Steps unto heaven

Front matter

IP?

I III

1' :lrii

Preface

In fulfilling the task of adding another volume to our sermonic literature, I feel it to be a duty to state the spirit that has guided me in carrying it to a conclusion.

I believe that every Christian ought to be a zealous student of the Word of God. In fact, the Christian is commanded to have the Scriptures dwelling in him richly. Obedience to this command necessitates careful study of the Bible. " Study to show thyself approved unto God; a workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth." Ftill compliance with this precept can only be had by close study of the teachings of Christ, the apostles, and the prophets. Any book that will aid its readers to a higher appreciation of the Word of God, or that will strengthen their faith in Jesus Christ and lead them to more serious thinking and to holier living, has a right to appear and claim a place before the reading public.

Believing that those who read this volume thoughtfully will have a higher appreciation of the Word of God, a stronger faith in Jesus Christ, better ears, keener eyes, deeper hearts, cleaner hands and holier souls, the author modestly offers it to

PREFACE

all classes of readers, and in so doing he confidently looks for some degree of appreciation from those who read carefully and with a desire to know more of the spirit of the Master !

Finally — I send these pages forth, praying that they may be blessed to aid the cause of truth and righteousness, and that he in whose name and for whose glory they are written may, of his great mercy,

" Forgive them where they fail in truth. And in his wisdom make me wise."

N. c. c.

Fayette, Ohio.

Introduction

To preach! Nothing else like it on earth! Nothing like it in heaven ! It is to " speak for God " — to become a voice for God's truth and God's love. More : it is to see God, to reveal God, to give God to the world. God in Christ ! God in the Gospel ! God in the heart and voice and soul of the preacher!

The preacher is unique. That which makes him is different — different from the making in every other workman. That which the preacher makes is different — different from the products of any other calling. The preacher is made by agencies both scrutable and inscrutable. The discernible things that give form to his calling are not so fundamental as the things known only to God. I believe in the divinity of all men with still a plus to the preacher.

The products of the preacher are unique. Some of the things he must do are natural; others are, at least, above nature, if we may not say supernatural. He must build his church as a business man builds his trade, but he also builds above the sky line of human commerce. Part of his building is seen on earth but the sculptured frieze and

INTRODUCTION

gable are above the earth cloud line and are to be seen only in heaven !

N. C. Carpenter is a preacher. His people know it. His sermons prove it ! Best of all, the souls converted to Christ and saved from the power of sin record it not only on the consciousness of his large and growing circle of Christian associates, but also on the unforgetting heart of God in heaven.

T. S. TiNSLEY.

Midway, Kentucky.

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I Steps unto Heaven 1

II Whose Son is He? 20

II Whose Son Is He?

" Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, saying. What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The son of David." (Matt. 22:41, 42.)

Here is a question that concerns the divinity of our Lord, and upon which our salvation from sin rests. Thus, in view of this fact, and that there is a tendency among many modern thinkers ( ?) to take away the divinity of our Lord, it behooves us to study whether Christ is the Son of God, as claimed; whether he is divine and has power to save the world. If he is not divine, he has not the power to save, and we are foolish to depend upon him. But, on the other hand, if he is divine he has power to save the world, and, therefore, it is the part of wisdom to put forth our strongest efforts to obey him.

In order that we may decide whether Christ is the Son of God or not, whether he is false or true, let us make a careful study of some of the evidences found in the Word of God. We do not care to use any evidences outside of the Word of God for the reason that those found therein are authentic and trustworthy ! The Bible is supreme authority on every subject it touches, and is, therefore, the only source of evidence we need in the argument.

The first evidence introduced is what may be called :

I. Prophetic evidence. This prophetic evidence runs back as far as four thousand years before the Saviour was born, and embraces the prophecies relating to his progenitors, his nativity, his childhood, his ministry, his character, his office, his suffering, his death, and his glorification. " I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed ; it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel." (Gen. 3:5.) "In blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gates of the enemies ; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." (Gen. 22:17, 18.) "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be the ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." (Mic. 5:1.) "And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and the kings to the brightness of thy rising. All they from Sheba shall come ; they shall bring gold and incense ; and they shall show forth the praises of the Lord." (Isa. 60:3, 6.) "A voice was heard in

Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not." (Jer. 31:15.) "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined." (Isa. 9:2.) "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing." (Isa. S5:5, 6.) "He shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground, he hath no form nor comeliness ; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him." (Isa. 53:2.) "And many people shall go and say. Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths ; for out of Zion shall go forth the Law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." (Isa. 2:3.) " The spirit of the Lord is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek ; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound." (Isa. 61:1.) " The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me: unto him ye shall hearken." (Deut. 18:15.) "I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off my hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting." (Isa. 50:6.) "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb so he opened not his mouth." (Isa. 53:7.) " They pierced my hands and my feet." (Psalms 22:16.) " I became also a reproach unto them : when they looked upon me they shaked their heads." (Psalms 109 :9.) " They gave me also gall for my meat: and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." (Psalms 69:21.) "He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken." (Psalms 34:20.) "And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was there any deceit found in his mouth." (Isa. 53:9.) "Lift up your heads, O ye gates ; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors: and the King of glory shall come in." (Psalms 24:7.)

These are only a few of the hundreds of prophecies that were uttered through the gift of superhuman foresight. Indeed, the Old Testament contains a very large predictive element. A stream of prophecy runs through the Old Testament Scriptures. The Hebrew prophets ever looked forward to a grand future — to the time when there was a great leader, guide, prince and Saviour to appear, under whom the kingdom of God was to become universal. They saw that righteousness and blesing were to attend its progress, and their insight into the plan of God has

M STEPS UNTO HEAVEN

been verified in the events of subsequent ages, down to the present time.

To make this part of the argument perfectly plain, let us suppose that here are five men standing in a row. In the hand of each man there is placed a bow and one hundred arrows. Out yonder in the darkness is a target. Neither man knows exactly where it is ; all that he knows is that somewhere in that space of inky darkness there is a target. The first man, endeavoring to hit the unseen target, stands fifteen hundred yards away and sends one hundred arrows out into the darkness. The second man advances five hundred yards and sends his one hundred arrows forward. Then the third man advances seven hundred yards and sends one hundred arrows forth. Next, the fourth man steps forward nine hundred yards and shoots the one hundred arrows that were given to him. The fifth man advances eleven hundred yards and tries his hand at the target. Each of the five men have shot one hundred arrows forward. In all, five hundred arrows have gone out in search of the unseen target. The darkness clears away, and lo and behold, there are five hundred arrows in the heart of the target ! Under such circumstances, what would you say guided those ari'ows ; what power directed their course? There can be but one explanation ! They were guided by the hand of Almighty God!

Coming to these prophetic arrows we find five hundred of them centered in Jesus Christ. These prophetic arrows were sent forth by Moses, David, Isaiah, Daniel, Malachi, and others of equal powers. Standing at different stations, they sent their prophecies forward, and we find them fulfilled in Jesus Christ. In view of this, we necessarily conclude that the hand of God directed them. Therefore, to my mind these prophetic utterances are among the strongest evidences in support of the proposition that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God !

II. Let us now turn our attention to the

EVIDENCE FURNISHED BY THE ANGEL GaBRIEL.

Bearing the incense in a large vessel of gold, Zacharias, the priest, entered into the Holy Place, and was kindling it on the Golden Altar, when he was accosted by an angel standing at the right of the Altar. At the sight of the angel he was very much frightened. But the angel calmed his fears, and announced that the prayers he had offered to God in secret had been heard. Though Elizabeth was stricken in years, she should yet become the mother of a son who was to be named John, and who would be the immediate forerunner of the long expected Messiah, and make ready the people prepared for him.

Six months after his appearance to Zacharias in the Temple, the same angel was sent from God to Nazareth. At this village lived a lowly virgin named Mary. To this lowly virgin the angel Gabriel now appeared and announced that by virtue of the operation of the Holy Ghost she should become the mother of a Son, whom she was to call Jesus, He should be great, and should be called the Son of the Highest, and should sit on the throne of Ms father David, and reign over the house of Jacob forever. Though at first startled at the sudden address of an angelic messenger, she received his announcement with implicit faith, and prayed that it might be according to his word. in. Next we notice the testimony of the ANGELS, Simeon, Anna, and the magi. On the bleak downs of Bethlehem shepherds were keeping watch over their flocks, when suddenly there came upon them a light brighter than the brightest of the countless stars that spangled the midnight sky, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them. (Luke 2:9.) Sore afraid, they would have fled in dismay. But a voice came to them and announced the glad tidings that in the city of David had been born to them a Saviour, even Christ the Lord, whom they would find wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. (Luke 2:11, 12.) The angel ceased speaking, and then a multitude of the heavenly host brake the silence of the night, and sang, " Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will towards men.'' Such an announcement roused all the wonder of the simple, humble men who heard it. Hastily leaving their flocks, they repaired to Bethlehem, where they found the babe lying in the manger, and recounted all that they had heard from the heavenly visitants concerning the child.

Great was the astonishment of those who listened to their tale; but the holy mother kept all their words in her heart, and the shepherds returned to their lowly occupation, glorifying and praising God for all they had seen and heard. (Luke 2:16-20.)

At this time there was living at Jerusalem a just and devout man named Simeon. Though far advanced in years, he had received divine intimation that he should not see death till his eyes had rested on the Lord's Christ. He was present when the parents of Jesus brought in the child to do for him after the custonn of the LaWy and no sooner did his eyes fall upon the child than he saw that the Messiah had come. He took him up in his arms, and blessed God that his eyes had been permitted to see his salvation, the light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of his people Israel. (Luke 2:38.) At the same time there came forward an aged woman, a prophetess, whose name was Anna. She too drew near while the holy child was being brought into his Father's house, and, like the aged Simeon, gave thanks to Gody and spake of hvm to all those that were looking for the redemption in Jerusalem. (Luke 2:38.)

But as she was thus proclaiming to the faithful in the Holy City the advent of their King, pilgrims and worshippers were drawing near from far different and far distant lands. These strange travelers were the magi, who declared that they had seen Ms star in the east, and had come to worship him. By this time the babe had been taken to a house, and with great joy they entered the house, and gave gifts of gold, frankincense, airid myrrh,

IV. In the fourth place let us notice the TESTIMONY OF THE APOSTLE Peter. From Bethsaida, in company with his apostles, Jesus set out in a northerly direction, and traveling along the eastern banks of the Jordan and beyond the waters of Meron, reached the confines of the villages of Cassarea Philippi. In this neighborhood, on one occasion, the apostles found their Master engaged in solitary prayer, a solemn and significant action, the precursor of not a few important events, as now of a deeply momentous revelation. For as they resumed their journey, he addressed to them the formal inquiry, " Whom, do men say that I am? "

Thinkers have long since agreed that this was not an ordinary question. He was speaking to those who had now for some time been his constant companions, hearers of his words, and eyewitnesses of the signs which accompanied them. He seems to have wished to ascertain from their own lips the results of those labors, which now, in one sense, were drawing to a close, and thence to pass on to other and more painful truths which he had to communicate to them. To this inquiry, then, the apostles replied in words that reflected the various opinions then held amongst the peopie. They informed him that some said that he was John the Baptist, others Elias, others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. But the Master put the question direct to them: " Whom do ye say that I am? '* To this Peter replied, " Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God.'' (Matt. 16:16.)

V. We consider in the last place the testimony or THE Father. With three of the most privileged of his disciples Jesus retired to one of the numerous mountain-ranges in the neighborhood, not improbably on the summits of Hermon. From what Luke has written we infer that one reason for his withdrawal was that he might engage in solitary prayer. (Luke 9:28.) And that the apostles were wearied and oppressed by sleep, we infer that evening was the time of this retirement of the Holy One, the close, it may be, of a long day spent in going about doing good. While, then, they slept and he continued engaged in prayer, a marvelous change came over his person. (Luke 9:29.) His raiment suddenly became shining, exceedingly white as snow, and the fashion also of his countenance was altered and shone like the sun. (Mark 9:3; Luke 9:29.)

Roused at length by the supernatural brightness around them, the chosen three awoke, and shaking off their slumbers, perceived not only the mysterious change that had come over their Master, but that he was no longer alone ! There were with him Moses and Elias. Nor did they only see their transfigured Lord attended by these strange visitants from the unseen and unknown world, but they were privileged to hear their conversation, the subject of which was relative to his death at Jerusalem. (Luke 9:31.)

In the excitement of these moments the impulsive Peter would have made three tabernacles, one for Moses, and one for Elias, and one for his Lord. But this was not to be ! While he was yet speaking there came a Voice from heaven, saying, *' This is my beloved Son, hear ye him! " This was the Father's testimony. Did he acknowledge one not his Son? Do you think that God would leave a false impression on the minds of those apostles and upon the hearts of millions who have lived and died since then? God said, " This is my beloved Son." God carniot lie. Therefore, he is God's son, and the Saviour of the world!

in

The Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (II Peter 3:9).

God has always been a friend to the sinner, and has made it possible for him to turn and live. He is not willing that any should perish. In his great wisdom and power he stretches opportunity of repentance to its utmost limit. He does not desire that any, yea, even the scoffers, should perish. He gives warning after warning, until the utter hopelessness of any further warning is made quite plain, and the cup of self-willedness and iniquity is quite full. Of course, God cannot save the sinner if he will not repent ; it is impossible. Sin means condemnation, and if man will go on in sin he will be everlastingly lost. That it is not God's will that any should perish is proved by what he has done to save him — the provisions of salvation.

He has thrown about him innuTnerable Christianizing influences.

I. The greatest influence that God

USES TO SAVE THE SINNER IS THE HOLY BiBLE.

Our own Herbert Moninger, in writing of the

Bible's influence upon the world, said, " Wherever the Bible has gone it has sweetened the home, exalted womanhood, sanctified the cradle and redeemed man." Indeed, were it not for the sacred influence of the Bible, womanhood would be no more than " slavehood " 1 President Angell tells us that it is simply striking to note the position accorded to women in non-christian countries ! Often, as he contemplated the wretched lot of women in Asia, did the pathetic words in which Goethe makes Ephignia pour forth her pathetic plaint spring to his lips : " ' The condition of woman is lamentable.' Those words might be inscribed as an appropriate inscription on the gates of cities and on the door-posts of the houses in the eastern world. Woman is doomed in ignorance. She is the slave and drudge of man. Her mind is not deemed worthy of cultivation. I know nothing in all the East so painful to the view of men from a Christian land as the condition of woman." It is only where the Bible has gone that woman is recognized as a companion of man, and the only difference between the women of America, and those in China, India, Africa, and other heathen countries is that which the Bible makes. Take the Bible away and the women of America would be loved and respected to no higher degree than the women in darkest China ! It purifies nations and saves them from eternal ruin ! Not only is this true of nations ; it is true of the individual. He does not get very far on the way from

God before he is confronted by the influence of the Word of God. With its warnings, with its invitations, with its pictures of God and his love, it stands as a great influence for good. A single verse of its sacred contents has frequently turned the sinner from the error of his way. Hundreds of men have been turned to God by " The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." This precious Old Book influences and leads sinners from darkness to light ; from death to life, and from Satan to God! Therefore,

" This holy Book I'd rather own Than all the gold and gems That e'er in monarchs' coffers shone, Than all their diadems.

" Nay, were the seas one chrysolite. The earth one golden ball.

And diamonds all the stars at night. This Book were worth them all.

" Ah no ! The soul ne'er found relief In glittering bands of wealth.

Gems dazzle not the eye of grief; Gold cannot purchase health.

" But here a blessed balm appears To heal the deepest woe; And those who read this Book in tears. Their tears will cease to flow."

II. Another influence that God has

THROWN AROUND THE SINNER TO SAVE HIM IS THE INFLUENCE OF A CHRISTIAN MOTHER. Asidc frOHl

the Bible, there is no power in the world so potent for good as a Christian mother's influence. The mother has an influence over the child's early life that none but a mother can have. A Scottish proverb that is frequently quoted says, " An ounce of mother is worth a pound of clergy," and it is true. In this great world of opportunity there are many callings in which a woman can make her life count for much towards making the world happier, better, and more Christlike. She may teach school, she may write books, she may go to the mission fields and do errands of mercy, but she can make her life count for most in the home ! Her influence in the home is mightier than swords in shaping the destiny of nations. In the home worthy men and women are trained for the world's needs. Hannah, the mother of Samuel, led the child to the Lord. John the Baptist had a noble mother in Elizabeth. There was only one person on earth that Napoleon obeyed, and that was his mother. One time he was asked what he considered the greatest need of France and his answer was, " What France needs is more good mothers." Brandt said, " The first twenty years of my life were spent in the presence of a Christian mother, and her influence has always been before me, as a restraint from doing wrong, and to help to encourage me in doing right." Through life the influence of a Christian mother is a benediction to any individual. And one might as well try to blot out the sun as to try to blot out the influence of a Christian mother. It is to be treasured and cherished as one of the richest and rarest blessings !

III. In the next place God has thrown

THE INFLUENCE OF KINDNESS ABOUT THE SINNER

TO SAVE HIM. Mrs. Hedgemau said, " I expect to pass through this life but once. If, therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing that I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again." And Faber has well said, " Kindness has converted more sinners than either zeal, eloquence or learning."

Once I read a story w^hich impressed me more deeply than any I ever read along this same line. A Christian lady, as I recall the story, was standing in a window that opened on Bleecher Street, New York, A degraded drunkard came down the street. He had been mayor of a southern city, but had gone to ruin through drink. He was an outcast. He had made up his mind to commit suicide. He started to the river, and as he walked down Bleecher Street, he turned into a public house and asked for another drink. Then he told the bar-keeper that he had no money to pay for it, and he came around from behind the bar and kicked him out into the gutter. The Christian woman, loking out of the window, saw the poor wretch picking himself up out of the gutter, crossed over and wiped the mud off his face with her handkerchief, and then said to him, '' Come over here. It is warm, and you will be welcome." He went over and sat down behind the stove. His heart was touched. The spark of humanity was fanned into a flame, and he rose to real manhood once more. Finally he was made manager of one of the largest publishing houses in New York City. One day he came to the lady who had shown him the kindness and said, " I have some friends down at the hotel. I want you to meet them." She went with him to the hotel, and he introduced her to his wife and daughter. They were refined, cultured ladies whom he had left and gone far on the road of sin. Kindness saved him !

" Do a kindness, do it well ; Angels will the story tell.

" Do a kindness, tell it not; Angels' hands will mark the spot.

" Do a kindness, though 'tis small; Angel voices sing it all.

" Do a kindness, never mind; What you lose the angels find.

" Do a kindness, do it now; Angels know it all somehow.

" Do a kindness any time; Angels weave it into a rhyme.

" Do a kindness^ it will pay; Angels will rejoice that day.

" Kindly deeds and thoughts and words Bless the world like songs and birds."

IV. The influence of the cross is another

INFLUENCE THAT GOD IS USING TO SAVE THE SIN- NER. It is by the cross that Jesus draws men unto himself. Men are saved by the cross, for here the eternal sacrifice was made. To save is its power and mission.

Jesus said : " And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." He was lifted upon the cross. It may be that there are hundreds of people who are slow to see the truth of the statement, but from that cross the drawing power of his dying love has raised literally thousands of lives from the mire of sin. A backward look over more than nineteen hundred years brings the multitude of sinners to the cross on which their Saviour is dying. They gather around it. On that cross hangs a man, the Son of God. On that cross hangs Jesus of Nazareth. On that cross hangs the best friend they ever had. They look upon the wounds and stripes. They behold the mock crown, and are shocked at the thrusting of the Roman spear into the Saviour's heart, and the stream of mingled blood and water that gushed forth. They shudder at the driving of the iron spikes through his hands and feet. They watch him bear the excruciating pain, and deep down in their hearts a still small voice reiterates the words of the prophet, " He was despised ; and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows ; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities ; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray ; we have turned everyone to his own way; and Jehovah hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he opened not his mouth ; as a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who among them considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgressions of my people to whom the stroke was due. And they made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich man in his death; although he had done no violence, neither was there any deceit found in his mouth. Yet it pleased Jehovah to bruise him; he hath put him to grief; when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of Jehovah shall prosper in his hand. He shall see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by the knowledge of himself shall my righteous servant justify many; and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death, and was numbered with transgressors : Yet he bare the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."