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diff --git a/11381.txt b/11381.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f9c1dad --- /dev/null +++ b/11381.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8096 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Sermons for the Times, by Charles Kingsley + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Sermons for the Times + +Author: Charles Kingsley + +Release Date: February 29, 2004 [eBook #11381] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SERMONS FOR THE TIMES*** + + + + +Transcribed by David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk + + + + +SERMONS FOR THE TIMES + + + + +Contents: + Fathers and Children + Salvation + A Good Conscience + Names + Sponsorship + Justification by Faith + Duty and Superstition + Sonship + The Lord's Prayer + The Doxology + Ahab and Naboth + The Light of God + Providence + England's Strength + The Life of God + God's Offspring + Death in Life + Shame + Forgiveness + The True Gentleman + Toleration + Public Spirit + + + +SERMON I. 'FATHERS AND CHILDREN' + + + +Malachi iv. 5, 6. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before +the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall +turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the +children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a +curse. + +These words are especially solemn words. They stand in an +especially solemn and important part of the Bible. They are the +last words of the Old Testament. I cannot but think that it was +God's will that they should stand where they are, and nowhere else. +Malachi, the prophet who wrote them, did not know perhaps that he +was the last of the Old Testament prophets. He did not know that no +prophet would arise among the Jews for 400 years, till the time when +John the Baptist came preaching repentance. But God knew. And by +God's ordinance these words stand at the end of the Old Testament, +to make us understand the beginning of the New Testament. For the +Old Testament ends by saying that God would send to the Jews Elijah +the prophet. And the New Testament begins by telling us of John the +Baptist's coming as a prophet, in the spirit and power of Elias; and +how the Lord Jesus himself declared plainly that John the Baptist +was Elijah who was to come; that is, the Elijah of whom Malachi +prophesies in my text. + +Therefore, we may be certain that this text tells us what John the +Baptist's work was; that John the Baptist came to turn the hearts of +the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to the +fathers; lest the Lord should come and smite the land with a curse. + +Some may be ready to answer to this, 'Of course John the Baptist +came to warn parents of behaving wrongly to their children, if they +were careless or cruel; and children to their parents, if they were +disobedient or ungrateful. Of course he would tell bad parents and +children to repent, just as he came to tell all other kinds of +sinners to repent. But that was only a part of John the Baptist's +work. He came to be the forerunner of the Messiah, the Saviour, the +Redeemer.' + +Be it so, my friends. I only hope that you really do believe that +John the Baptist did come to proclaim that a Saviour was born into +the world--provided only that you remember all the while who that +Saviour was. John the Baptist tells you who He was. If you will +only remember that, and get the thought of it into your hearts, you +will not be inclined to put any words of your own in place of the +prophet Malachi's, or to fancy that you can describe better than +Malachi what John the Baptist's work was to be; and that turning the +hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the +children to the fathers, was only a small part of John the Baptist's +work, instead of being, as Malachi says it was, his principal work, +his very work, the work which must be done, lest the Lord, instead +of saving the land, should come and smite it with a curse. + +Yes--you must remember who it was that John the Baptist came to bear +record of, and to manifest or show to the Jews. The Angels on the +first Christmas Eve told us--they said it was _The Lord_, 'Unto +you,' they said, 'is born a Saviour, who is Christ, _The Lord_.' + +John the Baptist told you and all mankind who it was--that it was +The Lord. 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye +the way of _the Lord_!' + +_The Lord_. What Lord--Which Lord? John the Baptist knew. Simeon, +Anna, Nathaniel, all righteous and faithful hearts who waited for +the salvation of the Lord, knew. The Pharisees and Sadducees did +not know. The men who wrote our Creeds, our Prayer Book, our Church +Catechism, knew. The Pharisees and the Sadducees in our day, who +fancy themselves wiser than the Creeds, and the Prayer Book, and the +Church Catechism, do not know. May God grant that we may all know, +not only with our lips, but with our hearts, our faith, our love, +our lives, who The Lord is. + +Jesus Christ, the babe of Bethlehem, is The Lord. But who is He? +The Bible tells us; when we have heard what the Bible tells us we +shall be able better to understand the text. The Lord is He of whom +it is written, 'And God said, Let us make man in our image, after +our likeness.' And who is God's image and God's likeness? The New +Testament tells us--Jesus Christ. In Him man was made. He is the +Son of Man, who is in heaven--the true perfect pattern of man: but +He is also the image and likeness of God, the brightness of His +Father's glory, and the express image of His person. He is The +Lord. He is the Lord who instituted marriage, and said, 'It is not +good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help-meet for +him.' He is the Lord who said to man, 'Be fruitful and multiply: +fill the earth and subdue it.' He is the Lord who said to the first +murderer, 'Thy brother's blood crieth against thee from the ground.' +He is the Lord who talked with Abraham face to face as a man talks +with his friend; who blest him by giving him a son in his old age, +that he might be the father of many nations. He is the Lord who, on +Mount Sinai, gave those Ten Commandments, the foundation of all law +and right order between man and God, between man and man:--'Thou +shalt honour thy father and thy mother. Thou shalt do no murder. +Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt +not bear false witness in courts of law or elsewhere. Thou shalt +not covet thy neighbour's property.' + +This is The Lord. Not a God far away from men; who does not feel +for them, nor feel with them; not a God who despises men, or has an +ill-will to men, and must be won over to change his mind, and have +mercy on them, by many supplications and tears, and fear and +trembling, and superstitious ceremonies. But this is The Lord, this +is the babe of Bethlehem, this is He whose way John the Baptist came +to prepare--even He of whom it is written, that He possessed wisdom, +the simple, practical human wisdom, useful for this everyday earthly +life of ours, which Solomon sets forth in his Proverbs, in the +beginning before His works of old; and that when He appointed the +foundations of the earth, that Wisdom was by Him, as one brought up +with Him, and she was daily His delight; rejoicing alway before Him; +rejoicing in the _habitable_ parts of the earth; and her delights +were _with the sons of men_. + +In one word, He is the Lord, in whose likeness man is made. Man's +justice is a pattern of His; man's love is a pattern of His; man's +industry a pattern of His; man's Sabbath-rest, in some unspeakable +and eternal way, a pattern of His. Man's family ties are patterns +of His. God the Father is He, said St. Paul, from whom every +fathership in heaven and earth is named, that we may be such fathers +to our children as God is to us. God The Son is He who is not +ashamed to call us brethren, and to declare to us the glorious news, +that in Him we, too, are the sons of God, that we may be such sons +to our heavenly Father--ay, and to our earthly fathers also, as the +Lord Jesus was to His Father. + +Yes--and even more wonderful still, and more blessed still, the Lord +is not ashamed to call himself a husband. Our human wedlock and +married love is a pattern of some divine mystery. 'Husbands love +your wives, as Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself for +it, that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not +having spot or wrinkle, but that it should be holy and without +blemish.' Blessed words, which we cannot pretend to explain or +understand, but can only believe and adore, and find, as we shall +find, in proportion as we are loving and faithful in wedlock, that +God's Spirit bears witness with our spirit, that they are +reasonable, blessed, true; true for ever. + +This, then, was the Lord who was coming to judge these Jews; not +merely a god, but _The_ God. The Lord, in whose likeness man was +made; who had appointed men to be fathers, sons, husbands, citizens +of a nation, owners of property, subject to laws, and yet _makers_ +of laws; because all these things, in some wonderful way, are parts +of His likeness. He was coming to this nation of the Jews first, +and then to all the nations of the earth, to judge them, Malachi +said, with a great and terrible day. To lay the axe to the root of +the tree; to cut down from the very root the evil principles which +were working in society. His fan was in His hand; and He would +thoroughly purge His floor; and gather His wheat into the garner, +for the use of future generations: but the chaff, all that was +empty, light, and useless, He would burn up and destroy utterly out +of the way, with unquenchable fire. He would inquire of every man, +How have you kept my image; my likeness, in which I made you? What +sort of husbands, fathers, sons, neighbours, subjects, and +governors, have you been? And above all, Malachi says, the root +question of all would be, what sort of fathers have you been to your +children? What sort of children to your fathers? Does that seem to +you a small question, my friends? Would you have rather expected to +hear John the Baptist ask, what sort of saints they had been? What +sort of doctrines they were professing? + +A small question? Look at these two little words, Father and Son. +Father and Son! Are they not the most deep and awful, as well as +the most blessed and hopeful words on earth? Do they not tell us +the very mystery of God's being? Are they not the very name of God, +God The Father and God The Son, knit together by one Holy Spirit of +Love to each other and to all, who proceeds alike from The Father +and from The Son? And then, will you think it a light matter to ask +fallen creatures made in the likeness of that perfect Father and +that perfect Son, what sort of fathers and sons they have been? God +help us all, and give us grace to ask ourselves that question +morning and night, before the great and terrible day of the Lord +come, lest He come and smite this land with a curse. + +I have been led to think deeply and to speak openly upon this solemn +matter, my friends, by seeing, as who can help seeing, the great +division and estrangement between the old and the young which is +growing up in our days. I do not, alas! I cannot, deny the +complaints which old people commonly make. Old people complain that +young people are grown too independent, disobedient, saucy, and what +not. It is too true, frightfully, miserably true, that there is not +the same reverence for parents as there was a generation back;--that +the children break loose from their parents, spend their parents' +money, choose their own road in life, their own politics, their own +religion, alas! too often, for themselves;--that young people now +presume to do and say a hundred things which they would not have +dreamed in old times. And they are ready enough to cry out that all +this is a sign of the last days, of which, they say, St. Paul speaks +in 2 Tim. iii. 4--when men 'shall be disobedient to parents, +unthankful, boasters, heady, high-minded, despisers of those who are +good, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.' My friends, my +friends, it is far better for us who have children, instead of +prying into the times and seasons which God has kept in His own +hand, to read our Bibles faithfully, and when we quote a text, quote +the whole of it, and not just those bits of it which help us to +throw blame on other people. What St. Paul really says, is that 'in +the last days evil times will come;' just as they had come, he +shows, when he wrote; and what he means I will try and show you +presently. And, moreover, remember that Malachi says, that the +hearts of the parents in Judea needed turning to their children, as +well as the hearts of the children to their parents. Take care lest +it be not so in England now. Remember that St. Paul, in that same +solemn passage, gives other marks of 'last days,' which have to do +with parents as well as with children, and some which can only have +to do with parents--for they are the sins of grown-up and elderly +people, and not of young ones. He says, that in those days men +shall also be 'covetous, proud, without natural affection, breakers +of their word, blasphemers; having a form of godliness, but denying +the power thereof.' Will none of these hard words hit some grown +people in our day? Will not they fill some of us with dread, lest +the parents now-a-days should be as much in fault as the children of +whom they complain; lest the parents' sins should be but too often +the cause of the children's sins? Read through St. Paul's sad list +of sins, and see how every young man's sin in it has some old man's +sin corresponding to it. St. Paul does not part his list, and I +dare not, and cannot. St. Paul mixes the parents' and the +children's sins together in his words, and I fear that we do the +same in our actions. + +Oh! beware, beware, you who complain of the behaviour of children +now-a-days, lest your children have as much cause to complain of +you. Are your children selfish, lovers of themselves?--See that you +have not set them the example by your own covetousness or laziness. +Are they boastful?--See that your pride has not taught them. +Incontinent and profligate?--See that your own fierceness has not +taught them. If they see you unable to master your own temper, they +will not care to try to master their appetites. Are they +disobedient and unthankful?--See, well, then that your want of +natural affection to them, your neglect, and harshness, and want of +feeling and tenderness, has not made the balance of unkindness +fearfully even between you. Are your children disobedient to you?-- +See that you have not taught them to be so, by breaking your word to +them, by letting them see you deceitful to others, till they have +lost all trust in you, all reverence for you. Above all, are your +children lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God?--Oh! beware, +beware, lest you have made them so,--lest you have been blasphemers +against God, even when you have been fancying that you talked +religion. Beware lest you have been teaching them dark, cruel, +superstitious thoughts about God,--making them look up to Him not as +their heavenly Father, but as a stern taskmaster whom they must +obey, not from gratitude, but from fear of hell, and so have made +God look so unlovely in their eyes that 'there is no beauty in Him +that they should desire Him.' Can you wonder at their loving +pleasure rather than loving God, when you show them nothing in God's +character to love, but everything to dread and shrink from? And +last of all, are your children despisers of those who are good, +inclined to laugh at religion, to suspect and sneer at pious people, +and call them hypocrites? Oh! beware, beware, lest your lip- +religion, your dead faith, your inconsistent practice, has not been +the cause of it. If you, as St. Paul says, have a form of +godliness, and yet in your life and actions deny the power of it, by +living without God in the world, and following the lowest maxims of +the world in everything but what you call the salvation of your +souls, what wonder if your children grow up despisers of those who +are good? If they see you preaching one thing, and practising +another, they will learn to fancy that all godly people do the same. +If they see your religion a sham, they will learn to fancy all +religion false also. Oh! woe, woe, most terrible, to those who thus +harden their own children's hearts, and destroy in them, as too many +do, all faith in God and man, all hope, all charity! Woe to them! +for the Lord Himself, who came to lay the axe to the root of the +tree, said of such, 'If any man cause one of these little ones to +offend, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about +his neck, and that he were drowned in the depths of the sea.' + +So it is too often now-a-days, and so it will be, until people +condescend to learn over again that simple old Church Catechism +which they were taught when they were little, and to teach it to +their children, not only with their lips but in their lives. + +'The Church Catechism!' some here will say to themselves with a +smile, 'that is but a paltry medicine for so great a disease--a +pitiful ending, forsooth, to such a severe sermon as this, to +recommend just the Church Catechism!' Let those laugh who will, my +friends. If you think you can bring up your children to be +blessings to you,--if you think you can live so as to be blessings +to your children, without the Church Catechism, you can but try. I +think that you will fail. More and more, year by year, I find that +those who try do fail. More and more, year by year, I find that +even religious people's education of their children fails, and that +pious men's sons now-a-days are becoming more and more apt to be +scandals to their parents and to religion. If any choose to say +that the reason is, that the pious men's sons were not of the number +of the elect, though their fathers were, I can only answer, that God +is no respecter of persons, and that they say that He is; that God +is not the author of the evil, and that they say that He is. If a +child of mine turns out ill, I am bound to lay the fault first on +myself, and certainly never on God,--and so is every man, unless the +inspired Scripture is wrong where it says, 'Train up a child in the +way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.' +And the fault _is_ in ourselves. Very few people really teach their +children now-a-days the Church Catechism; very few really believe +the Church Catechism; very few really believe that God is such an +one as the Church Catechism declares to us; very few believe in the +Lord, in whose image and likeness man is made, whose way John the +Baptist prepared by turning the hearts of the fathers to the +children. They put, perhaps, religious books into their children's +hands, and talk to them a great deal about their souls: but they do +not tell their children what the Church Catechism tells them, +because they do not believe what the Church Catechism tells them. + +What that is; what the Church Catechism does tell us, which the +favourite religious books now-a-days do not tell us; and what that +has to do with turning the hearts of the fathers to the children, I +must tell you hereafter. God grant that my words may sink into all +hearts, as far as they are right and true; if sooner or later we are +not all brought to understand the meaning of those two simple words, +Father and Son, neither Baptism, nor Confirmation, nor Schools, nor +this Church, nor the very body and blood of Him who died for us, to +share which you are all called this day, will be of avail for the +well-being of this parish, or of this country, or any other country +upon earth. For where the root is corrupt, the fruit will be also; +and where family life and family ties, which are the root and +foundation of society, are out of joint, there the Nation and the +Church will decay also; as it is written, 'If the foundations be +cast down, what can the righteous do?' + +And whensoever, in any family, or nation and church, the root of the +tree (which is the conduct of parents to children, and of children +to parents) grows corrupt and rotten, then 'last days,' as St. Paul +calls them, are indeed come to it, and evil times therewith; for the +Lord will surely lay the axe to the root of it, and cut it down and +cast it into the fire: neither will the days of that family, or +that people, or that Church, be long in the land which the Lord +their God has given them. So it has been as yet, in all ages and in +all countries on the face of God's earth, and so it will be until +the end. Wheresoever the hearts of the fathers are not turned to +the children, and the hearts of the children to the fathers, there +will a great and terrible day of the Lord come; and that nation, +like Judaea of old, like many a fair country in Europe at this +moment, will be smitten with a curse. + + + +SERMON II. SALVATION + + + +John xvii. 3. This is life eternal, that they may know Thee, the +only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. + +Before I can explain what this text has to do with the Church +Catechism, I must say to you a little about what it means. + +Now if I asked any of you what 'salvation' was, you would probably +answer, 'Eternal life.' + +And you would answer rightly. That is exactly what salvation is, +and neither more nor less. No more than that; for nothing greater +than that can belong to any created being. No less than that; for +God's love and mercy are eternal and without bound. + +But what is eternal life? + +Some will answer, 'Going to heaven when we die.' But what before +you die? You do not know? cannot tell? + +Let us listen to what God Himself says. Let us listen to what the +Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God, says. Let us listen to what He +who spake as man never spake, says. Surely His words must be the +clearest, the simplest, the most exact, the deepest, the widest; the +exactly fit and true words, the complete words, the perfect words, +which cannot be improved on by adding to them or taking away one jot +or tittle. What did the Lord Jesus Christ say that eternal life +was? + +'This is eternal life, that they may know Thee the only true God, +and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.' + +To know God and Jesus Christ; that is eternal life. That is all the +eternal life which any of us will ever have, my friends. Unless our +Lord's words are not complete and perfect, and do not tell us the +truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, about eternal +life, that is all the eternal life any one will ever have; and we +must make up our minds to be content therewith. + +To which some will answer, almost angrily, 'Of course. The way to +obtain eternal life is to know God and Jesus Christ; for if we do +not, we cannot obtain it.' + +What words are these, my friends? what rash words are these, which +men thrust into Scripture out of their own carnal conceits, as if +they could improve upon the speech of the Son of Man Himself? He +says, not that to know God is the way to eternal life: but rather +that eternal life is the way to know God. He does not say, This is +to know God and Jesus Christ, _in order that_ they may have eternal +life. Whatever He says, He does not say that. Nay, more, if we are +to be very exact (and can we be too exact?) with the Lord's words, +He says, that 'This is eternal life, _in order that_ they may know +God and Jesus Christ.' Not that we are to know God that we may +obtain eternal life, but that we must have eternal life in order +that we may know God; that eternal life is the means, and the +knowledge of God the end and purpose for which eternal life is given +us. However this may be, at least He says what the noble collect +which we repeat every Sunday says, 'That our eternal life stands in +the knowledge of God,' depends on it, and will fall without it. + +'That we may know God.' Not merely that we may know doctrines about +salvation, and the ways of winning God's favour, and turning away +His vengeance; not merely to know what God has done ages ago, or may +do ages hence, for us: but to know God Himself; to know His person, +His likeness, His character; and what He is, and what He does, now +and always; to know His righteousness, His goodness, His truth, His +love, His mercy, His strength, His willingness and mightiness to +save; in a word, what the Bible calls His glory; and therefore to +admire and delight in Him utterly. That is what our eternal life +stands in; that is why God has given to us eternal life in His Son, +that we may know that. Oh, believe your Saviour simply, like little +children, and enter into the joy of your Lord. Acquaint yourselves +with God, and be at peace. + +To know God; and also to know Jesus Christ whom He has sent. For +St. John, when he tells us that God has already given to us eternal +life, says also, that this life is in His Son. To know the Son of +God, in whom the Father is well pleased, because He is His perfect +Son; His exact likeness, the likeness of that glory of His, and the +express image of that person and character of His, which I described +to you just now; One whose life was and is and ever will be +eternally all love, and mercy, and self-sacrifice, and labour, for +lost and sinful men; all trust and obedience to His Father. To know +Him and His life, and to come to Him, and receive from Him an +eternal life, which this world did not give us, and cannot take away +from us; which neither man, devil, nor angel, nor the death of our +bodies, the ruin of empires, the destruction of the whole universe, +and of time, and space, and all things whereof man can conceive or +dream, can alter in the slightest, because it is a life of goodness, +and righteousness, and love, which are eternal as the God from whom +they spring; eternal as Christ, who is the same yesterday, to-day, +and for ever; and nothing but our own sinful wills can rob us of +them. + +This is eternal life, and therefore this is salvation. A very +different account of it (though it is the Bible account) from that +narrow and paltry one which too many have in their minds now-a-days; +a narrow and paltry notion that it means only being saved from the +punishment of our sins after we die; and a very unbelieving, and +godless, and atheistical notion too; which, like all unbelief hurts +and spoils men's lives. + +For too many say to themselves, 'God must save me after I am dead, +of course, for no one else can: but as long as I am alive I must +save myself. God must save me from hell; but I must save myself +from poverty, from trouble, from what the world may say of me or do +to me, if I offend it.' And so salvation seems to have to do +altogether with the next life, and not at all with this; and people +lose entirely the belief that God is our deliverer, our protector, +our guide, our friend, now, here, in this life; and do not really +think that they can get on better in this world by knowing God and +Jesus Christ; and so they set to work to help themselves by cunning, +by covetousness, by cowardly truckling to the wicked ways of the +very world which they renounced at baptism, by following after a +multitude to do evil, and standing by, saying, 'I saw it not,' when +they see wrong and cruelty done upon the earth; afraid to fight +God's battles like men of God, because they say it is 'dangerous.' +And so, in these evil days, thousands who call themselves Christians +live on, worldly and selfish, _without God in the world_; while they +talk busily enough of 'preparing to meet God,' in the world to come; +dreaming, poor souls, of arriving at what they call 'salvation' +after they die, while they are too often, I fear, deep enough in +what the Scripture calls 'damnation,' before they die. + +'But,' say some, 'is not salvation going to a place called heaven?' +My friends, let the Bible speak. It tells us that salvation is not +in a place at all, but in a person, a living, moving, acting person, +who is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Let the Psalmists +speak, and shame us, who ought to know (being Christians) even +better than they, that The Lord Himself is Salvation. The whole +Book of Psalms, what is it but the blessed discovery that salvation +is not merely in a place, or a state, not even in some 'beatific +vision' after men die; but in the Lord Himself all day long in this +world; that salvation is a life in God and with God? 'The Lord is +my light, and my salvation, of whom then shall I be afraid? The +Lord is the strength of my life, and my portion for ever.' This is +their key-note. Shame on us Christians, that we should have +forgotten it for one so much lower. 'The name of the Lord,' says +Solomon, 'is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is +safe.' Into it: not merely into some pleasant place after he dies, +but all day long; and is safe: not merely after he dies, but in +every chance and change of this mortal life. My friends, I am +ashamed to have to put Christian men in mind of these things. +Truly, 'Evil communications have corrupted good manners; awake to +righteousness and sin not, for some have not the knowledge of God.' +I am ashamed, I say; for there are old hymns in the mouths of every +one to this day, which testify against their want of faith; which +say, 'Christ is my life,' 'Christ is my salvation;' and which were +written, I doubt not, by men who meant literally what they said, +whatever those who sing them now-a-days may mean by them. Now what +do those hymns mean by such words, if they mean anything at all? +Surely what I have been preaching to you, and what seems to some of +you, I fear, strange and new doctrine. And what else does the +Church Catechism mean, when it bids every child thank God for having +brought him into a state of salvation? For mind, throughout the +whole Church Catechism there is not one word about what people +commonly call heaven and hell; not one word though 'heaven and hell' +are now-a-days generally the first things about which children are +taught. Not one word is the child taught about what will happen to +him after death, except that his body will rise again, and that +Christ will be his Judge after he is dead as well as while he is +alive: but not one word about that salvation after he is dead, +which is almost the only thing of which one hears in many pulpits. +And why, but because the Catechism teaches the child to believe that +Jesus Christ is his salvation now, in this life, and believes that +to be enough for him to know? For if Christ be eternal, His +salvation must be eternal also. If Christ's life be in the child, +eternal life must be in the child; for Christ's life must be +eternal, even as Christ Himself; and that is enough for the child, +and for us also. + +And with this agrees that great text of Scripture, 'When the wicked +man turneth away from his wickedness, and doeth that which is lawful +and right, he shall save his soul alive.' People now-a-days are apt +to make two mistakes about that one text. First they forget the +'when,' and read it as if it stood, 'If the wicked man turn away +from his wickedness in this life, he shall save his soul in the next +life:' but the Bible says much more than that. It says, that when +he turns, then and there, that moment he shall save his soul alive. +And next, they read the text as if it stood, 'he shall save his +soul.' Here again, my friends, the Bible says a great deal more; it +says, that he shall save his soul alive. Perhaps that does not seem +to you any great difference? Alas, alas, my friends, I fear that +there are too many now, as there have been in all times, who do not +care for the difference. Provided 'their souls are saved,' by which +they mean, provided they escape torment after they die, it matters +nothing to them whether their souls are saved alive, or saved dead; +they do not even know the difference between a dead soul and a live +soul; because they know nothing about eternal death and eternal +life, which are the death and the life of eternal persons such as +souls are; they say to themselves, if they be Protestants, 'I hope I +shall have faith enough to be saved;' or if they be Papists, 'I hope +I shall have good works enough to be saved;' valuing faith and works +not for themselves; yea, valuing--for I must say it--Almighty God +Himself, not for Himself and His own glory, but valuing faith and +works, and the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, only +because, as they dream, they are so many helps to a life of pleasure +beyond the grave; not knowing this, that living faith and good works +do not merely lead to heaven, but are heaven itself, that true, real +eternal heaven wherein alone men really live; that true, real +eternal life which was with the Father, and was manifested in Jesus +Christ, whom St. John saw living upon earth that same Eternal Life, +and bore witness of Him that His life was the light of men; that +eternal life whereof it is written, that God hath brought us to life +together with Christ, and raised us up, and made us sit together in +heavenly places in Christ Jesus:--not knowing this, that the only +life which any soul ought to live, is the life of God and of Christ, +and of the Spirit of God and Christ; a life of righteousness, and +justice, and truth, and obedience, and mercy, and love; a life which +God has given to us, that we may know and copy Him, and do His +works, and live His life, for ever:--not knowing this also that +eternal death is not merely some torture of fire and worms beyond +the grave: but that this is eternal death, not to live the eternal +life which is the only possible life for souls, the life of +righteousness and love; a death which may come on respectable +people, and high religious professors, while they are fancying +themselves sure to be saved, as easily and surely as it may on +thieves and harlots, wallowing in the mire of sins. + +For what is this same eternal death? The opposite surely to eternal +life. Eternal life is to know God, and therefore to obey Him. +Eternal life is to know God, whose name is love; and therefore, to +rejoice to fulfil His law, of which it is written, 'Love is the +fulfilling of the law;' and therefore to be full of love ourselves, +as it is written, 'We know that we have passed from death unto life, +because we love the brethren;' and again, 'Every one that loveth, +knoweth God, for God is love.' And on the other hand, eternal death +is not to know God, and therefore not to care for His law of love, +and therefore to be without love; as it is written on the other +hand, 'He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.' 'Whosoever +hateth his brother is a murderer;' and ye know that no murderer hath +eternal life abiding in him; and again, 'He that loveth not, knoweth +not God, for God is love.' Eternal death, then, is to love no one; +to be shut up in the dark prison-house of our own wilful and wayward +thoughts and passions, full of spite, suspicion, envy, fear; in +fact, in one word, to be a devil. Oh, my friends, is not that +damnation indeed, to be a devil here on earth, and for aught we +know, for ever and ever? + +Do you not know what frame of mind I mean? Thank God, none of us, I +suppose, is ever utterly without some grain of love left for some +one; none of us, I suppose, is ever utterly shut up in himself; and +as long as there is love there is life and as long as there is life +there is hope: but yet there have been moments when one has felt +with horror how near, and how terrible, and how easy was this same +eternal death which some fancy only possible after they die. + +For, my friends, were you ever, any one of you, for one half hour, +completely angry, completely _sulky_? displeased and disgusted with +everybody and everything round you, and yet displeased and disgusted +with yourself all the while; liking to think everyone wrong, liking +to make out that they were unjust to you; feeling quite proud at the +notion that you were an injured person: and yet feeling in your +heart the very opposite of all these fancies: feeling that you were +wrong, that you were unjust to them, and feeling utterly ashamed at +the thought that they were the injured persons, and that you had +injured them. And perhaps, to make all worse, the person about whom +all this storm had arisen in your heart, was some dear friend or +relation whom you loved (strange contradiction, yet most true) at +the very moment that you were trying to hate. Oh, my friends, if +one such dark hour has ever come home to you; if you have ever let +the sun go down upon your wrath, and so given place to the devil, +then you know something at least of what eternal death is. You know +how, in such moments, there is a worm in the heart, and a fire in +the heart, compared with which all bodily torment would be light and +bearable; a worm in the heart which does not die: and a fire in the +heart which you cannot quench: but which if they remained there +would surely destroy you. So intolerable are they, that you feel +that you will actually and really die, in some strange unspeakable +way, if you continue in that temper long. Do not there open at such +times within our hearts black depths of evil, a power of becoming +wicked, a chance of being swept off into sin if one gives way, which +one never suspected till then; and yet with all these, the most +dreadful sense of helplessness, of slavery, of despair?--God grant +that may not remain, for then comes the mad hope to escape death by +death, to try by one desperate stroke to rid oneself of that self +which is for the time one's torment, worm, fire, death, and hell. +And what is this dark fight within us? What does the Bible call it? +It is death and life, eternal death and eternal life, salvation and +damnation, hell and heaven, fighting together within our hapless +hearts, to see which shall be our masters. It is the battle of the +evil spirit, who is the Devil, fighting with the good spirit, who is +God. Nothing less than that, my friends. Yes, in those hateful and +shameful moments of pride, or spite, or contempt, or self-will, or +suspicion, or sneering, on which when they are past we look back +with shame and horror, and wonder how we could have been such +wretches even for a moment,--at such times, I say, our heart is a +battle-field, on which no less than the Devil himself, and God +Himself are fighting for our souls. On one side, Satan trying to +bring us into that state of eternal death in which he lives himself; +Satan, the loveless one, the self-willed one, the accuser, the +slanderer, slandering God to us, slandering man to us, slandering to +us the friends we love best and trust most utterly; yea, slandering +our own selves to us, trying to make us believe that we are as bad, +ought to be as bad, and must always be as bad as we seem for the +time to be; that we cannot shake off our evil passions, that we +cannot rise again out of the eternal death of sin into the eternal +life of righteousness. And on the other side, the Spirit of God and +of His Christ, the Spirit of eternal life, the Spirit of justice, +and righteousness, love, joy, peace, duty, self-sacrifice, trying to +make us know Him and see His beauty, and obey Him, and be at peace; +trying to raise us again into that eternal life and state of +salvation which the Lord Jesus Christ has bought for us with His +most precious blood. + +Oh, awful thought! Life and death, the Devil himself, and the Lord +Jesus Christ Himself, fighting in your heart and in mine, and in the +heart of every human being round us! And yet most blessed thought, +hopeful, glorious,--full of the promise of eternal victory! For +greater is He that is with us, than he that is against us; and He +who conquered Satan for Himself, can and will conquer him for us +also. No thing can separate us from the love of Christ; no thing, +yea no angel, or devil, principality, or power; no thing, but only +ourselves, only our own proud and wayward will and determination to +the Devil's voice in our hearts, and not the voice of Christ, the +Word of Life, who is nigh us, in our hearts, even in our darkest +moments, loving us still, pitying us, ready, able and willing to +help all who cast themselves on Him, and raise us, there and then, +the very moment we cry to Him and renounce the Devil and our own +foolish will, out of self-will into God's will, out of darkness into +light, out of hatred into love, out of despair into hope, out of +doubt into faith, out of tempest into peace, out of the death of sin +into the life of righteousness, the life of love and charity, which +abideth for ever. Oh, listen not to the lying, slanderous Devil, +who tells you that by your own sin you have lost your share in +Christ, lost baptismal grace, lost Christ's love--Lost His love? +His, who, were you in the very lowest depths of hell, would pity you +still? His love, who Himself went down into hell, and preached to +the spirits in prison, to show that he did care even for them? Not +so: into Him you have been baptized. His cross is on your +foreheads, His Father is your Father:--and can a father desert his +child, even though he sinned seventy and seven times, if seventy and +seven times he turn and repent? Can man weary God? Can the +creature conquer and destroy the love of his Creator? Can Christ +deny Himself? Not so; whosoever thou art, however sorely tempted, +however deeply fallen, however disgusted and terrified at thyself, +turn only to that blessed face which wept over Jerusalem, to that +great heart which bled for thee upon the cross, and thou shalt find +him unchanged, the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever, the Lord of +life and love, able and willing to save to the uttermost all who +come to God through Him, and the accusing Devil shall turn and flee, +and thou shalt know that thy Redeemer liveth still, and in thy flesh +thou shalt see the salvation of God, and cry, 'Rejoice not against +me, Satan, mine enemy; for when I fall I shall arise.' + + + +SERMON III. A GOOD CONSCIENCE + + + +1 Peter iii. 21. The like figure whereunto baptism doth now save us +(not the putting away the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a +good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. + +These words are very wide words; too wide to please most people. +They preach a very free grace; too free to please most people. Such +free and full grace, indeed, that some who talk most about free +grace, and insist most on man's being saved only by free grace, are +the very men who shrink from these words most, and would be more +comfortable in their minds, I suspect, if they were not in the Bible +at all, because the grace they preach is too free. But so it always +has been, and so it is, and so, I suppose, it always will be. Man +preaches his notions of God's forgiveness, his notions of what he +thinks God ought to do; but when God proclaims His own forgiveness, +and tells men what He has actually done, and bids His apostle +declare boldly that baptism doth now save us, then man is frightened +at the vastness of God's generosity, and thinks God's grace too +free, His forgiveness too complete; and considers this text and many +another in the Bible as 'dangerous' forsooth, if it is 'preached +unreservedly,' and not to be quoted without some words of man's +invention tacked to it, to water it down, and narrow it, and take +all the strength and life out of it; and if he be asked whether he +believes the words of Scripture,--for instance, whether St. Paul +spoke truth when he told the heathen Athenians that they and all men +were the offspring of God;--or when he told the Romans that as by +the offence of one, judgment came on all men to condemnation, even +so by the righteousness of One, the free gift came upon all men to +justification of life;--or when he told the Corinthians, that as in +Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive;--or whether +St. Peter spoke truth when he said, that 'baptism doth also now save +us,'--then they answer, that the words are true 'in a sense;' that +is, not in their plain sense; true, if they were only true; true, +and yet somehow at the same time not true; and not to be preached +'unreservedly:' as if man could be more cautious and correct in his +language than the Spirit of God, who inspired the Apostles; as if +man could be more careful of God's honour than God is of His own; as +if man could hate sin and guard against sin more carefully than God +Himself. + +Just in the same way do people stumble at certain invaluable words +in the Church Catechism, which teach children to thank God for +having brought them into that state of salvation. Even very good +people, and people who really wish to believe and honour the Church +Catechism, and the Sacrament of Baptism, find these words too strong +to please them, and say, that of course a child's being in a state +of salvation cannot mean that he is saved, but that he may be saved +after he dies. + +My friends, I never could find that we have a right to take +liberties with the Bible and the Prayer Book which we dare not take +with any other book, and to put meanings into the words of them +which, in the case of any other book, would be contrary to plain +grammar and the English tongue, if not to common sense and honesty. + +If you say of a man, 'he is in a state of happiness,' you mean, do +you not, that he is happy now, not that he may perhaps be happy some +day? If you came to me and told me that you were in a state of +hunger, you would think it a very strange answer to receive if I +say, 'Very well then, if you become hungry, come to me, and I will +feed you?' You all know that a man's being in a state of poverty, +or of misery, means that he is poor or miserable now, here, at this +very time; that if a man is in a state of sickness, he is sick; if +he is in a state of health, he is healthy. Then what can a man's +being in a state of salvation mean, by all rules of English, but +that he is saved? If I were to say to any one of the good people +who do not think so, 'My friend, you are in a state of damnation,' +he would answer me quickly enough, 'I am not, for I am not damned.' +He would agree that a man's being in a state of damnation means that +the man is damned; why will he not agree that a man's being in a +state of salvation means that he is saved? Because, my friends, +God's grace is too full for fallen man's notions; and therefore +there is an evil fashion abroad in the world, that where a text +speaks of wrath, and misery and punishment, you are to interpret it +exactly, and to the very letter: but where it speaks of love, and +mercy, and forgiveness, you are to do no such thing, but narrow it, +and fence it, and explain it away, for fear you should make sinners +too comfortable,--a plan which seems wise enough, but which, like +other plans of man's wisdom, has not succeeded too well, to judge by +the number of sinners who are already too comfortable though they +hear the Bible misused, and God's grace narrowed in this way every +Sunday of their lives. + +But, my friends, we call ourselves Englishmen and churchmen; let us +be honest Englishmen and plain churchmen, and take our Catechism as +it stands. For rightly or wrongly, truly or falsely, it does teach +every christened child to thank God, not merely that it has some +chance of being saved, when it dies, but that it is saved already, +now, here on earth. + +Whether that is true or false is another question. I believe it to +be true. I believe the text to be true; I believe that why people +shrink from it is, that they have got into their minds a wrong, +unscriptural, superstitious notion of what being saved, and saving +one's soul alive, and salvation mean. And I beg all of you who read +your Bibles to search the Scriptures from beginning to end, and try +to find out what these words mean, and whether the Catechism has not +kept close, after all, to the words of Scripture. It will be better +for you, my friends; it will be worth your while, to know exactly +what being saved means; for to judge by the signs of the times, +there are, very probably, days coming in which it will be as needful +for you and for your children to save your souls alive lest you die, +as ever it was for the Jews in Isaiah's or Jeremiah's time, or for +the Romans in St. Paul's time; and that in that day you will find +the Catechism wider, and deeper, and sounder than you have ever +suspected it to be, and see, I trust, that in these very words it +preaches to you, and me, and our children after us, the one true +Gospel and good news, which will stand, and grow, and shine brighter +and brighter for ever, when all the paltry, narrow, counterfeit +gospels which man invents in its place have been burnt up by the +unquenchable fire with which the merciful Lord purges the chaff from +His floor. + +I told you this morning what I believe that salvation was,--to know +God, and Jesus Christ, whom He has sent. To know God's likeness, +God's character, what God has shown of His own character, what He +has done for us. To know His boundless love, and mercy, and knowing +that, to trust in Him utterly, and submit to Him utterly, and obey +Him utterly, sure that He loves us, that His will to us is goodwill, +that His commandments must be life. To know God, and therefore to +love Him and to serve Him, that is salvation. + +Now what hinders a little child, from the very moment that it can +think or speak, from entering into that salvation? Not the child's +own heart. There is evil in the child--true. Is there none in you +and me? There is a corrupt nature in the child--true. Is there not +in you and me? Woe to us if we have not found it out: woe to us if +we dare to think that we are in ourselves--or out of ourselves +either--one whit better than our own children. What should hinder +any child whom you or I ever saw from knowing God, and His Name, the +Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit? + +Has he not an earthly father, through whom he may know _The_ Father? +Is he not an earthly son; and through that may he not know _The_ +Son? Has he not a conscience, a spirit in him which knows good from +evil? holiness from wickedness--far more clearly and tenderly than +the souls of most grown people do? and can he not, therefore, +understand you when you speak of a Holy Spirit, a Spirit which puts +good desires into his heart, and can enable him to bring those good +desires into practice? + +I know one hindrance at least; and that is his parents' sins; when +the parents' harshness or neglect tempts the child to fancy that God +The Father is such a Father to him as his parents are, and that to +be a child of God is to look up to his heavenly Father with dread +and suspicion as to a hard taskmaster whose anger has to be turned +away, and not with that perfect love, and trust, and respect, and +self-sacrifice, with which the Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled His +Father's will and proclaimed His Father's glory: or when the +parents' unholiness and lip-religion teach the child to fancy that +the Holy Spirit means only certain religious fancies and feelings, +or the learning by heart of certain words and doctrines, or, worst +of all, a spirit of bondage unto fear; instead of knowing Him to be, +as He is, the Spirit of righteousness, and love, and joy, and peace, +long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, temperance: or +when, again, parents by their own teaching, do despite to the Spirit +of Grace in their own child, and destroy their child's good +conscience toward God, by telling the child that it does not really +love God, when it loves Him, perhaps, far better than they do; by +telling the child that its sins have parted it from God, when its +sins are light, yea, are as nothing in the balance compared to the +sins they themselves commit every day, while they claim for +themselves clearer light and knowledge than the child, and thereby +condemn themselves rather than the child; when they darken and +defile the pure and beautiful trust and admiration for its Heavenly +Father, which God's Spirit puts into the child's heart, by telling +it that it is doomed to I know-not-what horrible misery and torture +when it dies; but that it can escape from that wretched end by +thinking certain thoughts, and feeling certain feelings; and so +(after stirring up in the child all manner of dreadful doubts of +God's love and justice, and perhaps driving it away from religion +altogether by making it believe that it has committed sins which it +has not committed, and deserves horrible tortures which it has not +deserved), do perhaps at last awaken in it a new love for God, but +one which is not like that first love, that childlike love; one +which, I fear, is hardly a love for God at all, but principally a +selfish joy and delight at having escaped from coming torments. +This is the reason, my friends; and this hindrance, at least, I +know. I will not copy those parents, my friends, and tell them, as +they tell their children, that they are bringing on themselves +endless torture; but I must tell them, for the Lord Christ has told +them, that they are bringing on themselves something--I know not +what--of which it is written, that it were better for them that a +millstone were hanged about their necks, and that they were drowned +in the depth of the sea. Oh, my friends, if I speak sternly, almost +bitterly, when I speak of parents' sins, it is because I speak for +those who cannot speak for themselves. I plead for Christ's little +ones: I plead for the souls and consciences of those little +children of whom Christ said, 'Suffer the little children to come +unto me;' not that they might become His, but because they were His +already; not that they might win His love, but because He loved them +from all eternity: not that they might enter into the kingdom of +heaven, but, because they were in the kingdom of heaven already; +because the kingdom of heaven was made up of such as them, and the +angels who ministered unto them always beheld the face of our Father +who is in heaven. Yes; I plead for those children, of whom the Lord +said, 'Except ye be converted,' that is, utterly turned and changed, +'and become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter into the +kingdom of heaven.' Deep and blessed words, which are the root-rule +of all true righteousness; which so few really believe at heart, any +more than the Pharisees, and Sadducees, and Herodians of old did. +Up and down, all over England, I hear men of all denominations +saying, not, 'Except we grown people be converted and become as +little children;' but, 'except the little children be converted, and +become like us, grown people.' God grant that the little children +may not become like too many grown people! God grant it, I say. +God grant that our children may not become like us! God grant that +they may keep through youth and manhood, and through the grave, and +through all worlds to come, the tender and childlike heart, which we +too often have hardened in ourselves by bigotry and superstition, +and dead faith, and lip-worship! And I can have good hope that God +will grant it. I can have hope that God will teach our children and +our children's children truly to know Him whose name is Love and +Righteousness, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as long as +I see His providence preserving for us this old Church Catechism, to +teach our children what we forget to teach them, or what we have not +faith enough to teach them. + +Yes, I can have hope for England; and hope for those mighty nations +across the seas, whose earthly mother God has ordained that she +should be, as long as the Catechism is taught to her children. + +For see. This Catechism does not begin with telling children that +they are sinners: they will find that out soon enough for +themselves, poor little things, from their own wayward and self- +willed hearts. Nor by telling them that man is fallen and corrupt: +they will find out that also soon enough, from the way in which they +see people go on around them. It does not even begin by telling +them that they ought to be good, or what goodness and righteousness +is; because it takes for granted that they know that already; it +takes for granted that The Light who lights every man who comes into +the world is in them; even the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, stirring +up in their hearts, as He does in the heart of every child, the +knowledge of good and the love of good. But it begins at once by +teaching the child the name of God. It goes at once to the root of +the matter; to the fountain of goodness itself; even to God, the +Father of lights. It is so careful of God's honour, so careful that +the child should learn from the first to look up to God with love +and trust, that it dare not tell the child that God can destroy and +punish, before it has told him that God is a Father and a Maker; the +Father of spirits, who has made him and all the world. It dare not +tell him that mankind is fallen, before it has told him that all the +world is redeemed. It dare not talk to him of unholiness, before it +has taught him that the Holy Spirit of God is with him, to make him +holy. It tells him of a world, a flesh, and a devil: but he has +renounced them. He has neither part nor lot in them; and he is not +to think of them yet. He is to think of that in which he has part +and lot, of which he is an inheritor. He is to know where he is and +ought to be, before he knows where he is not and ought not to be: +he is to think of the name of God, by which he can trample world, +flesh, and devil under foot, if they dare hereafter meddle with his +soul. In its God-inspired tenderness and prudence, it dare not +darken the heart of one little child, or tempt him to hard thoughts +of God, or to cry, 'Why hast thou made me thus?' lest it put a +stumbling-block in the way of Christ's little ones, and dishonour +the name and glory of God. It tells him of the love, before it +tells him of the wrath; of the order, before it tells him of the +disorder; of the right, before the wrong; of the health, before the +disease; of the freedom, before the bondage; of the truth, before +the lies; of the light, before the darkness; in one word, it tells +him first of the eternal and good God, who was, and is, and shall be +to all eternity, before and above the evil devil. It tells him of +the name of God; and tells him that God is with him, and he with +God, and bids him believe that, and be saved, from his birth-hour, +to endless ages. It does not tell him to pray that he may become +God's child; but to pray, because he is God's child already. It +does not tell him to love God, in order that he may make God love +him; but to love God because God loves him already, and has loved +him from all eternity. It does not tell him to obey Jesus Christ, +in order that Christ may save him; but to obey Christ because Christ +has saved him, and bought him with his own blood. It does not tell +him to do good works, in order that God's Spirit may be pleased with +him, and come to him, and make him one of the elect; neither does it +tell him, that some day or other, if he is converted, and feels +certain religious experiences, he will have a right to consider +himself one of God's elect: but it tells him to look man and devil +in the face, he, the poor little ignorant village child, and say +boldly in the name of God, 'I am one of God's elect. The Holy +Spirit of God is sanctifying me, and making me holy. God has saved +me; and I heartily thank my Heavenly Father, who has called me to +this state of salvation.' It tells him to believe that he is safe-- +safe in the ark of Christ's Church, as Noah was safe in the ark at +the deluge; and that the one way to keep himself within that ark is +to obey Him to whom it belongs, who judges it and will guide it for +ever, Jesus Christ, the likeness of God; and that as long as he does +that, neither world, flesh, nor devil, can harm him; even as Noah +was safe in the ark, and nothing could drown him but his own wilful +casting himself out of the ark, and trying to free the flood of +waters by his own strength and cunning. + +It tells him, I say, that he is safe, and saved, even as David, and +Isaiah, and all holy men who ever lived have been, as long as he +trusts in God, and clings to God, and obeys God; and that only when +he forsakes God, and follows his own selfishness and pride, can +anything or being in earth or hell harm him. + +And do not fancy, my friends, that this is a mere unimportant +question of words and doctrines, because a baptized and educated +child may be lost after all, and fall from his state of salvation +into a state of damnation. Still more, do not fancy that if a child +is taught that he is already a child of God, regenerated in baptism, +and elect by God's Spirit, that therefore he will neglect either +vital faith or good works--heaven forbid! + +Is it likely to make a child careless, and inclined to neglect vital +truth, to tell him that God is his Father and loves him utterly, and +has given His only begotten Son to die for him? Is it not the very +way, the only way, to stir up in him faith, and real hearty trust +and affection towards God? How can you teach him to trust God, but +by telling him that God has shown himself boundlessly and perfectly +worthy to be trusted by every soul of man; or to love God, but by +showing him that God loves him already? Is it likely to make a +child careless of good works, to tell him that God has elected and +chosen him, and all his brothers and schoolfellows, to be conformed +into the likeness of Jesus Christ, and that every good, and +honourable, and gentle thought or feeling which ever crosses his +little heart, does not come from himself, is not part of his own +nature or character, but is nothing less than the inspiration of the +Holy Spirit, nothing less than the voice of Almighty God Himself, +speaking to the child's heart, that he may answer with Samuel-- +'Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth?' Is it likely to make a +child careless about losing eternal life, to tell him that God has +already given to him eternal life, and that that life is in His Son +Jesus Christ, to whom the child belongs, body, soul, and spirit? + +Judge for yourselves, my friends. Think what awe, what reverence, +purity, dread of sin, would grow up in a child who was really taught +all this, and yet what faith and love to God, what freedom, and +joyfulness, and good courage about his own duty and calling in life. + +And then look at the fruits which in general follow a religious +education, as it is miscalled; and take warning. For if you really +train up your children in the way in which they should go, be sure +that when they are old they will not depart from it--a promise which +is not fulfilled to most religious education which we see around us +now-a-days; from which sad fact, if Scripture be inspired and +infallible, we can only judge that such is not the way in which the +children should go; and that because it is a wrong way, therefore +God will not, and man cannot, keep them in it. + + + +SERMON IV. NAMES + + + +Matthew i. 21. And thou shall call his name Jesus. + +Did it ever seem to you a curious thing that the Catechism begins by +asking the child its name? 'What is your name?' 'Who gave you this +name?' I think that if you were not all of you accustomed to the +Church Catechism from your childhood, that would seem a strange way +of beginning to teach a child about religion. + +But the more I consider, the more sure I am that it is the right way +to begin teaching a child what the Catechism wishes to teach. + +Do not fancy that it begins by asking the child's name just because +it must begin somehow, and then go on to religion afterwards. Do +not fancy that it merely supposes that the clergyman does not know +the child's name, and must ask it; for this Catechism is intended to +be taught by parents to their children, and masters to their +apprentices and servants; by people, therefore, who know the child's +name perfectly well already, and yet they are to begin by asking the +child his name. + +Now, why is this? What has a child's name to do with his Faith and +duty as a Christian? + +You may answer, Because his Christian name is given him when he is +baptized. + +But _why_ is his Christian name given him when he is baptized? Why +then rather than at any other time? + +Because it is the old custom of the Church. No doubt it is: and a +most wise and blessed custom it is; and one which shows us how much +more about God and man the churchmen in old times knew, than most of +our religious teachers now-a-days. But how did that old custom +arise? What put into the minds of church people, for the last +sixteen hundred years at least, that being baptized and being named +had anything to do with each other? Men had names of their own long +before the Lord Jesus came, long before His Baptism was heard of on +earth;--the heathens of old had their names--the heathens have names +still;--why, then, did church people feel it right to mix a new +thing like baptism with a world-old thing like giving a name? + +My friends, I feel and say honestly, that there is more in this +matter than I understand; and what little I do understand, I could +not explain fully in one sermon, or in many either. But let this be +enough for to-day. God grant that I may be able to make you +understand me. + +Any one's having a name--a name of his own, a Christian name, as we +rightly call it--signifies that he is a person; that is, that he has +a character of his own, and a responsibility, and a calling and duty +of his own, given him by God; in one word, that he has an immortal +soul in him, for which he, and he alone, must answer, and receive +the rewards of the deeds which it does in the body, whether they be +good or evil. But names are not given at random, without cause or +meaning. When Adam named all the beasts, we read that whatsoever he +called any beast, that _was_ the name of it. The names which he +gave _described_ each beast, were taken from something in its +appearance, or its ways and habits, and so each was its right name, +the name which expressed its nature. And so now, when learned men +discover animals or plants in foreign countries, they do not give +them names at random, but take care to invent names for them which +may describe their natures, and make people understand what they are +like, as Adam did for the beasts of old. And much more, in old +times, had the names of men each of them a meaning. If it was +reasonable to give names full of meaning to each kind of dumb +animal, which are mere things, and not persons at all, how much more +to each man separately, for each man is a person of himself; each +man has a character different from all others, a calling different +from all others, and therefore he ought to have his own name +separate from all others: and therefore in old times it was the +custom to give each child a separate name, which had a meaning in +it, was, as it were, a description of the child, or of something +particular about the child. + +Now, we may see this, above all, in The adorable Name of Jesus. +That name, above all others, ought to show us what a name means; for +it is the name of the Son of Man, the one perfect and sinless man, +the pattern of all men; and therefore it must be a perfect name, and +a pattern for all names; and it was given to the Lord not by man, +but by God; not after He was born, but before He was conceived in +the womb of the blessed Virgin. And therefore, it must show and +mean not merely some outward accident about Him, something which He +seemed to be, or looked like, in men's eyes: no, the Name of Jesus +must mean what the Lord was in the sight of His Father in Heaven; +what He was in the eternal purpose of God the Father; what He was, +really and absolutely, in Himself; it must mean and declare the very +substance of His being. And so, indeed, it does; for The adorable +Name of Jesus means nothing else but God the Saviour--God who saves. +This is His name, and was, and ever will be. This Name He fulfilled +on earth, and proved it to be His character, His exact description, +His very Name, in short, which made Him different from all other +beings in heaven or earth, create or uncreate; and therefore, He +bears His name to all eternity, for a mark of what He has been, and +is, and will be for ever--God the Saviour; and this is the perfect +name, the pattern of all other names of men. + +Now though the Christian names which we give our children here in +England, have no especial meaning to them, and have nothing to do +with what we expect or wish the children to be when they grow up, +yet the names of people in most other countries in the world have. +The Jewish names which we find in the Bible have almost all of them +a meaning. So Simeon, I believe, means 'Obedient'; Jehoshaphat +means, 'The Lord will judge'; Daniel, 'God is my judge'; Isaiah +means, 'The Salvation of the Lord'; Isaac means, 'She laughs,' as a +memorial of Sarah's laughing, when she heard that she was to have a +child; Ishmael means, 'The Lord hears,' in remembrance of God's +hearing Hagar's cry in the wilderness, when Ishmael was dying of +thirst. + +Especially those names of which we read that God commanded them to +be given, have meanings, and to tell the persons who bore those +names what God expected of them, or would do for them. So Abraham +means, 'The father of many nations.' So the children of both Isaiah +and Hosea had names given them by God, each of them meaning +something which God was going to do to the nation of the Jews. And +so John means, 'Given by the Lord,' which name was given to John the +Baptist by the Angel, before his strange birth, in his mother's old +age. + +But we must remember that the heathens also gave names to their +children, though they did not know that their children owed any duty +to God, or belonged to God, and therefore we cannot call their names +Christian names. Yes, the heathens did give their children names; +some of them give their children names still. And there is to me +something most sad and painful in those heathen names, and yet most +full of meaning. A solemn lesson to us, to show us what the fall +means; what man becomes, when he gives way to his fallen nature, and +is parted from Christ, the Head of man. + +First, these heathens had a dim remembrance that man was made in the +likeness of God, and lived by Faith in God, and therefore that men's +names were to express that, as indeed many of their old names do. +But, alas! the likeness of God in fallen man is like a tree without +roots, or rather a tree without soil to grow in. God's likeness in +man can only flourish as long as he is joined to Christ, the perfect +likeness of God, the true life and the true light of men, the +foundation which is already laid, and the soil in which man was +meant to grow and flourish for ever, and as long as he is fed by the +Spirit of God, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceeds--never +forget that, or you will lose the understanding both of who God is +and what man is--proceeds not only from God the Father, but also +from God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore, in the +heathen, God's likeness withered and decayed, as a tree withers and +decays when torn up from the soil. And first, they began to call +themselves after the names of false gods, which they had invented +out of their own carnal fancies. Then they called themselves after +the names of their dumb animal's. So, Pharaoh means, 'The Sun-God'; +the Ammonites mean, 'The people who worshipped the ram as a god'; +Potiphar means, 'A fat bull,' which the Egyptians used to worship; +and I could tell you of hundreds of heathen names more, like these, +which are ridiculous enough to make one smile, if we did not keep in +mind what tokens they are of sin and ignorance, and the likeness not +of God, but of the beasts which perish. + +Then comes another set of names, showing a lower fall still, when +heathens have quite forgotten that man was originally made in God's +likeness, and are not only content to live after the likeness of the +beasts which perish, but pride themselves on being like beasts, and +therefore name their children after dumb animals,--the girls after +the gentler and fairer animals, and the boys after ravenous and +cruel beasts of prey. That has been the custom among many heathen +nations; perhaps among almost all of them, at some time or other. +It is the custom now among the Red Indians in North America, where +you will find one man in a tribe called 'The Bull,' another 'The +Panther,' and another 'The Serpent,' and so on; showing that they +would like to be, if they could, as strong as the bull, as cruel as +the panther, as venomous as the serpent. What wonder that those Red +Indians, who have so put on the likeness of the beasts, are now +dying off the face of the earth like the beasts whom they admire and +imitate? + +And this was the way with our own heathen forefathers before the +blessed Gospel was preached to them. It is frightful, in reading +old histories, to find how many Englishmen, our own forefathers, +were named after fierce wild beasts, and tried, alas! to be like +their names--children of wrath, whose feet were swift to shed blood, +under whose lips was the poison of adders, and destruction and +bloodshed following in their paths, not knowing the way of peace. +The wolf was the common wild beast of England then; and there are, I +should say, twenty common old English names ending in wolf, besides +as many more ending in bear, and eagle, and raven. Fearful sign! +that men of our own flesh and blood should have gloried in being +like the wolf, the cruellest, the greediest, the most mean of savage +beasts! How shall we thank God enough, who sent to them the +knowledge of His Son Jesus Christ, and called them to be new men in +Christ Jesus, and called them to holy baptism, to receive new names, +and begin new lives in the righteous likeness of God Himself?--that +as by nature they had been the children of wrath, so in baptism they +might become the children of grace; that as from their forefathers +they had inherited a corrupt nature, original sin, and the likeness +of the foul and ravenous beasts which perish, they might have power +from the Spirit of God to become the sons of God, conformed into the +likeness of Jesus Christ, in peace, and love, and righteousness, and +all holiness. + +And yet, in names there is a lower depth still among fallen and +heathen men; when they lose utterly the last dim notion that God +intends men to be persons, even as God the Father is a person, and +God the Son a person, and God the Holy Spirit is a person, and so +lose the custom of giving their children personal names at all; +either giving them, after they grow up, mere nicknames, taken from +some peculiarity of their bodies, or something which they have done, +or some place where they happen to live; or else, like many tribes +of heathen negroes, just name them after the day of the week on +which they were born, as some way of knowing them apart; or, last +and most shocking of all, give them no names at all, and have no +names themselves, knowing each other apart as the dumb animals do, +only by sight. I can conceive no deeper fall into utter brutishness +than that; and yet some few of the most savage tribes, both in +Africa and in the Indian islands, are said--God help them!--to live +in that way, and to have no names;--blotted, indeed, out of the book +of life! + +But is this the right state for men? No; it is the wrong state. It +is a disease into which men are fallen; a disease out of which +Christ came to raise men; and out of which He does raise us in Holy +Baptism. Baptism puts the child into its right state--into the +right state for a human being, a human soul, a human person. And +baptism declares what that right state is--a member of Christ, a +child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven. A member +of Christ, and therefore a person, because Christ is a person. A +child of God, and therefore a person, because a child's duty is to +love and trust and obey his father--and only a person can do that, +not an animal or a thing. An inheritor of the kingdom of heaven, +and therefore bound to cherish all heavenly thoughts and feelings, +all righteousness, love, and obedience, which only spirits and +persons, not animals or things, can feel. + +Now can you not see why baptism is the proper time for giving the +child a name? Because then Christ claims the child for His own;-- +because having a name shows that the child is a person who has a +soul, a will, a conscience, a duty; a person who must answer himself +for himself alone for what he does in the body, whether it be good +or evil. And that will, and soul, and conscience were given the +child by Christ, by whom all things are made, who is the Light which +lights every man who comes into the world. + +Thus in holy baptism God adopts the child for His own in Jesus +Christ. He declares that the child is regenerate, and has a new +life, a life from above, a seed of eternal personal life which he +himself has not by nature. And that seed of eternal life is none +other but the Holy Spirit of God, the Spirit of the Father and of +the Son, the Lord and Giver of Life, who does verily and indeed +regenerate the child in holy baptism, and dwells with his soul, his +person, his very self, that He may educate the child's character, +and raise his affections, and subdue his will, and raise him up +daily from the death of sin to the life of righteousness. + +Therefore, when in the Catechism you solemnly ask the child its +name, you ask it no light question. You speak as a spirit, a +person, to its spirit, to its very self, which God wills should +never perish, but live for ever. You single the child out from all +its schoolfellows, from all the millions of human beings who have +ever lived, or ever will live; and you make the child, by answering +to his name, confess that he is a person, an immortal soul, who must +stand alone before the judgment seat of God; a person who has a duty +and a calling upon God's earth, which he must fulfil or pay the +forfeit. And then you ask the child who gave him his name, and make +him declare that his name was given him in baptism, wherein he was +made a member of Christ and a child of God. You make the child +confess that he is a person in Jesus Christ, that Christ has +redeemed him, his very self, and taken him to Himself, and made him +not merely God's creature, or God's slave, but God's child. You +make the child confess that his duty as a person is not towards +himself, to do what _he_ likes, and follow his own carnal lusts; but +toward God and toward his neighbours, who are in God's kingdom of +heaven as well as he. And then you go on in the rest of the +Catechism to teach him how he himself, the person to whom you are +speaking, may live for ever and ever as a person, by faith in other +Persons beside himself, even in God the Father, Son, and Holy +Spirit, as you teach him in the Creed; by doing his duty to other +persons beside himself, even to God and man, as you teach him in the +Ten Commandments; and by diligent prayer to another Person beside +himself, even to God his heavenly Father, to feed and strengthen him +day by day with that eternal life which was given to him in baptism. +Thus the whole Catechism turns upon the very first question in it-- +'What is thy name?' It explains to the child what is really meant, +in the sight of God, and of the Lord Jesus Christ, and of the whole +Church in earth and heaven, by the child's having a name of his own, +and being a person, and having that name given to him in holy +baptism. + +And if this is true of our children, my friends, it is equally true +of us. You and I are persons, and persons in Christ; each stands +alone day and night before the judgment-seat of Christ. Each must +answer for himself. None can deliver his brother, nor make +agreement unto God for him. Each of us has his calling from his +heavenly Father; his duty to do which none can do instead of him. +Each has his own sins, his own temptations, his own sorrows, which +he must bring single-handed and alone to God his Father, as it is +written, 'The heart knoweth its own bitterness, and a stranger +intermeddleth not with its joy.' There is a world, a flesh, and a +devil, near to us, ready to drag us down, and destroy our personal +and spiritual life, which God has given us in Christ; a flesh which +tempts us to follow our own appetites and passions, blindly and +lawlessly, like the beasts which perish; a world which tempts us to +become mere things, without free-wills of our own, or consciences of +our own, without personal faith and personal holiness; the puppets +of the circumstances and the customs which happen to be round us; +blown about like the dead leaf, and swept helplessly down the stream +of time. And there is a devil, too, near us, tempting us to the +deepest lie of all,--to set up ourselves apart from God, and to try, +as the devil tries, to be persons in our own strength, each doing +what he chooses, each being his own law, and his own master; that +is, his own lawlessness, and his own tyrant: and if we listen to +that devil, that spirit of lawlessness and self-will, we shall +become his slaves, persons in him, doing his work, and finding +torment and misery and slavery in it. Awful thought, that so many +enemies should be against us; yea, that we ourselves should be our +own enemies! But here baptism gives us hope, baptism gives us +courage; we are in Christ; God is our Father, and He can and will +give us power to have victory, and to triumph against the world, the +flesh, and the devil. His Spirit is given to us in baptism--that +Spirit of God who is not merely a force or an influence, but a +person, a living, loving, holy Person. He is with us, to give our +persons, our souls, eternal life from His life, eternal holiness +from His holiness; that so, not merely some part of us, but we our +very selves and souls--we the very same persons who were christened, +and had a name given us in holy baptism, and have been answering to +that name all our life, and were reminded, whenever we heard that +name, that we had a duty of our own, a history of our own, hopes, +fears, joys, sorrows of our own, which none could share with us,-- +that we, I say, our own persons, our very selves, may be raised up +again at the last day, free, pure, strong, filled with the life of +God, which is eternal life. + +And then, what blessed words are these from the Lord Jesus, which we +read in the book of Revelation? 'And I will give to him that +overcometh, a new name.' A new name for him that overcometh world, +flesh, and devil; that shall be our portion in the world to come. A +new name, perfect like the name of the Lord Jesus, which shall +express and mean all that we are to do hereafter, and all that we +have done well on earth. A name which shall declare to us our +calling and work in God's Church triumphant, throughout all ages and +worlds to come: and yet a name which no man knoweth saving he who +receiveth it. Yes, if we may dare to guess at the meaning of those +deep words, perhaps in that new name shall be recorded for each man +all that went on, in the secret depths of the man's own heart, +between himself and his God, unknown and unnoticed even by the wife +of his bosom. The cup of cold water given in Christ's name; the +little private acts of love, and kindness, and self-sacrifice, of +which none but God knew; the secret prayers, the secret acts of +contrition, the secret hungerings and thirstings after +righteousness, the secret struggles and agonies of heart, which he +could not, dare not, ought not to tell to any human being. All +these, he shall find, will go to make up his character in the life +to come, to determine what work he is to do for God in the world to +come; as it is written, 'Be thou faithful over a few things, and I +will make thee ruler over many things.' All these, perhaps, shall +be expressed and declared in that new name, the full meaning of +which none will know but the man himself, because none but he knows +the secret experiences and struggles which went toward the making of +it; none but he and God; for God will know all, He who is the Lord +and Saviour of our souls, our persons, our very selves, and can +preserve them utterly to the fulness of eternal life, because He +knows them thoroughly and utterly; because He judges not according +to appearance, but judges righteous judgment; because He sees us not +merely as we seem to others to be, not even as we seem at times to +ourselves to be;--but searches the heart, and can be touched with +the feeling of its infirmities, seeing that He himself has been +tempted even as we are, yet without sin; because, blessed thought! +He can pierce through the very marrow of our being, and discern the +thoughts and intents of our hearts, and see what we long to be, and +what we ought to be; so that we can safely and hopefully commend our +spirits to His hand, day by day and hour by hour, and can trust Him +to cleanse us from our secret faults, and to renew and strengthen +our very selves day by day with that eternal life which He gives to +all who cast themselves utterly upon Him. + + + +SERMON V. SPONSORSHIP + + + +1 Cor. xii. 26, 27. Whether one member suffer, all the members +suffer with it; or whether one member be honoured, all the members +rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in +particular. + +I have to tell you that there will be a confirmation held at . . . +on the . . . All persons of fit age who have not yet been confirmed +ought to be ready, and I hope and trust that most of them will be +ready, on that day to profess publicly their faith and loyalty to +the Lord who died for them. I hope and trust that they will, as +soon as possible, tell me that they intend to do so, and come to me +to talk over the matter, and to learn what I can teach them about +it. They will find in me, I hope, nothing but kindness and fellow- +feeling. + +But I have not only to tell young persons of the Confirmation: I +have to tell all godfathers and godmothers of it also. Have any of +you here ever stood godfather or godmother to any young person in +this parish who is not yet confirmed? If you have, now is the time +for you to fulfil your parts as sponsors. You must help me, and +help the children's parents, in bringing your godchildren to +confirmation. It really is your duty. It will be better for you if +you fulfil it. Better for you, not merely by preventing a +punishment, but by bringing a blessing. Let me try to show you what +I mean. + +Now godparents must have some duty, some responsibility or other;-- +that is plain. If you or I promise and vow things in another +person's name, we must be bound more or less to see that that other +person fulfils the promise which we made for him: and so the +baptism service warns the sponsors as soon as the child is +christened, 'Forasmuch as this child has promised,' &c.; and then we +have a plain explanation of what a godfather and godmother's duties +are. 'And that your godchild may know these things the better,' +&c.: and finally, 'you shall take care that this child be brought +to the bishop to be confirmed.' + +That is the duty of godfathers and godmothers. Those who stand for +any child do it on that understanding, and take upon themselves +knowingly that duty. + +Now, I will not threaten you, my friends; I will not pretend to tell +you how God will punish those godfathers and godmothers who do not +do their duty; because I do not know how he will punish them. He +has not told us in the Bible; and who am I, to deal out God's +thunders as if they belonged to me, and judge people of whose real +merits and dements in God's sight I have no fair means of judging? +I always dread and dislike threatening any sinner out of this +pulpit, except those who plainly break the plain laws which are +written in those Ten Commandments, and hypocrites: because I stand +in awe of our Lord's own words--'Woe unto you Scribes and Pharisees, +hypocrites, for ye bind heavy burdens, and grievous to be borne, and +lay them on men's shoulders, while you yourselves touch them not +with one of your fingers.' There is too much of that now-a-days, my +friends, and I have no mind to add my share to it. And sure I am, +that any godfathers and godmothers who do their duty, only because +they are afraid that God will punish them if they do not, will not +do their duty at all. But sure I am also, and thankful to God, that +we cannot neglect any duty whatsoever without being punished in some +way or other for our neglect of it. That is not a curse, but a +blessing: it is a blessing to us to be punished. The only real +curse of God in this life is to be left unpunished for our sins. It +is a blessing for us that our sins find us out. For if our sins did +not find _us_ out, we should very often, I fear, not find our sins +out. And, therefore, when I tell godfathers and godmothers, not +that God will perhaps punish them for their neglect, but that He +does punish them for it already, I am telling them good news, if +they will only open their hearts to that good news. + +For God does punish people for neglecting their godchildren. Those +who have eyes to see may see it round us now, in this very parish, +and in every parish in England, in the selfishness, distrust, +divisions, and quarrels which prevail. I do not mean that this +parish is worse than others, or England worse than other countries. +That is no concern of ours: our own parish, and our own evils, are +quite concern enough for us. + +Are people happy together? Do they pull well together? Look at the +old-standing quarrels, misunderstandings, grudges, prejudices, +suspicions, which part one man from another, one family from +another; every man for his own house, and very few for the kingdom +of God;--no, not even for the general welfare of the parish! Do not +men try to better themselves at the expense of the parish--to the +injury of the parish? Do not men, when they try to raise their own +family, seem to think that the simplest way to do it is to pull down +their neighbour's family; to draw away their custom; oust them from +their places, or hurt their characters in order to rise upon their +fall? so that though they are brothers, members of the same church, +nation and parish, the greater part of them are, in practice, at war +with each other--trying to live at each other's expense. Now, is +this profitable? So far from it, that if you will watch the +history, either of the whole world, or of this country, or of this +one parish, you will find that by far the greater part of the misery +in it has sprung from this very selfishness and separateness--from +the perpetual struggle between man and man, and between family and +family: so that there have been men, and those learned, and +thoughtful, and well-meaning men enough, who have said that the only +cure for the world's quarrelling and selfishness was to take all +children away from their parents, and bring them up in large public +schools; ay, and even to try plans which are sinful, foul, and +wicked, all in order to prevent parents knowing which were their own +children, that they might care for all the children in the parish as +much as if they were their own. + +A foolish plan, my friends, and for this one reason, that it is +driving out one evil by a still greater one. It destroys the root +to get the fruit; by destroying family life, and love, and +obedience, to get at the communion of saints, or rather at some +ghost of it. The real communion of saints is founded on the Fifth +Commandment--'Thou shalt honour thy father and thy mother;' and +grows out of it, not by destroying it, but by fulfilling it, as the +tree grows out of the root, without taking away from the life of the +root, but rather by nourishing and increasing it. Now, the ancient +institution of godfathers and godmothers would, it seems to me, if +it were carried out honestly and really, do for us what we certainly +have not done for ourselves as yet, and bind us all together as one +family. It would do all the good which those fanciful philosophers +of whom I first spoke, have dreamt, without any of the evil; and it +would do it because it goes simply on the belief that the foundation +is already laid, and that that foundation is Christ. It says, +because this child is not merely the child of his father and mother, +but the child of God, the universal Father, therefore other people +besides his parents have an interest in him: all who are children +of God as well as he have an interest in him; for they are all his +brothers, and have a brother's interest in his welfare. Because +this child is not merely a member of the family whose surname he +bears, but a member of Christ, a member of God's great adopted +family, in the hearts of every one of whom His only begotten Son, +Jesus Christ, is working; therefore this child ought to be an object +of awe, and of interest, and love, and care to every other member of +Christ's Church. Moreover, the child is an inheritor of a heavenly +kingdom--a kingdom of grace--a kingdom of God,--which is love and +justice, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit--all personal, +spiritual, heavenly, God-given graces;--and he cannot have them +without being a blessing to all around him; and he cannot be without +them, without being a curse to all around him. If, in after life, +when he comes to be confirmed, he claims his inheritance in this +heavenly kingdom, he will be full of love, justice, peace, joy in +the Holy Spirit. If he refuses to claim his inheritance, and +despises his heavenly birthright, and lives as if he were a mere +earthly creature, only to please himself, and help himself, he will +not be full of those graces. And what then? That he will be full +of their opposites, of course. If he has not love, he will be +unloving, selfish, hard, cold--to _you_ and yours. If he has not +justice he will be unjust--to you and yours. If he is not at peace +he will be at war, quarrelling, grudging, envying, backbiting--you +and yours. If he has not joy in the Holy Spirit, he will have joy +in an unholy spirit, for he must have joy in some spirit; he must +take pleasure in some sort of way of thinking and feeling, and some +sort of life--in short, in some sort of spirit; and whatsoever is +not holy is unholy, whatsoever is not good is bad, whatsoever is not +of God's Holy Spirit is of the Devil;--and therefore, if the child +as he grows up has not joy in the Holy Spirit, and does not enjoy +doing right and pleasing God, and being like the Lord Jesus Christ, +then he will enjoy doing wrong, and pleasing himself, and being +unlike the Lord Jesus Christ; and so he will set a bad example, and +be a temptation to all young people of his own age, ready to lead +them into sin, and draw them away to those sinful and unholy +pleasures in which he takes delight,--whether it be to rioting and +drinking, or to uncleanness and unchastity, or to sneering and +laughing at godliness, and at good people. And that, as you know by +experience, may be the worse for you and the worse for your +children. Is that the sort of young person with whom you would wish +to see your children keeping company? Is that the sort of young +person next door to whom you would wish to live? Is not such a +person a curse, just because he is a person, a spiritual being with +an evil spirit in him, which can harm you, and tempt you, and act on +you for evil; just as if he had been a righteous person, with the +holy and good Spirit in him, he would have helped you, and taught +you, and worked on you for good? But so it is: we are members one +of another, and if one member goes wrong, and gets diseased, and +suffers, all the other members are sure to suffer more or less with +it, sooner or later: you feel it so in your bodies--be sure it is +so in God's church. But if one member is sound and healthy, all the +other members must and will be the better for its health, and +rejoice with it, and be able to do their own work the more freely, +and strongly, and heartily. + +Just think for yourselves; consider, you who are grown up, and have +had experience of life, the harm you have known one bad man do, the +sorrow he will cause, even to people who never saw him; and the good +which you have seen one good man, not merely do with his own hands, +but put into other people's hearts by his example. Is not both the +good and the harm which is done on earth like the ripple of a stone +dropt into water, which spreads and spreads for a vast distance +round, however small the stone may be? Indeed, bold as it may seem +to say it, I believe that, if we could behold all hearts as the Lord +Jesus does, we should find that there never was a good man but that +the whole of Christendom, perhaps all mankind, was sooner or later, +more or less, the better for him; and that there never was a bad man +but that all Christendom, perhaps all mankind, was the worse for +him. So fully and really true it is in everyday practice, that we +are members one of another. + +Now this is the principle on which the Church acts. For the little +unconscious infant is treated as what it is, a most solemn and +important person, who has other relations beside its father and +mother, as a person who is the brother of all the people round it, +and of all the Church of God, and who, too, may hereafter do to them +boundless good or harm, and they to it. + +Therefore we must have some persons to bear witness of that, to +remind the child himself, and the whole Church, that he is not +merely a soul by itself to be saved, but that he is a brother, a +member of a family; that he is bound to that family henceforth, for +good and for evil. And this the godfathers and godmothers do: they +represent and stand in the place of the whole Church. In one sense, +every Christian who meets that child through life, or hears of it, +ought to behave, as far as he can, as its godfather; ought to help +and improve it if he can. But what is everybody's business, says +the proverb, is nobody's business; and therefore these godfathers +and godmothers are called out from the rest, as examples to the +rest, to watch over the child, and to help and advise its father and +mother in guiding and training it: but not by interfering with a +parent's rights, God forbid! or by drawing away the child's +affections from its own flesh and blood; for if a child be not +taught first to honour its father and mother, there is little use in +teaching it anything else whatsoever; and a godfather's first duty +is to see that his godchild obeys its earthly parents for the Lord's +sake, for that is right, and God's will, whatever else is not. + +Now just conceive--I am sure that you easily may--what a blessing to +this parish, or this part of the country, it would be, were the +duties of godfathers really carried out and practised. Every child, +beside his father and mother, would have some two or three elder +friends at least, whom he had known from his childhood, whom he +could trust, to whom he could go in trouble as to his own flesh and +blood. The orphan would have, if not relations, still godparents, +to comfort and protect him. No one could go abroad without meeting, +if not a godparent, yet the godparent or godchild of a friend or a +relation; someone, in short, who had an interest in him, and he in +them. All would be bound together in threefold cords of interest +and affection. How many spites, family quarrels, mistakes, and +ignorances about each other would be done away, if people would but +thus simply enter into that communion of saints to which, by right, +they belong, and bear each other's burdens, and so fulfil the law of +Christ.--Unless you think that men are such ill-conditioned +creatures that the less they mix with each other the better. I do +not. I believe that the more we mix with each other, and the better +we know each other, the more we shall feel for each other: that the +more we help people, the more we shall find that they are worth +helping; that the more, in a word, we try to live, not after the +likeness of the beasts, selfish and apart, but after the order and +constitution of God's Church, to which we belong, and which is, that +we are all fellow-members of one body, then the more we shall find +that God's order is the right, good, blessed order, by obeying which +we enter into comfort of which we never dream as long as we lead +selfish, separate, worldly lives; as it is written, 'Eye hath not +seen, nor ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to +conceive, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.' + +This may seem a fanciful dream, too fair to be possible; but what +prevents it from being possible, save and except our own selfishness +and laziness? + +And as for what fruit will spring from it, I have seen, by +experience, the blessing of godfathership and godmothership, where +it is really carried out; how it will knit together, in sacred bonds +of friendship, not merely the children, but the grown persons of +different families, and give them a fellow-feeling, a mutual +interest, which will prevent a hundred quarrels and coldnesses among +frail human creatures. And to those who are childless themselves, +what a blessing to have their love and self-sacrifice called out, by +being bound in holy bonds, if not to children of their own, at least +to children of God!--to have young people to care for, to teach, to +guide, and so to win for themselves in the Church of God a name +better than that of sons and daughters. And have no fear that by +bringing your kindness to bear especially upon your godchildren you +will narrow your love, and care less for children in general. Not +so, my friends; you will find that your love to your godchildren, +like love to your own children, will make all children lovable in +your eyes: you will learn how worthy of your love children are, +what capacities of good there are in them, how truly of such are the +kingdom of heaven; and their simplicity will often teach you more +than you can teach them. Their God-given instincts of right and +wrong, truth and falsehood, which come from the indwelling Word of +God, Jesus the Lord, will often enough shame us, will teach us more +and more the depth of that great saying, 'Out of the mouths of babes +and sucklings, Thou, O God, hast perfected Thy praise.' + +Now try, I entreat you, all godfathers and godmothers, to carry out +these hints of mine, and so fulfil your duty to your godchildren, +sure that you will find it a blessing to yourselves as well as to +them. + +After all it is your duty. But do not let the slandering Devil +slander to you that blessed word, Duty, and make you afraid of it, +and shrink from it, as if it meant something burdensome, and +troublesome, and thankless, which you suppose you must do for fear +of punishment, while you have a right to see how little of it you +can do, and try to be let off as cheaply as possible. Beware of +that evil spirit, my friends, for he is very near you, and me, and +every man, whenever we think of our duty. Very near us he is, that +evil Jesuit spirit, that spirit of bondage unto fear, which is +continually setting us on to find out with how _little_ service God +will be contented, how human slaves may make the cheapest bargain +with some stern taskmaster above, of whom they dream. And from that +temptation there is no escape, save into the blessed name of God +Himself--our Father. + +Our Father!--whenever you think of your duty to God or man, think +but of those two words. Remember that all duty is duty to a Father; +your Father; and such a Father! Who gave His only begotten Son to +die for you, who showed what He was in that Son--full of goodness, +perfectly loving, perfectly merciful, perfectly just; and then you +will not be inclined to ask how _little_ obedience, how _little_ +love, how _little_ service, He will allow you to pay to Him; but how +much He will help you to pay to Him. Then you will feel that His +service is perfect freedom, because it is service to a Father who +loves you, and will help you to do His will. Then you will feel +that His commandments are not grievous, because they are a Father's +commandments, because you are bound to do them, not by dread and +superstition, but by gratitude, honour, affection, respect, trust. +Then you will not be thinking of what punishment will come if you +disobey--no, nor of what reward will come if you obey--but you will +be thinking of the commandment itself, and how to carry it out most +perfectly, and let the consequences take care of themselves, because +you know that your _Father_ takes care of them; that He loves you, +and therefore what He commands must be good for you, utterly the +best thing for you; that He only gives you a commandment because it +is good for you; that you are made in God's image, and therefore +God's will must be for you the path of life, the only rule by which +you can prosper now and for ever. + +Do try, now, all you who are godfathers and godmothers, and for once +look on your duty in this light. Be sure that in trying to do your +duty you will bring a blessing on yourselves, because your duty is +to a Father in heaven. Be sure that, in trying to better your +godchildren, you will better yourselves; in trying to teach them, +you will teach yourselves; in trying to bring them to confirmation, +you will indeed confirm, root, and strengthen yourselves the more +deeply in all that is good; because your godchildren are indeed +God's children, and whatsoever you do for them you do for His only +begotten Son Jesus Christ, as He Himself says, 'Inasmuch as ye did +it unto one of the least of these little ones, ye did it unto Me.' +Do not be afraid of trying; you will have a hundred reasons for not +trying rise in your mind, the Devil will find you a hundred lying +excuses: 'It will be so difficult; and you do not like to interfere +with other people's children; and you have never cared about your +godchildren yet, and it will seem so odd to begin now; and the +children may not listen to you; and besides, you do not know enough +to teach them; you are not good scholar enough, good liver enough, +you can't preach where you don't practice.' Oh, how ready the Devil +is to help a man to excuses for not doing his duty; how careful he +is to keep out of a man's mind the one thought which would sweep all +those excuses to the wind--the thought that this same duty, which he +is trying to make look so ugly, is duty to a loving Father. Do not +listen to his lies; look up to your good Father in heaven; and try. +It is God's will that these children should be confirmed; it is His +will that you should help to bring them to confirmation; and if it +is His will, He will help you to do that will of His. It may seem +difficult: but try, and the difficulty will vanish, for God will +make it easy for you. You may be afraid of interfering: believe +that God's Spirit is working in the hearts of your godchildren, and +of their parents also; and trust to God's Spirit to make them kindly +and thankful to you about the matter, and glad to see that you take +an interest in their children. You may seem not to know enough: O, +my friends, you know enough, every one of you, if you have courage +to confess how much you know. Ask God for courage to speak out, and +He will give it you. And even if you are no scholar, be sure that, +as the old proverb says, 'Teaching is the best way of learning.' +Any parent, or godfather, or godmother, who will try to teach their +children God's truth and their duty, will find that in so doing they +will teach themselves even more than they teach the children. I say +it because I know it from my own experience. And for the rest, +again I say, is not God your Father? Therefore, if any man be in +want of wisdom, or courage, or any other heavenly gift, let him ask +of God, who giveth liberally and upbraideth not, and he shall +receive it. For after all, when you ask God to teach you, and +strengthen you to do your duty, you do but ask Him for a part of +that very inheritance which He has already given you; a part of your +inheritance in that kingdom of heaven which is a kingdom of +spiritual gifts and graces, into which you were baptized as well as +your godchildren. + +Try then, each of you, what you can do to bring your own godchildren +to confirmation, and what you can do to make them fit for +confirmation; for you are members one of another, and if you will +act as such, you will find strength to do your duty, and a blessing +in your day from that heavenly Father from whom every fatherhood in +heaven and earth, and yours among the rest, is named. + + + +SERMON VI. JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH + + + +Ephesians ii. 5. By grace ye are saved. + +We all hold that we are justified by faith, that is, by believing; +and that unless we are justified we cannot be saved. And of all men +who ever believed this, perhaps those who gave us the Church +Catechism believed it most strongly. Nay, some of them suffered for +it; endured persecution, banishment, and a cruel death, because they +would persist in holding, contrary to the Romanists, that men were +justified by faith only, and not by the works of the law; and that +this was one of the root-doctrines of Christianity, which if a man +did not believe, he would believe nothing else rightly. Does it not +seem, then, something strange that they should never in this +Catechism of theirs mention one word about justifying or +justification? They do not ask the child, 'How is a man justified?' +that he may answer, 'By faith alone;' they do not even teach him to +say, 'I am justified already. I am in a state of justification;' +but not saying one word about that, they teach him to say much more-- +they teach him to say that he is in a state of salvation, and to +thank God boldly because he is so; and then go on at once to ask him +the articles of his belief. And even more strange still, they teach +him to answer that question, not by repeating any doctrines, but by +repeating the simple old Apostles' Creed. They do not teach him to +say, as some would now-a-days, 'I believe in original sin, I believe +in redemption through Christ's death, I believe in justification by +faith, I believe in sanctification by the Holy Spirit,'--true as +these doctrines are; still less do they bid the child say, 'I +believe in predestination, and election, and effectual calling, and +irresistible grace, and vicarious satisfaction, and forensic +justification, and vital faith, and the three assurances.' + +Whether these things be true or false, it seemed to the ancient +worthies who gave us our Catechism that children had no business +with them. They had their own opinions on these matters, and spoke +their opinions moderately and wisely, and the sum of their opinions +we have in the Thirty-nine Articles, which are not meant for +children, not even for grown persons, excepting scholars and +clergymen. Of course every grown person is at liberty to study +them; but no one in the Church of England is required to agree to +them, and to swear that they are true, except scholars at our old +Universities, and clergymen, who are bound to have studied such +questions. But for the rest of Englishmen all the necessary +articles of belief (so the old divines considered) were contained in +the simple old Apostles' Creed. + +And why? Because, it seems to me, they were what Englishmen ought +to be--what too many Englishmen are too apt to boast of being in +these days, while they are not so, or anything like it--and that is, +honest men and practical men. They had taught the children to say +that they were members of Christ, children of God, and inheritors of +the kingdom of heaven; and they had taught the children, when they +said that, to mean what they said; for they had no notion that 'I +am,' meant 'I may possibly be;' or that 'I was made,' meant 'There +is a chance of my being made some time or other.' They would not +have dared to teach children to say things which were most probably +not true. So believing really what they taught, they believed also +that the children were justified. For if a child is not justified +in being a member of Christ, a child of God, and an inheritor of the +kingdom of heaven, what is he justified in being? Is not that +exactly the just, right, and proper state for him, and for every +man?--the very state in which all men were meant originally to be, +in which all men ought to have been? So they looked on these +children as being in the just, right, and proper way, on which God +looks with satisfaction and pleasure, and in which alone a man can +do just, right, and proper things, by the Spirit of Christ, which He +gives daily and hourly to those who belong to Him and trust in Him +and in His Father. + +But they knew that the children could only keep in this just, and +right, and proper state by trusting in God, and looking up to Him +daily in faith, and love, and obedience. They knew that if the +children, whether for one hour or for their whole lives, lost trust +in God, and began trusting in themselves, they would that very +moment, then and there, become not justified at all, because they +would be doing a thing which no man is justified in doing, and fall +into a state into which no man is justified in remaining for one +hour--that is, into an unjustifiable state of self-will, and +lawlessness, and forgetfulness of who and of what they were, and of +what God was to them; in one word, into a sinful state, which is not +a righteous, or just, or good, or proper state for any man, but an +utterly unrighteous, unjust, wrong, improper, mistaken, diseased +state, which is certain to breed unrighteous, unjust, improper +actions in a man, as a limb is certain to corrupt if it be cut off +from the body, as a little child is certain to come to harm if it +runs away from its parents, and does just what it likes, and eats +whatsoever pleases its fancy. So these old divines, being practical +men, said to themselves, 'These children are justified and right in +being what they are, therefore our business is to keep them what +they are, and we can only do that as long as they have faith in God +and in His Christ.' + +Now, if they had been mere men of books, they would have said to +themselves, 'Then we must teach the children very exactly what faith +is, that they may know how to tell true faith from false, and may be +able to judge every day and hour whether they have the right sort of +faith which will justify them, or some wrong sort which will not.' +And many wise and good men in those times did say so, and tormented +their own minds, and the minds of weak brethren, with long arguments +and dry doctrines about faith, till, in their eagerness to make out +what sort of thing faith ought to be, they seemed quite to forget +that it must be faith in God, and so seemed to forget too who God +was, and what He was like. Therefore, they ended by making people +believe (as too many, I fear, do now-a-days) not that they were +justified freely by the grace of God, shown forth in the life, and +death, and resurrection of his Son Jesus Christ; no: but that they +were justified by believing in justification by faith, and that +their salvation depended not on being faithful to God and trusting +in Him, but in standing up fiercely for the doctrine of +justification by faith. And so they destroyed the doctrine of free +grace, while they thought they were fighting for it; for they taught +men not to look to God for salvation, so much as to their own faith, +their own frames, and feelings, and experiences; and these, as +common sense will show you, are just as much something in a man, as +acts of his own, and part of him, as his good works would be; and so +by making people fancy that it was having the right sort of feelings +which justified them, they fell back into the very same mistake as +the Papists against whom they were so bitter, namely, that it is +something in a man's self which justifies him, and not simply +Christ's merits and God's free grace. + +But our old Reformers were of a different mind; and everlasting +thanks be to Almighty God that they were so. For by being so they +have made the Church of England (as I always have said, and always +will say) almost the only Church in Europe, Protestant or other, +which thoroughly and fully stands up for free grace, and +justification by faith alone. For these old Reformers were +practical men, and took the practical way. They knew, perhaps, the +old proverb, 'A man need not be a builder to live in a house.' At +least they acted on it, and instead of trying to make the children +understand what faith was made up of, they tried to make them live +in faith itself. Instead of saying, 'How shall we make the children +have faith in God by telling them what faith is?' they said, 'How +shall we make them have faith in God by telling them what God is?' +And therefore, instead of puzzling and fretting the children's minds +with any of the controversies which were then going on between +Papists and Protestants, or afterwards between Calvinists and +Arminians, they taught the children simply about God; who He was, +and what He had done for them and all mankind; that so they might +learn to love Him, and look up to Him in faith, and trust utterly to +Him, and so remain justified and right, saved and safe for ever. + +By doing which, my friends, they showed that they knew more about +faith and about God than if they had written books on books of +doctrinal arguments (though they wrote those too, and wrote them +nobly and well); they showed that they had true faith in God, such +trust in Him, and in the beauty and goodness, justice and love, +which He had shown, that they only needed to tell the children of +it, and they would trust Him too, and at once have faith in so good +a God. They showed that they had such trust in the excellencies, +and reasonableness, and fitness of His Gospel, that they were sure +that it would come home at once to the children's hearts. They +showed that they had such trust in the power of His grace, in His +love for the children, in the working of His Spirit in the children, +that He would bring His Gospel home to their hearts, and stir them +up by the spirit of adoption to feel that they were indeed the +children of God, to whom they might freely cry, 'My Father!' + +And I say that they were not deceived. I say that experience has +shown that they were right; that the Church Catechism, where it is +really and honestly taught, gives the children an honest, frank, +sober, English temper of mind which no other training which I have +seen gives. I have seen, alas! Church schools fail, ere now, in +training good children; but as far as I have seen, they have failed +either because the Catechism was neglected for the sake of cramming +the children's brains with scholarship, or because the Catechism was +not honestly taught: because the words were taught by rote, but the +explanations which were given of it were no explanations at all, but +another doctrine, which our forefathers knew not: either Dissenting +or Popish; either a religion of fancies, and feelings, and +experiences, or one of superstitious notions and superstitious +ceremonies which have been borrowed from the Church of Rome, and +which, I trust in God, will be soon returned to their proper owner, +if the free, truthful, God-trusting English spirit is to remain in +our children. I know that there are good men among Dissenters, my +friends; good men among Romanists. I have met with them, and I +thank God for them; and what may not be good for English children +may be good for foreign ones. I judge not; to his own master each +man stands or falls. But I warn you frankly, from experience (not +of my own merely--Heaven forbid!--but from the experience of +centuries past), that if you expect to make the average of English +children good children on any other ground than the Church Catechism +takes, you will fail. Of course there will be some chosen ones here +and there, whose hearts God will touch; but you will find that the +greater part of the children will not be made better at all; you +will find that the cleverer, and more tender-hearted will be made +conceited, Pharisaical, self-deceiving (for children are as ready to +deceive themselves, and play the hypocrite to their own consciences, +as grown people are); they will catch up cant words and phrases, or +little outward forms of reverence, and make a religion for +themselves out of them to drug their own consciences withal; while, +when they go out into the world, and meet temptation, they will have +no real safeguard against it, because whatsoever they have been +taught, they have not been taught that God is really and practically +their Father, and they His children. + +I have seen many examples of this kind. Perhaps those who have eyes +to see may have seen one or two in this very parish. Be that as it +may, I tell you, my friends, that your children shall be taught the +Church Catechism, with the plain, honest meaning of the words as +they stand. No less: but as God shall give me grace, no more. If +it be not enough for them to know that God, He who made heaven and +earth, is their Father; that His Son Jesus Christ redeemed them and +all mankind by being born of the Virgin Mary, suffering under +Pontius Pilate, being crucified, dead, and buried, descending into +hell, rising again the third day from the dead, ascending into +Heaven, and sitting on the right hand of God the Father Almighty, in +the intent of coming from thence to judge the living and the dead; +to believe in the Holy Spirit, in the holy universal Church in which +He keeps us, in the fellowship of all Saints in which He knits us +together; in the forgiveness of our sins which He proclaims to us, +in the resurrection of our body which He will quicken at the last +day, in the life everlasting which is His life,--if, I say, this be +not enough for them to believe, and on the strength thereof to trust +God utterly, and so be justified and saved from this evil world, and +from the doom and punishment thereof, then they must go elsewhere; +for I have nothing more to offer them, and trust in God that I never +shall have. + + + +SERMON VII. DUTY AND SUPERSTITION + + + +Micah vi. 6-8. Wherewith shall I come before the Lord and bow +myself before the most High God? Shall I come before him with burnt +offerings? . . . Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams? . +. . Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression; the fruit of my +body for the sin of my soul? + +He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord +require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk +humbly with thy God? + +There are many now-a-days who complain of that part of the Church +Catechism which speaks of our duty to God and to our neighbour; and +many more, I fear, who shrink from complaining of the Church +Catechism, because it is part of the Prayer-book, yet wish in their +secret hearts that it had said something different about Duty. + +Some wonder why it does not say more about what are called +'religious duties,' and 'acts of worship,' 'mortification,' +'penitence,' and 'good works.' Others wonder no less why it says +nothing about what are called 'Christian frames and feelings,' and +'inward experiences.' + +For there is a notion abroad in the world, as there is in all evil +times, that a man's chief duty is to save his own soul after he is +dead; that his business in this world is merely to see how he can +get out of it again, without suffering endless torture after his +body dies. This is called superstition: anxiety about what will +happen to us after we die. + +Now if you look at the greater number of religious books, whether +Popish or Protestant, you will find that in practice the main thing, +almost the one thing, which they are meant to do, is to show the +reader how he may escape Hell-torments, and reach Heaven's pleasures +after he dies: not how he may do his Duty to God and his neighbour. +They speak of that latter, of course: they could not be Christian +books at all, thank God, without doing so; but they seem to me to +tell men to do their Duty, not simply because it is right, and a +blessing in itself, and worth doing for its own sake, but because a +man may gain something by it after he dies. Therefore, to help +their readers to gain as much as possible after they die, they are +not content with the plain Duty laid down in the Bible and in the +Catechism, but require of men new duties over and above; which may +be all very good if they help men to do their real Duty, but are +simply worth nothing if they do not. + +Let me explain myself. I said just now that superstition means +anxiety about what will happen to us after we die. But people +commonly understand by superstition, religious ceremonies, like the +Popish ones, which God has not commanded. And that is not a wrong +meaning either; for people take to these ceremonies from over- +anxiety about the next life. The one springs out of the other; the +outward conduct out of the inward fear; and both spring alike out of +a false notion of God, which the Devil (whose great aim is to hinder +us from knowing our Father in Heaven) puts into men's minds. Man +feels that he is sinful and unrighteous; the light of Christ in his +heart shows him that, and it shows him at the same time that God is +sinless and righteous. 'Then,' he says, 'God must hate sin;' and +there he says true. Then steps in the slanderer, Satan, and +whispers, 'But you are sinful; therefore God hates you, and wills +you harm, and torture, and ruin.' And the poor man believes that +lying voice, and will believe it to the end, whether he be Christian +or heathen, until he believes the Bible and the Sacraments, which +tell him, 'God does not hate you: He hates your sins, and loves +you; He wills not your misery but your happiness; and therefore +God's will, yea, God's earnest endeavour, is to raise you out of +those sins of yours, which make you miserable now, and which, if you +go on in them, must bring of themselves everlasting misery to you.' +Of themselves; not by any arbitrary decree of God (whereof the Bible +says not one single word from beginning to end), that He will +inflict on you so much pain for so much sin: but by the very nature +of sin; for to sin is to be parted from God, in whose presence alone +is life, and therefore sin is, to be in death. Sin is, to be at war +with God, who is love and peace; and therefore to be in +lovelessness, hatred, war, and misery. Sin is, to act contrary to +the constitution which God gave man, when He said, 'Let us make man +in our image, after our likeness;' and therefore sin is a disease in +human nature, and like all other diseases, must, unless it is +checked, go on everlastingly and perpetually breeding weakness, pain +and torment. And out of that God is so desirous to raise you, that +He spared not His only begotten Son, but freely gave Him for you, if +by any means He might raise you out of that death of sin to the life +of righteousness--to a righteous life; to a life of Duty--to a +dutiful life, like His Son Jesus Christ's life; for that must go on, +if you go on in it, producing in you everlastingly and perpetually +all health and strength, usefulness and happiness in this world and +all worlds to come. + +But men will not hear that voice. The fact is, that simply to do +right is too difficult for them, and too humbling also. They are +too proud to like being righteous only with Christ's righteousness, +and too slothful also; and so they go about like the old Pharisees, +to establish a righteousness of their own; one which will pamper +their self-conceit by seeming very strange, and farfetched, and +difficult, so as to enable them to thank God every day that they are +not as other men are; and yet one which shall really not be as +difficult as the plain homely work of being good sons, good fathers, +good husbands, good masters, good servants, good subjects, good +rulers. And so they go about to establish a righteousness of their +own (which can be no righteousness at all, for God's righteousness +is the only righteousness, and Christ's righteousness is the only +pattern of it), and teach men that God does not merely require of +men to do justly, and love mercy, and walk humbly with their God, +but requires of them something more. But by this they deny the +righteousness of God; for they make out that he has not behaved +righteously and justly to men, nor showed them what is good, but has +left them to find it out or invent it for themselves. For is it not +establishing a righteousness of one's own, to tell people that God +only requires these Ten Commandments of Christians in general, but +that if any one chooses to go further, and do certain things which +are not contained in the Ten Commandments, 'counsels of perfection,' +as they are called, and 'good works' (as if there were no other good +works in the world), and so do more than it is one's duty to do, and +lead a sort of life which is called (I know not why) 'saintly' and +'angelic,' then one will obtain a 'peculiar crown,' and a higher +place in Heaven than poor commonplace Christian people, who only do +justly, and love mercy, and walk humbly with their God? + +And is it not, on the other hand, establishing a righteousness of +one's own, to say that God requires of us belief in certain +doctrines about election, and 'forensic justification,' and +'sensible conversion,' and certain 'frames and feelings and +experiences;' and that without all these a man has no right to +expect anything but endless torture; and all the while to say little +or nothing about God's requiring of men the Ten Commandments? For +my part, I am equally shocked and astonished at the doctrine which I +have heard round us here--openly from some few, and in practice from +more than a few--that because the Ten Commandments are part of the +Law, they are done away with, because we are not now under the Law +but under Grace. What do they mean? Is it not written, that not +one jot or tittle of the Law shall fail; and that Christ came, not +to destroy the Law, but to fulfil it? What do they mean? That it +was harm to break the Ten Commandments before Christ came, but no +harm to break them now? Do they mean that Jews were forbid to +murder, steal, and commit adultery, but that Christians are not +forbidden? One thing I am afraid they do mean, for I see them act +up to it steadily enough. That Jews were forbidden to covet, but +that Christians are not; that Jews might not commit fornication, but +Christians may; that Jews might not lie, but Christians may; that +Jews might not use false weights and measures, or adulterate goods +for sale, but that Christians may. My friends, if I am asked the +reason of the hypocrisy which seems the besetting sin of England, in +this day;--if I am asked why rich men, even high religious +professors, dare speak untruths at public meetings, bribe at +elections, and go into parliament each man with a lie in his right +hand, to serve neither God nor his country, but his political party +and his religious sect, by conduct which he would be ashamed to +employ in private life;--if I am asked why the middle classes (and +the high religious professors among them, just as much as any) are +given over to cheating, coveting, puffing their own goods by +shameless and unmanly boasting, undermining each other by the +dirtiest means, while the sons of religious professors, both among +the higher and the middle classes, seem just as liable as any other +young men to fall into unmanly profligacy;--if I am asked why the +poor profess God's gospel and practise the Devil's works; and why, +in this very parish now, there are women who, while they are +drunkards, swearers, and adulteresses, will run anywhere to hear a +sermon, and like nothing better, saving sin, than high-flown +religious books;--if I am asked, I say, why the old English honesty +which used to be our glory and our strength, has decayed so much of +late years, and a hideous and shameful hypocrisy has taken the place +of it, I can only answer by pointing to the good old Church +Catechism, and what it says about our duty to God and to our +neighbour, and declaring boldly, 'It is because you have forgotten +that. Because you have despised that. Because you have fancied +that it was beneath you to keep God's plain human commandments. You +have been wanting to "save your souls," while you did not care +whether your souls were saved alive, or whether they were dead, and +rotten, and damned within you; you have dreamed that you could be +what you called "spiritual," while you were the slaves of sin; you +have dreamed that you could become what you call "saints," while you +were not yet even decent men and women.' + +And so all this superstition has had the same effect as the false +preaching in Ezekiel's time had. It has strengthened the hands of +the wicked, that he should not turn from his wicked way, by +promising him life; and it has made the heart of the righteous sad, +whom God has not made sad. Plain, respectable, God-fearing men and +women, who have wished simply to do their duty where God has put +them, have been told that they are still unconverted, still carnal-- +that they have no share in Christ--that God's Spirit is not with +them--that they are in the way to endless torture: till they have +been ready one minute to say, 'Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow +we die'--'Surely I have cleansed my hands in vain, and washed my +heart in innocency;' and the next minute to say, with Job, angrily, +'Though I die, thou shalt not take my righteousness from me! You +preachers may call me what names you will; but I know that I love +what is right, and wish to do my duty;' and so they have been made +perplexed and unhappy, one day fancying themselves worse than they +really were, and the next fancying themselves better than they +really were; and by both tempers of mind tempted to disbelieve God's +Gospel, and throw away the thought of vital religion in disgust. + +And now people are raising the cry that Popery is about to overrun +England. It may be so, my friends. If it is so, I cannot wonder at +it; if it is so, Englishmen have no one to blame but themselves. +And whether Popery conquers us or not, some other base superstition +surely will conquer us if we go on upon our present course, and set +up any new-fangled, self-invented righteousness of our own, instead +of the plain Ten Commandments of God. For I tell you plainly they +are God's everlasting law, the very law of liberty, wherewith Christ +has made us free; and only by fulfilling them, as Christ did, can we +be free--free from sin, the world, the flesh, and the Devil. For to +break them is to sin: and whosoever commits sin is the slave of +sin; and whosoever despises these commandments will never enjoy that +freedom, but be entangled again in the yoke of bondage, and become a +slave, if not to open and profligate sins, still surely to an evil +and tormenting conscience, to superstitious anxieties as to whether +he shall be saved or damned, which make him at last ask, +'Wherewithal shall I come before the Lord? Will the Lord be pleased +with this, that and the other fantastical action, or great sacrifice +of mine?' or at last, perhaps, the old question, 'Shall I give my +firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of +my soul? Shall I cheat my own family, leave my property away from +my children, desert them to shut myself up in a convent, or to +attempt some great religious enterprise?'--Things which have +happened a thousand times already, and worse, far worse, than them; +things which will happen again, and worse, far worse than them, as +soon as a hypocritical generation is seized with that dread and +terror of God which is sure to arise in the hearts of men who try to +invent a righteousness of their own, and who forget what God's +righteousness is like, and who therefore forget what God is like, +and who therefore forget what God's name is, and who therefore +forget that Jesus Christ is God's likeness, and that the name of God +is 'Love.' + +Now, I say that the Church Catechism, from beginning to end, is the +cure for this poison, and in no part more than where it tells us our +duty to God and our neighbour; and that it does carry out the +meaning of the text as no other writing does, which I know of, save +the Bible only. + +For what says the text? + +'He hath showed thee, O man, what is good.' + +Who has showed thee? Who but this very God, from whom thou art +shrinking; to whom thou art looking up in terror, as at a hard +taskmaster, reaping where He has not sown, who willeth the death of +a sinner, and his endless and unspeakable torment? The very God +whom thou dreadest has stooped to save and teach thee. He hath sent +His only begotten Son to thee, to show thee, in the person of a man, +Jesus Christ, what a perfect man is, and what He requires of thee to +be. This Lord Jesus is with thee, to teach thee to live by faith in +thy heavenly Father, even as He lived, and to be justified thereby, +even as He was justified by being declared to be God's well-beloved +Son, and by being raised from the dead. He will show thee what is +good; He has shown thee what is good, when He showed thee His own +blessed self, His story and character written in the four Gospels. +This is thy God, and this is thy Lord and Master; not a silent God, +not a careless God, but a revealer of secrets, a teacher, a guide, a +'most merciful God, who showeth to man the thing which he knew not;' +that same Word of God who talked with Adam in the garden, and +brought his wife to him; who called Abraham, and gave him a child; +who sent Moses to make a nation of the Jews; who is the King of all +the nations upon earth, and has appointed them their times and the +bounds of their habitation, if haply they may feel after Him and +find Him; who meanwhile is not far from any one of them, seeing that +in Him they live, and move, and have their being, and are His +offspring; who has not left Himself without witness, that they may +know that He is one who loves, not one who hates, one who gives, not +one who takes, one who has pity, not one who destroys, in that He +gives them rain and fruitful seasons, filling their hearts with food +and gladness. This is thy God, O man! from whose face thou desirest +to flee away. + +Next, 'He hath showed thee, O _man_.' Not merely, 'He hath showed +thee, O deep philosopher, or brilliant genius;'--not merely, 'He +hath showed thee, O eminent saint, or believer who hast been through +many deep experiences:' but, 'He hath showed thee, O _man_.' +Whosoever thou art, if thou be a man, subsisting like Jesus Christ +the Son of Man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh; thou labourer +at the plough, tradesman in thy shop, soldier in the battle-field, +poor woman working in thy cottage, God hath showed thee, and thee, +and thee, what is good, as surely and fully as He has shown it to +scholars and divines, to kings and rulers, and the wise and prudent +of the earth. + +And He hath showed _thee_; not you. Not merely to the whole of you +together; not merely to some of you so that one will have to tell +the other, and the greater part know only at second-hand and by +hearsay: but He hath showed to thee, to each of you; to each man, +woman, and child, in this Church, alone, privately, in the depths of +thy own heart, He hath showed what is good. He hath sent into thine +heart a ray of The Light who lighteth every man who comes into the +world. He has given to thy soul an eye by which to see that Light, +a conscience which can receive what is good, and shrink from what is +evil; a spiritual sense, whereby thou canst discern good and evil. +That conscience, that soul's eye of thine, God has regenerated, as +He declares to thee in baptism, and He will day by day make it +clearer and tenderer by the quickening power of His Holy Spirit; and +that Spirit will renew Himself in thee day by day, if thou askest +Him, and will quicken and soften thy soul more and more to love what +is good, and strengthen it more and more to hate and fly from what +is evil. + +Next, 'He hath showed thee, O man, what is GOOD.' Not merely what +will turn away God's punishments, and buy God's rewards; not merely +what will be good for thee after thou diest: but what is good, good +in itself, good for thee now, and good for thee for ever; good for +thee in health and sickness, joy and sorrow, life and death; good +for thee through all worlds, present and to come; yea, what would be +good for thee in hell, if thou couldst be in hell and yet be good. +Not what is good enough for thy neighbours and not good enough for +thee, good enough for sinners and not good enough for saints, good +enough for stupid persons and not good enough for clever ones; but +what is good in itself and of itself. The one very eternal and +absolute Good which was with God, and in God, and from God, before +all worlds, and will be for ever, without changing or growing less +or greater, eternally The Same Good. The Good which would be just +as good, and just, and right, and lovely, and glorious, if there +were no world, no men, no angels, no heaven, no hell, and God were +alone in his own abyss. That very good which is the exact pattern +of His Son Jesus Christ, in whose likeness man was made at the +beginning, God hath showed thee, O man; and hath told thee that it +is neither more nor less than thy Duty, thy Duty as a man; that thy +duty is thy good, the good out of which, if thou doest it, all good +things such as thou canst not now conceive to thyself, must +necessarily spring up for thee for ever; but which if thou +neglectest, thou wilt be in danger of getting no good things +whatsoever, and of having all evil things, mishap, shame, and misery +such as thou canst not now conceive of, spring up for thee +necessarily for ever. + +This seems to me the plain meaning of the text, interpreted by the +plain teaching of the rest of Scripture. Now see how the Catechism +agrees with this. + +It takes for granted that God has showed the child what is good: +that God's Spirit is sanctifying and making good, not only all the +elect people of God, but him, that one particular child; and it +makes the child say so. Therefore, when it asks him, 'What is thy +duty to God and to thy neighbour?' it asks him, 'My child, thou +sayest that God's Spirit is with thee, sanctifying thee and showing +thee what is good, tell me, therefore, what good the Holy Spirit has +showed thee?--tell me what He has showed thee to be good, and +therefore thy duty?' + +But some may answer, 'How can you say that the Holy Spirit teaches +the children their Duty, when it is their schoolmaster, or their +father, who teaches them the Ten Commandments and the Catechism?' + +My friends, we may teach our children the Ten Commandments, or +anything else we like, but we cannot teach them that that is their +_duty_. They must first know what Duty means at all, before they +can learn that any particular things are parts of their Duty. And, +believe me, neither you nor I, nor all the men in the world put +together, no, nor angel, nor archangel, nor any created being, nor +the whole universe, can teach one child, no, nor our own selves, the +meaning of that plain word DUTY, nor the meaning of those two plain +words, I OUGHT. No; that simple thought, that thought which every +one of us, even the most stupid, even the most sinful has more or +less, comes straight to him from God the Father of Lights, by the +inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, the Spirit of Duty, Faith, +and Obedience. + +For mind--when you teach a child, 'If you do this wrong thing-- +stealing, for instance--God will punish you: but if you are honest, +God will reward you,' you are not teaching the child that it is his +Duty to be honest, and his Duty not to steal. You are teaching him +what is quite right and true; namely, that it is profitable for him +to be honest, and hurtful to him to steal: but you are not teaching +him as high a spiritual lesson as any soldier knows when he rushes +upon certain death, knowing that he shall gain nothing, and may lose +everything thereby, but simply because it is his Duty. You are only +enticing your child to do right, and frightening him from doing +wrong; quite necessary and good to be done: but if he is to be +spiritually honest, honest at heart, honest from a sense of honour, +and not of fear; in one word, if he is to be really honest at all, +or even to try to be really honest, something must be done to that +child's heart which nothing but the Spirit of God can do; he must be +taught that it is his DUTY to be honest; that honesty is RIGHT, the +perfectly right, and proper, and beautiful thing for him and for all +beings, yea, for God Himself; he must be taught to love honesty, and +whatsoever else is right, for its own sake, and therefore to feel it +his Duty. + +And I say that God does that by your children. I say that we cannot +watch our children without seeing that, though there is in them, as +in us, a corrupt and wilful flesh, which tempts them downward to +selfish and self-willed pleasures: yet there is in them generally, +more than in us their parents, a Spirit which makes them love and +admire what is right, and take pleasure in it, and feel that it is +good to be good, and right to do right; which makes them delight in +reading and hearing of loving, and right, and noble actions; which +makes them shocked, they hardly know why, at bad words, and bad +conduct, and bad people. And woe to those who deaden that +tenderness of conscience in their own children, by their bad +examples, or by false doctrines which tell the children that they +are still unregenerate, children of the Devil, not yet Christians; +and who so put a stumbling-block in the way of Christ's little ones, +and do despite to the Spirit of Grace by which they are sealed to +the day of redemption. I see parents thinking that their children +are to learn the deceitfulness of the human heart from themselves, +and the working of God's Spirit from their parents; but I often +think that the teachers ought to be converted indeed, that is, +turned right round and become the learners instead of the teachers, +and learn the workings of God's Spirit from their children, and the +deceitfulness of the human heart from themselves; if at least the +Lord Jesus's words have any real force or meaning at all, when He +said, not, 'Except the little children be converted, and become as +you,' but, 'Except ye be converted, and become as one of these +little children, ye' (and not they) 'shall in no wise enter into the +kingdom of heaven.' + +Believe me, my friends, that your children's angels do indeed behold +the face of their Father which is in heaven; that there is a direct +communication between Him and them; and that the sign and proof of +it is, the way in which they understand at once what you tell them +of their duty, and take to it, as it were, only too readily and +hopefully, and confidently, as if it were a thing natural and easy +to them. Alas! it is neither natural nor easy, and they will find +out that too soon by sad experience: but still, the Divine Light is +there, the sense of duty is in their minds, and the law of God is +written in their hearts by the Holy Spirit of God, who is +sanctifying them, not merely by teaching them to hope for heaven, or +to dread hell, but by showing them what is good. + +And herein, I say, the simple and noble old Church Catechism, by +faith in God's Spirit, does indeed perfect praise out of the mouths +of babes. Without one word about rewards or punishments, heaven or +hell, it begins to talk to the child, like a true English Catechism +as it is, about that glorious old English key word, DUTY. It calls +on the child to confess its own duty, and teaches it that its duty +is something most human, simple, everyday, commonplace, if you will +call it so. I rejoice that it is commonplace; I rejoice that in +what it says about our duty to God, and to our neighbour, it says +not one word about those counsels of perfection, or those frames and +feelings, which depend, believe me, principally on the state of +people's bodily health, on the constitution of their nerves, and the +temper of their brain: but that it requires nothing except what a +little child can do as well as a grown person, a labouring man as +well as a divine, a plain farmer as well as the most refined, +devout, imaginative lady. May God bless them all; may God help them +all to do their Duty in that station of life to which it has pleased +God to call them; but may God grant to them never to forget that +there is but one Duty for all, and that all of them can do that Duty +equally well, whatever their constitution, or scholarship, or +station of life may be, provided they will but remember that God has +called them to that station, and not try to invent some new and +finer one for themselves; provided they remember that they are to do +in that station neither more nor less than every one else is to do +in theirs, namely, to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly +with their God. + +In a word, to be perfect, even as their Father in heaven is perfect. +To do justly, because God is just, faithful, and true, rewarding +every man according to his works, and no partial accepter of +persons; so that in every nation he that feareth God and worketh +righteousness is accepted by Him. + +To love mercy, because God loves mercy; to be merciful, because our +Father in heaven is merciful; because He willeth not the death of a +sinner, but rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live; +because God came to seek and to save that which is lost, and is good +to the unthankful and the evil; and because God so loved sinful man, +that when man hated God, God's answer to man's hate, God's vengeance +upon man's rebellion, was, to send His only-begotten Son, that +whosoever believed in Him should not perish, but have everlasting +life. + +And to walk humbly with your God, because--and what shall I say now? +Does God walk humbly? Can there be humility in God? Can God obey? +And yet it must be so. If, as is most certain from Holy Scripture, +man, as far as he is what man ought to be, is the image and glory of +God; if man's justice ought to be a copy of God's justice, and man's +mercy a copy of God's mercy, and all which is good in man a copy of +something good in God: if, as is most certain, all good on earth is +God's likeness, and only good because it is God's likeness, and is +given by God's Spirit,--then our walking humbly with God, if it be +good, must be a copy of something in God. But of what? + +That, my friends, is a question which can never be answered but by +those who believe in the mystery of the ever-blessed Trinity, The +Father, The Son, and The Holy Ghost. It is too solemn and great a +matter to be spoken of hastily at the end of a sermon. I will tell +you what little I seem to see of it next Sunday, with awe and +trembling, as one who enters upon holy ground. But this I will tell +you, to bear in mind meanwhile, that if you wish to know or to do +what is right, you must firmly believe and bear in mind this,--that +God's justice is exactly like what would be just in you and me, +without any difference whatsoever: that God's mercy is exactly like +what would be merciful in you and me; and that, as I hope to show +you next Sunday, God's humility, wonderful as it may seem, is +exactly like what would be humble in you and me. For I warn you, +that if you do not believe this, you will be tempted to forget God's +righteousness, and to invent a righteousness of your own, which is +no righteousness at all, but unrighteousness. For there can be but +one righteousness--mind what I say--only one righteousness, as there +can be only one truth, and only one reason. Forget that, and you +will be tempted to invent for yourselves a false justice, which is +dishonest and partial; a false mercy, which is cruel; a false +humility, which is vain and self-conceited; and you will be tempted +also, as men of all religions and denominations have been, to impute +to God actions, and thoughts, and tempers, which are (as your own +consciences, if you would listen to God's Word in them, would tell +you) unjust, cruel, and proud; and then you will be tempted to say +that things are justifiable in God, which you would not excuse in +any other being, by saying: 'Of course it must be right in Him, +because He is God, and can do what He will.' As if the Judge of all +the earth would not do Right; as if He could be anything, or could +do anything, but the Eternal _Good_ which is His very being and +essence, and which He has shown forth in His Son Jesus Christ our +Lord, who went about doing good because God was with Him. We all +know what the good which He did was like. Let us believe that God +the Father's goodness is the same as Jesus Christ's goodness. Let +us believe really what we say when we confess that Jesus was the +brightness of His Father's Glory, and the express image of His +Person. + + + +SERMON VIII. SONSHIP + + + +John v. 19, 20, 30. Then answered Jesus, Verily, verily, I say unto +you, The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father +do: for what things soever He doeth, these also doeth the Son +likewise. For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth Him all things +that Himself doeth. + +I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my +judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of +my Father which is in Heaven. + +This, my friends, is why man should walk humbly and obediently with +his God; because humility and obedience are the likeness of the Son +of God, who, though He is equal to His Father, yet to do His +Father's will humbled Himself, and took on Him the form of a slave, +and though He is a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which He +suffered; sacrificing Himself utterly and perfectly to do the +commands of His Father and our Father, of His God and our God; and +sacrificing Himself to His Father not as a man merely, but as a son; +not because He was in the likeness of sinful flesh, but because He +was The Everlasting Son of His Father; not once only on the cross, +but from all eternity to all eternity, the Lamb slain before the +foundation of the world. This is a great mystery; we may understand +somewhat more of it by thinking over the meaning of those great +words, Father and Son. + +Now, first, a son must be of the same nature as his father,--that is +certain. Each kind of animal brings forth after its kind: the lion +begets lions, the sheep, sheep; the son of a man must be a man, of +one substance with his earthly father; and by the same law, the Son +of God must be God. Take away that notion: say that the only- +begotten Son of God is not very God of very God, of one substance +with His Father, and the word son means nothing. If a son be not of +the same substance as his father, he is not a son at all. And more, +a perfect son must be as great and as good as his father, exactly +like his father in everything. That is the very meaning of father +and son; that like should beget like. Among fallen and imperfect +men, some sons are worse and weaker than their fathers: but we all +feel that that is an evil, a thing to be sorry for, a sad +consequence of our fallen state. Our reasons and hearts tell us +that a son ought to be equal to his father, and that it is in some +way an affliction, almost a shame, to a father, if his children are +weaker or worse than he is. But we cannot fancy such a thing in +God; the only-begotten perfect Son of the Almighty and perfect +Father must be at least equal to His Father, as great as His Father, +as good as His Father; the brightness of His Father's glory, and the +express image of His Father's person. + +But there is another thing about father and son which we must look +at, and that is this: a good son loves and obeys his father, and +the better son he is, the more he loves and obeys his father; and +therefore a perfect son will perfectly love and perfectly obey his +father. + +Now, here is the great difference between animals and men. Among +the higher animals, the mothers always, and the fathers sometimes, +feed, and help, and protect their young: but we seldom or never +find that young animals help and protect their parents; certainly, +they never obey their fathers when they are full grown, but are as +ready to tear their fathers in pieces as their fathers are to tear +them: so that the love and obedience of full-grown sons to their +fathers is so utterly human a thing, so utterly different from +anything we find in the brutes, that we must believe it to be part +of man's immortal soul, part of God's likeness in man. + +And in the text our Lord declares that it is so; He declares that +His obedience to His Father, and His Father's love to Him, is the +perfect likeness of what goes on between a good son and a good +father among men; only that it is _perfect_, because it is between a +perfect Father and a perfect Son. + +Father and Son! Let philosophers and divines discover what they may +about God, they will never discover anything so deep as the wonder +which lies in those two words, Father and Son. So deep, and yet so +simple! So simple, that the wayfaring man, though poor, shall not +err therein. 'Who is God? What is God like? Where shall we find +Him, or His likeness?'--so has mankind been crying in all ages, and +getting no answer, or making answers for themselves in all sorts of +superstitions, idolatries, false philosophies. And then the Gospel +comes, and answers to every man, to every poor and unlearned +labourer: Will you know the name of God? It is a Father, a Son, +and a Holy Spirit of love, joy, peace; a Spirit of perfect +satisfaction of the Father in the Son, and perfect satisfaction of +the Son with the Father, which proceeds from both the Father and the +Son. It needs no scholarship to understand that Name; every one may +understand it who is a good father; every one may understand it who +is a good son, who looks up to and obeys his father with that filial +spirit of love, and obedience, and satisfaction with his father's +will, which is the likeness of the Holy Spirit of God, and can only +flourish in any man by the help of the Holy Spirit which proceeds +from the Father and the Son. + +Father and Son! what more beautiful words are there in the world? +What more beautiful sight is there in the world than a son who +really loves his father, really trusts his father, really does his +duty to his father, really looks up to and obeys his father's will +in all things? who is ready to sacrifice his own credit, his own +pleasure, his own success in life, for the sake of his father's +comfort and honour? How much more fair and noble must be the love +and trust which is between God the Father and God the Son! + +I wish that some of those who now write so many excellent books for +young people, would write one made up entirely of stories of good +sons who have obeyed, and worked for, and suffered for their +parents. Sure I am that such a book, wisely and well written, would +teach young people much of the meaning of the blessed name of God, +much of their duty to God. And yet, after all, my friends, is not +such a book written already? Have we not the four Gospels, which +tell us of Jesus Christ, the perfect Son, who came to do the will of +a perfect Father? Read that; read your Bibles. Read the history of +the Lord Jesus Christ, keeping in mind always that it is the history +of the Son of God, and of His obedience to His Father. And when in +St. John's most wonderful Gospel you meet with deep texts, like the +one which I have chosen, read them too as carefully, if possible +more carefully, than the rest; for they are meant for all parents +and for all children upon earth. Read how The Father loves The Son, +and gives all things into His hand, and commits all judgment to The +Son, and gives Him power to have life in Himself, even as The Father +has life in Himself, and shows Him all things that Himself doeth, +that all men may honour The Son even as they honour The Father. +Read how The Son came only to show forth His Father's glory; to be +the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person: to +establish His Father's kingdom; to declare the goodness of His +Father's Name, which is _The_ Father. How He does nothing of +Himself, but only what He sees His Father do; how He seeks not His +own will, but the will of the Father who sent Him; how He sacrificed +all, yea even His most precious body and soul upon the cross, to +finish the work which His Father gave Him to do. How, being in the +form of God, and thinking it no robbery to be equal with God, He +could boldly say, 'As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the +Father. I and my Father are one:' and still, in the fulness of His +filial love and obedience, declared that He had no will, no wish, no +work, no glory, but His Father's; and in the hour of His agony cried +out, 'Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: +nevertheless, not my will but thine be done.' + +My friends, you will be able to understand more and more of the +meaning of these words just in proportion as you are good sons and +good fathers; and therefore, just in proportion as you are led and +taught by the Holy Spirit of God, without whose help no man can be +either a good father or a good son. A bad son; a disobedient, self- +willed, self-conceited son, who is seeking his own credit and not +his father's, his own pleasure and not his parent's comfort; a son +who is impatient of being kept in order and advised, who despises +his parent's counsel, and will have none of his reproof,--to him +these words of our Lord, the deepest, noblest words which were ever +spoken on earth, will have no more meaning than if they were written +in a foreign language; he will not know what our Lord means; he will +not be able to see why our Lord came and suffered; he will not see +any beauty in our Lord's character, any righteousness in His +sacrificing Himself for His Father; and because he has forgotten his +duty to his earthly father, he will never learn his duty to God. + +For what is the duty of the Lord Jesus Christ is our duty, if we are +the sons of God in Him. He is The Son of God by an eternal never- +ceasing generation; we are the sons of God by adoption. The way in +which we are to look up to God, The Holy Spirit must teach us; what +is our duty to God The Holy Spirit must teach us. And who is The +Holy Spirit? He is The Spirit who proceeds from The Son as well as +from The Father. He is The Spirit of Jesus Christ, The Spirit of +the Son of God, the Spirit who descended on the Lord Jesus when He +was baptized, the Spirit which God gave to Him without measure. He +is the Spirit of The Son of God; and we are sons of God by adoption, +says Saint Paul; and because we are sons, he says, God has sent +forth into our hearts the Spirit of His Son, by whom we look up to +God as our Father; and this Spirit of God's Son, by whom we cry to +God, Abba, Father, St. Paul calls, in another place, the Spirit of +adoption; and declares openly that He is the very Spirit of God. + +Therefore, in whatsoever way the Spirit of God is to teach you to +look up to God, He will teach you to look up to Him as a Father; the +Father of Spirits, and therefore your Father; for you are a spirit. +Whatsoever duty to God the Holy Spirit teaches you, He teaches you +first, and before all things, that it is filial duty, the duty of a +son to a father, because you are the son of God, and God is your +Father. + +Therefore, whatsoever man or book tells you that your duty to God is +anything but the duty of a son to his father does not speak by the +Spirit of God. Whatsoever thoughts or feelings in your own hearts +tell you that your duty to God is anything but the duty of a son to +his father, and tempt you to distrust God's forgiveness, and shrink +from Him, and look up to Him as a taskmaster, and an austere and +revengeful Lord, are not the Spirit of God; no, nor your own spirit, +'the spirit of a man,' which is in you; for that was originally made +in the likeness of God's Spirit, and by it rebellious sons arise and +go back to their earthly fathers, and trust in them when they have +nothing else left to trust, and say to themselves, 'Though all the +world has cast me off, my parents will not. Though all the world +despise and hate me, my parents love me still; though I have +rebelled against them, deserted them, insulted them, I am still my +father's child. I will go home to my own people, to the house where +I was born, to the parents who nursed me on their knee, I will go to +my father.' + +Fathers and mothers! if your son or daughter came home to you thus, +though they had insulted you, disgraced you, and spent their +substance in riotous living, would you shut your doors upon them? +Would not all be forgiven and forgotten at once? Would not you call +your neighbours to rejoice with you, and say, 'It is good to be +merry and glad, for this our son was dead and is alive again, he was +lost and is found?' And would not that penitent child be more +precious to you, though you cannot tell why, than any other of your +children? Would you not feel a peculiar interest in him henceforth? +And do you not know that so to forgive would be no weak indulgence, +but the part of a good father; a good, and noble, and human thing to +do? Ay, a human thing, and therefore a divine thing, part of God's +likeness in man. For is it not the likeness of God Himself? Has +not God Himself, in the Parable of the Prodigal Son, declared that +He does so forgive His penitent children, at once and utterly, and +that 'There is more joy among the angels of God over one sinner that +repenteth, than over ninety and nine just persons who need no +repentance?' So says the Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son +of God. Let who dare dispute His words, or try to water them down, +and explain them away. + +And why should it not be so? Do you fancy God less of a father than +you are? Is He not _The_ Father, the perfect Father, 'from whom +every fatherhood in heaven and earth is named?' Oh, believe that He +is indeed a Father; believe that all the love and care which you can +show to your children is as much poorer than the love and care God +shows to you, as your obedience to your earthly parents is poorer +and weaker than the love and obedience of Jesus Christ to His +Father. God is as much better a Father than you are, as Jesus +Christ is a better Son than you are. There is a sum of proportions; +a rule-of-three sum; work it out for yourselves, and then distrust +God's love if you dare. + +And believe, that whatsoever makes you distrust God's love is +neither the Spirit of God who is the spirit of sonship, nor the +spirit of man: but the spirit of the Devil, who loves to slander +God to men, that they may shrink from Him, and be afraid to arise +and go to their Father, to be received again as sons of God; that +so, being kept from true penitence, they may be kept from true +holiness, and from their duty to God, which is the duty of sons of +God to their Father in heaven. + +Believe no such notions, my friends; howsoever humble and reverent +they may seem, they are but insults to God; for under pretence of +honouring Him, they dishonour Him; for He is love, and he who +feareth, that is, who looks up to God with terror and distrust, is +not made perfect in love. So says St. John, in the very chapter +wherein he tells us that God is love, and has manifested His love to +us by sending His Son to be the Saviour of the world; and that the +very reason for our loving God is, that He loves us already; and +that therefore He who loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love. + +Yes, my friends, God is your Father; and God is love; and your duty +to God is a duty of love and obedience to a Father who so loved you +and all mankind that He spared not His only begotten Son, but freely +gave Him for you. 'Our Father which art in heaven,' is to be the +key-note of all your duty, as it is to be the key-note of all your +prayers: and therefore the Catechism is right in teaching the child +that God is his Father, and Jesus Christ the perfect Son of God his +pattern, and the Holy Spirit of the Father and of the Son his +teacher and inspirer, before it says one word to the child about +duty to God, or sin against God. How indeed can it tell him what +sin is, until it has told him against whom sin is committed, and +that if he sins against God he sins against a Father, and breaks his +duty to his Father? And how can it tell him that till it has told +him that God is his Father? How can it tell him what sin is till it +has told him what righteousness is? How can it tell him what +breaking his duty is till it has told him what the duty itself is? +But the child knows already that God is his Father; and therefore, +when the Catechism asks him, 'What is his duty to God?' it is as +much as to say, 'My child, thou hast confessed already that thou +hast a good Father in heaven, and thou knowest as well as I (perhaps +better) what a father means. Tell me, then, how dost thou think +thou oughtest to behave to such a Father?' And the whole answer +which is put into the child's mouth, is the description of duty to a +father; of things which there would be no reason for his doing to +anyone who was not his father; nay, which he could not do honestly +to anyone else, but only hypocritically, for the sake of flattering, +and which differs utterly from any notion of duty to God which the +heathen have ever had just in this, that it is a description of how +a son should behave to a father. Read it for yourselves, my +friends, and judge for yourselves; and may God give you all grace to +act up to it--not in order that you, by 'acts of faith,' or 'acts of +love,' or 'acts of devotion,' may persuade God to love you; but +because He loves you already, with a love boundless as Himself; +because in Him you live, and move, and have your being, and are the +offspring of God; because His mercy is over all His works, and +because He loved the world, and sent His Son, not to condemn the +world, but that the world through Him might be saved; because He is +The Giver, The Father of lights, from whom comes every good and +perfect gift; because all which makes this earth habitable--all +justice, order, wisdom, goodness, mercy, humbleness, self-sacrifice-- +all which is fair, or honourable, or useful, in men or angels, in +kings on their thrones or in labourers at the plough, in divines in +their studies or soldiers in the field of battle--all in the whole +universe, which is not useless, and hurtful, and base, and damnable, +and doomed (blessed thought that it is so!) to be burned up in +unquenchable fire--all, I say, comes forth from the Father of the +spirits of all flesh, the Lord of Hosts, who is wonderful in counsel +and excellent in working; who spared not His only begotten Son, but +freely gave Him for us, and will with Him freely give us all things. + + + +SERMON IX. THE LORD'S PRAYER + + + +Matt. vi. 9, 10. After this manner pray ye: Our Father which art +in heaven. + +I have shown you what a simple account of our duty to God and to our +neighbour the Catechism gives us. I now beg you to remark, that +simple and everyday as this same duty is, the Catechism warns us +that we cannot do it without God's special grace, and I beg you to +remark further, that the Catechism does not say that we cannot do +these things well without God's special grace, but that we cannot do +them at all. It does not say that we cannot do all these things of +ourselves, but that we can do none of them. But I want you to +remark one thing more, which is very noteworthy: that in this case, +for the first time throughout the Catechism, the teacher tells the +child something. All along the teacher has, as I have often shown +you, been making the child tell him what is right, calling out in +the child's heart thoughts and knowledge which were there already. +Now he in his turn tells the child something which he takes for +granted is not in the child's heart, of which, if it is, has been +put into it by his teachers, and of which he must be continually +reminded, lest he should forget it; namely, that he cannot do these +of himself; that, as St. Paul says, 'in him,' that is, in his flesh, +'dwells no good thing;' that he is not able to think or to do +anything as of himself, but his sufficiency is of God, who works in +him to will and to do of His good pleasure, who has also given him +His Holy Spirit. + +The Catechism, in short, takes for granted that the child knows his +duty; but it takes for granted also that he does not know how to do +that duty. It takes for granted, that in every child there is as +St. Paul says, 'a law in his members warring against the law of his +mind, and bringing him into captivity to the law of sin' (literally, +of short coming, or missing the mark) 'which is in his members.' +Now man's natural inclination is to suppose that good thoughts are +part of himself, and therefore that a good will to put them in +practice is in his own power. I blame no one for making that +mistake: but I warn them, in the name of the Bible and of the +Catechism, that it is a mistake, and one which every man, woman, and +child will surely discover to be a mistake, if they try to act on +it. Good thoughts are not our own; they are Jesus Christ's; they +come from Him, The Life and The Light of men; they are His voice +speaking to our hearts, informing us of His laws, showing us what is +good. And good desires are not our own: they come from the Holy +Spirit of God, who strives with men, and labours to lift their +hearts up from selfishness to love; from what is low and foul, to +what is noble and pure; from what is sinful and contrary to God's +will, to what is right and according to God's will. + +This is the lesson which you and I and every man have to learn: +that in ourselves dwells no good thing; but that there is One near +us mightier than we, from whom all good things do come; and that He +loves us, and will not only teach us what is good, but give us the +power to do the good we know. But if we forget that, if we take any +credit whatsoever to ourselves for the good which comes into our +minds, then we shall be surely taught our mistake by sore +afflictions and by shameful falls; by God's leaving us to ourselves, +to try our own strength, and to find it weakness; to try our own +wisdom, and find it folly; to try our own fancied love of God, and +find that after all our conceit of ourselves, we love ourselves +better, when it comes to a trial, than we love what is right; until, +in short, we are driven with St. Paul to feel that, howsoever much +our hearts may delight in the Law of God, there is a corrupt nature +in us which fights against our delight in God's law, and will surely +conquer it, and make us slaves to our own fancies, slaves to our +passions, slaves to ourselves, ay, slaves to the very lowest and +meanest part of ourselves: unless we can find a deliverer; unless +we can find some one stronger than us, who can put an end to this +hateful, shameful war within us between good wishes and bad deeds. + +And then, if we will but cry with St. Paul, 'Oh, wretched man that I +am, _who_ shall deliver me from the body of this death?' we shall +surely, sooner or later, hear a voice within our hearts, a voice +full of love, of comfort, of fellow-feeling for us,--'_I_ will +deliver thee, my child; _I_, even I thy Father in heaven; I will +teach thee, and inform thee in the way wherein thou shouldest go; +and I will guide thee with mine eye.' And then with St. Paul we +shall be able to answer our own question, and say, 'Who will deliver +me? I thank God, that God Himself will deliver me, through Jesus +Christ our Lord.' + +This, then, is the reason why we need to pray: because we need to +be delivered from ourselves. This is the reason why we may pray, +because God is willing to deliver us from ourselves, if we be +willing. + +But every human being round us needs to be delivered from +themselves, just as much as we do. Without that deliverance we +cannot do our duty, neither can they. And just in proportion as men +are delivered from themselves, will mankind do its duty, and the +world go right. + +Now their duty is the same as ours; and therefore the prayer which +is right and good for us is equally right and good for them. And +what is more, we cannot pray rightly for ourselves unless we pray +for them in the very same breath; for the Catechism tells us that +there is one duty for all of us, to love and obey and serve our +heavenly Father, and to love our neighbour as ourselves, because +they are our brothers, children of one common Father, members of the +same God's family as we are, and their interest and ours are bound +up together. Yes, to love all mankind as ourselves; for though too +many of them, alas! are not yet in God's family, and strangers to +His covenant, yet God's will is that they too should come to the +knowledge of the truth; and therefore for them we can pray hopefully +and trustfully, 'Lord have mercy on all men, on Jews, Turks, +Infidels, and heretics; and bring them home, blessed Lord, to Thy +flock, that they may be saved and made one fold under one Shepherd, +through Jesus Christ our Lord, in whom Thou hast declared Thy good +will to all the children of men.' + +This is the right prayer. That all men may do their duty where God +has put them. That those who, like the heathen, do not know their +duty, may be taught it; that we who do know it, may have strength to +do it. + +And therefore it is that the Catechism teaches us the need of +prayer, immediately after making us confess our duty; and therefore +it is that it begins by teaching the Lord's Prayer, because that +prayer is the one, of all prayers which ever have been offered upon +earth, which perfectly expresses the duty of man, and man's relation +to Almighty God. + +It is throughout a prayer for strength. It confesses throughout +what we want strength for, to what use we are to put God's grace if +He bestows it on us. Our delight in the Lord's Prayer will depend +on what we consider our duty here on earth to be. + +If we look upon this earth principally as a place where we are to +pray for all the good things which we can get, our first prayer will +be, of course, 'Give us this day our daily bread.' + +If we look at this earth principally as a place where we have a +chance of being saved from punishment and torment after we die, then +our first prayer will be, 'Forgive us our sins.' And, in fact, that +is all that too many of our prayers now-a-days seem to consist of,-- +'Oh, my Maker, give me. my daily bread. Oh, my Judge, forgive me my +sins.' Right prayers enough, but spoilt by being taken out of their +place; spoilt by being prayed before all other prayers; spoilt, too, +by being prayed for ourselves alone, and not for other people also. + +But if we believe, as the Bible and the Catechism tell us, that we +and all Christian people are God's children, members of God's +family, set on earth in God's kingdom to do His work by doing our +duty, each in that station of life to which God has called us, in +the hope of a just reward hereafter according to our works, then our +great desire will be for strength to do our duty, and the Lord's +Prayer will seem to us the most perfect way of asking for that +strength; and if we believe that we are God's children and He our +Father, we shall feel sure that we must get strength from Him, and +sure that we must ask for that strength; and sure that He will give +it us if we do ask. + +But if His will is to give it us, why ask Him at all? Why pray at +all, if God already knows our necessities, and is able and willing +to supply them? + +My friends, the longer I live, the more certain I am that the only +reason for praying at all is because God is our Father; the more +certain I am that we shall never have any heart to pray unless we +believe that God is our Father. If we forget that, we may utter to +Him selfish cries for bread; or when we look at His great power, we +may become terrified, and utter selfish cries to Him not to harm us, +without any real shame or sorrow for sin: but few of us will have +any heart to persevere in those cries. People will say to +themselves, 'If God is evil, He will not care to have mercy on me: +and if He is good, there is no use wearying Him by asking Him what +He has already intended to give me: why should I pray at all?' + +The only answer is, 'Pray, because God is your Father, and you His +child.' The only answer; but the most complete answer. I will +engage to say, that if anyone here is ever troubled with doubts +about prayer, those two simple words, 'Our Father,' if he can once +really believe them in their full richness and depth, will make the +doubts vanish in a moment, and prayer seem the most natural and +reasonable of all acts. It is because we are God's children, not +merely His creatures, that He will have us pray. Because He is +educating us to know Him; to know Him not merely to be an Almighty +Power, but a living, loving Person; not merely an irresistible Fate, +but a Father who delights in the love of His children, who wishes to +shape them into His own likeness, and make them fellow-workers with +Him; therefore it is that He will have us pray. Doubtless he +_could_ have given us everything without our asking; for He _does_ +already give us almost everything without our asking. But He wishes +to educate us as His children; to make us trust in Him; to make us +love Him; to make us work for Him of our own free wills, in the +great battle which He is carrying on against evil; and that He can +only do by teaching us to pray to Him. I say it reverently, but +firmly. As far as we can see, God cannot educate us to know Him, +The living, willing, loving Father, unless He teaches us to open our +hearts to Him, and to ask Him freely for what we want, just +_because_ He knows what we want already. + +If I have not made this plain enough to any of you, my friends, let +me go back to the simple, practical explanation of it which God +Himself has given us in those two words--father and child. + +Should you like to have a child who never spoke to you, never asked +you for anything? Of course not. And why? 'Because,' you would +say, 'one might as well have a dumb animal in one's family instead +of a child, if it is never to talk and ask questions and advice.' +Most true and reasonable, my friends. And as you would say +concerning your children, so says God of His. You feel that unless +you teach your children to ask you for all they want, even though +you know their necessities before they ask, and their ignorance in +asking, you will never call out their love and trust towards you. +You know that if you want really to have your child to please and +obey you, not as a mere tame animal, but as a willing, reasonable, +loving child, you must make him know that you are training him; and +you must teach him to come to you of his own accord to be trained, +to be taught his duty, and set right where he is wrong: and even so +does God with you. If you will only consider the way in which any +child must be educated by its human parents, then you will at once +see why prayer to our Heavenly Father is a necessary part of our +education in the kingdom of heaven. + +Now the Lord's Prayer, just this sort of prayer, is man's cry to his +Heavenly Father to train him, to educate him, to take charge of him, +daily and hourly, body and soul and spirit. It is a prayer for +grace, for special grace; that is, for help, daily and hourly, in +each particular duty and circumstance; for help from God specially +suited to enable us to do our duty. And the whole of the prayer is +of this kind, and not, as some think, the latter part only. + +It is too often said that the three first sentences are not prayers +for man, but rather praises to God. My friends, they cannot be one +without being the other. You cannot, I believe, praise God aright +without praying for men; you cannot pray for men aright without +praising God; at least, you cannot use the Lord's Prayer without +doing both at once, without at once declaring the glory of God and +praying for the welfare of all mankind. + +'Hallowed be Thy name.' Is not that a prayer for men as well as +praise to God? Yes, my friends, when you say, 'Our Father, hallowed +be Thy name,' you pray that all men may come at last to look up to +God as their Father, to love, serve, and obey God as His children; +and for what higher blessing can you pray? Ay, and you pray, too, +that men may learn at last the deep meaning of that word--father; +that they may see how Godlike and noble a trust God lays on them +when He gives them children to educate and make Christian men; you +pray that the hearts of all fathers may be turned to the children, +and the hearts of all children to the fathers; you pray for the +welfare, and the holiness, and the peace of every home on earth; you +pray for the welfare of generations yet unborn, when you pray, 'Our +Father, hallowed be Thy name.' + +'Thy kingdom come.' Is not that too, if we will look at it +steadfastly, prayer for our neighbours, prayer for all mankind, and +still prayer for ourselves; prayer for grace, prayer for the life +and health of our own souls? + +'Thy kingdom come.'--That kingdom of the Father which Jesus Christ +proved by His works on earth to be a kingdom of justice and +righteousness, of love and fellow-feeling. When we pray, 'Thy +kingdom come,' it is as if we said, 'Son of God, root out of this +sinful earth all self-will and lawlessness, all injustice and +cruelty; root out all carelessness, ignorance, and hardness of +heart; root out all hatred, envy, slander; root them out of all +men's hearts; out of my heart, for I have the seeds of them in me. +Make me, and all men round me, day by day, more sure that Thou art +indeed our King; that Thou hast indeed taught us the laws of Thy +Father's kingdom; and that, only in keeping them and loving them is +there health, and righteousness, and safety for any soul of man, for +any nation under the sun.' 'Thy will be done;'--no, not merely 'Thy +will be done;' but done 'on earth as it is in heaven;' done, not +merely as the trees and the animals, the wind and clouds, do Thy +will, by blindly following their natures, but done as angels and +blessed spirits do it, of their own will. They obey Thee as living, +willing, loving persons; as Thy sons: teach us to obey Thee in like +manner; lovingly, because we love Thy will; willingly, because our +wills are turned to Thy will; and therefore, oh Heavenly Father, +take charge of these wayward wills and minds of ours, of these +selfish, self-willed, ignorant, hasty hearts of ours, and cleanse +them and renew them by Thy Spirit, and change them into Thy likeness +day by day. Make us all clean hearts, oh God, and renew within us a +right spirit, the copy of Thine own Holy Spirit. Cast us not away +from Thy presence, for from Thee alone comes our soul's life; take +not from us Thy Holy Spirit, who is The Lord and Giver of Life; +whose will is Thy will; who alone can strengthen and change us to do +Thy will on earth, as saints and angels do in heaven, and to be +fellow-workers with each other, fellow-workers with Thee, O God, +even as those blessed spirits are who minister day and night to all +Thy creatures. + +'Give us this day our daily bread.' People sometimes divide the +Lord's Prayer into two parts--the ascriptions and the petitions--and +consider that after we have sufficiently glorified and praised God +in the first three sentences of the prayer, then we are at liberty +to begin asking something for ourselves, and to say 'Give us day by +day our daily bread.' I cannot think so, my friends. I have been +showing you that 'Hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will +be done,' if we do but recollect that they are spoken to our Father, +are just as much prayers for all mankind, as they are hymns of +honour to God; and so I say of these latter: 'Give us--Forgive us-- +Lead us not--Deliver us'--that if we will but remember that they, +too, are spoken to our Father, we shall find that they are just as +much hymns of honour to God as prayers for mankind. + +Yes, my friends, when we say, 'Give us this day our daily bread,' we +do indeed honour God and the name of God. We declare that He is +Love, that He is The Giver, The absolutely and boundlessly _generous +and magnanimous_ Being. And what higher glory and honour or praise +can we ascribe, even to God Himself, than to say that of Him? Next, +we pray not for ourselves only, but for our neighbours; for England, +for Christendom, for the heathen who know not God, and for +generations yet unborn. We pray that God would so guide, and teach, +and preserve the children of men, as to enable them to fulfil in +every country and every age the work which He gave them to do, when +He said, 'Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue +it.' We know that our Father has commanded us to labour. We know +that our Father has so well ordered this glorious earth, that +whosoever labours may reap the just fruit of his labour; therefore +we pray that God would prosper our righteous plans for earning our +own living. We pray to Him not only so to order the earth that it +may bring forth its fruits in due season, but that men may be in a +fit state to enjoy those fruits, that God may not be forced for +their good to withhold from them blessings which they might abuse to +their ruin. But we pray, also, 'Give _us_:' not me only, but _us_; +and therefore we pray that He would prosper our neighbour's plans as +well as ours. So we confess that we believe God to be no respecter +of persons; we confess that we believe He will not take bread out of +others' mouths to give it to us; we declare that God's curse is on +all selfishness and oppression of man by man; we renounce our own +selfishness, the lust which our fallen nature has to rise upon +others' fall, and say, 'Father, we are all children at Thy common +table. Thou alone canst prosper the richest and the wisest; Thou +alone canst prosper the poorest and the weakest; Thou wilt do equal +justice to all some day, and we confess that Thou art just in so +doing; we only ask Thee to do it now, and to give us and all mankind +that which is good for them.' + +Thus we pray not for this generation only, but for generations yet +unborn; not for this nation of England only, but for heathens and +savages beyond the seas. When we say, 'Give us our daily bread,' we +pray for every child here and on earth, that he may receive such an +education as may enable him to get his daily bread. We pray for +learned men in their studies, that they may discover arts and +sciences which shall enrich and comfort nations yet unborn. We pray +for merchants on the seas, that they may discover new markets for +trade, new lands to colonize and fill with Christian men, and extend +the blessings of industry and civilization to the savage who lives +as the beasts which perish and dwindles down off the face of the +earth by famine, disease, and war, the victim of his own idleness, +ignorance, and improvidence. + +And all the while we are praying for the widow and the orphan, that +God would send them friends in time of need; for the houseless +wanderer, for the shipwrecked sailor, for sick persons, for feeble +infants, that God would send help to them who cannot help +themselves, and soften our hearts and the hearts of all around us, +that we may never turn our faces away from any poor man, lest the +face of the Lord be turned away from us. + +So far we have been praying to our Heavenly Father, first as a +Father, then as a King, then as an Inspirer, then as a Giver; and +next we pray to Him as a _For_giver--'Forgive us our trespasses.' +We have been confessing in these four petitions what God's goodwill +to man is; what God wishes man to be, how man ought to live and +believe. And then comes the recollection of sin. We must confess +what God's law is before we can confess that we have broken it; and +now we do confess that we have broken it. We know that God is our +Father. How often have we forgotten that He is a father; how often +have we forgotten to be good fathers ourselves. + +We are in God's kingdom. How often have we behaved as if we were +our own kings, and had no masters over us but our own fancies, +tempers, appetites! We are to do His will on earth as it is done in +heaven. How have we been doing our own will!--pleasing ourselves, +breaking loose from His laws, trying to do right of our own wills +and in our own strength, instead of asking His Spirit to strengthen, +and cleanse, and renew our wills, and so have ended by doing not the +right which we knew to be right, but the wrong which we knew to be +wrong. God is a giver. How often have we looked on ourselves as +takers, and fancied that we must as it were steal the good things of +this world from God, lest He should forget to give us what was +fitting! How often have we forgotten that God gives to all men, as +well as to us; and while we were praying, give _me_ my daily bread, +kept others out of their daily bread! + +Oh, my friends, we cannot blame ourselves too much for all these +sins; we cannot think them too heinous. We cannot confess them too +openly; we cannot cry too humbly and earnestly for forgiveness. But +we never shall feel the full sinfulness of sin; we never shall +thoroughly humble ourselves in confession and repentance, unless we +remember that all our sins have been sins against a Father, and a +forgiving Father, and that it is His especial glory, the very beauty +and excellence in Him, which ought to have kept us from disobeying +Him, that He does forgive those who disobey Him. + +And, lastly, in like manner, when you say, 'Lead us not into +temptation, but deliver,' &c., you are not only entreating God to +lead you, but you are honouring and praising Him, you are setting +forth His glory, and declaring that He is a God who does _lead_, and +a God who does not leave His poor creatures to wander their own +foolish way, but guides men, in spite of all their sins, full of +condescension and pity, care and tender love. You do not only ask +God to deliver you from evil, but you declare that He is righteous, +and hates evil; that He is love, and desires to deliver you from +evil; One who spared not His only-begotten Son, but gave Him freely +for us, to deliver us from evil; and raised Him up, and delivered +all power into His hand, that He might fight His Father's battle +against all which is hurtful to man and hateful to God, till death +itself shall be destroyed, and all enemies put under the feet of the +Saviour God. + + + +SERMON X. THE DOXOLOGY + + + +Psalm viii. 1 and sqq. O Lord our Governor, how excellent is Thy +name in all the earth, Thou that hast set Thy glory above the +heavens! + +Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast Thou ordained strength, +because of Thine enemies, that Thou mightest still the enemy and the +avenger. + +This is the text which I have chosen to-day, because I think it will +help us to understand the end of the Lord's Prayer, which tells us +to say to our Father in Heaven, 'Father, Thine is the kingdom; +Father, Thine is the power; Father, Thine is the glory.' + +The man who wrote this psalm had been looking up at the sky, +spangled with countless stars, with the moon, as if she were the +queen of them all, walking in her brightness. He had been looking +round, too, on this wonderful earth, with its countless beasts, and +birds, and insects, trees, herbs, and flowers, each growing, and +thriving, and breeding after their kind, according to the law which +God had given to each of them, without any help of man. And then he +had thought of men, how small, weak, ignorant, foolish, sinful they +were, and said to himself, 'Why should God care for men more than +for these beasts, and birds, and insects round? Not because he is +the largest and strongest thing in the world; for I will consider +Thy heavens, even the work of Thy hands, the moon and the stars, +which Thou hast ordained, how much greater, more beautiful they are +than poor human beings. May not glorious beings, angels, be +dwelling in them, compared to whom man is no better than a beast?' + +And yet he says to himself, 'I know that God, though He has put man +lower than the angels, has crowned him with glory and honour. I +know that, whatever glorious creatures may live in the sun, and +moon, and stars, God has given man the dominion and power here, on +_this_ world. I know that even to babes and sucklings God has given +a strength, because of His enemies--that He may silence the enemy +and the avenger; and I know that by so doing, God has set His glory +_above_ the heavens, and has shown forth His glory more in these +little children, to whom He gives strength and wisdom, than He has +in sun, and moon, and stars.' + +Now how is that? The Catechism, I think, will tell us. The +Doxology, at the end of the Lord's Prayer, will tell us, if we +consider it. + +If you will listen to me, I will try and show you what I mean. + +Suppose I took one of your children, and showed him that large +bright star, which you may see now every evening, shining in the +south-west, and said to him, 'My child, that star, which looks to +you only a bright speck, is in reality a world--a world fourteen +hundred times as big as our world. We have but one moon to light +our earth; that little speck has four moons, each of them larger +than ours, which light it by night. That little speck of a star +seems to you to be standing still; in reality, it is travelling +through the sky at the rate of 25,000 miles an hour.' What do you +think the child's feeling would be? If he were a dull child, he +might only be astonished; but if he were a sensible and thoughtful +child, do you not think that a feeling of awe, almost of fear, would +come over him, when he thought how small and weak and helpless he +was, in comparison of those mighty and glorious stars above his +head? + +And next, if I turned the child round, and bade him look at that +comet or fiery star, which has appeared lately low down in the +north-west, and said, 'My child, that comet, which seems to you to +hang just above the next parish, is really eighty millions of miles +off from us. That bright spot at the lower part of it is a fiery +world as large as the moon,--that tail of fiery light which you see +streaming up from it, and which looks a few feet long, is a stream +of fiery vapour, stretching, most likely, hundreds of thousands of +miles through the boundless space. It seems to you to be sinking +behind the trees, so slowly that you cannot see it move. It is +really rushing towards us now, with its vast train of light, at the +rate of some eighty thousand miles an hour.' And suppose then, if, +to make the child more astonished than ever, I went on--'Yes, my +child, every single tiny star which is twinkling over your head is a +sun, a sun as large, or larger than our own sun, perhaps with worlds +moving round it, as our world moves round our sun, but so many +millions of miles far off, that the strongest spy-glass cannot make +these stars look any larger, or show us the worlds which we believe +are moving round them.' + +Do you not think that just in proportion to the child's quickness +and understanding, he would be awed, almost terrified? + +And lastly, suppose that to puzzle and astonish him still more, I +took a chance drop of water out of any standing pool, and showed him +through a magnifying-glass, in that single drop of water, dozens, +perhaps hundreds, of living creatures so small that it is impossible +to see them with the naked eye, each of them of some beautiful and +wonderful shape, unlike anything which you ever saw or dreamed of, +but each of them alive, each of them moving, feeding, breeding, +after its kind, each fulfilling the nature which God has given to +them, and told him, 'All the whole world, the air which you breathe, +the leaves on the trees, the soil under your feet, ay, even often +the food which you eat, and your own flesh and blood, are as full of +wonderful things as that drop of water is. You fancy that all the +life in the world is made up of the men and women in it, and the few +beasts, and birds, and insects, which you see about you in the +fields. But these living things which you do see are not a +millionth part of the whole number of God's creatures; and not one +smallest plant or tiniest insect dies, but what it passes into a new +life, and becomes food for other creatures, even smaller than, +though just as wonderful as itself. Every day fresh living +creatures are being discovered, filling earth, and sea, and air, +till men's brains are weary with counting them, and dizzy with +watching their unspeakable beauty, and strangeness, and fitness for +the work which God has given each of them to do.' + +And then suppose I said to the child, 'God cares for each of these +tiny living creatures. How do you know that He does not care for +them as much as He does for you? God made them for His own +pleasure, that He might rejoice in the work of His own hands. How +do you know that He does not rejoice in them as much as in you? +Those mighty worlds and suns above your head, which you call stars, +how do you know that they are not as much more glorious and precious +in God's sight than you are, as they are larger and more beautiful +than you are? And mind! all these things, from the tiniest insects +in the water-drop, to the most vast star or comet in the sky, all +obey God. They have not fallen, as you have; they have not sinned, +as you have; they have not broken the law, by which God intended +them to live, as you have. The Bible tells you so; and the +discoveries of learned men prove that the Bible is right, when it +declares that they all continue to this day according to His +ordinance; for all things serve Him; that sun, and moon, and stars, +and light are praising Him; that fire and hail, snow and vapour, +wind and storm, mountains and all hills, fruitful trees and all +cedars, beasts and all cattle, worms and feathered fowl, are showing +forth His glory day and night; because He has made them sure for +ever and ever, each according to its kind, and given them a law +which shall not be broken; for all His works praise Him, and show +the glory of His kingdom, and the mightiness of His power, that His +power, His glory, and the mightiness of His kingdom might be known +unto the children of men. + +And you!--They keep God's ordinance, and you have broken it; they +fulfil God's word, you fulfil your own fancies. They have a law +which shall not be broken, you break God's law daily. Are not they +better than you? Is not, not merely sun and stars, but even the +meanest gnat which hums in the air, better than man, more worthy of +God's love than man? For man has sinned, and they have not.' + +Do you not think that I should sadden, and terrify the child, and +make him ready to cry out, 'Whither shall I flee from the wrath of +this great Almighty God; who has made this wondrous heaven and +earth, and all of it obeys Him, except me--I a rebel against Him who +made and rules all this?' + +My friends, I only say, suppose that I spoke thus to your children. +For God forbid that I should speak thus to any human being, without +having first taught him the Lord's Prayer, without first having +taught him to say, 'I believe in Jesus Christ, Very God of Very God, +who was born of the Virgin Mary, and took man's nature on Him;' +without having taught him to say, 'Our Father which art in heaven, +Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and +ever, Amen.' So it is, and so let it be: for so it is well, and so +I am safe, sinner and rebel though I be. + +I would not say it, unless I had taught him this; for then I should +be speaking the Devil's words, and doing the Devil's work: for +these are the thoughts of which he always takes advantage, whenever +he finds them in men's hearts; because he is the enemy who hates +men, and the avenger who punishes them for their bad thoughts, by +leading them on into dark and fearful deeds; because he is the +Devil, the Slanderer, as his name means, and slanders God to men, +and tries always to make them believe that God does not care for +men, and grudges them blessings; in order that he may make men dread +God, and shrink from Him into their own pride, or their own carnal +lusts and fancies. + +These are the thoughts of which the Devil took advantage in the +heathen in old times, and tempted them to forget God--God, who had +not left Himself without a witness, in that He gave them rain and +fruitful seasons, filling their hearts with food and gladness--God, +whose unseen glory, even His eternal power and Godhead, may be +clearly seen from the creation of the world, being understood from +the things which are made--God, in whom, as St. Paul told the +heathen, they lived and moved, and had their being, and were the +offspring of God. This--that man is the offspring of God, and has a +Father in heaven--is the great truth which the Devil has been trying +to hide from men in every age, and by a hundred different devices. +By making them forget this, he tempted them to worship the creature +instead of the Creator; to pray to sun and moon and stars, to send +them fair weather, good crops, prosperous fortune: to look up to +the heaven above them, and down to the earth beneath their feet, in +slavish dread and anxiety: and pray to the sun, not to blast them +to the seas, not to sweep them away; to the rivers and springs, not +to let them perish from drought; to earthquakes, not to swallow them +up; ay, even to try to appease those dark fierce powers, with whom +they thought the great awful world was filled, by cruel sacrifices +of human beings; so that they offered their sons and their daughters +to devils, and burned their own children in the fire to Moloch, the +cruel angry Fire King, whom they fancied was lord of the earthquakes +and the burning mountains. So did the Canaanites of old, and so did +the Jews after them; whensoever they had forgotten that God was +their Father, who had bought them, and that the kingdom, and the +power, and the glory, throughout heaven and earth, were His, then at +once they began to be afraid of heaven and earth, and worshipped +Baalim, and Astaroth, and the Host of Heaven, which were the sun and +moon and stars, and Moloch the Fire King, and Thammuz the Lord of +the Spring-time, and with forms of worship which showed plainly +enough, either by their cruelty or their filthy profligacy, who was +the author of them, and that man, when he forgets that heaven and +earth belong to his Father, is in danger of becoming a slave to his +own lowest lusts and passions. + +And do not fancy, my friends, that because you and I are not likely +to worship sun and moon and stars as the old heathen did, that +therefore we cannot commit the same sin as they did. + +My friends, I believe that we are in more danger of committing it in +England just now than ever we were; that learned men especially are +in danger of so doing, because they know so far more of the wonders +and the vastness of God's creation than the heathens of old knew. + +But you are not learned, you will say: you are plain people, who +know nothing about these wonderful discoveries which men make by +telescopes and magnifying-glasses, but use your own eyes in a plain +way to get your daily bread, and you feel no such temptations. You +believe, of course, that the kingdom and power and glory of all we +see is God's. + +Yes; but do you believe too that He whom people are too apt to call +God, just because they have no other name to call Him, is your +Father? That it is your Father's will which governs the weather, +which makes the earth bear fruit and gladden the heart of man with +good and fruitful seasons? + +Alas, my friends, if we will open our eyes, see things in their true +light, and call things by their true name, we shall see many a man +in England now honouring the creature more than the Creator; +trusting in the seasons and the soil more than he does in God, and +so sinning in just the same way as the heathen of old. + +When people say to themselves, 'I must get land, I must get money, +by any means; honestly if I can, if not, dishonestly; for have it I +must;' what are they doing then but denying that the kingdom, the +power, and the glory of this earth belong to the Righteous God, and +that He, and not the lying Devil, gives them to whomsoever He will? + +When people say to themselves (as who does not at moments?) 'To be +rich is to be safe; a man's life does consist in the abundance of +what he possesses;' what are they doing but saying that man does +_not_ live by every word which proceeds out of the mouth of God, but +by what he can get for himself and keep for himself? When they are +fretful and anxious about their crops, when they even repine and +complain of Providence, as I have known men do because they do not +prosper as they wish, what are they doing but saying in their +hearts, 'The weather and the seasons are the lords and masters of my +good fortune, or bad fortune. I depend on them, and not on God, for +comfort and for wealth, and my Heavenly Father does _not_ know what +I have need of?' When parents send their girls out to field-work, +without any care about whom they talk with, to have their minds +corrupted by hearing filthiness and seeing immodest behaviour, what +are they doing but offering their daughters in sacrifice, not even +to Moloch, but to Mammon; saying to themselves, 'My daughter's +modesty, my daughter's virtue, is not of as much value as the paltry +money which I can earn by leaving her alone to learn wickedness, +instead of keeping watch over her, if she does work, that she may be +none the worse for her day's labour.' + +I might go on and give you a thousand instances more, but they all +come alike to this; that whensoever you fancy that you cannot earn +your daily bread without doing wrong yourself, or leaving your +children to learn wrong, then you do not believe that the kingdom, +the power, and the glory of this earth on which you work is your +Heavenly Father's. For if you did, you would be certain that gains, +large or small, got by breaking the least of His commandments, could +never prosper you, but must bring a curse and a punishment with +them; and you would be sure also, that because God is your Father, +and this earth and all herein is His, that He would feed you with +food sufficient for you, if you do but seek first His kingdom--that +is, try to learn His laws; and seek first His righteousness--that +is, strive and pray day by day to become righteous even as He is +righteous. + +Yes, my friends, this is one meaning, though only one, of St. John's +words, 'This is the victory which overcometh the world, even our +faith.' We all see the world full of pleasant things, for which we +long; of necessary things, too, without which we should starve and +die. And then the temptation comes to us to snatch at these things +for ourselves by any means in our power, right or wrong; like the +dumb animals who break out of their owners' field into the next, if +they do but see better pasturage there, or fight and quarrel between +themselves for food, each trying to get the most for himself and rob +his neighbour. So live the beasts, and so you and I, and every +human being shall be tempted to live, if we follow our natures, if +we forget that we are God's children, in God's kingdom, under the +laws of a Heavenly Father, who has shown forth His own love and +justice, His own kingdom, and power, and glory, in the person of the +Lord Jesus Christ. But if we remember that, if we remember daily +that the kingdom, and power, and glory is our Father's, then we +shall neither fear storms and blights, bad crops, or anything else +which is of the earth earthly. We shall fear nothing of that kind, +which can only kill the body, but only fear the evil Devil, lest, by +making us distrust and disobey our Heavenly Father, he should, after +he has killed, destroy both body and soul in hell. And as long as +we fear him, as long as we renounce him, as long as we trust utterly +in our Heavenly Father's love and justice, and in the love and +justice of His dear Son, the Man Christ Jesus, to whom all power is +given in heaven and earth--then out of the youngest child among us +will God's praise be perfected; for the youngest child among us, by +faith in God his Father, may look upon all heaven and earth, and +say, 'Great, and wonderful, and awful as this earth and skies may +be, I am more precious in the sight of God than sun, and moon, and +stars; for they are things: but I am a person, a spirit, an +immortal soul, made in the likeness of God, redeemed into the +likeness of God, sanctified into the likeness of God. This great +earth was here thousands and thousands of years before I was born, +and it will be here perhaps millions and millions of years after I +am dead; but it cannot harm _me_; it cannot kill _me_. When earth, +and sun, and stars are past away, I shall live for ever; for I am +the immortal child of an Immortal Father, the child of the +everlasting God. These things He only made: but me He begot unto +everlasting life, in Jesus Christ my Lord. I seem to depend on this +earth for food, for clothing, for comfort, for life itself: and yet +I do not do so in reality; for man doth not live by bread alone, but +by _every_ word which proceeds out of the mouth of God my Father. +In Him I have eternal life: a life which this earth did not give, +and cannot take away; a life which, by the mercy of my Father in +heaven, I trust and hope to be living when sun and earth, stars and +comets, are returned again to their dust, and blotted from the face +of heaven. For the kingdom, the glory, and the power of this world, +and all other worlds, past, present, and to come, belong to Him who +spared not His only-begotten Son, but freely gave Him for us, and +will with Him freely give us all things.' + +And thus, my friends, may God's praise be perfected out of the mouth +of any Christian child, when He declares that God put man a little +lower than the angels only to crown him with the glory and worship +of having the only-begotten Son of God take man's nature upon Him, +and walk this earth as a man, and live, and die, and rise again as a +man, that so He might raise fallen man again to the glory and honour +which God appointed for men from the beginning, when He said, Let us +make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have +dominion over the fish of the sea and the fowl of the air, and the +beast of the earth; and be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the +earth and subdue it. + + + +SERMON XI. AHAB AND NABOTH + + + +1 Kings xxi. 2, 3. And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy +vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is +near unto my house: and I will give thee for it a better vineyard +than it; or, if it seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of +it in money. And Naboth said unto Ahab, The Lord forbid it me, that +I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee. + +You heard to-day read for the first lesson, the story of Naboth and +King Ahab. Most of you know it well. Naboth's vineyard has passed +into a proverb for something which we covet. + +It is good that it should be so. We cannot know our Bible too well; +we cannot have Bible words and Bible thoughts too much worked into +our ways of talking and thinking about everyday matters. As far as +I can see, the best days of England, the best days of every +Christian country of which I ever read, have been days when men were +not ashamed of their Bibles; when they were ready to live by their +Bibles; to ask advice of their Bibles about buying and selling, +about making war and peace, about all the business of life; and were +not ashamed to quote texts of Scripture in the parliament, and in +the market, and in the battle-field, as God's law, God's rule, God's +word about the matter in hand, which was, therefore, sure to be the +right word and the right rule. People are grown ashamed of doing so +now-a-days; but that does not alter the matter one jot. We may deny +God, but He cannot deny Himself. His laws are everlasting, and He +is ruling and judging us by them now, all day long, just as much as +He ruled and judged those Jews by them of old. The God of Abraham +is our God; the God of Moses is our God; the God of Ahab and Naboth +is our God; neither He nor His government are altered in the least +since their time, and they never will alter for ever, and ever, and +ever; and if we do not choose to believe that now in this life, we +shall be made to believe it by some very ugly and painful schooling +in the life to come. + +What laws of God, now, can we learn from this story? + +First, we may learn what a sacred thing _property_ is. That a man's +possessions (if they be justly come by) belong to him, in the sight +of God as well as in the sight of man, and that God will uphold and +avenge the man's right. + +Naboth, you see, stands simply on his right to his own property. +'The Lord forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my +fathers unto thee.' I do not think that he meant that God had +actually forbidden him: it seems to have been only some sort of +oath which he used. He may certainly have had reasons for thinking +it wrong to part with his lands; hurtful, perhaps, to his family +after him. Yet, as Ahab had promised him a better vineyard for it, +or its worth in money, I cannot help thinking that Naboth's reason +was the one which shows on the face of his words. It was the +inheritance of his fathers, this vineyard. They had all worked in +it, generation after generation; perhaps, according to the Jewish +custom, they were buried somewhere in it; at least, it had been +theirs and now was his; he had worked in it, and played in it-- +perhaps since he was a child--and he loved it; it was part and +parcel of his father's house to him, a sacred spot. + +And so it should be. It is a holy feeling which makes a man cling +to the bit of land which he has inherited from his parents, even to +the cottage, though it be only a hired one, where he has lived for +many a year, and where he has planted and tilled, perhaps with some +that he loved, who are now dead and gone, or grown up and gone out +into the world, till the little old cottage-garden is full of +remembrances to him of past joys and past sorrows. The feeling +which makes a man cling to his home and to his own land is a good +feeling, and breeds good in the man. It makes him respect himself; +it keeps him from being reckless and unsettled. It is a feeling +which should not be broken through. It is seldom pleasant to see +land change hands; it is seldom pleasant to see people turned out of +their cottages. It must often be so, but let it be as seldom as +possible. One likes to see a family take root in a place, and grow +and thrive there, one generation after another; and you will find, +my friends, that families do take root and thrive in a place just in +proportion as they fear God and do righteousness. The Psalms tell +you, again and again, that the way to abide in the land, and prosper +in it, is to trust in the Lord and be doing good; and that the +wicked are soon rooted out, and their names perish out of the land. +One sees that come true daily. + +But to return to Naboth. He loved his own land, and therefore he +had a right to keep it. We may say it was but a fancy of his, if he +could have a better vineyard, or the worth of it in money. +Remember, at least, that God respected that fancy of his, and +justified it, and avenged it. When (after Naboth's death) Elijah +accused Ahab, in God's name, he put two counts into the indictment; +for Ahab had committed two sins. 'Hast thou killed, and also taken +possession?' Killing was one sin; taking possession was another. + +And so Ahab learnt two weighty and bitter lessons. He learnt that +God's Law stands for ever, though man's law be broken or be +forgotten by disuse. For you must understand, that these Jews were +a free people, even as we are. They were not like the nations round +about them, or as the Russians are now--slaves to their king, and +holding their property only at his will. The law of Moses had made +them a free people, who held their property each man from God, by +God's Law, which had said, 'Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not +covet. Cursed is he who removes his neighbour's landmark.' And +their kings were bound to govern by Moses' law, just as our kings +and rulers are bound to govern by the old constitutions of England, +and to do equal justice by rich and poor. But the wicked kings of +Israel were trying to break through that law, and make themselves +tyrants and despots, such as the Czar of Russia is now. First, +Jeroboam began by trying to wean his people from Moses' law, by +preventing their going up to worship at Jerusalem, and making them +worship instead the golden calves at Dan and at Bethel. For he knew +that if he could make idolaters of them, he should soon make slaves +of them; and he succeeded; and the kingdom of Israel grew more +miserable year by year; and now Ahab, his wicked successor, was +breaking down the laws of property and wrongfully taking away his +subjects' lands. Perhaps he said in his heart, 'I am king; there is +no law stronger than I. I have a right to do what I like.' If he +did so, he found that he was mistaken. He found that though he +forgot Moses' law, God had not; that the law stood there still, +because it was founded on eternal justice, which proceeds for ever +out of the mouth of God; and by the Law, which he had chosen to +forget, he was judged; by the Law of God, which deals equal justice +to rich and poor, which is, like God Himself, no acceptor of +persons; but says, 'Thou shalt not covet,' to the king upon his +throne as sternly as to the beggar on the dunghill. + +And that Law stands still, my friends, doubt it not. Thanks to the +wisdom and justice of our forefathers who built the laws of England +on those old Ten Commandments, which hang for a sign thereof in +every church to this day. Thanks to them, I say, and to God, the +root of the law of England is, equal justice between man and man, be +he high or low; and it is a thing to bless God for every day of our +lives, that here the poor man's little is as safe as the rich man's +wealth: but there is many a sin of oppression, many a sin of +covetousness, my friends, which no law of man can touch. Make laws +as artfully as you will, bad men can always slip through them, and +escape the spirit of them, while they obey the letter: and I +suppose it will be so to the world's end; and that, let the laws be +as perfect as they may, if any man wishes to cheat or oppress his +neighbour, he will surely be able to work his wicked will in some +way or other. Well then, my friends, if man's law is weak, God's is +not;--if man's law has flaws and gaps in it, through which +covetousness can creep, God's has none;--even if (which God forbid) +man's law died out, and sinners were left to sin without fear of +punishment, still God's Law stands sure, and the eye of the living +God slumbers not, and the hand of the living God never grows weary, +and out of the everlasting heaven His voice is saying, day and +night, for ever, 'I endure for ever. I sit on the throne judging +right; a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of My kingdom. I +judge the world in justice, and minister true judgment unto the +people. I also will be a refuge for the oppressed, even a refuge in +due time of trouble.' + +O hear those words, my friends! hear and obey, if you love life, and +wish to see good days; and never, never say a thing is right, simply +because the law cannot punish you for it. Never say in your hearts +when you are tempted to be hard, cruel, covetous, over-reaching, +'What harm? I break no law by it.' There is a law, whether you see +it or not; you break a law, whether you confess it or not; a law +which is as a wall of iron clothed with thunder, though man's law be +but a flimsy net of thread; and that law, and not any Acts of +Parliament, shall judge you in the day when the secrets of all +hearts shall be disclosed, and every man shall receive the due +reward of the deeds done in the body, not according as they were +allowed or not by the Statute Book, but according as they were good +or evil. + +Another lesson we may learn from this story: that if we give way to +our passions, we give way to the Devil also. Ahab gave way to his +passion; he knew that he was wrong; for when Naboth refused to sell +him the vineyard, he did not dare openly to rob him of it; he went +to his house heavy of heart, and fretted, like a spoilt child, +because he could not get what he wanted. It was but a little thing, +and he might have been content to go without it. He was king of all +Israel, and what was one small vineyard more or less to him? But +prosperity had spoilt him; he must needs have every toy on which he +set his heart, and he was weak enough to fret that he could not get +more, when he had too much already. But he knew that he could not +get it; that, king as he was, Naboth's property was his own, and +that God's everlasting Law stood between him and the thing he +coveted. Well for him if he had been contented with fretting. But, +my friends--and be you rich or poor, take heed to my words--whenever +any man gives way to selfishness, and self-seeking, to a proud, +covetous, envious, peevish temper, the Devil is sure to glide up and +whisper in his ear thoughts which will make him worse--worse, ay, +than he ever dreamt of being. First comes the flesh, and then the +Devil; and if the flesh opens the door of the heart, the Devil steps +in quickly enough. First comes the flesh: fleshly, carnal pride at +being thwarted; fleshly, carnal longing for a thing, which longs all +the more for it because one cannot have it; fleshly, carnal +peevishness and ill-temper, at not having just the pleasant thing +one happens to like. That is a state of mind which is a bird-call +for all the devils; and when they see a man in that temper, they +flock to him, I believe, as crows do to carrion. It is astonishing, +humbling, awful, my friends, what horrible thoughts will cross one's +mind if once one gives way to that selfish, proud, angry, longing +temper; thoughts of which we are ashamed the next moment; +temptations to sin at which we shudder, they seem so unlike +ourselves, not parts of ourselves at all. When the dark fit is +past, one can hardly believe that such wicked thoughts ever crossed +one's mind. I don't think that they are part of ourselves; I +believe them to be the whispers of the Devil himself; and when they +pass away, I believe that it is the Lord Jesus Christ who drives +them away. But if any man gives way to them, determines to keep his +sullenness, and so gives place to the Devil; then those thoughts do +not pass; they take hold of a man, possess him, as the Bible calls +it, and make him in his madness do things which--alas! who has not +done things in his day, of which he has repented all his life +after?--things for which he would gladly cut off his right hand for +the sake of being able to say, 'I never did that?' But the thing is +done--done to all eternity: he has given place to the Devil, and +the Devil has made him do in five minutes work which he could not +undo in five thousand years; and all that is left is, when he comes +to himself, to cast himself on God's boundless mercy, and Christ's +boundless atonement, and cry, 'My sins are like scarlet, Thou alone +canst make them whiter than snow: my sin is ever before me; only +let it not be ever before Thee, O God! Punish me, if thou seest +fit; but oh forgive, for there is mercy with Thee, and infinite +redemption!' And, thanks be to God's great love, he will not cry in +vain. Yet, oh, my friends, do not give place to the Devil, unless +you wish, forgiven or not, to repent of it to the latest day you +live. + +And this was Ahab's fate. He knew, I say, that he was wrong; he +knew that Naboth's property was his own, and dare not openly rob him +of it; and he went to his house, heavy of heart, and refused to eat; +and while he was in such a temper as that, the Devil lost no time in +sending an evil spirit to him. It was a woman whom he sent, +Jezebel, Ahab's own wife: but she was, as far as we can see, a +woman of a devilish spirit, cruel, proud, profligate, and unjust, as +well as a worshipper of the filthy idols of the Canaanites. Ahab's +first sin was in having married this wicked heathen woman: now his +sin punished itself; she tempted him through his pride and self- +conceit; she taunted him into sin: 'Dost thou now govern the +kingdom of Israel? I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth.' You +all remember how she did so; by falsely accusing Naboth of +blasphemy. Ahab seems to have taken no part in Naboth's murder. +Perhaps he was afraid; but he was a weak man, and Jezebel was a +strong and fierce spirit, and ruled him, and led him in this matter, +as she did in making him worship idols with her; and he was content +to be led. He was content to let others do the wickedness he had +not courage to carry out himself. He forgot that, as is well said, +'He who does a thing by another, does it by himself;' that if you +let others sin for you, you sin for yourself. Would to God, my +friends, that we would all remember this! How often people wink at +wrong-doing in those with whom they have dealings, in those whom +they employ, in their servants, in their children, because it is +convenient to them. They shut their eyes, and their hearts too, and +say to themselves, 'At all events, it is his doing and not mine; and +it is his concern; I am not answerable for other people's sins. I +would not do such a thing myself, certainly; but as it is done, I +may as well make the best of it. If I gain by it, I need not be so +very sharp in looking into the matter.' And so you see men who +really wish to be honest and kindly themselves, making no scruple of +profiting by other people's dishonesty and cruelty. Now the law +punishes the receiver of stolen goods almost as severely as the +thief himself: but there are many receivers of stolen goods, my +friends, whom the law cannot touch. The world, at times, seems to +me to be full of them; for every one, my friends, who hushes up a +cruel or a dishonest matter, because he himself is a gainer by it, +he is no better than the receiver of stolen goods, and he will find +in the day of the Lord, that the sin will lie at his door, as +Jezebel's sin lay at Ahab's. There was no need for Ahab to say, +'Jezebel did it, and not I.' The prophet did not even give him time +to excuse himself: 'Thus saith the Lord, Hast thou killed, and also +taken possession?' By taking possession of Naboth's vineyard, and +so profiting by his murder, he made himself partaker in that murder, +and had to hear the terrible sentence, 'In the place where dogs +licked the blood of Naboth, dogs shall lick thy blood, even thine.' + +Oh, my friends, whatsoever you do, keep clean hands and a pure +heart. If you touch pitch, it will surely stick to you. Let no +gain tempt you to be partaker of others men's sins; never fancy +that, because men cannot lay the blame on the right person, God +cannot. God will surely lay the burden on the man who helped to +make the burden; God will surely require part payment from the man +who profited by the bargain; so keep yourselves clear of other men's +sins, that you may be clear also of their condemnation. + +So Ahab had committed a horrible and great sin, and had received +sentence for it, and now, as I said before, there was nothing to be +done but to repent; and he did so, after his fashion. + +Ahab, it seems, was not an utterly bad man; he was a weak man, fond +of his own pleasure, a slave to his own passions, and easily led, +sometimes to good, but generally to evil. And God did not execute +full vengeance on him: his repentance was a poor one enough; but +such as it was, the good and merciful God gave him credit for it as +far as it went, and promised him that the worst part of his +sentence, the ruin of his family, should not come in his time. But +still the sentence against him stood, and was fulfilled. Not long +after, as we read in the second lesson, he was killed in battle, and +that not bravely and with honour (for if he had been, that would +have been but a slight punishment, my friends), but shamefully by a +chance shot, after he had disguised himself, in the cowardice of his +guilty conscience, and tried to throw all the danger on his ally, +good King Jehoshaphat of Judah; 'and they washed his chariot in the +pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood, according to the +word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah the prophet.' + +So ends one of the most clear and terrible stories in the whole +Bible, of God's impartial justice. May God give us all grace to lay +it to heart! We are all tempted, as Ahab was; rich or poor, our +temptation is alike to give place to the Devil, and let him lead us +into dark and deep sin, by giving way to our own fancies, longings, +pride, and temper. We are all tempted, as Ahab was, to over-reach +our neighbours in some way; I do not mean always in cheating them, +but in being unfair to them, in caring more for ourselves than for +them; thinking of ourselves first, and of them last; trying to make +ourselves comfortable, or to feed our own pride, at their expense. +Oh, my friends, whenever we are tempted to be selfish and grasping, +be sure that we are opening a door to the very Devil of hell +himself, though he may look so smooth, and gentle, and respectable, +that perhaps we shall not know him when he comes to us, and shall +take his counsels for the counsel of an angel of light. But be sure +that if it is selfishness which has opened the door of our heart, +not God, but the Devil, will come in, let him disguise himself as +cunningly as he will; and our only hope is to flee to Him in whom +there was no selfishness, the Lord Jesus Christ, who came not to do +His own will, but His Father's; not to glorify Himself, but His +Father; not to save His own life, but to sacrifice it freely, for +us, His selfish, weak, greedy, wandering sheep. Pray to Him to give +you His Spirit, that glorious spirit of love, and duty, and self- +sacrifice, by which all the good deeds on earth are done; which +teaches a man not to care about himself, but about others; to help +others, to feel for others, to rejoice in their happiness, to grieve +over their sorrows, to give to them, rather than take from them--in +one word, The Holy Spirit of God, which may He pour out on you, and +me, and all mankind, that we may live justly and lovingly, as +children of one just and loving Father in heaven. + + + +SERMON XII. THE LIGHT OF GOD + + + +[Preached for the Chelsea National Schools.] + +Ephesians v. 13. All things which are reproved are made manifest by +the light: for whatsoever is made manifest is light. + +This is a noble text, a royal text; one of those texts which forbid +us to clip and cramp Scripture to suit any narrow notions of our +own; which open before us boundless vistas of God's love, of human +knowledge, of the future of mankind. There are many such texts, +many more than we fancy; but this is one which is especially +valuable at the present time; one especially fit for a sermon on +education; for it is, as it were, the scriptural charter of the +advocate of education. It enables him boldly to say, 'There is +nothing I will refuse to teach; there is nothing which man shall +forbid me to teach; there is nothing which God has made in heaven or +earth about which I will not tell the truth boldly to the young.' + +For light comes from God. God is light, and in Him is no darkness +at all. And therefore He wishes to give light to His children. He +willeth not that the least of them should be kept in darkness about +any matter. Darkness is of the Devil; and he who keeps any human +soul in darkness, let his pretences be as reverent and as religious +as they may, is doing the Devil's work. Nothing, then, which God +has made will we conceal from the young. + +True, there are errors of which we will not speak to the young; but +they are not made by God: they are the works of darkness. Our duty +is to teach the young what God has made, what He has done, what He +has ordained; to make them freely partakers of whatsoever light God +has given us. Then, by means of that light, they will be able to +reprove the works of darkness. + +For whatsoever is made manifest is light. Our version says; +'Whatsoever makes manifest is light.' That is true, a noble truth; +but I should not be honest, if I did not confess that that is not +what St. Paul says here. He says, 'That which _is_ made manifest is +light.' On this the best commentators and scholars agree. Our old +translators have made a mistake, though in grammar only, and have +substituted one great truth for another equally great. + +'Whatsoever is made manifest is light.' We should have expected +this, if we are really Christians. If we have faith in God; if we +believe that God is worthy of our faith--a God whom we can trust; in +whom is neither caprice, deceit, nor darkness, but pure and perfect +light;--if we believe that we are His children, and that He wishes +us to be, like Himself, full of light, knowing what we are and what +the world is, because we know who God is;--if we believe that He +sent His Son into the world to reveal Him, to unveil Him, to draw +aside the veil which dark superstition and ignorance had spread +between man and God, and to show us the glory of God;--if we believe +this, then we shall be ready to expect that whatsoever is made +manifest would be light; for if God be light, all that He has made +must be light also. Like must beget like, and therefore light must +beget light, good beget good, love beget love; and therefore we +ought to expect that as true and sound knowledge increases, our +views of God will be more full of light. + +Yes, my friends; under the influence of true science God will be no +longer looked upon, as He was in those superstitions which we well +call dark, as a proud, angry, capricious being, as a stern +taskmaster, as one far removed from the sympathy of men: but as one +of whom we may cheerfully say, Thy name be hallowed, for Thy name is +Father; Thy kingdom come, for it is a Father's kingdom; Thy will be +done, for it is a Father's will; and in doing Thy will alone men +claim their true dignity of being the sons of God. + +Our views of our fellow-men will be more cheerful also; more full of +sympathy, comprehension, charity, hope; in one word, more full of +light. If it be true (and it is true) that God loves all, then we +should expect to find in all something worthy of our love. If it be +true that God willeth that none should perish, we should expect to +find in each man something which ought not to perish. If it be true +that God stooped from heaven, yea stoops from heaven eternally, to +seek and to save that which is lost, then we should have good hope +that our efforts to seek to save that which is lost will not be in +vain. We shall have hope in every good work we undertake, for we +shall know that in it we are fellow-workers with God. + +Our notions of the world--of God's whole universe, will become full +of light likewise. Do we believe that this earth was made by Jesus +Christ?--by Him who was full of grace and truth? Do we believe our +Bibles, when they tell us, that He hath given all created things a +law which cannot be broken; that they continue as at the beginning, +for all things serve Him? Do we believe this? Then we must look on +this earth, yea on the whole universe of God, as, like its Master, +full of grace and truth; not as old monks and hermits fancied it, a +dark, deceiving, evil earth, filled with snares and temptations; a +world from which a man ought to hide himself in the wilderness, and +find his own safety in ignorance. Not thus, but as the old Hebrews +thought of it, as a glorious and a divine universe, in which the +Spirit of God, the Lord and Giver of life, creates eternal melody, +bringing for ever life out of death, light out of darkness, letting +his breath go forth that new generations may be made, and herein +renew the face of the earth. + +And experience teaches us that this has been the case; that for near +one thousand eight hundred years there has been a steady progress in +the mind of the Christian race, and that this progress has been in +the direction of light. + +Has it not been so in our notions of God? What has the history of +theology been for near one thousand eight hundred years? Has it not +been a gradual justification of God, a gradual vindication of His +character from those dark and horrid notions of the Deity which were +borrowed from the Pagans, and from the Jewish Rabbis? a gradual +return to the perfect good news of a good God, which was preached by +St. John and by St. Paul?--In one word, a gradual manifestation of +God; and a gradual discovery that when God is manifested, behold, +God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all? + +That progress, alas! is not yet perfect. We still see through a +glass darkly, and we are still too apt to impute to God Himself the +darkness of those very hearts of ours in which He is so dimly +mirrored. And there are men still, even in Protestant England, who +love darkness rather than light, and teach men that God is dark, and +in Him are only scattered spots of light, and those visible only to +a favoured few; men who, whether from ignorance, or covetousness, or +lust of power, preach such a deity as the old Pharisees worshipped, +when they crucified the Lord of Glory, and offer to deliver men, +forsooth, out of the hands of this dreadful phantom of their own +dark imaginations. + +Let them be. Let the dead bury their dead, and let us follow +Christ. Believe indeed that He is the likeness of God's glory, and +the express image of God's person, and you will be safe from the +dark dreams with which they ensnare diseased and superstitious +consciences. Let them be. Light is stronger than darkness; Love +stronger than cruelty. Perfect God stronger than fallen man; and +the day shall come when all shall be light in the Lord; when all +mankind shall know God, from the least unto the greatest, and +lifting up free foreheads to Him who made them, and redeemed them by +His Son, shall in spirit and in truth, worship The Father. + +Does not experience again show us that in the case of our fellow- +men, whatsoever is made manifest, is light? + +How easy it was, a thousand years ago--a hundred years ago even, to +have dark thoughts about our fellow-men, simply because we did not +know them! Easy it was, while the nations were kept apart by war, +even by mere difficulty of travelling, for Christians to curse Jews, +Turks, Infidels, and Heretics, and believe that God willed their +eternal perdition, even though the glorious collect for Good Friday +gave their inhumanity the lie. Easy to persecute those to whose +opinions we could not, or would not, take the trouble to give a fair +hearing. Easy to condemn the negro to perpetual slavery, when we +knew nothing of him but his black face; or to hang by hundreds the +ragged street-boys, while we disdained to inquire into the +circumstances which had degraded them; or to treat madmen as wild +beasts, instead of taming them by wise and gentle sympathy. + +But with a closer knowledge of our fellow-creatures has come +toleration, pity, sympathy. And as that sympathy has been freely +obeyed, it has justified itself more and more. The more we have +tried to help our fellow-men, the more easy we have found it to help +them. The more we have trusted them, the more trustworthy we have +found them. The more we have treated them as human beings, the more +humanity we have found in them. And thus man, in proportion as he +becomes manifest to man, is seen, in spite of all defects and sins, +to be hallowed with a light from God who made him. + +And if it has been thus, in the case of God and of humanity, has it +not been equally so in the case of the physical world? Where are +now all those unnatural superstitions--the monkish contempt for +marriage and social life, the ghosts and devils; the astrology, the +magic, and other dreams of which I will not speak here, which made +this world, in the eyes of our forefathers, a doleful and dreadful +puzzle; and which made man the sport of arbitrary powers, of cruel +beings, who could torment and destroy us, but over whom we could +have no righteous power in return? Where are all those dark dreams +gone which maddened our forefathers into witch-hunting panics, and +which on the Continent created a priestly science of witch-finding +and witch-destroying, the literature whereof (and it is a large one) +presents perhaps the most hideous instance known of human cruelty, +cowardice, and cunning? Where, I ask, are those dreams now? So +utterly vanished, that very few people in this church know what a +great part they played in the thoughts of our forefathers; how +ghosts, devils, witches, magic, and astrology, filled the minds, not +only of the ignorant, but of the most learned, for centuries. + +And now, behold, nature being made manifest, is light. Science has +taught men to admire where they used to dread; to rule where they +used to obey; to employ for harmless uses what they were once afraid +to touch; and, where they once saw only fiends, to see the orderly +and beneficent laws of the all-good and almighty God. Everywhere, +as the work of nature is unfolded to our eyes, we see beauty, order, +mutual use, the offspring of perfect Love as well as perfect Wisdom. +Everywhere we are finding means to employ the secret forces of +nature for our own benefit, or to ward off physical evils which +seemed to our forefathers as inevitable, supernatural; and even the +pestilence, instead of being, as was once fancied, the capricious +and miraculous infliction of some demon--the pestilence itself is +found to be an orderly result of the same laws by which the sun +shines and the herb grows; a product of nature; and therefore +subject to man, to be prevented and extirpated by him, if he will. + +Yes, my friends, let us teach these things to our children, to all +children. Let us tell them to go to the Light, and see their +Heavenly Father's works manifested, and know that they are, as He +is, _Light_. I say, let us teach our children freely and boldly to +know these things, and grow up in the light of them. Let us leave +those to sneer at the triumphs of modern science, who trade upon the +ignorance and the cowardice of mankind, and who say, 'Provided you +make a child religious, what matter if he does fancy the sun goes +round the earth? Why occupy his head, perhaps disturb his simple +faith, by giving him a smattering of secular science?' + +Specious enough is that argument: but shortsighted more than +enough. It is of a piece with the wisdom which shrinks from telling +children that God is love, lest they should not be sufficiently +afraid of Him; which forbids their young hearts to expand freely +towards their fellow-creatures: which puts into their mouths the +watchwords of sects and parties, and thinks to keep them purer +Christians by making them Pharisees from the cradle. + +My friends, we may try to train up children as Pharisees: but we +shall discover, after twenty years of mistaken labour, that we have +only made them Sadducees. The path to infidelity in manhood is +superstition in youth. You may tell the child never to mind whether +the sun moves round the earth or not: but the day will come when he +will mind in spite of you; and if he then finds that you have +deceived him, that you have even left him in wilful ignorance, all +your moral influence over him is gone, and all your religious +lessons probably gone also. So true is it, that lies are by their +very nature self-destructive. For all truth is of God; and no lie +is of the truth, and therefore no lie can possibly help God or God's +work in any human soul. For as the child ceases to respect his +teachers he ceases to respect what they believe. His innate +instinct of truth and honour, his innate longing to believe, to look +up to some one better than himself, have been shocked and shaken +once and for all; and it may require long years, and sad years, to +bring him back to the faith of his childhood. Again I say it, we +must not fear to tell the children the whole truth; in these days +above all others which the world has yet seen. You cannot prevent +their finding out the truth: then for our own sake, let us, their +authorized teachers, be the first to tell it them. Let them in +after life connect the thought of their clergyman, their +schoolmaster, their church, with their first lessons in the free and +right use of their God-given faculties, with their first glimpses +into the boundless mysteries of art and science. Let them learn +from us to regard all their powers as their Heavenly Father's gift; +all art, all science, all discoveries, as their Heavenly Father's +revelation to men. Let them learn from us not to shrink from the +light, not to peep at it by stealth, but to claim it as their +birthright; to welcome it, to live and grow in it to the full +stature of men--rational, free, Christian English men. This, I +believe, must be the method of a truly Protestant education. + +I said Protestant--I say it again. What is the watchword of +Protestantism? It is this. That no lie is of the truth. There are +those who complain of us English that we attach too high a value to +TRUTH. They say that falsehood is an evil: but not so great a one +as we fancy. We accept the imputation. We answer boldly that there +can be no greater evil than falsehood, no greater blessing than +truth; and that by God's help we will teach the same to our +children, and to our children's children. Free inquiry, religious +as well as civil liberty--this is the spirit of Protestantism. This +our fathers have bequeathed to us; this we will bequeath to our +children;--to know that all truth is of God, that no lie is of the +truth. Our enemies may call us heretics, unbelievers, rebellious, +political squabblers. They may say in scorn, You Protestants know +not whither you are going; you have broken yourselves off from the +old Catholic tree, and now, in the wild exercise of your own private +judgment, you are losing all that standard of doctrine, all unity of +belief. Our answer will be--It is not so: but even if it were so-- +even if we did not know whither we were going--we should go forward +still. For though we know not, God knows. We have committed +ourselves to God, the living God; and He has led us; and we believe +that He will lead us. He has taught us; and we believe that He will +teach us still. He has prospered us, and we believe that He will +prosper us still: and therefore we will train up our children after +us to go on the path which has brought us hither, freely to use +their minds, boldly to prove all things, and hold fast that which is +good; manfully to go forward, following Truth whithersoever she may +lead them; trusting in God, the Father of Lights, asking Him for +wisdom, who giveth to all liberally, and upbraideth not; and it +shall be given them. + +I have been asked to preach this day for the National Schools of +this parish. I do so willingly, because I believe that in them this +course of education is pursued, that conjoined with a sound teaching +in the principles of our Protestant church, and a wholesome and +kindly moral training, there is free and full secular instruction as +far as the ages of the children will allow. Were it not the case, I +could not plead for these schools; above all at this time, when the +battle between ancient superstition and modern enlightenment in this +land seems fast coming to a crisis and a death struggle. I could +not ask you to help any school on earth in which I had not fair +proof that the teachers taught, on physical and human as well as on +moral subjects, the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the +truth, so help them God. + + + +SERMON XIII. PROVIDENCE + + + +Matthew vi. 31, 32, 33. Be not anxious, saying, What shall we eat? +or, what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall we be clothed? (for +after all these things do the heathen seek:) for your Heavenly +Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye +first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things +shall be added unto you. + +We must first consider carefully what this text really means; what +'taking no thought for the morrow' really is. Now, it cannot mean +that we are to be altogether careless and imprudent; for all +Scripture, and especially Solomon's Proverbs, give us the very +opposite advice, and one part of God's Word cannot contradict the +other. The whole of Solomon's Proverbs is made up of lessons in +prudence and foresight; and surely our Lord did not come to do away +with Solomon's Proverbs, but to fulfil them. And more, Solomon +declares again and again, that prudence and foresight are the gifts +of God; and God's gifts are surely meant to be used. Isaiah, too, +tells us that the common work of the farm, tilling the ground, +sowing, and reaping, were taught to men by God; and says of the +ploughman, that 'His God doth instruct him to discretion and doth +teach him.' Neither can God mean us to sit idle with folded hands +waiting to be fed by miracles. Would He have given to man reason, +and skill, and the power of bettering his mortal condition by ten +thousand instructions if He had not meant him to use those gifts? +We find that, at the beginning, Adam is put into the garden, not to +sit idle in it, nor to feed merely on the fruits which fall from the +trees, as the dumb animals do, but to dress it, and to keep it; to +use his own reason to improve his own condition, and the land on +which God had placed him. Was not the very first command given to +man to replenish the earth and subdue it? And do we not find in the +very end of Scripture the Apostles working with their own hands for +their daily bread? + +But what use of many words? It is absurd to believe anything else; +absurd to believe that man was meant to live like the butterfly, +flitting without care from flower to flower, and, like the +butterfly, die helpless at the first shower or the first winter's +frost. Whatever the text means, it cannot mean that. + +And it does not mean that. I suppose, that three hundred years ago +(when the Bible was translated out of the Greek tongue, in which the +Apostles wrote, into English), 'taking thought' meant something +different from what it does now: but the plain meaning of the text, +if it be put into such English as we talk now, is, 'Do not _fret_ +about the morrow. Be not anxious about the morrow.' There is no +doubt at all, as any scholar can tell you, that that is the plain +meaning of the word in our modern English, and that our Lord is not +telling us to be imprudent or idle, but not to be anxious and +fretful about the morrow. + +And more, I think if we look carefully at these words, we shall find +that they tell us the very reason why we are to work, and to look +forward, and to believe that God will bless our labour. + +And what is this reason? It is this, that we have a _Father_ in +heaven; not a mere Maker, not a mere Master, but a _Father_. All +turns on that one Gospel of all Gospels, _your Father in heaven_. +For our Lord seems to me to say, 'Be not anxious for your life, what +ye shall eat, or drink, or wear. Is not the life more than meat? +Has not your Heavenly Father given you a higher life than the mere +life which must be kept up by food, which He has given to the +animals? He has made you reasonable souls; He has given to you +wisdom from His own wisdom, and a share of the Light which lights +every man who comes into the world, the Light of Christ His Son; He +has created you in His own likeness, that like Him you may make +things, be makers and inventors, each in his place and calling, each +according to his talents and powers, even as your Heavenly Father, +the Maker and Creator of all things. And if He has given you all +these wonderful powers of mind and soul, surely He has given you the +less blessing, the mere power to earn your own food? If He has made +you so much wiser than the beasts, surely He has made you as wise as +the beasts.' 'And is not the body more than raiment?' Has He not +given you bodies which can speak, write, build, work, plant, in a +thousand cunning and wonderful ways; bodies which can do a thousand +nobler things than merely keep themselves warm, as the beasts do? +Then be sure, if He has given you the greater power, He has given +you the less also. And as for fine clothes and rich ornaments, 'Is +not the body more than raiment?' Is not your body a far more +beautiful and nobler thing than all the gay clothes with which you +can bedizen it? If your bodies be fair, strong, healthy, useful, it +matters little what clothes you put upon them. Why will you not +have faith in your Heavenly Father? Why will you not have faith in +the great honour which He put on you when He said at first, 'Let us +make man in our image, after our likeness, and let him have dominion +over all things on the earth'? Be sure, that God would not have +made man, and given him all these powers, and sent him upon this +earth, unless this earth had been a right good and fit place for +him. Be sure that if you obey the laws of this earth where God has +put you, you will never need to be anxious or fret; but you will +prosper right well, you and your children after you. For 'Consider +the fowls of the air, they neither sow, nor reap, and gather into +barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them; and are ye not much +better than they?' Surely you are, for you _can_ sow, and reap, and +gather into barns. And if God makes the earth work so well that it +feeds the fowls who cannot help themselves, how much more will the +earth feed you who _can_ help yourselves, because God has given you +understanding and prudence? But as for anxiety, fretting, repining, +complaining to God, 'Why hast Thou made me thus?' what use in that? +'Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit to his stature?' +Will all the fretting and anxiety in the world make you one foot or +one inch taller than you are? Will it make you stronger, wiser, +more able to help yourself? You are what you are: you can do what +God has given you power to do. Trust Him that He has made you +strong enough and wise enough to earn your daily bread, and to +prosper right well, if you will, upon this earth which He has made. +And why be anxious about clothing? 'Consider the lilies of the +field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin; and yet +Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.' But +man _can_ toil, man _can_ spin; your Heavenly Father has given to +man the power of providing clothes for himself, and not for himself +only, but for others; so that while the man who tills the soil feeds +the man who spins and weaves, the man who spins and weaves shall +clothe the man who tills the soil; and the town shall work for the +country, while the country feeds the town; and every man, if he does +but labour where God has put him, shall produce comforts for human +beings whom he never saw, who live perhaps in foreign lands across +the sea. For the Heavenly Father has knit together the great family +of man in one blessed bond of mutual need and mutual usefulness all +over the world; so that no member of it can do without the other, +and each member of it--each individual man--let him work at what +thing he will, can make many times more of that thing than he needs +for himself, and so help others while he earns his own living; and +so wealth and comfort ought to increase year by year among the whole +family of men, ay, and would increase, if it were not for sin. Yes, +my friends, if it were not for that same _sin_--if it were not that +men do not seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, +there would be no end, no bound to the wealth, the comfort, the +happiness of the children of men. Even as it is, in spite of all +man's sin, the world does prosper marvellously, miraculously; in +spite of all the waste, destruction, idleness, ignorance, injustice, +and folly which goes on in the world, mankind increases and +replenishes the earth, and improves in comfort and in happiness; in +spite of all, God is stronger than the Devil, life stronger than +death, wisdom stronger than folly, order stronger than disorder, +fruitfulness stronger than destruction; and they will be so, more +and more, till the last great day, when Christ shall have put all +enemies under His feet, and death is swallowed up in victory, and +all mankind is one fold under one Shepherd, Jesus Christ, the +righteous King of all. + +But some may ask, What does our Lord mean when He says, 'That if we +sought first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, all these +things should be added to us?' + +I cannot tell you altogether, my friends; for eye hath not seen, nor +ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive +what God has prepared for those who love Him. But this I can tell +you, that these things are taken _from_ men, instead of being added +to them, by their not seeking first God's kingdom and His +righteousness. I can tell you, as the Prophet does, that it is the +sins of man which withhold good things from him; because though, as +the Prophet says in the same place, God sends the good things, and +the former and latter rain in their season, and reserves to men +still the appointed weeks of harvest, yet men will not fear that +same Lord their God; and therefore those good things are wasted, and +mankind remains too often miserable in spite of God's goodness, and +starving in the midst of God's plenty. + +If you wish to know what I mean, look but once at this present war. +I do not complain of the war. I honour the war. I thank God from +the bottom of my heart for this great and glorious victory, and I +call on you to thank Him, too, for it. I am none of those who think +war sinful. I cannot do so, for I swore at my baptism to fight +manfully under Christ's banner against the world, the flesh, and the +Devil; and if we cannot reach the Devil and his works by any other +means, we must reach them as we are doing now, by sharp shot and +cold steel, and we must hold it an honourable thing, and few things +more honourable on earth, for a man to die fighting against evil +men, and an evil world-devouring empire, like that of Babylon of +old, or this of Russia now, that he may save not merely us who sit +here now, but our children's children, and generations yet unborn, +from Russian tyranny, and Russian falsehood, and Russian profligacy, +and Russian superstition. I say, I do not complain of this war; but +I ask you to look at the mere waste which it brings, the mere waste +of God's blessings. Consider all the skilful men now employed in +making cannon, shot, and powder to kill mortal men, who might every +one of them, in time of peace, have been employed in making things +which would feed, and clothe, and comfort mortal man. Consider that +very powder and shot itself, the fruit of so much labour and money, +made simply to be shot away, once for all, as if a man should spend +months in making some precious vessel, and then dash it to pieces +the moment it was made. Consider that Sevastopol alone; the +millions of money which it must have cost--the stone, the timber, +the iron, all used there--in making a mere robber's den, which might +all have been spent in giving employment and sustenance to whole +provinces of poor starving Russians. Consider those tens of +thousands of men, labouring day and night for months at those deadly +earthworks, whose strong arms might have been all tilling God's +earth, and growing food for the use of man. And then see the waste, +the want, the misery which that one place, Sevastopol, has caused +upon God's earth. + +And consider, too, the souls of mortal men, who have been wasted +there--no man knows how many, nor will know till the judgment day. +Two hundred thousand, at the least, they say, wasted about that +accursed place, within the last twelve months. Two hundred thousand +cunning brains, two hundred thousand strong right hands, two hundred +thousand willing hearts: what good might not each of those men have +done if he had been labouring peacefully at home, in his right place +in God's family! What might he not have invented, made, carried +over land and sea? None dead there but might have been of use in +his generation; and doubtless many a one who would have done good +with all his might, who would have been a blessing to those around +him; and now what is left of him on earth but a few bones beneath +the sod? Wasted--utterly wasted! Oh, consider how precious is one +man; consider how much good the weakest and stupidest of us all +might do, if he set himself with his whole soul to do good; consider +that the weakest and stupidest of us, even if he has no care for +good, cannot earn his day's wages without doing some good to the +bodies of his fellow-men; and then judge of the loss to mankind by +this one single siege of one single town; and think how many +stomachs must be the emptier, how many backs the barer, for this one +war; and then see how man wastes God's gifts, and wastes most of all +that most precious gift of all, men, living men, with minds, and +reasons, and immortal souls. + +And whence has all this waste come? Simply because these Russian +rulers have chosen to seek first, not God's kingdom, but their own. +Instead of behaving like God's ministers and God's stewards, and +asking, 'How would God our King have us rule His kingdom?' they have +laboured for their own power, conquering all the nations round them, +removing their neighbour's landmark, and wasting the wealth of their +country on armies, and fortresses, and fleets, with which they +intended to conquer more and more of the earth which did not belong +to them. Because, instead of seeking God's righteousness, and +saying to themselves, 'How shall we be righteous, even as our +Heavenly Father is righteous, and how shall we teach this great +people to be righteous likewise?' they have sought their own +pleasure, and lived in profligacy, covetous and cheating almost +beyond belief; and instead of behaving righteously to the people, or +teaching them to be righteous, they have crushed down the people, +stupefied and corrupted them by slavery, and maddened them by +superstitions which are not the righteousness of God, till they have +made them easy tools in their unjust wars, and are able to drive +them, even by force, like sheep to the slaughter, to die miserably +in a cause in which, even if those unhappy slaves conquered, they +would only rivet their own chains more tightly, and put more power +into the hands of the very rulers who are robbing them of their +earnings, dishonouring their daughters, and driving off their sons +to die in a foreign land. Ah, my friends, if these men had but +sought first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; if the great +wealth, and the wonderful industry and prudence of Russia had been +but spent in doing justly, and loving mercy, what a rich and +honourable country of brave and industrious Christian men might +Russia be; a blessing, and not a curse, to half the earth of God! + +Let us pray that she will become so, some day; and we may have hope +for her, for she is but young, and has time yet for repentance. + +But some may say--indeed, we are all ready enough to say--'Then the +evil of this war is the Russians' fault, and not ours; and so in +every other case. In every other evil and misery they are rather +other people's fault than ours. If we do our duty well enough, and +if other people would but do theirs, all would be well.' + +We are all apt to say this in our hearts. But our Lord does not say +so. His promise is to all mankind: but His promise is to each of +us also. When He says, Seek ye first God's kingdom and +righteousness, He speaks to you and to me, to every soul now here. +Believe it, my friends. The more that I see of life, the more I see +how much of our sorrow is our own fault; how much of our happiness +is in our own hands; and the more I see how little use there is in +finding fault with this government, or that, the more I see how much +use there is in every man's finding fault with himself, and taking +his share of the blame. + +I do not doubt that if the whole people of England, for the last +forty years, had sought first God's kingdom and God's righteousness, +and said to themselves in every matter, not merely 'What is +profitable for us to do?' but 'What is _right_ for us to do?' we +should have been spared the expenses and the sorrows of this war: +but as for blaming our government, my friends,--what they are we +are; we choose them, Englishmen like ourselves, and they truly +_represent us_. Not one complaint can we make against them, which +we may not as justly make against ourselves; and if we had been in +their places, we should have done what they did; for the seeds of +the same sins are in us; and we yield, each in his own household and +his own business, to the same temptations as they, to the sins which +so easily beset Englishmen at this present time. I say, frankly, I +see not one charge brought against them in the newspapers which +might not quite as justly be brought against me, and, for aught I +know, against every one of us here; and while we are not faithful +over a few things, what right have we to complain of them for not +having been faithful over many things? Believe, rather (I believe +it), that if we had been in their place, we should have done far +worse than they; and ask yourselves, 'Do _I_ seek first God's +kingdom and God's righteousness; for if I do not, what right have I +to lay the blame of my bad success on other men's not seeking them?' +To each of us, as much as to our government, or to the Russian +empire, is Christ's command; and each of us must take the +consequences, if we break it. Let us look at ourselves, and mend +ourselves, and try whether God's promise will not hold true for us, +each in his station, let the world round us go as it will. Be sure +that God is just, and that every man bears his own burden: that the +righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from Thee, O God! +Shall not the judge of all the earth do right? Be sure that those +who trust in Him shall never be confounded, though the earth be +moved, and the mountains carried into the midst of the sea, as it is +written, 'Trust in the Lord, and be doing good; dwell in the land, +and work where God has placed thee, and verily thou shalt be fed.' + +But have we done so, my friends? have we sought first God's kingdom +and His righteousness? have we not rather forgotten the meaning of +the text, and what God's kingdom is, and what His righteousness is? +Do not most people fancy that God's kingdom only means some pleasant +place to which people are to go after they die? and that seeking +God's righteousness only means having Christ's righteousness imputed +to us (as they call it), without our being righteous and good +ourselves? Do not most of us fancy that this very text means, 'Do +you take care of your souls, and God will take care of your bodies; +do you see after the salvation of your souls, and God will see after +the salvation of your bodies'? a meaning which, in the first place, +is not true, for God will do no such thing; and all the religion in +the world will not prevent a man's having to work for his daily +bread, or pay his debts for him without money; and a meaning which, +in the second place, people themselves do not believe; for religious +professors in general now are just as keen about money as +irreligious ones, and even more so; so that covetousness and +cunning, ambition and greediness to rise in life, seem now-a-days to +go hand in hand with a high religious profession; and those who +fancy themselves the children of light have become just as wise in +their generation as the children of this world whom they despise. + +No, my friends, that is not the meaning of the text; and when I ask +you, Have you obeyed the text? I do not ask you that question; but +one which I believe is something far more spiritual and more deep, +something at least which is far more heart-searching, and likely to +prick a man's conscience, perhaps to make him angry with me who ask. + +Do you seek first God's kingdom, or your own profit, your own +pleasure, your own reputation? Do you believe that you are in God's +kingdom, that He is your King, and has called you to the station in +which you are to do good and useful work for Him upon this earth of +His? Whatever be your calling, whether you be servant, labourer, +farmer, tradesman, gentleman, maid, wife, or widow, father, son, or +husband, do you ask yourself every day, 'Now what are the laws of +God's kingdom about this station of mine? what is my duty here? how +can I obey God, and His laws here, and do what He requires of me, +and so be a good servant, a good labourer, a good tradesman, a good +master, a good parish officer, a good wife, a good parent, pleasing +to God, useful to my neighbours and to my countrymen?' Or do you +say to yourselves, 'How can I get the greatest quantity of money and +pleasure out of my station, with the least trouble to myself?' My +dearest friends, ask yourselves, each of you, in which of these two +ways do you look at your own station in life? + +And do you seek first God's righteousness? There can be no mistake +as to what God's righteousness is; for God's righteousness must be +Christ's righteousness, seeing that He is the express image of His +Father. Now do you ask yourselves, 'How am I to be righteous in my +station, as Christ was in His? how can I do my Heavenly Father's +will, as Christ did? how can I behave like Christ in my station? how +would the Lord Jesus Christ have behaved, if He had been in my +place, when He was on earth?' My friends, that is the question, the +searching question, the question which must convince us all of sin, +and show us so many faults of our own to complain of, that we shall +find no time to throw stones at our neighbours. How would the Lord +Jesus Christ have behaved, if He had been in my place when He was +upon earth? + +My dear friends, till we can all of us answer that question somewhat +better than we can now, we have no need to look as far as Russia, or +as our forefathers' mistakes, or our rulers' mistakes, to find out +why this trouble and that trouble come upon us: for we shall find +the reason in our own selfish, greedy, self-willed hearts. + +Oh, my friends, let us each search our own lives, and repent, and +amend, and resolve to do our duty, as sons of God, in the station to +which God has called us, by the help of the Spirit of God, which He +has promised freely to those who ask Him. And now, this day, as we +thank God for this great victory, let us thank Him, not with our +lips merely, but with our lives, by living such lives as He loves to +see, such lives as He meant us to live, lives of loyalty to God, and +of usefulness to our brethren, and of industry and prudence in our +calling, and so help forward, each of us, however humble our +station, the glory of God; because we shall each of us, in the +cottage and in the field, in the shop and in the mansion, in this +our little parish, and therefore in the great nation of which it is +a part, help forward the fulfilment of those blessed words, Our +Father which art in heaven; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on +earth as it is in heaven; and therefore, also, the fulfilment of the +words which come after them, and not before them; Give us this day +our daily bread. + + + +SERMON XIV. ENGLAND'S STRENGTH + + + +2 Kings xix. 34. I will defend this city, to save it for mine own +sake. + +The first lesson for this morning's service is of the grandest in +the whole Old Testament; grander perhaps than all, except the story +of the passage of the Red Sea, and the giving of the Law on Sinai. +It follows out the story which you heard in the first lesson for +last Sunday afternoon, of the invasion of Judea by the Assyrians. +You heard then how this great Assyrian conqueror, Sennacherib, after +taking all the fortified towns of Judah, and sweeping the whole +country with fire and sword, sent three of his generals up to the +very walls of Jerusalem, commanding King Hezekiah to surrender at +discretion, and throw himself and his people on Sennacherib's mercy; +how proudly and boastfully he taunted the Jews with their weakness; +how, like the Russian emperor now, he called in religion as the +excuse for his conquests and robberies, saying, as if God's +blessings were on them, 'Am I now come up without the Lord against +this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, Go up against this +place to destroy it;' while all the time what he really trusted in +(as his own words showed) was what the Russian emperors trust in, +their own strength and the number of their armies. + +Jerusalem was thus in utter need and danger; the vast army of the +Assyrians was encamped at Lachish, not more than ten miles off; and +however strong the walls of Jerusalem might be, and however +advantageously it might stand on its high hill, with lofty rocks and +cliffs on three sides of it, yet Hezekiah knew well that no strength +of his could stand more than a few days against Sennacherib's army. +For these Assyrians had brought the art of war to a greater +perfection than any nation of the old world: they lived for war, +and studied, it seems, only how to conquer. And they have left +behind them very remarkable proofs of what sort of men they were, of +which I think it right to tell you all; for they are most +instructive, not merely because they prove the truth of Isaiah's +account, but because they explain it, and help us in many ways to +understand his prophecies. They are a number of sculptures and +paintings, representing Sennacherib, his army, and his different +conquests, which were painted by his command, in his palace; and +having been lately discovered there, among the ruins of Nineveh, +have been brought to England, and are now in the British Museum, +while copies of many of them are in the Crystal Palace. There we +see these terrible Assyrian conquerors defeating their enemies, +torturing and slaughtering their prisoners, swimming rivers, beating +down castles, sweeping on from land to land like a devouring fire, +while over their heads fly fierce spirits who protect and prosper +their cruelties, and eagles who trail in their claws the entrails of +the slain. The very expression of their faces is frightful for its +fierceness; the countenances of a 'bitter and hasty nation,' as the +Prophet calls them, whose feet were swift to shed blood. And as for +the art of war, and their power of taking walled towns like +Jerusalem, you may see them in these pictures battering down and +undermining forts and castles, with instruments so well made and +powerful, that all other nations who came after them, for more than +two thousand years, seem to have been content to copy from them, and +hardly to have improved on the old Assyrian engines. + +Such, and so terrible, they came up against Jerusalem: to attempt +to fight them would have been useless madness; and Hezekiah had but +one means of escaping from them, and that was to cast himself and +his people upon the boundless mercy, and faithfulness, and power of +God. + +And Hezekiah had his answer by Isaiah the prophet: and more than an +answer. The Lord took the matter into His own hand, and showed +Sennacherib which was the stronger, his soldiers and horses and +engines, or the Lord God; and so that terrible Assyrian army came +utterly to nought, and vanished off the face of the earth. + +Now, my friends, has this noble history no lesson in it for us? God +forbid! It has a lesson which ought to come nearer to our hearts +than to the hearts of any nation: for though we or our forefathers +have never been, for nearly three hundred years, in such utter need +and danger as Jerusalem was, yet be sure that we might have been so, +again and again, had it not been for the mercy of the same God who +delivered Jerusalem from the Assyrians. It is now three hundred +years ago that the Lord delivered this country from as terrible an +invader as Sennacherib himself; when He three times scattered by +storms the fleets of the King of Spain, which were coming to lay +waste this land with fire and sword: and since then no foreign foe +has set foot on English soil, and we almost alone, of all the +nations of Europe, have been preserved from those horrors of war, +even to speak of which is dreadful! Oh, my friends! we know not +half God's goodness to us! + +And if you ask me, why God has so blest and favoured this land, I +can only answer--and I am not ashamed or afraid to answer--I believe +it is on account of the Church of England; it is because God has put +His name here in a peculiar way, as He did among the Jews of old, +and that He is jealous for His Church, and for the special knowledge +of His Gospel and His Law, which He has given us in our Prayer-book +and in our Church Catechism, lighting therein a candle in England +which I believe will never be put out. It is not merely that we are +a Protestant country,--great blessing as that is,--it is, I believe, +that there is something in the Church of England which there is not +in Protestant countries abroad, unless perhaps Sweden: for every +one of them (except Sweden and ourselves) has suffered, from time to +time, invading armies, and the unspeakable horrors of war. In some +of them the light of the Gospel has been quenched utterly, and in +others it lingers like a candle flickering down into the socket. By +horrible persecutions, and murder, and war, and pillage, have those +nations been tormented from time to time; and who are we, that we +should escape? Certainly from no righteousness of our own. Some +may say, It is our great wealth which has made us strong. My +friends, believe it not. Look at Spain, which was once the richest +of all nations; and did her riches preserve her? Has she not +dwindled down into the most miserable and helpless of all nations? +Has not her very wealth vanished from her, because she sold herself +to work all unrighteousness with greediness? + +Some may say, It is our freedom which makes us strong. My friends, +believe it not. Freedom is a vast blessing from God, but freedom +alone will preserve no nation. How many free nations have fallen +into every sort of misery, ay, into bitter slavery, in spite of all +their freedom. How many free nations in Europe lie now in bondage, +gnawing their tongues for pain, and weary with waiting for the +deliverance which does not come? No, my friends, freedom is of +little use without something else--and that is loyalty; reverence +for law and obedience to the powers that be, because men believe +those powers to be ordained of God; because men believe that Christ +is their King, and they His ministers and stewards, and that He it +is who appoints all orders and degrees of men in His Holy Church. +True freedom can only live with true loyalty and obedience, such as +our Prayer-book, our Catechism, our Church of England preaches to +us. It is a Church meant for free men, who stand each face to face +with their Heavenly Father: but it is a Church meant also for loyal +men, who look on the law as the ordinance of God, and on their +rulers as the ministers of God; and if our freedom has had anything +to do (as no doubt it has) with our prosperity, I believe that we +owe the greater part of our freedom to the teaching and the general +tone of mind which our Prayer-book has given to us and to our +forefathers for now three hundred years. + +Not that we have listened to that teaching, or acted up to it: God +knows, we have been but too like the Jews in Isaiah's time, who had +the Law of God, and yet did every man what was right in his own +eyes; we, like them, have been hypocritical; we, like them, have +neglected the poor, and the widow, and the orphan; we, like them, +have been too apt to pay tithe of mint and anise, and neglect the +weightier matters of the law, justice, mercy, and judgment. When we +read that awful first chapter of Isaiah, we may well tremble; for +all the charges which he brings against the Jews of his time would +just as well apply to us; but yet we can trust in the Lord, as +Isaiah did, and believe that He will be jealous for His land, and +for His name's sake, and not suffer the nations to say of us, 'Where +is now their God?' We can trust Him, that if He turn His hand on +us, as He did on the Jews of old, and bring us into danger and +trouble, yet it will be in love and mercy, that He may purge away +our dross, and take away all our alloy, and restore our rulers as at +the first, and our counsellors as at the beginning, that we may be +called, 'The city of righteousness, the faithful city.' True, we +must not fancy that we have any righteousness of our own, that we +merit God's favour above other people; our consciences ought to tell +us that cannot be; our Bibles tell us that is an empty boast. Did +we not hear this morning, 'Bring forth fruits meet for repentance: +and think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our +father; for God is able of these stones to raise up children to +Abraham.' But we may comfort ourselves with the thought that there +is One standing among us (though we see Him not) who will, ay, and +does, 'baptize us with the Holy Ghost and with fire, whose fan is in +His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather the +wheat into His garner,' for the use of our children after us, and +the generations yet unborn, while the chaff, all among us which is +empty, and light, and rotten, and useless, He will burn up (thanks +be to His holy name) with fire unquenchable, which neither the +falsehood and folly of man, nor the malice of the Devil, can put +out, but which will purge this land of all its sins. + +This is our hope, and this is the cause of our thankfulness. For +who but we should be thankful this day that we are Englishmen, +members of Christ's Church of England, inhabitants of, perhaps, the +only country in Europe which is not now perplexed with fear of +change, while men's hearts fail them for dread, and looking for +those things which are coming on the earth? a country which has +never seen, as all the countries round have seen, a foreign army +trampling down their crops, burning their farms, cutting down their +trees, plundering their towns, destroying in a day the labour of +years, while women are dishonoured, men tortured to make them give +up their money, the able-bodied driven from their homes, ruined and +wanderers, and the sick and aged left to perish of famine and +neglect. My friends, all these things were going on but last year +upon the Danube. They are going on now in Asia: even with all the +mercy and moderation of our soldiers and sailors, we have not been +able to avoid inflicting some of these very miseries upon our own +enemies; and yet here we are, going about our business in peace and +safety in a land in which we and our forefathers have found, now for +many a year, that just laws make a quiet and prosperous people; that +the effect of righteousness is peace, and the fruit of +righteousness, quietness and assurance for ever;--a land in which +the good are not terrified, the industrious hampered, and the greedy +and lawless made eager and restless by expectation of change in +government; but every man can boldly and hopefully work in his +calling, and 'whatsoever his hand finds to do, do it with all his +might,' in fair hope that the money which he earns in his manhood he +will be able to enjoy quietly in his old age, and hand it down +safely to his children, and his children's children;--a land which +for hundreds of years has not felt the unspeakable horrors of war; a +land which even now is safely and peacefully gathering in its +harvest, while so many countries lie wasted with fire and sword. +Oh, my friends, who made us to differ from others, or what have we +that we did not receive? Not to ourselves do we owe our blessings; +hardly even to our wise forefathers: but to God Himself, and the +Spirit of God which was with them, and is with us still, in spite of +all our shortcomings. We owe it to our wise Constitution, to our +wise Church, the principle of which is that God is Judge and Christ +is King, in peace as well as in war, in times of quiet as well as in +times of change; I say, to our wise Constitution and to our wise +Church, which teach us that all power is of God; that all men who +have power, great or small, are His stewards; that all orders and +degrees of men in His Holy Church, from the queen on the throne to +the labourer in the harvest-field, are called by God to their +ministry and vocation, and are responsible to God for their conduct +therein. How then shall we show forth our thankfulness, not only in +our lips, but in our lives? How, but by believing that very +principle, that very truth which He has taught us, and by which +England stands, that we are God's people, and God's servants? He +has indeed showed us what is good, and our fathers before us; and +what does the Lord require of us in return, but to do the good which +He has showed us, to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly +with our God? + +Oh, my friends, come frankly and joyfully to the Lord's Table this +day. Confess your sins and shortcomings to Him, and entreat Him to +enable you to live more worthily of your many blessings. Offer to +Him the sacrifice of your praise and thankfulness, imperfect though +it is, and join with angels and archangels in blessing Him for what +He is, and what He has been to you: and then receive your share of +_His_ most perfect sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, the bread +and the wine which tell you that you are members of His Church; that +His body gives you whatsoever life and strength your souls have; +that His blood washes out all your sins and shortcomings; that His +Spirit shall be renewed in you day by day, to teach you to do the +good work which He has prepared already for you, and to walk in the +old paths which have led our forefathers, and will lead us too, I +trust, safe through the chances and changes of this mortal life, and +the fall of mighty kingdoms, towards that perfect City of God which +is eternal in the heavens. + + + +SERMON XV. THE LIFE OF GOD + + + +Ephesians iv. 17, 18. That ye walk not as other Gentiles walk, in +the vanity of their mind, being alienated from the life of God +through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of +their heart. + +You heard these words read in the Epistle for to-day. I cannot +expect that you all understood them. It is no shame to you that you +did not. Some of them are long and hard Latin words. Some of them, +though they are plain English enough, are hard to understand because +they have to do with deep matters, which can only be understood by +the help of God's Spirit. And even with the help of God's Spirit we +cannot any of us expect to understand _all_ which they mean: we +cannot expect to be as wise as St. Paul; for we must be as good as +St. Paul before we can be as wise about goodness as he was. I do +not pretend to understand all the text myself: no, not half, nor a +tenth part of what it very likely means. But I do seem to myself to +understand a little about it, by the help and blessing of God; and +what little of it I do understand, I will try to make you understand +also. + +For the words in the text belong to you as much as to me, or to St. +Paul himself. What is true for one man, is true for every man. +What is right for one man, is right for every man. What God +promises for one man, He promises to every man. Man or woman, black +or white, rich or poor, scholar or unlearned, there is no respect of +persons with Him. 'In Christ Jesus,' says St. Paul, 'there is +neither male nor female, slave nor freeman, Jew who fancies that +God's promises belong to him alone, or Gentile who knows nothing +about them, clever learned Greek, or stupid ignorant Barbarian.' + +It is enough for God that we are all men and women bearing the +flesh, and blood, and human nature which His Son Jesus Christ wore +on earth. If we are baptized, we belong to Him: if we are not +baptized, we ought to be; for we belong to Him just as much. Every +man may be baptized; every man may be regenerate; God calls all to +His grace and adoption and holy baptism, which is the sign and seal +of His adoption; and therefore, what is right for the regenerate +baptized man, is right for the unregenerate unbaptized man; for the +Christian and for the heathen there is but one way, one duty, one +life for both, and that is the life of God, of which St. Paul speaks +in the text. + +Now of this life of God I will speak hereafter; but I mention it +now, because it is the thing to which I wish to bring your thoughts +before the end of the sermon. + +But first, let us see what St. Paul means, when he talks about the +Gentiles in his day. For that also has to do with us. I said that +every man, Christian or heathen, has the same duty, and is bound to +do the same right; every man, Christian or heathen, if he sins, +breaks his duty in the same way, and does the same wrong. There is +but one righteousness, the life of God; there is but one sin, and +that is being alienated from the life of God. One man may commit +different sorts of sins from another; one may lie, another may +steal: one may be proud, another may be covetous: but all these +different sins come from the same root of sin; they are all flowers +of the same plant. And St. Paul tells us what that one root of sin, +what that same Devil's plant, is, which produces all sin in +Christian or Heathen, in Churchman or Dissenter, in man or woman-- +the one disease, from which has come all the sin which ever was done +by man, woman, or child since the world was made. + +Now, what is this one disease, to which every man, you and I, are +all liable? Why it is that we are every one of us worse than we +ought to be, worse than we know how to be, and, strangest of all, +worse than we wish and like to be. + +Just as far as we are like the heathen of old, we shall be worse +than we know how to be. For we are all ready enough to turn +heathens again, at any moment, my friends; and the best Christian in +this church knows best that what I say is true; that he is beset by +the very same temptations which ruined the old heathens, and that if +he gave way to them a moment they would ruin him likewise. For what +does St. Paul say was the matter with the old heathens? + +First he says, 'Their understanding was darkened.' But what part of +it? What was it that they had got dark about and could not +understand? For in some matters they were as clever as we, and +cleverer. What part of their understanding was it which was +darkened? St. Paul tells us in the first chapter of the Epistle to +the Romans. It was their hearts--their reason, as we should say. +It was about God, and the life of God, that they were dark. They +had not been always dark about God, but they were _darkened_; they +grew more and more dark about Him, generation after generation; they +gave themselves up more and more to their corrupt and fallen nature, +and so the children grew worse than their fathers, and their +children again worse than them, till they had lost all notion of +what God was like. For from the very first all heathens have had +some notion of what God is like, and have had a notion also, which +none but God could have given them, that men ought to be like God. +God taught, or if I may so speak, tried to teach, the heathen, from +the very first. If God had not taught them, they would not have +been to blame for knowing nothing of God. For as Job says, 'Can man +by searching find out God?' Surely not; God must teach us about +Himself. Never forget that man cannot find God; God must show +Himself to man of His own free grace and will. God must reveal and +unveil Himself to us, or we shall never even fancy that there is a +God. And God did so to the heathen. Even before the Flood, God's +Spirit strove with man; and after the Flood we read how the Lord, +Jesus Christ the Son of God, revealed Himself in many different ways +to heathens. To Pharaoh, king of Egypt, in Abraham's times; and +again to Abimelech, king of Gerar; and again to Pharaoh and his +servants, in Joseph's time; and to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, +and to Cyrus, king of Persia; and no doubt to thousands more. +Indeed, no man, heathen or Christian, ever thought a single true +thought, or felt a single right feeling, about God or man, or man's +duty to God and his neighbour, unless God revealed it to him +(whether or not He also revealed _Himself_ to the man and showed him +_who_ it was who was putting the right thought into his mind): for +every right thought and feeling about God, and goodness, and duty, +are the very voice of God Himself, the word of God whereof St. John +speaks, and Moses and the prophets speak, speaking to the heart of +sinful man, to enlighten and to teach him. And therefore, St. Paul +says, the sinful heathen were without excuse, because, he says, +'that which may be known of God is manifest, that is plain, among +them, for God hath showed it to them. For the invisible things of +Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being +understood by the things which are made, even His eternal power and +Godhead; so that they are without excuse.' 'But these heathens,' he +says, 'did not like to retain God in their knowledge; and when they +knew God, did not glorify Him as God, and changed the glory of the +Incorruptible God into the likeness of corruptible man, and beasts +and creeping things.' And so they were alienated from the life of +God; that is, they became strangers to God's life; they forgot what +God's life and character was like: or if they even did awake a +moment, and recollect dimly what God was like, they hated that +thought. They hated to think that God was what He was, and shut +their eyes, and stopped their ears as fast as possible. + +And what happened to them in the meantime? What was the fruit of +their wilfully forgetting what God's life was? St. Paul tells us +that they fell into the most horrible sins--sins too dreadful and +shameful to be spoken of; and that their common life, even when they +did not run into such fearful evils, was profligate, fierce, and +miserable. And yet St. Paul tells us all the while they knew the +judgment of God, that those who do such things are worthy of death. + +Now we know that St. Paul speaks truth, from the writings of +heathens; for God raised up from time to time, even among the +heathen Greeks and Romans, witnesses for Himself, to testify of Him +and of His life, and to testify against the sins of the world, such +men as Socrates and Plato among the Greeks, whose writings St. Paul +knew thoroughly, and whom, I have no doubt, he had in his mind when +he wrote his first chapter of Romans, and told the heathen that they +were without excuse. And among the Romans, also, He raised up, in +the same way, witnesses for Himself, such as Juvenal and Persius, +and others, whom scholars know well. And to these men, heathens +though they were, God certainly did teach a great deal about +Himself, and gave them courage to rebuke the sins of kings and rich +men, even at the danger of their lives; and to some of them he gave +courage even to suffer martyrdom for the message which God had given +them, and which their neighbours hated to hear. And this was the +message which God sent by them to the heathen: that God was good +and righteous, and that therefore His everlasting wrath must be +awaiting sinners. They rebuked their heathen neighbours for those +very same horrible crimes which St. Paul mentions; and then they +said, as St. Paul does, 'How you make your own sins worse by +blasphemies against God! You sin yourselves, and then, to excuse +yourselves, you invent fables and lies about God, and pretend that +God is as wicked as you are, in order to drug your own consciences, +by making God the pattern of your own wickedness.' + +These men saw that man ought to be like God; and they saw that God +was righteous and good; and they saw, therefore, that +unrighteousness and sin must end in ruin and everlasting misery. So +much God had taught them, but not much more; but to St. Paul he had +taught more. Those wise and righteous heathen could show their +sinful neighbours that sin was death, and that God was righteous. +But they could not tell them how to rise out of the death of sin, +into God's life of righteousness. They could preach the terrors of +the Law, but they did not know the good news of the Gospel, and +therefore they did not succeed; they did not convert their +neighbours to God. Then came St. Paul and preached to the very same +people, and he did convert them to God; for he had good news for +them, of things which prophets and kings had desired to see, and had +not seen them, and to hear, and had not heard them. + +For God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke to the +fathers by the prophets, at last spoke to all men by a Son, His +only-begotten Son, the exact likeness of His Father, the brightness +of His glory, and the express image of His person. He sent Him to +be a man: very man of the substance of His mother, the Blessed +Virgin Mary, at the same time that He was Very God, of the substance +of His Father, begotten before all worlds. + +And so God, and the life of God, was manifested in the flesh and +reasonable soul of a man; and from that time there is no doubt what +the life of God is; for the life of God is the life of Jesus Christ. +There is no doubt now what God is like, for God is like Jesus +Christ. No one can now say, 'I cannot see God, how then can you +expect me to be like God?' for He who has seen Jesus Christ, as His +character stands in the Gospels, has seen God the Father. No one +can say now, 'How can a man be like God, and live a life like God's +life?' for if any one of you say that, I can answer him: 'A man can +be like God; you can be like God; for there was once a man on earth, +Jesus, the son of the Blessed Virgin, who was perfectly like God.' +And if you answer, 'But He was like God, because He was God,' I can +say, 'And that is the very reason why you can be like God also.' If +Jesus Christ had been only a man, you could no more become like Him +than you can become clever because another man is clever, or strong +because another man is strong: but because He was God The Son of +God, He can give you, to make you like God, the same Holy Spirit +which made Him like God; for that Holy Spirit proceeds from Him, the +Son, as well as from the Father, and the Father has committed all +power to the Son; and therefore that same Man Christ Jesus has power +to change your heart, and renew it, and shape it to be like Him, and +like His Father, by the power of His Spirit, that you may be like +God as He was like God, and live the life of God which He lived; so +that the Lord Jesus Christ, because He was a man like God, showed +that all men can become like God; and because He was God, Very God +of Very God, He is able to make all who come to Him men like +Himself, men like God, and raise them up body and soul to the +everlasting life of God, that He may be the firstborn among many +brethren. + +Now what is this everlasting life of God, which the Lord Jesus +Christ lived perfectly, and which He can and will make every one of +us live, in proportion as we give up our hearts and wills to Him, +and ask Him to take charge of us, and shape us, and teach us? When +we read that blessed story of Him who was born in a stable, and laid +in a manger, who went about doing good, because God was with Him, +who condescended of His own freewill to be mocked, and scourged, and +spit upon, and crucified, that He might take away the sins of the +whole world, who prayed for His murderers, and blest those who +cursed Him--what sort of life does this life of God, which He lived, +seem to us? Is it not a life of love, joy, peace, long-suffering, +gentleness, goodness, patience, meekness? Surely it is; then that +is the likeness of God. God is love. And the Lord Jesus' life was +a life of love--utter, perfect, untiring love. He did His Father's +will perfectly, because He loved men perfectly, and to the death. +He died for those who hated Him, and so He showed forth to man the +name and glory of God; for God is love. The name of the Father, and +of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost is love; for love is justice and +righteousness, as it is written, 'Love worketh no ill to his +neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.' And God +is perfect love, because He is perfect righteousness; and perfect +righteousness, because He is perfect love; for His love and His +justice are not two different things, two different parts of God, as +some say, who fancy that God's justice had to be satisfied in one +way, and His love in another, and talk of God as if His justice +fought against His love, and desired the death of a sinner, and then +His love fought against His justice, and desired to save a sinner. +No wonder that those who hold such doctrines go further still, and +talk as if God the Father desired to destroy mankind, and would have +done it if God the Son had not interposed, and suffered Himself +instead; till they can fancy that they are Christians, and know God, +while they use the hideous words of a certain hymn, which speaks of + + +'The streaming drops of Jesu's blood +Which calmed the Father's frowning face.' + + +May God deliver and preserve us and our children from all such +blasphemous fables, which, like the fables of the old heathen, +change the glory of the Incorruptible God into the likeness of a +corruptible man, which deny the true faith, that God has neither +parts nor passions, by talking of His love and His justice as two +different things; which confound His persons by saying that the Son +alone does what the Father and the Holy Spirit do also, while they +divide His substance by making the will of the Son different from +the will of the Father, and deny that such as the Father is, such is +the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost, all three one perfect Love, and +one perfect Justice, because they are all three one God, and God is +love, and love is righteousness. + +Believe me, my friends, this is no mere question of words, which +only has to do with scholars in their libraries; it is a question, +the question of life and death for you, and me, and every living +soul in this church,--Do we know what the life of God is? are we +living it? or are we alienated from it, careless about it, disliking +it? + +For, as I said at the beginning of my sermon, we are all ready +enough to turn heathens again; and if we grow to forget or dislike +the life of God, we shall be heathen at heart. We may talk about +Him with our lips, we may quarrel and curse each other about +religious differences; but let us make as great a profession as we +may, if we do not love the life of God we shall be heathen at heart, +and we shall, sooner or later, fall into sin. The heathens fell +into sin just in proportion as their hearts were turned away from +the life of God, and so shall we. And how shall we know whether our +hearts are turned away, or whether they are right with God? Thus: +What are the fruits of God's Spirit? what sort of life does the +Spirit of God make man live? For the Spirit of God is God, and +therefore the life of God is the life which God's Spirit makes men +live; and what is that? a life of love and righteousness. + +The old heathens did not like such a life, therefore they did not +like to retain God in their knowledge. They knew that man ought to +be like God: and St. Paul says, they ought to have known what God +was like; that He was Love; for St. Paul told them He left not +Himself without witness, in that He sent them rain and fruitful +seasons, filling their hearts with food and gladness. That was, in +St. Paul's eyes, God's plainest witness of Himself--the sign that +God was Love, making His sun shine on the just and on the unjust, +and good to the unthankful and the evil--in one word, perfect, +because He is perfect Love. But they preferred to be selfish, +covetous, envious, revengeful, delighting to indulge themselves in +filthy pleasures, to oppress and defraud each other. Do you? + +For you can, I can, every baptized man can take his choice between +the selfish life of the heathens and the loving life of God: we may +either keep to the old pattern of man, which is corrupt according to +the deceitful lusts; or we may put on the new pattern of man, which +is after God's likeness, and founded upon righteousness and truthful +holiness. + +Every baptized man may choose. For he is not only bound to live the +life of God: every man, as the old heathen philosophers knew, is +bound to live it: but more. The baptized man _can_ live it: that +is the good news of his baptism. _You can_ live the life of God, +for you know what the life of God is--it is the life of Jesus +Christ. _You can_ live the life of God, for the Spirit of God is +with you, to cleanse your soul and life, day by day, till they are +like the soul and life of Christ. + +Then you will be, as the apostle says, 'a partaker of a divine +nature.' Then--and it is an awful thing to say--a thing past hope, +past belief, but I must say it--for it is in the Bible, it is the +word of the Blessed Lord Himself, and of His beloved apostle, St. +John: 'If a man love Me, he will keep my commandments, and my +Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode +with him.' 'And this is His commandment,' says St. John, 'That we +should love one another.' 'God is Love, and he who dwelleth in Love +dwelleth in God, and God in him.' + +God is Love. As I told you just now, the heathens of old might have +known that, if they had chosen to open their eyes and see. But they +would not see. They were dark, cruel, and unloving, and therefore +they fancied that God was dark, cruel, and unloving also. They did +not love Love, and therefore they did not love God, for God is Love. +And therefore they did not love loving: they did not enjoy loving; +and so they lost the Spirit of God, which is the Spirit of Love. +And therefore they did not love each other, but lived in hatred and +suspicion, and selfishness, and darkness. They were but heathen. +But if even they ought to have known that God was Love, how much +more we? For we know of a deed of God's love, such as those poor +heathen never dreamed of. God so loved the world, that He gave His +only-begotten Son to die for it. Then God showed what His eternal +life was--a life of love: then God showed what our eternal life is-- +to know Him who is Love, and Jesus Christ, whom He sent to show +forth His love: then God showed that it is the duty and in the +power of every man to live the life of God, the life of Love; for He +sent forth into the world His Spirit, the Spirit of Love, to fill +with love the heart of every man and woman who sees that Love is the +image of God, and longs to be loving, and therefore longs to be like +God; as it is written, 'Blessed are those who hunger and thirst +after righteousness, for they shall be filled:' for righteousness is +keeping Christ's commandment, and Christ's commandment is, that we +love one another. And to those who long to do that, God's Spirit +will come to fill them with love; and where the Spirit of God is, +there is also the Father, and there is also the Son; for God's +substance cannot be divided, as the Athanasian creed tells us (and +blessed and cheering words they are); and he who hath the Holy +Spirit of Love with him hath both the Father and the Son; as it is +written: 'If a man love Me, my Father will love him, and we will +come unto him, and make our abode with him.' + +And then, if we have God abiding with us, and filling us with His +Eternal Life, what more do we need for life, or death, or eternity, +or eternities of eternities? For we shall live in and with and by +God, who can never die or change, an everlasting life of love, +whereof St. Paul says, that though prophecies shall fail, and +tongues shall cease, and knowledge shall vanish away, because all +that we know now is but in part, and all that we see now is through +a glass darkly, yet Love shall never fail, but abide for ever and +ever. + + + +SERMON XVI. GOD'S OFFSPRING + + + +Galatians iv. 7. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; +and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. + +I say, writes St. Paul, in the epistle which you heard read just +now, 'that the heir, as long as he is a child, differs nothing from +a servant, though he be lord of all; but is under tutors and +governors, until the time appointed by his father. Even so,' he +says, we, 'when we were children, were in bondage under the elements +of the world: but when the fulness of time was come, God sent forth +His Son made of a woman, made under a law, to redeem them that were +under a law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.' + +When we were children. He is not speaking of the Jews only; for +these Galatians to whom he was writing were not Jews at all, any +more than we are. He was speaking to men simply as men. He was +speaking to the Galatians as we have a right to speak to all men. + +Nor does he mean merely when we were children in age. The Greek +word which he uses, means infants, people not come to years of +discretion. Indeed, the word which he uses means very often a +simpleton, an ignorant or foolish person; one who does not know who +and what he is, what is his duty, or how to do it. + +Now this, he says, was the state of men before Christ came; this is +the state of all men by nature still; the state of all poor +heathens, whether in England or in foreign countries. + +They are children--that is, ignorant and unable to take care of +themselves; because they do not know what they are. St. Paul tells +us what they are. That they are all God's offspring, though they +know it not. He likens them to young children, who, though they are +their father's heirs, have no more liberty than slaves have; but are +kept under tutors and masters, till they have arrived at years of +discretion, and are fit to take their places as their father's +_sons_, and to go out into the world, and have the management of +their own affairs, and a share in their father's property, which +they may use for themselves, instead of being merely fed and clothed +by, and kept in subjection to him, whether they will or not. This +is what he means by receiving the adoption of sons. He does not +mean that we are not God's children till we find out that we are +God's children. That is what some people say; but that is the very +exact contrary to what St. Paul used to say. He told the heathen +Athenians that they were God's children. He put them in mind that +one of their own heathen poets had told them so, and had said, 'We +are also God's offspring.' And so in this chapter he says, You were +God's children all along, though you did not know it. You were +God's heirs all along, although you differed nothing from slaves; +for as long as you were in your heathen ignorance and foolishness, +God had to treat you as His slaves, not as His children; and so you +were in bondage under the elements of the world, till the fulness of +time was come. + +And, then, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under a law, to +redeem those who were under a law--that is, all mankind. The Jews +were keeping, or pretending to keep, Moses' law, and trying to +please God by that. The heathens were keeping all manner of old +superstitious laws and customs about religion which their +forefathers had handed down to them. But heathens, and indeed Jews +too, at that time, all agreed in one thing. These laws and customs +of theirs about religion all went upon the notion of their being +God's slaves, and not his children. They thought that God did not +love them; that they must buy His favours. They thought religion +meant a plan for making God love them. + +Then appeared the love of God in Jesus Christ. As at this very +Christmas time, the Son of God, Jesus Christ the Lord, in whose +likeness man was made at the beginning, was born into the world, to +redeem us and all mankind. He told them of their Heavenly Father; +He preached to them the good news of the kingdom of God; that God +had not forgotten them, did not hate them, would freely forgive them +all that was past; and why? Because He was their Father, and loved +them, and loved them so that He spared not His only begotten Son, +but freely gave Him for them. And now God looks at us human beings, +not as we are in ourselves, sinful and corrupt, but he looks at us +in the light of Jesus Christ, who has taken our nature upon Him, and +redeemed it, and raised it up again, so that God can look on it now +without disgust, and henceforth no one need be ashamed of being a +man; for to be a man is to be in the likeness of God. Man was +created in the image and likeness of God, and who is the image and +likeness of God but Jesus Christ? Therefore man was created at +first in Jesus Christ, and now, as St. Paul says, he is created anew +in Jesus Christ; and now to be a man is to partake of the same flesh +and blood which the Lord Jesus Christ wore for us, when He was made +very man of the substance of his mother, and that without spot of +sin, to show that man need not be sinful, that man was meant by God +to be holy and pure from sin, and that by the Holy Spirit of Jesus +Christ we, every one of us, can become pure from sin. This is the +blessedness of Christmas-day. That one man, at least, has been born +into the world spotless and free from sin, that He might be the +firstborn of many brethren. This is the good news of Christmas-day. +That now, in Christ's light, and for Christ's sake, our Father looks +on us as His sons, and not His slaves. + +Therefore is every child who comes into the world baptized freely +into the name of God. Baptism is a sign and warrant that God loves +that child; that God looks on it as His child, not for itself or its +own sake, but because it belongs to Jesus Christ, who, by becoming a +man, redeemed all mankind, and made them His property and His +brothers. Therefore every child, when it is brought to be baptized, +promises, by its godfathers and godmothers, repentance and faith, +when it comes to years of understanding. It is not God's slave, as +the beasts are. It is God's child. But God does not wish it to +remain merely His child, under tutors and governors, forced to do +what is right outwardly, and whether it likes or not. God wishes +each of us to become His son, His grown-up and reasonable son. To +know who we are;--to work in His kingdom for Him;--to guide and +manage our own wills, and hearts, and lives in obedience to Him;--to +claim and take our share as men of God of the inheritance which He +has given us. And that we can only do by faith in Jesus Christ. We +must trust in Him, our Lord, our King, our Saviour, our Pattern. We +must confess that we are nothing in ourselves, that we owe all to +Him. We must follow in his footsteps, giving up our wills to God's +will, doing not our own works, but the good works which God has +prepared for us to walk in; and then we shall be truly confirmed; +not mere children of God, under tutors, governors, schoolmasters and +lawgivers, but free, reasonable, willing, hearty Christians, perfect +men of God, the sons of God without rebuke. + +Oh, my friends, will you claim your share in the Spirit of God, whom +the Lord bought for us with His precious blood, that Spirit who was +given you at your baptism, which may be daily renewed in you, if you +pray for it; who will strengthen and lift you up to lead lives +worthy of your high calling? Or will you, like Esau of old, despise +your birthright, and neglect to pray that God's Spirit may be +renewed in you, and so lose more and more day by day the thought +that God is your Father, and the love of holy and godlike things? +Alas! take care that, like Esau, you hereafter find no room for +repentance, though you seek it carefully with tears! It is a +fearful thing to despise the mercies of the living God; and when you +are called to be His sons, to fall back under the terrors of His +law, in slavish fears and a guilty conscience, and remorse which +cannot repent. + +And do not give way to false humility, says St. Paul. Do not say, +'This is too high an honour for us to claim.' Do not say, 'It seems +too conceited and assuming for us miserable sinners to call +ourselves sons of God. We shall please God better, and show +ourselves more reverent to Him, by calling ourselves His slaves, and +crouching and trembling before Him, as if we expected Him to strike +us dead, and making all sorts of painful and tiresome religious +observances, and vain repetitions of prayers, to win His favour;' or +by saying, 'We dare not call ourselves God's children yet; we are +not spiritual enough; but when we have gone through all the +necessary changes of heart, and frames, and feeling, and have been +convinced of sin, and converted, and received the earnest, God's +Spirit, by which we cry, Abba, Father! _then_ we shall have a right +to call ourselves God's children.' + +Not so, says St. Paul, all through this very Epistle to the +Galatians. That is not being reverent to God. It is insulting Him. +For it is despising the honour which He has given you, and trying to +get another honour of your own invention, by observances, and +frames, and feelings of your own. Do not say, 'When we have +received the earnest of God's Spirit, by which we can cry, Abba, +Father! _then_ we shall become God's children;' for it is just +because you _are_ God's children already--just because you have been +God's children all along, that God has taught you to call Him +Father. The Lord Jesus Christ told men that God was their Father. +Not merely to the Apostles, but to poor, ignorant, sinful wretches, +publicans and harlots, He spoke of their Father in heaven, who, +because He is a perfect Father, sends His sun to shine on the evil +and the good, and His rain to fall on the just and on the unjust. +The Lord Jesus Christ taught men--all men, not merely saints and +Apostles, but all men, when they prayed--to begin, 'Our Father.' He +told them that that was the manner in which they were to pray, and +therefore no other way of praying can we expect God to hear. No +slavish, terrified, superstitious coaxing and flattering will help +you with God. He has told you to call Him your Father; and if you +speak to Him in any other way, you insult Him, and trample under +foot the riches of His grace. + +This is the good news which the Bible preaches. This is the witness +of God's Spirit, proclaiming that we are the sons of God; and, says +St. Paul in another place, 'our spirit witnesses' to that glorious +news as well. We feel, we know--why, we cannot tell, but we feel +and know that we are the sons of God. When we are most calm, most +humble, most free from ill-temper and self-conceit, most busy about +our rightful work, then the feeling comes over us--I have a Father +in heaven. And that feeling gives us a strength, a peace, a sure +trust and hope, which no other thought can give. Yes, we are ready +to say, I may be miserable and unfortunate, but the Great God of +heaven and earth is my Father; and what can happen to me? I may be +borne down with the remembrance of my great sins; I may find it +almost too hard to fight against all my bad habits; but the Great +God who made heaven and earth is my Father, and I am His son. He +will forgive me for the past; He will help me to conquer for the +future. If I do but remember that I am God's son, and claim my +Father's promises, neither the world, nor the devil, nor my own +sinful flesh, can ever prevail against me. + +This thought, and the peace which it brings, St. Paul tells us is +none of our own; we did not put it into our own hearts; from God it +comes, that blessed thought, that He is our Father. We could never +have found it out for ourselves. It is the Spirit of the Son of +God, the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ, which gives us courage to +say, 'Our Father which art in heaven,' which makes us feel that +those words are true, and must be true, and are worth all other +words in the world put together--that God is our Father, and we his +sons. Oh, my friends, believe earnestly this blessed news! the news +of Christmas-day, that you are not God's slaves, but his sons, heirs +of God, and joint-heirs with Christ;--joint-heirs with Christ! In +what? Who can tell? But what an inheritance of glory and bliss +that must be, which the Lord Jesus Christ Himself is to inherit with +us--an inheritance such as eye hath not seen, and incorruptible, +undefiled, and that fadeth not away, preserved in heaven for us; an +inheritance of all that is wise, loving, noble, holy, peaceful--all +that can make us happy, all that can make us like God Himself. Oh, +what can we expect, if we neglect so great salvation? What can we +expect, if when the Great God of heaven and earth tells us that we +are His children, we turn away and fall down, become like the +brutes, and the savages, or worse, like the evil spirits who rebel +against God, instead of growing up to become the sons of God, +perfect even as our Father in heaven is perfect? May He keep us all +from that great sin! May He awaken each and every one of you to +know the glory and honour which Jesus Christ brought for you when He +was born at Bethlehem--the glory and honour which was proclaimed to +belong to you when you were christened at that font! May He awaken +you to know that you are the sons of God, and to look up to Him with +loving, trustful, obedient souls, saying from your hearts, morning +and night 'Our Father which art in heaven,' and feeling that those +words give you daily strength to conquer your sins, and feel +assurance of hope that your Heavenly Father will help and prosper +you, His family, every time you struggle to obey His commandments, +and follow the example of His perfect and spotless Son, Jesus Christ +the Lord! + + + +SERMON XVII. DEATH IN LIFE + + + +Romans viii. 12, 13. Brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to +live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: +but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye +shall live. + +Does it seem strange to you that St. Paul should warn you, that you +are not debtors to your own flesh? It is not strange, when you come +to understand him; certainly not unnecessary: for as in his time, +so now, most people do live as if they were debtors to their own +flesh, as if their great duty, their one duty in life, was to please +their own bodies, and brains, and tempers, and fancies, and +feelings. Poor people have not much time to indulge their brains; +and no time at all, happily for them, to indulge their fancies and +feelings, as rich people do when they grow idle, and dainty, and +luxurious. But still, too many of them live as if they were debtors +to their own flesh; as if their own bodies and their own tempers +were the masters of them, and ought to be their masters. Young men, +for instance, how often they do things in secret of which it is a +shame even to speak, just because it is pleasant. Young women, how +often do they sell themselves and their own modesty, just for the +pleasure of being flattered and courted, and of getting a few fine +clothes. How often do men, just for the pleasure of drink, besot +their souls and bodies, madden their tempers, neglect their +families, make themselves every Saturday night, and often half the +week, too, lower than the beasts which perish. And then, when a +clergyman complains of them, they think him unreasonable; and by so +thinking, show that he is right, and St. Paul right: for if I say +to you, My dear young people (and I do say it), if you give way to +filthy living and filthy talking, and to drunkenness, and to vanity +about fine clothes, you will surely die--do you not say in your +hearts, 'How unreasonable: how hard on us! If we can enjoy +ourselves a little, why should we not? It is our right, and do it +we will; and if it is wrong, it ought not to be wrong.' Why, what +is that but saying, that you ought to do just what your body likes: +that you are debtors to your flesh; and that your flesh, and not +God's law, is your master. So again, when people grow older, +perhaps they are more prudent about bad living, and more careful of +their money: but still they live after the flesh. One man sets his +heart on making money, and cares for nothing but that; breaks God's +law for that, as if that was the thing to which he was a debtor, +bound by some law which he could not avoid to scrape and scrape +money together for ever. Another (and how often we see that) is a +slave to his own pride and temper, which are just as much bred in +his flesh: if he has been injured by any one, if he has taken a +dislike against any one, he cannot forget and forgive: the man may +be upright and kindly on many other points; prudent, too, and sober, +and thoroughly master of himself on most matters; and yet you will +find that when he gets on that one point, he is not master of +himself; for his flesh is master of him: he may be a strong-minded, +shrewd man upon most matters but just that one point: some old +quarrel, or grudge, or suspicion, is, as we say, his weak point: +and if you touch on that, the man's eye will kindle, and his face +redden, and his lip tremble, and he will show that he is not master +of himself: but that he is over-mastered by his fleshly passion, by +the suspiciousness, or revengefulness, or touchiness, which every +dumb animal has as well as he, which is not part of his man's +nature, not part of God's image in him, but which is like the beasts +which perish. + +Now, my friends, suppose I said to you, 'If you give way to such +tempers; if you give way to pride, suspicion, sullen spite, settled +dislike of any human being, you will surely die;' should you not, +some of you, be inclined to think me very unreasonable, and to say +in your hearts, 'Have I not a right to be angry? Have I not a right +to give a man as good as he brings?' so confessing that I am right, +after all, and that some of you think that you are debtors to your +flesh, and its tempers, and do not see that you are meant to be +masters, and not slaves, of your tempers and feelings. + +Again. Among poor women, as well as among rich ones, as they grow +older, how much gossiping, tale-bearing, slandering, there is, and +that too among people who call themselves religious. Yes, I say +slandering; I put that in too; for I am certain that where the first +two grow, the third is not far off. If gossiping is the root, tale- +bearing and harsh judgment is the stem, and plain lying and +slandering, and bearing false witness against one's neighbour, is +the fruit. + +Now I say, because St. Paul says it, 'that those who do such things +shall surely die.' And do not some of you think me unreasonable in +that, and say in your heart, 'What! are we to be tongue-tied? Shall +we not speak our minds?' Be it so, my good women, only remember +this: that as long as you say that, you confess that you are not +masters of your tongues, but your tongues are masters of you, and +that you freely confess you owe service to your tongue, and not to +God. Do not therefore complain of me for saying the very same +thing, namely, that you think you are debtors to your flesh--to the +tongues in your mouths, and must needs do what those same little +unruly members choose, of which St James has said, 'The tongue is a +fire, a world of iniquity, and it sets on fire the whole course of +nature, and is set on fire of hell.' And again: 'If any person +among you seem to be religious, and bridles not his tongue, but +deceives himself, that person's religion is vain.' + +Again:--and, my good women, you must not think me hard on you, for +you know in your hearts that I am not hard on you; but I must speak +a word on a sin which I am afraid is growing in this parish, and in +too many parishes in England; and that is deceiving kind and +charitable persons, in order to get more help from them. God knows +the temptation must be sore to poor people at times. And yet you +will surely find in the long run, that 'honesty is the best policy.' +Deceit is always a losing game. A lie is sure to be found out; as +the Lord Jesus Himself says, 'There is nothing hid which shall not +be made manifest;' and what we do in secret, is sure, unless we +repent and amend it, to be proclaimed on the housetop: and many a +poor soul, in her haste and greediness to get much, ends by getting +nothing at all. And if it were not so;--if you were able to deceive +any human being out of the riches of the world: yet know, that a +man's life does _not_ consist in the abundance of the things which +he possesses. And know that if you will not believe that,--if you +will fancy that your business is to get all you can for your mortal +bodies, by fair means or foul,--if you will fancy that you are thus +debtors to your own flesh, you will surely die: but if you, through +the Spirit, do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live. + +And by this time some of you are asking, 'Live? Die? What does all +this mean? When we die we shall die, good or bad; and in the +meantime we shall live till we die. And you do not mean to tell us +that we shall shorten our lives by our own tempers, or our tale- +bearing, though we might, perhaps, by drunkenness?' + +My friends, if such a question rises in your mind, be sure that it, +too, is a hint that you think yourself a debtor to the flesh--to +live according to the flesh. For tell me, tell yourselves fairly, +is your flesh, your body, the part of yourself which you can see and +handle, _You_?--You know that it is not. When a neighbour's body +dies, you say, perhaps, '_He_ is dead,' but you say it carelessly; +and when one whom you know well, and love, dies,--when a parent, a +wife, a child, dies, you feel very differently about them, even if +you do not speak differently. You feel and know that he, the person +whom you loved and understood, and felt with, and felt for, here on +earth, is not dead at all; you feel (and in proportion as the friend +you have lost was loving, and good, and full of feeling for you, you +feel it all the more strongly) that your friend, or your child, or +the wife of your bosom, is alive still--where you know not, but you +feel they are alive; that they are very near you;--that they are +thinking of you, watching you, caring for you,--perhaps grieving +over you when you go wrong--perhaps rejoicing over you when you go +right,--perhaps helping you, though you cannot see them, in some +wonderful way. You know that only their mortal flesh is dead. That +their mortal flesh was all you put into the grave; but that _they_ +themselves, their souls and spirits, which were their very and real +selves, are alive for evermore; and you trust and hope to meet them +when you die;--ay, to meet them body and soul too, at the last day, +the very same persons whom you knew here on earth, though the flesh +which they wore here in this life has crumbled into dust years and +ages before. + +Is not this true? Is not this a blessed life-giving thought--I had +almost said the most blessed and life-giving thought man can have-- +that those whom we have loved and lost are not dead, but only gone +before; that they live still to God and with God; that only their +flesh has perished, and they themselves are alive for evermore? + +Now believe me, my friends, as surely as a man's flesh can die and +be buried, while he himself, his soul, lives for ever, just so a +man's self, his soul, can die, while his flesh lives on upon earth. +You do not think so, but the Bible thinks so. The Bible talks of +men being _dead_ in trespasses and sins, while their flesh and body +is alive and walking this earth. It talks, too, of a worse state, +of men twice dead; of men, who, after God has brought their souls to +life, let those souls of theirs die down again within them, and rot +away, as far as we can see, hopelessly and for ever. And what is it +which kills a man's soul within him on this side the grave, and +makes him dead while he has a name to live? _Sin_, evil-doing, the +disease of the soul, the death of the soul, yea, the death of the +man himself. And what is sin but living according to the flesh, and +not according to the spirit? What is sin but living as the dumb +animals do, as if we were debtors to our own flesh, to fulfil its +lusts, and to please our own appetites, fancies, and tempers, +instead of remembering that we are debtors to God, who made us, and +blesses us all day long;--debtors to our Lord Jesus Christ, who +bought us with His own blood, that we might please Him and obey +Him;--debtors to God's Holy Spirit, who puts into our minds good +desires;--debtors to our baptism vows, in which we were consecrated +to God, that He, and not this flesh of ours, might be our Master for +ever? + +This is sin; to give way to those selfish and evil tempers, against +which I warned you in the beginning of my sermon, and which, if any +man indulges in them, will surely and steadily, bit by bit, kill +that man's soul within him, and leave the man dead in trespasses and +sins, while his body walks this earth. + +My friends, do not fancy these are merely farfetched words out of a +book, made to sound difficult and terrible in order to frighten you. +God forbid! When Scripture says this, it speaks a plain and simple +truth, and one which I know to be a truth from experience. I speak +that which I know, and testify that which I have seen. I have seen +(and what sadder or more fearful sight?) dead men and dying walk +this earth in flesh and blood; men busy enough, shrewd enough upon +some points, priding themselves, perhaps, upon their cleverness and +knowledge of the world, of whom all one could say was, The man is +dead; the man is lost, unless God brings him to life again by His +quickening Spirit: for goodness is dead in him; the powers of his +soul are dead in him; the hope of being a better man is dead in him; +all that God wishes to see him be and do, is dead; God's likeness +and glory in him is dead: he thinks himself wise, and he is a fool +in God's sight; for he sees not God's law, which is the only wisdom: +he thinks himself strong, but he is utterly weak and helpless; for +he is the slave of his own tempers, the slave of his own foul lust, +the slave of his own pride and vanity, the slave of his own +covetousness. Oh, my friends, people are apt to be afraid of what +they call seeing a ghost--that is, a spirit without a body: they +fancy that it would be a very shocking thing to meet one; but as for +me, I know a far more dreadful sight; and that is, a careless and a +hardened sinner--a body without a spirit. Which is uglier and +ghastlier--a spirit without a body, or a body without a spirit? And +yet such one meets, I dare not think how often. + +What sadder sight, if you recollect that men need not be thus; that +God hates seeing them thus; that they become thus, and die down in +sin, in spite of God, with all heaven above, and God the Lord +thereof, crying to them, Why wilt thou die? What sadder sight? How +many have I seen, living, to all intents and purposes, as if they +had no souls; as if there were no God, no Law of God, no Right, no +Wrong; caring for nothing, perhaps, but drink and bad women; or +caring for nothing but scraping together a little more money than +their neighbours; or caring for nothing but dress, and vanity, and +gossiping, and tale-bearing; and yet, when one came to know them, +one saw that _that_ was not what God intended them to be; that He +had given them hearts which they had hardened, good feelings which +they had crushed, sound brains which they had left idle, till one +was ready to weep over them, as over something beautiful and noble +ruined and lost; and looked on them as one would on a grand tree +struck by lightning, decayed and dead, useless, and only fit to be +burned, with just enough of its proper shape to show what a tree it +ought to have been. And so it is with men and women: hardly a day +passes but one sees some one of whom one says, with a sigh, 'What a +worthy, loveable, useful person, that might have been! what a +blessing to himself and all around him! and now, by following his +fallen nature, and indulging it, he is neither worthy, nor loveable, +nor useful; neither a blessing to himself nor to any human being: +he might have been good for so much, and now he is good for nothing; +for the spirit, the immortal soul which God gave him, is dead within +him.' + +My friends, I would not say this, unless I could say more. I would +not say sad words, if I could not follow them up by joyful and +hopeful ones. It is written, 'If ye live after the flesh, ye shall +die;' but it is written also, 'If ye, through the Spirit, do mortify +the deeds of the body, ye shall live.' It is promised--promised, my +friends, 'Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and +Christ shall give thee light.' + +Through the Spirit, through God's Spirit, every soul here can live, +now and for ever. Through God's Spirit, Christ not only can, but +will, give you light. And that Spirit is near you, with you. Your +baptism is the blessed sign, the everlasting pledge, that God's +Spirit is with you. Oh, believe that, and take heart. I will not +say, you do not know how much good there is in you; for in us dwells +no good thing, and every good thought and feeling comes only from +the Spirit of God: but I will say boldly to every one of you, you +do not know how much good there may be in you, if you will listen to +those good thoughts of God's Spirit; you do not know how wise, how +right, how strong, how happy, how useful, you may become; you do not +know what a blessing each of you may become to yourselves, and to +all around you. Only make up your mind to live by God's law; only +make up your mind, in all things, small and great, to go God's way, +and not your own. Only make up your mind to listen, not to your own +flesh, temper, and brain, which say this and that is pleasant, but +to listen to God's Spirit, which says this is right, and that is +wrong: this is your duty, do it. Search out your own besetting +sins; and if you cannot find them out for yourself, ask God to show +you them; ask Him to give you truth in the inward parts, and make +you to understand wisdom in the secret places of your heart. Pray +God's Spirit to quicken your soul, and bring it to life, that it may +see and love what is good, and see and hate what is wrong; and +instead of being most hard on your neighbour's sin, to which you are +not tempted, be most hard on your own sin, on the sin to which you +are most tempted, whatsoever that may be. You have your besetting +sin, doubt it not; every one has. I know that I have. I know that +I have inclinations, tempers, longings, to which if I gave way, my +soul would rot and die within me, and make me a curse to myself, and +you, and every one I came near; and all I can do is to pray God's +Spirit to help me to fight those besetting sins of mine, and crush +them, and stamp them down, whenever they rise and try to master me, +and make me live after the flesh. It is a hard fight; and may God +forgive me, for I fight it ill enough: but it is my only hope for +my soul's life, my only hope of remaining a man worth being called a +man, or doing my duty at all by myself and you, and all mankind. +And it is your only hope, too. Pray for God's Spirit, God's +strength, God's life, to give your souls life, day by day, that you +may fight against your sins, whatsoever they are, lest they kill +your souls, long before disease and old age kill your bodies. Make +up your minds to it. Make up your minds to mortify the deeds of the +body; to say to your own bodies, tempers, longings, fancies, 'I will +not go your way: you shall go God's way. I am not your debtor; I +owe you nothing; I am God's debtor, and owe Him everything, and I +will pay Him honestly with the service of my body, soul, and spirit. +I will do my duty, and you, my flesh, must and shall do it also, +whether it is pleasant at first, or not:' and be sure it will be +pleasant at last, if not at first. Keep God always before your +eyes. Ask yourself in every action, 'What is right, what is my +duty, what would God have me do?' And so far from finding it +unpleasant, you will find that you are saving yourself a thousand +troubles, and sorrows, and petty anxieties which now torment you; +you will find that in God's presence is life, the only life worth +having, and that at His right hand are pleasures for evermore. Oh, +be sure, my friends, that in real happiness you will not lose, but +gain without end. If to have a clear conscience, and a quiet mind; +if to be free from anxiety and discontent, free from fear and shame; +if to be loved, respected, looked up to, by all whose good word is +worth having, and to know that God approves of you, that all day +long God is with you, and you with God, that His loving and mighty +arms are under you, that He has promised to keep you in all your +ways, to prosper all you do, and reward you for ever,--if this be +not happiness, my friends, what is? + + + +SERMON XVIII. SHAME + + + +Romans x. 11. For the Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on Him +shall not be ashamed. + +My friends, what this text really means is one thing; what we may +choose to think it means is another thing--perhaps a very different +thing. I will try and show you what I believe it really means. + +'Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed.' It seems as if +St. Paul thought, that not being ashamed had to do with salvation, +and being saved; ay, that they were almost the same thing: for he +says just before, if thou doest so and so, thou shalt be saved; for +with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth +confession is made unto salvation; _for_ the Scripture saith, +'Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed;' as if being +ashamed was the very thing from which we were to be saved. And +certainly that wise and great man, whoever he was (some say he was +St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, in Italy), who wrote the Te Deum, +thought the same; for how does he end the Te Deum? 'O Lord, in Thee +have I trusted: let me never be confounded,' that is, brought to +shame. You see, after he has spoken of God, and the everlasting +glory of God, of Cherubim and Seraphim, that is, all the powers of +the earth and the powers of the heavens, of Apostles, Prophets, +Martyrs, the Holy Church, all praising God, and crying 'Holy, holy, +holy. Lord God of Hosts, Heaven and Earth are full of the majesty +of Thy glory;' after he has spoken of the mystery of the Trinity, +Father and Son and Holy Ghost, of Christ's redemption and +incarnation, and ascension and glory; of His judging the world; of +His government, and His lifting up His people for ever; after he has +prayed God to keep them this day without sin, and to let His mercy +lighten upon them; after all this, at the end of this glorious hymn, +all that he has to say is, 'O Lord, in Thee have I trusted: let me +never be confounded.'--All he has to say: but that is a great deal: +he does not say that merely because he wants to say something more, +and has nothing else to say. Not so. In all great hymns and +writings like this, the end is almost sure to be the strongest part +of all, to have the very pith and marrow of the whole matter in it, +as I believe this end of the Te Deum has; and I believe that whoever +wrote it thought that being confounded, and brought to shame, was +just the most horrible and wretched thing which could happen to him, +or any man, and the thing above all others from which he was most +bound to pray God to save him and every human being. + +Now, how is this? First, let us look at what coming to shame is; +and next, how believing in Christ will save us from it. + +Now, every man and woman of us here, who has one spark of good +feeling in them, will surely agree, that coming to shame is +dreadful; and that there is no pain or torment on earth like the +pain of being ashamed of oneself: nothing so painful. And I will +prove it to you. You call a man a brave man, if he is afraid of +nothing: but there is one thing the very bravest man is afraid of, +and that is of disgrace, of coming to shame. Ay, my friends, so +terrible is the torment of shame, that you may see brave men,--men +who would face death in battle, men who would have a limb cut off +without a groan, you may see such, in spite of all their courage, +gnash their teeth, and writhe in agony, and weep bitter tears, +simply because they are ashamed of themselves, so terrible and +unbearable is the torment of shame. It may drive a man to do good +or evil: it may drive him to do good; as when, rather than come to +shame, and be disgraced, soldiers will face death in battle +willingly and cheerfully, and do deeds of daring beyond belief: or +it may drive him to do evil; rather than come to shame, men have +killed themselves, choosing, unhappy and mistaken men, rather to +face the torment of hell than the torment of disgrace. They are +mistaken enough, God knows. But shame, like all powerful things, +will work for harm as well as for good; and just as a wholesome and +godly shame may be the beginning of a man's repentance and +righteousness, so may an unwholesome and ungodly shame be the cause +of his despair and ruin. But judge for yourselves; think over your +past lives. Were you ever once--were it but for five minutes-- +utterly ashamed of yourself? If you were, did you ever feel any +torment like _that_? In all other misery and torment one feels +hope; one says, 'Still life is worth having, and when the sorrow +wears away I shall be cheerful and enjoy myself again:' but when one +has come to shame, when one is not only disgraced in the eyes of +other people, but disgraced (which is a thousand times worse) in +one's own eyes; when one feels that people have real reason to +despise one, then one feels for the time as if life was _not_ worth +having; as if one did not care whether one died or not, or what +became of one: and yet as if dying would do one no good, change of +place would do one no good, time's running on would do one no good; +as if what was done could not be undone, and the shame would be with +one still, and torment one still, wherever one was, and if one was +to live a million years: ay, that it would be everlasting: one +feels, in a word, that real shame and deserved disgrace is verily +and indeed an everlasting torment. And it is this, and the feeling +of this, which explains why poor wretches will kill themselves, as +Judas Iscariot did, and rush into hell itself, under the horror and +pain of shame and disgrace. They feel a hell within them so hot, +that they actually fancy that they can be no worse off beyond the +grave than they are on this side of it. They are mistaken: but +that is the reason; the misery of disgrace is so intolerable, that +they are willing, like that wretched Judas, to try any mad and +desperate chance to escape it. + +So much for shame's being a dreadful and horrible thing. But again, +it is a spiritual thing: it grows and works not in our fleshly +bodies, but in our spirits, our consciences, our immortal souls. +You may see this by thinking of people who are not afraid of shame. +You do not respect them, or think them the better for that. Not at +all. If a man is not afraid of shame; if a man, when he is found +out, and exposed, and comes to shame, does not care for it, but +'brazens out his own shame,' as we say, we do not call him brave; we +call him what he is, a base impudent person, lost to all good +feeling. Why, what harder name can we call any man or woman, than +to say that they are 'shameless,' dead to shame? We know that it is +the very sign of their being dead in sin, the very sign of God's +Spirit having left them; that till they are made to feel shame there +is no hope of their mending or repenting, or of any good being put +into them, or coming out of them. So that this feeling of shame is +a spiritual feeling, which has to do with a man's immortal soul, +with his conscience, and the voice of God in his heart. + +Now, consider this: that there will surely come to you and me, and +every living soul, a day of judgment; a day in which we shall be +judged. Think honestly of those two words. First, a day, not a +mere time, much less a night. Now, in a day there is light, by +which men can see, and a sun in heaven which shows all things +clearly. In that day, that brightest and clearest of all days, we +shall see what we really have been, and what we really have done; +and for aught we know, every one round us, every one with whom we +have ever had to do, will see it also. The secrets of all our +hearts will be disclosed; and we shall stand before heaven and earth +simply for what we are, and neither more nor less. That is a +fearful thought! Shall we come to shame in that day? And it will +be a day of judgment: in it we shall be judged. I do not mean +merely condemned, for we may be acquitted: or punished, for we may +be rewarded; those things come after being judged. First, let us +think of what being judged is. A judge's business is to decide on +what we have done, or whether we have broken the law or not; to hear +witnesses for us and against us, to sum up the evidence, and set +forth the evidence for us and the evidence against us. And our +judge will be the Son of Man, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is sharper +than a two-edged sword, piercing through the very joints and marrow, +and discerning the secret intents of the heart; neither is anything +hid from Him, for all things are naked and open in the sight of Him +with whom we have to do. With whom we _have_ to do, mind: not +merely with whom we _shall_ have to do; for He sees all _now_, He +knows all now. Ever since we were born, there has not been a +thought in our heart but He has known it altogether. And He is +utterly just--no respecter of persons; like His own wisdom, without +partiality and without hypocrisy. O Lord! who shall stand in that +day? O Lord! if thou be extreme to mark what is done amiss, who +shall abide it? O Lord! in thee have I trusted: let me never be +confounded! + +For this is being confounded; this is shame itself. This is the +intolerable, horrible, hellish shame and torment, wherein is weeping +and gnashing of teeth; this is the everlasting shame and contempt to +which, as Daniel prophesied, too many should awake in that day--to +be found guilty in that day before God and Christ, before our +neighbours and our relations, and worst of all, before ourselves. +Worst of all, I say, before ourselves. It would be dreadful enough +to have all the bad things we ever did or thought told openly +against us to all our neighbours and friends, and to see them turn +away from us;--dreadful to find out at last (what we forget all day +long) that God knows them already; but more dreadful to know them +all ourselves, and see our sins in all their shamefulness, in the +light of God, as God Himself sees them;--more dreadful still to see +the loving God and the loving Christ turn away from us;--but most +dreadful of all to turn away from ourselves; to be utterly +discontented with ourselves; ashamed of ourselves; to see that all +our misery is our own fault, that we have been our own enemies; to +despise ourselves, and hate ourselves for ever; to try for ever to +get rid of ourselves, and escape from ourselves as from some ugly +and foul place in which we were ashamed to be seen for a moment: +and yet not to be able to get rid of ourselves. Yes, that will be +the true misery of a lost soul, to be ashamed of itself, and hate +itself. Who shall deliver a man from the body of that death? + +I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. I thank God, that at +least now, here, in this life, we can be delivered. There is but +one hope for us all; one way for us all, not to come to utter shame. +And this is in the Lord Jesus Christ, who has said, 'Though your +sins be red as scarlet they shall be white as wool; and their sins +and their iniquities will I remember no more.' One hope, to cast +ourselves utterly on His boundless love and mercy, and cry to Him, +'Blot these sins of mine out of Thy book, by Thy most precious +blood, which is a full atonement for the sins of the whole world; +and blot them out of my heart by Thy Holy Spirit, that I may hate +them and renounce them, and flee from them, and give them up, and be +Thy servant, and do Thy work, and have Thy righteousness, and do +righteous things like Thee.' And then, my friends, how or why we +cannot understand; but it is God's own promise, who cannot lie, that +He will really and actually forgive these sins of ours, and blot +them out as if we had never done them, and give us clean hearts and +right spirits, to live new lives, right lives, lives like His own +life; so that our past sinful lives shall be behind us like a dream, +and we shall find them forgotten and forgiven in the day of +judgment;--wonderful mercy! but listen to it--it is God's own +promise--'If the wicked man turneth away from all his sins that he +hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is +lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his +transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned +to him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live.' + +They shall not be mentioned to him. My friends, if, as I have been +showing, the great misery, the great horror of all, is having our +sins mentioned to us in That Day, and being made utterly ashamed by +them, what greater mercy can we want than this--not to have them +mentioned to us, and not to come to shame; not to be plagued for +ever with the hideous ghosts of our past bad thoughts, bad words, +bad deeds, coming all day long to stare us in the face, and cry to +us while the accusing Devil holds them up to us, as if in a looking- +glass--'Look at your own picture. This is what you are. This fool, +this idler, this mean, covetous, hard-hearted man, who cared only +for himself;--this stupid man, who never cared to know his duty or +do his duty;--this proud, passionate, revengeful man, who returned +evil for evil, took his brothers by the throat, and exacted from +them the uttermost farthing;--this ridiculous, foolish, useless, +disagreeable, unlovely, unlovable person, who went through the world +neither knowing what he ought to do, nor whither he was going, but +was utterly blind and in a dream; this person is you yourself. Look +at your own likeness, and be confounded, and utterly ashamed for +ever!' What greater misery than that? What greater blessing than +to escape that? What greater blessing than to be able to answer the +accusing Devil, 'Not so, liar! This is not my likeness. This ugly, +ridiculous, hateful person is not I. I was such a one once, but I +am not now. I am another man now; and God knows that I am, though +you may try to shame me by telling me that I am the same man. I was +wrong, but I am right now; I was as a sheep going astray, but now I +am returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of my soul, to whom I +belonged all the while; and now I am right, in the right road; for +with the heart I have believed God unto righteousness, and He has +given me a clean heart, and a right spirit, and has purged me, and +will purge me, till I am clean, and washed me till I am whiter than +snow; I do not deny one of my old sins; I did them, I know that; I +confess them to thee now, oh accusing Devil; but I confessed them to +God, ay, and to man too, long ago, and by confessing them to Him I +was saved from them; for with the mouth confession is made unto +salvation. And what is more; I have not only confessed my own sins, +but I have confessed Christ's righteousness; and I confess it now. +I confess, I say, that Christ is perfectly righteous and good, the +Perfect Pattern of what I ought to be; and because He is perfectly +good, He does not wish to see me remain bad and sinful, that He may +taunt me and torment me with my sins, as thou the accusing Devil +dost: but He wishes to make me and every man good like Himself, +blest like Himself; and He can do it, and will do it, if we will but +give up our hearts to Him; and I have given up my heart to Him. All +I ask of Him is to be made good and kept good, set right and kept +right; and I can trust in Him utterly to do that; for He is faithful +and just to forgive me my sins, and cleanse me from all +unrighteousness. Therefore, accuse me not, Devil! for thou hast no +share in me: I belong to Christ, and not to thee. And set not my +old sins before my face; for God has set them behind His back, +because I have renounced them, and sworn an oath against them, and +Christ has nailed them to His cross, and now they are none of mine +and none of thine, but are cast long ago into the everlasting fire +of God, and burnt up and done with for ever; and I am a new man, and +God's man; and He has justified me, and will justify me, and make me +just and right; and neither thou, nor any man, has a right to impute +to me my past sins, for God does not impute them to me; and neither +thou, nor any man, has a right to condemn me, for God has justified +me. And if it please God to humble me more (for I know I want +humbling every day), and to show me more how much I owe to Him--if +it please Him, I say, to bring to light any of my past sins, I shall +take it patiently as a wholesome chastening of my Heavenly Father's; +and I trust to all God's people, and to angels, and the spirits of +just men made perfect, that they will look on my past sins as God +looks on them, mercifully and lovingly, as things past and dead, +forgiven and blotted out of God's book, by the precious blood of +Christ, and look on me as I am in Christ, not having any +righteousness of my own, but Christ's righteousness, which comes by +the inspiration of His own Holy Spirit.' + +Thus, my friends, we may answer the Devil, when he stands up to +accuse us, and confound us in the Day of Judgment. Thus we may +answer him now, when, in melancholy moments, he sets our sins before +our face, and begins taunting us, and crying, 'See what a wretch you +are, what a hypocrite, too. What would all the world think of you, +if they knew as much against you as I do? What would the world +think of you, if they saw into that dirty heart of yours?' For we +can answer him--'Whatever the world would think, I know what God +Himself thinks: He thinks of me as of a son who, after wasting his +substance, and feeding on husks with the swine, has come home to his +Father's house, and cried, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and +before Thee, and am no more worthy to be called Thy son; and I know +that that same good Heavenly Father, instead of shaming me, +reproaching me, shutting His doors against me, has seen me afar off, +and taken me home again without one harsh word, and called to all +the angels in heaven, saying, "It is meet that we rejoice and be +glad, for this My son was dead and is alive again, he was lost and +is found." And while Almighty God, who made heaven and earth, is +saying that of me, it matters little what the lying Devil may say.' + +Only, only, if you be wandering from your Father's house, come home; +if you be wrong, entreat to be made right. If you are in your +Father's house, stay there; if you are right, pray and struggle to +keep right; if the old account is blotted out, then, for your soul's +sake, run up no fresh account to stand against you after all in the +Day of Judgment; if you have the hope in you of not coming to shame, +you must purify yourselves, even as God is pure; if you believe +really with your heart, you must believe unto righteousness; that +is, you must trust God to make you righteous and good: there is no +use trusting Him to make you anything else, for He will make you +nothing else; being good Himself, He will only make you good: but +as for trusting in Him to leave you bad, to leave you quiet in your +sins, and then to save you after all, that is trusting that God will +do a most unjust, and what is more, a most cruel thing to you; that +is trusting God to do the Devil's work; that is a blasphemous false +trust, which will be utterly confounded in the Day of Judgment, and +will cover you with double shame. The whole question for each of us +is, 'Do we believe unto righteousness?' Is righteousness what we +want? Is to be made good men what we want? If not, no confessing +with the mouth will be unto salvation, for how can a man be saved in +his sins? If an animal is diseased can it be saved from dying +without curing the disease? If a tree be decayed, can it be saved +from dying without curing the decay? If a man be bad and sinful, +can he be saved from eternal death without curing his badness and +sinfulness? How can a man be saved from his sins but by becoming +sinless? As well ask, Can a man be saved from his sins without +being saved from his sins? But if you wish really to be saved from +your sins, and taken out of them, and cured of them, that you may be +made good men, righteous men, useful men, just men, loving men, +Godlike men;--then trust in God for that, and you will find that +your trust will be unto righteousness, for you will become righteous +men; and confess God with your mouth for that, saying, 'I believe in +God my Father; I believe in Jesus Christ His Son, who died, and +rose, and ascended on high for me; I believe in God's Holy Spirit, +which is with me, to make me right;' and your confession will be +unto salvation, for you will be saved from your sins. + +Always say to yourself this one thing, 'Good I will become, whatever +it cost me; and in God's goodness I trust to make me good, for I am +sure He wishes to see me good, more than I do myself; and you will +find that because you have confessed, in that best and most honest +of ways, that God is good, and have so given Him real glory, and +real honour, and real praise, He will save you from the sins which +torment you: and that because you have really trusted in Him, you +shall never come, either in this world, or the world to come, to +that worst misery, the being ashamed of yourself. + + + +SERMON XIX. FORGIVENESS + + + +Psalm li. 16, 17. Thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give +it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. + +The sacrifice of God is a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite +heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise. + +You all heard just now the story of Nathan and David, and you must +have all felt how beautiful, and noble, and just it was; how it +declares that there is but one everlasting God's law of justice, +which is above all men, even the greatest; and that what is right +for the poor man is right for the king upon his throne, for God is +no respecter of persons. + +And you must have admired, too, the frankness, and fulness, and +humbleness of David's repentance, and liked and loved the man still, +in spite of his sins, as much almost as you did when you heard of +him as a shepherd boy slaying the giant, or a wanderer and an outlaw +among the hills and forests of Judaea. + +But did it now seem strange to you that David's repentance, which +was so complete when it did come, should have come no sooner? Did +he need Nathan to tell him that he had done wrong? He seduced +another man's wife, and that man one of his most faithful servants, +one of the most brave and loyal generals of his army; and then, over +and above his adultery, he had plotted the man's death, and had had +him killed and put out of the way in as base, and ungrateful, and +treacherous a fashion as I ever heard of. His whole conduct in the +matter had been simply villanous. There is no word too bad for it. +And do you fancy that he had to wait the greater part of a year +before the thought came into his head that that was not the fashion +in which a man ought to behave, much more a king?--that God's +blessing was not on such doings as those?--and after all not find +out for himself that he was wrong, but have to be told of it by +Nathan? + +Surely, if he had any common sense, any feeling of right and wrong +left in him, he must have known that he had done a bad thing; and +his guilty conscience must have tormented him many a time and oft +during those months, long before Nathan came to him. Now, that he +had the feeling of right and wrong left in him, we cannot doubt; for +when Nathan told him the parable of the rich man who spared all his +own flocks and herds, and took the poor man's one ewe lamb, his +heart told him that _that_ was wrong and unjust, and he cried out, +'The man who has done this thing shall surely die.' And surely that +feeling of right and wrong could not have been quite asleep in him +all those months, and have been awakened then for the first time. + +But more; if we look at two psalms which he wrote about that time, +we shall find that his conscience had _not_ been dead in him, but +had been tormenting him bitterly; and that he had been trying to +escape from it, and afterwards to repent--only in a wrong way. + +If we look at the Thirty-second Psalm, we shall see there he had +begun, by trying to deceive himself, to excuse himself before God. +But that had only made him the more miserable. 'When I kept +silence, my bones waxed old through my daily complaining. For Thy +hand was heavy on me night and day: my moisture was turned to the +drought of summer.' Then he had tried sacrifices. He had fancied, +I suppose, that he could make God pleased with him again by showing +great devoutness, by offering bullocks and goats without number, as +sin-offerings and peace-offerings; but that made him no happier. At +last he found out that God required no sacrifice but a broken heart. +That was what God wanted--a broken and a contrite heart; for David +to be utterly ashamed of himself, utterly broken down and silenced, +so that he had nothing left to plead--neither past good deeds, nor +present devoutness, nor sacrifices: nothing but, 'O God, I deserve +all Thou canst lay on me, and more. Have mercy on me--mercy is all +I ask.' + +There was nothing for him, you see, but to make a clean breast of +it; to face his sin, and all its shame and abomination, and confess +it all, and throw himself on God's mercy. And when he did that, +there, then, and at once, as Nathan told him, God put away his sin. +As David says himself, 'I said, I will confess my sins unto the +Lord, and so Thou forgavest the wickedness of my sin.' + +As it is written, 'If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just +to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.' + +And now, my friends, what lesson may we learn from this? It is easy +to say, We have not sinned as deeply as David, and therefore his +story has nothing to do with us. My friends, whether we have sinned +as deeply as David or not, his story has to do with you, and me, and +every soul in this church, and every soul in the whole world, or it +would not be in the Bible. For no prophecy of Scripture is of +private interpretation; that is, it does not only point at one man +here and another there: but those who wrote it were moved by the +Holy Ghost, who lays down the eternal universal laws of holiness, of +right and good, which are right and good for you, and me, and all +mankind; and therefore David's story has to do with you and me every +time we do wrong, and know that we have done wrong. + +Now, my friends, when you have done a wrong thing, you know your +conscience torments you with it; you are uneasy, and discontented +with yourselves, perhaps cross with those about you; you hardly know +why: or rather, though you do know why, you do not like to tell +yourself why. + +The bad thing which you have done, or the bad tempers which you have +given way to, or the person whom you have quarrelled with, hang in +your mind, and darken all your thoughts: and you try not to +remember them: but conscience _makes_ you remember them, and will +not let the dark thought fly away; till you can enjoy nothing, +because your heart is not clean and clear; there is something in the +background which makes you sad whenever you try to be happy. Then a +man tries first to deceive himself. He says to himself, 'No, that +sin is not what makes me unhappy--not that;' and he tries to find +out any and every reason for his uncomfortable feelings, except the +very thing which he knows all the while in the bottom of his heart +_is_ the real reason. He says, 'Well, perhaps I am unhappy because +I have done something wrong: what wrong can I have done?' And so +he sets to work to find out every sin except _the_ sin which is the +cause of all, because that one he does not like to face: it is too +real, and ugly, and humbling to his proud spirit; and perhaps he is +afraid of having to give it up. So I have known a man confess +himself a sinner, a miserable sinner, freely enough, and then break +out into a rage with you, if you dare to speak a word of the one sin +which you know that he has actually committed. 'No, sir,' he will +say, 'whatever I may be wrong in, I am right _there_. I have +committed sins too many, I know: but you cannot charge me with +that, at least;'--and all the more because he knows that everybody +round _is_ charging him with it, and that the thing is as notorious +as the sun in heaven. But that makes him, in his pride, all the +more determined not to confess himself in the wrong on that one +point; and he will go and confess to God, and perhaps to man, all +manner of secret sins, nay, even invent sins for himself out of +things which are no sins, and confess himself humbly in the wrong +where perhaps he is all right, just to drug his conscience, and be +able to say, 'I have repented,'--repented, that is, of everything +but what he and all the world know that he ought to repent of. + +But still his conscience is not easy: he has no peace of mind: he +is like David: 'While I held my peace, my bones waxed old through +my daily complaining.' God's hand is heavy on him day and night, +and his moisture is like the drought in summer: his heart feels +hard and dry; he cannot enjoy himself; he is moody; he lies awake +and frets at night, and goes listlessly and heavily about his +business in the morning; his heart is not right with God, and he +knows it; God and he are not at peace, and he knows it. + +Then he tries to repent: but it is a false, useless sort of +repentance. He says to Himself, as David did, 'Well, then, I will +make my peace with God: I will please Him. I have done one wrong +thing. I will do two right ones to make up for it.' If he is a +rich man, he perhaps tries David's plan of burnt-offerings and +sacrifices. He says, 'I will give away a great deal in charity; I +will build a church; I will take a great deal of trouble about +societies, and speak at religious meetings, and show God how much I +really do care for Him after all, and what great sacrifices I can +make for Him.' + +Or, if he is a poor man, he will say, 'Well, then, I will try and be +more religious; I will think more about my soul, and come to church +as often as I can, and say my prayers regularly, and read good +books; and perhaps that will make my peace with God. At all events, +God shall see that I am not as bad as I look; not altogether bad; +that I do care for Him, and for doing right.' + +But, rich or poor, the man finds out by bitter experience how truly +David said, 'Thou requirest no sacrifice, else would I give it Thee. +Thou delightest not in burnt-offerings.' + +Not that they are not good and excellent; but that they are not good +coming from him, because his heart is still unrepentant, because, +instead of confessing his sin and throwing himself on God's mercy, +he is trying to win God round to overlook his sin. So almsgiving, +and ordinances, and prayer give the poor man no peace. He rises +from his knees unrefreshed. He goes out of church with as heavy a +heart as he went in, and he finds that for all his praying he does +not become a better man, any more than a happier man. There is +still that darkness over his soul, like a black cloud spread between +him and God. + +My friends, if any of you find yourselves in this sad case, the only +remedy which I can give you, the only remedy which I ever found do +_me_ any good, or give me back my peace of mind, is David's remedy; +the one which he found out at last, and which he spoke of in these +blessed Psalms. Confess your sin to God. Bring it all out. Make a +clean breast of it--whatever it may cost you, make a clean breast of +it. Only be but _honest_ with God, and all will come right at once. +Say, not with your lips only, but from the very bottom of your +heart, say, 'Oh, good God, Heavenly Father, I have _nothing_ to say; +I am wrong, and yet I do not know how wrong I am; but Thou knowest. +Thou seest all my sin a thousand times more clearly than I do; and +if I look black and foul to myself, oh God, how much more black and +how foul must I look to Thee! I know not. All I know is, that I am +utterly wrong, and Thou utterly right. I am shapen in sin, +conceived in iniquity. My heart it is that is wrong. Not merely +this or that wrong which I have done; but my heart, my temper, which +will have its own way, which cares for itself, and not for Thee. I +have nothing to plead; nothing to throw into the other scale. For +if I have ever done right, it was Thou didst right in me, and not me +myself, and only my sins are my own doing; so the good in me is all +Thine, and the bad in me all my own, and in _me_ dwells no good +thing. And as for excusing myself by saying that I love Thee, I had +better tell the truth, since Thou knowest it already--I do _not_ +love Thee. Oh God, I love myself, my pitiful, miserable self, well +enough, and too well: but as for loving Thee--how many of my good +deeds have been done for love of Thee? I have done right from fear +of hell, from hope of heaven; or to win Thy blessings: but how +often have I done right really and purely for Thy sake? I am +ashamed to think! My only comfort, my only hope, is, that whether I +love Thee or not, Thou lovest me, and hast sent Thy Son to seek and +save me. Help me now. Save me now out of my sin, and darkness, and +self-conceit. Show Thy love to me by setting this wrong heart of +mine right. Give me a clean heart, oh God, and renew a right spirit +within me. If I be wrong myself, how can I make myself right? No; +Thou must do it. Thou must purge me, or I shall never be clean; +Thou must make me to understand wisdom in the secret depth of my +heart, or I shall never see my way. Thou must, for I cannot; and +base and bad as I am, I can believe that Thou wilt condescend to +help me and teach me, because I know Thy love in Jesus Christ my +Lord. And _then_ Thou wilt be pleased with my sacrifices and +oblations, because they come from a right heart--a truly humble, +honest, penitent heart, which is not trying to deceive God, or +plaster over its own baseness and weakness, but confesses all, and +yet trusts in God's boundless love. Then my alms will rise as a +sweet savour before Thee, oh God; then sacraments will strengthen +me, ordinances will teach me, good books will speak to my soul, and +my prayers will be answered by peace of mind, and a clear +conscience, and the sweet and strengthening sense that I am in my +Heavenly Father's house, about my Heavenly Father's business, and +that His smile is over me, and His blessing on me, as long as I +remain loyal to Him and to His laws.' Feel thus, my friends, and +speak to God thus, and see if the dark stupefying cloud does not +pass away from your heart--see if there and then does not come +sunshine and strength, and the sweet assurance that you are indeed +forgiven. + +But how about this old sin, which caused the man all this trouble? +He began by trying to forget it. I think, if he be a true penitent, +he will not wish to forget it any more. He will not torment himself +about it, for he knows that God has forgiven him. But the more he +feels God has forgiven him, the less likely he will be to forgive +himself. The more sure he feels of God's love and mercy, the more +utterly ashamed of himself he will be. And what is more, it is not +wise to forget our own sins, when God has not forgotten them. For +God does not forget our sins, though He forgives them; and a very +bad thing it would be for us if He did, my friends. For the wages +of sin is death: and even if God does not slay us for our sins, He +is certain to punish us for them in some way, lest we should forget +that sin is sin, and fancy that God's mercy is only careless +indulgence. So God did to David. He then told him that though he +was forgiven he would still be punished, 'The Lord has put away thy +sin; nevertheless, the child that shall be born unto thee shall +surely die.' Punishment and forgiveness went together. Ay, if we +will look at it rightly, David's being punished was the very sign +that God had forgiven him. Oh, believe that, my friends; face it; +thank God for it. I at least do, when I look back upon my past +life, and see that for every wrong I have ever done, I have been +punished: not punished a tenth part as much as I deserve; but still +punished, more or less, and made to smart for my own folly, and to +learn, by hard unmistakable experience, that it will not pay me, or +any man, to break the least of God's laws; and I thank God for it. +I tell you to thank God also, whensoever you are punished for your +sins. It is a sign that God cares for you, that God loves you, that +God is training and educating you, that God is your Father, and He +is dealing with you as with His sons. For what son is there whom +His Father does not chastise? It is a bitter lesson, no doubt; but +we have deserved it: then let us bear it like men. No doubt it is +bitter: but there is a blessing in it. No chastisement at first +seems pleasant, says the Apostle, but rather grievous: yet +afterwards it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those +who are exercised thereby. Be exercised by it, then. Let God teach +you in His own way, even if it seem a harsh and painful way. We +have had earthly fathers, says the Apostle, who corrected us, and we +gave them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in subjection to +God, the Father of Spirits, and live? For suffering and punishment +is the way to Eternal Life--to that true Eternal Life which is +knowing God and God's love, and becoming like God. As the Apostle +says, God chastens us only for our profit, that we may be partakers +of His holiness. And as king Hezekiah says of affliction, 'Lord, by +_these_ things,' by sorrow and chastisement, 'men live; and in all +these things is the life of the spirit.' + +May God give to you, and me, and all mankind, as often as we do +wrong, honest and good hearts to confess our sins thoroughly, and +take our punishment meekly, and trust in God's boundless mercy, in +order that if we humble ourselves under His rod, and learn His +lessons faithfully in this life, we may not need a worse punishment +in the life to come, but be accepted in the last great Day for the +sake of Jesus Christ, our blessed Lord and Saviour. + + + +SERMON XX. THE TRUE GENTLEMAN + + + +1 Cor. xii. 31; xiii. 1. Covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet +shew I unto you a more excellent way. Though I speak with the +tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as +sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. + +My friends, let me say a few plain words this morning to young and +old, rich and poor, upon this text. + +Now you all, I suppose, think it a good thing to be gentlemen and +ladies. All of you, I say. There is not a poor man in this church, +perhaps, who has not before now said in his heart, 'Ah, if I were +but a gentleman!' or a poor woman who has not said in her heart, +'Ah, if I were but a lady!' You see round you in the world +thousands plotting and labouring all their lives long to make money +and grow rich, that they may become (as they think) gentlemen, or, +at least, their sons after them. And those here who are what the +world calls gentlemen and ladies, know very well that those names +are names which are very precious to them; and would sooner give up +house, land, money, all the comforts upon earth, than give up being +called gentlemen and ladies; and these last know, I trust, what some +poor people do not know, and what no man knows who fancies that he +can make a gentleman of himself merely by gaining money, and setting +up a fine house, and a good table, and horses and carriages, and +indulging the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eye, and the +pride of life; for these last ought to know that the right to be +called gentlemen and ladies is something which this world did not +give, and cannot take away; so that if they were brought to utter +poverty and rags, or forced to dig the ground for their own +livelihood, they would be gentlemen and ladies still, if they ever +had been really and truly such; and what is more, they would make +every one who met them feel that they were gentlemen and ladies, in +spite of all their poverty. + +Now, people do not often understand clearly why this is. They feel, +more or less, that so it is; but they cannot explain it. I could +tell you why they cannot; but I will not take up your time. But if +they cannot explain it, there are those who can. St. Paul explains +it in the Epistle. The Lord Jesus Himself explains it in the +Gospel. They tell us why money will not make a gentleman. They +tell us why poverty will not unmake one: but they tell us more. +They tell us the one only thing which makes a true gentleman. And +they tell us more still. They tell us how every one of us, down to +the poorest and most ignorant man and woman in this church, may +become true gentlemen and ladies, in the sight of God and of all +reasonable men; and that, not only in this life, but after death, +for ever, and ever, and ever. And that is by charity, by love. + +Now, if you will look two or three chapters back, in the Epistle to +the Corinthians--at the 11th and 12th chapters--you will see that +these Corinthians were behaving to each other very much as people +are apt to do in England now. They all wanted to rise in life, and +they wanted to rise upon each other's shoulders. Each man and woman +wanted to set themselves up above their neighbours, and to look down +upon them. The rich looked down on the poor, and kept apart from +them at the Lord's Supper; and no doubt the poor envied the rich +heartily enough in return. And these Corinthians were very +religious, and some of them, too, very clever. So those who, being +poor, could not set themselves up above their neighbours on the +score of wealth, wanted to set themselves up on the score of their +spiritual gifts. One looked down on his neighbours because he was a +deeper scholar than they; another, because he had the gift of +tongues, and understood more languages than they; another could +prophesy better than any of them, and so, because he was a very +eloquent preacher, he tried to get power over his neighbours, and +abuse the talents which God had given him, to pamper his own pride +and vanity, and love of managing and ordering people, and of being +run after by silly women (as St. Paul calls them), ever learning and +never coming to the knowledge of the truth. And of the rest, one +party sided with one preacher, or one teacher, and another with +another; and each party looked down on the other, and judged them +harshly, and said bitter things of them, till, as St. Paul says, +they were all split up by heresies, that is, by divisions, party +spirit, envying, and grudging in the very Church of God, and at the +very Table of The Lord. + +Now says St. Paul, 'Covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet show I +you a more excellent way;' and that is charity; love. As much as to +say, I do not complain of any of you for trying to be the best that +you can, for trying to be as wise as you can be, as eloquent as you +can be, as learned as you can be: I do not complain of you for +trying to rise; but I _do_ complain of you for trying to rise upon +each other's shoulders. I do complain of you for each trying to set +up himself, and trying to make use of his neighbours instead of +helping them; and, when God gives you gifts to do good to others +with, trying to do good only to yourselves with them. + +For he says, you are all members of one body; and all the talents, +gifts, understanding, power, money, which God has bestowed on you, +He has given you only that you may help your neighbours with them. +Of course there is no harm in longing and praying for great gifts, +longing and praying to be very wise, or very eloquent; but only that +you may do all the more good. And, after all, says St. Paul, there +is something more worth longing for, not merely than money, but more +worth longing for than the wisdom of a prophet, or the tongue of an +angel; and that is charity. If you have _that_, you will be able to +do as much good as God requires of you in your station; and if you +have not that, you will not do what God requires of you, even though +you spoke with the tongues of men and of angels. Even though you +had the gift of prophecy, and understood all mysteries, and all +knowledge; even though you had all faith, so that you could remove +mountains; even though you had all good works, and gave all your +goods to feed the poor, and your body to be burned as a martyr for +the sake of religion, and had not charity, you would be nothing. +Nothing, says St. Paul, but sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal--an +empty vessel, which makes the more noise the less there is in it. +If you have charity, says St. Paul, you will be able to do your +share of good where God has put you, though you may be poor, and +ignorant, and stupid, and weak; but if you have not charity, all the +wisdom and learning, righteousness and eloquence in the world, will +only give you greater power of doing harm. + +Yes, he says, I show you a more excellent way to be really great; a +way by which the poorest may be as great as the richest,--the simple +cottager's wife as great as the most accomplished lady; and that is +charity, which comes from the Spirit of God. Pray for that--try +after that; and if you want to know what sort of a spirit it is that +you are to pray for and try after, I will tell you. Charity is the +very opposite of the selfish, covetous, ambitious, proud, grudging +spirit of this world. Charity suffers long, and is kind: charity +does not envy: charity does not boast, is not puffed up: does not +behave itself unseemly; that is, is never rude, or overbearing, or +careless about hurting people's feelings by hard words or looks: +seeketh not its own; that is, is not always looking on its own +rights, and thinking about itself, and trying to help itself; is not +easily provoked: thinketh no evil, that is, is not suspicious, +ready to make out the worst case against every one; rejoiceth not in +iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; that is, is not glad, as too +many are, to see people do wrong, and to laugh and sneer over their +failings: but rejoiceth in the truth, tries to find out the truth +about every one, and judge them honestly, and make fair allowances +for them: covereth all things; that is, tries to hide a neighbour's +sins as far as is right, instead of gossiping over them, and +blazoning them up and down, as too many do: believeth all things; +that is, gives every one credit for meaning well as long as it can: +hopeth all things; that is, never gives any one up as past mending: +endureth all things, keeps its temper, and keeps its tongue; not +rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing, but, on the +contrary, blessing; and so overcomes evil with good. + +In one word, while the spirit of the world thinks of itself, and +helps itself, Charity, which is the Spirit of God, thinks of other +people, and helps other people. And now:--to be always thinking of +other people's feelings, and always caring for other people's +comfort, what is that but the mark, and the only mark, of a true +gentleman, and a true lady? There is none other, my friends, and +there never will be. But the poorest man or woman can do that; the +poorest man or woman can be courteous and tender, careful not to +pain people, ready and willing to help every one to the best of +their power; and therefore, the poorest man or woman can be a true +gentleman or a true lady in the sight of God, by the inspiration of +the Spirit of God, whose name is Charity. + +They can be. And thanks be to the grace of God, they often are. I +can say that I have seen among plain sailors and labouring men as +perfect gentlemen (of God's sort) as man need see; but then they +were _always_ pious and God-fearing men; and so the Spirit of God +had made up to them for any want of scholarship and rank. They were +gentlemen, because God's Spirit had made them gentle. For recollect +all, both rich and poor, what that word gentleman means. It is +simply a man who is gentle; who, let him be as brave or as wise as +he will, yet, as St. Paul says, 'suffers long and is kind; does not +boast, does not behave himself unseemly; is not easily provoked, +thinketh no evil.' + +And recollect, too, what that word lady means. Most of you perhaps +do not know. I will tell you. It means, in the ancient English +tongue, a person who gives away bread; who deals out loaves to the +poor. I have often thought that most beautiful, and full of +meaning, a very message from God to all ladies, to tell them what +they ought to be; and not to them only, but to the poorest woman in +the parish; for who is too poor to help her neighbours? + +You see there is a difference between a Christian man's duty in this +and a Christian woman's duty, though they both spring from the same +spirit. The man, unless he be a clergyman, has not so much time as +a woman for actually helping his neighbours by acts of charity. He +must till the ground, sail the seas, attend to his business, fight +the Queen's enemies; and the way in which the Holy Spirit of Charity +will show in him will be more in his temper and his language; by +making him patient, cheerful, respectful, condescending, courteous, +reasonable, with every one whom he has to do with: but the woman +has time to show acts of charity which the man has not. She can +teach in the schools, sit by the sick bed, work with her hands for +the suffering and the helpless, even though she cannot with her +head. Above all, she can give those kind looks and kind words which +comfort the broken heart better than money and bodily comforts can +do. And she does do it, thank God! I do not merely mean in such +noble instances of divine charity and self-sacrifice as those ladies +who have gone out to nurse the wounded soldiers in the East--true +ladies, indeed, of whom I fear more than one, ere they return, will +be added to the noble army of martyrs, to receive in return for the +great love which they have shown on earth, the full enjoyment of +God's love in heaven:--not these only, but poor women--women who +could not write their own names--women who had hardly clothes +wherewith to keep themselves warm--women who were toiling all day +long to feed and clothe their own children, till one wondered when +in the twenty-four hours they could find five spare minutes for +helping their neighbours;--such poor women have I seen, who in the +midst of their own daily work and daily care, had still a heart open +to hear every one's troubles; a head always planning little comforts +and pleasures for others; and hands always busy in doing good. +Instead of being made hard and selfish by their own troubles, they +had been taught by them, as the Lord Jesus was, to feel for the +troubles of all around them, and went about like ministering angels +in the Spirit of God, which is peace on earth and goodwill towards +men. + +Oh, my friends, such poor women seemed to me most glorious, most +honourable, most venerable! What was all rank or fashion, beauty or +accomplishments, when compared with the great honour which the Lord +Jesus Christ was putting upon those poor women, by transforming them +thus into His own most blessed likeness, and giving them grace to go +about, as He the Lord Jesus did, doing good, because God was with +them! + +Then I felt that such women, poor, and worn, and hard-handed as they +were, were ladies in the sight of that Heavenly Father, who is no +respecter of persons; and felt how truly a wise ancient has said,-- +'It is virtue, yea, virtue, gentlemen, which maketh gentlemen; which +maketh the poor rich, the strong weak, the simple wise, the base- +born noble. This rank neither the whirling wheel of Fortune can +destroy, nor the deceitful cavillings of worldlings separate; +neither sickness abate, nor time abolish.' No; for it is written, +that though prophecies shall fail, tongues cease, knowledge vanish +away, and all that we now know is but in part, yet charity shall +never fail those who are full of the Spirit of Love, but abide with +them for ever and ever, bringing forth fruit through all eternity to +everlasting life. + +But what sort of virtue? Do not mistake that. Not what the world +calls virtue; not mere legal respectability, which says, I do unto +others as they do unto me; which is often merely the whitening +outside the sepulchre, and leaves the heart within unrenewed, +unrighteous, full of pride and ambition, conceit, cunning, and envy, +and unbelief in God: not that virtue, but the virtue which the +Apostle tells us to add to our faith, the virtue from above, which +is the same as the wisdom from above, which is first pure, then +peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated; in one word, the Holy +Spirit of God, the Spirit of Divine Love and Charity, which seeketh +not its own, which St. Paul has described to us in this epistle; the +Holy Spirit of God, with which the Lord Jesus was filled without +measure, and which He manifested to all the world in His most +blessed life and death. + +Ah, my friends, this is not an easy lesson to learn. Christ's +disciples and apostles could not learn it all at once. They tried +to hinder little children from coming to Him. They rebuked the +blind man who called after Him. How could the great Prophet of +Nazareth stoop to trouble Himself about such poor insignificant +people? They could not conceive, either, why the Lord Jesus should +choose to die shamefully, when He might have lived in honour: it +seemed unworthy of Him. They were shocked at His words. 'That be +far from Thee, Lord,' said Peter. Afterwards, when they really +understood what that word 'Lord,' meant, and what sort of a man a +true and perfect Lord ought to be, then they saw how fit, and +proper, and glorious, Christ's self-sacrifice was. When, too, they +learnt to look on Him, not merely as a great prophet, but as the Son +of the Living God, then they understood His conduct, and saw that it +behoved an only-begotten Son of God to suffer all these things +before He entered into His glory. + +But the Scribes and Pharisees never understood it. To the last they +were puzzled and angered by that very self-sacrifice of His: He +must be a bad man, they thought, or He would not care so much for +bad men. 'A friend of publicans and sinners,' they called Him, +thinking that a shameful blame to Him, while it was really the very +highest praise. But if they could not see the beauty of His +conduct, can we? It is very difficult, I do not deny it, my +friends, for the selfishness and pride of fallen man: it is +difficult to see that the Cross was the most glorious throne that +was even set up on earth, and that the crown of thorns was worth all +the crowns of czars and emperors: difficult, indeed, not to stumble +at the stumbling-block of the Cross, and to say, 'It cannot surely +be more blessed to give than to receive:' difficult, not to say in +our hearts, 'The way to be great is surely to rise above other men, +not to stoop below them; to make use of them, and not to make +ourselves slaves to them.' And yet the Lord Jesus Christ did so; He +took on Himself the form of a slave, and made Himself of no +reputation: and what was fit and good for Him, must surely be fit +and good for us. But it is a hard lesson to the pride of fallen +creatures: very hard. And nothing, I believe, but sorrow will +teach it us: sorrow is teaching it some of us now. We surely are +beginning to see, that to suffer patiently for conscience sake, is +the most beautiful thing on earth or in heaven: we begin to see +that those poor soldiers, dying by inches of cold and weariness, +without a murmur, because it was their Duty, were doing a nobler +work even than they did when they fought at Alma and Inkermann; and +that those ladies who are drudging in the hospitals, far away from +home, amid filth and pestilence, are doing, if possible, a nobler +work still, a nobler work than if they were queens or empresses, +because they have taken up the Cross and followed Christ; because +they are not seeking their own good, but the good of others. And if +we will not learn it from those glorious examples, God will force us +to learn it, I trust, every one of us, by sorrow and disappointment. +Ah, my friends, might one not learn it at once, if one would but +open one's eyes and look at things as they are? Every one is +longing for something; each has his little plan for himself, of what +he would like to be, and like to do, and says to himself all day +long, 'If I could but get _that_ one thing, I should be happy: If I +could but get that, then I should want no more!' Foolish man, self- +deceived by his own lusts! Perhaps he cannot get what he wants, and +therefore he cannot enjoy what he has, and is moody, discontented, +peevish, a torment to himself, and perhaps a torment to his family. +Or perhaps he does get what he wants: and is he happy after all? +Not he. He is like the greedy Israelites of old, when they longed +for the quails; and God sent the quails: but while the meat was yet +in their mouths, they loathed it. So it is with a man's fancy. He +gets what he fancies; and he plays with it for a day, as a child +with a new toy, and most probably _spoils_ it, and next day throws +it away to run after some new pleasure, which will cheat him in just +the same way as the last did; and so happiness flits away ahead +before him; and he is like the simple boy in the parable, who was to +find a crock of gold where the rainbow touched the ground: but as +he moved on, the rainbow moved on too, and kept always a field off +from him. You may smile: but just as foolish is every soul of us, +who fancies that he will become happy by making himself great; +admired, rich, comfortable, in short, by making himself anything +whatsoever, or getting anything whatsoever for himself. Just as +foolish is every poor soul, and just as unhappy, as long as he will +go on thinking about himself, instead of copying the Lord Jesus +Christ, and thinking about others; as long as he will keep to the +pattern of the old selfish Adam, which is corrupt according to the +deceitful lusts, the longings and fancies which deceive a man into +expecting to be happy when he will not be happy; instead of putting +on the new man, which after God's likeness is created in +righteousness and true holiness: and what is true holiness but that +very charity of which St. Paul has been preaching to us, the spirit +of love, and mercy, and gentleness, and condescension, and patience, +and active benevolence? + +Ah, my friends, do not forget what I said just now; that a man could +not become happy by making himself anything. No. Not by making +himself anything: but he may by letting God make him something. If +he will let God make him a new creature in Jesus Christ, then he +will be more than happy--he will be blessed: then he will be a +blessing to himself, and a blessing to every one whom he meets: +then all vain longing, and selfishness, and pride, and ambition, and +covetousness, and peevishness and disappointment, will vanish out of +his heart, and he will work manfully and contentedly where God has +placed him--cheerful and open-hearted, civil and patient, always +thinking about others, and not about himself; trying to be about his +Master's business, which is doing good; and always finding too, that +his Master Christ sets him some good work to do day by day, and +gives him strength to do it. And how can a man get that blessed and +noble state of mind? By prayer and practice. You must ask for +strength from God: but then you must believe that He answers your +prayer, and gives you that strength; and therefore you must try and +use it. There is no more use in praying without practising than +there is in practising without praying. You cannot learn to walk +without walking: no more can you learn to do good without trying to +do good. + +Ask, then, of God, grace and help to do good: Pray to Him this very +day to take all selfishness and meanness out of your hearts, and to +give you instead His Holy Spirit of Love and Charity, which alone +can make you noble in His sight; and try this day, try every day of +your lives, to do some good to those around you. Oh make a rule, +and pray to God to help you to keep it, never, if possible, to lie +down at night without being able to say, 'I have made one human +being at least a little wiser, or a little happier, or a little +better this day.' You will find it easier than you think, and +pleasanter: easier, because if you wish to do God's work, God will +surely find you work to do; and pleasanter, because in return for +the little trouble it may cost you, or the little choking of foolish +vulgar pride it may cost you, you will have a peace of mind, a quiet +of temper, a cheerfulness and hopefulness about yourself and all +around you, such as you never felt before; and over and above that, +if you look for a reward in the life to come, recollect this--what +we have to hope for in the life to come is, to enter into the joy of +our Lord. And how did He fulfil that joy, but by humbling Himself, +and taking the form of a slave, and coming not to be ministered to +but to minister, and to give His whole life, even to the death upon +the cross, a ransom for many? Be sure, that unless you take up His +cross, you will not share His crown. Be sure, that unless you +follow in His footsteps, you will never reach the place where He is. +If you wish to enter into the joy of your Lord, be sure that His joy +is now, as it was in Judaea of old, over every sinner that +repenteth, every mourner that is comforted, every hungry mouth that +is fed, every poor soul, sick or in prison, who is visited. + +That is the joy of your Lord--to show mercy; and that must be your +joy too, if you wish to enter into His joy. Surely that is plain. +You must rejoice in doing the same work that He rejoices in, and +then His joy and yours will be the same; then you will enter into +His joy, and He will enter into yours; then, as St. John says, you +will dwell in Christ, and Christ in you, because you love the +brethren; and you will hear through all eternity the blessed words, +'Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of these little ones, +ye did it unto Me.' + + + +SERMON XXI. TOLERATION + + + +[Preached at Bideford, 1854] + +Philippians iii. 15, 16. And if in any thing ye shall be otherwise +minded, God shall reveal even this to you. Nevertheless, whereto we +have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the +same thing. + +My friends, allow me to speak a few plain and honest words, ere we +part, on a matter which is near to, and probably important to, many +of us here. We all know how the Christian Church has in all ages +been torn in pieces by religious quarrels; we all know too well how +painfully these religious quarrels have been brought home to our +very doors and hearts of late. + +Now, we all deplore, or profess to deplore, these differences and +controversies. But we may do that in two ways: we may say, 'I am +very sorry that all Christians do not think alike,' when all we mean +is, 'I am very sorry that all Christians do not think just as I do, +for I am right and infallible, whosoever else is wrong.' The fallen +heart of man is too apt to say that, my friends, in its pride and +narrowness, and while it cries out against the Pope of Rome, sets +itself up as Pope in his stead. + +But there is surely another and a better way of deploring these +differences: and that is, to say to oneself, 'I am sorry, bitterly +sorry, that Christians cannot differ without quarrelling and hating +one another over and above.' And then comes the deeper home- +thought, 'And how much more sorry I am that I myself cannot differ +from my fellow-Christians without growing angry with them, +suspecting them, despising them, treating them as if they were not +my fellow-Christians at all.' Yes, my friends, this is what we have +to do first when we think of religious controversies, to examine our +own hearts and deeds and words; to see whether we too have not been +making bitterness more bitter, and, as the old proverb says, +'stirring the fire with a sword;' and to repent humbly and utterly +of every harsh word, hasty judgment, ungenerous suspicion, as sins, +not only against men, but against God the Father of Lights, who +worketh in each of His children to will and to do of His good +pleasure. + +But some will say, 'We cannot give up what we believe to be right +and true.' God forbid that you should try to do so, my friends; for +if you really believe it, you cannot, even if you try; and by trying +you will only make yourselves dishonest. But does not that hold as +good of the man who differs from you? God will not surely lay down +one law for you, and another for him? 'But we are right, and he is +wrong.' Be it so. You do not surely mean that you are quite right; +perfect and infallible? You mean that you are right on the whole, +and as far as you see. And how can you tell but that he is right on +the whole, and as far as he sees? You will answer that both cannot +be right; that yes and no cannot be both true; that a thing cannot +be black and white also. + +My friends, my friends--but where is the religious controversy, the +two sides whereof are as clearly opposite to each other as yes and +no, black and white? I know none now; I have hardly found one in +the records of the Protestant Church since first Luther and our +Reformers protested against Romish idolatry. On that last matter +there should be no doubt, as long as the first two commandments +stand in the Decalogue; but, with that exception, it would be +difficult to find a dispute in which the truth lay altogether with +one party. The truth rather lies, in general, not so much halfway +between the two combatants, as in some third place, which neither of +them sees; which perhaps God does not intend them to see in this +life, while He leaves his servants each to work out some one side of +Christian truth, dividing to every man severally as He will, +according to the powers of each mind, and the needs of each +situation. + +True we have the infallible rule of Scripture: but are our own +interpretations of it so sure to be infallible? Inspired, infinite, +inexhaustible as it is, can we pretend to have fathomed all its +abysses, to have comprehended all its boundless treasures? The +pretence is folly. True, again, it contains all things necessary to +salvation; and those so plainly set forth, that he who runs may +read, and the wayfaring man, though poor, shall not err therein. +And yet does it not contain things whereof even St. Paul himself +said, that he only knew in part, and prophesied in part, and saw as +through a glass darkly; and are we to suppose that they are among +the truths necessary to salvation? Now are not the points about +which there has been, and is still, most dispute, just of this very +number? Do they belong to the simple fundamental truths of the +Gospel? No. Are they such plain matters that the wayfaring man, +though poor, can make up his mind on them for himself? No. Are +they one of them laid down directly in Scripture, like the Ten +Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, or the Creeds? No. They are every +one, as it seems to me, whether they be right or wrong, abstruse +deductions, delicate theories, built up on single and obscure texts. +Surely, if they had been necessary for salvation, the Lord would +have spoken on them in a tone and in words about which there should +be no more mistake than about the thunders of Sinai, and the tables +of stone fresh from the finger-mark of God. And He has spoken to +us, my friends, on other matters, if not on these. His promises are +clear enough, and short enough, though high as heaven and wide as +the universe. There is one God, and one Mediator between God and +man, the man Christ Jesus, the only-begotten Son of God; and +whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God; and if +any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the +righteous, and He is the propitiation for our sins. And again, 'If +any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth liberally, and +upbraideth not, and he shall receive it.' 'For if ye, being evil, +know how to give good gifts to your children, much more shall your +Heavenly Father give His Holy Spirit to them who ask Him.' + +These are God's promises--simple and clear enough: and what are +God's demands? Are they numerous, intricate, burdensome, a yoke +which neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? God forbid +again!--'He hath showed thee, oh man, what is good. And what doth +the Lord require of thee, but to do justly and to love mercy, and to +walk humbly with thy God?' And lest thou shouldest mistake in the +least the meaning of these words, He hath showed thee all this, and +more, by a living example fairer than all the sons of men, and +through lips full of grace, in the blessed life and blessed death of +His Son Jesus Christ, the brightness of His glory, and the express +image of His person. To this, at least, we have already attained. +Let us walk by this rule, let us all mind this same thing, and if in +anything else we are differently minded, God in His own good time +will reveal even that to us. + +Is not this enough, my friends? Then why should we bite and tear +each other about that which is over and above this? If any man +believes this, and acts on it, let us hail him as a brother. After +all, let our differences be what they will, have we not one Lord, +one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, +and through all, and in us all? If this is not bond enough between +man and man, what bond would we have? Oh, my friends, when we +consider this our little life, how full of ignorance it is and +darkness; within us, rebellion, inconstancy, confusion, daily sins +and shortcomings; and without us, disappointment, fear of +loneliness, loss of friends, loss of all which makes life worth +having,--who are we that we should deny proudly one single tie which +binds us to any other human being? Who are we that we should refuse +one hand stretched out to grasp our own? Who are we that we should +say, 'Stand back, for I am holier than thou?' Who are we that we +should judge another? to his own master let him stand or fall--'yea, +and he shall stand,' says the Apostle, 'for God is able to make him +stand.' + +Think of those last words, my friends, they are strong and +startling; but we must not shrink from them. They tell us that God +may be as near those whom we heap with hard names, as He is near to +us; that He may intend that they should triumph, not over us, but +with us over evil. And if God be with them, who dare be against +them? Shall we be more dainty than God? And therefore I have never +been able to hear, without a shudder, words which I have heard, and +from really Christian men too: 'I can wish well to a pious man of a +different denomination from mine; I can honour and admire the fruits +of God's Spirit in him; but I cannot co-operate with him.' When I +hear such language from really good men, I confess I am puzzled. I +have no doubt that their reasons seem to them very sound; but what +they are I cannot conceive. I cannot conceive why I should not hold +out the right hand of fellowship and brotherhood to every man who +fears God and works righteousness, of whatsoever denomination he may +be. We believe the Apostles' Creed, surely? Then think of the +meaning of that one word, The Holy Spirit. To whom are we to +attribute any man's good deeds, except to the Holy Spirit? We dare +not say that he does them by an innate and natural virtue of his +own, for that would be to fall at once into the Pelagian heresy; +neither dare we attribute his good deeds to an evil spirit, and say, +'However good they may look, they must be bad, for he belongs to a +denomination who cannot have God's Spirit.' We dare not; for that +would be to approach fearfully near to the unpardonable sin itself, +the sin against the Holy Ghost, the bigotry which says, 'He casteth +out devils by the Prince of the devils.' Surely if we be +Christians, and Churchmen, we confess (for the Bible and the Prayer- +book declare) that every good deed of man comes down from the One +Fountain of Good, from God, the Father of Lights, by the inspiration +of His Holy Spirit. + +Then think, my friends, think what words we have said. We confess +that the great, absolute, almighty, eternal God, in whose hand suns +and stars, ages and generations, hell and heaven, and all which is +and has been, and ever will be, are but as a grain of sand; who has +but to take away His breath, and the whole universe would become +nothing and nowhere; the utterly holy and righteous God, who is of +purer eyes than to behold iniquity, who charges His angels with +folly, and the heavens are not clean in His sight--we confess, I +say, that this great God has condescended to visit that man's soul, +and cherish it, and teach it, and shape it (be it ever so little) +into His own likeness: and shall we dare to stand aloof from him +from whom God does not stand aloof? Shall we refuse to walk with +one who walks with God? Shall we refuse to work with one who is a +fellow-worker with God, to love one whom God loves, to take by the +hand one whose guest God has become? Shall we be more dainty than +God? more fastidious than God? more righteous than God? more +separate from sinners than God? Oh, my friends, let us pray that we +may love God better, and know His likeness more clearly; that we may +be more ready to recognise, and admire, and welcome every, even the +smallest trace of that likeness in any human being, remembering that +it is the likeness of Christ, who was not merely The Teacher of all +in every nation who fear God and work righteousness, but the Saviour +who ate and drank with publicans and sinners: and then we shall be +more careful how we call unclean what God Himself has cleansed with +His own presence, His own grace, His own quickening and renewing and +sanctifying Spirit. + +Be sure, be sure, my friends, that in proportion as we really love +the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall love those who love Him, be it in +never so clumsy or mistaken a fashion; and love those too whom He +loved enough to die for them, and whom He loves now enough to teach +and strengthen. We shall say to them, not 'Wherein do we differ?' +but 'Wherein do we agree?' Not, 'Because I cannot worship with you, +therefore I will not work with you;' but rather, 'I wish that I +could worship with you; I will whenever and wherever I can, as far +as you allow me, as far as the law allows me, as far as your worship +is not in my eyes an actually sinful thing: but, be that as it may, +we can at least do together something better even than worshipping, +and that is, working. We can surely do good together. Together, +let our denomination or party be what it may, we can feed the +hungry, clothe the naked, reform the prisoner, humanize the +degraded, save yearly the lives of thousands by labouring for the +public health, and educate the minds and morals of the masses, +though our religious differences (shame on us that it should be so!) +force us to part when we begin to talk to them about the world to +come.' + +For are we not brothers after all? Has not God made us of one +blood, English men, with English hearts? Has not Christ redeemed us +with one and the same sacrifice? Has not the Holy Spirit given us +one and the same desire of doing good? And shall we not use that +spirit hand in hand? Look, look at the opportunities of doing good +which are around you; look at God's field of good works, white +already to the harvest; and the labourers are few. Shall these few, +instead of going manfully to work, stand idly quarrelling about the +shape of their instruments, and their favourite modes of using them? +God forbid! True, there are errors against which we are bound to +protest to the uttermost; but how few? The one real enemy we have +all to fight is sin--evil-doing. If any man or doctrine makes men +worse--makes men do worse deeds, protest then, if you will, and +spare not, and shrink not: for sin must be of the Devil, whatever +else is not. And therefore we are bound to protest against any +doctrine which parts man from God, and, under whatsoever pretence of +reverence or purity, draws again the veil between him and his +Heavenly Father, and denies him free access to the Throne of Grace, +and the feet of Jesus, that he may carry thither his own sins, his +own doubts, his own sorrows, and speak (wondrous condescension of +redeeming grace!) speak with God face to face, and yet live. For +this we must protest; for this we must die, if needs be; for if we +lose this, we lose all which our reforming forefathers won for us at +the stake, ay, we lose our own souls; for we lose righteousness and +strength, and the power to do the will of God. + +For to shut a man out from free access to God and Christ is to make +him certainly false, dishonest, cowardly, degraded, slavish, and +sinful; as modern Popery has made, and always will make, those over +whom it really gains power. This is the root of our hereditary +protest against Popery; not merely because we do not agree with +certain of its doctrines, but because we know from experience, that +as now taught by the Jesuits, with whom it has identified itself, +its general tendency is to make men bad men, ignorant, dishonest, +rebellious; unworthy citizens of a free and loyal state. + +And there are practices against which congregations have a right to +protest, not only as Christians, but as free Englishmen. +Congregations have a right to protest against any minister who +introduces obsolete ceremonies which empty his church and drive away +his people. Those ceremonies may be quite harmless in themselves, +as I really believe most of them are; many of them may be beautiful, +and, if properly understood, useful, as I think they are; but a +thing may be good in itself, and yet become bad by being used at a +wrong time, and in a way which produces harm. And it is shocking, +to say the least, to see churches emptied and parishes thrown into +war for the sake of such matters. The lightest word which can be +used for such conduct is, pedantry; but I fear at times lest the +Lord in heaven should be using a far more awful word, and when He +sees weak brethren driven from the fold of the Church by the self- +will and obstinacy of the very men who profess to desire to bring +all into the Church, as the only place where salvation is to be +found,--I fear, I say, when I see such deeds, lest the Lord should +repeat against them His own awful words: 'If any man scandalize one +of these little ones who believeth on Me, it were better for him +that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were +drowned in the depths of the sea.' What sadder mistake? Those who +have sworn to seek out Christ's lambs scattered up and down this +wicked world, shall they be the very ones to frighten those lambs +out of the fold, instead of alluring them back into it? Shall the +shepherd play the part, not even of the hireling who flees and +leaves the sheep to themselves, but of the very wolf who scatters +the flock? God forbid! The Church, like the Sabbath, was made for +man, my friends: not man for the Church; and the Son of Man, as He +is Lord of the Sabbath, is Lord of the Church, and will have mercy +in its dealings rather than sacrifice. The minister, my friends, +was made for the people: and not the people for the minister. What +else does the very name 'minister' mean? Not a lord who has +dominion, but a servant, a servant to all, who must give up again +and again his private notions of what he thinks best in itself for +the sake of what will be best for his flock; who must be, like St. +Paul, a Jew to the Jews; under the law to those who are still under +the law; and yet again without law to those who are without law +(though not without law to God, but under the law to Christ); weak +with the weak; strong with the strong; that he may gain men of all +sorts of opinions and characters by agreeing with them as far as he +honestly can, and showing his sympathy with each as much as he can; +and so become all things to all men, that he may by all means save +some. Oh, my friends, who can read honestly that glorious First +Epistle to the Corinthians and not see how a man may have the most +intense earnestness, the strongest doctrinal certainty, and yet at +the same time the greatest freedom, and charity, and liberality +about minor matters of ceremonies and Church arrangements, and +practical methods of usefulness; glad even that Christ be preached +by his enemies, and out of spite to him, because any way Christ is +preached? + +But, my friends, if it is the right of free Englishmen to protest +against such doings, how shall it be done? Surely in gentleness, +calmness, reverence, as by men who know that they are standing on +holy ground, and dealing with sacred things, before the Throne of +God, and beneath the eye of Jesus Christ. Not surely, as it has +been too often done, in bitterness, and wrath, and clamour, and +evil-speaking, with really unjust suspicions, exaggerations, +slanders, (and those, too, anonymous,) in the columns of the public +prints. My friends, these are not God's weapons. Not such is +Ithuriel's magic spear, the very touch of which unmasks falsehood. +This is to try to cast out Satan by Satan, to make evil worse by +fighting it with fresh evil. Oh, my friends, if there is one +counsel which I would press on all here more earnestly than another, +it is this--never, never, howsoever great may be the temptation, to +indulge in anonymous attacks on any human being. No man has a right +to do it who prays daily to his Father in heaven, Lead us not into +temptation. For it is to lead oneself into temptation, and that too +sore to resist; into the temptation to say something which one dare +not say, and ought not to say, were one's name known; the temptation +to forget not only the charity of Christians, but even the +courtesies of civilized life; and to shoot, from behind the safe +hedge of anonymousness, coward and envenomed shafts, of which we +should be ashamed, did the world know that they were ours; of which +we shall surely be ashamed in that great day, when the secrets of +all hearts shall be disclosed. I speak strongly: but only because +I know by bitter experience the terrible truth of my own words. + +And consider, my friends, can any good result come from handling +sacred matters with such harsh and fierce hands as they have been +handled of late? For ourselves, such evil tempers only excite, +irritate, blind us: they prevent our doing justice to the opposite +side--(I speak of all parties)--they put us into an unwholesome +state of suspicion, and tempt us to pass harsh judgments upon men as +righteous, and perhaps far more righteous, than ourselves: they +stir up our pride to special plead our case, to make the best of our +own side, and the worst of our opponents': they defile our very +prayers; till, when we ought to be praying God to bless all mankind, +we catch ourselves unawares calling on Him to curse our enemies. + +For those who are without--for the infidel, the profligate, the +careless--oh, what a scandal to them! What an excuse for them to +blaspheme the holy name whereby we are called, and ask, as of old, +'Is this then the Gospel of Peace? See how these Christians hate +one another!' + +While for the young, oh, my friends, what a scandal, again, to them! +If you had seen (as I have) pious parents destroying in their own +childrens' minds all faith, all reverence for holy things, by mixing +themselves up in religious controversies, and indulging by their own +firesides in fierce denunciations of men no worse than themselves;-- +if you will watch (as you may) young people taking refuge, some in +utter frivolity, saying, 'What am I to believe? When religionists +have settled what religion is, it will be time enough for me to +think of it: meanwhile, let me eat and drink, for to-morrow I +die;'--and others, the children of strong Protestant parents, taking +refuge in the apostate Church of Rome, and saying, 'If Englishmen do +not know what to believe, Rome does; if I cannot find certainty in +Protestantism, I can in Popery;'--if you will consider honestly and +earnestly these sad tragedies, you will look on it as a sacred duty +to the children whom God has given you, to keep aloof as much as +possible from all those points on which Christians differ, and make +your children feel from their earliest years that there are points, +and those the great, vital root points, on which all more or less +agree, which many members of the Romish Church have held, and, I +doubt not, now hold, as firmly as Protestants,--adoption by one +common Father, justification by the blood of one common Saviour, +sanctification by one common Holy Spirit. + +And believe me, my friends, that just in proportion as you delight +in, and live by, these great doctrines, all controversies will +become less and less important in your eyes. The more you value the +living body of Christianity, the less you will think of its +temporary garments; the more you feel the power of God's Spirit, the +less scrupulous will you be about the peculiar form in which He may +manifest Himself. Personal trust in Christ Jesus, personal love to +Christ Jesus, personal belief that He and He only, is governing this +poor diseased and confused world; that He is really fighting against +all evil in it; that He really rules all nations, and fashions the +hearts of all of them, and understands all their works, and has +appointed them their times and the bounds of their habitation, if +haply they may feel after Him and find Him: personal and living +belief that the just and loving Lord Christ reigneth, be the peoples +never so unquiet;--this, this will keep your minds clear, and sober, +and charitable, and will make you turn with disgust from platform +squabbles and newspaper controversies, to do the duty which lies +nearest you; to walk soberly and righteously with your God, and +train up your children in His faith and fear, not merely to be +scholars, not merely to be devotees, but to be Christian Englishmen; +courteous and gentle, and yet manful and self-restraining; fearing +God and regarding man; growing up healthy under that solemn sense of +national duty which is the only safeguard of national freedom. + +And, meanwhile, you will leave all who differ from you in the hands +of a God who wills their salvation far more than you can do; who +accepts, in every nation, those who fear Him and work righteousness; +who is merciful in this--that He rewards every man according to his +work; and who, if our brothers be otherwise minded from us, will +reveal even that to them, if we be right: or, again, to us, if they +be right. For we may have to learn from them, as well as they from +us; and both have to learn much from God, in the day when all +controversies and doubts shall vanish like a cloud; when we shall +see no longer in part, and through a glass darkly, but face to face; +while all things shall be bright in the sunshine of God's presence +and of the countenance of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord. + + + +SERMON XXII. PUBLIC SPIRIT + + + +(Preached at Bideford, 1855.) + +1 Corinthians xii. 25, 26. That there should be no division in the +body; but that the members should have the same care, one of +another. And whether one member suffer, all suffer with it; or +whether one member be honoured, all rejoice with it. + +I have been asked to preach in behalf of the Provident Society of +this town. I shall begin by asking you to think over with me a +matter which may seem at first sight to have very little to do with +you or with a provident society, but which, nevertheless, I believe +has very much to do with both, and is full of wholesome spiritual +instruction for us all. + +Did it ever happen to any of you, to see a mob of several thousands +put to instant flight by a mere handful of soldiers? And did you +ever ask yourself how that apparent miracle could come to pass? The +first answer which occurred to you, perhaps, was, that the soldiers +were well armed, and the mob was not: but soon, I am sure, you felt +that you were doing the soldiers an injustice; that they would have +behaved just as bravely if every man in that mob had been as well +armed as they, and have resisted till they were overpowered by mere +numbers. You felt, I am sure, that there was something in the +hearts and spirits of those soldiers which there was not in the +hearts of the mob; that though the mob might be boiling over with +the greediest passions, the fiercest fury, while the soldiers were +calm, cheerful, and caring for nothing but doing their duty, yet +that there was a thought within them which was stronger than all the +rage and greediness of the thousands whom they faced; that, in +short, the seeming miracle was a moral and a spiritual miracle. + +What, then, is this wonder-working thought which makes the soldier +strong? + +Courage, you answer, and the sense of duty. True; but what has +called out the sense of duty? What has inspired the courage? There +was a time, perhaps, when each of those soldiers was no braver or +more steady than the mob in front of them. Has it never happened to +you to know some young country lad, both before and after he has +become a soldier? Look at him in his native village (if you will +let me draw for you the sketch of a history, which, alas! is the +history of thousands), perhaps one of the worst and idlest lads in +it--unwilling to work steadily, haunting the public-house and the +worst of company; wandering out at night to poach and caring for +nothing but satisfying his gross animal appetites; afraid to look +you in the face, hardly able to give an intelligible, certainly not +a civil answer; his countenance expressing only vacancy, sensuality, +cunning, suspicion, utter want of self-respect. + +It is a sad sight, but how common a sight, even in this favoured +land! + +At last he vanishes; he has been engaged in some drunken affray, or +in some low intrigue, and has fled for fear of the law, and enlisted +as a soldier. + +A year or two passes, and you meet the same lad again--if indeed he +is the same. For a strange change has come over him: he walks +erect, he speaks clearly, he looks you boldly in the face, with eyes +full of intelligence and self-respect; he is become civil and +courteous now; he touches his cap to you 'like a soldier;' he can +afford now to be respectful to others, because he respects himself, +and expects you to respect him. You talk to him, and find that the +change is not merely outward, but inward; not owing to mere +mechanical drill but to something which has been going on in his +heart; and ten to one, the first thing that he begins to talk to you +about, with honest pride, is his regiment. His regiment. Yes, +there is the secret which has worked these wonders; there is the +talisman which has humanized and civilized and raised from the mire +the once savage boor. He belongs to a regiment; in one word, he has +become the member of a body. + +The member of a body, in which if one member suffers, all suffer +with it; if one member be honoured, all rejoice with it. A body, +which has a life of its own, and a government of its own, a duty of +its own, a history of its own, an allegiance to a sovereign, all +which are now his life, his duty, his history, his allegiance; he +does not now merely serve himself and his own selfish lusts: he +serves the Queen. His nature is not changed, but the thought that +he is the member of an honourable body has raised him above his +nature. If he forgets that, and thinks only of himself, he will +become selfish sluttish, drunken, cowardly, a bad soldier; as long +as he remembers it, he is a hero. He can face mobs now, and worse +than mobs: he can face hunger and thirst, fatigue, danger, death +itself, because he is the member of a body. For those know little, +little of human nature and its weakness, who fancy that mere brute +courage, as of an angry lion, will ever avail, or availed a few +short weeks ago, to spur our thousands up the steeps of Alma, or +across the fatal plain of Balaklava, athwart the corpses of their +comrades, upon the deadly throats of Russian guns. A nobler +feeling, a more heavenly thought was needed (and when needed, thanks +to God, it came!) to keep each raw lad, nursed in the lap of peace, +true to his country and his Queen through the valley of the shadow +of death. Not mere animal fierceness: but that tattered rag which +floated above his head, inscribed with the glorious names of Egypt +or Corunna, Toulouse or Waterloo, that it was which raised him into +a hero: he had seen those victories; the men who conquered there +were dead long since: but the regiment still lived, its history +still lived, its honour lived, and that history, that honour were +his, as well as those old dead warriors': he had fought side by +side with them in spirit, though not in the flesh; and now his turn +was come, and he must do as they did, and for their sakes, and count +his own life a worthless thing for the sake of the body which he +belonged to: he, but two years ago the idle, selfish country lad, +now stumbling cheerful on in the teeth of the iron hail, across +ground slippery with his comrades' blood, not knowing whether the +next moment his own blood might not swell the ghastly stream. What +matter? They might kill him, but they could not kill the regiment: +it would live on and conquer; ay, and should conquer, if his life +could help on its victory; and then its honour would be his, its +reward be his, even when his corpse lay pierced with wounds, +stiffening beneath a foreign sky. + +Here, my friends, is one example of the blessed power of fellow +feeling, public spirit, the sense of belonging to a body whose +members have not merely a common interest, but a common duty, a +common honour. + +This Christian country, thank God! gives daily many another example +of the same: and every place, and every station affords to each one +of us opportunities,--more, alas, I fear, than we shall ever take +full advantage of: but I have chosen the case of the soldier, not +merely because it is perhaps the most striking and affecting, but +because I wish to see, and trust in God that I shall see, those who +remain at home in safety emulating the public spirit and self- +sacrifice which our soldiers are showing abroad; and by sacrifices +more peaceful and easy, but still well-pleasing unto God, showing +that they too have been raised above selfishness, by the glorious +thought that they are members of a body. + +For, are we not members of a body, my friends? Are we not members +of the Body of bodies, members of Christ, children of God, +inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven? Members of Christ--we, and the +poor for whom I plead, as well as we; perhaps, considering their +many trials and our few trials, more faithfully and loyally by far +than we are. There are some here, I doubt not, to whom that word, +that argument, is enough: to whom it is enough to say, Remember +that the Lord whom you love loves that shivering, starving wretch as +well as He loves you, to open and exhaust at once their heart, their +purse, their labour of love. God's blessing be upon all such! But +it would be hypocrisy in me, my friends, to speak to this, or any +congregation, as if all were of that temper of mind. It is not one +in ten, alas! in the present divided state of religious parties, who +feels the mere name of Christ enough of a bond to make him sacrifice +himself for his fellow Christians, as a soldier does for his fellow +soldiers. Not one in ten, alas! feels that he owes the same +allegiance to Christ as the soldier does to his Queen; that the +honour of Christianity is his honour, the history of Christianity +his history, the life of Christianity his life. Would that it were +so: but it is not so. And I must appeal to feelings in you less +wide, honourable and righteous though they are: I must appeal to +your public spirit as townsmen of this place. + +I have a right as a clergyman to do so: I have a duty as a +clergyman to do so. For your being townsmen of this place is not a +mere material accident depending on your living in one house instead +of another. It is a spiritual matter; it is a question of eternity. +Your souls and spirits influence each other; your tastes, opinions, +tempers, habits, make those of your neighbours better or worse; you +feel it in yourselves daily. Look at it as a proof that, whether +you will or not, you are one body, of which all the members must +more or less suffer and rejoice together; that you have a common +weal, a common interest; that God has knit you together; that you +cannot part yourselves even if you will; and that you can be happy +and prosperous only by acknowledging each other as brothers, and by +doing to each other as you would they should do unto you. + +It may be hard at times to bring this thought home to our minds: +but it is none the less true because we forget it; and if we do not +choose to bring it home to our own minds, it will be sooner or later +brought home to them whether we choose or not. + +For bear in mind, that St. Paul does not say, if one member suffers, +all the rest ought to suffer with it: he says that they do suffer +with it. He does not say merely, that we ought to feel for our +fellow townsmen; he says, that God has so tempered the body together +as to force one member to have the same care of the others as of +itself; that if we do not care to feel for them, we shall be made to +feel with them. One limb cannot choose whether or not it will feel +the disease of another limb. If one limb be in pain, the whole body +_must_ be uneasy, whether it will or not. And if one class in a +town, or parish, or county, be degraded, or in want, the whole town, +or parish, or county, must be the worse for it. St. Paul is not +preaching up sentimental sympathy: he is telling you of a plain +fact. He is not saying, 'It is a very fine and saintly thing, and +will increase your chance of heaven, to help the poor.' He is +saying, 'If you neglect the poor, you neglect yourself; if you +degrade the poor, you degrade yourself. His poverty, his +carelessness, his immorality, his dirt, his ill-health, will punish +_you_; for you and he are members of the same body, knit together +inextricably for weal or woe, by the eternal laws according to which +the Lord Jesus Christ has constituted human society; and if you +break those laws, they will avenge themselves.'--My friends, do we +not see them avenge themselves daily? The slave-holder refuses to +acknowledge that his slave is a member of the same body as himself; +but he does not go unpunished: the degradation to which he has +brought his slave degrades him, by throwing open to him. the +downward path of lust, laziness, ungoverned and tyrannous tempers, +and the other sins which have in all ages, slowly but surely, worked +the just ruin of slave-holding states. The sinner is his own +tempter, and the sinner is his own executioner: he lies in wait for +his own life (says Solomon) when he lies in wait for his brother's. +Do you see the same law working in our own free country? If you +leave the poor careless and filthy, you can obtain no good servants: +if you leave them profligate, they make your sons profligate also: +if you leave them tempted by want, your property is unsafe: if you +leave them uneducated, reckless, improvident, you cannot get your +work properly done, and have to waste time and money in watching +your workmen instead of trusting them. Why, what are all poor-rates +and county-rates, if you will consider, but God's plain proof to us, +that the poor are members of the same body as ourselves; and that if +we will not help them of our own free will, we shall find it +necessary to help them against our will: that if we will not pay a +little to prevent them becoming pauperized or criminal, we must pay +a great deal to keep them when they have become so? We may draw a +lesson--and a most instructive one it is--from the city of +Liverpool, in which it was lately proved that crime--and especially +the crime of uneducated boys and girls--had cost, in the last few +years, the city many times more than it would cost to educate, +civilize, and depauperize the whole rising generation of that city, +and had been a tax upon the capital and industry of Liverpool, so +enormous that they would have submitted to it from no Government on +earth; and yet they had been blindly inflicting it upon themselves +for years, simply because they chose to forget that they were their +brothers' keepers. + +Look again at preventible epidemics, like cholera. All the great +towns of England have discovered, what you I fear are discovering +also, that the expense of a pestilence, and of the widows and +orphans which it creates, is far greater than the expense of putting +a town into such a state of cleanliness as would defy the entrance +of the disease. So it is throughout the world. Nothing is more +expensive than penuriousness; nothing more anxious than +carelessness; and every duty which is bidden to wait, returns with +seven fresh duties at its back. + +Yes, my friends, we are members of a body; and we must realize that +fact by painful experience, if we refuse to realize it in public +spirit and brotherly kindness, and the approval of a good +conscience, and the knowledge that we are living like our Lord and +Master Jesus Christ, who laboured for all but Himself, cared for all +but Himself; who counted not His own life dear to Himself that by +laying it down He might redeem into His own likeness the beings whom +He had made; and who has placed us on this earth, each in his own +station, each in his own parish, that we might follow in His +footsteps, and live by His Spirit, which is the spirit of love and +fellow-feeling, that new and risen life of His, which is the life of +duty, honour, and self-sacrifice. + +Yes. Let us look rather at this brighter side of the question, my +friends, than at the darker. I will preach the Gospel to you rather +than the Law. I will appeal to your higher feelings rather than to +your lower; to your love rather than your fear; to your honour +rather than your self-interest. It will be pleasanter for me: it +will meet with a more cordial response, I doubt not, from you. + +Some dislike appeals to honour. I cannot, as long as St. Paul +himself appeals to it so often, both in the individual and in +bodies. His whole Epistle to Philemon is an appeal, most delicate +and graceful, to Philemon's sense of honour--to the thought of what +he owed Paul, of what Paul wished him to repay, not with money, but +with generosity. + +And his appeal to the Corinthians is a direct appeal to their +honour: not to fears of any punishment, or wrath of God, but to the +respect which they owed to themselves as members of a body, the +Church of Corinth; and to the respect which they owed to that body +as a whole, and which they had disgraced by allowing an open scandal +in it. + +And his appeal was successful: they took it just as it was meant; +and he rejoices in the thought that they did so. 'For this, that ye +sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, +yea, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what +vehement desire, what zeal, what revenge! In all things you have +approved yourselves to be clear in this matter,' + +Noble words, and nobly answered. My friends, you, too, are members +of a body: go, and do likewise in the matter of this Society's +failing funds. + +* * * * * + +May I boldly ask you to alter this to-day? This, remember, is no +common day. It is a day of thankfulness. The thankfulness which +you professed, and I doubt not many of you felt, on Thursday night, +has not evaporated, I trust, by Sunday morning. You have not yet +forgotten--I trust that there is many a one who will never forget-- +what you owe as townsmen of this place, to God who has preserved you +safe through the dangers and sorrows of the past autumn. You owe +more than one debt to God. You owe, all England owes, thanks to Him +for the late bounteous harvest, thanks to Him for the present +prosperous seed-time: think what our state might have been with +scarcity, as well as war, upon us, and pay part of your debt this +day. You owe a thank-offering for the cessation of the cholera; a +thank-offering for the sparing of your own lives;--pay it now. You +owe a thank-offering for the glorious victories of our armies:--pay +it now. You belong, too, to an honourable body, which has a noble +history, and sets you many a noble example; show yourselves worthy +of that body, that history, those examples, now. + +And what fitter place than this very church to awaken within you the +thought of duty and of public spirit?--this church which stands as +God's own sign that you are the townsmen, the representatives, ay, +some of you the very descendants, of many a noble spirit of old +time?--this church, in which God's blessing has been invoked on +deeds of patriotism and enterprise, of which the whole world now +bears the fruit?--these walls, in which Elizabeth's heroes, your +ancestors, have prayed before sailing against the Spanish Armada,-- +these walls, which saw the baptism of the first red Indian convert, +and the gathering in, as it were, of the firstfruits of the +heathen,--these walls, in which the early settlers of Virginia have +invoked God's blessing on those tiny ventures which were destined to +become the seeds of a mighty nation, and the starting-point of the +United States,--these walls, which still bear the monument of your +heroic townsman Strange, who expended for his plague-stricken +brethren, talents, time, wealth, and at last life itself. For, to +return, and to apply, I hope, to your consciences, the example of +the soldier with which I began this Sermon:--shall it be only on the +battle-field that the power of fellow-feeling is shown forth? Shall +public spirit be only strong when it has to destroy, and not when it +has to save and comfort? God forbid! Surely you here have a common +corporate life, common history, common allegiance, common interest, +which should inspire you to do your duty, whatsoever it may be, for +the good of your native place, and to show that you feel an +honourable self-respect in the thought that you belong to an ancient +and once famous town, which though it may be outstripped awhile in +the race of commerce, need never be outstripped, if you will be +worthy sons of your worthy ancestors, in that race to which St. Paul +exhorts us; the race of justice and benevolence, the noble rivalry +of noble deeds. + +Oh, look, I beseech you, upon this church as its old worshippers, +the forefathers of many of you who sit here this day, were wont to +look on it. Remember that this church is the sign that you are one +town, one parish, one body; that century after century, this church +has stood to witness to your fathers, and your fathers' fathers, +that all who kneel within these walls are brothers, rich or poor; +that all are children of one Father, redeemed by one Saviour, taught +by one Spirit. This, this is the blessed truth of which the parish +church is token, as nought else can be--that you are one body, +members one of another, and that God's blessing is on your union and +fellow-feeling; that God smiles on your bearing each other's +burdens, and so fulfilling the law of Christ. Look on this church, +and do to others as this church witnesses that God has done for you. + +And now, some of you may perhaps have been disappointed, some a +little scornful, at my having used so many words about so small a +matter, and talked of battles, legends, heroes of old time, all +merely to induct you to help this Society with a paltry extra thirty +pounds. Be it so. I shall be glad if you think so. If the matter +be so small, it is the more easily done; if the sum be paltry, it is +the more easily found. If my reasons are very huge and loud- +sounding, and the result at which I aim very light, the result ought +to follow all the more certainly; for believe me, my friends, the +reasons are good ones, Scriptural ones, practical ones, and ought to +produce the result. I give you the strongest arguments for showing +your Christian, English public spirit; and then I ask you to show it +in a very small matter. But be sure that to do what I ask of you to +do to-day is just as much your duty, small as it may seem, as it +would be, were you soldiers, to venture your lives in the cause of +your native land. Duty, be it in a small matter or a great, is duty +still; the command of Heaven, the eldest voice of God. And, believe +me, my friends, that it is only they who are faithful in a few +things who will be faithful over many things; only they who do their +duty in everyday and trivial matters who will fulfil them on great +occasions. We all honour and admire the heroes of Alma and +Balaklava; we all trust in God that we should have done our duty +also in their place. The best test of that, my friends, is, can we +do our duty in our own place? Here the duty is undeniable, plain, +easy. Here is a Society instituted for one purpose, which has, in +order to exist, to appropriate the funds destined for quite a +different purpose. Both purposes are excellent; but they are +different. The Offertory money is meant for the sick, the widow, +and the orphan; for those who _cannot_ help themselves. The +Provident Society is meant to encourage those who _can_ help +themselves to do so. Every farthing, therefore, taken from the +Offertory money is taken from the widow and the orphan. I ask you +whether this is right and just? I appeal, not merely to your +prudence and good sense, in asking you to promote prudence and good +sense among the poor by the Provident Society; I appeal to your +honour and compassion, on behalf of the sick, the widow, and orphan, +that they may have the full enjoyment of the funds intended for +them. Again, I say, this may seem a small matter to you, and I may +seem to be using too many words about it. Small? Nothing is small +which affects not merely the temporal happiness, but the eternal +welfare, of an immortal soul. My friends, my friends, if any one of +you had to support yourself and your children on four, seven, or +even (mighty sum!) ten shillings a week, it would not seem a small +matter to you then. A few shillings more or less would be to you +_then_ a treasure won or lost; a matter to you of whether you should +keep a house over your children's heads, whether you should keep +shoes upon their feet, and clothes upon their backs; whether you +should see them, as they grew up, tempted by want into theft or +profligacy; whether you should rise in the morning free enough from +the sickening load of anxiety, and the care which eats out the core +of life, and makes men deaf and blind (as it does many a one) to all +pleasant sights, and sounds, and thoughts, till the very sunlight +seems blotted out of heaven by that black cloud of care--care--care-- +which rises with you in the morning, and dogs you at your work all +day (even if you are happy enough to have work), and sits on your +pillow all night long, ready to whisper in your ear each time you +wake; '_Be_ anxious and troubled about many things! What wilt thou +eat, and what wilt thou drink, and wherewithal wilt thou be clothed? +For thou hast _no_ Heavenly Father, none above who knowest that thou +needest these things before thou askest Him.' Oh, my friends, if +you had felt but for a single day, that terrible temptation, the +temptation of poverty, and debt, and care, which leads so many a one +to sell their souls for a few paltry pence, to them of as much value +as pounds would be to you;--if, I say, you had once felt that +temptation in all its weight, you would not merely sacrifice, as I +ask you now to do, some superfluity, which you will never miss; you +would, I do believe, if you had human hearts within you, be ready to +sacrifice even the comforts of life to prevent him whose heart may +be breaking slowly, not a hundred yards from your own door, (and +more hearts break in this world than you fancy, my friends,) from +passing through that same dark shadow of want, and care, and +temptation where the Devil stands calling to the poor man all day +long, 'Fall down, and worship me; and I will relieve those wants of +thine which man neglects!' + +I have no more to say. I leave the rest to your own good feeling, +as townsmen of this ancient and honourable place,--remembering +always who it was who said, 'Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of +the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto Me.' + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SERMONS FOR THE TIMES*** + + +******* This file should be named 11381.txt or 11381.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/3/8/11381 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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