ADDRESS TO BELLIGERENT ALIENS

To anyone who, through the lens of faith, surveys your camp, there appears nowhere else in all of creation such a motley group, such a mixed and wretched combination of confused spirits, as those found in actual insurrection and rebellion, in a mad and cursed alliance against the reigning Monarch of creation. In your ranks are found every unclean and hateful spirit on this side of the bottomless gulf, the dark and lightless place of fallen and ruined intelligences, who, in endless and fruitless wailing, lament their own foolishness, and through an unending night of despair curse themselves and their partners in continuing their eternal self-destruction. Yes, in your ranks are all who willfully reject the Son of God and refuse to have him reign over them; whether they are called the decent moralist, the honest deist, skeptic, atheist, infidel, the speculative Sadducee, the boastful Pharisee, the proud Jew, the resentful Samaritan, or the idolatrous Gentile. All ranks and classes of people in political society—the king and the beggar—the wise philosopher and the uneducated laborer—the rich and the poor, who reject the teachings of the Messiah, unite with you in this unholy alliance against the kingdom of heaven. You may boast of many decent fellow soldiers in the crusade against Immanuel; many who, when weighed in the balances of the political sanctuary, are not found lacking in all the decencies of this present life; but still look at the countless crowds of every sort of wretch, down to the filthiest, vilest matricide, who in your fellowship are fighting under your banners—stout-hearted rebels!—allied with you in your attempts to dethrone the Lord’s Anointed. If you boast of one Marcus Aurelius, you must also fraternize with many a Nero, Domitian, Caligula, and Heliogabalus. If you rejoice in the virtues of one Seneca, you must acknowledge the vices of the ten thousand murderers, robbers, adulterers, drunkards, profane swearers, and lecherous debauchees who have rejected the counsels of heaven because the precepts of righteousness and life forbade their crimes.

If, then, my friends, (for I now address the most honorable among your community,) you boast that you belong to a very large and respectable synagogue; remember, I pray you, that to this same synagogue in which you have your brotherhood belongs everything mean, vile, and wretched in every land where the name of Jesus has been proclaimed. What a group! Do you have enough of the reflected light of the gospel falling on your vision to flush your cheek with the glow of shame when you look along the lines of your alliance and survey the horrible faces, the ragged, tattered, squalid, and filthy wretches, your companions in arms—members with you in the synagogue of Satan—and partners against the Prince of Peace! If you cannot blush at such a sight, you are not among those to whom I would offer the pearls of Jesus Christ.

What do you say then? "I am ashamed of such an alliance—of such a brotherhood; and so I have joined the Temperance Society—I belong to the Literary Club—and I take my family regularly to church every Sunday." And do you think, O simpleton! that these human inventions, which only divide the kingdom of Satan into castes and form within it various private groups, honorable and dishonorable associations, learned and unlearned fraternities, moral and immoral gatherings, change the status of a single son of Adam in relation to the Son of God? Then may Whig and Tory, Masonic and Antimasonic clubs and meetings—then may every political faction, for the sake of elevating some demagogue, change the political relations in the state and make and unmake American citizens according to whim, despite the constitution, law, and established precedents. No, sir; even if there were as many parties in the state as there are days in a month, membership in any one of these would not affect, in the least, the standing of any man as a citizen in relation to the United States or to any foreign power. And by the same reasoning, as well as by all that is written in the New Testament, should you join all the benevolent societies on the patchwork map of Christendom and fraternize with every brotherhood born after the will of man, this would neither change nor destroy your citizenship in the kingdom of Satan—still you would be an alien from the kingdom of the Messiah—a foreigner with respect to all its promised blessings—and, in the unbiased judgment of the universe, you would be counted among its enemies.

In character there are many degrees, with respect to any and every attribute that forms it; but with respect to state, there are no degrees. By the nature of things, it is impossible. Every man is either married or single, a brother, a master, a citizen, or he is not. Every man is either Christ’s or Belial’s; there is no middle ground, and therefore no neutral state. Hence the King himself, when on the present battlefield, told his followers to regard everyone as his enemy who was not on his side. Among his professed friends, those who deny him by their actions are even counted as enemies.

What a hopeless struggle you are engaged in! Defeat, sooner or later, awaits you. Do you have the counsel and strength to oppose the Sovereign of the Universe? Do you think you can frustrate the plans of Infinite Wisdom and overcome Omnipotence? Your master is already a prisoner—your chief is in chains. The fire of eternal vengeance is already kindled for Satan and all his subjects. Mad with his disappointed ambition and implacable in his hatred of the one he rebelled against, he only seeks to satisfy his own malice by dragging with him into irreparable ruin the unhappy victims of his deception. He only seeks to devastate the dominions of God and to ruin forever his fellow creatures. Will you then serve your worst enemy and fight against your best friend?

But your rebellion can accomplish nothing against God. His arm is too strong for all creation. You cannot defeat his plans nor stop his almighty hand. The earth on which you stand trembles at his rebuke; the foundations of the hills and mountains are moved and shaken at his presence. You fight against yourselves. God’s hatred of your course does not come from any fear that you can harm him; but because you destroy yourselves. Every victory your excessive desires and passions gain over the protests of reason and conscience only plunges you into deeper and deeper misery, prepares you for destruction, and makes it necessary for the good order and happiness of the universe that you suffer an 'everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.'

What, then, blinds you so that you choose death rather than life and prefer destruction to salvation? "I am not sure the gospel is true; I love my companions and cannot see any wrong in satisfying those passions and appetites that my creator has placed in my nature."

You admit there is a God, your Creator; but you doubt whether the gospel is true! What a misuse of reason and evidence! Can you conclude from any premises you have that he, whose creation man is, who has shown to the eye and ear of man so much wisdom, power, and goodness in all his great designs already accomplished and daily accomplishing in the heavens and on earth, teaching people to sustain their present life, to anticipate the future, and to prepare for it, has never clearly addressed him on a subject of incomparably greater importance—his own ultimate destiny! That God should have gone to such lengths to elevate man in nature—to give him such an organization—to give him reason and speech—wonderfully qualifying him to acquire and share knowledge on all things necessary for his present physical enjoyment; and at the same time, never have communicated anything to him about his intellectual nature—never have addressed him on the topics which, as a rational being, he must most of all want to know; to have done everything for his body and for the present—and nothing for his mind or for the future—is, to say the least, the most unlikely idea that the wildest imagination can entertain.

That the Creator could not enlighten him on these topics is completely unacceptable. That he could, and would not, is directly opposed to every analogy in creation—contradictory to every proof we have of his kindness, an inexplicable exception to the whole order of his government: for he has provided objects for every sense—objects for every intellectual power—objects for every affection, honorable passion, appetite, and tendency in our nature; but, on your theory, he has only failed in that which is infinitely more dear to us, more in harmony with our whole rational nature, and most essential to our happiness!! It is most unreasonable.

But the folly of your skepticism is even more obvious when we open the book of the gospel of salvation. In the story of Jesus, you have the fulfillment of a thousand predictions, expressed by numerous Prophets for 1500 years before he was born. These recorded prophecies were in the hands of his and our most bitter enemies when he appeared, and are still preserved by them. How can you dismiss these? All history confirms the existence of Jesus of Nazareth in the times of Augustus and Tiberius Caesar. No contemporary opponent denied his miracles: they explained them away but did not question the wonderful works he performed. His character was the only perfect and blameless one the world ever saw, either in writing or in real life; and yet you imagine him to have been the greatest liar and most infamous imposter who ever lived. You must admit him to have been the teacher of everything moral, pure, and godlike—to have lived the most exemplary life—to have spent his whole life doing good—while, to support your skepticism, you must imagine him to have been the greatest deceiver and most blasphemous pretender the world ever saw! Truly, you love paradox! His apostles, too, for the sake of being considered the scum of the earth and the refuse of all society—for the sake of poverty, insult, beatings, imprisonment, and martyrdom—you imagine traveled the world teaching virtue and holiness—condemning every kind of vice and immorality, while telling the most brazen lies, and that too about matters of obvious fact, about which no one with eyes and ears could be mistaken! How great your gullibility! How weak your faith!

And to complete the whole, you admit that in the most enlightened age, and among the most argumentative and discerning populations—Jewish, Roman, and Greek—in Jerusalem itself, the very scene of Christ’s crucifixion, and throughout Judea and Samaria, and in all the major towns and cities of the entire ancient Roman Empire, East and West, these rough and uneducated Galileans actually succeeded in persuading hundreds of thousands of people, of all ranks, sexes, ages, and intellects, to renounce their former beliefs and practices—to face persecution, confiscation of property, exile, and even death in many cases, through faith in their testimony, while everything was fresh, and when detecting any fiction or fraud was easiest!

Now, if it were possible to place your folly in an even more inexcusable light, I would ask you to show what there is in the gospel that is not infinitely worthy of God to give, and of man to receive? And where under the sky, in any country, language, or age, is there anything that confers greater honor on man, or offers him anything more worthy of acceptance, than the gospel?

Could there have been a more acceptable model proposed, after which to shape man, than the one after which he was originally created? When he was deceived and turned away from God, could there have been appointed a more honorable figure to bring him back to God than His only begotten and beloved Son? And could there even be imagined a more delightful destiny assigned to man than an eternity of bliss in the palace of this vast universe, in the presence of his Father and his God forever and ever? Now, with all these premises, will you object to this religion because it requires a man to be pure and holy in order to enjoy this eternal salvation? Then put your hand over your face, and blush, and be ashamed forever!

But you say you love your companions! And who are they? Your fellow rebels, foolish and misguided like yourselves. The drunkard, the thief, the murderer love their companions—the partners in their crimes. Conspirators and partisans in any undertaking, kindred spirits in guilty and daring enterprise, encourage each other in their evil schemes, and either from mutual interest or from some hateful affinity in evil dispositions, join together in bands of malicious plunder. A Catiline, a Jugurtha, a Robespierre had their accomplices. The rakes, the libertines, the pirates of every kind form their own fraternities, and have some sort of liking for their companions. And how does your attachment to your companions differ from theirs? A similarity of disposition, a likeness of likes and dislikes, all springing from your love of the world and your dislike of the authority of the Messiah. And won’t a change of circumstances turn your affections into hatred? Sooner or later, if you do not repent and turn to God, you who are bound in the friendships of the world—friendships arising from the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes, and the pride of life—will not only become enemies but mutual tormentors of one another. Your closest friends in your opposition to the Son of God will become witnesses against you and fuel the fire that will consume you forever and ever. Break off, then, every friendship, alliance, and covenant you have made with those who reject the grace of God and condemn the Savior of the world, and make an everlasting covenant with the people of God, which shall never be forgotten. Then, indeed, you may love your companions with all the affection of your hearts and indulge to the fullest every sympathy and social feeling of your nature. Then may you embrace, in all the warmth of brotherly love, those kindred spirits who with you have vowed eternal allegiance to the gracious and rightful Sovereign of all the nations of the redeemed, in heaven and on earth. Such companions are worth having, and their friendship worth cultivating and preserving throughout life’s journey; for it will be renewed beyond the Jordan and flourish with increasing delight through the endless ages of eternity.

But you have said that the gratification of all the impulses and tendencies of your nature must be innocent because they are the creation of God and were planted in the embryo of your physical constitution. If under the control of that light and reason under which God commanded your affections and appetites to move, your reasoning would be sound and safe; but if they have usurped a tyranny over your judgment and captivated your reason, they are not to be gratified. They are like successful rebels who have dethroned their sovereign; and because by violence and fraud they possess the throne, they claim a divine right to wield the scepter over their dethroned prince. Such is the meaning of the plea you make in favor of your rebellious affections. When man rebelled against his Creator, the beasts of the field, previously under his dominion, rebelled against him; and all his passions, affections, and tendencies shared in the general disorder—that wild and licentious anarchy that followed man’s disobedience. And have you not in your daily observation—nay, have you not in your own experience—irrefutable evidence that the uncontrolled indulgence of even the instinctive appetites, as well as the gratification of excessive passions and affections, necessarily results in the destruction of the physical constitution of man? Is not the control of reason, is not the exercise of discretion in the license of every animal indulgence, essential to the health and life of man? Then why demand an exemption from the universal law of human existence in favor of that demoralizing course of indulgence which you would like to call morally innocent though physically destructive to the body?

When reconciled to God through the gospel, the peace of God which surpasses understanding reigning in the heart, all is order and harmony within. Then, under the control of enlightened and sanctified reason, all the passions, appetites, and instincts of our nature, like the planets around the sun, move in their respective orbits in the most perfect order, maintaining a perfect balance in all the principles and powers of human action. Pleasures without any mixture of pain are then felt and enjoyed from a thousand sources, from which, in the turmoil and disorder of rebellion, every transgressor is barred. It is then found that there is not a superfluous passion, affection, or appetite in man—not one that does not add something to his enjoyment—not one that cannot be made an instrument of righteousness, a means of doing good to others as well as enjoying good ourselves. Why not, then, lay down the weapons of your rebellion and be at peace with God, with your fellow human beings, and with yourselves?

“Admitting, then, that the gospel is true—that in my present state and condition I am an alien from the kingdom of heaven, and that I wish to become a citizen—where shall I find this kingdom of heaven, and how shall I become a citizen of it?” Well, indeed, may you admit the gospel to be true, both because of what it is in itself and the evidence that supports it. Just suppose it to be false—extinguish all the light it sheds on the human race—make void all its promises—cancel all its hopes—erase from the human heart all the motives it provides—and what remains to explain the universe, to reveal the moral character of God, to dispel the gloom that envelops the eternal night, the destiny of man, to comfort and encourage him during the constant struggle of life, to soothe the bed of suffering and death, and to counterbalance the inward dread and horror of falling into nothingness—of being forever lost in the chaotic wreck of nature—of sinking down into the grave, the food of worms, the prey of eternal death?

It is like annihilating the sun in the heavens. An eternal night follows. There is no beauty, form, or loveliness in creation. The universe is in ruins. The world without the Bible is a universe without a sun. The atheist is but a particle of matter in motion, belonging to no system, accountable to none, without a destiny, without a purpose to live or to die. He boasts there is no one to punish him; but then there is no one to help him—no one to reward him. He has no Father, owner, or ruler—no filial affection, no sense of obligation, no gratitude, no comfort in reflection, no joy in anticipation. If he cannot be blamed, he cannot be praised—if he cannot be praised, he cannot be honored—and man without honor is more wretched than the beasts that perish. Unenviable mortal!

What a monstrosity is the system of nature if man does not live again! It is a creation for the sake of destruction. It is an infinite series of designs ending in nothing. It is a universe of blanks, without a single prize. It cannot be. The Bible is necessary to the interpretation of nature. It is the only commentary on nature—on providence—on man. Man without it, and without the hope of immortality, has nothing to motivate him to action. He is a savage, a Hottentot, a cannibal, a worm. You are compelled, then, to admit that the gospel is true, unless you blind the eye of reason and refuse to hear the voice of nature. But isn’t it a fortunate necessity that compels your belief in God and in His Son, the restorer of the Universe? It opens to you all the mysteries of creation, the secrets of the temple of nature, and leads you to the source of being and joy. It inspires you with motives for high and noble endeavors, encourages you to courageous action, and points to a prize worthy of the best efforts of body, soul, and spirit. Is it not, then, “a credible saying, and worthy of universal acceptance, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, even the worst of them”?

But you ask, “Where can the kingdom of heaven be found, and how can you become a citizen of it?” The Prophets and Apostles must be your guide in answering these important questions. Moses in the law, all the Prophets, and all the Apostles point you to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world—the Apostle of the Father Almighty—the divinely appointed Chief of the kingdom of heaven. He has submitted His claims to your examination—He has invited you to test all His pretensions—and to the humble and teachable, He has offered all necessary help in deciding about His person and mission.

His character is so familiar, so approachable, so full of grace and goodness, that everyone may come to Him. The lame, the maimed, the deaf, the mute, the blind, found in Him a true friend and healer. No one asks for His help in vain. His ears are always open to the story of sorrow. His eyes overflow with sympathy for every person in distress. He invites all the wretched and turns away none who ask for relief. He only rebukes the proud and kindly welcomes and blesses the humble. He invites and pleads with the weary, the burdened, the brokenhearted, the oppressed, and all those in need and misfortune to come to Him, offering relief to all.

In His official dignity, He rules over the universe. He is the High Priest of God and the Prophet and Messenger of Peace. He holds the key of David; He opens and closes the Paradise of God. He is the only Ruler, and has the power to forgive all sins to all who obey Him.

To receive Him in His personal glory and official dignity and supremacy, as the Messiah of God, the only begotten of the Father—to know Him in His true and proper character—is the only requirement for the obedience of faith. Whoever thus acknowledges Him is not far from the kingdom of heaven. To accept Him as your Prophet, your High Priest, and your King; to submit to Him in these roles, being baptized into His death, will bring you into the kingdom of heaven. Why not, then, gladly and immediately give Him the admiration of your mind and the devotion of your heart? Why not now enter into possession of all the riches, fullness, and excellence of the kingdom? He commands all people to repent—He pleads with every sinner He addresses in His word to receive pardon and eternal life as a gracious gift.

Can you doubt His power to save, to teach, and to sanctify you for heaven? Can you doubt His compassionate mercy? Will not He who pitied the blind Bartimaeus, who comforted the widow of Nain, who wept with Mary and Martha at the grave of Lazarus, who heard the plea of the Syrophoenician woman, who healed the pleading leper, who showed compassion to the starving crowds, who looked with pity (even in the agony of the cross) upon a pleading thief, have mercy on you and every returning prodigal who asks for mercy at the gate of His kingdom?

Is there anyone in the universe you can trust more than the Faithful and True Witness, who, before Pontius Pilate, made a good confession at the risk of His life? Is there anyone in heaven, on earth, or under the earth more worthy of your confidence than the sinner’s friend—He who always, in every circumstance, testified to the truth? When has He ever broken His word or let His promise fail? Who has ever regretted trusting Jesus or relying fully on His word? Who has ever been ashamed because of confidence in Him?

Who else can offer such reasons for obedience by His authority as the Savior of the world? Who has such power to bless? He has all authority in heaven and on earth. He has power to forgive sins, to raise the dead, to give immortality and eternal life, and to judge the living and the dead. And hasn’t He offered a share of His official authority to everyone who submits to His rule and who, through Him, is reconciled to God? If He has divine wisdom and power, hasn’t He promised to use these for the relief, guidance, and benefit of His people? Who can harm those under His protection—condemn those He justifies—accuse those He pardons—or snatch from His hands those who turn to His mercy?

Has there ever been love like His love—compassion like His compassion—or humility like His humility? Who else could—or ever did—humble Himself like the Son of God? Whose cheeks ever shed tears of purer sympathy for human suffering than His? Whose heart was ever moved with such compassion as His, which melted Him into tender mercies for the suffering sons and daughters of men? Who else endured such opposition from sinners against Himself; submitted to such insults; endured such overwhelming sorrows and grief; suffered such mental and physical agony as He did in giving His life as a sacrifice for His enemies? Forsaken by His God, abandoned by His friends, left without support, surrounded by the fiercest enemies, the most relentless foes, whose hearts were harder than stone, mocking the very pain they inflicted, He died on the cursed tree! The heavens blushed at the sight—the sun hid its face—the earth trembled—the rocks split—the temple veil was torn from top to bottom—and graves opened. All creation stood horrified when Roman soldiers, urged on by bloodthirsty priests, nailed Him to the cross—when the chief priests, scribes, and elders mocked, saying, “He saved others; can’t He save Himself?” Anyone who does not perceive or feel the power of His love shown in His death—the tenderness of His pleas and warnings—cannot be reasoned with or moved by human power. Will you not, then, honor your reason by honoring the Son of God—by surrendering your mind, your will, your affections to the teachings of the Holy Spirit—to the guidance of His love? Only then can you feel safe, secure, and happy.

Do you need to be reminded how much you already owe to His patient long-suffering—His kindness in all the gifts and blessings of His providence given to you? How many days and nights has He guarded, supported, and helped you? Has He not saved you from countless dangers—from the pestilence that walks in darkness secretly, and from destruction that strikes at midday? Who can say but that He has extended your unproductive life to this very moment so that you might now repent of all your sins, turn to God with your whole heart, be baptized for the forgiveness of your past sins, be adopted into God’s family, and receive an inheritance among the holy? Arise, then, in the strength of Israel’s God—accept salvation from His hands—enter His kingdom, and be forever blessed. You will not, you cannot regret such a step, such a noble surrender of yourself while life lasts; not at the hour of death, not on the day of judgment, nor throughout the endless ages of eternity. Today, then, hear His voice: tomorrow may be forever too late! Everything is ready—Come. — Saints on earth, and angels in heaven—apostles, prophets, and martyrs will rejoice over you—and you will rejoice with them forever and ever. Amen!