world." !N"o human intellect can fully grasp the eternal ocean
of truth in these words. "But the Holy Spirit helpeth our
infirmities to understand the deep things of God." And our
Savior promised if we will ask our heavenly Father he will
give us abundantly the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth.
Let us, therefore, stand and spend a few moments, in silent,
earnest prayer that God may enable us to comprehend some-
thing of the glorious meaning of our text. Let us now first
brush away the cobwebs of LTnitarianism and by the light of
God's truth behold the Lamb of God in "the glory which he
had with the Father before the world began.'' Let us on the
wings of faith soar back into eternity when there was no sun,
no moon, no stars, no earth; nay, more, we must by faith soar
back into mighty eternity when not one of the seventy-five
million suns with their attendant planets had been spoken into
existence; nay, still more, on the wings of faith let us soar
back into mighty eternity when the Jasper walls of the eternal
city with her golden streets were not, when not an angel, nor
arch-angel bent his wheeling flight around the throne of God;
when all worlds, suns, angels, arch-angels, seraphim and
cherubim were sleeping in the bosom of God the Father, God
Dk. Eufus C. Buklesox. 635
the Son and God the Holy Spirit. We behold the Lamb of
God as The Word or eternal Logos sitting Avith God the
Father and God the Holy Spirit on a resplendent throne
brighter than a universe of suns.
John the beloved disciple had such a view as this when
he said, "Li the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
wdth God, and the Word was God. The same was in the
beginning with God. All things were made by Him and with-
out Him was not anything made that was made ; and the Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory
as the glory of the only begotten Son full of grace and truth.
He was in the world and the world was made by him and the
Avorld knew Him not." Isaiah, the evangelist prophet, had
this same glorious view of the pre-existence of Christ, when he
said, "Unto us a child is born; unto us a son is given; the gov-
ernment shall be upon his shoulders and of the increase of his
government there shall be no end. He shall be called the
Wonderful, the Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting
Eather and the Prince of Peace." God, the Father, created
angels, arch-angels, cherubim and seraphim, earth and all
the shining worlds above us by the Word. And when the
angels who kept not their first estate, but rebelled against God,
they were cast down to hell, as monuments of His glorious jus-
tice, and when Adam, the younger brother of angels, sinned in
the garden of Eden, Justice cried, "Cut him down; why doth
he cumber the ground." But Mercy, the darling attribute of
Deity, cried, "Spare Him, spare Him as a monument of
mercy." But Justice thundered louder than from Sinai's
summit, "Man must die or justice must die and God's great
Avhite throne be disgraced before man, angels and devils."
But Mercy cried, "Is there no way to honor and magnify the
law and save man ?" But the grand mystery of man's redemp-
tion was "sealed in a book with seven seals," and a strong angel
proclaimed with a loud voice : "Who is worthy to open the
i^ook and loose the seals thereof?" And there was no man
in heaven or earth or under the earth able to open thj book
or even to look thereon. For the Kedeemer of man mu^t be
immaculately holy and not under the law. He must also be
equal with God and able to lay one hand on the ipotless throne
636 The Life and Writings of
and the other on sinful man and by his death atone for man's
sin and lift him up into paradise. But no such being could
be found among all the shining ranks above, 71 or on the earth
nor under the earth. John the beloved disciple, in the Isle of
Patmos, beholding that no one was able to redeem man, "wept
bitterly and there was silence in heaven above the space of
half an hour." Finally a shout was heard in heaven crying^
*'Weep not, John, behold the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the
root and offspring of David, Jesus of Nazareth, has prevailed
to open the book and to loose the seals thereof." And "they
sang a new song, saying. Thou art worthy to take the book
and open the seals thereof, for thou wast slain and hast re-
deemed us to God by Thy blood and made us kings and priests
unto God." And this wonderful mystery of man's redemption
by the blood of Christ that bewildered angels and caused
silence in heaven for half an hour has been a mystery in all
ages. Paul said in his day that Christ crucified is to the Jews
a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but unto them
that are called, it is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
And the first step and the only way to understand this mystery
is to understand clearly what law is and the absolute necessity
of maintaining law. We must learn that law is not, as many
suppose, despotism or tyranny, but a mode of existence or
order of sequence established by a God of love, for the har-
mony of the universe and for the happiness of men and angels.
A great philosopher has truly said of law : "Her seat is in the-
bosom of God. Her voice is heard in the harmony of the uni-
verse. The greatest are not above her control and the least
are secure under her protecting power." Whoever, therefore^
tramples on law is an enemy to God, to man and his 0"^vn souk
Obedience to law fills earth and heaven with rejoicing. Tramp-
ling on law fills earth with tears, mourning, war and blood-
shed. A clear understanding and rigid observance of law
gave Greece and Eome their greatness and glory, but tramp-
ling on law plunged them into a vortex of blood and anarchy.
Oh, that God would enable us all to understand, as citizens^
the sacredness of law, then we would not only be able to save
our country from ruin but clearly understand the glorious
plan of redemption through the blood of Christ. Paul, who
Dk. Rufus C. Bukleson. 637
had been caught to the third heaven i.nd heard and saw
things unlawful for man to utter, understood this profound
mystery and said "For as much as the children were partakers
of flesh and blood he also took part of the same, that he
through death might destroy him that had the power of death,
that is the de^dl. For it behooved him in all things to bo made
like unto his brethren that he might be a merciful high priest.
And in the fulness of time we behold the Lamb of God
descending from His resplendent throne and becoming flesh
and blood and born of the Virgin Mary. This marvelous
stoop of infinite love and mercy caused heaven and earth to
rejoice.
And shepherds who kept their flocks by night on the
mountains of Judea heard angels shouting, "Glory to God in
the highest; peace on earth, good will to men. Fear ye not,
for behold we bring you glad tidings of great joy, for unto
you is born this day in the city of David a child which is
Christ Jesus the Lord." And a resplendent «tar cr.me from
the East followed by the wise men saying, "Where is he that
is born king of the Jews, for behold we have seen his star
in the East and have come to worship Him." And when the
star guided them to Bethlehem, they f ell do^vn and worshipped
Him, offering Him gold, frankincense and myrrh. But alas,
in this sad world when the sons of God come to worship,
Satan also comes. When our beautiful prairies are carpeted
with unending green and variegated with ten thousand flow-
ers, then the dreaded tarantula and hissing adders crawl forth
from their dens. So while heaven and earth rejoice at the
birth of the Prince of Peace, the Savior of men, Satan know-
ing that he came to take away sin and destroy his power on
earth, stirred up his servant, Herod, to seek the young child
to put him to death. And when he could not find him, he sent
his brutal soldiers and slew all the male children in Bethlehem
under two years of age. But Joseph being warned of God,
took the young child and his mother and fled into Egypt, and
was there till Herod died, and went down to bis place among
the lost spirits, where he is at this very moment crying for
a drop of water to cool his parched tongue. But let us now
behold the Lamb of God as he begins to make an r.tonement
638 The Life A^-D "Writings of
for our sins, first by a life of perfect obedience to law, for let
it never be forgotten that Christ's life of obedience to law,
human and divine, in every jot and tittle, from the cradle to
the grave, was as essential to an atonement for our sins as was
His sufferings on the cross. Had he ever violated one law,
or omitted one duty, the redemption of man would have failed.
Hence Christ was a model of perfect holiness. He ^7as a per-
fect son, an upright citizen and a devoted friend from the
cradle to the grave. So that men and devils ven were con-
strained to say with Pilate, "We find no fault in hir^." And
Avhen he had thus magnified the law and made it honorable by
thirty years' of obedience he entered upon his public ministry,
organized his church, or kingdom, and instructed the preach-
ers and members, and died on the cross, thus making a com-
plete atonement for our sins. First let us behold him walking
seventy-five miles from Galilee to Jordan to be baptized of
John, but when John forbade him, and falling at his feet,
said : ''Lord, I have need to be baptized of Thee, and cometh
Thou to me." O, Christian, hear your Lord and Master say,
"Suffer it to be so now, John, for thus it becom.eth us to fulfill
all righteousness." And when Jesus was baptized, going
straightway up out of the water, the heavens opened and the
Spirit (anointing him Eang in Zion) was seen to descend like a
dove, lighting upon him, and a voice from heaven said, "This
is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, hear him."
Having thus entered upon his public ministry and being
anointed by the Holy Spirit and recognized by a voice from
heaven as King in Zion, let us now behold him organizing
"the people made ready for the Lord" into a kingdom and
church. We see the Lamb of God founded his church on the
grandest philosophy of good government; that is, "a govern-
ment of the people, by the people, and for the people." It was
a government in which there were no popes, no prelates, no
bishops, no lords over God's heritage. In ^.his government
every man was his own master, subject only avid alway-: to the
will of the majority of his equals, executing the laws of the
kingdom of Christ. Let us never forget that a government
thus organized is not an unwieldy mob. It is a grand historic
fact that governments thus organized haA'e achieved the great-
De. Eufus C. Burleson. 639
est victories of earth. It was such a government that won the
victory of Thermopylae, Marathon, Leuctra, Runnymede,
Bunker Hill, Yorktown and San Jacinto. It was this govern-
ment that made Greece and Rome immortal; but when ambi-
tion, corruption and ignorance overthrew this government,
Greece and Rome were plunged into an ocean of blood and
anarchy. It is a well established fact that Thomas Jefferson,
one of the greatest statesmen of earth, got his model for the
government of our glorious Republic from this model given
by our Lord and Savior to his church. In 1770 he visited the
Baptist church near his home, and here he saw for the first
time a government of pure Democracy. He saw the election
of pastors and deacons, and all things done by the will of the
majority, subject only to the Bible. After attending several
meetings with delight and astonishment he invited the vener-
able pastor. Elder A. D. Trimble, home with him r.nd askeS
him : "Where did you get your form of church government,
and how long have you had it?" Elder Trimble answered:
"We got it from the Kew Testament, as taught by our blessed
Savior, and have had it from the very hour he said, ^Thou art
Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, aiid the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it, and our blessed
Savior has preserved his church through all the dark ages and
bloody persecutions to this very hour." The grand statesman
said : "Is it possible that Jesus established a form of govern-
ment so grand and so simple ? It is the government we need
for these colonies." N"ot only was our beloved republic founded
on the model God gave to his church, but the greatest men and
greatest nations of earth are fast tending to this heaven-given
model of government. Let us inquire then prayerfully what
are the greatest essential points of this government. First,
every local church or congregation is independent and sov-
ereign and not to be controlled by any synod, diocese or con-
vention. There are no bishops, no popes, no lords over God's
heritage in the church as organized by Jesus. Our blessed
Savior settled this question forever, when there was a strife
among the apostles who should be the greatest. He said unto
them, "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them,
and they that exercise authority over them are called bene-
640 The Life axd Writings of
f actoi-s, but it sHall not be so among you, but he that is greatest
among you let him be as the younger, and he that is chief as
he that doth serve. One is your Master, even Christ, and al]
ye are brethren." And when he said, ''If thy brother tres-
pass against thee, tell him his fault between thee and him
alone; if he will not hear thee, take vnth thee two or three
more; and if he will not hear, tell it to the church; and if he
will not hear the church, let him be to thee as a heathen and
publican." He demonstrated that the church was the highest
and only authority in all matters of church government. And
when the successor of Judas was to be elected, they were to-
gether continuing in prayer and supplication, and one hundred
and twenty names, among them were the women and Mary,
the mother of Jesus. And after earnest prayer for God's direc-
tion they gave forth their lots, or votes, and the vote fell upon
Mathias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles. And
when the seven deacons were to be elected the apostles called
the multitude of the disciples, men and women, together, and
they chose the seven deacons, whom they set before the
apostles who laid hands on them and ordained them, not to
preach, "but to serve tables and look after the poor." And
when Paul and Barnabas were to be sent on 'he first grand
mission to the Gentiles, they were sent forth, not by a pope,
or bishop, but by the church. (See Acts 13 :3.) And when
a member of the church at Corinth committed a great sin,
Paul, though he had been caught up to the third heavens and
heard and saw things not lawful for a man to utter, did not
dare to excommunicate the offender, but wrote to the church
at Corinth (see 1 Cor. 5 :45) : "When ye are gathered together
and my spirit is with you, deliver such an one unto satan, for
the destruction of the flesh." And when that offender became
•deeply penitent, Paul did not restore him, but wrote to the
•church (2 Cor. 6:7): "Sufficient to such a man is the punish-
ment which was inflicted of the many, or the majority; for-
give ye such an one, lest perhaps such an one should be swal-
lowed up with much sorrow." Popery, or Episcopacy, were
unknown in the church till the day of the bloody Phocas,
and the equally bloody Pope Boniface, 607 A. D. Satan seeing
the government Jesus gave his church was destroying his
Dk. Kufus C. Bukleson. 641
Idngdom, used all his satanic power to destroy that God-given
form of government and used these ambitious men to intro-
duce popery and Episcopacy and affect a union of church and
state; when the true church of Christ never had any union
with the state. But the church of Christ maintaining the
same government he gave them on the banks of the Jordan,
retired to the wilderness, first among the Albigenses and Wald-
enses, and then into the valley of Wales, and then into the
wilds of America, and has preserved that same government to
this very hour. Another great essential element in the gov-
ernment of the church of Christ is, that no man or woman,
however great, or rich, should ever enter without being con-
verted and maintaining a high, moral and Christian character.
Jeremiah foretelling the glory of the kingdom to be set up
by our blessed Savior, said : "They shall not teach every man
his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, Know ye the
Lord; for all shall know him, from the least even to the
greatest." And when the Jews came to John the Baptist, de-
siring to enter this new kingdom, on the ground that they were
children of Abraham, John said : "Think not to say within
you, we are the children of Abraham; for except ye be con-
verted ye can not enter the kingdom." God gave a grand
illustration of this truth in the building of Solomon's Temple.
In the erection of that grand building no sound of the hammer
was ever heard, every stone, every beam, every pillar was with
wonderful skill hewn and shaped so as to precisely fit its
proper place. So in the spiritual temple of God, all the
material should be well prepared, well shaped, so as to fit into
the building without noise or friction. It is a glorious truth
that the church or kingdom of the blessed Savior thus organ-
ized, has stood amid the burning fagots of ISTero and Smith-
field, Bedford jail of England and the whipping posts of ^NTew
England. She has crossed the wide Atlantic and the mighty
Mississippi into the wilds of Texas. Here that church stands
on the banks of the Brazos that was organized on the banks of
the Jordan 1886 years ago. Ha^dng now seen how the Lamb
of God organized his kingdom, let us mark his first great con-
flict with sin and satan, which was to regain in the wilderness
v.'hat Adam lost in Eden. Immediately after his baptism and
642 The Life and Writixgs of
establishment of his church, Jesus retired to the wilderness
ar.d spent forty "days in prayer and fasting all alone among the
wild beasts, and when he was hungered satan came to him and
began tempting him, as he did Eve in the garden of Eden.
I aceply regret that no subject in the Bible is so little under-
stood as "the fall of man," or the sin of our first parents in
Eden. Such superficial thinkers and flippant talkers as Tom
Paine and Bob Ingersoll say the sin of Adam was "eating an
apple," and ridicule Christians for believing that God would
drive Adam and Eve out of Eden and punish them and the
whole human family with death for merely "eating an apple."
And as we cannot understand fully the temptation and vic-
tory of Christ without understanding the temptation and fall
of Adam, let us inquire in what did the sin of Adam consist.
By analyzing the sin of Adam, profoundly and philosophic-
ally, we find it in perfect harmony with the laws of man's
moral nature, as defined by John Locke, Dugald Stewart, Dr.
Wayland, and all great philosophers. These great philosoph-
ers tell us there are four propelling powers in the moral and
spiritual nature of man. (1) "The appetites, or desires for
food, drink and whatever satisfies the body." (2) "The pas-
sions, as love, ambition, hate and whatever guides man in his
social intercourse. (3) "Self-love that guides with sleepless
vigilance, all that promotes individual happiness." (4:) "Con-
science, which discriminates moral qualities." All these
powers, as God created them, are essential to zh^ happiness of
man; but when perverted by sin they bring confusion, woe
and death on families, cities and nations. In the divine
economy conscience is supreme, self-love second, passion third,
appetite fourth, and last of all. ISTow Satan first appealed to
the appetite, saying: "This fruit is pleasant to the taste,
therefore eat it." But conscience thundered, "We must not
eat it, nor touch it, lest we die." Satan then appealed to her
passions or love of the beautiful, saying : "It is beautiful to
the eye, beautiful to behold, therefore eat it." But conscience
still thundered, "We must not touch it lest we die." Satan
then appealed to that powerful passion in the human heart,
"self-love," saying : "God doth know that if you eat this you
shall not surely die, but shall become as gods, knowing good
Dr. Rufus C. Burleson. 64o
and evil." Alas! alas! when self-love, passion and appetite
all rebelled they hurled conscience from the throne and tramp-
led her into dust; and unbridled appetite, passion and self-
love, a trinity of evils, mounted the vacant throne and man
became the bond slave of sin and Satan. Now Jesus the Lamb
of God comes to crucify and subdue appetite, passion and self-
love, and by regeneration replace conscience en the throne.
The first step in this glorious work is to meet and conquer
Satan on the same battlefield of temptation where Adam was
conquered, and show man, in all ages, how to resist and over-
come temptation. He came to our Savior as he did to Eve,
first appealing to his appetite of hunger, and said : "If thou
be the Son of God command these stones to be made bread.
Jesus refused to obey, saying, "It is written man shall not live
by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the
mouth of God." Satan then, as he did with our first parents
in Eden, appealed to passion, especially love of display. He
taketh him up into the pinnacle of the temple, where there
were two million Jews assembled for the passover feast in
Jerusalem, and said : "If thou be the Son of God, cast thy-
self down from thence; for it is written He will give his
angels charge concerning thee, lest at any tim.e thou dash thy
foot against a stone. But Jesus said it is written, "Thou shalt
not tempt the Lord thy God." Satan then taketh him up into
an exceeding high mountain and showeth him all the king-
doms and all the Tammany Halls of the world, and said:
"All these are mine, and I will give them unto thee if thou
wilt fall down and worship me." But Jesus said : "Get thee
behind me Satan; it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord
thy God and him only shalt thou serve." Then Satan leaveth
him and good angels came and ministered unto him, for he
had magnified the law that Adam had violated in the garden
of Eden, and left an example for men in all ages how to resist
the temptation of the devil.
Having now beheld the Lamb of God in his glorious work
of setting up his kingdom and his glorious triumph over satan's
temptations in the wilderness, let us behold him as a preachef
of righteousness, instructing his apostles and follow rs in the
doctrines and duties of his kingdom.
644 The Life axd Wkitings of
He went up into tke mountain with his opostles and the
people came unto him, and he preached his over memorable
sermon called "the sermon on the mount." The first sentence
is "Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven; blessed are the pure in heart for they shnll see
God." Gladstone, the greatest statesman now on earth, says :
"There are more lessons of wisdom and morality in this one
sermon, than in all the teachings of Socrates, Aristotle and the
greatest philosophers of Greece and Kome combined." It
teaches all men, rich and poor, learned and unlearned, !jow ta
live happily in this world and to prepare for the world to
come." Even his enemies sent by the high priest to arrest
him were so overwhelmed with his sublime and heart search-
ing truths, that they returned saying : "ISTever man spake like
this man." But time forbids us to follow him in his sublime
and holy teachings. But I exhort you, my dear heavers, to
read and study these glorious lessons daily, often on youf
knees. It is a mournful fact that many Christians and even
preachers, are growing more and more careless about read-
ing God's word. But it is a sad fact that whi'e the teachings
of some men are noble and sublime, they do not practice them
in their daily lives. But our blessed Sa^aor wmt about doing
good, healing the sick, opening the eyes of the blind, unstop-
ping the ears of the deaf, causing the lame to walk, and rais-
ing the dead.
]!^ow let us behold with adoring love his sympathy for the
poor, the weeping and broken hearted. See him weeping
with Mary and Martha at the grave of their beloved Lazarus,
till his vilest enemies said, behold how he loved him. And
hear him saying, "Lazarus, come forth." And Jesus restores
him to the joyful embrace of his sisters. Behold also his
tender sympathy for the widow at Xain, following her only
son to the grave. He touches the coffin and says, "Young man,
arise." And he arose up before the astonished multitude and
he restores him to his mother's lo^nng embrace. Behold
also his tender love for little children, when the mothers