PROGRESS IN SIN.

BY REV. JOHN C. GRANBERY, A. M.,

OF THE VIRGINIA CONFERENCE, METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH SOUTH, AND

PASTOR OF THE WASHINGTON CITY CHURCH.

And Hazael said, But what, is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing?—2 Kings, viii, 13.

The Bible is a remarkable book in many respects. Within its own pages, in the very matter and manner of its revelations, abound the clearest evidences of its Divine origin. It contains the profoundest truths, which when revealed commend themselves to human reason, but had never been discovered by reason in her unaided researches. It publishes a law so pure and spiritual and sublime, that the conscience is compelled to acknowledge its authority, though by it severely condemned, and even the heart which delights in sin cannot so completely vitiate its moral tastes and susceptibilities, as not to reverence this perfection of spiritual beauty and grandeur. It tears from the heart every mask by which it was self-deceived and deceiving to others, and lays bare its desperate wickedness, while at the same time it brings into distincter consciousness and livelier exercise those yearnings after deliverance from the bondage of sin, and the attainment of a higher than earthly good, which can be satisfied only through the provisions of the Gospel. Its doctrines have become the standard of truth, and its statutes the standard of right for the enlightened world; its maxims are universally quoted as the highest wisdom, and literature provides a sacred department, in which its poetry and prose may be kept at a hallowed distance from the gems and glories of mere human genius. Could man have formed these treasures of gold and pearls and diamonds? Could he have built these heavens of truth? Could he have kindled this sun of unsullied and intense splendor?

So much for the subject-matter of the Bible; now look at its

method. It is not a systematic creed or code. It was not given to us by a single writer, or in a single age. It consists of a large number of books. They were written at different periods, extending through a long course of centuries. The earliest portion dates back beyond doubt to the very beginning of history and literature as they have descended to us; the last appeared soon after the glories of the Augustan age. The authors were widely diverse in intellectual culture. We have histories and biographies which record facts full of moral interest and instruction with great beauty, and yet with the utmost simplicity and with slight comment; collections of proverbs which come down with condescending grace to the rules of temporal prudence, and rise up with lofty dignity to the principles of Divine wisdom; psalms so noble that they would become the golden harps of angels, and yet such an outpouring of contrition and supplication and acknowledgment of mercy as suit only man in his depths of shame and woe, a wail as from a broken heart now trembling from those chords, and anon a strain swept thence so joyous and exultant and adoring that we are borne up to the company of the blessed and close by the throne of God; prophecies which are a history of the world in advance, sometimes foreshowing events a few days remote, and again sweeping in all-comprehending vision through ages and centuries to the very end of time, minute in details about individuals and dates and places, and yet embracing the destinies of nations, the deep counsels of Jehovah, the conflicts of principalities and powers belonging to heaven, earth, and hell, and the vastest interests of humanity; letters written to individuals and churches for their instruction and confirmation. We have a gradual disclosure of truth and grace from the time of the fall to the time of the Apostles, a period containing distinctly-marked eras of religious light and observances, the Antediluvian, Patriarchal, Mosaic, and Christian, new prophecies coming out like stars in the firmament and at last losing themselves in the effulgence of the rising sun, new symbols and rites being given to prefigure the truth until the very substance was revealed in Christ. And yet amid all these diversities we find unity, consistency, one great plan developing, one holy spirit pervading the whole, one design towards whose accomplishment every part tends in its own force, and all harmoniously combine. The only explanation is found in the fact that God at divers times and in sundry manners has spoken unto us by the mouths and pens of His servants.

I have chosen for consideration an incident in the life of Hazael, briefly recorded in the inspired history of Israel, and containing a lesson and warning for the profit of all ages and all nations. I have thought it proper to preface the discussion of the subject by some general remarks concerning the Scriptures, with the design of recommending the careful perusal of all their parts, because they display the manifold wisdom of God, and are profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness. Even in the historical books you will discover the richest lessons of a wisdom unto salvation. Let us now notice the few facts connected with the text, and try to deduce thence an important truth.

Benhadad, king of Syria, was sick, and hearing that Elisha had come to Damascus, he sends Hazael to inquire of the prophet whether he would recover. Elisha replied, "Go, say unto him, Thou mayest certainly recover; howbeit, the Lord hath showed me that he shall surely die." That is, his disease was not incurable, but his death would be brought to pass by other means. He then gazed fixedly on the king's servant until he was ashamed; and the prophet burst into tears. Hazael inquired into the meaning of that weeping; and the prophet replied, "Because I know the evil that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel; their strongholds wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword, and wilt dash their children, and rip up their women with child." Hazael said, "But what, is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing?" and Elisha answered, "The Lord hath showed me that thou shalt be king over Syria." He returned to the king, told him that Elisha had predicted with certainty his recovery, on the morrow suffocated his master with a thick wet cloth spread over his face, and reigned in his stead. Soon followed the oppression, slaughter, and cruelty towards Israel, which, as foreseen, had brought tears to the prophet's eyes. Truly, "the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?"

Hazael appeared to be filled with astonishment and mortification, at the atrocities predicted by the prophet. Were these feelings feigned or real? Did he only pay to virtue the tribute, and pronounce against himself the judgment, which have been extorted from hypocrisy in all ages? Did he have it in his heart to do all these abominations at the very moment he affected to be horrorstricken at the idea that he could ever be brought to such baseness

as to consent to them, and complained that the servant of the Lord had made such grave charges against him? Or have we not a right to suppose, is it not in accordance both with the intimations of this brief account and with the workings of human nature as shown in the world's history to conclude, that he revolted with sincere disgust and recoiled with sincere terror from the prospect of crimes so black and base, and wondered in his heart why Elisha should suspect him to be capable of committing them? He had never had a motive for such vast and foul cruelty, and do we not all know how little apt men are to suspect that they would ever violate principles of right and humanity, especially in a gross and infamous way, before they have been placed in a position which furnished inducements and temptations to do so? We must remember that every man has in his own conscience a testimony against sin, and in the better feelings of his own heart a repugnance towards it, especially in the earlier stages of life, ere that conscience has been blinded, and that heart debased by familiarity with vice and crime. He must revere goodness though he may not possess sufficient strength of principle to practice it, and must condemn wickedness though his lusts and passions may lead him to its perpetration. How ready men are to censure and denounce, in the most unmeasured terms, those sins from which they themselves have been preserved either by a peculiar temperament or by lack of motive and opportunity. Hazael, while a servant, who executed his master's decrees without the responsibility of fixing them, had not the power of oppression and massacre on a large scale, nor was he urged by ambition to attempt such schemes. No doubt he gave himself credit, as we do ourselves, for his freedom from crimes against which his circumstances alone had shielded him. But when he saw the chance of ascending the throne, he had not virtue to prevent him from seizing it by the assassination of his king; and once grasping the sceptre, he indulged the royal propensity of invading and subduing neighboring kingdoms, and soon suppressed all qualms of conscience and sickness of heart at the most relentless cruelty. Israel, deserted by God for their idolatries, suffered as had been foretold. Hazael became by his own verdict a dog, mean and cruel. He was not the first, or the last, to pronounce beforehand the harshest condemnation of his own guilt.

Does it still seem strange to you that he should have expressed so great abhorrence towards a course which he soon pursued, unless it