PRE-11-Chapter Eleven
Chapter Eleven Need of Mental Photograph—A Specimen Sermon—How Readest Thou—What Lack I Yet? When a loved one dies, we often regret having failed to secure a picture of such an one while living; but the actual presence made us forget that the time would come when the shadow would become so dear. And so it is with regard to the addresses or sermons of those to whom in life we loved to listen. While those who give them utterance are with us, we do not think of preserving what they say, and yet what a value one of their sermons would possess when they are no longer here. Elsewhere, we have presented brief, but very imperfect, sketches of some of Brother Shaw’s sermons, and we feel what a treasure it would be to have one so fully reported as to give us an idea of his treatment of his theme. He has not left such a report, nor did his friends secure one while such a thing was possible; fragments or brief sketches are numerous, but the full and complete treatment of any one of his subjects we have been unable to find. Such a report would be valuable now, not because of its intrinsic worth, but because it was his, and would serve to bring him up to memory as he really was. The nearest approach to anything of this kind is in the notes of a sermon on the words, “How readest thou?” (Luke x. 26), which we give:
“The circumstances which gave rise to the words of the text are these: A lawyer stood up and tempted Christ, saying, ‘Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ Christ’s reply was, ‘What is written in the law? How readest thou?’ He is made to answer his own question by a quotation from the law, and is obliged to ask the further question, ‘Who is my neighbor?’ Which Christ answers by the story of the Good Samaritan, and makes the questioner again answer his own question.
“I desire to call your attention to Christ’s question in three respects: “1st. ‘How readest thou?’ as a personal matter. 2d. ‘How readest thou?’ 3d. ‘How readest thou?’
“The question I ask is over eighteen hundred years old. It was asked by Christ himself, hence important. I repeat it as coming from Christ, and press it home as a matter of life and death, a matter of temporal and eternal moment.
“1st. “Do you read the word of God at all? I ask this question, because there is no knowledge absolutely essential to man’s salvation except a knowledge of things found in the Bible.
“We live in an age when the words of the prophet Daniel are fulfilled: ‘Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.’ Schools are abundant and good. Colleges and Universities of the highest type are numerous. We have books without number. More is being written, taught, and learned now than ever before in any age of the world; and yet all the education a man can get into his head could not save his soul, unless he knows and obeys the truths of the Bible. A man may be able to master half the languages of the world; he may have read books till he is a walking encyclopedia; he may be acquainted with the stars of heaven, the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, the cedars of Lebanon; yea, he may be able to discourse upon the great secrets of earth, air, fire, and water, and still be lost for remaining ignorant of the Bible. Chemistry never silenced a guilty conscience, mathematics never healed a broken heart, philosophy cannot give hope in death, natural theology gives no hope of a resurrection. All these are good and useful for earth and time, but they never did and never can raise man above earth’s level. So a man may be ignorant in those things, and yet by the knowledge of that one Book—of one science—reach a home in heaven with God. We can get to heaven without money, health, learning, or friends, but not without the Bible.
“Then I ask again, ‘How readest thou?’ Because it is the book of inspiration, so unlike and superior to all others. God taught the writers what to say. When we read this Book we read God’s will. This Book was written by about fifty different persons, of every rank and class of society, among them a lawgiver, a warrior king, a peaceful king, a herdsman, a Pharisee, a publican, and a poor fisherman. It was written at different times, running over a space of at least fifteen hundred years. The greater part of these writers never saw each other face to face, and yet there is perfect harmony and agreement. They all tell the same story of man the sinner, God’s love, Christ’s condescension and sacrifice, and the sublime plan of redemption—unfolding all man’s duty and destiny. Certainly this could not be the work of chance! The Bible has been criticized, abused, burned, and blasphemed for nearly two thousand years—the busiest years of earth’s history—and yet it stands, as it was given, unchanged and unimproved. The mightiest discoveries have been made, sciences have improved, customs have altered, great numbers of things once deemed useful have become obsolete, scarcely a thing but faults have been found with it, weak points discovered; but all this time the Bible has stood untouched, unchanged, perfect, because its Author is perfect. The march of intellect never overtakes it. Science develops nothing to contradict it. It meets now, as it ever has done, the wants of all ages, ranks, climates, minds, and conditions. It was ‘written for our learning.’ The subjects treated in the Bible are of the most important nature. It handles theories beyond the reach of man if left to himself—the soul, the world to come, eternity. How little did the wisest of the heathen know? How dim the views of Solon, Socrates, Aristotle, Plato, Seneca, and Cicero? A Sunday-school child twelve years old knows more of eternal truth than all these.
“The Bible tells of the beginning of the globe on which we live; the origin of all things. It gives the only worthy account of man’s origin, and the only faithful history of man. It gives true and correct views of God—that he hates sin and loves the sinner. It gives the true character of Jesus Christ—his birth, life, ministry, sayings, doings, sufferings, death, power, love, his word, his works, his thoughts, his heart. Thank God, there is one theme we can understand — Christ. The Bible contains encouraging examples of good; a rich treasury of precious promises; describes that blessed hope which is as an anchor to the soul; contains faithful warnings; our final destiny—all sealed with the precious blood of Christ.
“I ask the question, ‘How readest thou?’ Because no book has done so much for the world. When Christ sent out his few disciples it looked like an impossibility to revolutionize the world. He sent them out when the world was full of superstition, cruelty, lust, and sin of every kind. Follow in their track and see what was done. Each man went forth then, and should now—one holy man, with one holy Book. The results, in a few years, were as follows: They pulled down idolatry, introduced a pure morality, altered the standard of purity and decency, raised the character and position of women, encountered the most cruel opposition, yet conquered, and the chains of slavery were broken by the gospel of liberty; and the glory of its victories is that they were bloodless.
“This is the Book which turned Europe upside down in the days of the Reformation. It was not merely the preaching of Luther; but that which overthrew the Pope’s power was the Bible, translated into German and read by the people. Not merely the quarrel between Henry VIII. and the Pope, which lessened the hold of the Papacy on the English mind; it was the royal permit to have the Bible translated and placed in the churches, so that all might read it. Look at the countries where the Bible is prohibited—Italy, Spain, the South American States. Compare them with those where the Bible is free to all—England, Scotland, and the United States. We may judge of a nation by its treatment of the Bible.
“To the influence of the Bible we are indebted for every humane and charitable institution in existence. The sick, the poor, the aged, and infirm; the orphan, the lunatic, the idiot, the deaf, the dumb, the blind, were seldom thought of before the Bible exerted its influence over so many lands. Little does the scoffing infidel think, as he lies sick, far from home in some hospital, attended by kind hands, that he owes his very life to that Bible he has affected to despise. Surely such a Book as this has more than an ordinary claim upon our attention. We press, then, the question, ‘How readest thou?’ Read it right. It will not make you a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer, but it will make one wise unto salvation. There is another world to be thought of. The Bible can show the way to heaven. Do you read it to learn your duty? The Bible has wrought moral miracles in all ages. It has made drunkards sober; unchaste, pure; thieves, honest; violent, meek; lovers of pleasure, to be lovers of God. By it we are to be sanctified—‘thoroughly furnished unto all good works.’ Yes, this is one infallible guide we have, we want no other. Here infallibility resides. Not in the church, not in councils, not in ministers; it is only found in the written word of God. This is the only infallible thing on earth. If men are not benefited by it, the fault is with themselves, not the Book. Read it like the eunuch, and find Christ in it; like the Bereans, to find whether the things you have heard preached be so.
“Man has awfully neglected this book. Man has a way of abusing blessings, both for the body and soul. The Catholic Church has kept, and even now keeps, the Bible from the masses. This Book, given for our learning—‘the sword of the Spirit’—‘able to make us wise unto salvation,’ neglected! How inexcusable, O man! Seldom read but on Sunday—often not then! Read carelessly; read prayerlessly; read by scraps, with no special aim. Some neglect it because it condemns them. ‘How readest thou?’ By that word we shall be judged. What are other books? What are the books we read most? What are novels compared to this? We must all die, be judged, saved, or lost. Read the Bible, try modern doctrines by it, learn your duty for yourself. Read it because the good have always loved it, and found comfort in it. Read it, because it alone can give comfort in death. Worldly pleasures cannot give comfort. How hollow the brilliant ball-room, the merry dance, the card-table, the opera, in the hour of death! Not from these, nor from those who find joy in them, do we seek for solace then. No; call one good man, with the one good Book. Let all be quiet; listen! ‘Tis the voice of God; hear the sacred word! Oh how full of comfort, if a Christian, the words: ‘Our light afflictions, which are but for a moment, work out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.’ Oh give me my Bible and my faith, and I can bear all my trials and persecutions, and die in peace.
“Of all men’s buried talents, none will weigh them down so heavily as a neglected Bible. As you deal with God’s word, so God will deal with you. Read it with an honest purpose; read it fairly, systematically, and obey as you read, and you are safe.
“Men idolize their church, praise their minister, glory in their creeds, trust in their sacraments. Let us cherish the word of God. It is the lamp to our feet in life’s great wilderness. It is our chart over life’s stormy sea.
“We need Bible-reading ministers, Bible-reading congregations. Oh what blessings would follow if we were a Bible-reading nation! Sinner, turn from the world, obey the word of the Lord, and live forever.” In the delivery of the above, it was expanded to perhaps five times its present length. It is indeed only an outline, but still one that will serve to indicate the channel in which the current of his thoughts was wont to flow. A few thoughts from a “Sermon to Young Men,” will here find a fitting place. His theme was the question of the young man who came to Christ, and seemed so desirous of knowing and doing his will, who after having said that he had kept the commandments from his youth up, asked, “What lack I yet?”
“Religion is the most important element in character; it is the director of all the rest. Every true man, in real earnest, who knows what religion is, desires to become a religious man, and then to do all he can for it, and enjoy all he can of it. It does not always appear so; but it is so. They desire it with different degrees of will. We all have more or less opposition; there are many hindrances. One has a lion of a temper; another the demon of appetite—enemies within and enemies without.
“Now, in this great conflict, the question by every thoughtful young man is, ‘What lack I yet?’ After all I have done for myself, after all that others—father, mother, friends, teachers, country, God, Christ, the Bible, the Spirit—have done, still there is a lack, what is it? Oh! ‘what lack I yet?’ ‘One thing thou lackest.’ If not a Christian you lack everything, as a corpse lacks life. Here is the sphere in which a young man can labor to gain an immortal crown, ‘Seek first the kingdom of God.’ Accept Christ and labor for a cause that is worthy of all your efforts. The noblest character among young men is the Christian. With what holy pride do we point to our young men who are laboring in ‘their various professions and callings as Christians, for Christ and humanity? A host! Look at them! That young farmer, in his plain garb, who industriously toils, and honestly earns his daily bread, who leads at the same time a pious, devoted life. That young physician, who not only relieves the body of its aches and pains, but who looks to God for guidance, and has a cheerful word for his patient if a Christian, or a word of warning if a sinner; whose daily life proves him a child of God. As he sits in the great congregation, an humble worshiper with God’s people, with what pleasure we point to him, thus dedicating his powers to God and humanity. Then the young Christian lawyer, who takes not a bribe against the innocent, who defends the just claim, and labors to promote law and order. With pride we point to all these and say, Behold the witnesses for Jesus. What a power for the right! What a grand company? Then the young minister, who stands as an example in word and deed to his companions and young friends; you know young men, that you love and respect him, nay, even admire him, as with tear-filled eyes he stands and earnestly pleads for souls. Oh, the honors which await such a host as this! Then let me appeal to your better judgment, and urge you to accept Christ tonight. It is just and reasonable; he demands it, and you owe it. It is the demand of gratitude; see what he has done for you. Are you not grateful for this rich offer of his love? How much happier such a course will render you. How much safer you will be—how much more useful to society and friends. You will be better sons, better brothers, better teachers, better in any department of life in which your work may lay. God calls you, Christ died for you, the Spirit warns you. Death is on your track; soon you may be among the dead. The soul requires something more than earth can give in view of death. To the Christian, death comes a welcome visitor, to deliver him from mortality, form the sechanging scenes and decaying body, on which time wages perpetual war, whitening our locks, furrowing our cheeks, weakening our nerves, and death comes but to deliver. Dread not then, fellow Christian! Procrastinate not, dear sinner; come tonight; start for usefulness, happiness and heaven.”