diff options
Diffstat (limited to '10116-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 10116-0.txt | 10100 |
1 files changed, 10100 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/10116-0.txt b/10116-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..955ade3 --- /dev/null +++ b/10116-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10100 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10116 *** + + + + +ALL SAINTS' DAY AND OTHER SERMONS + + + + + "Inheriting the zeal +And from the sanctity of elder times +Not deviating;--a priest, the like of whom +If multiplied, and in their stations set, +Would o'er the bosom of a joyful land +Spread true religion, and her genuine fruits." +The excursion--Book vi. + + + +PREFATORY NOTE {1} + + + +The following Sermons could not be arranged according to any proper +sequence. Those, however, which refer to doctrine and the Church Seasons +will mostly be found at the beginning of the volume, whilst those which +deal with practical subjects are placed at the close. + +A few of the Sermons have already appeared in "Good Words;" but by far +the greater number were never prepared by their author for the press. +They were written out very roughly--sometimes at an hour's notice, as +occasion demanded--and were only intended for delivery from the pulpit. + +The original MSS. have been adhered to as closely as possible. + +It is thought that many to whom the late Rector of Eversley was dear will +welcome the publication of these earnest words, and find them helpful in +the Christian life. + +"Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith +the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do +follow them." + + + +SERMON I. ALL SAINTS' DAY + + + +Westminster Abbey. November 1, 1874. + +Revelation vii. 9-12. "After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, +which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and +tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white +robes, and palms in their hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying, +Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. +And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and +the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and +worshipped God, saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and +thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever +and ever. Amen." + +To-day is All Saints' Day. On this day we commemorate--and, as far as +our dull minds will let us, contemplate--the saints; the holy ones of +God; the pure and the triumphant--be they who they may, or whence they +may, or where they may. We are not bidden to define and limit their +number. We are expressly told that they are a great multitude, which no +man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues; +and most blessed news that is for all who love God and man. We are not +told, again--and I beg you all to mark this well--that this great +multitude consists merely of those who, according to the popular notion, +have "gone to heaven," as it is called, simply because they have not gone +to hell. Not so, not so! The great multitude whom we commemorate on All +Saints' Day, are SAINTS. They are the holy ones, the heroes and heroines +of mankind, the elect, the aristocracy of grace. These are they who have +kept themselves unspotted from the world. They are the pure who have +washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, which +is the spirit of self-sacrifice. They are those who carry the palm- +branch of triumph, who have come out of great tribulation, who have +dared, and fought, and suffered for God, and truth, and right. Nay, +there are those among them, and many, thank God--weak women, too, among +them--who have resisted unto blood, striving against sin. + +And who are easy-going folk like you and me, that we should arrogate to +ourselves a place in that grand company? Not so! What we should do on +All Saints' Day is to place ourselves, with all humility, if but for an +hour, where we can look afar off upon our betters, and see what they are +like, and what they do. + +And what are they like, those blessed beings of whom the text speaks? +The Gospel for this day describes them to us; and we may look on that +description as complete, for He who gives it is none other than our Lord +Himself. "Blessed are the poor in spirit; for their's is the kingdom of +heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. +Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are +they who hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be +filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed +are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the peace- +makers: for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they +which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for their's is the kingdom +of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, +and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. +Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven." + +This is what they are like; and what we, I fear, too many of us, are not +like. But in proportion as we grow like them, by the grace of God, just +so far shall we enter into the communion of saints, and understand the +bliss of that everlasting All Saints' Day which St John saw in heaven. + +And what do they do, those blessed beings? Whatever else they do, or do +not do, this we are told they do--they worship. They satisfy, it would +seem, in perfection, that mysterious instinct of devotion--that inborn +craving to look upward and adore, which, let false philosophy say what it +will, proves the most benighted idolater to be a man, and not a brute--a +spirit, and not a merely natural thing. + +They have worshipped, and so are blest. They have hungered and thirsted +after righteousness, and now they are filled. They have longed for, +toiled for, it may be died for, the true, the beautiful, and the good; +and now they can gaze upward at the perfect reality of that which they +saw on earth, only as in a glass darkly, dimly, and afar; and can +contemplate the utterly free, the utterly beautiful, and the utterly good +in the character of God and the face of Jesus Christ. They entered while +on earth into the mystery and the glory of self-sacrifice; and now they +find their bliss in gazing on the one perfect and eternal sacrifice, and +rejoicing in the thought that it is the cause and ground of the whole +universe, even the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. + +I say not that all things are clear to them. How can they be to any +finite and created being? They, and indeed angels and archangels, must +walk for ever by faith, and not by sight. But if there be mysteries in +the universe still hidden from them, they know who has opened the sealed +book of God's secret counsels, even the Lamb who is the Lion, and the +Lion who is the Lamb; and therefore, if all things are not clear to them, +all things at least are bright, for they can trust that Lamb and His +self-sacrifice. In Him, and through Him, light will conquer darkness, +justice injustice, truth ignorance, order disorder, love hate, till God +be all in all, and pain and sorrow and evil shall have been exterminated +out of a world for which Christ stooped to die. Therefore they worship; +and the very act of worship--understand it well--is that great reward in +heaven which our Lord promised them. Adoration is their very bliss and +life. It must be so. For what keener, what nobler enjoyment for +rational and moral beings, than satisfaction with, and admiration of, a +Being better than themselves? Therefore they worship; and their worship +finds a natural vent in words most fit though few, but all expressing +utter trust and utter satisfaction in the worthiness of God. Therefore +they worship; and by worship enter into communion and harmony not only +with each other, not only with angels and archangels, but with all the +powers of nature, the four beings which are around the throne, and with +every creature which is in heaven and in earth, and under the earth, and +in the sea. For them, likewise, St John heard saying, "Blessing and +glory, and honour, and power, be unto Him that sitteth on the throne, and +to the Lamb for ever and ever." + +And why? I think, with all humility, that the key to all these hymns-- +whether of angels or of men, or of mere natural things--is the first hymn +of all; the hymn which shows that, however grateful to God for what He +has done for them those are whom the Lamb has redeemed by His blood to +God, out of every kindred, and nation, and tongue; yet, nevertheless, the +hymn of hymns is that which speaks not of gratitude, but of absolute +moral admiration--the hymn which glorifies God, not for that which He is +to man, not for that which He is to the universe, but for that which He +is absolutely and in Himself--that which He was before all worlds, and +would be still, though the whole universe, all created things, and time, +and space, and matter, and every created spirit likewise, should be +annihilated for ever. And what is that? + +"Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come." + +Ah! what a Gospel lies within those words! A Gospel? Ay, if you will +receive it, the root of all other possible Gospels, and good news for all +created beings. What a Gospel! and what an everlasting fount of comfort! +Surely of those words it is true, "blessed are they who, going through +the vale of misery, find therein a well, and the pools are filled with +water." Know you not what I mean? Happier, perhaps, are you--the young +at least among you--if you do not know. But some of you must know too +well. It is to them I speak. Were you never not merely puzzled--all +thinking men are that--but crushed and sickened at moments by the mystery +of evil? Sickened by the follies, the failures, the ferocities, the +foulnesses of mankind, for ages upon ages past? Sickened by the sins of +the unholy many--sickened, alas! by the imperfections even of the holiest +few? And have you never cried in your hearts with longing, almost with +impatience, Surely, surely, there is an ideal Holy One somewhere, or else +how could have arisen in my mind the conception, however faint, of an +ideal holiness? But where, oh where? Not in the world around, strewed +with unholiness. Not in myself--unholy too, without and within--seeming +to myself sometimes the very worst company of all the bad company I meet, +because it is the only bad company from which I cannot escape. Oh, is +there a Holy One, whom I may contemplate with utter delight? and if so, +where is He? Oh, that I might behold, if but for a moment, His perfect +beauty, even though, as in the fable of Semele of old, the lightning of +His glance were death. Nay, more, has it not happened to some here--to +clergyman, lawyer, physician, perhaps, alas! to some pure-minded, noble- +hearted woman--to be brought in contact perforce with that which truly +sickens them--with some case of human folly, baseness, foulness--which, +however much their soul revolts from it, they must handle, they must toil +over many weeks and months, in hope that that which is crooked may be +made somewhat straight, till their whole soul was distempered, all but +degraded, by the continual sight of sin, till their eyes seemed full of +nothing but the dance of death, and their ears of the gibbering of +madmen, and their nostrils with the odours of the charnel house, and they +longed for one breath of pure air, one gleam of pure light, one strain of +pure music, to wash their spirits clean from those foul elements into +which their duty had thrust them down perforce? + +And then, oh then, has there not come to such an one--I know that it has +come--that for which his spirit was athirst, the very breath of pure air, +the very gleam of pure light, the very strain of pure music, for it is +the very music of the spheres, in those same words, "Holy, holy, holy, +Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come;" and he has +answered, with a flush of keenest joy, Yes. Whatever else is unholy, +there is an Holy One, spotless and undefiled, serene and self-contained. +Whatever else I cannot trust, there is One whom I can trust utterly. +Whatever else I am dissatisfied with, there is One whom I can contemplate +with utter satisfaction, and bathe my stained soul in that eternal fount +of purity. And who is He? Who save the Cause and Maker, and Ruler of +all things, past, present, and to come? Ah, Gospel of all gospels, that +God Himself, the Almighty God, is the eternal and unchangeable +realisation of all that I and all mankind, in our purest and our noblest +moments, have ever dreamed concerning the true, the beautiful, and the +good. Even though He slay me, the unholy, yet will I trust in Him. For +He is Holy, Holy, Holy, and can do nothing to me, or any creature, save +what He OUGHT. For He has created all things, and for His pleasure they +are and were created. + +Whosoever has entered, though but for a moment, however faintly, +partially, stupidly, into that thought of thoughts, has entered in so far +into the communion of the elect; and has had his share in the everlasting +All Saints' Day which is in heaven. He has been, though but for a +moment, in harmony with the polity of the Living God, the heavenly +Jerusalem; and with an innumerable company of angels, and the church of +the first-born who are written in heaven; and with the spirits of just +men made perfect, and with all past, present, and to come, in this and in +all other worlds, of whom it is written, "Blessed are the poor in spirit: +for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who hunger and +thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the +pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are they who are +persecuted for righteousness' sake: for their's is the kingdom of +heaven." Great indeed is their reward, for it is no less than the very +beatific vision to contemplate and adore. That supreme moral beauty, of +which all earthly beauty, all nature, all art, all poetry, all music, are +but phantoms and parables, hints and hopes, dim reflected rays of the +clear light of that everlasting day, of which it is written--that "the +city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for +the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." + + + +SERMON II. PREPARATION FOR ADVENT + + + +Westminster Abbey. November 15, 1874. + +Amos iv. 12. "Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel." + +We read to-day, for the first lesson, parts of the prophecy of Amos. +They are somewhat difficult, here and there, to understand; but +nevertheless Amos is perhaps the grandest of the Hebrew prophets, next to +Isaiah. Rough and homely as his words are, there is a strength, a +majesty, and a terrible earnestness in them, which it is good to listen +to; and specially good now that Advent draws near, and we have to think +of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and what His coming means. +"Prepare to meet thy God," says Amos in the text. Perhaps he will tell +us how to meet our God. + +Amos is specially the poor man's prophet, for he was a poor man himself; +not a courtier like Isaiah, or a priest like Jeremiah, or a sage like +Daniel; but a herdsman and a gatherer of sycamore fruit in Tekoa, near +Bethlehem, where Amos was born. Yet to this poor man, looking after +sheep and cattle on the downs, and pondering on the wrongs and misery +around, the word of the Lord came, and he knew that God had spoken to +him, and that he must go and speak to men, at the risk of his life, what +God had bidden, against all the nations round and their kings, and +against the king and nobles and priests of Israel, and the king and +nobles and priests of Judah, and tell them that the day of the Lord is at +hand, and that they must prepare to meet their God. And he said what he +felt he must say with a noble freedom, with a true independence such as +the grace of God alone can give. Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, who was +worshipping (absurd as it may seem to us) God and the golden calf at the +same time in King Jeroboam's court, complained loudly, it would seem, of +Amos's plain speaking. How uncourteous to prophesy that Jeroboam should +die by the sword, and Israel be carried captive out of their own land! +Let him go home into his own land of Judah, and prophesy there; but not +prophesy at Bethel, for it was the king's chapel and the king's court. +Amos went, I presume, in fear of his life. But he left noble words +behind him. "I was no prophet," he said to Amaziah, "nor a prophet's +son, but a herdsman, and a gatherer of wild figs. And the Lord took me +as I followed the flock, and said, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel." +And then he turned on that smooth court-priest Amaziah, and pronounced +against him, in the name of the Lord, a curse too terrible to be repeated +here. + +Now what was the secret of this inspired herdsman's strength? What +helped him to face priests, nobles, and kings? What did he believe? +What did he preach? He believed and preached the kingdom of God and His +righteousness; the simple but infinite difference between right and +wrong; and the certain doom of wrong, if wrong was persisted in. He +believed in the kingdom of God. He told the kings and the people of all +the nations round, that they had committed cruel and outrageous sins, not +against the Jews merely, but against each other. In the case of Moab, +the culminating crime was an insult to the dead. He had burned the bones +of the king of Edom into lime. In the case of Ammon, it was brutal +cruelty to captive women; but in the cases of Gaza, of Tyre, and of Edom, +it was slave-making and slave-trading invasions of Palestine. "Thus +saith the Lord: For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will +not turn away the punishment thereof; because they carried away captive +the whole captivity, to deliver them up to Edom. But I will send a fire +upon the wall of Gaza, which shall devour the palaces thereof." + +Yes. Slave-hunting and slave-trading wars--that was and is an iniquity +which the just and merciful Ruler of the earth would not, and will not, +pardon. And honour to those who, as in Africa of late, put down those +foul deeds, wheresoever they are done; who, at the risk of their own +lives, dare free the captives from their chains; and who, if interfered +with in their pious work, dare execute on armed murderers and manstealers +the vengeance of a righteous God. For the Lord God was their King, and +their Judge, whether they knew it or not. And for three transgressions +of theirs, and for four, the Lord would not turn away their punishment, +but would send fire and sword among them, and they should be carried away +captive, as they had carried others away. But to go back. Amos next +turns to his own countrymen--to Judah and Israel, who were then two +separate nations. For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, the +Lord would not turn away their punishment, because they had despised the +law of the Lord, and had not walked in His commandments. Therefore He +would send a fire on Judah, and it should devour the palaces of +Jerusalem. But Amos is most bitter against Israel, against the court of +King Jeroboam at Samaria, and against the rich men of Israel, the bulls +of Bashan, as he calls them. For three transgressions, and for four, the +Lord would not turn away their punishment. And why? + +Now see what I meant when I said that Amos believed not only in the +kingdom of God, but in the righteousness of God. It was not merely that +they were worshipping idols--golden calves at Dan, and Bethel, and +Samaria, at the same time that they worshipped the true God. That was +bad, but there was more behind. These men were bad, proud, luxurious, +cruel; they were selling their countrymen for slaves--selling, he says so +twice, as if it was some notorious and special case, an honest man for +silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes. They were lying down on +clothes taken on pledge by every altar. They were breaking the seventh +commandment in an abominable way. They were falsifying weights and +measures, and selling the refuse of the wheat. They stored up the fruits +of violence and robbery in their palaces. They hated him who rebuked +them, and abhorred him that spoke uprightly. They trod upon the poor and +crushed the needy, and then said to their stewards, "Bring wine, and let +us drink." Therefore though they had built houses of hewn stone, they +should not live in them. They had planted pleasant vineyards, but should +not drink of them. And all the while these superstitious and wicked rich +men were talking of the day of the Lord, and hoping that the day of the +Lord would appear. + +You, if you have read your Bibles carefully and reverently, must surely +be aware that the day of the Lord, either in the Old Testament or in the +New, does not mean merely the final day of judgment, but any striking +event, any great crisis in the world's history, which throws a divine +light upon that history, and shows to men--at least to those who have +eyes wherewith to see--that verily there is a God who judges the earth in +righteousness, and ministers true judgment among the people;--a God whom +men, and all their institutions, should always be prepared to meet, lest +coming suddenly, He find them sleeping. If you are not aware of this, +the real meaning of a day of the Lord, a day of the Son of Man, let me +entreat you to go and search the Scriptures for yourselves; for in them +ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of the +Lord, of that Eternal Son of whom the second Psalm speaks, in words which +mobs and tyrants, the atheist and the superstitious, are alike willing to +forget. + +In the time of Amos, the rich tyrants of Israel seem to have meant by the +day of the Lord some vague hope that, in those dark and threatening +times, God would interfere to save them, if they were attacked by foreign +armies. But woe to you that desire the day of the Lord, says Amos the +herdsman. What do you want with it? You will find it very different +from what you expect. There is a day of the Lord coming, he says, +therefore prepare to meet your God. But you are unprepared, and you will +find the day of the Lord very different from what you expect. It will be +a day in which you will learn the righteousness of God. Because He is +righteous He will not suffer your unrighteousness. Because He is good, +He will not permit you to be bad. The day of the Lord to you will be +darkness and not light, not as you dream deliverance from the invaders, +but ruin by the invaders, from which will be no escape. "As if a man did +flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house and leaned +his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him." There will be no escape +for those wicked men. Though they dug into hell, God's hand would take +them; though they climbed up into heaven, God would fetch them down; +though they hid in the bottom of the sea, God would command the serpent, +and it should bite them. He would sift the house of Israel among all +nations like corn in a sieve, and not a grain should fall to the earth. +And all the sinners among God's people should die by the sword, who say, +"The evil shall not overtake us." + +This was Amos's notion of the kingdom of God and His righteousness. +These Israelites would not obey the laws of God's kingdom, and be +righteous and good. But Amos told them, they could not get rid of God's +kingdom. The Lord was King, in spite of them, and they would find it out +to their sorrow. If they would not seek His kingdom and His government, +His government would seek them and find them, and find their evil-doings +out. If they would not seek God's righteousness, His righteousness would +seek them, and execute righteous judgment on them. No wonder that the +Israelites thought Amos a most troublesome and insolent person. No +wonder that the smooth priest Amaziah begged him to begone and talk in +that way somewhere else. He saw plainly enough that either Amos must +leave Samaria, or he must leave it. The two could no more work together +than fire and water. Amos wanted to make men repent of their sins, while +Amaziah wanted only to make them easy in their minds; and no man can do +both at once. + +So it was then, my friends, and so it will be till the end of this wicked +world. The way to please men, and be popular, always was, and always +will be, Amaziah's way; to tell men that they may worship God and the +golden calf at the same time, that they may worship God and money, +worship God and follow the ways of this wicked world which suit their +fancy and their interest; to tell them the kingdom of God is not over you +now, Christ is not ruling the world now; that the kingdom of God will +only come, when Christ comes at the last day, and meanwhile, if people +will only believe what they are told, and live tolerably respectable +lives, they may behave in all things else as if there was no God, and no +judgments of God. Seeking the righteousness of God, say these preachers +of Amaziah's school, only means, that if Christ's righteousness is +imputed to you need not be righteous yourselves, but will go to heaven +without having been good men here on earth. That is the comfortable +message which the world delights to hear, and for which the world will +pay a high price to its flatterers. + +But if any man dares to tell his fellow-men what Amos told them, and say, +The kingdom of God is among you, and within you, and over you, whether +you like or not, and you are in it; the Lord is King, be the people never +so unquiet; and all power is given to Him in heaven and earth already; +and at the last great day, when He comes in glory, He will show that He +has been governing the world and the inhabitants thereof all along, +whether they cared to obey Him or not:--if he tell men, that the +righteousness of God means this--to pray for the Spirit of God and of +Christ, that they may be perfect as their Father in heaven is perfect, +and holy as Christ is holy, for without holiness no man shall see the +Lord: if he tell men, that the wrath of God was revealed from heaven at +the fall of man, and has been revealed continuously ever since, against +all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, that indignation and wrath, +tribulation and anguish will fall upon every soul of man that doeth evil; +and glory, honour, and peace to every man that worketh good:--when a man +dares to preach that, he is no more likely to be popular with the wicked +world (for it is a wicked world) than Amos was popular, or St Paul was +popular, or our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave both to Amos and to St Paul +their messages, was popular. False preachers will dislike that man, +because he wishes to make sinners uneasy, while they wish to make them +easy. Philosophers, falsely so-called, will dislike that man, because he +talks of the kingdom of God, the providence of God, and they are busy--at +least, just now--in telling men that there is no providence and no God-- +at least, no living God. The covetous and worldly will dislike that man, +for they believe that the world is governed, not by God, but by money. +Politicians will dislike that man, because they think that not God, but +they, govern the world, by those very politics and knavish tricks, which +we pray God to confound, whenever we sing "God save the Queen." And the +common people--the masses--who ought to hear such a man gladly, for his +words are to them, if they would understand them, a gospel, and good news +of divine hope and deliverance from sin and ignorance, oppression and +misery--the masses, I say, will dislike that man, because he tells them +that God's will is law, and must be obeyed at all risks: and the poor +fools have got into their heads just now that not God's will, but the +will of the people, is law, and that not the eternal likeness of God, but +whatever they happen to decide by the majority of the moment, is right. + +And so such a preacher will not be popular with the many. They will +dismiss him, at best, as they might a public singer or lecturer, with +compliments and thanks, and so excuse themselves from doing what he tells +them. And he must look for his sincere hearers in the hearts of those-- +and there are such, I verily believe, in this congregation--who have a +true love and a true fear of Christ, their incarnate God--who believe, +indeed, that Christ is their King, and the King of all the earth; who +think that to please Him is the most blessed, as well as the most +profitable, thing which man can do; to displease Him the most horrible, +as well as the most dangerous, thing which man can do; and who, +therefore, try to please Him by becoming like Him, by really renouncing +the world and all its mean and false and selfish ways, and putting on His +new pattern of man, which is created after God's likeness in +righteousness and true holiness. Blessed are they, for of them it is +written, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after +righteousness, for they shall be filled." Even Christ Himself shall fill +them. Blessed are they, and all that they take in hand, for of them it +is written, "Blessed are all they that fear the Lord, and walk in His +ways. For thou shalt eat the labours of thine hands." "The Lord is +righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His works. The Lord is nigh +unto all them that call upon Him, yea, all such as call upon Him +faithfully. He will fulfil the desire of them that fear Him. He also +will hear their cry"--ay, "and will help them." + +Happy, ay, blest will such souls be, let the day of the Lord appear when +it will, or how it will. It may appear--the day of the Lord, as it has +appeared again and again in history--in the thunder of some mighty war. +It may appear after some irresistible, though often silent revolution, +whether religious or intellectual, social or political. It will appear +at last, as that great day of days, which will conclude, so we believe, +the drama of human history, and all men shall give account for their own +works. But, however and whenever it shall appear, they at least will +watch its dawning, neither with the selfish assurance of modern +Pharisaism, nor with the abject terror of mediaeval superstition; but +with that manful faith with which he who sang the 98th Psalm saw the day +of the Lord dawn once in the far east, more than two thousand years ago, +and cried with solemn joy, in the glorious words which you have just +heard sung--words which the Church of England has embodied in her daily +evening service, in order, I presume, to show her true children how they +ought to look at days of judgment; and so prepare to meet their God:-- + +"Show yourselves joyful unto the Lord, all ye lands: sing, rejoice, and +give thanks. + +"Let the sea make a noise, and all that therein is: the round world, and +they that dwell therein. + +"Let the floods clap their hands, and let the hills be joyful together +before the Lord: for He cometh to judge the earth. + +"With righteousness shall He judge the world: and the people with +equity. + +"Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; + +"As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. +Amen." + + + +SERMON III. THE PURIFYING HOPE + + + +Eversley, 1869. Windsor Castle, 1869. + +1 John iii. 2. "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet +appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we +shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that +hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." + +Let us consider this noble text, and see something, at least, of what it +has to tell us. It is, like all God's messages, all God's laws, ay, like +God's world in which we live and breathe, at once beautiful and awful; +full of life-giving hope; but full, too, of chastening fear. Hope for +the glorious future which it opens to poor human beings like us; fear, +lest so great a promise being left us, we should fall short of it by our +own fault. Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed on us, +that we should be called the sons of God. + +There is the root and beginning of all Christianity,--of all true +religion. We are the sons of God, and the infinite, absolute, eternal +Being who made this world, and all worlds, is our Father. We are the +children of God. It is not for us to say who are not God's children. +That is God's concern, not ours. All that we have to do with, is the +awful and blessed fact that we are. We were baptised into God's kingdom, +in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Let us +believe the Gospel and good news which baptism brings us, and say each of +us;--Not for our own goodness and deserving; not for our own faith or +assurance; not for anything which we have thought, felt, or done, but +simply out of the free grace and love of God, seeking out us unconscious +infants, we are children of God. "Beloved now are we the sons of God, +and it doth not yet appear what we shall be." It doth not yet appear +what the next life will be like, or what we shall be like in it. That +there will be a next life,--that death does not end all for us, the New +Testament tells us. Yea, our own hearts and reasons tell us. That +sentiment of immortality, that instinct that the death of our body will +not, cannot destroy our souls, or ourselves--all men have had that, +except a few; and it is a question whether they had it not once, and have +only lost it by giving way to their brute animal nature. But be that as +it may, it concerns us, I think, very little. For we at least believe +that we shall live again. That we shall live again in some state or +other, is as certain to our minds as it was to the minds of our +forefathers, even while they were heathens; as certain to us as it is +that we are alive now. But in that future state, what we shall be like, +we know not. St. John says that he did not know; and we certainly have +no more means of knowing than St. John. + +Therefore let us not feed our fancies with pictures of what the next +world will be like,--pictures, I say, which are but waking dreams of men, +intruding into those things which they have not seen, vainly puffed up in +their fleshly minds--that is in their animal and mortal brain. Let us be +content with what St. John tells us, which is a matter not for our +brains, but for our hearts; not for our imaginations, but for our +conscience, which is indeed our highest reason. Whatever we do not know +about the next world, this, he says, we do know,--that when God in Christ +shall appear, we shall be like Him. Like God. No more: No: but no +less. To be like God, it appears, is the very end and aim of our being. +That we might be like God, God our Father sent us forth from His eternal +bosom, which is the ground of all life, in heaven and in earth. That we +might be like God, He clothed us in mortal flesh, and sent us into this +world of sense. That we might be like God, He called us, from our +infancy, into His Church. That we might be like God, He gave us the +divine sense of right and wrong; and more, by the inspiration of His holy +spirit, that inward witness, that Light of God, which lightens every man +that cometh into the world, He taught us to love the right and hate the +wrong. That we might be like God, God is educating us from our cradle to +our grave, by every event, even the smallest, which happens to us. That +we might be like God, it is in God that we live, and move, and have our +being; that as the raindrop which falls from heaven, rises again surely, +soon or late, to heaven again; so each soul of man, coming forth from God +at first, should return again to God, as many of them as have eternal +life, having become like to God from whom it came at first. And how +shall we become like God? or rather like Christ who is both God and man? +To become like God the Father,--that is impossible for finite and created +beings as we are. But to become somewhat, at least, like God the Son, +like Jesus Christ our Lord, who is the brightness of His Father's glory, +and the express image of His person, that is not impossible. For He has +revealed Himself as a man, in the soul and body of a man, that our sinful +souls might be made like His pure soul; our sinful bodies like His +glorious body; and that so He might be the first born among many +brethren. And how? "We know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, +for we shall see Him as He is." + +For we shall see Him as He is. Herein is a great mystery, and one which +I do not pretend to fathom. Only this I can try to do--to shew how it +may seem possible and reasonable, from what is called analogy, that is by +judging of an unknown thing from a known thing, which is, at least, +something like it. Now do we not all know how apt we are to become like +those whom we see, with whom we spend our hours--and, above all, like +those whom we admire and honour? For good and for evil, alas! For evil- +-for those who associate with evil or frivolous persons are too apt to +catch not only their low tone, but their very manner, their very +expression of face, speaking, and thinking, and acting. Not only do they +become scornful, if they live with scorners; false, if they live with +liars; mean, if they live with covetous men; but they will actually catch +the very look of their faces. The companions of affected, frivolous +people, men or women, grow to look affected frivolous. Indulging in the +same passions, they mould their own countenances and their very walk, +also the very tones of their voice, as well as their dress, into the +likeness of those with whom they associate, nay, of those whose fashions +(as they are called) they know merely by books and pictures. But thank +God, who has put into the hearts of Christian people the tendency towards +God--just in the same way does good company tend to make men good; high- +minded company to make them high-minded; kindly company to make them +kindly; modest company to make them modest; honourable company to make +them honourable; and pure company to make them pure. If the young man or +woman live with such, look up to such as their ideal, that is, the +pattern which they ought to emulate--then, as a fact, the Spirit of God +working in them does mould them into something of the likeness of those +whom they admire and love. I have lived long enough to see more than one +man of real genius stamp his own character, thought, even his very manner +of speaking, for good or for evil, on a whole school or party of his +disciples. It has been said, and truly, I believe, that children cannot +be brought up among beautiful pictures,--I believe, even among any +beautiful sights and sounds,--without the very expression of their faces +becoming more beautiful, purer, gentler, nobler; so that in them are +fulfilled the words of the great and holy Poet concerning the maiden +brought up according to God, and the laws of God-- + + + "And she shall bend her ear + In many a secret place, +Where rivulets dance their wayward round, +And beauty, born of murmuring sound, + Shall pass into her face." + + +But if mere human beings can have this "personal influence," as it is +called, over each others' characters, if even inanimate things, if they +be beautiful, can have it--what must be the personal influence of our +Lord Jesus Christ? Of Him, who is the Man of all men, the Son of Man, +the perfect and ideal Man--and more, who is very God of very God; the +Author of all life, power, wisdom, genius, in every human being, whether +they use to good, or abuse to ill, His divine gifts; the Author, too, of +all natural beauty, from the sun over our heads to the flower beneath our +feet? Think of that steadily, accurately, rationally. Think of who +Christ is, and what Christ is--and then think what His personal influence +must be--quite infinite, boundless, miraculous. So that the very +blessedness of heaven will not be merely the sight of our Lord; it will +be the being made holy, and kept holy, by that sight. If only we be fit +for it. For let us ask ourselves the question,--If St John's words come +true of us, if we should see Him as He is, would the sight of His all- +glorious countenance warm us into such life, love, longing for virtue and +usefulness, as we never felt before? Or would it crush us into the very +earth with utter shame and humiliation, full and awful knowledge of how +weak and foolish, sinful and unworthy we were?--as it does to Gerontius +in the poem, when he dreams that, after death, he demanded, rashly and +ambitiously, to see our Lord, and had his wish. + +That is the question which every one must try to answer for himself in +fear and trembling, for, he that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, +even as He is pure. The common sense of men--which is often their +conscience and highest reason--has taught them this, more or less +clearly, in all countries and all ages. There are very few religions +which have not made purifying of some kind a part of their duty. The +very savage, when he enters (as he fancies) the presence of his god, will +wash and adorn himself that he may be fit, poor creature, for meeting the +paltry god which he has invented out of his own brain; and he is right as +far as he goes. The Englishman, when he dresses himself in his best to +go to church, obeys the same reasonable instinct. And, indeed, is not +holy baptism a sign that this instinct is a true one?--that if God be +pure, he who enters the presence of God must purify himself, even as God +is pure? Else why, when each person, whether infant or adult, is +received into Christ's Church, is washing with water, whether by +sprinkling, as now, or, as of old, by immersion, the very sign and +sacrament of his being received into God's kingdom? The instinct, I say, +is reasonable, and has its root in the very heart of man. Whatsoever we +respect and admire we shall also try to copy, if it be only for a time. +If we are going into the presence of a wiser man than ourselves, we shall +surely recollect and summon up what little wisdom or knowledge we may +have; if into the presence of a holier person, we shall try to call up in +ourselves those better and more serious thoughts which we so often +forget, that we may be, even for a few minutes, fit for that good +company. And if we go into the presence of a purer person than +ourselves, we shall surely (unless we be base and brutal) call up our +purest and noblest thoughts, and try to purify ourselves, even as they +are pure. It is true what poets have said again and again, that there +are women whose mere presence, whose mere look, drives all bad thoughts +away--women before whom men dare no more speak, or act, nay, even think, +basely, than they would dare before the angels of God. + +But if it be so--and so it is--what must we be, to be fit to appear +before Him who is Purity itself?--before that spotless Christ in whom is +no sin and who knows what is in man; who is quick and piercing as a two- +edged sword, even to the dividing asunder of the joints and marrow, so +that all things are naked and open in the sight of Him with whom we have +to do? What purity can we bring into His presence which will not seem +impure to Him? What wisdom which will not seem folly? What humility +which will not seem self-conceit? What justice which will not seem +unjust? What love which will not seem hardness of heart, in the sight of +Him who charges His angels with folly, and the very heavens are not clean +in His sight? Who loved Him better, and whom did He love better, than St +John? Yet, what befel St John when, in the spirit, he saw Him even +somewhat as He is?--"And I fell at His feet as dead." If St John himself +was struck down with awe, what shall we feel, even the best and purest +among us? All we can do is to cast ourselves, now and for ever, in life, +in death, and in the day of judgment, on His boundless mercy and love-- +who stooped from heaven to die for us and cry, God be merciful to me a +sinner. + +Therefore, I have many fears for some who are ready enough to talk of +their fulness of hope and their assurance of salvation, and to join in +hymns which express weariness of this life and longings for the joys of +heaven, and prayers that they may depart and be with Christ. If they are +not in earnest in such words they mock God; but if they are in earnest, +some of them, I fear much, tempt God. What if He took them at their +word? What if He gave them their wish? What if they departed and +entered the presence of Christ, only to meet with a worse fate than that +of Gerontius? Only to be overwhelmed with shame and terror, because, +though they have been talking of being with Christ, they have not been +trying to be like Christ; because they have not sought after holiness, +without which no man shall see the Lord; because they have not tried to +purify themselves, even as He is pure; and have, poor, heedless souls, +gone out of the world, with all their sins upon their head, to enter a +place for which they will find themselves utterly unfit, because it is a +place into which nothing can enter which defileth, or committeth +abomination, or maketh a lie, and from which the covetous are specially +excluded; and in which will be fulfilled the parable of the man who came +to the feast, not having on a wedding garment,--Take him, bind him hand +and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness. There shall be wailing +and gnashing of teeth. + +Assurance, my friends, may be reasonable enough when it is founded on +repentance and hatred of evil, and love and practice of what is good. +But, again, assurance may be as unreasonable as it is offensive. We +blame a man who has too much assurance about earthly things. Let us +beware that we have not too much assurance about heavenly things. For +our assurance will surely be too great, unreasonable, built upon the +sand, if it be built on mere self-conceit of our own orthodoxy, and our +own privileges, or our own special connection with God. + +Meanwhile it has been my comfort to meet with some--would God they were +more numerous--who, instead of talking of their assurance of salvation, +lived in a state of noble self-discontent and holy humility; who could +see nothing but their own faults and failings; who, though they were +holier than others, considered themselves as unholy; though they were +doing more good than others, thought themselves useless; whose standard +of duty was so lofty, that they could think of nothing, but how far they +had failed in reaching it; who measured themselves, not by other men, but +by Christ Himself; and, doing that, had nought to say, save, "God be +merciful to me a sinner." And for such people I have had full assurance, +just because they had no assurance themselves. And I have said in my +heart, These are worthy, just because they think themselves unworthy. +These are fit to appear in the presence of God, just because they believe +themselves unfit. These are they who will cry at the day of judgment, in +wondering humility,--Lord, when saw we Thee hungry, or thirsty, or naked, +or in prison, and visited Thee? And will receive for answer,--"Inasmuch +as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have +done it unto Me." "Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will +make thee ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of thy Lord." + +To which end may God of His mercy bring us, and all we love. Amen. + + + +SERMON IV. THE LORD COMING TO HIS TEMPLE + + + +Westminster Abbey. November, 1874. + +Malachi iii. 1, 2. "The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His +temple. . . . But who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall +stand when He appeareth? for He is like a refiner's fire, and like +fuller's sope." + +We believe that this prophecy was fulfilled at the first coming of our +Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that it will be fulfilled again, in that +great day when He shall judge the quick and the dead. But it is of +neither of these events I wish to speak to you just now. I wish to speak +of an event which has not (as far as we know) happened; which will +probably never happen; but which is still perfectly possible; and one, +too, which it is good for us to face now and then, and ask ourselves, If +this thing came to pass, what should I think, and what should I do? + +I shall touch the question with all reverence and caution. I shall try +to tread lightly, as one who is indeed on hallowed ground. For the +question which I have dared to ask you and myself is none other than +this--If the Lord suddenly came to this temple, or any other in this +land; if He appeared among us, as He did in Judea eighteen hundred years +ago, what should we think of Him? Should we recognise, or should we +reject, our Saviour and our Lord? It is an awful thought, the more we +look at it. But for that very reason it may be the more fit to be asked, +once and for all. + +Now, to put this question safely and honestly, we must keep within those +words which I just said--as He appeared in Judea eighteen hundred years +ago. We must limit our fancy to the historic Christ, to the sayings, +doings, character which are handed down to us in the four Gospels; and +ask ourselves nothing but--What should I think if such a personage were +to meet me now? To imagine Him--as has been too often done--as doing +deeds, speaking words, and even worse, entertaining motives, which are +not written in the four Gospels, is as unfair morally, as it is illogical +critically. It creates a phantom, a fictitious character, and calls that +Christ. It makes each writer, each thinker--or rather dreamer--however +shallow his heart and stupid his brain--and all our hearts are but too +shallow, and all our brains too stupid--the measure of a personage so +vast and so unique, that all Christendom for eighteen hundred years has +seen in Him, and we of course hold seen truly, the Incarnate God. No; we +must think of nothing save what is set down in Holy Writ. + +And yet, alas! we cannot use in our days, that which eighteen hundred +years ago was the most simple and obvious test of our Lord's +truthfulness, namely His miraculous powers. The folly and sin of man +have robbed us of what is, as it were, one of the natural rights of +reasoning, man. Lying prodigies and juggleries, forged and pretended +miracles, even--oh, shame!--imitations of His most sacred wounds, have, +up to our own time, made all rational men more and more afraid of aught +which seems to savour of the miraculous; till most of us, I think, would +have to ask forgiveness--as I myself should have to ask,--if, tantalized +and insulted again and again by counterfeit miracles, we failed to +recognise real miracles, and Him who performed them. Therefore, for good +or evil, we should be driven back upon that test alone, which, after all, +perhaps, is the most sure as well as the most convincing--the moral test- +-the test of character. What manner of personage would He be did He +condescend to appear among us? Of that, thank God, the Gospels ought to +leave us in no doubt. What acts He might condescend to perform, what +words He might condescend to speak, it is not for such beings as we to +guess. But how He would demean Himself we know; for Holy Writ has told +us how He demeaned Himself in Judea eighteen hundred years ago; and He is +the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever, and can be only like Himself. +But should we know Him merely by His bearing and character? Should we +see in Him an utterly ideal personage--The Son of Man, and therefore, ere +we lost sight of Him once more, the Son of God? Let us think. First, +therefore, we must believe that--as in Judea of old--Christ would meet +men with all consideration and courtesy. He would not break the bruised +reed, nor quench the smoking flax. He would not strive, nor cry, nor let +His voice be heard in the streets. He would not cause any of God's +little ones to offend, to stumble. In plain words, He would not shock +and repel them by any conduct of His. Therefore, as in Judea of old, He +would be careful of, even indulgent to, the usages of society, as long as +they were innocent. He would never outrage the code of manners, however +imperfect, however conventional, which this or any other civilised nation +may have agreed on, to express and keep up respect, self-restraint, +delicacy, of man toward man, of man toward woman, of the young ward the +old, of the living toward the dead. No. + +As I said just now, He would never cause, by any act or word of His, one +of God's little ones to stumble and fall away. + +I used just now that word MANNERS. Let me beg your very serious +attention to it. I use it, remember, in its true, its ancient--that is, +in its moral and spiritual sense. I use it as the old Greeks, the old +Romans, used their corresponding words; as our wise forefathers used it, +when they said well, that "Manners maketh man;" that manners are at once +the efficient cause of a man's success, and the proof of his deserving to +succeed: the outward and visible sign of whatsoever inward and spiritual +grace, or disgrace, there may be in him. I mean by the word what our +Lord meant when He reproved the pushing and vulgar arrogance of the +Scribes and Pharisees, and laid down the golden rule of all good manners, +"Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and +whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant." + +Next, I beg you to remember that all, or almost all, good manners which +we have among us--courtesies, refinements, self-restraint, and mutual +respect--all which raises us, socially and morally, above our forefathers +of fifteen hundred years ago--deep-hearted men, valiant and noble, but +coarse, and arrogant, and quarrelsome--all that, or almost all, we owe to +Christ, to the influence of His example, and to that Bible which +testifies of Him. Yes, the Bible has been for Christendom, in the +cottage as much as in the palace, the school of manners; and the saying +that he who becomes a true Christian becomes a true gentleman, is no +rhetorical boast, but a solid historic fact. + +Now imagine Christ to reappear on earth, with that perfect outward beauty +of character--with what Greeks and Romans, and our own ancestors, would +have called those perfect manners--which, if we are to believe the +Gospels, He shewed in Judea of old, which won then so many hearts, +especially of the common people, sounder judges often of true nobility +than many who fancy themselves their betters. Conceive--but which of us +can conceive?--His perfect tenderness, patience, sympathy, graciousness, +and grace, combined with perfect strength, stateliness, even awfulness, +when awe was needed. Remember that, if, again, the Gospels are to be +believed. He alone, of all personages of whom history tells us, solved +in His own words and deeds the most difficult paradox of human character- +-to be at once utterly conscious, and yet utterly unconscious, of self; +to combine with perfect self-sacrifice a perfect self-assertion. Whether +or not His being able to do that proved Him to have been that which He +was, the Son of God, it proves Him at least to have been the Son of Man-- +the unique and unapproachable ideal of humanity, utterly inspired by the +Holy Spirit of God. + +But again: He condescended, in His teaching of old, to the level of +Jewish, knowledge at that time. We may, therefore, believe that He would +condescend to the level of our modern knowledge; and what would that +involve? It would leave Him, however less than Himself, at least master +of all that the human race has thought or discovered in the last eighteen +hundred years. Think of that. And think again, that if He condescended, +as in Judea of old, to employ that knowledge in teaching men--He who knew +what was in man, and needed not that any should bear witness to Him of +man--He would manifest a knowledge of human nature to which that of a +Shakspeare would be purblind and dull; a knowledge of which the Scripture +nobly says that "The Word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than +any two-edged sword, even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and +of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents +of the heart;" so that all "things are naked and opened unto the eyes of +Him with whom we have to do." And consider that, in the light of that +knowledge, He might adapt himself as perfectly to us of this great city, +as He did to the villagers of Galilee, or to the townsmen of Jerusalem. + +Consider, again, that He who spoke as never man yet spake in Jerusalem, +might speak as man never yet spoke on English soil; that He who was +listened to gladly once, because He spake with authority, and not as the +scribes, at second hand, and by rule and precedent, might be listened to +gladly here once more. For He might speak here, not as we poor scribes +can speak at best, but with an authority, originality, earnestness, as +well as an eloquence, which might exercise a fascination, which would be, +to all with whom He came in contact, what Malachi calls it, "a refiner's +fire"--most purifying, though often most painful to the very best; a +fascination which might be to every one who came under its spell a +veritable Judgment and Day of the Lord, shewing each man with fearful +clearness to which side he really inclined at heart in the struggle +between truth and falsehood, good and evil; a fascination, therefore, +equally attractive to those who wished to do right, and intolerable to +those who wished to do wrong. + +Consider that last thought. And consider, too, that those to whom the +fascination of such a personage might be so intolerable, that it might +turn to utter hate, would probably be those whose moral sense was so +perverted, that they thought they were doing right when they were doing +wrong, and speaking truth when they were telling lies. It is an awful +thought. But we know that there were such men, and too many, among the +scribes and Pharisees of Jerusalem. And human nature is the same in +every age. Be that as it may--however retired His life, He could not +long be hid. He would shortly exercise, almost without attempting it, an +enormous public influence. + +But yet, as in Judea of old, would He not be only too successful? Would +He not be at once too liberal for some, and too exacting for others? +Would He not, as in Judea of old, encounter not merely the active envy of +the vain and the ambitious, which would follow one who spoke as never man +spoke; not merely the active malignity of those who wish their fellow- +creatures to be bad and not good; not merely the bigotry of every sect +and party; but that mere restless love of new excitements, and that dull +fear and suspicion of new truths, and even of old truths in new words, +which beset the uneducated of every rank and class, and in no age more +than in our own? And therefore I must ask, in sober sadness, how long +would His influence last? It lasted, we know, in Judea of old, for some +three years. And then--. But I am not going to say that any such +tragedy is possible now. It would be an insult to Him; an insult to the +gracious influences of His Spirit, the gracious teaching of His Church, +to say that of our generation, however unworthy we may be of our high +calling in Christ. And yet, if He had appeared in any country of +Christendom only four hundred years ago, might He not have endured an +even more dreadful death than that of the cross? + +But doubtless, no personal harm would happen to Him here. Only there +might come a day, in which, as in Judea of old, "after He had said these +things, many were offended, and walked no more with Him:" when his +hearers and admirers would grow fewer and more few, some through bigotry, +some through envy, some through fickleness, some through cowardice, till +He was left alone with a little knot of earnest disciples; who might +diminish, alas, but too rapidly, when they found at He, as in Judea of +old, did not intend to become the head of a new sect, and to gratify +their ambition and vanity by making them His delegates. And so the +world, the religious world as well as the rest, might let Him go His way, +and vanish from the eyes and minds of men, leaving behind little more +than a regret that one so gifted and so fascinating should have proved--I +hardly like to say the words, and yet they must be said--so unsafe and so +unsound a teacher. + +I shall not give now the reasons which have led me, and not in haste, to +this melancholy conclusion. I shall only say that I have come to it, +with pain, and shame, and fear. With shame and fear. For when I ask you +the solemn question, Would you know Christ if He came among you? do I not +ask myself a question which I dare not answer? How can I tell whether I +should recognise, after all, my Saviour and my Lord? How do I know that +if He said (as He but too certainly might), something which clashed +seriously with my preconceived notions of what He ought to say, I should +not be offended, and walk no more with Him? How do I know that if He +said, as in Judea of old, "Will ye too go away?" I should answer with St +Peter, "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life, +and we believe and are sure that thou art the Christ, the Son of the +living God?" I dare not ask that question of myself. How then dare I +ask it of you? I know not. I can only say, "Lord, I believe: help thou +mine unbelief." I know not. But this I know--that in this or any other +world, if you or I did recognise Him, it would be with utter shame and +terror, unless we had studied and had striven to copy either Himself, or +whatsoever seems to us most like Him. Yes; to study the good, the +beautiful, and the true in Him, and wheresoever else we find it--for all +that is good, beautiful, and true throughout the universe are nought but +rays from Him, the central sun--to obey St. Paul of old, and "whatsoever +things are true, venerable, just, pure, lovely, and of good report--if +there be any virtue and if there be any praise, to think on these +things,"--on these scattered fragmentary sacraments of Him whose number +is not two, nor seven, "but seventy-times seven;" that is the way--I +think, the only way--to be ready to recognise our Saviour, and to prepare +to meet our God; that He may be to us, too, as a refiner's fire, and +refine us--our thoughts, our deeds, our characters throughout. + +And I think, too, that this is the way, perhaps the only way, to rid +ourselves of the fancy that we can be accounted righteous before God for +any works or deservings of our own. Those in whom that fancy lingers +must have but a paltry standard of what righteousness is, a mean +conception of moral--that is, spiritual--perfection. But those who look +not inwards, but upwards; not at themselves, but at Christ and all +spiritual perfection--they become more and more painfully aware of their +own imperfections. The beauty of Christ's character shows them the +ugliness of their own. His purity shows them their own foulness. His +love their own hardness. His wisdom their own folly. His strength their +own weakness. The higher their standard rises, the lower falls their +estimate of themselves; till, in utter humiliation and self-distrust, +they seek comfort ere alone it can be found--in FAITH--in utter faith and +trust in that very moral perfection of Christ which shames and dazzles +them, and yet is their only hope. To trust in Him for themselves and all +they love. To trust that, just because Christ is so magnificent, He will +pity, and not despise, our meanness. Just because He is so pure, and +righteous, and true, and lovely, He will appreciate, and not abhor, our +struggles after purity, righteousness, truth, love, however imperfect, +however soiled with failure--and with worse. Just because He is so +unlike us, He will smile graciously upon out feeblest attempts to be like +Him. Just because He has borne the sins and carried the sorrows of +mankind, therefore those who come to Him He will in no wise cast out. +Amen. + + + +SERMON V. ADVENT LESSONS + + + +Westminster Abbey, First Sunday in Advent, 1873. + +Romans vii. 22-25. "I delight in the law of God after the inward man: +but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, +and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. +O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this +death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord." + +This is the first Sunday in Advent. To-day we have prayed that God would +give us grace to put away the works of darkness, and put on us the armour +of light. Next Sunday we shall pray that, by true understanding of the +Scriptures, we may embrace and hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting +life. The Sunday after that the ministers and stewards of God's +mysteries may prepare His way by turning the hearts of the disobedient to +the wisdom of the just--the next, that His grace and mercy may speedily +help and deliver us from the sins which hinder us in running the race set +before us. But I do not think that we shall understand those collects, +or indeed the meaning of Advent itself, or the reason why we keep the +season of Advent year by year, unless we first understand the prayer +which we offered up last Sunday, "Stir up, O Lord, the wills of Thy +faithful people,"--and we shall understand that prayer just in proportion +as we have in us the Spirit of God, or the spirit of the world, which is +the spirit of unbelief. + +Worldly people say--and say openly, just now--that this prayer is all a +dream. They say God will not stir up men's wills to do good any more +than to do harm. He leaves men to themselves to get through life as they +can. This Heavenly Father of whom you speak will not give His holy +spirit to those who ask Him. He does not, as one of your Collects says, +put into men's minds good desires--they come to a man entirely from +outside a man, from his early teaching, his youthful impressions, as they +are called now-a-days. He does not either give men grace and power to +put these desires into practice. That depends entirely on the natural +strength of a man's character; and that, again, depends principally on +the state of his brain. So, says the world, if you wish your own +character to improve, you must improve it yourself, for God will not +improve it for you. But, after all, why should you try to improve? why +not be content to be just what you are? you did not make yourself, and +you are not responsible for being merely what God has chosen to make you. + +This is what worldly men say, or at least what they believe and act on; +and this is the reason why there is so little improvement in the world, +because men do not ask God to improve their hearts and stir up their +wills. I say, very little improvement. Men talk loudly of the +enlightenment of the age, and the progress of the species, and the spread +of civilisation, and so forth: but when I read old books, and compare +old times with these, I confess I do not see so much of it as all this +hopeful talk would lead me to expect. Men in general have grown more +prudent, more cunning, from long experience. They have found out that +certain sins do not pay--that is, they interfere with people's comfort +and their power of making money, and therefore they prudently avoid them +themselves, and put them down by law in other men's cases. Men have +certainly grown more good-natured, in some countries, in that they +dislike more than their ancestors did, to inflict bodily torture on human +beings; but they are just as ready, or even more ready, to inflict on +those whom they dislike that moral and mental torture which to noble +souls is worse than any bodily pain. As for any real improvement in +human nature--where is it? There is just as much falsehood, cheating, +and covetousness, I believe, in the world as ever there was; just as much +cant and hypocrisy, and perhaps more; just as much envy, hatred, malice +and all uncharitableness. Is not the condition of the masses in many +great cities as degraded and as sad as ever was that of the serfs in the +middle ages? Do not the poor still die by tens of thousands of fevers, +choleras, and other diseases, which we know perfectly how to prevent, and +yet have not the will to prevent? Is not the adulteration of food just +now as scandalous as it is unchecked? The sins and follies of human +nature have been repressed in one direction only to break out another. +And as for open and coarse sin, people complain even now, and I fear with +justice, that there is more drunkenness in England at this moment than +there ever was. So much for our boasted improvement. + +Look again at the wars of the world. Five-and-twenty years ago, one used +to be told that the human race was grown too wise to go to war any more, +and that we were to have an advent of universal peace and plenty, and +since then we have seen some seven great wars, the last the most terrible +of all,--and ever since, all the nations of Europe have been watching +each other in distrust and dread, increasing their armaments, working +often night and day at forging improved engines of destruction, wherewith +to kill their fellow-men. Not that I blame that. It is necessary. Yes! +but the hideous thing is, that it should be necessary. Does that state +of things look much like progress of the human race? Can we say that +mankind is much improved, either in wisdom or in love, while all the +nations of Europe are spending millions merely to be ready to fight they +know not whom, they know not why? + +No, my good friends, obey the wise man, and clear your minds of cant-- +man's pretensions, man's boastfulness, man's power of blinding his own +eyes to plain facts--above all, to the plain fact that he does not +succeed, even in this world of which he fancies himself the master, +because he lives without God in the world. All this saddens, I had +almost said, sickens, a thoughtful man, till he turns away from this +noisy sham improvement of mankind--the wages of sin, which are death, to +St John's account of the true improvement of mankind, the true progress +of the species,--the gift of God which is eternal life. "And I saw a new +heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were +passed away. And I saw the Holy City--New Jerusalem, coming down from +God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I +heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold the tabernacle of God +is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, +and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe +away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither +sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former +things are passed away." + +Does that sound much like a general increase of armaments? or like bills +for the prevention of pestilence, or of drunkenness,--which, even if they +pass, will both probably fail to do the good which they propose? No. +And if this wicked world is to be mended, then God must stir up the wills +of His faithful people, and we must pray without ceasing for ourselves, +and for all for whom we are bound to pray, that He would stir them up. +For what we want is not knowledge; we have enough of that, and too much. +Too much; for knowing so much and doing so little, what an account will +be required of us at the last day! + +No. It is the will which we want, in a hundred cases. Take that of +pestilential dwelling-houses in our great towns. Every one knows that +they ought to be made healthy; every one knows that they can be made +healthy. But the will to make them healthy is not here, and they are +left to breed disease and death. And so, as in a hundred instances, +shallow philosophers are proved, by facts, to be mistaken, when they tell +us that man will act up to the best of his knowledge without God's help. +For that is exactly what man does not. What is wrong with the world in +general, is wrong likewise more or less with you and me, and with all +human beings; for after all, the world is made up of human beings; and +the sin of the world is nothing save the sins of each and all human +beings put together; and the world will be renewed and come right again, +just as far and no farther, as each human being is renewed and comes +right. The only sure method, therefore, of setting the world right, is +to begin by setting our own little part of the world right--in a word, +setting ourselves right. + +But if we begin to try, that, we find, is just what we cannot do. When a +man begins to hunger and thirst after righteousness, and, discontented +with himself, attempts to improve himself, he soon begins to find a +painful truth in many a word of the Bible and the Prayer Book to which he +gave little heed, as long as he was contented with himself, and with +doing just what pleased him, right or wrong. He soon finds out that he +has no power of himself to help himself, that he is tied and bound with +the burden of his sins, and that he cannot, by reason of his frailty, +stand upright--that he actually is sore let and hindered by his own sins, +from running the race set before him, and doing his duty where God has +put him. All these sayings come home to him as actual facts, most +painful facts, but facts which he cannot deny. He soon finds out the +meaning and the truth of that terrible struggle between the good in him +and the evil in him, of which St Paul speaks so bitterly in the text. +How, when he tries to do good, evil is present with him. How he delights +in the law of God with his inward mind, and yet finds another law in his +body, warring against the law of God, and bringing him into captivity to +the law of sin. How he is crippled by old bad habits, weakened by +cowardice, by laziness, by vanity, by general inability of will, till he +is ready,--disgusted at himself and his own weakness,--to cry, Who shall +deliver me from the body of this death? + +Let him but utter that cry honestly. Let him once find out that he wants +something outside himself to help him, to deliver him, to strengthen him, +to stir up his weak will, to give him grace and power to do what he knows +instead of merely admiring it, and leaving it undone. Let a man only +find out that. Let him see that he needs a helper, a deliverer, a +strengthener--in one word, a Saviour--and he will find one. I verily +believe that, sooner or later, the Lord Jesus Christ will reveal to that +man what He revealed to St Paul; that He Himself will deliver him; and +that, like St Paul, after crying "O wretched man that I am, who shall +deliver me from the body of this death?" he will be able to answer +himself, I thank God--God will, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Christ +will deliver me from the bonds of my sins, Christ will stir up this weak +will of mine, Christ will give me strength and power, faithfully to +fulfil all my good desires, because He Himself has put them into my heart +not to mock me, not to disappoint me--not to make me wretched with the +sight of noble graces and virtues to which I cannot attain, but to fulfil +His work in me. What He has begun in me He will carry on in me. He has +sown the seed in me, and He will make it bear fruit, if only I pray to +Him, day by day, for strength to do what I know I ought to do, and cry +morning and night to Him, the fount of life, Stir up my will, O Lord, +that I may bring forth the fruit of good works, for then by Thee I shall +be plentifully rewarded. + +So the man gains hope and heart for himself, and so, if he will but think +rationally and humbly, he may gain hope and heart for this poor sinful +world. For what has come true for him may come true for any man. Who is +he that God should care more for him than for others? Who is he that God +should help him when he prays, more than He will help His whole church if +it will but pray? He says to himself, all this knowledge of what is +right; all these good desires, all these longings after a juster, purer, +nobler, happier state of things; there they are up and down the world +already, though, alas! they have borne little enough fruit as yet. Be it +so. But God put them into my heart. And who save God has put them into +the world's heart? It was God who sowed the seed in me; surely it is God +who has sowed it in other men? And if God has made it bear even the +poorest fruit in me, why should He not make it bear fruit in other men +and in all the world? All they need is that God should stir up their +wills, that they may do the good they know, and attain the blessedness +after which they long. + +And then, if the man have a truly human, truly reasonable heart in him-- +he feels that he can pray for others as well as for himself. He feels +that he must pray for them, and cry,--Thou alone canst make men strong to +do the right thing, and Thou wilt make them. Stir up their wills, O +Lord! Thou canst not mean that all the good seed which is sown about the +world should die and wither, and bring no fruit to perfection. Surely +Thy word will not return to Thee void, but be like the rain which comes +down from heaven, and gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater. +Oh, strengthen such as stand, and comfort and help the weak-hearted, and +raise up them that fall, and, finally, beat down Satan and all the powers +of evil under our feet, and pour out thy spirit on all flesh, that so +their Father's name may be hallowed, His kingdom come, His will be done +on earth as it is in heaven. And so will come the one and only true +progress of the human race--which is, that all men should become faithful +and obedient citizens of the holy city, the kingdom of God, which is the +Church of Christ. To which may God in His mercy bring us all, and our +children after us. Amen. + +This, then, is the lesson why we are met together this Advent day. We +are met to pray that God would so help us by His grace and mercy that we +may bring forth the fruit of good works, and that when our Lord Jesus +Christ shall come in His glorious majesty to judge the quick and the +dead, we, and our descendants after us, may be found an acceptable people +in His sight. + +We are met to pray, in a National Church, for the whole nation of +England, that all orders and degrees therein may, each in his place and +station, help forward the hallowing of God's name, the coming of His +kingdom, the doing of His will on earth. We are met to pray for the +Queen and all that are in authority, that these Advent collects may be +fulfilled in them, and by them, for the good of the whole people; for the +ministers and stewards of Christ's mysteries, that the same collects may +be fulfilled by them and in them, till they turn the hearts of the +disobedient to the wisdom of the just; for the Commons of this nation, +that each man may he delivered, by God's grace and mercy, from the +special sin which besets him in this faithless and worldly generation and +hinders him from running the race of duty which is set before him, and +get strength from God so to live that in that dread day he may meet his +Judge and King, not in tenor and in shame, but in loyalty and in humble +hope. + +But more--we are here to worship God in Christ, both God and man. To +confess that without Him we can do nothing, that unless He enlighten our +understandings we are dark, unless He stir up our wills we are powerless +for good. To confess that though we have forgotten Him, yet He has not +forgotten us. That He is the same gracious and generous Giver and +Saviour. That though we deny Him He cannot deny Himself. That He is the +same yesterday, to-day, and for ever as when He came to visit this earth +in great humility. That the Lord is King, though the earth be moved. He +sitteth upon His throne, be the nations never so unquiet. We are here to +declare to ourselves and all men, and the whole universe, that we at +least believe that the heavens and earth are full of His glory. We are +here to declare that, whether or not the kings of the earth are wise +enough, or the judges of it learned enough, to acknowledge Christ for +their king, we at least will worship the Son lest He be angry, and so we +perish from the right way; for if His wrath be kindled, yea but a little, +then blessed are they, and they only, who put their trust in Him. We are +here to join our songs with angels round the throne, and with those pure +and mighty beings who, in some central sanctuary of the universe, cry for +ever, "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: +for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were +created." + +We do so in ancient words, ancient music, ancient ceremonies, for a token +that Christ's rule and glory is an ancient rule and an eternal glory; +that it is no new discovery of our own, and depends not on our own +passing notions and feelings about it, but is like Christ, the same now +as in the days of our forefathers, the same as it was fifteen hundred +years ago, the same as it has been since the day that He stooped to be +born of the Virgin Mary, the same that it will be till He shall come in +His glory to judge the quick and the dead. Therefore we delight in the +ancient ceremonial, as like as we can make it, to that of the earlier and +purer ages of the Church, when Christianity was still, as it were, fresh +from the hand of its Creator, ere yet it had been debased and defiled by +the idolatrous innovations of the Church of Rome. For so we confess +ourselves bound by links of gratitude to the Apostles, and the successors +of the Apostles, and to all which has been best, purest, and truest in +the ages since. So we confess that we worship the same God-man of whom +Apostles preached, of whom fathers philosophised, and for whom martyrs +died. That we believe, like them, that He alone is King of kings and +Lord of lords; that there is no progress, civilization, or salvation in +this life or the life to come, but through His undeserved mercy and His +strengthening grace; that He has reigned from the creation of the world, +reigns now, and will reign unto that last dread day, when He shall have +put all enemies under His feet, and delivered up the kingdom to God, even +the Father, that God may be all in all. Unto which day may He in His +mercy bring us all through faith and good works: Amen. + + + +SERMON VI. CAPITAL PUNISHMENT + + + +Eversley. Quinquagesima Sunday, 1872. + +Genesis ix. 1, 3, 4, 5, 6. "And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said +unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. . . . +Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you . . . But flesh +with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. And +surely your blood of your lives will I require: at the hand of every +beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every +man's brother will I require the life of man. Whoso sheddeth man's +blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he +man." + +This is God's blessing on mankind. This is our charter from God, who +made and rules this earth. This is the end and duty of our mortal life:- +-to be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth, and subdue it. But +is that all? Is there no hint in this blessing of God of something more +than our mortal life--something beyond our mortal life? Surely there is. +Those words--"in the image of God made He man," must mean, if they mean +anything, that man can, if he will but be a true man, share the eternal +life of God. But I will not speak of that to-day, but rather of a +question about his mortal life in this world, which is this:--What is the +reason why man has a right over the lives of animals? why he may use them +for his food? and at the same time, what is the reason why he has not the +same right over the lives of his fellow-men? why he may not use them for +food? + +It is this--that "in the image of God made He man." Man is made in the +image and likeness of God, therefore he is a sacred creature; a creature, +not merely an animal, and the highest of all animals, only cunninger than +all animals, more highly organised, more delicately formed than all +animals; but something beyond an animal. He is in the likeness of God, +therefore he is consecrated to God. He is the one creature on earth whom +God, so far as we know, is trying to make like Himself. Therefore, +whosoever kills a man, sins not only against that man, nor against +society: he sins against God. And God will require that man's blood at +the hand of him who slays him. But how? At the hand of every beast will +He require it, and at the hand of every man. + +What that first part of the law means I cannot tell. How God will +require from the lion, or the crocodile, or the shark, who eats a human +being, the blood of their victims, is more than I can say. But this I +can say--that the feeling, not only of horror and pity, but of real rage +and indignation, with which men see (what God grant you never may see) a +wild beast kill a man, is a witness in man's conscience that the text is +true somehow, though how we know not. I received a letter a few weeks +since from an officer, a very remarkable person, in which he described +his horror and indignation at seeing a friend of his struck down and +eaten by a tiger, and how, when next day he stood over what had been but +the day before a human being, he looked up to heaven, and kept repeating +the words of the text, "in the image of God made He man," in rage and +shame, and almost accusing God for allowing His image to be eaten by a +brute beast. It shook, for the moment, his faith in God's justice and +goodness. That man was young then, and has grown calmer and wiser now, +and has regained a deeper and sounder faith in God. But the shock, he +said, was dreadful to him. He felt that the matter was not merely +painful and pitiable, but that it was a wrong and a crime; and on the +faith of this very text, a wrong and a crime I believe it to be, and one +which God knows how to avenge and to correct when man cannot. Somehow-- +for He has ways of which we poor mortals do not dream--at the hand of +every beast will He require the blood of man. + +But more; at the hand of every man will He require it. And how? The +text tells us, "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be +shed: for in the image of God made He man." Now, I do not doubt but +that the all-seeing God, looking back on what had most probably happened +on this earth already, and looking forward to what would happen, and +happens, alas! too often now, meant to warn men against the awful crime +of cannibalism, of eating their fellow-men as they would eat an animal. +By so doing, they not only treated their fellow-men as beasts, but they +behaved like beasts themselves. They denied that their victim was made +in the likeness of God; they denied that they were made in the likeness +of God; they willingly and deliberately put on the likeness of beasts, +and as beasts they were to perish. Now, this is certain, that savages +who eat men--and alas! there are thousands even now who do so--usually +know in their hearts that they are doing wrong. As soon as their +consciences are the least awakened, they are ashamed of their +cannibalism; they lie about it, try to conceal it; and as soon as God's +grace begins to work on them, it is the very first sin that they give up. +And next, this is certain, that there is a curse upon it. No cannibal +people, so far as I can find, have ever risen or prospered in the world; +and the cannibal peoples now-a-days, and for the last three hundred +years, have been dying out. By their own vices, diseases, and wars, they +perish off the face of the earth, in the midst of comfort and plenty; +and, in spite of all the efforts of missionaries, even their children and +grand-children, after giving up the horrid crime, and becoming +Christians, seem to have no power of living and increasing, but dwindle +away, and perish off the earth. Yes, God's laws work in strange and +subtle ways; so darkly, so slowly, that the ungodly and sinners often +believe that there are no laws of God, and say--"Tush, how should God +perceive it? Is there knowledge in the Most High?" But the laws work, +nevertheless, whether men are aware of them or not. "The mills of God +grind slowly," but sooner or later they grind the sinner to powder. + +And now I will leave this hateful subject and go on to another, on which +I am moved to speak once and for all, because it is much in men's minds +just now--I mean what is vulgarly called "capital punishment," the +punishing of murder by death. Now the text, which is the ancient +covenant of God with man, speaks very clearly on this point. "Whosoever +sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed." Man is made in +the likeness of God. That is the ground of our law about murder, as it +is the ground of all just and merciful law; that gives man his right to +slay the murderer; that makes it his duty to slay the murderer. He has +to be jealous of God's likeness, and to slay, in the name of God, the man +who, by murder, outrages the likeness of God in himself and in his +victim. + +You all know that there is now-a-days a strong feeling among some persons +about capital punishment; that there are those who will move heaven and +earth to interfere with the course of justice, and beg off the worst of +murderers, on any grounds, however unreasonable, fanciful, even unfair; +simply because they have a dislike to human beings being hanged. I +believe, from long consideration, that these persons' strange dislike +proceeds from their not believing sufficiently that man is made in the +image of God. And, alas! it proceeds, I fear, in some of them, from not +believing in a God at all--believing, perhaps, in some mere maker of the +world, but not in the living God which Scripture sets forth. For how +else can they say, as I have known some say, that capital punishment is +wrong, because "we have no right to usher a man into the presence of his +Maker." + +Into the presence of his Maker! Why, where else is every man, you and I, +heathen and Christian, bad and good, save in the presence of his Maker +already? Do we not live and move and have our being in God? Whither can +we go from His spirit, or whither can we flee from His presence? If we +ascend into heaven, He is there. If we go down to hell He is there also. +And if the law puts a man to death, it does not usher him into the +presence of his Maker, for he is there already. It simply says to him, +"God has judged you on earth, not we. God will judge you in the next +world, not we. All we know is, that you are not fit to live in this +world. All our duty is to send you out of it. Where you will go in the +other world is God's matter, not ours, and the Lord have mercy on your +soul." + +And this want of faith in a living God lies at the bottom of another +objection. We are to keep murderers alive in order to convert and +instruct and amend them. The answer is, We shall be most happy to amend +anybody of any fault, however great: but the experience of ages is that +murderers are past mending; that the fact of a man's murdering another is +a plain proof that he has no moral sense, and has become simply a brute +animal Our duty is to punish not to amend, and to say to the murderer, +"If you can be amended; God will amend you, and so have mercy on your +soul. God must amend you, if you are to be amended. If God cannot amend +you, we cannot. If God will not amend you, certainly we cannot force Him +to do so, if we kept you alive for a thousand years." That would seem +reasonable, as well as reverent and faithful to God. But men now-a-days +fancy that they love their fellow creatures far better than God loves +them, and can deal far more wisely and lovingly with them than God is +willing to deal. Of these objections I take little heed. I look on them +as merely loose cant, which does not quite understand the meaning of its +own words, and I trust to sound, hard, English common sense to put them +aside. + +But there is another objection to capital punishment, which we must deal +with much more respectfully and tenderly; for it is made by certain good +people, people whom we must honour, though we differ from them, for no +set of people have done more (according to their numbers) for education, +for active charity, and for benevolence, and for peace and good will +among the nations of the earth. And they say, you must not take the life +of a murderer, just because he is made in God's image. Well, I should +have thought that God Himself was the best judge of that. That, if God +truly said that man was made in His image, and said, moreover, as it were +at the same moment, that, therefore, whoso sheds man's blood, by man +shall his blood be shed--our duty was to trust God, to obey God, and to +do our duty against the murderer, however painful to our feelings it +might be. But I believe these good people make their mistake from +forgetting this; that if the murderer be made in God's image and +likeness, so is the man whom he murders; and so also is the jury who +convict him, the judge who condemns him, and the nation (the society of +men) for whom they act. + +And this, my dear friends, brings us to the very root of the meaning of +law. Man has sense to make laws (which animals cannot do), just because +he is made in the likeness of God, and has the sense of right and wrong. +Man has the right to enforce laws, to see right done and wrong punished, +just because he is made in the likeness of God. The laws of a country, +as far as they are just and righteous, are the copy of what the men of +that country have found out about right and wrong, and about how much +right they can get done, and how much wrong punished. So, just as the +men of a country are (in spite of all their sins) made in the likeness of +God, so the laws of a country (in spite of all their defects) are a copy +of God's will, as to what men should or should not do. And that, and no +other, is the true reason why the judge or magistrate has authority over +either property, liberty, or life. He is God's servant, the servant of +Christ, who is King of this land and of all lands, and of all +governments, and all kings and rulers of the earth. He sits there in +God's name, to see God's will done, as far as poor fallible human beings +can get it done. And, because he is, not merely as a man, but, by his +special authority, in the likeness of God, who has power over life and +death, therefore he also, as far as his authority goes, has power over +life and death. That is my opinion, and that was the opinion of St. +Paul. For what does he say--and say not (remember always) of Christian +magistrates in a Christian country, but actually of heathen Roman +magistrates? "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For +there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. +Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: +and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation." Thus spoke +out the tenderest-hearted, most Christ-like human being, perhaps, who +ever trod this earth, who, in his intense longing to save sinners, +endured a life of misery and danger, and finished it by martyrdom. But +there was no sentimentality, no soft indulgence in him. He knew right +from wrong; common sense from cant; duty from public opinion; and divine +charity from the mere cowardly dislike of witnessing pain, not so much +because it pains the person punished, as because it pains the spectator. +He knew that Christ was King of kings, and what Christ's kingdom was +like. He had discovered the divine and wonderful order of men and +angels. He saw that one part of that order was--"the soul that sinneth, +it shall die." + +But some say that capital punishment is inconsistent with the mild +religion of Christ--the religion of mercy and love. "The mild religion +of Christ!" Do these men know of Whom they talk? Do they know that, if +the Bible be true, the God who said, "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man +shall his blood be shed," is the very same Being, the very same God, who +was born of the Virgin Mary, crucified under Pontius Pilate--the very +same Christ who took little children up in His arms and blessed them, the +very same Word of God, too, of whom it is written, that out of His mouth +goeth a two-edged sword, that He may smite the nations, and He shall rule +them with a rod of iron, and He treadeth the wine press of the fierceness +and wrath of Almighty God? These are awful words, but, my dear friends, +I can only ask you if you think them too awful to be true? Do you +believe the Christian religion? Do you believe the Creeds? Do you +believe the Bible? For if you do, then you believe that the Lord Christ, +who was born of the Virgin Mary, and crucified under Pontius Pilate, is +the Maker, the Master, the Ruler of this world, and of all worlds. By +what laws He rules other worlds we know not, save that they are, because +they must be--just and merciful laws. But of the laws by which He rules +this world we do know, by experience, that His laws are of most terrible +and unbending severity, as I have warned you again and again, and shall +warn you, as long as there is a liar or an idler, a drunkard or an +adulteress in this parish. + +And if this be so--if Christ be a God of severity as well as a God of +love, a God who punishes sinners as well as a God who forgives penitents- +-what then? We are, He tells us, made in His likeness. Then, according +to His likeness we must behave. We must copy His love, by helping the +poor and afflicted, the weak and the oppressed. But we must copy His +severity, by punishing whenever we have the power, without cowardice or +indulgence, all wilful offenders; and, above all, the man who destroys +God's image in himself, by murdering and destroying the mortal life of a +man made in the image of God. And more; if we be made in the likeness of +God and of Christ, we must remember, morning and night, and all day long, +that most awful and most blessed fact. We must say to ourselves, again +and again, "I am not a mere animal, and like a mere animal I must not +behave; I dare not behave like a mere animal, for I was made in the +likeness of God; and when I was baptised the Spirit of God took +possession of me to restore me to God's likeness, and to call out and +perfect God's likeness in me all my life long. Therefore, I am no mere +animal; and never was intended to be. I am the temple of God; my body +and soul belong to God, and not to my own fancies and passions and lusts, +and whosoever defiles the temple of God, him will God destroy." + +Therefore, this is our duty, this is our only hope or safety--to do our +best to keep alive and strong the likeness of God in ourselves; to try to +grow, not more and more mean, and brutal, and carnal, but more and more +noble, and human, and spiritual; to crush down our base passions, our +selfish inclinations, by the help of the Spirit of God, and to think of +and to pray for, whatsoever is like Christ and like God; to pray for a +noble love of what is good and noble, for a noble hate of what is bad; +and whatsoever things are pure and lovely and of good report to think of +these things. And to pray, too, for forgiveness from Christ, and for the +sake of Christ, whenever we have yielded to our low passions, and defiled +the likeness of God in us, and grieved His Spirit, lest at the last day +it be said to us, if not in words yet in acts, which there will be no +mistaking, no escaping,--"I made thee in My likeness in the beginning of +the creation, I redeemed thee into My likeness on the cross, I baptised +thee into My likeness by my Holy Spirit; and what hast thou hast done +with My likeness? Thou hast cast it away, thou hast let it die out in +thee, thou hast lived after the flesh and not after the spirit, and hast +put on the likeness of the carnal man, the likeness of the brute. Thou +hast copied the vanity of the peacock, the silliness of the ape, the +cunning of the fox, the rapacity of the tiger, the sensuality of the +swine; but thou hast not copied God, thy God, who died that thou mightest +live, and be a man. Then, thou hast destroyed God's likeness, for thou +hast destroyed it in thyself. Thou hast slain a man, for thou hast slain +thy own manhood, and art thine own murderer, and thine own blood shall be +required at thy hand. That which thou hast done to God's likeness in +thee, shall be done to that which remains of thee in a second death." + +And from that may Christ in His mercy deliver us all. Amen. + + + +SERMON VII. TEMPTATION + + + +Eversley, 1872. Chester Cathedral, 1872. + +St Matt. iv. 3. "And when the tempter came to Him, he said, If Thou be +the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread." + +Let me say a few words to-day about a solemn subject, namely, Temptation. +I do not mean the temptations of the flesh--the temptations which all men +have to yield to the low animal nature in them, and behave like brutes. +I mean those deeper and more terrible temptations, which our Lord +conquered in that great struggle with evil which is commonly called His +temptation in the wilderness. These were temptations of an evil spirit-- +the temptations which entice some men, at least, to behave like devils. + +Now these temptations specially beset religious men--men who are, or +fancy themselves, superior to their fellow-men, more favoured by God, and +with nobler powers, and grander work to do, than the common average of +mankind. But specially, I say, they beset those who are, or fancy +themselves, the children of God. And, therefore, I humbly suppose our +Lord had to endure and to conquer these very temptations because He was +not merely a child of God, but the Son of God--the perfect Man, made in +the perfect likeness of His Father. He had to endure these temptations, +and to conquer them, that He might be able to succour us when we are +tempted, seeing that He was tempted in like manner as we are, yet without +sin. + +Now it has been said, and, I think, well said, that what proves our +Lord's three temptations to have been very subtle and dangerous and +terrible, is this--that we cannot see at first sight that they were +temptations at all. The first two do not look to us to be wrong. If our +Lord could make stones into bread to satisfy His hunger, why should He +not do so? If He could prove to the Jews that He was the Son of God, +their divine King and Saviour, by casting Himself down from the pinnacle +of the temple, and being miraculously supported in the air by angels--if +He could do that, why should He not do it? And lastly, the third +temptation looks at first sight so preposterous that it seems silly of +the evil spirit to have hinted at it. To ask any man of piety, much less +the Son of God Himself, to fall down and worship the devil, seems +perfectly absurd--a request not to be listened to for a moment, but put +aside with contempt. + +Well, my friends, and the very danger of these spiritual temptations is-- +that they do not look like temptations. They do not look ugly, absurd, +wrong, they look pleasant, reasonable, right. + +The devil, says the apostle, transforms himself at times into an angel of +light. If so, then he is certainly far more dangerous than if he came as +an angel of darkness and horror. If you met some venomous snake, with +loathsome spots upon his scales, his eyes full of rage and cunning, his +head raised to strike at you, hissing and showing his fangs, there would +be no temptation to have to do with him. You would know that you had to +deal with an evil beast, and must either kill him or escape from him at +once. But if, again, you met, as you may meet in the tropics, a lovely +little coral snake, braided with red and white, its mouth so small that +it seems impossible that it can bite, and so gentle that children may +take it up and play with it, then you might be tempted, as many a poor +child has been ere now, to admire it, fondle it, wreathe it round the +neck for a necklace, or round the arm for a bracelet, till the play goes +one step too far, the snake loses its temper, gives one tiny scratch upon +the lip or finger, and that scratch is certain death. That would be a +temptation indeed; one all the more dangerous because there is, I am +told, another sort of coral snake perfectly harmless, which is so exactly +like the deadly one, that no child, and few grown people, can know them +apart. + +Even so it is with our worst temptations. They look sometimes so exactly +like what is good and noble and useful and religious, that we mistake the +evil for the good, and play with it till it stings us, and we find out +too late that the wages of sin are death. Thus religious people, just +because they are religious, are apt to be specially tempted to mistake +evil for good, to do something specially wrong, when they think they are +doing something specially right, and so give occasion to the enemies of +the Lord to blaspheme; till, as a hard and experienced man of the world +once said: "Whenever I hear a man talking of his conscience, I know that +he is going to do something particularly foolish; whenever I hear of a +man talking of his duty, I know that he is going to do something +particularly cruel." + +Do I say this to frighten you away from being religious? God forbid. +Better to be religious and to fear and love God, though you were tempted +by all the devils out of the pit, than to be irreligious and a mere +animal, and be tempted only by your own carnal nature, as the animals +are. Better to be tempted, like the hermits of old, and even to fall and +rise again, singing, "Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy, when I fall I +shall arise;" than to live the life of the flesh, "like a beast with +lower pleasures, like a beast with lower pains." It is the price a man +must pay for hungering and thirsting after righteousness, for longing to +be a child of God in spirit and in truth. "The devil," says a wise man +of old, "does not tempt bad men, because he has got them already; he +tempts good men, because he has NOT got them, and wants to get them." + +But how shall we know these temptations? God knows, my friends, better +than I; and I trust that He will teach you to know, according to what +each of you needs to know. But as far as my small experience goes, the +root of them all is pride and self-conceit. Whatsoever thoughts or +feelings tempt us to pride and self-conceit are of the devil, not of God. +The devil is specially the spirit of pride; and, therefore, whatever +tempts you to fancy yourself something different from your fellow-men, +superior to your fellow men, safer than them, more favoured by God than +them, that is a temptation of the spirit of pride. Whatever tempts you +to think that you can do without God's help and God's providence; +whatever tempts you to do anything extraordinary, and show yourself off, +that you may make a figure in the world; and above all, whatever tempts +you to antinomianism, that is, to fancy that God will overlook sins in +you which He will not overlook in other men--all these are temptations +from the spirit of pride. They are temptations like our Lord's +temptations. These temptations came on our Lord more terribly than they +ever can on you and me, just because He was the Son of Man, the perfect +Man, and, therefore, had more real reason for being proud (if such a +thing could be) than any man, or than all men put together. But He +conquered the temptations because He was perfect Man, led by the Spirit +of God; and, therefore, He knew that the only way to be a perfect man was +not to be proud, however powerful, wise, and glorious He might be; but to +submit Himself humbly and utterly, as every man should do, to the will of +His Father in Heaven, from whom alone His greatness came. + +Now the spirit of pride cannot understand the beauty of humility, and the +spirit of self-will cannot understand the beauty of obedience; and, +therefore, it is reasonable to suppose the devil could not understand our +Lord. If He be the Son of God, so might Satan argue, He has all the more +reason to be proud; and, therefore, it is all the more easy to tempt Him +into shewing His pride, into proving Himself a conceited, self-willed, +rebellious being--in one word, an evil spirit. + +And therefore (as you will see at first sight) the first two temptations +were clearly meant to tempt our Lord to pride; for would they not tempt +you and me to pride? If we could feed ourselves by making bread of +stones, would not that make us proud enough? So proud, I fear, that we +should soon fancy that we could do without God and His providence, and +were masters of nature and all her secrets. If you and I could make the +whole city worship and obey us, by casting ourselves off this cathedral +unhurt, would not that make us proud enough? So proud, I fear, that we +should end in committing some great folly, or great crime in our conceit +and vainglory. + +Now, whether our Lord could or could not have done these wonderful deeds, +one thing is plain--that He would not do them; and, therefore, we may +presume that He ought not to have done them. It seems as if He did not +wish to be a wonderful man: but only a perfectly good man, and He would +do nothing to help Himself but what any other man could do. He answered +the evil spirit simply out of Scripture, as any other pious man might +have done. When He was bidden to make the stones into bread, He answers +not as the Eternal Son of God, but simply as a man. "It is written:"--it +is the belief of Moses and the old prophets of my people that man doth +not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the +mouth of God:--as much as to say, If I am to be delivered out of this +need, God will deliver me by some means or other, just as He delivers +other men out of their needs. When He was bidden cast Himself from the +temple, and so save Himself, probably from sorrow, poverty, persecution, +and the death on the cross, He answers out of Scripture as any other Jew +would have done. "It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy +God." He says nothing--this is most important--of His being the eternal +Son of God. He keeps that in the background. There the fact was; but He +veiled the glory of His godhead, that He might assert the rights of His +manhood, and shew that mere man, by the help of the Spirit of God, could +obey God, and keep His commandments. + +I say these last words with all diffidence and humility, and trusting +that the Lord will pardon any mistake which I may make about His Divine +Words. I only say them because wiser men than I have often taken the +same view already. Of course there is more, far more, in this wonderful +saying than we can understand, or ever will understand. But this I think +is plain--that our Lord determined to behave as any and every other man +ought to have done in His place; in order to shew all God's children the +example of perfect humility and perfect obedience to God. + +But again, the devil asked our Lord to fall down and worship him. Now +how could that be a temptation to pride? Surely that was asking our Lord +to do anything but a proud action, rather the most humiliating and most +base of all actions. My friends, it seems to me that if our Lord had +fallen down and worshipped the evil spirit, He would have given way to +the spirit of pride utterly and boundlessly; and I will tell you why. + +The devil wanted our Lord to do evil that good might come. It would have +been a blessing, that all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of man +should be our Lord's,--the very blessing for this poor earth which He +came to buy, and which He bought with His own precious blood. And here +the devil offered Him the very prize for which He came down on earth, +without struggle or difficulty, if He would but do, for one moment, one +wrong thing. What temptation that would be to our Lord as God, I dare +not say. But that to our Lord as Man, it must have been the most +terrible of all temptations, I can well believe: because history shews +us, and, alas! our own experience in modern times shews us, persons +yielding to that temptation perpetually; pious people, benevolent people, +people who long to spread the Bible, to convert sinners, to found +charities, to amend laws, to set the world right in some way or other, +and who fancy that therefore, in carrying out their fine projects, they +have a right to do evil that good may come. + +This is a very painful subject; all the more painful just now, because I +sometimes think it is the special sin of this country and this +generation, and that God will bring on us some heavy punishment for it. +But all who know the world in its various phases, and especially what are +called the religious world, and the philanthropic world, and the +political world, know too well that men, not otherwise bad men, will do +things and say things, to carry out some favourite project or movement, +or to support some party, religious or other, which they would (I hope) +be ashamed to say and do for their own private gain. Now what is this, +but worshipping the evil spirit, in order to get power over this world, +that they may (as they fancy) amend it? And what is this but self- +conceit--ruinous, I had almost said, blasphemous? These people think +themselves so certainly in the right, and their plans so absolutely +necessary to the good of the world, that God has given them a special +licence to do what they like in carrying them out; that He will excuse in +them falsehoods and meannesses, even tyranny and violences which He will +excuse in no one else. + +Now, is not this self-conceit? What would you think of a servant who +disobeyed you, cheated you, and yet said to himself--No matter, my master +dare not turn me off: I am so useful that he cannot do without me. Even +so in all ages, and now as much as, or more than ever, have men said, We +are so necessary to God and God's cause, that He cannot do without us; +and therefore though He hates sin in everyone else, He will excuse sin in +us, as long as we are about His business. + +Therefore, my dear friends, whenever we are tempted to do or say anything +rash, or vain, or mean, because we are the children of God; whenever we +are inclined to be puffed up with spiritual pride, and to fancy that we +may take liberties which other men must not take, because we are the +children of God; let us remember the words of the text, and answer the +tempter, when he says, If thou be the Son of God, do this and that, as +our Lord answered him--"If I be the Child of God, what then? This--that +I must behave as if God were my Father. I must trust my God utterly, and +I must obey Him utterly. I must do no rash or vain thing to tempt God, +even though it looks as if I should have a great success, and do much +good thereby. I must do no mean or base thing, nor give way for a moment +to the wicked ways of this wicked world, even though again it looks as if +I should have a great success, and do much good thereby. In one word, I +must worship my Father in heaven, and Him only must I serve. If He wants +me, He will use me. If He does not want me, He will use some one else. +Who am I, that God cannot govern the world without my help? My business +is to refrain my soul, and keep it low, even as a weaned child, and not +to meddle with matters too high for me. My business is to do the little, +simple, everyday duties which lie nearest me, and be faithful in a few +things; and then, if Christ will, He may make me some day ruler over many +things, and I shall enter into the joy of my Lord, which is the joy of +doing good to my fellow men. But I shall never enter into that by +thrusting myself into Christ's way, with grand schemes and hasty +projects, as if I knew better than He how to make His kingdom come. If I +do, my pride will have a fall. Because I would not be faithful over a +few things, I shall be tempted to be unfaithful over many things; and +instead of entering into the joy of my Lord, I shall be in danger of the +awful judgment pronounced on those who do evil that good may come, who +shall say in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? +and in thy name cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful +works? And then will He protest unto them--I never knew you. Depart +from me, ye that work iniquity." + +Oh, my friends, in all your projects for good, as in all other matters +which come before you in your mortal life, keep innocence and take heed +to the thing that is right. For that, and that alone, shall bring a man +peace at the last. + +To which, may God in His mercy bring us all. Amen. + + + +SERMON VIII. MOTHER'S LOVE + + + +Eversley, Second Sunday in Lent, 1872. + +St Matthew xv. 22-28. "And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the +same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou +son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But he +answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, +saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and +said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then +came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and +said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to +dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which +fall from their master's table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O +woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her +daughter was made whole from that very hour." + +If you want a proof from Scripture that there are two sides to our +blessed Lord's character--that He is a Judge and an Avenger as well as a +Saviour and a Pardoner--that He is infinitely severe as well as +infinitely merciful--that, while we may come boldly to His throne of +grace to find help and mercy in time of need, we must, at the same time, +tremble before His throne of justice--if you want a proof of all this, I +say, then look at the Epistle and the Gospel for this day. Put them side +by side, and compare them, and you will see how perfectly they shew, one +after the other, the two sides. + +The Epistle for the day tells men and women that they must lead moral, +pure, and modest lives. It does not advise them to do so. It does not +say, It will be better to do so, more proper and conducive to the good of +society, more likely to bring you to heaven at last. It says, You must, +for it is the commandment of the Lord Jesus, and the will of God. Let no +man encroach on or defraud his brother in the matter, says St Paul; by +which he means, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife. And why? +"Because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have +forewarned you and testified." + +My friends, people talk loosely of the Thunder of Sinai and the rigour of +Moses' law, and set them against what they call the gentle voice of the +Gospel, and the mild religion of Christ. Why, here are the Thunders of +Sinai uttered as loud as ever, from the very foot of the Cross of Christ; +and the terrible, "Thou shalt not," of Moses' law, with the curse of God +for a penalty on the sinner, uttered by the Apostle of Faith, and +Freedom, in the name of Christ and of God. St Paul is not afraid to call +Christ an Avenger. How could he be? He believed that it was Christ who +spoke to Moses on Sinai--the very same Christ who prayed for His +murderers, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." And +he knew that Christ was the eternal Son of God, the same yesterday, to- +day, and for ever; that He had not changed since Moses' time, and could +never change; that what He forbade in Moses' time, hated in Moses' time, +and avenged in Moses' time, He would forbid, and hate, and avenge for +ever. And that, therefore, he who despises the warnings of the Law +despises not man merely, but God, who has also given to us His Holy +Spirit to know what is unchangeable, the everlastingly right, from what +is everlastingly wrong. So much for that side of our Lord's character; +so much for sinners who, after their hardness and impenitent hearts, +treasure up for themselves wrath against the day of wrath and revelation +of the righteous judgment of God, in the day when God shall judge the +secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to St Paul's Gospel. + +But, when we turn to the Gospel for the day, we see the other side of our +Lord's character, boundless condescension and boundless charity. We see +Him there still a Judge, as He always is and always will be, judging the +secrets of a poor woman's heart, and that woman a heathen. He judges her +openly, in public, before His disciples. But He is a Judge who judges +righteous judgment, and not according to appearances; who is no respecter +of persons; who is perfectly fair, even though the woman be a heathen: +and, instead of condemning her and driving her away, He acquits her, He +grants her prayer, He heals her daughter, even though that daughter was +also a heathen, and one who knew Him not. I say our Lord judged the +woman after He had tried her, as gold is tried in the fire. Why He did +so, we cannot tell. Perhaps He wanted, by the trial, to make her a +better woman, to bring out something noble which lay in her heart unknown +to her, though not to Him who knew what was in man. Perhaps He wished to +shew his disciples, who looked down on her as a heathen dog, that a +heathen, too, could have faith, humility, nobleness, and grace of heart. +Be that as it may, when the poor woman came crying to Him, He answered +her not a word. His disciples besought Him to send her away--and I am +inclined to think that they wished Him to grant her what she asked, +simply to be rid of her. "Send her away," they said, "for she crieth +after us." Our Lord, we learn from St Mark, did not wish to be known in +that place just then. The poor woman, with her crying, was drawing +attention to them, and, perhaps, gathering a crowd. Somewhat noisy and +troublesome, perhaps she was, in her motherly eagerness. But our Lord +was still seemingly stern. He would not listen, it seemed, to His +disciples any more than to the heathen woman. "I am not sent but unto +the lost sheep of the house of Israel." So our Lord said, and (what is +worth remembering) if He said so, what He said was true. He was the King +of the people of Israel, the Royal Prince of David's line; and, as a man, +His duty was only to His own people. And this woman was a Greek, a Syro- +phenician by nation--of a mixed race of people, notoriously low and +profligate, and old enemies of the Jews. + +Then, it seems, He went into a house, and would have no man know it. +But, says St Mark, "He could not be hid." The mother's wit found our +Lord out, and the mother's heart urged her on, and, in spite of all His +rebuffs, she seems to have got into the house and worshipped Him. She +"fell at His feet," says St Mark--doubtless bowing her forehead to the +ground, in the fashion of those lands--an honour which was paid, I +believe, only to persons who were royal or divine. So she confessed that +He was a king--perhaps a God come down on earth--and again she cried to +Him. "Lord, help me." And what was our Lord's answer--seemingly more +stern than ever? "Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet +to take the children's bread and cast it unto the dogs." Hard words. +Yes: but all depends on how they were spoken. All depends on our Lord's +look as He spoke them, and, even more, on the tone of His voice. We all +know that two men may use the very same words to us;--and the one shall +speak sneeringly, brutally, and raise in us indignation or despair; +another shall use the same words, but solemnly, tenderly, and raise in us +confidence and hope. And so it may have been--so, I fancy, it must have +been--with the tone of our Lord's voice, with the expression of His face. +Did He speak with a frown, or with something like a smile? There must +have been some tenderness, meaningness, pity in His voice which the quick +woman's wit caught instantly, and the quick mother's heart interpreted as +a sign of hope. + +Let Him call her a dog if He would. What matter to a mother to be called +a dog, if she could thereby save her child from a devil? Perhaps she was +little better than a dog. They were a bad people these Syrians, quick- +witted, highly civilised, but vicious, and teaching vice to other +nations, till some of the wisest Romans cursed the day when the Syrians +first spread into Rome, and debauched the sturdy Romans with their new- +fangled, foreign sins. They were a bad people, and, perhaps, she had +been as bad as the rest. But if she were a dog, at least she felt that +the dog had found its Master, and must fawn on Him, if it were but for +the hope of getting something from Him. + +And so, in the poor heathen mother's heart, there rose up a whole heaven +of perfect humility, faith, adoration. If she were base and mean, yet +our Lord was great, and wise, and good; and that was all the more reason +why He should be magnanimous, generous, condescending, like a true King, +to the basest and meanest of His subjects. She asked not for money, or +honour, or this world's fine things: but simply for her child's health, +her child's deliverance from some mysterious and degrading illness. +Surely there was no harm in asking for that. It was simply a mother's +prayer, a simply human prayer, which our Lord must grant, if He were +indeed a man of woman born, if He had a mother, and could feel for a +mother, if He had human tenderness, human pity in Him. And so, with her +quick Syrian wit, she answers our Lord with those wonderful words-- +perhaps the most pathetic words in the whole Bible--so full of humility, +of reverence, and yet with a certain archness, almost playfulness, in +them, as it were, turning our Lord's words against Him; and, by that very +thing, shewing how utterly she trusted Him,--"Truth, Lord: yet the dogs +eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." + +Those were the beautiful words--more beautiful to me than whole volumes +of poetry--which our Lord had as it were crushed out of the woman's +heart. Doubtless, He knew all the while that they were in her heart, +though not as yet shaped into words. Doubtless, He was trying her, to +shew His disciples--and all Christians who should ever read the Bible-- +what was in her heart, what she was capable of saying when it came to the +point. So He tried her, and judged her, and acquitted her. Out of the +abundance of her heart her mouth had spoken. By her words she was +justified. By those few words she proved her utter faith in our Lord's +power and goodness--perhaps her faith in His godhead. By those words she +proved the gentleness and humility, the graciousness and gracefulness of +her own character. By those words she proved, too,--and oh, you that are +mothers, is that nothing?--the perfect disinterestedness of her mother's +love. And so she conquered--as the blessed Lord loves to be conquered-- +as all noble souls who are like their blessed Lord, love to be conquered- +-by the prayer of faith, of humility, of confidence, of earnestness, and +she had her reward. "O woman," said He, the Maker of all heaven and +earth, "great is thy faith. For this saying go thy way. Be it unto thee +even as thou wilt. The devil is gone out of thy daughter." She went, +full of faith; and when she was come to her house, she found the devil +gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed. + +One word more, and I have done. I do not think that any one who really +took in the full meaning of this beautiful story, would ever care to pray +to Saints, or to the Blessed Virgin, for help; fancying that they, and +specially the Blessed Virgin, being a woman, are more humane than our +Lord, and can feel more quickly, if not more keenly, for poor creatures +in distress. We are not here to judge these people, or any people. To +their own master they stand or fall. But for the honour of our Lord, we +may say, Does not this story shew that the Lord is humane enough, tender +enough, to satisfy all mankind? Does not this story shew that even if He +seem silent at first, and does not grant our prayers, yet still He may be +keeping us waiting, as He kept this heathen woman, only that He may be +gracious to us at last? Does not this story shew us especially that our +Lord can feel for mothers and with mothers; that He actually allowed +Himself to be won over--if I may use such a word in all reverence--by the +wit and grace of a mother pleading for her child? Was it not so? "O +woman, great is thy faith. For this saying go thy way. Be it unto thee +even as thou wilt." Ah! are not those gracious words a comfort to every +mother, bidding her, in the Lord's own name, to come boldly where +mothers--of all human beings--have oftenest need to come, to the throne +of Christ's grace, to find mercy, and grace to help in time of need? + +Yes, my friends, such is our Lord, and such is our God. Infinite in +severity to the scornful, the proud, the disobedient: infinite in +tenderness to the earnest, the humble, the obedient. Let us come to Him, +earnest, humble, obedient, and we shall find Him, indeed, a refuge of the +soul and body in spirit and in truth. + + +Thou, O Lord, art all I want. +All and more in thee I find. Amen. + + + +SERMON IX. GOOD FRIDAY + + + +Eversley, 1856. + +St. Luke xxiv. 5, 6. "Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not +here, but is risen." + +This is a very solemn day; for on this day the Lord Jesus Christ was +crucified. The question for us is, how ought we to keep it? that is, +what sort of thoughts ought to be in our minds upon this day? Now, many +most excellent and pious persons, and most pious books, seem to think +that we ought to-day to think as much as possible of the sufferings of +our Blessed Lord; and because we cannot, of course, understand or imagine +the sufferings of His Spirit, to think of what we can, that is, His +bodily sufferings. They, therefore, seem to wish to fill our minds with +the most painful pictures of agony, and shame, and death, and sorrow; and +not only with our Lord's sorrows, but with those of His Blessed Mother, +and of the disciples, and the holy women who stood by His cross; they +wish to stir us up to pity and horror, and to bring before us the saddest +parts of Holy Scripture, such as the Lamentations of Jeremiah; as well as +dwell at great length upon very painful details, which may be all quite +true, but of which Scripture says nothing; as so to make this day a day +of darkness, and sorrow, and horror, just such as it would have been to +us if we had stood by Christ's cross, like these holy women, without +expecting Him to rise again, and believing that all was over--that all +hope of Israel's being redeemed was gone, and that the wicked Jews had +really conquered that perfectly good, and admirable Saviour, and put Him +out of the world for ever. + +Now, I judge no man; to his own master he standeth or falleth; yea, and +he shall stand, for God is able to make him stand. But it does seem to +me that these good people are seeking the living among the dead, and +forgetting that Christ is neither on the cross nor in the tomb, but that +He is risen; and it seems to me better to bid you follow to-day the Bible +and the Church Service, and to think of what they tell you to think of. + +Now the Bible, it is most remarkable, never enlarges anywhere upon even +the bodily sufferings of our dear and blessed Lord. The evangelists keep +a silence on that point which is most lofty, dignified, and delicate. +What sad and dreadful things might not St. John, the beloved apostle as +he was, have said, if he had chosen, about what he saw and what he felt, +as he stood by that cross on Calvary--words which would have stirred to +pity the most cruel, and drawn tears from a heart of stone? And yet all +he says is, "They crucified Him, and two other with him, on either side +one, and Jesus in the midst." He passes it over, as it were, as a thing +which he ought not to dwell on; and why should we put words into St. +John's mouth which he did not think fit to put into his own? He wrote by +the Spirit of God; and therefore he knew best what to say, and what not +to say. Why should we try and say anything more for him? Scripture is +perfect. Let us be content with it. The apostles, too, in their +Epistles, never dwell on Christ's sufferings. I entreat you to remark +this. They never mention His death except in words of cheerfulness and +triumph. They seem so full of the glorious fruits of His death, that +they have, as it were, no time to speak of the death itself. "Who, for +the joy which was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, +and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." That is the +apostles' key-note. For God's sake let it be ours too, unless we fancy +that we can improve on Scripture, or that we can feel more for our Lord +than St. Paul did. In the Lessons, the Psalms, the Epistle, and Gospel +for this day, you find just the same spirit. All except one Psalm are +songs of hope, joy, deliverance, triumph. The Collects for this day, +which are particularly remarkable, being three in number, and evidently +meant to teach us the key-note of Good Friday, make no mention of our +Lord's sufferings, save to say that He was CONTENTED, "contented to be +betrayed, and given up into the hands of wicked men, and to suffer death +upon the cross," but are full of prayers that the glorious fruits of His +death may be fulfilled, not only in us and all Christians, but in the +very heathen who have not known Him; drawing us away, as it were, from +looking too closely upon the cross itself, lest we should forget what the +cross meant, what the cross conquered, what the cross gained, for us and +mankind. + +Surely, this was not done without a reason. And I cannot but think the +reason was to keep us from seeking the living among the dead; to keep us +from knowing Christ any longer after the flesh, and spending tears and +emotions over His bodily sufferings; to keep us from thinking and +sorrowing too much over the dead Christ, lest we should forget, as some +do, that He is alive for evermore; and while they weep over the dead +Christ or the crucifix, go to the blessed Virgin and the saints to do for +them all that the living Christ is longing to do for them, if they would +but go straight to Him to whom all power is given in heaven and earth; +whom St John saw, no longer hanging on the accursed tree, but with His +hair as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire, and His voice +like the sound of many waters, and His countenance as the sun when he +shineth in his strength, saying unto him, "Fear not, I am the first and +the last; I am He that liveth and was dead, and behold I am alive for +evermore." This is what Christ is now. In this shape He is looking at +us now. In this shape He is hearing me speak. In this shape He is +watching every feeling of your hearts, discerning your most secret +intents, seeing through and through the thoughts which you would confess +to no human being, hardly even to yourselves. This is He, a living +Christ, an almighty Christ, an all-seeing Christ, and yet a most patient +and loving Christ. He needs not our pity; but our gratitude, our +obedience, our worship. Why seek Him among the dead? He is not there, +He is risen! He is not there, He is here! Bow yourselves before Him +now; for He is in the midst of you; and those eyes of His, more piercing +than the mid-day sunbeams, are upon you, and your hearts, and your +thoughts, and upon mine also. God have mercy upon me a sinner. + +Yes, my friends, why seek the living among the dead? He is not there, +but here. We may try to put ourselves in the place of the disciples and +the Virgin Mary, as they stood by Jesus' cross; but we cannot do it, for +they saw Him on the cross, and thought that He was lost to them for ever; +they saw Him die, and gave up all hope of His rising again. And we know +that Christ is not lost to us for ever. We know Christ is not on the +cross, but at the right hand of God in bliss and glory unspeakable. We +may be told to watch with the three Maries at the tomb of Christ: but we +cannot do as they did, for they thought that all was over, and brought +sweet spices to embalm His body, which they thought was in the tomb; and +we know that all was not over, that His body is not in the tomb, that the +grave could not hold Him, that His body is ascended into heaven; that +instead of His body needing spices to embalm it, it is His body which +embalms all heaven and earth, and is the very life of the world, and food +which preserves our souls and bodies to everlasting life. We are not in +the place of those blessed women; God has not put us in their place, and +we cannot put ourselves into their place; and if we could and did, by any +imaginations of our own, we should only tell ourselves a lie. Good +Friday was to them indeed a day of darkness, horror, disappointment, all +but despair; because Easter Day had not yet come, and Christ had not yet +risen. But Good Friday cannot be a day of darkness to us, because Christ +has risen, and we know it, and cannot forget it; we cannot forget that +Easter dawn, when the Sun of Righteousness arose, never to set again. +Has not the light of that Resurrection morning filled with glory the +cross and the grave, yea the very agony in the Garden, and hell itself, +which Christ harrowed for us? Has it not risen a light to lighten the +Gentiles, a joy to angels and archangels, and saints, and all the elect +of God; ay, to the whole universe of God, so that the very stars in their +courses, the trees as they bud each spring, yea, the very birds upon the +bough, are singing for ever, in the ears of those who have ears to hear, +"Christ is risen?" And shall we, under pretence of honouring Christ and +of bestowing on Him a pity which He needs least of all, try to spend Good +Friday and Passion Week in forgetting Easter Day; try to think of +Christ's death as we should if He had not risen, and try to make out +ourselves and the world infinitely worse off than we really know that we +are? Christ has died, but He has risen again; and we must not think of +one without the other. Heavenly things are too important, too true, too +real--Christ is too near us, and too loving to us, too earnest about our +salvation, for us to spend our thoughts on any such attempts (however +reverently meant) at imaginative play-acting in our own minds about His +hanging on His cross, while we know that He is not on His cross; and +about watching by His tomb, when we know that He is not in His tomb. Let +us thank Him, bless Him, serve Him, die for Him, if need be, in return +for all He endured for us: but let us keep our sorrow and our pity, and +our tears, for our own daily sins--we have enough of them to employ all +our sorrow, and more;--and not in voluntary humility and will-worship, +against which St Paul warns us, lose sight of our real Christ, of Him who +was dead and is alive for evermore, and dwells in us by faith; now and +for ever, amen; and hath the keys of death and hell, and has opened them +for us, and for our fathers before us, and for our children after us, and +for nations yet unborn. + +True, this is a solemn day, for on it the Son of God fought such a fight, +that He could only win it at the price of His own life's blood; and a +humiliating day, for our sins helped to nail Him on the cross--and +therefore a day of humiliation and of humility. Proud, self-willed +thoughts are surely out of place to-day (and what day are they in place?) +On this day God agonised for man: but it is a day of triumph and +deliverance; and we must go home as men who have stood by and seen a +fearful fight--a fight which makes the blood of him who watches it run +cold; but we have seen, too, a glorious victory--such a victory as never +was won on earth before or since; and we therefore must think cheerfully +of the battle, for the sake of the victory that was won; and remember +that on this day death was indeed swallowed up in victory--because death +was the victory itself. + +The question on which the fate of the whole world depended was, whether +Christ dare die; and He dared die. Whether Christ would endure to the +end; and He did endure. Whether He would utterly drink the cup which His +Father had given Him; and He drank it to the dregs; and so by His very +agony He showed Himself noble, beautiful, glorious, adorable, beyond all +that words can express. And so the cross was His throne of glory; the +prints of the nails in His hands and feet were the very tokens of His +triumph; His very sorrows were His bliss; and those last words, "It is +finished," were no cry of despair, but a trumpet-call of triumph, which +rang from the highest heaven to the lowest hell, proclaiming to all +created things, that the very fountain of life, by dying, had conquered +death, that good had conquered evil, love had conquered selfishness, God +had conquered man, and all the enemies of man; and that He who died was +the first begotten from the dead, and the King of all the princes of the +earth, who was going to fulfil, more and more, as the years and the ages +rolled on, the glorious prayer which we have prayed this day, graciously +to behold that family for whom He had been contented to die; and wisely +and orderly to call each man to a vocation and a ministry, in which he +might duly serve God and be a blessing to all around him, by the +inspiration of Christ's Holy Spirit; and to have mercy, in His own good +time, upon all Jews, Turks, heathens, and infidels, and bring them home +to His flock, that they may be saved, and made one fold under one +Shepherd--Him who was dead and is alive for evermore. + +Therefore, my dear friends, if we wish to keep Good Friday in spirit and +in truth, we cannot do so better than by trying to carry out the very end +for which Christ died on this day; and doing our part, small though it +be, toward bringing those poor heathens home into Christ's fold, and +teaching them the gospel and good news that for them, too, Christ died, +and over them, too, Christ reigns alive for evermore; and bringing them +home into His flock, that they, too, may find a place in His great +family, and have their calling and ministry appointed to them among the +nations of those who are saved and walk in the light of God and of the +Lamb. + +I have refrained till now from speaking to you much about missionaries, +and the duty which lies on us all of helping missions. It seemed to me +that I must first teach you to understand these first and second collects +before I went on. to the third; that I must first teach you that you +belonged to Christ's family, and that He had called each of you, and +appointed each of you to some order and degree in His Holy Church. But +now, if indeed you have learnt that--if my preaching here for fourteen +years has had any effect to teach you who and what you are, and what your +duty is, let me entreat you to go on, and take the lesson of that third +collect, and think of those poor Jews, Turks, infidels, and heretics, who +still--many a million of them--sit, or rather wander, and fall, and lie, +miserably wallowing in darkness and the shadow of death, and think +whether you cannot do something toward helping them. What you can do, +and how it is to be done, I will tell you hereafter; and, by God's grace, +I hope to see men of God in this pulpit, who having been missionaries +themselves, can tell you better than I, what remains to be done, and how +you can help to do it. But take home this one thought with you, this +Good Friday,--Christ, who liveth and was dead, and behold He is alive for +evermore, if He be indeed precious to you, if you indeed feel for His +sufferings, if you indeed believe that what He bought by those sufferings +was a right to all the souls on earth, then do what you can toward +repaying Him for His sufferings, by seeing of the travail of His soul, +and being satisfied. All the reward He asks, or ever asked, is the +hearts of sinners, that He may convert them; the souls of sinners, that +He may save them; and they belong to Him already, for He bought them this +day with His own most precious blood. Do something, then, toward helping +Christ to His own. + + + +SERMON X. THE IMAGE OF THE EARTHLY AND THE HEAVENLY + + + +Eversley, Easter Day, 1871. + +1 Cor. xv. 49. "As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also +bear the image of the heavenly." + +This season of Easter is the most joyful of all the year. It is the most +comfortable time, in the true old sense of that word; for it is the +season which ought to comfort us most--that is, it gives us strength; +strength to live like men, and strength to die like men, when our time +comes. Strength to live like men. Strength to fight against the +temptation which Solomon felt when he said: "I have seen all the works +which are done under the sun, and behold all is vanity and vexation of +spirit. For what has a man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his +heart, wherein he has laboured under the sun? For all his days are +sorrow, and his travail grief. Yea, his heart taketh not rest in the +night. This also is vanity. For that which befalleth the sons of men +befalleth beasts: as the one dieth, so dieth the other: yea, they have +all one breath: so that a man has no pre-eminence over a beast; for all +is vanity. All go to one place: all are of the dust, and all turn to +dust again. Who knoweth the spirit of man that it goeth upward, and the +spirit of the beast that it goeth downward to the earth?" So thought +Solomon in his temptation, and made up his mind that there was nothing +better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and make his soul +enjoy good in his labour. + +So thought Solomon, in spite of all his wisdom, because he had not heard +the good news of Easter day. And so think many now, who are called wise +men and philosophers; because they, alas! for them, will not believe the +good news of Easter day. + +But what says Easter day? Easter day says, Man has pre-eminence over a +beast. The man is redeemed from the death of the beasts by Christ, who +rose on Easter day. Easter day says, Wherever the spirit of the beast +goes, wherever the spirit of the brutal and the wicked man goes, the +spirit of the true Christian goes upward, to Christ, who bought it with +His precious blood. Easter day says, The body may turn to the dust from +which it was taken, but the spirit lives for ever before God, who shall +give it another body, as it shall please Him, as He gives to every seed +its own body. And, therefore, Easter day says, There is something better +for a man than to eat and drink and enjoy himself, for to-morrow he may +die, and all be over; and that something is, to labour not merely for the +meat which perishes with the perishing body, but to labour after the +fruits of the spirit--love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, +goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. These the life of the body does +not give us; and these the death of the body not take away from us; for +they are spiritual and heavenly, eternal and divine; and he who has them +cannot die for ever. And therefore, we may comfort ourselves in all our +labour, if only we labour at the one useful work on earth, to be good, +and to do good, and to make others good likewise. + +True it is, as St. Paul says, that if in this life only we have hope in +Christ we are of all men most miserable. For we do not care to be of the +earth, earthy: we long to be of the heaven, heavenly. We do not care to +spend our time in eating and drinking, mean covetousness, ambition, and +the base pleasures of the flesh: we long after high and noble things, +which we cannot get on earth, or at best only in fragments, and at rare +moments; after the holiness and the blessedness of ourselves and our +fellow-creatures. But we have hope in Christ for the next life as well +as for this. Hope that in the next life He will give us power to +succeed, where we failed here; that He will enable us to be good and to +do good, and, if not to make others good (for there, we trust, all will +be good together), to enjoy the fulness of that pleasure for which we +have been longing on earth--the pleasure of seeing others good, as Christ +is good and perfect, as their Father in heaven is perfect. + +To be good ourselves, and to live for ever in good company--ah my +friends, that is true bliss. If we cannot reach that after death, it +were better for us that death should make an end of us, and that when our +body decays in the grave we should be annihilated, and become nothing for +ever. + +But Easter day says to us, If you labour to create good company in this +life, by trying to make other people round you good, you shall enjoy for +ever in the next world the good company which you have helped to make. +If you labour to make yourself good in this life, you shall enjoy the +fruit of your labour in the next life by being good, and, therefore, +blessed for ever. Easter day says, Your labour is not vanity and +vexation of spirit. It is solid work, which shall receive solid pay from +God hereafter. Easter day is a pledge--I may say a sacrament--from God +to us, that He will righteously reward all righteous work; and that, +therefore, it is worth any man's while to labour, to suffer, if need be +even to die, in trying to be good, noble, useful, self-sacrificing, as +Christ toiled and suffered and died and sacrificed Himself to do good. +For then he will share Christ's reward, as he has shared Christ's labour, +and be rewarded, as Christ was, by resurrection to eternal life. + +And so Easter day should give us strength to live like men--the only +truly manly, truly human life; the life of being good and doing good. + +And strength to die. Men are afraid of dying, principally, I believe, +because they fear the unknown. It is not that they are afraid of the +pain of dying. It is not that they are afraid of going to hell; for in +all my experience, at least, I have met with but one person who thought +that he was going to hell. Neither is it that they are afraid of not +going to heaven. Their expectation almost always is, that they are going +thither. But they do not care much to go to heaven. They are willing +enough to go there, because they know that they must go somewhere. But +their notions of what heaven will be like are by no means clear. They +have sung rapturous hymns in church or chapel about the heavenly +Jerusalem, and passing Jordan safe to Canaan's shore, with no very clear +notion of what the words meant--and small blame to them. + +But when they think of actually dying, they feel as if to go into the +next world was to be turned out into the dark night, into an unknown +land, away from house and home, and all they have known, and all they +have loved; and they are ready to say with the good old heathen emperor, +when he lay a-dying-- + + +"Little soul of mine, wandering, kindly, +Companion and guest of my body; +Into what place art thou now departing, +Shivering, naked, and pale?" + + +And so they shrink from death. They must shrink from death, unless they +will believe with their whole hearts the good news of Easter day. The +more thoughtful and clever they are, the more they will shrink from +death, and dread the thought of losing their bodies. They have always +had bodies here on earth. They only know themselves as souls embodied, +living in bodies; and they cannot think of themselves in the next world +with any comfort, if they may not think of themselves as having bodies. + +And the more loving and affectionate they are, the more they will shrink +from death, unless they believe with their whole hearts the good news of +Easter day. For those whom they have loved on earth have bodies. +Through their bodies--through their voices, their looks, their actions, +they have known them, and thus they have loved them; and if their beloved +ones are to have no bodies in the world to come, how shall they see them? +how shall they know them? how shall they converse with them? It seems to +them in that case neither they, nor those they love, would be the same +persons in the world to come they are here; and that thought is lonely +and dreadful, till they accept the good news of Easter day, the thrice +blessed words of St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Corinthians, which they +hear at the burial of those whom they love and lose. Oh, blessed news +for us, and for those we love; those without whose company the world to +come would be lonely and cheerless to us. For now we can say, Tell me +not that as the beast dies, so dies the man. Tell me not that as Adam +died because of sin, so must I die, and all I love. Tell me not that it +is the universal law of nature that all things born in time must die in +time; and that every human being, animal, and plant carries in itself +from its beginning to its end a law of death, the seed of its own +destruction. I know all that; but I care little for it, because I know +more than that. I know that the man's body dies as the beast's body +dies; but I know that the body is not the man, but only the husk, the +shell of the man; that the true man, the true woman, lives on after the +loss of his mortal body; and that there is an eternal law of life, which +conquers the law of death; and by that law a fresh body will grow up +round the true man, the immortal spirit, and will be as fit--ay, far +fitter--to do his work, than this poor mortal body which has turned to +death on earth. Tell me not that because I am descended from a mortal +and sinful old Adam, of whom it is written that he was of the earth, +earthly, therefore my soul is a part of my body, and dies when my body +dies. I belong not to the old Adam, but to the new Adam--the new Head of +men, who is the Lord from heaven, the author of eternal life to all who +obey Him. Do not tell me that I have nothing in me but the likeness of +the old Adam, for that seems to me and to St. Paul nothing but the +likeness of the fallen savage and the brute in human form. I know I have +more in me--infinitely more--than that. What may be in store for the +savage, the brutal, the wicked, is God's concern, not mine. But what is +in store for me I know--that as I have borne the image of the earthly, so +shall I bear the image of the heavenly, if only the Spirit of Christ, the +new Adam, be in me. For if Christ be in us, "the body is dead because of +sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness." And if the Spirit +of Him which raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in us, He that raised up +Christ from the dead shall also quicken our mortal bodies by His Spirit +that dwelleth in us. How He will do it I know not; neither do I care to +know. When He will do it I know not; but it will be when it ought to be; +and that is enough for me. That He can do it I know, for He is the Maker +of the universe, and to Him all power is given in heaven and earth; and +as for its being strange, wonderful, past understanding, that matters +little to me. That will be but one wonder more in a world where all is +wonderful--one more mystery in an utterly mysterious universe. + +And so, as Easter day has given us strength to live, let Easter day, too, +give us strength to die. + + + +SERMON XI. EASTER DAY + + + +Chester Cathedral. 1870. + +St John xii. 24, 25. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of +wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it +bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he +that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal." + +This is our Lord's own parable. In it He tells us that His death, His +resurrection, His ascension, is a mystery which we may believe, not only +because the Bible tells us of it, but because it is reasonable, and +according to the laws of His universe; a fulfilment, rather say the +highest fulfilment, of one of those laws which runs through the world of +nature, and through the spiritual and heavenly world likewise. "Except a +corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone;"--barren, +useless, and truly dead to the rest of the world around it, because it is +shut up in itself, and its hidden life, with all its wondrous powers of +growth and fertility, remains undeveloped, and will remain so, till it +decays away, a worthless thing, into worthless dust. But if it be buried +in the earth a while, then the rich life which lay hid in it is called +out by that seeming death, and it sprouts, tillers, and flowers, and +ripens its grain--forty-fold, sixty-fold, an hundred-fold; and so it +shows God's mind and will concerning it. It shows what is really in it, +and develops the full capabilities of its being. Even so, says our Lord, +would His death, His resurrection, His ascension be. + +He speaks of His own resurrection and ascension; yes, but He speaks first +of His own death. Before the corn can bring forth fruit, and show what +is in it, fulfilling the law of its being, it must fall into the ground +and die. Before our Lord could fulfil the prophecy, "Thou wilt not leave +my soul in hell, neither wilt Thou suffer Thy Holy One to see +corruption," He must fulfil the darker prophecy of that awful 88th Psalm, +the only one of all the psalms which ends in sorrow, in all but despair, +"My soul is full of trouble, and my life draweth nigh unto hell. I am +counted as one of them that go down into the pit: and I have been even +as a man that hath no strength. Free among the dead, like unto them that +are wounded and lie in the grave, who are out of remembrance, and are cut +away from thy hand." So it was to be. So, we may believe, it needed to +be. Christ must suffer before He entered into His glory. He must die, +before He could rise. He must descend into hell, before He ascended into +heaven. For this is the law of God's kingdom. Without a Good Friday, +there can be no Easter Day. Without self-sacrifice, there can be no +blessedness, neither in earth nor in heaven. He that loveth his life +will lose it. He that hateth his life in this paltry, selfish, +luxurious, hypocritical world, shall keep it to life eternal. Our Lord +Jesus Christ fulfilled that law; because it is the law, the law not of +Moses, but of the kingdom of heaven, and must be fulfilled by him who +would fulfil all righteousness, and be perfect, even as his Father in +heaven is perfect. + +Bear this in mind, I pray you, and whenever you think of our Lord's +resurrection and ascension, remember always that the background to His +triumph is--a tomb. Remember that it is the triumph over suffering; a +triumph of One who still bears the prints of the nails in His hands and +in His feet, and the wound of the spear in His side; like many a poor +soul who has followed Him triumphant at last, and yet scarred, and only +not maimed in the hard battle of life. Remember for ever the adorable +wounds of Christ. Remember for ever that St John saw in the midst of the +throne of God the likeness of a lamb, as it had been slain. For so alone +you will learn what our Lord's resurrection and ascension are to all who +have to suffer and to toil on earth. For if our Lord's triumph had had +no suffering before it,--if He had conquered as the Hindoos represent +their gods as conquering their enemies, without effort, without pain, +destroying them, with careless ease, by lightnings, hurled by a hundred +hands and aided by innumerable armies of spirits,--what would such a +triumph have been to us? What comfort, what example to us here +struggling, often sinning, in this piecemeal world? We want--and blessed +be God, we have--a Captain of our salvation, who has been made perfect by +sufferings. We want--and blessed be God, we have--an High Priest who can +be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, because He has been +tempted in all things like as we are, yet without sin. We want--and +blessed be God, we have--a King who was glorified by suffering, that, if +we are ever called on to sacrifice ourselves, we may hope, by suffering, +to share His glory. And when we have remembered this, and fixed it in +our minds, we may go on safely to think of His glory, and see that (as I +said at first) His resurrection and ascension satisfy our consciences,-- +satisfy that highest reason and moral sense within us, which is none +other than the voice of the Holy Spirit of God. + +For see. Our Lord proved Himself to be the perfectly righteous Being, by +His very passion. He proved it by being righteous utterly against His +own interest; by enduring shame, torment, death, for righteousness' sake. +But we feel that our Lord's history could not, must not, end there. Our +conscience, which is our highest reason, shrinks from that thought. If +our Lord had died and never risen, then would His history be full of +nothing but despair to all who long to copy Him and do right at all +costs. Our consciences demand that God should be just. We say with +Abraham, "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" Shall not He, +who suffered without hope of reward, have His reward nevertheless? Shall +not He who cried, "My God! my God! why hast Thou forsaken Me?" be +justified by having it proved to all the world that God had not forsaken +Him? But we surely cannot be more just than God. If we expect God to do +right, we shall surely "find that He has done right, and more right than +we could expect or dream. Therefore we may believe--I say that we must +believe, if we be truly reasonable beings--what the Bible tells us; that +Christ, who suffered more than all, was rewarded more than all; that +Christ, who humbled Himself more than all, was exalted more than all; and +that His resurrection and ascension, as St Paul tells us again and again, +was meant to show men this,--to show them that God the Father has been +infinitely just to the infinite merits of God the Son, Jesus Christ our +Lord,--to justify our Lord to all mankind by His triumph over death and +hell, and in justifying Him to justify His Father and our Father, his God +and our God. + +And what is true of Christ must be true of us, the members of Christ. He +is entered into His rest, and you desire to enter into it likewise. You +have a right to desire it, for it is written, "There remaineth a rest for +the people of God." Remember, then, that true rest can only be attained +as He attained it, through labour. You desire to be glorified with +Christ. Remember that true glory can only be attained in earth or heaven +through self-sacrifice. Whosoever will save his life shall lose it; +whosoever will lose his life shall save it. If that eternal moral law +held good enough for the sinless Christ, who, though He were a son, yet +learned obedience by the things which He suffered, how much more must it +hold good of you and me and all moral and rational beings,--yea, for the +very angels in heaven. They have not sinned. That we know; and we do +not know; and I presume cannot know, that they have ever suffered. But +this at least we know, that they have submitted. They have obeyed and +have given up their own wills to be the ministers of God's will. In them +is neither self-will nor selfishness; and therefore by faith, that is, by +trust and loyalty, they stand. And so, by consenting to lose their +individual life of selfishness, they have saved their eternal life in +God, the life of blessedness and holiness; just as all evil spirits have +lost their eternal life by trying to save their selfish life, and be +something in themselves and of themselves without respect to God. + +This is a great mystery; indeed, it is the mystery of the eternal, +divine, and blessed life, to which God of His mercy bring us all. And +therefore Good Friday, Easter Day, Ascension Day, are set as great lights +in the firmament of the spiritual year,--to remind us that we are not +animals, born to do what we like, and fulfil the sinful lusts of the +flesh, the ways whereof are death; but that we are moral and rational +beings, members of Christ, children of God, inheritors of the kingdom of +heaven; and that, therefore, I say it again, like Christ our Lord, we +must die in order to live, stoop in order to conquer. They remind us +that honour must grow out of humility; that freedom must grow out of +discipline; that sure conquest must be born of heavy struggles; righteous +joy out of righteous sorrow; pure laughter out of pure tears; true +strength out of the true knowledge of our own weakness; sound peace of +mind out of sound contrition; and that the heart which has a right to +cry, "The Lord is on my side, I will not fear what man doeth unto me," +must be born out of the heart which has cried, "God be merciful to me a +sinner!" They remind us that in all things, as says our Lord, there +cannot be joy, because a man is born into the world, unless there first +be sorrow, because the hour of birth is come; and that he who would be +planted into the likeness of Christ's resurrection, must, like the corn +of wheat, be first planted into the likeness of His death, and die to sin +and self, that he may live to righteousness and to God; and, like the +corn of wheat, become truly living, truly strong, truly rich, truly +useful, and develop the hidden capabilities of his being, fulfilling the +mind and will of God concerning him. Again, I say, this is a great +mystery. But again, I say, this is the law, not Moses' law, but the +Gospel law;--the law of liberty, by which a man becomes truly free, +because he has trampled under foot the passions of his own selfish flesh, +till his immortal spirit can ascend free into the light of God, and into +the love of God, and into the beneficence of God. My dear friends, +remember these words, for they are true. Remember that St Paul always +couples with the resurrection and ascension of our bodies in the next +life the resurrection and ascension of our souls in this life; for +without that, the resurrection of our bodies would be but a resurrection +to fresh sin, and therefore to fresh misery and ruin. Remember his great +words about that moral resurrection and ascension of our wills, our +hearts, our characters, our actions. "God," he says, "who is rich in +mercy, for His great love, wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead +in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace are ye saved;) +and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly +places in Christ Jesus." + +And what are those heavenly places? And what is our duty in them? Let +St Paul himself answer. "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those +things which are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God." + +And what are they? Let St Paul answer once more; who should know better +than he, save Christ alone? "Whatsoever things are true, honest, just, +pure, lovely, of good report. If there be any virtue, and if there be +any praise, think on these things." + +Yes, think of these things,--and, thinking of them, ask the Holy Spirit +of God to inspire you, and make a Whitsuntide in your hearts, even as He +has made, I trust, a Good Friday and an Eastertide and an Ascension Day; +that so, knowing these things, you may be blessed in doing them; that so- +-and so only--may be fulfilled in you and me or any rational being, those +blessed promises which were fulfilled in Christ our Lord. "They that sow +in tears shall reap in joy." "He that now goeth on his way weeping, and +beareth forth good seed, shall doubtless come again with joy, and bring +his sheaves with him." "Blessed is the man whose strength is in Thee, in +whose heart are Thy ways; who going through the vale of misery, use it +for a well, and the pools are filled with water. They will go from +strength to strength: and unto the God of gods appeareth every one of +them in Sion." To which may God in His great mercy bring us all. Amen. + + + +SERMON XII. PRESENCE IN ABSENCE + + + +Eversley, third Sunday after Easter. 1862. + +St John xvi. 16. "A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a +little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father." + +Divines differ, and, perhaps, have always differed, about the meaning of +these words. Some think that our Lord speaks in them of His death and +resurrection. Others that He speaks of His ascension and coming again in +glory. I cannot decide which is right. I dare not decide. It is a very +solemn thing--too solemn for me--to say of any words of our Lord's they +mean exactly this or that, and no more. For if wise men's words have (as +they often have) more meanings than one, and yet all true, then surely +the words of Jesus, the Son of God, who spake as never man spake--His +words, I say, may have many meanings; yea, meanings without end, meanings +which we shall never fully understand, perhaps even in heaven, and yet +all alike true. + +But I think it is certain that most of the early Christians understood +these words of our Lord's ascension and coming again in glory. They +believed that He was coming again in a very little while during their own +life-time, in a few months or years, to make an end of the world and to +judge the quick and the dead. And as they waited for His coming, one +generation after another, and yet He did not come, a sadness fell upon +them. Christ seemed to have left the world. The little while that He +had promised to be away seemed to have become a very long while. +Hundreds of years passed, and yet Christ did not come in glory. And, as +I said, a sadness fell on all the Church. Surely, they said, this is the +time of which Christ said we were to weep and lament till we saw Him +again--this is the time of which He said that the bridegroom should be +taken from us, and we should fast in those days. And they did fast, and +weep, and lament; and their religion became a very sad and melancholy +one--most sad in those who were most holy, and loved their Lord best, and +longed most for His coming in glory. + +What happened after that again I could tell you, but we have nothing to +do with it to-day. We will rather go back, and see what the Lord's +disciples thought He meant when He said,--"A little while, and ye shall +not see me; and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go +to the Father." One would think, surely, that they must have taken those +words to mean His death and resurrection. They heard Him speak them on +the very night that He was betrayed. They saw Him taken from them that +very night. In horror and agony they saw Him mocked and scourged, +crucified, dead, and buried, as they thought for ever, and the world +around rejoicing over His death. Surely they wept and lamented then. +Surely they thought that He had gone away and left them then. + +And the third day, beyond all hope or expectation, they beheld Him alive +again, unchanged, perfect, and glorious--as near them and as faithful to +them as ever. Surely that was seeing Him again after a little while. +Surely then their sorrow was turned to joy. Surely then a man, the man +of all men, was born into the world a second time, and in them was +fulfilled our Lord's most exquisite parable--most human and yet most +divine--of the mother remembering no more her anguish for joy that a man +is born into the world. + +I think, too, that we may see, by the disciples' conduct, that they took +these words of the text to speak of Christ's death and resurrection. For +when He ascended to heaven out of their sight, did they consider that was +seeing Him no more? Did they think that He had gone away and left them? +Did they, therefore, as would have been natural, weep and lament? On the +contrary, we are told expressly by St Luke that they "returned to +Jerusalem with great joy; and were continually in the temple," not +weeping and lamenting, but praising and blessing God. Plainly they did +not consider that Christ was parted from them when He ascended into +heaven. He had been training them during the forty days between Easter +Day and Ascension Day to think of Him as continually near them, whether +they saw Him or not. Suddenly He came and went again. Mysteriously He +appeared and disappeared. He showed them that though they saw not Him, +He saw them, heard their words, knew the thoughts and intents of their +hearts. He was always near them they felt; with them to the end of the +world, whether in sight or out of sight. And when they saw Him ascend +into heaven, it seemed to them no separation, no calamity, no change in +His relation to them. He was gone to heaven. Surely He had been in +heaven during those forty days, whenever they had not seen Him. He had +gone to the Father. Might He not have been with the Father during those +forty days, whenever they had not seen Him? Nay; was He not always in +heaven? Was not heaven very near them? Did not Christ bring heaven with +Him whithersoever He went? Was He not always with the Father, the Father +who fills all things, in whom all created things live, and move, and have +their being? How could they have thought otherwise about our Lord, when +almost His last words to them were not, Lo, I leave you alone, but, "Lo, +I am with you alway, even to the end of the world." + +My friends, these may seem deep words to some--doubtless they are, for +they are the words of the Bible--so deep that plain, unlearned people can +make no use of them, and draw no lesson from them. I do not think so. I +think it is of endless use and endless importance to you how you think +about Christ; and, therefore, how you think about these forty days +between our Lord's resurrection and ascension. You may think of our Lord +in two ways. You may think of Him as having gone very far away, millions +of millions of miles into the sky, and not to return till the last day,-- +and then, I do not say that you will weep and lament. There are not many +who have that notion about our Lord, and yet love Him enough to weep and +lament at the thought of His having gone away. But your religion, when +it wakes up in you, will be a melancholy and terrifying one. I say, when +it wakes up in you--for you will be tempted continually to let it go to +sleep. There will come over you the feeling--God forgive us, does it not +come over us all but too often?--Christ is far away. Does He see me? +Does He hear me? Will He find me out? Does it matter very much what I +say and do now, provided I make my peace with Him before I die? And so +will come over you not merely a carelessness about religious duties, +about prayer, reading, church-going, but worse still, a carelessness +about right and wrong. You will be in danger of caring little about +controlling your passions, about speaking the truth, about being just and +merciful to your fellow-men. And then, when your conscience wakes you up +at times, and cries, Prepare to meet thy God! you will be terrified and +anxious at the thought of judgment, and shrink from the thought of +Christ's seeing you. My friends, that is a fearful state, though a very +common one. What is it but a foretaste of that dreadful terror in which +those who would not see in Christ their Lord and Saviour will call on the +mountains to fall on them, and the hills to cover them, from Him that +sitteth on the throne, and from the anger of the Lamb? + +But, again: you may think of Christ as His truest servants, though they +might have been long in darkness, in all ages and countries have thought +of Him, sooner or later. And they thought of Him, as the disciples did; +as of One who was about their path and about their bed, and spying out +all their ways; as One who was in heaven, but who, for that very reason, +was bringing heaven down to earth continually in the gracious +inspirations of His Holy Spirit; as One who brought heaven down to them +as often as He visited their hearts and comforted them with sweet +assurance of His love, His faithfulness, His power--as God grant that He +may comfort those of you who need comfort. And that thought, that Christ +was always with them, even to the end of the world, sobered and steadied +them, and yet refreshed and comforted them. It sobered them. What else +could it do? Does it not sober us to see even a picture of Christ +crucified? How must it have sobered them to carry, as good St Ignatius +used to say of himself, Christ crucified in his heart. A man to whom +Christ, as it were, showed perpetually His most blessed wounds, and said, +Behold what I have endured--how dare he give way to his passion? How +dare he be covetous, ambitious, revengeful, false? And yet it cheered +and comforted them. How could it do otherwise, to know all day long that +He who was wounded for their iniquities, and by whose stripes they were +healed, was near them day and night, watching over them as a father over +his child, saying to them,--"Fear not, I am He that was dead, and am +alive for evermore, and I hold the keys of death and hell. Though thou +walkest through the fires, I will be with thee. I will never leave thee +nor forsake thee." Yes, my friends, if you wish your life--and therefore +your religion, which ought to be the very life of your life--to be at +once sober and cheerful, full of earnestness and full of hope, believe +our Lord's words which He spoke during these very forty days,--"Lo, I am +with you alway, even to the end of the world." Believe that heaven has +not taken Him away from you, but brought Him nearer to you; and that He +has ascended up on high, not that He, in whom alone is life, might empty +this earth of His presence, but that He might fill all things, not this +earth only, but all worlds, past, present, and to come. Believe that +wherever two or three are gathered together in Christ's name, there He is +in the midst of them; that the holy communion is the sign of His +perpetual presence; and that when you kneel to receive the bread and +wine, Christ is as near you--spiritually, indeed, and invisibly, but +really and truly--as near you as those who are kneeling by your side. + +And if it be so with Christ, then it is so with those who are Christ's, +with those whom we love. It is the Christ in them which we love; and +that Christ in them is their hope of glory; and that glory is the glory +of Christ. They are partakers of His death, therefore they are partakers +of His resurrection. Let us believe that blessed news in all its +fulness, and be at peace. A little while and we see them; and again a +little while and we do not see them. But why? Because they are gone to +the Father, to the source and fount of all life and power, all light and +love, that they may gain life from His life, power from His power, light +from His light, love from His love--and surely not for nought? + +Surely not for nought, my friends. For if they were like Christ on +earth, and did not use their powers for themselves alone, if they are to +be like Christ when they shall see Him as He is, then, more surely, will +they not use their powers for themselves, but, as Christ uses His, for +those they love. + +Surely, like Christ, they may come and go, even now, unseen. Like +Christ, they may breathe upon our restless hearts and say, Peace be unto +you--and not in vain. For what they did for us when they were on earth +they can more fully do now that they are in heaven. They may seem to +have left us, and we, like the disciples, may weep and lament. But the +day will come when the veil shall be taken from our eyes, and we shall +see them as they are, with Christ, and in Christ for ever; and remember +no more our anguish for joy that a man is born into the world, that +another human being has entered that one true, real, and eternal world, +wherein is neither disease, disorder, change, decay, nor death, for it is +none other than the Bosom of the Father. + + + +SERMON XIII. ASCENSION DAY + + + +Eversley. Chester Cathedral. 1872. + +St John viii. 58. "Before Abraham was, I am." + +Let us consider these words awhile. They are most fit for our thoughts +on this glorious day, on which the Lord Jesus ascended to His Father, and +to our Father, to His God, and to our God, that He might be glorified +with the glory which He had with the Father before the making of the +world. For it is clear that we shall better understand Ascension Day, +just as we shall better understand Christmas or Eastertide, the better we +understand Who it was who was born at Christmas, suffered and rose at +Eastertide, and, as on this day, ascended into heaven. Who, then, was He +whose ascent we celebrate? What was that glory which, as far as we can +judge of divine things, He resumed as on this day? + +Let us think a few minutes, with all humility, not rashly intruding +ourselves into the things we have not seen, or meddling with divine +matters which are too hard for us, but taking our Lord's words simply as +they stand, and where we do not understand them, believing them +nevertheless. + +Now it is clear that the book of Exodus and our Lord's words speak of the +same person. The Old Testament tells of a personage who appeared to +Moses in the wilderness, and who called Himself "the Lord God of Abraham, +Isaac and Jacob." But this personage also calls Himself "I AM." "I AM +THAT I AM:" "and He said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of +Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." + +In the New Testament we read of a personage who calls Himself the Son of +God, is continually called the Lord, and who tells His disciples to call +Him by that name without reproving them, though they and He knew well +what it meant--that it meant no less than this, that He, Jesus of +Nazareth, poor mortal man as He seemed, was still the Lord, the God of +Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I do not say that the disciples saw that at +first, clearly or fully, till after our Lord's resurrection. But there +was one moment shortly before His death, when they could have had no +doubt who He assumed Himself to be. For the unbelieving Jews had no +doubt, and considered Him a blasphemer; and these were His awful and +wonderful words,--I do not pretend to understand them--I take them simply +as I find them, and believe and adore. "Your father Abraham rejoiced to +see my day, and he saw it, and was glad. Then said the Jews unto Him, +Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast Thou seen Abraham?" One +cannot blame them for asking that question, for Abraham had been dead +then nearly two thousand years. But what is our Lord's solemn answer? +"Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am." + +"I Am." The same name by which our Lord God had revealed Himself to +Moses in the wilderness, some sixteen hundred years before. If these +words were true,--and the Lord prefaces them with Verily, verily, Amen, +Amen, which was as solemn an asseveration as any oath could be--then the +Lord Jesus Christ is none other than the God of Abraham, the God of +Moses, the God of the Jews, the God of the whole universe, past, present, +and to come. + +Let us think awhile over this wonder of all wonders. The more we think +over it, we shall find it not only the wonder of all wonders, but the +good news of all good news. + +The deepest and soundest philosophers will tell us that there must be an +"I Am." That is, as they would say, a self-existent Being; neither made +nor created, but who has made and created all things; who is without +parts and passions, and is incomprehensible, that is cannot be +comprehended, limited, made smaller or weaker, or acted on in any way by +any of the things that He has made. So that this self-existing Being +whom we call God, would be exactly what He is now, if the whole universe, +sun, moon, and stars, were destroyed this moment; and would be exactly +what He is now, if there had never been any universe at all, or any thing +or being except His own perfect and self-existent Self. For He lives and +moves and has His being in nothing. But all things live and move and +have their being in Him. He was before all things, and by Him all things +consist. And this is the Catholic Faith; and not only that, this is +according to sound and right reason. But more: the soundest +philosophers will tell you that God must be not merely a self-existent +Being, but the "I Am:" that if God is a Spirit, and not merely a name for +some powers and laws of brute nature and matter, He must be able to say +to Himself, "I Am:" that He must know Himself, that He must be conscious +of Himself, of who and what He is, as you and I are conscious of +ourselves, and more or less of who and what we are. And this, also, I +believe to be true, and rational, and necessary to the Catholic Faith. + +But they will tell you again--and this, too, is surely true--that I Am +must be the very name of God, because God alone can say perfectly, "I +Am," and no more. You and I dare not, if we think accurately, say of +ourselves, "I am." We may say, I am this or that; I am a man; I am an +Englishman; but we must not say, "I am;" that is, "I exist of myself." +We must say--not I am; but I become, or have become; I was made; I was +created; I am growing, changing; I depend for my very existence on God +and God's will, and if He willed, I should be nothing and nowhere in a +moment. God alone can say, I Am, and there is none beside Me, and never +has, nor can be. I exist, absolutely, and simply; because I choose to +exist, and get life from nothing; for I Am the Life, and give life to all +things. But you may say, What is all this to us? It is very difficult +to understand, and dreary, and even awful. Why should we care for it, +even if it be true? Yes, my friends; philosophy may be true, and yet be +dreary, and awful, and have no gospel and good news in it at all. I +believe it never can have; that only in Revelation, and in the Revelation +of our Lord Jesus Christ, can poor human beings find any gospel and good +news at all. And sure I am, that that is an awful thought, a dreary +thought, a crushing thought, which makes a man feel as small, and +worthless, and helpless, and hopeless, as a grain of dust, or a mote in +the sunbeam--that thought of God for ever contained in Himself, and +saying for ever to Himself, "I Am, and there is none beside Me." + +But the Gospel, the good news of the Old Testament, the Gospel, the good +news of the New Testament, is the Revelation of God and God's ways, which +began on Christmas Day, and finished on Ascension Day: and what is that? +What but this? That God does not merely say to Himself in Majesty, "I +Am;" but that He goes out of Himself in Love, and says to men, "I Am." +That He is a God who has spoken to poor human beings, and told them who +He was; and that He, the I Am, the self-existent One, the Cause of life, +of all things, even the Maker and Ruler of the Universe, can stoop to +man--and not merely to perfect men, righteous men, holy men, wise men, +but to the enslaved, the sinful, the brutish--that He may deliver them, +and teach them, and raise them from the death of sin, to His own life of +righteousness. + +Do you not see the difference, the infinite difference, and the good news +in that? Do you not see a whole heaven of new hope and new duty is +opened to mankind in that one fact--God has spoken to man. He, the I Am, +the Self-Existent, who needs no one, and no thing, has turned aside, as +it were, and stooped from the throne of heaven, again and again, during +thousands of years, to say to you, and me, and millions of mankind, I Am +your God. How do you prosper?--what do you need?--what are you doing?-- +for if you are doing justice to yourself and your fellow-men, then fear +not that I shall be just to you. + +And more. When that I Am, the self-existent God, could not set sinful +men right by saying this, then did He stoop once more from the throne of +the heavens to do that infinite deed of love, of which it is written, +that He who called Himself "I Am," the God of Abraham, was conceived of +the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, crucified under Pontius Pilate, +rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven,--that He might send +down the Spirit of the "I Am," the Holy Spirit who proceedeth from the +Father and the Son, upon all who ask Him; that they may be holy as God is +holy, and perfect as God is perfect. Yes, my dear friends, remember +that, and live in the light of that; the gospel of good news of the +Incarnation of Jesus Christ, very God of very God begotten. Know that +God has spoken to you as He spoke to Abraham, and said,--I am the +Almighty God, walk before Me, and be thou perfect. Know that He has +spoken to you as He spoke to Moses, saying,--I am the Lord thy God, who +have brought you, and your fathers before you, out of the spiritual Egypt +of heathendom, and ignorance, sin, and wickedness, into the knowledge of +the one, true, and righteous God. But know more, that He has spoken to +you by the mouth of Jesus Christ, saying,--I am He that died in the form +of mortal man upon the cross for you. And, behold, I am alive for +evermore; and to me all power is given in heaven and earth. + +Yes, my friends, let us lay to heart, even upon this joyful day, the +awful warnings of the Epistle to the Hebrews,--God, the I Am, has spoken +to us; God, the I Am, is speaking to us now. See that you refuse not Him +that speaketh; for if they escaped not who refused Moses that spake on +earth, much more shall not we escape if we turn away from Him that +speaketh from heaven; wherefore follow peace with all men, and holiness, +without which no man shall see the Lord, and have grace, whereby we may +serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a +consuming fire. To those who disobey Him, eternal wrath; to those who +love Him, eternal love. + +Yes, my friends. Let us believe that, and live in the light of that, +with reverence and godly fear, all the year round. But let us specially +to-day, as far as our dull feelings and poor imaginations will allow us; +let us, I say, adore the ascended Saviour, who rules for ever, a Man in +the midst of the throne of the universe, and that Man--oh, wonder of +wonders!--slain for us; and let us say with St Paul of old, with all our +hearts and minds and souls:--Now to the King of the Ages, immortal, +invisible, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be honour and glory, for +ever and ever. Amen! + + + +SERMON XIV. THE COMFORTER + + + +Eversley. Sunday after Ascension Day. 1868. + +St John xv. 26. "When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you +from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the +Father, he shall testify of me." + +Some writers, especially when they are writing hymns, have fallen now-a- +days into a habit of writing of the Holy Spirit of God, in a tone of +which I dare not say that it is wrong or untrue; but of which I must say, +that it is one-sided. And if there are two sides to a matter, it must do +us harm to look at only one of them. And I think that it does people +harm to hear the Holy Spirit of God, the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, +spoken of in terms, not of reverence, but of endearment. For consider: +He is the + + + "Creator-Spirit, by whose aid +The world's foundations first were laid," + + +the life-giving Spirit of whom it is written, Thou sendest forth Thy +Spirit, and things live, and Thou renewest the face of the earth. + +But He is the destroying Spirit too; who can, when He will, produce not +merely life, but death; who can, and does send earthquakes, storm, and +pestilence; of whom Isaiah writes--"All flesh is as grass, and all the +goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. The grass withereth, +the flower fadeth; because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it." I +think it does people harm to hear this awful and almighty being, I say, +spoken of merely as the "sweet Spirit," and "gentle dove"--words which +are true, but only true, if we remember other truths, equally true of +Him, concerning whom they are spoken. The Spirit of God, it seems to me, +is too majestic a being to be talked of hastily as "sweet." Words may be +true, and yet it may not be always quite reverent to use them. An +earthly sovereign may be full of all human sweetness and tenderness, yet +we should not dare to address him as "sweet." + +But, indeed, some of this talk about the Holy Spirit is not warranted by +Scripture at all. In one of the hymns, for instance, in our hymn-book-- +an excellent hymn in other respects, there is a line which speaks of the +Holy Spirit as possessing "The brooding of the gentle dove." + +Now, this line is really little but pretty sentiment, made up of false +uses of Scripture. The Scripture speaks once of the Holy Spirit of God +brooding like a bird over its nest. But where? In one of the most +mysterious, awful, and important of all texts. "And the earth was +without form and void. And the Spirit of God moved (brooded) over the +face of the deep." What has this--the magnificent picture of the Life- +giving Spirit brooding over the dead world, to bring it into life again, +and create from it sea and land, heat and fire, and cattle and creeping +things after their kind, and at last man himself, the flower and crown of +things;--what has that to do with the brooding of a gentle dove? + +But the Holy Spirit is spoken of in Scripture under the likeness of a +dove? True, and here is another confusion. The Dove is not the emblem +of gentleness in the Bible: but the Lamb. The dove is the emblem of +something else, pure and holy, but not of gentleness; and therefore the +Holy Spirit is not spoken of in Scripture as brooding as a gentle dove; +but very differently, as it seems to me. St Matthew and St John say, +that at our Lord's baptism the Holy Spirit was seen, not brooding, but +descending from heaven as a dove. To any one who knows anything of +doves, who will merely go out into the field or the farm-yard and look at +them, and who will use his own eyes, that figure is striking enough, and +grand enough. It is the swiftness of the dove, and not its fancied +gentleness that is spoken of. The dove appearing, as you may see it +again and again, like a speck in the far off sky, rushing down with a +swiftness which outstrips the very eagle; returning surely to the very +spot from which it set forth, though it may have flown over hundreds of +miles of land, and through the very clouds of heaven. It is the sky- +cleaving force and swiftness, the unerring instinct of the dove, and not +a sentimental gentleness to which Scripture likens that Holy Spirit, +which like the rushing mighty wind bloweth whither it listeth, and thou +hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, or +whither it goeth;--that Holy Spirit who, when He fell on the apostles, +fell in tongues of fire, and shook all the house where they were sitting; +that Holy Spirit of whom one of the wisest Christians who ever lived, who +knew well enough the work of the Spirit, arguing just as I am now against +the fancy of associating the Holy Spirit merely with pretty thoughts of +our own, and pleasant feelings of our own, and sentimental raptures of +our own, said, "Wouldst thou know the manner of spiritual converse? Of +the way in which the Spirit of God works in man? Then it is this: He +hath taken me up and dashed me down. Like a lion, I look, that He will +break all my bones. From morning till evening, Thou wilt make an end of +me." + +But people are apt to forget this. And therefore they fall into two +mistakes. They think of the Holy Spirit as only a gentle, and what they +call a dove-like being; and they forget what a powerful, awful, literally +formidable being He is. They lose respect for the Holy Spirit. They +trifle with Him; and while they sing hymns about His gentleness and +sweetness, they do things which grieve and shock Him; forgetting the +awful warning which He, at the very outset of the Christian Church, gave +against such taking of liberties with God the Holy Ghost:--how Ananias +and Sapphira thought that the Holy Spirit was One whom they might honour +with their lips, and more, with their outward actions, but who did not +require truth in the inward parts, and did not care for their telling a +slight falsehood that they might appear more generous than they really +were in the eyes of men; and how the answer of the Holy Spirit of God was +that He struck them both dead there and then for a warning to all such +triflers, till the end of time. + +Another mistake which really pious and good people commit, is, that they +think the Holy Spirit of God to be merely, or little beside, certain +pleasant frames, and feelings, and comfortable assurances, in their own +minds. They do not know that these pleasant frames and feelings really +depend principally on their own health: and, then, when they get out of +health, or when their brain is overworked, and the pleasant feelings go, +they are terrified and disheartened, and complain of spiritual dryness, +and cry out that God's Spirit has deserted them, and are afraid that God +is angry with them, or even that they have committed the unpardonable +sin: not knowing that God is not a man that He should lie, nor a son of +man that He should repent; that God is as near them in the darkness as in +the light; that whatever their own health, or their own feelings may be, +yet still in God they live, and move, and have their being; that to God's +Spirit they owe all which raises them above the dumb animals; that +nothing can separate them from the love of Him who promised that He would +not leave us comfortless, but send to us His Holy Ghost to comfort us, +and exalt us to the same place whither He has gone before. + +Now, why do I say all this? To take away comfort from you? To make you +fear and dread the Spirit of God? God forbid! Who am I, to take away +comfort from any human being! I say it to give yon true comfort, to make +you trust and love the Holy Spirit utterly, to know Him--His strength and +His wisdom as well as His tenderness and gentleness. + +You know that afflictions do come--terrible bereavements, sorrows sad and +strange. My sermon does not make them come. There they are, God help us +all, and too many of them, in this world. But from whom do they come? +Who is Lord of life and death? Who is Lord of joy and sorrow? Is not +that the question of all questions? And is not the answer the most +essential of all answers? It is the Holy Spirit of God; the Spirit who +proceedeth from the Father and the Son; the Spirit of the Father who so +loved the world that He spared not His only begotten Son; the Spirit of +the Son who so loved the world, that He stooped to die for it upon the +Cross; the Spirit who is promised to lead you into all truth, that you +may know God, and in the knowledge of Him find everlasting life; the +Spirit who is the Comforter, and says, I have seen thy ways and will heal +thee, I will lead thee also, and restore comforts to thee and to thy +mourners. I speak peace to him that is near, and to him that is far off, +saith the Lord; and I will heal him. Is it not the most blessed news, +that He who takes away, is the very same as He who gives? That He who +afflicts is the very same as He who comforts? That He of whom it is +written that, "as a lion, so will He break all my bones; from day even to +night wilt Thou make an end of me;" is the same as He of whom it is +written, "He shall gather the lambs in His arms, and carry them, and +shall gently lead those that are with young;" and, again, "as a beast +goeth down into the valley, so the Spirit of the Lord caused him to +rest?" That He of whom it is written, "Our God is a consuming fire," is +the same as He who has said, "When thou walkest through the fire, thou +shalt not be burned?" That He who brings us into "the valley of the +shadow of death," is the same as He of whom it is said, "Thy rod and Thy +staff they comfort me?" Is not that blessed news? Is it not the news of +the Gospel; and the only good news which people will really care for, +when they are tormented, not with superstitious fears and doctrines of +devils which man's diseased conscience has originated, but tormented with +the real sorrows, the rational fears of this stormy human life. + +We all like comfort. But what kind of comfort do we not merely like but +need? Merely to be comfortable?--To be free from pain, anxiety, sorrow?- +-To have only pleasant faces round us, and pleasant things said to us? +If we want that comfort, we shall very seldom have it. It will be very +seldom good for us to have it. The comfort which poor human beings want +in such a world as this, is not the comfort of ease, but the comfort of +strength. The comforter whom we need is not one who will merely say kind +things, but give help--help to the weary and heavy laden heart which has +no time to rest. We need not the sunny and smiling face, but the strong +and helping arm. For we may be in that state that smiles are shocking to +us, and mere kindness,--though we may be grateful for it--of no more +comfort to us than sweet music to a drowning man. We may be miserable, +and unable to help being miserable, and unwilling to help it too. We do +not wish to flee from our sorrow, we do not wish to forget our sorrow. +We dare not; it is so awful, so heartrending, so plain spoken, that God, +the master and tutor of our hearts must wish us to face it and endure it. +Our Father has given us the cup--shall we not drink it? But who will +help us to drink the bitter cup? Who will be the comforter, and give us +not mere kind words, but strength? Who will give us the faith to say +with Job, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him?" Who will give us +the firm reason to look steadily at our grief, and learn the lesson it +was meant to teach? Who will give us the temperate will, to keep sober +and calm amid the shocks and changes of mortal life? Above all, I may +say--Who will lead us into all truth? How much is our sorrow increased-- +how much of it is caused by simple ignorance! Why has our anxiety come? +How are we to look at it? What are we to do? Oh, that we had a +comforter who would lead us into all truth:--not make us infallible, or +all knowing, but lead us into truth; at least put us in the way of truth, +put things in their true light to us, and give us sound and rational +views of life and duty. Oh, for a comforter who would give us the spirit +of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and ghostly strength, +the spirit of knowledge and true godliness, and fill us with that spirit +of God's holy fear, which would make us not superstitious, not slavish, +not anxious, but simply obedient, loyal and resigned. + +If we had such a Comforter as that, could we not take evil from his +hands, as well as good? We have had fathers of our flesh who corrected +us, and we gave them reverence. They chastised us, but we loved and +trusted them, because we knew that they loved and trusted us--chastised +us to make us better--chastised us because they trusted us to become +better. But if we can find a Father of our spirits, of our souls, shall +we not rather be in subjection to Him and live? If He sent us a +Comforter, to comfort and guide, and inspire, and strengthen us, shall we +not say of that Comforter--"Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him." + +If we had such a Comforter as that, we should not care, if He seemed at +times stern, as well as kind; we could endure rebuke and chastisement +from Him, if we could only get from Him wisdom to understand the rebuke, +and courage to bear the chastisement. Where is that Comforter? God +answers:--That Comforter am I, the God of heaven and earth. There are +comforters on earth who can help thee with wise words and noble counsel, +can be strong as man, and tender as woman. Then God can be more strong +than man, and more tender than woman likewise. And when the strong arm +of man supports thee no longer, yet under thee are the everlasting arms +of God. + +Oh, blessed news, that God Himself is the Comforter. Blessed news, that +He who strikes will also heal: that He who gives the cup of sorrow, will +also give the strength to drink it. Blessed news, that chastisement is +not punishment, but the education of a Father. Blessed news, that our +whole duty is the duty of a child--of the Son who said in His own agony, +"Father, not my will, but thine be done." Blessed news, that our +Comforter is the Spirit who comforted Christ the Son Himself; who +proceeds both from the Father and from the Son; and who will therefore +testify to us both of the Father and the Son, and tell us that in Christ +we are indeed, really and literally, the children of God who may cry to +Him, "Father," with full understanding of all that that royal word +contains. Blessed, too, to find that in the power of the Divine Majesty, +we can acknowledge the unity, and know and feel that the Father, Son and +Holy Ghost are all one in love to the creatures whom they have made-- +their glory equal, for the glory of each and all is perfect charity, and +their majesty co-eternal, because it is a perfect majesty; whose justice +is mercy, whose power is goodness, its very sternness love, love which +gives hope and counsel, and help and strength, and the true life which +this world's death cannot destroy. + + + +SERMON XV. THOU ART WORTHY + + +Eversley, 1869. Chester Cathedral, 1870. Trinity Sunday. + +Revelation iv. 11. "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour +and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they +are and were created." + +I am going to speak to you on a deep matter, the deepest and most +important of all matters, and yet I hope to speak simply. I shall say +nothing which you cannot understand, if you will attend. I shall say +nothing, indeed, which you could not find out for yourselves, if you will +think, and use your own common sense. I wish to speak to you of +Theology--of God Himself. For this Trinity Sunday of all the Sundays of +the year, is set apart for thinking of God Himself--not merely of our own +souls, though we must never forget them, nor of what God has done for our +souls, though we must never forget that--but of what God is Himself, what +He would be if we had no souls--if there were, and had been from the +beginning, no human beings at all upon the earth. + +Now, if we look at any living thing--an animal, say, or a flower, and +consider how curiously it is contrived, our common sense will tell us at +once that some one has made it; and if any one answers--Oh! the flower +was not made, it grew--our common sense would tell us that that was only +a still more wonderful contrivance, and that there must be some one who +gave it the power of growing, and who makes it grow. And so our common +sense would tell us, as it told the heathens of old, that there must be +GODS--beings whom we cannot see, who made the world. But if we watch +things more closely, we should find out that all things are made more or +less upon the same plan; that (and I tell you that this is true, strange +as it may seem) all animals, however different they may seem to our eyes, +are made upon the same plan; all plants and flowers, however different +they may seem, are made upon the same plan; all stones, and minerals, and +earths, however different they may seem, are made upon the same plan. +Then common sense would surely tell us, one God made all the animals, one +God made all the plants, one God made all the earths and stones. But if +we watch more closely still, we should find that the plants could not +live without the animals, nor the animals without the plants, nor either +of them without the soil beneath our feet, and the air and rain above our +heads. That everything in the world worked together on one plan, and +each thing depended on everything else. Then common sense would tell us, +one God must have made the whole world. But if we watched more closely +again, or rather, if we asked the astronomers, who study the stars and +heavens, they would tell us that all the worlds over our heads, all the +stars that spangle the sky at night, were made upon the same plan as our +earth--that sun and moon, and all the host of heaven, move according to +the same laws by which our earth moves, and as far as we can find out, +have been made in the same way as our earth has been made, and that these +same laws must have been going on, making worlds after worlds, for +hundreds of thousands of years, and ages beyond counting, and will, in +all probability, go on for countless ages more. Then common sense will +tell us, the same God has made all worlds, past, present, and to come. +There is but one God, the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. + +So we should learn something of how all things were made; and then would +come a second question, why all things were made? Why did God make the +worlds? + +Let us begin with a very simple example. Simple things will often teach +us most. You see a flower growing, not in a garden, but wild in a field +or wood. You admire its beautiful colours, or if it is fragrant, its +sweet scent. Now, why was that flower put there? You may answer, "to +please me." My dear friends, I should be the last person to deny that. +I can never see a child picking a nosegay, much less a little London +child, born and bred and shut up among bricks and mortar, when it gets +for the first time into a green field, and throws itself instinctively +upon the buttercups and daisies, as if they were precious jewels and +gold;--I never can see that sight, I say, without feeling that there are +such things as final causes--I mean that the great Father in heaven put +those flowers into that field on purpose to give pleasure to His human +children. But then comes the question, Of all the flowers in a single +field, is one in ten thousand ever looked at by child or by men? And yet +they are just as beautiful as the rest; and God has, so to speak, taken +just as much pains with the many beautiful things which men will never +see, as with the few, very few, which men may see. And when one thinks +further about this--when one thinks of the vast forests in other lands +which the foot of man has seldom or never trod, and which, when they are +entered, are found to be full of trees, flowers, birds, butterflies, so +beautiful and glorious, that anything which we see in these islands is +poor and plain in comparison with them; and when we remember that these +beautiful creatures have been going on generation after generation, age +after age, unseen and unenjoyed by any human eyes, one must ask, Why has +God been creating all that beauty? simply to let it all, as it were, run +to waste, till after thousands of years one traveller comes, and has a +hasty glimpse of it? Impossible. Or again--and this is an example still +more strange, and yet it is true. We used to think till within a very +few years past, that at the bottom of the deep sea there were no living +things--that miles below the surface of the ocean, in total darkness, and +under such a weight of water as would crush us to a jelly, there could be +nothing, except stones, and sand, and mud. But now it is found out that +the bottom of the deepest seas, and the utter darkness into which no ray +of light can ever pierce, are alive and swarming with millions of +creatures as cunningly and exquisitely formed, and in many cases as +brilliantly coloured, as those which live in the sunlight along the +shallow shores. + +Now, my dear friends,--surely beautiful things were made to be seen by +some one, else why were they made beautiful? Common sense tells us that. +But who has seen those countless tribes, which have been living down, in +utter darkness, since the making of the world? Common sense, I think, +can give but one answer--GOD. He, and He only, to whom the night is as +clear as the day, to whom the darkness and the light are both alike. But +more--God has not only made things beautiful; He has made things happy; +whatever misery there may be in the world, there is no denying that. +However sorrow may have come into the world, there is a great deal more +happiness than misery in it. Misery is the exception; happiness is the +rule. No rational man ever heard a bird sing, without feeling that that +bird was happy; and, if so, his common sense ought to tell him that if +God made that bird, He made it to be happy; He intended it to be happy, +and He takes pleasure in its happiness, though no human ear should ever +hear its song, no human heart should ever share in its joy. Yes, the +world was not made for man; but man, like all the world, was made for +God. Not for man's pleasure merely, not for man's use, but for God's +pleasure all things are, and for God's pleasure they were created. + +And now, surely, common sense will tell us why God made all things. For +His own pleasure. God is pleased to make them, and pleased with what He +has made, because what He has made is worth being pleased with. He has +seen all things that He has made, and, behold, they are very good, and +right, and wise, and beautiful, and happy, each after its kind. So that, +as the Psalmist says, "The Lord shall rejoice in His works." And +Scripture tells that it must be so, if we only recollect and believe one +word of St. John's that "God is Love"--for it is the very essence of +love, that it cannot be content to love itself. It must have something +which is not itself to love that it may go out of itself, and forget +itself, and spend itself in the good and in the happiness of what it +loves. All true love of husband and wife, mother and child, sister and +brother, friend and friend, man to his country,--what does it mean but +this? Forgetting one's selfish happiness in doing good to others, and +finding a deeper, higher happiness in that. The man who only loves +himself knows not what Love means. In truth, he does not even love +himself. He is his own worst enemy: his selfishness torments him with +discontent, disgust, pride, fear, and all evil passions and lusts; and in +him is fulfilled our Lord's saying, that he that will save his life shall +lose it. But the man who is full of love, as God is full of love, who +forgets himself in making others happy, who lives the eternal life of +God, which is alone worth living, he is the only truly happy man; and in +him is fulfilled that other saying of our Lord, that he who loseth his +life shall save it. + +And the loving, unselfish man too is the only sound theologian, for he +who dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. He alone will +understand the mystery of who God is, and why He made all things. The +loving man alone, I say, will understand the mystery--how because God is +love He could not live alone in the abyss, but must create all things, +all worlds and heavens, yea, and the heaven of heavens, that He might +have something beside Himself, whereon to spend His boundless love. And +why? Because love can only love what is somewhat like itself, He made +all things according to the idea of His own eternal mind. Because He is +unchangeable, and a God of order and of law, He made all things according +to one order, and gave them a law which cannot be broken, that they might +continue this day as they were at the beginning, serving Him and +fulfilling His word. Because He is a God of justice, He made all things +just, depending on each other, helping each other, and compelled to +sacrifice themselves for each other, and minister to each other whether +they will or not. Because He is a God of beauty, He made all things +beautiful, of a variety and a richness unspeakable, that He might rejoice +in all His works, and find a divine delight in every moss which grows +upon the moor, and every gnat which dances in the sun. Because He is a +God of love, He gave to every creature a power of happiness according to +its kind, that He might rejoice in the happiness of His creatures. And +lastly, because God is a spirit--a moral and a rational Being--therefore +He created rational beings to be more like Him than any other creatures, +and constituted the services of men and angels in a most wonderful order, +that they might reverence law as He does, and justice as He does--that +they might love to be loving as He loves, and to be useful as He is +useful--that they might rejoice in the beauty of His works as He rejoices +in them Himself; and, catching from time to time fuller and fuller +glimpses of that Divine and wonderful order according to which He has +made all things and all worlds, may see more and more clearly, as the +years roll on, that all things are just, and beautiful, and good; and +join more and more heartily in the hymn which goes up for ever from every +sun, and star, and world, and from the tiniest creature in these worlds: +"Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power; for Thou +hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created." + +Now, to God the Father, who, out of His boundless love, ordains the +making of all things; and to God the Son, who, out of His boundless love, +performs the making of all things; and to God the Holy Spirit, who, out +of His boundless love, breathes law and kind, life and growth into all +things, three Persons in one, ever-blessed Trinity, be all glory, and +honour, and praise, for ever and ever. Amen. + + + +SERMON XVI. THE GLORY OF THE TRINITY + + + +Eversley, 1868. St Mary's Chester, 1871. Trinity Sunday. + +Psalm civ. 31, 33. "The glory of the Lord shall endure for ever: The +Lord shall rejoice in his works. I will sing unto the Lord as long as I +live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being." + +This is Trinity Sunday, on which we think especially of the name of God. +A day which, to a wise man, may well be one of the most solemn, and the +most humiliating days of the whole year. For is it not humiliating to +look stedfastly, even for a moment, at God's greatness, and then at our +own littleness; at God's strength and at our own weakness; at God's +wisdom, and at our own ignorance; and, most of all, at God's +righteousness, and at our own sins? + +I do not say that it should not be so. Rather, I say, it should be so. +For what is more wholesome for you and me, and any man, than to be +humiliated--humbled--and brought to our own level--that all may see who, +what, and where we are? What more wholesome than to be made holy and +humble men of heart? What more wholesome for us, who are each of us +tempted to behave as if we were the centre of the universe, to judge +ourselves the most important personages in the world, and to judge of +everything according as it is pleasant or unpleasant to us, each in our +own family, our own sect, our own neighbourhood; what more wholesome than +to be brought now and then face to face with God Himself, and see what +poor, little, contemptible atoms we are at best, compared with Him who +made heaven and earth?--to see how well God and God's world have gone on +for thousands of years without our help;--how well they will go on after +we are dead and gone? + +Face to face with God! And how far shall we have to go to find ourselves +face to face with God? Not very far, according to St Paul. God, he +says, is "not far from every one of us; for in Him we live, and move, and +have our being." + +In God, in the ever blessed Trinity--Father, Son, and Holy Ghost--we, and +not we only, but every living thing--each flower, each insect--lives, and +moves, and has its being. So it is--strange as it may seem, and we +cannot make it otherwise. You fancy God far off--somewhere in the skies, +beyond suns and stars. Know that the heavens, and the heaven of heavens, +cannot contain Him. Rather, in the very deepest sense, He contains them. +In God, suns and stars, and all the host of heaven, live, and move, and +have their being; and if God destroyed them all at this very moment, and +the whole universe became nothing once more, as it was nothing at first, +still God would remain, neither greater nor less, neither stronger nor +weaker, neither richer nor poorer, than He was before. For He is the +self-existent I Am; who needs nought save Himself, and who needs nought +save to assert Himself in His Word, Jesus Christ our Lord, and say "I +Am," in order to create all things and beings, save Himself. He is the +infinite; whom nothing, however huge, and vast, or strong, can +comprehend--that is, take in and limit. He takes in and limits all +things; giving to each thing, form according to its own kind, and life +and growth according to its own law; appointing to all (as says St Paul) +their times, and the bounds of their habitation; that if they be rational +creatures, as we are, they may feel after the Lord and find Him; and if +they be irrational creatures, like the animals and the plants, mountains +and streams, clouds and tempests, sun and stars, they may serve God's +gracious purposes in the economy of His world. + +Therefore, everything which you see, is, as it were, a thought of God's, +an action of God's; a message to you from God. Therefore you can look at +nothing in the earth without seeing God Himself at work thereon. As our +Lord said, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." You can look +neither at the sun in the sky, nor at the grass beneath your feet, +without being brought face to face with God, the ever blessed Trinity. +The tiniest gnat which dances in the sun, was conceived by God the +Father, in whose eternal bosom are the ideas and patterns of all things, +past, present, and to come; it was created by God the Son, by whom the +Father made all things, and without whom nothing is made: and it is kept +alive by God the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, of whom it is +written, "Thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created; and thou +renewest the face of the earth." + +Oh that we could all remember this. That when we walk across the field, +or look out into the garden, we could have the wisdom to remember, +Whither, O God, can I go from Thy presence? For Thou art looking down on +the opening of every bud and flower, and without Thee not a sparrow falls +to the ground. Whither can I flee from Thy Spirit? For Thy Spirit is +giving life perpetually, alike to me and to the insect at my feet; +without Thy Spirit my lungs could not breathe one breath, my heart could +not beat one pulse. In Thee, I and all things live, move, and have our +being. And shall I forget Thee, disobey Thee, neglect to praise, and +honour, and worship Thee, and thank Thee day and night, for Thy great +glory? + +If we could but remember that, there would be no fear of our being +ungodly, irreligious, undevout. We look too often, day after day, month +after month, on the world around us just as the dumb beasts do, as a +place out of which we can get something to eat, and forget that it is +also a place out of which we can get, daily and hourly, something to +admire, to adore, to worship, even the thought of God's wisdom, God's +power, God's goodness, God's glory. Oh blind and heedless that we are. +Truly said the wise man--"An undevout astronomer is mad." And truly said +another wise man, an Englishman--the saintly philosopher Faraday, now +with God,--"How could he be otherwise than religious; when at every step +he found himself brought more closely face to face with the signs of a +mind constructed like his own, with an aim and a purpose which he could +understand, employing ways and means, and tending clearly to an end, and +methodically following out a system which he could both perceive and +grasp." Such a man's whole life is one act of reverence to that God in +whose inner presence he finds himself illuminated and strengthened; and +if there be revelation of divine things on earth, it is when the hidden +secrets of nature are disclosed to the sincere and self-denying seeker +after truth. + +Yes, that is true. The more you look into the world around you, and +consider every flower, and bird, and stone, the more you will see that a +Mind planned them, even the mind of God; a Mind like yours and mine; but +how infinitely different, how much deeper, wiser, vaster. Before that +thought we shrink into the nothingness from whence He called us out at +first. The difference between our minds and the Mind of God is--to what +shall I liken it? Say, to the difference between a flake of soot and a +mountain of pure diamond. That soot and that diamond are actually the +same substance; of that there is no doubt whatsoever; but as the light, +dirty, almost useless soot is to the pure, and clear, hard diamond, ay, +to a mountain, a world, a whole universe made of pure diamond--if such a +thing were possible--so is the mind of man compared with that Mind of the +ever blessed Trinity, which made the worlds, and sustains them in life +and order to this day. + +My friends, it is not in great things only, but in the very smallest, +that the greatest glory of the ever blessed Trinity is seen. Ay, most, +perhaps, in the smallest, when one considers the utterly inconceivable +wisdom, which can make the smallest animal--so made as to be almost +invisible under the strongest microscope--as perfect in all its organs as +the hugest elephant. Ay, more, which can not only make these tiny living +things, but, more wonderful still, make them make themselves? For what +is growth, but a thing making itself? What is the seed growing into a +plant, the plant into a flower, the flower to a seed again, but that +thing making itself, transforming itself, by an inward law of life which +God's Spirit gives it. I tell you the more earnestly and carefully you +examine into the creation, birth, growth of any living thing, even of the +daisy on the grass outside; the more you inquire what it really is, how +it came to be like what it is, how it got where it is, and so forth; you +will be led away into questions which may well make you dizzy with +thinking, so strange, so vast, so truly miraculous is the history of +every organised creature upon earth. And when you recollect (as you are +bound to do on this day), that each of these things is the work of the +ever blessed Trinity; that upon every flower and every insect, generation +after generation of them, since the world was made, the ever blessed +Trinity has been at work, God the Father thinking and conceiving each +thing, in His eternal Mind, God the Son creating it and putting it into +the world, each thing according to the law of its life, God the Holy +Ghost inspiring it with life and law, that it may grow and thrive after +its kind--when such thoughts as these crowd upon you, and they ought to +crowd upon you, this day of all the year, at sight of the meanest insect +under your feet; then what can a rational man do, but bow his head and +worship in awful silence, adoring humbly Him who sits upon the throne of +the universe, and who says to us in all His works, even as He said to Job +of old, "Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? When +the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? +Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou seen the +doors of the shadow of death? Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? +Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may +cover thee? Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto +thee, Here we are? Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the +appetite of the young lions? Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the +peacocks? or wings and feathers unto the ostrich? Hast thou given the +horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder? Doth the hawk +fly by thy wisdom? doth the eagle mount up at thy command?" + +When God speaks thus to us--and He does thus speak to us, by every cloud +and shower, and by every lightning flash and ray of sunshine, and by +every living thing which flies in air, or swims in water, or creeps upon +the earth--what can we say, save what Job said--"Behold, I am vile; what +shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth." + +But if God be so awful in the material world, of which our five senses +tell us, how much more awful is He in that spiritual and moral world, of +which our senses tell us nought? That unseen world of justice and +truthfulness, of honour and duty, of reverence and loyalty, of love and +charity, of purity and self-sacrifice; that spiritual world, I say, which +can be only seen by the spiritual eye of the soul, and felt by the +spiritual heart of the soul? How awful is God in that eternal world of +right and wrong; wherein cherubim, seraphim, angel and archangel cry to +Him for ever, not merely Mighty, mighty, mighty, but "Holy, holy, holy." +How awful to poor creatures like us. For then comes in the question--not +merely is God good? but, am not I bad? Is God sinless? but, am not I a +sinner? Is God pure? but am not I impure? Is God wise? then am not I a +fool? And when once that thought has crossed our minds, must we not +tremble, must we not say with Isaiah of old, "Woe is me! for I am undone; +because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people +of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." + +Yes; awful as is the thought of God's perfection in the material world +about us, more awful still is the thought of His perfection in the +spiritual world. So awful, that we might well be overwhelmed with dread +and horror at the sight of God's righteousness and our sinfulness; were +it not for the gracious message of revelation that tells us, that God, +the Father of heaven, is OUR Father likewise, who so loved us that He +gave for us His only begotten, God the Son; that for His sake our sins +might be freely forgiven us; that God the Son is our Atonement, our +Redeemer, our King, our Intercessor, our Example, our Saviour in life and +death; and God the Holy Ghost, our Comforter, our Guide, our Inspirer, +who will give to our souls the eternal life which will never perish, even +as He gives to our bodies the mortal life which must perish. + +On the mercy and the love of the ever blessed Trinity, shown forth in +Christ upon His cross, we can cast ourselves with all our sins; we can +cry to Him, and not in vain, for forgiveness and for sanctification; for +a clean heart and a right spirit; and that we may become holy and humble +men of heart. We can join our feeble praises to that hymn of praise +which goes up for ever to God from suns and stars, clouds and showers, +beasts and birds, and every living thing, giving Him thanks for ever for +His great glory. O all ye works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord; praise +Him and magnify Him for ever. O ye holy and humble Men of heart, bless +ye the Lord; praise Him and magnify Him for ever. + + + +SERMON XVII. LOVE OF GOD AND MAN + + + +FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. + +Eversley. Chester Cathedral, 1872. + +1 John iv. 16, 21. "God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth +in God, and God in him. . . . And this commandment have we from Him, +That he who loveth God love his brother also." + +This is the first Sunday after Trinity. On it the Church begins to teach +us morals,--that is, how to live a good life; and therefore she begins by +teaching us the foundation of all morals,--which is love,--love to God +and love to man. + +But which is to come first,--love to God, or love to man? + +On this point men in different ages have differed, and will differ to the +end. One party has said, You must love God first, and let love to man +come after as it can; and others have contradicted that and said, You +must love all mankind, and let love to God take its chance. But St John +says, neither of the two is before or after the other; you cannot truly +love God without loving man, or love man without loving God. St John +says so, being full of the Spirit of God: but alas! men, who are not +full of the Spirit of God, but only let themselves be taught by Him now +and then and here and there, have found it very difficult to understand +St John, and still more difficult to obey him; and therefore there always +have been in God's Church these two parties; one saying, You must love +God first, and the other, You must love your neighbour first,--and each, +of course, quoting Scripture to prove that they are in the right. + +The great leader of the first party--perhaps the founder of it, as far as +I am aware--was the famous St Augustine. He first taught Christians that +they ought to love God with the same passionate affection with which they +love husband or wife, mother or child; and to use towards God the same +words of affection which those who love really utter one to each other. +I will not say much of that; still less will I mention any of the words +which good men and women who are of that way of thinking use towards God. +I should be sorry to hold up such language to blame, even if I do not +agree with it; and still more sorry to hold it up to ridicule from +vulgar-minded persons if there be any in this Church. All I say is, that +all which has been written since about this passionate and rapturous love +toward God by the old monks and nuns, and by the Protestant Pietists, +both English and foreign, is all in St Augustine better said than it ever +has been since. Some of the Pietist hymns, as we know, are very +beautiful; but there are things in them which one wishes left out; which +seem, or ought to seem, irreverent when used toward God; which hurt, or +ought to hurt, our plain, cool, honest English common-sense. A true +Englishman does not like to say more than he feels; and the more he +feels, the more he likes to keep it to himself, instead of parading it +and talking of it before men. Still waters run deep, he holds; and he is +right for himself; only he must not judge others, or think that because +he cannot speak to God in such passionate language as St Augustine, who +was an African, a southern man, with much stronger feelings than we +Englishmen usually have, that therefore St Augustine, or those who copy +him now, do not really feel what they say. But, nevertheless, plain +common-sense people, such as most Englishmen are, are afraid of this +enthusiastical religion. They say, We do not pretend to feel this +rapturous love to God, how much-soever we may reverence Him, and wish to +keep His commandments; and we do not desire to feel it. For we see that +people who have talked in this way about God have been almost always +monks and nuns; or brain-sick, disappointed persons, who have no natural +and wholesome bent for their affections. And even though this kind of +religion may be very well for them, it is not the religion for a plain +honest man who has a wife and family and his bread to earn in the world, +and has children to provide for, and his duty to do in the State as well +as in the Church. And more, they say, these enthusiastic, rapturous +feelings do not seem to make people better, and more charitable, and more +loving. Some really good and charitable people say that they have these +feelings, but for all that we can see they would be just as good and +charitable without the feelings, while most persons who take up with this +sort of religion are not the better for it. They do not control their +tempers; they can be full,--as they say,--of love and devotion to God one +minute, but why are they the next minute peevish, proud, self-willed, +harsh and cruel to those who differ from them? Their religion does not +make them love their neighbours. In old times (when persecution was +allowed), it made them, or at least allowed them, to persecute, torment, +and kill their neighbours, and fancy that by such conduct they did God +service; and now it tempts them to despise their neighbours--to look on +every one who has not these strange, intense feelings which they say they +have, as unconverted, and lost, and doomed to everlasting destruction. +Not, says the plain man, that we are more satisfied with the mere +philanthropist of modern times,--the man who professes to love the whole +human race without loving God, or indeed often believing that there is a +God to love. To us he seems as unloving a person as the mere fanatic. +Meanwhile, plain people say, we will have nothing to do with either +fanaticism or philanthropy,--we will try to do our duty where God has put +us, and to behave justly and charitably by our neighbours; but beyond +that we cannot go. We will not pretend to what we do not feel. + +My friends, there is, as usual, truth on both sides,--both are partly +right, and both are partly wrong. And both may go on arguing against +each other, and quoting texts of Scripture against each other till the +last day; if they will not listen to St John's message in the text. One +party will say, It is written, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all +thy heart, and soul, and strength, and mind; and if thou doest that, and +thy soul is filled with love for the Creator, thou canst have no love +left for the creature; or if thy heart is filled with love for the +creature, there is no room left for love to God. And then thou wilt find +that God is a jealous God, and will take from thee what thou lovest, +because He will not have His honour given to another. + +And to that the other party will answer, Has not God said, "Thou shalt +love thy neighbour as thyself?" Has He not commanded us to love our +wives, our children? And even if He had not, would not common sense tell +us that He intended us to do so? Do you think that God is a tempter and +a deceiver? He has given us feelings and powers. Has He not meant us to +use them? He has given us wife and child. Did He mean us not to love +them, after He has made us love them, we know not how or why? You say +that God is a jealous God. Yes, jealous He may be of our worshipping +false gods, and idols, saints, or anything or person save Himself,-- +jealous of our doing wrong, and ruining ourselves, and wandering out of +the path of His commandments, in which alone is life; but jealous of our +loving our fellow creature as well as Himself, never. That sort of +jealousy is a base and wicked passion in man, and dare we attribute it to +God? What a thing to say of the loving God, that He takes away people's +children, husbands, and friends, because they love them too much! + +Then the first party will say, But is it not written, "Love not the +world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the +world, the love of the Father is not in him?" And to that, the second +party will answer, And do you say that we are not to love this fair and +wonderful earth which God has made for our use, and put us into it? Why +did He make it lovely? Why did He put us into it, if He did not mean us +to enjoy it? That is contrary to common sense, and contrary to the whole +teaching of the Old Testament. But if by the world you mean the world of +man, the society in which we live--dare you compare a Christian and +civilized country like England with that detestable Roman world, sunk in +all abominable vices, against which St John and St Paul prophesied? Are +not such thoughts unjust and uncharitable to your neighbours, to your +country, to all mankind? Then the first party will say, But you do away +with all devoutness; and the second party will answer, And you do away +with all morality, for you tell people that the only way to please God is +to feel about Him in a way which not one person in a thousand can feel; +and therefore what will come, and does come, of your binding heavy +burdens and grievous to be borne and laying them on men's shoulders is +this,--that the generality of people will care nothing about being good +or doing right, because you teach them that it will not please God, and +will leave all religion to a few who have these peculiar fancies and +feelings. + +And so they may argue on for ever, unless they will take honestly the +plain words of St John, and see that to love their neighbour is to love +God, and to love God is to love their neighbour. So says St John clearly +enough twice over. "God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth +in God, and God in him." The two things are one, and the one cannot be +without the other. + +Does this seem strange to you? Oh, my friends, it need not seem strange, +if you will but consider who God is, and who man is. Thou lovest God? +Then, if thou lovest Him, thou must needs love all that He has made. And +what has He made? All things, except sin; and what sin is He has told +thee. He has given thee ten commandments, and let no man give thee an +eleventh commandment out of his own conceit and will worship; calling +unclean what God hath made clean, and cursing what God hath blessed. +Thou lovest God? Then thou lovest all that is good; for God is good, and +from Him all good things come. But what is good? All is good except +sin; for it is written, "God saw every thing that He had made, and, +behold, it was very good." Therefore, if thou lovest God, thou must love +all things, for all things are of Him, and by Him, and through Him; and +in Him all live and move and have their being. Then thou wilt truly love +God. Thou wilt be content with God; and so thy love will cast out fear. +Thou wilt trust God; thou wilt have the mind of God; thou wilt be +satisfied with God's working, from the rise and fall of great nations to +the life and death of the smallest gnat which dances in the sun; thou +wilt say for ever, and concerning all things, I know in whom I have +believed. It is the good Lord, let Him do what seemeth Him good. + +Again. Thou lovest thy neighbour; thou lovest wife and child; thou +lovest thy friends; thou lovest or wishest to love all men, and to do +them good. Then thou lovest God. For what is it that thou lovest in thy +neighbour? Not that which is bad in him? No, but that which is good. +Thou lovest him for his kindliness, his honesty, his helpfulness,--for +some good quality in him. But from whom does that good come, save from +Christ and from the Spirit of Christ, from whom alone come all good +gifts? Yes, if you will receive it;--when we love our neighbours, it is +God in them, Christ in them, whom we love,--Christ in them, the hope of +glory. + +What, some one will ask, when a man loves a fair face, does he love +Christ then? Ah! my friends, that is not true love, as all know well +enough if they will let their own hearts tell them truth. True love is +when two people love each other for the goodness which is in them. True +love is the love which endures after beauty has faded, and youth, and +health, and all that seems to make life worth having is gone. Have we +not seen ere now two old people, worn, crippled, diseased, yet living on +together, helping each other, nursing each other, tottering on hand in +hand to the grave, dying, perhaps, almost together,--because neither +cared to live when the other is gone before, and loving all the while as +truly and tenderly as in the days of youth? They know not why. No; but +God knows why. It is Christ in each other whom they love;--Christ, the +hope of glory. Yes, we have seen that, surely; and seen in it one of the +most beautiful, the most divine sights upon earth,--one which should +teach us, if we will look at it aright, that when we love our neighbour +truly, it is the divine part in him, the spark of eternal goodness in +him,--what St Paul says is Christ in him,--which we admire, and cling to, +and love. + +But by that rule we cannot love every one, for every one is not good. Be +not too sure of that. All are not good, alas! but in all there is some +good. It may be a very little,--a hope of glory in them, even though +that hope be very faint. It may be dying out; it may die altogether, and +their souls may become utterly base and evil, and be lost for ever. +Still, while there is life there is hope, even for the worst; and just as +far as our hearts are full of the Spirit of God, we shall see the Spirit +of God striving with the souls even of the worst men, and love them for +that. Just as far as we have the likeness of Christ in us, we shall be +quick to catch the least gleam of His likeness in our neighbours, and +love them for that. Just as far as our hearts are full of love we shall +see something worth loving in every human being we meet, and love them +for that. I know it is difficult. It is not gotten in a day, that wide +and deep spirit of love to all mankind which St Paul had; which made him +weep with those who wept and rejoice with those who rejoiced, and become +all things to all men, if by any means he might save some. Before our +eyes are cleansed and purged to see some trace of good in every man, our +hearts must be cleansed and purged from all selfishness, and bigotry, and +pride, and fancifulness, and anger, so that they may be filled with the +loving Spirit of God. As long as a taint of selfishness or pride remains +in us, we shall be in continual danger of hating those whom God does not +hate, despising those whom God does not despise, and condemning those +whom God does not condemn. But if self is cast out of us, and the Spirit +of God and of Christ enthroned in our hearts, then we shall love our +brother, and in loving him love God, who made him; and so, dwelling in +love, we shall dwell in God, and God in us:--to which true and only +everlasting life may He of His mercy bring us, either in this world or in +the world to come. Amen. + + + +SERMON XVIII. COURAGE + + + +Chester Cathedral, 1871. + +Acts iv. 13, 18-20. "Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, +and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; +and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. . . . +And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in +the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said unto them, +Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than +unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have +seen and heard." + +Last Thursday was St Peter's Day. The congregation on that day was, as +far as I could perceive, no larger than usual; and this is not a matter +of surprise. Since we gave up at the Reformation the superstitious +practice of praying to the saints, saints' days have sunk--and indeed +sunk too much--into neglect. For most men's religion has a touch of +self-interest in it; and therefore when people discovered that they could +get nothing out of St Peter or St John by praying to them, they began to +forget the very memory, many of them, of St Peter, St John, and other +saints and apostles. They forget, too often, still, that though praying +to any saint, or angel, or other created being, is contrary both to +reason and to Scripture; yet it is according to reason and to Scripture +to commemorate them. That is to remember them, to study their +characters, and to thank God for them--both for the virtues which He +bestowed on them, and the example which He has given us in them. + +For these old saints lived and died for our example. They are, next of +course to the Lord Himself, the ideals, the patterns, of Christian life-- +the primeval heroes of our holy faith. They shew to us of what stuff the +early Christians were made; what sort of stone--to use St Paul's own +figure,--the Lord chose wherewith to build up His Church. They are our +spiritual ancestors, for they spread the Gospel into all lands; and they +spread it, remember always, not only by preaching what they knew, but by +being what they were. Their characters, their personal histories, are as +important to us as their writings; nay, in the case of St Peter, even +more important. For if these two epistles of his had been lost, and +never handed down to us, St Peter himself would have remained, as he is +drawn in the Gospels and the Acts, a grand and colossal human figure, +every line and feature of which is full of meaning and full of teaching +to us. + +Now I think that the quality--the grace of God--which St Peter's +character and story specially force on our notice, is, the true courage +which comes by faith. I say, the courage which comes by faith. There is +a courage which does not come by faith. There is brute courage, which +comes from hardness of heart, from stupidity, obstinacy, or anger, which +does not see danger, or does not feel pain. That is the courage of the +brute. One does not blame it, or call it wrong. It is good in its +place, as all natural things are, which God has made. It is good enough +for the brutes, but it is not good enough for man. You cannot trust it +in man. And the more a man is what a man should be, the less he can +trust it. The more mind and understanding a man has, so as to be able to +foresee danger, and measure it, the more chance there is of his brute +courage giving way. The more feeling a man has, the more keenly he feels +pain of body, or pain of mind, such as shame, loneliness, the dislike, +ridicule, and contempt of his fellow men; in a word, the more of a man he +is, and the less of a mere brute, the more chance there is of his brute +courage breaking down, just when he wants it most to keep him up, by +leaving him to play the coward and come to shame. Yes. To go through +with a difficult and dangerous undertaking, a man wants more than brute +courage. He wants spiritual courage--the courage which comes by faith. +He needs to have faith in what he is doing; to be certain that he is +doing his duty, to be certain that he is in the right. Certain that +right will conquer, certain that God will make it conquer, by him or by +some one else; certain that he will either conquer honourably, or fail +honourably, for God is with him. In a word, to have true courage, man +needs faith in God. + +To give one example. Look at the class of men who, in all England, +undergo the most fearful dangers; who know not at what hour of any night +they may not be called up to the most serious labour and responsibility, +with the chance of a horrible and torturing death. I mean the firemen of +our great cities, than whom there are no steadier, braver, nobler-hearted +men. Not a week passes without one or more of these firemen, in trying +to save life and property, doing things which are altogether heroic. +What do you fancy keeps them up to their work? High pay? The amusement +and excitement of fires? The vanity of being praised for their courage? +My friends, those would be but paltry weak motives, which would not keep +a man's heart calm and his head clear under such responsibility and +danger as theirs. No. It is the sense of duty,--the knowledge that they +are doing a good and a noble work in saving the lives of human beings and +the wealth of the nation,--the knowledge that they are in God's hands, +and that no real evil can happen to him who is doing right,--that to him +even death at his post is not a loss, but a gain. In short, faith in +God, more or less clear, is what gives those men their strong and quiet +courage. God grant that you and I, if ever we have dangerous work to do, +may get true courage from the same fountain of ghostly strength. + +Now, St Peter's history is, I think, a special example of this. He was +naturally, it seems, a daring man,--a man of great brute courage. So far +so good; but he had to be taught, by severe lessons, that his brute +courage was not enough,--that he wanted spiritual courage, the courage +which came by faith, and that if that failed him, the brute courage would +fail too. + +He throws himself into the lake, to walk upon the water to Christ; and as +soon as he is afraid he begins to sink. The Lord saves him, and tells +him why he had sank. Because he had doubted, his faith had failed him. +So he found out the weakness of courage without faith. Then, again, he +tells our Lord, "Though all men shall be offended of Thee, yet will I +never be offended. I am ready to go with Thee both into prison, and to +death." And shortly after, his mere animal courage breaks out again, and +does what little it can do, and little enough. He draws sword, single- +handed, on the soldiers in the garden, and cuts down a servant of the +high priest's, and perhaps would have flung his life away, desperately +and uselessly, had not our Lord restrained him. But when the fit of +excitement is past, his animal courage deserts him, and his moral courage +too, and he denies his Lord. So he found out that he was like too many,- +-full of bodily courage, perhaps, but morally weak. He had to undergo a +great change. He had to be converted by the Holy Spirit of God, and +strengthened by that Spirit, to have a boldness which no worldly courage +can give. Then, when he was strong himself, he was able to strengthen +his brethren. Then he was able, ignorant and unlearned man as he was, to +stand up before the high priests and rulers of his nation, and to say, +simply and firmly, without boasting, without defiance, "Whether it be +right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge +ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard." +Yes, my friends, it is the courage which comes by faith which makes truly +brave men,--men like St Peter and St John. He who can say, I am right, +can say likewise, God is on my side, and I will not fear what man can do +to me. + +"We will not fear," said the Psalmist, "though the earth be removed, and +though the hills be carried into the midst of the sea." "The just man, +who holds firm to his purpose," says a wise old heathen, "he will not be +shaken from his solid mind by the rage of the mob bidding him do base +things or the frowns of the tyrant who persecutes him. Though the world +were to crumble to pieces round him, its ruins would strike him without +making him tremble." "Whether it be right," said Peter and John to the +great men and judges of the Jews, "to hearken to God more than to you, +judge ye. We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard." +We cannot but speak what we know to be true. + +It was that courage which enabled our forefathers,--and not the great men +among them, not the rich, not even the learned, save a few valiant +bishops and clergy, but for the most part poor, unlearned, labouring men +and women,--to throw off the yoke of Popery, and say, "Reason and +Scripture tell us that it is absurd and wrong to worship images and pray +to saints,--tell us that your doctrines are not true. And we will say so +in spite of the Pope and all his power,--in spite of torture and a fiery +death. We cannot palter; we cannot dissemble; we cannot shelter +ourselves under half-truths, and make a covenant with lies. 'Whether it +be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than to God, judge +ye. We cannot but speak the things which we know to be true.'" + +So it has been in all ages, and so it will be for ever. Faith, the +certainty that a man is right, will give him a courage which will enable +him to resist, if need be, the rich ones, the strong ones, the learned +ones of the earth. It has made poor unlearned men heroes and deliverers +of their countrymen from slavery and ignorance. It has made weak women +martyrs and saints. It has enabled men who made great discoveries to +face unbelief, ridicule, neglect, poverty; knowing that their worth would +be acknowledged at last, their names honoured at last as benefactors by +the very men who laughed at them and reviled them. It has made men, shut +up in prison for long weary years for doing what was right and saying +what was true, endure manfully for the sake of some good cause, and say,- +- + + + "Stone walls do not a prison make, + Nor iron bars a cage; +Minds innocent and quiet take + That for an hermitage. +If I have freedom in my thought, + And in my love am free, +Angels alone, that soar above, + Enjoy such liberty." + + +Yes; settle it in your hearts, all of you. There is but one thing which +you have to fear in earth or heaven,--being untrue to your better selves, +and therefore untrue to God. If you will not do the thing you know to be +right, and say the thing you know to be true, then indeed you are weak. +You are a coward, and sin against God, and suffer the penalty of your +cowardice. You desert God, and therefore you cannot expect Him to stand +by you. + +But if you will do the thing you know to be right, and say the thing you +know to be true, then what can harm you? Who will harm you, asks St +Peter himself, "if you be followers of that which is good? For the eyes +of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open to their +prayers. But if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye; and be +not afraid of those who try to terrify you, neither be troubled, but +sanctify the Lord God in your hearts. Remember that He is just and holy, +and a rewarder of all who diligently seek Him. Worship Him in your +hearts, and all will be well. For says David again, "Lord, who shall +dwell in Thy tabernacle, or who shall rest upon Thy holy hill? Even he +that leadeth an uncorrupt life, and doeth the thing which is right, and +speaketh the truth from his heart. Whoso doeth these things shall never +fall." + +Yes, my friends; there is a tabernacle of God in which, even in this +life, He will hide us from the strife of tongues. There is a hill of God +on which, even in the midst of labour and anxiety, we may rest both day +and night. Even Jesus Christ, the Rock of Ages,--He who is the +Righteousness itself, the Truth itself; and whosoever does righteousness +and speaks truth dwells in Christ in this life, as well as in the life to +come; and Christ will strengthen him by His Holy Spirit to stand in the +evil day, if it shall come, and having done all, to stand. My dear +friends, if any of you are minded to be good men and women, pray for the +Holy Spirit of God. First for the spirit of love to give you good +desires; then the spirit of faith, to make you believe deeply in the +living God, who rewards every man according to his work; and then for the +spirit of strength, to enable you to bring these desires to good effect. + +Pray for that spirit, I say; for we all need help. There are too many +people in the world--too many, perhaps, among us here--who are not what +they ought to be, and what they really wish to be, because they are weak. +They see what is right, and admire it; but they have not courage or +determination to do it. Most sad and pitiable it is to see how much +weakness of heart there is in the world--how little true moral courage. +I suppose that the reason is, that there is so little faith; that people +do not believe heartily and deeply enough in the absolute necessity of +doing right and being honest. They do not believe heartily and deeply +enough in God to trust Him to defend and reward them, if they will but be +true to Him, and to themselves. And therefore they have no moral +courage. They are weak. They are kind, perhaps, and easy; easily led +right; but, alas! just as easily led wrong. Their good resolutions are +not carried out; their right doctrines not acted up to; and they live +pitiful, confused, useless, inconsistent lives; talking about religion, +and yet denying the power of religion in their daily lives; playing with +holy and noble thoughts and feelings, without giving themselves up to +them in earnest, to be led by the Spirit of God, to do all the good works +which God has prepared for them to walk in. Pray all of you, then, for +the spirit of faith, to believe really in God; and for the spirit of +ghostly strength, to obey God honestly. No man ever asked earnestly for +that spirit but what he gained it at last. And no man ever gained it but +what he found the truth of St Peter's own words, "Who will harm you if ye +be followers of that which is good?" + + + +SERMON XIX. GOOD DAYS + + + +Eversley, 1867. Westminster, Sept. 27, 1872. + +1 Peter iii. 8-12. "Be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of +another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: Not rendering evil +for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing +that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. For he +that will love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from +evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: Let him eschew evil, and do +good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. For the eyes of the Lord are +over the righteous, and His ears are open unto their prayers: but the +face of the Lord is against them that do evil." + +This is one of the texts which is apt to puzzle people who do not read +their Bibles carefully enough. They cannot see what the latter part of +it has to do with the former. + +St. Peter says that we Christians are called that we should inherit a +blessing. That means, of course, they say, the blessing of salvation, +everlasting life in heaven. But then St. Peter quotes from the 34th +Psalm. "For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain +his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile." Now that +Psalm, they say, speaks of blessing and happiness in this life. Then why +does St. Peter give it as a reason for expecting blessing and happiness +in the life to come? And then, they say, to make it fit in, it must be +understood spiritually; and what they mean by that, I do not clearly +know. + +Their notion is, that the promises of the Old Testament are more or less +carnal, because they speak of God's rewarding men in this life; and that +the promises of the New Testament are spiritual, because they speak of +God's rewarding men in the next life; and what they mean by that, again, +I do not clearly know. + +For is not the Old Testament spiritual as well as the New? I trust so, +my friends. Is not the Old Testament inspired, and that by the Spirit of +God? and if it be inspired by the Spirit, what can it be but spiritual? +Therefore, if we want to find the spiritual meaning of Old Testament +promises, we need not to alter them to suit any fancies of our own; like +those monks of the fourth and succeeding centuries, who saw no sanctity +in family or national life; no sanctity in the natural world, and, +therefore, were forced to travesty the Hebrew historians, psalmists, and +prophets, with all their simple, healthy objective humanity, and +politics, and poetry, into metaphorical and subjective, or, as they +miscalled them, spiritual meanings, to make the Old Testament mean +anything at all. No; if we have any real reverence for the Holy +Scriptures, we must take them word for word in their plain meaning, and +find the message of God's Spirit in that plain meaning, instead of trying +to put it in for ourselves. Therefore it is that the VII. Article bids +us beware of playing with Scripture in this way. It says the Old +Testament is not contrary to the New, for both in the Old and New +Testament everlasting life is offered to mankind by Christ. Wherefore +they are not to be heard who feign that the old fathers did look only for +transitory promises, that is temporary promises, promises which would be +fulfilled only in this life, and end and pass away when they died. + +But some one will say, how can that be, when so many of the old Hebrews +seem to have known nothing about the next life? Moses, for instance, +always promises the Children of Israel that if they do right, and obey +God, they shall be rewarded in this life, with peace and prosperity, +fruitfulness and wealth; but of their being rewarded in the next life he +never says one word--which last statement is undeniably true. + +Is not then the Old Testament contrary to the New, if the Old Testament +teaches men to look for their reward in this life, and the New Testament +in the next? No, it is not, my friends. And I think we shall see that +it is not, and why it is not, if we will look honestly at this very +important text. If we do that we shall see that what St. Peter meant-- +what the VII. Article means is the only meaning which will make sense of +either one or the other; is simply this--that what causes a man to enjoy +this life, is the same that will cause him to enjoy the life to come. +That what will bring a blessing on him in this life, will bring a +blessing on him in the life to come. That what blessed the old Jews, +will bless us Christians. That if we refrain our tongue from evil, and +our lips from speaking deceit; it we avoid evil and do good; if we seek +peace and follow earnestly after it; then shall we enjoy life, and see +good days, and inherit a blessing; whether in this life or in the life to +come. + +And why? Because then we shall be living the one and only everlasting +life of goodness, which alone brings blessings; alone gives good days; +and is the only life worth living, whether in earth or heaven. + +My dear friends, lay this seriously to heart, in these days especially, +when people and preachers alike have taken to part earth and heaven, in a +fashion which we never find in Holy Scripture. Lay it to heart, I say, +and believe that what is right, and therefore good, for the next life, is +right, and therefore good, for this. That the next life is not contrary +to this life. That the same moral laws hold good in heaven, as on earth. +Mark this well; for it must be so, if morality, that is right and +goodness, is of the eternal and immutable essence of God. And therefore, +mark this well again, there is but one true, real, and right life for +rational beings, one only life worth living, and worth living in this +world or in any other life, past, present, or to come. And that is the +eternal life which was before all worlds, and will be after all are +passed away--and that is neither more nor less than a good life; a life +of good feelings, good thoughts, good words, good deeds, the life of +Christ and of God. + +It is needful, I say, to bear this in mind just now. People are, as I +told you, too apt to say that the Old Testament saints got their rewards +in this life, while we shall get them in the next. Do they find that in +Scripture? If they will read their Bible they will find that the Old +Testament saints were men whom God was training and educating, as He does +us, by experience and by suffering. That David, so far from having his +reward at once in this life, had his bitter sorrows and trials; that +Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Job, all, indeed, of the old prophets, had to be +made perfect by suffering, and (as St. Paul says) died in faith NOT +having received the promises. So that if they had their reward in this +life, it must have been a spiritual reward, the reward of a good +conscience, and of the favour of Almighty God. And that is no transitory +or passing reward, but enduring as immortality itself. But people do not +usually care for that spiritual reward. Their notion of reward and +happiness is that they are to have all sorts of pleasures, they know not +what, and know not really why. And because they cannot get pleasant +things enough to satisfy them in this life, they look forward greedily to +getting them in the next life; and meanwhile are discontented with God's +Providence, and talk of God's good world as if some fiend and not the +Lord Jesus Christ was the maker and ruler thereof. Do not misunderstand +me. I am no optimist. I know well that things happen in this world +which must, which ought to make us sad--so sad that at moments we envy +the dead, who are gone home to their rest; real tragedies, real griefs, +divine and Christlike griefs, which only loving hearts know--the +suffering of those we love, the loss of those we love, and, last and +worst, the sin of those we love. Ah! if any of those swords have pierced +the heart of any soul here, shall I blame that man, that woman, if they +cry at times, "Father, take me home, this earth is no place for me." +Shall I bid them do aught but cling to the feet of Christ and cry, "If it +be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but +as Thou wilt." Oh, not of such do I speak; not of such sharers of +Christ's unselfish suffering here, that they may be sharers of His +unselfish joy hereafter. Not of them do I speak; but of those who only +wish to make up for selfish discomforts and disappointments in this life +by selfish comforts and satisfaction in the next; and who therefore take +up (let me use the honest English word) some maundering form of religion, +which, to judge from their own conduct, they usually only half believe; +those who seem, on six days of the week, as fond of finery and frivolity +as any other gay worldlings, and on the seventh join eagerly in hymns in +which (in one case at least) they inform the Almighty God of truth, who +will not be mocked, that they lie awake at night, weeping because they +cannot die and see "Jerusalem the golden," and so forth. Or those, +again, who for six days in the week are absorbed in making money-- +honestly if they can, no doubt, but still making money, and living +luxuriously on their profits--and on the seventh listen with satisfaction +to preachers and hymns which tell them that this world is all a howling +wilderness, full of snares and pitfalls; and that in this wretched place +the Christian can expect nothing but tribulation and persecution till he +"crosses Jordan, and is landed safe on Canaan's store," and so forth. + +My friends, my friends, as long as a man talks so, blaspheming God's +world--which, when He made it, behold it was all very good--and laying +the blame of their own ignorance and peevishness on God who made them, +they must expect nothing but tribulation and sorrow. But the tribulation +and the sorrow will be their own fault, and not God's. If religious +professors will not take St. Peter's advice and the Psalmist's advice; if +they will go on coveting and scheming about money, and how they may get +money; if they will go on being neither pitiful, courteous, nor +forgiving, and hating and maligning whether it be those who differ from +them in doctrine, or those who they fancy have injured them, or those who +merely are their rivals in the race of life; then they are but too likely +to find this world a thorny place, because they themselves raise the +thorns; and a disorderly place, because their own tempers and desires are +disorderly; and a wilderness, because they themselves have run wild, +barbarians at heart, however civilised in dress and outward manners. St. +James tells them that of old. "From whence," he says, "come wars and +quarrels among you? Come they not hence, even of the lusts which war in +your members? You long, and have not. You fight and war, yet you have +not, because you ask not. You ask, and have not. You pray for this and +that, and God does not give it you. Because you ask amiss, selfishly to +consume it on your lusts." And then you say, This world is an evil +place, full of temptations. What says St. James to that? "Let no man +say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted +with evil, neither tempteth He any man. But every man is tempted, when +he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed." + +So it was in the Old Testament times, and so it is in these Christian +times. God is good, and God's world is good; and the evil is not in the +world around us, but in our own foolish hearts. If we follow our own +foolish hearts, we shall find this world a bad place, as the old Jews +found it--whenever they went wrong and sinned against God--because we are +breaking its laws, and they will punish us. If we follow the +commandments of God, we shall find this world a good place, as the old +Jews found it--whenever they went right, and obeyed God--because we shall +be obeying its laws, and they will reward us. This is God's promise +alike to the old Jewish fathers and to us Christian men. And this is no +transitory or passing promise, but is founded on the eternal and +everlasting law of right, by which God has made all worlds, and which He +Himself cannot alter, for it springs out of His own essence and His own +eternal being. Hear, then, the conclusion of the whole matter: God hath +called you that you might inherit a blessing. + +He hath made you of a blessed race, created in His own likeness, to whom +He hath put all things in subjection, making man a little lower than the +angels, that He might crown him with glory and worship: a race so +precious in God's eyes--we know not why--that when mankind had fallen, +and seemed ready to perish from their own sin and ignorance, God spared +not His only begotten Son, but freely gave Him for us, that the world by +Him might be saved. And God hath put you in a blessed place, even His +wondrous and fruitful world, which praises God day and night, fulfilling +His word; for it continues this day as in the beginning, and He has given +it a law which cannot be broken. He has made you citizens of a blessed +kingdom, even the kingdom of heaven, into which you were baptised; and +has given you the Holy Bible, that you might learn the laws of the +kingdom, and live for ever, blessing and blest. + +And the Head of this blessed race, the Maker of this blessed world, the +King of this blessed kingdom, is the most blessed of all beings, Jesus +Christ, the only-begotten Son, both God and man. He has washed you +freely from your sins in His own blood; He has poured out on you freely +His renewing Spirit. And He asks you to enter into your inheritance; +that you may love your life, and see good days, by living the blessed +life, which is the life of self-sacrifice. But not such self-sacrifices +as too many have fancied who did not believe that mankind was a blessed +race, and this earth a blessed place. He does not ask you to give up +wife, child, property, or any of the good things of this life. He only +asks you to give up that selfishness which will prevent you enjoying +wife, child, or property, or anything else in earth, or in heaven either. +He asks you not to give up anything which is AROUND you, for that which +cometh from without defileth not a man; but to give up something which is +within you, for that which cometh from within, that defileth a man. + +He asks you to give up selfishness and all the evil tempers which that +selfishness breeds. To give up the tongue which speaks evil of your +fellow-men; and the lips which utter deceit; and the brain which imagines +cunning; and the heart which quarrels with your neighbour. To give these +up and to seek peace, and pursue it by all means reasonable or +honourable; peace with all around you, which comes by having first peace +with God; next, peace with your own conscience. This is the peace which +passeth understanding; for if you have it, men will not be able to +understand why you have it. They will see you at peace when men admire +you and praise you, and at peace also when they insult you and injure +you; at peace when you are prosperous and thriving, and at peace also +when you are poor and desolate. And that inward peace of yours will pass +their understanding as it will pass your own understanding also. You +will know that God sends you the peace, and sends it you the more the +more you pray for it: but how He sends it you will not understand; for +it springs out of those inner depths of your being which are beyond the +narrow range of consciousness, and is spiritual and a mystery, and comes +by the inspiration of the holy Spirit of God. + +But remember that all your prayers will not get that peace if your heart +be tainted with malice and selfishness and covetousness, falsehood and +pride and vanity. You must ask God first to root those foul seeds out of +your heart, or the seed of His Spirit will not spring up and bear fruit +in you to the everlasting life of love and peace and joy in the holy +Spirit. But if your heart be purged and cleansed of self, then indeed +will the holy Spirit enter in and dwell there; and you will abide in +peace, through all the chances and changes of this mortal life, for you +will abide in God, who is for ever at peace. And you will inherit a +blessing; for you will inherit Christ, your light and your life, who is +blessed for ever. And you will love life; for life will be full to you +of hope, of work, of duty, of interest, of lessons without number. And +you will see good days; for all days will seem good to you, even those +which seem to the world bad days of affliction and distress. And so the +peace of God will keep you in Jesus Christ, in this life, and in the life +to come. Amen. + + + +SERMON XX. GRACE + + + +Eversley. 1856. + +St. John i. 16, 17. "Of His fulness have all we received, and grace for +grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus +Christ." + +I wish you to mind particularly this word GRACE. You meet it very often +in the Bible. You hear often said, The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be +with you all. Now, what does this word grace mean? It is really worth +your while to know; for if a man or a woman has not grace, they will be +very unhappy people, and very disagreeable people also; a torment to +themselves, and a torment to their neighbours also; and if they live +without grace, they will live but a poor life; if they die without grace, +they will come to a very bad end indeed. What, then, does this word +mean? Some of you will answer that grace means God's Holy Spirit, or +that it means what God gives to our souls by His Spirit. But what does +that mean? What does God's Spirit give us? What is the grace of Jesus +Christ like, and how is it the same as the grace of God's Spirit? + +Now, to know what grace means, we must know what St John and St Paul +meant by it, and what the word meant in their time, and what the +Ephesians, and Corinthians, and Romans, to whom they wrote, would have +understood by this word grace. + +Now these heathens, to whom the apostles preached, before they heard the +gospel, knew that word grace very well indeed, often used it; and saw it +written up in their heathen temples all about them. And they meant by it +just what we mean, when we talk of a graceful person, or a graceful tree +or flower; and what we mean, too, when we say that any one is gracious; +that they do things gracefully, and have a great deal of grace in their +way of speaking and behaving. We mean by that that they are handsome, +agreeable, amiable, pleasant to look at, and talk to, and deal with. And +so these heathens meant, before they were Christians. The Romans used to +talk about some one called a Grace. The Greeks called her CHARIS; which +is exactly the word which St John and St Paul use, and from it come our +words charity and charitable. But more; they used to talk of three +Graces: they fancied that they were goddesses--spirits of some kind in +the shape of beautiful, and amiable, and innocent maidens, who took +delight in going about the world and making people happy and amiable like +themselves; and they used to make images of these graces, and pray to +them to make them lovely, and happy, and agreeable. And painters and +statuaries, too, used to pray to these graces, and ask them to put +beautiful fancies into their minds, that they might be able to paint +beautiful pictures, and carve beautiful statues. So when St Paul or St +John talked to these heathens about grace, or Charis (as the Testament +calls it), they knew quite well what the apostles meant. + +Did the apostles, then, believe in these three goddesses? Heaven forbid. +They came to teach these heathens to turn from those very vanities, and +worship the living-God. And so they told them,--You are quite right in +thinking that grace comes from heaven, and is God's gift; that it is God +who makes people amiable, cheerful, lovely, and honourable; that it is +God who gives happiness and all the joys of life: but which god? Not +those three maidens; they are but a dream and fancy. All that is lovely +and pleasant in men and women--and our life here, and our everlasting +life after death, in this world and in all worlds to come--all comes from +Jesus Christ and from Him alone. God has gathered together all things in +Him, whether things in heaven or things on earth; and He bestows +blessings and graces on all who will ask Him, to each as much as is good +for him. He is full of grace--more full of it than all the human beings +in the world put together. All the goodness and sweetness, and all the +graciousness which you ever saw in all the men and women whom you ever +met; all the goodness and sweetness which you ever fancied for +yourselves, all put together is not to be compared to Him. For He is the +perfect brightness of God's glory, and the express image of God's person; +and in Him is gathered together all grace, all goodness, all which makes +men or angels good, and lovely, and loving. All is in Him, and He gives +it freely to all, said the apostles; we know that He speaks truth, we +have seen Him; our eyes saw Him, our hands touched Him, and there was a +glory about Him such as there never could be about any other person. A +glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. A +person whom we could not help loving; could not help admiring; could not +help trusting; could not help giving ourselves up to--to live for Him, +and if need be, die for Him. + +And, said the apostles, there was a grace of truth in another of your +heathen fancies. You thought that these goddesses, because they were +amiable and innocent themselves, liked to make every one amiable, +innocent, and happy also. Your conscience, your reason were right there. +That is the very nature of grace, not to keep itself to itself, but to +spend itself on every one round it, and try to make every one like +itself. If a man be good, he will long to make others good; if tender, +he will long to make others tender; if gentle, he will long to make +others gentle; if cheerful, he will long to make others cheerful; if +forgiving, he will long to make others forgiving; if happy, he will long +to make others happy. Then said the apostles, only believe that the Lord +Jesus Christ, just because He is full of grace, wishes to fill you with +grace, ten thousand times better grace than you ever fancied those false +goddesses could give you--of His fulness you may all receive, and grace +for grace. All the grace of this world comes from Him--health, and +youth, and happiness, and all the innocent pleasures of life, and He +delights in giving you them. But, over and above that, comes a deeper +and nobler grace--spiritual grace, the grace of the immortal soul, which +will last on, and make you loving and loveable, pure and true, gracious +and generous, honourable and worthy of respect, when the grace of the +body is gone, and the eye is grown dim, and the hair is grey, and the +limbs, feeble; a grace which will make you gracious in old age, gracious +in death, gracious for ever and ever, after the body has crumbled again +to its dust. Whatsoever things are honourable, lovely, and of good +report; whatsoever tempers of mind make you a comfort to yourselves and +all around you; Christ has them all, and He can give you them all, one +after the other, till Christ be formed in you, till you come to be +perfect men and women, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of +Christ. Come, then, boldly to His throne of grace, to find mercy, and +grace to help you in the time of need. + +This was what the apostles taught the heathen, and their words were true. +You may see them come true round you every day. For, my friends, just as +far as people pray for Christ's grace, and give themselves up to be led +by God's Spirit, they become full of grace themselves, courteous and +civil, loving and amiable, true and honourable--a pleasure to themselves +and to all round them. While, on the other hand; all rudeness, all ill- +temper, all selfishness, all greediness are just so many sins against the +grace of Christ, which grieve the Spirit of God, at the same time that +they grieve our neighbours for whom Christ died, and cut us off, as long +as we give way to them, from the communion of saints. + +Well would it be for married people, if they would but remember this. +Well for them, for their own sake and for their children's. "Heirs +together," St Peter says they are, "of the grace of life." Think of +those words; for in them lies the true secret of happiness. Not in the +mere grace of youth, which pleases the fancy at first; that must soon +fade; and then comes, too often, coldness between man and wife; neglect, +rudeness, ill-temper, because the grace of life is not there--the grace +of the inner life, of the immortal soul, which alone makes life pleasant, +even tolerable, to two people who are bound together for better or for +worse. But yet, unless St Peter be mistaken, the fault in such sad case +is on the man's side. Yes, we must face that truth, we men; and face it +like men. If we are unhappy in our marriage it is our own fault. It is +the woman who is the weaker, says St Peter, and selfish men are apt to +say, "Then it is the woman's fault, if we are not happy." St Peter says +exactly the opposite. He says,--Because she is the weaker you are the +stronger; and therefore it is your fault if she is not what she should +be; for you are able to help her, and lead her; you took her to your +heart for that very purpose, you swore to cherish her. Because she is +the weaker, you can teach her, help her, improve her character, if you +will. You have more knowledge of life and the world than she has. Dwell +with her according to knowledge, says St Peter; use your experience to +set her right if she be wrong; and use your experience and your strength, +too, to keep down your own temper and your own selfishness toward her, to +bear and forbear, to give and forgive, live and let live. Remember that +you are heirs TOGETHER of the grace of life; and if the grace of life is +not in you, you cannot expect it to be in her. And what is the grace of +life? It must be the grace of Christ. St John says that Christ IS the +Life. And what is the grace of Christ? Christ's grace, Christ's +gracefulness, Christ's beautiful and noble and loving character--the +grace of Christ is Christ's likeness. Do you ask what will Christ give +me? He will give you Himself. He will make you like Himself, partaker +of His grace; and what is that? It is this--to be loving, gentle, +temperate, courteous, condescending, self-sacrificing. Giving honour to +those who are weaker than yourself, just because they are weaker; ready +and willing, ay, and counting it an honour to take trouble for other +people, to be of use to other people, to give way to other people; and, +above all, to the woman who has given herself to you, body and soul. +That is the grace of Christ; that is the grace of life; that is what +makes life worth having: ay, makes it a foretaste of heaven upon earth; +when man and wife are heirs together of the grace of life, of all those +tempers which make life graceful and pleasant, giving way to each other +in everything which is not wrong; studying each other's comfort, taking +each other's advice, shutting their eyes to each other's little failings, +and correcting each other's great failings, not by harsh words, but +silently and kindly, by example. And if the man will do that, there is +little fear but that the woman will do it also. And so, their prayers +are not hindered. + +Married people cannot pray, they have no heart to pray, while they are +discontented with each other. They feel themselves wrong, and because +they are parted from each other, they feel parted from God too; and their +selfishness or anger rises as a black wall, not merely between them, but +between each of them and God. And so the grace of life is indeed gone +away from them, and the whole world looks dark and ugly to them, because +it is not bright and cheerful in the light of Christ's grace, which makes +all the world full of sunshine and joy. But it need not be so, friends. +It would not be so, if married people would take the advice which the +Prayer Book gives them, and come to Holy communion. Would to God, my +friends, that all married people would understand what that Holy +communion says to them; and come together Sunday after Sunday to that +throne of grace, there to receive of Christ's fulness, and grace upon +grace. For that Table says to you: You are heirs together of the grace +of life; you are not meant merely to feed together for a few short years, +at the same table, on the bread which perishes, but to feed for ever +together on the bread which comes down from heaven, even on Christ +Himself, the life of the world; to receive life from His life, that you +may live together such a life as He lived, and lives still; to receive +grace from the fulness of His grace, that you may be full of grace as He +is. That Table tells you that because you both must live by the same +life of Christ, you must live the same life as each other, and grow more +and more like each other year by year; that as you both receive the same +grace of Christ, you will become more and more gracious to each other +year by year, and both grow together, nearer and dearer to each other, +more worthy of each other's respect, more worthy of each other's trust, +more worthy of each other's love. And then "till death us do part" may +mean what it will. Let death part what of them he can part, the +perishing mortal body; he has no power over the soul, or over the body +which shall rise to life eternal. Let death do his worst. They belong +to Christ who conquered death, and they live by His everlasting life, and +their life is hid with Christ in God, where death cannot reach it or find +it; and therefore their life and their love, and the grace of it, will +last as long as Christ's life and Christ's love, and Christ's grace last- +-and that will be for ever and ever. + + + +SERMON XXI. FATHER AND CHILD + + + +Eversley. 1861. + +1 Cor. i. 4, 5, 7. "I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace +of God which is given you by Jesus Christ. That in every thing ye are +enriched by Him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge . . . So that ye +come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. +Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the +day of our Lord Jesus Christ." + +This text is a very important one. It ought to teach me how I should +treat you. It ought to teach you how you should treat your children. It +ought to teach you how God, your heavenly Father, treats you. You see at +the first glance how cheerful and hopeful St Paul is about these +Corinthians. He is always thanking God, he says, about them, for the +grace of God which was given them by Jesus Christ, that in everything +they were enriched by Him, in all utterance and in all knowledge. And he +has good hope for them. Nay, he seems to be certain about them, that +they will persevere, and conquer, and be saved; for Christ Himself will +confirm them (that is strengthen them) to the end, that they may be +blameless in the way of our Lord Jesus Christ. + +If we knew no more of these Corinthians than what these words tell us, we +should suppose that they were very great saints, leading holy and +irreproachable lives before God and man. But we know that it was not so. +That they were going on very ill. That this is the beginning of an +epistle in which St Paul is going to rebuke them very severely; and to +tell them, that unless they mend, they will surely become reprobates, and +be lost after all. He is going to rebuke them for having heresies among +them, that is religious parties and religious quarrels--very much as we +have now; for being puffed up with spiritual self-conceit; for despising +and disparaging him; for loose lives, allowing (in one case) such a crime +among them as even the heathen did not allow; for profaning the Lord's +Supper, to such an extent that some seem even to have got drunk at it; +for want of charity to each other; for indulging in fanatical excitement; +for denying, some of them, the resurrection of the dead; on the whole, +for being in so unwholesome a state of mind that he has to warn them +solemnly of the fearful example of the old Israelites, who perished in +the wilderness for their sins--as they will perish, he hints, unless they +mend. + +And yet he begins by thanking God for them, by speaking of them, and to +them, in this cheerful and hopeful tone. + +Does that seem strange? Why should it seem strange, my friends, to us, +if we are in the habit of training our children, and rebuking our +children, as we ought? If we have to rebuke our children for doing +wrong, do we begin by trying to break their hearts? by raking up old +offences, by reproaching them with all the wrong they ever did in their +lives, and giving them to understand that they are thoroughly bad, and +have altogether lost our love, so that we will have nothing more to do +with them unless they mend? Or do we begin by making them feel that +however grieved we are with them, we love them still; that however wrong +they have been, there is right feeling left in them still; and by giving +them credit for whatever good there is in them--by appealing to that; +calling on them to act up to that; to be true to themselves, and to their +better nature; saying, You can do right in one thing--then do right in +another--and do right in all? If we do not do this we do wrong; we +destroy our children's self-respect, we make them despair of improving, +we make them fancy themselves bad children: that is the very surest plan +we can take to make them bad children, by making them reckless. + +But if we be wise parents--such parents to our children as St Paul was to +his spiritual children, the Corinthians--we shall do by them just what St +Paul did by these Corinthians. Before he says one harsh word to them, he +will awaken in them faith and love. He will make them trust him and love +him, all the more because he knows that through false teaching they do +not trust and love him as they used to do. But till they do, he knows +that there is no use in rebuking them. Till they trust him and love him, +they will not listen to him. And how does he try to bring them round to +him? By praising them:--by telling them that he trusts them and loves +them, because in spite of all their faults there is something in them +worthy to be loved and trusted. He begins by giving them credit for +whatever good there is in them. They are rich in all utterance and all +knowledge; that is, they are very brilliant and eloquent talkers about +spiritual things, and also very deep and subtle thinkers about spiritual +things. So far so good. These are great gifts--gifts of Christ, too,-- +tokens that God's spirit is with them, and that all they need is to be +true to His gracious inspirations. Then, when he has told them that, or +rather made them understand that he knows that, and is delighted at it, +then he can go on safely and boldly to tell them of their sins also in +the plainest and sternest and yet the most tender and fatherly language. + +This is very important, my friends. I cannot tell you fully how +important I think it, in more ways than one. I am sure that if we took +St Paul's method with our children we should succeed with them far better +than we do. And I think, I have thought long, that if we could see that +St Paul's method with those Corinthians was actually the same as God's +method with us, we should have far truer notions of God, and God's +dealings with us; and should reverence and value far more that Holy +Catholic Church into which we have been, by God's infinite mercy, +baptized, and wherein we have been educated. + +For, and now I entreat you to listen to me carefully, you who have sound +heads and earnest hearts, ready and willing to know the truth about God +and yourselves, if St Paul looked at the Corinthians in this light, may +not God have looked at them in the same light? If St Paul accepted them +for the sake of the good which was in them, in spite of all their faults, +may not God have accepted them for the sake of the good which was in +them, in spite of all their faults? and may not He accept us likewise? I +think it must be so. For was not St Paul an inspired apostle? and are +not these words of his inspired by the Holy Spirit of God? But if so, +then the Spirit of God must have looked at these Corinthians in the same +light as St Paul, and therefore God must do likewise, because the Holy +Spirit is God. Must it not be so? Can we suppose that God would take +one view of these Corinthians, and then inspire St Paul to take another +view? What does being inspired mean at all, save having the mind of +Christ and of God,--being taught to see men and things as God sees them, +to feel for them and think of them as God does? If inspiration does not +mean that, what does it mean? Therefore, I think, we have a right to +believe that St Paul's words express the mind of God concerning these +Corinthians; that God was pleased with their utterance and their +knowledge, and accepted them for that; and that in the same way God is +pleased with whatsoever He sees good in us, and accepts us for that. +But, remember, not for our own works or deservings any more than these +Corinthians. They were, and we are accepted in Christ, and for the +merits of Christ. And any good points in us, or in these Corinthians, as +St Paul says expressly (here and elsewhere), are not our own, but come +from Christ, by the inspiration of His Holy Spirit. + +I know many people do not think thus. They think of God as looking only +at our faults; as extreme to mark what is done amiss; as never content +with us; as always crying to men, Yes, you have done this and that well, +and yet not quite well, for even in what you have done there are blots +and mistakes; but this and that you have not done, and therefore you are +still guilty, still under infinite displeasure. And they think that they +exalt God's holiness by such thoughts, and magnify His hatred of sin +thereby. And they invent arguments to prove themselves right, such as +this: That because God is an infinite being, every sin committed against +Him is infinite; and therefore deserves an infinite punishment; which is +a juggle of words of which any educated man ought to be ashamed. + +I do not know where, in the Bible, they find all this. Certainly not in +the writings of St Paul. They seem to me to find it, not in the Bible at +all, but in their own hearts, judging that God must be as hard upon His +children as they are apt to be upon their own. I know that God is never +content with us, or with any man. How can He be? But in what sense is +He not content? In the sense in which a hard task-master is not content +with his slave, when he flogs him cruelly for the slightest fault? Or in +the sense in which a loving father is not content with his child, +grieving over him, counselling him, as long as he sees him, even in the +slightest matter, doing less well than he might do? Think of that, and +when you have thought of it, believe that in this grand text St Paul +speaks really by the Spirit of God, and according to the mind of God, and +teaches not these old Corinthians merely, but you and your children after +you, what is the mind of God concerning you, what is the light in which +God looks upon you. For, if you will but think over your own lives, and +over the Catechism which you learned in your youth, has not God's way of +dealing with you been just the same as St Paul's with those Corinthians, +teaching you to love and trust Him almost before He taught you the +difference between right and wrong? I know that some think otherwise. +Many who do not belong to the Church, and many, alas! who profess to +belong to the Church, will tell you that God's method is, first to +terrify men by the threats of the law and the sight of their sins and the +fear of damnation, and afterwards to reveal to them the gospel and His +mercy and salvation in Christ. Now I can only answer that it is not so. +Not so in fact. These preachers themselves may do it; but that is no +proof that God does it. What God's plan is can only be known from facts, +from experience, from what actually happens; first in God's kingdom of +nature, and next in God's kingdom of grace, which is the Church. And in +the kingdom of nature how does God begin with mankind? What are a +child's first impressions of this life? Does he hear voices from heaven +telling little children that they are lost sinners? Does he see +lightning come from heaven to strike sinners dead, or earthquakes rise +and swallow them up? Nothing of the kind. A child's first impressions +of this life, what are they but pleasure? His mother's breast, warmth, +light, food, play, flowers, and all pleasant things,--by these God +educates the child, even of the heathen and the savage:--and why? If +haply he may feel after God and find Him, and find that He is a God of +love and mercy, a giver of good things, who knows men's necessities +before they ask,--a good and loving God, and not a being such as I will +not, I dare not speak of. + +I say with the very heathen God deals thus. We have plain Scripture for +that. For we have, and thanks be to God that we have, in such times as +these, a missionary sermon preached by St Paul to the heathen at Lystra. +And in that is not one word concerning these terrors of the law. He +says, I preach to you God, whom you ought to have known of yourselves, +because He has not left Himself without witness. And what is this +witness of which the apostle speaks? Wrath and terror and destruction? +Not so, says St Paul. This is His witness, that He has sent you rain and +fruitful seasons, filling your heart with food and gladness. His +goodness, His bounty,--it is the witness of God and of the character of +God. There is wrath and terror enough, says St Paul elsewhere, awaiting +those who go on in sin. But then what does he say is their sin? +Despising the goodness of God, by which He has been trying to win mankind +to love and trust Him, before He threatens and before He punishes at all. +So much for the terrors of the law coming before the good news of the +gospel in God's kingdom of nature. + +And still less do the terrors of the law come first in God's kingdom of +grace, which is the Church. They did not come first to you or to me, or +to any one in His Church who has been taught, as churchmen should be, +their Catechism. If any have been, unhappily for them, brought up to +learn Catechisms and hymns which do not belong to the Church, and which +terrify little children with horrible notions of God's wrath, and the +torments prepared not merely for wicked men, but for unconverted +children, and then teach them to say,-- + + +"Can such a wretch as I +Escape this dreadful end?" + + +so much the worse for them. We, who are Church people, are bound to +believe that God speaks to us through the Church books, and that it was +His will that we should have been brought up to believe the Catechism. +And in that Catechism we heard not one word of these terrors of the law +or of God's wrath hanging over us. We were taught that before we even +knew right from wrong, God adopted us freely as His children, freely +forgave us our original sin for the sake of Christ's blood, freely +renewed us by His Holy Spirit, freely placed us in His Church;--that we +might love Him, because He first loved us; trust Him because He has done +all that even God could do to win our trust; and obey Him, because we are +boundlessly in debt to Him for boundless mercies. This is God's method +with us in His Church, and what is it but St Paul's method with these +Corinthians? + +Believe this, then, you who wish to be Churchmen in spirit and in truth. +Believe that St Paul's conduct is to you a type and pattern of what God +does, and what you ought to do. That God's method of winning you to do +right is to make you love Him and trust Him; and that your method of +winning your children to do right is to make them love and trust you. +Let us remember that if our children are not perfect, they at least +inherited their imperfections from us; and if our Father in heaven, from +whom we inherit no sin, but only good, have patience with us, shall we +not have patience with our children, who owe to us their fallen nature? + +Ah! cast thy bread upon the waters,--the bread which even the poorest can +give to their children abundantly and without stint,--the bread of +charity,--human tenderness, forbearance, hopefulness,--cast that bread +upon the waters, and thou shalt find it after many days. + + + +SERMON XXII. GOD IS OUR REFUGE + + + +Westminster Abbey, 1873. + +Psalm xlvi. 1. "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in +trouble." + +This is a noble psalm, full of hope and comfort; and it will be more and +more full of hope and comfort, the more faithfully we believe in the +incarnation, the passion, the resurrection, and the ascension of our Lord +Jesus Christ. For if we are to give credit to His express words, and to +those of every book of the New Testament, and to the opinion of that +Church into which we are baptised, then Jesus Christ is none other than +the same Jehovah, Lord, and God who brought the Jews out of Egypt, who +guided them and governed them through all their history--teaching, +judging, rewarding, punishing them and all the nations of the earth. +This psalm, therefore, is concerning our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom all +power is given in heaven and earth, and who ascended up on high; that He +might be as He had been from the beginning, King of kings and Lord of +lords, the Master of this world and all the nations in it. This psalm, +therefore, is a hymn concerning the kingdom of Christ and of God. It +tells us something of the government which Christ has been exercising +over the world ever since the beginning of it, and which He is exercising +over this world now. It bids us be still, and know that He is God--that +He will be exalted among the nations, and will be exalted in the earth, +whether men like it or not; but that they ought to like it and rejoice in +it, and find comfort in the thought that Christ Jesus is their refuge and +their strength--a very present help in trouble--as the old Jew who wrote +this psalm found comfort. + +When this psalm was written, or what particular events it speaks of, I +cannot tell, for I do not think we have any means of finding out. It may +have been written in the time of David, or of Solomon, or of Hezekiah. +It may possibly have been written much later. It seems to mo probably to +refer--but I speak with extreme diffidence--to that Assyrian invasion, +and that preservation of Jerusalem, of which we heard in the magnificent +first lesson for this morning and this afternoon; when, at the same time +that the Assyrians were crushing, one by one, every nation in the East, +there was, as the elder Isaiah and Micah tell us plainly, a great +volcanic outbreak in the Holy Land. But all this matters very little to +us; because events analogous to those of which it speaks have happened +not once only, but many times, and will happen often again. And this +psalm lays down a rule for judging of such startling and terrible events +whenever they happen, and for saying of them, "God is our refuge and +strength, a very present help in trouble." It seems from the beginning +of the psalm that there had been earthquakes or hurricanes in Judea--more +probably earthquakes, which were and are now frequent there. It seems as +if the land had been shaken, and cliffs thrown into the sea, which had +rolled back in a mighty wave, such as only too often accompanies an +earthquake. But the Psalmist knew that that was God's doing; and +therefore he would not fear, though the earth was moved, and though the +hills were earned into the very midst of the sea. It seems, moreover, +that Jerusalem itself had, as in Hezekiah's time, not been shaken, or at +least seriously injured, by the earthquake. But why? "God is in the +midst of her, therefore shall she not be removed." It seems, also, as if +the earthquake or hurricane had been actually a benefit to Jerusalem-- +which was often then, and has been often since, in want of water--that +either fresh springs had broken out, or abundant rain had fallen, as +occurs at times in such convulsions of nature. But that, too, was God's +doing on behalf of His chosen city. "The rivers of the flood" had made +"glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the most +highest." + +Moreover, there seem to have been great disturbances and wars among the +nations round. The heathen had made much ado, and the kingdoms had been +moved. But whatever their plans were, it was God who had brought them to +naught. God had shewed His voice, and the earth melted away; and (we +know not how) discomfiture had fallen upon them, and a general peace had +followed. "O come hither," says the Psalmist, "and behold the works of +the Lord, what desolations He has made in the earth." Not a desolation +of cruelty and tyranny: but a desolation of mercy and justice; putting +down the proud, the aggressive, the ruthless, and helping the meek, the +simple, the industrious, and the innocent. It is He, says the Psalmist, +who has made wars to cease in all the world, who has broken the bow and +snapped the spear in sunder, and burned the chariots in the fire; and so, +by the voice of fact, said to these kings and to their armies, if they +would but understand it, "Be still, and know that I am God"--that I, not +you, will be exalted among the nations--that I, not you, will be exalted +in the earth. + +Such is the 46th Psalm, one of the noblest utterances of the whole Old +Testament. And is it not as true for us now, ay, for all nations and all +mankind now, as it was when it was uttered? Is not Jesus Christ the same +yesterday, to-day, and for ever? Have His words passed away? Did He say +in vain, "All power is given unto me in heaven and earth?" Did He say in +vain, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world?" I trust +not. I trust and I hope that you, or at least some here, believe that +Christ is ruling and guiding the world, the church, and every individual +soul who trusts in Him toward-- + + +"One far off divine event, +To which the whole creation moves." + + +I hope you do have that trust, for your own sakes, for the sake of your +own happiness, your own sound peace of mind; for then, and then only, you +can afford to be hopeful concerning yourselves, your families, your +country, and the whole human race. It must be so. If you believe that +He who hung upon the cross for all mankind is your refuge and strength, +and the refuge and strength of all mankind, then, amid all the changes +and chances of this mortal life, you can afford to be still calm in +sudden calamity, patient in long afflictions; for you know that He is +God, He is the Lord, He is the Redeemer, He is the King. He knows best. +He must be right, whosoever else is wrong. Let Him do what seemeth Him +good. + +Now I cannot but feel (what wiser and better men than I am feel more +deeply), that this old-fashioned faith in the living Christ is dying out +among us. That men do not believe as they used to do in the living Lord +and in His government, in that perpetual divine providence which the +Scriptures call "the kingdom of God." They have lost faith in Christ's +immediate and personal government of the world and its nations; and, +therefore, they are tempted more and more, either to try to misgovern the +world themselves, or to fancy that Christ has entrusted His government, +as to a substitute and vicar, to an aged priest at Rome. They have lost +faith, likewise, in Christ's immediate government of themselves; their +own fortunes, their own characters, and inmost souls; and, therefore, +they are tempted either to follow no rule or guidance save their own +instincts, passions, fancies; or else, in despair at their own inward +anarchy, to commit the keeping of their souls to directors and +confessors, instead of to Christ Himself, the Lord of the spirits of all +flesh. + +Yes, the faith which keeps a man ever face to face with God and with +Christ, in the least as well as in the greatest events of life; which +says in prosperity and in adversity, in plenty and scarcity, in joy and +sorrow, in peace and war,--It is the Lord's doing, it is the Lord's +sending, and therefore we can trust in the Lord--that faith is growing, I +fear, very rare. That faith was more common, I think, a generation or +two back, in old-fashioned church people than in any other. It could not +help being so; for the good old Prayer-Book upon which they were brought +up is more full of that simple and living faith in the Lord, from +beginning to end, than any other book on earth except the Bible. It was +more common, too, and I suppose always will be, among the poor than among +the rich; for the poor soon find out how little they have to depend upon +except the Lord and His good providence; while the rich are tempted, and +always will be, to depend upon their own wealth and their own power, to +trust in uncertain riches, and say, "Soul, take thine ease, thou hast +much goods laid up for many years." It was more common, too, and I +suppose always will be, among the old than among the young; for the young +are tempted to trust not in the Lord, but in their own health, strength, +wit, courage, and to put their hopes, not on God's Providence, but on the +unknown chapter of accidents in the future, most of which will never come +to pass; while the old have learned by experience and disappointment the +vanity of human riches, the helplessness of human endeavour, the +blindness of human foresight, and are content to go where God leads them, +and say, "I will go forth in the strength of the Lord God, and will make +mention of Thy righteousness only. Thou, O God, hast taught me from my +youth up until now: therefore will I tell of Thy wondrous works. +Forsake me not, O God, in mine old age, when I am grey-headed; until I +have showed Thy strength unto this generation, and Thy power to all them +which are yet for to come." + +But, for some reason or other, this generation does not seem to care to +see God's strength; and those that are yet for to come seem likely to +believe less and less in God's power--believe less and less that they are +in Christ's kingdom, and that Christ is ruling over them and all the +world. They have not faith in the Living Lord. But they must get back +that faith, if they wish to keep that wealth and prosperity after which +every one scrambles so greedily now-a-days; for those who forget God are +treading, they and their children after them, not, as they fancy, the +road to riches--they are treading the road to ruin. So it always was, so +it always will be. Yet the majority of mankind will not see it, and the +preacher must not expect to be believed when he says it. Nevertheless it +is true. Those who forget that they are in Christ's kingdom, Christ does +not go out of His way to punish them. They simply punish themselves. +They earn their own ruin by the very laws of human nature. They must +find hope in something and strength in something; and if they will not +see that God is their hope, they will hope to get rich as fast as +possible, and make themselves safe so. If they will not see that God is +their strength, they will find strength in cunning, in intrigue, in +flattery of the strong and tyranny over the weak, and in making +themselves strong so. They want a present help in trouble; and if they +will not believe that God is a present help in trouble, they will try to +help themselves out of their trouble by begging, lying, swindling, +forging, and all those meannesses which fill our newspapers with shameful +stories day by day, and which all arise simply out of want of faith in +God. + +Moreover, it is written, "Be still, and know that I am God." And if men +will not be still, they will not know that He is God. And if they do not +know that the gracious Christ is God, they will not be still; and +therefore they will grow more and more restless, discontented, envious, +violent, irreverent, full of passions which injure their own souls, and +sap the very foundations of order and society and civilised life. And +what can come out of all these selfish passions, when they are let loose, +but that in which selfishness must always end, but that same mistrust and +anarchy, ending in that same poverty and wretchedness, under which so +many countries of the world now lie, as it were, weltering in the mire. +Alas! say rather weltering in their own life-blood--and all because they +have forgotten the living God? + +Oh, my dear friends, take these words solemnly to heart--for yourselves, +and for your children after you. If you wish to prosper on the earth, +let God be in all your thoughts. Remember that the Lord is on your right +hand; and then, and then alone, will you not be moved, either to terror +or to sin, by any of the chances and changes of this mortal life. "Fret +not thyself," says the Psalmist, "else shalt thou be moved to do evil." +And the only way not to fret yourselves is to remember that God is your +refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. "He that +believeth," saith the Prophet, "shall not make haste"--not hurry himself +into folly and disappointment and shame. Why should you hurry, if you +remember that you are in the kingdom of Christ and of God? You cannot +hurry God's Providence, if you would; you ought not, if you could. God +MUST know best; God's Laws MUST work at the right pace, and fulfil His +Will in the right way and at the right time. As for what that Will is, +we can know from the angels' song on Christmas Eve, which told us how +God's Will was a good will towards men. + +For who is our Lord? Who is our King? Who is our Governor? Who is our +Lawgiver? Who is our Guide? Christ, who died for us on Calvary; who +rose again for us; who ascended into heaven for us; who sits at God's +right hand for us; who sent down His Holy Spirit at the first +Whitsuntide; and sends Him down for ever to us; that by His gracious +inspiration we may both perceive and know what we ought to do, and also +may have grace and power faithfully to fulfil the same. With such a King +over us, how can the world but go right? With such a King over us, what +refuge or strength or help in trouble do we need but Him Himself?--His +Providence, which is Love, and His Laws, which are Life. + + + +SERMON XXIII. PRIDE AND HUMILITY + + + +Eversley, 1869. Chester Cathedral, 1870. + +1st. Peter v. 5. "God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the +humble." + +Let me, this evening, say a few words to you on theology, that is, on the +being and character of God. You need not be afraid that I shall use long +or difficult words. Sound theology is simple enough, and I hope that my +words about it will be simple enough for the worst scholar here to +understand. + +"God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble." Now, this +saying is an old one. It had been said, in different words, centuries +before St Peter said it. The old prophets and psalmists say it again and +again. The idea of it runs through the whole of the Old Testament, as +anyone must know who has read his Bible with common care. But why should +it be true? What reason is there for it? What is there in the character +of God which makes it reasonable, probable, likely to be true? That God +would give grace to the humble, and reward men for bowing down before His +Majesty, seems not so difficult to understand. But why should God resist +the proud? How does a man's being proud injure God, who is "I AM THAT I +AM;" perfectly self-sufficient, having neither parts nor passions, who +tempteth no man, neither is tempted of any? "Why should God go out of +His way, as it were, to care for such a paltry folly as the pride of an +ignorant, weak, short-sighted creature like man? + +Now, let us take care that we do not give a wrong answer to this +question--an answer which too many have given, in their hearts and minds, +though not perhaps in words, and so have fallen into abject and cruel +superstitions, from which may God keep us, and our children after us. +They have said to themselves, God is proud, and has a right to be proud: +and therefore He chooses no one to be proud but Himself. Pride in man +calls out His pride, and makes Him angry. They have thought of God as +some despotic Sultan of the Indies, who is surrounded, not by free men, +but by slaves; who will have those slaves at his beck and nod. In one +word, they have thought of God as a tyrant. They have thought of God, +and, may God forgive them, have talked of God as if He were like +Nebuchadnezzar of old, who, when the three young men refused to obey him, +was filled with rage and fury, and cast them into a burning fiery +furnace. That is some men's God--a God who must be propitiated by +crouching and flattery, lest he should destroy them--a God who holds all +men as his slaves, and therefore hates pride in them. For what has a +slave to do with pride? + +But that is not the God of the Bible, my friends, nor the God of Nature +either, the God who made the world and man. For He is not a tyrant, but +a Father. He wishes men not to be His slaves, but His children. And if +He resists the proud, it is because children have no right to be proud. +If He resists the proud, it is in fatherly love, because it is bad for +them to be proud. Not because the proud are injuring God, but because +they are injuring themselves, does God resist them, and bring them low, +and show them what they are, and where they are, that they may repent, +and be converted, and turned back into the right way. + +Remember always that God is your Father. This question, like all +questions between God and man, is a question between a father and a +child; and if you see it in any other light, and judge it by any other +rule, you see it and judge it wrongly, and learn nothing about it, or +worse than nothing. If God were really angry with, really hated, the +proud man, or any other man, would He need only to resist him? would He +have to wait till the next life to punish him? My dear friends, if God +really hated you or me, do you not suppose that He would simply destroy +us--get rid of us--abolish us and annihilate us off the face of the +earth, just as we crush a gnat when it bites us? + +That God can do; and more--He does it now and then. He will endure with +much long suffering vessels of wrath, fitted to destruction: but a +moment sometimes comes when He will endure them no longer, and He +destroys them with the destruction for which they have fitted themselves. +In them is fulfilled the parable of the rich man, who said to himself, +"Soul, thou hast much good laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, +drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy +soul shall be required of thee." + +But for the most part, thanks to the mercy of our Heavenly Father, we are +not destroyed by our pride and for our pride. We are only chastened, as +a father chastens his child. And that we are chastised for pride, who +does not know? What proverb more common, what proverb more true, than +that after pride comes a fall? Do we not know (if we do not, we shall +know sooner or later) that the surest way to fail in any undertaking is +to set about it in self-will and self-conceit; that the surest way to do +a foolish thing, is to fancy that we are going to do a very wise one; +that the surest way to make ourselves ridiculous in the eyes of our +fellow-men, is to assume airs, and boast, shew ourselves off, and end by +shewing off only our own folly? + +Why is it so? Why has God so ordered the world and human nature, that +pride punishes itself? Because, I presume, pride is begotten and born of +a lie, and God hates a lie, because all lies lead to ruin, and this lie +of pride above all. It is as it were the root lie of all lies. The very +lie by which, as old tales tell, Satan fell from heaven, and when he +tried to become a god in his own right, found himself, to his surprise +and disappointment, only a devil. For pride and self-conceit contradict +the original constitution of man and the universe, which is this--that of +God are all things, and in God are all things, and for God are all +things. Man depends on God. Self tells him that he depends on himself. +Man has nothing but what he receives from God. Self tells him that what +he has is his own, and that he has a right to do with it what he likes. +Man knows nothing but what God teaches him. Self tells him that he has +found out everything for himself, and can say what he thinks fit without +fear of God or man. Therefore the proud, self-willed, self-conceited man +must come to harm, like Malvolio in the famous play, merely because he is +in the blackest night of ignorance. He has mistaken who he is, what he +is, where he is. He is fancying himself, as many mad men do, the centre +of the universe; while God is the centre of the universe. He is just as +certain to come to harm as a man would be on board a ship, who should +fancy that he himself, and not the ship, was keeping him afloat, and step +overboard to walk upon the sea. We all know what would happen to that +man. Let us thank God our Father that He not only knows what would +happen to such men: but desires to save them from the consequences of +their own folly, by letting them feel the consequences of their own +folly. + +Oh my friends, let us search our hearts, and pray to our Father in Heaven +to take out of them, by whatever painful means, the poisonous root of +pride, self-conceit, self-will. So only shall we be truly strong--truly +wise. So only shall we see what and where we are. + +Do we pride ourselves on being something? Shall we pride ourselves on +health and strength? A tile falling off the roof, a little powder and +lead in the hands of a careless child, can blast us out of this world in +a moment--whither, who can tell? What is our cleverness--our strength of +mind? A tiny blood vessel bursting on the brain, will make us in one +moment paralytic, helpless, babblers, and idiots. What is our knowledge +of the world? That of a man, who is forcing his way alone through a +thick and pathless wood, where he has never been before, to a place which +he has never seen. What is our wisdom--What does a wise man say of his? + + +"So runs my dream; but what am I? +An infant crying in the night; +An infant crying for the light; +And with no language but a cry." + + +Yes. Our true knowledge is to know our own ignorance. Our true strength +is to know our own weakness. Our true dignity is to confess that we have +no dignity, and are nobody, and nothing in ourselves, and to cast +ourselves down before the Dignity of God, under the shadow of whose +wings, and in the smile of whose countenance, alone, is any created being +safe. Let us cling to our Father in Heaven, as a child, walking in the +night, clings to his father's hand. Let us take refuge on the lowest +step of the throne of Christ our Lord, and humble ourselves under His +mighty hand; and, instead of exalting ourselves in undue time, leave Him +to exalt us again in due time, when the chastisement has told on us, and +patience had her perfect work; casting all our care on Him, who surely +cares for us still, if He cared for us once, enough to die for us on the +cross; caring for God's opinion and not for the opinion of the world. +And then we shall be among the truly humble, to whom God gives grace-- +first grace in their own hearts, that they may live gracious lives, +modest and contented, dignified and independent, trusting in God and not +in man; and then, grace in the eyes of their fellow-men, for what is more +graceful, what is more gracious, pleasant to see, pleasant to deal with, +than the humble man, the modest man? I do not mean the cringing man, the +flattering man, the man who apes humility for his own ends, because he +wants to climb high, by pretending to be lowly. He is neither graceful +or gracious. He is only contemptible, and he punishes himself. He +spoils his own game. He defeats his own purpose. For men despise him, +and use him, and throw him away when they have done with him, as they +throw away a dirty worn-out tool. + +Not him do I mean by the humble man, the modest man. I mean the man who, +like a good soldier, knows his place and keeps it, knows his duty, and +does it; who expects to be treated as a man should be, with fairness, +consideration, respect, kindness--and God will always treat him so, +whether man does or not: but who, beyond that, does not trouble his mind +with whether he be private or sergeant, lieutenant or colonel, but with +whether he can do his duty as private, his duty as sergeant, his duty as +lieutenant, his duty as colonel; who has learnt the golden lesson, which +so few learn in these struggling, envious, covetous, ambitious days, +namely, to abide in the calling to which he is called, and in whatsoever +state he is, therewith to be content. To be sure that in God's world, +the only safe way to become ruler over many things is to be a good ruler +over a few things; that if he is fit for better work than he is doing +now, God will find that out, sooner and more surely than he, or any man +will, and will set him about it; and that, meanwhile, God has set him +about work which he can do, and that the true wisdom is to do that and do +it well, and so approve himself alike to man and God, humbling himself +under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt him in good time, by +giving him grace and strength to do great things, as He has given him +grace and strength to do small things. + +Am I speaking almost to deaf ears? I fear that few here will take my +advice. I fear that many here will have excellent excuses and plain +reasons, why they should not take it. Be it so. They cannot alter +eternal fact. In one word, they cannot alter Theology. They cannot +alter the laws of God. They cannot alter the character of God. And +sooner or later, in this world or in the next, they will find out that +Theology is right: and St Peter is right: that God DOES resist the +proud, that God DOES give grace to the humble. + + + +SERMON XXIV. WORSHIP + + + +Eversley, September 4, 1870. + +Revelation xi. 16, 17. "And the four and twenty elders, which sat before +God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, saying, We +give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to +come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned." + +My dear friends,--I wish to speak a few plain words to you this morning, +on a matter which has been on my mind ever since I returned from Chester, +namely,--The duty of the congregation to make the responses in Church. + +Now I am not going to scold--even to blame. To do so would be not only +unjust, but ungrateful in me, to a congregation which is as attentive and +as reverent as you are. Indeed, I am the only person to blame, for I +ought to have spoken on the subject long ago. + +As it is, coming fresh from Chester, and accustomed to hear +congregations, in that city and in the country round, reading the +responses aloud throughout the service with earnestness, and reverence, I +was painfully struck by the silence in this church. I had before grown +so accustomed to it that I did not perceive it, just as one grows +accustomed to a great many things which ought not to be, till one forgets +that, however usual they may be, wrong they are, and ought to be amended. + +Now, it is always best to begin at the root of a matter. So to begin at +the root of this. Why do we come to church at all? + +Some will say, to hear the sermon. That is often too true. Some folks +do come to church to hear a man get up and preach, just as they go to a +concert to hear a man get up and sing, to amuse and interest them for +half-an-hour. Some go to hear sermons, doubtless, in order that they may +learn from them. But are there not, especially in these days of cheap +printing, books of devotion, tracts, sermons, printed, which contain +better preaching than any which they are likely to hear in church? If +TEACHING is all that they come to church for, they can get that in plenty +at home. Moreover, nine people out of ten who come to church need no +teaching at all. They know already, just as well as the preacher, what +is right and what is wrong; they know their duty; they know how to do it. +And if they do not intend to do it, all the talking in the world (as far +as I have seen) will not make them do it. Moreover, if the teaching in +the sermon be what we come to church for, why have we prayer-books full +of prayers, thanksgivings, psalms, and so forth, which are not sermons at +all? What is the use of the service, as we call it, if the sermon is the +only or even the principal object for which we come? I trust there are +many of you here who agree with me so fully, that you would come +regularly to church, as I should, even if there were no sermon, knowing +that God preaches to every man, in the depths of his own heart and +conscience, far more solemn and startling sermons than any mortal man can +utter. + +Others will answer that they come to church to say their prayers. Well: +that is a wiser answer than the last. But if that be all, why can they +not say their prayers at home? God is everywhere. God is all-seeing, +all-hearing, about our path and about our bed, and spying out all our +ways. Is He not as ready to hear in the field, and in the workshop and +in the bed-chamber, as in the church? "When thou prayest," says our +Lord, "enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to +thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall +reward thee openly." Those are not my words, they are the words of our +Lord Jesus Christ Himself; and none can gainsay them. None dare take +from them or add to them; and our coming to church, therefore, must be +for more reasons than for the mere saying of our prayers. + +Others will answer--very many, indeed, will answer--we come to church +because--because, we hardly know why, but because we ought to come to +church. + +Some may call that a silly answer, only fit for children: but I do not +think so. It seems to me a very rational answer: perhaps a very +reverent and godly answer. A man comes to church for reasons which he +cannot explain to himself: just so--and many of the deepest and best +feelings of our hearts, are just those that we cannot explain to +ourselves, though we believe in them, would fight for them, die for them. +The man who frankly confesses that he does not quite know why he comes to +church is most likely to know at last why he does come; most likely to +understand the answer which Scripture gives to the question why we come +to church. And what answer is that? Strange to say, one which people +now-a-days, with their Bibles in their hands, have almost forgotten. We +come to church, according to the Bible, to worship God. + +To worship. Think awhile what that ancient and deep and noble word +signifies. So ancient is it, that man learnt to worship even before he +learnt to till the ground. So deep, that even to this day no man +altogether understands what worshipping means. So noble, that the +noblest souls on earth delight most in worshipping; that the angels, and +archangels, and the spirits of just men made perfect, find no nobler +occupation, no higher enjoyment, in the heavenly world than worshipping +for ever Him whose glory fills all earth and heaven. To worship. That +power of worship, that longing to worship, that instinct that it is his +duty to worship something, is--if you will receive it--the true +distinction between men and brutes. Philosophers have tried to define +man as this sort of animal and that sort of animal. The only sound +definition is this: man is THE one animal who worships; and he worships, +just because he is NOT merely an animal, but a man, with an immortal soul +within him. Just in as far as man sinks down again to the level of the +brute--whether in some savage island of the South Seas, or in some +equally savage alley of our own great cities--God forgive us that such +human brutes should exist here in Christian England--just so far he feels +no need to worship. He thinks of no unseen God or powers above him. He +cares for nothing but what his five senses tell him of; he feels no need +to go to church and worship. Just in as far as a man rises to the true +standard of a man; just in as far as his heart and his mind are truly +cultivated, truly developed, just so far does he become more and more +aware of an unseen world about him; more and more aware that in God he +lives and moves and has his being--and so much the more he feels the +longing and the duty to worship that unseen God on whom he and the whole +universe depend. + +I know what seeming exceptions there are to this rule, especially in +these days. But I say that they are only seeming exceptions. I never +knew yet (and I have known many of them) a virtuous and high-minded +unbeliever: but what there was in him the instinct of worshipping--the +longing to worship--he knew not what, the spirit of reverence, which +confesses its own ignorance and weakness, and is ready to set up, like +the Athenians of old, an altar--in the heart at least--to the unknown +God. + +But how to worship Him? The word itself, if we consider what it means, +will tell us that. Worship, without doubt, is the same word as worth- +ship. It signifies the worth of Him whom we worship, that He is worthy,- +-a worthy God, not merely because of what He has done, but because of +what He is worth in Himself. Good, excellent, and perfect in Himself, +and therefore to be admired, praised, reverenced, adored, worshipped-- +even if He had never done a kindness to you or to any human being. +Remember this last truth. For true it is; and we remember it too little. +Of course we know that God is good; first and mainly by His goodness to +us. Because He is good enough to give us life and breath and all things, +we conclude that He is a good being. Because He is good enough to have +not spared His only begotten Son, but freely given Him for us, when we +were still sinners and rebels, we conclude Him to be the best of all +beings, a being of boundless goodness. But it is because God is so +perfectly and gloriously good in Himself, and not merely because He has +done US kindnesses, yea, heaped us with undeserved benefits, that we are +to worship Him. For His kindnesses we owe Him gratitude, and gratitude +without end. But for His excellent and glorious goodness, we owe Him +worship, and worship without end. + +There are some hearts, surely, among you here who know what I mean: some +here who have felt reverence and admiration for some great and good human +being, and who have felt, too, that that reverence and admiration is one +of the most elevating and unselfish of all feelings, and quite distinct +from any gratitude, however just, for favours done; who can say, in their +hearts, of some noble human being: "If he never did me a kindness, never +spoke to me, never knew of my existence, I should honour him and love him +just the same, for the noble and good personage that he is, irrespective +of little me, and my paltry wants." Then, even such ought to be our +feeling toward God, our worship of God. Even so should we adore Him who +alone is worthy of glory, and honour, and praise, and thanksgiving, +because He is good, and beautiful, and wise Himself, and the cause and +source of all goodness, and beauty, and wisdom, in all created beings, +and in the whole universe, past, present, and to come. Consider, I +beseech you, those glimpses of the Eternal Worship in heaven which St +John gives us in the Book of Revelation--How he saw the elders fall down +before Him who sat upon the throne, and worship Him that liveth for ever, +and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: "Thou art worthy, O +Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and power; for Thou hast created all +things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created." + +Consider that--Those blessed spirits of just men made perfect, confessing +that they are nothing, but that Christ is all; that they have nothing, +but that they owe all to Christ; and declaring Him worthy--not merely for +any special mercies and kindnesses to themselves, not even for that +crowning mercy of His incarnation, His death, His redemption; even that +seems to have vanished from their minds at the sight of Him as He is. +They glorify Him and worship Him simply for what He is in Himself, for +what He would have been even if--which God forbid--He had never stooped +from heaven to live and die on earth--for what He is and was and will be +through eternity, the Creator and the Ruler, who has made all things, and +for whose pleasure they are and were created. Consider that one text. +The more I consider it, the more awful and yet most blessed depths of +teaching do I find therein: and consider this text also, another glimpse +of the worship which is in heaven. + +"I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, singing Alleluia; +salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God; for +true and righteous are His judgments." What the special judgment was, +for which these blessed souls worshipped God, I shall not argue here. It +is enough for us that they worshipped God, as we should worship Him, +because His judgments were righteous and true, were like Himself, proved +Him to be what He was, worthy in Himself, because He is righteous and +true. And consider then, again--the text. Before Him, the righteous and +true Being who has created all things for His pleasure, and therefore has +made them wisely and well; before Him who reigns, and will reign till He +has put all His enemies under His foot; before Him, I say, bow down +yourselves, and find true nobleness in confessing your own paltriness, +true strength in confessing your own weakness, true wisdom in confessing +your own ignorance, true holiness in confessing your own sins. + +And not alone merely, each in your own chamber, or in your own heart. +That is the place for private confessions of sin, for private prayers for +help; for all the secrets which we dare not, and need not tell to any +human being. They indeed are not out of place here in church. Those who +composed our Prayer Book felt that, and have filled our services, the +Litany especially, with prayers in which each of us can offer up his own +troubles to God, if he but remember that he is offering up to God his +neighbour's troubles also, and the troubles of all mankind. For this is +the reason why we pray together in church; why all men, in all ages, +heathen as well as Christian, have had the instinct of assembling +together for public worship. They may have fancied often that their +deity dwelt in one special spot, and that they must go thither to find +him. They may have fancied that he or she dwelt in some particular +image, and that they must visit, and pray to that particular image, if +they wished their prayers to be heard. All this, however, have men done +in their foolishness; but beneath that foolishness there have been always +more rational ideas, sounder notions. They felt that it was God who had +made them into families, and therefore whole families met together to +worship in common Him of whom every family in heaven and earth is named. +That God had formed them into societies whether into tribes, as of old, +or into parishes, as here now; and therefore whole parishes came together +to worship God, whose laws they were bound to obey in their parochial +society. They felt that it was God who had made them into Nations (as +the psalm says which we repeat every Sunday morning), and not they +themselves; and therefore they conceived the grand idea of National +churches, in which the whole nation should, if possible, worship Sunday +after Sunday, at the same time, and in the same words, that God to whom +they owed their order, their freedom, their strength, their safety, their +National unity and life. And not in silence merely. These blessed souls +in heaven are not silent. They in heaven follow out the human instinct +which they had on earth, which all men (when they recollect themselves, +will have), when they feel a thing deeply, when they believe a thing +strongly, to speak it--to speak it aloud. They do not fancy in heaven, +as the priests of Baal did on earth, that they must cry aloud, or God +could not hear them. They do not fancy, as the heathen do, that they +must make vain repetitions, and say the same words over and over again by +rote, because they will be heard for their much speaking; neither need +you and I. But yet they spoke aloud, because out of the fulness of the +heart the mouth speaketh; and so should you and I. + +And this brings me to the special object of my sermon. I have told you +what (as it seems to me) Worship means; why we worship; why we worship +together; and why we ought to worship aloud. Believe me, this last is +your duty just as much as mine. The services of the Church of England +are so constructed that the whole congregation may take part in them, +that they may answer aloud in the responses, that they may say Amen at +the end of each prayer, just as they read or chant aloud the alternate +verses of the Psalms. The minister does not say prayers for them, but +with them. He is only their leader, their guide. And if they are not to +join in with their voices, there is really no reason why he should use +his voice, why he should not say the prayers in silence and to himself, +if the congregation are to say Amen in silence and to themselves. Each +person in the congregation ought to join aloud, first for the sake of his +neighbours, and then for his own sake. + +For the sake of his neighbours: for to hear each other's voices stirs up +earnestness, stirs up attention, keeps off laziness, inattention, and by +a wholesome infection, makes all the congregation of one mind, as they +are of one speech, in glorifying God. And for his own sake, too. For, +believe me, when a man utters the responses aloud, he awakens his own +thoughts and his own feelings, too. He speaks to himself, and he hears +himself remind himself of God, and of his duty to God, and acknowledge +himself openly (as in confirmation) bound to believe and do what he, by +his own confession, has assented unto. + +Believe me, my dear friends, this is no mere theory. It is to me a +matter of fact and experience. I cannot, I have long found, keep my +attention steady during a service, if I do not make the responses aloud;- +-if I do not join in with my voice, I find my thoughts wandering; and I +am bound to suppose that the case is the same with you. Do not, +therefore, think me impertinent or interfering, if I ask you all to take +your due share in worshipping God in this church with your voices, as +well as with your hearts. Let these services be more lively, more +earnest, more useful to us all than they have been, by making them more a +worship of the whole congregation, and not of the minister alone. I have +read of a great church in the East, in days long, long ago, in which the +responses of the vast congregation were so unanimous, so loud, that they +sounded (says the old writer) like a clap of thunder. That is too much +to expect in our little country church: but at least, I beg you, take +such an open part in the responses, that you shall all feel that you are +really worshipping together the same God and Christ, with the same heart +and mind; and that if a stranger shall come in, he may say in his heart: +Here are people who are in earnest, who know what they are about, and are +not ashamed of trying to do it; people who evidently mean what they say, +and therefore say what they mean. + + + +SERMON XXV. THE PEACE OF GOD + + + +Baltimore, U.S., 1874. Westminster Abbey. November 8, 1874. + +Colossians. iii 15. "Let the peace of God rule in your hearts." + +The peace of God. That is what the priest will invoke for you all, when +you leave this abbey. Do you know what it is? Whether you do or not, +let me tell you in a few words, what I seem to myself to have learned +concerning that peace. What it is? how we can obtain it? and why so many +do not obtain it, and are, therefore, not at peace? + +It is worth while to do so. For these are not peaceful times. The peace +of God is rare among us. Some say that it is rarer than it was. I know +not how that may be; but I see all manner of causes at work around us +which should make it rare. We live faster than our forefathers. We +hurry, we bustle, we travel, we are eager for daily, almost for hourly +news from every quarter, as if the world could not get on without us, or +we without knowing a hundred facts which merely satisfy the curiosity of +the moment; and as if the great God could not take excellent care of us +all meanwhile. We are eager, too, to get money, and get more money +still--piercing ourselves through too often, as the Apostle warned us-- +with many sorrows, and falling into foolish and hurtful lusts, which +drown men in destruction and perdition. We are luxurious--more and more +fond of show; more apt to live up to our incomes, and probably a little +beyond; more and more craving for this or that gew-gaw, especially in +dress and ornament, which if our neighbour has, we must have too, or we +shall be mortified, envious. Nay, so strong is this temper of rivalry, +of allowing no superiors, grown in us, that we have made now-a-days a god +of what used to be considered the basest of all vices--the vice of envy-- +and dignify it with the names of equality and independence. Men in this +temper of mind cannot be at peace. They are not content; they cannot be +content. + +But with what are they not content? That is a question worth asking. +For there is a discontent (as I have told you ere now) which is noble, +manful, heroic, and divine. Just as there is a discontent which is base, +mean, unmanly, earthly--sometimes devilish. There is a discontent which +is certain, sooner or later, to bring with it the peace of God. There is +a discontent which drives the peace of God away, for ever and a day. And +the noble and peace-bringing discontent is to be discontented with +ourselves, as very few are. And the mean peace-destroying discontent is +to be discontented with things around us, as too many are. Now, my +friends, I cannot see into your hearts; and I ought not to see. For if I +saw, I should be tempted to judge; and if I judged, I should most +certainly judge rashly, shallowly, and altogether wrong. Therefore +examine yourselves, and judge yourselves in this matter. Ask yourselves +each, Am I at peace? And if not, then apply to yourselves the rule of +old Epictetus, the heroic slave, who, heathen though he was, sought God, +and the peace of God, and found them, doubt it not, long, long ago. Ask +yourselves with Epictetus, Am I discontented with things which are in my +own power, or with things which are not in my own power?--that is, +discontented with myself, or with things which are not myself? Am I +discontented with myself, or with things about me, and outside of me? +Consider this last question well, if you wish to be true Christians, true +philosophers, and, indeed, true men and women. + +But what is it that troubles you? What is it you want altered? On what +have you set your heart and affections? Is it something outside you?-- +something which is NOT you yourself? If so, there is no use in +tormenting your soul about it; for it is not in your own power, and you +will never alter it to your liking; and more, you need not alter it, for +you are not responsible for it. God sends it as it is, for better, for +worse, and you must make up your mind to what God sends. Do I mean that +we are to submit slavishly to circumstances, like dumb animals? Heaven +forbid. We are not, like Epictetus, slaves, but free men. And we are +made in God's image, and have each our spark, however dim, of that +creative genius, that power of creating or of altering circumstances, by +which God made all worlds; and to use that, is of our very birthright, or +what would all education, progress, civilisation be, save rebellion +against God? But when we have done our utmost, how little shall we have +done! Canst thou,--asks our Lord, looking with loving sadness on the +hurry and the struggle of the human anthill--canst thou by taking thought +add one cubit to thy stature? Why, is there a wise man or woman in this +abbey, past fifty years of age, who does not know that, in spite of all +their toil and struggle, they have gone not whither they willed, but +whither God willed? Have they not found out that for one circumstance of +their lives which they could alter, there have been twenty which they +could not, some born with them, some forced on them by an overruling +Providence, irresistible indeed--but, as I hold, most loving and most +fatherly, though often severe--even to agony--but irresistible still-- +till what they have really gained by fighting circumstance, however +valiantly, has been the MORAL gain, the gain in character?--the power to +live the heroic life, which + + + "Is not as idle ore, +But heated hot with burning fears, +And bathed in baths of hissing tears, +And batter'd, with the shocks of doom, +To shape and use." + + +Ah! if a man be learning that lesson, which is the primer of eternal +life, then I hardly pity him, though I see him from youth to age tearing +with weak hands at the gates of brass, and beating his soul's wings to +pieces against the bars of the iron cage. But, alas! the majority of +mankind tear at the gates of brass, and beat against the iron cage, with +no such good purpose, and therefore with no such good result. They fight +with circumstances, not that they may become better themselves, not that +they may right the wrongs or elevate the souls of their fellow-men, not +even that they may fulfil the sacred duty of maintaining, and educating, +and providing for the children whom they have brought into the world, and +for whom they are responsible alike to God and to man; but simply because +circumstances are disagreeable to them; because the things around them do +not satisfy their covetousness, their luxury, their ambition, their +vanity. And therefore the majority of mankind want to be, and to do, and +to have a hundred things which are not in their own power, and of which +they have no proof that God intends to give them; no proof either that if +they had them, they would make right use of them, and certainly no proof +at all that if they had them they would find peace. They war and fight, +and have not, because they ask not. They ask, and have not, because they +ask amiss, to consume it on their lusts; and so they spend their lives +without peace, longing, struggling for things outside them, the greater +part of which they do not get, because the getting them is not in their +own power, and which if they got they could not keep, for they can carry +nothing away with them when they die, neither can their pomp follow them. +And therefore does man walk in a vain shadow, and disquiet himself in +vain, looking for peace where it is not to be found--in everything and +anything save in his own heart, in duty, and in God. + +But happy are they who are discontented with the divine discontent, +discontented with themselves. Happy are they who hunger and thirst after +righteousness, that they may become righteous and good men. Happy are +they who have set their hearts on the one thing which is in their own +power--being better than they are, and doing better than they do. Happy +are they who long and labour after the true riches, which neither mobs +nor tyrants, man nor devil, prosperity nor adversity, or any chance or +change of mortal life, can take from them--the true and eternal wealth, +which is the Spirit of God. The man, I say, who has set his heart on +being good, has set his heart on the one thing which is in his own power; +the one thing which depends wholly and solely on his own will; the one +thing which he can have if he chooses, for it is written, "If ye then +being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more +shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?" +Moreover, he has set his heart on the one thing which cannot be taken +from him. God will not take it from him; and man, and fortune, and +misfortune, cannot take it from him. Poverty, misery, disease, death +itself, cannot make him a worse man, cannot make him less just, less +true, less pure, less charitable, less high-minded, less like Christ, and +less like God. + +Therefore he is at peace, for he is, as it were, intrenched in an +impregnable fortress, against all men and all evil influences. And that +castle is his own soul. And the keeper of that castle is none other than +Almighty God, Jesus Christ our Lord, to whose keeping he has committed +his soul, as unto a faithful and merciful Saviour, able to keep to the +uttermost that which is committed to Him in faith and holiness. + +Therefore that man is at peace with himself, for his conscience tells him +that he is, if not doing his best, yet trying to do his best, better and +better day by day. He is at peace with all the world; for most men are +longing and quarrelling for pleasant things outside them, for which he +does not greatly care, while he is longing and striving for good things +inside him in his own heart and soul; and so the world goes one way, and +he another, and their desires do not interfere with each other. + +But, more, that man is at peace with God. He is at peace with God the +Father; for he is behaving as the Father wishes His children to behave. +He is at peace with God the Son; for he is trying to do that which God +the Son did when He came not to do His own will, but His Father's; not to +grasp at anything for himself, but simply to sacrifice himself for duty, +for the good of man. And he is at peace with God the Holy Spirit; for he +is obeying the gracious inspirations of that Spirit, and growing a better +man day by day. And so the peace of God keeps that man's heart free from +vain desires and angry passions, and his mind from those false and +foolish judgments which make the world think things important which are +quite unimportant; and, again, fancy things unimportant which are more +important to them than the riches of the whole world. + +My dear friends, take my words home with you, and if you wish for the +only true and sound peace, which is the peace of God, do your duty. Try +to be as good as you can, each in his station in life. So help you God. + +Take an example from the soldier on the march; and if you do that, you +will all understand what I mean. The bad soldier has no peace, just +because he troubles himself about things outside himself, and not in his +own power. "Will the officers lead us right?" That is not in his power. +Let him go where the officers lead him, and do his own duty. "Will he +get food enough, water enough, care enough, if he is wounded?" I hope +and trust in God he will; but that is not in his own power. Let him take +that, too, as it comes, and do his duty. "Will he be praised, rewarded, +mentioned in the newspapers, if he fights well?" That, too, is not in +his own power. Let him take that, too, as it comes, and do his duty; and +so of everything else. If the soldier on the march torments himself with +these matters which are not in his own power, he is the man who will be +troublesome and mutinous in time of peace, and in time of war will be the +first to run away. He will tell you, "A man must have justice done him; +a man must see fair play for himself; a man must think of himself." Poor +fool! He is not thinking of himself all the while, but of a number of +things which are outside him, circumstances which stand round him, and +outside him, and are not himself at all. Because he thinks of them--the +things outside him--he is a coward or a mutineer, while he fancies he is +taking care of himself--as it is written, "Whosoever shall seek to save +his life shall lose it." + +But if the man will really think of himself, of that which is inside him, +of his own character, his own honour, his own duty--then he will say, +Well fed or ill fed, well led or ill led, praised and covered with +medals, or neglected and forgotten, and dying in a ditch, I, by myself I, +am the same man, and I have the same work to do. I have to be--myself, +and I have to do--my duty. So help me God. And therefore, so help me +God, I will be discontented with no person or thing, save only with +myself; and I will be discontented with myself, not when I have left +undone something extraordinary, which I know I could not have done, but +only when I have left undone something ordinary, some plain duty which I +know I could have done, had I asked God to help me to do it. Then in +that soldier would be fulfilled--has been fulfilled, thank God, a +thousand times, by men who lie in this abbey, and by men, too, of whom we +never heard, "whose graves are scattered far and wide, by mount, by +stream, by sea,"--in him would be fulfilled, I say, the words, "He that +will lose his life shall save it." Then would he have in his heart, and +in his mind likewise, a peace which victory and safety cannot give, and +which defeat, and wounds, ay, death itself, can never take away. + +And are not you, too, soldiers--soldiers of Jesus Christ? Then even as +that good soldier, you may be at peace, through all the battles, +victories, defeats of mortal life, if you will be discontented with +nothing save yourselves, and vow, in spirit and in truth, the one oath +which is no blasphemy, but an act of faith, and an act of prayer, and a +confession of the true theology--So help me God. For then God will help +you. Neither you nor I know how; and I am sure neither you nor I know +why--save that God is utterly good. God, I say, will help you, by His +Holy Spirit the Comforter, to do your duty, and to be at peace. And then +the peace of God will rule in your hearts and make you kings to God. For +He will enable YOU each to rule, serene, though weary, over a kingdom-- +or, alas! rather a mob, the most unruly, the most unreasonable, the most +unstable, and often the most fierce, which you are like to meet on earth. +To rule, I say, over a mob, of which you each must needs be king or +slave, according as you choose. And what is that mob? What but your own +faculties, your own emotions, your own passions--in one word, your own +selves? Yes, with the peace of God ruling in your hearts, you will be +able to become what without it you will never be--and that is--masters of +yourselves. + + + +SERMON XXVI. SINS OF PARENTS VISITED + + + +Eversley. 19th Sunday after Trinity, 1868. + +Ezekiel xviii. 1-4. "The word of the Lord came unto me again, saying, +What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, +saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are +set on edge? As I live, saith the Lord God, ye shall not have occasion +any more to use this proverb in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine; as +the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul +that sinneth, it shall die." + +This is a precious chapter, and a comfortable chapter likewise, for it +helps us to clear up a puzzle which has tormented the minds of men in all +ages whenever they have thought of God, and of whether God meant them +well, or meant them ill. + +For all men have been tempted. We are tempted at times to say,--The +fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge. +That is, we are punished not for what we have done wrong, but for what +our fathers did wrong. One man says,--My forefathers squandered their +money, and I am punished by being poor. Or, my forefathers ruined their +constitutions, and, therefore, I am weakly and sickly. My forefathers +were ignorant and reckless, and, therefore, I was brought up ignorant, +and in all sorts of temptation. And so men complain of their ill-luck +and bad chance, as they call it, till they complain of God, and say, as +the Jews said in Ezekiel's time, God's ways are unequal--partial--unfair. +He is a respecter of persons. He has not the same rule for all men. He +starts men unequally in the race of life--some heavily weighted with +their father's sins and misfortunes, some helped in every way by their +father's virtue and good fortune--and then He expects them all to run +alike. God is not just and equal. And then some go on,--men who think +themselves philosophers, but are none--to say things concerning God of +which I shall say nothing here, lest I put into your minds foolish +thoughts, which had best be kept out of them. + +But, some of you may say, Is it not so after all? Is it not true? Is +not God harder on some than on others? Does not God punish men every day +for their father's sins? Does He not say in the Second Commandment that +He will do so, and visit the sins of the fathers upon the children to the +third and fourth generation; and how can you make that agree with what +Ezekiel says,--"The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father." My +dear friends, I know that this is a puzzle, and always has been one. +Like the old puzzle of God's foreknowledge and our free will, which seem +to contradict each other. Like the puzzle that we must help ourselves, +and yet that God must help us, which seem to contradict each other. So +with this. I believe of it, as of the two others I just mentioned, that +there is no real contradiction between the two cases; and that some-when, +somehow, somewhere, in the world to come, we shall see them clearly +reconciled; and justify God in all His dealings, and glorify Him in all +His ways. But surely already, here, now, we may see our way somewhat +into the depths of this mystery. For Christ has come to give us light, +and in His light we may see light, even into this dark matter. + +For see: God visits the sins of the fathers upon the children unto the +third and fourth generation--but of whom?--of them that hate Him. Now, +by those who hate God is meant, those who break His commandments, and are +bad men. If so, then, I say that God is not only just but merciful, in +visiting the sins of the fathers on the children. + +For, consider two cases. Suppose these bad men, from father to son, and +from son to grandson, go on in the same evil ways, and are incorrigible. +Then is not God merciful to the world in punishing them, even in +destroying them out of the world, where they only do harm? The world +does not want fools, it wants wise men. The world does not want bad men, +it wants good men; and we ought to thank God, if, by His eternal laws, He +gets rid of bad men for us; and, as the saying is, civilizes them off the +face of the earth in the third or fourth generation. And God does so. +If a family, or a class, or a whole nation becomes incorrigibly +profligate, foolish, base, in three or four generations they will either +die out or vanish. They will sink to the bottom of society, and become +miserably poor, weak, and of no influence, and so unable to do harm to +any but themselves. Whole families will sink thus, I have seen it; you +may have seen it. Whole nations will sink thus; as the Jews sank in +Ezekiel's time, and again in our Lord's time; and be conquered, trampled +on, counted for nothing, because they were worth nothing. + +But now suppose, again, that the children, when their father's sins are +visited on them, are NOT incorrigible. Suppose they are like the wise +son of whom Ezekiel speaks, in the 14th verse, who seeth all his father's +sins, and considereth, and doeth not such like--then has not God been +merciful and kind to him in visiting his father's sins on him? He has. +God is justified therein. His eternal laws of natural retribution, +severe as they are, have worked in love and in mercy, if they have taught +the young man the ruinousness, the deadliness of sin. Have the father's +sins made the son poor? Then he learns not to make his children poor by +his sin. Have his father's sins made him unhealthy? Then he learns not +to injure his children's health. Have his father's sins kept him +ignorant, or in anywise hindered his rise in life? Then he learns the +value of a good education, and, perhaps, stints himself to give his +children advantages which he had not himself--and, as sure as he does so, +the family begins to rise again after its fall. This is no fancy, it is +fact. You may see it. I have seen it, thank God. How some of the +purest and noblest women, some of the ablest and most right-minded men, +will spring from families, will be reared in households, where everything +was against them--where there was everything to make them profligate, +false, reckless, in a word--bad--except the grace of God, which was +trying to make them good, and succeeded in making them good; and how, +though they have felt the punishment of their parents' sins upon them in +many ways during their whole life, yet that has been to them not a mere +punishment, but a chastisement, a purifying medicine, a cross to be +borne, which only stirred them up to greater watchfulness against sin, to +greater earnestness in educating their children, to greater activity and +energy in doing right, and giving their children the advantages which +they had not themselves. And so were fulfilled in them two laws of God. +The one which Ezekiel lays down--that the bad man's son who executes +God's judgments and walks in God's statutes shall not die for the +iniquity of his father, but surely live; and the other law which Moses +lays down--that God shews mercy unto thousands of generations, as I +believe it means--that is, to son after father, and son after father +again, without end--as long as they love Him and keep His commandments. + +I do not, therefore, see that there is any real contradiction between +what Moses says in the second commandment and what Ezekiel says in this +chapter. They are but two different sides of the same truth; and Moses +is shewing the Jews one side, because they needed most to be taught that +in his time, and Ezekiel showing them the other, because that was the +teaching which they needed most then. For they were fancying themselves, +in their calamities, the victims of some blind and cruel fate, and had +forgotten that, when God said that He visited the sins of the fathers on +the children, He qualified it by saying, "of them that hate Me." + +Therefore, be hopeful about yourselves, and hopeful about your children +after you. If any one here feels--I am fallen very low in the world-- +here all has been so much against me--my parents were the ruin of me--Let +him remember this one word of Ezekiel. "Have I any pleasure at all that +the wicked should die? saith the Lord God: and not that he should return +from his ways, and live?" Let him turn from his father's evil ways, and +do that which is lawful and right, and then he can say with the Prophet, +in answer to all the strokes of fortune and the miseries of circumstance, +"Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall I shall arise." +Provided he will remember that God requires of all men something, which +is, to be as good as they can be; then he may remember also that our Lord +Himself says, "Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be +required;" implying that to whom little is given, of him will little be +required. God's ways are not unequal. He has one equal, fair, and just +rule for every human being; and that is perfect understanding, perfect +sympathy, perfect good will, and therefore perfect justice and perfect +love. + +And if any one of you answers in his heart--these are good words, and all +very well: but they come too late. I am too far gone. I ate the sour +grapes in my youth, and my teeth must be on edge for ever and ever. I +have been a bad man, or I have been a foolish woman too many years to +mend now. I am down, and down I must be. I have made my bed, and I must +lie on it, and die on it too. Oh my dear brother or sister in Christ, +whoever you are who says that, unsay it again for it is not true. +Ezekiel tells you that it is not true, and one greater than Ezekiel, +Jesus Christ, your Saviour, your Lord, your God, tells you it is not +true. + +For what happens, by God's eternal and unchangeable laws of retribution, +to a whole nation, or a whole family, may happen to you--to each +individual man. They fall by sin; they rise again by repentance and +amendment. They may rise punished by their sins, and punished for a long +time, heavily weighted by the consequences of their own folly, and +heavily weighted for a long time. But they rise--they enter into their +new life weak and wounded, from their own fault. But they enter in. And +from that day things begin to mend--the weather begins to clear, the soil +begins to yield again--punishment gradually ceases when it has done its +work, the weight lightens, the wounds heal, the weakness strengthens, and +by God's grace within them, and by God's providence outside them, they +are made men of again, and saved. So you will surely find it in the +experience of life. + +No doubt in general, in most cases, + + +The child is father of the man + + +for good and evil. A pious and virtuous youth helps, by sure laws of +God, towards a pious and virtuous old age. And on the other hand, an +ungodly and profligate youth leads, by the same laws, toward an ungodly +and profligate old age. That is the law. But there is another law which +may stop that law--just as the stone falls to the ground by the natural +law of weight, and yet you may stop that law by using the law of bodily +strength, and holding it up in your hand. And what is the gracious law +which will save you from the terrible law which will make you go on from +worse to worse? + +It is this,--"when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that +he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall +save his soul alive." It is not said that his soul shall come in a +moment to perfect health and strength. No. There are old bad habits to +be got rid of, old ties to be broken, old debts (often worse debts than +any money debts) to be paid. But he shall save his soul alive. His soul +shall not die of its disease. It shall be saved. It shall come to life, +and gradually mend and be cured, and grow from strength to strength, as a +sick man mends day by day after a deadly illness, slowly it may be, but +surely:--for how can you fail of being cured if your physician is none +other than Jesus Christ your Lord and your God? + +Oh, recollect that last word. If you will but recollect that, you will +never despair. How dare any man say--Bad I am, and bad I must remain-- +while the God who made heaven and earth offers to make you good? Who +dare say,--I cannot amend--when God Himself offers to amend you? Who +dare say,--I have no strength to amend--when God offers to give you +strength, strength of His strength, and life of His life, even His Holy +Spirit? Who dare say,--God has given me up; He has a grudge against me +which He will not lay by, an anger against me which cannot be appeased, a +score against me which will never be wiped out of His book? Oh foolish +and faint-hearted soul. Look, look at Christ hanging on His cross, and +see there what God's grudge, God's anger, God's score of your sins is +like. Like love unspeakable, and nothing else. To wash out your sins, +He spared not His only begotten Son, but freely gave Him for you, to shew +you that God, so far from hating you, has loved you; that so far from +being your enemy, He was your father; that so far from willing the death +of a sinner, He willed that you and every sinner should turn from his +wickedness and live. For that, Jesus the only begotten Son of God, came +down and preached, and sorrowed, and suffered, and died upon the cross. +He died that you may live; He suffered that you may be saved; He paid the +debt, because you could never pay it; He bore your sins upon the cross, +that you might not have to bear them for ever and for ever in eternal +death. Now, even if you suffer somewhat in this life for your sins, that +suffering is not punishment, but wholesome chastisement, as when a father +chastens the son in whom he delighteth. All He asks of you is to long +and try to give up your sins, for He will help you to give them up. All +He asks of you is to long and try to lead a new life, for He will give +you power to lead a new life. Oh, say not--I cannot--when Christ who +died for you says you can. Say not--I dare not--when Christ bids you +dare come boldly to His throne of grace. Say not--I must be as I am-- +when Christ died that you should NOT be as you are. Say not--there is no +hope--when Christ died and rose again, and reigns for ever, to give hope +to you and all mankind, that when the wicked man turns away from his +wickedness that he has committed, and doeth that which is lawful and +right, he shall save his soul alive, and all his transgressions shall not +be mentioned unto him, but in his righteousness that he hath done shall +he live. + + + +SERMON XXVII. AGREE WITH THINE ADVERSARY + + + +Eversley, 1861. Windsor Castle, 1867. + +St. Matthew v. 25, 26. "Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou +art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to +the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast +into prison. Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out +thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing." + +This parable our Lord seems to have spoken at least twice, as He did +several others. For we find it also in the 12th chapter of St. Luke. +But it is there part of quite a different discourse. I think that by +seeing what it means there, we shall see more clearly what it means here. + +Our Lord there is speaking of the sins of the whole Jewish nation. Here +He is speaking rather of each man's private sins. But He applies the +same parable to both. He gives the same warning to both. Not to go too +far on the wrong road, lest they come to a point where they cannot turn +back, but must go on to just punishment, if not to utter destruction. + +That is what He warned the Jews all through the latter part of the 12th +chapter of Luke. He will come again, He says, at an hour they do not +think of, and then if their elders, the Scribes and Pharisees, are going +on as they are now, beating the man-servants and maid-servants, and +eating and drinking with the drunken, oppressing the people, and living +in luxury and profligacy, He will cut them asunder, and appoint them +their portion with the unbelievers. + +In this, and in many other parables, He had been warning them that their +ruin was near; and, at last, turning to the whole crowd, He appeals to +them, to their common sense. "When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, +straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it is. And when ye see +the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it cometh to pass. +Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but +how is it that ye do not discern this time?" If God can give you common +sense about one thing, why not about another? Why can you not open your +eyes and of yourselves judge what is right? "Agree with thine adversary +quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the +adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the +officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, Thou +shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost +farthing." + +So He spoke; and they did not fully understand what He meant. They +thought that by their adversary He meant the Roman governor. For they +immediately began to talk to Him about some Galileans whose blood Pilate, +the Roman governor, had mingled with their sacrifices (I suppose in some +of those wars which were continually breaking out in Judea). I think He +meant more than that. "Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners +above all the Galilaeans? Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise +perish." As much as to say, though ye did not rebel against the Romans +like these Galilaeans, you have your sins, which will ruin YOU. As long +as you are hypocrites, with your mouths full of the cant of religion, and +your hearts full of all mean and spiteful passions; as long as you cannot +of yourselves discern what is right, and have lost conscience, and the +everlasting distinction between right and wrong, so long are you walking +blindfold to ruin. There is an adversary against you, who will surely +deliver you to the judge some day, and then it will be too late to cry +for mercy. And who was that adversary? Who but the everlasting law of +God, which says, Thou shalt do justly?--and you Jews are utterly unjust, +false, covetous, and unrighteous. Thou shalt love all men; and you are +cruel and spiteful, hating each other, and making all mankind hate you. +Thou shalt walk humbly with thy God; and you Jews are walking proudly +with God; fancying that God belongs only to you; that because you are His +chosen people, He will let you commit every sin you choose, as long as +you keep His name on your lips, and keep up an empty worship of Him in +the temple. That is your adversary, the everlasting moral law of God. +And who is the Judge but God Himself, who is set on His throne judging +right, while you are doing wrong? And who is the officer, to whom that +judge will deliver you? There indeed the Jews were right. It was the +Romans whom God appointed to punish them for their sins. All which our +Lord had foretold, as all the world knows, came true forty years after in +that horrible siege of Jerusalem, which the Jews brought on themselves +entirely by their own folly, and pride, and wicked lawlessness. In that +siege, by famine and pestilence, by the Romans' swords, by crucifixion, +and by each other's hands (for the different factions were murdering each +other wholesale up to the very day Jerusalem was taken), thousands of +Jews perished horribly, and the rest were sold as slaves over the face of +the whole earth, and led away into a captivity from which they could not +escape till they had paid the uttermost farthing. + +Now let us look at this same parable in the 5th chapter of St Matthew. +Remember first that it is part of the sermon on the Mount, which is all +about not doctrine, but morality, the law of right and wrong, the law of +justice and mercy. You will see then that our Lord is preaching against +the same sins as in the 12th chapter of St. Luke. Against a hypocritical +religion, joined with a cruel and unjust heart. Those of old time, the +Scribes and Pharisees, said merely, Thou shalt not kill. And as long as +thou dost not kill thy brother, thou mayest hate him in thy heart and +speak evil of him with thy lips. But our Lord says, Not so. Whosoever +is angry with his brother without a cause is in danger of the judgment. +Whosoever shall say to him Raca, or worthless fellow, shall speak +insolently, brutally, cruelly, scornfully to him, is in danger of the +council. But whosoever shall say unto him, Thou fool, is in danger of +hell fire. For using that word to the Jews, so says the Talmudic +tradition, Moses and Aaron were shut out of the land of promise, for it +means an infidel, an atheist, a godless man, or rebel against God, as it +is written, "The fool hath said in his heart there is no God." Whosoever +shall curse his brother, who is trying to be a good Christian man to the +best of his light and power, because he does not happen to agree with him +in all things, and call him a heretic, and an infidel, and an atheist, +and an enemy of God--he is in danger of hell fire. Let him agree with +his adversary quickly, whiles he is in the way with him, lest he be +delivered to God the judge, and to the just punishment of him who has not +done justly, not loved mercy, not walked humbly with his God. + +But who is the adversary of that man, and who is the judge, and who is +the officer? Our adversary in every case, whenever we do wrong, +knowingly or unknowingly, is the Law of God, the everlasting laws, by +which God has ordered every thing in heaven and earth; and as often as we +break one of these laws, let us agree with it again as quickly as we can, +lest it hale us before God, the judge of all, and He deliver us over to +His officer--to those powers of nature and powers of spirit, which He has +appointed as ministers of His vengeance, and they cast us into some +prison of necessary and unavoidable misery, from which we shall never +escape till we have paid the uttermost farthing. + +Do you not understand me? Then I will give you an example. Suppose the +case of a man hurting his health by self-indulgence of any kind. Then +his adversaries are the laws of health. Let him agree with them quickly, +while he has the power of conquering his bad habits, by recovering his +health, lest the time come when his own sins deliver him up to God his +judge; and God to His terrible officers of punishment, the laws of +Disease; and they cast him into a prison of shame and misery from which +there is no escape--shame and misery, most common perhaps among the lower +classes: but not altogether confined to them--the weakened body, the +bleared eye, the stupified brain, the premature death, the children +unhealthy from their parents' sins, despising their parents, and perhaps +copying their vices at the same time. Many a man have I seen in that +prison, fast bound with misery though not with iron, and how he was to +pay his debt and escape out of it I know not, though I hope that God does +know. + +Are any of you, again, in the habit of cheating your neighbours, or +dealing unfairly by them? Your adversary is the everlasting law of +justice, which says, Do as you would be done by, for with what measure +you mete to others, it shall be measured to you again. + +This may show you how a bodily sin, like self-indulgence punishes itself +by bringing a man into bondage of bodily misery, from which he cannot +escape; and in the same way a spiritual sin, like want of charity, will +bring a man into spiritual bondage from which he cannot escape. And +this, as in bodily sins, it will do by virtue of that mysterious and +terrible officer of God, which we call Habit. Habit, by which, we cannot +tell how, our having done a thing once becomes a reason for our doing it +again, and again after that, till, if the habit be once formed, we cannot +help doing that thing, and become enslaved to it, and fast bound by it, +in a prison from which there is no escape. Look for instance at the case +of the untruthful man. Let him beware in time. Who is his adversary? +Facts are his adversary. He says one thing, and Fact says another, and a +very stubborn and terrible adversary Fact is. The day will come, most +probably in this life, when Facts will bring that untruthful man before +God and before men likewise--and cry,--Judge between us which of us is +right; and there will come to that false man exposure and shame, and a +worse punishment still, perhaps, if he have let the habit grow too strong +on him, and have not agreed with his adversary in time. + +For have you not seen (alas, you have too surely seen) men who had +contracted such a habit of falsehood that they could not shake it off-- +who had played with their sense of truth so long that they had almost +forgotten what truth meant; men who could not speak without mystery, +concealment, prevarication, half-statements; who were afraid of the plain +truth, not because there was any present prospect of its hurting them, +but simply because it was the plain truth--children of darkness, who, +from long habit, hated the light--and who, though they had been found out +and exposed, could not amend--could not become simple, honest, and +truthful--could not escape from the prison of their own bad habits, and +the net of lies which they had spread round their own path, till they had +paid the uttermost penalty for their deceit? + +Look, again, at the case of the uncharitable man, in the habit of forming +harsh and cruel judgments of his neighbours. Then his adversary is the +everlasting law of Love, which will surely at last punish him, by the +most terrible of all punishments--loss of love to man, and therefore to +God. Are we not (I am, I know, may God forgive me for it) apt to be +angry with our brethren without a cause, out of mere peevishness? Let us +beware in time. Are we not apt to say to them "Raca"--to speak cruelly, +contemptuously, fiercely of them, if they thwart us? Let us beware in +time still more. Are we not worst of all, tempted (as I too often am) to +say to them "Thou fool;" to call better men, more useful men more pure +men, more pious men than ourselves, hard and cruel names, names from +which they would shrink with horror because they cannot see Christian +truth in just exactly the same light that we do? Oh! let us beware then. +Beware lest the everlasting laws of justice and fairness between man and +man, of love and charity between man and man, which we have broken, +should some day deliver us up, as they delivered those bigoted Jews of +old to God our Judge, and He deliver our souls to His most terrible +officers, who are called envy, hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness; +and they thrust us into that blackest of all prisons, on the gate of +which is written, Hardness of heart, and Contempt of God's Word and +commandments, and within which is the outer darkness into which if a man +falls, he cannot see the difference between right and wrong: but calls +evil good, and good evil, like his companions in the outer darkness-- +namely, the devil and his angels. Oh! let us who are coming to lay our +gift upon God's altar at this approaching Christmas tide, consider +whether our brother hath aught against us in any of these matters, and, +if so, let us leave our gift upon the altar, and be first reconciled to +our brother, in heart at least, and with inward shame, and confession, +and contrition, and resolution to amend. But we can only do that by +recollecting what gift we are to leave on Christ's altar,--that it is the +gift of SELF, the sacrifice of ourselves, with all our selfishness, +pride, conceit, spite, cruelty. Ourselves, with all our sins, we are to +lay upon Christ's altar, that our sins may be nailed to His cross, and +washed clean in His blood, everlastingly consumed in the fire of His +Spirit, the pure spirit of love, which is the Charity of God, that so, +self being purged out of us, we may become holy and lively sacrifices to +God, parts and parcels of that perfect sacrifice which Christ offered up +for the sins of the whole world--even the sacrifice of Himself. + + + +SERMON XXVIII. ST JOHN THE BAPTIST + + + +Chester Cathedral. 1872. + +St Luke iii. 2, 3, 7, 9-14. "The Word of God came unto John the son of +Zacharias in the wilderness. And he came into all the country about +Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. . +. . Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, +O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to +come? Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance. . . . And now +also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore +that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. +And the people asked him saying, What shall we do then? He answereth and +saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath +none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise. Then came also +publicans to be baptized unto them, and said unto him, Master, what shall +we do? And he said, Exact no more than that which is appointed you. And +the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And +he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely, and +be content with your wages." + +This is St John Baptist's day. Let me say a very few words--where many +might be said--about one of the noblest personages who ever has appeared +on this earth. + +Our blessed Lord said, "Among them that are born of women there hath not +risen a greater than John the Baptist, notwithstanding, he that is least +in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." These are serious words; +for which of us dare to say that we are greater than John the Baptist? + +But let us at least think a while what John the Baptist was like. So we +shall gain at least the sight of an ideal man. It is not the highest +ideal. Our Lord tells us that plainly; and we, as Christians, should +know that it is not. The ideal man is our Lord Christ Himself, and none +other. Still, he that has not mounted the lower step of the heavenly +stair, has certainly not mounted the higher; and therefore, if we have +not attained to the likeness of John the Baptist, still more, we have not +attained to the likeness of Christ. What, then, was John the Baptist +like? What picture of him and his character can we form to ourselves in +our own imaginations? for that is all we have to picture him by--helped-- +always remember that--by the Holy Spirit of God, who helps the +imagination, the poetic and dramatic faculty of men; just as much as He +helps the logical and argumentative faculty to see things and men as they +really are, by the spirit of love, which also is the spirit of true +understanding. + +How, then, shall we picture John the Baptist to ourselves? Great +painters, greater than the world seems likely to see again, have +exercised their fancy upon his face, his figure, his actions. We must +put out of our minds, I fear, at once, many of the loveliest of them all: +those in which Raffaelle and others have depicted the child John, in his +camel's hair raiment, with a child's cross in his hand, worshipping the +infant Christ. There is also one exquisite picture, by Annibale Caracci, +if I recollect rightly, in which the blessed babe is lying asleep, and +the blessed Virgin signs to St John, pressing forward to adore him, not +to awaken his sleeping Lord and God. But such imaginations, beautiful as +they are, and true in a heavenly and spiritual sense, which therefore is +true eternally for you, and me, and all mankind, are not historic fact. +For St John the Baptist said himself, "and I knew him not." + +He may have been, we must almost say, he must have been, brought up with +or near our Lord. He may have seen in Him such a child (we must believe +that), as he never saw before. He knew Him at least to be a princely +child, of David's royal line. But he was not conscious of who and what +He was, till the mysterious inner voice, of whom he gives only the +darkest hints, said to him, "Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit +descending, and remaining on Him, the same is He which baptizeth with the +Holy Ghost. And I saw and bare record that this is the Son of God." But +what manner of man was St John the Baptist in the meantime? Painters +have tried their hands at drawing him, and we thank them. Pictures, says +St Augustine, are the books of the unlearned. And, my friends, when +great painters paint, they are the books of the too-learned likewise. +They bring us back, bring us home, by one glance at a human face, a human +figure, a human scene of action, out of our philosophies, and criticisms, +and doctrines, which narrow our hearts, without widening our heads, to +the deeper facts of humanity, and therefore to the deeper facts of +theology likewise. But what picture of St John the Baptist shall we +choose whereby to represent him to ourselves, as the forerunner of the +incarnate God? + +The best which I can recollect is the great picture by Guido--ah, that he +had painted always as wisely and as well--of the magnificent lad sitting +on the rock, half clad in his camel's hair robe, his stalwart hand lifted +up to denounce he hardly knows what, save that things are going all +wrong, utterly wrong to him; his beautiful mouth open to preach, he +hardly knows what, save that he has a message from God, of which he is +half-conscious as yet--that he is a forerunner, a prophet, a foreteller +of something and some one which is to come, and which yet is very near at +hand. The wild rocks are round him, the clear sky is over him, and +nothing more. He, the gentleman born, the clergyman born--for you must +recollect who and what St John the Baptist was, and that he was neither +democrat nor vulgar demagogue, nor flatterer of ignorant mobs, but a man +of an ancestry as ancient and illustrious as it was civilised, and bound +by long ties of duty, of patriotism, of religion, and of the temple +worship of God:--he, the noble and the priest, has thrown off--not in +discontent and desperation, but in hope and awe--all his family +privileges, all that seems to make life worth having; and there aloft and +in the mountains, alone with nature and with God, feeding on locusts and +wild honey and whatsoever God shall send, and clothed in skins, he, like +Elijah of old, renews not merely the habits, but the spirit and power of +Elijah, and preaches to a generation sunk in covetousness and +superstition, party spirit, and the rest of the seven devils which +brought on the fall of his native land, and which will bring on the fall +of every land on earth, preaches to them, I say--What? + +The most common, let me say boldly, the most vulgar--in the good old +sense of the word--the most vulgar morality. He tells them that an awful +ruin was coming unless they repented and mended. How fearfully true his +words were, the next fifty years proved. The axe, he said, was laid to +the root of the tree; and the axe was the heathen Roman, even then master +of the land. But God, not the Roman Caesar merely, was laying the axe. +And He was a good God, who only wanted goodness, which He would preserve; +not badness, which He would destroy. Therefore men must not merely +repent and do penance, they must bring forth fruits meet for penance; do +right instead of doing wrong, lest they be found barren trees, and be cut +down, and cast into that everlasting fire of God, which, thanks be to His +Holy name, burns for ever--unquenchable by all men's politics, and +systems, and political or other economies, to destroy out of God's +Kingdom all that offendeth and whatsoever loveth and maketh a lie-- +oppressors, quacks, cheats, hypocrites, and the rest. + +The people--the farming class--came to him with "What shall we do?" The +young priest and nobleman, in his garment of camel's hair, has nothing +but plain morality for them. "He that hath two coats, let him impart to +him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise." The +publicans, the renegades, who were farming the taxes of the Roman +conquerors, and making their base profit out of their countrymen's +slavery, came to him,--"Master, what shall we do?" He does not tell them +not to be publicans. He does not tell his countrymen to rebel, though he +must have been sorely tempted to do it. All he says is, Make the bad and +base arrangement as good as you can; exact no more than that which is +appointed you. The soldiers, poor fellows, come to him. Whether they +were Herod's mercenaries, or real gallant Roman soldiers, we are not +told. Either had unlimited power under a military despotism, in an +anarchic and half-enslaved country; but whichever they were, he has the +same answer to them of common morality. You are what you are; you are +where you are. Do it as well as you can. Do no violence to any man, +neither accuse any man falsely, and be content with your wages. + +Ah, wise politician, ah, clear and rational spirit, who knows and tells +others to do the duty which lies nearest them; who sees (as old Greek +Hesiod says), how much bigger the half is than the whole; who, in the +hour of his country's deepest degradation, had divine courage to say, our +deliverance lies, not in rebellion, but in doing right. But he has +sterner words. Pharisees, the separatists, the religious men, who think +themselves holier than any one else; and Sadducees, materialist men of +the world, who sneer at the unseen, the unknown, the heroic, come to him. +And for Pharisee and Sadducee--for the man who prides himself on +believing more than his neighbours, and for the man who prides himself on +believing less--he has the same answer. Both are exclusives, inhuman, +while they are pretending to be more than human. He knew them well, for +he was born and bred among them, and he forestalls our Lord's words to +them, "O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath +to come?" + +At last his preaching of common morality is put to the highest test. The +king--the tyrant as we should call him--the Herod of the day, an usurper, +neither a son of David, nor a king chosen by the people, tries to +patronize him. The old spirit of his forefather Aaron, of his forefather +Phineas, the spirit of Levi, which (rightly understood), is the Spirit of +God, flashes up in the young priestly prophet, in the old form of common +morality. "It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife." We +know the rest; how, at the request of Herodias' daughter, Herod sent and +beheaded John in prison, and how she took his head in a charger and +brought it to her mother. Great painters have shown us again and again +the last act--outwardly hideous, but really beautiful--of St John's +heroic drama, in a picture of the lovely dancing girl with the prophet's +head in a charger--a dreadful picture; and yet one which needed to be +painted, for it was a terrible fact, and is still, and will be till this +wicked world's end, a matter for pity and tears rather than for +indignation. The most perfect representations, certainly the most +tragical I know of it, are those which are remarkable, not for their +expression, but for their want of expression--the young girl in brocade +and jewels, with the gory head in her hands, thinking of nothing out of +those wide vacant foolish eyes, save the triumph of self-satisfied +vanity; for the spite and revenge is not in her, but in her wicked +mother. She is just the very creature, who, if she had been better +trained, and taught what John the Baptist really was, might have +reverenced him, worshipped him, and ministered unto him. Alas! alas! how +do the follies of poor humanity repeat themselves in every age. The +butterfly has killed the lion, without after all meaning much harm. Ah, +that such human butterflies would take warning by the fate of Herodias' +daughter, and see how mere vanity will lead, if indulged too long and too +freely, to awful crime. + +One knows the old stories,--how Herod, and Herodias, and the vain foolish +girl fell into disgrace with the Emperor, and were banished into +Provence, and died in want and misery. One knows too the old legends, +how Herodias' daughter reappears in South Europe--even in old German +legends--as the witch-goddess, fair and ruinous, sweeping for ever +through wood and wold at night with her troop of fiends, tempting the +traveller to dance with them till he dies; a name for ever accursed +through its own vanity rather than its own deliberate sin, from which may +God preserve us all, men as well as women. So two women, one wicked and +one vain, did all they could to destroy one of the noblest human beings +who ever walked this earth. And what did they do? They did not prevent +his being the forerunner and prophet of the incarnate Son of God. They +did not prevent his being the master and teacher of the blessed Apostle +St John, who was his spiritual son and heir. They did not prevent his +teaching all men and women, to whom God gives grace to understand him, +that the true repentance, the true conversion, the true deliverance from +the wrath to come, the true entrance into the kingdom of heaven, the true +way to Christ and to God, is common morality. + +And now let us bless God's holy name for all His servants departed in His +faith and fear, and especially for His servant St John the Baptist, +beseeching Him to give us grace, so to follow his doctrine and holy life, +that we may truly repent after his preaching and after his example. May +the Lord forgive our exceeding cowardice, and help us constantly to speak +the truth, boldly rebuke vice, and patiently suffer for the truth's sake; +through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. + + + +SERMON XXIX. THE PRESENT RECOMPENSE + + + +Chester Cathedral, Nave Service, Evening. May 1872. + +Proverbs xi. 31. "Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the +earth: much more the wicked and the sinner." + +This is the key-note of the Book of Proverbs--that men are punished or +rewarded according to their deeds in this life; nay, it is the key-note +of the whole Old Testament. "The eyes of the Lord are over the +righteous, and His ears are open unto their prayers; the countenance of +the Lord is against them that do evil, to root out the remembrance of +them from the earth." + +But here, at the beginning of my sermon, I can fancy some one ready to +cry--Stay! you have spoken too strongly. That is not the key-note of the +whole Old Testament. There are words in it of quite a different note-- +words which complain to God that the good are not rewarded, and the +wicked are not punished: as for instance, when the Psalmist says how the +ungodly men of this evil world are filled with God's hid treasure, and +how they have children at their desire, and leave the rest of their +substance for their babes. And again, "I was envious at the foolish, +when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no bands in their +death; but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men; +neither are they plagued like other men. . . . They set their mouth +against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth. +Therefore his people return hither; and waters of a full cup are wrung +out to them. And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in +the most High?" And though the Psalmist says that such persons will come +to a sudden and fearful end, yet he confesses that so long as they live +they have prospered, while he had been punished all day long, and +chastened every morning. And do we not know that so it is? Is it not +obvious now, and has it not been notorious in every country, and in all +times, that so it is? Do not good men often lead lives of poverty and +affliction? Do not men make large fortunes, or rise to fame and power, +by base and wicked means? and do not those same men often enough die in +their beds, and leave children behind them, and found families, who +prosper for generations after they are dead? How were they recompensed +in the earth? Now this is one of the puzzles of life, which tries a +man's faith in God, as it tried the psalmists and prophets in old time. +But that the text speaks truth I do not doubt. I believe that the +prosperous bad man is recompensed in the earth--is punished in this life- +-often with the most terrible of all punishments--Impunity; the not being +punished at all; which is the worst thing in this life which can happen +to a sinner. But I am not going to speak of that, but rather of the +first part of the text, "The righteous shall be recompensed in the +earth." + +Now is not the answer to the puzzle this: That God is impartial; that He +is no respecter of persons, but causing His sun to shine on the evil and +on the good, and His rain to fall on the just and on the unjust; and so +rewarding every man according to his work, paying him for all work done, +of whatever kind it may be? Some work for this world, which we do see, +and God gives them what they earn in this life; some work for the world +above, which we cannot see, and God gives them what they earn in this +life, for ever and ever likewise. If a man wishes for treasure on earth, +he can have it if he will, and enjoy it as long as it lasts. If a man +wishes for treasure in heaven, he can have it if he will, and enjoy it as +long as it lasts. God deals fairly with both, and pays both what they +have earned. + +Some set their hearts on this world; some want money, some want power, +some want fame and admiration from their fellow-men, some want merely to +amuse themselves. Then they will have what they want if they will take +the right way to get it. If a man wishes to make a large fortune, and +die rich, he will very probably succeed, if he will only follow +diligently the laws and rules by which God has appointed that money +should be made. If a man longs for power and glory, and must needs be +admired and obeyed by his fellow-men, he can have his wish, if he will go +the right way to get what he longs for; especially in a free country like +this, he will get most probably just as much of them as he deserves--that +is, as much as he has talent and knowledge enough to earn. So did the +Pharisees in our Lord's time. They wanted power, fame, and money as +religious leaders, and they knew how to get them as well as any men who +ever lived; and they got them. Our Lord did not deny that. They had +their reward, He said. They succeeded--those old Pharisees--in being +looked up to as the masters of the Jewish mob, and in crucifying our Lord +Himself. They had their reward; and so may you and I. If we want any +earthly thing, and have knowledge of the way to get it, and have ability +and perseverance enough, then we shall very probably get it, and much +good it will do us when we have got it after all. We shall have had our +treasure upon earth and our hearts likewise; and when we come to die we +shall leave both our treasure and our hearts behind us, and the Lord have +mercy on our souls. + +But again, there are those, thank God, who have, or are at least trying +to get, treasure in heaven, which they may carry away with them when they +die, and keep for ever. And who are they? Those who are longing and +trying to be true and to be good; who have seen how beautiful it is to be +true and to be good; to know God and the will of God; to love God and the +will of God; and therefore to copy His likeness and to do His will. +Those who long for sanctification, and who desire to be holy, even as +their Father in heaven is holy, and perfect, even as their Father in +heaven is perfect; and who therefore think, as St Paul bade them, of +whatsoever things are just, true, pure, lovely, and of good report, if +there be any true manhood, and if there be any just praise--in three +words--who seek after whatsoever is true, beautiful, and good. These are +they that have treasure in heaven. For what is really true, really +beautiful, really good, is also really heavenly. God alone is perfect, +good, beautiful, and true; and heaven is heaven because it is filled with +the glory of His goodness, His beauty, and His truth. But wherever there +is a soul on earth led by the Spirit of God, and filled by the Spirit of +God with good and beautiful and true graces and inspirations, there is a +soul which, as St Paul says, is sitting in heavenly places with Christ +Jesus--a soul which is already in heaven though still on earth. We +confess it by our own words. We speak of a heavenly character; we speak +even of a heavenly countenance; and we speak right. We see that that +character, though it be still imperfect, and marred by human weaknesses, +is already good with the goodness which comes down from heaven; and that +that countenance, though it may be mean and plain, is already beautiful +with the beauty which comes down from heaven. + +But how are such souls recompensed in the earth? Oh! my friends, is not +a man recompensed in the earth whenever he can lift up his heart above +the earth?--whenever he can lift up his heart unto the Lord, and behold +His glory above all the earth? Does not this earth look brighter to him +then? The world of man looks brighter to him, in spite of all its sins +and sorrows, for he sees the Lord ruling it, the Lord forgiving it, the +Lord saving it. He sees, by the eye of faith, the Lord fulfilling His +own promise--"where two or three are gathered together in my name, there +am I in the midst of them"; and he takes heart and hope for the poor +earth, and says, The earth is not deserted; mankind is not without a +Father, a Saviour, a Teacher, a King. Bad men and bad spirits are not +the masters of the world; and men are not as creeping things, as the +fishes of the sea, which have no ruler over them. For Christ has not +left His church. He reigns, and will reign, till He has put all enemies +under His feet, and cast out of His kingdom all that offend, and +whatsoever loveth and maketh a lie; and then the heavenly treasure will +be the only treasure; for whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things +are true, pure, lovely, and of good report, if there be any valour, and +if there be any praise, those things, and they alone, will be left in the +kingdom of Christ and of God. Is not that man recompensed in the earth? +Must he not rise each morning to go about his daily work with a more +cheerful heart, saying, with Jeremiah, in like case, "Upon this I awaked, +and beheld, and my sleep was sweet to me?" + +Yes, I see in experience that the righteous man is recompensed in the +earth, every day, and all day long. In proportion as a man's mind is +heavenly, just so much will he enjoy this beautiful earth, and all that +is therein. I believe that if a man walks with God, then he can walk +nowhither without seeing and hearing what the ungodly and bad man will +never see and hear, because his eyes are blinded, and his heart hardened +from thinking of himself, his own selfish wants, his own selfish sins. +Which, for instance, was the happier man--which the man who was the more +recompensed in the earth this very day--the poor man who went for his +Sunday walk into the country, thinking of little but the sins and the +follies of the week past, and probably of the sins and the follies of the +week to come; or the man who went with a clear conscience, and had the +heart to thank God for the green grass, and the shining river, and the +misty mountains sleeping far away, and notice the song of the birds, and +the scent of the flowers, as a little child might do, and know that his +Father in heaven had made all these? + +Yes, my friends, Christ is very near us, though our eyes are holden by +our own sins, and therefore we see Him not. But just in proportion as a +man walks with God, just in proportion as the eyes of his soul are opened +by the Spirit of God, he recovers, I believe, the privilege which Adam +lost when he fell. He hears the Word of the Lord walking among the trees +of the garden in the cool of the day; and instead of trying, like guilty +Adam, to hide himself from his Maker, answers, with reverence and yet +with joy, Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth. + +Nay, I would go further still, and say, Is not the righteous man +recompensed on the earth every time he hears a strain of noble music? To +him who has his treasure in heaven, music speaks about that treasure +things far too deep for words. Music speaks to him of whatsoever is +just, true, pure, lovely, and of good report, of whatsoever is manful and +ennobling, of whatsoever is worthy of praise and honour. Music, to that +man, speaks of a divine order and a divine proportion; of a divine +harmony, through all the discords and confusions of men; of a divine +melody, through all the cries and groans of sin and sorrow. What says a +wiser and a better man than I shall ever be, and that not of noble music, +but of such as we may hear any day in any street? "Even that vulgar +music," he says, "which makes one man merry, another mad, strikes in me a +deep fit of devotion, and a profound contemplation of God, the first +composer. There is something more of divinity in it than the ear +discovers. It is an hieroglyphical and shadowed lesson of the whole +world, and of the creatures of God. Such a melody to the ear as the +whole world, well understood, would afford to the understanding." That +man, I insist, was indeed recompensed on the earth, when music, which is +to the ungodly and unrighteous the most earthly of all arts, which to the +heathens and the savages, to frivolous and profligate persons, only +tempts to silly excitement or to brutal passion, was to him as the speech +of angels, a remembrancer to him of that eternal and ever-present heaven, +from which all beauty, truth, and goodness are shed forth over the +universe, from the glory of the ever-blessed Trinity--Father, Son, and +Holy Spirit. + +Does any one say--These things are too high for me; I cannot understand +them? My dear friends, are they not too high for me likewise? Do you +fancy that I understand them, though my reason, as well as Holy +Scripture, tells me that they are true? I understand them no more than I +understand how I draw a single breath, or think a single thought. But it +is good for you, and for me, and for every man, now and then, to hear +things which we do NOT understand; that so we may learn our own +ignorance, and be lifted up above ourselves, and renounce our fancied +worldly wisdom, and think within ourselves:--Would it not be wiser to +confess ourselves fools, and take our Lord's advice, and be converted, +and become as little children? For otherwise, our Lord says, we shall in +nowise enter into this very kingdom of heaven of which I have been +telling you. For this is one of the things which God hides from the wise +and prudent, and yet revealeth unto babes. Yes, that is the way to +understand all things, however deep--to become as little children. A +little child proves that all I say is true, and that it knows that all I +say is true. Though it cannot put its feelings into words, it acts on +them by a mere instinct, which is the gift of God. Why does a little +child pick flowers? Why does a little child dance when it hears a strain +of music? And deeper still, why does a little child know when it has +done wrong? Why does it love to hear of things beautiful and noble, and +shrink from things foul and mean, if what I say is not true? The child +does so, because it is nearer heaven, not further off, than we grown +folk. + +Ah! that we would all lay to heart what one said of old, who walked with +God:-- + + +"Dear soul, could'st thou become a child, +Once more on earth, meek, undefiled, +Then Paradise were round thee here, +And God Himself for ever near." + + + +SERMON XXX. THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN + + + +Chapel Royal, St James'. 1873. + +St. Matt. xxii. 2-7. "The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, +which made a marriage for his son, and sent forth his servants to call +them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. Again, +he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, +I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and fatlings are killed, and all +things are ready: come unto the marriage. But they made light of it, +and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: And +the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew +them. But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth +his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city." + +This parable, if we understand it aright, will help to teach us theology- +-that is, the knowledge of God, and of the character of God. For it is a +parable concerning the kingdom of heaven, and the laws and customs of the +kingdom of heaven--that is, the spiritual and eternal laws by which God +governs men. + +Now, what any kingdom or government is like must needs depend on what the +king or governor of it is like; at least if that king is all-powerful, +and can do what he likes. His laws will be like his character. If he be +good, he will make good laws. If he be bad, he will make bad laws. If +he be harsh and cruel--if he be careless and indulgent--so will his laws +be. If he be loving and generous, delighting in seeing his subjects +happy, then his laws will be so shaped that his subjects will be happy, +if they obey those laws. But also--and this is a very serious matter, +and one to which foolish people in all ages have tried to shut their +eyes, and false preachers in all ages have tried to blind men's eyes-- +also, I say, if his laws be good, and bountiful, and sure to make men +happy, then the good king will have those laws obeyed. He will not be an +indulgent king, for in his case to be indulgent will be cruelty, and +nothing less. The good king will not say,--I have given you laws by +which you may live happy; but I do not care whether you obey them or not. +I have, as it were, set you up, in life, and given you advantages by +which you may prosper if you use them; but I do not care whether you use +them or not. For to say that would be as much as to say that I do not +care if you make yourselves miserable, and make others miserable +likewise. The good king will say,--You shall obey my laws, for they are +for your good. You shall use my gifts, for they are for your good. And +if you do not, I will punish you. You shall respect my authority. And +if you do not--if you go too far, if you become wanton and cruel, and +destroy your fellow-subjects unjustly off the face of the earth; then I +will destroy you off the face of he earth, and burn up your city. I will +destroy any government or system of society which you set up in +opposition to my good and just laws. And if you merely despise the +gifts, and refuse to use them--then I will cast you out of my kingdom, +inside which is freedom and happiness, and light and knowledge, into the +darkness outside, bound hand and foot, into the ignorance and brutal +slavery which you have chosen, where you may reconsider yourself, weeping +and gnashing your teeth as you discover what a fool you have been. + +Our Lord's parable has fulfilled itself again and again in history, and +will fulfil itself as long as foolish and rebellious persons exist on +earth. This is one of the laws of the kingdom of heaven. It must be so, +for it arises by necessity out of the character of Christ, the king of +heaven.--Infinite bounty and generosity; but if that bounty be despised +and insulted, or still more, if it be outraged by wanton tyranny or +cruelty, then--for the benefit of the rest of mankind--awful severity. +So it is, and so it must be; simply because God is good. + +At least, this is the kind of king which the parable shows to us. The +king in it begins, not by asking his subjects to pay him taxes, or even +to do him service, but to come to a great feast--a high court ceremonial- +-the marriage of his son. Whatsoever else that may mean, it certainly +means this--that the king intended to treat these men, not as his slaves, +but as his guests and friends. They will not come. They are too busy; +one over his farm, another over his merchandise. They owe, remember, +safe possession of their farm, and safe transit for their merchandise, to +the king, who governs and guards the land. But they forget that, and +refuse his invitation. Some of them, seemingly out of mere insolence, +and the spirit of rebellion against authority, just because it is +authority, go a step too far. To show that they are their own masters, +and intend to do what they like, they take the king's messengers, and +treat them spitefully, and kill them. + +Then there arises in that king a noble indignation. We do not read that +the king sentimentalised over these rebels, and said,--"After all, their +evil, like all evil, is only a lower form of good. They had a fine +instinct of freedom and independence latent in them, only it was in this +case somewhat perverted. They are really only to be pitied for knowing +no better; but I trust, by careful education, to bring them to a clearer +sense of their own interests. I shall therefore send them to a +reformatory, where, in consideration of the depressing circumstances of +their imprisonment, they will be better looked after, and have lighter +work, than the average of my honest and peaceable subjects." If the king +had spoken thus, he would have won high applause in these days; at least +till the farms and the merchandise, the property and the profits of the +rest of his subjects, were endangered by these favoured objects of his +philanthropy; who, having found that rebellion and even murder was +pardonable in one case, would naturally try whether it was not pardonable +in other cases likewise. But what we read of the king--and we must +really remember, in fear and trembling, who spoke this parable, even our +Lord Himself,--is this--He sent forth his armies, soldiers, men +disciplined to do their duty at all risks, and sworn to carry out the +law, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. + +Yes, the king was very angry, as he had a right to be. Yes, let us lay +that to heart, and tremble, from the very worst of us all to the very +best of us all. There is an anger in God. There is indignation in God. +Our highest reason ought to tell us that there must be anger in God, as +long as sin and wrong exist in any corner of the universe. For all that +is good in man is of the likeness of God. And is it not a good feeling, +a noble feeling, in man, to be indignant, or to cry for vengeance on the +offender, whenever we hear of cruelty, injustice, or violence? Is that +not noble? I say it is. I say that the man whose heart does not burn +within him at the sight of tyranny and cruelty, of baseness and deceit, +who is not ready to say, Take him, and do to him as he has done to +others; that man's heart is not right with God, or with man either. His +moral sense is stunted. He is on the way to become, first, if he can, a +tyrant, and then a slave. + +And shall there be no noble indignation in God when He beholds all the +wrong which is done on earth? Shall the just and holy God look on +carelessly and satisfied at injustice and unholiness which vexes even +poor sinful man? God forbid! To think that, would, to my mind, be to +fancy God less just, less merciful, than man. And if any one says, Anger +is a passion, a suffering from something outside oneself, and God can +have no passions; God cannot be moved by the sins and follies of such +paltry atoms as we human beings are: the answer is, Man's anger--even +just anger--is, too often, a passion; weak-minded persons, ill-educated +persons, especially when they get together in mobs, and excite each +other, are carried away when they hear even a false report of cruelty or +injustice, by their really wholesome indignation, and say and do foolish, +and cruel, and unjust things, the victims of their own passion. But even +among men, the wiser a man is, the purer, the stronger-minded, so much +the more can he control his indignation, and not let it rise into +passion, but punish the offender calmly, though sternly, according to +law. Even so, our reason bids us believe, does God, who does all things +by law. His eternal laws punish of themselves, just as they reward of +themselves. The same law of God may be the messenger of His anger to the +bad, while it is the messenger of His love to the good. For God has not +only no passions, but no parts; and therefore His anger and His love are +not different, but the same. And His love is His anger, and His anger is +His love. + +An awful thought and yet a blessed thought. Think of it, my friends-- +think of it day and night. Under God's anger, or under God's love, we +must be, whether we will or not. We cannot flee from His presence. We +cannot go from His spirit. If we are loving, and so rise up to heaven, +God is there--in love. If we are cruel, and wrathful, and so go down to +hell, God is there also--in wrath: with the clean He will be clean, with +the froward man He will be froward. In God we live and move, and have +our being. On us, and on us alone, it depends, what sort of a life we +shall live, and whether our being shall be happy or miserable. On us, +and on us alone, it depends, whether we shall live under God's anger, or +live under God's love. On us, and on us alone, it depends whether the +eternal and unchangeable God shall be to us a consuming fire, or light, +and life, and bliss for evermore. + +We never had more need to think of this than now; for there has spread +over the greater part of the civilised world a strong spirit of disbelief +in the living God. Men do not believe that God punishes sin and wrong- +doing, either in this world or in the world to come. And it is not +confined to those who are called infidels, who disbelieve in the +incarnation and kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. Would to God it were +so! Everywhere we find Christians of all creeds and denominations alike, +holding the very same ruinous notion, and saying to themselves, God does +not govern this present world. God does not punish or reward in this +present life. This world is all wrong, and the devil's world, and +therefore I cannot prosper in the world unless I am a little wrong +likewise, and do a little of the devil's work. So one lies, another +cheats, another oppresses, another neglects his plainest social duties, +another defiles himself with base political or religious intrigues, +another breaks the seventh commandment, or, indeed, any and every one of +the commandments which he finds troublesome. And when one asks in +astonishment--You call yourselves Christians? You believe in God, and +the Bible, and Christianity? Do you not think that God will punish YOU +for all this? Do you not hear from the psalmists, and prophets, and +apostles, of a God who judges and punishes such generations as this? Of +a wrath of God which is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness +of men, who, like you, hold down the truth in unrighteousness, knowing +what is right and yet doing what is wrong? Then they answer, at least in +their hearts, Oh dear no! God does not govern men now, or judge men now. +He only did so, our preachers tell us, under the old Jewish dispensation; +and such words as you quote from our Lord, or St Paul, have only to do +with the day of judgment, and the next life, and we have made it all +right for the next life. I, says one, regularly perform my religious +duties; and I, says another, build churches and chapels, and give large +sums in charity; and I, says another, am converted, and a member of a +church; and I, says another, am elect, and predestined to everlasting +life--and so forth, and so forth. Each man turning the grace of God into +a cloak for licentiousness, and deluding himself into the notion that he +may break the eternal laws of God, and yet go to heaven, as he calls it, +when he dies: not knowing, poor foolish man, that as the noble +commination service well says, the dreadful judgments of God are not +waiting for certain people at the last day, thousands of years hence, but +hanging over all our heads already, and always ready to fall on us. Not +knowing that it is as true now as it was two thousand years ago, that +"God is a righteous judge, strong and patient." "If a man will not turn, +He will whet His sword; He hath bent His bow, and made it ready," against +those who travail with mischief, who conceive sorrow, and bring forth +ungodliness. They dig up pits for their neighbours, and fall themselves +into the destruction which they have made for others; not knowing that it +is as true now as it was two thousand years ago, that God is for ever +saying to the ungodly, "Why dost thou preach my laws, and takest my +covenant in thy mouth; whereas thou hatest to be reformed, and hast cast +my words behind thee? Thou hast let thy mouth speak wickedness, and with +thy tongue thou hast set forth deceit. These things hast thou done, and +I held my tongue, and thou thoughtest, wickedly, that I am even such a +one as thyself. But I will reprove thee, and set before thee the things +which thou hast done. O consider this, ye that forget God: lest I pluck +you away, and there be none to deliver you." + +Let us lay this to heart, and say, there can be no doubt--I at least have +none--that there is growing up among us a serious divorce between faith +and practice; a serious disbelief that the kingdom of heaven is about us, +and that Christ is ruling us, as He told us plainly enough in His +parables, by the laws of the kingdom of heaven; and that He does, and +will punish and reward each man according to those laws, and according to +nothing else. + +We pride ourselves on our superior light, and our improved civilisation, +and look down on the old Roman Catholic missionaries, who converted our +forefathers from heathendom in the Middle Ages. Now, I am a Protestant, +if ever there was one, and I know well that these men had their +superstitions and false doctrines. They made mistakes, and often worse +than mistakes, for they were but men. But this I tell you, that if they +had not had a deep and sound belief that they were in the kingdom of God, +the kingdom of heaven; and that they and all men must obey the laws of +the kingdom of heaven; and that the first law of it was, that wrongdoing +would be punished, and rightdoing rewarded, in this life, every day, and +all day long, as sure as Christ the living Lord reigned in righteousness +over all the earth; if they had not believed that, I say, and acted on +it, we should probably have been heathen at this day. As it is, unless +we Protestants get back the old belief, that God is a living God, and +that His judgments are abroad in the earth, and that only in keeping His +commandments can we get life, and not perish, we shall be seriously in +danger of sinking at last into that hopeless state of popular feeling, +into which more than one nation in our own time has fallen,--that, as the +prophet of old says, a wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the +land; the prophets--that is, the preachers and teachers--prophesy +falsely; and the priests--the ministers of religion--bear rule by their +means; and my people love to have it so--love to have their consciences +drugged by the news that they may live bad lives, and yet die good +deaths. + +"And what will ye do in the end thereof?" asks Jeremiah. What indeed! +What the Jews did in the end thereof you may read in the book of the +prophet Jeremiah. They did nothing, and could do nothing--with their +morality their manhood was gone. Sin had borne its certain fruit of +anarchy and decrepitude. The wrath of God revealed itself as usual, by +no miracle, but through inscrutable social laws. They had to submit, +cowardly and broken-hearted, to an invasion, a siege, and an utter ruin. +I do not say, God forbid, that we shall ever sink so low, and have to +endure so terrible a chastisement: but this I say, that the only way in +which any nation of which I ever read in history, can escape, sooner or +later, from such a fate, is to remember every day, and all day long, that +the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ill-doing of men, +who hold the truth in unrighteousness, knowing what is true and what is +right, yet telling lies, and doing wrong. + +Let us lay this to heart, with seriousness and godly fear. For so we +shall look up with reverence, and yet with hope, to Christ the ascended +king, to whom all power is given in heaven and earth; for ever asking Him +for His Holy Spirit, to put into our minds good desires, and to enable us +to bring these desires to good effect. And so we shall live for ever +under our great taskmaster's eye, and find out that that eye is not +merely the eye of a just judge, not merely the eye of a bountiful king, +but more the eye of a loving and merciful Saviour, in whose presence is +life even here on earth; and at whose right hand, even in this sinful +world, are pleasures for evermore. + + + +SERMON XXXI. THE UNCHANGEABLE CHRIST + + + +Eversley. 1845. + +Hebrews xiii. 8. "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to-day, and for +ever." + +Let me first briefly remind you, as the truth upon which my whole +explanation of this text is built, that man is not meant either for +solitude or independence. He is meant to live WITH his fellow-men, to +live BY them, and to live FOR them. He is healthy and godly, only when +he knows all men for his brothers; and himself, in some way or other, as +the servant of all, and bound in ties of love and duty to every one +around him. + +It is not, however, my intention to dwell upon this truth, deep and +necessary as it is, but to turn your attention to one of its +consequences; I mean to the disappointment and regret of which so many +complain, who try, more or less healthily, to keep that truth before +them, and shew it forth in their daily life. + +It has been, and is now, a common complaint with many who interest +themselves about their fellow-creatures, and the welfare of the human +race, that nothing in this world is sure,--nothing is permanent; a +continual ebb and flow seems to be the only law of human life. Men +change, they say; their friendships are fickle; their minds, like their +bodies, alter from day to day. The heart whom you trust to-day, to- +morrow may deceive; the friend for whom you have sacrificed so much, will +not in his turn endure the trial of his friendship. The child on whom +you may have reposed your whole affection for years, grows up and goes +forth into the world, and forms new ties, and you are left alone. Why +then love man? Why care for any born of woman, if the happiness which +depends on them is exposed to a thousand chances--a thousand changes? +Again; we hear the complaint that not only men, but circumstances change. +Why knit myself, people will ask, to one who to-morrow may be whirled +away from me by some eddy of circumstances, and so go on his way, while I +see him no more? Why relieve distress which fresh accidents may bring +back again to-morrow, with all its miseries? Why attach ourselves to a +home which we may leave to-morrow,--to pursuits which fortune may force +us to relinquish,--to bright hopes which the rolling clouds may shut out +from us,--to opinions which the next generation may find to have been +utterly mistaken,--to a circle of acquaintances who must in a few years +be lying silent and solitary, each in his grave? Why, in short, set our +affections on anything in this earth, or struggle to improve or settle +aught in a world where all seems so temporary, changeful, and uncertain, +that "nought doth endure but mutability?" + +Such is and has been the complaint, mixed up of truth and falsehood, +poured out for ages by thousands who have loved (as the world would say) +"too well"--who have tried to build up for themselves homes in this +world; forgetting that they were strangers and pilgrims in it; and so, +when the floods came, and swept away that small fool's paradise of +theirs, repined, and were astonished, as though some strange thing had +happened to them. + +The time would fail me did I try fully to lay before you how this dread +and terror of change, and this unsatisfied craving after an eternal home +and an unchanging friendship embittered the minds of all the more +thoughtful heathens before the coming of Christ, who, as the apostle +says, all their lives were in bondage to the fear of death. How all +their schemes and conceptions of the course of this world, resolved +themselves into one dark picture of the terrible river of time, restless, +pitiless, devouring all life and beauty as fast as it arose, ready to +overwhelm the speakers themselves also with the coming wave, as it had +done all they loved before them, and then roll onward for ever, none knew +whither! The time would fail me, too, did I try to explain how after He +had appeared, Who is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever, men have +still found the same disappointment in all the paths of life. Many, not +seeing that the manifestation of an incarnate God was the answer to all +such doubts, the healer of all such wounds, have sickened at this same +change and uncertainty, and attempted self-deliverance by all kinds of +uncouth and most useless methods. Some have shielded themselves, or +tried to shield themselves, in an armour of stoical indifference--of +utter selfishness, being sure that at all events there was one friendship +in the world which could neither change nor fade--Self-love. + +Others, again, have withdrawn themselves in disgust, not indeed from +their God and Saviour, but from their fellow-men, and buried themselves +in deserts, hoping thereby to escape what they despaired of conquering, +the chances and changes of this mortal life. Thus they, alas, threw away +the gold of human affections among the dross of this world's comfort and +honour. Wiser they were, indeed, than those last mentioned; but yet shew +I you a more excellent way. + +It is strange, and mournful, too, that this complaint, of unsatisfied +hopes and longings should still be often heard from Christian lips! +Strange, indeed, when the object and founder of our religion, the king +and head of all our race, the God whom we are bound to worship, the +eldest brother whom we are bound to love, the Saviour who died upon the +cross for us, is "the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever!" +Strange, indeed, when we remember that God was manifest in the flesh, +that He might save humanity and its hopes from perpetual change and final +destruction, and satisfy all those cravings after an immutable object of +man's loyalty and man's love. + +Yes, He has given us, in Himself, a king who can never misgovern, a +teacher who can never mislead, a priest whose sacrifice can never be +unaccepted, a protector who can never grow weary, a friend who can never +betray. And all that this earth has in it really worth loving,--the ties +of family, of country, of universal brotherhood--the beauties and wonders +of God's mysterious universe--all true love, all useful labour, all +innocent enjoyment--the marriage bed, and the fireside circle--the +bounties of harvest, and the smiles of spring, and all that makes life +bright and this earth dear--all these things He has restored to man, +spiritual and holy, deep with new meaning, bright with purer enjoyment, +rich with usefulness, not merely for time, but for eternity, after they +had become, through the accumulated sin and folly of ages, foul, dead, +and well nigh forgotten. He has united these common duties and pleasures +of man's life to Himself, by taking them on Himself on earth; by giving +us His spirit to understand and fulfil those duties; by making it a duty +to Him to cultivate them to the uttermost. He has sanctified them for +ever, by shewing us that they are types and patterns of still higher +relations to Himself, and to His Father and our Father, from whom they +came. + +Christ our Lord and Saviour is a witness to us of the enduring, the +everlasting nature of all that human life contains of beauty and +holiness, and real value. He is a witness to us that Wisdom is eternal; +that that all-embracing sight, that all-guiding counsel, which the Lord +"possessed in the beginning of His way, before His works of old," He who +"was set up from everlasting," who was with Him when He made the world, +still exists, and ever shall exist, unchanged. The word of the Lord +standeth sure! That Word which was "in the beginning," and "was with +God," and "was God!" Glorious truth! that, amid all the inventions which +man has sought out, while every new philosopher has been starting some +new method of happiness, some new theory of human life and its destinies, +God has still been working onward, unchecked, unaltered, "the same +yesterday, and to-day, and for ever." O, sons of men! perplexed by all +the apparent contradictions and cross purposes and opposing powers and +principles of this strange, dark, noisy time, remember to your comfort +that your King, a man like you, yet very God, now sits above, seeing +through all which you cannot see through; unravelling surely all this +tangled web of time, while under His guiding eye all things are moving +silently onward, like the stars in their courses above you, toward their +appointed end, "when He shall have put down all rule and all authority, +and power, for He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His +feet." And then, at last, this cloudy sky shall be all clear and bright, +for He, the Lamb, shall be the light thereof. + +Christ is the witness to us also of the eternity of Love,--Of God's love- +-the love of the Father who wills, of Himself who has purchased, of the +Holy Ghost who works in us our salvation; and of the eternity of all +love; that true love is not of the flesh, but of the spirit, and +therefore hath its root in the spiritual world, above all change and +accidents of time or circumstance. Think, think, my friends. For what +is life that we should make such ado about it, and hug it so closely, and +look to it to fill our hearts? What is all earthly life with all its bad +and good luck, its riches and its poverty, but a vapour that passes +away?--noise and smoke overclouding the enduring light of heaven. A man +may be very happy and blest in this life; yet he may feel that, however +pleasant it is, at root it is no reality, but only a shadow of realities +which are eternal and infinite in the bosom of God, a piecemeal pattern, +of the Light Kingdom--the city not made with hands--eternal in the +heavens. For all this time-world, as a wise man says, is but like an +image, beautifully and fearfully emblematic, but still only an emblem, +like an air image, which plays and flickers in the grand, still mirror of +eternity. Out of nothing, into time and space we all came into noisy +day; and out of time and space into the silent night shall we all return +into the spirit world--the everlasting twofold mystery--into the light- +world of God's love, or the fire-world of His anger--every like unto its +like, and every man to his own place. + + +"Choose well, your choice is +Brief but yet endless; +From Heaven, eyes behold you +In eternity's stillness. +There all is fullness, +Ye brave to reward you; +Work and despair not." + + + +SERMON XXXII. REFORMATION LESSONS + + + +Eversley. 1861. + +2 Kings xxiii. 3, 4, 25, 26. "And the king stood by a pillar, and made a +covenant before the Lord, to "walk after the Lord, and to keep his +commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart +and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were +written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant. And the +king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second +order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of +the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and +for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the +fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Beth-el. . . . And +like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with +all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according +to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him. +Notwithstanding the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great +wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the +provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal." + +You heard this chapter read as the first lesson for this afternoon's +service; and a lesson it is indeed--a lesson for you and for me, as it +was a lesson for our forefathers. If you had been worshipping in this +church three hundred years ago, you would have understood, without my +telling you, why the good and wise men who shaped our prayer-book chose +this chapter to be read in church. You would have applied the words of +it to the times in which you were living. You would have felt that the +chapter spoke to you at once of joy and hope, and of sorrow and fear. + +There is no doubt at all what our forefathers would have thought of, and +did think of, when they read this chapter. The glorious reformation +which young King Josiah made was to them the pattern of the equally +glorious Reformation which was made in England somewhat more than three +hundred years ago. Young King Josiah, swearing to govern according to +the law of the Lord, was to them the pattern of young King Edward VI. +determining to govern according to the laws of the Bible. The finding of +the law of the Lord in Josiah's time, after it had been long lost, was to +them the pattern of the sudden spread among them of the Bible, which had +been practically hidden from them for hundreds of years, and was then +translated into English and printed, and put freely into the hands of +every man, rich and poor, who was able to read it. King Josiah's +destruction of the idols, and the temples of the false gods, and driving +out the wizards and workers with familiar spirits, were to them a pattern +of the destruction of the monasteries and miraculous images and popish +superstitions of every kind, the turning the monks out of their convents, +and forcing them to set to honest work--which had just taken place +throughout England. And the hearts of all true Englishmen were stirred +up in those days to copy Josiah and the people of Jerusalem, and turn to +the Lord with all their heart, and with all their soul, and with all +their might, according to God's law and gospel, in the two Testaments, +both Old and New. + +One would have thought that at such a time the hearts of our forefathers +would be full of nothing but hope and joy, content and thankfulness. And +yet it was not so. One cannot help seeing that in the prayer-book, which +was put together in those days, there is a great deal of fear and +sadness. You see it especially in the Litany, which was to be said not +only on Sundays, but on Wednesdays and Fridays also. Some people think +the Litany painfully sad--too sad. It was not too sad for the time in +which it was written. Our forefathers, three hundred years ago, meant +what they said when they cried to God to have mercy upon them, miserable +sinners, and not to remember their offences nor the offences of their +forefathers, &c. They meant, and had good reason to mean, what they +said, when they cried to God that those evils which the craft and +subtilty of the devil and men were working against them might be brought +to nought, and by the providence of His goodness be dispersed--to arise +and help and deliver them for His name's sake and for His honour; and to +turn from them, for the glory of His name, all those evils which they +righteously had deserved. They were in danger and in terror, our +forefathers, three hundred years ago. And when they heard this lesson +read in church, it was not likely to make their terror less. + +For what says the 26th verse of this chapter? "Notwithstanding," in +spite of all this reformation, and putting away of idols and determining +to walk according to the law of the Lord, "the Lord turned not from the +fierceness of His great wrath, wherewith His anger was kindled against +Judah." And what followed? Josiah was killed in battle--by his own +fault too--by Pharaoh Nechoh, King of Egypt. And then followed nothing +but disaster and misery. The Jews were conquered first by the King of +Egypt, and taxed to pay to him an enormous tribute; and then, in the wars +between Egypt and Babylon, conquered a second time by the King of +Babylon, the famous Nebuchadnezzar, in that dreadful siege in which it is +said mothers ate their own children through extremity of famine. And +then after seventy years, after every one of that idolatrous and corrupt +generation had died in captivity, the poor Jews were allowed to go back +to their native land, chastened and purged in the fire of affliction, and +having learnt a lesson which, to do them justice, they never forgot +again, and have not forgotten to this day; that to worship a graven +image, as well as to work unrighteousness, is abomination to the Lord-- +that God, and God alone, is to be worshipped, and worshipped in holiness +and purity, in mercy and in justice. + +And it was some such fate as this, some terrible ruin like that of the +Jews of old, that our forefathers feared three hundred years ago. Their +hearts were not yet altogether right with God. They had not shaken off +the bad habits of mind, or the bad morals either, which they had learnt +in the old Romish times--too many of them were using their liberty as a +cloak of licentiousness; and, under pretence of religion, plundering not +only God's Church, but God's poor. And many other evils were rife in +England then, as there are sure to be great evils side by side with great +good in any country in times of change and revolution. And so our +forefathers needed chastisement, and they had it. King Edward, upon whom +the Protestants had set their hopes, died young; and then came times +which tried them literally as by fire. First came the terrible +persecutions in Queen Mary's time, when hundreds of good men and women +were burnt alive for their religion. And even after her death, for +thirty years, came times, such as Hezekiah speaks of--times of trouble +and rebuke and blasphemy, plots, rebellions, civil war, at home and +abroad; dangers that grew ever more and more terrible, till it seemed at +last certain that England would be conquered, in the Pope's name, by the +King of Spain: and if that had come to pass (and it all but came to pass +in the famous year 1588), the King of Spain would have become King of +England; the best blood of England would have been shed upon the +scaffold; the best estates parted among Spaniards and traitors; England +enslaved to the most cruel nation of those times; and the Inquisition set +up to persecute, torture, and burn all who believed in what they called, +and what is, the gospel of Jesus Christ. That was to have happened, and +it was only, as our forefathers confessed, by the infinite mercy of God +that it did not happen. They were delivered strangely and suddenly, as +the Jews were. For forty years they had been, chastised, and purged and +humbled for their sins; and then, and not till then, came times of safety +and prosperity, honour and glory, which have lasted, thanks be to God, +ever since. + + +And now, my dear friends, what has this to do with us? If this chapter +was a lesson to our forefathers, how is it to be a lesson to us likewise? + +I have always told you (as those who have really understood their Bibles +in all ages have told men) that the Bible sets forth the eternal laws of +God's kingdom--the laws by which God, that is, our Lord Jesus Christ, +governs nations and kingdoms--and not only nations and kingdoms, but you +and me, and every individual Christian man; "all these things," says St +Paul, are "written for our admonition." The history of the Jews is, or +may be, your history or mine, for good or for evil; as God dealt with +them, so is He dealing with you and me. By their experience we must +learn. By their chastisements we must be warned. So says St Paul. So +have all preachers said who have understood St Paul--and so say I to you. +And the lesson that we may learn from this chapter is, that we may repent +and yet be punished. + +I know people do not like to believe that; I know that it is much more +convenient to fancy that when a man repents, and, as he says, turns over +a new leaf, he need trouble himself no more about his past sins. But it +is a mistake; not only is the letter and spirit of Scripture against him, +but facts are against him. He may not choose to trouble himself about +his past sins; but he will find that his past sins trouble him, whether +he chooses or not,--and that often in a very terrible way, as they +troubled those poor Jews in their day, and our forefathers after the +Reformation. + +"What?" some will say, "is it not expressly written in Scripture that +'when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath +committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his +soul alive?' and 'all his transgressions that he hath committed they +shall not be mentioned unto him,' but that 'in his righteousness which he +hath done he shall live?'" + +No doubt it is so written, my friends. And no doubt it is perfectly and +literally true: but answer me this, when does the wicked man do that +which is lawful and right? The minute after he has repented? or the day +after? or even seven years after?--the minute after he is forgiven, and +received freely back again as God's child, as he will be, for the sake of +that precious blood which Christ poured out upon the cross? Would to God +it were so, my friends. Would to God it were so easy to do right, after +having been accustomed to do wrong. Would to God it were so easy to get +a clean heart and a right spirit. Would to God it were so easy to break +through all the old bad habits--perhaps the habits of a whole life-time. +But it is in vain to expect this sudden change of character. As well may +we expect a man, who has been laid low with fever, to get up and go about +to his work the moment his disease takes a favourable turn. + +No. After the forgiveness of sin must come the cure of sin. And that +cure, like most cures, is a long and a painful process. The sin may have +been some animal sin, like drunkenness; and we all know how difficult it +is to cure that. Or it may have been a spiritual sin--pride, vanity, +covetousness. Can any man put off these bad habits in a moment, as he +puts off his coat? Those who so fancy, can know very little of human +nature, and have observed their own hearts and their fellow creatures +very carelessly. If you will look at facts, what you will find is this:- +-that all sins and bad habits fill the soul with evil humours, just as a +fever or any other severe disease fills the body; and that, as in the +case of a fever, those evil humours remain after the acute disease is +past, and are but too apt to break out again, to cause relapses, to +torment the poor patient, perhaps to leave his character crippled and +disfigured all his life--certainly to require long and often severe +treatment by the heavenly physician, Christ, the purifier as well as the +redeemer of our sin-sick souls. Heavy, therefore, and bitter and +shameful is the burden which many a man has to bear after he has turned +from self to God, from sin to holiness. He is haunted, as it were, by +the ghosts of his old follies. He finds out the bitter truth of St +Paul's words, that there is another law in his body warring against the +law of his mind, of his conscience, and his reason; so that when he would +do good, evil is present with him. The good that he would do he does not +do; and the evil that he would not do he does. Till he cries with St +Paul, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of +this death?" and feels that none can deliver him, save Jesus Christ our +Lord. + +Yes. But there is our comfort, there is our hope--Christ, the great +healer, the great physician, can deliver us, and will deliver us from the +remains of our old sins, the consequences of our own follies. Not, +indeed, at once, or by miracle; but by slow education in new and nobler +motives, in purer and more unselfish habits. And better for us, perhaps, +that He should not cure us at once, lest we should fancy that sin was a +light thing, which we could throw off whenever we chose; and not what it +is, an inward disease, corroding and corrupting, the wages whereof are +death. Therefore it is, that because Christ loves us He hates our sins, +and cannot abide or endure them, will punish them, and is merciful and +loving in punishing them, as long as a tincture or remnant of sin is left +in us. + +Let us then, if our consciences condemn us of living evil lives, turn and +repent before it be too late; before our consciences are hardened; before +the purer and nobler feelings which we learnt at our mothers' knees are +stifled by the ways of the world; before we are hardened into bad habits, +and grown frivolous, sensual, selfish and worldly. Let us repent. Let +us put ourselves into the hands of Christ, the great physician, and ask +Him to heal our wounded souls, and purge our corrupted souls; and leave +to Him the choice of how He will do it. Let us be content to be punished +and chastised. If we deserve punishment, let us bear it, and bear it +like men; as we should bear the surgeon's knife, knowing that it is for +our good, and that the hand which inflicts pain is the hand of one who so +loves us, that He stooped to die for us on the cross. Let Him deal with +us, if He see fit, as He dealt with David of old, when He forgave his +sin, and yet punished it by the death of his child. Let Him do what He +will by us, provided He does--what He will do--make us good men. + +That is what we need to be--just, merciful, pure, faithful, loyal, +useful, honourable with true honour, in the sight of God and man. That +is what we need to be. That is what we shall be at last, if we put +ourselves into Christ's hand, and ask Him for the clean heart and the +right spirit, which is His own spirit, the spirit of all goodness. And +provided we attain, at last, to that--provided we attain, at last, to the +truly heroic and divine life, which is the life of virtue, it will matter +little to us by what wild and weary ways, or through what painful and +humiliating processes, we have arrived thither. If God has loved us, if +God will receive us, then let us submit loyally and humbly to His law. + +"Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He +receiveth." + + + +SERMON XXXIII. HUMAN SOOT + + + +Preached for the Kirkdale Ragged Schools, Liverpool, 1870. + +St Matt, xviii. 14. "It is not the will of your Father which is in +heaven, that one of these little ones should perish." + +I am here to plead for the Kirkdale Industrial Ragged School, and Free +School-room Church. The great majority of children who attend this +school belong to the class of "street arabs," as they are now called; and +either already belong to, or are likely to sink into, the dangerous +classes--professional law-breakers, profligates, and barbarians. How +these children have been fed, civilized, christianized, taught trades and +domestic employments, and saved from ruin of body and soul, I leave to +you to read in the report. Let us take hold of these little ones at +once. They are now soft, plastic, mouldable; a tone will stir their +young souls to the very depths, a look will affect them for ever. But a +hardening process has commenced within them, and if they are not seized +at once, they will become harder than adamant; and then scalding tears, +and the most earnest trials, will be all but useless. + +This report contains full and pleasant proof of the success of the +schools; but it contains also full proof of a fact which is anything but +pleasant--of the existence in Liverpool of a need for such an +institution. How is it that when a ragged school like this is opened, it +is filled at once: that it is enlarged year after year, and yet is +filled and filled again? Whence comes this large population of children +who are needy, if not destitute; and who are, or are in a fair way to +become, dangerous? And whence comes the population of parents whom these +children represent? How is it that in Liverpool, if I am rightly +informed, more than four hundred and fifty children were committed by the +magistrates last year for various offences; almost every one of whom, of +course, represents several more, brothers, sisters, companions, corrupted +by him, or corrupting him. You have your reformatories, your training +ships, like your Akbar, which I visited with deep satisfaction yesterday- +-institutions which are an honour to the town of Liverpool, at least to +many of its citizens. But how is it that they are ever needed? How is +it--and this, if correct, or only half correct, is a fact altogether +horrible--that there are now between ten and twelve thousand children in +Liverpool who attend no school--twelve thousand children in ignorance of +their duty to God and man, in training for that dangerous class, which +you have, it seems, contrived to create in this once small and quiet port +during a century of wonderful prosperity. And consider this, I beseech +you--how is it that the experiment of giving these children a fair +chance, when it is tried (as it has been in these schools) has succeeded? +I do not wonder, of course, that it has succeeded, for I know Who made +these children, and Who redeemed them, and Who cares for them more than +you or I, or their best friends, can care for them. But do you not see +that the very fact of their having improved, when they had a fair chance, +is proof positive that they had not had a fair chance before? How is +that, my friends? + +And this leads me to ask you plainly--what do you consider to be your +duty toward those children; what is your duty toward those dangerous and +degraded classes, from which too many of them spring? You all know the +parable of the Good Samaritan. You all know how he found the poor +wounded Jew by the wayside; and for the mere sake of their common +humanity, simply because he was a man, though he would have scornfully +disclaimed the name of brother, bound up his wounds, set him on his own +beast, led him to an inn, and took care of him. + +Is yours the duty which the good Samaritan felt?--the duty of mere +humanity? How is it your duty to deal, then, with these poor children? +That, and I think a little more. Let me say boldly, I think these +children have a deeper and a nearer claim on you; and that you must not +pride yourselves, here in Liverpool, on acting the good Samaritan, when +you help a ragged school. We do not read that the good Samaritan was a +merchant, on his march, at the head of his own caravan. We do not read +that the wounded man was one of his own servants, or a child of one of +his servants, who had been left behind, unable from weakness or weariness +to keep pace with the rest, and had dropped by the wayside, till the +vultures and the jackals should pick his bones. Neither do we read that +he was a general, at the head of an advancing army, and that the poor +sufferer was one of his own rank and file, crippled by wounds or by +disease, watching, as many a poor soldier does, his comrades march past +to victory, while he is left alone to die. Still less do we hear that +the sufferer was the child of some poor soldier's wife, or even of some +drunken camp-follower, who had lost her place on the baggage-waggon, and +trudged on with the child at her back, through dust and mire, till, in +despair, she dropped her little one, and left it to the mercies of the +God who gave it her. + +In either case, that good Samaritan would have known what his duty was. +I trust that you will know, in like case, what your duty is. For is not +this, and none other, your relation to these children in your streets, +ragged, dirty, profligate, sinking and perishing, of whom our Lord has +said--"It is not the will of your Father which is in heaven that one of +these little ones should perish?" It is not His will. I am sure that it +is not your will either. I believe that, with all my heart. I do not +blame you, or the people of Liverpool, nor the people of any city on +earth, in our present imperfect state of civilisation, for the existence +among them of brutal, ignorant, degraded, helpless people. It is no +one's fault, just because it is every one's fault--the fault of the +system. But it is not the will of God; and therefore the existence of +such an evil is proof patent and sufficient that we have not yet +discovered the whole will of God about this matter; that we have not yet +mastered the laws of true political economy, which (like all other +natural laws) are that will of God revealed in facts. Our processes are +hasty, imperfect, barbaric--and their result is vast and rapid +production: but also waste, refuse, in the shape of a dangerous class. +We know well how, in some manufactures, a certain amount of waste is +profitable--that it pays better to let certain substances run to refuse, +than to use every product of the manufacture; as in a steam mill, where +it pays better not to consume the whole fuel, to let the soot escape, +though every atom of soot is so much wasted fuel. So it is in our +present social system. It pays better, capital is accumulated more +rapidly, by wasting a certain amount of human life, human health, human +intellect, human morals, by producing and throwing away a regular +percentage of human soot--of that thinking, acting dirt, which lies +about, and, alas! breeds and perpetuates itself in foul alleys and low +public houses, and all dens and dark places of the earth. + +But, as in the case of the manufactures, the Nemesis comes, swift and +sure. As the foul vapours of the mine and the manufactory destroy +vegetation and injure health, so does the Nemesis fall on the world of +man; so does that human soot, these human poison gases, infect the whole +society which has allowed them to fester under its feet. + +Sad, but not hopeless! Dark, but not without a gleam of light on the +horizon! For I can conceive a time when, by improved chemical science, +every foul vapour which now escapes from the chimney of a manufactory, +polluting the air, destroying the vegetation, shall be seized, utilised, +converted into some profitable substance; till the black country shall be +black no longer, the streams once more crystal clear, the trees once more +luxuriant, and the desert which man has created in his haste and greed +shall, in literal fact, once more blossom as the rose. And just so can I +conceive a time when, by a higher civilisation, formed on a political +economy more truly scientific, because more truly according to the will +of God, our human refuse shall be utilised, like our material refuse, +when man, as man, even down to the weakest and most ignorant, shall be +found to be (as he really is) so valuable, that it will be worth while to +preserve his health, to develop his capabilities, to save him alive, +body, intellect, and character, at any cost; because men will see that a +man is, after all, the most precious and useful thing on the earth, and +that no cost spent on the development of human beings can possibly be +thrown away. + +I appeal, then, to you, the commercial men of Liverpool, if there are any +such in this congregation. If not, I appeal to their wives and +daughters, who are kept in wealth, luxury, refinement, by the honourable +labours of their husbands, fathers, brothers, on behalf of this human +soot. Merchants are (and I believe that they deserve to be) the leaders +of the great caravan, which goes forth to replenish the earth and subdue +it. They are among the generals of the great army which wages war +against the brute powers of nature all over the world, to ward off +poverty and starvation from the ever-teeming millions of mankind. Have +they no time--I take for granted that they have the heart--to pick up the +footsore and weary, who have fallen out of the march, that they may +rejoin the caravan, and be of use once more? Have they no time--I am +sure they have the heart--to tend the wounded and the fever-stricken, +that they may rise and fight once more? If not, then must not the pace +of their march be somewhat too rapid, the plan of their campaign somewhat +precipitate and ill-directed, their ambulance train and their medical +arrangements somewhat defective? We are all ready enough to complain of +waste of human bodies, brought about by such defects in the British army. +Shall we pass over the waste, the hereditary waste of human souls, +brought about by similar defects in every great city in the world? + +Waste of human souls, human intellects, human characters--waste, saddest +of all, of the image of God in little children. That cannot be +necessary. There must be a fault somewhere. It cannot be the will of +God that one little one should perish by commerce, or by manufacture, any +more than by slavery, or by war. + +As surely as I believe that there is a God, so surely do I believe that +commerce is the ordinance of God; that the great army of producers and +distributors is God's army. But for that very reason I must believe that +the production of human refuse, the waste of human character, is not part +of God's plan; not according to His ideal of what our social state should +be; and therefore what our social state can be. For God asks no +impossibilities of any human being. + +But as things are, one has only to go into the streets of this, or any +great city, to see how we, with all our boasted civilisation, are, as +yet, but one step removed from barbarism. Is that a hard word? Why, +there are the barbarians around us at every street corner! Grown +barbarians--it may be now all but past saving--but bringing into the +world young barbarians, whom we may yet save, for God wishes us to save +them. It is not the will of their Father which is in heaven that one of +them should perish. And for that very reason He has given them +capabilities, powers, instincts, by virtue of which they need not perish. +Do not deceive yourselves about the little dirty, offensive children in +the street. If they be offensive to you, they are not to Him who made +them. "Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say +unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my +Father which is in heaven." Is there not in every one of them, as in +you, the Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world? And +know you not Who that Light is, and what He said of little children? +Then, take heed, I say, lest you despise one of these little ones. +Listen not to the Pharisee when he says, Except the little child be +converted, and become as I am, he shall in nowise enter into the kingdom +of heaven. But listen to the voice of Him who knew what was in man, when +He said, "Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall +not enter into the kingdom of heaven." Their souls are like their +bodies, not perfect, but beautiful enough, and fresh enough, to shame any +one who shall dare to look down on them. Their souls are like their +bodies, hidden by the rags, foul with the dirt of what we miscall +civilisation. But take them to the pure stream, strip off the ugly, +shapeless rags, wash the young limbs again, and you shall find them, body +and soul, fresh and lithe, graceful and capable--capable of how much, God +alone who made them knows. Well said of such, the great Christian poet +of your northern hills-- + + +"Not in entire forgetfulness, +And not in utter nakedness, +But trailing clouds of glory do we come +From God, who is our home." + + +Truly, and too truly, alas! he goes on to say-- + + +"Shades of the prison-house begin to close +Upon the growing boy." + + +Will you let the shades of that prison-house of mortality be peopled with +little save obscene phantoms? Truly, and too truly, he goes on-- + + +"The youth, who daily further from the east +Must travel, still is Nature's priest, +And by the vision splendid, +Is on his way attended." + + +Will you leave the youth to know nature only in the sense in which an ape +or a swine knows it; and to conceive of no more splendid vision than that +which he may behold at a penny theatre? Truly again, and too truly, he +goes on-- + + +"At length the man perceives it die away, +And fade into the light of common day." + + +Yes, to weak, mortal man the prosaic age of manhood must needs come, for +good as well as for evil. But will you let that age be--to any of your +fellow citizens--not even an age of rational prose, but an age of brutal +recklessness; while the light of common day, for him, has sunk into the +darkness of a common sewer? + +And all the while it was not the will of their Father in heaven that one +of these little ones should perish. Is it your will, my friends; or is +it not? If it be not, the means of saving them, or at least the great +majority of them, is easier than you think. Circumstances drag downward +from childhood, poor, weak, fallen, human nature. Circumstances must +help it upward again once more. Do your best to surround the wild +children of Liverpool with such circumstances as you put round your own +children. Deal with them as you wish God to deal with your beloved. +Remember that, as the wise man says, the human plant, like the vegetable, +thrives best in light; and you will discover, by the irresistible logic +of facts, by the success of your own endeavours, by seeing these young +souls grow, and not wither, live, and not die--that it is not the will of +your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should +perish. + + + +SERMON XXXIV. NATIONAL SORROWS AND NATIONAL LESSONS + + + +On the illness or the Prince of Wales. + +Chapel Royal, St James's, December 17th, 1871. + +2 Sam. xix. 14. "He bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as the +heart of one man." + +No circumstances can be more different, thank God, than those under which +the heart of the men of Judah was bowed when their king commander +appealed to them, and those which have, in the last few days, bowed the +heart of this nation as the heart of one man. But the feeling called out +in each case was the same--Loyalty, spontaneous, contagious, some would +say unreasoning: but it may be all the deeper and nobler, because for +once it did not wait to reason, but was content to be human, and to feel. + +If those men who have been so heartily loyal of late--respectable, +business-like, manful persons, of a race in nowise given to sentimental +excitement--had been asked the cause of the intense feeling which they +have shown during the last few days, they would probably, most of them, +find some difficulty in giving it. Many would talk frankly of their +dread lest business should be interfered with; and no shame to them, if +they live by business. Others would speak of possible political +complications; and certainly no blame to them for dreading such. But +they would most of them speak, as frankly, of a deeper and less selfish +emotion. They would speak, not eloquently it may be, but earnestly, of +sympathy with a mother and a wife; of sympathy with youth and health +fighting untimely with disease and death--they would plead their common +humanity, and not be ashamed to have yielded to that touch of nature, +which makes the whole world kin. And that would be altogether to their +honour. Honourably and gracefully has that sympathy showed itself in +these realms of late. It has proved that in spite of all our +covetousness, all our luxury, all our frivolity, we are not cynics yet, +nor likely, thanks be to Almighty God, to become cynics; that however +encrusted and cankered with the cares and riches of this world, and +bringing, alas, very little fruit to perfection, the old British oak is +sound at the root--still human, still humane. + +But there is, I believe, another and an almost deeper reason for the +strong emotion which has possessed these men; one most intimately bound +up with our national life, national unity, national history; one which +they can hardly express to themselves; one which some of them are half +ashamed to express, because they cannot render a reason for it; but which +is still there, deeply rooted in their souls; one of those old hereditary +instincts by which the histories of whole nations, whole races, are +guided, often half-unconsciously, and almost in spite of themselves; and +that is Loyalty, pure and simple Loyalty--the attachment to some royal +race, whom they conceived to be set over them by God. An attachment, +mark it well, founded not on their own will, but on grounds very complex, +and quite independent of them; an attachment which they did not make, but +found; an attachment which their forefathers had transmitted to them, and +which they must transmit to their children as a national inheritance,--at +once a symbol of and a support to the national unity of the whole people, +running back to the time when, in dim and mythic ages, it emerged into +the light of history as a wandering tribe. This instinct, as a historic +fact, has been strong in all the progressive European nations; especially +strong in the Teutonic; in none more than in the English and the Scotch. +It has helped to put them in the forefront of the nations. It has been a +rallying point for all their highest national instincts. Their Sovereign +was to them the divinely appointed symbol of the unity of their country. +In defending him, they defended it. It did not interfere, that instinct +of loyalty, with their mature manhood, freedom, independence. They knew +that if royalty were indeed God's ordinance, it had its duties as well as +its rights. And when their kings broke the law, they changed their +kings. But a king they must have, for their own sakes; not merely for +the sake of the nation's security and peace, but for the sake of their +own self-respect. They felt, those old forefathers of ours, that loyalty +was not a degrading, but an ennobling influence; that a free man can give +up his independence without losing it; that--as the example of that +mighty German army has just shown an astounded world--independence is +never more called out than by subordination; and that a free man never +feels himself so free as when obeying those whom the laws of his country +have set over him; an able man never feels himself so able as when he is +following the lead of an abler man than himself. And what if, as needs +must happen at whiles, the sovereign were not a man, but a woman or a +child? Then was added to loyalty in the hearts of our forefathers, and +of many another nation in Europe, an instinct even deeper, and tenderer, +and more unselfish--the instinct of chivalry; and the widowed queen, or +the prince, became to them a precious jewel committed to their charge by +the will of their forefathers and the providence of God; an heirloom for +which they were responsible to God, and to their forefathers, and to +their children after them, lest their names should be stained to all +future generations by the crime of baseness toward the weak. + +This was the instinct of the old Teutonic races. They were often +unfaithful to it--as all men are to their higher instincts; and fulfilled +it very imperfectly--as all men fulfil their duties. But it was there-- +in their heart of hearts. It helped to make them; and, therefore, it +helped to make us. It ennobled them; it called out in them the sense of +unity, order, discipline, and a lofty and unselfish affection. And I +thank God, as an Englishman, for any event, however exquisitely painful, +which may call out those true graces in us, their descendants. And, +therefore, my good friends, if any cynic shall sneer, as he may, after +the present danger is past, at this sudden outburst of loyalty, and speak +of it as unreasoning and childish, answer not him. "Give not that which +is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest +they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you." But +answer yourselves, and answer too your children, when they ask you what +has moved you thus--answer, I say, not childishly, but childlike: "We +have gone back, for a moment at least, to England's childhood--to the +mood of England when she was still young. And we are showing thereby +that we are not yet decayed into old age. That if we be men, and not +still children, yet the child is father to the man; and the child's heart +still beats underneath all the sins and all the cares and all the greeds +of our manhood." + +More than one foreign nation is looking on in wonder and in envy at that +sight. God grant that they may understand all that it means. God grant +that they may understand of how wide and deep an application is the great +law, "Except ye be converted," changed, and turned round utterly, "and +become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of +heaven." God grant that they may recover the childlike heart, and +replace with it that childish heart which pulls to pieces at its own +irreverent fancy the most ancient and sacred institutions, to build up +ever fresh baby-houses out of the fragments, as a child does with its +broken toys. + +Therefore, my friends, be not ashamed to have felt acutely. Be not +ashamed to feel acutely still, till all danger is past, or even long +after all danger is past; when you look back on what might have been, and +what it might have brought, ay, must have brought, if not to you, still +to your children after you. For so you will show yourselves worthy +descendants of your forefathers: so you will show yourselves worthy +citizens of this British empire. So you will show yourselves, as I +believe, worthy Christian men and women. For Christ, the King of kings +and subjects, sends all sorrow, to make us feel acutely. We do not, the +great majority of us, feel enough. Our hearts are dull and hard and +light, God forgive us; and we forget continually what an earnest, awful +world we live in--a whole eternity waiting for us to be born, and a whole +eternity waiting to see what we shall do now we are born. Yes; our +hearts are dull and hard and light; and, therefore, Christ sends +suffering on us to teach us what we always gladly forget in comfort and +prosperity--what an awful capacity of suffering we have; and more, what +an awful capacity of suffering our fellow-creatures have likewise. We +sit at ease too often in a fool's paradise, till God awakens us and +tortures us into pity for the torture of others. And so, if we will not +acknowledge our brotherhood by any other teaching, He knits us together +by the brotherhood of common suffering. + +But if God thus sends sorrow to ennoble us, to call out in us pity, +sympathy, unselfishness, most surely does He send for that end such a +sorrow as this, which touches in all alike every source of pity, of +sympathy, of unselfishness at once. Surely He meant to bow our hearts as +the heart of one man; and He has, I trust and hope, done that which He +meant to do. God grant that the effect may be permanent. God grant that +it may call out in us all an abiding loyalty. God grant that it may fill +us with some of that charity which bears all things, hopes all things, +believes all things, which rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in the +truth; and make us thrust aside henceforth, in dignified disgust, the +cynic and the slanderer, the ribald and the rebel. + +But more. God grant that the very sight of the calamity with which we +have stood face to face, may call out in us some valiant practical +resolve, which may benefit this whole nation, and bow all hearts as the +heart of one man, to do some one right thing. And what right thing? +What but the thing which is pointed to by plain and terrible fact, as the +lesson which God must mean us to learn, if He means us to learn any, from +what has so nearly befallen? Let our hearts be bowed as the heart of one +man, to say--that so far as we have power, so help us God, no man, woman, +or child in Britain, be he prince or be he beggar, shall die henceforth +of preventable disease. Let us repent of and amend that scandalous +neglect of the now well-known laws of health and cleanliness which +destroys thousands of lives yearly in this kingdom, without need and +reason; in defiance alike of science, of humanity, and of our Christian +profession. Two hundred thousand persons, I am told, have died of +preventable fever since the Prince Consort's death ten years ago. Is +that not a sin to bow our hearts as the heart of one man? Ah, if this +foul and needless disease, by striking once at the very highest, shall +bring home to us the often told, seldom heeded fact that it is striking +perpetually at hundreds among the very lowest, whom we leave to sicken +and die in dens unfit for men--unfit for dogs; if this tragedy shall +awaken all loyal citizens to demand and to enforce, as a duty to their +sovereign, their country, and their God, a sanatory reform in town and +country, immediate, wholesale, imperative; if it shall awaken the +ministers of religion to preach about that, and hardly aught but that-- +till there is not a fever ally or a malarious ditch left in any British +city;--then indeed this fair and precious life will not have been +imperilled in vain, and generations yet unborn will bless the memory of a +prince who sickened as poor men sicken, and all but died, as poor men +die, that his example--and, it may be hereafter, his exertions--might +deliver the poor from dirt, disease, and death. + +For him himself I have no fear. We have committed him to God. It may be +that he has committed himself to God. It may be that he has already +learned lessons which God alone can teach. It may be that those lessons +will bring forth hereafter royal fruit right worthy of a royal root. At +least we can trust him in God's hands, and believe that if this great woe +was meant to ennoble us it was meant to ennoble him; that if it was meant +to educate us it was meant to educate him; that God is teaching him; and +that in God's school-house he is safe. For think, my friends, if we, who +know him partly, love him much; then God, who knows him wholly, loves him +more. And so God be with him, and with you, and with your prayers for +him. Amen. + + + +SERMON XXXV. GRACE AND GLORY + + + +Chapel Royal, Whitehall. 1865. For the consumptive hospital. + +St John ii. 11. "This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of +Galilee, and manifested forth his glory." + +This word glory, whether in its Greek or its Roman shape, had a very +definite meaning in the days of the Apostles. It meant the admiration of +men. The Greek word, as every scholar knows, is derived from a root +signifying to seem, and expresses that which a man seems, and appears to +his fellow men. The Latin word glory is expressly defined by Cicero to +mean the love, trust, and admiration of the multitude; and a consequent +opinion that the man is worthy of honour. Glory, in fact, is a relative +word, and can be only used of any being in relation to other rational +beings, and their opinion of him. + +The glory of God, therefore, in Scripture, must needs mean that +admiration which men feel, or ought to feel for God. There is a deeper, +an altogether abysmal meaning for that word: "And now, O Father, glorify +thou me with thy own self, with the glory which I had with thee before +the world was." But on that text, speaking of the majesty of the ever- +blessed Trinity, I dare not attempt to comment; though, could I explain +it, I should. When St. John says that Christ manifested forth His glory, +and His disciples believed on Him, it is plain that He means by His glory +that which produced admiration and satisfaction, not alone in the mind of +God the Father, but in the minds of men. + +Now, what the Romans thought glorious in their days is notorious enough. +No one can look upon the picture of a Roman triumph without seeing that +their idea of glory was force, power, brute force, self-willed dominion, +selfish aggrandizement. But this was not the glory which St. John saw in +Christ, for His glory was full of grace, which is incompatible with self- +will and selfishness. + +The Greek's meaning of glory is equally notorious. He called it wisdom. +We call it craft--the glory of the sophist, who could prove or disprove +anything for gain or display; the glory of the successful adventurer, +whose shrewdness made its market out of the stupidity and vice of the +barbarian. But this is not the glory of Christ, for St. John saw that it +was full of truth. + +Therefore, neither strength nor craft are the glory of Christ; and, +therefore, they are not the glory of God. For the glory of Christ is the +glory of God, and none other, because He is very God, of very God +begotten. In Christ, man sees the unseen, and absolute, and eternal God +as He is, was, and ever will be. "No man hath seen God at any time; the +only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared +Him:"--and that perfectly and utterly; for in Him dwells all the fulness +of the Godhead bodily, so that He Himself could say, "He that hath seen +me hath seen the Father." This is the Catholic Faith. God grant that I +may believe it with my whole heart. God grant that you may believe it +with your whole hearts likewise, and not merely with your intellects and +brains. + +But, it may be said, though God be not glorious and admirable for selfish +force, which it were blasphemous to attribute to Him, He is still +admirable for His power. Though He be not glorious for craft, He is +still glorious for His wisdom. I deny both. I deny that power is any +object of admiration, unless it be used well for good ends. To admire +power for its own sake is one of those errors, which has been well called +Titanolatry, the worship of giants. Neither is wisdom an object of +admiration, unless it be used for good ends. To worship it for its own +sake is a common error enough--the idolatry of Intellect. But it is none +the less an error, and a grievous one. God's power and wisdom are +glorious only in as far as they are used (as they are utterly) for good +ends; only, in plain words, as far as God is (as He is perfectly) good. +And the true glory of God is that God is good. So says the Scripture; +and so I bid you all remember, for it is a truth which you and I and all +mankind are perpetually ready to forget. + +Let me but ask you one question as a test whether or not I am right. If +the Supreme Being used His power, as the Roman Caesar used his; if He +used His wisdom as the Greek sophist used his, would He be glorious then +and worthy of admiration? The old heathen AEschylus answered that +question for mankind long ago on the Athenian stage. I should be ashamed +to answer it again in a Christian pulpit. And when I say GOOD, I mean +good, even as man can be, and ought to be, and is, more or less, good. +The theory that because God's morality is absolute, it may, therefore, be +different from man's morality, in KIND as well as in DEGREE, is equally +contrary to the letter and to the spirit of Scripture. Man, according to +Scripture, is made in God's moral image and likeness, and however fallen +and degraded that image may be, still the ultimate standard of right and +wrong is the same in God and in man. How else dare Abraham ask of God, +"Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" How else has God's +command to the old Jews any meaning, "Be ye holy, for I am holy?" How +else have all the passages in the Psalms, Prophets, Evangelists, +Apostles, which speak of God's justice, mercy, faithfulness, any honest +or practical meaning to human beings? How else can they be aught but a +mockery, a delusion, and a snare to the tens of thousands who have found +in them hope and trust, that God would deliver them and the world from +evil? What means the command to be perfect as our Father in heaven is +perfect? What mean the words that we partake of a divine nature? How +else is the command to love God anything but an arbitrary and impossible +demand,--demanding love, which every writer of fiction tells you, and +tells you truly, cannot be compelled--can only go forth toward a being +who shows himself worthy of our love, by possessing those qualities which +we admire in our fellow men? No. Against such a theory I must quote, as +embodying all that I would say, and corroborating, on entirely +independent ground, the Scriptural account of human morality--against +such a theory, I say I must quote the words of our greatest living +logician. "Language has no meaning for the words Just, Merciful, +Benevolent" (he might have added truthful likewise) "save that in which +we predicate them of our fellow creatures; and unless that is what we +intend to express by them, we have no business to employ the words. If +in affirming them of God we do not mean to affirm these very qualities, +differing only as greater in degree, we are neither philosophically nor +morally entitled to affirm them at all . . . What belongs to" God's +goodness "as Infinite (or more properly Absolute) I do not pretend to +know; but I know that infinite goodness must be goodness, and that what +is not consistent with goodness is not consistent with infinite goodness. +. . . Besides," he says--and to this sound reductio ad absurdum I call +the attention of all who believe their Bibles--"unless I believe God to +possess the same moral attributes which I find, in however inferior a +degree, in a good man, what ground of assurance have I of God's veracity? +All trust in a Revelation presupposes a conviction that God's attributes +are the same, in all but degree, with the best human attributes. If, +instead of the 'glad tidings' that there exists a Being in whom all the +excellences which the highest human mind can conceive, exist in a degree +inconceivable to us, I am informed that the world is ruled by a being +whose attributes are infinite, but what they are we cannot learn, nor +what are the principles of his government, except that 'the highest human +morality which we are capable of conceiving' does not sanction them; +convince me of it and I will bear my fate as I may. But when I am told +that I must believe this, and at the same time call this being by the +names which express and affirm the highest human morality, I say in plain +terms that I will not. Whatever power such a being may have over me, +there is one thing which he shall not do: he shall not compel me to +worship him. I will call no being good, who is not what I mean when I +apply that epithet to my fellow creatures." + +That St. John would have assented to these bold and honest words, that +such is St. John's conception of human and divine morality, the story in +the text shows, to my mind, especially. It is, so to speak, a crucial +experiment, by which the truth of the Scripture theory is verified. The +difficulty in all ages about a standard of morality has been--How can we +fix it? Even if we agree that man's goodness ought to be the counterpart +of God's goodness, we know that in practice it is not, as mankind has +differed in all ages and countries about what is right and wrong. The +Hindoo thinks it right to burn widows, wrong to eat animal food; and +between such extremes there are numberless minor differences. Hardly any +act is conceivable which has not been thought by some man, somewhere, +somehow, morally right or morally wrong. If all that we can do is, to +choose out those instances of morality which seem to us most right, and +impute them to God, shall we not have an ever-shifting, probably a merely +conventional standard of right and wrong? And worse--shall we not be +always in danger of deifying our own superstitions--perhaps our own +vices: of making a God in our own image, because we cannot know that God +in whose image we are made? Most true, unless "we believe rightly the +incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ," "perfect God and perfect man." In +Him, says the Bible, the perfect human morality is manifested, and shown +by His life and conduct to be identical with the divine. He bids us be +perfect even as our Father in heaven is perfect; and He only has a right- +-in the sense of a sound and fair reason--for so doing; because He can +say, and has said, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." + +At least, such is the doctrine of St. John. He tells us that the Word, +who was God, was made flesh, and dwelt in his land and neighbourhood; and +that he and his fellows beheld His glory; and saw that it was the glory +of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And then, +in the next chapter, he goes on to tell us how that glory was first +manifested forth--by turning water into wine at a marriage feast. On the +truth of the story, I say simply, in passing, that I believe it fully and +literally; as I do also St. John's assertions about our Lord's Divinity. +But I only wish to point out to you why I called this miracle the crucial +experiment, which proved God's goodness to be identical with that which +we call (and rightly) goodness in man. It is by the seeming +insignificance thereof, by the seeming non-necessity, by the seeming +humbleness of its circumstances, by the seeming smallness of its results, +issuing merely (as far as Scripture tells us, and therefore as far as we +need know, or have a right to imagine) in the giving of a transitory and +unnecessary physical pleasure. In short, by the very absence of that +Dignus deo vindice nodus, that knot which only a God could untie, which +heathens demanded ere a god was allowed to interfere in the plot of a +tragedy; which too many who call themselves Christians demand before the +living God is allowed to interfere in that world in which without Him not +a sparrow falls to the ground. In a moral case of this kind, if you will +consider, that which seems least is often the greatest. That which seems +the lowest, because the simplest and meanest manifestation of a moral +law, may be--probably is--the deepest, the highest, the most universal. + +Life is made up of little things, say the practically wise, and they say +true, for our Lord says so likewise. "He that is faithful in that which +is least is faithful also in much." If you look on morality, virtue, +goodness, holiness, sanctification--call it what you will--as merely the +obligation of an EXTERNAL law, you will be tempted to say, "Let me be +faithful to it in its greater and more important cases, and that is +enough. The pettier ones must take care of themselves, I have not time +enough to attend to them, and God will not, it may be, require them of +me." But if the morality, goodness, holiness be in you what it was in +Christ, without measure--a SPIRIT, even the spirit of God--a spirit +within you, possessing you, and working on you, and in you--then that +which seems most petty and unimportant will often be most important, the +test of the soundness of your heart, of the reality of your feelings. + +We all know--every writer of fiction, at least, should know--how true +this is in the case of love between man and woman, between parent and +child: how the little kindnesses, the half-unconscious gestures, the +petty labours of love, of which their object will never be aware, the +scrupulousness which is able "to greatly find quarrel in a straw, when +honour is at stake,"--how these are the very things which show that the +affection is neither the offspring of dry and legal duty, nor of selfish +enjoyment, but lies far down in the unconscious abysses of the heart and +being itself:--as Christ--to compare (for He Himself permits, nay +commands, us to do so in His parables) our littleness with His immensity- +-as Christ, I say, showed, when He chose first to manifest His glory--the +glory of His grace and truth--by increasing for a short hour the +pleasures of a village feast. + +I might say much more on the point; how He showed these by His truth; how +He proved that He, and therefore His Father and your Father, was not that +Deus quidam deceptor, whom some suppose Him, mocking the intellect of His +creatures by the FACTS of nature which He has created, tempting the souls +of His creatures by the very faculties and desires which He Himself has +given them. + +But I wish now to draw your minds rather to that one word GRACE--Grace, +what it means, and how it is a manifestation of glory. Few Scriptural +expressions have suffered more that this word Grace from the storms of +theological controversy. Springing flesh in the minds of Apostles, as +did many other noble words in that heaven-enriched soil, the only +adequate expressions of an idea which till then had never fully possessed +the mind of man, it meant more than we can now imagine; perhaps more that +we shall ever imagine again. We, alas! only know the word with its +fragrance battered out, its hues rubbed off, its very life anatomized out +of it by the battles of rival divines, till its mere skeleton is left, +and all that grace means to most of us is simply and dryly a certain +spiritual gift of God. Doubtless it means that; but if it meant nothing +more at first, why was not the plain word Gift enough for the Apostles? +Why did they use Grace? Why did they use, too, in the sense of giving +and gifts, nouns and verbs derived from that root-word, CHARIS, grace, +which plainly signified so much to them? A word, the root-meaning of +which was neither more nor less than a certain heathen goddess, or +goddesses--the inspirer of beauty in art, the impersonation of all that +is pure, charming, winning, bountiful--in one word, of all that is +graceful and gracious in the human character. The fact is strange, but +the fact is there; and being there, we must face it and explain it. Of +course, the Apostles use the word grace in a far deeper and loftier +meaning; raise it, mathematically speaking, to a far higher power. There +is no need to remind you of that. But why did they choose and use the +word at all--a word whose old meaning every heathen knew--unless for some +innate fitness in it to express something in the character of God? To +tell men that there was in God a graciousness, as of the most gracious of +all human beings, which gave to His character a moral beauty, a charm, a +winningness, which, as even the old Jewish prophet, before the +Incarnation, could perceive and boldly declare, drew them with the cords +of a man and with the bands of love, attracting them by the very human +character of its graciousness. + +"The glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace." +Meditate on those words. "Full of grace,"--of that spirit which we, like +the old heathens, consider rather a feminine than a masculine excellence; +the spirit, which, as St. James says of God the Father, gives simply and +upbraideth not; gives gracefully, as we ourselves say--in the right and +happy use of the adverb; does not spoil its gifts by throwing them in the +teeth of the giver, but gives for mere giving's sake; pleases where it +can be done, without sin or harm, for mere pleasing's sake; most human +and humane when it is most divine; the spirit by which Christ turned the +water into wine at the marriage feast, and so manifested forth His +absolute and eternal glory. And how? How? + +Thus, if you will receive it; if you will believe a truth which is too +often hidden from the wise and prudent, and yet revealed unto babes; +which will never be understood by the proud Pharisee, the sour fanatic, +the ascetic who dreads and distrusts his Father in heaven; but which is +clear and simple enough to many a clear and simple heart, honest and +single-eyed, sunny itself, and bringing sunshine wherever it comes, +because it is inspired by the gracious spirit of God, and delights to +show kindness for kindness' sake, and to make happy for happiness' sake, +taking no merit to itself for doing that, which is as instinctive as its +very breath. + +This,--that the graciousness which Christ showed at that marriage feast +is neither more nor less than the boundless love of God, who could not +live alone in the abyss, but must needs, out of His own Divine Charity, +create the universe, that He might have somewhat beside Himself whereon +to pour out the ocean of His love, which finds its own happiness in +giving happiness to all created things, from the loftiest of rational +beings down to the gnat which dances in the sun, and for aught we know, +to the very lichen which nestles in the Alpine rock. + +This is the character of God, unless Scripture be a dream of man's +imagination. Thus far you may know God; thus far you may see God as He +is; and know and see that He is just with the justice of a man, only more +just; merciful with the mercy of a man, only more merciful; truthful with +the truthfulness of a man, only more truthful; gracious with the +graciousness of a man, only more gracious; and loving? That we dare not +say: for if we say so much, the Scripture commands us to say more. The +Scripture tells us that the whole absolute morality of God is summed up-- +as our own human morality ought to be--in His Love. That love is the +fulfilment of the Moral Law in Him as in us; that it is the root and +cause and spirit of His justice, mercy, truth, and graciousness; that it +belongs not to His attributes, as they may be said to be, but to His +essence and His spirit; that we must not, if we be careful of our words, +say, God is loving, because we are bidden to say, "God is Love." + +Thus, the commands, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God--and thy neighbour +as thyself, are shown to be not arbitrary and impossible demands, +miscalled moral obligations, while they are merely legal and external +ones; but true moral obligations, in the moral sense, to which heart and +spirit can answer, "I rejoice to do thy will, O God; Thy law is within my +heart." You ought to love God, because He is supremely loveable and +worthy of your love. You can love God, because you can appreciate and +know God; for you are His child, made in His moral likeness, and capable +of seeing Him as He is morally, and of seeing in Him the full perfection +of all that attracts your moral sense, when it is manifested in any human +being. And you can love your neighbour as yourselves, because, and in as +far as you have in you the Spirit of God, the spirit of universal love, +which proceedeth out for ever both from the Father and the Son to all +beings and things which They have made. + +And of one thing I am sure, that in proportion as you are led and +inspired by that Spirit of God which showed in our Lord, in the very +deepest and truest sense, as the spirit of humanity, just so you will +feel a genial and hearty pleasure in lessening all human suffering, +however slight; in increasing all harmless human pleasure, however +transitory; and in copying Him who, at the marriage feast, gracefully and +graciously turned the water into wine. I do not, of course, mean that +you are to do no more than that; to prefer sentiment to duty, to amuse +and glorify yourselves by paying tithe of mint, anise, and cummin, and +neglect the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith. +But I do mean that you are not to distrust your own sentiments, not to +crush your own instinctive sympathies. The very lowest of them--that +which makes you shrink at the sight of pain, and rejoice in the sight of +pleasure, is not natural, and common to you with the animals; it is +supernatural and divine. It is a schoolmaster to bring you to Christ, to +that higher inspiration of His, which tells your heart to alleviate the +unseen woes which will never come into painful contact with your +sensibilities, to bestow pleasures in which you yourself have no +immediate share. It will tell your hearts especially in the case of this +very Hospital for Consumption not to be slack in giving, because so much +of what you will give--it is painful to recollect how much--will be +spent, not in prevention, not even in cure, but in mere alleviation, mere +increased bodily ease, mere savoury food, even mere passing amusements +for wearied minds. Be it so. If (which God forbid) we could do nothing +SAVE alleviate; if (which God forbid) permanent cure, even lengthening of +life, were impossible, I should say just as much, Give. Give money to +alleviate; give, even though what you give were, in the strictly economic +sense, WASTED. We are ready enough, most of us, to waste upon ourselves. +It is well for us to taste once in a way the luxury of wasting on others; +though I have yet to learn that anything can be called wasted which +lessens, even for a moment, the amount of human suffering. A plan, for +instance, is on foot for sending twenty of the patients to Madeira for +the winter. The British Consul, to his honour, guarantees their +maintenance, if the Hospital will pay their passage out and home. Some +may say--An unnecessary expense--a problematical benefit. Be it so. I +believe that it will not be such; that it may save many lives--they may +revive: but were it not so, I would still say Give. Let them go, even +if every soul in that ship were doomed. Let them go. Let them drink the +fresh sea breeze before they die; let them see the green tropic world; +let them forget their sorrow for a while; let them feel springing up +afresh in them the celestial fount of hope. We let the guilty criminal +eat and drink well the morn ere he is led forth to die--shall we not do +as much by those who are innocent? + +But especially would I say, try to lessen such suffering as that for +which I plead to-day, because it is undeserved in the true sense of that +word--not earned by any act of their own. These poor souls suffer for no +sins of their own; they have done nothing to bring on themselves a +disease which attacks too often the fairest, the seemingly strongest and +healthiest, the most temperate and most pure. They suffer, some it may +be for the sins of their forefathers, some from causes of disease which +science cannot as yet control, cannot even discover. They are objects of +unmixed pity and sympathy: they should be so to us; for they are so to +Him who made them. On this disease God does bestow a special +alleviation--a special mark of His pity, of His tenderness, in a word of +His grace. That unclouded intellect, that unruffled temper, that +cheerful resignation, that brave and yet calm facing of the inevitable +future, that ever-fresh hope, which is no delusion but a token that God +Himself has taken away the sting of death and the victory of the grave, +till the very thought of death has vanished, or is looked on merely as +the gate to a life of health, and strength, and peace, and joy:--all +these symptoms, so common, so normal, all but universal--this Euthanasia +which God has provided for those who, humanly speaking, are innocent, yet +must, for the general good of humanity, leave this world for another;-- +what are they but the voice of God to us, telling that He loves, that He +pities, that He alleviates; and bidding us go and do likewise? God has +alleviated where we cannot. He has bidden us thereby, if His likeness +and spirit be indeed in us, to alleviate where we can; and believe that +by every additional comfort, however petty, which we provide, we are +copying the Ideal Man, who, because He was very God of very God, could +condescend, at the marriage feast, to turn the water into wine. + + + +SERMON XXXVI. USELESS SACRIFICE + + + +Preached at Southsea for the Mission of the Good Shepherd. October 1871. + +Isaiah i. 11-17. "To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices +unto me? saith the Lord: . . . When ye come to appear before me, who +hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? Bring no more vain +oblations; incense is an abomination to me; the new moons and sabbaths, +the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the +solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: +they are a trouble to me; I am weary to bear them. And when ye spread +forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many +prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make +you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease +to do evil; learn to do well; seek judgement, relieve the oppressed, +judge the fatherless, plead for the widow." + +I have been asked to plead to-day for the mission of the Good Shepherd in +Portsea. + +I am informed that Portsea contains some thirteen thousand souls, divided +between two parishes. That they, as I feared, include some of the most +ignorant and vicious of both sexes which can be found in the kingdom; +that there are few or no rich people in the place; that the rich who have +an interest in the labour of these masses live away from the place, and +from the dwellings of those whom they employ--a social evil new to +England; but growing, alas! fearfully common in it; and that vice, and +unthrift, uncertain wages, and unhealthy dwellings produce there, as +elsewhere, misery and savagery most deplorable. I am told, too, that +this mission has been working, nobly and self-denyingly, among these +unhappy people for some years past. That it can, and ought to largely +extend its operations; that it is in want of fresh funds; that it is +proposed to build a new church, which, it is hoped, will be a centre of +civilization and organization, as well as of religion and morality, for +the district; and I am bidden to invite you, as close neighbours of +Portsea, to help in the good work. I, of course, know too little of +local facts, or of the temper of the people of Southsea. But I am bound +to believe it to be the same as I have found it elsewhere. And I +therefore shall confine myself to general questions, and shall treat this +case of Portsea, as what it is, alas! one among a hundred similar ones, +and say to you simply what I have said for twenty-five years, wherever +and whenever I can get a hearing. And therefore if I seem here and there +to speak sharply and sternly, recollect that I pay you a compliment in so +doing--first, that I speak not to you, but to all English men and women; +and next, that I speak as to those who have noble instincts, if they will +be only true to them:--as to English people, who are not afraid of being +told the truth; to English people who do wrong rather from forgetfulness +and luxury, than from meanness and cruelty aforethought; who, as far as I +have seen, need, for the most part, only to be reminded that they are +doing wrong, to reawaken them to their better selves, and set them trying +honestly and bravely to do right. + +Let me then begin this sermon with a parable. Alas! that the parable +should represent a common and notorious fact. Suppose yourselves in some +stately palace, amid marbles and bronzes, statues and pictures, and all +that cunning brain and cunning hand, when wedded to the high instinct of +beauty, can produce. The furniture is of the very richest, and kept with +the most fastidious cleanliness. The floors of precious wood are +polished like mirrors. The rooms have every appliance for the ease of +the luxurious inmates. Everywhere you see, not mere brute wealth, but +taste, purity, and comfort. There is no lack of intellect either:--wise +and learned books fill the library shelves; maps and scientific +instruments crowd the tables. Nor of religion either;--for the house +contains a private chapel, fitted up in the richest style of mediaeval +ecclesiastical art. And as you walk along from polished floor to +polished floor, you seem to pass in review every object which the body, +or the mind, or the spirit, of the most civilized human being can need +for its satisfaction. + +But, next to the chapel itself, a scent of carrion makes you start. You +look, against the will of your smart and ostentatious guide, through a +half-open door, and see another sight--a room, dark and foul, mildewed +and ruinous; and, swept carelessly into a corner, a heap of dirt, rags, +bones, waifs and strays of every kind, decaying all together. + +You ask, with astonishment and disgust, how comes that there? and are +told, to your fresh astonishment and disgust, that that is only where the +servants sweep the litter. But crouching behind the litter, in the +darkest corner, something moves. You go up to it, in spite of the +entreaties of your guide, and find an aged idiot gibbering in her rags. + +Who is she? Oh, an old servant--or a child, or possibly a grand-child, +of some old servant--your guide does not remember which. She is better +out of the way there in the corner. At all events she can find plenty to +eat among the dirt-heap; and as for her soul, if she has one, the +clergyman is said to come and see her now and then, so probably it will +be saved. + +Would you not turn away from that palace with the contemptuous thought-- +Civilized? Refined? These people's civilization is but skin-deep. +Their refinement is but an outside show. Look into the first back room, +and you find that they are foul barbarians still. + +And yet such, literally such and no better, is the refinement of modern +England; such, and no better, is the civilization of our great towns. +Such I fear from what I am told, is the civilization of Southsea, beside +the barbarism to be found in Portsea close at hand. Dirt and squalor, +brutality and ignorance close beside such luxury as the world has not +seen, it may be, since the bad days of Heathen Rome. + +But more, if you turned away, you would say to yourselves, if you were +thoughtful persons--not only what barbarism, but what folly. The owner +and his household are in daily danger. The idiot in discontent, or even +in mere folly, may seize a lighted candle, burn petroleum, as she did in +Paris of late, and set the whole palace on fire. And more, the very dirt +is in itself inflammable, and capable, as it festers, of spontaneous +combustion. How many a stately house has been burnt down ere now, simply +by the heating of greasy rags, thrust away in some neglected closet. Let +the owner of the house beware. He is living, voluntarily, over a volcano +of his own making. + +But more--what if you were told that the fault lay not so much in the +negligence of servants as in that of the owner himself, that the master +of that palace had over him a King, to whom all that was foul, +neglectful, cruel, was inexpressibly hateful, so hateful that He once had +actually stepped off the throne of the universe to die for such creatures +as that poor idiot and her forgotten parents? Would you not question +whether the prayers offered up in that chapel would have any answer from +Him, save that awful answer He once gave? "When ye spread forth your +hands, I will hide mine eyes: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not +hear; your hands are full of blood." + +Oh, my friends, you who understand my parable, has the awful thought +never struck you that such may be God's answer to the prayers of a nation +which leaves in its midst such barbarism, such heathenism, as exists in +every great town of this realm? And what if you were told next that the +laws of His kingdom were eternal and inexorable, and that one of His +cardinal laws is--that as a man sows, so shall he reap; that every sin +punishes itself, even though the sinner does not know that he has sinned; +that he who knew not his master's will, and did it not, shall be beaten +with few stripes; that the innocent babe does not escape unburnt, because +it knew not that fire burns; that the good man who lives in a malarious +alley does not escape fever and cholera, because he does not know that +dirt breeds pestilence; that, in a word, he who knew not his master's +will, and did it not, shall be beaten with few stripes; but that he who +knew his master's will, and did it not, shall be beaten with many +stripes? Then of how many and how heavy stripes, think you, will the +inhabitant of that palace be counted worthy, who has been taught by +Christianity for the last fifteen hundred years, and by physical science +and political economy for the last fifty years, and yet persists, in +defiance of his own knowledge, in leaving his used-up servants, and their +children and grand-children after them, to rot, body, mind, and soul, in +the very precincts of the palace, having no other excuse to offer for +this than that it is too much trouble to treat them better, and that, on +the whole, he can make money more rapidly by thus throwing away that +human dirt, and leaving it to decay where it can, regardless what it +pollutes and poisons; just as the manufacturer can make money more +rapidly by not consuming his own smoke, but letting it stream out of the +chimney to poison with blackness and desolation the green fields where +God meant little children to gather flowers? + +Ladies, to you I appeal, not merely as women, but as Ladies, if (as I am +assured by those who know you), ladies you are, in the grand old meaning +of that grand old word. + +If so--you know then, what it is to be a lady and what not. You know +that it is not to go, like the daughters of Zion in Isaiah's time, with +mincing gait, and borrowed head-gear, and tasteless finery, the head +well-nigh empty, the heart full of little save vanity and vexation of +spirit, busy all the week over cheap novels and expensive dresses, and on +Sunday over a little dilettante devotion. You know, I take for granted, +that whatever the world may think or say, that to be that, is not to be a +lady. + +For you know, I take for granted, what that word lady meant at first. +That it meant she who gave out the loaves, the housewife who provided +food and clothes; the stewardess of her household and dependants; the +spinner among her maidens; the almsgiver to the poor; the worshipper in +the chapel, praying for wild men away in battle. The being from whom +flowed forth all gracious influences of thought and order, of bounty and +compassion, of purity and piety, civilizing and Christianizing a whole +family, a whole domain. This it was to be a lady, in the old days when +too many men had little care save to make war. And this it is to be a +lady still, in the new days in which too many men have little care save +to make money. Show then that you can be ladies still. That the spirit +is the spirit of your ancestresses, though the form in which it must show +itself is changed with the change of society. + +To you I appeal; to as many in this church as are ladies, not in name +only, but in spirit and in truth. Say to your fathers, husbands, +brothers, sons, and say too, and that boldly, to the tradesmen with whom +you deal--Do you hear this? Do you hear that there are savages and +heathens, generations of them, within a rifle-shot of the house? And you +cannot exterminate them; cannot drive them out, much less kill them. You +must convert them, improve them, make them civilized and Christian, if +not for their own sakes, at least for our sakes, and for our children. + +And if they should answer: My dears, it is too true. But we did not +make them or put them there, and they are not in our parish. They are no +concern of ours, and besides they will not hurt us. + +Answer them: Not made by our fault! True, our hands are more or less +clean: but what of that? There they are. If you had a tribe of Red +Indians on the frontier of your settlement, would you take the less guard +against them, because you did not put them there? Not in our parish, and +what of that? They are in our county; they are in England. Has man the +right, has man the power in the sight of God to draw any imaginary line +of demarcation between Englishman and Englishman, especially when that +line is drawn between rich and poor? England knows no line of +demarcation, save the shore of the great sea; and even that her +generosity is overleaping at this moment at the call of mere humanity, in +bounty to sufferers by the West Indian hurricane, and by the Chicago +fire. Will you send your help across the Atlantic; and deny it to the +sufferers at your own doors? At least, if the rich be confined by an +imaginary line across, the poor on the other side will not--they will +cross it freely enough; and what they will bring with them will be +concern enough of ours. Would it not be our concern if there was small- +pox, scarlet fever, cholera among them? Should we not fear lest that +might hurt us? Would you not bestir yourselves then? And do you not +know that it is among such people as these that pestilence is always +bred? And if not, is not the pestilence of the soul more subtle and more +contagious than any pestilence of the body? What is the spreading power +of fever to the spreading power of vice, which springs from tongue to +tongue, from eye to eye, from heart to heart? What matter whether they +be one mile off or five? Will not they corrupt our servants; and those +servants again our children? + +And say to them, if you be prudent and thrifty housewives, Do not tell us +that their condition costs you nothing. Even in pocket you are suffering +now--as all England is suffering--from the existence of heathens and +savages, reckless, profligate, pauperized. For if you pay no poor-rates +for their support, the shop-keepers with whom you deal pay poor-rates; +and must and do repay themselves, out of your pockets, in the form of +increased prices for their goods. + +And when you have said all this, ladies, and more,--for more will suggest +itself to your woman's wit,--say to them with St Paul--"And yet show we +unto you a more excellent way,"--a nobler argument--and that is Charity. + +Not almsgiving. I had almost said, anything but that; making bad worse, +the improvident more improvident, the liar more ready to lie, the idler +more ready to idle. But the Charity which is Humanity, which is the +spirit of pure pity, the Spirit of Christ and of God. + +Say then, Even if these poor creatures did us no harm, as they must and +will do--civilize and christianize them for their own sakes, simply +because they must be so very miserable--miserable too often with acute +and conscious misery; too often with a worse misery, dull and +unconscious, which knows not, stupified by ignorance and vice, that it is +miserable, and ought to be more miserable still. For who is so worthy of +our pity, as he who knows not that he is pitiable?--who takes ignorance, +dirt, vice, passion, and the wretchedness which vice and passion bring, +as all in the day's work, as he takes the rain and hail, the frost and +snow,--as unavoidable necessities of mortal life, for which the only +temporary alleviation is--drink? + +If the refined and pure-minded lady does not pity such beings as that, I +know not of what her refinement is made. If the religious lady will not +bestir herself, and make sacrifices to teach such people that that is not +what God meant them to be--to stir up in them a noble self-discontent, a +noble self-abhorrence, which may be the beginning of repentance and +amendment of life--I know not of what her religion is made. + +One word more--I know that such thoughts as I have put before you to-day +are painful. I know that we all--I as much as anyone in this church--are +tempted to put them by, and say, I will think of things beautiful, not of +things ugly; of art, poetry, science--all that is orderly, graceful, +ennobling; and not of dirt, ignorance, vice, misery, all that is +disorderly, degrading. Nay, even the most pious at times are tempted to +say, I will think of heaven and not of earth. I will lift up my heart, +and try to behold the glory and the goodness of God, and not the disgrace +and sin of man. + +But only for a time may they thus think and speak. Happy if they can, at +moments, lift up their hearts unto the Lord, and catch one glimpse of Him +enthroned in perfect serenity and perfect order, governing the worlds +with that all-embracing justice, which is at the same time all-embracing +love, and so, giving Him thanks for His great glory, gain heart and hope +to--what? To descend again, even were it from the beatific vision +itself, to this disordered earth, to work a little--and, alas how little- +-at lessening the sum of human ignorance, human vice, human misery--even +as their Lord and Saviour stooped from the throne of the universe, and +from the bosom of the Father, to toil and die for such as curse about the +streets outside. + + + +SERMON XXXVII. THE SURPRISE OF THE RIGHTEOUS + + + +Preached at Southsea for the Mission of the Good Shepherd. October 1871. + +St Matt. xxv. 34-37. "Then shall the King say unto them on his right +hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you +from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me +meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye +took me in: naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I +was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, +saying, Lord, when saw we Thee an hungred, and fed Thee? or thirsty, and +gave Thee drink?" + +Let us consider awhile this magnificent parable, and consider it +carefully, lest we mistake its meaning. And let us specially consider +one point about it, which is at first sight puzzling, and which has +caused, ere now, many to miss (as I believe, with some of the best +commentators, ) the meaning of the whole--which is this: that the +righteous in the parable did not know that when they did good to their +fellow-creatures, they did it to Christ the Lord. + +Now there are two kinds of people who do know that, because they have +been taught it by Holy Scripture, who would make two very different +answers to the Lord, when He spoke in such words to them. At least so we +may suppose, for they are ready to make such answers here on earth; and +therefore, we may suppose that if they dared, they would answer so at the +day of judgment. One party would--or at least might say, "Yes, Lord, I +knew that whatever I did to the poor, I did to Thee; and therefore I did +all I could for the poor. I started charitable institutions, I spoke at +missionary meetings, I put my name down for large sums in every +subscription list, I built churches and chapels, schools and hospitals; I +gained the reputation among men of being a leading philanthropist, +foremost in every good work." + +What answer the man who said that would receive from the Lord, I know +not; for who am I that I should put words into the mouth of my Creator +and my God? But I think that the awful majesty of the Lord's very +countenance might strike such a man dumb, ere he had time to say those +vain proud words, and strike his conscience through with the thought, +Yes, I have been charitable: but have I been humane? I have been a +philanthropist: but have I really loved my fellow-men? Have I not made +my interest in the heathen whom I have not seen, an excuse for despising +and hating my countrymen whom I have seen, if they dared to differ from +me in religion or in politics? I have given large sums in charity: but +have I ever sacrificed anything for my fellow-men? I have given Christ +back a pound in every hundred--perhaps even out of every ten which He has +given me: but what did I do with the other nine pounds save spend them +on myself? Is there a luxury in which a respectable man could safely +indulge, which I have denied myself? What have I been after all, with +all my philanthropy and charity, but a selfish, luxurious, pompous +personage? an actor doing my alms to be seen of men? I did my good works +as unto Christ?--No; I did them as unto myself--to get honour from men +while I lived, and to save my selfish soul when I died. God be merciful +to me a sinner! That such thoughts ought to pass through too many +persons' hearts in this generation, I fear is too certain. God grant +that they may do so before it is too late. But it is plain, at least, +that these are not the sheep of whom Christ speaks. + +Again, there are another, and a very different kind of persons, who we +have a right to fancy, would answer the Lord somewhat thus: "Oh Lord, +speak not of it. It may be I have tried to do a little good to a poor +suffering creature here and there; to feed a few hungry, clothe a few +naked, visit a few sick and prisoners. But Lord, how could I do less? +after all that Thou hast done and suffered for me; and after Thy own +gracious saying, that inasmuch as I did anything to the least of Thy +brethren, I did it to Thee. What less could I do, Lord?--and after all, +what a pitifully small amount I have done! Thou did'st hunger for me-- +for whom have I ever hungered? Thou did'st suffer for me--for whom have +I ever suffered? Thou did'st die for me--for whom have I ever died? And +I did not--I fear in the depth of my heart--do what I did really for +Thee; but for the very pleasure of doing it. I began to do good from a +sense of duty to Thee; but after a while I did good, I fear, only because +it was so pleasant--so pleasant to see human faces looking up into mine +with gratitude; so pleasant to have little children, even though they +were none of my own, clinging to me in trust; so pleasant when I went +home at night to feel that I had made one human being a little happier, a +little better, even only a little more comfortable; so pleasant to give +up my own pleasure, in order to give pleasure to others, that I fear I +forgot Thee in my own enjoyment. If I sinned in that, Lord forgive. But +at least, I have had my reward. My work among Thy poor was its own +reward, a reward of inward happiness beyond all that earth can give--and +now Thou speakest of rewarding me over and above, with I know not what of +undeserved bliss. Thou art too good, O Lord, as is Thy wont from all +eternity. Let me go and hide myself--a more than unprofitable servant, +who has not done the hundredth part of that which it was my duty to do." + +What answer the Lord would make to the modest misgivings of that sweet +soul, I cannot say; for again, who am I, that I should put words into the +mouth of my Creator and my God? But this I know, that I had rather be-- +what I am not, and never shall be--such a soul as that in the last day, +than own all the kingdoms of the world and the glory thereof. Still, it +is plain that such persons, however holy, however loving, are not those +of whom our Lord speaks in this parable. For they, too, know, and must +know, that inasmuch as they showed mercy unto one of the least of the +Lord's brethren, they showed it unto Him. But the special peculiarity of +the persons of whom our Lord speaks, is that they did not know, that they +had no suspicion, that in showing kindness to men, they were showing +kindness to Christ. "Lord," they answer, "when saw we Thee?" + +It is a revelation to them, in the strictest and deepest sense of the +word. A revelation, that is an unveiling, a drawing away of a veil which +was before their eyes and hiding from them a divine and most blessed +fact, of which they had been unaware. But who are they? I think we must +agree with some of the best commentators, among others with that +excellent divine and excellent man, now lost to the Church on earth, the +late Dean of Canterbury, that they are persons who, till the day of +judgment, have never heard of Christ; but who then, for the first time, +as Dean Alford says, "are overwhelmed with the sight of the grace which +has been working in and for them, and the glory which is now their +blessed portion." Such persons, perhaps, as those two poor negresses--to +remind you of a story which was famous in our fathers' time--those two +poor negresses, I say, who found the African traveller, Mungo Park, dying +of fever and starvation, and saved his life, simply from human love--as +they sung to themselves by his bedside-- + + +"Let us pity the poor white man; +He has no mother to make his bed, +No wife to grind his corn." + + +Perhaps it is such as those, who have succoured human beings they knew +not why, simply from a divine instinct, from the voice of Christ within +their hearts, which they felt they must obey, though they knew not whose +voice it was. Perhaps, I say, it is such as those, that Christ will +astonish at the last day by the words, "Come ye blessed of my Father, +inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." + +If this be the true meaning of our Lord's words, what comfort and hope +they may give us, when we think, as we are bound to think, if we have a +true humanity in us, of the hundreds of millions of heathen now alive, +and of the thousands of millions of heathen who have lived and died. +Sinful they are as a whole. Sinning, it may be, without law, but +perishing without law. For the wages of sin are death, and can be +nothing else. But may not Christ have His elect among them? May not His +Spirit be working in some of them? May He not have His sheep among them, +who hear His voice though they know not that it is His voice? They hear +a voice within their hearts whispering to them, "Be loving, be merciful, +be humane, in one word be just, and do to others as you would they should +do to you." And whose voice can that be but the voice of Christ, and the +Spirit of God? Those loving instincts come not from the fleshly fallen +nature, or natural man. That says to us, "Be selfish; do not be loving. +Do to others not what you would they should do to you, but do to others +whatever is pleasant and profitable to yourselves." And alas! the +heathen, and too many who call themselves Christians, listen to that +carnal voice, and live the life of selfishness and pleasure, of anger and +revenge, of tyranny and cruelty--the end of which is death. + +But if any among those heathen--hearing within their hearts the other +voice, the gracious voice which says, "Do unto others as you would they +should do unto you,"--feel that that voice is a good voice and a right +command, which must be obeyed, and which it is beautiful and delightful +to obey, and so obey it; may we not hope then, that Christ, who has +called them, will perfect His own work; and in His own good way, and His +own good time, deliver them from their sin and ignorance, and vouchsafe +to them at last that knowledge of the true and holy God, Father, Son, and +Holy Spirit, whom truly to know is everlasting life? They are Christ's +lost sheep: but they are still His sheep who hear His voice. May He not +fulfil His own words to them, and go forth and seek such souls, and lay +them on His shoulder, and bring them home; saying to His Church on earth, +and to His Church in heaven, "Rejoice with Me: for I have found my sheep +which was lost?" + +Now if we can thus have hope for some among the heathen abroad, shall we +not have hope, too, for some among the heathen at home? for some among +that mass of human corruption which welters around the walls of so many +of our cities? I am not going to make vain excuses for them; and say +they are but the victims of circumstance. The great majority of them are +the victims of their own low instincts. They have chosen the broad and +easy road of animalism, which leads to destruction. They have sown to +the flesh, and they will of the flesh reap corruption. For the laws of +God are inexorable; and the curse of the law is sure, namely, "The wages +of sin are death." Neither dare I encourage too vast hopes and say, If +we had money enough, if we had machinery enough, if we had zeal enough, +we might convert them all, and save them all. I dare not believe it. +The many, I fear, will always go the broad road; the few the narrow one. +And all we dare say is, if we have faith enough, we can convert some. We +can at least fulfil our ordination vow. We can seek out Christ's sheep +scattered abroad about this naughty world, and tell them of His fold, and +try to bring them home. + +But how shall we know Christ's sheep when we see them? How, but by the +very test which Christ has laid down, it seems to me, in this very +parable? Is there in one of them the high instincts--even the desire to +do a merciful act? Let us watch for that: and when in the most brutal +man, and--alas that I should have to use the words--in the most brutal +woman, we see any touch of nobleness, justice, benevolence, pity, +tenderness--in one word, any touch, however momentary, of unselfishness,- +-let us spring at that, knowing that there is the soul we seek; there is +a lost sheep of Christ; there is Christ Himself, working unknown upon a +human soul; there is a soul ready for the gospel, and not far from the +kingdom of God. But what shall we say to that lost sheep? Shall we +terrify it by threats of hell? Shall we even allure it by promises of +heaven? Not so--not so at least at first--for that would be to appeal to +bodily fear and bodily pleasure, to the very selfishness from which +Christ is trying to deliver it; and to neglect the very prevenient grace, +the very hold on the soul which Christ Himself offers us. Let us +determine with St. Paul to know nothing among our fellow-men but Christ +crucified. Let us appeal just to that in the soul which is unselfish; +not to the instincts of loss and gain, but to those nobler instincts of +justice and mercy; just because they are not the man's or the woman's +instincts; but Christ's within them, the light of Christ and the Spirit +of Christ, the spirit of love and justice saying, "Do unto others as you +would they should do unto you." Do you doubt that? I trust not. For to +doubt that is to doubt whether God be truly the Giver of all good things. +To doubt that is to begin to disbelieve St. Paul's great saying, "In me, +that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing." To doubt that is to lay +our hearts and minds open to the insidious poison of that Pelagian heresy +which, received under new shapes and names, is becoming the cardinal +heresy of modern disbelief. No; we will have faith in Christ, faith in +our creeds, faith in catholic doctrine; and will say to that man or that +woman, even as they wallow still in the darkness and the mire, "Behold +your God! That cup of cold water which you gave, you knew not why,-- +Christ told you to give it, and to Him you gave. That night watch beside +the bed of a woman as fallen as yourself,--Christ bade you watch, and you +watched by Him. For that drunken ruffian, whom you, a drunken ruffian +yourself, leaped into the sea to save, Christ bade you leap, and like St. +Christopher of old, you bore, though you knew it not, your Saviour and +your God to land." And if they shall make answer, "And who is He that I +did not know Him? who is He that I should know Him now?" Let us point +them--and whither else should we point them in heaven or earth?--to +Christ upon the cross, and say, "Behold your God! This He did, this He +condescended, this He dared, this He suffered for you, and such as you. +This is what He, the Maker of the universe, is like. This is what He has +been trying to make you like, in your small degree, every time a noble, a +generous, a pitiful, a merciful emotion crossed your heart; every time +you forgot yourself, even for a moment, and thought of the welfare of a +fellow-man." + +If that tale, if that sight, if that revelation and unveiling of Christ +to the poor sinful soul does not work in it an abhorrence of past sin, a +craving after future holiness, an admiration and a reverence for Christ +Himself, which is, ipso facto, saving faith; if that soul does not reply- +-it may not be in words, but in feelings too deep for words,--"Yes; this +is indeed noble, indeed Godlike, worthy of a God, and worthy therefore to +be at once imitated and adored:" then, indeed, the Cross of Christ must +have lost that miraculous power which it has possessed, for more than +eighteen hundred years, as the highest "moral ideal" which ever was seen, +or ever can be seen, by the reason and the heart of man. + + + +SERMON XXXVIII. THE LORD'S PRAYER + + + +Windsor Castle, 1867. Chester Cathedral, 1870. + +Matthew vi. 9, 10. "After this manner, therefore, pray ye, Our Father +which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be +done, on earth as it is in heaven." + +Let us think for a while on these great words. Let us remember that some +day or other they will certainly be fulfilled. Let us remember that +Christ would not have bidden us use them, unless He intended that they +should be fulfilled. And let us remember, likewise, that we must help to +fulfil them. We need to be reminded of this from time to time, for we +are all inclined to forget it. We are inclined to forget that mankind +has a Father in heaven, who is ruling, and guiding, and educating us, His +human children, to + + + "One far off divine event, +Toward which the whole creation moves." + + +We are apt to fancy that the world will always go on very much as it goes +on now; that it will be guided, not by the will of God, but by the will +of man; by man's craft; by man's ambition; by man's self-interest; by +man's cravings after the luxuries, and even after the mere necessities of +this life. In a word, we are apt to fancy that man, not God, is the +master of this earth on which we live, and that men have no king over +them in heaven. + +The Lord's Prayer tells us that men HAVE a king over them in heaven, and +that that king is a Father likewise--a Father whose name will one day be +hallowed above all names. That the world will not always go on as it +goes on now, but that the Father's kingdom will come. That above the +will of man, there is a will of God, which must be done, and therefore +will be done some day. In a word, the Lord's Prayer tells us that this +world is under a Divine government; that the Lord, even Jesus Christ our +Saviour, is King, be the people never so impatient. That He sitteth +between the cherubim, master of all the powers of nature, be the earth +never so unquiet. That His power loves justice. That He has prepared +equity. That He has executed, and therefore will execute to the end, +judgment and righteousness in the earth. That Christ reigns in justice +and in love. That He has for those who disobey His laws the most +terrible penalties; for those who obey them blessings such as eye hath +not seen nor ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to +conceive. That He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet +and delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father. That on that great +day He will prove His royalty, and His Father's royalty, in the sight of +all heaven and earth, and make every soul of man aware, in a fashion +which none shall mistake, that He is Lord and King. This is the message +which the Lord's Prayer brings--a message of mingled fear and joy. + +But a message of more joy than fear. Else why does our Lord bid us pray +for it that it may come to pass?--pray daily, before we even pray for our +daily bread, or the forgiveness of our sins--that His Father's name may +be hallowed, His Father's kingdom come, His Father's will be done? + +He bids us pray for that because it will bring blessings. Blessings to +every soul of man who desires to be good and true. Because it will +satisfy every aspiration which has ever risen up from the heart of man +after what is noble, what is generous, what is just, what is useful, what +is pure. Surely it is so. Consider but these short words of my text, +and think what the world would be like if they were fulfilled; what the +next world will actually be like when they are fulfilled. + +"Hallowed be thy name." But what name? The name of Father. If that +name were hallowed by men, there would be an end of all superstitions. +The root of all superstitions, fanaticisms, and false religions is this-- +that they do not hallow the name of Father. They do not see that it is a +Holy name, a beautiful and tender as well as an awful and venerable name. +They think of fathers, like too many among themselves, proud, and +arbitrary, selfish and cruel. They say in their hearts, even such +fathers as we are, such is God. Therefore, they shrink from God, and +turn from Him to idols, to the Virgin Mary, or Saints, or any other +beings who can deliver them (as they fancy) out of the hands of their +Father in heaven. If men once learnt to hallow the name of Father, to +think of a father as one who not only possessed power but felt love, who +not only had rights which he would enforce, and issued commands which +must be obeyed, but who felt yearning sympathy for his children's +weakness, an active interest in their education, and was ready to labour +for, to sacrifice himself for, his family--That would be truly to hallow +the name of Father, and look on it as a holy thing, whether in heaven +above or in earth beneath. + +To hallow the Father's name would abolish all the superstition of the +world. And so the coming of the Father's kingdom would abolish all the +misrule and anarchy of the world. For the kingdom of God the Father is a +kingdom of perfect order, perfect justice, perfect usefulness. Surely +the first consequences of that kingdom's coming would be, that every one +would be exactly in his right place, and that every one would get his +exact deserts. That would indeed be the kingdom of God on earth. The +prospect of such a kingdom would be painful enough to those who were in +their wrong place, to those who were undeserving. All who were useless, +taking wages either from man or from God, without doing any work in +return, all these would have but too good reason to dread the coming of +the kingdom of God. + +But those who were trying earnestly to do their work, though amid many +mistakes and failures, why should they dread the coming of the kingdom of +God? Why should they shrink from remembering that, though God's kingdom +is not come in perfection and fulness, it is here already, and they are +in it? Why should they shrink from that thought? They will find it full +of comfort, of strength, and hope, if they will but hallow their Father's +name, and remember the fact of all facts--that they have a Father in +heaven. There are thousands on earth, from the highest to the lowest, +who can say honestly--to take the commonest instance--every parent can +say it--"I have a heavy work to do, a heavy responsibility to fulfil. +God knows I did not seek it, thrust myself into it; it was thrust upon +me. It came to me in the course of nature or of society, and +circumstances over which I had no control. In one word it was MY DUTY. +But now that I have my duty to do, behold I cannot do it. I try my best, +but I fail. I come short daily of my own low standard of duty. How much +more of God's perfect standard of it! And the burden of responsibility, +the regret for failure, is more than I can bear. + +To such we may answer, hallow your Father's name, and be of good cheer. +YOUR FATHER has given you your work. Because He is a Father, He is +surely educating you for your work. Because He is a Father, He will +surely set you no task which you are unable to fulfil. Because He is a +Father, He will help you to fulfil your task. Your station and calling +is His will; and because it is a Father's will it is a good will. + +And the Judge of your work--He is no stern taskmaster, no unfeeling +tyrant, but Jesus Christ, your Lord, who died for you on the Cross. He +knows what is in man. He remembereth that we are but dust. Else the +spirit would fail before Him and the souls which He has made. He can be +touched with the feeling of our infirmities, seeing that He was tempted +in all things like as we are, yet without sin. He can sympathise +utterly; He can make all just allowances; He will judge not by outward +results, but by the inward will and desire. He will judge not by the +hearing of the ear, nor the seeing of the eye, as the shallow cruel world +judges, but He will judge righteous judgment. Trust your cause to Him, +and trust yourself to Him. Believe that if He can sympathise, He can +also help; for from Him, as well as from His Father, proceeds the Holy +Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, the spirit of wisdom and +understanding, the spirit of power and might, the spirit of knowledge and +the fear of the Lord, and He will inspire you to see your duty, and do +your duty, and rejoice in your duty, in spite of weariness and failure, +and all the burdens of the flesh and of the spirit. + +"Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." If that were done, it +would abolish all the vice of the world, and therefore the misery which +springs from vice. Ah, that God's will were but done on earth as it is +in the material heaven overhead, in perfect order and obedience, as the +stars roll in their courses, without rest, yet without haste; as all +created things, even the most awful, fire and hail, snow and vapour, wind +and storm, fulfil God's word, who hath made them sure for ever and ever, +and given them a law which shall not be broken. But above them; above +the divine and wonderful order of the material universe, and the winds +which are God's angels, and the flames of fire which are His messengers; +above all, the prophets and apostles have caught sight of another divine +and wonderful order of RATIONAL beings, of races, loftier and purer than +man--angels and archangels, thrones and dominions, principalities and +powers, fulfilling God's will in heaven as it is not alas! fulfilled on +earth. + +And beside them, beside the innumerable company of angels, are there not +the spirits of just men made perfect, freed from the fetters of the gross +animal body, and now somewhere in that boundless universe in which this +earth is but a tiny speck, doing God's will, as they longed to do it on +earth, with clearer light, fuller faith, deeper love, mightier powers of +usefulness? Ah, that we were like to them! Ah, that we could perform +the least part of our day's work on earth as it is performed by saints +and angels for ever in heaven! When we think of what this poor confused +world is, and then what it might be, were God's will done therein as it +is done in heaven; what it might be if even the little of God's will +which we already know, the little of God's laws which are proved already +to be certain, were carried out with any earnestness by the majority of +mankind, or even of one civilized nation--when we think--to take the very +lowest ground--of the health and wealth, the peace and happiness, which +would cover this earth did men only do the will of God; then, if we have +human hearts within us--if we care at all for the welfare of our fellow- +men--ought not this to be the prayer of all our prayers, and ought we not +to welcome any event, however awful, which would bring mankind to reason +and to virtue, and to God, and abolish the sin and misery of this unhappy +world? + +To abolish the superstition, the misrule, the vice, the misery of this +world. That is what Christ will do in the day when He has put all +enemies under His feet. That is what Christ has been doing, step by +step, ever since that day when first He came to do His Father's will on +earth in great humility. Therefore, that is what we must do, each in our +place and station, if we be indeed His subjects, fellow-workers with Him +in the improvement of the human race, fellow-soldiers with Him in the +battle against evil. + +But what we wish to do for our fellow-creatures, we must do first for +ourselves. We can give them nothing save what God has already given us. +We must become good before we can make them good, and wise before we can +make them wise. Let us pray, then, the Lord's Prayer in spirit and in +truth. Let us pray that we may hallow the name of God, our Father. Let +us pray that His kingdom may come in our own hearts. Let us pray that we +may do His will on earth as those whom we love and honour do it in +heaven. Let us keep that before us, day and night, as the aim and +purpose of our lives. Let us pray for forgiveness of our failures in +that; for help to do that better as our years run on. So we shall be +ready for the day in which Christ shall have accomplished the number of +His elect, and hastened His kingdom. So we shall be found in that dread +day, not on the side of evil, but of God; not on the side of darkness, +anarchy, and vice, but on the side of light, of justice, and of virtue, +which is the side of Christ and of God. And so we, with all those that +are departed in the faith of His holy name, shall have our perfect +consummation and bliss in His eternal and everlasting glory, to which may +He, of His great mercy, bring us all. Amen. + + + +SERMON XXXIX. THE DISTRACTED MIND + + + +Eversley. 1871. + +Matthew vi. 34. "Take no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall +take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the +evil thereof." + +Scholars will tell you that the words "take no thought" do not exactly +express our Lord's meaning in this text. That they should rather stand, +"Be not anxious about to-morrow." And doubtless they are right on the +whole. But the truth is, that we have no word in English which exactly +expresses the Greek word which St Matthew uses in his gospel, and which +we are bound to believe exactly expresses our Lord's meaning, in whatever +language He spoke. The nearest English word, I believe, is--distracted. +Be ye not distracted about to-morrow. I do not mean the vulgar sense of +the word--which is losing one's senses. But the old and true sense, +which is still used by those who speak good English. + +To distract, means literally to pull a thing two different ways--even to +pull it asunder. We speak of distracting a man's attention, when we call +him off from looking at one thing to make him look at something else, and +we call anything which interrupts us in our business, or puts a thought +suddenly out of our heads, a distraction. Now the Greek word which St +Matthew uses, means very nearly this--Be not divided in your thoughts--do +not think of two things at once--do not distract your attention from to- +day's work, by fearing and hoping about to-morrow. Sufficient for the +day is the evil thereof; and you will have quite trouble enough to get +through to-day honestly and well, without troubling yourself with to- +morrow--which may turn out very unlike anything which you can dream. +This, I think, is the true meaning of the text; and with it, I think, +agrees another word of our Lord's which St Luke gives--And be ye not of +doubtful mind. Literally, Do not be up in the air--blown helpless hither +and thither, by every gust of wind, instead of keeping on the firm +ground, and walking straight on about your business, stoutly and +patiently, step after step. Have no vain fears or vain hopes about the +future; but do your duty here and now. That is our Lord's command, and +in it lies the secret of success in life. + +For do we not find, do we not find, my friends, in practice, that our +Lord's words are true? Who are the people who get through most work in +their lives, with the least wear and tear, not merely to their bodily +health, but to their tempers and their characters? Are they the anxious +people? Those who imagine to themselves possible misfortunes, and ask +continually--What if this happened--or that? What would become of me +then? How should I be able to pull through such a trouble? Where shall +I find friends? How shall I make myself safe against the chances and +changes of life? Do we not know that those people are the very ones who +do little work, and often less than none, by thus distracting their +attention and their strength from their daily duty, daily business? That +while they are looking anxiously for future opportunities, they are +neglecting the opportunities which they have already. While they are +making interest with others to help them, they forget to help themselves. +That in proportion as they lose faith in God and His goodness, they lose +courage and lose cheerfulness; and have too often to find a false courage +and a false cheerfulness, by drowning their cares in drink, or in mean +cunning and plotting and planning, which usually ends in failure and in +shame? + +Are those who do most work, either the plotting or intriguing people? I +do not mean base false people. Of them I do not speak here. But really +good and kind people, honest at heart, who yet are full of distractions +of another sort; who are of double mind--look two ways at once, and are +afraid to be quite open, quite straightforward--who like to COMPASS their +ends, as the old saying is, that is to go round about, towards what they +want, instead of going boldly up to it; who like to try two or more ways +of getting the same thing done; and, as the proverb has it, have many +irons in the fire; who love little schemes, and plots, and mysteries, +even when there is no need for them. Do such people get most work done? +Far, far from it. They take more trouble about getting a little matter +done, than simpler and braver men take about getting great matters done. +They fret themselves, they weary themselves, they waste their brains and +hearts--and sometimes their honesty besides--and if they fail, as in the +chances and changes of this mortal life they must too often fail, have +nothing for all their schemings save vanity and vexation of spirit. + +But the man who will get most work done, and done with the least trouble, +whether for himself, for his family, or in the calling and duty to which +God has called him, will be the man who takes our Lord's advice. Who +takes no thought for the morrow, and leaves the morrow to take thought +for itself. That man will believe that this world is a well-ordered +world, as it needs must be, seeing that God made it, God redeemed it, God +governs it; and that God is merciful in this--that He rewardeth every man +according to his works. That man will take thought for to-day, earnestly +and diligently, even at times anxiously and in fear and trembling; but he +will not distract, and divide, and weaken his mind by taking thought for +to-morrow also. Each day he will set about the duty which lies nearest +him, with a whole heart and with a single eye, giving himself to it for +the time, as if there was nothing else to be done in the world. As for +what he is to do next, he will think little of that. Little, even, will +he think of whether his work will succeed or not. That must be as God +shall will. All that he is bound to do is to do his best; and his best +he can only do by throwing his whole soul into his work. As his day, he +trusts his strength will be; and he must not waste the strength which God +has given him for to-day on vain fears or vain dreams about to-morrow. +To-day is quite full enough of anxiety, of care, of toil, of ignorance. +Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof. Yes; and sufficient for the +day is the good thereof likewise. To-day, and to-morrow, too, may end +very differently from what he hoped. Yes; but they may end, too, very +differently from what he feared. Let him throw his whole soul into the +thing which he is about, and leave the rest to God. + +For so only will he come to the day's end in that wholesome and manful +temper, contented if not cheerful, satisfied with the work he has had to +do, if not satisfied with the way in which he has done it, which will +leave his mind free to remember all his comforts, all his blessings, even +to those commonest of all blessings, which we are all too apt to forget, +just because they are as necessary as the air we breathe; which will show +him how much light there is, even on the darkest day. + +He has not got this or that fine thing, it may be, for which he longed: +but he has at least his life, at least his reason, at least his +conscience, at least his God. Are not they enough to possess? Are not +they enough wherewith to lie down at night in peace, and rise to-morrow +to take what comes to-morrow, even as he took what came to-day? And will +he not be most fit to take what comes to-morrow like a Christian man, +whether it be good or evil, with his spirit braced and yet chastened, by +honest and patient labour, instead of being weakened and irritated by +idling over to-day, while he dreamed and fretted about to-morrow? + +Ah! I fancy that I hear some one say--perhaps a woman--"So easy to +preach, but so difficult to practise. So difficult to think of one thing +at a time. So difficult not to plot, not to fret, with a whole family of +children dependent on you! What does the preacher know of a woman's +troubles? How many things she has to think of, day by day, not one of +which she dares forget--and yet can seldom or never, for all her +recollecting, contrive to get them all done? How can she help being +distracted by the thought of to-morrow? Can he feel for frail me? Does +he know what I go through?" Yes. I do know; and I wonder, and admire. +To me the sight of any poor woman managing her family respectably and +thriftily, is one of the most surprising sights on earth, as it is one of +the most beautiful sights on earth. How she finds time for it, wit for +it, patience for it, courage for it, I cannot conceive. I have wondered +often why many a woman does not lie down and die, for sheer weariness of +body and soul. I have fancied often that God must give some special +grace to all good mothers, to enable them to do all that they do, and +bear all they bear. But still, the women who do most, who bring up their +families best, are surely those who obey their Lord's command, who give +their whole souls to each day's work, and think as little as they can of +to-morrow. With them, surely, the true wisdom is, not to fret, not to +plot, to do the duty which lies nearest them, and leave the rest to God; +to get each week's bill paid, trusting to God to send money for the week +to come; to get their children every day to school; to correct in them +each fault as it shews itself, without looking forward too much to how +the child will turn out at last. For them, and for parents of all ranks, +the wisest plan, I believe, is to make no far-fetched plans for their +children's future, certainly no ambitious intrigues for their marriage: +but simply to educate them--that is, to bring out in them, day by day, +all that is purest and best, wisest and ablest, and leave the rest to +God; sure that if they are worth anything, their Father in heaven will +find them work to do, and a place at His table, in this life and in the +life to come. + +Yes, my dear friends, this is the true philosophy, the philosophy which +Christ preaches to us all--to old and young, rich and poor, ploughman and +scholar, maid, wife, and widow, all alike. + +Fret not. Plot not. Look not too far ahead. + +Fret not--lest you lose temper, and be moved to do evil. Plot not--lest +you lose faith in God, and be moved to be dishonest. Look not too far +ahead--So far only, as to keep yourselves out of open and certain danger- +-lest you see what is coming before you are ready for the sight. If we +foresaw the troubles which may be coming, perhaps it would break our +hearts; and if we foresaw the happiness which is coming, perhaps it would +turn our heads. Let us not meddle with the future, and matters which are +too high for us, but refrain our souls, and keep them low, like little +children, content with the day's food, and the day's schooling, and the +day's play-hours, sure that the Divine Master knows that all is right, +and how to train us, and whither to lead us, though we know not, and need +not know, save this--that the path by which He is leading each of us--if +we will but obey and follow, step by step--leads up to Everlasting Life. + + + +SERMON XL. THE LESSON OF LIFE + + + +Fifth Sunday in Lent. + +Chester Training College, 1870. Windsor Castle, 1871. + +Hebrews v. 7, 8. "Who in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up +prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears, unto Him that was +able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared; though He +were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered." + +This is the lesson of life. This is God's way of educating us, of making +us men and women worthy of the name of men and women, worthy of the name +of children of God. As Christ learnt, so must we. If it was necessary +for Him who know no sin, how much more for us who have sins enough and to +spare. Though He was the eternal Son of God, yet He learnt obedience by +the things which He suffered. Though we are God's adopted children, we +must learn obedience by what we suffer. He had to offer up prayer with +strong crying. So shall we have to do again and again before we die. He +was heard in that He feared God, and said, "Father not my will, but Thine +be done." And so shall we. He was perfected by sufferings. God grant +that we may be so likewise. He had to do like us. God grant that we may +do like Him. + +God grant it. That is all I can say. I cannot be sure of it, for myself +or for any of you. I can only hope, and trust in God. Life is hard +work--any life at least which is worth being called life, which is not +the life of a swine, who thinks of nothing but feeding himself, or of a +butterfly which thinks of nothing but enjoying itself. Those are easy +lives enough: but the end thereof is death. The swine goes to the +slaughter. The butterfly dies of the frost--and there is an end of them. +But the manly life, the life of good deeds and noble thoughts, and +usefulness, and purity, the life which is discontented with itself, and +which the better it is, longs the more to be better still; the life which +will endure through this world into the world to come, and on and upward +for ever and for ever.--That life is not an easy life to live; it is very +often not a pleasant life; very often a sad life--so sad that that is +true of it which the great poet says-- + + +"Who ne'er his bread in sorrow ate, +Who never in the midnight hours +Sat weeping on his lonely bed, +He knows you not, you Heavenly Powers." + + +You may say this is bad news. I do not believe it is. I believe it is +good news, and the very best of news: but if it is bad news, I cannot +help it. I did not make it so. God made it so. And God must know best. +God is love. And we are His children, and He loves us. And therefore +His ways with us must be good and loving ways, and any news about them +must be good news, and a gospel, though we cannot see it so at first. + +In any case, if it is so, it is better to remember that it is so. And +Lent, and Passion Week, and Good Friday are meant to put us in mind of it +year by year, because we are all of us only too ready to forget it, and +shut our eyes to it. Lent and Passion Week, I say, are meant to put us +in mind. And the preacher is bound to put you in mind of it now and +then. He is bound, not too often perhaps, lest he should discourage +young hearts, but now and then, to put you in mind of the old Greek +proverb, the very words of which St. Paul uses in the text, that ta +pa??æata æa??æata--sorrows are lessons; and that the most truly pitiable +people often are those who have no sorrows, and ask for no man's pity. + +For so it is. The very worst calamity, I should say, which could befall +any human being would be this--To have his own way from his cradle to his +grave; to have everything he liked for the asking, or even for the +buying; never to be forced to say, "I should like that: but I cannot +afford it. I should like this: but I must not do it"--Never to deny +himself, never to exert himself, never to work, and never to want. That +man's soul would be in as great danger as if he were committing great +crimes. Indeed, he would very probably before he died commit great +crimes--like certain negroes whom I have seen abroad, who live a life of +such lazy comfort and safety, and superabundance of food, that they are +beginning more and more to live the life of animals rather than men. +They are like those of whom the Psalmist says, "Their eyes swell out with +fatness, and they do even what they lust." So do they, and indulge in +gross vices, which, if not checked in some way, will end in destroying +them off the face of the earth in a few generations more. I had rather, +for the sake of my character, my manhood, my immortal soul, I had rather, +I say, a hundred times over, be an English labourer, struggling on on +twelve shillings a week, and learning obedience, self-denial, self- +respect, and trust in God, by the things suffered in that hard life here +at home, than be a Negro in Tropic islands, fattening himself in sloth +under that perpetual sunshine, and thinking nought of God, because, poor +fool, he can get all he wants without God's help. + +No, my dear young friends, this is good for a man. It is necessary for a +man, if he is to be a man and a child of God, and not a mere animal, to +have to work hard whether he likes or not. It is good for a man to bear +the yoke in his youth, as Jeremiah told the Jews, when, because they +would not bear God's light yoke in their youth, but ran riot into luxury +and wantonness, and superstition and idolatry which come thereof, they +had to bear the heavy yoke of the Babylonish captivity in their old age. +It is good for a man to be checked, crossed, disappointed, made to feel +his own ignorance, weakness, folly; made to feel his need of God; to feel +that, in spite of all his cunning and self-confidence, he is no better +off in this world than a lost child in a dark forest, unless he has a +Father in Heaven, who loves him with an eternal love, and a Holy Spirit +in Heaven, who will give him a right judgment in all things; who will put +into his mind good desires, and enable him to bring those desires to good +effect; and a Saviour in Heaven who can be touched with the feeling of +his infirmities, because He too was made perfect by sufferings; He too +was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. + +And, therefore, my dear friends, those words which we read in the +Visitation of the Sick about this matter are not mere kind words, meant +to give comfort for the moment. They are truth and fact and sound +philosophy. They are as true for the young lad in health and spirits as +for the old folk crawling towards their graves. It is true, and you will +find it true, that sickness and all sorts of troubles, are sent to +correct and amend in us whatever doth offend the eyes of our Heavenly +Father. It is true, and you will find it true, that whom the Lord loveth +He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. It is true, +and you will find it true (though God knows it is a difficult lesson +enough to learn), that there should be no greater comfort to Christian +persons, than to be made like Christ, by suffering patiently not only the +hard work of every-day life, but adversities, troubles, and sicknesses, +and our Heavenly Father's correction, whensoever, by any manner of +adversity, it shall please His gracious goodness to visit them. For +Christ Himself went not up to joy, but first He suffered pain; He entered +not into His glory, before He was crucified. + +So truly our way to eternal joy is to labour and to suffer here with +Christ. It is true, and you will find it true, when years hence you look +back, as I trust you all will, calmly and intelligently, on the events of +your own lives--you will find, I say, that the very events in your lives +which seemed at the time most trying, most vexing, most disastrous, have +been those which wore most necessary for you, to call out what was good +in you, and to purge out what was bad; that by those very troubles your +Lord, who knows the value of suffering, because He has suffered Himself, +was making true men, true women of you; hardening your heads, while He +softened your hearts; teaching you to obey Him, while He taught you not +to obey your own fancies and your own passions; refining and tempering +your characters in the furnace of trial, as the smith refines soft iron +into trusty steel; teaching you, as the great poet says-- + + + "That life is not as idle ore, +But heated hot with burning fears, +And bathed in baths of hissing tears, + And battered with the strokes of doom, + To shape and use." + + +Yes, you will learn that, and more than that, and say in peace--"Before I +was troubled I went wrong, but now have I kept thy commandments." And to +such an old age may our Lord Jesus Christ bring you and me and all we +love. Amen. + + + +SERMON XLI. SACRIFICE TO CAESAR OR TO GOD + + + +Eversley, 1869. Chester Cathedral, 1872. + +Matthew xxii. 21. "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are +Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's." + +Many a sermon has been preached, and many a pamphlet written, on this +text, and (as too often has happened to Holy Scripture), it has been made +to mean the most opposite doctrines, and twisted in every direction, to +suit men's opinions and superstitions. Some have found in it a command +to obey tyrants, invaders, any and every government, just or unjust. +Others have found in it rules for drawing a line between the authority of +the State and of the Church, i.e., between what the Government have a +right to command, and what the Clergy have a right to demand; and many +more matters have they fancied that they discovered in the text which I +do not believe are in it at all. + +For to understand the original question--Is it lawful to pay tribute to +Caesar or no? we must imagine to ourselves a state of things in Judea +utterly different, thank God, from anything which has been in these +realms for now eight hundred years. The Caesar, or Emperor of Rome, had +obtained by conquest an authority over the Jews very like that which we +have over the Hindoos in India. And what was working in the mind of the +Jews was very like that which was working in the minds of the Hindoos in +the Sepoy Rebellion--whether it was not a sacred and religious duty to +rise against their conquerors and drive them out. We know from the New +Testament that both our Lord and His apostles again and again warned them +not to rebel, warned them that they would not succeed: but ruin +themselves thereby; for that those who took the sword would perish by the +sword. And we know, too, that the Jews would not take our Lord's advice, +nor the apostles', but did rise again and again, both in Judea and +elsewhere, gallantly and desperately enough, poor creatures, in mad +useless rebellion, till the Romans all but destroyed them off the face of +the earth. But what has that to do with us, free self-governed +Englishmen, in this peaceful and prosperous land? In the early middle +age, when the clergy represented and defended Roman pure Christianity and +civilization against the half-heathen and half-barbaric Teutons who had +conquered the Roman Empire, then doubtless the text became once more full +of meaning, and the clergy had again and again to defend the things which +belonged to God against the rapacity or the wilfulness of many a barbaric +Caesar. But what has that, again, to do with us? Those who apply the +text to any questions which can at present arise between the Church and +the State, mistake alike, it seems to me, the nature and functions of an +Established Church, and the nature and functions of a free Government. + +Do I mean, then, that the text has nothing to do with us? God forbid! I +believe that every word of our Lord's has to do with us, and with every +human being, for their meaning is infinite, eternal, and inexhaustible. +And what the latter half of the text has to do with us, I will try to +show you, while I tell you openly, that the first half of it, about +rendering to Caesar the things which are Caesar's, has nothing to do with +us, and never need, save through our own cowardice and effeminacy, or +folly. + +We have no Caesar over us in free England, and shall not have, while +Queen Victoria, and her children after her reign; but if ever one, or +many (which God forbid!), should arise and try to set themselves up as +despots over us, I trust we shall know how to render them their due, be +they native or foreigner, in the same coin in which our forefathers have +always paid tyrants and invaders. No. The only Caesar which we have to +fear--and he is a tyrant who seems ready, nowadays, to oppose and exalt +himself above all that is called God, or is worshipped,--patronizing, of +course, Religion, as a harmless sanction for order and respectability, +but dictating morality, while telling us all day long, with a thousand +voices and a thousand pens--"Right is not the eternal law of God. +Whatever profits me, whatever I like, whatever I vote--that and that +alone is right, and you must do it at your peril." Do you know who that +Caesar is, my friends? He is called Public Opinion--the huge anonymous +idol which we ourselves help to make, and then tremble before the +creation of our own cowardice; whereas, if we will but face him, in the +fear of God and the faith of Christ, determined to say the thing which is +true, and do the thing which is right, we shall find the modern Caesar +but a phantom of our own imagination; a tyrant, indeed, as long as he is +feared, but a coward as soon as he is defied. + +To that Caesar let us never bow the knee. Render to him all that he +deserves--the homage of common courtesy, common respectability, common +charity--not in reverence for his wisdom and strength, but in pity for +his ignorance and weakness. But render always to God the things which +are God's. That duty, my good friends, lies on us, as on all mankind +still, from our cradle to our grave, and after that through all eternity. +Let us go back, or rather, let us go home to the eternal laws of God, +which were, ages before we were born, and will be, ages after we are +dead--to the everlasting Rock on which we all stand, which is the will +and mind of our Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God, to whom all power is +given (as He said Himself) in heaven and on earth. And we have need to +do so, for in such times of change as these are, there will always be too +many who fancy that changes in society and government change their duty +about religion, and are, some of them, sorely puzzled as to their duty to +God: and others ready to take advantage of the change to throw off their +duty to God, and run into licence and schism and fanaticism. + +Now let all people clearly understand, and settle it in their hearts, +that no change in Church or in State can change in the least their duty +to God and to man. If the world were turned upside down, God would still +be where He is, and we where we are--in His presence. Right would still +be right, my friends, and wrong wrong, though all the loud voices in the +world shouted that wrong is right and right wrong. No change of time, +place, society, government, circumstance of any kind, can alter our duty +to God, and our power of doing that duty. Whatever the Caesar of the +hour may require us to render to him, what we are bound to render to God +remains the same. The two things are different IN KIND, so different, +that they never need interfere with each other. + +Even if, which God forbid, the connection between Church and State were +dissolved; even if, which God forbid, the Church of England were +destroyed for a while--if all Churches were destroyed--yea, if not a +place of worship were left for a while in this or any other land; yet +even then, I say, we could still render to God the things which are +God's, and offer to Him spiritual sacrifices, more pleasing to Him than +the most gorgeous ceremonies which the devotion, and art, and wealth of +man ever devised--sacrifices, by virtue of which the Church would arise +out of her ruins, like the Jewish Church after the captivity, more pure, +more glorious, and more triumphant than ever. + +What do I mean? I mean this--that there are three sacrifices which every +man, woman, and child can offer, and should offer, however lowly, however +uneducated in what the world calls education nowadays. Those they can +offer to God, and with them they can worship God, and render to God the +things which are God's, wherever they are, whatever they are doing, +whatever be the laws of their country, or the state of society round +them. For of these sacrifices our Lord Himself said, The true +worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the +Father seeketh such to worship Him. + +Now what are these spiritual sacrifices? + +First and foremost, surely, the sacrifice of repentance, of which it is +written, "The sacrifice of God is a broken spirit. A broken and a +contrite heart, oh God, Thou wilt not despise." Surely when we--even the +best of us--look back on our past lives; when we recollect, if not great +and positive sins and crimes, yet the opportunities which we have +neglected; the time, and often the money which we have wasted; the +meannesses, the tempers, the spite, the vanity, the selfishness, which we +have too often indulged--When we think of what we have been, and what we +might have been, what we are, and what we might be; when we measure +ourselves, not by the paltry, low, and often impure standard of the world +around us, but by the pure, lofty, truly heroical standard of our Lord +Jesus Christ--what can we say, but that we are miserable--that is, +pitiful and pitiable sinners, who have left undone what we ought to have +done, and done that which we ought not to have done, till there is no +health in us? + +And if you ask me, How is it a sacrifice to God to confess to Him that we +are sinners? the answer is simple. It is a sacrifice to God, and a +sacrifice well-pleasing to Him, simply because it is The Truth. God +wants nothing from us; we can give Him nothing. The wild beasts of the +forest are His, and so are the cattle on a thousand hills. If He be +hungry He will not tell us for the whole world is His and all that is +therein. But what He asks is, that for our own sakes we should see the +truth about ourselves, see what we really are, and sacrifice that self- +conceit which prevents our seeing ourselves as God our Father sees us. +And why does that please God? Simply because it puts us in our right +state, and in our right place, where we can begin to become better men, +let us be as bad as we may. If a man be a fool, the best possible thing +for him is that he should find out that he is a fool, and confess that he +is a fool, as the first, and the absolutely necessary first step to +becoming wise. Therefore repentance, contrition, humility, is the very +foundation-stone of all goodness, virtue, holiness, usefulness; and God +desires to see us contrite, simply because He desires to see us good men +and good women. + +Next, the sacrifice of thankfulness, of which it is written, "I will +offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name +of the Lord." And again--By Christ let us offer the sacrifice of praise +continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks unto His name. +Ah! my friends, if we offered that sacrifice oftener, we should have more +seldom need to offer the first sacrifice of repentance. I am astonished +when I look at my own heart, by which alone I can judge the hearts of +others, to see how unthankful one is. How one takes as a matter of +course, without one aspiration of gratitude to our Father in heaven--how +one takes, as a matter of course, I say, life, health, reason, freedom, +education, comfort, safety, and all the blessings of humanity, and of +this favoured land. How we never really feel that these are all God's +undeserved and unearned mercies; and then, how, if we set our hearts on +anything which we have not got, forget all that we have already, and +begin entreating God to give us something which, if we had, we know not +whether it would be good for us; like children crying peevishly for +sweets, after their parents have given them all the wholesome food they +need. Ah! that we would offer to God more frankly the sacrifice of +thanksgiving! So we should do God justice, by confessing all we owe to +Him; and so, we must believe, we should please God; for if God be indeed +our Father in heaven, as surely as a parent is pleased with the affection +and gratitude of his child, so will our Father in heaven be pleased when +He sees us love Him, who first loved us. + +Next--the sacrifice of righteousness, of which it is written, "Present +your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your +reasonable service." To be good and to do good, even to long to be good +and to long to do good, to hunger and thirst after righteousness, is the +best and highest sacrifice which any human being can offer to his Father +in heaven. For so he honours his father most truly; for he longs and +strives to be like that Father; to be good as God is good, holy as God is +holy, beneficent and useful even as God is infinitely beneficent and +useful; being, in one word, perfect, as his Father in heaven is perfect. +This is the best and highest act of worship, the truest devotion. For +pure worship (says St James), and undefiled before God and the Father, is +this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep +ourselves unspotted from the world. + +Yes--every time we perform an act of kindness to any human being, aye, +even to a dumb animal; every time we conquer our own worldliness, love of +pleasure, ease, praise, ambition, money, for the sake of doing what our +conscience tells us to be our duty, we are indeed worshipping God the +Father in spirit and in truth, and offering him a sacrifice which He will +surely accept, for the sake of His beloved Son, by whose spirit all good +deeds and thoughts are inspired. + +Think of these things, my friends, always, but, above all, think of them +as often as you come--as would to God all would come--to the altar of the +Lord, and the Holy Communion of His body and blood. For there, indeed, +you render to God that which is God's--namely, yourselves; there you +offer to God the true sacrifice, which is the sacrifice of yourselves-- +the sacrifice of repentance, the sacrifice of thanksgiving, the sacrifice +of righteousness, or at least of hunger and thirst after righteousness; +and there you receive in return your share of God's sacrifice, the +sacrifice which you did not make for Him, but which He made for you, when +He spared not His only-begotten Son but freely gave Him for us. + +That is the sacrifice of all sacrifices, the wonder of all wonders, the +mystery of all mysteries; and it is also the righteousness of all +righteousness, the generosity of all generosity, the nobleness of all +nobleness, the beauty of all beauty, the love of all love. Thinking of +that, beholding in that bread and wine the tokens of the boundless love +of God, then surely, surely, our repentance for past follies, our +thankfulness for present blessings, our longing to be good, pure, useful, +humane, generous, high-minded--in one word, to be holy--ought to rise up +in us, into a passion, as it were, of noble shame at our own selfishness, +and admiration of God's unselfishness, a longing to follow His divine +example, and to live, not for ourselves, but for our fellow-men. If we +could but once understand the full meaning of those awful yet glorious +words, "He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, +how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" then, indeed, +we should understand that the one overpowering reason for being unselfish +and doing good is this--that we are God's children, and that God our +Father is utterly unselfish, and utterly does good, even at the sacrifice +of Himself; and that therefore when we are unselfish, and do good, even +at the sacrifice of ourselves, we do indeed, in spirit and in truth, +"render unto God the things that are God's." + + + +SERMON XLII. THE UNJUST STEWARD + + + +Eversley, 1866. NINTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. + +Luke xvi. 8. "And the Lord commended the unjust steward, because he had +done wisely." + +None of our Lord's parables has been as difficult to explain as this one. +Learned and pious men have confessed freely, in all ages, that there is +much in the parable which they cannot understand; and I am bound to +confess the same. The puzzle is, plainly, why our Lord should SEEM to +bid us to copy the conduct of a bad man and a cheat. For this is the +usual interpretation. The steward has been cheating his master already. +When he is found out and about to be dismissed, he cheats his master +still further, by telling his debtors to cheat, and so wins favour with +them. + +But does our Lord bid us copy a cheat? I cannot believe that; and the +text I should have said ought to give us a very different notion. We +read that the lord--that is, the steward's master--commended the unjust +steward. What? Commended him for cheating him a second time, and +teaching his debtors to cheat him? He must have been a man of a strange +character--very unlike any man whom we know, or, at all events, any man +whom we should wish to know--to have done that. But it is said--he +commended him for having acted wisely. Now that word "wisely" may merely +mean prudently, sensibly, and with common sense. But if the master +thought that to cheat, or to teach others to cheat, was acting either +wisely or prudently, then he was a very foolish and short-sighted man, +and altogether mistaken. For be sure and certain, and settle it in your +minds, that neither falsehood or dishonesty is ever either wise or +prudent, but short-sighted, foolish, certain to punish itself. Such +teaching is totally contrary to our Lord's own teaching. Agree with +thine adversary quickly, He says, while thou art in the way with him, +lest he deliver thee to the Judge. If thou hast done wrong, right it +again as soon as possible; for your sin will surely find you out, and +avenge itself. Give the devil his due, says the good old proverb. Pay +him at once and be done with him: but never think to escape out of his +clutches, as too many wretched and foolish sinners do, by running up a +fresh score with him, and trying to hide old sins by new ones. Be sure +that if the steward cheated his master a second time, the master was +foolish and mistaken, and as it were a partner in the steward's sin by +commending him. But if so; why does our Lord mention it? What had our +Lord to do, what have we to do, with the opinion of so foolish a man? + +It seems to me that the only reason for our Lord's using the words of the +text, must be, that the master was right, not wrong, in commending the +steward. But it seems to me, also, that the master could be right only, +if the steward was right also--if the steward had done the right and just +thing at last, and, instead of cheating his master a second time, had +done his best to make restitution for his own sins. + +But how could that be? We know nothing of what these debtors were. All +we know is that one believed that he owed the Lord a hundred measures of +oil; and another believed that he owed him a hundred measures of wheat; +and that the steward told one to put down in his bill eighty, and the +other fifty. Now suppose that the steward had been cheating and +oppressing these men, as was common enough in those days with stewards, +and has been common enough since; suppose that he had been charging them +more than they really owed, and, it may be, putting the surplus into his +own pocket, and so wasting his master's goods--that the one really owed +only eighty measures of oil, and the other really owed only fifty of +wheat; what could be more simple, or more truly wise either, when he was +found out, than to do this--to go round to the debtors and confess: I +have been overcharging you; you do not owe what I have demanded of you; +take your bill and write four-score, for that is what you really owe? + +This is but a guess on my part. But all other explanations are only +guesses likewise, because we do not know how business was transacted in +those days and in that country. We do not know whether these debtors +were tenants, paying rent in kind, or traders to whom goods had been +advanced, or what they were. We do not know whether the steward was +agent of the estate, or house steward, or what he was. But this we do +know--that to mend one act of villainy by committing a fresh one, is not +wisdom, but foolishness; and we may be sure that our Lord would never +have held up the unjust steward as an example to us, or quoted his +master's opinion of him, if all he did was to commit fraud on fraud, and +make bad worse, thereby risking his own more utter ruin. And this view +of the parable surely agrees with our Lord's own lesson, which He draws +from it. "And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon +of righteousness." But what does that mean? Wise men have been puzzled +by that text as much as by the parable; but surely our Lord Himself +explains it in the verses which follow: "He that is faithful in that +which is least, is faithful also in much; and he that is unjust in that +which is least, is unjust also in much." He that is FAITHFUL. The +unjust steward was commended for acting wisely. Now, it seems the way to +act wisely is to act faithfully--that is honestly. Our Lord bids us copy +the unjust steward, and make ourselves friends of the mammon of +unrighteousness. Now, it seems, He tells us that the way to make friends +of men by money transactions is to deal faithfully and honestly by them. +This then was perhaps why the Lord commended the unjust steward, because +he had been converted in time, and seen his true interest; and for once +at least in his life become just. He had found out that after all, +honesty is the best policy; as God grant all of us may find out if any of +us have not found it out already. Honesty is the best policy. +Faithfulness, as our Lord calls it, is the true wisdom. And in that, as +our Lord says, the children of this world are wiser in their generation +than the children of light. The children of this world, the plain +worldly men of business, find that to conduct their business they must be +faithful, diligent, punctual, accurate, cautious, business-like. They +must have practical common sense, which is itself a kind of honesty. +They must be men of their word, just and true in their dealings, or +sooner or later, they will fail. Their schemes, their money, their +credit, their character, will fail them, and they will be overwhelmed by +ruin. + +And that is just what too often the children of light forget. The +children of light have a higher light, a deeper teaching from God, than +the children of the world. They have a great insight into what ought to +be; they see that mankind might be far wiser, happier, better, holier +than they are; they have noble and lofty hopes for the future; they +desire the welfare and the holiness of mankind. But they are too apt to +want practical common sense. And so they are laughed at (and deservedly) +as dreamers, as fanatics, as foolish unpractical people, who are wasting +their talents on impossible fancies. Often while their minds are full of +really useful and noble schemes, they neglect their business, their +families, their common duties, till they cause misery to those around +them, and shame to themselves. Often, too, they are tempted to be +actually dishonest, to fancy that the means sanctify the end; that it is +lawful to do evil that good may come; and so, in order to carry out some +fine scheme of theirs, to say false things, or do mean or cruel things, +not for their own interest, but, as they fancy, for the cause of God: as +if God, and God's cause, could ever be helped by the devil and his works. +And so they cast a scandal on religion, and give the enemies of the Lord +reason to blaspheme. So it was, it seems, in our Lord's time--so it has +been too often since. The children of light--those who ought to be of +most use to their own generation--are sometimes of least use to it, +through their own weaknesses and follies. They will not remember that he +that is not faithful in that which is least, in the every-day concerns of +life, is not likely to be faithful in that which is greatest; that if +they will not be faithful in the unrighteous mammon--that is, if they +cannot resist the temptations to meanness and unfairness which come with +all money transactions, God will not commit to them the true riches--the +power of making their fellow creatures wiser, happier, better. If they +will not be faithful in that which is another man's--in plain English, if +they will not pay their debts honestly, who will give them that which is +their own--the inspiration of God's indwelling Spirit? Would to God all +high religious professors would recollect that, and be just and honest, +before they pretend to higher graces and counsels of perfection. + +This lesson, then, I think our Lord means to teach us. I do not say it +is the only lesson in the parable; God forbid. But I think that our +Lord's own words show us that this IS one lesson. That, however pious we +are, however enlightened we are, however useful we wish to be; in one +word, however much we are, or fancy ourselves to be, children of light, +our first duty as Christian men is the duty which lies nearest us--that +of which it is written: "If a man know not how to rule his own house, +how shall he take care of the Church of God?" And again, "If any provide +not for his own and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied +the faith, and is worse than an infidel." Our first duty, I say, as +Christian men, is to be just and honest in money matters and every-day +business; and over and above that, to be generous and liberal therein. +Not merely to pay--which the very publicans in our Lord's time did--but +to give, generously, liberally; lending, if we can afford it, as our Lord +bids us, hoping for nothing again; and remembering that he who giveth to +the poor lendeth to the Lord, and whatsoever he layeth out, it shall be +repaid him again. + +Yes, my friends, we must all needs take our Lord's advice--make to +yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye fail, +they may receive you into everlasting habitations. WHEN YE FAIL-- +literally, when you are eclipsed, as the sun is eclipsed. That must +happen to all of us, to the best, the wisest, the most famous. Each must +be eclipsed, and passed in the race of life, and forgotten for some +younger man. Each in turn must fail. One may fail in money--the mammon +for which he toiled may take to itself wings and fly away; or he may fail +in his plans, noble plans, and useful though they seemed; and he may +find, as he grows old, that the world has not gone HIS way, but quite +another one; or he may fail in health, and be cut down and crippled, and +laid by in the midst of his work. And even if he escapes all these +disasters, he must needs fail at last, by mere old age, when the days +come "when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;" when the sun and +the light are darkened, and the clouds return after the rain, when the +strong men bow themselves, and those who look out of the windows are +dark; and he shall rise up at the voice of a bird, and fears shall be in +the way, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: +because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the +streets. Think for yourselves. What would you wish your end to be-- +lonely, unhappy, without the love, the respect, the care of your fellow- +men; or surrounded by friends who comfort your failing body and soul on +earth, and receive you at last into everlasting habitations? + +Make friends, make friends against that day, whether or not you make them +out of the mammon of unrighteousness. If you have been unrighteous, +bring friends back to you, as the steward did, by being just and fair, by +confessing your faults freely, by doing your best to atone for them. And +if you have no share in the mammon of unrighteousness, still make +friends. Make them by truth and justice, make them by generosity and +usefulness. To ease every burden, and let the oppressed go free, to feed +the hungry, clothe the naked, and what the very poorest can do--comfort +the mourner; to nurse the sick, to visit the fatherless and widows in +their affliction, and so keep ourselves unspotted from the selfishness of +the world--This is that true Religion, acceptable in the sight of God the +Father--and happy he who has so served God. Happy for him, when he +begins to fail, to see round him attached hearts, and grateful faces, +hands ready to tend him, as he has tended others. And happier still to +remember that on the other side of the dark river of death are other +grateful faces, other loving hearts, ready to welcome him into +everlasting habitations--and among them, and above them all, one whose +form is as the Son of Man, full of all humanity Himself, and loving and +rewarding all humanity in His creatures, saying, "Inasmuch as ye did it +to one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto Me." + + + +SERMON XLIII. THE RICH AND THE POOR + + + +Chapel Royal, Whitehall, 1871. + +Proverbs xxii. 2. "The rich and poor meet together: the Lord is the +maker of them all." + +I have been asked to preach here this afternoon on behalf of the +Parochial Mission Women's Fund. I may best describe the object for which +I plead, as an attempt to civilise and Christianise the women of the +lower classes in the poorer districts of London and other great towns, by +means of women of their own class--women, who have gone through the same +struggles as they have, and who will be trusted by them to understand and +to sympathize with their needs and difficulties. These mission women are +in communication with lady-superintendents in each ecclesiastical +district. These are, I understand, usually the wives of small tradesmen, +or of clerks. They, again, are in communication with ladies at the West +End of London, who are willing to give personal help and money for +certain objects, but not indiscriminate alms. And thus a series of links +is established between the most prosperous and the least prosperous +classes, by means of which the rich and the poor may meet together, and +learn--to the infinite benefit of both--that the Lord is the maker of +them all. Considering this excellent scheme, I could not help seeing as +a background to it, a very different and a far darker scene. I could not +help remembering that during these very days, the poorer classes of +another great city had taken up an attitude full of awful lessons to us, +and to every civilized country upon earth. We have been reading of a +hundred thousand armed men encamped in the suburbs of Belleville and +Montmartre, with cannon and mitrailleuses, uttering through their organs, +threats which leave no doubt that the meaning of this movement is--as +some of them boldly phrase it,--a war of the poor against the rich. +There is no mistaking what that means. This madness has been stopped for +the time, we are told, principally (as was to be expected), by the +superior common sense of their wives. But only, I fear, for a time. +Such men will go far, if not this time, then some other time. For they +believe what they say, and know what they want. They have done with +phrases, done with illusions. They are no longer deceived and hampered +by party cries against this and that grievance, real or imaginary, the +abolition of which the working classes demand so eagerly from time to +time, in the vain belief that if it were only got rid of the millennium +would be at hand. They have done long ago with remedial half-measures. +Landed aristocracy, Established Church, military classes, privileged +classes, restricted suffrage, and all the rest, have been abolished in +their country for two generations and more: but behold, the poor man +finds himself (or fancies himself, which is just as dangerous) no richer, +safer, happier after all, and begins to see a far simpler remedy for all +his ills. He has too little of this world's goods, while others have too +much. What more fair, more simple, than that he should take some of the +rich man's goods, and if he resists, kill him, crying, "Thou sayest, let +me eat and drink, for to-morrow I die. Then I too will eat and drink, +for to-morrow _I_ die?" And so will the rich and poor meet together with +a vengeance, simply because neither of them has learnt that the Lord is +the maker of them all. + +This is a hideous conclusion. But it is one towards which the poor will +tend in every country in which the rich are merely rich, spending their +wealth in self-enjoyment, atoned for by a modicum of alms. + +I said a modicum of alms. I ought to have said, any amount of alms, any +amount of charity. Throughout the great cities of Europe--in London as +much as anywhere--hundreds of thousands are saying, "We want no alms. We +intend to reconstitute society, even at the expense of blood, so that no +man, woman, or child, shall need the rich man's alms. We do not choose, +for it is not just, that he should take credit to himself for giving us a +shilling when he owes us a pound, ten, a hundred pounds--owes us, in +fact, all by which he and his class are richer than us and our class. +And we will make him pay his debt." + +I do not say that such words are wise. I believe them to be foolish-- +suicidal. I believe that it is those who patiently wait on the Lord, and +not the discontented who fret themselves till they do evil, who will +inherit the land, and be refreshed in peace. I believe that all those +who take the sword will perish by the sword; that those who appeal to +brute force will always find it--just because it is brute force--always +strongest on the side of the rich, who can hire it for evil, as for good. + +I only say, that so hundreds of thousands think; so they speak, and will +speak more and more loudly, as long as the present tone of society +endures,--good-natured and well meaning, but luxurious, covetous, +ignoble, frivolous, ignorant; believing--all classes alike, not only that +money makes the man, but worse far--that money makes the woman also; and +all the while half-ashamed of itself, half-distrustful of itself, and +trying to buy off man by alms, and God by superstition. + +So long as the great mass of the poor of any city know nothing of the +great mass of the rich of that city, save as folk who roll past them in +their carriages, seemingly easy while they are struggling, seemingly +happy while they are wretched, so long will the rich of that city be +supposed, however falsely, to be what the French workmen used to call +mangeurs d'hommes--exploiteurs d'hommes--to get their wealth by means of +the poverty, their comfort by means of the misery of their fellow-men; +and so long will they be exposed to that mere envy and hatred which +pursues always the more prosperous, till, in some national crisis, when +the rich and poor meet together, both parties will be but too apt to +behave, through mutual fear and hate, as if not God, but the devil, was +the maker of them all. + +These words are strong. How can they be too strong, in face of what is +now passing in a neighbouring land? Not too strong, either, in view of +the actual state of vast masses of the poor in London itself, and indeed +of any one of our great cities. + +That matter has been reported on, preached on, spoken on, till all other +civilized countries reproach Britain with the unique contrast between the +exceeding wealth of some classes and the exceeding poverty of others; +till we, instead of being startled by the reproach, take the present +state of things as a matter of course, a physical necessity, a law of +nature and society, that there should be, in the back streets of every +great city, hordes of, must I say, savages? neither decently civilized +nor decently Christianized, uncertain, most of them, of regular +livelihood, and therefore shiftless and reckless, extravagant in +prosperity, and in adversity falling at once into want and pauperism. +You may ask any clergyman, any minister of religion of any denomination, +whether the thing is not so. Or if you want to read the latest news +about the degradation of your fellow-subjects, read a little book called +"East and West," and judge for yourselves, whether such a population, +numbered by hundreds of thousands, are in a state pleasing to God, or +safe for those classes of whom they only know that they pay them wages, +and that these wages are as small as they can be forced to take. Read +that book; and then ask yourselves, is it wonderful that, in one +district, before the mission of the society for which I plead was +established, the poor used seriously to believe that it was the wish and +endeavour of the rich to grind them down, and keep them poor. We, of +course, know that the poor folk were mistaken but do we not know, too-- +some of us--that there are political economists in the world, who, though +they would not willingly make the poor poorer than they are, are still of +opinion that it is good for the nation, on the whole, that the present +state of things should continue; that there should be always a reserve of +labour, in plain English, a vast multitude who have not quite work enough +to live on, ready to be called on in any emergency of business, and used, +to beat down, by their competition, the wages of their fellow-workmen? +Is this theory altogether novel and unheard of? Or this theory also, +that for this very reason, Emigration, which looks the very simplest +remedy for most of this want,--while nine-tenths of the bounteous earth +is waiting to be subdued and replenished by the poor wretches who cannot +get at it--that Emigration, I say, is an unnecessary movement--that the +people are all wanted at home--to be such as the parson and the mission +women find them? + +And it may be that the poor folk have heard--for a bird of the air may +carry the matter in these days of a free press--that some rich folk, at +least, hold this opinion, and translate it freely out of the delicate +language of political economy, into the more vigorous dialect used in the +fever alleys and smallpox courts in which the poor are left to wait for +work. But if there be any rich persons in this congregation who hold +these peculiar economic doctrines, let me recommend to them, more than to +any other persons present, that they would support a society which +alleviates the hard pressure of their system; which helps to make it +tolerable and prudent by teaching the poor to save; by teaching them, in +London alone,--how to save 54,000 in the last eleven years. Let them +help this society heartily. + +The children of this world are--in their generation--wiser than the +children of light. But how long their generation will last, depends +mainly (we are told) on how far they make themselves friends out of the +mammon of unrighteousness. + +But if, again, there be rich people in this congregation, as I trust +there are many and many, who start, indignant, at such an imputation, and +utterly deny its truth--then,--if it be false, why in the name of God, +and of humanity, and of common prudence, why do they not go to these +people and tell them so? Why do they not prove that it is not so, by +showing a little more human sympathy, not merely for them behind their +backs, but sympathy with them face to face? If they wish to know how +much can be done by only a little active kindness, they have only to read +the pages of that painful, and yet pleasant, book--"East and West,"-- +which I have just quoted; and to read, also, an appendix to it--a Paper +originally read at the Church Congress, Manchester, by the present Lord +Chancellor--a document which it would be an impertinence in me to +recommend or praise. + +Bring yourselves then boldly into contact with these classes, and +especially into contact with the women--with the wives and mothers. For +it is through the women, through them mainly, if not altogether, that +civilization and religion can be introduced among any degraded class. It +was so in the Middle Age. The legends which tell us how woman was then +the civilizer, the softener, the purifier, the perpetual witness to +fierce and coarse men, that there were nobler aims in life than pleasure, +and power, and the gratification of revenge; that not self-assertion, but +self-sacrifice was the Divine ideal, toward which all must aspire. These +old legends are immortal; for they speak of facts and laws which will +endure as long as there are women upon earth. Through the woman, the +civilizer and the Christianizer must reach the man. Through the wife, he +must reach the husband. Through the mother, he must reach the children. +I say he must. It is easy to complain that the clergy in every age and +country have tried to obtain influence over women. They have been forced +to do so, because otherwise they could obtain no influence at all. And +if a priesthood should arise hereafter, whose calling was to teach not +religion but irreligion, not the good news that there is a good God, and +that we can know Him; but the bad news that there is no God, or, if there +is, we cannot know Him; then would that priesthood find it necessary to +appeal like all other priesthoods, to the women, and to teach them how to +teach their children. + +But more. It is not religion only which must be taught through the wives +and mothers, but sound science also, and sound economy. If you intend +(as I trust some here intend) to teach the labouring classes those laws +of health and life, on which depend the comfort, the wholesomeness, often +the decency and the morality of the poor man's home, then you must teach +those laws first to the house-mother, who brings the children into the +world, and brings them up, who puts them to bed at night, and prepares +their food by day. If you wish to teach habits of thrift, and sound +notions of economy to the labouring classes, you must teach them first to +the housewife, who has to make the weekly earnings cover, if possible, +the week's expenses. If you wish to soften and to purify the man, you +must first soften and purify the woman, or at least encourage her not to +lose what womanliness she has left, amid sights, and sounds, and habits +which tend continually to destroy her womanhood. You must encourage her, +I say, to remember always that she is a woman still, and let her teach-- +as none can teach like her--true manfulness to her husband and her sons. + +And how can you best do that? Not by giving her shillings, not by +preaching at her, not by scolding her: but by behaving to her as what +she is--a woman and a sister--and cheering her heavy heart by simple +human kindliness. What she wants amid all her poverty and toil, her +child-bearing and child-rearing, what she wants, I say, to keep her brave +and strong, is to know by actual sight and speech that she is still not +an outcast; not alone; that she is still a member of the human family, +that her fellow-woman has not forgotten her; and that, therefore, it may +be, He that was born of woman has not forgotten her either. That she +has, after all, a God in heaven, who can be touched with the feeling of +her infirmities, and can help her and those she loves, to struggle +through all their temptations, seeing that He too was tempted in all +things like them, yet without sin. + +It is only personal intercourse with them--only the meeting of the rich +and poor together, in the belief that God is the maker of them all, that +will do that. But it will do it. + +Only personal intercourse will reconcile these people to their condition, +in as far as they OUGHT to be reconciled to it. But personal intercourse +will reconcile them to it, as far as it ought, but no further. And I +think that the system of personal intercourse attempted by this Society +is, on the whole, the best yet devised. It is imperfect, as all attempts +to make that straight which is crooked, and to number that which is +wanting--to patch, in a word, a radically vicious system of society,-- +must be imperfect; but it is the best plan which I have yet seen. I find +no fault with other plans, God forbid! Wisdom is justified of all her +children; and the amount of evil is so great, and (as I believe, so +dangerous), that I must bid God-speed to any persons who will do +anything, always saving and excepting indiscriminate almsgiving. + +But it seems to me that the soothing and civilizing, and in due time +Christianising, effect of personal intercourse cannot begin better than +through a woman, herself of the working class, who has struggled as these +poor souls have struggled, and conquered, more or less, where they are +failing. That through her they should be brought in contact with women +of the more comfortable and cultivated class, who are their immediate +employers, if not their immediate neighbours; and through them, again, +brought in contact with women of that class, of whom I shall only say, +that if they were not meant for some such noble work as this--and not for +mere pleasure and mere display, then for what purpose, in heaven or +earth, were they made? and why has Providence taken the trouble (as it +were) to elaborate, by long ages of civilization, that most exquisite of +all products of nature and of art--A Lady? + +Ah! what the ladies of England might do, and that without interfering in +the least with their duties as wives and mothers, if they would work +together, as a class! If they would work as well and humanly while they +are in towns, as most of them do work while they are in the country; as +some of them do, to their honour, in the towns already! But how many? +what proportion do those who do good bear to those who do nothing? What +a small amount of humanizing and civilizing intercourse with some women +of the labouring class is there in the case of the wives of rich men who +come up to town, merely for the season, and forget that it is their +temporary and uncertain stay in London which causes much of the temporary +and uncertain employment of the London poor, and their consequent +temptation to unthrift and recklessness! How little humanizing and +civilizing intercourse with the poor is carried on by the wives of those +employers of labour who surely, surely owe something more to their +husband's work people, than to be aware (by hearsay) that they are duly +paid every Saturday night? + +But I shall be told: We need not fear--we can justify ourselves before +God and man. I shall be reminded of all that has been done, and done +well too, for the poor during the last generation, and bidden not to +calumniate my countrymen. True, much has been done; and done well. And +true also it is that no effort to make the rich and poor meet together, +to bring the different classes of society into contact with each other, +but has succeeded--has sown good seed--which I trust may bring forth good +fruit in the day when every tree shall be judged by its fruit. The +events of 1830, startling and warning, and those of 1848, more pregnant, +if possible, with warning than the former, awakened a spirit of humanity +in England, which was also a spirit of prudence and of common sense. + +But I cannot conceal from myself, or you, that the earnestness which was +awakened in those days is dying out in these. The richer classes of +every country are tempted from time to time to fits of laziness--fits of +frivolity and luxury, surfeits, in which men say, with a shrug and a +yawn--"Why be very much in earnest? Why take so much trouble? Somebody +must always be rich, why should not I? Somebody must enjoy the money, +why should not I? At all events, things will last my time." And that +such a surfeit has fallen upon the rich of this land, is a fact; for that +this is the tone of to-day, and that the tone increases, none can deny +who knows that which calls itself the WORLD, and calls itself so only too +truly; the world of which it is written, that all that is in the world-- +the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life-- +is not of the Father, but of the world. And the world passeth away, and +the lust thereof. But he who doeth the will of God, he alone abideth for +ever. + +God grant that we, who have just seen the most cunningly organized and +daintily bedizened specimen of a world, which ever flaunted on the earth +since men began to build their towers of Babel, collapse and crumble at a +single blow, may take God's hint, that the fashion of this world passeth +away. Let the idle, the frivolous, the sensual, and those who, like +Figaro's Marquis, have earned all earthly happiness by only taking the +trouble to be born--let them look back on this last awful Christmas-tide, +and hear, speaking in fact unmistakeable, the voice of the Lord. Think +ye that they whose blood Pilate mingled with their sacrifices were +sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? I +tell you, "Nay: but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." + +There are those who will hear such words with a smile, even with a sneer, +and say, Such wholesale judgments of God, even granting that there are +such things, are, after all, very rare: it is very seldom that a whole +class, a whole system of society, is punished in mass--and why then need +we trouble ourselves about so remote a probability? + +Then know this--that as surely as God sometimes punishes wholesale, so +surely is He always punishing in detail. By that infinite concatenation +of moral causes and effects, which makes the whole world one mass of +special Providences, every sin of ours will punish itself, and probably +punish itself in kind. Are we selfish? We shall call out selfishness in +others. Do we neglect our duty? Then others will neglect their duty to +us. Do we indulge our passions? Then others, who depend on us, will +indulge theirs, to our detriment and misery. Do we squander our money? +Then our children and our servants will squander our money for us. + +Do we?--but what use to go on reminding men of truths which no one +believes, because they are too painful and searching to be believed in +comfort? What use to tell men what they never will confess to be true-- +that by every crime, folly, even neglect of theirs, they drive a thorn +into their own flesh, which will trouble them for years to come, it may +be to their dying day? And yet so it is. + + +Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small; +Though with patience He stands waiting, with exactness grinds He all. + + +As those who neglect their fellow-creatures will discover, by the most +patent undeniable proofs, in that last great day, when the rich and poor +shall meet together, and then, at least, discover that the Lord is the +maker of them all. + + + +Footnotes: + +{1} These sermons by the Rev. Charles Kingsley M.A., late rector of +Eversley and Canon of Westminster, were edited by the Rev. W. Harrison, +M.A., rector of Brington.--DP. + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10116 *** |