Testimonials. Rev. Harvey Johnson— My Dear Sir: I have read your extraordinary discourse on the “Equality of the Father and the Son.” I never before had a clear conception of the relation of the Three Persons in the Godhead. Though I believed, it was simply by faith, yet I confess I did not understand. But you have made us understand, by giving us the mental sight of the functions, the offices to be performed by the Three One God and thereby of the Godhead. I could wish that all our people had an opportunity to read this able discourse—as originally coming from one of their own race-as treated, that it might thereby inspire them with that love and pride of race, so desirable among us. I am, dear sir, your friend and brother. M. R. DELANEY.

Rev. Harvey Johnson— Dear Brother: Herewith accept my thanks for your pamphlet, kindly given to me, containing your sermon on “Equality of the Father and the Son,” and a discourse on “Secret Disciples.” I have read them both with interest and satisfaction. I was particularly impressed with three things. 1. The earnestness of your purpose manifest in these discussions. 2. The originality of your method. 3. The Scripturalness of your argument. May their publication be blessed of God to the accomplishing of much good. It gives me great pleasure to observe the evidence of your enlarged usefulness among your people. Be assured of my abiding interest in your work. Fraternally yours, JOHN B. ENGLISH, Maryland State Evangelist.

Rev. Harvey Johnson— Dear Brother: I have perused with great care your sermons in pamphlet, viz: “Equality of the Father and the Son,” also the one entitled “Secret Disciples,” and have no hesitation in pronouncing each of them well chosen, ably and exhaustively handed, reflecting great credit upon the author, and will be of great benefit to our race and the public generally, wherever circulated. Very respectfully, P. S. HENRY.

Rev. Harvey Johnson- Dear Brother: I carefully read your sermon on the “Equality of the Father and the Son,” and only wish it were possible that every man, woman and child could read it, and thereby learn not only the “Equality of the Father and the Son,” but see the importance and beauty of an educated ministry. For myself, I have long seen and felt the need of this sermon, from which I have learned so much more of the beauty of God's Word, especially the relationship existing in the Godhead. You will readily see of how much value to me is this discourse when I mention that two years ago I refused to discuss the Equality of the Son with the Father, as I was wholly unprepared to give one reason for believing as I did that the Son was the equal of the Father, but if I could have been fortified with this mine of truth, I should have felt myself fitted to have met the combined forces of the world's argument. Your friend and brother, B. F. COKE.

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Rev. H. Johnson- Dear Brother: Allow me to say that I have read with a great deal of pleasure and profit your elaborate sermon on the “Equality of the Father and the Son.” The first thing that struck me was its originality. I stopped and wondered what or who Johnson has been reading—where did these things come from? I had never been anything like it in books. Now I see. It had its origin in Johnson's brain. The second thing was the carte with which it was prepared, fortified at every point by Scripture quotations. I hope that you will not think that I am trying to flatter you, when I say that I regard it as an able production, and it reflects a great deal of credit on its author, and on the colored Baptist ministers of Baltimore and the denomination. As to myself, I feel proud of it, or what is more congenial to my feelings, I am thankful that I have a brother in the ministry who is able to think so logically on so profound a subject. Please allow me to say that I think you will do well to write more of your sermons out in full. What you want is practice. A learned man has said, that “speaking makes a ready man, but writing makes a correct man.” Yours for the truth, as it is in Christ, J.C. ALLEN, Pastor First Colored Baptist Church, Baltimore.

My Dear Brother Johnson:—I have read your new seedy sermon on the “Equality of the Father and the Son” with pleasure, examined it with care, and meditated upon it with profit and delight. One of the first things that struck me was its originality, and this is the reason I call it a new seedy sermon added to the books of sermons. I consider it terse, logical and conclusive. For you have taken it out of the old beaten path, trod by the fathers, and placed in a new light, not by trying to bring the Son up to the Father, but by showing that the Father could do nothing without the Son; and that these points are so well fortified by Scripture, that they cannot be successfully attacked. And it gives me pleasure in expressing my cordial concurrence in every though and word you have expressed concerning the “Equality of the Father and the Son.” The flood of light which your sermon sheds upon this subject, must, with God's blessing upon it, prove a most efficient means of deepening religious impressions, and promoting religious growth. Yours in the common faith, A. BROWN, Pastor Leadenhall Street Baptist Church, Baltimore.

“I liked your sermon on 'Equality of the Father and the Son,' and read it with great interest.”— Rev. Dr. G. J. Johnson, Missionary Sec'y American Baptist Publication Society.

“The conclusion of all our students, who are able to criticise, is that your sermon is a worthy production-grammatically, logically and in diction.”— Rev. W. M. Alexander, Washington, D.C.

“Rev. Harvey Johnson has published two of his sermons, which will add to his reputation and usefulness as a minister. We have not space here to review them, but pronounce them good.”— Rev. H. M. Wharton, Pastor of Lee St. Baptist Church, Baltimore.

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EQUALITY OF THE FATHER AND THE SON. A SERMON. ALSO, A DISCOURSE ON “SECRET DISCIPLES.” BY HARVEY JOHNSON, PASTOR OF THE UNION BAPTIST CHURCH, BALTIMORE. BALTIMORE: J. F. WEISHAMPEL, JR., PRINTER AND BOOKSELLER, No. 360 West Baltimore Street. 1882

EQUALITY OF THE FATHER AND THE SON. * *Preached at a Union Meeting of the Churches, in the Leadenhall St. Baptist Church, November, 1881.

“Of mine own self I can do nothing: as I hear, judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.”—John v:30.

It is true that Jesus uses these words, but I do not see that they are in any sense peculiar to him, for the Father might with equal propriety have used the same words with reference to the Son,— i.e. that “of mine own self I can do nothing.”

The Son also says, “As I hear, I judge.” This latter is as true of the Father as of the Sons, for the Scripture says, “The Father judgeth no man; but hath committed all judgment unto the Son.” He might also say, I seek not mine own will, but the will of him whom I have sent, for I believe the Father seeks the will of the Son in all things, and in the same sense that the Son seeks that of the Father. The sending does not of necessity show inferiority, because the sending was not a forced sending, but a consenting to be sent. I do not see that there need be any inferiority for two equals to make an agreement with each other, that the one shall take one position and the other shall occupy another; and this is of a truth the case with The Father and the Son.

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The Scripture truly says, “He sent his Son to be the Savior of the world;“ and the same Scripture says of him also, “Lo, I come and I delight do thy will.” Jesus says, “I lay down my life for the sheep. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again.” Now, if there were that inferiority of the Son to the Father which some would have us believe, all this would mean nothing.

He also says, “My Father worketh hitherto and I work,” and again, “The Father hath power in himself to give life to whom he will, so hath the Son power to give life to whom he will.”

There are those who quote the words of the text with great emphasis, in proof of the inequality of Christ with the Father; but, brethren, I do not know of a passage in the word of God that more clearly proves the equality of the Son with the Father.

First, the Father could do nothing at creating the world without the Creative Word, which Word afterwards became the Son of God. In the first chapter of John, we read that “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made.” And again, if you turn to the first chapter of Colossians, sixteenth verse, you will find these words: “For by him [meaning Christ] were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers, all things were created by him and for him.” In the following verse, the Apostle adds that “he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” Could any such language be used in respect to a being who was not and is not equal with the Father, who is also the Creator of all things? I think you are prepare to say with me , my brethren, that it could not be said of any other being who was less than God himself.

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But not only could God the Father do nothing, absolutely nothing in creation without the Son, but he could do nothing at carrying on and perpetuating that which is created, for the Scripture says that “he [the Son] is upholding all things by the right hand of his power.”

Again, the Father could do nothing at conquering and subduing this world of sin and darkness without Christ, for in the fifteenth chapter of I Corinthians, twenty-fifth verse, God says, by his word, “he must reign until he hath put all enemies under his feet.” He must do it because God the Father could not do it without him. It is he, (the Son,) according to the Scripture, who is to put down all rule and all authority and power; and when he shall have done this, then he shall deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father, that God may be all in all. But, as yet, the Son reigns over this sin-stricken and sin-cursed world, and will and must reign until he hath put all enemies under his feet. Could any being who was not equal with God in power and wisdom and all the essential qualities that go to make up the eternal Godhead, do this? No, my brethren. The Son reigns in a sense that God the Father never has, nor ever can, for he reigns as he who has trod the wine-press alone; he reigns as the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world, and he reigns as the root and the offspring of David. He reigns as the Lion of the tribe of Judah. He reigns as the forsaken of God—hear him crying, “My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” He reigns as he who says, “When there was none to help, mine own arm brought salvation unto me.” He reigns as he who bled, and groaned, and died; he reigns as he who was buried, and on the third day rose, triumphant over death, hell and the grave; and he reigns as he who has a resurrected body, sitting at the right hand of God, overturning and overturning until the kingdoms of this world shall have 0007 8become the kingdom of our Lord and his Christ. In none of these senses does God the Father reign, and neither could any but a God reign after this manner, and a God in the flesh at that.

When we come to the plan of redemption, the Father could do nothing without the Son. This I gather, first, from the prayer of Jesus in the garden, when he prayed, “Father, if it be possible, remove this cup from me; nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done.” Now we see by the failure or refusal of the Father to answer this prayer, that it was not possible, or in other words, he had no other way by which to save a lost and ruined world, but by the Son. Here the Father says again to the Son, (in action,) “without thee,” or, “of mine own self I can do nothing.”

Also, it is said in Acts, “neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Do you ask, what mean those prayers offered by the Son to the Father? and if he was equal to the Father in all power and wisdom, why pray to him to do what he himself knew how to do, and had power to do? I simply reply, the text answers that, when it says, “of mine own self I can do nothing"—that is, can do nothing apart or separate, the one from the other, because they were one in all qualities of the Godhead, in will and wish, as well as in wisdom and power. And I answer further, by saying that it did not take one to make a Godhead, but three: so that while they are all complete beings in themselves, no one of them can, in and of himself, constitute a Godhead. Thus, while each was truly God in himself, each was not a Godhead in himself. This being true, which I think all are prepared to admit, there could certainly be nothing done without the eternal Three in One.

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Take creation, if you please and while there is God's command, “Let there be light,” there must also be the Creative Word, whom all admit to be the One who afterwards became the Son of God; and there must also be the Spirit to move upon the face of the deep.

Now, if any one will tell me of something that God the Father ever did without the other two, I will be better prepared to understand that they are not equal, i.e. three in one.

Yes, my brethren, it is true that Jesus the Son must say on the earth, “of mine own self I can do nothing,” for they were to work conjointly and not apart, the one from the other, so what the Father in heaven could do, the Son on earth could do. Also, Jesus himself says, “As the Father hath power in himself, so also hath the Son power in himself.” There are a great many people, and good people, too who think that the act of Jesus in taking on himself flesh was the giving up of his power; but you must remember the Scripture says, “in him [that is, in Jesus] dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.”

But let us admit, for argument sake, that when Jesus says, “of mine own self I can do nothing,” he has reference to his humanity, and that whenever he speaks, or seems to speak of his weakness, he refers to the weakness in the flesh, then that is true of him, but not more so than when he was yet in heaven: for now of himself he could do nothing, so when he was there with the Father, disembodied, he could of himself do nothing, and the Father could of himself do nothing, for they must ant conjointly.

If you will read the sixth verse of the second chapter of Philippians, you will see there that “he was in the form of God, and thought it not robbery to be equal with God.” The Apostle says that the Son was equal to the Father, and thought he was not committing robbery in being equal. Verse seventh says, “He made himself of no 0009 10reputation,” showing that he had power to become what he chose. It also states that he took upon him the form of a servant, and not that it was forced upon him and he sent away to the earth to suffer and die, with no power to help himself.

And neither must he the Spirit be forgotten or left out of the question, for he is the life and quickening power of all things, both in heaven and earth. Therefore the Father and Son might jointly say, “of ourselves we can do nothing.” No—absolutely nothing! Nothing in creating a world, for when the Father speaks, the Spirit must be there to move over that to which the Father speaks. Also, when the Father makes man and breathes in his nostrils the breath of life, the Spirit must be there as that breath of life.

The Father must give the Son the body, the Son must agree to take the body, as mentioned in the Psalms, and come and die; and so must the Spirit come to quicken that body so that it may live again, for the Spirit is the only quickening power that Heaven has. Thus, when the three act together as one, then is the work done, and in no other time.

The Father, I repeat, must give the Son to die, to atone for, and ransom and redeem man. And the Son must agree to come, for there is no power to send him without such an agreement. So, also, the Spirit must come and quicken all whom the Son atones for, ransoms and redeems; and if the Father's giving and the Son's death are ever to avail anything in bringing at last these souls and bodies as redeemed, home to the Father's house in Heaven, it must be by the quickening power of the Spirit, for it is he and he alone can do that work. Well might Jesus say, of mine own self I can do nothing,” for it was of a truth so, because he needed the Spirit to aid.

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Yes, my brethren, God must have a will, the Son must work out that will; but if we are ever to know what it is, as worked out by the Son, the Spirit must teach it to us, for the Scripture says, “he will teach us all things.” It also says, “he will take the things of God and show them unto us. If we are ever to know the path of truth and walk in it, he (the Spirit) must lead us, for the Saviour says, “he shall lead you into all truth.”

Also, the Church which Jesus established could have had no power from on high, but for the Spirit-he must come down on the day of Pentecost and bring it. He must bring power enough and put it into one sermon, preached by Peter, to convert three thousand souls. The Father had the power, but the Spirit must come and bring it, and the Church must tarry until the Spirit does bring it. He (the Spirit) must bring the power with which Peter and John speak to the man at the beautiful gate of the Temple, and he is made to leap up, walking and praising God.

The Spirit brought, on the same day, the gift of courage, which enabled the Apostles to stand up before the Sanhedrim court and say, “Whether we should hearken unto men more than unto God, judge ye.” Yes, this same Peter now uses these words, who not long before let a young woman frighten him out of owning the name of Jesus.

All this power was brought by the Spirit, and did not come until he did bring it. No, it did not come even when the Son came, for it is he who said, “Tarry until you receive power from on high.” So, in all this out-pouring of Pentecost, the Father might well say, “of mine own self I can do nothing.” Likewise the Son might say with reference to the same event, “of mine own self I can do nothing,” for the Father must give, the Son must send, and the Spirit must come and bring this power.

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But let us return to the Father and the Son, whose equality we are discussing; and here I repeat again, I do not believe that Jesus was any less the equal of God, when, or after he became the Son, or took on himself human nature, (which I hold was becoming the Son of God,) than he was prior to that time. Yet therie are those who think that he loses his power in the Godhead, and becomes a mere man, and the Jews thought him a very bad man at that, for which they hung him on the cross; and there are those, in our day, who say that he was only a man, but a very good man; but the Scripture declares him to be the Mighty God. That is what the Prophet said he was to be, in the flesh.

I spoke awhile ago, of his becoming the Son, for I do not believe that he was always the Son of God. If some one will show me a passage of Scripture that says so, I will be prepared to believe it; but as it is, I do not see it in that light. I believe that Christ always existed, and always existed as the equal of the Father, but not as the Son of God, but as the Word, for it is so stated in the first chapter of John: “The Word was with God, and the Word was God"—not the Son, but God.

I believe he existed as the Creative Word, as also stated in John, that “by him [that is, the Word] were all things made that were made.” I believe that he existed as the second person in the Godhead, and that it was he to whom the Father addressed himself, in connection with the Spirit, when he said, “Let us make man.” He did not address him as his Son, but as the Word, and the Creative Word at that, for such he was, and as such he existed until he became the Son of God, which I believe was done when conception took place with the Virgin, while she was overshadowed by the Highest; that then and there God said, (as it were,) Let there be conception, 0012 13and there was conception; and I gather this from the 1st chapter of Luke, thirty-fifth verse. I quote the entire verse, for I think it has a very great bearing on the statement I have just made: “And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also, that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” This is the time, as predicted here by the angel, and these are the circumstances under which He who up to this time was known as the Word, now, and from this time forth becomes the Son of God.

And I think also, that the passage in the second Psalm that says, “Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee,” is a prophecy pointing prospectively to this time, as mentioned in Luke ii: 35; as is also that of Isaiah, which says, “Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given.” These passages, I take it, point to this same event, which had not yet transpired, but was simply waiting for the fullness of time to come, according to Scripture.

Let us take one step further in proof of the fact, for a fact I believe it to be, that Jesus Christ was not the Son of God before his incarnation, and that is, because there was no necessity for it, for you all believe that God did always exist, and likewise did the Son, for Paul says, in Colossians i: 17, that “he [the Son] is before all things.” But not as the Son of God did he exist, neither as Jesus, nor as Christ, but as the Word, the Creative Word of God, and as the Creative Power of God the Father.

I know there is one passage in the Old Testament, and only one, that seems to favor the idea that Christ was always the Son of God, but even that one passage does not say that he was the Son of God. Those words are recorded 0013 14in the third chapter of Daniel and twenty-fifth verse. They are not the words of an inspired prophet of God, but of a wicked, excited, frightened, heathen king. Neither does he say that it was the Son of God which he saw, but that “the form of the fourth was like the son of God.” Now, what did he know about the form of the Son of God, for he had never seen his form, or we have never been informed that he had, neither are we informed that inspiration rested on him at the time of the utterance of these words. It was over six hundred years before the Word assumed a a visible form, and then he took on him the form of a servant, as stated in Philippians ii: 7.

Yes, Christ was always God, but God the Eternal Word. All other names and titles came in after the creation and fall of man. God is necessitated, as it were, to create another system, form another government, and create another kingdom; and a plan and system that shall work the redemption and restoration of man again to his former state.

And this government, this kingdom, this new system in God's mediatorial plan—the plan, and the only plan by which man can ever be rescued and saved; and this plan necessitated the creation of a new king to execute and carry it out; and He who was created or made in the form of man, takes the name of the Son of God, the names of Jesus and Christ and Mediator. All these names belong to the redemptive plan, and not to the government of God as it was before the fall of man.

Hence you see that he was not always the Son of God, but by incarnation he became the Son of God. And he does not become any less God by taking to himself human nature, but he does become more of the man, for he became God-man; but that does not make him any the less equal with the Father, for he is still declared to be the Son 0014 15of God with power: “And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” (Romans i: 4)

Yes, the Son of God with power-power to act, power to redeem, power to lay down his life, and power to take it again; power to rise and ascend up on high above all heavens, and power to give gifts unto men. None but a Go God could posses such a power.

God help us to think on this-think earnestly, think soberly, think prayerfully!

But do I hear some one asking if I had any Scripture to prove that there was a time when the Father could not move on with his plans without the Son? O yes. Find Revelations, fifth chapter, first verse, and there you will see the Father seated on his throne, with his will sealed up, holding it in his hand, with no power to execute it. Then read the second verse, and you will see a strong angel, and you will hear him proclaim in a loud voice for some one who is worthy and able to receive and execute this revelation, as contained in the book of Him who seated on the throne, and whom all will admit to be the father.

Turn now to the third verse, and you will find that a search is being made, both in heaven and in earth, and under the earth, to find some one to do this mighty and powerful work. I will here quote the verse as it is: “And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon"-and this state of affairs seems to trouble John much, for you see him weeping; yes, he weeps bitterly over the matter. Here seems to be a time in the divine realm and the Divine plan, when all is at a stand-still. John weeps, and well he may, for here is a stand-still in that plan and system that so much concerns us all, both as to our past, present, future and external happiness.

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But behold, here comes light, of the elders seems just here and now to have caught sight of him who is mighty to save, before John does, for his eyes seem blinded with tears of sorrow and grief, so the elder having see the mighty and powerful One, encourages him by saying, “Weep not, for behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and loose the seals thereof.”

Now, I repeat again, that there are three in the God-head, and that each of them has to say, “Of mine own self I can do nothing.” May God help us to see, believe and preach!

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SECRET DISCIPLES.

SECRET DISCIPLES.

“Being a disciple, but Secretly.”—John xix: 38. If I were asked why there are secret disciples, I do not think an answer would be very difficult to find, for the text assures us that it is because of that powerful blighting, withering, deterring force, called fear. “Being a disciple secretly, for fear of the Jews,” says our text.

It was fear, my friends, that caused the first sin that ever was committed, and fear has been the cause of every one since. If you will turn to your dictionary, you will find as one definition for fear, “anxiety and solicitude.” It is also stated to be “trouble of mind about some future event, and continued uneasiness, perplexity and anxious concern.” It was fear in this sense that filled the minds of Adam and Eve, before the fall; but after the transgression it became terror and dread; for you will remember that God had told them that the day they ate of the fruit they should surely die. But Satan comes and promises them if they eat, that their eyes shall be opened to know good and evil. Thus their minds became anxious and perplexed as to who it was best to obey, and then is infused into their minds a fearful distrust and doubting, as to the truthfulness of the danger of eating the forbidden fruit. So you see, it was the fear that God was keeping them back from that which pertained to their best interests by forbidding them to 0018 20partake of that one particular tree. Hear what is said in Genesis iii: 6,and I think you will see it—“And when the woman saw the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her and he did eat.” Now you see by this verse that they feared that God was debarring them from food, beauty and wisdom.

Thus the transgression and fall of man; and so begins that terrible evil, Sin, all through fear. You might follow the human race down to the present moment, and you will find that fear has been the cause of all doubt, and all sin.

I believe all I have said here to be true, but there are two sources, or fountains of fear, one the source of that life and peace which energizes and vitalizes all the powers in man, and the other flows forth from that fountain of death, misery and suffering, that has been destroying man, for nearly six thousand years. Yes, one the fountain of life, and the other the fountain of death. One flows from God, and the other flows from Satan. One of these sources of fear gives life, the other gives death; one peace and joy, and the other suffering and sorrow.

And it is fear to-day that hinders us in all our Christian duties—fear of failure, and fear of ridicule.

Now let us turn to this man Joseph, and stay to note some things in his life and character, that may be of interest and profit to us all, for the writer of our text is careful to tell even the place of his birth, for he says he was of Arimathea, city of the Jews.

We see by turning to Matthew xxvii: 57, that he was a disciple, which is a grand point in his life, to note at the outset. It states also his condition in life, for it says he was rich; and he made a blessed use of his riches, (a 0019 21portion of them at any rate,) for we are informed that he purchased the material for preparing the body of Jesus for burial, and probably the stone out of which the new tomb was to be hewn. In Mark xv: 43, it states that he was a counsellor, and an honorable one at that; yes, he was a lawyer and an honest one. Some of the lawyers of the present day might read that with much profit.

He also waited for the kingdom of God, which shows that he had faith in God, though no one knew of it but himself and his God; and we also see that he was emboldened by the death of Jesus, for the same passage just quoted, says “he came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved his body.” Thus Jesus does for him in death, what he did not do for him in his life, and that is, make him come out openly and confess him.

Luke xxiii: 50, says of him that he was a “good man and a just,” and that he had not consented to the council of those who desired to condemn Jesus. O! what a grand, noble, character this! Yes, he was a disciple, but a secret one; he was a counsellor, a lawyer, but an honorable one, a just one.

Now, all this goes to show that it is possible for a man to be a professional or a business man, and yet be a disciple, though he be a secret one. It is better to be a secret disciple, than no disciple, because all ought to be disciples of Christ, for then, and then only, are we subjects of those blessings of which Paul speaks, when he says—“But as it is written, 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.”

First

, we ought to be known disciples, because we owe it to ourselves, for there is strength to be gained by an outward, open, known follower of Jesus, that is to be gained no other way, for when one conceals his discipleship 0020 22he locks up almost every public avenue by which he is to grow.

We ought to be open disciples, because it is only by this means that we can be known in the Church, and it is the best way by which we can be of service to the Church and the cause of Christ. There is personal comfort to be derived by association with the people of God, that is not gained in any other way, and this association we cannot have unless we are known to be disciples of Christ.

Secondly

.We ought to be disciples outwardly and openly because we owe it to others. To be an open disciple, is to have burdens to bear, and persecutions to endure. We can also encourage others by this means, to fall in line of action, as many of us were encouraged to do by the example of others. There are those just standing ready to act, only waiting to see us take the first step. O! may God help all to come out and be openly the disciples of Christ, and thus pay that debt we owe to those about us! It was so in the Saviour's time too, that there were those who were all ready to follow, and to be outwardly his disciples, but were waiting for the action of some one else.

Take Nicodemus, if you please, he is a good illustration of the facts I have just been stating. Read John iii: 1, and you will find him going to Jesus a poor penitent sinner, seeking for information on the most important subject that ever perplexed the human mind. It is that of the new birth, and its importance we gathered from the words of Jesus to Nicodemus, for he tells him, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see, nor enter into the the kingdom of God.”

Well might this perplex and trouble Nicodemus, for of a truth the entering into the kingdom of God was the highest expectation of all Jews, so when Jesus tells him 0021 23that he is not in a fit condition to enter, it troubles his mind; but Jesus tells him to marvel not, for it must be so. He leaves Jesus, and comes away, as I believe, a disciple, but secretly, like Joseph, for fear of the Jews, for you will remember that he was a member of the Sanhedrim court. But he was ready to become an open disciple he was only waiting for Joseph to go in boldly to Pilate, and ask for the body of Jesus, and he is ready to come boldly and bring his spices, aloes, myrrh and fine linen, in which to put the body away. Please read John xix: 39, and you will see it as I have stated.

And how many are there to-day who are only waiting for others to act, that they may follow? My prayer is, that they may act, and act now; that all such as Joseph and Nicodemus, may enter at once the cause of Christ.

Thirdly.

We owe it as a debt of gratitude to Christ, to be openly his disciples, for he was of a truth openly our Saviour, and by reason of which bore much scorn and ridicule for our sakes, for he bore our sins in his own body, and by his stripes are we healed. Yes, he was spat upon, and smitten with their hands, and then at last died in agony and shame upon the cross, that we might have the privilege of being his disciples.

We owe it to him again, to be his open disciples, because he was seeking those who were willing to follow him openly, for you will remember, that it was said of him that he was to be king of the Jews, and was to reign in his father David's stead.

Now, you know that in order that a king may be respected he must have subjects, so inasmuch as Jesus is King of the Jews, he must have subjects. But you say that his kingdom is not of this world; that is true, but it is in this world. Again, you say that it is their hearts and affections that Jesus wants and not their bodies. 0022 24The Apostle says, “We are to present our souls and bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God.”

Notice again, and you will see in every instance of his calling his disciples, he demanded that they should be open followers of him. Peter and John must leave their nets, and Matthew must leave off the receipt of customs and follow him. Jesus does not say, Give your hearts and minds and affections, and you continue at your trades or business,—but he says “Leave all, and take up your cross and come after me"—for he wanted the Jews to see that he had followers, and so he would have all his disciples to be open, that the world to-day, may see, and know, that he still has followers.