The latter clause of the text specifies the general characte

SERMONS TO THE NATURAL MAN.

BY

WILLIAM G. T. SHEDD, D. D.,

AUTHOR OF "A HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE," "HOMILETICS AND PASTORAL.

THEOLOGY," "DISCOURSES AND ESSAYS," "PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY," ETC.

NEW YORK: CHARLES SCRIBNER & CO., 654 BROADWAY. 1871.

PREFACE.

It is with a solemn feeling of responsibility that I send forth this

volume of Sermons. The ordinary emotions of authorship have little place

in the experience, when one remembers that what he says will be either a

means of spiritual life, or an occasion of spiritual death.

I believe that the substance of these Discourses will prove to accord

with God's revealed truth, in the day that will try all truth. The title

indicates their general aim and tendency. The purpose is psychological. I

would, if possible, anatomize the natural heart. It is in vain to offer

the gospel unless the law has been applied with clearness and cogency. At

the present day, certainly, there is far less danger of erring in the

direction of religious severity, than in the direction of religious

indulgence. If I have not preached redemption in these sermons so fully

as I have analyzed sin, it is because it is my deliberate conviction

that just now the first and hardest work to be done by the preacher, for

the natural man, is to produce in him some sensibility upon the subject

of sin. Conscience needs to become consciousness. There is considerable

theoretical unbelief respecting the doctrines of the New Testament; but

this is not the principal difficulty. Theoretical skepticism is in a

small minority of Christendom, and always has been. The chief obstacle to

the spread of the Christian religion is the practical unbelief of

speculative believers. "Thou sayest,"--says John Bunyan,--"thou dost in

deed and in truth believe the Scriptures. I ask, therefore, Wast thou

ever killed stark dead by the law of works contained in the Scriptures?

Killed by the law or letter, and made to see thy sins against it, and

left in an helpless condition by the law? For, the proper work of the law

is to slay the soul, and to leave it dead in an helpless state. For, it

doth neither give the soul any comfort itself, when it comes, nor doth it

show the soul where comfort is to be had; and therefore it is called the

'ministration of condemnation,' the 'ministration of death.' For, though

men may have a notion of the blessed Word of God, yet before they be

converted, it may be truly said of them, Ye err, not knowing the

Scriptures, nor the power of God."

If it be thought that such preaching of the law can be dispensed with, by

employing solely what is called in some quarters the preaching of the

gospel, I do not agree with the opinion. The benefits of Christ's

redemption are pearls which must not be cast before swine. The gospel is

not for the stupid, or for the doubter,--still less for the scoffer.

Christ's atonement is to be offered to conscious guilt, and in order to

conscious guilt there must be the application of the decalogue. John

Baptist must prepare the way for the merciful Redeemer, by legal and

close preaching. And the merciful Redeemer Himself, in the opening of His

ministry, and before He spake much concerning remission of sins, preached

a sermon which in its searching and self-revelatory character is a more

alarming address to the corrupt natural heart, than was the first

edition of it delivered amidst the lightnings of Sinai. The Sermon on the

Mount is called the Sermon of the Beatitudes, and many have the

impression that it is a very lovely song to the sinful soul of man. They

forget that the blessing upon obedience implies a _curse_ upon

disobedience, and that every mortal man has disobeyed the Sermon on the

Mount. "God save me,"--said a thoughtful person who knew what is in the

Sermon on the Mount, and what is in the human heart,--"God save me from

the Sermon on the Mount when I am judged in the last day." When Christ

preached this discourse, He preached the law, principally. "Think

not,"--He says,--"that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am

not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven

and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law

till all be fulfilled." John the Baptist describes his own preaching,

which was confessedly severe and legal, as being far less searching than

that of the Messiah whose near advent he announced. "I indeed baptize you

with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than

I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the

Holy Ghost and with _fire_; whose _fan_ is in his hand, and he will

_thoroughly purge_ his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but

he will _burn up the chaff_ with unquenchable fire."

The general burden and strain of the Discourse with which the Redeemer

opened His ministry is preceptive and mandatory. Its keynote is: "Thou

shalt do this," and, "Thou shalt not do that;" "Thou shalt be thus, in

thine heart," and, "Thou shalt not be thus, in thine heart." So little is

said in it, comparatively, concerning what are called the doctrines of

grace, that it has often been cited to prove that the creed of the Church

has been expanded unduly, and made to contain more than the Founder of

Christianity really intended it should. The absence, for example, of any

direct and specific statement of the doctrine of Atonement, in this

important section of Christ's teaching, has been instanced by the

Socinian opponent as proof that this doctrine is not so vital as the

Church has always claimed it to be. But, Christ was purposely silent

respecting grace and its methods, until he had _spiritualized Law_, and

made it penetrate the human consciousness like a sharp sword. Of what use

would it have been to offer mercy, before the sense of its need had been

elicited? and how was this to be elicited, but by the solemn and

authoritative enunciation of law and justice? There are, indeed, cheering

intimations, in the Sermon on the Mount, respecting the Divine mercy, and

so there are in connection with the giving of the Ten Commandments. But

law, rather than grace, is the main substance and burden of both. The

great intention, in each instance, is to convince of sin, preparatory to

the offer of clemency. The Decalogue is the legal basis of the Old

Dispensation, and the Sermon on the Mount is the legal basis of the New.

When the Redeemer, in the opening of His ministry, had provided the

apparatus of conviction, then He provided the apparatus of expiation. The

Great High-Priest, like the Levitical priest who typified Him, did not

sprinkle atoning blood indiscriminately. It was to bedew only him who

felt and confessed guilt.

This legal and minatory element in the words of Jesus has also been

noticed by the skeptic, and an argument has been founded upon it to prove

that He was soured by ill-success, and, like other merely human reformers

who have found the human heart too hard, for them, fell away from the

gentleness with which He began His ministry, into the anger and

denunciation of mortified ambition with which it closed. This is the

picture of Jesus Christ which Rénan presents in his apocryphal Gospel.

But the fact is, that the Redeemer _began_ with law, and was rigorous

with sin from the very first. The Sermon on the Mount was delivered not

far from twelve months from the time of His inauguration, by baptism, to

the office of Messiah. And all along through His ministry of three years

and a half, He constantly employs the law in order to prepare his hearers

for grace. He was as gentle and gracious to the penitent sinner, in the

opening of His ministry, as he was at the close of it; and He was as

unsparing and severe towards the hardened and self-righteous sinner, in

His early Judaean, as He was in His later Galilean ministry.

It is sometimes said that the surest way to produce conviction of sin is

to preach the Cross. There is a sense in which this is true, and there is

a sense in which it is false. If the Cross is set forth as the cursed

tree on which the Lord of Glory hung and suffered, to satisfy the demands

of Eternal Justice, then indeed there is fitness in the preaching to

produce the sense of guilt. But this is to preach the _law_, in its

fullest extent, and the most tremendous energy of its claims. Such

discourse as this must necessarily analyze law, define it, enforce it,

and apply it in the most cogent manner. For, only as the atonement of

Christ is shown to completely meet and satisfy all these _legal_ demands

which have been so thoroughly discussed and exhibited, is the real virtue

and power of the Cross made manifest.

But if the Cross is merely held up as a decorative ornament, like that on

the breast of Belinda, "which Jews might kiss and infidels adore;" if it

be proclaimed as the beautiful symbol of the Divine indifference and

indulgence, and there be a studious _avoiding_ of all judicial aspects

and relations; if the natural man is not searched by law and alarmed by

justice, but is only soothed and narcotized by the idea of an

Epicurean deity destitute of moral anger and inflicting no righteous

retribution,--then, there will be no conviction of sin. Whenever the

preaching of the law is positively _objected_ to, and the preaching of

the gospel is proposed in its place, it will be found that the "gospel"

means that good-nature and that easy virtue which some mortals dare to

attribute to the Holy and Immaculate Godhead! He who really, and in good

faith, preaches the Cross, never opposes the preaching of the law.

Still another reason for the kind of religious discourse which we are

defending is found in the fact that multitudes are expecting a happy

issue of this life, upon ethical as distinguished from evangelical

grounds. They deny that they deserve damnation, or that they need

Christ's atonement. They say that they are living virtuous lives, and are

ready to adopt language similar to that of Mr. Mill spoken in another

connection: "If from this position of integrity and morality we are to be

sent to hell, to hell we will go." This tendency is strengthened by the

current light letters, in distinction from standard literature. A certain

class, through ephemeral essays, poems, and novels, has been plied with

the doctrine of a natural virtue and an innate goodness, until it has

become proud and self-reliant. The "manhood" of paganism is glorified,

and the "childhood" of the gospel is vilified. The graces of humility,

self-abasement before God, and especially of penitence for sin, are

distasteful and loathed. Persons of this order prefer to have their

religious teacher silent upon these themes, and urge them to courage,

honor, magnanimity, and all that class of qualities which imply

self-consciousness and self-reliance. To them apply the solemn words of

the Son of God to the Pharisees: "If ye were blind, ye should have no sin:

but now ye say, We _see_, therefore your sin remaineth."

It is, therefore, specially incumbent upon the Christian ministry, to

employ a searching and psychological style of preaching, and to apply the

tests of ethics and virtue so powerfully to men who are trusting to

ethics and virtue, as to bring them upon their knees. Since these men are

desiring, like the "foolish Galatiana," to be saved by the law, then let

the law be laid down to them, in all its breadth and reach, that they may

understand the real nature and consequences of the position they have

taken. "Tell me," says a preacher of this stamp,--"tell me, ye that

desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law,"--do ye not hear its

thundering,--"_cursed_ is every one that continueth not in ALL things

that are written in the law, to do them!" Virtue must be absolutely

perfect and spotless, if a happy immortality is to be made to depend upon

virtue. If the human heart, in its self-deception and self-reliance,

turns away from the Cross and the righteousness of God, to morals and the

righteousness of works, then let the Christian thinker follow after it

like the avenger of blood. Let him set the heights and depths of ethical

_perfection_ before the deluded mortal; let him point to the inaccessible

cliffs that tower high above, and bid him scale them if he can; let him

point to the fathomless abysses beneath, and tell him to descend and

bring up perfect virtue therefrom; let him employ the very instrument

which this _virtuoso_ has chosen, until it becomes an instrument of

torture and self-despair. In this way, he is breaking down the "manhood"

that confronts and opposes, and is bringing in the "childhood" that is

docile, and recipient of the kingdom.

These Sermons run the hazard of being pronounced monotonous, because of

the pertinacity with which the attempt is made to force self-reflection.

But this criticism can easily be endured, provided the attempt succeeds.

Religious truth becomes almighty the instant it can get _within_ the

soul; and it gets within the soul, the instant real thinking begins. "As

you value your peace of mind, stop all scrutiny into your personal

character," is the advice of what Milton denominates "the sty of

Epicurus." The discouraging religious condition of the present age is

due to the great lack, not merely in the lower but the higher classes, of

calm, clear self-intelligence. Men do not know themselves. The Delphic

oracle was never less obeyed than now, in this vortex of mechanical arts

and luxury. For this reason, it is desirable that the religious teacher

dwell consecutively upon topics that are connected with that which is

_within_ man,--his settled motives of action, and all those spontaneous

on-goings of his soul of which he takes no notice, unless he is persuaded

or impelled to do so. Some of the old painters produced powerful effects

by one solitary color. The subject of moral evil contemplated in the

heart of the individual man,--not described to him from the outside, but

wrought out of his own being into incandescent letters, by the fierce

chemistry of anxious perhaps agonizing reflection,--sin, the one awful

fact in the history of man, if caused to pervade discourse will always

impart to it a hue which, though it be monochromatic, arrests and holds

the eye like the lurid color of an approaching storm-cloud.

With this statement respecting the aim and purport of these Sermons, and

deeply conscious of their imperfections, especially for spiritual

purposes, I send them out into the world, with the prayer that God the

Spirit will deign to employ them as the means of awakening some souls

from the lethargy of sin.

Union Theological Seminary,

New York, _February 17_, 1871.

* * * * *

CONTENTS.

I. THE FUTURE STATE A SELF-CONSCIOUS STATE

II. THE FUTURE STATE A SELF-CONSCIOUS STATE (continued)

III. GOD'S EXHAUSTIVE KNOWLEDGE OF MAN

IV. GOD'S EXHAUSTIVE KNOWLEDGE OF MAN (continued)

V. ALL MANKIND GUILTY; OR, EVERY MAN KNOWS MORE THAN HE PRACTISES

VI. SIN IN THE HEART THE SOURCE OF ERROR IN THE HEAD

VII. THE NECESSITY OF DIVINE INFLUENCES

VIII. THE NECESSITY OF DIVINE INFLUENCES (continued)

IX. THE IMPOTENCE OF THE LAW

X. SELF-SCRUTINY IN GOD'S PRESENCE

XI. SIN IS SPIRITUAL SLAVERY

XII. THE ORIGINAL AND THE ACTUAL RELATION OF MAN TO LAW

XIII. THE SIN OF OMISSION

XIV. THE SINFULNESS OF ORIGINAL SIN

XV. THE APPROBATION OF GOODNESS IS NOT THE LOVE OF IT

XVI. THE USE OF FEAR IN RELIGION

XVII. THE PRESENT LIFE AS BELATED TO THE FUTURE

XVIII. THE EXERCISE OF MERCY OPTIONAL WITH GOD

XIX. CHRISTIANITY REQUIRES THE TEMPER OF CHILDHOOD

XX. FAITH THE SOLE SAVING ACT

SERMONS.

THE FUTURE STATE A SELF-CONSCIOUS STATE.

1 Cor. xiii. 12.--"Now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also

I am known."

The apostle Paul made this remark with reference to the blessedness of

the Christian in eternity. Such assertions are frequent in the

Scriptures. This same apostle, whose soul was so constantly dilated

with the expectation of the beatific vision, assures the Corinthians, in

another passage in this epistle, that "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,

neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath

prepared for them that love Him." The beloved disciple John, also, though

he seems to have lived in the spiritual world while he was upon the

earth, and though the glories of eternity were made to pass before him in

the visions of Patmos, is compelled to say of the sons of God, "It doth

not yet appear what we shall be." And certainly the common Christian, as

he looks forward with a mixture of hope and anxiety to his final state in

eternity, will confess that he knows but "in part," and that a very small

part, concerning it. He endures as seeing that which is invisible, and

cherishes the hope that through Christ's redemption his eternity will

be a condition of peace and purity, and that he shall know even as also

he is known.

But it is not the Christian alone who is to enter eternity, and to whom

the exchange of worlds will bring a luminous apprehension of many things

that have hitherto been seen only through a glass darkly. Every human

creature may say, when he thinks of the alteration that will come over

his views of religious subjects upon entering another life, "Now

I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. I am now

in the midst of the vapors and smoke of this dim spot which men call

earth, but then shall I stand in the dazzling light of the face of God,

and labor under no doubt or delusion respecting my own character or that

of my Eternal Judge."

A moment's reflection will convince any one, that the article and fact of

death must of itself make a vast accession to the amount of a man's

knowledge, because death introduces him into an entirely new state of

existence. Foreign travel adds much to our stock of ideas, because we go

into regions of the earth of which we had previously known only by the

hearing of the ear. But the great and last journey that man takes carries

him over into a province of which no book, not even the Bible itself,

gives him any distinct cognition, as to the style of its scenery or the

texture of its objects. In respect to any earthly scene or experience,

all men stand upon substantially the same level of information, because

they all have substantially the same data for forming an estimate. Though

I may never have been in Italy, I yet know that the soil of Italy is a

part of the common crust of the globe, that the Apennines are like other

mountains which I have seen, that the Italian sunlight pours through the

pupil like any other sunlight, and that the Italian breezes fan the brow

like those of the sunny south the world over. I understand that the

general forms of human consciousness in Europe and Asia, are like those

in America. The operations of the five senses are the same in the Old

World that they are in the New. But what do I know of the surroundings

and experience of a man who has travelled from time into eternity? Am I

not completely baffled, the moment I attempt to construct the

consciousness of the unearthly state? I have no materials out of which to

build it, because it is not a world of sense and matter, like that which

I now inhabit.

But death carries man over into the new and entirely different mode of

existence, so that he knows by direct observation and immediate

intuition. A flood of new information pours in upon the disembodied

spirit, such as he cannot by any possibility acquire upon earth, and yet

such as he cannot by any possibility escape from in his new residence.

How strange it is, that the young child, the infant of days, in the heart

of Africa, by merely dying, by merely passing from time into eternity,

acquires a kind and grade of knowledge that is absolutely inaccessible

to the wisest and subtlest philosopher while here on earth![1] The dead

Hottentot knows more than the living Plato.

But not only does the exchange of worlds make a vast addition to our

stores of information respecting the nature of the invisible realm, and

the mode of existence there, it also makes a vast addition to the kind

and degree of our knowledge respecting _ourselves_, and our personal

relationships to God. This is by far the most important part of the new

acquisition which we gain by the passage from time to eternity, and it is

to this that the Apostle directs attention in the text. It is not so much

the world that will be around us, when we are beyond the tomb, as it is

the world that will be within us, that is of chief importance. Our

circumstances in this mode of existence, and in any mode of existence,

are arranged by a Power above us, and are, comparatively, matters of

small concern; but the persons that we ourselves verily are, the

characters which we bring into this environment, the little inner world

of thought and feeling which is to be inclosed and overarched in the

great outer world of forms and objects,--all this is matter of infinite

moment and anxiety to a responsible creature.

For the text teaches, that inasmuch as the future life is the _ultimate_

state of being for an immortal spirit, all that imperfection and

deficiency in knowledge which appertains to this present life, this

"ignorant present" time, must disappear. When we are in eternity, we

shall not be in the dark and in doubt respecting certain great questions

and truths that sometimes raise a query in our minds here. Voltaire now

knows whether there is a sin-hating God, and David Hume now knows whether

there is an endless hell. I may, in certain moods of my mind here upon

earth, query whether I am accountable and liable to retribution, but the

instant I shall pass from this realm of shadows, all this skepticism will

be banished forever from my mind. For the future state is the _final_

state, and hence all questions are settled, and all doubts are resolved.

While upon earth, the arrangements are such that we cannot see every

thing, and must walk by faith, because it is a state of probation; but

when once in eternity, all the arrangements are such that we cannot but

see every thing, and must walk by sight, because it is the state of

adjudication. Hence it is, that the preacher is continually urging men to

view things, so far as is possible, in the light of eternity, as the only

light that shines clearly and without refractions. Hence it is, that he

importunes his hearers to estimate their duties, and their relationships,

and their personal character, as they will upon the death-bed, because in

the solemn hour of death the light of the future state begins to dawn

upon the human soul.

It is very plain that if a spiritual man like the apostle Paul, who in a

very remarkable degree lived with reference to the future world, and

contemplated subjects in the light of eternity, was compelled to say that

he knew but "in part," much more must the thoughtless natural man confess

his ignorance of that which will meet him when his spirit returns to God.

The great mass of mankind are totally vacant of any just apprehension of

what will be their state of mind, upon being introduced into God's

presence. They have never seriously considered what must be the effect

upon their views and feelings, of an entire withdrawment from the scenes

and objects of earth, and an entrance into those of the future state.

Most men are wholly engrossed in the present existence, and do not allow

their thoughts to reach over into that invisible region which revelation

discloses, and which the uncontrollable workings of conscience sometimes

_force_ upon their attention for a moment. How many men there are, whose

sinful and thoughtless lives prove that they are not aware that the

future world will, by its very characteristics, fill them with a species

and a grade of information that will be misery unutterable. Is it not the

duty and the wisdom of all such, to attempt to conjecture and anticipate

the coming experience of the human soul in the day of judgment and the

future life, in order that by repentance toward God and faith in the Lord

Jesus Christ they may be able to stand in that day? Let us then endeavor

to know, at least "in part," concerning the eternal state.

The latter clause of the text specifies the general characteristic of

existence in the future world. It is a mode of existence in which the

rational mind "_knows_ even as it is known." It is a world of

knowledge,--of conscious knowledge. In thus unequivocally asserting that

our existence beyond the tomb is one of distinct consciousness,

revelation has taught us what we most desire and need to know. The first

question that would be raised by a creature who was just to be launched

out upon an untried mode of existence would be the question: "Shall I be

_conscious_?" However much he might desire to know the length and breadth

of the ocean upon which his was to set sail, the scenery that was to be

above him and around him in his coming history,--nay, however much he

might wish to know of matters still closer to himself than these; however

much he might crave to ask of his Maker, "With what body shall I come?"

all would be set second to the simple single inquiry: "Shall I think,

shall I feel, shall I know?" In answering this question in the

affirmative, without any hesitation or ambiguity, the apostle Paul has

in reality cleared up most of the darkness that overhangs the future

state. The structure of the spiritual body, and the fabric of the

immaterial world, are matters of secondary importance, and may be left

without explanation, provided only the rational mind of man be distinctly

informed that it shall not sleep in unconsciousness, and that the

immortal spark shall not become such stuff as dreams are made of.

The future, then, is a mode of existence in which the soul "knows even as

it is known." But this involves a perception in which there is no error,

and no intermission. For, the human spirit in eternity "is known" by the

omniscient God. If, then, it knows in the style and manner that God

knows, there can be no misconception or cessation in its cognition. Here,

then, we have a glimpse into the nature of our eternal existence. It is a

state of distinct and unceasing knowledge of moral truth and moral

objects. The human spirit, be it holy or sinful, a friend or an enemy of

God, in eternity will always and forever be aware of it. There is no

forgetting in the future state; there is no dissipation of the mind

there; and there is no aversion of the mind from itself. The cognition is

a fixed quantity. Given the soul, and the knowledge is given. If it be

holy, it is always conscious of the fact. If it be sinful, it cannot for

an instant lose the distressing consciousness of sin. In neither instance

will it be necessary, as it generally is in this life, to make a special

effort and a particular examination, in order to know the personal

character. Knowledge of God and His law, in the future life, is

spontaneous and inevitable; no creature can escape it; and therefore the

bliss is _unceasing_ in heaven, and the misery is _unceasing_ in

hell. There are no states of thoughtlessness and unconcern in the future

life, because there is not an instant of forgetfulness or ignorance of

the personal character and condition. In the world beyond this, every man

will constantly and distinctly know what he is, and what he is not,

because he will "be known" by the omniscient and unerring God, and will

himself know in the same constant and distinct style and manner.

If the most thoughtless person that now walks the globe could only have a

clear perception of that kind of knowledge which is awaiting him upon the

other side of the tomb, he would become the most thoughtful and the most

anxious of men. It would sober him like death itself. And if any

unpardoned man should from this moment onward be haunted with the

thought, "When I die I shall enter into the light of God's countenance,

and obtain a knowledge of my own character and obligations that will be

as accurate and unvarying as that of God himself upon this subject," he

would find no rest until he had obtained an assurance of the Divine

mercy, and such an inward change as would enable him to endure this deep

and full consciousness of the purity of God and of the state of his

heart. It is only because a man is unthinking, or because he imagines

that the future world will be like the present one, only longer in

duration, that he is so indifferent regarding it. Here is the difficulty

of the case, and the fatal mistake which the natural man makes. He

supposes that the views which he shall have upon religious subjects in

the eternal state, will be very much as they are in this,--vague,

indistinct, fluctuating, and therefore causing no very great anxiety. He

can pass days and weeks here in time without thinking of the claims of

God upon him, and he imagines that the same thing is possible in

eternity. While here upon earth, he certainly does not "know even as

also he is known," and he hastily concludes that so it will be beyond the

grave. It is because men imagine that eternity is only a very long space

of _time_, filled up, as time here is, with dim, indistinct

apprehensions, with a constantly shifting experience, with shallow

feelings and ever diversified emotions, in fine, with all the _variety_

of pleasure and pain, of ignorance and knowledge, that pertains to this

imperfect and probationary life,--it is because mankind thus conceive of

the final state, that it exerts no more influence over them. But such is

not its true idea. There is a marked difference between the present and

the future life, in respect to uniformity and clearness of knowledge.

"Now I know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known." The

text and the whole teaching of the New Testament prove that the invisible

world is the unchangeable one; that there are no alterations of

character, and consequently no alternations of experience, in the future

life; that there are no transitions, as there are in this checkered scene

of earth, from happiness to unhappiness and back again. There is but one

uniform type of experience for an individual soul in eternity. That soul

is either uninterruptedly happy, or uninterruptedly miserable, because it

has either an uninterrupted sense of holiness, or an uninterrupted sense

of sin. He that is righteous is righteous still, and knows it

continually; and he that is filthy is filthy still, and knows it

incessantly. If we enter eternity as the redeemed of the Lord, we take

over the holy heart and spiritual affections of regeneration, and there

is no change but that of progression,--a change, consequently, only in

degree, but none of kind or type. The same knowledge and experience that

we have here "in part" we shall have there in completeness and

permanency. And the same will be true, if the heart be evil and the

affections inordinate and earthly. And all this, simply because the

mind's knowledge is clear, accurate, and constant. That which the

transgressor knows here of God and his own heart, but imperfectly, and

fitfully, and briefly, he shall know there perfectly, and constantly, and

everlastingly. The law of constant evolution, and the characteristic of

unvarying uniformity, will determine and fix the type of experience in

the evil as it does in the good.

Such, then, is the general nature of knowledge in the future state. It is

distinct, accurate, unintermittent, and unvarying. We shall know even as

we are known, and we are known by the omniscient and unerring Searcher of

hearts. Let us now apply this general characteristic of cognition in

eternity to some particulars. Let us transfer our minds into the future

and final state, and mark what goes on within them there. We ought often

to enter this mysterious realm, and become habituated to its mental

processes, and by a wise anticipation become prepared for the reality

itself.

I. The human mind, in eternity, will have a distinct and unvarying

perception of the _character of God_. And that one particular attribute

in this character, respecting which the cognition will be of the most

luminous quality, is the Divine holiness. In eternity, the immaculateness

of the Deity will penetrate the consciousness of every rational creature

with the subtlety and the thoroughness of fire. God's essence is

infinitely pure, and intensely antagonistic to sin, but it is not until

there is a direct contact between it and the human mind, that man

understands it and feels it. "I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the

ear, but now mine eye seeth Thee, and I abhor myself." Even the best of

men know but "in part" concerning the holiness of God. Yet it is

noticeable how the apprehension of it grows upon the ripening Christian,

as he draws nearer to the time of his departure. The vision of the

cherubim themselves seems to dawn upon the soul of a Leighton and an

Edwards, and though it does not in the least disturb their saintly and

seraphic peace, because they are sheltered in the clefts of the Rock of

Ages, as the brightness passes by them, it does yet bring out from their

comparatively holy and spiritual hearts the utterance, "Behold I am vile;

infinite upon, infinite is my sin." But what shall be said of the common

and ordinary knowledge of mankind, upon this subject! Except at certain

infrequent times, the natural man does not know even "in part,"

respecting the holiness of God, and hence goes on in transgression

without anxiety or terror. It is the very first work of prevenient grace,

to disclose to the human mind something of the Divine purity; and

whoever, at any moment, is startled by a more than common sense of God's

holy character, should regard it and cherish it as a token of benevolence

and care for his soul.

Now, in eternity this species of knowledge must exist in the very highest

degree. The human soul will be encircled by the character and attributes

of God. It cannot look in any direction without beholding it. It is not

so here. Here, in this life, man may and does avert his eye, and refuse

to look at the sheen and the splendor that pains his organ. He fastens

his glance upon the farm, or the merchandise, or the book, and

perseveringly determines not to see the purity of God that rebukes him.

And _here_ he can succeed. He can and does live days and months without

so much as a momentary glimpse of his Maker, and, as the apostle says,

is "without God" in this world. And yet such men do have, now and then, a

view of the face of God. It may be for an instant only. It may be merely

a thought, a gleam, a flash; and yet, like that quick flash of lightning,

of which our Lord speaks, that lighteneth out of the one part of heaven,

and shineth unto the other part, that cometh out of the East and shineth

even unto the West,--like that swift momentary flash which runs round the

whole horizon in the twinkling of an eye, this swift thought and gleam of

God's purity fills the whole guilty soul full of light. What spiritual

distress seizes the man in such moments, and of what a penetrating

perception of the Divine character is he possessed for an instant! It is

a distinct and an accurate knowledge, but, unlike the cognition of the

future state, it is not yet an inevitable and unintermittent one. He can

expel it, and become again an ignorant and indifferent being, as he was

before. He knows but "in part" at the very best, and this only

temporarily.

But carry this rational and accountable creature into eternity, denude

him of the body of sense, and take him out of the busy and noisy world of

sense into the silent world of spirits, and into the immediate presence

of God, and then he will know upon this subject even as he is known. That

sight and perception of God's purity which he had here for a brief

instant, and which was so painful because he was not in sympathy with it,

has now become everlasting. That distinct and accurate knowledge of

God's character has now become his only knowledge. That flash of

lightning has become light,--fixed, steady, permanent as the orb of day.

The rational spirit cannot for an instant rid itself of the idea of God.

Never for a moment, in the endless cycles, can it look away from its

Maker; for in His presence what other object is there to look at? Time

itself, with its pursuits and its objects of thought and feeling, is no

longer, for the angel hath sworn it by Him who liveth for ever and ever.

There is nothing left, then, to occupy and engross the attention but the

character and attributes of God; and, now, the immortal mind, created for

such a purpose, must yield itself up to that contemplation which in this

life it dreaded and avoided. The future state of every man is to be an

open and unavoidable vision of God. If he delights in the view, he will

be blessed; if he loathes it, he will be miserable. This is the substance

of heaven and hell. This is the key to the eternal destiny of every human

soul. If a man love God, he shall gaze at him and adore; if he hate God,

he shall gaze at him and gnaw his tongue for pain.

The subject, as thus far unfolded, teaches the following lessons:

1. In the first place, it shows that _a false theory of the future state

will not protect a man from future misery_. For, we have seen that the

eternal world, by its very structure and influences, throws a flood of

light upon the Divine character, causing it to appear in its ineffable

purity and splendor, and compels every creature to stand out in that

light. There is no darkness in which man can hide himself, when he leaves

this world of shadows. A false theory, therefore, respecting God, can no

more protect a man from the reality, the actual matter of fact, than a

false theory of gravitation will preserve a man from falling from a

precipice into a bottomless abyss. Do you come to us with the theory

that every human creature will be happy in another life, and that the

doctrine of future misery is false? We tell you, in reply, that God is

_holy_, beyond dispute or controversy; that He cannot endure the sight of

sin; and that in the future world every one of His creatures must see Him

precisely as He is, and know Him in the real and eternal qualities of His

nature. The man, therefore, who is full of sin, whose heart is earthly,

sensual, selfish, must, when he approaches that pure Presence, find that

his theory of future happiness shrivels up like the heavens themselves,

before the majesty and glory of God. He now stands face to face with a

Being whose character has never dawned upon him with such a dazzling

purity, and to dispute the reality would be like disputing the fierce

splendor of the noonday sun. Theory must give way to fact, and the

deluded mortal must submit to its awful force.

In this lies the _irresistible_ power of death, judgment, and eternity,

to alter the views of men. Up to these points they can dispute and argue,

because there is no ocular demonstration. It is possible to debate the

question this side of the tomb, because we are none of us face to face

with God, and front to front with eternity. In the days of Noah, before

the flood came, there was skepticism, and many theories concerning the

threatened deluge. So long as the sky was clear, and the green earth

smiled under the warm sunlight, it was not difficult for the unbeliever

to maintain an argument in opposition to the preacher of righteousness.

But when the sky was rent with lightnings, and the earth was scarred with

thunder-bolts, and the fountains of the great deep were broken up, where

was the skepticism? where were the theories? where were the arguments?

When God teaches, "Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the

disputer of this world?" They then knew as they were known; they stood

face to face with the facts.

It is this _inevitableness_ of the demonstration upon which we would

fasten attention. We are not always to live in this world of shadows. We

are going individually into the very face and eyes of Jehovah, and

whatever notions we may have adopted and maintained must all disappear,

except as they shall be actually verified by what we shall see and know

in that period of our existence when we shall perceive with the accuracy

and clearness of God Himself. Our most darling theories, by which we may

have sought to solace our souls in reference to our future destiny, if

false, will be all ruthlessly torn away, and we must see what verily and

eternally is. All mankind come upon one doctrinal platform when they

enter eternity. They all have one creed there. There is not a skeptic

even in hell. The devils believe and tremble. The demonstration that God

is holy is so irrefragable, so complete and absolute, that doubt or

denial is impossible in any spirit that has passed the line between time

and eternity.

2. In the second place, this subject shows that _indifference and

carelessness respecting the future life will not protect the soul from

future misery_. There may be no false theory adopted, and yet if there be

no thoughtful preparation to meet God, the result will be all the same. I

may not dispute the Newtonian theory of gravitation, yet if I pay no heed

to it, if I simply forget it, as I clamber up mountains, and walk by the

side of precipices, my body will as surely be dashed to pieces as if I

were a theoretical skeptic upon the subject of gravitation.

The creature's indifference can no more alter the immutable nature of

God, than can the creature's false reasoning, or false theorizing. That

which is settled in heaven, that which is fixed and eternal, stands the

same stern, relentless fact under all circumstances. We see the operation

of this sometimes here upon earth, in a very impressive manner. A youth

or a man simply neglects the laws and conditions of physical well-being.

He does not dispute them. He merely pays no attention to them. A. few

years pass by, and disease and torturing pain become his portion. He

comes now into the awful presence of the powers and the facts which the

Creator has inlaid in the world, of physical existence. He knows now even

as he is known. And the laws are stern. He finds no place of repentance

in them, though he seek it carefully with tears. The laws never repent,

never change their mind. The principles of physical life and growth which

he has never disputed, but which he has never regarded, now crush him

into the ground in their relentless march and motion.

Precisely so will it be in the moral world, and with reference to the

holiness of God. That man who simply neglects to prepare himself to see a

holy God, though he never denies that there is such a Being, will find

the vision just as unendurable to him, as it is to the most determined of

earthly skeptics. So far as the final result in the other world is

concerned, it matters little whether a man adds unbelief to his

carelessness, or not. The carelessness will ruin his soul, whether with

or without skepticism. Orthodoxy is valuable only as it inspires the hope

that it will end in timely and practical attention to the concerns of the

soul. But if you show me a man who you infallibly know will go through

life careless and indifferent, I will show you a man who will not be

prepared to meet God face to face, even though his theology be as

accurate as that of St. Paul himself. Nay, we have seen that there is a

time coming when all skeptics will become believers like the devils

themselves, and will tremble at the ocular demonstration of truths which

they have heretofore denied. Theoretical unbelief must be a temporary

affair in every man; for it can last only until he dies. Death will make

all the world theoretically orthodox, and bring them all to one and the

same creed. But death will not bring them all to one and the same happy

experience of the truth, and lave of the creed. For those who have made

preparation for the vision of God and the ocular demonstration of Divine

truth, these will rise upon their view with a blessed and glorious light.

But for those who have remained sinful and careless, these eternal truths

and facts will be a vision of terror and despair. They will not alter. No

man will find any place of repentance in them, though, like Esau, he seek

it carefully and with tears.

3. In the third place, this subject shows that _only faith in Christ and

a new heart can protect the soul from future misery_. The nature and

character of God cannot be altered, and therefore the change must be

wrought in man's soul. The disposition and affections of the heart must

be brought into such sweet sympathy and harmony with God's holiness, that

when in the next world that holiness shall be revealed as it is to the

seraphim, it will fall in upon the soul like the rays of a vernal sun,

starting every thing into cheerful life and joy. If the Divine holiness

does not make this impression, it produces exactly the contrary effect.

If the sun's rays do not start the bud in the spring, they kill it. If

the vision of a holy God is not our heaven, then it must be our hell.

Look then directly into your heart, and tell us which is the impression

for you. Can you say with David, "We give thanks and rejoice, at the

remembrance of Thy holiness?" Are you glad that there is such a pure and

immaculate Being upon the throne, and when His excellence abashes you,

and rebukes your corruption and sin, do you say, "Let the righteous One

smite me, it shall be a kindness?" Do you _love_ God's holy character? If

so, you are a new creature, and are ready for the vision of God, face to

face. For you, to know God even as you are known by Him will not be a

terror, but a glory and a joy. You are in sympathy with Him. You have

been reconciled to Him by the blood of atonement, and brought into

harmony with Him by the washing of regeneration. For you, as a believer

in Christ, and a new man in Christ Jesus, all is well. The more you see

of God, the more you desire to see of Him; and the more you know of Him,

the more you long to know.

But if this is not your experience, then all is ill with you. We say

_experience_. You must _feel_ in this manner toward God, or you cannot

endure the vision which is surely to break upon you after death. You must

_love_ this holiness without which no man can see the Lord. You may

approve of it, you may praise it in other men, but if there is no

affectionate going out of your own heart toward, the holy God, you are

not in right relations to Him. You have the carnal mind, and that is

enmity, and enmity is misery.

Look these facts in the eye, and act accordingly. "Make the _tree_ good,

and his fruit good," says Christ. Begin at the beginning. Aim at nothing

less than a change of disposition and affections. Ask for nothing less,

seek for nothing less. If you become inwardly holy as God is holy; if you

become a friend of God, reconciled to Him by the blood of Christ; then

your nature will be like God's nature, your character like God's

character. Then, when you shall know God even as you are known by Him,

and shall see Him as He is, the knowledge and the vision will be

everlasting joy.

[Footnote 1:

"She has seen the mystery hid,

Under Egypt's pyramid;

By those eyelids pale and close,

Now she knows what Rhamses knows."

ELIZABETH BROWNING: On the Death of a Child.]

THE FUTURE STATE A SELF-CONSCIOUS STATE.

1 COR. xiii. 12.--"Now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also

I am known."

In the preceding discourse, we found in these words the principal

characteristic of our future existence. The world beyond the tomb is a

world of clear and conscious knowledge. When, at death, I shall leave

this region of time and sense and enter eternity, my knowledge, the

apostle Paul tells me instead of being diminished or extinguished by the

dissolution, of the body, will not only be continued to me, but will be

even greater and clearer than before. He assures me that the kind and

style of my cognition will be like that of God himself. I am to know as I

am known. My intelligence will coincide with that of Deity.