clothe Him in the attributes of its\\nown demonstration to serve Him by a worship\\nand a law of its own discovery and to assign to\\nHim a mode of procedure in the administration of\\nthis vast universe, upon the strength and the plausi-\\nbility of its own theories. We have not time at", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0338.jp2"}, "339": {"fulltext": "THE REASONABLENESS OF FAITH. 337\\npresent for exposing the rash and un philosophical\\naudacity of all these presumptions. We lay hold\\nof one of them and we maintain, that if steadily\\nadhered to and consistently carried into its con-\\nsequences, it would empty the school of natural\\nreligion of all its disciples it would shut them up\\nunto the faith, and impress one rapid and universal\\nmovement into the school of Christ. The princi-\\nple which we allude to makes a capital figure in\\ntheir self-formed speculations and it is neither\\nmore nor less than the judicial government of God\\nover moral and accountable creatures. They hold\\nthat there is a law. They hold the human race to\\nbe bound to obedience. They hold the authority of\\nthe law to be supported by sanctions and that the\\ntruth and justice and dignity of the supreme Being\\nare involved in these sanctions being enforced and\\nexecuted. One step more, and they are fairly shut\\nup unto the faith. That law which they hold to be\\nin full authority and operation over us, has been\\nmost unquestionably violated. We appeal, as Paul\\ndid before us, to the actual state of the human heart\\nand of human performances. We ask them to open\\ntheir eyes to the world around them to respect,\\nlike true philosophers, the evidence of observation,\\nand not to flinch from the decisive undeniable fact\\nwhich this evidence lays before them. Men are\\nunder the law, and that law they have violated.\\nThere is not a just man on earth, that sinneth\\nnot/ It is not to open, shameless, and abandoned\\nprofligacy that we are pointing your attention.\\nWe make our confident appeal to the purest and\\nloveliest of the species. We rest our cause with\\n7 y", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0339.jp2"}, "340": {"fulltext": "338\\nTHE REASONABLENESS OF FAITH.\\nthe most virtuous individual of our nature. We\\nenter his heart, and from what passes there, we can\\ngather enough, and more than enough, to overthrow\\nthis tottering and unsupported fabric. We take a\\nsurvey of its desires, its wishes, its affections\u00e2\u0080\u0094\\nand we put the question to the consciousness of its\\npossessor, if all these move in obedient harmony\\neven to the law of natural religion. The external\\nconduct viewed separately and in itself, is, in the\\neye of every enlightened moralist, nothing. It is\\nmere visible display. Virtue consists in the motive\\nwhich lies behind it and the soul is the place of\\nits essential residence. Bring the soul then into\\nimmediate comparison with the law of God. Think\\nof the pure and spiritual service which it exacts\\nfrom you. Amid all the busy and complicated\\nmovements of the inner man, is there no estrange-\\nment from God? Are there no tumultuous wander-\\nings from that purity, and goodness, and truth,\\nwhich even philosophers ascribe to Him Is there\\nno shortcoming from the holiness of His law, and\\nthe magnificence of His eternity Is there no\\nslavish devotion to the paltry things of sense and\\nof the world Is there no dreary interval of hours\\ntogether, when God is unfelt and unthought of? Is\\nthere no one time when the mind delivers itself\\nup to the guidance of its own feelings and its own\\nvanities when it moves at a distance from heaven\\nand whether in solitude or among acquaintances,\\ncarries along, without any reference to that Being\\nwhose arm is perpetually upon me who, at this\\nmoment, is at my right hand, and measures out to\\nmo every hairbreadth of my existence who upholds", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0340.jp2"}, "341": {"fulltext": "THE REASONABLENESS OF FAITH.\\n339\\nme through every point of that time which runs from\\nthe first cry of my infancy to that dark hour when\\nthe weight of my dying agonies is upon me whose\\nlove and whose kindness are ever present, to give\\nme every breath which I draw, and every comfort\\nwhich I enjoy? We grant the disciples of natural\\nreligion the truth of their own principle, that we\\nare under the moral government of the Almighty\\nand by the simple addition of one undeniable\\nfact to their speculation, we shut them up unto the\\nfaith. The simple fact is, that we are rebels to\\nthat government and the punishment of these rebels\\nis due to the vindication of its insulted authority.\\nTo say that God will perpetually interpose with\\nan act of oblivion, would be vastly convenient for\\nus but what then becomes of that moral govern-\\nment which figures away in the demonstrations of\\nmoralists Does it turn out after all, to be no-\\nthing more than an idle and unmeaning declamation,\\non which they love to expatiate, without anything\\nlike real attention or belief on the part of the\\nthinking principle If they are not true to their\\nown professed convictions, we can undertake to\\nshut them up to nothing. This is slipping from\\nunder us but it is by an actual desertion of their\\nown principle. If you cannot get them to stand\\nto the argument, the argument is discharged upon\\nthem in vain. If this be the result, we do not\\npromise ourselves that all we can say shall have\\nany weight upon their convictions not, however,\\nbecause they have gained a victory, but because\\nthey have betaken themselves to flight. At the\\nvery moment that we thought of shutting them up.", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0341.jp2"}, "342": {"fulltext": "340\\nTHE REASONABLENESS OF FAITH.\\nand binding them in captivity to the obedience of\\nthe truth, they have turned about and got away\\nfrom us but how By an open renunciation of\\ntheir own principle. Look at the great majority of\\ninfidel and demi-infidel authors, and they concur in\\nrepresenting man as an accountable subject, and\\nGod as a judge and a lawgiver. Examine then the\\naccount which this subject has to render and you\\nwill see, in characters too glaring to be resisted, that\\nwith the purest and most perfect individual amongst\\nus, it is a wretched account of guilt and deficiency.\\nWhat make you of this Is the subject to rebel and\\ndisobey every hour, and the King, by a perpetual act\\nof indulgence, to efface every character of truth and\\ndignity from His government? Do this, and you\\ndepose the legislator from His throne. You reduce\\nthe sanctions of His law to a name and a mockery.\\nYou give the lie to your own speculation. You pull\\nthe fabric of His moral government to pieces and\\nyou give a spectacle to angels which makes them\\nweep compassion on your vanity poor, pigmy, per-\\nishable man, prescribing a way to the Eternal, and\\nbringing down the high economy of Heaven to the\\nstandard of his convenience and his wishes. This\\nwill never do. If there be any truth in the law of\\nGod over the creatures whom He has formed, and if\\nthat law w T e have trampled upon, we are amenable\\nto its sentence. Ours is the dark and unsheltered\\nstate of condemnation and if there be a single out-\\nlet or way of escaping, it cannot be such a way as\\nwill abolish the law and degrade the Lawgiver but\\nit must be such a way as will vindicate and exalt the\\nDeity as will pour a tide of splendour over the", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0342.jp2"}, "343": {"fulltext": "THE REASONABLENESS OF FAITH.\\n341\\nmajesty of His high attributes and as in the sublime\\nlanguage of the prophet, who saw it from afar, will\\nmagnify His law, and make it honourable. To this\\nway we are fairly shut up. It is our only alter-\\nnative. It is offered to us in the Gospel of the New\\nTestament. I am the way, says the Author of that\\nGospel, and by me, if any man enter in, he shall be\\nsaved. In the appointment of this Mediator in\\nHis death, to make propitiation for the sins of the\\nworld in His triumph over the powers of darkness\\nin the voice heard from the clouds of heaven, and\\nissuing from the mouth of God himself, This is my\\nbeloved Son, in whom I am well pleased in the re-\\nsistless argument of the Apostle, who declares God\\nto be just, and the justifier of him that believeth in\\nJesus in the undoubted miracles which accom-\\npanied the preaching of this illustrious personage,\\nand His immediate followers in the noble train of\\nprophecy, of which He was the object and the termi-\\nnation in the choir of angels from heaven, who sung\\nHis entrance into the world and in the sublime\\nascension from the grave, which carried Him away\\nfrom it in all this we see a warrant and a security\\ngiven to the work of our redemption in the New\\nTestament, before which philosophy and all her\\nspeculations vanish into nothing. Let us betake\\nourselves to this w r ay. Let us rejoice in being shut\\nup unto it. It is passing, in fact, from death unto life\\nor, from our being under the law, which speaks\\ntribulation and wrath to every soul of man that\\ndoeth evil, to being under the grace which speaks\\nquietness and assurance for ever to all that repair to\\nit. The Scripture hath concluded all to be under", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0343.jp2"}, "344": {"fulltext": "342\\nTHE REASONABLENESS OF FAITH.\\nsin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might\\nbe given to them that believe.\\nWe now pass on from the school of natural religion\\nto another school, possessing distinct features and\\nof which we conceive the most expressive designation\\nto be, the school of Classical Morality. The lessons\\nof this school are given to the public in the form of\\nperiodical essays, elaborate dissertations on the\\nprinciples of virtue, eloquent and often highly in-\\nteresting pictures of its loveliness and dignity, the\\ncharm that it imparts to domestic retirement, and\\nits happy subservience to the peace, and order, and\\nwellbeing of society. It differs from the former\\nschool in one leading particular. It does not carry\\nin its speculations so distinct and positive a refer-\\nence to the Supreme Being. It is true, that our\\nduties to Him are found to occupy a place in the\\ncatalogue of its virtues but then the principle on\\nwhich they are made to rest, is not the will of God,\\nor obedience to His law. They are rather viewed\\nas a species of moral accomplishment the effect of\\nwhich is to exalt and embellish the individual.\\nThey form a component part of what they call vir-\\ntue but if virtue be looked upon in no other light\\nthan as the dress of the mind, we maintain, that in\\nthe act of admiring this dress, and of even attempt-\\ning to put it on, you may stand at as great a dis-\\ntance from God, and He be as little in your thoughts,\\nas in the tasteful choice of your apparel, for the\\ndress and ornament of the body. The object of\\nthese writers is not to bring their readers under a\\nsense of the dominion and authority of God. The\\nmain principle of their morality is not to please God,", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0344.jp2"}, "345": {"fulltext": "THE REASONABLENESS OF FAITH.\\n343\\nbut to adorn man to throw the splendour of virtue\\nand accomplish ment around him to bring him up\\nto what they call the end and the dignity of his being\\nto raise him to the perfection of his nature and\\nto rear a spectacle for the admiration of men and of\\nangels, whom they figure to look down with rapture\\nfrom their high eminence on the perseverance of a\\nmortal in the career of worth, and integrity, and\\nhonour. This is all very fine. It makes a good pic-\\nture but what we insist upon is, that it is a fancy\\npicture that without the limits of Christianity and\\nits influence, you will not meet with a single family\\nor a single individual to realize it that the whole\\nrange of human experience furnishes no resemblance\\nto it and that it is as unlike to what we find among\\nthe men of the world, or in the familiar walks of so-\\nciety, as the garden of Eden is unlike the desolation\\nof a pestilence. The representation is beautiful\\nbut more flattering than it is fair. It is a gaudy de-\\nception, and stands at as great a distance from the\\ntruth of observation as it does from the truth of the\\nNew Testament. There is positively nothing like it\\nin the whole round of human experience. It is the\\nmere glitter of imagination. It may serve to throw\\na tinsel colouring over the pages of an ambitious elo-\\nquence but with business and reality for our objects,\\nwe may describe the tour of many thousand families,\\nor take our station for years in the market-place, and\\nin our attempts to realize the picture which has been\\nlaid before us, we will be sure to meet with nothing\\nbut vanity, fatigue, and disappointment. Now, the\\nquestion we have to put to the disciples of this school\\nis, are they really sincere in this admiration of vir-", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0345.jp2"}, "346": {"fulltext": "344\\nTHE REASONABLENESS OF FAITH.\\ntue Is it a true process of sentiment within them\\nWe are willing to share in their admiration, and to\\nascend the highest summit of moral excellence along\\nwith them. We join issue with them on their own\\nprinciple, and coupling it with the obvious and un-\\ndeniable fact of man s depravity, we shut them up\\nunto the faith. Virtue is the idol which they profess\\nto venerate and this virtue, as it exists in their own\\nconceptions, and figures in their own dissertations,\\nthey cannot find. In proportion to their regard for\\nvirtue must be their disappointment at missing her\\nand when we witness the ardour of their senti-\\nments, and survey the elegance of their high-wrought\\npictures, what must be the humiliation of these men,\\nwe think, when they look on the world around them,\\nand contrast the purity of their own sketches with\\nthe vices and the degradation of the species. Grosser\\nbeings may be satisfied with the average morality of\\nmankind but if there be any truth in their high\\nstandard of perfection, or any sincerity in their aspi-\\nrations after it, it is impossible that they can be\\nsatisfied. By one single step do we lead them from\\nthe high tone of academic sentiment to the sober\\nhumility of the Gospel. Give them their time to ex-\\npatiate on virtue, and they cannot be too loud or\\neloquent in her praises. We have only a single sen-\\ntence to add to their description The picture is\\nbeautiful, but on the whole surface of the world we\\ndefy them to fasten upon one exemplification and\\nby every grace which they have thrown around\\ntheir idol, and every addition they have made\\nto her loveliness, they have only thrown mankind\\nat a distance more helpless and more irrecover-", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0346.jp2"}, "347": {"fulltext": "THE REASONABLENESS OF FAITH.\\n345\\nable from their high standard of duty and of ex-\\ncellence.\\nThe tasteful admirer of eloquent description and\\nbeautiful morality, turns with disgust from those\\nmortifying pictures of man which abound in the\\nNew Testament. We only ask them to combine,\\nwith all this finery and eloquence, what has been\\nesteemed as the best attribute of a philosopher\\nrespect for the evidence of observation. We ask\\nthem to look at man as he is, and compare him with\\nman as they would have him to be. If they find\\nthat he falls miserably short of their ideal standard\\nof excellence, what is this but making a principle of\\ntheir own the instrument of shutting them up unto\\nthe faith of the Gospel, or, at least, shutting them\\nup unto one of the most peculiar of its doctrines, the\\ndepravity of our nature, or the dismal ravage which\\nthe power of sin has made upon the moral constitu-\\ntion of the species The doctrine of the academic\\nmoralist, so far from reaching a wound to the doctrine\\nof the Apostle, gives an additional energy to all his\\nsentiments. My mind approves the things which\\nare more excellent, but how to perform that which\\nis good, I find not/ I delight in the law of God\\nafter the inward man. But the good that I would\\nI do not, and the evil that I would not, that I do/\\nBut the faith of the Gospel does not stop here. It\\ndoes not rest satisfied with shutting us up unto a be-\\nlief of the fact of human depravity. That depravity\\nit proposes to do away. It professes itself equal to the\\nmighty achievement of rooting out the deeply-seated\\ncorruption of our nature of making us new creatures", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0347.jp2"}, "348": {"fulltext": "346\\nTHE REASONABLENESS OF FAITH.\\nin Christ Jesus of destroying the old man and his\\ndeeds, and bringing every rebellious movement with-\\nin us under the dominion of a new and a better\\nprinciple. If sincere in your admiration of virtue,\\nyou are shut up unto the only expedient for the re-\\nestablishment of virtue in the world. That expedi-\\nent is the Spirit of God working in the heart of\\nbelievers quickening those who were dead in tres-\\npasses and sins, and bringing into action the same\\nmighty power which raised Jesus from the grave,\\nfor raising us who believe in Jesus to newness of\\nlife and of obedience. This is the process of sanctifi-\\ncation laid before us in the New Testament. A\\nwonderful process it undoubtedly is but are we\\nwho walk in a world of mystery, who have had only\\na few little years to look about us, and are bewildered\\nat every step amid the variety of God s works and\\nof His counsels, are we to reject a process because\\nit is wonderful Must no step, no operation of the\\nmighty God be admitted, till it is brought under the\\ndominion of our faculties and shall we who strut\\nour little hour in the humblest of His mansions, pre-\\nscribe a law to Him whose arm is abroad upon all\\nworlds, and whose eye can take in at a single glance\\nthe unmeasurable fields of creation and providence\\nBe it as wonderful as it may enough for us that it\\nis made sure by the distinct and authentic testimony\\nof heaven and if, from the mouth of Jesus, who is\\nheaven s messenger, we are told, that unless a man\\nbe born of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the king-\\ndom/ it is our part submissively to acquiesce, and\\nhumbly to pray for it Whatever repugnance others", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0348.jp2"}, "349": {"fulltext": "THE REASONABLENESS OF FAITH. 34 7\\nmay feel to this part of the revealed counsels of God,\\nthose who look to a sublime standard of moral ex-\\ncellence, and sigh for the establishment of its autho-\\nrity in the world, ought to rejoice in it. It is the only\\nremaining expedient for giving effect and reality to\\ntheir own declamations, and they are fairly shut up\\nunto it. Long have they tried to repair the disorders\\nof a ruined world. Many an expedient has been\\nfallen upon. Temples have been reared to science\\nand to virtue and from the lofty academic chair\\nthe wisdom of this world has lifted its voice amid a\\ncrowd of listening admirers. For thousands of years\\nthe unaided powers and principles of humanity\\nhave done their uttermost and tell us, ye advocates\\nfor the dignity of the species, the amount of their\\noperation. If you refuse to answer, we shall answer\\nfor you and do not hesitate to say, that mighty\\nin promise and wretched in accomplishment, you\\nhave positively done nothing that all the wisdom\\nof the schools, and all its vapouring demonstrations,\\nhave not had the least perceptible weight when\\nbrought to bear upon the mass of human character\\nand human performance that the corruption of\\nthe inner man has not yielded at all to your rea-\\nsoning, and remains as unsubdued and as obstinate\\na principle as ever that the power of depravity in\\nthe soul of man is beyond you and that setting\\naside the real operation of Christianity in the hearts\\nof individuals, and the surface-dressing which the\\nhand of legislation has thrown over the face of so-\\nciety, the human soul, if seen in its nakedness, would\\nstill be seen in all its original deformity as strong", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0349.jp2"}, "350": {"fulltext": "348\\nTHE REASONABLENESS OF FAITH.\\nin selfishness, as lawless in propensity, as devoted to\\nsense and to time, as estranged from God, as un-\\nmindful of the obedience, and as indifferent to the\\nreward and the inheritance of His children.\\nThe machine has gone into disorder and there\\nis not a single power within the compass of the\\nmachinery itself that is able to repair it. You must\\ndo as you do in other cases you must have recourse\\nto some external application. The inefficacy of\\nevery tried expedient shuts you up unto the only\\nremaining one. Every human principle has been\\nbrought to bear upon it in vain and we are shut\\nup unto the necessity of some other principle that is\\nbeyond humanity and above it. The Spirit of God\\nis that mighty principle. That Spirit which moved\\non the face of the waters, and made light, and peace,\\nand beauty to emerge out of the wild war of Nature\\nand her elements, is the revealed agent of Heaven\\nfor repairing the disorders of sin and restoring the\\nmoral creation of God to health and to loveliness.\\nIt will create us anew unto good works. It will make\\nus again after that image in which we were origi-\\nnally formed. It will sanctify us by the faith that is\\nin Jesus. And by that mighty power whereby it is\\nable to subdue all things unto itself, it will obtain\\nthe victory over that spirit which now worketh in\\nthe children of disobedience. The resurrection of\\nJesus from the dead is the first fruit of its operation,\\nand to him who believes, it is the satisfying pledge\\nof its future triumphs. That body, which, left to\\nitself, would have mouldered into fragments, is now\\nin all the bloom of immortality at the right hand", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0350.jp2"}, "351": {"fulltext": "THE REASONABLENESS OF FAITH.\\n349\\nof the everlasting throne. We have tried the opera-\\ntion of a thousand principles in vain. Let us repair\\nto this, so great in promise, and so mighty in per-\\nformance. It has already achieved its wonders. It\\nhas wrought those miracles of faith and fortitude\\nwhich, in the first ages of Christianity, threw a\\ngleam of triumph over the horrors of martyrdom.\\nIt has given us displays of the great and the noble\\nwhich are without example in history and from\\nthe first moment of its operation in the world, it has\\nbeen working in those unseen retirements of the\\ncottage and the family, where the eye of the his-\\ntorian never penetrates. The admirers of virtue are\\nfairly shut up unto the faith for faith is the only\\navenue that leads to it. To your faith add virtue,\\nsays the Apostle and that you may be able to\\nmake the addition, the promise of the Spirit is given\\nto them that believe.\\nWe should now pass on to another school, the\\nschool of fine feeling and poetical sentiment. It\\ndiffers from the former in this that while the one,\\nin its dissertations on virtue, carries us up to the\\nprinciples of duty, the other paints and admires it\\nas a tasteful exhibition of what is fair and lovely in\\nhuman character. The one makes virtue its idol\\nbecause of its rectitude the other makes virtue its\\nidol because of its beauty and the process of\\nreasoning by which they are shut up unto the faith,\\nis the same in both. Look at the actual state of\\nthe world, and we find that both the rectitude and\\nthe beauty are awanting. If you admire the one,\\nand love the other, you are shut up unto the only", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0351.jp2"}, "352": {"fulltext": "350\\nTHE REASONABLENESS OF FAITH.\\nexpedient that is able to restore them and that ex-\\npedient is sanctioned by the truth of heaven, and\\nhas all the power of omnipotence employed in giving\\neffect to the operation the Spirit of Grod subduing\\nall things unto itself putting the law in our hearts,\\nand writing it in our minds and by bringing the\\nsoul of man under the influence of whatsoever\\nthings are pure, or honest, or lovely, or of good re-\\nport/ creating a finer spectacle, and rearing a fairer\\nand more unfading flower, than ever grew in the\\ngardens of poetry.\\nThe processes are so entirely similar, that we\\nwould not have made it the distinct object of your\\nattention, had it not been for the sake of an argu-\\nment in behalf of the faith, which may be addressed\\nwith great advantage to the literary and cultivated\\norders of society. There are few people of literary\\ncultivation who have not read a novel. In this\\nfictitious composition, there are often one or two\\nperfect characters that figure in the history, and de-\\nlight the imagination of the reader and you are at\\nlast landed in some fairy scene of happiness and\\nvirtue, which it is quite charming to contemplate,\\nand which you would like to aspire after perhaps\\nsome interesting family in the bosom of which love,\\nand innocence, and tranquillity, have fixed them-\\nselves where the dark and angry passions never\\nenter where suspicion is unknown, and every eye\\nmeets another in the full glance of cordiality and\\naffection where charity reigns triumphant, and\\nsmiles beneficence and joy upon the humble cottages\\nwhich surround it. Now this is very soothing and", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0352.jp2"}, "353": {"fulltext": "", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0353.jp2"}, "354": {"fulltext": "", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0354.jp2"}, "355": {"fulltext": "", "height": "4054", "width": "2326", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0355.jp2"}, "356": {"fulltext": "", "height": "4454", "width": "2600", "jp2-path": "discoursesonchri00chal_0_0356.jp2"}}